Palestinian World

Yawm an-Nakba

2013-05-11T06:47:00.000-07:00

image source GazaYBO

Zionism – The Real Enemy of the Jews, by Alan Hart

2013-05-10T04:56:00.001-07:00

Alan Hart’s trilogy on the devastating impact of Zionism not only on the Palestinian people but also on Judaism is the most comprehensive and best analysis that has ever been written on this subject. The author takes the readers on an epic journey through a cocoon of propaganda lies that kept the Westerners, especially the U. S. Americans in line with a movement, which has been violating every value Western democracies pretend to defend. The massage on the cover of the first volume is clear:

“Almost everything you have been conditioned to believe about the making and sustaining of conflict in the Middle East is not true. Israel’s existence has never – ever – been in danger from any combination of Arab military force. Zionism’s assertion that Israel’s Jews have lived in constant danger of being ‘driven into the sea’ was the propaganda cover that allowed Israel (a Zionist, not a Jewish state) to get away where it mattered most – in Europe and America – with presenting its aggression as self-defense and itself as the victim when, it was and remains the aggressor.”

Alan Hart wrote a very personal, revealing, and truth-telling article on “dissent voice” [1] that shocked me on the one hand; on the other hand, however, it backed up all my own experiences, which I had with “the Arabs” and with the destructive and wicked influence of the “Zionist Lobby”. This article was the key trigger to finally review the three books that have long rested on the pile of books, which I wanted to discuss. I totally agree with Hart’s statement: “I was naive to believe that Palestinian right could be assisted to triumph over Zionist might.” So far, I have not given up, although my support of the righteous cause of the Palestinian people has caused me nothing but problems. Perhaps, Alan Hart should reconsider his decision, if there is one Palestinian or Arab who thinks the fight for the right of the oppressed Palestinian people is worth some dollars.

In Volume One, which carries the subtitle “The False Messiah”, Hart unfolds the “modern” history of the collaboration between Western imperial interest and the desire of Zionism to establish a state. The political perversity comes to the open in the chapter “Waiting for the Apocalypse” that shows the total support of U. S. American religious fundamentalist for an Armageddon in order to bring about the final coming of Christ. Their teachings show how dangerous religious fairytales can be when misused for political ends.

The chapter “The Honest Zionist” shows that, at least the revisionist Zionists, were very honest about their real political intentions. Vladimir “Zeev” Jabotinsky, their “spiritual” leader, wrote this very clearly in his “classical” political pamphlet “The Iron Wall”. “All colonization, even the most restricted, must continue in defiance of the will of the native population. Therefore, it can continue and develop only under the shield of force which comprises an Iran Wall which the local population can never break through. This is our Arab policy. To formulate it any other way would be hypocrisy.” Just recently, Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu referred to his father Benzion, who was, inter alia, also Jabotinsky’s personal secretary and who died a few months ago at the age of 102, as an authoritative source what Israel’s future is concerned!

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America and Israel: Imperial Partners in Crime

2013-05-07T12:31:00.002-07:00

By Stephen Lendman

Longstanding ties remain firm. Both nations are imperial partners. Naked aggression is official policy. Regime change in Syria is planned. Daily events head inexorably toward full-scale intervention.

mwcnews.net

The latest incident ups the stakes. On May 4, The New York Times headlined "Israel Bombs Syria as the US Weighs Its Own Options," saying:

An unnamed US official said "Israel bombed a target in Syria overnight Thursday. (Washington) consider(s its own) military options, including carrying out (its) own air-strikes."

According to Reuters, "(t)he attack took place on Friday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet approved it in a secret meeting on Thursday night…."

These type meetings often precede imminent action. They're held to approve them.

CNN's Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr said "(t)he United States believes Israel has conducted an air-strike into Syria, two US officials tell CNN."

"US and Western intelligence agencies are reviewing classified data showing Israel most likely conducted a strike in the Thursday-Friday time frame, according to both officials."

"This is the same time frame that the US collected additional data showing Israel was flying a high number of warplanes over Lebanon."

An unnamed Israeli military source said "(w)e will do whatever is necessary to stop the transfer of weapons from Syria to terrorist organizations. We have done it in the past and we will do it if necessary the future."

Pretexts are easy to create. Washington and Israel do so to justify crimes of war and against humanity.

According to the NYT, "(t)he target was not a Syrian chemical weapons facility…." The same unnamed US official said a building was struck.

Lebanon's Daily Star said "(e)ight Israeli warplanes violated Lebanon's airspace in a span of 14 hours, flying over large swarths of the country, Army officials announced Friday."

Israeli military aircraft do so almost daily. This time was different. Lebanese overflights were "unusually high." At 7PM local time, they began.

Two Israeli warplanes entered Lebanese airspace west of Sidon. They "conducted aerial maneuvers." They left four hours later.

"Ten minutes" before they departed, "another two warplanes entered entered" Lebanese airspace "west of Jounieh." More maneuvers followed. They returned to Israel after midnight.

"At 12:35 AM, another sortie of two warplanes entered Lebanese airspace" near Beirut. They also conducted maneuvers. They left before 3:15 AM.

"At 6 AM, two more warplanes" overflew overflew "all Lebanese regions." They left at 8:50 AM.

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With an empty stomach

2013-04-27T13:28:00.000-07:00

by Adam Keller

One shouldn’t underestimate the Israeli government’s public relations headache caused by one young Palestinian who is tightly incarcerated behind bars and who confronts the entire might of the state, its government and army and security services, his only weapon being – an empty stomach.

Samer Issawi, had already spent many years in prison, with no one in Israel hearing of him. In fact, even among Palestinians he was not very famous, except perhaps at his native Isawiyya in East Jerusalem. When the prisoner swap took place at the end of 2011, he was no more than one of many Palestinian prisoners being set free and getting an enthusiastic welcome and then dropping off the headlines.

He would have probably remained in obscurity, if not for somebody in Israel’s security services deciding to return him to prison some six months after having been released. This was on the basis of his having “violated the terms of his parole” – i.e., he had left Isawiyya, which is part of East Jerusalem and has been annexed to Israel in 1967, to have a car repaired at a garage in the town of A-Ram just outside the annexed territory. Therefore, he was to be returned to jail and serve a further 14 years. And yes, the security services told the media they were in possession of evidence that Issawi had "gone back to terrorist activity" and therefore must be imprisoned – such evidence being highly classified and therefore could not be presented in public and certainly not shown to Issawi himself.

It was at this point that Samer Issawi used his secret weapon and stopped eating and stated that he would not stop his hunger strike until the Israeli authorities agree to release him. And for two hundred and sixty five days Samer Issawi was walking on the precipice, balancing on the fine line between life and death. Nothing went into his mouth but some liquids and vitamins which just barely kept him alive while he was growing ever thinner, losing dozens of pounds and becoming a living skeleton on his bed at Kaplan Hospital, to which the security services insisted upon shackling his arms and legs, even when he was too weak to stand.

"An act of desperation" was how the well known Israeli writer A.B. Yehoshua put it. In a letter which he sent to the imprisoned Issawi, co-signed by several other prominent intellectuals, Yehoshua wrote: "We read with great pain of your hunger strike. The accounts of your ever deteriorating situation terrify and shock us, We feel that the act of suicide you are about to commit will add yet another dimension to the tragic and desperate conflict between the two peoples" .

But this was a mistaken appreciation. It was not a desperate and hopeless man who lay on that bed, and futile suicide was not his purpose. It was a fighter who put his life on the line in a very special kind of battlefield, struggling for his own personal freedom and that of all his people, but certainly with the hope of coming out victorious. There in the hospital bed he knew that his hunger strike was becoming the focus of growing attention by Palestinians wherever they are and increasing the unrest and agitation on the West Bank - just at the time when Israel’s PM Netanyahu was making a special effort to present to the world a situation of calm and tranquility and economic prosperity in the territories occupied by the State of Israel 46 years ago.

