source An IDF Powerpoint slideshow, presented before the Turkel committee for the investigation of the Israeli raid on the Gaza-bound flotilla, reveals the official goals of the Israeli policy regarding the Gaza strip.
The slideshow, prepared by The Administration for the Coordination of Government Policy in the Territories – the IDF body in charge of carrying out Israeli government policies regarding the civilian population in the West Bank and Gaza – deals with the humanitarian conditions in the strip; with food, water, fuel and electricity supply and with the condition of medical facilities in Gaza.
The first set of slides details the background for the current activities of The Administration for the Coordination of Government Policy in the Territories. Slide number 15 details the principles of Israeli policy:
Responding to the humanitarian needs of the population. - Upholding civilian and economic limitations on the [Gaza] strip. - Separating [or differentiating, בידול] Judea and Samaria [i.e. West Bank] from Gaza – a security and diplomatic objective. - Preserving the Quartet’s conditions on Hamas (Hamas as a terrorist entity).
Slide 20 deals with freedom of movement from and to the Gaza strip. Policy objectives are:
- Limiting people from entering or exiting the strip, in accordance with the government’s decision. - Separating [differentiating] Judea and Samaria from Gaza. - Dealing with humanitarian needs. - Preserving the activity of humanitarian organizations in the strip. - Keeping a coordinating mechanism with the Palestinian Authority.
The Israeli policy regarding Gaza could be seen as violation of official and unofficial principles of previous agreements and negotiations with the Palestinians and other parties. Gaza and the West Bank were regarded as “one entity” – though not officially declared as such – already in the 1978 peace agreement between Israel and Egypt. The Oslo Declaration of Principles, signed in September 1993 and still an abiding document, specifically states that:
The two sides view the West Bank and the Gaza Strip as a single territorial unit, whose integrity will be preserved during the interim period.
This declaration was ratified in following agreements from 1994 and 1995.
The recent IDF slideshow is the first time an Israeli official document publicly declares that the current policy objective is to create two separate political entities in the Palestinian territories.
Nirit Ben-Ari, spokeswoman for Gisha, an Israeli NGO dealing with the freedom of movement, export and import to and from the Palestinian territories, said that “while in Washington a Palestinian state is being negotiated and people are already discussing ‘a train line between Gaza and Ramallah‘, in reality Israel is working to separate Gaza from the West bank even further than the separation already caused by the split in the Palestinian leadership.
“This policy is aimed against civilian population and against people who have nothing to do with Israel’s security concerns. It hurts family ties, and harms any future possibility to develop commerce, education and economical life in the Palestinian society. Those policies should raise concerns regarding the intentions of the Israeli government in Gaza.”
Other slides in the IDF slideshow deals with the ways the IDF gather information on the humanitarian situation in the strip (mainly through NGO’s and media reports), how food and fuel supply is evaluated, and how the needs of the local population are calculated. According to the IDF assumptions, there are 1,600,000 people living in Gaza. The army does not occupy itself with the distribution of supply, so there is no way of knowing if the population’s needs are actually met – only that according to the IDF, enough food and water is entering Gaza.
The slideshow doesn’t deal with the export of goods from the strip, nor does it explains the mechanism that is used to determine which civilian goods could be brought in.
Slide 50 details the goods found on the Gaza-bound flotilla: medical supply, toys, school gear, construction materials and powered wheelchairs.
link The term ‘occupation’ conjures up painful memories in a land forced to endure centuries of English conquest.
The etymological origins of the term "boycott" are being dug back out of the bog of Irish history due to recent events in Gaza. Pro-Palestinian campaigners in Dublin delight in recounting how a certain Capt. Charles Boycott was socially ostracized for serving as estate manager for an absentee landlord during the bitter "Land War" that raged on Ireland's windswept Atlantic coast in the late 19th century. "Today the Irish must send a message to the Israelis - we invented boycotting and we're still bloody good at it," bellowed one rabble-rouser at a recent rally in the Irish capital.
The event had been billed on every available lamppost as a public debate - "Israel: Is Boycott the Answer?" - but the few critical voices evidently found convenient excuses to duck out, leaving a cocky, young Jewish student from New York to utter the only pro-Israel sentiments.
He'll soon learn Ireland is not America LOLOL, more:
To say Irish eyes aren't smiling on Israel would be an immense understatement. A Southern Irish vessel (the MV Rachel Corrie ) was among those intercepted by the Israel Navy and its crew were instantly hailed as national heroes. Dublin's doddery and dwindling Jewish community stays shtum about what is now, alongside Sweden, probably the most pro-Palestinian state in Western Europe.
And Damn proud of it!!
The only pro-Israel demonstrations on this island have been staged by Christian Zionists, but they are to be found in sizable numbers only in British-controlled Northern Ireland. Bible-bashing Protestants up in Belfast - whose slogan is "no surrender" - stem from (mainly Scottish Presbyterian ) settlers: Steeped in Old Testament scripture, their 17th-century ancestors, the Covenanters, believed they were creating a "New Israel" and colonized Catholic land in the north of Ireland with a bloody ferocity that would make even the modern Israeli settler movement flinch.
Anti-Zionist fervor on the European Union's westernmost fringe had already been inflamed by Irish passports being forged in the recent assassination of a Hamas leader in Dubai. In response, the Irish duly copied their former imperial overlords in London by expelling an Israeli diplomat. Earlier this year, Dublin's foreign minister, Michael Martin, defiantly slipped into Gaza via the Egyptian-controlled Rafah crossing after Israel denied him entry to the enclave.
Why do the Irish get so agitated about a small sliver of land in the Middle East that most of them have never clapped eyes on? Gathering anti-Zionism across the globe is part of the explanation, but the real answer lies in the deep historical scars on this small country's collective psyche. The term "occupation" conjures up painful folk memories in a land forced to endure centuries of English conquest. The Irish instinctively side in any conflict situation with whoever they perceive to be the underdog.
Wrong-o, we side with those who are oppressed, tortured, have their land stolen are murdered by the state, who hunger for freedom and justice and equality. got it?
