A desculpa para esta nova "poda de grama" (nome doméstico que a IDF usa para referir-se a essas tempestades de bomba) na Faixa, foi a morte de um israelense de Ashkelon. Cidade que a resistência palestina matracava com seus foguetes artesanais que acabaram fazendo uma vítima. Bastou uma para que Israel "justificasse", aos olhos dos Estados Unidos, mais uma punição coletiva dos palestinos - embora eles já tivessem sido bastante punidos nos primeiros meses de 2008. A IDF já matara mais de vinte nativos, mulheres, crianças, e 8.542 cidadãos encontravam-se detidos em seus presídios por capricho de soldado rasos a general ou "delitos" de resistência.
Do dia 27 ao dia 01, a IDF concentrou-se em bombardeios de fábricas, armazéns e prédios públicos que diziam abrigar arsenais do Hamas.
Apesar da presença da IDF acintosa e belicosa em toda a Faixa, o Hamas conseguiu lançar mais de 200 foguetes durante a operação, a maioria em Sderot, cerca de 20 em Ashkelon e 1 em Netivot. Houve um dia em que lançaram 50 e a IDF resolveu mudar de estratégia.
Só no dia primeiro de março, a IDF matou 31 palestinos, inclusive oito crianças. Até esse dia, 61 palestinos haviam morrido aumentando para 182 o número de mortos desde o início do ano, segundo o Centro Palestino de Direitos Humanos Al Mezan.
A IDF bombardeou casas e manteve sua política de não poupar ambulâncias. Os helicópteros atiravam nas que se aproximavam para recolher os feridos, sem respeito algum à Convenção de Genebra.
No final do dia, várias famílias lamentavam a perda definitiva ou o fio de vida de um ente querido. Como a de Tamer, de nove anos.
"Tamer was nine, and no child soldier. he did not live in the area from where homemade rockets are launched into Israeli territory. The day ha was killed, he was at leat two kilometers from the palce Israeli troops had entered Gaza, and met with return fire by Palestinian resistance.
His tragedy was that the family home was near Deir al-Balah in the middle of the Gaza Strip, close area tto the area the Israelis have set up as their Kussfim base. "We were all inside the house when shooting started. It was right afater members of the resistance stopped shooting at Israeli troops", she said pointing towards the scene of those clashes. Members of the family decided to crawl out into the rain after a bullet hit a gas cylinder. But the Israelis marched into this area as well, hardly ofr the first time." Members of the family decided to crawl out into the rain after a bullet hit a gas cylinder. "But they continued to fire on us from a tank and Hummer military jeep". After some time, seeing that the gas cylinder had no exploded, Etaf said she crawled into the house. Tamer followed, but never made it. "I saw Tamer shot, with a bullet in his head."
Tamer é apenas um dos muitos meninos que os soldados usaram como tiro ao alvo, como fazem diariamente na Cisjordânia.
Quanto a Mohammed al-Bori'i, um bebê de seis meses, foi morto por uma bomba que a IDF jogou em sua casa. Qual o crime da família al-Bor'i? Morava perto da casa do Ministro do Interior de Gaza e do Primeiro Ministro de facto Ismail Haniyeh, eleito nas eleições de 2006.
Histórias como estas abundam. Crianças mortas na mesma família, em famílias diferentes, mas a IDF repete estes dois Modus Operandis. Tiro ao alvo ou bomba. Os relatos não variam muito no MO que a IDF usa para exterminar as gerações futuras e atingir as famílias palestinas no que elas êem de mais precioso e mais sensível.
Tashaeel, a irmã mais velha de Tamer, dolorida pela perda do irmão e apavorada com o que o futuro reservava à família, parentes e amigos, disse então: "We can't feel safe here. If we'd also left with Tamer, their bullets would have made a harvest of us all." A mãe Sabah completou, "Bullets chase us day and night. We can't go out, and we have nowhere elso to go. No money toi move to a safer place; Last week Israeli soldiers had attacked our house, and ordered my sevem daughters, two sons and myself into the rain, with their dangerous dogs scaring us away. Then they ransacked our house for several hours, leaving it in total chaos before we were allowed back in."
Este tipo de depredação é comum, tanto na Faixa de Gaza quanto na Cisjordânia. É um terrorismo "light", não reconhecido como terrorismo, mas que causa muito dano econômico, psicológico e moral. E ai de quem reagir fisicamente à agressão dos soldados. Estes rendem o revoltado com crueldade e desaparecem com ele atrás das grades pelo menos durante seis meses.
John Snow, no Channel 4: No place is safe in Gaza (01/03)
A IDF demorou um dia inteiro para conseguir fazer as buscas que programara. Ou melhor, a destruir as infraestruturas que desejava e praticar um pouco de tiro ao alvo.
