Stay human?

ipernity: Report From Gaza by Aref Nammari (goplayer)
An Italian article (Il Manifesto, Saturday 23 January 2009 translated into English about how Israeli soldiers destroyed a village in Gaza and how they detained the lady who told the story in her house and in which conditions, till the Red Cross freed her

When did we stop caring about civilian deaths during wartime?

Robert Fisk’s World: When did we stop caring about civilian deaths during wartime?
Source: Commentators -The Independent, Saturday, 31 January 2009

The mere monitoring of bloody conflict assumes precedence over human suffering

I wonder if we are "normalising" war. It's not just that Israel has yet again got away with the killing of hundreds of children in Gaza. And after its own foreign minister said that Israel's army had been allowed to "go wild" there, it seems to bear out my own contention that the Israeli "Defence Force" is as much a rabble as all the other armies in the region. But we seem to have lost the sense of immorality that should accompany conflict and violence. The BBC's refusal to handle an advertisement for Palestinian aid was highly instructive. It was the BBC's "impartiality" that might be called into question. In other words, the protection of an institution was more important than the lives of children. War was a spectator sport whose careful monitoring – rather like a football match, even though the Middle East is a bloody tragedy – assumed precedence over human suffering.

I'm not sure where all this started. No one doubts that the Second World War was a bloodbath of titanic proportions, but after that conflict we put in place all kinds of laws to protect human beings. The International Red Cross protocols, the United Nations – along with the all-powerful Security Council and the much ridiculed General Assembly – and the European Union were created to end large-scale conflict. And yes, I know there was Korea (under a UN flag!) and then there was Vietnam, but after the US withdrawal from Saigon, there was a sense that "we" didn't do wars any more. Foreigners could commit atrocities en masse – Cambodia comes to mind – but we superior Westerners were exempt. We didn't behave like that. Low-intensity warfare in Northern Ireland, perhaps. And the Israeli-Arab conflict would grind away. But there was a feeling that My Lai had been put behind us. Civilians were once again sacred in the West.

I'm not sure when the change came. Was it Israel's disastrous invasion of Lebanon in 1982 and the Sabra and Chatila massacre by Israel's allies of 1,700 Palestinian civilians? (Gaza just missed that record.) Israel claimed (as usual) to be fighting "our" "war against terror" but the Israeli army is not what it's cracked up to be and massacres (Qana comes to mind in 1996 and the children of Marwahine in 2006) seem to come attached to it. And of course, there's the little matter of the Iran-Iraq war between 1980 and 1988 which we enthusiastically supported with weapons to both sides, and the Syrian slaughter of thousands of civilians at Hama and...

No, I rather think it was the 1991 Gulf War. Our television lads and lasses played it for all it was worth – it was the first war that had "theme" music to go with the pictures – and when US troops simply smothered alive thousands of Iraqi troops in their trenches, we learned about it later and didn't care much, and even when the Americans ignored Red Cross rules to mark mass graves, they got away with it. There were women in some of these graves – I saw British soldiers burying them. And I remember driving up to Mutla ridge to show a Red Cross delegate where I had seen a mass grave dug by the Americans, and he looked at the plastic poppy an American had presumably left there and said: "Something has happened."

He meant that something had happened to international law, to the rules of war. They had been flouted. Then came Kosovo – where our dear Lord Blair first exercised his talents for warmaking – and another ream of slaughter. Of course, Milosevic was the bad guy (even though most of the Kosovars were still in their homes when the war began – their return home after their brutal expulsion by the Serbs then became the war aim). But here again, we broke some extra rules and got away with it. Remember the passenger train we bombed on the Surdulica bridge – and the famous speeding up of the film by Jamie Shea to show that the bomber had no time to hold his fire? (Actually, the pilot came back for another bombing run on the train when it was already burning, but that was excluded from the film.) Then the attack on the Belgrade radio station. And the civilian roads. Then the attack on a large country hospital. "Military target," said Jamie. And he was right. There were soldiers hiding in the hospital along with the patients. The soldiers all survived. The patients all died.

Then there was Afghanistan and all that "collateral damage" and whole villages wiped out and then there was Iraq in 2003 and the tens of thousands – or half a million or a million – Iraqi civilians killed. Once more, at the very start, we were back to our old tricks, bombing bridges and radio stations and at least one civilian estate in Baghdad where "we" believed Saddam was hiding. We knew it was packed with civilians (Christians, by chance) but the Americans called it a "high risk" operation – meaning that they risked not hitting Saddam – and 22 civilians were killed. I saw the last body, that of a baby, dug from the rubble.

And we don't seem to care. We fight in Iraq and now we're going back to fight in Afghanistan again and all the human rights and protections appear to have vanished once more. We will destroy villages and we will find that the Afghans hate us and we will form more criminal militias – as we did in Iraq – to fight for us. The Israelis organised a similar militia in their occupation zone in southern Lebanon, run by a crackpot Lebanese army major. But now their own troops "go wild". And the BBC is worried about its "impartiality"?

Israel says Spain says it will amend war crimes law

I wonder how Israel is able to put so much pressure on others and terrorise them to change their laws?
In another news I red that other countries are considering the same. I do not know where the "free" world heading to. When one then would speak about conspiracy theory one would be then accused of being paranoid...

Israel says Spain says it will amend war crimes law | Reuters
Summary:
JERUSALEM, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Israel said on Friday the Spanish government had said it would work to amend a law under which a Madrid court is to consider trying seven Israelis over the killing of Palestinians.

Captured Paletinian Prisoners

Captured Prisoners By: If Americans Knew



Interviews with lawyers and Palestinian ex-prisoners who were captured by Israel and describing the conditions of their capture and how they have been tortured.

Al Jazeera English - Europe - Erdogan hailed after Davos walkout

I wonder why I did not see any Arabic leader who was furious about the audacity of Israeli officials like Erdoğan did? On the contrary Mubarak was laughing with Olmert while Palestians in Gaza were dying. Shame on you Arabs and well done Erdoğan. You kept at least your dignity!

Summary:
Turkey's prime minister has returned home from the World Economic Forum in Davos to a warm welcome after he stormed out of a debate over Israel's war on the Gaza Strip.
Read the complete news at Al Jazeera English - Europe - Erdogan hailed after Davos walkout

Is Peace Out Of Reach? Video - CBSNews.com

Is Peace Out Of Reach? Video - CBSNews.com


Please watch this video that shows you the hopeless situation of the peace process, the Apartheid system in Israel and why the 2 state solution in fact almost not feasible anymore. A very well done video by CBS. If you like it and want to thank them you can do so through this site (Gaza Justice Action Centre).
The video vislualises what I wrote in my posting of yesterday (Middle East conflict: The war has burried the 2 state solution)

Violence threatens Gaza truce as Obama envoy visits | International | Reuters

excerpt:
Palestinian rocket attacks and Israeli air strikes threatened on Thursday to undermine efforts by U.S. President Barack Obama's Middle East envoy to reinforce a fragile Gaza ceasefire.

