[ 01/01/2009 - 02:01 AM ]
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)--
Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert has affirmed Wednesday that he was encouraged by a number of Arab leaders not to halt aggression on the Gaza Strip or fighting Hamas.
The Israeli massacre in Gaza had reaped close to 400 Palestinian lives, many were children and women, and injured around 2000 others, at least 200 of them were reportedly in critical conditions.
The Hebrew Haaretz newspaper quoted Olmert as saying that a number of Arab leaders have encouraged him to continue military pressure on Hamas, and not to stop the military operation against Gaza.
According to Olmert, he doesn’t care about proposals for truce in Gaza from European parties, and that he would continue the battle till Hamas accepts the truce on Israel's terms.
Close to 10000 IOF reservists were called to the borders of Gaza Strip in preparation of apparently inevitable land blitz in the coming few days.
The paper also alleged that Olmert has set four conditions before he agrees to cessations of hostilities in the tiny Gaza Strip.
According to his conditions, Palestinian factions to stop unleashing locally-made rockets on Israeli settlements in the 1948-occupied Palestinian lands, to stop smuggling weapons and ammunitions through tunnels along the Gaza-Egypt borders, and to establish a supervisory system to ensure that Hamas would implement the conditions.
Abu Al-Ghait:For his part, Ahmad Abu Al-Ghait insisted to exonerate the Israeli occupation government of the spilled Palestinian blood in Gaza Strip.
He blamed Hamas for the bloodshed.
Abu Al-Ghait exploited the presence of the Arab foreign ministers who are meeting in Cairo to defame Hamas and blame it for "provoking" Israel.
Egypt's image in the Arab world was badly affected by the unsolicited statements of Abu Al-Ghait that were coupled with a "shy" Egyptian reaction vis-à-vis the Israeli brutality in Gaza.
Bush thanks Mubarak for the "positive role" of Egypt during the war on Gaza [ 31/12/2008 - 11:35 AM ]
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WASHINGTON, (PIC)-- The white house announced on Wednesday that the US president George Bush called the Egyptian president Husni Mubarak and thanked him for Egypt's "positive role" during the past few days of the war on the Gaza Strip.
White house spokesman, Gordon Johndroe, also said that Bush called the PA president Mahnoud Abbas and the premier of his illegitimate government Salam Fayyad and emphasized the need for a lasting cease-fire.
"President Bush and the two Palestinian leaders discussed their efforts for a sustainable cease-fire. They agreed that for any cease-fire to be effective, it must be respected, particularly by Hamas," Johndroe said.
Bush, who is leaving the white house in three weeks, has not made any statement about the Israeli onslaught against the Gaza Strip.
The Washington Post quoted a US administration official as saying that Israel chose to attack at this time to utilise the remaining days for president Bush in office.
Egypt seen as complicit in Gaza
Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani, The Electronic Intifada, 31 December 2008
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Egyptians in Cairo protest the ongoing Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip, 29 November 2008. (Matthew Cassel)
CAIRO (IPS) - As the Palestinian death toll approaches 400, much of popular anger throughout the Arab world has been directed at Egypt -- seen by many as complicit in the Israeli campaign.
"Israel would not have hit Gaza like this without a green light from Egypt," Hamdi Hassan, MP for the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest opposition movement, told IPS. "The Egyptian government allowed this assault on Gaza in hopes of finishing off Hamas."
On Saturday, 27 December, Israel began a series of devastating air strikes on targets throughout the occupied Gaza Strip, internally controlled since the summer of last year by Palestinian resistance faction Hamas. According to Israeli officials, the campaign -- which has included hundreds of air strikes -- comes in retaliation for rockets fired by Palestinian resistance factions.
More than 200 Palestinians were reportedly killed on the first day of the operation. Four Israelis, meanwhile, have reportedly been killed by Palestinian rocket fire since the air campaign began.
In the meantime, Israel has continued to amass tanks along its border with the Gaza Strip amid predictions of an imminent ground assault.
"What's happening in Gaza represents an unprecedented crime against humanity," said Hassan. "Enormous military power -- featuring the latest US weaponry -- is being brought to bear against a poverty-stricken and largely defenseless population."
Ever since Hamas wrested control of the Strip from the US-backed Palestinian Authority (PA) last year, Egypt -- like Israel -- has kept its border with the enclave tightly sealed. The border closures, in tandem with the bombing and closure of the Strip's airports and maritime ports by Israel, has effectively cut the territory off from the rest of the world, and brought it to the brink of humanitarian disaster.
