"Not allowed"

"No tinned meat is allowed, no tomato paste,
no clothing, no shoes, no notebooks.
These will be stored in our warehouses at Kerem Shalom
until further notice.
Bananas, apples, and persimmons are allowed into Gaza,
peaches and dates, and now macaroni
(after the American Senator’s visit).
These are vital for daily sustenance.




But no apricots, no plums, no grapes, no avocados, no jam.
These are luxuries and are not allowed.
Paper for textbooks is not allowed.
The terrorists could use it to print seditious material.
And why do you need textbooks
now that your schools are rubble?
No steel is allowed, no building supplies, no plastic pipe.
These the terrorists could use to launch rockets
against us.


Pumpkins and carrots you may have, but no delicacies,
no cherries, no pomegranates, no watermelon, no onions,
no chocolate.


We have a list of three dozen items that are allowed,
but we are not obliged to disclose its contents.
This is the decision arrived at
by Colonel Levi, Colonel Rosenzweig, and Colonel Segal.


Our motto:
‘No prosperity, no development, no humanitarian crisis.’
You may fish in the Mediterranean,
but only as far as three km from shore.
Beyond that and we open fire.
It is a great pity the waters are polluted 
twenty million gallons of raw sewage dumped into the sea every day
is the figure given.


Our rockets struck the sewage treatments plants,
and at this point spare parts to repair them are not allowed.
As long as Hamas threatens us,
no cement is allowed, no glass, no medical equipment.
We are watching you from our pilotless drones
as you cook your sparse meals over open fires
and bed down
in the ruins of houses destroyed by tank shells.


And if your children can’t sleep,
missing the ones who were killed in our incursion,
or cry out in the night, or wet their beds
in your makeshift refugee tents,
or scream, feeling pain in their amputated limbs –
that’s the price you pay for harbouring terrorists.


God gave us this land.
A land without a people for a people without a land."

RICHARD TILLINGHAST

Richard Tillinghast is an American poet who lives in Co Tipperary. He is the author of eight books of poetry, the latest of which is Selected Poems (Dedalus Press, 2010 ), as well as several works of non-fiction ......

[ Source; Irish Times]

Hope is in the air

[Cyprus, June 4, 2010]

The Rachel Corrie is 150 miles away from Gaza in international waters and on her way. They will arrive on Saturday morning. The 1200 ton cargo ship is the last ship from the Freedom Flotilla and is loaded with construction materials, 20 tons of paper and many other supplies that Israel refuses to allow into the imprisoned people of Gaza.
Some of the High-Profile people on board:
Mairead Maguire from Belfast, Ireland, a Nobel Peace Laureate (l976) and Co-founder of Peace People, Northern Ireland.  She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her work for peace and a nonviolent solution to the Ethnic/political conflict in Northern Ireland. Mairead went on the maiden Voyage of Dignity in October 2008, the second successful voyage for the Free Gaza Movement.  She was also on Board ‘Spirit’ when Israel hijacked the Boat in International Waters, taking all 2l humanitarian passengers to Israel, where they were arrested, detained for a week in an Israeli prison and then deported.
Denis Halliday, from Ireland, a UN Assistant Secretary-General from 1994-98. Appointed by SG Boutros Ghali, he served as ASG UN Human Resources Management in New York and in mid 1997 to end 1998 as Head, Humanitarian Programme in Iraq to support the Iraqi people struggling under the genocidal impact of UN Sanctions. Since resigning from the UN in 1998, Halliday has delivered numerous parliamentary briefings, provided extensive media inputs and has given public/university lectures on Iraq, human rights, and the UN, in particular its reform.
Matthias Chang Wen Chieh is a Malaysian of Chinese descent. He is a Barrister of 32 years standing and once served as the Political Secretary to the Fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad. He is the author of three bestsellers, “Future Fast Forward”, “Brainwashed for War, Programmed to Kill”, and “The Shadow Money-Lenders and the Global Financial Tsunami”, published in the US and in Malaysia.
Mohd Nizar bin Zakaria,Perak, Malaysia, MP Mohd Nizar bin Zakaria is a Member of the Malaysian Parliament.
In addition, there is a three-member camera crew on board from Malaysia TV3 and journalis Shamsul Akmar bin Musa Kamal.
The passengers on board the ship have stated, “Communication is difficult and sometimes impossible and there are many rumors out there started by Israeli authorities, but there is no way we are going to Ashdod. We are, for sure, on our way to Gaza.”

The violent Israeli attack on the Freedom Flotilla has been a tragic blessing in a terrible and sad disguise:  Free Gaza has been sending aid ships to Gaza since August 2008, some more successfully than others, but until that sorrowful Monday morning, where  IDF killed 9 unarmed civilians on board M/S Mavi Marmara, this happened more or less undetected by most people .... Now FreeGaza has the attention of the world! And hopefully this monumental Israeli PR blunder will see the end of this criminal blockade; taking the whole of Gaza hostage. Finally will the the irrational ban on such different goods like Coriander, canned fruit and building materials come to light, as Israel has a hard time explaining how such items like i.e. Lego can be a security risk to the Israeli people ..... 



