Five Blackwater Guards Indicted for Killing 17 Iraqi Civilians

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The Justice Department is expected to unveil indictments today against five Blackwater guards for their involvement in the killings of seventeen Iraqis in Baghdad in September of last year. The Blackwater guards facing charges have been identified as former Marine Evan Liberty; former Army sergeant Nick Slatten; former Marine Corporal Dustin Heard; former Marine Corporal Donald Ball; and Paul Slough, who served in the Army and the Texas National Guard. While the indictments will be unveiled in Washington, the Blackwater guards are expected to surrender today in Utah. By surrendering in Utah, the men could argue the case should be heard in a far more conservative, pro-gun venue than Washington. In Iraq, Mohamed al-Kinani called on the United States to prosecute the management of Blackwater as well.

Mohamed al-Kinani: “We hope to see a fair judgment that will impose the maximum penalty for them, not only the guards but the director who gave them the authority, weapons, vehicles and immunity. He must be taken to trial, because this is our demand.”

Mohamed al-Kinani was in his car with several members of his family when it came under fire from Blackwater guards. His nine-year-old son died in the shooting.



Democracy Now .org

[spot]

Justice is no longer a working concept in American law enforcement. Plea bargaining weakened it to the point where the innocent would say okay rather than face a ten-fold sentence in an arbitrary courtroom. What's far worse is a blind wilful refusal to bring meaningful charges in cases like this.

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spot;1085406 wrote: Justice is no longer a working concept in American law enforcement. Plea bargaining weakened it to the point where the innocent would say okay rather than face a ten-fold sentence in an arbitrary courtroom. What's far worse is a blind wilful refusal to bring meaningful charges in cases like this.




You make a point .

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US Supply Trucks Destroyed in Pakistan ..

In Pakistan, armed militants attacked two truck terminals in northwestern Pakistan Sunday, destroying more than 150 trucks loaded with Humvees and other supplies for American and allied forces in Afghanistan. The attack occurred on the outskirts of the city of Peshawar, where a car bombing on Friday killed thirty-four and wounded more than 100 people.

Commander: US Needs to Double Troop Level in Afghanistan

The top commander of US and NATO troops in Afghanistan has told USA Today that the United States will need nearly twice as many troops for up to four years to stabilize Afghanistan. Gen. David McKiernan said the US needs to raise troop levels from about 32,000 to around 60,000. A new report by the International Council on Security and Development estimates that the Taliban have expanded their footprint in Afghanistan and now have a permanent presence in nearly three-quarters of the country.

Pakistan Raids Militant Camp

In other news from the region, Pakistani security forces have reportedly raided a camp used by militants blamed for the Mumbai attacks and arrested more than a dozen people, including one of the suspected masterminds of the attack.

Police Killing Sparks Riots in Greece

In Greece, the police killing of a fifteen-year-old has sparked three days of clashes between the police and youths. The unrest began in Athens but has spread across the country.

Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) Defeated

And in Louisiana, Democratic Congressman William Jefferson has lost his bid for a tenth term in office. Jefferson lost to Republican lawyer Anh “Joseph” Cao, who will become the first Vietnamese American to serve in Congress. Last year, Jefferson was indicted for bribery, racketeering, money laundering and obstruction of justice. Green Party candidate Malik Rahim placed third in the race.

Democracy Now.org

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The International Federation of Journalists has called on the Iraqi government to release the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at President Bush at a news conference on Sunday. Muntadar al-Zaidi has been held without charge for over twenty-four hours and has been reportedly beaten in jail. His brother said al-Zaidi has suffered a broken hand, broken ribs and internal bleeding, as well as an eye injury. Earlier today, al-Zaidi was handed over to the Iraqi military command in Baghdad. Al-Zaidi has become a folk hero in many parts of the Arab world. Demonstrations have been held across the region calling for his release. In Iraq, thousands of protesters rallied in Baghdad and Najaf.

Ali al-Husseini: “We call on him Bush to get out. We also call for the immediate pullout of the occupation forces form Iraq, and we also call for the release of the honest Iraqi Mujahid journalist Muntadar al-Zaidi for his ferocious and patriotic act at the cabinet, which we have seen



Democracy Now.org

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WASHINGTON – President George W. Bush has granted pardons to 14 individuals and commuted the prison sentences of two others convicted of misdeeds including drug offenses, tax evasion, wildlife violations and bank embezzlement.

The new round of White House pardons announced Monday are Bush's first since March and come less than two months before he will end his presidency. The crimes committed by those on the list also include offenses involving hazardous waste, food stamps, and the theft of government property.

Bush has been stingy during his time in office about granting clemency, but more grants are expected.

Including these actions, he has granted a total of 171 pardons and eight commutations. That's less than half as many as Presidents Clinton or Reagan issued during their time in office. Both were two-term presidents, like Bush.

On the latest pardon list were:

_Leslie Owen Collier of Charleston, Mo., who pleaded guilty in 1995 to unlawfully killing three bald eagles in southeast Missouri. He improperly used pesticide in hamburger meat to kill coyotes, but ended up killing many other animals, including the bald eagles. Collier, who was convicted for unauthorized use of a pesticide and violating the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, was sentenced Feb. 2, 1996 in the Eastern District of Missouri.

_Milton Kirk Cordes of Rapid City, S.D. Cordes was convicted of conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act, which prohibits importation into the country of wildlife taken in violation of conservation laws.

_Richard Micheal Culpepper of Mahomet, Ill., who was convicted of making false statements to the federal government.

_Brenda Jean Dolenz-Helmer of Fort Worth, Texas, convicted of concealing knowledge of a crimeDolenz-Helmer, the daughter of a Dallas doctor accused of medical insurance fraud, was convicted in connection with the doctor's case. She was sentenced Dec. 31, 1998 in the Northern District of Texas to four year's probation with the special condition of 600 hours of community service and a $10,000 fine.

_Andrew Foster Harley of Falls Church, Va. Harley was convicted of wrongful use and distribution of marijuana and cocaine during a general court martial at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo.

_Obie Gene Helton of Rossville, Ga., whose offense was unauthorized acquisition of food stamps.

_Carey C. Hice Sr. of Travelers Rest, S.C., who was convicted of income tax evasion.

_Geneva Yvonne Hogg of Jacksonville, Fla., convicted of bank embezzlement.

_William Hoyle McCright Jr. of Midland, Texas, who was convicted of bank fraud.

_Paul Julian McCurdy of Sulphur, Okla., who was sentenced for misapplication of bank funds.

_Robert Earl Mohon Jr. of Grant, Ala., who was convicted of conspiracy to distribute marijuana.

_Ronald Alan Mohrhoff of Los Angeles, who was convicted for unlawful use of a telephone in a narcotics felony.

_Daniel Figh Pue III of Conroe, Texas, convicted of illegal treatment, storage and disposal of a hazardous waste without a permit.

_Orion Lynn Vick of White Hall, Ark., who was convicted of aiding and abetting the theft of government property.

Bush also commuted the prison sentences of John Edward Forte of North Brunswick, N.J., and James Russell Harris of Detroit, Mich. Both were convicted of cocaine offenses.

Under the Constitution, the president's power to issue pardons is absolute and cannot be overruled.

Some high-profile individuals, such as Michael Milken, are seeking a pardon on securities fraud charges. Two politicians convicted of public corruption — former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, R-Calif., and four-term Democratic Louisiana Gov. Edwin W. Edwards — are asking Bush to shorten their prison terms.

One hot topic of discussion related to pardons is whether Bush might decide to issue pre-emptive pardons before he leaves office to government employees who authorized or engaged in harsh interrogations of suspected terrorists in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Some constitutional scholars and human rights groups want the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama to investigate possible war crimes.

If Bush were to pardon anyone involved, it would provide protection against criminal charges, particularly for people who were following orders or trying to protect the nation with their actions. But it would also be highly controversial.

At the same time, Obama advisers say there is little — if any — chance that his administration would bring criminal charges.

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US Use of Bases in Germany for Iraq War Goes Against German Constitution that Forbids Launching Wars from German Soil, Says Activist



Germany is home to tens of thousands of US troops and the largest number of US bases in the world outside of America. We speak with US activist Elsa Rassbach. She moved to Berlin, where she is part of the American Voices Abroad Military Project. [includes rush



AMY GOODMAN: We’re broadcasting from Berlin, actually from East Berlin, here in Germany, as Democracy Now! goes on the road and wraps up our European trip. We’re joined on the telephone from another part of Germany by Andre Shepherd. He could be the first US soldier to apply for political asylum here in Germany, refusing to return to Iraq. He’s gone underground. He’s gone AWOL.



We’re also joined here in Berlin by Elsa Rassbach. She is a US citizen and activist who’s lived in Germany for the past eighteen years. She’s a member of American Voices Abroad Military Project and of the German affiliate of the War Resisters’ International.



Before we go to Elsa, I wanted to go back to Andre and ask—so, you came back here to Germany. Where were you? And what does it mean to go AWOL? What did you do? You left the base?



ANDRE SHEPHERD: Yes, that is correct. I left the military base in Katterbach in April 2007 and never returned. This is AWOL. It’s slightly different than desertions, because with AWOL you always have the intent to return, you know, back to your post after a certain amount of time, and with desertion, that means you permanently quit the military. And as of right now, I’m still currently considered as AWOL, but, you know, given the circumstances [inaudible], I’m quite sure that that status has changed to desertion.



AMY GOODMAN: And so, how did you actually apply? Have you applied in any way to the US government?



ANDRE SHEPHERD: For AWOL or for…?



AMY GOODMAN: No, to apply for asylum in Germany.



ANDRE SHEPHERD: Oh, OK, OK. Now I understand. OK, well, basically what you had to do was go through the reception center, which I went to in Giessen a few weeks ago, and formally declare myself as an asylum seeker. And then, you know, they take care of the paperwork and everything. And then you are designated as an asylum seeker, upon which you are enjoyed limited rights, you know, for living in Germany until such time as the hearing comes and they make a decision on whether or not they will grant you full rights to asylum.



AMY GOODMAN: Why didn’t you apply, Andre Shepherd, for conscientious objector status?



ANDRE SHEPHERD: It’s for several reasons, but the main overall reason is because in the US, conscientious objector only pertains to individuals that are against every single war of every form. It doesn’t matter if it’s offensive, defensive, limited action. It doesn’t matter. The problem is, for me to actually go and apply for conscientious objection, I would actually have had to lie, because my belief is that the armed forces are there for defense of the nation, like let’s say an example like someone decides to invade California, you know, and the military is called up to go and repel whatever forces invaded the land. Of course I would take up arms and go and defend my land, because they breached our borders. This is OK. But as soon as I would use that as an argument in my conscientious objector application, it would be automatically rejected, because it goes against the first tenet of the rules of objection.



The second thing on there is that you have to, you know, live the lifestyle. From what I’m reading, you know, in AR600-43, you have to live the lifestyle that supports your beliefs. I’m still trying to figure out exactly how that would work, because the way it’s written, I’m assuming that even if you, like, do things like, you know, play videogames or watch war movies, you know, anything that advocates war, that wouldn’t support your lifestyle, you know, of your beliefs. And it’s up to the soldier to prove that these beliefs are sincere. So it’s like next to impossible.



The other and most compelling reason is the case of Augustin Aguayo. At the same time that my unit was scheduled for the second deployment, Augustin Aguayo’s case was big in the media, particularly in the Stars and Stripes magazine. This guy was the most pacifist soldier I have ever seen, you know, and he applied for conscientious objector status. I mean, the guy had never even loaded his weapon in a war zone. And the way the military treated him and, you know, summarily rejected his application and saying that he wasn’t sincere about his beliefs and everything, and they wanted to put him in handcuffs to send him back to Iraq. And he ended up, you know, serving time, because he finally went AWOL, because normal channels of conscientious objection were closed to him, and there’s like no other alternative to not going to combat duty. So this told me right away that this was not the way to go in terms of solving this problem, because I knew that, one, the CO would be rejected, and two, that it would cause too many problems, not for myself, but also for the unit, as well, especially if word got out that this was going on.



For more Infor Go To Democracy Now.org

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Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., a group of antiwar activists held a shoe protest of their own on Wednesday. A group including CODEPINK members and antiwar veterans gathered in front of the White House. The demonstrators threw shoes at a man wearing a President Bush face mask and a jail uniform.



Iraq Protests Continue as Jailed Journalist Faces Charges for Shoe Incident

In other Iraq news, the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at President Bush will face charges of attacking a head of state. The journalist, Muntadar al-Zaidi, failed to appear at his Wednesday court hearing. Zaidi’s brother says he was too badly injured from abuse by Iraqi jailers to make it to court. Iraqis continue to support al-Zaidi in street protests. In Fallujah, US troops reportedly opened fire above the heads of a group of students rallying for Zaidi’s release. The students pelted the US troops with shoes and rocks. One protester was treated for gunshot wounds. In Baghdad, a resident said Bush should be put on trial, not Zaidi.



UN Halts Gaza Food Aid, Israeli Attack Kills Palestinian Civilian

In Israel and the Occupied Territories, the United Nations says the Israeli blockade has again forced it to suspend food aid to the Gaza Strip. The UN says “irregular border access” has prevented it from delivering wheat supplies. Meanwhile, a Palestinian civilian was killed and two others injured in an Israeli air strike on Gaza Wednesday. Israel says it was responding to Palestinian rocket fire.



Commanders Offer Obama Iraq Time Line Beyond Stated 16-Month Withdrawal Pledge

Top US military commanders have presented President-elect Obama with an Iraq withdrawal timetable that doesn’t match Obama’s campaign promise for a pullout within sixteen months. The plan, drafted by General David Petraeus and General Ray Odierno, would leave US combat troops in Iraq beyond Obama’s stated May 2010 deadline. Obama has said he intends to keep the sixteen-month pledge but would listen to his commanders’ advice. Whatever advice he takes, Obama’s plan would still leave tens of thousands of US troops behind in a so-called “support” role to the Iraqi army.



State Dept. IG: Iraq Could Ban Blackwater

The State Department Inspector General is warning the private military firm Blackwater Worldwide could lose its authorization to operate in Iraq next year. In a new report, the inspector general says there’s a “real possibility” the Iraqi government will deny Blackwater a license and ban it from the country. Five Blackwater guards were indicted earlier this month for the September 2007 massacre of seventeen Iraqi civilians in Baghdad.



Chrysler Extends Plant Closure to One Month

The struggling auto giant Chrysler has announced plans to close all thirty of its North American plants for one month. The company says workers will be able to supplement lost income through state unemployment and supplemental unemployment benefits. While all 46,000 unionized workers won’t see a paycheck, Chrysler will continue to pay top management. Chrysler engineer Dan Klein said he hopes to return to work.



For more Infor Go To Democracy Now.org

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US Accused of New Civilian Killings in Afghanistan

The US military is being accused of another deadly attack on innocent civilians in Afghanistan. Afghan officials say three family members were killed and another two wounded when US troops raided their home in the village of Kundi, near Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan. The soldiers fatally shot the family’s father and mother and a male relative. A four-year-old boy was bitten by a US military attack dog.



Pentagon Prepares to Shut Gitmo

The Pentagon has announced it’s preparing for an anticipated order to shut down the Guantanamo Bay prison after Obama takes office next month. Officials have begun drawing up contingency plans, should Obama uphold his campaign promise to close the prison. Anthony Romero of the American Civil Liberties Union said, “This is an important first step toward turning the page on eight years of shameful policies that allowed torture and violations of domestic and international law.”

Rwandan Sentenced to Life in Prison in Genocide Trial

A UN court has sentenced an alleged mastermind of the Rwandan genocide to life in prison. A tribunal judge read the verdict against Protais Zigiranyirazo on Thursday.

Unidentified UN Judge: “The chamber sentences you, Protais Zigiranyirazo, to twenty years imprisonment in relation to the conviction for genocide on Kesho Hill, to twenty years imprisonment in relation to the conviction for genocide for your activities in relation to the Kiyovo roadblock, and fifteen years imprisonment in relation to the conviction for extermination at Kesho Hill.”

The UN court on Rwanda is wrapping up its prosecutions this month. It will convene until 2010 to hear all appeals.

US Opposes UN Declaration Affirming Gay Rights

At the United Nations, the General Assembly has approved a historic measure supporting gay rights worldwide. On Thursday, sixty-six countries voted to approve a declaration calling for the decriminalization of homosexuality and guaranteeing equal rights for gays, lesbians and transgendered people. Most of the support came from Europe and Latin America. The Bush administration refused to support the measure, joining Russia, China, the Vatican and several Arab states. Maxime Verhagen, the Netherlands’ Minister of Foreign Affairs, criticized the US objection.

Maxime Verhagen: “What we say is that Universal Declaration of Human Rights means that they have also to be applied for homosexual, bisexual and transgender people. And we are not saying that people should behave like certain people behave. We don’t say that we should apply a certain lifestyle. What we say is you don’t use this as an excuse to discriminate against them, to violate their human rights or to penalize them. So I hope that also the US will be the next time one of the countries who will support this statement.”

The Bush administration says it opposed the measure, because it could have been interpreted to override state bans on gay marriage. The declaration is the first on gay rights to be read in the General Assembly.



