Israeli minister vows Palestinian ‘holocaust’

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by Today in Palestine on November 19, 2012

A senior Israeli politician provoked controversy today when he warned that Palestinians firing rockets from Gaza would be punished with a "bigger holocaust" from Israeli armed forces.

link to www.telegraph.co.uk

Israeli War on Palestinians in Gaza / Eyewitness Accounts / Testimonies

As it happened : Huge airstrike in Gaza

irstrikes have continued in Gaza overnight. Have a listen to what happened as our Al Jazeera news presenter was speaking to our correspondent Nicole Johnston in Gaza. Moments later Johnston tweeted that the Israeli airstrike hit a police station, some 400m away from Al Jazeera’s offices. Drones and aircrafts are constantly circling the strip which has about 1,500,000 people living in it.
link to www.youtube.com

Al Jazeera’s Nicole Johnston reports on Israeli attacks on Jabaliya refugee camp

Al Jazeera’s Nicole Johnston, reporting from Gaza, says there has been "a lot of attacks" on the Jabaliya refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. Among those attacks, was the residence of the Dallo family, who lost 11 members on Sunday. Though many of the airstrikes have been over the so-called buffer zone, a less populated area of the enclave, our correspondent said "it’s only a few kilometres wide", so for residents of the nearby communities there is still a heightened sense of fear.
link to www.youtube.com

Palestinian Child Killed, 12 Since Sunday Evening, 83 Since Wednesday

The Israeli air strikes and bombardment continues against Gaza, one child was killed in Gaza City, three resident injured, including two women. 83 Palestinians killed since Wednesday, more than 700 were injured
link to www.imemc.org

24, Including 11 Children, Killed Sunday ; 69 Killed Since Wednesday
The Israeli army escalated its offensive against the Gaza Strip, Sunday, killing 24 Palestinians, including 11 children of the same family in central Gaza ; the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli shells since the war officially started last Wednesday arrived to 76, while more than 680 have been injured.
link to www.imemc.org

Three martyrs, including a father and his child in two Israeli raids
Three Palestinians, including a father and child, were martyred in two Israeli raids targeting two cars in Gaza.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Gaza : four children killed in single Israeli air strike, Harriet Sherwood
Attack believed to be aimed at Hamas official increases death toll of military offensive to 67 people. At least 11 members of one family, including five women and four children, were killed when Israel bombed a house in Gaza City on Sunday as the five-day-old war claimed more civilian lives with no sign of a letup in the intense bombardment. The air strike flattened the home of the Dalou family in the Sheikh Radwan district of Gaza City, causing the biggest death toll in a single incident since the offensive began last Wednesday.
link to www.guardian.co.uk

UHCC : Israel is using internationally-banned weapons
Union of Health Care Committees (UHCC) charged that the Israeli occupation was deliberately targeting the children and women of Gaza by using internationally prohibited weapons.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Israel pounds Gaza Strip from air and sea
Israel’s bombardment of Gaza has entered a fifth day. Two media office buildings housing Palestinian and international journalists have been hit. The Israeli military has confirmed it is using war ships in addition to air raids. Al Jazeera’s Mereana Hond reports.
link to www.youtube.com

Video : Massive explosion as Israeli bomb hits Gaza City residential area, Ali Abunimah
Homes, schools, sporting facilities, public buildings and hospital damaged in Israeli attacks on Gaza.
link to electronicintifada.net

As IDF strike kills entire family in Gaza, Israel is starting to get in trouble

The live broadcasts from the house focused on documenting the attempts to rescue survivors from the ruins, but the cameras recorded only the discovery of another body there. Those pictures were broadcast all over the Arab world, on the eve of the arrival of an Arab League foreign ministers’ delegation, which was supposed to bring with it a cease-fire agreement. We can assume that just as in 2006, when Hezbollah retracted its intention of agreeing to a cease-fire in the wake of the Kfar Qana incident, this event too will only cause Hamas to toughen its positions toward Israel, in light of very sympathetic Palestinian and Arab public opinion.
link to www.haaretz.com

Deadly mistake : IDF wipes out Palestinian family due to technical error

The Israeli Defense Force has confirmed that while targeting Hamas’ rocket chief it mistakenly bombed the home of the Al-Dalou family, killing at least 11 civilians, four of them children and toddlers.
link to rt.com

Ongoing Israeli Offensive on Gaza ; 17 Civilians Killed

2 Women, 6 Children Killed, 381 Including 107 Children and 64 Women Injured. Palestinian Civilian Deaths Rise to 17, Including 2 Women and 6 Children, and 381 Wounded, Including 107 Children and 64 Women
link to www.imemc.org

Medics : 5 killed in Gaza airstrikes
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Israeli warplanes struck sites across the Gaza Strip on Saturday evening with medics saying five Palestinians were killed. Another man, Tamer al-Hamri, died from wounds sustained in Israeli shelling of Deir al-Balah earlier on Saturday, medics said, bringing the death toll to 48 in four days. Five Palestinians were killed on Saturday night as Israel’s bombardment continued. Samahar Qidih, 30, died after Israeli forces shelled her home east of Khan Younis, south Gaza, medics said.
link to www.maannews.net

Official : 2 children killed in northern Gaza strike
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Two children were killed and more than 12 people injured as two houses were bombed in northern Gaza early Sunday, a Gaza official said. The casualties were evacuated to Gaza hospitals after an Israeli airstrike hit the homes in Jabalia camp, Ministry of Health spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said. Medics identified the two children as Tamer Abu Asaifan and one-year-old Jumana Abu Asaifan. Witnesses said Israel’s aerial bombardment of Gaza continued with intensity overnight. Israeli shelling pummeled Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, while fighter jets struck southern Gaza.
link to www.maannews.net

Airstrike on Gaza City media complex injures 6 journalists
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — An Israeli airstrike damaged a complex of media offices in Gaza City early Sunday, injuring six journalists, witnesses said. The Al-Shawa building houses a number of foreign and Palestinian media organizations, including Ma’an News Agency’s headquarters in the Gaza Strip. A Ma’an correspondent said the impact was focused on the eleventh floor, where the office of al-Quds TV is located. Six journalists were moderately injured, five of whom were identified as al-Quds TV employees.
link to www.maannews.net

Israeli strike hits another media office in Gaza
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — An Israeli airstrike hit a second media complex in Gaza City on Sunday morning, a Ma’an correspondent said. Sky News Arabia and Al-Arabiya report their offices have been affected in the al-Shuruq building.
link to www.maannews.net

6 hurt in airstrike east of Khan Younis
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Six people, mostly children and women, have been injured in an airstrike east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, residents say.
link to www.maannews.net

Family rescued from rubble of Gaza home
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — When Israeli warplanes pulverized the home of a Hamas leader in Gaza at dawn on Saturday, onlookers could not imagine that any of his family would survive. Witnesses said F-16 aircraft leveled the two-story home of Suliman Salah in Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip in the early hours. Neighbors feared the 22-member family would be buried alive. Omer Abu al-Qumsan, who lives next-door, said he woke to a huge explosion and saw that all remained of the house was a pile of rubble.
link to www.maannews.net

