Israeli army shoots worker in north Gaza

Israeli occupation forces opened fire Saturday at Palestinian workers in north of Gaza Strip, one of them was injured in his foot.

Local Medical sources reported that the worker was shot in Biat Lahya town, in north of Gaza Strip, while he was collecting gravel.

The sources added that the injured worker was evacuated to Kamal Odwan Hospital to receive medication and his health condition is moderate.

Gazan workers collect gravel to be used in building houses as Israel still prevents the entry of building materials to the blockaded Gaza.
http://www.paltelegraph.com/

And what will Santa bring the kiddies of Gaza?

by Stuart Littlewood.
Rarely do I enter a church unless it’s to admire the medieval architecture, a soaring testament to man’s faith in a more dangerous and uncertain age.

One reason being that church leaders, by and large, ignore the fate of the Holy Land, which of course underpins the whole structure of their faith. The performance of our bishops, who have a voice in the House of Lords but never use it, is beyond pathetic.

However, every year at this time I make a point of visiting the parish church in the small market town of Fakenham, in Norfolk, to enjoy their dazzling Christmas Tree Festival. The event has been going for 10 years and this year raised money for 78 local and national charities.

Each charity decorates a tree supplied by one of the festival’s sponsors, a local garden centre, and under each tree is a collection box. The trees are displayed in the church for a week, then taken down in time to be used to good effect somewhere else in the run-up to Christmas. Last year 25,000 people visited the magical festival. This year the church was crowded and the admiring chatter was accompanied by a continual chink-chink of money falling into the boxes.

The charities taking part ranged from the Gurkha Welfare Trust and the East Anglian Air Ambulance to Chernobyl Children and numerous local nursery schools. Prayers are said every hour for thye charities in turn. As usual I looked around hopefully for an appeal on behalf of the children of the brutally occupied Holy Land – and especially Gaza – who are always on my mind as Christmas approaches.

But no luck.

People are at their most generous about now, and there’s perhaps an opening here for those who work to alleviate the awful suffering of young and old living amid the wreckage of homes and infrastructure in the Gaza Strip. The rector at Fakenham believes his church more or less pioneered the tree festival but he’s aware that other churches are taking up the idea. Are any of the UK’s 1500 mosques doing it? Is there an opportunity for inter-faith joint working?

I phoned the Islamic centre in the two nearest cities several times but they don’t answer. I left voice and email messages but no-one got back to me. So much for their front-line communication…

Last Christmas I wrote that our then prime minister, Gordon Brown, wished the Jewish community a happy Chanuka from Number10.gov.uk and recalled how he celebrated Israel’s 60th birthday with them.

But he had no festive greeting for the shivering and shattered Gazans who had been bombed and blasted by his ‘friends’ during their Christmas festival. And no word of cheer, either, for the Christian communities in Gaza and the West Bank endlessly persecuted by the Israelis.

One presumes that Brown, a staunch ally of Israel, knew about the hell that his friends were about to inflict on Gaza during the Christmas celebrations of 2008/9, just as Mr Abbas did according to leaked US cables. Christians living in the Strip were certainly aware of the invasion threat and abandoned plans to celebrate the midnight Christmas mass in protest. But they couldn’t have imagined the enormity of the devastation and slaughter that was about to be unleashed on them and their children while Western leaders stayed shtum.

And Brown is the son of a Church of Scotland minister.

Many of the 1.5 million people packed into the ravaged Strip, I hear, have had to scavenge through rubbish tips for food to survive.

So what sort of Christmas is in store for their little ones this year while the criminals who inflicted such savagery and torment, and continue to deny them their human rights, have their snouts in the Yuletide trough and enjoy a warm bed?

This year The Jewish Chronicle reports that David Cameron, our new prime minister, has wished the Jewish community around the world “a happy and peaceful Chanucah”.

He called the story of Chanucah “an inspiring message of the power of hope to sustain people through the toughest of times”.

From his echo-chamber Foreign Secretary William Hague, in a Chanucah video message, added: “It’s a great pleasure to send warm good wishes to the Jewish community in Britain and all over the world.”

I wonder if either of them will have the good grace to send similar messages of hope to sustain the good people of Gaza “through the toughest of times”.

The UN says that imports are only at 36 per cent of pre-siege levels, thanks to Cameron’s friends, and exports are still not allowed (except a few strawberries), so the hardship must still be unimaginable.

Last week, here in England, we were treated to the spectacle of the Royal Navy’s flagship, the aircraft carrier Ark Royal, returning to her home port for the last time, to be de-commissioned and turned into a museum or tourist attraction – or sold for scrap – after only 25 years’ service. The original Ark Royal was Lord Howard’s flagship in the naval actions to beat off the Spanish Armada’s invasion force in those swashbuckling days of 1588.

Fighting for freedom, you see.

A pity the present Ark Royal couldn’t have gone to her grave with a bang rather than a whimper… for example, by making a last voyage to the Eastern Med, perhaps with a multi-national crew, to bust the evil blockade and land supplies on Gaza’s beach… a long-overdue Christmas present for the imprisoned Christians and Muslims alike from a heroic Santa.

Fanciful thinking? Of course, given the international community’s spineless leaders.
http://ramallahonline.com/2010/12/and-what-will-santa-bring-the-kiddies-of-gaza/

Only 48 Hours Until Country-Wide BDS Day

This year, what better way to honor International Human Rights Day than to join with others around the country to say NO to investment in Occupation & Apartheid!

If you haven't already, it's not too late to join this initiative by Jewish Voice for Peace to tell financial company TIAA-CREF to divest from Caterpillar, Motorola, and other companies profiting from Israeli violations of Palestinian rights.

Organizers in more than 20 cities around the country are mobilizing to bring their voices to local TIAA-CREF offices in the form of petitions, face-to-face meetings, and demonstrations. If you haven't already, register here to join with others in your area already taking part.

You can find more general information about the campaign, a step-by-step guide, and a sample petition here.