Palestinian militants in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip launched one rocket into Israel late on Wednesday -- the first since the January 18 ceasefire -- and another on Thursday. No one was hurt.

Israeli aircraft then struck in the southern Gaza Strip, attacking a metal workshop that the military called a weapons factory, causing no casualties, and a motorcycle, wounding two militants and 10 youths passing by, medical workers said.

The surge of violence over the past two days threatened to reignite a war that Israel launched on December 27 with the declared aim of ending cross-border rocket fire.

You can read the rest of the article here:

Violence threatens Gaza truce as Obama envoy visits | International | Reuters

Middle East conflict: The war has burried the 2 state solution

© Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Nahostkonflikt: Der Krieg hat die Zweistaaten-Lösung begraben | Nachrichten auf ZEIT ONLINE (in German) by Michael Thumann

The article asks itself how many wars it takes to kill a peace initiative? The Gaza war seems to have killed the initiative based on the 2-state solution proposed in Madrid 1991 and backed by the Riad Arabic Peace initiative. The expansion of settlements in the West Bank with a rate of 5.5% yearly makes it impossible to build a future Palestinian state there.

Controversial Bestseller Shakes the Foundation of the Israeli State | ForeignPolicy | AlterNet

Source: Controversial Bestseller Shakes the Foundation of the Israeli State | ForeignPolicy | AlterNet

Tom Segev summarised it:
There never was a Jewish people, only a Jewish religion, and the exile also never happened -- hence there was no return. Zand rejects most of the stories of national-identity formation in the Bible, including the exodus from Egypt and, most satisfactorily, the horrors of the conquest under Joshua.

Here is an article from Professor Sand at the Le Monde Diplomatique

YouTube - Gaza 2009: We Will Never Forget

YouTube - Gaza 2009: We Will Never Forget



I want to describe the content of this video and I can't find words for it. So, please watch it!

Israel jets strike Gaza tunnels - Middle East, World - The Independent

Source: Middle East, World - The Independent/AP

Wednesday, 28 January 2009
Israeli warplanes have pounded smuggling tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border after a Palestinian bomb killed an Israeli soldier.

The border flare-up came 10 days into an informal ceasefire.

It also came just hours before President Barack Obama's new Mideast envoy, George Mitchell, was due to meet Israeli leaders.

The military said the soldier was killed yesterday on Israel's frontier with the Gaza Strip by a roadside bomb planted on the Gaza side.

Israel sent tanks and bulldozers into northern Gaza to plough up the attack site and launched an airstrike that wounded a Hamas militant.

Meanwhile, residents said two Israeli air strikes early today targeted smuggling tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border. They said the strikes sent hundreds of people fleeing.

An Israeli War Crimes Tribunal (ICTI) May be the Only Deterrent to a Global War

Source:Information Clearing House - ICH

By Francis A. Boyle

December 31, 2008 "Global Research" -- -- The United Nations General Assembly must immediately establish an International Criminal Tribunal for Israel (ICTI) as a "subsidiary organ" under U.N. Charter Article 22. The ICTI would be organized along the lines of the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia (ICTY), which was established by the Security Council.

The purpose of the ICTI would be to investigate and prosecute Israeli war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide against the Peoples of Lebanon and Palestine--just as the ICTY did for the victims of international crimes committed by Serbia and the Milosevic Regime throughout the Balkans.

The establishment of ICTI would provide some small degree of justice to the victims of Israeli war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide against the Peoples of Lebanon and Palestine--just as the ICTY has done in the Balkans. Furthermore, the establishment of ICTI by the U.N. General Assembly would serve as a deterrent effect upon Israeli leaders such as Prime Minister Olmert, Foreign Minister Livni, Defense Minister Barak , Chief of Staff Ashkenazi and Israel's other top generals that they will be prosecuted for their further infliction of international crimes upon the Lebanese and the Palestinians.

Without such a deterrent, Israel might be emboldened to attack Syria with the full support of the Likhudnik Bush Jr. Neoconservatives, who have always viewed Syria as "low-hanging fruit" ready to be taken out by means of their joint aggression. If Israel attacks Syria as it did when it invaded Lebanon in 1982, Iran has vowed to come to Syria's defense.

And of course Israel and the Bush Jr administration very much want a pretext to attack Iran. This scenario could readily degenerate into World War III.

For the U.N. General Assembly to establish ICTI could stop the further development of this momentum towards a regional if not global catastrophe.

Francis A. Boyle is a graduate of the University of Chicago and Harvard Law School. He has advised numerous international bodies in the areas of human rights, war crimes, genocide, nuclear policy, and bio warfare. He received a PHD in political science from Harvard University.

Israel launches attacks in Gaza

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Israel launches attacks in Gaza
Aha, here comes the retaliation! I though they would leave it, but no, they have to show George Mitchell who is "inaugurating" his peace efforts in the Middle East that peace is not easy. What would come out of this fighting? My other big question is: Why bulldozers?

Playing with the cease-fire

Troops, militants clash in Gaza despite cease-fire - Yahoo! News
It is interesting that whole 3 paragraphs have been on the attack on the IDF patrol whereas only few lines were dedicated to the farmer who has been killed.
Moreover, this is not the first breach of the ceasefire as Israeli gunboats were shooting at the coasts of Gaza last week despite ceasefire. Please look at the former posting entitled "About the Ceasefire"

Unseen Gaza - Features - Unseen Gaza: Watch Clips - Channel 4

Channel 4- Unseen Gaza

Features

Wednesday 21 January 2009

Get a taste for the realities of reporting on the Gaza conflict with two clips from the show, in addition to the official on-air trail.

In Peering into the Conflict, Jon Snow speaks to Sky News reporter Dominic Waghorn about the difficulties of broadcasting live from a conflict zone when faced with so many restrictions.

Sieve Out the Propaganda touches upon the frustrations felt by international journalists, as Jon speaks to the Telegraph's Jerusalem correspondent, Tim Butcher.