For More Infor Go To Democracy Now.org

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Cheney Declares Right to Withhold Records

Vice President Dick Cheney is claiming he should have the sole authority to decide which of his records, if any, are handed over to the National Archives when he leaves office. The group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington is suing Cheney to ensure his records become public. The 1978 Presidential Records Act requires the President and Vice President to transfer their records upon leaving office. In a court filing, Cheney’s lawyers say he will choose which of his records are personal and which pertain to his vice-presidential duties.

Chicago Activist, Journalist Beauty Turner Dies at 51

In Chicago, the community activist and journalist Beauty Turner has died. She was fifty-one years old. Turner was a leading advocate for Chicago public housing residents and campaigner against police brutality.

Mark Felt, “Deep Throat” in Watergate Scandal, Dies at 95

And Mark Felt, the secret source known as “Deep Throat” in the Watergate scandal that toppled President Richard Nixon, has died at the age of ninety-five. As the number two man at the FBI, Felt helped reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein uncover a series of revelations that brought down the Nixon government. He publicly admitted his role as “Deep Throat” in 2005.bb



For More Infor Checkout Democracy Now .org

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Israel Threatens Attack on Gaza

Agence France-Presse reports Israel has launched a diplomatic campaign to gather international support for a major offensive on Hamas-ruled Gaza. In a letter to UN chief Ban Ki-moon, Israel’s envoy to the United Nations Gabriela Shalev said the Jewish state would respond to continuing rocket fire. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has ordered Israeli ambassadors around the world to emphasize that Israel “will not hesitate to react militarily if necessary” to protect its citizens. Livni, who is running for prime minister, said "Israel must topple the Hamas rule in Gaza and a government under my command will do just that.” The public relations effort came a day after Israel threatened a major offensive against Gaza. On Friday, Hamas said it would not renew a six-month truce with Israel.

Iran Closes Shirin Ebadi’s Human Rights Organization

The Iranian government has closed down the country’s main human rights organization, headed by Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi. The Center for the Defense of Human Rights in Tehran was shut down on Sunday hours before it was scheduled to hold a ceremony to commemorate the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The government accused the organization of carrying out illegal activities, such as publishing statements, writing letters to international organizations and holding news conferences.

Class Action Filed Against Pentagon over PTSD Treatment

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports a class-action suit has been filed against the Department of Defense, alleging that it illegally denied medical and disability benefits to Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. The lawsuit said the Army failed to follow its own rules when it denied the services and payments to the veterans.



For More Infor Go To Democracy Now.org

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GAZA CITY (Dec. 27) - Israeli warplanes retaliating for rocket fire from the Gaza Strip pounded dozens of security compounds across the Hamas-ruled territory in unprecedented waves of airstrikes Saturday, killing at least 155 and wounding more than 310 in the single bloodiest day of fighting in recent memory.

Hamas said all of its security installations were hit and responded with several medium-range Grad rockets at Israel, reaching deeper than in the past. One Israeli was killed and at least four people were wounded.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said "the operation will last as long as necessary," but it was not clear if it would be coupled with a ground offensive. Asked if Hamas political leaders might be targeted next, military spokeswoman Maj. Avital Leibovich said, "Any Hamas target is a target."

The strikes caused widespread panic and confusion in Gaza, as black clouds of smoke rose above the territory, ruled by Hamas for the past 18 months. Some of the Israeli missiles struck in densely populated areas as children were leaving school, and women rushed into the streets frantically looking for their children. Most of those killed were security men, but civilians were among the dead.

Said Masri sat in the middle of a Gaza City street, close to a security compound, alternately slapping his face and covering his head with dust from the bombed-out building.

"My son is gone, my son is gone," wailed Masri, 57. The shopkeeper said he sent his 9-year-old son out to purchase cigarettes minutes before the airstrikes began and now could not find him. "May I burn like the cigarettes, may Israel burn," Masri moaned.

In Gaza City's main security compound, bodies of more than a dozen uniformed security officers lay on the ground. One survivor raised his index finger in a show of Muslim faith, uttering a prayer. The Gaza police chief was among those killed. One man, his face bloodied, sat dazed on the ground as a fire raged nearby.

Later, some of the dead, rolled in blankets, were laid out on the floor of Gaza's main hospital for identification. Hamas police spokesman Ehad Ghussein said about 140 Hamas security forces were killed.

Defiant Hamas leaders threatened revenge, including suicide attacks. Hamas "will continue the resistance until the last drop of blood," vowed spokesman Fawzi Barhoum.



Israel told its civilians near Gaza to take cover as militants began retaliating with rockets, and in the West Bank, moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called for restraint. Egypt summoned the Israeli ambassador to express condemnation and opened its border with Gaza to allow ambulances to drive out some of the wounded.

Protests erupted in the Abbas-ruled West Bank and across the Arab world.

Several hundred angry Jordanians poured protested outside a U.N. complex in the capital Amman. "Hamas, go ahead. You are the cannon, we are the bullets," they cried, some waving the signature green Hamas banners.

In Beirut, dozens of youths hit the streets and set fire to tires. In Syria's al-Yarmouk camp, outside Damascus, dozens of Palestinians protested the attack as well, vowing to continue fighting Israel.

Israeli leaders approved military action against Gaza earlier in the week.

Past limited ground incursions and air strikes have not halted rocket barrages from Gaza.

But with 200 mortars and rockets raining down on Israel since the truce expired a week ago, and 3,000 since the beginning of the year, according to the military's count, pressure had been mounting in Israel for the military to crush the gunmen.

Earlier this month, Israeli security officials told the government that militants possess rockets with ranges capable of reaching farther from Gaza than ever before, including the cities of Beersheba and Ashdod.

Gaza militants fired several rockets Saturday, including one that struck a new target, the town of Kiryat Gat. A missile hit on the town of Netivot killed an Israeli man and wounded four people, rescue services said. In Ashkelon, TV cameras showed people huddle against a wall as a rocket alert sounded.

Barak, the Israeli defense minister, said that the coming period "won't be easy and won't be short for the communities in the south (of Israel).

Israel declared a state of emergency in Israeli communities within a 12-mile (20-kilometer) range of Gaza, putting the area on a war footing.

The first round of air strikes came just before noon, and several more waves followed.

Hospitals crowded with people, civilians rushing in wounded people in cars, vans and ambulances. "We are treating people on the floor, in the corridors. We have no more space. We don't know who is here and what the priority is to treat," said a doctor at Shifa Hospital, Gaza's main treatment center. He hung up the phone before identifying himself.

Dr. Moawiya Hassanain, a Gaza Health Ministry official, said at least 145 people were killed and more than 300 wounded.

Frantic civilians drove wounded people to hospitals in their cars.

In the West Bank, Hamas' rival, Abbas, said in a statement that he "condemns this aggression" and called for restraint, according to an aide, Nabil Abu Rdeneh. Abbas, who has ruled only the West Bank since the Islamic Hamas seized power in Gaza in June 2007, was in contact with Arab leaders, and his West Bank Cabinet convened an emergency session.

Israel has targeted Gaza in the past, but the number of simultaneous attacks was unprecedented.

Israel left Gaza in 2005 after a 38-year occupation, but the withdrawal did not lead to better relations with Palestinians in the territory as Israeli officials had hoped.

Instead, the evacuation was followed by a sharp rise in militant attacks on Israeli border communities that on several occasions provoked harsh Israeli military reprisals.

The last, in late February and early March, spurred both sides to agree to a truce that was to have lasted six months but began unraveling in early November. In recent days, Israeli leaders had been voicing strong threats to launch a major offensive.



AOL News

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Days After Calling Israeli Blockade of Gaza “A Crime Against Humanity,” UN Human Rights Investigator Richard Falk Detained, Expelled from Israel



The United Nations human rights chief Navi Pillay has accused Israel of “unprecedented and deeply regrettable” treatment of UN human rights investigator Richard Falk. Falk was deported from Israel Monday after being detained at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport for twenty hours. Falk’s detention and expulsion came days after he condemned Israel’s blockade of Gaza as a “flagrant and massive violation of international humanitarian law” and “Crime Against Humanity.” We speak to Falk about his detention and expulsion from Israel

Richard Falk, UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian Territories. He is professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University and the author of more than fifty books on war, human rights and international law, including Achieving Human Rights; Crimes of War: Iraq, with Irene Gendzier; and Israel-Palestine on Record: How the New York Times Misreports Conflict in the Middle East, with Howard Friel.

AMY GOODMAN: The United Nations human rights chief Navi Pillay accused Israel Tuesday of “unprecedented and deeply regrettable” treatment of UN human rights investigator Richard Falk. Falk was deported from Israel Monday after being detained at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport for twenty hours. He was appointed the special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories earlier this year but was denied entry because of what Israel called his “highly politicized views.”



Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson Yigal Palmor said Falk “does not try to advance human rights, but instead comes with his conclusions ready and those conclusions are of course extreme methodic criticism of Israel and only of Israel,” he said. Israel’s Foreign Ministry also accused Falk of “legitimizing Hamas terrorism and drawing shameful comparisons to the Holocaust.”



The professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University, Richard Falk, issued a statement last week titled “Gaza: Silence is not an option” that condemned Israel’s blockade of Gaza as a “flagrant and massive violation of international humanitarian law.” He urged the UN to invoke “the agreed norm of a responsibility to protect a civilian population being collectively punished by policies that amount to a Crime Against Humanity." Falk also called for an International Criminal Court investigation of Israeli military and civilian officials for potential prosecution.



Richard Falk is now back at home in California. He joins me now on the telephone.



Welcome to Democracy Now!, Professor Falk. Talk about what happened. When did you try to get into Israel and Gaza?



RICHARD FALK: Amy, it was about three days ago, and I came with a security person and an assistant from Geneva. They had received visas ensuring them entry, which were honored when we arrived at Ben Gurion Airport, and because they received visas and knew that I was coming, we assumed there’d be no problem with my entry, because they had ample indication—in fact, formal notification—of my itinerary. So it remains strange why they didn’t either inform Geneva, where the Human Rights Council and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights is located, or just deny them visas, which would have been a signal of their intention. So, somehow or other, it appears that they wanted this incident to occur.



And when I arrived, they questioned me first in the passport area and then led me, after long delays, from one place to another until the representative of the Ministry of Interior denied me entry and placed me in this detention facility prior to being expelled on the plane that took me back here to California.



AMY GOODMAN: And in that twenty-hour period, were they questioning you?



RICHARD FALK: No, they didn’t—oddly, again, they didn’t seem particularly interested in either exploring my views or objecting to them or doing anything substantive. They just put me in this detention facility, which is located, I think, on the periphery of the airport area and is a very coercive little experience, because I was in with five other people in a tiny room where there was barely space to stand, and it was—we were locked in this room and treated not terribly, but unpleasantly. I would put it that way. The others were there for technical infractions of immigration law of one reason or another, and most of them were waiting for lawyers. Actually, we had good camaraderie, so that was one of the sort of pleasant aspects of a generally unpleasant experience.



AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about what your plan was in getting into Gaza and your response to the Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Yigal Palmor, saying that you don’t “try to advance human rights, but instead comes with his conclusions ready and those conclusions are of course extreme methodic criticism of Israel and only of Israel" and the Israel Foreign Ministry also accusing you of “legitimizing Hamas terrorism and drawing shameful comparisons to the Holocaust.”

[Daniyal]

RICHARD FALK: Well, I think they’re all, first of all, distortions of my real views and, secondly, part of a much wider and what I would regard as insidious pattern of trying to shift the attention from their objections to the person, rather than their argument with the facts that are the basis of mine or other people’s assessment of the situation. I think I could stand very well behind the views that are contained in my report and would gladly engage in any kind of discussion of those views. But Israel has been pursuing what I call a politics of opaqueness, trying to make the realities of the occupation as obscure as possible and as speculative as possible. They’ve kept those who are knowledgeable inside Gaza from leaving to attend international conferences—Raji Sourani, for instance, the head of the Human Rights Centre, who had previously been allowed to attend international conferences and is a distinguished recipient of the Kennedy Center’s Human Rights Award. So they’ve tried to keep people in who know something about the reality of the occupation and then try to keep people out, such as myself, who could report credibly on what is happening inside, and shifting that argument then to my qualifications.



Let me come to these issues that you appropriately raised. First of all, I never compared the reality of what is going on in Gaza to the Holocaust. What I did say was that the kinds of collective punishment that are being imposed on the entire people of Gaza have a resemblance to collective punishment that was imposed by the Nazis in Germany and that if this kind of circumstance is allowed to persist, it could produce a holocaust. I never suggested that what was happening was a holocaust. Same thing with the existence of crimes against humanity. I merely tried to characterize the facts as I understood them to involve this kind of massive collective punishment of every man, woman and child, regardless of their activities, as being victimized by a set of policies summarized as a siege or blockade, where some of the effects are now very well established, such as 46 percent of Gazan children are suffering from acute anemia. Very stark reality. More than 80 percent are living under the level of poverty.



So I return to the main point. I think that my whole life has been devoted, I think, to trying to tell the truth about facts that are often unpleasant, unpleasant for me to address. I really have sought, in relation to the Israel-Palestine conflict, peace and justice for both peoples and have always had that view that it was possible, desirable and necessary. And that’s the basis on which I’ve acted throughout this period as special rapporteur for the UN.



AMY GOODMAN: Professor Falk, the New York Times had a piece called “UN Rights Investigator Expelled by Israel,” not exactly what I would call sympathetic to you. I just wanted to read one quote from that article. It says, Richard Falk “has compared Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians to Nazi atrocities and has called for more serious examination of the conspiracy theories surrounding the Sept. 11 attacks. Pointing to discrepancies between the official version of events and other versions, he recently wrote that ‘only willful ignorance can maintain that the 9/11 narrative should be treated as a closed book.’” Your response?

[Daniyal]

Israeli warplanes and helicopters have attacked the Gaza Strip for a third day in a row. More than 310 Palestinians have been killed since Saturday, and 1,400 have been wounded. Saturday was the deadliest day in Gaza since Israel’s occupation of the territory in 1967. Israel’s defense minister Ehud Barak said today that Israel was in an "all-out war against Hamas.” Israel has bombed every major town in Gaza, including Gaza City, Khan Younis and Rafah, and is now threatening to launch a ground invasion as Israeli troops and tanks move to the border. On Sunday, the Israeli cabinet called up 6,500 reserve forces. Overnight, Israeli warplanes bombed Gaza’s Interior Ministry and the Islamic University in Gaza City. A separate Israeli bombing killed four young Palestinian girls from the same family. Palestinian officials say at least twenty-two children have been killed and more than 235 children have been wounded since Saturday.

Israel: International Community Should Condemn Hamas

Israel says the attacks are necessary in order to stop Hamas from firing rockets into southern Israel. Earlier today, one Israeli died after a Palestinian missile hit the town of Ashkelon. Fourteen Israelis were wounded in the missile strike. The Israeli fatality is the second since the air strikes began Saturday. On Sunday, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Hamas should be condemned by the international community for firing rockets into Israel.

Tzipi Livni: “Excuse me, I cannot accept something like we call both sides to halt the violence or to stop the military actions. There is no ‘both sides’ in this. There is one designated terrorist organization which controls Gaza Strip, which spreads its agenda of hatred, that cannot accept our right to live.”

Hamas Accuses Israel of Causing a Holocaust

Hamas spokesperson Fawzi Barhoum accused the Israeli government of carrying out a holocaust of the Palestinian people.

Fawzi Barhoum: "Today is a holocaust and a massacre day that Livni had internationally and regionally campaigned for so she can commit to this holocaust and this massacre. This is a public massacre for our Palestinian people in Gaza. All the casualties and dead are policemen, women, children, elderly and civilians.”

On Saturday, the exiled political leader of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, called for a Third Intifada, or uprising, against Israeli forces. Hospital officials in Gaza say they are overwhelmed with the number of casualties. Hospitals have been unable to get needed medical supplies into Gaza for more than a year because of the Israeli blockade.

UN Calls for “Immediate Halt to All Violence"

Protests against the Israeli attacks have been held throughout the Arab world, Europe and the United States. The United Nations Security Council Sunday issued a non-binding statement calling for “an immediate halt to all violence” in the Gaza Strip and for Israel to open the border crossings for aid supplies.

Neven Jurica, UN Security Council president: “The members of the Council called for all parties to address the serious humanitarian and economic needs in Gaza and to take necessary measures, including opening all border crossings to ensure the continuous provision of humanitarian supplies, including supplies for food, fuel and provision of medical treatment.”

[Daniyal]

Here in the United States, Republican and Democratic leaders voiced support for Israel’s actions. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, “When Israel is attacked, the United States must continue to stand strongly with its friend and democratic ally." A White House spokesperson said, “These people are nothing but thugs. Israel is going to defend its people against terrorists like Hamas.” The Jerusalem Post reports the Israeli Air Force has been using a new US-made bunker buster missile in its attack on Gaza. Earlier this year, Congress allowed the Bush administration to sell 1,000 of the GBU-39 bunker buster bombs to Israel.



For More Infor Go To Democracy Now .org

[Daniyal]

The death toll in Gaza has reached at least 375 as Israel’s attack on Gaza has entered its fourth day. More than 1,600 Palestinians have been wounded and hospitals are running out of medicines and other products needed to treat them.

Israel Vows to Wage “War to the Bitter End”

On Monday, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Israel is in a “war to the bitter end against Hamas and its kind.” Israel has rejected calls for a ceasefire, and Israeli troops and tanks continue to mass on the border of Gaza preparing for a possible ground invasion. Israel has declared the area around the Gaza border a closed military zone, ordering out journalists.