Gerry Adams, a northern Catholic who has led the Irish Republican movement for four decades, donned a kaffiyeh when he went to the Holy Land to make a TV documentary about Jesus earlier this year. More recently, he likened the shootings aboard the Mavi Marmara to Bloody Sunday, when members of the British parachute battalion shot dead 13 demonstrators on the streets of Derry. His comparison could not be more timely or emotive, coming on the back of an official UK inquiry which has finally, after 38 years, concluded that the British Army's actions on that day were "unjustified and unjustifiable."
Still, Israel's Foreign Ministry will be keeping a close eye on Ireland, which has always punched above its weight in Brussels.
Go on Bairbre DeBrun!!!!
It may step up its diplomatic effort in Dublin when Evrony moves on to a new posting in the autumn. Some would like to see this cautious career diplomat replaced by a more serious political appointee, although there is a severe danger that any emissary selected by the Netanyahu government could antagonize the Irish further. Whoever becomes the new ambassador here would do well to remember the words of that rabble-rouser: The Irish invented the boycott and haven't lost the knack for it.
source There is no country in the world — perhaps in history — like Israel. It has done wonderful things like turning deserts into lush agricultural farms. It has also turned itself into a singularly evil State. Its resort to cruelty against Palestinians has few parallels in modern history. Its nuclear hypocrisy is unparalleled too.
Israel's greatest exceptionality is the immunity it commands in the world. It can do pretty much what it likes — and get away with it. Other countries get damned by "the international community" for all kinds of assorted sins: India is attacked for not signing the nuclear proliferation treaty; Iran is threatened for following a nuclear policy; Iraq was blown up for possessing nuclear arms it never possessed; China and Russia are criticised for persecuting their dissidents; Serbs and African leaders are tried for war crimes.
Israel commits all these sins, but we hardly hear the international community making a noise about it. Israelis have secretly assembled 100 to 200 nuclear weapons. That makes it the biggest nuclear power in the world after the so-called Big Five ( US, Russia, UK, France and China). The Americans who want all kinds of guarantees and inspection rights to participate even in civilian nuclear power programmes in India actually gave clandestine help to Israel to build its arsenal. That help was channeled through apartheid South Africa with which, officially, the US was supposed to have no contacts. It was a march of multiple hypocrisies all the way.
Immunity and double standards were again in evidence when the Israelis used massive military force to attack multinational aid ships going from Turkey to the Gaza Strip. The world's most persecuted population, huddled in the world's most crowded strip of territory, has been suffering Israeli terror for decades. According to UN estimates 70 per cent of Gazans live on less than one dollar a day, 60 percent have no daily access to water. Hundreds have died for want of medicine.
The ships were carrying water purification systems, wheelchairs, construction materials and so on. Admittedly, there were anti-Israeli and perhaps even jehadi-supporting activists among the 700 passengers on board. But there were also scientists and journalists and an archbishop and three German MPs. There were citizens from the US, UK, Australia, Sweden, Greece, Canada, Belgium, Ireland. These were the people who were attacked by machinegun-wielding Israeli commandos who dropped down from helicopters. Some of the commandos were attacked as they slithered down the rope. Israel cited this to describe the commando attack as "self-defence."
Israel gets away with international criminal activity on one strength, and one strength alone: American support. Obama, aware of this, had made promises of an even-handed approach to Israel. But that was during his glory days of campaigning. In the less-than-glory days of power, he seems to have understood that the American Goliath is slave to the Israeli David. The Jewish lobby is so powerful in America that no President can ignore it and survive. The Jewish lobby has the power to paralyse American economy.
The current Prime Minister of Israel happens to be the most rigidly hawkish in Israeli history. Benjamin Netanyahu, son of a Zionist extremist, considers himself a professional patriot and defender of Jews. He believes, like many of his countrymen, that Jews are God's chosen children.
It is also useful to remember that the concept of using terrorism as a political weapon originated with Jews when they started the Zealot Movement (hence the term) against Roman occupiers in the 7th century. It grew steadily into modern times when, in 1946, the early Zionists bombed the famous King David Hotel in Jerusalem where the British administration had its headquarters.
Netanyahu's Israel can only be a rogue State — and proudly so. World condemnation will mean nothing to it. This can only lead to more terrorism by the terrorised and still more terrorism by immunised State terrorists. One day one patriotic terrorist will use a nuclear bomb. Then?
I don’t want to make peace with the Jews. Because they killed my Mum and Dad. It broke my heart when I saw my Mum and Dad die in front of me. My Mum lost half of her head, my Dad’s brain came out of his head and he was injured everywhere. After that my brother said “Everyone out…let’s leave” I feel like I’m in a cage now that my Mum and Dad aren’t with me. That’s enough, stop………..
Bairbre DeBrun MEP Sinn Fein calls for the EU to suspend the preferential trade agreement with Israel.
Pictured with Delegation leader Sir Gerald Kaufman above.
Just want to post about the Irish Sinn Fein MEP Bairbre De Brun, who was on last weeks EU delgation to Gaza. Bairbre was one of the first to enter Gaza after the genocide in March 2009. She talked about that experience upon her return last March, a report on her recent visit last week follows after:
And here are her reasons for returning, followed by her report of the 3 day journey and outcome:
link Speaking from Brussels before leaving for Gaza, Ms de Brun said: "The fact-finding delegation will visit Gaza on Friday 14th and Saturday 16th January in order to see conditions there, to see what progress has been made with regard to reconstruction since the Israeli air strikes last year and to assess barriers to progress
"There have been worrying reports from Gaza in recent months and a number of delegations have been refused entry to Gaza by the Israeli government.
"The world was told last year after the horrendous damage, injury and loss of life that major reconstruction efforts would be launched immediately. Twelve months on we need to see those promises fulfilled.
"The siege of Gaza must end and there must be free movement of people and goods so that the people of Gaza can rebuild their lives."
Here is what she blogged on the trip and I have included phtos that I took of various events on the trip:
12 Members of the European Parliament from 4 different political groups took part in the most representative parliamentary delegation ever to visit Gaza.
