Sunday, 30 July 2006, while US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was in Jerusalem to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, a US-manufactured weapon was dropped by Israeli-manned fighter jets on a residential building in Qana, southern Lebanon. Over 50 civilians perished, most of them children. No arms were found in the building. The village was the site of another massacre ten years ago, when Israel struck a UN post sheltering civilians. That time, over 100 died. Human Rights Watch condemned the strike, and stated that responsibility “rests squarely with the Israeli military,” and emphasized that the “consistent failure to distinguish combatants and civilians is a war crime.” Read more about Photostory: Devastation at Qana
15-year-old Somaia Okal ignored her sister Maria as she asked her to leave the swing for her, while their mother Asma, 30, played with her 8-month-old infant Shahd, in Jabalia, north of Gaza. This Wednesday, an Israeli shell hit their house and put an end to the laughing and chatter of the innocent Maria and Shahd. The mother was also killed, and Somaia critically wounded in the head; the 5-year-old, Amani, was wounded in the foot. Samir Okal, 35, a father of seven, did not expect that the Israeli tanks will hit his house as he lives in the “serene” neighbourhood of Abd Rabbu, which enjoys a reputation for “safety.” Read more about Mother and Two Children Killed in Israeli Attack on Gaza
Words are cheap when used to describe the ongoing slaughter and destruction in Lebanon and Palestine at the hands of the US-funded Israeli occupation army. No matter how eloquent or expressive, words stand helpless and ring hollow when confronted with the distressing human suffering inflicted on Lebanese and Palestinian civilians by the Israeli war machine and the utter apathy, even indifference, of world powers towards them. Israeli attacks have killed at least 615 Lebanese civilians in the past 18 days and 160 Palestinians over the past month under the shield of “self defense.” Read more about Not in My Name
Israel complains endlessly about how Hezbollah and Hamas refuse to recognize Israel’s right to exist. The truth is that no major Israeli party believes in a viable Palestinian state. Just who is denying whose right to exist is clearly stated in the following direct excerpts from the platforms of Israel’s most powerful parties, Labor, Kadima and Likud. The parties’ platforms illustrate the discourse of Israeli politics - a discourse that witnesses no recognition of Palestinian identity, and is based on the denial of Palestinian rights - to Jerusalem, to return - and upon the artificial maintenance of “demographic” barriers in order to preserve an ethnically exclusive state. Read more about The Truth of Israel's Intentions
Thousands of protesters came together in Trafalgar Square to protest Israel’s continuing mass slaughter of the Lebanese and Palestinian people and the British government’s complicity. The event highlighted the shameful complicity of the Blair government and was organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and supported by groups including the Stop the War Coalition, British Muslim Initiative, and the Lebanese Welfare Community.The rally entitled “Voices for Lebanon and Palestine” featured impassioned pleas and speeches from community and religious leaders as well as comedians, actors, and Members of Parliament. Read more about Photostory: Protesters Rally in London in Outrage over Qana and continued Israeli Crimes
1,500 members of the New York community, horrified at the senseless killing of Palestinians and Lebanese by the Israeli military, marched across the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan today to demand an end to the violence. The Israeli military has killed nearly 200 Palestinians in a matter of weeks, including dozens of children. In less than two weeks in Lebanon, Israel has killed nearly 500 Lebanese and made one million more refugees in their own country. In both Palestine and Lebanon, Israel has targeted civilian infrastructure, such as power plants, roads, factories, schools, airports, and bridges. Read more about 1,500 Protesters March Across Brooklyn Bridge
Today, Palestinians in Gaza demonstrated against Israel’s military assault in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip in front of the European Union office in Gaza City. In Gaza Palestinian artists have painted a mural during the demonstration. The EU Council of Foreign Ministers will hold an extraordinary meeting in Brussels on Tuesday in order to assess the situation in Lebanon and to prepare further EU action following the International Conference on Lebanon in Rome on 26 July. Finland’s Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, whose country holds the current EU presidency, and EU Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner will report on their visit to the region. Read more about Photostory: Gaza protests Israel's assault on Lebanon
Residents of Galilee and the Valleys Against the War29 July 2006
We, residents of the Galilee and the Valleys, Arabs and Jews, do not believe the government of Israel and the military who maintain that war is being waged in self-defense and for the purpose of releasing the captured soldiers. We do not believe them because it is now common knowledge that the military steps were planned a long time ago. We know that about a month before the Hizballah attack on the army patrol, a military exercise was conducted as a rehearsal for an attack on Lebanon. Similarly, the kidnapping of the ministers and Parliament members of the Palestinian Authority was planned weeks ahead of the capture of the soldier Gilad Shalit by the Hamas. Read more about Galilee and the Valleys Against the War
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, by declaring the attack on Lebanon as an “existential” one, set forth a dangerous series of events which will only serve to do long-term damage to Israel. It was an overstep and overreaction which will have profound and deep consequences in the years to come. It will also bolster the case of churches, labour unions and human rights organizations which are calling for a divestment and sanctions campaign against Israel in an attempt to force the state to change its policies related to the occupation. “Existential” threats do not absolve Israel of the responsibility to comply with international law. Read more about What Exactly is an "Existential" Threat, Mr. Olmert?
Remembering the aftermath of the 1975-1990 civil war and the garbage Lebanon was left with, I feel that today’s piling trash is a symbol of where this country is headed. Garbage in the streets is an emblem of active warfare. Driving through mountain roads, and from village to village I feel the effects of Israel’s invasion in the collapsing civil services of Lebanon. These are images of the long-term effects of a war that I remember. Garbage. And this is nothing to say of the heinous war crimes inflicted on the Southern part of this country. Read more about Beyond all that remains