In a message taken out of the prison Issawi sent a message to the Palestinian masses: “I draw my strength from my people, from all the free people in the world, from friends and prisoners’ families of those who go on, day and night, crying out for freedom and an end to the occupation. I say to my people: I'm stronger than the army of occupation and its racist laws. My struggle is not only for my individual freedom. My struggle and that of my heroic fellows Tariq, Ayman and Ja’affar is everybody’s struggle, the struggle of the Palestinian people against the occupation and its prisons. Our goal is to be free and sovereign in our liberated state and our blessed Jerusalem. The weak and strained beats of my heart derive their steadfastness from you, the great people. My darkening eyes draw light from your solidarity and support . My weak voice takes its strength from your voice, which flies higher than the prison walls”.

There came to his bedside the representatives of the security services of the State of Israel and made him a generous offer - to be released immediately if he agrees to be deported to the Gaza Strip. But ever since 1948, exile from home and hometown has been engraved in Palestinian consciousness as the most painful and traumatic of experiences, and Samer Issawi rejected any idea of a release which would not return him to his home at Issawiya in East Jerusalem.

And when representatives of the European Union expressed to their Israeli colleagues their growing concern for Issawi’s situation, someone in the government came up with the brilliant idea to offer that one of the Western democracies take Samer Issawi to its bosom and rid Israel of him – except that Issawi himself of course rejected this idea out of hand. And he further escalated and exacerbated his hunger strike, causing his health damages which might prove irreversible, and made an even deeper dangerous bend towards the abyss, and the security experts came to Netanyahu with nightmare scenarios of the huge conflagration which might break out among the Palestinian masses should he die in prison .

Then he did what no other Palestinian prisoner had done before him, and sent out another open letter. This time, it was not addressed to the Palestinians; he made a direct and painful appeal to Israelis everywhere.

“Israelis, I am Samer Al - Issawi, who is what your soldiers call disparagingly an Arabush, who is a Jerusalemite that you have put in prison for no more reason than that he went from Jerusalem to a suburb of Jerusalem. I have not heard one of you interfere to stop the loud wail of death, it’s as if each and every one of you has turned into a gravedigger, that everyone is wearing a military uniform: the judge, the writer, the intellectual, the journalist, the merchant, the academic, and the poet. I cannot believe that a whole society watches uncaring my death and my life, that you have turned into guardians over the settlers who chase after my dreams and my trees.

Israelis, I do not accept to be deported out of my homeland. Maybe now you will understand that the awareness of liberty is stronger than death. Do not listen to the generals and their dusty myths, for the defeated will not remain defeated, and the victor will not always be a victor. History is not measured only by battles, massacres and prisons, also by the extending of the hand of peace to the other - and to your own selves.

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Israeli army breaks up Palestinian march

2013-04-27T13:24:00.002-07:00

27-04-2013, mwcnews.net

Israeli soldiers have fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse about 500 Palestinian villagers marching towards an illegal settlement outpost in the occupied West Bank.

Friday's procession, the largest of its kind for years, followed charges by Palestinians that the Israeli settlers, whose caravans abut village land, had attacked them twice this week.

Around half a million settlers have moved to the West Bank and East Jerusalem since Israel captured the area, along with the Gaza Strip, in 1967.

Palestinians want the settlements removed from what they see as their future state.

Men from Deir Jareer, including Christian and Muslim clerics, gathered for prayers on a craggy outcrop between their village and a cluster of half a dozen makeshift settler homes surrounded by Israeli army jeeps and soldiers.

Their march, preceded by a group of stone-throwing youths, was repeatedly pushed back by salvoes of Israeli tear gas.

Young boys howled from the effects of the gas and old men hitched up their robes to flee, holding onion slices to their noses.

Medics treated several men for gas inhalation and rubber bullet wounds.

Political gatherings are rare around Deir Jareer, and began after villagers say settlers torched about ten of their cars on Monday night, after planting an Israeli flag on a derelict church on Friday and pelting village youths with stones.

"This was a peaceful area. We're gathered today to say we refuse to be attacked and driven off our own land," said Sami Issa, a resident. "We want their army to pull the settlers out."

The Israeli military has said it is investigating the events leading up to the march.

Asked about Friday's incidents, an army spokesman said: "Soldiers responded to a group of some 250 stone-throwing youths with riot dispersal means near Ofra."

Solution receding

Biblical and historical sources are cited by Israel as claims to the land, but the UN considers the settlements illegal and most world powers say they are an obstacle to peace.

Israel has sanctioned the building of 120 settlements, but about 100 unauthorised outposts, considered illegal even under Israeli law, dot the West Bank.

The US is trying to revive long-stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

US Secretary of State John Kerry told Congress this month that these efforts were urgent because the chance to create a viable Palestinian state was fast receding.

"I believe the window for a two-state solution is shutting," Kerry said. "I think we have some period of time, a year to a year and a half to two years or it's over."

Палестина, моя любима/ Palestine, ma bien-aimee, Asma Bourgi

2013-04-26T07:05:00.000-07:00

Тук можете да прочетете за Асма Буржи и първата й книга с есета "Образи на една жена"

Ще стане дума за продължаването във времето на конфликта в Палестина и раната в сърцето на човека, съпреживяващ случващото се. И то не само защото авторката е омъжена за Палестинец, прогонен - тогава 4 годишно момченце, от родното село. А за жена, пълна с любов към хората, съпричастна към болката и страдането; жена, устремена към светлината и мира.

"Палестина, моя любима" е втората книга на Асма Буржи. Личното ми мнение е, че е прекрасна. Четейки я предизвика не само моите сълзи! Истинска, преживяна, стремеж и воля...

Препоръчавам я на всеки - тук не става дума за религия, етнос или политически пристрастия. Тук става дума са Хора и Мир - както казва самата Асма Буржи - "...мир, но мир справедлив и траен".

В книгата са включени интервюта на авторката с бежанци от Палестина, живеещи в България от дълги години - хора на преклонна вече възраст, но не забравили случилото се преди 65 години, унижението, но не изгубили надеждата, че някога ще се върнат по родните си места...Запазили ключовете от домовете си!

Книгата е в продажба - цената е 11 лева. Ако желаете да я закупите, пишете на irshad@abv.bg

СТРАДАНИЕТО НА ЕДИН НАРОД

Нощта си отива и започва нов слънчев ден. Жителите на тази окупирана страна се събуждат, питайки се чии ред е днес. Вчера, а и в дните преди това мнозина заминаха: едните - убити от вражеските войници жестоко, без милост, други - арестувани, обиждани, малтретирани, измъчвани... докато смелите майки оплакват съдбата на децата си, неможещи нищо да сторят, за да спрат престъплението, без да знаят дали ще ги видят отново или са изчезнали завинаги. Жена гледа как задържат съпруга й, който, миг преди брутално да бъде изблъскан в камиона, отиващ в незнайна посока, погледна децата си, опитвайки се да им се усмихне – картина, която ще остане завинаги запечатана в паметта им. Майка му, със сълзи в очите, промълви: „Нека Бог бъде с теб”, срамежливо му помаха за сбогом, дарявайки му усмивка – тъжна и толкова лишена от надежда. А какво да кажа за стария мъж, седнал пред къщата си и неразбиращ нищо? Той е прекалено стар. Той отдавна не чува, само гледа и се моли. Приближиха се към него, задаваха му въпроси. Той не чуваше, не разбираше. Не можеше да отговори. Първият патрон достигна ръката му, после втори – крака му. Той плачеше. Страдаше! Не можеше да повярва, че има толкова жестокост в света. Тълпата, заобиколена от танкове и войници, въоръжени до зъби, крещеше от гняв и негодувание. А противникът – страхлив, толкова страхлив – се върна в камиона, за да продължи ежедневната си работа. Любимото им занимание – безмилостно да убиват, да унищожават... А вие, наблюдатели, седнали удобно в креслата си, гледайки тези картини, докато се наслаждавате на изкушенията на живота – по-добри ли сте?

