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November 17th, 2008
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#1 |
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Banned
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Mazonnawar Citadel
Posts: 775
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Jews Murder, Lie, Kidnap and Terrorize with Abandon
Israel executes four in Gaza; siege affects access to drinking water
Monday, 17 November 2008 16:37 Al Mezan Center for Human Rights The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) continued to seal off the Gaza Strip for the eleventh day in a row, in an escalation of the collective punishment of Gaza's population imposed since 2000. The IOF resumed its military attacks and killed four Palestinians this morning in an air strike in east Gaza. The humanitarian conditions have quickly deteriorated in the Gaza Strip as Israel's tight siege has affected all aspects of Palestinians' lives and violated their human rights, which are protected by international human rights and international humanitarian law. Gaza's power plant has suspended its work for the third day in a row due to lack of fuel necessary to run it. Hospitals and clinics are greatly affected. Not only do they suffer from suspension of surgery sections and intensive care unis, but also from the damage to vaccines and serums that are preserved in refrigerators. Moreover, tens of thousands of Palestinians suffer from a severe shortage of drinking water, especially those who live in tall buildings and have no access to water even when municipalities manage to pump water to their area. Municipalities cannot run their water pumps for sufficient periods of time due to power failure. Power failure also disrupts sewage treatment plants and internal transportation due to the lack of fuel. Gas stations are now empty after the IOF stopped pumping fuel supplies for the eleventh day in a row. Power failure and the lack of fuel negatively impact the education sector especially that the crisis is worsening with the start of school mid-term exams. Students and teachers also have difficulties when they go to their schools and universities. The Gaza siege is continuously tightened as IOF resumed military attacks and killings of Palestinians in Gaza. This morning, Sunday, 16 November 2008, the IOF killed four Palestinians in an air strike in eastern Gaza city. The victims were identified as Talal al-Amoudi (23), Muhammad Hassouna (22), Ahmad al-Hilo (22), and Basil al-Uff (21). Al Mezan Center for Human Rights is highly concerned with the IOF's determination on imposing collective punishment on the Gaza Strip in spite of the appeals and frequent condemnations by the United Nations and other international and local human rights and humanitarian organizations. The Center warns the international community about the outcome of ignoring the exacerbating humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip and about the international community's failure to fulfill its legal and ethical responsibilities towards civilians in the Strip. This silence, particularly in light of the IOF's contempt for European Union consuls and representatives last Thursday [when it denied them entrance to the Gaza Strip], serves only to encourage Israel to proceed with its violations. Therefore, Al Mezan Center asserts that the international community and the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention in particular must assume their legal and ethical responsibilities and take immediate action to end Israel's gross violations and provide international protection for civilians. The Center also believes that the international community's action is significant in view of the threats of a humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip if the IOF continue to imposing the tight siege on it. Source: Al Mezan Center for Human Rights |
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November 17th, 2008
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#2 |
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Banned
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Mazonnawar Citadel
Posts: 775
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Chronic malnutrition in Gaza blamed on Israel
Monday, 17 November 2008 15:07 Donald Macintyre The Red Cross says the diets of those living in the impoverished Gaza Strip are deteriorating. Explosive report by the Red Cross on a humanitarian tragedy The Israeli blockade of Gaza has led to a steady rise in chronic malnutrition among the 1.5 million people living in the strip, according to a leaked report from the Red Cross. It chronicles the "devastating" effect of the siege that Israel imposed after Hamas seized control in June 2007 and notes that the dramatic fall in living standards has triggered a shift in diet that will damage the long-term health of those living in Gaza and has led to alarming deficiencies in iron, vitamin A and vitamin D. The 46-page report from the International Committee of the Red Cross – seen by The Independent – is the most authoritative yet on the impact that Israel's closure of crossings to commercial goods has had on Gazan families and their diets. The report says the heavy restrictions on all major sectors of Gaza's economy, compounded by a cost of living increase of at least 40 per cent, is causing "progressive deterioration in food security for up to 70 per cent of Gaza's population". That in turn is forcing people to cut household expenditures down to "survival levels". "Chronic malnutrition is on a steadily rising trend and micronutrient deficiencies are of great concern," it said. Since last year, the report found, there had been a switch to "low cost/high energy" cereals, sugar and oil, away from higher-cost animal products and fresh fruit and vegetables. Such a shift "increases exposure to micronutrient deficiencies which in turn will affect their health and wellbeing in the long term." Israel has often said that it will not allow a humanitarian crisis to develop in Gaza and the report says that the groups surveyed had "accessed their annual nutritional energy needs". But it warned governments, including Israel's, that "food insecurity and undernutrition, including micronutrient deficiencies" were occurring in the absence of "overt