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NEWSWEEK adds insult to injury – Gaza Genocide in the making
A Palestinian firefighter reacts as he tries to put out a fire at Gaza’s main power plant, which witnesses said was hit in Israeli shelling, in the central Gaza Strip July 29, 2014. Israeli tank fire hit the fuel depot of the Gaza Strip’s only power plant on Tuesday, witnesses said, cutting electricity to Gaza City and many other parts of the Palestinian enclave of 1.8 million people.An Israeli military spokeswoman had no immediate comment and said she was checking the report. Israel launched its Gaza offensive on July 8, saying its aim was to halt rocket attacks by Hamas and its allies. Photo by Ali Jadallah
If it wasn’t because I know the way Israel operates, I know how Israel invents stories, it creates the atmosphere for chaos, and do go to the extent to kill people,just to send a message, and to get rid of its enemies, or simply to perpetrate fear against the Jews, much like their global outlet Anti Defamation League that has worked pretty much as a Jew-Fear -machine, ADL had institutionalized a system of indoctrination of Jews kids right before they get to mature. ADL organize trips to holocaust museums all over the world with this keeping the fear in the minds of innocent minds. I invite you to watch Defamation
Well the event portrayed in this article of Newsweek sounds very much like as a mob sent to create a ecstasy of violence, in other words ‘red flag operation’. Paid actors to recreate a moment. A staged violent act designed to push the masses to act.
As Stephen Pollard, the editor of the Jewish Chronicle, argues: “These people were not attacked because they were showing their support for the Israeli government. They were attacked because they were Jews, going about their daily business.” NEWSWEEK, July 29, 2014
Pollard it is reinforcing the idea that there are people out there to get the “Jews”, this fear is being used over and over to justify Israel existence, to justify the illegal settlements to give a heaven for Jews away from this type of mob Newsweek talks about.
Every word written in this pseudo journalistic piece is nothing more but Israel hasbara garbage, designed to give credit to “Israel need for a Jew homeland.”
For ignorant people that sees this magazine NEWSWEEK as the champion of analytical journalism, in depth investigative reporting know that NEWSWEEK is just another Israel mouthpiece as we see by this front page Israel add.
Israel is committing Genocide in Gaza and it is being televised, the world is witnessing an army killing machine that doesn’t differentiate between a child and a grown man, a killing machine that doesn’t differentiate between a shelter and a military command center, and NEWSWEEK chooses as a cover another Israel add, a propaganda Add to give Israel justification to keep killing and not be accountable, or not even feel guilty, an add to justify Israel need to steal more land for Jews feeling threaten around the world.
Genocide according to popular definition is the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular ethnic group or nation.
Genocide is defined in Article 2 of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948) as “any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part 1 ; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; [and] forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.” OFFICE OF THE UN SPECIAL ADVISER ON THE PREVENTION OF GENOCIDE (OSAPG)
What an insult to the people, what an insult to Gaza and to the intelligent people that has followed the massacre since it began, not 3 weeks ago, but since it began.
People, I think is time to start acting on behalf of truth, justice and peace.
To all journalists of the world let me remind you of the SPJ Code of Ethics
Members of the Society of Professional Journalists believe that public enlightenment is the forerunner of justice and the foundation of democracy. The duty of the journalist is to further those ends by seeking truth and providing a fair and comprehensive account of events and issues. Conscientious journalists from all media and specialties strive to serve the public with thoroughness and honesty. Professional integrity is the cornerstone of a journalist’s credibility. Members of the Society share a dedication to ethical behavior and adopt this code to declare the Society’s principles and standards of practice.
Seek Truth and Report It – Journalists should be honest, fair and courageous in gathering, reporting and interpreting information.
Minimize Harm – Ethical journalists treat sources, subjects and colleagues as human beings deserving of respect.
Act Independently – Journalists should be free of obligation to any interest other than the public’s right to know.
Be Accountable – Journalists are accountable to their readers, listeners, viewers and each other.
For now you could start acting, unsubscribe for NEWSWEEK and add this magazine to the BDS list, add your voice and BDS Israel and its supporters
http://www.newsweek.com/2014/08/08/exodus-why-europes-jews-are-fleeing-once-again-261854.html
Newsweek frontpage for its 8/8/2014 print
| Israel Started This ‘War’ and Killed 1,000+ Based on A Very Big Lie! | | truthaholics
Publicity Campaign of Israel playing the good samaritan
Why now that Israel is bombing every inch of Gaza it is allowing the European Donations to enter Gaza?
Do you wonder the same? When there is time of cease fire of relative calm Israel makes the food go rotten in their warehouse waiting to be transported to Gaza, the trucks wait hours to enter, and now! all of the sudden it is allowing all these supplies into Gaza.
Now that Israel is killing every Palestinian, now that it is flattening every neighborhood, destroying entire residential buildings, with people or without it, mosques followed the same luck, schools empty and full of refugees.
These is the most sick joke Israel plays to Gaza and to the world.
Just yesterday bomb one of United Nations Relief and Works Agency, that it knew was being used as shelter as many of 100,000 Palestinians become homeless.
The first news came to us through our friends in Gaza, Prof Abdewahed sent me a private message with the following.
“Two hours ago, in my neighborhood, Israeli drones and F16 demolished a 4 storey building. Casualties rise up dramatically. Its mid-day. 52 have been reported killed today 24 July 2014 Thousands of displaced Palestinians stay at UNRWA schools. One school in north of Gaza in Beit Hanoun village has been targeted minutes ago!!! First reports mention 10 people killed!!! Reports mention 4 artillery rockets have fallen in the yard of the UNRWA school killing 10 and injuring around 150 people. This is beyond the capacity of the ambulances available and the small hospital in the area. 60 martyr so far in today’s bombing!”
Then few minutes later he sent another message
“Israeli soldiers in Khuzaa take Palestinian homes as shelters and Palestinians as human shield.”
Is this considered war crime? hell it is.
Israel purposely targetted a school that it knew has refugee displaced, majority children.
“106 truckloads carrying over 1,800 tons of food, materials & agricultural supplies crossed into the #Gaza strip. ” says the I@IsraelMFA Israel Foreign Min. twitter account.
I save a status from a friend from Gaza, I sent it as a twitter for the record of history.
https://twitter.com/akashma/status/492464657064398848
screen shot of Israel Foreign Minister twitt, published 1:10 PM – 24 Jul 2014
Where to run, where to hide; UNRWA school used for shelter shell by Israel kills 15
The civilian population in Gaza has been forced to seek refugee in hospitals, mosques, and United Nations Relief and Works Agency schools, which have been targeted by Israel tanks in the last three days, says the agency.
Israel is sending text messages to household mobile numbers ordering to evacuate their homes, before the people have a chance to leave their homes the missiles kill them, thousands have managed to get out at time but almost 800 have not been very lucky.
The Gaza health ministry has confirmed the deaths of 779 Palestinians so far in the besieged strip since Israel began its relentless assault on July 8. Among those killed, at least 172 were aged 18 or younger.
The latest massacre was in an Israeli bombing of an UNRWA school in Beit Hanoun.
Forty-four families have been massacred in Gaza in the past 16 days, according to ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qudra.
UNRWA strongly condemns shelling of a school in Gaza sheltering civilians and calls for an investigation.
UNRWA condemns in the strongest possible terms the shelling of one of its schools in the central area of Gaza which was sheltering hundreds of Palestinians displaced by the current fighting. At approximately 1655 hours yesterday, UNRWA’s Maghazi Preparatory Girls School, in the Maghazi refugee camp, where approximately 300 internally displaced people had sought refuge was struck by explosive ordnance believed to have been fired by Israeli forces. , July 22, 2014
100,000 displaced were the last number published in their web side, in one of their twitts, it read ‘There is literally no place safe for civilians’, said UN OCHA Spokesperson, Jens Laerke
There is literally no safe place for civilians in Gaza, says, iUNRWA’s twitter
At approximately 7 a:m this morning I received a message from a friend from Gaza, Prof Said Abdelwahed with the news of the destruction of a building of four floors in his neighborhood, he said, that two hours ago, that in his neighborhood, Israeli drones and F16 demolished a 4 story building.
” Casualties rise up dramatically, he said.
Its mid-day and 52 have already been reported killed, 24 July 2014. Thousands of displaced Palestinians stay at UNRWA schools. One school in north of Gaza in Beit Hanoun village has been targeted minutes ago, Abdelwahed said. First reports mentioned 10 people killed. Reports mentioned that 4 artillery rockets have fallen in the yard of UNRWA school killing 10 and injuring around 150 people. This is beyond the capacity of the ambulances available and the small hospital in the area, he said.
The last twitter from UNRWA read six hours ago, the number of victims conflicts with the news coming from Gaza,
Rosa Schiano, an Italian journalist and activist is being reporting every minute from Gaza since the Israel assault started 18 days ago, said in her twitter, “16 killed, More than 80 injured in the recent targeting of UNRWA school in Beit Hanoun.
She also twitts a message from Gaza witness.
“”By God, there was not a single fighter, not a single shot was fired from the school. Why did they shoot at the school? – #Gaza witness”
“Update MOH: A 17 year old boy, Doaa Raed Abu Odeh, who died from injuries sustained in the bombing of the UNRWA school” latest update
Gaza is a open prison and for the last 18 days an open cemetery, many of the neighborhood that had been flatten by the IDF is being closed for ambulances, the bodies are under the rubble and the injure left to die on their destroyed homes.
“You obliterate … whole families, and then you come and say this is self-defense?” Hanan Ashwari on last Sunday in a live interview with ABC,
UN Rights Council Probe into Israel allegued ‘war crimes’
As civilian casualties rise in Gaza, UN Rights Council agrees probe into alleged ‘war crimes’
Report from UN.org
A boy looks through a schoolbook as he sits in the rubble of a home destroyed during an Israeli air strike on the city of Khan Yunis. Photo: UNICEF/NYHQ2014-0894/El Baba
23 July 2014 – The United Nations Human Rights Council today decided to launch an independent inquiry into purported violations of international humanitarian and human rights laws in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.
Meeting in an emergency session today, the Council adopted a resolution agreeing to send the investigative team by a vote of 29 countries in favour, with 17 abstentions and a sole negative vote by the United States, in which it strongly condemned the failure of Israel to end its prolonged occupation of the area.
The Council condemned in the strongest terms the “widespread, systematic and gross violations of international human rights and fundamental freedoms” arising from the Israeli military operations since 13 June, and called for an immediate ceasefire.
“The Council further condemned all violence against civilians wherever it occurred, including the killing of two Israeli civilians as a result of rocket fire,” according to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
In the resolution, the Council also demanded that Israel immediately reopen the occupied Gaza Strip and called upon the international community to provide urgently needed humanitarian assistance and services to the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.
Navi Pillay, who opened the special session, said that the current is the third serious escalation of hostilities in the area during the six years that she has been the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. As in 2009 and 2012 “children, women, the elderly and persons with disabilities” suffer the most.
Meeting in emergency session, the UN Human Rights Council voted to launch an independent inquiry into purported violations of international humanitarian and human rights laws in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. UN/Violaine Martin
Kyung-Wha Kang, Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and UN Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, said that since the Israeli military launched operation “Protective Edge” on 7 July, over 600 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip and another 3,504 were injured. In addition, 28 Israelis, including the two civilians cited in the Council’s resolution, were killed.
“In Gaza, 443 or 74 per cent of the killed are civilians,” Ms. Kang said. “One third of civilians killed so far are children. One child has been killed each hour in Gaza over the past two days.”
