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UNRWA USA GAZA5k California for the children of GAZA
Nick Locke, 19-year-old, from University California San Diego, and member of Students for Global health, first place, at the moment to enter the finishing line at the Gaza5k Orange County/LA walk/run, at Mile Square Park on October 24, 2015 donation drive for Mental Health Programs in Gaza, Palestine, sponsored by UNRAWA USA, with the participation of the Community of Palestinian at Fountain Valley, Calif photo/Marivel Guzman
Laith N Hassan one of the youngest sponsors at the Gaza5k Orange County/LA Race, at Mile Square Park on October 24, 2015, donation drive for Mental Health Programs in Gaza, Palestine, sponsored by UNRAWA USA, with the participation of the Community of Palestinian supporters at Fountain Valley, Calif photo/Marivel Guzman
Today the community of Orange, San Diego, Riverside and Los Angeles counties areas came together once again to show solidarity with Palestine specially the children of the besieged Gaza Strip. Palestinian supporters and runners enthusiasts gathered today at Mile Square Park in Fountain Valley, Calif to participate and raise funds in the annual GAZA5K event sponsored by United National Relief Works Agency USA to raise funds for the children of Gaza.
The Gaza5K is an annual walk/run hosted by United National Relief Works Agency USA. This event raises funds for UNRWA’s Community Mental Health Program (CMHP) to support thousands of refugee children in Gaza affected by Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and other psychological trauma.
According to Save the Children in one area, al-Shoka, nearly half the children interviewed wet the bed every night. Up to 89% of parents reported that their children suffer consistent feelings of fear, while more than 70% of children said they worried about another war. On average seven out of 10 children interviewed suffer regular nightmares.
“Save the Children CEO Justin Forsyth said in a statement that, ‘Many children in Gaza have now lived through three wars in the past seven years, the last one notable for its brutality. They are emotionally and, in some cases, physically shattered.” Save the Children
During last year’s 51-day war, 551 children in Gaza were killed and 3,436 were injured, while an estimated 1,500 lost their parents. Many more were made homeless and saw their schools damaged or destroyed. In Israel, one child was also killed by rocket fire and 270 were injured.
UNRWA USA is an independent nonprofit organization that supports the humanitarian and human development work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) through fundraising, advocacy, and outreach. UNRWA USA aims to educate the general American public about the situation of Palestine refugees and generate support for UNRWA’s work in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan.
Approximately 500 people between participants, volunteers and Palestinian supporters showed up to the event. According to Laila Mokhiber coordinator of UNRWA USA the $ 75,000 goal was meet. Business sponsors and Team sponsors collected most of the money. T-shirts bearing the logo of sponsors were distributed between participants of the race and supporters.
The event was well advertised in Facebook and other social media platforms expecting to attract some media to cover the event, but as always they stay silence, except for Don Kim, a photojournalist from Korea News Agency that came to cover the race.
Don Kim, photojournalist from Korean News Agency and Rima Nashashibi Advisory Board for UNRWA USA at the Gaza5k Orange County/LA walk/run, at Mile Square Park on October 24, 2015 donation drive for Mental Health Programs in Gaza, Palestine, sponsored by UNRAWA USA, with the participation of the Community of Palestinian supporters, at Fountain Valley, Calif photo/Marivel Guzman
Don Kim, photojournalist for Korean News Agency said that he picked the event at his agency website. Kim said that he has been covering Palestine for some time now, and has visited Gaza, Jerusalem and West Ban. He supports Palestine.
The following teams were present: Kinder USA, Students for Justice for Palestine from University California, Riverside, Students for Global Health, Palestine Youth Movement, OC Halal Food Fest, Alliso Viejo Moms for Gaza Team, Laith N Hasan Sponsor Team, Loay Elbasyouni sponsor team, Palestinian American of Women Association (PAWA).
Amir Hammad portrays a Palestinian flag on his face.
Amir Hammad-Guzman-Torres,3-year-old Palestinian, at the Gaza5k Orange County/LA Race, at Mile Square Park on October 24, 2015, donation drive for Mental Health Programs in Gaza, Palestine, sponsored by UNRAWA USA, with the participation of the Community of Palestinian supporters at Fountain Valley, Calif photo/Marivel Guzman
The Musa Family came specially from Florida to attend the event
Musa Family came from Florida to support Gaza’s children at the Gaza5k Orange County/LA Race, at Mile Square Park on October 24, 2015, donation drive for Mental Health Programs in Gaza, Palestine, sponsored by UNRAWA USA, with the participation of the Community of Palestinian supporters at Fountain Valley, Calif photo/Marivel Guzman
Business sponsors:
GAZA5K California sponsors at the Gaza5k Orange County/LA walk/run, at Mile Square Park on October 24, 2015, donation drive for Mental Health Programs in Gaza, Palestine, sponsored by UNRAWA USA, with the participation of Palestinian supporters community, at at Fountain Valley, Calif photo/Marivel Guzman
California communities send their condolences to the families in Palestine that have lost dear ones during the the recent events.
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.
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
Israel needs Palestinian Authority but not Hamas
Hamas and Fatah signs unity deal. Israel don’t agree and make the possible to destroy the unity deal.
Israel is not looking to get rid of the Palestinian Authority, Israel needs the PA, but what they do not need is a united Palestinian government, that would hurts Israel’s business greatly.
See, there is a reason Israel left Gaza and dismantled the outpost. It was not because Israel wanted to gives them peace or return the land, not NO, Israel couldn’t control Gaza, the militias inside Gaza are out of the control of the central government and it was a pain in the a** to keep an eye on the militias and protect the settlers so, they did a “painful decision” as they called it in the news.
They dismantled the settlements (we know Israel does not care about people being Jews, Christian or Muslims) they only care about their agenda, which is Control of the Middle East.
Gaza was resulting very expensive to maintain and exhausting. Also controlling the Rafah border, Sinai, Golan Heights really their hands were too busy.
Israel always wanted to give Gaza to Egypt, they knew that the rude military junta will kept Gazawans at bay, Egypt had resulted a good partner for Israel, as long as US pay them, they happily humiliate Palestinians and close the border on their noses every time they want to.
So Israel retrieved outside of Gaza borders and put a security belt around it, close thigh the crossing points, leaving just for UN face the few crossing to pass products to Gaza, of course this is business, the Israel’s business are making millions of dollars selling products to Gaza, just the gasoline alone is a booming business.
It is about strategy, money and Face for the International community.
Now, with the unity deal Hamas would have to taken out of the “terrorist list” which is the leash that keep Palestinian from conforming a real .
Government.
Israel saw a dangerous pattern of acceptability from the world leaders, everybody was accepting this unity deal between Hamas and PA..so it was time to act, and they came with the great great idea of “kidnapping” the “Three boys” after all the world knows that Hamas had a history of kidnapping soldiers, well we know of one Gilad Shalit , so the story was easily to be sold to the media and ti the gullible people.
So they kidnapped the two soldiers and one civilian and making sure one was American citizens, off course that was the easiest part, Israel is composed of double nationality citizens, but it has to be from the US, the sacrosanct Israel friend.
This way, there is a motive for US to drop the support for the Unity Deal and to publicly condemn the kidnap, but what Israel wasn’t counting was that the world knows well the tricks they play, the opps the red flags are Israel specialty .
