1/9: Latest Updates from Israel Invade Gaza: Israeli War and Massacre on Gaza Continues Despite UN Truce Call, Senate Pass Pro-Israel Legislation!
National Day of Emergency Mass Action: Saturday, January 10
Mass March in Washington, D.C. White House (north side) @ 1:00 pm
There will be a major regional demonstration on Saturday, January 10. Gather at the White House (north side, Lafayette Park) at 1:00 PM. The protest will be located between the Bush White House and the Hay Adams Hotel, where President-Elect Obama is now residing, which is located on the north side of Lafayette Park. Calling by: The ANSWER Coalition, Muslim American Society Freedom, Free Palestine Alliance, National Council of Arab Americans, and Al-Awda - International Palestine Right to Return Coalition, for more information, contact: A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition http://www.answercoalition.org/ e-mail: National Office in Washington DC: 202-544-3389
ACTIONS AGAINST MASSACRE! Lists of Upcoming Worldwide Protests Against Israeli Attacks on Gaza! >> Read More
1/7 & 1/8: Jewish Women at Toronto, Montreal activists Occupy Israeli Consulates >> Read More
Videos:
1/8: Israeli war on Gaza continues after second lull (Al JAzeera)
Latest Videos from Israel Invade Gaza at ActivistVideo.org >> View
Latest 1/9: Gaza under fire despite truce call (al Jazeera)
Israel is pushing ahead with its offensive in the Gaza Strip, ignoring a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire >> Read More
1/9: UN passes Gaza ceasefire resolution (al Jazeera)
The UN Security Council has called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza that Arab nations hope will put an end to Israel's 14-day assault on the territory >> Read More
1/9 Hamas: We will win war in Gaza (al Jazeera)
At the organisation's headquarters in Damascus, 100km miles from the territory, Musa Abu Marzouq, the deputy head of Hamas' political bureau, told Al Jazeera why he believes his organisation is on the verge of victory against Israel >> Read More
Alert! 1/8 U.S. Congress Support Pro-Israel AIPAC Wrote Senate Legislation Standing With Israel!
US Senate supports Israel's Gaza incursion 08 Jan 2009 The U.S. Senate voiced strong support on Thursday for Israel's battle against Hamas militants [and civilians] in Gaza, while urging a ceasefire that would prevent Hamas from launching any more rockets into Israel. The chamber agreed on a voice vote to the non-binding resolution co-sponsored by Democratic and Republican party leaders in the chamber.
Just Foreign Policy News
January 8, 2009
Call Congress in Support of Gaza Ceasefire and Report the Result Call during business hours, eastern time. AIPAC's resolution endorsing continuation of the military assault has passed the Senate, and is now expected to be considered by the House, where there is likely to be more opposition. Ask your representative in the House to support an immediate ceasefire and lifting the blockade. You can find contact info, talking points, and a way to report results at the link that follows. So far, several offices say they are receiving many calls, and some20offices are pledging that they will work for an immediate ceasefire. http://justforeignpolicy.org/involved/callgazaceasefire.html
Background: Amnesty vs. AIPAC: Senate to Consider AIPAC Resolution Endorsing War in Gaza Amnesty decried the "lopsided" and "lackadaisical" U.S. response to the Gaza crisis. AIPAC's resolution embraces the "lopsided" and "lackadaisical" policy. http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/01/07-9
Help us build for a Just Foreign Policy Your financial contributions to Just Foreign Policy allow us to continue helping Americans to advocate for a just foreign policy. http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/donate.html
Summary: U.S./Top News 1) The Senate voiced strong support Thursday for Israel's battle against Hamas militants in Gaza, wh ile urging a ceasefire that would prevent Hamas from launching any more rockets into Israel, Reuters reports. [The resolution calls for a "durable and sustainable" ceasefire - echoing the rhetoric the Bush Administration has used to justify why the violence must continue. The Reuters headline says it all: "US Senate supports Israel's Gaza incursion" -JFP.]
2) The devastating invasion of Gaza by Israel could easily have been avoided, writes Jimmy Carter in the Washington Post. In mid-December, he made an effort for the impending six-month deadline to be extended, Carter writes. It was clear that the preeminent issue was opening the crossings into Gaza. The Israeli government informally proposed that 15 percent of normal supplies might be possible if Hamas first stopped all rocket fire for 48 hours. This was unacceptable to Hamas, and hostilities erupted.
