LIVNI LA VIDA LOCA: Spitfire-side Chat

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, seen here raising a finger during her April visit to Qatar, may have used her visit to stick up for Shimon Peres' hurt feelings. (What kind of a weird flicking-off that is, and more significantly why the AFP posted this as their main closeup of Livni is beyond me.)


There are other possibilities though. Livni may also have been aiming the sentiment at Hamas, which is "controlling Gaza by weapons, training and money," apparently from Iran. (Of course not because they won the last election fair and square-- democracy anyone?) Or she was giving it to all the Gulf people who would rather excuse themselves to go barf than see formal ties, or worse, sit in a room with Israeli government officials.

The following is an internal discussion on the significance of the Qatari and Omani reception of Livni. As Chaim protested, "Why do you D-bags host these conversations on this listserv, take it to the blog!"

MHMD: Hey what do you guys make of this? Well, there really isn't much to make of it, I'm not surprised-but is there anything left to say about the Qataris and Omanis meeting so openly with Livni?

Emily: I had an argument with a friend recently. He's from Bahrain and was thinking of coming to Jordan, and I suggested that we meet there. I also said oh maybe I'll bring my friend along from Shefa Amr! She's never been to Jordan!

At which point he seriously took the conversation off the record and was like "wait... she's... israeli?" He didn't want to hang out with her in Jordan (a Muslim Arab Palestinian citizen of Israel) because of her Israeli passport. He was like, there's a boycott. I have to stick to my principles.

I think I spent a half an hour typing like a madwoman about all of the violations against Palestinians in Israel even though they are "Israeli." And furthermore pulled up the call for boycott and sanctions and sent him the actual text of it- 'institutional boycott' etc etc.

Anyway I'd like to post about this and the context of Livni's visit. I thought Qatar was like the rest of the Gulf states in that people with Israeli passports can't travel there? Or is it the one exception or something?

MHMD: Well, Qatar's always been the most openly friendly Gulf state with Israel-if I recall correctly they were the first to allow an Israeli Trade Office to open there. As far as I know, the ban on Israeli passport holders in the gulf is one bigass myth-Israelis travel freely to the UAE and Qatar, and I'm sure they do to Bahrain and Oman too. The Omani FM said one of the purposes of his meeting with Livni was to discuss the reopening of the Israeli Trade Office in Muscat.

Furthermore, I recently saw a news report on MBC quoting several Israeli and US studies that reveal there are up to 220 Israeli companies active in Iraq now. The Arab boycott is just one big joke.

Chaim: Why do you D-bags host these conversations on this listserv, take it to the blog! And use my title: LIVNI LAVIDA LOCA... I just wanna see it in print cause I'm so proud of it :) Or do a round-table burn... KABOBfest hasn't done one of those in a great long while.

Emily: Maybe it can be on what constitutes a violation of the boycott: Qatar and the gulf countries giving Israeli businessmen free reign when there's a boycott going on, or me working for a Palestinian org that is actually an Israeli org inside of Israel, or just talking to Palestinian citizens of Israel (as many regular gulfi people seem to think- I have more examples)

Is my working in Israel a violation of the boycott of Israel for all people of conscience?

Does the boycott include the exclusion of Palestinian people with Israeli passports otherwise known as Arab ISRAELIS?

I'm pretty sure we all agree that Qatar talking to Livni is hypocrisy... or do we?

MHMD: Livni accuses MP Tibi of trying to sabotage two-state solution That should be useful too.

Nimr: I strongly disagree, actually. I hate it when US pundits blast Obama for saying he would meet with the leaders of Iran, Hammas, Venezuela, N. Korea or whoever (well, I actually think there should be "high level" conversations first. Meeting the pres. should be the carrot for substantive talks). I feel I would be the hypocrite to criticize Qatar for talking with Livni.

I see no harm with welcoming and meeting with Livni. It's not like they are going to let Israel bury nuclear waste there (see: Mauritania). For the record, I think the academic boycott is dumb and counterproductive too. Heck, I think the travel restrictions in general are silly as well. If any Americans are going to boycott Israel, you better be ready to get your ass boycotted 300x over by the rest of the world too.

Also, let's be clear. As Mohammed pointed out, the rules about travel prohibitions are not universally followed. UAE "unofficially" lets all kinds of people who visit Israel and/or are Israeli citizens come there for business (lots of diamond, tech and finance). That might be open for criticism. Alternately, Yemen allows their own Jewish citizens to visit Israel for family and/or religious reasons, they just do it super on the DL. I applaud that. Syria might not have suffered the loss of its Jewish population if they could have come and gone as they pleased.

Lastly, to put the visit in context, Qatar is very much trying to position themselves as players on the international stage. This kinda thing is probably more about them posturing as players than caring so much about Israel, Palestine or the peace process.

The boycotts and restrictions ultimately do much more to hurt "us", financially, culturally, symbolically and politically than them.

My 2 cents

Emily: So are you against boycott, academic institutional etc? What about monetary divestment campaigns? I really don't think any boycott, academic or institutional, would cause much actual harm to the boycotting organization itself unless it depends on funds from Zionist orgs or people.

That's a really good point about Syria and Yemen. It's stupid to not let people travel. It's just dumb.

I think that boycott is in fact a decent tool to get Israeli organizations and institutions to take notice of what is happening. I'm here and I don't see people really having to notice much in their everyday lives. Life goes on as usual while 10 minutes away people are under occupation. I think that for many educated people who want to be part of the global community (Tel Aviv University, for example), if they got responses when they tried to make a conference saying people won't participate because of the occupation, it would make them have to notice. I've heard Pappe stand on a podium, spread his arms, and say "please! boycott me!"

But the way it happens, it is carried out all wrong. people are not allowed to travel. That is stupid. Businessmen instead make a ton of valuable connections over everyone else's heads, and don't feel a thing even though there's a 'boycott'.

