Palestine
Still Breathing, A Report from Gaza
- Category: Palestine
By Caoimhe Butterly
The morgues of Gaza 's hospitals are over-flowing. The bodies in their blood-soaked white shrouds cover the entire floor space of the Shifa hospital morgue. Some are intact, most horribly deformed, limbs twisted into unnatural positions, chest cavities exposed, heads blown off, skulls crushed in. Family members wait outside to identify and claim a brother, husband, father, mother, wife, child. Many of those who wait their turn have lost numerous family members and loved ones.
Blood is everywhere. Hospital orderlies hose down the floors of operating rooms, bloodied bandages lie discarded in corners, and the injured continue to pour in: bodies lacerated by shrapnel, burns, bullet wounds. Medical workers, exhausted and under siege, work day and night and each life saved is seen as a victory over the predominance of death.
The streets of Gaza are eerily silent- the pulsing life and rhythm of markets, children, fishermen walking down to the sea at dawn brutally stilled and replaced by an atmosphere of uncertainty, isolation and fear. The ever-present sounds of surveillance drones, F16s, tanks and apaches are listened to acutely as residents try to guess where the next deadly strike will be- which house, school, clinic, mosque, governmental building or community centre will be hit next and how to move before it does. That there are no safe places- no refuge for vulnerable human bodies- is felt acutely. It is a devastating awareness for parents- that there is no way to keep their children safe.
A Night of Conviction: Hundreds Gather in NYC to Denounce Massacre of Gaza
- Category: Palestine
By Malcolm Shore
Several hundred people packed a New York City auditorium Tuesday night for an emergency town hall meeting about Israel’s assault on Gaza. The event — entitled “A Call to Act: Stop the Israeli Massacre in Gaza! We Condemn the U.S. Role in This War Crime!” — was initiated by Revolution Books, and held at the New York Society for Ethical Culture on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.
As the evening began, Israel was known to have killed nearly 1000 Palestinians in less than three weeks. And that staggering death toll could only be expected to rise rapidly during days that followed, considering that the Israeli Army was penetrating ever deeper into Gaza, and considering that more than 3000 Palestinians had been wounded in an area that is without vital medical supplies due to the Israeli blockade.
The Language of Death
- Category: Palestine
By Chris Hedges
World Can't Wait helped produce a town meeting last night, sponsored by Revolution Books in New York City.
Chris Hedges gave the main address.The incursion and bombardment of Gaza is not about destroying Hamas. It is not about stopping rocket fire into Israel. It is not about achieving peace. The Israeli decision to rain death and destruction on Gaza, to use the lethal weapons of the modern battlefield on a largely defenseless civilian population, is the final phase of the decades-long campaign to ethnically cleanse Palestinians. The assault on Gaza is about creating, squalid, lawless and impoverished ghettos in the West Bank and Gaza where life for Palestinians will be barely sustainable. It is about building a series of ringed Palestinian enclaves where the Israeli military will have the ability to instantly shut off movement, food, medicine and goods to perpetuate the misery.
500+ Pack NYC Emergency Town Hall Meeting on Gaza
- Category: Palestine
A rapidly arranged Town Hall Meeting held January 13, at NYC's Ethical Culture Center, turned out over 500 people. Speakers included Chris Hedges, Cynthia McKinney, Vanessa Redgrave, Alan Goodman, Peter Weiss, Adam Shapiro, Abdeen Jabara; Najla Said performed. Speeches from the evening were aired on WBAI radio. What follows are plans decided upon at that meeting.
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Thursday, January 15 - DAY OF CONSCIENCE
Thursday, January 15 - DAY OF CONSCIENCE
to Act Against the U.S. role in supporting the war crime going on in Gaza.
Israel’s Collective Punishment of Gaza
- Category: Palestine
By Marjorie Cohn
Since Israel began its war on Gaza 11 days ago, more than 560 Palestinians – about a quarter of them civilians – have been killed. Some two thousand Gazans, including hundreds of children, have been wounded. Israel’s “Operation Cast Lead” marks an escalation of Israel’s two-year blockade of the Gaza Strip which has deprived 1.5 million Palestinians of necessary food, medicine, fuel and other necessities.
Israel is using white phosphorous gas, an illegal chemical weapon that burns to the bone. Dr. Mads Gilbert, a member of a Norwegian triage medical team working in Gaza, has documented Israel’s use of Dense Inert Metal Explosive (DIME), which cuts its victims to pieces and reportedly causes cancer in survivors. Gilbert, who has worked in several conflict zones, said the situation in Gaza is the worst he has ever seen. Two United Nations schools have been hit by airstrikes, killing at least 30 people. The New York Times reported on Monday that Gazan hospitals are full of civilians, not Hamas fighters.
Report from Rafah: Doctors Stopped At Borders Middle East
- Category: Palestine
by Bill Quigley
Dr. Nicolas Doussis-Rassias and many other volunteer doctors have been waiting in Rafah, Egypt for days.Nicolas and the other physicians came to Rafah to go through the border into Gaza to help the 3000 people wounded by Israeli bombs and heavy weapons.
Rafah is a heavily armed Egyptian border crossing into Gaza, a four hour drive away from Cairo. Sonic booms of high flying jets cut through the stark blue sky. Military drones hover over the border as the air smells of burning.
