testimonies continued

The Israeli soldiers' testimonies continue. 2 short excerpts below, translated from Hebrew, on the Tikun Olam site. The story is longer, so why not pay it a visit?

In the beginning, our aim was to get into a home. We were supposed to go in with an armored vehicle and break through the door, firing within and then…I call this simple murder. Basically, we were supposed to go floor by floor and any human being we came into contact with we shot at. This is something that at the beginning I said to myself: “does this make any sense?”
The higher-ups said it was permissible because anyone left in the vicinity or in the city was a terrorist, because they didn’t flee. I couldn’t understand it. On the one hand, they didn’t have anywhere to flee to, and on the other hand they didn’t flee and therefore it was their own fault [if they were killed].
. . .

The military rabbis sent us lots of material and in these articles the message was clear: we are the nation of Israel. We arrived by a miracle in Israel. God returned us to the Land [of Israel]. Now we must battle to remove the non-Jews who disturb us in our conquest of the Holy Land. That was the main message. And the sense of many of the soldiers in this operation was that it was a religious war. From my perspective as a commander, I tried to talk about politics and various strains within Palestinian society. That no everyone in Gaza was Hamas and not every resident wants to conquer us. I wanted to explain to them that this war was not about Kiddush Hashem (sanctifying the name of God), but about stopping Qassam fire.

I don't think he felt too bad about it

So much has happened, as always happens, and which is sadly, business as usual, over the last week or so. I direct you towards Antony Loewenstein's blog, the Monoweiss blog and the Tikun Olam blog in the blog roll. Or just visit Haaretz if you want to know more than the little I write. From today's Ha'aretz, UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories,Richard Falk, who is Jewish, and who was refused permission to stay in Israel or to visit Gaza or the West Bank just before the Gaza Offensive, has been reported as saying that:

...Israel's offensive against Hamas in densely populated Gaza appeared to constitute a war crime of the "greatest magnitude."

Richard Falk, UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, said the Geneva Conventions required warring forces to distinguish between military targets and surrounding civilians.

"If it is not possible to do so, then launching the attacks is inherently unlawful and would seem to constitute a war crime of the greatest magnitude under international law," Falk said.

The article goes on to say the following:

A Palestinian human rights group has released the names of 1,417 Gazans it says were killed in Israel's recent war on the Palestinian territory's Hamas rulers.

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights said Thursday that of those killed, 926 were civilians, 236 were combatants and 255 were members of the Palestinian security forces.

I think most of the world agrees with these numbers, or slightly less. The Israeli forces, the slimy Mark Regev, disputes the claim, and

contends that most of those killed were combatants or legitimate targets.

Considering Ha'aretz is also running testimonies from IDF soldiers who have this to say about a sniper who "accidentally" shot a woman and her children, as she did not understand the instructions given to her when leaving her house, and as he was not informed to not shoot her:

"I don't think he felt too bad about it, because after all, as far as he was concerned, he did his job according to the orders he was given. And the atmosphere in general, from what I understood from most of my men who I talked to ... I don't know how to describe it .... The lives of Palestinians, let's say, is something very, very less important than the lives of our soldiers. So as far as they are concerned they can justify it that way," he said.

I am guessing that the woman and her children will become legitimate targets within Regev's assessment of the situation. There was nowhere for the Gazans to go.
____________________________________________________________________

House demolitions are still occurring, with a vengeance, in the West Bank and Jerusalem. Bombing of Gaza kind of took care of that "problem" for Israel, of course. Professor Jeff Halper (an Israeli) has been visiting Australia, trying to raise awareness over this issue. His organization tries to build a house for every house that is demolished. I listened to an interview with him on rtrfm the other day (select March 18, 2009). The number is up to 24,000 homes demolished since 1967, I think. The task is impossible, but they keep trying, which is wonderful.

The picture above and below is from the blog: Chroniques de palestine, the blog of a French photographer who is in the West Bank at the moment. I give her full credit for the photos, and apologise for lifting them. They tell a strong story though. The pictures are from people watching their houses get demolished, or sitting amongst the rubble of the same. Their stories can be found here, and here and here, and here. Those stories are mostly pictorial, so why not take a look? Houses have sometimes been demolished while people have been in them. Often Israeli authorities say they have been built illegally, within Jerusalem and within the West Bank, but they will not grant permits to build, either.


Still, one has to hope that there is eventually a way out of this madness. However, madness seems to be worldwide, or wilful and manipulated ignorance. Within Australia, a major Jewish newspaper refused to run adverts promoting Halper's tour, and a letter in the Sydney Morning Herald by Robert Magid, the publisher of the paper (AJN), drew a long bow between the organisers, female mutilation and Halper's tour, amongst other things. Supporters of Magid have stated that the houses were demolished in retaliation for suicide bombings. Sometimes this is the case. It is still called collective punishment, and I think that there has not been a Hamas-backed suicide bombing since 2005,and Hamas renounced suicide bombings in 2006*, so there should not have been a house demolition since then, either. In addition, look at the figures. You think there have been 24,000 suicide bombings in Israel since they took over Palestinian lands? It's a wonder there are Israelis left standing if that were the case(Iraq might be a different matter).

If you want to follow the Halper story, it starts here. Discussion on the soldiers' testimonies, and extra information can be found here and here and here.

*According to this report (p. 28), Hamas'suicide bombings were sparked by the massacre of Muslims at the al-Ibrahimi mosque.
From Chest Doc in Palestine:

Ibrahimi Mosque massacre[occurred] in 1994 when a fanatical settler called Baruch Goldstein (a doctor) from the neighbouring Kiryat Arba settlement gunned down 29 Palestinians offering Fajr (morning) prayers while they were prostrating towards Mecca. 150 others were injured. It is not widely known that he was assisted by other settlers who reloaded his gun with further ammunition every time it ran out. He was finally overpowered and beaten to death by the remaining worshippers.

The Palestinians then turned on the Israeli soldiers who opened indiscriminate fire killing several more. In fact the soldiers entered the general hospital in Hebron and started shooting randomly, causing several casualties.

After the massacre the entrances to the shrine for Muslims and Jews were segregated. Baruch Goldstein's widow requested that the men who killed her husband be charged with homicide! A shrine to Goldstein has been erected in Kiryat Arba- a plaque there reads: "To the holy Baruch Goldstein, who gave his life for the Jewish people, the Torah and the nation of Israel". It has become a pilgrimage site for those with extreme right-wing views.

ghost gum

I love the peach of Perth sunsets just before the light finally dips below the horizon, the way it imbues the smooth skin of the ghost gum (enlarge for full effect).

we ought to know a good deal

The Huffington Post talks about the Internationals (in particular, the American ones) who risk their lives in the occupied Palestinian Territories:

What drives these Americans to risk their lives against Israeli soldiers on behalf of a subject people half the world away? The answer is a passion for justice, and a commitment to civil rights. Why should any of this be of interest to Americans? For a general reason and a particular one. The general: this is a passion and a commitment that we Americans at our best have been supposed to share; it is the largest single reason we have received the admiration of other people around the world. The particular reason is as obvious but more immediate. Barack Obama, our first black president, and a man who has identified himself as a beneficiary and successor of the tradition of Martin Luther King, has promised $30 billion of military aid to Israel over the next ten years -- with no conditions, no budget-items specified, no limitations spoken of. Barack Obama is known to be a moderate politician, and so we may deduce that the moderate plan, with Israel, is to keep increasing the leviathan-bulk of the American subsidy and not to ask questions.

