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Kristen Ess: Israel Pounds Gaza into Dust - audio and print
latest attack on Gaza, Palestinian political prisoners, demolition of houses, industry and infrastructure.
21min 28sec
21min 28sec
Listen now:
Occupied Palestine
25 January, 2003
At 9 o'clock yesterday morning the Israeli military destroyed all of the bridges that lead in and out of Beit Hanoun in the north of the Gaza Strip. Israeli tanks and helicopters then shelled the town for 18 hours.
Night before last Israeli occupation forces invaded Gaza City. One of the houses they destroyed is near where I used to live, next door to where many Palestinians still live. It is unusual for the Israeli military to invade Gaza City by land the way they do in the rest of the Gaza Strip. In the south, in Rafah for instance, every house I've lived in is now destroyed. I left one house for an hour in Rafah's Block O and the Israeli military destroyed it. But usually the IOF attacks Gaza City by air, by firing missiles from US donated Apache helicopters, as they also did last night. My friends from the Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights in Gaza City wrote this: "In the early morning hours of Friday, January 24, 2003, the IOF entered az-Zaytun area, west of Gaza City, and destroyed a house with explosives. The house is owned by the family of Mas’ud Ayad, who was assassinated by the Israeli military in 2000. Also, the IOF arrested four Palestinians; three of them are from the Ayad family. About twenty homes were damaged in the area due to the explosion. The same night Israeli helicopters shelled a metal shop in Gaza with five missiles. One of the missiles struck Saint Philips Church, which is located inside the Al Ahly Hospital, while a second missile hit a house directly, destroying it. One elderly woman died from a heart attack and three other people were injured."
There is more from this morning. "At approximately 9 am Friday, January 24, 2003, the IOF attacked the town of Beit Hanun, in the north of the Gaza Strip. They destroyed four bridges at the entrances of the town isolating the town completely. Israeli tanks and helicopters then shelled the town until 3 am killing 18-year-old Hasan Yusif Fayad, and injuring 20 others. In addition, numerous homes were damaged from the shelling, which also damaged electricity and phone lines. Meanwhile, on the same day, the IOF murdered 24-year-old Muhammad al-Musadar, who was mentally disabled, from the refugee camp of Al-Maghazi."
In Rafah the Israeli military is still smashing through people's houses. They plowed into Block O again yesterday and destroyed twenty-one homes. The area is already flooded with sewage and nearly uninhabitable. There is another wall next to the apartheid wall the Israeli military government is building made of broken toys and beds, bits from the houses. The children have nowhere to go. No one has anywhere to go. How is the Israeli propaganda machine managing to sell this to the international community?
The kids from Jenin wrote: "Whose the terrorist? You're the terrorist. How am I the terrorist living in my homeland?"
Last week in Khan Younis 70 Israeli tanks tore through the main streets of the town targeting auto repair shops and other similar industry. It is a common practice of the Israeli military government to destroy any mode of Palestinian economic sustainability. Targeted shootings are also common, not always to kill, but often to maim in specific areas of the body making a future of working or mobility difficult if not impossible. In Bethlehem's Aida Refugee Camp when Israeli soldiers shot the children who threw stones at the heavily armoured invading Israeli jeeps and tanks, they aimed at the legs of the children. Two, one who was just 10 years old (not 12 as was reported earlier), and a young teenager, will never walk properly again. Last summer a young man was hit by an Apache missile. He lived through it, but cannot walk without a limp and is in constant pain. Another boy is about to undergo a long term operation and recovery in order to have bullets removed from his leg. In the prisons the torture is often disabling. Israeli soldiers broke a friend's arm at the shoulder during interrogation. He put it back in place himself since he was denied medical treatment. He cannot move his arm properly now and is always in pain. He has a bullet in his back. The pain makes sleeping and using stairs difficult. Another friend who has an illicit mobile telephone inside an Israeli prisoner tells me that what I imagine happened to him at the hands of Israeli soldiers is true. He is being held without charge. When he gets out, if he gets out, the Israeli military government will be more easily able to sell their propaganda to the international community that it's just terrorists and felons that they are killing and that they must keep all Palestinians under curfew in order to "protect themselves." Israeli occupation forces abducted ten Palestinians from their sleeping homes in Bethelehem.
As Israelis enjoy the ability to hold elections, Palestinians in the West Bank remain under house arrest, unable to go to school, to work, and certainly unable to conduct elections.
Gaza City
26 January 2003
The Israeli occupying army attacked Gaza City again last night. They murdered 12 Palestinians and targeted infrastructure. They destroyed homes, shops, roads, and electricity. Over 40 people are injured. Friends called throughout the night, terrified. "What can we do? We sit here and wait." Another who left his home in the Zaytun neighborhood which was surrounded by tanks told me from his safe place, "They are close to here now too. Listen." He held the phone out to the air. Tank shells and missile fire were heard throughout the Gaza Strip. This morning a friend from a Gaza City NGO was at what was once the print shop we use. It is the place that prints human rights pamphlets and posters. Now it is completely destroyed.
The occupying Israeli military went into Beit Hanoun again. They closed the main street with sand and barbed wire. There is no way out.