Watch clips now

Some more parts of this series can be watched on Youtube

Donald Macintyre: An assault on the peace process - Middle East, World - The Independent

Donald Macintyre: An assault on the peace process - Middle East, World - The Independent
On Israel's devastation of the economy in Gaza in addition to destroying homes and killing civilians.

stopwar.org.uk - BBC feels the pressure as MPs, celebrites, and thousands of citizens condemn Gaza Appeal decision

stopwar.org.uk - BBC feels the pressure as MPs, celebrites, and thousands of citizens condemn Gaza Appeal decision

Saturday, 24 January 2009

On BBC's refusal to broadcast an appeal for humanitarian aids for Gaza's war victims explaining that they are doing so in order not to jeopardise their impartiality

'Tungsten bombs' leave Israel's victims with mystery wounds

Updates on the use prohibites weapons against civilians:

• DIME: 'Tungsten bombs' leave Israel's victims with mystery wounds by The Independent- Middle East, World
• Phosphorus Bombs: UN releases Gaza attack photos
  by Al Jazeera English / Middle East

About the Ceasefire

Barack Obama said to Israel today to “complete the withdrawal of its forces from Gaza“ (source AP). Well what the hell? They did so since many days, you would say as all media are telling. But, no, unfortunately they didn't. How then? Well, their gunboats did not leave the national waters of Gaza have been firing at Gaza city since many days. Here is one incidence of various one. I do not want to know what would happen in the Palestinians decide to fire back. Israel would then feel it needs to defend itself again.

And this while plains and helicopters are patrolling over the Gaza stripe the whole time. Hamas says the so called ceasefire is not enough, the borders must opened. By the way Obama said the same as well (source AP). Israel says that they would not do so till the weapon smuggling is through the tunnels is stopped and that the tunnels are closed. However, without these tunnels Gaza would not have anything to eat as all food comes through these tunnels. Plus, why does Israel have the right to dictate that the Palestinians should not have weapons to defend themselves from its never ending aggressions? Well,I would accept stopping weapon deliveries to the Palestinians if Israel stops getting weapons from Europe and the US as well. They are breaking international law (since 60 years regularly) and committing war crimes. Why doesn't the world boycott them?

Open letter to international academic institutions from the R2E Campaign

R2E, Birzeit University, 17 January 2009

In light of the ongoing massive Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, in which over 1,200 people have been killed - over 1,000 (86%) of whom were civilian men, women and children - and where over 4,000 have been maimed and injured, the Right to Education Campaign at Birzeit University calls upon the international academic community, unions and students to show support and solidarity with the people of Gaza by calling upon their respective governments to impose immediate boycott, divestment and sanctions against the state of Israel until it abides by international human rights and humanitarian laws, dismantles its apartheid regime spanning both the occupied territories and Israel proper, and commits to pursuing a long-lasting, just peace.

The state of Israel began its military attack on the Gaza Strip on Saturday the 27th of December and on the same day an air missile hit the Gaza Training Centre in downtown Gaza City killing 8 students and wounding 19. In the early hours of Monday, an F-16 fighter plane bombed the Science Laboratory and Library of the Islamic University in Gaza, just a few hours before some of its 20,000 students were to enter the campus to sit their exams. A few days later, on the 3rd of January a jet leveled the private 'progressive' American school in Gaza, killing its security guard and denying some 200 students their education for the foreseeable future. Later the same day, the Agricultural School in Beit Hanoun was damaged by 4 artillery shells, and 4 more schools were damaged throughout the Strip.

As a consequence of the ongoing attacks, the Gazan education system has been unable to function for the last three weeks; 27 of UNRWA's installations - almost all of which are schools - are being used to shelter 45,000 desperate Gazans who have fled their homes in response to ultimatums by the Israeli army: become homeless or die in the rubble of impending bombardments. However on the 6th of January, 2 UNRWA schools were bombed, killing all who were inside, in one case 42 people, and injuring 55. A number of other schools have been hit - just this morning Israeli forces shelled a UN-run school in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip, killing a mother and son. As well as taking lives, the attacks on Palestinian schools deprive thousands of children - those who survived - of their educational facilities in the near future. As of 17th of January, a total of 68 schools have been destroyed.

The targeting of schools, particularly those being used as civilian shelters and whose coordinates are known to the Israelis, reaffirms the genocidal intentions of Israel's war and exposes their 'surgical' efforts as a mere public relations exercise. There is no doubt that Israel targets civilian infrastructure and implants conditions of terror and dysfunction amongst Gaza's 1.5m people, over 50% of whom are under 18 years of age.

The war on Gaza marks a breaking point: the world cannot remain silent while Israel instigates a war (they broke the cease-fire by killing 6 Palestinians on the 4th of November 2008 and 4 more on the 17th of November 2008), annihilates all civilian infrastructure, targets civilian shelters, prevents medical teams from reaching victims, uses internationally banned substances like white phosphorous on civilians, prevents medical aid and equipment from entering the Strip, cuts off fuel, electricity and running water making daily life, especially for the injured, a living hell, and prevents anyone from escaping their carnage. These are not actions of a state which respects international laws and norms. Distinguished international lawyers have denounced the disproportionality of Israel's attacks as a war crime, and its indiscriminate killing as a crime against humanity.

Enough is enough. Please join the calls from artists, writers, lawyers, academics and students the world over and help bring an end to a regime that has continuously (since the beginning of the 20th century) relied on killing, dispossessing, incarcerating, and discriminating Palestinians in order to fulfill its own political agenda - the establishment and maintenance of an ethno-religious autocracy.

The time to act is NOW.

Timeline: Gaza crisis

Timeline: Gaza crisis / Aljazeera English

June 19: An Egyptian-brokered six-month ceasefire between Israel and Hamas comes into force.

November 5: Israel closes all of its crossings with Gaza.

December 14: Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal announces the six-month ceasefire with Israel will not be extended.

December 19: Six-month ceasefire between Hamas and Israel officially expires.

December 21: Tzipi Livni, the Israeli foreign minister, says that her primary goal if she wins Israeli elections, will be to overthrow Hamas.

December 27: Israel begins assault on Gaza, codenamed "Operation Cast Lead", by launching air raids that kill more than 225 Palestinians.

One Israeli is killed and six others wounded in missile attacks by Palestinian fighters.

December 28: Israeli aircraft bomb the Islamic University in Gaza City and the length of the Gaza-Egypt border, taking out more than 40 tunnels used to smuggle vital goods to the strip.

Hundreds of Israeli infantry and armoured forces mass on the border of the territory, and the army is given approval to call up reservists to bolster its fighting strength.

December 29: Israeli air strikes hit the interior ministry in Gaza City as Israel declares a "closed military zone" around the Gaza strip.

December 30: Rockets fired from Palestinian positions kill three Israelis, taking the death toll from Palestinian rocket attacks to four since the beginning of the Israeli offensive.

The European Union calls for "an unconditional halt to rocket attacks by Hamas on Israel and an end to Israeli military action".

December 31: Members of the UN Security Council end an emergency meeting on the crisis after failing to agree on the wording of a draft resolution.

January 1: Hamas official Nizar Rayyan is killed along with 14 members of his family in an Israeli raid.

January 2: Egypt begins talks with Hamas over a way to end the conflict.