We ought to know a good deal about a country to which we give such large continuous donations. But Americans who care for public discussion of this subject are obliged to conduct it ourselves, since, if recent history is a guide, we will get no help from the leading American newspapers. Even the appointment today of Avigdor Lieberman, an avowed racist and a believer in the feasibility of the expulsion of all Palestinians, as foreign minister in the new Israeli government under Binyamin Netanyahu -- even this predicted and extraordinary news is not likely to provoke the New York Times or the Washington Post to report with honesty who this Lieberman is, and what he signifies. Nor will the Obama administration do it. They will be as hesitant and mixed and occasionally contradictory in their signals on Israel as they have been on many other subjects; more so, because in this case an organized body of censors and guardians attends to the reputation and support of Israel in the U.S. Let us nonetheless open the discussion by admitting that the Israel we think we know is the Israel of books written sixty and forty years ago, and of movies made from those books.

I first found reference to this article at Mondoweiss.

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.

growing awareness?

If two decades ago comparisons to the South African apartheid system felt like hyperbole, they now feel charitable. The white South African regime, for all its crimes, never attacked the Bantustans with anything like the destructive power Israel visited on Gaza in December and January, when nearly1,300 Palestinians were killed, one-third of them children. Read more

From the Los Angeles Times, March 15.

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.

it's all in the genes

Update to yesterday's post: Well, at least the U.S. has been protesting the randomness of the supplies that Israel lets into Gaza or not.* Though who the "officials" mentioned in the report below are, I do not know.

The United States is protesting to Israel over seemingly random restrictions on deliveries to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip of harmless goods such as soap and toilet paper, diplomats said Wednesday.

Diplomats fear day-to-day crisis management on Gaza was diverting the United States and other Western governments from bigger issues like the goal of restarting peace negotiations for a Palestinian state.

In one case, Israel blocked for weeks a World Food Program (WFP) shipment of chickpeas, used to make the Palestinian food staple hummus, the U.N. food agency said.

"We're certainly asking the Israelis questions about this," a U.S. official said of the restrictions on what is allowed into Gaza.

A Western official said: "The Americans and international NGOs (non-governmental organizations) are raising their concerns... We're protesting."

I think the second paragraph of the above is the most important, especially considering Hamas has ordered those who are firing rockets to stop while negotiations are currently going on in Egypt, and it is especially indicative of why it is not necessarily a wonderful policy to have an unquestioning, "special" relationship with Israel. Our own prime minister has said in the past that support for Israel is "in his DNA". Of course it is possible to support Israel and to condemn the occupation (though you wouldn't think so), but considering Rudd did nothing to condemn the recent onslaught on Gaza (it was Hamas' fault entirely), and has celebrated Israel in ways that no government before him has, and his government is now considering not attending the Durban II conference against racism*, along with the U.S., Canada and Israel, it seems that he has little problem with the occupation and the human rights abuses that occur within, or even the racism that also occurs within Israel "proper" (it doesn't define its borders). It's obvious that pettiness, inconsistency, cruelty, sycophancy and the means to annihilate a people must be a genetic thing.

*Reference to the opening article first found here.

*The United States and Israel walked out of the first UN conference on racism in Durban, South Africa, in 2001, to protest against an attempted resolution comparing Zionism to racism. Considering that it is a sect which justifies the keeping of a people in an open air prison, the taking of their land, stripping them of their rights and their lives, could it be that maybe the call was justified?

hypocrisy comes with an annual three billion U.S. dollar price tag

The U.S. supported the war on Gaza by Israel. It provided Israel with most of its weapons. In fact, Chomsky reports that

on December 31, while terrorized Gazans were desperately seeking shelter from the ruthless assault, Washington hired a German merchant ship to transport from Greece to Israel a huge shipment, 3000 tons, of unidentified "ammunition." The new shipment "follows the hiring of a commercial ship to carry a much larger consignment of ordnance in December from the United States to Israel ahead of air strikes in the Gaza Strip," Reuters reported.

The shipment may not have made it to Israel in time to be used on Gazans, particularly as the Greeks did not want to participate in supplying Israel with weapons, but it will be used, don't worry, sooner or later.

The U.S. failed to condemn the slaughter of 1300 people, including many children, many women, many sick, many old, many civilians. It failed to condemn the fact that civilians had nowhere to flee and they were not able to flee anywhere, due to Gaza being walled in and its borders being closed due to Israeli insistence. It stymied United Nations attempts to pass resolutions to bring about ceasefires, and to initiate possible action. Through this silence, obstruction, the green light that Bush provided, and Obama's silence, it condoned the destruction of Gazan infrastructure and all the above and more. Yet, Hillary Clinton has told:

Abbas that Congress will not approve funding of a Palestinian government that does not recognize Israel's right to exist and renounce violence. She added that if those requirements are not met the U.S.-funded program under the supervision of General Keith Dayton training PA security forces would be the first to be axed.

Considering the fact that the U.S. funded program that trains the PA security forces was probably responsible for the attempted overthrow of Hamas in 2006 (where Hamas, even though democratically elected, are purported to have "violently wrested control" of Gaza from Fatah), and that Fatah are considered corrupt and are not necessarily popular with the people, the suspension of U.S. training of PA security forces might be a good thing. However, Clinton says that that scheme would be the first to be axed.

Under Bush, Chomsky states:

more than $21 billion in U.S. military aid [was] provided . . . to Israel, almost all grants. "Israel's intervention in the Gaza Strip has been fueled largely by U.S. supplied weapons paid for with U.S. tax dollars," said a briefing by the New America Foundation, which monitors the arms trade.

Those arms are not just used on Gazans, but on all Palestinians. I wonder if Clinton will restrict the annual three billion dollars in aid that Israel receives unless Israel recognises the Gazan government (Hamas), and unless Israel relinquishes violence. And it is a very violent state. It seems unlikely that the U.S. could even consider this. It does not seem that it has one iota of interest in peace in this region, and it seems it will have to be the rest of the world, such as the Europeans, who at least have some discourse on the topic, and indeed, many Israelis, who have fled the country, or who are working with peace groups within, who might have a chance of bringing any chance of peace or justice. There are many people in the Arab countries who are sympathetic to the plight of the Palestinians, too, but their governments do not necessarily share the same views.

Reagan tried to stave off actions against South Africa's apartheid government, but he was eventually overridden. Hopefully that will ultimately be the case in this situation too. The rest of the world will, little bit by little bit, act, and maybe, if the U.S. can get away from the powerful influence of the lobby, it might be able to act, too, or then again, it might lose one of its best customers for arms.

Remember what Israeli peace activist, Jeffery Halper, said yesterday? It still holds true today:

I mean you know, James Baker called the Palestinian conflict the epicentre of instability in the entire Middle East and if you want to stabilise the Middle East, it you want to deal with Islamic fundamentalism, if you want to deal with Iraq and Iran and Afghanistan and Pakistan and the Arab regimes that are teetering today, you’ve got to deal with the Palestine issue because this is around Jerusalem, which is tremendously important for Muslims, and the idea that Israel is Judaising Israel, which Israel says it is doing, is really something that’s creating a theological conflict that’s going to be very dangerous.

But in addition to that, I think the idea that this is an American-western occupation in which an Arab people is being suppressed and oppressed by a western country and Israel’s not even seen as the main actor. I think most Muslims see this as an American occupation, not an Israeli occupation. I think the west has to understand that the west is not going to get on to business as usual and stabilise the Middle East and the whole global system as long as this conflict continues.

advertisement pulled

Are all the people getting all the news all of the time in Australia?

the epicentre of instability

Jeff Halper, an Israeli-American peace activist, who is currently in Australia, on a national tour, below indicates why the world will probably not find peace until there is some form of justice between Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.

