Ceasefire!

Yay!!! Ceasefire! Barak in Office.

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/01/18/gaza-doctor.html Gaza doctor with offer to U of T

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gs90Wad9DuaogJj9QDPVHfoe2aTw Ceasefire

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Gaza- is the Worst Yet to Come

The attacks on Gaza bears a striking similiar to the attacks on Beirut in 1984, including the attacks on the UN facilities. This was written shortly before the attacks on the UN facility. In intelligence, one finds that they can predict the movement of an army by its modus operandi. Armies are organized and have a limited method of operations, once you know them, you can predict its moves.

In December 1982, the UN declared Sabra and Chatila an act of genocide. It was followed by bombings in synagogues Milan and Rome. To recall PLO plane hijackings. In 1983, the American Ambassador to Sudan was assassinated. The modus operandi of the IDF troop formations is almost identical to the siege of Beirut. It has been almost identical to Beirut 1982, step by step. This can potentially create new terrorist organizations if nothing is done about it.

Israel discovered oil in Gaza, George Bush is leaving office, and Israeli elections are coming up. Livni and Barak do not have their rival, Netanyhu's military experiance. The situation is reminscent of George Orwell's 1984. This is why the operation is conducted on this scale, with these particular formation with this degree of planning. Judging by the tank formations alone, it was 5 months planning, during the cease fire, and OCHA states they blockaded medicines three months before the rockets, which was also during the ceasefire.

Some could have argued in 1982 that Fatah alone was responsible for lobbing rockets from the camps, in much the same way as you did. When it withdrew, a brutal massacre of a civilians in the Sabra and Chatila camps was recorded. History repeats itself like a broken record. Here is an eye witness account of a physician, Dr. Ain Swee Lee, in From Beirut to Jerusalem,

The 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon killed over 30,000 civilians. The siege of Beirut lasted for 70 days, Beirut was subjected a relentless barrage of air, naval, and artillery bombardment. The Israeli bombardment was random and indiscriminate. Food, electricity and water supplies were cut off - over 500,000 people were driven from their homes. The IDF calculated that they had used some 960 tons of ammunition in trying to destroy the city.

This is very similar to what is going on in Gaza, food, electricity supplies are cut off, and Gazan Canadians say their families only have what is in their water-tanks. The quantity of ammunition used would be similar in estimates.

The price asked by Israel to stop the destruction of Beirut was for the 14,000 PLO fighters to abandon the city - leaving behind their families. The US brokered peace deal guaranteed the safety of the Palestinians left behind in the camps - a multinational peacekeeping force would be deployed to protect them.

She describes what happened, three weeks later as the US didn’t honor its obligations
[15:00] Gaza Hospital was protected by the International Red Cross, despite that Gaza Hospital has been bombed – it was 11 floors high and the top 2 floors were blown off, the doctors quarters were shelled.

At 4:30pm news arrived at the Gaza Hospital that Israeli troops had invaded Akka Hospital [just outside the camp], nurses had been raped and killed, doctors and patients shot dead. (p. 55, 79) from the book” From Beirut To Jerusalem”

Shortly thereafter, the following occurred as journalist Robert Fisk described it in, Pity the Nation,

Bill Foley of AP(Associated Press) had come with us. All he could say as he walked round was "Jesus Christ" over and over again. We might have accepted evidence of a few murders; even dozens of bodies, killed in the heat of combat. But there were women lying in houses with their skirts torn up to their waists and their legs wide apart, children with their throats cut, rows of young men shot in the back after being lined up at an execution wall. There were babies - blackened babies because they had been slaughtered more than 24-hours earlier and their small bodies were already in a state of decomposition - tossed into rubbish heaps alongside discarded US army ration tins, Israeli army equipment and empty bottles of whiskey.

Where were the murderers? Or to use the Israelis' vocabulary, where were the "terrorists"? Down a laneway to our right, no more than 50 yards from the entrance, there lay a pile of corpses. There were more than a dozen of them, young men whose arms and legs had been wrapped around each other in the agony of death. One had been castrated, his trousers torn open and a settlement of flies throbbing over his torn intestines. The eyes of these young men were all open. The youngest was only 12 or 13 years old… Someone had slit open the woman's stomach, cutting sideways and then upwards, perhaps trying to kill her unborn child. Her eyes were wide open, her dark face frozen in horror.

Names of Casualites, ages, etc.