[Cyprus, June 5. 2010]
"Just before 9am this morning, the Israeli military forcibly siezed the Irish-owned humanitarian relief ship, the MV Rachel Corrie, from delivering over 1000 tons of medical and construction supplies to besieged Gaza. For the second time in less then a week, Israeli naval commandos stormed an unarmed aid ship, brutally taking its passengers hostage and towing the ship toward Ashdod port in Southern Israel.  It is not yet known whether any of the Rachel Corrie's passengers were killed or injured during the attack, but they are believed to be unharmed.

The Corrie carried 11 passengers and 9 crew from 5 different countires, mostly Ireland and Malaysia. The passengers included Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Maguire, Parit Member of the Malaysian Parliament Mohd Nizar Zakaria, and former UN Assistant Secretary General, Denis Halliday.  Nine international human rights workers were killed on Monday when Israeli commandos violently stormed the Turkish aid ship, Mavi Marmara and five other unarmed boats taking supplies to Gaza. Prior to being taken hostage by Israeli forces, Derek Graham, an Irish coordinator with the Free Gaza Movement, stated that: "Despite what happened on the Mavi Marmara earlier this week, we are not afraid.

The 1200-ton cargo ship was purchased through a special fund set up by former Malaysian Prime Minister and Perdana Global Peace Organisation (PGPO) chairman Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad. The ship was named after an American human rights worker, killed in 2003 when she was crushed by an Israeli military bulldozer in the Gaza Strip. Its cargo included hundreds of tons of medical equipment and cement, as well as paper from the people of Norway, donated to UN-run schools in Gaza.

According to Denis Halliday: "We are the only Gaza-bound aid ship left out here. We’re determined to deliver our cargo.” The Rachel Corrie had been part of the Freedom Flotilla, a 40-nation effort to break through Israel's illegal blockade, before being forced to drop off late last week due to suspicious mechanical problems.

The attack on the Rachel Corrie may spell trouble for Israel's relationship with Ireland. The Irish government had formally requested Israel allow the ship to reach Gaza. On 1 June, the Irish parliament also passed an all-party motion condemning Israel's use of military force against civilian aid ships, and demanding "an end to the illegal Israeli blockade of Gaza."

Nobel Laureate Mairead Maguire summed up the hopes of this joint Irish-Malaysian effort to overcome Israel’s cruel blockade by saying: "We are inspired by the people of Gaza whose courage, love and joy in welcoming us, even in the midst of such suffering gives us all hope. They represent the very best of humanity, and we are all privileged to be given the opportunity to support them in their nonviolent struggle for human dignity, and freedom. This trip will again highlight Israel’s criminal blockade and illegal occupation. In a demonstration of the power of global citizen action, we hope to awaken the conscience of all."

---

Passengers aboard the Rachel Corrie include:

Ahmed Faizal bin Azumu, human rights worker, Malaysia

Matthias Chang, attorney, author & human rights worker, Malaysia

Derek Graham, Free Gaza Ireland

Jenny Graham, Free Gaza Ireland

Denis Halliday, former UN Assistant Secretary General, Ireland

Mohd Jufri Bin Mohd Judin, journalist, Malaysia

Shamsul Akmar Musa Kamal, PGPO representative, Malaysia

Mairead Maguire, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Ireland

Abdul Halim Bin Mohamed, journalist, Malaysia

Fiona Thompson, film-maker, Ireland

The Hon. Mohd Nizar Zakaria, Parit Member of Parliament, Malaysia"

#Freedom Flotilla - Al Jazeera Footage from the attack

On twitter:  #FreedomFlotilla

A different perspective …

 Sorry for this loooong silence, first my computer fell ill with a virus and it had to hospitalized in the end! But is now back to it's former glory, well, almost!!
~ Then I've had a serious bout of both readers and writers block  - But now it seems that I'm slowly recovering and hopefully soon I'll return to my usual energy level (??!) ~ But this is all nothing compared to how life is treating people in other parts of the world;


On my first day back at the office, I'm posting a very important missive from the brave, brave people in "Free Gaza"   
   If you take your time to read all the way through, you'll find a paragraph, that I have highlighted!
 I find this method, such a perverted yet subtle way to destroy a nation, namely through denying its children an education! Then it's only a question of time before these peoples are no more! 
 

 "First, we'd like to thank those of you who have stepped up to send us euros, dollars and pounds for our next mission. That appeal went out on April 9, and, in four days, you have already sent us over a quarter of the money we need. So we are adding this plea to our first one. We have a cement company in Ireland who will match the bags of cement that we buy...bag for bag. Here is another way that you can help.

