[wvns] Don't Expect Peace
Israeli military announces readiness to invade Gaza
Saed Bannoura - IMEMC
Friday November 30, 2007
The preparations for a mass invasion of Gaza are complete, said an
Israeli source on Thursday. Israeli officials said the thousands of
troops and dozens of tanks currently stationed on the Gaza border are
not going to launch an invasion unless Palestinian resistance factions
fire homemade shells across the border first.
The Israeli daily newspaper Maariv reported that the chances of a
major Israeli incursion into the Gaza Strip have increased now the
Annapolis conference is over.
An Israeli military spokesman said that "the Israeli response will
come swiftly" if any projectiles are fired across the border. All
troops are trained and ready for an invasion, according to the Israeli
army.
Israeli forces have killed ten Palestinians in Gaza over the last
week, by air strikes and missiles fired from ships stationed offshore.
An outright invasion of Gaza, one of the most crowded places on earth,
would likely result in much higher casualties.
Israeli forces control all entry and exit from the Gaza Strip, and
have prevented all Palestinian movement in and out since September,
resulting in the deaths of several patients in dire need of medical care.
Earlier this year the UK Foreign Office described Israel's activities
in Lebanon last year as disproportionate, upon reading the above
article it would appear a similar occurrence is set to happen
imminently. This year, do you think, at the very least, we can have a
statement condemning the move before the event? Do you not think the
people of Gaza have suffered enough? As a UK citizen I am becoming
extremely concerned that my government can just sit back and watch and
is basically complicit with this, `happening' GENOCIDE. I am literally
begging you to urge our Foreign Minister, Mr Miliband to ACT NOW
before this atrocity happens. Yours Sincerely,It already seems obvious
to me now, that the Peace Con was more of a private debate – how to
deal with Hamas – and that this `swift response' will be wholly
disproportionate and how many innocent civilians will be paying the
price? It would be more effective if you were to personalise this
somewhat and of course add the name of your own Foreign Minister but
please rush a copy off to as many of the below as time will allow.
Email:milibandd @ parliament.uk
Fax: 020 7008 2144 House of Commons
Westminster
London SW1A 0AA
Tel Switchboard: 0207 219 3000Try faxing your MEP's (my MP's a dork &
there more of them)http://www.faxyourmp.com
Your Members of European Parliament from anywhere in EU:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members.do?language=EN
European Parliament institutions: http://tinyurl.com/3ccvqh
Any
Representative
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-3121
E-mail Congress: http://www.congress.org for contact information.
To find the Israeli embassy in your country look in:
http://www.learn4good.com/travel/israel_embassies.htm
For a comprehensive list of email addresses for UN Officials around
the world: http://tinyurl.com/37eh3p
===
Don't Expect Peace
by Charley Reese
http://www.antiwar.com/reese/?articleid=11987
Don't bet on peace coming out of President Bush's much-belated efforts
to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
For one thing, the people whom the Palestinians elected to represent
them are excluded. President Bush, hypocrite that he is, blathered
about democracy, then changed his tune when Hamas won the last
election. He cut off all aid to the Palestinians and sponsored a coup
by the Fatah faction.
Secondly, the Israeli government is not about to dismantle the Jewish
settlements on the West Bank and in East Jerusalem. The Israelis will
not allow the Palestinians to have a viable state even on 18 percent
of Palestine. Nor will the Israelis agree to allow the Palestinian
refugees to return or even be compensated for their lost property.
The Annapolis meeting was just another charade like the one Bill
Clinton staged. Eventually the Israelis will make an offer no
Palestinian could possibly accept, and then the Israelis and the
Americans will say, "We offered them a good deal and they rejected
it." Note, too, that the only thing to come out of the Annapolis
meeting was an agreement to reach an agreement by the end of 2008.
This is the 40th year of Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem and the
West Bank. They don't need a year if they are serious, which they are not.
Some sap on TV said the big difference this time was that the
president himself would be the judge of progress. What a joke. George
Bush has shown for seven years that he would sooner kiss Bill Clinton
on the lips than utter a word of criticism of the Israeli government.