Fadi: I think isolation will work. I think boycott, whether academic, cultural, or economic, advances such isolation. Whether doing away with a certain type of boycott (such as academic) will harm the mission of isolating Israel, I don't know. Maybe the academic boycott is not necessary. Maybe it is. I think the reward (saving Palestinian - and Israeli - lives) is worth the risk. I think isolation will work. I understand the arguments against its practicality, or that it harms civilian infrastructure. I'm fairly certain that refusing to publish papers by Israeli academics, or cutting off grants or joint research (much of it on military and arms research) is not going to starve Israelis to death. I think isolation will work, this has been empirically established (for example, South
Africa). Those willing to argue against boycott of Israel, I think, must also argue against the boycott of Apartheid South Africa. If you're not willing to do that, then there's a double standard being applied.

Nimr: I would be interested to see any empirical data on isolation working as a strategy. Most of the data I have seen shows, 1) isolating other countries rarely works and 2) the connection between isolating S. Africa and the end of apartheid is anecdotal, and most probably part of a matrix of many other factors (which may or may not exist in Palestine).

Andrew Mack and Asif Khan have analyzed UN sanctions and their conclusion is that results have been mixed at best. They point out that sanctions work well as a tool of policy, but not as a policy. Look at the disaster of isolating Iraq under sanctions, Cuba, Hammas, Burma, Iran etc. Attempts to isolate them failed, and tended to strengthen the targeted elements, not weaken them. Also, it is almost impossible to isolate any country, this didn't even work with S. Africa (otherwise DeBeers would not be facing anti-trust issues in the USA). Israel and others kept strong relations with apartheid S. Africa.

This is further complicated by the particular governmental structure of Israel where small fanatical parties have disproportionate influence (domestically and in the USA). Attempts to isolate Israel will only strengthen their power and influence, as it will prove their narrative. (which would lead to more death and land appropriation)

I think the more apt analogy for Israel is the United States, not S. Africa. Like I said if we expect people to start boycotting Israel, culturally, politically, economically and/or academically, we must be prepared to suffer the same treatment in spades. As an American, I feel that the actions of my gov't do not represent my values. In spite of that lots of people die directly and indirectly from my gov't's actions. The same could be said of countless Israelis.

It gets complicated really quickly too. The US allowed black S. Africans to come to the US to attend college for instance. Should we not allow Arab-Palestinians? If we do, should we not allow progressive Israelis? If we do....

I think the divestment campaign makes sense, but only so long as this is on an org by org, individual by individual basis and not gov't policy. I am all for not collaborating with Israel on any research that has military focus and/or biased scholarship (i.e. propaganda), but a sweeping boycott is counterproductive. Some of the best most critical scholarship of Israeli policy comes from Israel.

Specific targeted sanctions (high tech, weapons, etc) are vital parts of foreign policy, but isolating countries/groups seems to have a fairly dismal track record.

Will: I saw this research a long time ago... I think they also argued that if it does not work at the stage of threats, it won't work. Also, democracies are much more responsive to the threats of isolation, theoretically. Hard empirical analysis would be hard to do because the sample size is probably pretty damn small.

We can assume sanctions against Israel would work if the whole world stood behind them. So we should ask, how realistic is this, on what basis, and would do the prospects of good relations with the Arab world mean?

I would not say Qatar is hypocritical, since they have not exactly been touting anything but a soft position, anyways. I do not think the Arab boycott has truly existed since Egypt got off board in the late 1970s. So asking if it is legitimate is hypothetical. If it existed, it would be, though.

In principle, I am against normalizing Israel until it has clearly defined borders, a clear demarcation of its polity, and lives up to its obligations under international law -- in the context of a just and viable solution with the Palestinians. Until then, recognizing Israel without its recognition of the Palestinians is one-sided and
legitimizing criminality.

I do not see how accomodationism could bring about peace. Eretz Yisrael is a non-negotiable ideological strain, first, and the settlements are internalized in the Israeli public's worldview. Accommodation means accepting these fundamentals, which strike at the heart of Palestinian rights.

Emily: What about the fact that Palestinian civil society has called for boycott/divestment/sanctions? I for one think that we should be listening to what they are saying, and doing our best to implement where we can, for the mere fact that they are the ones calling for it. This probably does not translate to the govenrnmental level, at least not at this juncture. However there are many areas where resolutions can be passed and where choices not to participate/invite/invest can be made and publicized.

That said, I am working in Israel. Does this violate what I'm saying above?

Fadi: That's right, I think sanctioning dictatorships (eg. Iraq, Cuba) or populations that were never in a position of prosperity to revert to (HAMAS) is clearly different from boycotting governments that are accountable to a people that are benefactors of a system that oppresses others. The Apartheid regime in South Africa, like that in Israel, does have a population that it is accountable to. I'm not sure why you would bring up Iraq or Cuba, I think we can agree that their dictators don't care about their constituents and are not accountable to their constituents - so there's a good chance isolation will not work there. Despite your opposition to boycotting Apartheid South Africa, you can't dismiss the isolation of South Africa that led whites there to realize that "ok, we can no longer benefit from Apartheid, let's choose a new path." If we can agree on isolating Israel as a means to liberate Palestinians, then we can discuss the
details (such as travel restrictions on Palestinian citizens of Israel).

But i do think that Qatar and other Arab states are hypocritical. If there are no official policies on boycott in a certain Arab state, I do think these dictators do frequently evoke the Palestinian cause, and express support for Palestinians, to their people. They do not support the Palestinian people, they exploit the Palestinian people. The regimes care about filling their pockets and insulating themselves (e.g.., by strengthening themselves politically in the global arena);
engaging in economic deals with Israel is not something done out of necessity - or at least a morally pure necessity (maybe they think they need to do it in order to retain their authoritarian rule). I would not see them as hypocrites if they normalized relations with Israel while not pretending to be strong supporters of the Palestinian struggle.

