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MK Zoabi: Blockade easing proves politics as motivator, not defense
Roee Nahmias
Published: 20.06.10, 23:41
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1. Rubbish - easing does not mean gone
JO   (06.21.10)
and until peace reigns and we have a neighbour we can trust it will not be. Easing is what this MK wanted- see Israel can do nothing right. Ease, your weak, Ease , not security. Why does this Mk think their is a blockade of Gaza, tell us? Because of harmless loving people on the other side of the border???? She is the Mk on the flotilla that said that there was no violence and only peace activists were on board, even when confronted with the evidence. She sees what she wants.
2. We should place Zoabi right smack
Robert Haymond ,   Israel/Canada   (06.21.10)
in the middle of Sderot and keep her there as punishment while Hamas launches rockets and missiles upon her. She appears to be a politician who has absolutely no concern about the Israeli (Jewish) population and perhaps none for her own constituents either.
3. #2 - Mr. Haymond, you are taking a slippery slope
John Smitty ,   Los Angeles, CA   (06.21.10)
Questioning her motives is a dangerous and slippery slope... she is a legitimate member of the Knesset and is entitled to actively express her views. We have the right to disagree, but name calling and threatening to punish her is a approach more akin to the Khomeni/Iranian/Taliban regime than the Israeli one. We hold Democratic right as sacred in Israel and the United States. I think she is more concerned about the long-term implications of continuing on this unsustainable path that creates a powder keg situation in the region and the world. We need to actively engage in the peace process, collective punishment will just let terrorism, hostility and violence ferment and come back to haunt us down the road.
4. Zoabi - you are beyond Chutzpah!
Mina ,   Haifa, Israel   (06.21.10)
I simply cannot believe that you are still allowed to continue as a member of the Israeli Parliament, or even remain an Israeli citizen after the way you continue to act. Be assured Zoabi. that when I will be the Queen of Israel, you will be one of the first Muslims/Arabs I will sent to Gaza with a one way ticket! Zoabi, how dare you talking about a so-called moral Universal Code or deny anti-Semitism on your behalf? You & morality are as far apart as possible: 1) It was you who did nothing helpful to stop the over 8,000 rockets launched on Jewish/Israeli civillians by Hamas in the few years AFTER Israel withdrew from Gaza. 2) It was you who joined an illegal flotilla, organised by some people who have connections to terror & who came with the intention to provoke Israel & hurt Jews/Israelis. 3) It was you who mislead our young Israeli soldiers, calling out to them in Hebrew from that ship through a megaphone, lying to them that the passengers on the ship intend no violence, etc 4) It was you who used every stage to lie against Jews/Israelis & accused Israel of unjutified murders, when all evidence shows that the Israelis soldiers were acting in self- defence in the midst of being lynched. 5) It is you who now plan more illegal provocations against Jews/Israelis with more anti-Semites like you, aain aiming at hurting the security & peace of those whose taxes pay your wages as MK. Zoabi, you are nothing more than a typical lying Muslim/Arab, who hate Jews/Israelis & lives in a culture of lies, hatred & violence I was one of hundreds of thousands who signed a petition to see your membership of the Kenesset being removed & you being placed on trial. Be assured Zoabi that we will not rest until we will see you being punished & hopefully removed from Israel to which you do not belong. We face enough external anti-Semitic enemies, we do not need more like you amongst us. Go to hell Zoabi, or better, go to Gaza & live under the brutal Hamas Muslim/Arabs regime, as the single 38 year old, unmarried, uncovered, working woman that you are. I am sure even hell will not match that experience.
5. Well duh! Of course it's also political!
Brian Cohen ,   Judean Peoples Front   (06.21.10)
The only problem I have with Zoabi is that she appears to be in favor of war, not peace. All of her talk is militant rhetoric, and I have yet to hear anything resembling talk about peace and a two state solution. Of course the blockade is also political. Also. The main thrust of the blockade, of course, is to prevent arms from getting in to Gaza. Zoabi, like other Palestinian war mongers, is just another uninspiring propagandist who thinks that firing missiles at civilians is ok - so long as it's only the Palestinians doing it.
6. Zoabi no Hijab ?
Len ,   Melbourne   (06.21.10)
Hey Zoabi what are you doing in Israeli parliament without a hijab? Why are you showing your flesh to all the men in the parliament? If you were back in our arab countries you would be flogged in public. Lucky that you are in Israel where women have rights and are protected by Jewish law. Amazing that you hate Israel the country that protects you from extreme islamists.
7. Join the FlotillaSmitty.
Len ,   Melbourne   (06.21.10)
Join her in the next Flotilla Smitty.
8. Zoabi, a Profile in Courage
Steve Benassi ,   Silver Bay, MN USA   (06.21.10)
I am in awe of this brave woman facing down the IDF and Knesset, with body and mind, and winning!
