the palestinefreevoice: October 2009

The PalestineFreeVoice is an unwearied researcher and defender of freedom of speech and the written word, where matter is written and published every day.The PalestineFreeVoice is documenting, collecting and archiving the social-ideological-political-cultural-history of the Palestinian people. PalestineFreeVoice argues in favor of the principle of the permanent sovereignty of people under foreign occupation over their natural resources (UN resolution 51/190). The PalestineFreeVoice advocate and promote a sovereign Palestinian statehood in the occupied Palestinian territories including Jerusalem. The PalestineFreeVoice is documenting Israeli war crimes on Palestine Territories. The PalestineFreeVoice is supporting the Palestine Resistance Movement, in their inherent, inalienable right to protect their Palestine homeland. Organized armed defense of any homeland to guard and protect its citizens, to stop, detain, expel, arrest, subdue, execute, armed defiant hostile trespassers (assassins, land-thieves etc.) is not only a legitimate duty, but a moral right.

The PalestineFreeVoice ( PalestineFreeVoice ) is founded by Hiyam Noir in January 2003.

October 30, 2009

Whitewashing War Crimes with Stale Lies

30/10/2009 - 12:01 AM

By Khalid Amayreh

"I fear very much that the Jews are like all underdogs. When they get on the top they are just as intolerant and cruel as the people were to them when they were underneath. I regret this situation very much because my sympathy has always been on their side.” Harry Truman

Many Zionist Jews are angry and frustrated these days following the ample attention given to the Goldstone report around the world.

This is why huge amounts of classical Zionist lies about the Nazi-like winter onslaught against the Gaza Strip are being pumped through the internet.

One Zionist hasbara (propaganda) activist, whose job is to propagate these lies in order to whitewash the virtual Gaza genocide, has claimed that whatever wrongs Israel committed in Gaza occurred by mistake.

“There is a difference- a great difference-between tragic mistakes that happened during war and radical Islam’s indiscriminate wickedness”

Well, how many times “tragic mistakes” are supposed to occur? A hundred times? A thousand times?

In fact, Israel has been knowingly and deliberately making these “mistakes” since time immemorial, so much that we can, without a bit of exaggeration, speak of a consistent modus operandi.

Besides, when mistakes occur and are repeated numerous times, it means they are “the” outstanding “policy.” After all, Israel can’t consistently murder civilians as a matter of policy and then claim the atrocities were committed by “mistake.”

More to the point, when the number of victims is so high and disproportionate to any conceivable provocation, even intention becomes irrelevant.

Hence, the claim that the Nazi-like crimes committed by Israel against the helpless and unprotected Palestinian civilians were mere mistakes should be treated as nothing short of pornographic lies, a sort of fornication with language.

The supremacist Zionist activist, who thinks Jews are not capable of doing evil, quoted Yair Lapid, from Yediot Ahronot, who argued in a recent article that the international community had failed to understand that Israel is an “enlightened western democracy that struggles for its existence in the wild East.”

Well, this is another pornographic lie. In fact, the distance between the Judeo-Nazi entity and true enlightenment is so enormous that the two can be perceived as an odious oxymoron. This is so because Israel represents the ultimate antithesis of human civility, and vice versa.

A few years ago, a Jewish intellectual and member of British Parliament lamented the fact that “ Israel has made the Star of David Look like the Swastika of Hitler.” That was before the barbarian blitzkrieg against Gaza. I wonder how he would describe the evil state now.

In the final analysis, it is an insult to language and common sense to call a state that thinks, and behaves and acts like Nazi Germany “enlightened.” Calling Israel “enlightened” is analogous to calling the Gestapo or SS “innocent boy scouts.”

In truth, Israel is neither enlightened nor a democracy. A true democracy would not murder “goy” children and young men in order to harvest their organs for sale in America or in order to be transplanted in Jewish patients.

Nor would it instruct soldiers manning roadblocks to prevent women about to give birth from reaching nearby hospitals in order to check Arab demographic growth. Does anyone know how many Palestinian women bled to death because the Gestapo of our time wouldn’t allow them to reach hospital?

Again, calling Israel "democratic" is also a form of fornication with language. This is so because a true democracy doesn’t discriminate against a segment of its citizens because of their “wrong” religion, as Israel does. Nor does it adopt a duplicitous justice system depending on whether one is a Jew or a goy!!!

The Zionist hasbara activist goes on elucidating the virtues of Israel and its army and the vices of the Palestinians.

“You fail to distinguish Jewish morals from radical Islam’s lack of morality.”

Well, where is that Jewish morality? Is it a moral act to rain white Phosphorus and other agents of death on helpless children in Gaza ?

Is it a moral act to order panicking civilians into buildings and then bomb these buildings from high altitudes, killing everyone inside? Is it a moral act to annihilate so many entire families because a member of these families was suspected of sympathizing with a political party that Israel didn’t like? Indeed, is it a moral act to cut off food, water and basic consumer products from 1.5 million on no ground other than the fact that they had chosen to elect a “non-conformist” political party? Indeed, if these crimes are acts of morality, then Hitler and his colleagues, Stalin and his, and all other mass killers throughout history must be viewed as great paragons of virtue and morality.

The truth of the matter is that Israel has made “Jewish morality” look very much like Nazi morality. In the final analysis, when Jews behave like the Nazis, they become Nazis themselves.

Then commonsense is further affronted by the claim that the appointment by Israel of “inquiry commissions” shows that Israel is a state where the rule of law is paramount.

Well, How many Israeli war criminals have been prosecuted let alone punished following each massacre of Palestinian and Lebanese civilians?

A few years ago, the Judeo-Nazi state established the so-called Winograd Commission to look into the massive Israeli bombing of South Lebanon in 2006 which killed more than 1400 Lebanese civilians.

However, it was amply clear that the commission didn’t look into the often pornographic atrocities committed against Lebanese civilians but concentrated on discussing why Israel failed to subdue Hezbollah.

The committee said absolutely nothing about the estimated 2-3 million cluster bomblets dropped from high altitudes on civilian areas. Well, theoretically at least, these bomblets were enough to kill 2-3 million Lebanese children. This would have been at least half a holocaust by Zionist standards.

Finally, I would like to say that a country or a religious or ethnic community doesn’t become “enlightened” or “democratic” or “decent’ just by claiming to have these epithets.

Evil people throughout history always claimed that they represented virtue and morality. After all, murderous crimes and virulent lies go hand in hand.

However, their actions and behaviors always belie, negate and refute their mendacious claims. Which makes Israel the world’s most repugnant example of a state that combines murderous criminality with virulent mendacity.

Needless to say, such a state has nothing to do with any true morality, Jewish or non-Jewish. It is a satanic entity that must go.

Sourse: Palestinian Information Center (PIC)

Intellectual Rights Retained

GAZA : Then Came the Foreshadowing Silence

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Photo Islam K PalestineFreeVoice Images

Finding War Crimes

Al- Attatra Village in Northern Gaza

Hiyam Noir

Republished October 30 2009

GAZA -1/28 2009 3:58 am - Twenty-eight letters of the Arabic language is no longer sufficient to create a few new words or a new vocabulary worth describing the stories beyond all words horrible of the Israelis Cast Lead Operation ,(Massacre) in Gaza,the great pain from her grief will last for a long time. Nor can the creation of 100 letters in the English language repertoire of communication, express the deep trauma in Ismail's face, a face washed by thousands tears.I am looking into the eyes of a young mans face - during a few days many years were added.

