Israel’s Plan To Steal More Syrian Land Runs Into Trouble

June 23, 2015

Despite supportive propaganda in U.S. media Israel's plan to ~~steal more Syrian land~~ "to protect the Syrian Druze" runs into trouble.

Israel claims that the Druze in the north-eastern Golan heights need protection against attacks by the Jabhat al-Nusra Jihadis. It "offers" to send its soldiers to keep the Al-Qaeda terrorists away.

But the Druze are no fools. They know that Israel supports the Jihadis and has done so for a quite long time now. Israeli soldiers were filmed exchanging goods with Nusra terrorists. Wounded Jihadis find help in Israeli military hospitals. Attacks on Syrian soldiers by Syrian "rebels" including Al Qaeda were supported by Israeli artillery fire.

The Syrian army protects the Druze in Syria from attacks by Jabhat al-Nusra Jihadists and other terrorists. Now, after sitting on the sideline for quite some time, Druze militia have joined the Syran army and will fight on its side:

The overstretched Syrian military, fighting battles across multiple front lines, is relying here on a key ally: members of the Druze sect, an offshoot of Islam that has adherents in Syria, Lebanon and Israel. Thousands of men from the province are said to have signed up to protect Suwayda, the Druze heartland. Syria is believed to be home to about half of the estimated 1.5 million Druze worldwide.

"We, the sons of Suwayda, will be martyred on our front doors before we let them pass," vowed Maj. William Abu Fakher, a pro-government militiaman who stood guard with other Druze volunteers, several in their 50s, at a checkpoint in the sun-scorched terrain.
…
"Our only choice is to repel and refuse the entry of any terrorist group into the area of Suwayda," Sheikh Yusef Jarboo, a top Druze cleric in Syria, told Lebanese broadcaster Al Mayadeen in an interview this month. "We shall resist with all the power we have."

About 27,000 Druze fighters, the cleric said, were being incorporated "under the umbrella" of the Syrian military, which numbers perhaps 200,000 plus tens of thousands of pro-government militiamen and allies from Lebanon and beyond.

There are also rumors of support by Hizbullah fighters and trainers for the Druze militia. All that does not sound like those Druze really need Israeli "protection". The Druze are famously suspicions of other groups intends. It is part of their sect's survival strategy. They do not fall for the Israeli plot.

There are some 100,000 Druze in Israel and some of those serve in the Israeli army. An additional 20,000 Druze live on the Israel occupied side of the Golan heights. They reject Israeli citizenship and do not serve in the army.

But that Israel supports Jihadis who attack Druze in Syria is also a concern for the Israeli Druze in the military:

A Druze army officer, on patrol at one of the outlooks, said: "If Israel continues to treat wounded from rebel units, the Druze will have to take off their uniforms."
…
He said that he was angered by the fact that Israeli Druze soldiers were forced, in his words, to evacuate wounded Syrians who had fought under the rebel command which threatened their Syrian brothers.

The Druze on the Israel occupied side of the Golan heights have family on the other side of the border. As the terrorists now attack their families on the Syrian side they have now twice attacked Israeli ambulances which were transporting Jihadis wounded in Syria to an Israeli military hospital:

One Syrian militant was beaten to death and one was wounded in very serious-to-critical condition after Druze protesters attacked Monday night an Israel Defense Forces ambulance in northern Israel carrying Syrian members of armed militias wounded in the civil war there. Two Israeli soldiers were lightly wounded.
…
This is the second time in 24 hours that protesters have struck an ambulance carrying wounded Syrians.

The Israeli government claims that it does not help terrorist in Syria but only wounded normal Syrian people who would not hurt the Druze. That sounds unconvincing not only to the Druze as even the wounded terrorists claim the opposite:

Sheikh Muafiq Tarif, the Druse spiritual leader in Israel, told Army Radio on Tuesday that the community’s anger reached a boiling point following an interview on Channel 2 with one of the injured Syrians being treated in Israel. According to Tarif, the patient was a Syrian rebel who said that he was willing to return to the civil war and harm Druse.

“This broadcast stirred up emotions throughout the Druse community,” Tarif said. “The wounded man said that he was going back to Syria to kill Druse. This should’ve sounded the alarm for everyone.”

If Israel continues its plans to "protect" the Druze in Syria and to occupy their land it will run into more trouble. It will first have to ask Jabhat al-Nusra to attack the Syrian army and the Druze protecting their homeland. Such an attack must be successful enough to provide that Israel's "help" is indeed needed. Israel will then have to "attack" Jabhat al-Nusra or at least to let it seem that way. But the Syrian army and the Druze militia on the Syrian side will still be there and defend against any Israeli invasion. At the same time the 20,000 Druze on the occupied Golan side will create trouble for any Israeli move and even the Druze in the Israeli military might subvert the operation.

The whole plan to use Israel supported Jihadists in Syria as an excuse to "protect Syrian Druze" and to take over Syrian land does no longer look like an easily implementable idea.

