Operation Cast Lead and a 2012 Deja Vu

Friday, December 30th, 2011 | Posted by Eileen Fleming

 

Exactly three years after Operation Cast Lead, Israel is threatening another invasion on Gaza while Hamas leaders order a halt to all attacks on Israel.

This year’s week between Christmas and New Years reaped at least three Palestinians killed by Israeli air strikes on Gaza and several rockets fired from Gaza into Israel without reports of damage.

Israeli military chief Benny Gantz said a new offensive would be “Swift and painful. Sooner or later, there will be no escape from conducting a significant operation.” [1]

An Israeli army commander in the Gaza Division said, “We are preparing and in fact are ready for another campaign…to renew our deterrence, if we are called on to restore full quiet to the communities [in the south].” [Ibid]

Haaretz reported that the Israeli plan calls for the next Gaza operation to be shorter then Operation Cast Leads three-week onslaught and will employ even greater firepower.

Haaretz also reported that Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal ordered the movement’s military wing to cease its operations against Israel and quoted unidentified sources from Fatah who said the instructions were issued as part of the reconciliation talks between the two factions in Cairo. The Cairo meet-up managed to focus the two groups on the people powered popular struggle against the Israeli occupation in the spirit of the pro-democracy demonstrations that spontaneously erupted in the Arab world this past year.

A Little History:

On April 3, 2009 the President of the United Nations Human Rights Council commissioned a fact-finding mission “to investigate all violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law that might have been committed at any time in the context of the military operations that were conducted in Gaza during the period from 27 December 2008 and 18 January 2009, whether before, during or after.”
The Council appointed the Jewish Justice Richard Goldstone, a South African Constitutional Court judge and the former chief prosecutor of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.

Justice Goldstone issued the 575-page report on September 29, 2009 and the Goldstone Report accused both Israel and Hamas of war crimes perpetuated during the 22 days of assault on Gaza which began two days after last Christmas day, when the Israeli military launched Operation Cast Lead; a full-scale attack on Gaza that killed 13 Israelis and 1,400 Palestinians.

Over 5,000 Palestinians were injured, 400,000 were left without running water, 4,000 homes were destroyed, rendering tens of thousands who are still homeless because of Israel’s targeted attacks upon them, their schools, hospitals, streets, water wells, sewage system, farms, police stations and UN buildings.

US-supplied weapons enabled the 22 days of Israel’s attack on the people of Gaza and we the people of the US who pay taxes provide over $3 billion annually to Israel although Israel has consistently misused U.S. weapons in violation of America’s Arms Export Control and Foreign Assistance Acts.

America is the worlds largest arms supplier to Israel and under a Bush negotiated deal with Israel, we the people who pay taxes in America will also provide another $30 billion in military aid to Israel over the next decade.

During the 22 days of Israeli assault on Gaza, “Washington provided F-16 fighter planes, Apache helicopters, tactical missiles, and a wide array of munitions, including white phosphorus and DIME. The weapons required for the Israeli assault was decided upon in June 2008, and the transfer of 1,000 bunker-buster GPS-guided Small Diameter Guided Bomb Units 39 (GBU-39) were approved by Congress in September. The GBU 39 bombs were delivered to Israel in November (prior to any claims of Hamas cease fire violation!) for use in the initial air raids on Gaza.” [2]

In a 71-page report released March 25, 2009, by Human Rights Watch, Israel’s repeated firing of US-made white phosphorus shells over densely populated areas of Gaza was indiscriminate and is evidence of war crimes.

“Rain of Fire: Israel’s Unlawful Use of White Phosphorus in Gaza,” provides eye witness accounts of the devastating effects that white phosphorus munitions had on civilians and civilian property in Gaza.

“Human Rights Watch researchers found spent shells, canister liners, and dozens of burnt felt wedges containing white phosphorus on city streets, apartment roofs, residential courtyards, and at a United Nations school in Gaza immediately after hostilities ended in January.

“Militaries officially use white phosphorus to obscure their operations on the ground by creating thick smoke. It has also been used as an incendiary weapon, though such use constitutes a war crime.