For a comprehensive list of casualities, ages and names, check out

For today: http://www.mezan.org/site_en/press_room/press_detail.php?id=944

In general:

http://www.mezan.org/site_en/index.php

48 Canadians Returned from Gaza

48 Canadians returned from Gaza, 8+ still missing. For more, and interview with returning Canadians with Toronto Star:

http://www.thestar.com/News/World/article/564240

48 evacuees relieved to be free of war-zone terrors but remain fearful for family members left behind
Jan 09, 2009 04:30 AM

Oakland Ross MIDDLE EAST BUREAU

EREZ CROSSING, Israel–"I want to go to Canada."
A powerful longing for home – in this case, the peace and calm of London, Ont. – was among Nisreen el-Mathoul's uppermost sentiments yesterday, on her escape from Gaza following nearly two weeks of almost constant bombardment and deprivation.
"There's no food," she said of her ordeal in Gaza. "No water. No electricity. It's black at night. You have to stay in the middle of the home to be away from the windows."
El-Mathoul and her two young sons – Vais, 7, and Mahmoud, 3 – were among 48 Canadians who fled Gaza yesterday (article continued on Toronto Star website)

Interview with Nassim, Ottawa Man with Relatives in Gaza

I asked Nassim, a Palestinian Canadian who has relatives in Gaza, if he could be interviewed for the blog. He agreed. I want to find out the general sentiment. He is in his 40s-50s.

"To be honest with you, I have not slept for the past fifteen days. Sometimes, I sleep for two hours, but then I wake up because I have a nightmare because I dream that my mother may have been killed." His brother and sister, in addition to his mother live there, in a densely populated area near the center of Gaza city.

"My brother does not get much sleep either. He is a nurse for a hospital for the United Nations. It used to be a clinic, but now it became a hospital. He sees horrible things, bodies without heads, people without arms or missing legs, mainly civilians. He can't sleep at night, but you do what you have to do, as someone has to do the job"

I asked what life was like in his neighborhood,

"Our house has two cracks and may collapse from the sound of the shelling. The neighbor's house was demolished, and this affected our house. We have no windows. " It is winter in Gaza. From his neighborhood of 9 families, two people died, a child and a young policeman on his first job.

"Water is a luxury. People are rationing the water tanks wisely. Gone are the days when people took showers or had the luxury of washing their clothes. There is a market that sells vegetables. But there is no gas for cars, and no public transportation. Cheap taxis used to be public transportation, but they became immediate targets of F-15 planes. The Israelis would assume all taxis may carry suspicious people and would shoot all. People rely on neighbors cars, and saving gas to visit relatives in the hospital. The cars you see on TV have rationed gas to drive a short distance."

"For heat and cooking, people take wood from their homes, and from the ruins of neighbors' homes and burn it to survive."

I asked what the situation was:

"The Israelis destroyed a row of houses on the Rafah border and divide Gaza into the three towns, surrounded and sealed the three towns. What they are doing is collective punishment. They are cutting of the means to live because we exercised our right to vote. Some, but by far not all Palestinians, voted for Hamas, which is why they are making life unlivable for the Palestinian civilians so that they force Hamas out of hiding. They won't. One Israeli general said on TV that he will turn Gaza back to the 1950s, to the horrible conditions when we were deprived of all means of life. I didn't believe it when I saw it on TV, but now he kept his word."

"They are not targeting Hamas. They are targeting the civilian population, because they think if life is harsh enough of the civilians, they'll make Hamas surrender. It is not Hamas, but the civilian Palestinian population that is punished collectively because it exercised its democratic right to vote. We are punished because some, but not all of Palestinians voted for Hamas. We will not surrender. The Israelis don't understand. We could live in luxury without democracy. However, it would be a life without dignity. We can not live without dignity. We can not live without our democratic rights. Therefore, we can not surrender. Israel doesn't understand. If they kill our children, we will just have more children, but they can't wipe every Palestinian off the face of the earth."

I asked him what are the prospects of peace and the future.

"It is hard to live a normal life. This gives me a lot of pain. It is impossible, will take so many years to forgive, if at all. I can't believe what Palestinians may think peace is possible after something like this! How can you make peace after Guernica? We will never forget, and it will always cause us pain. Take the Israelis for instance, after what happened to the Jews in the second world war, even today, 60 years later, some of them still go on TV and describe their pain. We are no different. We will never forget this. The pain won't go away. For us, this attack on the civilian population will always give us pain, pain for many years to come. It is impossible to forgive after that, will take many years to forgive, many years for the pain to go away. It will take many, many years for me to live a normal life after this." "I can't sleep at night, I worry about my family."

Sadness to the World!The Lord Should Come

On Orthodox Christmas:
An author of the blog, I, received an email from a colleague from the Occupied Palestinian Territories. My mother is Russian Orthodox. Russians, Arabs, Greeks, and Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas on a different day, the 7th of January. This line really struck me.

"Thanks so much, yes it was the Orthodox Christmas here yeserday, but no one celebrated,we are all mourning." The email is of course private, but I feel that it was very important to share this line. I think the West Bank and Gaza have been visited by the Grinch. He actually stole Christmas this time.

40 Dead as Israel Bombs Schools

40 dead, mainly children, as Israel bomb's 3 children's schools. Obama makes a statement.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/07/gaza-israel-obama

CBS-Sky News-Norwegian doctor in Gaza

Norwegian doctor in Gaza

By David Edwards

Mads Gilbert, a Norwegian doctor working in Gaza, told Sky News that that the number of civilians injured and killed in Gaza proves that Israel is deliberately attacking the population.

