[If you live in the Vancouver area, please attend the demonstration against this latest act of Israeli state terrorism against the Palestinian people, this Monday, December 29 at 12:00 noon - click here for details.]

At least 228 die as Israel hammers Hamas-run Gaza

December 27, 2008 - Agence France Presse
http://www.zimbio.com/AFP+News/articles/9580/least+228+die+I...

Israel hammered Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, killing at least 228 people in retaliation for rocket fire, in one of the bloodiest days of the decades-long Middle East conflict.

Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said "Operation Cast Lead" against the Islamist movement, which has also left some 700 wounded, will continue "as long as necessary.

"The battle will be long and difficult, but the time has come to act and to fight," he said.

Exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal called in Damascus for a new Palestinian intifada, or uprising, against Israel and promised new suicide attacks.

Following mid-morning bombings, in which some 60 warplanes struck more than 50 targets over the span of just a few minutes, Hamas fired several dozen rockets, killing one Israeli.

Israeli air strikes continued sporadically throughout the day and into the night.

"We will not stand down and we will not cave in even if (the Israelis) should eradicate the Gaza Strip or kill thousands of us," Ismail Haniya, who heads the Hamas government, said in a defiant radio address.

Meshaal called for a "military intifada against the enemy" and said "resistance will continue through suicide missions."

Hamas has not carried out a suicide attack in Israel since January 2005.

He said that for there to be any talks with the people of Gaza, "the blockade must be lifted and the crossings (from Israel) opened... notably that in Rafah," which leads to Egypt.

Israel imposed a blockade after Hamas seized power in Gaza last year, but let in dozens of truckloads of humanitarian aid on Friday.

The White House said only Hamas could end the cycle of violence by putting a stop to the rocket fire on Israel.

"These people are nothing but thugs, and so Israel is going to defend its people against terrorists like Hamas," spokesman Gordon Johndroe said at George W. Bush's Texas ranch, where the president is preparing to spend the new year.

"If Hamas stops firing rockets into Israel, then Israel would not have a need for strikes in Gaza," Johndroe said. "What we've got to see is Hamas stop firing rockets into Israel.

"The United States holds Hamas responsible for breaking the ceasefire; we want the ceasefire restored. We're concerned about the humanitarian situation and want all parties concerned to work to make sure the people of Gaza get the humanitarian assistance they need," said Johndroe.

He was referring to a six-month truce mediated by Egypt, which ended on December 19, with Hamas refusing to renew it.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert pledged Israel will do its utmost to avert a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

"The people in Gaza do not deserve to suffer because of the killers and murderers of the terrorist organisation," he said, referring to Hamas.

He insisted that Israel had only hit Hamas targets, including command structures and rocket-manufacturing installations.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon called for an immediate halt to the violence, as did the European Union, Russia, Britain and France, while several Middle Eastern states and the Arab League slammed Israel.

The Arab League will hold an extraordinary summit in Doha on January 2 to discuss the crisis, diplomats in Cairo said.

In Gaza, thick clouds of smoke billowed into the sky. Mangled, bloodied and often charred corpses littered the pavement around Hamas security compounds, and frantic relatives flooded hospitals.

Medics said civilians had been hit, but the majority of the victims appeared to be members of Hamas, branded a terror group by Israel and the West.

Hamas said the strikes destroyed its security structures across Gaza and killed three senior officials -- the Gaza police chief, the police commander for central Gaza and the head of the group's bodyguard unit.

Dr Moawiya Hassanein, the head of Gaza emergency services, put the toll at 225 dead and 700 injured, 140 of them seriously.

Later, a medical source added three more with witnesses saying that two of them died in the east of Gaza City while they were preparing to fire rockets towards Israel.

The bombing came after days of spiralling violence, with militants firing rockets and Israel vowing a fiery response.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who brokered the six-month truce, slammed the "Israeli military aggression on the Gaza Strip" and blamed "Israel, as an occupying force, for the victims and the wounded."

The bombardment set off angry demonstrations in Israel's Arab towns and in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, as well as protests in countries around the region.

It came less than two months ahead of Israeli elections on February 10.

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, the head of the governing Kadima party and one of the front-runners for the premier's chair, said that "today there is no other option than a military operation."

Violence in and around Gaza has flared since the truce ended, and it escalated dramatically on Wednesday.

-------------------------------------------------

More than 200 killed in Gaza air strikes

27.12.2008 - Deutsche Welle
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/function/0,,12215_cid_3905486,00.h...