“In Gaza, the Israeli military didn’t just use white phosphorus in open areas as a screen for its troops,” said Fred Abrahams, senior emergencies researcher at Human Rights Watch and co-author of the report. “It fired white phosphorus repeatedly over densely populated areas, even when its troops weren’t in the area and safer smoke shells were available. As a result, civilians needlessly suffered and died.” [Ibid]

In November 2006, Father Manuel, the parish priest at the Latin Church and school in Gaza warned the world:

“Gaza cannot sleep! The people are suffering unbelievably. They are hungry, thirsty, have no electricity or clean water. They are suffering constant bombardments and sonic booms from low flying aircraft. They need food: bread and water. Children and babies are hungry…people have no money to buy food. The price of food has doubled and tripled due to the situation. We cannot drink water from the ground here as it is salty and not hygienic. People must buy water to drink. They have no income, no opportunities to get food and water from outside and no opportunities to secure money inside of Gaza. They have no hope.

“Without electricity children are afraid. No light at night. No oil or candles…Thirsty children are crying, afraid and desperate…Many children have been violently thrown from their beds at night from the sonic booms. Many arms and legs have been broken. These planes fly low over Gaza and then reach the speed of sound. This shakes the ground and creates shock waves like an earthquake that causes people to be thrown from their bed. I, myself weigh 120 kilos and was almost thrown from my bed due to the shock wave produced by a low flying jet that made a sonic boom.

“Gaza cannot sleep…the cries of hungry children, the sullen faces of broken men and women who are just sitting in their hungry emptiness with no light, no hope, no love. These actions are War Crimes!”

During Operation Cast Lead, the UN Security Council, Amnesty International, International Red Cross and global voices of protest rose up and demanded a ceasefire but both houses of Congress overwhelmingly endorsed resolutions to support a continuation of Israel’s so called “self defense.”

This Citizen of CONSCIENCE for House of Representatives 2012 is on the Record saying NO to another assault on Gaza and an End to the Occupation of Palestine in 2012!

1. Israeli army plans new invasion of Gaza
2. US Arms Used for War Crimes in Gaza

http://www.veteranstoday.com/2011/12/30/operation-cast-lead-and-a-2012-deja-vu/

Gaza Lives: Reflecting on 'Operation Cast Lead'

18:28 12/29/2011 

And the flag that refuses to lie down. (Julie Webb)

By Mohammed AlNadi – Gaza

In Israel, nothing is more rewarding than committing systematic mass killings and war crimes against Palestinians. It seems, according to Israel's moral system and code of conduct, nothing is more trivial than a Palestinian life. Inflicting death on Palestinians is not punishable in Israel but instead ornamented with decoration and job advancement. I reckon it's the highest and most honorable accomplishment through which an Israeli soldier can achieve most prominent ranks in the military.

This has been evident throughout the Palestine-Israel conflict, as countless planned massacres were and are still being committed against Palestinians since Palestine was occupied in 1948, and typically, the perpetrators have always been leaders of sorts, either political or military figures.

For example, every year Palestinians widely remember Sabra and Shatila massacre, in which thousands of Palestinians were slaughtered in Beirut, Lebanon in 1982. An independent Israeli investigation followed at the time, and it held the then minister of defense Ariel Sharon responsible for allowing the massacre to take place. Not only that, Sharon was found guilty of committing several pogroms against Palestinians. However, he never stood a trial; but on the contrary, he kept ascending the highest rungs of power, where he eventually ended up being Israel's prime minister in 2001.

Colonizers living on land illegally sequestrated from Palestinians in the West Bank are possibly most hostile to Palestinians, who are subject to constant humiliation and attacks. Every now and then, news is heard of separate incidents of settlers stabbing an unarmed Palestinian, running over a child, or committing mass murder, like the Israeli settler Baruch Goldstein did in 1994, when he opened fire inside the Ibrahimi Mosque at the Palestinian prayers performing the dawn prayer during the Holy Ramadan, killing 29 persons, and injuring another 125.

