Stevie Wonder: We Just Called to Say, Don't Entertain Apartheid!

Dear Milena,

Click above to tell Stevie: Occupation is nothing to sing for!

Tomorrow, November 29th, the United Nations and people around the world will observe the annual International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, marking 65 years since the U.N. voted to partition Palestine, leading to Israel's exile and dispossession of Palestinians.

The US Campaign was shocked to discover that one week later, on Thursday, December 6th,legendary musician Stevie Wonder -- himself designated as a "Messenger of Peace" by the United Nations -- is scheduled toperform at the annual gala fundraiser of the "Friends of the Israeli Defense Forces" (IDF). In a letter to Stevie, Palestinian writer Bassem Nasir wrote:

"This army, [the one you are supporting] Stevie, is a tool of oppression and subjugation that has kept me, my family, and my people occupied for over forty-five years. Every day, this army is protecting the seizure of more Palestinian land to build illegal Israeli settlements and further denying me my rights as a human being... I am urging you to cancel this performance and stand with the values of justice and peace for all."

Click below to join Bassem and the chorus of voices saying: 
Stevie, We Are the World... Asking You Not to Glorify or Fundraise for the Israeli Army!

The US Campaign is compiling letters, resources, and updates on thisnew web section dedicated to the growing worldwide call for Stevie Wonder to cancel the performance. Check out this greatTwitter alert, created in partnership with US Campaign coalition member group the US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI). Here are some sample tweets:

Be the Sunshine of My Life, don't play for apartheid. Ask @motown's Stevie Wonder to cancel! http://bit.ly/Wuc1ZU #BDS
Click here to tweet the above instantly!

Instead of a 'Ribbon in the Sky', Palestinians get bombs. Don't play for the IDF Stevie. http://bit.ly/Wuc1ZU cc @motown
Click here to tweet the above instantly!

There are many more ready-made, easy-to-use tweets as well.

Stevie's concert comes on the heels of more than a week of brutal attacks by the Israeli army on the Gaza Strip that killed more than 170 Palestinians dead, the majority of whom were civilians. 

These horrifying attacks were only the latest example of the Israeli military regularly violating human rights and international law with impunity, with widespread attacks on civilians going unpunished. For example this past summer, the parents of American peace activist Rachel Corrie were denied justice when an Israeli court absolved the Israeli military of any responsibility for killing Rachel with a Caterpillar bulldozer almost ten years ago as she tried to protect a Palestinian family's home from being demolished. The Israeli military commander in southern Gaza at the time of Rachel's death was Colonel Pinhas "Pinky" Zuaretz -- who went on to become deputy national director and director of development of none other than the Friends of the IDF.

Stevie Wonder has been hailed as a champion of freedom and equality. He is an award-winning civil rights and anti-apartheid advocate. In 1985, he was arrested while protesting apartheid in South Africa, and he wrote the song: "It's Wrong (Apartheid)." Now, 27 years later, let's remind Stevie that apartheid was wrong for South Africa, and it is wrong for Palestinians!

Click here to tell Stevie, Don't be only a Part-Time Lover of Justice -- Cancel Your Date with the Israeli Army!
On the eve of the UN's International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, let's urge Stevie to be true to his UN title of "Messenger of Peace" by standing on the right side of historyand canceling his performance for the Friends of the IDF.

Yours,


Anna Baltzer
National Organizer
PS: For tomorrow's International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, we'll be joining with our friends at Kairos USA to deliver more than 30,000 signatures of support to the 15 courageous church leaders who called on Congress to investigate Israel's misuse of U.S. weapons. If you're in DC, please join us for a press conference tomorrow, Thursday, Nov. 29 at 10:00AM at the United Methodist Building, 100 Maryland Ave. NE. If you can't make it in person, watch it anywhere in the world as we live-stream the event here.

Без снимки

От „Форум за арабска култура”

амирам я седнала на един стол, а лицето й – скрито зад прясно изцеден сок от нар. Червен, но някак спокоен, без кръв и насилие. Пуши и диша. Мълча и дишам.

