No Jose it Dosent .I think the worst president we have had in modern times should be able to live forever.Maybe he can weigh in on oil embargoes,Iranian hostages,Interest rates and unemployment.
Are "symbolic" rocket attacks helping to prevent anything you just described? Are they changing the status quo in any way? Have they saved a single Palestinian life? I don't see that they have. Meanwhile, they give the Israelis cover to continue their onslaught and provide "news" outlets with fodder to paint the Palestinians as the aggressors. I remain unconvinced that these rockets are helping the Palestinian cause in Gaza in any way.
And not launching rockets at Israel never helped the Palestinian cause either. During long periods when the Palestinians launched no rockets, did the Israelis begin loosening restrictions on Gaza and ending the blockade? No. Did they begin withdrawing illegal settlers from the West Bank? No.
You assume that the rocket attacks are the cause of Israel's illegal occupation. They aren't. They're a symptom of it.
I ask again , would Israel have taken land that was not theirs if there was no Hamas in the picture , would all Palestinians enjoy all their freedom that every Israeli enjoys ....
Yeah, because the occupation began in 1967, and Hamas only came into existence in 1987.
Harping on about Hamas and rockets is just an excuse. They have nothing to do with the professed aim of the Zionists and of the reality on the ground. Land expropriation and ethnic cleansing.
Are "symbolic" rocket attacks helping to prevent anything you just described? Are they changing the status quo in any way? Have they saved a single Palestinian life? I don't see that they have. Meanwhile, they give the Israelis cover to continue their onslaught and provide "news" outlets with fodder to paint the Palestinians as the aggressors. I remain unconvinced that these rockets are helping the Palestinian cause in Gaza in any way.
And not launching rockets at Israel never helped the Palestinian cause either. During long periods when the Palestinians launched no rockets, did the Israelis begin loosening restrictions on Gaza and ending the blockade? No. Did they begin withdrawing illegal settlers from the West Bank? No.
You assume that the rocket attacks are the cause of Israel's illegal occupation. They aren't. They're a symptom of it.
No, I don't assume that. I see Hamas firing rockets with no effect, Israel claiming they are responding to those attacks, media outlets running with that story, and innocent men, women and children being slaughtered.
The rockets are not helping the Palestinian people. It is time to try something else.
If you are so sure that ” Palestine , the country, goes back through most of recorded history,” I expect you to be able to answer a few basic questions about that country of Palestine :
When was it founded and by whom? What were its borders? What was its capital? What were its major cities? What constituted the basis of its economy? What was its form of government? Can you name at least one Palestinian leader before Arafat? Was Palestine ever recognized by a country whose existence, at that time or now, leaves no room for interpretation? What was the language of the country of Palestine ? What was the prevalent religion of the country of Palestine ? What was the name of its currency? Choose any date in history and tell what was the approximate exchange rate of the Palestinian monetary unit against the US dollar, German mark, GB pound, Japanese yen, or Chinese yuan on that date. And, finally, since there is no such country today, what caused its demise and when did it occur? You are lamenting the “low sinking” of a “once proud” nation. Please tell me, when exactly was that “nation” proud and what was it so proud of?
And here is the least sarcastic question of all: If the people you mistakenly call “Palestinians” are anything but generic Arabs collected from all over — or thrown out of — the Arab world, if they really have a genuine ethnic identity that gives them right for self-determination, why did they never try to become independent until Arabs suffered their devastating defeat in the Six Day War?
I hope you avoid the temptation to trace the modern day “Palestinians” to the Biblical Philistines: substituting etymology for history won’t work here.
Arab countries have never abandoned the dream of destroying Israel ; they still cherish it today. Having time and again failed to achieve their goal with military means, they decided to fight Israel by proxy. How else can you explain the refusal by Jordan and Egypt to unconditionally accept back the “West Bank” and Gaza , respectively?
If you are so sure that ” Palestine , the country, goes back through most of recorded history,” I expect you to be able to answer a few basic questions about that country of Palestine :
When was it founded and by whom? What were its borders? What was its capital? What were its major cities? What constituted the basis of its economy? What was its form of government? Can you name at least one Palestinian leader before Arafat? Was Palestine ever recognized by a country whose existence, at that time or now, leaves no room for interpretation? What was the language of the country of Palestine ? What was the prevalent religion of the country of Palestine ? What was the name of its currency? Choose any date in history and tell what was the approximate exchange rate of the Palestinian monetary unit against the US dollar, German mark, GB pound, Japanese yen, or Chinese yuan on that date. And, finally, since there is no such country today, what caused its demise and when did it occur? You are lamenting the “low sinking” of a “once proud” nation. Please tell me, when exactly was that “nation” proud and what was it so proud of?
