Online video: Saeb Erekat http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/hardtalk/7826226.stm In a HARDtalk interview broadcast on 13 January, Zeinab Badawi speaks to the Palestinian chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat.
Uri Avnery: How Many Divisions? http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/1231625457/ Nearly seventy years ago, in the course of World War II, a heinous crime was committed in the city of Leningrad. For more than a thousand days, a gang of extremists called “the Red Army” held the millions of the town’s inhabitants hostage and provoked retaliation from the German Wehrmacht from inside the population centers. The Nazis had no alternative but to bomb and shell the population and to impose a total blockade, which caused the death of hundreds of thousands.
Uri Avnery: Wie viele Divisionen? http://www.jungewelt.de/2009/01-13/014.php
EU said readying plan to restore Fatah-led PA rule over Gaza crossings http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1054239.html
Michael Warschawski: Rule of Thugs: Israeli Elections Committee Decision to Ban Balad and Ra’am Ta’al http://www.alternativenews.org/content/view/1533/389/ The Israeli Central Elections Committee has banned the Israeli political parties, Balad (The National Democratic Assembly) and Ra’am Ta’al. Parties whose constituencies represent more than 2/3 of the vote of the Palestinian citizens of Israel.
A week is a long time in Israel http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jan/13/gaza-israelandthepalestinians1 Israel's claim to be a bastion of democracy in the Middle East is now in jeopardy with its crackdown on its Arab citizens
Knesset sperrt Araber aus http://www.focus.de/politik/ausland/nahost/israel-knesset-sperrt-araber-aus_aid_361620.html Jeder fünfte israelische Staatsbürger ist arabischer Herkunft. Die beiden arabischen Blöcke in der Knesset verfügen zusammen über sieben der 120 Sitze. Im künftigen Parlament werden sie aber nicht mehr vertreten sein – sie wurden von der Wahl ausgeschlossen.
Gideon Levy: The time of the righteous http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1054158.html גדעון לוי | שעת הצדקנים http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasite/spages/1054056.html This war, perhaps more than its predecessors, is exposing the true deep veins of Israeli society. Racism and hatred are rearing their heads, as is the impulse for revenge and the thirst for blood. The "inclination of the commander" in the Israel Defense Forces is now "to kill as many as possible," as the military correspondents on television describe it.
Amira Hass: History did not begin with the Qassams http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1055241.html עמירה הס | ההיסטוריה לא התחילה עם הקסאם http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasite/spages/1055376.html The Israeli media prescribes a strict low-information, low-truth diet for its consumers, one rich in generals and their ilk. The siege of Gaza did not begin when Hamas seized control of the Strip's security organs, or when Gilad Shalit was taken captive, or when Hamas was elected in democratic elections. The siege began in 1991 - before the suicide bombings. And since then, it has only become more sophisticated, reaching its peak in 2005. [...] Gaza is not a military power that attacked its tiny, peace-loving neighbor, Israel. Gaza is a territory that Israel occupied in 1967, along with the West Bank. Its residents are part of the Palestinian people, which lost its land and its homeland in 1948.
Israelis and the Israeli War on Gaza http://www.alternativenews.org/content/view/1534/381/ The absolute majority of Israeli Jews support the current Israeli offensive in Gaza. They also supported the offensive against Lebanon in 2006 and the successive offensives carried out in the West Bank since 2000. We could explain this position as an expression of the colonial ideology that feeds Zionism. However, this explanation represents Israeli society as being homogenous and devoid of contradictions, and would thus misrepresent reality. Israeli society is highly unstable and trapped within its own contradictions. It is precisely here that we should seek the reasons underlying militarism in Israel. [...] Wars did not unify the diverse communities in Israel, but served to establish discipline within a fractured society. The wars, and particularly the military victory of 1967, served to establish the ethnic fundamentalism that characterizes the hegemonic discourse in Israel. This allowed the ruling classes to overcome the social rifts and thus suggest a Jewish national identity. For this reason, the discourse of peace, which does not propose solutions to the social upheavals of Israeli society, subverts the promises of ethnic fundamentalism. With peace disappears the common danger that holds together the unemployed in Sderot and the systems engineer in Tel Aviv.
