those who warrant a newspaper article

Many things have occurred over the last four days that I have not been blogging. For two of those days I was travelling. One of the biggest stories is the injury of American,Tristan Anderson, by a tear gas canister shot into his forehead by Israeli forces. This occurred at a peaceful demonstration against the continuation of the building of the apartheid wall in the West Bank. Tear gas is regularly fired. People die all the time, but they are not always internationals.

According to the ISM site:

The heavy impact from the tear gas canister being shot directly at him, from about 60 meters, also caused severe damage to his right eye, which he may lose. Tristan underwent brain surgery in which part of his right frontal lobe and shattered bone fragments were removed.
...
Tristan Anderson was shot as Israeli forces attacked a demonstration against
the construction of the annexation wall through the village of Ni’lin’s
land. Another resident from Ni’lin was shot in the leg with live ammunition.

Four Ni’lin residents have been killed during demonstrations against the
confiscation of their land.

Ahmed Mousa (10) was shot in the forehead with live ammunition on
29th July 2008. The following day, Yousef Amira (17) was shot twice with
rubber-coated steel bullets, leaving him brain dead. He died a week later
on 4 August 2008. Arafat Rateb Khawaje (22), was the third Ni’lin resident
to be killed by Israeli forces. He was shot in the back with live ammunition on 28 December 2008. That same day, Mohammed Khawaje (20), was
shot in the head with live ammunition, leaving him brain dead. He died
three days in a Ramallah hospital.

Residents in the village of Ni’lin have been demonstrating against the
construction of the Apartheid Wall, deemed illegal by the International
Court of Justice in 2004. Ni’lin will lose approximately 2500 dunums
of agricultural land when the construction of the Wall is completed.
Ni’lin was 57,000 dunums in 1948, reduced to 33,000 dunums in 1967,
currently is 10,000 dunums and will be 7,500 dunums after the
construction of the Wall.

There are further updates on the site and links to the sources for the above information. Tristian Anderson is in intensive care, but his condition appears to have stabilised. The ambulance was blocked by the soldiers, and there were also further delays at checkpoints as Palestinian ambulances are not allowed into Israel.

The Australian friends of Palestine and Women for Palestine sent an email today with the photographs (contained in this blog) of the internationals who have either died or been injured whilst protesting against Israeli actions in the occupied territories, or trying to help protect the people in the territories from soldiers and settlers. Two Americans have been killed, and two British. The links to Rachel Corrie, who is probably the most well known, are in the blog roll. None were doing anything violent. Still, they are just a handful compared to the number of Palestinians killed and injured and denied assistance.


Israel declares itself to be the only democracy in the Middle East. Our newspapers declare the same. To the best of my knowledge, deaths at peaceful protests from authorities in the so-called leading western democracies have not been a regular occurrence since the sixties of last century. As an occupying power, and immediate neighbour, Israel has a duty of care to the people of the lands it occupies. As uncritical supporters, and in the case of the U.S., major aid suppliers, of Israel, we have a duty of care to the people she is so careless with. Think of all the stories behind the statistics which do not even warrant newspaper space. Also, reflect, quite a few of the protesters are Israelis. Why? Could it be that as direct neighbours, and as readers of Ha'aretz and other media, they actually have access to stories and to people and to situations that we do not? That they are actually exposed to the truth in ways that we are not.



Note, April 3rd: This 2003 article The Brian Avery shooting: When will we realise that there can't be this many "accidents"?, is worth reading.

electing to recognise human rights for all

According to the CIA Factbook, African Americans make up 12.85% of the U.S. people. Israeli-Arabs (mostly of Palestinian descent), make up 23.6% of the population in Israel. These are the Palestinians who live in Israel "proper" (it hasn't defined its borders), not Gaza nor the West Bank. The government that is currently being formed in Israel is extremely right-winged. Avigdor Lieberman, who will play a major role, has run a platform of "No loyalty, no citizenship," directed towards the Arab population of Israel. He is an immigrant from Russia, having arrived in Israel 20 years prior. His policy is that people who were born on the land, have lived on the land for years and years and years, who, for the most part, are not Jewish, must make a pledge of allegiance to the Jewish state. If they do not, they will be shipped out:

Yisrael Beitenu's [Lieberman's party] manifesto was that 1.5 million Arab Palestinian citizens of Israel (indigenous survivors or descendants of the Palestinian majority ethnically cleansed in 1948) be subjected to a loyalty oath. If they don't swear allegiance to the "Jewish state" they would lose their citizenship and be forced from the land of their birth, joining millions of already stateless Palestinians in exile or in Israeli-controlled ghettos. In a move instigated by Lieberman but supported by Livni's allegedly "centrist" Kadima, the Knesset recently voted to ban Arab parties from participating in elections. Although the high court overturned it in time for the vote, it is an ominous sign of what may follow.

Lieberman, who previously served as deputy prime minister, has a long history of racist and violent incitement. Prior to Israel's recent attack, for example, he demanded Israel subject Palestinians to the brutal and indiscriminate violence Russia used in Chechyna. He also called for Arab Knesset members who met with officials from Hamas to be executed.