Posted by b on June 23, 2015 at 16:22 UTC | Permalink

Comments

Golan Height are allegedly occupied because they give a very good view on the adjacent territory in Syria, and one of the effects is that Golan Druze villagers know well what is going on. And what do they care if the rebels attacking villages of their kin, in their plain view, are “moderate” or “al-Nusra”? Regardless of the brand, rebels have extensive record of mayhem, including slaughter of the wounded in the hospitals.
Israel apparently is forming the new edition of South Lebanon Army. It did not work too well first time around.

Posted by: Piotr Berman | Jun 23 2015 17:16 utc | 1

from LAT article:

Some of the most strident calls to defend the Druze of Syria have come from Israel, home to a substantial Druze minority, including many in the occupied Golan Heights.
“The Druze sect is facing existential danger,” Hamad Amar, a Druze member of the Israeli Knesset, warned publicly last week, adding that his sect “will not stand with its arms folded before any current or future danger facing our brothers in Syria or elsewhere.”

I think Hamad Amar’s ‘take’ is likely supporting Israel intervention.

Posted by: okie farmer | Jun 23 2015 17:29 utc | 2

It will be interesting to see if Israel brings more wounded jihadis in for repair.

Posted by: dh | Jun 23 2015 17:41 utc | 3

One killed as Druze residents in Golan Heights attack Israeli ambulance

…ambushed by an angry crowd of Druze residents protesting Israel’s medical treatment of rebel forces, according to media reports…Israel has treated thousands of injured Syrians in recent years. Many are civilians but rebels receive medical treatment too, contributing to belief on both sides of the border that Israel is aiding rebel forces…

Posted by: Frank | Jun 23 2015 19:13 utc | 4

Since the Zionist/ apartheid / genocidal / racist / terrorists in Israel only have interest in domination, subjugation and occupation, any plans about “protection” is just PR bullshit to sell to willfully gullible morons.
How could and Israeli sectarianracist elite have any concern for the “protection” of any Druze ?
Any attack/ occupation that the Israeli terrorists start, can easily easily be spun into saying they’re defending themselves, which as we seen when endlessly massacring in slaughtering Palestinians, the defence argument bullshit has a near perfect record against the majority of people in the west.

Posted by: tom | Jun 23 2015 19:41 utc | 5

This is a no-brainer for the Druze. If you can’t stand alone then you have two choices. You can align with a proxy of the US or you can align with a proxy of Russia. It’s that simple.
The Druze are under attack by one US proxy while being offered rescue-invasion by another US proxy. They made the right choice.
Confronted with the same choice, Iraq’s government won’t get off the fence.

Posted by: SingingSam | Jun 23 2015 19:42 utc | 6

b, you are right that the Druze may now be facing an existential choice.
In the past, the Druze in Syria decided on neutrality with respect to the civil war, and Asad accepted that. Conscription was not imposed on Jebel Druze.
Today, it is certain that if Asad falls, the replacement will be Islamist, either Jabhat al-Nusra or Da’sh.
The Druze are considered heretics by Da’sh. Thus death or conversion.
Netanyahu didn’t think about this when he supported Jabhat alNusra, close in doctrine to Da’sh.
I think that Druze are close to revolt – killing Syrian wounded is an example.

Posted by: Laguerre | Jun 23 2015 20:50 utc | 7

It looks like the Syrian and northern Israeli Druze have learned the lesson of the Negev Desert Bedouins. In the late 40s and through the 50s the Israelis used those Bedouins as fighters against the Palestinian farmer people further to the north. I do recall one of Israel’s selling points in the early 60s was that they were an open society as evidenced by the many Bedouins that were part of the IDF. Except that today Israel no longer needs the Bedouins. So we are now witnessing the destruction of Bedouin villages and the disposition of those people from their ancestral lands because Israel wants the Negev Desert for Jews only. Certainly from this the Druze must realize what an “alliance” Israel will lead to.
This is the divide and conquer strategy employed by British colonialism and Israel inherited. It certainly worked for the British in India for more than a century. The Brits used it successfully for about 50 years to control former Ottoman lands after WWI. It has also worked well for the Israelis for the last 70 years. Maybe this is a sign that Israel has exhausted this tactic in dividing the native people of the Levant for its own colonial purposes.

Posted by: ToivoS | Jun 23 2015 21:10 utc | 8

#8
“This is the divide and conquer strategy employed by British colonialism and Israel inherited”
you forgot to add ….and now the iranians employ…using the druze to weaken israel might be a sound stratergy by the iranians and hez but if it fails …..well the same stratergy could then be applied to lebanon with serious consequences for the local populations
anyway
disbanding the druze battalion is old news
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.657084
interesting times ahead

Posted by: mcohen | Jun 23 2015 22:34 utc | 9

Al-Nusra claimed they were going to prosecute the men responsible for the Druze killings, I wonder if the Israelis will arrest members of the mob that lynched the unidentified injured Syrian?

