More than 1300 Palestinians dead, over 410 children,
100 women, and more than 5,300 wounded
(Numbers taken from the Hebrew press today, those numbers are already inaccurate, as more and more bodies are found under the rubble))
What would this mean in Britain with its population of 60 million, in comparative terms?
It would mean more than 52,000 dead, 16,500 of them children, and 212,000 wounded.
Israel accused of war crimes over 12-hour assault on Gaza village: The Observer
White flags ignored and houses bulldozed with families inside, claim residents
srael stands accused of perpetrating a series of war crimes during a sustained 12-hour assault on a village in southern Gaza last week in which 14 people died.
In testimony collected from residents of the village of Khuza’a by the Observer, it is claimed that Israeli soldiers entering the village:
• attempted to bulldoze houses with civilians inside;
• killed civilians trying to escape under the protection of white flags;
• opened fire on an ambulance attempting to reach the wounded;
• used indiscriminate force in a civilian area and fired white phosphorus shells.
If the allegations are upheld, all the incidents would constitute breaches of the Geneva conventions.
The denunciations over what happened in Khuza’a follow repeated claims of possible human rights violations from the Red Cross, the UN and human rights organisations.
‘We won’ says Olmert as Israel declares ceasefire: The Independent
Half-concealing a smile of self-satisfaction as he declared a unilateral ceasefire, the Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert has assured Israelis that “we won.” Claiming that the Israeli army had obtained all its objectives, he said that Hamas was “surprised and badly beaten.”
Israel has certainly shown its military superiority in the 22 days since 90 Israeli planes opened hostilities on 27 December when they launched a surprise attack on 100 targets in the Gaza Strip. In the eyes of many Israelis the Gaza War has restored Israel’s ability to deter its enemies, a deterrence that had been degraded by its failure to crush Hezbullah in Lebanon in 2006.
But the ability of Israel’s heavy tanks, artillery and air force to win any clash with several thousand lightly armed Hamas fighters was never in doubt. Israel may in the long term achieve some success in getting weapons smuggling from Egypt into Gaza more tightly monitored. But Hamas remains in almost full control of the Gaza Strip and the Israeli government says it intends to withdraw from those bits of territory which it has reoccupied.
Suits the Israeli regime to talk of this murder as it it was big football game.
White phosphorus: “The patient came back smoking” : Eva Bartlett writing from the occupied Gaza Strip, Live from Palestine
It’s hard to believe it can get worse, but daily it does.
Last week, I saw the white phosphorus clouds doctors have written about and condemned. From a tall Gaza City building, the panoramic view showed a spreading stream of poison, on eastern Gaza.
The chemical burns deeply, to the bone, experts say. It is considered illegal warfare, not to be used in civilian areas. Yet the accounts grow of its use: heavy use in the Khosar region, east of Khan Younis, and in the northwest of Gaza, and in eastern Jabaliya, Sheik Zayid, Sheik Rajleen, al-Zaitoun, everywhere. The United Nations headquarters housing hundreds of fleeing Palestinians which was bombed on 15 January was hit with white phosphorus.
“Five days ago, in Jabaliya, I saw an abnormal material: white dust, spread out in spinning circles which spread the dust further. From inside there was something falling down which looked like snow. It covered a large area, over many houses,” Maher al-Madhouan, head of the physiotherapy department in Sheik Radwan hospital, told me last week.
This is an especially shocking report, despite the deadpan style!
Photostory: World demonstrates for Gaza, pt. 2: Photostory, The Electronic Intifada
Around the world people took to the streets outraged by the scenes of death and destruction in the Gaza Strip that began when Israel bombarded the coastal territory on 27 December. The below images were sent to The Electronic Intifada from around the world and document various actions, demonstrations and vigils in solidarity with Gazans under siege. If you have images to which you hold the rights documenting Palestine, Palestinian life, politics and culture, or of solidarity with Palestine, please email images and captions to photos A T electronicintifada D O T net.
To see the full range of images, use the link above.
Mohammed Dawwas: Gaza diary: The Independent
Sunday, 11 January
Troops and tanks begin fighting in Gaza City suburbs. Around 20 rockets launched into Israel from Gaza.
