Gaza: Israel’s continuing war crimes…

 

In late 2008 early 2009 the bombardment of Gaza was known as Operation Cast Lead, now the Israeli State launches Operation Pillar of Defence. And now a ground attack is being prepared. The Israeli State isn’t defending itself it’s wiping Gaza off the face of earth. It’s about  breaking the Palestinians and ethnic cleansing.

 

People living in the northern and eastern parts of the Gaza Strip began to flee their homes as of Friday as heavy fighting raged nearby. Talking with Haaretz, some described ceaseless attacks from sea, land and air only a few yards from them, “shaking the ground and the walls.”

 

 Furthermore:

 

 According to Palestinian health authorities, as of Saturday morning 13 civilians, six of which were children, had been killed since the start of the offensive. 37 have died since the campaign began, and as of Friday afternoon, the count of wounded had reached 257, of whom 253 are civilians, including 62 children and 42 women.

 

According to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, two children were killed on Thursday night in the town of Beit Hanun in northern Gaza, after a strike near their home: Udai Nasser, 15, and Fares el-Basiyuni, 8.

 

Earlier Thursday evening, in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahia, Marwan al-Komsan, 52, a teacher employed by the United Nations refugee agency, was killed while visiting his brother. A mortar shell or explosive fell in a field near the brother’s home, seriously injuring the brother, who is 72.

 

In Zeitoun, a 10-month-old girl, Hanan Tafesh, died Thursday night of head injuries sustained in a strike the day before. Her mother and two others were wounded.

 

Camel Makat, 23, died Friday morning of a heart attack after a fighter jet bombed a field near his home in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in northwestern Gaza City. On Friday evening 2-year-old Walid al-Abdullah died of his injuries sustained the day before in a strike on the village of al-Kara, east of Khan Yunis.

 

In Israeli strikes on Zeitoun Wednesday, a 3-year-old girl, Ranin Arafat, was killed along with an 11-month-old boy, Amar Masharawi, and a pregnant 19-year-old woman, Hiba Masharawi-Turk. Also on Wednesday, a 61-year-old man, Mahmoud Hmad, was killed in a field in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.

 

 To be even-handed between oppressor and the oppressed, between the expropriator and the dispossessed is always to take the side of the former against the latter. Oppression and expropriation usually involve violence, particularly in the context of colonialism.

 

The principle of self defence is something that is in both international law with regard to nation states: a state is allowed to fight against the invasion of its territory for instance. It is installed domestic law: if I pick up a knife and stab someone who is trying to kill me with an axe I commit no offence.

The reason for this principle and the reason that it represents justice is that you should not be required to suffer injury that someone else is deliberately inflicting on you. From the other point of view there is an answer to those who wish to avoid force being used in self-defence against them: do not use violence yourself in the first place.

Most mainstream or bourgeois commentators would have little problem with the principle of self-defence as it is written into international or domestic law. Where they will go flaky is with the idea that people oppressed by colonialism or imperialism should be able to resist the violence that is visited upon them.

In practice of course principles such as self-defence are not applied evenly: nation states allied with the West are given huge leeway to do what they like in keeping the world safe for imperialism and the corporate interest. Examples would be Nigeria and Colombia. Often of course “self -defence” is extended to cover acts of simple thuggery such as the operation of death squads in Colombia.

On the other hand when the oppressed fight back a harder stance is taken. In Gaza, the colonialist’s can launch terror attacks on civilians: civilians who cannot find refuge in shelters nor by flight to safe areas. On the other hand any strike back is condemned out of hand.

Ah but we do not say that! We condemn both Israel and Hamas for being reactionary and using violence!