"The international community has condoned the siege of Gaza and allowed the Palestinians to be punished for democratically electing Hamas," said Hassan, noting that the Islamist group swept the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections.
Egypt has said it cannot reopen the Rafah crossing, the sole transit point along Egypt's 14 kilometer border with the Gaza Strip, in the absence of PA officials and European Union observers, as stipulated in a 2005 US-sponsored trilateral agreement between Israel, the PA and the EU.
Critics, however, reject this argument, and say there is no legal justification for keeping the border permanently closed to people and goods.
"Egypt isn't even a signatory to the agreement, which expired after one year and was never renewed," said Hassan. "Those cooperating with Israel are simply using this outdated agreement as an excuse to keep Rafah sealed."
Despite increasingly vocal demands -- by both street protestors and opposition MPs -- to open the border to aid convoys in the wake of the recent Israeli assaults, the Egyptian government has dragged its feet.
"For the first two days of the campaign, the authorities forbade all aid convoys from entering Gaza," Magdi Hussein, secretary-general of Egypt's Islamist-leaning Labor Party (officially frozen since 2000) told IPS. "On the third and fourth days, limited aid was allowed in -- but this was only due to mounting popular pressure."
In a televised address 30 December, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak defended Egypt's position by again referring to the 2005 border agreement. "Egypt doesn't want to sanctify the division [between the rival political parties in Gaza and the West Bank] by opening the Rafah crossing in the absence of the PA and European observers," he said.
For the last five days, Egypt has witnessed thousands-strong demonstrations at university campuses, mosques and professional syndicates. Amid an increasingly tight security presence, protestors have called for the permanent reopening of the Rafah border crossing and the severing of Egypt's diplomatic relations with Israel.
"That protests are being staged all over Egypt -- and will persist as long as the aggression continues -- is an indication of the level of popular outrage," said Hassan. "If the government doesn't change its position and allow aid to flow freely into Gaza, the situation could become very dangerous."
Demonstrators in several Arab capitals have vented their rage outside Egyptian embassies. Protestors have reportedly attacked Egyptian consular offices in Sudan and Yemen.
"Demonstrations around Egyptian embassies abroad show that the Arab and Muslim people across the region recognize Egypt's complicity with Israel in keeping the border closed without legal justification," said Hassan.
Suspicions of Egyptian complicity with Israel against Hamas are not limited to the border issue. Many also suspect a degree of Egyptian-Israeli coordination in advance of the air campaign -- an impression reinforced by the fact that Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was in Cairo, where she met with Mubarak and Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, less than 48 hours before the assaults began.
At a joint press conference with Aboul Gheit in Cairo on 25 December, Livni vowed to retaliate against Palestinian rocket fire from the Gaza Strip. "This is something that has to be stopped," she said of the relatively ineffectual rocket salvoes. "And this is what we're going to do."
While Aboul-Gheit used the occasion to publicly urge restraint by both sides, many independent commentators believe that, while in Cairo, Livni received a tacit go-ahead from Egyptian officials for the campaign.
"It was at the Livni-Mubarak talks that Egypt gave Israel the green light to strike Gaza," said Hassan. Contentiously, he went on to point to statements by Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum that Hamas had received false assurances from Egypt, immediately following the Cairo talks, that an Israeli attack on the strip was not imminent.
On Sunday, 28 December, a presidential spokesman strongly denied Barhoum's claims. "No Egyptian official sent any assurances to Hamas in this regard," he was quoted as saying in the state press.
Misgivings about possible Egyptian connivance with Israel against Hamas have not been limited to opposition figures and political commentators. On the campaign's third day, thousands of demonstrators in Cairo chanted: "Oh, Mubarak, what do you say? Why was Livni here anyway?"
All rights reserved, IPS - Inter Press Service (2008). Total or partial publication, retransmission or sale forbidden.
