Today in Palestine! ~ Headlines 16-01-09 ~

Attacks against Palestinains
Israeli assault injures 1.5 million Gazans
http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=11821

Almost 1,100 People Killed :
Israel 'breaking law' with Gaza war
The president of the United Nations General Assembly has accused Israel of violating international law with its war on Gaza in which almost 1,100 Palestinians have been killed, nearly half of them civilians.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/america
s/2009/01/2009115171631306757.html

More Than 300 Children 'paying price of Gaza war'
More than 300 children have been killed and hundreds more wounded in Israel's aerial and ground assault, Ann Veneman, Unicef's executive director, said in a statement released on Wedneday.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast

/2009/01/20091157268591938.html

Eighty-six percent of those
killed in Gaza were civilians
The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) has continued its aggression against the Gaza Strip for the 19th day. Al Mezan Center's monitoring revealed that the IOF has escalated its attacks on civilian targets. Until today, the vast majority of the casualties are non-combatants. Only 13.9 percent of the total casualties were fighters (137 men). According to Al Mezan Center's monitoring, as of 1pm today, the number of Palestinians killed by the IOF during Operation Cast Lead has risen to 979. Of those, 206 were children and 70 were women. Seven of the medical teams members and three journalists were also killed. Moreover, at least 3,527 have been injured, including 760 children and 448 women.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10194.shtml

Israeli jets kill Hamas leader
Hamas's interior minister was killed in an Israeli air raid on his brother's house.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news
/middleeast/2009/01/2009115175553898436.html

Save the Children Staff Member Loses
Family Members in Shelling of Gaza
Four members of a Save the Children staff member's family in Gaza were killed last night by tank shelling as they fled their home in the Sabra neighbourhood in Gaza City. They had run into the street after the house next door was hit and were attempting to reach shelter. The four — a 45-year-old cousin and his sons, ages 18 and 21, along with another cousin, age 27 — lost their lives in the attack. Both cousins leave behind a wife and children, including a 4-day-old son and a 2-year-old daughter.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/SaveChAlli/142b6608778520a9cb12053
cd83f64 13.htm

After attacks on Tal Al Hawa
yesterday, 23 people found in the rubble
Gaza /PNN-Palestinian medical sources reported this morning that the bodies of 23 people were found in the rubble. When Israeli forces moved on from yesterday's major attack on southern Gaza City's Tal Al Hawa neighborhood that targeted homes, buildings, the UNRWA and Al Aqsa Hospital, relief crews were able to come in.
http://english.pnn.ps/index. php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4519&Itemid=1

500 huddled inside Gaza
hospital after Israeli strike: Red Cross
GENEVA (AFP) — About 500 people including patients were huddled in a Gaza City hospital that suffered a "direct hit" in an Israeli air strike Thursday, the international Red Cross said, condemning the incident as unacceptable.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gjiqWO2pxDjmb0u29sn4O5e8 LC0w

Masses attend funereal of
Hamas interior minister
Scores spotted at funeral of Said Siam, killed by IDF Thursday; Hamas top officials conspicuously absent from service.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3657272,00. html

Gazans flee battle zone in devastated city
GAZA, Jan 16 (Reuters)-Residents of a Gaza neighbourhood devastated by fighting between Israeli troops and Palestinian guerrillas fled to other parts of the enclave on Friday, showing little faith in prospects for ceasefire talks.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LG329723.htm

Testimonials/Eyewitness accounts
'All the time we hear the Israeli war machine'
Najwa Sheikh Ahmed, 36, lives in the Gaza Strip with her husband Taher, and their four young children-Mustafa, 8, Ahmed, 7, Salma 2 and Mohammed, five months. Here she talks about her family's daily battle for survival in Nusierat Camp.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article5519457. ece

It was like "The Day After"
Since last night from about 8pm until a little while ago, there have been heavy battles in Tel al-Hawa. They were hitting from the sea, from the air. Tanks were shooting. There were thick clouds of white phosphorus filling the area and filling up houses. They bombed the Red Crescent building and many cars in the street were destroyed. An apartment near me was hit and burned and one on the other side. A number of tall buildings were hit. All the windows and doors are broken and shattered. There were maybe 10 bombs falling every minute.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10193.shtml

"It was the hardest day of our lives"
In an escalation of the ground offensive in the south of Gaza, Israeli forces terrorised the population of Khoza'a, a small rural community east of Khan Younis. They entered the area at about 3.00am on the morning of Tuesday 13th January in an incursion lasting until Tuesday evening. This follows heavy missile strikes on Khoza'a in recent days, notably on Saturday 10th January.
http://palsolidarity.org/2009/01/4363

Patients and reugees evacuated as Al-Quds hospital burns
Al-Quds hospital has been evacuated after the central building of the hospital was set ablaze. Patients and those seeking refuge in the hospital have been transferred to Al-Shifa hospital. Al-Quds hospital has been surrounded by Israeli forces since 1:30am, 15th January. The fire is spreading too fast to be dealt with and the surrounding Israeli forces would not allow fire services access so as to combat the blaze.
http://palsolidarity.org/2009/01/4368

Gaza conflict: Norwegian doctors' nightmare experience
"It was like a scene from Dante's Inferno," recalls Norwegian doctor Mads Gilbert, of the moment casualties started streaming inside Gaza's al-Shifa hospital, after a vegetable market was bombed on 4 January. "I thought: 'This is what hell must look like'. All the screaming, all the pain, all the despair, all the blood, all the torn-off body parts."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/jan/16/gaza-norwegian-doctors

