This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- As rockets pour in from Gaza, Israel debates launching a new war
- A new Gaza war would be far more dangerous than the 2008 war
- Israel fires tank shells, makes ‘direct hits’ on targets in Syria
- Nato pledges to defend Turkey against attacks from Syria
- Far-right extremism growing in Germany and Greece
- Sharp disagreements between EU and IMF delay Greece’s bailout payment
As rockets pour in from Gaza, Israel debates launching a new war
Trails of smoke are seen after the launch of rockets from the northern Gaza strip towards Israel on Sunday. (Reuters)
Theoretically, there’s a cease fire in effect between Israel and Gaza,since it was brokered by Egyptian intelligence officials on Sunday.But the Iran-linked Gaza terror group Islamic Jihad continued to firerockets into Israel on Monday, damaging homes but producing no newcasualties. Israel retaliated with air strikes. Some 150 rocketshave been fired from Gaza into southern Israel since Saturday. Israeliprime minister Benjamin Netanyahu met on Monday with some 100 foreignenvoys, and said,
“I don’t know of any of your governments who couldaccept such a thing. I don’t know of any of the citizens of yourcities who could find that acceptable and something that couldproceed on a normal basis. I think the whole world understandsthat this is not acceptable.
So we’re going to fight for the rights of our people to defendthemselves. We’ll take whatever action is necessary to put a stopto this.”
Israel’s foreign missions reportedly were instructed to tell theirhost governments that Israel has lost patience with the situation onthe Gaza border and could take some action. Jewish Telegraphic Association
A new Gaza war would be far more dangerous than the 2008 war
Hamas was caught by surprise by Operation Cast Lead, Israel’s 2008ground invasion of Gaza. This time, Hamas will be far betterprepared, with bomb-laden tunnels, booby-trapped buildings, snipers andunderground command centers. At the same time, Hamas now haslong-range rockets, and could attack Tel Aviv, something that wouldcause the violence to spiral up even farther. Jerusalem Post
Israel fires tank shells, makes ‘direct hits’ on targets in Syria
For the second day in a row, Israel fired into Syria in responseto Syrian mortar shells landing in the Golan Heights. On Sunday,it was just a warning shot. On Monday, a Syrian mortar shelllanded near an Israeli army post in Golan, causing no damage orinjuries. According to a military statement:
“In response, IDF (Israel Defense Forces) soldiersfired tank shells towards the source of the fire, confirmingdirect hits. Syrian mobile artillery was directly hit.
[Further shooting from Syria} “will not be tolerated and shall beresponded to with severity.”
A spokesman for United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said thathe was “deeply concerned by the potential for escalation.” AFP
Nato pledges to defend Turkey against attacks from Syria
Turkey has been striking Syria’s military repeatedly for over a month,ever since shells from Syria’s army struck a Turkish village, killingtwo women and three children. On Monday, a Syrian fighter jet bombeda rebel-held area near the Turkish border, killing at least sixpeople, while a rocket-propelled grenade landed inside Turkey. Theescalating violence near Turkey has sent a surge of Syrian refugeesacross the border. There are now about 120,000 Syria refugees inTurkish refugee camps, with 70,000 more living in Turkey outside thecamps.
As the situation escalates, Nato announced on Monday that itwill defend Turkey against attacks from Syria if necessary.Nato’s Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Monday:
“NATO as an organization will do what it takes toprotect and defend Turkey, our ally. We have all plans in place tomake sure that we can protect and defend Turkey and hopefully thatway also deter so that attacks on Turkey will not takeplace.”
Al-Jazeera and Reuters
Far-right extremism growing in Germany and Greece
Far-right attitudes are growing in Germany, and not just on thefringes. (The phrase “far right” has different meanings in Europe andAmerica.) Nationwide surveys show that right-wing extremist attitudeshave grown from 8.2% to 9% in a year, with xenophobic preferencesheld by 25.1% of the population. In Greece, the growth of extremeright-wing attitudes has been much more extreme, and is resulting inan increasing level and severity of racist violence. What started assimple fist beatings has now escalated to assaults with metal bars,bats and knives, with attacks directed at dark-skinned migrants. Atthe same time, the far-right anti-immigrant Golden Dawn party hassurged in popularity and in national elections. Spiegel and AP
Sharp disagreements between EU and IMF delay Greece’s bailout payment
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Union areopenly disagreeing on the demands to be placed on Greece in return fornew bailout payments. In particular, the EU wants to give Greece twoadditional years to meet its austerity commitments, while the IMFrefuses. The additional two years will mean that Greece will need anadditional 32.6 billion euros bailout on top of the 148 billion eurosit has already received, and with Greece’s economy continuing tospiral downward on a daily basis, there’s little doubt that even thatwon’t be enough. The situation has gotten so bad that even mainstreammedia analysts are now saying that the problem with Greece isinsoluble, so you no longer have to come to web sites like mine to getthat particular peace of information. Greece is set to go bankrupt onFriday, when it has to meet 5 billion euros in debt payments.However, Germany’s parliament will have to vote on new bailout terms.There is little enthusiasm to speed up the bailout decision-makingprocess, since the fault is really with Greece, which didn’t pass a2013 budget until late Sunday evening (actually Monday morning). So,unless the new bailout payment can be awarded very quickly, some waywill have to be found to give Greece a few billion euros cash byFriday. Irish Examiner
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