3) Hillary Clinton is closing in on naming special emissaries to trouble spots in the Middle East, Iran and South Asia, the New York Times reports. While Obama has not signed off on these positions, according to some officials, Clinton is likely to name Richard C. Holbrooke as a special envoy to Pakistan and India. Dennis Ross is set to take over a portfolio focused on Iran, officials said. [Some groups who have been campaigning for diplomacy with Iran may publicly oppose Ross's appointment; for background, see "For Middle East Peace, Dennis Ross is Not the Change We Seek," http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/for-middle-east-peace-den_b_143888.html - JFP.]
4) A proposal to buy Afghanistan's entire opium crop was considered by the State Department in 2008, writes former foreign service officer James Nathan in the Washington Times. The State Department's conclusion was that it would be "incredibly costly" - some "one billion dollars" - to buy all the opium on the Afghan market. Placed beside the $200 billion the U.S. has spent in Afghanistan, the cost of purchasing all Afghanistan opium hardly seems outsized, Nathan says. Purchasing the whole opium crop of Afghanistan would take the crop away from the traffickers without cutting more than half the economy out of Afghanistan. [See also Steven Kinzer, "Surge Afghanistan Diplomacy, Not Troops," http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e24UHABpWE8 - JFP.]
5) Malaysia and other countries have been successful in calling an emergency meeting of the UN General Assembly on Gaza for Friday morning, the Calcutta News reports. The Malaysian Prime Minister said the General Assembly must ensure Israel is forced out of Gaza. [Under Resolution 377 - "Uniting for Peace" - the General Assembly can take action if the Security Council fails to do so. Invoking 377 is also a means of pressuring the Security Council, so this development may well be related to the AP report below that the US had dropped its opposition to an "immediate ceasefire" - JFP.]
Israel/Palestine 6) The UN suspended all activities in Gaza Thursday, accusing Israeli soldiers of firing on a marked UN vehicle during a three-hour humanitarian cease-fire initiated by Israel, the Christian Science Monitor reports. Palestinians and human rights groups say that international aid is the only bulwark preventing a full-blown humanitarian crisis in Gaza. About half of the population receives food aid. AP says the US, Britain, and France have dropped their opposition in the Security Councilto language calling for an immediate cease-fire, the AP reported.
7) Egyptian authorities have almost fully sealed the border with Gaza, preventing delivery of desperately needed humanitarian aid, Inter Press Service reports. Some Egyptian officials say the border has been opened when it has been safe to do so. Local sources confirm that the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing has come under frequent Israeli attack since the campaign began.
The U.S. Senate voiced strong support on Thursday for Israel's battle against Hamas militants in Gaza, while urging a ceasefire that would prevent Hamas from launching any more rockets into Israel.
The chamber agreed on a voice vote to the non-binding resolution co-sponsored by Democratic and Republican party leaders in the chamber.
I know from personal involvement that the devastating invasion of Gaza by Israel could easily have been avoided.
After visiting Sderot last April and seeing the serious psychological damage caused by the rockets that had fallen in that area, my wife, Rosalynn, and I declared their launching from Gaza to be inexcusable and an act of terrorism. Although casualties were rare (three deaths in seven years), the town was traumatized by the unpredictable explosions. About 3,000 residents had moved to other communities, and the streets, playgrounds and shopping centers were almost empty. Mayor Eli Moyal assembled a group of citizens in his office to meet us and complained that the government of Israel was not stopping the rockets, either through diplomacy or military20action.
Knowing that we would soon be seeing Hamas leaders from Gaza and also in Damascus, we promised to assess prospects for a cease-fire. From Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, who was negotiating between the Israelis and Hamas, we learned that there was a fundamental difference between the two sides. Hamas wanted a comprehensive cease-fire in both the West Bank and Gaza, and the Israelis refused to discuss anything other than Gaza.
We knew that the 1.5 million inhabitants of Gaza were being starved, as the U.N. special rapporteur on the right to food had found that acute malnutrition in Gaza was on the same scale as in the poorest nations in the southern Sahara, with more than half of all Palestinian families eating only one meal a day.