Israeli soldiers just shot a man in Rafah's Brazil refugee camp. One man in the area told me, "It's just getting worse here."
These assaults constitute war crimes under humanitarian law. The targeting of civilians and civilian property during the above incursions are grave breaches of Articles 33, 53 and 147 of the 4th Geneva Convention, which also prohibits collective punishment.
This is occurring while the Israeli military government dissembles that it has a democracy and is holding elections. Its funding is coming from the United States which continues its ten year assault on the Iraqi people via bombardment and sanctions. We wait for its official declaration of war.
Kristen Ess
Occupied Palestine
25 January, 2003
At 9 o'clock yesterday morning the Israeli military destroyed all of the bridges that lead in and out of Beit Hanoun in the north of the Gaza Strip. Israeli tanks and helicopters then shelled the town for 18 hours.
Night before last Israeli occupation forces invaded Gaza City. One of the houses they destroyed is near where I used to live, next door to where many Palestinians still live. It is unusual for the Israeli military to invade Gaza City by land the way they do in the rest of the Gaza Strip. In the south, in Rafah for instance, every house I've lived in is now destroyed. I left one house for an hour in Rafah's Block O and the Israeli military destroyed it. But usually the IOF attacks Gaza City by air, by firing missiles from US donated Apache helicopters, as they also did last night. My friends from the Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights in Gaza City wrote this: "In the early morning hours of Friday, January 24, 2003, the IOF entered az-Zaytun area, west of Gaza City, and destroyed a house with explosives. The house is owned by the family of Mas’ud Ayad, who was assassinated by the Israeli military in 2000. Also, the IOF arrested four Palestinians; three of them are from the Ayad family. About twenty homes were damaged in the area due to the explosion. The same night Israeli helicopters shelled a metal shop in Gaza with five missiles. One of the missiles struck Saint Philips Church, which is located inside the Al Ahly Hospital, while a second missile hit a house directly, destroying it. One elderly woman died from a heart attack and three other people were injured."
There is more from this morning. "At approximately 9 am Friday, January 24, 2003, the IOF attacked the town of Beit Hanun, in the north of the Gaza Strip. They destroyed four bridges at the entrances of the town isolating the town completely. Israeli tanks and helicopters then shelled the town until 3 am killing 18-year-old Hasan Yusif Fayad, and injuring 20 others. In addition, numerous homes were damaged from the shelling, which also damaged electricity and phone lines. Meanwhile, on the same day, the IOF murdered 24-year-old Muhammad al-Musadar, who was mentally disabled, from the refugee camp of Al-Maghazi."
In Rafah the Israeli military is still smashing through people's houses. They plowed into Block O again yesterday and destroyed twenty-one homes. The area is already flooded with sewage and nearly uninhabitable. There is another wall next to the apartheid wall the Israeli military government is building made of broken toys and beds, bits from the houses. The children have nowhere to go. No one has anywhere to go. How is the Israeli propaganda machine managing to sell this to the international community?
The kids from Jenin wrote: "Whose the terrorist? You're the terrorist. How am I the terrorist living in my homeland?"
Last week in Khan Younis 70 Israeli tanks tore through the main streets of the town targeting auto repair shops and other similar industry. It is a common practice of the Israeli military government to destroy any mode of Palestinian economic sustainability. Targeted shootings are also common, not always to kill, but often to maim in specific areas of the body making a future of working or mobility difficult if not impossible. In Bethlehem's Aida Refugee Camp when Israeli soldiers shot the children who threw stones at the heavily armoured invading Israeli jeeps and tanks, they aimed at the legs of the children. Two, one who was just 10 years old (not 12 as was reported earlier), and a young teenager, will never walk properly again. Last summer a young man was hit by an Apache missile. He lived through it, but cannot walk without a limp and is in constant pain. Another boy is about to undergo a long term operation and recovery in order to have bullets removed from his leg. In the prisons the torture is often disabling. Israeli soldiers broke a friend's arm at the shoulder during interrogation. He put it back in place himself since he was denied medical treatment. He cannot move his arm properly now and is always in pain. He has a bullet in his back. The pain makes sleeping and using stairs difficult. Another friend who has an illicit mobile telephone inside an Israeli prisoner tells me that what I imagine happened to him at the hands of Israeli soldiers is true. He is being held without charge. When he gets out, if he gets out, the Israeli military government will be more easily able to sell their propaganda to the international community that it's just terrorists and felons that they are killing and that they must keep all Palestinians under curfew in order to "protect themselves." Israeli occupation forces abducted ten Palestinians from their sleeping homes in Bethelehem.
As Israelis enjoy the ability to hold elections, Palestinians in the West Bank remain under house arrest, unable to go to school, to work, and certainly unable to conduct elections.