This Friday, join the chorus of voices telling TIAA-CREF we will not stand for profiting from Occupation & Apartheid!
http://endtheoccupationblog.blogspot.com/

PHOTO ESSAY ~~ FREE SKATING TO FREE PALESTINE

hotos © by Bud Korotzer

Art student Emily Henochowicz who lost an eye during a protest against the IDF’s raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in late May continues her activities to free Palestine…

The event went off flawlessly. There were about 10 skaters on the ice (some looking like they were risking their lives out there, some really good) who at a given signal pulled on their Palestinian flag ‘capes’ while skating around the rink with the colorful flags flapping in the bright sunlight. At that point about 30-40 supporters standing among the tourists took out various size flags and started chanting, with the skaters, “FREE, FREE PALESTINE. Leaflets were handed out explaining why the skaters were there. After a few minutes Rockefeller Center security politely asked the skaters to leave. Everyone regrouped on crowded 5th Avenue and held a short rally. The event was sponsored by Existence is Resistance and they are considering repeating it in other major New York ice skating rinks.
http://desertpeace.wordpress.com/2010/12/05/photo-essay-free-skating-to-free-palestine/

AYMAN QUADER: THE HERO FROM MY PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE

by: Ayman T. Quader - Intifada Palestine

What is a hero? From my perspective several thoughts emerge in my mind when I think of a hero, specifically in a very broad sense. The word hero applies dynamically to individuals in different contexts of culture, history, gender, etc. The term hero might generally be associated with that man who is brave, generous and courageous. Considering yourself a hero, you would intimately reflect your own identity, culture, conflict and history.

For me, it had been actually wonderful when I discovered that my personality is motivated toward many interests particularly in my career. I finished my studies from the Islamic University of Gaza and I was well-prepared to be a teacher of English language. Through my early life, people around me never stop telling me that I have got a smile face and always you enjoy being close with children. There is one prime characteristic I really admire about the life of the refugee camp that its small roads always crowed with young children where they have fun and enjoy their time in such dire environment. Accordingly, my attitudes had been changed from being teacher of English language for children into being very close to them through another dimension of work which the humanitarian aid and relief work.

Personally, it would be simple to identify the concept of hero according to my perception and my experience in Palestine. Having this course of childhood inside me, the hero is the Palestinian child who grows up and builds his life in the light of such dire conflict. This perspective is due to the fact that I lived in this situation of conflict my entire life as well as being close to children though my previous work. In this regard, I shift my thoughts dramatically to recognize the child’s Smile as heroic figure. This smile would cry lots of qualities and values specifically in the context of the Gaza Strip. My hero is a young Palestinian child who keeps a smile on his face and keeps aspiring of a better future despite living a life in struggle and conflict.

During the fifth model period, we took an exercise called Butoh Dance. In this exercise, my imagination and memory had been perfectly working and I went behind the dancing world. It enhances my bodily awareness not only for individuals but rather for social groups this happened through greatly activating my inner imagination. This took place when we were asked to play the role of being a tree then later on to consider myself, old woman, old man, and child. My flash memory easily helped me in order to recall those people where I lived part of my life with. The only image that recalled in my mind was a young child who is of 12 years. It was very much expressive for me as I spent fifteen minutes with in his world before I imagine myself a child. In this moment I had the feeling that I wanted to stay as long as I can with this child since this child is close to my heart. Subsequently, I realized that dancing and getting my body part moving negatively impacted the recalled image, and then I decided to still recalling the image while lying in the ground.

It’s hard to count the characteristics that constitute the child’s smile. Ambitious, amusing, patient, bearable, conscious, knowledgeable, would ensure the strength of this young child as a hero in the time of conflict and insecurity.
The Rights of Children in Gaza
The Palestinian child is directly affected by the scenes of incursion, blood and war. The child is not given the basic childhood rights. It is even hard for her/him to find a space for fun, and also to get her/him physiological needs satisfied. The child retains memories of all means of death that his/her family passed through during the time of instability and warfare caused by the Israeli regular militant activities in his/her area.

Children around the world all share something in common in terms of love needed, compassion and smile. The Palestinian Gazan child has experienced an ongoing siege of unprecedented severity, including various blockages of fuel and electricity provisions, as well as all other energy resources. Israel has also imposed a strict closure on all the Gaza Strip border crossings, preventing movement of civilians, including patients seeking medical care.
Young heroes

In my following examples I would like to illustrate my definition of hero in clearer manner. There are many examples of children that inspired me while I was in my home. In this example, I will prove how the smile and the joy of children in Gaza are really heroic figures.

To start with, I remember my seven-year old sister’s smile Raghed enjoying her romantic candle light while studying her science lesson. The candle lighting at her table was not due to a special occasion. In fact, candles have become a necessity for Raghed and all children in Gaza due to the regular cut of electricity. Her smile still waves within my imaginary how she created sort of fund out of this exceptional hard situation she passed.

To move from Raghed to another aspiring childhood example named Loa’I Suboh. After the recent 23-day of war (Dec 2008 – Jan 2009) on the Gaza Strip, I started reporting some of the tragic stories directly from the mouths of children. One month after the attack, I met Loa’i Suboh, a ten-year old child who has lost his eyes in the attacks. He was injured by an Israeli air raid targeting his family in north of the Gaza Strip. Loa’i was wounded when he left the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) School with his family, as they were taking shelter on the premises. They wanted to get back to their home to fetch some personal belonging things like food and blankets. Loa’i was left bleeding for an hour and half and no one was able to have access to him and save him because of the heavy of the Israeli shelling at that time. One year after these sad events, Loa’i assured me that his blindness will never obstruct his future to be a good business man. Loa’i is an active and intelligent boy. His steadfastness and determination to complete his studies and accomplish his goals are in my opinion truly heroic, even if, sadly, his case is far from being unique.


According to data from the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), 313 children under the age of 18 were killed in 23 days of war on the Strip (Palestinian Center for Human Rights, 2009:13). A great number of children has been killed or injured as a result of the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip. The majority were killed as a result of Israeli violations of International Humanitarian Law[1] (IHL), such as willful killing, violations of the principle of distinction, indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks. After years of occupation and conflict children already stressed were profoundly traumatized. The significant number of killing of children or leaving them with a more or less severe handicap, has increased the cases of children suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) while there is no child who didn’t suffer a major trauma: from destruction of his home to loss of a parent, a sibling, from destruction of his school, playground, to the loss of a friend, a neighbor. They still dream and hope for peace and having space for entertaining.