UN: 64 Palestinian Civilians Killed

Earlier today, Israeli warplanes dropped at least sixteen bombs on five government buildings in Gaza, destroying them and starting several fires. An Israeli air strike in northern Gaza killed two Palestinian sisters, aged four and eleven. The girls were killed when they left their house to dump the family’s garbage. On Monday, an Israeli air strike destroyed a home in the Jabalya refugee camp, killing five sisters. The five girls were between four and seventeen years old. In another incident, eight Palestinian students, ages eighteen to twenty, were killed while waiting for a UN bus to take them home. The United Nations said at least sixty-four Palestinian civilians have died since Saturday.

Four Israelis Killed in Palestinian Rocket Attacks

The Israeli attacks have not prevented Palestinian militants from firing rockets into southern Israel. On Monday, Palestinians fired at least seventy rockets, killing two Israeli civilians and a soldier. The dead included an Israeli woman in the town of Ashdod who was killed from shrapnel wounds while taking cover from incoming rockets at a bus stop. The Israeli death toll since Saturday now stands at four.

Israeli President Shimon Peres: “The situation is simple. Some of the Gazan people are saying ‘why doesn’t Israel respect the ceasefire?’ One may think that Israel started the fire. It didn’t start the fire. It’s not a symmetric fire. If the people in Gaza want to live in peace, if the people in Gaza want to enjoy free passages, there is a simple thing they have and can do: stop shooting.”

Ban Ki-Moon Accuses Israel of Using Excessive Force

At the United Nations, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon harshly criticized both Israel and Hamas. He condemned what he called Israel’s “excessive” use of force in Gaza.

Ban Ki-moon: “All this must stop. Both Israel and Hamas must halt their acts of violence and take all necessary measures to avoid civilian casualties. A ceasefire must be declared immediately. They must also curb their inflammatory rhetoric. Only then can dialog start.”

Israel Rams Activist Boat Carrying Aid to Gaza

Meanwhile, the Free Gaza Movement said one of its boats, the Dignity, was rammed by Israeli gunboats in international waters. Activists with the Free Gaza Movement are attempting to sail to Gaza with over three tons of medical supplies requested by Palestinian doctors. Passengers include former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney.

Cynthia McKinney: “There is a need for the medical supplies that are on this boat. There is a need for international attention. And perhaps most importantly, there is need for the people in the United States to understand that every piece of rubble that is there in that strip of land is caused by US weapons and the insistence on administration after administration of transferring weapons of mass destruction to parts of the world, and those weapons are then used to hurt and kill people.”

Kucinich Calls on UN to Investigate Israeli Attack

On Capitol Hill, Democratic Congressman Dennis Kucinich has called on the United Nations to establish an independent inquiry of Israel’s war against Gaza. In a letter to Ban Ki-moon, Kucinich wrote, “The attacks on civilians represent collective punishment, which is a violation of Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. The perpetrators of attacks against Israel must also be brought to justice, but Israel cannot create a war against an entire people in order to attempt to bring to justice the few who are responsible.” Protests against the Israeli attack have been held across the globe. In Lebanon, tens of thousand of Hezbollah supporters rallied in Beirut to condemn Israel. In Egypt, thousands of demonstrators denounced Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak for not helping the Palestinians in Gaza. In Amman, Jordan, protesters burned the American and Israeli flags. Here in this country,three women with the Atlantic Life Community were arrested outside the Israeli embassy in Washington on Monday. The women were arrested after they approached the gate of the embassy holding signs reading “Peace. Stop the killing” and “Stop the war on the children.”

Molotov Cocktail Thrown at Synagogue in Chicago

Chicago police are investigating an attack on one of the city’s oldest synagogues. A Molotov cocktail was thrown against the wall of Temple Sholom on Monday. The incident caused minimal damage, and no one was injured.

For More Infor Go To Democracy Now .org

[Daniyal]

By Amy Goodman

The global financial crisis deepens, with more than 10 million in the U.S. out of work, according to the Department of Labor. Unemployment hit 6.7 percent in November. Add the 7.3 million “involuntary part-time workers,” who want to work full time but can’t find such a job. Jobless claims have reached a 26-year high, while 30 states reportedly face potential shortfalls in their unemployment-insurance pools. The stunning failure of regulators like the Securities and Exchange Commission was again highlighted, as former NASDAQ head Bernard Madoff (you got it, pronounced “made off") was arrested for allegedly running the world’s largest criminal pyramid scheme, with losses expected to be $50 billion, dwarfing those from the Enron scandal. The picture is grim—unless, that is, you are a corporate executive.

The $700-billion financial bailout package, TARP (Troubled Assets Relief Program), was supposed to mandate the elimination of exorbitant executive compensation and “golden parachutes.” As U.S. taxpayers pony up their hard-earned dollars, highflying executives and corporate boards are now considering whether to give themselves multimillion-dollar bonuses.

According to The Washington Post, the specific language in the TARP law that forbade such payouts was changed at the last minute, with a small but significant one-sentence edit made by the Bush administration. The Post reported, “The change stipulated that the penalty would apply only to firms that received bailout funds by selling troubled assets to the government in an auction.”

Read the fine print. Of the TARP bailout funds to be disbursed, only those that were technically spent “in an auction” would carry limits on executive pay. But Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and his former Goldman Sachs colleague Neel Kashkari (yes, pronounced “cash carry"), who is running the program, aren’t inclined to spend the funds in auctions. They prefer their Capital Purchase Program, handing over cash directly. Recall Paulson’s curriculum vitae: He began as a special assistant to John Ehrlichman in the Nixon White House and then went on to work for a quarter-century at Goldman Sachs, one of the largest recipients of bailout funds and chief competitor to Lehman Brothers, the firm that Paulson let fail.

The Government Accountability Office issued a report on TARP Dec. 10, expressing concerns about the lack of oversight of the companies receiving bailout funds. The report states that “without a strong oversight and monitoring function, Treasury’s ability to ensure an appropriate level of accountability and transparency will be limited.” The nonprofit news organization ProPublica has been tracking the bailout program, reporting details that remain shrouded by the Treasury Department. As of Tuesday, 202 institutions had obtained bailout funds totaling close to $250 billion.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said recently, “The Treasury Department’s implementation of the TARP is insufficiently transparent and is not accountable to American taxpayers.” Barney Frank, D-Mass., chair of the House Financial Services Committee, said earlier, “Use of these funds … for bonuses, for severance pay, for dividends, for acquisitions of other institutions, etc. … is a violation of the terms of the act.”

Republican Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa said of the loophole, “The flimsy executive-compensation restrictions in the original bill are now all but gone.” Put aside for the moment that these three all voted for the legislation. The law clearly needs to be corrected before additional funds are granted.

The sums these titans of Wall Street are walking away with are staggering. In their annual “Executive Excess” report, the groups United for a Fair Economy and the Institute for Policy Studies reported 2007 compensation for Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs (Paulson’s replacement), at $54 million and that of John Thain, CEO of Merrill Lynch, at a whopping $83 million. Merrill has since been sold to Bank of America, after losing more than $11 billion this year—yet Thain still wants a $10-million bonus.

Paulson, Kashkari and their boss, President George W. Bush, might not be the best people to spend the next $350-billion tranche of U.S. taxpayer money, with just weeks to go before the new Congress convenes Jan. 6 and Barack Obama assumes the presidency Jan. 20. As Watergate leaker Deep Throat was said to have told Bob Woodward, back when Paulson was just starting out, “Follow the money.” The U.S. populace, its representatives in Congress and the new Obama administration need to follow the money, close the executive-pay loophole and demand accountability from the banks that the public has bailed out.



For More Infor Go To Democracy Now .org

[Daniyal]

Israeli Attacks Kill Over 310 in Gaza in One of Israel’s Bloodiest Attacks on Palestinians Since 1948



Dr. Moussa El-Haddad, retired physician in Gaza City. His daughter Laila El-Haddad is a journalist who writes the popular blog ‘Raising Yousef’

Fida Qishta, Freelance journalist and Gaza Strip Coordinator for the International Solidarity Movement

Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, independent Palestinian lawmaker and democracy activist

Gideon Levy, journalist with the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz

Ali Abunimah, author of One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse and co-founder of The Electronic Intifada. His latest piece is called ‘We Have No Words Left’ published today in London’s Guardian newspaper.

JUAN GONZALEZ: Amidst worldwide protests, Israel is continuing its bombing campaign against Gaza for the third consecutive day and preparing to launch a possible ground invasion. After months of a crippling blockade, this has been described as one of Israel’s bloodiest attacks on Palestinians since 1948.



Latest reports indicate that a total of 310 people have been killed and 1,400 injured in the aerial strikes across the Gaza Strip since Saturday morning. The latest targets of the air strikes include the Hamas Interior Ministry building and the Islamic University. Five people in a single family were killed in a strike Sunday night on Jabalya. This is a surviving family member, Iman Baloushi.



IMAN BALOUSHI: Seven of us were sleeping when, all of a sudden, the walls came tumbling in on us. They were screaming. I told them all to call for martyrdom, because we were going to die tonight.



JUAN GONZALEZ: Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak announced today that Israel is in a, quote, “all-out war with Hamas and its proxies” in Gaza. Fears of a ground invasion are growing after Israel declared a military buffer zone around Gaza, closing off the Strip and its 1.5 million residents to journalists and civilians. The Israeli cabinet authorized a calling up of 6,500 reserve soldiers Sunday. Israeli prime minister spokesperson Mark Regev said the military campaign would continue until there was "quiet in the south,” referring to the rockets launched from Gaza into southern Israel.



MARK REGEV: Our initial strikes against the Hamas military machine have been successful, but we have no doubt that the Hamas military machine in Gaza remains both formidable and lethal. This campaign will continue, and we have to prepare for different contingencies. Obviously, the final goal remains achieving peace and quiet in the south.



AMY GOODMAN: Al Jazeera is now reporting 318 Palestinians have been killed. Two Israelis have been killed by rockets from Gaza since Saturday. Hamas’s political leader, Khaled Meshaal, vowed that rocket attacks would continue and suicide missions against Israel would resume in an interview broadcast on Al Jazeera Saturday. The exiled leader in Damascus called on Palestinians to unite and rise up in a Third Intifada.



KHALED MESHAAL: This is a historical moment. We worked shoulder to shoulder during the First Intifada and the Second Intifada. Despite the political differences between us, today what is needed is for us to work together in the upcoming intifada and our coming resistance, not only in Gaza, but also in the West Bank.



AMY GOODMAN: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, however, blamed Hamas Sunday for triggering the Israeli assault.



PRESIDENT MAHMOUD ABBAS: I want to say very clearly that, yes, we talked to Hamas and the leaders of Hamas in Gaza, and we spoke to them clearly and honestly, directly and indirectly, and through many parties, Arab and non-Arab. So we were in touch with them. Now it’s not important what problems existed between us. We called them and told them, “Please, we ask you, do not end the truce. Let the truce continue and not stop,” so that we could have avoided what happened. And I wished it had been avoided.



AMY GOODMAN: We’re joined by a number of people right now for our discussion. In Jacksonville, Florida, we’re joined by Ali Abunimah. He is founder of Electronic Intifada, author of One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse. His latest piece, “We Have No Words Left,” was published in London’s Guardian newspaper.



We’re also joined from Gaza by—well, from Gaza City by Dr. Moussa El-Haddad. He’s a retired physician. His daughter Laila El-Haddad is a journalist who writes the popular blog “Raising Yusuf.



Dr. Moussa El-Haddad, we welcome you to Democracy Now! Can you describe where you are and what the situation is like right now?



DR. MOUSSA EL-HADDAD: Well, I am in the middle of Gaza City, in the heart of Gaza City, and the situation is indescribable. If this is not a holocaust, I don’t know what holocaust is. According to the news, they say almost 318 people are dead. The majority of those are civilians. At least 300 of them are civilians. And they say about 1,500 are injured, but a lot of them are seriously injured. The hospitals lack a lot of the necessary staff, instruments, even gauze and medicines, and everything is lacking. Physicians and nursing staff are working around the clock. People cannot find a place in the hospitals for treatment, injuries. And I am sure there will be a lot more of the dead under the rubbles of those buildings that were attacked and demolished.



Every now and then, we hear a rocket attack or two. So, there are warplanes in the sky flying all over the time. As I speak to you now, I can hear them up in the sky, the pilotless jets and the warplanes, F-16s and God knows what. The warships in the sea are also attacking from the sea. And attacking who? Hamas? They are not attacking Hamas; they are attacking the people, the civilians. The civilians—I mean, I’m looking at the street right now, the main street of Gaza, Omar al-Mukhtar, and hardly you can see anyone walking there, because every single person is afraid.



As you mentioned, last night, a family, five people, a woman and her four children, were killed when they were in their house. Three and—I don’t know, three or four mosques were demolished. These are praying areas. These are mosques. So I don’t know—nobody is safe. No place is safe. All the buildings that were attacked, they are not military buildings. Even in the initial day, on Saturday, the first 150 people, they were civil servants. They were not striking attackers. They were civil servants, civilians. I don’t know. I—



JUAN GONZALEZ: And, Dr. Moussa El-Haddad, I’d like to ask you also about the—there have been reports that the Israelis were trying to block television signals. What’s the situation with the electricity, the ability of the people to at least get some information and communicate with each other?

[Daniyal]

DR. MOUSSA EL-HADDAD: Well, as I speak to you know, I have no electricity in my house. I have a generator that I can open or let work for like two or three hours every now and then to let the internet work and watch TV. We have electricity like three or four hours a day. We have no cooking gas. I mean, I’m talking about the people. Maybe I have a little left in my house. But people don’t have electricity about 75 percent of the time, no cooking gas, no gas for the cars. So fuel is also lacking. And the only source of, like, food and fuel lately was through Egypt, through those tunnels, and these were attacked last night. At least forty tunnels were demolished last night.



I don’t know. This is—can you tell me if any of this is against Hamas? There’s nothing against Hamas. This is a clear-cut genocide and holocaust against civilians, civilians who are helpless. They don’t have warplanes. They don’t have warships. They don’t—even the rockets that they talk about are homemade. And I just—I cannot—and I really lost the words, because the situation is so bad. And we are in the twenty-first century. We are not in tenth or fifteenth century. Everybody in the world can see and hear. But who acts? Who is doing anything? Now, they say the killer and the killed are the same. They are putting Israel, with all its military power, [inaudible] level like Hamas and people of Gaza.



AMY GOODMAN: Dr. Moussa El-Haddad, we’re also joined by Fida Qishta, who is a freelance journalist living in Rafah and the Gaza Strip Coordinator for the International Solidarity Movement. Welcome to Democracy Now!, Fida Qishta. Describe what is happening in Rafah.



FIDA QISHTA: Well, at this moment, everything is calm, but yesterday was a massive attack to Rafah’s border. They attacked the border area with more than eleven rockets by the F-16, and it was the only source for the Gazans to stay survivors, by the food and the medicines, anything that they could bring through the tunnels. But now, the only way for the Gazans to stay survive is destroyed.



And yesterday morning, they attacked a pharmacy in Rafah near my house. It’s just fifty meters away from my house. And they [inaudible] other normal buildings in Rafah, too, which just include families and civilians. I don’t know what is the reason for doing that. As Dr. Moussa said, they’re attacking civilians. And it’s true that the Israelis say that they attack—their attack is really, really massive, and it’s really unbelievable that we can see in our eyes what’s happening. It’s too much. The hospitals—and even in Rafah, the biggest hospital, Abu Yusuf Al-Najjar, cannot afford to have more than twenty injured. And they moved the injured to Gaza City. And most of the people stay at home. Everything is closed. It’s like a war. Nobody goes out.



JUAN GONZALEZ: Fida Qishta, I’d like to ask you about the role of Egypt. There have been reports that the Egyptians along the border have prevented Palestinians from trying to escape the violence. Could you talk about that or what you have—the reports you have heard there?



FIDA QISHTA: Well, when we heard the attack to the border, me and some friends from the ISM went there to observe in our eyes what’s going on. And when we went there, we saw the Palestinians. Palestinians didn’t try to escape. The Palestinians tried to show their anger to the Egyptian soldiers, why they didn’t open just part of these borders or the crossings to let the injured go out of Gaza to have treatment in Egypt. This is what the Palestinians tried to do. They didn’t try to escape to Egypt. This is a false information. People went to the border with Egypt after the attacks by the F-16s happened, and they tried to show their anger for the Egyptian soldiers to let them—just let the injured go to Egypt for treatment. They didn’t try to escape.



AMY GOODMAN: We’re going to go to break, then come back to this conversation. We’ll also be joined by Gideon Levy in Tel Aviv. He’s with Ha’aretz. And Mustafa Barghouti, he’s in Ramallah. Ali Abunimah is also with us from Florida. He’s the founder of Electronic Intifada. Then we’ll hear an excerpt of the Nobel Prize acceptance speech of Harold Pinter, who died last week. This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org. Our guests on the phone, Fida Qishta, freelance journalist in Rafah; Dr. Moussa El-Haddad. He’s a retired physician, speaking to us from Gaza City. Stay with us.



[break]



AMY GOODMAN: We’re speaking with guests in Rafah, in Gaza City. Now we go to Tel Aviv with the Ha’aretz journalist Gideon Levy. He’s on the phone with us. His latest piece is called “The Neighborhood Bully Strikes Again.”