Normally we don't ask for donations for specific items, since all donations to our tax-exempt accounts in Cyprus or the U.S. are used to buy the boats or for operating costs However, we are sending out this special appeal to the hundreds of you who have said, "But can't I contribute to something specific, something that I can be proud to buy and know will help the people of Gaza?" Therefore, our PayPal account at  http://www.freegaza.org/en/donate can accept donations for cement and book bags. In the message section on PayPal, tell us you want the money used to purchase cement or book bags. Or you can wire money into the Irish account designated below this announcement. We will use your donation for cement for reconstruction or book bags for the children if you designate it's for them.Picture_4
The Free Gaza Movement calls on communities, schools, hospitals, trade unions and families across Ireland and the world to sponsor bags of cement and school supplies to send to Gaza. They will be loaded onto our Irish cargo ship, the MV Rachel Corrie, as part of an international flotilla of ships sailing to Gaza in May.

Just €5 will pay for a bag of cement to help the people of Gaza rebuild, supporting the Palestinian people and their refusal to be broken despite a devastating siege and Occupation. €5 for a bag of cement (or €10 for two bags, €20 for four bags, €100 for 20 bags) or €10 for a school/sports bag.

Israel’s blockade of Gaza is in its third year, and virtually no reconstruction materials have been allowed into the Gaza Strip, which is still in ruins after Israel's massive onslaught in Dec/Jan 2009 which killed over 1,400 Palestinians, almost 400 of them children.

At least 11,000 houses, 105 factories, 20 hospitals and clinics, 159 schools, universities, playschools and technical institutions were either damaged or destroyed and are still in ruins. Over 20,000 people were driven from their homes – many still living in tents.BoysinGaza
Israel has also banned Schoolbooks, paper, pens and school supplies, and we plan to deliver them along with messages of solidarity to the children of Gaza. For €10, you can sponsor a school bag filled with school supplies to support children struggling to study under siege.

John Ging, the Director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency told reporters in March 2010: ‘I have no cement or steel or iron. We can't get in one bag of cement, one pane of glass… to actually begin that reconstruction.’

This May, The Free Gaza Movement is answering the call for help by sending a flotilla of boats carrying building supplies, humanitarian relief, and human rights defenders from across the world to Gaza.

The flotilla is made up of a coalition of organisations- from Turkey, Greece, Malaysia, Belgium, Sweden, Indonesia and Ireland, and will set sail in mid May to challenge the illegality of the siege of Gaza and devastating occupation of Palestine. Help us support the Palestinians' right to rebulid their lives.

You can wire your donations to the Bank of Ireland, 32 south Mall, Cork, Republic of Ireland, Acct #41818255, Sort Code 902768, IBAN #, IE58BOFI90276841818255. BIC# BOFIIE2D

If you have questions, please email:
sahara78@hotmail.uk or freegazaireland@gmail.com"

Gaza Still Under Siege

Just a short explanatory video - to explain what's all about! -

Take some time out and see for your self......

Links; The European Campaign to end the Gaza siege

Press release from "Ireland to Gaza" convoy -

International Hunger Strike Press Release

Sunday December 27th marks the anniversary of the attack on Gaza by Israel, which left over 1,400 people dead, and over 5,000 injured in 22 days.

At 11 35 am, the time of the first attack, a group of humanitarians on the “Viva Palestina Convoy” will embark on an International Hunger Strike in the main square in Aqaba, Jordan.

The International Hunger Strike will aim to highlight the ongoing illegal siege imposed on Gaza, and to remember the victims of the attacks who died during the 22 day bombardment by Israel.

This International Hunger Strike will also highlight the refusal by Egypt, under Israeli pressure, to allow the humanitarian aid to reach the people in Gaza.

The convoy has been stranded in the city for 3 days now, having been refused permission to enter Egypt on their way to Gaza. There are 500 people from no less than 20 different countries in 250 vehicles loaded with charitable humanitarian aid. The convoy is been led by leading international politician George Galloway, having left London on December 6th.

Embarking on the International Hunger Strike are 15 people from different continents across the world. Among those taking part are Fatima Mohammidi from the United States, John Hurson and Caoimhe Butterly from Ireland, Ahasan Shamruk from Palestine, Nidal Hajaj, Hanan Chehata and Mohammed Shakiel from England, plus Kamal Mashni from Australia among others.

Each day, 15 more people from the convoy will join in the International Hunger Strike, and they will go without food until the convoy is allowed to enter safely into Egypt, and through the Rafah border to Gaza.