Този път имам водач. За първи път ще гледам Близкия изток през нечии други очи. Черни кристали като огряното от луната Средиземно море край брега на нощен Бейрут. Очите й са едно от малкото сигурни неща, които знам за нея. Заради граничещата до невъзможност политическа ситуация в родината й и условията, в които е израснала, не знае кога е родена – нито месец, нито година. Не помни името си и съвсем небрежно ми подмята: „Аз съм без идентичност, дори не знам как се казвам.” Отговарям й, че съм срещала много изгубени от себе си хора, които носят поне три имена в паспорта си. Приема го за комплимент и ми казва, че трябва да тръгваме.

Ходим пеша, с покрити ръце и прибрани коси, под досадното есенно слънце, защото отиваме на среща с „Хизбуллах”. Докато вървим, през ума ми минава картина от измъчени „ексклузивни” редове на отчаяни за кариера и слава журналисти, описали движението като легендарно и свръхтайно, но клаксонът на един автомобил бързо я отпъжда. Движим се по шосето, без това да прави впечатление никому. Колите не спират дори и на червен светофар. Обяснява ми: „Ами, това е Ливан.”

„Ето там, виждаш ли?” – посочва висока полуразрушена сграда, с надупчена фасада и изтърбушени етажи – „Там бяха нашите снайперисти по време на гражданската война. Все още водят дела за застраховката и затова не са я възстановили.” Не питам кои са „те”, защото усещам убождането от носталгията й.

Срещата минава спокойно, защото току-що си е купила цигари и светът вече се върти на върха на изящните й пръсти. На улицата едно малко момиче с черни плитки подтичва покрай нас и по-късно влита, без да иска разрешение, в кабинета на функционера от „страшното” движение, защото се оказва, че току-що е изгубило парите си. Друга картина се размазва пред очите ми – опитите на израелската пропаганда да влияят върху разследването на атентата в България, за да обвинят Иран и „Хизбуллах”, за да може законно избраният представител на ливанския народ да бъде включен в списъка с терористичните организации на Европейския съюз.

На излизане ми разказва колко жалостив човек е бил Абу Мусаб аз-Заркауи и аз разбирам, че пропастта, отворила се между „обективните” доклади на западните центрове за политически анализи и действителността, която описват, не е дълбока. Просто няма мост, за да се мине от едната на другата страна. Заради стройното изфабрикувано противопоставяне шиити-суннити, заради удобните клишета „консервативните радикални ислямисти” и „потиснатите им забрадени жени”, заради обреченото на неуспех водене на борбата с тероризма с бомби, дронове и точкови убийства. Никой анализ не може да обхване преживения ужас от чуждата военна намеса, нито да изброи изчерпателно стотиците хиляди разместени насилствено съдби, нито да подари спокойствие и утеха на осиротелите деца.

Тя знае, че пиша за Палестина от няколко години и ме пита дали искам да видя Сабра и Шатила. А аз не искам, но трябва. Усмихва се и ме окуражава: „Права си, човек прави каквото трябва, а не каквото иска.” Тогава си спомням за копнежа по гражданската война и разбирам, че целият й живот е минал в битки – за оцеляване, за самоопределяне, с изследователските центрове, с приятелите й, които повтарят, че пуши прекалено много, с обществото, което я намира за твърде неуправляема, с мъжете й, чиито имена дори не помни..”Трябва” е присъда и бягство..

Фотоапаратът ми стои недокоснат в чантата. Нямам сили, нито моралното право да снимам. Улиците са прашни, отрупани с овехтяла техника като в магазин за четвърта употреба – телевизори, готварски печки, вентилатори; дрехи, плодове. Отвсякъде висят кабели. Десетки метри, току до главите ни. Заради тясното пространство и забраната да палестинците да строят извън територията на лагера, сградите са с олющени фасади и високи, а пространството между повечето от тях – колкото да профучи един мотоциклет. Води ме до мястото, където фалангистите извършват клането на палестинците през 1982 г., докато „невинните” израелски войски наблюдават от няколкостотин метра. Двор, с паметник и цветя, а входът му – между две сергии за дрехи. Страх ме е да пристъпя, изнасилвам въображението си, за да не си представям, че стъпвам по кръвта и плътта на убитите, а тя си спомня..На нея няма кой да й помогне, въпреки че отдавна е спряла да има нужда от когото и да било..

