Free Thinker: January 2009

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"It [the 2006 election that brought Hamas to power] was a democratic election and one of the fairest and freest elections ever to take place in the Arab world, that's troubling for Arab states in itself."

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"Israeli foreign minister said, about few hundred home made rocket is enough to lauch such a genocide in Gaza. What about years of Occupation of Palestine ?? "

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manfred - Australia
"I am disgusted with our western leaders in not condemning the war crimes which Israel is carrying out against the population in Gaza. I do understand why there is so much hatred against the west and why we have terrorism! The inactivity of our governments is beyond belief. If that was Israel at the receiving end,no doubt there would be a different approach by the west to this crime! History will judge Israel and the west for their wrong doing.....shame on the bastards!! "

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As the offensive entered its eighth day Palestinian medical sources said 464 Palestinians had died and more than 2,000 have been injured.

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Ehud Barak, the Israeli defense minister, said on Saturday that the operation was aimed at forcing Hamas "to stop its hostile activities against Israel and bring about significant change".

"We have carefully weighed all our options, we are not war hungry but we should not allow a situation where our towns are constantly targeted by Hamas," he said.

Mark Regev, an Israeli government spokesman, later told Al Jazeera on Saturday that the "single aim" of the offensive was to halt Hamas rocket attacks into Israeli territory.

"Ultimately Hamas is solely responsible for this crisis and today they are paying a price for that," he said.

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Marwan Bishara, Al Jazeera's senior political analyst, said: "Israel can claim in various stages that it has won this or that war against Arabs, but it is obvious since the invasion of Lebanon in 1982 that there is no military solution to Israel's security."It cannot bomb its way into peaceful co-existence. Israel is trying to do all it can to destroy Hamas but with more than 400 dead, there will be more than 400 more new recruits in Gaza.

"It has taken this path and will probably pay the price in the long term, short term it's the Palestinians who pay the price."

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At least 11 Palestinians, including one child, have been killed after Israeli forces struck a mosque during prayers in the town of Beit Lahiya, north of Jabaliya in the Gaza Strip.
More than 200 people were inside the the Ibrahim al-Maqadna mosque praying when it was struck.It is not clear yet whether the mosque was hit as part of the Israeli army's shelling, which started on Saturday afternoon. At least 50 people were wounded, Hamas and medical officials said.

The Israeli military has destroyed several mosques during its week-long offensive in Gaza, saying Hamas uses the houses of worship to store weapons.
Ayman Mohyeldin, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Gaza, said: "As much as Israel wants to be surgical in its strikes at the end of the day it is civilians that are being hit. This is proof that civilians are caught up in these attacks."

Mohyeldin said doctors in the Gaza Strip were being overwhelmed by the number of casualties being brought in as a result of the Israeli offensive and that hospitals were near a state of collapse due to a lack of medicines and blood.
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Tens of thousands of protesters including singer Annie Lennox, human rights campaigner Bianca Jagger and Ken

Livingstone, the city's former mayor, marched through the capital.

Shoes litter Whitehall in London in protest against Israel [AFP]
Marchers on the event organised by the Stop the War Coalition were to leave old shoes for Gordon Brown, the

country's prime minister, at his Downing Street residence, in the spirit of an Iraqi journalist who threw his

shoes at George Bush, the US president.

World wide protests

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In Ankara, Turkey's capital, about 5,000 people shouted "killer Israel" during an anti-Israeli rally as anger mounted in a country traditionally considered an ally of Israel.

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Bush.. The terrorism paranoid:
President Bush's first public comments on the violence come on the SEVENTH DAY of Israel's aerial assaults on Gaza, which have killed 431 people and injured 2,100 others in the coastal territory.

"I urge all parties to pressure Hamas to turn away from terror!!!, and to support legitimate Palestinian leaders working for peace," Bush said in his weekly radio address.

Bush said Hamas was responsible for the latest violence and rejected a unilateral ceasefire that would allow Hamas to continue to fire mortars on Israel from the Gaza Strip.

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Luis - United States
First, Bush government has been all about terrorizing Americans with the false premise of terrorist hating Americans. Second, how can you trust a person that calls for peace talks when he's been leading a country to two wars for 8 long years without the option of diplomacy? Only two weeks of this "Horse" and his "Last kicks"

anti-neocon - Afghanistan
This is the same Bush who refused to call for a ceasefire in Lebanon until Israel had "finished its job". Well, I've got news for the US warmonger . Hizbollah was not wiped out and Hamas will not be either. This is the same liar who launched an illegal war against Iraq, who has the blood of hundreds of thousands on his hands.

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Jamna - Malaysia
Gazans were given only two choices by the Israelis starved to death or bombed to death.

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7th day video report: