- Banned Video of Humanitarian aid appeal for Gaza
Sending aid to Gaza is seen as promoting terrorism
- Video Gaza 101- the children of Gaza
- Avraham Burg's " The End of Zionism "
- Israeli settler Rabbi preaches hate against Palestinians
- Israel defends IDF against possible War Crimes charges- officials say no one has a right to judge Israeli action in Gaza.
- President Obama says he will not take sides - Israel's bombing UN facilities and schools etc. is not his concern
I am posting this video because the BBC and others refuse to show it . They claim that because the group is asking for donations for humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza it is therefore a condemnation of Israel and therefore biased towards Hamas. This seems an outrageous attack on humanitarian aid organizations whose work is to help those who are suffering the consequences of a catastrophic event whether it is man made as in the case of a war or whether it is due to a natural event such as a Tsunami or Hurricane etc. This has been the attitude for years on the part of the Israeli government and the IDF towards any humanitarian aid groups such as the UN or the International Committee of the Red Cross or human rights groups such as Amnesty International working in Gaza. The Israelis are suspicious of all such groups and see them as part of the problem in Gaza. To the Israelis anyone who helps the people of Gaza are enemies of Israel.
OFFICIAL: DEC Gaza Aid Appeal: BANNED by the BBC and SKY
What Israelis and Americans Don't want to know about Gaza.
Gaza's Reality (Occupation 101 Movie Clip)
The living conditions of Palestinian refugees living in Gaza. A short clip from the award-winning film 'Occupation 101: Voices of the Silenced Majority."
For more info please visit www.occupation101.com.
DVD also available on AMAZON.COM !!
Settlers dominate Israeli Policies - CBS Speaks the Unspeakable
How the Israelis Forces the IDF do as they please in The West Bank etc.
CBS 60 Minutes Exposing Israeli Apartheid - 1/ Jan. 25, 2009
On Sunday, January 25, CBS 60 Minutes aired an amazing segment exposing Israel's apartheid against Palestinians. The piece is by Senior CBS Foreign Correspondent Bob Simon, who is Jewish living outside Tel-Aviv and produced by Robert G, Anderson
After the current conflict in Gaza Israelis should be pondering what kind of state are they defending and what kind of state they hope to achieve. Is it a state they would be proud of ?
Is Israel to take the path of justice or injustice . Surely the desire for security should not lead to the virtual incarceration of a whole people who are humiliated on a daily basis whose livelihood can be stripped away on a whim whose basic human rights are denied to them and yet are told that they are not permitted to complain and that they must turn the other cheek when they are struck while those who oppress them may treat them as they see fit.
Anyway here is part of an insightful article which attempts to cut through the Fog of War and never ending conflict which speaks to the humanity of those people of Israel who's hearts are not yet turned to lead or stone who are willing to step into the shoes of those they call their enemy and even for a moment or an hour or two feel what they feel daily.
" The end of Zionism:Israel must shed its illusions and choose between racist oppression and democracy " Avraham Burg guardian.co.uk, 15 September 2003
The Zionist revolution has always rested on two pillars: a just path and an ethical leadership. Neither of these is operative any longer. The Israeli nation today rests on a scaffolding of corruption, and on foundations of oppression and injustice. As such, the end of the Zionist enterprise is already on our doorstep. There is a real chance that ours will be the last Zionist generation. There may yet be a Jewish state here, but it will be a different sort, strange and ugly.
There is time to change course, but not much. What is needed is a new vision of a just society and the political will to implement it. Diaspora Jews for whom Israel is a central pillar of their identity must pay heed and speak out.
The opposition does not exist, and the coalition, with Ariel Sharon at its head, claims the right to remain silent. In a nation of chatterboxes, everyone has suddenly fallen dumb, because there's nothing left to say. We live in a thunderously failed reality. Yes, we have revived the Hebrew language, created a marvellous theatre and a strong national currency. Our Jewish minds are as sharp as ever. We are traded on the Nasdaq. But is this why we created a state? The Jewish people did not survive for two millennia in order to pioneer new weaponry, computer security programs or anti-missile missiles. We were supposed to be a light unto the nations. In this we have failed.
It turns out that the 2,000-year struggle for Jewish survival comes down to a state of settlements, run by an amoral clique of corrupt lawbreakers who are deaf both to their citizens and to their enemies. A state lacking justice cannot survive. More and more Israelis are coming to understand this as they ask their children where they expect to live in 25 years. Children who are honest admit, to their parents' shock, that they do not know. The countdown to the end of Israeli society has begun.
It is very comfortable to be a Zionist in West Bank settlements such as Beit El and Ofra. The biblical landscape is charming. You can gaze through the geraniums and bougainvilleas and not see the occupation. Travelling on the fast highway that skirts barely a half-mile west of the Palestinian roadblocks, it's hard to comprehend the humiliating experience of the despised Arab who must creep for hours along the pocked, blockaded roads assigned to him. One road for the occupier, one road for the occupied.
This cannot work. Even if the Arabs lower their heads and swallow their shame and anger for ever, it won't work. A structure built on human callousness will inevitably collapse in on itself. Note this moment well: Zionism's superstructure is already collapsing like a cheap Jerusalem wedding hall. Only madmen continue dancing on the top floor while the pillars below are collapsing...