Gaza City
26 January 2003
The Israeli occupying army attacked Gaza City again last night. They murdered 12 Palestinians and targeted infrastructure. They destroyed homes, shops, roads, and electricity. Over 40 people are injured. Friends called throughout the night, terrified. "What can we do? We sit here and wait." Another who left his home in the Zaytun neighborhood which was surrounded by tanks told me from his safe place, "They are close to here now too. Listen." He held the phone out to the air. Tank shells and missile fire were heard throughout the Gaza Strip. This morning a friend from a Gaza City NGO was at what was once the print shop we use. It is the place that prints human rights pamphlets and posters. Now it is completely destroyed.
The occupying Israeli military went into Beit Hanoun again. They closed the main street with sand and barbed wire. There is no way out.
Israeli soldiers just shot a man in Rafah's Brazil refugee camp. One man in the area told me, "It's just getting worse here."
These assaults constitute war crimes under humanitarian law. The targeting of civilians and civilian property during the above incursions are grave breaches of Articles 33, 53 and 147 of the 4th Geneva Convention, which also prohibits collective punishment.
This is occurring while the Israeli military government dissembles that it has a democracy and is holding elections. Its funding is coming from the United States which continues its ten year assault on the Iraqi people via bombardment and sanctions. We wait for its official declaration of war.
Kristen Ess
Occupied Palestine
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This is a great audio from Kristen Ess. It conveys the reality of the situation in the Gaza strip. The Israelis incessantly tell us the Palestinians are trying to "destroy" Israel. After listening to this you'll realize the truth of the situation that Israel has been and is continuing to destroy Palestine.
This is a very important account to listen to because it is from someone who has lived and travelled the Gaza Strip and describes the reality as it exists there.
--"The operation in question came in response to the launching of 16 Kassam rockets into Israel and at communities in the Gaza Strip over the weekend."
I suppose that was just unprovoked, out of the blue -- no Israeli Occupation, no Israeli provocations (as if Israel's ethnic cleansing of Palestine for the past 55 years is not provocation enough).
Didn't Israel just use our Apache Helicopters that we gave to them for free to fire missiles into a Palestinian hospital a couple days ago?
I suppose that was just unprovoked, out of the blue -- no Israeli Occupation, no Israeli provocations (as if Israel's ethnic cleansing of Palestine for the past 55 years is not provocation enough).
Didn't Israel just use our Apache Helicopters that we gave to them for free to fire missiles into a Palestinian hospital a couple days ago?
Israeli "secret evidence" is enough for Israel's supporters to support the abduction and killings of any Palestinian alive including nine and ten year old children playing outside.
As far as Israelis are concerned, every Palestinian is a "suspected terrorist." The Israelis have created their own enemies by robbing the indigenous people of their property and homeland and attacking their neighbors in 1956, 1967, 1978, and 1982.
http://www.antiwar.com/hacohen/h021502.html
Letter From Israel
by Ran HaCohen
Antiwar.com
February 15, 2002
Terrorism Vs. Occupation
Readers very often accuse me of not writing about Palestinian terrorism against Israel. A typical reader writes: "if Israeli
gunmen were going in Palestinian pizza places, weddings, buses, discos, shoe stores and deliberately massacring Palestinian
civilians, Ran HaCohen would go on a tirade against Israel. Yet he remains silent on Arab terrorism against Israeli civilians." I
would like to relate to this accusation. But before doing that, let me pay a small tribute to a brave Israeli soldier who refuses to
serve in the occupied territories any longer. The Tel-Aviv weekly Ha'Ir last week printed forty short evidences of such refusers;
here is one of them. Not the most shocking one. The harder stuff sometimes makes it to the news. But it illustrates some of the
daily, banal routines of occupation, countless similar scenes that take place every day, every night, in endless variations. And
they all count as "no news".
A SOLDIER'S STORY
"Jabaliya (a refugee camp near Gaza). Terrible heat. It's after midnight, we are on our way to arrest "wanted people"
– small criminals and tax-evaders whom the Shin Bet wants to blackmail. We surround the area and storm into the
house. The officer quickly climbs the wall and I, his signalman, close behind him. We break into the "house": a single
small room, blankets on the floor, four kids aged two to six or seven. They and the parents – a young woman and a not
so young man – all wake up in panic, weeping and yelling. They are hysteric, and we, very young soldiers, too. We
shout at them to shut up and at the man to dress up, and "search" the home. There is nothing to find, nothing to look
for. Handcuffs, and out to the lorry. Several arrested Palestinians have been gathered there, and someone from the
Civil Administration is ‘taking care' of them: slaps in the face, kicking. I want to say something, but off we go to the
Shin Bet camp. The man we have arrested is smashed at the lorry's floor, weeping, sobbing in fear, with a broken
voice, ‘I beg you, I beg you...'" (written by Sergeant (res.) Yotam Cohen)
ALTRUISM AND DISTRACTION
Now back to why I don't write on terrorism. Surprisingly, this accusation comes mostly from American readers. At first I
thought I should be grateful for this rare token of altruism: Are people living in the US actually more concerned about my
well-being than I am?! But as all too often the complaints ended with such cordial blessing as "you racist anti-Semite", I
gathered that pure altruism might not be the true motivation. So why do people want me to talk about terrorism? Surely not
because they know too little about it. As a mourning Palestinian mother said last week, international press would pay more
attention to a Jewish settler's dog injured in a terrorist attack than to her dead child. Terrorism is the most popular term in
Middle East media coverage, and still people want me to talk about it too. So why? I believe it is because those people do not
want me to talk about another term: occupation. Note how seldom this term is used when the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is dealt
with. In fact, when you hear someone say "terrorism" over and over again, you can be certain he won't use the term
"occupation".
