Israel: White Phosphorus Use Evidence of War Crimes

Indiscriminate Attacks Caused Needless Civilian Suffering

Human Rights Watch

"(Jerusalem) - Israel's repeated firing of white phosphorus shells over densely populated areas of Gaza during its recent military campaign was indiscriminate and is evidence of war crimes, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.

The 71-page report, "Rain of Fire: Israel's Unlawful Use of White Phosphorus in Gaza," provides witness accounts of the devastating effects that white phosphorus munitions had on civilians and civilian property in Gaza. Human Rights Watch researchers in Gaza immediately after hostilities ended found spent shells, canister liners, and dozens of burnt felt wedges containing white phosphorus on city streets, apartment roofs, residential courtyards, and at a United Nations school. The report also presents ballistics evidence, photographs, and satellite imagery, as well as documents from the Israeli military and government......

Human Rights Watch said that for multiple reasons it concluded that the IDF had deliberately or recklessly used white phosphorus munitions in violation of the laws of war. First, the repeated use of air-burst white phosphorus in populated areas until the last days of the operation reveals a pattern or policy of conduct rather than incidental or accidental usage. Second, the IDF was well aware of the effects of white phosphorus and the dangers it poses to civilians. Third, the IDF failed to use safer available alternatives for smokescreens.

The laws of war obligate states to investigate impartially allegations of war crimes. The evidence available demands that Israel investigate and prosecute as appropriate those who ordered or carried out unlawful attacks using white phosphorus munitions, Human Rights Watch said.

The United States government, which supplied Israel with its white phosphorus munitions, should also conduct an investigation to determine whether Israel used it in violation of the laws of war, Human Rights Watch said."

Photos of White Phosphorus Use (20 photos)

Video of White Phosphorus Use in Gaza

Return to Gaza

By Sherine Tadros

Al-Jazeera

"Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros reported from the Gaza Strip during Israel's 23-day offensive that ended via unilateral ceasefires in the middle of January. Here she describes what the territory is like on her return......

One thing that is new are the tents ... tents, tents everywhere - every size, every colour and they have one thing in common ... none are withstanding the terrible weather.

Over the past few days there have been severe gales and low temperatures and the tents are falling like paper. And in Gaza, when your tent is blown away, there is not much anyone can do for you.

Now 100,000 people are homeless and what strikes me as so unfair is that they are not even allowed to be refugees. Not allowed to flee the war zone and start afresh, in a different place as other people caught in other conflicts are permitted......"

By Emad Hajjaj

ثلاثون عاما على الكارثة

ثلاثون عاما على الكارثة
عبد الباري عطوان

".....
بعد ثلاثين عاماً من السلام مع اسرائيل اصبح دور مصر محصوراً في اربعة عشر كيلومتراً على الحدود مع رفح الفلسطينية، او ما يسمى بمحور صلاح الدين، ولكن حتى هذا الدور ناقص السيادة، فالطائرات الاسرائيلية تخترق الاجواء المصرية، وتقصف الحدود المصرية، وتدمر اربعين بيتاً في رفح المصرية، وتقتل وتصيب مواطنين مصريين، ناهيك عن اشقائهم الفلسطينيين. وما هو اخطر من ذلك ان الزوارق الحربية الاسرائيلية سيطرت على سفينة لبنانية كانت في طريقها لكسر الحصار عن غزة وهي في المياه الاقليمية المصرية، وجرّتها الى ميناء اسدود لتفتيشها وركابها.

نشعر بالحزن على مصر العظمى، وشعبها الكريم الشهم المغرق في كرامته الوطنية، ونحن نرى قوات امنه 'تعتقل' خمسمائة خروف انتهكت معاهدة السلام، وكانت في طريقها الى الجوعى في غزة عبر انفاق رفح.
هناك حسنة واحدة لمعاهدة السلام هذه، لا يمكن تجاهلها، وهي انها سحبت اكبر ذريعة كان حكام مصر يتذرعون بها لتبرير فسادهم وتجويعهم للشعب المصري، وهي القول بأن ذلك يتم من اجل فلسطين ودعم المجهود الحربي المصري لتحريرها.
ثلاثون عاماً لم تطلق خلالها الحكومة المصرية طلقة واحدة، وفي المقابل تحولت كوريا الشمالية في الفترة نفسها الى قوة نووية، والجنوبية الى القوة الاقتصادية العشرين في العالم، اما ايران فأطلقت اقماراً صناعية وطوّرت صواريخ بعيدة المدى قادرة على الوصول الى اوروبا، وعلى وشك دخول النادي النووي العالمي، وتجبر امريكا على الحوار معها، واسرائيل على الارتجاف خوفاً منها.
قلوبنا مع مصر وعلى مصر. فإذا كانت هذه المعاهدة اوصلتها الى هذا الهوان، فلماذا لا يخرج 'نحاس مصري' جديد ليبادر الى الغائها، من اجل مصر وشعب مصر.
ذكرى هذه المعاهــــدة تـــمر مثـــل مرور 'جــنازة الزانية'، تطاردها اللعنات، ولا يسير فيها احد، ومن يحضرها يخفي وجهه خجلاً، حتى لا يراه الفضوليون."

IAF Struck Convoy in Sudan in January

Al-Manar

"26/03/2009 Israeli fighter jets struck in January a convoy of trucks in Sudan that was headed for Egypt and carrying weapons apparently meant for the Gaza Strip, the CBS television network reported Thursday. According to the report 17 trucks had been bombed and 39 people had been killed in the strike while civilians in the area suffered injuries.......

The CBS report was based on information provided to Pentagon reporter David Martin by his sources, and published on the blog of the network's Washington-based correspondent Dan Raviv.....

On the basis of the report from Sudan, American reporters sought confirmation from U.S. administration officials, which led them to the conclusion that the air strike did take place but that the U.S. Air Force was not involved and that the aircraft were Israeli.

In the original Sudanese report, an unidentified Egyptian official was quoted as saying that the planes that carried out the attack were based out of many countries in the region, and some observers guessed that he meant Djibouti."