Both officials deplored that every seven-year-old girl and boy in Gaza today has lived their entire life under siege, as the most recent fighting is their third major conflict and humanitarian catastrophe, compounding the humanitarian crisis caused by the seven year blockade of the enclave.
“One child has been killed each hour in Gaza over the past two days,” said Kyung-Wha Kang, Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and UN Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, told the Human Rights Council. UN/Violaine Martin
“I unequivocally reiterate to all actors in this conflict that civilians must not be targeted,” Ms. Pillay said. “It is imperative that Israel, Hamas and all Palestinian armed groups strictly abide by applicable norms of international humanitarian law and international human rights law.”
She underscored the importance of applying principles of distinction between civilians and combatants and between civilian objects and military objectives, as well as proportionality and precautions in attack.
“Not abiding by these principles may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity,” the High Commissioner said.
In a refugee camp in the city of Rafah, a Palestinian girl stands in the ruins of her home, destroyed in an airstrike (12 July 2014). Photo: UNICEF/NYHQ2014-0911/El Baba
She also called for an end to the culture of impunity and underscored that credible allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity from earlier escalations of hostilities in Gaza must be properly investigated as “so far, they have not been”.
Noting that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was currently in the region hoping to bolster support for a ceasefire, Ms. Pillay said she hoped that the parties will respond positively, but cautioned that a lasting peace can only begin with respect for human rights and human dignity, and in the full realization of the right to self-determination.
“All these dead and maimed civilians should weigh heavily on all our consciences. I know that they weigh heavily on mine,” she said, adding that efforts to protect civilians so far have been “abject failures”.
A young girl waiting to cross into Egypt with her family cries at the Rafah Border Crossing in southern Gaza. Egypt has opened the crossing to allow injured Palestinians to receive treatment. Photo: UNICEF/NYHQ2014-0902/El Baba
“More powerful entities, such as the Security Council, and individual States with serious leverage over the parties to this dreadful and interminable conflict, must do far more than they have done so far to bring this conflict to an end once and for all,” she urged.
The Human Rights Commissioner had also reiterated her calls for the blockade on Gaza to be lifted. The blockade, which has destroyed the area’s economy, has resulted in high unemployment rates and a growing dependence on international aid.
The latest round of conflict has disrupted water and sanitation services, as well as electricity, including the Gaza Power Plant which was shut down yesterday.
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has highlighted the negative impact violence has on children both physically and psychologically. Photo by Shareef Sarhan
The Council also heard from Makarim Wibisono, the Special Rapporteur for the situation of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, who spoke on behalf of the Coordination Committee of the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council.
He noted that in addition to killing people, the fighting had destroyed homes leaving several thousand families homeless. At the same time, Mr. Wibisono stressed that the right of the Palestinian people to resist occupation could not justify the launching of thousands of rockets and mortars directed against Israeli civilians.
At least 2,000 rockets and mortars have reportedly been fired towards Israel since earlier this month, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Two children stand in front of a house that police said was destroyed in an Israeli air strike in Maghazi refugee camp in Center Gaza Strip. UN Photo/Shareef Sarhan
Meanwhile, over 2,900 targets in Palestine were struck during the same period, the UN agency confirmed.
The fighting has forced approximately 118,000 Palestinians to seek refuge in 77 schools run by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, UNRWA’s Director of Legal Affairs, Lance Bartholomeusz, told the Council.
This figure is about 6 per cent of Gaza’s population, and double the peak in UNRWA shelters during the 2008 to 2009 conflict, Mr. Bartholomeusz said.
Civilians in Gaza have no safe place to go with 44 per cent of the land declared a ‘no-go zone’ by the Israeli army, according to OCHA.
The UNRWA facilities are not immune to destruction. At least 18 medical facilities, include five UNRWA health clinics have been hit by airstrikes and shelling. In addition, at least one school was hit on Monday alone, then a second time on Tuesday when UN humanitarian workers went to survey the damage.
The UN agency is appealing for $115 million and humanitarian agencies are expected to issue a full Flash Appeal in the coming days, Ms. Kagan said.
Israeli military falsifies photograph to justify bombing el-Wafa hospital
The destruction of Civilians facilities are considered WarCrimes under War Protocols and IV Geneva Convention Status, and International Humanitarian Law
“It is prohibited to attack, destroy, remove, or render useless objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, such as foodstuffs, agricultural areas for the production of foodstuffs, crops, livestock, drinking water installations and supplies and irrigation works, for the specific purpose of denying them for their sustenance value to the civilian population or to the adverse Party, whatever the motive, whether in order to starve out civilians, to cause them to move away, or for any other motive” IHL-Practice Relating to Rule 54. Attacks against Objects Indispensable to the Survival of the Civilian Population
Aerial photos on the left of the screen shot of the photo shows IDF red dots showing Al-Wafa hospital being used to launch rockets
The building in the picture marked ‘Al-Wafa’ hospital is in fact not the el-Wafa hospital but the Right to Life Society.
Aerial photos on the left of the screen shot of the photo shows IDF red dots showing Al-Wafa hospital being used to launch rockets
The building in the picture marked ‘Al-Wafa’ hospital is in fact not the el-Wafa hospital but the Right to Life Society.
On the 21st July at 2:17 PM, the IDF spokesperson released an image on twitter showing an aerial picture of a building marked as ‘Al-Wafa’ hospital. In the image there is a red circle, which they designated as the location from which a M75 rocket was launched.
The building in the picture marked ‘Al-Wafa’ hospital is in fact not the el-Wafa hospital but the Right to Life Society, says palsolidarity.org on their web side.
On July 11, Israel’s army fired four ‘warning’ missiles at the roof of El-Wafa rehabilitation hospital in Gaza City, Gaza. International volunteers now staying in the hospital in solidarity, have said they, “can hear missiles falling close by”.
“The civilian population of Gaza is being bombed. We will stay with them in solidarity until the international community and our governments take action to stop Israel’s crimes against humanity.” States Swedish International Solidarity Movement (ISM) activist, Fred Ekblad.
At around 20:00 Basman Alashi, executive director of the hospital, received an unidentified call from a person with a, “heavy Israeli accent”, asking if there were any injuries, whether there was any one in the top floor, and whether they were planning to evacuate the hospital.
Alashi says the hospital will not be evacuated because there is nowhere to evacuate the patients too. “El-Wafa hospital serves the patients that need medical attention 24 hours a day. Including patients that can’t move, or people who need to be fed by tube. This hospital is the only one in Gaza specializing in the rehabilitation of people who need physical and occupational therapy. Some of our patients are over 60 years old, men and women. We don’t understand why the Israeli forces have fired five rockets at the hospital in the last 24 hours so far. We serve humanity.”
On July 18, At 21:45, the Israeli military called the Red Cross and asked them to contact el-Wafa to ask how much time was needed to evacuate the rest of the hospital. Alashi told them that he needed two hours to fully evacuate the hospital.
The last shelling occurred at 22:00 and the last patient was evacuated at 22:45 to Al sahaba medical complex.
According to Dr. Basman Alashi, “There were no physical injuries but emotionally, it is indescribable for the staff.”
Palestine has no army, for such, The whole of Gaza population is under the protection of IV Geneva Convention, and International Humanitarian Law.
Why I petition for Gaza
Girl being evacuated from Aqsa-Martyrs Hospital after being hit by Israel tanks, On July 22, 2014, on Gaza, Palestine (photo/Shady Alassar)
Patient being evacuated from Aqsa-Martyrs Hospital after being hit by Israel tanks, On July 22, 2014, on Gaza, Palestine (photo/Shady Alassar)
Patient being evacuated from Aqsa-Martyrs Hospital after being hit by Israel tanks, On July 22, 2014, on Gaza, Palestine (photo/Shady Alassar)
A Patient is helped to an ambulance ready to be evacuated to safety. Aqsa-Martyrs Hospital was hit by Israel tanks, On July 22, 2014, on Gaza, Palestine (photo/Shady Alassar)
A slow genocide have been taken place in Gaza since Israel placed an illegal blockade of the Strip in 2007, not that it has been better for Palestinians before 2007. Since Israel was created in the minds of the Zionist Organization in 1897, Jews gangs were hired by the British elite and they started the campaign of harassing Palestinians preparing the land for the new arrivals of Jews that starting coming sin the 1900’s. Then when physically and officially Israel was installed in Palestine in 1948 the situation has been from bad to worst.
Now, with this latest assault in Gaza, where the most horrific war crimes has been committed against an entire population with as today July 23, 2014, more than 625 person killed and 4000 maimed by aerial and sea bombardment, and tank shells, many , mosques, hospitals and residential building razed to the ground.
Nights are the worst. That is when the bombing escalates. Nowhere is safe. Not a mosque. Not a church. Not a school, or even a hospital. All are potential targets, said Mohammed Omer, from the New York Times
Gaza is an enclave in the Mediterranean Sea with almost 2 millions inhabitants that had been forced to live out of hand outs from UNRAW which it is supported by the International Community Donations.
The illegal commercial and humanitarian siege placed by Israel and enforced in part by Egypt had put Gaza at the verge of collapsing the infrastructure of the civil administration, and impoverished the entire population to the lowest standard of living.
The only electrical plant have been functioning with petrol donated by Arab leaders, as the local government refuses to let Israeli oil to be bought to Gaza. It is a matter of moral and political principles not to support the economy of the entity that stole their land, made them refugees and keep them isolated and oppressed.
The international community needs to step their efforts to end immediately Gaza siege, siege that is causing the worse humanitarian crisis in the 21 century.
Thanks to all the International community of social and peace activists that have supported Gaza throughout the convoys bringing humanitarian and medical aid to Gaza and to all the voices raising awareness on Israel crimes.
Avaaz.org We demand that Intl. Criminal Court & UN charge Benjamin Netanyahu & Israel for War Crimes against Humanity.
We the citizens of the world demand that Benjamin Netanyahu as person and Israel as the apartheid state is put on trial along with all the evidences that prove it to be a country responsible for terrible war crimes against humanity and people of Palestine in general.
Only in the first three weeks of the genocide by Israel, they used over 17 000 tons of rockets and bombs, martyred 1967, from which 1600 were civilians, 371 children, 10000+ civilians injured and over 500 000 people made homeless.
MoveOn Tell @WhiteHouse & @JohnKerry: End Gaza War and Lift Blockade Petition by Abir “Abby” Elzowidi
The Obama Administration and Congress should use all means at their disposal to end the war and lift the economic blockade in Gaza. The U.S., Israel, and Egypt should trade a permanent end to rockets and other attacks from Gaza for a permanent end to Israeli and Egyptian restrictions on Gaza’s economy and on the movement of Palestinians into and out of Gaza.
AVAAZ.ORG GAZA: FULL CEASEFIRE, END THE BLOCKADE
Petition to the UN Security Council, the European Union, the Arab League and the USA:
We urge you to act immediately to ensure a comprehensive ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, to protect civilians on all sides, and to address the growing humanitarian crisis. Only through robust international action and oversight can the bloodshed be stopped, the Gaza crossings safely re-opened and real progress made toward a wider peace in 2009.
Causes.com Bring an end to the violence between Israel and Gaza
Innocent people are being traumatized, injured, and killed every day. This must end!
IPetitions Gaza – CeaseFire Now
CEASEFIRE NOW! The escalation in and around the Gaza Strip is causing terrible suffering to people – to men, women, elderly and children, Palestinian as well as Israeli civilians. The military offensive conducted by the Israeli armed forces has so far caused hundreds of Palestinian casualties; majority of them were unarmed civilians.