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The purpose of the ICTI would be to investigate and prosecute Israeli war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide against the Peoples of Lebanon and Palestine--just as the ICTY did for the victims of international crimes committed by Serbia and the Milosevic Regime throughout the Balkans. The establishment of ICTI would provide some small degree of justice to the victims of Israeli war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide against the Peoples of Lebanon and Palestine--just as the ICTY has done in the Balkans. Furthermore, the establishment of ICTI by the U.N. General Assembly would serve as a deterrent effect upon Israeli leaders such as Prime Minister Olmert, Foreign Minister Livni, Defense Minister Barak , Chief of Staff Ashkenazi and Israel's other top generals that they will be prosecuted for their further infliction of international crimes upon the Lebanese and the Palestinians. Without such a deterrent, Israel might be emboldened to attack Syria with the full support of the Likhudnik Bush Jr. Neoconservatives, who have always viewed Syria as "low-hanging fruit" ready to be taken out by means of their joint aggression. If Israel attacks Syria as it did when it invaded Lebanon in 1982, Iran has vowed to come to Syria's defense. And of course Israel and the Bush Jr administration very much want a pretext to attack Iran. This scenario could readily degenerate into World War III.
For the U.N. General Assembly to establish ICTI could stop the further development of this momentum towards a regional if not global catastrophe.
[ 31/12/2008 - 01:10 AM ] By Khalid Amayreh The genocidal Israeli onslaught against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip is strikingly similar to the German blitz in the initial stage of the Second World War. The pretexts are nearly the same and the behaviors of both Nazi and Israeli political and military leadership are nearly identical. And as the German Nazis sought to justify their blitz against their neighbors to the east, using a plethora of carefully concocted lies and pretexts, Israel is doing virtually the same thing. However, unlike the Nazis whose naked aggression was widely condemned around the world, the ongoing Israeli onslaught against the Gaza Strip is being condoned, even celebrated, by a huge media network throughout the western world from Sydney to Los Angeles. Today, Israel is decapitating Gaza while claiming that it is only fighting Hamas. The Israeli air force is targeting and destroying schools, mosques, private homes, charities, public buildings, drug stores, colleges and universities, all under the false pretext of fighting Hamas. This is not a war against Hamas. It is a war against the Palestinian people as is obvious from the fact that the bulk of the victims are innocent civilians. And like all criminals, Israel is resorting to the fabrication of lies and half-truths to justify its genocidal blitz against an essentially unprotected people. Many, probably most Jews in Israel and around the world, are bragging about the “heroic” Israeli army and its “achievements” against Hamas. Some Jews have described the slaughter as the “best Hanukah present ever.” Well, I don’t really see any heroism in using state-of-the-art machines of death, such as the F-16 warplanes, apache helicopters and laser-guided bunker buster bombs against a people who don’t posses an army or an air force or anti-aircraft defenses. There is no heroism, but sheer cowardice, in launching these deadly bombs at unprotected civilian buildings just as there was no heroism in the targeting of unarmed civilians by the Nazi war machines. For sure, even the weakest air-force in the world could bomb and destroy unprotected buildings and kill as many civilians as seen fit by morbid minds of Ehud Barak’s ilk. In short, the Israeli onslaught against a people who don’t possess the means to defend themselves and can’t protect their children from Israeli brutality is an act of sheer cowardice. It can be compared with the Nazi SS strafing Jewish protesters with machine gunfire. Israel and her mouthpieces in the West claim that Israeli army, a Jewish Wehrmacht by any standard of objective analysis, is merely reacting to Palestinian projectiles fired from Gaza onto Israeli settlements outside Gaza. Well, this is only a pretext for two many reasons: The so-called Qassam projectiles are symbolic and nearly innocuous weapons that make more noise than damage. During the past eight years, less than two dozen Israelis were killed by these projectiles. In the meanwhile, thousands of Palestinians, mainly children and other innocent civilians, were annihilated by the indiscriminate Israeli death machine. These are war crimes because even in war, there is proportionality and using excessive force, mainly against civilians, in reaction to minor provocation puts Israel on equal footing with Nazi barbarianism. There are those who would argue that Israel has the right and duty to defend its citizens. Well, this is not the real issue, because one could argue that even the worst state in the world has the right to defend its citizens. But Israel has been savaging an entire people by imposing a Nazi-like siege upon them on no other account than to punish them for electing a government that both Israel and her guardian-ally, the United States, didn’t like. In short, Israel has been effectively telling the Palestinians, in word as well as in deed, that they face two choices: Either to starve to