Speaking from Aqaba, Ahasan Shamruk, said, “I am joining this Hunger Strike to draw attention to the fact that the siege is a form of collective, sustained, and devastating punishment of 1.5 million civilian people. As we commemorate the first year anniversary of the massacres, it is important to remember, that for my brothers and sisters living under siege in Gaza, the war has not ended.”

John Hurson, from Tyrone, who travelled on the first “Viva Palestinan Convoy”, decided to join the International Hunger Strike to draw attention to the fact that nothing has changed in the past year following the attacks.

John said, “from my time spent in Gaza, to think that in the year 2009, people are denied all the basic essentials in life, like water, electricity, medicine, blankets, books, and even footballs for the children, is just unbelievable and unacceptable.

“For Egypt to prevent this compassionate and charitable aid, donated by ordinary caring people from all over the world, unnnecessarily adds to the hardships currently endured on a daily basis, by the besieged and distressed people in Gaza.

I am hopeful that the leaders of the West will exert their influence, put pressure on Egypt, the United States, and Israel to end this inhuman blockade forced upon Gaza, and allow for the safe passage of this essential humanitarian aid. Enough is enough, this has to end now, for the sake of humanity.”

Links;

"Viva Palestina", "Ireland to Gaza "- Facebook Group

Long Live Gaza: Remembering one year since the massacre

The video says it all .....

Links; Window into Palestine, Pulse, Electronic Intifada,

The Great Wall of Shame

Bil'in - Mohammad Katib under the boot of the topdog! -

It's been awhile, I know.. But somehow days gets lost in their "everydayness" and I have precious little to show for the existence of my being, after these summer days came and went...

If I lived in other places on the globe, things would be very different.

If I lived say, in Gaza or the West Bank, then my whole life would be nothing but an uphill struggle I guess.... This letter from the "Free Gaza" movement tells of a part of that struggle:

"At 3AM on Monday, August 3, the Israeli army raided Bil’in and arrested Mohammad Khatib, along with six other Palestinian community activists and one American human rights observer from the village. This move is an attempt by Israeli authorities to silence a popular resistance movement gaining international attention and inspiring other Palestinian communities. This West Bank agricultural village, known for its weekly protests against the Israeli apartheid wall, has become a symbol for the Palestinian popular resistance to Israel’s ongoing military occupation.

While many are quick to condemn Palestinians when they resort to armed resistance, Israel has been left free to harass, imprison and sometimes kill Palestinians who nonviolently resist the confiscation and destruction of their land in Bil’in and elsewhere.

In June 2009, Mohammed Khatib traveled to Canada for preliminary hearings on an historic lawsuit launched by Bil’in village against two Quebec-based companies, Green Park International and Green Mount International. Both companies are building illegal Israeli-only settlements on Bil’in’s land.

Mohammad’s arrest is just one in a series of many carried out by the Israeli military in Bil’in since June 2009, coinciding with the beginning of these legal proceedings. Video of the ongoing struggle in Bil’in, including interviews with Mohammad Khatib and Israeli human rights lawyer Michael Sfard, can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TySr95aKSlU.

To date, 25 people (most under 18) have been arrested, and 18 of them remain in detention. Having experienced Israel's interrogation/ intimidation/torture tactics, two of the arrested minors 'confessed' that the Bil'in Popular Committee urges the demonstrators to throw stones. Then based on these forced 'confessions', Israeli forces arrested Mohammad Khatib and other leaders in Bil’in. They have been charged with "incitement to damage the security of the area."

An August 13, 2009 statement issued by the Bil’in popular committee declared that Mohammad Khatib, Adeeb Abu Rahmeh and other leaders of the Palestinian popular struggle, “are being targeted because they mobilize Palestinians to resist non-violently. "Israel is stealing our land from us and then prosecuting us as criminals because we struggle non-violently for justice," said the statement.

In September 2007, after four years of Friday afternoon protests in Bil’in that underscored the violence and injustice of the Israeli occupation, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled in favor of the village. Contrary to the Opinion of the International Court of Justice, the Israeli Supreme Court did not find the apartheid wall was illegal. But it did find the wall’s route through Bil’in was not designed to separate settlers from potential Palestinian terrorists; it was designed to make Modi’in Illit, the giant orthodox Jewish settlement next to Bil’in, bigger by about 2,000 dunams of farmland owned by Bil’in villagers. The Court ordered the army to reroute the fence and give the people of Bil’in back at least part of the land taken from them.

The very next day, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled to legalize the Israeli settlement of Mattiyahu East (part of Modi’inIllit’s expansion), built on Bil'in's land to the west of the wall, which separates the village from 60% of its farming land. The villagers vowed to continue their resistance against the wall and settlements on its land and hundreds of them along with other Palestinians, international and Israeli supporters are still protesting every week.

