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Showing posts from August, 2014

Israel-Gaza : No Victory for Israel Despite Weeks of Devastation  : Information Clearing House - ICH

Israel-Gaza : No Victory for Israel Despite Weeks of Devastation  : Information Clearing House - ICH Israel-Gaza : No Victory for Israel Despite Weeks of Devastation Palestinians have won: they are still in Gaza, and Hamas is still there By Robert Fisk ’It was not a famous victory – but that’s what the Palestinians of Gaza are celebrating. There was much shaking of heads in the international media when the fireworks burst over that shattered land on Tuesday night. After more than 2,100 dead – about 1,700 of them civilians – and 100,000 wounded, what did they have to crow about? An end to the killing? Peace? Well, no. In fact, Hamas – the vicious, horrible, terrorist Hamas with whom “we” (as in “the West”, Tony Blair, Israel, the US and all honourable men and wom

Video: Israeli soldiers fire tear gas at 6-year-old children on their way to school

Video: Israeli soldiers fire tear gas at 6-year-old children on their way to school The new school year started four days ago in the occupied West Bank, and Israeli soldiers have fired tear gas and hurled stun grenades at Palestinian elementary school students on at least two occasions already. In the Nablus -area village of Burin , which is surrounded by illegal Jewish-only Israeli settlements , Israeli forces stormed an elementary school Wednesday, firing tear gas and stun grenades at students after a settler’s vehicle traveling nearby the school was allegedly hit with a rock thrown by a Palestinian youth. Many children were treated at the scene for tear-gas inhalation, reported Ma’an News Agency . One day earlier, Israeli forces in Hebron fired up to 15 tear gas canisters and five stun grenades at small children as they made their way to school Tuesday morning. Video of the attack — recorded and posted to YouTube by the International Solidarity Movement (ISM)

In last interview, Auschwitz survivor urged Palestinians 'not to give up their fight'

In last interview, Auschwitz survivor urged Palestinians 'not to give up their fight' (Ismael Mohamad / United Press International) In last interview, Auschwitz survivor urged Palestinians "not to give up their fight" Submitted by Adri Nieuwhof on Mon, 08/25/2014 - 23:00 hajo_meyer_29_july_2014_2_adri_nieuwhof.jpg Hajo Meyer at his home in Heiloo, Netherlands on 29 July. ( Adri Nieuwhof ) I mourn the loss of Hajo Meyer, a friend who fearlessly raised his voice to combat Zionism and to express his support for the struggle of the Palestinian people for freedom and equality. Hajo passed away in his sleep on 23 August just days after his ninetieth birthday. Hajo was born in 1924 and had to flee alone from Nazi Germany at the age of 14 because the Nazis would not allow him to attend school any more. His parents sent him to the Netherlands in January 1939. A year later, the Netherlands was occupied by the Germans. In 1943, Hajo went into hiding but was ca

How the Islamic State Became the Juggernaut It Is Today

How the Islamic State Became the Juggernaut It Is Today It was evident that Western governments had entirely misread the situation in Iraq and Syria. For two years Iraqi politicians had been warning anybody who would listen to them that if the civil war in Syria continued it would destabilise the fragile status quo in Iraq. When Mosul fell everybody blamed Maliki, who certainly had a lot to answer for, but the real cause of the debacle in Iraq was the war across its border. The revolt of the Syrian Sunni had caused a similar explosion in Iraq. Maliki had treated the Sunni provinces like a conquered country, but the Iraqi Sunni would not have risen again without the example and encouragement of their Syrian counterparts. The ascendancy of ISIS that resulted from its being able to act as the shock troops of a general Sunni revolt may yet be reversible. But the

Gaza reminds us of Zionism's original sin | The Electronic Intifada

Gaza reminds us of Zionism's original sin | The Electronic Intifada The morning after Lailat al-Qadr, the death toll in Gaza was approaching its first thousand. Al-Qadr — the night before the last Friday in the holy month of Ramadan — is believed to be the night when the Quran was revealed to the prophet Muhammad. I spent this special night with friends in the occupied West Bank city of  Ramallah after participating in the “48K March” for Gaza. The march began in Ramallah and went to Qalandiya checkpoint. What began as a peaceful event with families bringing their children and even babies in strollers, ended with young Palestinians with gunshot wounds being rushed in ambulances to the local hospital. Qalandiya crossing was fortified and air-tight, and the Israeli soldiers stationed on top were shooting live ammunition at the crowd.

