Palestinians win upgraded UN status by wide margin

President Mahmoud Abbas: "The international community now stands before the last chance to save the two state solution"


BBC News
 29 November 2012 Last updated at 17:16 ET

The UN General Assembly has voted to grant the Palestinians non-member observer state status - a move opposed by Israel and the US.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told the assembly the vote was the "last chance to save the two-state solution" with Israel.

Israel's ambassador to the UN, Ron Prosor, said the bid "doesn't advance peace - it pushes it backwards".

The assembly voted 138-9 in favour, with 41 nations abstaining.
'Birth certificate'

"Sixty-five years ago on this day, the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution 181, which partitioned the land of historic Palestine into two states and became the birth certificate for Israel," Mr Abbas told the assembly.

"The General Assembly is called upon today to issue a birth certificate of the reality of the State of Palestine," he said.

Mr Prosor said "the only way to reach peace is through agreements" between the parties, not at the UN.

"No decision by the UN can break the 4,000-year-old bond between the people of Israel and the land of Israel," he said.

Opponents of the bid say a Palestinian state should emerge only out of bilateral negotiations, as set out in the 1993 Oslo peace accords under which the Palestinian Authority was established.

Speaking after the vote, the US ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, urged the Palestinians and Israel to resume direct peace talks and warned against unilateral actions.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the vote "unfortunate and counter-productive", saying it put more obstacles on the path to peace.

Symbolic milestone

The Palestinians are seeking UN recognition of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, the lands Israel captured in 1967.

France, Spain and Norway are among those urging the General Assembly to raise the Palestinians' UN status. Germany was set to abstain.

While the move is seen as a symbolic milestone in Palestinian ambitions for statehood, the "Yes" vote will also have a practical diplomatic effect, says the BBC's Barbara Plett, at the UN.

It would allow the Palestinians to participate in debates at the UN and improve their chances of joining UN agencies and bodies like the International Criminal Court.

Last year, Mr Abbas asked the UN Security Council to admit the Palestinians as a member state, but that was opposed by the US.

U.N. set to implicitly recognize Palestinian state, despite U.S., Israel threats

By Louis Charbonneau

UNITED NATIONS | Thu Nov 29, 2012 9:39am EST

(Reuters) - The U.N. General Assembly is set to implicitly recognize a sovereign state of Palestine on Thursday despite threats by the United States and Israel to punish the Palestinian Authority by withholding much-needed funds for the West Bank government.

A resolution that would change the Palestinian Authority's U.N. observer status from "entity" to "non-member state," like the Vatican, is expected to pass easily in the 193-nation General Assembly.

Israel, the United States and a handful of other members are planning to vote against what they see as a largely symbolic and counterproductive move by the Palestinians, which takes place on the 65th anniversary of the assembly's adoption of resolution 181 on the partition of Palestine into Jewish and Arab states.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has been leading the campaign to win support for the resolution, and over a dozen European governments have offered him their support after an eight-day conflict this month between Israel and Islamists in the Gaza Strip, who are pledged to Israel's destruction and oppose his efforts toward a negotiated peace.

The U.S. State Department said on Wednesday that Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns and U.S. Middle East peace envoy David Hale traveled to New York on Wednesday in a last-ditch effort to get Abbas to reconsider.

The Palestinians gave no sign they were turning back.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton repeated to reporters in Washington on Wednesday the U.S. view that the Palestinian move was misguided and efforts should focus instead on reviving the stalled Middle East peace process.

"The path to a two-state solution that fulfills the aspirations of the Palestinian people is through Jerusalem and Ramallah, not New York," she said. "The only way to get a lasting solution is to commence direct negotiations."

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland reiterated U.S. warnings that the move could cause a reduction of U.S. economic support for the Palestinians. The Israelis have also warned they might take significant deductions out of monthly transfers of duties that Israel collects on the Palestinians' behalf.

Despite its fierce opposition, Israel seems concerned not to find itself diplomatically isolated. It has recently toned down threats of retaliation in the face of wide international support for the initiative, notably among its European allies.

"The decision at the United Nations will change nothing on the ground," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in Jerusalem. "It will not advance the establishment of a Palestinian state. It will delay it further."

'SLAP IN THE FACE'

Granting Palestinians the title of "non-member observer state" falls short of full U.N. membership - something the Palestinians failed to achieve last year. But it would allow them access to the International Criminal Court and some other international bodies, should they choose to join them.

Hanan Ashrawi, a top Palestine Liberation Organization official, told a news conference in Ramallah that "the Palestinians can't be blackmailed all the time with money."

"If Israel wants to destabilize the whole region, it can," she said. "We are talking to the Arab world about their support, if Israel responds with financial measures, and the EU has indicated they will not stop their support to us."

Peace talks have been stalled for two years, mainly over the issue of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which have expanded despite being deemed illegal by most of the world.

In the draft resolution, the Palestinians have pledged to relaunch the peace process immediately following the U.N. vote.

As there is little doubt about how the United States will vote when the Palestinian resolution to upgrade its U.N. status is put to a vote sometime after 3 p.m. (2000 GMT) on Thursday, the Palestinian Authority has been concentrating its efforts on lobbying wealthy European states, diplomats say.

With strong support from the developing world that makes up the majority of U.N. members, the resolution is virtually assured of securing more than the requisite simple majority. Palestinian officials hope for more than 130 yes votes.

