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12/30: Israel’s lie machine is working flat out + PR Statements from Israel Defending Attack Gaza PDF Print E-mail

12/30: Israel’s lie machine is working flat out + PR Statements from Pro-Israel group defending attack Gaza

1) Israel’s lie machine is working flat out (al Jazeera)
2) Palestine's Guernica and the Myths of Israeli Victimhood (Huffington Post)
3) Israel Defends Citizens from Hamas (The Israel Project)
4) Arab Leaders, Civilians Blame Hamas for Gaza Violence Israeli City of Beersheba Hit by Gaza Rockets (The Israel Project)

 

1) Israel’s lie machine is working flat out

30/12/2008
By Stuart Littlewood - al Jazeera
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/newsfull.php?newid=199055
While the murderous assault on Gaza continues, I notice there's a briefing document on the website of the Israeli Embassy in London which has a lie in every line. The West's mainstream media repeat them, and even the most senior TV and radio interviewers don’t bother to challenge them.
(Watch video: Israel launches deadly air strikes on Gaza)
(Watch video: UN calls for Israel to open Gaza border to aid)
The document is a transcript of Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's statement to the Israeli press dated 27 December 2008 – a day that will live in infamy. It is a perfect example of the falsehoods used to dupe not only us westerners but Israel’s own people. The statement shows how the regime's view of itself is constructed on a web of dishonesty and self-delusion.
For example:
• "Israeli citizens have been under the threat of daily attack from Gaza for years."
Palestinians have been under harsh Israeli occupation for 60 years.
• "Only this week hundreds of missiles and mortars shells were fired at Israeli civilian communities."
Only one in 500 Qassam rockets causes a fatality. How many thousands of Israeli bombs, missiles, rockets, grenades and tank-shells have been blasted into the crowded city and towns of the Gaza Strip by Israel’s high-tech weaponry?
• "Until now we have shown restraint. But today there is no other option than a military operation."
The only legitimate option for Israel is to end the occupation and withdraw behind its 1967 border, as required under international law and UN resolution. Israel has been killing Palestinians at the rate of 8 to 1 since 2000, and children at the rate of nearly 12 to 1 (B’Tselem figures). This is somebody’s idea of restraint?
• "We need to protect our citizens from attack through a military response against the terror infrastructure in Gaza."
Self defence is not a right exclusive to Israel. Palestinians have an equal right to protect their citizens from the terror tactics of Israel.
• "Israel left Gaza in order to create an opportunity for peace."
Israel never left Gaza. It still occupies Gaza's airspace and coastal waters and controls all entrances and exits.
• "In return, the Hamas terror organization took control of Gaza and is using its citizens as cover while it deliberately targets Israeli communities and denies any chance for peace."
Hamas was voted into power as the legitimate government of Palestine. Israel chose not to accept the people's choice, which amounted to a denial of their human rights, and immediately set about obliterating it.
• "We have tried everything to reach calm without using force. We agreed to a truce through Egypt that was violated by Hamas, which continued to target Israel, hold Gilad Shalit and build up its arms."
Try talking. The Israelis' ongoing siege and economic blockade, begun shortly after Hamas was elected early in 2006, was never going to generate calm. And why is Shalit considered more important than the 9,000 Palestinians abducted and held prisoner by Israel? As soon as a Hamas government was formed Israeli troops arrested 8 Hamas ministers and 20 other parliamentarians, making the work of government impossible.
• "Israel continues to act to prevent humanitarian crisis and to minimize harm to Palestinian civilians."
Every agency operating in Gaza has warned of the deepening humanitarian crisis and protested about the starvation and suffering, especially of children many of whom show evidence of stunted growth.
• "The responsibility for harm to civilians lies with Hamas."
Not according to the Fourth Geneva Convention.
• "Hamas is a terrorist organization, supported by Iran, that does not represent the legitimate national interests of the Palestinian people but a radical Islamist agenda that seeks to deny peace for the peoples of this region."
Hamas was the popular choice of Palestinians at the last election. It is entitled under international law to take up arms against an illegal occupier and invader. If it is supported by Iran, so what? Israel receives mega-support from the U.S. When it comes to terror, it is Israel's conduct which fits the U.S. definition of terrorism so perfectly - see Bush's Executive Order 13224, Section 3 - http://www.treas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/programs/terror/terror.pdf
• "While confronting Hamas, Israel continues to believe in the two State solution and remains committed to negotiations with the legitimate Palestinian Authority in the context of the peace process, launched at Annapolis."
Israel is busy establishing irreversible facts on the ground that make a viable Palestinian state impossible. As everyone knows, the regime has reneged on the peace process and carries on building illegal settlements and the illegal Wall, and demolishing Palestinian homes.
Months ago Hamas accepted a Palestinian state based on internationally recognized (pre-1967) borders, in accordance with UN resolutions, with full sovereignty and its capital in Jerusalem, but this has been ignored. Hamas also offered a 10-year truce, also ignored. Earlier, Arafat and the PLO recognized the State of Israel in the Oslo agreement but what good did it do? Today’s U.S.-backed, Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority is not representative of the Palestinian people.
• "Israel expects the support and understanding of the international community, as it confronts terror, and advances the interest of all those who wish the forces of peace and co existence to determine the agenda of this region."