TERRORISM VS. OCCUPATION
Terrorism and Occupation may look like twin brothers. Both are illegitimate: occupation is acknowledged by international law,
but for a limited time, not for 35 years; resistance to occupation (which is what Palestinian terrorism is about) is legitimate too,
but not when innocent people are targeted. Both are murderous: innocent Israelis fall victim to terrorism, innocent Palestinians
fall victim to occupation. Terrorism is pervasive: it threatens all Israelis; Occupation is even more pervasive: all Palestinians are
under occupation, and as we have seen above, while terrorism can get Israelis in pizza places or discos, occupation visits
Palestinians in bed, either by a missile or because some Shin Bet agent wants to blackmail them into collaboration. Needless to
say, the number of Palestinian victims of the occupation overwhelmingly exceeds the number of Israeli victims of terrorism – if
you like, one more reason to talk about occupation more than terrorism.
Israel, especially since September 11th but even long before, has been trying to convince the world that the Palestinian
Authority, not just individual Palestinians, is engaged in terrorism. True or not, the uncontroversial reality is that the State of
Israel, not individual Israelis, is running the occupation. Israel sometimes claims that the occupation has been forced upon it
against its will. It is one of the most ridiculous claims I have ever heard, but this is actually what Ehud Barak's celebrated
"analytical mind" was trying to sell us: that because he had supposedly made some "generous offers" to the Palestinians, and
because they had supposedly rejected these offers, Israel could not stop the occupation. Sounds ridiculous? Ask some Israel
fans and you'll see how seriously they take this joke.
WHY OCCUPATION?
The simple fact is that Israel is occupying the territories because it wants to occupy them. It does not withdraw from them,
because it wants to take the land for settlements, for water and for regional strategic considerations. It does not annex them,
because it does not want to give citizenship to three million Palestinians. Occupation is the only way to satisfy both aims. It may
be direct occupation, it may be an indirect one: in fact, Israel is generously offering the Palestinians both options. Israel's present
message to Arafat is expressed clearly and shamelessly: either you comply with the occupation, or we replace you with some
other "leaders" who will. Shimon Peres prefers the former option, Sharon prefers the latter. They both support the occupation,
they have both done more than any other Israeli politician for the sake of the Israeli settlements, they differ in tactics but share
the same cause.
ENLIGHTENED OCCUPATION
Centuries of colonialism have proved that "an enlightened occupation" is a contradiction is terms. Occupation cannot be
tolerable and therefore cannot be tolerated. Expecting a people to live without political rights is both unreasonable and immoral.
The occupied Palestinians, in order to get rid of the occupation, use violence – verbal violence, physical violence, violence
against soldiers and settlers and deplorable violence against innocent people. Thus, the occupation becomes ever more violent
and the deprivation of political rights is inevitably followed by violations of human rights. You cannot oppress one people for the
sake of another without resorting to atrocities. It starts with exploiting one's weakness (a sick elderly mother, a sick child) to
blackmail one into collaboration, it goes all the way through torture, siege, starving and killing and it ends in letting a pregnant
woman die with her infant at a checkpoint.
As Friedrich Schiller said, this is the curse of the evil deed: it inevitably gives birth to ever more evil. Indeed, Palestinian
terrorism has increased step by step with occupation; the cruelest stage of occupation, with the whole world singing the praises
of Oslo while the settlements were expanding rapidly and the cantonisation of the territories by checkpoints and highways was
advancing in an unprecedented high pace, gave birth to the appalling phenomenon of Palestinians whose despair had
overwhelmed them to the point of being ready to die in order to kill their oppressors. Just like the 200,000 settlers, just like the
hundreds of checkpoints, the suicide bombers haven't always been there: they emerged in a specific historical context.
HOW TO STOP TERRORISM
So why don't I talk of terrorism? Because Palestinian Terrorism is not the Occupation's twin brother, but rather its murderous
offspring. Like father, like son. Terrorism is horrible; but occupation is too, and the former is the result of the latter. To stop the
circle of violence, to stop terrorism, the occupation must stop first. Since a one-state solution seems unlikely under the present
circumstances, Israel must end the occupation by withdrawing all its forces, dismantling all its settlements and letting the
Palestinians establish a true independent state in the entire territories occupied in 1967. This is the only way to uproot terrorism,
not bulldozing the Gaza strip or aiming a cannon at imprisoned Arafat's head.
Talking of terrorism has become a way to keep silent about occupation. This is what some readers want me to do: to stop
talking about occupation and to talk about terrorism instead. Sorry, guys: talking about Palestinian terrorism will not save
anyone's life. It's talking about occupation that will hopefully bring both occupation and terrorism – in this order – to an end.