Israeli air strikes level Hamas HQ
Palestinian officials say at least 45 Gazans have been killed and more than 390 wounded since Israel launched its aerial campaign on Wednesday. On Saturday, 15 Palestinians were killed and the Hamas government headquarters was destroyed, as Israel intensified its assault on Gaza. As the toll rises and sirens sounded in Tel Aviv for a fourth day, Israel says it has deployed more tanks to the border and called up thousands more reservists as fears of a ground offensive increase. Meanwhile, an emergency session of the Arab League has ended with calls for a fresh approach to end the crisis between the Palestinians and Israelis. Al Jazeera’s Jacky Rowland reports from Gaza, where ordinary civilians are paying the price for this latest round of fighting.
link to www.youtube.com

Israeli jets shell PRC, Hamas sites in Rafah
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Israeli jets bombed several sites linked to militant groups in southern Gaza before dawn on Sunday, witnesses said. Warplanes hit a training site of the Popular Resistance Committee’s al-Nasser Salah Addin brigades in Rafah, without causing injuries. Another raid targeted a location of Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades in the city, and another in Gaza City. Also in Rafah, airstrikes flattened the home of an al-Qassam fighter who was killed in 2008, Hamdan Abu Naqira, witnesses said.
link to www.maannews.net

Young man mourns his mother in Gaza
link to www.youtube.com

In photos : Israel relentlessly bombs Gaza, West Bank protests repressed
Images documenting Israel’s ongoing assault on the Gaza Strip and solidarity protests in the West Bank and beyond.
link to electronicintifada.net

Israeli Aggression in the Gaza Strip : In Pictures
On 14 November Israel assassinated Hamas military leader Ahmad al-Ja’bari, simultaneously blowing up a truce mediated by Egyptian intelligence officials and accepted by Ja’bari, other Palestinian parties and - according to the Egyptians - Israel as well. In this and a further series of air raids eight more were killed, at least two of them children. Claiming these initial attacks had destroyed the long-range missile capability in the Gaza Strip, Israel’s strategy of a short, sharp assault that would remind the Palestinians who makes the rules proved illusory. As Israeli planes pounded the length and breadth of the Gaza Strip with increasing ferocity, causing hundreds of mainly civilian casualties, Palestinian rocket fire - while no match for Israel’s - extended as far as Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
link to photography.jadaliyya.com

Civilians Under Attack in Gaza : a Photo Essay
The Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip have entered their third day. We write this report amid the sounds of incessant bombings, which have continued all day yesterday and throughout the night. The military escalation carried out by the Israeli Army continues all over the Gaza Strip. From Gaza City, we hear incessant noise of drones and F-16 fighter jets crashing through the sky above our heads. Bombs repeatedly fall in our surroundings, in densely populated civilians areas. At this point, Israeli air forces have conducted nearly 200 airstrikes, bringing the death toll to 19. Among the casualties are ten civilians, including six children and one woman. More than 180 people have been injured by the attacks, the vast majority civilians. The areas targeted included Beit Hanoun, Jabalia refugee camp, Sheikh Radwan and al-Nasser neighbourhoods in Gaza City, Maghazi, Deir El Balah, Khan Younis, and the tunnel area in Rafah.
link to www.counterpunch.org

Amid relentless Israeli bombing, Gaza families huddle together hoping for safety, Rami Almeghari
The constant sound of bombs is taking its toll on Palestinian children in Gaza.
link to electronicintifada.net

"He left life so early" : Gaza family devastated by Israel’s killing of baby Omar Masharawi, Rami Almeghari
Missile attack on house left BBC staffer’s baby and a young woman dead.
link to electronicintifada.net

Testimony : Najwa Abu Daqah, a 50 year-old woman wounded in Khan Yunis by Israeli bombing
I live with my family in a two-story house in the Abu Daqah neighborhood, in Abasan al-Jadidah in the Khan Yunis district. I live on the second floor with my parents, my unmarried brothers and my brother Muhsen, who is married with three young children. In the yard we have a small shed used as an outdoor kitchen, where we store food supplies and baking pans. Our house is next to the Dhaw a-Nurein mosque in Abasan. This morning we heard planes and, by the sound, they were mainly observation aircraft. My mother, Najwa, age 50, told me that she was going outside to prepare dough in the outdoor shed.
link to www.btselem.org

Testimony : Living in Gaza in the shadow of hostilities - the Farawneh family in Sheikh Ajlin Neighborhood, western Gaza City
I am married, with five children. My eldest son is 16 and the youngest, three years old. We live in the Sheikh Ajlin neighborhood in Gaza City. I am the director of the statistics department of the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Prisoners. The situation near our house is relatively quiet because we are far from most of the places that were bombed, in eastern and central Gaza City. Nonetheless, places near us were also bombed, among others the Ministry of the Interior, and there are clouds of smoke in the area. We do feel the shock wave and also hear the more distant bombings. We are all feeling the emotional strain.
link to www.btselem.org

“We will not fear their strikes” : Gaza journalists defiant after Israeli attack on media center, Rami Almeghari
Despite Israeli air strikes on their buildings, Palestinian journalists in Gaza are defiant, and say they will continue to report.
link to electronicintifada.net

Gazans flee border areas, fearing Israeli ground invasion
But even inland areas are no haven as Israeli air strikes continue in Gaza. One strike today killed 11 civilians including six children in an attempt to kill a Hamas commander.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/world/~3/ywV0hhZZOkw/Gazans-flee-border-areas-fearing-Israeli-ground-invasion

Gazans in frantic hunt for safety as Israeli forces remain on alert, Harriet Sherwood
In the Gaza Strip, the hail of missiles continues as Israel attempts to destroy Hamas’s military infrastructure. Ahead of a feared ground attack, there is a search for any kind of refuge. On an eerily deserted street in the al-Karama district of Gaza City, the Abu Sinan family was waiting – in vain – for a taxi. Clutching two blue plastic bags full of clothing and a black backpack, 19-year-old Tariq alternated between scanning the road for a vehicle and casting his eyes to the sky, from where the buzz of Israeli drones could be heard.
link to www.guardian.co.uk

"Nowhere to Run" : Israel Fires Over 500 Strikes in Gaza, Civilian Toll Grows in Humanitarian Crisis
Israel is continuing to pound the Gaza Strip with air strikes amidst fears that Israel could soon launch a ground invasion into Gaza. Israeli troops, tanks and armored personnel carriers are now massing near the Palestinian territory. Earlier today, 85 missiles exploded within 45 minutes in Gaza City, sending black pillars of smoke. At least 21 Palestinians have died in the most recent round of violence, while three Israelis died on Thursday. Israel said it launched 150 air strikes overnight, while Palestinians fired a dozen rockets into Israel. Israel has started to draft 30,000 reserve troops in a sign the assault may soon widen. Among the casualties of Israeli violence was the 11-month-old son of a BBC Arabic journalist, Jihad Misharawi. Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Kandil traveled to Gaza today to condemn the Israeli attack. For more, we get a report from Rafah by Palestinian journalist Mohammed Omer, who says, "One thing that we ought to talk about here is the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. This is a situation of targeting a population of civilians, exactly like Israel is shooting in a fishbowl. And there is no shelter, and there is nowhere to run for the general population. Gaza is living in a very dire situation." We also speak with Gershon Baskin, the founder of the Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information, who was the initiator of the secret talks between Israel and Hamas for the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
link to www.democracynow.org

Photo : The scream, Adam Horowitz
Palestinian child screams because of the sound of the rockets being intercepted in the sky, Jabaliya, Gaza, November 16, 2012. (Photo : Anne Paq/Activestills)
link to mondoweiss.net