„Как живеят хората при тези условия?”

На излизане минаваме покрай една шивашка работилница, разположена на десетина метра от стена, на която със спрей е нарисувано лицето на Рейчъл Кори. В овехтялата работилница, не по-различна от каменна пещера с нахвърляни дъски, един баща държи нежно ръката на 6-годишния си син и му показва как да работи с машината. На фона на боклуците, следите от израелския обстрел и войната между лагерите, висящото от последния етаж знаме на „Барселона” и аптеката с размер на стандартна баня с няколко вида лекарства по лавиците, любознателността на това дете и обичта на баща му са онова парченце надежда, което дава сила на борбата на палестинския народ за свобода и достойнство.

„Живеят тук и така, защото знаят, че имат родина и един ден ще се върнат там.”

Знам, че мрази да й благодаря за каквото и да било. Изпраща ме все така мълчаливо, загледана в скалите и морето някъде из квартал „ар-Рауше”. „Как ти се стори Бейрут?” – задава ми традиционния туристически въпрос. И аз мълча. Пуша и дишам. „За мен Бейрут си ти. Благодаря ти!”

А тя, раздразнена, ме оставя и се отправя към поредната битка в живота си. Сама.

За „Форум за арабска култура”

R./

PCRF Newsletter - Emergency Appeal for Children of Gaza

Like Tweet Forward LATEST NEWS November 21, 2012 Top Stories Upcoming Calendar events: PCRF Ladies Sobhiyyeh - Saturday, December 1, 2012 Brooklyn Cares Dinner - Sunday, December 2, 2012 Gaza innocents as usual suffer the most from Israeli airstrikes I first heard the name Farah Abu Halima when she was only 3 years old. It was then, in January 2009, that a white phosphorous bomb hit her home in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya, killing five of her relatives, including her mother. View article Emergency Appeal for the Children of Gaza Dear Friends, As Israel pounds Gaza with hundreds of tons of munitions, placing its 1.7 million Palestinian residents within a single "boom" of their lives, the main victims continue to be the children who make up more than half the population. Much like the nearly month-long assault on Gaza that began in December 2008 and killed 313 children and injured thousands more, the burden to ensure that these youngest victims get access to specialized medical care rests on international organizations like PCRF. Our medical staff on the ground in Gaza are reporting that Gaza's hospitals are overwhelmed with casualties and injuries, and they face critical shortages of drugs and medical supplies - especially medical disposables. We need your URGENT ACTION to help them. Please make a donation to PCRF now, to immediately provide medical disposables that are in such critical need. Donate Now "I would like to encourage friends who are interested in helping heal the wounds of war and occupation in the Middle East to support the humanitarian work of the Palestine Children's Relief Fund. They have a proven track record of providing life-saving, non-political aid in an area where children are suffering and in great need." - Jimmy Carter You received this email because you are a member of the PCRF Online Community or because at some point you indicated that you would like to be kept up to date with our news. If you’d like, you can unsubscribe THE PALESTINE CHILDREN’S RELIEF FUND IS A REGISTERED NON-POLITICAL, NON-PROFIT, 501(C)3 TAX-EXEMPT ORGANIZATION THAT WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1991 BY CONCERNED PEOPLE IN THE U.S. TO ADDRESS THE MEDICAL AND HUMANITARIAN CRISIS FACING PALESTINIAN YOUTHS IN THE MIDDLE EAST. PCRF, P.O.BOX 1926, KENT, OH, 44240, USA