GILBERT: Just a little bit more than an hour ago, the Israelis bombed the central food market in Gaza City and we had a mass influx of about 50 injured and between 10 and 15 killed. At the same time they bombed an apartment house with children playing on the roof and we had a lot of children also. This is really like from Dante’s Inferno. It’s like hell here now and it’s been bombing all night. Up till now, close to 500 people have been killed and the number of casualties is getting to 2 to 2 and a half thousand which 50% are children and women.

REPORTER: Are your hospital’s reaching capacity? Can you deal with these people?

GILBERT: We have been doing surgery around the clock. I just talked to to one of my colleagues in the ICU who has not been sleeping for three days and they hospital is completely overcrowded and we are running 6, 7 OR’s and there are injuries that you just don’t want to see in this world. Children coming in with open abdomens and legs cut off. We just had a child who left. We had to amputate both legs and the arms and the only crime they have done is been civilians — Palestinians living in Gaza. The relief now is not more doctors and more drugs the relief now is to stop the bombing immediately. This can not go on. It is a disaster.

REPORTER: You’ve talked about the civilians, the women and children, the men who aren’t involved in this but are you also getting casualties that are Hamas fighters?

GILBERT: To be honest, we came on New Year’s Eve in the morning. I’ve seen one military person among the tens — I mean, hundreds — we have seen and treated. So, anybody who tries to claim this as sort of a clean war against another army are lying. This is an all out war against the civilian Palestinian population in Gaza and we can prove that with the numbers and you have to remember that the average age of the Gaza inhabitant is 17-years. It’s a very young population and 80% are living below the poverty limit of the U.N. So, this is a poor and very young people and they are able to escape absolutely nowhere because they can not flee like other populations can in wartime. Because they are fenced in and they are in a cage. So, they are bombing one and a half million people in a cage. And young people and poor people and, you know, you can not separate between the civilians and the fighters in such a situation.

Story of a doctor from Norway

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kyfa0LM21XQ

Shifa Hospital

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kyfa0LM21XQ

"Dirt Jew List" Persecutes Pro-Peace Jewish Intellectuals

Shilter's List of "Dirt"(critical thinking) Jewish Intellectuals



My friend, Sara* a Canadian Israeli reporter based in Toronto, informed me that she was on the "Jewish Shit List". I almost laughed. Then she send me a link and it wasn't a joke! What I saw has profoundly disturbed me beyond words. I was born in Russia, where my family survived under the horrors of Stalin. I was so distressed to see my friend, also of Slavic heritage, to be reliving the pogroms and persecutions of communism that I almost cried, but was I was too shocked. I still tremble at the thought the implications. Its worse than a hit list of bad Jews. Its more Stalinist in nature.

The website contains a "dirt list", of "shit" Jews (as it calls it), which is in of itself disturbing. Individuals are listed by name, and tsometimes there is a libellous quote. Usually, the listed are academics, students, intellectuals. To my horror, I found a former classmate of mine from Arthur Kroger College at Carleton University, who is on the Dean's List, added to this list for comments he made at a university lecture! On the website, it stated he said in class, "there seemed to be unquestioning support and an endless supply of justifications [of Israel]." For that, comment in class, some little informant put him on the list! I thought informants in university classes only existed in the Soviet Union.

If you are Jewish, a student and say something out of line with the official story in class, one informant will tell another, and it will be online before you know it. Another student was listed on the same page, for taking women's studies courses at Boston University, in Cambridge M.A., USA. Another was a co-chair of People of the Peace, Justice, and Environment Network of X county, in Delaware. Then there is a professor and "his significant other." Then "Teaches at Reed College". This is followed by a Fulbright scholar at Columbia university and volunteer at International Women's Peace Service.

A common pattern of those listed, is they are either students, teachers, academics, and/or are involved in a "peace" organization, or linked to a Women's studies department. It scares me, because Herman Goering, Hilter's Reich Marshall's famous quote during the Nurember tribunals comes to mind, when thinking of this collection of individuals on this "dirt Jew" list.

"Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country." Nazi Propagandist, Herman Goering, at Nuremberg.


The "Dirt" Jew list to me resembles more of a listing the brightest academics and their institutions, as well women's rights activists. My two friends are both brilliant free thinking Jewish intellectuals, so they fit the DIRT-list profile perfectly. In Russia, to support the war, Stalin took extraordinary measures. Chris Hedges opens War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning with the most accurate description of Stalin's measures. It is the most accurate account of the Russian purges of intellectuals. The fact that it is happening to Jewish intellectuals and university students how saddens and frightens me.

Before conflicts begin, the first people silenced-often with violence- are not the nationalist leaders of the opposing ethnic group....[the silence are] those voices within the ethnic group or nation that question the state's lust and need for war are targeted. These dissidents are the most dangerous.

They give us an alternative language, one that refuses to define the other as "barbarian" or "evil", one that recognizes the humanity of the enemy, one that does not condone violence as a form of communication.

