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Showing posts with label Gaza. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gaza. Show all posts
Friday, January 16, 2009
Intelligent conversation on Middle East Conflict
Since the Joke was on "Special Assignment" (must have been helping his hero fumigate the White House before our new Prez moves in)they could actually have a serious intelligent conversation on Morning Joe on MSNBC. They talked about the Middle East conflict. This is the most comprehensive and best strategy I have heard about it.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Fact Checking Bush's Presser
President Bush gave his Exit Presser Monday, January 12, 2009. In doing so he gave his accounting of his take on his term, and how it looked from his perspective. He had much to say, some good, some bad, some angry, some just plain dumb.
I want to look at some of the things he said, and then point out the truth, now I didn't do all of this, I had some help. But some of them I did do. I also want to put in a picture of his faces during the presser I think is pretty funny.
President George W. Bush claimed to have inherited a recession that in fact began on his watch in a legacy-polishing news conference Monday often at odds with his record. A look at some of the president's claims in his final news conference, and the facts:
BUSH: "In terms of the economy - look, I inherited a recession, I'm ending on a recession. In the meantime, there were 52 months of uninterrupted job growth."
THE FACTS: There have been two recessions during Bush's time in office. The first was a relatively mild downturn that began in March 2001 and lasted eight months, ending in November 2001. Since the first one did not begin until after he took office in January 2001, it is not strictly accurate to say he "inherited" it.
The second downturn began December 2007 and has already lasted longer than any recession in a quarter century. If it does not end until the second half of this year, which many economists believe is likely, the current recession will have surpassed in length all other downturns of the post World War II period.
As to his claim of 52 months of uninterrupted job growth, that is factual, although perhaps misleading in what it says about overall job growth during his term. Job growth after the 2001 recession did not resume on a sustained basis until September 2003, continuing until January 2007, a period of 52 months.
However, jobs have declined in every month since then. A staggering 2.6 million jobs disappeared in 2008, the most since World War II, and unemployment hit a 16-year high of 7.2 percent in December.
Overall, during Bush's eight years in office, a net total of 3 million jobs were created. In the two terms of his predecessor, President Clinton, roughly 21 million jobs were generated.
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In a side note to this, here is a link to a story that was done by Rachel Maddow, and by Anderson Cooper,(who was there, on the ground every day in the water) and he has a different memory than Bush does too.
Also check out my friend Enigma4Ever @ Watergate Summer she has a lot of stuff on Katrina. It is something her and I discuss and she has blogged on it. Bush is such a jerk for saying these things when he knows it is just an out and out LIE..and yes I said it was a LIE!!!!!!!!!!
BUSH: Asked about the government's response to Hurricane Katrina, Bush said, "You know, people said, well, the federal response was slow. Don't tell me the federal response was slow when there was 30,000 people pulled off roofs right after the storm passed... That's a pretty quick response."
THE FACTS: The president's defense is based on one very narrow measure in the 2005 storm's immediate aftermath. He ignored numerous other facets that depict a more sober picture.
There were 9,000 Louisiana families still living in trailers as of last Sept. 1, and more than 30,000 residents of Gulf states receiving disaster housing assistance. Five of 23 acute-care hospitals in the New Orleans area remain closed. The city's bus system carries less than a third of its pre-storm passengers. Many neighborhoods remain largely vacant.
Bush noted that $121 billion in federal aid was approved. But much of that went to rescue operations and other short-term needs. The Louisiana Recovery Authority estimates that about $15 billion has been spent on rebuilding in the state.
Bush said New Orleans schools have improved, which is true. But of 125 public schools in New Orleans before Katrina, only about 85 remain.
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BUSH: Predicted that Israel and the Palestinians will eventually make peace more or less on terms he outlined early in his tenure, and said his administration "worked hard" to advance peace by defining a goal of two peaceful countries and working to strengthen Palestinian security forces.
THE FACTS: Bush's 2002 speech calling for an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel did mark a surprisingly explicit and detailed endorsement of that idea by an American president. But he didn't mention that in those early years his administration put active peacemaking in a deep freeze and only tried to restart negotiations late in his term. In the years between, Israel expanded Jewish settlements on land claimed by the Palestinians for an eventual state, with only mild complaint from the United States.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said the administration waited until the timing was better, meaning until after the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and the election of a moderate leader to succeed him. Bush wrote off Arafat early on, with advisers saying the PLO chief was corrupt and probably incapable of delivering a deal that Israel and its U.S. backers could live with.
But by the time the U.S. made Mideast peace a diplomatic priority conditions were changing again. Bush pushed Arafat's successor, Mahmoud Abbas, to hold elections in early 2006 that he feared, correctly, would legitimize his rivals in the Islamic Hamas movement. Those rivals are now in control of the Gaza Strip, splitting the territory and people Abbas theoretically governs.
Bush sponsored a high-level peace conference in late 2007, and visited Israel and the West Bank in early 2008. Rice stopped by often to check on secret negotiations between Abbas' West Bank leadership and Israel.
Hamas is now at war with Israel in Gaza, in the most intense fighting in years. Israel may succeed in wounding Hamas leadership and its ability to fire rockets into Israel, but it probably cannot defeat the well-organized group outright. In the meantime, civilian deaths in Gaza erode Palestinian support for negotiations.
Now that we have fact checked some of Bush's statements of his pressers and you can see that he wasn't quite on the mark, I am sure you have others you can add. Feel free.
One other little thing he had to say I found odd... The president declined to talk about any plans to issue further pardons, but he did talk about what he'd do after Obama takes over, saying he'd likely start working again immediately. "I'm a type-A personality. I just can't envision myself [with] the big straw hat and Hawaiian shirt sitting on some beach," Bush said. "Particularly since I quit drinking."
I sure hope he doesn't issue any more pardons, I worry he will issue a blanket pardon for himself and Cheney before he leaves office. But I wonder about the quitting drinking part. Sometimes I think that's the only thing that explains some of his behavior.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Different look at some History of Gaza and Israel
Here is a take on the History of Gaza from Al Jazeera that shows a different take than what we see here. It is good and infomative. I got it through Juan Cole. His site is so good.
Since the start of Israel's Operation Cast Lead on December 27, at least 890 people have been killed, including 275 children, and another 3,800 wounded, according to Gaza medics. Ten Israeli soldiers and three civilians have been killed in combat or in rocket attacks since the operation began.
My hope is that these bombings will stop. Just stop. I believe that both sides are wrong, both sides are right and it just needs to STOP. Then they can sit down and talk... that's what I think the problem is. No one is making them sit down and talk. Lock them in a room together...just the two leaders... with food and water and make them stay until they figure it out.
Put in an impartial intermediary if needed...someone like Pres. Carter who would stop them if they tried to kill each other, but other than that let them go at each other. Maybe then they could get things figured out.
That's what I would do if I had any power to do anything. It may not work, but it would be a start on something, sometimes you just have to take the simple approach to things.
Since the start of Israel's Operation Cast Lead on December 27, at least 890 people have been killed, including 275 children, and another 3,800 wounded, according to Gaza medics. Ten Israeli soldiers and three civilians have been killed in combat or in rocket attacks since the operation began.
My hope is that these bombings will stop. Just stop. I believe that both sides are wrong, both sides are right and it just needs to STOP. Then they can sit down and talk... that's what I think the problem is. No one is making them sit down and talk. Lock them in a room together...just the two leaders... with food and water and make them stay until they figure it out.
Put in an impartial intermediary if needed...someone like Pres. Carter who would stop them if they tried to kill each other, but other than that let them go at each other. Maybe then they could get things figured out.
That's what I would do if I had any power to do anything. It may not work, but it would be a start on something, sometimes you just have to take the simple approach to things.
Friday, January 9, 2009
The Media Got Barack Obama Elected
We didn't need to vote. We didn't need to make phone calls, knock on doors. Donate money. Volunteer our time, post signs, drive others to the polls, none of that stuff. It wasn't our hard work that helped elect our president. It was the media.
I have heard this from Morning Joke Scarborough, (as one blogger I read puts it, he who has never explained the dead woman found in his office) and I even heard it from my daughter the other day. Her statement was, “All the media wanted him elected.” This was because someone, I don't remember who was criticizing him for not speaking out about the Israeli/Gaza conflict.
Yesterday, on another blog I read, there was a post by a contributor who stated and I quote”
I know you all want to turn a blind eye to these things...but Hollywood has a liberal bias in everything it puts out there. I can name maybe a handful of pro-Republican, pro-Military, pro-conservative movies/TV shows out there...95% of the rest of them have a liberal bias. And don't get me started on what kids are "learning" in classrooms around the country with 97% of Teachers being registered as Democrats and college professors in a liberal world all their own.”
Now, I am not sure where he got his figures. I have never seen anything like the 97% of teachers being registered as Democrats...or that 95% of movies and TV shows are liberal biased. But that was his story. Of course he is a conservative. So, from his viewpoint maybe it is.
And now, another viewpoint...the north country heard from. Sarah Palin is talking again. The big bad media, the irresponsible bloggers, everyone but Sarah. So, again it is the media. If she thinks the media was so bad during the campaign in 2008, what will she do during her run in 2012? Because folks, get ready, she is gearing up for her run.
Now, polls are showing that she won't make it if she tries to pick off the senator in 2010, and there is some speculation that she might NOT get re-elected for governor. So, maybe she is practicing now, then in 2010 just starting her campaign for president. Because this interview is obviously a gear up for her run.
But, did the media elect Barack Obama?? I sure thought it was my vote and yours and the other 69,456,895 people who voted for him. And the 365 electoral votes he got. That's who I thought elected him. But maybe we were wrong.
I have heard this from Morning Joke Scarborough, (as one blogger I read puts it, he who has never explained the dead woman found in his office) and I even heard it from my daughter the other day. Her statement was, “All the media wanted him elected.” This was because someone, I don't remember who was criticizing him for not speaking out about the Israeli/Gaza conflict.
Yesterday, on another blog I read, there was a post by a contributor who stated and I quote”
I know you all want to turn a blind eye to these things...but Hollywood has a liberal bias in everything it puts out there. I can name maybe a handful of pro-Republican, pro-Military, pro-conservative movies/TV shows out there...95% of the rest of them have a liberal bias. And don't get me started on what kids are "learning" in classrooms around the country with 97% of Teachers being registered as Democrats and college professors in a liberal world all their own.”
Now, I am not sure where he got his figures. I have never seen anything like the 97% of teachers being registered as Democrats...or that 95% of movies and TV shows are liberal biased. But that was his story. Of course he is a conservative. So, from his viewpoint maybe it is.
And now, another viewpoint...the north country heard from. Sarah Palin is talking again. The big bad media, the irresponsible bloggers, everyone but Sarah. So, again it is the media. If she thinks the media was so bad during the campaign in 2008, what will she do during her run in 2012? Because folks, get ready, she is gearing up for her run.
Now, polls are showing that she won't make it if she tries to pick off the senator in 2010, and there is some speculation that she might NOT get re-elected for governor. So, maybe she is practicing now, then in 2010 just starting her campaign for president. Because this interview is obviously a gear up for her run.
But, did the media elect Barack Obama?? I sure thought it was my vote and yours and the other 69,456,895 people who voted for him. And the 365 electoral votes he got. That's who I thought elected him. But maybe we were wrong.
100 Survivors Rescued in Gaza From Ruins Blocked by Israelis
Update to story about Gaza medics discovering horror of strike which killed 70
From Washington Post
100 Survivors Rescued in Gaza From Ruins Blocked by Israelis
Relief Agencies Fear More Are Trapped, Days After Neighborhood Was Shelled
By Craig Whitlock and Reyham Abdel Kareem
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, January 9, 2009; A01
JERUSALEM, Jan. 8 -- Emergency workers said they rescued 100 more trapped survivors Thursday and found between 40 and 50 corpses in a devastated residential block south of Gaza City that the Israeli military had kept off-limits to the International Committee of the Red Cross for four days.
Relief agencies said they feared more people remained in the rubble of several shattered houses in the Zaytoun neighborhood. Red Cross officials said that they began receiving distress calls from people in the houses late Saturday but that they were blocked by the Israeli military from reaching the area until Wednesday.
"There are still people under demolished houses -- we are sure of it," said Khaled Abuzaid, an ambulance driver for the Red Cross who treated survivors at the site Wednesday and Thursday. "But without water or electricity, we are sure they will die."
In an interview at al-Quds Hospital, a Red Cross medical center in Gaza, Abuzaid said rescue workers found 16 bodies Wednesday in a large room of a house in Zaytoun: seven women, six children and three men, all members of the al-Samuni family.
Most had sustained trauma injuries from shelling, but many had gunshot wounds as well, he said. Four children, weak but alive, were found lying under blankets, nestled next to their dead mothers, Abuzaid said. Red Cross officials had said earlier that 12 adult bodies had been found in the house but otherwise corroborated Abuzaid's account.
Abuzaid said he was part of a crew of 10 paramedics and other rescue workers who reached Zaytoun on Wednesday afternoon, during a three-hour break in combat operations in Gaza during which relief agencies were allowed to deliver supplies and medical care to stricken Gazans.
He said Israeli soldiers told the crew of Red Cross and Palestinian Red Crescent workers in advance that they were forbidden to take cameras, radios or cellphones to the site. It is standard practice for crews to carry such equipment on rescue missions.
The Red Cross has accused the Israeli military of repeatedly refusing to grant permission for ambulances to go to Zaytoun, even though soldiers were stationed outside the damaged houses and were aware people were wounded inside. In a statement issued early Thursday, the agency called the episode "unacceptable" and said the Israeli military had "failed to meet its obligation under international humanitarian law to care for and evacuate the wounded."
The Israeli military said it was investigating but declined to respond to specific allegations by the Red Cross. "This is a complaint, and we have to check it," said reserve Brig. Gen. Ilan Tal, an Israeli military spokesman.
The United Nations also pressed Israel to investigate the Red Cross allegations. John Holmes, chief of U.N. humanitarian aid programs, called the Zaytoun deaths "a particularly outrageous incident." "What they found was absolutely horrifying," he said at a news conference in New York.
B'Tselem, the Israeli human rights group, said residents of Zaytoun who had been trapped in other houses have given similar accounts of how Israeli soldiers were aware of their plight but refused to allow rescue workers into the neighborhood. "What these family members say consistently is that the IDF was close by," said Sarit Michaeli, a spokeswoman for the group, referring to the Israel Defense Forces. "This wasn't some remote area. The soldiers certainly were about and were aware of their position."
Access to Zaytoun, near a major north-south road that bisects Gaza, remained highly restricted Thursday. Red Cross and Red Crescent crews were allowed back to the site during another three-hour break in the fighting, evacuating 103 people who had been trapped for days without food and water, according to Anne-Sophie Bonefeld, a Red Cross spokeswoman in Jerusalem. Other relief officials said the people rescued Thursday were crammed inside three houses on the same block as the Samunis' house.
Two surviving members of the Samuni family said dozens of their relatives in the area had been rounded up by the Israeli military early Sunday and ordered to stay inside a handful of houses while soldiers conducted operations door-to-door. They said some people died in the shelling, which left a gaping hole in the roof of the Samuni home.
Their accounts could not be independently corroborated. Survivors of the fighting in Zaytoun remained scattered at hospitals across Gaza, and Red Cross officials said they were trying to account for their whereabouts and medical condition. The Israeli military has barred foreign journalists from entering Gaza.
"It was horrible," said Shifaa Samuni, 70, who was detained in the family's house but fled with her grandson Monday afternoon after the killings. She said two of her sons and three daughters-in-law were among the dead.
"Look how much I lost," she said at al-Quds Hospital, where she was receiving treatment for minor injuries, including wounds to her hands. "Why? We did nothing. We are a peaceful family."
Ahmad Talal Samuni, 23, said the neighborhood came under heavy shelling and helicopter gunfire Saturday night. He said that when tanks approached, two of his uncles and their families, who lived nearby, rushed over to seek refuge in his home, about 45 people all told. The next morning, he said, fighting resumed and soldiers came to the house.