Welcome to Democracy Now!. As you listen to Dr. Moussa El-Haddad, Fida Qishta, speaking to us from Rafah, your thoughts in Tel Aviv and the response of the Israeli population to what’s happening right now?



GIDEON LEVY: First of all, I feel horrible as an Israeli when I hear all those reports, when I watch all those horrible pictures. But unlike me, I am afraid that most of the Israelis are quite indifferent. They think that there was a legitimate reason. The attacks on the southern part of Israel was a legitimate reason. Israel has the right to do everything. Unlike them, I think that Israel crossed any line of humanity or morality or even legality. And I think what Israel is doing right now there is horrible and has no justification.



JUAN GONZALEZ: Do you think that there may be some decision by the Israeli government to act now, just as the Bush administration is leaving office and Barack Obama will be sworn in on January 20th, that there’s a feeling maybe that the US government at this point will not react in any negative way to this kind of action?



GIDEON LEVY: Look, you can find all kind of justifications about the timing. There are also elections coming, elections in Israel, soon. But I must remind you that Israel went through a very similar war two years ago, a little bit more than two years ago, two-and-a-half years ago, when there were no elections and President Bush was still in power and there was no elections in the United States and not here. So, I mean, the second Lebanese war. I wouldn’t count—I mean, the situation is much more complex than this. There are [inaudible] calculations, but I don’t think that’s the main thing. The main thing is that Israel is reacting, overreacting with overpower to a situation which has to have a solution, but not this kind of solution.

[Daniyal]

AMY GOODMAN: And how do you think, Gideon Levy, that this relates to the February 10th elections? Explain who is running and how this plays into this, the bombing of Gaza.



GIDEON LEVY: You mean in the domestic Israeli politics?



AMY GOODMAN: Yes, with Tzipi Livny, with Ehud Barak, with Benjamin Netanyahu.



GIDEON LEVY: There was a poll published yesterday in Israel which showed that, within two days, Labor had gained 50 percent more in the poll, namely because Ehud Barak, he’s the man who is mostly identified with this operation. He’s the Minister of Defense, as you know. So he might gain—his party might gain out of it, but I wouldn’t go so far and think that he did it only for the elections. It was in the back of his mind. If he gains so Netanyahu loses, and maybe Kadima remains in the same place or gains also a little bit, but it’s too early to judge, because we don’t know how will it end. You know, all those operations [inaudible] in a very successful way, but then you don’t know how will they end.



AMY GOODMAN: We’re also joined in Ramallah by Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, independent Palestinian lawmaker, democracy activist. Your response from the West Bank right now, which isn’t under siege, to say the least, in the same way as Gaza, Dr. Barghouti?



DR. MUSTAFA BARGHOUTI: We are not under siege, but we are under Israeli attack, as well. The Israeli army attacked civilian nonviolent demonstrators yesterday in Nil’in and killed one person and injured three very seriously. Another young boy was killed in another village in [inaudible]. Three people have been killed already in the West Bank, and the number is rising.



But let me say that what Israel is doing in Gaza is not an act of self-defense, as it is claiming. It’s not an attack on Hamas. It is an attack on the whole Palestinian population. What we see is a war crime, a bloodbath, unprecedented since 1967. What we have had so far is 318 people killed, including thirty children, and at least 1,400 people injured, including 150 children and forty women. I was shocked deeply today over the fact that yesterday the Israeli planes destroyed a house in Jabalya camp and killed five girls, five sisters from one family, and injured their mother seriously and critically. This is a bloodbath that should stop immediately.



Israel is claiming that it is attacking Hamas, but in fact it is attacking all the Palestinians. It is attacking the whole infrastructure. They have destroyed a university. They have destroyed five mosques. They have attacked the hospital. They are shooting and destroying everywhere. And it seems imminent that there will be even a land invasion which could destroy and kill and take away thousands of lives. This is very dangerous. And Israel would not have gone so far if it wasn’t for the compliance and the silence of the international community.



One very important point here, I must clarify that it was not the Palestinians or Hamas that broke the ceasefire; Israel was the one that broke the ceasefire since two months. They started operations and attacks here and there, trying to provoke a reaction, ’til there was a reaction, and then they claim that it was the Palestinians who broke the ceasefire.



Also, I want to clarify that Gaza Strip is the highest densely populated area in the world, with almost 4,150 people in each square kilometer. When you start bombing the place with bombs that are one to two tons heavy, then you’re determined to kill people and kill civilians and innocent people. I’ve just heard Tzipi Livni, the Foreign Minister of Israel, saying that Palestinians should go away from Hamas and Gaza. Where should they go away? In which place? Where? Which place they can go to, when Israel is putting Gaza for two years under total blockade, by sea, by air, by land. Israel has been claiming that it has withdrawn from Gaza. Israel never ended its occupation of Gaza. It maintains the occupying of the airspace, the sea around Gaza and the land around Gaza. And it was preventing people from getting medical aid and equipment and fuel and electricity. I was just talking to our people in Gaza and asked them, “What is your situation?” They told me they don’t have bread. Even bread is unavailable in Gaza. And now Israel is bombarding it in this horrible and unacceptable way.



I think the world community must see the reality. This is an unprecedented bloodbath that the Israeli generals are using—and politicians are using for their political campaigning in their elections. For one more time, they’re using Palestinian blood for their election campaigns. I’m so sorry that even some left parties in Israel are supporting such an aggression. They all claim that this is about missiles. But let me ask a very simple question: How many Israelis were killed during the last six months by missiles? Almost none. The only two Israelis that were killed so far were killed after this operation.



Will this bring peace? It will not bring peace. Will this bring security? On the contrary, it is bringing back the intifada of the West Bank. It is creating terrible feelings all over the occupied and Palestinian territories, and this must be stopped. And if it wasn’t for the compliance of this terrible American administration, Bush administration, who seems to insist to have a very dark reputation before he leaves his office, if it wasn’t for that support and compliance, Israel would not have dared to go so far in punishing innocent victims and in creating this terrible disaster in Gaza Strip.

[Daniyal]

AMY GOODMAN: Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, what about the issue of the complicity or the silence of other Arab governments and also of the Palestinian Authority now also criticizing Hamas?



DR. MUSTAFA BARGHOUTI: Well, I think the Palestinian Authority is finding itself in a very difficult position. One of the main reasons of this operation is to weaken Abbas so badly that I don’t think he will be able to speak on behalf of Palestinians anymore. Even Abbas is now under terrible pressure to stop all negotiations with Israel, to stop all forms of security coordination with Israel, because, at the end of the day, he was elected by the Palestinians and not the right-wing extremists in Israel. And I think he has just called for a general meeting with all parties, including Hamas, and they have. This is something that never happened during the last year and a half. And I believe that the intention now among Palestinians is to find a way of regaining their unity in front of this grave, inhuman and unacceptable bloodbath.



AMY GOODMAN: I want to bring in Ali Abunimah, who is in Jacksonville, Florida, though usually based in Chicago, founder of the Electronic Intifada. Your comments on the situation, on Mahmoud Abbas, for example, saying that it was Hamas that brought this on?



ALI ABUNIMAH: I want to say, Amy, first of all, that we have to go back to the Warsaw Ghetto or Guernica to find crimes in the modern era of the scale of the viciousness and of the deliberateness of what Israel is committing with the full support of the United States, not just the Bush administration, but apparently as well the incoming Obama administration. We have to recognize the complicity not just of the so-called international community, but also of the Arab regimes, Egypt, President Hosni Mubarak, the Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit of Egypt. Tzipi Livni, when she issued her threats against Gaza, was in Cairo in the biggest Arab capital, and Aboul Gheit stood next to her silently.



Mahmoud Abbas is not a bystander, the so-called president of the Palestinian Authority. For two years since the elections, which Hamas won, he and his coterie have been collaborating with Israel and the United States, first to overthrow the election result and then to besiege Gaza. We have talked before of the Palestinian Contras, funded and armed by the United States, which sought to overthrow Hamas in June 2007 and had the tables turned on them. And now this. The complicity of Mahmoud Abbas is very clear and must be clearly stated. He does not have the authority, moral or otherwise, to call together the Palestinian people for anything. He has gone over to the other side. He has joined the Israeli war against the Palestinian people, and I choose my words very carefully.



And let me say this, as well, Amy, that Israel is trying to produce and promote the fiction that it is engaged in a war with a so-called enemy entity. What Israel is doing is massacring a captive population. You heard—you said in the headlines how Nancy Pelosi, our so-called progressive, liberal, antiwar Speaker of the House, gave her full support to these crimes. Obama has done the same through a spokesman. And that will not change. The United Nations issued a weak statement aimed at covering the backsides, let me say, of those who issued it, not aimed at changing the situation.



What are Palestinians calling for today? Yesterday, the Palestinian National Committee for the Campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions reissued and reaffirmed its call on all international civil society in the United States, in North America, in Europe, everywhere, to redouble the efforts for boycott, divestment and sanctions modeled on the anti-apartheid movement. This is necessary. This is moral. This is the nonviolent resistance we can all participate in. And it is more urgent than ever. Let’s not look back at these crimes like we look at the Warsaw Ghetto and like we look at Guernica and we look at the other atrocities of the twentieth century and say, “We had the chance to act, but we chose silence and complicity.” The time to stop this is now.



And we also have to be clear that those who are accountable—Ehud Barak, his orders over the past few months to withhold insulin, chemotherapy drugs, dialysis supplies, all forms of medicine from the people of Gaza, were just as lethal and just as murderous as the orders to send in the bombers and warplanes to attack mosques, to attack universities. The Islamic University in Gaza is not a military site. It is a university with 18,000 students, 60 percent of them women. Last night, Israeli warplanes attacked a female dormitory in the Islamic University. This is what Israel is attacking. They attacked the fishing port. No food gets into Gaza. People can barely fish enough to sustain them, and Israel has attacked the fishing boats that sustains them. These are historic crimes, and we cannot be silent about them.



And we have to continue this nonsense that there’s fault on both sides. We have a captive occupied population. 80 percent of the people in the Gaza Strip are refugees. 750,000 of them are children. Where else in the world can these crimes be committed while the world looks on, while our elected politicians in Congress, Democrats and Republicans, sit there applauding, when you see the shameful statement of Howard Berman, the Democrat chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee, giving his full support to Israel? People have to stand up to this. We cannot sit on our hands anymore and say change is coming. Change is not coming unless we create it.



AMY GOODMAN: We have to break. Then we’re going to come back to this discussion. We are going to put off the playing of the speech of Harold Pinter, the Nobel Prize winner, to tomorrow. He died last week. We’ll play an extended excerpt of that speech tomorrow. We’re talking about what’s happening in Gaza right now, joined by guests from Ramallah, from Gaza City, from Rafah, from Tel Aviv and from the United States. We’ll be back in a minute.

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AMY GOODMAN: We have on the line with us Dr. Mustafa Barghouti in Ramallah. We’re joined by Dr. Moussa El-Haddad. He is a retired physician in Gaza City. We’re joined by Fida Qishta. She is joining us from Rafah. And Ali Abunimah is on the line with us from Jacksonville, Florida, in studio.



Ali Abunimah, I wanted to ask you about the statements at this point of Barack Obama, or the lack of them. Of course, he’s on holiday right now in Hawaii, but David Axelrod was on the networks. Again, they are continuing to say that there is only one president at a time, and that president is President Bush now. Condoleezza Rice is briefing Barack Obama. But he did say that not only would it be counterproductive for the President-elect to weigh in too deeply, but he said that Obama’s commitment to the "special relationship” between the United States and Israel, in a way that suggested general sympathy for the Jewish state’s actions. I’m reading from the Huffington Post. Your response?



ALI ABUNIMAH: Isn’t it convenient that we only have one president at a time, when it suits Barack Obama to stay silent on something that is enflaming the whole world? Apparently, we don’t have one president at a time when it comes to the economy or Iraq or Afghanistan or other issues. But on this, Barack Obama is content to remain silent and, in fact, to give, through the statements of David Axelrod, his more or less open support for what Israel is doing, which fits with the policies that he has enunciated consistently of supporting Israel’s attacks on Gaza, supporting the blockade of Gaza, supporting the Israeli war on Lebanon in 2006.



And this is why Israel feels so comfortable carrying out these sorts of atrocities, which cross every red line of the Fourth Geneva Conventions, of the Nuremberg Principles, of all of the laws of war that were developed in the twentieth century. Israel feels totally comfortable crossing them, because it knows that it will have full support from any US administration, no matter what political shade it is.



And this is why it’s crucially important that people don’t sit by waiting ’til January 20th. January 20th, the calendar flipping is not going to change anything. What’s going to change things is boycott, divestment and sanctions, people rising up and demanding an end to impunity, demanding, for example, that Ehud Barak, Ehud Olmert, Tzipi Livni be brought to account before an international war crimes court for the orders that they have given for these massacres of the civilian population of Gaza. That’s what’s going to bring change, and that’s what people must call and organize for.



JUAN GONZALEZ: I’d like to bring in Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, again. The issue of what is the potential for reaction in the West Bank and in the Arab street, as opposed to the complicity of many of the Arab governments at this point—your sense of, if this continues much further, what will be the reaction?



DR. MUSTAFA BARGHOUTI: Well, let me explain one very specific point. Israel is very proud, with the complicity of some Arab regimes and some of the people in the Palestinian Authority, about what’s going on. But I want to remind you that what is happening in Gaza and in the West Bank is nothing but also a slaughter of democracy. We have, as Palestinians—we, the civil society in Palestine, we, the Palestinian democratic forces, jointly with many others—managed to have the best democratic experience ever in the Arab world. Everybody knows that, and President Carter reported it when we had the last elections. And I think this complicity of some certain Arab sides are specifically because they don’t want this democracy to happen. They don’t want this democracy to survive. And if Israel is very proud to be in alliance with dictatorships, then that reveals how democratic Israel itself is.



Israel has been claiming that it’s the only democracy and so on, but why is it slaughtering Palestinian democracy? They did that in 1976, when we had elections for the first time for our municipalities, and within one year, because they didn’t like the elected people, they either bombarded them or deported them or arrested them. And now, after 2006 elections, they are putting forty-five members of our parliament in jail. One of the leaders, one of the members of parliament, is not Hamas. His name is Ahmed Saadat. He’s from the left, from the secular democratic left. He was just sentenced to thirty years in jail, just because he is the secretary-general of a Palestinian organization. It’s amazing how the world is silent about this slaughter of democracy. And if Israel is happy with being in alliance with some dictator, then it is the one that is losing.



The main question here, that I want to come back to some myths that Israel is spreading. They keep stressing that they are attacking Hamas. This is not on Hamas; this is on the whole Palestinian population. They claim that they ended occupation in Gaza. This is not true. They never ended occupation in Gaza. They continue to occupy Gaza. Now they’re changing the form of occupation again, and they’re threatening to complete the invasion again and destroying people’s lives. Third, they claim that it was the Palestinians who broke the ceasefire. This is false. This is incorrect. Israel broke the ceasefire. And now the party that is refusing to have ceasefire is Barak, the Defense Minister of Israel, and he’s the one who is refusing to allow ceasefire to happen again.



At the same time, I must say that Israel is not only attacking the Gaza Strip. Practically, Israel in the West Bank has created a system that can only be described as an apartheid system, a much worse apartheid than the one that prevailed in South Africa at one point of time. Why do we have all these problems? For one very simple fact: the violence is a symptom of the disease. The disease has been there all the time, for forty-one years, and it is the Israeli military occupation of the Palestinian territories. And because the Israeli government does not want to stop this occupation, that’s why we keep running from one conflict into another. Please.



AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to bring Gideon Levy back into the conversation from Tel Aviv from the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz. Gideon, you write, “Blood will now flow like water. Besieged and impoverished Gaza, the city of refugees, will pay the main price. But blood will also be unnecessarily spilled on our side. In its foolishness, Hamas brought this on itself and on its people, but this does not excuse Israel’s overreaction.” What about—can you elaborate on this?

[Daniyal]

GIDEON LEVY: Yes, I think that Israel had this legitimacy to protect its citizens in the southern part of Israel, and it had the legitimacy to do something, as the Israelis all expect the government to do, but this doing something does not mean this brutal and violent operation. The diplomatic efforts were just in the beginning, and I believe we could have got to a new truce without this bloodshed.



And even about the military reaction, you know, there are all kinds of stages. Immediately to send dozens of jets to bomb a total helpless civilian society with hundreds of bombs—just today, they were burying five sisters. I mean, this is unheard of. This cannot go on like this. And this has nothing to do with self-defense or with retaliation even. It went out of proportion, exactly like two-and-a-half years ago in Lebanon.



AMY GOODMAN: Dr. Moussa El-Haddad in Gaza City, the responsibility of Hamas here and the response of the people of Gaza? Right now, a quote of Tzipi Livni, who just recently said, “Unfortunately, in this kind of attack, there are some civilian casualties, but Israel took all the necessary actions to warn the civilians before the attacks to leave the places they know that Hamas stays.”



DR. MOUSSA EL-HADDAD: Well, it’s not some civilians. All those who are dead now, most of them are civilians. And a question that keeps coming up, people are saying Israel has the right to protect itself from the Hamas rockets. What about the West Bank? Does Hamas—does West Bank has rockets that they throw on Israel? Of course, none. And look at what’s happening in the West Bank, in Hebron, Nablus and Ramallah and everywhere. People are being killed almost every day. And I just cannot explain to you the situation right now.