Who will save Israel from itself? http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/war_on_gaza/2009/01/2009110112723260741.html The Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, whose December 31 report titled "Six Months of the Lull Arrangement Intelligence Report," confirmed that the June 19 truce was only "sporadically violated, and then not by Hamas but instead by ... "rogue terrorist organisations". Instead, "the escalation and erosion of the lull arrangement" occurred after Israel killed six Hamas members on November 4 without provocation and then placed the entire Strip under an even more intensive siege the next day. According to a joint Tel Aviv University-European University study, this fits a larger pattern in which Israeli violence has been responsible for ending 79 per cent of all lulls in violence since the outbreak of the second intifada, compared with only 8 per cent for Hamas and other Palestinian factions. [...] numerous flippant remarks by senior Israeli politicians and generals, including Tzipi Livni, the foreign minister, refusing to make a distinction between civilian people and institutions and fighters - "Hamas doesn't ... and neither should we" is how Livni puts it - are rightly being seen as admissions of war crimes. Indeed, in reviewing statements by Israeli military planners leading up to the invasion, it is clear that there was a well thought out decision to go after Gaza's civilian infrastructure - and with it, civilians. The following quote from an interview with Major-General Gadi Eisenkot that appeared in the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth in October, is telling: "We will wield disproportionate power against every village from which shots are fired on Israel, and cause immense damage and destruction. From our perspective these [the villages] are military bases," he said. "This isn't a suggestion. This is a plan that has already been authorised." [...] Eisenkot's description of this planning in light of what is now unfolding in Gaza is a clear admission of conspiracy and intent to commit war crimes.
Soldiers and army at odds on phosphorus http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article5512203.ece Israeli officials continued to deny that the army was using illegal weapons in its Gaza offensive despite accounts by soldiers that tanks with white phosphorus shells were deployed.
Of Sowing and Harvests: Subcomandante Marcos' Speech on Gaza http://www.alternativenews.org/content/view/1531/381/
Israeli Elections 2009: The Sole Suitable Option http://www.alternativenews.org/content/view/1471/104/
Avi Shlaim: How Israel brought Gaza to the brink of humanitarian catastrophe http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/07/gaza-israel-palestine
Israel accused of Gaza 'genocide' http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2009/01/200911321467988347.html The president of the UN General Assembly has condemned Israel's killings of Palestinians in its Gaza offensive as "genocide".
Israel's 'other voices' go unheard http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/war_on_gaza/2009/01/20091109519821785.html
Naomi Klein: Israel - Boycott, Divest, Sanction http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090126/klein It's time. Long past time. The best strategy to end the increasingly bloody occupation is for Israel to become the target of the kind of global movement that put an end to apartheid in South Africa.
Obama breaks his silence on Gaza http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/jan/07/barack-obama-gaza-israel (short link: http://twiturl.de/stanage) The president-elect may be concerned, but his public statements have shown less and less sympathy for the Palestinians
Gaza conflict will shake the Arab world http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jan/11/gaza-israel-egypt-mubarak (short link: http://twiturl.de/patel) Egypt's leadership could be the first hit by shockwaves sent through the neighbourhood by Israel's attacks
[S]ince the declaration of the State of Israel in 1948, this is the first war that Israel has launched that Palestinians have defended themselves without any neighbouring Arab country militarily intervening. The Palestinians have taken up arms independently, whether home-made or imported, to defend their land and people against this full-scale Israeli military attack from the air, sea and ground. [...] The Muslim Brotherhood, which is the only credible opposition to Mubarak [in Egypt], has joined hands with the secularists, leftist and others in denouncing Mubarak's ties with Israel and his choking of the Palestinians by keeping the Rafah crossing shut. [...] It appears [Mubarak] is fogged by the largesse of $2.2bn donated annually by the US to Egypt, which many believe is tied to his commitment for the US-Israel ambitions and project in the region.
Tariq Ali: From the ashes of Gaza http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/dec/30/gaza-hamas-palestinians-israel1 (short link: http://twiturl.de/ali-gaza) In the face of Israel's latest onslaught, the only option for Palestinian nationalism is to embrace a one-state solution
Profits of war http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jan/11/gaza-israel-palestine-military-equipment During the Oslo years, Shimon Peres -- who favoured a "peace of markets" before a "peace of flags" -- and the Labour party were backed by influential members of the business community who were lured by the peace dividend Israel could earn from a resolution to the conflict. But under rightwing stewardship in recent years, the Israeli economy has been profiting from its own and global conflict and insecurity. [...] Israel has boosted its military spending, partly to help salvage high-tech firms. Last year, proved to be yet another record year, with the country's defence budget subsuming a massive 16% of government spending and 7% of GDP. Add to that, the average $3bn in military aid which Israel receives from the United States each year, and you have a truly staggering economic dependence on the way of the gun. [...] In addition, Israel does not seem to be paying a massive war premium. High-tech industries do not require Israel to be on good terms with its neighbours, while with most western economies, it's business as usual, regardless of the political situation on the ground. The EU, as a whole, remains Israel's main trading partner, with bilateral trade at around €20bn, followed closely by the United States.
