Sunday, January 10, 2010
Friday, January 8, 2010
Egypt deports British lawmaker Galloway
A spokeswoman for the convoy said police intervened when Galloway and colleague Ron McKay arrived at the crossing.
"As soon as they emerged on to Egyptian soil, both men were forcibly pushed into a van, refused exit and told that they were leaving the country. They were then driven off in a police convoy," the BBC quoted him as saying.
Fresh Israeli strikes kill 2 Gazans
Medics say several people have been left wounded or missing in the incident, a Press TV correspondent reported.
Meanwhile, Hamas and Palestinian radio stations have confirmed that Israeli F-16 jets and gunboats bombed Khan Yunis.
Monday, January 4, 2010
To: The International Community
To: The International CommunityWe support the Cairo Declaration of the Gaza Freedom March, which reads as follows:
End Israeli Apartheid
Cairo Declaration
January 1, 2010
We, international delegates meeting in Cairo during the Gaza Freedom March 2009 in collective response to an initiative from the South African delegation, state:
In view of:
* Israel’s ongoing collective punishment of Palestinians through the illegal occupation and siege of Gaza;
* the illegal occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the continued construction of the illegal Apartheid Wall and settlements;
* the new Wall under construction by Egypt and the US which will tighten even further the siege of Gaza;
* the contempt for Palestinian democracy shown by Israel, the US, Canada, the EU and others after the Palestinian elections of 2006;
* the war crimes committed by Israel during the invasion of Gaza one year ago;
* the continuing discrimination and repression faced by Palestinians within Israel;
* and the continuing exile of millions of Palestinian refugees;
* all of which oppressive acts are based ultimately on the Zionist ideology which underpins Israel;
* in the knowledge that our own governments have given Israel direct economic, financial, military and diplomatic support and allowed it to behave with impunity;
* and mindful of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (2007)
We reaffirm our commitment to:
Palestinian Self-Determination
Ending the Occupation
Equal Rights for All within historic Palestine
The full Right of Return for Palestinian refugees
We therefore reaffirm our commitment to the United Palestinian call of July 2005 for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) to compel Israel to comply with international law.
To that end, we call for and wish to help initiate a global mass, democratic anti-apartheid movement to work in full consultation with Palestinian civil society to implement the Palestinian call for BDS.
Mindful of the many strong similarities between apartheid Israel and the former apartheid regime in South Africa, we propose:
1) An international speaking tour in the first 6 months of 2010 by Palestinian and South African trade unionists and civil society activists, to be joined by trade unionists and activists committed to this programme within the countries toured, to take mass education on BDS directly to the trade union membership and wider public internationally;
2) Participation in the Israeli Apartheid Week in March 2010;
3) A systematic unified approach to the boycott of Israeli products, involving consumers, workers and their unions in the retail, warehousing, and transportation sectors;
4) Developing the Academic, Cultural and Sports boycott;
5) Campaigns to encourage divestment of trade union and other pension funds from companies directly implicated in the Occupation and/or the Israeli military industries;
6) Legal actions targeting the external recruitment of soldiers to serve in the Israeli military, and the prosecution of Israeli government war criminals; coordination of Citizen’s Arrest Bureaux to identify, campaign and seek to prosecute Israeli war criminals; support for the Goldstone Report and the implementation of its recommendations;
7) Campaigns against charitable status of the Jewish National Fund (JNF).
We appeal to organisations and individuals committed to this declaration to sign it and work with us to make it a reality.
..................................................
[The entire petition, and the signatories present at the March, may be viewed at http://aliabunimah.posterous.com/gaza-freedom-marchers-issue-cairo-declaration
or at
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/01/gaza-freedom-marchers-issue-the-cairo-declaration-to-end-this-chapter-and-chart-the-way-forward.html
Information about the march is also posted at http://gazafreedommarch.wordpress.com/]
..................................................Sincerely,
Friday, January 1, 2010
Israeli forces attack Gaza Strip Fri, 01 Jan 2010 23:36:23 GMT
The airstrikes which targeted residential areas in northern and central Gaza Strip, caused panic among children in the region, a Press TV correspondent reported on Friday.
