So now they're robbing banks (IDF)

[TomInTib]

Israeli troops raid Nablus, Jenin financial institutions, confiscating funds the army says were earmarked for terrorism
The Associated Press

Published: September 20, 2006


NABLUS, West Bank Israeli troops destroyed five foreign exchange depots and a bank in the West Bank early Wednesday, making off with hundreds of thousands of dollars the army said was earmarked for terrorism.

The troops entered Nablus and Jenin overnight, pulling Jenin money changers from their homes and forcing them to open their businesses, two Jenin money changers said. The army confiscated hundreds of thousands of dollars, although the exact amount was not immediately known.

The Israeli military refused to give details of the operation, saying only that forces operated in Nablus overnight targeting "funds that serve terrorism and the terrorist infrastructure."
<snip>
"They took me from my house and forced me to open the door and took everything I have: money, checks, dollars, shekels," Assar said. "They didn't leave me anything except for the rubble."
<snip>
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/20/africa/ME_GEN_Israel_Palestinian_Money.php

[acmavm]

1. Hey, it's all good. It's Israel and the IDF don't ya know? Those

damn money changers and that bank were picking on 'em.

[ThomCat]

2. It's very easy to say that confiscated funds

were earmarked for terrorism. Prove it. Otherwise it's nothing but theft.

[acmejack]

3. They have just stopped being circumspect about it.

They left witnesses alive to tell of it when they didn't have to. It caused then a great deal more trouble leaving these people alive to make trouble for them. If this was even an "official" operation...

[The Magistrate]

5. A Fascinating Statement, Sir

You are aware of occassions in the past when Israeli armed forces have their way into and out of banks, leaving no survivors to recount the tale?

Seizing monies employed in war or crime is a pretty routine thing. Whether this operation was well aimed is, of course, a seperate matter. Whether these persons were in fact moving or holding money for militant bodies is unknown at this point, though the men's statements they are not cannot be taken as more authoritative than Israeli government statements that they are: they have every incentive to lie, and the Israelis may well be mistaken.

[acmejack]

7. Members of militaries the world over have used the cover of warfare

to perpetrate crimes. This a fact & is not unique to the IDF. At no point did I imply it was unique to the Israeli forces so please don't presume to put words into my mouth. The point of killing all the witnesses is an obvious observation, if you think otherwise, you are simply being willfully naive.

[The Magistrate]

8. Quite Irrelevant, Sir

Your original statement could easily be read as indicating this was a departure from previous Israeli army practice in the bank robbery line, in that witnesses were left alive to tell the tale. My question to you was whether or not you had available any accounts of previous bank robberies by the Israeli army in which witnesses were killed. If you have any account of such an incident, do, please, share it with us.

"What my noble Lord requires of you is one thousand ounces of silver this year: otherwise I shall be forced to quarter my braves on your granaries."

[acmejack]

12. Only by one such as yourself predisposed to do so.

Wioth such an obvious pro Israeli bias. You now presume to tell me what I meant to say?

[The Magistrate]

14. In Other Words, Sir, You Know Of No Previous Murderous Bank Robberies

Committed by the Israeli armed forces. That there were such previous instances is about the only plain meaning of your earlier statement a person conversant with the English language could be expected to take away from it.

"It's like fudge, only made of pigs!"

[NOLADEM]

4. Israel's behavior routinely disgusts me more than any other

They are trying to provoke a war. Our blind support for them makes them feel invincible and free to act like complete assholes.

[The Magistrate]

6. How Does This Work To Provoke A War With Anyone, Sir?

There is already a war between various Arab Palestinian militant bodies and Israel. This is simply an incident in that, and a pretty mild one.

[NOLADEM]

9. Further provocation in the continuing war

And they are trying just as hard as Bushco to provoke the region into the wider war they all want. They know they have a partner in that effort in Bushco for another 20+ months and they are doing all they can to start the Armageddon before the Chimp is done.

[The Magistrate]

10. Now There Is An Interesting New Concept, Sir

"Further provocation in the continuing war"....

Once war is joined, the concept of provocation rather goes by the board: both sides engage in striking blows at one another until one can no longer continue. None is, properly speaking, in response to any other, save as one may expose some opportunity for counter-attack.

To engage the other line you propose, it would seem to me that if the cross-border fighting against Hezbollah did not suffice to produce a wider engagement, an raid on money in Nablus will certainly fall far short of turning the trick. Even if one chooses to view matters through that prism, it must be acknowledged this is a mere flea-bite by compare to the other. "Armageddon" hardly serves any Israeli interest, in any case.

[NOLADEM]

11. Not during a supposed ceasefire

[The Magistrate]

13. Where Is The Cease-Fire, Sir?

Lebanon, is it not?

How would that bear on Nablus, in the Jordan valley?