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has defended his decision to launch air strikes against Hamas installations, saying that the military operations in the Gaza Strip could "take time". He warned Israeli residents in the country's south about possible sustained rocket fire from the Islamist Hamas. The Israeli premier added that every effort would be made to avoid any humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Meanwhile Palestinian hospital sources now say more than 200 people have been killed in the air strikes. Hamas accused Israel of the uglisest massacre and vowed not to cave in to Israeli attacks. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has condemned the attacks as "criminal". [European Union] foreign policy chief Javier Solana has called for an "immediate ceasefire" in Gaza. US Secreatry of State Condolezza Rice said she held Hamas responsible for the Gaza violence.

-------------------------------------------------

Switzerland calls Israeli attacks "excessive"

December 27, 2008 - SwissInfo.ch
http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/news_digest/Switzerland_calls_Is...

Switzerland has joined a chorus of international criticism against Israeli military action in the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 200 Palestinians so far.

The foreign ministry acknowledged that Israel has a right to protect itself but condemned Saturday's attacks on Gaza City as "excessive".

The ministry has called for a ceasefire from all sides and for humanitarian supplies to be allowed into the blockaded area immediately.

The Israeli military launched the attacks against Hamas targets in Gaza as a fragile truce crumbled into heavy rocket fire on Saturday. One Israeli civilian was killed after Hamas soldiers fired a rocket into a nearby Jewish town.

Television stations in the region showed pictures of panicked Palestinians scrambling to remove the wounded from destroyed buildings. Senior Hamas officials have also been killed.

"There is blood everywhere, there are wounded and martyrs in every house and in every street," Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh told Palestinians. "We will not leave our land, we will not raise white flags and we will not kneel except before God."

A senior Israeli military official said Saturday's barrage was the "opening step" in an operation that could last for many days.

-------------------------------------------

Egypt slams Israeli 'murder' in Gaza, summons ambassador

December 27, 2008 - Agence France Presse
http://www.zimbio.com/AFP+News/articles/9537/Egypt+slams+Isr...

Egypt condemned Israel's Saturday air raids on Gaza that killed at least 195 Palestinians as "murder" and opened its Rafah border crossing with the territory to allow the wounded through for treatment.

"We call for an immediate end to Israeli military operations. We cannot allow these attacks to continue. We cannot permit the murder of Palestinians," Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said on state television.

Egypt -- one of only two Arab states to have signed a peace deal with Israel -- summoned ambassador Shalom Cohen to call for an end to the bombardment by dozens of Israeli aircraft that has left more than 350 wounded, many seriously.

"We summoned the Israeli ambassador and we said we refuse this aggression and we demanded an immediate end to it," foreign ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki told AFP.

President Hosni Mubarak earlier condemned "the Israeli military aggression on the Gaza Strip and blames Israel, as an occupying force, for the victims and the wounded."

He gave instructions for the Rafah terminal -- the only one bypassing Israel -- to be opened so that the wounded could be treated in Egyptian hospitals.

Dozens of wounded have already passed through, with hundreds more expected, state media reported.

A security official said that helicopters were being sent to Rafah to fly some of the wounded to hospitals in Cairo.

Abdel Fadil Shusha, governor of North Sinai province which adjoins Gaza, said he has sent six ambulances to the Rafah crossing point.

Amr Mussa, secretary general of the Cairo-based Arab League, called an emergency meeting of Arab foreign ministers "to discuss the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip."

League ambassadors will meet on Saturday with Arab foreign ministers due to meet on Sunday, the league said.

Mussa also asked Libya, as a member of the United National Security Council, to organise an emergency meeting on the subject of the Israeli raids.

Egypt has reinforced security on its frontier with Gaza by deploying 500 anti-riot police, a security official told AFP.

On Friday, Egypt had already stepped up border security in case Gazans broke through the boundary fence and entered Egypt in their thousands, as happened in January when activists opened breaches with explosives.

Egypt mediated a six-months truce between Israel and the Islamic Hamas movement which controls the Gaza strip.

Since the truce expired on December 19, Egypt has been trying to broker its renewal and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni visited Cairo for talks on Thursday.

While in Egypt, Livni vowed to strike back at Hamas as a sharp escalation of violence in Gaza dashed hopes of a new truce.

The spiritual guide of Egypt's Islamist opposition, the Muslim Brotherhood, condemned Saturday's raids as "a crime without comparison in history," adding that "the world looks on and does nothing."