Witnesses said Israeli F16 fighters fired two missiles and Israeli tanks fired two shells that landed at empty areas east and northeast of Gaza City, DPA reported.
Local ambulances took the wounded from eastern Gaza to hospital for medical treatment, according to medical sources.
An Israeli army spokesman confirmed the attacks, but gave no further details, AFP reported.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Egypt forces Viva Palestina convoy to long Gaza road Egypt forced Viva Palestina aid convoy to return to Syria, which is a long trip to reach the Gaza
The agreement came after a Turkish mediator reached a deal with the Egyptian consul in Jordan's Red Sea port of Aqaba.
The convoy will now head to the Syrian port of Latakia to sail from there to the Egyptian port of El Arish, and then to Gaza.
Lebanon army opens fire on Israeli jets
"The army's anti-aircraft guns fired in the direction of four Phantom-type enemy Israeli planes that had been overflying the southeastern Hasbaya region at low altitude since Tuesday morning," an army spokesman told AFP.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Let the Gaza Freedom March Enter Gaza!
Let the Gaza Freedom March Enter Gaza!
I am writing to express my full support for the December 31, 2009 Gaza Freedom March. I urge the Egyptian government to allow the 1,300 international delegates to enter the Gaza Strip through Egypt.
The aim of the march is to call on Israel to lift the siege. The delegates will also take in badly needed medical aid, as well as school supplies and winter jackets for the children of Gaza.
Please, let this historic March proceed.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Three Condition which Egypt has stated to let the March to continue
2. We drive 500 miles back to Syria, and take a 24 hour ferry through the Suez Canal.
3. We have to ask Israel for permission to cross from Egypt to Gaza.
Egypt blocks Turkish MPs in Viva Palestina convoy from entry
World Bulletin / News Desk
Egyptian government blocked on Saturday 16 Turkish lawmakers from ruling AK party to entry country among "Freedom convoy for Gaza", a member of Turkey's IHH organisation told World Bulletin.
Turkish Prime Minister and head of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Recep Tayyip Erdogan had said that he supported the convoy and urged Egypt to allow them to enter.
Analysts said that the move of Egypt may rise tenions between Turkey and Egypt.
Husnu Tuna, MP from Konya said that "We wanted to enter Egypt within the convoy. But Egypt blocked this according to information that I took from our Foreign Ministry. Our Foreign Ministry is enable."
"This is a convoy for peace and humanity. I can't make of the attitute of Egypt."
Around 250 trucks laden with European, Turkish and Arab aid -- both food and medical supplies-- arrived in Jordan from Syria this week and were headed to the Red Sea port of Aqaba for the ferry journey across to the Egyptian Sinai port of Nuweiba.
Israeli soldiers shoot dead six Palestinians
According to a Palestinian medical source, three Palestinians were killed in northern Gaza as they were on their way to cross over a wall to work in Israel on Saturday.
The source further added that another Palestinian was also wounded in the incident.
Meanwhile, Israeli soldiers shot and killed three members of the Fatah Movement in another incident in the West Bank city of Nablus after surrounding their homes, Press TV correspondent Sari al-Khalili reported.
The victims were members of the Fatah Movement, led by Acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas.
Sources say the two had been previously ordered by Fatah to disarm, and that one of them was wanted by Israel.
Saudi would have nuked Houthis: Yemeni MP
[...]
Yemen's beleaguered north, bordering the Saudi kingdom, has been the scene of a massive military operation by the Saudi-Yemeni forces, since the Sana'a government stepped up its offensive against the Shia fighters in August.
[...]
Washington is reportedly providing Sana'a with firepower and intelligence in addition to some 70 million dollars worth of military aid Pentagon has poured into Yemen this year.
______________________________________
in addition 73 Saudi Soldiers were reported to be dead , while al Houthi claim there were more casulties to Saudies.
Yemen Tribal area still under sever bombardment of Saudia Arabia
Saudia Arabia use illegal weapons and severly bombs civilian population of Alhouthis
Your help is greatly appreciated. Call the Egyptian Embassy ASAP and let us all pray that they will change their mind.