Israel's 22 day invasion of the Gaza Strip three years ago was not an exception. Based on universally held moral values and international laws of war, a lot of neutral and fact-based reports conducted by human rights organizations, including the Goldstone report, and consistent documentations proved that Israel committed war crimes against Palestinian civilians. Israel particularly dismissed the Goldstone report as "biased and one-sided," refused to cooperate and claimed it would launch its own investigations.

A year ago, the Guardian reported that: "The military's Judge Advocate General, Maj. Gen. Avichai Mendelblit ordered almost 50 investigations arising from the operation." Surely, one can't help but burst into laughter at what some of these investigations were about. The report continues recounting three specific cases, one of which was "for stealing and using a Palestinian's credit card". Another Israeli soldier was convicted "for forcing an 11-year-old boy to open bags which could have contained explosives." For Israeli judges, stealing one's money—still immoral of the Israeli army--is by all means far more incriminatory than bombing his body. And did Israel really sanctify the Palestinian children’s lives? If so, what about the 352 children who were killed in cold blood? Were they all posing a threat to Israeli soldiers?

Some of the alleged Israeli investigations were reportedly said to be covering—as Col. Tamir Yadi put it—"claims regarding incidents in which many uninvolved civilians were harmed," but not mentioning a single word about Al Samouni massacre, the single most atrocious incident in the entire assault, where Israeli forces had ordered the entire Al Samouni family to gather in one house—of course, to ensure the highest ratio of casualties--before they premeditatedly bombed it, killing 21 persons and injuring 19 others.

The incident, however, grabbed the world's attention as hundreds of media reports and firsthand witnesses amassed. Israel immediately pretended an investigation was under way. Despite the overwhelming evidence, including a bunch of air force officers' compatible testimony, that Ilan Malka, a senior brigade commander, was responsible for authorizing the strike while being aware of a civilian presence in the area. Later on, exactly three years after the massacre, Israel deliberately buried the case and didn't take any legal actions against him, but instead decided to promote him to the position of brigadier general.

This was quite shocking to me, but later I couldn't think of any "state" other than Israel capable of doing this. And in retrospect, I was able to grasp the horridness of this racist, inhumane behavior of Israel.

December 27, 2011 marks the third anniversary of Israel's war--or "Operation Cast Lead," as Israel sinisterly put it-- on the Gaza Strip in late 2008. What can't be coincidental is the day on which Israel initiated its intensive airstrikes before it proceeded with a 22-day operation from land and sea; it was few days before 2008 drew to a close.

The end of every year is and will always be totally different for the people of Gaza, for it evokes all the painful memories of bodies torn asunder, of houses, mosques and schools destroyed. The timing of the strike was absolutely right, that Israel purposely intended to make the grievance of the people of Gaza recurrent.

Even the Gaza youth, instead of celebrating the heraldry of the new year by congratulating each other and posting hopeful wishes on all social networking sites like the people in the rest of the world do, you see most of them posting statuses of reverential sorrow and lamentation, and make the famous corner-taped black background picture indicating mourning for Gaza their profile pictures. Some others post pictures of burnt children or their beloved relatives Israel killed during the 22 days.

The same is true for Christians in Gaza. They suffered just as equally. When they were supposed to celebrate their Holy Christmas peacefully in 2008, Israel rained on their parade and turned it into an absolute nightmare, which is going to be remembered yearly.

The irony seems beyond imagination; while the entire world was preparing to welcome 2009's beginning with celebrations and fireworks, Palestinians in Gaza were made to have their own special rituals and extraordinary fireworks too, but ones that rained downwards and made flesh sizzle and bones melt.

This, however, didn't work completely. It is true Palestinians lost their sons and houses, but one thing they can't lose for sure is their resilient spirit and ability to heal. In Gaza, meanwhile, Christians are going to churches, decorating their Xmas trees and having lively celebrations. Also, Muslims are going to celebrate on the eve of the New Year and hang out with family and friends. My friends and I have plans too.