Abbas has been trying to amass as many European votes in favor as possible.

Austria, Denmark, Norway, Finland, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland all pledged to support the Palestinian resolution. Britain said it was prepared to vote yes, but only if the Palestinians fulfilled certain conditions.

Diplomats said the Czech Republic was expected to vote against the move, potentially dashing European hopes to avoid a three-way split in the vote. Germany and the Netherlands said they planned to abstain, like Estonia and Lithuania.

Ashrawi said the positive responses from European states were encouraging and sent a message of hope to all Palestinians.

"This constitutes a historical turning point and opportunity for the world to rectify a grave historical injustice that the Palestinians have undergone since the creation of the state of Israel in 1948," she said.

A strong backing from European nations could make it awkward for Israel to implement harsh retaliatory measures. But Israel's reaction might not be so measured if the Palestinians seek ICC action against Israel on charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity or other crimes the court would have jurisdiction over.

Israel also seems wary of weakening the Western-backed Abbas, especially after the political boost rival Hamas received from recent solidarity visits to Gaza by top officials from Egypt, Qatar and Tunisia.

Hamas militants, who control Gaza and have had icy relations with the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, unexpectedly offered Abbas their support this week.

One Western diplomat said the Palestinian move was almost an insult to recently re-elected U.S. President Barack Obama.

"It's not the best way to convince Mr. Obama to have a more positive approach toward the peace process," said the diplomat, who was planning to vote for the resolution. "Three weeks after his election, it's basically a slap in the face."

(This story corrected name of Palestine Liberation Organization)

(Andrew Quinn in Washington, Noah Browning in Ramallah, Jeffrey Heller in Jerusalem, Michelle Nichols in New York, and Reuters bureaux in Europe and elsewhere; Editing by Peter Cooney and Xavier Briand)

Artists, Nobel laureates call for military boycott of Israel

'Military embargo against Israel.' Mike Leigh (Photo: AFP)

Mike Leigh, Ken Loach, Alice Walker, Noam Chomsky and Roger Waters among those who signed letter saying Operation Pillar of Defense 'new chapter in Israel's decades-old violations of international law, Palestinian rights'

Ynet
Published:     11.28.12, 16:09 / Israel News

A group of Nobel Peace Prize laureates, prominent artists and activists have issued a call for an international military boycott of Israel following Operation Pillar of Defense in Gaza, The Guardian reported Wednesday.
The group said it was "horrified at the latest round of Israeli aggression against the 1.5 million Palestinians in the besieged and occupied Gaza Strip and conscious of the impunity that has enabled this new chapter in Israel's decades-old violations of international law and Palestinian rights, we believe there is an urgent need for international action towards a mandatory, comprehensive military embargo against Israel.

"Such a measure has been subject to several UN resolutions and is similar to the arms embargo imposed against apartheid South Africa in the past," the letter read.

According to The Guardian, the 52 signatories include the Nobel peace laureates Mairead Maguire and Adolfo Pérez Esquivel; the film directors Mike Leigh and Ken Loach; the author Alice Walker; the US academic Noam Chomsky; Roger Waters of Pink Floyd; and Stéphane Hessel, a former French diplomat and Holocaust survivor who helped edit the universal declaration of human rights.

According to the British newspaper, the letter accuses several countries of providing important military support that "facilitated the assault" on Gaza. "While the United States has been the largest sponsor of Israel, supplying billions of dollars of advanced military hardware every year, the role of the European Union must not go unnoticed, in particular its hefty subsidies to Israel's military complex through its research programs.

"Similarly, the growing military ties between Israel and the emerging economies of Brazil, India and South Korea are unconscionable given their nominal support for Palestinian freedom," the letter says.

The letter opens with a quote from Nelson Mandela: "For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others."

The other signatories include John Dugard, a South African jurist and former UN special rapporteur in the occupied territories; Luisa Morgantini, former president of the European parliament; Cynthia McKinney, a former member of the US Congress; Ronnie Kasrils, a South African former cabinet minister; and the dramatist Caryl Churchill.

Five Lies the Media Keeps Repeating About Gaza

As Israel continues to pound Gaza, the Palestinian death toll of the latest round of violence has crossed the 100 mark. Thus far, the American media has given Israeli officials and spokespersons a free pass to shape the narrative of this conflict with falsehoods. Here are the top 5 lies the media doesn't challenge about the crisis in Gaza:

1. Israel Was Forced to Respond to Rockets to Defend Its Citizens
CNN, like many other American outlets, chose to begin the story of the latest round of violence in Gaza on November 10th, when 4 Israeli soldiers were wounded by Palestinian fire, and the IDF "retaliated" by killing several Palestinians. But just two days before, a 13 year old Palestinian boy was killed in an Israeli military incursion into Gaza (among other fatalities in preceding days). Is there any reason why those couldn't be the starting point of the "cycle of violence"? The bias was even more blatant in 2008/09, when Israel's massive assault on Gaza (which killed 1400+ Palestinians) was cast as self-defense, even though it was acknowledged in passing that Israel was the party that broke the ceasefire agreement in place at the time. Are the Palestinians not entitled to self-defense? And if indiscriminate Palestinian rocket fire is not an acceptable response to Israeli violence (which it absolutely isn't), how can indiscriminate Israeli bombings of Gaza ever be acceptable? And why is the broader context, the fact that Gaza remains under Israeli blockade and military control, overlooked?