Various liberal lefties come out with this. This sounds reasonable but is not. Israel, or any oppressor does not need to use any violence. It would  be left in peace if it submitted to any kind of just settlement: but of course it cannot do this for a variety of reasons that can be summed up in its continued commitment to the Zionist project. To be fair of course Israel has been used by the puppet masters in Washington DC down the decades as a threat to the Arab regimes. Zionism creates the regional instability that cause the Saudi rulers in particular to cling to the apron strings of the US. It is difficult to gauge how far a fair minded liberal government would be allowed to go in getting a fair settlement that allowed the Palestinians to live freely and equally with Israelis.

The Palestinians whether in Gaza, the West Bank or in exile do not have this option. Giving up resistance will be taken as a sign weakness, a green light for further expropriation and immiseration.

Looked at in terms of the political dynamics the same conclusion is reached. Many people may in good faith adopt a position of condemning both sides equally. However remember that the imperialists will latch onto anything as an excuse to impose their rule. Witness the noise about the rights of women in Afghanistan and the silence about the rights of women in Iraq. For example sexism and homophobia are social problems that need to be addressed politically.They are not something that should be used as a cover for the violent  expropriation involved in imperialist subjugation.

If you do not understand this you will always find that the criticism of imperialism fades away while the criticism of those resisting imperialism is amplified.

 

 

Panorama’s “Death on the Med” …neither investigative nor impartial

I had the misfortune to watch Panorama the other evening regarding the Mavi Marmara (“Death on the Med”….interesting title as it certainly evoke the investigative qualities of “Death on the Rock”) and the death of activists on that boat. I say misfortune because it was utterly biased and came across as propaganda for the Israeli State. There was no political context about the Gaza blockade, instead activists on the flotilla were described as “terrorists” this wasn’t questioned by Jane Corbin. The whole programme was terrible, wasn’t investigative in the least just lazy right-wing journalism.

I mean, how are people expected to respond when confronted with an armed hostile force in international waters? What were people on the Mavi Marmara expected to do?  Rather than concentrating on the behaviour of the activists on the boat what about the behaviour of the Israeli State who committed piracy in international waters, run roughshod over international law and indulged in nothing less than murder and terrorism. That are more like execution style killings at that close range (especially as many were head shots…). But none of this was investigated as the BBC were far more interested in giving the Israeli State an easy time.

But then what do you expect from the BBC who refused to transmit the DEC appeal on Gaza, and initial reports on the attack on the Mavi Marmara the BBC interviewed former Israeli commandos who spouted the line along with a naval officer who defended storming the flotilla. Nothing whatsoever about the mission of the flotilla, or the war crimes and acts of terrorism committed against the Palestinians in Gaza. Instead Mark Thompson (Director-General) capitulated time and time again to the pro-Zionist lobby

Liam has written a post along with the questions PSC  are asking people to include when complaining to the BBC about the programme . And I am certainly in the process of writing my complaint.

Also Pulse has posted an article by Ken O’Keefe who was interviewed by the Panorama programme. I recommend that you read it.

Ken O’Keefe writes: The BBC mentions that we were in international waters at the very end of the story, as if this were an insignificant fact. The fact that Israel stole all the footage that it could, footage that undoubtedly shows them firing 4 bullets to the head of the 19-year-old American passenger, Furkan Dogan. No problem. Executing people at close range, no worries. The fact that the blockade itself is illegal, nah, don’t mention that. 800,000 plus children in Gaza, malnourished, anemic, traumatised… not important.

I would need to review this program many times over to identify every poisoned tactic that the BBC employed in order to do what they do so well, justify murder and war.

Nevertheless BBC’s perversion of the truth will elevate the cause of justice immensely, delegitimizing itself in such grand fashion was indeed a great big gift.

Hats off to ya BBC!

Getting your message out…

Splintered Sunrise makes very good points in his excellent post about how the left can sharpen up its act in getting the message across in the media especially during the past week and the storming of the flotilla.

We come up again and again against a media machine that stifles opposition along with biased reporting (though maintaining it is isn’t biased and very much ‘impartial’). And these are the times the left needs to utilise experienced comrades such as Anna Chen, insightful and  knowledgeable with a proven track record in dealing with the media.