"They told us not to leave -- not by using loudspeakers, but by shooting," he said in a telephone interview from Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, where he was tending to other relatives. "The soldiers were shooting in the air and they told us to go east, in the direction of Salah Din Street."
The soldiers ordered the family into a large concrete house owned by another relative, Ahmad Samuni said. By then, about 70 people were gathered inside, he recalled. "The soldiers told us not to leave. . . . We were hungry. There was no milk for the babies, no medicine for the ill children."
Shortly before dawn Monday, three Samuni men decided to leave the house so they could gather other relatives and bring them back, said Meysa Fawzi Samuni, 19, a member of the family who survived the fighting and gave an extensive interview to B'Tselem. The group provided a written version of her statement to The Washington Post, but she could not be reached to independently confirm her account.
Meysa Samuni told B'Tselem that an explosion struck the doorway of the house as the three men prepared to leave, killing one of them. Moments later, a larger explosion on the roof rocked the house. She said she fell to the floor, covering her infant daughter with her body.
"Everything filled up with smoke and dust, and I heard screams and crying. After the smoke and dust cleared a bit, I looked around and saw 20-30 people who were dead, and about 20 who were wounded," Meysa Samuni said in her statement.
She said she was only slightly injured; her baby also survived but lost three fingers in the explosion.
After about 15 minutes, Meysa Samuni said she, her brother-in-law Musa and his two young sisters, Islam, 5, and Isra, 2, fled and knocked on the door of another relative's home nearby.
Israeli soldiers had already occupied the house, she said, and were guarding about 30 Palestinians inside, several of whom had been blindfolded.
Meysa Samuni said the soldiers seized Musa, tying his hands and blindfolding him. Another soldier gave first aid to Meysa and her infant, bandaging their hands and checking their pulses. The Israelis said the mother and daughter could leave.
"They ordered us to leave the house and we walked along the street about 400-500 meters" -- about a quarter-mile -- "until we found an ambulance," which took them to Shifa Hospital, where she later met a few relatives who had escaped the shelling on the house, she said in her statement. "As far as I know, the dead and the wounded who were under the ruins are still there."
Abdel Kareem reported from Gaza City. Special correspondent Samuel Sockol in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
From Washington Post
100 Survivors Rescued in Gaza From Ruins Blocked by Israelis
Relief Agencies Fear More Are Trapped, Days After Neighborhood Was Shelled
By Craig Whitlock and Reyham Abdel Kareem
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, January 9, 2009; A01
JERUSALEM, Jan. 8 -- Emergency workers said they rescued 100 more trapped survivors Thursday and found between 40 and 50 corpses in a devastated residential block south of Gaza City that the Israeli military had kept off-limits to the International Committee of the Red Cross for four days.
Relief agencies said they feared more people remained in the rubble of several shattered houses in the Zaytoun neighborhood. Red Cross officials said that they began receiving distress calls from people in the houses late Saturday but that they were blocked by the Israeli military from reaching the area until Wednesday.
"There are still people under demolished houses -- we are sure of it," said Khaled Abuzaid, an ambulance driver for the Red Cross who treated survivors at the site Wednesday and Thursday. "But without water or electricity, we are sure they will die."
In an interview at al-Quds Hospital, a Red Cross medical center in Gaza, Abuzaid said rescue workers found 16 bodies Wednesday in a large room of a house in Zaytoun: seven women, six children and three men, all members of the al-Samuni family.
Most had sustained trauma injuries from shelling, but many had gunshot wounds as well, he said. Four children, weak but alive, were found lying under blankets, nestled next to their dead mothers, Abuzaid said. Red Cross officials had said earlier that 12 adult bodies had been found in the house but otherwise corroborated Abuzaid's account.
Abuzaid said he was part of a crew of 10 paramedics and other rescue workers who reached Zaytoun on Wednesday afternoon, during a three-hour break in combat operations in Gaza during which relief agencies were allowed to deliver supplies and medical care to stricken Gazans.
He said Israeli soldiers told the crew of Red Cross and Palestinian Red Crescent workers in advance that they were forbidden to take cameras, radios or cellphones to the site. It is standard practice for crews to carry such equipment on rescue missions.
The Red Cross has accused the Israeli military of repeatedly refusing to grant permission for ambulances to go to Zaytoun, even though soldiers were stationed outside the damaged houses and were aware people were wounded inside. In a statement issued early Thursday, the agency called the episode "unacceptable" and said the Israeli military had "failed to meet its obligation under international humanitarian law to care for and evacuate the wounded."
The Israeli military said it was investigating but declined to respond to specific allegations by the Red Cross. "This is a complaint, and we have to check it," said reserve Brig. Gen. Ilan Tal, an Israeli military spokesman.
The United Nations also pressed Israel to investigate the Red Cross allegations. John Holmes, chief of U.N. humanitarian aid programs, called the Zaytoun deaths "a particularly outrageous incident." "What they found was absolutely horrifying," he said at a news conference in New York.
B'Tselem, the Israeli human rights group, said residents of Zaytoun who had been trapped in other houses have given similar accounts of how Israeli soldiers were aware of their plight but refused to allow rescue workers into the neighborhood. "What these family members say consistently is that the IDF was close by," said Sarit Michaeli, a spokeswoman for the group, referring to the Israel Defense Forces. "This wasn't some remote area. The soldiers certainly were about and were aware of their position."
Access to Zaytoun, near a major north-south road that bisects Gaza, remained highly restricted Thursday. Red Cross and Red Crescent crews were allowed back to the site during another three-hour break in the fighting, evacuating 103 people who had been trapped for days without food and water, according to Anne-Sophie Bonefeld, a Red Cross spokeswoman in Jerusalem. Other relief officials said the people rescued Thursday were crammed inside three houses on the same block as the Samunis' house.
Two surviving members of the Samuni family said dozens of their relatives in the area had been rounded up by the Israeli military early Sunday and ordered to stay inside a handful of houses while soldiers conducted operations door-to-door. They said some people died in the shelling, which left a gaping hole in the roof of the Samuni home.
Their accounts could not be independently corroborated. Survivors of the fighting in Zaytoun remained scattered at hospitals across Gaza, and Red Cross officials said they were trying to account for their whereabouts and medical condition. The Israeli military has barred foreign journalists from entering Gaza.
"It was horrible," said Shifaa Samuni, 70, who was detained in the family's house but fled with her grandson Monday afternoon after the killings. She said two of her sons and three daughters-in-law were among the dead.
"Look how much I lost," she said at al-Quds Hospital, where she was receiving treatment for minor injuries, including wounds to her hands. "Why? We did nothing. We are a peaceful family."
Ahmad Talal Samuni, 23, said the neighborhood came under heavy shelling and helicopter gunfire Saturday night. He said that when tanks approached, two of his uncles and their families, who lived nearby, rushed over to seek refuge in his home, about 45 people all told. The next morning, he said, fighting resumed and soldiers came to the house.
"They told us not to leave -- not by using loudspeakers, but by shooting," he said in a telephone interview from Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, where he was tending to other relatives. "The soldiers were shooting in the air and they told us to go east, in the direction of Salah Din Street."
The soldiers ordered the family into a large concrete house owned by another relative, Ahmad Samuni said. By then, about 70 people were gathered inside, he recalled. "The soldiers told us not to leave. . . . We were hungry. There was no milk for the babies, no medicine for the ill children."
Shortly before dawn Monday, three Samuni men decided to leave the house so they could gather other relatives and bring them back, said Meysa Fawzi Samuni, 19, a member of the family who survived the fighting and gave an extensive interview to B'Tselem. The group provided a written version of her statement to The Washington Post, but she could not be reached to independently confirm her account.
Meysa Samuni told B'Tselem that an explosion struck the doorway of the house as the three men prepared to leave, killing one of them. Moments later, a larger explosion on the roof rocked the house. She said she fell to the floor, covering her infant daughter with her body.
"Everything filled up with smoke and dust, and I heard screams and crying. After the smoke and dust cleared a bit, I looked around and saw 20-30 people who were dead, and about 20 who were wounded," Meysa Samuni said in her statement.
She said she was only slightly injured; her baby also survived but lost three fingers in the explosion.
After about 15 minutes, Meysa Samuni said she, her brother-in-law Musa and his two young sisters, Islam, 5, and Isra, 2, fled and knocked on the door of another relative's home nearby.
Israeli soldiers had already occupied the house, she said, and were guarding about 30 Palestinians inside, several of whom had been blindfolded.
Meysa Samuni said the soldiers seized Musa, tying his hands and blindfolding him. Another soldier gave first aid to Meysa and her infant, bandaging their hands and checking their pulses. The Israelis said the mother and daughter could leave.
"They ordered us to leave the house and we walked along the street about 400-500 meters" -- about a quarter-mile -- "until we found an ambulance," which took them to Shifa Hospital, where she later met a few relatives who had escaped the shelling on the house, she said in her statement. "As far as I know, the dead and the wounded who were under the ruins are still there."
Abdel Kareem reported from Gaza City. Special correspondent Samuel Sockol in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
An Unnecessary War By Jimmy Carter
From the Washington Post
An Unnecessary War
By Jimmy Carter
Thursday, January 8, 2009
I know from personal involvement that the devastating invasion of Gaza by Israel could easily have been avoided.
After visiting Sderot last April and seeing the serious psychological damage caused by the rockets that had fallen in that area, my wife, Rosalynn, and I declared their launching from Gaza to be inexcusable and an act of terrorism. Although casualties were rare (three deaths in seven years), the town was traumatized by the unpredictable explosions. About 3,000 residents had moved to other communities, and the streets, playgrounds and shopping centers were almost empty. Mayor Eli Moyal assembled a group of citizens in his office to meet us and complained that the government of Israel was not stopping the rockets, either through diplomacy or military action.
Knowing that we would soon be seeing Hamas leaders from Gaza and also in Damascus, we promised to assess prospects for a cease-fire. From Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, who was negotiating between the Israelis and Hamas, we learned that there was a fundamental difference between the two sides. Hamas wanted a comprehensive cease-fire in both the West Bank and Gaza, and the Israelis refused to discuss anything other than Gaza.
We knew that the 1.5 million inhabitants of Gaza were being starved, as the U.N. special rapporteur on the right to food had found that acute malnutrition in Gaza was on the same scale as in the poorest nations in the southern Sahara, with more than half of all Palestinian families eating only one meal a day.
Palestinian leaders from Gaza were noncommittal on all issues, claiming that rockets were the only way to respond to their imprisonment and to dramatize their humanitarian plight. The top Hamas leaders in Damascus, however, agreed to consider a cease-fire in Gaza only, provided Israel would not attack Gaza and would permit normal humanitarian supplies to be delivered to Palestinian citizens.
After extended discussions with those from Gaza, these Hamas leaders also agreed to accept any peace agreement that might be negotiated between the Israelis and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who also heads the PLO, provided it was approved by a majority vote of Palestinians in a referendum or by an elected unity government.
Since we were only observers, and not negotiators, we relayed this information to the Egyptians, and they pursued the cease-fire proposal. After about a month, the Egyptians and Hamas informed us that all military action by both sides and all rocket firing would stop on June 19, for a period of six months, and that humanitarian supplies would be restored to the normal level that had existed before Israel's withdrawal in 2005 (about 700 trucks daily).
We were unable to confirm this in Jerusalem because of Israel's unwillingness to admit to any negotiations with Hamas, but rocket firing was soon stopped and there was an increase in supplies of food, water, medicine and fuel. Yet the increase was to an average of about 20 percent of normal levels. And this fragile truce was partially broken on Nov. 4, when Israel launched an attack in Gaza to destroy a defensive tunnel being dug by Hamas inside the wall that encloses Gaza.
On another visit to Syria in mid-December, I made an effort for the impending six-month deadline to be extended. It was clear that the preeminent issue was opening the crossings into Gaza. Representatives from the Carter Center visited Jerusalem, met with Israeli officials and asked if this was possible in exchange for a cessation of rocket fire. The Israeli government informally proposed that 15 percent of normal supplies might be possible if Hamas first stopped all rocket fire for 48 hours. This was unacceptable to Hamas, and hostilities erupted.
After 12 days of "combat," the Israeli Defense Forces reported that more than 1,000 targets were shelled or bombed. During that time, Israel rejected international efforts to obtain a cease-fire, with full support from Washington. Seventeen mosques, the American International School, many private homes and much of the basic infrastructure of the small but heavily populated area have been destroyed. This includes the systems that provide water, electricity and sanitation. Heavy civilian casualties are being reported by courageous medical volunteers from many nations, as the fortunate ones operate on the wounded by light from diesel-powered generators.
The hope is that when further hostilities are no longer productive, Israel, Hamas and the United States will accept another cease-fire, at which time the rockets will again stop and an adequate level of humanitarian supplies will be permitted to the surviving Palestinians, with the publicized agreement monitored by the international community. The next possible step: a permanent and comprehensive peace.
The writer was president from 1977 to 1981. He founded the Carter Center, a nongovernmental organization advancing peace and health worldwide, in 1982.
An Unnecessary War
By Jimmy Carter
Thursday, January 8, 2009
I know from personal involvement that the devastating invasion of Gaza by Israel could easily have been avoided.
After visiting Sderot last April and seeing the serious psychological damage caused by the rockets that had fallen in that area, my wife, Rosalynn, and I declared their launching from Gaza to be inexcusable and an act of terrorism. Although casualties were rare (three deaths in seven years), the town was traumatized by the unpredictable explosions. About 3,000 residents had moved to other communities, and the streets, playgrounds and shopping centers were almost empty. Mayor Eli Moyal assembled a group of citizens in his office to meet us and complained that the government of Israel was not stopping the rockets, either through diplomacy or military action.
Knowing that we would soon be seeing Hamas leaders from Gaza and also in Damascus, we promised to assess prospects for a cease-fire. From Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, who was negotiating between the Israelis and Hamas, we learned that there was a fundamental difference between the two sides. Hamas wanted a comprehensive cease-fire in both the West Bank and Gaza, and the Israelis refused to discuss anything other than Gaza.
We knew that the 1.5 million inhabitants of Gaza were being starved, as the U.N. special rapporteur on the right to food had found that acute malnutrition in Gaza was on the same scale as in the poorest nations in the southern Sahara, with more than half of all Palestinian families eating only one meal a day.
Palestinian leaders from Gaza were noncommittal on all issues, claiming that rockets were the only way to respond to their imprisonment and to dramatize their humanitarian plight. The top Hamas leaders in Damascus, however, agreed to consider a cease-fire in Gaza only, provided Israel would not attack Gaza and would permit normal humanitarian supplies to be delivered to Palestinian citizens.
After extended discussions with those from Gaza, these Hamas leaders also agreed to accept any peace agreement that might be negotiated between the Israelis and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who also heads the PLO, provided it was approved by a majority vote of Palestinians in a referendum or by an elected unity government.
Since we were only observers, and not negotiators, we relayed this information to the Egyptians, and they pursued the cease-fire proposal. After about a month, the Egyptians and Hamas informed us that all military action by both sides and all rocket firing would stop on June 19, for a period of six months, and that humanitarian supplies would be restored to the normal level that had existed before Israel's withdrawal in 2005 (about 700 trucks daily).
We were unable to confirm this in Jerusalem because of Israel's unwillingness to admit to any negotiations with Hamas, but rocket firing was soon stopped and there was an increase in supplies of food, water, medicine and fuel. Yet the increase was to an average of about 20 percent of normal levels. And this fragile truce was partially broken on Nov. 4, when Israel launched an attack in Gaza to destroy a defensive tunnel being dug by Hamas inside the wall that encloses Gaza.