2. Israel Tries to Avoid Civilian Casualties
It must be aggravating for Israel's propagandists when high-ranking political officials slip and get off the sanitized/approved message for public consumption. Yesterday, Israeli Interior Minister Eli Yishai said the "goal of the operation is to send Gaza back to the Middle Ages." Not to be outdone, Gilad Sharon, son of former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, said "we need to flatten entire neighborhoods in Gaza. Flatten all of Gaza." If you're thinking this is just rhetoric, consider the fact that, according to Amnesty International, Israel "flattened... busy neighborhoods" into "moonscapes" during its last major assault on Gaza in 2008/09. And it wasn't just human rights organizations that were exposing Israeli war crimes in Gaza, but Israeli soldiers whose conscience could not bear to remain silent about the atrocities they had committed were also coming forward.

If, for some odd reason, you cannot decide whether it is official Israeli spokespersons or soldiers of conscience and human rights investigators who are telling the truth, consider this question: If Hamas has only managed to kill 3 people despite being bent on killing civilians with thousands of indiscriminate rockets, how has Israel managed to kill several dozen Palestinian civilians when it is using sophisticated precision weapons to avoid civilian casualties? In just one Israeli attack yesterday, Israel killed more Palestinian civilians in a matter of minutes than the total number of all Israelis killed by rocket fire from Gaza over the last 3 years. The truth is exposed by the utter disregard for civilian life we see in practice, reaffirmed by testimonies and investigative evidence.

3. This Is About Security
If Israel's main objective were indeed to end the rocket fire from Gaza, all it had to do was accept the truce offered by the Palestinian factions before the Jabari assassination. And if the blockade of Gaza was just about keeping weapons from coming in, why are Palestinian exports from Gaza not allowed out? Why were food items ever restricted? The truth is, this isn't about security; it's about punishing the population of Gaza for domestic Israeli political consumption. When Gilad Sharon recommended the decimation of Gaza, he justified it by saying "the residents of Gaza are not innocent, they elected Hamas." Sharon may find this posturing to be rewarding in some circles, but it's actually the very same logic used by terrorists to attack civilians in democracies. Are Israeli civilians considered legitimate targets of violence because they elected right wing Israeli leaders who commit atrocities against the Palestinians? Of course not, and only a broken moral compass can keep this principle from consistently applying to Palestinian civilians as well.

4. Hamas Is the Problem
Between their religious right-wing domestic agenda, and their refusal to renounce violence against civilians, I'm most certainly no fan of Hamas. But whenever you hear Israel try to scapegoat Hamas for the crisis in Gaza, there are two things to consider. First, Hamas hasn't only showed preparedness to have a truce with Israel if Israel ended its attacks on Gaza, but has also suggested (though with mixed signals) that it is open to a two-state solution. Second, and more importantly, Hamas didn't come to power until 2006/07. Between 1993 and 2006 (13 years), Israel had the more moderate, peaceful, and pliant Palestinian authority (which recognizes Israel and renounces violence) to deal with as a partner for peace. What did Israel do? Did it make peace? Or did it continue to occupy Palestinian land, violate Palestinian rights, and usurp Palestinian resources? What strengthened Hamas and other extremists in Palestine is precisely the moderates' failure to secure any Palestinian rights through cooperation and negotiations. The truth is entirely inverted here: it is Israel's escalating violations of Palestinian rights which strengthen the extremists.

5. There is a Military Solution to this Conflict
This is not the first time, and probably not the last, that Israel has engaged in a military campaign to pummel its opponents into submission. But are we any closer to ending this conflict today after decades of violence? The answer is a resounding no. After the 2006 war in Lebanon, Hezbollah emerged stronger. After the 2009 war on Gaza, Hamas remained in power and maintained possession of thousands of rockets. Israel's military superiority, while indeed impressive (thanks to $30 billion in U.S. military aid this decade), is not stronger than the Palestinian will to live in dignity. The way to end the firing of rockets in the short term is to agree to a truce and end the blockade of Gaza. The way to resolve the entire conflict in the long term is to end Israel's illegal occupation of Palestinian lands and allow the Palestinians to exercise their right to self-determination. We're probably close to a ceasefire agreement to end this round of violence. The real challenge is ending the Israeli occupation for long-term peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians.

#gazaunderattack   #middleeast   #Gaza   #palestine   #israel
http://www.sott.net/article/253818-5-Lies-the-Media-Keeps-Repeating-About-Gaza

SPREAD THE WORD

It's Palestinians who have the right to defend themselves

The Guardian:
Tuesday 20 November 2012
Seumas Milne

The US and Britain stand behind Israel's onslaught on Gaza. Justice requires a change in the balance of forces on the ground

The way western politicians and media have pontificated about Israel's onslaught on Gaza, you'd think it was facing an unprovoked attack from a well-armed foreign power. Israel had every "right to defend itself", Barack Obama declared. "No country on earth would tolerate missiles raining down on its citizens from outside its borders."

He was echoed by Britain's foreign secretary, William Hague, who declared that the Palestinian Islamists of Hamas bore "principal responsibility" for Israel's bombardment of the open-air prison that is the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, most western media have echoed Israel's claim that its assault is in retaliation for Hamas rocket attacks; the BBC speaks wearisomely of a conflict of "ancient hatreds".