The siege and economic blockade have reduced most of the Gaza Strip’s population to abject poverty, devastated its economy, and caused the death of critically ill patients, denied access to vital treatment. The Palestinian attacks on Sderot have severely traumatized its population, far beyond the physical casualties caused among them. This is not a conflict between two equal forces. The most powerful army in the Middle East, backed by the world’s single remaining super-power, is daily using tanks, fighter planes, helicopters and gunships against the lightly-armed militias and overcrowded population of a small area whose people have lived under occupation and in poverty long before the present siege. Yet the individuals caught in the fighting are all suffering – on both sides of the fighting, among both peoples. The pain of living in daily fear, of being wounded and mutilated for life, of grieving for the loss of loved ones, is the same pain – whether one’s country be oppressed or oppressor, occupied or occupier, rich or poor, powerful or powerless. The attacks on both sides of the border feed on each other and intensify each other. Palestinians in Gaza, rightly feeling themselves still living under occupation despite the Israeli ‘disengagement’, seek to resist occupation, but when some use launching of rockets against civilians, they manage only to provide an additional justification for tightening the siege on Gaza and the escalation of Israeli violence. The cycle of violence and bloodshed goes on and on, and the threat of an overall invasion and re-conquest of the Gaza Strip is openly and repeatedly made by the Israeli military and political leaders – with the cost estimated at hundreds or thousands of casualties. We, the undersigned – Israelis and Palestinians – do not accept this grim reality as inevitable. There is a clear and obvious alternative to bloody escalation and strangulating siege, an alternative providing hope: an end to the siege of Gaza, and a ceasefire and cessation of all hostilities. The siege of Gaza and the collective punishment of its population are totally unacceptable. It is a medieval form of war which is in utter contradiction to the present norms of human rights and international law – which Israel, as an occupying power, is bound to respect. There should be an immediate end to the siege, unconnected with any other issue, and the Gaza Strip must have free access to the outside world, for the free passage of persons and goods. It has already been clearly seen that the suffering inflicted on Palestinian civilians in Gaza did not and cannot solve the problem of Sderot. The only solution is a complete and mutual ceasefire, an end to all armed attacks by the Israeli occupation on Palestinians, including all shootings by infantry, tanks, artillery, aircraft and gunboats, and all targeted killings, armed incursions and arrests across the border, and an end to launching of rockets by Palestinians on Israelis. In addition, this should involve a reopening of the prisoners issue, starting with negotiations on the exchange of Israeli soldier Gilead Shalit with Palestinian prisoners. We regard such a ceasefire as an entirely realistic, achievable and desirable act, which would save lives, alleviate misery and create better conditions for any attempt to achieve peace between the two peoples – while understanding that no long-lasting solution is possible while the Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem continue to live under occupation. ——————————– Full text including Hebrew and Arabic translations at http://toibillboard.info
Atheist Jews with family in Israel writes a reddit on Gaza
His user name fowlsegs writes a reddit in response to the article “We have nothing to lose:I would rather die with my family under the rubble of our house than having a humiliating truce’=: Palestinian youth demand justice”
The article was submitted by user onicc in reddit.com/r/worldnews and in less than six hours it position itself in one of the most read posts in worldnews reddit.
The sad part of the article is that is about the death and destruction of Gaza, Palestine.
fowlslegs writes the following:
Wrote the following in the comment section of the post “Cellphone Video Captures Gaza Civilian Shot and Killed By Sniper,” but I thought I should share this here too. Obviously the first paragraph or so is out of context here, but I think the rest is important for to read (esp. for Americans).
Whether or not this video is real is trivial. If you think there’s no way it’s real you haven’t been doing your research. There are a huge number of extremely racist and angry Israelis and things like this are constantly happening. That’s why the civilian death toll is so high. Dozens of civilians have died from shelling today. Make no mistake many have been intentional.
Don’t you realize Israel wants to kill Palestinian civilians to punish them because they believe there is great support from Hamas? That’s why Gazans are denied ambulances, fishing territory, food and international aide, etc.. That’s why they have curfews and have their papers checked and their bodies groped at checkpoints within their own territory. That’s why it’s called the world’s largest prison.
Considering the following conclusion United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict (2009).
The operations were in furtherance of an overall policy aimed at punishing the Gaza population for its resilience and for its apparent support for Hamas, and possibly with the intent of forcing a change in such support.
Read the Wikipedia articles about racism in Israel. Arab Israelis are largely segregated from Jewish Israelis and find themselves disadvantaged in terms of social mobility, education, and under the law. You’ll see from polls that the vast majority of Israelis are not afraid to admit they believe they are a superior people to Arabs and that they would prefer they and their family not have to share apartment buildings, playgrounds, schools, hospitals, etc. with their children.
Read the book Hollow Land: Israel’s Architecture of Occupation by Eyal Weizman. You’ll learn about how in the colonized (settled) areas of the West Bank, where Israelis bulldoze Palestinian homes to make room for their own, they drive on separate roads, live in gated communities, etc.. It becomes clear why the South African apartheid analogy comes into play.
Make no mistake: Israel wishes to colonize all of Palestine. That’s why they won’t consider any peace treaty which makes them give up the massive amount of land and resources they’ve taken, even though, AFAIK, every country has categorically rejected the legality of their land grab. Look at the history of their illegal housing demolitions, their settlements and outposts, their massive infrastructure within Palestinian territory, and their division of West Bank with numerous extensions of the West Bank Barrier. Their ethnic cleansing and Judaizing of space. Look at this historical map. That isn’t self-defense. Read about the huge number of settlers, citizens, and politicians who deny Palestine’s existence as a state. That isn’t self-defense. Read about the history of the Zionist movement.
I see people commenting about how it’s foolish to take sides when you don’t know what’s going on. I disagree. Take the side of the Palestinian and of the Israeli citizen. Invest yourself thoroughly in what’s going on. Something needs to be done about Hamas and terror attacks on Israeli citizens, but the situation for Palestinian civilians is much more pressing, and not only during times of war. (They experience violence, the destruction of their homes, the colonization of their land, checkpoints, curfews, discrimination, denial of access to building materials, medical and school supplies, etc.. See the film Six Broken Cameras to see examples of this happening and how the Palestinian civilian body has largely reacted.) Additionally, the amelioration of the living conditions of Palestinians is much cheaper (actually negative in expense, arguably) and easier than the elimination of a terror group that works largely in secret (see the continued existence of al-Qaeda, the Taliban, etc.).
As Reddit is largely US citizens we can actually do somethings about it. A conservative estimate of direct US aid to Israel puts the number at more than $130 billion. We are financing this imperialism with our words and dollar.
If you want to help Palestinian citizens, I suggest joining the BDS (boycott, divestment, sanctions) movement as a first step.
Boycott products made by Israeli or US companies operating in stolen Palestinian land and products made by corporations who provide the infrastructure for the operation. You can find a list of such companies online. One example is US corporation Caterpillar, whose bulldozers are used to destroy Palestinian homes.
Support divestment of your company, school, etc. from these corporations and also from any Israeli government owned business. Start a Students for Justice in Palestine group at your college/ University or join the one that already exists.
Call and email your national representatives and demand that aid to Israel’s military must be cut. Explain why using some of what I’ve written above or your own argument.
I hope this argument got through to at least a few of you. Fighting colonialism is a lot easier than fighting terrorism.
Written by an Atheist Jew with family in Israel. My family there is against the occupation and colonization.
I Rather Die: We have nothing left to lose
“We have nothing left to lose. I would rather die with my family under the rubble of our house than have a humiliating truce’: Palestinian youth demand justice”

Palestinian killed under the rubble of his home after an Israel missile targeted his home. “The sleep, that never ends.” reads a post in facebook The death toll continues to rise in the East of Gaza as Palestinians retrieve their loved ones from the rubble. July 20, 2014 at Gaza, Palestine
Palestinians in Gaza have been suffering a long blockade from the outside world, such blockade, was placed by Israel and enforced in part by Egypt by closing Rafah crossing, which it is the only other border to the outside world.
Palestinians in Gaza see the siege to the Strip worse than a direct war at them, the siege of Gaza is a slow death. A truce with Israel that does not include end of the blockade is only temporary cease of fire.
Fishermen are harassed everyday by Israel boats that illegally patrol Gaza’s waters. Fisherman are confined to a 3 nautical miles to fish.
Excerpt from 3 Miles to Fish or Die,
“Why did you break the 3 mile limit?” an Israeli soldier asked him.
“During Oslo, we were allowed to reach 20 miles so why do you prevent us from going past 3 miles? These 3 miles not enough,” Al-Hesy responded.
Gaza is not a pleasant place to be. The Israeli occupation smothers and suffocates, it makes one highly attuned to one’s surroundings in unnatural ways, or ways that were once natural but should no longer be. Notes from behind the Blockade

I took a much-needed shower after a day of harvesting olives near the buffer zone and my skin still burns. My eyes itch as well. I’m not quite sure what this is about. Gaza’s water contamination is well-documented — Israel damaged the sewage facilities here during “Operation Cast Lead” causing sewage to penetrate Gaza’s coastal aquifer. There is a high level nitrates in the water here (nitrates come from waste and cause “blue baby syndrome”) as well as high saline levels (tap water is undrinkable), but I haven’t heard anything about this weird itching and burning. International Activist in Gaza

Reality of the Israel Blockade in Gaza Graphic
There’s a serious Israeli blockade of Gaza. You’ll notice Israeli fences, boundaries, and supervised crossings all around Gaza. Israel heavily controls the flow of goods through these channels, including food, medicine, construction materials, and the like. The state reason it does that is to limit Hamas’ ability to resupply itself militarily; for instance, Hamas and other militant groups often home-build rockets that get fired into Israeli towns and cities. These restrictions also severely affect civilians. To deal with the military and civilian effects of the blockade, Hamas built well over a thousand tunnels out of Gaza — mostly into Egypt. Israel’s stated reason for the ground incursion into Gaza is shutting down tunnels into Israel built for attacks, but it also may want to shut down Hamas supply tunnels into Egypt. Vox.com
Jerusalem Post published on last week an Egyptian proposed cease of fire that many in Gaza believes to be Israel crafted, such cease of fire agreement was rejected by Hamas for the simple reason that they were not invited to participate in the conversations and the cease of fire does not help to end the conflict in Gaza at all, it is simply temporary cease of fire.
Historically Israel has broke every cease of fire signed when continues with the target assassinations on Palestinian leaders in Gaza and around the world, the latest target assassinations during negotiated cease fire Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, on January 19, 2010 and Ahmed Jabari who Hours before to be assassinated, he have received the draft of a permanent truce agreement with Israel, which included mechanisms for maintaining the cease-fire in the case of a flare-up between Israel and the factions in the Gaza Strip.
Gaza ask 10 very easy achievable points to end the rockets to Israel:
End completely Gaza siege including the 3-fishing-nautical-miles, release of all political prisoners including the prisoners re-arrested after Shilat deal exchange, release the 500 or so arrested in West Bank after the 3 Israeli soldiers were killed, including Hamas members of Palestinian parliament , stop the assassination of Palestinian political leaders and and international supervision of the Gazan seaport in place of the current Israeli blockade, which was suggested by Qatari Foreign Minister Khaled Al-Attiyah, on July 14, 2014
I leave you to reflect on the words of Benjamin Netayahu included in a book he co_authored in 1986, in his words he explain exactly why Israeli actions against the Palestinians are carried out. He is doing exactly what he said in 1986.
Benjamin Netayahu best known by Bibi in 1986 co-authored a book called TERRORISM How The West Can Win. In the Chapter “Defining Terrorism”, you find the following statement.