Please Support Antiwar.com
Antiwar.com
520 S. Murphy Avenue, #202
Sunnyvale, CA 94086
Back to Antiwar.com Home Page | Contact Us
Letter From Israel
by Ran HaCohen
Antiwar.com
February 15, 2002
Terrorism Vs. Occupation
Readers very often accuse me of not writing about Palestinian terrorism against Israel. A typical reader writes: "if Israeli
gunmen were going in Palestinian pizza places, weddings, buses, discos, shoe stores and deliberately massacring Palestinian
civilians, Ran HaCohen would go on a tirade against Israel. Yet he remains silent on Arab terrorism against Israeli civilians." I
would like to relate to this accusation. But before doing that, let me pay a small tribute to a brave Israeli soldier who refuses to
serve in the occupied territories any longer. The Tel-Aviv weekly Ha'Ir last week printed forty short evidences of such refusers;
here is one of them. Not the most shocking one. The harder stuff sometimes makes it to the news. But it illustrates some of the
daily, banal routines of occupation, countless similar scenes that take place every day, every night, in endless variations. And
they all count as "no news".
A SOLDIER'S STORY
"Jabaliya (a refugee camp near Gaza). Terrible heat. It's after midnight, we are on our way to arrest "wanted people"
– small criminals and tax-evaders whom the Shin Bet wants to blackmail. We surround the area and storm into the
house. The officer quickly climbs the wall and I, his signalman, close behind him. We break into the "house": a single
small room, blankets on the floor, four kids aged two to six or seven. They and the parents – a young woman and a not
so young man – all wake up in panic, weeping and yelling. They are hysteric, and we, very young soldiers, too. We
shout at them to shut up and at the man to dress up, and "search" the home. There is nothing to find, nothing to look
for. Handcuffs, and out to the lorry. Several arrested Palestinians have been gathered there, and someone from the
Civil Administration is ‘taking care' of them: slaps in the face, kicking. I want to say something, but off we go to the
Shin Bet camp. The man we have arrested is smashed at the lorry's floor, weeping, sobbing in fear, with a broken
voice, ‘I beg you, I beg you...'" (written by Sergeant (res.) Yotam Cohen)
ALTRUISM AND DISTRACTION
Now back to why I don't write on terrorism. Surprisingly, this accusation comes mostly from American readers. At first I
thought I should be grateful for this rare token of altruism: Are people living in the US actually more concerned about my
well-being than I am?! But as all too often the complaints ended with such cordial blessing as "you racist anti-Semite", I
gathered that pure altruism might not be the true motivation. So why do people want me to talk about terrorism? Surely not
because they know too little about it. As a mourning Palestinian mother said last week, international press would pay more
attention to a Jewish settler's dog injured in a terrorist attack than to her dead child. Terrorism is the most popular term in
Middle East media coverage, and still people want me to talk about it too. So why? I believe it is because those people do not
want me to talk about another term: occupation. Note how seldom this term is used when the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is dealt
with. In fact, when you hear someone say "terrorism" over and over again, you can be certain he won't use the term
"occupation".
TERRORISM VS. OCCUPATION
Terrorism and Occupation may look like twin brothers. Both are illegitimate: occupation is acknowledged by international law,
but for a limited time, not for 35 years; resistance to occupation (which is what Palestinian terrorism is about) is legitimate too,
but not when innocent people are targeted. Both are murderous: innocent Israelis fall victim to terrorism, innocent Palestinians
fall victim to occupation. Terrorism is pervasive: it threatens all Israelis; Occupation is even more pervasive: all Palestinians are
under occupation, and as we have seen above, while terrorism can get Israelis in pizza places or discos, occupation visits
Palestinians in bed, either by a missile or because some Shin Bet agent wants to blackmail them into collaboration. Needless to
say, the number of Palestinian victims of the occupation overwhelmingly exceeds the number of Israeli victims of terrorism – if
you like, one more reason to talk about occupation more than terrorism.
Israel, especially since September 11th but even long before, has been trying to convince the world that the Palestinian
Authority, not just individual Palestinians, is engaged in terrorism. True or not, the uncontroversial reality is that the State of
Israel, not individual Israelis, is running the occupation. Israel sometimes claims that the occupation has been forced upon it
against its will. It is one of the most ridiculous claims I have ever heard, but this is actually what Ehud Barak's celebrated
"analytical mind" was trying to sell us: that because he had supposedly made some "generous offers" to the Palestinians, and
because they had supposedly rejected these offers, Israel could not stop the occupation. Sounds ridiculous? Ask some Israel
fans and you'll see how seriously they take this joke.
WHY OCCUPATION?
The simple fact is that Israel is occupying the territories because it wants to occupy them. It does not withdraw from them,
because it wants to take the land for settlements, for water and for regional strategic considerations. It does not annex them,
because it does not want to give citizenship to three million Palestinians. Occupation is the only way to satisfy both aims. It may
be direct occupation, it may be an indirect one: in fact, Israel is generously offering the Palestinians both options. Israel's present
message to Arafat is expressed clearly and shamelessly: either you comply with the occupation, or we replace you with some
other "leaders" who will. Shimon Peres prefers the former option, Sharon prefers the latter. They both support the occupation,
they have both done more than any other Israeli politician for the sake of the Israeli settlements, they differ in tactics but share
the same cause.
