Haneyya: Israel must stop the slaughter, withdraw, lift the siege

LONDON, (PIC)-- In an article published in the Independent on Thursday, the Palestinian Prime Minister, Ismail Haneyya laid down Hamas's conditions for a truce with the Israeli occupation forces. "Our condition for a new ceasefire is clear and simple. Israel must end its criminal war and slaughter of our people, lift completely and unconditionally its illegal siege of the Gaza Strip, open all our border crossings and completely withdraw from Gaza," Haneyya wrote. He emphasised that Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005 was not an end of occupation as Israel kept control of land, sea and air of Gaza, and thus Israel was still responsible for Gaza as an occupying power. He also pointed out that the Israeli occupation forces killed 1250 Palestinians, including 222 children, in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip between 2005 and 2008, adding that for most of that time the border crossings to the Gaza Strip were closed allowing only limited quantities of food, fuel and other essential goods. The Prime Minster also asserted that having failed to quash the Palestinian democratic will through treachery and starvation, Israel supported by its western allies resorted to this criminal war on Gaza to "impose its own terms for a final settlement depriving us of our land, our right to Jerusalem as the rightful capital of our future state and the Palestinian refugees' right to return to their homes." He said that Israel did not respect the six-month truce that was in place before this latest Israeli genocidal war on Gaza, as it killed many Palestinians during the truce and did not lift the siege which was a condition of the truce. He also stressed that Israeli atrocities and targeting of schools, universities, mosques and civil infrastructure would not deter the Palestinian people from pursuing their national rights. " Undoubtedly, Israel could demolish every building in the Gaza Strip but it would never shatter our determination or steadfastness to live in dignity on our land."

PCHR condemns Israeli response to death of Reuters cameraman by an IOF missile

GAZA, (PIC)-- The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), in a statement on Thursday, condemned the official response of the Israeli military Advocate-General to the death of a Reuters cameraman and three other civilians, including two children, who were killed in Juhor al-Dik in the central Gaza Strip, on April 16, 2008. The cameraman, Fadel Shana’a, and the other civilians were killed by an Israeli tank crew, who, according to Israeli military advocate-general, Brigadier General Avihai Mendelblit, acted properly and will therefore not face any legal action for killing these four unarmed civilians. PCHR pointed out that "this response once again underlines the chronic failure of the State of Israel and its Occupation Forces to conducts proper investigations into the hundreds of crimes they have committed against Palestinian civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT)." The statement also said that the IOF killed 9 journalists and injured at least 170 journalists since the start of the second intifada in September 2000. On Tuesday, 12 August, Reuters news agency received a letter from Brigadier General Avihai Mendelblit, in which he stated that the Israeli troops in Juhor Al-Dik could not see whether Fadel Shana’a was operating a camera or brandishing a weapon. In his letter to Reuters, Mendelblit claimed that “The tank crew was unable to determine the nature of the object mounted on the tripod, and positively identify it as [either] an anti-tank missile, a mortar or a television camera.” Mendelblit also wrote that “In light of the reasonable conclusion reached by the tank crew and its superiors that the characters were hostile, and were carrying an object most likely to be a weapon, the decision to fire at the target… was sound…” PCHR pointed out that its own investigations at the time of the incident proved beyond all reasonable doubt that Israeli Occupation Forces willfully killed journalist Shana’a and the three other civilians who died alongside him. The letter from Brigadier General Avihai Mendelblit to Reuters concerned the second attack in Juhor al-Dik, which killed Fadel Shan’a, two children and a second adult civilian. According to investigations conducted by PCHR, Fadel Shana’a and his colleague, Wafa Abu Mezyed, a Reuters soundman, arrived at Juhor al-Dik area at 17:00, an hour after an IOF missile attack in the village had killed 9 Palestinian civilians, including 6 children. The two men were wearing bullet proof vests emblazoned with the word “PRESS.” In his eye-witness testimony to PCHR, Wafa Abu Mezyed stated:" “When we arrived at Juhor al-Dik area at 5pm, the dead children had just been evacuated by ambulances… We filmed the site of the attack and then got back into our vehicle, which was daubed with the word REUTERS, and drove out of the village. We could see two tanks and a bulldozer, and we deliberately parked more than one and a half kilometers away from them for our own safety. Fadel got out of the jeep in order to continue filming… A small crowd of children gathered around us wanting to know what we were filming, and Fadel asked me to get out of the jeep too and shoo them away. I started to move the children out of his way. Fadel and I were standing just three meters apart when I heard an explosion. I saw Fadel and two of the boys fall to the ground. I threw myself on the ground too. From where I lay, I could see that Fadel and the two boys were dead and bleeding.” Fadel Shana’a, 14-year-old Ahmed ‘Aaref Farajallah and 17-year-old Ghassan Khaled Abu ‘Otaiwi, were all killed by the shell fired by the IOF tank. Less than a minute later, the IOF tank fired a second shell that completely destroyed the REUTERS vehicle. Wafa Abu Mezyed saw two children flung into the air by the force of the second explosion, which killed another civilian, 22-year-old Khalil Isma’il Dughmosh. PCHR condemned, in its statement, the Israeli Advocate-General’s response, but said it was not surprised as this reflected "the chronic failure of the State of Israel and its occupation forces to properly investigate hundreds of crimes they have committed against civilians in the OPT, including dozens of crimes against journalists." In view of this and other failures, the centre called for the setting up of an Independent Investigation Commission as the IOF cannot be trusted to investigate the war crimes its troops commit against the Palestinian people, adding that the current investigations "are a means to cover war crimes and provide legal protection and impunity to those suspected of perpetrating such crimes," stressing the need to prosecute Israeli war criminals. Finally PCHR expressed its concern that the response of the the Israeli Advocate-General in this case makes journalists easy and legitimate targets for IOF troops, especially when they are covering IOF incursions.