Israeli soldiers are still injuring and killing them every Friday afternoon with Billy clubs, tear-gas canisters fired at close range, and rubber bullets. With no justice from Israeli courts, the villagers of Bil’in turned to the international arena and, with the help of Canadian lawyers and backed by the Canadian solidarity movement, filed litigation in Canada.

Mohammad Khatib’s arrest is an attempt by Israel to thwart such international support for justice for Palestinians.

Mohammad Khatib joins an estimated 11,000 Palestinian prisoners – including over 400 children -detained by Israeli authorities, many without charge or trial. According to a recent report from Amnesty International, many Palestinian prisoners “face medical negligence, routine beatings, position torture and strip searches by Israeli prison authorities.” According to the Palestinian section of Defense for Children International, “each year, hundreds of Palestinian children are arrested, interrogated, abused and imprisoned by the Israeli military authorities often amounting to torture.”" -

Here's some links for people who want to know more;

Ma'asara; Good Friday demo

Free Gaza

A Facebook group against children and teens incarcerated (This is a global issue USA, Iran, UK, Israel - everywhere.... But in Norway they have a very different approach to this with some amazing results loads of links here!)

Some great Blogs;

Tadamon

OmarMosleh

It's things and 'news' like these that gets me out of my existence-slumber.... Oh, and some shameful Danish issues on human rights violations and such, which you no longer can take for granted in this a-here little peace-loving nation.... But more on this later....

Tragically Hip & Cool - January edit.

All right,  So we've had a month of; War in all it's gruesome reality! We've seen historic changes about to happen... And now, after having raided the freezer for all the Ben & Jerry Ice cream, I could possibly eat, before turning greenish - I find it's time, to revive my old 'hit' ! (And also a sign of utterly lazy bones mood) And reintroduce the monthly (or that rather depends!) ; 

                                                                                                                         

                               Tragically hip & Cool Posts; 

And today I bring you these Tees and such; For the smaller ones amongst us! Let them be our hope for a much better world!....... In keeping with the Palestine and Anti war posts, I didn't stray to far and I found them here at The Michael Franti and Spearheads site! He's a long time earning his wings, with different causes as Oxfam, Amnesty International etc. (By the way; They make great, great music! & Heaps of gracias goes to Ninon the nopostslately Mermaid for telling me)

I found "Birdie" here

 "Power Peace" here

                                                                                                      

This "Stay Human" tee, I posted as a cadeau/Saludo para Vittorio! Riding his ambulance all over Gaza, come rain, White Phosphur or what ever, his enemies can dream up, to throw at him! 

Buy the Tee here

" ..... That as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself;"

Post Title link to Full Speech transcript in NY Times

-Yes, these maps just to show how the Israeli state have pushed the Palestinians out to sea, and slowly eaten away the land of the people who lived here, before them! - The lot where the Tel Aviv University is now situated, was Palestinian in 1967!!!

Okay I'll admit it, I sort of got sidetracked there for a day or two... But Obama has settled in at the Oval and has already talked to more Middle-East leaders in his first day than his predessesor in his first 4 years! - George Mitchell has just been appointed special envoy to the Middle East - Richard Holbrooke to Afghanistan/Pakistan- Good men (More or less) and experienced! "The House of  Pain & Shame" will be wrapped up before the end of the year and the saleries of his staff is frozen stiff... Apparently a good boring, solid change has come and Jon Stewart will have to work for a living, now that it'll be much more difficult to spin a yarn.... I mean Bush and his croonies, made satire sooooo easy!

But, while I've had my eyes averted for 48hrs; 

The Israeli Defence Forces (Only a true hypocrite could dream up that name!) has left Gaza, but have tighten an ironclad ring around this poor strip of land. And in their typical style; They now continue to do, what even I will start to call Ethnic Cleansing! - The very few reporters, who's been let inside of Gaza, reports of whole neighbourhoods destroyed down to the very last stone.. In the few buildings standing, graffiti drawings of toombstones with" R.I.P The Arabs  1946 -2009" written next to it, says it all..

                                          

 Horrific stories of Israeli war crimes and crimes against humanity no longer surprises us.. The "Charm school offensive" - Israeli envoys have been send out to "explain" -  all over Europe-does not come as a chock neither.... But the fact that the Israeli will only let medicine and food into a bleeding and dying Gaza with scores of deeply traumatised children/people is... !!!! Both National and International foreign Aid workers and medical staff are now worked down to the bone, exhausted and in dire need of help and replacement!

