Palestine: Btselem’s end of 2011 video
btselem on Jan 4, 2012
In 2011, volunteers in B’Tselem’s camera project filmed over 500 hours of footage in the West Bank.
There are two minutes we collected from it, in order to sum up the passing year.
Open Letter from Gaza: Three Years after the Massacre, Justice or Nothing!
Tuesday, 27th December, 2011
We, Palestinians of Gaza, 3 years on from the 22-day long massacre in Israel’s operation ‘Cast Lead’, are calling on international civil society to make 2012 the year when solidarity with us in Palestine captures the spark of the revolutions around the Arab world and never looks back. On this anniversary we demand an international liberation movement that eventually leads to just that, liberation for us Palestinians from 63 years of brutal military occupation and ethnic cleansing that pours shame on any organisation or government claiming to endorse universal human rights.
We will never forget the hurt of 3 years ago, the criminal onslaught that we lived through, the blood of over 1400 murdered men, women and hundreds of children running through the streets of Gaza, between the rubble, soaking our beds and etched on our minds. We will never forget. For they are still dead, and thousands more are still maimed. [1]
We will never forget the last 63 years during which our land, homes, olive groves, lemon trees and cherished way of life was taken away from us, while Israeli soldiers held our fathers’ faces in the sands, imprisoned them, or shot them in front of us. We will not forget the sickening cowardice of the international community that has allowed and enabled this ethnic cleansing of our people, subjecting us to Israel’s racist Zionist vision that defines us, the indigenous people of Palestine, as the undesired ‘ethnic group’ for the region.
The US continues to ‘reward’ Israel with 6 billion dollars of tax-payers money while the EU increases its trade and diplomatic relations. For the Israeli apartheid regime this translates as the green light to unleash the 4th most powerful military on us to ‘do its worst’ against our civilian population, of which over half in Gaza are children and over 2 thirds are UN registered refugees.
Read more »
Zionist business as usual: another day of Ethnic Cleansing and settler-colonial violence against Palestinians
Israeli Forces Arrest Eight Citizens from Jenin Camp, Nablus, Gaza
December 20, 2011, PNN – Palestine News Network, occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com
Oakland museum cancels exhibition created by Palestinian children
The show, which was to run until Nov. 13, included harrowing images of bloodshed and loss during the Israeli bombing of Gaza, known as Operation Cast Lead, which began in 2008. In one drawing, a little girl with a bandage on her head stares out from behind prison bars. In another, tanks roll through a burning town as women wail and children weep.
These and other artworks created by Palestinian children ages 6-14 were to have been included in “A Child’s View of Gaza,” which was to open with a day of cartooning workshops and poetry readings.
Hilman Storey, chair of MOCHA’s board of directors wrote in a statement that while the museum supports art that fosters “insight and understanding,” an exhibit of art about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was “not appropriate for an open gallery accessible by all children.” Read more »
Southern California: Irvine 11 trial begins after a week of jury selection
Demonstrating support for the Irvine 11
Nora Barrows-Friedman, Electronic Intifada
09/07/2011
Following a week of selections from a pool of nearly 400 potential jurors, opening arguments in the Irvine 11 trial formally begin Wednesday in Orange County, California.
Defense attorneys for the group of Muslim students from UC Irvine and UC Riverside who interrupted a speech by an Israeli official in February 2010 will argue against the “selective and discriminatory” nature of the Orange County Disctrict Attorney’s office’s year-long attacks and investigations that could result in up to two years in jail for each student on criminal misdemeanor charges.
I attended some of the jury selection process in the OC courthouse last week, and will again be on hand throughout the trial to update our readers on the ongoing process during the next few weeks and after the trial ends on 23 September with a final verdict. Read more »
Israeli president lauds Greece over thwarting Gaza flotilla
[This is for those who do not know: the leaders of Israel and Greece, two of the most actively reactionary and repressive states, are actually thankful for, and inspired by, each other's repressive moves. On the other hand, the people, we are sure, will not forgive and will never forget. -- Frontlines ed.]