On another visit to Syria in mid-December, I made an effort for the impending six-month deadline to be extended. It was clear that the preeminent issue was opening the crossings into Gaza. Representatives from the Carter Center visited Jerusalem, met with Israeli officials and asked if this was possible in exchange for a cessation of rocket fire. The Israeli government informally proposed that 15 percent of normal supplies might be possible if Hamas first stopped all rocket fire for 48 hours. This was unacceptable to Hamas, and hostilities erupted.
After 12 days of "combat," the Israeli Defense Forces reported that more than 1,000 targets were shelled or bombed. During that time, Israel rejected international efforts to obtain a cease-fire, with full support from Washington. Seventeen mosques, the American International School, many private homes and much of the basic infrastructure of the small but heavily populated area have been destroyed. This includes the systems that provide water, electricity and sanitation. Heavy civilian casualties are being reported by courageous medical volunteers from many nations, as the fortunate ones operate on the wounded by light from diesel-powered generators.
The hope is that when further hostilities are no longer productive, Israel, Hamas and the United States will accept another cease-fire, at which time the rockets will again stop and an adequate level of humanitarian supplies will be permitted to the surviving Palestinians, with the publicized agreement monitored by the international community. The next possible step: a permanent and comprehensive peace.
The writer was president from 1977 to 1981. He founded the Carter Center, a nongovernmental organization advancing peace and health worldwide, in 1982.
Good Reporters are hard to find.
One of the things I find maddening is we have no one in the media who tries to hold our elected officials responsible. We allow them to say what they want, do what they want and just be irresponsible with no cares about the consequences of their statements or actions may have.
Even the so called "Hardball" with Chris Matthews doesn't always get to the meat and potatoes of the matter. Oh he likes to say he holds their feet to the fire, but he doesn't. And, David Gregory, on Meet the Press, well if you are on the R side, you get the puff ball, do you need a pillow interview, while if you are on the D side you might get a little tougher, do you think you were too hard on President Bush and do you regret saying he is the worst president ever. That's what he asked Sen. Reid last week. Not that I watched it, just read about it. I said when NBC named him as host I would never watch it again and I won't.
So, far I haven't seen anyone really force someone to answer the tough questions here in the US. But, I have hopes. Maybe one of these days, some reporter here will take lessons from the guy on this video. He is interviewing 2 of our congressmen. Watch this, it is a little long, but it is worth the watch, especially the last half of it. It is about the War in Gaza, the fact they are using weapons we (the USA) has supplied them, Israel I mean, and Dennis Kucinich, (D,OH) is not happy about that. I am not sure what Eliot Engel, (D,NY) is there for, but he gets grilled. It is worth the watch. He has no good answers and can't even argue well. Oh I wish this reporter worked for one of the MSM here and could have held Bushes feet to the fire.
Even the so called "Hardball" with Chris Matthews doesn't always get to the meat and potatoes of the matter. Oh he likes to say he holds their feet to the fire, but he doesn't. And, David Gregory, on Meet the Press, well if you are on the R side, you get the puff ball, do you need a pillow interview, while if you are on the D side you might get a little tougher, do you think you were too hard on President Bush and do you regret saying he is the worst president ever. That's what he asked Sen. Reid last week. Not that I watched it, just read about it. I said when NBC named him as host I would never watch it again and I won't.
So, far I haven't seen anyone really force someone to answer the tough questions here in the US. But, I have hopes. Maybe one of these days, some reporter here will take lessons from the guy on this video. He is interviewing 2 of our congressmen. Watch this, it is a little long, but it is worth the watch, especially the last half of it. It is about the War in Gaza, the fact they are using weapons we (the USA) has supplied them, Israel I mean, and Dennis Kucinich, (D,OH) is not happy about that. I am not sure what Eliot Engel, (D,NY) is there for, but he gets grilled. It is worth the watch. He has no good answers and can't even argue well. Oh I wish this reporter worked for one of the MSM here and could have held Bushes feet to the fire.
Story from JuanCole I posted yesterday confirmed in WaPo by RedCross and Palestinian Red Crescent
Red Cross Reports Grisly Find in Gaza
Israel Accused of Blocking Aid to Wounded
By Craig Whitlock
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, January 8, 2009; A01
WashingtonPost
JERUSALEM, Jan. 8 -- The International Committee of the Red Cross said Thursday that it had found at least 15 bodies and several children -- emaciated but alive -- in a row of shattered houses in the Gaza Strip and accused the Israeli military of preventing ambulances from reaching the site for four days.
Red Cross officials said rescue crews had received specific reports of casualties in the houses and had been trying since Saturday to send ambulances to the area, located in Zaytoun, a neighborhood south of Gaza City. They said the Israeli military did not grant permission until Wednesday afternoon.
In an unusual public statement issued by its Geneva headquarters, the Red Cross called the episode "unacceptable" and said the Israeli military had "failed to meet its obligation under international humanitarian law to care for and evacuate the wounded."
When rescue workers from the Red Cross and the Palestinian Red Crescent arrived at the site, they found 12 corpses lying on mattresses in one home, along with four young children lying next to their dead mothers, the Red Cross said. The children were too weak to stand and were rushed to a hospital, the agency said.
A spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces declined to comment early Thursday on the specific allegations made by the Red Cross but said in a statement that the military "has demonstrated its willingness to abort operations to save civilian lives and to risk injury in order to assist innocent civilians."
"Any serious allegations made against the IDF's conduct will need to be investigated properly, once such a complaint is received formally," the statement added.
The deaths came to light as Israel continued a military offensive against the Islamist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Early Thursday, Israeli officials reported a number of explosions in northern Israel and said they were caused by rockets fired from southern Lebanon.
An Israeli military spokesman said that several rockets had been fired from Lebanon about 7:30 a.m. and that they had landed in western Galilee. One man was lightly wounded. The spokesman said the military returned fire into southern Lebanon, targeting the rocket-launching site.
Officials in Galilee said the rockets -- the first fired into Israel from southern Lebanon since the end of the 2006 war with the Shiite Muslim movement Hezbollah -- landed around the city of Nahariya.
There was no immediate comment from within Lebanon. Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah has threatened Israel with retaliation for its offensive in Gaza.
In the Zaytoun incident, the Red Cross said its workers evacuated 18 wounded survivors from the houses in donkey carts. They said ambulances could not reach the site because of earthen barriers erected around the neighborhood by the Israeli military. Red Cross officials said that Israeli soldiers posted nearby tried to chase rescue workers away from the site but that the rescuers refused to leave.
"This is a shocking incident," Pierre Wettach, the Red Cross's head of delegation for Israel and the Palestinian territories, said in a statement. "The Israeli military must have been aware of the situation but did not assist the wounded. Neither did they make it possible for us or the Palestine Red Crescent to assist the wounded."
The Geneva Conventions provide that parties to a conflict "at all times" should "without delay" take "all possible measures to search for and collect the wounded and sick, to protect them against pillage and ill-treatment, to ensure their adequate care, and to search for the dead and prevent their being despoiled." The conventions also say that wounded "shall not willfully be left without medical assistance and care."
The Red Cross said it was able to remove only three of the bodies and had received reports of other casualties in the neighborhood. The agency said that it was trying to return to the site but that negotiations with the Israeli military to guarantee safe passage were ongoing.
Palestinian journalists confirmed that large numbers of wounded survivors, including children, had arrived at Red Cross hospitals in Gaza from Zaytoun on Wednesday. Other details could not be independently corroborated; the Israeli military has barred foreign journalists from entering Gaza.
There have been other reports of wounded Gazans who have been forced to wait many hours or even days for ambulances since the Israeli offensive began Dec. 27, including several in the Zaytoun neighborhood.
Meanwhile, Israel said Wednesday it was in "fundamental agreement" with a cease-fire proposal offered by Egypt and France, but fighting continued in the Gaza Strip as diplomats from more than a dozen countries haggled over details in a bid to stop the conflict.
Israeli officials said they would send emissaries to Egypt on Thursday to hold talks on a potential truce proposed by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Parallel diplomatic efforts were underway in New York at the United Nations. But many sticking points remained. The French-Egyptian proposal calls for an immediate cease-fire, followed by talks on securing Gaza's borders and ending an economic blockade that Israel has imposed since June 2007, when Hamas expelled rival Fatah forces from Gaza to seize sole control of the strip.
U.S. officials have supported the French-Egyptian effort but said the basic issues that led to the conflict need to be resolved upfront. "It has to be a cease-fire that will not allow a return to the status quo," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said.
Israel has vowed to continue its 12-day military campaign until it is satisfied that Hamas will be unable to rearm itself by smuggling weaponry through cross-border tunnels from Egypt. Hamas has fired hundreds of rockets, most of them crude and unguided, into southern Israel since a six-month truce between the group and Israel expired Dec. 19.
The Netherlands, Denmark and Turkey said Wednesday they would be willing to contribute to an international force that would patrol the Gaza-Egypt border to prevent smuggling. Israeli officials said they wanted to ensure that any such force would have the authority to stop arms trafficking.
Hamas officials, who have been involved separately in negotiations with Egypt, reacted coolly to the cease-fire plan.
Ahmed Youssef, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, said the group would not stop firing rockets into southern Israel until the Israeli military withdrew from the Palestinian territory and ended the economic blockade, which has left Gaza's 1.5 million people dependent on smugglers and relief organizations for their basic needs. About 25 rockets landed in southern Israel on Wednesday, wounding two people, the Israeli military said.
The Israeli military observed a three-hour cessation in the fighting Wednesday afternoon to allow relief agencies to deliver about 80 truckloads of emergency supplies. The lull in the violence also gave besieged Gaza residents an opportunity to emerge briefly from their homes and seek food, fuel and medical care.
Gazan medical officials said the pause in fighting led to a drop in casualties compared with other days since Israel launched its ground offensive Saturday. Twenty-nine Palestinians were reported killed Wednesday, bringing the toll to more than 680 since the fighting began, Palestinian health officials said. U.N. officials estimate that about one-third of those killed have been women and children, including three youngsters killed Wednesday when a shell struck a car.
Seven Israeli soldiers and three civilians have died in the conflict. Four of the soldiers were killed by errant shells fired by Israeli forces.
Correspondent Griff Witte in Jerusalem and staff researcher Julie Tate in Washington contributed to this report.
Israel Accused of Blocking Aid to Wounded
By Craig Whitlock
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, January 8, 2009; A01
WashingtonPost
JERUSALEM, Jan. 8 -- The International Committee of the Red Cross said Thursday that it had found at least 15 bodies and several children -- emaciated but alive -- in a row of shattered houses in the Gaza Strip and accused the Israeli military of preventing ambulances from reaching the site for four days.
Red Cross officials said rescue crews had received specific reports of casualties in the houses and had been trying since Saturday to send ambulances to the area, located in Zaytoun, a neighborhood south of Gaza City. They said the Israeli military did not grant permission until Wednesday afternoon.
In an unusual public statement issued by its Geneva headquarters, the Red Cross called the episode "unacceptable" and said the Israeli military had "failed to meet its obligation under international humanitarian law to care for and evacuate the wounded."
When rescue workers from the Red Cross and the Palestinian Red Crescent arrived at the site, they found 12 corpses lying on mattresses in one home, along with four young children lying next to their dead mothers, the Red Cross said. The children were too weak to stand and were rushed to a hospital, the agency said.
A spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces declined to comment early Thursday on the specific allegations made by the Red Cross but said in a statement that the military "has demonstrated its willingness to abort operations to save civilian lives and to risk injury in order to assist innocent civilians."
"Any serious allegations made against the IDF's conduct will need to be investigated properly, once such a complaint is received formally," the statement added.
The deaths came to light as Israel continued a military offensive against the Islamist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Early Thursday, Israeli officials reported a number of explosions in northern Israel and said they were caused by rockets fired from southern Lebanon.
An Israeli military spokesman said that several rockets had been fired from Lebanon about 7:30 a.m. and that they had landed in western Galilee. One man was lightly wounded. The spokesman said the military returned fire into southern Lebanon, targeting the rocket-launching site.
Officials in Galilee said the rockets -- the first fired into Israel from southern Lebanon since the end of the 2006 war with the Shiite Muslim movement Hezbollah -- landed around the city of Nahariya.
There was no immediate comment from within Lebanon. Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah has threatened Israel with retaliation for its offensive in Gaza.
In the Zaytoun incident, the Red Cross said its workers evacuated 18 wounded survivors from the houses in donkey carts. They said ambulances could not reach the site because of earthen barriers erected around the neighborhood by the Israeli military. Red Cross officials said that Israeli soldiers posted nearby tried to chase rescue workers away from the site but that the rescuers refused to leave.
"This is a shocking incident," Pierre Wettach, the Red Cross's head of delegation for Israel and the Palestinian territories, said in a statement. "The Israeli military must have been aware of the situation but did not assist the wounded. Neither did they make it possible for us or the Palestine Red Crescent to assist the wounded."
The Geneva Conventions provide that parties to a conflict "at all times" should "without delay" take "all possible measures to search for and collect the wounded and sick, to protect them against pillage and ill-treatment, to ensure their adequate care, and to search for the dead and prevent their being despoiled." The conventions also say that wounded "shall not willfully be left without medical assistance and care."
The Red Cross said it was able to remove only three of the bodies and had received reports of other casualties in the neighborhood. The agency said that it was trying to return to the site but that negotiations with the Israeli military to guarantee safe passage were ongoing.
Palestinian journalists confirmed that large numbers of wounded survivors, including children, had arrived at Red Cross hospitals in Gaza from Zaytoun on Wednesday. Other details could not be independently corroborated; the Israeli military has barred foreign journalists from entering Gaza.
There have been other reports of wounded Gazans who have been forced to wait many hours or even days for ambulances since the Israeli offensive began Dec. 27, including several in the Zaytoun neighborhood.
Meanwhile, Israel said Wednesday it was in "fundamental agreement" with a cease-fire proposal offered by Egypt and France, but fighting continued in the Gaza Strip as diplomats from more than a dozen countries haggled over details in a bid to stop the conflict.
Israeli officials said they would send emissaries to Egypt on Thursday to hold talks on a potential truce proposed by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Parallel diplomatic efforts were underway in New York at the United Nations. But many sticking points remained. The French-Egyptian proposal calls for an immediate cease-fire, followed by talks on securing Gaza's borders and ending an economic blockade that Israel has imposed since June 2007, when Hamas expelled rival Fatah forces from Gaza to seize sole control of the strip.
U.S. officials have supported the French-Egyptian effort but said the basic issues that led to the conflict need to be resolved upfront. "It has to be a cease-fire that will not allow a return to the status quo," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said.
Israel has vowed to continue its 12-day military campaign until it is satisfied that Hamas will be unable to rearm itself by smuggling weaponry through cross-border tunnels from Egypt. Hamas has fired hundreds of rockets, most of them crude and unguided, into southern Israel since a six-month truce between the group and Israel expired Dec. 19.
The Netherlands, Denmark and Turkey said Wednesday they would be willing to contribute to an international force that would patrol the Gaza-Egypt border to prevent smuggling. Israeli officials said they wanted to ensure that any such force would have the authority to stop arms trafficking.
Hamas officials, who have been involved separately in negotiations with Egypt, reacted coolly to the cease-fire plan.
Ahmed Youssef, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, said the group would not stop firing rockets into southern Israel until the Israeli military withdrew from the Palestinian territory and ended the economic blockade, which has left Gaza's 1.5 million people dependent on smugglers and relief organizations for their basic needs. About 25 rockets landed in southern Israel on Wednesday, wounding two people, the Israeli military said.
The Israeli military observed a three-hour cessation in the fighting Wednesday afternoon to allow relief agencies to deliver about 80 truckloads of emergency supplies. The lull in the violence also gave besieged Gaza residents an opportunity to emerge briefly from their homes and seek food, fuel and medical care.
Gazan medical officials said the pause in fighting led to a drop in casualties compared with other days since Israel launched its ground offensive Saturday. Twenty-nine Palestinians were reported killed Wednesday, bringing the toll to more than 680 since the fighting began, Palestinian health officials said. U.N. officials estimate that about one-third of those killed have been women and children, including three youngsters killed Wednesday when a shell struck a car.