- Mohammed AlNadi is Gaza-based English literature graduate. He works as a translator. He contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com.

http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=17354

Remember These Children Mr. President

15:00 12/27/2011

The bodycount continues. (Aljazeera)

By Clive Hambidge Happy Christmas Mr President or may I call you Barack this Yule Tide? As you know 'Christmas is the day that holds all time together' (Alexander Smith) certainly as you rustle through your Christmas stocking and wrestle with your conscience perhaps to find as you dig deep in both and  past ‘hegemonic imperatives’ an  olive twig or a so-called ‘peace process’? Perhaps not. But as you dig, can you hear the whispers?  No. They are not the whispers from the Presidents of Christmas past, we will come to them; no? You are not listening attentively Mr President; that’s because you’ve been genuflecting on the Christmas message of that other great statesman Prime Minister Netanyahu, “we are living in a time of great uncertainty and instability in the Middle East and Israel, throughout this instability, remains a beacon of religious freedom and pluralism.” Wow. On what rock is Israel built and how Netanyahu bestrides it as America holds it, for “As the builders say, the larger stones do not lie well without the lesser” (Plato). And which is which? No Mr President the whispers are coming from the stones of Palestine and Israel and they do “cry out” for past Presidents have remained quiet behind lofty rhetoric and where are they now? “It was [is] the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way.”(Dickens). You’re a “keen student of history” Mr President what about the human condition and the children lost to a sordid history created by Israel and paid for by American tax dollars? Below are some of their names, the stone told me to tell you their names. God Bless you and God Bless America.  Which way are you going? Remember these Children Mr President: • “Yael Ohana, 11, of Hamra settlement, killed by Palestinian gunfire while in her home. 6 February 2002.” • “Fadi Tayseer al-Azazi, 16, of Rafaha, Gaza, killed by IDF shelling to his chest. 6 February 2002.” • “Total Israeli Deaths since September 2002 125” children • “Total Palestinian Deaths since September 2002” 1470 children The Stoned The American stone cast, that gave rise to the ripples that became the waves that is the American Israeli tsunami that engulfs Palestine today, was even in the beginning unusually dense, in the sense obtuse. Quarried and romanced in the USA this stone was to be formed, scuffed then ruthlessly scored by matchless Zionist discontent and ambition, tossed, retrieved, polished and tossed again by successive American Presidents into the same murky American Zionist Israeli foreign policy sea. The rising waves, Israeli aggression and ambition, supported by Zionist America and Presidential weakness, merciless waves beating against the blameless lives of countless Palestinian children past and present and their valiant resistance through the lengthening shadows and dark hours of a brutal occupation as the international community crept decade after supine decade to rectify this grave and ongoing crime against humanity with all the energy of a sloth on diazepam. American Presidential rhetoric the becoming edict that led to endless Israeli  atrocities   “unlawful Israeli behaviour [supported by US Aid] that start[ed] out as “facts” have over time been transformed into “conditions”, or in the words of the American Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, “subsequent developments” that are treated [unlawfully] as essentially irreversible.” Moreover, “USAID and American taxpayers [are] financing, and thereby further entrenching, the Israeli de facto annexation of the West Bank.” (Richard Falk, UNHRC, 16th Session, Agenda Item 7, A/HRC/16/72, 10 January 2011), and the ruinous blockade and the deaths of Palestinian children. For these two states America and Israel have been / are up to no good; are, in this criminality together, up to their necks “because everything that Israel does is  done up to the limits that the United States supports and authorizes. So it’s U.S. Israeli atrocities.” (Noam Chomsky, Power And Terror). America and Israel justifying, “represent[ing] the institutionalization of a system of power in which justice is inoperative and its perversion hidden in clouds of rhetoric and obfuscation.” and where, “The rule of law implicitly applies only to others.” (Edward S. Herman and David Peterson) Successive American and Israeli Administrations, each, an apostate to the other: “See!” he said to all the people “This stone will be a witness against us. It has heard all the words the lord has said to us. It will be a witness against you if you are untrue to your God.” Joshua 24:27. All the Presidents Then President John Adams, his mind high on effulgent heroic, saw conquest, envisioning Mordeca Manue Noah in 1819 “Marching with them [the Israelites] into Judea & making a conquest