Olmert stops short of saying “ Israel controls US government”

From Khalid Amayreh in Occupied East Jerusalem Israeli Prime Minister has stopped short of saying that Israel controls the US government. Speaking to the Israeli media this week, Olmert said he had asked President Bush to order Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to abstain in a key UN vote on the Israeli genocidal onslaught in the Gaza Strip. “She was left shamed. A resolution that she prepared and arranged, and in the end she didn’t vote in favor,” said Olmert, bragging about “our clout and influence” in the US . “We didn’t want her to vote in favor of the resolution. And this is what we eventually got.” Olmert said he demanded rather aggressively to talk to President Bush and when Bush was on the phone, he told him to order Rice not to vote for the resolution. “I said ‘get me President Bush on the phone.’ They said he was in the middle of giving a speech in Philadelphia . I said I didn’t care. I need to talk to him now. He got off the podium and spoke to me. “I told him the US could not vote in favor. It cannot vote in favor of such a resolution. He (Bush) immediately called the Secretary of State and told her not to vote in favor.” However, a State Department spokesperson has been quoted as denying Olmert’s claim. “Mr. Olmert is wrong,” the official said. “Even if everything had gone according to plan, she would have abstained. That was the plan,” said the official. “Israel does not make US policy.” In 2001, an acrimonious argument reportedly erupted during the Israeli cabinet weekly session between then Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and then foreign Minister Shimon Peres during which Sharon reportedly yelled at Peres, saying: "Don't worry about American pressure, we control America." Peres reportedly warned Sharon that refusing to heed incessant American requests for a cease-fire with the Palestinians would endanger Israeli interests and turn the US against Israel. At this point, a furious Sharon turned toward Peres, saying: "Every time we do something you tell me America will do this and will do that . . . I want to tell you something very clear: “Don't worry about American pressure on Israel. We, the Jewish people, control America, and the Americans know it." Peres and other cabinet ministers reportedly warned Sharon against saying what he said in public, because "It would cause us a public relations disaster." Israeli sources denied the story.