Seven Israeli soldiers and three civilians have died in the conflict. Four of the soldiers were killed by errant shells fired by Israeli forces.
Correspondent Griff Witte in Jerusalem and staff researcher Julie Tate in Washington contributed to this report.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Breaking News.... More innocents killed...were these human shields too???
I know, I am going to be labeled as anti-Israel or anti-Semitic, but how can you be sympathetic to something like this?? It was clearly marked as a UN school. These people are leaving their homes to try to find a safe place, and thinking the school is safe. They aren't allowed to leave the country, WHERE CAN THEY GO??? Can they stand another 7 to 10 days of this?? That's what Israel is saying they need. What about the innocent victims?? What about what they need?? The Palestinians need relief, they need food, they need medical supplies. What about that?? Here is also another video that shows some more of the problems they are facing.
This is just in from MSNBC :
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Israeli tank fire killed at least 30 Palestinians at a United Nations-run school in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, medical sources at two hospitals said.
Two tank shells exploded outside the school, spraying shrapnel on people inside and outside the building, where hundreds of Palestinians had sought refuge from fighting between Israeli soldiers and Hamas militants. In addition to the dead, several dozen people were wounded, the officials said.
Medical officials said all the dead were either people sheltering in the school or local residents.
The United Nations also said three civilians were killed in the airstrike late Monday on the courtyard of another school, where hundreds of people from a Gaza City refugee camp had sought shelter from Israel's blistering 11-day offensive against the Hamas militant group.
The attacks came as Israeli forces edged closer to Gaza's major population centers, after ignoring mounting international calls for an immediate cease-fire. A Palestinian rocket attack wounded an Israeli infant.
'There's nowhere safe in Gaza'
"There's nowhere safe in Gaza. Everyone here is terrorized and traumatized," said John Ging, the top U.N. official in Gaza.
Tanks rumbled closer to the towns of Khan Younis and Dir el Balah in south and central Gaza but were still several miles outside, witnesses said, adding that the sounds of fighting could be heard from around the new Israeli positions. Israel, which has already encircled Gaza City, the area's biggest city, ignored mounting international calls for an immediate cease-fire.
Israel launched its offensive on Dec. 27 to halt repeated Palestinian rocket attacks on its southern towns. After a weeklong air campaign, Israeli ground forces invaded Gaza over the weekend. More than 500 Palestinians have been killed, including more than 100 civilians, according to United Nations figures. Nine Israelis have died since the operation began.
Israel says it won't stop the assault until its southern towns are freed of the threat of Palestinian rocket fire and it receives international guarantees that Hamas, a militant group backed by Iran and Syria, will not restock its weapons stockpile. It blames Hamas for the civilian casualties, saying the group intentionally seeks cover in crowded residential areas.
Israeli leaders say there is no humanitarian crisis and that they have allowed the delivery of vital supplies.
'Full-blown' humanitarian crisis
"I am appealing to political leaders here and in the region and the world to get their act together and stop this," the U.N.'s Ging said, speaking at Gaza's largest hospital. "They are responsible for these deaths."
U.N. officials say they provided their location coordinates to Israel's army to ensure that their buildings in Gaza are not targeted. The Israeli army had no comment on the latest strikes, but in the past has accused militants of using schools, mosques and residential neighborhoods to store weapons or launch attacks.
The International Red Cross also was looking into reports that a Red Crescent ambulance station in the northern town of Jebaliya was hit during the night.
Gaza is now in a "full-blown" humanitarian crisis, the International Committee of the Red Cross' head of operations Pierre Kraehenbuehl said.
Many Gazans are without electricity or running water, thousands have been displaced from their homes and residents say that without distribution disrupted, food supplies are running thin.
The situation for Palestinian civilians is "extreme and traumatic as a result of 10 days of uninterrupted fighting, Kraehenbuehl said.
He said ICRC staff in Gaza told the neutral body Tuesday that the previous night was "the most frightening of all to date" on account of the ground offensive Israel has launched in the Palestinian territory.
Palestinian medical officials said 35 Palestinian civilians were killed Tuesday, including 11 in a house that was bombed from the air, 10 on a beach hit by naval shells and the three who had taken refuge in the U.N.'s school.
Four militants also were killed, medical officials said.
Harsh blow to Hamas?
The army says it has dealt a harsh blow to Hamas, killing 130 militants in the past two days and greatly reducing the rocket fire. At least 15 rockets were fired Tuesday and one landed in the town of Gadera, about 25 miles from the Gaza border, lightly wounding a 3-month-old infant, police said.
Israeli forces have cut the main Gaza highway in several places, compartmentalizing the strip into the north, south and Gaza City itself and preventing movement between them. Israel also has taken over high-rise buildings in Gaza City and destroyed dozens of smuggling tunnels — Hamas' main lifeline — along the Egyptian border.
Late on Monday, a paratroop officer and three Israeli infantrymen were killed in two separate friendly fire incidents, the military said. Heavy Israeli casualties could threaten to undermine what so far has been wide public support for the operation.
A high-level European Union delegation met with President Shimon Peres on Tuesday in a futile bid to put an end to the violence. Commissioner Benita Ferraro-Waldner acknowledged Israel's right to self-defense, but said its response was disproportionate.
"We have come to Israel in order to advance the initiative for a humanitarian cease-fire and I will tell you, Mr. President, that you have a serious problem with international advocacy, and that Israel's image is being destroyed," she said, according to a statement from Peres' office.
She said international relief organizations have complained that there is a serious problem distributing aid in Gaza.
The EU delegation was one of a flurry of diplomatic efforts to forge a cease-fire. French President Nicolas Sarkozy left Israel after meetings with leaders.
'Make-or-break issue'
Europe "wants a cease-fire as quickly as possible," Sarkozy said Monday, urging Israel to halt the offensive, while blaming Hamas for acting "irresponsibly and unpardonably."
International efforts to secure a cease-fire focused on an Israeli demand to prevent Hamas from rearming.
"That is the make-or-break issue," Mark Regev, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, said about ensuring an end to weapons smuggling along the Gaza-Egypt frontier.
A senior Israeli official said talks were focusing on the size of an "international presence" along the blockaded Gaza-Egypt border, where rockets and other weapons have reached Hamas through a network of tunnels.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert stressed to Sarkozy that any agreement "must contain at its foundation the total cessation of all arms transfers to Hamas," Regev added.
Regev noted that Hamas used a previous six-month truce to double the range of its rockets. About one-eighth of Israel's 7 million citizens now live in rocket range.
In New York, Arab delegates met with the U.N. Security Council, urging members to adopt a resolution calling for an immediate end to the attacks and a permanent cease-fire.
'Caused by Hamas'
In Washington, the State Department said the U.S. was pressing for a cease-fire that would include a halt to rocket attacks and an arrangement for reopening crossing points on the border with Israel, said spokesman Sean McCormack. The crossings, used to deliver vital food shipments into Gaza, have been largely closed since Hamas took control of Gaza in June 2007. A third element of a U.S.-backed cease-fire would address the smuggling tunnels used by Hamas.
President George W. Bush emphasized "Israel's desire to protect itself."
"The situation now taking place in Gaza was caused by Hamas," he said.
A top exiled Hamas official in Syria, Moussa Abu Marzouk, rejected the U.S. proposal, telling the AP the U.S. plan seeks to impose "a de facto situation" and encourages Israel to continue its attacks on Gaza.
On Tuesday the Israeli military said three soldiers were killed and 24 wounded in a friendly fire incident when an Israeli tank shelled a building in which they had taken cover Monday night during fighting outside Gaza City. The military said a colonel who commanded an infantry brigade was among the wounded.
In a separate friendly fire incident, also Monday, a paratroops officer was killed in northern Gaza, the army said. In all, six soldiers have been killed since the offensive began.
Israeli forces detained 80 Palestinians — some of them suspected Hamas members — and transferred several to Israel for interrogation, said military officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to release the information.
Israel's operation has sparked anger across the Arab world and has drawn criticism from countries such as Turkey, Egypt and Jordan, which have ties with Israel and have been intimately involved in Mideast peacemaking.
Heavy Israeli casualties in the Gaza fighting could erode strong public support for the operation and affect the outcome of Israel's Feb. 10 national election.
Israel pulled its troops and more than 8,000 settlers out of Gaza in 2005 after 38 years of occupation in a move that many at the time hoped would lead to a breakthrough for relations between Israel and the Palestinians.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
This is just in from MSNBC :
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Israeli tank fire killed at least 30 Palestinians at a United Nations-run school in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, medical sources at two hospitals said.
Two tank shells exploded outside the school, spraying shrapnel on people inside and outside the building, where hundreds of Palestinians had sought refuge from fighting between Israeli soldiers and Hamas militants. In addition to the dead, several dozen people were wounded, the officials said.
Medical officials said all the dead were either people sheltering in the school or local residents.
The United Nations also said three civilians were killed in the airstrike late Monday on the courtyard of another school, where hundreds of people from a Gaza City refugee camp had sought shelter from Israel's blistering 11-day offensive against the Hamas militant group.
The attacks came as Israeli forces edged closer to Gaza's major population centers, after ignoring mounting international calls for an immediate cease-fire. A Palestinian rocket attack wounded an Israeli infant.
'There's nowhere safe in Gaza'
"There's nowhere safe in Gaza. Everyone here is terrorized and traumatized," said John Ging, the top U.N. official in Gaza.
Tanks rumbled closer to the towns of Khan Younis and Dir el Balah in south and central Gaza but were still several miles outside, witnesses said, adding that the sounds of fighting could be heard from around the new Israeli positions. Israel, which has already encircled Gaza City, the area's biggest city, ignored mounting international calls for an immediate cease-fire.
Israel launched its offensive on Dec. 27 to halt repeated Palestinian rocket attacks on its southern towns. After a weeklong air campaign, Israeli ground forces invaded Gaza over the weekend. More than 500 Palestinians have been killed, including more than 100 civilians, according to United Nations figures. Nine Israelis have died since the operation began.
Israel says it won't stop the assault until its southern towns are freed of the threat of Palestinian rocket fire and it receives international guarantees that Hamas, a militant group backed by Iran and Syria, will not restock its weapons stockpile. It blames Hamas for the civilian casualties, saying the group intentionally seeks cover in crowded residential areas.
Israeli leaders say there is no humanitarian crisis and that they have allowed the delivery of vital supplies.
'Full-blown' humanitarian crisis
"I am appealing to political leaders here and in the region and the world to get their act together and stop this," the U.N.'s Ging said, speaking at Gaza's largest hospital. "They are responsible for these deaths."
U.N. officials say they provided their location coordinates to Israel's army to ensure that their buildings in Gaza are not targeted. The Israeli army had no comment on the latest strikes, but in the past has accused militants of using schools, mosques and residential neighborhoods to store weapons or launch attacks.
The International Red Cross also was looking into reports that a Red Crescent ambulance station in the northern town of Jebaliya was hit during the night.
Gaza is now in a "full-blown" humanitarian crisis, the International Committee of the Red Cross' head of operations Pierre Kraehenbuehl said.
Many Gazans are without electricity or running water, thousands have been displaced from their homes and residents say that without distribution disrupted, food supplies are running thin.
The situation for Palestinian civilians is "extreme and traumatic as a result of 10 days of uninterrupted fighting, Kraehenbuehl said.
He said ICRC staff in Gaza told the neutral body Tuesday that the previous night was "the most frightening of all to date" on account of the ground offensive Israel has launched in the Palestinian territory.
Palestinian medical officials said 35 Palestinian civilians were killed Tuesday, including 11 in a house that was bombed from the air, 10 on a beach hit by naval shells and the three who had taken refuge in the U.N.'s school.
Four militants also were killed, medical officials said.
Harsh blow to Hamas?
The army says it has dealt a harsh blow to Hamas, killing 130 militants in the past two days and greatly reducing the rocket fire. At least 15 rockets were fired Tuesday and one landed in the town of Gadera, about 25 miles from the Gaza border, lightly wounding a 3-month-old infant, police said.
Israeli forces have cut the main Gaza highway in several places, compartmentalizing the strip into the north, south and Gaza City itself and preventing movement between them. Israel also has taken over high-rise buildings in Gaza City and destroyed dozens of smuggling tunnels — Hamas' main lifeline — along the Egyptian border.
Late on Monday, a paratroop officer and three Israeli infantrymen were killed in two separate friendly fire incidents, the military said. Heavy Israeli casualties could threaten to undermine what so far has been wide public support for the operation.
A high-level European Union delegation met with President Shimon Peres on Tuesday in a futile bid to put an end to the violence. Commissioner Benita Ferraro-Waldner acknowledged Israel's right to self-defense, but said its response was disproportionate.
"We have come to Israel in order to advance the initiative for a humanitarian cease-fire and I will tell you, Mr. President, that you have a serious problem with international advocacy, and that Israel's image is being destroyed," she said, according to a statement from Peres' office.
She said international relief organizations have complained that there is a serious problem distributing aid in Gaza.
The EU delegation was one of a flurry of diplomatic efforts to forge a cease-fire. French President Nicolas Sarkozy left Israel after meetings with leaders.
'Make-or-break issue'
Europe "wants a cease-fire as quickly as possible," Sarkozy said Monday, urging Israel to halt the offensive, while blaming Hamas for acting "irresponsibly and unpardonably."
International efforts to secure a cease-fire focused on an Israeli demand to prevent Hamas from rearming.
"That is the make-or-break issue," Mark Regev, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, said about ensuring an end to weapons smuggling along the Gaza-Egypt frontier.
A senior Israeli official said talks were focusing on the size of an "international presence" along the blockaded Gaza-Egypt border, where rockets and other weapons have reached Hamas through a network of tunnels.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert stressed to Sarkozy that any agreement "must contain at its foundation the total cessation of all arms transfers to Hamas," Regev added.
Regev noted that Hamas used a previous six-month truce to double the range of its rockets. About one-eighth of Israel's 7 million citizens now live in rocket range.
In New York, Arab delegates met with the U.N. Security Council, urging members to adopt a resolution calling for an immediate end to the attacks and a permanent cease-fire.
'Caused by Hamas'
In Washington, the State Department said the U.S. was pressing for a cease-fire that would include a halt to rocket attacks and an arrangement for reopening crossing points on the border with Israel, said spokesman Sean McCormack. The crossings, used to deliver vital food shipments into Gaza, have been largely closed since Hamas took control of Gaza in June 2007. A third element of a U.S.-backed cease-fire would address the smuggling tunnels used by Hamas.
President George W. Bush emphasized "Israel's desire to protect itself."
"The situation now taking place in Gaza was caused by Hamas," he said.
A top exiled Hamas official in Syria, Moussa Abu Marzouk, rejected the U.S. proposal, telling the AP the U.S. plan seeks to impose "a de facto situation" and encourages Israel to continue its attacks on Gaza.
On Tuesday the Israeli military said three soldiers were killed and 24 wounded in a friendly fire incident when an Israeli tank shelled a building in which they had taken cover Monday night during fighting outside Gaza City. The military said a colonel who commanded an infantry brigade was among the wounded.
In a separate friendly fire incident, also Monday, a paratroops officer was killed in northern Gaza, the army said. In all, six soldiers have been killed since the offensive began.
Israeli forces detained 80 Palestinians — some of them suspected Hamas members — and transferred several to Israel for interrogation, said military officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to release the information.
Israel's operation has sparked anger across the Arab world and has drawn criticism from countries such as Turkey, Egypt and Jordan, which have ties with Israel and have been intimately involved in Mideast peacemaking.
Heavy Israeli casualties in the Gaza fighting could erode strong public support for the operation and affect the outcome of Israel's Feb. 10 national election.
Israel pulled its troops and more than 8,000 settlers out of Gaza in 2005 after 38 years of occupation in a move that many at the time hoped would lead to a breakthrough for relations between Israel and the Palestinians.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Gaza/Israeli still going on. The innocent are still falling.