Israel, next to the U.S., the biggest purveyor of terror in the region and only advances its own interests. It may get the support of Israel lobby stooges in other western governments but is rapidly earning the contempt of everybody else.
From a statement dated 22 December 2008:
• "Hamas, backed by Iran, has regularly stated its desire to see the complete destruction of Israel."
Israel is itself a leading destroyer and currently engaged in trying to wipe out Hamas and the Gazans. Iran’s Ahmadinajad quoted the late Ayatollah Khomeini as saying that "this regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time" - fair comment considering Jerusalem, with Bethlehem, was designated an 'international city' under the UN Partition Plan.
Israeli propaganda twisted the Iranian’s words to read “Israel must be wiped off the map”. Zionist sources and the manifestos of Israeli political parties have made it clear for a long time that Israel plans to wipe Palestine off the map, and every act and lie is directed towards that end.
• "Our fight is not with the people of Gaza; it is with the extremists of Hamas."
Then why does the Israeli navy harass and fire on peaceable Gazan fishermen who are well within their own territorial waters? Why does Israel prevent Palestinian students from taking up places at foreign universities and block hospital spares, medicines, foodstuffs and foreign medics from entering Gaza?
Why has the Israeli navy just rammed a mercy vessel in international waters taking doctors and medicines to Gaza? Latest air-strikes have hit the Islamic University and the ministry of education. These are direct attacks on Gazan civil society and its infrastructure.
• "Hamas started this conflict, and it bears responsibility for any harm to civilians on either side."
The conflict, started by Jewish terrorists, has been going on for 60 years, decades before Hamas came into being.
• "Israel’s only responsibility is to protect Israeli citizens."
As the occupying power Israel has a duty to see that the people of the occupied territories come to no harm.
• "Just as Israel seeks to defend its civilian population, Hamas seeks to kill them."
This reads far better the other way round: “Just as Hamas seeks to defend its civilian population, Israel seeks to kill them.”
• "Rocket attacks have continued for years and are now a daily occurrence. How long does the international community expect Israel will wait before defending itself against them?"
The rocket attacks will end when Israel ends the occupation and stops terrorizing its neighbours.
• "In the south of Israel, Israeli citizens live with air raid sirens sounding every day - sometimes every hour. Their situation is intolerable."
Not half as intolerable as it is for the Gazans, who live in constant fear of air raids and re-invasion and are constantly under surveillance by armed drones which can fire missiles under computer control from an armchair in Israeli headquarters.
• "For years, the international community has turned a blind eye to this onslaught. Only when Israel seeks to stop the rockets do they take notice."
For years the international community has turned a blind eye to Israel's violations of international law and human rights, which is why the problem remains unsolved.
• "Hamas is not only the enemy of Israel - it is the enemy of every Palestinian who believes in peace."
Israelis just can’t come to terms with the Palestinians' democratic choice and are bent on obliterating it.
• "It is Hamas' attacks - not Israel's reactions - that destroy every opportunity we have for peace."
The world has managed to work out by now that Israel doesn't want peace until it has stolen all the land and water it needs to expand its racist state into a ‘Greater Israel’. It is well on the way to achieving this and won’t be thwarted.
• "Palestinian militants targeted by Israel are not just the enemies of the Israeli people; they are criminals under international law, and enemies of peace."
Israel is in no position to preach international law.
• "What is collective punishment? 'Collective punishment' is a city - schools, hospitals, homes - civilians being bombarded every single day by rockets and mortars."
Collective punishment is keeping a whole population bottled up under siege and blocking supplies and exports, smashing their infrastructure, wrecking their economy and starving their children. Trying to equate Sderot with what’s happening in the Gaza Strip is idiotic.
• "Today's Middle East is divided between extremists and pragmatists. Hamas, backed by Iran, belongs to the extremists, who must be defeated for the sake of the future of the Middle East.... Israel’s primary goal is peace."
Israel's primary goal is the expansion of Israel by making the occupation of the West Bank permanent and bringing the Gazans to their knees.
The core issue in this struggle is the illegality of Israel’s brutal occupation. Israel goes to great lengths to avoid and suppress all mention of it and play-acts the pathetic victim. As the official statements (above) show, the strategy is to frame and define the situation in Israel’s own terms regardless of the truth.
It uses advanced propaganda skills, and the elaborate Israel lobby network, to persuade western politicians and media to accept Israel’s version of events (and even use Israel’s biased language) and not question its motives.
In political PR terms it works wonderfully well. The loony leaders of my own government happily spread the poison and don’t seem interested in halting Israeli aggression and the vaporizing, dismembering and crushing of Gaza’s population. In human PR terms it is a disaster.
I have been listening to the BBC’s senior interviewers these last few days. None has had the gumption to ask Israeli spokesmen the only question that matters – the ‘killer’ question on which hangs the key to peace: WHEN IS ISRAEL GOING TO END ITS OCCUPATION AND RETURN TO THE PALESTINIANS THEIR LANDS AND FREEDOM?
-- Stuart Littlewood is author of the book Radio Free Palestine, which tells the plight of the Palestinians under occupation.