Avraham Burg was speaker of Israel's Knesset in 1999-2003 and is a former chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel.
There are claims that Israelis involved in War Crimes in Gaza may be arrested if they enter those countries which still respect International Law and the " Rule Of Law ". President Obama talks about the Rule of Law but it is mere rhetoric since his administration defends Israel's War Crimes and he defends America's War Crimes committed by American forces in Iraq and elsewhere. It's about time the rest of the world stood up to any nation which has or is alleged to have committed War Crimes. It should not matter if that country is the US or Israel or any other nation - either all nations are to be held accountable for their crimes or none are. Such nations which refuse to take action on their own to see that justice is done and which refuse to permit their citizens to be brought before an International Court on War Crimes should be deemed an outlaw state or Rogue Nation. As the UN and America were quite willing to demand sanctions on Iraq under Saddam so why shouldn't the same principles be applied to other nations including the US and Israel when they commit War Crimes or refuse to obey International Law. Otherwise we might as well dismantle the UN and other International bodies.
Israel's Leaders Are Frantically Trying to Prevent War Crimes Proceedings for Their Gaza Atrocities By Jonathan Cook, AlterNet. Jan. 26, 2009.
Israeli officials are in a frenzy of activity to forestall legal actions abroad over their involvement in the recent Gaza offensive.
Mounting fear in Israel that the country's leaders face war crimes charges over their involvement in the recent Gaza offensive pushed officials into a frenzy of activity at the weekend to forestall legal actions abroad.
The urgency was underlined after rumors last week that Belgian authorities might arrest Tzipi Livni, Israel's foreign minister, if she attended a summit of European counterparts in Brussels on Wednesday. In an indication of how seriously the matter is judged, Ms Livni's advisers were on the verge of canceling her trip when the story was revealed to be a hoax.
Nonetheless, officials are braced for real attempts to arrest senior political and military figures following a warning from the country's chief law officer, Menachem Mazuz, that Israel will soon face "a wave of international lawsuits".
In response, the government is setting up a special task force to work on legal defenses, has barred the media from naming or photographing army officers involved in the Gaza attack, and has placed restrictions on overseas visits. Today, ministers were expected to approve an aid package to help soldiers fight warrants abroad for their arrest.
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It is not surprising that an Israeli Rabbi handed out pamphlets to Israeli soldiers telling them not to show mercy to Palestinians in Gaza since the whole tone of the Israeli government has become more and more racist in its views about all Arabs.
"" "Rabbi told Israeli troops 'to show no mercy' in Gaza"AFP Jan. 26, 2009
– An Israeli human rights group on Monday called for the immediate dismissal of the chief military rabbi, claiming he gave soldiers fighting in Gaza pamphlets urging them to show no mercy.
Yesh Din said it had written to both Defence Minister Ehud Barak and Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, urging them to "take this incitement seriously and fire Chief Military Rabbi" Brigadier General Avi Ronzki.
It said a pamphlet distributed to soldiers taking part in Operation Cast Lead stressed that the troops should show no mercy to their enemies, and that the pamphlet borders "on incitement and racism against the Palestinian people."
"When you show mercy to a cruel enemy you are being cruel to pure and honest soldiers. These are not games at the amusement park where sportsmanship teaches one to make concessions. This is a war on murderers," Yesh Din quoted the pamphlet as saying.
It said the pamphlet quotes at length statements by Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, a spiritual leader of the Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank who opposes any compromise with Palestinians.
"The Palestinians claim they deserve a state here, when in reality there was never a Palestinian or Arab state within the borders of our country," the pamphlet quoted Aviner as saying.
The rights group said the pamphlet contains "degrading and belittling messages that border on incitement and racism against the Palestinian people. These messages can be interpreted as a call to act outside of the confines of international laws of war."
The Haaretz newspaper reported on Monday that far right-wing groups also gave out pamphlets bearing racist messages on military bases.
And once again on the overwhelming military might which Israel brought down upon the people of Gaza to keep them in their place to destroy what was left of their meagre existence after a two year siege in which the people were denied the basic necessities of existence except for that which the Israelis allowed to trickle in. And so the Gazans relied on hundreds of tunnels to bring in supplies. The Israelis claimed the tunnels were used to bring in large numbers of sophisticated weapons and maybe even a few WMDs they managed to sneak out of Iraq .Did Hamas hide them as Bush claimed Saddam had hid his WMDs . If Hamas was so well armed why was there not more well staged attacks on the Israeli Forces why was there almost no resistance. Shouldn't Hamas been able to bring down a few Apache helicopters or F16s that is if they were so well organized and well equipped. Or is it just that a few Religious Fanatics and the militarists have taken control of the country . Are the Israelis just caught up in a vicious cycle of violence and revenge in which they kill 100 Palestinians for each Israeli killed.