Please call the Egyptian Embassy(in the US 202-895-5400) and tell them to let us into Gaza. Then callyour representatives' offices and let them know you are going. If theyare sympathetic, ask them to call the Egyptian Embassy on your behalf.
Also, please call your representative and try to get some help from that source too.
The more we do to get press and officials involved, the better our chances of getting into Gaza!!!
Friday, December 25, 2009
World Fails Gaza: Aid Groups
"It is not only Israel that has failed the people of Gaza with a blockade that punishes everybody living there for the acts of a few,” Jeremy Hobbs, executive director of Oxfam International, said in the report cited by the Guardian.
“World powers have also failed and even betrayed Gaza's ordinary citizens.
Israel bans the entry of materials needed to rebuild Gaza, such as cement and steel, effectively undermining efforts to rebuild the strip.
The siege has sharply increased poverty in the strip, leaving eight out of every 10 Gazans dependent on aid and leading businesses to close and lay off workers.
"The wretched reality endured by 1.5 million people in Gaza should appal anybody with an ounce of humanity,” Kate Allen, Amnesty International’s UK director, said.
GAZA MEMORIAL EVENTS DECEMBER 27 & DECEMBER 31
Gaza Memorial, Interfaith Service 4-6pm. Union Square, San Francisco. Candlelight Vigil to remember the 1,400 men, women and children killed in the attack on Gaza. Dec. 27 will mark the first anniversary of the Israeli attack and invasion of the Gaza Strip. We will educate the public with handouts.
Gaza Freedom March 12/31/09 is being blocked by Egypt.
A group which moved from London toward Gaza to break inhuma siege is in trouble. How anyone can help ? Only if I could help !
Palestine | San Francisco
Egypt Blocking Gaza Freedom March; Need Event at SF Egyptian Consul In
Solidarity
by Gaza Freedom March
Thursday Dec 24th, 2009 12:47 PM
Gaza Freedom March 12/31/09 is being blocked by Egypt. 1300 people
from 43 countries have assembled for a Ghandian non-violent march. We
should be planning events at the San Francisco Egyptian Counsulate to
publicize Egyptian complicity.
Falk has urged the Western powers to insist that Israel immediately end its blockade of the Gaza Strip
Falk also urged that the Goldstone Report’s recommendations, which suggest that Israel and Hamas have perpetrated war crimes possibly amounting to crimes against humanity, be fully and swiftly implemented. Falk said that “people having common sense, anywhere in the world, should become conscious of the dramatic situation in Gaza, where the suffering of over 1.5 million people, half of them children, has carried on without any formal objection from governments and the UN”.
| 01:50 12/24/2009 | |
| Israel Threatens Another Large-scale Gaza War | |
Israel has threatened another massive war against the Gaza Strip as the impoverished enclave continues to suffer in the aftermath of the devastating January offensive. Israeli planes have been dropping thousands of leaflets across Gaza, warning Palestinians against cooperating with the resistance fighters based in the coastal sliver. The leaflets also threaten Gazans with a new attack just ahead of the first anniversary of Israel's 22-day onslaught against the Palestinian territory. | |
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Secretary-General expresses hope that Israel will allow more items to enter Gaza
here
24 December 2009 – After Israel’s announcement that it will allow glass into Gaza following United Nations requests to repair homes damaged during last year’s fighting, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today voiced hope that this will pave the way for other much-needed materials to enter the area.
Just yesterday, a UN independent human rights expert underlined in a statement that building materials necessary to repair the damage resulting from the heavy bombardment and artillery assaults could not enter Gaza.
Richard Falk, the Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, also blamed the blockade for continued breakdowns of the electricity and sanitation systems due to the Israeli refusal to let spare parts needed for repair get through the crossings.
UN spokesperson Martin Nesirky told reporters today that the Secretary-General hopes the decision to allow glass into Gaza “will be followed by further imports of needed material for reconstruction.”
take action ? I opened it too late, but still worths a look!
We are approaching the one-year anniversary of Israel's three-week assault on the occupied Gaza Strip, which reportedly killed more than 1,400 Palestinians, injured and displaced thousands more, and caused billions of dollars of damage to Palestinian civilian infrastructure.