I am meeting Ismail in a friends house, he will tell me about the events that culminated in the murder of his 8 year old son, Ibrahim. Ibrahim was assassinated by Israeli soldiers in front of his own father.Ismail told me how helpless he felt.He him self, a man capable of exerting great physical force, a Palestinian fighter loyal to his land and people, became a victim of the Israelis perverted cruelty.Ismail was forced to watch the horror, a seemingly endless wave of extremely savage violence, that lasted for many hours and days,not being able to protect his family, not able to save the life of his precious son Ibrahim.

Some nine days before the Israelis left Gaza after conducting the most awful war crimes,[ unanimously condemned throughout the world], Israeli death squads had in an early stage of the invasion closed off the northern village of Al-Attatra, to the East of Beit Lahia).In one of the most-hit regions in Gaza, the Israelis executed the child Ibrahim in cold blood.

After the killing, the Zionists manifested their murder.With a sinister expression on their faces they began a ritual dance around the boy,lying there on the blood soaked floor,they discharged their weapons and emptied the ammunition into Ibrahim's motionless body.

Despite the long siege, the closed borders and continued Israeli attacks from the air,the sea and the land,subject to great hardship the young parents Ismail,Assefa and their small children tried to make the best of their lives.They never left their home in search for a more safe shelter.This family of ordinary people woke up every day by the sunrise, and as a custom, every morning they brought their children into the garden in front of their house.

How could they know that this silent morning would be the beginning of a very dark day, a day when the events that would take place would change their lives forever.By the horizon there was not the usual sight of a beautiful raising sun, another bad omen, the birds had left the tree on the courtyard to escape far away from an approaching evil force, trespassing across the border into northern Palestinian lands that of Gaza.

Ibrahim was restless this morning he longed to leave his room, he asked his mother Assefa if he could go out and play outside the house, in the garden," just for a little while", he said;"Mommy please,let us drink tea and eat our breakfast outside".With this words to his mother, Ibrahim pursued her to bring the family outside to enjoy their first meal in the morning, which would be their last day together.This poor family would not believe that Israeli snipers positioned on the rooftops and soldiers on the ground, some 50 meters away from the house, would see them there or hear their voices.

Suddenly the silence was broken,dogs barked ferociously and a severe assault on this family began. A missile hit the house,large parts of the buildings structure collapsed,scrapnel from the missile drew deep lines and holes into the walls.The sharp frightening sound of terror was deafening.- "The cups fell down,spilled out the tea , then crashed on the beautiful colored tiles below the breakfast table - the bread was covered in blood." Ismail expressed with difficulty. Ibrahim, the child was hit by scrapnel and suffered in awful pain, he cried out to his father -" Dad I am dying, dad I am dying" – Ibrahim's father Ismail continues; " I lifted up Ibrahim's body from the ground,and carried him in my arms searching for his wounds.

I watched the blood on my hands pumping out from Ibrahim's abdomen.I cried out to my wife and I told her; -"let’s get out, lets get out of here quickly".While carrying the injured Ibrahim, the family tried to escape outside through the backdoor …terrified, shocked not able to grasp the dangerous situation.There were the Israelis waiting for them, positioned in front of the house, aiming heavy machine guns at the family.

Bullets penetrated the body of Assefa, because of the sharp pain she was unable to walk, in her condition,traumatised in shock she would not understand what was going on with her family. When another bullet penetrated the back of Ismail,Ibrahim's father - the seriously injured child fell from his arms to the ground."

With a round of bullets the Israelis silenced the last breath of my child", Ismail said. Ibrahim's siblings were hiding behind the walls of the house,crying and grabbing with their little hands tight on to their mother Assefa.

Then came the foreshadowing silence, Ibrahim was dead, members of the childs family was seriously injured, yet still a life.The parents thought that the terror was over and now they were safe.But the silence was just a warning, more terror was emerging, now voices of Israeli soldiers could be heard some hundred meter away, and squeaking sound of tanks were moving closer.

Ismail told me, that he became scared stiff, so he remained there, with his face down on the floor, injured in his arm and back.He made a quick decision to act as if he was dead.He prayed to God that the Israelis would leave him, when he suddenly heard their steps walking nearby his son Ibrahim.Hard army boots began to kick the child’s lifeless body. " They turned him around with their boots to make sure the child was dead".

The Israeli then dragged the body of the deadly injured Ibrahim up the stairs to the second floor of the house, they discharged their weapons and the shooting resumed.More than 50 bullets penetrated Ibrahim's body,loud laughter would be heard,the Israelis lined up around the roughly handled Ismail.'' They discharge their weapons again,and emptied the bullets into the body of my poor child.I thought the horror would never end, how long did it last,one minute,ten minutes,i can not recall, I lost my mind."

Before I left,I asked Ismail, Ibrahim's father; "Do you believe you can survive this terrible trauma, will you ever be able to come back to life again?He answered me with a voice marked by bottomless sadness,his eyes were dark and full of tears.-" I don’t know what my son did to these pigs,he was only a child - we, my wife Assefa and I, spent four days in the cold ( January ) and the darkness,we both were bleeding from our wounds. Thanks to the cold weather, we did not bleed to death. I held Assefa in my arms,together we looked at the body of Ibrahim, our son,and we remember the happy day when he was born.

Our grievance is beyond description, our son was dying there in front of our eyes, drowning in his own blood.During four days we would not move, we believed the Israelis would come back to make sure we were dead, we were witnesses of their crimes.If I acted dead they will not leave me there alive, I was thinking they would complete the killing, God willing ..how I prayed it would go fast."

"I can see by looking at the wounds on your body,that you lost a lot of blood, are your wounds healed a bit now" - I asked Ismail.He answered, "they left a wounded heart inside me ..eternal pain you know, will last forever.The four days,it was a nightmare, we were suffering in the cold from the trauma, without drinking water and without food.There was no electricity and no water to heat, to wash our self and to clean our wounds.

In the 5th day we heard a vehicle outside and there was an old women in a carriage.I forced my self to pull together all my power to cry for her help. Thanks to God, she heard my call, her carriage moved closer to us.She called the Palestinian ambulance service from her mobile phone, though because of the bulldozed roads and our narrow alleys, after one very long hour of waiting, the ambulance crew arrived to transferee four survivors of our family to Kamal Edwan hospital.

"On the way to the hospital I was thinking of my son Ibrahim,and I looked at my poor wife Assefa, and our two small children.They were still unaware of that they lost their brother Ibrahim - we all will need much time and professional help to heal from this trauma."

Theme: Adagio In G Minor( Tomaso Albinoni...) - [guitar] Dominic Miller .

Letters from Palestine
http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/Article_29468.shtml

Watch the devastated Al-Attatra Village - Israeli War Crimes of Historical Dimensions - Gaza, January, 2009

http://www.uruknet.de/?p=m51265&hd=&size=1&l=e

October 29, 2009

AFRICOM and America's Global Military Agenda: Taking The Helm Of The Entire World

By Rick Rozoff

Global Research, October 27, 2009
Stop NATO - 2009-10-22

“The developments come as the White House seeks grounds to establish a major military presence in Africa...[A]nalysts caution that similar pretexts were used to justify the US invasion of Afghanistan, the missile attacks in Pakistan, and its waning military operations in Iraq, where the civilian population continues to bear the brunt of the US intervention.”

“AFRICOM facilitates the United States advancing on the African continent, taking control of the Eurasian continent and proceeding to take the helm of the entire globe.”
—————————
October 1st marked the one-year anniversary of the activation of the first U.S. overseas military command in a quarter of a century, Africa Command (AFRICOM).

AFRICOM was established as a temporary command under the wing of U.S. European Command (EUCOM) a year earlier and launched as an independent entity on October 1, 2008.

Its creation signalled several important milestones in plans by the United States and its North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies to expand into all corners of the earth and to achieve military, political and economic hegemony in the Southern as well as the Northern Hemisphere.