2) Palestine's Guernica and the Myths of Israeli Victimhood

By Mustafa Barghouthi, Secretary General of the Palestinian National Initiative
Huffington Post - December 29, 2008
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mustafa-barghouthi/palestines-guernica-and-t_b_153958.html
From Occupied Palestine
The Israeli campaign of 'death from above' began around
11 am, on Saturday morning, the 27th of December, and
stretched straight through the night into this morning.
The massacre continues Sunday as I write these words.
The bloodiest single day in Palestine since the War of
1967 is far from over following on Israel's promised
that this is 'only the beginning' of their campaign of
state terror. At least 290 people have been murdered
thus far, but the body count continues to rise at a
dramatic pace as more mutilated bodies are pulled from
the rubble, previous victims succumb to their wounds
and new casualties are created by the minute.
What has and is occurring is nothing short of a war
crime, yet the Israeli public relations machine is in
full-swing, churning out lies by the minute.
Once and for all it is time to expose the myths that
they have created.
1. Israelis have claimed to have ended the occupation
of the Gaza Strip in 2005.
While Israel has indeed removed the settlements from
the tiny coastal Strip, they have in no way ended the
occupation. They remained in control of the borders,
the airspace and the waterways of Gaza, and have
carried out frequent raids and targeted assassinations
since the disengagement.
Furthermore, since 2006 Israel has imposed a
comprehensive siege on the Strip. For over two years,
Gazans have lived on the edge of starvation and without
the most basic necessities of human life, such as
cooking or heating oil and basic medications. This
siege has already caused a humanitarian catastrophe
which has only been exacerbated by the dramatic
increase in Israeli military aggression.
2. Israel claims that Hamas violated the cease-fire and
pulled out of it unilaterally.
Hamas indeed respected their side of the ceasefire,
except on those occasions early on when Israel carried
out major offensives in the West Bank. In the last two
months, the ceasefire broke down with Israelis killing
several Palestinians and resulting in the response of
Hamas. In other words, Hamas has not carried out an
unprovoked attack throughout the period of the cease-
fire.
Israel, however, did not live up to any of its
obligations of ending the siege and allowing vital
humanitarian aid to resume in Gaza. Rather than the
average of 450 trucks per day being allowed across the
border, on the best days, only eighty have been allowed
in - with the border remaining hermetically sealed 70%
of the time. Throughout the supposed 'cease-fire'
Gazans have been forced to live like animals, with a
total of 262 dying due to the inaccessibility of proper
medical care.
Now after hundreds dead and counting, it is Israel who
refuses to re-enter talks over a cease-fire. They are
not intent on securing peace as they claim; it is more
and more clear that they are seeking regime change -
whatever the cost.
3. Israel claims to be pursuing peace with 'peaceful
Palestinians'.
Before the on-going massacre in the Gaza Strip, and
throughout the entirety of the Annapolis Peace Process,
Israel has continued and even intensified its
occupation of the West Bank. In 2008, settlement
expansion increased by a factor of 38, a further 4,950
Palestinians were arrested - mostly from the West Bank,
and checkpoints rose from 521 to 699.
Furthermore, since the onset of the peace talks, Israel
has killed 546 Palestinians, among them 76 children.
These gruesome statistics are set to rise dramatically
now, but previous Israeli transgressions should not be
forgotten amidst this most recent horror.
Only this morning, Israel shot and killed a young
peaceful protester in the West Bank village of Nihlin,
and has injured dozens more over the last few hours. It
is certain that they will continue to employ deadly
force at non-violent demonstrations and we expect a
sizable body count in the West Bank as a result. If
Israel is in fact pursuing peace with 'good
Palestinians', who are they talking about?
4. Israel is acting in self-defense.
It is difficult to claim self defense in a
confrontation which they themselves have sparked, but
they are doing it anyway. Self-defense is reactionary,
while the actions of Israel over the last two days have
been clearly premeditated. Not only did the Israeli
press widely report the ongoing public relations
campaign being undertaken by Israel to prepare Israeli
and international public opinion for the attack, but
Israel has also reportedly tried to convince the
Palestinians that an attack was not coming by briefly