Gaza kids at risk in crowded urban battle zone
The image of a dead preschooler cradled by the prime ministers of Egypt and Gaza in a hospital hallway has drawn attention to the dangers Gaza’s children face in this crowded urban battle zone.
link to news.yahoo.com

Gaza, Now, Adie Mormech
I’m writing this from near the Gaza seaport from where I can see smoke rising around me from the bombs that fall down on the Gaza Strip from the Israeli planes above. Words fail me. Despite the limits to life from Israel’s five-year siege on Gaza some kind of normality is attempted in Gaza. How could it be any other way when the majority of the population are children ? Do families have any other option ? Yet this civilian population, most now holed out in the dense, tight refugee camp buildings and urban centres of Gaza are facing the wrath of some of the most powerful aerial warfare available to humankind. As I write the constant bombardments consume my senses and shake the entirety of my surroundings. For the over 300 people injured or killed so far by the Israeli F16s, drones and gunboat shellings the loss for them and their families will never relent.
link to mondoweiss.net

LISTEN : With drones buzzing in the background, Rana Baker summarizes Saturday’s news from Gaza
EI blogger and correspondent Rana Baker provides an audio summary of news from Saturday, 17 November. Drones constantly buzz in the background.
link to electronicintifada.net

Video : Israeli bombs disrupt Gaza Parkour Team practice, Maureen Clare Murphy
Video released by the Gaza Parkour Team shows a training practice interrupted by Israeli bombing.
link to electronicintifada.net

Israeli Warmongering

Israeli minister vows Palestinian ’holocaust’
A senior Israeli politician provoked controversy today when he warned that Palestinians firing rockets from Gaza would be punished with a "bigger holocaust" from Israeli armed forces.
link to www.telegraph.co.uk

A decisive conclusion is necessary
There is no middle path here – either the Gazans and their infrastructure are made to pay the price, or we reoccupy the entire Gaza Strip.
link to www.jpost.com

“Flatten” Gaza like Hiroshima and “mow” the population, Israeli public figures urge, Ali Abunimah
There are no “innocents” in Gaza say Israeli politicians, egging on soldiers to commit war crimes.
link to electronicintifada.net

“IDF must learn from the Syrians how to slaughter the enemy,” says prominent Israeli rabbi, Ali Abunimah
Incitement by Israeli religious and political leaders has been common.
link to electronicintifada.net

"May your children die, you dogs" : As Gaza burns, Israelis bay for blood in streets of Tel Aviv, Ali Abunimah
On Israeli campuses, Palestinians calling for peace confronted with calls for "death to the Arabs."
link to electronicintifada.net

As Children Killed, Israel Supporters Celebrate
Last night a march from the State Department to the White House organized by Palestinian activists to demand Obama pressure Israel to implement an immediate ceasefire and end US military aid was greeted by a group of Israel supporters singing and dancing. Watch what our National Advocacy Director Josh Ruebner had to say to this celebration of death.
link to blog.endtheoccupation.org

Liberman : If Israel launches a ground incursion into Gaza, IDF needs to ‘go all the way’
Foreign minister says military stopped short of carrying out its objectives four years ago, but still paid a high price in world opinion.
link to www.timesofisrael.com

Israelis express support for military, reoccupation of Gaza
I spent Thursday in Kiryat Gat, Kiryat Malachi, Ashkelon and Sderot–the Israeli cities under Hamas fire. I spoke to dozens of Israelis ; support for Operation Pillar of Defense was unanimous, though no one thought it would bring lasting peace. Most felt it would bring temporary quiet ; many believe that Israel needs to reoccupy the Gaza Strip.
link to 972mag.com

Palestinian Resistance Retaliates

Hamas says over 1,000 projectiles fired since Wednesday
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Hamas’ armed wing the al-Qassam Brigades says it has fired 1,093 projectiles at Israeli targets since the start of Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip, which entered its sixth day on Monday.
link to www.maannews.net

Israel adjusts civil air routes over Gaza rocket threat
JERUSALEM (Reuters) — Israel has adjusted flight paths for planes using its main international airport near Tel Aviv after rockets were fired from Gaza on the coastal metropolis, the civil aviation chief said on Monday. Giora Rom said the new regulations at Ben-Gurion Airport had been in place since Saturday, when an Iron Dome rocket interceptor battery was installed nearby. There was no indication that takeoffs or landings at Ben-Gurion had been affected. "Because of the rerouting, there is no danger" to civilian aircraft, Rom told Israel’s Army Radio.
link to www.maannews.net

Report : 3 rockets land in southern Israel
TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma’an) — Three rockets landed in southern Israel on Monday, breaking an overnight lull in fire from Gaza, Israeli news site Ynet reported. Two rockets hit Eshkol and one rocket landed in Shaar Hanegev. No injuries were reported.
link to www.maannews.net

Hamas links truce to end of Gaza border blockade
Gaza’s Hamas rulers are aiming high in the conditions they place on stopping rocket fire into Israel in indirect cease-fire talks launched this weekend. Emboldened by Arab support and confident in their arsenal, the Islamists say calm can only come if Israel opens the gates of the tiny, closed-off territory.
link to news.yahoo.com

Hamas military wing ’prepared for ground invasion’
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Hamas’ military wing said Saturday that it is prepared to confront a potential Israeli ground invasion in the Gaza Strip, Hamas affiliated websites said. The Al-Qassam Brigades are prepared to begin operating the moment Israeli forces enter Gaza, the websites said, adding that the group is ready for fighting on the ground. The Al-Murabiteen units are the major divisions to face any Israeli offensive, with the group consisting of five brigades across Gaza divided into sub-groups and further sub-divisions. These units will be responsible for defending the border areas and preventing Israeli forces from further penetrating the Gaza Strip.
link to www.maannews.net

Qassam Brigades sound defiant note amid truce talks
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The spokesman of Hamas’ armed wing made a televised statement late Saturday in a show of defiance against Israel as preliminary talks of a truce started in Cairo. Al-Qassam Brigades spokesman Abu Obaida said Israeli claims it had destroyed the military capacity of the Palestinian resistance were completely false. He reiterated claims that the group had downed an Israeli fighter jet, saying an Israeli pilot fell into the ocean off Gaza’s coast, and said the group had also shot down an unmanned drone. Abu Obeida said the group has also hit a military jeep 3 km inside Israel from Gaza’s border.
link to www.maannews.net

PFLP says fighters will continue to strike Israel
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — The military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine said Saturday that it would continue to launch rockets against Israeli aggression. Abu Jamal, spokesman of the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, said the group had announced a state of alert from the first day of Israeli aggression on Gaza and had instructed fighters to "fiercely hit the enemy and try their best to cause causalities." "Our fighters are tirelessly launching missiles and shells at the enemy’s sites, firing 97 shells so far," Abu Jamal said, adding that a PFLP fighter was injured on Friday.
link to www.maannews.net

Explosion heard in Israel’s Eilat resort ; no sign of rocket
JERUSALEM (Reuters) — An explosion was heard in Israel’s Red Sea beach resort of Eilat on Sunday, police said, but there were no reports of any damage or casualties.
link to www.maannews.net

