Top 5 Lies About Israel 's Assault on Gaza

January 3, 2009
by Jeremy R. Hammond
Lie #1) Israel is only targeting legitimate military sites and is seeking to protect innocent lives, Israel never targets civilians.
The Gaza Strip is one of the most densely populated pieces of property in the world. The presence of militants within a civilian population does not, under international law, deprive that population of their protected status, and hence any assault upon that population under the guise of targeting militants is, in fact, a war crime.
Moreover, the people Israel claims are legitimate targets are members of Hamas, which Israel says is a terrorist organization. Hamas has been responsible for firing rockets into Israel . These rockets are extremely inaccurate and thus, even if Hamas intended to hit military targets within Israel , are indiscriminate by nature. When rockets from Gaza kill Israeli civilians, it is a war crime.
Hamas has a military wing. However, it is not entirely a military organization, but a political one. Members of Hamas are the democratically elected representatives of the Palestinian people. Dozens of these elected leaders have been kidnapped and held in Israeli prisons without charge. Others have been targeted for assassination, such as Nizar Rayan, a top Hamas official. To kill Rayan , Israel targeted a residential apartment building. The strike not only killed Rayan but two of his wives and four of his children, along with six others. There is no justification for such an attack under international law. This was a war crime.
Other of Israel 's bombardment with protected status under international law have included a mosque, a prison, police stations, and a university, in addition to residential buildings.
Moreover, Israel has long held Gaza under siege, allowing only the most minimal amounts of humanitarian supplies to enter. Israel is bombing and killing Palestinian civilians. Countless more have been wounded, and cannot receive medical attention. Hospitals running on generators have little or no fuel. Doctors have no proper equipment or medical supplies to treat the injured. These people, too, are the victims of Israeli policies targeted not at Hamas or legitimate military targets, but directly designed to punish the civilian population.
Lie #2) Hamas violated the cease-fire. The Israeli bombardment is a response to Palestinian rocket fire and is designed to end such rocket attacks.
Israel never observed the cease-fire to begin with. From the beginning, it announced a "special security zone" within the Gaza Strip and announced that Palestinians who enter this zone will be fired upon. In other words, Israel announced its intention that Israeli soldiers would shoot at farmers and other individuals attempting to reach their own land in direct violation of not only the cease-fire but international law.
Despite shooting incidents, including ones resulting in Palestinians getting injured, Hamas still held to the cease-fire from the time it went into effect on June 19 until Israel effectively ended the truce on November 4 by launching an airstrike into Gaza that killed five and injured several others.
Israel 's violation of the cease-fire predictably resulted in retaliation from militants in Gaza who fired rockets into Israel in response. The increased barrage of rocket fire at the end of December is being used as justification for the continued Israeli bombardment, but is a direct response by militants to the Israeli attacks.
Israel 's actions, including its violation of the cease-fire, predictably resulted in an escalation of rocket attacks against its own population.
Lie #3) Hamas is using human shields, a war crime.
There has been no evidence that Hamas has used human shields. The fact is, as previously noted, Gaza is a small piece of property that is densely populated. Israel engages in indiscriminate warfare such as the assassination of Nizar Rayan, in which members of his family were also murdered. It is victims like his dead children that Israel defines as "human shields" in its propaganda. There is no legitimacy for this interpretation under international law. In circumstances such as these, Hamas is not using human shields, Israel is committing war crimes in violation of the Geneva Conventions and other applicable international law.
Lie #4) Arab nations have not condemned Israel 's actions because they understand Israel 's justification for its assault.
The populations of those Arab countries are outraged at Israel 's actions and at their own governments for not condemning Israel 's assault and acting to end the violence. Simply stated, the Arab governments do not represent their respective Arab populations. The populations of the Arab nations have staged mass protests in opposition to not only Israel 's actions but also the inaction of their own governments and what they view as either complacency or complicity in Israel 's crimes.
Moreover, the refusal of Arab nations to take action to come to the aid of the Palestinians is not because they agree with Israel 's actions, but because they are submissive to the will of the US , which fully supports Israel . Egypt , for instance, which refused to open the border to allow Palestinians wounded in the attacks to get medical treatment in Egyptian hospitals, is heavily dependent upon US aid, and is being widely criticized within the population of the Arab countries for what is viewed as an absolute betrayal of the Gaza Palestinians.
Even Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has been regarded as a traitor to his own people for blaming Hamas for the suffering of the people of Gaza . Palestinians are also well aware of Abbas' past perceived betrayals in conniving with Israel and the US to sideline the democratically elected Hamas government, culminating in a counter-coup by Hamas in which it expelled Fatah (the military wing of Abbas' Palestine Authority) from the Gaza Strip. While his apparent goal was to weaken Hamas and strengthen his own position, the Palestinians and other Arabs in the Middle East are so outraged at Abbas that it is unlikely he will be able to govern effectively.
Lie #5) Israel is not responsible for civilian deaths because it warned the Palestinians of Gaza to flee areas that might be targeted.
Israel claims it sent radio and telephone text messages to residents of Gaza warning them to flee from the coming bombardment. But the people of Gaza have nowhere to flee to. They are trapped within the Gaza Strip. It is by Israeli design that they cannot escape across the border. It is by Israeli design that they have no food, water, or fuel by which to survive. It is by Israeli design that hospitals in Gaza have no electricity and few medical supplies with which to treat the injured and save lives. And Israel has bombed vast areas of Gaza , targeting civilian infrastructure and other sites with protected status under international law. No place is safe within the Gaza Strip.