That's almost 24% of the population. Could this idea even come into light of day in modern-day United States, or Australia? I will concentrate on the United States, because it has a sizable African American minority who have had to fight for their rights. The Palestinians are indigenous, but their numbers are far higher than the indigenous population that exists now in the United States and Australia. In countries like India, and Indonesia (Dutch East Indies), which were also colonised, the populations were too huge to seriously contemplate such ideas (in expulsion, anyway. I'm sure there were loyalty pledges dreamt up). In Australia, too, Aborigines were not citizens in their own country until the 1960s, had curfews imposed upon them, were only allowed to work in certain jobs, were not allowed to own houses, and so on. But many steps have been made to rectify wrongs, and they are still being made (with varying degrees of success), and as has been pointed out many times before, wrongs committed in one country do not condone wrongs in another. These colonial times are meant to have been left behind.

So, if you will, imagine a politician, not born in the United States, gaining power in the United States, and ordering a large minority of existing citizens born in the country to pledge allegiance to a Zionist concept, or else. No matter if you were born in the country, or not. No matter how many generations your family had been in the country (in the case of the Palestinians, for pretty damned long) or not.

Why do we allow such ideas to perpetuate when we won't stand for it in our own countries? In Australia, most immigrants take a pledge of commitment when they become citizens, and even then, they have the choice of a pledge that refers to God or not, but native-born do not need to go through this procedure. Why do we stand for such ideas, and encourage them when we have supported struggles against such ideas in the past, and no longer legally impose them on our own indigenous* or minority populations? Why do people support these ideas with their tax dollars, especially in light of the recession? (Of course, the solution from strong elements in the States seems to be to no longer provide aid to the occupied territories, rather than to stop supporting the rather robust Israeli economy, and sending it arms). Why do they support it with their silence? (I know the main stream media plays a huge role there). The other politicians who will hold power in Israel are just variations on the theme when it comes to the rights of the Palestinians in Israel and in the occupied territories.

*Australia's treatment of its indigenous population is still contentious, and rightly so. The Howard government introduced many restrictions and took away many rights as detailed in this Dec 2008, article. The [current] federal government declared that it will introduce reforms to allow the suspension of the Racial Discrimination Act (which introduced these restrictions and interventions) to be lifted, in a year. Groups argue it is not soon enough. In current times, though, our government has not taken to strafing the population with F16s, and in theory, people are free to travel the whole country. There are no official checkpoints, watchtowers or separation walls keeping populations separate.

It seems that very few of our politicians, at present, will ever see their way through to recognising human rights on this issue, and will, instead support the suppression of same. The following (at the end of this paragraph) was written by Ali Abunimah for the Electronic Infitada, and I think his last comment on boycotts, divestment and sanctions is probably true. Apartheid did eventually cease in South Africa, and initially, it was not through international governmental action, but through the actions of concerned citizens, institutions and companies from various countries. I wish our politicians were braver, but it seems the lure of money and power will mean that the only human rights they ever hold sacred are their own.

What does not help is brazen western hypocrisy. Already the US State Department spokesman affirmed that the Obama administration would work with whatever coalition emerged from Israel's "thriving democracy" and promised that the US would not interfere in Israel's "internal politics." Despite US President Barack Obama's sweet talk about a new relationship with the Arab world, few will fail to notice the double standard. In 2006, Hamas won a democratic election in the occupied territories, observed numerous unilateral or agreed truces that were violated by Israel, offered Israel a generation-long truce to set the stage for peace, and yet it is still boycotted by the US and European Union.

Worse, the US sponsored a failed coup against Hamas and continues to arm and train the anti-Hamas militias of Mahmoud Abbas, whose term as Palestinian Authority president expired on 9 January. As soon as he took office, Obama reaffirmed this boycott of Palestinian democracy.

The clearest message from Israel's election is that no Zionist party can solve Israel's basic conundrum and no negotiations will lead to a two-state solution. Israel could only be created as a "Jewish state" by the forced removal of the non-Jewish majority Palestinian population. As Palestinians once again become the majority in a country that has defied all attempts at partition, the only way to maintain Jewish control is through ever more brazen violence and repression of resistance (see Gaza). Whatever government emerges is certain to preside over more settlement-building, racial discrimination and escalating violence.

There are alternatives that have helped end what once seemed like equally intractable and bloody conflicts: a South African-style one-person one-vote democracy, or Northern Ireland-style power-sharing. Only under a democratic system according rights to all the people of the country will elections have the power to transform people's futures.

But Israel today is lurching into open fascism. It is utterly disingenuous to continue to pretend -- as so many do -- that its failed and criminal leaders hold the key to getting out of the morass. Instead of waiting for them to form a coalition, we must escalate the international civil society campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions to force Israelis to choose a saner path (Israel Lurches into Facism, February 13, 2009).

