Video of the Day: 10 minutes about living on the Gaza border

Worth your 10 minutes.

Turkey tries to ship ball-bearings and cement mixers to Gaza as humanitarian aid...

Can you imagine the death and destruction that would be rained on Israel if the Gaza blockade was lifted as Hamas and much of the international community is demanding? 

Via Israel National News:

Customs officials at southern Israel’s Ashdod port discovered hundreds of ball-bearings and cement mixers in a Turkish shipment of “humanitarian aid” to Gaza on Wednesday, raising fears the cargo could have been used by Hamas to support its ongoing war against Israel, according to Channel Two.
While both items have civilian uses, both have played a central role building Hamas’s rocket arsenal and its vast network of “terror tunnels” into Israel.
Terrorists in Gaza regularly use ball-bearings to maximize the lethality of locally-made, short-range Qassam rockets. Unlike other, more powerful long-range rockets and military-grade mortar shells smuggled into Gaza from state-sponsors such as Iran, Qassam rockets have a relatively small warhead. But while the explosion itself may be relatively “small”, the rockets are also packed with shrapnel – including nails, razors and, most commonly, ball-bearings – which are scattered throughout a relatively wide radius upon impact, maiming or killing anyone in the vicinity.
The co-opting of hundreds of tons of concrete supplies by Hamas to build its underground tunnel network, used to store and transport weapons as well as carry out attacks inside Israel, has also been well-documented.

Guess where Hamas headquarters in Gaza is...

If you guessed in a bunker under a hospital, you win.

Via Tablet Magazine:

The idea that one of Hamas’ main command bunkers is located beneath Shifa Hospital in Gaza City is one of the worst-kept secrets of the Gaza war. So why aren’t reporters in Gaza ferreting it out? The precise location of a large underground bunker equipped with sophisticated communications equipment and housing some part of the leadership of a major terrorist organization beneath a major hospital would seem to qualify as a world-class scoop—the kind that might merit a Pulitzer, or at least a Polk.
So why isn’t the fact that Hamas uses Shifa Hospital as a command post making headlines? In part, it’s because the location is so un-secret that Hamas regularly meets with reporters there. On July 15, for example, William Booth of the Washington Post wrote that the hospital “has become a de facto headquarters for Hamas leaders, who can be seen in the hallways and offices.” Back in 2006, PBS even aired a documentary showing how gunmen roam the halls of the hospital, intimidate the staff, and deny them access to protected locations within the building—where the camera crew was obviously prohibited from filming. Yet the confirmation that Hamas is using Gaza City’s biggest hospital as its de facto headquarters was made in the last sentence of the eighth paragraph of Booth’s story—which would appear to be the kind of rookie mistake that is known in journalistic parlance as “burying the lede.”

Twenty Palestinians go to anti-war rally in Gaza, Hamas executes them...

Some on the left actually support these terrorists over Israel...

Via Times of Israel:

Channel 10 reports that 20 Palestinians who participated in an anti-war protest in the Gaza Strip were rounded up by Hamas and summarily executed as alleged Israeli collaborators yesterday.
Reports yesterday indicated that 30 suspected collaborators have been executed by Hamas thus far, but it isn’t clear whether that figure included the 20 anti-war protesters.

Israel takes out Gaza power plant....

Escalation...

Via Sky News:

Israeli tank fire struck the fuel depot of Gaza's only power plant this morning, potetionally cutting electricity to the enclave's 1.8 million residents.

The powerplant, which supplies two thirds of the territory's energy needs, was engulfed in flames sending a column of black smoke into the air.
The plant was hit last week and had been operating on a reduced capacity providing only a few hours of electricity per day to Gaza's residents.
"The power plant is finished," said its director, Mohammed al Sharif, who added the local fire brigade was not equipped to extinguish the blaze.
The depot was hit after another night of continued Israeli bombardment on Gaza, the heaviest in three weeks of fighting.

War Crimes: 30 Palestinians executed in Gaza...

Hey Jew haters, it wasn't Israel. It was Hamas. 

Via Times of Israel:

Hamas has executed more than 30 suspected collaborators in the Gaza Strip over the past few days, a Palestinian news agency reported on Monday.
Unnamed Palestinian security sources in Gaza told Palestine Press News Agency that Hamas has managed to apprehend dozens of suspected spies in the northern neighborhood of Shejaiya — which saw heavy fighting with the IDF last week — and summarily executed them following a short investigation. The sources said that many of the suspects were caught with weapons, telephones, and SIM cards from the Israeli cell provider Orange.