9. What a very brave women
Joy   (06.21.10)
10. Of course it's political...it began when Gazans voted Hamas
William ,   Israel   (06.21.10)
And since the "political" party they voted in was on the platform of Israel's destruction, and soon-after war declaration, then they are partly responsible for it. The siege, which is legal by many different Intl laws, will remain until the declaration of war is lifted and Shalit is returned. As an MK, Zoabi should be concerned that some terrorist group has declared war on her country and countrymen....however, she won't be targeted in the genocide, so why does she care?
11. #3 - Please recollect situation in 1999, John
William ,   Israel   (06.21.10)
"...collective punishment will just let terrorism, hostility and violence ferment and come back to haunt us down the road." In 1999, the "Palestinians" had the fastest growing economy in the world, the ability to move freely throughout the West Bank, Gaza, and Israel, and the end goal of their own State was in sight.... yet, they felt perfectly ready and willing to throw it all away in order to replace the State of Israel and its Jewish population. So you see - even if the situation was as positive as realistically possible, the end goal will never change. Claiming the Gazans are "collectively punished" for the acts of their govt, which they voice full support for regularly, is BS. The only way that definition of your's works is if every Gazan has a full cupboard, a brand new car, a nice house, and a flat screen TV....oh, and the full right to terrorize their Jewish neighbors without repercussion. That only exists in the distorted Leftist mind which chooses to place one set of rules on Jews and one of the rest of the world. If peace really is to exist in the Middle East, it will come when the rest of the world place the same expectations and laws on every man, woman, and child in the world, regardless of gender, race, or politics.
12. Slippery Slope John #3: Now that's
Robert Haymond ,   Israel/Canada   (06.21.10)
name calling. Please reread post #2, then stop your cheap goody-goody moralizing and think conceptually if you can. Anyone can understand that before Zoabi continues with her undeniable ranting against our state, she should place herself in a position where she might understand the continual punishments of the Israeli population. I was in Ashdod and also experienced some of it while you, "Slippery Slope", moralize to us from ... the danger city called Los Angeles. Perhaps a clearer ability to read, to comprehend, to experience and less self-satisfying moralizing would really kick up your wisdom button, Ol "Slippery Slope".
13. To Smitty: "US"? Why are you living in Israel?
m   (06.21.10)
When you spout your self righteus clishees you mean you sit in Sderot and don't want her to join you there as not to be hurt by her brothers in Gaza's kassam attacks?
14. #4 - i disagree with your call to strip Zoabi's citizenship
John Smitty ,   Los Angeles, CA   (06.21.10)
long-term solution is not to throw out every Israeli citizen who wants to see Israel take a more balanced appraoch. The annexation or suffocation of Gaza is a short-sighted and unsustainable bandage to a VERY severe security and human-rights problem. It is in our best interest, and the best interest of region, to prevent rocket attacks by attacking the root cause of the problems in the West Bank & Gaza Strip -- namely, the lack of a functioning and accountable national entity that represents the aspirations of the Palestinian moderates. This aim is not being furthered by taking a short-term, emotionally charged collective punishment approach. We need to negotiate NOW with the Arabs and Palestinians, and not wait to long -- their negotiating position will certainly improve in the coming decades as their economies grow and their citizens are more educated and permeate American society more readily. Zoabi is by no means perfect and her tactics may be unsavorry, but I am most worried about the long-term stability of Israel, the region and the world, and as such I know that defending the status quo is a sure fire way of exacerbating a powder keg of a situation.
15. go home to Gaza
Steve ,   San Francisco   (06.21.10)
Israel - throw this vocal enemy of the Jewish State out of the Knesset and out of the country!
16. John
Howard ,   Baltimore   (06.21.10)
Take back my recommendation. I hit the button by accident. John, the arabs hate us. It is not our fault,. Islam represents cruelty and invasion. It is all they talk about. You are informed only by western information that never reports what the arabs say and think. Islam has no room for peace and brotherhood. So please stop writing. And in America, no one like Zoabi would hold public office. To inform against your country is treason. In Islam she would be killed for an attitude like this against the state. That is harsh but exile is certainly deserved.
17. Please, go join your people in PA
(06.21.10)
Join Fatah or Hamas and run for office over there, be the next PA president we don't care, but Israel is not your country and it will never be your country. You don't belong here.
18. well
daniel ,   israel   (06.21.10)
it is obvious that letting in some commodities that aren't required for "humanitarian needs" places no obligation on israel to normally trade with an overtly hostile entity. this is an entirely political move in due to pressure by Hamas and its supporters which have managed to dupe the world that Israel is only "collectively punishing" people who live in a territory with a theocratic band of thugs. these issues, like siege, are not reasons for terrorism but only tools to gain more power through weakness, and gain more striking power against israeli targets. i hope the "lovers of peace" never prevail because they are only sacrificing their own lives "to Palestine" by trying to free it by delegitimizing and finally an attempt to destroy the Jewish state.