I thought of brining this up as a hate crime to the RCMP, because it's a self-described hate list, (H in SHIT stands for hate), but it is a self-hate list. I do not know what to do. But I do know this: because my Jewish friends ask questions, think critically, and are Jewish, they are being persecuted. This persecution of Jewish intellectuals in Canada has to end!
http://www.masada2000.org/list-L.html
*Names have been changed.

CBC: Harper's reaction on Brenda Martin case

March 17, 2008

Prime Minister Stephen Harper calls Mexican President Felipe Calderon to request assistance in Martin's case.

Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier meets with his Mexican counterpart, Patricia Espinosa, and asks for authorities to speed up the process for the Canadian woman.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/mexico/martin-timeline.html

Harper tells coloured Canadians- its their fault they are caught in a warzone

News:

Ottawa blames Hamas for civilian deaths at school

Harper government's staunch support for Israel stands in sharp contrast with international reaction to incident

CAMPBELL CLARK

January 7, 2009

OTTAWA -- Canada's Conservative government says Hamas is responsible for civilian deaths at a UN school where Israeli mortar fire killed at least 40 yesterday, arguing they have used civilians to shield fighters.

The Harper government says a ceasefire can work only if Hamas not only stops rocket attacks but permanently disarms, maintaining a staunchly pro-Israel position as many other Western nations pressed for an immediate ceasefire.

The Israeli military operation in Gaza has now killed more than 660, including an Israeli mortar blast yesterday at a United-Nations-operated school in Jabalya, northeast of Gaza City, where at least 40 were killed. Six Israeli soldiers and four civilians have been killed.

Canada's junior foreign minister, Peter Kent, said that despite sketchy details on the school strike, it is clear that Hamas "bears the full responsibility for the deepening humanitarian tragedy....

Mr. Kent also said that Canadian officials were working with Israeli officials to help 39 Canadian citizens leave Gaza. They were stranded yesterday for a second straight day when Israeli officials said it was too risky to try to bus them across northern Gaza's Erez Crossing into Israel, then on to Jordan.

One of the Canadians seeking to get out of Gaza, Marwan Diab, said in a telephone interview that Canadian embassy officials told him by phone that the Red Cross would try to get him out today with his wife and four children, ages 9, 7, 5 and 3.

"They are very terrified, and they are not really able to handle it," he said of his children.

Mr. Diab, 39, emigrated to Calgary in 1994 but said he has for several years spent part of each year in Gaza where he works for a mental-health organization.

"There is no safe place anywhere in Gaza," he said.

news overview

News items so far: Calgary family still stranded. Also blow by blow of Gaza situation of local bloggers inside gaza. Official Press Release of Dignity medical aid ship and its group, "Free Gaza Movement."

Press Release of Dignity ship, carryings meds, rammed by Israeli warship ff

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 7, 2009
Contact:
Huwaida Arraf (Cyprus): +357-96-723-999 huwaida.arraf@gmail.com
Angela Godfrey-Goldstein (Jerusalem): +972-547-366 393 angela@icahd.org
Ramzi Kysia (U.S): +1-703-994-5422 rrkysia@yahoo.com


We Are Coming Back, And We Are Putting Israel On Notice

[Larnaca, Cyprus] Today the Free Gaza Movement put Israel on notice that we are sending another emergency boat to Gaza. We will announce our exact departure date, time and route in the next few days. We will travel from Cypriot waters, into international waters, then directly into Gaza territorial waters, never nearing Israeli waters.

The ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip have killed over 640 Palestinians, including many children and women, and injured thousands. These acts by Israel are severe and massive violations of international humanitarian law as defined by the Geneva Conventions, both in regards to the obligations of an Occupying Power and in the requirements of the laws of war.
The United Nations has failed to protect the Palestinian civilian population from Israel's massive violations of international humanitarian law. Therefore, we concerned citizens from Belgium, Columbia, France, Canada, Great Britain, Greece, Ireland, Jordan, Kuwait, Scotland, Spain, and the United States, feel that it is our moral duty to try to do just that.

The Israeli military violently attacked an earlier attempt by the Free Gaza Movement to send an emergency boat filled with doctors and medical supplies to Gaza. In the early hours of Tuesday, December 30, the Israeli Navy rammed our boat, the DIGNITY, in international waters. Neither the DIGNITY, nor its passengers and crew constituted any kind of threat to Israel, and the Israeli government had been alerted to the boat's mission, the previous day. Yet we were violently rammed three times on the side without any warning from the Israeli Navy, in an obvious attempt to disable the vessel, jeopardizing the lives of the 16 passengers on board.
We are not deterred by the violence of the Israeli military and intend to sail to Gaza again and again. We are physicians, journalists, members of parliament, and human rights observers who intend to reach the people of Gaza to deliver much needed medical aid and witness the atrocities being committed against the Palestinians there.