January 3: As Israel begins its ground offensive in Gaza, at least 11 Palestinians, including one child, are killed after Israeli forces strike a mosque in the town of Beit Lahiya.

January 4: Israeli forces cut Gaza in half and ring Gaza City itself as an Israeli soldier is killed in the ongoing offensive.

The European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, pledges an additional $4.2 million of emergency aid for Gaza and calls on Israel to respect international law.

An Israeli air strike hits two ambulances in Gaza, killing four paramedics.

January 5: Air and naval bombardments kill 45 Palestinians.

Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, holds talks with Hosni Mubarak, his Egyptian counterpart, to push for a truce deal.

January 6: An Israeli strike on a UN school in the northern town of Jabaliya kills 43 Palestinians and injures at least 100 who had taken refuge inside the school.

Israeli strikes hit two other schools, killing two in the southern town of Khan Younis and three in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City.

January 7: 11 Palestinians are killed by air strikes and shelling in Gaza City and in the north of the Strip.

Violence continues after Israel temporarily halts attacks in Gaza City for three hours to provide a "humanitarian respite."

The Israeli military drops leaflets warning thousands of people in the Rafah zone on the Egyptian border to leave their houses or face air strikes.

January 8: The UN's refugee organisation in Gaza suspends all aid deliveries after an Israeli tank attacks a UN convoy, killing one Palestinian driver and injuring two other people.

Israeli bulldozers cross into Gaza and destroy a number of houses.

At least three rockets fired from Lebanon hit the northern Israeli town of Nahariya.

The UN Security Council passes resolution, with 14 votes in favour and only the US abstaining, that "stresses the urgency of and calls for an immediate, durable and fully respected ceasefire, leading to the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza".

January 9: Israeli attacks continue in Gaza soon after passing of UN resolution, with a series of explosions and gunfire heard.

Six Palestinians reportedly killed in an air strike in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, raising the Palestinian death toll in Gaza to around 770, including more than 200 children, since the Israeli offensive began.

January 10: Israel drops leaflets on Gaza City warning of a "new phase" in its two-week-old offensive.

Eight family members are killed by an Israeli tank shell in Jabaliya, raising the Palestinian death toll in Gaza to 831 people.

Khalid Meshaal, the exiled political leader of Hamas, says that Israel must halt the Gaza offensive and lift the blockade before Hamas agrees to a ceasefire deal.

January 11: Israel is accused of firing white phosphorous bombs on densely-populated Gaza in violation of international law.

Israel reports to the UN that troops in the occupied Golan Heights came under small arms fire from Syria, but there were no injuries.

Israel began sending reservists into the Gaza Strip as the military offensive continued unabated for the 16th consecutive day.

January 12:

Israel continues its offensive and the UN Human Rights Council adopts a non-binding resolution condemning Israel's military offensive.

The resolution calls for an international mission to be immediately sent to Gaza to investigate Israel's actions.

The toll rises to 935 Palestinians killed and 4,300 wounded. At least 25,000 people in Gaza are internally displaced but are unable to flee because crossing points remain closed.

January 13: Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, the president of the UN General Assembly, condemns the offensive and says the killing of Palestinians in Gaza amounts to "genocide".

Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, arrives in Egypt to try to secure a ceasefire and end the war in Gaza.

January 14: The number of Palestinians killed exceeds 1,000 as the UN's aid agency in Gaza urges an end to the fighting, calling the war "a test of our humanity".

Venezuela and Bolivia sever diplomatic ties with Israel, calling the onslaught on Gaza a "holocaust". Bolivia pledges to get Israeli officials charged in the International Criminal Court with committing "genocide".

January 15: Israeli shells hit a UN warehouse setting fire to tonnes of food and medical supplies, as well as three hospitals as troops advance into Gaza City.

Said Siam, the Palestinian interior minister and one of Hamas's senior leaders in Gaza, is killed along with his brother and son in an Israeli air raid in Jabaliya.

The UN General Assembly accuses Israel of violating international law and targeting civilians in Gaza, and rebukes member-states for the lack of action over the crisis.

Hamas tells Egyptian negotiators it will agree to a year-long truce on condition that Israeli forces withdraw within a week, and that all border crossings are opened with international guarantees that it will remain so.

Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, says he feels optimistic the Israelis will accept a ceasefire deal with Hamas but not for a few days.

January 16: The Strip experiences a relative lull in fighting as diplomatic efforts intensify.

An emergency Arab summit in Doha, Qatar, highlights the split within the Arab world. Egypt and Saudi Arabia send delegates to a separate meeting of foreign ministers in Kuwait.

Qatar and Mauritania suspend economic and political ties with Israel, following calls by Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, and Khaled Meshaal, the exiled leader of Hamas, for all Arab nations to do so.

Tzipi Livni, the Israeli foreign minister and her US counterpart, Condoleezza Rice, sign an agreement on stopping arms smuggling into Gaza.

The UN general assembly demands an immediate ceasefire with the full withdrawal of Israeli forces.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, says Israel should be barred from the UN while it ignores UN demands to end the fighting.

Talks continue in Cairo over an Egypt-sponsored truce. Amos Gilad, the Israeli chief negotiator, says Israel wants an open-ended ceasefire.

January 17: More than 50 air strikes are carried out in Gaza and heavy explosions are heard south of Gaza City.

Israeli warships and tanks enter the outskirts of Gaza City, keep lobbying shells into the densely populated urban area.

Fifteen Palestinians are killed in the Gaza Strip.

United Nations demands an investigation into an Israeli strike on a UN school in the northern town of Beit Lahiya. Two children, aged five and seven, are killed in the attack.

Chris Gunness, a UN spokesman, says an investigation ought to be held "to determine whether a war crime has been committed".

Egypt says it will host an international summit on the Gaza crisis that will be attended by several European leaders as well as Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general.

Ahmed Abul Gheit, the Egyptian foreign minister, says Cairo is "not bound" by a US-Israeli agreement to stop arms smuggling to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

The Israeli security cabinet votes in favour of a unilateral ceasefire in its 22-day-old war in the Gaza Strip that has killed 1,203 Palestinians and left much of the strip in ruins.

Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, announces a unilateral end to military operations in the Gaza Strip, beginning at 0000 GMT but says troops will remain in
the strip for the time being.

January 18: Israeli attacks continue in the Gaza Strip, with one Palestinian civilian killed in Khan Younis and air raids continuing in the north.

The Israeli military says that they were responding to at least 16 rockets being fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel by morning.

Palestinian factions Hamas, Islamic Jihad, al-Nidal, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and al-Saeqa announce an immediate one-week ceasefire at 1300GMT, with the condition that Israel's troops leave the Gaza Strip within seven days.

The Israeli military says it will not draw up a timetable to leave until rocket fire ceases, and will not have a deadline dictated to them by Hamas. It says: "The operation is not over. This is only a holding of fire."