And here is the least sarcastic question of all: If the people you mistakenly call “Palestinians” are anything but generic Arabs collected from all over — or thrown out of — the Arab world, if they really have a genuine ethnic identity that gives them right for self-determination, why did they never try to become independent until Arabs suffered their devastating defeat in the Six Day War?
I hope you avoid the temptation to trace the modern day “Palestinians” to the Biblical Philistines: substituting etymology for history won’t work here.
Arab countries have never abandoned the dream of destroying Israel ; they still cherish it today. Having time and again failed to achieve their goal with military means, they decided to fight Israel by proxy. How else can you explain the refusal by Jordan and Egypt to unconditionally accept back the “West Bank” and Gaza , respectively?
'...UN General Assembly Partition Resolution 181 of 1947, which established the Jewish state’s international legitimacy, also recognised the remaining Palestinian territory outside the new state’s borders as the equally legitimate patrimony of Palestine’s Arab population on which they were entitled to establish their own state, and it mapped the borders of that territory with great precision. Resolution 181’s affirmation of the right of Palestine’s Arab population to national self-determination was based on normative law and the democratic principles that grant statehood to the majority population. (At the time, Arabs constituted two-thirds of the population in Palestine.) This right does not evaporate because of delays in its implementation.'
A lot of those questions sound like they could come from an imperialist from 400+ years ago, when justifying eliminating indigenous people around the world.
Human Rights Watch Report into War crimes committed against civilians in Gaza. Let's hope the Palestinians take their advice and join the International Criminal Court and proceed with formally charging both Israel and the U.S with multiple war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Gaza: Israeli Soldiers Shoot and Kill Fleeing Civilians August 4, 2014
(Gaza) – Israeli forces in the southern Gaza town of Khuza’a fired on and killed civilians in apparent violation of the laws of war in several incidents between July 23 and 25, 2014. Deliberate attacks on civilians who are not participating in the fighting are war crimes.
Seven Palestinians who had fled Khuza’a described to Human Rights Watch the grave dangers that civilians have faced in trying to flee the town, near the Israeli border, to seek safety in Khan Younis. These included repeated shelling that struck apparent civilian structures, lack of access to necessary medical care, and the threat of attack from Israeli forces as they tried to leave the area.
“When will there be justice for the civilians in Khuza’a, who suffered shelling for days, then faced deadly attacks by Israeli soldiers after being ordered to leave the town?” asked Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director.
Khuza’a, which has a population of about 10,000, was the scene of fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups during an Israeli ground offensive in the area on July 23, Israeli news media reported. Israeli forces provided general warnings to Khuza’a residents to leave the area prior to July 21. While the laws of war encourage “advance, effective warnings” of attacks, the failure of civilians to abide by warnings does not make them lawful targets of attack – for obvious reasons, since many people do not flee because of infirmity, fear, lack of a place to go, or any number of other reasons. The remaining presence of such civilians despite a warning to flee cannot be ignored when attacks are carried out, as Israeli forces have done previously.
“Warning families to flee fighting doesn’t make them fair targets just because they’re unable to do so, and deliberately attacking them is a war crime,” Whitson said.
Human Rights Watch investigated several incidents between July 23 and 25 when, local residents said, Israeli forces opened fire on civilians trying to flee Khuza’a, but no Palestinian fighters were present at the time and no firefights were taking place.
On the morning of July 23, Israeli forces ordered a group of about 100 Palestinians in Khuza’a to leave a home in which they had gathered to take shelter, family members said. The first member to leave the house, Shahid al-Najjar, had his hands up but an Israeli soldier shot him in the jaw, seriously injuring him.
Israeli soldiers detained the men and boys over age 15 in an area close to the Gaza perimeter fence. Based on statements from witnesses and news reports, some were taken to Israel for questioning. Israeli forces released others that day, in small separate groups. As one group walked unarmed to Khan Younis, Israeli soldiers fired on them, killing one and wounding two others.
Two older men whom Israeli forces briefly detained near the perimeter fence had been seriously wounded in earlier Israeli bombardments and died soon after being released, two witnesses said. The laws of war provide that wounded civilians and combatants should be given necessary medical care to the fullest extent practicable and with the least possible delay.
In another incident on July 23, Israeli soldiers fired on a group of civilians who had been told to leave their home in Khuza’a, killing Mohammed al-Najjar, a witness said.