food shortages". A 2001 Food and Agriculture Organisation definition classifies "food security" as when "all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life." The Red Cross report says that "the embargo has had a devastating effect for a large proportion of households who have had to make major changes on the composition of their food basket." Households were now obtaining 80 per cent of their calories from cereals, sugar and oil. "The actual food basket is considered to be insufficient from a nutritional perspective." The report paints a bleak picture of an increasingly impoverished and indebted lower-income population. People are selling assets, slashing the quality and quantity of meals, cutting back on clothing and children's education, scavenging for discarded materials – and even grass for animal fodder – that they can sell and are depending on dwindling loans and handouts from slightly better-off relatives. In the urban sector, in which about 106,000 employees lost their jobs after the June 2007 shutdown, about 40 per cent are now classified as "very poor", earning less than 500 shekels (£87) a month to provide for an average household of seven to nine people. The report quotes a former owner of a small, home-based sewing factory, who said he had laid off his 10 workers in July 2007. "Since then I earn no more than 300 shekels per month by sewing from time to time neighbours' and relatives' clothes. I sold my wife's jewellery and my brother is transferring 250 shekels every month ... I do not really know what to say to my children." Others said they were not able to give their children pocket money. In agriculture, on which 27 percent of Gaza's population depends, exports are at a halt and, like fisheries, the sector has seen a 50 per cent fall in incomes since the siege began. Among the two-fifths classified as "very poor", average per capita spending is down to 50p a day. In the fisheries sector, which has been hit by fuel shortages and narrow, Israeli-imposed fishing limits, "People's coping mechanisms are very limited and those households that still have jewellery and even non-essential appliances sell them". The report says that if the Israeli-imposed embargo is maintained, "economic disintegration will continue and wider segments of the Gaza population will become food insecure". Arguing that the removal of restrictions on trade "can reverse the trend of impoverishment", the Red Cross warns that "the prolongation of the restrictions risks permanently damaging households' capacity to recover and undermines their ability to attain food security in the long term." The detailed Gaza fieldwork for the report was carried out between May and July. An International Monetary Fund report confirmed in late September that the Gaza economy "continued to weaken". Mark Regev, the spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, said that, contrary to hopes when Israel pulled out of Gaza, the Gazan people were being "held hostage" to Hamas's "extremist and nihilist" ideology which was causing undoubted suffering. If Hamas focused resources on the "diet of the people" instead of on "Qassam rockets and violent jihadism" then "this sort of problem would not exist", he said. Source: The Independent |
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November 17th, 2008
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#3 |
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Banned
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Mazonnawar Citadel
Posts: 775
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'Truce depends on halting Israeli crimes'
Monday, 17 November 2008 17:59 Agencies GAZA CITY, Nov. 17 (Agencies) – Hamas leader Ismail Haniya has said a deal between Israelis and Palestinians will continue if the Zionist regime halts its crimes in the Gaza strip. On Sunday, during the funeral of Palestinian fighters killed by Zionist forces earlier in the day, Haniya said the continuation of the Egypt-mediated ceasefire between the Zionist regime and the Hamas movement depends mainly on the Zionists halting their crimes and lifting their blockade on the Gaza Strip. "The continuation of the truce deal depends mainly on the halt of the Zionist war machinery against our Palestinian people as well as lifting the imposed siege and reopening the crossings," he told the crowds. "Israel should turn its verbal commitment to the ceasefire into actions on the ground, by simply stopping all forms of aggression against the Palestinian people", International Middle East Media Center quoted Haniya as saying. The Hamas leader stressed that what the Palestinian nation wants are their national legitimate rights and ending the occupation. Haniya's remarks come as the Apartheid regime has completely sealed off the Gaza strip from the outside world as the already impoverished region is in desperate need of vital supplies including food, drug and fuel. Despite the Egyptian-brokered truce deal, Zionist ground and aerial strikes have killed several Palestinians in the Gaza strip during the past two weeks. On Sunday, a Zionist air strike left four Palestinian fighters in the northern Gaza Strip dead. |
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November 17th, 2008
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#4 |
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Banned
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Mazonnawar Citadel
Posts: 775
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Zionists kidnap 10 children in West Bank
Monday, 17 November 2008 17:46 Agencies IDF kidnapping childrenRAMALLAH, Nov. 17 (Agencies) Zionist forces have kidnapped ten Palestinian children in al-Bustan neighborhood, near the al-Aqsa Mosque in East al-Quds. Zionist soldiers and policemen kidnapped 10 Palestinian children in East al-Quds, and took them to an unknown destination, International Middle East Media Center quoted Palestinian sources as saying on Sunday. The ages of the detained children are no more than 13. They were abducted for allegedly obstructing the work of municipality workers who were preparing for demolishing more Palestinian homes in the neighborhood, the sources added. The Jerusalem Municipality is preparing to demolish nearly 97 homes in the neighborhood as it is planning to build gardens for "the Jewish temple" which the Zionists claim it exists under the al-Aqsa mosque. The detentions of Palestinian children come as the Zionist outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority Chief will meet on Monday over the peace process. |