Countering criticism that Egypt might have told Hamas that Israel was not about to launch an attack, Abul Gheit said that "Israel told the international community and its officials told the whole world of their intentions."

Abul Gheit accused Hamas of having aborted Egyptian efforts to avoid an Israeli attack on Gaza.

Abul Gheit had said on Thursday that the government was preparing to invite Hamas and its secular rival Fatah, which rules the occupied West Bank, to Cairo to resume dialogue.

Hamas boycotted reconciliation talks that were due to take place in Cairo in November, to protest the "political detentions" of some of its members in the West Bank by Fatah forces loyal to Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.

-------------------------------------------

Israel Bars Credible Observers from Gaza

Inter Press Service News Agency - Sunday, December 28, 2008
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=45232

Thalif Deen Interviews U.N. Human Rights Expert RICHARD FALK

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 26 (IPS) - The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay last week lambasted the Israeli government for detaining and expelling a human rights expert, Richard Falk, who was on a U.N.-mandated assignment to probe the human rights situation in the occupied territories.

"It is difficult to assess Israel’s motives for barring my entry to the Occupied Palestinian Territories, but it certainly seems to fit with a pattern of minimising to the extent possible, reporting on the realities of the occupation, especially in Gaza," Falk told IPS.

Falk, whose official title is U.N. Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, is a Professor of International Law who has taught at several U.S. academic institutions, including Princeton, Ohio State and the University of California.

The detention and expulsion were "unprecedented and regrettable," Pillay said, complaining that Falk was not only separated from two U.N. staffers accompanying him but was also held incommunicado for more than 20 hours at the Ben Gurion airport last week and denied the use of his U.N.-issued cell phone.

Pillay, whose criticism of Israel was backed by Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon, said U.N. human rights experts reporting to the Geneva-based Human Rights Council do not require a formal invitation by Israel to carry out official missions to the occupied Palestinian territories.

According to the U.N., Israel has kept the border crossings into Gaza closed for almost two months -- cutting off food supplies and humanitarian aid to Palestinians. The borders have been closed on the grounds that Palestinian militants have been firing rockets into Israeli territory.

While condemning the rocket attacks, Ban has urged Israel to lift the blockade and permit the delivery of humanitarian aid to the 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza. But his appeal has fallen on deaf ears.

Asked if he was barred from the occupied territories because Israel had plenty to hide, Falk told IPS U.N. Bureau Chief Thalif Deen: "In recent months Israel has prevented credible observers from Gaza -- such as fellowship students and journalists, from leaving; and disallowing similar qualified observers to enter."

This tactic, he said, is reinforced by Israeli efforts to shift attention from the truthfulness and accuracy of what is observed to the supposed bias of the observer.

"It is a mind game that has proved very effective with the media, especially in the United States," Falk said. Falk explained that the fact that high-ranking U.N. officials have spoken out with grave concern about the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza is a strong indication of how desperate the situation has become.

"Because of the strong influence of the United States within the United Nations, U.N. civil servants and officials have been reluctant in the past to criticise Israel," he added.

Excerpts from the interview:

IPS: How should the U.N. and the Human Rights Council respond to Israel’s decision to keep out Special Rapporteurs, human rights organisations and journalists -- particularly from Gaza, currently under siege?

Richard Falk: It is my hope that the U.N. and the Human Rights Council will take this incident seriously. My exclusion was, after all, a slap in the face of the U.N., as well as being a clear violation of Israel’s duties as a member of the U.N. to cooperate to ensure that its official undertakings are allowed to take place without interference. It would be important to protest the decision to bar the entry of the Special Rapporteur, and seek assurances that this would not happen in the future.

IPS: How futile is it to even attempt to have Israel censured or condemned when it is strongly supported by the U.S., Britain and France -- three veto- wielding members of the Security Council?

RF: Of course, the geopolitical realities of great powers unconditional support for Israel places a great obstacle in the path of the Palestinian struggle for self-determination, and continues to expose the Palestinian people living under occupation to severe hardship that has been harmful to health and wellbeing.

But it is important also not to lose hope. The struggle against apartheid in South Africa also seemed to be decisively blocked by political obstacles and the relation of forces, but unforeseen results produced a positive outcome due, in large part, to the anti-apartheid campaign waged globally.

Often, with oppressive circumstances, the situation seems invulnerable until it collapses unexpectedly. The transformation of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union in the 1990s illustrated this sudden shift in circumstances.