One case illustrates the dangers facing civilians both who remain in place and who heed Israeli orders to leave. On July 25, an Israeli strike killed three civilians – Motassem al-Najjar, 5; Kamel al-Najjar, 62; and Salim Qdeih, around 70 – who were among 120 people sheltering in the basement of a home, witnesses said. Another 15 people were wounded. The local Red Cross had difficulty reaching people wounded by shellings in the town. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reported that on July 25, a Red Crescent volunteer was mortally wounded in an Israeli attack in Khuza’a, and other volunteers who tried to rescue him were fired on. Under the laws of war, medical workers are civilians who may not be targeted for attack.
Those who had survived the attack on the basement fled after the strike and walked to Khan Younis, carrying white flags and raising their hands when they came across Israeli soldiers. An Israeli missile strike hit one group of them, killing a man and wounding his cousin, the cousin told Human Rights Watch.
...Previous fighting in Gaza between Israeli and Hamas forces and other Palestinian armed groups has resulted in near-total impunity for serious violations of international humanitarian law. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas should urgently seek International Criminal Court (ICC) jurisdiction over crimes committed on and from Palestinian territory, as a step toward reducing the accountability gap for grave abuses and deterring crimes in violation of international law, Human Rights Watch said.
“The horrors of war are bad enough for civilians even when all sides abide by the law,” Whitson said. “But it’s abhorrent that Israeli forces are making matters even worse by so blatantly violating the laws of war designed to spare civilians.”
'Sean Hannity is an idiot' crowd funding campaign demonstrates against Fox News anchor's 'biased' Israel-Gaza conflict
You’d be forgiven for thinking Russell Brand was behind the crowd funding scheme aimed to raise money to have billboards reading ‘Sean Hannity is an idiot’ erected at major airports in LAX, JFK,
The pair have been at public loggerheads since the British comedian first accused the right-wing FOX News anchor of using terrorist tactics to grill a Palestinian guest in an aggressive televised debate over Israel-Gaza.
But alas, the guy behind this StartJoin campaign is actually a chap named Sean Fahey – the same Sean Fahey, we believe, who directs feature films and commercials for a living in Los Angeles.
“Sean Hannity has an honorary degree because he is a mental failure,” Fahey writes at the start of the project mission statement. “He has no ability to speak for himself. Only bark what his owners tell him to. His vapid existence is the shame of our times.
“Okay, enough poking fun… The reality is, he is taken seriously by some. And that is VERY dangerous. People like Sean Hannity should not be allowed to have any level of credibility given to them, because they lack the moral fibre it takes to actually dispense knowledge.
“Hannity is a sensationalist of the worst degree, in that he thinks he is reporting the news.
“So we want to create billboards in an effort to champion free speech, artistic expression, and educational outreach.”
The plan? To put up billboards up in LAX, JFK, and ORD, that read: “Sean Hannity is an Idiot.”
“It will have his face on it, so people from all over the world, in three of the busiest places in the world, can learn what idiocracy looks like.
The only snag, of course, is that it costs approximately $7,000 to place a billboard in each airport for a month.
Since it started on 30 July, the project has generated $1,661, thanks to 126 financial backers, and the funds are continuing to climb. It has just 25 days to go to reach its target of $21,000, though Fahey pledges to put whatever money the campaign makes into generating at least one billboard.
“We want Hannity to be the poster boy for stupid; his image synonymous with dumb, so help people understand that this fool is not to be taken seriously,” Fahey concludes.
Hannity’s somewhat one-sided coverage of the Israel-Gaza conflict has been a subject of much debate of late, largely after Russell Brand critiqued his combative interview style on his satirical YouTube series The Trews.
The comic referred in particular to a moment in Hannity’s segment on Israel, during which he asked Palestinian guest Yousef Munayyer if he was “thick in the head” as he attempted in vain to get him to agree that Hamas were a terrorist organisation.
“One of the definitions of 'terrorist' is using intimidation to reach your goals,” Brand said on his satirical YouTube digest Trews. “Who in that situation was behaving like a terrorist, using bullying, intimidation? Sean Hannity. That is where the terrorism is coming from.”
The YouTube clip quickly notched up 2.2million views, prompting Sanity to broadcast a response in a segment he called “Hollywood Vs Hammas”.
...Of course, their high profile spat is a minor triviality in the scale of the conflict, which has thus far seen the death toll in Gaza reach over 1,834 Palestinians – an overwhelming majority of which are civilian – since the Israel Defence Forces began its military campaign “Protective Edge” on 8 July.