Here are two video's of reports of the fighting in Gaza. The first one is very graphic. Be prepared. I mean VERY GRAPHIC.
The second is just a news report from around the world from Al Jazeera who is the only news agency allowed in Gaza.
I am still just in disbelief over this. My heart aches for the people who are suffering. These families don't deserve this. These people have no where to go, they are not allowed to leave, and they are in their homes and Israel is bombing them with abandon. I know Hamas is still sending missiles over Israel, but couldn't they stop for a while and at least try to talk?? Why are these innocent children being slaughtered?? I don't for a minute believe the hype that they were all used for the human shields as was being put out earlier. I just don't see it in every instance.
Sorry, I can't go on any more...Here are the video's.. You make the decisions you need to make. I can only say what is in my heart and mind. These are short..only about 2 minutes each.
The second is just a news report from around the world from Al Jazeera who is the only news agency allowed in Gaza.
I am still just in disbelief over this. My heart aches for the people who are suffering. These families don't deserve this. These people have no where to go, they are not allowed to leave, and they are in their homes and Israel is bombing them with abandon. I know Hamas is still sending missiles over Israel, but couldn't they stop for a while and at least try to talk?? Why are these innocent children being slaughtered?? I don't for a minute believe the hype that they were all used for the human shields as was being put out earlier. I just don't see it in every instance.
Sorry, I can't go on any more...Here are the video's.. You make the decisions you need to make. I can only say what is in my heart and mind. These are short..only about 2 minutes each.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Israel vows to continue pounding Gaza
It seems this is just going to continue. I don't pretend to understand all the ins and outs of this war. There are no right sides in this I don't believe. However I still don't think the Israeli response is right. I understand their position, but I just can't see how the scope of this attack is in any way right. Maybe I am naive. As I said the other day, it looks like David and Goliath and this time Goliath is winning. The innocent are the ones who are suffering, and they are the ones I feel sorry for, they are the ones the leaders seem to forget. They are the ones most everyone seems to forget. I just hope and pray it ends soon.
From MSNBC
7 Palestinian children killed Monday in offensive against Hamas militants
The Associated Press
updated 6:55 a.m. CT, Mon., Jan. 5, 2009
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Israeli forces consolidated their hold on parts of Gaza's north Monday, pounding the territory from the air, land and sea and killing at least seven children and six other civilians in a bruising campaign against Hamas militants.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said the offensive would continue until Israel achieved "peace and tranquility" for residents of southern Israel who continued to be bombarded by Palestinian rocket and mortar fire.
A stream of diplomats and world leaders hoping to end the violence headed for the region to meet with Israeli leaders as world outrage over ballooning Palestinian casualties mounted. Gaza health officials reported 524 dead and nearly 2,000 wounded since Israel embarked upon its military campaign against Gaza's Islamic Hamas rulers on Dec. 27. At least 200 civilians were among the dead.
Israeli forces seized sparsely populated areas in northern Gaza and by Monday morning were dug in on the edges of Gaza City. Further movement into the heart of the built-up areas would mean deadly urban warfare, with house-to-house fighting, sniper fire and booby traps in crowded streets and alleyways familiar to Hamas' 20,000 fighters.
Civilian casualties mount
Thirteen civilians died in the various attacks across Gaza on Monday morning, said Gaza health official Dr. Moaiya Hassanain.
Four young siblings were killed in a missile strike on a house east of Gaza City. Three other children died in a naval shelling of a Gaza City beach camp and three adult civilians died when a missile struck near a house of mourning in the northern town of Beit Lahiya, he said. Three other adult civilians died in attacks elsewhere.
Israeli troops took over three six-floor buildings on the outskirts of Gaza City, taking up rooftop positions after locking residents in rooms and taking away their cell phones, a neighbor said, quoting a relative in one of the buildings before his phone was taken away.
"The army is there, firing in all directions," said Mohammed Salmai, a 29-year-old truck driver. "All we can do is take clothes to each other to keep ourselves warm and pray to God that if we die, someone will find our bodies under the rubble."
Civilian casualties have spiked since Israel launched a ground offensive Saturday, following a week of punishing air strikes. Of about 80 Palestinians killed during the ground operation, at least 70 were civilians, Hassanain said.
Black smoke from tank shells and windswept dust billowed in the air over Gaza City, while white smoke from mortar shells rose in plumes above a main road leading to northern Gaza that the Israeli military seized on Sunday, cutting off Gaza's north from its south. Explosions could be heard in Gaza City as aircraft attacked buildings.
The streets of Gaza City, home to 400,000 people, were almost empty. Two children crossing a street near a Hamas security compound didn't look right and left for cars but gazed up at the sky, apparently looking for attack aircraft. The only vehicles on the road were fire engines, ambulances and press cars.
Unmanned Israeli planes and Apache helicopters circled overhead.
Both sides make demands
"Hamas has sustained a very harsh blow," Barak told parliament's foreign affairs and defense committee. "But we still haven't reached our objectives, so the offensive continues."
Israel has three main demands: an end to Palestinian attacks, international supervision of any truce and a halt to Hamas rearming.
"If we withdraw today, without reaching some kind of comprehensive agreement, we haven't done anything," Israeli Cabinet Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer told Army Radio. "The military has to carry on with its work."
Hamas demands a cessation of Israeli attacks and the opening of vital Gaza-Israel cargo crossings, Gaza's main lifeline.
Hamas security said Israeli aircraft struck two mosques in central and northern Gaza, while ground troops battled with militants armed with mortar shells, grenades and antitank missiles in the area between Gaza City, Gaza's largest urban area, and Jebaliya to the north.
The ground clashes took place in open areas militants use to launch rockets and mortars at nearby Israeli communities, but did not advance into urban areas where casualties are liable to swell.
The Israeli military said aircraft carried out 30 sorties overnight, striking a mosque in Jebaliya that contained a large store of weapons, and an underground arms bunker in the Gaza City area that touched off secondary explosions and collapsed underground smuggling tunnels.
Aircraft also hit weapons smuggling tunnels in southern Gaza near the Egyptian border and went after the houses of Hamas members where weapons were stored, the military said. A rocket launcher and suspected anti-aircraft missile launcher were also targeted, it said.
The violence has deepened the suffering in impoverished Gaza, home to 1.4 million people. The military said Monday that 80 truckloads of humanitarian aid and critical fuel supplies would be let in.
Militants, defying the attacks, fired more than a dozen rockets at Israel early Monday, police said. No injuries were reported, but the rockets continued to fire deep inside Israel, some 20 miles from the Gaza border. One reason Israel launched the Gaza campaign was because militants have acquired weapons able to reach closer to Israel's Tel Aviv heartland.
Israel's ground operation is the second phase in an offensive that began as a weeklong aerial onslaught aimed at halting Hamas rocket fire that now threatens major cities and one-eighth of Israel's population of 7 million people.
The spiraling civilian casualties have fueled an intensifying international outcry.
Five Israelis have been killed since the offensive began. One soldier has been killed in the ground operation and about 40 were wounded, some of them in heavy exchanges of fire near the militant stronghold of Jebaliya, a town on Gaza City's northern outskirts. Heavy Israeli casualties could undermine what has so far been overwhelming public support for the operation.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who unsuccessfully proposed a two-day truce before the land invasion began, was due to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who lost control of Gaza to Hamas in June 2007.
While blaming Hamas for causing Palestinian suffering with rocket fire that led to the Israeli offensive, Sarkozy has condemned Israel's use of ground troops, reflecting general world opinion. Sarkozy and other diplomats making their way to the region are expected to press hard for a cease-fire.
A European Union delegation including foreign policy chief Javier Solana was due to meet with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.
The Czech Republic, which took over the 27-nation EU's presidency on Thursday, urged Israel to allow humanitarian relief aid into Gaza. German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke on the phone Sunday with Olmert and advocated a quick cease-fire in Gaza, her government said in a statement. Merkel also called for an end to the smuggling of weapons into the Gaza Strip.
Turkey and Egypt, which have both been involved intimately in Middle East peacemaking, have denounced the ground offensive.
From MSNBC
7 Palestinian children killed Monday in offensive against Hamas militants
The Associated Press
updated 6:55 a.m. CT, Mon., Jan. 5, 2009
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Israeli forces consolidated their hold on parts of Gaza's north Monday, pounding the territory from the air, land and sea and killing at least seven children and six other civilians in a bruising campaign against Hamas militants.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said the offensive would continue until Israel achieved "peace and tranquility" for residents of southern Israel who continued to be bombarded by Palestinian rocket and mortar fire.
A stream of diplomats and world leaders hoping to end the violence headed for the region to meet with Israeli leaders as world outrage over ballooning Palestinian casualties mounted. Gaza health officials reported 524 dead and nearly 2,000 wounded since Israel embarked upon its military campaign against Gaza's Islamic Hamas rulers on Dec. 27. At least 200 civilians were among the dead.
Israeli forces seized sparsely populated areas in northern Gaza and by Monday morning were dug in on the edges of Gaza City. Further movement into the heart of the built-up areas would mean deadly urban warfare, with house-to-house fighting, sniper fire and booby traps in crowded streets and alleyways familiar to Hamas' 20,000 fighters.
Civilian casualties mount
Thirteen civilians died in the various attacks across Gaza on Monday morning, said Gaza health official Dr. Moaiya Hassanain.
Four young siblings were killed in a missile strike on a house east of Gaza City. Three other children died in a naval shelling of a Gaza City beach camp and three adult civilians died when a missile struck near a house of mourning in the northern town of Beit Lahiya, he said. Three other adult civilians died in attacks elsewhere.
Israeli troops took over three six-floor buildings on the outskirts of Gaza City, taking up rooftop positions after locking residents in rooms and taking away their cell phones, a neighbor said, quoting a relative in one of the buildings before his phone was taken away.
"The army is there, firing in all directions," said Mohammed Salmai, a 29-year-old truck driver. "All we can do is take clothes to each other to keep ourselves warm and pray to God that if we die, someone will find our bodies under the rubble."
Civilian casualties have spiked since Israel launched a ground offensive Saturday, following a week of punishing air strikes. Of about 80 Palestinians killed during the ground operation, at least 70 were civilians, Hassanain said.
Black smoke from tank shells and windswept dust billowed in the air over Gaza City, while white smoke from mortar shells rose in plumes above a main road leading to northern Gaza that the Israeli military seized on Sunday, cutting off Gaza's north from its south. Explosions could be heard in Gaza City as aircraft attacked buildings.
The streets of Gaza City, home to 400,000 people, were almost empty. Two children crossing a street near a Hamas security compound didn't look right and left for cars but gazed up at the sky, apparently looking for attack aircraft. The only vehicles on the road were fire engines, ambulances and press cars.
Unmanned Israeli planes and Apache helicopters circled overhead.
Both sides make demands
"Hamas has sustained a very harsh blow," Barak told parliament's foreign affairs and defense committee. "But we still haven't reached our objectives, so the offensive continues."
Israel has three main demands: an end to Palestinian attacks, international supervision of any truce and a halt to Hamas rearming.
"If we withdraw today, without reaching some kind of comprehensive agreement, we haven't done anything," Israeli Cabinet Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer told Army Radio. "The military has to carry on with its work."
Hamas demands a cessation of Israeli attacks and the opening of vital Gaza-Israel cargo crossings, Gaza's main lifeline.
Hamas security said Israeli aircraft struck two mosques in central and northern Gaza, while ground troops battled with militants armed with mortar shells, grenades and antitank missiles in the area between Gaza City, Gaza's largest urban area, and Jebaliya to the north.
The ground clashes took place in open areas militants use to launch rockets and mortars at nearby Israeli communities, but did not advance into urban areas where casualties are liable to swell.
The Israeli military said aircraft carried out 30 sorties overnight, striking a mosque in Jebaliya that contained a large store of weapons, and an underground arms bunker in the Gaza City area that touched off secondary explosions and collapsed underground smuggling tunnels.
Aircraft also hit weapons smuggling tunnels in southern Gaza near the Egyptian border and went after the houses of Hamas members where weapons were stored, the military said. A rocket launcher and suspected anti-aircraft missile launcher were also targeted, it said.
The violence has deepened the suffering in impoverished Gaza, home to 1.4 million people. The military said Monday that 80 truckloads of humanitarian aid and critical fuel supplies would be let in.
Militants, defying the attacks, fired more than a dozen rockets at Israel early Monday, police said. No injuries were reported, but the rockets continued to fire deep inside Israel, some 20 miles from the Gaza border. One reason Israel launched the Gaza campaign was because militants have acquired weapons able to reach closer to Israel's Tel Aviv heartland.
Israel's ground operation is the second phase in an offensive that began as a weeklong aerial onslaught aimed at halting Hamas rocket fire that now threatens major cities and one-eighth of Israel's population of 7 million people.
The spiraling civilian casualties have fueled an intensifying international outcry.
Five Israelis have been killed since the offensive began. One soldier has been killed in the ground operation and about 40 were wounded, some of them in heavy exchanges of fire near the militant stronghold of Jebaliya, a town on Gaza City's northern outskirts. Heavy Israeli casualties could undermine what has so far been overwhelming public support for the operation.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who unsuccessfully proposed a two-day truce before the land invasion began, was due to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who lost control of Gaza to Hamas in June 2007.
While blaming Hamas for causing Palestinian suffering with rocket fire that led to the Israeli offensive, Sarkozy has condemned Israel's use of ground troops, reflecting general world opinion. Sarkozy and other diplomats making their way to the region are expected to press hard for a cease-fire.
A European Union delegation including foreign policy chief Javier Solana was due to meet with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.
The Czech Republic, which took over the 27-nation EU's presidency on Thursday, urged Israel to allow humanitarian relief aid into Gaza. German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke on the phone Sunday with Olmert and advocated a quick cease-fire in Gaza, her government said in a statement. Merkel also called for an end to the smuggling of weapons into the Gaza Strip.
Turkey and Egypt, which have both been involved intimately in Middle East peacemaking, have denounced the ground offensive.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Pictures of the Conflict in Gaza from the Washington Post
These are pictures from the conflict in Gaza and Israel and around the world. Protestors, fighting, injured, dead, just a little bit of everything. It can be played as a slide show if you want. It will open as a web page and you can go from there. I have to warn you some of the pictures are very GRAPHIC. Remember this is a war. So here you go... from the Washington Post.
Again... remember some of these pictures are GRAPHIC
Again... remember some of these pictures are GRAPHIC
US Blocks UN statement on Gaza
Full story at MSNBC
UNITED NATIONS - The United States late Saturday blocked approval of a U.N. Security Council statement calling for an immediate cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel and expressing concern at the escalation of violence between Israel and Hamas.
U.S. deputy ambassador Alejandro Wolff said the United States saw no prospect of Hamas abiding by last week's council call for an immediate end to the violence. Therefore, he said, a new statement at this time "would not be adhered to and would have no underpinning for success, would not do credit to the council."
France's U.N. Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert, the current council president, announced that there was no agreement among members on a statement. But he said there were "strong convergences" among the 15 members to express serious concern about the deteriorating situation in Gaza and the need for "an immediate, permanent and fully respected cease-fire."
Arab nations demanded that the council adopt a statement calling for an immediate cease-fire following Israel's launch of a ground offensive in Gaza earlier Saturday, a view echoed by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Libya's U.N. Ambassador Giadalla Ettalhi, the only Arab member of the council, said the United States objected to "any outcome" during the closed council discussions on the proposed statement.
(snip)
The 15-member council had met behind closed doors to discuss a proposed presidential statement that would also call for all parties to address the humanitarian and economic needs in Gaza, including by opening border crossings.
The five permanent council members — the U.S., Britain, France, Russia and China — along with Libya, the only Arab nation on the council, then met privately to discuss possibly issuing another press statement.
"We need to have from the Security Council reaction tonight to bring this latest addition of aggression against our people in Gaza to an immediate halt," Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian U.N. observer told reporters.
