A former Prime Minister of Australia, Malcolm Fraser, speaks. He has become a good man since he left politics. Funny that the once-bastion of extreme conservatism (though not all of his policies were) speaks the truth, whereas Rudd, as ever, keeps his silence. Not even a token condemnation from him of the carnage that has been inflicted on the Palestinians. I wonder if this letter will have any appeal. Somehow, I doubt it.
They've been pulling bodies out of the rubble in Gaza. Posted my morning, this was the Death toll: 1310, wounded: 5600 (that's Palestinians, remember), the vast majority of whom were civilians. Some firing/fighting continues, though it is quieter. I'll post a figure tomorrow, if it has changed.
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The following is geared towards US or European readers, even though the first organisation (United Nations) is international. It was sent to me by a friend in Oman. I'll see if I can track something down for Australia. These organisations always helped, and will be called on to help more, the Palestinians. From an email I received:
The war on Gaza has been devastating on lives and properties; almost all sectors of Gaza's civil infrastructure have been destroyed. Since many of us feel helpless these days, it might make you feel better to donate whatever you can to any of the following reputable charitable organizations:
United Nations Relief and Works Agency: UNRWA is the primary institution which has been helping Palestinian refugees for the past 60 years, it provides educational, healthcare, and food distributions in all refugee camps in the Middle East. Although the organization is affiliated with the United Nations, it's mostly being funded from non UN sources. These are the details for Americans or Europeans wishing to make a donation.
Palestine Children's Relief Fund: PCRF is one of the most active organizations on the ground who specializes in helping injured Palestinian and Iraqi children; their work has directly affected thousands of lives in occupied Gaza Strip, occupied W. Bank, Iraq, and Lebanon, click here to see news coverage for PCRF's activities. (*This is an American organisation for my Aussie readers).
American Near East Refugee Aid: ANERA is a leading provider of development, health, education and employment programs to Palestinian communities and impoverished families throughout the Middle East.
It should be NOTED that all of these charitable organizations
-are not affiliated whatsoever with any political group,
-have been faithfully serving the Palestinian people (especially the refugees) for generations, and
-your donation will be tax deductible and completely legal, especially here in the United States.
My blog is not from the US, of course, but the email was generated from there.
Here is a report of the money UNRWA will need to raise, and how it will be used.
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On another tack (well, the same one as for the last three weeks, really), this story from Ha'aretz is interesting (not only because it mentions the weapons talked about in this post, but for the following information). Again, a big shout out to this blog for first highlighting the article:
Fosse [a Norweigan doctor] and a Norwegian colleague, Mads Gilbert, arrived in Gaza on December 31 and remained until January 10. They were financed by the Norwegian government. On his return, Fosse submitted a report to his government in which he accused the IDF of deliberately targeting civilians.
Fosse said he believes Israel deliberately chose to attack while Westerners working for international organizations were back home for the Christmas vacation. "The Palestinian witnesses, as medical workers, are very accurate in their reports, but if we hadn't been there to confirm their testimony, it would all have been presented as Hamas propaganda," he said.
Norway sent doctors; the Australian government and media sent their apathy and silence.
"What we are up against is not just bias, but a kind of culpable ignorance".
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