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November 21st, 2008
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#5 |
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Banned
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Mazonnawar Citadel
Posts: 775
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Family’s Eviction Draws Global Outrage
Friday, 21 November 2008 16:14 Jonathan Cook A girl from the Khurd family from East Jerusalem chops wood outside a newly erected tent for them in the city. The middle-of-the-night eviction last week of an elderly Palestinian couple from their home in East Jerusalem to make way for Jewish settlers is a demonstration of Israeli intent towards a future peace deal with the Palestinians. Mohammed and Fawziya Khurd are now on the street, living in a tent, after Israeli police enforced a court order issued in July to expel them. The couple have been living in the same property in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood since the mid-1950s, when East Jerusalem was under Jordanian control. The United Nations allotted them the land after they were expelled from their homes in territory that was seized by Israel during the 1948 war. Since East Jerusalem’s occupation by Israel in 1967, however, Jewish settler groups have been waging a relentless battle for the Khurds’ home, claiming that the land originally belonged to Jews. In 1999, the settlers occupied a wing of the house belonging to the couple’s son, Raed, though the courts subsequently ruled in favour of the family. The eviction order against the settlers, unlike that against the Khurds, was never enforced. The takeover of the Khurds’ house is far from an isolated incident. Settlers are quietly grabbing homes from Palestinians in key neighbourhoods around the Old City of Jerusalem in an attempt to pre-empt any future peace deal with the Palestinians. What makes the case of the Khurd family exceptional is that it has attracted the attention of western consulates, particularly those of Israel’s important allies, that is, the United States and Britain. They have appealed without success to the Israeli government to intercede. In particular, the diplomats are concerned that the takeover of the Khurds’ home will set a dangerous precedent, freeing settler groups to wrest control of most of Sheikh Jarrah. The settlers plan to oust more than 500 Palestinians from the neighbourhood and build 200 apartments for Jewish families. If the settlers can take control of other areas, such as Silwan, Ras al-Amud and the Mount of Olives, the Old City and its holy sites would be as good as sealed off not only to Palestinians in the West Bank – as is the case already – but also to nearly 250,000 Palestinians in the outlying suburbs of East Jerusalem. Because the Palestinians expect East Jerusalem and its holy places to be the core of their state, the Sheikh Jarrah judgment effectively offers the settlers a blocking veto on any future negotiations. That may be one reason why the Israeli government has shown little inclination to intervene in cases like that of the Khurds. In Israeli law, all of Jerusalem, including the eastern half of the city, is the “indivisible” capital of the Jewish state. The eviction order also worries western diplomats because it opens up a Pandora’s box of competing land claims that will make it impossible for Palestinian negotiators to sign up to a deal on the division of Jerusalem. The Palestinian Authority has already pointed out to the consulates that nearly two-thirds of West Jerusalem’s land was owned by Palestinians before the creation of Israel. Fawziya Khurd, for example, lived in Talbieh, in what is now the city’s western half, before 1948. If the settlers can make property claims in East Jerusalem based on title deeds that pre-exist 1948, why cannot Palestinians make similar claims in West Jerusalem? The US involvement in the Khurd case demonstrates its desire to mark its red lines in East Jerusalem. The concern is that Israeli actions on the ground are seeking to unravel the outlines of an agreement being promoted by Washington to create some kind of circumscribed Palestinian state. In the US view, the basis of such a deal is an exchange of letters between George W Bush and Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister at the time, in spring 2004 in which the US president affirmed that Israel would not be expected to return to the armistice lines of 1949. Instead, he declared that Israel would be able to hold on to its “population centres” in the West Bank – code for the established settlement blocs. As a result, the current US administration has turned a blind eye to continuing construction in the main settlements, home to most of the West Bank’s 250,000 settlers. The unstated agreement between Tel Aviv and Washington is that these areas will be annexed to Israel in a future peace deal. In an indication of Israel’s confidence about the West Bank settlements, the Israeli media reported at the weekend that Ehud Barak, the defence minister and the leader of the Labor Party, had personally approved hundreds of new apartments for the settlers in the past few months. The separation wall is being crafted to include these blocs, eating into one tenth of the West Bank and leaving only a few tens of thousands of settlers on the “wrong side”. For the time being, the US is showing indecision only about two settlement-cities, Ariel and Ma’ale Adumim. If the wall encompasses them, it will effectively sever the West Bank into three parts. In relation to East Jerusalem, the White House has so far appeared to favour maintaining the status quo. That would entail the eastern half of the city being carved up into a series of complex zones, or “bubbles” as they have been described in the Israeli media. Another 250,000 Jewish settlers live in East Jerusalem, though almost all of them reside in their own discreet colonies implanted between Palestinian neighbourhoods. These settlements are considered so established by Israelis that most of their inhabitants do not regard