OBSTACLES ON THE ‘ROADMAP TO PEACE’

Just one of the many bumps in the road…..

We Have Freedom To Ban Press From Sending Truth

‘We, the ‘only Democracy in the Middle East’ have the ‘freedom’ to bar the press from seeing the truth’

Image ‘Copyleft’ by Carlos Latuff

LIVE FROM GAZA - SUFFERING CONTINUES DESPITE THE ‘CEASE-FIRE’

A child full of light will never see again
Sameh A. Habeeb writing from the occupied Gaza Strip

Eight-year-old Louay Sobeh, blinded by Israeli bombs. (Sameh A. Habeeb)

As a Gazan journalist who is devastated by the holocaust the Israel army is perpetrating against us, I find myself at loss. The list of horrendous crimes committed by the Israeli army against Palestinians is endless and the crimes are countless.

Should I write about the 45 evacuees who were massacred in their refuge at the United Nations-administered al-Fakhoura school? Should I write about the most horrifying crime when Red Cross personnel found four starving children who had spent four days with the dead bodies of their mothers and other relatives in the ruins of a house in the al-Zeitoun neighborhood?

Should I talk about the mass killing of the al-Dayaa family when 15 family members were killed when a “smart” bomb gently hit their five-story building?

What about the sadistic crime when the father of the al-Samuni family was executed before his wife and children? Or the carnage committed against the extended al-Samuni family when 29 members of the clan were concentrated in one house which was bombed and collapsed on top of them, killing them all?

These and so many other crimes have already been documented by Amnesty International and other human rights institutions. Many more are still untold stories. I can tell one story with my own words and my own camera — that of eight-year-old Louay Sobeh. Little Louay could not know what this war had in store for him or his family.

About a week ago Louay and his family fled their house in Beit Lahiya town in northern Gaza. They were under heavy Israeli artillery fire as the Israeli army invaded the area at the outset of Israeli ground military operation. Sorrowfully, Louay started to narrate what he witnessed:

“Israeli shells started to rain down beside my house in northern Gaza. Rockets started to get closer to my house and many people were killed. My house got some shrapnel and part of rockets. Then, my grandmother and my family fled to Jabaliya where we sheltered in one of the [Untied Nations] schools. We stayed for three days where it was very very cold. When we fled our house in the night we didn’t bring any luggage or clothes or food. My father, brother and other family members decided to go back to our house in the north to bring some clothes and food. We went early in the morning by car then all of a sudden people beside our car started to run left and right. I heard explosions and I felt as if I were flying in the sky. And I found myself in the hospital.”

The Israeli bombing of Louay’s father’s car killed one of his brothers and injured others. The shocking fact is that Louay still doesn’t know is that he lost his eyesight completely. He will never be able to see the light again! His grandmother was beside him trying to make him feel better. He still doesn’t know that his brother was killed.

Before I left his room Louay told me, “I hope you visit me again and you will go with me to take footage and photos of the place where the car was hit. I will also make a scene for you about how I flew. But I need you to help me recover quickly so I can go to school again and play with some of my friends. I don’t know if they are alive or not.”

I was shocked by his talent and affected by his words. It’s very brutal when a child like Louay becomes a victim for no reason. There must be a way for Louay and all the children of Palestine to have peace and rest, instead of the fire and hell they have witnessed.

Louay is one of the lucky ones: he is expected to be taken to Saudi Arabia to receive medical treatment sponsored by the Saudi king. For too many children such aid is too late and it still won’t bring the light back to Louay’s eyes.

Sameh A. Habeeb is a photojournalist, humanitarian and peace
activist based in Gaza, Palestine. He writes for several news websites on a freelance basis.

Source

THERE ARE NO WORDS TO DESCRIBE THIS HYPOCRACY

‘Father forgive me for I have sinned….. I killed over 1,000 people including innocent women and children……’

An IDF soldier recites morning prayers next to his armored vehicle on the Gaza border.