Пиша, докато писалката ми плаче. Нямам повече думи, но сърцето ми е препълнено. Задавам си въпроси, без да получа отгвор. Това „защо” се завръща, за да измъчва душата ми. И няма кой да отговори и каже на висок глас: „Царува несправедливостта.“

Спомени и скърби

Роден си в Палестина. На колко години беше, когато бяхте принудени да напуснете родината си? Разкажи ми, подканвам го аз. Погледна ме за малко, с цигара в ръка, замислен, след това отново се загледа в земята. Връща се назад, много отдавна. "Бах на 5, а сестричката ми на 3, когато бяхме изгонени от земите си. Не си спомням много, но татко и майка ни разказваха често историята. Една сутрин моят баща се прибрал задъхан и казал на майка ми: "Побързай, йехудите са тук. Гонят хората от къщите им и убиват тези, които се съпротивляват. Но не се тревожи. Ще заминем само за няколко дни, арабската армия ще ни освободи, обещаха". Майка ми, която бе много вярваща, започна да се моли и да събира всичко, което се мернеше пред погледа й, включително и един матрак. Сложили всичко на гърба на едно магаре и треперейки, тези скромни и мирни хора поели в неизвестна посока, оставяйки зад себе си къщата си, земята си, маслиновите дръвчета, които отглеждали с любов. Отправили се към ливанската граница. По средата на пътя изгубили магарето. Било нощ. Децата плачели. Били гладни, жадни, измръзнали. Отнякъде майка ни дала парче хляб и сирене и ни сложила да спим. Баща ми настоял да се върне и да търси магарето. Тръгнал. Върнал се на сутринта, облян в сълзи. Казал на майка ми: "Вече нямаме нищо. Вазвушиха къщата ни, откраднаха добитъка ни. Какво ще правим?" А аз, 4-5 годишно момче, слушах и разбирах всичко. Днес съм на 60. Баща ми почина с надеждата да се върне в Хатин. Бях най-големия. Преди да умре, ми завеща една кожена торбичка. Беше запазил всички документи, доказващи собствеността ни в Пелестина и два ключа - един от къщата и един от голямата порта. Заръча ми добре да ги пазя. "Не ги губи. Ще ги дадеш на децата си, а те - на внуците ти". Запазих ги. Толкова искам да се върна в Хатин. У дома". Докато завършваше своя разказ го погледнах. Не се разплаках. Семо му благодарих, понеже не ме виждаше вече, потънал в спомените и скърбите си.

Demand An End To The Abuse of Palestine's Children

2013-04-24T06:20:00.001-07:00

Posted by Zahi Damuni (campaign founder of Palestinian Children's Rights Campaign)

Tell your friends about this

TAKE ACTION

Demand An End To The Abuse of Palestine's Children

The Declaration of the Rights of the Child, adopted by the United Nations in 1959, states that every child (regardless of race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status, whether of himself or of his family) shall be protected against all forms of neglect, cruelty and exploitation (articles 1 and 9).

Furthermore, The International Convention on the Rights of the Child, which came into force in 1990, sets out to further protect the rights of children. The Zionist state has not only neglected the rights of the child, but has imprisoned and used Palestinian children as human shields, and targeted playgrounds and schools. Since its imposition in Palestine in 1948, Israel has killed thousands of Palestinian children, and wounded many more including with serious physical and psychological injuries. Since the 1967 occupation of the West Bank and Gaza more than 8000 Palestinian children have been detained and held as prisoners often without charge and subjected to institutionalized torture, mistreatment and abuse by the occupation without protection. As of this moment, there are 236 Palestinian children detained in Israel's prisons.

Please take a moment to write to President Obama and demand that the US administration put a stop, at all costs, to Israel's abuse, mistreatment and torture of Palestine's children. Use the form at http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/submit-questions-and-comments

Also please Call the President at 1-202-456-1111 and demand the administration use its considerable financial and military aid to Israel to end its abuse of the fundamental human rights of Palestine's children.

al-Aqsa, 1856

2013-04-23T08:20:00.000-07:00

photo source

Al Aqsa Mosque

2013-04-19T13:58:00.000-07:00

Al Aqsa Mosque; Jerusalem, Palestine; 1856 – 1860

israel and Deir Yassin massacre

2013-04-16T06:59:00.003-07:00

Source MWC News

http://mwcnews.net

The state of Israel was established and is sustained on the continuous perpetration of genocides, destruction of whole towns, land theft, home demolition, ethnic cleansing, and terror against Palestinians. The massacre of the Palestinian small town of Deir Yassin in 9th of April 1948; 65 years ago of this week, is just one typical massacre story that details Zionist Jewish Israeli savagery prescribed in their holy book, the Talmud.

Palestine at the time was under the British occupation (Mandate) that ended on 15th of May 1948. Until that time there was no Israeli government or Israeli army, rather Zionist Jewish militia groups financed and armed by World Zionist Organization and the Jewish Agency. The largest was the Haganah; a secret Jewish terrorist group armed and trained by officers from the British army. The Haganah, later, formed the backbone of the present Israeli army. Within the Haganah there was an elite striking force called the Palmach, who specialized in assassination, terror and demolition. There were also two other smaller underground terrorist groups; Itzel or Irgun founded by Se’ev Jabotinsky the head of the Jewish Zionist Organization, and Lehi or Stern founded by the Zionist terrorist Abraham Stern.

Before the end of the British Mandate the Zionist leaders launched on April 4th 1948 their general expansionist colonial plan dubbed as “Plan Dalet”; a Zionist master offensive military plan with many sub-operations such as Nachshon, Harel, and Maccabi, whose aim was the systematic ethnic cleansing of as many Palestinians as possible and the theft of as much Palestinian land as possible before the end of the British Mandate. The Haganah had committed many massacres against the Palestinian population and had totally razed as many as 400 Palestinian towns. The Haganah thus gained popularity among the Zionist Jews.

There developed a competition between the Haganah on one side and the Irgun and Lehi on the other for popularity among Jews and for political leadership in the perceived future Israeli state. Such gain was achieved by one side in uprooting and transferring Palestinians and in the destruction of their towns and villages more than the other side.

During the first week of April 1948 the Haganah launched Operation Nachshon to carve out and hold a highway passage for their forces from Tel Aviv on the Mediterranean coast in the west all the way to Jerusalem in the interior of the country committing on their way many massacres of Palestinian civilians and demolishing their towns. The Haganah, at the time, was held up still by Palestinian fighters at Al-Qastal; west of Jerusalem and a few miles away from the village of Deir Yassin.

On the other side Irgun and Lehi terrorist groups wanted to gain popularity over the held-up Haganah through a military victory. They chose an easy virtually unarmed defenseless village of Deir Yassin as their target. Deir Yassin was a small Palestinian village located west of Jerusalem with about 750 inhabitants, who lived peacefully with their neighboring Zionist Jewish colony of Giv’at Shaul despite all the political and military conflicts of that time. The two communities had signed a non-aggression agreement between them. Yet, typical of Zionist Jews, who throughout their long history had never honored any agreement they signed with non-Jews, Zionist Jewish terrorist groups of Irgun and Lehi came out of Giv’at Shaul, attacked the Palestinian village of Deir Yassin on Friday 9th of April 1948 and savagely murdered scores of them; men, women and children, blew up their homes and wiped the village off the map.