Hezbollah hits back at 'terrorist' US

(Left) Feltman received by the Syrian regime's foreign minister Walid Muallem, earlier this month.

Press TV

"Lebanon's Hezbollah has hit back at the US over Washington's remarks accusing the movement of terrorist activities.

"Hezbollah is honored to be accused of terrorism by the US administration, which is the top terrorist state," a statement from the Lebanese resistance group said on Wednesday.

The remarks followed a statement issued by the US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, Jeffrey Feltman, saying Washington would not follow Britain's example by opening dialogue with the movement.

Feltman called the Lebanese resistance group a domestic and regional "threat," adding "our position on Hezbollah remains as it was when the group was first designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 1997."

Hezbollah, however, termed the comments as "desperate and empty," adding that "It is not strange for Feltman to interfere in Lebanese affairs, which he got used to since he was once an ambassador to Lebanon."......"

Netanyahu 'plans to expand settlement'

Israeli prime minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu has struck a secret deal with one of his coalition partners, pledging to expand settlements in a highly-contentious area of the West Bank, army radio said.

The agreement is not included in the official coalition deal between Netanyahu's right-wing Likud and the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party of firebrand Avigdor Lieberman but the two men struck the understanding during their coalition talks, the radio said.

According to the plan, some 3,000 housing units are to be constructed in the so-called E1 Sector in the occupied West Bank which runs between annexed east Jerusalem and the Maale Adumim settlement.

Turkey's Fallout with Israel Deals Blow to Settlers

Ottoman Archives Show Land Deed Forged

By JONATHAN COOK
CounterPunch

"A legal battle being waged by Palestinian families to stop the takeover of their neighbourhood in East Jerusalem by Jewish settlers has received a major fillip from the recent souring of relations between Israel and Turkey.

After the Israeli army’s assault on the Gaza Strip in January, lawyers for the families were given access to Ottoman land registry archives in Ankara for the first time, providing what they say is proof that title deeds produced by the settlers are forged....."

Panning Geithner's Plan

A former Wall Streeter on why Treasury's toxic assets program stinks.

By Nomi Prins
Mother Jones

"Though the stock market may have lifted off on news of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's purchase plan for toxic assets, don't be fooled by Wall Street's optimism. The plan is even worse than the one floated by Geithner's predecessor, Henry Paulson, last fall. At least Paulson wanted the government simply to buy the banking industry's junk outright—and spend less doing so......

Let the speculative parts die, and tend to the rest. As it stands, the present solution—propping up the entire system in a complex, highly leveraged manner that depends on the kindness of the culprits that caused this mess—is a colossally expensive exercise in bipartisan stupidity. "

AIG and the Big Takeover: Matt Taibbi on “How Wall Street Insiders Are Using the Bailout to Stage a Revolution”

Democracy Now!
With Amy Goodman

"In a new article in Rolling Stone Magazine, journalist Matt Tabbi takes an in-depth look at the story behind AIG. “The reality is that the worldwide economic meltdown and the bailout that followed were together a kind of revolution, a coup d’état,” writes Taibbi. “They cemented and formalized a political trend that has been snowballing for decades: the gradual takeover of the government by a small class of connected insiders, who used money to control elections, buy influence and systematically weaken financial regulations.”...."

Drunk Zionists

Soldiers: Drunk IDF reservists vandalized Palestinian cars

By Ofra Edelman

Reservists marked their last night stationed in the southern Hebron Hills by damaging confiscated Palestinian vehicles, their replacements told Haaretz on Monday.  The reserve battalion in question was stationed at a small base near the Shekef settlement, and spent three weeks in the south Hebron Hills. They were responsible primarily for patrolling the green line.  On their last night at the base, the reservists got drunk and vandalized some of the vehicles they had confiscated from Palestinian drivers, for transporting passengers who lacked permits to enter Israel, soldiers told Haaretz.

Al-Jazeera Video: Inside Story-Obama's Afghanistan strategy-24 March 09

Part 1:



Part 2:



"More troops, more resources and more attention. These are the principles of the new US policy in Afghanistan. But are Obama's goals realistic? Is it possible to increase the amount of troops in the region and give hope of an eventual end to US military commitment? And what will Iran's role in helping the US to achieve its objectives ultimately be?"

Real News Video: The American Way of War Pt.3

Eugene Jarecki: We won't leave Iraq as long as oil is the 'life blood' of our global dominance

Liquid war: Welcome to Pipelineistan

By Pepe Escobar
Asia Times

"The new Silk Road of energy sees Washington, Beijing, Moscow and Tehran fight for control of Caspian oil lines on a global energy battlefield on which the fate of humankind could well be settled. Pepe Escobar enters the Space Odyssey-style map room of Russian energy giant Gazprom, spends a rainy "night" in Georgia, and discovers the thrill of following energy around the "arc of instability".....

Welcome, then, to Pipelineistan! Whether we like it or not, in good times and bad, it's a reasonable bet that we're all going to be Pipeline tourists.

So, go with the flow. Learn the crucial acronyms, keep an eye out for what happens to all those US bases across the oil heartlands of the planet, watch where the pipelines are being built, and do your best to keep tabs on the next set of monster Chinese energy deals and fabulous coups by Russia's Gazprom......."

Lieberman is no abnormality

Nimer Sultany, The Electronic Intifada, 24 March 2009

"......Likewise, it would be mistaken to think of the rise of Avigdor Lieberman and his party, Yisrael Beiteinu, as a major development or as the main source of concern for the Palestinians. Focusing on Lieberman (charitably called by the Guardian a "hardliner") distracts the discussion from the real issues to the person of one unpleasant politician who says ignominious things others are generally unwilling to say. This logic seems to suggest that the political disappearance of Lieberman will bring about a serendipitous resolution of major problems in the Middle East. Lieberman, however, only exacerbates an already existing problem, and he cannot be easily dismissed as a marginal case of excess or abnormality of the Israeli political system......