death, or be exterminated by the Israeli war machine. In other words, the Palestinians must die if they resist and die if they don’t. This is while the Israeli hasbara (propaganda) machine keeps telling the world that Israel is only fighting Hamas and defending its citizens. Well, Hamas may not be completely blameless in a certain sense. However, it is imperative to remind the world that the Islamic movement repeatedly voiced its willingness to stop the firing of “all” projectiles from the Gaza Strip if only Israel would reciprocate and lift the Nazi-like siege. And as we all know, Israel consistently refused, insisting rather arrogantly that it had the right to kill the Palestinians and invade their territories whenever it deemed fit. Needless to say, this is exactly the same sort of arrogance, insolence and bellicosity that characterized Nazi behavior. A few days ago, Israelis analysts described the genocidal onslaught against Gaza as the Israeli version of the American “shock- and –awe bombing” at the beginning of the American invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq. Shock and awe against a thoroughly tormented and completely savaged people who have been through a hateful blockade, unprecedented in its cruelty and wickedness. I can’t understand why Jews are behaving the way they are. Do the scenes of havoc and destruction and death in the streets and refugee camps of Gaza give them self-confidence? Do they enjoy watching Palestinian kids mutilated to smithereens by these hellish missiles launched at apartment buildings and homes from high altitude.? Does it make them feel that they are finally defeating Hitler? I am asking these questions because I have seen Jews dancing and celebrating rather joyfully the carnage in Gaza. Indeed, a fleeting glance at the Israeli media these days reveals a sick and cannibalistic society that is as bestial as Nazi Germany was during the holocaust. Perhaps I am doing some injustice to the Germans. After all, the Germans were living under a hateful and tyrannical dictatorship that would have brutally crushed any protests by conscientious citizens. But, unlike Nazi Germany, Israel claims to be “a light upon the nations,” “the only democracy in the Middle East” and a civilized western nation. Well, if such is the behavior of “democratic” Israel, just imagine how the Jewish state would behave once the terrorist entity fell in the hands of manifestly fascist forces and parties. I have repeatedly warned in my writings that Israel is capable of committing a genocide or a holocaust against the Palestinian people and other peoples of the Middle East. My warnings are not empty propaganda aimed at besmirching Israel’s image. Likewise, they are not motivated by anti-Semitism or hatred for the Jewish people, many of whom I respect and admire. But the shocking pornographic slaughter in Gaza should be viewed as a clarion vindication of my warnings. Israel simply represents the Nazis of our time. I know that many people around the world, especially in the West, realize the veracity of the analogy deep in their hearts. But they are afraid to call the spade a spade lest they be tarnished and hounded and harassed by the powerful Jewish media which more or less controls the public discourse in many western nations. But the timidity of these cowards will not help them. Today, the Palestinians are the victims. But, surely, tomorrow will bring with it more victims, and Europeans and Americans in particular will not be immune. Their lives may not be under an immediate threat now. But their freedoms certainly are. Let us remember on this somber occasion the words of Martin Niemoller who lamented the bankruptcy of German intellectuals in the few years preceding the Second World War. "In Germany, they came first for the Communists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist; And then they came for the trade unionists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist; And then they came for the Jews, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew; And then . . . they came for me . . . And by that time there was no one left to speak up." For God’s sake, let us learn from history, because today’s Israel is strikingly similar to 1936’s Germany. Please, say No to Jewish Nazism before it is too late.
The State of Zion has just recalled 6.000 reservists to join their comrades who were besieging and starving Gaza, for the last 30 months . A ground offencive is imminent and Gaza shall be asked the kneel down for its oppressor , since 60 years. Imaging 6000 Israeli-reservists shall spend the new-year-eve slaughtering children and killing unarmed civilians instead of spending the evening making a nice party and drinking cheap-Russian- Champagne . How long must the State of Zion sufferthe burden of being a ruthless-monster- occupier ??I am sure Hilary Clinton , Bernard Madoff and Husny Mubarak , are fully supporting those unfortunate 6.000 reservists. It is far better,nowadays, to be a suicide-bomber than to be, an unarmed-civilian. ...... while ,facing Israeli-reservist . Raja Chemayel (Click on image to enlarge)  High resolution version for printing purposes here: http://dc.indymedia.org/usermedia/image/2/large/gaza_massacre.gifAnd here: http://ia310831.us.archive.org/3/items/GazaMassacre/GazaMassacre.gif
Source I will not minimize the very real suffering of the people living in Sderot (and now also Ashdod and Ashkelon) today. That suffering is not on the same scale as the suffering in Gaza, but it is still horrible, horrible, horrible.