Hamas, as an organization, was, as Dr. Barghouti just mentioned, this government was democratically elected in front of the eyes of the whole world, and this is the only democratic election that happened in the Middle East, really democratic. And people—why just the world didn’t give this government a chance to prove itself? It was not going to throw rockets or just—when they had this truce and the ceasefire, who broke it? It was Israel. We had a siege for one-and-a-half months, nothing allowed in, no medicines, no food, no nothing. And still, Hamas and other organizations did not throw any rockets. Israel kept on coming, and they killed twenty-three people in three weeks. Of course, this provoked Hamas, and they just did not renew this issue of ceasefire, because it was useless.



JUAN GONZALEZ: I’d like to ask also Fida Qishta back into the conversation—this continuing occupation and encirclement and the problems that you face in Gaza, how do persevere, you and other residents there, day to day, manage to get through?



FIDA QISHTA: Well, for Palestinians, in general, they face a lot from the Israeli occupation. And if you don’t find a house in the whole Gaza Strip that isn’t damaged by losing a son or a father or a daughter or a mother—we used to face lots of problems with the Israelis. And me, myself, I’m one of the people and a person who lost their house in 2004. We managed to continue our lives. We managed to build a new house, and now we survived. But the problem of the other people who can’t build new houses or even afford food for their families.



Palestinians try to be strong. But under these attacks that the Israelis now—actually, the war that Israelis started with Palestinians in Gaza, it’s really unbelievable and not acceptable. It’s genocide. And all the world should stop and say to Israel, “Stop it. That’s enough. The Gazan people chose this government, and you should accept it.” And for us, as Gazans, we try to continue our lives, no matter what happens. We keep the hope, and we keep the struggle for the future and for our families. We don’t think, for example, if the Israelis destroy a house or kill a son or a daughter, that means our life is ended. We try to survive and continue our life. We try to do our best with it, but Israel is trying every single day, every single minute, to destroy the Palestinians’ hope. And I don’t know what these normal Palestinians did for them, what these civilians did for them. So we try to manage and continue our life. This is what we try to do. No matter what, we try to continue our lives.



AMY GOODMAN: I want to go back to Ali Abunimah. The next step now? Israel is preparing for a ground invasion, calling up 6,500 troops. Do you hold Hamas responsible for any of this? What do you think Hamas should be doing now?



ALI ABUNIMAH: Well, what could—I mean, this thing about if they hadn’t fired rockets, this was the Israeli propaganda that Mahmoud Abbas was repeating in Cairo. And as Dr. El-Haddad said, has one single rocket ever been fired from the West Bank? No. And as Dr. Barghouti was saying, the West Bank is under constant attack. People are being killed. Amy, you had on your show the settler pogroms that were happening in front of the eyes of the world in the West Bank, the settlement construction that goes on. There has not been a single rocket fired from the West Bank. Abbas has capitulated to the Israelis. His so-called security forces, trained by the United States and armed by the United States, have been fighting the resistance in the West Bank. Did that spare one single Palestinian in the West Bank from Israeli violence or colonization? No, it did not.



This notion that Israel has a right to defend itself—against who? Against 1.5 million people who are refugees, who are starving, who are caged in the world’s largest prison or concentration camp. Don’t Palestinians also have a right to defend themselves? What should Palestinians do? I turn the question of those who keep pointing the finger at the Palestinians. Resistance is not acceptable, and so—



AMY GOODMAN: Ali Abunimah, we’re going to have to leave it there.



ALI ABUNIMAH: Thank you, Amy.



AMY GOODMAN: I thank you very much for being with us, Ali Abunimah in Florida; Dr. Moussa El-Haddad and Fida Qishta, both in Gaza; Dr. Mustafa Barghouti in Ramallah.

Democracy Now.org

[Daniyal]

By IBRAHIM BARZAK and MATTI FRIEDMAN, AP

posted: 50 MINUTES AGOcomments: 26676filed under: World News

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (Jan. 4) - Israeli ground troops and tanks cut swaths through the Gaza Strip early Sunday, cutting the coastal territory into two and surrounding its biggest city as the new phase of a devastating offensive against Hamas militants gained momentum.

The military used overwhelming firepower from tanks, artillery and aircraft to protect the advancing soldiers, and Gaza officials said at least 31 civilians were killed in the onslaught. The military said troops killed several dozen militants, but Gaza officials could confirm only four dead — in part because rescue teams could not reach the battle zones.

Also See: US Blocks UN Call for Cease-Fire | Europeans Protest Attacks

CNN.com: Civilians on Both Sides Caught in Crossfire

The ground invasion and live images of the fighting in Gaza drew international condemnations and dominated news coverage on Arab satellite TV stations, many of which aired footage of wounded Palestinians at hospitals. Hamas threatened to turn Gaza into an Israeli "graveyard."

Israel reported one soldier was killed by mortar fire on Sunday — the first Israeli death in a ground offensive that so far has been widely popular with the Israeli public.

Thousands of soldiers in three brigade-size formations pushed into Gaza after nightfall Saturday, beginning a long-awaited ground offensive against the area's Hamas rulers after a week of intense aerial bombardment. Black smoke billowed over Gaza City at first light as bursts of machine gun fire rang out.

The ground operation is the second phase in an offensive that began as a weeklong aerial onslaught aimed at halting Hamas rocket fire that has reached deeper and deeper into Israel, threatening major cities and one-eighth of Israel's population.

The new deaths brought the death toll in the Gaza Strip to more than 500 since Dec. 27. Palestinian and U.N. officials say at least 100 civilians are among the dead.

TV footage showed Israeli troops with night-vision goggles and camouflage face paint marching in single file. Artillery barrages preceded their advance, and they moved through fields and orchards following bomb-sniffing dogs to guard against booby-traps.

Gaza City's civilians cowered inside as battles raged, while terrified residents in other areas fled in fear. In the southern town of Rafah, one man loaded a donkey cart with mattresses and blankets preparing to flee.

Lubna Karam, 28, said she and the other nine members of her family spent the night huddled in the hallway of their Gaza City home. The windows of the house were blown out days earlier in an Israeli airstrike, and the family has been without electricity for a week, surviving without heat and eating cold food.

She said no one slept overnight. "We keep hearing the sounds of airplanes and we don't know if we'll live until tomorrow or not," she said.

Gaza health officials said the dead included a 12-year-old girl, five members of a single family, eight civilians killed by a tank shell in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya, and an ambulance drive

AOL .NEWS

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Israeli Attack Intensifies; Tanks Enter Khan Yunis

Israel has broadened its attack on Gaza as Israeli tanks have entered Khan Yunis, Gaza’s second largest city. In northern Gaza, witnesses reported wave after wave of bombing strikes accompanied by gunfire from helicopters and artillery from land and sea. On Monday, Israel rejected European calls for a ceasefire.

Israel Bombs UN School, Three Killed

More than forty Palestinians were killed in Gaza yesterday, almost half of them children. Five civilians were killed early today when a shell fired by an Israeli ship hit their house. The United Nations said three Palestinians died last night when an Israeli bomb hit a UN school where hundreds of Gazans had sought refuge. UN officials say they provided their location coordinates to Israel’s army to ensure that their buildings in Gaza are not targeted.

Doctor: Most Palestinian Casualties Are Civilians

Mads Gilbert, a Norwegian doctor in Gaza, told the BBC that Palestinians civilians are being particularly hard hit.

Dr. Mads Gilbert: "The statistics are clear. Among the 2,400-2,500 injured, 45 percent are women and children. And then there are also all the civilian men. So the large majority of the injured, the victims, are women, men and children civilian. Among the the killed, 25 percent of the killed are children and women, and among the children, today, it was—this morning, it was 801 children either killed or injured. 101 children had been killed.”

Dr. Gilbert also criticized Israel for claiming there is no humanitarian crisis.

Dr. Mads Gilbert: “I ask, where is the international community, who has this big organization to come to disasters. We are two doctors from the West. Where are the others? They are not let in, because the Israelis say there is no disaster. Now, how can they know? They never came here, they never saw. They don’t care. So this is the worst man-made disaster for the time I can think of.”

Red Cross: Gaza Is a “Full-Blown" Humanitarian Crisis

Earlier today, the International Committee of the Red Cross said Gaza was now in a “full-blown” humanitarian crisis. Over the past eleven days, at least 573 Palestinians have been killed with more than 2,500 wounded. Four Israeli soldiers were also killed on Monday, bringing the Israeli death toll to eight. The Israeli military says the four soldiers died in two separate friendly fire incidents. Militants with Hamas continue to fire rockets into Israel. One struck an empty kindergarten in Ashdod.

Bush Refuses to Call for Ceasefire

On Monday, President Bush refused to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.

President Bush: “And, finally, all of us, of course, would like to see, you know, violence stop, but not at the expense of an agreement that does not prevent the crisis from happening again. I know people are saying, ’Let’s have a ceasefire.’ And those are noble ambitions. But any ceasefire must have the conditions in it so that Hamas does not use Gaza as a place from which to launch rockets.”

Poll: Americans Divided Over Israeli Attack

A new public opinion poll has shown that Americans are closely divided over Israel’s actions. The Rasmussen Reports poll found 44 percent of Americans say Israel should have taken military action against the Palestinians, but 41 percent say it should have tried to find a diplomatic solution. Democratic voters overwhelmingly opposed Israel’s attacks by a 24-point margin. Republicans support Israel’s actions by a 35-point margin. The poll also found that more than half of Americans fear Israel’s actions will cause more terrorism against the United States.

Obama Defers to Bush on Gaza Crisis

On Monday, President-elect Barack Obama made his first comment about the situation in Gaza—ten days after Israel’s attacks began. Obama said he would not interfere in “delicate negotiations” by the outgoing Bush administration.

President-elect Barack Obama: “Obviously, international affairs are of deep concern. With the situation in Gaza, I’ve been getting briefed every day. I’ve had consistent conversations with members of the current administration about what’s taking place. That will continue. I will continue to insist that when it comes to foreign affairs, it is particularly important to adhere to the principle of one president at a time, because there are delicate negotiations taking place right now, and we can’t have two voices coming out of the United States when you have so much at stake.”

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki criticized Obama’s position.

Riyad al-Maliki: “Disappointedly, President-elect Obama refused to comment on the situation in Gaza, despite the fact that he commented on the situation on the bombing in Mumbai, in India. And we expected him really to be open and responsive to the situation in Gaza, and still we expect him to make a strong statement regarding this as soon as possible.”



For More Information Go To Democracy Now.org

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Five former Blackwater armed contractors pleaded not guilty Tuesday to federal manslaughter and gun charges stemming from the 2007 Nisoor Square massacre in Baghdad, when Blackwater guards killed seventeen Iraqi civilians and injured dozens of others. The five are charged with fourteen counts of manslaughter, twenty counts of attempted manslaughter and one count of using a machine gun to commit a crime of violence. A sixth former Blackwater contractor has already pleaded guilty and is cooperating with prosecutors. Meanwhile, in a separate case, a Blackwater contractor who fatally shot a body guard of Iraqi Vice President Adil Abdul-Mahdi will reportedly soon be charged in the killing. The shooting occurred on Christmas Eve in 2006 in the Green Zone.

Democracy Now.org

[Daniyal]

Palestinian Toll Passes 700; Around One-Third Children

Tens of thousands of Palestinians have fled their homes in the southern town of Rafah as Israel intensifies its assault on the Gaza Strip. Palestinians reported dozens of Israeli air strikes overnight, with attacks hitting homes, mosques and tunnels. Earlier today, the UN said Israeli forces fired on one of its relief convoys trying to pick up supplies. Al Jazeera reports at least one Palestinian was killed and two others injured. At least twenty-nine Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks Wednesday, including a family of four traveling in their car in Beit Lahia. The Arabic news channel Al Jazeera reports the Palestinian death toll stands at more than 700 overall, including 219 children. More than 3,000 Palestinians have also been wounded. Ten Israelis have died over the same thirteen-day period, including seven soldiers, four of them by so-called friendly fire.

School Bombing Toll Reaches 46 as Israel Retracts Claim of Militant Fire

Another four Palestinians died Wednesday from injuries sustained in the Israeli bombing of a UN school sheltering Gaza civilians in Jabalya, bringing the death toll to forty-six. Another fifty-five were wounded. UN spokesperson Chris Gunness said Israeli officials have privately retracted their widely cited initial claim that Hamas militants were firing from the school.

UNRWA spokesperson Chris Gunness: “I’ve been authorized to say that the Israeli army, in private briefings with diplomats, is admitting that the firing that came out of Jabalya yesterday, the militant fire, was not from within the UNRWA school compound, it was from outside the UNRWA school compound. This is a crucial distinction, because serious allegations have been made against UNRWA that the militants were firing from within. In fact, those allegations are baseless. It, as far as we’re concerned, illustrates the need for a full and independent investigation. It’s been shown that these allegations against us are completely baseless."

The UN is calling for an independent investigation into the school bombing as a possible war crime.

Red Cross Condemns Israel for Blocking Access to Bombing Site

The International Committee of the Red Cross, meanwhile, has issued a rare condemnation of the Israeli government for blocking it from the site of a deadly bombing of Palestinian civilians. The Red Cross says Israel barred aid workers for four days from reaching victims in the neighborhood of Zeitoun. Israeli soldiers reportedly tried to chase the rescue workers away. When they finally arrived, the workers found fifteen bodies, along with several children still barely alive. The children were lying next to their dead mothers. In a statement, the Red Cross said the Israeli military has “failed to meet its obligation under international humanitarian law to care for and evacuate the wounded,” calling the episode “unacceptable.” Other sources have reported a higher death toll in the Zeitoun attack. The Daily Telegraph of London reports the bombing could have killed between sixty to seventy members of the same family.

Lebanese Militants Fire at Northern Israel

Meanwhile, militants in southern Lebanon have opened fire on Israel, with three rockets hitting the northern town of Nahariya earlier today. Israel responded with mortar fire into Lebanon. No one has claimed responsibility for the firing from Lebanon.

Fighting Suspended for 3-Hour Aid Delivery

Aid workers were given a three-hour halt to the fighting Wednesday to try to deliver desperately needed supplies. But European Commission official Simon Horner said the brief lull doesn’t even meet the bare requirement for delivering aid.

Scott Horner: “Yes, three hours is a bit of a help, but it’s really not even the bare minimum. It’s just a slight assistance that allows inhabitants of Gaza to get out to reach supplies where they’re available inside the Strip, but an awful lot more needs to be done. And ultimately, of course, what we want is a sustained ceasefire, followed up hopefully by a political solution, in order to ensure that the humanitarian needs are addressed as quickly as possible.”

The UN says more than one million Gazans are without electricity or running water.

EU Backs Egyptian Ceasefire Proposal

Israel has continued the Gaza assault despite claiming it’s in “fundamental agreement” with an Egyptian and French ceasefire proposal. The plan calls for an end to the fighting, followed by talks on lifting the economic blockade of Gaza and securing its borders. Israeli officials are expected to travel to Egypt today.

European Union policy chief Javier Solana: “The initiative of President Mubarak, we welcome it and we support it. We were working with him last night and had been well received by Prime Minister Olmert, by leaders of the region, and I hope very much that that will be the stone upon which we can construct a ceasefire that I hope will be coming very soon.”

UN General Assembly to Meet on Gaza Attack

Meanwhile, the United Nations General Assembly will begin a two-day emergency session today over the Gaza attack. General Assembly president and former Nicaraguan foreign minister Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann called the session in response to his reported opposition to the US refusal to authorize a Security Council-backed ceasefire.

Palestinian, Israeli Protesters Condemn Attack on Gaza

Protests continue against the Gaza attack. On Wednesday, more than 1,000 Palestinians gathered in the West Bank city of Hebron. And in Israel, hundreds of Israelis demonstrated in Tel Aviv.

Israeli protester: “I came to protest against what my government is doing in Gaza: killing civilians, children, women, that are stranded in their houses with nowhere to go, with no fuel, no electricity, no water. This is absolutely violation of human rights.”



Democracy Now.org

[Daniyal]

Israel continues its devastating assault on the Gaza Strip despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding a ceasefire. Overnight, Israel launched more than fifty strikes, killing at least twelve Palestinians. Seven people were killed in a bombing in northern Gaza, including an infant. At least twenty-four Palestinians were killed on Thursday, including three elderly people fleeing their home. Palestinian militants responded with around six rockets into southern Israel earlier today, causing one injury. At least 60 percent of Gaza’s 1.4 million people have no electricity, and many are without clean water. Gaza’s fragile sewage system also risks collapse, stoking fears of a worsening health crisis.

Palestinian Toll Reaches 778; At Least 200 Children Killed

Overall, the Palestinian death toll stands at at least 778, including more than 200 children. At least 3,250 Palestinians have been injured. Thirteen Israelis have died over the same period, four by friendly fire. The Security Council voted fourteen-to-nothing for the ceasefire, with the US abstaining. The measure calls “for an immediate, durable and fully respected cease-fire, leading to the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.”

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki: “Israel, the occupying power, must immediately implement this resolution. Aggression must cease so that we all may have the opportunity to work to heal the wounds of our people and to rebuild what the brutal Israeli war machine has destroyed in Gaza.”

