Rafah, Ceasefire and Hostages

“No decent person could remain unmoved by the images of children bleeding in the street and dead babies on the mortuary slab. I have seen such sights in the flesh and feel the horror as much as anybody. [Col Richard Kemp Analysis: The war crimes have been committed by Hamas.]

Richard Kemp CBE [Commander of the Oder of the British Empire] served in the Army for 29 years. During his final period of military duty, he was head of the international terrorism and Iraq team for the joint intelligence Committee from 2002-2006, and was also Chairman of the COBRA Intelligence Group. In both of these roles he handled all major global terrorist attacks, including those against British interests. He was made CBE for his work on the July 2005 London bombings.

Kemp emphasizes his concerns about children, innocent men and women as being nothing short of a war crime. But contrary to the distorted views pedaled by Hamas supporters, media commentators, human rights groups and political leaders, it is not a war crime perpetrated by Israel, but by Hamas.

Col Allen West US Congressman] was a 22-year US military veteran, freshman congressman, Tea Party darling and passionate Israel advocate talked to Herb Keinon of the Jerusalem Post, described as one “with his heart in the East. He is an African-American, who for months, until he bucked the movement’s orthodoxy on the budget deficit debate earlier. He is a 22-year US military veteran, having spent 43 months of active duty in the Middle East, including combat in Iraq and during the 1st Gulf War. He retired with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. One of his quotes follows:

“”—, when we don’t have a firm recognition of Israel, we don’t have the renouncing of terrorism. I would also ask, what is a Palestinian state? It is something that never existed before. And even the word Palestine.

You take it back to Palestina –which comes from Philstia—which was nothing but a declaration by Roman Emperor Hadrian in 73 AD.”

All Israel’s News posts on March 19, 2024, “Netanyahu after Biden phone call: “No way to eliminate Hamas without Rafah incursion.”

After the 1st phone call held with US President Joe Biden in over a month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Minister attempted to highlight common beliefs and downplay disagreements with the United States, while reiterating his insistence on an IDF ground operation into the town of Rafah.
“We see no way to eliminate Hamas militarily without destroying these remaining battalions”, says Netanyahu.

On July 25, The Editor in Chief of Times of Israel, David Horvitz, interviewed Richard Kemp as reported under the title, “A Supportive British Colonel, and a bleak vision of endless costly military operations.” His opening question, “how might Israel achieve a demilitarized Gaza. He shook his head at the improbability of it” and said “some kind of peacekeeping force would be essential, but who’d do that? Not the US, not the UK, nobody.

The only thing that would markedly affect the problem is if Israel — I should say the Jewish state — were to withdraw from the Middle East. Because, that’s what Hamas wants. And in my view, that’s what Fatah wantonly as well.”

On August 26, 2011, the Jerusalem Post published, “Allen West: US congressman with his heart in the East” by Herb Keinon. Apparently, he “pulled no punches when talking about his view of the Palestinians, Iran, Israel and the African-American community. The fact that the PA are trying to back-door the process by going to the UN for a unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state when we don’t have a firm recognition of Israel, we don’t have the renouncing of terrorism, I would ask what is a Palestinian state? It is something that never existed before. And even the word Palestine.

“You take it back to Palestina which comes from Philistia – which was nothing but a declaration by Roman Emperor Hadrian in 73AD.”Do you support two states for two peoples? I think that you have to 1st of all support the modern day state of Israel. I think you have to support Israel post the ’67 borders. Now, I am not going to sit here and dictate to Israel what their policies should be, but my perspective on it is that I have never seen a Palestinian state, and I think before that ever gets talked about, there some concessions that have to be made on their side: the recognition of Israel and the renouncing of terrorism.

And once again it comes back to those very important words: a credible peace partner. You gave back Gaza and the only thing you got in return were Kasam rockets and 220-millimeter [mortar shells]. You pulled out of southern Lebanon, and what did you get? You got a more militant Hezbollah, which during the 2nd Lebanon War rained down rockets and missiles.

So I think the other side needs to come to the table and show they are a credible partner before we continue to say to Israel, ‘This are what you do, and that you must do, and that you must believe in a two-state solution.’

Yes, there is a horrific double standard, we, as your best ally, needs to help you on that [the media]. Because, a lot of our sources follow that duplicitous hypocrisy as well. We need to do better in our country.

It was a great event when Prime Minister [Binyamin] Netanyahu came an spoke at the joint session at the joint session of Congress [in May], and I would expect the American president to come here and address the Knesset just as well –to show that inextricable bond, to show that we are 2 countries which have roots that are just so intertwined.

If you want to understand the true evolution of the word Palestine, it’s because Hadrian changed the name from Judea to Palestine, So, really, if you want to free Palestine, it belongs to the Jewish people, if you want to look at it historically.

The Tea Party is a constitutional conservative grassroots movement. It is only 18 months old, it’s getting better, stronger, more credible, and more knowledgeable each and every day. If you want this part of the world to respond in a way conducive to your security, you have to have a credible military option on the table; it is about strength in the Middle East. No one respects words; they respect your projection of strength.

On March 10, 2024, POLITICO published, “Netanyahu vows to defy Biden’s ‘red line’ on Rafah” by Paul Ronzheimer and Carlo Martuscelli.

It commences with reminding us that amid signs of increasing frustration with Netanyahu, the US president told MSNBC on Saturday that he opposed an escalation of the conflict into Rafah, and that he could not accept “30,000 more Palestinians dead.” Experts have since disputed this figure as being too high.

Annalena Baerbook said it would be “a humanitarian catastrophe.”

Netanyahu answered he confidently, “We’ll go there. We’re not going to leave them. You know, I have a red line. You know what the red line is? That October 7 doesn’t happen again. Never happens again” Obviously the Prime Minister was referring to the murderous Hamas raid that killed more than 1,160 people in Israel and triggered the war.—-Netanyahu claimed he had the tacit support of several Arab leaders for driving ahead with the onslaught against Hamas.

‘They understand that, and even agree with it quietly”, he said in an interview with Axel Springer, POLITICO’s parent company. They understand that, and even agree with it quietly. They understand Hama is part of the Iranian terror axis.”

Israeli authorities have been criticized for blocking the delivery of humanitarian assistance by land, but Netanyahu claimed the sea convoy as his idea in the interview, and denied people were starving.

He also predicted the fighting could end in as little as a month. “We’ve destroyed three-quarters of Hamas’ fighting terrorism battalions. And we’re close to finishing the last part in warfare,” the Israeli leader said. Fighting would not “take more than two months. Maybe 6 weeks, maybe 4 “he added.

Israel’s PM also doubled down on his rejection of the possibility of a Palestinian state- a topic that pits Israel against most of the rest of the world. “The Israeli people also support my position that says that we should resoundingly reject the attempt to ram down our throats a ‘Palestinian’ state. And so they should!

We are not looking for another October 7. We live in a world of useful idiots and find ourselves divided between the logical and the irrational. For the latter it is suggested that they read Shai ben-Tekoa’s “Exploding The Myth That Islam is an Abrahamic Religion” [American Thinker, March 21, 2024]