Harlem Protest Denounces Gaza Bombings
- Category: Palestine
By Elaine Brower and Thomas Good
NEW YORK — On Saturday, January, in solidarity with other protests around the world, members of Movement for a Democratic Society-Staten Island joined with over 100 protesters 10th in Harlem to denounce the indiscriminate bombing of Gazan civilians by Israeli armed forces. The event was one of many protests in recent days as the world takes to the streets in defense of Gaza. Protesters across the globe are demanding an immediate ceasefire by Israel, which has the support of the United States government in its assault on the Palestinian civilian population. Over the last two weeks, the movement against Israeli aggression has grown throughout the world. However, in spite of a UN resolution for Israel to stop the bombing, the United States Congress--both the Senate and the House--passed bi-partisan resolutions last week in support of Israel's "right to defend itself" against terrorism. Conversely, the number of civilians killed, particularly women and children, has caused many in the peace movement to accuse the Israelis of committing genocide.
“Human Shields”? World Class Deceit, World Class Crimes
- Category: Palestine
By Dennis Loo
Israel continues to claim that the hundreds of civilian deaths (including children) in its war upon Gaza are the result of Hamas using civilians as human shields.
Israel repeated this claim today in responding to the International Committee of the Red Cross' unusually blunt criticism of Israel wherein the Red Cross describes conditions as "shocking" (including finding infants next to the corpses of their mothers) and that it had to take the wounded out during the three hour ceasefire by donkey cart because of Israel's building berms making ambulance use impossible.
Defenders of Israel's actions also repeat the absurd human shields claim ad nauseum. Some others, who are decidedly not Likudniks, have also bought into this assertion or some other variant, such as arguing that Palestinians voted for Hamas so this somehow makes them legitimate targets for death from Israel's bombs, tanks, rockets, and guns.
Israel Delays and Denies Medical Aid to Gaza Wounded according to Red Cross
- Category: Palestine
By Kenneth J. Theisen
Anyone who has been following the actions of Israel in its attack on Gaza is well aware that Israel is violating international law. A recent press release of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) confirms this and illustrates the situation on the ground in one Gaza neighborhood. Hundred of Palestinians are dead and many more are wounded throughout Gaza. But these are the casualties we know about. Still more are uncounted as they lay in demolished buildings and neighborhoods waiting for rescue and aid. But the Israelis are interfering with possible rescue and medical treatment.
The ICRC is highly critical of Israel for it failure to abide by international humanitarian law. Despite the fact that the ICRC had requested safe passage for ambulances to access a Gazan neighborhood since January 3, 2008 it was only allowed access by the Israel Defense Forces during the afternoon of January 7th.
According to the ICRC press statement when the medical personnel were finally allowed into the neighborhood, “The ICRC/PRCS team found four small children next to their dead mothers in one of the houses. They were too weak to stand up on their own. One man was also found alive, too weak to stand up. In all there were at least 12 corpses lying on mattresses. In another house, the ICRC/PRCS rescue team found 15 other survivors of this attack including several wounded. In yet another house, they found an additional three corpses. Israeli soldiers posted at a military position some 80 meters away from this house ordered the rescue team to leave the area which they refused to do.”
Senate Votes to Support Israeli War Crimes
- Category: Palestine
By Kenneth J. Theisen
On Thursday the U.S. Senate confirmed its support for Israeli war crimes by passing a resolution in support of Israel's attack on the Palestinians of Gaza. The resolution also called for a one-sided ceasefire. The resolution was passed on a voice vote and was sponsored by both Democratic and Republican party leaders in the Senate.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid stated just before the vote, “When we pass this resolution, the United States Senate will strengthen our historic bond with the state of Israel, by reaffirming Israel's inalienable right to defend against attacks from Gaza, as well as our support for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.” George Orwell must be delighted in his grave to hear such Orwellian bull.
Israel is not on the defense, but rather it is the aggressor. It has occupied Gaza for over four decades and held the inhabitants of Gaza in a vast open-air prison. And the peace process that Reid mentions is the peace of the grave for those who resist Israel and its imperialist sponsor, the U.S. government. Israel has killed hundreds of Palestinians in Gaza in many military operations over the years of occupation. The latest attack has killed even more than past attacks, however. To date, there are more than 700 dead in Gaza as a direct result of Israeli aggression.
Scenes from Dante's Inferno
- Category: Palestine
By Kevin Gosztola
“...new torments and new tormented souls I see around me wherever I move, and howsoever I turn, and wherever I gaze.” –Third Circle, Inferno by Dante Alighieri“Consider well the seed that gave you birth: you were not made to live your lives as brutes, but to be followers of worth and knowledge.” –Ulysses, Inferno
The U.S. continues to support and condone the actions of Israel as Israel presses on with its “urban offensive” or rather, its act of aggression toward Palestinians. The United Nations, on behalf of the Arab states, pushes to pass a statement condemning the actions of Israel which may call for a ceasefire. And, doctors cry out in horror as they witness what could be best described as hell on Earth.
Dr. Mads Gilbert’s declared on Sky News, “This is an all out war against the civilian Palestinian population in Gaza and we can prove that with the numbers.” He added, “The average age of the Gaza inhabitant is 17-years. It's a very young population and 80% are living below the poverty limit of the U.N.”
Palestine