Hamas: We expect Arab decisions parallel to the size of Gaza suffering

GAZA, (PIC)-- The Hamas Movement on Wednesday welcomed any Arab official efforts and decisions in parallel with the magnitude of the suffering and the bloody scene in the Gaza Strip, highlighting that the Arab countries' reluctance to use their pressure cards to end the Israeli war on the Gaza people is no longer justified. In a press statement, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum hailed the efforts aimed to convene an Arab summit on Gaza, stressing at the same time that his Movement would not stop its efforts to get the siege lifted and end the aggression on the Strip. Barhoum underlined that Israel's attempts to impose its conditions in any political solutions through killing civilians and destroying their homes would be doomed to failure and would not deter the Palestinian resistance from defending its people and safeguard their rights and welfare. In the context of the Egyptian ceasefire initiative, Dr. Salah Al-Bardaweel, a prominent leader of Hamas and one of its delegates to Cairo, said that his Movement would not accept less than ending the Israeli aggression, lifting the siege, opening the crossings and compensating the Palestinian people, adding that the delegation put forward these demands to the Egyptian side. In a news conference held in Cairo, Dr. Bardaweel underscored that there is no disagreement with the Egyptian leadership, but the contentious issue is how to deal with Israel through the items of the ceasefire initiative, pointing that the ball is now in Israel's court.

Zio-Nazi regime hopes world will forget Gaza genocide soon

a victim of Israel’s white Phosphor shells

Khalid Amayreh from Occupied Palestine With the holocaust-like Israeli onslaught in Gaza entering its fourth week, and with thousands of Palestinian civilians mercilessly killed and maimed by the Israeli war machine while hundreds others still buried under rubble, Israel is planning a public relations campaign aimed at “making the world forget the bad images” from Gaza very soon. The Israeli Foreign Ministry this week contacted an American PR firm requesting a “detailed PR plan” that would enhance Israel’s image following the Gaza blitz . Some military experts have compared the rampant havoc wreaked on Gaza with conditions in the German City of Dresden following the devastating aerial bombings by the Royal Air Force (RAF) in the closing weeks of the Second World War. According to the Israeli press, the Israeli Foreign Ministry Hasbara (propaganda) department has created a special task force to prepare for the aftermath of the Israeli blitz in Gaza. The Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz said the task force would be charged with repairing damage to Israel’s image. “The working assumption is that Israel has suffered a blow to its image in the West in the wake of heavy civilian casualties in the Strip.” Palestinian activists and human rights organizations operating in occupied Palestine have released gruesome images of hundreds of badly mutilated children killed or maimed by the continuing Israeli aerial bombing and artillery bombardment of residential areas. Palestinian officials have described the ongoing Israeli offensive as a real holocaust. “What Israel is doing to the Palestinians in Gaza is a real holocaust. Israel is murdering civilians en mass, destroying homes, mosques and public institutions,” said Ismael Haniya, the Prime Minister of the Hamas government during a speech on Tuesday. On Thursday, Palestinian hospital sources of more than 1100 Palestinians, mostly children and other innocent civilians, killed and over 5000 people injured, many critically, as a result of the wanton bombings by Israeli F-16 fighters. Israel has been using excessively disproportionate fire power, including Bunker buster bombs and White Phosphor shells, against a totally defenseless civilian population. The Israeli paper said Israeli officials were worried that “negative sentiment” toward Israel would grow the moment the full picture of the Israeli blitz emerged. Israeli hasbara officials have recommended several steps aimed at enhancing Israel’s image, including the intensive involvement of the Israeli army in facilitating the transfer of food and medicine to the bombed-out inhabitants of Gaza. One Israeli press officer reportedly recommended the employment of the so-called “ candy tactic” as an “image booster.” The “candy tactic” takes the form of filming Israeli soldiers while giving candies to Palestinian kids, especially after the perpetration of an especially-terrible massacre. Non the less, Israeli sources admit that no matter how effective Israeli hasbara efforts could be, the shocking reality on the ground in Gaza will be proven indelible. This is why the Israeli foreign ministry is suggesting that the Jewish state embark on a reactivated peace process with the Palestinian Authority (PA).