A summit of European and Middle East leaders convenes in Egypt stressing the need for humanitarian assistance.

January 19: Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip venture out to assess the damage caused by Israel's war on the territory, as separate ceasefires called by Israel and Hamas take hold.

Since the fighting ended, dozens of bodies have been pulled from the rubble of buildings flattened during the Israeli onslaught on Gaza.

Some Israeli soldiers and tanks begin to move from the centre of the Gaza Strip to the borders of the territory, but Israeli military sources say that most of the troops heading out of Gaza are reservists.

Hamas, for its part, says that its ability to fight Israel remains intact despite 23 days of Israeli bombardment and attacks by ground forces.

January 20: Amnesty International, the human rights group, accuses Israel of war crimes, saying its use of white phosphorus munitions in densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip was indiscriminate and illegal.

January 21: Israel says that it has completed the withdrawal of its troops from the Gaza Strip, with forces being redeployed on the territory's outskirts, ending Operation Cast Lead.

However, Israeli naval vessels are still seen in Gazan territorial waters and are heard firing throughout the morning.

Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, demands a "full investigation" into Israel's bombing of a UN compound in Gaza City, calling the attack "outrageous" and "totally unacceptable".

Yes we can

Only 3 days passed since my last own comment but they feel much longer than that because many things happened since then. Most importantly is the Ceasefire. Israel decided to declare a unilateral ceasefire after it failed to dictate its conditions on Hamas using the Egyptian mediation (according to Azmi Beshara on Aljazeera in Arabic). They did so after they realised that they were not able to finish the issue and were not able to remove Hamas as easy as they were thinking they would. They even realised that it is not as easy to re-invade Gaza whenever they want as they did before 2005. each incursion now costs a war an unknown losses. So, instead of talking to Hamas and admitting that Hamas is an important side in the negotiations with the Palestinians they declared ceasefire from one side selling this as a gift to humanity while keeping the clamp down on Gaza. The factions of Palestinian resistance declared a one week ceasefire till they make sure that Israel fulfils their conditions: Complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and ending the siege. All soldiers withdrew before the president Nr. 44 of the USA was inaugurated, however warships are still shooting from the sea and air force is heavily flying over the Gaza strip. I do not know how far this can be regarded as a ceasefire. Furthermore this condition of opening the borders is probably not going to happen and the clampdown shall continue while everybody is worrying about the tunnel system that is not only supplying Gaza with weapons as EU and USA are dreaming but they are nourishing Gaza. Everything is supplied through these tunnels whereas Egypt is keeping the border at Rafah practically closed. So, what is going to happen next? It would be a supreme tragedy if things go back to what they were before the war, Gaza isolated and starving, borders are closed and Israel does what it wants with its air force and rockets. Both sides are talking that they were the victors. I am going to borrow this analysis from Patrick Cockburn in his article in the Independent (see last posting):

So were there any winners or losers?

What was Hamas's aim? Rocket attacks intended to force Israel to end blockade that has trapped 1.5m Palestinians inside Gaza Strip since Hamas takeover. Hamas also seeking recognition by West

What happened? Security arrangements are to be imposed on Hamas and no ceasefire agreement has been signed with the Islamists

Did they succeed? No.

What was Israel's aim? Gaza offensive launched to "teach Hamas a lesson". Some Israeli politicians called for overthrow of Hamas, while contenders in next month's election sought improved ratings

What happened? The majority of the estimated 20,000 Hamas fighters escaped with their lives. Hamas rockets were still being fired at the end of Israeli offensive when Israel declared unilateral ceasefire

Did they succeed? No.

What was Egypt's aim? To secure end to offensive through ceasefire agreement leading to truce, border security, reopening of crossings, Israeli troop withdrawal and Palestinian reconciliation

What happened? US negotiated separate deal with Israel on arms smuggling. Hamas set its own truce conditions and refused reconciliation with Fatah. Egyptian mediation deepened split between moderate Arab states and others

Did they succeed? No.

What was the EU's aim? To profit from power vacuum in US and play lead negotiating role. To map out road to peace and promise support for Palestinian leadership afterwards

What happened? Plethora of negotiators undermined EU credibility as did the incompetence of Czech EU presidency

I think that he is mostly right with his analysis apart from one pint. The Palestinians won (whether you call them Hamas here or not) in one thing: They showed Israel that it lost its invincible deterring force and that Arabs are no longer afraid of it. This would hopefully lead to schism in the Israeli politics and also would lead hopefully to the conclusion that violence is no longer bringing them what they are wishing and that should consider other options, like real peace for example.

The invasion also showed very clearly the differences in the Arabic camp. People like Mahmud Abbas lost totally their image and I am curious to know what is going to happen in the next Palestinian authority elections. Abbas and his faction lost credibility as they haven't been doing much for Gaza but even the opposite. On the other side USA and Europe would make the same mistake again and help holding democratic elections as Hamas is probably going to win. Here is an article of Robert Fisk / The Independent analysing the whole political situation during the war.

The other important happening that kept the world busy these days was the inauguration of Barack Hussain Obama as the new president of the United States. I wondered a lot as I heard this “Hussain” as I though that this would be a reason enough for him to lose the elections apart from hos African origin. Anyway, he made it and al world is looking up to him and see how he is magically going to solve the domestic and foreign difficulties facing his country. I borrowed his slogan for this posting, for Gaza, as it was clearly shown that yes, we could stop the invasion and I hope that we can stop the future ones as well, as they are certainly coming.

Most important steps now are to make sure that the ceasefire is stable and that no more killing is happening. The number of the dead (more than 1300) in Gaza is climbing anyway as many bodies are being found in the rubble of the destroyed houses. Also certainly a portion of more than 5400 wounded in the war is going to die because of the shortage in medical care and supplies. Add to that children who are dying when they are playing with weapons that did not explode before. I estimate that the cluster bombs that have been thrown on Gaza are going to be a nightmare in the next months if not years. The other nightmares are the results of the use of weapons containing depleted Uranium (IAEA is going to make an inquiry about that) and the use of DIME and its carcinogenic long term effect. According to this article the Israeli military are accused of:

• Using powerful shells in civilian areas which the army knew would cause large numbers of innocent casualties; (here one terrible story of many)

• Using banned weapons such as phosphorus bombs;

• Holding Palestinian families as human shields;

• Attacking medical facilities, including the killing of 12 ambulance men in marked vehicles;

• Killing large numbers of police who had no military role.

We have to make sure that the responsible criminals of war are going to be trialled.