In Theodor Herzl's novel Altneuland, published in 1902, Rabbi Dr. Geyer ran in the elections on the platform of disenfranchising the Arab citizens. The mainstream Zionists, on the one hand, and the good Arab who welcomed the Zionists, on the other hand, rejected Geyer as a troublemaker and Geyer was defeated in the elections in the novel. Lieberman currently plays the role of Rabbi Geyer with the difference that he actually won in the elections and he is a kingmaker. This state of affairs seems to have misled many of the commentators who are focused on the danger that the emergence of Lieberman poses. That would be tantamount to focusing on Rabbi Geyer and forgetting Herzl and the Zionist project itself which entailed not only the displacement of the Palestinian people but also the unequal status for those who remained as citizens inside Israel.

The movement to the right wing within Zionism cannot be reduced to Lieberman, and what is troubling about Zionism cannot be reduced to its right-wing side only."

New law to throw the book at Israel?

Press TV

"UN human rights investigator Richard Falk explains why Israeli conduct in the Gaza Strip necessitates the world to introduce a new law.

While presenting his latest report to the UN Human Rights Council, Richard Falk, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, declared that Israel committed war crimes in Gaza and called for an independent inquiry into the issue.

Falk explained that Tel Aviv enforced a crippling blockade on Gaza while bringing three weeks of devastation to the territory and thus prevented civilians from fleeing "from the orbit of harm".

He said such conduct constitutes a new form of crime against humanity....."

Video: UN human rights investigator Richard Falk explains why Israeli conduct in the Gaza Strip necessitates the world to introduce a new law.

Press TV

Click Here to Play

The Nation Formerly Known as Yugoslavia

Ten years later

By Justin Raimondo

"Tuesday marked the tenth anniversary of the bombing of the nation formerly known as Yugoslavia – an act of aggression that prefigured America's post-9/11 rampage and set the stage for our endless "war on terrorism" in many more ways than are at first apparent.

To begin with, the Yugoslav war, like the Iraq invasion, was predicated on a lie: that as many as 100,000 Kosovars and others were either killed or "ethnically cleansed" from Kosovo, and that this was the conscious plan of the Yugoslav military and political leadership. The 100,000 figure was casually thrown around in the run-up to the bombing, and "Stop genocide!" was the battle-cry of the War Party – a curious agglomeration of the usual neocons and the liberal-Left. This Bill Kristol-Susan Sontag popular front was greatly aided by the personal intervention of Hillary Clinton, who hectored her husband, then the president of the United States, into launching the U.S. attack........."

End this culture of Israeli impunity

In the face of Palestinian deaths in Gaza, the UK government must be held to its commitments under international law

Tessa Gregory and Phil Shiner
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 24 March 2009

"It is difficult to imagine how anyone watching Clancy Chassay's three short films on Israel's devastating attack on Gaza ("Operation Cast Lead") could deny that Israel has a clear case to answer on commission of war crimes.

The films tell the individual stories of those who are otherwise lost in the horrifying statistics. We learn of three teenage brothers used as human shields by the Israeli army, a Palestinian family killed by "precision weaponry" when drinking tea in a courtyard and a medic blown into pieces by the thousands of tiny metal darts, called flechettes, packed into each Israeli tank shell.

Recent estimates put the number of Palestinians killed in the bloody onslaught at more than 1,400 – including 430 children – and the number injured at more than 5,000. Israel's actions have been roundly condemned and demands from senior UN officials and human rights groups for Israel to be investigated for international war crimes over the "massive violation of human rights" are growing by the day.

In the face of such overwhelming evidence we might have expected a little more from our government than David Miliband's meek calls to "both sides" for an end to the hostilities. We might have expected our government to unequivocally condemn Israel's actions, cease all arms-related exports to Israel, cease giving financial assistance to Israel, cease trading with Israel on preferential terms, and we might have expected it to do everything within its power to halt the massacre and bring those responsible to account....."

At last we get it - this war is Vietnam for slow learners

Eight years of fighting has made no difference to the balance of power in Afghanistan. Only one word makes sense: exit

Simon Jenkins
The Guardian, Wednesday 25 March 2009

"......As with the Russians so with the west: this poor, intensely private country will one day see off another invader who sought to reorganise its history with guns, bombs and money. It has not worked. It was never going to work. Oh so painfully, we are now beginning to understand."

By Emad Hajjaj

From Skokie to Um-el-Fahm

By Khalid Amayreh

"I am re-posting this article, which I wrote seven months ago, on the occasion of the provocative Judeo-Nazi march by Jewish extremists at the Arab town of Um el Fahm across the green line in what is known as Israel.

The march, which took place today (24 March, 2009) was protected by as many as 2500 Israeli soldiers and paramilitary policemen. As expected, the people of Um el Fahm rose up to defend their city against the Jewish disciples of Hitler who wanted to communicate the same message the “Hitler Youth” and other Nazi groups communicated to Jews at Kristallnacht, long before Auschwitz, Treblinka, and Bergen Belsen.

The marchers, mostly Jewish settlers from the West Bank, said they only wanted to exercise their freedom of speech. This is the same argument that members of the American Nazi party made in justifying their march through the small Jewish town of Skoke near Chicago in 1977.

I was studying in the United States in 1977 and I remember I took part in a protest against the Nazi provocation.

Now, it seems, the Israeli state, and security forces, as well as the vast bulk of Israeli Jews, are saying nothing and doing nothing as they watch these despicable thugs shout “death to the Arabs” and “Arabs to the Gas chambers.”

Interestingly, the march at Um el Fahm, comes only three months after the genocidal Israeli blitzkrieg against the people of the Gaza Strip which destroyed the bulk of the coastal enclave’s civilian infrastructure and killed and maimed more than 6000 people, the vast majority of them children and innocent civilians. It also coincides with the pornographic confessions being made by Israeli soldiers that they were ordered by their superiors to murder civilians in cold blood.

This is Israel of 2008-2009. It is very much like Germany in 1938-39....."

Corruption World Champs, by Khalil Bendib

(Click on cartoon to enlarge)

Iraq: Under New Management, by Carlos Latuff

(Click on cartoon to enlarge)

Who Tried to Kill Palestinian Ambassador Abass Zaki and Why?