The Israeli blockade has now lasted for 18 months and this means (among other things) that also all building material is banned/not allowed across the borders..!  The blockade is still on... !!!  2 thirds of Gaza is reduced to rubble and at least 50.000 people are homeless, - the schools where many have taken refuge will open on saturday and then what? Where will all these people, old and young go? They have nothing at all....! People are going through the rubble, crying, trying to find personal belongings, a family photo, a birth certificate, a dress, the baby's favorite toy - all the little and big things, which defines us and proves to us, who we are! To rescue every bitty thing, which can be salvaged and reused... Bodies are still barried under concrete and dust starting to smell, the sewers are destroyed, clean water or electricity is nowhere to be found ....... The aftermath of war made so much more tragically heartbreaking by the inhumane treatment of the Israeli Gov.! The Zionists can no longer be disguised as " Self defence and Only attacking members of Hamas "

In the DR Congo , The Rwandian army has crossed the border to go after the insurgents and have arrested their former ally Laurent Nkunda, and here like anywhere else... Well, it's the civilians who pay by endless suffering... Civilwar is still raging and this incredible rich country is on its knees..

In Burma/Myanmar the Generals have not eased their suffocating grip on their own people, human rights are deteriorating by the day and it has been quite a while since we heard from Aung San Suu Kyi ...  The fate of the Karen tribe and other tribes of Burma is uncertain as they are driven from their homes, land and persecuted. 

In Tibet.. Life is just as unbearable as it was 6 months ago.... But we'll let China get away with murder! And missed the opportunity for real pressure with the Olympics...

In China two unlucky guys will pay - with their lives, for the crime of hundreds in the Milk/melanin affair... Another show trial is being televised for our " Western pleasure" 

"......  - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist......."

Barack Hussein Obama's inauguration speech Jan.20.2009 - 

..............- So be it!! - says me!

~ 0~                                                   ~0~                                  ~0~

PS. I have been nominated for a "Creative Blogger award" by Labeet and I'm so very thankful (and let's face it; extremely flattered too!) The rules are so, that I' ll have to pass on the torch to 4-5 others, that I admire... I have this post in the draft.. So even though it looks a bit arrogant - right now..! This is just to say; I'm in the process of redeeming myself!

A new Email from Vittorio in Gaza!

ps. Olmert is Pinocchio,

h 2.10am in Gaza city,  apaches are bombing with phospore....

 

-------

Dante Alighieri could never have imagined circles as hellish as the wards of the damned in Jabalia's hospitals. The laws of divine justice are turned on their head around here: the more innocent the victim, the less likely that they'll be spared martyrdom through bombing. At Kamal Odwan and Al Auda hospitals, the ceramic tiles in the first aid units are always shiny. The cleaners are permanently busy wiping away the blood dripping copiously from the stretchers constantly carrying in the massacred bodies. Iyad Mutawwaq was walking in the street when a bomb tore open a building not far from him. He and other passers-by rushed over to try and bring some aid when a second bomb was dropped on the same building. It killed a father of 9, two brothers and another passer-by who had rushed over to help. The same story could be told over ten, or one hundred times. The perfect terrorist technique is being immaculately carried out by the Israeli army. You drop a bomb, wait for the first-aiders, then drop another bomb on the wounded and the first-aiders.

In Iyad's eyes, those were American bombs, but they also carry the stamp of Mubarrack, the Egyptian dictator who rivals Olmert here in Gaza when it comes to provoking hatred. Behind Iyad's bed, an elderly man with both his arms in plasters is lying staring at the ceiling, and I'm told he's lost everything: his family and his home. He stares at the cracks in the falling plaster, as if seeking an answer to the sheer destruction of his existence.

Khaled worked in Israel for 25 years, prior to the first Intifada. In recognition, Tel Aviv hasn't even granted him a pension, only a series of missiles from land and air onto his house. He suffers from shrapnel wounds all over his body. I ask him where he plans to go after he's been discharged from hospital. He says he'll join his family, out in the streets. Not unlike Khaled's, many families don't know where to find shelter. The most fortunate were offered hospitality by relatives and acquaintances, but can you really say that one hundred people crammed into two apartments counting three rooms each is really a life? Two bombs were dropped onto Ahmed Jaber's home and though his family fled, for some of them it was too late. A third explosion buried 7 of his relatives under the rubble, including two children aged 8 and 9 – his neighbour's children. He says: "They made us leap back in time, back to 1948. This is their punishment for our attachment to our country. They can tear my arms and legs off from my body, but they won't make me leave my land." A doctor takes me aside and tells me that Ahmed's 7-year-old daughter, or what was left of her, was just brought in inside a tiny cardboard box. They don't have the heart to tell him and make his already precarious health condition any worse. In the evening they took the phone away from Iyad as well, to prevent him from receiving any more bad news. A tank had hit his sister's house full in the middle, beheading her in the process.

In the end, our Free Gaza Movement boat never got to the port in Gaza. About 100 miles from their designated destination, in international waters, they were intercepted by 4 Israeli war ships poised to open fire and kill its cargo of doctors, nurses and human rights activists. No one must dare to obstruct the massacre of civilians now in full swing for the last 3 weeks. 