Priceless: Egypt Floods Gaza Tunnels With Sewage

This is the feel good story for today...

So this is pretty gross. Egypt's long struggled with ways to block a series of tunnels that bring some 30 percent of all goods, including guns, into Gaza so they got creative. They're using raw sewage. Earlier this week, Reuters reported that Egyptian authorities had gone to new extremes to cut off the flow of illegal goods and "flooded" the tunnels that run under the border. It's since been revealed that this was not a flood of water, but rather human excrement — hundreds, thousands, even millions of gallons of raw sewage pumped into the same tunnels that, to quote Reuters' report, "has been a lifeline for some 1.7 million Palestinians in Gaza." Keep on reading...

Report: Israel delivers 36 hour ultimatum to Hamas...

Or invasion?

Via Israel National News: 

Israel has delivered an ultimatum to Hamas through Egypt, according to which the IDF will widen its offensive in Gaza in 36 hours unless Hamas ceases firing rockets and smuggling arms into Gaza, IDF Radio reported Monday morning.

Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz told the station that the time left before Israel steps up its attack can be measured in "hours, not days."

"We are at a junction," he said. "Either we go toward a calm or toward a meaningful widening of the operation… including a possible move to achieve complete military decision."

There are ongoing contacts between Israel and Hamas through intermediaries, IDF Radio said, but the gaps between the sides are still very large...

Israel preparing for ground invasion of Gaza?

All signs say a ground invasion of Gaza is imminent...

ISRAELI CABINET APPROVES PLAN TO MOBILIZE UP TO 75,000 RESERVE TROOPS FOR GAZA CAMPAIGN - POLITICAL SOURCES
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) November 16, 2012

Bringing it: Israeli Air Force struck some 70 targets in the Gaza Strip in one hour...

Boom!

Via JPost:

The Israeli Air Force struck some 70 targets in the Gaza Strip in the past hour, the IDF Spokesman’s Office said shortly before 10 p.m. Thursday. Among the targets, the IDF statement said, were underground medium-range rocket launching pads. The most recent blitz of air strikes brought the total number to well over 300.

Palestinians have fired over 275 rockets from Gaza into the South since the IDF launched its operation. Two rockets triggered an air raid siren in Tel Aviv, marking the first time that a real siren was sounded in Tel Aviv since the Gulf War in the early 1990s.

Video: Israeli Navy Uncovers Weaponry Intended for Terrorist Organization in the Gaza Strip

If you don't understand why Israel has to enforce a blockade of Gaza, just watch this video.

Video of the brutal life in Gaza

Oops! It's actually a Gaza vacation promo video.

Israel Stops Latest Attempt by Moonbats to Break Gaza Blockade (video)

This time it was a yacht containing a small group of Jewish activists. No "incidents" were reported.

The Gaza Blockade Deception

Here is how the BBC reports the situation in Gaza. The UN uses the words "grim" and "medieval." (accent mine)

The blockade has been widely described as "collective punishment" resulting in a humanitarian crisis; UN officials have described the situation as "grim", "deteriorating" and a "medieval siege", but Israel says there are no shortages in Gaza, pointing to the aid it allows in.

In particular, the BBC cites shortages of building materials that make construction of homes and schools impossible.

The UN says restrictions on cement have made the reconstruction of 12,000 Palestinian homes damaged or destroyed in Israeli military operations "impossible".

It says it has not been able to build schools to house 15,000 new pupils, necessary because of population growth since the blockade began.

Keep the "shortage of building material" and "grim" description in mind and check out this photo from a new mall that just opened in Gaza.



Here is the Olympic sized swimming pool that opened in Gaza this year.



So, they have a new mall and Olympic sized swimming pool. What about claims they are short on food?

Aid agencies operating in Gaza say they have largely been able to continue to transport basic supplies such as flour and cooking oil into the territory.

But the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization says 61% of Gazans are "food insecure".

According to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa, 80% of Gazan households rely on some kind of food aid.

Unrwa provides food aid for 750,000 people, half the population.

Its food distribution has been suspended several times since June 2007 as a result of border closures or fuel shortages.

Here is a recent photo of a fruit and vegetable market in Gaza.



There are serious problems in Gaza. The unemployment rate may be as high as 38.6% and many people lack the money to buy the goods that are available. However, that isn't Israel's fault. The blame for the poor economy lies with the government of Gaza. Business don't want to open in a place where armed gunmen will be launching rockets at a neighboring country from their parking lot.