First rockets hit Israel after overnight lull
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Several rockets hit southern Israel on Sunday morning after an overnight lull in fire from Gaza, Israel’s army said. Projectiles landed in the Hof Ashkelon and Eshkol regions, without causing injuries, an army spokeswoman said. Israeli news site Ynet said a building in Ashkelon was damaged. They were the first rockets fired from Gaza into Israel since midnight on Saturday, according to the army. Meanwhile, military jets fired on approximately 70 sites in the Gaza Strip overnight.
link to www.maannews.net

Israeli army : 3 soldiers injured in rocket attack from Gaza
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — A rocket fired from the Gaza Strip injured three Israeli soldiers stationed nearby, the Israeli army announced early Saturday.
link to www.maannews.net

Fresh attack on Tel Aviv as Israel bombards Gaza Strip
Israel’s Iron Dome system intercepted a third strike in as many days on Tel Aviv. This conflict marks the first time Hamas rockets have reached Israel’s two largest cities.
link to rss.csmonitor.com

Palestinian rockets target Tel Aviv for 3rd day
Israeli officials say Palestinian militants have fired a rocket toward the metropolis of Tel Aviv for a third straight day.Gazans watch with pride as Hamas strikes Israel
Israel’s new offensive against the Gaza Strip has turned into a political bonanza for the territory’s Hamas rulers, while sidelining Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, their Western-backed rival in the West Bank.
link to news.yahoo.com

Gaza rockets ‘very significant development’ : Hezbollah
Palestinian militants firing long-range rockets from Gaza into Israel represents a“very significant development” in the conflict with the Jewish state, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has said.
link to english.alarabiya.net

Al-Quds Brigades Penetrate 5000 Zionist Soldiers’ Mobiles
Al-Quds Brigades’ intelligence apparatus was able Saturday to penetrate 5000 mobile phones that belong to Zionist soldiers who are taking part in the offensive against Gaza, and sent them warning messages in Hebrew that say : "We will turn Gaza into a graveyard for your soldiers, and will turn Tel Aviv into flame (Al-Quds Brigades)". The faction further published files that belong to Zionist soldiers and that included important information (personal papers, names, birthdays, duties, private and work phone numbers, emails, jobs, positions, ID numbers, ages, and addresses).
link to www.almanar.com.lb

Humanitarian Crisis

WHO calls for effective response to Gaza crisis
Mahmoud Daher is the head of the Gaza office for the World Health Organisation. He is co-ordinating with other international aid organisations for an effective humanitarian response to the crisis.
link to www.youtube.com

WHO : Gaza hospitals stretched, need supplies to treat wounded
GENEVA (Reuters) — Gaza hospitals are overwhelmed with casualties from Israel’s bombings and face critical shortages of drugs and medical supplies, the World Health Organization said on Saturday. The UN health agency appealed for $10 million from donors to meet the need for drugs and supplies over the next three months. Israel unleashed its massive air campaign on Wednesday with the declared goal of deterring Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group that runs the Gaza Strip, from launching rockets that have plagued its southern communities for years.
link to www.maannews.net

Gaza crisis : Paramedics under pressure
Let’s get more on our top story now and the crisis in Gaza. Paramedics there are battling to save lives of those injured in Israel’s bombing campaign. Al Jazeera’s Casey Kauffman joined a response team on call.
link to www.youtube.com

Ihsanoglu appeals for urgent medical relief for Gaza
Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Dr Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, has made an urgent appeal for all kinds of support and solidarity with the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip. He especially called for immediate medical aid to overcome the crisis caused by the ongoing Israeli aggression. As a first step, Ihsanoglu ordered the OIC’s humanitarian department to coordinate a comprehensive program to face the deteriorating conditions in Gaza, at the top of which are medical needs.
link to www.middleeastmonitor.com

Conflict places stress ’specifically on children’ of Gaza
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Ramesh Rajasingham, of the United Nations office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs in the Palestinian territories, says the current conflict is having an affect on essential services in the enclave. Rajasingham tells Al Jazeera’s Darren Jordon that "for the time being there is sufficient electricity" in Gaza, but that may last for only another few days. Describing the overnight bombings on Saturday as "incessant", he said the conflict has placed a signifigant amoung to stress "specifically on children’ in the Gaza Strip.
link to www.youtube.com

Other Related News

Israel to close Kerem Shalom crossing on Monday
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Israel will close the Kerem Shalom crossing with Gaza on Monday due to ongoing violence in the area, a Palestinian official said. Border official Raed Fattouh told Ma’an on Sunday that the Gaza crossing will be closed to the "deteriorating security situation."
link to www.maannews.net

Rockets fail to deter looters in Beersheba
As residents seek cover from rocket attacks, thieves rob kitchen design store. ’No one can be trusted, not even at times like these,’ manager says.
link to www.ynetnews.com

Israeli officials use fake graphic to justify bombing Gaza hospitals, Ali Abunimah
UN found no evidence to back Israeli claims about misuse of health facilities.
link to electronicintifada.net

Iran expects region to arm Palestinians against Israel
TEHRAN — Iran expects regional countries to send weapons to the Palestinians to help them fight Israel, parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani said on Sunday. “Although political measures taken by the regional countries are admirable, they are definitely not sufficient,” Larijani said in remarks reported by the official IRNA news agency. “It is expected of them that they send serious military aid to the Palestinians… why should Islamic countries not send weapons to Palestine ?” he asked, saying Israel receives such aid from the US and Western countries.
link to www.rawstory.com

Katatny to head delegation to Gaza Monday
The Freedom and Justice Party called on members of all political currents to join a delegation to the Gaza Strip Monday, led by party head Saad al-Katatny, to show solidarity with the Palestinian people against ongoing Israeli attacks. The delegation would return to Cairo on the same day, the Muslim Brotherhood website quoted the party’s media adviser Mourad Ali as saying.
link to www.egyptindependent.com

Tutu : Gaza escalation ’heartbreaking’
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — South African archbishop and hero of the apartheid era Desmond Tutu said Friday that the escalation of violence between Israel and the Gaza Strip was "heartbreaking." "This new outbreak of violence is heartbreaking – and all too familiar," he said in a statement. "Once again the people are paying an unacceptable price and innocent civilians in Gaza and Israel, including children, are losing their lives. "There will be no peace for Israelis and Palestinians if the cycle of violence continues."
link to www.maannews.net

US gives ’full backing’ to Israel while urging de-escalation of Gaza violence
Israeli ambassador Michael Oren says US supports its ’self-defence’ as Palestinian delegation accuses Washington of bias. The Israeli ambassador to Washington, Michael Oren, says the US has given his government a free hand in its assault on Gaza as the Israeli cabinet ordered a large call up of military reserves, prompting fears of a ground invasion. The Palestinian delegation to Washington condemned the US response to the crisis as "biased and weak", and called on the White House to stop Israel using American-made weapons against civilians. It also described as "shameful" what it called the justification of the murder of Palestinians by countries supporting Israeli actions, including Britain.
link to www.guardian.co.uk

Bahrain bans pro-Gaza march
DUBAI : Bahrain rejected requests by several groups to organise a pro-Gaza march on Sunday, after a protest ban announced last month, but instead allowed sit-ins in office buildings, the interior ministry said.
link to www.dailystar.com.lb

Empty Rhetoric : Arab League ’backs Gaza against aggression’
Hamas chief meets Egyptian president, Qatari emir and Turkish PM, as Arab League foreign ministers issue statement.
link to www.aljazeera.com

