By Neve Gordon
www.counterpunch.com
The first bombardment took three minutes and forty seconds. Sixty Israeli F-16 fighter jets bombed fifty sites in Gaza, killing over two hundred Palestinians, and wounding close to a thousand more.
A few hours after the deadly strike, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert convened a press conference in Tel-Aviv. With Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni sitting on his right and Defense Minister Ehud Barak on his left, he declared: “It may take time, and each and every one of us must be patient so we can complete the mission.”
But what exactly, one might ask, is Israel’s mission?
Although Olmert did not say as much, the “mission” includes four distinct objectives.
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punditman says...
We often get the impression through our dumbed down media that all Israelis feel one way and all Palestinians feel the opposite way.
Neve Gordon is just one example of how that notion is a deadly myth. As someone who served in the Israeli military in an IDF paratrooper unit and was wounded in action, resulting in a 42 percent disability, he is someone who knows a thing or two about the nature of Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories.
He is known for his views on social justice and is a vocal critic of Israeli policies. Gordon is a Senior Lecturer and head of the Department of Politics and Government at Ben-Gurion University. He is the author of "Israel's Occupation," University of California Press, 2008, which can be purchased here.