No ataque do norte da Faixa, a IDF matou mais 47 palestinos. Dentre eles, 27 civis, inclusive três mulheres e dez crianças.
Funcionários de campo do Al Mezan, informaram que o total de mortos subia para 77 e de feridos a mais de 130. Divulgaram vários depoimentos. Um deles sobre um fato ocorrido por volta das 4:30 da madrugada. Nirmeen Abu Saif, de 17 anos, foi ferida dentro de casa, dormindo. A família chamou ambulância e os serviços de atendimento palestinos seguiram o mesmo procedimento obrigatório para atender seus pacientes - ligou para pedir "security clearance" da IDF. A resposta foi positiva e os para-médicos foram buscá-la. Entretanto, segundo o motorista da ambulância Mustafa Saiwai, os soldados da IDF atiraram no veículo e nas rodas quando este aproximou-se da área. O que em si é um crime de guerra, segundo a convenção de Genebra, mas que é uma prática constante da IDF nos territórios palestinos ocupados e no presídio Gaza.
Por volta das 5:30, a IDF lançou três mísseis na residência de Khalid Atallah, resistente de 23 anos, matando sua mãe de 60 anos, seu irmão de 35 anos e ferindo nove outros membros da família. Punição através de não-combatentes também proibida pela Convenção de Genebra, pois sabia que o resistente não se encontrava lá e sim defendendo sua terra pelas ruas da cidade inundada de soldados estrangeiros.
Por volta das 8:30, a IDF bombardeou a delegacia de Khan Younis matando dois policiais e deixando muitos feridos, um em estado crítico.
Em Jabalya, cerca de 40 mil pessoas estavam privadas de água corrente e energia elétrica. Pois isto também faz parte da estratégia de punição coletiva - privar de cara a população civil de direitos básicos, como o acesso à água corrente e energia para cozinhar e iluminar suas casas. E a IDF impedia o acesso a cisternas.
No fim deste dia, uma mãe depunha aos prantos: "We celebrated Yousuf's fourth birthday today. We ate cake. And we counted the bodeies. We sang happy birthday. My mother sobbed. We watched the fighter jets roar voraciously on our television screen, pounding street after street, then heard a train screeech outside, and shuddered. Yousuf tore open his presents, and asked my mother to make a peper 'zanana', a drone, for him with origami; we were torn open from the inside, engulfed by a feeling of impotence and helplessness, fear and anger and grief, despondence and confusion. 'We are dying like chickens', said my husband Yassine last night as we contemplated the media's coverage of the events of the past few days."
Primeiro, ocultando que o Hamas lançava foguetes em território israelense por causa do bloqueio e não o inverso. Segundo, subestimando os prejuízos físicos, morais e psicológicos dos palestinos e superestimando os prejuízios do lado israelense.
If Americans Knew divulgou que a agência de notícias Associated Press tinha por praxe destorcer a realidade na cobertura do conflito, sobretudo aumentando os poucos mortos israelenses e diminuindo os numerosos mortos palestinos. Este estudo descobriu que, concretamente, a AP "reported on Israeli children's deaths more often than the deaths occurred, but failed to cover 85 percent of Palestinian children killed". Alguns anos antes a ONG divulgara que o New York Times "was seven times more likely to comment on an Israeli child's death than that of a Palestinian".
A mídia internacional só despertou para os crimes da IDF na Operação Warm Winter quando Matan Vilnay, vice-ministra da Defesa, usou a palavra shoah para descrever o futuro de Gaza.
No entanto, o que chocou a maioria da mídia não foi a trágica sina de Gaza e sim a palavra shoah ser usada de maneira "leviana". Uns chegaram a dizer que "using such a loaded term [to describe what GAzans may suffer] may somehow lessen the true horror of the original act".
Surreal, os dois pesos e duas medidas. Era como se o que estava acontecendo na Faixa de Gaza - tanto os imensos danos causados por bloqueio e sítio quanto as numerosas mortes de civis - fosse aceitável e, de certa maneira, até encorajado.
A voz do historiador israelense Ilan Pappe foi uma das poucas a levantar-se para estabelecer a verdade: "Genocide is the only appropriate way to describe what the Israeli army is doing in the Gaza Strip".
Acontece que o genocídio em Gaza não podia e não seria calculado em números como os do holacusto. Não por descrepância de crueldade e sim por os israelenses serem mais sutis em seu procedimento. Nada de câmeras de gás que chamem a atenção nem assassinatos massivos constantes e durante longo tempo. Não. Esta foi mais uma lição que Ariel Sharon, Ehud Barack, Binyamin Netanyahu e sua corja aprenderam com Hitler. Exterminação, sim, mas sem chamar demais a atenção para levar uns tapinhas nas mãos de vez em quando, mas elas ficarem livres para bater e bater e bater, serem recolhidas para trás das costas e pedois apontarem para o Hamas ou para um menino que joga pedra em um soldado que atirou no joelho ou na cabeça de um amiguinho.