of that country & restoring your nation to the Dominion of it”. An “independent nation” thought John Quincy Adams, because, they deserved declared Abraham Lincoln a “leg up”. All saw the stone that would be a rock and declared it an American good. And the die and the dying in the stone were cast. Time then, wrapped around the stone, ran through it, became beloved in an American Hegemonic Zionist dream warping space and time, imprisoning Palestinians in a boxed ‘continuum’. An American red hot wax seal legitimising the continuum making it ‘official’ in 1948 as the Ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and the stealing bit by bit of ‘Mandated Palestine’ had begun and in ferocious fashion. The Israeli aggression rewarded with a hundred thousand US dollars in 1949 and Israel’s aggression rewarded with billions of dollars in 2011. The Children of Palestine in 1948 were standing in an American Israeli wind tunnel they are standing in it today. And as we come back from the future and indeed as we move from the past to the present, we see the pernicious results of successive Presidential and illegal leg ups the art of hubris and a continuum of failure. Here then an American Presidential Israeli nightmare and the subtitles of the Palestinian river of suffering that runs through it: • “14th November 2011, Israeli aircraft attacked a small naval post building in North Gaza district. As a result, one police officer was killed and ten persons were injured, including one woman and six police officers.” • “In 2009 in North Gaza, Gaza, Dair El Balah, Khan Younis, and Rafah, 1061 Palestinians lost there lives to Israeli aggression. In the Gaza strip in that same year, 323 children and 104 women were killed by the occupying forces.” Remember this Child Mr President: • “Basel Muhammad Nafe abu-Edwan, 14 killed by an unexploded IDF ordinance while he and his brother were herding sheep near their home.” Died 27th January 2011.  The stone was picked up and skimmed across the surface of the brimming Zionist sea by the deft wrist of Woodrow Wilson 3rd of March 1919 in reaction to the Balfour Declaration, the text of which was presented to him for approval before publication, “The allied nations with fullest concurrence of our government and people are agreed that in Palestine shall be laid the foundation of a Jewish commonwealth.” Then President Warren G. Harding grabbed the stone from the Zionist air stating “the Hebrew people restored to their historic national home,” would enter a “new and yet greater phase of their contribution to the advance of humanity.” • “Number of houses demolished in Gaza strip, since the beginning of the intifada until the end 2009.  North Gaza, houses 5399, residents, 54900. Gaza houses, 7060, residents,73149. Dair El Balah, houses 1004, residents, 8925.  Khan Younis, houses, 1596, residents, 12247.  Rafah, houses, 3774, residents, 32284.  Total houses 18833, Total residents, 181505.” • “The number of damaged water wells.  North Gaza, 120.   Gaza, 154.  Dair El Balah, 62.  Khan Younis, 23.  Rafah, 14. Total, 373.” • “2008 Women and children killed by Israel in the Gaza Strip.  Children, 107, women, 23.”  Remember this child Mr President: • “Shiran Ismail Abdullah abu-Shawareb 11, of Nuserat refugee camp, Gaza died of heart problems at Nasr paediatric Hospital in Gaza, which lacked necessary equipment, after Israel denied her entry for medical treatment. Doctors had requested transfer to an Israeli hospital on Dec. 27 [2010] On Jan. 10, believing permission for a transfer had been granted, Shiran’s father took her to the Erez checkpoint where Israel again denied her entry.” Died 15th January 2008 The stone retrieved by Coolidge was polished with expressed “sympathy with the deep and intense longing which finds such fine expression in the Jewish National Homeland in Palestine.” then caressed in short sighted rhetoric by President Hoover who as other Presidents before and after him couldn’t see around histories sharp corner or dint want to saying  1932, “I am interested to learn that a group of distinguished men and women is to be formed to spread knowledge and appreciation of the rehabilitation which is going forward in Palestine under Jewish auspices.” • “Number of damaged industrial establishments by IOF’s, in 2006 19, 2005 7, 2004 86, 2003 77.” • “Number of Palestinians killed by Israeli occupying forces in the Gaza strip; 2006 531, 2005 99, 2004 646, 2003 398.” • “Number of Palestinians killed by Israeli occupying forces in the Gaza strip (women, children) 2006 children 115, women 34, 2005 children 32, women 1, 2004 children 156, women 10, 2003 children 81, women 17.” Remember this child Mr President: • “Muhammad Jaber hassan Adila Said, 15, of osreen, near Nablus, killed by IDF gunfire to his chest.” January 2004. Franklin Roosevelt viewed the stone empathetically, could feel its vital pulse, perhaps he had a pet name for the stone perhaps it was ineluctable? Or was it inexorable he had in mind as he sat to write to Senator Tydings on October 19, 1938 as The Nakba loomed. “I have on numerous occasions, as you know, expressed my sympathy in the establishment of a National Home for the Jews in Palestine and, despite the set backs caused by the disorders there during the last few years, I have been heartened by the progress which has been made and by remarkable accomplishments of the Jewish settlers in that country.” • “Number of Palestinians killed by Israel occupying forces in the Gaza Strip, 2003 North Gaza 89, Gaza 118, Dair El Balah 75, Khan Younis 42, Rafah 72.” • “Palestinians killed by Israeli occupying forces in the Gaza strip (women children) 2002 children 94, women 25, 2001 children 69, women 4, 2000 children 38 women 0.”  