I mean you know, James Baker called the Palestinian conflict the epicentre of instability in the entire Middle East and if you want to stabilise the Middle East, it you want to deal with Islamic fundamentalism, if you want to deal with Iraq and Iran and Afghanistan and Pakistan and the Arab regimes that are teetering today, you’ve got to deal with the Palestine issue because this is around Jerusalem, which is tremendously important for Muslims, and the idea that Israel is Judaising Israel, which Israel says it is doing, is really something that’s creating a theological conflict that’s going to be very dangerous.

But in addition to that, I think the idea that this is an American-western occupation in which an Arab people is being suppressed and oppressed by a western country and Israel’s not even seen as the main actor. I think most Muslims see this as an American occupation, not an Israeli occupation. I think the west has to understand that the west is not going to get on to business as usual and stabilise the Middle East and the whole global system as long as this conflict continues.

exercising independent judgement

A great article by Richard Falk (who is Jewish), professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University [who] in 2008 was appointed UN Special Rapporteur on Palestinian human rights, on the increased, worldwide, unprecedented calls for prominent Israelis to be tried for war crimes due to the Gaza onslaught. It seems though, that the UN path will be blocked by the U.S's special relationship with Israel, and that of many European countries, too. There is a lot to read in the article on whether anyone will ever be held accountable, but the two paragraphs below especially caught my eye.

Two hundred non-Palestinian wives were allowed to leave, which underscored the criminality of locking children, women, the sick, elderly and disabled into the war zone, and showed its ethnically discriminatory character. This appears to be the first time in wartime conditions that a civilian population was denied the possibility of becoming refugees.

. . .

What seems reasonably clear is that despite the clamour for war crimes investigations and accountability, the political will is lacking to proceed against Israel at the inter-governmental level, whether within the UN or outside. The realities of geopolitics are built around double standards when it comes to war crimes. It is one thing to proceed against Saddam Hussein or Slobodan Milosevic, but quite another to go against George W Bush or Ehud Olmert. Ever since the Nuremberg trials after the second world war, there exists impunity for those who act on behalf of powerful, undefeated states and nothing is likely to challenge this fact of international life in the near future, thus tarnishing the status of international law as a vehicle for global justice that is consistent in its enforcement efforts. When it comes to international criminal law, there continues to exist impunity for the strong and victorious, and potential accountability for the weak or defeated.

On a related issue, within the States, it seems that anyone who is not totally pro-Israeli does not stand a chance of surviving an appointment which might influence and advise on Middle East policy, seeing as Chas Freeman has withdrawn [his] previous acceptance of his invitation to chair the National Intelligence Council due to lobby pressure and due to his belief that the National Intelligence Council [could not] function effectively while its chair was under constant attack by unscrupulous people with a passionate attachment to the views of a political faction in a foreign country.

He states It is apparent that we Americans cannot any longer conduct a serious public discussion or exercise independent judgment about matters of great importance to our country as well as to our allies and friends, much to the detriment of not only the U.S., but the world as a whole.

An Al Jazeera article on the Freeman withdrawal. Probably will not appear very much in any other mainstream press, though I am sure Haaretz will run a story.

complaints

Israel has received four official complaints from members of the new administration regarding various issues linked to West Bank settlements.

The new administration means Obama's administration. Previous governments have also complained, and have sometimes backed up those complaints by pseudo-withdrawal of the various ways that Israel receives U.S. funding, but those measures of withdrawal have never stayed in place for long. The complaints are usually about the settlements, which of course, are a very serious matter. They are rarely about human rights abuse, even so, I hope it indicates a shift in the U.S. policy whereby under Bush, and many previous governments, Israel was provided with weapons, funding and policy to do whatever it wanted.

Brighton Students support Jayyous

A bulldozer entering Jayyous. Photo courtesy of ISM.

The U.K., including and especially its students, seems to be active in protesting the human rights abuse that Israel systematically inflicts on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, or far more active than groups in Australia and the U.S. Here is a report from the International Solidarity Movement website.

At around 6:30 this morning a group of students from Brighton locked themselves to Carmel Agrexco, the Israeli state owned export company, to protest against their complicity in the illegal annexation of the West Bank and the repression of students in the Palestinian village of Jayyous.

This action has been done in response to a callout for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel, after the events of 18th February and onwards in Jayyous. On this day, occupying Israeli Defence Force soldiers invaded the town of Jayyous, where regular protests have been held against the building of the apartheid wall, which will annex 5,585 dunums (558.5 hectares) of land from the town, much of which is to be used for the expansion of the illegal settlement, Zufim.

75 soldiers and 25 army jeeps invaded the town in the early hours of the morning, conducting house to house raids: throwing sound-bombs at houses before forcing families out at gunpoint and ransacking their houses. At least 75 people were arrested, the vast majority students, including the entire student Stop the Wall Committee. Those arrested were taken to a school that the army had turned into a detention centre. Most of the people were blindfolded and handcuffed and all were forced to sit in stress positions. They were not allowed to eat, drink or talk to each other as they were taken in for interrogation one by one. They were held for as much as 19 hours and 15 young men were taken to Huwarra military base on unknown charges. Bulldozers were then brought in which created blockades at the entrances to the town and the population were put under curfew for 18 hours.

Since then, the village has been invaded two further times, on the second time a half-day curfew was imposed on the town. Residents have also been threatened with home demolitions. Read more.

In the meantime, Obama talks about the possibility of negotiating with the moderate arm of the Taliban (something that ex-CIA operative, Robert Baer, suggested when I saw him speak). Hamas has a moderate arm, too, and is democratically elected, maybe Obama could try talking to them, too. Despite this olive branch, it seems that he might send forces into Sri Lanka. Why? Who knows. Because he can? If it is for humanitarian reasons, as claimed, surely they could have sent forces in to Gaza to evacuate the women and children, and civilians in general, who had nowhere to flee. Some are saying it will be tantamount to an invasion, if the LITE forces are still fighting.

amanda palmer

I saw Amanda Palmer last night. Great show. Great talent.

the mysterious disappearance of facts and opinion

The Lancet Medical Journal's Global Health Network online article I featured in this post about the death, injuries, destruction, and types of weapons used in the onslaught on Gaza, has apparently been removed from the site.

The author of the article responds to this news here .

The original article, replete with the pictures I was unable to copy, can still be found at the Palestinian Think Tank.

and we say it is good

Uri Avnery, an ex-Israeli politician and writer and founder of Israeli peace group, Gush Shalom, on the recent donor conference in Egypt, attended by the great international dignitaries (including Hillary Clinton). The conference tackled the symptoms but not the cause of the assault on Gaza, and of course, did not include a single person from Gaza, including its government (Hamas - not invited), nor a delegation of Gaza businessmen and civil society activists (Egypt would not let them through the Ramallah border). Some interesting observations in his article.

The participants of the conference promised Mahmoud Abbas fabulous sums of money. Nearly five billion dollars. How much will actually be paid? How much of this will actually pass through the sieve of the high-flying set in Ramallah and reach Gaza? According to a Gaza woman who appeared on television, a homeless mother who lives in a small tent in the middle of a huge mud puddle: Not a cent.

Most of the international community and Israel will only deal with Fatah.

The war ended with a fragile cease-fire that is collapsing before our very eyes. In his opening speech to the conference, Mubarak hinted that it is Ehud Olmert who is now preventing an armistice (called Tadyah or calm in Arabic). Nobody at the conference reacted. But when there is no cease-fire, another even more destructive war is looming. It’s just a matter of time – months, weeks, perhaps days. What has not yet been destroyed, will be destroyed then. So what is the good in investing billions to rebuild schools, hospitals, government buildings and ordinary homes, all of which will be demolished again anyhow?