Posted by: Wayoutwest | Jun 23 2015 23:51 utc | 10

@ 10 Well according to mcohen setting the jihadis on the Druze is all part of an Iranian plot. Maybe the Iranians were behind the lynching too.

Posted by: dh | Jun 24 2015 0:07 utc | 11

It was predictable that once Islamists would start to threaten directly the ethnic and religious minorities, there would be a regrouping around the Syrian army.
We are seeing the Kurds discreetly collaborating, the Druzes coordinating, the Assyrian joining..
The obvious losers are the Arab Sunnis. They are confused, divided and weakened. They thought they would gain more power, it seems that they would end up with even less.

Posted by: Virgile | Jun 24 2015 1:48 utc | 12

@12
I hope you’re right. Let’s hope that the Arab Sunnis who end up with less – much less – are chiefly the Saudis … the wahabist cancer at the heart of all this death, devastation, and destruction … no, not at the heart … that’s where the CIA lives … but certainly they are the yeomanly bicep and fist of the US/KSA/CIA Muslim fundamentalist outbreak. Or as good a simulation of bicep and fist as paper money can buy.

Posted by: jfl | Jun 24 2015 2:10 utc | 13

DH@11
In March the Iranians/Hezbollah were training and supplying young Druze men to fight in militias against the rebels and were condemned by Druze leaders for drawing them into the conflict. This is strange because the Islamist Iranians probably view the Druze much like they view the Baha’i, as an apostate cult.

Posted by: Wayoutwest | Jun 24 2015 2:15 utc | 14

We all know the Iranians are incredibly devious. They also play a long game. They probably have the Druze believing Al Nusra and ISIS are the greater threat. They could well be right. Do you think Israel will intervene militarily? A few airstrikes against the jihadis maybe?

Posted by: dh | Jun 24 2015 2:28 utc | 15

The Israelis are on the horns of a dilemma because there is nothing to be gained by getting any further involved in Syria beyond the minor aid they supply to the vetted rebels. The Israeli Druze have much more influence, especially in the IDF, than their small population justifies and that influence and threats may drive an intervention with unknowable consequences.

Posted by: Wayoutwest | Jun 24 2015 3:29 utc | 16

That’s pretty much the way I see it. Using the Druze as a buffer worked well until the Israelis got the idea of destroying the Syrian Government and by extension the SAA. Now we are seeing the consequences.

Posted by: dh | Jun 24 2015 4:10 utc | 17

Wayoutwest says:
In March the Iranians/Hezbollah were training and supplying young Druze men to fight in militias against the rebels and were condemned by Druze leaders for drawing them into the conflict
gosh, ya think maybe the Druze proletariat is perhaps more attuned to its own survival than some asswipe multi-millionaire politician like Walid Jumblatt? ya think maybe the Druze proletariat’s ‘radical’ belief in equality for men and women and separation of church and state might set it at odds with the misogynistic cannibals just over them thar hills? ya think maybe the Druze proletariat might know better how to retain its stateless niche in the Levant?
why just ten days ago b was telling us that, “…the Druze now have the choice to come under the control of the jihadis and be pressed to convert to Wahhabi Islam or to come under a brutal Israeli occupation.”
gosh, i wish i had a crystal ball too ):

Posted by: john | Jun 24 2015 10:50 utc | 18

b, I’m not sure that Israel would want to enlarge its territory in the Golan. The present cease-fire line is the most economical from the point of view of security. Any further east, and the front-line would get longer and longer, conceivably fatally injuring Israel’s security.

Posted by: Laguerre | Jun 24 2015 12:10 utc | 19

The Israeli/Druze situation will probably have minimal effect on the Syrian war however it is addressed.
I wonder what the growing alliance between Putin/Russia and the House of Saud will mean for the Assad regime?

Posted by: Wayoutwest | Jun 24 2015 14:05 utc | 20

Laguerre @ “I’m not sure that Israel would want to enlarge its territory in the Golan”. Don’t wish to be pedantic but UNSC Resolution 497 December 1981. states “That the acquisition of territory by force was inadmissible and that Israel’s decision to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration in the Golan Heights is null and void and without legal effect”. Just for interest Golan Heights Winery label their wine “Wine of Israel” and “Produced by Golan Heights Winery Katzrin Israel” These are FALSE representations contrary to EU legislation, in particular EU Reg 607/2009 Article 55 ‘Indication of Provenance’ also sections 16 and 36 Trade Descriptions Act 1968,UK which reads
Section 16 Prohibition of importation of goods bearing false indication of origin.
Where a false trade description is applied to any goods outside the United Kingdom and the false indication, or one of the false indications, given, or likely to be taken as given, thereby is an indication of the place of manufacture, production, processing or reconditioning of the goods or any part thereof the goods shall not be imported into the United Kingdom.
Section 36. Country of origin.
[1] For the purposes of this act goods shall be deemed to have been manufactured or produced in the country in which they last underwent a treatment or process resulting in a substantial change.
Section 36 is consistent with World Trade Organisation and European Union, country of origin rules.
Most of this Act has been repealed but these sections are still applicable, efforts are being made to enforce them.

