[quote]Jewbacca wrote:
[quote]hwh89 wrote:
why is it when a weak country like Palestine try to defend it self you call it “terrorism”, and when a strong country like the USA occupy another countries for no reason you call it “protecting our land”?[/quote]
Probably because the arabs in Gaza intentionally target non-combatants such as little children and pregnant women, while Israel (for example) does its level best to only target the people who are shooting rockets or building bombs. And, generally, when non-combatants are killed, it’s because arab terrorists hide in populated areas or do stunts like send little children out in the middle of running gun battles, knowing the Israelis will cease fire to protect innocent life.
And further, the arabs in Gaza can have their own country, if they want it.
They merely have to let Jewish Israelis have their own country, too, instead of demanding all the Jews die.
The whole demand-for-genocide weakens your case as an oppressed person.
[/quote]
There is, however, no shortage of evidence available that points to rather different Israeli aims. Estimates for the proportion of civilian deaths among the 1,360 Palestinians killed range from more than half to two-thirds. Politicians, diplomats and journalists are by and large shying away from the obvious, namely that Israel has been deliberately targeting Palestinian civilians and the very infrastructure of normal life, in order to â?? in the best colonial style â?? teach the natives a lesson.
http://heathlander.wordpress.com/2009/01/06/about-those-hamas-targets/
Israeli snipers opened fire on families running to take shelter in a Red Crescent hospital in the Tel Al-Hawa area of Gaza on Thursday afternoon, witnesses said.
Sharon Locke, an Australian volunteer at Al-Quds Hospital said that when one family approached the hospital, Israeli snipers started firing at the family.
â??They shot a young girl in the face and abdomen. She is now being operated on. The father of the family was shot in the leg and fell to the ground,â?? Locke saidâ?¦
On Thursday morning parts of the hospital went up in flames when Israeli artillery shells struck the buildings. At the time of writing, the operations building of the hospital was still burning.
half of Gazaâ??s ambulances have already been destroyedâ?¦
â??The main UN compound in Gaza was left in flames today [see above] after being struck by Israeli artillery fire, and a spokesman said that the building had been hit by shells containing the incendiary agent white phosphorus.
The attack on the headquarters of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) came as Ban Ki Moon, the UN Secretary-General, arrived in Israel on a peace missionâ?¦
UNWRA, which looks after around four million Palestinian refugees in the region, suspended its operations in Gaza after the attack, in which three of its employees were injured.
Chris Gunness, a UNRWA spokesman, said that the building had been used to shelter hundreds of people fleeing Israelâ??s 20-day offensive in Gaza. He said that pallets with supplies desperately needed by Palestinians in Gaza were on fire.
â??What more stark symbolism do you need?â?? he said. â??You canâ??t put out white phosphorus with traditional methods such as fire extinguishers. You need sand, we donâ??t have sand.â??
â??The IFRC describes the situation as completely and utterly unacceptable based on every known standard of international humanitarian law and universal humanitarian principles and values, and condemns the fact that PRCS facilities have been so severely damaged and its staff prevented from sufficiently carrying out their humanitarian mission.
In particular, it condemns the destruction caused to the PRCS Al Quds hospital and administrative buildings that has resulted in widespread fire damage. At the same time, the second floor of the hospital suffered a direct hit causing fires in the pharmacy and severe damage in many parts of the hospitalâ?¦
Furthermore, this morning the PRCS [Palestine Red Crescent Society] warehouse was enveloped in fire after an attack by the IDF. PRCS volunteers who rushed to the scene in an effort to put out the fire were prevented from doing so by the IDF, who fired at them.â?? [my emph.]
â??Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) have just had confirmation from our hospital emergency aid coordinators that both Al Wafa Hospital, in the eastern part of Gaza City, and Al Fata (also known as Al Wiaâ??m) Hospital, in Tal El Hawa, west of Gaza City, have both been bombed by the Israeli military.