In Gaza, the War of '48 Continues http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090112/eldar The mantra repeated ad nauseam these days by Israeli officials, from Prime Minister Ehud Olmert down to the last spokesperson, is "Show us a state that would practice restraint while rockets are continuously fired at civilian populations in its sovereign territory." For the benefit of provincial spectators like our American friends, the Israeli [propaganda] has produced a film that compares Israel's southern border to that of the United States. The question posed by the narrator: "Would the United States ignore rockets fired from Mexico into San Diego?" [...] Gaza is still, practically and according to international law, occupied territory. Israel controls the entrances and exits, as well as access to necessities such as power and water. Mexico has not spent the last three or more years under an American aerial and sea blockade.
Israel's Czech mate http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jan/10/czech-republic-israel-european-union-palestine (short link: http://twiturl.de/schwarzen) First, an official spokesman for the Czech Republic deems Israel's slaughter of Gazan civilians an act of self-defence. Next, the statement has to be retracted when it fails to chime with the message from Paris, which has reluctantly ceded the EU's presidency to Prague. And then an aristocrat fond of bow ties (Czech foreign minister Karel Schwarzenberg) leads a mission aimed at brokering a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel. The snag is that "peace" has to be achieved without actually talking to Hamas because it has been designated a terrorist organisation. [...] The Czechs' steadfast support for Israel sits uncomfortably with their apparently stout defence of human rights elsewhere. Invoking powerful historical memories from their own country, Czech ministers have demanded that the EU should support dissidents in Cuba. Yet they have failed to create a similar ruckus over how Israel detains school-leavers who resist military service or has denied journalists access to Gaza.
"We Are Very Violent" http://www.counterpunch.org/cook01092009.html Outcry Over Israel's War Crimes
Hasbara spam alert http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jan/09/israel-foreign-ministry-media (short link: http://twiturl.de/hasbara) With Israel's foreign ministry organising volunteers to flood news websites with pro-Israeli comments, Propaganda 2.0 is here
The Anti-Semitism Canard http://www.counterpunch.org/fenton01092009.html The American Peace Movement and Israel
Leading British Jews call on Israel to halt 'horror' of Gaza http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/11/gaza-israel-letter-british-jews (short link: http://twiturl.de/bayfield)
Thousands of Jews rally [in London] against Hamas http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/jan/12/gaza-israelandthepalestinians (short link: http://twiturl.de/gillan)
UN human rights chief accuses Israel of war crimes http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/10/un-human-rights-gaza-zeitoun Official calls for investigation into Zeitoun shelling that killed up to 30 in one house as Israelis dismiss 'unworkable' ceasefire
The Torturer-Elect? http://www.counterpunch.org/hendricks01092009.html Mr. Obama tells us he will continue to torture the men (and in a few cases women, girls, and boys) whose torture Mr. Bush began. Naturally Mr. Obama has not put the matter so baldly. He has sent his advisors--or allowed them; it is the same--to tell reporters that he is not at all inclined to prosecute the officials behind our torture programs, not those who created or ran Guantánamo or Abu Ghraib or our European "black sites," not those behind the snatch-and-"render" jobs that damned untried men to foreign torment and, in cases, execution. Indeed, so far is Mr. Obama from prosecuting these criminals that he has asked several to work for him, including CIA torture chiefs Stephen Kappes, who will remain the agency's second-in-command, and John Brennan, who will be promoted to senior White House counterterrorist. The best we can expect of our new president, his dependents say, is that he will ask a commission of politicians to say whether their colleagues erred during the years of American terror.
Obama zu Guantánamo http://www.jungewelt.de/2009/01-12/043.php Wenige Tage vor Amtsantritt hat der künftige US-Präsident Barack Obama eingeräumt, er könne das US-Gefangenenlager Guantánamo nicht wie versprochen innerhalb seiner ersten hundert Tage im Amt schließen. »Es ist schwieriger, als sich eine Menge Leute vorstellen können«, sagte Obama am Sonntag dem US-Sender ABC.
Linkspartei für Israel - Riotcops Gaza-Demo http://de.indymedia.org/2009/01/238981.shtml Berliner Linkspartei Landesvorstand unterstützt "Support Israel - Operation Cast Lead" - Riotcops greifen Gaza-Demo in Berlin an
Recht auf Widerstand http://www.jungewelt.de/2009/01-12/027.php 1600 Teilnehmer bei Rosa-Luxemburg-Konferenz in Berlin verurteilen Israels Krieg in Gaza
Terror-Vorwurf von Israels Botschafter "unverantwortlich" http://derstandard.at/?url=/?id=1231151490494 Israels Botschafter in Wien hatte in einem"profil" Interview behauptet, die UNRWA-Mitarbeiter gehören der Hamas an
Nachschlag: Kriegszensur http://www.jungewelt.de/2009/01-12/020.php Am Freitag hat Eutelsat den Betrieb von Al-Aksa-TV eingestellt. Das palästinensische Programm betreibt »Propaganda gegen Israel«, so der Vorwurf.
Latuff's cartoons: http://uddari-actionpage.blogspot.com/2009/01/carlos-latuff-on-israeli-war-crimes-in.html
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