In fact, an examination of the sequence of events over the last month shows that Israel played the decisive role in the military escalation: from its attack on a Khartoum arms factory reportedly supplying arms to Hamas and the killing of 15 Palestinian fighters in late October, to the shooting of a mentally disabled Palestinian in early November, the killing of a 13 year-old in an Israeli incursion and, crucially, the assassination of the Hamas commander Ahmed Jabari last Wednesday during negotiations over a temporary truce.

Israel's prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, had plenty of motivation to unleash a new round of bloodletting. There was the imminence of Israeli elections (military attacks on the Palestinians are par for the course before Israeli polls); the need to test Egypt's new Muslim Brotherhood president, Mohamed Morsi, and pressure Hamas to bring other Palestinian guerrilla groups to heel; and the chance to destroy missile caches before any confrontation with Iran, and test Israel's new Iron Dome anti-missile system.

So after six days of sustained assault by the world's fourth largest military power on one of its most wretched and overcrowded territories, at least 130 Palestinians had been killed, an estimated half of them civilians, along with five Israelis. The goal, Israel's interior minister, Eli Yeshai, insisted, had been to "send Gaza back to the middle ages".

True, the bloodshed hasn't so far been on the scale of Operation Cast Lead in 2008-9, which left 1,400 Palestinians dead in three weeks. But the issue isn't just who started and escalated it, or even the grinding "disproportionality" of yet another Israeli military battering (even before last month's flareups, 314 Palestinians had been killed since 2009, as against 20 Israelis).

It's that to portray Israel as some kind of victim with every right to "defend itself" from attack from "outside its borders" is a grotesque inversion of reality. Israel has after all been in illegal occupation of both the West Bank and Gaza, where most of the population are the families of refugees who were driven out of what is now Israel in 1948, for the past 45 years.

Despite Israel's withdrawal of settlements and bases in 2005, the Gaza Strip remains occupied, both effectively and legally – and is recognised as such by the UN. Israel is in control of Gaza's land and sea borders, territorial waters and natural resources, airspace, power supply and telecommunications. It has blockaded the strip since Hamas took over in 2006-7, preventing the movement of people, materials, and food supplies in and out of the territory – even calculating the 2,279 calories per person that would keep Gazans on an exemplary "diet". And it continues to invade the strip at will.

So Gazans are an occupied people and have the right to resist, including by armed force (though not to target civilians), while Israel is an occupying power that has an obligation to withdraw – not a right to defend territories it controls or is colonising by dint of military power.

Even if Israel had genuinely ended its occupation in 2005, Gaza's people are Palestinians, and their territory part of the 22% of historic Palestine earmarked for a Palestinian state that depends on Israeli withdrawal from the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem. Across their land, Palestinians have the right to defend and arm themselves, whether they choose to exercise it or not.

But instead the US, Britain and other European powers finance, arm and back to the hilt Israel's occupation, including the siege of Gaza – precisely to prevent Palestinians obtaining the arms that would allow them to protect themselves against Israeli military might.

It's hardly surprising of course that powers which have themselves invaded, occupied and intervened across the Arab and Muslim world over the last decade should throw their weight behind Israel doing the same thing on its own doorstep. But it isn't Palestinian rockets that stop Israel lifting the blockade, dismantling its illegal settlements or withdrawing from the West Bank and Gaza – it's unconditional US and western support that gives Israel impunity.

Whatever the Israeli government's mix of motivations for winding up the past week's conflict, it seems to have backfired. For the first time since the start of the Arab uprisings, the cause of Palestine is again centre stage.

Emboldened by the wave of change and growing support across the region, Hamas has also regained credibility as a resistance force, which had faded since 2009, and strengthened its hand against an increasingly discredited Palestinian Authority leadership in Ramallah. The deployment of longer-range rockets that have now been shown to reach Tel Aviv and Jerusalem is also beginning to shift what has been an overwhelmingly one-sided balance of deterrence.

The truce being negotiated on Tuesday would reportedly enforce Hamas responsibility for policing the strip and crucially break the blockade, opening the Rafah crossing with Egypt for goods as well as people. It doesn't, however, look like the long-term security deal with Hamas Israel was looking for, which would risk deepening the disastrous Palestinian split between Gaza and the West Bank.

Any relief from the bombardment, death and suffering of the past week has got to be welcome. But no ceasefire is going to prevent another eruption of violence. Whatever is finally agreed won't end Israel's occupation and colonisation of Palestinian land or halt its war of dispossession against the Palestinian people. That demands unrelenting pressure on the western powers that underwrite it to change course. But most of all, it needs a change in the balance of forces on the ground.

[HumanRights] Stay Human

From: Mazin Qumsiyeh  

More than 105 Palestinians were murdered so far in Gaza (and a few in the
West Bank), 30 of them children.  Israeli warplanes targeted residential
neighborhoods in Gaza for the seventh straight day (>1400 bombings) and
round the clock.  In one shelling of a building (which Israel says was a
"technical glitch"), nine members of Al-Dalou family were killed with two
neighbors.  Here are the names of the known martyrs of this one shelling
alone:

Mohammed Jamal Al-Dalou, the father with his four children:
Yousef Mohammed Jamal Al-Dalou, 10 years old
Jamal Mohammed Jamal Al-Dalou, 7 year old
Ranin Mohammed Jamal Al-Dalou, 5 years old
Ibrahim Mohammed Jamal Al-Dalou, 1 year old
Jamal Al-Dalou, the grandfather
Sulafa Al Dalou, 46 years old
Samah Al-Dalou, 25 years old
Tahani Al-Dalou, 50 years old
Ameina Matar Al-Mzanner, 83 years old.
Abdallah Mohammed Al-Mzanner, 23 years old