‘The whole night no one could sleep. Everyone is terrified. The Israelis said there would be a three-hour ceasefire and I went out with the car to buy water. My kids wanted to go with me because they hadn’t left the house for days. I kept looking for more than an hour before I found some, but at that moment the bombardment started. My kids began crying and screaming. I filled up with water and drove home fast. I said, “Don’t ask me again to take you out.” They said, “It was a ceasefire!” I replied, “But it’s a war.”
Sometimes the kids joke. They give themselves names. My son Ibrahim, he’s afraid, so he doesn’t speak all day. They call him the Drone. Sammy, he’s the F16; Ismail, he’s the Apache helicopter; Imam, he is the Tank. Me, I am the Jeep.’
Barak and all Israeli Leaders—To the Hague: Alternative Information Centre
That war crimes are being perpetuated by the Israeli military in Gaza is not anymore a question, but hard facts documented by tens of television programs, videos and photos.
The Israeli perpetuators of these crimes must be tried in an international court of justice for war crimes and crimes against humanity, in particular Ehud Barak, Ehud Olmert, Tzipi Livni, Chief of Staff General Gabi Ashkenazi, and Air Force Commander General Ido Nechushtan. Their crimes are definitely not less horrible than the ones that brought Milosevic and his generals to an international war crimes tribunal.
The Alternative Information Center has decided to join the call of one hundred civil organizations from all over the world demanding the opening of a procedure by the International Court of Justice in the Hague.
In the meantime, and until an international court of justice will put Israeli leaders on trial, civil society throughout the world should strengthen the campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel, a state that has clearly put itself outside the framework of international law and human rights constraints.
Impunity is what may transform international relations into a jungle. Whoever aspires to a civilized world, in which human lives and dignity are respected, must demand the immediate implementation of sanctions on the outlaw state of Israel.
At the last minute…
We have just heard that the Israeli forces attacked a hospital of Gaza City, which is on fire. Hundreds are buried under the rubble and the military is preventing ambulances to reach the place.
Components of Power: An Israeli’s Argument Against the Attack on Gaza: Alternative Information Centre
During the entire week I read a majority of the responses in the major (Hebrew language) websites and the letters to the editor in the three major Israeli newspapers. There were sensitive and intelligent responses, but the vast majority were bloodthirsty, aggressive, primitive and self-righteous. There were also legitimate questions directed toward the few, isolated speakers of the peace camp. The most common related to Hamas. Some quoted the principle speakers of Hamas, attacking their “unacceptable” demands and contending that there is no one with whom to speak. The demand of the Islamic movement’s leaders to open the passages and stop the military attacks aroused furious anger, despite the fact that the protesters knew (like Hamas members themselves) that a concession on these topics also involves an absolute ceasefire on their part. It must be assumed that international and perhaps even Egyptian supervision over the tunnels will be part of the inevitable package deal. My primary problem with the criticisms of the Hamas (many of which were also directed at me personally) derives from the incorrect perception of us that is extremely common amongst the general public. radical right, accompanied by horrendous preaching of a majority of the rabbis of their synagogues, reaped great rewards from their perspective. Outside there exists glaring hatred toward anyone not joining the cheering squad of the Israeli military, and even more so toward those who completely refuse to be a part of the orgy of destruction in and of Gaza, which leads to nothing apart from an additional deepening of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and terrible acts of Hamas, which will harm us all.
Broken town shows Gaza destruction: BBC
The BBC’s Paul Wood is part of the first group of journalists to gain independent access to Gaza from Israel. He reports from Gaza City on his impressions as he entered northern Gaza hours after Israel declared a unilateral ceasefire.
The Erez crossing from Israel into Gaza is an eerie place at the best of times.
The first hours of a shaky ceasefire are not “the best of times”.
As we stepped out of the concrete tunnel which leads from Israeli passport control, we could hear tanks manoeuvring nearby.
Their spent shells were on the ground. Israeli drones – un-manned aircraft – were circling overhead.
Israel ‘wants rapid Gaza pullout’: BBC
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said he wants Israeli troops to leave Gaza “as quickly as possible”.
Mr Olmert was speaking at a news conference with European leaders after first Israel, then Hamas declared unilateral ceasefires in Gaza. Some Israeli troops have already begun pulling out of the Gaza Strip, following a three-week offensive.
Meanwhile, Ismail Haniya, the top Hamas leader in Gaza, said the Palestinians had won a great victory over Israel.