Four Murders at Mieh Mieh Refuge Camp

By FRANKLIN LAMB
CounterPunch

Mieh Mieh Palestinian Camp, Sidon.

"Yesterday afternoon, Kamal Medhat, 58, known in Lebanon’s Palestinian Camps affectionately as ‘Kamal Naji’, a senior member of the Palestinian Fatah movement was killed exiting Mieh Meih Camp by a 25-30 kilogram bomb.....

Osama Hamdan, the popular representative of Hamas in Lebanon, condemned the killing, saying it was aimed at creating discord in Palestinian camps. Hezbollah said the attack bore "the fingerprints of the Zionists and was aimed at sowing discord."

No one has claimed responsibility and no one likely will. The most frequently mentioned suspects this morning include Israel, Syria, Egypt and the US.

One suspect mentioned is a “third party Palestinian faction” led by Mohammad Dahlan in Ramallah working on behalf of Israel and the US and wanting to prevent Palestinian unity to confront Israel......."

What is Life? Life is Endless "Negotiations." Negotiation is Everything; the Goal is Nothing!

Media sources: 3rd round of Palestinian dialog to be held after Arab summit

"CAIRO, (PIC)-- The Egyptian leadership has informed Palestinian factions that the third round of national dialog sessions would be postponed to 1st of April [April Fools' day; how fitting for a bunch of fools!] after conclusion of the Arab summit slated for march 30-31 in Doha, media sources reported.

They told the PIC reporter that the postponement was meant to give the Palestinian factions more time to overcome the three points of disagreement represented in the unity government's political program, commitment to the previous PLO agreements and the electoral system......."

Real News Video: The American Way of War pt.2

E. Jarecki: Make arms-manufacturers' political engineering and currying favor with Congress - illegal

Real News Video: Iran responds to Obama

Obama's unprecedented greeting to Iran is met with an unprecedented response by Grand Ayatollah Khamenei



"Investigative historian and journalist, Gareth Porter, speaks to Sharmini Peries about President Obama's Nowruz greeting to Iran. Noting the significance of this unprecedented move by the U.S. government, and the saying that this is the first time the Iranian leader himself has responded directly to the U.S. Porter said, "Obama was displaying atmospherics here far more than substance," adding that, "there really is nothing in the address that gives you a clue as to what change is going to be made in the U.S. posture when they actually sit down with Iran.""

Euros do not buy the Palestinians political rights

Pepijn van Houwelingen, The Electronic Intifada, 23 March 2009



"The carnage of Israel's recent invasion of Gaza spurred great numbers of dismayed Europeans to participate in demonstrations against the war. In major cities such as Madrid, Brussels, Rome, Berlin and London, tens of thousands took part in demonstrations to make clear to their governments that what was happening was unacceptable. Yet, their objections to Israel's massive use of deadly force were not reflected in the declarations and actions of their countries, as represented by Europe's most significant political body, the European Union, which did not alter its policy of status quo relations with Israel......"

Russia: Big Threat or Paper Bear

By Eric Margolis

"The Russians are coming! The Russians are coming! Or are they? That depends on whom you ask......

The US accounts for almost half the world’s total military spending. Russia must also take into account the $330 billion military spending of America’s wealthy NATO allies and Japan.

I think we can safely allow the Ruskis a few more modern weapons systems. The Red hordes are not at our gates quite yet. "

Choosing between Funding and National Cause

By Hasan Afif El-Hasan
Palestine Chronicle

"......The condition of the Palestinian politics today is hopeless, not only because the defenseless Palestinians living under occupation are besieged, starved, massacred, strangulated, detained and humiliated on a daily basis; or the disenfranchised refugees who are languishing in camps are denied the right of return to their homes and will not have room to settle in the Palestinian Authority (PA) territory that has been divided, crisscrossed by Jewish only roads, settlements and military posts; or that the tacit support of the US offered Israel the leeway to ignore the UN resolutions and the international laws, terrorize the Palestinians under occupation and colonize their lands. But the main cause of the Palestinians’ hopelessness is that the PA leaders who are still in charge are the same incompetent monopolistic people who signed and defended the agreements that limited the Palestinians’ power to deal with their occupier, co-opted their national movement and prejudiced the future generations of their people........"

Hezbollah spends millions to rebuild stronghold

(left) Hezbollah Spends Millions to Rebuild Stronghold.

".....Analaysts say the reconstruction drive has triggered new rivalries between Hezbollah and the authorities and is bolstering the popularity of the Shiite militant group.

"Hezbollah will certainly benefit from this reconstruction project because it is cementing the loyalty of the people," said Ahmad Baalbaki, a professor of sociology.

In contrast, for decades the government neglected the development of the southern suburbs, and Hezbollah stepped in to fill the void.

"Before Hezbollah, in the 1980s, even in the 1970s, the southern suburbs was like a jungle. Where was, then, the authority of the state," he asked."

Fighting for life: American peace activist shot by Israelis

Parents demand inquiry into how son was critically injured by tear gas canister

By Donald Macintyre in Jerusalem
The Independent

"The parents of an American peace activist publicly appealed yesterday for a full investigation into how their son was shot in the head with a high velocity tear gas canister by Israeli security forces.


Tristan Anderson, 38, remains in critical condition after three brain operations at Tel Hashomer hospital in Israel, as a result of the shooting which came at the end of a regular joint Arab-Jewish demonstration against the Israeli separation barrier in the West Bank village of Ni'lin.

Activists say the canister round – with a range of more than 400 metres – was fired directly at Mr Anderson from about 60 metres as he was standing with three or four other activists in the centre of the village. They say he was well away from the barrier where the main protest had taken place earlier on 13 March....."

By Steve Bell, The Guardian

Obama's Afghan quagmire deepens

The US president inherited a mess in Afghanistan, but he needs to bring some order to his mish-mash of policies for the country

Simon Tisdall
guardian.co.uk, Monday 23 March 2009

"Confused, apparently contradictory, statements by Barack Obama suggest America's new president is having as much trouble as his hapless predecessor in defining US strategy in Afghanistan. Part of the difficulty confronting his policy reviewers is that each time they look, the problem just gets bigger.

