quote:

---

Early that morning Israeli Special Forces, operating undercover as Palestinians, entered Al-Yasmeen Hotel in the centre of the market, according to hotel manager Salem Hantoli. "They forced the employees to take off their clothing, searched them, and then brought down the guests," reported Hantoli. A shaken American tourist said the unit announced they were conducting a "counter-terrorism" operation.

At midday the Special Forces were discovered near the hotel and a force of 30 jeeps invaded the city to evacuate them. Crowds of young men surrounded the jeeps hurling stones, and set one ablaze with a Molotov cocktail. According to witnesses the Israeli bulldozer piled several civilian cars on top of the burning jeep, and then pushed the cars adjacent to the shops. Within minutes the marketplace was burning. As shopkeepers tried to escape the flames Israeli forces fired sonic booms into the air. Two small children were shot in the legs, and several others injured.

---

quote:

---

The Palestine Liberation Organization said 84 people had been arrested, including seven Cabinet officials and 21 members of the Palestinian parliament.

The Israel Defense Forces said 87 people were arrested overnight. Of those, it said, 64 were members of Hamas. Another 23 belong to other factions.

---

Apparently they are holding the current Palestinian interm leader too.

quote:

---

"Their arrests were not arbitrary. They will be put to trial, and they will be able to defend themselves in accordance with a legal system which is internationally recognized."

---

quote:

---

...Early that morning Israeli Special Forces, operating undercover as Palestinians...

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by B.L. Zeebub LLD:
I thought this was interesting:

How often is this tactic used? There is a long history of engineering events by pretending to be one's enemy and attacking your own forces. Political theatre. One wonders if Israel has engaged in such activity?

---

quote:

---

"During the clashes, undercover security forces mingled with the demonstrators and began to throw stones at the soldiers and police, demonstrators said. The undercover security forces had provoked the police and soldiers into opening fire with rubber bullets and tear gas. The demonstrators said they had not thrown stones at the soldiers and police."

The "undercover forces" mentioned are Israeli soldiers dressed as Palestinians who mingle in the crowd. Such forces – well-trained in Arabic language and customs – have been employed by Israel since the First Intifada in the late 1980s, often used also as death squads for the summary killing of "wanted" – i.e., unwanted – Palestinians. Now we hear that these undercover Israeli soldiers threw stones.

Well, you may argue, "demonstrators said." Demonstrators always say such things. Who said such undercover soldiers were present in Bil'in at all? After all, they were dressed as Arabs, so how can you tell? Even if the undercover soldiers were present, why should I trust the demonstrators' accusations?

Okay, good points. But listen to what the officer in charge had to say to Ha'aretz about the event:

"Military sources … added that the undercover forces had only started throwing stones after Palestinian youths had adopted such tactics. 'Stone-throwing by the undercover forces is part of the way in which they operate in such instances,' the sources said."

---

quote:

---

Is there anything different in the current Israeli military attacks on Palestinian territory? Only this: The imbalance of power has never been as clear. It's in those intimidating shots of steroidal Israeli tanks massed farther than the eye of the camera can see, at the Gaza border. Against what — guys in balaclavas waving their guns?

A reluctance to acknowledge this imbalance, especially in the West, is largely responsible for the failure to resolve this resoluble conflict. In its way, it is like the war on terror, which is not a war because there is utter non-equivalence between the sides. Each side is not even a side in the sense that the other is. So the result of waging such a “war” can only be to increase the terror, and the terrorists.

---

quote:

---

As shopkeepers tried to escape the flames Israeli forces fired sonic booms into the air.

---

On sonic booms in Gaza, from the Toronto Star:

quote:

---

Then, as now, Israel Defence Forces characterized the boom-boom assault as purely coincidental.

"There is a wide range of aerial activity happening around the clock as part of Israel's military operation to recover our kidnapped soldier," an IDF official said yesterday on the customary condition of anonymity.

"The sonic booms, however, are simply a side effect of ongoing operations. The IDF is not using them specifically as a way to increase pressure on the Palestinians."

---

quote:

---

“I take personal responsibility for what is happening in Gaza. I want no one to sleep at night in Gaza. I want them to know what it feels like,” Olmert was quoted as saying about Israel’s air and ground offensive in the coastal strip.

“If the soldier is released, the military activity that began with the kidnapping will stop,” said the official, who attended the meeting.

---

Collective punishment like this was used in Eastern Europe as well in WWII. One German soldier killed or kidnapped by partisans, and the village loses its men.

Why is our government not calling for the immediate withdrawal of all Israeili forces and sanctions against them for breaches of International laws and Conventions. This by all definitions must be a war crime.

quote:

---

Originally posted by kropotkin1951:
Even our resident Israeli apologists don't seem to be able to justify this most blatent example of collective punishment.

---