MECA’s Gaza Crisis Team – Please help

Dear Friend, I will be brief.  There is so much to say but also there are no words.  And, I’m sure you understand, I must use my time, my electricity, and my internet access very carefully. I have been talking nearly every day to Barbara Lubin and Ziad Abbas at the MECA office as well as to friends and colleagues here in Gaza about the needs of the children in Gaza.  We decided to set up a Crisis Team to provide psychological and medical help for children and families. I’m asking you to support this life-saving work now. With support from MECA, the Red Crescent Society of the Gaza Strip and I are bringing together a team of 35 teachers, psychologists, nurses, and social workers living in Gaza. This Crisis Team is already providing urgently needed help by: #1 Responding to calls to our new crisis hotlinefor families who have children in need of psychological support. Our team provides advice to the parents and other family members. #2 Since the hospitals in Gaza are now completely overwhelmed with hundreds of injuries, our Crisis Team is making home visits to patients with chronic illnesses like asthma and high blood pressure, and also to people who are unable to reach a hospital because it is too dangerous to move from one area to another. Your support of MECA is so important to me and to all of us living through this madness and horror. As families take refuge in UN schools, MECA's Maia Project units are providing clean, safe drinking water in the midst of major damage to Gaza's infrastructure. The hundreds of mothers, social workers, and teachers who received trainings from the MECA-supported “Let the Children Play and Heal” are an invaluable resource to local communities as children are re-traumatized by these attacks. Your donation now will help MECA do more to help children heal physically and emotionally. And you will remind the children that there are people all over the world who care about them and will stand up for them. Please give to support this life-saving work now. With Love From Gaza, Dr. Mona El-Farra P.S. Please send this message to anyone in your life who may want to help the children in Gaza. Thank you. Take these important actions today: Write and call President Obama demanding that he exert diplomatic pressure on Israel for an immediate cease-fire and initiate an investigation into Israel’s misuse of U.S. weapons to commit human rights abuses of Palestinians. Read about the 5 ways to effectively support Gaza through Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions. Join an emergency protestor organize one yourself.  There are dozens of emergency actions planned across the country. "No Place is Safe": After Assault’s Worst Day, Gaza Doctor Says Israel Terrorizing Civilians Interview with Dr. Mona El-Farra on Democracy Now! Read Dr. Mona El-Farra's Live Reports from Gaza on MECA's Palestine Blog   DONATE NOW! Copyright © 2012 Middle East Children's Alliance, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you signed up, made a donation, signed a petition, or attended an event with the Middle East Children's Alliance (MECA). This mail program allows you to directly manage your communication preferences. Please contact MECA with any questions at 510 548-0542. Our mailing address is: Middle East Children's Alliance 1101 Eighth Street Suite 100 Berkeley, CA 94710 Add us to your address book

Митинг в Подкрепа на Палестина и в памет на жертвите, София

Ввъв връзка с трагедията в Ивицата Газа Палестинска асоциация организира митинг-бдение за солидарност с нашите събратя в Газа. Призоваваме всеки да дойде и заедно с нас да запали свещ в памет на жертвите, една четвърт от които деца. Меротприятието ще се проведе на площад Света Неделя в петък /23 ноември/ от 17:00 ч. до 18:00 ч.
Благодарим за подкрепата!

#MURDER | Israelis kill Palestinian worker Ahmed Eid, 22 years old in cold blood just for being Palestinian

NOVEMBER 21, 2012 BY OCCUPIEDPALESTINE 

 

JENIN, (PIC)– Three Israelis abducted a Palestinian worker from his workplace in Yarka village, in 1948 occupied Akka province, on Tuesday night and killed him in cold blood.

Relatives told the PIC that three Israelis took Ahmed Eid, 22, from his sleeping bed in the village to nearby groves and shot him to death just because he is a Palestinian.

They said that his brother Mahmoud, who went to inquire about his brother, miraculously escaped from the Israelis but was detained by the police along with his brother’s body.

They said that both brothers, from Jenin, worked in a carton factory in the village.

#GazaUnderAttack | An urgent call for people of conscience | Human Rights Defenders Needed in #Gaza

ISM Palestine | Nov 20, 2012 

Due to the failures of the United Nations, governments and the International community to fulfill their obligation to protect the besieged civilians of Gaza, we urge people of conscience to come to Gaza to act as human rights defenders against the wanton lethal attacks unleashed by Israel against the civilian population.