Voices from Tel al Huwa, Gaza City
As a result of the ongoing shelling in the Tel al Huwa neigbourhood of Gaza City, many families are attempting to find shelter in the Al Quds hospital. Australian Human Rights Activist Sharon Lock has described the events as Israeli snipers opened fire on families seeking refuge in Al-Quds hospital, in Tel al Huwa...
http://palsolidarity.org/2009/01/4339

Al Naakba 2009, by Vittorio Arrigoni
They parade in fear, their eyes looking upwards, surrendering to the sky showering terror and death upon them, fearing the earth that keeps shaking under every step they take, opening craters where there were houses, schools, universities, markets, hospitals, and burying their lives within them forever. I've seen caravans of desperate Palestinians evacuate Jabalia, Beit Hanoun and all the refugee camps in Gaza, crowding the United Nations' schools like earthquake survivors, like victims of a tsunami which is eating into the Gaza Strip day by day, along with its civilian population, without pity or compliance with human rights and the Geneva Conventions. Most of all, without a single Western government stirring a finger to stop this massacre, or sending medical staff out here, or stopping the genocide that Israel is smearing its hands with in these hours.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21768.htm

Life amid the rubble of Gaza City
Solasa is a 25-year-old Palestinian who lives with her parents in northern Gaza and works as a translator for the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights. She spoke to Andrew England in a telephone interview on Thursday.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d85d935a-e341-11dd-a5cf-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_ check=1

"Twenty years of a life erased"
When I'd met the extended Abed Rabu family, before the ground invasion began, they had just had their house bombed by an F-16. Their area has been occupied by Israeli tanks and soldiers since the ground invasion began. Medical workers cannot reach the injured there, and those who have managed to escape testify to imprisonment in their houses, abuse, point-blank shooting (to death), and a number of dead not yet known. Eva Bartlett writes from the besieged Gaza Strip.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10197.shtml

Still breathing in Gaza
Blood is everywhere. Hospital orderlies hose down the floors of operating rooms, bloodied bandages lie discarded in corners, and the injured continue to pour in: bodies lacerated by shrapnel, burns, bullet wounds. Medical workers, exhausted and under siege, work day and night and each life saved is seen as a victory over the predominance of death. Caoimhe Butterly writes from the occupied Gaza Strip.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10198.shtml

Gaza's medics: "They know they are going to die"
"If this thing doesn't stop in another week, some of them will die. And they know it," Alberto said about the war on Gaza, as we looked at a photo I'd taken today of Saber, one of the emergency medics in Gaza who risks his life each day. I'd thought the same thing earlier, when I said "yatiek al-afia" (have strength) to each medic climbing into their ambulances. Eva Bartlett writes from the besieged Gaza Strip.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10196.shtml

Gaza Clan Finds One Haven
After Another Ravaged in Attacks
The Abu Nihils have seen three houses destroyed since Dec. 27, when Israel launched airstrikes on the Gaza Strip and began a war that has left civilians with no safe place to go. "Wherever we go, they are chasing us," said Tarik Abu Nihil, 31, a married father of three. "I've had enough. I'm not moving to another house. If we die here, at least we will die together."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/15/AR2009011503
832.html?wprss=rss_world%2Fmideast

Gaza: No sign of life
I woke up this morning hoping that my uncle Mohammad would finally get a chance to leave Tal al-Hawa and get his wife and kids to a safer place deeper into Gaza City. After two weeks of heavy bombardment and constant terror, he decided that he couldn't keep his frightened wife and kids in the apartment any longer.
http://www.kabobfest.com/2009/01/gaza-no-sign-of-life.html

Inside Gaza:
My Baby Born, A Light In The Darkness
It has been the bloodiest, most violent day yet here in Gaza City. Israeli tanks came in from the south, shelling and bombing in the residential areas. But even with this death, bloodshed and chaos all around us, we are filled with joy. Twelve days after my father was killed by an Israeli airstrike, our first baby has been born, healthy at 3.8 kilos, with dark hair, just exactly as her mother wanted. I couldn't believe my eyes, seeing her for the first time. I kissed and hugged her softly. She cried when I took her in my arms.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/16/inside-gaza-my-baby-born_n_158454.html

Gaza doctors can't reach victims-MSF aid group
PARIS, Jan 16 (Reuters)-Medecins Sans Frontieres cannot reach sick and injured civilians in Gaza because of Israel's bombing campaign and may have to pull out if the security situation worsens, officials from the aid group said on Friday.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LG75183.htm

War crimes
ICC prosecutor says has no jurisdiction in Gaza
The International Criminal Court prosecutor in The Hague said on Wednesday it lacks jurisdiction to investigate possible war crimes recently committed in the Gaza Strip. The prosecutor's statement came after a Palestinian rights group called on the ICC to investigate Israel for committing war crimes during its 19-day-old offensive in Gaza.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LE393832.htm

Israel, US foil UN condemnation
Diplomats work together to prevent Security Council statement slamming Jewish state for UNRWA building strike.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3657080,00. html

Video: Phosphorus bombs in Gaza – the evidence
Dr Ahmed Almi from the al-Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis describes serious injuries and chemical burns, with victims covered in a white powder that continues to burn long after initial exposure.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2009/jan/16/gaza-israel-khan-yunis-white-
phosphorus

Evidence Grows
That Israel is Using White Phosphorus in Gaza
For several days, charges that Israel has been using white phosphorus in its Gaza bombing have spread, unconfirmed but gaining some credibility as some human rights groups have weighed in. But today the charges are reaching critical mass in the wake of the bombing of the main United Nations compound in Gaza City.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/greg-mitchell/evidence-grows-that-israe_b_158176.html