I remember a Day of Action for children organized in one of the Refugee camps in the centre of the Gaza strip named (Al-Maghazi refugee camp). The event was called “Quest for Smile”. Through this after-school event, I saw the steadfastness of the children’s smiles, their smiles full of innocence. They eagerly assembled during this event and shared moments of joy and friendship. The event was organized in a local park fifty meters away from a demolished building. During the recent Israeli assault over the Gaza Strip, three children living in Al-Maghazi refugees camp were killed, and over 30 were critically wounded. Those children had been suffering from the ongoing insecurity of war and blockade over them. They were extremely cheerful during this event. “No words can express the joy experienced by these children during the event”, said one audience member, noting how the children couldn’t stop clapping and dancing with the costumed performers. The young children enjoyed several activities and performances, including dancing, group games, a trivia contest, and others, as well as spending some leisurely time outside with friends. It is really inspiring to see the bad psychological state of these children, and see how they bear such difficult circumstances and still have fun.
Through my experience as a humanitarian aid worker at the Islamic Relief Organization in Gaza, I realized how the children are affected by the consequences of the conflict and the conditions on the ground. I witnessed their struggle and how they fight to keep a smile on their faces. They play on the rubble of their homes and keep smiling. This is my hero personal perspective that embodied with children smile. Now I will explore etymological meaning of hero in Arabic since the Arabic language is a bit difficult in exploring the etymological words.
[1] International Humanitarian Law provides general protection for children as persons taking no part in hostilities, and special protection as persons who are especially vulnerable during war and armed conflict.
http://www.intifada-palestine.com/2010/11/ayman-quader-the-hero-from-my-personal-perspective/

Israeli fire injures 2 workers in northern Gaza

GAZA (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces fired live ammunition injuring two Gaza residents near the Strip's northern border on Thursday morning, medics reported.

Medical services spokesman Adham Abu Salmieh said the injured men were collecting rubble near Beit Lahiya, and were taken to Kamal Adwan hospital for treatment.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said she would look into the report.

Palestinian workers collect rubble and gravel in the area along the border fence to make cement.

In a recent report, Defence for Children International said "Due to a severe lack of job opportunities and a shortage of construction material entering Gaza from Israel, hundreds of men and boys scavenge for building gravel amongst the destroyed buildings close to the border fence."

DCI documented 12 incidents in which children were shot by Israeli forces in northern Gaza over the summer. The organization said reports indicated that soldiers also shot and killed the donkeys used by workers, as well as targeting the workers themselves.

Israel places severe restriction on the import of gravel into the Strip. At the current rate that Israel is allowing cement aggregates into Gaza, it would take 75 years for the UN to implement its reconstruction plan for Gaza, the report said.
http://farmingunderfire.blogspot.com/2010/10/israeli-fire-injures-2-workers-in.html

GAZA: Tens of thousands rallied in celebration of the tenth anniversary of Aqsa Intifada

September 28, 2000, Ariel Sharon visited the Temple Mount in al Quds . This visit became the pretext for organizing large scale demonstrations, the start of the al-Aqsa intifada. On September 29, Palestinians staged large demonstrations and threw stones at Israeli police at the Western Wall in Al Quds.The Israeli occupant used rubber-coated metal bullets and live ammunition against the demonstrators, killing and injuring approximately 200 protesters.

PalestineFreeVoice (GAZA ) ----- After prayers on Friday thousand's of Gazan' s
rallied in celebration of the memory of the tenth anniversary of the Aqsa Intifada. Worshippers from most of the Mosques in Gaza gathered at the junction of the Al- Bureiy and Nusserat refuge camps.
The participants of the rally also expressed their firm support of Hamas movement and the Islamic Jihad and the Palestinians in Al Quds ( Jerusalem) who are subjected to a brutal, vicious campaign by the Zionist occupant.The campaign is aimed to complete the Judaization of Al Quds, cast out( expel)the Palestinian citizens from where they have lived their lives for generations back in time.

Some of the organizers also expressed their rejection to negotiations between Fatah and the Zionist entity, stressing that such a negotiations can only result in more losses of land and Palestinian lives. Derive advantage from the Palestinians.. to benefit the Zionist occupant.

In the southern parts of Gaza, another tenth of thousands of citizens responded to a call from Islamic Jihad. Muhammad al-Hindi and Mahammad Batsh, two leaders of Islamic Jihad participated in the rally in protest against negotiations with the Zionist occupant, emphasising that negotiations with the Palestinian peoples enemy, would only serve to conceal the deception of the Zionist occupation: To continue it's violation of the Palestinian people's rights.Both leaders of the Islamic Jihad stated that the only option to liberate Palestine from the Zionist occupation is to proceed along the course of resistance.
http://palestinefreevoice.blogspot.com/2010/10/gaza-tens-of-thousands-rallied-in.html

Siege casts shadow over Ramadan

by Mohammed Omer
The Muslim festival approaches, but not the end to power cuts that have darkened the month-long Ramadan fasting leading up to the festival. Or to the agony of Gazans, made worse by the reminder that it's approaching festive time.

The prolonged electricity cuts, lasting from 12 to 16 hours daily, is the topic of conversation on everyone's lips in the Gaza Strip. It's hot, it's Ramadan, and the people are tired, thirsty, hungry and desperate.

The electricity supply began crumbling after the 2006 election when Hamas won, leading to Israel and Egypt imposing an economic blockade. Israel launched air strikes in December 2008, knocking out all the six transformers supplying power to Gaza.

With no signs of restoration in sight, everyone is prepared for the situation to get much worse.

"Life is paralyzed here," says 45-year-old Sami Abu Ouaf, an unemployed father of seven, who lives at the Bureij refugee camp in the middle of the Gaza Strip. "And this is the price we are paying for democracy."

"I never imagined this kind of punishment -- having my electricity, water and gas cut off -- for casting my vote," he adds. Abu Ouaf needs to keep a sharp eye on the time to make sure he doesn't miss the rationed supply when it comes. "It's democracy by candlelight -- if one is lucky enough to afford candles."

The supply schedule varies in different localities as well as from day to day, said Kanan Obied, an official from the Gaza Electricity Authority. And the situation worsened a few weeks ago, to coincide -- ironically -- with the beginning of Ramadan.

The EU, which was paying the Palestinian Authority to supply diesel for the Gaza generators, stopped the funding in August, accusing Hamas of pocketing electricity revenues. The Gaza government replied that the EU move came after they identified a corrupt official in the electricity company.

Walking through the markets and streets of Gaza one hears almost everyone appealing to the UN, EU and Arab League to find a speedy solution to the crisis. Zahran Awad from Gaza City says, "This Western attempt to make us turn against Hamas will fail."

As the lights go off in Gaza, the media spotlight on the electricity crisis seems to have died out as well. Many Gaza citizens feel that since it has been so bad for so long, it is likely to stay that way.

About two-thirds of the 1.5 million residents are refugees from the 1948 or 1967 wars, according to the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA), with 675,000 living below the poverty line.

As a Gaza-based economic expert says, "Forcing the Gazan population to pay bills is out of the question. They are suffering from a long siege, with the borders closed and no jobs available." People can be seen going from one neighborhood to another just to charge their mobile phones and laptops. One journalist gets his laptop charged at a local hospital.

Abu Ouaf outlines the impact of the shortages. "We buy just enough food and medicine for one day as it is impossible to run a refrigerator," he says.

Securing fuel for the generators remains the immediate challenge. Neither the Gaza government nor the Palestinian Authority is willing to pay the steep $13 million required each month.