More than a quarter of Gaza’s 1.8 million residents have been displaced and as many as 3,000 Palestinian homes are said to have been destroyed or damaged.
Meanwhile, Israel has lost 64 soldiers in combat and three civilians to Palestinian cross-border rocket and mortar fire that has emptied many of its southern villages.
Both sides have since agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire brokered by Egypt.
Lady Warsi, the senior Foreign Office minister, has resigned from the government in protest at its policy on Gaza, a decision that Downing Street says it is checking.
Warsi said on her Twitter account on Tuesday: “With deep regret I have this morning written to the prime minister and tendered my resignation. I can no longer support government policy on Gaza”.
She has been known to be unhappy at the failure of the prime minister to unequivocally condemn Israel’s incursion into Gaza or the death toll.
On Monday, the prime minister’s spokesman refused to say if Israel was behaving disproportionately or doing enough to prevent civilian casualties.
Iron Dome Boondoggle: Has Obama Just Signed a $225M Check for a Defective Israeli Missile Shield?
Amidst universal support of Iron Dome from politicians and the corporate media, one of the country’s leading missile experts, Theodore Postol, says there is no evidence that Iron Dome is actually working. Postol is well known within defense circles for exposing the failures of the Patriot missile system during Operation Desert Storm in 1991. "I have been privy to discussions with members of Congress who have oversight responsibilities, who have acknowledged in those discussions that they have no idea whether Iron Dome is working or not," says Postol, a professor of science, technology and national security policy at MIT. "And I can also tell you that the U.S. government has not been given any information on the performance of Iron Dome."
THEODORE POSTOL: Well, the Iron Dome is mostly an Israeli development, although Raytheon is involved. The Iron Dome interceptor has to approach an incoming artillery rocket head-on. So if you saw an Iron Dome interceptor flying a near-vertical trajectory, that would indicate the Iron Dome interceptor is in a near-head-on engagement geometry coming at the artillery rocket. In that geometry, the interceptor has some chance of destroying the artillery rocket warhead. If you see the Iron Dome interceptor engaging the artillery rocket from the side or from the back by chasing it, then it has essentially a zero chance of destroying the artillery rocket warhead. So, if you look up in the sky and you look at the hundreds of videos we now have of the contrails of the—the smoke trails of the Iron Dome interceptors, you can see that almost all the time—there are exceptions, but almost all the time—the Iron Dome interceptors are traveling parallel to the ground, which means that the falling artillery rocket is engaged from the side, or the Iron Domes are—the Iron Dome interceptors are diving to the ground, which means that they are trying to chase artillery rockets from behind. All those engagements are zero probability of intercept. And we’re guessing—we’re guessing, based on what we have, that maybe 10 percent or 15 or 20 percent of the engagements are head-on. Actually, it’s not 20 percent; it’s closer to 10 percent. And when you see so few engagements head on, your conclusion is that the system is not working the vast majority of the time.
...
AMY GOODMAN: Mainly to Raytheon and other U.S. companies. Have you been called by anyone in Congress to testify, to raise your concerns?
THEODORE POSTOL: Of course not. Congress is not interested in information. What I can tell you, I have not been directly involved, but I have been privy to discussions with members of Congress who have oversight responsibilities, who have acknowledged in those discussions that they have no idea whether Iron Dome is working or not. And I can also tell you that the U.S. government has not been given any information on the performance of Iron Dome. So, when Susan Rice, the national security adviser, makes a statement about how well Iron Dome is working, somebody should ask Susan Rice what’s her source, because I can tell you that there—and she should have a source. She should be able to tell you, you know, "We had the following national laboratory take the data from the Israelis. They looked at it. And let me tell you, this thing is working well." Instead, she gets on television and talks about this working well. Somebody should ask her, somebody in the press corps should do their due diligence and ask her, "Where did you get this information?"
pjsoul what parts make alot of sense? what points are good? i wouldn't mind giving my side...
The parts that strike me the most and that I believe to be true are (and please try not to read between any lines here - there is nothing there. The article is pretty pro-Israeli, ironically, so many of these points are more about what Hamas is doing. That doesn't mean that there aren't a lot of similarly damning points against Israel, but only that this article doesn't properly address them IMO, which is why they're not listed. I do NOT favour the Israeli government over Hamas or vice-versa. I am not on the fence. I think that both sides are doing absolutely everything wrong): 1) Hamas's greatest weapon is dead Palestinian children. 2) Both sides are very much motivated by both racism and religion (tribal conflict). 3) The focused outrage from the Muslim world is fueled by the fact that the perpetrators (as they see it) are Jews and the focused outrage from Jews is fueled by the fact that the perpetrators (as they see it) are Muslim (this is just more of the race-driven concept). 4) Children on both sides are being raised to hate one another. 5) If Israel wanted to wipe out the Palestinians they would have done it already. 6) Hamas is doing a piss poor job of even trying to protect Palestinian lives and in fact seems to deliberately put them at risk at times.
