Category: Gaza Carnage – Resources page

The ‘Bizarre News of the day Prize’ must of course go to the item about Tony Blair recieveinga million dollars from an Israeli foundation in Tel Aviv University, for his ‘extraordianry Leadership’… huh? So there is someone who thinks Tony has donea good job? Yeah. Israel thinks that by shutting up and keeping his nose clean, spending his time in the American Colony (in more than one way…) and basically doing nothing in a very big way, this war criminal of Iraq fame, who went to find weapons of mass destruction where they never existed, this genius who presided over the killing of more than half a million Iraqis, has obviously contributed to Israel’s ability to wage war unhindered.

Well, they are right! He has done all this, and a million bucks is cheap at the price. Congratulations, Tony, for assisting the spilling of more Arab blood, by standing fast by israel, both in the Summer of 2006 and also during the Gaza carnage. It is good to have good friends, and even better to pay them off! Should not one war criminal support another? Thumbs up for solidarity! Israel salutes Tony!

Blair wins $1m leadership prize: BBC

Former prime minister Tony Blair has won $1m (£697,000) for his leadership on the world stage.
Mr Blair, now a Middle East envoy, will receive the Dan David Prize at Tel Aviv University in Israel in May. It marks his “foresight”, “exceptional intelligence” and “steadfast determination” to end conflicts. Mr Blair’s spokesman said the money would be donated to the former Labour leader’s recently set up charity for religious understanding. ‘Morally courageous’ Mr Blair, prime minister from 1997 to 2007, is an envoy of the international Quartet (the US, EU, UN and Russia) on the Middle East peace process. His entry as a Dan David laureate on the prize’s website hails him as “one of the most outstanding statesmen of our era”. It praises his role in the Northern Ireland peace process and his “steadfast determination and morally courageous leadership” over Kosovo. There is no mention of the decision to support the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Not to mention his leadership over Lebann 2006 and Gaza 2008. A real leader of war criminals.

Blair awarded $1m for ‘exceptional leadership’: The Guardian

Former prime minister Tony Blair is to receive a $1m prize for his leadership skills. The prize will be awarded by the Dan David Foundation which gives three prizes annually in past, present and future categories. The foundation said yesterday that Blair will receive an award in the ‘present’ category “for his exceptional leadership and steadfast determination in helping to engineer agreements and forge lasting solutions to areas in conflict”. Blair is the representative of the Middle East diplomatic Quartet. Scientist Robert Gallo, credited with co-discovering the Aids virus, will also receive $1m.

Continue reading Feb 17, 2009

If any of you thought that the carnage is over, either because of a ceasefire, or the Israeli election, you were wrong! What the people of Gaza, and the whole of Palestine can look forward to, is more murder, mayhem and destruction, whoever of the current lot of war criminals will head the Israeli governemnt. I hope there are not many confused people left out there, especially on Capitol Hill.

Fresh violence shakes Gaza Strip: BBC

Israeli jets have bombed tunnels on Gaza’s border with Egypt, after two rockets were fired at southern Israel. The Israeli military said the air attack targeted a tunnel used for smuggling arms into Gaza. A little-known militant group called Hezbollah Brigades Palestine claimed responsibility for the rocket attacks, which caused no casualties. The violence came amid moves to turn ceasefires that ended Israel’s 22-day offensive in Gaza into a lasting truce.
Two rockets fired from Gaza landed in Israel on Monday morning, the Israeli military said. Several hours later, Israeli jets bombed a border area in the southern Gaza town of Rafah.

Unexploded munitions
Palestinian officials said a 25-year-old Gaza man was killed and five people were injured in an explosion in northern Gaza near the border with Israel. The explosion was apparently caused when an unexploded munition was thrown into a fire being used to melt down scrap metal.
Sporadic violence has continued between Israel and Gaza since Israel ended its offensive on 18 January and the Hamas movement declared a ceasefire. Egypt has been trying to mediate a long-term truce. About 1,300 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed in the 22 days of violence.

Continue reading Feb 16, 2009

Gaza population ‘rising rapidly’: BBC

The population of the Gaza Strip increased by almost 40% between 1997 and 2007, according to the results of a Palestinian census.
The survey, taken before Israel’s recent offensive, showed the territory has a population of 1.4 million people. The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics estimated the annual growth rate at 3.3% and said the population would double in 21 years at that rate. The UN estimates the world’s current average population growth at 1.17%.

Continue reading Feb 15, 2009

A new Jewish state: Ha’aretz

Since the exit poll results were published at 10 P.M. on Tuesday, I have heard more than one liberal-minded Israeli frantically trying to find a silver lining to the storm cloud that is the elevation of Yisrael Beiteinu leader Avigdor Lieberman to the nation’s kingmaker. Their source of optimism? The party’s policies on state and religion. Yisrael Beiteinu may want to disenfranchise 20 percent of Israel’s citizens, they say, but is also the leading proponent of new legislation to allow a form of civil marriage in Israel, ending the scandalous situation whereby only Orthodox rabbis and or recognized clergymen of other religions are allowed to perform weddings, and hundreds of thousands of mixed couples or those whose religious status is unclear are incapable of getting married in Israel. The party has also been vigorously pushing for a major reform in giyur (conversion) procedures that will take the keys to the gateway to the Jewish people away from the special rabbinical courts – controlled today by the ultra-conservative, ultra-Orthodox “Lithuanian” rabbinical establishment – and make it much easier for the 300,000 immigrants from the former Soviet Union not officially recognized as Jews to formally join the tribe. Some even find a spark of light in Lieberman’s demand that all citizens be made to pledge allegiance to Israel. It might seem like a racist idea targeting Israeli Arabs, but it also puts pressure on the Haredim since the pledge includes a commitment to serving in the IDF or an equivalent civilian national service, anathema to the ultra-Orthodox community.

Yeah. Sounds like the Shalom Achshav (Peace Now) people will come to love Lieberman after all… is their endless ability to cheat themselves not entrancing?

Continue reading Feb 14, 2009

Israeli University Welcomes “War Crimes” Colonel: Counterpunch

JONATHAN COOK

The Israeli government has moved quickly to quash protests over the appointment of the army’s senior adviser on international law to a teaching post at Tel Aviv University. Col Pnina Sharvit-Baruch is thought to have provided legal cover for war crimes during the recent Gaza offensive.
Government officials fear that recent media revelations relating to Col Sharvit-Baruch’s role in the Gaza operation may assist human rights groups seeking to bring Israeli soldiers to trial abroad. A Spanish judge began investigating Israeli war crimes in Gaza under the country’s “universal jurisdiction” laws this month, and a prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in The Hague is considering a Palestinian group’s petition to indict Israeli commanders. Meanwhile, the furore — by highlighting the close ties between the army and Israeli universities — is adding weight to a growing campaign in Europe and the US to impose an academic boycott on Israel, say activists. Tel Aviv University’s decision to hire Col Sharvit-Baruch to teach international law prompted protests from staff after the local media published details of the military planning for the Gaza offensive.
More than 1,300 Palestinians were killed during the operation, the majority of them civilians, and thousands were injured. According to critics quoted by the Haaretz newspaper, Col Sharvit-Baruch and her staff manipulated standard interpretations of international law to expand the scope of army operations to include civilian targets. Leading the protest is Haim Ganz, a law professor who has called the colonel’s approach to international law “devious jurisprudence that permits mass killing”. In a letter to the university, Prof Ganz said he was lodging “a moral protest against a state of affairs where somebody who authorized these actions is teaching the law of war”.

Continue reading Feb 10, 2009