"Revolt" in Military Courts:
Defense Attorneys Protest Israeli Attacks on Gaza
Defense attorneys that are representing Palestinians have recently gone on a kind of strike in protest to the attacks in Gaza. Below is an article written by Hanan Greenberg for Ynet, translated from Hebrew by the Alternative Information Center, followed by an original additional piece by the AIC: Delays and postponements occurred in military court hearings held at the Ofer Camp and Salem, due to a decision of defense attorneys not to appear in protest over Israeli military actions in Gaza. "In the absence of defense attorneys, the judges sometimes postpone decisions. In other cases, the suspects try to defend themselves, without knowing how. This entire matter has caused great embarrassment and damages work of the system" said legal officials. Click on link for full text.
http://www.alternativenews. org/content/view/1542/104/

High Court:
Mistakes happen during war
Judges discuss human rights organizations' petition against damage caused to ambulances, water and electricity infrastructures in Gaza, say 'IDF fires after spotting gunmen or by mistake'.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3657021,00. html

Pressure mounts for Israeli
war crimes probe

Under the rules of war, Israel and Hamas are obliged at all times to distinguish between combatants and civilians and avoid force 'disproportionate' to the military gain.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3423877c-e32d-11dd-a5cf-0000779fd2ac.html

ISRAEL-OPT:
Israel denies using white phosphorus in Gaza
TEL AVIV Thursday, January 15, 2009 (IRIN)-A huge fire was raging in the compound of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNWRA) after it was hit by Israeli tank shells on 15 January. UNWRA spokesperson Chris Gunness told reporters they cannot put out the fire because it is white phosphorus. There were some 700 people in the compound in immediate danger, he said.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=82402

Claims that Israel is using
illegal bombs won't go away
The UN's accusation that Israel used white phosphorus shells in its attack on its headquarters in Gaza was the first direct charge by an international body and, in effect, accuses the Israeli government of lying over its repeated declaration that its forces adhere to international laws in the use of arms.
http://www.independent.co.uk/ opinion/commentators/kim-sengupta-claims-that-
israel-is-using-illegal-bombs-wont-go-away-1380409.html

Statement By The Coordinating Bureau
Of The Non-Aligned Movement On The
Non-Compliance By Israel With Security
Council Resolution 1860 (2009) And
The Escalation Of The Israeli Military
Agression Against The Gaza Strip.
http://www.zcommunications. org/znet/viewArticlePrint/20265

Is Israel using illegal weapons
in its offensive on Gaza?
The earth shaking under your feet, clouds of choking smoke, explosions like a fireworks display, bombs bursting into all-consuming flames that cannot be extinguished with water, mushroom clouds of pinkish-red smoke, suffocating gas, harsh burns on the skin, extraordinary maimed live and dead bodies.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1055927.html

Phosphorus denial outweighed
by evidence
White phosphorus is controversial stuff. It has a dual use in warfare, one of which is deemed to be legitimate and the other, if used in the wrong environment and with devastating consequences for civilians, could lead to allegations of war crimes. Artillery shells containing white phosphorus, launched to create a smoke screen for advancing troops, breaches no recognised international convention. The chemical exposed to oxygen rains smoke down over the battlefield.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article5526955.ece

Pictures
Didn't they say "never again" ?
http://friday-lunch-club. blogspot.com/2009/01/didnt-they-say-never-again.html

The Collaborators
Fatah cracks down on Hamas in West Bank
Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority security forces, they noted, had stepped up their crackdown on Hamas supporters and figures in the West Bank since the beginning of Operation Cast Lead. The latest anti-Hamas measures in the West Bank, which are being carried out in coordination with the IDF and under the supervision of US security experts, are designed to foil any attempt by the movement to overthrow the PA. Earlier this week, Israeli security officials expressed satisfaction with the coordination between the PA security forces and the IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) in fighting Hamas in the West Bank.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1231950868927& pagename=JPost%2F
JPArticle% 2FShowFull

Weary West Bank
fighters watch Gaza assault from afar
Virtually every member of Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, an armed group loosely affiliated to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fateh Party, has been disarmed or drafted into the security forces. And now those same forces are curtailing war protests in the West Bank and enforcing a ban on displays of support for armed groups, particularly Gaza's Hamas rulers, who drove Abbas loyalists from the coastal strip in June 2007.
http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=13544

UN Chief Ban: May take
`few more days` to work out details of Gaza truce
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said on Thursday that it might take some days to work out the technical details of a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip but he urged Israel and Hamas to stop fighting immediately. "It may take a few more days to agree to a few more technical issues," Ban told reporters after a series of meetings with Israeli leaders.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1055830.html

Arab leaders meet in Doha despite
boycott by Egypt, Saudi Arabia, PA
An Arab League summit in Doha, Qatar, began Friday without representatives from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Tunisia, and Morocco. Hamas leadir Khaled Mash'al, Islamic Jihad leader Ramadan Shallah, and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command (PFLP-GC) leader Ahmad Jibril have all reportedly traveled to Doha from Damascus to attend the summit.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=35025

Egypt police hold 16
Islamists after Gaza protests
CAIRO (Reuters)-Egyptian police detained 16 members of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood on Wednesday, Brotherhood and security officials said, in the latest round-up after rallies against Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/UKNews1/idUKTRE50D3UK20090114

