This morning at approximately 8AM local time, Israeli Occupation Forces, backed by tanks and helicopters, moved 3 kilometers into the Gaza Strip, to the Shuja’yah and Zatoun neighborhoods east of Gaza City. By noon, 17 Palestinians had been killed and 45 injured, 5 in a very serious condition.
The Israeli government described it as a routine operation. Sadly, that is exactly what such massacres have become. Since the Annapolis conference, that huge charade announcing in earnest the restart of the ‘peace process’, the rate of Palestinians killed by the Israel Occupation Forces has doubled. Over 100 Palestinians have been murdered since then-a clear indication of Israel’s commitment to painful compromises for the sake of peace.
Disturbingly, Abbashole & Co. continue to meet with the Israeli leadership for ‘negotiations’. What exactly is being negotiated is beyond me. It’s just another sad chapter in the history of the Palestinian Authority, which from its inception has done nothing but deceive the Palestinian people into believing that there is progress towards achieving independence (when in fact the opposite is true). The PA’s leadership continues to benefit personally from the farce, conniving with the occupation against the people they are supposed to lead and represent.
Sadly, there is little sign that the massacres will stop anytime soon. Recently, Israeli media reported that the army has finalized its plan for a widescale operation in Gaza, with Palestinian civilian deaths estimated in the thousands. And yet, the world is infinitely more aghast at the flying pipes launched by Palestinians at their occupier. Just like Israel likes to keep reminding you that it Left Gaza Two Years Ago©, I want to remind you that the number of deaths caused by these projectiles over the last five years is less than the number of Palestinians killed in four hours this morning.
A link to the Palestinian Center of Human Rights preliminary account of the atrocity.
14 comments:
newswires say 16 of the casualties are hamas militants.
Well, if that was true, then they would be non-people. We all know that when combatants on the Israeli side are killed, it is treated as legitimate by the press.
Oh wait, no. They call it a terrorist attack, like when a Hezbollah rocket killed 15 soldiers during the bombardment of Lebanon in the summer of 2006, who were preparing to aid in the invasion of that country by Israeli combatants.
They were just "reservists" who were "resting" according to the NY Times.
These propagandists didn't even bother to mention that they were soldiers.
People are people. Militants are militants. Some wear uniforms and some don't have a country that has an army that issues uniforms. Some get called up only during times of crisis and get to go home to peaceful homes, and for some the violence and the poverty never ends.
This will never stop until all of us, Americans, Israelis, Palestinians, and other Arabs, realize that humanity doesn't change when you cross borders. Cultures and circumstances are different, but we are all basically just people trying to do our best under the weight of a lot of powerful forces that propel us towards violence. If you think Palestinians are the only ones who need to be reminded of that, then you haven't really been paying attention.
Don't you think that if you worried that you or your children might die brutal, horrific deaths, or maybe if you'd witnessed it happening to other children, perhaps even your own or those you know, that it would fundamentally change who you were as a human being and what you were wiling to do to try and stop that? That is not very different for a Palestinian than it is for an Israeli, I don't think.
Don't support violence. It's a very violent thing to do to disregard other human beings because you can't identify with them, whether it be from your couch or computer chair, or from a tank or a checkpoint.
Peace out.
Do you have a link to a reputable news agency's account of this? You've claimed both "atrocity" and "murder", and yet you've given us absolutely no evidence of either. You haven't even given us enough to dispute. You gave us absolutely nothing except an unsubstantiated accusation. I suppose I could go and try to find a news story on this myself, but you didn't even give me enough information to do that. All I have is Gaza and today's date. I'm not an expert on the middle east, man. When you make an accusation, you should present your case.
By the way, why is the only link you DO provide, to a Palestinian organization that I (of course) have never even heard of, which claims to be a "human rights" organization? If it's a human rights organization, can you direct me to the condemnations they made of HAMAS last year, when HAMAS was dragging whole Palestinian families from their homes and executing them in the street? That is what human rights organizations do, isn't it? Until I encounter a Palestinian "human rights" organization that condemns Palestinian violations of human rights, instead of just Israeli "atrocities" then I'm automatically NOT READING anything by a Palestinian that contains the words "human rights". Human rights are for everybody. That's why they are called human rights.
An objective problem with Palestinian Activism: Let's say 6 Hamas militants die in a gun battle with Israel. All of a sudden we're bombarded with cries of murder and massacre, come to find out that that's not the case. Then when there really is a massacre where innocent civilians have died, the world yawns collectively as the cries have become like the boy who cried wolf.
One of the biggest mistakes the Palestinians have ever made, and continue to make, is not calling out the terrorists for who they are and distancing themselves from them. In doing so, the world, unfarily though it is, lumps palestinian deaths as most likely being the result of terrorist activity.