themselves as settlers. However, the more ideological settlers of the kind taking over homes in Sheikh Jarrah refuse to accept partition of the city on any terms. They are trying to erode the Palestinians’ chances of ever controlling their own neighbourhoods in the eastern half of the city. Backed by powerful allies in the courts, government and municipality, the settlers look set to continue expanding in East Jerusalem. Nir Barkat, the millionaire businessman who was elected mayor of Jerusalem last week, forged close ties with some of the most extreme figures in the city’s settlement movement during his campaign. Like his chief rival for the mayoralty, he has promised to build a new Jewish neighbourhood, called Eastern Gate, that will be home to at least 10,000 settlers on land next to the Palestinian neighbourhood of Anata. The move, much like the eviction of the Khurds, has been greeted with silence from the government. Both developments are a sign of Washington’s powerlessness to force even the limited concessions it expects from Israel in East Jerusalem. Source: The National |
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November 21st, 2008
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#6 |
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Banned
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Mazonnawar Citadel
Posts: 775
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Israel army studies abuse video
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Israel army studies abuse video Thursday, 13 November 2008 14:06 BBC News The Israeli military is investigating a video in which a Palestinian detainee appears to be humiliated by a group of Israeli soldiers. The video, broadcast by Israeli TV after being posted on YouTube, shows a blindfolded man kneeling near a barrier being forced to repeat Hebrew phrases. Some refer to the elite Golani infantry brigade. Others are of a sexual nature. In a statement to the BBC, the Israeli army said it considered the incident "grave", and condemned the behaviour. "Investigative procedures were opened as soon as the footage was received" from Israeli Channel 10 TV on Thursday, it added. Abuse 'the norm' The video shows a bearded Palestinian detainee, blindfolded, and apparently kneeling close to a high concrete barrier. Investigative procedures were opened as soon as the footage was received Israeli army statement Around him are a group of Israeli soldiers, some of whom are jeering. One soldier goads the blindfolded man into repeating what he is saying. The taunt ends with the words: "Golani will bring you a log to stick up your ass." As the man repeats it, the soldiers can be heard laughing loudly. The BBC's Tim Franks in Jerusalem says we have no clue as to when or where this video was shot and it is impossible to know just how frequently such incidents occur. But a leading Israeli human rights group says "many instances of abuse are not exposed because they have become the norm". Palestinians themselves frequently complain that their contact with Israeli soldiers on occupied territory results in delays, insults and sometimes violence, our correspondent says. The Israeli army insists though that behaviour of this type goes against the force's "core values and high standards". Source: BBC |
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November 21st, 2008
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#7 |
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Banned
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Mazonnawar Citadel
Posts: 775
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Jew Watch-Busted in the act!
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November 22nd, 2008
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#8 |
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Banned
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Mazonnawar Citadel
Posts: 775
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Gaza's Hospitals Struggle to Save Lives Amid Israeli Siege
Saturday, 22 November 2008 12:25 Rami Almeghari A Palestinian patient at the European hospital in the Gaza Strip, August 2007. Over the past two weeks, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have faced a sharply deteriorating humanitarian situation as Israel further tightened its closure of the border crossings. Virtually no food, medicine or other vital supplies have been allowed in to the territory that is home to 1.5 million people. The impact of the siege is most directly observed in Gaza's health sector. Despite desperately needed medication, equipment, supplies, and spare parts, doctors continue to try to save lives and look after their patients at the European Gaza Hospital, one of territory's largest medical centers. Dr. Zaki Azzaq Zouq, an oncologist, explained, "There is a widespread shortage of essential medicines which we used to give to patients prior to the blockade. Currently, there are no tools for physicians to treat patients who suffer from lung, stomach, colon or brain cancers." The situation is just as dire in Gaza's other hospitals. Unable to get life-saving treatments close to home, Israel also prevents patients from Gaza leaving the tiny coastal territory to receive medical care. Nael Alfaqawi, 28, has kidney problems, but was denied entry to Israel so he could seek treatment abroad. Instead, he is now being treated at the Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza. Mr. Alfaqawi said, "When I wanted to travel out of Gaza for treatment, the [Israeli] intelligence personnel asked me to collaborate with them, but I refused. They said, either you collaborate with us or you go back to Gaza. Of course, I refused to comply with them, saying I'm going to die sooner or later, so I returned home." An estimated 70 percent of the Gaza Strip has experienced lengthy power outages for the last two weeks as Israel has cut off fuel supplies to Gaza's only power plant. Hospitals must rely on generators to keep life-saving equipment running. "We are unable to ensure that we have needed spare parts to provide heating for patients," said Nihad Swaty, head of the European Gaza Hospital's maintenance department. "We also have our own sewage processing plant to provide water. The current lack of equipment will lead to the plant's total