In the West Bank, an Israeli gas bomb shot into a Palestinain home near
Qalandia checkpoint burned to death a 20-month-old baby by the name of
Najib Ahmed Najib. Israeli occupation forces critically injured many
Palestinians including in Bethlehem.  And in Nebi Saleh they used live
ammunition against stone throwing Palestinian.  In the volley of live
bullets, they murdered our friend Rushdi Tamimi (brother of Nariman Tamimi
who is featured in many videos I sent earlier).  Here is a video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4L3oaYtyLs

Action: Boycott Soda Stream
http://holidaysodastreamboycott.wordpress.com/

Video of Al-Dalou children http://youtu.be/1X67Bzm7OqI
Video of the aftermath from AlJazeerah
http://blogs.aljazeera.com/topic/gaza/video-family-buries-ten-members-killed-israeli-airst
rike

Some photos from different locations by Activestills
http://www.flickr.com/photos/activestills/

Names of Palestinian victims of the current assault on Gaza
http://palestinefrommyeyes.wordpress.com/2012/11/17/gazaunderattack-names-and-ages-of-kill
ed-people-who-fell-victim-during-the-past-ongoing-israeli-attacks-on-gaza/

In pain and agony but with renewed determination and hope

Our friend Vittorio used to end his messages with "*Stay human*".  This
simple message is most pertinent today

Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD
http://qumsiyeh.org

And Clinton won't meet with Hamas because they won't renounce "terrorism". Mazin

reports the real terrorism as IDF deliberately targets civilian households. Israel

still pulls America's strings and makes every American president save perhaps Jimmy

Carter kow tow to its need to act out the Jewish racist ideology, Zionism. 

[HumanRights] Gaza analysis

From: Mazin Qumsiyeh


For Gaza friends and others: How to stay connected if the internet is shut down

http://www.movements.org/how-to/entry/how-to-prepare-for-an-internet-connection-cut-off/
have a rooted android phone? You can install this app to make mesh network
calls when the cell towers go down.
http://www.androidzoom.com/android_applications/communication/the-serval-mesh_bgstt.html

Actions: Emergency global actions for Gaza
https://docs.google.com/a/qumsiyeh.org/document/d/1Iq4XZx9Vj0BDIiWzlHi2mUS0VUOn_t-prgtGGCz
atQw/mobilebasic?pli=1

Israel forces have been attacking Gaza, destroying power grids, destroying
infrastructure and killingcivilians.  They intensified the brutal attack
after two home made rockets landed in Tel Aviv. Hospitals in Gaza are at
the breaking point trying to deal with casualties while under siege for
years.  But resistance forces in Gaza also reported downing an Israeli jet.
 Israeli authorities are caught lying to their own people about the extent
of damage coming from the resistance (e.g. saying the rockets were
intercepted and did not fall while Israeli citizens see them fall, fires
breaking and ambulances rushing in). I myself heard the sirens blaring in
the settlements of Gush Etzion and heard the thud of one large rocket
(presumably of the long range Fajr type). But now for an analytical comment.

Is history repeating itself?  The Israeli attack on Gaza this week is
happening between the US Presidential elections and the Israeli (early)
elections.  The attack on Gaza four years ago also happened after the US
elections and before Israeli elections. Some Israeli citizens thus put an
advertisement in an Israeli paper titled "No to the election war!"
 Netanyahu and company today are trying to repeat what Olmert and company
tried to do four years ago: pound Gaza into submission while gaining
right-wing votes .. [To read more of the analysis, go to
http://popular-resistance.blogspot.com/2012/11/gaza-redux.html ]

Hacking group Anonymous has launched a series of cyber attacks against websites in Israel.

Anonymous announced its attacks via Twitter

Data bombardments briefly knocked some sites offline and led to others being defaced with pro-Palestinian messages.

The OpIsrael campaign was launched by the hacking collective in retaliation for attacks on Gaza.

The cyber attacks come as the Israeli army updates its web campaign adding "achievements" and "badges" for regular visitors.

Propaganda war

Anonymous said it had launched the OpIsrael campaign following threats by the Israeli government to cut all Gaza's telecommunication links. This, said the group in a statement posted to the AnonRelations website, "crossed a line in the sand".

"We are ANONYMOUS and NO ONE shuts down the Internet on our watch," it said.

The group warned the Israeli government not to cut off telecom and web links and urged it to end military operations in Gaza. If the attacks did not end, Israel would feel the group's "full and unbridled wrath".

Hours after the statement was launched, Anonymous posted a list of 87 sites it claimed had been defaced or attacked as part of OpIsrael. Many of the sites had their homepages replaced with messages in support of Hamas and the Palestinians.

Anonymous also produced a package of information for people in Gaza detailing alternative ways for them to communicate if net and other telecommunication links were cut.

At the same time as the Anonymous attacks were being carried out, the Israeli Defence Force re-started tools on its blog that reward people for repeat visits and interacting with the site.

Called IDF Ranks, the tools add a "game" element to the blog and reward repeat visitors with points. When visitors have amassed enough points they get a virtual military rank.

A visitor who goes to the site 10 times gets a "consistent" badge and someone who does lots of searches gets rewarded with the "research officer" rank.