“The enemy has failed to achieve its goals,” he said in a speech broadcast on Hamas’ Al-Aqsa TV.
Gaza and West Bank: Growing divide: BBC
In the West Bank, the death and suffering of people in Gaza has spurred demonstrations in almost every town, village and refugee camp. The Palestinian public seems united in its grief.”Whether we live in Gaza or anywhere else, we all suffer the same, we are united in our hearts,” Ayman Abdullah, 43, tells me. Nearby, 14-year-old Jalal Abu Khatib looks solemn. He is attending the demonstration with his mother. “What the Israeli forces are doing in Gaza is against the whole Palestinian people, not just against Hamas,” he says. In spite of the anger and emotion, a protest on Friday in Ramallah’s main square began peacefully.
Dear President-elect Obamah: Open Letter, signed by over 900 of the USA leading acadmics
Editor’s note: The following is a letter addressed to US President-elect Barack Obama calling for the United States to change its policies vis-a-vis the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, especially in light of Israel’s current onslaught against the Gaza Strip. It was signed by more than 900 academics, most of them based in the United States, and made available to The Daily Star by the campaign’s organizers.
Once, in what was perhaps an unguarded moment, you stated that: “Nobody’s suffering more than the Palestinian people”. After days of relentless Israeli bombing in the Gaza strip that has already killed over seven hundred people, most of them civilians or policemen, and injured over three thousand, many of whom may yet die for lack of medical supplies and facilities, your words have never rung more true. And yet, so far, your signal response to this latest assault on the Palestinians, that the UN Secretary General diplomatically calls “disproportionate”, has been to defend Israel’s right to respond to rocket attacks that, while rightly condemned, are mere pinpricks in comparison to the horrific consequences of Israeli bombardment and of the ongoing blockade on Gaza.
In this long and well argued letter, the writers are using Obamah’s own intellectual and political history, to say to him: You must act on this apartheid state! The letter ends on the following Para:
There is no road to peace through such injustice. It may be that the compromise in the end will be the establishment and security of two separate states. Almost certainly, the only hope of a lasting solution is a single state in Israel/Palestine, committed to the civil and human rights of all peoples within its boundaries, irrespective of religion or ethnicity. That is, after all, the standard to which we hold all other states in the world, Israel alone excepted. But no solution at all will be possible until we hold Israel accountable for its criminal violence and its illegal acts, until we cease to supply it with the means to pursue a course of domination and expansion, with arms and warplanes, with finance and diplomatic support. In wake of the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, your recent expression of “deep concern” is not enough. It is time for constructive disengagement from Israel, financial, diplomatic, military. What worked in the case of South Africa, divestment and pressure, may finally work in the Middle East.
Without such justice, there will be no peace.
Hurray! There are still many moral academics in the states, coming from all universities, communities and disciplines! Read the signatories list on the link – it is most impressive! There is even a recorded version of the letter!
Urgent: Tell the Media to Expose Israel’s War Crimes in Gaza: A petition
Since the beginning of Israel’s assault on Gaza American media outlets have only reported a one-sided Israeli narrative depicting the Israel as the victim exercising self-defense against Palestinian terrorists . National TV News stations have refused to show viewers the carnage, destruction and humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The media’s unethical biased actions have provided public relations cover for Israel’s massacres in Gaza, giving Israel more time to kill, injure and destroy Gaza’s civilian infrastructure.
The media has also ignored to relay the news of alleged Israeli war crimes against civilians a claim made by several international agencies including the Red Cross, Amnesty International and the United Nations.
TAKE ACTION NOW: TELL THE AMERICAN MEDIA TO STOP THE BIAS COVERAGE AND MEDIA BLACK OUT ON GAZA
Journalist calls Livni ‘terrorist’ during press conference on Gaza operation: Ha’aretz
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni had a testy press conference Friday in Washington, D.C., moments after she signed an agreement with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice meant to combat arms smuggling to Gaza.
From the starting moments of the press conference, Livni was beset by a less-than friendly barrage of questions, with a number of journalists asserting that Israel’s military operations in Gaza will only make Middle East peace more distant.
Some journalists went so far as to compare the Israeli government to that of dictator Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe, due to Israel’s decision to bar journalists from Gaza.
