Gaza 8 februari 2009

Nog steeds zorgvuldig verzwegen in de Nederlandse pers:

Telegraph: Hamas ‘not responsible’ for recent rocket attacks, says Israel
However, an Israeli security official acquitted Hamas of responsibility for the most recent attacks. “Our intelligence says it’s not them,” he said. Instead, other groups, notably Islamic Jihad, the Popular Resistance Committees and fighters linked to the supposedly moderate Fatah movement are thought to have launched these strikes.

EI: Can Mitchell turn Jerusalem into Belfast?

Geen pauze voor de Israëlische land grab op de Westoever:

Israeli contractors using an excavator uproot olive trees planted by Palestinian farmers on land near the Kiryat Arba Jewish settlement just outside the West Bank city of Hebron on February 3, 2009. Israeli contractors protected by soldiers bulldozed and removed young olives trees planted by Palestinian farmers on land outside the Kiryat Arba settlement.

Pulse: Irish civil society calls for boycott of Israel
Israel has never declared its borders. Instead, it has continuously expanded at the expense of the Palestinians. In 1948, it took over 78 percent of Palestine, an area much larger than that suggested for a Jewish state by the UN General Assembly in 1947. Contrary to international law, Israel expelled over 750,000 Palestinians from their homes. These refugees and their descendants, who now number millions, are still dispersed throughout the region. They have the right, under international law, to return to their homes. This right has been underlined by the UN General Assembly many times, starting with Resolution 194 in 1948.

Daily Star: Passengers of freighter seized by Israel return home with tales of abuse
The freed crew told how they were beaten and handcuffed after Israeli gunboats fired on the ship and sailors stormed the vessel, arresting everyone on board. The boat was then towed to the Israeli port of Ashdod where it was searched.
Salam Khodr, an Al-Jazeera journalist who was on board the vessel, said the Israelis had taken the crew’s possessions when they were arrested. “The Israeli army confiscated all our videotapes; we were separated from each other, we were blindfolded and handcuffed. They beat some of us; I was beaten,” she said.
“The soldiers kicked Dr Hani Suleiman, in the chest and back; we asked for a physician to check Dr Suleiman who suffered short breath; one Israeli female soldier answered: ‘You should have thought about his health condition before you attempted to come and break the siege of Gaza’,” Khodr said.
An Israeli military spokes-man admitted that no arms had been found on the ship, which turned out to be laden with medicine, food, and humanitarian supplies for the population of the war ravaged enclave.

Palestine Think Tank: Corrupt Egyptian system: feeds the IDF, starves Gazans, oppresses journalists

A Palestinian man touches the head of a teenager after he was shot by Israeli troops in the West Bank city of Hebron January 16, 2009.

The Independent: The nightmare of Netanyahu returns
This is a man calling for the violent re-occupation of Gaza to “liquidate” its elected government. This is a man who says he will “naturally grow” the West Bank settlements. This is a man who says he will “never” negotiate over Jerusalem, or the Golan Heights, or control of the West Bank water supply.
This is a man who says establishing a Palestinian state would leave Israel with, “an existential threat and a public relations nightmare reminiscent of 1938 Czechoslovakia”. This is a man who Yitzhak Rabin’s widow said helped create a climate of hate that led to his murder.

Haaretz (AP): Arab nations appeal to United Nations to stop Israeli ‘piracy’

Reuters: Egypt holds Hamas money bound for Gaza

An ultra-Orthodox Jew plays with his friend’s sidelocks as he watches the bombardment of Gaza from Horseman’s Hill, known locally as Parash Hill, January 13, 2009 near Sderot in southern Israel. Scores of Israelis are flocking to the scenic beauty spot, which in times of peace is a place for a quiet picnic or a nature walk, to get a look at the flashes of explosions and towers of smoke in Gaza.

VOA News: Obama Endorses Two-State Solution for Arab-Israeli Conflict

CSMonitor: George Mitchell and the end of the two-state solution
Israel’s settlement growth means we have to find a different plan.

Ma’an News Agency: Hamas’ popularity soars after Gaza war, poll shows; Fatah declines
The overall rise in Hamas’ popularity is due to a change in sentiment in the West Bank, rather than in Gaza. Support from West Bankers more than doubled in three months - from 12.8% last November to 26.5% in this poll.
The poll also suggests that the Palestinian public prefers “resistance” as a strategy over the high-level political negotiations preferred by Fatah.
Almost a majority, 46.7%, believe that Hamas came out of the war victorious compared with only 9.8% who said that Israel won the war. Over one-third, 37.4%, said that neither side achieved victory in the war.