I think Splinty correctly argues the points succinctly and powerfully.

Pix from today’s demo to the Israeli Embassy

Demonstrate against Israel’s brutality and injustice

I will be off to this soon.

Israeli soldiers have boarded the Rachel Corrie. An autopsy into the deaths of activists on the Mavi Marmara show that they were shot a total of 30 times. This totally trashes Israel’s insistence that the shootings were in self-defence. It looks more like execution style killings at that close range (especially as many were head shots…). And a ‘shoot to kill’ policy that was being operated, in other words murder. They came prepared to use violence.

Henning Mankell, who was on board the flotilla, wrote this: So in those 11 hours, I have time to take stock. We have been attacked while in international waters. That means the Israelis have behaved like pirates, no better than those who operate off the coast of Somalia. The moment they start to steer this ship towards Israel, we have also been kidnapped. The whole action is illegal.We try to talk among ourselves, work out what might happen, and not least how the Israelis could opt for a course of action that means painting themselves into a corner.

Furthermore

I listen to the blackbird. A song for those who died. Now it is still all left to do. So as not to lose sight of the goal, which is to lift the brutal blockade of Gaza. That will happen. Beyond that goal, others are waiting. Demolishing a system of apartheid takes time. But not an eternity.

See you on the demo.

Solidarity to the people of Gaza!

Sarah Colborne – eye witness account

Sarah Colborne gives her eye witness account of what happened on the MV Mavi Marmara.

H/T Luna17

“A massacre is not a massacre”

The below is such a politically powerful poem written by Ghassan Hage who is professor of anthropology and social theory at the University of Melbourne (via The Electronic Intifada). 

Depressing, sad yet so damn right! I was thinking about how opression is dismissed, excused, minimised and ignored or what is being experienced is not really oppression. But then that’s what people are told who are under the cosh of colonialism, imperialism, occupation and oppression always by the powerful and that reflects the dominant ideology and mentality that exists in this world, the usual victim blaming (‘it’s all your fault’…’They shouldn’t have been on the flotilla’ etc etc etc). And for me, the poem belows illustrates that powerfully.

I don’t write poems but, in any case, poems are not poems.

Long ago, I was made to understand that Palestine was not Palestine;
I was also informed that Palestinians were not Palestinians;
They also explained to me that ethnic cleansing was not ethnic cleansing.
And when naive old me saw freedom fighters they patiently showed me that they were not freedom fighters, and that resistance was not resistance.
And when, stupidly, I noticed arrogance, oppression and humiliation they benevolently enlightened me so I can see that arrogance was not arrogance, oppression was not oppression, and humiliation was not humiliation.

I saw misery, racism, inhumanity and a concentration camp.
But they told me that they were experts in misery, racism, inhumanity and concentration camps and I have to take their word for it: this was not misery, racism, inhumanity and a concentration camp.
Over the years they’ve taught me so many things: invasion was not invasion, occupation was not occupation, colonialism was not colonialism and apartheid was not apartheid.

They opened my simple mind to even more complex truths that my poor brain could not on its own compute like: “having nuclear weapons” was not “having nuclear weapons,” “not having weapons of mass destruction” was “having weapons of mass destruction.”

And, democracy (in the Gaza Strip) was not democracy.
Having second class citizens (in Israel) was democracy.
So you’ll excuse me if I am not surprised to learn today that there were more things that I thought were evident that are not: peace activists are not peace activists, piracy is not piracy, the massacre of unarmed people is not the massacre of unarmed people.

I have such a limited brain and my ignorance is unlimited.
And they’re so fucking intelligent. Really.

Israel: lies and more damn lies

More eye-witness accounts are coming into the public domain from activists on the flotilla. And it totally contradicts Israel’s version of the ‘truth’ (Israel spinning lies, damn lies and more damn lies… orchestrated by the likes of spin doctor extraordinaire, Mark Regev) about the storming of the flotilla.