Maybe some disagree, but I wouldn't be surprised if the U.S. policy of sanctioning HAMAS and punishing the civilian population will lead to some shift in the next election, if there ever is one. That is, I wouldn't be surprised if that policy works. It's a disgusting policy, and it's a much different situation, and certainly isolating Israel will not lead to a humanitarian crisis such as that which exists in Gaza (and existed in Gaza before Hamas, before Fatah, before the PLO) or that which existed under Iraq's dictatorship during the sanctions.

CLICK HERE FOR:

Palestinian Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel

Palestine BDS Campaign

Divestment Support Committee

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Palestinian deaths, the Sean Bell verdict, and Desentization-The Spitfire-side Chats

As one Kabob-er noted, sometimes our internal conversations on the listserv are more interesting than our actual posts. The following is a conversation between Kabob-ers regarding the "Wiping out a family is how Israel says 'no'" post written by Mohammad:

Excen-Tarik: I started to write (about the story) and I was too tired to be as angry as I wanted to be.

Emily: The really sad thing that I thought when I first saw this email is that it becomes difficult to muster enough energy to be sufficiently sad and angry over tragedies like this. It becomes just one more.

Makes it even more important to blog about it I suppose.

Excen-Tarik: It really does. I was gonna write within the context of the Israeli army spokeswoman Avital Lieberman's callous denial of having anything to do with it... something along the lines of "sorry, but you have to realize that they died because of the terrorists, not because the tank shell hit them..." you know? hella ironic and cynical as fuck...

Mohammad: I think you should still go through with that. The other Israeli explanation i heard was that they targeted two militants, and that their missile set off the explosives carried by the militants; and it was those explosives that killed the family. Then of course you realize the only other person killed near the home was a 17 year old schoolboy, so the Israeli army says 'he might have been a militant.'

Excen-Tarik: I know right? Thats what I was talking about: the fact that they said it was "bags" full of explosives that killed them. Does it really make a difference when a TANK SHELL is fired at them? I mean, c'mon... bags of explosives and according to al-jazeera international 4 tank shells were fired- one of which landed 10 meters from the house they were in. The "militants" were reportedly over 100 meters away from the house- and NO ONE has witnessed these "bags" or anything like that- only the shells being fired on 2 younger palestinians. AND there was shrapnel from the shells all over the fucking kitchen they were eating in. You can't fit a qassam in a "bag" man- you know? Fuck.... im so pissed about it. For real.

I'm sure we're all hurting right now- sorry about my emotional shit...

Mohammad: What pisses me off the most (and its sad to say this because i've become almost desensitized to the idea of Palestinian families being wiped out) is how Israel can get away with shit like this with the weakest explanations. I mean, their excuses don't hold any water at all, and yet people take their word as fact when the most basic armchair investigation disproves everything they say. Why is it more believable to so many that Palestinians are responsible for their own deaths, even in the midst of israeli attacks?

Excen-Tarik: seriously, habibi. well said. its such a fucking shame.

Maytha: It kinda parallels how an unarmed black man can be shot 50 times by three cops (including one who reloaded his gun) the night before his wedding, and the cops who weren't forced to face a jury (only a judge), could be acquitted on ALL counts-blemish-free! And there is NO outrage on TV, in newspapers, on the radio, and some have sheik even had the never to say, "well we have to have compassion for the cops, and realize the kinda of stress they might be facing that contributed to this." The world has become so desensitized to the brutal and senseless slaughter of black people as it has to Palestinian families murdered in cold blood (and used pathetic excuses to cover it up).

I think we need to start making these kind of connections, like that of Sean Bell, to take the consciousness about and active support for Palestine a reality outside our circles. Because, when we post stories like these, who really becomes shocked? It's people already aware of the immoral conduct of the Zionist state and its mis-writting of history who read the stories that we post on Palestine.

QuiQui: Hear hear.

Mohammad: I completely agree with Maytha. I think this is an aspect of Zionut assholism that has been neglected by activists for decades-facing their untruths head on and disproving them. They've managed to discredit us-its sad we've let them become the trusted source for anything to do with Palestine.
And connecting it to stuff like Sean Bell's murder is important-back in my younger days, in the 60's and 70's, I remember how popular the Palestinian cause was because it was linked to social justice and independence movements worldwide.

QuiQui: Maybe it's just because I'm from L.A., but I swear I thought NYC would riot after I heard about the aquittal. But nothing. There's not enough outrage. Neither civil disobedience nor uncivil disobedience. Isn't the always looming threat of outrage precisely what is supposed to keep democracy in check? Hmmm.

"We might fight with each other
but I promise you this
we will burn this shit down -- get us pissed"
-- Tupac Shakur, To Live & Die in LA

Mohammad: Can't remember where I read about that-that they managed to avoid the rioting because the 'police had made inroads into the community' or some
bullshit like that.

Fadi: I think they might just support police killing black men out there... I think NYC might just be whack, i had an mp3 of Bruce Springstein singing his song "American Skin (41 shots)" about Amidou Diallo in NYC and you can hear the crowd is booing him for some odd reason, and then I remember reading how the head of the NYC chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police called Springstein a "Faggot" because he wrote this song that has such contentious (sarcasm) lyrics as "is it a gun, is it a knife, is it a wallet, this is your life, it ain't no secret, you can get killed just for livin in ur american skin" or something like that. What's up New York!

QuiQui: I wouldn't be surprised if it's those effing community organizations that, under the guises of cultural centers, are de facto front groups for the government. They're kept operating through funding from the State and municipal governments and exist to monitor and collect data on the marginalized communities they pretend to serve. As history has shown, you always gotta have a ripe set of collaborators to help do the bidding of the oppressor.

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Wiping out a family is how Israel says 'no'

Israel’s supporters are well-known for their inability to accept historical truths, bless them. Amongst their favorite lies, and one which sounds so good in the unassuming media, is the claim that Israel has always held its hand out in peace to its neighbors, who always reply with hellfire and brimstone. Or, um, rocks. The danger is one and the same.

