Second anniversary of Israel's brutal assault commemorated

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_LIfs__jHE

Some people wonder why we put ourselves on boats and sail across the Mediterranean to Gaza. We face one of the most vicious armies in the world, armed with only our determination.

On this, the second anniversary of Israel's brutal assault on Gaza when 1400 Palestinians were killed, we want you to know you are not forgotten.

If governments refuse to hold Israel accountable for its war crimes against a civilian population, we, in civil society will continue to sail again and again until Israel's brutal siege is over. We will return in the spring.

--
Greta Berlin Gaza Friends

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Corporate Complicity in Israeli War Crimes X

The second international session of the RToP will take place in London, on 20, 21 and 22 November 2010. It will examine International corporate complicity in Israel’s Violations of International Human Rights Law, International Humanitarian Law, and War Crimes.

http://www.russelltribunalonpalestine.com/en/sessions/london-session

You will be able to watch the London session of RToP LIVE on your PC from Saturday morning 10am GMT.

Please share these two links as widely as possible. Thanks.

http://www.russelltribunalonpalestine.com/en/live

witnessgaza.com

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VIVA PALESTINA CONVOY BREAKS SIEGE AND ENTERS GAZA TO JUBILANT CROWDS

The Viva Palestina convoy of almost 150 vehicles, 370 people from 30 different countries and $5 million of aid has entered Gaza.
Amidst scenes of jubilation from thousands of Palestinians there to greet the convoy, Kevin Ovenden, the convoy director, expressed his joy at being in Gaza once again. "We have driven more than 3,000 miles to bring this essential aid and to break this illegal siege of Gaza. We have been joined by supporters from Morocco and Algeria and from the Gulf States and Jordan, to make this the biggest convoy ever to break the siege of Gaza. We are absolutely overjoyed to be here and to bring with us the soil from the graves of those who were massacred on the Mavi Marmara which will be used to plant trees as a memorial to their sacrifice."

The convoy set out four weeks and five days ago from London. It travelled through France, Italy, Greece, Turkey and Syria. Everywhere the reception was fantastic and the generosity of well-wishers unsurpassed. Towards the end there was a frustrating delay in Syria whilst negotiations at the highest levels were conducted with the Egyptian authorities. In the end it was all worth it as the Egyptian authorities decided to allow passage of the whole convoy, sadly excluding just 17 members of the convoy including George Galloway.

The convoy will be handed over in its entirety to the relevant bodies tomorrow and the members of the convoy then expect to leave Gaza and return home in the next 48 hours after celebrations and formal thanks are given.

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CONVOY FINALLY SETS SAIL FOR GAZA

After a wait in Syria lasting sixteen days, the convoy of 150 vehicles and 370 people is just setting sail from Latakia, Syria, on the final leg of the epic journey to deliver aid to Gaza.

The last formalities have been completed and the vehicles are on board. Convoy members are jubilant that their objective of bringing medical aid to the besieged people of Gaza is finally in sight.

Some 30 of the human rights activists, including survivors of the Mavi Marmara, will make the voyage to Al Arish in Egypt, passing the place at which the Mavi Marmara was attacked. A memorial ceremony will be held at the exact spot where the massacre was carried out.

The convoy will reach Al Arish tomorrow evening. The bulk of the activists from Britain, Northern Ireland, France, Italy, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the United States, Morocco, Algeria, Jordan, Qatar, Malaysia and more than a dozen other countries will be reunited with their vehicles there, having flown the final leg of the journey into Egypt.

Convoy leaders are now hopeful that the convoy will enter Gaza on Friday.

http://www.vivapalestina.org/

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Dershowitz Vs Abulhawa - Watch and pass on

watch the YouTube versions as it seems many people could not view the video from the website:

part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2lOOb80hsM

part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKHRnKOxenY

part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l58IEKJQeRk

Amazing to watch Dershowitz lose his cool and the plot as the event progresses, pointing his finger at Susan Abulhawa, calling her names (part 2) and finally asking the audience to shutup (part 3).

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The First Ever Palestinian suicide bombing in 1994

The Cave of the Patriarchs massacre occurred when Baruch Goldstein, an Israeli settler and member of the far-right Israeli Kach movement, opened fire on unarmed PalestinianMuslims praying inside the Ibrahim Mosque (or Mosque of Abraham) at the Cave of the Patriarchs site in Hebron in the West Bank. It took place on February 25, 1994, during the overlapping religious holidays of Purim and Ramadan. 29 worshippers were killed and 125 wounded. The attack ended when Goldstein had expended his ammunition, then he was subdued and beaten to death by survivors.