Huwaida Arraf, one of the Free Gaza Movement organisers, claimed she was beaten when Israeli troops boarded her ship (she was on one of the smaller boats).

“They started coming after our ship so we took off and they charged us also. Eventually, they overtook our ship and they used concussion grenades, sound bombs and pellets. They started beating people. My head was smashed against the ground and they stepped on my head. They later cuffed me and put a bag over my head. They did that to everybody.”

Furthrmore

Speaking as he arrived back in Berlin wrapped in a blue blanket, Mr Paech, a member of a German opposition party, said Israel’s operation “was not an act of self-defence. Personally I saw two-and-a-half wooden batons that were used… There was really nothing else. We never saw any knives. This was an attack in international waters on a peaceful mission… This was a clear act of piracy,” he added. Mr Paech had been a passenger on the Turkish passenger ship Mavi Marmara where most, if not all, of the deaths occurred. Fellow German activist Inge Hoeger said they had been on the ships “for peaceful purposes”.

“We wanted to transport aid to Gaza,” she said. “No-one had a weapon.”

Couple of injured commandos apparently now compare that to a number of dead activists. Let’s have proportionality and less of the politics of distraction. Commandos armed with guns and other weaponry, along with wearing protective clothing pitted against ordinary people with nothing of that magnitude to fight back. So let’s get some perspective…. one or two injured commandos compared to DEAD activists! And what are people confronted with masked commandos expected to do? A hostile and violent force, again, how are people meant to act? If those activists tried to fight back then it’s self-defence, again what were they meant to do??!! Self-defence is no offence when you are up against the IDF.

 And this as well

Israeli ambassador in London Ron Prosor said the military operation was “not successful” and the loss of life was tragic. But he said the passengers had tried to provoke them despite repeated warnings against breaking the blockade. “The people on board the ships behaved appallingly. They used iron bars, metal pipes, knives with huge blades,” he said.

He really needs to be expelled! Along with a continued protest outside the Israeli Embassy and protests against Israel’s other PR machine, BBC (so much for ‘impartiality’). To reiterate, boycott, sanctions and divestment.

Oh, and if you can stomach it, have a read of another apologist for Israel’s terrorism, piracy and murder, Melanie Phillips… (she describes the flotilla as ‘armada of hate’)… Like I said if you can stomach reading this reactionary and offensive bilge (oh, and where’s the evidence that this was an ‘armada of hate’?)

America comes to the rescue!

I wish this was a spoof but it’s real. And believe me, you can’t make this up…

The United States has blocked demands at the UN security council for an international inquiry into Israel’s assault on the Turkish ship carrying aid to Gaza that left nine pro-Palestinian activists dead. A compromise statement instead calls for an impartial investigation which Washington indicated could be carried out by Israel.

Yes, dear readers, you have read correctly….  ’impartial investigation carried out by Israel’… And I certainly can predict the outcome, ‘not guilty of piracy, terrorism,and  murder … what was done was perfectly legal, m’lud…’ Seriously, you have to laugh or else you… well, you know what I mean. How the hell can an impartial investigation be carried out by the perpetrators of a crime?

Neither impartial nor independent. The States blocked, “a prompt, impartial, credible and transparent investigation conforming to international standards”….

So Israel gets away with murder….again

Violence and the colonial mentality

“Though our naval servicemen were instructed to exercise maximum restraint, they were attacked,” he said. They were attacked with knives, with iron clubs, and also with live fire. We have unfortunately 10 servicemen injured, one of them very very seriously. The violence was initiated unfortunately by these activists, and this is regrettable.” (Mark Regev)

The question I pose is how are people supposed to react when boarded by a hostile force? Of course people will fight back. Rather than concentrating on the behaviour of the activists on the boat what about the behaviour of the israeli state who committed piracy in international waters, run roughshod over international law and indulged in nothing less than murder and terrorism.