East of Jabalia, in front of the border, eyewitnesses speak of numerous decaying bodies in the streets. Their rotting meat is being eaten by the dogs. There are also hundreds of people unable to go anywhere, many of whom are injured. The ambulances simply cannot get anywhere near, with the trigger-happy snipers all over the place. Palestinians are sick of languishing in the midst of this general indifference, and many even accuse the international Red Cross and the UN of not doing enough, including not fulfilling their duties, nor risking their lives to save hundreds. We ISMers will thus equip ourselves with some stretchers and proceed on foot to the areas where humanity has surpassed all boundaries, eclipsing itself in the process. 

The heavy-bottomed settlers sitting in the pristine lounges of armchair politics harp on about military strategies against Hamas, while we're being literally massacred out here. They bomb hospitals, and yet there are some who still champion Israel's right to self-defense. In any self-styled civilised country, self-defense is proportionate to the attack. 

In these 20 days we've counted 1,075 dead Palestinians, 85% of whom were civilians, and over 5,000 injured, of whom half were under 18 years old. 303 children were atrociously massacred. It's equivalent to saying that for Israel, butchering at least 250 Palestinians is a justified blood-bath in avenging each dead civilian on its own side. How can this lop-sided reaction not take one back to some of modern European history's darkest pages? 

Let's get straight to the point: are we seriously talking about self-defense? For journalists like Marco Travaglio, Piero Ostellino, Pierluigi Battista and Angelo Panebianco, who harp on with the refrain of Hamas having full responsibility for this genocide as well as for breaking the truce between Israel and Palestine, I would like to remind them of the United Nation's position on the matter. Professor Richard Falk, special rapporteur for human rights with the United Nations, has clearly expressed his views: it was in fact Israel that broken the truce in November, by blatantly exterminating 17 Palestinians. In the same month zero Israeli victims had been recorded, zero in October and likewise in the previous month, as well as the one prior to it. We were also recently reminded of this by Nobel prize winner and ex US President Jimmy Carter. It really is a crying shame that a journalist like Travaglio, who's earned our admiration as a proud upholder of freedom of the press, is now sporting an IDF helmet and entertaining the masses on TV while amusing himself with the pastime most in vogue at the moment – infant-shooting in Gaza.

As I tap on my keyboard in the Ramattan press agency office, all the Palestinian reporters around me are wearing bullet-proof vests and helmets. They haven't come straight from riding in a tank – they're simply sitting in front of their computers. Two floors above, the Reuters offices were recently struck by a rocket, which seriously injured two. Almost all the floors in the building are empty at the moment, and only the most heroic of journalists are still around. The story of this hell must somehow continue to be told. And yet earlier this week, the Israeli army had assured Reuters it wouldn't need to evacuate, as staying in their offices would be safe. This morning many casualties were also caused by the bombing of the United Nations building, built among others with money from the Italian government. Berlusconi, where are you?

John Ging, chief of the UNRWA, UN agency for Palestinian refugees and eye witness, clearly spoke of white phosphorous bombs. In the Tal el Hawa neighbourhood in Gaza city, a whole wing of Al Quds hospital is presently in flames, and Leila, an ISM colleague is also trapped inside it along with forty doctors and nurses, and one hundred patients. She describes these last dramatic hours to us via phone. A tank stands in front of the hospital. There are snipers everywhere, ready to shoot at anything that moves. All around is destruction. At night, from their windows, they could observe a building going on fire after having been struck by a bomb. They heard the cries of whole families with children, imploring help. They were impotent to help as they watched the bodies devoured by the flames, running into the street and then be reduced to ashes. Hell has switched places and come to the centre of Gaza, and we are the damned designated by an inhuman hatred.

Stay human

Vittorio Arrigoni

 

(Translated from italian by Daniela Filippin)

Todays Email from Gaza

Jan. 14. 2009

The sea no longer yields its generous fruits, there's nothing left of the ripples reflecting the sky, and death was the only dowry left by the war ships plowing through its ghostly liquid. We still try to create routes of salvation, make a breakthrough to this tormented land, now confiscated and imprisoned, every inch of it raped and reduced to a cemetery for a dead without rest. For a few days now, even funerals have become targets of the Israeli air force, as if the murdered Palestinians deserved an additional punishment in death as well.

 

If a humanitarian passage is struggling to make its way and come in aid of a people at the end of their tether, the "Spirit of Humanity", one of our Free Gaza Movement boats, will be there for them. It sailed from Larnaca, Cyprus just today and will bring tons of medicine (from the European Campaign to End the Siege) to Gaza's port aside from about forty doctors, nurses, journalists, European Parliamentaries, and human rights activists representing 17 different nations in all. Truly human beings, like myself, like many in Italy who vent their indignation, who are ready to risk their lives rather than lounge passively in their living rooms in front of a TV which reveals only a tiny fraction of the massacre being inflicted upon us. (The SPIRIT OF HUMANITY passengers were threatened by the Israeli Navy, told they would be shot and the boat returned to Cyprus this morning.)