Before Congress goes on its winter recess, scheduled for Friday, December 18, Representatives Jim McDermott and Keith Ellison are seeking signatures on a "Dear Colleague" letter to President Obama. This letter states that Israel's blockade of Gaza is a "de facto collective punishment" leading to the "unabated suffering of Gazan civilians". Click here to read letter.
Days before Christmas; What about Palestinians?
Beit Lahia, a town in the northern Gaza Strip with a population of 60,000, lies in ruins, after the three-week Israeli onslaught. |
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to ban high-profile diplomats from entering Gaza under the pretext that such a visit may grant legitimacy to Hamas, which seized the coastal strip in 2007, Israeli daily The Jerusalem Post reported on Tuesday.
The ban came hours after the European Union called on Israeli and Palestinian officials to sit down at the negotiating table to discuss Jerusalem Al-Quds — which both sides claim as their future capital.
The lawmakers were scheduled to inspect areas struck by Israel's operation in Gaza last winter, meet officials from the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and hold talks with senior members of Hamas movement.
On Wednesday, the European parliament, meanwhile, demanded a convincing explanation as to why Israel prevented a delegation of lawmakers from traveling to the Gaza Strip despite initially sanctioning the visit.
12 December
They told the PIC that Sami Abu Khosa, 45, was hit with several bullets in the abdomen and other parts of his body and his condition was critical.
The citizen was admitted into ICU but died of his wounds shortly afterwards, the sources said.
IOF soldiers opened machinegun fire at the area east of Breij hitting and killing Abu Khosa.
14 DecemberSoldiers Kidnap Two Children In Northern Gaza
Israeli soldiers invaded the Industrial Area located near the Erez Crossing, west of Beit Hanoun in the northern part of the Gaza Strip and kidnapped two children. One of them was released after several hours while the second remained in custody. Soldiers advance approximately 350 meters into northern Gaza while Palestinian workers were trying to remove the rubble of the Industrial Area that was shelled by the army during the war on Gaza earlier this year.Troops then kidnapped Mahmoud Jamil Al Yaziji, 16, and Mohammad Hatim Al Kafarna, 17. Al Kafarna was released several hours later, while Al Yaziji remained in detention.
A lawyer working with the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights reported that Al Yaziji was moved to the Al Majdal prison, and is currently under interrogation.
The Israeli District Court extended his remand until Friday, December 18...
15/12 /2009
Report: Prisoner going blind as Israel refuses treatment
[...]
Shawqi Abu Athera, 37, is going blind as a result of the Israeli Prison administration's refusal to allow him to undergo treatment, according to the movement. Despite having surgery on his right eye nine months ago, IPS prohibited Abu Athera from pursuing further necessary treatment for his condition, the general director of the movement said.
The statement added that Abu Athera remains in "unbearable pain" as a result.
Additionally, Abu Athera suffers from critical injuries to his left hand and back , which he sustained during the first Palestinian uprising.
16/12/2009
Israeli navy grabs four Gaza fishermen
A police representative identified the four as Atef, Muhammad, Tahsin and Fakher Abu Reyala, all from Ash-Shati Refugee Camp, all in their twenties.
A spokeswoman for the Israeli military said that the fisherman left the "designated fishing area, approaching Israeli territorial waters, near the Gaza Strip's northern edge. The boat and crew were hauled to the Israeli port of Ashdod and the crew questioned, the spokeswoman added.
The crewmembers were later released to Gaza through the Erez land crossing, according to the military.
The Israeli Navy patrols a “no fishing” zone inside Gaza’s waters. According to fishermen and the United Nations, the zone is extends three nautical miles into the Mediterranean, and along most of the length of the Strip.
17 Dec 2009
Remember the samuni family which were pushed into a house and fired on deliberatly
29 member of family died as a result the youngest was unfant of 6 months
18 December
"The [Central Intelligence] Agency consider them as their property, those two Palestinian services," a western official told the Guardian.
Most of the detained Hamas supporters are held without trial and allegedly tortured by the Palestinian agencies in the West Bank.