Jeremy R. Hammond is the editor of Foreign Policy Journal , a website dedicated to providing news, critical analysis, and opinion commentary on U.S. foreign policy from outside of the standard framework offered by government officials and the mainstream corporate media, particularly with regard to the "war on terrorism" and events in the Middle East. He has also written for numerous other online publications. You can contact him at jeremy@foreignpolicyjournal.com .

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Gaza Now is burning under

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Please spend some time to read..........May God Bless us all

My dear Humane brothers and sisters,

I am Dr. Faruq Salaam, a physician in the Baghdad National Hospital.
At the moment we are facing the worst attack on our nation and on our people by the American and British invaders. Heavy bombs fall day and
night on our city,and hundreds of innocent civilians have died, and
thousands have been injured.
You have seen the American bombs landing even in market places and residences where there is no military presence. Every day I see dozens of men, women and children in my hospital, who are horribly wounded,
maimed, mutilated and scarred for life. Many people have lost their senses
from this constant bombardment, and will never be sane again. Our electricity is gone, and food and water are running out. We are short of medicine and bandages for treating the wounded.
At this time, I want to ask: why has this war been imposed on us? We had
not harmed anyone. We had not threatened the USA. There were no Iraqi
terrorists in those who attacked the World Trade Center. Was it not the Americans themselves who built up Saddam Hussein? Why was the US so now desparate to rush in for this war, even though the UN was against it and several nations pleaded to continue the weapons inspections? What did
the US want to hide from the world?
Where are the much trumpeted "Weapons of Mass Destruction", where are the
nuclear, chemical and biological weapons we are supposed to have?
Why have they not been found even after so many months of inspections and so many days of American and British occupation?
Why did not Saddam not use them even to defend himself at this stage? Aren't these all lies of Bush the bastard son, who wanted to invade Iraq to get our oil, and to avenge his father?
Why didn't the US take action when Israel violated 37 UN resolutions over
the last 45 years. Why doesn't it stop it from illegally occupying Palestine?
What is the Great White Satan doing when Israel kills Palestinians every day,and blatantly declares its nuclear weapons?
What did the US do while India violated the UN resloution and keeps occupying Kashmir?
Why was it quiet when the Russians massacred Chechenians?
Is their punishment only reserved for Muslims?
They attacked Afghanistan, even though there was no evidence that Bin Laden
was involved in the 9/11 attack. The Western media itself acknowledged that
Bin Laden was created by America, but more than 30,000 Afghan civilians
were killed in revenge for 3000 Americans. Is the life of Muslims so cheap?
Now thousands of Iraqis have been killed just to satisfy the lust for blood
and oil of George Bush and his henchmen. The idiot son has taken advice
from his evil father and slaughtered so many innocent people - is there no
justice in the world?
And all you muslims are silent.
Why?
Think, sleepers, think! After Iraq,who will be next?
Syria, Libya, Iran, Pakistan?
Do you muslims think that the Americans will be satisfied after vanquishing Iraq?
They need an external enemy to keep their public's attention diverted from
their own problems.
After collapse of Communism, Islam is the next enemy. All you muslims are now considered terrorists and therefore, must be eliminated.Yet, you will not fight. You are weak and divided.
But I ask you, if you are too afraid to fight the Americans, why are you too
afraid even to say that this war is wrong?
Why are there no Muslim countries lobbying in the UN, asking for an end to this illegal war?
Why are there so few demonstrations in the streets. There was a bigger demonstration in London than in all the Muslim countries put together. What a shame!
Why do you muslims still go to American McDonald's and KFC?
Will you die if you don't eat their junk food? or drink their Pepsi and Coca cola?
Why do you still wear American things?
Can't you live without Nike and Reebok?
Why do you still visit their country and spend your money there?
You are treated with suspicion, followed and watched, searched and humiliated. Yet you want to visit Disneyland and Las Vegas?
And you want to give your money to these people so they can make more bombs and bullets?
Why do you still give them contracts and work?
Can't this work be done by yourself or other nationals?
Why do you still sell them oil?
If you are so afraid to stop its supply, at least increase its price! The oil price increase in the 70's brought the Western powers to their knees and showed them the real power of the muslims.
Why do you now favour them and provide them cheap oil, so they can fill
their tanks and planes?
Why do you still keep your money in their banks?
They pay you low interest rates, and freeze the money anytime they like simply by alleging you are helping terrorists. Why can't you transfer all your money to banks owned by Muslim countries? Remember - every dollar removed from an American bank will reduce their economy by 7 dollars
- just ask any economist. And the biggest deposits in their banks are of Muslims, especially Arabs.
Why do you still invest in their stock markets?
They are not giving you any profit anyway. Their stock market is built on hype and accounting frauds, and will soon collapse like Enron and Worldcom. Get your money out before you lose it.
Humane! I appeal to you to think, and act. The US will not stop even after
this war. It will find more "terrorists", more muslims to humiliate and
bomb and kill. The next time it may be your country, your loved ones, who are the one's being shot and blown up.
I appeal to you to get this message to all the humanes you know. Forward it
to all humanes who have internet, and give printed copies to all those who don't.Translate it for those who cannot understand English, and get it printed in newspapers. If you are all united and work together, you may save
yourselves.
I may not be alive tomorrow, but I hope you have a long and healthy life May
Allah help us all.

Dr. Faruq Salaam