Hamas official Dr. Yousef Rizka, adviser to Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, introduced an initiative. He suggested that the governments in Ramallah and Gaza deduct $45 every month from each civil servant and employee. The Hamas-led government has 30,000 employees, which means that, in theory, some $1.3 million a month will be available to pay the fuel bills.

But this too would be a temporary measure since the electricity company has debts amounting to $1.3 billion, and no one is addressing that problem as yet.

In Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, a street trader Mohammed Abdelal, 85, is preparing his stall, selling clothes smuggled in through Egypt. "We have never been through a harder period in our lives," he says.

For his 75-year-old wife, Hadia Abdelal, the power cuts are "the latest nightmare in the siege of Gaza." Their grandchildren, who have "suffered so much in the last years," are now getting used to studying by candlelight.

During these hot summer months Abdelal longs to "have one fan and drink cool water." But they rarely have running water, since the water and power supplies hardly ever coincide. The relatively affluent use generators to pump water.

The Abdelal family's water supply comes once in three days and frequently their water tank runs dry. When they mange to fill it, the water is used only for drinking. "A shower is a luxury," a young man from Jabaliya said. But his friend corrected him, saying, "No, it's a dream."

Another effect of the power cuts has been on the sewage treatment plant. In the absence of electricity, the plant functions sporadically and every day 88,000 cubic meters of raw or partially treated sewage, oozes into the Mediterranean. The polluted waters are dangerous for fish and make a quick dip in the sea impossible to even imagine.

A customer at Abdelal's stall is Ghalia Abu Jamiea, a 49-year-old mother of nine children. "My three youngest children often wake up in the darkness screaming in fear," she says. "And bed-wetting has become a nightly problem."

Abu Jamiea says she sees no solution, for even if someone gifted them a generator they could not afford the fuel to run it.

Abdelal's grandson Mohammed said he woke up around 3:30 that morning to eat suhur, the meal he and other Muslims take before sunrise during Ramadan. "It's frustrating to stumble about in the dark, looking for the right plates and trying to find something to eat. And then remain hungry and thirsty for the rest of the day."

Abu Jamiea says she hopes to teach her children to "love life even if the darkness persists and the world abandons the powerless people of Gaza." It won't get any better after Ramadan, and nobody can say when it ever will.
http://electronicintifada.net/

Israeli Navy to storm aid "Freedom Flotilla" ships

By Sameh Habeeb)A number of Israeli naval ships is approaching the “Freedom Flotilla” sea aid convoys near Gaza shores. The boats which is carrying thousands of tones of aid and food stuff sailed to Gaza from Cyprus after launching the flotilla a few days ago.

Tweeting from the sear, Freegaza is saying that signals are going up and down. Israel is doing its best to block the satellite.

According to Lubna Masarwa, member of Freegaza Movement on board of one of the ships. The Israeli army has sent 2 ships and started to issue threats against the civilians on these boats.

Maarwa said, “ they contacted the ship asking who we are. They are getting closer to the ship. We can see them, 3 boats are coming not we are still 78 mile away from Israeli waters.”

More than 750 international peace activists are aiming at arriving to within Monday by sea to the besieged Gaza Strip. The boats carry more than 10,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid and building materials are loaded on these boats.

Hundred housing units are onboard and more than 500 wheelchairs for handicap children as well.
http://www.paltelegraph.com/

Bishop Donald Corder: Gaza, Zionism and World Domination: Financial Warfare Global Campaign

By want and the envy and hatred which it engenders we shall move the mobs and with their hands we shall wipe out all those who hinder us on our way. This hatred will be still further magnified by the effects of an Economic Crisis, which will stop dealing on the exchanges and bring industry to a standstill. We shall create by all the secret subterranean methods open to us and with the aid of gold, which is all in our hands, a Universal Economic Crisis whereby we shall throw upon the streets whole mobs of workers simultaneously in all the countries of Europe. These mobs will rush delightedly to shed the blood of those whom, in the simplicity of their ignorance, they have envied from their cradles, and whose property they will then be able to loot. Jews will be safe. Excerpts from “Protocols of the Meetings of the 70 Learned Elders of Zion.”

In July, 1944, during World War II, economist John Maynard Keynes of England, and Harry Dexter White of the United States, organized the United Nations’ Monetary and Financial Conference (or Bretton Woods Conference) in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, to lay out a plan of stabilizing the world economy. In the early 1960′s, the American economy began declining, and the international situation became unbalanced again. On August 15, 1971, President Nixon announced a new economic policy. The dollar was devalued, and its convertibility to gold was suspended. These moves, offered relief to the country’s economic woes, but was an indication that he was retreating from the global policies which were formulated during the 1960′s.

This series of drastic changes in the U.S. international policy motivated David Rockefeller (a Director of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and head of the Illuminati in the U.S.), who, after attending the Bilderberg Conference (a Jewish Who’s Who) and consulting Zbigniew Brzezinski, wanted to “bring the best brains in the world to bear on problems of the future.” Speaking at Chase Manhattan International Financial Forums in London, Brussels, Montreal, and Paris, he proposed the creation of an International Commission of Peace and Prosperity (which would later become the Trilateral Commission) in early 1972. “The Trialateral Commission: Final Warning: A History of the New World Order” by David Allen Rivera.

Journalist Bill Moyers a member of the Council of Foreign Relations (CFR), wrote about the power of purported House of Rothschild stooge David Rockefeller in 1980: “David Rockefeller is the most conspicuous representative today of the ruling class, a multinational fraternity of men who shape the global economy and manage the flow of its capital…Private citizen David Rockefeller is accorded privileges of a head of state…He is untouched by customs or passport offices and hardly pauses for traffic lights.” In his 1979 book Who’s Running America?, Thomas Dye said that Rockefeller was the most powerful man in America. “…conspiring with others around the world to build a more integrated global political and economic structure — one world, if you will. If that’s the charge, I stand guilty, and I am proud of it.” —–David Rockefeller

For the Trilateral crowd, the game is about over and the endgame is at hand according to the recent reemergence of original members Henry Kissinger, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Brent Scowcroft and Paul Volker serves to reinforce the conclusion that the Zionist New International Economic Order is near. As serpentine agent for the Theodor Herzl Jewish State the Trilateral Commission and its members have engineered the global economic, trade and financial system that is currently in a state of total chaos. They are using the crisis to destroy what remains of national sovereignty, so that a New Zionist World Order can finally and permanently be put into place.

