Two Brief Stories.
An occupying power is legitimately fighting against an illegal uprising by sub-human terrorists deliberately hiding amongst civilians.
The current conflict between Israel & Hamas is all over the news. But the most interesting bits aren’t on CNN or the Beeb. Disinformation, secrecy and lies: How the Gaza offensive came about
Amateur photographers are taking snapshots of pro-Hamas riots in Jerusalem, Israeli soldiers on the Gaza border and West Bank unrest.
Meanwhile, Israeli newspapers are publishing photos of rocket victims in the city of Ashdod, 40 kilometers (25 miles) away from Gaza and reporting that Gazans are storming the closed border with Egypt. What’s next? Israeli reservists are being called up for a likely land invasion, as Israel sets off sonic booms over Lebanon.
Note that there was not a single casualty on the Israeli side before the airstrikes began. Meanwhile, a million refugees are being bombed by the most heavily equipped army that the American taxpayers could buy.
Jews Against the Occupation has issued a call to boycott Israel. (PDF link)
Haaretz reports that 40 targets were destroyed in a span of three to five minutes. The NY Times says that children leaving school were hit and that there are hundreds of casualties. Radio Netherlands says that the IDF has bombed a mosque and that the casualty count at their air time was 230. AP currently reports the dead count at 290.
There have been more than 300 air strikes since midday Saturday — wreaking unprecedented destruction in Gaza, reducing entire buildings to rubble. Shlomo Brom, a former senior Israeli military official, said it was the deadliest force ever used in decades of Israeli-Palestinian fighting. “Since Hamas took over Gaza (in June 2007), it has become a war between two states, and in war between states, more force is used,” he said.
Israel has not ruled out ground forces going into Palestine.
Hundreds tried to get across the border to Egypt. Egypt forces responded by opening fire on the refugees.
One of the main medicine warehouses supplying local pharmacies in southern Gaza was hit. The prison was hit, nobody is sure about the casualty count there.
There is almost no food, no medicine and now no drinking water in Gaza because Israel choked off supplies after Hamas won the elections almost 2 years ago.
Gaza’s nine hospitals were overwhelmed. Dr. Moawiya Hassanain, who keeps a record for the Gaza Health Ministry, said more than 290 people were killed over two days and more than 800 wounded.
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights, which keeps researchers at all hospitals, said it had counted 251 dead by midday Sunday, and that among them were 20 children under the age of 16 and nine women.
December 28th, 2008 | Tags: boycotts, israel, middle east, palestine | Category: politics |
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