ENLIGHTENED OCCUPATION
Centuries of colonialism have proved that "an enlightened occupation" is a contradiction is terms. Occupation cannot be
tolerable and therefore cannot be tolerated. Expecting a people to live without political rights is both unreasonable and immoral.
The occupied Palestinians, in order to get rid of the occupation, use violence – verbal violence, physical violence, violence
against soldiers and settlers and deplorable violence against innocent people. Thus, the occupation becomes ever more violent
and the deprivation of political rights is inevitably followed by violations of human rights. You cannot oppress one people for the
sake of another without resorting to atrocities. It starts with exploiting one's weakness (a sick elderly mother, a sick child) to
blackmail one into collaboration, it goes all the way through torture, siege, starving and killing and it ends in letting a pregnant
woman die with her infant at a checkpoint.
As Friedrich Schiller said, this is the curse of the evil deed: it inevitably gives birth to ever more evil. Indeed, Palestinian
terrorism has increased step by step with occupation; the cruelest stage of occupation, with the whole world singing the praises
of Oslo while the settlements were expanding rapidly and the cantonisation of the territories by checkpoints and highways was
advancing in an unprecedented high pace, gave birth to the appalling phenomenon of Palestinians whose despair had
overwhelmed them to the point of being ready to die in order to kill their oppressors. Just like the 200,000 settlers, just like the
hundreds of checkpoints, the suicide bombers haven't always been there: they emerged in a specific historical context.
HOW TO STOP TERRORISM
So why don't I talk of terrorism? Because Palestinian Terrorism is not the Occupation's twin brother, but rather its murderous
offspring. Like father, like son. Terrorism is horrible; but occupation is too, and the former is the result of the latter. To stop the
circle of violence, to stop terrorism, the occupation must stop first. Since a one-state solution seems unlikely under the present
circumstances, Israel must end the occupation by withdrawing all its forces, dismantling all its settlements and letting the
Palestinians establish a true independent state in the entire territories occupied in 1967. This is the only way to uproot terrorism,
not bulldozing the Gaza strip or aiming a cannon at imprisoned Arafat's head.
Talking of terrorism has become a way to keep silent about occupation. This is what some readers want me to do: to stop
talking about occupation and to talk about terrorism instead. Sorry, guys: talking about Palestinian terrorism will not save
anyone's life. It's talking about occupation that will hopefully bring both occupation and terrorism – in this order – to an end.
Please Support Antiwar.com
Antiwar.com
520 S. Murphy Avenue, #202
Sunnyvale, CA 94086
Back to Antiwar.com Home Page | Contact Us
If you haven't listened to this yet, be sure to do so. It's a firsthand account from an activist (Kristen Ess) of the reality that exists in the Gaza Strip. Israelis have made life unliveable there yet claim to be the victims of terrorism rather than the main terrorists.
When see sais Israel murdered 12 civilians the truth is that 12 Hammas activists who resisted the Israeli action (by shoting at the Israeli army) were killed.
I am not justifying what israel does or what the hammas does I am just pointing out the fact that Kristen lies.
She also do not tell you the context:
Hammas actvist fired from Gaza 11 missiles at the israeli town of Sderot (not in gaza, not a settlemnt) they nearly missed a school. Israel went to Gaza to arrest the Hammas activist or stop them.
There are more lies in Kristen reports but i am sure Dennis Bernstein will have anew set of lies at 5:00 PM falsepoints.
Now you have abit more facts - what do you think ?
I am not justifying what israel does or what the hammas does I am just pointing out the fact that Kristen lies.
She also do not tell you the context:
Hammas actvist fired from Gaza 11 missiles at the israeli town of Sderot (not in gaza, not a settlemnt) they nearly missed a school. Israel went to Gaza to arrest the Hammas activist or stop them.
There are more lies in Kristen reports but i am sure Dennis Bernstein will have anew set of lies at 5:00 PM falsepoints.
Now you have abit more facts - what do you think ?
Here is a part of the text frm Haaretz ... so we can all have the facts ...
"Thirteen Palestinians were killed yesterday in a massive Israel Defense Forces raid into Gaza meant to put an end to Palestinian rocket and mortar attacks on the Negev and settlements inside the Strip. Just hours after the raid, Qassam rockets landed in Sderot, causing neither casualties nor damage. "
There's the source :
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=256353&contrassID=2&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0
Sincerely yours
BurningHead
"Thirteen Palestinians were killed yesterday in a massive Israel Defense Forces raid into Gaza meant to put an end to Palestinian rocket and mortar attacks on the Negev and settlements inside the Strip. Just hours after the raid, Qassam rockets landed in Sderot, causing neither casualties nor damage. "
There's the source :
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=256353&contrassID=2&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0
Sincerely yours
BurningHead
but 13 Palestinians, all in their early 20s, were killed as the army conducted operations until early morning. Resistance included anti-tank rockets and landmines, as well as small arms fire and hand grenades.