And as Regev defends the indefensible with the usual lies, people lie dead. Who knows what has happened to the living?? Imprisoned? Deported? Why hasn’t Israel released the names of the dead?

Netanyahu argues that ‘Israel is the victim’ but there aren’t any dead commandos just dead activists. Activists trying to aid to Gaza. Gaza suffering a blockade instigated by Israel for have the audacity for voting for Hamas. A democratic election which Israel is punishing the people of Gaza for.

Gaza is dying of starvation, being strangled and destroyed by the Israeli state, they are crammed in an open prison. Rather than blaming the victims what about blaming the oppressors?

Eye witness reports have given various accounts of the attack. It becomes more and more apparent that this was an unprovoked attack. But again, we see blaming the victim. Mark Regev on Channel 4 news mentions that there were, ‘extremists’ on the boat. But where is the evidence that this was the case? Again, defending the commandos being attacked and in Regev’s eyes they resorted to self-defence. Equally those people on the boat were being attacked by a hostile force, what do they think people will do? And if you are under the cosh of oppression, then what are you meant to do?

To be even-handed between oppressor and the oppressed, between the expropriator and the dispossessed is always to take the side of the former against the latter. Oppression and expropriation usually involve violence, particularly in the context of colonialism.

The principle of self defence is something that is in both international law with regard to nation states: a state is allowed to fight against the invasion of its territory for instance. It is installed domestic law: if I pick up a knife and stab someone who is trying to kill me with an axe I commit no offence.

The reason for this principle and the reason that it represents justice is that you should not be required to suffer injury that someone else is deliberately inflicting on you. From the other point of view there is an answer to those who wish to avoid force being used in self-defence against them: do not use violence yourself in the first place i.e. do not storm the ship at night as commandos.

Most mainstream or bourgeois commentators would have little problem with the principle of self-defence as it is written into international or domestic law. Where they will go flaky is with the idea that people oppressed by colonialism or imperialism should be able to resist the violence that is visited upon them.

On the other hand when the oppressed fight back a harder stance is taken. In Gaza, the colonialist’s can launch terror attacks on civilians: civilians who cannot find refuge in shelters nor by flight to safe areas. On the other hand any strike back is condemned out of hand.

Ah but we do not say that! We condemn both Israel and Hamas for being reactionary and using violence!

Various liberal lefties come out with this. This sounds reasonable but is not. Israel, or any oppressor does not need to use any violence. It would  be left in peace if it submitted to any kind of just settlement: but of course it cannot do this for a variety of reasons that can be summed up in its continued commitment to the Zionist project. To be fair of course Israel has been used by the puppet masters in Washington DC down the decades as a threat to the Arab regimes. Zionism creates the regional instability that cause the Saudi rulers in particular to cling to the apron strings of the US. It is difficult to gauge how far a fair minded liberal government would be allowed to go in getting a fair settlement that allowed the Palestinians to live freely and equally with Israelis.

The Palestinians whether in Gaza, the West Bank or in exile do not have this option. Giving up resistance will be taken as a sign weakness, a green light for further expropriation and immiseration.

Looked at in terms of the political dynamics the same conclusion is reached. Many people may in good faith adopt a position of condemning both sides equally. However remember that the imperialists will latch onto anything as an excuse to impose their rule. Witness the noise about the rights of women in Afghanistan and the silence about the rights of women in Iraq. For example sexism and homophobia are social problems that need to be addressed politically.They are not something that should be used as a cover for the violent  expropriation involved in imperialist subjugation. If you do not understand this you will always find that the criticism of imperialism fades away while the criticism of those resisting imperialism is amplified.

Finally, Michael Mansfield at the Hay Festival argued that what the Israeli State is engaging in Gaza is genocide and that Clegg should be speaking out (see Clegg’s article in 2009 condemning the blockade and see Mansfield’s letter) and vocally taking action (unlike David Miliband who stops at ‘gravely concerned’) which involves economic and politic sanctions.

We need to stop Israel getting away with murder and terrorism.