We are willing to put our bodies on the line to stop Israel's unlawful massacres of the Palestinian people (we have received death threats warning us not to repeat our attempt) and bring the attention of the world to the war crimes happening in Gaza against 1.5 million Palestinians.
--00--

Calgary family stranded in Gaza! (see below)

Calgary family stranded in Gaza!

http://www.calgaryherald.com/Calgary+family+trapped+Gaza/1146533/story.html

Calgary family trapped by war in Gaza

Sarah McGinnis

Calgary Herald; with files from Reuters

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

A Calgary family remains stranded in Gaza after an evacuation of Canadians from the war-ravaged region was cancelled by Israeli officials Monday due to security concerns.

Marwan Diab, his wife Lina and their four preschool children left their Calgary home for Gaza City a few weeks ago.

"They were visiting. His father-in-law was sick and he passed away. His wife had to see her family. Now, they're stuck there," said Marwan's sister, Hanan Diab, who also lives in Calgary.

(See the rest below Sameh Habeeb story)

Latest from Sameh Habeeb

Day 11 of Israeli War On Gaza
Death toll 620, injured 3000 and most of them Civilians

By Sameh A. Habeeb, A Photojournalist, Humanitarian & Peace Activist in Gaza Strip.
*Numbers and Figures of Israeli War on Gaza:

*Total death toll: 620 while Wounded: 3000.
*Civilians: 220 children and 130 women killed since the start of this War. Many old men and young people were killed and the number is estimated of 80 and this is all according to the Medical sources.
*Thus, we could say so far: Around 430 civilians killed and 190 are policemen and militants.

* More than 1 thousand child among the wounded!

*11 Ambulances bombed and 4 vans for civil defense hit.

*30 paramedics wounded and 7 killed.
Deadly Outcomes of Israeli Ground Military Operation:

1-Bombings in Jabalia Refugee Camps, 5 killed and several wounded. Many houses were damaged in the camp while hundreds of people leave their houses into some schools and safer places.

2-Israeli F16s bombarded two adjacent houses for Al Shorafa family in Toffah area. The houses were hit without previous notification. Many people killed and several wounded.

3-A massare against house of Al Daya family southern east of Gaza City. The father was killed, the mother, his son Fayez, his daughter in law Rawans, infant

6-month-baby Muhammad, 5-year-old Sharf Al Din, Ala' aged 8 years, Rania aged 12 and Doha 3 years. Other 5 people were killed in the same house while many still under the rubbles of the 4-floor-house.

4- Marzouq Family hit in Al Toffah area. Many wounded and no news if there are victims or not!

5-Israeli drone killed 3 young guys refugee to one of the schools in Al Shati' Refugee Camp. They were hit by a rocket while they were drinking water inside the school.

6-Medical sources: 13 palestinian women and children arrived to Al Shifa' hospital due to Israeli shelling in Al Toffah quarter.

7-Gaza Local Radios: Thousands of Palestinians shelter to UNRWA schools mid of Gaza as Israeli army threatened of a genocide against them. Some of theose at schools are wounded and unable to reach hospitals.

8-F16s rebombarded Al Saraya security compound last night. The place totally turned rubbles.

9-Bombings target Al Baurej centeral market. Many wounded and 2 killed.

10-Bombings targeted Abu Ghanima family in Al Zaytoun area. The house includes around 12 people. Some injured, some killed and some others under rubbles.

11-A horrendous massacare: 45 civilians! Killed due to heavy Israeli bombings targeted them at Al Fakhora school in Jabalia town. The families and victims took this school a shelter from Israeli strikes. Around 100 wounded and many in critical conditions now!

12-A house for shamalkh family bombed to rubbles due bombings targeted a mosque in the area. Two palestinains killed, 10 wounded and 5 in critical conditions.

13-A house destroyed due to air raid in Khan Yonis town of Abasan.

14-Bombings in Al Shati' camp claimed the life of one civilian and many wounded in the place.

15-Israeli rockets hit Qlaibo area north of Gaza and no wounded to be reported in the raid.

16-A house for Isi family hit in Al Toffah area.

17-A house hit near Mus'ab Bin omair Mosque and many houses burnt due to the shelling north of Gaza.

18- One Palestinian killed and 6 wounded in the Israeli air raids in Absan town in Khan Yonis.

19-Al Samouni Family: around 20 members of our family killed and another 25 under the rubbles of the house.

20-Power Transistors destroyed in the northern area.

21-Artillary shell kills a child, Merwan Ubaid, in Abasan town east of Kgan yonis.

22-Around 25 houses damaged due to artillery shells in Rafah City.

23-A house for Al alool family destroyed at Bait Lahia twon.

24-Five wounded in a rocket hit Khoza'a family.

25-Heavy bombings in the agricultural and farms in the northern areas.

26-A woman from Ghomaida family killed and her husband wounded in the northern
areas of Gaza.

27-Mass bombings in Al shijaya area and many wounded and arrived at Al Shifa' hospital.