Remember this child Mr President • “Muhammad Jamal Muhammad al-Durrah, 12 of Burejj refugee camp, Gaza, killed by IDF gunfire to his chest as his father tried to protect him during a demonstration at Netzarim Junction.”  Then shining with Zionist zeal, it was to morph into a rock in 1948 enfolded in to Israel’s emboldened clenched fist, and as the British looked the other way, smashed Palestine leaving Palestinians between it and a hard place, supported by intellectuals with nothing in their heads but the propaganda they were fed, and a Presidential endorsement. Eleven minutes after Israel’s proclamation of independence President Harry Truman declared, “I had faith in Israel before it was established; I have faith in it now.” He further said in 1952 “I believe it has a glorious future before it- not just another sovereign nation, but an embodiment of the great ideals of our civilization.” • “The majority of these [Palestinian] children were killed and injured while going about normal daily activities, such as going to school, playing, shopping, or simply being in their homes. Sixty-four percent of children killed during the first six months of 2003 died as a result of Israeli air and ground attacks, or from indiscriminate fire from Israeli soldiers”.(Catherine Cook) Remember these children Mr President: • “Ophir Rahum, 16, of Ashkelon, killed by Palestinian gunfire in al-Birah after being led to believe he was meeting an internet acquaintance, 17th January 2001.” • “Omar Farouq Khaled 11,of al-Bireh, died of head wounds sustained Jan.7 2001 from IDF gunfire during a demonstration.” And after 1948, a Presidential stream of consciousness compounding the problem for Palestine with unquestioning and ever increasing aid for Israel’s gluttony, her voracious appetite to oppress and appropriate, and kill those who would thwart her: Eisenhower: “our forces saved the remnant of the Jewish People of Europe for a new life and a new hope in the reborn Israel. Kennedy: “Israel was not created to disappear- Israel will endure and flourish.” Nixon: “The United States stands by its friends. Israel is one of its friends Peace can be based only on agreement between parties and agreement can only be achieved only through negotiations between them. The United States will not impose the terms of peace. [But] The United States is prepared to supply military equipment necessary to support the efforts of friendly governments, like Israel’s to defend the safety of their people.”  Carter: “a few days ago in a conversation with about 30 members of the House of Representatives, I said that I would rather commit suicide than hurt Israel.” President Regan: Israel exists; it has a right to exist in peace behind secure and defensible borders; and it has a right to demand of its neighbours that they recognize those facts.” Bush Sr: “The friendship, the alliance between the United States and Israel is strong and solid, built upon a foundation of shared democratic values.” Clinton: “The United States admires Israel for all that it has overcome and for all it has accomplished.” And President George W. Bush: “Israel is a small country that has lived under threat throughout its existence. At the first meeting of my National Security Council, I told them a top foreign policy priority is the safety and security of Israel.” Remember this child Mr President: • “Sara Abdul-Azim Abdul-Haq Hasan, 18 months, of Sarah, near Salfit, killed by Israeli settler gunfire to her head while riding with her father in a car. 1st October 2000.” And last but not the least short sighted lacking historical memory, also will  as did the others President Barack Hussein Obama: “The American people and the Israeli peoples share a faith in the future and believe that democracies can shape their own destinies and that opportunities should be available to all. Throughout its own extraordinary history, Israel has given life to that promise.” Remember this child Mr President: • “Haitham Ahmad Mustafa Maruf, 13 of Beit Lahiya, Gaza, died in Shifa Hospital, Gaza, of wounds sustained from an IDF drone attack while working on his family farm 29 August 2011.” (Click here to read a sourced version of this article.) - Clive Hambidge is Human Development Director at Facilitate Global. Contact him at: clive.hambidge@facilitateglobal.org. (This article was contributed to PalestineChronicle.com)