This early February report from the National Lawyers Guild in the States who visited Gaza shortly after the war:

We spoke to Khaled Abed Rabbo, who witnessed an Israeli soldier execute his 2-year-old and 7-year-old daughters, and critically injure a third daughter, Samar, 4-years old, on a sunny afternoon outside his home. Two other Israeli soldiers were standing nearby eating chips and chocolates at the time on January 7, 2009. Abed Rabbo recounts standing in front of the Israeli soldiers with his mother, wife and daughters for 5 - 7 minutes before one of the soldiers opened fire on his family.

The people of Gaza think that the next war will wipe them out for good. It will, beyond a doubt, make sure that any chance of autonomy is blown to smithereens along with the people, I would say. And we let it happen. And we do not protest. And we say it is good.

did you know? bulldozers, 66 year old farmers and fishermen

Yes, a Palestinian (or is it Israeli Arab? Let's get it right. ) has just driven a bulldozer through East Jerusalem and injured two people and paid with his life. And yes, this is the third time it has happened over the last eight months. No, it is not to be condoned. It is being called a terror attack, and it has got some Australian newspace.

I wonder what the Israeli attacks on Gazan fishermen at the moment are called? And the attacks on the farmers trying to pick parsley? And the attacks on the tunnels which bring the food, such as baby food, into Gaza, which the Israelis will not allow. Seems those kinds of attacks would be pretty terrifying to me too. All of them have caused injury or death. I wonder what the war on Gaza could be termed as? I wonder why the attacks on the fishermen and the ever decreasing fishing area (three nautical miles at present, down from six, which contravenes the 20 nautical miles stipulated in the Oslo Accord) are not reported in the way the bulldozer driver's actions are? I wonder why the shooting (and killing) of farmers is not reported in the way that the bulldozer driver's actions are. Who is hellbent on destroying whom?

Below is part of a testimony of a 66 year old farmer who was beaten by Israeli forces while tending his sheep in the West Bank. The report is from the Israeli human rights watch group, B'Tselem. This type of beating is common in the region, whether the attacks be from Israeli settlers or Israeli forces. You might also want to take a look at the figures on the B'Tselem site of how many Palestinian deaths there have been across the years in comparison to Israeli, and how many civilian deaths there have been, in comparison to Israeli, and how many Palestinians are imprisoned (including children who are kept in adult jails) in comparison to Israeli (I think the Palestinians have one Israeli prisoner), how many homes have been destroyed, land confiscated, walls built, and so on, compared to Israeli.

Testimony: Soldiers beat and severely abuse shepherd Sharif Abu Hayah, 66, in Khirbet Abu Falah, 28 January 2009

Sharif Abu Hayah, farmer

Last Wednesday [28 January], around 9:30 A.M., I was grazing my flock of twelve sheep in the area of Dhaher Jubara, about two kilometers west of our village.

Suddenly, I saw six soldiers. They must have been hiding between the boulders. They looked young and their faces were painted black. They spoke Hebrew among themselves, and I didn't understand what they were saying. They came over to me, and the sheep ran away. I tried to gather the sheep, to show the soldiers I wasn’t afraid of them.

The soldiers attacked me all at once. Some of them grabbed my hands and others grabbed my legs. They knocked me down. I thought they were going to kill me, so I tried to resist. There was no one else around. They hit and kicked me. They tied my hands behind my back with plastic cuffs and laid me on the ground, on my back. Then they blindfolded me with a piece of cloth. I couldn’t see a thing. I shouted at them, “What do you want from me? What did I do to you? Leave me alone!” They punched and kicked me even harder than before.

One of them sat on my legs and others punched me in the face. I shouted, again and again, “What did I do to you? Why are you beating me?” One of the said to me, in poor Arabic, “Shut up, shut up.”

After a few minutes, they dragged me about thirty meters away. I got injured by rocks and cut by thorns as they dragged me. The cuffs got tighter and hurt a lot. Read more.

I am assuming that the East Jerusalem resident's actions will be used to justify the war on Gaza, the siege on Gaza (even though it did not occur in Gaza), the bulldozing of houses (which the Palestinians have to pay for), the apartheid wall, the checkpoints and so on; the banning of harmful lentils, pasta, paper, books and other supplies (such as construction material) into Gaza.

The opening article referred to in this blog states this:
All of the attackers were from east Jerusalem, where Palestinian residents hold Israeli ID cards and can move freely about Israel.

If you want to take that at face value, you can, or you can read part of a report below about what people in the west do not know about the occupation.

Moving on to Jerusalem, the heart of the conflict, almost everyone knows that the Palestinians in the eastern sector must endure excruciating procedures in order to prove their residency in the city lest they lose their status as permanent residents. How many people, however, know that if Israel has even the slightest doubt that the family in question is not living within the Israeli municipality borders, one spouse can be denied residency or the children denied registration as Jerusalemites? How many people know that recently, when Israel actually grants birth certificates or registration for children of these families, it is only on a two-year basis, which is up for review after the aforementioned period has lapsed? If the family cannot prove they live the Jerusalem's borders (self-proclaimed by the Israeli municipality to accommodate the ever growing settlements), residency rights are duly revoked.

On that same note, how many people know that parents of children with a different ID card must produce birth certificates at Israeli checkpoints to prove their blood relation? I can speak from personal experience on this, so as not to be branded as an exaggerating Palestinian propagandist. With my West Bank ID (and Israeli-issued permit to enter Israel), I must produce my children's birth certificates at the Qalandiya crossing to prove they really are mine and be allowed to cross into Israeli territory. Never mind that my children are only nine and six years old. If the birth certificates are not with me, they can only cross Qalandiya with their father, the original Jerusalemite. Never mind that we have been trying for 10 years to get approval from Israel's interior ministry for family reunification, attempts which have been repeatedly shot down under the pretext of "Israeli security." This uncomfortable life in limbo means I am essentially "illegal" in my own home. My children, however, are not. Never mind that should I be kicked out of Jerusalem, they would only be able to follow at the risk of losing their own residency status.

Remember, the Palestinian people are the indigenous people of this land. Until the sixties Western Australia, and Australia as a whole, did not allow Aboriginal people to vote, and they needed papers to travel freely, and yes, they had a curfew. It wasn't until Whitlam that full rights were given (1970), and even then, Howard has taken a lot of those away, and Rudd has not restored them yet, though this current impingement on civil rights is still not to the extent of the policies and practices in Israel and the Occupied territories. Policies similar to Israeli policies towards the Palestinians officially petered out in Australia in the late sixties, and there are very few politicians and Australian people now who look back on them and view them as just.

The Clintons, Rudds, Smiths and Obamas of the world with their lip service towards any form of fair peace process whilst giving the green light to continued settlement expansion in the West Bank, not recognising elected governments, dealing with corrupt governments (Fatah), and not protesting over human rights abuse, in fact, endorsing it through their complete support of all Israeli actions must sleep well at night with their self-erasing consciences (or is that self-serving?), which seem to pay attention to views of ethnic cleansing such as this from a Likud advisor, but which never seem to be able to, or actually want to, absorb for a moment the facts before them.

Closed Zone

I am on a friend's computer at the moment, and cannot embed*, for some reason. This is a minute and a half video made by an animator who worked on Waltz for Bashir, about a young boy in Gaza. There is more information in this post, and the video, as well as the chance to go directly to youtube. I will put it up properly when I get the opportunity. The animation is quite moving (but not graphic).
Note* March 17 - My chance to put up the video. Please watch.