A couple of days ago I wrote about how Israel had just turned down a six-month ceasefire offered by Hamas. The chance is there for Israel and the Palestinians to enjoy six months of quiet and an end to killing for the first time in 8 years. Israel, however, is an insecure cock. It can’t accept the fact that the Palestinians are making initiatives, that there might be calm for any other reason apart from it crushing them all. So while Egypt continues to mediate, Palestinian factions meet in Cairo to discuss supporting Hamas’ offer, and Abbasshole whines on about how Israel is making his negotiations difficult, Israel made sure yesterday that the Palestinians realize the price they have to pay for having the audacity to suggest a reciprocal end to fire.

The town of Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip awoke to yet another Israeli military incursion. The Israeli army, needing to get rid of its surplus munitions, began firing into densely populated civilian homes. Around 7 AM, at least two Israeli takn shells hit the modest home of the Abu Meitag family. Miysar Abu Meitag was sitting around her breakfast table with her four children-Rodayna, 6, Hana, 3, Saleh, 2, and baby Mosab.

That was to be their last meal. The mother and her four children were all killed.

moThe bodies of the four Abu Meitag children and their mother are carried to their final resting place

The Israeli army cooked up some good bullshit for this one. Apparently, the shells targeted two militants who were running next to the home, and the shells set off the explosives they were carrying, and those explosives were the ones that killed the mother and her four children.

Right, so it wasn’t the actual shells that could have done the damage.

Anyway, its always great to have eyewitnesses that disprove this crap. A passerby certainly was killed in the attack - a 17 year old schoolboy on his way to school, not two militants with bagfuls of explosives. This callous disregard for civilian lives certainly is not new. It comes packaged in with that whole occupation mentality. But what’s really sickening is the extent to which the murder of entire Palestinian families in their own homes has become accepted. Or that the death of an occupation soldier will garner much more sympathy and coverage. Israel will always claim that Palestinians civilian deaths are caused by Palestinian fighters using civilian shields. That’s what they claimed when they killed cameraman Fadel Shana and 2 boys who were in the vicinity. But eyewitnesses and camera footage showed that there were no militants in the area. Similarly, there were no ‘rocket squads’ near the Abu Meitag home today-but there were rockets fired at Israel after the attack.

And that, I think, is what Israel tried to achieve. Everybody here wants a truce, some semblance of calm. Everyone but the Israeli government. Murdering a family at their breakfast table is a very good way to end the growing momentum towards a ceasefire.

NOTE: The Israeli army shelled the main electricity generator in Beit Hanoun yesterday, leaving 200,000 residents of northern Gaza in the dark. I’m sure there were militants hiding inside the generator though.

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Ceasefire? Fuck No.

A couple days ago, world-renowned blood-thirsty illogically hating anti-Semitic terrorists Hamas offered poor defenseless Israel a six-month ceasefire. It wasn’t the first ceasefire offer by Hamas-indeed it isn’t even the first over the past year. The terms of the truce, as set out by sexy grand-terrorist mullah Mahmoud Zahar are as follows:

In return for a stop to the launching of home-made projectiles at Sderot, Israel would lift its crippling blockade on Gaza and stop incursions and attacks on Palestinians in the Strip. The ceasefire would be mutual and reciprocal, and would initially include Gaza only, with the ceasefire spreading to the West Bank eventually.

Egypt has been mediating between Hamas and Israel for the better part of a month now, ever since the Jabalya massacre (or, just to piss off the Zionuts around here, the Shoah). A major sticking point has been Hamas’ insistence that any ceasefire would include both the West Bank and Gaza, but they’ve agreed to start with Gaza alone instead. Seems sensible, considering that Abbasshole is holding down the fort without any trouble over there. Coincidentally, Abbasshole spent the first couple weeks after the massacre announcing that he is willing to mediate between the Israelis and his own people. So presidential. So desperate for relevance.



Anyway. Israel, which has been whoring out Sderot to the world as its excuse to murder, kill, pillage, bomb, invade and destroy, had this response to Hamas’ offer to give Sderot queit for six whole months.

“There would be no need for Israel’s defensive actions if Hamas would cease and desist from committing terrorist attacks on Israelis,” said David Baker, an Olmert spokesman, referring to Israeli air strikes and commando raids in Gaza. “Israel will continue to act to protect its citizens.”

Sure Mr Baker. Didn’t Hamas just say that they are offering to cease and desist from attacks? Dumbass.

If I recall correctly, Mark Regev, who sounds so convincing because of his exotic Australian accent, continuously insisted that all Hamas had to do was stop firing at Sderot for Israel to lift its siege. Again, that is exactly what Hamas has offered to do, but the Israeli government doesn’t want to listen. In fact, the blockade keeps getting tightened. Over 90% of cars in Gaza are now idle due to a lack of fuel, including 70% of Gaza’s 225 ambulances. Last night, during one of the Israeli Occupation Forces ‘routine operations’ (copyright Regev) in northern Gaza, an ambulance ran out of fuel as it was transferring a wounded civilian to hospital. For the record, the incursion really was a routine operation. One 14 year old girl was killed and three of her family members wounded when the Israeli army shelled and destroyed their home. Five other civilians, stupidly thinking that they have a right to live in peace in their homes and neighborhoods, were also injured.
But I digress. I can do that without even knowing what digress means. Israel says it won’t accept the ceasefire because Hamas is not ‘serious’ and can’t control other factions anyway, plus like, duh, it just wants a ceasefire because we’re totally kicking its ass and it wants to take a breather and shit.

I’ll tackle those three points individually. First, how can Israel say Hamas is not serious? They’ve given the occupation two long term unilateral ceasefires in the past. Israel continued to bomb and kill and steal land during those two periods. They’ve been offering another ceasefire, a reciprocal one this time, for months. Israel has dismissed every offer, saying it must protect its citizens. Eh?