If you want advice by a writer commissioned by the US army, on part of this issue, (or on HAMAS's international terrorist standing - in that Israel, the US, and the western world uses the word 'terrorism' to justify all Israeli actions), I urge you to read all of this report (HAMAS and Israel: Conflicting strategies of group-based politics). She expands upon many of the things touched upon in the above quote, such as the US sponsored coup. I did post it before, and hopefully will summarise parts of it later, needless to say, HAMAS are not quite the ogres the mainstream media leads us to believe, though I am not painting them as angels, and actions are grounded in history and context. So saying, times also change. She calls for, as do I, recognising an elected government and electing to recognise human rights, for all.

safe transit, plastic bags and text books

Meanwhile on Monday, UN officials reiterated their call for Israel to lift the blockade on Gaza and open the crossings for urgent supplies to be sent in to the Palestinian territory.
"It is absolutely crucial that Israel allow the crossings to be opened"
Radhika Coomaraswamy, UN special envoy"It is absolutely crucial that Israel allow the crossings to be opened and also expand the list of items that go in," Radhika Coomaraswamy, the UN special representative for children and armed conflict, told reporters following her recent visit to Gaza, the West Bank and southern Israel.
"At the moment less than 200 [aid] trucks are going through [the crossing points into Gaza]," she said.
"We need at least 400 just for the humanitarian needs and over 1,000 once reconstruction begins."
The UN also appealed for Israel to allow plastic bags and human rights textbooks into the Gaza Strip.
"We run out of plastic bags to distribute the food," John Ging, the Unrwa director of operations in Gaza, said in a video link on Monday, adding that the process of getting the plastic locally was "unreliable" and "very expensive".
Unrwa, which only provides assistance to Palestinians holding refugee status, plays a key role in distributing aid in Gaza by handing out food aid to some 900,000 people of out of a population of 1.5 million.(UN to resume Gaza aid operations, Al Jazeera, Feb 10 2009).

900,000 people out of 1.5 million equals sixty percent of the population. Sixty percent who, from my reckoning, would not be refugees, if borders were opened, sanctions lifted and some serious approaches towards the peace process were made.



By human rights textbooks, above, I don't think it is meant textbooks which are human rights in content as this article (Israel is being urged to explain why it will not allow basic educational materials into Gaza, February 5, 2009) details.
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I was reading about the Sri Lankan woes the other day, and was struck by this newspaper article title: Civilians pour out of Sri Lanka war zone. It seems that the Sri Lankan government is employing many techniques similar to the onslaught on Gaza, including bombing hospitals and using cluster bombs. Both sides, according to articles, are heavily armed, however:

Claims by both sides cannot be verified because journalists, most aid groups and international observers are not allowed into the conflict zone.

Hundreds of non-combatants have been killed this year, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross, and global concern has mounted that a major humanitarian crisis is unfolding away from the public's gaze.

I have not followed this conflict closely, but I assume if recognised democracies can get away with the above, then so can any other government, or faction, on this earth. However, within the Gaza crisis, I think that the questions posed in this article should seriously be pondered: If the Hamas rockets are so lethal, why doesn't Israel swap an F-16 for some? (Mark Steel, The Independent, January 21, 2009).

In this article, Hillary Clinton and David Miliband call for Sri Lanka ceasefire with Tamils, Clinton asks for a temporary ceasefire to:

"...allow civilians and wounded to leave the conflict area and to grant access for humanitarian agencies."

There was nowhere for the civilians of Gaza to run to. Many of the civilians in Sri Lanka are trapped, too, as indicated by the above articles, but they still have tried to flee as best they can. From articles, it seems this exodus has some level of co-ordination with the government. I know there was the tragedy of a suicide bomber being amongst the civilians who were fleeing, but my point is, that there seems some hope, even if it is minimal, that there was somewhere to flee to. In a walled and closed off territory, this is not possible. That is one of the things that strikes me the most about Gaza, that and the fact it could have been very easily avoided. That, and did Rice push for a ceasefire so that the civilians could flee and the wounded could leave areas of conflict? But, that's right, where would they flee to? Maybe she spoke.

Amnesty International in the U.S. was concerned enough on the second of January to send a letter to her, some selections of which are below:

...Amnesty International USA is particularly dismayed at the lopsided response by the US government to the recent violence and its lackadaisical efforts to ameliorate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Amnesty International, as indeed other human rights and humanitarian organizations, is concerned about attacks directed at or resulting in harm to unarmed civilians. We expect the US government to share this concern for all unarmed civilians, be they Israeli or Palestinians, who are caught in this conflict...

Without diminishing the responsibility of Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups for indiscriminate and deliberate attacks on Israeli civilians, the US government must not ignore Israel’s disproportionate response and the longstanding policies which have brought the Gaza Strip to the brink of humanitarian disaster. While Israel has the right and the duty to protect its citizens, it must do so in accordance with international human rights and humanitarian law. International law takes security concerns into consideration and allows states to use reasonable means to confront legitimate threats. However, operations must be strictly necessary, proportionate and make every effort to discriminate between combatant and civilian. The least intrusive means must be selected to confront the threat.

I have written about many of the areas covered in the letter before, so I won't quote too much more, suffice to say, it details whether U.S. provided weapons are being used legally in relation to U.S. law, and discusses the humanitarian crisis that was already in place due to the Israeli siege. But it is a short letter. It is worth reading. The letter does urge Rice to try and ensure that the following happens:

Israel must also grant the wounded access to hospitals in Israel and to Palestinian hospitals in East Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank.
The United States should also take steps to insist that the Egyptian authorities open Egyptian hospitals to those in need of medical care which is not available in Gaza and ask that Egypt guarantees that its border guards do not resort to excessive use of force against those fleeing the bombing. Hamas must also ensure that its security forces and militias do not, under any circumstances, hinder or prevent the passage of the wounded or others patients trying to leave Gaza.