28-Rockets targeted a house in Al Sheikh Ridwan and 5 wounded, one in critical conditions.

29- Psychiatrists: thousands of children turned traumatized due to the ongoing bombings.

30-Palestinian militants fire 30 rockets into the Israeli settlements.

31-Rockets hit the main Market of Gaza with heavy F116s rockets.
-----------------
Sameh A. Habeeb, B.A.
Photojournalist & Peace Activist
Humanitarian, Child Relief Worker
Gaza Strip, Palestine
Mob: 00972599306096
Tel: 0097282802825
E-mail: Sam_hab@hotmail.com
Sameh.habeeb@gmail.com

Calgary family stranded in Gaza!

http://www.calgaryherald.com/Calgary+family+trapped+Gaza/1146533/story.html

Calgary family trapped by war in Gaza

Sarah McGinnis

Calgary Herald; with files from Reuters

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

A Calgary family remains stranded in Gaza after an evacuation of Canadians from the war-ravaged region was cancelled by Israeli officials Monday due to security concerns.

Marwan Diab, his wife Lina and their four preschool children left their Calgary home for Gaza City a few weeks ago.

"They were visiting. His father-in-law was sick and he passed away. His wife had to see her family. Now, they're stuck there," said Marwan's sister, Hanan Diab, who also lives in Calgary.

More than 30 civilians, including children, were killed on Monday, the third day of an Israeli ground offensive into the Gaza Strip, medics said.

International calls for a ceasefire are mounting in the conflict, which has claimed the lives of 540 Palestinians in 10 days.

Amid the bombings and tanks, Marwan Diab--who has lived in Calgary since the 1990s and recently finished his master's degree--is frantically trying to get his family home to Canada.

Being caught in a war zone is taking a toll on his daughter and three sons.

"Gaza is very narrow and there are bombs everywhere," said Hanan Diab. "They are terrified. His daughter sleeps with him because she's so scared."

She tried to reach her brother by phone Monday with hopes of hearing about an impending evacuation. But the line was so weak, she could hardly hear them.

"They are still hoping to be evacuated soon," she said.

Foreign Affairs has registered 58 Canadians in Gaza.

The federal government is working to secure the departure of 36 Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada who have asked to leave the region, said Rodney Moore, a spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

"We are deeply concerned about the security of Canadians in Gaza and are working with Israeli authorities to confirm the soonest available window of opportunity to assist Canadians in leaving Gaza," said Moore.

Back in Calgary, the Diab family can only wait and pray for the safe return of their loved ones.

"I'm not just worried about my family or my uncle's family. I'm worried about the whole region. They're innocent. The people are innocent on both sides," said Hanan Diab.

"War is war. We hope peace comes. . . . We are praying for the war to stop."

smcginnis@theherald.canwest.com

© The Calgary Herald 2009

Poem by Samah Sabawi- Palestine Chronicle Hacked

Searching for words
By Samah Sabawi
The Palestine Chronicle

Gaza…I search desperately
For words… for definitions
To tell the story of ammunitions
Exploding in a child's body
I try to shout my indignation
But I am lost in vocabulary
Drowned in phrases as old as me
And I am as old as the Occupation
I need new words

How hard it is to find
Definitions that can restore
Humanity to a small strip of land
Along the Mediterranean shore
Siege, starvation collective misery
Familiar words in my head they linger
Bombs fall from the sky every day
Powerless words I can't use any longer
I need new words

"Palestine is occupied…."
These are now hollow words…
"Palestinians are oppressed…"
These are now daily words…
"Palestinians are dispossessed"
These are now…tired words
"Palestinians….have a right to exist"
Words often spoken…worn out words

I need new words
Gaza…my home city
My earliest memory of Jasmine flowers and meramiah tea
My first taste of sour lemon dipped in salt
My first climb on an almond tree
Gaza, my destiny
My father's heart sky and sea
My mother's first love
My sister's first breath
My pride and dignity

Gaza is under fire
Obliterated by hate
Strangled by a demonic desire
To erase my history
Gaza is in pieces
And I…the writer…
I'm speechless
What language can possibly save me?
What words?

Report of United Nations Special Rapporteur

http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/view01/F1EC67EF7A498A30C125752D005D17F7?opendocument

Report of United Nations Special Rapporteur

Richard Falk
United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories
Posted January 2, 2009 11:00 AM (EST)
Understanding the Gaza Catastrophe

Quoted:

For eighteen months the entire 1.5 million people ofGaza experienced a punishing blockade imposed by Israel, and a varietyof traumatizing challenges to the normalcy of daily life. A flicker ofhope emerged some six months ago when an Egyptian arranged truceproduced an effective ceasefire that cut Israeli casualties to zerodespite the cross-border periodic firing of homemade rockets that fellharmlessly on nearby Israeli territory, and undoubtedly caused anxietyin the border town of Sderot. During the ceasefire the Hamas leadershipin Gaza repeatedly offered to extend the truce, even proposing aten-year period and claimed a receptivity to a political solution basedon acceptance of Israel's 1967 borders. Israel ignored these diplomaticinitiatives, and failed to carry out its side of the ceasefireagreement that involved some easing of the blockade that had beenrestricting the entry to Gaza of food, medicine, and fuel to a trickle.Israel also refused exit permits to students withforeign fellowship awards and to Gazan journalists and respected NGOrepresentatives. At the same time, it made it increasingly difficultfor journalists to enter, and I was myself expelled from Israel acouple of weeks ago when I tried to enter to carry out my UN job ofmonitoring respect for human rights in occupied Palestine, that is, inthe West Bank and East Jerusalem, as well as Gaza. Clearly, prior tothe current crisis, Israel used its authority to prevent credibleobservers from giving accurate and truthful accounts of the direhumanitarian situation that had been already documented as producingsevere declines in the physical condition and mental health of theGazan population, especially noting malnutrition among children and theabsence of treatment facilities for those suffering from a variety ofdiseases. The Israeli attacks were directed against a society alreadyin grave condition after a blockade maintained during the prior 18months.As always in relation to the underlying conflict,some facts bearing on this latest crisis are murky and contested,although the American public in particular gets 99% of its informationfiltered through an exceedingly pro-Israeli media lens. Hamas is blamedfor the breakdown of the truce by its supposed unwillingness to renewit, and by the alleged increased incidence of rocket attacks. But thereality is more clouded. There was no substantial rocket fire from Gazaduring the ceasefire until Israel launched an attack last November 4thdirected at what it claimed were Palestinian militants in Gaza, killingseveral Palestinians. It was at this point that rocket fire from Gazaintensified. Also, it was Hamas that on numerous public occasionscalled for extending the truce, with its calls never acknowledged, muchless acted upon, by Israeli officialdom. Beyond this, attributing allthe rockets to Hamas is not convincing either. A variety of independentmilitia groups operate in Gaza, some such as the Fatah-backed al-AqsaMartyrs' Brigade are anti-Hamas, and may even be sending rockets toprovoke or justify Israeli retaliation. It is well confirmed that whenUS-supported Fatah controlled Gaza's governing structure it was unableto stop rocket attacks despite a concerted effort to do so.What this background suggests strongly is that Israellaunched its devastating attacks, starting on December 27, not simplyto stop the rockets or in retaliation, but also for a series ofunacknowledged reasons. It was evident for several weeks prior to theIsraeli attacks that the Israeli military and political leaders werepreparing the public for large-scale military operations against theHamas. The timing of the attacks seemed prompted by a series ofconsiderations: most of all, the interest of political contenders, theDefense Minister Ehud Barak and the Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, indemonstrating their toughness prior to national elections scheduled forFebruary, but now possibly postponed until military operations cease.Such Israeli shows of force have been a feature of past Israelielection campaigns, and on this occasion especially, the currentgovernment was being successfully challenged by Israel's notoriouslymilitarist politician, Benjamin Netanyahu, for its supposed failures touphold security. Reinforcing these electoral motivations was the littleconcealed pressure from the Israeli military commanders to seize theopportunity in Gaza to erase the memories of their failure to destroyHezbollah in the devastating Lebanon War of 2006 that both tarnishedIsrael's reputation as a military power and led to widespreadinternational condemnation of Israel for the heavy bombardment ofundefended Lebanese villages, disproportionate force, and extensive useof cluster bombs against heavily populated areas.Respected and conservative Israeli commentators go further. For instance, the prominent historian, Benny Morris writing in the New York Times a few days ago, relates the campaign in Gaza to a deeper set offorebodings in Israel that he compares to the dark mood of the publicthat preceded the 1967 War when Israelis felt deeply threatened by Arabmobilizations on their borders. Morris insists that despite Israeliprosperity of recent years, and relative security, several factors haveled Israel to act boldly in Gaza: the perceived continuing refusal ofthe Arab world to accept the existence of Israel as an establishedreality; the inflammatory threats voiced by Mahmoud Ahmadinejadtogether with Iran's supposed push to acquire nuclear weapons, thefading memory of the Holocaust combined with growing sympathy in theWest with the Palestinian plight, and the radicalization of politicalmovements on Israel's borders in the form of Hezbollah and Hamas. Ineffect, Morris argues that Israel is trying via the crushing of Hamasin Gaza to send a wider message to the region that it will stop atnothing to uphold its claims of sovereignty and security.There are two conclusions that emerge: the people ofGaza are being severely victimized for reasons remote from the rocketsand border security concerns, but seemingly to improve electionprospects of current leaders now facing defeat, and to warn others inthe region that Israel will use overwhelming force whenever itsinterests are at stake.
That such a human catastrophe can happen with minimal outsideinterference also shows the weakness of international law and theUnited Nations, as well as the geopolitical priorities of the importantplayers. The passive support of the United States government forwhatever Israel does is again the critical factor, as it was in 2006when it launched its aggressive war against Lebanon. What is lessevident is that the main Arab neighbors, Egypt, Jordan, and SaudiArabia, with their extreme hostility toward Hamas that is viewed asbacked by Iran, their main regional rival, were also willing to standaside while Gaza was being so brutally attacked, with some Arabdiplomats even blaming the attacks on Palestinian disunity or on therefusal of Hamas to accept the leadership of Mamoud Abbas, President ofthe Palestinian Authority.The people of Gaza are victims of geopolitics at itsinhumane worst: producing what Israel itself calls a 'total war'against an essentially defenseless society that lacks any defensivemilitary capability whatsoever and is completely vulnerable to Israeliattacks mounted by F-16 bombers and Apache helicopters. What this alsomeans is that the flagrant violation of international humanitarian law,as set forth in the Geneva Conventions, is quietly set aside while thecarnage continues and the bodies pile up. It additionally means thatthe UN is once more revealed to be impotent when its main membersdeprive it of the political will to protect a people subject tounlawful uses of force on a large scale. Finally, this means that thepublic can shriek and march all over the world, but that the killingwill go on as if nothing is happening. The picture being painted day byday in Gaza is one that begs for renewed commitment to internationallaw and the authority of the UN Charter, starting here in the UnitedStates, especially with a new leadership that promised its citizenschange, including a less militarist approach to diplomatic leadership.