http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=17344

THE CHANUKAH MASSACRE OF GAZA ~~ THREE YEARS LATER

December 28, 2011 at 09:39

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Today marks the third anniversary of the commencement of Operation Cast Lead, Israel’s 27 December 2008 – 18 January 2009 offensive on the Gaza Strip. 27 December also marks the anniversary of the single bloodiest day in the history of the occupation; on this day three years ago 334 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces, 76.6% of whom were civilians.

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Three years after the fact…. the atrocities continue.

Click on the links to get the full reports….

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13-year-old boy injured by Israeli gunfire in Gaza

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Israel’s siege punishing Gaza orphans

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3 Years After Operation Cast Lead Justice has been Comprehensively Denied; PCHR Release 23 Narratives Documenting the Experience of Victims

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A post from the archives can be seen HERE

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GAZA ~~ RELIVING THE CHANUKAH MASSACRE

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Open letter from Gaza: Three years after the massacre, justice or nothing!

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We, Palestinians of Gaza, 3 years on from the 22-day long massacre in Israel’s operation ‘Cast Lead’, are calling on international civil society to make 2012 the year when solidarity with us in Palestine captures the spark of the revolutions around the Arab world and never looks back. On this anniversary we demand an international liberation movement that eventually leads to just that, liberation for us Palestinians from 63 years of brutal military occupation and ethnic cleansing that pours shame on any organisation or government claiming to endorse universal human rights.

We will never forget the hurt of 3 years ago, the criminal onslaught that we lived through, the blood of over 1400 murdered men, women and hundreds of children running through the streets of Gaza, between the rubble, soaking our beds and etched on our minds. We will never forget. For they are still dead, and thousands more are still maimed.^[1]

We will never forget the last 63 years during which our land, homes, olive groves, lemon trees and cherished way of life was taken away from us, while Israeli soldiers held our fathers’ faces in the sands, imprisoned them, or shot them in front of us. We will not forget the sickening cowardice of the international community that has allowed and enabled this ethnic cleansing of our people, subjecting us to Israel’s racist Zionist vision that defines us, the indigenous people of Palestine, as the undesired ‘ethnic group’ for the region.

The US continues to ‘reward’ Israel with 6 billion dollars of tax-payers money while the EU increases its trade and diplomatic relations. For the Israeli apartheid regime this translates as the green light to unleash the 4^th most powerful military on us to ‘do its worst’ against our civilian population, of which over half in Gaza are children and over 2 thirds are UN registered refugees.

In recent years, civil society and solidarity movements throughout the world have grown in their support for us, especially in 2011. As the world wakes up, the prospect of life without Israeli occupation and its system of race-based subjugation becomes more than a dream. We demand simply, human rights that anyone else would expect. This year, the first taste of liberation in the Western controlled Arab world arrived in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. Many of those who took to the streets moved beyond their fear of being killed or tortured, facing up to the despotic, Western-backed regimes in the name of freedom for their families, communities and compatriots.

We will never forget them too, as we have lived much of our lives beyond this fear, our resilience against Israeli apartheid growing as the solidarity movements around the world grow. No longer under the boot of Western governments we urge the Arab street to do what the Israeli Apartheid Regime fears the most, to unite and build against them, the state that has violated more United Nations resolutions than any other. The siege breaking attempts into Gaza must continue, the second Free Gaza Flotilla exposed again the brutal and merciless edge of Israel’s hermetic siege.