These towns are on the receiving end of rocket fire, however innaccurate, and they have been so for many years. There are casualties, property damage, and years of psychological scars from stress and fear. The criminals responsible for the suffering in Sderot and Ashkelon ought to be tried at the Hague and sent to prison. That would be first and foremost Olmert, Barak and Livni.
It is an article of faith that Israel, however disproportionately, is defending itself against those crude projectiles Hamas is lobbing into its territory. This story is accepted by all the white powers, from the U.S. to Britain, Germany, etc. Even the states that criticize Israel assume that Israel has the right to defend itself. For example,
The Swiss Foreign Ministry acknowledged that Israel has a right to protect itself but condemned Saturday's attacks on Gaza City as "excessive," ( Xinhua )
![[Image]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vcCNlqQ6vGE98kueByyydaN95H6FMs9nwPFRdjDwMQKvLwr9dpfbBjTT-5H6EWlZo0YbNCvbfc16lHIoOjmXtV3GDZOX1RB28ScJ8aNf3MK9k=s0-d)
(An Israeli woman wept at the scene of a Palestinian rocket attack in the southern Israeli town of Sderot. Photo: David Silverman/Getty Images)
The mainstream media naturally repeats conventional political wisdom unthinkingly. More disheartening is the wide currency given this idea in the less gullible blogosphere, even among supporters of Palestinian rights.
Let's ignore for the moment the fact that Gaza is just one part of a larger Palestinian people and Israel is an occupying colonial power facing legitimate resistance. Let's pretend for the moment that the fiction that Gaza and Israel face each other as two quasi-states within the framework of international law holds. I make these assumption for the sake of argument only, because even under those assumptions that are favorable to Israel, Israel is the criminal and Hamas is legitimately defending itself.
Hamas and Israel agreed on a ceasefire in June 2008. Soon afterward, rockets continued to be fired at Israel. Hamas had difficulties controlling the territory, which wouldn't be surprising in the best of cases, but was especially understandable in view of the very difficult conditions under which Hamas acceded to power. Nevertheless, Hamas sought and succeeded in bringing the number of violations down to a trickle. As Hamas consolidated its power after the attempted Fatah putsch, violations decreased and clearly demonstrated Hamas's bona fide effort to keep the peace. This can be ascertained even from Zionist propaganda, The Hasbara site Elder of Zion keeps a calendar of projectiles lobbed at Israel. One sees clearly that after the first two weeks of the ceasefire (when Hamas was effectively taking control of government after the Fatah putsch failed), the number of Palestinian violations drops precipitously in August and is near zero during September and October. The numbers flare up exactly on November 4, 2008, and for a very good reason:
On that day Israel violated the ceasefire with an air attack coupled with a land invasion. Here is the detailed report from the PCHR office in Gaza:
....at approximately 20:30 on Tuesday, 4 November, an IOF infantry unit moved almost 400 meters into Wadi al-Salqa village, east of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. IOF troops raided a house belonging to Mofeed Suleiman al-Rumaili. They held the family hostage in one room, and used the house as a military base. Additional IOF troops besieged a house belonging to Hassan Suleiman al-Humiadi, using a megaphone to order the twenty three residents to leave the building.
Clashes subsequently erupted between the IOF troops and members of the ‘Izziddin al-Qassam Brigades (the armed wing of Hamas). Three members of the ‘Izziddin al-Qassam Brigades were injured, one of them seriously. IOF subsequently sent reinforcements into the area, supported by aircrafts. At approximately 22:30, an IOF aircraft fired a missile at members of the ‘Izziddin al-Qassam Brigades, killing Mazen Nazmi Abu Sa’da (32). In the early hours of Wednesday, 5 November, IOF destroyed al-Humaidi’s house, razed 2.5 donumms of agricultural land, and also arrested six members of the family, including four women.
In Khan Yunis, at approximately midnight on Wednesday, 5 November, an IOF aircraft fired two missiles at four members of the ‘Izziddin al-Qassam Brigades in the east of al-Qarara village, near the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel. The four members of the Brigades were killed...Approximately an hour later, IOF aircrafts fired two missiles at another group of the ‘Izziddin al-Qassam Brigades in Street No. 2 in the east of al-Qarara village. A member of the ‘Izziddin al-Qassam Brigades was killed. (PCHR Gaza)
Israel claimed that this invasion "did not constitute a violation of the cease fire". I kid you not. As you probably remember, November 4th was elections day in the U.S., so the operation was carefully planned to achieve minimum headlines. This was achieved, as practically all news of the incursion start with the Hamas reaction, see a compilation at From Occupied Palestine, with Love.