Second, the accusation that were Hamas to actually be serious, attacks would continue from the other factions, leaving Israel sitting on its hands. This sorta goes against everything Israel and Condoleeza Rice have been saying for years, which is that no Palestinian can launch an attack from Gaza without Hamas’ approval. Nevertheless, the PFLP and Islamic Jihad have said that they will be announcing their position in the next few days, and are expected to support the ceasefire.

Third, Israel is all proud of its army for managing to kill hundreds of Palestinians over the last few months. This is seen as a clear indication that they’re damaging Hamas. Of course, this contradicts an Israeli intelligence report published recently that says Hamas’ military wing is getting stronger than ever. But that’s okay, that report came out when Israel was about to launch another major offensive on Gaza and needed an excuse.

The fact is, unless Israel changes its stance soon we will be further than ever from the chance for calm in Gaza (and southern Israel). Yes, Hamas probably would use the ceasefire to its military advantage, but so would Israel. The point of a ceasefire, however, is to give diplomatic channels a chance. Without people starving in Gaza, sewage flowing in the streets, hospitals running out of medicines, schools and universities empty because there isn’t any fuel for cars or ambulances, there is a much greater chance of working out some sort of long term truce and securing a prisoner exchange. But when you’re the stronger party and are used to bullying the people you occupy, it is always hard to see sense.

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Trying to kill the truth

Palestinian cameraman Fadel Shana'a in an undated photo. Having already survived an Israeli missile attack that targeted his press vehicle in August 2006, Fadel vowed to continue filming in Gaza. "The only time I'll stop filming is if I die or lose my legs." He was indeed killed by an Israeli tank shell on April 16th, 2008.

The vehicle Shana'a was traveling in moments after being hit. The insignia marking it as a Press vehicle are clearly visible from all angles.

Shana'a lies dead along with a Palestinian boy. Near Fadel's shoulder is his camera on its tripod. The tape retrieved shows the tank firing on him, before going blank two seconds later at the moment of impact.

The muzzle blast from an Israeli tank firing (at left) is seen on Shana's videotape seconds before he was hit. The last frame on Shana's tape (center) shows a dust cloud rising around the tank two seconds after it fired. The frame then goes blank and the camera stopped when Shana was hit. An ambulance and rescue workers (right) go past Shana's flaming Reuters TV vehicle. (Courtesy of Reuters).

The Reuters bureau chief for Israel and the Palestinian territories, Alastair Macdonald, described Shana as a "gentle soul, happy, extremely bright, and one of the most skilled cameramen in Gaza. He will be greatly missed by all his colleagues."

To the forefront of the picture, the legs of another man killed in the attack are visible.

Jackie Rowland reports on Shana's death and that of the many others killed in Gaza today:

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Its on CNN now

As Fadi accurately predicted, CNN finally posted a headline about the murder of 17 Palestinians in Gaza today by combining the deaths of those fighting their occupiers and the deaths of civilians at the hands of these same occupiers with the death of three Israeli occupation soldiers killed deep inside the Gaza Strip.

Check it out: Israeli-Palestinian fighting kills 21

Nothing too surprising there. However, I was pretty surprised that the BBC headline was ‘Israel Strikes after Hamas Raid’. Excuse me? Again, the Hamas attack targeted Israeli soldiers inside Gaza - therefore, it was the Israeli Occupation Forces that were conducting the raid, not the Palestinian resistance. That’s just a blatant attempt at covering for Israeli war crimes by painting the murder of Palestinians today as legitimate retaliation. Which, assholes, it isn’t.



The CNN report also claims that the five resistance fighters killed are part of ‘a new radical Islamic group called El Oma Army.’ At the risk of posing too many rhetorical questions for my own good in one post, which one of Mark Regev’s assholes do CNN pull this shit out from? Seriously, I’ve been watching local news out of Gaza and this is the first time I’ve ever heard of El Oma Army. The five killed were members of Hamas according to local sources and the Israeli media. And how the fuck do you judge on the radicalism of a group that you just invent-I mean discovered today. Give them a chance to do something radical next time!

Away from the Western media’s dickheaded approach to Israeli oppression, let us review the events of the day-a day where the death of 17 Palestinians wouldn’t have garnered much news had it not also featured the death of three Occupation soldiers. In the early hours of the morning, an Israeli force moved deep east of the Shuja’iyah neighborhood. Supported by tanks, armed bulldozers and fighter helicopters, the occupiers stormed civilian homes, arresting civilians and demolishing 4 houses at least. Four Hamas fighters were killed trying to resist that particular incursion, as well as a Palestinian farmer. The Israeli army also destroyed part of a local school and demolished large parts of a mosque.

Around the same time, an Israeli Special Forces unit entered Gaza from the east in pursuit of Palestinian fighters. The unit was ambushed by Hamas fighters, who left 3 of the occupation soldiers dead and managed to retreat. This ‘raid’ was carried out inside Gaza and targeted an Israeli unit that had crossed the border.

As the Israeli army is prone to do whenever its soldiers are killed in Gaza, it sets about targeting obvious civilian targets (see Jabalya, March 2008). As the airforce set about conducting a series of airstrikes and killing several Palestinians, the biggest attack occurred near the Juhr Eldeak area, where a tank shell hit a large number of civilians gathered near the mosque. 9 were killed, including two children and several teenagers.

It was following this event that perhaps the most shocking images of the day came out. As cameramen rushed to the scene, Fadel Shana’a, a 23 year old cameraman working for Reuters, was killed when an Israeli tank shell hit his car. TV footage showed his SUV engulfed in an inferno as his colleagues rushed to his side, many openly weaping.

Shana’a’s car was clearly marked as a Press vehicle, and his clothing also was similarly marked. As Aljazeera correspondent Jackie Rowland testified, the vehicle “…was even clearly marked on the roof, so it can't be mistaken on the ground or from the air," she said."It is quite inconceivable that Israeli forces, who are looking over the territory with drones, helicopters and aeroplanes, were unfamiliar with this car."