opening crossings and reporting future meetings on the
topic. They did so to insure that casualties would be
maximized and that the citizens of Gaza would be
unprepared for their impending slaughter.
It is also misleading to claim self-defense in a
conflict with such an overwhelming asymmetry of power.
Israel is the largest military force in the region, and
the fifth largest in the world. Furthermore, they are
the fourth largest exporter of arms and have a military
industrial complex rivaling that of the United States.
In other words, Israel has always had a comprehensive
monopoly over the use of force, and much like its super
power ally, Israel uses war as an advertising showcase
of its many instruments of death.
5. Israel claims to have struck military targets only.
Even while image after image of dead and mutilated
women and children flash across our televisions, Israel
brazenly claims that their munitions expertly struck
only military installations. We know this to be false
as many other civilian sites have been hit by
airstrikes including a hospital and mosque.
In the most densely populated area on the planet, tons
upon tons of explosives have been dropped. The first
estimates of injured are in the thousands. Israel will
claim that these are merely 'collateral damage' or
accidental deaths. The sheer ridiculousness and
inhumanity of such a claim should sicken the world
community.
6. Israel claims that it is attacking Hamas and not the
Palestinian people.
First and foremost, missiles do not differentiate
people by their political affiliation; they simply kill
everyone in their path. Israel knows this, and so do
Palestinians. What Israel also knows, but is not saying
publicly, is how much their recent actions will
actually strengthen Hamas - whose message of resistance
and revenge is being echoed by the angry and grieving.
The targets of the strike, police and not Hamas
militants, give us some clue as to Israel's mistaken
intention. They are hoping to create anarchy in the
Strip by removing the pillar of law and order.
7. Israel claims that Palestinians are the source of
violence.
Let us be clear and unequivocal. The occupation of
Palestine since the War of 1967 has been and remains
the root of violence between Israelis and Palestinians.
Violence can be ended with the occupation and the
granting of Palestine's national and human rights.
Hamas does not control the West Bank and yet we remain
occupied, our rights violated and our children killed.
With these myths understood, let us ponder the real
reasons behind these airstrikes; what we find may be
even more disgusting than the act itself.
The leaders Israel are holding press conferences,
dressed in black, with sleeves rolled up.
'It's time to fight', they say, 'but it won't be easy.'
To prove just how hard it is, Livni, Olmert and Barack
did not even wear make-up to the press conference, and
Barak has ended his presidential campaign to focus on
the Gaza campaign. What heroes...what leaders...
We all know the truth: the suspension of the
electioneering is exactly that - electioneering.
Like John McCain's suspension of his presidential
campaign to return to Washington to 'deal with' the
financial crisis, this act is little more than a
publicity stunt.
The candidates have to appear 'tough enough to lead',
and there is seemingly no better way of doing that than
bathing in Palestinian blood.
'Look at me,' Livni says in her black suit and unkempt
hair, 'I am a warrior. I am strong enough to pull the
trigger. Don't you feel more confident about voting for
me, now that you know I am as ruthless as Bibi
Netanyahu?'
I do not know which is more disturbing, her and Barack,
or the constituency they are trying to please.
In the end, this will in no way improve the security of
the average Israeli; in fact it can be expected to get
much worse in the coming days as the massacre could
presumably provoke a new generation of suicide bombers.
It will not undermine Hamas either, and it will not
result in the three fools, Barack, Livni and Olmert,
looking 'tough'. Their misguided political venture will
likely blow up in their faces as did the brutally
similar 2006 invasion of Lebanon.
In closing, there is another reason - beyond the
internal politics of Israel - why this attack has been
allowed to occur: the complicity and silence of the
international community.
Israel cannot and would not act against the will of its
economic allies in Europe or its military allies in the
US. Israel may be pulling the trigger ending hundreds,
perhaps even thousands of lives this week, but it is
the apathy of the world and the inhumane tolerance of
Palestinian suffering which allows this to occur.
'The evil only exists because the good remain silent'