Said Seyam martyred in an Israeli occupation airstrike

GAZA, (PIC)-- Said Seyam, a prominent Hamas leader and Interior Minister of the elected government of Ismail Haneyya, was martyred Thursday evening along with his son, his brother and his brother's wife in an Israeli airstrike at a house in the Yarmouk neighbourhood at the centre of Gaza city. Hamas sources said that Seyam was martyred when Israeli occupation airforce bombed the house of Sheikh Eyad Seyam, the brother of Said Seyam during a visit by the latter to his brother's house. The bodyguard of Said Seyam was also martyred in the attack along with his brother and his brother's wife. Four other citizens from a neighbouring house were killed in the airstrike, three of them children. Eyewitnesses said that Israeli occupation airplanes fired two rockets at the house of Said Seyams brother. Hamas mourned Said Seyam saying that leaders of the movement were always at the forefront and that Seyam has joined previous martyrs of the movement such as Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, Dr. Abdel-Aziz al-Rantisi, Ibrahim al-Maqdmah, Ismail Abu Shanab, Jamal Mansour, Jamal Salim, Salah Shehadeh and Dr. Nizar al-Rayyan. Said Seyam was born on 22 July 1959 at the Shati' Rafugee camp to the west of Gaza City as his family was uprooted in 1948 from the village of Jura near the city of Askalan. He graduated at the Teachers College in Ramallah in 1980 with a Diploma in teaching sience and maths. He earned a degree in Islamic Studies from the Jerusalem Open University in 2000. He taught at UNRWA schools in Gaza from 1980 till 2003 when he resigned as a result of harassment of the employer because of his political affiliation. He worked as a voluntary Imam of the Yarmouk Mosque in Gaza city as well as other mosques in the Gaza Strip. He participated in the reconciliation committees formed by late Shiekh Ahmad Yassin during the first intifada. He was a trustee of the Islamic university, a founder member of the Future Research Centre, head of external relations department and a member of the political leadership of the Hamas movement. He was elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council in 2006 and was appointed Interior Minister in the tenth PA government. He was married and a father of six children.

441 Palestinians including over 70 children killed by Israel since last Saturday

GAZA, (PIC)-- Israel continued for the eighth consecutive day its military attacks against civilian targets throughout the Gaza Strip resulting in the death of 441 Palestinians including more than 70 children. Dr. Muawiya Hassanein, the director of ambulance and emergency in the health ministry, said that most of the victims were civilians including 36 women and 70 children, pointing out that the beds in Gaza hospitals are full of patients and injuries and can accommodate no more. For his part, Dr. Bassem Naim, the health minister, warned that the outcome of the ongoing Israeli massacres committed against the Gaza people is apt to increase significantly especially since there are more than 400 seriously-injured citizens. Dr. Naim noted that there is a severe shortage of medicines and medical equipment used to handle emergency situations, adding that 50 percent of ambulances are out of service due to the lack of spare part as a result of the Israeli siege. The minister also said that the IOF troops intensively bombed civilian institutions and homes, calling on the Arab states to urgently provide Gaza hospitals with medical supplies and ambulances fully equipped with medical care means. Meanwhile in the West Bank, Israeli border policemen carried out massive arbitrary arrests against Palestinian workers in Palestinian lands occupied in 1948 in fear of counterattacks carried out by the Palestinian resistance in retaliation to the Israeli crimes committed against the Gaza people. Hebrew radio reported that the IOF troops detained 80 Palestinian workers hailing from different West Bank cities during raids on construction sites and work places.

Falk: Aggression on Gaza serious violation of the int'l humanitarian law

WASHINGTON, (PIC)-- The UN human rights rapporteur, Richard Falk, has described the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip coupled with the tight siege on it as a serious and blatant violation of the international humanitarian law. He stressed in a radio interview on Friday that the Palestinians, especially the Gaza Strip inhabitants, need and deserve the world community's protection a long time ago even before the Israeli military assault started. Falk said that the Israeli bombing with advanced weapons on a society that is not capable to defend itself follows a human tragedy that resulted from the Israeli blockage on the Strip. The Israeli tightened siege is a collective punishment that violates international laws, he said, adding that Israel's claims that it withdrew from the Strip and thus was not an occupying power was not legally or morally true since it continued to impose its control on the Strip's borders, beaches and air space.