Palestinians in Israel beaten, arrested for Gaza support | The Electronic Intifada

Palestinians in Israel beaten, arrested for Gaza support | The Electronic Intifada As a Palestinian political activist living in present-day Israel, Tareq Yassin, 23, has grown accustomed to racist intimidation and threats of violence. Yassin, secretary of the left-wing Hadash political party’s student wing at the  University of Haifa , has been targeted for his activism time and again. Yet last month was the first time he was subjected to vigilante violence by right-wing Israelis. He was punched in the head during a protest in solidarity with the Gaza Strip, where Israel’s ongoing military offensive has killed more than 2,000 Palestinians. “I was attacked by a group of Israeli right-wing racists,” Yassin recalled. Since Israel began its latest war on Gaza in early July, Palestinian activists in Israel have told The Electronic Intifada that the political climate has become even more frightening than usual as the country spirals into a violently racist frenzy.

Why Latin American Leaders Are Standing Up To Israel

Why Latin American Leaders Are Standing Up To Israel August 18, 2014 "ICH" - "Al Jazeera America" --Since the Israeli offensive against Gaza began, images of Palestinian children murdered in their homes and schools and bombs exploding in neighborhoods have outraged people around the globe. Many governments have followed the United States, making empty declarations against the violence, as if the death dealing were equal and not overwhelmingly of Palestinian civilians killed by Israeli bombs and bullets. But as the U.S. government backpedals to reconcile its unconditional support of Israel with basic principles of human rights and Europe waffles, one region stands out in its opposition to the siege of Gaza: Latin America. Leaders from across the region have condemned the Israel Defense Forces’ attacks on Gaza as excessive and unfair.

Rights group condemns Nigerian army "massacre" at pro-Palestine protest | The Electronic Intifada

Rights group condemns Nigerian army "massacre" at pro-Palestine protest | The Electronic Intifada On 25 July  Nigerian soldiers attacked the annual al-Quds Day demonstration in support of Palestine in Zaria, a city in Kaduna State in northern Nigeria. The attack killed 33 demonstrators and bystanders including three children of the prominent scholar Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, head of the Islamic Movement. The movement, which organized the demonstration, is a Nigerian Shia group. The UK-based Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) sent a fact finding mission to Zaria and “returned to the UK with harrowing details of human rights abuses committed by the [Nigerian] armed forces,” it stated in a press release on Saturday . The group says its full report is forthcoming.

Video: "Obama and Netanyahu are war criminals," says Dr. Cornel West in Washington | The Electronic Intifada

Video: "Obama and Netanyahu are war criminals," says Dr. Cornel West in Washington | The Electronic Intifada Thousands of protesters from cities all over the world gathered on 9 and 10 August to protest Israel’s continued attacks on Palestinians and call for an end to the siege on Gaza. The Bethlehem-based International Middle East Media Center reports that “Hundreds of thousands of people participated in marches and rallies Saturday in hundreds of cities around the world, including Washington DC, Cape Town South Africa, Birmingham and Dublin, with an estimated 150,000 people protesting in London alone.”

Migrant rights group on US-Mexico border urges boycott of Israel | The Electronic Intifada

Migrant rights group on US-Mexico border urges boycott of Israel | The Electronic Intifada (Wissam Nassar / Maan Images) Migrant rights group on US-Mexico border urges boycott of Israel Submitted by Jimmy Johnson on Tue, 08/12/2014 - 11:14 chickenfarm.jpg A chicken farm was destroyed by Israel shortly before the current 72-hour “truce” came into effect; the US is a key supplier of military aid to Israel’s forces of occupation. ( Abed Rahim Khatib / APA images ) The Arizona -based migrant justice and humanitarian group No More Deaths/No Más Muertes  has endorsed the Palestinian call for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel. The group has also condemned Israel’s attacks on civilians, while connecting the militarization of the US-Mexico border to Israeli repression of Palestinians. In a statement, No More Deaths/No Más Muertes notes that, “Although the Israel-Palestine conflict may seem remote from the Sonoran desert borderlands, there are many southern Ar