The statement would have become part of the council's official record but would not have the weight of a Security Council resolution, which is legally binding.
Mansour said 3,000 Palestinians have been killed and injured since Israeli warplanes starting bombing Gaza a week ago. More than 480 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and four killed in Israel.
(snip)
Before the council met Saturday night, Ban telephoned Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and said he was disappointed that Israel launched a ground offensive and "alarmed that this escalation will inevitably increase the already heavy suffering" of Palestinian civilians, the U.N. spokesman's office said in a statement.
(snip)
Several Arab foreign ministers are expected at U.N. headquarters on Monday to urge the Security Council to adopt a resolution ending the Israeli offensive. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas delayed his arrival until Tuesday so he can meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy in the West Bank.
UNITED NATIONS - The United States late Saturday blocked approval of a U.N. Security Council statement calling for an immediate cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel and expressing concern at the escalation of violence between Israel and Hamas.
U.S. deputy ambassador Alejandro Wolff said the United States saw no prospect of Hamas abiding by last week's council call for an immediate end to the violence. Therefore, he said, a new statement at this time "would not be adhered to and would have no underpinning for success, would not do credit to the council."
France's U.N. Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert, the current council president, announced that there was no agreement among members on a statement. But he said there were "strong convergences" among the 15 members to express serious concern about the deteriorating situation in Gaza and the need for "an immediate, permanent and fully respected cease-fire."
Arab nations demanded that the council adopt a statement calling for an immediate cease-fire following Israel's launch of a ground offensive in Gaza earlier Saturday, a view echoed by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Libya's U.N. Ambassador Giadalla Ettalhi, the only Arab member of the council, said the United States objected to "any outcome" during the closed council discussions on the proposed statement.
(snip)
The 15-member council had met behind closed doors to discuss a proposed presidential statement that would also call for all parties to address the humanitarian and economic needs in Gaza, including by opening border crossings.
The five permanent council members — the U.S., Britain, France, Russia and China — along with Libya, the only Arab nation on the council, then met privately to discuss possibly issuing another press statement.
"We need to have from the Security Council reaction tonight to bring this latest addition of aggression against our people in Gaza to an immediate halt," Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian U.N. observer told reporters.
The statement would have become part of the council's official record but would not have the weight of a Security Council resolution, which is legally binding.
Mansour said 3,000 Palestinians have been killed and injured since Israeli warplanes starting bombing Gaza a week ago. More than 480 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and four killed in Israel.
(snip)
Before the council met Saturday night, Ban telephoned Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and said he was disappointed that Israel launched a ground offensive and "alarmed that this escalation will inevitably increase the already heavy suffering" of Palestinian civilians, the U.N. spokesman's office said in a statement.
(snip)
Several Arab foreign ministers are expected at U.N. headquarters on Monday to urge the Security Council to adopt a resolution ending the Israeli offensive. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas delayed his arrival until Tuesday so he can meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy in the West Bank.
Israeli forces bisect Gaza, surround biggest city
By IBRAHIM BARZAK and MATTI FRIEDMAN, Associated Press Writers Ibrahim Barzak And Matti Friedman, Associated Press Writers
27 mins ago
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Israeli ground troops and tanks cut swaths through the Gaza Strip early Sunday, bisecting the coastal territory and surrounding its biggest city as the new phase of a devastating offensive against Hamas gained momentum.
Thousands of soldiers in three brigade-size formations pushed into Gaza after nightfall Saturday, beginning a long-awaited ground offensive after a week of intense aerial bombardment. Black smoke billowed over Gaza City at first light and bursts of machine gun fire rang out.
TV footage showed Israeli troops with night-vision goggles and camouflage face paint marching in single file. Artillery barrages preceded their advance, and they moved through fields and orchards following bomb-sniffing dogs ensuring their routes had not been booby-trapped.
The military said troops killed or wounded dozens of militant fighters, but Palestinian medical teams in Gaza, unable to move because of the fighting, could not provide accurate casualty figures.
Hamas said only four fighters had been killed. Gaza health officials said around 20 civilians had also died in airstrikes and shelling. They included a 12-year-old girl, five members of the same family and another eight civilians killed by a tank shell in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya.
The new deaths brought the toll in the Gaza Strip since Saturday to more than 500. Palestinian and U.N. officials say at least 100 civilians are among the dead.
Army ambulances were seen bringing Israeli wounded to a hospital in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba. The military reported 30 Israeli troops were wounded, two seriously, in the opening hours of the offensive.
In his first public comments since the ground operation was launched, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told his Cabinet on Sunday that Israel could not allow its civilians to continue to be targeted by rockets from Gaza.
"This morning I can look every one you in the eyes and say the government did everything before deciding to go ahead with the operation," he said.
A senior military officer said Hamas was well-prepared for the Israeli incursion into Gaza, a densely populated territory of 1.4 million where militants operate and easily hide in the crowded urban landscape. He said the operation was "not a rapid one that would end in hours or a few days."
Still, he said, "We have no intention of staying in the Gaza Strip for the long term." He spoke on condition of anonymity in accordance with army regulations.
Israel says the objective is to restore quiet to Israel's south, not to topple Hamas or reoccupy Gaza.
Hamas threatened to turn Gaza into a "graveyard" for Israeli forces.
"You entered like rats," Hamas spokesman Ismail Radwan told Israeli soldiers in a statement on Hamas' Al Aqsa TV. "Gaza will be a graveyard for you, God willing."
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday denounced the ground offensive as "brutal aggression," his harshest words yet in describing the assault on his Hamas rivals. Abbas said the situation has become unbearable and that "national unity is the most important thing to us."
His offer to start talks on sharing power still stands, Abbas said, though Hamas last week ignored the invitation.
The ground operation is the second phase in an offensive that began as a weeklong aerial onslaught aimed at halting Hamas rocket fire that has reached deeper and deeper into Israel, threatening major cities and one-eighth of Israel's population.
Rocket fire has persisted, however, and several rockets fell in Israel on Sunday morning, causing no casualties. In much of southern Israel school has been canceled and life has been largely paralyzed.
While the air offensive presented little risk for Israel's army, sending in ground troops is a much more dangerous proposition. Hamas is believed to have some 20,000 gunman who know the dense urban landscape intimately. For months, Israeli leaders had resisted a ground invasion, fearing heavy casualties.
Israel also has called up tens of thousands of reserve soldiers, which defense officials said could enable a far broader ground offensive as the operation's third phase. The troops could also be used in the event Palestinian militants in the West Bank or Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon decide to launch attacks. Hezbollah opened a war against Israel in 2006 when it was in the midst of a large operation in Gaza.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the military's preparations are classified.
An armored force south of Gaza City penetrated as deep as the abandoned settlement of Netzarim, which Israel left along with other Israeli communities when it pulled out of Gaza in 2005, both military officials and Palestinian witnesses said.
That move effectively cut off Gaza City, the territory's largest population center with about 400,000 people, from the rest of the territory to the south.
The offensive focused on northern Gaza, where most of the rockets are fired into Israel, but at least one incursion was reported in the southern part of the strip. Hamas uses smuggling tunnels along the southern border with Egypt to bring in weapons.
Ground forces had not entered major Gaza towns and cities by Sunday morning, instead fighting in rural communities and open areas militants often use to launch rockets and mortar rounds. Militants also fire from heavily populated neighborhoods.
Beit Lahiya was the scene of some of the heaviest fighting. An artillery shell killed eight civilians there as they were fleeing their homes to seek refuge at a nearby school, according to paramedics and Dr. Said Judeh, director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in town.
The home of a farmer in the Beit Lahiya area was hit twice by artillery, killing a five members of one family, Judeh said.
An airstrike hit an ambulance and three medics were reported in critical condition, officials said.
Residents of the small northern Gaza community of al-Attatra said soldiers moved from house to house by blowing holes through walls. Most of the houses were unoccupied, their residents already having fled.
Hamas militants fired mortar shells and rocket-propelled grenades. Field commanders communicated over walkie talkies, updating gunmen on the location of Israeli forces. Commanders told gunmen in the streets not to gather in groups and not to use cell phones.
Israel launched the air campaign against Gaza on Dec. 27 with the aim of halting militant rocket attacks on its south. The operation appears to have slowed, but not halted the rocket fire. Israeli police said 13 rockets landed Sunday, lightly wounding one person.
Hundreds of rockets have hit Israel so far, and four Israelis have been killed. Warning sirens give residents notice of incoming militant rockets and allow them to take cover.
The decision to send ground troops into Gaza was taken after Hamas kept up its rocket fire despite the aerial assault, government officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because discussions leading up to wartime decisions are confidential.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon conveyed his "extreme concern and disappointment" to Olmert and called for an immediate end to the operation, according to a U.N. statement Sunday.
Denunciations also came from the French government, which unsuccessfully proposed a two-day truce earlier this week, and from Egypt, which brokered the six-month truce whose breakdown preceded the Israeli offensive.
But the U.S. has put the blame squarely on Hamas. White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said U.S. officials have been in regular contact with the Israelis as well as officials from countries in the region and Europe.
At an emergency consultation of the U.N. Security Council on Saturday night, the U.S. blocked approval of a statement demanded by Arab countries that would have called for an immediate cease-fire. U.S. deputy ambassador Alejandro Wolff said the U.S. believed that such a statement "would not be adhered to and would have no underpinning for success, (and) would not do credit to the council."
Hamas began to emerge as Gaza's main power broker when it won Palestinian parliamentary elections three years ago.
27 mins ago
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Israeli ground troops and tanks cut swaths through the Gaza Strip early Sunday, bisecting the coastal territory and surrounding its biggest city as the new phase of a devastating offensive against Hamas gained momentum.
Thousands of soldiers in three brigade-size formations pushed into Gaza after nightfall Saturday, beginning a long-awaited ground offensive after a week of intense aerial bombardment. Black smoke billowed over Gaza City at first light and bursts of machine gun fire rang out.
TV footage showed Israeli troops with night-vision goggles and camouflage face paint marching in single file. Artillery barrages preceded their advance, and they moved through fields and orchards following bomb-sniffing dogs ensuring their routes had not been booby-trapped.
The military said troops killed or wounded dozens of militant fighters, but Palestinian medical teams in Gaza, unable to move because of the fighting, could not provide accurate casualty figures.
Hamas said only four fighters had been killed. Gaza health officials said around 20 civilians had also died in airstrikes and shelling. They included a 12-year-old girl, five members of the same family and another eight civilians killed by a tank shell in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya.
The new deaths brought the toll in the Gaza Strip since Saturday to more than 500. Palestinian and U.N. officials say at least 100 civilians are among the dead.
Army ambulances were seen bringing Israeli wounded to a hospital in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba. The military reported 30 Israeli troops were wounded, two seriously, in the opening hours of the offensive.
In his first public comments since the ground operation was launched, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told his Cabinet on Sunday that Israel could not allow its civilians to continue to be targeted by rockets from Gaza.
"This morning I can look every one you in the eyes and say the government did everything before deciding to go ahead with the operation," he said.
A senior military officer said Hamas was well-prepared for the Israeli incursion into Gaza, a densely populated territory of 1.4 million where militants operate and easily hide in the crowded urban landscape. He said the operation was "not a rapid one that would end in hours or a few days."
Still, he said, "We have no intention of staying in the Gaza Strip for the long term." He spoke on condition of anonymity in accordance with army regulations.
Israel says the objective is to restore quiet to Israel's south, not to topple Hamas or reoccupy Gaza.
Hamas threatened to turn Gaza into a "graveyard" for Israeli forces.
"You entered like rats," Hamas spokesman Ismail Radwan told Israeli soldiers in a statement on Hamas' Al Aqsa TV. "Gaza will be a graveyard for you, God willing."
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday denounced the ground offensive as "brutal aggression," his harshest words yet in describing the assault on his Hamas rivals. Abbas said the situation has become unbearable and that "national unity is the most important thing to us."
His offer to start talks on sharing power still stands, Abbas said, though Hamas last week ignored the invitation.
The ground operation is the second phase in an offensive that began as a weeklong aerial onslaught aimed at halting Hamas rocket fire that has reached deeper and deeper into Israel, threatening major cities and one-eighth of Israel's population.
Rocket fire has persisted, however, and several rockets fell in Israel on Sunday morning, causing no casualties. In much of southern Israel school has been canceled and life has been largely paralyzed.
While the air offensive presented little risk for Israel's army, sending in ground troops is a much more dangerous proposition. Hamas is believed to have some 20,000 gunman who know the dense urban landscape intimately. For months, Israeli leaders had resisted a ground invasion, fearing heavy casualties.
Israel also has called up tens of thousands of reserve soldiers, which defense officials said could enable a far broader ground offensive as the operation's third phase. The troops could also be used in the event Palestinian militants in the West Bank or Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon decide to launch attacks. Hezbollah opened a war against Israel in 2006 when it was in the midst of a large operation in Gaza.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the military's preparations are classified.
An armored force south of Gaza City penetrated as deep as the abandoned settlement of Netzarim, which Israel left along with other Israeli communities when it pulled out of Gaza in 2005, both military officials and Palestinian witnesses said.
That move effectively cut off Gaza City, the territory's largest population center with about 400,000 people, from the rest of the territory to the south.
The offensive focused on northern Gaza, where most of the rockets are fired into Israel, but at least one incursion was reported in the southern part of the strip. Hamas uses smuggling tunnels along the southern border with Egypt to bring in weapons.
Ground forces had not entered major Gaza towns and cities by Sunday morning, instead fighting in rural communities and open areas militants often use to launch rockets and mortar rounds. Militants also fire from heavily populated neighborhoods.
Beit Lahiya was the scene of some of the heaviest fighting. An artillery shell killed eight civilians there as they were fleeing their homes to seek refuge at a nearby school, according to paramedics and Dr. Said Judeh, director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in town.
The home of a farmer in the Beit Lahiya area was hit twice by artillery, killing a five members of one family, Judeh said.
An airstrike hit an ambulance and three medics were reported in critical condition, officials said.
Residents of the small northern Gaza community of al-Attatra said soldiers moved from house to house by blowing holes through walls. Most of the houses were unoccupied, their residents already having fled.
Hamas militants fired mortar shells and rocket-propelled grenades. Field commanders communicated over walkie talkies, updating gunmen on the location of Israeli forces. Commanders told gunmen in the streets not to gather in groups and not to use cell phones.
Israel launched the air campaign against Gaza on Dec. 27 with the aim of halting militant rocket attacks on its south. The operation appears to have slowed, but not halted the rocket fire. Israeli police said 13 rockets landed Sunday, lightly wounding one person.
Hundreds of rockets have hit Israel so far, and four Israelis have been killed. Warning sirens give residents notice of incoming militant rockets and allow them to take cover.
The decision to send ground troops into Gaza was taken after Hamas kept up its rocket fire despite the aerial assault, government officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because discussions leading up to wartime decisions are confidential.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon conveyed his "extreme concern and disappointment" to Olmert and called for an immediate end to the operation, according to a U.N. statement Sunday.
Denunciations also came from the French government, which unsuccessfully proposed a two-day truce earlier this week, and from Egypt, which brokered the six-month truce whose breakdown preceded the Israeli offensive.
But the U.S. has put the blame squarely on Hamas. White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said U.S. officials have been in regular contact with the Israelis as well as officials from countries in the region and Europe.
At an emergency consultation of the U.N. Security Council on Saturday night, the U.S. blocked approval of a statement demanded by Arab countries that would have called for an immediate cease-fire. U.S. deputy ambassador Alejandro Wolff said the U.S. believed that such a statement "would not be adhered to and would have no underpinning for success, (and) would not do credit to the council."
Hamas began to emerge as Gaza's main power broker when it won Palestinian parliamentary elections three years ago.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Breaking News...Israel sends ground troops into Gaza
After 8 days of bombing, and building up of troops and tanks along the border Israel has finally launched a ground attack against Hamas in Gaza. God Bless the citizens of Gaza, they are the ones who will suffer the most. This is such a densely populated area and there is just no where for them to run to.