Amnesty said this. I don't know if Rice ever did, and with borders closely monitored, or closed, it is highly unlikely that the above safe transit occurred or is occurring smoothly and regularly, though it can and does occur. This August 2008, Israeli Physicians for Human Rights report attests that transfer for medical reasons often does not go smoothly:

After a patient receives a message from the Palestinian side explaining that he must undergo interrogation, he must arrive at the Erez Crossing, where he is taken down into the depths of the earth, to the GSS basement. His cellular phone is taken from him, and the numbers are extracted from its memory. Interrogators then question the patient and demand information in return for permission to access care. In some cases patients are asked to collaborate with the GSS on a regular basis. Thus testifies A, cancer patient (38): “Afterwards the interrogator told me ‘you are sick with cancer and soon it will spread to your brain. As long as you do not help us – wait for [the opening of] Rafah Crossing.”

GSS are the General Security Service (GSS- Shabac), who make the final decisions regarding exit permits, and the above report alleges that they are targeting sick patients as potential collaborators, making informing and cooperation with the GSS a pre-condition for exiting Gaza. This practice constitutes a violation of The Fourth Geneva Convention and the UN Convention Against Torture, as well as criminal law.

Though Israel opened a field clinic on the 18th of January, this was said about it:

Miri Weingarten of Physicians for Human Rights-Israel said the Israeli army has repeatedly refused her group's requests to evacuate wounded Gazans during the war, and called the border clinic too little, too late.

"We think that it demonstrates a cynical use of medical care for propaganda, meaning that when Israel wants to correct its public image, it can and will evacuate the wounded," Weingarten said.

In a rare case, a Palestinian doctor known to Israeli TV audiences for his reports of human suffering during the war was able to secure the transfer of two of his daughters to Israeli hospitals after they were wounded by Israeli shells.

I just wanted to mention a fact that is not often heard in the news, in light of the Sri Lankan suicide bomber mentioned above, that Hamas has carried out only* one suicide bomb attack since 2005 keeping in line with this January 7, 2009 viewpoint put forward by Mouin Rabbani, perhaps, on why the Gaza onslaught was necessary for Israel.

Hamas’ demonstrated capacity to make and uphold agreements with Israel put Israel in a quandary, in light of the Islamists’ growing willingness, particularly since 2005, to coexist with and even support a two-state settlement. A new agreement -- particularly if augmented by one between Hamas and Abbas (the prospects of which would have been enhanced) -- would have been utilized by European states and others, who had painted themselves into a corner by singing for too long and too loudly from Washington’s neo-conservative hymn sheet, to find ways to engage with Hamas. That the movement has, according to the Israeli Foreign Ministry website, carried out a grand total of one suicide attack in Israel since March 2005 (shortly before a previous ceasefire -- most others were claimed by Islamic Jihad) would only have facilitated such engagement.

*I say "only" keeping in mind the number of Palestinians that have died during this period, and the number of members of parliament and civilians who have been kidnapped and kept in Israeli jails. I do not condone suicide bombing.

To finish on a positive note, and to kind of tie into the beginning of this post, this picture of children in a Gazan classroom is stolen from Tales to Tell, the blog of an ISM volunteer (as might be the first one, I can't remember). The post that accompanies it is quite positive, which is needed, amongst all the gloom and doom. Of course all copyright remains with the photographers.

some findings

Some findings in the Israeli Human Rights Watch group, B'Tselem's, 2008 report .

school supplies

picking up and through the pieces, and a need for nurses

From Eva Bartlett's blog - a freelancer and ISM volunteer in Gaza. Her reports have appeared in the international news throughout the war on Gaza.

On the first day of the ceasefire, 102 dead bodies were reported to have been recovered, accounted for, including another 17 from the Samouni family which had been shot-point blank or killed by the bombing of the house which they were locked into. Another 23 on the second day. These are still largely bodies from the surface. Many more will be found under the rubble when it is finally moved, they unearthed.

Already, having only had the time to visit some of the many destroyed houses in the Ezbet Abed Rabbo (east of Jabaliya), the Attatra region (in the northwest), the Wafa rehabilitation hospital in the east, the targeted, bombed Red Crescent centre east of Jabaliya, and a school in the north, I have many, many things to tell, photos to show. I have pages of notebooks and will share them as quickly as possible. At the same time, the need to be out documenting and taking these photos and testimonies is so strong that I can’t share these things all at once, there isn’t enough time. But what people are uncovering here is certainly more evidence of the war crimes Israeli authorities perpetrated here, unquestionably.

There is still some fighting going on as detailed in the blog. Though nowhere near the intensity that it was.

Even though some foreign journalists are to come to Gaza via Egypt, the war crimes may still never see the light of day. From either side, perhaps? (The firing of rockets is a war crime. So saying, they have not wrought the death and destruction that this onslaught has. And one question that never seems to get addressed in the Australian press is, why were the rockets being fired in the first place? What is the history and the context of this situation?)