Talking at the weekend, Obama sounded more like a college lecturer trying to cover all the bases than a commander-in-chief with a clear plan of action......."

Will Israel be brought to book?

The evidence of war crimes in Gaza is a challenge to universal justice: will western-backed perpetrators ever stand trial?

Seumas Milne
guardian.co.uk, Monday 23 March 2009

"Evidence of the scale of Israel's war crimes in its January onslaught on Gaza is becoming unanswerable. Clancy Chassay's three films investigating allegations against Israeli forces in the Gaza strip, released by the Guardian today, include important new accounts of the flagrant breaches of the laws of war that marked the three-week campaign – now estimated to have left at least 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and 13 Israelis dead.

The films provide compelling testimony of Israel's use of Palestinian teenagers as human shields; the targeting of hospitals, clinics and medical workers, including with phosphorus bombs; and attacks on civilians, including women and children – sometimes waving white flags – from hunter-killer drones whose targeting systems are so powerful they can identify the colour of a person's clothes.....

With such powerful evidence of violations of the rules of war now emerging from the rubble of Gaza, the test must be this: is the developing system of international accountability for war crimes only going to apply to the west's enemies – or can the western powers and their closest allies also be brought to book?"

Three Videos: Guardian investigation uncovers evidence of alleged Israeli war crimes in Gaza

Palestinians claim children were used as human shields and hospitals targeted during 23-day conflict

Clancy Chassay and Julian Borger
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 24 March 2009 09.30

"The Guardian has compiled detailed evidence of alleged war crimes committed by Israel during the 23-day offensive in the Gaza Strip earlier this year, involving the use of Palestinian children as human shields and the targeting of medics and hospitals.
A month-long investigation also obtained evidence of civilians being hit by fire from unmanned drone aircraft said to be so accurate that their operators can tell the colour of the clothes worn by a target.
The testimonies form the basis of three Guardian films which add weight to calls this week for a full inquiry into the events surrounding Operation Cast Lead, which was aimed at Hamas but left about 1,400 Palestinians dead, including more than 300 children.......



Medics and ambulance drivers said they were targeted when they tried to tend to the wounded; sixteen were killed. According to the World Health Organisation, more than half of Gaza's 27 hospitals and 44 clinics were damaged by Israeli bombs......."

A case to answer

Editorial
The Guardian, Tuesday 24 March 2009

"Evidence that Israel committed war crimes in its 23-day operation in Gaza mounts by the week. Amnesty and Human Rights Watch have both appealed for a United Nations inquiry, after conducting their own investigations. Last week Ha'aretz published the testimonies of Israeli soldiers who alleged that a sniper shot a Palestinian mother and her two children, and that a company commander ordered an elderly woman to be killed. Yesterday Physicians for Human Rights accused soldiers of ignoring the special protection that Palestinian medical teams are entitled to receive. Today the Guardian releases three films in which our reporter Clancy Chassay reveals evidence that Israel used drones to fire at civilian targets, killing at least 48; he interviews three Palestinian youths used by Israeli soldiers as human shields and alleges that soldiers targeted paramedics and hospitals.......The army has the means to refute these allegations, but feels no obligation to do so. An international inquiry should be launched for no other reason than to hold it accountable.....

.....The international criminal court has received more than 220 complaints from the Palestinian National Authority, the Arab League and the Palestinian justice minister. But whether the court has jurisdiction is another matter. If the ICC route fails, there is always the UN, whose schools and stores found themselves in the line of fire......

There are five reasons why we should have an international inquiry into the Israeli assault on Gaza. First, the conflict has not gone away. It could reignite at any moment under a prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, who is determined to finish the job......."

Any Doubt That the PA is a Proxy for Zion? Just Read This....

حكومة عباس تحذر أوروبا من تخفيف الضغوط عن حماس

Al-Jazeera

"طالبت حكومة تصريف الأعمال الفلسطينية الجانب الأوروبي عدم تخفيف الضغط المفروض على حركة المقاومة الإسلامية "حماس" مبررة طلبها بتداعيات محتملة قد تؤثر سلبا على الحوار الوطني الفلسطيني المتوقع -وفقا لمصادر فلسطينية- أن تستأنف جلساته بعد أيام.

فقد أكد وزير الخارجية الفلسطيني رياض المالكي أنه نقل رسالة إلى قادة أوروبيين -أثناء زيارته الأسبوع الماضي إلى العاصمة البلجيكية- أبلغهم فيها بضرورة تجنب الاتصالات السياسية مع (حماس) لما في ذلك من آثار سلبية على الحوار الوطني الفلسطيني.

وقال المالكي إن خطوات التقارب الأوروبية مع حماس من شأنها أن تقوض محادثات الوحدة بإعطاء الحركة انطباعا يدل على استعداد المجتمع الدولي وتحديدا الأوروبي لتغيير موقفه منها سواء وافقت على الالتزام بالاتفاقيات التي أبرمتها السلطة أم لا ...
"

“The Zombie Ideas Have Won”–Paul Krugman on $1 Trillion Geithner Plan to Buy Toxic Bank Assets

Democracy Now!
With Amy Goodman

"Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is preparing to unveil a plan today to purchase as much as $1 trillion in troubled mortgages and other assets from banks. The government is reaching out to hedge funds, private equity firms and sovereign wealth funds to help buy the toxic assets. The Obama administration has described the plan as a public-private partnership, but most of the actual money will be put up by the government. We speak with Nobel Prize-winning economist and New York Times columnist, Paul Krugman....."

The Rules of Engagement in Gaza

"Open Fire Also Upon Rescue"

By AMIRA HASS
CounterPunch

Gaza Strip.

""Rules of Engagement: Open fire also upon rescue," was handwritten in Hebrew on a sheet of paper found in one of the Palestinian homes the Israel Defense Forces took over during Operation Cast Lead. A reservist officer who did not take part in the Gaza offensive believes that the note is part of orders a low-level commander wrote before giving his soldiers their daily briefing.

