The terrorist bombing of a Tel Aviv bus wounded 23 this morning. The last time there was an attack like this in Tel Aviv was 2006, and it raises the obvious questions about the danger of this conflict taking repeated aim at the bustling population center. This wasn’t a suicide bombing, and the two suspects are reportedly on the run.
Also, in case there was any doubt this would hinder a potential cease-fire deal, the Jerusalem Post reports that Hamas has already started celebrating in Gaza:
Hamas praised the terrorist bombing of a bus in Tel Aviv Wednesday afternoon, but stopped short of claiming responsibility.
“Hamas blesses the attack in Tel Aviv and sees it as a natural response to the Israeli massacres…in Gaza,” Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters. “Palestinian factions will resort to all means in order to protect our Palestinian civilians in the absence of a world effort to stop the Israeli aggression.”
On Twitter, Hamas’s armed wing posted: “We told you #IDF that our blessed hands will reach your leaders and soldiers wherever they are, ‘You opened the Gates of Hell on Yourselves.’”
Sweet cakes were handed out in celebration in Gaza’s main hospital, which has been inundated with wounded from IAF strikes as part of Operation Pillar of Defense. Celebratory gunfire reportedly rang out as news of the attack spread throughout the Strip.
The White House and Hillary Clinton, who had just arrived in Cairo to help broker a cease-fire, released the following statements:
The White House denounced the attack, saying “these attacks against innocent Israeli civilians are outrageous.”
“The United States will stand with our Israeli allies, and provide whatever assistance is necessary to identify and bring to justice the perpetrators of this attack,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said in a statement.
“The United States strongly condemns this terrorist attack and our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and the people of Israel.” US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday.
“As I arrive in Cairo, I am closely monitoring reports from Tel Aviv, and we will stay in close contact with Prime Minister Netanyahu’s team. The United States stands ready to provide any assistance that Israel requires,” she added.
Fatah-affiliated Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade has claimed responsibility for the attack, but JPost says police haven’t confirmed.
Maybe the White House wants to try the perpetrators of the Tel Aviv bus attack in a federal district court, assuming of course they are first read their rights, lawyered up and tried by a jury of their peers. In the meantime Clinton and Obama will continue pressuring and threatening Israel from taking the necessary actions to defeat their genocidal enemy Hamas not in the courts but on the battlefield. By the way, there hasn't been a pip out of Hijab Hillary or Hussein Obama protesting Qatar's $400 million contribution to Hamas or Erdogan's (the president's best friend in the mideast) comment that Israel is the terrorist state. Hypocrisy has reached ever new levels in this White House.
Actually, isn't that sorta exactly what Israel is going to do if they catch the two perps? n nIt ought not be that hard to convict them — they got witnesses who saw them leave a parcel on the bus and then saw it blow up which would go pretty far toward convincing any jury that they are guilty of at least putting the bomb on the bus. n nBut Israel is a civilized country (unlike Gaza), I suspect they will be accorded some form of due process and not just shot or dragged to their death behind a vehicle (as was done in Gaza recently). And in this case, a "jury of their peers" would be folk in Tel Aviv who ride city busses, people whom regardless of race or nationality, likely would prefer not to be blown up.
You left out the part that after being convicted and sentenced to life in a prison where they will have conjugal rights, right to an education, cell phone, special food and ability to confer with other "political prisoners" they will of course be released with other mass murderers in a totally disproportionate prisoner exchange.
You are oh so correct. We Jews, American and even Israeli, are more concerned about everybody's well being than fellow Jews.
They will be treated in prison a lot better than Israel treated and still treats the Jews who were expelled from Gaza.
well they will not be dragged in the streets behind some motorbike, but hopefully they will be shot or car b q'd tout suite. n nbecause Israel is a civilized country n nI will provide candies n n:)
Transfer these Amalekites. Remove them from proximity to the Jews whom they would destroy to the last child, and whose land they desecrate with their hatred. n nIt is in their own interest. n nBecause some day, they will go too far, and the Israelis will go apeshit, and respond like any other nation would.