Posted by: harry law | Jun 24 2015 14:08 utc | 21

OT: It looks like it is ‘game on’ in Armenia. The US has complained that the Armenian police used excessive force to clear protestors, a few opposition MPs and media celebrities in the protest supposedly about electricity price rises. The protestors chant ‘Free Armenia’ rather than ‘Lower electicity prices’ and have refused to meet with the president. The Nudelman visited Armenia a while ago for private meetings with NGOs.
This looks like the standard US regime change playbook.
https://z5h64q92x9.net/proxy_u/ru-en.en/antimaidan.ru/article/2190

Posted by: Yonatan | Jun 24 2015 14:14 utc | 22

re 21 Harry Law
I wasn’t talking about the legal situation, where you right that Israel is at fault. I just don’t think in practice it would be wise for Israel to expand its borders in that area. Nor would Israeli government thinking go that way either.
Herod once had part of his kingdom that way. It didn’t last long. Too exposed and vulnerable. Israelis know their ancient history.

Posted by: Laguerre | Jun 24 2015 14:28 utc | 23

Do any MoA folk want to become millionaires? Re my comment at 21. Most wine, at the cheaper end of the market is transported across the world from Australia, South Africa and Chile etc in 20,000 litre tanks or bladders, sometimes bought in bulk for as low as 20 pence a litre. It is then bottled and labelled by for instance Asda or Sainsbury’s. Why cannot an individual call this wine “Wine of France” or Italy, and “Produced in France or Italy. The Israelis seem to be getting away with it. Somehow I think the French would start WW3 if anyone tried.

Posted by: harry law | Jun 24 2015 15:27 utc | 24

Re: making money on cheap wine. When I lived in Germany, cheap French and Italian wine was one Euro per liter, basically the price of generic orange juice, and basically, this is what it is (cheap grade of fruit juice, fermenting does not cost much). Surplus wine in EU probably costs the same the stuff from Southern Hemisphere. Plus it is already labeled as French, Iralian etc. The stuff is so cheap already that any scams would net few dollars per ton. Clearly, better money can be made by getting some supply of cheap tobacco, say, from Ukraine, and counterfeiting cigarettes, many thousands of Euroes or ponds on a single truck load. England used to get a lot of that stuff.
Re: “Druze buffer zone in the Golan”. It makes no sense, Israel has entrenched positions with a lot of firepower in place and air support if needed. Who controls this or that village on the other side is of little consequence. The reason to support jihadists and arm twisting the Druze in the vicinity is the desire to eliminate Syrian government and Syrian military, so Israel cooperates with Jordan-based efforts to support “southern front”. And they already got a nice effect, disabling of air defense in the adjacent region. The true “horns of the dilemma” is that this creates “power vacuum”, and Hezbollah and Iranians are starting to fill it. I guess that a major push from their direction can come after clearing Qalamoun from the jihadists, because a lot of Hezbollah is tied to that operation and to keeping watch/siege around thos big rugged wilderness.
Re: Druze proletariat. I guess most of the Druze are not proletariat in Marxist sense. Jumblatts are an old Druze family, if I recall, more than 200 years ago they participated in internal Druze strife that send the losers fleeing to what is now Jebel Druze, main Druze area of Syria. A generation later, Jumblatts got the leadership of Lebanese Druze by back stabbing their predecessors. Now they lead Progressive Socialist Party, which perhaps should be named Progressive-Feudal Socialist Party. Jumblatt’s political alignment are quite kaleidoscopic, but he seems to deeply care about his clients and to some degree about the Druze in the region. To outer appearances, he tilted toward the support of jihadists, but with somewhat murky explanation. Realistically, impartiality would be the least troublesome for the Syrian Druze, but that does not seem to be tenable, so they will probably follow Plan B: the double game. Jumblatt negotiated promises of non-aggression and supplies from Jordan, and opposing groups similar treatment from Syrian government. But on the ground the only attacks on them were from the jihadists, so “proletariat” sympathies seem closer to the government. But the relative quiet secured by the deal between the Jumblatts and the Saudis can be appreciated if it holds. Druze seems to have means of avoiding internal violence, although, as the history shows, they do not always work.

Posted by: Piotr Berman | Jun 24 2015 16:35 utc | 25

@PB
The SAA and Hezbollah don’t seem to be making much progress against the rebels in Qalamoun lately and the rebels still control about 40% of the area including around Arsal. Getting bogged down in this critical area may leave Hezbollah open to Israeli assault on their way to save the Druze if they pursue that agenda.

Posted by: Wayoutwest | Jun 24 2015 16:52 utc | 26

@26 Cutting back on the modest support to vetted rebels might be a big help if they want to save the Druze.