Now, the PA is strategically important for Israel, Israel can not control the West Bank, no, that is worse that controlling Gaza, besides would be very expensive, but Israel count with the money that it is infused in the PA for security, and they knew that Abbas was going to be forced to look for the “boys” making him with this a persona no grata for the Palestinians, but Israel does not want to get rid of the PA only want the people to repudiate the unity deal and keep the PA apart from Hams and to have the excuse to keep the siege in Gaza, after all the old strategy works every time.
DIVIDE AND CONQUER AND IS EXACTLY WHAT ISRAEL DID.
What will be very sad is that if Israel find it convenient to kill the boys, it will do without thinking twice, and if find it convenient to give it to the militias will serve the boys in silver plate, and the Palestinians militias could not wast an opportunity.
Leaving the Holy Land
I see few truths on the development of the Palestinian resistance.
1.- Israel is making sure to kill the militants in Gaza, West Bank and Jerusalem.
Israel would not be questioned because the international community – I mean the leaders, the organizations in charge to record human rights abuses, and the Institutions that have direct or indirect relations with Israel – will not raise public outrage because according to international treaties Israel has the right to defend itself from attacks, or in the case of Palestine, future attacks.
2.- Israel is making easy for the intellectuals to leave the territories to go abroad to “study” knowing that these bright minds will not come back to Palestine.
The people that leave Palestine to study they do with the idea of not coming back. We can not blame them, they have the right to dream a better future.
Seven years ago that I started being very active in the Palestinian Solidarity Movement I started with hundreds of friends from the territories and now I look back and look for them and I’m finding out that many of them had moved on with their lives. They left Palestine to study and they never came back.
Was this part of Israel plan to get rid of them?
I do not know but I m happy for them that had made it out. Out of the danger of the bombs, the uncertainty of a secure job, the difficulties that the occupation brings to the people.
On the other hand, I m sad because they left their land, the land that their grandparents died for, that land that they themselves fought so hard to keep but at the end they left following their dreams.
Few years ago when I noticed this phenomenon in the Palestinian community I commented with some Palestinian friends and they just nodded their heads saying that Palestine does not offer anything, the ones that fight are the passionate, the idealist but the realists only looking to feed their families and end the violence that had taken their sons for too long.
A big smile and hug for my Palestinians friends that left Palestine for a better future
I wish them good luck and hope they keep the fight for their land. Now they had become Internationals like the rest of the Palestinian Solidarity Movement.
I originally wrote this poem Inseparable Twins for a dear friend from Gaza (over the years I adopted him as virtual son), but now I expand the dedication to all Palestinians that leave Palestine following their dreams.
Inseparable Twins -Read more in Palestinian Poetry
Time to End Apartheid-Again
Games Over-The world is too comfortable playing the game.
Gaza’s electricity problems is the last of the concern for the Palestinian people. If you look around, you will see that 25 percent of the population of the world does not have electricity. According to International Energy Agency 1.5 Billion people have no electricity, that is almost half of the world popular, majority of people lit themselves with other elements such: candles, charcoal, petrol, crude oil, and raw fire. Electricity is almost a 21 century invention.
To center our attention on Gaza’s electricity problem is to give Israel what they want, a diversión to the real problem that it is the occupation of Palestine.
Soon we will see the Royal Gulf Kings, coming with their offering-Three Wise Kings Biblical Story- of Petro-dirty-bloody dollars to alleviate Gaza’s electricity problem. Soon, we might also see a resolution calling for Egypt, to Ease, The Rafah Crossing blockade, but we won’t see the real solution, a real call for an end of the occupation. Every one seems to be missing the point.
It is time to call spades as spades and call Israel an Apartheid Entity an illegal usurper, an entity legitimized by British Rich friends in the UN in 1948.
A slowly genocide is taking place in the Land of Palestine; ethnic cleansing is methodically performed in Palestine; “ethnic cleansing, the attempt to create ethnically homogeneous geographic areas through the deportation or forcible displacement of persons belonging to particular ethnic groups. Ethnic cleansing sometimes involves the removal of all physical vestiges of the targeted group through the destruction of monuments, cemeteries, and houses of worship.” Encyclopedia Britannica
Israel is experimenting with its new weapons using Palestinians as a drills targets for its dirty wars, and the world is busy trying to brake Gaza blockade. Isn’t ironic that contingent of people are planing Gaza convoys, in a way to brake Israel Gaza siege? I’m not saying that this is not good, it is great that people show their compassion with the side of the weak. But the time has come to change the name of the game, we can not be using our energy on small battles. The problem is Israel and has to go, there is no other way.
The times has come to call for the dismantling the whole Apartheid Entity of Israel. The Zionist plan is being exposed. People stop being part of the game. The Holocaust was designed. The whole Nazi Party was part of the plan, the Vatican, The Rich Jews; all of them took part, and they have succeed, until the internet came to expose them.
Every one in Palestine fighting for the rights of Palestinians; should be fighting for the returning of the land to its owners and that means, to leave themselves the land taken from Palestinians. Everyone fighting inside of Palestine for the right of refugees, have to start looking for a place to go. All the resident of Palestine that holds an Israel citizenship, that came after the 1918 and 1948 exodus that resulted in the expulsion of a Palestinian family should be going back to their original countries; them and their children. It is just the right thing to do, for the sake of Justice and truth.
There is so much hypocrisy going on in between the Israelis that support Palestine; helping trying to ease the guilt of the occupation. An Israeli fighting shoulder to shoulder with a Palestinian, has only credibility if, he/she is original native of Palestine.
Time to End Apartheid Israel. History has no space for wars of conquest. The European Voyages of Exploration, were a salvage past of the human history. It’s time to evolve and modernize our thoughts.
There is no chosen race, there is no chosen people, there is no promise land, There is only Palestine. Viva Free Palestine.
Day 34 respectively .. Gaza without electricity, every time a few years ago to hear the Palestinian citizen and returns and plans to solve the electricity problem, but discovered it just lies citizen such as injection of anesthesia .. The question remains on the table in front of us .. How long will the world remain silent in front of the siege on Gaza??
Where the Security Council and human rights organizations, I think it’s best to cancel these organizations for their inability to carry its functions to human rights.
Palestinian people die a slow death and no ones lift a finger.
Mohammad Assaf United Palestine-from Jerusalem, Gaza to the West Bank
Posted on June 23, 2013 by Akashma Online News
A beautiful voice from Gaza, Palestine have conquered the heart of the world, Mohammad Assaf, a 23 years old from Khan Younis, had won the 2013 Arab Idol. He had united Palestine from Jerusalem, Gaza to the West Bank. Not Fatah, not Hamas or any Palestinian politician had united every one under the Palestinian Flag. 🙂 .
Mohammad Assad had put the name of Palestine again in the International Stage, we hope that his triumph bring the attention of the world to the Palestine’s struggles.
Palestinians are relishing some good news for a change: Mohammed Assaf, a 23-year-old singer from Palestine, has become a hero after winning the Arab Idol TV talent contest.
Thousands turned out onto the streets to celebrate as Mr Assaf prevailed over contestants from across the Middle East during the show, watched by millions in the region. His win is seen as a triumph for the Palestinian cause because, in addition to his vocals, he also projected nationalist consciousness while competing. His signature songs stressed Palestinian history and the struggles of his people against Israeli occupation.