collapse and consequently to an environmental crisis at the hospital itself," he warned. International agencies and officials, including UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon have condemned the closure as a violation of international humanitarian law and called on Israel to lift the blockade. But there is no sign of relief. Israel has even blocked foreign journalists, who are usually based in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem, from entering the Gaza Strip. Dr. Abdellatif Alhaj, director of the European Gaza Hospital, said "We continually send our appeals to international organizations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, the World Health Organization and the United Nations. But unfortunately, it appears that the United Nations is facing a crisis itself, as it has started to warn that it will cut off services to residents. We are calling on the United Nations to help us, but it seems that this international organization is no longer able to bring in essential needs such as flour and rice." Dr. Alhaj said that spare parts for the hospital's CT scanner -- one of only two such vital devices in the entire Gaza Strip -- had been held up by the Israelis for over five months. Earlier this month John Ging, the Gaza director of UNRWA, the UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees, warned that "UNRWA is unable to deliver food in Gaza due to the strict Israeli blockade." Israel says the borders will remain closed until Palestinian resistance militias stop firing rockets at nearby Israeli towns. A ceasefire negotiated between Israel and Hamas, the ruling party in Gaza, has generally held since last June. It was broken on 4 November, according to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, when Israeli occupation forces invaded the central Gaza Strip and then killed six Palestinians in air attacks. Palestinian resistance groups retaliated for the killings by firing rockets into Israel. In June 2007, Israel imposed a crippling blockade on Gaza after Hamas took over the interior of the territory amid violent clashes with US-backed militias loyal to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Under the terms of the ceasefire, Israel was supposed to lift the Gaza blockade gradually, but it has never done so. Source: Electronic Intifada http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9984.shtml |
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November 22nd, 2008
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#9 |
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Banned
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Mazonnawar Citadel
Posts: 775
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Israeli Gunboats Kidnap Gaza Fisherman, Peaceworkers Saturday, 22 November 2008 12:16 Eva Bartlett
An Israeli naval ship sprays a Palestinian fishing boat with a water cannon off the coast of the Gaza Strip. (David Schermerhorn) On the evening of Tuesday 18 November Khalid al-Habeel sat surrounded by his wife, family, and other concerned fishermen. Until the early hours of the following day, they had no idea what charges were being laid against 15 fishermen, including two of al-Habeel's sons, Adham (21) and Mohammed (20), after they were nabbed from Gaza's territorial waters earlier that morning and taken to an Israeli interrogation center at Ashdod port. Nor did they know when or if their boats -- their livelihoods -- would be returned. Khaled Al-Habeel, or Abu Adham (father of Adham) explained the events leading up to the fishermen's arrest. "Shortly after 10am, I got a panicked call from Adham, who was captain today, saying their boat was surrounded by Israeli naval boats." "There are many ships around us; there's no way to leave," said Adham to his father. Their boat was approximately seven miles out from Deir al-Balah, in the center of the Gaza Strip. Although Palestinian fishermen have the right to fish up to 20 nautical miles from Gaza's coast, as laid-out in the 1994 Interim Agreement signed by Israel, since 1996 Israel has downsized this distance in stages, documented by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR). Imposing a sea blockade on Gaza in 1996, Israel illegally reduced the allowable fishing zone to 12 nautical miles. From 2002 to 2003 this was further reduced to six miles from Gaza's shore. While Adham and the more than 3,500 professional fishermen that scour Gaza's waters for needed sustenance and sources of income are accustomed to Israeli navy harassment, Tuesday's encounter was different, heightened. "We're used to facing Israeli attacks in the sea, but we've never seen anything like what happened today. Usually, the Israeli soldiers surround us with a large ship and a smaller gunboat. They shoot at and around our boat with automatic rifles, and they water cannon the boat. When they arrest us, they make us strip down to our underwear, jump into the water, and swim to their ship where we are then hauled up, handcuffed, and taken away to an Israeli interrogation center and even arrest. Today was very different. It's the first time they've actually boarded our boats," al-Habeel explained. Khaled's brother, Abed al-Habeel, and the father of another of the arrested fishermen, Rami (30), corroborated the testimony, adding that their greatest worry was the boats right now: "In the past, I've had my boat confiscated. It was three years ago, and the Israeli soldiers arrested Rami, who was fishing four miles off the coast. They held him for four months, and kept our boat for 70 days. This was a huge loss to us, and when it was finally returned to us it had been seriously damaged by the soldiers' shooting. The nets, the motor, everything was destroyed or stolen," he said, adding that the total losses and damages amounted to US $40,000. "We've done nothing wrong. We are innocent, just trying to earn our living. Our boats are our only source of income," said Abu Adham. "But what can we do?" he asked. A crisis created The two al-Habeel fishing trawlers and equipment together amount to approximately US $280,000. With the entire family being either fishermen or dependent on the livelihood and food source fishing provides, the confiscation of their boats is a severe blow to the family. In an area which has already been devastated