Posted by: dh | Jun 24 2015 17:37 utc | 27

@27
The vetted rebels, FSA and others, agreed not to attack the Druze some time ago, I think that promise is still in effect. Al-Nusra and the IS made no such promise and are attacking them and anyone who have taken up arms and is in their way.

Posted by: Wayoutwest | Jun 24 2015 18:34 utc | 28

Maybe some of the vetted rebels changed their minds. Seems those guys change sides all the time. Any idea how the vetting process works?

Posted by: dh | Jun 24 2015 18:42 utc | 29

@26 “The SAA and Hezbollah don’t seem to be making much progress against the rebels in Qalamoun lately”
Hezbollah Captures More Territory in the Qalamoun Mountains …
Your claims are just as stupid than the rest of your comments.

Posted by: b | Jun 24 2015 18:51 utc | 30

The A ok rebels of the Free Syrian Army of a few years ago, ate their prisoners hearts. The vetted rebels of today would be no different. US policy in Syria makes no sense. Saudi and Turkish support for the Jihadis with money and material will prolong the war but cannot possibly win it. The US are reluctant to oppose this Sunni block even when they must know where it will lead. Also the Israelis seem to be in bed with the Saudis to oppose Iran. Seymour Hersh spoke some years ago of the US decision to back the Sunnis against the ‘Arc of resistance’Iran,Iraq,Syria and Hezbollah [The Redirection] did he ever think that would mean supporting Anti human beasts from the stone age?

Posted by: harry law | Jun 24 2015 19:40 utc | 31

I think Wayoutwest is doubly wrong. In the hilly and mountainous areas of western Syria (and in Lebanon) maps show position warfare, with small changes in the last two years, and in those terms, getting 60% of Qalamoun this year is impressive. Moreover, this is a front that Hezbollah cannot possibly play lightly, their people live around this area.
Secondly, Hezbollah, SAA and other forces, financed by Iranians, are apparently sufficient to stabilize the situation south of Damascus, with some back and forth. Foreign sponsors of the rebels apparently had high hopes to flip Druze to their side, but that does not seem realistic. A substantial advance would require new manpower and supplies.
In the meantime, there was announcement of new area liberated in Qalamoun, plus some advance of SAA near Palmyra. ISIS is capable of quick movements in the desert area, but they are apparently stretch, if they gain on one side they loose to Kurds, so it becomes a position warfare, with their advance checked.
Major strategic considerations do not seem to change in favor of the rebels. There is a distinct possibility that they will loose supply lines from Turkey (Turkey denies that those exists, but AP claims otherwise), and with new political situation in Turkey, the supplies to the jihadists can either become more surreptitious and sparser. The situation there is potentially most dynamic. Seems that American-supplied “moderate rebels” joined YPG, and one can easily imagine complex backstabbings that this can involve. For now, YPG got military supplies and they have the “moderates” under their control, but I guess Americans would like to send huge numbers of “moderates” to those would be in charge on ethnically Arab areas. But if that is possible and so smart, why Erdogan is not a happy camper (other that he is NEVER a happy camper)? The second game changer is the nuclear deal with Iran, now being described in the past tense by Trita Parsi (perhaps he knows that it will happen). I think that it will lead to much bolder military assistance from Iran and assisted by Iran.

Posted by: Piotr Berman | Jun 24 2015 19:51 utc | 32

Seymour Hersh wrote the redirection in 2007, it is still relevant today “The new American policy, in its broad outlines, has been discussed publicly. In testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in January, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that there is “a new strategic alignment in the Middle East,” separating “reformers” and “extremists”; she pointed to the Sunni states as centers of moderation, and said that Iran, Syria, and Hezbollah were “on the other side of that divide.” http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/03/05/the-redirection A sensible policy would be to oppose the Dictators and Israel, but cannot see that happening.

Posted by: harry law | Jun 24 2015 20:06 utc | 33

It’s kind of sad that b has to depend on an Amerikan/Israeli web site to get good news about the ongoing Qalamoun conflict. Capturing a barren hilltop in the Barren Lands may seem like progress for Hezbollah/SAA but the battles still rage.
I would still like to read some opinions about the growing Putin/Russia alliance with the House of Saud and how it will affect Russian support for the Assad regime.

Posted by: Wayoutwest | Jun 24 2015 21:12 utc | 34

#33
harry was a bareback rider ……..”sensible policy”…….
“the dictators” …..which dictators would that be harry “law”,….assad,saddam,rocky,the mooooolvanian moooolaaahs,

Posted by: mcohen | Jun 24 2015 21:33 utc | 35

@34 Arms deals, nuclear deals whatever next. I think it means Russia and the Saudis have agreed to patch up any differences they may have over Syria and Iran. They will move on from here to pull the rug from under Israel and the US. How’s that?