Irgun was headed by Menachim Begin, who became the 6th Israeli prime minister, while Lehi was headed by Yitzhak Shamir, who became the 7th Israeli prime minister. Israel is the only country where terrorist leaders such as Menachim Begin and Yitzhak Shamir (also Ehud Barak and Ariel Sharon) are rewarded with the position of prime ministers.

In a joint operation coded “Operation Unity” the two Zionist Jewish terrorist groups attacked Deir Yassin in the morning of April 9th, 1948 with the aim of killing as many Palestinians as possible and of forcing the rest out of their homes and land. Driving through the only street leading to the village the attackers were held up by Palestinian snipers using old one-shot hunting rifles. When four attackers were killed the terrorist groups called the commander of the Haganah, David Shaltiel, for help. He sent some of his troops among them a Palmach unit commanded by Mordechai Weg. With an armored vehicle and a two-inch mortar they were able to silence the resistance and occupy the village in a matter of two hours.

A process of cleaning up the village was, then, conducted by the terrorist groups which included the rape of some women, the cold murder of many Palestinians, and the blowing up of homes. Men and women were lined up against the walls in the main street and executed in cold blood. Members of whole families were murdered in their homes even after surrendering. Girls and women were raped and then murdered. The Zionist terrorists had bayoneted the wombs ofPregnant women and crushed the heads and bodies of dozens of children and babies. This cleanup process continued through the next two days, Saturday and Sunday, and demonstrated the savagery of the Zionist Jewish terrorists.

Members of the Zionist terror groups, themselves, had reported such atrocities. Among the many of them was Yehoshua Gorodenchik, an Irgun physician, reported that they had to withdraw at one time and had decided to murder all prisoners. “We had prisoners and before the retreat we decided to liquidate them, we also liquidated the wounded… we eliminated every Arab we came across up to that point.”

Eliyahu Arbel, a Haganah operations officer, inspected the village and reported: “I have seen a great deal of war, but I never saw a sight like Deir Yassin … largely comprised of the bodies of women and children, who were murdered in cold blood.”

Israeli colonel Meir Pa’el admitted that “The Irgun and Lehi men came out of hiding and began to ‘clean’ the houses. They shot whoever they saw, women and children included, the commanders did not try to stop the massacre …”

Zvi Ankori, who commanded one of the terrorist units at Deir Yassin stated: “I went into 6 to 7 houses. I saw cut off genitalia and women’s crushed stomachs. According to the shooting signs on the bodies, it was direct murder.” (New York Jewish Newsletter in October 1960)

Alfred Engel, a Jewish physician, who was on site, saw that “It was clear that the attackers had gone from house to house and shot the people at close range.”

The most damning graphic description of the massacre of Deir Yassin came from Jacques de Reynier, the then representative of the International Red Cross, who was the first to reach the site. His statement indicated that “there were people rushing everywhere, in and out of houses, carrying Sten guns, rifles, pistols and long ornate knives. They seemed half mad. I saw a beautiful girl carrying a dagger still covered with blood. I heard screams … everything had been ripped apart. There were bodies strewn around… cleaning up was done with guns and grenades, the work finished with knives.” Reynier estimated seeing some 200 bodies, one of a woman, probably eight months pregnant, shot in the stomach. There were also butchered infants. Schoolgirls and elderly women have been raped and then murdered. Ears had been severed to remove ear rings, bracelets had been torn from arms and rings from fingers.

Journalists Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre had obtained a dossier of 1948 British Mandate criminal investigation into Deir Yassin. According to the dossier, one woman among others described being sexually assaulted while “other women around me were being raped, too.” (Statement of Safiyeh Attiyeh, dossier 179/110/17 GS, “Secret,” quoted in Collins and Lapierre, O Jerusalem! 275,276). According to Collins and Lapierre, the British investigation was corroborated by physical evidence obtained through medical examination of the survivors.

On hearing of the atrocities committed at Deir Yassin the Haganah commander, David Shaltiel, insisted that Irgun and Lehi terrorists never leave the village before burying all the dead. The Zionist terrorist groups refused the order and left the village, so a burial crew was sent to do the job. They hauled about 70 bodies to a quarry, piled them in a heap, poured gasoline and set them ablaze. But when the fire did not do a thorough job, they used bulldozers to fill the quarry with dirt to bury the bodies. (Milstein, Out of Crisis Comes Decision, p. 273; Milstein, “Deir Yassin”)

In an attempt to boost their popularity the members of the Zionist Jewish terrorist groups of Irgun and Lehi loaded about twenty five Palestinian men, women and children into trucks, stripped them naked, and paraded them victoriously through the Jewish Zakhron Yosef quarter in Jerusalem, then they drov back into a stone quarry in Deir Yassin and executed them in cold blood. Harry Levin, a Haganah broadcaster and future Israeli diplomat, recorded seeing “three trucks driving slowly up and down King George V Avenue bearing men, women and children, their hands above their heads, guarded by Jews armed with sten-guns and rifles.” (Levin, Jerusalem Embattled, 57)

Fifty five children, who survived the massacre, were dumped at the Mendelbaum Gate in Jerusalem. Some of them knocked on the door of Palestinian Jerusalemite Hind Al-Husseini seeking shelter. After hearing about the massacre Al-Husseini rushed to find the rest of the children deciding to care for all of them. She turned her grandfather’s mansion into an orphanage and school calling it Dar Al-Tifl Al-Arabi (Home of the Arab Child). Al-Husseini dedicated her whole life to the orphans of Deir Yassin and to other Palestinian children.

The number of massacred Palestinians was disputed. Most sources, including The New York Times of April 13, put the number of the victims at 254, including 25 pregnant women and 52 children. Many sources had quoted Irgun’s commander, Raanan, who in a press conference, described the massacre as a successful battle and exaggerated the numbers of dead in order the boost the Jewish moral and to frighten other Palestinians into flight. He later explained “I told the reporters that 254 were killed so that a big figure would be published and so that Arabs would panic … across the country.” (Milstein). A 1987 study undertaken by Birzeit University’s Center for Research and Documentation of Palestinian Society (CRDPS) found the numbers of those murdered does not exceed 120.

The massacre of Deir Yassin has a significant importance in the history of the Arab/Israeli conflict although it was not the first or the last massacre the Israelis committed against Palestinians. Unlike previous massacres of Palestinians and the wiping off of their towns, the massacre of Deir Yassin was the first to be known by the outside world due to its vicinity to the capital of Jerusalem. This allowed the Red Cross to investigate and to report the massacre.

Also, the commanders of Irgun and Lehi had called for a press conference, during which they announced their victory in occupying the first Palestinian town in cooperation with the Haganah’s Palmach forces. Their exaggeration of the number of victims was echoed through press into the Arab and Western capitals resulting in strong international condemnations. Such condemnation embarrassed the Jewish Agency, prompting its leader at the time David Ben-Gurion, to send a telegram of apology to Jordanian King, Abdullah, condemning the “rogue” Zionist organizations of Irgun and Lehi.

Although the Haganah had tried to distance itself from the Irgun and Lehi and to deny its role in the massacre, its full participation is very well known to everybody. The leader of Irgun, Menachim Begin, had admitted on December 28, 1950 in a press interview in New York that the Deir Yassin “incident” had been carried out in accordance with an agreement between the Irgun and the Jewish Agency and the Haganah. In October 1960 the New York Jewish Newsletter reported that Menachim Begin had bragged that “The massacre was not only justified, but there would not have been a state of Israel without the victory at Deir Yassin.”