Reuters say that Shana’a had just gotten out of the car and begun filming when he was killed. The footage recovered from his camera shows an Israeli tank firing from several hundred meters away towards the cameraman, before going blank at the point of impact. Also killed in that attack were two civilians-a young boy and a man in his 60’s.

Gosh, imagine if CNN didn’t keep covering for Israel’s crimes. Maybe this shit will stop.

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Gaza on the brink

What I really don’t get about the siege imposed on Gaza is the goal of said siege. To destroy Hamas? Hamas’ popularity is higher than ever-the siege and the incursions and killings just juxtapose the image of Hamas fighting the Israeli army with the frequent image of Abbasshole attending dinner parties with Olmert and Barak in Jerusalem.

To convince the Palestinians to give up the armed struggle? I don’t know how Zionuts think the world operates but when I’m chilling in my living room and an Israeli missile lands in my brother’s lap, I’m more inclined to want to grab an AK and inflict pain on the perpetrator. And then when my sister, injured in the attack, can’t get to the hospital because you’ve banned us from receiving the fuel that the ambulances need to operate, I’m left to live the cruelty of this irony. Say we manage to get her to hospital through the dark (because you banned electricity) and sewage-strewn (because, again, there is no fuel to power the sewage treating plants) streets on the back of a donkey cart, I know she’d die anyway because you’ve somehow convinced the world that medicine is contraband; those dastardly Gazans would just use it to fight their occupiers.

Whatever the goals, these are the results:
• 130+ (and counting) patients dead because Egypt and Israel wouldn’t give them the mercy of medical treatment.



• 55% of Gazan children are bedwetters. These kids see death everyday in their face from the moment they’re born. Forget about this lost generation-the ones that survive are going to have to raise the next one.

• Most of Gaza’s ambulances are inoperable, standing idle as the stream of necessary fuel dries up and the stream of bloody wounded and dead turns into a flood.

• Sewage has flooded entire neighborhoods, as the lack of fuel and electricity required to pump and treat sewage propagates an already deadly health situation.

• Tens of thousands of university students cannot reach their classes with 95% of vehicles in Gaza out of fuel. Ditto for employees.

• 110,000 schoolchildren now rely on emergency UNRWA meals.

And on and fucking on.

See what I don’t get is how the world is so easily fooled. Israel lies and says that it must starve and bomb and kill 1.5 million humans because that’s the only way to weaken Hamas and their flying pipes. And then the Shabak writes up a report claiming that, a year after the total siege was imposed, Hamas is now stronger than ever and has fighters and an arsenal comparable to that of Hezbollah. Eh? So why is Gaza still getting murdered?

One thing is becoming clear though: this cannot last. The people of Gaza are at rock bottom. Throughout the week, Palestinian factions in Gaza, led by Hamas, Jihad and the Popular Resistance Committees, have been warning that a people explosion is imminent. Many took this to mean that there will be another human outpour across the Gaza-Egypt border. Immediately, Egypt issued threats and proclamations, sent reinforcements to the border, and closed off the main bridge across the Suez supplying the Ariesh and Rafah regions near the Gaza border. That is, should the Palestinians get through the massacre awaiting them at the border, they’d find no food or supplies to restock on in Egypt.

Today, the government in Gaza announced that this explosion is coming within the next two days, and that it will solely be aimed at Israel. I don’t know how they’re going to go about breaching the Israeli border-Israel has never been squeamish about mowing down nonviolent protests. If the Palestinian resistance goes the violent route, the result will be the same: huge casualties.

But whatever happens will be understandable, if unpredictable. After all, the world’s never placed an occupied people under sanctions and a suffocating siege before.

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The Egyptian state is a cancer

As Egypt deals with internal tension, the possibility of mass civil disobedience and an intifada in Mahallah, the brutal nature of this oppressive regime is exposed for those of you too naïve to have noticed yet.

Sadly, the Egyptian authorities aren’t content with starving their own people. Gaza has been under a suffocating siege for over a year now, denied medicine, food, fuel and basic goods by Israel. And yet, Gaza has an independent border with Egypt. The Egyptian authorities have sealed this border (save for the brief period of time earlier this year when Gazans destroyed the border fence and streamed into Egyptian Rafah to restock on basic necessities) for over a year, also denying the entry of fuel, supplies and medicine. And although Israel remains, as the occupying power, fully responsible for Gaza, there can be no excuse and no sugar coating of Egypt’s
direct complicity in this crime against humanity.

What is the rationale behind allowing Gazans to die due to a lack of medical attention or food? What is the reason behind banning the entry of essential supplies into Gaza to rebuild the destroyed infrastructure of the territory? Why would allowing building materials into Gaza compromise Egypt’s security?
There is no justification. A state that is willing to impose emergency law on its citizens for 28 straight years, that is willing to detain and beat and kill those protesting against rising food prices and deplorable wages, that is willing suppress any form of dissent and that shamelessly steals the sham elections it holds to appease an uninformed Western audience is a state that sees no problem in imprisoning 1.5 million people and subjecting them to inhumane living conditions if the requests to do so come from Washington, Tel Aviv and Ramallah.

Because things have calmed down militarily since Israel murdered 130 Palestinians in Gaza last month, the Strip and the suffering of its people are barely mentioned in the press. But the suffering goes on, and is getting worse. Yesterday, my dad tried to send a package of clothes to our family there. He was told that all packages are banned from entering Gaza. Paper for stationary is also banned. Oddly, so are tampons. Try as I might, I can’t figure out the reasoning behind that one, unless Avi Dichter fears fiery tampons raining down on Sderot.

In all seriousness though, the notion of normality is not applicable in Gaza. Over 60% of Gaza’s ambulances are idle due to a lack of fuel, and for weeks thousands of university students have not shown up for classes, either unable to afford the taxi fares, or unable to actually find any transportation. The number of patients who have died since the siege was tightened last June due to Israel and Egypt banning them from travelling abroad for medical attention has now surpassed 125 men, women and children. Sewage is running freely in the streets with no electricity or fuel to power sewage pumps. John Ging, the head of UNRWA in the Gaza Strip, claims that prisoners in European jails receive better medical attention than civilians in Gaza.