The attack set off riots and protests throughout the West Bank, and an additional 19 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli Defense Forces within 48 hours of the massacre.

The Israeli government divided the Cave of the Patriarchs into two sections, one for Jewish worshippers and the other for Muslim worshippers. At 05:00 a.m. on 25 February, 800Palestinian Muslims passed through the east gate of the cave to participate in Fajr, the first of the five daily Islamic prayers.The cave was under Israeli Army guard, but of the nine soldiers supposed to have been on duty, four were late turning up, and only one officer was there.
Shortly afterwards, Goldstein entered the Isaac Hall of the cave. He was dressed in his army uniform and carried an IMI Galil assault rifle and four magazines of ammunition, which held 35 rounds each. He was not stopped by the guards, who assumed that he was an officer entering the tomb to pray in an adjacent chamber reserved for Jews.
Standing in front of the only exit from the cave and positioned to the rear of the Muslim worshippers, he opened fire with the weapon, killing 29 people and injuring another 125.
Reports after the massacre were often contradictory or ambiguous. There was initial uncertainty about whether Goldstein had acted alone; it was reported that eyewitnesses had seen "another man, also dressed as a soldier, handing him ammunition."There were also reports that he had thrown grenades at the worshippers. Yasser Arafat suggested that the attack was the work of up to 12 men, including Israeli troops. There were also various questions as to the Israeli guards outside the cave having opened fire; while Israeli military officials claim that no Israeli troops fired on the Palestinian worshippers, the New York Times reported that over 40 different Palestinian eyewitnesses, many of them confined to hospital beds with gunshot wounds and thus "unable to compare notes", all corroborated that three Israeli guards opened fire in confusion as the Muslims fled the shrine, with one firing into the crowd.
The testimony of various Israeli military officials was often contradictory. For instance, a Major General asserted that the guards had fired only in the air, but the guards themselves later testified to firing some shots "chest high".The guards' testimony was also at odds with the testimony of their ranking officer in claiming they had seen another Jewish settler enter the cave bearing arms.

The first successful suicide bombing carried out by Palestinian militants inside Israel was launched by Hamas' Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades in 1994, in retaliation for the massacre carried out by Goldstein. Eight people were killed and 34 wounded in the attack which took place in Afula on April 6, 1994, at the end of the forty day mourning period for Goldstein's victims.

Baruch Kopel Goldstein was an American-born Jewish Israeli physician who perpetrated the 1994 Cave of the Patriarchs massacre in the city of Hebron, killing 29 Muslims at prayer there and wounding another 150.

On February 25, 1994, that year's Purim day, Goldstein entered a room in the Cave of the Patriarchs serving as a mosque, wearing "his army uniform with the insignia of rank, creating the image of a reserve officer on active duty" (Shamgar report). He then opened fire, killing 29 people and wounding more than 125. Mosque guard Mohammad Suleiman Abu Saleh said he thought that Goldstein was trying to kill as many people as possible and described how there were "bodies and blood everywhere." Goldstein was attacked and killed by the worshippers.

According to Ian Lustick, 'by mowing down Arabs he believed wanted to kill Jews, Goldstein was reenacting part of the Purim story'.

Palestinian riots immediately followed the shooting, leading in the following week to the deaths of 25 Palestinians and five Israelis. According to Aditi Bhaduri, writing in The Hindu, following the massacre, Israel imposed a two-week curfew on the 120,000 Palestinian residents of the city, while the 400 Jewish settlers remained free to move around.

Goldstein is buried across from the Meir Kahane Memorial Park in Kiryat Arba, a Jewish settlement adjacent to Hebron.

The gravesite has become a pilgrimage site for "Israeli extremists"; a plaque near the grave reads "To the holy Baruch Goldstein, who gave his life for the Jewish people, the Torah and the nation of Israel."

At Goldstein's funeral, Rabbi Yaacov Perrin claimed that even one million Arabs are "not worth a Jewish fingernail." Samuel Hacohen, a teacher at a Jerusalem college, declared Goldstein the "greatest Jew alive, not in one way but in every way" and said that he was "the only one who could do it, the only one who was 100 percent perfect."

In the weeks following the massacre, hundreds of Israelis traveled to Goldstein's grave to celebrate Goldstein's actions. Some Hasidim danced and sang around his grave.