AFRICOM is the first American regional military command established outside of North America in the post-Cold War era. (The Pentagon set up Northern Command, NORTHCOM, in 2002 after the September 11, 2001 attacks to take in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.)

Its area of responsibility includes more nations – 53 – than any other U.S. military command. By way of comparison, EUCOM includes 51 nations, among which are 19 new nations emerging from the breakup of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia and the reunification of Germany.

The Pacific Command (PACOM) incorporates 36 countries in its theater of operations, down four since the creation of AFRICOM.

Central Command (CENTCOM) currently includes 20 nations in what is referred to as the Broader Middle East.

Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) covers 32 states, 19 in Central and South America and 13 in the Caribbean, of which 14 are U.S. and European territories.

AFRICOM is also the only new U.S. regional military command absorbing nations formerly in other commands; in fact in all other commands outside the Western Hemisphere.

EUCOM ceded 42 nations (including Western Sahara, a member of the African Union whose recognition has been virulently opposed by the West since Morocco invaded it in 1975) to AFRICOM.

The Horn of Africa region (Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan) was transferred from CENTCOM to AFRICOM, with the former picking up Lebanon and Syria from EUCOM in return. Egypt is the sole African nation still in CENTCOM. The Pentagon's Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa, which includes Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, the Seychelles, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Yemen, the last on the Arabian Peninsula, was also transferred from CENTCOM to AFRICOM. The U.S. has an estimated 2,000 troops stationed in Djibouti at Camp Lemonier which hosts the Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa.

PACOM lost the Indian Ocean island nations of the Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius and the Seychelles to Africa Command.

Africa is, lastly, the first new continent targeted by the Pentagon for a comprehensive military structure, as the U.S. created comparable commands in Asia, Europe and Latin America after World War II and during the Cold War and had fought wars in all three areas by 1918. With the exception of the bombing of Libya in 1986 and military operations in Somalia in the early 1990s and by proxy since 2006, Africa has to date escaped direct American military intervention. And until the acquisition of Camp Lemonier in Djibouti in early 2001, before September 11, there was no permanent U.S. military installation on the continent.

The beginning of AFRICOM's second year has witnessed major military exercises on the western and eastern ends of the continent.

On September 29 AFRICOM led the militaries of 30 African nations in the ten-day Africa Endeavor 2009 maneuvers in Gabon off the coast of the oil-rich Gulf of Guinea. “The U.S. military has begun an exercise in the African nation of Gabon... to improve command and control between forces for possible peacekeeping or anti-terrorism missions.

“Africom... is sponsoring the exercise and much of the instruction is done by U.S. military personnel based in Europe and the United States.” [1] URL. of this article Continue

Gaza No Safe Place : Independent Fact Finding of Israeli War Crimes

The Palestinian Interior Ministry building in Gaza City
following Israeli air strikes on Gaza in the early morning
June 30 2006 Photo Mahmud Hams

John Dugard, a South African law professor who is the UN's special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, represents some of the most forceful criticism yet of Israel's 40-year occupation.

Executive Summary

1. The Independent Fact-Finding Committee on Gaza to the League of Arab States (the Committee) was established in February 2009 with the tasks of investigating and reporting on violations of human rights law and international humanitarian law during the Israeli military offensive (hereinafter operation Cast Lead) against Gaza from 27 December 2008 to 18 January 2009 and collecting information on the responsibility for the commission of international crimes during the operation. The Committee comprised Professor John Dugard (South Africa: Chairman), Professor Paul de Waart (Netherlands), Judge Finn Lynghjem (Norway), Advocate Gonzalo Boye (Chile/Germany), Professor Francisco Corte-Real (Portugal; forensic body damage evaluator) and Ms Raelene Sharp, solicitor (Australia: Rapporteur).

2. The Committee held an initial meeting with the Secretary-General of the Arab League and his staff in Cairo on 21 February. It then travelled to Gaza on 22 February, which it entered at the Rafah crossing. The Committee was accompanied by three representatives of the League: Mr. Radwan bin Khadfa, Legal Advisor to the Secretary General and Head of the Legal Department, Mrs Aliya Ghussien, Head of Palestine Department, and Ms Elham Alshejni, from the Population Studies and Migration Department. The Committee was also accompanied by Mr Omar Abdallah from the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.

3. The Committee remained in Gaza from 22 to 27 February. The programme for its visit was organized by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, which provided logistical support to the Committee. The Committee met with a wide range of persons, including victims of operation Cast Lead, witnesses, members of the Hamas Authority, doctors, lawyers, businessmen, journalists and members of NGOs and United Nations agencies. It visited the sites of much of the destruction, including hospitals, schools, universities, mosques, factories, businesses, police stations, government buildings, United Nations premises, private homes and agriculture land.

4. The Committee collected a wealth of information from many sources, including the websites of the Israeli Foreign Ministry and Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Israeli newspapers and NGO reports, the reports of Palestinian and international NGOs, United Nations publications, Palestinian official documents and the testimony of witnesses to the conflict. On three occasions, the Committee wrote to the Government of Israel requesting its co-operation. Such letters were faxed to the Government in Israel and later delivered to the Israeli embassies in the Netherlands and Norway. The Committee received no response to its requests for co-operation, which compelled it to rely on official websites, publications and the media for information about the Israeli perspective. The Committee regrets the decision of the Government of Israel to withheld co-operation.

5. The Committee's visit to and experiences in Gaza inevitably influenced and shaped its opinion and assisted it in making its findings. The Committee's impressions and the inferences that it drew from what it saw and heard were corroborated by information from other sources. However, it could not have carried out its mandate without the visit to Gaza which allowed it to see for itself the destruction and devastation caused by operation Cast Lead and to speak to those who had experienced and suffered through the offensive.

6. The Committee's report is divided into three main parts: a factual description and analysis; a legal assessment and possible remedies; and recommendations. The factual description includes a report by the body damage evaluator, who examined 10 individuals who sustained injuries during operation Cast Lead. Operating under internationally recognized standards, the report documents the injuries suffered and their alleged causes.

The Facts

7. The Committee saw, heard and read evidence of great loss of life and injury in Gaza. Statistics accepted by the Committee show that over 1,400 Palestinians were killed, including at the very least 850 civilians, 300 children and 110 women. Over 5,000 Palestinians were wounded. The Committee was unable to accept the figures given by Israel, which claim that only 295 of those killed were civilians, as they do not provide the names of the dead (unlike Palestinian sources). Moreover, Israel includes policemen as combatants, whereas they should be considered as civilians, and it asserts that only children below the age of sixteen qualify as such, whereas the accepted international age for children is eighteen. The Committee heard disturbing accounts of cold-blooded killing of civilians by members of the IDF, accounts which were later confirmed by Israeli soldiers at the Oranim military college.

8. Four Israeli civilians were killed by Palestinian rockets during operation Cast Lead and 182 wounded. Ten Israeli soldiers were killed (three by friendly fire) and 148 wounded.

9. Palestinian fighters had only unsophisticated weapons -- Qassam rockets and Grads whereas Israel was able to deploy the most sophisticated and modern weaponry to bombard the population of Gaza from the air, land and sea. Although Israel initially denied it had used white phosphorous in the offensive it later admitted its use but denied it had been used unlawfully. The Committee is, however, satisfied on the available evidence that white phosphorous was used as an incendiary weapon in densely populated areas.

10. There was substantial destruction of, and damage to property during the offensive. Over 3,000 homes were destroyed and over 11,000 damaged; 215 factories and 700 private businesses were seriously damaged or destroyed; 15 hospitals and 43 primary health care centres were destroyed or damaged; 28 government buildings and 60 police stations were destroyed or damaged; 30 mosques were destroyed and 28 damaged; 10 schools were destroyed and 168 damaged; three universities / colleges were destroyed and 14 damaged; and 53 United Nations properties were damaged.