“For in addition to random killing, terrorist often engage in assassinations of society’s leaders. Assassinations, in fact is important to the genesis of modern terrorism, emerging from an older tradition that maintains that a society can be reshaped, or a creed cleansed, by eliminating its leaders or ruling class. For the TERRORIST, assassination is the precursor of mass murder, and both constitute the principal weapons in his arsenal.” Benjamin Netayahu, 1986 in his book TERRORISM
Story of Resistance
The apartheid wall art “To exist is to resist” reads in bold red letters
I still regularly keep in touch with people in Gaza. The talk is usually about the lack of electricity, bombs in the night, graduates with no job opportunities, the tight grip of the Hamas government, and walls that are nearly impossible to scale. Yes, mainly they talk about leaving. Leaving Gaza, leaving this prison and dumpster of the world. Many of my friends left like I did, and many more want to.
We wrote this manifesto because we wanted to live. Not because we wanted to be tortured, arrested and sacrificed. No, we are young enough to demand a future for ourselves, and we don’t see a future for us in Gaza right now.
My friends and I were forced to leave by a Gaza that has been made unbearable by violence and arrests through Hamas. A future in Gaza has been robbed from us by a siege that leaves us no jobs or opportunities. Nevertheless, even though we might be leagues apart and spread throughout the world, we will never cease to see a future for Gaza. Palestine, Gaza, that is our land, that is where we belong.
There’s an olive tree in my garden, and I have always dreamed of seeing my children playing under it. Wherever I might be now, one day my children will be playing under this olive tree, in a free Palestine, without fear for their lives, and that is what I will keep fighting for.
Yes, we are weary. But still, my story – and the stories of all the other amazing youth of Gaza – is and always will be a story of resistance, of resilience. Of always coming back to the land we belong to. We carry the hope of a free Gaza, a free Palestine and a future there for us in our hearts, and in our hands, in our daily work.
We struggle every day against our obstacles and for our dreams, and you can see that in all the amazing creativity coming out of Gaza, in our art, poems, writing, videos and songs, you can hear it and meet us in the talks we give all over the world.
Yes, we wrote a manifesto, and maybe that was just the bright and loud outcry of the beginning of a journey, whose path is hard and tiring, thorny and also often very quiet and dark. But it is always there.
So two years later, we say: We will be free. We will live. We will have peace. And we are always out there, fighting our daily struggle, full of the resistance we inherited from a long struggle for Palestine. We live and write and say and sing silent or load manifestos every day. Just listen to us.
—Saturday, October 20, 2012, 1:19 p.m
Matter since writing this story is back in Gaza, and he is being reporting every minute the updates of Gaza Massacre of the latest Israel bloody operations.
Matter also known as Abu Yazan, is a young political activist from Gaza, founder of Youth Breaks Out (GYBO) GYBO is a peaceful Palestinian youth movement in Gaza, which gained international attention after publishing a Manifesto in January. Abu Yazan is a leading voice in the movement that is representing a growing number of Gazan youth. The group raises, mainly through new social media like facebook, awareness about the situation under siege for young people in Gaza, and recently called for unity among the Palestinian factions with the aim to target the illegal Israeli occupation. Abu Yazan regularly takes part in demonstrations against the illegal Israeli occupation in Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza.
Al-Shujaeia neighborhood military zone
At least 100 Palestinians and 13 Israeli troops have died across Gaza in the deadliest day since Israel began its operation.
The Spokesman for the Health Ministry in Gaza, Ashraf Al-Qudra, accused the Israeli side of preventing the transport of bodies and injured to hospitals. He told reporters “Israeli forces are heavily firing at and shelling ambulances, civil defense vehicles, as well as civilian homes and the number of those fallen cannot be ascertained amid these circumstances.” He described the attacks since post-midnight Saturday as the fiercest since the start of the assault on Gaza two weeks ago.
A new martyr identified as Zakareya Alashqar, 24 Y, .Death toll is up to 502 . #Gaza Abu Yazan Facebook Updates
He pointed out “there is deliberate, premeditated targeting of civilian homes with mortar shells and air missiles,” and “medical crews are desperately trying to reach the victims”. He added international agencies including the Red Cross are contacting the Israelis to urge them to allow ambulances into Al-Shujaeia neighborhood where the greatest number of victims was reported, “to no avail.” “The Israelis had vowed to destroy this neighborhood completely and considers the area a closed military zone and no one is allowed in.” Al-Qudra said reports of deaths and injuries are pouring in from Rafah, Al-Wusta Governorate, as well as Al-Shujaeia.(end) mt.wsa
Dead and displaced in Shuyaiya neighborhood of East Gaza, updates from Palestinians trapped in the line of fire, have been uploading photos and updates in facebook as the conditions permits.
People fleeing the shelling in the northeast Gazan neighbourhood of Shaja’iya described it as a “massacre”, with many women and children among the dead, said Sky News
Updates from UNRWA office in Gaza put the displaced at 81,000 people whose houses were bombed by Israel missiles since Operation Protective Edge started more than 2 weeks ago.
Distraught civilians are now taking shelter from the relentless violence in 61 UNRWA schools in #Gaza, said UNRWA office, They said to be at least 54 people killed over night. Ten were children – seven boys and two girls. The death toll in Gaza since 8 July has reached 368 people and about 2,295 injured. At least 80 children are amongst the total dead. Official Update on July 19.
According to IDF spokesperson twitter account published at a declassify areal photos of Al-Shujaeia neighborhood, where they said Hamas used civilian infrastructure to throw rockets.
The twitter photo seems as a drawn photo where no rockets can be seen but red dots, that according to the @IDFspokesperson twitter is a rocket site.
Below is the twitter snapshot, judge by yourself, how much credibility Israel have left after killing more than 500 Palestinians mostly children and women.
Asymmetric war: CNN correspondent Karl Penhaul reports from Gaza
Khaled Hamad,a Palestinian journalist.Killed by a targeted Israeli airstrike while covering Shaja’iya massacre. #Gaza on July 20, 2014 at Gaza, Palestine
https://twitter.com/karlpenhaul/status/490947115929972736
The body of a elderly woman, who medics said was killed during heavy Israeli shelling, is seen at her house in the Shejaia neighborhood, which was heavily shelled by Israel during fighting, in Gaza City July 20, 2014. At least 50 Palestinians were killed on Sunday by Israeli shelling in a Gaza neighborhood, where bodies were strewn in the street and thousands fled for shelter to a hospital packed with wounded, witnesses and health officials said. Militants kept up their rocket fire on Israel, with no sign of a diplomatic breakthrough toward a ceasefire in sight. REUTERS/Ali Hassan
https://twitter.com/karlpenhaul/status/490936900018896897
A Palestinian boy, who medics said was wounded by Israeli shelling, receives treatment at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City July 20, 2014. At least 20 Palestinians were killed on Sunday by Israeli shelling in a Gaza neighbourhood, where bodies were strewn in the street and thousands fled toward the hospital packed with wounded, witnesses and health officials said. The mass casualties in the Shejaia district in northeast Gaza appeared to be the heaviest since Israel launched its offensive on the Palestinian territory on July 8 after cross-border rocket strikes by militants intensified. Militants kept up their rocket fire on Israel, with no sign of a diplomatic breakthrough toward a ceasefire in sight. (Photo/Ali Jadallah)
https://twitter.com/karlpenhaul/status/490937218207211520
Palestinian killed under the rubble of his home after an Israel missile targeted his home. “The sleep, that never ends.” reads a post in facebook
The death toll continues to rise in the East of Gaza as Palestinians retrieve their loved ones from the rubble. July 20, 2014 at Gaza, Palestine
The remains of an ambulance hit during the assault of Shaja’ia neighborhood at #Gaza July 20, 2014
July 17 Day of International Criminal Justice
Ban Kin Moon holding a sign on July 17 celebrating International Criminal Court, The International body in charge to keep justice in the world, and punish those that transgresses it.
This is a sick joke for people that are following the massacre being conducted against the people of Gaza, where war crimes are being indisputable being committed by the Israeli Defenses forces Aka Israel Occupation Forces, while the United Nations is celebrating July 17 as the International day of Criminal Justice, on reference of the ICC
“The International Criminal Court (ICC), governed by the Rome Statute, is the first permanent, treaty based, international criminal court established to help end impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community. ” ICC
Why haven’t the Palestinians officials apply to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court so they can take Israel to the higher court of justice.
Why all the extra wording, it seems as they were playing a game of death with Israel.
Are they waiting for more massacres to occur in Gaza, don’t we have enough evidence of war crimes committed against the population of Palestine?.
There are recorded massacres in the history books that qualify as war crimes.
Hanan Ashrawi, speaks of Threat to Israel to join the Rome Status to take Israel to ICC.
#Israel have committed enough #Warcrimes, #Gaza is bleeding. #Hamas has no recourse but to resist, al-Quds Brigades has no recourse but to resist until you politicians do your job. Gazawans can not subsist much longer, the war and fast dead will be a blessing for them, what they can not take any longer is the siege to Gaza. Do something fast, NOW is almost late..
On an article published by the Israel Times she says that If Operation Protective Edge continues, we will head to Hague-based court ‘sooner rather than later,’ PLO official Hanan Ashrawi said.
What does this means for 350 and counting death under Israel bombs in Gaza?
What does this mean for the almost 1.8 residents of Gaza that had been placed in a slow cooking pressure ghetto?
What does this mean for the people around the world that had been victim of violence by the hands of the armies that belong to the Security Council of the United Nations?
I see this photo and my stomach gets sick with anger and repulsion. I’m outraged to see this photo of Ban Ki-moon holding a sign that reads
JUSTICE MATTER .
They even open a page dedicate to July 17 in facebook where people is submitting their photos with signs #JusticeMatter, I wonder if those people knows what is happening in Gaza or even if they know what justice mean.
Just behavior or treatment: a concern for justice, peace, and genuine respect for people – The quality of being fair and reasonable
Does Justice Matter for Palestinians or they are exclude because Israel is the one committing the war crimes.
“17 July is the Day of International Criminal Justice. The Day marks the anniversary of the adoption of the Rome Statute on 17 July 1998, the founding treaty of the International Criminal Court, which seeks to protect people from genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. The Day unites all those who wish to support justice, promote victims’ rights, and help prevent crimes that threaten the peace, security and well-being of the world.” United Nations google+
The International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991, more commonly referred to as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia or ICTY, is a body of the United Nations established to prosecute serious crimes committed during the wars in the former Yugoslavia, and to try their perpetrators. The tribunal is an ad hoc court which is located in The Hague, Netherlands.
Why the UN haven’t create an The International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Occupied Territory of Palestine since 1948 and beyond?
Noor Abu Jarad left homeless and orphan
Noor Abu Jarad went to sleep at night, woke up in Al-Shifa Hospital. Then was told that her entire family of 8 members were all killed; after Israel targeted their home. She was the only survivor. I wonder how her life will continue from now on..
18 hours ago the update on Gaza was 307 deaths. Now it is 345 deaths! And from 2268 injured to 2560 injured!! This is just astonishing and heartbreaking. I’m running out of words to explain Israel’s brutal, inhuman and illegal actions..
Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Kidra said the new round of airstrikes raised the death toll from the 12-day offensive to at least 342 Palestinians, many of them civilians.
61 people were killed in Friday alone, Saturday 10, the tally is 309 Palestinian killed so far in this 17 days of slaughter. But who is counting right?
Source: Ma’an News Agency
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — 22 Palestinians were killed overnight with at least ten killed just since day break on Saturday as Israeli forces continued their military offensive against the Gaza Strip by air, sea, and land for the twelfth day, Palestinian medical sources said.
The killings follow the deadliest day in the conflict so far, after Israel killed at least 52 Palestinians and injured more than 400 on the first day of their ground invasion of the besieged coastal enclave.