In Europe and America the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction 

(BDS)^[2] movement is reaching the mainstream. Huge victories have included campaigns against waste and transport infrastructure firm Veolia who build transport routes on Israeli occupied lands.^[3] Inspired and supported by Nobel Prize winner and anti apartheid hero Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the University of Johannesburg ended its collaboration with Ben Gurion University in Israel.^[4] Other University campuses are pursuing boycott campaigns and major European Trade Unions have broken ties with Israeli Trade Unions. And a growing number of conscientious artists and singers are refusing to perform in Israel.

 All over Israeli internet sites and in government policy are attempts to deter the growing BDS movement,^[5]an international strategy that succeeded against a similarly well-armed, Western affiliated apartheid regime in South Africa.

The effect worldwide of the Gaza massacres 3 years ago was a catalyst for a huge rise in worldwide solidarity and action in support of Palestine, just as the South African Sharpeville massacre was for South African blacks in 1960^.

Our call this year will accept no compromise. We call upon all Palestine solidarity groups and all international civil society organizations to demand:

• An end to the siege that has been imposed on the Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza Strip as a result of their exercise of democratic choice.
• The protection of civilian lives and property, as stipulated in International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law such as The Fourth Geneva Convention.
• The immediate release of all political prisoners.
• That Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip be immediately provided with financial and material support to cope with the immense hardship that they are experiencing
• An end to occupation, Apartheid and other war crimes with immediate reparations and compensation for all destruction carried out by the Israeli Occupation Forces in Gaza.

For us, the sacrifices for resisting have often meant imprisonment, torture, collective punishment and death. Outside, the risks are lower, but with great possibility. We call on you to Boycott Divest and Sanction, join the many International Trade Unions, Universities, Supermarkets and artists and writers who refuse to entertain Apartheid Israel. Speak out for Palestine, for Gaza, and crucially ACT. There has never been a time when mobilizations are gaining such support. 1994 was the year of South Africa when Apartheid was thrown into the dustbin of history; with your support we can make 2012 the year of free Palestine!

THE TIME IS NOW!

List of signatories:

General Union for Public Services Workers
General Union for Health Services Workers
University Teachers’ Association
Palestinian Congregation for Lawyers
General Union for Petrochemical and Gas Workers
General Union for Agricultural Workers
Union of Women’s Work Committees
Union of Synergies—Women Unit
The One Democratic State Group
Arab Cultural Forum
Palestinian Students’ Campaign for the Academic Boycott of Israel
Association of Al-Quds Bank for Culture and Info
Palestine Sailing Federation
Palestinian Association for Fishing and Maritime
Palestinian Women Committees
Progressive Students’ Union
Medical Relief Society
The General Society for Rehabilitation
General Union of Palestinian Women
Afaq Jadeeda Cultural Centre for Women and Children
Deir Al-Balah Cultural Centre for Women and Children
Maghazi Cultural Centre for Children
Al-Sahel Centre for Women and Youth
Ghassan Kanfani Kindergartens
Rachel Corrie Centre, Rafah
Rafah Olympia City Sisters
Al Awda Centre, Rafah
Al Awda Hospital, Jabaliya Camp
Ajyal Association, Gaza
General Union of Palestinian Syndicates
Al Karmel Centre, Nuseirat
Local Initiative, Beit Hanoun
Union of Health Work Committees
Red Crescent Society Gaza Strip
Beit Lahiya Cultural Centre
Al Awda Centre, Rafah

References

[1] http://www.dci-pal.org/english/display.cfm?CategoryId=1&DocId=917

[2] http://www.bdsmovement.net/call

[3] http://www.bdsmovement.net/2011/veolia-takes-severe-blow-as-it-fails-to-win-485-million-pound-contract-in-west-london-8559

[4] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/southafrica/8404451/South-African-university-severs-ties-with-Israel.html

[5] http://www.hrw.org/news/2011/07/13/israel-anti-boycott-bill-stifles-expression

http://desertpeace.wordpress.com/2011/12/28/the-chanukah-massacre-of-gaza-three-years-later/