11. It was clear to the Committee the IDF had not distinguished between civilians and civilian objects and military targets. Both the loss of life and the damage to property were disproportionate to the harm suffered by Israel or any threatened harm. There was no evidence that any military advantage was served by the killing and wounding of civilians or the destruction of property.

12. The Committee received evidence of the bombing and shelling of hospitals and ambulances and of obstructions placed in the way of the evacuation of the wounded.

13. The 22-day offensive with bombing and shelling from the air, sea and land traumatized and terrorised the population. Israel dropped leaflets warning the population to evacuate, but in Most cases failed to give details of the areas to be targeted and conversely which areas were safe. Phone calls were equally confusing. Generally, the leaflets and phone calls simply served to confuse the population and to cause panic.

14. Israel has defended its actions by arguing that buildings were used to store munitions and hide militants and that the Palestinians made use of women and children as human shields. The Committee received evidence of human shields being used by both Hamas and Israel and has not been able to verify the truth of these allegations. Nevertheless it does not believe that such large scale killing and wounding can be attributed to the use of human shields. Similarly, Israel has produced no credible evidence of buildings being used to harbour munitions and militants. Again, it is likely that this did occur in some cases but it could not possible justify the type and amount of killing and wounding and damage to property that occurred.

15. The IDF conducted an internal investigation into allegations that its forces committed international crimes. It found that although there were a few irregularities international crimes were not committed by its forces. The Committee is unable to accept those findings. The Committee finds the IDF investigation to be unconvincing as it was not independent. There is also no suggestion that it considered Palestinian sources.

Legal Assessment

16. Before making its legal assessment, the Committee considered a number of issues that might affect criminal responsibility for any crimes that were committed. The Committee found that:

(1) Gaza remains occupied territory and that Israel is obliged to comply with the Fourth Geneva Convention in its actions in Gaza.

(2) Due to the uncertain meeting of 'aggression' it could make no finding on the question whether Israel's offensive constituted aggression.

(3) Israel's actions could not be justified as self-defence.

(4) It could not examine the criminal responsibility of either Israel or Hamas in the context of international terrorism as the meaning of both state terrorism and terrorism by non-state actors is too uncertain; consequently, criminal responsibility was best measured in accordance with the rules of international humanitarian law.

(5) Principles of proportionality should be applied in assessing criminal responsibility.

17. The focus of the report is on international crimes and the available remedies for prosecuting such crimes. Consequently little attention is paid to violations of human rights law and international humanitarian law that do not constitute international crimes. Nevertheless, the Committee found that there had been serious violations of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. There were also violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention and its Additional Protocols, particularly in respect of the prohibition on collective punishment.

18. The Committee then turned to the question of international criminal responsibility arising from the conflict. Here it considered war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

War Crimes

19. The Committee examined the responsibility of parties to the conflict for the commission of only of those war crimes which are generally accepted and whose meeting and content is clear.

20. The Committee found that the IDF was responsible for the crime of indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks on civilians. In reaching this conclusion the Committee had regard to the number of civilians killed and wounded and to the extent of the destruction to civilian property. It rejected Israel's determination of who is a civilian. Members of the Hamas civil government responsible for administering the affairs of Gaza are not combatants as claimed by Israel. Nor are members of the police force responsible for maintaining law and order and controlling traffic.

21. The Committee also found that Palestinian militants who fired rockets into Israel indiscriminately, committed the war crime of indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks on civilians.

22. The Committee found that the IDF was responsible for the crime of killing, wounding and terrorizing civilians. The Committee based this finding on the number of civilians killed by 22 days of intense bombardment by air, sea and land. The Committee also found the weapons used by the IDF, particularly white phosphorous and flechettes, caused superfluous and unnecessary suffering.

23. The Committee rejected Israel's claim that it had warned civilians to evacuate their homes by leaflets and phone calls. The leaflets and phone calls generally failed to tell civilians which targets were to be bombed and where they might find safety. As a result they only served to cause confusion and panic. Incessant bombing and misleading warnings of this kind served to terrorize the population.

24. The Committee found that Palestinian militants who fired rockets indiscriminately into Israel which killed four civilians and wounded 182 committed the war crime of killing, wounding and terrorizing civilians.

25. The Committee found that the IDF was responsible for the wanton destruction of property. and that such destruction could not be justified on grounds of military necessity. The number of civilian properties destroyed was completely disproportionate to any harm threatened and there was no credible evidence that the destruction served any military advantage.

26. There was considerable evidence that the IDF and its members had bombed and shelled hospitals and ambulances and obstructed the evacuation of the wounded. In the opinion of the Committee this conduct also constituted a war crime. The Committee was not able to accept the findings of the IDF internal investigation on this subject as it took no account of Palestinian allegations.

Crimes Against Humanity

27. A crime against humanity comprises acts of murder, extermination, persecution and similar other inhumane acts committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population with knowledge of the attack. The Committee found that Israel's offensive met the legal requirements for this crime and that the IDF was responsible for committing this crime.

Genocide

28. Genocide is considered the "crime of crimes". It has been singled out for special condemnation and opprobrium. The very suggestion that a state has committed genocide should therefore be approached with great care. Nevertheless the Committee believes that operation Cast Lead was of such gravity it was compelled to consider whether this crime had been committed.

29. The Committee found Israel's actions met the requirements for the actus reus of the crime of genocide contained in the Genocide Convention, in that the IDF was responsible for killing, exterminating and causing serious bodily harm to members of a group - the Palestinians of Gaza. However, the Committee had difficulty in determining whether the acts in question had been committed with a special intent to destroy in whole or in part a national, ethnical or religious group, as required by the Genocide Convention. It rejected the argument that Israel had carried out operation Cast Lead in self-defence. However, it found the main reason for the operation was not to destroy a group, as required for the crime of genocide, but to engage in a vicious exercise of collective punishment designed either to compel the population to reject Hamas as the governing authority of Gaza or to subdue the population into. a state of submission.
30. The Committee found although operation Cast Lead had not been carried out by the IDF to destroy the Palestinians of Gaza as a group, individual soldiers may well have had such an intent and might therefore be prosecuted for this crime. This finding was based on the brutality of some of the killing and reports that some soldiers had acted under the influence of rabbis who had encouraged them to believe that the Holy Land should be cleansed of non-Jews.

State Responsibility For Genocide

31. Under international law a state may be held responsible for the commission of internationally wrongful acts that are attributable to it. Such responsibility may arise from customary international law or in terms of treaty obligations. It is clear internationally wrongful acts were committed by Israel in operation Cast Lead.

32. Most human rights and international humanitarian law treaties do not confer jurisdiction on the International Court of Justice for the commission of internationally wrongful acts under such conventions. However, the Genocide Convention, in Article 9, confers such jurisdiction on the International Court of Justice in respect of the responsibility of a state for violation of the Convention, at the request of any other state party. It is not be necessary for the other state party to show that it has a national interest in the dispute as the prohibition on genocide is an obligation erga omnes.

33. Proof of the commission of genocide is a prerequisite for bringing a claim under the Genocide Convention. It has already been shown that the Committee was not able to find that the state of Israel acting though the IDF had the necessary specific intent to destroy a group as required for the crime of genocide. On the other hand, there is a prospect that such a claim might succeed if it can be proved that individual members of the armed forces committed acts of genocide while they were acting under the direct control of the Government of Israel. Such a scenario would allow Israel to be held responsible under the Genocide Convention for failure to prevent or to punish genocide.