UNRWA finds difficulty in distributing aid due to IOF shelling

GAZA, (PIC)-- The UN relief and works agency (UNRWA) has announced on Friday that it was facing difficulties in convincing Gaza Strip citizens to go to the agency's aid distribution centers due to the intensified Israeli occupation forces' shelling. Sami Misha'sha, an UNRWA spokesman, said that his agency managed to partially resume distribution of relief assistance in the Strip on Thursday but was facing a number of challenges including convincing the citizens to go to those centers at a time the IOF shelling did not cease. The UNRWA official said that the agency would try and persuade the Israeli occupation authority to cease fire in order to enable the agency to distribute the relief material. Food supplies were allowed limited entry into the Strip but would be only enough for a day or two, Misha'sha said, adding that there was a dire need for entry of more shipments to meet the citizens' needs.

Hamas regrets PA persecution of demos

RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- Ra'fat Nassif, one of Hamas's political leaders in the West Bank, has expressed regret over the PA security apparatuses' obstruction of popular demonstrations against the Israeli massacre in Gaza, beating up participants and arresting a number of them. Nassif, in a press release on Saturday, said that such practices only harmed the image of the Palestinian people and ran contrary to national duty that calls for boosting national solidarity. He said that such practices also contradict the PA leadership's announcement on ending media campaigns other than the call for dialog. Nassif welcomed any declaration that would boost national interest, stressing that it should be certified through practices in the field. He called in this regard for releasing all political detainees, halting restrictions on freedom of expression and ending political detention.

New Israeli raids on Gaza kill Palestinian girl, two Qassam fighters

GAZA, (PIC)-- Israeli military raids on northern and eastern Gaza Strip have killed at an early hour Saturday a little Palestinian girl and two Qassam fighters. Palestinian medical sources reported that a 13-year-old girl called Sejoud Al-Dardasawi was killed and three other citizens were wounded during Israeli artillery shelling that targeted Palestinian homes east of Al-Shujaiyeh neighborhood in Gaza city. The sources added that two Palestinian fighters affiliated with Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, were also killed in Jabaliya, northern Gaza. The IOF troops have carried out at least seven military raids on open areas in Gaza this morning including the Palestinian-Egyptian border areas. In a statement received by the PIC, the Hamas Movement stated that that the killing of civilians in their homes, schools, universities and mosques is evidence of Israel's "hysteria and intelligence failure". The statement added that the bombing of civilian areas especially densely populated areas, the ban imposed on the entry of fuel, food and medicine and the huge number of women and children killed reveal the falsehood of Israel's allegations that its military operations target only Hamas.

Mishaal: This war has been imposed on us, resistance infrastructure intact

DAMASCUS, (PIC)-- The head of the Hamas political bureau, Khalid Mishaal said, in a televised speech on Friday, that the resistance infrastructure in the Gaza Strip is still intact and warned the IOF of the consequences of a ground invasion. After greeting the people of Gaza and the resistance fighters there, he greeted the people of the West Bank and the 1948 areas for the moral support they have shown to their compatriots in the Gaza Strip, and thanked the Arab and Muslim people and free people around the world who demonstrated in support of the Gaza people in the face of the Israeli onslaught. He said that the enemy counted on their surprise attack to engender "shock and awe", but the surprise was that the Gaza Strip withstood the shock. He added that it was true that the enemy managed to destroy the civil infrastructure, but "I assure you that the military infrastructure is fine and that's why the Zionists resorted to dropping leaflets on Gaza asking the people to direct them to rocket launchers." To Zionist leaders who thought that the blood of Gazans is the shortest way to political power he said: "You have made a mistake, the blood of Gazans is the shortest way for your failure and ending your political careers." "Our capabilities are modest, but our will is not, our faith is not. This war has been imposed on us and we will face it," he said, adding that he was certain of victory because: "God is on our side and not on yours, we are the victim and you are the oppressor, our cause is just and yours is not." He added that Hamas accepts nothing less than a complete halt of the aggression, the lifting of the siege and the opening of all Gaza crossings. "There are meetings and contacts with Islamic, Arab and European parties. We are ready to cooperate with any fair effort which stops the aggression, lifts the siege and opens the crossings. Mediators should know that we will not submit to the occupation's conditions because as the aggression is an act of war that requires resistance, the siege is an act of war that requires resistance." He added that the siege has left the Gaza Strip, a disaster area, calling for immediate humanitarian help and medical teams to help treat the wounded. To the people of Gaza he said that Gaza will be victorious, despite the painful loss of life and called on everyone there to unite in facing the aggression. He also called on the people in the West Bank to continue with their demonstrations and to let these demonstrations form the start of the third intifada. He called on the free people of the world to keep up the pressure to end the genocide in the Gaza Strip. To President-elect Barack Obama he said: "you have a bad start because you came out and spoke about the Mumbai events but you made no comments on the Gaza events," calling on the west in general to stop their double standards asking why did all western governments move to save Buda statues in Afghanistan when they were threatened with destruction but none moves at the destruction of eight mosques in Israeli occupation airstrikes.