According to one visitor to the gravesite in the wake of the attacks, "If [Goldstein] stopped these so-called peace talks, then he is truly holy because this is not real peace."Some visitors kissed and hugged the gravestone, or even kissed the earth under which Goldstein was buried, declaring him a "saint" and "hero of Israel.

In the years after the dismantling of the shrine, radical Jewish settlers continued to celebrate the anniversary of the massacre in the West Bank, sometimes even dressing up themselves or their children to look like Goldstein.

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AID CONVOY SET TO SAIL FOR GAZA

14th October 2010

AID CONVOY SET TO SAIL FOR GAZA

After a tense ten day stand off in Syria, the Viva Palestina aid convoy to Gaza has now been cleared to sail.

The convoy started out from London on Saturday 18th September and drove down through France, Italy, Greece and Turkey before arriving in the port of Latakia, Syria, on Saturday 2nd October. In Latakia, the convoy has been joined by two other convoys. One came from Morocco and Algeria, the other originated in Doha and came through the Gulf states and Jordan.

There are now 147 vehicles about to board two ships together with 380 people from some 30 countries stretching from New Zealand and Australia to Canada and the United States carrying aid worth some 5 million dollars. This includes 40 people who were on the Mavi Marmara flotilla which was attacked by Israeli commandos murdering ten human rights activists from Turkey.

Over the last ten days in Syria, the convoy has taken on medical supplies urgently needed in the besieged Gaza Strip. Simultaneously negotiations have been conducted with the Egyptian authorities to allow passage into the port of Al Arish and then on to the Rafah Crossing. The support of the Syrian authorities and others has been vital in the successful negotiations.

Last night word finally came through that the Egyptian authorities would allow the ships to dock, unload and passage through to the Rafah Crossing and Gaza would be guaranteed.

The ships will now sail past the place where the Mavi Marmara was attacked and flowers will be laid in memory of the victims. When the convoy reaches Gaza the soil from the graves of some of those who were murdered will be used to plant trees as a memorial to the Mavi Marmara victims.

The convoy hopes to reach Gaza this Saturday or Sunday.

http://www.vivapalestina.org/

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Regarding the attack on the flotilla, below is what we have found out.

Regarding the attack on the flotilla, below is what we have found out. In addition, we are providing a link to the attack on the Irene from the 'most moral army in the world.' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hphSiBrnBYw

Please distribute to your lists and, if in the US, write to your representatives asking them why we Americans support murder on the high seas. Greta Berlin

The military units are "Shayetet 13" (the navy commando unit).

The helicopters that were used to drop them on the ship (according to the media and to the army spokesperson as well) are from The IAF's Black Hawk squadron. All the helicopters of the IAF, including the Black Hawk squadron, were given to Israel as part of the US military aid.

The new black hawks given to Israel in 2002 (of the Lima model) are most likely the ones that were used in the attack on the Maramara.

Almost all of the weapons used by the IDF are US made, and it is 100% clear that some was used to kill the passengers on the Mavi Marmara.

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Viva Palestina 5 Convoy Log

Monday 20th September

The convoy was welcomed in the city of Valux-en-Velin, adjacent to Lyon, by the mayor, M Bernard Genin. The city has the distinction of being the only one in France to fly the Palestinian flag.

But not if the French government gets its way. The regional prefect, responsible for the central government administration of the area, has told the city that the flag has to come down.

'I've written back to him to say that he's welcome to try,' responded the mayor, 'if he can fight his way through the mass crowds who will defend it.'

The convoy left Paris early - the muster was 6am - after another night on the floor of the gymnasium. Most of the 85 had less than four hours sleep, but the road south was mainly motorway and the group, split into three elements, arrived at a service station outside Lyon shortly after 1pm. After a quick lunch provided by local supporters the convoy moved off first to the Hotel de Ville (town hall) in an ear-splitting cacophony of noise, horns honking and the sirens of the two Swedish ambulances screaming.

After the meeting with the mayor the convoy moved off again to the main square in Lyon, the Place Bellecour, parking the 36 vehicles in the middle of it and setting up a stage and amplification for a rally. Hundreds of people crowded around, dozens of postcards and posters were handed out and the organisers had to rebuff the appeals of dozens of people to come on the convoy to Gaza.

After another meal provided by VP local volunteers the convoyers were put up in a hotel, the first time they has slept on a mattress, between clean sheets since they set out.