“People love him because he chooses such wonderful songs related to the Palestinian revolution,” said Riyad Saleh, a local English teacher. The joy in this camp of 13,000 refugees, which was established after Israel’s formation in 1948, was even greater than when the UN General Assembly recognised Palestinian statehood earlier this year, Mr Saleh said.
Mr Assaf is from a refugee family living in Khan Younis in the southern part of Gaza Strip. He made a name for himself performing at weddings there, but his big break came three months ago when he made his way to Cairo for the Arab Idol audition, reportedly arriving late and having to climb over a hotel wall to get his chance.
After his victory, Mr Assaf said: “Spreading the words of young people and watching them achieve their dreams – this is much better than the sounds of gunfire.”
Mr Assaf performed his final song before judges in Beirut on Friday. “Raise Your Keffiyeh” refers to the head scarf that is also a nationalist symbol. The song, which dates back to the 1990s honours prisoners in Israeli jails and those killed in the conflict with Israel.
Firas Iziyah, a barber, said Mr Assaf’s triumph meant so much to Palestinians because it was a bright moment within a bleak situation.
“It shows that a Palestinian can succeed in this world,” he said. “I think this shows we love peace and is a message of peace to the world.”
President Mohamud Abbas gave diplomatic passport to the young Palestinian star Mahommad Assaf. It is not every day that a celebrity from Khan Younis shine in the International arena, this time the young Mohammad had done what Hamas and Fatah have not been able to do in years of reconciliation deals. Mohammad Assaf united the whole Palestine and the Palestinians in the exile in a national celebration.
“Mohammed Assaf didn’t free Palestine,” wrote one blogger on Twitter. “But he brought joy to people who didn’t smile for the past 66 years of occupation.”
Some people said is not a big deal to win a contest, but for someone living in Gaza that have to sneak out to go to the auditions, it is a great and risky deal. Gaza had been besieged by Israel since 2007, the movement of persons and goods between Egypt and Palestine at times it is almost impossible.
Assaf Mohammed Palestinian winner of the 2013 Arab Idol. He has united the world with his triumph. Palestine sings again under one flag. From Jerusalem, Gaza to West Bank, all are Palestine
April 22, 20`3
Arab Idol Audition
Audition for New Star 2010
Struggles that unite the Nations
Published by Akashma Online News
by Marivel Guzman in collaboration with Omar Karem from Turkish/Syrian border
Three convoys converged in Turkey to deliver much needed aid to the people of Syria suffering a three years internal violence.
Omar Karem, 30 years old from Gaza with an uncertain future. He it is a refugee himself but regardless of his precarious situation, his humanitarian heart does not allow him to stay idle, he is adding his helping hands around in the Aleppo Halab Syrian Refugee Camp. He is stranded without visa, but this does not stop him from helping others in need.
Refugee Camp set up by UN on the border of Turkey/Syria receiving every day people running from the violence inside Syria.
It is very difficult to be Palestinian, he said. You have no rights in your land, and you have no rights in other people’s land.
The Palestinian Nabka since 1948 had left Palestinian without rights. They are denied visas to work, or to visit other countries on the ground of being Palestinian. Omar said, that most of the times they refuse to grant them visa just because they are Palestinians.
The word refugee is not new for Palestinians. The refugee status of Palestinians, it is wore as stigma. A painful one, that follows them every where they go.
“All Arab governments and specially the ones called national government are unchanged. Omar, said. They filled history with revolutionary slogans. They said that they will liberate Palestine, they set up thousands of festivals. Printed millions of posters and after 65 years of Nakba, nothing changed one meter of Palestine’s land, he said.
Omar, that victoriously broke Gaza siege last year had seen the end of his triumph. Now stranded in the border of Turkey/Syria in Aleppo Syria in a refugee camp for displaced people forgetting his own struggles and his uncertain future, he moves around in Halab refugee camp helping and documenting the atrocities of the war.
He better than anybody knows the horrors of the war, he lived the Israel occupation all his life. He knows the terror in the eyes of a child after a bomb had destroyed half of his home. Israel did not spared the terror of the bombs, the white phosphorous, the sonar bombs, the drones flying every day above their heads. Omar knows the aftermath of war, now he sees himself as a refugee in a foreign land, but still hoping for a better tomorrow, and helping Syrian refugees to cope with the lost.
What to do, when you are Palestinian? Add your voice to the Palestinian Struggle, he said, let’s help to end the Israeli Occupation of Palestine. Now witnessing the horror of the Syrian violence that does not forgive, women, children and elderly, he said, “Syria will be free.”
thousands miles away from their Land, Omar Karem and Ebrahim Musaji Aleppo Syrian Refugee Camp
From all the oddities of life, Ebrahim Musaji, 27 Mavi Marmara survivor and humanitarian peace activist from the UK comes to Syria in a convoy to bring Aid, and find Omar Karem from Gaza, Palestine, stranded yet in another no man’s land. When Ebrahim went to Gaza 2 years ago, Omar still in Gaza was part of those in need, now circumstances had changed. They both meet in another country, with conditions similar to Gaza. Undoubtedly the times changed but the situation is the same.
In a skype interview, Ebrahim Musaji, speaks of his many humanitarian enterprises. He has been in Gaza in three occasions, With Viva Palestine convoy, Road to Hope, and the attempted Mavi Marmara organized by İnsan Hak ve Hürriyetleri İnsani Yardım Vakfı – İHH. He had been in Syria as volunteer 2 times, the first time he stayed 3 months inside Syria helping displaced people. This would be his third time in a convoy from UK delivering aid to the people inside Syria.
Ebrahim Musaji, Omar Karem with members of the Libyan Red Crescent delegation arriving to Istanbul in their way to Syria.
Ebrahim spent 3 months in Syria on January, delivering the ambulances and donated aid and cash to school inside Syria and in the refugee camps.
25 ambulances from Libya crossed Thursday Turkish territory, loaded with tools and medical supplies, to the Syrian territory. The Ambulances were accompanied by 14 people, including three doctors, that crossed the Syrian-Turkish border from the crossing Gelovaguzo the “Gate of fancy”, in Rihaniyya area city Turkish Hataa. The coordinator of the Red Crescent in Libya, “Nasser Mohammed Dou,” said, that Libya provided so far 235 ambulance to Syria since the start of the crisis, and to support the Libyan humanitarian aid will continue on an ongoing basis to the Syrians. He explained, “Dou” that three doctors came with the delegation, in order to provide medical services to the Syrian refugees who were forced to leave their homes and stay in tents and camps inside Syrian territory.
Omar Karem and Ebrahim Musaji meet in Aleppo refugee camp on May 27, and made their way back to Istanbul to welcome the Libyan Red Crescent delegation arriving with 25 ambulances, and the group from IHH, once they all meet they started their journey to Syria.
Circumstances unite people more than they can imagine.
Israel done it again DIME and Depleted Uranium in Gaza
Posted on December 06, 2012 by Akashma Online News
Israel Used Depleted Uranium Munitions During Gaza Offensive
by Richard Silverstein on December 6, 2012 ·
Hassan Doghmosh suffers severe burns after his Gaza City neighborhood was bombed last month.(Anne Paq / ActiveStills)
I’m beginning to read reports from Gaza that indicate that the IDF may have used depleted uranium munitions during its recent assault. A local journalist writes in Electronic Intifada about the grotesque forms of some of the victims’ wounds. He (incorrectly, I believe) associates them with chemical weapons like white phosphorus:
Among those receiving treatment in Nasser hospital in Khan Younis is a man who was hit by an Israeli drone that struck a farm owned by his family in southern Gaza. A friend of his was killed in the attack. “I was hit directly in my abdomen and two legs,” said the man, who is in his thirties and asked not to be named.