Gaza was demolished in three weeks. Rebuilding it will take years - Middle East, World - The Independent

Gaza was demolished in three weeks. Rebuilding it will take years - Middle East, World - The Independent

Rafah, a landscape scarred by Israel's war - Middle East, World - The Independent

The southernmost city in Gaza has suffered mightily at Israeli hands in recent years, but Donald Macintyre was not ready for what he found there"


Rafah, a landscape scarred by Israel's war - Middle East, World - The Independent

Of Sowing and Harvests: Subcomandante Marcos

Speech on Gaza / ZNET

January 12, 2009 By Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos



Two days ago, the same day we discussed violence, the ineffable Condoleezza Rice, a US official, declared that what was happening in Gaza was the Palestinians' fault, due to their violent nature.

The underground rivers that crisscross the world can change their geography, but they sing the same song.

And the one we hear now is one of war and pain.

Not far from here, in a place called Gaza, in Palestine, in the Middle East, right here next to us, the Israeli government's heavily trained and armed military continues its march of death and destruction.

The steps it has taken are those of a classic military war of conquest: first an intense mass bombing in order to destroy "strategic" military points (that's how the military manuals put it) and to "soften" the resistance's reinforcements; next a fierce control over information: everything that is heard and seen "in the outside world," that is, outside the theater of operations, must be selected with military criteria; now intense artillery fire against the enemy infantry to protect the advance of troop to new positions; then there will be a siege to weaken the enemy garrison; then the assault that conquers the position and annihilates the enemy, then the "cleaning out" of the probable "nests of resistance."

The military manual of modern war, with a few variations and additions, is being followed step-by-step by the invading military forces.

We don't know a lot about this, and there are surely specialists in the so-called "conflict in the Middle East," but from this corner we have something to say:

According to the news photos, the "strategic" points destroyed by the Israeli government's air force are houses, shacks, civilian buildings. We haven't seen a single bunker, nor a barracks, nor a military airport, nor cannons, amongst the rubble. So--and please excuse our ignorance--we think that either the planes' guns have bad aim, or in Gaza such "strategic" military points don't exist.

We have never had the honor of visiting Palestine, but we suppose that people, men, women, children, and the elderly--not soldiers--lived in those houses, shacks, and buildings.

We also haven't seen the resistance's reinforcements, just rubble.

We have seen, however, the futile efforts of the information siege, and the world governments trying to decide between ignoring or applauding the invasion, and the UN, which has been useless for quite some time, sending out tepid press releases.

But wait. It just occurred to us that perhaps to the Israeli government those men, women, children, and elderly people are enemy soldiers, and as such, the shacks, houses, and buildings that they inhabited are barracks that need to be destroyed.

So surely the hail of bullets that fell on Gaza this morning were in order to protect the Israeli infantry's advance from those men, women, children, and elderly people.

And the enemy garrison that they want to weaken with the siege that is spread out all over Gaza is the Palestinian population that lives there. And the assault will seek to annihilate that population. And whichever man, woman, child, or elderly person that manages to escape or hide from the predictably bloody assault will later be "hunted" so that the cleansing is complete and the commanders in charge of the operation can report to their superiors: "We've completed the mission."

Again, pardon our ignorance, maybe what we're saying is beside the point. And instead of condemning the ongoing crime, being the indigenous and warriors that we are, we should be discussing and taking a position in the discussion about if it's "zionism" or "antisemitism," or if Hamas' bombs started it.

Maybe our thinking is very simple, and we're lacking the nuances and annotations that are always so necessary in analyses, but to the Zapatistas it looks like there's a professional army murdering a defenseless population.

Who from below and to the left can remain silent?

Is it useful to say something? Do our cries stop even one bomb? Does our word save the life of even one Palestinian?

We think that yes, it is useful. Maybe we don't stop a bomb and our word won't turn into an armored shield so that that 5.56 mm or 9 mm caliber bullet with the letters "IMI" or "Israeli Military Industry" etched into the base of the cartridge won't hit the chest of a girl or boy, but perhaps our word can manage to join forces with others in Mexico and the world and perhaps first it's heard as a murmur, then out loud, and then a scream that they hear in Gaza.

We don't know about you, but we Zapatistas from the EZLN, we know how important it is, in the middle of destruction and death, to hear some words of encouragement.

I don't know how to explain it, but it turns out that yes, words from afar might not stop a bomb, but it's as if a crack were opened in the black room of death and a tiny ray of light slips in.

As for everything else, what will happen will happen. The Israeli government will declare that it dealt a severe blow to terrorism, it will hide the magnitude of the massacre from its people, the large weapons manufacturers will have obtained economic support to face the crisis, and "the global public opinion," that malleable entity that is always in fashion, will turn away.

But that's not all. The Palestinian people will also resist and survive and continue struggling and will continue to have sympathy from below for their cause.

And perhaps a boy or girl from Gaza will survive, too. Perhaps they'll grow, and with them, their nerve, indignation, and rage. Perhaps they'll become soldiers or militiamen for one of the groups that struggle in Palestine. Perhaps they'll find themselves in combat with Israel. Perhaps they'll do it firing a gun. Perhaps sacrificing themselves with a belt of dynamite around their waists.

And then, from up there above, they will write about the Palestinians' violent nature and they'll make declarations condemning that violence and they'll get back to discussing if it's zionism or anti-semitism.

And no one will ask who planted that which is being harvested.

For the men, women, children, and elderly of the Zapatista National Liberation Army,

Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos
Mexico, January 4, 2009.

Gaza Holocaust - An Online Museum

Have a look at this Blog if you want to see terrible pictures the victims of this massacre, dismembered burned children, dead and wounded people, Gazans mourning. It is brutal but maybe we have to see such brutalities in order to never forget.

Gaza Holocaust - An Online Museum

Chronicle of Massacre: Tragedy of a doctor

Source Al-Jazeera

A few days later this article appeared in the Independent.

'My daughters, they killed them': Doctor shows Israelis horror of war - Middle East, World - The Independent

Chronicle of Massacre: Day 21, the secret weapon undisclosed

I installed a morbid application in my Facebook profile that updates the number of causalities in Gaza from Al-Jazeera. The result was: in 22 days 1203 Palestinians were killed by Israel including 368 children & 105 women, 5320 injured. We are talking, of course, of the known cases.

Among the most recent horrifying happenings were attacks on health facilities. According to the WHO office in Jerusalem 16 health facilities and 16 ambulances have been attacked. Worst of them at all was hitting Al-Quds hospital. According to the Arabic site of Aljazeera the hospital was put under siege by the Israeli tanks before it was fired at. Patients ans staff were then trapped inside the building while parts of it were burning. They have been later evacuated. On the same day 8the day on which UN General Secretary arrived in the Middle East in an attempt to stop violence) the UN headquarters in GAZA was hit with 3 phosphorus bombs. UNRWA said that that pallets with supplies desperately needed by Palestinians in Gaza were on fire. Of course Israel climes that this was an error and that it has been fire at from that building. UNRWA suspended its operations in Gaza as a result of this attack. Next day an URWA school was hit by the Israeli army killing a few people taking shelter there. One could presume that these were errors. If they were errors this means that the IDF is bombarding randomly and this is surely against Geneva Conventions as this means that they are constantly hitting civilians this way as well . It is even worse if these attacks were deliberate, what I personally believe. In my opinion they have been doing so in order to demonstrate to the Palestinians that there is no way to run and take safe shelter at and also that there will be nobody who would be able to help them. UN is calling for investigation on these serious incidents. I am curious to know if they would reach anything in their investigations.