____________________________________________________
Clinton says the demolition of homes in the West Bank is "unhelpful" in light of attempted or possible peace processes between Israel and Palestine. She might also like to try the adjectives "illegal" and "unjust".

background

More background on the United Kingdom's embassy's boycotting of Israeli diamond and real estate mogul Lev Leviev, referred to yesterday in this post .

The original article below can be found here , including direct links to the articles cited below.

UK Government Boycotts Israeli Tycoon Lev Leviev over Settlement Construction
Decision a Victory for Coordinated Campaign in Palestine, US, UK and Israel

New York, NY, March 4 - The government of the United Kingdom has decided to
boycott Israeli diamond and real estate mogul Lev Leviev over his companies'
construction of Israeli settlements on Palestinian land in the Occupied West
Bank, the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz Daily (1) reported today. The decision
by the UK government followed a coordinated advocacy campaign by human
rights advocates in New York, the UK, Palestine and Israel demanding that
the UK government end plans to rent the new UK Embassy in Tel Aviv from
Leviev's company Africa-Israel.

The UK's Tel Aviv Ambassador notified Leviev of the decision by letter,
following a British parliamentary debate, and inquiries with Leviev's
company Africa-Israel over its activities in the West Bank, Ha'aretz
reported. According to Ha'aretz, "The embassy in Tel Aviv confirmed the
details of the story."

The Ha'aretz article did not note the construction of the settlement of
Zufim on the land of the village of Jayyous by Leviev's company Leader. (2)
The Israeli army has recently intensified efforts to crush Jayyous' protest
campaign against the construction of Leviev's settlements and Israel's wall
on village land. (3) Sharif Omar, the head of Jayyous' Land Defence
Committee, commented, "We feel heartened by the UK government decision
opposing Leviev's settlement construction, and we expect our brothers and
sisters in the UAE to follow the UK government's example by banning Leviev
from selling his diamonds in Dubai. We need more pressure in order to end
Israeli repression, return our land, and restore our rights."

Adalah-NY has held 13 protests at Leviev's Madison Avenue jewelry store
since it opened. (4) UNICEF and Oxfam (5) have renounced Leviev over human
rights abuses, Hollywood stars have distanced themselves from him, (6) and
the Dubai government is under pressure to boycott Leviev's businesses. (7)
Additionally, Africa-Israel has also lost 90% of its value and has been
engaged in an embarrassing New York real estate battle.(8)

Leviev's companies have built Jewish-only homes on occupied Palestinian land
in the Israeli settlements of Zufim, Mattityahu East, (9) Har Homa and Maale
Adumim, (10) impoverishing villages like Bil'in (11) and Jayyous and
violating international law. (12) Leviev also funded the settlement
organization the Land Redemption Fund. (13) In December, the Israeli
financial journal Globes published an expose of Leviev's serious human
rights abuses and failure to fully comply with the Kimberley Process in
Angola article in English). (14) And in Namibia, Leviev recently fired
around 200 striking diamond polishers, (15) some of whom were already
struggling to survive on less than $2 per day. (16)

After Israeli (17) and British papers reported the UK's plans to rent its
new Tel Aviv embassy from Leviev, (18) eight groups in the US, UK and
Palestine launched a letter-writing campaign to theUK's Foreign Office.
(19) Among those writing to demand a boycott of Leviev were ex-BBC Middle
East Correspondent Tim Llewelyn, US academics Norman Finkelstein and Noam
Chomsky, Vice President of the European Parliament Luisa Morgantini, (20)
and British lawyer Daniel Machover, writing in the Independent. (21) A
November 22 letter in the Guardian by eight Palestinian civil society
leaders, (22)including Palestinian Legislative Council members Mustafa
Barghouti and Hanan Ashrawi, called on the UK to "publicly guarantee that it
will not do business with settlement-builders such as Lev Leviev."

Omar Barghouti, one of the initiators of the Palestinian civil society call
for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) said, "I wholeheartedly
congratulate British activists and Adalah-NY for this substantial
achievement for the boycott movement. This is a step in the right direction
for the British government, a government that has taken thousands of steps
in the wrong direction, not least of which is its open complicity in
Israel's war crimes in Gaza and the rest of the occupied territory. Time for
a British arms ban on Israel." (23)

(1) http://www.haaretz..com/hasen/spages/1068545.html
(2) http://adalahny.org/images/file/leviev-registrar.pdf
(3) http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=45896
(4) http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustrialConglomerates/idUSN2047885820080620
(5) http://www.oxfamamerica.org/whatwedo/emergencies/israeli-palestinian-conflict/hollywood-pin-ups-statement
(6) http://adalahny.org/index.php/press-releases/25-press-releases-land-developer/268-celebrity-phote-leviev-website-removed
(7) http://www.albawaba.com/en/main/238631/&mod=print
(8) http://ny.therealdeal.com/articles/tick-tock-for-leviev
(9) http://www.newleftreview.org/?view=2624
(10) http://adalahny.org/index.php/boycott-divestment-a-sanction/boycott-against-land-developers-leviev?start=9
(11) http://adalahny.org/index.php/letters-a-statements/17-letters/212-bilin-leviev-unicef
(12) http://adalahny.org/index.php/letters-a-statements/17-letters/211-jayyous-leviev-unicef
(13) http://www.peacenow.org/hot.asp?cid=247
(14) http://adalahny.org/index.php/press-coverage-2/265-leviev-globes-angola-mines
(15) http://allafrica.com/stories/200807141371.html
(16) http://www.newera.com.na/article.php?db=oldarchive&articleid=21504
(17 http://www.ibcc.co.il/news.htm#9
(18) http://www..guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/sep/09/israelandthepalestinians.foreignpolicy
(19) http://adalahny.org/index.php/press-releases/25-press-releases-land-developer/234-press-release-leviev-uk-embassy
(20) http://adalahny.org/index.php/letters-a-statements/17-letters/235-morgantini-uk-embassy-leviev
(21) http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-west-bank-settlements-936182.html
(22) http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/22/tel-aviv-lev-leviev-israelhttp:/www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/22/tel-aviv-lev-leviev-israel
(23) http://www.bdsmovement.net/

fiction to help see the facts

Little bit by little bit, though I know these little bits have been going on for some time now, and do not necessarily stop people from being blown into little bits. However, when the British Embassy gets involved (in the way that the Church of England did when it divested from Caterpillar) there is some hope.

The British embassy in Tel Aviv has stopped negotiations to lease a floor in Africa-Israel's Kirya Tower because of the company's role in West Bank settlement construction..

Its reasons for doing this were in response to British petitioners who stated that:

... moving the embassy into a building owned by a company that builds in the settlements would send a message contravening British policy, and would be tantamount to criminal complicity.

The petitioners also argued that choosing this location would enable Israel to continue violating Palestinian human rights in the West Bank.

The embassy requested details from Africa-Israel about the nature of its activities in the settlements, and a week ago, the British embassy in Tel Aviv received the information. As a result, plans to move into the tower were frozen.

And they say that sports should have nothing to do with politics (this is related to the above information), but politics was obviously a major reason for South African Zola Budd becoming a very quick U.K. citizen in time for the 1984 Olympics due to the campaign against apartheid in South Africa at the time. The actions by both the UAE and Sweden in reaction to Israeli tennis players, stemming back to the treatment of Palestinians in the occupied territories, and most importantly (at present) the recent war on Gaza, can be seen in their decisions to firstly, ban Israeli competitors (in the U.A.E., a decision met with international outrage - though it does not say which internationals), and to secondly allow Israel and Swedish contestants from to play, but to not allow an audience to attend (Sweden).