Baker al-Derdy, the head nurse in Nasser hospital, said that when this man was first admitted, there was “a strange smell, almost chemical” from him. Al-Derdy pointed to other indications that Israel may have used chemical weapons during its offensive.
“Some of the symptoms we have seen are abnormal,” al-Derdy added. “The type of burns that appear on the bodies suggest that the weapons employed were not conventional. The burns go deep into the skin and the skin itself turns blue. And I can tell you that the burns hit even the third layer of the skin.”
…Ashraf al-Qedra, a spokesperson for the health ministry in Gaza…acknowledged that some of the burns witnessed were deeper than those associated with conventional weapons.
“We in Gaza and health bodies in the West Bank do not have laboratories where we could properly examine what types of weapons have been used in Israeli attacks,” al-Qedra said. “But according to what we have seen so far, it appears that Israel used some explosive weapons or ammunition that caused burns and deep wounds. In most cases of those killed, we have seen that bodies were either torn apart or completely burnt out. Also, many of those injured have had their lower or upper limbs amputated.”
DIME weapons were first used against Gaza by Israeli drones in the summer of 2006, when Palestinian medical personnel reported that it significantly increased the fatality rate among victims. Shortly after the DIME weapons were also trialled during the first week of the war in Lebanon in July 2006.
Making clear that I’m neither a doctor nor a weapons specialist, the general description of these savage wounds reminds me much more of the DIME munition developed by the U.S. and used by the IDF in Gaza in 2006.
There are reports that Israel is using a new weapon in the Gaza strip. More specifically, the claim is that Israel is using something called a DIME weapon. Say what? Yes, DIME weapons are real, it stands for Dense Inert Metal Explosive. In a nutshell a DIME weapon is a bomb or missile that detonates with powerful and lethal explosive power confined to a small area. The idea being to minimize “collateral damage” when using military weapons in urban areas. Yes, this is a humane killing device, science marches on!DIME-Dense Inert Metal Explosive
I posted several times about this horrific weapon. The Gaza Interior Ministry, in the midst of the fighting, released a statement claiming it had recorded high rates of radioactivity at bombing sites, claiming that unconventional weapons were used against a civilian population:
Major Hazem Abu Murad, assistant director of explosives engineering and member of the Committee to document war crimes, revealed that the occupation used radioactive materials in the explosives with which it had bombed the Gaza Strip.
Abu Murad told the Interior Ministry that the weapons with which Israel targeted Gaza contain heavy elements, including the Uranium, tungsten, aluminum and nickel”, and pointed out that these materials raise the temperature in the center of the explosion to 7 thousand degrees Celsius, and boost the destructive ability of the shell.
He also pointed to the types of weapons used by the occupation during the recent aggression on the Gaza Strip, noting that among those weapons there are three types of ammunition which have been used for the first time.
If true, and I have no way of knowing whether Hamas’ claim was based on scientific testing, tungsten would be indicative of the use of DIME. The presence of uranium might lead in a different direction, as the IDF has weapons that contain depleted uranium. Here are some of its characteristics:
Depleted uranium is very dense…Thus a given mass of it has a smaller diameter than an equivalent lead projectile, with less aerodynamic drag and deeper penetration due to a higher pressure at point of impact. DU projectile ordnance is often incendiary because of its pyrophoric property.
…Depleted uranium is favored…because it is self-sharpening and pyrophoric. On impact with a hard target…the nose of the rod fractures in such a way that it remains sharp. The impact and subsequent release of heat energy causes it to disintegrate to dust and burn when it reaches air…When a DU penetrator reaches the interior of an armored vehicle, it catches fire, often igniting ammunition and fuel.
Further support for the thesis of its use by the IDF is a report to me from an Israeli source confirming the IDF used depleted uranium in Gaza. My source cannot confirm whether DIME was used or not.
The UN Human Rights Commission has asked member states to curb the use of such weapons and a paper prepared for the body argued that they may contravene numerous international treaties. The European Parliament called for a ban on DU munitions.
Here are some of their health effects:
Normal functioning of the kidney, brain, liver, heart, and numerous other systems can be affected by uranium exposure, because in addition to being weakly radioactive, uranium is a toxic metal. DU is less toxic than other heavy metals such as arsenic and mercury.[65] It is weakly radioactive but remains radioactive because of its long half-life.
…British Army doctors warned the British…Ministry of Defence that exposure to depleted uranium increased the risk of developing lung, lymph and brain cancer, and recommended a series of safety precautions.
This seems perfectly in synch with the typical practice of the IDF to exploit whatever weapons appear convenient and effective, no matter how controversial or even illegal their use might be, especially against a largely civilian population. This holds true for cluster bombs, white phosphorus and DIME, all of which Israel has employed during attacks on civilian areas of Lebanon and Gaza.
By the way, I’ve read several mainstream journalists claim that less than half those killed in Gaza were civilians. This is not true. Gaza human rights groups have counted 183 fatalities of whom 103 were civilian.
Under the Bombs and Under Attack still Gaza, Palestine – More allegations were brought to the light of the world when According to a Norwegian MD who was working at a Palestinian hospital in Gaza during the recent 2009 Cast Lead war the type of injuries that were inflicted on war casualties ,during this campaign, were different than anything that he has seen before in a war theater and he has seen quite a few conflagrations over the past thirty years. Another Norwegian doctor named DR. Gilbert told the Oslo Gardermoen that “there is a strong suspicion that Gaza is now being used as a test laboratory for new weapons.”
Col Ann Wrigh Statement
Posted on October 17, 2012 by Akashma Online News
For those who don’t know Ann Wright, she served in the U.S. Army for 29 years, retiring as a Colonel, then put in 16 years in the U.S. diplomatic corps, until she resigned in 2003 to protest the war on Iraq. Since then she has been an indefatigable campaigner for peace and justice around the world.
Statement released by Col Ann Wright
Two days ago, on October 13, three hours before I was to board a flight to Europe to meet up with the Swedish boat to Gaza, the “Estelle,” the next boat to challenge the Israeli blockade, I was called by a board member of the Estelle who said that because of the furor around Greta Berlin’s posting and because I am a member of the new, 2 week old board of the Free Gaza Movement, I was no longer invited to be a passenger on the “Estelle.”The board representative acknowledged that the reason for their invitation to me to be on the “Estelle” was that I am a retired US Army Colonel and former US diplomat who resigned in March, 2003 in opposition to the Iraq war, that I am a vocal critic of Israeli and United States policies on Palestinians and that I have been to Gaza 4 times in the past 3 years, assisted 7 groups to go to Gaza in 2009, helped organize the December, 2009 Gaza Freedom March, was a passenger on the 2010 Gaza Freedom Flotilla, helped organize the 2011 US Boat to Gaza and am an organizer for one of the latest initiatives, Gaza’s Ark.