OLMERT’S DREAM IS PALESTINE’S NIGHTMARE

HERE is a collection of Latuff’s cartoons dealing with the situation in Palestine.

You are free to download all the collection, reproducing and
sharing with people.

THE ISRAELI HUMAN SHIELD

By Abu al-Sous (Salah Mansour)*

During the Israeli war on Gaza, Western media propagated Israeli propaganda that the Palestinian resistance have been using their family members as human shields. Sadly, Israeli propaganda is often presented in Western media as facts, and the Israeli version has been accepted with little verification. The goal is simple: dehumanise the Palestinian by showing that he does not care about his family members, and once that is done it becomes much easier to accept him as a legitimist target.

This dehumanizing campaign is as old as the Zionist movement; it was articulated by Golda Meir (a former Israeli Prime Minister) when she said: Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us. This racist and derogatory comment is often propagated in Western media without a second thought to its dehumanizing consequences. It paints the Arab as a sub-human creature, who has neither affection nor love towards his or her children. When I first heard this racist comment from an American, I felt as if he was telling me: “you are not much of a human as I”!

To this date, the Israel Occupation Army (IOF) still refuses to comply with orders from the Israeli Supreme Court to stop using Palestinian civilians as human shields (click here for a BBC article about this subject). If the IOF is a “professional army” as it claims and it treats Palestinians according to International Law, then:

• I wonder why Israel’s highest court would issue such an order?
• I wonder why IOF refuses to stop using Palestinians as human shields?
• 
  

It has been an Israeli strategy from the start to use civilian target as a strategic weapon. Israeli leaders assume this would cause the civilian population to pressure Arab leaders to submit to Israeli dictates. Sadly, this Israeli tactic has been historically effective with the corrupt and unpopular Arab leaders who are more interested in protecting their corrupt regimes than defending their countries. The reader should be reminded of the “Grape of Wrath” agreement between Hizbullah and Israel 1996 which restricted both sides from hitting civilian targets. This agreement signaled the end of the Israeli occupation in southern Lebanon, and as a result a new era in the Arab-Israeli conflict have begun where Israel’s deterrence power suffered a major setback. It should be noted that Israel has been determined not to fall into this trap again; that would explain why Israel rejected signing similar agreements with Hamas.

A Palestinian killed by Israeli Occupation Soldiers used as a trophy.

The allegation that Palestinian resistance use their own family members as human shield has been concocted by Zionists to delegitimise any Palestinian resistance, and to deflect from the war crimes that are being perpetrated on the people of Gaza. Palestinians are no different than other colonized people; they’re simply defending their homeland from foreign aggressions. The following list of pictures, articles, movies, and Israeli quotations will conclusively prove that the Israeli Occupation Army is the one who use civilians as human shields.

• Video Clip: Kids Used as Human Shields in Balata Refugee Camp
• Video Clip: Israeli Army continues to use Palestinian civilians as human shields
• Video Clip: BBC: Palestinian boys used as a human shield during an Israeli operation in Nablus
• Video Clip: Israeli shoots Palestinian with hands bound point blank
• A Picture of a Palestine boy used as a human shield by Israeli Occupation Soldiers
• Ha’aretz: ‘Human shield’ dies as Hamas man is killed by troops
• Ha’aretz: Envoys say they saw IDF fire at children
• Ha’aretz: 27 Israeli pilots to refuse missions in West Bank, Gaza
• Israeli Quotes: Collection of quotations from Israeli leaders legitimising targeting civilians.
• 
  

* Salah Mansour is the founder and editor of PalestineRemembered.com, the largest Palestinian online community.

الدروع البشرية الإسرائيلية
بقلم أبو السوس (صلاح منصور)

صورة لطفل فلسطيني مقيد لدورية إسرائيلية يُستخدم كدرع بشري لحماية الجنود الإسرائيليين من عناصر المقاومة.