Spokesman for the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza Ashraf al-Qidra said on Saturday that Israeli forces had “committed a massacre against Palestinian civilians” in the Khan Younis district in the southern Gaza Strip overnight, killing seven.
He identified the victims as 20-year-old Yahya Bassam al-Serri, Muhammad Bassam al-Serri, 17, Mahmoud Ridha Salihiyya, 56, Mustafa Ridha Salihiyya, 21, Wasim Ridha Salihiyya, 15, Muhammad Mustafa Salihiyya, 22, and Ibrahim Jamal Kamal Nasr, 13.
Al-Qidra also said that 27-year-old Raed Walid Laqan was killed in Khan Younis by an Israeli attack on a home belonging to the Tartouri family.
In addition, 30-year-old Said Ali Issa was killed in Juhor Addik neighborhood in the central Gaza Strip near al-Bureij refugee camp.
34-year-old Ahmad Mahmoud Hasan Aziz was killed by an Israeli missile on his home in Abraj al-Nada in the northern Gaza Strip overnight as well.
Saturday morning’s deaths bring the total death toll of 12 days of Israeli military offensive in Gaza to 309 in addition to 2268 injuries, according to al-Qidra.
The spokesman highlighted that Friday was the deadliest day of Israel’s military aggression on Gaza with 52 Palestinians killed as of midnight.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health confirmed that 71 children, 25 women and 17 elderly people have been killed in Israel’s assault on Gaza as of Friday night.
Israel launched its assault on the Gaza Strip — which it has dubbed “Operation Protective Edge” — in response to rocket fire from the area, which had increased in the weeks before the operation due to a massive Israeli military operation in the West Bank.
10 Palestinians died, more than 130 were injured, and more than 600 Hamas-affiliated individuals were arrested during that operation, which was launched following the disappearance of three Israeli youths in June.
Israel accused Hamas of being behind the disappearance, and in addition to the assault on the West Bank launched nightly airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, which has been under a full economic blockade for the last seven years.
Hamas, however, denied the charges, and many have accused Israel of using the subsequent deaths of the three Israeli teenagers as a pretext for a widespread assault on the group.
US blacklists the Federal Lebanese Bank; Cryprus take over the operations
Source Dailystar.com.lb
FMBE Bank, which has offices in Cyprus , is based in Tanzania and was established as a subsidiary of the Federal Bank of Lebanon (TDS/From METALCO WEBSITE?
Yesterday, the U.S. Treasury accused The Lebanese-owned- FBME Bank, which though chartered in Tanzania operates primarily in Cyprus, of facilitating financial activity for transnational organized crime and Hezbollah, labeling it a “primary money laundering concern.”
For such reason the Cyprus Central Bank seize the assets of the FBME.
US working diligently to undermine Hezbollah, one of the few Palestinians friends in the region.
After news were circulating that Hezbollah and Iran armies will support Palestine, Israel dog barked at US, and US immediately put its power to the service of the Zionist Entity.
The Cypriot Central Bank took over the operations of the Lebanese-owned FBME Bank in Cyprus Friday, a day after the United States Treasury Department announced that it was blacklisting the bank.
“The Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) announces that, under the powers conferred to it by the relevant legislation, [it] has taken over, as of today, the management of the operations of the branch of FBME Bank Ltd in Cyprus,” the Central Bank said on its website.
FBME Chairman Ayoub-Farid Saab told The Daily Star that the bank had requested the Cypriot action, in order to clear itself of the “unfounded allegations.”
“We are running a clean operation on the island,” he said.
On Thursday, the U.S. Treasury accused FBME, which though chartered in Tanzania operates primarily in Cyprus, of facilitating financial activity for transnational organized crime and Hezbollah, labeling it a “primary money laundering concern.”
“FBME promotes itself on the basis of its weak Anti-Money Laundering (AML) controls in order to attract illicit finance business from the darkest corners of the criminal underworld.” Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, a department of the U.S. Treasury, Director Jennifer Shasky Calvery said in a statement Thursday. “Today’s action, effectively shutting FBME off from the U.S. financial system, is a necessary step to disrupt the bank’s efforts.”
FBME, which originally established in Cyprus in 1982 as a subsidiary of the Federal Bank of Lebanon SAL, is now chartered in Tanzania, according to its website.
According to the Federal Bank of Lebanon’s website, the two firms are “part of the Saab’s financial group.” The Federal Bank of Lebanon, owned by Ayoub-Farid Saab and his brother Fadi Saab, is not named in the Treasury Department report.
Ayoub-Farib Saab insisted that the Federal Bank of Lebanon was not involved in the FBME issue.
“We have two separate board of directors, there are no problems with the Federal Bank of Lebanon and we are cooperating with the Central Bank,” he said, adding that he had met with Lebanese Central Bank officials Friday and would be issuing a statement over the weekend.
Saab denied that the Federal Bank of Lebanon would be affected or forced to sell over FBME’s problems.
The Treasury report, dated July 15, listed a number of suspicious transactions and legal violations from FBME over the last decade, including allegations that a bank customer “received a deposit of hundreds of thousands of dollars from a financier for Lebanese Hezbollah.”
“FBME was involved in at least 4,500 suspicious wire transfers through U.S. correspondent accounts that totaled at least $875 million between November 2006 and March 2013,” the report said.
The finding of the bank as a “primary money laundering concern” opens the process to institute special measures against the bank and all of its subsidiaries. The Treasury Department has proposed applying the “Fifth Special Measure” under the U.S. Patriot Act, which blocks U.S. financial institutions from carrying out any transactions with the sanctioned bank. There is a 60-day comment period from the publishing of the Treasury Department report before any final action can be taken.
The United States has sought to increase pressure on Hezbollah, which it considers a terrorist network, by cutting it off from any access to international financing. Several Lebanese money changers have been targeted over informal fund transfer activities, while the Lebanese Canadian Bank was wound down after being designated a primary money laundering concern by the U.S.
Media at war with the truth; while Gaza is slaughter
by Marivel Guzman
CNN Reassigns Reporter Who Called Israelis Cheering Bombs ‘Scum’ in Tweet reads The New York Times headlines today.
It seems that the conglomerate media is more worried for sensitivities, than covering Israel slaughter in Gaza. The Truth!
Yesterday, the whole world saw the tweet being distributed in facebook, Twitter, and other social networks, the ‘insensitive tweet’ of Diana Magnay, CNN reporter of Gaza war, as many Israel supporter called it. Insensitive? did you watch the video in Tel Aviv today, of ‘extremist’ the New York times called them, yelling “Fuck the Arabs” “Kill the Arabs” at a Anti-war demonstration.
While Gaza is being destroyed, people being indiscriminately killed, the Stream Media worry for for the crowd of Israeli’s sensitivities.

A snapshot of Diana Magnay tweet before being removed calling Israelis cheering Gaza bombs “Scam”
“On Thursday night, CNN correspondent Diana Magnay did a report from a hill in southern Israel, where a group of Israelis had gathered to watch the beginning of the ground invasion of the Gaza Strip. As Magnay described the missiles flying through the sky behind her, the spectators could be heard cheering on the bombardment. “It is an astonishing, macabre and awful thing to watch this display of fire in the air,” she told Wolf Blitzer before signing off.” said the nymag.com
While the number of victims in Gaza is raising by the minute, just today called bloody Friday by Electronic Intifada, the death toll from Israel’s assault on Gaza continues to rise.
“At least 61 people, at least 12 of them children, were killed on Friday alone, the second day of Israel’s ground invasion of parts of the Gaza Strip, and the twelfth and bloodiest day since Israel began bombarding the territory with airstrikes and land-based and naval artillery.
Eight members of a single family, the youngest six months old, were killed when a missile struck their home.” http://electronicintifada.net

Palestinian mourners gather around the body of five-month-old baby Faris al-Mahmoum during his funeral on 18 July in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip. (Ashraf Amra / APA images)
Another media war against the people’s rights to know the truth happened yesterday where another correspondent was removed for publishing tweets
Questions Surround NBC’s Removal Of Ayman Mohyeldin From Gaza, New York Times heading reads, NBC executives said privately that the move was motivated by “security concerns” as Israel prepared a ground invasion.
Moyheldin’s reporting of his social media coverage of the tragic beach attack going viral. Mohyeldin tweeted Wednesday about having just played soccer with the children killed on the beach near several hotels where foreign journalists are staying. He covered their parents’ heartbreaking reaction on both Facebook and Instagram. Mohyeldin also worked on a TV package that was broadcast later on “NBC Nightly News.”
The role of the media is to report the truth in the most accurate and unbiased way as possible, what we have seen in the the last almost three weeks of Israel assault in Gaza is a media worried more for Israelis’ sensitivities than for reporting the truth.
“Members of the Society of Professional Journalists believe that public enlightenment is the forerunner of justice and the foundation of democracy. The duty of the journalist is to further those ends by seeking truth and providing a fair and comprehensive account of events and issues. Conscientious journalists from all media and specialties strive to serve the public with thoroughness and honesty. Professional integrity is the cornerstone of a journalist’s credibility. Members of the Society share a dedication to ethical behavior and adopt this code to declare the Society’s principles and standards of practice. ” Preamble of Society of Professional Journalist Code of Ethics
Israel gunboats killed 4 children while playing in Gaza Beach
Mohammed Baker, 9; Ahed Baker, 10; Zakaria Baker, 10; and Mohammed Baker, 11. were killed yesterday afternoon by the Israeli gunboats that illegally patrols Gaza shores. This terror attack occured in Al-Deira #Gaza, Palestine during second week of Israel terror attacks on the population of Gaza. July 15, 2014. — in Gaza, Palestine.
Israel continues its campaign of terror and murder. Yesterday the gunboats that illegally patrol the shores of Gaza targeted a group a people killing four children and injuring more than 5, 4 other were rushed to the hospital still to know what happen to them. According to the Washington Post report on the attack, the Baker Children are all cousin and they are kids of fisherman, another of the cousin was injured with shrapnel from the missile.
The four Palestinian children that were bombed with missiles by an Israeli terror gunboat yesterday afternoon about 4 p.m, in #Gaza. Look at the first picture where they are visible on the beach and then on the next picture frame being deliberately bombed! #GazaUnderAttack #Palestine
Mohammed Baker, 9-year-old, Ahed Baker, 10-year-old, Zakaria Baker, 10-year-old, and Mohammed Baker, 11-year-old, were killed yesterday afternoon by the Israeli gunboats that illegally patrols Gaza shores. This terror attack occurred in front of Al-Deira Hotel, in Gaza, Palestine during second week of Israel terror attacks on the population of Gaza. July 15, 2014.
Minutes after the gunboats targeted the four children Mohammed Baker, 9; Ahed Baker, 10; Zakaria Baker, 10; and Mohammed Baker, 11. They were killed by the Israeli gunboats that illegally patrols Gaza shores. This terror attack occured in Al-Deira #Gaza, Palestine during second week of Israel terror attacks on the population of Gaza. July 16, 2014. — in Gaza, Palestine.
Hamada Baker, 13-year-old, rests on the terrace of a hotel, after he was hit in the chest by shrapnel from an Israeli missile fired at a port in Gaza. Four people were rush to the hospital and 4 children died in the attack, yesterday July 15, 2014 approximately 4 p.m in Al-Deira, Gaza, Palestine (Islam Abdel Karim for The Washington Post)The initial scenes of gruesome massacre carried out by the army against the children of the family of four Bakr near the port in Gaza City”
The New York Times writes its version of the terror attack that mercilessly killed the 4 boys that are seen in the above photo playing by the beach.