.....when the operation was over the army reported that some 100 workshops where primitive Qassam rockets and mortars were manufactured, had been destroyed.
Palestinian sources said that while the army was destroying rocket and mortar manufacturing facilities, it also destroyed a plant that manufactures trash cans for the municipality......
According to Gaza sources, at least eight of the Palestinians killed in the operation belonged to either the Fatah or Hamas.
After the troops withdrew, about 30,000 Palestinians joined the funeral procession for the gunmen killed in the fighting, which was the highest death toll in Gaza in five months.
"The Israelis will pay a heavy price for every drop of blood shed last night," Abdel Aziz Rantisi, a Hamas leader, told the crowd at the funeral. "Our battle will continue until we uproot this Zionist occupation from our holy land, no matter what the sacrifice."
The army said it "raided dozens of buildings used as weapon-producing workshops," destroying equipment. Also, soldiers blew up two houses belonging to militants.
.....when the operation was over the army reported that some 100 workshops where primitive Qassam rockets and mortars were manufactured, had been destroyed.
Palestinian sources said that while the army was destroying rocket and mortar manufacturing facilities, it also destroyed a plant that manufactures trash cans for the municipality......
According to Gaza sources, at least eight of the Palestinians killed in the operation belonged to either the Fatah or Hamas.
After the troops withdrew, about 30,000 Palestinians joined the funeral procession for the gunmen killed in the fighting, which was the highest death toll in Gaza in five months.
"The Israelis will pay a heavy price for every drop of blood shed last night," Abdel Aziz Rantisi, a Hamas leader, told the crowd at the funeral. "Our battle will continue until we uproot this Zionist occupation from our holy land, no matter what the sacrifice."
The army said it "raided dozens of buildings used as weapon-producing workshops," destroying equipment. Also, soldiers blew up two houses belonging to militants.
All the dead are Military age men.
The operation was to destroy rockwet Mfr facility
The operation was after an israeli school was hit by rocket attack.
Did Kristen said any of this ?
No.
And nither will Dennis Bernstein.
They can not handle the truth - the complete truth so they lie and give a partial picture a very biased picture.
Nothing I say should be understood as justifying either what Israel or hammas does. It is clear however that the Hammas attack civilians at their homes and schools and that if Palestinian will just sit tight and will not interrupt the army when it destroy Hamass rocket workshops noone will get killed. After all the Palestinian resitance is not effective - the army ecomplished it's mission so by bother resitining ?
On the other hand Should Israel just sit tight and do nothing when it's schools are bombarded by Rockets ?
You have the information - what do you think ?
The operation was to destroy rockwet Mfr facility
The operation was after an israeli school was hit by rocket attack.
Did Kristen said any of this ?
No.
And nither will Dennis Bernstein.
They can not handle the truth - the complete truth so they lie and give a partial picture a very biased picture.
Nothing I say should be understood as justifying either what Israel or hammas does. It is clear however that the Hammas attack civilians at their homes and schools and that if Palestinian will just sit tight and will not interrupt the army when it destroy Hamass rocket workshops noone will get killed. After all the Palestinian resitance is not effective - the army ecomplished it's mission so by bother resitining ?
On the other hand Should Israel just sit tight and do nothing when it's schools are bombarded by Rockets ?
You have the information - what do you think ?
In apartheid Israel there are lots of them. See one for yourself at http://www.inminds.co.uk/boycott-news-0319.html
when you post sexist stuff like "But you can pound me like Gaza any time" of course you can expect to be hidden...
back to the top
--"All the dead are Military age men."
As far as Israel's supporters are concerned all Palestinians are "Military aged men" -- even the seven year old child killed while playing during this latest "incursion" and young women shot in the head etc. There are no innocent Palestinians as far as pro-Israelis are concerned.
As far as Israel's supporters are concerned all Palestinians are "Military aged men" -- even the seven year old child killed while playing during this latest "incursion" and young women shot in the head etc. There are no innocent Palestinians as far as pro-Israelis are concerned.
Bull shit comment on SF indy.
Not all Palestinians are targets.
In fact, check the numbers the number of Israeli women murdered by palestinians is 3 times more than the number of Palestinian women accidently killed by the Israeli army. Just check the numbers.
Not all Palestinians are targets.
In fact, check the numbers the number of Israeli women murdered by palestinians is 3 times more than the number of Palestinian women accidently killed by the Israeli army. Just check the numbers.
In a chilling interview conducted by Ha'aretz correspondent Amira Hass, an IDF sharpshooter admitted it was IDF policy to shoot at children above the age of 12. Here is an excerpt [AH = Hass, IS = Sharpshooter]:
(AH) You haven't shot children.
(IS) "All the sharpshooters haven't shot children."
(AH) But nonetheless there are children who were hit, wounded or killed after they were hit in the head. Unless these were mistakes.
(IS) "If they were children, they were mistakes."
(AH) Do they talk about this?
(IS) "They talk to us about this a lot. They forbid us to shoot at children."
(AH) How do they say this?
(IS) "You don't shoot a child who is 12 or younger."
(AH) That is, a child of 12 or older is allowed?