UN, Red Cross Suspend Relief Work After Lethal Israeli Attacks on Aid Convoys

The measure came hours after the UN shut down major aid operations in Gaza after Israel attacked one of its aid convoys. Israeli snipers killed two Palestinian aid workers who were reportedly trying to retrieve the body of a colleague who had been killed in a previous Israeli attack. The killings reportedly came during the three-hour pause to the bombing agreed to by Israel to allow humanitarian relief.

UN relief spokesperson Christopher Gunness: “I can confirm that UNRWA has suspended its operations in Gaza because of staff security. We’ve had a shooting of a driver in a convoy clearly marked as a UN vehicle. There have been a number of attacks in which UN facilities have been hit with direct hits and others. We’ve had no choice but to suspend our operations until we can get guarantees of the security of our staff. We’ve lost—our staff have been killed. We’ve had no other choice."

The UN says it’s lost all confidence in Israeli pledges. Israel has attacked several UN and medical installations this week, including a UN school where forty-six civilians were killed.

WHO: 21 Palestinian Medical Workers Killed in Gaza Attack

According to the World Health Organization, twenty-one Palestinian medical workers have been killed and another thirty injured in the Israeli assault on Gaza. The International Committee of the Red Cross, meanwhile, said it would scale back aid operations for at least one day after one of its convoys also came under Israeli fire.

UN: 30 Died in Israeli Shelling of Crowded Home

The Red Cross made the announcement as it accused Israel of blocking access to a bombing site where several emaciated children were found next to their dead mothers. Overall, dozens of dead civilians were found in a one-block span of the neighborhood of Zeitoun. Red Cross mission chief Katrina Ritz described the bombing’s aftermath.

Katrina Ritz: “I think one of the big shocks was that these people were very weak. They were children, children being next to their dead mother. There were no assistance given to these people. There were around eighteen wounded which have not had medical aid, and very, very weak people. The children could hardly stand. There was no water for them. There was no food. And they were with all the dead bodies."

In a report Thursday, the UN said thirty of the victims killed in the Zeitoun attack had been taking shelter in a home on orders from the Israeli military. More than 100 Palestinians had been evacuated there and told to stay indoors. Palestinian paramedic Attia Barami was among the first to reach the victims.

Attia Barami: “The Red Cross got permission for us for three ambulances to enter the northern area of Gaza. We found bodies that the tanks drove over. The medics checked the bodies and found damage at the cellular level, and bodies. This baby girl, age five months, she has been dead for more than two days. The dogs ate parts of the baby’s body. This baby was burned because you can see her face and body are dark and charred."

Most of the dead were members of the same extended family, the Samounis. The death toll was initially lower but rose as more bodies were pulled from the rubble.

Vatican Official Compares Gaza to “Concentration Camp”

The Israeli attack is under increasing international criticism. On Thursday, a high-ranking Vatican official, Cardinal Renato Martino, compared Gaza to “a concentration camp.” Speaking to an Italian daily, Martino said, “Look at the conditions in Gaza. More and more, it resembles a big concentration camp.”



Democracy Now.org

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Meanwhile, former President Jimmy Carter has denounced the Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip. Writing in the Washington Post, Carter criticizes Israel for breaking the six-month ceasefire by launching its November 4th attack that killed seven Hamas militants. He also faults Israel for failing to uphold its commitment to ease the humanitarian blockade of Gaza.

Protests Worldwide Decry Gaza Attack

Protests, meanwhile, continue worldwide. On Thursday, more than 40,000 people demonstrated in Oslo, Norway, denouncing the attack on Gaza. According to Al Jazeera, other rallies were held in Venezuela, Tehran, Khartoum and Sarajevo. In Canada, around thirty activists occupied the Israeli consulate in Montreal. The action came one day after a group of Jewish Canadian women occupied the Israeli consulate in Toronto. In New York, hundreds gathered on Wednesday to respond to Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s open support for the Israeli attack. Bloomberg visited Israel last week and gave interviews backing the assault on Gaza. New York City Council Member Charles Barron said Bloomberg doesn’t speak for all New Yorkers.

New York City Council Member Charles Barron: “My message to Bloomberg is shame on you. How dare you speak for all New Yorkers and ignore the fact that 560 people died, and many of them innocent women and children? How dare you go to Israel and not talk to the Palestinian people? How dare you act like you speak for all New Yorkers? Well, you don’t."

Protests also continue in Israel. Israeli peace activists Uri Avnery and David Wilner were among those demonstrating in Tel Aviv.

Uri Avnery: “We are here to protest against the war, which we consider inhuman, immoral, totally unjustified and unnecessary. We believe that if we had agreed to talk with Hamas, this problem would have been laid aside a long

time ago."

David Wilner: “A massacre and violence is not the way to bring peace to both nations, the Israeli and the Palestinian nations."

Senate Affirms Support for Attack on Gaza

As the United Nations and the Red Cross condemned the Israeli assault on Gaza, the US Senate approved a measure overwhelmingly supporting the attack. The non-binding measure passed by unanimous voice vote. Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid and Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell both spoke in favor of the Israeli invasion. Reid said, “When we pass this resolution, the United States Senate will strengthen our historic bond with the state of Israel, by reaffirming Israel’s inalienable right to defend against attacks from Gaza, as well as our support for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.” The House is expected to pass a similar measure today.

Kucinich Calls for Probe on US-Supplied Weapons to Israel

Congress member Dennis Kucinich has been one of the few lawmakers to speak out against the US-backed attack on Gaza. Kucinich has asked the State Department to probe whether Israel’s use of US-supplied weaponry violates the 1976 Arms Export Control Act.

Vatican Official Compares Gaza to “Concentration Camp”

The Israeli attack is under increasing international criticism. On Thursday, a high-ranking Vatican official, Cardinal Renato Martino, compared Gaza to “a concentration camp.” Speaking to an Italian daily, Martino said, “Look at the conditions in Gaza. More and more, it resembles a big concentration camp.”



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Israel has poured thousands of reservists into Gaza as Israeli troops push deeper into Gaza City in the seventeenth day of fighting. Nearly 900 Palestinians have now died, including 275 children. Another 4,100 Palestinians have been injured. The Israeli death toll is at thirteen.

Israel Criticized for Using White Phosphorus in Gaza

Human Rights Watch has called on the Israeli military to stop using white phosphorus in Gaza. Multiple air bursts of artillery-fired white phosphorus have been observed in Gaza. Marc Garlasco of Human Rights Watch said, “White phosphorous can burn down houses and cause horrific burns when it touches the skin.” Israel has denied using the incendiary device.

Israel Admits Error in Bombing of UN School

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports a preliminary investigation into Israel’s bombing of a United Nations school last week has revealed that Israeli troops missed their target by some thirty-three yards. Forty-two Palestinians died in the school bombing. Israel now admits no militants were launching rockets from the UN compound. Israeli forces were trying to hit a target just outside the school.

Bush Rejected Israeli Request to Prepare for Iran Attack

In other news, the New York Times reports President Bush deflected a secret request by Israel last year for specialized bunker-busting bombs it wanted for an attack on Iran’s main nuclear complex. Israel also asked for refueling equipment that would allow their aircraft to reach Iran and return to Israel. And they asked for the right to fly over Iraq. The Times also reveals new information about how President Bush authorized covert action inside Iran to sabotage Iran’s suspected effort to develop nuclear weapons. Part of the covert program involved renewed American efforts to penetrate Iran’s nuclear supply chain abroad, along with new efforts to undermine electrical systems, computer systems and other networks on which Iran relies.

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Residents of Gaza suffered the most intense bombardment of the eighteen-day war last night as Israel carried out air and artillery strikes throughout the Gaza Strip. Israeli tanks backed by attack helicopters have moved into several southern neighborhoods of the densely populated Gaza City. Hospital officials report dozens of calls for ambulances have been received, but they could not be dispatched because of the fighting. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel of aiming to “wipe out” the Palestinian people in Gaza by refusing to end its attack. The Palestinian death toll is now at least 935.

Red Cross: “There Is No Place Safe in Gaza for the Civilians”

More than 4,300 Palestinians have been injured. Thirteen Israelis have died over the past eighteen days. An estimated 90,000 Palestinians have fled their homes, but many residents of Gaza have nowhere to go to because all of the Gaza border crossings are closed.

Antoine Grand, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza: “There is no place safe in Gaza for the civilians. They’re afraid to stay home. They’re afraid to move. They’re also afraid to go down the street to try to find some water or to try to buy some food. No electricity, no water, difficult access to hospitals, ambulances that are not able to reach some places to collect the wounded.”

UN Human Rights Council Condemns Israel

On Monday, the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a resolution condemning Israel. The non-binding resolution said Israel’s attack had “resulted in massive violations of human rights of the Palestinian people.”

US Abstained from UN Vote After Olmert Called Bush

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has publicly claimed that he personally called President Bush last week to urge him not to support a UN Security Council ceasefire resolution that was partially drafted by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. After Olmert’s call, the United States changed course and abstained from the vote, which passed 14-to-0.

Israel Accused of Testing Experimental Weapons in Gaza

Two Norwegian doctors who have just returned from Gaza have accused Israel of testing a new experimental weapon known as Dense Inert Metal Explosives, or DIME. The weapon causes the tissue to be torn from the flesh. Dr. Mads Gilbert said, “We have seen a number of very brutal amputations…without shrapnel injuries, which we strongly suspect must have been caused by the DIME weapons.” Dr. Erik Fosse said, “I have seen and treated a lot of different injuries for the last thirty years in different war zones, and this looks completely different.”

Israeli Soldier Jailed for Refusing to Fight in Gaza

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports an Israeli soldier has been jailed for fourteen days for refusing to fight in Gaza. The soldier, who has not been identified, was the first member of the IDF to be tried for refusing orders since the war on Gaza began.

Free Gaza Movement to Send More Boats with Aid to Gaza

Activists with the Free Gaza Movement are vowing to try again to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza by sea. Yesterday, a Free Gaza boat had to return to Cyprus after it suffered a mechanical failure.

Free Gaza activist Huwaida Arraf: “We can’t wait ‘til Israel decides to stop the killing and then open up Gaza for the international community and aid workers to come pick up the pieces. No, we must insist on the right to enter. And so, in that sense, we’re not going to let the violence that Israel used against us or what they might use against us again stop us.”



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The Palestinian death toll is nearing 1,000 as Israel continues its attack on the Gaza Strip. As Israeli troops massed around Gaza City, heavy bombing continued overnight, destroying Gaza’s old city hall and several shops in a market. At least 971 Palestinians have been killed, with more than 4,400 injured. Tens of thousands have been displaced. Around two-thirds of Gaza’s 1.5 million people have no electricity, and 500,000 have no access to running water. The World Food Programme says it’s providing aid to 80 percent of Gaza’s residents.

UN Relief Agency Pleads for End to Attack

The UN’s top relief official in Gaza, John Ging, urged Israel to end its attack.

UNRWA Director John Ging: “Please, we have to get an end to the fighting. Nowhere in Gaza is safe. The situation here is horrific for everybody. And, of course, it starts with the guns falling silent. By whatever agreement, the guns must fall silent first, and then we can start to proceed and move forward. But without that, it’s going to be more death, more injury and more destruction.”

Ging also described the extent of damage to Gaza’s infrastructure.

UNRWA Director John Ging: “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, the president’s compound and even the presidential guest house, which was the former Egyptian governor’s residence prior to 1967, are all reduced to rubble. So, in addition to the death toll and the injury toll, which is now deaths above—the Ministry of Health report above 900, they report the injury figure is above 4,000, there is this massive destruction of the infrastructure of the state, the future state that we were all working to build."

Meanwhile, the head of International Red Cross, Jakob Kellenberger, addressed Israel’s attacks on medical workers and its restrictions on evacuating wounded civilians.

International Red Cross Director Jakob Kellenberger: “It is absolutely indispensable and it is not negotiable that a medical mission in such a conflict has to be protected. The medical mission has to be protected. And it is important. I mean, wounded people, they cannot wait for days or even many hours to be evacuated and cared for. Wounded people —it must be possible that wounded people can be collected, cared for and evacuated as rapidly as possible.”

Rockets Fired from Lebanon into Israel

Meanwhile, rockets have been fired from southern Lebanon into northern Israel for the second time since Israel attacked Gaza. There were no damages or injuries. The Israeli military says it responded with artillery fire into Lebanon.

Gaza Residents: Cemeteries Running Out of Space

As the death toll rises, Gaza residents are now reporting local cemeteries are running out of space to bury the dead. Gaza resident Mahmoud al-Zinati said his sixteen-year-old cousin has been buried on top of a twelve-year-old cousin killed by Israel two years ago.

Mahmoud al-Zinati: “When my cousin became a martyr, we came to this graveyard and other graveyards to find a place to bury my cousin in, but found no place. But thank God, one of our cousins became a martyr two years ago. So we said we should dig up his grave so we can bury my cousin next to him.”

Israel Could Face World Court on Gaza Attack

The United Nations is reportedly preparing to consider referring Israel’s actions in Gaza to the World Court for possible prosecution. The Guardian newspaper reports the UN General Assembly will consider asking the International Court of Justice to rule on whether Israel is violating international law. The UN’s special rapporteur to the Occupied Territories, Richard Falk, says Israel’s attack could be in violation of the UN Charter, the Geneva Conventions, international law and international humanitarian law.

Iran: Israel Blocks Aid Ship for Gaza

Iran is claiming the Israeli navy has intercepted an Iranian ship carrying humanitarian aid for Gaza. According to Iranian state radio, the ship was stopped twenty miles off Gaza’s coast after leaving Iran two weeks ago. The ship was carrying food and medicine and had planned to arrive in Gaza this past weekend. Israel has blocked several humanitarian ships trying to reach Gaza, and even rammed a boat of peace activists in international waters last month.

Journalists Decry Gaza Media Killings, Ban

The Israeli government’s treatment of journalists is under growing scrutiny. The International Federation of Journalists is calling on media workers worldwide to protest Israel’s conduct towards journalists during the Gaza attack. Israeli forces have killed at least four Palestinian media workers. At least two journalists with the network Al-Alam have been arrested—a correspondent and a producer. Israel meanwhile continues to ban foreign journalists from entering Gaza. International Federation of Journalists Secretary-General Aidan White called the media crackdown “intolerable,” saying, “The systematic manipulation and control of media trying to report on Gaza and the casualties being sustained inside the territory require a concerted response from the world’s media.” BBC correspondent Lyse Doucet also criticized the media ban.



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Bloody Israeli Assault on Gaza Enters Fourth Week, Palestinian Death Toll Tops 1,100



It’s Day 21 of Israel’s assault on Gaza. Israeli warplanes attacked forty targets across Gaza overnight, as Israeli troops backed by tanks have pushed deep into the heart of Gaza City. Since Israel started its bombardment of Gaza, over 1,100 Palestinians have been killed and more than 5,200 wounded. At least 700 civilians are among the dead, including more than 350 children. We speak with Columbia University Professor Rashid Khalidi

JUAN GONZALEZ: It’s Day 21 of Israel’s assault on Gaza. Israeli warplanes attacked forty targets across Gaza overnight, as Israeli troops backed by tanks have pushed deep into the heart of Gaza City.



The Quds hospital in Gaza is now empty after it had to be evacuated because of a fire caused by a tank shell on Thursday. The evacuees included sick and wounded patients on stretchers and wheelchairs.



Meanwhile, thousands of Gazans are expected to turn out to the funeral of a top Hamas leader who was killed on Thursday. Hamas Interior Minister Said Siam was killed along with his son, brother and two other Hamas officials when his brother’s house in Gaza City was bombed.



The Israeli army has closed all access to the West Bank for the next two days, following a call by Hamas for Palestinians to observe what it called a day of wrath, by staging anti-Israeli protests at Friday prayers.



AMY GOODMAN: Since Israel started its bombardment of Gaza, over 1,100 Palestinians have been killed, more than 5,200 wounded. At least 700 civilians are among the dead, including more than 350 children. Thirteen Israelis have died, ten of them soldiers, including four by so-called “friendly” fire.



The Palestinian Statistics Bureau is reporting Israel’s assault has cost the Palestinian economy at least $1.4 billion. The bureau said 26,000 Gazans were unable to live in their homes and were being housed in temporary shelter. Much of Gaza’s infrastructure lies in ruins. 20,000 residential buildings have been damaged; 4,000 have been destroyed.



On the diplomatic front, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon met with Palestinian officials in the West Bank city of Ramallah and urged Israel to declare a unilateral ceasefire. Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is due to meet with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Washington today, and an Israeli envoy was sent to Cairo to discuss ceasefire terms offered by Hamas. Hamas is reported to be offering a year-long truce if Israel withdraws from Gaza and lifts its blockade.



Rashid Khalidi is with us now. He’s the Edward Said Professor of Arab Studies and the director of the Middle East Institute at Columbia University here in New York. His forthcoming book is called Sowing Crisis: The Cold War and American Hegemony in the Middle East. He joins us here in our firehouse studio.



Welcome to Democracy Now!



RASHID KHALIDI: Thank you, Amy. Thank you, Juan.



AMY GOODMAN: Your analysis of what’s happening in Gaza right now?