Watch Press TV report on Convoy in Paris on You Tube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opgaEe34hG0
Watch convoy at La Place de La Bastille in Paris at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjVzDoujqOk

This email was sent to the subscription only email list information@vivapalestina.org . You can subscribe or unsubscribe at any time to this email list by visiting http://www.vivapalestina.org/alert.htm . To ensure that your own computer's anti-spam filters do not block these emails please add alice@vivapalestina.org and clive@vivapalestina.org to your email address book.

VP5.jpg

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YouTube - Letter to Israel

Journalist Lauren Booth was on the first Free Gaza voyage and stayed to work in Gaza after the boats left. Her heartfelt letter to the people of Israel should be read and seen by everyone who hopes for peace in the Middle East. This stunning video tribute to her words was designed and produced by the Free Gaza movement.

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Army Radio reports Rabbi Ovadia Yosef denounces Palestinians as bitter enemies of Israel ahead of upcoming direct peace talks.

Shas spiritual leader: Abbas and Palestinians should perish from this world - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News

Shas spiritual leader: Abbas and Palestinians should perish from this world

Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef denounced upcoming peace talks with the Palestinians, which are set to start September 2 in Washington, and called for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to "perish from this world," Army Radio reported overnight Saturday.

	Shas spiritual leader Ovadia Yosef
	Photo by: Daniel Bar-On

"Abu Mazen and all these evil people should perish from this world," Rabbi Ovadia was quoted as saying during his weekly sermon at a synagogue near his Jerusalem home. "God should strike them with a plague, them and these Palestinians."

The Shas spiritual leader also called the Palestinians "evil, bitter enemies of Israel" during his speech, which is not the rabbi's first sermon to spark controversy.

In 2001, the spiritual leader of the ultra-Orthodox faction gave a speech in which he also called for Arabs' annihilation.

"It is forbidden to be merciful to them," he was quoted as saying. "You must send missiles to them and annihilate them. They are evil and damnable."

The Palestinian Authority had condemned the speech as racist and inciteful.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Eli Yishai, also from Shas, earlier this week also remarked on the forthcoming peace talks with the Palestinians, saying that Shas would oppose extending the West Bank settlement building freeze due to expire in late September.

Yishai has suggested that Israel would continue construction in the main settlement blocs likely to remain part of Israel in the framework of a peace deal, but freeze construction in outposts or more remote settlements.

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Israeli Education Ministry Approves New 'Whites Only' Settlement School

By Salem-News.com |

August 26, 2010

(IMMANUEL, Occupied Palestine) - Several months ago, a religious school in the illegal Israeli settlement of Immanuel was criticized for segregating white Jewish students from non-white Jewish students in classes.

Originally, the school was fined for this policy of racial segregation, because the school was state funded.

Now, the Israeli education ministry has agreed with the white parents' request to allow the school to continue with its racial discrimination under private funding.

There is no law preventing racial discrimination by private organizations, even schools, in Israel.

The Israeli court has interpreted these laws to also apply to illegal West bank settlements, like Immanuel, which are located in areas that are supposed to be under Palestinian control.

The Palestinian Authority does not allow racial discrimination, but due to the Israeli military occupation of the Palestinian Territories, it has no authority over the area in question.

74 white girls who have been studying in a building next to the school will now be allowed to study in whites-only classrooms that are privately funded, as their parents claim they do not want their girls to study in racially-mixed classrooms.

Israel is the only nation with apartheid laws that is accepted as a full ally by the United States and other nations.

In fact the population of Israel has been discriminating openly and often viciously, since the inception of the Jewish state in 1947.

Arabs and other non-Jews are literally subjected to different laws; Palestinian children can be arrested at the age of eight years; jailed and regarded as a terrorist for throwing a rock at fully armed Israeli Defence Force soldiers.

It is a travesty of justice in the modern world that Israel's decades-long attempt to rid the land of native Palestinians has been allowed, approved and even funded.

Source: International Middle East Media Center

Category: News

Tags:: apartheid; israel

Source: http://salem-news.com/articles/august262010/israeli-racism.php

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Happy Birthday, Free Gaza

When we wrote the text for Happy Birthday, Free Gaza, our wonderful video producer, Paola, asked if she could design a video tribute to Free Gaza. It is here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAMFRkATYX0

Many of you have also sent birthday wishes to us as we get ready to sail again in the fall. To all of you... thank you. None of this could have been done without the support from around the world. Below are just some of the birthday wishes.