Serri calls on int'l parties to support return of Abbas control on Gaza

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Special UN coordinator for middle east peace process Robert Serri called on the international parties to help the PA in Ramallah to restore control over the Gaza Strip in light of the ongoing Israeli military operations. During a press conference held in occupied Jerusalem and viewed on air in New York, Serri talked about the importance of facilitating a handover of power to PA chief Mahmoud Abbas in Gaza. The UN official also expressed his rejection of opening the Rafah border crossing before Hamas pledges to stop firing rockets in retaliation to the Israeli aggression on Gaza.

Russian authorities quell protest against Israeli aggression on Gaza

MOSCOW, (PIC)-- Russian authorities unexpectedly detained about 40 people after a peaceful protest outside the Israeli embassy in Moscow demanding an end to Israel's military offensive on the besieged Gaza Strip. Despite the arrests, Russian policemen, who had to fulfill orders to break up the demonstration, expressed their sympathy with the protesters, but they seemed not to know for sure if the protest was illegal or not. The protest demo was approved by Moscow authorities several days ago, but later it was announced without any reason that such gatherings were not authorized. During the protest, the police banned journalist work and even arrested people for giving interviews to the media. The paradox of this situation is that the Russian government has expressed more than once its solidarity with the Palestinian people. Minister of forign affairs Sergey Lavrov made a phone call few days ago with Hamas political leader Khaled Mishaal and promised to provide Gaza with humanitarian aid in the shortest term. Two Russian planes also loaded with different relief supplies had already landed in Egypt to be transported and delivered later by the Red Cross.

European mediators table truce proposal with Hamas, give int'l guarantees

DAMASCUS, (PIC)-- Arab official sources revealed that there are Turkish and European initiatives offered to the Hamas Movement in Damascus urging it to stop rocket attacks in exchange for a long-term truce including the opening of all Gaza crossings with international guarantees. The sources told the Quds Press that Turkish officials who accompanied premier Recep Erdogan during his visit to Syria met with Palestinian political leaders affiliated with Hamas and Islamic Jihad and suggested ideas related to the calm with Israel. The sources added that there were also indirect European attempts through Norwegian and French mediators in the same context, pointing out that the Hamas leadership in Damascus reiterated the same ideas and truce conditions highlighted earlier on Wednesday by Palestinian premier Ismail Haneyya. The sources also noted that other Turkish shuttle diplomacy visits are expected to be made after Erdogan's meetings with Egyptian, Syrian and Saudi officials. For his part, Hamas official Osama Abu Khaled told the Quds Press in Damascus that his Movement is confident of victory over Israel's aggression and massacres, stressing that the Movement would not give under the bombardment what it had already rejected under the siege. Abu Khaled also underlined that the Israeli leaders reconsidered their decisions regarding the aggression waged on Gaza after they exhausted all their military options and found out that a land invasion would inflict heavy losses on Israel. The Hamas official also castigated PA chief Mahmoud Abbas's passive political positions, saying that Abbas had a historic opportunity to turn the table on everyone after Israel waged its aggression on Gaza through announcing the withdrawal from the Annapolis agreement and seeking a national consensus instead of voicing decorative positions to cover his disability. The Israeli Yediot Ahronot newspaper on Wednesday had said that the war on Gaza increased significantly Hamas's popularity among Palestinian to the contrary of what Israeli leaders had expected. Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum stated in a press release received by the PIC that the support and solidarity throughout the world with Gaza and the Palestinian resistance confirmed the decline of the Zionist project and the victory and popularity of resistance. "If the Zionist enemy wants to destroy Gaza and the resistance agenda, and uproot Hamas, it should equip itself for an all-out war on all Arab and Islamic people all over the world and rip up the love of resistance from their hearts because Hamas is not only an organization or a movement, but also a phenomenon rooted in the hearts of the Arab and Islamic nation," Barhoum underscored.