The Root Cause of the Never-Ending Conflict in Palestine; and How to Fix It

The Root Cause of the Never-Ending Conflict in Palestine; and How to Fix It The Root Cause of the Never-Ending Conflict in Palestine; and How to Fix It By a Dutch Jewish WWII Survivor " Anti-Zionism, in fact, is the form that much of today's anti­-Semitism takes. " ~ Alvin Rosenfeld 1   August 08, 2014 " ICH " - " Huffington Post " - - The view that Jews are a nation is the primary belief underlying Zionism. Other ideas too are inherent to Zionism, but no useful purpose would be served by discussing them all here. The notion of Jewish nationhood is a 19th-century invention, 2 and like many other 19th-century inventions it is taking a long time to unravel and lay to rest. The following addresses the question

Evidence Is Now Conclusive: Two Ukrainian Government Fighter-Jets Shot Down Malaysian Airlines MH17.

Evidence Is Now Conclusive: Two Ukrainian Government Fighter-Jets Shot Down Malaysian Airlines MH17. Evidence Is Now Conclusive: Two Ukrainian Government Fighter-Jets Shot Down Malaysian Airlines MH17. By Eric Zuesse August 05, 2014 " ICH " - We’ll go considerably farther than has yet been revealed by the professional intelligence community, to provide the actual evidence that conclusively shows that (and how) the Ukrainian Government shot down the Malaysian airliner, MH-17, on July 17th. The latest report from the intelligence community was headlined on August 3rd by Robert Parry,  “Flight 17 Shoot-Down Scenario Shifts,”  and he revealed there that, “Contrary to the Obama administration’s public claims blaming eastern Ukrainian rebels and Russia for the shoot-down of Malays

I Saw a Weeping Palestinian Man Holding A Plastic Bag of Meat: It Was His Son

I Saw a Weeping Palestinian Man Holding A Plastic Bag of Meat: It Was His Son Brian Eno's letter to America: I Saw a Weeping Palestinian Man Holding A Plastic Bag of Meat: It Was His Son By Brian Eno August 05, 2014 " ICH " - " Stop The War" -  I suddenly found myself thinking that it could have been one of my kids in that bag, says Brian Eno, and that thought upset me more than anything has for a long time. Brian Eno's letter to America: WHY? I just don't get it Dear All of You: I sense I'm breaking an unspoken rule with this letter, but I can't keep quiet any more.  Today I saw a picture of a weeping Palestinian man holding a plastic carrier bag of meat. It was his son. He'd been shredded (the hospital's word) by an Israeli

U.S. Condemns, Enables Israel's 'Appalling' Gaza Slaughter

U.S. Condemns, Enables Israel's 'Appalling' Gaza Slaughter U.S. Condemns, Enables Israel's 'Appalling' Gaza Slaughter By Brett Wilkin s August 04, 2014 " ICH " - " Digital Journal " -  The United States raised eyebrows around the world over the weekend by excoriating Israel after its forces bombed yet another United Nations school sheltering refugees from its ferocious Gaza offensive. In an extraordinary rebuke, the State Department condemned Israel's "disgraceful" attack, which killed 10 people including, as usual, children: "The United States is appalled by today's disgraceful shelling outside an UNRWA school in Rafah sheltering some 3,000 displaced persons, in

As Israel bombs Gaza, it kills Palestinians in the West Bank too

As Israel bombs Gaza, it kills Palestinians in the West Bank too Mourners carry the bodies of three Palestinians slain by Israeli forces in Beit Ommar village near Hebron on 25 July. ( Mamoun Wazwaz / APA images )

Why a Gaza ceasefire isn’t enough

Why a Gaza ceasefire isn’t enough The death and destruction being inflicted on the Gaza Strip is impossible to describe. Sitting here in Gaza, it is hard to even understand what is happening. Last week, we witnessed another attack on a United Nations compound where civilians were sheltering — 17 dead, 120 injured — and an attack on a market in Shujaiya during the hours of what was supposed to be a ceasefire — 18 dead, nearly 200 injured. Today in Rafah, Israel shelled another school run by UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestine refugees, where thousands were sheltering, killing ten. Even the US State Department issued a rare condemnation of Israel , calling the attack “appalling” and “disgraceful.” This is a nightmare. But it is one we know we cannot wake up from. Israel’s Gaza Doctrine of illegally targeting densely packed civilian areas and homes is inflicting untold horror. Israel is deliberately punishing civilians in order to exert political pressure on Hamas . They