The four Bakr boys were young cousins, NYtimes.com said, the children of Gaza fishermen who had ordered them to stay indoors — and especially away from the beach. The NYT shed some blame on the own children, the writer actually is blaming the children for their own dead. But cooped up for nine days during Israeli bombardments, the children defied their parents and went out Wednesday afternoon, the eldest shooing away his little brother, telling him it was too dangerous, Nytimes.com says, the wording on the story is washing up the blame that Israel has on the murder of the four children.
The Washington Post does not even follow the journalistic guidelines for an article, when
started his article on the death of the four children, he started his article
insinuating that the children got killed because of militants used that specific beach to throw rockets at Israel.
“It is not unusual for militants to launch rockets from sites near my hotel. -The Washington Post is making sure to have a Gaza resident telling exactly what Israel have published a million times-. Then the writer gives his impression of the hotel, ” Israeli missiles and shells have also landed pretty close to al-Deira, an old red stucco inn with a large terrace overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Just a few hundred yards down the beach is the fishing harbor.” William Booth for the Washington Post.
William Booth forgot that the story is about the death of the children, his headline is Israeli strike kills four children on a Gaza beach, finally almost at the end of the article he mentioned the name of the 4 children’s names.
IV GENEVA CONVENTION RELATIVE TO THE PROTECTION OF CIVILIANS IN TIME OF WAR,prohibits the attack on civilians. Israel as an occupier has the obligation to protect the civilians that live under its occupation. If there is a doubt that the civilians are engage in war acts, it should refrain from attacking the civilian population, that what the IV Geneva Convention says.
According to Israel, it has targeted more than 1200 targets in Gaza, killing 205 person, 75 percent civilians, said the UN. That has to say that Israel is purposely killing the civilian population without without regards if they are engage in military actions.
The bodies of the four children Mohammed Baker, 9-year-old; Ahed Baker, 10-year-old; Zakaria Baker, 10year-old; and Mohammed Baker, 11-year-old, are seen here being mourn by his male relatives. The children were killed by the Israeli gunboats that illegally patrols Gaza shores. This terror attack occured in Al-Deira #Gaza, Palestine during second week of Israel terror attacks on the population of Gaza. July 16, 2014. — in Gaza, Palestine.
Gaza health officials said 207 Palestinians, most of them civilians, had been killed in air and naval barrages, in the worst flareup of Israeli-Palestinian violence in two years.
One Israeli has been killed by shelling from Gaza.
I leave here a link for my fellow journalist from the American media to lean again what it seems they had forgotten. Ethics.
Code of Ethics from the Society of Professional Journalists
Cease of fire crafted by Israel
Graphic published at ABC World News with Diana Sawyer facebook page
|
This graphic was published by ABC World News showing the number of Palestinians killed vs Israeli killed in this unmistakeably unequal war. claimed that the number of casualties are because the “Collapse on a proposal cease of fire” that had broadly been blamed on Hamas. ABCWN failed to mentions that #Hamas was not invited to the cease of fire meetings. Pretty much like Oslo accord where Egypt, US, and Israel decided the luck of the Palestinian people without inviting the Palestinian leaders to the secret meetings.
It can not be “The collapse of….” because a proposal is not a cease of fire, and the proposal not implemented is not the cause to more casualties, but the irresponsibility of Israel that is engage in a genocidal mission in Gaza. |
This Is What the Growing Death Toll in Gaza Looks Like: The fatality count in the ongoing attacks between Israel and Gaza has risen throughout the day after the proposed cease-fire agreement failed, said ABCWN Diana sawyer in her facebook page.
CNN continues twisting the facts reporting that, “Israel destroys Hamas facilities” counting residential buildings, schools, mosques, and hospitals as Hamas facilities.
None of the big media outlets had reported accurate, and unbiased news. They old failed their role as communicators, as News outlets, all had failed the people.
18 Family members of Al-Battesh Family killed by Israel missiles
Ahmed A. Balousha, reporter from Gaza, Palestine
by Ahmed A. Balousha
From Gaza Strip, Palestine
To Elbadil Journal
Translated into English by Shadi Nassar
Up to the 14th of Ramadan (July 13, 2014), the Israeli aggression on Gaza Strip is still continuous in the absence of any deterrent. While the international community keeps negatively silent, the (Israeli) aircraft are targeting the houses and neighborhoods; the gunboats are targeting the coast. In addition, the tanks are ready for an expected ground invasion. Nobody can predict the scenario of the war on Gaza, nor the limit to the losses which could occur in this city.
Immediately after al-Taraweeh prayer and while the worshippers were leaving the mosque, a barrage of missiles targeted the house of al-Battesh family in al- Shijaiya, east of Gaza. The house with its many floors turned into ruins. It was filled by a cloud of death and the smell of gunpowder. Eighteen people were killed in this massacre, which is one of others committed continuously by the IAF for eight days without any break or even hesitation. The killing rapidly occurs. The streets of the strip are full of grief and sorrow. The people bury their relatives asking God to rest them in peace instead of the miserable life they lived.
18 graves ready to receive the body of the Al-Battesh Family who was killed yesterday July 12 by an Israel missile. Gaza, Palestine
These graves await an entire family. They lived together and they are leaving together forever to Heaven. The family is joining many other killed families. The war machine kills easily under internationally accepted and promoted pretexts, which aim at hiding the truth and covering the crimes of the occupation.
This is not the first case. It was exceeded by another massacre committed against Kaware’a family in Khan-Younis, south of the strip, and Ehmeid family in Beit Hanoun. That makes the Palestinians predict unprecedented violations, as long as the Israeli attacks continue. Some witnesses mentioned that the recovery of bodies was almost impossible because they were mixed with ruins.
UPDATE: July 14, 2014 7:53 a.m
Only children survived the missile strike that killed 18 family members of the Al-Bettach Family
Blood of Tayseer Al-Batsh’s family who were killed in an Israeli air raid, are seen at a hospital morgue in Gaza City, on July 13, 2014. The Israeli air strike on the family home of Al-Batsh, Gaza’s police chief, killed 18 people on Saturday, Gaza’s health ministry said, and Hamas fired the largest salvo of rockets yet on Tel Aviv since the start of the Jewish state’s offensive in the Palestinian enclave. The strike on the home of Al-Batsh in Gaza City was the deadliest bombing since Israel launched its offensive on Tuesday to end Palestinian rocket fire into its territory. Israel’s offensive has killed 145 Palestinians since Tuesday. Gaza medical officials said at least 82 civilians, including 25 children, were among the dead from the air strikes on the territory into which nearly 2 million people are packed.Photo by Ezz Al Zanoon, Gaza, Palestine.
Urgent Call From Gaza
Mohammed Matter ‘Abu Yazan’, from Gaza, Palestine is a political activist, writer and a member of Gaza Youth Breaks Out movement, known as GYBO (photo/aljazeera.com)
“A message to the world,
Dearest Comrades, Brothers and Sisters, and free people of the world:
The Palestinian people are being exposed to another one of the Israeli occupations aggressions. The occupation offensive continues in Gaza, Palestine, while the blockade never ended. Not only so, settler crimes continue with impunity in the West Bank and Jerusalem, meanwhile land theft and settler expansion persists. An apartheid wall furthermore aids the Judaization of Jerusalem, as the occupation forces continue to arrest thousands of civilians. 6000 men and women have been arrested so far, they have been abused and their human rights violated. Not to mention the destruction of Palestinian infrastructure, and the Palestinian national economy.
The Israeli military occupation has committed and continues to commit a number of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the form of genocide. In doing so, the military occupation is violating the IV GENEVA CONVENTION RELATIVE TO THE PROTECTION OF CIVILIANS IN TIME OF WAR, and a number of other human rights agreements. To this point the Israeli aggression has led to 167 Palestinian civilian deaths, 39 of which are children, with a further 23 women. 1123 civilians have also been injured, the majority of which are women and children, while tens of houses have been destroyed and their occupants killed. Not only so, but a number of key institutions have also been targeted, including civil and government institutions, emergency vehicles, and holy sites.
Friends and Comrades, we urge you along with the rest of the international community, with all its institutions including regional ones, and the various civil society organizations, to go from calls for justice for the Palestinian struggle towards the acceptance of your responsibility as actors in this issue. We urge you to hold Israel legally accountable in both an individual and a collective context, to stop the aggression and alienate via boycotts the Israeli military occupation.
We urge you to collectively work on a global solidarity campaign, the biggest of its kind, to expose the Israeli military occupation and hold it accountable. The continued international silence and the lack of accountability gives the Israeli military occupation impunity and encourages it to commit more atrocities and massacres.
Dearest friends: We as a people people live under occupation, and an apartheid state, without any protections. We urge you to take to the streets, and to protest nonstop as we do, the screaming violations that are inflicted on the Palestinian people. We urge you to demand the end of the occupation and the aggression, and to scream in the face of injustice. We urge you to take a stance against the double standards of your governments and to urge them to commit to their legal and ethical obligations towards protecting civilians in Palestine. We need you and we need your urgent solidarity today, and everyday, to stop the occupations crimes and continued aggression. We urge you towards a serious movement and work and solidarity with our just struggle for justice, dignity and freedom. Finally, we hope that you commit yourself to this call as individuals and/or organizations, and to do so with urgency, for tomorrow maybe a day too late.” Abu Yazan
Mattar wrote in 2012 for Aljazeera his feeling regarding the Manifesto that he and other young bright minds wrote in 2010 exposing Israel, UN, US, and its own government Hamas. The frustration to live in an occupied Land, living under the military boot of Israel under the protection of the UN, US and in large by the international community-leaders- on top of that under the dictatorial hand of Hamas that tried to crashed the movement since the first day arresting and harassing its founders.
It has been almost two years now since we wrote our manifesto. We called it a manifesto, but in reality, I’m not sure what it was, he said.
“Was it a manifesto, or was it a cry for help? Perhaps, an accusation, or even perhaps a demand to the world and to ourselves; a demand for change from the outside and from within.” matter said.
Now he appeals again to the international community, but more that to the leaders to citizens of the world to help them, to raise voices of conscience throughout the world to help to stop the massacre.
Read more on Gaza Youth Breaks Out
From manifesto to reality: ‘Gaza Youth Breaks Out’ member tells his story
“My story is marked by violence, persecution, arrests, abuse and resistance,” writes Matter.
It is almost two years now since we wrote our manifesto. We called it manifesto, but in hindsight, I’m not sure what it was. Was it a manifesto, or was it a cry for help? Perhaps, an accusation. Perhaps, a demand to the world and to ourselves; a demand for change from within and from the outside.
It was before the uprisings began around us, and they have been roaring the last two years; in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria and Bahrain. But we had felt like shouting in the dark, and while this raging had brought light into the darkness of the dictatorships around us, the night around us has not thinned even a bit. No, if anything, it has only become darker.
Israel ‘Pinpoint’ Strikes Kill Mostly Gaza Innocents — Entire Families Wiped Out
Few Hamas Militants Among 121 Victims
By Noah Browning
Source: Forward.com
Gaza — The Israeli military’s “pinpoint strikes” on houses in Gaza have killed whole families and children but few of the wanted men they are meant to target because they have long made themselves scarce, Palestinian residents say.
After five days of cross-border barrages between Gaza militants and Israel’s air force, at least 81 of the 121 Palestinians killed have been civilians, including 25 children, according to Palestinian medical officials.
While relatively few militants and even fewer of their commanders have been killed, according to Hamas sources and media reports, Israel appears more determined than in previous wars to bring the fight to their homes in the densely populated enclave hugging the Mediterranean coast.
Kin, neighbors and others who deny any ties to militants have been most often in the firing line of Israel’s assaults.