July 12, 2011
Israeli President Shimon Peres on Monday thanked his Greek counterpart, Karolos Papoulias, for his country’s role in blocking the international aid flotilla to the Gaza Strip.
Following a meeting with Papoulias at the official presidential residence in Jerusalem, Peres thanked Papoulias for his personal involvement in thwarting the plans of pro-Palestinian activists to breach Israel’s maritime blockade on the coastal enclave. Read more »
Lebanese activists protest Greece’s blocking of Gaza aid flotilla
12/07/2011
BEIRUT: A dozen pro-Palestinian activists held a demonstration Monday in front of the European Union building, after a flotilla heading to Gaza was prevented from leaving Greece and other activists were banned from entering Israel over the weekend.
“We’re protesting EU governments’ complicity in perpetuating the siege of Gaza and indirectly supporting the illegal blockage,” said a protest organizer, Rana Boukarim.
The aid flotilla, trying to break the blockade on Gaza, was prevented from departing Greece by local authorities on July 8, while many activists who had planned to fly to Israel for peaceful protests in the Occupied Territories, part of the “Welcome to Palestine” campaign – dubbed a flytilla – were banned from traveling or detained at Tel-Aviv’s airport. Read more »
“Urgent Call to the people of Greece and the World: Freedom Flotilla Must Sail to Gaza!”
Statement from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Several boats that are part of Freedom Flotilla Two – Stay Human have been detained and prohibited to sail by the Greek Coast Guard, including the U.S., Canadian and Spanish Boats to Gaza, and the Greek government has prohibited any boats from sailing to Gaza from Greek ports. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine calls upon the Greek government to immediately end this active complicity with the Israeli siege on Gaza and release the boats to join the Flotilla to Gaza, and calls on all popular forces and movements in Greece and internationally to demand that the Greek government end its participation in the illegal Israeli blockade and allow the Freedom Flotilla to sail!
The Greek people have demonstrated, time and again, their firm solidarity with the Palestinian people, taking to the streets en masse to stand with the people of Palestine against Israeli massacres, invasions and wars. The people of Greece have also taken to their streets in the millions in the past months, and Greek workers risen in escalating general strikes over the past weeks, to stand against an EU/IMF economic austerity plan for their country which will mean misery, subservience, and suffering for Greece’s people. Read more »
Greek Communists condemn Papandreou government’s fulfillment of Zionist flotilla suppression
Communist Party of Greece (m-l) Press Release: About the “Free Gaza” Mission
Tuesday June 28, 2011–The Communist Party of Greece (marxist-leninist) condemns the criminal and provocative stance of the government of Israel in its attempt to discourage the international humanitarian mission against the genocidal blockade of the Palestinian people in Gaza. The fascist, Zionist state threatens to repeat last year’s murderous attack, threatens the reporters of the international media and puts pressure on governments and humanitarian organizations. Behind these threats and open state terrorism are as always the US imperialists, European governments and the UN leadership.
The CPG (m-l) condemns the stance of the Greek government which, in its attempt to dissuade the participation of Greek citizens, gives permission for piratical and criminal practices in international and Palestinian waters by the state of Israel. The CPG (m-l) notes that the Papandreou government has in recent years strengthened its relationship with Israel against the wishes of the majority of the Greek people and the neighbor Arab peoples.
The CPG (m-l) has on every opportunity stated that the support and the solidarity for the just, national liberation, and anti-occupation struggle of the Palestinian people is the affair of a mass, independent, and anti-imperialist struggle of the peoples. This struggle is against the selfish aims of bourgeois and imperialist forces which have proven many times that they can easily change sides and policies. We have noted that the solidarity movement must choose actions and initiatives that conform to their own dynamic and power and must rely on their own strength. Anyway we call upon the democratic Greek people to support the Palestinian right for life, freedom and dignity.