PS - I find the idea the Hamas and others are using photos of dead kids from other conflicts and saying they're from Gaza is absolutely plausible. The propaganda coming from both sides of this conflict is totally outlandish and out of control. I would bet money that Hamas is doing that, and I know that the media from both sides and just civilians are doing the same, because I have personally sought out the truth behind some of this Israeli and Palestinian propaganda and it's pretty easy to prove that a lot of that stuff is bullshit or posted completely out of context. Not sure why you found that idea so ludicrous.
1) why are you speaking about Hamas as If they are outside of Palestinian society? If we are talking about PR should one say that any movement to liberate Palestine from Israeli occupation's greatest "weapon" is dead Palestinians? What a horrific thing to say. As if the dead bodies are being "used" by Hamas - this PR tactic in and of itself seems to "use" these dead Palestinians in an attempt to delegitimize Hamas - I.e. It is guilty of the same shit it is accusing the other party of. 2) why not let Hamas speak for themselves? Did you see Khaled Meshaal's interview with Charlie rose? He said we are not against Jews for being Jews, we are opposed to occupation and are simply fighting that. Do you reject it for any particular reason? Please don't try to pull up so,e Hamas charter bullshit talking point - it's an anachronistic document written by ideologues decades ago with no bearing on the actual political actors. And for years people said why doesn't Hamas take that part back?! And when they did they said oh this is just a PR move. Shove it. The only racism is the idea of creating a Jewish state. The overwhelming majority of Palestinians, even Hamas does not call for an Islamic state. Even khaled Meshaal said we just want our rights, after that we can democratically decide how to govern ourselves.
3) wrong. There's just no evidence of this. In fact there is evidence of quite the opposite, where anti-Semitic rulers such as Anwar Sadat and Hosni Mubarak worked with Israel for geopolitical purposes. This is not a religious issue - any real study of the region and it's history makes that clear.
5) I am at the airport waiting to board a flight so I will have to respond to this later. Suffice it to say that it's a weak argument.
6) any evidence to support this? It's funny how you hate Hamas so much that just because you "can see" the, doctoring photos or using fake photos or whatever, it's almost accepted as fact. Where's the evidence? Use some critical thinking skills for Christ's sake.
'...UN General Assembly Partition Resolution 181 of 1947, which established the Jewish state’s international legitimacy, also recognised the remaining Palestinian territory outside the new state’s borders as the equally legitimate patrimony of Palestine’s Arab population on which they were entitled to establish their own state, and it mapped the borders of that territory with great precision. Resolution 181’s affirmation of the right of Palestine’s Arab population to national self-determination was based on normative law and the democratic principles that grant statehood to the majority population. (At the time, Arabs constituted two-thirds of the population in Palestine.) This right does not evaporate because of delays in its implementation.'
What parts of Gaza are not densely populated? Again how effective is the shield if Israel bombs UN shelters and schools anyway? Palestinian militants fire rockets and store weapons at 9000 different locations within Gaza?
Comments
Anti-Semite carter at it again.
Worst prez
Did they begin withdrawing illegal settlers from the West Bank? No.
You assume that the rocket attacks are the cause of Israel's illegal occupation. They aren't. They're a symptom of it.
Harping on about Hamas and rockets is just an excuse. They have nothing to do with the professed aim of the Zionists and of the reality on the ground. Land expropriation and ethnic cleansing.
The rockets are not helping the Palestinian people. It is time to try something else.
"...I changed by not changing at all..."
Another future terrorist.
When was it founded and by whom?
What were its borders?
What was its capital?
What were its major cities?
What constituted the basis of its economy?
What was its form of government?
Can you name at least one Palestinian leader before Arafat?
Was Palestine ever recognized by a country whose existence, at that time or now, leaves no room for interpretation?
What was the language of the country of Palestine ?
What was the prevalent religion of the country of Palestine ?
What was the name of its currency? Choose any date in history and tell what was the approximate exchange rate of the Palestinian monetary unit against the US dollar, German mark, GB pound, Japanese yen, or Chinese yuan on that date.