The interesting thing, however, is that a good number of Palestinian activists (or at least the most vocal ones) consider Hamas militants to be freedom fighters and they would not consider them terrorists for even a second. In their mind, and in the mind of the author of this post Im sure, this really was a massacre at the hands of the evil Israeli army. I'd assume, though, that history and reality would indicate that such an approach, strategy, and thought process accomplishes nothing and is borderline counter-productive.
thank you safiyyah...for looking far beyond journalistic definitions and getting to the heart of the matter.
and I don't know what news you read/watch mr. p c but I heard/saw/read about this incident in gaza 10 different ways today. and yes, like safiyyah said, it's murder - whether what you call a reputable news agency deems it such or whether the victim is in a uniform or not or whether israel says he or she is a militant or whether a palestinian rocket killed an israeli victim.
khallis!
Programmer Craig:
Reputable news agency report:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7188807.stm
Palestinian human rights organisation that has critisism of "Palestinian human rights abuses" on it's front page:
http://www.pchrgaza.org/
Your two requests satisfied.
at least 13 militants were killed the reputable news source says. Massacre? Let's not fall into the boy who cried wolf syndrome.
An interesting contrast between Israel and Palestinians:
On Tuesday, at least 14 Palestinian militants and three Palestinian civilians were killed during an Israeli incursion into the Gaza strip. It was the most violent clash between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants since the Mideast peace process was revived last November. Also Tuesday, a Palestinian sniper killed an Ecuadorian volunteer working at an Israeli kibbutz near the Gaza border.
—
Israel targets militants who are engaging in acts of war against Israel. Palestinians target whatever is on the Israeli side of the border.
From the same article:
In the Gaza strip, ruled by the Islamic militant group Hamas, Palestinian medical workers said an Israeli air strike near Gaza City killed at least three Palestinian civilians, including a teenager. Israeli military authorities say they regret any loss of civilian life and have begun an investigation into the incident.
—
Palestinians never regret the loss of civilian life, and never investigate such incidents against Israelis. They celebrate the murder of civilians.
That is why I consider Israel to be the Good Guys in this conflict.
Miss Froy, could you point out where the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights criticizes Palestinians for violating others' human rights?
Pre-emptive reply: I know you think that Israel's expressions of regret are meaningless formalities, and their investigations are shams. But the Palestinians don't even bother to pretend that they care about respecting Israeli human rights.
And it's not like they're too honest to pretend. They pretended to have a massacre in Jenin, for example.
Sadly, there is little sign that the massacres will stop anytime soon.
That's up to the Palestinians. As long as they keep making war on Israel, they'll get it back.
Thank you, miss froy. My question about why a blog post made accusations of murder and atrocities without providing any evidence, remains unanswered, though.
I'll read the news article you linked and post a comment later, if I have one.
al-fanaan, you are the recent American convert to Islam, right? I'm not criticizing, by the way. I appreciate that you have chosen a name for yourself on this blog, and that you don't try to hide your background. It's unlikely that you and I get our news from the same sources, though. Also, on the web I only click on news stories that catch my eye. And I usually leave the TV on a news channel while I work, but it's just background noise unless something about the story catches my attention. And, unfortunately, stories about either Israelis or Palestinians haven't been capable of catching my attention for years. It's always the same old shit, no matter how many times they promise things will be different, this time.
Miss Froy,
http://www.pchrgaza.org/files/PressR/English/2007/letter13-9.html
Mr. Prime Minister,
We appreciate your efforts and commitment to respect and protect human rights and public freedoms. However, these face difficult challenges on the field. And we think that these challenges must be addressed immediately in a manner that reflects your commitments and answer our concerns as a human rights organization. We think that it is extremely important to maintain the delicate balance between the need to impose public order and security and the need to protect and respect human rights. We are certain that you will not preserve any effort to remedy these violations; and that you will take the necessary steps to put and end to them and to hold the responsible parties accountable to their deeds in a clear, transparent, and public manner.
I applaud that organizations impressive list of Palestinian-on-Palestinian human rights violations. However, that letter they sent out makes it sound like they are minor infractions that can be easily cleared up... perhaps with a press release expressing remorse? I've never seen a more gentle "condemnation". Is that how Palestinians treat Israeli human-rights abuses? Statements of remorse by Israelis have always been ridiculed by Palestinians.
I'd also like to see some condemnations of Palestinians for violating the human-rights of Israelis? I didn't see any of that, on that web page. I remain convinced that this human rights organization is concerned only with the human rights of Palestinians. It may be all they can do, under the circumstances - it probably wouldn't be good for their health to condemn Palestinians for violating the human rights of Jews - but it doesn't go very far towards establishing credibility as a human rights organization, does it?
Anyway...from the BBC article:
The dead militants included a son of Mahmoud Zahar, senior leader of the militant Islamist Hamas group in Gaza, the group said.
And:
The raid began when an Israeli undercover army unit targeted a house in the Zeitoun area used to launch rockets at Israel, but the Israelis were spotted by Palestinian gunmen who opened fire.
Not murder. Not an atrocity. Not a massacre. Not by anyone's definition. The accusations made in this blog post seem to be false.
Is anyone disputing the BBC article? does anyone have a different set of circumstances to put forward?
The raid began when an Israeli undercover army unit targeted a house in the Zeitoun area used to launch rockets at Israel, but the Israelis were spotted by Palestinian gunmen who opened fire.
Except it didn't stop there.
Post a Comment