On December 27th my friends tried to come with "Dignity", but they were attacked by the Israeli Navy, which tried to sink them. They launched an SOS and had to flee to Lebanon with engine failure and a leak in the hull. On that occasion it was only by pure chance that no one was badly hurt, so we hope human rights as well as the lives of the activists will be spared tomorrow. There are terrifying natural catastrophes in this world, such as earthquakes and hurricanes, which are inevitable. But in Gaza has an unnatural humanitarian catastrophe under way, perpetuated by Israel, damaging a people long reduced to abject poverty and submission. This is a desperate people without bread or milk to feed its children. They no longer shed any tears when mourning, as their eyes are also on a strict, imposed diet. The entire world cannot ignore this tragedy and if they continue to do so, we don't want to be included in this world. Every day we invoke someone above us to stop the genocide, but for tomorrow all we ask is for our small boat to land in Gaza with its cargo of compassion, peace, love and empathy. May the Palestinians also receive the same rights that Isrealis, or any other people on earth enjoy. The sea as anchor of hope, or as a destination of destruction.

According to the Ma'an press agency, with Reuters echoing their statement, the United States are about to ship 3000 tons of weapons to Israel, via cargo ships sailing from Greece. Weapons and enormous amounts of explosives and fuses, and all that's needed to raze thousands of houses to the ground in the Gaza Strip. There are 120 thousand homeless from Gaza to Jabalia already, but most, including many of my friends haven't moved and have nowhere to flee. Journalists, doctors and gravediggers: for 16 days non-stop now, these have been the busiest professions in Gaza. The circling vultures beyond the bomber planes stir up more hatred, especially those seated where the late lamented Arafat used to sit. They now itch to come and take over the throne on Gaza's ashes, or what will remain of it. The death toll is now at 923, with 4,150 wounded, including 255 horrendously butchered Palestinian children. The death toll on the Israeli side is still thankfully at 4. Rumour has it that Olmert had informed his side that hitting the 1,000 civilian death mark was the limit before putting a halt to this brutal attack and infanticide. It's a bit like what happens at the Vucciria markets in Palermo, where beef quarters are hung to drip blood out in the open, and you haggle for the meat – so much per kilo.

Few Palestinians now miss Ismail Haniyeh's appearances on the small screen, here in the Gaza Strip. You can't speak of a truce without simultaneously establishing a stop to the siege in advance. Continuing to keep Gaza under siege now that it's been reduced to a heap of rubble, not allowing the provisions and medicine to come through, preventing the sick and injured from getting out means condemning them to a more prolonged agony. These in brief were the words spoken by Hamas's leader, spoken from an underground bunker God knows where. These words find an echo in Gazan public opinion. This was the speech of a leader who could have fled and taken refuge elsewhere, but who on the contrary decided to risk having a bomb drop on his head like everyone else. 

This current prose piece of mine was just interrupted by the usual intimidating phone call ordering us to evacuate the building before a bombing. I find myself in the building where the main international media agencies operate, among others Al Jazeera, Ramattan and Reuters (it was just bombed this morning and one journalist was injured. Israel clearly knew the location of the office provided by Reuters in Jerusalem).

 

We were forced to unplug our PCs, rush downstairs and crowd the street, where we kept our eyes glued to the sky trying to pick out where the destructive thunder would strike from. There won't be any cameras or reporters around to document the civilian massacre tonight, as we suspect that the innocent victims will be more numerous than usual. Still standing in the street, I stare at Alberto and wink at him; he comes closer and I whisperingly ask him whether he thinks it's plausible that the threatening phone call had been made especially for the two of us, after the discovery of the American website which put a price on our heads: ALERT THE IDF MILITARY TO TARGET ISM

 

#1 ISM TARGET FOR THE ISRAELI AIR FORCE AND IDF GROUND TROOPS:  VITTORIO ARRIGONI IS CURRENTLY IN GAZA ASSISTING HAMAS" The future will pronounce its sentence without appeal: of how hatred like this was the purest of all feelings, and how spite towards what's different fuelled whole armies and was the feeling that brought masses of people together.

 

There's no need for my enemies and those who wish for my martyrdom to dial that number. The Israeli Army knows exactly where to find me tonight – on the Al Quds hospital ambulances in Gaza City.

Stay human
Vittorio Arrigoni

Link to; Free Gaza.org

 And Link to;

The Israeli Information Center for human rights in The Occupied Territories : B'Tselem

OBS - OBS !!

"Update on the ship "Spirit of humanity" Israeli forces threatens to shoot innocent and unarmed civilians on board supply ship."!!!

 read here;Free Gaza.org