Al Wafa hospital is the only rehabilitation hospital in all of Gaza.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) reports that Al Quds Hospital has suffered a direct hit. Both Al Quds hospital and the European Hospital have been surrounded by Israeli troops and are reportedly being hit with white phosphorus.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) suspended activities in the Al Zeitoun and Al Atatra regions as of 11 January, after their ambulances were exposed to gunfire in those regions on 9 and 10 January. Two ambulance personnel were injured and one ambulance was damaged in these incidents. The PRCS further noted that only five of 135 recent attempts to coordinate access to affected areas were successful; however, â??in the five cases [the PRCS was] not able to complete [the] humanitarian tasks because of the obstacles and the gunfireâ?¦â?? [my emph.]
â??Humanitarian shipments into Gaza were halted immediately after two [United Nations] forklift drivers died when the convoy of aid was targeted [during the supposed three-hour ‘humanitarian ceasefire’]â?¦
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) said it would not organise further deliveries while Israeli forces threatened the life of its contracted workers. The trucking company involved in the incident also said it was too dangerous to participate in the deliveries.
Richard Miron, a UN spokesman, said that the convoy was clearly displaying UN flags and livery. The Israeli army had been notified of the route of the convoy beforehand.
“Since the beginning of the military attack PRCS has attempted to coordinate passage of an ambulance to a specific neighborhood in Zeitun, where it is known that there are still many injured people waiting for evacuation. Until the 9th the army refused to enable access of ambulances to the region. On the 9th permission was given and ambulance passage was coordinated. Since the roads had been destroyed the ambulance couldn’t reach the areas where the injured people were. The team had to walk 2 km on foot. Israeli forces opened fire on the ambulance. Fortunately no one was injured but the ambulance was badly damaged. Following the incident the team went back to Gaza without having been able to evacuate the injured people.” [my emph.]
“Since the beginning of the military attack PRCS has attempted to coordinate passage of an ambulance to a specific neighborhood in Zeitun, where it is known that there are still many injured people waiting for evacuation. Until the 9th the army refused to enable access of ambulances to the region. On the 9th permission was given and ambulance passage was coordinated. Since the roads had been destroyed the ambulance couldn’t reach the areas where the injured people were. The team had to walk 2 km on foot. Israeli forces opened fire on the ambulance. Fortunately no one was injured but the ambulance was badly damaged. Following the incident the team went back to Gaza without having been able to evacuate the injured people.” [my emph.]
â??Meanwhile the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which has declared a â??full-blown humanitarian crisisâ?? in Gaza, said it is investigating reports that a Palestinian Red Crescent (PRC) ambulance station in Jabaliya refugee camp was targeted Monday night.
In an earlier attack last Friday, the ICRC reported that two clearly marked ambulance medics from the PRC, evacuating the dead and wounded from an earlier Israeli attack, were targeted by Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) fire.
The paramedics were wearing fluorescent jackets and their ambulances had flashing lights visible from a considerable distance.
â??I have no doubt that one missile was aimed at us. I do not know for certain whether it was meant to kill us or warn us to keep away, but it was definitely aimed in our direction,â?? said Palestinian ambulance driver Khaled Abu Saada.
Sammy Hassan, a spokesman from Shifa Hospital said in the last week that four ambulance personnel had been killed in Israeli strikes. â??One was a doctor and the other three were medics. We are very worried about our ambulance staff,â?? Hassan told IPS.â?? [my emph.]
cliff notes:
http://www.wiretapmag.org/race/44019/
The intensity of the assault leaves the honest observer asking one question: how can Israel, with its sophisticated weapons and putative claims to the moral high ground, have caused so much damage to civilians by accident?
The evidence suggests there was no accident.
Israel banned Western journalists from entering Gaza during its assault. It soon became clear why. The UN, independent relief agencies, and Reuters reported a clear pattern: Israel blew up civilians and supplies, officials decried the attack, and Israel reflexively accused Hamas of having fired from nearby. Each time, agency representatives emphatically stated that Hamas was not in the area and demanded proof of Israel’s claims. None was ever forthcoming-except in one case where Israel was forced to retract its own excuse.
And while Israel claims Hamas hid behind civilians, Palestinian witnesses and victims say Israel itself repeatedly used Palestinian civilians as human shields.