RASHID KHALIDI: The United States is allowing Israel to continue, as it has in every war that I can remember, to move forward—in this case, move over, in effect, the bodies of women and children, as you mentioned. Over 300 of the killed are children. 55 percent of the population of Gaza are children. So, every tank shell, every artillery shell, every bombardment risks killing children, and a huge proportion of the casualties are civilians. We don’t know how many, because there are probably people buried in ruins of neighborhoods that the Israeli army makes too unsafe for rescue people to go into.



AMY GOODMAN: And Israel just says if Hamas stops shelling southern Lebanon with its rockets, they’ll stop.



RASHID KHALIDI: They do. They have carried out one of the most brilliant propaganda campaigns I have ever seen, long before this began. The dehumanization of the Palestinians and the demonization of Hamas laid the groundwork for this. They did what I call “clearing the crime scene before the crime” by removing all witnesses. When I was in Jerusalem in November, Western journalists were complaining bitterly to me that they couldn’t get into Gaza. And, of course, there are no Western journalists in Gaza, because they have basically carried out the recommendations of the Winograd report that was issued after their war in Lebanon in 2006, one of which was you have to control the media. You have to make sure that you manipulate data, control images.



And they’ve done a brilliant job of that, at least in this country and to a lesser extent in Israel. The rest of the world sees what’s going on, because they’re taking the feeds by Palestinian journalists in Gaza, and the pictures and images by themselves and the numbers that you recited tell the story. On the other hand, we have the New York Times, which had an article this morning on the bombardment of the United Nations headquarters, the destruction of the entire food and medical supplies of the United Nations, and which managed to give ten paragraphs to Israel’s justification for an attack on the United Nations. I mean, even for the Times, that’s a kind of a record.



JUAN GONZALEZ: The lack of outcry by even Arab governments across the Middle East on this, your sense of how—what the role of the relationship of the Arab governments is to the street, to the Arab street, right now?



RASHID KHALIDI: Well, they are democratic, authoritarian, autocratic governments. They rule in spite of and against the will of their peoples. They have clearly separated themselves, those who have in effect supported or tacitly supported this Israeli offensive, because they desire to see Hamas weakened, governments like that of Egypt. And they are braving popular discontent. There have been quite major demonstrations in places like Alexandria, 50,000-60,000 people, which is unusual for Egypt, because the secret—there are a million—there are a million Muhabarat secret police. They’re huge. I was in Cairo two weeks ago. When the president moves, literally tens of thousands of security people flood the streets. And that’s the kinds of—those are the kinds of regimes that are supporting, in effect, tacitly supporting, this Israeli operation.

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AMY GOODMAN: We actually have video of you in Egypt that came over Reuters a week before Israel launched its assault on Gaza. You warned against expecting major changes from Obama’s White House. This is what you said in Cairo in mid-December.



RASHID KHALIDI: The lethal combination of the fear of appearing soft on terrorism, which has sort of replaced the fear of being soft on communism in American public discourse, together with the unparalleled clout of the American military-industrial complex, may unfortunately help to prolong the agony brought on by the current heavy American footprint in the Middle East, whatever intentions President Obama may have.



AMY GOODMAN: Can you elaborate on this?



RASHID KHALIDI: Well, we have an absolutely huge presence in the Middle East, unprecedentedly large. Never since World War II has the United States had such an enormous presence. At the height of the Cold War, when the United States was ostensibly facing a formidable rival, the United States did not have this many troops, this many bases, and so on and so forth. There’s an enormous investment in that, and that is something that I think has to be addressed at the root. Why do we have so many forces in these countries? It is very unpopular. Overwhelming majorities of Iraqis in every poll that I have ever seen are against our military presence in Iraq. And I think you’d find the same kinds of numbers in most other countries. This is one aspect of it.



And another aspect of it is the stranglehold of conventional wisdom in Washington, as far as what is to be done. It is distressing to see the same people who have engineered the failures of American policy over three—you could even say four, back to Reagan—successive administrations being considered for positions in the Obama administration dealing with Middle East policy. These are not just retreads. These are people who have comprehensively failed. In fact, many of them have written memoirs talking about how and why they failed. Let us just read what they say and see why we should never put these people anywhere near the levers of power.



AMY GOODMAN: Like who?



RASHID KHALIDI: Well, the most preeminent among them is Dennis Ross, but there are others.



JUAN GONZALEZ: The trajectory of Obama’s positions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, from the days—from his earlier days ’til then to the campaign and now to his silence during this period now before his inauguration, could you comment on that?



RASHID KHALIDI: Well, our President-elect is a politician, and he is, I assume, attentive to these wins, as he is to all political wins. There is not in this country a movement, there is not in this country a sustainable major political force able to say—which I think represents a large majority of Americans, if they knew, and even a large—I would guess a majority of the American Jewish community, many of whom do know. On the contrary, what we have is the appearance of a one-sided debate. We don’t have a debate in our political discourse, and in most of what appears in the media, we have what we had in the New York Times this morning: an atrocity and ten paragraphs of the New York Times carrying justifications of that.



AMY GOODMAN: And yet—



RASHID KHALIDI: And—sorry, Amy. And television is far, far worse.



AMY GOODMAN: And yet, you have a growing opposition in this country at the grassroots. I mean, particularly now on Gaza, yes, you have major demonstrations of Arab Americans and Palestinians, but also a growing number of Jewish Americans—



RASHID KHALIDI: Right.



AMY GOODMAN: —who are speaking out all over the country by the thousands.



RASHID KHALIDI: Right. I mean, if I were to say something to any American politician, it would be “Look at the votes in this last presidential election in the American Jewish community.” 76 percent of the American Jewish community—78, by some other figures—voted for Obama. Barack Obama was described as a Muslim. His middle man, Hussein, was stressed. The fact that he had a connection with me, a Palestinian who had political connections, was repeated by the presidential and vice-presidential candidates on the Republican side. In spite of that, he won 76 or 78 percent of the vote. The people who voted for McCain are the people who are really identified with AIPAC and the major American Jewish organizations. The people who voted for Obama, in spite of these things, are people who actually are open-minded on these issues.



AMY GOODMAN: And what did you make of this huge attack at him, especially at the end, if you can call it an attack, with McCain speaking on Larry King, Sarah Palin continually invoking your name—



RASHID KHALIDI: Right.



AMY GOODMAN: —“Rashid Khalidi, Rashid Khalidi,” and putting it together with the word “terrorist.”



RASHID KHALIDI: Well, if I may mix metaphors, it was a failed Hail Mary. I mean, to their enormous credit, the American people didn’t buy it. They voted for Barack Obama and Senator Biden, in spite of the constant invocation of Bill Ayers and terrorism and in spite of the invocation of my name.



AMY GOODMAN: You knew him? Can you speak to him? Can you talk to him now? Do you have access to President Obama, or President-elect for the next few days?



RASHID KHALIDI: I mean, I was—we were his neighbors. We lived in the same neighborhood. We were colleagues at the University of Chicago. We saw each other quite frequently. I could—I mean, it is not easy to reach a president. The cocoons, the layers, are quite formidable.



JUAN GONZALEZ: And in your expectation, once he comes in, do you think that there’s going to be any semblance of a change in policy toward the Middle East?



RASHID KHALIDI: There will be a change in policy. I mean we’re already seeing it insofar as Iraq is concerned. I think we hopefully will see it in other areas. No, there will be a change. The question is how far. And enormous change is needed. I mean, everything we’ve been doing over not just the past administration—it’s easy to criticize George Bush—but what has been done over several administrations has been fundamentally mistaken. And I don’t know how radical a turn he is going to be able to make, even if he’s willing and desirous of doing so.



AMY GOODMAN: Do you think he should have spoken out?



RASHID KHALIDI: Over Gaza, you mean?



AMY GOODMAN: Now, before he’s president, what people are calling for.



RASHID KHALIDI: Well, I mean, he’s the President-elect. He managed to deliver himself of pronouncements about Mumbai and about the economy. The only thing he said about Gaza was humanitarian, and he’s concerned about the casualties. I am more hopeful that once he is president, he will speak very directly to all the parties, not just to Israel, but also to the Egyptians and also to the Palestinian Authority. I hope he will change American policy. I think the important thing is when he’s president and when his team is in place, which it is not yet. The people who will actually execute whatever policies are decided at the top have not yet been chosen.



JUAN GONZALEZ: And your sense of the impact of this latest Israeli invasion on the political forces within Palestinian community in the Middle East, the relationship between Hamas and Fatah, and what this is going to mean in the end?



RASHID KHALIDI: Well, we have two extremely weak and unpopular movements, led, in my view, by people whose ideas are bankrupt and mistaken, in Hamas and Fatah. When I was there—I was in the West Bank, I was not able to go to Gaza—when I was in the West Bank and Jerusalem, it was clear that in a free and fair election both groups together wouldn’t get 30 or 35 percent of the vote.



People detest Fatah. They loathe it. And their loathing has increased as a result of its failure to act in defense of its own people, not just during the siege; the Palestinian Authority was complicit in the blockade of Gaza for a year and a half. People who claim to represent the Palestinian people were conniving in the blockade of one-and-a-half million of their citizens, of the people they purportedly represented.



Hamas was extremely unpopular for firing rockets at Israel, to no purpose except causing civilian casualties and bringing fire and brimstone down on the heads of a million and a half innocent civilians.



So, both have been, I would argue, weakened. I would—my guess is the Palestinian Authority and Fatah much more. The Arab regimes, I think, have been weakened. Their position is detested and loathed by most of their people. People are ashamed of what their governments have done, all over the Arab world.



AMY GOODMAN: What could they do? What can the Arab governments do now?



RASHID KHALIDI: What could they do? They could insist on a ceasefire, I mean, very simply.



AMY GOODMAN: And why aren’t they?



RASHID KHALIDI: Well, many of them are in agreement with the goal of weakening Hamas, very simply. I mean, in Egypt, this is a domestic security issue. Hamas is connected to the Muslim Brotherhood. The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt is the main opposition movement. It couldn’t be simpler. The same is true in Jordan: the Muslim Brotherhood is the main—or it is actually the main opposition movement in Jordan. And so forth. So, for these regimes, keeping their chairs, keeping their thrones, keeping their money, their power, is the only thing that’s really important. Their people? They don’t care about their people.



AMY GOODMAN: We’re going to go to break, and when we come back—I know you have family in Gaza—we’re going to go to a professor, to an astrophysicist here in this country who has just lost his son, who was eleven years old. We’re talking to Professor Rashid Khalidi. He is a professor at Columbia University, the Edward Said Professor of Arab Studies. He’s also director of the Middle East Institute at Columbia. This is Democracy Now! Back in a minute.

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Meanwhile, in the Occupied Territories, the toll from Israel’s three-week assault on the Gaza Strip continues to rise as more bodies are found beneath the rubble of destroyed homes and buildings. More than 100 corpses have been recovered since Israel declared a ceasefire on Saturday. Despite the official ceasefire, Israeli gunboats continue to shell areas of Gaza. Earlier today, a Palestinian man and girl were wounded when an Israeli gunboat shelled the shores of Gaza City. The Israeli military said it opened fire to fend off a Palestinian fishing boat that it says went too far offshore.

Israeli Supreme Court Rejects Humanitarian Plea

Meanwhile, the Israeli Supreme Court has rejected a petition from two human rights groups seeking the evacuation of Gaza’s wounded and the immediate delivery of electricity to power Gaza’s crumbling infrastructure. Gaza’s health, water and sewage systems all suffered extensive damage in the Israeli attack after already barely functioning before the invasion. The court rejected the petitions without even waiting to hear the arguments against it by the Israeli government.

Hamas Political Leader Urges Talks, End to Boycott

The exiled political leader of Hamas is urging the US and European nations to end its boycott and negotiate. Speaking in Syria, Khaled Meshaal said, “Three years of trying to eliminate Hamas is enough. It is time for you to deal with Hamas, which has gained legitimacy through struggle.” Meshal also hinted that Hamas would still be open to a political settlement with Israel, saying, “This battle has proved that force alone will not provide security for [Israel] and that peace will not be at the expense of Palestinian rights.”

Israel to Probe Own White Phosphorus Use

The Israeli military, meanwhile, says it will probe allegations of illegal use of white phosphorus during the Gaza assault. Israel has been accused of illegally firing white phosphorus over crowded refugee camps in Gaza. Bill Van Esveld of Human Rights Watch said he fears Israel’s probe will cover up its actions.



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The Israeli government is vowing to give legal protection to soldiers accused of committing war crimes during the twenty-two-day attack on Gaza which left over 1,300 Palestinians dead and more than 5,000 wounded. On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told his cabinet the Israeli military would be safe from any war crime charges brought against them by the international community.

Ehud Olmert: “The commanders and soldiers sent to Gaza should know they are safe from various tribunals, and the state of Israel will assist them on this front and will protect them as they protected us with their bodies during the military operation in Gaza.”

Amnesty International has accused Israel of war crimes, including the use of white phosphorus in crowded civilian areas. For weeks, Israel has denied using white phosphorus, but over the weekend a Foreign Ministry spokesperson confirmed its use but claimed it was not used in an illegal manner. Eight Israeli human rights groups have called on the Israeli government to investigate the scale of the casualties, describing the number of dead Palestinian women and children as “terrifying.” UN humanitarian chief John Holmes called the casualty toll “shocking.”

John Holmes: “What I saw on the ground was even more shocking than I had expected in the extent and the nature of the destruction that there was there. Of course, it’s not universal, and it’s not the same in some areas as in others. There are some areas, for example, of Gaza City which are relatively—I say relatively—spared, with only the odd building destroyed or hit. But there are other areas I visited where most or all buildings had been destroyed and leveled.”



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Daniyal;1119150 wrote:



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I take it you are not Jewish??

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BTS;1119212 wrote: I take it you are not Jewish??


Why Should That Matter ? Does The Truth Bother You , You More Then Welcome To Add Your Though's . Anytime . By The Way Don't Come With That Anti-Jewish Crap Ok . Because That A Old Trick .

[Daniyal]

In other Iraq news, the Iraqi government has announced it will refuse to renew the operating license for the private military firm Blackwater Worldwide. Iraq says it also won’t allow Blackwater guards accused of wrongdoing to work for other companies. An Interior Ministry spokesperson said Blackwater will be ordered to leave Iraq as soon as Iraqi and US officials complete a new set of rules governing private contractors. The State Department employs Blackwater to guards US officials and installations. In 2007, Blackwater guards killed seventeen Iraqi civilians in an unprovoked massacre in Baghdad’s Nisoor Square



Iraq Holds Provincial Elections

In Iraq, tens of thousands of people have cast early ballots ahead of this weekend’s provincial elections. It’s Iraq’s first national vote since 2005.



Democracy Now.com

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Robert Pastor is a senior adviser to the Carter Center and a professor at American University who met with exiled Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal in Damascus on Dec. 14, along with former President Jimmy Carter. Pastor says Meshaal indicated Hamas was willing to go back to the ceasefire if Israel would lift the siege on Gaza. He says he passed along the statement to the Israeli military, but he never heard back. Two weeks later, Israel launched its three-week assault that left more than 1,300 Palestinians, most of them civilians, at least a third children, dead

JUAN GONZALEZ: President Obama has pledged “active engagement” for a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. In his first day in office, Obama called President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel, King Abdullah of Jordan and President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority. He did not reach out to leaders of Hamas, who rose to power in democratic elections three years ago.



Meanwhile, Obama plans to announce the selection of former Senate majority leader George Mitchell as Middle East envoy. Mitchell is expected to travel to the region almost immediately upon taking the post. Obama will also meet with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton later today.



Israel declared a unilateral ceasefire in Gaza on Saturday, three days before Obama was sworn into office. The twenty-two-day assault killed more than 1,300 Palestinians, most of them civilians, at least a third children. More than 5,500 were injured. Hamas also declared its own week-long ceasefire, which ends on Sunday. Hamas is demanding an immediate reopening of Gaza’s border crossings and the lifting of an Israeli blockade.



This is Hamas spokesperson Fawzi Barhoum.



FAWZI BARHOUM: But we are stressing that the stopping of the aggression and the withdrawal of the occupation—God willing, with no return—is not enough. What is needed is a complete ending of the siege and an opening of all crossings and a guarantee that the Zionist occupiers won’t go back to this ugly operation.



JUAN GONZALEZ: Israel has refused to fully open border crossings to allow desperately needed aid, goods and construction materials into Gaza. Meanwhile, exiled Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal claimed “unequivocal victory” over Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip.



KHALED MESHAAL: This is the first war that our nation has won on its land, the first real major war. That’s why the battle in Gaza is a turning point in the conflict with the Zionist enemy. It is establishing, with its achievements, its timing, its greatness, a serious and active strategy for liberation that begins from Palestine and extends with the support of the nation to everywhere.



AMY GOODMAN: Robert Pastor is a senior adviser on conflict resolution at the Carter Center and a professor of international relations at American University. Last month he traveled to Syria with President Carter, where they met with Khaled Meshaal of Hamas. Robert Pastor served as national security adviser on Latin America and the Caribbean under President Carter from 1977 to ’81. He joins us now from Washington, D.C.



Welcome to Democracy Now!, Robert Pastor. Can you tell us about this crucial trip you took just before the Israeli assault?



ROBERT PASTOR: Well, we have, of course, visited the Middle East many times before that and had previous conversations with Khaled Meshaal. But on this trip, it occurred just before the end of the six-month ceasefire. And the question is whether it would be renewed.