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Friday, January 2, 2009
Israel’s lie machine is working flat out according to Stuart Littlewood
This is another piece I found on Al Jazeera. It is provocative to say the least. As you can tell it has statements and then counter points from Stuart Littlewood. His statement as to where he found it and his reasoning is below. I also saw a posting that this same person had been interviewed by David Gregory on MSNBC and by someone on CNN, I am not sure who it was. I didn't see the interview, but from what I read about it, she said what she wanted and he didn't ask any hard questions, just let her say her piece. Of course that is what I would expect of him.
They keep saying on CNN that Israel is ready to cross into Gaza at any time...Breaking News...now they are saying a Message of Doom for Barack Obama. Khaled Meshaal is the mans name who put out the statement.
Israel’s lie machine is working flat out
By Stuart Littlewood
While the murderous assault on Gaza continues, I notice there's a briefing document on the website of the Israeli Embassy in London which has a lie in every line. The West's mainstream media repeat them, and even the most senior TV and radio interviewers don’t bother to challenge them.
The document is a transcript of Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's statement to the Israeli press dated 27 December 2008 – a day that will live in infamy. It is a perfect example of the falsehoods used to dupe not only us westerners but Israel’s own people. The statement shows how the regime's view of itself is constructed on a web of dishonesty and self-delusion.
For example:
• "Israeli citizens have been under the threat of daily attack from Gaza for years."
Palestinians have been under harsh Israeli occupation for 60 years.
• "Only this week hundreds of missiles and mortars shells were fired at Israeli civilian communities."
Only one in 500 Qassam rockets causes a fatality. How many thousands of Israeli bombs, missiles, rockets, grenades and tank-shells have been blasted into the crowded city and towns of the Gaza Strip by Israel’s high-tech weaponry?
• "Until now we have shown restraint. But today there is no other option than a military operation."
The only legitimate option for Israel is to end the occupation and withdraw behind its 1967 border, as required under international law and UN resolution. Israel has been killing Palestinians at the rate of 8 to 1 since 2000, and children at the rate of nearly 12 to 1 (B’Tselem figures). This is somebody’s idea of restraint?
• "We need to protect our citizens from attack through a military response against the terror infrastructure in Gaza."
Self defence is not a right exclusive to Israel. Palestinians have an equal right to protect their citizens from the terror tactics of Israel.
• "Israel left Gaza in order to create an opportunity for peace."
Israel never left Gaza. It still occupies Gaza's airspace and coastal waters and controls all entrances and exits.
• "In return, the Hamas terror organization took control of Gaza and is using its citizens as cover while it deliberately targets Israeli communities and denies any chance for peace."
Hamas was voted into power as the legitimate government of Palestine. Israel chose not to accept the people's choice, which amounted to a denial of their human rights, and immediately set about obliterating it.
• "We have tried everything to reach calm without using force. We agreed to a truce through Egypt that was violated by Hamas, which continued to target Israel, hold Gilad Shalit and build up its arms."
Try talking. The Israelis' ongoing siege and economic blockade, begun shortly after Hamas was elected early in 2006, was never going to generate calm. And why is Shalit considered more important than the 9,000 Palestinians abducted and held prisoner by Israel? As soon as a Hamas government was formed Israeli troops arrested 8 Hamas ministers and 20 other parliamentarians, making the work of government impossible.
• "Israel continues to act to prevent humanitarian crisis and to minimize harm to Palestinian civilians."
Every agency operating in Gaza has warned of the deepening humanitarian crisis and protested about the starvation and suffering, especially of children many of whom show evidence of stunted growth.
• "The responsibility for harm to civilians lies with Hamas."
Not according to the Fourth Geneva Convention.
• "Hamas is a terrorist organization, supported by Iran, that does not represent the legitimate national interests of the Palestinian people but a radical Islamist agenda that seeks to deny peace for the peoples of this region."
Hamas was the popular choice of Palestinians at the last election. It is entitled under international law to take up arms against an illegal occupier and invader. If it is supported by Iran, so what? Israel receives mega-support from the U.S. When it comes to terror, it is Israel's conduct which fits the U.S. definition of terrorism so perfectly - see Bush's Executive Order 13224, Section 3 -
• "While confronting Hamas, Israel continues to believe in the two State solution and remains committed to negotiations with the legitimate Palestinian Authority in the context of the peace process, launched at Annapolis."
Israel is busy establishing irreversible facts on the ground that make a viable Palestinian state impossible. As everyone knows, the regime has reneged on the peace process and carries on building illegal settlements and the illegal Wall, and demolishing Palestinian homes.
Months ago Hamas accepted a Palestinian state based on internationally recognized (pre-1967) borders, in accordance with UN resolutions, with full sovereignty and its capital in Jerusalem, but this has been ignored. Hamas also offered a 10-year truce, also ignored. Earlier, Arafat and the PLO recognized the State of Israel in the Oslo agreement but what good did it do? Today’s U.S.-backed, Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority is not representative of the Palestinian people.
• "Israel expects the support and understanding of the international community, as it confronts terror, and advances the interest of all those who wish the forces of peace and co existence to determine the agenda of this region."
Israel, next to the U.S., the biggest purveyor of terror in the region and only advances its own interests. It may get the support of Israel lobby stooges in other western governments but is rapidly earning the contempt of everybody else.
From a statement dated 22 December 2008:
• "Hamas, backed by Iran, has regularly stated its desire to see the complete destruction of Israel."
Israel is itself a leading destroyer and currently engaged in trying to wipe out Hamas and the Gazans. Iran’s Ahmadinajad quoted the late Ayatollah Khomeini as saying that "this regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time" - fair comment considering Jerusalem, with Bethlehem, was designated an 'international city' under the UN Partition Plan.
Israeli propaganda twisted the Iranian’s words to read “Israel must be wiped off the map”. Zionist sources and the manifestos of Israeli political parties have made it clear for a long time that Israel plans to wipe Palestine off the map, and every act and lie is directed towards that end.
• "Our fight is not with the people of Gaza; it is with the extremists of Hamas."
Then why does the Israeli navy harass and fire on peaceable Gazan fishermen who are well within their own territorial waters? Why does Israel prevent Palestinian students from taking up places at foreign universities and block hospital spares, medicines, foodstuffs and foreign medics from entering Gaza?
Why has the Israeli navy just rammed a mercy vessel in international waters taking doctors and medicines to Gaza? Latest air-strikes have hit the Islamic University and the ministry of education. These are direct attacks on Gazan civil society and its infrastructure.
• "Hamas started this conflict, and it bears responsibility for any harm to civilians on either side."
The conflict, started by Jewish terrorists, has been going on for 60 years, decades before Hamas came into being.
• "Israel’s only responsibility is to protect Israeli citizens."
As the occupying power Israel has a duty to see that the people of the occupied territories come to no harm.
• "Just as Israel seeks to defend its civilian population, Hamas seeks to kill them."
This reads far better the other way round: “Just as Hamas seeks to defend its civilian population, Israel seeks to kill them.”
• "Rocket attacks have continued for years and are now a daily occurrence. How long does the international community expect Israel will wait before defending itself against them?"
The rocket attacks will end when Israel ends the occupation and stops terrorizing its neighbours.
• "In the south of Israel, Israeli citizens live with air raid sirens sounding every day - sometimes every hour. Their situation is intolerable."
Not half as intolerable as it is for the Gazans, who live in constant fear of air raids and re-invasion and are constantly under surveillance by armed drones which can fire missiles under computer control from an armchair in Israeli headquarters.
• "For years, the international community has turned a blind eye to this onslaught. Only when Israel seeks to stop the rockets do they take notice."
For years the international community has turned a blind eye to Israel's violations of international law and human rights, which is why the problem remains unsolved.
• "Hamas is not only the enemy of Israel - it is the enemy of every Palestinian who believes in peace."
Israelis just can’t come to terms with the Palestinians' democratic choice and are bent on obliterating it.
• "It is Hamas' attacks - not Israel's reactions - that destroy every opportunity we have for peace."
The world has managed to work out by now that Israel doesn't want peace until it has stolen all the land and water it needs to expand its racist state into a ‘Greater Israel’. It is well on the way to achieving this and won’t be thwarted.
• "Palestinian militants targeted by Israel are not just the enemies of the Israeli people; they are criminals under international law, and enemies of peace."
Israel is in no position to preach international law.
• "What is collective punishment? 'Collective punishment' is a city - schools, hospitals, homes - civilians being bombarded every single day by rockets and mortars."
Collective punishment is keeping a whole population bottled up under siege and blocking supplies and exports, smashing their infrastructure, wrecking their economy and starving their children. Trying to equate Sderot with what’s happening in the Gaza Strip is idiotic.
• "Today's Middle East is divided between extremists and pragmatists. Hamas, backed by Iran, belongs to the extremists, who must be defeated for the sake of the future of the Middle East.... Israel’s primary goal is peace."
Israel's primary goal is the expansion of Israel by making the occupation of the West Bank permanent and bringing the Gazans to their knees.
The core issue in this struggle is the illegality of Israel’s brutal occupation. Israel goes to great lengths to avoid and suppress all mention of it and play-acts the pathetic victim. As the official statements (above) show, the strategy is to frame and define the situation in Israel’s own terms regardless of the truth.
It uses advanced propaganda skills, and the elaborate Israel lobby network, to persuade western politicians and media to accept Israel’s version of events (and even use Israel’s biased language) and not question its motives.
In political PR terms it works wonderfully well. The loony leaders of my own government happily spread the poison and don’t seem interested in halting Israeli aggression and the vaporizing, dismembering and crushing of Gaza’s population. In human PR terms it is a disaster.
I have been listening to the BBC’s senior interviewers these last few days. None has had the gumption to ask Israeli spokesmen the only question that matters – the ‘killer’ question on which hangs the key to peace: WHEN IS ISRAEL GOING TO END ITS OCCUPATION AND RETURN TO THE PALESTINIANS THEIR LANDS AND FREEDOM?
-- Stuart Littlewood is author of the book Radio Free Palestine, which tells the plight of the Palestinians under occupation.
They keep saying on CNN that Israel is ready to cross into Gaza at any time...Breaking News...now they are saying a Message of Doom for Barack Obama. Khaled Meshaal is the mans name who put out the statement.
Israel’s lie machine is working flat out
By Stuart Littlewood
While the murderous assault on Gaza continues, I notice there's a briefing document on the website of the Israeli Embassy in London which has a lie in every line. The West's mainstream media repeat them, and even the most senior TV and radio interviewers don’t bother to challenge them.
The document is a transcript of Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's statement to the Israeli press dated 27 December 2008 – a day that will live in infamy. It is a perfect example of the falsehoods used to dupe not only us westerners but Israel’s own people. The statement shows how the regime's view of itself is constructed on a web of dishonesty and self-delusion.
For example:
• "Israeli citizens have been under the threat of daily attack from Gaza for years."
Palestinians have been under harsh Israeli occupation for 60 years.
• "Only this week hundreds of missiles and mortars shells were fired at Israeli civilian communities."
Only one in 500 Qassam rockets causes a fatality. How many thousands of Israeli bombs, missiles, rockets, grenades and tank-shells have been blasted into the crowded city and towns of the Gaza Strip by Israel’s high-tech weaponry?
• "Until now we have shown restraint. But today there is no other option than a military operation."
The only legitimate option for Israel is to end the occupation and withdraw behind its 1967 border, as required under international law and UN resolution. Israel has been killing Palestinians at the rate of 8 to 1 since 2000, and children at the rate of nearly 12 to 1 (B’Tselem figures). This is somebody’s idea of restraint?
• "We need to protect our citizens from attack through a military response against the terror infrastructure in Gaza."
Self defence is not a right exclusive to Israel. Palestinians have an equal right to protect their citizens from the terror tactics of Israel.
• "Israel left Gaza in order to create an opportunity for peace."
Israel never left Gaza. It still occupies Gaza's airspace and coastal waters and controls all entrances and exits.
• "In return, the Hamas terror organization took control of Gaza and is using its citizens as cover while it deliberately targets Israeli communities and denies any chance for peace."
Hamas was voted into power as the legitimate government of Palestine. Israel chose not to accept the people's choice, which amounted to a denial of their human rights, and immediately set about obliterating it.
• "We have tried everything to reach calm without using force. We agreed to a truce through Egypt that was violated by Hamas, which continued to target Israel, hold Gilad Shalit and build up its arms."
Try talking. The Israelis' ongoing siege and economic blockade, begun shortly after Hamas was elected early in 2006, was never going to generate calm. And why is Shalit considered more important than the 9,000 Palestinians abducted and held prisoner by Israel? As soon as a Hamas government was formed Israeli troops arrested 8 Hamas ministers and 20 other parliamentarians, making the work of government impossible.
• "Israel continues to act to prevent humanitarian crisis and to minimize harm to Palestinian civilians."
Every agency operating in Gaza has warned of the deepening humanitarian crisis and protested about the starvation and suffering, especially of children many of whom show evidence of stunted growth.
• "The responsibility for harm to civilians lies with Hamas."
Not according to the Fourth Geneva Convention.
• "Hamas is a terrorist organization, supported by Iran, that does not represent the legitimate national interests of the Palestinian people but a radical Islamist agenda that seeks to deny peace for the peoples of this region."
Hamas was the popular choice of Palestinians at the last election. It is entitled under international law to take up arms against an illegal occupier and invader. If it is supported by Iran, so what? Israel receives mega-support from the U.S. When it comes to terror, it is Israel's conduct which fits the U.S. definition of terrorism so perfectly - see Bush's Executive Order 13224, Section 3 -
• "While confronting Hamas, Israel continues to believe in the two State solution and remains committed to negotiations with the legitimate Palestinian Authority in the context of the peace process, launched at Annapolis."
Israel is busy establishing irreversible facts on the ground that make a viable Palestinian state impossible. As everyone knows, the regime has reneged on the peace process and carries on building illegal settlements and the illegal Wall, and demolishing Palestinian homes.
Months ago Hamas accepted a Palestinian state based on internationally recognized (pre-1967) borders, in accordance with UN resolutions, with full sovereignty and its capital in Jerusalem, but this has been ignored. Hamas also offered a 10-year truce, also ignored. Earlier, Arafat and the PLO recognized the State of Israel in the Oslo agreement but what good did it do? Today’s U.S.-backed, Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority is not representative of the Palestinian people.
• "Israel expects the support and understanding of the international community, as it confronts terror, and advances the interest of all those who wish the forces of peace and co existence to determine the agenda of this region."
Israel, next to the U.S., the biggest purveyor of terror in the region and only advances its own interests. It may get the support of Israel lobby stooges in other western governments but is rapidly earning the contempt of everybody else.
From a statement dated 22 December 2008:
• "Hamas, backed by Iran, has regularly stated its desire to see the complete destruction of Israel."
Israel is itself a leading destroyer and currently engaged in trying to wipe out Hamas and the Gazans. Iran’s Ahmadinajad quoted the late Ayatollah Khomeini as saying that "this regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time" - fair comment considering Jerusalem, with Bethlehem, was designated an 'international city' under the UN Partition Plan.
Israeli propaganda twisted the Iranian’s words to read “Israel must be wiped off the map”. Zionist sources and the manifestos of Israeli political parties have made it clear for a long time that Israel plans to wipe Palestine off the map, and every act and lie is directed towards that end.
• "Our fight is not with the people of Gaza; it is with the extremists of Hamas."
Then why does the Israeli navy harass and fire on peaceable Gazan fishermen who are well within their own territorial waters? Why does Israel prevent Palestinian students from taking up places at foreign universities and block hospital spares, medicines, foodstuffs and foreign medics from entering Gaza?
Why has the Israeli navy just rammed a mercy vessel in international waters taking doctors and medicines to Gaza? Latest air-strikes have hit the Islamic University and the ministry of education. These are direct attacks on Gazan civil society and its infrastructure.
