***Abandoned property ***

[Equinox]

I post this with not so much a one sided story here (it is) but I want to acknowledge that there is equal trouble on the other side. People shouldn't have to suffer this way for the actions of a few. We should say the majority rules. The majority rules. The majority rules.

Now, that being said, the majority doesn't have the right to take away civil liberties away from anyone. There has got to be away for both peoples to live together They can benefit more than can destroy. Who's willing to join me?

I know everyone in here knows that I'm for a One State Solution, however, I'm open to suggestions to anythingthat will lead to a continued peace.

Let's figure this out together.

Let's figure this out together from both sides.

During the IDF invasion of Bethlehem in Operation Defensive Shield, the restaurant was closed, and like all the residents of the city, Ma'ali lived under curfew for 38 straight days. Two weeks ago, a day before the curfew was lifted, a Palestinian woman who had passed the restaurant called Ma'ali to tell him his restaurant had been destroyed. I visited him at the weekend. There's nothing left of Friends Restaurant. IDF bulldozers demolished it completely, together with two cement block factories next door, leaving only an empty lot. All the property inside the restaurant, particularly the kitchen equipment and the stores of cigarettes and drinks, was crushed under the bulldozer. The remains can be found in the dust of the rubble. Ma'ali estimates the damage at NIS 150,000. He says he doesn't understand why they didn't at least let him know in advance of the demolition plans, so he could have removed the valuables.

The IDF Spokesman did not respond to questions about this affair in time for publication. Presumably, the restaurant and the two factories next door were demolished because of their proximity to the checkpoint, and the need to "expose" the area. But two other nearby buildings, a lot closer to the checkpoint, were left standing. They belong to the church. The IDF was in no hurry to demolish them, apparently because of their owners. But when it comes to the private property of the son of refugees, the IDF has no compunctions. Maybe they thought he was used to it. After all, his parents' fields in Jura were turned into abandoned property in 1948.

Ma'ali, of course, is not the only one who lost his livelihood in this manner. All that's left of the Al Aqsa restaurant, on the second floor of a Jenin office building, is charred remains. The neighbors say it was destroyed only because of the name (the IDF Spokesman has yet to respond to that, as well). At the Dir Sharaf checkpoint at the entrance to Nablus, a large stone masonry shop has been closed for months because of the checkpoint. The roads leading to Tul Karm, Qalqilyah and Jenin are lined with hundreds of shops, some demolished, that stand empty because the IDF doesn't let anyone approach them. The same is true for many of the shops of Hebron and Bethlehem. Dozens of industrial factories have been closed, whether by direct order from the army because of their location, or because the workers can't get to them.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. This is sad

Of course, no one ever hears of this. They only hear of the suicide bombers, and can't figure out why the Palestinians won't leave Israel alone.

[The Zanti Regent]

2. Yes, and Falwell and Robertson and their ilk egg Israel on

Time and time again the psychotics who run Likud are egged on and on by the neocons and the American Taliban to kill more Palestinians so Armageddon will commence.

I hate to tell the Taliban this, but JESUS IS NOT COMING BACK!

He REMEMBERS what YOU DID TO HIM THE FIRST TIME HE WAS HERE!

He AIN'T COMING BACK!

and

THE INVISIBLE CLOUD BEING isn't coming for you, either!