تقوم وسائل الإعلام هنا في العالم الغربي بترويج الدعاية الإسرائيلية بأن عناصر المقاومة تستخدم أفراد أسرهم كدروع بشرية، وللأسف الشديد تروج هذه الدعاية العنصرية كأنها حقيقة وقلما يتم التحقق منها قبل نشرها. الهدف من تلك الدعاية العنصرية بسيط وهو تجريد الفلسطيني من إنسانيته، وبذلك يصبح الفلسطيني هدف مشروع ولا يتم التعامل معه كمظلوم أو كضحية.

الحملة لتجريد العربي من إنسانيته حملة قديمة بدأت منذ نشوء الحركة الصهيونية وعبرت عنها غولدا مائير(ورئيس وزراء إسرائيلية سابقة) بوضوح عندما قالت: السلام بيننا وبين العرب سيتحقق عندما يُحب العرب أطفالهم أكثر من كراهيتهم لنا. عادةً تردد هذه المقولة العنصرية في الإعلام الغربي تلقائياً بغض النظر عن العواقب العنصرية لها. فهذه المقولة ترسم في ذهن الغربي صورة غير إنسانية عن العربي لأنها تجرده من العطف والحنان تجاه أطفاله؛ فمن لا يملك مشاعر العطف والحنان لا يمكن أن يكون إنسان. في يوم من الأيام قام أمريكي بترديد هذه المقولة أمامي مما جعلني أشتاط غضباً، فشعرت بأنه يقول لي بأني لست إنسان مثله.

هنا تجدر الإشارة بأن قوات الإحتلال الإسرائيلية لا تزال ترفض الإمتثال لأوامر محكمة العدل العليا الإسرائيلية بالتوقف عن إستخدام المدنيين الفلسطينيين كدروع بشرية (أنقر هنا لمقال من ال ب ب سي عن الموضوع). فإذا كان جيش الإحتلال كما يدعي بأنه “جيش حضاري” يلتزم بالقوانين الدولية:

• لماذا تصدر محكمة العدل العليا الإسرائيلية أوامر لقوات الإحتلال بالكف عن إستخدام المدنيين كدروع بشرية؟
• لماذا لا تزال قوات الإحتلال ترفض الإنصياع لتلك الأوامر؟

منذ البداية قامت الحركة الصهيونية بإستهداف المرافق المدنية والمدنيين كسلاح إستراتيجي لتحقيق أهدافها السياسية والعسكرية، وللأسف الشديد سياسة إستهداف المرافق المدنية والمدنيين كانت فعّالة ضد الأنظمة العربية التي يهمها المحافظة على سُلطتها أكثر من حمايتها للوطن من العدوان الصهيوني. هنا يجب التنوية لإتفاقية عناقيد الغضب بين حزب الله وإسرائيل (إتفاقية مضمونه ومراقبة دولياً) التي وُقعت بعد العدوان الإسرائيلي على جنوب لبنان عام 1996. فهذه الإتفاقية نصت على عدم إستهداف المرافق المدنية من كلى الطرفين. فهذا كان الفخ الذي وقع فيه الإحتلال من قبل المقاومة، ومنذ توقيع المعاهدة في 27 نيسان 1996، بدأ العد التنازلي لللإحتلال الإسرائيلي في جنوب لبنان، وذلك يُفسر رفض قبول الإسرائيليون توقيع معاهدة مماثلة مع قوات المقاومة في غزة الصمود.

جنود الإحتلال يأخذون صورة جماعية بعد قتلهم فلسطينياً في خليل الرحمن.