And, finally, since there is no such country today, what caused its demise and when did it occur?
You are lamenting the “low sinking” of a “once proud” nation. Please tell me, when exactly was that “nation” proud and what was it so proud of?
And here is the least sarcastic question of all: If the people you mistakenly call “Palestinians” are anything but generic Arabs collected from all over — or thrown out of — the Arab world, if they really have a genuine ethnic identity that gives them right for self-determination, why did they never try to become independent until Arabs suffered their devastating defeat in the Six Day War?
I hope you avoid the temptation to trace the modern day “Palestinians” to the Biblical Philistines: substituting etymology for history won’t work here.
Arab countries have never abandoned the dream of destroying Israel ; they still cherish it today. Having time and again failed to achieve their goal with military means, they decided to fight Israel by proxy. How else can you explain the refusal by Jordan and Egypt to unconditionally accept back the “West Bank” and Gaza , respectively?
www.amazingathletes.com/northchi
'...UN General Assembly Partition Resolution 181 of 1947, which established the Jewish state’s international legitimacy, also recognised the remaining Palestinian territory outside the new state’s borders as the equally legitimate patrimony of Palestine’s Arab population on which they were entitled to establish their own state, and it mapped the borders of that territory with great precision. Resolution 181’s affirmation of the right of Palestine’s Arab population to national self-determination was based on normative law and the democratic principles that grant statehood to the majority population. (At the time, Arabs constituted two-thirds of the population in Palestine.) This right does not evaporate because of delays in its implementation.'
A lot of those questions sound like they could come from an imperialist from 400+ years ago, when justifying eliminating indigenous people around the world.
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v29/n16/henry-siegman/the-great-middle-east-peace-process-scam
Gaza: Israeli Soldiers Shoot and Kill Fleeing Civilians
August 4, 2014
(Gaza) – Israeli forces in the southern Gaza town of Khuza’a fired on and killed civilians in apparent violation of the laws of war in several incidents between July 23 and 25, 2014. Deliberate attacks on civilians who are not participating in the fighting are war crimes.
Seven Palestinians who had fled Khuza’a described to Human Rights Watch the grave dangers that civilians have faced in trying to flee the town, near the Israeli border, to seek safety in Khan Younis. These included repeated shelling that struck apparent civilian structures, lack of access to necessary medical care, and the threat of attack from Israeli forces as they tried to leave the area.
“When will there be justice for the civilians in Khuza’a, who suffered shelling for days, then faced deadly attacks by Israeli soldiers after being ordered to leave the town?” asked Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director.
Khuza’a, which has a population of about 10,000, was the scene of fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups during an Israeli ground offensive in the area on July 23, Israeli news media reported. Israeli forces provided general warnings to Khuza’a residents to leave the area prior to July 21. While the laws of war encourage “advance, effective warnings” of attacks, the failure of civilians to abide by warnings does not make them lawful targets of attack – for obvious reasons, since many people do not flee because of infirmity, fear, lack of a place to go, or any number of other reasons. The remaining presence of such civilians despite a warning to flee cannot be ignored when attacks are carried out, as Israeli forces have done previously.
“Warning families to flee fighting doesn’t make them fair targets just because they’re unable to do so, and deliberately attacking them is a war crime,” Whitson said.
Human Rights Watch investigated several incidents between July 23 and 25 when, local residents said, Israeli forces opened fire on civilians trying to flee Khuza’a, but no Palestinian fighters were present at the time and no firefights were taking place.
On the morning of July 23, Israeli forces ordered a group of about 100 Palestinians in Khuza’a to leave a home in which they had gathered to take shelter, family members said. The first member to leave the house, Shahid al-Najjar, had his hands up but an Israeli soldier shot him in the jaw, seriously injuring him.
Israeli soldiers detained the men and boys over age 15 in an area close to the Gaza perimeter fence. Based on statements from witnesses and news reports, some were taken to Israel for questioning. Israeli forces released others that day, in small separate groups. As one group walked unarmed to Khan Younis, Israeli soldiers fired on them, killing one and wounding two others.
Two older men whom Israeli forces briefly detained near the perimeter fence had been seriously wounded in earlier Israeli bombardments and died soon after being released, two witnesses said. The laws of war provide that wounded civilians and combatants should be given necessary medical care to the fullest extent practicable and with the least possible delay.
In another incident on July 23, Israeli soldiers fired on a group of civilians who had been told to leave their home in Khuza’a, killing Mohammed al-Najjar, a witness said.