a siege on the economy, exports, health sector, education, and basic existence of Gaza's 1.5 million Palestinians, the fishing sector is one of the few reliable sources of income and food. According to Abu Adham, it is not only his immediate family which is punished by the boats' confiscation. "Our boats are like a company," he said. Around 300 people in total are affected by the loss of their two trawlers: other workers employed on the boats, at the docks, in the fish market, transporting fish goods, as well as the buyers themselves who have come to rely heavily on the sea's offerings as a source of protein and nutrition at a time when red meat is scarce and very expensive. Since September 2008, after the arrival of the Free Gaza boats, human rights observers with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) have been traveling with Gaza's fishermen, into waters further out than the arbitrarily-imposed six-mile limit. The observers have documented numerous instances of attack at the hands of the Israeli army, from as little as three miles from shore, including being shot at with live ammunition and shelling, being water cannoned -- during which soldiers specifically target the boats structural components, particularly breakables like glass, glass panels and machinery -- and more recently being doused with a foul, sewage-smelling water shot from the water cannon. The Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem has documented testimonies of fishermen who suffered harassment and arrest, had their nets cut, and boats and equipment confiscated, often returned with broken and missing equipment, and costly damages to key boat structures. Behind the kidnapping In the early hours of Wednesday, 19 November, all 15 arrested fishermen were released to the Erez crossing into Gaza. Their boats, along with the three internationals, are still being held by Israeli authorities. Nidal, a 23 year old father of one child, was among the arrested fishermen. "We were just over seven miles out off the shore from Deir al-Balah and we saw two Israeli gunboats approach our fishing vessel. Five smaller boats surrounded Abed Almoati al-Habeel's boat," the boat that Scottish volunteer Andrew Muncie (34) was on, Nidal explained. "We began quickly pulling our nets in," he continued. "When they had arrested people on that boat, one of the gunboats came and ordered us to turn our motor off. They ordered us to come to the front of our boat, threatening to shoot to kill." Italian volunteer Vittorio Arrigoni ("Vik") (33) on the 2nd boat to be surrounded, continued filming as Israeli soldiers boarded the boat. Colleague Darlene Wallach (57) was on the third boat and related via phone what happened next. "They used a taser on Vik while he was still on the boat, then tried to push him backwards onto a sharp piece of wood. He jumped into the sea to avoid being hurt more than he already was, and was in the water for quite a while," Nidal said. "Almost 20 soldiers had boarded the boat, pointing their guns in our faces and ordering us not to move. They left the captain, Mohammed, on the boat and forced us off and onto the smaller boat, which transferred us to the larger gunship." Mohammed confirmed this account, adding, "This was the first time we weren't forced to strip and jump into the water." Three soldiers remained on Mohammed's boat and, after the operation was repeated on the third boat, ordered Mohammed to head towards Ashdod, the first Israeli port, along with the other two fishing vessels. Wallach by phone said this of her arrest: "I was told 'You are in Israeli territory.' even though it was obvious that all three boats were in Palestinian territory," she said. "They kidnapped me and Andrew and Vik, and all of the Palestinian fishermen." Later, at the Ashdod port, during their interrogation, the fishermen were questioned specifically on the international observers. "Why did you have internationals on your boat?" they were asked. "Who is responsible for sending the internationals? Who pays them? Where do they live? Do you get a good catch when the internationals are on board?" the questioning continued, with a very specific and evident interest, including a non-veiled threat: "You think that you have protection because you have internationals on your boat? Let's see what these international can do for you now," one fisherman said soldiers threatened. After their half-day detention, the fishermen were released without any charges, although their boats remain confiscated. Abu Rami feels the kidnapping of the 15 fishermen and three international observers was a clear message: "It's a message to internationals in Gaza to not accompany fishermen. It's also a message to fishermen not to go far out in our own waters, although we need to because that is where the fish are." Steadfast against the siege Prison time has not broken the spirits of the three human rights activists, who are all being held in Israel's Maasiyahu prison, near Lydd. Rather, they are determined to protest what they say is the "stealing" of Palestinian fishing boats, as well as their kidnapping from Gaza's waters. Wallach maintains that "at no point, before we were transported by the Israeli navy into Israel, did we enter internationally-recognized Israeli waters." Arrigoni commented via phone on Thursday: "A few days ago I was in a big prison with no electricity and little running water. Now I'm in a smaller prison with electricity and clean, running water." On 21 November, the three began a hunger strike, calling foremost for the return of the fishing boats, and further calling for their own return to Gaza. The incident comes just a week after a delegation of 11 European Members of Parliament, all denied entry through Egypt's Rafah crossing, visited the Gaza Strip, arriving via the third Free Gaza voyage. Amongst the delegation were: former UK Secretary of State for International Development Clare Short, Lord Ahmed Nazir, and Baroness Jenny Tonge. Tonge condemned the arrests. "The time has come for the international community, and especially the European Union to take action against Israel's consistent breaking of international law. The EU-Israel Association Agreement should be suspended until Israel complies with this law. It was only last week that I personally met with the