But, because I am a member of the new board of the Free Gaza movement, and despite the fact I, and Greta and all members of the new board have made public statements posted on the Free Gaza Movement’s website that neither Greta, nor members of the current or previous board are anti-Semitic, bigoted or racist, the fact that I am on the new Free Gaza board was the reason the board of the “Estelle” was withdrawing the invitation for me to sail on the Estelle due to allegations of anti-Semitism of the Swedish Boat to Gaza by pro-Israelis groups in Sweden.
I am saddened by the decision of the board to withdraw its invitation and I believe it is wrong. All of our projects that have challenged Israeli policies toward Palestinians have been called anti-Semitic by pro-Israeli groups. This is not a new tactic used to scare pro-Palestinian groups.
Phil Weiss and Adam Horowitz in an article posted on Mondoweiss said – “there is no room for racism in a movement working for equality, justice and freedom for all in Israel/Palestine”—and they are right, but at the same time, there is no room for throwing long-time international activists for Palestine “off the boat,” so to speak.
Greta Berlin is not an anti-Semite, a bigot or a racist, and neither am I.
I wish the passengers and crew on the “Estelle” a safe voyage in challenging the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza and call for all who support Palestinians to keep their eyes on the prize—justice, dignity and freedom for Palestinians who are suffering under unjust Israeli policies and actions.
Peace to all and among us all,
Ann Wright
The last Passengers of the Estelle Freedom Boat arrived
Posted on October 16, 2012 by Akashma Online News
Source Rumb0 A Gaza UPDATED
The last passengers arrived to the Estelle Freedom Boat on slow boats from the Greek Isle today October 16, 2012, with destination to Gaza, Palestine.
Today the list get completed and the crew of civilian activists block constituted the group that materialized the hope of that of thousands of activists that had contributed to the dream to brake the Gaza Naval blockade imposed illegal by Israel in 2007.
The activists are expected to arrive in Palestinian waters en few days and with days close a chapter of desperation in Gaza. The residents of Gaza are preparing the arrival of the Estelle with joy and expectation.
The last passengers arrived to the Estelle. Photo Credit Ricardo Sixto
Congressmen from the Spaniard Parliament
The latest Palestinian activists are Parliament personnel from diverse countries:
– Ricardo Sixto, congresista en el parliament Spaniard
– Sven Britton, Parliament y físico Sweden
– Aksel Hagen, Parliament Norway
– Vangelis Diamandopoulos, Parliament Greek
– Dimistris Kodelas, Parlamentario Greek
– Jim Manly, ex congressman Canadian
From this passage, formed by citizens of Finland, Canada, Sweden, Spain, Norway, Italy, Greece and Israel, traveling a group of members of national parliaments to ask, not only in word, but in deed, to end the illegal and inhuman blockade subjected to inhumane conditions that almost two million Palestinian suffer, in what constitutes collective punishment with impunity in the eyes of the international community.
Having this representation is essential to give legal legitimacy and pressure on various governments and international bodies to support the passage of a vessel of civilians in a peaceful action demanding respect for human rights of the people of Gaza .
Until today October 17, 2012 time on the Mediterranean Sea, the Estelle is sailing freely, there is no speed boats or military boats close to the Estelle. We expect the governments of the activists pressure Israel to leave them arrive to Gaza. The group is comprise of official representatives of various Governments of Europe. They are un armed and have a humanitarian mission to fulfill. There is no intention to confront Israeli commandos, they are in strictly humanitarian mission.
The mission is missing one important passenger Ann Wright that was previously in the list of activists, but unfortunate recent events prevented her from being part of the crew.
For those who don’t know Ann Wright, she served in the U.S. Army for 29 years, retiring as a Colonel, then put in 16 years in the U.S. diplomatic corps, until she resigned in 2003 to protest the war on Iraq. Since then she has been an indefatigable campaigner for peace and justice around the world.
You can follow live the Estelle trajectory using the Live Ship Map, just refresh the page using CTRL F5 to update her position.
Ken O’keefe Back in Gaza with Max Igan & the Samouni Family
Posted on September 25, 2012 by Akashma Online News
Re-Blogged from Ken O’keefe Web Blog
By Ken O’keefe
When I came to Gaza in November 2011 I planned to stay for 2 months maximum, at least that was the deal I made with my pregnant wife. But as happens Palestine has a way of seducing you, and in my case the Egyptian authorities have a way of imprisoning you, so my stay lasted 6 months rather than 2. In turn I ended up missing the birth of our second child.
Although I planned to film 30 separate family profiles here in Gaza, to have these families tell their story directly to a western audience, I did not plan to meet the Samouni family as their story had been told many times before. Fate had other plans however and this meeting was arranged without my knowledge.
Back in Gaza with the Samouni kids
It is ironic how unplanned events often impact your life far more than those that are planned. Before you know it you are taken down a path of which the universe, God, some unknowable force is clearly in charge, we become but a passenger. Meeting the Samouni family has been like that, it has caused a chain reaction of events that has dominated my life for the last 18 months. In that time I have known the greatest of joy, the joy of receiving a child’s smile upon your return for instance. I cannot guess at the amount of smiles reciprocated with the Samouni kids and yet the joy it produces never diminishes.
What is a child’s smile worth?
In the last 18 months I have also known rage, primarily from the betrayal of those I trusted. To trust is to love, it is expose one’s underbelly in the interest of union. It is the cornerstone of partnership, it is essential for any significant progress in effecting a better world. Those that are afraid to trust, to love, will never know the joy of love, and my willingness to trust has been one of the greatest sources of the immense blessings I have known. I have no regrets, even with the betrayals.
Max Igan meets the Samouni kids
So the price one inevitably pays for misplaced trust is to be praised one day, and then slandered with the most filthy lies the next. This is the tactic of infiltration, get inside, develop trust, establish an apparently credible basis to defame the target, then attack. For me this extends not just about me, but of my wife, my mother and even my children who have been called “illegitimate”. I have even seen Palestinians create a Facebook page designed purely for the purpose of defaming me (a blatant violation of Facebook’s duplicitous, Israel slanted policies). I have been unlawfully arrested by the UK police, my family home has been violated and my property stolen by thieves in uniform. And yet I am grateful for it all because it is in these greatest of challenges, the injustices, that one finds the greatest opportunities to grow, to become wiser and stronger.
I am grateful because through the joy and through the hardship I have never lost sight of how blessed I am. When I look back at my life there is such richness in the stories I have accumulated and the friendships I have developed. I have thought with my heart more than with my head and in a world of collective insanity I realized long ago that popularity and approval is not what a content and honorable life generally provides, in fact it almost never does. The path of popularity is not for me, it is self-respect, service to life, commitment to truth and justice that I am committed to. The hardship, ridicule and slander is all part of the path and ultimately can only be overcome by steadfastness and love, love of truth, love of justice, and ultimately love of peace.
Indeed I have taken the path less traveled by and without doubt this has made all the difference. This path has lead me back to Gaza, and as potentially dangerous as this path is it doesn’t really matter, if my mortal life ends today I will leave behind an example of what blessings await those that “think” with their heart and more importantly, act in accord with their heart.
So I am back in Gaza, and I am back with the Samouni family. What we have shared is what we shared before, love. If the full truth be known about all that has been employed to tear or relationship apart it could be made into a movie. Even a prominent human rights organization has been advising the Samouni family to divorce themselves of me because I was all that I was accused of being by the slanderers. What makes this shocking is that this “human rights” organization indicted me based on one source and one source alone, Facebook!