The army said the rank system was turned off briefly as its social media sites had received very heavy traffic. On Wednesday, it began a live feed about its military operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Similarly, Hamas has been giving running commentaries on its mortar and rocket attacks on Israeli targets via Twitter.

Gaza returns deadly rocket fire on Israel

 Three Israelis killed by rocket fire on southern town, as wave of violence that has left 13 Palestinians dead continues.

Al Jazeera
Last Modified: 15 Nov 2012 13:03

Five Palestinians were killed by Israeli air strikes on Thursday morning, as militants shot around 250 rockets into Israel, killing three Israelis.

The latest violence raised the total number of Gazans killed by Israeli air strikes since Wednesday to 15. At least 120 other residents of the coastal enclave have been injured, according to medics.

In the same period, Gaza rockets killed three Israelis and injured another five in a direct hit on a residential building in the southern town of Kiryat Malahi, said Israeli police.

"We have three killed," spokeswoman Luba Samri told the AFP news agency, saying four other people were also injured in a "direct hit on a house" in the town, 30km north of the Gaza Strip.

The fighting began when Israel assassinated Ahmed al-Jabari, head of Hamas’ military wing, with an air strike on his car in Gaza on Wednesday. Jabari's bodyguard and son were also killed in the strike.

Thursday's rocket fire on Kiryat Malahi was claimed by Jabari's group, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, in a statement on its website.

Israeli authorities said more than 250 rockets and mortars were fired by Hamas and other armed groups from Gaza as of Thursday afternoon, and its Iron Dome interceptor missile system had shot down dozens of the projectiles.

On either side of the frontier, people fled streets for cover.

Expecting days or more of fighting, Israel warned Hamas all its men were in its sights and weathered censure from
influential Arab countries - with the Arab League announcing it was to hold an emergency meeting on Saturday and Egypt recalling its ambassador to Israel.

The United States condemned Hamas, long shunned by the West as an obstacle to peace.

'Clear message'

Speaking on Wedneday night, hours after a major wave of air strikes pounded targets in the Palestinian Gaza Strip, Netanyahu vowed that Israel would not tolerate any further rocket fire on its territory.

In a televised address, Netanyahu said: "Today we sent a clear message to Hamas and other terrorist organisations, and if it becomes necessary we are prepared to expand the operation.

"Hamas and the terror organisations have chosen to escalate their attacks on the citizens of Israel in recent days," he said after consultations with his security cabinet.

"We will not tolerate a situation in which Israeli citizens are threatened by rocket fire."

Al Jazeera's Nadim Baba, reporting from Gaza, said: "In the last 30 seconds there was another big blast. [The strikes] have been going on all evening.

"It is not just air strikes, but also strikes from Israeli naval ships just off the coast of Gaza."

Baba said the streets of Gaza City on Wednesday evening were "eerily quiet, except for the sound of ambulances".

"The latest from medical sources is that at least seven people have been killed, including two children, and at least 60 people have been wounded, including ten children."

'Gates of hell'

The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas headed by Jabari, issued a communique saying Israel had "opened the gates of hell on itself", and Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum said the strike was tantamount to a "declaration of war".

"The occupation committed a dangerous crime and crossed all the red lines, which is considered a declaration of war", he said in a statement.

"The occupation will pay dearly for this and we will make it regret the moment they thought about it."

Hamas said it had fired at least 20 rockets into Israel in retaliation for Jabari's assassination, shortly after the air strike tore his car to pieces.

Mark Regev, spokesperson for the Israeli prime minister's office, told Al Jazeera: "We are continuing to hit Hamas targets, and their missile sites, because we knew they would [be] responding immediately...Ultimately we did not want this round of fighting, it was forced upon us.

"We will not allow Hamas to terrorise our civilian population. All the options are open.

"Our most important goal is to protect our people. Hamas has deliberately targeted civilians. They deliberately use Gaza civilians as human shields, too."

Rising tensions

The strikes came after five days of rising tensions along the Gaza border which began on Saturday when Palestinian fighters fired an anti-tank rocket at an army jeep, sparking Israeli fire which killed seven.

Ehud Barak, the Israeli defence minister, said the strike was only the beginning of an operation with the goals of strengthening Israel's deterrence, damaging armed groups' rocket-firing capabilities and stamping out attacks on southern Israel.

"Israel doesn't want a war but the Hamas provocation of recent weeks, with recurring, frequent rounds of mortar and rockets fired at southern Israel, an explosive tunnel that was activated...and anti-tank fire at a jeep in Israel, forced us to act sharply and decisively," Barak said.

"We are at the beginning, not end of this action," he said, stressing the need to be "on high alert in Israel and West Bank... It won't be a quick fix.. but we'll reach goals we set for this operation."

He urged regional leaders to act "judiciously and with a cool head to promote stability and return of quiet, and not to be dragged to their deterioration".

The operation prompted widespread condemnation, with Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi recalling Cairo's envoy to Israel and summoning the Israeli ambassador for consultations, his spokesman said.

Following a request from Morsi, Arab League chief Nabil el-Arabi said the organisation was preparing to hold an emergency meeting over the violence.

Britain also urged restraint and Russia said it was "very concerned" about the escalation, while Washington said it was watching developments in Gaza "closely".

Israeli army spokeswoman Avital Leibovich said the operation, code named "Pillar of Defence", had only just begun with the air force hitting "close to 20 targets" used for launching rockets, especially those with a range of 40km, and causing "significant damage".