Posted by: dh | Jun 24 2015 22:09 utc | 36

The dictators Saudi Arabia and the Gulfies, Egypt and Jordan. whereas Iran, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon all have elections, not perfect by any means but generally reflect popular sentiment. Assad was elected with support from all sections of society, including significant Sunni support. He could not survive without it.

Posted by: harry law | Jun 24 2015 22:09 utc | 37

“I would still like to read some opinions about the growing Putin/Russia alliance with the House of Saud and how it will affect Russian support for the Assad regime.”
U r dumb.

Posted by: guest77 | Jun 24 2015 23:04 utc | 38

@36 I forgot to mention…Saudi Arabia will join BRICS and Bahrain will become a Chinese submarine base.

Posted by: dh | Jun 24 2015 23:30 utc | 39

@39
With Iran so closely linked to the BRICS I doubt the Saudis will be joining any time soon. If the Saudis and Russia are patching up things about Syria I doubt the Saudis are the ones altering their agenda.

Posted by: Wayoutwest | Jun 25 2015 0:28 utc | 40

@40 Well I tried.

Posted by: dh | Jun 25 2015 0:51 utc | 41

#37
Come on say it ,I know you can,through gritted teeth…..Israel is not a dictatorship,it is the only genuine democratic country in the middle east
Let’s be honest those other countries do have elections.with themselves….opposition parties are non existent…and most of it is along secretarian lines
Vote yes for meaningful change or we shoot you
Israel is not perfect but at least it does not hang em high…rawhide

Posted by: mcohen | Jun 25 2015 6:03 utc | 42

b, our resident trolls have commented 11 out of 42 comments. Just sayin’…

Posted by: okie farmer | Jun 25 2015 6:51 utc | 43

A friend in Syria yesterday told me that the Homs-Damascus highway functions normally and that people in Damascus live almost as if there was no war in the country.

Posted by: Mina | Jun 25 2015 6:54 utc | 44

@ mcohen | 42

Israel is not a dictatorship,it is the only genuine democratic country in the middle east

WTF are you talking about. Israel is a racist apartheid regime, by admission of Israel’s own human rights organizations. Speaking of democracy, Syria is WAY more democratic (now) and non-racist at all, compared to Israel. Sunnis, Druze, Alawis, Palestinians, Kurds, etc. all have the same rights, how about non-Jews in Israel? They are considered as 2nd rate citizens or worse, with extensive and deliberate discrimination at the very foundation of Israel’s “democratic” policies.
Constant aggression against other countries, trying to occupy more and more of their land, supporting ISIS and other terrorists, it must be all “democracy” in action.

Posted by: Harry | Jun 25 2015 8:24 utc | 45

mcohen@42 I am reluctant to call Israel a state, since states are supposed to have recognized borders, the state of Israel was declared on May 14th 1948 within known and agreed borders and recognized by the UNGA thereafter. Since then it has expanded North, South, East and West all in breach of International law. One question for you mcohen, where are Israels borders?

Posted by: harry law | Jun 25 2015 8:29 utc | 46

mcohen @ 42 says:
Let’s be honest…
yes, the undeclared border policy works great for the apartheid state of Israel. rather than annexing Palestinian land they just occupy it and deny its millions of indigenous people the right to vote. simultaneously they build countless settlements where the ‘squatting’ jews take advantage of an amendment in the electoral law which grants them, and only them, voting rights.
all hail genuine democracy!

Posted by: john | Jun 25 2015 9:51 utc | 47

42
Only 24% of Israelis voted for Netanyahu, of the barely 25% of Israelis who are former-Soviet Khazara that flooded into Israel after the 1989 disintegration, the so-called ‘White Israelis’, who make a mockery of the word ‘democracy’, like the US Congress makes a mockery of the word ‘free republic’, a totalitarian dictatorship of the largest or wealthiest minority block is hardly Democracy, rule by the majority.

Posted by: Chipnik | Jun 25 2015 10:52 utc | 48

@ harry | 42
Thx, Harry. It’s habartists and Israel-firster pols who constantly spew that canard abt GOI being the only democracy in the ME. JEB was the latest. But Americans buy that crap.
Israelis are the Nazis of the ME*; their views on democracy are roughly equivalent.
*I offer as exhibit A in support of this assertion Ayelet Shaked .

Posted by: Denis | Jun 25 2015 11:01 utc | 49

Chipnik@48. American Democracy is the best money can buy.

Posted by: harry law | Jun 25 2015 11:28 utc | 50

#46
1.israel has no declared borders because they do not need to declare since all the surrounding countries have declared there,s already
great answer i must say…..sort of declare an innings like in cricket
2.as too the elections the arab list party voted,has mk,s and is represented.in some south american countries they just murder the opposition and then blame them for not voting…totally outrageous…one of them is going on the flotilla so he can get a good seat to watch the tsunami when it hits.all the tv stations will be there.ships in the desert.
3.john…..do not call them jews…they are israeli,s because they live in a country called israel..which has many citizens of different relegions and ethnic backgrounds.f@f.learn to understand the difference
4.all this crap about democracies in the middle east..not even worth discussing…go live in iraq or syria..they waiting to democracize you
bend over i,ll vote said the goat.