One of the main themes in news reports during the Gaza operation, and which appears in many testimonies, is that IDF soldiers shot at Palestinian and Red Cross rescuers, making it impossible to evacuate the wounded and dead. As a result, an unknown number of Palestinians bled to death as others cowered in their homes for days without medical treatment, waiting to be rescued......"

Still Dreaming About Santa Claus and the "New" Obama

Mishaal: Obama using new language towards Middle East

"DAMASCUS, (PIC)-- Khaled Mishaal, the head of the Hamas political bureau, has opined on Sunday that US president Barack Obama was using a new language in the American relations with the Middle East, pointing out that an opening of official US and European channels for dialog with Hamas is only a matter of time.

In an interview with the Italian La Repubblica newspaper, Mishaal said that this different American tone could be a prelude to a real change in the US and European policies towards the region [COMMENT: Keep dreaming, Mr. Mishaal. From one illusion to the next. This is so Yasser Arafat, it is not even funny!]........"

Al-Jazeera Video: Inside Story - Israeli war crimes in Gaza - 22 Mar

Part 1:



Part 2:



"A group of former Israeli soldiers say they have new evidence of potential war crimes committed by the Israeli army during the war on Gaza. These are not the first allegations of war crimes levelled at the Israeli military and the claims have sparked a bitter debate within Israel's defence forces and wider society over the "morality" of the IDF and its behaviour in Gaza."

Real News Video with Phyliss Bennis: What is withdrawing 'responsibly' from Iraq?

Bennis: Obama has to change the mindset that leads to war, US can not dictate Iraq's future



"Phyllis Bennis, author and senior fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies speaks to Paul Jay about Obama's plan for withdrawal as the war in Iraq marks its sixth year anniversary. She says,"the Obama administration has a commitment to a major reduction in the size of the occupation," but continues, "I am less convinced that there is a real commitment to a real withdrawal.""

6th anniversary of Iraq War, by Carlos Latuff

(Click on cartoon to enlarge)

"Down the Memory Hole," Alan Greenspan Style

by Stephen Lendman
Global Research, March 22, 2009

"He's back and in denial in a March 11 Wall Street Journal op-ed headlined: "The Fed Didn't Cause the Housing Bubble." He lied, the way he did throughout his career and for 18.5 years as Fed chairman. How else could he have kept the job, be knighted in the UK for his "contribution to global economic stability, wisdom and skill," then afterwards be extolled by the Money Trust he enriched.

So now he's preserving his "legacy" by expunging its dark side the way Orwell described in 1984 - "down the memory hole," a convenient slot for "any document....due for destruction," politically inconvenient truths to be erased to preserve only sanitized versions for the public. It's called historical revisionism, but even some on the right aren't convinced....."

Less Hope Less, by Mr. Fish

(Click on cartoon to enlarge)

America Is in Need of a Moral Bailout

By Chris Hedges

"The methods used to attain what we want, we are told by reality television programs, business schools and self-help gurus, are irrelevant. Success, always defined in terms of money and power, is its own justification. Our moral collapse is as terrifying, and as dangerous, as our economic collapse....."

Interview with Dr. Bill Dienst

The Free Gaza Movement

" REVOLUTIONARY SPIRITUALITY : The Free Gaza Movement (Mon, 2 March 2009) Dr. Bill Dienst is a family and emergency physician in Omak, WA, who has frequently volunteered for humanitarian relief programs in the Middle East. In August of 2008 he was detained by Israel after delivering food and medicine to the Palestinian people in Gaza, breaking Israel's 40 year blockade. He discusses his experiences, his views on the Middle East, and how he has been changed by what he has witnessed. For More Information go to http://freegaza.org/ or Dr. Dienst's 27 photojournals on Palestine can be seen by going to http://electronicintifada.net/ and putting "dienst" into their search engine.

Audio: http://revolutionaryspirituality.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=443299 "

The Pharaoh is Doing a Good Job Starving the Palestinians in Gaza. A Better House Negro Zion Can't Find!

Egypt nabs sheep headed for Gaza

Press TV

"Cairo, an accomplice in the imposition of a 20-month blockade on Gaza, has stopped a flock of sheep from entering the Palestinian ghetto.

Egyptian police said that on Sunday night they discovered and seized a flock of 560 sheep set to be transported into Gaza through underground tunnels -- the main artery for food entry into the strip.

A security official said the flock was discovered in the Salah al-Din district north of the Rafah border crossing.

Egypt plans to auction off the sheep to the highest bidders......"

The American Empire: A Finale

Where is America headed?

By Justin Raimondo

".....That decline was not written in the stars but made inevitable by the actions of individual men (and women!), the men and women who rule us, the elites in government and the corporate world, in the media and the white-collar classes. Their mindset was best summed up by an anonymous top White House official who spoke to journalist Ron Suskind, in answer to objections against the Iraq war and the Bush administration's policy of preemptive warfare:

"The aide said that guys like me were 'in what we call the reality-based community,' which he defined as people who 'believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.' …

"'That's not the way the world really works anymore,' he continued. 'We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality – judiciously, as you will – we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors… and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.'"

While undoubtedly pandemic in Washington, this kind of thinking characterized not only the Bush administration, but was and is emblematic of the ruling elites in every Western country. The ancient Greeks had a word for it: hubris....."

'At War With the Palestinian People'

By Uri Avnery

".......To the readers of this column, they would not come as a surprise. I have written about them before, e.g., in my article "The Black Flag Is Waving." Amira Hass and Gideon Levy have collected eyewitness reports from Gaza inhabitants, telling much the same stories. But there is a difference: this time the facts are disclosed by the soldiers themselves, those who took part in the events or saw them with their own eyes.

The army was Shocked. Surprised. Revolted. The official Army liar, who bears the title of Army spokesperson, had previously denied anything of the kind. Now he promises that the army will investigate every incident "as the case may require." The military advocate general ordered the investigative arm of the military police to open an inquiry. Since the same advocate general bragged in the past that his officers had been embedded throughout the war in every front-line command post, one would have to be more than naïve to take his statement seriously......