Useless and empty rhetoric, should have kept his mouth shut : Saudi king urges ’wisdom’ in Gaza, Israel clashes
RIYADH : Saudi King Abdullah has called for reason and wisdom during a telephone conversation with Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi in which he discussed the latest clashes between Gaza and Israel, state news agency SPA reported. The monarch, whose country is a heavyweight in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, told Morsi "that things must calm down and reason and wisdom must reign over passionate reactions," SPA said late on Thursday. The Egyptian president called King Abdullah on Thursday evening to discuss "bilateral relations and the situation in the region as well as developments in the Palestinian territories," it said.
link to www.dailystar.com.lb

Al Jazeera TV : Qatari emir says Israel should lift Gaza siege
ABU DHABI (Reuters) — Qatar’s emir, who visited Gaza earlier this month, said in comments broadcast on Sunday that Israel should lift its siege of the Gaza Strip. In an interview with the Qatar-based news channel Al Jazeera, Emir Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani also said Israel would not halt its offensive in Gaza unless it met strong resistance.
link to www.maannews.net

Pakistan condemns Israeli escalation against Gaza
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Pakistan on Friday condemned Israel’s airstrikes in the Gaza Strip and called on the international community to intervene, the Karachi-based daily The News reported. "Pakistan strongly condemns Israeli air attacks in Gaza that have targeted not only the Hamas leadership but also innocent civilians," the newspaper quoted Pakistan’s foreign ministry as saying. The ministry called on the international community “to come together to stop the Israeli aggression”.
link to www.maannews.net

Anonymous Steps Up Attacks on Israeli Sites
Hackers stepped up attacks on a number of Israeli Web sites on Friday, including Israel’s Foreign Ministry and the municipal Web site for Tel Aviv. The attacks are part of a broader campaign that the hacker collective Anonymous is calling #OpIsrael. The group says the attacks are in retaliation for Israeli military strikes on Hamas on Wednesday. The campaign, which began at 3 a.m. New York time on Thursday — with coordinated attacks on several Israeli Web sites, including those of an Israeli Defense Forces blog and a private Israeli surveillance and security company — showed no signs of slowing on Friday. By Friday, Anonymous hackers claimed to have defaced more than 600 Israeli Web sites, many belonging to private companies. They also claimed credit for taking down a Tel Aviv municipal site, tel-aviv.gov.il, and said, in Twitter posts, that they had deleted the Web databases for Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Bank of Jerusalem. While the former site was still offline Friday afternoon, the latter appeared to be functioning normally.
link to bits.blogs.nytimes.com

Anonymous Threatens To Shut Down 10,000 Israeli Websites
The International Hackers known as Anonymous issued a video on Saturday announcing that the group will shot down 10,000 Israeli websites due to the continued Israeli abuse of human rights.
link to www.imemc.org

Palestinian Solidarity with Gaza and the Resistance / Attacks Against Protesters

Palestinian journalists protest attacks on media offices
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Palestinian journalists staged a sit-in Sunday in Ramallah protesting Israel’s attacks on two media offices in the Gaza Strip that injured at least six journalists. Protestors raised posters condemning attacks on media and asserting that Palestinian journalists will continue to do their jobs no matter how fiercely Israel’s attacks them. The head of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, Abdul-Nasser al-Najjar, called the attacks on two media building "part of the ongoing Israeli assaults on journalists."
link to www.maannews.net

Clashes in West Bank as anger over Gaza is directed at Mahmoud Abbas
Palestinian Authority blamed for failing to take action and for co-operating with Israeli security forces against protesters. Fresh clashes erupted in the West Bank on Sunday as Palestinian youths threw rocks at Israeli soldiers, who responded with teargas. But anger in the West Bank has not only been directed at Israel : many also blame the Palestinian Authority for failing to take action over the Gaza offensive and for co-operating with the Israeli security forces against protesters.
link to www.guardian.co.uk

Israeli forces raid Jerusalem theater, seal building
JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Israeli forces raided the Palestinian National Theater in Jerusalem on Sunday and forcibly evicted crowds who had gathered to express solidarity with Gaza and commemorate the death of late president Yasser Arafat, a Fatah official said. Dimitri Deliani, a member of the Fatah party’s revolutionary council, told Ma’an that soldiers stormed the theater located near the American Colony Hotel and and evacuated the facility. Israeli police officers left a military order on the main gates saying that the building would be sealed and inaccessible for 24 hours, Deliani added. Israeli forces also raided a nearby meeting which had convened to discuss theater related issues
link to www.maannews.net

In Photos : Ramallah protesting in support of Gaza
On the third day of Israel’s latest incursion on Gaza, which Israeli officials call “Operation Pillar of Defense”, the number of martyrs rose as air strikes continued to pound the coastal enclave.
link to www.palestinemonitor.org

31 Palestinians Injured In Bethlehem
The Radio Bethlehem 2000 reported, on Sunday evening, that 31 Palestinians were injured, including one who suffered moderate injuries, after Israeli soldiers fired gas bombs and rubber-coated metal bullets at protesters near Rachel Tomb, north of Bethlehem.
link to www.imemc.org

Palestinian prisoners launch escalatory steps protesting the aggression on Gaza
The governmental Information Office in Gaza said that the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails started new escalatory steps to protest the continuous brutal aggression on the Gaza Strip.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Dozens injured in West Bank rallies for Gaza
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Dozens of Palestinians were injured and at least 10 arrested on Saturday during West Bank demonstrations against Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, according to eyewitness reports. In Nablus, four people were injured and eight arrested when Israeli soldiers and protesters clashed near Huwwara checkpoint. Ahmad Suboh suffered serious head injuries and was transferred to Rafidya hospital in Nablus for treatment.
link to www.maannews.net

Three Injured, One Critically, As Troops Attack Pro Gaza Protest Near Ramallah
Three Palestinian civilian were injured, one critically, on Saturday evening, by Israeli troops gunfire in the village of Al Nabi Saleh near the central West Bank city of Ramallah.
link to www.imemc.org

Serious injuries during clashes near the Ofer prison
Violent clashes have erupted between hundreds of Palestinian youths and Israeli occupation forces near the Ofer prison south of Ramallah.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Israeli soldiers fire tear gas at Bethlehem youths
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Israeli soldiers fired rounds of tear gas at youths protesting in Bethlehem late Saturday, a Ma’an reporter said. Youths threw rocks at an Israeli watchtower near Rachels Tomb, while soldiers fired multiple gas canisters into Bethlehem from behind a section of Israel’s separation wall. The clashes took place near Azza and Aida refugee camps. Dozens of Palestinians were injured and at least 10 arrested on Saturday during West Bank demonstrations against Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip.
link to www.maannews.net

Demonstration in Beit Ommar for Gaza
Today, a coalition of activists in Beit Ommar including the Center for Freedom and Justice, Palestine Solidarity Project, members of the Popular Committee and a new youth group Youth Power of Palestine (find them onfacebook) organized an emergency demonstration in Beit Ommar in solidarity with the people of Gaza. Over 100 people, all Palestinian, marched from the center of town to the Israeli military watch tower at the entrance to the town. They were met by a large Israeli military force which shot tear gas, sound grenades, and rubber-coated steel bullets at the demonstration. For over 2 hours, the group stayed near the entrance to the village, protesting Israeli aggression and occupation. Israeli soldiers took up posts on the roofs of Palestinian homes and continued to shoot tear gas throughout the town.
link to palestinesolidarityproject.org