fishermen whose boats are illegally water-cannoned and fired upon by Israeli gunboats as they peacefully fish in Gaza waters." Clare Short's comments addressed not only the recent arrests, but the devastating siege which has been imposed on Gaza for 18 months now. "I am pleased that the fishermen have been released because they should never have been arrested. But their boats must immediately be returned to them, otherwise their livelihoods are lost and the wrong has not been righted. The siege of Gaza must be lifted and the UK must insist that these illegal attacks by the Israeli navy on Gazans, fishing peacefully within their own water must cease," Short remarked. Indeed, while the arrest of the 15 fishermen and three internationals highlights the continual and systematic injustice fishermen face, over 11,000 Palestinian political prisoners remain incarcerated in Israeli prisons and the siege on Gaza's 1.5 million civilians worsens ever still. While Israel is seemingly trying to conceal the alarming deterioration of humanitarian conditions in Gaza by preventing journalists from entering Gaza for over 13 days now, pressure is growing, from European parliamentarians to UN officials, for Israel to end its siege. "By function of this blockade, 1.5 million Palestinian men, women and children have been forcibly deprived of their most basic human rights for months," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said in a statement. Pillay continued, stating: "Only a full lifting of the blockade followed by a strong humanitarian response will be adequate to relieve the massive humanitarian suffering evident in Gaza today." Eva Bartlett is a Canadian human rights advocate and freelancer who spent eight months in 2007 living in West Bank communities and four months in Cairo and at the Rafah crossing. She is currently based in Gaza, after the third successful voyage of the Free Gaza movement to break the siege on Gaza. Source: Electronic Intifada http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9985.shtml |
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December 28th, 2008
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#10 |
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Member
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Top End Australia
Posts: 282
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Israel could not destroy Hamas as the Palestinian people who are sick of Fatah stuck with and backed Hamas . So the Israeli blockade of Gaza , designed to break Hamas's appeal with the Palestinian people was a failure . This attack was designed to make Gaza a living hell .
One lesson here to acknowledge is that Hamas is the only democratically elected government in the Mid East . |
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January 9th, 2009
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#11 |
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Banned
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: With my awesome parents
Posts: 7,802
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Coffin Stufferz. That's the generation RP sez will suffer.
http://westernfrontamerica.com/2009/...dments-israel/
10 commandments for Israel By Dr. Ellis Washington January 8th, 2009 • Related • Filed Under Filed Under: Featured Tags: gaza • iran • Israel • jerusalem • jews • palestine • torah • war on terror Buzz up! israel_flagBut if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell. ~ Numbers 33:55 As I watch the “experts” on TV prattle on about what Israel must do to stop the war in Gaza, because of their humanist and liberal bias, most of them are totally missing the point. Here is a primer of what Israel must do, not to “win the war against terror,” which is a gutless, meaningless phrase used by U.N. bureaucrats, President Bush, Democrats, Republicans and craven, uninformed “experts.” Instead, if Israel is to win her liberty, she must first defeat all of her enemies – internal enemies and external enemies. Here are my 10 commandments for Israel in modern times: 1. Victory before peace I believe it was President Ronald Reagan who famously said and practiced a similar wartime policy of “peace through strength” – a tried and true strategy that helped America defeat communism and the evil Soviet empire. Israel must achieve victory over Hamas and against other terrorists groups like Fatah, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, the Muslim Brotherhood operating in Israel, before the Palestinians will negotiate with Israel for peace in good faith. 2. Israel for Israelis Israel must declare martial law and remove all of its enemies, both internal enemies, including socialist, self-hating Jews who collaborate and sympathize with the Palestinians, as well as external enemies, the Muslim and Arab member states in the United Nations who send financial aid to terrorist groups operating in Israel (i.e., “the Palestinians”). Of course, those Palestinians, particularly the Christian Arabs, that love or at least respects Israel’s right to exist and defend herself, as well as other Christian groups that are allied with Israel, should be permitted to stay. 3. Defrock the rabbis who follow the dead religious traditions of the Pharisees and Sadducees and lift up the rabbis who obey the righteous traditions of the prophets, priests and teachers of the Torah Several of my well-informed readers living in Israel have told me that the Orthodox Jews have been the Kadima (or liberal) Party’s biggest supporters. These rabbis are on the public dole; most don’t even serve in the Israeli army and are essentially mired in the delusion of liberalism, socialism and egalitarianism. These Orthodox rabbis connected to the Interior Ministry oftentimes set up many road blocks to certain Jews desiring to immigrate to Israel despite the fact of Israel’s Law of Return, a liberal policy for Jews all over the world to immigrate to Israel. Ironically, it is Christian evangelicals, conservative Republicans and Christian Jews who are some of the most pro-Israel, pro-Jewish people in the world. 