The Press Bureau of CPG (m-l)
Israel Shaken by boats of non-violent human rights activists with medical supplies
[After weeks of making threats on the flotilla, including Israeli military planning with simulated attacks on yachts, and lining up US and other government's support for a murderous assault, Israel has now successfully bribed the bankrupt Greek government to stop the boats from leaving Greek waters. Once again, international condemnation of the illegal Israeli occupation and blockade of Gaza, is drawing international attention and broad condemnation. -- Frontlines ed.]
Greece bars vessels carrying several hundred activists from leaving Greek ports for Gaza Strip
Greece on Friday banned ships heading to the Gaza Strip from leaving Greek ports, and a vessel carrying several dozen Americans which left port without permission was asked to return.
A diver prepares to inspect the Stefano Chiarini, part of the Freedom Flotilla II, which is due to set sail to Gaza from Greece Photo: REUTERS
The Telegraph (UK), July 1, 2011
A flotilla of nine Greek and foreign-flagged vessels and several hundred activists have said they want to break Israel’s sea blockade and deliver aid to the Palestinian territory.
Greece’s Civil Protection Ministry said coast guard authorities had been ordered to take “all appropriate measures” to implement the ban.
It also said the “broader maritime area of the eastern Mediterranean will be continuously monitored by electronic means for tracking, where applicable, the movements of the ships allegedly participating” in the flotilla.
Witnesses said one of the boats, called the Audacity of Hope and carrying several dozen Americans, had left port on Friday afternoon. Activists said on their Twitter feed that they had been intercepted by the Greek coast guard. Read more »
Wikileaks: Economic Reasons Behind the Siege of Gaza
The Alternate Information Center Thursday, 10 February 2011
The ripple effects of the Wikileaks documents are still being felt, but until recently Israeli officials continued to boast that the documents were ‘good for Israel’.
As opposed to the way the Palestinian Authority (PA) was portrayed in leaked cables, leading to scandalous revelations, for a while Israel suffered no such scandal from the documents pertaining to its conduct. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu even came out in support of the leak of the papers, suggesting that the documents can do no harm to Israel’s foreign policy.
He spoke too soon. More recent cables have provided unflattering revelations about Israel’s policies in the Gaza Strip, quoting Israeli officials spelling out their attempts to keep the Gaza Strip on the brink of humanitarian catastrophe. They have also described how corruption is rife at the checkpoints through which goods are brought into Gaza.
Yet this information failed to shock. It was already well-known and widely reported by UN bodies, NGOs, scholars and journalists.
One cable, however, does contain some new information and has so far received no coverage at all.
The cable, titled “Shin Bet Talks Gaza Economics,” was written by David R. Burnett, Economic Counselor in the US embassy in Tel Aviv. It describes a briefing given to Embassy officials by senior members of the Israeli Shin Bet*, on how Israel uses the banking system in Gaza to increase the political influence of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in Gaza, by attempting to starve the Hamas government of cash.
The Shin Bet informed the US embassy that banks in Gaza know that they must neither allow Hamas members to open bank accounts nor have salaries deposited into existing accounts. If the banks disobey, they will lose their stamp of approval from the Palestinian Monetary Authority (PMA), a branch of the PA that is under constant pressure by Israel and the US to prevent any dealings with Hamas members. The Shin Bet expressed satisfaction that the Gaza banking system has indeed been cowed into submission. Read more »
children’s pictures of the devastating assault on Gaza
December 13, 2010
[Video features Palestinian children's drawings depicting their
fears of the Palestinian Israeli conflicts.
The total collection of artwork by the Palestinian children is available
for a gallery or museum show.
Contact: achildsview1@gmail.com]
http://www.youtube.com/v/TE-GwpgJTKs?fs=1&hl=en_US
A picture is worth a thousand words, and this video goes beyond that. It contains powerful drawings, created by children in Gaza, expressing the horrors they experienced during Operation Cast Lead, which of course began nearly two years ago. These children share the painful physical and emotional devastation caused by Israel’s actions. Many of these young artists will never escape the hell they lived through.