The delegation also included members of regional and national parliaments from 12 countries all over Europe, and consisted of nearly 60 members in total. They succeeded in entering Gaza from Egypt through the Rafah-crossing.
The purpose of this fact finding-mission was to gather information about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, under siege since the 2006 elections.
The mission included talks with members of the Palestinian Legislative Council and representatives of local NGOs in Gaza, the Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Secretary General of the Arab League and the speaker of the Egyptian Parliament in Cairo.
The mission was organized by the European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza (ECESG), the umbrella body of thirty NGOs across Europe, and was headed by Sir Gerald Kaufman, MP.
Day 1: On the plane now from Cairo to Brussels with several MEPs including Nessa Childers and Aidan O Sullivan from Nessa's office. Further up the plane I see German MEP Helmut Scholz and Portugese MEP Marisa Matias, while Borris Zala MEP from Slovakia sits across the aisle from us. He speculates about what the situation will be like on the ground in Gaza.
British MEP Richard Howitt reminds us that other delegations in recent times have expected to get into Gaza but haven't managed at the last minute. "We're not in until we're in" he says. How right he is.
This morning in Brussels we had a meeting of the European Parliament delegation for relations with Palestine where the chair Proinsias de Rossa gave an account of that delegation's visit to Palestine in December and the u-turn by the Israeli government which had given them visas and then told them at the last minute that they would not be able to enter Gaza.
They spoke of the very serious situation on the West Bank with expulsions of Palestinians and the continued building of settlements.
There is some discussion about the present talk of re-starting negotiations and the Palestinian representative in his presentation to the delegation members spoke of the importance of halting all settlement building.
Israeli statements about not sharing Jerusalem is also an issue for people at the meeting and there is some welcome for the EU Council statement of 8 December that the EU will not recognise any changes to the pre-1967 borders including Jerusalem other than those agreed by the parties.
I gave the meeting some information about our European parliamentarians delegation to Gaza this week and promise to give an account of our visit on our return.
It is now 10.30 at night. We have arrived at Cairo airport and met up with delegates coming off the other flights. Among those on the flight from Heath row are Jeremy Corbyn, Claire Short and the leader of the delegation Gerald Kaufmann. There is a great buzz as people meet old friends and acquaintances. The logistics of moving a group this size from place to place will be quite something.
There are some very impressive buildings on the journey in from the airport but they pass by in a haze. Cairo speed limits or the lack of them are quite something also.
Tonight we soak up the atmosphere of Cairo and of meeting the other delegation members Tomorrow morning first thing we leave for Gaza.
Day 2: After less than four hours sleep we set off from Cairo to make the long journey through the Sinai desert to get to the crossing point into Gaza.
We stop on the way and there are more introductions. - some national parliamentarians from Greece, from Poland and from Switzerland.
Majed Al-Zeer of the Palestinian Return Centre tells us he was born in Bethlehem but has not been back to Palestine since 1967.
Rafah is partly on the Egyptian side and partly in Gaza. People cannot go from one to the other without prior permission and this depend on the decision of the Egyptian government.
Even this VIP delegation has waited 2 months for permission to enter Gaza through Rafah.
Now we have arrived and we have been told in advance that crossing at Rafah should go smoothly and that there should be no long delays in getting into Gaza. It takes an hour and a half and then the delegation enters.
As we go in Omar Faris who has accompanied the Polish parliamentarians that he is a Palestinian who has never set foot in Palestine before. It is an emotional moment for him. He was born in a tent on the Golan Heights between Palestine and Jordan and lived in other countries since then.
The delegation is received by the deputy speaker in Gaza. At the press conference he says he hopes the visit by the European Parliament will be followed by a visit by the Arab League.
Gerard Kaufmann talks of the suffering of people in Gaza. He says. The oppressed people of Gaza must have their voice in the world.
'We shall report back to our parliament and our government on what we see and what we learn on this visit. We will be your voice but we will not replace your voice' he says. Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device
Meeting with Prime Minister
Presented with letter of thanks from Prime Minister
day 3: This morning I visit Isbit Abd Rabu for the second time.
I visited here one year ago with a group of MEPs after the Israeli offensive. I was horrified and shocked by what I saw then, as I wrote in my blog at that time. I am anxious to see what has changed in the lives of the people here since then.
We talk to a man whose extended family lost 13 houses and whose son was killed in the air attacks. "Our children don't have clothes, decent education, or food. ", he says
He talks of how this area was a most beautiful area before the bombardments. Now there are destroyed houses and a destroyed mosque and nearby the factories, fields and olive groves have been destroyed also.
A woman tells us that the main thing people need now is to rebuild their houses. Because so many people lost their homes it is now also very difficult to find somewhere to rent.
I am very disappointed at the lack of progress in rebuilding and reconstruction. Much of the rubble has been cleared but there is little evidence of progress otherwise.
All the talk of donor conferences and reconstruction is pointless if people do not see change on the ground even after one year. Part of the process of recovery from such trauma is the physical re-building. Here the international community has not made that happen, and people here feel abandoned. Hopes have been raised only to be dashed again.
Some attempts are being made by local people but rebuilding is very difficult without the necessary materials and these are blocked by the siege
She also met with another Irishman, John Ging from UNWRA:
Here is her report via interview following last weeks visit follwed by the press release from Strasbourg:
Bairbre DeBrun MEP Sinn Fein calls for the EU to suspend the preferential trade agreement with Israel.
RETURNING FROM GAZA
WEDNESDAY 20/01/10, 11:00, EP PRESS ROOM STRASBOURG
12 Members of the European Parliament* from 4 different factions took part in the most representative parliamentarian delegation ever to visit Gaza. The delegation further contained members of regional and national parliaments from 12 countries all over Europe, and consisted of nearly 60 members in total. They succeeded to enter Gaza from Egypt through the Rafah-crossing.
The purpose of this fact finding-mission was to gather information about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, under siege since the 2006 elections.