This organization went even further to pressure the Samouni family to press charges against me. When the family asked for one simple thing, evidence, this organization refused. Indeed this has been the judge of me for many, Facebook. What does this say about some of the so-called “friends” of Palestine, that they are so incredibly stupid as to validate a known CIA/Zionist tool as a source to crucify one of Palestine’s most easily verified allies?
What I find myself saying more and more about the plight of the Palestinians is, “with friends like these, who needs enemies.”
Between the human rights organization and the corrupt UK police and court system and Zionist agents online and importantly, the idiots who give credence to all of the above, it is safe to say that the only thing that has truly protected me is integrity. And the only thing that will save the Samouni Project and the educational program it entails is steadfastness. And even if these poor, poor human beings who wish otherwise were to succeed, I will die with my integrity as it is not subject to the whims of a human society that is, literally, collectively insane to the point that we remain on the brink of the human caused end of the world as we know it.
But make no mistake at all, those who have instigated baseless slander against me, those that have stolen resources for the Samouni Project, Aloha Palestine, Trade Not Aid, those that have been stupid enough to propagate lies without any critical thought, have not attacked me primarily, they have attacked Palestine and in particular, the Samouni family. A massive amount of effort has been invested in destroying the trust between myself and the Samouni family, it has not worked. I remain a loved member of this family and I love this family as if they were my blood.
In the next few days prepare to feel the joy I am feeling with me, as something beautiful is about to happen here in Gaza.
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Ken has amazing stories to share, the untold story about the ordeal of the Sammouni Project.
Recent Posts in Ken’s Blog
A Shred of Truth that Vilify The Real Truth
The Out of Context Line That Can Sacrifice A whole Nation and Discredit A Legitimate Movement of Resistance.
“Abu Marzouk: Hamas won’t be bound by PA-Israel treaty”
DIME weapons were first used against Gaza by Israeli drones in the summer of 2006, when Palestinian medical personnel reported that it significantly increased the fatality rate among victims. Shortly after the DIME weapons were also trialled during the first week of the war in Lebanon in July 2006.
Fighting against misinformation it have been one of the biggest Fights For Palestine.
The first excerpts of an Interview published on Thursday 19 of April have sparked a whole new controversy on the position of Hamas regarding Israel and PA previous agreements.
To the informed readers comes to no surprise Hamas Position on Israel Illegal Existence on Palestine Lands, and vilifying the words of Abu Marzook taken out of context is irresponsible by writers, journalists and bloggers that add their “Side” of the story when their twisted, misinterpreted and purposely published Shreds of the Truth, that by the end of the day have become a whole new “Truth” and a story moving by the armies of bloggers and News Big and small around the world.
Hamas is an acronym of Harakat al Mawqawama al Islamiyya meaning “Islamic Resistance Movement.” The word Hamas also means “zeal.”
Since the article of Abu Marzook interview was first published more than 4000 News and bloggers published their version of the interview and more than 2 millions web sites have talk about it, and they have made their own interpretation of the interview and across the Headlines of the Editorials you can read with Bold Letters:
Hamas leader to Jewish paper: No peace with Israel
This remind me of the experiment done to a group of students that are given a “story” and they are suppose to pass the verbal story to a new student entering the room, by the time the last student is given the “Raw Story”, there is not a Shred of Truth on the story but only the idea of the original story, and the interpretation that every student have given to the story given to them, I mention you this little story/experiment because most probably you were part of this experiment sometimes in your life while in school. The same distortion of the truth is being passed over and over regarding Palestine, its leaders and its people.
The sole mention on an article of the world “Islamic” brings up bad taste of mouth and negative reaction from the well trained audience of the world that have developed a new social disease:
Islamophobia:
Phobia Intentional created, nurtured and spoiled as brat child. Once this brat is release in our society that has been already weakened with pain, wars and propaganda, is able to create the worse of the chaos, and the worst of the crimes, which is the acceptance of the crimes because the subconscious mind have already condoned it.
Phobia: A phobia is a type of anxiety disorder. It is a strong, irrational fear of something that poses little or no actual danger.
If you follow the stories that were generated after the interview that was first published on the 19 of April, you can not help but get outraged by the malicious intent and effort to discredit and to twist the words of Moussa Abu Marzouk, this type of lies and dirty games play by the Major News Organizations is what have help create this social disease that have been so handy for the War Complex Machine, that have helped to desensitized the people hearts. It has come to the point in the physique of the people that if dozens, hundreds or even thousands get killed don’t matter because their lives are not important because they are Muslim, and what they have done to deserve this?.
In Palestine they can not accept the theft of their lands, they can not sit idle when the residents of Gaza are sprayed. with white phosphorus, they react with anger when their children are bombed in the schools or sonar bombed when they sleep.
In other parts of the world where Muslims are being vilified after Bush invaded Iraq, and thereafter the situation got worse for Muslims around the world.
Notice when the News bothers to mention Israel crimes in Occupied Palestine, they make sure that they use the words “Militant Islamist Wings of Hamas”, or “radical Islamic Palestinian terrorist group”, with this denominations the victims are already being vilified and their murder are con·done by the public opinion.
Why will Hamas as an political organization and as an Official Government in Place in Gaza, will accept anything less than the rights for its people?. Why will Hamas be blame and branded a terrorist organization, when they only defend the population from the attacks of Israel?
Does it make sense to you? …The robbers came in the middle of the night and killed your parents, and in the morning you are force to accept a paper that says that those robbers not only will not be punish for the murder of your parents but they will take your home also, and you will go to live in a tent under the auspice of the UNRWA charity? ..how many times the story have to be repeated before someone feel in its heart, that it is inhuman, unfair and illegal under all international standards laws?
This simple story happened in thousands of Palestinians homes, entire villages were razed after their residents were murdered, some other were forced into exile, thru intimidation and terrorist practices. Now they asking Palestinians to accept their destiny without fighting, without feeling the pain. They are asking to give up the fight, they are being ask to lower their gaze and do not complain.
Well some people have already accepted that the plight of the Palestinians is irremediable and unchangeable fact. The PA did when their leaders signed peace treaty with Israel, when they decided to settle the deaths of hundred of thousands of Palestinians deaths in exchange for a Chair in Ramalah, but Hamas and other groups were never agreed with those deals, because they were rotten deals for Palestinians and until now they have not change their mind. They still defend the population and express their outrage on the Press.
Every conflict in history that is ever being written has always been only one side of the story, but that has changed, now we have thousands sides of the story, but with every story there is a twist of the truth, and that have been used against legitimate resistance movements. Hamas is just one example, its leaders have been labeled as Islamist Radicals , the organization itself has been officially labeled terrorist organization in many western countries thanks to AIPAC long tentacles and other Radical Jews groups around the world.
The common notion is that Palestinians living in Gaza are Islamist terrorists, why is this? Israel acquire thousands of weapons “legally”, they signed Weapons Deals with US its major arms supplier.
U.S. press coverage of Israeli attacks on the Palestinian Authority and Palestinian towns on the West Bank often treat the U.S. government as either an innocent bystander or an honest broker in the current conflict, often without giving a full sense of the importance of the United States role as a supplier of arms, aid, and military technology to Israel. In its role as Israel’s primary arms supplier, the United States could exert significant potential leverage over Israeli behavior in the conflict, if it chooses to do so.