Responsibility of Israel

34. The Committee has found that members of the IDF committed war crimes, crimes against humanity and, possibly, genocide in the course of operation Cast Lead. Those responsible for the commission of such crimes are individually responsible for their actions, as are those who ordered or incited the commission of such crimes or participated in a common purpose to commit such crimes. Military commanders and political leaders are likewise responsible for crimes committed under their effective command, authority or control where they knew or should have known the forces were committing such crimes and they failed to prevent or repress the commission of such crimes or to investigate and prosecute those responsible.

Responsibility of Hamas

35. As the governing de facto authority of Gaza, Hamas may be held responsible for violations of international humanitarian law attributed to it. Individuals who have fired rockets indiscriminately into Israel are criminally responsible for their actions and must be held accountable for them under the law governing the commission of war crimes. In assessing the responsibility of Hamas and individual Palestinian militants there are a number of factors that reduce their normal blameworthiness but not their criminal responsibility. Such factors include the fact Palestinians have been denied their right to self-determination by Israel and have long been subjected to a cruel siege by Israel.

Remedies

36. There are a number of remedies in the criminal law field that may be invoked by states, NGOs and individuals to secure redress for crimes committed in Gaza. These include prosecutions for violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention in national courts in accordance with Articles 146 and 147 of the Convention, prosecutions pursuant to universal jurisdiction statutes which allow a person to be prosecuted in a third country for an international crime committed extraterritorially, and referral to the International Criminal Court. On 22 January 2009 the Palestinian Minister of Justice, Mr Ali Kashan, lodged a declaration with the Registrar of the International Criminal Court on behalf of the Government of Palestine recognizing the jurisdiction of the Court for international crimes committed in Palestine since 1 July 2002 under Article 12(3) of the Rome Statute. At this time the Registrar is still considering her decision. The Committee believes that the International Criminal Court should accept the declaration lodged by the Government of Palestine and investigate the commission of international crimes in the course of operation Cast Lead.

37. There are also a number of civil law remedies available to states, NGOs and individuals. As shown above, states may be able to initiate proceedings against Israel for failure to prevent or to punish the commission of the crime of genocide if it can be established that members of it armed forces were responsible for the commission of that crime.

38. The American Alien Tort Act, which allows American Federal Courts to exercise jurisdiction in any civil action brought by an alien for violation of a peremptory norm of international law outside the United States, is another remedy that may be considered.

39. Procedures within the United Nations may also be invoked. States may request the Security Council to refer the situation in Gaza to the International Criminal Court in the sane way that such a referral was made in the case of Darfur in Resolution 1593 of 31 March 2005. States nay also request the General Assembly to request the International Court of Justice for an Advisory Opinion on the legal consequences of operation Cast Lead for Israel and other states. In 2005 the General Assembly adopted the Summit Outcome Document in which the United Nations undertakes the responsibility to protect states against genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The General Assembly, and possibly the Security Council, might be approached to take action under this commitment.

Recommendations

40. The Committee makes the following recommendations:

Recommendations to organs of the United Nations.

(1) The League of Arab States should request the General Assembly of the United Nations to request the International Court of Justice to give an advisory opinion on the legal consequences for states, including Israel, of the conflict in Gaza between 27 December 2008 and 18 January 2009 (the Conflict in Gaza).

(2) The League of Arab States should request the Security Council to refer the situation in Gaza, arising from Operation

Cast Lead

, to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court under Article 13(b) of the Rome Statute.

(3) The League of Arab States should request the Security Council, failing which, the General Assembly, to exercise its Responsibility to Protect, affirmed in the Summit Outcome Document of 2005 in respect of Gaza.

Recommendations involving the International Criminal Court.

(4) The League of Arab States should endorse Palestine's declaration accepting jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court under Article 12(3) of the Rome Statute. If the Security Council fails to refer the situation in Gaza to the International Criminal Court under Article 13(b) of the Rome Statute (Recommendation 2), the League of Arab States should request the General Assembly to endorse Palestine's declaration under Article 12(3) of the Rome Statute in a meeting convened under the Tenth Emergency Special Session, constituted in terms of the Uniting for Peace Resolution 377 A (V).

Recommendations relying on the Geneva Conventions.

(5) The League of Arab States should request the Swiss Government to convene a meeting of the State Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to consider the findings of the present Report.

(6) The League of Arab States should request states to consider taking action under Article 146 of the Fourth Geneva Convention to ensure that those suspected of having committed grave breaches of the Convention under Article 147 be investigated and prosecuted.

(7) The League of Arab States should remind State Parties to the Geneva Conventions that they are obliged by Article 1 of the Fourth Geneva Convention "to ensure respect" for the Convention. This obligation was confirmed by the International Court of Justice in its 2004 Advisory Opinion on "

Legal Consequences of the Construction of a wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory

". It may be argued that the obligation contained in Article 1 "to respect and to ensure respect for the present convention in all circumstances" includes an obligation on all states to render whatever assistance they can to a state subjected to violations of the Convention.

Recommendations to other states.

(8) The League of Arab States should recommend to its members that they consider instituting legal proceedings against Israel in accordance with Article 9 of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, with due regard to the caution expressed in the present Report.

(9) The League of Arab States should encourage states to prosecute persons responsible for the international crimes identified in the present Report before their national courts (where universal jurisdiction statutes so permit).

(10) The League of Arab States should recommend to states that incurred damage to their property in the conflict in Gaza that they claim compensation from Israel for such losses.

Recommendations for action by the League of Arab States directly.

(11) The League of Arab States should facilitate negotiations between Fatah and Hamas in order to ensure that the welfare of. the people of Gaza is not affected by the conflict between these two parties, particularly in the medical field.

(12) The League of Arab States should establish a documentation centre to keep a record of breaches of international humanitarian law in Palestine. Such an historical archive would ensure that a record is kept of crimes against the Palestinian people, and may assist any future action(s) taken by the League or other bodies.

(13) This report should be referred to the United Nations, the European Union, the African Union, the Organization of American States, the Organization of Islamic Conference, the Association of South East Asian Nations and the International Criminal Court and distributed to relevant NGO's and the general public

S/2009/244
13 May 2009
United Nations Security Council

____________

NUKE GAZA: A WORLD GONE MAD

GAZA ISN'T ABOUT ISRAELI SECURITY GAZA IS ABOUT A WORLD GONE MAD

Posted on O screenhunter_29_oct._26_22.46_150

ctober 26, 2009 by jeffgates

VeteransToday.com - Israeli officials are right to worry. Gazans too. Yet Americans should worry even more.Israel’s “legitimacy” will not last.

Of course, that assumes its legitimacy was deserved. That issue also is now called into question in light of the consistency of Israeli behavior over the past six decades. The emerging issues are these: When and how will the recognition of Israel’s nation-state status be withdrawn?

How will Tel Aviv behave in the interim Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman may have tipped his Masada hand when he reportedly told Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan that Israel may use nuclear weapons against Gaza. The threat to Israel is not the 1.5 million Gazans who reside in the world’s largest open-air prison.

The threat is the fast-growing global outrage at the abuse inflicted on Palestinians, commencing with the ethnic cleansing of 400-plus villages six decades ago.Not since 1948 has this enclave of extremists mounted such a public relations offensive. Christian Zionist President Harry Truman trusted Jewish Zionist lobbyists when he solicited assurances that they would not become what they immediately became: a racist theocratic state with an expansionist agenda destined to create serial crises in the regionThe merciless global agenda pursued by Colonial Zionists is the single greatest threat to world peace, as confirmed yet again by Lieberman’s warning. As the primary remaining ally of these Jewish nationalists, the risks to the U.S. increase with each passing day as Tel Aviv works behind the scenes to catalyze yet another conflict. This entangled alliance was destined to provoke resentments that would eventually endanger their super power ally and foremost arms provider.