The Obama presidency was elected by promising to bring change, yet from the start change was never envisioned. He was carefully groomed and financed by the Trilateral Commission and their friends. In short, Obama is merely the continuation of disastrous, non-American policies that have brought economic ruin upon us and the rest of the world. The Obama experience rivals that of Jimmy Carter, whose campaign slogan was “I will never lie to you.” The August Review Global Elite Research Center Obama: Trilateral Commission Endgame by Patrick Wood, Editor January 30, 2009.

No other people in the history of mankind have assembled themselves against the world according to the Zionist design for global domination. Wherein, the Protocols energizing Theodore Herzl’s Jewish State reads, “We must arm ourselves with all the weapons which our opponents might employ against us. The intensification of armaments, the increase of police forces – are all essential for the completion of the aforementioned plans. We must be in a position to respond to every act of opposition by war with the neighbors of that country which dares to oppose us: but if these neighbors should also venture to stand collectively together against us, then we must offer resistance by a universal war. The principal factor of success in the political is the secrecy of its undertakings: the word should not agree with the deeds of the diplomat.”

“We must compel the governments of the GOYIM (non-Jews) to take action in the direction favored by our widely conceived plan, already approaching the desired consummation, by what we shall represent as public opinion, secretly promoted by us through the means of that so-called “Great Power” – The press, which, with a few exceptions that may be disregarded, is already entirely in our hands. In a word, to sum up our system of keeping the governments of the goyim in Europe in check, we shall show our strength to one of them by terrorist attempts and to all, if we allow the possibility of a general rising against us, we shall respond with the guns of America or China or Japan.” (The Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905; Japan; Iraq and Afghanistan – Ed.).

We are grateful to the Washington Post, the New York Times, Time magazine and other great publications whose directors have attended our meetings and respected the promises of discretion for almost forty years. It would have been impossible for us to develop our plan for the world if we had been subject to the bright lights of publicity during those years. But, the world is now more sophisticated and prepared to march towards a world-government. The supranational sovereignty of an intellectual elite and world bankers is surely preferable to the National auto-determination practiced in past centuries.– David Rockefeller in an address to a Trilateral Commission meeting in June of 1991. Quotes by Rockefellers.

Dark guile giving birth to these governing Protocols provides the collective genius of a people who relegate the Palestinian peoples as mere animals and bring the notions of their racial superiority and global conquest to the negotiation tables. Through reading the Protocols, The Jewish Talmud and “The Jewish State” written by Father of Modern Zionism, the late Theodore Herzl we engage the wars that are fought for control of our minds, self-interests and agendas. Quantum breakthrough in every facet of diplomacy, business and return of the Golan Heights is accomplished when we open our eyes to see that we are dealing with a spiritual monster whose design is to devour whatever decency we have in our Goyim hearts and suck our blood according to the writings of their books.

Direct negotiations have no place for an Arab win in the annals of Zionist literature. Where Netanyahu’s recent declaration, that there is to be no Palestinian State in the foreseeable future. His latest published confession of having lied to President Bill Clinton was necessitated in order to destroy the Oslo Accords. Or how within these last weeks the United Nations and President Obama were employed to cry out for calm after Lebanese border dispute and Israel returns to complete the demolition of Lebanese property having quieted the overt hostilities.

“The trick,” Netanyahu says, “is not to be there [in the occupied territories] and be broken; the trick is to be there and pay a minimal price.” …Hence the saying: If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle. Sun Tzu… “The Art of War.”

Until there is an American Intifada of Zionist and a global awakening to the madness framing the lusts of the Zionist pursuit. The people of the Middle East must stop, consider and shake off the historic usury of American foreign aid after the manner of Lebanon’s Defense Minister Elias al-Murr. Who told reporters, …any party that wished to help the military had to do so without any conditions. “This person wants to make military aid conditional on not protecting (Lebanon’s) land, people and borders against Israeli aggression. Let them keep their money or give it to Israel. We will confront (Israel) with the capabilities we own.” Complexities facing the ruling elite and sovereign must serve to bring the people’s of the region closer with that leadership in order to diffuse the Zionist agendas and terrors referred to in the Protocols levied against them.

Let us not go quietly into the night of eternity or national obliteration. Rather, let those who pray…PRAY. Those who organize…ORGANIZE. Those on the inside…LEAK. Those who care…REMEMBER … “Her eyes are Palestinian. Her name is Palestinian. Her dress and sorrow Palestinian. Her kerchief, her feet and body Palestinian. Her words and silence Palestinian. Her voice Palestinian. Her birth and her death Palestinian …”Mahmoud Darwish.
http://www.intifada-palestine.com/2010/08/bishop-donald-corder-gaza-zionism-and-world-domination-financial-warfare-global-campaign/

Hard days in Ramadan: no power, no water, soaring heats

“It’s been days without electricity and water. We can’t do anything, and it’s unbearably hot now.” Abu Fouad, 83, speaks of the power cuts plaguing all of the Gaza Strip.

While Palestinians in Gaza have grown accustomed to power outages, a combined result of the destroyed power plant, bombed by Israeli in 2006, and the siege imposed by Israel and the international community, the blackouts have increased in frequency and duration.

For years, Palestinians in Gaza have been subject to power outages, ranging from six hours to 14 hours a day. More recently, the blackouts last entire days.

The main reason is a reported lack of fuel for the plant, fuel which since November 2009 the Palestinian Authority has been responsible for buying and transferring to Gaza.

Making matters worse, Gaza is experiencing a wave of intolerable heat and humidity. Temperatures have soared to between 35-40 degrees Celcius, with humidity up to 65 percent.

Umm Fouad is 64, has had 15 children, and has a consequently fatigued body. With her poor health, she is constantly tired on a good day.

“It’s so hot. All day long I can’t breathe, and I’m exhausted. There’s no relief. Even when there is electricity, the ceiling fan just pushes the hot air around. But now without electricity for so long, everything is even hotter and harder.”

Ramadan, a month of fasting, is also a time of joy for Muslims. Yet this is one of the hardest Ramadans Abu Fouad’s family has faced.

Aside from the dangerously high heat and humidity, there are practical concerns. “We can’t make bread, there’s no electricity for the hotplate, and we don’t have cooking gas,” says Umm Fouad.

“It’s been three days we haven’t had water,” says Abu Jaber, 45, one of Abu Fouad’s many sons. His apartment is on the third floor of the simple concrete house, and during the summer month heats up until it is unbearable to be indoors.

“There are 53 people living in this house. Our six apartments each need around 1,500 litres of water per day, for cooking, laundry, cleaning, bathing…and that’s excluding drinking water.”

Like other homes in the neighbourhood, the house is not connected to town water lines. Instead, when town water runs to a public line 150 metres from the home, Abu Fouad hooks up a hose and through a series of pumps, sends it up to the roof storage containers. “We need five pumps to bring the water from town connection to the roof of our house,” explains Abu Jaber.
Throughout the Strip, water lines are affected by the lack of electricity, meaning entire areas are cut off from running water for as long as the blackouts last.