Posted by: mcohen | Jun 25 2015 11:29 utc | 51

@ 50: ” American Democracy is the best money can buy.”
Yep!
And American “Democracy” is wanted by the Globalists as a world system.

Posted by: ben | Jun 25 2015 14:32 utc | 52

mcohen @51 says:
john…..do not call them jews…they are israeli,s because they live in a country called israel..which has many citizens of different relegions and ethnic backgrounds.f@f.learn to understand the difference
ok. so if i was, say, an Ethiopian jew living in Israel, i’d be considered first an Israeli, second a jew, and third a nigger?

Posted by: john | Jun 25 2015 16:14 utc | 53

“Israel is not a dictatorship,it is the only genuine democratic country in the middle east”
Wrong from the start. Palestine did not vote to be dispossessed.

Posted by: ruralito | Jun 25 2015 16:33 utc | 54

51;OK,the rabbis(Cohens) speak,as they streak(naked) across our bows exposing themselves,very unseemly,as they demean their own intelligence.
TPP forever!Freaking stinkin Rethuglican POS,Obomba.
What happened to the Tony Abbott payoff smuggler story?

Posted by: dahoit | Jun 25 2015 16:42 utc | 55

..Israel is not a dictatorship,it is the only genuine democratic country in the middle east
Posted by: mcohen | Jun 25, 2015 2:03:30 AM | 42
That’s a joke, right?
The Israeli Occupation Forces are neither accountable to, nor bound by judgements made in, the civilian courts of “Israel”. That, my friend, makes “Israel” a military dictatorship.

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Jun 25 2015 18:24 utc | 56

Anyone who thinks democracy exists anywhere in the middle east is delusional. Every state has an elite ethnic/religious group who really runs the show. But saying Syria or Iran are more democratic than Israel is patently dishonest. If the IDF’s stranglehold on the gov’t makes Israel a dictatorship, what does that make the Assad family and the Alawite officer corps?

Posted by: Almand | Jun 25 2015 18:49 utc | 57

@51 – mcohen
Of course they’re not jews. Jews were opposed to the establishment of Israel on religious (jewish) grounds. The zionists are simply ethnic supremecists of a secular stripe, and wiki entry notwithstanding, Theo Herzl was atheist. These zionists that came to inhabit the land said “to hell with Moschiah, we will be our own Saviors.”. And so yes, they are not jews, a jew does not worship himself.
But nothing multi-ethnic about Israel, just a few pet token minorities.

Posted by: Cahaba | Jun 25 2015 19:35 utc | 58

mcohen: ” Israel doesn’t murder the opposition. ”
RIOTOUS!

Posted by: Ananymus | Jun 25 2015 19:40 utc | 59

#59
you need to oil those squeaky wheels grandma….arafat,abbas all the usual suspects,lived long and fruitful lives,inshallah
even this guy
Uproar in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps: Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has relieved Gen. Qassem Soleimani,the Al Qods Brigades chief and supreme commander of Iranian Middle East forces, of his Syria command after a series of war debacles
http://www.debka.com/article/24690/Khamenei-sacks-Qassem-Soleimani-from-command-of-the-Syrian-war-
why has abbas not have a beard,even a goatee would be nice ..in fact why is it that so few politicians have beards
castro at least stood for something revolutionary,great beard,viva cuba,
been thinking of growing a beard..buying a pipe.some borkum riff.
anyway here,s a good one i came across
After many years, a young Jewish Talmud student who had left the old country for America returns to visit the family.
“But–where is your beard?” asks his mother upon seeing him.
“Mama,” he replies, “in America, nobody wears a beard.”
“But at least you keep the Sabbath?”
“Mama, business is Business. In America, everybody works on the Sabbath.”
“But kosher food you still eat?”
“Mama, in America, it is very difficult to keep kosher.”
The old lady ponders this information and then leans over and whispers in his ear, “Isaac, tell me–you’re still circumcised?”

Posted by: mcohen | Jun 25 2015 22:58 utc | 60

@mcohen
Debka is a pathetic zionist disinfo outlet…
Garbage in, Garbage out..
That applies to you, as well.
I lol at this gem;
“Soleimani,the Al Qods Brigades chief and supreme commander of Iranian Middle East forces, of his Syria command after a series of war debacles”
You fool, Soleimani was never in charge of operations in Syria. Western/zionist propaganda alleged that AFTER the recent setbacks in Idlib, Soleimani was to lead the war in Syria, to give the impression Syria had become a puppet of Irans.
That is, of course, more garbage in and out.

Posted by: Luca K | Jun 25 2015 23:32 utc | 61

Good article B, keep up the good work.

