Diary about peace and freedom

UN and many otghers are going to prove that Israel used too much power and used illegal weapons during this war in Gaza.
Also Israeli activists have launched a website about those people responsible for these acts
http://www.wanted.org.il/ehud_barak_en.htm
Hopefully Israel will be condemned for its crimes.

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After talking to our partners in Gaza, many of our donors and discussing the situation in Gaza, we are announcing our next trip to Gaza during the week of March 2, 2009. We hope to bring in a cargo ship loaded with building supplies and medical equipment plus take a passenger boat as well. Over the next month, the organizers will be busy raising the funds to purchase both boats and are also going to put out a plea for building materials, especially cement, wood and PVC piping.

Derek Graham, first mate on many of the trips stated, "We need to do more this time than just send in a symbolic delegation. We need to bring in practical supplies that can be used to rebuild the Gaza infrastructure that Israel has destroyed." Derek plans on taking the project ideas to Northern Ireland at the end of January to talk to Irish sympathizers and donors.

"The Free Gaza Movement has always seen itself as a human rights organization, but we also recognize that we can bring in more than just observers. And that's why we are making sure we have the time and the money to carry in as much as we can." said Huwaida Arraf, delegation leader on many of the trips.

The Free Gaza boat, the DIGNITY, was rammed three times by the Israeli navy on December 30 while it was clearly in international waters. The movement organizers are pursuing legal actions against the government of Israel for piracy on the high seas as well as damages to the boat. Estimates range from 100 to 150 thousand euros and will take five months to repair.

"Israel rammed us, hoping to sink us. There is no other way to look at it, and those of us on the boat clearly knew it was no accident. They didn't realize how sturdy the DIGNITY is and how courageous our captain, Denis Healy was." remarked Eliza Ernshire, one of the passengers on board the crippled boat.

We now have the SPIRIT OF HUMANITY as one possibility to accompany the cargo boat, but we are also looking for a larger boat that can carry 50-75 people into Gaza. Several high-profile people have asked to go with us when the trip is ready, and we are currently collecting names if any of you have suggestions to pass on to us.

Greta Berlin
Media Team
Free Gaza Movement
310 422 7242
www.freegaza.org
www.flickr.com/photos/29205195@N02/

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Human rights group Amnesty International has accused Israel of war crimes, saying its use of white phosphorus munitions in densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip was indiscriminate and illegal.

The accusations from the London-based organisation came as the scale of the destruction caused by the Israeli assault on the Palestinian territory overwhelmed Gazans.

Amnesty is not the first group to accuse Israel of using white phosphorus.

Human Rights Watch made the accusation on January 10 and the UN has also said Israel used the munition during its offensive in Gaza.

Donatella Rovera, a researcher with Amnesty, said: "Such extensive use of this weapon in Gaza's densely populated residential neighbourhoods is inherently indiscriminate."

"Its repeated use in this manner, despite evidence of its indiscriminate effects and its toll on civilians, is a war crime," she said.

Ample evidence

The use of white phosphorus is not prohibited under international law, but the indiscriminate use of any weapon in an area crowded with civilians could be used as the basis to make war crimes charges, legal experts have said.

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Israel said last week that all weapons used during its three-week campaign in Gaza complied with international law, but said it would carry out an internal investigation following Amnesty's accusations.

"In response to the claims ... relating to the use of phosphorus weapons, and in order to remove any ambiguity, an investigative team has been established in southern command to look into the issue," the Israeli army said.

Amnesty's accusations are made on the basis of an on-the-ground study by Chris Cobb-Smith, a British weapons expert who visited Gaza as part of a four-person Amnesty team following the start of a ceasefire on Sunday.

Cobb-Smith said he had found widespread evidence of the use of the incendiary material.

"We saw streets and alleyways littered with evidence of the use of white phosphorus, including still-burning wedges and the remnants of the shells and canisters fired by the Israeli army," he said in a statement.

"White phosphorus is a weapon intended to provide a smokescreen for troop movements on the battlefield. It is highly incendiary, air burst and its spread effect is such that it should never be used on civilian areas."

'War crimes'

When white phosphorous lands on skin it burns through muscle and into the bone, continuing to burn unless deprived of oxygen.

Amnesty said that one of the places worst-affected by the use of white phosphorous munitions was the UN Relief and Works Agency compound in Gaza, which Israel shelled on January 15.

In another incident on the same day, a white phosphorus shell landed in the al-Quds hospital in Gaza City, causing a fire and forcing hospital staff to evacuate patients.

At the time, the UN had accused Israel of using white phosphorus, but the Israeli army refused to comment.

Israel faces potential claims in international courts for its actions in Gaza, where it launched an offensive against Hamas on December 27 with the stated aim of stopping the Palestinian group from firing rockets into Israel.

Tzipi Livni, Israel's foreign minister, said on Monday that she was "at peace" with the actions Israel had taken during the conflict.

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Jerusalem – Ma’an – Israel’s High Court says a water company can extend a waste line through a historic Islamic cemetery at the entrance of Ramla.

The decision rejected a petition filed by the Al-Aqsa Foundation, according to its lawyers.

The foundation had argued that the line’s construction should stop long enough for an alternative route to be agreed upon, insisting that workers stop digging in the cemetery until new plans could be arranged.

But the court dismissed the motion, saying the Israeli company had taken the necessary precautions. Al-Aqsa disputed the decision, saying the court should have taken the potential for error into account.

“This decision is a dangerous incident that opens the door for more violations at Islamic cemeteries,” Al-Aqsa said in a statement. “We reject this decision.”
The court approved the water line after the Israeli company offered to extend lines inside the cemetery, claiming that the decision will cause “less harm” to the historic religious site.

The foundation says it submitted an alternative proposal to reroute the waste line outside of the cemetery, but noted the cost of such a proposal was higher than the Israeli company’s idea. It called on the water company to take part in talks “to implement a proposal for all sides to fulfill their needs.”

According to Al-Aqsa’s director, Zaki Ighbarieyah, the decision “means legitimizing the violation of Islamic cemeteries,” adding, “We cannot accept such a decision.”

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Gaza – Ma’an – Israel’s navy shelled the Gaza Strip on Thursday morning, injuring seven Palestinians, including five fishermen.

Mu’awiyah Hassanain, the director of Ambulance and Emergency Services in the Palestinian Health Ministry told Ma’an that Israeli gunboats shelled the As-Sudaniya area northwest of Gaza City.

He said the wounded people were taken to Ash-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

Hassanain added that rescue teams are still working to recover the corpses, many of them now decomposing, of those killed in Israel’s three-week war on Gaza.

Separately, two Palestinians died in Egyptian hospitals where they were treated for wounds from Israel’s three-week offensive.

Medical officials identified them as: Tamer Omar Al-Louh, 22, from Gaza city and Azzam Mu’awad Ash-Shafe’y, 24, from Rafah.

The death toll from the war is now 1,330, with more than 5,000 injured.

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