In 1988, Yehoshafat Harkabi wrote an excellent book, Israel's Fateful
Hour. In it, Harkabi, former head of Israel's military intelligence
and a hard-liner, said that unless Israel grants the Palestinians a
state, Israel will be committing national suicide.
What he predicted is coming true. Israel will eventually bankrupt
itself trying to remain a regional military superpower, even with U.S.
assistance. The occupation has already corrupted the Israel Defense
Forces, which no longer enjoys the enormous prestige it once had.
Israel was driven out of Lebanon by Hezbollah fighters, and despite
its high-tech weapons and brutal tactics, it was unable to stop
Hezbollah from raining rockets down on Israel in the summer of 2006.
Furthermore, Israel's real strategic asset is its powerful lobby in
the United States, and this lobby is already facing what it dreads
most – becoming a public political issue. Sooner or later, the
American public will rebel. What I fear is that when it happens, it
will come in the form of a rebirth of anti-Semitism. That will be a
terrible price to pay for Israeli intransigence and ideological and
religious fanaticism.
A common fallacy of human beings is to imagine that what is will
always be. The opposite is true. Change is a constant. Nothing ever
remains the same. Every single day, the world shifts. After World War
I, nobody could imagine the British Empire fading away, but the change
was already taking place. Today, Britannia, which once ruled the
waves, would be hard-pressed to win a war unassisted with even Libya.
America is also changing. The Chinese have shot down a satellite,
launched a successful moon probe, penetrated our naval defenses with a
submarine that surfaced within torpedo range of an American carrier
and refused us the use of its port in Hong Kong. Vladimir Putin is
telling us in plain words to butt out of Russian affairs. The
president of Iran is publicly scoffing at our threats to attack his
country. And after five years, we are still fighting in two poor
countries.
I expect our own empire is on the wane, and when we wane, Israel will
wane.
===
A Call from Gaza
ACTION ALERT
Contact: communications @ wrmea.com
A Call From Gaza Asking for Your Help to End the Siege
By News Editor Delinda C. Hanley and Managing Editor Janet McMahon
November 29, 2007
Today—the 60th anniversary of the passage by the U.N. General Assembly
of the nonbinding resolution partitioning Palestine—is the
International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. We've
been hearing speeches about peace all week from politicians—but talk,
as we've learned, is cheap. We've seen photos of Gazans demonstrating
in the streets against the Annapolis conference, to which the elected
government of Palestine was not invited, but with few reporters in
Gaza Americans aren't getting the entire picture.
Yesterday our Gaza correspondent, Mohammed Omer, called us to discuss
a story idea for the next issue of the Washington Report on Middle
East Affairs. Speaking on his cell phone from the office of a taxi cab
company in Gaza City, Mohammed told us that he'd have to spend the
night in Gaza City because there were no taxis available to take him
home to Rafah.When we put him on speaker phone, we could hear the two
other men in the office—Imad, the owner of Imad Taxis, and Mahmoud,
who works for the municipalities department—ask who he was talking to.
When Mohammed explained that he was speaking with his editors in
Washington, DC, the floodgates opened. Our correspondent proceeded to
translate what two everyday Gazans want the outside world to know.
Their words were spontaneous, unpolished, and spoken from their
hearts. It's extremely urgent that Americans listen and respond.
Israel has kept Gaza's borders sealed since June, when Palestine
effectively was divided between Hamas-ruled Gaza and the Fatah-ruled
West Bank. But since January 2006, when free and fair elections
resulted in a Hamas parliamentary majority, Gaza's borders have only
rarely been opened. That means 1.5 million men, women and children are
trapped there.
The owner of Imad Taxis told us that, because of the closure, if one
of his cabs breaks down there are no spare parts to fix it. "Drivers
can't work," he said. "Gas is getting very expensive. I can't even pay
my telephone bills, so soon customers can't call to book a taxi."
Mahmoud chimed in: "We've run out of everything. After every Israeli
attack something more is ruined. Electrical poles, wires, water pipes,
and we can't replace them. Why are we being punished? What is our
crime? Is it because we were born Palestinian?
"We can't fix generators or even keep them running," he continued.