A Gaza-wide lack of water compounds the problem. The United Nations notes that 43 percent of water in the networks is lost to leakages that result from a need to rehabilitate the water networks. But under siege, bringing the basic piping and materials needed for this project is impossible.

“Now that the power outages last for days at a time, my father isn’t able to bring the water our family needs,” says Abu Jaber.

“When our area has electricity, the water lines aren’t running. And when there’s water, we don’t have electricity. So he ends up staying awake all night waiting for electricity to come.”

Abu Fouad explains the water tank routine he takes care of. “In good circumstances, when we have electricity, it still takes at least an hour and a half to pump the water to each 1,500 litre tank. Since there are six tanks, it takes almost half a day.”

But that’s when there is regular electricity. Now with the power cuts, he is left waiting for the time when electricity and town water coincide.

“I’m worried about everyone in our house. They all need water. How will they wash for prayers? How will they cool down in this heat?”

The head of the family, he thinks of his children and their families. “Everyone comes home from work or school wanting to wash and refresh. But now its very hard for them to do so.”

A devout Muslim, he worries about cleanliness for praying. “Now that it is Ramadan, it’s all the more important to wash. I don’t ask for much, but I do need to wash my hands, face, body before praying, and I pray five times a day.”

Waiting for the chance to refill their water tanks, Abu Fouad misses out on rest.

“I’m not sleeping much. It’s easier to go without sleep when you are young, but when you are older like me, and in this heat, you suffer. I’m very tired. My joints ache. I need this rest. I need the cleansing water.”

Abu Jaber agrees that the problem impacts the entire house. “My daughter studies virtually at university, and she absolutely needs a computer and internet access to do her studies.”

His eight-year-old son, Ahmed, also feels the cuts. “He’s fasting this year. He fasted last year, no problem. But because there’s no relief from this intense heat, he’s finding it very hard physically this year.” Abu Jaber speaks of his younger brother, 31, and without work for several years. “My brother opened an ice cream shop a few months ago, to work during the summer months. And just when he started to get customers and collect what he’d invested, the power cuts got worse.”

“The money I earn from the shop doesn’t compensate me for what I spent to open it. My generator isn’t meant to run for hours at a time,” says Abu Oday. “And to run it six hours costs me 30 shekels (seven dollars) in fuel.”

Unemployed before opening the shop, the 29-year-old wanted an income to support his wife and three children. “I end up paying more for the diesel and generator maintenance than I earn. So I’m closing the shop.”

The problems of one family are mirrored by families around the Strip, with a population of 1.5 million people in a very small, very hot piece of land.

“Because of the electricity and water shortages, it’s the hardest Ramadan I’ve experienced yet,” Umm Fouad says. “But we will continue to fast.”
http://ingaza.wordpress.com/2010/08/22/hard-days-in-ramadan-no-power-no-water-soaring-heats/

Living near the buffer zone , Beit Hanoun, Gaza, 18.08.2010

c) Anne Paq/Activestills.org, Beit Hanoun, Gaza, 18.08.2010

The Ahmad family lives in a half-destroyed house located near the buffer zone. The house was struck by a bomb during Operation Cast Lead. Three rooms were destroyed but miraculously nobody got injured. The family was then displaced for 10 months during which they were renting a flat, and partly repairing the house. They are back, but do not feel safe, in a house which is still half destroyed and is marked everywhere by the war. In the evening they are confined to the house for fear of shootings due to the fact that they live close to the buffer zone.
http://chroniquespalestine.blogspot.com/2010/08/living-near-buffer-zone-vivre-pres-de.html

Canada's Postal Workers are on Board: Send your Gaza mail on the Canadian Boat to Gaza!

Canada's Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) got the message across last week that cutting off mail delivery to Gaza is another abusive measure intended to heighten the suffering and hardship of the besieged residents of the occupied strip.

The Canadaian Boat to Gaza Campaign salutes the union and its workers for their solidarity with our campaign and with the Palestinian people in their struggle for freedom. We look forward to working with Canada Post and CUPW to facilitate in the best way possible the delivery of mail to Gaza.

"The Canadian Boat to Gaza is eager to carry mail to Gaza if the ban is not lifted soon" said Sandra Ruch, spokesperson for the Canadian Boat to Gaza. "We will make every effort to deliver any mail we get to the postal authorities in Gaza. We ask senders to limit mail they send us to unsealed postcards of greeting and support to loved ones keeping in mind that it, as well as the rest of our cargo, may end up in Israeli hands if our boat is pirated."

CUPW called on Canadians to back efforts to break the siege by sending their Gaza-bound mail via the Canadian Boat to Gaza. The Canadian Boat to Gaza is urging those who wish to break this ban to send with us postcards with messages of support to the besieged strip. Article 25 of the fourth Geneva Convention guarantees the right to personal correspondence with family members under occupation.

"As postal workers, we know very well that cutting off mail creates suffering and hardship for people, who are isolated from their loved ones," said Denis Lemelin, National President of CUPW. "How many more abuses will the people of Gaza have to endure?"

Get the message through. Send your mail with us,
Send your postcards (only) for people in Gaza to
Canadian Boat to Gaza
C.P. 92087, Portobello
Brossard, Quebec
J4W 3K8

Media Contact
Ehab Lotayef
514.941.9792

Stéphan Corriveau
514 586-6810

http://canadaboatgaza.org
http://sabbah.biz/

PHOTO ESSAY OF ILLEGAL SETTLER’S LATEST CRIMES

On Friday, 30 July, a group of Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian fields in the town of Burin in the West Bank. They set the fields on fire and assaulted a number of citizens who attempted to defend their land. Hundreds of dunums (one dunum equals 1,000 square meters) of land near the Hawara military checkpoint were also set ablaze, destroying hundreds of olive trees.

The settlers launched their attack while the residents were attending Friday prayers. Meanwhile, the house of Ibrahim Issa continues to face repeated attacks by Israeli settlers who live on the mountain top surrounding the town, and have been trying for the last two years to prevent him from completing the construction of his home through various forms of intimidation. Residents confirm that the settlers are protected by the Occupation Forces which also attack the inhabitants of the town using sound and gas bombs against them causing extensive fires.
http://desertpeace.wordpress.com/2010/08/02/photo-essay-of-illegal-settlers-latest-crimes/

The demise of the tunnel trade

Times are tough in the tunnel trade. Underground smuggling from Egypt to Gaza is winding down.

Since Israel announced it would allow more goods into the besieged strip, businessmen have steered clear of the tunnels, and held off placing any new orders for goods from Egypt.