3) Israel Defends Citizens from Hamas

12/27: The Israel Project (U.S.A.)
Royalty Free Photos: Israel Under Fire

Graph: Rockets and Mortars Fired From Gaza June – December 2008

Iran Press Kit
As Hamas and other Iran-backed Palestinian groups in Gaza continue to kill and wound Israeli civilians by launching almost daily attacks, Israel took action Saturday (Dec. 27) to defend its citizens with targeted airstrikes against terrorist leaders and their strongholds. [1]
Israel’s “Operation Cast Lead” [2] comes eight days after Israel’s ceasefire with Iran-backed Hamas formally ended Friday (Dec. 19). During that time, Palestinian terrorists in Gaza have fired more than 170 missiles, rockets and mortars at Israeli civilians, killing a 30-year-old resident of the southern Negev city of Netivot and wounding four. [3]

Hamas and other Iran-backed terrorist groups claimed responsibility for the attacks. [4] A Katyusha missile hit the Negev town of Kiryat Gat for the first time, demonstrating that Hamas terrorists are capable of firing rockets more than 12 miles (20 km). [5]
Responding to the terrorism, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in a televised interview to Gaza’s citizens Dec. 25 on the Arabic TV network al-Arabiya “You the citizens of Gaza, you can stop it. I know how much you want to get up in the morning to quiet, to take your children to kindergarten or school, the way we do, the way they want to in Sderot and Netivot…

“We want to live as good neighbors with Gaza,” Olmert said.“ We do not want to harm you. We will not allow a humanitarian crisis and that you should suffer from a lack of food or medicines. We do not want to fight the Palestinian people but we will not allow Hamas to strike our children.” [6]
Despite the ongoing rocket and missile attacks, Israel on Friday (Dec. 26) transferred more than 90 truckloads of vital goods to Gaza residents. [7] For a comprehensive list of humanitarian aid delivered during the six-month ceasefire.
 During the past year, Iran-backed terrorist groups in Gaza have fired more than 3,000 rockets, missiles and mortars at Israeli civilians in the southern Negev region, killing four people and wounding more than 270. [8]

Since Israel gave up all of Gaza in 2005 – relinquishing homes, farms, places of business and worship – terrorists have launched more than 6,300 rockets and mortars into Israel from Gaza. The attacks have killed 10 civilians, wounded more than 780 and traumatized thousands of others. [9] The only remaining Israeli in Gaza is Staff Sgt. Gilad Shalit who was abducted from Israel on June 25, 2006 by Hamas in a bloody cross-border raid in which the terrorists killed two IDF soldiers and wounded four others. [10]
During a visit five months ago to the southern Israeli city of Sderot, then-candidate and now President-elect Barack Obama defended Israel’s right to protect itself from such attacks: "If somebody was sending rockets into my house where my two daughters sleep at night, I would do everything to stop that, and would expect Israel to do the same thing." [11]
Speaking about the Iranian nuclear threat, Obama also said during the visit, "A nuclear Iran would pose a grave threat and the world must prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon." [12]
In addition to firing missiles at Israeli civilians, the terrorist groups have conducted a sustained campaign of attacks against the border crossings from Gaza into Israel. In 2008 alone, there have been more than 17 attacks or attempted attacks on the crossings.

Among the worst were the shooting deaths of two civilian workers at the Nahal Oz fuel terminal into Gaza; two simultaneous vehicle bombings of the Kerem Shalom goods crossing which wounded 13 soldiers manning the crossing and shut it down for more than two months while repairs were carried out; and an attempted truck bombing of the Erez pedestrian crossing through which Palestinian patients seeking medical treatment in Israel are transported. [13] Also in 2008, more than 13,000 Palestinian patients and their escorts have crossed into Israel for medical treatment. [14]
In addition to firing rockets and mortars, terrorists have smuggled vast amounts of war materiel into Gaza. Israeli Minister for Public Security Avi Dichter said that in July 2008 alone, more than four tons of explosives were smuggled into Gaza via tunnels dug by terrorists under the Egypt-Gaza border. There are 400-600 smuggling tunnels running along Gaza’s Philadelphi Corridor, the strip of land spanning the border between Egypt and Gaza. [15]
Iran, one of the chief sponsors of Palestinian terrorism, provides approximately $20 million to $30 million to Hamas annually and also trains Hamas operatives in Iran and Syria. [16] Approximately 950 Hamas terrorists have been trained in building rockets and bombs, tactical warfare, weapons operation and sniper tactics by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, a special division of Iran’s armed forces. [17]
On Nov. 28, 2008, an Iranian-manufactured standard 120mm mortar was fired by a terrorist group in Gaza and hit an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) base inside Israel, wounding eight soldiers, one of whom had his leg amputated as a result. The use of Iranian-made munitions by Palestinian terrorists is an increasingly common phenomenon in the conflict. [18]
Internecine Palestinian fighting during the past two years also has dealt a harsh blow to future prospects for peace, with 616 Palestinians killed in factional fighting from the time that Hamas won Palestinian elections in January 2006 through May 2007. [19] In June 2007, when Hamas seized control of Gaza in a bloody coup against Palestinian Authority President’s Fatah faction, 161 Palestinians were killed and at least 700 wounded. [20]
Iran, the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism, gives Hamas $20 million a year,[21] and provided an additional $50 million after Hamas beat Fatah in the 2006 elections. [22] Iran also provided Hamas members with intensive military training in the weeks and months leading up to the group's takeover of the Gaza Strip. [23]
In September, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said, “Iran considered supporting the Palestinians its religious and national duty and would stay beside the Palestinian nation 'until the big victory feast which is the collapse of the Zionist regime (Israel).” [24]