“I still can’t believe this happened, it’s like a bad dream,” said Shadi Hamad, standing in the demolished courtyard of a family home with tearful relatives.
“It was 11 at night and the family had just sat down in a circle for coffee in the front porch after breaking the Ramadan fast. The missile landed in the middle. Everyone was killed.”
The air strike was targeting Hafez Hamad, a local commander in the Islamic Jihad militant group, and killed him, as well as his parents, two brothers and niece.
“Where were their human rights, which Israel and its backers say they defend?” said Bassam Qassem, a neighbor. “Even if he (Hamad) was a resistance fighter, does that allow them to kill his whole family? This is murder.”
For their part, nervous Israeli civilians have for days had to heed warning sirens to seek shelter from Palestinian rockets, around 700 of which have lobbed from Gaza since Tuesday. They have so far caused no Israeli fatalities, but some injuries and damage.
Israel disavows any responsibility for the Gaza deaths, saying Hamas stows its people and weapons among civilians and hopes to score a cheap sympathy boost from their deaths.
“We are using all our attacking capabilities, not without brains, reason – not without taking into consideration that there are also civilians in Gaza. We remember that there are civilians. Hamas has turned them into hostages,” Israeli military chief Lieutenant-General Benny Gantz said on Friday.
“We continue to attack as best we can, rockets, command centers, tunnels, munitions and defense infrastructure and Gaza is sinking into a tragedy,” Gantz said.
Early on Saturday two disabled women were killed and four other people seriously wounded when an Israeli tank shell struck a rehabilitation center in the eastern part of Gaza City, Palestinian medics said. An Israeli military spokeswoman said she was checking for details on why the center was targeted.
Residents also said a mosque in the central Gaza Strip was bombed to rubble. The military said it had housed a weapons cache.
Israel says it has attacked more than a thousand targets in the coastal territory since the recent fighting began.
MANY HOMES OF MILITANTS, POLICE TARGETED
The Gaza interior ministry told Reuters that over 200 family homes have been targeted since the Israeli campaign began, many belonging to police officers and militants but only around 15 housing high-ranking commanders.
According to the Gaza based Al-Mezan Association for Human Rights, 537 houses – 122 of them targeted directly – were either completely or partially damaged by Israeli air strikes since Tuesday.
Palestinians think the attacks are meant to sow panic and drive a wedge between them and the militants.
“They can’t find any targets this war because they’re hidden, so they’ve just decided to punish innocent people… Do you see any resistance fighters here? Of course not. They’ve gone underground days ago, disappeared,” said Aziz Abu Awdeh in the northern border town of Beit Hanoun.
“This is terrorism in every meaning of the word. Killing family members and ordinary people just brings us closer together as a people. Resistance is our right, any people in the world would defend themselves from this.”
Israel’s military has published grainy aerial footage it says shows arms caches nestled among homes, which, they say, when struck by a missile, detonate “secondary explosions.”
Outgoing rockets often appear to scream forth from near residential districts, though Hamas denies Israeli claims that it uses people as “human shields.”
In Beit Hanoun’s main hospital on Wednesday, crumps of nearby rocket fire and air strikes brought casualties pouring in. One father, comforting his bruised young son, said an outgoing rocket launch had sent the boy flying across a room.
“STAY AWAY”
Israel says it regularly gives warnings to residents by phone calls, text messages and dud missiles launched on their roofs to warn them in advance of attacks, but Gazans say there is not enough time to evacuate or warnings simply don’t come.
The Israeli military described a strike on the home of the Kaware family in which eight people died as a “tragic mistake”, saying residents had not heeded their warning. The army did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment on their targeting policies.
A rushed voice crackled over the Gaza police radio frequency on Friday, reporting an air strike on a family house in Beit Hanoun.
The bombing’s sole victim was Saher Abu Namous, 4, who lay, pale and with his head blown open, on a steel gurney in the local morgue. The medic wrapped his plump limbs in a shroud and prepared to enclose him in a refrigerator.
Nearby, hundreds of neighbors gathered spontaneously around a household which had received a phone call from the Israeli military warning that a strike was imminent.
Hamas’s official radio station cautioned residents to stay away: “Dear listeners, please be warned that surveillance drones and an Apache helicopter are still in the area, stay well away.”
Israel’s military says it has aborted planned attacks when neighbors gather in numbers to defend homes.
The air strike has yet to come.
Flash News:International Activists in Gaza will be human shield in a hospital IDF plans to bomb
14 patients, men and women over the age of 60 that cannot be moved remain hospitalized at Gaza’s only rehabilitation hospital.
Source haaretz.com
UPDATED
International solidarity activists are staying in a Gaza hospital as human shields, ElWAFA Medical Rehabilitation Hospital, which the Israeli Defense Forces plans to bomb. The activists joined patients unable to leave because the rest of Gaza’s hospitals are in a state of emergency treating persons injured in the bombings and waiting for more patients to come in.
Two warning rockets were fired at the Al Wafa hospital east of Gaza City at 2 a.m. early Friday morning, Director Basman al Ashi told Haaretz. At 7 pm. a rocket was fired at the fourth floor, blasting a large hole in the ceiling and shattering windows. The floor was evacuated on Wednesday.
After the rocket was fired someone called the hospital speaking in Arabic with a distinct Israeli accent he asked if there were patients on the top floor, if anyone was injured and if there were plans of evicting it. The answer to each of the questions was negative.
“The civilian population of Gaza is being bombed. We will stay with them in solidarity until the international community and our governments take action to stop Israel’s crimes against humanity.” States Swedish International Solidarity Movement (ISM) activist, Fred Ekblad.
The front of the hospital El Wafa in Gaza, on the left shows the hole and burning of the missile in the fourth floor after Israel shot 4 warning missiles. This hospital is in the list of target for IDF to be destroyed. (photo/Manu Pineda)
Al Wafa is the only rehabilitation hospital in the Gaza Strip established in 1996, it is intended for trauma patients injured. Currently there are 14 patients aged over 60 being treated in the hospital who require constant care and who cannot take care of themselves without medical supervision. Some of them are immobile, others are being fed intravenously. 25 other patients in less of an acute state left the hospital al Ashi told Haaretz.
Joseph Catron, a 33-year-old American, is one of the activists that decided to stay at the hospital as a human shield together with colleges from New Zeeland, Australia, England, Spain, Sweden, and Venezuela. Catron told Haaretz that the hospital’s director took them on a tour of all the hospital’s floors and rooms and “though I am not a military man, I didn’t see anything resembling a rocket in the hospital” Catron said.
According to Catron, he and his friends notified their respective embassies that they are staying at the hospital slated to be bombed by the IDF.
Rethinking Hamas: A Complex Narrative
By Akashma Online News
The label of “terrorist organization” often thrown at Hamas has been shaped by political agendas and media portrayals, especially in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. While it’s undeniable that Hamas has engaged in violent acts, primarily targeting Israel, the designation as a terrorist group is far from a straightforward matter. It is a political tool used by Israel and the United States to justify military actions in Gaza, suppress Palestinian resistance, and maintain dominance in the region. However, understanding Hamas through a broader lens—both from a Palestinian and human rights perspective—reveals a much more complex and nuanced reality.
Hamas, which emerged during the late 1980s as an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, was founded in response to the long-standing occupation of Palestine by Israel. It initially gained popularity due to its social welfare programs, providing vital services like education, health care, and charity to a population suffering under harsh economic conditions. For many Palestinians, Hamas represented hope—an organization that stood in opposition to the Israeli occupation and its relentless expansion into Palestinian territories. These efforts gave the group substantial grassroots support, especially among those who viewed the Palestinian Authority’s negotiations with Israel as ineffective.
Critics of Hamas often point to its violent methods, such as suicide bombings, rocket attacks, and its military wing’s use of force. But a closer examination shows that the label of “terrorism” is politically charged. The United States, Israel, and the European Union have categorized Hamas as a terrorist organization, yet the group also runs a political party with members who are educated professionals. Some of its leaders hold degrees from prestigious institutions in the United States and Europe. For instance, Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzook, a prominent figure within Hamas, holds a master’s degree in construction management from Colorado State University and a doctorate in industrial engineering from Louisiana Tech. Marzook’s story underscores the sophistication and complexity of Hamas beyond its militant wing.
This reality is often overshadowed by the image the media projects: that of masked militants with rifles. While Hamas’ military actions are part of the organization’s history, they are only one facet of its identity. It is critical to distinguish between the political party and the military wing, as many of the group’s leaders are involved in shaping Palestinian policies, such as advocating for resistance to occupation and calling for Palestinian sovereignty.
On the issue of human rights, both Hamas and the Israeli government have been accused of violations. The ongoing blockade of Gaza, enforced by Israel, has led to extreme poverty, shortages of essential goods, and a humanitarian crisis that has affected millions of Palestinians. Meanwhile, Hamas’ governance in Gaza has been criticized for suppressing dissent and violating the rights of women and minorities. However, it is important to remember that Hamas’ rise is deeply intertwined with the broader context of Palestinian suffering under Israeli occupation. Their resistance, while controversial, is born out of the desperate need to protect their land, their rights, and their future.
The portrayal of Hamas as a monolithic “terrorist” organization overlooks the broader political dynamics at play. For Palestinians, Hamas is not just a militant group—it is a political force that embodies resistance against occupation and a call for self-determination. Hamas provides an alternative to the Palestinian Authority, which has been criticized for failing to protect the interests of Palestinians while engaging in peace negotiations with Israel that many see as futile.
Ultimately, the conversation about Hamas cannot be reduced to simplistic labels. To understand the organization’s role in Palestinian society, one must consider the historical, political, and social realities that have shaped its existence. While Hamas’ methods are controversial, its rise is a direct response to the oppression faced by Palestinians. It is essential to approach the subject with an open mind, recognizing the complexities involved in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the human cost of the violence on both sides. Only through nuanced discussions can we begin to find a path toward lasting peace and justice for all people in the region.
American Calls for Global Intifada in Solidarity with Gaza Palestine Israel
By Eileen Fleming with Mohammad Asad
Re-post from: The Arab Daily News
In Arabic intifada translates to rise up and shake off .
Palestine has always lived in the belly of Israel.
Yesterday, President Barack Obama spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and reiterated Israel’s right to defend itself against rocket attacks and that “The United States remains prepared to facilitate a cessation of hostilities, including a return to the November 2012 cease-fire agreement.”
U.S. Media has been showing Israelis heading for bomb shelters but the residents of Gaza have nowhere to hide because their homes and towns have no bomb shelters!
Dr. Mona’s VIEW from her window in Gaza City on July 9, 2014.
Today from Gaza, Dr. Mona El-Farra wrote:
Gaza – Friday, July 11, Day 4 of the attack
Where shall I start? How shall I start?
Shall I start with the numbers which keep increasing and changing? 90 killed, mainly civilians. 600 injured. 140 demolished homes.
Or should I start by mentioning all the different areas of the Gaza Strip that have been constantly hit, day and night. Nonstop.
If it is only about numbers, then let me tell you all about thousands of Palestinian children who are terrified night after night, day after day by the sounds of the Israeli shelling.
The children have deep feelings of insecurity when it is dark.
And no shelters.
The Israeli army has restarted their punitive home demolition policy, illegal under international law. Yesterday a six-story building where my relatives live in Khan Younis was hit and levelled to the ground. 106 relatives were made homeless.
Even if the Israeli army’s goal was to punish one of Hamas activists, there is no justification for this cruel, brutal and collective punishment. Eight members of the Kawarea family were killed in Khan Younis when the jetfighters destroyed their home.
The Israeli army spokesman said sorry it was a mistake. What a gentle, well-behaved, and civilized army.
Walking through the streets of Gaza City where I live can be a real nightmare.
