"It all depends where you live. That was the geography of Israel's propaganda, designed to demonstrate that we softies – we little baby-coddling liberals living in our secure Western homes – don't realise the horror of 12 (now 20) Israeli deaths in 10 years and thousands of rockets and the unimaginable trauma and stress of living near Gaza. Forget the 600 Palestinian dead; travelling on both sides of the Atlantic these past couple of weeks has been an instructive – not to say weirdly repetitive – experience."
So begins Robert Fisk's latest op-piece "Wherever I go, I hear the same tired Middle East comparisons" in The Independent. Full piece here.
By Zvi Ba'rel writing in Haaretz in "Where have our friends gone?:
"Just three weeks ago the regional leaders were euphoric. Turkey spoke about continuing mediation between Israel and Syria, and its president was about to visit Jerusalem; Syria talked about direct negotiations with Israel; Jordan was steadfast in its traditional position of guaranteed friendship with Israel; the foreign ministers of Qatar and Israel acted like best buddies; and Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said his country had no intention of abandoning the Saudi peace initiative just because the Israeli right was benefiting from it.
Such scenes have disappeared. Even our friendly partner, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, has cut his ties. Israel is again in a familiar situation: a threatened state, not speaking to any of its neighbors and not willing for anyone to waste its time with talks.
Short-term tactics - that's all Israel is capable of. On the issue of relations with Turkey? They'll need us when the U.S. Congress debates the massacres of the Armenians. Upset Jordanians? They get water from us and signed a free trade agreement with the United States thanks to us. Qatar? It leans on our U.S. ally for support. Now it wants to join the axis of evil? And Syria too is turning its back on us? We've told everyone there is no partner for peace. Our key industry is war, not peace or talks with our neighbors. We want only want Arabs as enemies."
Jennifer Loewenstein [US lecturer in Middle East studies and frequent visitor to Gaza] writes:
"Here are some newsworthy items out of Gaza that are unlikely to be making it to the Western presses. I received this information directly from one of the staff of the Mezan Center for Human Rights about twenty minutes ago...
1. Israel has begun a new policy in Gaza in the past two days called the "roof knock". This is when a "small" rocket is fired from Israeli military aircraft that is strong enough to blast open the roof of a targeted building. It is sent as a "warning message" to the building's inhabitants giving them between 2 and 3 minutes to evacuate before the building is completely destroyed. A number of cases of this new technique have been reported recently.
2. While the UN continues to claim that "only" 25% of the casualties from the attacks on Gaza are civilian, the Mezan Center for Human Rights (known for the care it takes not to overstate the numbers and for its strict verification policies) estimates that the number of civilian casualties is approximately 85%. In particular, the number of children has increased to
over 200, and the number of women has surpassed 75. One reason for the lower civilian casualty figures used by the UN has to do with the reluctance to consider men -other than the elderly and sick- as non-combatants. In fact the overwhelming majority of men killed in "Operation Cast Lead" up to now have been non-combatants, including fathers, teachers, shopkeepers,
construction workers, laborers, students, as well as the civil policemen. The vast majority are not "Hamas militants." Note that the civil police are considered 'non-combatants' under international law and are therefore not 'legitimate' targets in any military confrontation any more than traffic cops or firemen.
3. The UN announced this evening that "almost everyone in the Gaza Strip" is now in need of humanitarian aid. Indeed, even those with adequate food supplies are a) handing out what they have to people in "shelters" (which have been targeted consistently by Israeli war machines in the past); Even those with adequate food supplies are b) unable to obtain bread anywhere. Many are using rice or spaghetti to substitute for carbohydrates -- when these are availabe and when there is water and electricity to allow for cooking these items.
4. There are widespread reports now of forced evacuations of entire neighborhoods of people who go mainly to nearby schools or other public buildings not yet destroyed. These are considered no more secure than their homes but remain the only other places to go (other than to move into crowded dwellings with relatives; or places no more secure than their own
homes). The congregation of so many people in these enclosed spaces increases the likelihood of major civilian casualties when airstrikes target the area."