Things are reaching breaking point, and in recent days Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Resistance Committees have all stated clearly that they will breach the borders again soon if things don’t improve. There have been weekly protests and sit-ins at the Rafah border, but without bombs and shocked Israelis running around there is little incentive for the media to report on the resistance of an occupied people.

So while the Egyptian government sends thousands of security thugs to crush the protestors at Mahallah, it announced tonight that it is sending reinforcements to Rafah, just in case the other nation it helps oppress decide that they won’t take the repression and abuse sitting down.

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Israel has a problem with education

One of the unique things about attending a Palestinian university is the proximity you feel towards the conflict with the Israeli occupation. For decades, Palestinian universities were at the center of the resistance-where popular movements and social programs were pioneered, and where a large majority of political (and military) activists were recruited. Admittedly, since the end of the first intifada and the disaster that was Oslo, student activism has receded notably, though in no way has it ended.

The first time I realized that I’d be having a pretty different college experience than that of my friends in the US or the Arab world is when, a couple of months into my first semester at Birzeit University, I noticed a new student in my Arab Society class. Naturally, the professor asked him what he was doing showing up two months late. It turns out the student had just spent two years in the notorious Naqab (Katziot) desert prison for political activism, and had just gotten out.

The current head of the Student Union at Birzeit, Fadi Hamad, has been in an Israeli prison for the last 4 months without charge. His deputy, Abdallah Oweis, was arrested barely a month after taking over. He too is being held without charge. The Israeli occupation can ‘legally’ imprison Palestinians for up to six months at a time without charge, placing them in ‘administrative detention’. This can and usually is renewed every six months without any legal process. Some prisoners languish in administrative detention for years on end.

Of course, Israel doesn’t reserve its punishment to activists only. In 1987, it closed down every Palestinian educational institution, from kindergartens all the way to universities, for an entire year. For a whole year, students and children were not allowed to receive their education, a clear violation of international law. Palestinian society responded by setting up local educational committees that organized classes in ordinary homes. These had to take place in secret-if the Israeli army found out the time and place of these classes, all those taking part were arrested.

Although the 1987 closure was the most comprehensive, the universities, particularly Birzeit, Alnajah and Bethlehem, all faced independent closures for varying periods of time. Student dorms are frequently invaded by the army in the middle of the night, and road blocks are set up arbitrarily to impede the ability of students to reach their classes. From 2001 until 2004, the Israeli army set up a permanent checkpoint in Surda, between Ramallah and Birzeit. The route is used mostly by Birzeit students, and the checkpoint made a 15 minute trip an hour long nightmare. Students were turned back randomly, and many had to trek through the muddy hills in winter to get to school. Those that tried to go by road faced humiliation; at times, the soldiers would let students of a certain religion pass through, turning back the rest. Other times, the soldiers would line up the female students in two groups-those they deemed attractive, and those whose looks didn’t quite do it for the occupiers.

Birzeit University was set up in the 70’s as a liberal university, and it has played a leading role in developing social and political activism in support of the Palestinian cause. As such, it is known here as Jam’at al-Shuhada’, the University of Martyrs, in honor of the many alumni that have been killed by Israel since the university's inception. I’ve been at Birzeit for three and a half years – in that time, two students have joined that list.

Last year, Omar al-Thafer was killed by an undercover Israeli force in the heart of Ramallah in a botched assassination attempt that targeted a man eating at the same restaurant as he. Yesterday, Abdellatif Huroob, 20, from the village of Kharas near Hebron, was killed by an Israeli settler on a road near the illegal Israeli settlement of Gilo north of Ramallah. The Israeli army says Huroob was killed in self-defense when he tried to attack the settler. The autopsy revealed that he had been shot in the head at close range, execution style. Today, the Israeli army attacked his family home and ransacked it.

Omar and Abdellatif won’t be the last Palestinian students killed in cold blood by their occupiers, just like Fadi and Abdallah won’t be the last to be imprisoned for months at a time without charge. The truly tragic fact in all this is that such things have become an accepted part of the college experience in Palestine. I wonder if all those squealing in indignation about how Palestinian textbooks do not instruct Palestinian students to recognize the legitimacy of their occupier and oppressor (because plenty of American and Israeli studies have found that there is a shocking absence of anti-Semitism in these books) will ever be willing to raise their voices at the constant abuse of Palestinian students and educational institutions.

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Israel is a bully

Israel is a brave country. Barely the size of New Jersey, and surrounded by dozens of murderous anti-Semitic Arabian Muslim women-beating states, it faces a constant battle for survival. For the security of its own citizens, (well, the Jewish ones anyway), Israel is constantly forced to crush those Palestinian bastards who just won’t give up.

If they dare to fight against their occupier, oppressor, the entity that stole their land, imprisoned thousands of their men, women and children, starves 1.5 million of them in a besieged enclave, denies them necessary medical care and continues to colonize the remaining tracts of land under their control, the Palestinians must face the consequences of their audacity. Shoah Time!

Of course, after 60 years, most people would’ve figured out that violence is not going to get anywhere. Why can’t they be pacifists, the dumbasses?



Well, because Israel is determined to not let that work either. See, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict didn’t start with the first Palestinian suicide bombing all the way back in, um, 1994. Instead, it began six decades ago when Israel expelled hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homes and banned them from returning. Since then, Palestinians have engaged in constant methods of nonviolent resistance and civil disobedience, such as marching on checkpoints and refusing to pay taxes to the occupation.

For the past several years, the village of Bilin in the West Bank has conducted a weekly nonviolent protest every Friday against the confiscation of huge tracts of its land to build an illegal Israeli settlement and for the construction of the wall. The protest attracts ordinary Palestinians, international supporters and Israeli peace activists as well as the village residents themselves. It is well covered by the media too, so the abuses of the Israeli military are on display week after week.
Today’s protest wasn’t atypical. The Occupation Forces fired rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas at the protestors, injuring 17, including 7 journalists.