One case illustrates the dangers facing civilians both who remain in place and who heed Israeli orders to leave. On July 25, an Israeli strike killed three civilians – Motassem al-Najjar, 5; Kamel al-Najjar, 62; and Salim Qdeih, around 70 – who were among 120 people sheltering in the basement of a home, witnesses said. Another 15 people were wounded. The local Red Cross had difficulty reaching people wounded by shellings in the town. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reported that on July 25, a Red Crescent volunteer was mortally wounded in an Israeli attack in Khuza’a, and other volunteers who tried to rescue him were fired on. Under the laws of war, medical workers are civilians who may not be targeted for attack.
Those who had survived the attack on the basement fled after the strike and walked to Khan Younis, carrying white flags and raising their hands when they came across Israeli soldiers. An Israeli missile strike hit one group of them, killing a man and wounding his cousin, the cousin told Human Rights Watch.
...Previous fighting in Gaza between Israeli and Hamas forces and other Palestinian armed groups has resulted in near-total impunity for serious violations of international humanitarian law. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas should urgently seek International Criminal Court (ICC) jurisdiction over crimes committed on and from Palestinian territory, as a step toward reducing the accountability gap for grave abuses and deterring crimes in violation of international law, Human Rights Watch said.
“The horrors of war are bad enough for civilians even when all sides abide by the law,” Whitson said. “But it’s abhorrent that Israeli forces are making matters even worse by so blatantly violating the laws of war designed to spare civilians.”
'Sean Hannity is an idiot' crowd funding campaign demonstrates against Fox News anchor's 'biased' Israel-Gaza conflict
You’d be forgiven for thinking Russell Brand was behind the crowd funding scheme aimed to raise money to have billboards reading ‘Sean Hannity is an idiot’ erected at major airports in LAX, JFK,
The pair have been at public loggerheads since the British comedian first accused the right-wing FOX News anchor of using terrorist tactics to grill a Palestinian guest in an aggressive televised debate over Israel-Gaza.
But alas, the guy behind this StartJoin campaign is actually a chap named Sean Fahey – the same Sean Fahey, we believe, who directs feature films and commercials for a living in Los Angeles.
“Sean Hannity has an honorary degree because he is a mental failure,” Fahey writes at the start of the project mission statement. “He has no ability to speak for himself. Only bark what his owners tell him to. His vapid existence is the shame of our times.
“Okay, enough poking fun… The reality is, he is taken seriously by some. And that is VERY dangerous. People like Sean Hannity should not be allowed to have any level of credibility given to them, because they lack the moral fibre it takes to actually dispense knowledge.
“Hannity is a sensationalist of the worst degree, in that he thinks he is reporting the news.
“So we want to create billboards in an effort to champion free speech, artistic expression, and educational outreach.”
The plan? To put up billboards up in LAX, JFK, and ORD, that read: “Sean Hannity is an Idiot.”
“It will have his face on it, so people from all over the world, in three of the busiest places in the world, can learn what idiocracy looks like.
The only snag, of course, is that it costs approximately $7,000 to place a billboard in each airport for a month.
Since it started on 30 July, the project has generated $1,661, thanks to 126 financial backers, and the funds are continuing to climb. It has just 25 days to go to reach its target of $21,000, though Fahey pledges to put whatever money the campaign makes into generating at least one billboard.
“We want Hannity to be the poster boy for stupid; his image synonymous with dumb, so help people understand that this fool is not to be taken seriously,” Fahey concludes.
Hannity’s somewhat one-sided coverage of the Israel-Gaza conflict has been a subject of much debate of late, largely after Russell Brand critiqued his combative interview style on his satirical YouTube series The Trews.
The comic referred in particular to a moment in Hannity’s segment on Israel, during which he asked Palestinian guest Yousef Munayyer if he was “thick in the head” as he attempted in vain to get him to agree that Hamas were a terrorist organisation.
“One of the definitions of 'terrorist' is using intimidation to reach your goals,” Brand said on his satirical YouTube digest Trews. “Who in that situation was behaving like a terrorist, using bullying, intimidation? Sean Hannity. That is where the terrorism is coming from.”
The YouTube clip quickly notched up 2.2million views, prompting Sanity to broadcast a response in a segment he called “Hollywood Vs Hammas”.
...Of course, their high profile spat is a minor triviality in the scale of the conflict, which has thus far seen the death toll in Gaza reach over 1,834 Palestinians – an overwhelming majority of which are civilian – since the Israel Defence Forces began its military campaign “Protective Edge” on 8 July.
