ARTICLE RETRACTED – Al Jazeera English and Britain’s Daily Mail retract false reports that Israel opened dams to flood Gaza
Jack Cohen
NO DAM
There were reports in Al Jazeera and the London Daily Mail and elsewhere that Israel deliberately opened floodgates on dams in southern Israel to flood Gaza. Wrong, a pure falsehood, there are no dams in southern Israel, as anyone familiar with the area could have told any journalist who would have enquired. Some journalists will believe anything. Both media outlets were forced to retract the story and apologise. It was simply the annual flooding of Gaza that takes place every year during the rainy season, mainly because Hamas which controls Gaza, has no interest in practical efforts at flood control. They are using the millions of dollars they get from the UN and Arab sources to rebuild tunnels and other military infrastructure.
Another false story is that Israel is somehow responsible for the slow rebuilding of Gaza. This is not true, the reason for the absence of activity in rebuilding homes in Gaza is that of the b$5 pledged in aid to rebuild Gaza, mainly from Arab countries at the conference held last year in Cairo, barely 2% of the money has actually been given. But, this is not a new phenomenon in the Arab world, they are big on promises to help the Palestinians, but really they don’t care and actually never fulfil their promises. However, rather than admit this, it’s easier to blame Israel, as usual. There are reports that Israel is blocking the entry of building materials into Gaza, this is partly true, but only if the end use is not clearly defined. If the materials are paid for (usually by UNRWA) then they are in fact imported from Israel into Gaza. So if UNRWA claim that at this rate it will take 100 years to rebuild Gaza, don’t blame Israel!
One would have thought that by this time the media would be fully aware that any stories that come out of Gaza or the PA that blame Israel for their own faults are usually fabricated. We have seen hundreds of such false stories, the so-called “massacre of Jenin,” the fictitious “shooting of Mohammed al-Durah,” the staged shootings of civilians in Gaza and so on. Would you believe any stories that come from Boko Haram, Al Shabbab, the Taliban, al Qaeda, or IS? Simply do not believe any stories that come out of the terrorist-dominated Palestinian areas.
(ARTICLE RETRACTED – Al Jazeera English and Britain’s Daily Mail retract false reports that Israel opened dams to flood Gaza)
Jack Cohen
THE SPEECH
PM Bibi Netanyahu’s speech to Congress was a marvel of clarity and resolve. It can be divided into four parts. First ensuring that everyone understood that he was not there to undermine US President Barack Obama, to whom he gave fulsome praise, second to lay out the terrorist background of Iran and its oft-stated intention to annihilate Israel, third to dissect the current deal being negotiated by the P5+1 nations including the US, and fourth to state clearly that if this “bad” deal goes through Israel might need to stand alone against Iran, although hopefully with the support of the US Congress.
Perhaps the most important of these parts was the dissection of the current deal, that would leave Iran with legal break-out capacity after 10 years. Also, it would leave the whole massive Iranian nuclear complex intact. And would depend on international supervision by the IAEA, that as Bibi pointed out, can only observe but can’t change. Already on three occasions that he mentioned the Iranian authorities, like the N. Koreans, have thrown out the observers and destroyed their cameras and their installations. In the final analysis it comes down to a question of trust, the US and the others are prepared to make a deal with the Iranians based on trust, but Israel does not and cannot trust them given their clear intention of destroying Israel. They must be given NO chance of doing that, their nuclear production complex must be destroyed and also their intercontinental missile delivery system that isn’t even being discussed.
After his excellent and historic speech there was much sniping, as expected. Pres. Obama and US National Security Chief Susan Rice said that Bibi had given no new ideas, but that isn’t true. He gave them the idea not to make this deal that they are prepared to make with the Iranian mullahs. No deal is better than a bad deal. The irony is that Bibi is more popular in the US than is Obama. Also there was sniping in Israel, particularly from Isaac Herzog, the Head of the Labor Party, who mislabels his alliance with fruitcake Tzipi Livni the Zionist Union. Herzog said Bibi’s speech will “boomerang.” What else could he say? As for those Jewish representatives in Congress that boycotted the speech, I have nothing but contempt for them, just as they dishonored the PM of the State of Israel.
Some of the most fulsome praise for Bibi’s speech came from the Sunni “moderate” states. In Saudi Arabia, two major official newspapers had editorials that supported the thrust of Bibi’s speech, which is unprecedented. They see the threat of Iran clearly and also are not prepared to be the fall guys for Obama’s misplaced trust in the Iranian regime.
Finally, this speech was not given to gain support of the voters in the upcoming Israeli election. But I hope that it helps Bibi, because frankly there is no-one else who has the stature to deal with the dangerous situations that Israel is facing, with a disintegrating Middle East, a rampant Iran and a hostile American President.
ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN TEST
This is a test that should be administered to all of those who think they understand the Israel-Arab conflict and who are happy to give their opinion, often unencumbered by consideration of the facts. Its conclusion is the answer to the question, would you rather be an Israeli or a Palestinian? Here goes:
| Topic | Israel | Palestinians |
| People founded | 5000 bce | 1967 ce |
| State founded | 2000 bce | none |
| Population | 8 million (incl 20% Arabs) | 4 million (Gaza & West Bank) |
| GDP per capita | $35,000 | $3,000 |
| Judiciary | Independent | Political control |
| Armed forces | IDF | Many terrorist orgs. |
| State policy | Defensive | Aggressive |
| Form of Government | Democratic Republic | Military control |
| Life expectancy | 80 | 70 |
| Food supplies | Self-sufficient | Dependent on imports |
| Water | Desalination | Dependent on Israel |
| Energy supplies | Natural gas and solar | None |
| Start-up companies | Second in world | Few |
| Technology | Advanced | Primitive |
So, given the above facts, if you were forced to choose, who would you rather be, a Palestinian or an Israeli. If you choose the former you are being irrational. Yes, some people like to suffer, but give me a break. And look at the record, notwithstanding total Arab/Muslim support (including financial support from the US and EU as well as total UN support) for 67 years the Palestinians are divided mainly between Hamas and the PLO (Fatah) and have failed to form a State. Their only response to the current situation is continuing to attempt to destroy Israel. It has not worked in the past and it will not work in the future, in fact the gap is increasing with time. That’s why I proudly choose to be an Israeli!
In addition to the above the PLO and the PA have recently been found guilty in a NY Court of being responsible for the deaths of 11 US citizens, out of ca. 500 killed, in terrorist incidents between 2002-2004, and have been fined m$280, an amount that has been tripled due to the US anti-terrorism laws. The PA has appealed, but is likely to have to pay ca. b$1 when it depends entirely for its existence on the kindness of strangers. Also, an Egyptian court has recently categorized Hamas of the Gaza Strip as a terrorist organization. They cannot be happy about these developments, both the PA and Hamas are on the point of collapsing.
Jack Cohen: Born in London, UK, lived in suburban Washington DC area for 30 years, moved to Israel in 1996. He has a web site: Jack’s Blog
Jack Cohen