But the picture is far wider. We have heard about many cases of the same kind, and they clearly were a widespread phenomenon. A woman and her children were evicted by soldiers from their home in the middle of the fighting and immediately afterward shot dead at close range by other soldiers who had orders to shoot everything that moved. Old people and children walking on open ground were shot in cold blood by snipers who saw them clearly through their telescopic sights, who had orders that everybody moving should be considered a "terrorist." Homes were destroyed for no reason, simply because they were there. Belongings inside apartments were vandalized just for fun, "because they belong to Arabs." Soldiers slit open sacks of food intended by UN agencies for the hungry population, because they "go to Arabs."....."

Al-Jazeera Video: Israelis fashion T-shirts depicting Gaza killings

"The Israeli military has condemned the t-shirts worn by soldiers as "unacceptable," which depict the killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

The shirts came into fashion following disclosures that soldiers who took part in Israel's military offensive in Gaza complained about rules of engagement allowing them to kill civilians and destroy property.

Al Jazeera's Ayman Mohyeldin has more. "

Failing and Pathetic Stooges......From Afghanistan to Palestine

US will appoint Afghan 'prime minister' to bypass Hamid Karzai

White House plans new executive role to challenge corrupt government in Kabul

Julian Borger in Brussels and Ewen MacAskill in Washington
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 22 March 2009

"The US and its European allies are ­preparing to plant a high-profile figure in the heart of the Kabul government in a direct challenge to the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, the Guardian has learned.

The creation of a new chief executive or prime ministerial role is aimed at bypassing Karzai. In a further dilution of his power, it is proposed that money be diverted from the Kabul government to the provinces. Many US and European officials have become disillusioned with the extent of the corruption and incompetence in the Karzai government, but most now believe there are no credible alternatives, and predict the Afghan president will win re-election in August......"

تهامس بين زعماء عرب لاخضاع محطة 'الجزيرة'

تهامس بين زعماء عرب لاخضاع محطة 'الجزيرة'

".....
وفي الاثناء كان احمد ابو الغيط وزير الخارجية المصري يطلب من زميله الامير سعود الفيصل التحدث باسم مصر ضد ما تفعله محطة 'الجزيرة'.
وقبله كان الرئيس محمود عباس وفي الدوحة يرفض تسجيل برنامج خاص معه في 'الجزيرة' رغم الفرصة التي عرضت عليه بأن يقول ما يريد، لكن عباس بنفس الوقت يتلقى يوميا ضخا مباشرا من مستشارين له في الاتجاه السلبي ضد محطة 'الجزيرة'.
اردنيا المعادلة اختلفت قليلا، فالقرار في ارفع المستويات اتخذ لانجاح المصالحة العربية وتفويت اي محاولة للتعكير عليها حتى لو كانت محاولة قطرية كما يتصور بعض المحللين هنا، لكن السؤال ما زال عالقا بعنوان الفارق ما بين محطة اعلامية تجتهد وتتحرك في اطار من الحرية الحقيقية او محطة تحظى بقرار سياسي. وبالنسبة للاردنيين فوجئوا ايضا بالرئيس السوري بشار الاسد وهو يعبر عن الاستياء مما ورد في حلقات هيكل في 'الجزيرة'، فيما كان وزير الخارجية وليد المعلم يشير مع ابتسامه بأن 'الجزيرة' لا توفرنا نحن في سورية بين الحين والآخر رغم العلاقات الدافئة بين دمشق والدوحة. وفي اطار تعامل دبلوماسي سابق مع مسألة 'الجزيرة' كان موقف الوزير المعلم ان الزعماء العرب يستطيعون التوحد خلف خطاب يطالب امير قطر بصفة شخصية بالتدخل لتعديل اداء وخطاب محطة 'الجزيرة' مقترحا التحدث بذلك في اطار اخوي.
سياسيا فسرت اقتراحات الوزير المعلم على اساس انها محاولة لحماية الجزيرة عمليا من برنامج تصعيدي ضدها يقوده المصريون تحت شعار اخضاع هذه المحطة، وهو برنامج يتشبث به فيما يبدو الرئيس المصري ويروجه الوزير ابو الغيط ولا تعارضه الرياض، التي تجمع بدورها مواقف عربية غاضبة على 'الجزيرة' في سلة واحدة وتعيد توظيفها سياسيا.
وما فهمته 'القدس العربي' من مصادر واثقة الاطلاع على كواليس هذه الافتراحات ان مصر تسعى لتطوير موقف شخصي من الزعماء العرب، او اكبر عدد ممكن منهم، ضد محطة 'الجزيرة' على ان يستثمر الموضوع سياسيا للضغط على القيادة السياسية الحاضنة لمشروع 'الجزيرة' فيما ترى بعض العواصم التي كانت هدفا لبعض برامج الجزيرة مثل عمان ان استهداف الاعلام قد لا يكون مفيدا
....."

PA playing the role of the "house negro"

PA source: Iran-backed group may be behind Haifa bomb attempt

By Avi Issacharoff, Amos Harel and Fadi Eyadat

A senior source in the Palestinian Authority told Haaretz Sunday that he suspects Hezbollah or another organization with links to Iran was behind the attempted bombing of the Lev Hamifratz shopping mall in Haifa on Saturday night.  According to the source, the PA holds definitive intelligence that Hezbollah has been trying for some time to recruit members of Fatah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad in an attempt to get operatives of those terror groups to carry out an attack in Israel.

Current Al-Jazeera (Arabic) Online Poll

The poll asks:

Do you believe that there is a real change in U.S. policy towards the Middle East?

With over 1,700 responding so far, 83% said no.

Video: Canada ban: Galloway faces his accusers a Jewish Defence League (JDL) "Terrorist"

"The decision to ban George Galloway from Canada seems odd, but now it emerges that the Jewish Defence League (JDL) pressured the Canadian Government to so the action takes on sinister connotations for Canada, why? Because the Jewish Defence League are according to the FBI a Terrorist Group. In its report, Terrorism 2000/2001, the FBI referred to the JDL as a "violent extremist Jewish organization". This "violent extremist Jewish organization" now it seems has power and influence over the Canadian Government."