This from Al Jazeera (Outcry over weapons used in Gaza) 19 January, 2009:

More than 1,300 Palestinians have been killed in the 22-day offensive, many of them woman and children, and 5,340 injured. Thirteen Israelis, including 10 soldiers and three civilians, have been killed in the same period*.

The number of civilian deaths has provoked an international outcry, with senior UN officials demanding an independent investigation into whether Israel has committed war crimes.

The likelihood of either side being subject to a war-crimes action seems remote as the International Criminal Court (ICC) has no jurisdiction to investigate because the Gaza Strip is not a state.

In addition, Israel has not signed the Rome Statute that enshrined the ICC so any investigation would require a UN Security mandate - likely to be vetoed by Israel's ally, the US.

However, Mark Taylor, an international law expert, told Al Jazeera that individual commanders and politicians on both sides could be subject to legal actions lodged abroad.

"I think that Israelis in responsible positions, as well as Palestinians in responsible positions, are going to be looking over their shoulders in the days and weeks to come," he said.

The article also discusses the Dime weapons that seem to have been used as talked about in Ha'aretz (19 January, 2009), and SBS Australia (13 January, 2009).

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*This number has always seemed a little strange to me. Surely more people get hurt in combat, no matter what kind of weapon you are using, unless it is the atomic bomb. So this is from a couple of days ago from the IsraeliHuman Rights in Gaza blog, which has been collating reports from Israeli Human Rights groups during the attacks (hence the disparity in numbers), and seems more balanced to me; though the death toll for the Israeli side is still very low, and I am not sure if those civilian injuries on the Israeli side included white phosphorous burns or amputations, though obviously anyone's hurt is a matter for attention.

Update for 18 January '09, morning (GMT+2)
Gaza: at least 1,205 killed, of them at least 410 children and 98 women. More than half those killed since the ground incursion began (580) are women and children. Over 3,520 injured, of them over 350 severely (Palestinian Ministry of Health figures).
Israel: 13 killed, of them 1 woman and 10 soldiers. Over 82 civilians injured, of them 4 severely injured, not including those treated for shock , and 113 soldiers injured, of them one in critical condition and 20 suffer moderate or severe injuries.

Oh, Gaza is in desperate need of nurses, too, apparently, if anyone has the means or inclination.

a prime minister finds his voice (shame it's not the current one)

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".

4 schools, a wedding and a funeral

Testing, testing. Yes, I know it gets old. However, bear with me, please:

Israel hits UN run school.

This is the fourth school run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA which has been hit by Israel during its 22-day-old offensive against the Gaza Strip.

Or from ABC Australia:

The raid is at least the fourth time that Israel has hit a school run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA during its 22-day-old war on Hamas in Gaza.

From Al Jazeera:

"The Israeli army knew exactly our GPS co-ordinates and they would have known that hundreds of people had taken shelter there," [Christopher Gunness, a UNRWA spokesman] said. (this fact seems to be getting left off the reports from Australia, though they were included when the first school got bombed, killing 40 people).

If it is the same school, I just read that 1600 people were sheltering inside it.

Weddings and funerals:
From the SBS (article linked just prior):

At least 55 Palestinians were killed on Friday, including at least 10 people who died when a tank shell slammed into their house in Gaza City during a funeral wake, according to Palestinian medics. and from Gaza Strip the Untold Story (the first link above): 1-Israeli air strike bombed a wedding hall in Rafah City

1,188 Palestinians have been killed, including 410 children. The children make up 35% of deaths, civilians make up 700 of those deaths, though that number has no doubt no increased. And not to forget the 5100, or the 5200 wounded.

Yes there are other atrocities committed all over the world. I do not think my government and media give them such overt support. And I do not know if the populations who are wiped out by such atrocities are trapped in a cage, as such, hemmed in by walls and borders that they have no permission to go into and out of, even if it were peacetime, though I know ultimately when people are slaughtered there obviously has been nowhere for them to run to. I do not know if the armies they are facing have all the latest and greatest in weaponry and combat gizmos. However, I have not heard my government clamouring to support Sudan, Congo, Mugabe in Zimbabwe, and in the case of the latter, he certainly does not get as much air time as Regev and Rutland, though I am sure business and politics are involved, and in the others, too. Maybe it does support them, maybe I am just ignorant. I do not think it should stop me from pointing out that Israel is trying to wipe out a people, or to decimate and shame them, leave them with a continuing crisis, and no infrastructure, anyway. Plus, they will not withdraw, not that they fully had anyway, and punitive and collective methods of punishment will continue. And the whole world is watching (or the whole world that is not Australia, the U.S. and Canada, anyway), and that it is going to cause great problems for everyone globally. But then, the US and Israel are armed to the gills, so as long as we are their allies we will be okay. Right? I am sure that the borders of the open air prison that is Occupied Palestine can be extended.

1100 dead, 5100 wounded, Amnesty International

Day 20 of Israeli War On Gaza Informative Report on Gaza War:

Death toll 1100, wounded 5100

Amnesty international is trying to send 10,000 emails to Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, in protest. Very few politicians in Australia have spoken out against this massacre.