In the last 7 days 116 people have been murdered, including 23 children. More are being murdered as you read this call. We call on all people of conscience to do what the UN and the international governments are failing to do–to enter Gaza in groups to act as human rights defenders. We will be entering Gaza as affinity groups. The groups will remain together for the duration of their stay. In Gaza, Palestinian human rights workers will coordinate our work.

We will collectively document and report on the war crimes committed by Israel in Gaza and be present to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people. Through our efforts we will bring the reality of life in Gaza to our own communities. Activists have the option of forming groups or delegations in their home countries, or traveling to Egypt to join other human rights defenders there. Groups will enter Gaza via Rafah crossing.

To endorse this action and joining us, contact: gazasolidarity2012@gmail.com

Argentinian president writes #UN Security Council over #Gaza

Published yesterday 23:49

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- The President of Argentina wrote the chairman of the UN Security Council to request urgent action on Gaza violence, Argentina's consulate to Palestine said Tuesday.

President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner said that while Argentina would not take its seat on the council until January 2013, "the current situation can not wait," in the letter to Ambassador Hardeep Singh Puri.

"As you know, Gaza has a population density that prevents avoiding civilian casualties even when air strikes have specific targets," Kirchner wrote, in the letter provided by the consulate.

"It is difficult not to outrage at the number of children that are among the hundreds of casualties and thousands of injured."

The letter continued: "That is why I request you to call, urgently, a session of the Security Council to end this round of violence that only strengthens those who want to prevent the creation of a Palestinian state living in peace with the State of Israel as promised by the President of the Palestinian Authority, President Mahmoud Abbas."

Minister: 25 mosques bombed in Gaza

Minister: 25 mosques bombed in Gaza

Published today 00:47

Children play in the rubble of a destroyed mosque in Gaza.
(MaanImages/file)

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) --The minister of religious affairs in Gaza said Monday that Israel has damaged over 25 mosques in six days of heavy shelling across the enclave.

"The occupation (Israel) in their aggression did not only commit crimes against civilians, as happened to Salah, al-Dalou, and Azzam families, but targeted mosques, cemeteries and houses of worship," Ismail Radwan said at a news conference outside Al-Abbas mosque.

"The enemy directly targeted Sheikh Shaban cemetery, the emergency cemetery, in addition to Mahatta, Tal Zatar, and Bani Suheil cemeteries which led to scattering the bodies of the dead and martyrs.

"They also targeted and destroyed completely the Ribat mosque in Gaza City and Al-Rahman mosque in the central Gaza Strip."

Radwan called on Islamic scholars and imams in Palestine and around the world to pray for the injured and Palestinian fighters.

He called on the grand imam of Al-Azhar, Sheikh Ahmad al-Tayeb, and all his counterparts to visit the Gaza Strip and stand by the Palestinian people.

The minister urged the international community and human rights organizations to put Israeli leaders on trial for war crimes and called on the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to fulfill their duties and support Palestinians in preserving their holy places.

Pro-Palestine demos in several countries condemn Israeli regime

• 
  

Pro-Palestine demonstrations have been held in several countries to condemn the recent airstrikes by the Israeli regime on the besieged Gaza Strip, Press TV reports.

On Sunday, thousands of people in the Turkish port city of Istanbul staged a demonstration against the deadly airstrikes.

In Egypt, anti-Israel activists held a similar demonstration in the second largest city of Alexandria, calling for an end to the attacks on Palestinians in Gaza.

A large number of people in Kashmir expressed solidarity with the families of the victims in Gaza. The protesters burned a flag of the Israeli regime and chanted slogans against Tel Aviv.

Pro-Palestine demonstrators in Berlin, Germany, demanded an end to the blockade of the Gaza Strip. They carried banners that read, “Since 1948 there has been ethnic cleansing, displacement, oppression. Enough is enough.”

In the UK, anti-Israel protesters gathered outside the Israeli embassy in London, calling for an end to the siege on and aggression against Gaza.

Demonstrations in support of Gaza were also held in the Italian capital Rome, Japan’s capital Tokyo and the Indonesian capital Jakarta.