Israel’s Apartheid Anxiety

By Tony Karon

The international anti-apartheid movement to isolate South Africa also started at grassroots level, and became so powerful that governments were forced to follow suit.

"In a remarkable interview last November, the Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert cautioned that unless it could achieve a two-state solution quickly, Israel would “face a South African-style struggle for equal voting rights, and as soon as that happens, the state of Israel is finished”. The reason, he said, was that Israel would be internationally isolated. “The Jewish organisations, which are our power base in America, will be the first to come out against us because they will say they cannot support a state that does not support democracy and equal voting rights for all its residents.”

Jewish communities in western countries have long been Israel’s trump card against international pressure, because they mobilise support for Israel and restrain critics by painting opposition to Israel’s policies as motivated by hostility to Jews – a toxic accusation in a world still sensitive to the horrors of the Holocaust. But what was palpable during the Gaza conflict was the diminished enthusiasm of young Jewish people abroad for Israeli militarism, and the increasing willingness of many to openly challenge Israel.

This change is personified by Jon Stewart, the Jewish-American comic whose Daily Show is the premier vehicle of contemporary American political satire......."

Real News Video: The American Way of War

Jarecki: After WW2, Eisenhower warned of an overconfidence in the majesty of industry



"Eugene Jarecki is an award-winning dramatic and documentary filmmaker whose previous film WHY WE FIGHT won the 2005 Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. THE TRIALS OF HENRY KISSINGER, won the 2002 Amnesty International Award. In addition to his work in film, Jarecki is also the Founder and Executive Director of The Eisenhower Project, an academic public policy group, dedicated in the spirit of Dwight D. Eisenhower, to studying the forces that shape American foreign policy."

Real News Video: March on the Pentagon's Industrial complex

"Thousands marched across the country calling for an end to the occupation in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine. They demonstrated to keep the pressure on the Obama Administration. In Washington DC demonstrators marched across the memorial bridge carrying mock coffins which they laid at the Lockheed Martin courtyard in Arlington, Va."

Despair over financial policy

By Paul Krugman
N.Y. Times

"The Geithner plan has now been leaked in detail. It’s exactly the plan that was widely analyzed — and found wanting — a couple of weeks ago. The zombie ideas have won......

This plan will produce big gains for banks that didn’t actually need any help; it will, however, do little to reassure the public about banks that are seriously undercapitalized. And I fear that when the plan fails, as it almost surely will, the administration will have shot its bolt: it won’t be able to come back to Congress for a plan that might actually work.

What an awful mess.

Why was I so quick to condemn the Geithner plan? Because it's not new; it's just another version of an idea that keeps coming up and keeps being refuted. It's basically a thinly disguised version of the same plan Henry Paulson announced way back in September. To understand the issue, let me offer some background.....

Why am I so vehement about this? Because I'm afraid that this will be the administration's only shot - that if the first bank plan is an abject failure, it won't have the political capital for a second. So it's just horrifying that Obama - and yes, the buck stops there - has decided to base his financial plan on the fantasy that a bit of financial hocus-pocus will turn the clock back to 2006."

The Obama Deception (Full Movie; 1 hr., 51 min.)

Contributed by FUBAR



"The Obama Deception is a hard-hitting film that completely destroys the myth that Barack Obama is working for the best interests of the American people. The Obama phenomenon is a hoax carefully crafted by the captains of the New World Order.."

Al-Jazeera Video: 'Cold-blooded murder' of Gaza man's daughters - 20 Mar 09

"For the families of those killed in Israel's war on Gaza, an investigation into Israeli war crimes may not heal the pain, but it could go some way in the search for justice.

Khaled lost his two daughters in the conflict. They were just two and seven years old.

Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel Hamid reports from the north east of the Gaza Strip. "

Racist attacks against Palestinian in Israel increase tenfold - report

Study by Mossawa Center warns of massive rise in assaults by Jews against Arabs in 2008; operation in Gaza fingered as chief agitator.

Real News Video with Phyllis Bennis: Israeli troops admit abuses in Gaza

Phyllis Bennis: Public discourse about alleged Israeli war crimes is a break- through, as soldiers speak

Gaza war crime claims gather pace as more troops speak out

Fresh allegations have come to light that gung-ho leadership inculcated a culture of disregard for Palestinian casualties

Peter Beaumont
The Observer, Sunday 22 March 2009

"An investigation by a group of former Israeli soldiers has uncovered new evidence of the military's conduct during the assault on Gaza two months ago. According to the group Breaking the Silence, the witness statements of the 15 soldiers who have come forward to describe their concerns over Operation Cast Lead appear to corroborate claims of random killings and vandalism carried out during the operation made by a separate group of anonymous servicemen during a seminar at a military college.....

The claims appear to add credence to widespread claims of Israeli soldiers firing on civilians, made by Palestinians to journalists and international investigators and lawyers who entered Gaza at the end of the conflict and in its aftermath.....

"Shoot and don't worry about the consequences" was the message from commanders, said Marmor. Describing the behaviour of a lieutenant-colonel who briefed the troops, Marmor added: "His whole demeanour was extremely gung-ho.....

These are not the first allegations of war crimes levelled at the Israeli military. Last Thursday, the special rapporteur to the UN Human Rights Council, Richard Falk, said that the assault on Gaza appeared to be a "war crime of the greatest magnitude" and called on the UN to establish an experts' group to investigate potential violations.....

Worrying new questions have also been raised about the culture of the Israeli military, indicating a high level of dehumanisation and disregard for Palestinians among the chain of command and even among the military rabbinate.

An investigation by reporter Uri Blau, published on Friday in Haaretz, disclosed how Israeli soldiers were ordering T-shirts to mark the end of operations, featuring grotesque images including dead babies, mothers weeping by their children's graves, a gun aimed at a child and bombed-out mosques....."