You can follow this address: http://www.amnesty.org.au/centre/action/20079/
to the page.
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“I’m just a working man, not Fatah, not Hamas. Just a man. Why did they bomb my house?” he’d asked. “There were 4 families in here, at least 25 children,” he’d added. From a blog of a foreign aid volunteer and journalist in the area.

gallows humour - 63%

Seems Israeli defence minister, Ehud Barak, has a grave sense of humour as his forces have attempted to make the headquarters of the UN refugee agency into a cemetery. (Israel hits U.N. Refugee Agency in Gaza, The Guardian, 15 January, 2009). You can find the same story all over the web. (*Please note, as of the 16th the Guardian has changed the title to Hamas interior minister reported dead in Gaza attack, Barak is now saying that his forces were fired at (disputed by the UN), and there is no mention of it being "a grave mistake". However, references to such an expression can be found at this Australian ABC article and in this BBC article. )


The headquarters of the UN refugee agency was on fire today as Israeli forces pushed deeper into Gaza City, unleashing the heaviest shelling of densely packed neighbourhoods since their military operation began nearly three weeks ago.

The compound was bombed twice, and is a well-known location in Gaza which was marked with blue UN flags

A UN warehouse containing tonnes of relief supplies was burning fiercely after the compound was hit by what a UN spokesman, Chris Gunness, said appeared to be three white phosphorous shells. Three people were reported injured, one UN staff member and two of the estimated 700 local people who had taken shelter inside from the violence.

The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, angrily demanded an investigation. Ehud Barak, the defence minister, told him it was a grave mistake and he [Barak] took it very seriously. He assured [Kim] that extra attention will be paid to UN facilities and staff and this will not be repeated.

Be wary UN facilities and staff, and people sheltering in your buildings, of that kind of extra attention. And maybe Barak should be apologising to the people of Gaza for the poor eyesight of the members of his forces, rather than to Moon who seems to be happy with Barak's explanation, despite the demand for an inquiry.

Now loss of life was minimal (but still occurred), but how are those relief supplies going to get replaced, and where are they going to be stored? It beggars belief how cynical and arrogant this government is. But maybe that is the same of all governments around the world once they gain too much power.

And that is not all. Remember the IDF has the GPS of all of these civilian buildings. From the same news article:

Separately, the AFP news agency quoted witnesses as saying that a wing of the Al-Quds hospital in south-west Gaza, where hundreds more people had taken shelter early today from advancing Israeli tanks, was on fire after being struck. It was not clear if there were any injuries.

That is the same hospital that is referred to in this aid worker's blog.

and if that was not quite enough:

Reuters reported that a missile or shell had struck the Gaza tower block where the news agency and other media organisations have offices. The 13th floor of the Al-Shurouq Tower, which houses Abu Dhabi television, appeared to have been hit, injuring one of its journalists.
Reuters said it had provided Israeli forces with the co-ordinates of its office at the start of the war and had been repeatedly assured it was not a target.

What they say is true. IDF really are a killing machine. I guess Hamas was hiding in all of these places, and they were wired to the teeth with explosives. Or that is the explanation that we will get. Then retracted, then spun about some more, until Israel comes out looking all shiny and clean. You gotta have friends in the White House, hmm, and Canada, Australia, and the European Union.

From the very end of the article:

It is thought Hamas's conditions for any deal would probably include an immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces the moment a ceasefire begins. That may prove too much for Israel to accept. Hamas also wants an Israeli commitment to lift the blockade on crossings into Israel and to open the Rafah crossing into Egypt. It wants the ceasefire to be limited to six months or a year.

Is it really so much to ask? Lifting the blockade (which means people can trade, eat, and get sources and resources) has always been a point of any ceasefire brokered, and Israel has never kept its side of the bargain (Ceasefire between Gaza and Israel has not eased conditions in Gaza – [the ceasefire] has not delivered on Israeli assurances to ease entry and exit of goods and people, UN News Centre, 24 October, 2008). In addition, considering that Israel broke the ceasefire and then invaded Gaza, is the last request really so abhorrent? But then, it is apparent that Israel has no intention of implementing a ceasefire until it is well and ready, no matter what Hamas might say.

From Australia's ABC :

The Palestinian death toll from the air-and-ground offensive has risen to at least 1,055, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza.
A Palestinian rights group said 670 of the dead were civilians.

That is civilian deaths are 63 percent of all deaths.

Thirteen Israelis have been killed - 10 soldiers and three civilians hit by Hamas rocket fire.

By the way, considering the conventions broken and the brazen war crimes committed by Israeli forces in that above ABC article, its heading (Israeli army shells Gaza, ceasefire talk gathers steam, 15 January, 2009) is shameful, really. ABC is a an Australian government run tv station. I'm coming to expect nothing less from them, the majority of our media, and our government.

I wish I didn't have to keep writing these entries.

existence

Which countries do not officially recognise Taiwan nowadays? I wonder if it still exists? Of course that is not a case of occupier/occupied, but still it is there, despite China continuously telling us Taiwan is part of China, and the Taiwanese saying that it is something else.