Palestinian leaders from Gaza were noncommittal on all issues, claiming that rockets were the only way to respond to their imprisonment and to dramatize their humanitarian plight. The top Hamas leaders in Damascus, however, agreed to consider a cease-fire in Gaza only, provided Israel would not attack Gaza and would permit normal humanitarian supplies to be delivered to Palestinian citizens.
After extended discussions with those from Gaza, these Hamas leaders also agreed to accept any peace agreement that might be negotiated between the Israelis and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who also heads the PLO, provided it was approved by a majority vote of Palestinians in a referendum or by an elected unity government.
Since20we were only observers, and not negotiators, we relayed this information to the Egyptians, and they pursued the cease-fire proposal. After about a month, the Egyptians and Hamas informed us that all military action by both sides and all rocket firing would stop on June 19, for a period of six months, and that humanitarian supplies would be restored to the normal level that had existed before Israel's withdrawal in 2005 (about 700 trucks daily).
We were unable to confirm this in Jerusalem because of Israel's unwillingness to admit to any negotiations with Hamas, but rocket firing was soon stopped and there was an increase in supplies of food, water, medicine and fuel. Yet the increase was to an average of about 20 percent of normal levels. And this fragile truce was partially broken on Nov. 4, when Israel launched an attack in Gaza to destroy a defensive tunnel being dug by Hamas inside the wall that encloses Gaza.
On another visit to Syria in mid-December, I made an effort for the impending six-month deadline to be extended. It was clear that the preeminent issue was opening the crossings into Gaza. Representatives from the Carter Center visited Jerusalem, met with Israeli officials and asked if this was possible in exchange for a cessation of rocket fire. The Israeli government informally proposed that 15 percent of normal supplies might be possible if Hamas first stopped all rocket fire for 48 hours. This was unacceptable to Hamas, and hostilities erupted.
After 12 days of "combat, " the Israeli Defense Forces reported that more than 1,000 targets were shelled or bombed. During that time, Israel rejected international efforts to obtain a cease-fire, with full support from Washington. Seventeen mosques, the American International School, many private homes and much of the basic infrastructure of the small but heavily populated area have been destroyed. This includes the systems that provide water, electricity and sanitation. Heavy civilian casualties are being reported by courageous medical volunteers from many nations, as the fortunate ones operate on the wounded by light from diesel-powered generators.
Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said Thursday the United Nations General Assembly must ensure Israel is forced out of Gaza.
Malaysia in conunction with other states has been successful in calling an emergency meeting of the UN assembly for Friday morning. Malaysian officials say they want Israel condemned for its military offensive in Gaza, which on Thursday entered its thirteenth day.
Prime Minister Abdullah, speaking in Kuala Lumpur, said any resolution passed by the Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly on Friday morning must ensure that Israel is forced out of Gaza.
He said the United States should also not oppose whatever resolution was proposed. ... He said if a resolution on a ceasefire was passed, then Israel must withdraw from Gaza and not just set a condition for Hamas to stop its rocket attacks on Israel. "Israel must get out of Gaza, then only will there be a ceasefire," he said.
Abdullah said he had not seen the resolutions to be tabled, but added that the United States stance was vital in resolving the crisis because normally, Tel Aviv would wait for Washington's reaction on issues involving Israel. "If the US allows it, as had been indicated by Bush's statement...Israel will start attacking. So, in this crisis, America's role is very important. We hope the US will not veto the resolutions called for by other nations," he said. ... Malaysia's Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatum said what was important would be the language used in the resolutions to be tabled, "to reflect the international community's pressure on Israel to stop its aggression and carnage in Gaza."
According to Rais, Resolution 377 was on giving power to the UN General Assembly to meet, discuss and decide on the sovereignty of Palestine and "now there is a minor amendment to include Gaza."
"In the coming Special Session, the US cannot oppose the resolutions to be tabled like what it can do in the UN Security Council," he said.
Egyptian authorities have almost fully sealed the border with Gaza, preventing delivery of desperately needed humanitarian aid. "The government has expressly forbidden the entry of aid convoys laden with food into the Gaza Strip," Emmad al-Din Moustafa, member of the Popular Committee for Aiding Gaza told IPS. "The continued border closure - like the Israeli assault itself - constitutes a crime against humanity." ... Since the campaign began, humanitarian aid - donated by sympathisers from across the Arab and Islamic world - has flown into the city of Al-Arish, 40 km west of Egypt's border with the Gaza Strip. But according to local sources, Egyptian authorities are preventing the transportation of food and medicine into the besieged territory.