Happy Birthday Free Gaza. I pray the next ships make it and bring joy blowing in the winds to greet the ships from the wonderful Gazans. Georgianne, California

Happy birthday. my hopes for the end of the blockade of Gaza. Wafa, Palestine

Happy 2nd Anniversary from the Sabra Shatila Foundation, the Palestine Civil Rights Campaign and all who salute what you have achieved on the behalf of all people of good will…'Sail on, Sail on, oh boats of resistance and may Allah decree that never shall ye trim your sails against the dark winds.'..........Mabrouk! Franklin, Lebanon

NEVER give up. This siege MUST BE BROKEN and you will see, IT WILL BE BROKEN.

FREE GAZA !!!!! Ingrid, Italy

Mabruk to you all. You are awesome. It all is. Brilliant. Happy B-Day, Love Ann, New York

It isn't just Gaza that you creative and brave people have begun to free. You have also freed the millions who have been watching Israel's abuse of the Palestinians of Gaza and feeling helpless because they could think of nothing they could do to make things better. If we can't sail with you on a Free Gaza boat, we can help fund and support you in myriad other ways. Thanks. Don, California

Happy Birthday Free Gaza. Mairead, Ireland

Happy 2nd anniversary. Keep up the wonderful work. We are all so proud of you !
Dale, US

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Free Gaza, happy birthday to you. Hip, hip hooray! I'm feeling sea sick all over again and can taste those awful vegan biscuits, Yvonne, UK

From the deepest recesses of our heart: happy birthday Free Gaza. This date will be etched in the golden annals of people's history, because free gaza is creating a new chapter in the history of human liberation as we speak…Proud to be associated with some of the most courageous & creative people in the world. Feroze, India

I have been given no greater gift than the opportunity to be on board the FREE GAZAwhen it landed on Gaza beach two years ago. May we all one day meet together inGaza. Mary, California

Celebrate what we could. Overcome what we could not. David, Washington

Go!ddess Bless You all. Two years ago you sailed into Gaza, alerting the world to the absolute moral imperative for every civilized human being to say NO MORE to tyranny and state terrorism, bullying and lies. You who sailed to see a free Gaza told the rest of us, we all must take a stand for the dignity and freedom, the full human rights, of all the Palestinian people, and all peoples everywhere. Steve, California

Happy Birthday and may you go from strength to strength. Viva Free Gaza! The end is always the beginning. Gloria, UK

Happy Birthday Free Gaza. Well done for keeping going with the most just campaign on the planet. I will keep supporting and doing what I can to keep the campaign and the plight of the Palestinians up there. Always on your side. Joe, Ireland

Happy Birthday, all our love. Free Gaza is much more that what you do, it is in its spirit pure , loving, extreme well-considered, and highly intelligent. Free Gaza is for us a symbol of how we citizens should always behave, in daily life as whether it comes to your own family or the world family. Neils and Marie, Denmark

Happy Birthday Free Gaza :) you guys are true freedom fighters..very inspiring in a world gone mad, that's for sure. Sean, California

Happy Birthday Free Gaza!! You have achieved such a lot in such a short space of time. You should be very proud of all you have achieved. Excellent job :) All the best for now. Hanan, UK

Great Text..this is the spirit…Happy Birthday. Ton, Netherlands

Happy Anniversary! Thanks for letting me be a first! One day, Gaza will be free! Kathleen, California

Happy Birthday Free Gaza to everyone! And I wish everyone a Free Palestine! Mahmoud, Gaza

The flotillas will grow, more and more boats and ships, thousands of people will board the boats and tens of thousands will demand to board. The people of the world say enough is enough - Free Palestine Now! Tear down all the Apartheid Walls Now! Right of Return for all Palestinians. Donna, California

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An open letter to Israel

By Lauren Booth, one of 44 passengers on board the first voyage, August 23, two years ago.

“This morning I set out to write a piece about the looting of the aid Flotilla to Gaza, by your soldiers. As you may have read, an Israel Defense Forces officer, has been remanded by a military court, suspected of stealing laptop computers from passengers. Interestingly, Haretz newspaper, now refers to the fleet as an ‘aid flotilla.’ Which it was. Rather than the ‘terror’ fleet your leaders would have had you call it. But I digress.

