Irishwoman Elaine Bradley is working as a human rights activist in Palestine where she sent us this report this morning.
Elaine writes:
Waking up I turn on my laptop to see what has happened in the while I slept. I am almost instantly hit by an image. I can’t make out if it is one body ripped in two, or two bodies, both missing a number of parts.
By the clothes on one, I am guessing it it is a young man – jeans and a belt that my son might wear. The human remains are against a wall in a pool of blood, draped over with blood soaked sheets. The photo is taken in a hospital, and is accompanied by the bizarre scene of the twisted metal of hospital beds in the total wreckage of what was a ward.
My friend who posted this image declares that he has a policy of not posting gruesome photos, a policy that he has now abandoned. Why? Because “This is the hospital that Israel shelled today… But the BBC felt it was better use of our license fee money to have [reporter] John Simpson show us a broken chandelier in Sderot instead.”
Five people were killed and 70 injured in this place of healing, where men and women work, dedicating their lives to comfort and to mend other sick and broken human beings. I think of my daughter who is a nurse. Hospitals have special status, special protection under international law, as they should. Bombing a hospital is a war crime.
And yet this is the second hospital that Israel has bombed that I am aware of in the two weeks of this onslaught, where one of the world’s most sophisticated military machines has pitted itself against a locked in, half starved civilian population.
Where are the international community? Where are the guardians of the laws demanding that this stop? Yesterday I saw Navi Pillay, High Commissioner for Human Rights with the UN on television. It was in Arabic so I didn’t know what she said. I went to the internet and found her statement.
The bit that jumped out and slapped me in the face was where she expressed her “concern”. Concern? I am concerned about things like the size of my phone bill and whether my cat has settled in to her new home. Concern for Gaza, where now over 570 people have been killed, 80% civilians, last count 132 of them children. Over 3,500 people injured and maimed – a 5 year old with her legs amputated, Concerned? What about outraged? Appalled? Horrified?
The UN are concerned and the mask is off. This latest holocaust against Gaza has exposed a world where our media lie, and spin the truth. Where craven politicians will not stand against power – John Kerry saying Israeli is besieged by Hamas- do I laugh or cry? My own government repeating the zombie mantra about Israel’s right to defend itself as they watch women and children buried in the rubble of their own homes.
And all the while Israel continues its colonisation of Palestine, settling jews from Eastern Europe and the Bronx on land that is not theirs, criminalising – labelling as terrorists the rightful owners, to make their misdeeds acceptable to a willing-to-be-appeased-just-give-us-the-right-soundbite global audience.
Say “Hamas” often enough and no one will notice. Exposed is a world where the institutions of human rights and justice offer platitudes but no action and hold yet another emergency meeting, having never implemented the recommendations of the last report, or the one before, as to do so would “jeopardise the peace process” according to the US and Israel. The Fucking Peace Process?
And while the UN frowns a collective bureaucratic, high salaried, important people in suits doing important things frown of concern, a friend of mine is pulling out the stops, navigating Israel’s impenetrable system of closure to get baby formula into Gaza. From the complications, it is as if he were smuggling crack cocaine inside AK47s.
I haven’t had my coffee yet, haven’t woken up. But I swear, that I will turn my rage into action for justice. Israel cannot once again evade accountability for these crimes. And to all the institutions that have collaborated in this gross injustice, by repeating the lies or by looking the other way, you will crumble and fall. The mask is off and people know.
We have seen that in your system human rights are not for everyone, that one life is precious and another is less than insignificant. We have seen that not all children are treasures to be cherished and childhood is not a sacred space for all children. We have seen that in your world it is ok for homes and places of worship and hospitals to become the killing zones, the tombs of innocent people. We have seen how liars and psychopaths with power are bowed down to. But justice will prevail because now we, the people know.
Can I just take this moment to say something about Vedder's stance on this? I thought it was great that he spoke his mind in Milton Keynes, and expressed rage at the gross injustice befalling the Palestinians. I didn't think it was so great that he back-pedalled with his 'I'm still anti-War!' comment. It's not a war Ed, it's a fucking massacre. And singing John Lennon's 'Imagine' in concert achieves nothing. It's just sentimentality. A great song, yes, but we need action at a time like this, not passive naval gazing.
AIPAC Is the Only Explanation for America's Morally Bankrupt Israel Policy
The official name for Israel's latest assault on Gaza is "Operation Protective Edge." A better name would be "Operation Déjà Vu." As it has on several prior occasions, Israel is using weapons provided by U.S. taxpayers to bombard the captive and impoverished Palestinians in Gaza, where the death toll now exceeds 500. As usual, the U.S. government is siding with Israel, even though most American leaders understand Israel instigated the latest round of violence, is not acting with restraint, and that its actions make Washington look callous and hypocritical in the eyes of most of the world.