Hence, fact number one. Hamas kept its side of the bargain as good as one can expect from a government operating under so much stress and with so little resources. Improving the safety of residents in Sderot and Ashkelon would have required simply helping Hamas improve its governance. That wouldn't have been too difficult had the goal of Israel and its Western backers not been the very opposite.
Second, during the cease fire, Israel implemented a siege as well as a naval blockade of Gaza. Sieges and blockades are acts of war under international law. The best witness to that is Israel itself. In 1967 Nassser closed the Tiran straits to Israeli ships. "Citing international law, Israel considered the closure of the straits to be illegal, and it had stated it would consider such a blockade a Casus Belli" (wikipedia).
Note that Israel considered the closure of the Tiran straits a casus belli, even though the practical disruption of its economy as a result of that closure was negligible. Hence, although Nasser's closure was probably illegal, Israel's military response was disproportionate and illegal for certain. This is not the case in Gaza. As all witnesses agree, the siege of Gaza is causing huge suffering and deprivation. There can be no doubt that this is an act of war both in principle and materially and that the Hamas government has every right to resort to force in order to ease the suffering of the population.
To recoup, since the truce of June become effective, Israel violated it in two major ways, first by a devastating siege, and second by a direct military assault inside Gaza.
The government of Gaza had therefore every right to resort to military force in order to bring Israel to end its agression. The right of Gaza, taken as a sovereign entity, to act militarily in self defense against Israel should be easy to defend within the strictures of international law.
The question remains whether the lobbing of Qassam rockets towards Israeli cities is legitimate as a tactic. For that, one has to answer whether firing Qassams is a) necessary to achieve the goal of convincing Israel to cease its aggression. b) proportionate to the level of aggression that it it is attempting to respond to, and c) not breaching humanitarian law that prohibits certain acts categorically.
As regarding a), necessity, answering yes is not too difficult. Firing Qassam rockets is practically the only military capacity that Gaza has. Therefore Gaza cannot materially apply military force against Israel except by using Qassams. Hence, firing Qassams is necessary if using military force itself is necessary. There is clear indication that military force is necessary and effective in getting Israel to observe the peace. Israel only agreed to withdraw from Gaza as a result of Hamas's previous armed struggle. Israel only agreed to the truce in June 2008 as a result of previous use of qassam rockets in response to Israeli attacks. There is 60 years of evidence that getting Israel to respect borders requires the application of military force, and since Qassams are the only available military force, getting Israel to respect borders requires the use of Qassams.
As regarding b), proportionality, the case is in no need for arguments. The damage caused by Qassam rockets is so small in comparison of the damage in property and life cause by Israeli attacks as well as by the siege, that Hamas could significantly escalate the harm it causes Israel and still be well within the requirements for proportionality.
c), prohibited acts, presents a greater difficulty. Prima facie, international humanitarian law prohibits attacks on civilians. This prohibition clearly applies to Qassam rockets lobbied at Sderot and Ashkelon. However, accrording to customary international law, it is legal to “respond to an adversary's illegitimate attacks on its civilian population by carrying out reprisal measures against the adversary's civilian objects.” This is the doctrine of "belligerant reprisals." Here is what Finkelstein's says about it:
Now, under international law,…that’s technically called belligerent reprisals–namely, if you target our civilians, we’re going to target yours until you stop…If you check the ICRC, International Committee on the Red Cross, it’s the standard handbook on humanitarian law. It states that there is a large number of countries which accept the principle that belligerent reprisals are illegal. that is you can never target civilians… however it says, it is not a customary rule of international law. In fact the official position of the US and the UK is that civilian reprisals are legal. (Finkelstein by Joel Suarez) (my emphasis )
A siege is an act of war, and the victims of the siege of Gaza are primarily civilians. As such the siege of Gaza has been widely decried as causing a humanitarian crisis and being a breach of humanitarian law. U.N. Rapporteur Richard Falk called it "a crime against humanity." It follows that the government of Gaza is legally, under customary international law, allowed to respond to this attack on its civilian population by attacks on civilian targets in Israel. (and that before even considering the direct bombing of civilian targets in Gaza.)
Hence, it seems to me that all the requirements for legal defensive military response are met and the use of Qassam rockets by Hamas does not constitute a breach of international law and therefore does does not constitute a crime.