Mordechai Nisan of the Truman Research Centre of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem wrote an article for “The American Zionist Journal” in which he expressed his concern about the failure to understand the major significance of terrorism in the struggle for Jewish sovereignty. He wrote: “Without terror it is unlikely that Jewish independence would have been achieved when it was.”

Nisan’s statement describes a fundamental fact throughout the three thousand years of Jewish history. Jewish independence and statehood could have never achieved except through terrorism and genocide as prescribed in their religion. Their Talmud commands them to perpetrate genocides against all non-Jews, including women, children and old, even their animals, and to destroy their towns. Check Isaih 13:16-18, Samuel I 15:2-3, Numbers 31:16-18, Deuteronomy 2:34, Deuteronomy 3:6-7, Ezekiel 9:5-6, and Joshua 6:21 for just very few examples of their genocidal religious teachings.

Unfortunately, western countries such as UK, France, Germany, Canada and particularly the US, who claim themselves to be the champions of democracy, freedom, protectors of human rights, and the fighters of terrorism, are providing blind and unconditional financial, military and political support to Israeli state terrorism. I can understand Zionist Israeli Jewish genocidal and terrorist tendencies in lieu of their religion, but I cannot understand western support to such terrorism. I wonder what religion are they, really, prescribed to?

A Childhood Denied

2013-04-15T05:33:00.000-07:00

Posted by Zahi Damuni (campaign founder of Palestinian Children's Rights Campaign)

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WATCH THE VIDEO

"A Childhood Denied" highlights the phenomenon of Palestinian children working in Israeli agricultural settlements in the Jordan Valley. These children work under harsh conditions and are paid about 50-75 NIS per day—approximately one third the Israeli minimum wage—even though they are entitled to the full minimum wage under an Israeli court order. Child laborers typically work from six in the morning until two in the afternoon, tending to agricultural fields with no health benefits, pensions, or sick days, and forced to endure temperatures reaching over 50 degrees Celsius in the summer.

Through intensive research, MA'AN Development Center has discovered that many hundreds, if not thousands, of Palestinian children work in Jordan Valley agricultural settlements. MA'AN interviewed child laborers as young as 12 years old. These children, like the adults who also work in the settlements, are paid a pittance with no social safety nets if they are injured in these dangerous working conditions. Most of the children working in these settlements originate from communities in the Jordan Valley, but many come from elsewhere in the West Bank, such as the South Hebron Hills, and have experienced forced transfer carried out by the Israeli army in recent years. This along with the exposure of children to tough manual labor are clear violations of international law.

There are a number of factors driving Palestinian children to work in Israeli agricultural settlements. Some come from families that lack a primary breadwinner and so they view this as a duty to their families. Others have siblings in university and their parents do not make enough money to sustain the family. In some cases, children see their fathers working in settlements and, given the neglected nature of their schools and lack of alternative options, resign themselves to a life working in a settlement. Whatever the reason, urgent attention is required to stop this trend that denies young Palestinians their right to a childhood and to a future free of exploitation.

Interesting pics

2013-04-08T06:16:00.000-07:00

Ottoman army from Anatolia supporting Palestine 1917.

High Ottoman officers and former Palestinian scholar converge here with the people of Palestine - al-Quds mosque

source: Die Wahre Geschichte Der Turkei / Facebook page

SYRIA: TWO YEARS IS TOO LONG

2013-03-16T05:10:00.000-07:00

Islamic Relief has launched a new campaign for Syria

Assalamu Alaykum / Peace be with you

Marking the second anniversary of the Syrian conflict, Islamic Relief hopes to create more awareness of the devastating situation in Syria and provide solutions to ease the human suffering.

A report, entitled Syria, two years, too long: Key recommendations for easing the suffering of the Syrian people calls on the UN security council to commit to the negotiation of humanitarian corridors and cross-border operations for the unhindered delivery of aid inside Syria.

Along with the report, Islamic Relief is calling on supporters, staff, colleagues and children across the world to play a part in helping the people of Syria. Visit www.syria2long.com for more information.

Tonight and for the rest of the month, we are urging all IR staff to go online, share our report and try and get family, friends and other colleagues to email the United Nations on behalf of the people of Syria.

If you’re tweeting, use the hashtag: #Syria2long

Five Actions for Syria
1)     Email the United Nations demanding an end to the human suffering

2)     FOR THE KIDS: Write a handwritten letter or draw a picture for Syria. Post it directly to the UN or send it to our Birmingham offices and we’ll send it for you

3)     Read and share our latest report

4)     Watch our documentary

5)     Donate to our Syria appeal

Thank you for making a difference for Syria. To get in touch with our Syria campaign team please contact ircampaigns@irworldwide.org

Continuing the legacy of Rachel Corrie

2013-03-16T05:02:00.000-07:00

The Rachel Corrie Foundation marks the 10th anniversary of Rachel's death

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President Obama is preparing for his visit to Israel on March 20th, just four days after the anniversary of Rachel Corrie's death. March 16, 2013 marks 10 years since the brutal killing of Rachel Corrie by a Caterpillar bulldozer in Rafah, Gaza, as she tried to prevent Israeli forces from demolishing a Palestinian home. As the Rachel Corrie Foundation marks the 10th anniversary of her death with a call to action, we urge people to continue her legacy by staying educated and engaged.

Staying educated can be as simple as watching a movie, such as the award-winning films 5 Broken Cameras or Budrus. Both cover the nonviolent resistance efforts in the West Bank and are conveniently available on Netflix.

Prefer to read? Learn the history of the conflict with Ilan Pappe's The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, available for instant download on kindle. Stay current with Ben Ehrenreich's article in the NYTimes, Is This Where the Third Intifada Will Start? and Joseph Levine's On Questioning the Jewish State.

In Rachel's words, "The international media and our government are not going to tell us that we are effective, important, justified in our work, courageous, intelligent, valuable. We have to do that for each other, and one way we can do that is by continuing our work, visibly." So let us now work together, stay educated and involved, and value each other's work, to bring about justice in Palestine.

In loving solidarity,

CODEPINK

P.S.- Find an event near you to commemorate Rachel Corrie's stand in Gaza, or create your own event and submit it to the Rachel Corrie Foundation.

Video: Rachel Corrie interviewed in Rafah on March 14, 2003, two days before her death ten years ago

2013-03-15T16:48:00.000-07:00

14.03.2003, Rafah

Rachel Corrie

2013-03-15T16:42:00.003-07:00

Rachel Corrie

Rachel Corrie was a 23-year-old American peace activist from Olympia, Washington, who was crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer on 16 March 2003, while undertaking nonviolent direct action to protect the home of a Palestinian family from demolition.

Since her killing, an enormous amount of solidarity activities have been carried out in her name around the world.

Rachel’s journals and emails from her time in Palestine are available in a variety of forms. They have been published in books, turned into plays and dramatic readings, and used around the internet. They are not always reproduced in their entirety and we have collected them here, un-cut, for easier reading. Read Rachel’s emails from Palestine.

I should at least mention that I am also discovering a degree of strength and of basic ability for humans to remain human in the direst of circumstances – which I also haven’t seen before. I think the word is dignity. I wish you could meet these people. Maybe, hopefully, someday you will.
- Rachel Corrie, in an email to her mother, February 28 2003

MEMORIALS AND ARTICLE ARCHIVES ON RACHEL

Electonic Intifada has a detailed photo story regarding Rachel’s killing in Rafah, a list of links to subsiquent court actions, Eyewitness reports and official statements and numerous articles on Rachel Corrie.
MIFTA.org has set up a tribute page that includes several photographs and links to articles.
Archive of articles on Rachel at the International Solidarity Movement website
All articles on Rachel at the Electronic Intifada
The Rachel Corrie Memorial Website has Rachel’s E-mails, public statements, news Reports and editorials regarding her death, videos of memorial events and more.
Song: “The Death of Rachel Corrie” by David Rovics
Poetry: “On the brink of…” by Suheir Hammad

RACHEL’S WORDS

“My Name is Rachel Corrie” was scheduled to open at the New York Theatre Workshop on March 22nd. Amid political pressure, the play was “postponed indefinitely,” and The “Rachel’s Words” initiative was born. It was made up of a broad spectrum of groups and individuals who believed that Rachel’s words and her message of human rights and justice should be heard. “Rachel’s Words” was an event that took place in New York City’s Riverside Church on March 22, 2006 to keep Rachel’s message form being censored.