At Ramallah protest, Hamas’ green overcomes Fatah’s yellow
Rallies marked by Hamas flags have been something of a rarity in the West Bank, but they could augur the future.
link to www.haaretz.com

’Bomb Tel Aviv’ West Bank protesters urge Hamas
RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories — Thousands of angry Palestinians rallied across the West Bank on Friday, urging Hamas militants to "bomb Tel Aviv" as Israel pursued a relentless air campaign on the Gaza Strip. More than 1,000 protesters gathered in central Ramallah, shouting slogans of support for Gaza’s Hamas rulers, and waving the Islamist movement’s green flag, AFP correspondents said. "Hamas, bomb Tel Aviv !" they chanted a day after a rocket from Gaza struck the sea just offshore from the sprawling coastal city. Coincidentally, a loud blast rocked Tel Aviv on Friday afternoon as sirens wailed to warn of an incoming rocket for the second day running, an AFP correspondent at the scene said. Police said sirens had sounded but could not immediately confirm that anything had hit the Tel Aviv area.
link to www.google.com

International Solidarity with Gaza

Egypt allows 400 activists to enter Gaza
As Israel continues to pound Gaza for the 5th day Egyptian authorities have allowed a five bus convoy of 400 activists to enter Gaza thru the Rafah border in solidarity with Gazans under siege. This represents a radical departure from the policies of the Mubarak regime during Israel’s ’08-’09 war on Gaza. The activists are also delivering much needed medical supplies and humanitarian aid to Al Shifaa Hospital, in Gaza, in coordination with the Egyptian Red Crescent.
link to mondoweiss.net

Thousands in Alexandria protest Israeli assault on Gaza
Thousands have gathered outside the Leader Ibrahim Mosque in Alexandria on Friday to protest against the Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip. Qatar-based satellite channel Al-Jazeera Mubasher Misr broadcast images of protesters raising large banners for Palestinian martyrs who were killed during the attack. The banners read : "Gaza will never die," "We call on the president to open Rafah crossing," and "The Muslim who is not concerned with the affairs of his fellow Muslims is not one of them." The protesters chanted in support of the Palestinian resistance, saying : "O Zahar (Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar) tell Haniyah (Gaza premier Ismail Haniyah) not to leave the rifle," and "No to Israel’s assault on Gaza." Other protesters raised banners demanding a stricter application for the Islamic Sharia in the new constitution.
link to www.egyptindependent.com

Global anti-Israel protests staged as fears of Gaza ground invasion escalate (PHOTOS)
Israel’s airstrikes on Gaza have sparked global protests condemning the attack. Thousands of people across the Middle East, the West, and Europe have come out to show their disdain. Yet, some countries remain convinced of Israel’s right to attack. Israel’s airstrikes on Gaza have sparked global protests condemning the attack. Thousands of people across the Middle East, the West, and Europe have come out to show their disdain. Yet, some countries remain convinced of Israel’s right to attack. Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defense – which began Wednesday and has taken the lives of 39 Palestinians and three Israelis so far, according to Palestinian local media – has divided the international world.
link to rt.com

Mass Demonstration : Solidarity with Gaza
[ November 18th, 2012 ; 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm. ] In solidarity with GAZA and all Palestinians End the Siege ! Stop the Massacres ! Free Palestine ! End Israeli Apatheid ! 1pm Sunday November 18th Hall Building, Concordia University 1455 de Maisonneuve West Metro Guy-Concordia Facebook : On Wednesday November 14th Israel declared its latest war on Gaza “Operation Pillar of Defense” also known as “Operation Pillar of Cloud”.
link to www.tadamon.ca

Demonstrations in 50 countries around the world in solidarity with Gaza
Tens of thousands around the world demonstrated on Friday to protest against the continuous Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Palestinian campaign : show solidarity with Gaza by boycotting Israel, Asa Winstanley
Today, the Palestinian Boycott Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC) released this statement, emphasising the importance of the BDS campaign now, more than ever.
link to electronicintifada.net

Media Bias

As Israel assaults Gaza, BBC reporting assaults the truth, Amena Saleem
Shortcomings identified by 2006 independent report on BBC’s Palestine coverage exemplified over past few days
link to electronicintifada.net

Objective coverage in the Washington Post
"It’s hard to find fault with the not-subtle argument in support of Israel’s campaign against the Gaza-based group, which does fire many rockets at civilian neighborhoods".
link to angryarab.blogspot.com

Fares Akram : the man without self-respect
Without a doubt, Fares Akram is an errand boy for the Zionists of the time. He is playing the same despicable role that his predecessor, Taghreed El-Khodari had played during the 2008 assault on Gaza. There is no limit to what the token Arab errand boy (or girl in the case of Taghreed) can do for the Zionist bosses. While Israeli bombs are falling on Gaza, the New York Times bosses order the token Arab errand girl (in 2008) and the token Arab errand boy today to go to Gaza not to report on the plight of the civilian but to write a tribute to the collaborators who are executed for providing information to the enemy (the French resistance used to execute the man, his wife, children and pets and in one province in France, more than a third of all executed collaborators were women). If Fares Akram is ordered to go and cheer for Israeli soldiers, he would jump to follow the order. I have only contempt for one like him, really.
link to angryarab.blogspot.com

Analysis / Op-ed on Israeli War on Gaza

We in the Gaza Strip will not die in silence, Musa Abumarzuq
If the world will not defend the Palestinians against Israel, we have the right to defend ourselves. The latest Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip has prompted several European countries and the US to reaffirm their position of unwavering support for the aggressor. William Hague, Britain’s foreign secretary, Cathy Ashton, the EU high representative for foreign affairs, and Barack Obama, have all claimed that Hamas’s rockets were responsible for the crisis and that it is the right of Israel to defend its citizens. Had they checked the facts, they would have realised Israel started the attacks. The escalation started when an Israeli military incursion into Gaza on 8 November killed a Palestinian child. That was followed by other Israeli incursions and attacks, provoking a response by Palestinian factions.
link to www.guardian.co.uk

Weary Gazans have learned to expect the worst
GAZA (Reuters) — The defiance of Gaza’s armed struggle bombards the senses in the city streets. Shrieks of outgoing rockets from downtown launch pads receive an encore of whistling youths, honking horns and celebratory calls of "God is Great" from mosque loudspeakers. Martial songs blare "Strike Tel Aviv !" from one of the few cars daring to chance the roads.
link to www.maannews.net

‘People here in Gaza still fear the worst’
Palestinians are preparing themselves for possible Israeli ground operation, as they fear that the IDF could start reoccupation of the Gaza Strip with tanks and commandos. According to the Israeli Defense Ministry, it eliminated 90 per cent of Hamas’ military capability, as they deliver surgical strike aimed only at terrorists. While filmmaker Harry Fear, who is currently in Gaza, told RT about dead Palestinian civilians, including children, and an upcoming ground invasion.
link to rt.com

The Palestinian Resistance Alters the Rules
Al-Akhbar’s reporters in Gaza examine the Palestinian military response to the Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip. As the resistance fighters unify, they’ve been able to strike deeper into Israel.
link to english.al-akhbar.com