So to recap: Israel expels Palestinians from their homes, bans them from returning. Not happy with that, the greedy bastard goes after the Palestinian it has yet to expel, stealing their land for its settlements. It then shoots at Palestinians who stage nonviolent protests against this theft.

Brave country.

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Israel doesn't like culture

Not content with stealing many aspects of Palestinian and Arab culture, from food to clothing to music, and then relabeling it as 'Israeli', the Zionut entity also has problems with Palestinians expressing said heritage. What if people found out falafel was actually NOT commissioned by King Soloman two thousand years ago?! The very fabric upon which Israel is built-lies and theft-would come crumbling down.

For this reason, Israel is very sensitive to the idea of Palestinians celebrating Palestine. Up until the 1990's, raising the Palestinian flag in public was considered enough of a reason to justify getting shot, and the world Palestine was banned from appearing in print. Books that mentioned Palestinian history were censored or banned, and Palestinians were not allowed to have their own media.

Paranoid, despotic fucks.

Anyway, the Hakawati Stage in East Jerusalem was set today to be the scene of festivities celebrating the appointment of Jerusalem as Cultural Capital of the Arab World in 2009. Foreign dignitaries, representatives of civil society and representatives of the Palestinian Authority were present when Israeli police stormed the venue soon after the celebrations started, arresting several Palestinian officials and civilians at the scene and closing down the Hakawati.

Israel wants to impose on the world it's desire to have all of Jerusalem as its capital city. This would include East Jerusalem and the Old City, which are predominately Palestinian, and a huge tract of the surrounding West Bank stretching from Ramallah in the north, Bethlehem in the south and Jericho in the east. As such, it feels extremely threatened by the Palestinians of Jerusalem when they celebrate their history and their culture, because none of it meshes very well with Zionism. It will rush to crush any such expressions of Palestinian of Arab identity.

Just another day in the only democracy in the Middle East.

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Normality in Gaza

Things are getting back to normal in Gaza after Israel decided to pause its Shoah while Condoleeza Rice visits the region and blames the Palestinians for the 125 deaths they suffered at the hands of Israel’s army this week.

By normal I mean that Israeli airstrikes killed three Palestinians today. Despite easing off on its deliberate targeting of civilians, the Israeli air force continues to pound Palestinians from the air, continues to blockade the Strip, continues to deny entry to medical supplies and equipment, continues to deny entry to adequate fuel and food and water, continues to impose frequent power cuts, continues to blanket Gaza’s skies with its warplanes and blockade the coast with its warships, continues to ban the entry of pens and paper for schoolbooks, continues to ban the entry of building supplies to rebuild the homes it destroys…and on and on and on.

Also tonight, Israeli forces stormed the village of Qarara near Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip and surrounded the house of Yousef Al-Samiri, a member of Islamic Jihad. Al-Samiri was visiting his family when Israeli troops fired a missile at the house, killing his grand-daughter, 8 day old Amira. Al-Samiri’s body was found after a shootout near the house, apparently executed by Israeli Special Forces at close range. His son Moath, Amira’s father, was then arrested by his baby’s killers.

The body of 8 day old Amira after her name was added to the list of babies killed by Israel in Gaza this week

Just a normal day in Gaza.

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Shoah Watch: Sudden Pullout

After five days of insane cruelty, Israel announced this morning that it had pulled out unexpectedly from the northern Gaza Strip around Jabalya. After promising Palestinians in Gaza with a holocaust, Israel murdered 118 Palestinians in the coastal Strip in these five days, including 62 on Saturday alone, with an injury total of over 350.

The majority of those killed were civilians in their homes. At least 39 were children, including siblings, cousins, and babies.

Even though Israeli special forces pulled back from people’s homes and the frequency of airstrikes decreased exponentially today, Israel still found time to kill 7 Palestinians- six in airstrikes, and one in the West Bank.

Six of the wounded who had been transferred to Egypt two days ago have died since then. Although they were supposed to be taken to hospitals in Cairo and abroad, the Egyptian authorities have no allowed the injured to leave Al-Areesh and receive the care they need.

The sudden pullout by the Israeli army has surprised many. Soldiers who took part in the battles and high-ranking security officials have testified on Israeli TV that they faced much stiffer resistance than they had expected. While the Palestinian resistance in Gaza has undoubtedly grown stronger and more organized in recent years, it can only do so much against the world’s fourth strongest army.

Below is an Aljazeera International report from one of the homes in Jabalya which was used by Israeli forces as an outpost similar to the one’s I mentioned yesterday.

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Israel kills kids in the West Bank too

For those paying any attention, the events of the last few days in Gaza have shed light (once again) on Israel’s brutality, particularly towards civilians and children. That brutality, of course, is not limited to the Palestinians of Gaza. Palestinian citizens of Israel, Lebanese, and of course the Palestinians of the West Bank are no strangers to Zionist murders.

Yesterday, every city in the West Bank and many villages saw widespread demonstrations against the Shoah being unleashed on Gaza. Every single one of those demonstrations was non-violent. Hebron, the most populous city in the West Bank, was the site of the largest demonstration. Hebron is unique in that it is the only West Bank city (save for Jerusalem) with Israeli settlements in its center rather than its surroundings, meaning there is a constant Israeli military presence in the town meant to keep the local citizens in check while protecting the illegal settlers. Naturally, a mass gathering of Palestinians in the area would annoy the settlers who would rather the Palestinians whose homes they have stolen simply disappear. Accordingly, the Israeli Occupation Forces opened fire on the protestors, wounding tens of the unarmed civilians. In Beit ‘Awa, southwest of Hebron, 14year old Mahmoud Al-Masalmeh was shot in the heart byIsraeli troops as he joined others from his village in marching against the Gaza massacre.