ACTION - CULTURAL BDS - ALICIA KEYS TO PERFORM IN TEL AVIV, 4TH JULY 2013

2013-03-05T10:02:00.000-08:00

ACTION - CULTURAL BDS - ALICIA KEYS TO PERFORM IN TEL AVIV, 4TH JULY 2013 - PLEASE SEND POLITE MESSAGES TO ALICIA ABOUT HER DECION TO PLAY TO ISRAELI APARTHEID HERE -

1. FB CAMPAIGN PAGE HERE - https://www.facebook.com/No.Fallin.For.Apartheid.AliciaKeys

2. ALICIA FB FAN PAGE - https://www.facebook.com/aliciakeys

3. ALICIA TWITTER - https://twitter.com/aliciakeys

4. PETITION - https://www.change.org/petitions/alicia-keys-don-t-play-apartheid-israel-on-july-4-2013-in-tel-aviv-cancel-apartheid-israel-show-2#share

FURTHER READING

http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/routine-emergencies/will-alicia-keys-resist-bds-pressure-and-play-tel-aviv-israeli-fans-hope-so.premium-1.507375

Samer Issawi: We are fighting for all Palestinians

2013-03-04T03:16:00.001-08:00

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Please read and share hero Samer Issawi's entire message in the Guardian at http://links.causes.com/s/clI9xG?r=eQkk

In jail, my fellow hunger strikers and I are doing battle against the Israeli occupation that humiliates our people.

My story is no different from that of many other Palestinian young people who were born and have lived their whole lives under Israeli occupation. At 17, I was arrested for the first time, and jailed for two years. I was arrested again in my early 20s, at the height of the second intifada in Ramallah, during an Israeli invasion of numerous cities in the West Bank – what Israel called Operation Defensive Shield. I was sentenced to 30 years in prison on charges relating to my resistance to the occupation.

Please read and share hero Samer Issawi's entire message in the Guardian at http://links.causes.com/s/clI9xG?r=eQkk

Posted by Zahi Damuni (cause leader)

DAY 208: FREE SAMER ISSAWI NOW!

2013-02-18T03:19:00.001-08:00

Posted by Zahi Damuni (cause leader)

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[Please Read, Respond and Forward Widely]

For Immediate Release
February 16, 2013

DAY 208: FREE SAMER ISSAWI NOW!

Al-Awda, The Palestine Right To Return Coalition and the Free Samer Issawi Campaign call on all people of conscience to take immediate action to help save the life of Palestinian political prisoner Samer Issawi who has been on a hunger strike for 208 days.

Issawi has been detained by Israeli authorities without any charge whatsoever. He was detained again without charge on 7 July 2012 and has been refusing food since August 2012 in protest. He is in critical condition.

There are currently 178 Palestinian administrative detainees being held without any charge whatsoever. In addition to Issawi, Jafar Izzeddin, Ayman Sharawneh and Tariq Qadan are also on hunger strike to protest prison conditions and administrative detention.

TAKE ACTION NOW!

Please join the voices and support around the world to save Samer Issawi's life and demand his immediate release from prison!

Write to President Obama and voice your concern and demand that the US administration intervene to demand the immediate release of Samer Issawi, the other hungers strikers, and all the administrative detainees and Palestinian political prisoners including the children. You can use the online form at:
http://links.causes.com/s/clISXb?r=F2jB

Also please Call US Secretary of State John Kerry at 1-202-647-4000 or Office of Near East Affairs at 1-202-647-7209 Demand that the Secretary intervene for the immediate release of Samer Issawi, the other hungers strikers, all Palestinian administrative detainees and political prisoners including the children.

Help spread awareness through social media, and forward to all your contacts after you take action!

The Free Samer Issawi Campaign
http://links.causes.com/s/clISXd?r=F2jB

Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition
PO Box 131352
Carlsbad, CA 92013, USA
Tel: 760-918-9441
Fax: 760-918-9442
E-mail: info@al-awda.org
WWW: http://links.causes.com/s/clISXh?r=F2jB

Samer Issawi: No going back, I am owner of Right

2013-02-18T03:12:00.002-08:00

Samer's father and sister, Tariq and Shireen, holding a photo of Samer in the family's home in East Jerusalem's Issawiya (Photo: Ryan Rodrick Beiler)

Posted by Zahi Damuni (cause leader)

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Letter from prisoner Samer al-Issawi as it came from the Ministry of Prisoners:

I turn with admiration to the masses of our heroic Palestinian people, to our Palestinian leadership, to all forces, parties and national institutions. I salute them for standing by our fight to defend our right to freedom and dignity.

I draw my strength from my people, from all the free people in the world, from friends and the families of the prisoners who continue day and night chanting for freedom and an end to the occupation.

My health has deteriorated dramatically and I'm hanging between life and death. My weak body is collapsing but still able to be patient and continue the confrontation. My message is that I will continue until the end, until the last drop of water in my body, until martyrdom. Martyrdom is an honor for me in this battle. My martyrdom is my remaining bomb in the confrontation with the tyrants and the jailers, in the face of the racist policy of the occupation that humiliates our people and exercises against us all means of oppression and repression.

I say to my people: I'm stronger than the occupation army and its racist laws. I, Samer al-Issawi, son of Jerusalem, send you my last will that, in case I fell as a martyr, you will carry my soul as a cry for all the prisoners, man and women, cry for freedom, emancipation and salvation from the nightmare of prisons and their harsh darkness.

My battle is not only for individual freedom. The battle waged by me and by my heroic colleagues, Tariq, Ayman and Ja'affar, is everyone's battle, the battle of the Palestinian people against the occupation and its prisons. Our goal is to be free and sovereign in our liberated state and in our blessed Jerusalem.

The weak and strained beats of my heart derive their steadfastness from you, the great people. My eyes, which started to lose their sight, draws light from your solidarity and your support of me. My weak voice takes its strength from your voice that is louder than the warden's voice and higher than the walls.

I'm one of your sons, among thousands of your sons who are prisoners, still languishing steadfastly in the prisons, waiting for an end to be brought to their plight, their pains and the suffering of their families.

The doctors told me I became exposed to stroke because of the disorder of my heartbeats, the shortage of sugar and the drop in blood pressure. My body is full of cold and I can't sleep because of the continued pain. But despite the extreme fatigue and chronic headaches, as I move on my chair, I'm trying to summon all my resources to continue on the road till its end. There is no going back, only in my victory, because I'm the owner of Right and my detention is invalid and illegal.

Do not be afraid for my heart if it will stop, don't be afraid for my hands if they will be paralyzed. I am still alive now and tomorrow and after death, because Jerusalem is moving in my blood, in my devotion and my faith.

Palestine 16/02/2013

The above letter (in Arabic) was published on 16 February on Shirin Issawi's Page in Facebook. Translated to English and Hebrew by Free Haifa

Please share it and act everywhere to save Samer Issawi and for all the people that were imprisoned for their struggle for freedom.