Khaled Sheikh Mohammed, the confessed mastermind of the mass murder of 9-11, conceded that the motivation for that attack was to focus “the American people…on the atrocities that America is committing by supporting Israel against the Palestinian people and America’s self-serving foreign policy that corrupts Arab governments and leads to further exploitation of the Arab Muslim people.

”The Joint Chiefs of Staff warned Truman 61 years ago that this militant enclave meant to establish Jewish military and economic hegemony over the entire Middle East. Familiar with the duplicity for which Israel has since become infamous, the Pentagon chiefs warned:

“All stages of this program are equally sacred to the fanatical concepts of the Jewish leaders.”

Nuclear-Armed Fanatics

Thus the in-depth planning that preceded Israel’s brutal “defensive” assault on Gaza between Christmas 2008 and the inauguration of Barack Obama—who said nothing about the attack throughout its 28-day duration. That silence continues even now after Richard Goldstone, a South African jurist, issued a report describing dozens of Israeli war crimes and evidence of crimes against humanity.

In the lead-up to the report’s release, a U.S. president gave Tel Aviv a rhetorical gift when, in a U.N. speech, the nation’s first Black president used the code phrase “Jewish state” as an implied endorsement of the apartheid policies of this racist enclave.

Even Truman did not go that far. But then his administration was not as thoroughly staffed with Zionists and pro-Israelis. In addition to killing some 1400 Palestinians, one-third of them women and children, Israel destroyed the infrastructure of Gaza including farmlands, factories and schools as well as its water supply and sanitation works.

The facts in the Goldstone Report were further confirmed by “Breaking the Silence”—the personal testimony by thirty members of the Israel Defense Forces who described a murderous policy meant to teach the people of Gaza a lesson for their support of Hamas—which came to power in 2006 elections that were universally appraised as free and fair.

As Israel’s protector and apologist, the U.S. bears the brunt of the anger as Israeli extremism continues to enrage Muslims and radicalize the Islamic body politic.

A systematic assassination campaign ensured that Tel Aviv had “no one to talk to” except known collaborators with the occupation authorities in Tel Aviv and their arms suppliers in Washington.

Meanwhile, the steady expansion of Israeli settlements made a Palestinian state impossible—unless indigenous Arabs are happy to reside in an archipelago of isolated ghettos ringed by Israeli checkpoints. To suggest that the U.S. is culpable only states the obvious.

Yet Israeli extremism continues unabated even as Tel Aviv insists that its neighbors accept it as a “Jewish state” even before its borders are fixed and resolution of the occupied territories is known. After six decades of nonstop deceit, Arab states are understandably reluctant to further appease this “state.”

For Americans endangered by the behavior of Jewish fanatics, the lesson is uncomfortable but inescapable: we enabled this. By our continued appeasement, Barack Obama is inviting another violent reaction to Israel’s serial provocations. By failing to endorse the Goldstone Report, our commander-in-chief is putting U.S. forces at risk.

By implying that Israel is above the law, he only emboldens Tel Aviv. By suggesting that Israeli conduct is consistent with the values of a “Jewish state,” he endangers the broader Jewish community. That includes those moderate Jews who anticipated this extremist behavior when in May 1948 Truman overruled the strategic objections of Secretary of State George C. Marshall and enabled this fanaticism by extending nation-state recognition.

Absent an Israeli strategy able to sustain serial crises, a long-deceived public will awaken to the common source of the fixed intelligence that led us into the last war—and now seeks to induce the next. As Americans awaken to how this duplicity proceeds in plain sight, they will see for themselves who and why.

That knowledge is the threat that Tel Aviv most fears. As the facts become known, Israeli legitimacy will no longer be an issue. The only issue will be how best to dis-arm these extremists and how to hold accountable those lawmakers who enable this ongoing treason.

Jeff Gates is a Vietnam veteran, widely acclaimed author, attorney, investment banker, educator and consultant to government, corporate and union leaders worldwide; an adviser to policy-makers worldwide; former counsel to the U.S. Senate Finance Committee.
He is also the author of numerous articles and books including his latest book Guilt by Association: How Deception and Self-Deceit Took America to War.
His previous books include Democracy at Risk: Rescuing Main Street From Wall Street and The Ownership Solution: Toward a Shared Capitalism for the 21st Century.

October 28, 2009

Palestine: Elections Doomed to Fail Under Division

Futility Much Anticipated With Israel's Occupation

Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas talks during a news conference after
his meeting with Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak at the Presidential palace
in Cairo October 20, 2009 (Reuters Photo)

By Khalid Amayreh

Journalist — Occupied Palestine

In a measure that has already vexed the internal Palestinian political arena, Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmud Abbas has called for "presidential and legislative elections" to be held in the Occupied Territories of the West Bank, East Al-Quds and the Gaza Strip on January 24, 2010.

The decision is expected to widen and deepen the state of contention between Fatah and Hamas, the two largest political groups in occupied Palestine.

Fatah, which have been in control of the PA security agencies connived with Western powers and also Israel against Hamas after the Muslim liberation group won the 2006 elections.

This prompted Hamas to oust Fatah militias from the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2007.

The cold-bloodedness between the two sides has evolved into a kind of unprecedented enmity as all Arab, especially since Egyptian efforts to reconcile the two groups have so far failed.

It is not exactly clear what prompted Abbas to embark on this feat now, especially with reconciliation efforts going nowhere and with the current Israeli government of Benyamin Netanyahu refusing to freeze Jewish settlement expansion despite constant American demands.

Hamas which controls the Gaza Strip, has castigated the decision to hold elections without consultation or coordination with Hamas, as a "grave blunder that would have serious repercussions on the Palestinian national cause."

For his part, Abbas sought to defend his decision, arguing that the elections were a "legal, national and constitutional imperative."

To this, Hamas retorted that it is futile to speak of constitutional imperatives when Israel controls every street and corner in the West Bank, and when Abbas himself, as the head of the Palestinian Authority, cannot even move from his office in Ramallah to the next street without getting Israel's consent beforehand.

Palestinians, Hamas argued, must not get themselves accustomed to the "normality" of living under the Israeli military occupation.

Objective Facts

In a certain sense, Hamas is correct. The West Bank, which will be the main theatre of the scheduled elections, is still tightly controlled by the Israeli occupation army.

Indeed, every Palestinian town where the PA enjoys nominal and symbolic "authority" is actually controlled and by the Israeli army, either directly or in collaboration with American-trained Palestinian security forces.

This means that Israel, not the PA, has the final say in all matters pertaining to elections. If Israel says "No", Abbas obviously cannot do much. He will probably succumb to the Israeli decision, and perhaps complain to Israel's guardian-ally, the United States.

Hence, it is probably safe to say that Israel will not allow the organization of real, fair, and transparent elections in the West Bank and East Al-Quds if the Jewish state does not receive an "appropriate price" from the weak and vulnerable PA government.

In 2006, when Israel felt that Hamas was poised to win Palestinian legislative elections, it unceremoniously rounded up hundreds of pro-Hamas candidates for PA parliament and local (municipal) councils.

In the West Bank, nearly all elected Muslim MPs were arrested and sentenced to lengthy periods of imprisonment ranging from 32 months to 48 months. Their only "crime" was their participation in elections under the umbrella of a "terrorist organization".

On October 26, 24 MPs, including formers ministers, such Sheikh Nayef Rajoub, are still languishing in Israeli dungeons on no ground other than the fact that they earned the trust of their people in a fair election that was okayed by Israel and the United States and meticulously observed by observers from around the world.