IPS: How would you respond to the Israeli charge that you are biased and hostile toward Israel?

RF: I have never been biased or hostile toward Israel. My basic commitment is to non-violence and a just peace for both peoples. What Israel calls bias is merely the nature of my effort to tell the truth about the realities of the occupation, and the legal consequences that follow from these realities.

I would welcome a debate about the accuracy and truthfulness of my observations, but this is a controversy that Israel evidently wants to avoid. The charges of bias and hostility are intended to distract attention from matters of substance.

It is my goal to shift attention away from myself, back where it belongs, on the plight of the Palestinian people, the denial of Palestinian legal rights, and the responsibility of the U.N. and sovereign states to respond to the Palestinian catastrophe.

IPS: Is it correct that during the past three years, Israel has permitted visits to the occupied territories by seven U.N. Special Rapporteurs?

RF: What is correct is that my predecessor, John Dugard [a South African Professor of International Law], made seven visits while serving as Special Rapporteur. As his reports became more critical of the occupation, Israel mounted strong attacks on him, especially when he compared the occupation to conditions he had worked to overcome during the apartheid period in South Africa.

After Dugard’s term came to end, Israel campaigned vigorously in Geneva against my selection as his successor, and seemed angered by their failure to block my appointment.

From this angle, blocking my entry was an expression of this anger, a signal to the U.N. that if Israel does not get its way, then adverse consequences will result. It is rather sad that such a relationship of tension now exists between Israel and the United Nations.

-------------------------------------------------

ISRAEL: END THE ATTACKS ON GAZA IMMEDIATELY! ENTER INTO GENUINE NEGOTIATIONS TO END THE OCCUPATION NOW!

The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions; December 27, 2008 - Canadian Dimension
http://canadiandimension.com/articles/2008/12/27/2265/

PO Box 2030 Tels: +972-(0)2-624-5560 Fax: +972-(0)2-622-1530 Rehov Ben-Yehuda 7 +972-(0)505-651425 E-mail: info@icahd.org 91020 Jerusalem, Israel +972-(0)548-046999 Website: www.icahd.org

A Press Release from The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD)

Let’s be crystal clear. Israel’s massive attacks on Gaza today have one overarching goal: conflict management. How to end rocket attacks on Israel from a besieged and starving Gaza without ending the impetus for those attacks, 41 years of increasingly oppressive Israeli Occupation without a hint that a sovereign and viable Palestinian state will ever emerge.

Indeed, the Occupation, in which Israel controls Gaza under a violent siege which violates fundamental human rights and international law, is not even mentioned in Israel’s PR campaign. Speaking to the international community, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni insists that no country would tolerate its citizens being attacked, a seemingly reasonable statement were it not for Israeli sanctions on Gaza supported by the US and Europe - sanctions that preceded the rocket fire on Israel - or the fact of Israeli occupation in general. Solely focusing on the rocket attacks conceals the political policy that led to them:

The Hamas government in Gaza must be toppled,” Livni has said repeatedly. “The means to do this must be military, economic and diplomatic.”

The responsibility for the suffering both in Israel and Gaza rests squarely with successive Israeli governments, Labor, Likud and Kadima alike. Had there been a genuine political process (remember, the closure of Gaza began in 1989), Israelis and Palestinians could have been living together in peace and prosperity already for 20 years. After all, already in 1988 the PLO accepted the two-state solution in which a Palestinian state would arise on only 22% of historic Palestine, alongside the state of Israel on the other 78%. A truly generous offer.

In Israel, however, the effort is to hide its preference for control over peace. Framing its attacks as a response to rockets from Gaza, exploiting an immediate trigger to effectively conceal deeper political intentions and policies, does that. It also conceals Israeli violations of the cease-fire. The fact that the rocket attacks could have been avoided altogether through a genuine political process means that the people of southern Israel are being held hostage by their Israeli government as well. Their suffering, and the suffering of the people of Gaza and the rest of the Occupied Territories, must be placed squarely at the feet of the Israeli government.

Israel cannot expect security for its people and political normalcy as long as it occupies Palestinian lands and continues its attempt to impose its permanent rule over the Palestinians by military force. We call on the Israeli government to end its aggression immediately and enter into genuine political negotiations with a united Palestinian leadership. We call on the international community to end its sanctions on Gaza immediately in accordance with international law, initiate an effective political process to end the Israeli Occupation and bring about a just peace - which reflects the will of the Israeli and Palestinian peoples.