It included, amongst others, talks with members of the Palestinian Legislative Council and representatives of local NGOs in Gaza, the Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Secretary General of the Arab League and the speaker of the Egyptian Parliament in Cairo.
The mission was organized by the European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza (ECESG), the umbrella body of thirty NGOs across Europe, and was headed by Sir Gerald Kaufman, MP.
*The European Parliament delegation
BENARAB-ATTOU Malika (EFA, France) CHILDERS Nessa (S&D, Ireland) DE BRÚN Bairbre (GUE/NGL, Ireland) EVANS Jill (EFA, UK) GOEBBELS Robert (S&D, Luxembourg) HOWITT Richard (S&D, UK) MATIAS Marisa (GUE/NGL, Portugal) RINALDI Niccolò (ALDE, Italy) SCHOLZ Helmut (GUE/NGL, Germany) SMITH Alyn (EFA, UK) THEIN Alexandra (ALDE, Germany) ZALA Boris (S&D, Slovakia)
Today’s posts will be about the EU delegation (and some of my personal experiences) which I was privileged enough to witness as they arrived when we did and stayed at the same hotel. I will start with before the Delegation left for Gaza (via their news conference before the visit which I found online) and finish with what happened on Day One inside Gaza visiting the PLC building and meeting all the political parties inside Gaza.
I was able to shadow the Delegation somewhat when my own personal schedule allowed, and covered as much as possible from the press area at some of their events. Additionally we will post a few individual diaries on some of the members as well from their personal blogs and added to what we saw ourselves on the trip. We have also been working on a post about the orphaned refugee children, it is highly emotional and hard to write about, but that post will be up Wednesday Morning and it will break your heart into pieces. But for now, we cover the beginning of the EU Delegation at their press conference before the trip into Gaza. If you are not interested in this part, then skip past the two videos to the report on the PLC building and meeting the parties inside Gaza if you wish.
Get to know the Delegation leader, Sir Gerald Kaufman: In the first video you will view, the beginning speaker is Sir Gerald Kaufman, who was the leader of the Delegation into Gaza. Sir Gerald is a Jew whose grandmother was murdered by Nazis. He is a harsh critic of the State of Israel and its policies. Some of you may remember covering his speech in the House of Commons where he compared the actions of Israeli troops in Gaza to the Nazis who forced his family to flee Poland and urged the British government to impose an arms embargo on Israel. Additionally he said this:
"My grandmother was ill in bed when the Nazis came to her home town a German soldier shot her dead in her bed.
"My grandmother did not die to provide cover for Israeli soldiers murdering Palestinian grandmothers in Gaza.
"The present Israeli government ruthlessly and cynically exploits the continuing guilt from gentiles over the slaughter of Jews in the Holocaust as justification for their murder of Palestinians."
He said the claim that many of the Palestinian victims were militants "was the reply of the Nazi" and added: "I suppose the Jews fighting for their lives in the Warsaw ghetto could have been dismissed as militants."
My grandmother did not die to provide cover for Israeli soldiers murdering Palestinian grandmothers in Gaza.
He accused the Israeli government of seeking "conquest" and added: "They are not simply war criminals, they are fools."
Kaufman called for a total arms ban on Israel.
“It is time for our government to make clear to the Israeli government that its conduct and policies are unacceptable and to impose a total arms ban on Israel.”He also branded the Israeli PM, the foreign minister and defense minister as war criminals.
“Is it not an incontrovertible fact that Olmert, Livni and Barak are mass murderers and war criminals?”
In a BBC interview Kaufman said about the rising Palestinian death toll: "Four Jews against 1,000 Palestinians - that is Nazism."
Kaufman, 64, called Israel's actions "not only barbaric but also stupid" because, he said, terrorism could not be defeated by force of arms.
"It failed in Lebanon and it will fail here," he said.
If you live in England near Manchester, you can hear Sir Gerald speaking about his trip here:
Mr Kaufman, whose Gorton constituency includes Levenshulme, will be speaking about his experiences in Gaza at an evening which is open to all. It will take place on Thursday, January 28, from 7pm at Whalley Range Cricket Club on Kingsbrook Road, Whalley Range.
Part 1 The Beginning Press Conference
PART 1 Beginning Press Conference before going to Gaza. Speakers:Sir Gerald Kaufman British MP and outspoken critic of Israel, followed by Dr. Arafat Shoukri, European Campaign to End the Siege of Gaza and the Palestinian Return Centre London. He was the organiser of this Delegation and he stresses the need to move things on to a political solution to the siege and hope this EU delegation will be the beginning of a new movement. Then there are questions from the media followed by British MP Claire Short who resigned from Tony Blair’s Cabinet over the Iraq war. Next is Lord Ahmed Nazir at 7:25 and the video ends with Colin MacKenzie Low, a blind Member of Parliament who on the trip to Gaza visited with other blind people. He had some heart felt words for them.
PART 2 Beginning Press Conference before going to Gaza.in order: Richard Howitt, MEP, Baroness Jenny Tonge one of the most outspoken Brits on Palestine. She has made this cause a priority, excellent words form her. Next someone special to us in Ireland MP Jeremy Corbyn, he was right on Ireland and he’s right on Palestine, a true and good man who has been to Gaza 4 times. You can hear him at 5:18 on the video
ARRIVAL INTO GAZA AND VISIT TO PLC BUILDING AND MEETING ALL PARTIES IN GAZA: Next some photos of the arrival into Gaza and greeting Press Conference inside Rafah along with some commentary of what I saw when they arrived:
After the EU delegation got off the bus they were greeted by a long line of officials from Gaza. At the end of the line each member was given a small bouquet of Palestinain Carnations with a small card that said "Welcome to Palestine"
Upon arrival everyone was taken into a processing centre where they were all given a cold fruit drink and bottled water. Sir Gerald Kaufman said a few words and also members of the government of Gaza spoke breifly and welcomed him and the other Parliamentarians to Gaza. Sorry for the jumbled photo (below) but it was chaos inside with people both tired and elated at the final arrival onto Gazan soil. AS I was not part of the delegation I was unabel to get close to Kaufman when he was speaking. You can just see Sinn Fein MEP Bairbre DeBrun on the right hand side sitting down. She was one of the first to enter Gaza after the war and was returning to assess the current situation.