Iran’s top leaders continue to threaten the West – particularly the United States.

In addition to Iran-backed Hamas’ terrorist activities, the group also conducts extensive media operations. It runs the Al-Aqsa TV station which has promoted terrorist activity and incites hatred of Jews and Israelis. On a children’s program called Tomorrow’s Pioneers which has featured numerous life-size costumed animals, the character called Assoud – a rabbit, stated, “I, Assoud, will finish off the Jews and eat them, Allah willing.” The show is but one example of the incitement to hatred and violence promoted by the TV channel. [25]

Graph: Rockets and Mortars Fired From Gaza June – December 2008



Footnotes:
[1] Harel, Amos, Ravid, Barak, “Palestinians: At least 205 dead, over 200 hurt in IAF Gaza strikes,” Haaretz, Dec. 27, 2008, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1050359.html
[2] Ben David, Calev,  Abu Ramadan, Saud, “Israeli Air Raids in Gaza Kill as Many as 200 People,” Bloomberg, Dec. 27, 2008, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aj7RvdbJIeDY&refer=home

[3] Curiel, Ilana, “Man killed in rocket strike,” YnetNews, Dec. 27, 2008, http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3644954,00.html; Harel, Amos, Ravid, Barak and Issacharoff, Avi, Haaretz Correspondents and News Agencies, “Army readies for 'limited' Gaza action as 22 mortars hit Negev,” Haaretz, Dec. 26, 2008, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1050338.html  

[4] “Gaza-Hamas Fact Sheet,” Embassy of Israel, Dec. 22, 2008; "Hamas fires at Israel, threatening hopes of renewed ceasefire," The Telegraph (UK), Dec. 24, 2008, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/3933368/Hamas-fires-at-Israel-threatening-hopes-of-renewed-ceasefire.html

[5] Adayat, Fadi and Harel, Amos, Haaretz Correspondents, and Haaretz Service, “One Israeli killed, 4 hurt as Palestinian rockets hit Negev home,” Haaretz, Dec. 27, 2008, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1050399.html  

[6] “PM Olmert Interviewed on Al Arabiya,” Prime Minister’s Office, Dec. 25, 2008, http://www.pmo.gov.il/PMOEng/Communication/Spokesman/2008/12/spokeinter251208.htm  

[7] Harel, Amos, Ravid, Barak and Issacharoff, Avi, Haaretz Correspondents and News Agencies, “Army readies for 'limited' Gaza action as 22 mortars hit Negev,” Haaretz, Dec. 26, 2008, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1050338.html  

[8] Data relayed to The Israel Project by IDF Spokesman’s Division, Dec 18, 2008; “Hamas fires at Israel, threatening hopes of renewed ceasefire,” The Telegraph (UK), Dec. 24, 2008, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/3933368/Hamas-fires-at-Israel-threatening-hopes-of-renewed-ceasefire.html; “Rocket barrage from Gaza as Hamas ends six-month calm,” Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs Web site, Dec. 24, 2008, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA

[9] Data relayed to The Israel Project by IDF Spokesman’s Division, Dec 18, 2008; Berger, Ronny and Gelkopf, Marc, “The Impact of the Ongoing Traumatic Stress Conditions on Sderot,” Natal, The Israel Trauma Center for Victims of Terror and War in cooperation with Dr. Mina Tzemach, Director, Dachaf Public Opinion Research Institute, Oct. 2007

[10] Harel, Amos; Issacharoff, Avi; Haaretz Service and Reuters, "Two soldiers killed, one missing in raid on IDF post," Haaretz, June 25, 2006, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/730994.html

[11] Ravid, Barak, "Obama in Sderot: Nuclear Iran would be game-changing," Haaretz, July 23, 2008, http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1004747.html

[12] "Obama says nuclear Iran a "grave threat," Reuters, July 23, 2008, http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSL2376765320080723