So the dusty, once thriving community of smuggling tents in the southern city of Rafah is looking rather forlorn.

It's a story Hamas does not appear keen to have told.

The group's interior ministry recently issued an edict that smugglers can no longer allow camera crews to film their tents and tunnels. And very few smugglers will openly defy the authority of Hamas, especially when business is in the doldrums.

Tunnels and jobs

Even still, our cameraman was able to take some pictures of perhaps the last days of the tunnel trade, while we tried to secure permission to film there. In the end, no permission was granted.

The rise and fall of the tunnel trade exposes a cruel irony for many of its young workers. They don't want to live under siege, but for the last three of four years the tunnel trade has given them a job and a purpose.

As the tunnels start to close down, they'll be out of a job. Israel's so-called "easing" of the siege is not aimed at creating any new work opportunities in Gaza. So as one industry ends – there's no sign of a new one.

Exports from the strip are still blocked, travel between Gaza and the West Bank banned, raw materials are difficult to get, and construction material is still not allowed in unless it's for special UN projects. Even the UN says it's not getting enough to get on with its building programme which has been on hold for three years.

At a tunnel which specialises in ceramic tiles, we met a group of teenagers working as smugglers. Nineteen-year-old Mohammed Saedi lost the top of all the fingers on his left hand, from above the knuckles. He was injured when they were caught up in one of the steel-rope pulley systems that hauls goods through the dirt passages.

He is one of the lucky ones in the tunnel trade. Mohammed is still alive.

More than 150 men have died working in the tunnels, from Israeli airstrikes, Egyptian attacks, electric faults and tunnels collapsing.

The tunnel investors

The owner of the tile-smuggling business, Abu Mohammed, calls them the "tunnels of death".

He's watching his $500,000 investment slowly go out of business. But even he wants to see an end to the trade. Abu Mohammed wants all the borders re-opened and normal trade of people and goods between Israel, the West Bank and Gaza to resume.

The current situation, a very limited easing of the siege, puts an end to the tunnels business – but fails to create any other business.

We are taken into one of the newest smuggling tents in Rafah. So new in fact that it's never been used. The owner's $150,000 investment has literally gone into a big dark hole underground.

Workers finished digging the tunnel when Israel announced it would allow more goods into Gaza.

The tunnels have become one of the most emblematic symbols of Gaza under siege. But as the tunnels close, it's important to remember the siege continues.

The borders are still not open and Gazans are denied the right to travel.

Don't be deceived by the tunnel closure.
http://blogs.aljazeera.net/middle-east/2010/07/22/demise-tunnel-trade

Cartoon of the day

By Carlos Latuff

http://rodcoxandgaza.blogspot.com/2010/07/truth-what-truth.html

A call from Gazans to the world: “Keep trying to break the siege”

In a press conference at the port of Gaza city yesterday government officials, fishing associations, non-governmental organisations and civil society groups reiterated their support for the attempts by international activists to break the Israeli siege of Gaza by sea.

Yesterday (July 14th 2010) many people amassed at the Gazan port to urge on the latest attempt by activists to enter the strip, this time by a Libyan chartered aid ship. It was the first serious attempt to enter Gaza by sea since the horrifying attack by the Israeli navy on the Free Gaza Flotilla and the Mavi Marmara which saw 9 Turkish activists killed.

Mahfouz Kabariti, President of Palestine Sailing Federation and Palestinian Association for Fishing and Maritime Sports, was communicating with the Amalthea as it neared Gazan waters: “The last contact we had with them was at midnight and since then communication was cut by the Israeli navy. They told us the boat was surrounded by Israeli gunships, but that they were determined to attempt to dock in Gaza and not take the option offered by the Egyptian government to dock in El Arish.”

According to Mahfouz the roll of the Freedom Flotilla missions are two-fold: “First is the arrival with aid, and materials such as construction supplies still banned by the blockade. The second is to put a spotlight on the suffering of the people here. Even if they are attacked, the second message highlights even more the extent to which Israel will go to keep us in Gaza isolated from the rest of the world with this illegal blockade of our people.”
As well as government representatives and the Popular Committee to Break the Siege, Amjad Shawa, Gaza Coordinator for Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations (PNGO) was present. He emphasised the importance of international civil society persisting in trying to break the siege.

The need is especially acute because so far Israel’s response has only been to reduce the blockade on Gaza by a tiny fraction. The European Union, the United Nations, countless human rights groups and the International Committee for the Red Cross have all expressed the need for a return to the free flow of goods and people in and out of the Gaza Strip. This must include construction materials which are sorely needed to help rebuild the 17,000 houses severely damaged in the 3 week attack over the New Year period of 2009 that left over 1500 dead including over 400 children.

“Nothing has changed here,” says Amjad. “Just some more consumer products…but 80% of the people here still depend on humanitarian aid. It is not enough to demand some kind of minor reduction of this illegal siege. But we are thankful that the siege on Gaza has not been forgotten, and that our people are still in the minds of the world. These kinds of solidarity actions are very important for Gazans, we see that others share with us the values of justice and the principals of human rights.”

When asked about the role of the international community to pressure Israel, Amjad is more critical: “We are so sorry that the international community until now has made no real intervention, put no real pressure on Israel to lift the siege totally or exerted pressure on Israel to have a transparent and accountable international inquiry into the Israeli crimes on the freedom flotillas.

“Still today we’re waiting for real international pressure from the international community. We hope that Israel will not use this silence as a chance to commit more crimes against the Palestinian people and international solidarity workers.”
The Libyan chartered boat was eventually forced to dock in El Arish, Egypt, after a wall of Israeli gunboats blocked its passage through to Gaza. But the Palestinians remain heartened by these attempts and the further missions planned this September. Says Mahfouz: “People here feel grateful to those internationals who try to arrive at the Gaza beach, it’s so important to us that other people worry and support us.”
http://desertpeace.wordpress.com/2010/07/15/gaza-to-the-world-keep-trying-to-break-the-siege/

Responding to Avigdor Lieberman

Avigdor Lieberman writes: “While many claim that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is territorial, the facts suggest otherwise. Israel had no citizens, settlers or military in the West Bank until 1967, but did not enjoy one moment’s peace from our neighbors and the terrorists that they supported” (“My blueprint for a resolution,” Jerusalem Post, 23 June 2010).

Don Emmerich responds: Geez, do you think this had anything to do with the fact that 750,000 Palestinians were driven from their homes in 1948 and never allowed to return?

Lieberman: “There will be no so-called Palestinian right of return.

“Just as the Jewish refugees from Arab lands found a solution in Israel, so too Palestinian refugees will only be incorporated into a Palestinian state.”