After this press conference the delegation boarded two busses and headed for Gaza city with a stop long the way at the bombed out PLC building to meet the Gaza MP's from all political parties. Here everyone was treated to a take away picnic like lunch. I say it was "like" an outside picnic, because we ate in the bombed out area of the building, the chamber where the politicians would have met to govern Gaza. This room, what remained of it, was exquisite. It was easy to see how beautiful it once had been. The entire experience was surreal, a beautiful gold coloured chandelier with thousands of cut glass droplets hung above us on what was left of the ceiling, the outer walls were gone as you can see in the photo below behind the people eating.
Anyone with any intelligence what so ever could clearly see what we were witnessing. Just witness the surgical strikes at certain buildings and areas. The attack on the PLC building speaks for itself. This was a war crime and an attempt to kill off the entire Gazan government in order to create a situation where Gaza would become ungovernable and lawless in the aftermath, thus making it simple for Israel and the US to install a government they had better control of. What does this say about Democracy? People hated George Bush, when he ran the first time he stole the election from Al Gore, yet no one bombed the Whitehouse and made calls to de-legitimise his war mongering illegal invasion of Iraq government. Yet in Palestine, there was a Democratic election that George Bush himself hailed as the first Democratic election. That was until the selection made by the Palestinian people was revealed and Israel and the West suddenly decided they no longer supported Democracy. Serious duplicity exposed.
Although luckily only one person was killed in this war crime, however, many of the Government are sitting in Israeli jails.
This was a topic of discussion and the Delegation was asked to help free the Politicians so they can return to governing their country. The point was not lost on the delegation, as fellow elected politicians with a mandate from their own electorate, all democratically elected politicians should be protected from being murdered and illegal internment. Otherwise what is the point of entering into politics? Democracy and the vote must be protected in all countries, even the ones Israel and America don’t like. That's the problem with upholding Democracy and Democratic principles, you have to accept the will of the voters, otherwise you are exposed as a hypocrite!
The Delegation then moved outside where it was now getting dark. In an area set up for speakers and an audience, Sir Gerald Kaufman opened the discussion with a small speech and then he was given an award. Then members of both governments and all parties spoke, including one Palestinian woman MP who was brilliant. I think the European women MEP's and MP's were quite interested in hearing a woman MP's perspective:
As this entire event lasted for a few hours, and myself being a political junkie to the extreme, I spent my time having the most incredible political discussion with this man (below) who noticed me standing off on my own:
Sayed Salem Abu Musameh
Member of Parliament – National List #23 on Change and Reform list
Biographical Information Born 1948 From Rafah, Gaza
Personal History Bachelor Degree in Sharia from Faculty of Da wa Bachelor Degree in Fundamentals of Religion from Islamic University in Medina Former editor of Palestinian newspaper al-Watan Worked at the Islamic University One of the founders of Hamas. Considered a moderate and close to Ismaeel Haniyeh and Sheikh Hassan Youssef 1991 Arrested by Israel 1995 Arrested by PA, sentence to 5 years imprisonment for political activities that "undermine the Palestinian Authority" The Preventive Security Forces shot on his car on May 9, 2006 and detained him for few hours. Consultant to Ismail Haniyeh
He spoke very good English and the time sped by as we discussed politics, the siege and how important it was for the international community to get to know Gaza via cultural links and other ways, and that Gaza's hand was stretched out to the world. And that all politicians of the world should talk to each other and uphold the Democratic process, all politicians should be allowed to govern if they are democratically elected. Today it is Gazan politicians under attack, tomorrow it could be another country, maybe yours. This is one fundamental thing I agree fully on, the results of a Democratic election should be respected worldwide; all politicians must be protected from being murdered, imprisoned illegally or marginalised by powers who don’t like them for whatever reason. We have experienced this very same thing in Ireland for a great many years, we understand this completely. It took a US President, Bill Clinton to be courageous enough to shake the hand of Gerry Adams, and to engage in talks with all parties in Ireland. And the result of that historic moment was the birth of our own peace process. Who will be brave enough to repeat this with Palestine? Silence from the Obama Administration who said they would talk to all leaders of this world. This particular evening at the PLC building was one of my best experiences of my own personal trip, and I loved every minute of that experience.
Firstly: Thanks to everyone who wished our guys well during their long viva Palestina convoy trip to Gaza. They arrived home to Ireland today and are recovering from the long trip, many stories to tell. We will be publishing a report of their trip shortly after they rest and gather their thoughts on paper. Also, The local Mayor is having a reception for them and we hope to cover that as well on the blog.
Secondly: Additionally, We apologise for the minimal posting of blog entries Saturday, Sunday and possibly Monday. We are currently dealing with some personal issues which should be resolved by Monday or Tuesday. So bear with us as we will have the report from the convoy coming up soon, AND with a Bit O' Irish Luck a "big" surprise for our readers next weekend as well! So stick around, it will be worth it if it all works out:)
Eight-year-old Alexandra Darby, the niece of Quartet Envoy Tony Blair, toured the West Bank this week on a bicycle, peddling an estimated 200 kilometers from Amman to Jerusalem.
For those who do not know, Alexandra Darby is the daughter of Lauren Booth:
Lauren Booth is a half-sister of Cherie Blair and the sixth daughter of the actor Tony Booth. She is the sister-in-law of former British prime minister Tony Blair. She is married to actor Craig Darby, has two children and a home in the South of France.MORE:
Asked what she will tell her school friends about the Peace Cycle journey she participated in, Alex reflected, “I’ll tell them that the people here are very nice, not like they say in the newspapers.”
The West Bank is not a usual vacation site for most eight-year-olds. But, mother, journalist and activist Lauren Booth explained, “She’s been asking me for the last five years why she can’t go to Palestine, and despite fact that the Israelis can make it bloody trying to get in and out, the greeting here I knew would be so sensational for her that I didn’t have a reason not to bring her.”