Rafeef Ziadah - 'We teach life, sir', London, 12.11.11

2013-01-30T14:05:00.000-08:00

Today, my body was a TV’d massacre
And let me just tell you, there’s nothing your UN resolutions have ever done about this.
And no sound-bite I come up with, no matter how good my English gets, no sound-bite, no sound-bite, will bring them back to life.
We Palestinians wake up every morning to teach the rest of the world life, sir.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKucPh9xHtM

Update From Gaza ( Noor Harazeen )

От епицентъра на конфликта

2012-12-18T14:02:00.000-08:00

http://tv7.bg/jega/Video/9571172

Топрепортерът на TV7 - Диляна Гайтанджиева, се завърна от епицентъра на конфликта между Израел и Палестина - Газа

Ислямисткото движение Хамас, което управлява ивицата Газа, заплаши Израел, че има ракети, с които да достигне всяка една точка на еврейската страна. С какви още оръжия разполагат ислямистите в Газа разкри Диляна Гайтанджиева в ексклузивни интервюта от размирния район.

Правилата на играта са бомбардировка срещу бомбардировка, смърт срещу смърт, разрушения срещу разрушения и страх от Бригадите на Касам. Муджахидините - въоръжените и маскирани мъже са определяни като терористи от Израел, ЕС и САЩ. Те са от Бригадите на Касам – военното крило на Хамас – партията, която управлява ивицата Газа.

Нашият екип дойде в една от най-горещите точки на планетата, където от 60 г. израелци и палестинци воюват за 300 кв. км. земя на брега на Средиземно море. За първи път от половин век насам палестинците победиха след мощен ракетен обстрел, продължил 8 дни. Техните ракети удариха сърцето на Израел – градовете Тел Авив и Йерусалим. Това е първото интервю за европейска медия, което муджахидините от военното крило на Хамас дават след края на последната им война с Израел в края на миналия месец.

Бригадите на Касам рядко допускат среща с чужди журналисти. От съображения за сигурност те крият лицата си с маски. Муджахидините излизат от анонимност едва след смъртта си и стават мъченици. Преди години, по време на втората интифада, мъченици са ставали членовете на специален отряд от камикадзета на Хамас, които са извършвали самоубийствени атентати. Днес всички членове на движението са готови да станат мъченици, защото смъртта за каузата е въпрос на чест и път към Рая.

Бригадите на Касам празнуват победа, тъй като Израел прие техните искания – спиране на огъня от двете страни и вдигане на блокадата на границите над Газа. За последните 6 г. тази зона беше затворена за външния свят и границите бяха блокирани от израелски войници. А палестинците прокопаха тунели под земята, през които се свързваха с външния свят.

В осемдневната война палестинците изненадаха света със своите ракети с обсег над 75 км. Нито едно разузнаване не беше допуснало, че Газа се е сдобила с толкова мощни оръжия. А причината военните тайни на Хамас да не бъдат разкривани, е затворената система за сигурност. Предателите се наказват със смърт. Ракетата М75, с която Хамас и неговите бригади изненадаха света, е местно производство.

Последната война между Израел и Палестина в края на ноември започна, след като израелска ракета уцели автомобила и уби военния командир на Бригадите на Касам - Ахмед Дажабари, в Газа. В отговор неговите войници отмъстиха за смъртта му с дъжд от ракети и войната започна.

Към войната се присъедниха и муджахидините от другата организация в Газа, която воюва за свобода на Палестина – Брихадите Ал Кудс или в превод от арабски Бригадите на Йерусалим. Тяхната цел е освобождаване на свещения град и всички палестински земи и връщане на шестте милиона палестински бежанци в родината им. Бригадите Ал Кудс се прочуха преди няколко седмици, след като успяха да придобият с хакерска атака и да публикуват в интернет секретна военна информация на Израел.

Електронната атака включваше изпращането на 5 хил. SMS-а на мобилните телефони на израелски пехотинци, заглушаване на сигнала на израелската телевизия и директно излъчване на нейните честоти на предупредителни послания от муджахидините. Екипът ни беше допуснат до тяхна тренировъчна база в южната част на Газа при строги мерки за сигурност. Бяхме отведени от техен цивилен автомобил без номера и без да знаем къде отиваме.

Tренировъчният лагер на Бригадите Ал Кудс – военното крило на Ислямски джихад, е другата политическа организация в Газа, която воюва срещу Израел. Подобно на Хамас, и Ислямски джихад произвежда собствено оръжие, но основната сила във военния арсенал на ислямистите са иранските ракети "Фаджер 5" с обсег на действие до 70 км. Тази по-малка ракета се използва за ракетен обстрел на границата с Израел и също е внос от Иран.

Освен ракетите – местно производство муджахидините ползват мощни ракети, които получават от Иран. Те също са с голям обсег и влизат в Газа тайно по море или през подземните тунели на границата с Египет. Тези муджахидини от Бригадите Ал Кудс се обучават да използват иранската ракета 107, която има обсег на действие 5 км. и се използва за сухопътни цели. Ако я изстрелят, ще нарушат примирието и затова обучението включва само теоретична подготовка. Военният командир на муджахидините признава, че тя е част от военна пратка от Иран.

Екипът ни намери 2-годишният Мусааб в бежански лагер в къща без електричество и вода. Детето е прекалено малко, за да разбере какво се е случило, то не може да говори и дори да се разплаче, както правят всички деца. Тук няма ток и единствената светлина, която виждат е надеждата, че са заедно. За Мусааб се грижи по-големия му брат, който е оцелял, след като ракета е паднала върху тях и е разрушила къщата им, а останалите са загинали. Оцеляла е и сестрата на Мусааб, но тя е парализирана на легло.

Смъртта в Газа е ежедневие и хората живеят без страх от нея. Дори децата – те са маскирани като войници от Бригадите на Касам и още от малки са възпитавани, че трябва да станат мъченици. Ивицата Газа е най-гъсто населения район в света - 1,7 млн. души живеят върху обща площ от 300 кв. км. Тук няма място не само за живите, но и за мъртвите. Загиналите в Газа са толкова много, че гробовете им са осеяли цели жилищни квартали. Гробове има навсякъде – дори в центъра на града. Живите живеят с мъртвите в Газа.

Намерихме дете, облечено като войник на Хамас, на гробище в центъра на Газа, където то си играе сред паметниците на смъртта и разрушенията. Облечено е с униформа по случай 25-годишнината на движението. Мечтата на всяко дете е да стане войник от Хамас. Приемствеността между поколенията и готовността на муджахидините да жертват всичко в името на каузата забелязахме и на митинга на Хамас. Тук повечето деца са облечени като муджахидини, а вместо играчки държат оръжие.

С призиви за свобода и джихад Хамас отбеляза годишнината си в Газа. 25 г. След създаването си ислямистката групировка показа, че вече е важен фактор и за мира, и за войните в Близкия изток. Към оръжието като средство, оправдано от висши цели, призова и лидерът на Хамас - Халед Мишаал.

Лидерът на Хамас е една от най-търсените цели на Моссад. Затова и посещението му в Газа по случай годишнината на движението е първото в живота му. Той се върна в Палестина след 30-годишно изгнание в чужбина и няколко неуспешни опита за убийството му. Хамас обяви извънредно положение в Газа по случай годишнината си. За първи път войници от Бригадите на Касам, военното крило на Хамас, излизат през деня на улицата, за да защитят своя лидер – Халед Мишаал.

Халед Мишаал беше отровен преди 6 г. в Йордания. Според публикации в световните медии тогава опитът за убийство е извършен, след като е бил нападнат на улицата от агенти на Мосаад, които са го проболи с отровна инжекция. След намесата на йорданския крал Израел е пратил противоотрова, която е спасила живота му. Затова охраната му в Газа беше поета от около 1000 войници от Бригадите на Касам. Те сваляха оръжието си само по време на молитва, която се отслужва от политически лица – лидерът на Хамас или министър-председателят. Религията в Газа се отъждествява с политиката и формира идеологията на Хамас като част от международната ислямистка организация - Мюсюлмански братя.