Dahlan o Dahlan
: a slip by Shin Bet in NYT

"Indeed, Hamas has shown only hostility to anyone perceived as cooperating with Israel. Yuval Diskin, chief of Israel's Shin Bet internal security agency, told the cabinet here on Sunday that Hamas had cold-bloodedly killed about 70 Fatah supporters in Gaza under the cover of the war." This is quite a revelation. Why is the Shin Bet chief reporting about "Fatah supporters" if they were not working for...Shin Bet?
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2009/01/dahlan-o-dahlan-slip-by-shin-bet-in-nyt.html

Raids increase pressure
on Jordan
With demonstrations growing noisier, Jordan is facing tremendous pressure to make a public stand against Israel's attacks on Gaza by recalling the ambassador to Israel.
http://www.thenational.ae/article/20090116/FOREIGN/805091806/1002/rss

Fatah/Hamas and Arab world reaction

Hamas rejects Israel ceasefire demands
Hamas today said it would not accept Israeli conditions for a ceasefire and would continue to fight until Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip ends.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/hamas-rejects-israel-ceasefire-
demands-1397089.html

Analysis: Divisions complicate Gaza truce efforts
AP-Sealing a lasting peace between Israel and Hamas over Gaza will mean overcoming a dizzying array of splits the Palestinians are deeply divided politically, Arab countries are feuding and Iran is firing off heated rhetoric at Israel.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090115/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_mideast_ divides_analysis

Palestinians at hospital in Cairo support Hamas
CAIRO -At Nasser hospital in the Egyptian capital, the sound of Palestinian Arabic spills out from rooms and floats through the corridors of the fourth floor. "God is great, God is great," Ahmed Hussein, 25, said to a weeping Egyptian woman, one of a stream of visitors coming to pay their respects to those injured by Israeli air strikes.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2009/01/15/palestinians_at_
hospital_in_cairo_support_ hamas/

A brief history of Gaza, among brothers
"Let us speak bluntly and honestly," said Mohammed Nagla, a heavy-set man in a cap. "Despite the fact that we may not accept their strategies and tactics, Hamas fighters are brave and lions in battle. "Don't believe the Israeli propaganda about destroying Hamas' infrastructure. You'll be naive if you buy into this," said Mohammed, the second oldest. "I assure you that they were not even harmed. Go to the hospital and ask, 'Where are the Hamas fighters?' You will not find any of them. . . . They proved themselves to the whole world. Even [President] Bush himself speaks about Hamas."
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-gaza-brothers16-2009jan16,0,
2769931.story

In Jordan, mood against Israel grows
"There's a strong argument out there that goes, `Why not join the resistance?' " said Taher Masri, a former prime minister and foreign minister who serves in the Jordanian senate. " 'You tried the peace process for 20, 30 years, and you got nothing but more settlements and more checkpoints. Let me try my way. Let's try resistance.' "
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2009/01/15/in_jordan_mood
_ against_israel_grows/

Hamas and Armed Palestinian Resistance
But I was talking with a friend the other day who, despite a lifetime of working towards and supporting moderate coalition building, bluntly said that the Gaza War leaves her convinced of Hamas' necessity. Not out of any sympathy for Hamas, but simply because there is no one else resisting. And if that is her reaction, I can only imagine it is even more widespread among people who don't have any predisposition to a negotiated settlement.
http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/blog/blog.aspx?id=3169

Qatar, Mauritania cut Israel ties
Qatar and Mauritania suspend political and economic ties with Israel over Gaza war.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/01/2009116151135307776.html

Turkish PM: Israel Should Be Barred from UN
Turkey's prime minister on Friday said Israel should be barred from the United Nations while it ignores the body's calls to stop its Gaza war. "How is such a country, which does not implement resolutions of the UN Security Council, allowed to enter through the gates of the UN (headquarters)?" Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. Erdogan spoke before UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon arrives in Ankara to discuss the conflict. His comments reflected a growing anger in Turkey, over Israel's Gaza operation.
http://www.almanar.com.lb/newssite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=70490&language=en

Syria: 'Cut all ties with Israel'
Syrian president calls on Arab nations to sever relations with Israel over Gaza war.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/01/200911613411883638.html

Gaza lost in Arab differences – VP
BAGHDAD /Aswat al-Iraq: Iraqi Vice President Tareq al-Hashimi said the issue of Gaza was lost in side differences on the Arab arena, referring to a split of Arab countries between "moderates" and "rejectionists". "Iraq has always been and is still supportive of the Palestinian people's inalienable rights in accordance with international legitimacy and UN resolutions," [...]
http://en.aswataliraq.info/?p=106445

Israel using Holocaust guilt to
continue Gaza op, says British MP
A British lawmaker declared Thursday that Israel was taking advantage of the guilt many non-Jews feel over the Holocaust to ruthlessly press ahead with its offensive against Hamas in Gaza.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1055922.html

'Hamas' Strength Is Not Broken'
Israel says its offensive in Gaza could be "in the final act," as it sends top envoys to Cairo and Washington. But German newspapers on Friday look at the prospect for a cease-fire wonder if Hamas won't come out of the violence with a stronger image on the Arab street. With top envoys dispatched to Cairo and Washington to discuss terms for a cease-fire with Hamas, Israel says its offensive in Gaza is in the "final act." Three weeks of fighting which have left more than 1,100 Palestinians dead could come to an end as the two sides indirectly negotiate a truce via Egypt. Israel launched the attacks on December 27 with the stated aim of halting rocket fire by militants into southern Israel.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518, druck-601649,00.html