So, there I was, all ready to write my piece, when I came across an article on ynetnews. It sought to spell out the shock perhaps felt by some about the looted goods. A senior Israel Defense Forces officer said of the flotilla thefts: ‘there must be a serious problem in the IDF in terms of values."

I looked at those words for a long time. And, instead of writing my piece, decided to write to you instead. Because I can’t help wondering, who on earth still has any reserves of ‘shock’ to spare for the behaviour of your military? I mean really, come on guys. Beyond the comfortable avenues of Tel Aviv, the rest of the world finds the phrase ‘Moral Army,’ when applied to the IDF, nothing short of a huge, (sadly catastrophic), global sized joke. One on the same level as, say, climate change denial or George Bush’s presidency.

Now, here I’ve done it again. I’ve made you really mad at me. But please, just give me a moment or two to explain why I’m writing this letter. Because I didn’t set out to, nor do I want to insult you. Certainly not anymore than I have in the past. I’m sit here with washing up undone and housework piling up, to ask you one question. As a mother and as a fellow human being I need to know why you don’t see the evil that’s being done in your name?

How can you not see?

As you may already know, I was on the first Freegaza mission in 2008. This means that I not only have the pleasure of knowing personally the fine ladies who founded the FGM (Freegaza Movement). It also means that I had many friends and colleagues on the Flotilla that your military attacked in May.

You know, (again just for a second see me as a mum and not an ‘enemy’) not one of those fine people is a terrorist, wanting to run weapons to ‘extremists’. They are to a man (and to a woman) kind, concerned citizens of the world. People, who simply cannot go about their normal daily lives whilst your state, your army, your settlers torment other human beings. Every minute of every day. Of every month. Of every year. For sixty two years.

I don’t mean to be rude guys. But there comes a time when saying ‘I didn’t know what was going on’ wears a bit thin. You know what I mean? This whole charade about being ‘shocked’ by your soldiers' bad behavior, it makes non Israeli’s...well...it makes us laugh.

Because, this week's looting by your soldiers, it’s not the first of its kind. is it? Come on. Think back. There have been an awful, awful lot of others. Forgotten? Let me help you. Get to a computer and type the words ‘IDF looting’ into google's search engine. You may (or may not be surprised) when this search produces more than 64,000 results. Now before you go off the deep end, crying ‘our enemies are telling lies about us.’ Please, I beg you. Read just some of the results on the first page. It won’t take you long. Okay why not spend the whole morning reading them? After all it’s kind of your duty to know what’s being done in your name isn’t it? I mean, when military crimes are being committed with YOUR tax shekels, you have a right to know.

One of the google results reveals that an Israel Defense Forces soldier confessed to stealing a credit card from a home in northern Gaza during Operation Cast Lead. Remember that? The soldier in the Givati infantry unit's reconnaissance battalion used it to withdraw NIS 1,600 in Israel. A small criminal act.

Part of a much wider crime.

A crime against humanity, that you’ve been either ignoring. Or have been deliberately blinded to by your leaders.

As I have already said though, you have access to the internet, you don’t have to remain in the darkness. Unless of course you’re comfortable there.

The most recent looting by the IDF of civilian goods, made me think of the Al Samouni women, I met them last year, on the rubble of their homes in Al Zaytoun (I’ve attached some photos for you to see). You may, vaguely recognize that name ‘Al Samouni’. Let me jog your memory. On Saturday, 3 January 2009, the Israeli incursion into Al Zaytoun neighbourhood began.

The following day, on 4 January 2009, your forces bombed the same area.

On Monday at 7:00 Am, 5 January 2009, again your forces bombed the very same area of Hay (neighborhood) Al Zaytoun. One of the missiles struck the third floor of Tallal Hilmi Al Samouni’s home. Then came the soldiers shooting to kill.

Overall, 26 members of the Al Samouni family were killed, including 10 children and 7 women. The Red Cross was only allowed entry three days later to evacuate the dead and injured, the majority of whom were so critical that they were taken to Belgium, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia for treatment.

Allow me, if you don’t mind to give you their names as you probably don’t know them. As kind human beings, I’m sure you’ll wish to pay them your respects, and perhaps pray for them.