You can read more about the Gaza blockage deception perpetuated by the liberal mainstream media at Tim Gross Media.

President Obama Wants Gaza Blockade Lifted. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is Opposed.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is smart enough to know lifting the Gaza blockade will bolster Hamas. President Obama isn't that smart.

Haaretz reported:

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is opposed to lifting the naval blockade of the Gaza Strip because this would bolster Hamas, according to what he told United States President Barack Obama during their meeting at the White House Wednesday. Egypt also supports this position.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once more put off announcing the creation of a committee of inquiry...

Obama Decides To Give $400 Million of Your Tax Dollars to Gaza

Israel has a plan to starve Hamas with a blockade. President Obama has a plan to help thwart the Israeli plan by giving $400 million of your tax dollars to Gaza. Millions of Americans are suffering from unemployment and the national debt is has skyrocketed to record levels and President Obama wants to give $400 million of your hard earned tax dollars to people dedicated to the destruction of one of our closest allies. This is insane.

The NY Daily News reported:

WASHINGTON - President Obama pledged $400 million on Wednesday to help Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas provide fresh water and shelter to people in the increasingly "unsustainable" Gaza Strip....

So far, the Israeli strategy to starve the Hamas leadership into capitulation with the blockade has failed to work, but it has succeeded in hurting Israel's image around the world. Hamas controls the government in Gaza.

CNN Has Figured Out Who To Blame For The Gaza Raid: George Bush (video)

Now, the Gaza flotilla raid has been added to the crimes the left is blaming on former President Bush. Since only 19% of Americans think Israel is to blame, the left needed their fallback scapegoat.

NewsBusters reported:

Obviously, blaming former President George W. Bush is en vogue - for everything from the BP oil spill to the current economic malaise. But some things that are going wrong in the world - it just seems to be a bit of a stretch to pin on a former administration.

But that didn't stop CNN's Fareed Zakaria, also the editor of Newsweek International. On his June 6 show "Fareed Zakaria GPS," Zakaria pointed out the pivotal role Turkey played in last week's deadly Gaza flotilla raid...

"The United States for its part did not handle Turkish relations well, especially under the previous administration," Zakaria said. "The Bush team treated Turkey with the usual mixture of arrogance and high-handedness and then was outraged when the Turkish parliament refused to go along with its war plans in Iraq. Then they repeatedly snubbed Turkey over the next few years." More here.

Reuters Caught Cropping Weapons From Hands of Flotilla Peace Activists

Reuters is at it again. In the past, they were caught using Photo Shop on photos during the second Lebanese war to make them look worse than they were. Now they have resorted to cropping weapons out of photos to make it appear the activists on the Gaza blockade breaker flotilla were unarmed.

Here is the original photo. No knife!

Notice the knife in the activist's hand in the lower right of the picture.

Here is the cropped version.


You can find more on this deception here and here.

Israel Stops Latest Gaza Blockade Attempt

The ‘Rachel Corrie’ has been boarded and the troublemakers on board have been arrested. Fortunately, this time there is no report of violence.

The Jerusalem Post reported:

At about 5:50 am on Saturday, the first reports came in over Twitter that the ‘Rachel Corrie’ had been boarded close to Gaza. Earlier the activists reported that their radar had been jammed, however their Twitter accounts continued to operate.

The activists reported that three boats were following them for about twenty minutes and then that they had been boarded.

The passengers are said to be under arrest.

The Israelis offered to deliver the aid if the ship would dock, but the aim of the activists isn't to deliver aid. They are trying to destroy Israel's ability to defend herself from Hamas.



Hat tip Gateway Pundit.

There They Go Again: More Activists Sailing For Gaza

More crazy Palestinian activists are aboard a ship and attempting to break Israel's naval blockade of Gaza. Israel has offered to off-load the supplies and deliver them. Egypt has also made the same offer. Of course, the activist will decline these offers because this isn't about delivering aid to Gaza. It is about try to give Israel a black eye. Torpedoes anyone?

A group of pro-Palestinian activists, including a Nobel Peace laureate from Northern Ireland, are aboard an aid ship heading for the Gaza Strip, and they expect to arrive there late Friday or early Saturday despite Israel’s insistence that it will not allow any vessel to breach its blockade, according to multiple reports...

Graham said the ship is carrying 15 activists — including Nobel Laureate Mairead Corrigan-Maguire — and was roughly 280 miles from Gaza on Thursday. Former U.N. Assistant Secretary-General Denis Halliday is also on board the ship, the Irish Times reported.