More than a quarter of Gaza’s 1.8 million residents have been displaced and as many as 3,000 Palestinian homes are said to have been destroyed or damaged.
Meanwhile, Israel has lost 64 soldiers in combat and three civilians to Palestinian cross-border rocket and mortar fire that has emptied many of its southern villages.
Both sides have since agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire brokered by Egypt.
Warsi said on her Twitter account on Tuesday: “With deep regret I have this morning written to the prime minister and tendered my resignation. I can no longer support government policy on Gaza”.
She has been known to be unhappy at the failure of the prime minister to unequivocally condemn Israel’s incursion into Gaza or the death toll.
On Monday, the prime minister’s spokesman refused to say if Israel was behaving disproportionately or doing enough to prevent civilian casualties.
http://www.democracynow.org/2014/8/5/iron_dome_boondoggle_has_obama_just
Iron Dome Boondoggle: Has Obama Just Signed a $225M Check for a Defective Israeli Missile Shield?
Amidst universal support of Iron Dome from politicians and the corporate media, one of the country’s leading missile experts, Theodore Postol, says there is no evidence that Iron Dome is actually working. Postol is well known within defense circles for exposing the failures of the Patriot missile system during Operation Desert Storm in 1991. "I have been privy to discussions with members of Congress who have oversight responsibilities, who have acknowledged in those discussions that they have no idea whether Iron Dome is working or not," says Postol, a professor of science, technology and national security policy at MIT. "And I can also tell you that the U.S. government has not been given any information on the performance of Iron Dome."
THEODORE POSTOL: Well, the Iron Dome is mostly an Israeli development, although Raytheon is involved. The Iron Dome interceptor has to approach an incoming artillery rocket head-on. So if you saw an Iron Dome interceptor flying a near-vertical trajectory, that would indicate the Iron Dome interceptor is in a near-head-on engagement geometry coming at the artillery rocket. In that geometry, the interceptor has some chance of destroying the artillery rocket warhead. If you see the Iron Dome interceptor engaging the artillery rocket from the side or from the back by chasing it, then it has essentially a zero chance of destroying the artillery rocket warhead. So, if you look up in the sky and you look at the hundreds of videos we now have of the contrails of the—the smoke trails of the Iron Dome interceptors, you can see that almost all the time—there are exceptions, but almost all the time—the Iron Dome interceptors are traveling parallel to the ground, which means that the falling artillery rocket is engaged from the side, or the Iron Domes are—the Iron Dome interceptors are diving to the ground, which means that they are trying to chase artillery rockets from behind. All those engagements are zero probability of intercept. And we’re guessing—we’re guessing, based on what we have, that maybe 10 percent or 15 or 20 percent of the engagements are head-on. Actually, it’s not 20 percent; it’s closer to 10 percent. And when you see so few engagements head on, your conclusion is that the system is not working the vast majority of the time.
...
AMY GOODMAN: Mainly to Raytheon and other U.S. companies. Have you been called by anyone in Congress to testify, to raise your concerns?
THEODORE POSTOL: Of course not. Congress is not interested in information. What I can tell you, I have not been directly involved, but I have been privy to discussions with members of Congress who have oversight responsibilities, who have acknowledged in those discussions that they have no idea whether Iron Dome is working or not. And I can also tell you that the U.S. government has not been given any information on the performance of Iron Dome. So, when Susan Rice, the national security adviser, makes a statement about how well Iron Dome is working, somebody should ask Susan Rice what’s her source, because I can tell you that there—and she should have a source. She should be able to tell you, you know, "We had the following national laboratory take the data from the Israelis. They looked at it. And let me tell you, this thing is working well." Instead, she gets on television and talks about this working well. Somebody should ask her, somebody in the press corps should do their due diligence and ask her, "Where did you get this information?"
www.amazingathletes.com/northchi
2010: 9/7/10 - Bilbao
2012: 26-27/6/12 - Amsterdam ~~ 29/6/12 - Werchter ~~ 4-5/7/12 - Berlin
2014: 25/6/14 - Vienna ~~ 26/6/14 - Berlin
2010: 9/7/10 - Bilbao
2012: 26-27/6/12 - Amsterdam ~~ 29/6/12 - Werchter ~~ 4-5/7/12 - Berlin
2014: 25/6/14 - Vienna ~~ 26/6/14 - Berlin
Again how effective is the shield if Israel bombs UN shelters and schools anyway?
Palestinian militants fire rockets and store weapons at 9000 different locations within Gaza?