19. to 4
hla ,   gaza   (06.21.10)
yes ..force is with the king or queen but wisdom may not
20. zoabi HATES Israel
dave ,   uk   (06.21.10)
21. MK Zoabi on Hamas payroll
(06.21.10)
`
22. Sincerely, Don't you think that all Israeli Leftists politic
(06.21.10)
Sincerely, Don't you think that all Israeli Leftists politicians, USA, UN, EU, Europeans - "PEACE" failed attempts, and other interventions MADE murderous Arab willing possibile with means... - include: bring Yasser Arafat bring PLO and other Arab terrorists GIVE GUNS GIVE money and SUPPORT backup on every Arab terrorists actions in Israel ... MADE a murderous Arab willing possibile with means... COUNT WHAT AND HOW MANY terrorists actions before the Oslo agreement and AFTER. SHAME ON THEM ALL - THEIR HANDS cast blood of innocent civilians of Israel in busses, cafes, markets,etc.
23. To all the Arabs living on the Land of Israel !
Ron B. ,   Lod   (06.21.10)
'This is OUR COUNTRY, OUR LAND, : We are the legitimate owner of this land. Once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about Our Flag, Our Pledge, Our Anthem, or Our Way of Life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great Israeli freedom :'THE RIGHT TO LEAVE'. If you aren't happy here then LEAVE. The Arab occupation has lasted long enough. We didn't force you to come here. The Land of Israel is the land of the Jews as explained at: http://xrl.us/bi5c6
24. #3 Shmitty
Eitan ,   Israel   (06.21.10)
It is funny reading your post. You seem to not express any opinion on the behavior of Hamas or Fatah. Well rest assured the blockade will not be lifted anytime soon. Oh an why don't you get you butt on a plane and see for yourself what is going on there. You have nerve to say what is and not sustainable. It would be better if you would just shut up
25. Democracy...does she even know what it means?
Dina   (06.21.10)
Excuse me but who voted for you? Are you not supposed to be taking care of your voters needs? How dare you steal their votes and then take advantage of your status to fight for other peoples rights. You my dear lady should be working for the Arab Israeli children and elderly. You should be looking after the Arab Israeli interests. And NOT spreading liable about YOUR people and how YOU think that they have broken international laws that by the way have NOT been broken.
26. Zoabi
Ian Jos ,   Toronto Canada   (06.21.10)
In any other country she would be tried (and convicted) for treason. This is not about democracy, free speech or "peace", it's about the right of every sovereign state to its own self defence. She would like us to believe that Israel has no right to this defence - propagating the Arab 62 year-old tact of deligitimizing the State of Israel. For that, the charge is TREASON.
27. she abuse democrachy to get her way
ghostq   (06.21.10)
but in true democracy none can do as they please, sound like she is about to see what a real democracy means, send her to jail to Gaza I am preaty sure she will feel at home there.
28. How is this woman still an MK???????
iObserver and News ,   USA   (06.21.10)
Keeping an enemy of the state in a political position has nothing to do with being democratic: its just foolish. This woman is making a mockery of Israel; from outside, the Israeli government looks like a bunch of incompetent fools being run around by some terrorist supporters in the government. They'd better wake up fast; the decision to ease the blockade was humiliation enough for Israel: but having this embarassment rammed down Israel's throat by this MK is disasterous, leaving Israel without a shred of dignity. Fire her for conflict of interest and for being unable to remain objective and support the security interests of the State. The longer she stays, the dumber Israel looks.
29. Weissglass: "The idea is to put the Palestinians on a diet"
Nour ,   Palestine   (06.21.10)
MK Zoabi is absolutely right. The mere act of lifting or "improving" the siege proves beyond any shred of doubt - that the siege is illegal and morally repugnant! Collective punishment and political blackmail will not be tolerated. Israel cannot and will not be "recognized" (where are its borders?). When Israel recognizes Palestine, perhaps there will be a possibility of a mutual exchange as part of a permanent peace deal. In the meantime, the siege, illegal settlements, and aggressive activities in occupied Jerusalem as just that: illegal activities frowned upon by the comity of civilized nations.
30. Hamas proved yesterday why the blocakde was justified
zionist forever   (06.21.10)
The blockading of ships and banning of certain goods is justified because Gaza is a hostile entity and we don't want weapons or things that can be used to build weapons entering. Hamas yesterday showed exactly why the blockade is justified when they called on palestinians in Judea & Samaria to fire rockets at Israel. The government may have been a little overzealous in the things that it didn't allow into Gaza but that was probably more about not thinking it all through properly rather than politics. Let this woman go on as many boat rides as she wants the only condition is she gives up her Knesset membership first. Time to take the gloves off when dealing with the arab politicians who we allow to get away with just about anything.
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