In the time where Arab leaders were debating if they were attending an emergency summit in Doha to discuss serious actions on the aggression president Evo Morales of Bolivia decided to expel the Israeli ambassador “given crimes against humanity” following Venezuela in this step and proceeding all Arab states. Bolivia is also getting ready to file a case of War Crimes against Israel in the International Criminal Court in the Hague. Bolivia is doing this while Arabs were counting heads to see if the summit is mandatory or not, as 15 of the 20 members should agree on participating in it to make it mandatory. Using different kinds of pressure 6 countries did not want to attend including Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and worst of all Palestinian Authority. They have seen no necessity to hold such a summit as an economic one was held in the same time in Kuwait where they talk about the issue on side of the meetings. Anyway, the non mandatory summit called by the Emir of Qatar was held in Doha and it issued non mandatory recommendations to break diplomatic and commercial ties with Israel and cancel all peace talks. What good is this if most important countries who have diplomatic ties with Israel like Egypt and Jordan did not want to attend? They did not attend on purpose because they knew the agenda and it did not suite them. Anyway as a result Qatar interrupted its commercial ties and Mauritania its diplomatic ties with Israel, 2 days after Bolivia.

One of the worst news I was reading lately was the use ox experimental weapons in warfare in Gaza. A Danish doctor was there and reported not only burns with Phosphorus bombs but also his suspicion of the use of so called Dense Inert Metal Explosive (DIME). He said “And we know that these small bombs, which the DIME bombs are, explodes in a way so that it will mainly affect the lower limbs. The limbs are—you will have multiple very severe fractures. The muscles are sort of split from the bones, hanging loose. And you also have quite severe burns where this energy wave has hit.”. He also said “The additional effect in animal studies on the DIME weapon is that the residuals in the muscle in mice will cause a very severe form of muscle cancer called rhabdomyosarcoma, which easily spreads to the lungs. This remains to be shown.”

At the end it is worth mentioning that the increasing opposition of prominent Jewish Europeans and US Americans is growing as you can see in Sir Gerald Kaufman's speech at the House of Commons comparing Israel's atrocities to Nazi ones :”My grandmother was ill in bed when the Nazis came to her home town," he said. “German soldier shot her dead in her bed. "My grandmother did not die to provide cover for Israeli soldiers murdering Palestinian grandmothers in Gaza.“. You can also read What Randall Kuhn says in his Editorial in the Washington Post: „When Israel expelled Palestinians„

Israel and the Palestinians - a history | guardian.co.uk | guardian.co.uk

Israel and the Palestinians - a history | guardian.co.uk | guardian.co.uk

Chronicle of Massacre: War on Gaza after 18 days

No, this picture is not from a Hollywood film. This is a real picture and this is Gaza City in hell, i.e. under fire. The tragedy is continuing and arrived at the morbid point where casualties are not updated anymore as they are so many. Last number of dead Palestinians was about 1000, among them at least 280 children and 100 women. 50 dead people more do not play any role, surely if this is happening on the Palestinian side. I want to know what would have happened if 1000 Israelis died in 18 days? I can't imagine the consequences then. Probably there will be daily a new resolution in the Security Council and 5 mandates for different countries to intervene militarily and help. As for wounded the latest outdated number I read was 4280 wounded, this is the score of the wounded people that have been counted and whom they have been reached by some rescue teams or have in hospitals. I wonder how many are wounded and laying there waiting to die? Israel has been repeatedly slammed by the International Committee Red Cross (ICRC) and other organizations that they have been preventing rescue teams from reaching wounded civilians and the did not help them themselves. One of the worst stories was that relief workers found four starving children sitting next to their dead mothers and other corpses and they have not been helped by Israeli soldiers nor ICRC was allowed to reach them. What about Geneva conventions about Civilians in times of war? These don't seem apply when the victims are Palestinians and/or the aggressor is Israel. Gaza proved to be a very suitable battlefield for playing with new experimental US weapons. The non-experimental ones, i.e. the ones with known effectiveness like Phosphorus Bombs have been used too. These cause severe burns, in fact when white phosphorus touches the body it could burn the flesh to the bone. Cluster bombs are also reported for being used in the civilian areas as well. Other cruel happenings were for instance evacuating a big family of 100 people to a building for their safety and then bombing this building next morning. People are notified to leave their homes and go somewhere else as these places are going to be bombarded. The problem is there nowhere to go in this tiny peace of land and worse is that other parts of it have already received such a notification. There is simply nowhere to go! And we should not forget that there water supplies in Gaza for half a million people are under threat.

Last but not least the frontiers between Gaza and Egypt have been massively bombed, i.e. the city of Rafah (see pictures to see the destruction) in order to stop the smuggling of weapons in tunnels under the frontiers. The shelling is so heavy that houses in the other side of the frontiers have been damaged and many people in Egyptian Rafah left their homes fearing that they would collapse on their heads. All the western world is very worried about this arm smuggling to Gaza but nobody is worrying at all about the supply of all possible kinds of murderous to Israel by the US and Europe, also in many cases as a gift. This seems to be something very natural. I am certain that Israel shall be very liable to cooperate and start real peace talk once they get sanctioned for their misbehaviour. Stop the the yearly 4 billion military US aid and see how Israel complies to international law. US should better give it to its poor and people who lost their jobs in the last months. Surely the Zionist lobby and weapon industry lobby would not let that happen.

Lucky my parents aren't alive to see this - Haaretz - Israel News

Fortunately tat there are some people, probably many people reasonable in Israel who know what atrocities their government is committing against Palestinians. Hopefully, the number of these people shall grow everyday and not vote to criminals like Livni, Barak and Netenyahu.
Here's an article from Amira Hass:
Lucky my parents aren't alive to see this - Haaretz - Israel News

And here's another one by Shulamit Aloni: Blood on our hands

Al Jazeera English - War on Gaza - Who will save Israel from itself?