Of course, politics is also to do, unfortunately, with the attacks on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Pakistan, but that is a separate issue from this one. The boycott of sports was a driving force in both bringing apartheid conditions in South Africa to the forefront of many people's minds, and was also effective in dismantling that system of government (Israel does not have an official system of apartheid government, per se, but it definitely tightly controls the people in the lands which it occupies, and there is plenty of infrastructure in place to make sure that conditions of living are far from equal between the two groups. That's putting it mildly).

Still from Lemon Tree.

Returning to the original article referred to, if information is more easily gained in the form of stories, the movie Lemon Tree details some of what goes on in the West Bank, and the young adults' book Where the Streets Had a Name, by Australian writer Randa Abdel-Fattah also tells the story of a young thirteen year old girl who lives in Bethlehem. When her grandmother falls sick she wishes to get through the various checkpoints, apartheid wall, and other obstacles to return to the land her grandmother grew up in and was ousted from (East Jeruselem), to get soil from her grandmother's village, which the protagonist feels will make her grandmother better.


The synopsis from the link above describes it better:

"I need to see Sitti Zeynab [the grandmother] one last time. To know if I will have the courage to go ahead with my plan. The two nurses look frazzled and smile wearily at me. 'We must leave now,' they say in urgent tones. 'I won't be long,' I reassure them and I jump up onto the back of the ambulance.

"I can smell the air of her village, pure and scented. I can see her village as though it were Bethlehem itself. I can smell the almond trees. Hear my heels click on the courtyard tiles. See myself jumping two steps at a time down the limestone stairs. I can see Sitti Zeynab sitting in the front porch of the house. I only have to remember that walk through her memories and I know I can make my promise. I've already lost once. I refuse to lose again. 'Stay alive,' I whisper. 'And you shall touch that soil again.'"

Thirteen-year-old Hayaat is on a mission. She believes a handful of soil from her grandmother's ancestral home in Jerusalem will save her beloved Sitti Zeynab's life. The only problem is the impenetrable wall that divides the West Bank, as well as the check points, the curfews, the permit system and Hayaat's best friend Samy, who is mainly interested in football and the latest elimination on X-Factor, but always manages to attract trouble.

But luck is on their side. Hayaat and Samy have a curfew-free day to travel to Jerusalem. However, while their journey may only be a few kilometres long, it may take a lifetime to complete.

_________________________________________________________________
Israeli writer, Amira Haas in Haaretz today, commenting on the money donated to rebuild Palestinian people and land, stated this today:

The Clinton and Bush administrations - and Barack Obama appears to be following in their footsteps - erased the phrase "Israeli occupation" from their dictionaries and collaborated with Israel in ignoring its commitments as enshrined in international law. The billions of dollars that Israel receives from the United States for weapons and defense development - which played a significant role in the destruction in the Gaza Strip - are part of Israel's successful propaganda, which presents the Rafah tunnels and Grad rockets as a strategic threat and part of the Islamic terror offensive against enlightened countries.

The West has blown the Hamas movement out of proportion, exaggerating its military might to the point of mendacity; this allowed for an extended siege and three weeks of Israeli military intractability. In the Palestinian and larger Arab world, this embellishment helps Hamas depict itself as the real patriotic force.

The hundreds of millions of euros that have been donated or pledged to help Gaza, as though it were beset by natural disasters, are overshadowing the trade ties between Europe and Israel. The Western countries concerned about humanitarian aid for the Palestinians also buy from Israel arms and defense knowledge developed under the laboratory conditions of the occupation, that serial creator of humanitarian crises.

And the 1 billion petrodollars? First of all, they were generated from a natural resource that logic dictates should benefit the Arab peoples. Second, they were pledged at a conference that boycotted Gaza (neither Hamas nor business people or social activists from the Strip participated in the donors conference). This is how Saudi Arabia lends its hand to the American and Israeli veto of inter-Palestinian reconciliation.

Every cent paid to the Palestinians - whether for the Ramallah government's budget or medical treatment of children wounded by Israeli pilots or soldiers - lets Israel know that it can continue its efforts to force a capitulation deal on the Palestinian elite. Only by recognizing that surrender is the goal can one understand that 16 years after Oslo, no Palestinian state was established. When did Shimon Peres, Ariel Sharon and Tzipi Livni begin talking about two states? Only after their bulldozers and military bureaucrats crushed the realistic physical basis of a Palestinian state. And this basis is: June 4, 1967 land (including East Jerusalem), Gaza - an inseparable part of the state - and zero settlements (and that applies to Gilo and Ma'aleh Adumim).

There is more in that article (not too much more). It is worth reading in full.

reflection

A comment worth pondering.

skimming the surface of Baer

It would be nice if Australian papers were anywhere near as critical on Israel's politics as Israeli papers were. For some reason, we have blinders on in ways that we do not with other countries who have similar policies in place, and who commit similar actions.

Anyway, from Haaretz Sunday was the article Israel has lost its status as a country under threat; expansion of the idea being that You can't be perceived as a bully on one front and a righteous nation on the other, (though many try!).

Dialogue and negotiation in this area seems as if it is going to be the new American policy, though it (the U.S. - and its allies) are still in Afghanistan and Pakistan (Iraq, too, of course). Robert Baer, ex-CIA, who I saw yesterday as part of the Perth Writers' Festival, covered many concerns from the wider (Australian) community about the Middle East region. I assume other countries have similar concerns. It seems his book, the Devil you know, is worth reading. The George Clooney movie, Syriana, was based on his first autobiographical book, See no Evil. The podcast should be available on ABC 720 am (he had a few sessions, so it would be the one from Monday, March 2nd).

Baer, of course, will flatter his audience. Australians, I do not feel, are terribly well informed, though people attending writers' conferences might be slightly different creatures, even though I include myself in that not terribly well-informed group. However, he did say that with this tour in Australia, he had received more intelligent questions from journalists and members of the public than he generally had in the U.S. over the last seven years, from journalists, the public and politicians. That could also be a sign of the times.

He mentioned too of course, the world wide phenomenon, whether created or desired, of the general populous getting its news from Fox, and the fascination with celebrity (even this post is somewhat peppered with it) to the exclusion of all else. He spoke about the irresponsibility of papers in misrepresenting information, and in taking the Washington line in many political articles, even if it includes perpetuating falsehoods. He particularly mentions this in relation to the (not certain, probably false) claims of weapons of mass destruction, and the (false) linking of Iraq to Al Qaeda, which lead to the invasion of the country. Same as it ever was, I suppose. Though I think there was a time when, amongst journalists at least, some form of critical analysis was encouraged.

He claims that the attack on the Twin Towers should have been treated as a criminal matter, rather than one which led to war on the middle eastern region, and he also seems to think that Bin Laden is dead, the tapes we see being digitally manipulated. I need to read his works. The information he cites, is apparently readily available (except for maybe the last), as always seems to be the case. He seems to feel that the surge of terrorism, such as the twin towers, is a blip of history in the way that the Waco siege was, too. Not to say that many people have not suffered, and he did not mention Mumbai; though with Pakistan getting more and more destabilised by the day, maybe similar attacks on India will occur. I am not sure what I think of this point of view, but it definitely seems that every decade has had someone with a bomb in their hand, or has sat behind the controls of a F16 (excuse my historical inaccuracy) and they were not always from this region. He also mentions a progression from outright terror and anarchy to a more ordered and pragmatic approach, as is seen (from his point of view) in Lebanon nowadays. Groups do evolve. The IRA, nor the ANC were ever pretty (nor the events that brought about its existence). Read some of Patrick McCabe's works (especially, Call me the Breeze). Anyway, it is all food for thought.