Jamal Dajani: Gaza,
Qaddafi, And Starbucks
With the Israeli offensive on Gaza dragging into its third week, demonstrators around the globe have been pouring into the streets expressing their outrage against Israel's indiscriminate bombardment of residential neighborhoods in the Gaza Strip. In the Arab world, demonstrators have also turned their anger towards their leaders. They have been demanding the expulsion of Israel's ambassadors from Egypt and Jordan and the opening of the borders between Egypt and Gaza. In Egypt (the largest Arab country), demonstrators carried placards demanding "To stop the Gaza Holocaust", and "Gaza, Forgive Us."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jamal-dajani/gaza-qaddafi-and-starbuck_b_158465.html

Media/media bias/Zionist disinformation
Palestinian Journalist's Syndicate calls
for investigation of Israeli bombing of
media compound
The Palestinian Journalist's Syndicate condemned Israel's direct targeting of journalists, the latest example of which was the shelling of the Ash-Shuruq building, home to international and local press offices. The attack injured two journalists, and the syndicate demanded in a statement the formation of "an international investigation committee" to catalogue Israeli war crimes in Gaza.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=35026

Ramattan: Journalists Live Under 'Siege'
Conditions To Air News From Gaza
GAZA CITY, Gaza--Outside, there is chaos. And to most, that is the story. The biggest challenge most ordinary citizens of Gaza face these days is getting through the day's aerial bombardments--and staying alive. Soon as the bombs begin to drop those few who dared to remain scurry for shelter. Most of those seeking sanctuary share a common heritage: they are Palestinians and residents of Gaza City. And few have anything to do with their days except to try and survive.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/15/ramattan-journalists-live_n_158270.html

Foreign press urges boycott of
Israeli army footage after attack
AFP-The Foreign Press Association on Thursday urged its members to boycott Israeli army photos and video footage to protest at the shelling of a media building in Gaza City that wounded two cameramen.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090115/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictgazamedia

Journalists group condemns strike on Gaza media
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip on Thursday struck two high-rise buildings housing international media, drawing sharp criticism from the Foreign Press Association. Two journalists were moderately wounded when Israeli fire hit a Palestinian media center that works with international media and is located two floors above the Reuters news agency. TV footage showed the wounded men in flak jackets marked "press" being rushed to the hospital.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i7TlqVT_ F1SFhRyNY0IjlMc8
tZUwD95NOQLO1

Israel controls access, message in Gaza assault
The Israeli military took about a dozen foreign reporters on a rare foray into the Gaza Strip Thursday, a day when a bombardment killed the Hamas security chief and an Israel shell landed on the United Nations headquarters there. But the journalists saw none of the action. Their 30-minute drive from an army base near the border took them to an unpopulated area where a commander arrived in a tank, gave a statement and answered a few questions. They saw no troops, no combat.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h0PvtGF62P_L_ yA3fKUn7EN
nQZ3wD95NS7BO0

New York Times' knowledge of Arab affairs
Under this picture on the front page, the New York Times printed this caption: "Walls in Ramallah bear graffiti for Fatah, which dominates the Palestinian Authority, but is widely seen as weak and corrupt." Of course, the only organization's name on the wall is Islamic Jihad.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2009/01/new-york-times-knowledge-of-arab.html

6 ministers to launch 'PR attack' abroad
Prime Minister Olmert decides to send ministers abroad to try and change distorted public opinion on Israel in light of Operation Cast Lead in Gaza. Interior Minister Sheetrit to be sent to Belgium, says 'we are fighting to defend citizens' safety'.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3656970,00. html

When Israel accepts the war waltz and when it doesn't

If a Hamas writer [it should be fighter] were to shoot a film about his experience in Gaza would the Hollywood community welcome him with open arms, and would the liberal media shower him with praise?With or without the "anguish" of the Israel soldiers." "Liberals in the West applaud Israeli soldiers in war, and then they applaud them in whatever they do in their next careers, whether in the movie business or the restaurant business," he said in an email exchange withMENASSAT.
http://www.menassat.com/?q=en/news-articles/5744-when-israel-accepts-war-waltz
-and-when-it-doesn-t

Israeli Attacks on Gaza Escape Global Media Scrutiny
Excerpt: Israel's relentless air attacks on a besieged Gaza, which have killed over 1,000 Palestinians and destroyed hundreds of homes, continue to take place away from the gaze of the international news media.
http://www.antiwar.com/ips/deen.php?articleid=14080

Solidarity

FGM: Israel threatens to shoot unarmed
civilians aboard mercy ship
The Israeli navy today threatened to kill unarmed civilians aboard a mercy ship on its way to deliver medical supplies and doctors to besieged Gaza. The Free Gaza Movement ship, SPIRIT OF HUMANITY, left Cyprus Wednesday morning carrying doctors, journalists, human rights workers, and parliamentarians. The ship also carried over a ton of desperately needed medicines donated by the European Campaign to Break the Siege, and intended for overwhelmed hospitals in the Gaza Strip. At the request of the ship's organizers the passenger list and manifest were publicly released, and Cypriot authorities searched the boat prior to its departure in order to certify that it only carried humanitarian items. The organizers also sent an official notification to the Israeli government of their intent to break through the blockade of Gaza.
http://palsolidarity.org/2009/01/4352

Iraqi clerics call for donations
for Palestinians
Shiite cleric Muqtada Al Sadr is calling on Iraqis to donate food, money and medicine for Palestinians suffering under Israel's Gaza offensive against Hamas fighters.
http://archive.gulfnews.com/region/Iraq/10275679.html

Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions:
A Call from Gaza
http://palsolidarity.org/2009/01/4301

Art Activism and Gaza:
Poets and Hip Hop Artists Organize for Gaza
New York City's Alwan for the Arts, located in Wall Street, teaming up with hip hop heavy weights and organizations like Palestine/Israel Education Project will be one of the sites hosting a multi-event benefit night for Gaza this weekend. The first and second events,"Hands Off Gaza" and "I *heart* Gaza," will feature performances by Immortal Technique, M1 of Dead Prez, Hasan Salaam, Aalikes, Sabreena Da Witch, G.O.D, Rebel Diaz, Remi Kanazi, Tahani Salah, Queen Godis, Khalil al Mustafa; and DJs: Johnny Juice (Public Enemy), DJ Oja, and K-Salaam. The scheduled events will take place this MLK Sunday and will include speeches, music, dance, art, and resistance for Gaza
http://www.kabobfest.com/2009/01/art-activism-and-gaza-poets-and-hip-hop.html

PA courts suspend work in protest of Gaza 'massacres'
http://www.maannews.net/en/ind ex.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=3498 9

We stand with the majority
http://www.ijsn.net/home/

Nine arrested at Israeli Consulate protest in S.F.
San Francisco police arrested nine protesters this morning who had chained themselves together to block the main entrance to the Israeli Consulate on Montgomery Street.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/15/MNFJ15B2SN.DTL&
feed=rss.news

Pictures
http://www.flickr.com/photos/34399309@N02/

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/01/15/18563491. php

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/01/15/18563468. php

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/01/15/18563447. php

Jews Close LA Israeli Consulate
http://la.indymedia.org/news/2009/01/223864.php

Pictures
http://la.indymedia.org/news/2009/01/223875.php
Demonsrations in Birzeit, Na'lin, Amman,
the sea: it is not enough to condemn, you must act
http://english.pnn.ps/index. php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4511&Itemid=1

International boycott of Israeli products launched from West Bank
http://english.pnn.ps/index. php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4518&Itemid=1

Women march in Ni'lin in solidarity with Gaza
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=35007

Weekly nonviolent resistance demonstrates for Gaza
http://english.pnn.ps/index. php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4523&Itemid=1

Silent protests in Bil'in condemn Israeli, American
veto over international action
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=35027

"South African Solidarity with Egyptian and Palestinian Peoples"
http://mrzine.monthlyreview. org/sa150109.html

Morocco Jewish leaders condemn Gaza offensive
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2009/01/15/64312.html

Greek parliamentary delegation to visit Gaza Thursday
http://www.palestine-info.co. uk/en/

Other Gaza related news

Israel looking to ignite new war
Lebanon: Lebanon rejects Hezbollah involvement in a recent rocket attack on Israel, suggesting that the launch may have been a ploy by Tel Aviv.
http://www.presstv.com/detail. aspx?id=82434&sectionid=351020203


On Hamas' Performance In Gaza
There is some discussion in the thread below about the performance of Hamas as a military force. Hamas never was a real military organization. It is and was a social movement with an attached small military wing. Think Sinn Féin and IRA.
http://www.moonofalabama.org/2009/01/on-hamas-performance-in-gaza.html


And old, but important article:
British Gas, Israel to freeze Hamas out of $4b. gas deal
Israel and the British natural gas company BG Group Plc will move ahead with controversial plans to drill for natural gas in the Gaza Marine field, despite Hamas's takeover of the Gaza Strip last month, The Jerusalem Post learned on Thursday. The two sides have arrived at an "understanding" that will transfer funds intended for the Palestinian Authority's Palestinian Investment Fund into an international bank account, a BG source told The Post.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost% 2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&
cid=1183459207651

Olmert, Rice speak for first time since UN incident
Prime Minister's Office states leaders plan to resolve issue of Olmert's slip of the tongue 'over a glass of wine'.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3656956,00. html

Inquiries show Olmert version of UN
Gaza vote spat closer to truth than Rice's
Inquiries with people uninvolved in the spat between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reveal that his version of the lead-up to America's vote on last week's Security Council resolution is closer to the truth than hers.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1055966.html

West Bank and Israel
Five injured during Bil'in demonstration
http://palsolidarity.org/2009/01/4385

The Israeli army kills a Palestinian boy In Hebron
Palestinian medical sources reported that a Palestinian boy was shot and killed by Israeli military fire in the southern West Bank city of Hebron midday Friday.
http://www.imemc.org/article/58496

11 injured in the weekly protest of Ni'lin near Ramallah
Scores of Palestinians from the village of Nil'in, located near the central West Bank city of Ramallah, On Friday, conducted a protest against the illegal Israeli wall being built on the village land by the Israeli settlement and annexation project.
http://www.imemc.org/article/58499

Medic says Israeli troops kill West Bank protester
Palestinian medics says Israeli soldiers have shot dead a Palestinian during a violent protest against Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip. They named the dead man as 20-year-old Musab Daana. Witnesses said demonstrators hurled rocks at troops who stopped them from marching into the Israeli-controlled sector of Hebron.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ioi_ 0jtO9RjMwPNRoXNCnd
RPRq3gD95O7G 5O0

Troops attack a nonviolent protest near Bethlehem: two women injured
Scores of villagers from AL Ma'ssara located near the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem conducted their weekly protest on Friday.
http://www.imemc.org/article/58498

Israeli forces seize 24 Palestinians in West Bank raids
Bethlehem – Ma'an – Israeli forces seized 24 Palestinians during overnight raids in the West Bank, the Israeli army reported. The detainees were taken to detention centers. They have not yet been identified. [end]
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=34984