Military and Economic Aid
Since 1976, Israel had been the largest annual recipient of U.S. foreign assistance. According to a November 2001 Congressional Research Service report, Israel: U.S. Foreign Assistance, U.S. aid to Israel in the last half century has totaled a whopping $81.3 billion.
In recent years, Israel remains the top recipient of U.S. military and economic assistance. The most commonly cited figure is $3 billion a year, with about $1.8 billion a year in Foreign Military Financing (FMF) grants from the Department of Defense and an additional $1.2 billion a year in Economic Support Funds (ESF) from the Department of State. In the last decade FMF grants to Israel have totaled $18.2 billion. In fact, 17% of all U.S. foreign aid is earmarked for Israel. World Policy Institute
The weapons that Israel buys “legally” from the US arm dealers are killer machines, they kill and destroy people and property, and they are more terrorizing devices than Palestinians Home Made Rockets, rockets that have to be bought “Illegally”, smuggle thru the tunnels, because Israel have sweet deals with the West and the west have taken the right for Palestine to defend their population.
What does it make a person a terrorist?
If you are Palestinian and kill a settler, without jury or trial you are branded terrorist, but when you are Israeli, and you kill 1400 innocents civilians, you simply are defending Israel. That it is the Mantra repeated, That is the difference now days in hundreds of News Outlets that are legitimating this distinction, when they irresponsibly publish News and articles simply branding Palestinians as Islamist Terrorists.
Most of the weapons that Israel uses comes from US weapons factories, the profits are astronomical, so the conflict needs to be kept alive. What will it be of the US Weapon Manufactures if there is a Peace Agreement in Palestine? Peace is the enemy # 1 of Profits .
We are talking of billions of dollars a year in Profits, pure profits because the money that goes to Israel for “Defense”
is free, and some of it comes back as Profit for the US Corporations that live out of Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Sure. Almost all of the weapons used by Israel are from the United States. There might be a couple French fighter planes that they’re using, but its F-16s made in Fort Worth, Texas; its Apache helicopters; its Sparrow and Sidewinder missiles; it’s all from the United States. So you have this real disconnect between an overemphasis on the supply by Iran and Syria of Hezbollah’s weapons and no discussion of the fact that all of the Israeli arsenal is from the United States, and that that is in contravention to U.S. law. to the Arms Export Control Act, which says that U.S.-origin weapons are only to be used for self-defense and for internal security. Frida Barrigan from World Policy Institute
Published April 19, 2012 originally
Hamas Wouldn’t Honor a Treaty, Top Leader Says
Abu Marzook Says He’s Open to a New Israel Relationship
Any agreement reached between Israel and the Palestinian Authority will be subject to far-reaching changes if Hamas comes to power in a democratic Palestinian state, a top Hamas leader told the Forward in an exclusive and wide-ranging interview.Mousa Abu Marzook, considered Hamas’s second-highest-ranking official, said that his group would view an agreement between Israel and the P.A. — even one ratified by a referendum of all Palestinians — as a hudna, or cease-fire, rather than as a peace treaty. In power, he said, Hamas would feel free to shift away from those provisions of the agreement that define it as a peace treaty and move instead toward a relationship of armed truce.
“We will not recognize Israel as a state,” he said emphatically. “It will be like the relationship between Lebanon and Israel or Syria and Israel.”
The exchange was but one part of an unprecedented five-and-a-half-hour discussion conducted over two days between Abu Marzook and the Forward, the first-ever in-depth exchange between a senior Hamas leader and a Jewish publication.Larry Cohler-Esses from Forward
The Situation in Gaza is different, here we talk about resistance as a strategic option, about the right of all the resistance factions to obtain all the means needed to conduct resistance, about the legitimacy of the weapons of the resistance, and about the national consensus on managing the resistance in a way that does not harm the principle.
We Talk about operating in accordance with the conditions we talked about:
Taking people’s circumstances into consideration, and even the conditions in Gaza, which has become..Today.” Ismail Haniya during an interview on Al-Quds TV in Lebanon March 5, 2012
Sandra Twang: No to Abduction of Dignity!
Posted on April 02, 2012 by Marivel Guzman
First American Citizen Activist that started the International Campaign of Non Violent Protest of Resistance joining Palestinians Prisoners in hunger strike
UPDATED
21 days in hunger Strike for Justice
Sandra Twang: No to Abduction of Dignity!
Standing in solidarity with Hana Shalabi
by Sife Saleem – Original Posted Aljazeera Talk – Gaza
Translated by: Jummana Al-Kahlout
A scream out for liberty exploded from the land of democracy and human rights, the United States of America. Sandra, an American citizen was inspired by a Palestinian hero fighting for freedom and now stands in solidarity with her, demanding justice. Her message is a call out to Barack Obama, the Israeli government and the international community’s conscience.
Sandra Rose Twang, the American peace activist has been on hunger strike since the 21st of March 2012 in solidarity with Hana Shalabi. She told Aljazeera Talk that her solidarity movement is a message to Barrack Obama pleading him to intervene in Hana’s case and attempt to end the inhumane and unjust imprisonment of Palestinians in Israeli jails.
Sandra has spread her message on the internet asking people to support the cause and join the hunger strike to impose enough pressure to drive the American government to take action. “Hana Shalabi is a hero and a role model to me in her courage and power” Claims Sandra.
Twang has been interested in the Palestinian cause for the past two years and has educated herself enough to conclude that the Palestinian people are a strong nation who withstood suffering, injustice and discrimination for over 60 years.
Thus, she has joined their fight for liberation by standing in strong solidarity with Hana Shalabi in her hunger strike. She tells us “It was difficult to cope in the first few days, but I now feel fine. My youngest son supports me and so does my mother because they believe Palestinian’s have the right to live in dignity”
“This is justice.” She adds. Hana is fighting for her basic human right, to live a decent life within Israeli prisons, which she is sitting in without even a hint of a fair trial! First degree murders receive a trial so why is Hana, whose crime is her “unacceptable” opinion, denied this right? She explains that it saddens her to see the international community failing to interact with Hana’s situation, expressing her sorrow at the evident reluctance.
“Palestinians are a symbol of courage” she says in a heart-felt manner.
Administrative detention is not just arrest. It is the abduction of dignity, land and life. The sole goal of this detention is to keep Palestinians deprived of basic human rights, consequently making their ultimate demand; to gain them back.
This is simply unacceptable. The United States has always been an advocate of human rights and international democracy, but Sandra fears that if the US continues to support the oppression of the Palestinian people, it is contradicting its own values and faces an almost inevitable backfire in the near future.
Sandra’s message to the Israeli government states “The world has stood by and allowed you to illegally occupy, kill and humiliate the people of Palestine; for this, you might think you have won, but a real country does not constitute of just land, a real country cannot stand on pillars of corruption, it is only a matter of time before you collapse”
The fate of 20,000 detainees illegally held in Israeli jails worries Sandra, and should worry the entire international community. Sandra is determined to fight for the freedom of these Palestinian prisoners and calls on people seeking peace and governments claiming justice to stand up and take a stance too.
Do not allow international silence to overwhelm you. Take action and enforce change.