Israel’s Use of Disproportionate Force – A Fact Sheet
Since November 14, when Israel assassinated Hamas leader Ahmed Jabari, further escalating an already bloody week that began with the killing of a 12-year-old Palestinian boy during an Israeli raid on November 8, at least 52 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, including at least 16 civilians, ten children among them. During the same period, three Israeli civilians have been killed in southern Israel. This disparity in civilian casualties is representative of a historic pattern, with a disproportionate number of Palestinian and other Arab civilians killed and wounded in virtually every phase of the conflict since Israel’s creation in 1948.
link to muftah.org

The light doesn’t get much greener than this : Obama admin gives Israel the go ahead to escalate in Gaza, Paul Mutter
The Wall Street Journal reports the result of a press conference held on Air Force One by Obama’s Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes, who works as one of Obama’s main (foreign policy) speechwriters who helped the President draft his spring 2012 AIPAC address. Rhodes expressed hope that mediation efforts by the Egyptians — who had been brokering a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel the day before Operation Pillar of Cloud began — will succeed, but the meat of his remarks comes in the form of a very clear public declaration the US will have Israel’s back no matter what the government decides.
link to mondoweiss.net

Chomsky Statement on Israel’s War on Gaza : It is not a war, it is murder. Prof. Noam Chomsky
(WASHINGTON DC) - The following statement by Noam Chomsky indicates a different stand toward Israeli aggression than Prof. Chomsky has revealed in the past : "The incursion and bombardment of Gaza is not about destroying Hamas. It is not about stopping rocket fire into Israel, it is not about achieving peace. The Israeli decision to rain death and destruction on Gaza, to use lethal weapons of the modern battlefield on a largely defenseless civilian population, is the final phase in a decades-long campaign to ethnically-cleanse Palestinians. Israel uses sophisticated attack jets and naval vessels to bomb densely-crowded refugee camps, schools, apartment blocks, mosques, and slums to attack a population that has no air force, no air defense, no navy, no heavy weapons, no artillery units, no mechanized armor, no command in control, no army… and calls it a war. It is not a war, it is murder. “When Israelis in the occupied territories now claim that they have to defend themselves, they are defending themselves in the sense that any military occupier has to defend itself against the population they are crushing. You can’t defend yourself when you’re militarily occupying someone else’s land. That’s not defense. Call it what you like, it’s not defense.”
link to www.salem-news.com

Fajr-5 missile gives Palestinians rare if short-lived advantage
Use of Iran-developed rocket that can reach Israel’s civilian heartland points to scale of arms smuggling into Gaza. In a straight fight between Israel and the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip there is no question who has the upper hand. Israel’s armed forces are among the world’s most sophisticated. Their ability to mount a drone strike of the kind that killed the Hamas military leader Ahmed Jaabari on Wednesday attests to a deadly combination of precise weaponry and accurate intelligence.
link to www.guardian.co.uk

Gaza : Still the Same Old Egypt ?, Ibrahim al-Amin
The first Israeli strike was severe. Ahmed al-Jaabari was assassinated. He was Hamas’ Imad Mughniyeh. His loss may have been even greater to the movement, given its organizational constraints and exceptionally centralized decision-making processes, but it can be recovered nevertheless. Jaabari put plans in place to fill the vacuum.
link to english.al-akhbar.com

Dissecting IDF propaganda : The numbers behind the rocket attacks, Phan Nguyen
In this brief study, I examine the many numbers cited by the Israeli military relating to Gaza rocket attacks into Israel. To begin, Israeli spokespeople frequently remind the world that a million Israeli citizens are within range of Gaza rockets, twelve thousand of which have been fired into Israel in the last twelve years, inflicting thousands of injuries and several dead. However, we are rarely told exactly how many people have been killed by these rocket attacks.
link to mondoweiss.net

Bomb Iran ? No. Bomb Gaza ? Yes !, Pepe Escobar
So many wars to launch, so little time. When you’re the political leader of the most militarized nation on the planet — as is the case with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu — you gotta find ways to play with your toys. Even if you’re itching to, you can’t bomb Iran because you don’t have the right bunker buster bombs and enough fighter jet refueling capability. And on top of it, re-elected US President Barack Obama has made it absolutely clear ; the way forward is diplomacy, not bombs. This may be an indication that Obama is at least considering a deal : "There should be a way in which they [Iran] can enjoy peaceful nuclear power while still meeting their international obligations and providing clear assurances to the international community that they’re not pursuing a nuclear weapon." This had led to the president’s commitment to "make a push in the coming months to see if we can open up a dialogue" cutting through the US/Iran Wall of Mistrust.
link to www.opednews.com

Bibi’s First War, Mouin Rabbani
Despite his deserved reputation as an extremist and rejectionist of the first order, Israel’s Binyamin Netanyahu has unlike most of his predecessors never initiated a war. He appears not to have planned one this time either. The 1996 Tunnel Intifada, named after several days of clashes that followed Israel’s festive opening of a tunnel in the heart of occupied East Jerusalem, may well have been Bibi’s template for the current assault on the Gaza Strip. It after all transpired during his previous term in office, and consists of three simple steps. 1. Launch outrageous provocation guaranteed to elicit armed response. 2. Use overwhelming firepower to kill Arabs and remind them who is boss. 3. Mobilise foreign parties to quickly restore calm on improved conditions.
link to www.jadaliyya.com

Top Ten Myths about Israeli Attack on Gaza
1. Israeli hawks represent themselves as engaged in a ’peace process’ with the Palestinians in which Hamas refuses to join. In fact, Israel has refused to cease Colonizing and stealing Palestinian land long enough to engage in fruitful negotiations with them. Tel Aviv routinely announces new, Unilateral house-building on the Palestinian West Bank . There is no peace process. It is an Israeli and American sham. Talking about a peace process is giving cover to Israeli nationalists who are determined to grab everything the Palestinians have and reduce them to penniless refugees (again).
link to www.juancole.com

Jewish Voice for Peace Statement on Israel’s Operation “Pillar of Defense”
The international group ’Jewish Voice for Peace’ issued a statement Saturday calling for an end to the Israeli attack on Gaza. The group has also participated in and sponsored protests during the last two days in cities across the US and Europe to demand that Israel end its attack and siege on Gaza.
link to www.imemc.org

A Rabbi speaks out about Israeli crimes in Gaza
Is rael’s mil i tary as sault on Gaza in 2008-09 rep re sented an im por tant turn ing point in my own re la tion ship with Is rael. I re call ex pe ri enc ing a new and pre vi ously un fa mil iar feel ing of an guish as Is rael bom barded the peo ple liv ing in that tiny, be sieged strip of land over and over, day after day after day. While I cer tainly felt a sense of tribal loy alty to the Is raelis who with stood Qas sam rocket fire from Gaza, I felt a new found sense of con cern and sol i dar ity with Gazans who I be lieved were ex pe ri enc ing noth ing short of op pres sion dur ing this mas sive mil i tary on slaught. And now it’s hap pen ing again. Only this time I don’t think the term “an guish” quite fits my mind set. Now it’s some thing much closer to rage.
link to antonyloewenstein.com

Why Gaza ?, Justin Raimondo
The Israeli assault on Gaza was triggered Nov. 8 when the IDF crossed the border and murdered Ahmed Younis Khader Abu Daqqa, a 13-year-old boy playing football in his front yard : the official explanation for this action was an alleged weapons cache, supposedly stored nearby, but no credible evidence supporting this contention has come to...
link to original.antiwar.com