Egypt's president recalls ambassador to Israel after Gaza strike kills Hamas commander

Associated Press
Published November 14, 2012

CAIRO –  Egypt has recalled its ambassador to Israel after an Israeli airstrike killed the military commander of Gaza's ruling Hamas.

In a statement read on state TV late Wednesday, spokesman Yasser Ali said that President Mohammed Morsi recalled the ambassador and asked the Arab League's Secretary General to convene an emergency ministerial meeting in the wake of the Gaza violence.

Morsi also called for an immediate cease fire between Israel and Hamas, an offshoot of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood. Israel says it struck in response to rocket attacks from Gaza.

Hours earlier, Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood group denounced the Israeli airstrike as a "crime that requires a quick Arab and international response to stem these massacres."

Relations between Israel and Egypt have deteriorated since longtime President Hosni Mubarak was ousted last year.

More colonial activity

From Mazin Qumsiyeh's journal:

Today, Jewish settlers came to Beit Sahour to look over the area they want
to build the new settlement/colony on. Last night, settlers tried to burn a
Palestinian family home in Tequa. This week, Israeli ministers give
speeches that says they support new settlements and expanding existing
colonial settlements.   The Jewish state's  finance minister even admitted
doubling the financial support for these settlements built on stolen native
Palestinian lands.  The last few days there was an escalation of the
Israeli bombing raids in Gaza.  US-made airplanes, paid for by US
taxpayers, and painted with the star of David, were used to kill several
Palestinian civilians and at least two Palestinian militants (extrajudicial
assassinations). Israeli occupation forces are threatening more strikes and
more colonialism.  Many Palestinians were relieved to see Obama win the US
presidency and some 80% of Arab Americans voted for him.  But Obama said
nothing about these atrocities since his election.

The US position is what it is and will change only when more Americans are
made aware of the Zionist damage to US public and economic interests.  The
Israeli position is also predictable until more Israelis can transcend
their brainwashing.  What is less understandable and more disturbing is
that we still hear the same rhetoric from the two "Palestinian authorities"
which have no authorities and whose terms in office expired nearly three
years ago: Hamas in Gaza and Fatah in the West Bank. Some "leaders" of
these factions reserve their most bitter verbal and even physical attacks
against the other faction or anyone who might question the status quo.
 Hamas "security" beat women in Gaza protesting for unity and Fatah
"security" regularly arrest and imprison Hamas activists in the West Bank
or even normal ordinary citizens who they suspect are not agreeing to their
policies.  This included one of my own students who missed important
lectures as he was being questioned by fellow Palestinians.

Absent a reasonably responsible leadership that puts the Palestinian cause
ahead of factional and financial interests, this leaves most Palestinians
desperate and frustrated.  Decent people are in all Palestinian factions
but they are afraid to speak out within their own faction.  But then again,
I say the Palestinians need to stop looking for salvation from current
leaders, from Obama, from the Arab Spring or from anyone else.  The 1936
uprising started when the young people took to the streets despite the
bickering Nashashibis vs Husseinis of that era.  It is time to do what
young people have always done: depend on themselves unencumbered by the
baggage carried by the older generation. I see this spirit in the young
when I browse facebook pages in Palestine.  We need to only put our own
necks out and also help our children show courage to liberate us all from
the corruption that has become like an illness spread among families and
among factions.  History will not be kind to those of us who join the
corruption nor will it be kind to those who are apathetic and sit and wait.

*Relevant links for today:*

Kairos Palestine: Christians of the Holy Land ask you to act this
advent/christmas
http://www.sabeel.ca/docs/Kairos%20Palestine%20Christmas%202012.pdf

What Zionism means to Uri Zakheim
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qr2YPlYJY0s

Israel is responsible for "price tag" attacks, not just a few settler
extremists Philip Bato
http://electronicintifada.net/content/israel-responsible-price-tag-attacks-not-just-few-se
ttler-extremists/11852

Israel Doubles West Bank Settlements Budget
http://www.roitov.com/articles/steinitz2.htm

Palestinian Fighter killed In Gaza, Seven Palestinians Killed Since
Saturday Evening http://www.imemc.org/article/64539

The Rothschild family wealth was critical in the formation of Israel.
 Money still directs interests of wealth Zionist leaders who profit while
poor Israelis and millions of Palestinians suffer. For a background on the
family, see http://youtu.be/DYCCB0Q7xUw

Still having "joyful participation in the worroes of this world" and
inviting you to come visit us in Bethlehem, the birthplace of the prince of
peace

Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD
http://qumsiyeh.org

Cannot back Myanmar's Rohingya:Suu Kyi

November 04, 2012 - Updated 97 PKT
From Web Edition
The International Times

YANGON: Aung San Suu Kyi has declined to speak out on behalf of Rohingya Muslims and insisted she will not use "moral leadership" to back either side in deadly communal unrest in west Myanmar, reports said.

The Nobel laureate, who has caused disappointment among international supporters for her muted response to violence that has swept Rakhine state, said both Buddhist and Muslim communities were "displeased" that she had not taken their side.

More than 100,000 people have been displaced since June in two major outbreaks of violence in the state, where renewed clashes last month uprooted about 30,000 people. Dozens have been killed on both sides and thousands of homes torched.