This video is part of a larger project, the traveling art exhibit, “A Child’s View from Gaza,” developed by Joyce Ravitz and myself after we visited Gaza in June 2009. Having seen drawings in an art therapy class, we felt an exhibit of similar drawings should be developed and shown in the US. “A Child’s View from Gaza.” was born! Read more »
Three Wounded in Gaza, Three Arrested in Nablus
| 21.12.10 – 10:00 | |
 The aftermath of an earlier Israeli airstrike on Gaza (PNN Archive) Gaza City – PNN – Israeli air raids on Monday night in Gaza Strip left three wounded, while a predawn incursion into the northern West Bank city of Nablus ended with three Palestinians arrested in the village of Beit Hasan. .
In Gaza, local sources said the airstrikes were carried out by F-16 warplanes firing rockets at Palestinians in western Khan Yunes, resulting in two injuries described as “moderate to critical.” A third airstrike occurred in eastern Khan Yunes. All three wounded were taken to al-Nasir Hospital for treatment. Warplanes also bombed the northern Gaza Strip, near Beit Lahiya, and in the southern city of Rafah, targeting tunnel sites. Strikes were also recorded in Gaza City and Beit Jabaliya in the north. Nobody was injured. In related news, a homemade Qassam shell fired from Gaza lightly wounded a 14-year-old girl on Tuesday morning in the city of Ashkelon. The attack is thought to be in retatliation for the Israeli airstrikes. Overnight raids in Nablus targeted the house of Muhammad Salah Abu Zour of the village of Beit Hasan, north of the city. He and his two sons were arrested after troops searched the house and their belongings and left before dawn. |
Israeli siege affecting Gaza wheelchair maintenance
AlJazeeraEnglish | October 18, 2010
The Gaza Strip has around 16,000 registered wheelchair users or one per cent of its population.
An aid delivery is the only way for electric wheelchairs to come in. But it’s not enough, and the Israeli embargo also makes it hard to repair them.
Al Jazeera’s Nadim Baba reports.
Israeli-US White Phosphorous Shells Remain in Gaza
[US involvement, and partnership, in Israeli war crimes needs to be repeatedly exposed. The role of the US in paying for, and supplying, Israel's white phosphorous bombs, has been well documented. After Israel's Gaza invasion, Amnesty International released a report which detailed that "The US has long been the largest arms supplier to Israel; under a current 10-year agreement negotiated by the Bush administration the US will provide $30bn (£21bn) in military aid to Israel....To a large extent, Israel's military offensive in Gaza was carried out with weapons, munitions and military equipment supplied by the USA and paid for with US taxpayers' money....Amnesty researchers in Gaza found several weapon fragments after the fighting. One came from a 500lb (227kg) Mark-82 fin guided bomb, which had markings indicating parts were made by the US company Raytheon.
They also found fragments of US-made white phosphorus artillery shells, marked M825 A1...On 15 January, several white phosphorus shells fired by the Israeli military hit the headquarters of the UN Relief and Works Agency in Gaza City, destroying medicine, food and aid. One fragment found at the scene had markings indicating it was made by the Pine Bluff Arsenal, based in Arkansas, in October 1991."--ed.]
The Bombs That Remain
By Eva Bartlett
08 July, 2010, Inter Press Service
““When white phosphorus lands on skin it burns deeply through muscle and into the bone, continuing to burn until deprived of oxygen,” says Amnesty International.”
GAZA CITY, Jul 7, 2010 (IPS) – At precisely 12 noon on a Thursday afternoon, among the rolling sandy hills in southern Gaza, a controlled explosion destroys another round of white phosphorous shells left in Gaza following the 2008-2009 Israeli war on Gaza.
Explosives experts from the Mines Advisory Group (MAG) and the United Nations Mine Action Team (UNMAT) are working together to eliminate the remainders of a deadly Israeli attack. The Israeli bombings from land, sea and air left behind large amounts of unexploded ordnance (UXO) in civilian areas.
In a precise, technical routine which takes into account all possible dangers to the MAG and UNMAT workers as well as Palestinian residents living in Gaza, the explosives experts are, detonation by detonation ridding Gaza of the remaining white phosphorous shells. Read more »