"When there is no electricity we can't distribute water. We've run out
of chlorine to clean the water. It's full of bacteria. A water heater
used to cost 10 shekels, but now it costs 40 or 50 shekels—if you can
find one. So we don't have hot water for bathing. Our sewage system
has collapsed. There's no power to pump sewage out and no chemicals to
clean it. Look at the garbage in the streets. There is no fuel for the
trucks to come to haul it away."
"Israel is only allowing basic food supplies into Gaza: sugar, rice,
flour, and oil," Imad told us. "Every day my little girl asks me to
bring home a chocolate bar. I can't find any in Gaza. I disappoint her
every night. We can't even buy Arabic coffee. There are no razors, no
shaving materials. We'll all have to grow beards. [Laughter] There
isn't stone, not even cement, to make headstones for graves. We're
using pieces of metal to write names on graves. We can't buy diapers.
Gazans are starting to smoke molokhiya [a green leaf vegetable]
because we can't buy cigarettes. We can't buy shoes and soon we'll
have to make them from tires. There is no printing paper."
Their words overlap as they tumble out—we can no longer tell who is
saying what.
"You can't find jackets, wool clothes, underwear, or even socks for
winter in the shops.
"Medical supplies in hospitals are exhausted. There's no oxygen; drugs
aren't available. We cannot find the basic needs for life.
"For God's sake open the border."
Mahmoud tells us: "My son has had a visa to study in the United States
since last year. He was admitted to San Francisco State. He speaks
good English. He has high grades—everything. Last year he missed going
because the border was closed. He's ready to travel today. He's
missing a second year. If my son doesn't have a future where will he
go? Hamas is begging him to join its militia, but he doesn't want to.
He's volunteering for [psychiatrist and peace activist] Dr. Eyad
al-Sarraj's International Campaign to Break the Siege on Gaza. Help
prevent our children from becoming extremists. They're so hopeless
they could find al-Qaeda. We want them educated. Don't punish our
children."
"History will never forget. Israel and America are creating hatred in
Gaza. The whole table will collapse if Gaza is excluded from the peace
talks. Who is responsible for us? The U.N.? The European Union? We are
not beggars. We are hard workers, educated, intelligent. We need our
international human rights. We want to live like anyone in the world.
"We hope you can get our message out. Please open the borders and end
this siege."
Call or write your local editors and radio talk show hosts, and
contact your elected representatives in Washington, DC.
President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Washington, DC 20500
(202) 456-1414
White House Comment Line: (202) 456-1111
Fax: (202) 456-2461
E-mail: < president @ whitehouse.gov>
E-mail Vice President Dick Cheney: vice.president@whitehouse.gov>
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
Department of State
Washington, DC 20520
State Department Public Information Line:
(202) 647-6575
Any Senator
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-3121
Any Representative
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-3121
E-mail Congress: visit the Web site < www.congress.org> for contact
information.
The Israeli Embassy, Washington, DC
(202) 364-5500
The Israeli Embassy, Canada
(613) 567 6450
For more information about this issue or to subscribe to the
Washington Report on Middle East Affairs visit our Web site <
http://www.wrmea.com/>. This 26-year-old publication has the largest
circulation of any magazine of its kind, and is sent to both public
and university libraries and bookstores in North America, Europe, Asia
and the Middle East. For a free sample copy call (202) 939-6050.
Emergency Appeal for Medical Supplies for Gaza
עברית אחרי אנגלית
29.11.07
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel
PHR-Israel Emergency Appeal for Medical Supplies for Gaza
The prolonged siege imposed by the Israeli government on Gaza, the
closing of its borders, the tightening of policies regarding
permission to exit Gaza for medical purposes, and the severe shortage
of medications and other medical supplies all severely damage the
Palestinian health system and endanger the lives and health of
thousands of Palestinian patients.
This severe crisis calls for an extraordinary response on the part of
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-Israel) that is separate from
our routine activities. For this reason we intend to implement the
following emergency actions:
Emergency aid dispatch of humanitarian supplies and a delegation of
doctors from Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-Israel) to Gaza .
The aims of this act: emergency aid, even if limited; documentation
and dissemination of reliable information regarding the medical
situation in Gaza; expression of protest and solidarity with the
residents of the Gaza Strip under siege. In order to receive
permission for this act we will probably also need to use legal action.