The first article was originally referenced on Antony Loewenstein's blog.

robert baer in perth

Have been going to the Perth International Writers' Festival. Apart from catching up with friends, I've been attending very interesting free sessions. The theme of the conference seems to be presenting different stories, different points of view. I'm not quite sure, but the make up of contributors range from the stories of refugees who have been granted asylum in Australia, to an Australian who was imprisoned and freed (before Obama) from Guantanamo, to film makers, children's writers, general fiction writing, and the ex-head of the M15.

Speaking with her was Robert Baer, ex-CIA operative in the Middle East. He writes for American papers quite often, and has been attacked by stalwart American papers, also. I referenced him in this post. Locally, he has just been interviewed on the local ABC 720 am. I will see if there is a podcast later. His latest book is on Iran, and is called the "Devil we know". The interviewer asked him about peace in the region. Of course, as Obama's domestic problems drag him down, it seems that peace in the region will not be a dramatic undertaking or enterprise. These were his thoughts, mine too. Hopefully steps towards will be brought into play - but I imagine they will be baby steps, and maybe never enough.

He also mentioned, which I have heard many, many, many times, that peace in the region will not be achieved until something is done about the Israeli presence in and ultimate rule of Palestine. If one colonial power (Israel) and its backers (the U.S. and most other western powers) are able to get away with murder on a huge scale, as seen in Gaza, why would anyone in the region seriously trust the country, and its backers? I have read of ex-Australian diplomats and military offering much the same view. I think anyone employing a modicum of common sense, or possessing a sense of fairness, would feel the same.

Anyway, it was interesting to hear the man, though he didn't speak too much about the above at the session I attended on Sunday - but he did mention it in the radio interview, as stated. I might see him again today, as he has another session. ABC is listened too quite widely, so that is heartening.

A lot of these events are free. I love festival time! Check out this film, Son of a Lion, if you get a chance. The story of its making is almost as extraordinary as the film itself.

not seen since agent orange

Amnesty International and other Human Rights bodies have been pushing hard to get the war crimes committed against the people of Gaza investigated, and when you read the following reports, you will understand why. The first report is from Sonja Karkar from Australians for Palestine, and Women for Palestine.

The second is the report that she refers to in full. The types of weapons being used on populations nowadays are truly terrifying. Within Australia, Amnesty International is aiming to get 10,000 letters sent to Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, to urge him to pressure an investigation of these crimes against humanity. Last seen they had about 6,700 signatures. Over the ten days I wasn't blogging, they didn't gain too many more. If you are Australian, or know any Australians, and have not sent this letter to your interested friends, please do so.

I am working on a friend's computer at present, and it doesn't have the software I need to include the pictures with the Lancet article, so please refer to the original if you wish to see them.
________________________________________________________________

Sonja Karkar's email:

On 5 March 2009, a series on Palestinian health under occupation will be published by the highly-regarded scientific medical and public health journal, The Lancet. Although access to the journal is free, one must register first http://www.thelancet.com/series/ Last month, The Lancet released the preliminary findings of two clinicians from the UK, Dr Ghassan Abu Sittah and Dr Swee Ang who had managed to get into Gaza during the Israeli invasion. Their findings reveal an atrocity greater than any image can possibly convey and are a shocking revelation of just what was used by Israel in those fateful 22 days of precision bombing on Gaza. While there is plenty of evidence that white phosphorous was used, both doctors believe that the massive liver necrosis seen in patients cannot have been caused by white phosphorous alone. Furthermore, there is a real likelihood of toxic fumes from the white phosphorous residues that litter the entire Gaza Strip contaminating the air once it rains.

They also found evidence of Tungsten DIME which truncates peoples’ limbs without bleeding and the possibility of experimental weapons like the silent bombs that vaporise everything and everyone in the vicinity of where they explode. The use of such weapons would constitute crimes against humanity not seen since Agent Orange was used by the US during its war on Vietnam. These weapons do not just kill and maim people, but their effects are felt in the bodies of survivors and the environment long after the attacks have ceased with no known end time. Israel’s targeting of Palestinians with such weapons is certainly contrary to the Geneva Convention, but also contrary to how we would expect a civilised army to behave, let alone the whole moral issue of subjecting any people to such atrocities.

There are calls now, and actions being taken around the world, for prosecuting Israeli officials for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. Already lawyers in France, Spain, Belgium, Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon as well as international organisations are beginning to file complaints against Israeli officials.

Amongst the names submitted to the International Criminal Court in the Hague to stand trial are Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter, Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai and IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, former IDF Chiefs of Staff Moshe Yaalon and Dan Halutz, former GOC Southern Command Doron Almog, former National Security Council Head Giora Eiland and Brigadier-General (Res.) Mike Herzog.

US international law expert Francis Boyle has called for an Israeli War Crimes Tribunal (ICT) and has asked the UN General Assembly to "immediately establish an (ICTI) as a 'subsidiary organ' under UN Charter Article 22" similar to the Security Council's ICTY for Yugoslavia. Its purpose "would be to investigate and prosecute Israeli war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide against the Peoples of Lebanon and Palestine." Legal proceedings are also being brought against the UK government over a breach of legal obligations in relation to the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

As the evidence mounts, more petitions are likely to be filed.A fact-finding mission of the League of Arab Nations to investigate war crimes committed by Israel has just concluded. It consisted of 6 international experts, including John Dugard, former UN Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and it has gathered evidence and eyewitnesses’ testimonies for a report that will be submitted to the League.

NOTE: Below we include some photos that will be distressing to many people, but we do so for the purpose of underscoring the crimes of which Israel is accused. - SK
_________________________________________________________________

The Wounds of Gaza

by Drs Ghassan Abu Sittah and Swee Ang
2 February 2009


The wounds of Gaza are deep and multi-layered. Are we talking about the Khan Younis massacre of 5,000 in 1956 or the execution of 35,000 prisoners of war by Israel in 1967? Yet more wounds of the First Intifada, when civil disobedience by an occupied people against the occupiers resulted in massive wounded and hundreds dead? We also cannot discount the 5,420 wounded in southern Gaza alone since 2000. Hence what we are referring to below are only that of the invasion as of 27 December 2008, Over the period of 27 December 2008 to the ceasefire of 18 Jan 2009, it was estimated that a million and a half tons of explosives were dropped on Gaza Strip. Gaza is 25 miles by 5 miles and home to 1.5 million people. This makes it the most crowded area in the whole world. Prior to this Gaza has been completely blockaded and starved for 50 days. In fact since the Palestinian election Gaza has been under total or partial blockade for several years.

On the first day of the invasion, 250 persons were killed. Every single police station in Gaza was bombed killing large numbers of police officers. Having wiped out the police force attention was turned to non government targets. Gaza was bombed from the air by F16 and Apache helicopters, shelled from the sea by Israeli gunboats and from the land by tank artillery. Many schools were reduced to rubble, including the American School of Gaza, 40 mosques, hospitals, UN buildings, and of course 21,000 homes, 4,000 of which were demolished completely. It is estimated that 100,000 people are now homeless.

Israeli weapons

The weapons used apart from conventional bombs and high explosives also include unconventional weapons of which at least 4 categories could be identified. Phosphorus Shells and bombs:

The bombs dropped were described by eye witnesses as exploding at high altitude scattering a large canopy of phosphorus bomblets which cover a large area.During the land invasion, eyewitnesses describe the tanks shelling into homes first with a conventional shell. Once the walls are destroyed, a second shell - a phosphorus shell is then shot into the homes. Used in this manner the phosphorus explodes and burns the families and the homes. Many charred bodies were found among burning phosphorus particles.One area of concern is the phosphorus seems to be in a special stabilizing agent. This results in the phosphorus being more stable and not completely burning out. Residues still cover the fields, playground and compounds. They ignite when picked up by curious kids, or produce fumes when farmers return to water their fields. One returning farming family on watering their field met with clouds of fumes producing epistaxis. Thus the phosphorus residues probably treated with a stabilizer also act as anti-personnel weapons against children and make the return to normal life difficult without certain hazards.