Jihad: Calls for dialog incompatible with quelling popular demos

RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- The Islamic Jihad Movement has strongly criticized the quelling by PA security apparatuses in the West Bank of popular demonstrations and rallies to support their brothers in "steadfast Gaza". The Movement in a statement on Friday lashed out at the PA security for blocking Palestinian masses from marching in protest against the Israeli occupation forces' bloody onslaught on the Gaza Strip that has been ongoing for one week unabated. It said that rallies were blocked in Al-Khalil and other areas while marches in certain areas were not allowed to reach IOF roadblocks. PA security elements encircled a number of marches and beat up participants while banning them from hoisting banners of Palestinian factions, the Movement elaborated. Jihad said that national unity is not a mere slogan to be voiced in official speeches and propaganda statements but rather is a method to be pursued in the field. "We re-assert that such practices are the real obstacle impeding actual national cohesion," it said, charging that the PA security coordination with the IOF was the reason for such measures, which, it said, ran contrary to "our people's interests, unity and cause". The Jihad Movement underlined that the only position that would reflect national unity is allowing resistance in the West Bank to act, to release resistance elements and return confiscated weapons to them to assume their role in protecting and defending the people especially in the current state of open war with the "Zionist enemy".

Reflections on the Israeli holocaust in Gaza

By Khalid Amayreh The virtual holocaust Israel is now waging against the Gaza Strip is taking its toll on innocent civilians. The shocking scenes speak for themselves. The gruesomeness transcends reality; it exceeds by far the most eloquent of words. Gaza-2008-9 is very much like Dresden-1945. And as Dresden was annihilated by the RAF toward the end of the Second World War, the 1.5 million inhabitants of Gaza are being decapitated and thoroughly terrorized by the Israeli army, the Wehrmacht of our time. But there is obviously a fundamental and conspicuous difference between Gaza and Dresden. Dresden was targeted by the allies as an act of sheer vengeance and revenge for what the Nazi war machine had done, including German attacks on London and other British cities. But Gaza committed no crime against Israel. To be sure, the opposite is quite true. Have we forgotten that the bulk of the Gaza victims, who are being annihilated with the Zionist war machine, happen to be refugees and their children and grandchildren uprooted from their towns and villages across the borders inside Israel? In 1948, Israel uprooted them in wave after wave of genocidal ethnic cleansing, and ever since has been trying to liquidate them by bombing their homes, killing their children, bulldozing their farms and lately by trying to starve them to death. And now, the six-decade reign of terror and death is being culminated with an aerial holocaust, all for the purpose of displaying “Jewish power” and “heroism.”!!! Well, what heroism is there in having the state-of-the-art of the American machine of death rain missiles and bombs, including Bunker Busters, on unprotected apartment buildings, mosques, streets, pharmacies, college dormitories? This is not heroism; it is a sheer act of cowardice. The Nazis ganged up on defenseless people more than six decades ago, but they at least didn’t claim to be carrying out heroic acts as self-absorbed and gleeful Israeli leaders are doing now. In truth, Gaza is being crucified because it refuses to succumb to the cruelty and supremacy of the “holy tribe,” because it refuses to die quietly and continues to cling to life and look forth for a better tomorrow, because Gaza is saying “give me freedom or give me death.” The Nazis of our time want Gaza to die quietly, or at least as quietly as possible. Israeli behavior leaves no doubt as to the diabolical designs of the Judeo-Nazi entity. But the Israeli military and political establishments don’t want to appear before the world as they really are, as Nazis par excellence who think, behave and act like the Nazis. This is why they are trying to cover up their crimes with a frantic campaign of fabricated lies. But Nazis are Nazis even if they have Jewish names and pretend to be the victims. In the final analysis it doesn’t matter if