Why doesn’t Alex think other kids get to come to Palestine? “Because, of course, the telly, which says Palestinians are not like us, that they are a revolting people, a violet people, a nasty people, its mad. In fact it’s the exact opposite, it’s the Israelis.” link
Jew Weekly, or Weekly Jew, whatever, is reporting this farce, again here's the Zionists clutching at straws. Notice how it's always "A-Ok" for Zionists to have multiple large borg groups on every campus worldwide spreading hasbara. Yet when a small group of people at California UC, some of whom evidently were.........Shhhhh, "Muslims" GASP!!! had the audacity to collect donations from consenting adults over 18 years of age for Humanitarian Aid via the Viva Palestina group headed by George Galloway, I presume for his next Aid convoy in December. Why what happens next? The Zionist Organisation of America goes postal and cries "No Fair" and when THAT does not work they then attempt to link the money to Hamas. God these people really need to "get a life"
A Jewish group called on federal authorities to probe U.C. Irvine students for allegedly raising funds for Hamas.
In a letter dated Oct. 2, the Zionist Organization of America urged the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the students over suspicions that they collected money for the Palestinian terrorist group.
According to ZOA, members of the Muslim Union of Students solicited money for a charity called Viva Palestina at a rally held May 21 dubbed “Israel: The Politics of Genocide.” The charity, founded by British leftist politician George Galloway, who headed the rally on the Irvine campus, has been accused of directly aiding Hamas.
End siege of Gaza -MacLochlainn Sinn Féin Councillor Gerry MacLochlainn today called on the Israeli government to immediately end its siege of the Gaza Strip.
His call follows an appeal by the UN and international agencies to Israel to allow urgent repairs to be carried out on the water and sewage system in Gaza .
According to these agencies more than 13 million gallons or 50 million litres of raw or partially treated sewage is flowing into the Mediterranean Sea each day because Gaza’s sewage and water treatment systems are totally inadequate following bomb damage inflicted by Israeli armed forces and the refusal of Israel to allow the necessary repairs and investment essential to service and upgrade the sewage and water systems.
Much of this pollution finds its way back onto the coast of Gaza and Israel .
Four months ago Councillor MacLochlainn visited the Middle East and spent four days in Gaza and along with elected representatives from across Europe and accompanied an aid convoy for Gaza across the Rafah border. The water and sewage system was already then at the point of collapse.
Speaking following the UN and international appeal Councillor MacLochlainn said:
“There is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza .
”In May I saw for myself the cruel consequences of the Israeli assault on Gaza last Christmas and New Year which produced enormous destruction and hardship for the people of that region.
The civilian population bore the brunt of the fatalities and in particular children and women.
Residential areas, educational and medical facilities alongside political and civil administration establishments were targeted. This included the police. Water and electricity services and roads were also targeted.
Over a three week period from 27 December 2008 to 18 January 2009 it is reported that _ Over 1400 people were killed including more than 400 children and over a hundred women. _ Casualties were in the region of 5,000 including 1,800 children and almost 800 women.
According to the UN the Israeli attack ' wrought unprecedented devastation and hardship on an already impoverished population, compounding the effects of an 18 month blockade and tight regime of closures and restrictions on movement that date back to the early 1990s. '
While I support the demand by the UN and international agencies that Israel allow urgent repairs on Gaza’s water and sewage system to proceed, the reality is that only a complete lifting of the siege by the Israeli government can significantly improve the lives of the million and a half people trapped in that area. Ends
Here's a good op-ed piece on the latest Israel Democracy Institute poll of Israeli society. Written by Seth Freedman at the guardian excerpts follow:
Well over a million of Israel's population come from the former Soviet Union (FSU), representing more than 15% of the total population – hence the political views of the Russian immigrant community are not easily brushed under the carpet. Their collective stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is credited with sweeping Avigdor Lieberman and his Yisrael Beiteinu party into the upper echelons of power.Lieberman has become the poster boy of the Russian right.
three out of four citizens of Russian extraction support the transfer of Arabs out of Israel, an overwhelming display of hostility towards the original inhabitants of the state in which the Russians arrived a mere 20 years ago.
when viewed in the context of the attitudes of non-Russian Israelis, it becomes clear that while the FSU immigrants' opinions are undoubtedly hardline, the rest of Israel doesn't lag far behind – revealing just how wide the gulf is between mainstream Israeli public opinion and any kind of equitable and just settlement with the Palestinians. Over half of the Israeli Jews polled support the transfer of Arabs out of Israel, while 48% oppose any kind of retreat from settlements (compared with 64% of Russian interviewees). Such figures throw a spanner in the works of peace negotiations, since such ingrained nationalism gives carte blanche to Israeli leaders to take unyielding positions on the conflict if anything short of total acquiescence is offered by the Palestinian side.
In a country where over half of the dominant ethnic group wishes to expel those of a different racial profile, the goalposts have shifted so far as to render standard political groupings almost irrelevant. What would pass as rightwing thinking in western countries is deemed simply middle-of-the-road in Israel; anyone who would occupy the centre ground in more enlightened countries is portrayed as a radical leftist here, sidelined to the point of obscurity and their party's views paid not the slightest heed by the man on the street
it appears insane that a group of straight-off-the-boat immigrants such as the FSU olim should call overwhelmingly for displacing a group of fellow citizens who've been here for generations – but when considered against the raison d'etre of the Jewish state, their position becomes far easier to understand. However, to understand is not to excuse, and the core malaise at the heart of Israeli society is the unswerving belief that Israel has to be forever populated by a Jewish majority, and that only those of the right extraction qualify to stand at the state's helm and chart its course.
It is wholly immoral to demand that any racial group willingly roll over, play dead, and allow themselves to be subjugated by another people – as we Jews know firsthand, and have railed against throughout our history. Yet that is exactly what Israel's leaders assert must happen here and they have massive support from the electorate thanks to their ability to whip up the masses into a decades-old nationalistic frenzy.
Headlines might have focused on the Russian response to the poll, but missing the wood for the trees just perpetuates the underlying erosion taking place throughout Israeli society.