From Scotland's sundayherald:
'A boy next to me, he went crazy, he was overwhelmed, he saw the massacre, the street was full of blood, the nails from the shells were as long as your hand'
Gaza: The conflict is having terrible effects on Gaza's children.
Read Ewa Jasiewicz's report here.
So begins Robert Fisk's latest op-piece "Wherever I go, I hear the same tired Middle East comparisons" in The Independent. Full piece here.
By Zvi Ba'rel writing in Haaretz in "Where have our friends gone?:
"Just three weeks ago the regional leaders were euphoric. Turkey spoke about continuing mediation between Israel and Syria, and its president was about to visit Jerusalem; Syria talked about direct negotiations with Israel; Jordan was steadfast in its traditional position of guaranteed friendship with Israel; the foreign ministers of Qatar and Israel acted like best buddies; and Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said his country had no intention of abandoning the Saudi peace initiative just because the Israeli right was benefiting from it.
Such scenes have disappeared. Even our friendly partner, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, has cut his ties. Israel is again in a familiar situation: a threatened state, not speaking to any of its neighbors and not willing for anyone to waste its time with talks.
Short-term tactics - that's all Israel is capable of. On the issue of relations with Turkey? They'll need us when the U.S. Congress debates the massacres of the Armenians. Upset Jordanians? They get water from us and signed a free trade agreement with the United States thanks to us. Qatar? It leans on our U.S. ally for support. Now it wants to join the axis of evil? And Syria too is turning its back on us? We've told everyone there is no partner for peace. Our key industry is war, not peace or talks with our neighbors. We want only want Arabs as enemies."
Jennifer Loewenstein [US lecturer in Middle East studies and frequent visitor to Gaza] writes:
"Here are some newsworthy items out of Gaza that are unlikely to be making it to the Western presses. I received this information directly from one of the staff of the Mezan Center for Human Rights about twenty minutes ago...
1. Israel has begun a new policy in Gaza in the past two days called the "roof knock". This is when a "small" rocket is fired from Israeli military aircraft that is strong enough to blast open the roof of a targeted building. It is sent as a "warning message" to the building's inhabitants giving them between 2 and 3 minutes to evacuate before the building is completely destroyed. A number of cases of this new technique have been reported recently.
2. While the UN continues to claim that "only" 25% of the casualties from the attacks on Gaza are civilian, the Mezan Center for Human Rights (known for the care it takes not to overstate the numbers and for its strict verification policies) estimates that the number of civilian casualties is approximately 85%. In particular, the number of children has increased to
over 200, and the number of women has surpassed 75. One reason for the lower civilian casualty figures used by the UN has to do with the reluctance to consider men -other than the elderly and sick- as non-combatants. In fact the overwhelming majority of men killed in "Operation Cast Lead" up to now have been non-combatants, including fathers, teachers, shopkeepers,
construction workers, laborers, students, as well as the civil policemen. The vast majority are not "Hamas militants." Note that the civil police are considered 'non-combatants' under international law and are therefore not 'legitimate' targets in any military confrontation any more than traffic cops or firemen.
3. The UN announced this evening that "almost everyone in the Gaza Strip" is now in need of humanitarian aid. Indeed, even those with adequate food supplies are a) handing out what they have to people in "shelters" (which have been targeted consistently by Israeli war machines in the past); Even those with adequate food supplies are b) unable to obtain bread anywhere. Many are using rice or spaghetti to substitute for carbohydrates -- when these are availabe and when there is water and electricity to allow for cooking these items.
4. There are widespread reports now of forced evacuations of entire neighborhoods of people who go mainly to nearby schools or other public buildings not yet destroyed. These are considered no more secure than their homes but remain the only other places to go (other than to move into crowded dwellings with relatives; or places no more secure than their own
homes). The congregation of so many people in these enclosed spaces increases the likelihood of major civilian casualties when airstrikes target the area."
From Scotland's sundayherald:
'A boy next to me, he went crazy, he was overwhelmed, he saw the massacre, the street was full of blood, the nails from the shells were as long as your hand'
Gaza: The conflict is having terrible effects on Gaza's children.
Read Ewa Jasiewicz's report here.
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