4. Demand that all Israeli politicians justify any policy decision according to the black-letter text of the Torah I am told by my Jewish friends, many whom have lived in Israel for decades, that most politicians there are secular and have little interest or concern of Israel’s critical place in biblical history or in end time events as the nations of the world, like tectonic plates, shift menacingly against tiny Israel. On this point, to me one definition of a fool is a politician (Israeli, Arab or gentile) that is so arrogant and delusional to think that his vain, secular or Quran-based policies will stand against the flaming fire of God’s holy word regarding Israel’s ultimate destiny. 5. ‘Land for peace’ is a vile lie from the pit of hell At the behest of America, Europe, the 44 Arab and Muslim nations and the corrupt, jealous bureaucrats of the U.N., Israel keeps giving land to the Palestinians under the vain and foolish belief that she will obtain peace. In return for giving the Muslims Gaza, Hebron, Bethlehem, the West Bank (greater Judea and Samaria) and half of Jerusalem, including the Jews’ holiest site, the Temple Mount, the Jewish people in Israel have not been granted one day of peace, but instead have been rewarded with over 3,000 rocket attacks and over 2,500 mortar attacks from Hamas just since 2001. 6. The “Two State Solution” cannot work America, the Arab member states of the U.N. and the socialist states of Europe notwithstanding, I challenge anyone reading this article to name any nation, from tiny Togo in West Africa to the land behemoth, Russia, with its 11 time zones, that would tolerate a terrorist group to freely practice wanton and daily destruction against their population? Furthermore, what rational nation would allow the U.N. to tell a nation under daily terrorist attacks not to retaliate and protect their country or to follow such U.N. mandates as “bilateral diplomacy,” “hear the Palestinian side of the argument” or a “Two-State Solution”? Only the secular, socialist Jewish leaders in Israel seem delusional enough to allow others that utterly hate them to dictate to Israel how they must handle an internal enemy. Outrageous! 7. In 2009, Israel must launch a pre-emptive strike against Iran before they achieve full nuclear capacity As I stated in an earlier article, “Iran is putting the final touches on her nuclear missiles conceived for the singular purpose of the annihilation of Israel.” Note that the Iranian mullahs are quiet as Israel goes through Gaza like a hot knife through butter. Why? That wicked regime fully understands that they are next. 8. Israel, act like God’s chosen people! Not even Christians were chosen by God as a group as were the Jews. You have a unique and honored position within the nations of the world. You don’t have to say “Mother may I” to anybody when it comes to defending the sovereign, holy land of Israel. 9. Find a philosopher-king to raise Israel from her knees When I read the magnificent and poignant history of the Jews in the Torah, I am struck by the fact that repeatedly when she fell into idolatry or some other grievous sin that after 40 years God would anoint a judge, a champion to deliver Israel from her enemies. Well, Israel, it has been just over 40 years since your last definitive victory in the Six Day War (1967). My advice: Get a philosopher-king, a wartime consigliere like Abraham, Deborah, the prophet Samuel, boy David, Judas Maccabeus, Richard the Lionhearted, Gen. George Patton or Ronald Reagan to run the country under martial law and drive out all of the enemies of Israel. 10. Withdraw membership from the anti-Semitic United Nations Finally, Israel you must immediately withdraw your membership from the diabolical, corrupt, jealous, anti-Semitic United Nations. The U.N. has been in the tank for the Arab member states since they mistakenly allowed Israel to become a sovereign nation on May 14, 1948. The very next day an Arab coalition consisting of Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Northern Palestine (Samaria), backed by Saudi Arabia and Yemen, launched a comprehensive frontal assault to try to kill Israel reborn in her cradle, but God fought with you that day and gave Israel a miraculous victory. That day Ezekiel’s dry bones prophecy of chapter 37:1-14 was fulfilled. Israel, remember the Ten Commandments of the Torah that you may learn to live in the land that God has given to you and your posterity to dwell in, without fear, without apology … and without compromise. Shalom, Israel! 
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December 2nd, 2010
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#12 |
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Administrator
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Mossad suspected of murdering two Iranian physicists
http://vnnforum.com/showthread.php?t=119856 |
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July 11th, 2011
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#13 |
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 8,105
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How Khazarian Ashkenazi "Jews" Invented Modern Terrorism before 911
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August 27th, 2013
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#14 |
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 838
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December 2nd, 2013
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#15 |
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Administrator
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Israeli Army Accused of "Deliberately Targeting" Journalists
http://gawker.com/israeli-army-accus...rna-1474786684 |
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December 2nd, 2013
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#16 | |
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Junior Member
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 17
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December 3rd, 2013
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#17 | |
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Cumbria, England
Posts: 1,237
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January 30th, 2018
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#18 | |
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 8,105
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Israel Behind Latest Terror Car Bombing in Lebanon
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