Срещнахме се с говорителя на Мюсюлмански братя в Кайро. Идеологията на оргазнизацията братя за разлика от идеологията на Ал Кайда изключва атентатите срещу цивилни, а палестинският въпрос се приема като проблем на целия арабски свят.

Махмуд Аззахар е сочен за хардлайнера в Хамас. Той същое загубил четирима от синовете си и приема смъртта им като пример за останалите палестинци. Вижте какво каза той пред екипа ни:

Хамас е в списъка на ЕС за терористичните организации, как ще обясните, че сте определяни като терористи и цивилните цели – мишена ли са за вас?

Първо, искам да попитам хората, които ни определят като терористи, каква е дефиницията за тероризъм и каква е разликата между тероризъм и освободително движение и каква е разликата между нас, палестинския народ, който е добре образован и се бори за правата си и останалите народи, които са били окупирани. Това е показателно за лицемерното отношение на Европа и международната политика. Ние нямаме друга алтернатива освен да се защитаваме с всякакви средства.

Искам да ви припомня няколко самоубийствени атентати в Тел Авив и Израел....

Това не е самоубийствен атентат, това е мъченическа операция. Самоубийството е забранено от религията ни. Това е операция на хора, които имат мисия и дават живота си за националните интереси. При липсата на други средства, това беше единствения начин да стигнеш и да поразиш врага. Ние не насърчавахме тези самоубийствени атентати, както вие ги наричате, но нямахме друга алтернатива, освен мъченичеството, да принудим израелците да се изтеглят от земите ни.

Какво значи мъченичество според вашата идеология и религия?

Това е определено, но не като заповед, а се приема като дълг и много високообразовани хора предприемат тези операции, защото целта не е да се самоубиеш, а да освободиш родината си.

Племенникът на убития военен ръководител на Хамас - Ахмед Джабари, също е готов да тръгне по стъпките на джихада. Той е видял смъртта на баща си, убит при един от първите атентати с ракета срещу чичо му. Вижте!

Защо не се страхувате от смъртта?

Ние не се страхуваме от смъртта, защото нашите мъченици отиват в Рая, а техните загинали – отиват в Ада. Те обичат живота, а ние даваме живота си за освобождаването на земите ни и свещените ни места. Ние искаме да умрем в битката, а те – да живеят. Ако искат да живеят, трябва да напуснат нашите окупирани от тях земи, да напуснат Палестина и да се върнат там, откъдето са дошли.

Нашата сила черпим от Аллах и вярата ни, справедливостта на нашата кауза, ние сме народ, който повече от 60 г. е под окупация, не сме жадни за убийства или за смърт, когато врагът ни се изтегли оттук, няма да има нито война, нито убийства, нито да се лее кръв.

Според доклади на Организациите за защита на човешките права и ООН от 2009 г. досега в Газа са загинали 460 деца. А оцелелите не се страхуват да умрат, защото са видели смъртта преди да видят живота.

Pink Floyd, Roger Waters - Song for Palestine

2012-12-17T10:24:00.001-08:00

(1) Urge your MSPs to support Gaza (2) Invitation to 2013 Plant-a-Tree in Palestine delegation

2012-12-10T07:43:00.001-08:00

Dear Palestine Supporter

Two items in this e-mail.

(1) Urge your MSPs to support Gaza

We now have persuaded 40 MSPs to sign the motion to the Scottish Parliament lodged by Alison Johnstone, Lothian, Scottish Green Party. The motion condemns the Israeli attacks, seeks to raise awareness of the rights of the Palestinian people, and calls for an end to arms sales by the UK to Israel.

If we could push this to the 60 mark, we'd have shown that a majority of MSPs who are allowed to sign motions (those not in the Government) support Gaza which would be a great show of support for the people of Gaza. We each have 8 MSPs, one constituency MSP and 7 regional MSPs. There's bound to be at least one of yours that needs a nudge.

Go to www.coordin8.org.uk and follow the links.

(2) Invitation to participate in 2013 Plant-a-Tree in Palestine delegation: Lessons of Dispossession; Acts of Resistance.

From January 5^th – January 14^th 2013, the Stop the JNF Campaign is running a 10-day visit to Palestine, providing the opportunity to:

Gain an overview of the issues affecting Palestinian land rights(and the role in illegal appropriation of Palestinian land by para-statal organisations);
Visit destroyed Palestinian villages to find out more about the role of the JNF in land dispossession;
Take part in tree-planting actions alongside Palestinian communities to reclaim stolen or threatened land in the Jordan Valley, Susiya and Wadi Qana.

Participants will learn about the dispossession and destruction that Israeli forces and settlers have imposed on Palestinian communities. Importantly there will also be a chance to work and stay with communities in these areas gaining an insight into day-to-day to life.

We will visit to depopulated and destroyed Palestinian villages (e.g. from 1948 and 1967) to see first-hand the ways that the JNF appropriates Palestinian land, both historically and today. We will travel to the Naqab (Negev) area where thousands of indigenous Bedouins are resisting the Israeli government’s attempts at ethnic cleansing and planting JNF forests over their land and homes. We will also receive briefings from academics, legal experts and inspiring community organisations that are working to end the ongoing dispossession of Palestinians.

Plant-a-Tree in Palestine is a new project established in 2011 with the aim of raising awareness of the tree planting and other activities of the Jewish National Fund, and providing an effective means of solidarity with Palestinians resisting the demolition of their homes and theft of their land. It is a joint project of the Middle East Children’s Alliance, the Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign (Stop the Wall), the Palestinian Farmers Union, and the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network.

We invite participation from individuals from a wide range of backgrounds, including activists, representatives of civil society, environmental, and anti-racist organisations, trade unions and others. An important element of the visit will be discussions between the Stop the JNF Campaign and participants on how we can develop solidarity work in our localities to challenge Israel’s ongoing dispossession of the Palestinians.

If you have any queries about the visit or would like to register your interest please email delegation@stopthejnf.org. Please wait for confirmation before booking your flights.

In solidarity,

Dave Black

Stop the JNF Campaign UK

delegation@stopthejnf.org

07962223123

Remember this bar-code

2012-12-08T12:14:00.002-08:00

Palestinian World

Yawm an-Nakba

Zionism – The Real Enemy of the Jews, by Alan Hart

America and Israel: Imperial Partners in Crime

With an empty stomach

Israeli army breaks up Palestinian march

Палестина, моя любима/ Palestine, ma bien-aimee, Asma Bourgi

Demand An End To The Abuse of Palestine's Children

al-Aqsa, 1856

Al Aqsa Mosque

israel and Deir Yassin massacre

A Childhood Denied

Interesting pics

SYRIA: TWO YEARS IS TOO LONG

Continuing the legacy of Rachel Corrie

Video: Rachel Corrie interviewed in Rafah on March 14, 2003, two days before her death ten years ago

Rachel Corrie

MEMORIALS AND ARTICLE ARCHIVES ON RACHEL

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RACHEL’S WORDS

ACTION - CULTURAL BDS - ALICIA KEYS TO PERFORM IN TEL AVIV, 4TH JULY 2013

Samer Issawi: We are fighting for all Palestinians

DAY 208: FREE SAMER ISSAWI NOW!

Samer Issawi: No going back, I am owner of Right

Rafeef Ziadah - 'We teach life, sir', London, 12.11.11

От епицентъра на конфликта

Pink Floyd, Roger Waters - Song for Palestine

(1) Urge your MSPs to support Gaza (2) Invitation to 2013 Plant-a-Tree in Palestine delegation

Remember this bar-code