US Senators Web Sites, and Direct Numbers
The silence protest staged by Palestinians Conscience Objectors is the best Non Resistance Weapon and only resource Palestinians have inside Israel Prisons, Often denied the rights of an attorney, which is the case in most of the detainees, they leave them with few option to exercise their rights. A silence hunger strike staged by an individual could be the lousiest of the protest can any one perform, the role of the press and the mouth to mouth news it is the key element to make it to succeed.
On March 23 the ethics committee of Israel Bureau of Prisons announced that Hana Shalabi was going to be forced to eat artificially using gastrointestinal tubes, a practice that it’s considered inhumane treatment by Amnesty International, because even though is propagated as a human practice to save the life of a prisoners it curtail their freedom of expression and rights to protest in a Non Violent Way. A Silence Fight It’s My Right! Hunger Strike For Justice
We have invented the most powerful flying machine, the smallest medical devices, the most dangerous weapon we can imagine and being so technologically advanced we still can not comprehend in its entirely our humanity, but we are trying, little by little we understand more and more of us, our world become so important that we feel the necessity of help in the restoration and the unification of our human family.
What make us humans we ask ourselves? The Soul?, our Heart?, our feelings? what really do we have inside our bodies that make us compassionate or despicable beings? Does all the human beings are able to FEEL?. The Most Powerfull Weapon Our Humanity
“I am ashamed to say that my country in particular has acted in a most egregious way in its veto of any UN response in holding Israel accountable for its crimes.
But now I want to tell you what drove me to this hunger strike.
There is a young woman, Hana Shalabi, now imprisoned in Hasharon Prison in Israel, arrested on February 16, 2012 and is being held under administrative detention, detention without charge or trial. She is not allowed to know what she is accused of, to examine any of the evidence against her, thereby rendering her capability for due process null and void.” Sandra Rose Twang
Letter from Sandra to U.S. President -Sandra Twang Hunger Strike
Posted on March 24, 2012 by Marivel Guzman
A Plea from an American Peace Activist Sandra Rose Twang to President Obama
President of the United States Barak Obama
The White House
Washington, DC
Dear Mr. President,
My name is Sandra Twang, a 56 year old woman who lives in a very small rural village in central New York.
I am writing this letter to inform you that I am on a hunger strike, I have almost finished my second day, have eaten nothing for 2 days and I plan to continue, unless something is done about the gross oppression and genocide of the Palestinian peoples.
I learned of Palestine only a few years ago and have been educating myself on the subject since.
What I learned has created such pain in my heart for these people that I can no longer bear it.
What is even more painful is my governments active participation in this genocide by providing 3 billion dollars a year to the government of Israel, military hardware, and the most heinous provision , a blind eye to this genocide of an entire people..
In all instances the United States has stepped away from its legal responsibility to denounce this incredible theft of land and the building of Jewish only settlements pushing the Palestinians into smaller and smaller enclaves which are rapidly becoming open air prisons with the building of an apartheid wall , hundreds of checkpoints and Israeli only roads.
The gross treatment of the Palestinians and the neglect of recognition of their human rights is appalling, their mobility is limited and defined by a government which seems to me to have no understanding of international law.
Their children are stolen from their beds in the middle of the night, by the Israeli Defense Forces who then take them to prison to be interrogated and many times tortured. Many as young as 12 years old, their parents are not allowed to accompany them and there is no legal counsel provided.
The Non-violent protestors, human beings confronting the building of 30 ft cement prison walls around their entire villages , for many the only way out through is a gateway which is a checkpoint with IDF soldiers attending.
A curfew set for when they can leave and when they must return by.
Many Palestinians are farmers, their olive groves on the other side of this prison wall, unable to access them unless the Israeli government allows it, with this cutting them off from their only source of income.
Many non violent Palestinian protestors have been killed while exercising their right to protest these injustices, as has our own youth Rachael Corrie, whose death was dismissed and given no dignity for her incredible sacrifice in her fight to protect the Palestinians.
Then there is the story of Gaza, an enclave totally surrounded by prison walls.
The people of Gaza cannot leave Gaza they are truly prisoners.
In December 2008 thru January 2009, the Israeli government bombed this enclave for 22 days killing more then 1387 people, 320 were children under the age of 18, 107 were women and 773 were civilians only 330 took part in the hostilities. ( B’Tselem’s investigation which is an Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories). Report
.
Because Gaza is totally surrounded by a razor wire and a prison wall there was no place for the civilians to go. Both Israel and Egypt blocked all crossings , and there are no bomb shelters in Gaza because the Israeli government will not allow cement into Gaza.
The severe oppression of Gaza is so horrendous that international activists and human rights organizations around the world have tried to break this horrible siege and blockade .
The people of the world are aware of this crime and because of a lack of response by the governments have taken it upon themselves as human rights defenders to attempt to break this blockade.
The atrocities in Gaza are particularly grotesque in that they involve the random firing of missiles into urban areas , the shooting of farmers whose land lies close to the prison wall , shooting at fisherman who dare to go out beyond 3 miles from their shore . These atrocities go on and on year after year with the international community doing nothing.
I am ashamed to say that my country in particular has acted in a most egregious way in its veto of any any UN response in holding Israel accountable for its crimes.
But now I want to tell you what drove me to this hunger strike.
There is a young woman, Hana Shalabi, now imprisoned in Hasharon Prison in Israel, arrested on February 16, 2012 and is being held under administrative detention, detention without charge or trial. She is not allowed to know what she is accused of, to examine any of the evidence against her, thereby rendering her capability for due process null and void.
She was only released from prison 4 months ago from administrative detention of 2 years, the day of her arrest from her home, violated by the arresting soldiers who beat her and provided no information to her why she was being arrested.
She has protested her arrest and the unjust legal system and refusal to allow her due process by going on a hunger strike. She is as I write this 36 days into her strike and dying , with the Israeli government, cold heatedly refusing to answer her charges of illegal detainment and freeing her.
Hana confirmed that on 16 February, she was forcibly strip searched by a male soldier and assaulted, merely hours after soldiers brought her to Salem Detention Center following her arrest. In the affidavit given to Addameer Lawyer Samer Sam’an, Hana described the forced strip search and assault at the hands of the soldiers of the Israeli Occupying Forces as “utterly degrading” and that what they did to her was “not acceptable in all customs of the world”. She subsequently began her hunger strike and was placed in solitary confinement.
There are more then 300 Palestinians at this time being held under this type of detainment. Many are on hunger strike demanding their right to due process.
I cannot believe that my country allows this type of international crime and continues to support a corrupt government who has no respect for international law or respects for human rights laws or due process.
My heart cries for her but in the same breath her courage is breath taking and I feel that I can not abandon her, and if I do not join her, then I would be as guilty as those who are taking her life.
My own governments silence fills me with fear of who we are. Our silence screams criminality in our continued support of Israeli crimes against these brave people.
So, I am letting you know that I will continue not to eat until you, Mr. Obama, address this issue with a heart and a respect for international and human rights laws.
The Palestinian people have a beautiful culture and they are very intelligent.
Their problem is, they have no saying and have not for some time of their own destiny . If Israel is allowed to continue with these crimes I fear for the Palestinians, because I do not know what happens to a people who are forced to live under such severe oppression generation after generation.
Respectfully and with high hopes,
Sandra Rose Twang
Akashma Online News 