Names of children killed

• Azza Salah Al Samouni, 3 years of age
• Waleed Rashad Al Samouni, 17 years of age
• Ishaq Ibrahim Al Samouni, 14 years of age
• Ismail Ibrahim Al Samouni, 16 years of age
• Rifka Wael Al Samouni, 8 years of age
• Fares Wael Al Samouni, 12 years of age
• Huda Nael Al Samouni, 17 years of age
• Ahmad Atieh Al Samouni, 14 years of age
• Mu’tassim Mohammed Al Samouni, 6 years of age
• Mohammed Hilmi Al Samouni, 5 years of age

Names of Women Killed
• Rahma Mohammed Al Samouni, 50 years of age
• Safa’ Hilmi Al Samouni, 25 years of age
• Maha Mohammed Al Samouni, 22 years of age
• Rabbab Azzat Al Samouni, 32 years of age
• Laila Nabih Al Samouni, 40 years of age
• Rifqa Mohammed Al Samouni, 50 years of age
• Hannan Khamis Al Samouni, 36 years of age

Names of Men Killed
• Tallal Hilmi Al Samouni, 55 years of age
• Attieh Hilmi Al Samouni, 25 years of age
• Rashad Hilmi Al Samouni, 42 years of age
• Tawfiq Rashad Al Samouni, 23 years of age
• Mohammed Ibrahim, 26 years of age
• Ziyad Izzat Al Samouni, 28 years of age
• Nidal Ahmad Al Samouni, 30 years of age
• Hamdi Maher Al Samouni, 23 years of age
• Hamdi Mahmoud Al Samouni, 70 years of age

Last March I was shown around the rubble of their community by the surviving women and children. I saw the racist grafitti left behind on the walls of the room where a teenage girl still had to sleep. Left for her by your ‘Moral Army’ no less. It said in places in Hebrew, in places English stuff like ‘we’ll be back’ and there was a coarse cartoon of a house exploding with the words ‘you are here’ wittily added. A beautiful young woman, told me of how she was about to get married before the attack. Her family had saved several thousand dollars for her dowry (many people of one family saving for a very, very long time, as you can imagine). It had been hidden under a bed in a suitcase for the happy event. Her mother had a few ancient pieces of jewelery that had been passed down through the generations in gold as well. Well, you see, your soldiers bombed these people, then shot their children, then finally looted everything the survivors owned. I swear to you, look on google, look into your own hearts, you know, this happens.

You know this is how your army deliberately treats Palestinians.

Before you scream ‘lies!’ or ‘anti Semite!’ please, I beg you. Parent to parent. Human to human. in the name of the God of all faiths, take a breathe, suspend your disbelief a while longer, then read on. Because, oh Israel. What if, just suppose, I’m not the anti Semite your wiki trained extremist supporters try to paint me as? And what if, just ten per cent of the 64,000 google entries for “IDF looting’ are utterly true? What then? What does that make you complicit in? What will you do if just for a second the truth that the rest of the world sees about your leaders barbarism fills your mind and your hearts as it one day surely must?

My words, as an outsider will no doubt seem harsh, even naive. This then, is from today's Jerusalem Post:

“According to information analyzed by the human rights organization Yesh Din, between September 2000 and the end of 2009, less than six percent of nearly 2,000 investigations opened against IDF soldiers suspected of crimes against Palestinians ended in indictments.

During the same period, according to various estimates, thousands of Palestinian civilians were killed as a result of IDF activities. How many of these fatalities resulted in convictions? Four. Not four percent – just four.”

It’s becoming increasingly clear that your young men and women are being trained to behave like animals. These events, the looting, the photos posted online by Eden Abergil, they can’t be explained away as ‘one off’’s any longer.

It’s for you to ask yourselves what they mean.

I’m truly sorry if my words have offended you. I just wanted to talk with you directly for once.

By the way there are an estimated 400 laptops, 600 mobile phones plus other personal cash and effects, which your military still has not returned to the passengers of the aid flotilla. You see, when then they set sail. For some reason, those good people, didn’t think the IDF would steal from them.

Yours in Hope

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First Murder, then Theft and Lies from the “World’s Most Moral Army”

[London, August 21, 2010] An investigation revealed by Israeli news sources confirms that an Israeli military officer and soldiers stole and sold laptops belonging to passengers on board the Freedom Flotilla, which was illegally boarded by Israeli forces on May 31, 2010.

The Israeli military now claims that “[t]he IDF did not receive complaints of stolen computers after the Navy raid on the Gaza-bound flotilla,” and is suggesting that “the civilians who were on the ships chose not to complain in light of the complicated incident they had gone through.”