لقد قمنا بجمع العديد من المقالات والصور والأفلام عسى أن يجدها القارئ مفيدة لدحض هذه الدعاية العنصرية:

• فلم لدورية إسرائيلية بالقرب من مخيم بلاطة - نابلس تستخدم شابين كدرع بشري
• فلم لجنود الإحتلال وهم يستخدمون فلسطيني كدرع بشري.
• فلم من ال ب ب سي لجنود الإحتلال وهم يستخدمون فلسطيني كدرع بشري خلال عملية مداهمة في نابلس المحتلة..
• صورة لطفل فلسطيني مُقيد لدورية إسرائيلية يُستخدم كدرع بشري لحماية الجنود الإسرائيليين من عناصر المقاومة.
• تقرير لجريدة هآرتس الإسرائيلية عن 27 طيار في سلاح الجو الإسرائيلي رفضوا الإنصياع لأوامر بضرب مرافق مدنية في الضفة والقطاع.
• تقرير لجريدة هآرتس الإسرائيلية عن مقتل درع بشري فلسطيني خلال عملية دهم لقوات المقاومة.
• تقرير لجريدة هآرتس الإسرائيلية عن إستهداف قوات الإحتلال للأطفال الفلسطينيين.

الرجاء مشاركة هذا المقال مع كل صديق وقريب، ولكم منا جزيل الشكر، والله الموفق.

أنقر هنا إذا ترغب بإضافة تعليقك لهذا المقال

روابط ذات صلة

• ماذا ستفعل لو ولدت فلسطينياً وتم إغتصاب أرضك لأكثر من 60 عاماً؟
• الفلسطيني لا يحق له الدفاع عن نفسه، ويحق له الموت بصمت فقط!
• لماذا يقاوم الفلسطينيون من أجل حقوقهم؟
• لماذا غزة الصمود باتت تهدد البعض؟
• اليهودي الأسبرطي
• شراء الحقوق الفلسطينية

فرحتنا فقط بعودتنا إن شاء الله
صلاح منصور / أبو السوس
شيكاغو - الولايات المتحدة

Photographs Of Most Wanted Terrorists

Pictures of Hamas’ most wanted “terrorists”

By Khalid Amayreh

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) on Sunday released the pictures of some of Hamas’ most wanted “terrorists” it said it has killed since the start of the Israeli onslaught in the Gaza Strip more two weeks ago.

An Israeli spokesman told foreign reporters in Jerusalem that the world community, especially Americans and Europeans, shouldn’t be deceived by the ostensibly young age of the killed terrorists.

“They may look young to you and me. But these people are terrorists at heart. Don’t look at their deceptively innocent faces, try to think of the demons inside each of them.”

The spokesman, Nachman Abramovic, said he was “absolutely certain” that these people would grow to be “evil terrorists if we allowed them to grow.”

“If you were in our shoes, would you allow them to grow to kill your children or finish them off right now”?

Asked if he was worried about possible criticisms from the international community, Abramovic said he was not worried a bit because “We are only defending ourselves.”

“Would you apologize for defending yourself if another person attacked you without any provocation,” the Israeli spokesman asked an American reporter.

Impressed by the answer, the American reporter said “You are right, Sir, absolutely.”

The IDF spokesman added that Israel didn’t really target civilians in Gaza and that the world should fall into trap of Hamas’s propaganda.

“I challenge serious news media to prove that we have killed a single innocent civilian in Gaza.

“Don’t tell me Aljazeera said this or CNN said that. You know all these people are anti-Semites and can’t be relied upon to tell the truth.”

He added that in any case, honest and moral people ought to differentiate between “true human beings” and “human animals.”

“We do kill human animals, and we do so unapologetically. Besides who in the West is in a position to lecture us on killing human animals. After all, whose hands are cleaned?”

Another Israeli spokesman, Tzipora Menache, said she was not immensely worried about negative ramifications that Operation Cast Lead might have on the way the Obama administration would view Israel.

“You know very well, and the stupid Americans know equally well, that we control their government, irrespective of who sits in the White House.”

“You see, I know it and you know it that no American president can be in a position to challenge us even if we do the unthinkable.”

Asked if he was not worried that her remarks would cause a public relations disaster, Menache said “what can they do to us. We control congress, we control the media, we control show biz, we control everything in America.

“In America you can criticize G-d, but you can’t criticize Israel.”

Now, after this imaginary but very realistic introduction, we shall view the pictures of these “evil terrorists.”

A light upon the nations