From what I know of it, I do not like Sharia law, if that is what Hamas uphold. By the same token, they were an elected government, by the people, and they had infrastructure in Gaza, and by that, I mean schools, kindergartens, universities, and so on. I do not believe that all of those buildings were disguised armaments. Also, Gaza existed long before Hamas, and many of these infrastructures were also in place (take note of the past tense) long before Hamas were. Additionally, in February 2008, Hamas were offering Israel a long-term cease-fire, lasting decades (from the Jewish Daily Forward, 28 February, 2008).

This from the Israeli pro-human rights (and aren't we all pro-human rights?) journalist, Amira Hass, after a November visit to Gaza, from Israel's Haaretz (December 30, 2008). I arrived at this article via the Australian media watch Middle East Reality Check blog, and have initially taken the quote that the writer of that blog ran with.

In This is Gaza (30/12/08) Hass wrote," Gaza is the ability to tell jokes in any situation, and the burning insult of having no running water for 3 or 4 days. And yet, the children go clean and neat to school... Gaza is also parents leaving their children alone at home, without fear, or letting them go to a playground far from home, or go by themselves to their grandmother in the Jabaliya refugee camp... "

She also reports of the contradictions of the place:

"Gaza is the teacher who forces school girls to cover their heads, although senior officials* assert that this is not the education ministry's policy. It is exaggerations and false rumors, and it is also the Fatah detainees' report that cameras were installed in the interrogation room to ensure that the interrogators act within the boundaries of the law. It is the surprise when "Hamas" police restore stolen property, even before it has been reported stolen. "
*Senior officials = Hamas, I assume.

There have been human rights abuses perpetuated by both Hamas and Fatah, as detailed by B'Tselem , The Israeli Center for Human rights in the Occupied Territories (2007) (though the Israeli-perpetuated abuses still far outweigh them). Even so:

"Gaza is people's constant attempt to cling to a normal life, although Israel foists on them abnormal terms of imprisonment, isolation from the rest of the world and deterioration to a state of humiliating dependence on international charity programs."

Whether Hamas (when not under bombardment) aids or hinders that attempt, I do not know. However, as said above, Israel certainly does little to encourage it. This is not the first report I have heard of this resilience and care amongst the people under occupation.

Remember that there was a ceasefire between Gaza and Israel from June to when it was broken by Israeli forces. Here, or if you want another source, here , or if you want jocularity in the face of tragedy, this report from CNN detailing the events. Does Israel just want all out war in the area, or does it want to wipe Gaza from the map? These were "the words of Moshe Yaalon, then the Israeli Defense Forces chief of staff, in 2002: 'The Palestinians must be made to understand in the deepest recesses of their consciousness that they are a defeated people."' (Rashid Kalidi, What You Don't Know About Gaza, January 8, 2009, The New York Times). Maybe it is continuation of the sentiment.

[Note, added January 16th, an interesting article: The Conflict Within Hamas (Edward Platt, New Statesman, January 15, 2009].

The reports posted on popular "news" sites in Australia seem to be no longer reporting civilian deaths, or war crimes. The only shots they have are of burnt-out buildings, or plumes of smoke. If you want to see what photos of dead and wounded people look like, to get a real idea, you might want to go here , or to read the stories of the people, you might want to go here, or here, or here, or visit some of the Palestinian news sites or the Al Jazeera website (they operate from Qatar and CNN and the BBC and other stations often use their footage or reports [refer to the references])

Let's not forget the rest of the Palestinians while we are at it, though of course I can really only speak for myself.

Post Script: From the same link as the opening one. In February, The Jewish Daily Forward (28/02/2008), reported that the Israeli public was in favour of talks, rather than never negotiating: "...the Israeli public is ahead of its leaders. A new poll conducted by Tel Aviv University and published this week in Ha’aretz shows that 64% of Israelis favor talks with Hamas, and only 28% are opposed". Whether that remains true or not, I do not know, as it seems all reports of opinion polls indicate that the war is popular with the Israeli public (not all, I hasten to add). As with us, they do not get live coverage which involves people, and they probably get the same bombed out building as visual proof of the IDF's "successes". Though, of course, from a radio report just heard (with Israeli, Efrat Wolfson. Go to this link and listen to the Jan 14, 2009 show), those who are opposed, and who work together for peace, do not get the coverage, as is the way.

60 years

Death toll 980 Palestinians, (many civilians), wounded 4400.

Or there are other ways to render "occupation of the country … unnecessary." Though it is just a suggestion, mind.

( Ma'an news, the agency where the second story is drawn from, is a Palestinian news agency, with a good reputation, funded by both the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, Danish International Development Assistance (DANIDA))

Well, we did it to the Australian Aborigines, and the same occurred in the United States. Indigenous populations get wiped out by settlers, or what come to be dominant populations all the time. I think it took about a hundred years in Australia, probably longer in the U.S. as settlement occurred earlier in time, and weapons weren't quite as sophisticated. Within the West Bank, the settlers are the equivalent of setting up a town full of David Dukes, or Reverend Fred Niles, in the heart of New Orleans. Israeli forces are then provided to protect the settlers, but not the local population. Or really, as I was talking about indigenous population, it is equivalent to sending the extreme right to Aboriginal or Native American land, and giving them free reign. These same settlers were in Gaza until 2005.