[13] “Main terrorist attacks carried out at Gaza Strip crossings,” Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, June 4, 2008, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Terror+Groups/Main+terrorist+attacks+carried+out+at+Gaza+Strip+crossings+16-Jan-2005.htm

[14] Data relayed to The Israel Project by the IDF’s Coordinator for Government Activities in the Territories, Dec. 10, 2008

[15] “News of the Israeli-Palestinian Confrontation July 22-29, 2008,” Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/jul_e001.htm; “Hamas has lately regulated the flourishing tunnel industry in the Gaza Strip,” Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, Oct. 28, 2008, http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/pdf/ct_e009.pdf  

[16] Hamas," Council on Foreign Relations Web site, http://www.cfr.org/publication/8968/, retrieved July 7, 2008

[17] “Senior Hamas operative figure tells London Sunday Times’ Gaza Strip correspondent about Iranian and Syria military aid, detailing the training received by hundreds of Hamas terrorist operatives and describing the transmission to Hamas of Iranian technical know-how for the manufacture of rockets and IED,” The Terrorist and Intelligence Information Center at the Israel Intelligence Heritage and Commemoration Center, March 17, 2008, retrieved July 7, 2008, http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/hamas_160308e.htm; Colvin, Marie, “Hamas wages Iran’s proxy war on Israel,” The Times, March 9, 2008, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article3512014.ece  

[18] “Violation of calm: Rockets strike Sderot, Ashkelon, western Negev,” Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dec. 17, 2008, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Hamas+war+against+Israel/Rockets_strike_Sderot_Ashkelon_western_Negev_
16-Nov-2008.htm; Harel, Amos, “Gaza mortar shells injure eight soldiers, one loses leg,” Haaretz, Nov. 29, 2008, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1042007.html  

[19] “Over 600 Palestinians killed in internal clashes since 2006,” YnetNews, June 6, 2007, http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3409548,00.html

[20] “Black Pages in the Absence of Justice: Report on Bloody Fighting in the Gaza Strip from 7 to 14 June 2007,” Palestine Centre for Human Rights, October 2007, http://www.pchrgaza.org/files/Reports/English/pdf_spec/Gaza%20Conflict%20-%20Eng%209%20october..pdf

[21] Hamas," Council on Foreign Relations Web site, http://www.cfr.org/publication/8968/, accessed July 2, 2007

[22] Iran pledges $50m Palestinian aid," BBC News, April 16, 2006, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4914334.stm

[23] Rabinovich, Abraham, "Hamas digs in for war in Gaza," The Australian, March 16, 2007

[24] “Ahmadinejad: Iran will support Hamas until collapse of Israel,” Haaretz, Sept. 13, 2008, http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1020630.html  

[25] Kalman, Mathew, “Hamas launches TV Bugs Bunny-lookalike who declares 'I will eat the Jews',” The Daily Mail, Feb. 12, 2008, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-513925/Hamas-launches-TV-Bugs-Bunny-lookalike-declares-I-eat-Jews.html; “Al Aqsa TV,” ADL.org, http://www.adl.org/terrorism/profiles/al_aqsa_tv.asp. Accessed on Dec. 22, 2008 
    
The Israel Project is an international non-profit organization devoted to educating the press and the public about Israel while promoting security, freedom and peace. The Israel Project provides journalists, leaders and opinion-makers accurate information about Israel. The Israel Project is not related to any government or government agency. 
Board of Advisors: Sen. Evan Bayh (IN), Sen. Ben Cardin (MD), Sen. Saxby Chambliss (GA), Sen. Tom Coburn (OK), Sen. Norm Coleman (MN), Sen. Susan Collins (ME), Sen. Judd Gregg (NH), Sen. Joe Lieberman (CT), Sen. Ben Nelson (NE), Sen. Gordon Smith (OR), Sen. Arlen Specter (PA), Sen. Ron Wyden (OR), Rep. Rob Andrews (NJ), Rep. Shelley Berkley (NV), Rep. Tom Davis (VA), Rep. Eliot Engel (NY), Rep. Frank Pallone (NJ), Rep. Jon Porter (NV), Rep. John Sarbanes (MD), Rep. Jim Saxton (NJ), Rep. Brad Sherman (CA), Rep. Joe Wilson (SC), Actor and Director Ron Silver


4) Arab Leaders, Civilians Blame Hamas for Gaza Violence
Israeli City of Beersheba Hit by Gaza Rockets

12/30: The Israel Project (U.S.A.)