The only solution is for sectarianism to be sidelined and for all people of the region to be dealt with on a level playing field; whether that means one state or two depends on the terms of the settlement, but whatever settlement is reached must treat every concerned party as equal. However, given the dominant thinking on the Israeli street, such pipe dreams are as unlikely to become reality as ever before – Russians or no Russians, Israeli society is dooming itself and its neighbours to a future of conflict while such rank prejudice prevails.
When will Egypt STOP behaving like Israeli Agents? Evidently Israel has more than one way to censor free expression and Egypt assists them. A Palestinian born playwright and UK resident entered Gaza through the Rafah border and is now being refused exit at Rafah by Egypt, effectively trapping him inside Gaza. His play, titled "Go to Gaza, Drink the Sea" opened in London in February and he was due to be in Edinburgh this week for rehearsals there.
A PALESTINIAN playwright whose Fringe play tells of the Israeli assault on the Palestinian territory of Gaza has become trapped there on his first visit in seven years. Ahmed Masoud is a UK resident whose wife is expecting their first child in October. He went to Gaza to visit his mother after a cancer operation and has been unable to leave.
His play, Go to Gaza, Drink the Sea, opened in London in February, just after the Israeli military operation in Gaza, blamed for the loss of more than 1,000 Palestinian lives.
Masoud, who has a Palestinian passport, but is a legal British resident, got into Gaza when the Rafah border crossing from Egypt was briefly opened. When he tried to leave by the same route, he was turned away.
He was due in Edinburgh for rehearsals this week. The play opens on 6 August. source
And who says "Satan" does not exist? Oh those "Warm and Fuzzy" Zionist men of "God" like Ovadia Yosef, a radical racist nutjob that makes Lieberman look like an Evil Little Chipmunk. Preaching from his perch overlooking Hell, Ovadia Yosef is at it again:
The spiritual leader of Shas movement, Ovadia Yosef launched a sweeping attack on the United States because of its demand that Israel cease settlement. He said: "We are not slaves to them."
He objected during the weekly sermon to the pressure exercised by the U.S., said: "Our messiah will kick them out."
Joseph criticized U.S. President Barack Obama and Western leaders to exercise pressure on Israel to stop settlement activity, adding: "Do not build here and can not build there, as if we are slaves. We were judged by the slaves (referring to Arabs), but our messiah will come and cast those devils out". source
This is no isolated incident sadly. Some of his past rants have included these "Warm and Fuzzy" statements:
In 2000, Yosef declared that Prime Minister Ehud Barak has "no sense" because he is trying to make peace with the Palestinians, which he likened to another senseless act, attempting to make peace between a human and an animal such as a "snake", which is motivated by instincts that cannot be overridden, asking, "Will we make peace with a snake?"
AND THIS:
In April 2001, BBC News reported that, "The spiritual leader of Israel's ultra-orthodox Shas party, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, has provoked outrage with a sermon calling for the annihilation of Arabs."
AND THIS:
July 2001 speech, Rabbi Yosef called for Arabs to go to hell: "In the old city of Jerusalem they [Arabs] are swarming like ants. They should go to hell — and the Messiah will speed them on their way.
Evil is, as Evil does………….and So,speaking of furry Critters, here's some comedy, check this Evil Chipmunk and Indecent Squirrel reports
Now, once built, let's see how long Israel allows it to remain in Gaza before blowing it up:
Optimus Technology & Telecommunications today announced that it has signed a partnership agreement with Tandberg, the leading global video conferencing and immersion solutions provider, for the Middle East region.
According to the terms of the agreement, Optimus will promote Tandberg's entire range of products through its channel network in markets such as Egypt, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Afghanistan, Chad, Gaza Strip, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, West Bank and Yemen.
Speaking about the partnership Ms. Meera Kaul, Managing Director at Optimus Technology and Telecom, said,
'We are delighted to sign the Channel Development Partner (CDP) agreement with Tandberg for the Middle East Region. Tandberg's world-class video conferencing and immersion solutions will be a great value-add for our channel partners' offerings and complements Optimus' telephony product portfolio. We are excited about expanding our product range by including Tandberg's products and are sure that our strengths in providing technology and telecom solutions and our expertise in providing world-class solutions will prove to be a winning combination.'source
Oh My, what’s Up with You Tube? Got a You Tube account? Are you Pro-Palestinian and Anti-Zionist? Well you may be on the “Hit List” because You Tube is allowing the ADL to create its policy for removal of videos it “perceives” as spreading hate, one type of hate. The translation= Only Videos that are anti-Israel. And, we all know what that means don’t we folks. No criticism of the Evil Rogue State, no videos showing their massive destruction, or the innocent victims they murder, or the white phosphorous they used illegally, no self expression against the Zionist Rogue State. Nope, only happy Hasbara, coming soon, to a you tube channel near you. Check this out:
Let’s play a little game. Let’s pretend you found a vile video that is very insulting to people of the Muslim faith. Let’s say you then decided to do as the Zio-Jihadists do and report this video under the terms and conditions of you tube as being hateful against a religious group. Ok, go to you tube here ,then scroll down to the bottom and click on where it says, “Safety Center”here, then select the radio button that says “hateful content” and click “enter”SURPRISE, it’s the ADLtelling you how to remove videos and content that is “anti-Semitic”This begs the question, why is ONLY a “Zionist Jewish” group represented, why are the NAACP not included, what about African Americans? They constitute a far greater number of Americans than the 2% of Jews who make up the population. Yet, there is no group affiliated with You Tube for them to report racist content, no group representing the Muslims either. As if You Tube gives a shit about hateful content against Muslims for example like this lovely account here note the name. Here’s the answer:
The US-based advocacy group has officially partnered with the digital media powerhouse in an effort to combat hate speech and other forms of abuse.
As the largest Web-video hub, YouTube relies primarily on its users to hunt down and delete inappropriate content, or to ban abusive members. While the extent of the ADL's role in that process is not yet known, the organization has already made a place for itself in YouTube's new "Abuse and Safety Center," where users are given advice directly from the ADL on how to confront hate speech.