Shin Bet Chief: Hamas will resume arms smuggling to Gaza within a few months: Ha’aretz
Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin on Sunday told the cabinet that Hamas would resume smuggling arms into Gaza within a few months, despite Israel’s recent destruction of many tunnels used for this purpose. Diskin said that the Palestinian Islamist group would soon rebuild the tunnels, which were destroyed during Israel’s 22-day offensive against Hamas in Gaza.
Sounds like the IOF starts preparing the next massacre! Watch this space. Poor Obamah knows not what expects him, I am sure. Maybe he should take that job in Harvard, after all?
Israel opens field clinic at Gaza border to treat Palestinian wounded: Ha’aretz
Israel opened a small field clinic on the Gaza border Sunday to treat sick and wounded Gazans, but a human rights group said the move on the day a fragile truce took hold after a bloody three-month offensive was too little, too late. Welfare Minister Isaac Herzog, who attended the clinic opening in the Erez crossing pedestrian zone, said the clinic would treat as many people as possible. “I wish this place will serve as a place of humanity, friendship and support for the needy,” Herzog said.
How interesting are the vagaries of translation in Ha’aretz… in Hebrew, something totally different is quoted :
משרדי הממשלה חנכו במחסום ארז מרפאה שתשמש כחדר מיון קדמי בשביל פצועים פלשתינאים; “אין מדובר במהלך שנועד לנקות את מצפונה של מדינת ישראל”, אמר השר הרצוג
And for those of us unfortunate enough not to read Hebrew, here is the translation of what is said by this war criminal, on this web address, in the Hebrew original report:
” We are not talking about a move to cleanse the conscience of the Israeli state” Said Minister Herzog.
From the Hebrew version, it is clear that he said this in answering a hostile question by a journalist, or more likely, by the PHR-I representative, Miri Weingarten. All this was surgically removed in the English translation, where the whole sense was adjusted to the less sophisticated viewers, those not in Israel. Do not suspect the Israelis, ever! The picture below says it all, heading the Hebrew report, but missing from the English version:
You can see how easy it is, to give nice western reporters something nice, clean and forward-looking to report, instead of them going into Gaza and reporting on finding more bodies under the rubble! You can also see how many Palestinians are queuing for treatment… see blow what it all means, in the Fathi cartoon!
Deborah Orr: The deaths of children – and sense: The Independent
Many may imagine that the deaths of almost 300 children during the latest Gaza offensive, and the photographs the world has seen of Palestinian children maimed or killed, will give even the most right-wing of Israelis pause for thought. Unfortunately, as far as the hardliners are concerned, the opposite is the case.
Former Israeli prime minister, and one of the founders of the Israeli state, Golda Meir, long ago came up with a much-quoted formula which defined the killing of Palestinian children by Israelis as just another of the crimes that Arabs committed against Israel. “We can forgive the Arabs for killing our children,” she claimed. “We cannot forgive them for forcing us to kill their children.”
So there we have it. According to this specious logic, the more Palestinian children the Israeli army kills, the more wronged and the more victimised the most enthusiastic perpetrators and supporters of such indiscriminate inhumanity believe themselves to be.
The rosy picture US media paints of genocide: Press TV
For those who still believe the United States of America is the land of freedom of speech, US news coverage of the Israeli war on Gaza provides a second insight and more than enough evidence to the contrary. In the follow-up to Tel Aviv’s Operation Cast Lead on Gaza, the US media for three weeks has silently watched Israel kill innocent civilians day in and day out without so much as a wince. At a time when world news outlets — some of which are owned by Tel Aviv’s allies — are condemning the war, the so-called free media of the US has virtually cheered and championed Israel for its courage to kill, providing a completely divorced-from-reality version of what is happening in the virtual ghetto. The New York Times has so far provided one-sided coverage of the conflict with little editorializing and commentary, and the Washington Post has — in its usual contortionist manner — described the offensive as “risky” but thoroughly “justified”.
Lull after the storm; Observer
Israel’s declaration of a unilateral ceasefire is welcome but it still leaves open many crucial questions on the future of Gaza
After exactly three weeks of Operation Cast Lead, an Israeli unilateral ceasefire declaration came into effect on Saturday night. While that is a very welcome development, particularly for the civilians of Gaza, it leaves open as many question as it answers. The steps taken by a series of actors, including the combatants and their neighbours and supporters, will determine whether or not this actually leads to a de-escalation and end to hostilities to what has been to a horrendously bloody start to 2009.