(IS) "Twelve and up is allowed. He's not a child any more, he's already after his bar mitzvah. Something like that."
(AH) Thirteen is bar mitzvah age.
(IS) "Twelve and up, you're allowed to shoot. That's what they tell us."
(AH) Again: Twelve and up you're allowed to shoot children.
(IS) "Because this already doesn't look to me like a child by definition, even though in the United States a child can be 23."
(AH) Under international law, a child is defined as someone
up to the age of 18.
(IS) "Up until 18 is a child?"
(AH) So, according to the IDF, it is 12?
(IS) "According to what the IDF says to its soldiers. I don't know if this is what the IDF says to the media."
(AH) And children are from 12 down. Is there no order that between 12 and 18 you shoot at the legs and not the head?
(IS) "Of course we try to see to it that he really is over
20."
(AH) In the 10 seconds that you have.
(IS) "In the 10 seconds that I have, I have to estimate how old he is."
(AH) And in what direction the wind is blowing, and the deviation here and there, and which way he'll jump the next moment.
(IS) "Yes, but there are hardly any mistakes by sharpshooters. The mistakes are made by people who aren't sharpshooters."
(AH) And it turns out that they happen to hit the children's heads, and all this is just by chance?
(IS) "If you say you have seen children that have been hit in the head a lot, then it is sharpshooters."
(AH) So what you're saying is that our definition of children is different.
(IS) "Your definition is different."
(AH) Because for you it's someone who is 12.
(IS) "Yes."
(AH) But a child of 13 doesn't bear arms, no matter what you call him, a boy or a teenager or an adult.
(IS) "He isn't holding a gun but a firebomb, and in certain places it is possible also to fire on people who throw firebombs."
["Don't shoot till you can see they're over the age of 12," Ha'aretz, November 20, 2000]
(AH) You haven't shot children.
(IS) "All the sharpshooters haven't shot children."
(AH) But nonetheless there are children who were hit, wounded or killed after they were hit in the head. Unless these were mistakes.
(IS) "If they were children, they were mistakes."
(AH) Do they talk about this?
(IS) "They talk to us about this a lot. They forbid us to shoot at children."
(AH) How do they say this?
(IS) "You don't shoot a child who is 12 or younger."
(AH) That is, a child of 12 or older is allowed?
(IS) "Twelve and up is allowed. He's not a child any more, he's already after his bar mitzvah. Something like that."
(AH) Thirteen is bar mitzvah age.
(IS) "Twelve and up, you're allowed to shoot. That's what they tell us."
(AH) Again: Twelve and up you're allowed to shoot children.
(IS) "Because this already doesn't look to me like a child by definition, even though in the United States a child can be 23."
(AH) Under international law, a child is defined as someone
up to the age of 18.
(IS) "Up until 18 is a child?"
(AH) So, according to the IDF, it is 12?
(IS) "According to what the IDF says to its soldiers. I don't know if this is what the IDF says to the media."
(AH) And children are from 12 down. Is there no order that between 12 and 18 you shoot at the legs and not the head?
(IS) "Of course we try to see to it that he really is over
20."
(AH) In the 10 seconds that you have.
(IS) "In the 10 seconds that I have, I have to estimate how old he is."
(AH) And in what direction the wind is blowing, and the deviation here and there, and which way he'll jump the next moment.
(IS) "Yes, but there are hardly any mistakes by sharpshooters. The mistakes are made by people who aren't sharpshooters."
(AH) And it turns out that they happen to hit the children's heads, and all this is just by chance?
(IS) "If you say you have seen children that have been hit in the head a lot, then it is sharpshooters."
(AH) So what you're saying is that our definition of children is different.
(IS) "Your definition is different."
(AH) Because for you it's someone who is 12.
(IS) "Yes."
(AH) But a child of 13 doesn't bear arms, no matter what you call him, a boy or a teenager or an adult.
(IS) "He isn't holding a gun but a firebomb, and in certain places it is possible also to fire on people who throw firebombs."
["Don't shoot till you can see they're over the age of 12," Ha'aretz, November 20, 2000]
For more information:
http://www.counterpunch.org/sunil1.html
Just check the numbers - it is Palestinians who succefully target israeli civilians. More israel women were murdered by Palestinians than Israel mistacly killed Palestinian women.
The IDF make an effort NOT to hurt civilians.
The Terrorist ONLY traget civilians.
The IDF make an effort NOT to hurt civilians.
The Terrorist ONLY traget civilians.
See the movie "Palestine is Still the Issue" at the First Methodist church in San Rafael at 9 Ross Valley Road (get directions from Yahoo maps). 7pm on Wed. Jan. 29 for $7. See the literal "shit" the Israeli army gives the Palestinians. See for yourself the bypass roads, the illegal Jews-only settlements on stolen Palestinian land. See for yourself what our US tax dollars is supporting in apartheid Israel.
make sure you understand the difference between what you SEE and what you are told about what you see.
Any by-pass road can be described as "jews only" road when infact on every road in Israel there are many Arab drivers.
Any by-pass road can be described as "jews only" road when infact on every road in Israel there are many Arab drivers.
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