Advocacy: representation of dozens of patients applying to our offices
each month, whose access to Israel or passage through it for purposes
of medical care is denied for "security reasons;" a campaign against
the policies of the General Security Service (GSS, shabac) whereby
patients are compelled to inform on others as a condition for
permission to access medical care. These campaigns will be implemented
using litigation and media, targeting Israeli and international audiences.
Deaths in Gaza due to denial of access of medical care:
According to the records of the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza
and the World Health Organisation (WHO), 44 people have died since
June 2007 in connection with denial or delay of access to medical care
by the Israeli authorities. Thirteen of these patients died in
November alone. The number of deaths is rising each month, as the
policy of siege tightens.
Shortage of medicines:
Hospitals and medical centers in Gaza suffer a severe shortage in
medicines and medical supplies that are essential to minimal
functioning of the health system. According to data collected by the
WHO, 85 types of medicines defined as essential are out of stock,
including medicines for cancer, heart conditions, kidney disease, as
well as 12 different types of medicines for psychiatric conditions.
138 other types of medicines will be out of stock within a period
ranging between one and three months.
Shortage of medical equipment and supplies:
The hospitals in Gaza suffer severe shortage in medical equipment and
supplies in a manner damaging to their ability to provide emergency
and routine services, the need for which is rising due to the growing
daily needs of the patient population. According to Palestinian MoH
data, the shortage in medical equipment is felt in all the hospitals
in Gaza, due to inability to maintain the equipment, which is in need
of spare parts. Malfunctioning and missing equipment includes dialysis
machines, laboratory equipment, cardiology equipment and test tubes.
The functioning of the hospitals is also impaired by a shortage of
other essential supplies such as cleaning materials, parts for
electric generators, parts for refrigerators, parts for washing
machines, toilet paper, sheets, winter bedclothes, stationary, paper
and more. Although these materials are quickly running out, the State
of Israel is preventing their entry, claiming that they are not
considered part of the humanitarian needs which it publicly undertook
to meet.
Due to this severe medical and humanitarian crisis, PHR-Israel is
planning an emergency dispatch of humanitarian supplies and a
delegation of doctors, in order to supply limited emergency aid, to
witness and report on the medical situation in Gaza, and to express
protest and solidarity with the residents of the Gaza Strip under siege.
Please support this action by sending checks to 52 Golomb Street Tel
Aviv, 66171 Israel.
For further details please contact Miri Weingarten, 00 973 546 995199,
miri @ phr.org.il.
===
SEE GAZA AND WEEP
Stuart Littlewood The economy is strangulated and for 1.5 million
souls, life is hell. Fuel and candles are running out. Supplies of
basics are exhausted, so even hygiene is fast becoming impossible.
Power cuts disrupt hospital treatment and what few drugs there are
cannot be kept refrigerated. Many look death in the face as medi-care
collapses. Flour to make bread has doubled in price; cement for
concrete to repair damaged homes and infrastructure has gone up 1,000
percent! It is truly a humanitarian crisis, as the UN and various
charities have repeatedly warned western governments. A friend
emailed: "Today in Gaza ... we have no cement to build graves for
those who die."...
http://www.uruknet.de/?p=38730
===
Doctors: 'Severe Crisis' in Gaza, 44 Dead Since July Closings
Annapolis Meant Little for Dying Gazans Being Denied Medical Care by
Israel Residents in Gaza in need of medical care are facing a "severe
crisis" with forty-four Palestinan deaths due to Israeli border
closures and denial of medical care since July. With Gaza all but
ignored during Annapolis, only rights groups are making a dent in
letting the world know what is going on in the open air prison known
as the Gaza Strip. http://www.uruknet.de/?p=38740
Gaza Children are at Risk .. The Anemia Disease Spreads as a Result of
the Siege Popular Committee Against Siege
In light of the siege imposed on more than a million and a half
million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, suffering is spread amongst
the people, but children are the most affected category by the siege.
This led an international commissioner in Gaza to warn of the serious
repercussions on the children of Gaza and their future health and
education, as a result of the poor health conditions and malnutrition
that the siege creates.
http://www.uruknet.de/?p=38659
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