"The crossing has only been opened briefly five or six times to allow the entry of limited amounts of aid," Hatem Al-Bulk, political activist from Al-Arish told IPS. "About 1,000 tonnes of food have been del ivered so far, but the population of Gaza needs an estimated 1,500 tonnes per day to survive." ... According to some Egyptian officials, the border has been opened when it has been safe to do so. "The Rafah crossing is open for the entry of humanitarian aid and to receive the injured," North Sinai Governor Gen. Mohamed Abdel Fadil was quoted as saying in the Wednesday (Jan. 7) edition of state daily Al-Gomhouriya. "The crossing is only being closed during heavy Israeli bombardment of the Palestinian side." ... Local sources confirm that the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing has come under frequent Israeli attack since the campaign began. "The Palestinian side has been hit several times with earth-penetrating munitions, " said Al-Bulk. "Egyptian Rafah has become a ghost town because so many residents have left for Al-Arish and other cities in the Sinai Peninsula."
Anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called on the Iraqi resistance Wednesday to stage "revenge operations" against American forces to protest Israel's Gaza offensive. The statement issued by his office in the Shiite holy city of Najaf came as criticism is mounting over civilian deaths in Gaza. ... The cleric issued a statement l ast month calling for protests, and his followers have complied with rallies against the offensive. But he said more steps are needed "due to the continuation of Arab silence and the massacres committed by the Zionist enemy under U.S. and international cover."
(Compiled by Citizens For Legitimate Government and The Electronic Intifada)
Gaza bloodshed continues despite UN calls for ceasefire 09 Jan 2009 Israeli forces pressed on with their offensive in Gaza today despite a UN security council resolution calling for an "immediate" and "durable" ceasefire. Seven Palestinians from one family, including an infant, were killed early today, the 14th day of the conflict in Gaza, when Israeli jets bombed a five-storey building in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza. There was heavy aerial bombing on the outskirts of Gaza City, and Israeli naval ships shelled Deir el-Balah, in central Gaza.
Gaza Children Found With Mothers' Corpses 09 Jan 2009 The International Committee of the Red Cross said Thursday it had discovered "shocking" scenes -- including small children next to their mothers’ corpses -- when its representatives gained access for the first time to parts of Gaza battered by Israeli shelling. It accused Israel of failing to meet obligations to care for the wounded in areas of combat [war crimes].
Israel 'fires into Lebanon after rockets' 08 Jan 2009 Three rockets fired from Lebanon struck northern Israel today, slightly wounding two people and prompting Israel to respond with artillery fire, officials said. The rockets were the first fired from Lebanon since 2007, and occurred on the 13th day of the Jewish state's offensive in the Gaza Strip to the south. An Israeli military spokesman said Israel mounted "a pinpoint response at the source of (the rocket) fire." A security source said Israel fired five artillery shells.
Israel fires missiles at Lebanon 08 Jan 2009 Tel Aviv has launched 5 missiles at Lebanon claiming the assault was in retaliation to rocket attacks on northern Israeli towns. According to Israeli officials four rockets landed on northern Israel, A Press TV correspondent reported. Israeli Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the rockets landed around the town of Nahariya, 8 km (5 miles) south of the Lebanese border early Thursday, leaving two people slightly injured.
Israel bombs Gaza into the night 08 Jan 2009 Israel has made 60 air strikes on the Gaza Strip in a single night after the first daily truce to allow in humanitarian aid expired. Targets included police sites, 10 Hamas tunnels, weapons storage facilities, launching pads "and a number of armed gunmen", the Israeli army said. In a dramatic development, at least three rockets reportedly hit northern Israel from the direction of Lebanon. A BBC correspondent says this is a very dangerous moment in Israel's conflict.
'Concentration camp' remark threatens Pope's visit to Israel 08 Jan 2009 A diplomatic row between Israel and the Vatican cast doubt over Pope Benedict XVI’s planned visit to the Holy Land yesterday, after a prominent cardinal said that Gazans were living in a "big concentration camp".