Emmerich: So two wrongs make a right? Because Jews were expelled from places like Egypt and Libya, it follows that Israel has the right to prevent the 1948 refugees from returning to their homes? Given this logic, it would follow that if, say, a Catholic punched me in the face, then I would have the right to go out and punch another, different Catholic in the face. Don’t you understand that people are individuals, that one person cannot be held responsible for the crimes of another person?

Lieberman: “This [Palestinian] state needs to be demilitarized and Israel will need to retain a presence on its borders to ensure no smuggling of arms. In my opinion, these need to be our red lines.”

Emmerich: So this Palestinian “state” you’re proposing isn’t actually a state at all. In other words, you’re proposing that things remain essentially as the are, the main difference being that Palestinians are to start referring to the occupation as “statehood.” Okay, thanks for clarifying that.

Lieberman: “Those who claim that Israel must return to the socalled [sic] Green Line need to examine UN Security Council Resolution 242, the legal framework created following the 1967 war when the territories were conquered.”

Emmerich: Okay, I’ll do just that: “The Security Council…Emphasizing the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war and the need to work for a just and lasting peace in the Middle East in which every State in the area can live in security…Affirms that the fulfillment of Charter principles requires the establishment of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East which should include the application of both the following principles: (i) Withdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict; (ii) Termination of all claims or states of belligerency and respect for and acknowledgment of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every State in the area and their right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force” (UN Security Council Resolution 242, 22 November 1967).

Lieberman: “The resolution purposely never called for a full withdrawal from the West Bank.”

Emmerich: But, “[e]mphasizing the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war,” the Security Council demanded the “[w]ithdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict.” This, of course, refers to the Sinai Peninsula, the Golan Heights, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank.

Lieberman: “Lord Caradon, the main drafter of the resolution, called the pre-1967 lines ‘artificial and undesirable’, another drafter, Eugene V. Rostow, US undersecretary of state for political affairs in 1967, said Israel needs to retreat only to ‘secure and recognized borders, which need not be the same as the armistice demarcation lines.’”

Emmerich: Although Caradon felt the pre-1967 borders were “unsatisfactory,” he later noted that the “overriding principle [of 242] was the ‘inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war’ and that meant that there could be no justification for annexation of territory on the Arab side of the 1967 line merely because it had been conquered in the 1967 war.” Dean Rusk, who served as the US Secretary of State at the time, later wrote that the US believed that “the Israeli border along the West Bank could be ‘rationalized,’ certain anomalies could easily be straightened out with some exchanges of territory, making a more sensible border for all parties.” He continued: “But we never contemplated any significant grant of territory to Israel as a result of the June 1967 war” (Norman Finkelstein, Image and Reality of the Israel-Palestine Conflict, 147-48).

Lieberman: “[F]or a lasting and fair solution, there needs to be an exchange of populated territories to create two largely homogeneous states, one Jewish Israeli and the other Arab Palestinian…

“In most cases there is no physical population transfer or the demolition of houses, but creating a border where none existed, according to demographics.

“Those Arabs who were in Israel will now receive Palestinian citizenship.”

Emmerich: Did you really just advocate ethnic cleansing?

Lieberman: “In most cases there is no physical population transfer or the demolition of houses…”

Emmerich: Oh, so ethnic cleansing will only occur in some cases. Well that’s sure thoughtful of you.
http://donemmerich.blogspot.com/

FLOTILLA Cover-up: The New York Times Accused

by David Morris
For the past month, the alternative media have sought concrete evidence that the mainstream U.S. media, including the New York Times, willfully aided Israel’s cover-up of information about their Gaza flotilla attack.

Prima facie evidence of their complicity is abundant.

The Times’ role in the cover-up ranged from suppression of facts and failure to follow leads that might (and did) contradict Israel’s version of the massacre, to serving as a shameless conduit for Israeli propaganda. The Times persisted in publishing and republishing the official line of Israel and became a virtual bulletin board for crackpot opinions and commentary. A prime example is Michael Oren’s “An Assault on Israel, Cloaked in Peace,” arguing delusionally that this humanitarian effort was an “act of aggression” that threatened the very nation of Israel.

The news we Americans received on the massacre seemed written by an Israeli propaganda minister — in fact, some of it was. The Israeli army generously provided our media with a carefully edited video of their attack, which major news outlets dutifully broadcasted.

Long-distance images of civilians defending themselves against commando killers (including a woman brandishing a deck chair) were presented as evidence of armed resistance. The imprisonment in Gaza of an Israeli soldier four years ago was cited as justification for executing nine peace activists, two shot in the back of the head at point-blank range.

Alternative media journalists like Philip Weiss (Mondoweiss), Glenn Greenwald (Salon), and yours truly (USMediaAndIsrael.com) provide examples of the Times’ stonewalling and disinformation. James North on Mondoweiss, for example, writes about the aftermath of Israel’s illegal detainment of hundreds of peace activists and their video evidence. As Israel began releasing the prisoners, the Times’ legion of reporters failed to interview a single flotilla member to get their version of the atrocity. As North wrote, this unconscionable delay gave “Israel’s version of the deadly raid time to harden.”

The May 31 Times reported “Israeli officials said that international law allows for the capture of naval vessels in international waters…” Israeli officials said. Exactly. With convenient unprofessionalism, the Times published Israel’s claim at face value, offering no comment or analysis by experts in international law. In fact (and as the Times must have known), independent experts call the attack “flagrantly illegal.”

When the Times finally did report something not fed to them by Israel, their front page story lamented the public relations catastrophe for Israel, not the murder of nine peace activists nor the immense suffering caused by the illegal siege of Gaza.

On the contrary, Times reporter Isabel Kershner writes, “Israel says it allows enough basic supplies through crossings to prevent an acute humanitarian crisis.” Again, the paper reported this cruel lie citing only Israeli propaganda as their source (“Israel says…”). No editor of the NY Times would allow such sloppy journalism — unless directed to do so by top management.

The NY Times has a long history of pro-Israel reporting of events in the Middle East. One notable illustration is their coverage of Israel’s 1967 attack on the USS Liberty that killed and wounded over 200 American sailors. The Times’ only account of this deliberate, hour-long assault on a U.S. ship — a brief summary buried on page 19 of the paper.

The question is who within the New York Times ordered the most recent journalistic stonewalling and submission to Israeli interests. Might it be publisher/owner Arthur Sulzberger, Jr.? Rank-and-file employees and journalists at the Times must be truly embarrassed, even shamed by their employer’s willful deception of American readers.

We ask that someone come forward.
http://intifada-palestine.com/2010/07/flotilla-cover-up-the-new-york-times-accused/