Nazis call themselves “chosenites” or “master race” or “ubermenschen,” or even “victims.” Sowing hatred Israel is not only wreaking death, terror and havoc on defenseless Gazans. It is also sowing hatred, a lot of hatred, in the hearts and minds of millions of people who are watching Israel decapitate Gaza. This is undoubtedly going to be one of the lasting aftereffects of this madness. The gruesome and phantasmagoric images which hundreds of millions of Arabs and Muslims and others around the world are watching on their TV screens around the clock are a sure prescription for decades of hatred and sullen enmity toward Jews throughout the Muslim world. Arab and Muslim children won’t have to read about Israeli Nazism in their textbooks. They are watching it live on their TV screens. Let it be clear to all and sundry. Israel is telling an entire generation of Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims that they either surrender to the Jewish Third Reich or become “terrorists.” They will become “terrorists” and be it as it may. Surely, the pornographic slaughter will eventually boomerang on Israel and regretfully on Jews. Unfortunately, many innocent Jews will pay the price just as mostly innocent Palestinians are paying the price, with their lives and the lives of their children and beloved ones, for the brutal ugliness of the Zionist mindset. In the final analysis, anti-Semitism is manufactured in Israel, not in Damascus or Cairo or even Gaza. Hamas Israel says its aim is to destroy Hamas. Well, there is no doubt that Israel possesses the military ability to destroy the Hamas government. Israel, after all, is a military superpower which also happens to be more or less in control of the politics and policies of the United States and to a lesser extent the governments of Europe. However, destroying Hamas’s government is one thing, and destroying Hamas the movement, is quite another. Hamas has hundreds of thousands of supporters in occupied Palestine as well as tens of millions of sympathizers across the Arab and Muslim world. These will not disappear even if the Gaza government does. The ongoing huge demonstrations in solidarity with Hamas, now flooding the Arab world, shows that Hamas is more, much more, than a local nationalist-Islamic movement that can be eradicated by Israeli firepower. Yes, Hamas has obviously been hit hard. But the movement is by no means about to die or even get weaker. In fact, there are many indications that Hamas will get stronger, at least in terms of popularity and stature. The American puppet regimes in the Arab world may not like Hamas. Some of them may even be gloating over the Gaza calamity. However, Hamas is definitely winning the hearts and minds of the Arab masses from Casablanca to Bahrain. This may not yield tangible benefits immediately, but the long-term gains are absolutely certain, and this is exactly what Hamas is seeking. Well, let us suppose for the sake of argument that Israel succeeds in “terminating” the Hamas-led government in the Gaza Strip as Israeli leaders have been saying. Would this end the Islamic resistance to the Israeli occupation? Would this allow Israel to liquidate the Palestinian cause by imposing a “peace settlement” on the weak Palestinian Authority? Nay, this won’t happen at all, because Hamas, whether we like or not, represents and encapsulates the spiritual essence of the Palestinian people and their yearning for freedom and justice. More to the point, the contemplated elimination of the Hamas government by Israel would eventually be proven to be one of the stupidest Israeli misdeeds ever. First of all, it would free the resistance group from the burden of government and allow it anew to carry out more ferocious attacks against Israel without having to worry about the bombing by Israel of buildings and security headquarters and hospitals. In fact, Hamas had never wanted to be in government let alone form one. Hamas all along had wanted to be in a position to influence any Palestinian government, but not to be in the driver’s seat itself. However, the outcome of the 2006 elections imposed the burden of government on Hamas especially after Fatah refused to join Hamas in forming a government of national unity. So, in a certain sense, the disappearance of the Hamas government in Gaza would be a bless in disguise for Hamas. Remember these words very well. Because the conflict with Israel is not going to end in ten years or twenty or even fifty years.