Or do you take MacArthur's solution? n nYou pretty much describe the Japanese at the end of WW-II and look at what we did to Japan. nWhile they destroyed our auto and electronics industries, we literally changed the culture of that country into one that no longer was a military threat to us or anyone else. So too with Germany. n nIf Israel was to impose a secular Jewish culture on Gaza — establish enclaves where they are living in the 21st Century and not 16th, but where they have to live as Israelis and not Palestinians, would it work? n nRemember that it was the Japanese who invented the concept of the homicide bomber. nAnd within 15 years — by 1960 — we had changed that culture.
these 'culture' of these savages are nothing like the Japanese culture n n
MainesMichael — it won't necessarily be the Israelis. n nThe US already has had one ambassador killed in Libya — imagine if Hamas was successful in what has to be their efforts to kill or kidnap Hillary Clinton. I doubt Hamas truly understands what the American response to that would be — and Obama really wouldn't have a choice because the House Republicans would be introducing impeachment proceedings if he didn't respond with considerable force. n nRemember that Israel wasn't responsible for Dresden. The US and British were — and that really was a war crime — and FDR was POTUS at the time….
That's exactly my point. Some day, Israel will react as any other country would long ago have reacted. Transferring the 'palestinians' now might then be seen as potentially having been a kindness, by comparison.
I would caution against declaring the bombing of Dresden a war crime. Just saying…
Why? Seriously — why? n nHiroshima and Nagasaki were legitimate military targets. The Dresden railyards would likewise have been a legitimate military target, but the city itself was an arts city. Not really involved in the Nazi war effort in any way that I have ever heard of. n nAnd thus….
Read Frederick Taylor's "Dresden". nA few points – the death toll of the Dresden firebombing is usually terribly exaggerated, largely due to Soviet postwar propaganda. Therefore, it has become the example of allied "atrocities" during WW2. ("Slaughterhouse Five" doesn't help, either.) Second, there were legitimate military reasons to bomb Dresden. It was, for one, a rail center, and at that point in the war disrupting the movement of troops from front to front was a necessity. At any rate, how can we contend that a major city in Germany in 1945 was "not really involved in the Nazi war effort in any way", especially one of the few that hadn't been bombed? nAnd to suggest that Dresden was a war crime opens a can of worms. Hamburg, for example. Yeah – it was a military target, but you could argue that only its waterfront or factories were. Cologne? Lots of damage, and the 1000 plane raid was logistically spectacular, but did it serve a military purpose? If Dresden was a war crime, the whole strategic bombing campaign was a war crime. nThe big issue, though, is how can we judge today the decisions made at the time? The world was engaged in a death struggle between competing ideologies, and our enemies – the bad guys – had demonstrated a capacity to play quite dirty. By Feb 1945 who the heck cared how many Germans or Japanese died in a bombing raid? If it shortened the war and saved American and British lives it was worth it. (I realize there were those in the US and Britain who questioned the brutality, including Churchill, but the larger point remains – after all, well over a million people were killed in these attacks in Japan and Europe. Whatever moral issues people struggled with were overcome, based on the needs of the moment.) nFinally, you can argue that Dresden was unnecessary – I would disagree – but that doesn't make it a war crime. nAs Michael Maines says above, decent nations will engage in horrific behavior if pushed beyond the breaking point. Iran should take note. Perhaps a copy of the aforementioned book would serve them well. n Pleasant topic for Thanksgiving, eh?
"The United States stands ready to provide any assistance that Israel requires,” she added. n nOK. Kindly destroy Iran's nukes at the nearest convenient opportunity.
On 9/11/11, Arabs danced in Palenstine, as reported by Fox. CNN did not report this. To this day I hate CNN for their lying omission.
EdEd, the Japanese kamikazes attacked military targets like warships, not schools & civilian buses. How can you compare the Arabs to the Japanese?