Israel continues restrictions on Muslim travel to Jerusalem
Jerusalem – Ma'an – Israeli police said Thursday they are reemploying restrictions on Muslims traveling to the Al-Aqsa Mosque for weekly Friday prayers. According to Israel Radio, men over 45 years old and holders of blue identity cards will be permitted to enter Al-Aqsa, while no restrictions will be placed on women this week.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=35015

Report: Three Bethlehem residents found dead in Jerusalem
Bethlehem -Ma'an-Three Palestinians were found dead in Jerusalem on Thursday night, according to unconfirmed reports. The three people, who were apparently young, were reportedly found stabbed to death, sources said. Neither the Palestinian Authority nor Israeli police immediately confirmed the reports on Thursday.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=35014

Arabs should memorize those figures
"A whopping 94% of the [Israeli] public support or strongly support the [Israeli terrorist] operation while 92% think it benefits Israel's security, according to the Tel Aviv University survey." If Egyptian scholar, Anwar Abdul-Malak, had described Egypt in his book in 1968 as "miliary society," we can easily describe Israel as "terrorist society."
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2009/01/arabs-should-memorize-those-figures.html

Opinion/Op-ed
Norman Finkelstein-Hezbollah, the Honour of Lebanon (prophetic words about the current war on Gaza from an interview on LBC last year)
Norman Finkelstein, talks about the Lebanese militia Hezbollah and openly supports and praises their resistance: "They (Hezbollah) show courage, they show discipline, I respect that"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDe65-nF3FQ

Growing outrage at the killings in Gaza
Israel must lose. It is not enough to call for another ceasefire, or more humanitarian assistance. It is not enough to urge the renewal of dialogue and to acknowledge the concerns and suffering of both sides. If we believe in the principle of democratic self-determination, if we affirm the right to resist military aggression and colonial occupation, then we are obliged to take sides... against Israel, and with the people of Gaza and the West Bank.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/16/gaza-israel-petitions

Gaza op may be squeezing Hamas, but it's destroying Israel's soul
Shelling a United Nations facility is something not to be done at any time, but doing it on the day when the UN secretary general is visiting Jerusalem is beyond lunacy. The level of pressure the Israel Defense Forces has been exerting on Gaza may be squeezing Hamas, but it is destroying Israel. Destroying its soul and its image. Destroying it on world television screens, in the living rooms of the international community and most importantly, in Obama's America.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1055968.html

London Review of Books: Israel's Message, Ilan Pappe
In 2004, the Israeli army began building a dummy Arab city in the Negev desert. It's the size of a real city, with streets (all of them given names), mosques, public buildings and cars. Built at a cost of $45 million, this phantom city became a dummy Gaza in the winter of 2006, after Hizbullah fought Israel to a draw in the north, so that the IDF could prepare to fight a 'better war' against Hamas in the south.
http://www.lrb.co.uk/web/14/01/2009/papp01_.html

Democrats and the Bloodbath in Gaza: In Sync with the Bush Administration
Support for Israel in her time of need, from both Democrats and Republicans, is not just the logical choice. It is both a strategic and moral imperative.
– Congressman Steny Hoyer (D-MD)
I want to commend the Bush administration for its support of Israel during this difficult period.
– Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA)
Since Israel launched its massive, deadly, and completely asymmetric blitzkrieg against the impoverished population of the Gaza Strip, an operation that represents a continuation of Zionist policy since the British mandate period and has so far left over 900 Palestinians dead including some 400 women and children, Ohio Congressman and two-time presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich has carried on his practice of consistently speaking truth to power, reprimanding both Israel for its criminal behavior and the United States government for enabling it.
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2009/01/democrats-and-the-bloodbath-in-gaza-in-
sync-with-the-bush-administration/

Eric Margolis: Bush's Final Gift: Gaza
Just when we thought it was impossible for the calamitous George Bush and Svengali Dick Cheney to do any more damage to the world or to America's interests, they loosed one final Parthian shaft into the heart of the Mideast by giving Israel a green light to blitz Gaza and try to exterminate the Hamas movement. The assault on Gaza, which has provoked worldwide outraged, was President Bush's parting gift to Israel.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-margolis/bushs-final-gift-gaza_b_158257.html

In Egyptian hospitals, an opaque window on Gaza war
Cairo and Rafah, Egypt-Few of the medics are able to sleep at the al-Arish Public Hospital 30 miles from the Rafah border crossing into the besieged Gaza Strip. On Wednesday evening, doctors and nurses huddled around a 14-inch television broadcasting news of the war between Hamas and Israel. As soon as they hear more sirens approaching the hospital, they scatter to treat the injured. So far the conflict has killed at least 1,067 and wounded more than 5,000 Palestinians. Many of the worst cases are taken here to al-Arish or to Cairo for treatment.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0116/p04s03-wome.html

Rebuilding burned bridges;
If a two-state solution still can be retrieved from
the ruins of Gaza, then all sides will have to recognise
Hamas as a partner to talks
Recent days have brought encouraging, albeit slight, signs of progress in Egyptian-sponsored talks to end the fighting in Gaza. The immediate conditions are likely to be the halting of further rocket attacks from Gaza, the opening of the border crossings and the end of weapons smuggling into Gaza. No truce will be credible without these measures.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jan/15/greenstock-gaza-israel-hamas
-palestinians