The drones and jetfighters are in the sky and you cannot anticipate what will happen in next minute.
Are they going to target a car behind you or in front of you? Will you be caught in the blast?
Will others will be dying right that minute somewhere else?
Will others will be forced to leave their home in 5 minutes only to be bombed 2 minutes later?
Yet despite the fear, I had to go to the Red Crescent Society of the Gaza Strip to be with the medical emergency team and help as much as I could.
This morning we received an injured deaf young man from Jabalia. He was working in a farm that was hit. Tens of cows and sheep were killed too.
I am so tired and sleepless. I don’t feel settled outside my home despite of the generosity of my friends who are hosting me. But my building, my neighbourhood, is too unsafe. Nowhere is safe but with intense shelling nearby and broken windows, I had to leave.
Dr. Mona El-Farra, Director of Gaza Projects, is a physician by training and a human rights and women’s rights activist by practice in the occupied Gaza Strip.
The shelling is continuous, crazy and everywhere. Warships fire missiles against the beach in Gaza City. Rafah town is under severe missile shelling, 10 people in Rafah were killed when their home was levelled to the ground by an American-made F16.
The UN agency that runs schools and clinics for Palestinian refugees opened its schools to receive homeless people from different areas.
Now larger numbers of people will drink from MECA water purification units.
Nobody is asleep in Gaza.
No place is safe.
The Israeli military attacks are coming from every direction.
From Gaza with love,
Dr. Mona El-Farra
MECA Director of Gaza Projects
Photos (C) 2014 Mohammed Asad. All Rights Reserved. Permission to republish given with full credit to Mohammed Asad and The Arab Daily News.
Today from Gaza, photojournalist Mohammed Asad reported:
Photos (C) 2014 Mohammed Asad. All Rights Reserved. Permission to republish given with full credit to Mohammed Asad and The Arab Daily News.
Israeli shelling targeted the yard at Salam Mosque in the Zeitoun neighborhood in Gaza City immediately after prayers.
Medical personnel at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City said dozens of injuries with cases of extreme danger resulted.
The reception room was converted into operating rooms to treat the children.
Photos (C) 2014 Mohammed Asad. All Rights Reserved. Permission to republish given with full credit to Mohammed Asad and The Arab Daily News
Also today, Amnesty International called for a UN-mandated international investigation into violations committed on ALL sides amidst ongoing Israeli air strikes across the Gaza Strip and continuing volleys of indiscriminate rocket fire from Palestinian armed groups into Israel.
Philip Luther, Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Amnesty International stated:
As the violence intensifies there is an urgent need for the UN to mandate an international independent fact-finding mission to Gaza and Israel to investigate violations of international humanitarian law by all parties to the conflict. This is the first crucial step towards ensuring that those who have committed war crimes or other serious violations can be held accountable.
The international community must not repeat previous mistakes, standing by and watching the devastating consequences for civilians of both sides failing to abide by and enforce the laws of war. Swift UN action is needed as lives hang in the balance.
Unless the Israeli authorities can provide specific information to show how a home is being used to make an effective contribution to military actions, deliberately attacking civilian homes constitutes a war crime and also amounts to collective punishment against the families.
Some civilian homes in Gaza have been hit using the “knock on the roof” procedure, in which Israeli forces fire a small missile at the home as a “warning”, before firing another missile which destroys the home.
Sometimes Israel will even phone the families that bombs are on the way!
Philip Luther explained, “There is no way that firing a missile at a civilian home can constitute an effective ‘warning’. Amnesty International has documented cases of civilians killed or injured by such missiles in previous Israeli military operations on the Gaza Strip. Firing indiscriminate rockets, which cannot be aimed accurately at military targets, is a war crime, as is deliberately targeting civilians. There can be no excuse for either side failing to protect civilians, including journalists, medics and humanitarian workers, or civilian facilities.”
In November 2006, Father Manuel, the parish priest at the Latin Church and school in Gaza warned the world:
Gaza cannot sleep! The people are suffering unbelievably. They are hungry, thirsty, have no electricity or clean water. They are suffering constant bombardments and sonic booms from low flying aircraft. They need food: bread and water.
Children and babies are hungry…people have no money to buy food. The price of food has doubled and tripled due to the situation. We cannot drink water from the ground here as it is salty and not hygienic. People must buy water to drink.
They have no income, no opportunities to get food and water from outside and no opportunities to secure money inside of Gaza. They have no hope.
Without electricity children are afraid. No light at night. No oil or candles.
Thirsty children are crying, afraid and desperate.
Many children have been violently thrown from their beds at night from the sonic booms. Many arms and legs have been broken.
These planes fly low over Gaza and then reach the speed of sound. This shakes the ground and creates shock waves like an earthquake that causes people to be thrown from their bed.
I, myself weigh 120 kilos and was almost thrown from my bed due to the shock wave produced by a low flying jet that made a sonic boom.
Gaza cannot sleep.
The cries of hungry children, the sullen faces of broken men and women who are just sitting in their hungry emptiness with no light, no hope, no love.
These actions are War Crimes!
- Photos (C) 2014 Mohammed Asad. All Rights Reserved. Permission to republish given with full credit to Mohammed Asad and The Arab Daily News.
Please Join the Global Intifada for the sake of the Children in Gaza Palestine Israel by donating to MECA generously HERE
https://www.mecaforpeace.org/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=42
New York Daily News bias
The New York Daily News on its article ‘Obama offers to facilitate ceasefire in Gaza as Palestinian death toll reaches 85’ Larry Mcshane writes that Hamas forces have fired more than 140 rockets on Thursday into Israel, and the “Iron Dome” missile defense system is blocking those rockets targeted for the major cities of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, he goes on saying that the major southern city of Beersheba was hit by a fusillade of Palestinian rockets that badly damaged local homes.
He shows a night photo of Tel Aviv in complete calm no smoke, no blasts or any other incidents apparent on the photo. Just another distorted reporting of Israel assault on the almost 2 million of innocent civilians of the Gaza Strip.
NY Daily News bring the photos of Israel damage in Gaza, show us the full scale of this one sided war against an unarmed population that has no where to run, two million of people living surrounded by 25 cement wall, barb wires, and one Egyptian borders that is closed under Israel orders.
Send your journalists to Gaza to report the news as they happen. Not to worry about being caught up in the fire, Israel’s army will respect your journos, after all they are the more moral army in the Middle East.
This is real damage done by Israel missiles
Apartment building flatten by Israeli missile in Gaza (photo/TV Networks)
@NYDailyNews can you show the photos of Israel badly damaged homes from Hamas rockets. From your article http://t.co/9ULqz28DkK
— Marivel Guzman (@akashma) July 11, 2014
Gaza being attacked again-July 2014
Today July 10, 2014 a partial list of the person murdered by Israel in Gaza, Palestine .
UPDATE July 13, 2014 4:29 p.m PCT
The names of the 176 victims of Israel onslaught in Gaza, Palestine
Israel Missiles destroys buildings in Gaza city, July 2014, Gaza, Palestine (photo/RevolutionNews.com
Gazawans have no place to run for cover they live in an open prison surrounded by 25-cement-wall and bared wires in three fronts and Egyptian border sealed on Rafah.
This is an example of how these Palestinians died. The following video shows a Palestinian apartment building being destroyed by an Israeli missile.
This house being destroyed by an Israeli missile housed 5 families of total 45 people or more. As a punishment for living in the same apartment building of a relative wanted by Israel the whole apartment building is destroyed rending homeless the other families.
The IDF sends mobile messages to the people warning them that their home is going to be destroyed, but not everyone have mobile phone in Gaza, and the message comes three minutes in advantage before the missile come down, not enough time to run three, four, five floors down.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=779757395400016&set=vb.179609608748134&type=2&theater
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10152599233298112&set=vb.523263111&type=2&theater
The names of 97 martyrs in Gaza strip from the Israeli occupation aggression
More than 665 injuries :
Muhammed shaban 24 years Gaza
Amjad Shaban 30 years Gaza
Khader Abu Jabal 45 years from Gaza
Rashad Yaseen 27 years Alnusirat camp
Mohamed Ayman Ashir 15 years Khan Younis
Ryad Kware’ 50 years Khan Younis
Baker Mohamed Joda 22 years
Amar Mohamed Joda 26 years Khan Younis
Hyssien Yousif Kware 13 years
Mohamed Kware 50 years Khan Younis
Muhammad Habib 22 years Gaza
Musa Habib 16 years Gaza
Saqr Al ajory 22 years Jabalia camp
Ahmed Mahdi 16 years Gaza
Basem Kware 10 years Khan Younis
Hafith Mohammed Hamed 30 Years Biet Hanoun
Ibrahim Mohammed Hamed 26 years Biet Hanoun
Mahdi Mohammed Hamed 46 years
Fawzia Hamed 62 years
Donia Hamef 16 years
Soha Hamed 25 years
Suliman Abu Swawin 22 years
Seraj Abd Alal 8 years
Abd Alhadi Alsofy 24 years
Rasheed Alkafarna 30 years
Naifa Farajallah 80 years
Abd Alnaser Abu Queeq 50 years
Khaled Abu Queek 31 years
Mohammed E’reef 13 years
Mohammed Malaka 1 year and half
Amna malaka 27 years
Mohammed Alnamara 22 years
Hatem abu Salem
Sahar Almasry 40 years
Ibrahim Almasry 14 years
Mohammed Alnwasra 4 years
Nidal Alnwasra
Salah Alnwasra
Nahid Alnwasra
Aisha nijm
Amna Abd Alghafor 40 years
Raneem Abd Alghafor 4 years
Ibrahim Albal’awi 24 years
Abd Alruhman Alzamli 22 years
Ibrahim Abdin 46 years
The twins Mohammed and Mustapha Aby Mor 20 years
Mazen Algarba 30 year
Marwan Sleem 27 years
Hani hamed 57 years
Ibrahim Hamed 20 years
Salima Alarja 60 years
Mariam Alarja 11 years
Khaled Shehab 37 years
Mohammed Khalil Qanan 26 year
Ibrahim Khalil Qanan 24 years
Suliman Alastal 55 years
Hamdi Swaly 33 years
Ahmed Swaly 28 years
Raed Shalat 37 years
Mohammed Alaqad 24 years
The brothers :Asmaa .. Najlaa .. Sa’dy and Tareq Alhaj
Thier mother Fatma Alhaj 62 years
Omar Alhaj
Basma Alhaj 57 years
Ahmed Alhaj 58 years
Ahmed Alastal
Musa Alastal
Ahmed Alzwara 33 years
Bahaa abu Elil 37 years
Salem Qandeel 27years
Amer Alfiomy 30 years
Abdulla Abu Ghazal 4 years
Mohammed Frwana 18 years
Ihsan Abu Jame’ 19 years
Mohammed Ashor 25 years
Ghalia Alghanam 7 years old
Wisam Alghanam 23 years old
Mahmoud Alghanam 26 years old
Kifah Alghanam 20 years old
Mahmoud wlod 26 years Jabalia camp
Hazem Ba’losha 30 years Jabalia camp
Nour Alsultan 27 years Jabalia
Hassan Abu Jame 75 years Khan Younis
Yasmeen Mtwaq 4 years old Biet Hanoun
Ahmed Hamdan 24 years Biet Hanoun
Samy Sheldan 25 years Gaza city
Mohammed Alkahlout 25 years Jabalia camp
Jom’a Abu Shalof Rafah 25 years
Bassam Khatab 6 years Dier Albalah
Abdulla Abu Mahroq Deir Albalah 22 years
Anas Abu Alkas 33 years Gaza city
Nour Alnajdy 10 years
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