‘They don’t believe that this is an end to the fighting’, Rory McCarthy: Guardian online
Radio reports from Gaza a short while after the ceasefire started.
Gunfire ends but the debate in Israel begins: should we have pressed on?: Observer
Broad public support for assault on Gaza Strip leaves some Israelis believing the ceasefire is a mistake
Talk of victory was scant in Israel today after the government’s declaration of a unilateral ceasefire in Gaza. “The decision was terrible,” said Shimon, a 55-year-old from Ra’anana, a town in Israel’s interior. “We should carry on fighting until Hamas is devastated.”
Overwhelmingly, the Israeli Jewish public supports the country’s assault on Gaza. But while the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, described the three-week war as a “brilliant” achievement of Israel’s objectives, the public does not seem as certain. “I hope we will succeed in halting the rockets, but I think the ceasefire was a little premature,” said Avot Yitzhak, 48, from Tel Aviv. “They should have continued, to show [Hamas] that they really have lost.”
Voices of the ‘only democracy in the Middle East’ (for Jews). This sounds like the talk of vampires, who have not yet slaked off their blood lust. What more did they want? It is never enough as some Palestinians are still there….
Gaza conflict has cost too many lives, says Brown: The Guardian
Prime minister calls on Israel to reopen Gaza crossings as he heads to humanitarian conference in Egypt
Gordon Brown this morning criticised Israel for using excessive force during its three-week military offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Speaking en route to a humanitarian conference in Egypt, the prime minister demanded that Israel reopen Gaza’s crossings and allow humanitarian workers full access to the territory.
“We are yet to discover the full scale of the appalling suffering,” Brown said on an early morning flight to the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. “But what is already clear is that too many innocent civilians, including hundreds of children, have been killed during the military offensive.” Brown’s carefully chosen words indicate the government believes Israel deployed disproportionate force in its response to Hamas rocket attacks from Gaza. More than 1,200 Palestinians have been killed in the 22-day assault.
A new convert to humanism, I’d say. I thought he was still selling weapons to the aggressor, and denying them to the victim. Good old Blithy!
A pointless war has led to a moral defeat for Israel: Observer
In historical terms, it is impossible to separate Israel’s offensive against Hamas in Gaza from the long narrative of conflict and mutual grievance in the region. In geographic terms, the war over a tiny plot of land cannot be detached from the wider involvement and strategic interests of other countries: Syria, Egypt, the US, Iran. All of which makes it difficult to judge where – even if a unilateral Israeli ceasefire holds – the war really begins and ends. That fact alone explains why the operation represents a defeat for Israel, as was always likely to be the outcome. The notion that the country’s security problems can be resolved by the unilateral use of extreme force is a persistent delusion among Israeli politicians. In this case, the problem was perceived to be Hamas rocket fire into southern Israel; the solution was judged to be a war against Hamas. That analysis did not allow for the vital, humane recognition that, in densely populated Gaza, an all-out war against Hamas is, by necessity, an attack on the civilian population.
Report: Palestinians find 95 bodies in rubble of battle-torn Gaza: Ha’aretz
The Palestinian news agency Ma’an reported on Sunday that 95 bodies have been found amid the rubble of the battle-torn northern Gaza Strip. Hamas police said the bodies, mostly of militants, have been found so far in the area, including at least 20 believed to be those of gunmen killed in combat. According to Ma’an, Palestinian medical crews reported coming across “the most horrifying scenes.”
25 bodies were found by a family who had returned north to the Jabalya district to find their home demolished, the news agency said. They discovered the bodies in the rubble. Many of the dead were women and children, according to Ma’an, who stayed in their homes during the clashes between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian militants during Israel’s 22-day offensive against Hamas. Ma’an put the Palestinian death toll at 1,234 with more than 5,450 wounded. Thirteen Israelis have been killed during the offensive, three civilians and ten soldiers.
France raises alert after spate of anti-Semitic attacks over Gaza op: Ha’aretz
French authorities will increase their checks on television, radio and the Internet to prevent any hate messages prompted by the conflict in Gaza from spreading, Prime Minister Francois Fillon said on Friday. France has seen an increase in primarily anti-Semitic acts apparently related to Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 1,100 Palestinians in three weeks. Thirteen Israelis have been killed. “Even a cursory look at the Internet is enough to find blogs … carrying messages of incredible violence, whether against Israel or against the Palestinians,” Fillon said after a meeting with ministers on fighting racism and anti-Semitism.