This means that there is no guarantee whatsoever that Israel will not resort to the same draconian measures again. If so, one would really wonder if it is wise to hold elections under such conditions.

Police State Without a State

To be sure, Israel is not the only obstacle impeding the organization of fair and truly democratic elections. The PA itself is very much a police state without a state.A police state because there is a nearly total absence of the rule of law in the West Bank as human rights and civil liberties are routinely and constantly violated.

And "without a state" because the PA has no sovereignty of its own and is thoroughly subservient to Israel's whims.

Needless to say, an atmosphere of fear now prevailing throughout the West Bank inhibits organizing truly democratic elections.

People suspected of holding "non-conformist" views, such as sympathizing with Hamas, will be dragged to jails and interrogation dungeons where they are often beaten, humiliated, and even tortured.

At least 10 pro-Hamas sympathizers have been tortured to death at the hands of PA interrogators since 2007.

In addition, thousands of people have been detained and hundreds are still languishing in PA jails without charge or trial.

The police state atmosphere is so rampant in the West Bank today that a petty act like hoisting a green Islamic flag bearing Islam's article of faith (I bear witness that there is no God but Allah, and that Muhammed is His messenger) is enough to make one land in a PA interrogation center.

Hence, it is only logical to question the plausibility, let alone wisdom of holding elections under such circumstances.

This is not to say that "elections" cannot be organized at all. They can, but it is highly likely that they would be seriously rigged in daylight, although this would not prevent the PA's Western donors and bankrollers , such the United States and the United Kingdom, from haling the elections as "democratic and honest".

Hard Questions

The PA leadership claims that it will respect the outcome of the elections, regardless of which party wins the polls. However, any serious observer of the Palestinian arena can hardly take this claim for granted.

Let us suppose for the sake of argument that Hamas would win the elections, even by a narrow margin. Would Fatah then cede power to the victorious party? Would the United States and Britain and Israel's Western allies come to terms with the results? Would Israel recognize Hamas as the true representative of the Palestinian people? Would the American-trained PA security forces agree to be answerable to the new government?

Obviously, the answer for all these crucial questions is absolutely "No".
It is amply clear that Abbas is not intending to hold elections for the elections' sake.

His ultimate goal is to avenge Fatah's defeat in Gaza more than two years ago, as well as to outmaneuver Hamas into a serious political predicament.

Ultimately, Abbas wants to get rid of Hamas as a key political player at the Palestinian arena in order to be able to give Israel all or most of the concessions it is now demanding without facing any serious Palestinian opposition.

Abbas and his aides did try to achieve this ominous goal, namely to decapitate Hamas in 2007, in concert with US intelligence through such people as Elliot Abrams and Keith Dayton.

However, Hamas managed to outsmart them when its "Executive Force" defeated and ousted Fatah's militias from the entire Gaza Strip.

Moreover, Fatah and Hamas differ sharply on the entire rationale behind the elections. Hamas views the elections as part of an overall program for resistance that would eventually enable the Palestinian people to wrest freedom from the Israeli occupation.

On the other hand, Fatah views the election as an opportunity to "settle scores with Hamas" and to willy-nilly re-impose the group's erstwhile hegemony over Palestinian lives, using a variety of stick-and-carrot tactics.

Fatah is bent on remaining in "power", a term which in the Palestinian context is devoid of any real meaning since the PA has no real power and only functions as a submissive sub-contractor for the Israeli occupation.

In light, there is no doubt that holding elections in the West Bank under the present circumstances would seriously complicate and exacerbate the internal Palestinian crisis and might lead to an irreversible divorce between Gaza and the West Bank.

Certainly, this is not what most Palestinians want. (end)

Khalid Amayreh is a journalist living in Palestine. He obtained his MA in journalism from the University of Southern Illinois in 1983. Since the 1990s, Mr. Amayreh has been working and writing for several news outlets among which is Aljazeera.net, Al-Ahram Weekly, Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), and Middle East International. He can be reached through politics.indepth@iolteam.com.

Destroying Al Aqsa Israeli Systematic Policy

27-10-2009,09:28

Al Qassam Website/Agencies - MP Jamal Al-Khudari, the head of the popular committee against the siege, stated Monday that the repeated Israeli break-ins at the Aqsa Mosque are not only attempts by extremist Jewish groups or individuals, but they represent a systematic policy pursued by the successive Israeli governments.

In a press release, Khudari underlined that this dangerous policy entails concerted efforts by Arab and Muslim governments, institutions and peoples to help the Palestinian people face the Zionist dangers threatening the occupied city of Jerusalem.

He appealed to the Arab and Muslim officials to work on supporting the steadfastness of the Palestinian people against the dangers that threaten the future of their existence in Jerusalem.

In the same context, Palestinian factions on Monday appealed to the UN Security Council to issue a resolution stopping the Israeli violations against the Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem.

The factions also called during a rally organized in solidarity with the Aqsa Mosque in Gaza for forming a popular campaign to confront the Israeli attacks.

They urged the organization of the Islamic conference to assume its responsibilities and intervene to stop the Israeli violations in the holy city.

During the rally, senior Islamic Jihad leader Khaled Al-Batesh said that the Arab and Muslim countries are demanded to close Israel’s embassies and offices in their capitals as part of their duty to protect the Islamic holy places in Jerusalem.

October 27, 2009

EU Lawyers: We've a List of Zionist War Criminals

27-10-2009,12:36

Al Qassam Website and Agencies - Human rights lawyers and pro-Palestinian activists in a number of European countries hold lists with names of Zionist Occupation Forces soldiers allegedly linked to war crimes committed during the Last War on the Gaza Strip. Existing legislation enables arrest warrants to be issued against these officers if they enter those countries.

Lawyers in Britain and other European countries have been collecting testimonies of Palestinians and other data from Gaza since January, which they maintain proves that war crimes were committed by the ZOF during the offensive. The evidence is linked to ZOF officers holding ranks of battalion commander and higher, who were in command during various stages of the war.

The other nations who have lawyers collecting information on the matter include the Netherlands, Spain, Belgium and Norway, whose laws, as well as Britain's, allow the issuance of arrest warrants against foreign citizens suspected of war crimes.

Attorney Daniel Makover from London is coordinating the efforts in Britain. One of his colleagues visited the Gaza Strip several weeks after the fighting in order to collect testimonies. Palestinians civilians also gave the legal assistant their approval, and asked that he file the suits in their name, in line with British law.

Speaking to Haaretz, Makover refused to offer details on the identity of the ZOF officers or how many were listed, but said that much depends on the specific details of each case. Makover said that anyone who was involved in an incident may face criminal charges. The attorney added that there are officers who are obviously candidates for charges, and others who are less obvious, but emphasized that it depends on the facts collected on the ground.

Makover said that the Goldstone report on the fighting in the Gaza Strip will bolster the efforts of the activists, and said that some of the instances mentioned in the report were already known to the attorneys. Makover is part of an unofficial network of attorneys operating in various countries in Europe, exchanging and sharing information so that suspected officers may be arrested in those countries.

The information is often received from pro-Palestinian activists who follow Jewish or pro-Israel groups that invite ZOF officers to deliver lectures. In some instances, this information is relayed to border controls. Makover said that a small number of names of ZOF officers is already on a British police watch list, and that when they arrive in Britain the authorities will issue an arrest warrant that will lead to their possible detention.

A number of human rights groups are busy working to create an international organization that would enable closer surveillance of those they suspect of war crimes and torture, as well as seek warrants for their arrest.

The ZOF did not wish to specify the instructions it has given to officers before they travel abroad. In practice, many of the officers who participated in the Gaza War have been asked to consult with legal experts at the Foreign Ministry, where they are instructed how to behave abroad and where they need to lower the profile of their identity; in some cases they are advised not to visit certain countries.