Posted by: Luca K | Jun 25 2015 23:34 utc | 62

Mr.B, are there any problems with the site?
A post of mine won’t show.

Posted by: Luca K | Jun 25 2015 23:55 utc | 63

I, for one, miss the presence of Colden Holyfield. I hope he wasn’t run off by the commentariot here that takes everything at face value. Satire? Ignorance? Agitation? Who cares; at least his comments were funny + thought provoking.

Posted by: Santarist | Jun 26 2015 1:52 utc | 64

#61 luca k
obviously you know the situation in syria a lot better than i do
could you at leasr provide some proof instead of the garbage out in out
was the attack on the iranian officers on the golan a few months ago also garbage…were they just visiting for a cup of tea
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/11355539/Iranian-general-killed-in-Israeli-air-strike-in-Syria.html
what are saying ..that iran is not involved in syria …is reuters aso zionist western tunisian propaganda

Posted by: mcohen | Jun 26 2015 22:41 utc | 65

It looks like MoonofAlabama wants to help Assad murder more Syrians opposed to his police state backed by Iran and Hezboolah.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jun/17/bashar-assad-steps-chemical-attacks-despite-obama-/
Bashar al-Assad steps up chemical weapons attacks on civilians, although Obama promised he got rid of them all.
By Guy Taylor
June 17, 2015

Posted by: Ken Kelso | Jun 27 2015 6:30 utc | 66

Proof Golan Heights is historically Israels.
Brilliant article
http://xrl.us/bmfrf

Posted by: Ken Kelso | Jun 27 2015 6:34 utc | 67

The Golan belongs to Israel Period.
Syria controlled the Golan for only 21 years from 48 to 67, half the period it has been under Israeli rule. Almost half of the Golan had been purchased by Rothschild in the late 1800s and later robbed by the Syrian government in 1946.
All Jews were expelled from the Golan by terrorist Syria in 1946.
The Golan Heights was part of the British Mandate borders of 1917 that was supposed to go to Israel. The British gave the Golan to France in 1922 and France gave it to Syria in 1946.
The Golan was never part of Syria before 1946.
The Golan Has Been Jewish for Centuries. These rotten Arab colonialists have stolen lands from Kurds, Berbers, Copts, Babylonians, Chaldeans, Yazidis and they want to steal Jewish lands as well. The Golan was part of ancient and modern Israel for centuries, while it was under Syrian occupation for a mere 21 years!! The archaeology of the Golan is proof that the Golan is Jewish. I personally helped dig up a Talmudic era synagogue in Katzrin which is now has a visitor centre. The only Arab land is (Saudi) Arabia. The Arabs can go back there!!
The Golan is where the tribes of Dan and Menashe settled, and Israeli kings ranging from Saul to Herod ruled there. The Golan saw consecutive Jewish settlement for 800 years; 300 Jewish communities from the time of the Mishna and Talmudwere discovered there, along with the remnants of 27 synagogues. Later, 1,000 years of desolation followed, until the Jews returned. The Golan belongs to Israel because it is the estate of their forefathers.

Posted by: Ken Kelso | Jun 27 2015 6:35 utc | 68

It would be nice if b would IP ban this hasbara troll.

Posted by: Harry | Jun 27 2015 7:03 utc | 69

all hail golani brigade !!!!
let the king rise up and whip the false gods of sham and urdur
may kanduz rule with a just hand….great is the profit,low is the loss
may the tinkles tinkle
long in tooth itzik will rule for a 1000 years

Posted by: mcohen | Jun 27 2015 9:52 utc | 70

Israel is spoiling the brand.

Posted by: ruralito | Jun 27 2015 14:54 utc | 71

@68 Volscia for the Volscii!

Posted by: ruralito | Jun 27 2015 15:50 utc | 72

“And so yes, they are not jews, a jew does not worship himself.”
Excellent point! Many silly Djews believe themselves to be representatives of a distinct species: homo iudens. The contradictions between their fantasies and the real world can lead only to catastrophe.

Posted by: ruralito | Jun 27 2015 15:54 utc | 73

There isn’t a person alive on this planet who isn’t descended from some tribe or other. The mere fact doesn’t entitle them to their own state.

Posted by: ruralito | Jun 27 2015 16:09 utc | 74

Another thing: The modern state, bicameral legislature, president or prime minister, diplomatic corp, citizen army etc was a creation of the Enlightenment. Long after the last Jew wandered into the desert. A supposed genetic relationship with the ancient Hebrew prophets don’t qualify.

Posted by: ruralito | Jun 27 2015 16:21 utc | 75

Ken Kelso says:
The Golan is where the tribes of Dan and Menashe settled, and Israeli kings ranging from Saul to Herod ruled there
yeah, wasn’t it Herod and the high priests of usury who conspired with Empire to subjugate the hoi polloi and send Jesus of Nazareth and his radical message of peace and brotherly love to his death?
wow, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Posted by: john | Jun 27 2015 16:50 utc | 76

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