KISS FREE SPEECH GOODBYE FOLKS, but there's more. check out some of what they are complaining about for a real shock:
The present system has had mixed results. In just a short search through the site, The Jerusalem Post found a number of anti-Semitic videos, including the suggestion that kashrut laws were a "Jew excise tax," and claims that a Jewish conspiracy led by former US deputy secretary of state Paul Wolfowitz orchestrated the invasion of Iraq.
Imagine someone having the Chutzpah to say something "not nice" about Paul Wulfowitz!! GASP!! Oh the shame and horror of it all! They now effectively control You Tube and they STILL effing complain about a political theory regarding Paul Wolfowitz, the poster child for War. They won’t be happy until every single video critical of the Zionist Rogue State or Zionist Jews are removed. Seriously America, get control of your country, extricate your country and government from this foreign power’s control. They are ruining you.
"Hamas has no problem with the Jews, the problem is only with the Israeli occupation which is based on the Zionism,"
This should put Israel's nose out of joint quite certainly. Rabbis traveling to Gaza on the Viva Palestina Convoy from America have had a two hour meeting with the Prime Minister Ismail Haniya, good for them for meeting the Government of Gaza
Ismail Haneya on Thursday met anti-Zionism Jews in the Gaza Strip.
The meeting between the Islamic movement's leader and the four rabbis, members of Neturei Karta movement, lasted for nearly two hours at his office in Gaza city.
The rabbis, whose small movement calls for dismantling the state of Israel, arrived in Gaza last night as part of a Viva Palestine convoy, which included some 200 American and international pro-Palestinian activists, led by British MP George Galloway.
"Hamas has no problem with the Jews, the problem is only with the Israeli occupation which is based on the Zionism," Haneya told reporters after the meeting.
Haneya praised the Jews who "expressed their rejection to the occupation" by joining the aid convoy. "You reject the existence of people on the land of other people, so we have nothing but to respect these positions and appreciate your ideology," Haneya addressed the rabbis.
The convoy is the second in four months Galloway brings into the Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip. "This convoy is of a special interest because most of its members have come from the United States," Haneya added.
The U.S. government deems Hamas a foreign terrorist organization since its charter calls for the destruction of the Jewish state. But Haneya said the American presence in the convoy "proves that not all the American people are supporting the Israeli occupation and the siege."
"You feel like an infantile little kid with a magnifying glass looking at ants, burning them."
Reality breaks through into Israel's alternate universe and is once again ignored.
Members of the most "moral" army in the world recently published reports covering how they were encouraged to murder Palestinians for the Mother Land Israel. Although I have no clue why reporters, or anyone else for that matter, bother to even ask any Israeli official for a response as it's always the same. Right on que Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak replied (Can you guess the answer folks?)"Criticism directed at the IDF by one organization or another is inappropriate and is directed at the wrong place."
No fair Barak the Whack, He fooled us by adding this: "and is directed at the wrong place" to the "standard" retort, gosh darn it! Well, in fairness he has a partial point, he is right that it is not just Israel responsible, it is the United States for supplying Israel with weapons of mass destruction which it then used not for defense but rather to collectively punish an entire population. But the blame does not stop there, no it doesn't. The policy of "look the other way" adopted by the majority of influential countries like Britain, Canada, France, Germany and others that has existed for years towards Israel, they are culpable as well for the Gaza Holocaust. Report from "Breaking The Silence" below, more after article:
Israeli soldiers who served in the invasion of Gaza in January were instructed to “shoot first, ask later,” a policy that led to killings of innocents, according to testimonies released by the organization Breaking the Silence on Wednesday.
The Israeli organization published the interviews with some 30 soldiers in a booklet and on its website.
"Better hit an innocent than hesitate to target an enemy," is how one soldier explained the instructions given soldiers before the ground invasion that began in the second week of the three week offensive.
“The minute we got to our starting line, we simply began to fire at suspect places,” said another.
"In urban warfare, anyone is your enemy. No innocents."
Another soldier offered the following description on the briefings: “At briefings on places I entered, we were told that if we engage at close range, we should know that normally, at night the Arab is asleep in his bed and has no business outdoors at this time, so we should really be careful.”
(So Arabs are not into the "Night Life" what a racist statement. There are hundreds of legitimate reasons for an Arab to be outside after dark, how moronic. According to that "logic" if America was invaded and you ran out of milk after dark, then you dared to nip to your local 7-11 shop YOU ARE A TERRORIST. Suddenly the phrase "Got Milk" has a whole new meaning)MORE:
“We weren't told outright to shoot anything we saw moving but that was the implication,” the soldier testified, “I asked, ‘What if I see a girl outside?’ She has no business being outside. "So what do I do?" Check if she's armed – then shoot her.”
(Nah, no need to "check if she's armed" and here's proof)MORE:
Another soldier described carrying out the same policy, shooting an elderly woman for no other reason than that she was outside of her house in an area controlled by the army.
Some soldiers descriptions went even further, describing the dehumanization of the Palestinians: "You feel like an infantile little kid with a magnifying glass looking at ants, burning them."
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, more than 1,500 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli onslaught, the vast majority of them civilians. Israel maintains that only 1,166 and only 295 dead were civilians. Israel however counted policemen as combatants although they are classified as noncombatants under international law.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak responded to the Breaking the Silence document on Wednesday saying, "Criticism directed at the IDF by one organization or another is inappropriate and is directed at the wrong place. The IDF is one of the most ethical armies in the world and acts in accordance with the highest moral code." source
What is contained in this report is bad enough, but here is much more: Israel's Policy To Kill Children HERE and HERE, then there is the INDOCTRINATION OF IDF SOLDIERS as well.
IRISH SHIP TO GAZA WAS SABOTAGED BY ISRAEL. OUR SHIP WILL SAIL AFTER REPAIRS IN THE AUTUMN. WE SAIL UNTIL GAZA IS FREE!! PLEASE DONATE TO HELP US PAY FOR REPAIRS