• "Hamas started this conflict, and it bears responsibility for any harm to civilians on either side."
The conflict, started by Jewish terrorists, has been going on for 60 years, decades before Hamas came into being.
• "Israel’s only responsibility is to protect Israeli citizens."
As the occupying power Israel has a duty to see that the people of the occupied territories come to no harm.
• "Just as Israel seeks to defend its civilian population, Hamas seeks to kill them."
This reads far better the other way round: “Just as Hamas seeks to defend its civilian population, Israel seeks to kill them.”
• "Rocket attacks have continued for years and are now a daily occurrence. How long does the international community expect Israel will wait before defending itself against them?"
The rocket attacks will end when Israel ends the occupation and stops terrorizing its neighbours.
• "In the south of Israel, Israeli citizens live with air raid sirens sounding every day - sometimes every hour. Their situation is intolerable."
Not half as intolerable as it is for the Gazans, who live in constant fear of air raids and re-invasion and are constantly under surveillance by armed drones which can fire missiles under computer control from an armchair in Israeli headquarters.
• "For years, the international community has turned a blind eye to this onslaught. Only when Israel seeks to stop the rockets do they take notice."
For years the international community has turned a blind eye to Israel's violations of international law and human rights, which is why the problem remains unsolved.
• "Hamas is not only the enemy of Israel - it is the enemy of every Palestinian who believes in peace."
Israelis just can’t come to terms with the Palestinians' democratic choice and are bent on obliterating it.
• "It is Hamas' attacks - not Israel's reactions - that destroy every opportunity we have for peace."
The world has managed to work out by now that Israel doesn't want peace until it has stolen all the land and water it needs to expand its racist state into a ‘Greater Israel’. It is well on the way to achieving this and won’t be thwarted.
• "Palestinian militants targeted by Israel are not just the enemies of the Israeli people; they are criminals under international law, and enemies of peace."
Israel is in no position to preach international law.
• "What is collective punishment? 'Collective punishment' is a city - schools, hospitals, homes - civilians being bombarded every single day by rockets and mortars."
Collective punishment is keeping a whole population bottled up under siege and blocking supplies and exports, smashing their infrastructure, wrecking their economy and starving their children. Trying to equate Sderot with what’s happening in the Gaza Strip is idiotic.
• "Today's Middle East is divided between extremists and pragmatists. Hamas, backed by Iran, belongs to the extremists, who must be defeated for the sake of the future of the Middle East.... Israel’s primary goal is peace."
Israel's primary goal is the expansion of Israel by making the occupation of the West Bank permanent and bringing the Gazans to their knees.
The core issue in this struggle is the illegality of Israel’s brutal occupation. Israel goes to great lengths to avoid and suppress all mention of it and play-acts the pathetic victim. As the official statements (above) show, the strategy is to frame and define the situation in Israel’s own terms regardless of the truth.
It uses advanced propaganda skills, and the elaborate Israel lobby network, to persuade western politicians and media to accept Israel’s version of events (and even use Israel’s biased language) and not question its motives.
In political PR terms it works wonderfully well. The loony leaders of my own government happily spread the poison and don’t seem interested in halting Israeli aggression and the vaporizing, dismembering and crushing of Gaza’s population. In human PR terms it is a disaster.
I have been listening to the BBC’s senior interviewers these last few days. None has had the gumption to ask Israeli spokesmen the only question that matters – the ‘killer’ question on which hangs the key to peace: WHEN IS ISRAEL GOING TO END ITS OCCUPATION AND RETURN TO THE PALESTINIANS THEIR LANDS AND FREEDOM?
-- Stuart Littlewood is author of the book Radio Free Palestine, which tells the plight of the Palestinians under occupation.
Gaza/Israel enters day 7
Day 7, I try to post videos and news from all arenas to show as much as I can about the news coming from Gaza and Israel. It is hard. We don't always see all the news coming out, we only see what they want us to see. Yes, I know, that sounds ominous, and I guess in a way it is, but it is the truth, we do only see what the MSM wants us to see. We see the shots the reporter and the camera person want to show us. We see the bias they have, even though they may claim to be impartial. I just don't believe in a situation like this, you could ever truly be.
So, I am posting a couple of videos here, so that you can watch them and decide for yourself. This is chilling, it is provocative, it is very emotional. No matter which side you say you are on, or if you say you aren't on either side there are always hurt feelings and anger. It is almost impossible not to feel some.
That is from Al Jazeera English, and the other will probably be also. But if I can't find another from there I will find one from somewhere else to show the Israeli side. I couldn't find a video from Al Jazeera giving the Israeli side of things. They seem to be favoring the Gaza side. Which as I was saying is the problem with all news organizations. So here is a video from MSNBC showing the Israeli viewpoint.
It is a difficult situation no matter which side you are on. Civilians are being hurt and killed. Children and babies and families on both sides are suffering. That is the bottom line. Who is to blame is not for me to decide. Nor I think is it for any person sitting at there computer on the sidelines. It is for smarter people with much cooler heads, who know a lot more about the entire thing. People like Zbigniew Brzezinski and others of his ilk who have lived and breathed this for years. Now that is a smart man. So, watch, take away what you will and decide for yourself. Just think of the innocent victims of the war, those are the ones I feel for.
So, I am posting a couple of videos here, so that you can watch them and decide for yourself. This is chilling, it is provocative, it is very emotional. No matter which side you say you are on, or if you say you aren't on either side there are always hurt feelings and anger. It is almost impossible not to feel some.
That is from Al Jazeera English, and the other will probably be also. But if I can't find another from there I will find one from somewhere else to show the Israeli side. I couldn't find a video from Al Jazeera giving the Israeli side of things. They seem to be favoring the Gaza side. Which as I was saying is the problem with all news organizations. So here is a video from MSNBC showing the Israeli viewpoint.
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
It is a difficult situation no matter which side you are on. Civilians are being hurt and killed. Children and babies and families on both sides are suffering. That is the bottom line. Who is to blame is not for me to decide. Nor I think is it for any person sitting at there computer on the sidelines. It is for smarter people with much cooler heads, who know a lot more about the entire thing. People like Zbigniew Brzezinski and others of his ilk who have lived and breathed this for years. Now that is a smart man. So, watch, take away what you will and decide for yourself. Just think of the innocent victims of the war, those are the ones I feel for.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Day 6 has begun with no let up.
Did Israel Use Disproportionate Force?
by: Lionel Beehner**
Once again Israel is under fire for using disproportionate force in response to Hamas rocket fire from Gaza. Israeli bombs have left hundreds of Palestinians dead, the bulk of them Hamas militants but dozens of citizens have died as well. So is Israel justified in its retaliation or did it violate international norms on proportionality?
The operative phrase tossed around is "self-defense," enshrined by Article 51 in the UN Charter. If a country -- or non-state actor for that matter -- attacks you, you are entitled to respond to defend yourself. But you cannot respond with disproportionate force. I cannot burn your house down if you spit on me. But I can slug you one in the face and be in the clear.
The targeting of civilians, whether deliberate or not, violates the 1949 Geneva Conventions. As such, Hamas sprinkles its militants around population centers as a form of deterrence but also to maximize world outrage when Israel responds with overwhelming force and ends up killing scores of civilians. What's remarkable is that time and again Israel falls for the bait. Regardless of how many Hamas fighters it kills or what kind of signal it sends to Syria and Iran, world perception is what ultimately matters, not body counts. And the tide of public opinion seems to invariably side with the underdog, regardless of who's to blame.
Hence, Israel now finds itself in the awkward yet familiar position of defending its actions. A state is legally allowed to unilaterally defend itself and right a wrong provided the response is proportional to the injury suffered and is immediate, necessary, refrains from targeting civilians, and requires only enough force to reinstate the status quo ante. Also implied in this argument is the right of Israel to prevent Hamas from carrying out future cross-border attacks.
Yet there is growing confusion as to what constitutes a legitimate military target. Arguably, if a hospital or church is used to house enemy troops, or a bridge is vital to moving militants, then these areas would become fair targets. The same goes for an electric grid. As international legal expert Michael Glennon told me after the 2006 Israeli-Hezbollah conflict, "Virtually no target can, ipso facto, be de-listed from a list of potential military targets."
Critics say Israel has a history of using disproportionate force. For example, its war with Hezbollah drew international condemnation for its use of cluster bombs and disproportionate use of force, regardless of the fact that Hezbollah provoked the war. In 1993, Israel's seven-day bombing campaign of Lebanon in retaliation for Hezbollah rocket attacks was also criticized. And in 1981, Israel struck Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor without provocation, a move Israelis said was justified under international norms on anticipatory self-defense.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and French President Nicolas Sarkozy have condemned Israel's "disproportionate use of force" against Hamas. The Obama camp has been mum on the issue, only to issue anodyne statements standing by Israel's right to defend itself and urge a peaceful solution. But this issue -- what is an acceptable level of violence in response to attacks by non-state actors -- will rear its ugly head again, whether along the Turkish-Iraqi border, in northwest Pakistan, or in Gaza. There is no agreed-upon definition of what constitutes a proportionate response to terrorist attacks.
States, especially those with hyperactive militaries and nukes at their disposal, cannot be given carte blanche to retaliate. But it should be in their own self-interest not to respond with disproportionate force. After all, non-state actors tend not to be deterred much less defeated militarily. All that results is a surge in recruits and international sympathy for the non-state actor -- in this case, Hamas. Yes, it's tough for states to sit on their hands in the face of incoming rockets. But to respond, especially with disproportionate force, is suicidal.
** BIO of Lionel Beehner
Lionel Beehner blogs at www.lionelbeehner.com. He is formerly a senior writer for the Council on Foreign Relations, where he wrote about Iraq, Iran, and the former Soviet Union. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, Los Angeles Times, Guardian Online, Baltimore Sun, Chicago Tribune, USA Today, The New Republic Online, Foreign Policy, Russia Journal, Kiev Post, Seed, New York, and Worth Magazine. His commentary has appeared on NPR's All Things Considered, CNN International, BBC Radio, CNBC's Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo, C-SPAN's Washington Journal, CBC, Bloomberg TV, and Voice of America, as well as in publications like the New York Times Magazine, Washington Times, Newsweek International, Weekly Standard, and San Francisco Chronicle. He teaches Op-Ed and Political Writing at Mediabistro.com. He was the 2006 recipient of a German Marshall Fund journalism fellowship for a research project on post-Soviet youth movements in Ukraine and Belarus. He is a graduate of Holy Cross College and holds a master’s degree in international relations from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.
by: Lionel Beehner**
Once again Israel is under fire for using disproportionate force in response to Hamas rocket fire from Gaza. Israeli bombs have left hundreds of Palestinians dead, the bulk of them Hamas militants but dozens of citizens have died as well. So is Israel justified in its retaliation or did it violate international norms on proportionality?
The operative phrase tossed around is "self-defense," enshrined by Article 51 in the UN Charter. If a country -- or non-state actor for that matter -- attacks you, you are entitled to respond to defend yourself. But you cannot respond with disproportionate force. I cannot burn your house down if you spit on me. But I can slug you one in the face and be in the clear.
The targeting of civilians, whether deliberate or not, violates the 1949 Geneva Conventions. As such, Hamas sprinkles its militants around population centers as a form of deterrence but also to maximize world outrage when Israel responds with overwhelming force and ends up killing scores of civilians. What's remarkable is that time and again Israel falls for the bait. Regardless of how many Hamas fighters it kills or what kind of signal it sends to Syria and Iran, world perception is what ultimately matters, not body counts. And the tide of public opinion seems to invariably side with the underdog, regardless of who's to blame.
Hence, Israel now finds itself in the awkward yet familiar position of defending its actions. A state is legally allowed to unilaterally defend itself and right a wrong provided the response is proportional to the injury suffered and is immediate, necessary, refrains from targeting civilians, and requires only enough force to reinstate the status quo ante. Also implied in this argument is the right of Israel to prevent Hamas from carrying out future cross-border attacks.
Yet there is growing confusion as to what constitutes a legitimate military target. Arguably, if a hospital or church is used to house enemy troops, or a bridge is vital to moving militants, then these areas would become fair targets. The same goes for an electric grid. As international legal expert Michael Glennon told me after the 2006 Israeli-Hezbollah conflict, "Virtually no target can, ipso facto, be de-listed from a list of potential military targets."
Critics say Israel has a history of using disproportionate force. For example, its war with Hezbollah drew international condemnation for its use of cluster bombs and disproportionate use of force, regardless of the fact that Hezbollah provoked the war. In 1993, Israel's seven-day bombing campaign of Lebanon in retaliation for Hezbollah rocket attacks was also criticized. And in 1981, Israel struck Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor without provocation, a move Israelis said was justified under international norms on anticipatory self-defense.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and French President Nicolas Sarkozy have condemned Israel's "disproportionate use of force" against Hamas. The Obama camp has been mum on the issue, only to issue anodyne statements standing by Israel's right to defend itself and urge a peaceful solution. But this issue -- what is an acceptable level of violence in response to attacks by non-state actors -- will rear its ugly head again, whether along the Turkish-Iraqi border, in northwest Pakistan, or in Gaza. There is no agreed-upon definition of what constitutes a proportionate response to terrorist attacks.
States, especially those with hyperactive militaries and nukes at their disposal, cannot be given carte blanche to retaliate. But it should be in their own self-interest not to respond with disproportionate force. After all, non-state actors tend not to be deterred much less defeated militarily. All that results is a surge in recruits and international sympathy for the non-state actor -- in this case, Hamas. Yes, it's tough for states to sit on their hands in the face of incoming rockets. But to respond, especially with disproportionate force, is suicidal.
** BIO of Lionel Beehner
Lionel Beehner blogs at www.lionelbeehner.com. He is formerly a senior writer for the Council on Foreign Relations, where he wrote about Iraq, Iran, and the former Soviet Union. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, Los Angeles Times, Guardian Online, Baltimore Sun, Chicago Tribune, USA Today, The New Republic Online, Foreign Policy, Russia Journal, Kiev Post, Seed, New York, and Worth Magazine. His commentary has appeared on NPR's All Things Considered, CNN International, BBC Radio, CNBC's Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo, C-SPAN's Washington Journal, CBC, Bloomberg TV, and Voice of America, as well as in publications like the New York Times Magazine, Washington Times, Newsweek International, Weekly Standard, and San Francisco Chronicle. He teaches Op-Ed and Political Writing at Mediabistro.com. He was the 2006 recipient of a German Marshall Fund journalism fellowship for a research project on post-Soviet youth movements in Ukraine and Belarus. He is a graduate of Holy Cross College and holds a master’s degree in international relations from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Rachel Maddow and Richard Engel Monday discussion of the Middle East Conflict.
This is the discussion Rachel and Richard had Monday night. It will help explain how it all started. As I said in my post before, they are both very smart. I can't explain it, but they know what they are talking about and can do a better job than anyone I know of.
Here is the video:
Here is the video:
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Day 5 of the Israeli/Gaza Conflict with no resolution in sight.
Day 5 is here. Talks of a cease fire were around last night but nothing came of them. They were even having a press conference through Twitter. How funny is that. Speaking in 140 characters. That's harder than you might think if you haven't tried it.
I am sharing a video clip of Rachel Maddow and Richard Engel talking about the conflict. Rachel is one of the smartest people on the TeeVee machine. I also have a lot of respect for Richard. He is one of the few reporters that really does get his hands dirty in the business of reporting on wars and conflicts. He knows what he is talking about when it comes to Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Middle East.
So, enjoy:
I am sharing a video clip of Rachel Maddow and Richard Engel talking about the conflict. Rachel is one of the smartest people on the TeeVee machine. I also have a lot of respect for Richard. He is one of the few reporters that really does get his hands dirty in the business of reporting on wars and conflicts. He knows what he is talking about when it comes to Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Middle East.
So, enjoy:
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
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