Meanwhile, anti-Israel demonstrators took to the streets in the West Bank city of Ramallah and al-Quds (Jerusalem).

At least 93 Palestinians, including many women and children, have been killed in the Israeli airstrikes on Gaza since November 14. More than 700 people have also been injured, with some of the wounded in critical condition.

Sunday was reportedly the bloodiest day. Thirty-one people were killed during the Israeli attacks. Gaza Health Ministry officials said nine members of a family, five of them children, were among the victims.

SAB/HSN/HJL 

Libyan delegation to visit Gaza on Wednesday

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- A high-level diplomatic delegation from Libya will visit Gaza on Wednesday, the foreign ministry in Gaza said.

Libyan vice-president Salah Makhzoun and deputy prime minister Mustafa Abu Hakor will head a delegation which includes doctors and political figures, a statement said.

The delegation will bring medical supplies for Gazan hospitals.

Israeli army suppresses protests in W. Bank and E. Jerusalem, killing Palestinian man

972mag.com

For the second day in a row, Israeli soldiers fired tire gas at the unarmed students of Al Quds University in Abu Dis in the West Bank in an attempt to suppress protests against the assault on Gaza. Israeli forces have violently put down demonstrations across East Jerusalem and the West Bank in the past several days. Rushdi Tamimi, 31, was shot by Israeli soldiers during a protest in Nabi Saleh on Saturday; he died today in a Ramallah hospital.

A 19-year-old student told 972 that, as she was leaving campus yesterday around 4:00 PM, she saw little kids throwing stones at Israeli soldiers. One of the college students also threw a rock in the soldiers’ direction, she said, as a form of protesting the Israeli assault on Gaza that has killed over 100 Palestinians. The soldiers shot tear gas at the children and the student and then ran towards a crowd of university students, pushing them into campus, where they continued to fire tear gas at them.

Five Al Quds University students were arrested.

The student reported that she and dozens of other students hid in a building as they did not want to confront the soldiers. One of her friends fainted from tear gas inhalation.

A professor told +972 that as he fled campus yesterday afternoon, he saw one student, “lying down and twitching.” Another student was bleeding from his head.

Clashes between Israeli soldiers and unarmed Palestinian students took place this afternoon outside of Al Quds Univeristy. Soldiers shot tear gas onto the campus.

Abu Dis is located in the West Bank Area B, which is under the administration of the Palestinian Authority with Israel maintaining control over security.

According to Maan News Agency, more than 50 protesters were injured today during demonstrations, held in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, against Israel’s “Operation Pillar of Defense.” Israeli soldiers suppressed the protests with sound bombs, tear gas, and rubber-coated bullets. At least a dozen demonstrators were arrested today.

Abir Kopty of the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee reported that protests held on Saturday and Sunday at Nabi Saleh, Ofer Military Prison, Hebron, Nablus, Jenin, and Bethlehem were put down tear gas, rubber bullets, and rubber-coated bullets, with soldiers sometimes firing directly at demonstrators. More than 10 protesters were arrested and a number were injured, including Tamimi, who was shot in the back with live ammunition. According to Kopty, “While injured, soldiers dragged him attempting to detain him.”

Tamimi was taken to a hospital in Ramallah where he died of his injuries today.

Gaza conflict: family's four children buried as bombardment continues

• Eight members of Dalou family – which had no known affiliation with any militant group – died in air strike on home

  
  Harriet Sherwood in Jerusalem
• guardian.co.uk, Monday 19 November 2012 17.30 GMT

Palestinians carry the bodies of the Dalou children to their funeral in Gaza City. Photograph: Wissam Nassar/Xinhua Press/Corbis

The bodies of four children wrapped in Palestinian flags were carried above a huge crowd from the rubble of their home, destroyed in an Israeli air strike, to their graves on Monday amid mounting anger over the sharply rising toll of civilians in the six-day-old war in Gaza.

Bulldozers, which were clearing concrete and twisted metal from the site of the Dalou family's home in the hope of finding two bodies still trapped beneath the ruins, stopped work to allow the funeral procession to pass.