Surgeons from hospitals are also reporting cases where after primary laparotomy for relatively small wounds with minimal contamination find on second look laparotomy increasing areas of tissue necrosis at about 3 days. Patients then become gravely ill and by about 10 days those patients needing a third relook encounter massive liver necrosis. This may or may not be accompanied by generalized bleeding , kidney failure and heart failure and death. Although acidosis, liver necrosis and sudden cardiac arrest due to hypocalcemia are known to be a complication of white phosphorus it is not possible to attribute these complications as being due to phosphorus alone.There is real urgency to analyze and identify the real nature of this modified phosphorus as to its long term effect on the people of Gaza. There is also urgency in collecting and disposing of the phosphorus residues littering the entire Gaza Strip. As they give off toxic fumes when coming into contact with water, once the rain falls the whole area would be polluted with acid phosphorus fumes. Children should be warned not to handle and play with these phosphorus residues.

Heavy Bombs

The use of DIME (dense inert material explosives) were evident, though it is unsure whether depleted uranium were used in the south. In the civilian areas, surviving patients were found to have limbs truncated by DIME, since the stumps apart from being characteristically cut off in guillotine fashion also fail to bleed.
Bomb casing and shrapnel are extremely heavy.
Fuel Air Explosives Bunker busters and implosion bombs have been used . There are buildings especially the 8 storey Science and Technology Building of the Islamic University of Gaza which had been reduced to a pile of rubble no higher than 5-6 feet.*

Silent Bombs: People in Gaza described a silent bomb which is extremely destructive. The bomb arrives as a silent projectile at most with a whistling sound and creates a large area where all objects and living things are vaporized with minimal trace. We are unable to fit this into conventional weapons but the possibility of new particle weapons being tested should be suspected.

Executions: Survivors describe Israeli tanks arriving in front of homes asking residents to come out. Children, old people and women would come forward and as they were lined up they were just fired on and killed. Families have lost tens of their members through such executions. The deliberate targeting of unarmed children and women is well documented by human right groups in the Gaza Strip over the past month.

Targeting of ambulances: Thirteen ambulances had been fired upon killing drivers and first aid personnel in the process of rescue and evacuation of the wounded.

Cluster bombs: The first patients wounded by cluster were brought into Abu Yusef Najjar Hospital.

Since more than 50% of the tunnels have been destroyed, Gaza has lost part of her lifeline. These tunnels contrary to popular belief are not for weapons, though small light weapons could have been smuggled through them. However they are the main stay of food and fuel for Gaza. Palestinians are beginning to tunnel again. However it became clear that cluster bombs were dropped on to the Rafah border and the first was accidentally set of by tunneling. Five burns patients were brought in after setting off a booby trap kind of device.

Death toll as of 25 January 2009: the death toll was estimated at 1,350 with the numbers increasing daily. This is due to the severely wounded continuing to die in hospitals. 60% of those killed were children.

Severe injuries: The severely injured numbered 5,450, with 40% being children. These are mainly large burns and polytrauma patients. Single limb fractures and walking wounded are not included in these figures.Through our conversations with doctors and nurses the word holocaust and catastrophe were repeatedly used. The medical staff all bear the psychological trauma of the past month living though the situation and dealing with mass casualties which swamped their casualties and operating rooms. Many patients died in the Accident and Emergency Department while awaiting treatment. In a district hospital, the orthopaedic surgeon carried out 13 external fixations in less than a day. It is estimated that of the severely injured, 1,600 will suffer permanently disabilities. These include amputations, spinal cord injuries, head injuries, large burns with crippling contractures.(This photo gives some indication of the horrors that were visited on the Palestinians in Gaza. Much more gruesome photos of burnt flesh, gaping wounds, limbless torsos, scattered body parts are too traumatising for most people to see,, so they have not been included, but they certainly exist.[If you go to the original article, you can see the photo referred to above]).

Special factors: The death and injury toll is especially high in this recent assault due to several factors: No escape: As Gaza is sealed by Israeli troops, no one can escape the bombardment and the land invasion. There is simply no escape. Even within the Gaza Strip itself, movement from north to south is impossible as Israeli tanks had cut the northern half of Gaza from the south. Compare this with the situation in Lebanon 1982 and 2006, when it was possible for people to escape from an area of heavy bombardment to an area of relative calm - there was no such is option for Gaza.*

Gaza is very densely populated. It is eerie to see that the bombs used by Israel have been precision bombs. They have a hundred percent hit rate on buildings which are crowded with people. Examples are the central market, police stations. Schools, the UN compounds used as a safety shelter from bombardment, mosques (40 of them destroyed), and the homes of families who thought they were safe as there were no combatants in them and high rise flats where a single implosion bomb would destroy multiple families. This pattern of consistent targeting of civilians makes one suspect that the military targets are but collateral damage, while civilians are the primary targets.There is no escaping the utter destruction of a single bomb.

The quantity and quality of the ammunition being used as described above. Gaza’s lack of defense against the modern weapons of Israel. She has no tanks, no planes, no anti-aircraft missiles against the invading army. We experienced that first hand in a minor clash of Israeli tank shells versus Palestinian AK47 return fire. The forces were simply unmatched.

Absence of well constructed bomb shelters for civilians. Unfortunately these will also be no match for bunker busters possessed by the Israeli Army.

Conclusion: Taking the above points into consideration, the next assault on Gaza would be just as disastrous. The people of Gaza are extremely vulnerable and defenseless in the event of another attack. If the International Community is serious about preventing such a large scale of deaths and injuries in the future, it will have to develop a some sort of defense force for Gaza. Otherwise, many more vulnerable civilans will continue to die.

Update:1. Dr Swee Ang Says: February 2nd, 2009 at 7:57 pmSince we wrote this account, we have spoken to senior Palestinian surgeons who described to us strange “penetrating wounds without shrapnels”. The wound track in such patients also has clean sharp margins. Some of them treated the wounds as clean wounds but after several days - mostly 3 days onwards there is necrosis of tissue around the wound track. In the case of skin, it can take the form of abscesses. In the abdomen there are extension of organ necrosis around the track such as liver necrosis, gangrenous bowel and kidney damage. We suspect these wounds are caused by Tungsten DIME explosives.In experimental animals, tungsten is highly carcinogenic, malignant tumours appearing around 5-7 months. However the long term carcinogenic effect on human is not known yet.The Ministry of Health in Gaza is calling for any one who has shrapnel wounds which are unusual or does not heal to present themselves to any Health clinic.

Update:2. Dr Swee Ang Says: February 2nd, 2009 at 8:15 pm. The lesson from these wounds without shrapnel is that Tungsten toxicity should always be suspected and primary wide excision of the wound track is mandatory to minimise tissue reaction to it. They must not be confused with what is traditionally thought to be clean cut wounds and merely washed out and closed.Tissue biopsies are crucial if we are to understand more about these wounds. There is a pressing urgency given that there is a potential carcinogenic effect. DIME as an explosive is highly anti-personnel and can be used safely by an invading neighbouring army without the fear of the side effect of radioactive fallout which other radioactive warheads might carry. Its effect is localised to the target population only - in this case the people of Gaza, with no danger to its neighbour, cf nuclear weapons.