This Orwellian situation is eloquent testimony to the continued political clout of AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) and the other hardline elements of the Israel lobby. There is no other plausible explanation for the supine behavior of the U.S. Congress--including some of its most "progressive" members--or the shallow hypocrisy of the Obama administration, especially those officials known for their purported commitment to human rights.
The immediate cause of this latest one-sided bloodletting was the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli hikers in the occupied West Bank, followed shortly thereafter by the kidnapping and fatal burning of a Palestinian teenager by several Israelis. According to J.J. Goldberg's reporting in the Jewish newspaper Forward, the Netanyahu government blamed Hamas for the kidnappings without evidence and pretended the kidnapped Israelis were still alive for several weeks, even though there was evidence indicating the victims were already dead. It perpetrated this deception in order to whip up anti-Arab sentiment and make it easier to justify punitive operations in the West Bank and Gaza.
And why did Netanyahu decide to go on another rampage in Gaza? As Nathan Thrall of the International Crisis Group points out, the real motive is neither vengeance nor a desire to protect Israel from Hamas' rocket fire, which has been virtually non-existent over the past two years and is largely ineffectual anyway. Netanyahu's real purpose was to undermine the recent agreement between Hamas and Fatah for a unity government. Given Netanyahu's personal commitment to keeping the West Bank and creating a "greater Israel," the last thing he wants is a unified Palestinian leadership that might press him to get serious about a two-state solution. Ergo, he sought to isolate and severely damage Hamas and drive a new wedge between the two Palestinian factions.
Behind all these maneuvers looms Israel's occupation of Palestine, now in its fifth decade. Not content with having ethnically cleansed hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in 1948 and 1967 and not satisfied with owning eighty-two percent of Mandatory Palestine, every Israeli government since 1967 has built or expanded settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem while providing generous subsidies to the 600,000-plus Jews who have moved there in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Two weeks ago, Netanyahu confirmed what many have long suspected: he is dead set against a two-state solution and will never--repeat never--allow it to happen while he is in office. Given that Netanyahu is probably the most moderate member of his own Cabinet and that Israel's political system is marching steadily rightward, the two-state solution is a gone goose.
Worst of all, the deaths of hundreds more Palestinians and a small number of Israelis will change almost nothing. Hamas is not going to disband. When this latest round of fighting ends, the 4.4 million Palestinians who live in the West Bank and Gaza will still be Israel's de facto prisoners and still be denied basic human rights. But they are not going to leave, mainly because Palestine is their homeland, but also because they have nowhere to go, especially given the turmoil in other parts of the Middle East.
Eventually another ceasefire will be negotiated. The dead will be buried, the wounded will recover, the tunnels now being destroyed will be rebuilt, and Hamas will replenish its stockpile of missiles and rockets. The stage will then be set for another round of fighting, and Israel will have moved further down the road to becoming a full-fledged apartheid state.
Meanwhile, U.S. politicians and policymakers continue to back a brutal military campaign whose primary purpose is not to defend Israel but rather to protect its longstanding effort to colonize the West Bank. Amazingly, they continue to support Israel unreservedly even though every U.S. president since Lyndon Johnson has opposed Israel's settlements project, and the past three American presidents--Clinton, Bush and Obama--have all worked hard for the two-state solution that Israeli policy has now made impossible.
"The explanation for America's impotent and morally bankrupt policy is the political clout of the Israel lobby."
Yet as soon as fighting starts, and even if Israel instigates it, AIPAC demands that Washington march in lockstep with Tel Aviv. Congress invariably rushes to pass new resolutions endorsing whatever Israel decides to do. Even though it is mostly Palestinians who are dying, White House officials rush to proclaim that Israel has "the right to defend itself," and Obama himself won't go beyond expressing "concern" about what is happening. Of course Israelis have the right to defend themselves, but Palestinians not only have the same right, they have the right to resist the occupation. To put this another way, Israel does not have the right to keep its Palestinian subjects in permanent subjugation. But try finding someone on Capitol Hill who will acknowledge this simple fact.
The explanation for America's impotent and morally bankrupt policy is the political clout of the Israel lobby. Barack Obama knows that if he were to side with the Palestinians in Gaza or criticize Israel's actions in any way, he would face a firestorm of criticism from the lobby and his chances of getting Congressional approval for a deal with Iran would evaporate.