Sunday, January 4, summary of Gaza blogs

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Day 9 of Israeli War On Gaza
News Report Ground Military OperationBy: Sameh A. HabeebBreaking News: Five Palestinians killed in a bombing targeted Mus'abBin Umair mosque northern Gaza Strip.

Breaking News: Five Palestinians from one family "Bakr" killed west ofGaza City. The mother was killed along with her 4 children in F16rocket.

Breaking News: Around 17 peoples killed in Al atatra family in Baitlahia town north of Gaza. Amongest them several children, twobrothers, 20-year-old and many old men who were all killed by onerocket.

Israeli tanks prevents ambulances from reaching wounded peoplein the same place. Among the recognized victims; Osama sliman, MueenAbu aljdya, Ahmed Abu sltan, Hamaoda Abu sultan, Ali Al sous,Muhammad Al atar, Ahmed Tantish and one from Al shalfooh family.Breaking News:

Three paramedics and ambulance staff killed by anartillery shell and F16 rocket near Shikh Ejlin area. The paramedicswere in a mission of rescuing a family hit near Al mahrosa hall.

Thefamily still bleeding and no news coming up about them till thismoment.

Day 9 of Israeli War On GazaNew Israeli weapons are used, death toll up, ground operation to start

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An excerpt from the blog "from Gaza, with Love"

No place is safe in Gaza. The first military air strikes struck at the exact time that school children make their way home. W here I live in Gaza City, several primary schools are very close to the police headquarters which were among the first targets. These horrifying facts explain the high number of women and children amongst the dead. Thirty children and nine women have been reported dead and another 130 children and 38 women injured.

I’ve spoken with friends and family in Gaza and my heart sunk further with their first-hand accounts of the death and destruction. On a personal level I am mourning the loss of one of my cousins, Ibrahim Mahmoud El-Farra, age 22. He was killed in the first attack on the presidential palace. F16 fighter planes fired three big missiles at the building. Neighbors tell me the ground shook and that the blast broke all the windows of my nearby apartment building.

My cousin, and an unknown number of other victims, is still under the rubble. The scale of destruction is too large for Gaza’s small number of rescue workers. They are slowly pulling body parts out of the rubble as Israeli air strikes make more and more piles of rubble and people.The number of reported deaths will increase in the next few days as more bodies are recovered and more of the seriously injured cases die because their serious but treatable wounds cannot be treated in Gaza.

Beyn Al Majzra wa Al Majzara

An excellent article, though in Arabic.

http://kanaanonline.org/ebulletin-ar/?paged=2

Welcome, and a poem from Darwish

Welcome to the blog. Gaza is being shelled, as the troops have began a ground offensive.

It would be most fitting to open this blog with the poetry of Mahmood Darwish, who died this past year.

The Earth Is Closing on Us

By Mahmoud Darwish

The earth is closing on us, pushing us through the last passage, and
we tear off our limbs to pass through.
The earth is squeezing us.
I wish we were its wheat so we could dieand live again.
I wish the earth was our mother
So she'd be kind to us.
I wish we were pictures on the rocks for our dreams to carry
As mirrors.
We saw the faces of those to be killed by the last of us inthe last defense of the soul.
We cried over their children's feast.
We saw the faces of those who'll throw our children
Out of the windows of the last space. Our star will hang up in mirrors.
Where should we go after the last frontiers?
Where should the birdsfly after the last sky?
Where should the plants sleep after the last breath of air?
We will write our names with scarlet steam.
We will cut off the head of the song to be finished by our flesh.
We will die here, here in the last passage.
Here and here our bloodwill plant its olive tree.