That of course does not mean that seeking to kill civilians in Ashkelon and Sderot is moral or the right thing for Hamas to do. I personally believe it would have been both less morally problematic and more effective if Hamas could target Tel-Aviv instead of Sderot or if it did more to harm Israeli soldiers. But I will as always avoid passing judgement on what people ought to morally do in extreme situations such as those faced by the people of Gaza, especially since this situation is the result of deliberate common policy of Israel, Western governments, and Arab autocracies. Accountability should be demanded first from those who create hell before it is demanded from those who are forced to live in it.
Perhaps this is an example of the inadequacies of international law. As Finklestein notes, many states would like to see the right to belligerant reprisals expunged from international law. If that were possible, it would be a great improvement. But one need to think carefully about what stands in the way of such a development. Is it sensible to demand that countries value the lives of their assailant's civilians when that assailant shows no respect for their civilians, and while international bodies smack their lips but provide no effective assistance? Belligerant reprisals are a morally problematic response to an immediate war crime. The sensible road to criminalizing belligerant reprisals passes through guaranteeing effective mechanisms for redress against international war crimes in the first place. A functioning international criminal court and a Security Council that punishes Israel for its chronic violations of humanitarian law would go a long way toward making the firing of Qassam rockets into a clear and unambiguous war crime. That is however because they would also make it unnecessary.
This analysis is not intended to minimize the very real suffering of the people living in Sderot (and now also Ashdod and Ashkelon). That suffering is not at the same scale as the suffering of people in Gaza, but it is unqualifiably horrible. These towns are populated by the dispensable non-Ashkenazi people that Zionist leaders sent to border towns intentionally in order to make them hostages in any cross border violence. The sad truth is that Israeli politicians (and affluent Israelis in general) couldn't care less about Sderot and Ashkelon. On the contrary, the pain of their residents are a convenient tool for inflaming the passions, winning elections and justifying aggression, when even Zionist commentators agree that the best way to provide safety for Sderot is to negotiate with Hamas and let Gazans live.
I would like to see the criminals responsible for the current suffering in Sderot and Ashkelon tried at the Hague and sent to prison. That would be first and foremost Olmert, Barak and Livni.
// posted by Gabriel @ 4:17:00 PM
  Patriarch, Nasrallah Sfeir and El Sayyed, Hassan NasrallahOne has it as his first name and the other has it as his family name. In the Lebanon we have three Hariri one died and the son inherited and thirdly is the sister of the dead
We have had two Jumblatt
one lived as a leader and as an Eagle
and his son reassembles a chameleon.
In the Lebanon we have two Lahoud (at least) one is the ex-president and the second is his own cousin but he belongs to the opposite side. We have also two Frangieh who are direct cousins but on opposite sides..... and Lebanon have had three Gemayel but Israel assassinated one in 1982 and the second in 2007, and in both cases Israel and the Western Media blamed
and accused Syria .
Back to the two Nasrallah 's
one serves the Vatican since King Louis the eleventh,
serves the White House since 1967
and the Palais de L'Elysee since Napoleon the third.
The other Nasrallah serves the God's-fearing- people
while having his ammunition from Damascus and Tehran
(if you do not mind ! )
The problem is that we only have only one Lebanon
invented by France ,
adopted by the West ,
missed Syria , by its own mother ,
and separated from Palestine. its own twin-sister.
Raja Chemayel
invented by France.......but loyal to the Truth.
24 Feb.2008
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Quotes
Nasrallah call on Lebanese President Michel Sleiman as a consensus president to spare no effort to push for holding the Arab summit because some sides are already trying to frustrate it.
Sayyed Nasrallah urged the Palestinians everywhere to unite and cooperate. The war is not waged against Hamas as an Islamist party. If Khaled Meshal calls any of the mediators and says that he is ready for negotiations with Israel, the bombardment of Gaza would, the bombardment of Gaza would stop in no time and Hamas would govern Gaza and the West Bank as well. Arab country as long as the ruler yield to Washington and Tel Aviv’s political and economic terms, and abandon his rights and the rights of his people.
It is in fact waged against all the Palestinians and their will, right and determination. The war is waged today on the program of the resistance.