With modern technology and mass media I guess 60 years is maybe just about the right continuum. I know much smaller populations do not get the attention that this incursion has attracted. I know atrocities occur all over the world. It is a cruel place. I guess either side in this case has some kind of access to media, though one side's access is much stronger than the other. And many people are watching, which of course has probably given free reign for other regimes to wipe out their troublesome populations while the world's attention is turned. With so many people exposed to 24 hour coverage (though not those who could really help change things), and with either people becoming a symbol for either religion, I do feel though, that the repercussions for this are going to affect not only the people in the region, but all over the world, as they already have.

Retrospectively, I guess our leaders will be able to chide themselves for their actions or failure to act.

arithmetic

Meanwhile , the top UN rights body has approved a resolution condemning Israel's military offensive in Gaza, saying
it has "resulted in massive violations of human rights of the Palestinian people".

The Human Rights Council's 47 members voted 33 in favour and 1 against the resolution that also accuses Israel of systematically destroying Palestinian infrastructure and of targeting civilians and medical facilities.

Canada voted againt this (?!!) The European Union abstained.

It is not the first time the Israelis have been accused of this, and maybe this account by an Israeli ex-soldier who in has refused to serve in the IDF might go some way to explaining why it isn't the first time. Though he is talking about the West Bank, this experience has been felt by all Palestinians, regardless of location.

We are getting very limited coverage of this, but those in the Arab world are not as it is streamed through Al Jazeera. A friend stays up until 4a.m. every night watching it, though he won't let his children see it. The onslaught of images of many, but especially children, burnt by white phosphorous, bombs, limbs missing, heads blown off and so on, may not be seared into our mind's eye, but that does not mean it is the same for the world over. I assume that Bush, Rice,Brown, Blair, and our own Kevin Rudd (though he is a small-time player) get a good night's sleep. Maybe this is why they can sleep (Gaza 'testing lab for new weapons', SBS news, Australia, 13 January, 2009).

I will reiterate, this is not the case of two countries fighting, but rather of an occupied territory being invaded by the occupier. The Gaza Strip is slightly more than twice the size of Washington DC And 1.5 million people live in there, more than half , or some say 60%, are children. Fierce combatants, children.

920 Palestinians dead, 350 children, 160 women. For all intents and purposes, men are not usually counted as civilians during a war, even if they are, so you might want to factor that into the figures as well. These figures can be verified in the 'mainstream' press, also, and in fact, the journalist who writes that blog is often quoted and referred to. Ten Israeli soldiers and three civilians have been killed in combat or in rocket attacks since the operation began. SBS news, Australia.

How to win an election

How to win an election: and here

23-Head of Emergency and Ambulances: Death toll 880 and injured 3620.

8-A rocket targeted an orphanage and Al Fadila mosque in Rafah City.

34-Amnestey claimed that Israeli army is perpetrating War Crimes in Gaza.

59-Israeli army spokesman, Avehay adra'I denied the use of banned weapons while Many International Ngo's confirmed that Israel is using them. Human Rights Watah confirmed that and consider what's going in Gaza as war crimes!

There are 70 points on that list including:

30-Local radios: A Palestinian woman who was going to deliver a baby and two of her relatives killed in Bait Lahia City. Many wounded in the place as an artillery shell targeted them.

The deaths of militants are recorded too, and Israeli deaths, and the firing of rockets, when they occur. It is not one-sided. Though the deaths of civilians are far, far, higher.
And my government supports this.

From here:
Day 16 of Israeli War On Gaza
Informative Report on Gaza War: Death toll 880, wounded 3620
By: Sameh A. Habeeb
Mob: 00972599306096
Landline: 0097282802825
E-mail: Sam_hab@hotmail.com
Sameh.habeeb@gmail.com
Skype: Gazatoday, Facebook: Sameh A. habeeb
Web: www.gazatoday.blogspot.com
Daily Photos:http://picasaweb.google.com/sameh.habeeb

From Yahoo, January 7

Haaretz

and so it goes

Day 14 of Israeli War On Gaza
More civilians killed: Death toll 810, wounded 3400

Breaking News: Step 3 of Israeli Military operation starts in Gaza. It aims at invading the densely populated areas.

Breaking News: One of the Journalists buildings hit by drones. Journalists evacuate their offices now!

Breaking News: In Gaza: No water, No beans, No fruits, No chicken, No rice, No bread, No Markets, No shops, No Medicines, No medical Machines, No enough Doctors, No enough ambulances, No fuel, No gas, no beans, no candlelight, No power, No Internet, No commutation, No aspects of …What's available is few amounts for domestic use inside houses.

Reported here and also here . Journalists around the world are using the reports and images from the first journalist's blog.

From the ABC News (Australia):

Since early on Friday, Israel staged around 100 strikes on Gaza, which Gaza medics said had killed over 30 people, nearly half of them civilians. The army had arrested some 300 Palestinians in the north of the strip, witnesses said.

Muawiya Hassanein, the head of Gaza's emergency services, said at least 800 people are now known to have been killed since December 27 and another 3,330 wounded. The dead include at least 230 children and 92 women.

Hamas and its allies fired more than 30 rockets into southern Israel, injuring one person, the military said. At least four Grad rockets hit Beersheva, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Gaza.

An interesting article and this one is worth reading too.