Sderot home hit by a rocket fired from Gaza
(Yehuda Peretz for The Israel Project)

UPDATE: Iran-backed Palestinian terrorists in Gaza launched two rockets at the Israeli city of Beersheba Tuesday (Dec. 30). One of the rockets struck a kindergarten. Beersheba - which lies 26 miles (42 km) from Gaza - is the easternmost Israeli city ever hit by Gaza rockets. [1]

As Israel carries out "Operation Cast Lead" to stop Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza from continuing to attack Israeli civilians with thousands of rockets, missiles and mortars, Arab leaders such as Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak have blamed Hamas for the violence in Gaza.

Abbas and Mubarak, among others, said maintaining the truce could have helped the Palestinians avoid the Israeli raids and that Hamas is fully responsible for the situation. 
 
Palestinian Authority Leaders and Gaza Civilians
On Dec. 28, 2008, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Iran-backed Hamas could have avoided the Israeli attacks on Gaza and blamed the group for Israel taking action to stop the attacks by Hamas in Gaza: “We talked to them and we told them ‘please, we ask you, do not end the truce. Let the truce continue and not stop’ so that we could have avoided what happened.” [2] Abbas further stated that the priority was to restore the truce. [3]  
  • A Palestinian girl in Gaza whose family members died in Gaza Dec. 28 in an Israeli air attack held Hamas responsible. "I say Hamas is the cause, in the first place, of all wars,” the girl told Palestinian TV. [4]

  • A Palestinian journalist in Gaza said members of the Palestinian media are ‘directing’ civilians to cry and telling them what to say in interviews: "A mother of one of the martyrs stood by the door of the intensive care unit while crying... relatives and those around her were telling her what she should say to the television cameras: 'Say your son [before he died] prayed and went out.' Another tells her: 'Curse the Arab leaders'... The journalists [in the hospitals] are going overboard in their insensitivity and taking advantage of the [difficult] moments, with the explanation that they are showing this to the world. One cameraman told a mourning mother: 'Hit your face, cry, do some action.'" [5]

  • Abbas also blamed Hamas for disrupting national unity talks that could have paved the way for general and presidential elections. While visiting Cairo to discuss Egyptian and Arab League efforts to put an end to the violence in Gaza, Abbas said: “We have warned of this grave danger.” [6] 
     
    •  
  • Nimr Hammad, an advisor to Abbas, said: “The one responsible for the massacre is Hamas […].” He called upon Hamas's leaders to stop carrying out “operations, which reflect recklessness, such as the firing of missiles.” [7]
  • Hafez Al-Barghouthi, editor of the PLO daily al-Hayat al-Jadida criticized Hamas for not prolonging the 'tahdiah' - Arabic for 'calm': “Prolonging the tahdiah was a supreme national interest. Why hasn’t [Hamas] prevented the aggression and the massacre? How many times have we written and Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) has declared that these missiles [that Hamas is firing at Israel] as ineffective and contrary to the supreme national interest […].” [8]
    • Egypt and Jordan

    • On Dec. 23, 2008, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak met with Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas. Both leaders strongly criticized Hamas and held the movement responsible for the current violence in Gaza. The two leaders agreed that the rocket attacks on Israel were a “mistake” and said Hamas was responsible for the ongoing suffering of the Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip. [9]

    • A PA official quoted Mubarak: “President Mubarak is very angry with Hamas. The Egyptians see Hamas as a threat to stability in the region.” [10]

    • Egypt, which has taken on the role of mediator between Israel and the Palestinians as well as between Hamas and Abbas' Fatah faction, has been criticized for coordinating with Israel to close the border between Gaza and Egypt. [11] On Dec. 27, Egypt opened the Rafah crossing to receive wounded Palestinians but Hamas called on Egypt to open its border with Gaza forever and for all residents, not just the wounded. [12]

    • Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abu al-Gheit said Egypt has warned Hamas that Israel would initiate operations against Hamas unless Hamas stops its Qassam rocket attacks. He added that those who did not heed the warning “should bear the responsibility." He further said Egypt had predicted Israel's response to the attacks “because Hamas did not stop firing rockets into Israel.” [13]

    • Al-Gheit said Hamas was not allowing wounded Palestinians to cross the border into Egypt for treatment: “We are waiting for the wounded Palestinians to cross. They are not being allowed to cross.” Asked who was to blame, he refered to Gaza by saying, “Ask the party in control on the ground in Gaza.” [14]

    • Egypt and other Western-allied Sunni Arab states are opposed to the terrorist organizations Hamas and Hizballah, as they see both groups as extensions of Shiite Iran. Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei condemned the silence of some Arab countries and said: “Worse than this catastrophe is the encouraging silence of some Arab countries who claim to be Muslim,” apparently in a reference to Egypt and Jordan. [15] Egypt and Jordan are the only Arab states recognizing Israel’s independence and which have diplomatic relations with it. [16]
      • Arab nations’ summit

 
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 31 December 2008 )
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