The Free Gaza Movement, one of the organizers of the flotilla, says that statement is patently untrue. Passengers immediately filed complaints with their consular representatives and embassies about possessions taken from them. They also submitted extensive affidavits to lawyers, and reported it to the media: millions of dollars’ worth of computers, cameras, phones, cash, jewelry and other equipment was taken, and none has been returned. Embassies have repeatedly told us that they are in touch with the Israelis about getting our belongings back.

Col. Ann Wright, one of the passengers on board the U.S. flagged ship, Challenger 1, stated, “Since the U.S. State Department has assured me that they are in touch with the Israeli authorities about our belongings, I expect that they would respond to these articles that say the Israeli government did not know that passengers were missing any personal possessions.”

In addition, our lawyers at Adalah have been corresponding with the Israeli military authorities about the missing personal property, including computers. Therefore, it is a deliberate lie to say they have not received any complaints.

“Many of these computers, cameras and phones may contain vital evidence of Israeli military crimes committed during the attack on our ships,” said Free Gaza chairperson and attorney Huwaida Arraf. “Despite repeated requests, Israel has refused to return the equipment or turn it over to the United Nations. Instead it has stolen documents from our computers and cameras to use for propaganda purposes.”

While the actions of the officer and soldiers who stole and sold a half dozen laptops is reprehensible, it is Israel’s military and political leaders that must be held accountable for the larger crimes of aggression, murder, unlawful detention, bodily harm, confiscation and pillaging of property, tampering with evidence and more. All of these issues are being pursued by lawyers in Europe, Turkey, and the United States.

Contact: Huwaida Arraf, +970-598-336-215

Col. Ann Wright +1 808 741 1141

Audrey Bomse, legal coordinator +44 786 156 0932

Adam Shapiro +1-202-294-8813

#####################

--
Greta Berlin, Co-Founder, The Free Gaza Movement
+33 607 374 512
witnessgaza.com
www.freegaza.org
http://www.flickr.com/photos/freegaza

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Gaza-bound aid ship aims to leave Lebanon on Sunday - World news - Mideast/N. Africa - msnbc.com

BEIRUT — A Gaza-bound ship carrying women activists and aid for the blockaded Palestinian territory will leave Lebanon's northern port of Tripoli for Cyprus on Sunday, an organizer said on Thursday.

Israel has warned that it will not allow ships to reach Gaza, controlled by the militant Palestinian group Hamas since 2007. Nine pro-Palestinian Turks died on May 31 when Israeli commandos boarded a flotilla of aid vessels heading for Gaza.

Yasser Qashlaq said the ship Mariam would leave Tripoli at 10 pm (2p.m. ET) on Sunday for Cyprus. A second ship, the Naji al-Ali, would sail a couple of days later, he told Reuters.

"The aim is to break the blockade on Gaza," Qashlaq said, adding that the Mariam would be carrying around 60 Lebanese, U.S. and European women, as well as cancer drugs. The Naji al-Ali will take medical equipment including dialysis machines.

"We will sail for Cyprus and from there we will head for Palestine," he said. "We have received permission from Lebanese authorities and we have not had any refusal from Cypriot authorities."

He did not say when the ship will leave Cyprus for Gaza.

Israel, which eased its Gaza blockade in response to intense international criticism of its lethal seizure of the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara in May, has said it has the right to "use all necessary means" to bar the Lebanese ships from reaching Gaza.

Israel's ambassador to the United Nations said last month the vessels could "carry weapons or individuals with provocative and confrontational intentions," a charge Qashlaq denied.

"Any Israeli operation against the ships would be considered an act of piracy," he said. "I don't think the enemy (Israel) will repeat the stupid act that it carried out."

U.N. officials have urged countries not to attempt to break the Israeli naval blockade and urged all parties to show restraint.

Last month a Libyan-chartered aid ship bound for Gaza was diverted to an Egyptian port and its shipment was delivered to Gaza by land.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38769952

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This is a diary born out of concerns of a never ending misery of Palestinian people trying to survive in conditions where they have no human dignity, no oppertunity to ordinary life, no daily life supplies, things that some of us don't think about much...A diary of 2 friends bonded with freedom, and looking for spreading the truth. [As my friend from Palestine is unavailable to write att the moment, I will try to cover the Palestinian view by copying news and interviewing my other Palestinian friends and asking them to write stories too] A gate to the land of Palestine, where freedom is a dream, and truth is hard to be seen. Help us to spread the truth by spreading this blog. Thank you for your support.

Diary about peace and freedom

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