Al Jazeera English - War on Gaza - Who will save Israel from itself?
By Mark LeVine

War games

A friend posted a link to picture story showing the war in Gaza on the site of :
Boston.com


I felt obliged to scrutinise it and I figured out that it shows war and destruction in an almost romantic and picturesque way, as if this fire is New Year's firework. Look at the pictures a bit closer and interpret them:

Picture 1: Urban area, or let us say a former urban being molten by this hell's fire. Compare with picture 7: This is a Qassam rocket, that is terrorising Israel. Look at it. It was not even able to make a small hole in the street. You can understand this way why there are 850 dead on Palestinian side and 16 on Israel's side
Picture 6: a boy fleeing from a rocket alarm in fear of rockets like those in picture nr. 7. He does not seem to be in a hurry. In Gaza there are no shelters and also no way to flee too. You would survive only by luck.
Picture 3: As if they are having a peaceful walk in the morning sun and not a murdering tour
Picture 11. these are phosphorus bombs that cause severe burns, at least according to this source:
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article5447590.ece?&EMC-Bltn=FGNE1A
Picture 13. compare with Palestinian Qassam rocket on picture 6 and launched on picture 22. Any differences?
Picture 29: another phosphorus bomb, that is internationally prohibited, exploding. I do not want to people how many and people were burnt with this, something like Napalm
Picture 31: and this about the freedom of press. If Israel hadn't got bad conscious about the atrocities it is doing in Gaza it would have allowed reporters to enter Gaza.
Picture 16: leaflets telling people to leave their homes because they are going to be bombed. the problem is that there is no where else to go as other areas of the Gaza strip had also such leaflet drops and there is no way out of the region.
electronicintifada.net/v2/article10154.shtml
What should people do? They leave their homes under Israeli instructions and go to safe buildings where they then get shelled. 30 of 100 people who fled this way died. here are details:
www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/massacre-of-a-family-seeking-sanctuary-1297577.html

What does that mean? The pictures are beautiful and very well made, as I already said almost romantic. They are only showing the whole thing as if it is small thing or little fighting, not harmful at all, and this is dangerous, I would say.

For Memory

This issue started with the Balfour Declaration 1917 and it does not want to end till now. This conflict costed the life of thousands of people so far and triggered a never ending drama of refugees who had to leave Palestine since 1948. I have the impression that most media are biased to one side and also they like to repeat same mantras they like that have been mainly influenced by the Propaganda machine of the State Israel, the Jewish Agency and other agencies.

It also seems to me that human memory has a very short duration. Either we can remember what happened in last few months or maybe few years or even we tend to forget very fast, especially when we are obliged to read and watch the same propaganda rubbish we tend to forget things and how they were. Therefore, I am writing this here to remind me and remind you of happenings in this long conflict from a point of view I am trying to make it objective and if not then it is on the Arab side of the conflict. I am also borrowing the title of this Blog from Norman Finkelstein in his impressive interview with a Lebanese TV station during the 2006 Israel war against Lebanon:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDe65-nF3FQ&eurl=http://sabbah.biz/mt/

He mentioned the Jewish principle of “to never to forgive and never to forget” and this is what I am going to do here. I am starting this blog because of the atrocities of the war in Gaza. I cannot stand still and do nothing, at least with words. This blog is not about hate it is about trying to show other points of views than shown in mass media and also to keep memory of all who died and had to leave their homes.

Robert Fisk: Why do they hate the West so much, we will ask - The Independent

Robert Fisk: Why do they hate the West so much, we will ask - Robert Fisk, Commentators - The Independent

Chronicles of a massacre: Cast Lead

Well, I do not know what to tell you. This year started in a terrible way. It started with "Cast Iron". Do you know what that is? If we look at German traditions it is a kind of "game" people spend time with a New Year's Eve in Germany. They melt figures made of lead in a spoon on candle flame and then cast that into water. Different shapes are formed that are then interpreted to see how the next year is going to be for the person who cast it. This year, Israel cast lead for Gaza / Palestine claiming that they did so to end the rocket launching from Gaza on Israeli territory. The little thing they always forgot to mention is WHY there have been rockets launched at it.
They started on December 28th the whole with bombarding it from air, ground and the sea for 8 days and then started a ground invasion with armours, special forces, etc. Please remember that what they are attacking is a heavily populated region where about 1.4 Million people are living in a strip of land with an area of 360 sq. km. Most of these people are refugees that have fled from or have been expelled what is called now Israel upon and after it has been founded 1984. They say they are attacking Hamas militants but not the Palestinian people. Then they say it is Hamas's fault to be "based" among civilians using them as human shields. Have you ever heard of Resistance or partisans? I never knew that these have separate camps and have brigades etc. These resistants are form the people of Gaza and a part of it. So where should they go in this small peace of earth? So, now imagine this whole infernal war machinery acting against such a heavily populated area. What would be the outcome? Surely a catastrophe, especially because Gaza is under siege since 1.5 years with food, medicine and fuel being only allowed to be delivered at a minimum causing electricity cuts because of lack of fuel, causing great hunger to the extent that most inhabitants are only being fed by international aids and causing a terrible shortage of medical care equipment, medicines, etc. Now, there is no food getting in because of military operations, most inhabitants are without water and then this hell. What is the result so far? More than 660 killed and 2950 wounded, and those are mostly civilians and not militants. I do not have to count the details of the massacre so far as this is too long and too bloody. The worst example I can tell is bombarding three schools of the UNRWA that have been marked as UN sites and that have been communicated to the Israeli army that refugees are taking refuge in them. What does that mean? This means that they are telling the people of Gaza that there is no place to take refuge at, not even UN buildings. It tells the UN also how much Israel respects it as well the same way it has been respecting UN resolutions and International Law so far. Here is John Ging, the head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in Gaza talking about this assault and about the human situation there for the moment.

What is making me so angry and much worse than these massacres itself is that nobody is doing anything against it really. They are taking their time negotiating truce and other details. The USA hindered a UN security council resolution because it was too harsh against Israel and worse is that almost no Arab leader has opened his mouth and condemned these crimes? Where is their dignity? They apparently don't have any left. It took 8 days of assault for the Emir of Qatar to condemn the war while most others are still shutting up and watching. No one of them dared expel the Israeli ambassador in their country. Only Mauritania withdrew their ambassador as a protest (but did not expel the Israeli one). Venezuela expels the Israeli ambassador today as a protest against these atrocities and this is the strongest reaction on that so far in the world while Egypt or Jordan did not do it yet and the Palestinian Authority of Ramallah is still keeping vivid ties with Israel. What a sad farce is this?

Is there any hope to stop this massacre? is there anyway to help these people under fire? The only thing that can be done is to go to demonstrations against the war and against the positions of the governments that are doing nothing. All are waiting for Hamas to be "finished" and not caring about how many civilian Palestinians die. There is no sense of shame in this world anymore. This is disgusting. I have a terrible feeling of paralysis, frustration and disgust. If this year is going to be like those horrible figures of lead are being cast, I don't want it.

Dissolve the UN and its Security Cancel. It is of no use.