On the part of Hamas, they made very clear that they had done what they could do to try to stop the rockets. And indeed, from the period from late June to November 4th, when the Israelis intervened in Gaza to close down a tunnel, they had virtually stopped the rockets. But from their side, Israel had not complied with the ceasefire. It was supposed to have lifted all of the border crossings, allowing 750 trucks a day to go in. That never came close to occurring. In the absence of opening of those crossings, they said they would not renew the ceasefire.



JUAN GONZALEZ: Well, one of the things that Israel has been repeatedly claiming is that during the ceasefire, that Hamas was restocking, increasingly smuggling in more arms into Gaza. Your response or sense about the veracity of those claims?



ROBERT PASTOR: Oh, I have no doubt that Hamas was importing rockets during the entire period, but that was never one of the elements in the ceasefire agreement. I don’t even know if it was seriously negotiated by Israel through Egypt. So, their importing the rockets did not necessarily imply a violation of the ceasefire agreement.



The key element, from the Israeli standpoint, in the ceasefire was to stop the rockets. Hamas acknowledged that it did not stop them on June 19th, which was required under the agreement. But within ten days, they were able to stop it. And between then and November 4th, a total of eleven rockets, fewer than three a month, were fired. And according to Hamas, most of these came from militant groups, including one associated with Fatah. So from their side, they felt they pretty much kept to the agreement.



AMY GOODMAN: So, can you explain, Robert Pastor, who exactly you and President Carter communicated with?



ROBERT PASTOR: Well, in Damascus, of course, we met with the politburo and Khaled Meshaal. I went on to the West Bank in Israel and met with senior leaders from both the Palestinian Authority and other Hamas leaders, as well as senior Israeli government officials, and, in the case of Israel, communicated very clearly that Hamas felt and was willing to contemplate extending the ceasefire if Israel would lift the siege on that. I think, by this time, they considered it, and they said they would get back to me with a very specific response, but they didn’t.



AMY GOODMAN: What exactly happened on November 4th?



ROBERT PASTOR: On November 4th, Israel intervened into Gaza to shut down a tunnel. There is some dispute as to whether that tunnel was intended to capture an Israeli soldier or whether it was a defensive tunnel to protect against an Israeli incursion. But in the course of that particular incursion, which of course was a violation of the ceasefire, six Hamas militants were killed. Hamas then responded with 124 rockets that month. So, to a certain degree, the ceasefire was broken as early as November 4th, but technically it was to extend six months until December 19th.



JUAN GONZALEZ: Now, Robert Pastor, the continuing insistence by the Israeli government, and backed by the US government, that they will not deal with Hamas—in most other wars or conflicts, the belligerents eventually have to negotiate some kind of a settlement. To what degree is this helping or hurting the peace process in the Middle East?



ROBERT PASTOR: I think for the peace process to go forward, the ceasefire needs to be made much more sturdy, and they need to learn lessons from the first ceasefire from June 19th to December 19th in what went wrong. I would say the most important single lesson is there was no agreed official text between the two sides. The Israelis would not acknowledge—would neither confirm nor deny the text that Hamas gave to us and that I showed to them. Some people suggested that the elements in it were correct. But it was clear that Israel did not want to fully accept such an agreement; if a ceasefire is to go forward, they will need to.



I think, secondly, the United States should play a role in this mediation effort. It’s clear that Egypt is now questioned by Hamas as to whether they were an honest broker, and indeed there is some evidence that perhaps they said different things to each of the two parties. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but I do know that if they want to make the ceasefire work, a good mediation is essential. The text needs to be agreed to. All of the elements need to be agreed to. And it needs to be enforced and monitored in a way that the first ceasefire was not.



AMY GOODMAN: So, Robert Pastor, are you saying that it was Israel that broke the ceasefire and that the Israeli assault could have been avoided?



ROBERT PASTOR: I’m saying that both sides violated the key elements of the ceasefire. The rockets never absolutely completely stopped, even though they went from about 250 a month to fewer than three a month. From the standpoint of Israel, that may not have been good enough. On the other hand, from the principal concern of Hamas, which was to open the barriers, Israel really never tried very hard to open them. The numbers of trucks, on average, that went in increased from 100 to 200, but the amount that was supposed to go in was roughly 750 a day. Israel never came close to that. I think, as I said, to make the ceasefire work, both sides need to comply.



I think, with regard to the question of whether Israel had an alternative than to invade in Gaza, I think the answer is obvious, that it did, that an effective ceasefire, full compliance with the agreement, would have stopped the rockets without the terrible loss of life that occurred.



AMY GOODMAN: If Israel had an offer from Hamas to extend the ceasefire if it ended the blockade, why do you think Israel attacked?



ROBERT PASTOR: I think Israel was of two minds. First of all, whether to accept any deal with Hamas, they were never very clear on what their objective was. Was their objective to exterminate Hamas, which is an awful goal, particularly for a country born of the Holocaust? Was it to punish Hamas or to disrupt their command and control? Or was it simply to stop the rockets? We’ve never heard a very clear declaration of objectives on the part of Israel. And so, we don’t really know what their intention was in going in. And if it were to stop the rockets, however, it is clear that they did have another alternative other than a massive invasion.



JUAN GONZALEZ: And your sense of how Hamas has emerged from this, its standing within the Palestinian community, as well as within the general Arab world?



ROBERT PASTOR: We don’t know yet for sure, because public opinion surveys have not been undertaken in the West Bank and Gaza yet. On the eve of the invasion, ironically, Fatah was much stronger. There was a public opinion poll that came out from Khalil Shikaki that indicated that if there were an election, Abu Mazen, the president of the Palestinian Authority, would win by twelve to fourteen points, and Fatah would win over Hamas even in Gaza. But initial reports coming out after the invasion suggest now the opposite has occurred, that Hamas is stronger, and Fatah is weaker, because of the invasion. And that would be still one more tragic irony of this invasion. If the purpose was to weaken Hamas, apparently it had the opposite effect.



AMY GOODMAN: Finally, your thoughts on George Mitchell as President Obama’s choice to be the Middle East envoy and what you think Obama should do now?



ROBERT PASTOR: President Obama was true to his word. He actually told President Carter, and he told others, that on his first day in office he would move quickly on the issue of peace in the Middle East, and he did so with the telephone calls to leaders in the region.



The decision to appoint George Mitchell as special envoy is a very encouraging and a very positive step. This is a man of independent stature, a man of proven capability. In the case of Northern Ireland, he helped bring the IRA into the political process. And to the extent that the challenge in Israel and Palestine is to find a way to bring the spoilers, those who believe that only violent resistance is the way to independence, such as Hamas, the way to bring them into the process—the way to bring peace is to bring them into the process. Certainly, George Mitchell has had personal experience in this. So I think this particular step of naming him is a very encouraging step to all of those who genuinely care about peace in the Middle East and understand that the United States needs to play an honest broker’s role if there is to be peace in the Middle East.



The next step is for him, I hope, to go to the Middle East, as has been promised, and to begin to listen to all parties and to play a role in mediating a really strong ceasefire, so that it will work, that it won’t break by Sunday, which is a concern that some people have, and that, to go beyond that, to seek reconciliation among the different Palestinian entities that would permit a free election and permit Palestine into negotiate on a united way with Israel, and to send a message to Israel that the United States is committed to peace, it’s committed to Israel’s security, but that that security relies on a two-state solution, a sharing of Jerusalem, 1967 borders, a right to return with compensation, rather than necessarily having Palestinians return to Israel. The basic elements of peace are known. What is needed now is real leadership by the United States. And President Obama’s first steps are extremely encouraging.



AMY GOODMAN: Robert Pastor, thank you for being with us, senior adviser on conflict resolution at the Carter Center, professor of international relations at American University.

[Oscar Namechange]

Very interesting and some-thing i have been doing a lot of reading on.

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The Israeli government has admitted its most recent peace offer to Palestinian negotiators would still leave more than 200,000 Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank. The offer was made in talks between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. In meetings with US envoy George Mitchell, both Olmert and Abbas confirmed the Israeli offer would remove just 60,000 settlers of the 290,000 in the West Bank. The remaining 230,000 settlers would stay in the large settlement blocs that nearly cut the West Bank in half. Not a single Palestinian refugee would be granted the right to return to their former home in Israel. Palestinians were offered an equal amount of Israeli land in return and shared sovereignty over parts of East Jerusalem. But the settlements are widely considered illegal under international law and a non-starter for many Palestinians. Palestinian negotiators reportedly refused a demand to sign off on the deal that would then be handled by the winner of the upcoming Israeli elections.

Israeli FM Promises “Maximum Settlers” on Palestinian Land

Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is leading polls and has rejected any territorial concession to the Palestinians. And even though the offer would still ensure Israeli control over key settlement blocs, Netanyahu’s opponent, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, has distanced herself from the proposal as being too generous. Livni said, “I will advance only an agreement that represents our interests. Maintaining maximum settlers and places that we hold dear such as Jerusalem—not a single refugee will enter.” Meanwhile, Mitchell continued his Mideast tour with meetings in the occupied West Bank. On Thursday, Mitchell sat down with Abbas in Ramallah.

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preventing the illicit trafficking of arms into Gaza, there must be a mechanism to allow the flow of legal goods, and that should be with the participation of the Palestinian Authority. President Obama has also underlined our commitment to a better future for all Palestinians, whose legitimate aspirations for an independent and viable state should be met.”

Report: Israel Hid Settlement Data

Mitchell’s visit comes amidst reports the Israeli government has deliberately hidden its own data showing rapid construction in West Bank settlements. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports an internal government survey found construction in three out of four settlements was conducted without proper permits and, in many cases, on private Palestinian land. The Israeli group Peace Now said this week settlement expansion grew 57 percent last year. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Abbas told Mitchell that Israel’s blockade of Gaza and its expanding West Bank settlements are the main obstacles to peace.

Saeb Erekat: “For the Israelis to continue their settlement activities and at the same time to continue trying to separate between the West Bank and Gaza, because we believe that the Israeli attacks and aggression against Gaza—one of the objective is to keep the West Bank separated from Gaza, and this cannot stand. The West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem are a single territorial unit that’s the territory of the Palestinian state, and we will spare no effort, as President Abbas told Mr. Mitchell, to pursue, with the assistance of our Egyptian brothers, the path of national reconciliation."

Mitchell won’t be traveling to Gaza, as the Obama White House continues the Bush administration’s boycott of the democratically elected Hamas government. In Gaza, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh urged Obama to break with Bush policy.

Ismail Haniyeh: “To build relations, as President Obama said, with the Arab and Islamic world stemming from mutual respect and mutual interests, we say the gate to this relationship with our Arab and Islamic world is from Palestine, from the Palestinian cause and from the need of a change in the US policy when it comes to the Palestinian rights and their suffering."

UN Launches Gaza Appeal

The UN,meanwhile, has launched a new humanitarian appeal to help rebuild Gaza and aid victims of the Israeli attack. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon spoke from the gathering of business leaders in Davos, Switzerland.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon: “The population were already vulnerable because of so many months of severely restricted supplies. That is why the humanitarian special appeal for Gaza that we are announcing today is so timely and so important. With the help of this $613 million appeal, the United Nations and other aid agencies can jump into action to help the 1.4 million civilians in the Gaza Strip to recover."

Turkish PM Walks Out of Panel with Israeli President

In other news from Davos, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan walked out of a panel discussion Thursday after a heated exchange with Israeli President Shimon Peres. Erdogan had tried to respond to Peres’s defense of Israel’s attack on Gaza.

Israeli President Shimon Peres: “What is there to fight? So the ceasefire is, as far as Israel is concerned, it is not a problem for us. We have never started, we shall never start fire. And when they fired against us, we replied, but after a great restraint, and thousands of people were killed too. They weren’t killed in a concentrated manner. So what? Doesn’t matter."

Erdogan tried to respond but was cut off by debate moderator, Washington Post reporter David Ignatius. But he later angrily continued his response.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan: “You killed people. I remember the children who died on the beaches, and I remember two former prime ministers in your country who said they felt very happy when they were able to enter Palestinian territories in tanks, and they felt very satisfied with themselves. I find it very sad to see that people applaud what you have said, because there have been so many people who have been killed, and I think that it is very wrong, and it’s not humanitarian to applaud any actions that have had that kind of result.”

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In Iraq, the State Department is searching for a replacement to the private military company Blackwater Worldwide. Iraq announced this week it won’t renew Blackwater’s license to guard US personnel and installations. The US says it will comply with the order and has already spoken to the companies Dyncorp International and Triple Canopy. Five Blackwater guards were charged last month for the September 2007 mass shootings of seventeen unarmed civilians in Baghdad’s Nisoor Square.



For More Information Check-out Democracy Now.org

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oscar;1122076 wrote: Very interesting and some-thing i have been doing a lot of reading on.




Very good move this way you'll see both side of what really happening ! Israeli controling what be said in the Media . Democracy Now.org even come on T.V. You should check it out if you can.

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In Afghanistan, 21 police officers died today after a suicide bomber dressed in a police uniform blew himself up inside a police training center in southern Afghanistan. The attack occurred in the city of Tirin Kot, the capital of Uruzgan province. The Taliban has claimed responsibility.

43 Civilians Die in Pakistan Fighting

In neighboring Pakistan, at least forty-three civilians were killed Sunday when they were caught in the crossfire between Pakistani forces and Taliban fighters. The deaths occurred in the Swat Valley region of Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province.

UN Worker Kidnapped in Pakistan

In southwestern Pakistan, gunmen have kidnapped an American UN worker and killed his driver. John Solecki is the regional head of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. Later this week, Richard Holbrooke plans to make his first trip to the region as President Obama’s new envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan.



Democracy Now.org

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Over the weekend, President Obama released $20 million from the US Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance Fund for use in the Palestinian region. Obama’s Middle East envoy George Mitchell announced the aid package during a stop in Jerusalem.

George Mitchell: “President Obama has expressed his deep concern about the recent loss of life and the substantial suffering in Gaza. I am pleased to announce that this week the President directed the use of another $20.3 million to provide emergency food and medical assistance to the wounded and displaced in Gaza.”

The $20 million in aid is a fraction of the over $3 billion the US sends annually in aid to Israel.



Democracy Now.org

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Human rights groups are accusing Israel of mistreating Palestinian prisoners during the twenty-two-day attack on Gaza.

Bana Shoughry-Badarne, lawyer of the Public Committee Against Torture: “We demand an in-depth, impartial, independent and comprehensive investigation to the conditions in which people from Gaza were held, were detained, inhumanely and in a way—the degrading way and humiliating way. We demand this investigation to be held immediately, and we want to hear the result.”

Israel Imposes Sanctions on Al Jazeera

The Israeli government says it will impose sanctions on Israel-based employees of the Al Jazeera television network in response to closure last month of the Israeli trade office in Qatar, which hosts and funds the network. Qatar closed the office in opposition to Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip. Haaretz reports Israel will not renew the visas of Al Jazeera’s non-Israeli employees or grant visas to new employees. Station representatives will not be allowed into briefings or press conferences. The Israeli government has also instructed Knesset members and ministers not to grant interviews or otherwise cooperate with the station. Al Jazeera was the only television network with reporters inside Gaza during Israel’s twenty-two-day assault.



Democracy Now.org

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Meanwhile, the Israeli government has announced another new West Bank settlement expansion that will violate the US-backed road map. Israel says it will establish a new settlement to replace a settlers’ outpost it hadn’t approved. Up to 1,400 housing units will be built under the plan. Last month, the Israeli group Peace Now reported settlement expansion increased nearly 60 percent in 2008.

Clinton Calls for Palestinian State

At the State Department, Middle East envoy George Mitchell returned from his first trip abroad to announce a follow-up visit later this month.

Middle East envoy George Mitchell: “The situation is obviously complex and difficult, and there are no easy or risk-free courses of action. But I’m convinced, after a week there, that my original assessment, that with patient, determined and persevering diplomacy, we can help to make a difference and that we can assist those in the region achieve the peace and stability that people on all sides long for.”

Mitchell appeared with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who called for “an independent and viable” Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza. Ten years ago, the Clinton administration was forced to distance itself from Clinton when she made similar remarks as First Lady.

Group: DirecTV Rejects Ad Critical of Israeli Occupation

The satellite network DirecTV is being accused of censorship after reportedly refusing to air a commercial critical of US backing for Israel’s attack on the Gaza Strip. The spot was produced by the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation. It lists the number of Palestinian dead from Israeli attacks and criticizes Israel for blocking aid and supplies. It then calls for cutting US military aid to Israel, concluding, “President Barack Obama, we need a change of policy toward Israel/ Palestine.” The group says DirecTV abruptly refused to air the ad after having reached an agreement.

Report: Obama to Offer Russia 80% Nuke Reduction

The Obama administration is reportedly readying a plan to offer Russia a major reduction to each country’s stockpile of nuclear weapons. The Times of London reports President Obama will propose to reduce stockpiles by 80 percent to 1,000 weapons each. Obama will also pledge to “review” the Bush administration’s missile program in eastern Europe. A newly created White House nonproliferation office would oversee the talks.

Mistrial Declared in RNC Case

And in Minneapolis, the trial of a young activist accused of making Molotov cocktails during the Republican National Convention has ended in a mistrial. The accused protester, David Guy McKay, has said he fell victim to entrapment from an activist turned government informant named Brandon Darby. McKay says Darby came up with the idea for the firebombs and encouraged the activists to make them. McKay has been set free until a new trial begins next month.



Democracy Now.org