Cardinal: Gaza big concentration camp 08 Jan 2009 The representative of Pope Benedict XVI for matters of justice and peace, issues the toughest criticism by the Vatican against Israel. On Wednesday, Cardinal Renato Martino, president of the Vatican's Council for Justice and Peace voiced the Holy See's strongest criticism since the latest Mideast crisis began, calling Gaza a "big concentration camp", Reuters reported.
Babies cling to life in stricken hospital --The fate of 600 patients rests on four ageing generators keeping blackouts at bay, reports Kim Sengupta 08 Jan 2009 Even with the glimmer of hope that a ceasefire may finally be under negotiation, the situation at Gaza's biggest hospital remains desperate, with more than 70 life-support patients now precariously dependent on generators because the main power supply has been down for five days. The 596-bed Shifa hospital in Gaza City was struggling yesterday to cope with the latest casualties of war – the injured victims of the bombing on Tuesday at a school in the Jabalya refugee camp which left 42 dead. But the shortage of fuel to run the generators, after months of the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip, is now the biggest problem facing Shifa and other medical facilities in Gaza.
Protesters arrested at Israeli Consulate in Boston 08 Jan 2009 About 40 people protesting Israel’s military involvement in the Gaza Strip staged a sit-in at the Israeli Consulate this morning and stormed the building, resulting in four arrests, police say.
Obama Picks Lobbyist as Pentagon No. 2 09 Jan 2009 President-elect Barack Obama appointed a defense contractor's lobbyist [until July] Thursday to become the No. 2 official at the Defense Department. William J. Lynn III, Obama's choice for deputy defense secretary, is a former Pentagon official who now is senior vice president for government operations at Raytheon Co... In the first three months of 2008, his lobbying team reported spending $1.15 million to influence issues including missiles, sensors and radar, advanced technology programs and intelligence funding.
PALESTINE : DIARIES: LIVE FROM PALESTINE:
DR. EHAB ISN'T THERE ANYMORE By Rami Almeghari, Live from Palestine, 8 January 2009
Dr. Ehab Jasir al-Shaer, a physician specializing in dermatology, a graduate of a university in Ukraine, has not been at his clinic since 27 December 2008. On that day, Ehab, his brother Raja, Ehab's uncle Yasir and Ehab's cousins Haitham and Tamer, all went to the Rafah governorate local administration building in Rafah City in the south of the Gaza Strip where they live. Rami Almeghari reports from the besieged Gaza Strip.
BY CLAIMING IMPARTIALITY, EUROPE LEANS TOWARDS ISRAEL David Cronin, The Electronic Intifada, 8 January 2009
BRUSSELS (IPS) - In carefully crafted official statements, diplomats have portrayed the European Union as something of an honest broker in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Yet even though almost all of the people killed over the past fortnight have been Palestinians, some top-ranking leaders in the 27-country bloc have tacitly offered their support for Israel's bombing and invasion of Gaza.
US MEDIA DIDN'T REPORT ISRAELI CEASEFIRE VIOLATION By Jim Lobe and Ali Gharib, The Electronic Intifada, 8 January 2009
WASHINGTON (IPS) - Consumed by coverage of the 4 November presidential election, US mainstream media ignored a key Israeli military attack on a Hamas target that some Palestinians claim marked the effective end of the ceasefire between the two sides and set the stage for the current round of bloodletting. While the major US news wire Associated Press (AP) reported that the attack, in which six members of Hamas's military wing were killed by Israeli ground forces, threatened the ceasefire, its report was carried by only a handful of small newspapers around the country.
TESTIMONY: "I FEAR NOTHING NOW" Testimony, The Electronic Intifada, 7 January 2009
"My four children are terrorized because of the attacks -- especially the youngest [two] aged six and 11. With severe bombardments outside and lack of electricity inside, they refuse to go to the toilet on their own at night. They want someone to accompany them. We are also subject to psychological pressure. A few hours back I heard that a friend had died."
ISRAEL MAY FACE CHARGES FOR WAR CRIMES By Mel Frykberg, The Electronic Intifada, 7 January 2009
RAMALLAH, occupied West Bank (IPS) - Israel has committed war crimes and should be prosecuted in an international court, says Raji Sourani, head of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights in Gaza. "The repeated bombing of clearly marked civilian buildings, where civilians were sheltering, crosses several red lines in regard to international law," Sourani told IPS.