The Foreign Ministry released a statement saying: "The ministry is aware of efforts undertaken by Palestinian groups and their supporters to harm ZOF officers through legal and public relations means, and is working to prevent such efforts."

International Coalition Against War Criminals

Erdogan: Lieberman threatens to nuke Gaza Strip

.
"From the moment Zionists entered Palestine more than a century ago, strife in the Middle East has only escalated. Violence has been done to God's law in heaven and earth. The Bible is clear: There is no peace for the wicked. There will be no peace in the Mideast for America either,as long as we continue to fight trillion-dollar wars to legitimize and protect a spiritually lawless, counterfeit, rogue state." Rev. Ted Pike

26-10-2009,09:22

Al Qassam Website - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman of threatening to attack the Gaza Strip with a nuclear weapon, in an interview published Monday in The Guardian newspaper.

While Erdogan insisted that the strategic alliance between Israel and Turkey still exists, he appeared at present to be in better relations with Iranian leaders than with Israeli ones.

"There is no doubt he is our friend," Erdogan said of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has called on several occasions for the destruction of Israel. "As a friend so far we have very good relations and have had no difficulty at all."

Erdogan, the paper reported, will be visiting Teheran later this week and will meet with Ahmadinejad and Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, for talks focusing on commercial ties between the countries.

Despite his heavy criticism of Zionist entity, Erdogan was not worried that Turkey's relations with the US would be damaged. "I don't think there is any possibility of that. America's policy in this region is not dictated by Israel," he said.

Erdogan also criticized Europe's reluctance to accept Turkey into the EU.

"Among leaders in Europe there are those who have prejudices against Turkey, like France and Germany…It is an unfair attitude. The European Union is violating its own rules," he said.

He confirmed "Being in the European Union we would be building bridges between the 1.5 billion people of Muslim world to the non-Muslim world. They have to see this. If they ignore it, it brings weakness to the EU."

Nuke Gaza

Photo Fady Adwan/PalestineFreeVoiceImages

Zionist Israeli "Operation Cast Lead"

October 27 2009

From Jeff Gates

Israeli officials are right to worry. Gazans too. Yet Americans should worry even more.

Israel’s “legitimacy” will not last. Of course, that assumes its legitimacy was deserved. That issue also is now called into question in light of the consistency of Israeli behavior over the past six decades. The emerging issues are these: When and how will the recognition of Israel’s nation-state status be withdrawn? How will Tel Aviv behave in the interim?

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman may have tipped his Masada hand when he reportedly told Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan that Israel may use nuclear weapons against Gaza. The threat to Israel is not the 1.5 million Gazans who reside in the world’s largest open-air prison. The threat is the fast-growing global outrage at the abuse inflicted on Palestinians, commencing with the ethnic cleansing of 400-plus villages six decades ago.

Not since 1948 has this enclave of extremists mounted such a public relations offensive. Christian Zionist President Harry Truman trusted Jewish Zionist lobbyists when he solicited assurances that they would not become what they immediately became: a racist theocratic state with an expansionist agenda destined to create serial crises in the region.

The merciless global agenda pursued by Colonial Zionists is the single greatest threat to world peace, as confirmed yet again by Lieberman’s warning. As the primary remaining ally of these Jewish nationalists, the risks to the U.S. increase with each passing day as Tel Aviv works behind the scenes to catalyze yet another conflict.

This entangled alliance was destined to provoke resentments that would eventually endanger their super power ally and foremost arms provider. Khaled Sheikh Mohammed, the confessed mastermind of the mass murder of 9-11, conceded that the motivation for that attack was to focus “the American people…on the atrocities that America is committing by supporting Israel against the Palestinian people and America’s self-serving foreign policy that corrupts Arab governments and leads to further exploitation of the Arab Muslim people.”

The Joint Chiefs of Staff warned Truman 61 years ago that this militant enclave meant to establish Jewish military and economic hegemony over the entire Middle East. Familiar with the duplicity for which Israel has since become infamous, the Pentagon chiefs warned: “All stages of this program are equally sacred to the fanatical concepts of the Jewish leaders.”

Nuclear-Armed Fanatics

With each passing year, Tel Aviv adds a new chapter to the agent provocateur handbook on How To Succeed as a Victim. Israel’s strategic success traces directly to its capacity to radicalize and enrage—as those residing in the Occupied Territories endure a third generation of deprivation, degradation and periodic starvation. Thus the in-depth planning that preceded Israel’s brutal “defensive” assault on Gaza between Christmas 2008 and the inauguration of Barack Obama—who said nothing about the attack throughout its 28-day duration.

That silence continues even now after Richard Goldstone, a South African jurist, issued a report describing dozens of Israeli war crimes and evidence of crimes against humanity. In the lead-up to the report’s release, a U.S. president gave Tel Aviv a rhetorical gift when, in a U.N. speech, the nation’s first Black president used the code phrase “Jewish state” as an implied endorsement of the apartheid policies of this racist enclave. Even Truman did not go that far. But then his administration was not as thoroughly staffed with Zionists and pro-Israelis.

In addition to killing some 1400 Palestinians, one-third of them women and children, Israel destroyed the infrastructure of Gaza including farmlands, factories and schools as well as its water supply and sanitation works. The facts in the Goldstone Report were further confirmed by “Breaking the Silence”—the personal testimony by thirty members of the Israel Defense Forces who described a murderous policy meant to teach the people of Gaza a lesson for their support of Hamas—which came to power in 2006 elections that were universally appraised as free and fair.

As Israel’s protector and apologist, the U.S. bears the brunt of the anger as Israeli extremism continues to enrage Muslims and radicalize the Islamic body politic. A systematic assassination campaign ensured that Tel Aviv had “no one to talk to” except known collaborators with the occupation authorities in Tel Aviv and their arms suppliers in Washington. Meanwhile, the steady expansion of Israeli settlements made a Palestinian state impossible—unless indigenous Arabs are happy to reside in an archipelago of isolated ghettos ringed by Israeli checkpoints.

To suggest that the U.S. is culpable only states the obvious. Yet Israeli extremism continues unabated even as Tel Aviv insists that its neighbors accept it as a “Jewish state” even before its borders are fixed and resolution of the occupied territories is known. After six decades of nonstop deceit, Arab states are understandably reluctant to further appease this “state.” For Americans endangered by the behavior of Jewish fanatics, the lesson is uncomfortable but inescapable: we enabled this.

By our continued appeasement, Barack Obama is inviting another violent reaction to Israel’s serial provocations. By failing to endorse the Goldstone Report, our commander-in-chief is putting U.S. forces at risk. By implying that Israel is above the law, he only emboldens Tel Aviv. By suggesting that Israeli conduct is consistent with the values of a “Jewish state,” he endangers the broader Jewish community. That includes those moderate Jews who anticipated this extremist behavior when in May 1948 Truman overruled the strategic objections of Secretary of State George C. Marshall and enabled this fanaticism by extending nation-state recognition.

Small in numbers but large in ambition, this extremist enclave had no choice but to wage war by way of deception. The most insidious deceit was targeted, from within, at its purported ally to induce the U.S. military to lead an invasion of Iraq for its Greater Israel strategy. Absent an Israeli strategy able to sustain serial crises, a long-deceived public will awaken to the common source of the fixed intelligence that led us into the last war—and now seeks to induce the next.

As Americans awaken to how this duplicity proceeds in plain sight, they will see for themselves who and why. That knowledge is the threat that Tel Aviv most fears. As the facts become known, Israeli legitimacy will no longer be an issue. The only issue will be how best to dis-arm these extremists and how to hold accountable those lawmakers who enable this ongoing treason.