"Do these children look like terrorists?" asked grief-stricken relatives and neighbours of the dead. Eight members of the Dalou family, including four children aged between one and seven, were killed when a missile struck their three-storey home at around 2.30pm on Sunday. Two family members are still missing, and two neighbours were also killed.

The funeral took place amid a heavy Hamas presence, although the family had no known affiliations with any militant group.

"There has been a drastic change since the beginning of this conflict," said Hamdi Shaqqura of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) in Gaza. "There is now a complete disregard for human life, shown by the attack on the Dalou family home in the middle of a residential area. This was not the home of a militant."

According to the PCHR, there were 31 civilian deaths in the 24 hours to noon on Monday, whereas in the previous four days there had been a total of 27 civilian deaths. "There has definitely been a big acceleration," said Shaqqura.

At least 18 children have been killed since the start of the conflict last Wednesday, and more than 600 civilians have been injured, he said. The Gaza health ministry said 24 children had been killed.

The total death toll in Gaza topped 100 on Monday following another day of intense bombardment. According to Ashraf al-Kidra of the Gaza ministry of health, the most recent victims included a child killed by flying shrapnel and five farmers. Elsewhere it was reported that a father and son were killed while the man was repairing a water tank on the roof of his home.

Israeli fighter planes targeted a high-rise building containing the offices and studios of local and international media organisations in the centre of Gaza City for a second time. Ramez Harb, the head of Islamic Jihad's media operations, was killed and at least six were wounded.

Black smoke billowed from the building after it was struck by three missiles. Witnesses reported chaotic scenes as paramedics tried to reach the injured while firefighters tackled the blaze.

The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said the building was a "hideout" used by Islamic Jihad. In a statement it said: "The Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives, who were involved in firing rockets at Israel, were inside the media building when it was targeted."

The IDF spokeswoman Avital Liebovich tweeted: "The presence of senior Islamic Jihad militants in media building in Gaza demonstrates the ongoing tactic of using civilian [buildings] as shield."

The reason for the targeting of the Dalou family home remained unclear. Two Israeli papers reported that the IDF had targeted the wrong house, while a third said it was targeted in the belief that a Hamas militant was inside.

Neighbours told reporters that the Dalou family had no connections with militant organisations and that the father – who was not at home at the time of the air strike – owned a grocery shop.

Israeli intelligence tracks militants by their use of mobile phones, informants and evidence gathered by unarmed surveillance drones.

In the first two days of the offensive, Israel focused its firepower on military training grounds, rocket-launching sites and weapons stores. It has since turned to targeting the homes of militants, increasing the likelihood of killing civilians in the densely populated residential areas of Gaza City.

The IDF said it had struck 80 targets in Gaza on Monday. More than 120 rockets had been launched from Gaza, with 42 landing in Israel, it said. Three Israelis were slightly injured
.

Rushdi Mahmoud Hassan al-Tamimi dies of wounds in Nabi Saleh protest against #GazaUnderAttack

Maan News Agency | Nov 19, 2012 

RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — A 28-year-old Palestinian man died on Monday after he was wounded in clashes with Israeli forces at a protest in the West Bank.

Rushdi Mahmoud Hassan al-Tamimi was hit by live fire in the stomach and thigh during a Gaza solidarity demonstration in Nabi Saleh, near Ramallah, on Saturday, the village’s popular committee said.

Al-Tamimi was taken to the Palestine medical complex in Ramallah with internal bleeding. A doctor in the hospital confirmed he had died on Monday evening.

The committee said al-Tamimi was left on the ground after he was shot at close range, and Israeli forces threatened citizens who tried to administer first aid.

Al-Tamimi was a Palestinian police officer. His funeral will be held in Nabi Saleh on Tuesday.

After news of his death, a large crowd of Palestinians took to the streets in Ramallah to protest before heading to the hospital to offer condolences.