Similarly, every member of the House and Senate--including progressives like Senator Elizabeth Warren--knows that voting for those supposedly "pro-Israel" resolutions is the smart political move. They understand that even the slightest display of independent thinking on these issues could leave them vulnerable to a well-funded opponent the next time they're up for re-election. At a minimum, they'll have to answer a flood of angry phone calls and letters, and, on top of that, they are likely to be blackballed by some of their Congressional colleagues. The safer course is to mouth the same tired litanies about alleged "shared values" between Israel and the U.S. and wait till the crisis dies down. And people wonder why no one respects Congress anymore.
The more I think about the fact that Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the more amazed, and disgusted I am.
"And why did Netanyahu decide to go on another rampage in Gaza? As Nathan Thrall of the International Crisis Group points out, the real motive is neither vengeance nor a desire to protect Israel from Hamas' rocket fire, which has been virtually non-existent over the past two years and is largely ineffectual anyway. Netanyahu's real purpose was to undermine the recent agreement between Hamas and Fatah for a unity government. Given Netanyahu's personal commitment to keeping the West Bank and creating a "greater Israel," the last thing he wants is a unified Palestinian leadership that might press him to get serious about a two-state solution. Ergo, he sought to isolate and severely damage Hamas and drive a new wedge between the two Palestinian factions."
Exactly. This massacre has NOTHING to do with rocket attacks. It was begun in order to drive a wedge through the unity government, and prevent another "Palestinian peace-offensive".
And for a world that loves blood in headlines, you would think they'd plaster all that shit everywhere. Oj was on 24/7 a day for what, 2 years straight. And yet all of a sudden, the headlines start to change. Tell me again how the media isn't controlled. Please
The IDF destroyd more than 9k missiles hidden all over gaza. And they have more.. Why all this money goes for terror and not for the welfare of the palestinian people in gaza?
America and europe investing in a development of *defence* systems. Iron-dome - Which in the future will be used all over the world. Another project invested by the americans and europe - 'wind coat'. A protective system for tanks from Missiles against tanks. Another project invested by america and europe: a system that reveals tunnels with no need of a physical presence and destroy it.
Unfortunately this investment is needed, since the aggression from the other side is escalating.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist captured by the IDF
Funny, these pics we're debunked all over the internet as from years ago. Wow, you truly are spreading lies. You don't want peace. You're just like your government, sick.
Why are you putting smiley faces on your posts? I thought EVERY night your dodging missiles and hiding under your bed scared from the boogeyman in the tunnels. For someone who's living in supposed terror, you sure do smile a lot. Why?
Youre like the light in the end of a dark tunnel for me in these crazy days, hun. Thank you..
Gladly the iron-dome prevents a ' Mass dead civilianze, thanks to our protective government and IDF. Something i cant tell about the civilianze in gaza.. Unfortunately. Their authurity careless. They are busy with the Jihad ideology, not for the welfare of gaza.
Youre like the light in the end of a dark tunnel for me in these crazy days, hun. Thank you..
Gladly the iron-dome prevents a ' Mass dead civilianze, thanks to our protective government and IDF. Something i cant tell about the civilianze in gaza.. Unfortunately. Their authurity careless. They are busy with the Jihad ideology, not for the welfare of gaza.
Comments
http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/25/world/meast/mideast-cease-fire-efforts/index.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/joey-barton-and-yossi-benayoun-become-involved-in-twitter-row-over-israelgaza-conflict-9628185.html
Thanks for posting this.
I didn't think it was so great that he back-pedalled with his 'I'm still anti-War!' comment. It's not a war Ed, it's a fucking massacre.
And singing John Lennon's 'Imagine' in concert achieves nothing. It's just sentimentality. A great song, yes, but we need action at a time like this, not passive naval gazing.
That's all.
because the editor who gave it the green light would be out of a job immediately.
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
Bye bye terror tunnel.
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10152723989377176&id=260689792175&ref=bookmark
Near a greenhouse
A tunnels pit with ammunition found in it
Every tunnel is valued approximetaly 1.3m USD.
And thats not all..
Please calculate the total amount..
And they have more..
Why all this money goes for terror and not for the welfare of the palestinian people in gaza?
Iron-dome - Which in the future will be used all over the world.
Another project invested by the americans and europe - 'wind coat'.
A protective system for tanks from Missiles against tanks.
Another project invested by america and europe: a system that reveals tunnels with no need of a physical presence and destroy it.
Unfortunately this investment is needed, since the aggression from the other side is escalating.
Thank you..
Gladly the iron-dome prevents a '
Mass dead civilianze, thanks to our protective government and IDF.
Something i cant tell about the civilianze in gaza.. Unfortunately.
Their authurity careless. They are busy with the Jihad ideology,
not for the welfare of gaza.