20/12/2009
From Turkey to Gaza: Rings and bracelets were donated to People from Adana to Gaza
22/12/2009
Tadamun: Skin disease spreading among Palestinian prisoners in Askalan
NABLUS, (PIC)-- A skin disease has spread among Palestinian prisoners in one of the wards in the Israeli Askalan jail with no medical treatment accorded by the prison administration, prisoner Abdul Hakim Hanani said.
The prisoner told the lawyer of the international Tadamun (solidarity) for human rights that the 220 prisoners in Askalan had boycotted the clinic because of the deliberate medical neglect and delay in providing treatment.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Petition to obama by congressmen to pressure israel
Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) and Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) circulated a letter asking their colleagues to call on President Obama to "press for immediate relief for the citizens of Gaza". While AAPER believes that the Israeli government's objectives in imposing restrictions on Gaza are other than those stated in the letter, we welcome the letter's specific request that the President "advocate for immediate improvements for Gaza" in access to clean water, food, agricultural materials, medicine and health care products, sanitation supplies, construction materials for repair and rebuilding, fuel and spare parts. It further seeks improvement in the ability of people as well as commercial and agricultural goods to move into and out of Gaza.
here link to petition
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Chomsky says Israel, 'US military base'
Renowned American sociopolitical analyst Noam Chomsky says Israel functions as Washington's main weapons storage base in the Middle East.
"Israel is essentially a US military base, the US positions weapons there, that's a very close military and intelligence tie,"
[...]
"[Israel] is receiving weapons constantly. In fact, weapons were sent during the invasion of Gaza. They tried to send them, they were supposed to send them from Greece, and Greece refused to ship them," he said.
"When pentagon was asked about this, they responded (I think correctly) that the weapons were not being sent for the Gaza invasion which was underway with the US weapons of course; rather, the US was positioning weapons in Israel," he added.
[...]
"[The US and Israel] consistently and regularly… resort to force and the threat of force… carry out aggression regularly and repeatedly… invade other countries, occupy other countries, [and] invoke terror and violence," he said.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
97 attacks during 1 month on Gaza by ... guess who?
israel is not a state ! it is colonialism and practicing torture of entire palestinian nation. Don't you believe? try to live in such conditions
Saturday, December 5, 2009
US warned China that Israel could bomb Iran
'US warned China that Israel could bomb Iran'
Jpost.com staff and ap , THE JERUSALEM POST
Two senior officials from the White House, Dennis Ross and Jeffrey Bader, made a trip to China on a "special mission" to garner support in Beijing over the Iranian nuclear program, according to a Thursday report in The Washington Post. The officials visited China two weeks before US President Barack Obama arrived in Beijing.
The officials reportedly carried the message that if China would not support the US on the issue, Israel would be likely to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities. The paper quoted the officials as saying that Israel saw the issue as "an existential issue," and that "countries that have an existential issue don't listen to other countries."
They stressed that were Israel to bomb Iran, the consequences for the region would be severe.
The efforts seemed to have yielded results, according to White House officials quoted in the report, as the six world powers, including both China and Russia, put together a resolution critical of Iran's nuclear program earlier this week.
The development was significant as it groups Russia and China with the four Western powers - the US, Britain, France and Germany - in unified criticism of Iran's nuclear program. Russia and China have acted as a drag on Western calls for tougher action against Iran.
While the board passed an IAEA resolution critical of Iran in 2006 with the support of all six world powers, subsequent attempts by the West to get backing from all 35 board nations foundered on resistance from Russia and China.
While any board resolution is mostly symbolic, it does get reported to the UN Security Council. Beyond that, unified action in Vienna could signal that both Russia and China may be more amenable to a fourth set of Security Council sanctions on Iran than they have been in past years.
The draft urges Iran to open its nuclear program to wider perusal by the IAEA, they said. As well, it calls on Iran to answer all outstanding questions on that enrichment facility, comply with UN Security Council demands that it suspend enrichment and further construction of the plant, and stop stonewalling an IAEA probe of allegations it tried to develop nuclear weapons.