Other West Bank News

Israeli Terrorism / Aggression / Raids in the West Bank

Child Killed In Qalandia Refugee Camp
Palestinian medical sources reported Sunday that a 20-month-old child was killed when a gas bomb fired by the Israeli army hit him in the head, and burnt his bed, in Qlandia refugee camp, north of occupied East Jerusalem.
link to www.imemc.org

Bethlehem man dies from wounds sustained 8 years ago
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — A Bethlehem man died on Saturday from medical complications caused by injuries sustained eight years ago after being assaulted by Israeli forces, Ma’an’s reporter said. Omar Mohammad Hmeid, 26, from Tuqu village east of Bethlehem was detained eight years ago for stone-throwing. During his arrest he was hit over the head with the butt of an Israeli soldier’s rifle, causing severe head injuries. He was then detained for six months where Israeli prison authorities failed to provide adequate treatment for his injuries, causing Hmeid to develop an infection which provoked irreversible brain damage, his family said. His funeral will take place on Sunday.
link to www.maannews.net

PA official : Settlers torch Nablus mosque
NABLUS (Ma’an) — Settlers torched a Nablus mosque overnight Sunday, a Palestinian Authority official said. Ghassan Daghlas, who monitors settler activity in the northern West Bank, told Ma’an that a group of settlers from Yizhar entered the village of Urif and set fire to the entrance of a mosque. Villagers managed to stop the fire from spreading and chased the settlers out of the village, Daghlas added.
link to www.maannews.net

Ramallah TV station sues Israel over stolen equipment, Jillian Kestler-D’Amours
Eleven Palestinian media outlets have been raided by Israel over the past five years.
link to electronicintifada.net

Palestine-Israel, The fact that the joint actions is significant was demonstrated to all skeptics
Unexpected visitors came Sunday early morning to visit activists of the anarchists against the wall and others with a "present" : It is not everyday I get a wake up call from the police. Without warrant,they entered our home and handed over four bits of paper each with a map showing one of the villages of Bil’in, Kfur Qaddum, Nil’in and An Nabi Salih. They explained that until mid-March 2013 I cannot go on Fridays to any of these villages. They recorded the whole thing and insisted on signing receipt. It took time to understand it was not a legal personal restriction order, but a bogus act of intimidation which have no legal meaning. As it was the initiative of the regional commander of the center of the occupied was bank I joked that may be he want us to shift the focus of our weekend joint actions to the southern region of Southern Hebron Hills, Ma’asara, and beit Ommar.
link to www.anarkismo.net

Palestinians in the West Bank Resist

Locals : Israeli jeep damaged by firebomb near Nablus
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — An Israeli military jeep was damaged near Nablus late Saturday by a Molotov cocktail thrown by youths, local sources said. Palestinian youths in the village of Sarra confronted Israeli forces in the area and threw stones and a firebomb at a military jeep, causing it to set alight. Soldiers fired large amounts of tear gas and rubber bullets at villagers in response, the sources added. An Israeli spokeswoman said she would look into the incident.
link to www.maannews.net

Illegal Arrests

IOF arrests four liberated prisoners from Hamas in the West Bank
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) arrested at dawn Sunday four activists affiliated with Hamas movement after raiding their houses in different districts of the West Bank.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Other Prisoner News

Resistance reduced the pressures on detainees in occupation jails
The Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip and the resistance rockets reduced the pressures on Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Ofer prisoners form National Unity Section
Palestinian prisoners in Ofer prison declared the establishment of the National Unity Section in section 15 which includes detainees from all Palestinian factions..
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Protests / Solidarity / Activism / BDS

Beit Ommar Participates in West Bank-Wide Demonstrations Against the Occupation
On November 14, a series of coordinated direct actions took place across the West Bank, coordinated by a network of activists throughout the West Bank. Palestinians, along with Israeli and international solidarity activists blocked settler-only roads and checkpoints in Huwarra, Nablus ; Ni’lin, Ramallah ; Nabi Saleh, Ramallah ; Bil’in, Ramallah ; Nashash, Betlehem ; and Beit Jala, Betlehem. Activists from Beit Ommar and Palestine Solidarity Project joined over 100 other activists at the tunnels checkpoint outside of Beit Jala. For nearly half an hour, activists blocked Israeli settler traffic into Jerusalem through the checkpoint, protesting the ongoing military occupation of the West Bank. While some activists in some areas chose to emphasize the Palestinian bid for an upgrade in status at the UN, the participants in Beit Jala from Beit Ommar chose to focus on the Israeli military occupation and restrictions on freedom of movement.
link to palestinesolidarityproject.org

Political Developments / Other News

Fire exchanges on Syrian border ; IDF jeep damaged
Stray fire hits IDF patrol on border area, army responds by firing back at Syrian post ; Syrians retaliate by firing mortar that lands in demilitarized zone.
link to www.ynetnews.com

Palestinian officials : Arafat grave being dug up
Two Palestinian officials say workers with jackhammers are opening the concrete-encased grave of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in his former compound in the West Bank.
link to news.yahoo.com

The spokesperson of the US Department of State urges the Jordanian people to accept the pain inflicted on them by the puppet King
"MS. NULAND : It’s the IMF who’s made clear that the kinds of subsidies that the government has been providing are not sustainable for a modern economy, and that adjustments need to be made. We have supported the IMF, as in this case, and we support King Abdullah and his government in the change that they’re trying to implement inside Jordan, which they’ve got to do in order to modernize the state.
QUESTION : Well, that’s all well and good, but if I’m a Jordanian and I sit here and listen to the Spokeswoman for the State Department say that this is “necessary pain,” that’s just – who are you to tell me what’s necessary and what’s not ?
MS. NULAND : Again, this is a set of reforms that need to be undertaken. It’s not easy. It’s never easy. It’s not easy in the European context ; it’s not easy in the American context when we have to make adjustments to deal with our fiscal situation. But all of us are having to deal with these things in one way or another these days.
Please, Said.
link to angryarab.blogspot.com

Analysis / Op-ed / Human Interest

Israel maneuvers itself into a corner as Palestinians seek U.N. bid
Following Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas’s confirmation that the Palestinian Authority will present its bid for upgraded status at the U.N. on Nov. 29, an Israeli Foreign Ministry policy paper has proposed “toppling” his “regime” if the bid is approved.
link to english.alarabiya.net

Palestinian statehood wins European backing
A majority of Europeans want their governments to vote for Palestinian recognition at the UN, latest polls reveal. Overwhelming majorities in the UK and other western European countries believe Palestinians should have their own state and want their governments to vote for recognition of Palestine at the United Nations at the end of the month, according to latest polls.
link to www.guardian.co.uk

The "End of the Two-State Solution" Spells Apartheid and Ethnic Cleansing, not Binationalism and Peace, Toufic Haddad
Declaring the death of the two-state solution in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has become increasingly fashionable among growing sections of both right and left wing streams of Palestinians and Israelis. The late Palestinian intellectual Edward Said was one of the first to propagate this notion in his essays on the failure of the Oslo accords and on bi-nationalism . Since then, and in the wake of a second Palestinian uprising, a unilateral Israeli redeployment from the Gaza Strip, a vicious one-sided Israeli war on the same territory, and a comatose negotiations process, it’s little wonder exasperated observers and participants are increasingly declaring the two-state solution dead, while kindling the search for alternatives.
link to www.jadaliyya.com