"How to Kill a Palestinian " by Elias Akleh, Media With Conscience, Jan.27, 2009
The Israeli bombardment targeted everything in Gaza including government buildings, police headquarters, banks and business offices, the main university, 67 schools sheltering civilians, shopping centers and market places, factories, water, sewer, and electricity infrastructures, private homes and apartment towers and charity organizations. Farms, including their animals, were also targeted and hundreds of acres of crops and fruit groves were incinerated. Religious buildings, where civilians usually seek shelter, were specifically targeted. Israeli fighter planes had completely destroyed 41 mosques, and partially damaged 51 others. One church was also targeted. Even cemeteries were not spared; 5 of them were bombed.
Although the Israeli army was given the exact GPS co-ordinates of every UN structure, as asserted by Christopher Gunness, the UNRWA spokesman, Israeli F-16 planes had repeatedly dropped phosphorous bombed on UN schools knowing very well that hundreds of civilians had taken shelter there. At least 45 children and women were burnt and murdered there.
The UN headquarters in Gaza City was also hit with three, not just one, phosphorous bombs burning tons of humanitarian aid and food stuff. The fire kept on burning for three days. UN-flagged humanitarian convoy was also shelled killing one driver.
Medical centers and paramedics were not spared. The Red Crescent Al-Quds hospital in Tal el-Hawa neighborhood was hit by Israeli shells and caught on fire. Other two hospitals; Al-Wafa and Al-Fata hospitals, were also shelled, leading the World Health Organization to express its deep concern about the serious implications of such bombardments. 16 other smaller health clinics and 16 ambulances were also damaged. Medics were targeted and prevented from helping the injured. Ten of them, including two doctors, were murdered.
Media centers were particularly targeted. Local and international news reporters were prevented from entering Gaza. Those, who were able to enter, were directly targeted. The Al-Shuruq office tower housing several international and Arab media outlets was directly hit. Two cameramen working for Abu Dhabi TV were injured, while the offices of Reuters News Agency, Fox TV, Sky, and Al-Arabiya TV offices were damaged. Another raid had damaged the headquarter offices of Al-Resala newspaper.
Similar to all their previous wars the Israeli soldiers had committed massacres against Palestinian unarmed civilians. They have used internationally banned weapons such as phosphorous bombs, DIME, and depleted uranium, as reported by international physicians, eyewitnesses, and military experts. Israeli soldiers had mutilated the bodies of their victims to instill terror in the hearts of people hoping they will leave Gaza. Israeli soldiers herded many families in one building using them as human shield, and then later on bombed the building on top of them. They shot civilians, mainly children, directly and at point blank. The bodies of some children were found shot several times; as many as 18 bullets in the body of a 12 years old girl, and 12 bullets in the body of her 2 years old sister.
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Chris Hedges argues in this next article that the coverage by the US Media of the Israeli invasion of Gaza was not even handed but tended to accept Israel's version of events uncritically. The narrative taken up by the US media was that Hamas was a well armed formidable adversary which was a real threat to the State of Israel which was far from the truth. Hamas spokespersons unfortunately at times themselves over stated their military capacity in a bit of bravado. The American journalists given this Israeli version of reality tended to perceive all of the people of Gaza as if they were all potential terrorists . Therefore Americans reasoned that it was ok to mass murder civilians as the Americans have been accused of doing in their invasion and occupation of Iraq.
" With Gaza, Journalists Fail Again " by Chris Hedges Truthdig.com Jan. 26, 2009
The assault on Gaza exposed not only Israel's callous disregard for international law but the gutlessness of the American press. There were no major newspapers, television networks or radio stations that challenged Israel's fabricated version of events that led to the Gaza attack or the daily lies Israel used to justify the unjustifiable. Nearly all reporters were, as during the buildup to the Iraq war, pliant stenographers and echo chambers. If we as journalists have a product to sell, it is credibility. Take that credibility away and we become little more than propagandists and advertisers. By refusing to expose lies we destroy, in the end, ourselves.
... Israel's brutal military tactics, despite the lack of coverage in the American press, have come under intense international scrutiny. Human rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, blame the high civilian death toll on indiscriminate firing and shelling, as well as the use of white phosphorus shells in civilian areas. Israel has admitted using white phosphorus in Gaza but insists the chemical, used for smoke screens and to mark spots to be shelled or bombed, was not used directly against civilians.
...But Hamas, elected to power in 2006, also brought effective civil control to Gaza. ..Hamas, once it assumed power, halted suicide bombing attacks on Israel. It ended rocket fire into Israel for almost a year. It upheld its agreement with Israel. ..
... Israel is now destroying Hamas. Radical Islamic groups, such as al-Qaida, far more violent and irrational, stand poised to replace Hamas...
The Israeli government bears the responsibility for its crimes. But by giving credibility to the lies and false narratives Israel uses to justify wholesale slaughter we empower not only Israel's willful self-destruction but our own. The press, as happened during the buildup to the Iraq war, was again feckless and gutless. It bent to the will of the powerful. It abandoned its sacred contract with its readers, listeners and viewers to always tell the truth. It chattered about nothing. It obscured the facts. It did this while hundreds of women and children were torn to shreds by iron fragmentation bombs in a flagrant violation of international law. And as it failed it lauded itself for doing "a fair, balanced and complete job."
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and so it goes,
GORD.
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