The next piece is an example of self-delusion ona grand scale! She writes for the simple-minded, one assumes from the tone and level of argument. Those are the enemy of peace and reason – people justifying the murder but smearing its critics as anti-semites!
It’s Kosher to Boycott Israeli Goods! Jews for Boycotting Israeli Goods (J-BIG) A new Leaflet
At the beginning of 2009 the world witnessed mass slaughter by Israel of hundreds of innocent Palestinians in Gaza. This atrocity was only possible because Western leaders supported Israel while pretending to work for a just peace. If we let this go on, Palestinian society will be destroyed and the chance of peace in this volatile part of the world will be buried for generations. It’s time to stop appeasing Israel.
Standing against a tide of hatred: Guardian, CiF
It is not Israel’s action, but the vitriolic reaction to it that has been disproportionate. There’s only one explanation: antisemitism
If you were so inclined, you could ask that question about the Madoff mess, the Gaza offensive, the latest screed from Alan Dershowitz – or about a new recipe for angel-food cake. Which is to say, if you are looking for antisemitism, you can find it anywhere, even in a dessert cookbook. But if even paranoids have enemies, I think it’s fair to say that these are tough times for Jews.
While I would prefer to equate the fate of the Palestinians with that of Israel – meaning, I’d like to believe we’re all on the same side – I think that might be a difficult political fiction to maintain at the moment. And while I’d like to artificially separate anti-Zionism from antisemitism, like most American Jews, I’m not willing to make that false distinction: when there is more than one Jewish state, the world’s hatred of Israel might become no different from its exasperation with any other country, but since Israel is the only homeland, and really it is nothing more than six million Jews living together in an area the size of New Jersey, I can’t pretend that the problem with Israel is that it’s a poorly located country that happens to be at odds with its neighbours and only coincidentally happens to be Jewish. The trouble with Israel is the trouble with Jews.
We unreservedly condemn attacks on the Jewish community: The Gurdian CiF
Muslim leaders denounce the rise in antisemitic assaults and call for vigilance: The Guardian CiF
More than 20 prominent British Muslims have signed a joint letter denouncing antisemitic attacks and called for continued Muslim vigilance against antisemitism. Some of the UK’s leading theologians, imams, writers, community activists and others have signed and circulated this message widely. It has been sent today, to coincide with Friday prayers, to nearly a thousand British mosques.
“In the name of God, most compassionate, most merciful,
Dear Fellow Muslims,
We are deeply saddened to hear about antisemitic assaults on British Jews, and a recent arson attack on a London synagogue. Although the perpetrators are yet unknown, we unreservedly condemn attacks on innocent British citizens and the desecration of all places of worship. The ongoing killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza by Israeli forces has angered us all.
However, this does not, and cannot, justify attacks on our fellow citizens of Jewish faith and background here in Britain.
Most Muslims are completely against such behaviour. However, we call on all Muslims to continue to remain vigilant against attempts to bring our own faith and community into disrepute. British Jews should not be held responsible for the actions of the Israeli government.”
Palestinians fear ‘crazy’ parting raids: The Sunday Times
THE F-16 swooped in low, whooshing over our car. There was an almighty boom, the vehicle shook and the air was sucked from my lungs. Pulling the car to a halt, we jumped out and turned to look at the plume of smoke rising above a row of houses barely 150 yards away. Pandemonium followed. Children and their mothers spilt out of doorways onto the street, followed by the elderly, anxious to see what damage the latest missile had brought. An old woman turned to me and, throwing her hands in the air, began screaming: “What have we ever done to Israel? They kill innocent kids, the elderly and demolish our homes on top of our heads. What do they want from us?”
On the whole, the STimes avoids this topic, with two pieces this weekend, compared to five times that in the Ovserver. the STimes is also specialising in publishing zany and off-the-wall Zionist letters to the editor, blaming Hamas for just about anything. Never a letter criticising Israel, so what’s the point? Blame the Victim! I do not feel I wish to waste valuable time and webs-pace on those junkies of Zionism.