Dancing Israeli students chant “Death to the Arabs” at rally backing Gaza slaughter

students at Haifa University danced and chanted “Death to the Arabs” at a rally on Sunday to support Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

Now in its sixth day, the assault which began when Israel violated a tenuous ceasefire, has killed more than 90 Palestinians among them two dozen children, including members of the al-Dalu family which lost four young children and six adults when their home was flattened by an Israeli bomb.

The video clip shows hundreds of students singing “Hatikva,” the Jewish supremacist national anthem of Israel. At the end of the clip multiple voices can be heard chanting “mavet la’aravim,” Hebrew for “Death to the Arabs.”

Hate leaders welcomed on campus

According to the Israeli publication Magazine Hamoshavot student leaders said some 1,300 people participated in the rally which was called to “support the State of Israel” and the army.

In attendance were extremist leaders such as Knesset member Michael Ben-Ari, who has been at the forefront of inciting violence and racial and religious hatred, extremist Knesset member Arye Eldad, and violent settler activist Baruch Marzel. Marzel was prevented by security from coming on campus, according to Magazine Hamoshavot.

Flags were distributed to students by members of the far-right anti-Palestinian campus group Im Tirzu.

Call for expulsion of Arab students

A specific goal of the rally appears to have been not just to “support” the state and the army as they slaughter people in Gaza, but specifically to incite against Palestinian students at the university, who had held an anti-war rally last week.

Anti-Palestinian activists and websites spread rumors and false accusations that the Palestinian students had held a minute of silence for Ahmad al-Jabari, the Hamas military commander whose extrajudicial execution by Israel set off the current escalation.

These accusations provided an opportunity for anti-Arab incitement and calls for expulsion:

“We came here to say that Haifa University is not a branch of Balad,” [Knesset member] Ben-Ari told Magazine Hamoshavot. “Haifa University is a Jewish and Zionist university.” And [Knesset member] Eldad said: “if the State of Israel finances the university, it cannot finance its enemies, or people who identify with its enemies at a ceremony at the university. This is intolerable.” He added: “they come here to express their identification with a mega-killer, a man who was executed by Israel.” He proposed “that the university arrange buses for them to Gaza, so they can sit in the mourning tabernacle and participate personally in the family’s grief.” He then added that “no return transportation needed to be organized.”

Balad is the party of Palestinian Knesset member Haneen Zoabi, who unlike extremists Ben-Ari and Eldad, was banned from speaking on the Haifa University campus two years ago when Palestinians wanted to commemorate the Nakba.

Hostile atmosphere

Aamer Ibrahim, a student at Haifa University, noted the hostile atmosphere for Arab students in several tweets.

electronicintifada.net

Erdogan: Israel carrying out 'terrorist acts' in Gaza

18.11.2012

Turkish Prime Minister Tayip Erdogan speaks during a news conference
during his official visit to Sarajevo on Sept. 14. (Reuters/Dado Ruvic)

ISTANBUL (Reuters) -- Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel on Monday of carrying out "terrorist acts" in its bombardment of Gaza.

"Those who associate Islam with terrorism close their eyes in the face of mass killing of Muslims, turn their heads from the massacre of children in Gaza," Erdogan told a conference of the Eurasian Islamic Council in Istanbul.

"For this reason, I say that Israel is a terrorist state, and its acts are terrorist acts."

Erdogan was visiting Cairo this week, and held talks with Egyptian President Muhammad Mursi. At a joint press conference on Saturday, both sides called for a ceasefire.

The Turkish premier said world powers were not halting Israel's attacks. "The party having the disproportionate force is obvious," he said.

Ties between Israel and Turkey, once Israel's only Muslim ally, crumbled after Israeli marines stormed an aid ship in 2010 seeking to enforce Israel's naval blockade of the Gaza Strip. Nine Turkish citizens were killed in clashes with activists on board.

Ankara expelled Israel's ambassador and froze military cooperation after a UN report into the incident released in September last year.

Earlier this month Turkey opened the trial in absentia of four former Israeli military commanders over the 2010 raid.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is to travel to Gaza on Tuesday with a group of foreign ministers from the Arab League.

Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip has killed 100 Palestinians and wounded more than 700 since Wednesday.

http://www.maannews.net