The Power of Language, and Silence in Gaza
The Israeli offensive into Gaza continues this morning with devastating effects for Palestinians across the Gaza Strip. Say what you will, but the military strategy that has marked Israel's "Operation Cast Lead," clearly only hurts Gaza's civilian population.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=14680

No Win for Israel on Any Front
It's pretty well known that the Israeli massacre of Palestinians could only happen with the complicit approval of leading actors on the international stage. These are not confined to the West only. Arab, Asian and African leaders are guilty too for having turned a blind eye to these atrocious killings of women, children, the elderly and the infirm.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=14677

Gaza's Shattered Mirror
At a time when Palestinian men, women and children, corralled in the ghetto of Gaza since 1948, are daily, hourly, relentlessly, being bombed from the air, land and sea, it is instructive to turn to some of the founding fathers of Zionism, and ask what they might have thought about this obscene consequence of their messianic vision.
http://www.counterpunch.org/shahid01152009.html

Gaza Besieged, Gaza Mauled
First, a story—a true one. On February 28, 1994, in a funeral eulogy for an American-born Israeli who had been beaten to death by a Palestinian mob a few days before, a certain Rabbi Perin declared, "A million Arabs are not worth one Jewish fingernail." The world was shocked by the statement when it was reported in the New York Times, and the Israeli prime minister himself denounced it. The murdered Israeli was Baruch Goldstein, who, on February 25, 1994, had stepped into a mosque carrying an assault rifle and killed 29 Palestinian men and boys bowed in prayer before his gun jammed. He was then killed with iron bars by surviving worshipers.
http://www.counterpunch.org/rabin01152009.html

Gaza orgs: Silence is complicity
With the death toll in Gaza growing hourly, silence is complicity. It is imperative for concerned citizens to demand that their governments take immediate action in order to stop Israeli genocide in Gaza. Write your representative today and demand that Israeli war criminals be brought before the International Criminal Court or a Special Tribunal for war crimes committed in Gaza. (Remind your representative that the investigation, prosecution or extradition of those responsible for war crimes is an obligation of all high contracting parties to the Geneva Conventions.)
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10195.shtml

Gaza: A New Middle East Indeed
As Israel unleashed its military fury against Lebanon for several weeks in July-August 2006, it had one major objective: to permanently 'extract' Hezbollah from the South as a fighting force, and to undermine it as a rising political movement, capable of disrupting, if not overshadowing the 'friendly' and 'moderate' political regime in Beirut.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=14681

Grieving Over Gaza
I write as an Israeli. In the past two-and-a-half weeks Israeli forces have killed over 900 people in Gaza; Palestinian rockets have killed four Israelis and Palestinian fighters have killed six soldiers. As the assault began, Bibi Netanyahu, the leader of Israel's definitive right-wing party, Likud, said that talk of comparative numbers is not pertinent to the validity of Operation Cast Lead. That might be true, but the grotesque proportions of one to one hundred in counting the dead should give us pause, should make us reflect on the mantras of the conventional wisdom.
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090126/biletzki

Go your own way
Recently, 200 American historians were asked to sum up the term of their 43rd president and to rank him on the scale of presidents. He was ranked last, at the end of a close race with James Buchanan, leaving behind him a shorn superpower.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1055978.html

Israel versus America
Excerpt: The role played by Israel as the catalyst for American aggression in the Middle East was dramatically underscored the other day, when David Sanger of the New York Times reported Israel had requested access to "bunker-buster" bombs developed by the US, and also clearance for flying over Iraqi airspace to get at Iran. Both requests were denied.
http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=14075

Cartoons
http://latuff2.deviantart.com/art/Ehud-Olmert-s-dreams-109534137

Iraq
Thursday: 6 Iraqis Killed, 5 Wounded
http://www.antiwar.com/updates/?articleid=14074

U.S. Hummer vehicle destroyed
BABEL /Aswat al-Iraq: A U.S. Hummer vehicle burned down after an improvised explosive device (IED) went off near it in northern Babel province on Thursday, a police source said. "An IED went off Thursday while a U.S. convoy was passing in the area of al-Mashrou, (45 km) north of Hilla city, setting ablaze a Hummer [...]
http://en.aswataliraq.info/?p=106407

Family of Iraqi shoe thrower says he remains in isolation
On Wednesday, Dhiyaa al-Saadi, Zaidi's lawyer, said he had recently seen medical records that were part of Zaidi's court file that added credence to the journalist's claim that he had been beaten and tortured after his arrest on Dec. 14 by the security detail of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/01/15/mideast/shoe.php

Brother visits Iraqi who threw shoes at Bush
Relatives of the Iraqi journalist detained after throwing his shoes at President George W. Bush says he's in good shape and has been allowed to meet with his brother. Muntadhar al-Zeidi has enjoyed widespread support in Iraq and other Muslim countries since he hurled both his shoes at Bush during a news conference last month. But he has been denied access to his lawyer and requests from his family to visit him have been rebuffed. His brother Dhargham al-Zeidi says another brother visited Muntadhar in his Green Zone detention cell Friday. He says Muntadhar is being kept in a comfortable cell and guards even organized a party for his 30th birthday on Thursday. Al-Zeidi's lawyer says he has only been allowed to meet with his client once. [end]
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090116/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_ iraq_shoe_thrower

Other world news
Miliband condemns war on terror as 'mistaken'
Britain's foreign secretary suggested the U.S.-led war on terror may have "done more harm than good" as he issued a sharp rebuke Thursday to the outgoing Bush administration and it's approach to fighting extremism.
http://feeds.sfgate.com/click. phdo?i=9751ffe8fa4c3f613c86c2f19e490a c4