(.....)The problem of Israel and the US with Hezbollah is not based on the party’s religious nature. If one Hezbollah leader calls Washington, and they really wish we’d do this, and told the American that we are ready to discuss our weapons, our resistance and our sovereignty, the American will help us govern Lebanon. Their real problem is with our political program that refuses to abandon prisoners, land and sovereignty. (....)
(.....)The target in Gaza was the remainder of the resistance and the will of the Palestinians. (...)
(.....)Nasrallah called for a third Intifada in Palestine and similar uprisings in the Arab and Islamic worlds. We call on all Palestinian factions to unite and work on stopping this aggression without allowing the Israelis to achieve their goals. We also call on Arabs and Muslims to continue action because the aggression continues. (......)
(......)People have begun taking to the streets of Arab capitals and this is a good sign that we did not witness during the 2006 war. This also means a real improvement in the position of the peoples. (.....)
(.....) Sayyed Nasrallah said he had expected he would be assailed after his Sunday speech, yet he firmly said that defending Gaza is worth offering blood and being blasphemed or insulted in much less that offering blood. “We are all engaged in the battle of the nation and the battle to awaken awareness against delusive campaigns. Yesterday I hears one of the Arab blasphemers and liars saying that Hezbollah has bombarded the Egyptian embassy in Beirut. What kind of lies are these. We avoided going to the Egyptian embassy because of the sensitivity of the situation. All we are doing is peacefully asking the Egyptians to change their position. (.....)
(....)The people of Gaza are the purest and most honorable people, and those who abandon them are participating in the crime, killings and treason. We have been calling to open the Rafah crossing; today if you hear all speeches you will see that the calls for Egypt to open the Rafah crossing are unanimous. We are talking about steadfastness in Gaza and the first condition to consolidate steadfastness there is to open the gates for it.” (.....)
(.....) What is happening in Gaza today is similar to what had happened in Lebanon in 2006. Settlers living 40km from Gaza will stay either in shelters or outside their settlements. The war in Gaza is a matter of time, and the Israelis can’t endure a long war. (.....)
(......)Questions about the feasibility of the war will emerge soon. In Lebanon, Israel’s strategic stockpile of missiles was depleted and the Israeli air force failed to achieve its goals although there were many martyrs, many injured and many destroyed houses, however we did not lay down arms and our will was not taken from us. Israel is involved in a psychological war campaign against the Palestinians through news about masses of soldiers and tanks preparing to storm into Gaza. But when they begin their ground offensive, they will begin to lose as they will be faced by brave resistance fighters.” (......)
(......) The leader of the resistance addressed Egypt and renewed his call to open the Rafah crossing. “We are asking Egypt and the Arab leaders to secure the requirements of steadfastness for the Gazan population if they were not able to stop the aggression.”His eminence concluded his speech by urging Arabs and Muslims to keep working on all levels to back the Palestinians in Gaza, More
Abul Gheit Assails Sayyed Nasrallah Over Protest Calls
| Mohamad Shmaysani | Readers Number : 428 |
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29/12/2008
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit assailed Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah for calling on the Egyptian people to stand with their brothers being slaughtered in Gaza.
Thousands Rally in Cairo against Israel's Gaza Op.
| | Readers Number : 109 |
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29/12/2008 Thousands of protesters rallied in the Egyptian capital on Monday against Israel's three-day-old onslaught against the neighboring Gaza Strip. Riot police were out in force to monitor the demonstration outside the journalists' union in the city centre.
Among the demonstrators was Mohammed Mehdi Akef, supreme guide of the Muslim Brotherhood which remains outlawed but is partially tolerated by the authorities.
"Off to Gaza we go, martyrs by the million," "We all belong to Hamas," and "Where's the Egyptian army?" were among the slogans chanted by the crowd.
Some demonstrators demanded that the Israeli ambassador be expelled or even that the embassy be burned down. With Jordan, Egypt is one of only two Arab states to have signed a peace treaty with Israel and exchanged ambassadors.
Some protesters vented their anger against President Hosni Mubarak, chanting: "Down with Mubarak."
The Egyptian leader held talks with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni last week just two days before the launch of the air blitz against the Gaza Strip which has now killed well over 300 people.
Their talks drew charges from the opposition that Mubarak was complicit in the Israeli decision to launch the offensive on Saturday.The Egyptian embassies in Amman and Beirut have also been the focus of protests.
Egypt has participated in the Israeli siege for the last months, after it closed Rafah crossing, the only path that links Gaza with the outside world, refusing to listen to the calls demanding its opening.