"I am urging tolerance but I do not think one should use one's moral leadership, if you want to call it that, to promote a particular cause without really looking at the sources of the problems," Suu Kyi told the BBC on Saturday.

Speaking in the capital Naypyidaw after talks with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, who has said the EU is "deeply concerned" about the violence and its consequences for Myanmar's reforms, Suu Kyi said she could not speak out in favour of the stateless Rohingya. "I know that people want me to take one side or the other, so both sides are displeased because I will not take a stand with them," she said.

The democracy champion, who is now a member of parliament after dramatic changes overseen by a quasi-civilian regime that took power last year, said the rule of law should be established as a first step before looking into other problems. "Because if people are killing one another and setting fire to one another's houses, how are we going to come to any kind of reasonable settlement?" she said.



Myanmar's 800,000 Rohingya are seen by the government and many in the country as illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh. They face severe discrimination that activists say has led to a deepening alienation. The Rohingya, who make up the vast majority of those displaced in the fighting, are described by the UN as among the world's most persecuted minorities

Church of the Holy Sepulchre in row over water bill

 BBC News
2 November 2012 Last updated at 15:26 ET

The church is a major pilgrimage site for millions of visitors to the Holy Land

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem has warned that it may shut its doors to pilgrims in protest at a dispute with an Israeli water company.

The church, where many Christians believe Jesus was crucified, has had its bank account frozen at the request of Hagihon over an unpaid $2.3m bill.

The dispute has left hundreds of priests, monks and teachers unpaid.

The church has traditionally not been charged for water, but Hagihon says it is owed money for the past 15 years.

'Unjustified step'

According to the Israeli newspaper Maariv, there was a tacit agreement between the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem - which, along with the Armenian Orthodox Patriarchate and the Roman Catholic Franciscan Custos, is jointly responsible for the Church of the Holy Sepulchre's administration - and a former mayor of the city that the church would be exempt from water bills.

But in 2004, Hagihon sent a demand to the church for 3.7m shekels ($950,000; £590,000). It was backdated to when the company took over the water supply in the late 1990s.

The Patriarchate reportedly believed it was a mistake because Hagihon did not press it to pay. The company is now demanding that the bill, which has risen to 9m shekels ($2.3m; £1.4m) including interest, be settled.

A Hagihon spokesman said Israeli law did not permit any exemptions.

The company had not taken other enforcement steps, such as shutting off the water supply, in order not to disrupt activities at the site, he added.

Father Isidoros Fakitsas, Superior of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, told the Associated Press that an agreement had been reached with Hagihon a few weeks ago.

Under the deal, various denominations of the church would pay their monthly bill and the 9m-shekel debt was to be forgotten, he said.

But to his surprise the Patriarchate's bank account was blocked, making it impossible to pay stipends to some 500 priests and monks, 2,000 teachers and the running costs of more than 30 schools.

According to Maariv, other services have also been affected, including telephones, internet and electricity, as well as companies supplying food.

Father Fakitsas said the Patriarchate would be able to function despite the frozen bank account and that it would try to find an alternative if matters became too difficult, such as opening another bank account.

Patriarch Theophilos III wrote a letter to Israel's prime minister and president warning that the "enforcement of this unjustified step undermines the sanctity and offends the sensitivity of the site".

He told Maariv: "If nothing changes we intend to announce... for the first time in centuries, that the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is closed."

The other Christian denominations which jointly manage the church are said to support the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in its battle.

The Israeli tourism ministry said the issue was between the Patriarchate and the Jerusalem municipality, but that it was trying to mediate between them and hoped that the dispute would be resolved quickly.

This type of legal harassment of Christians by Israelis goes on continually. My friends at the Tent of Nations have been stopped from building anything on their own land outside of Bethlehem because Israelis want it for another Jewish settlement site. Instead of outright taking the land as theft, Israelis do it by stealth, long term harassment and "legal" denial of normal Palestinian or Christian citizen right. One has the impression when traveling in Israel of it being a place where Jews can finally act out their religion's basic hostility towards Gentiles.

Inequality 'highest for 20 years' - Save The Children

                                  Save The Children says inequality harms children's life chances

 BBC News
31 October 2012 Last updated at 21:26 ET


Global inequalities in wealth are at their highest level for 20 years and are growing, according to a new report by Save The Children.

While the charity acknowledges progress has been made in goals such as reducing child mortality, the report says this has been uneven across income groups.

Continuing inequality could hinder further progress in improving living standards, the charity says.

The report comes ahead of a meeting of a high-level UN panel on poverty.

"In recent decades the world has made dramatic progress in cutting child deaths and improving opportunities for children; we are now reaching a tipping point where preventable child deaths could be eradicated in our lifetime," Save the Children's chief executive, Justin Forsyth, said.

"Unless inequality is addressed... any future development framework will simply not succeed in maintaining or accelerating progress. What's more, it will hold individual countries - and the world - back from experiencing real growth and prosperity," Mr Forsyth added.

Save The Children's researchers found that in most of the 32 developing countries they looked at, the rich had increased their share of national income since the 1990s.

In a fifth of the countries, the incomes of the poorest had fallen over the same period.

The gap has become particularly pronounced among children and affects their well-being as well as causing disparities in several key indicators, the charity says.

For example, it notes that in Tanzania, child mortality in the richest fifth of the population fell from 135 to 90 per 1,000 births over the research period, while the poorest fifth saw hardly any progress with a modest fall of 140 to 137 per 1,000 births.