Na Faixa de Gaza o genocídio estava sendo lento, calculado, através do longo prazo bem calibrado. A meu ver, um genocídio mais tenebroso, mais revoltante, do que o cometido pelos nazistas. Pois tende a ser menosprezado - de certa forma, a opinião pública internacional foi levada a acreditar que Gaza era um antro de "terroristas" que se escondem atrás de crianças para acabar com os "pobres" israelenses, e quando ouve falar em mais uma operação militar israelense, acabam achando que os sitiados colhem a violência que cultivam com os foguetes artesanais. Aí o brasileiro, o inglês, o estadunidense, após fazer careta de desgoto pelo número de mortos, dá de ombros e esquece quem é a vítima e quem é o algoz que pode e deve ser contido.
Eu tinha a impressão na época, que a hasbara/propaganda israelo/grande-mídia era tão eficiente que abafava os fatos na íntegra. A desinformação levava os estrangeiros, de forma geral, a inconscientemente considerarem os palestinos sub-gente. Menos humanos, como se suas vidas valessem menos do que as nossas e dos israelenses. Como se um bombardeio a mais ou a menos, cem mortos a mais ou a menos, dez crianças a mais ou a menos não fizessem diferença.
Era como se esta ocupação, a mais longa da História, não fosse vista como uma lenta e deliberada estrangulação em massa que merece atenção dobrada. Enquanto os palestinos eram privados do mínimo, a dita comunidade internacional só falava em negociações para acordo de paz, inclusive Mahmoud Abbas. Israel semeava guerra diariamente no terreno e na diplomacia midiática pedia paz. A hasbara imperava.
Lembrei-me da rainha Marie Antoinette na véspera da revolução francesa; da famosa frase que disse quando soube que seu povo não tinha pão para comer: Que comam rosca!
"And we do", disse então a jornalista palestina Laila El-Haddad, que desabafou indignada: "It is a slow and calculated genocide - a genocide through more calibrated, long-term means. And if the term [shoah] is used in any context, it should be this. In many ways, this is a more sinister genocide, because it tends to be overlooked: all is OK in Gaza, the wasteland, the hostile territory that is accustomed to slaughter and survival; Gaza, whose people are somehow less human; we should not take note, need not take note, unless there is a mass killing or starvation. As though what is happening now was not a slow, purposeful killing, a mass strangulation. But the governments and presidents of the civilized world, even our own "president" (president of what?) are hungry for peace deals and accords and summits."
Pois é, o ocupante priva os palestinos de liberdade, Estado, água, comida, vida, rouba-lhes terra e recursos naturais, mas tudo bem, Dê-lhes promessas e Acordos! e que morram lentamente, calados.
De fato, nas últimas 24 horas, as autoridades sanitárias declararam a morte de mais 39 palestinos. Dentre estes, 22 civis, dos quais nove eram crianças. Seis vítimas eram da mesma família.
Como sempre acontece durante as operações militares israelenses nos territórios palestinos ocupados, quando o governo vê que a ONU foi acionada e que vão ter de parar o ataque mais cedo do que tarde, a IDF intensifica os bombardeios para causar o máximo de perdas humanas e materiais. Foi o que fez também dessa vez. Jabalya foi quem sofreu as maiores perdas.
Alguns dos nomes das vítimas adultas foram revelados: Abd al-Rahman Mohammad Ali Atallah (62); Su’ad Rajab Atallah (sua mulher de 60 anos); Ibrahim Abd al-Rahman Atallah (o filho de 38); Khaled Abd al-Rahman Atallah (o de 34); Raja Abd al-Rahman Atallah (a filha de 30); Ibtisam Abd al-Rahman Atallah (a filha de 25); Samir Hamdi Asfour (36); Khaled Ahmad Abu Eyada (31); Emad Ibrahim al-Talla (34); Sadiq Yusef al-Buleishi (26); Mohammad Omar Abu Nema (21); Sobhi Mofeed Awadallah (20).
Em comunicado, o PCHR foi mais incisivo:
. "Affirms that these crimes are a continuation of Israeli war crimes in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) in general and the Gaza Strip in particular. These crimes are indicative of IOF utter disregard for civilian Palestinian lives.
. Reiterates its warning that, in light of statements and threats by Israeli political and military leaders, the death toll is likely to continue to rise.
. Calls upon the High Contracting Parties (HCP) of the Fourth Geneva Convention (1949) to fulfill their legal obligation under Article 1 of the Convention and ensure that it is respected by all parties under any circumstances. The Centre calls upon the HCP to fulfill their obligations under Article 146 of the Convention to pursue persons suspected of perpetrating grave violations of the Convention, which are defined as war crimes under Article 147 of the Convention".
E anexou o relatório transmitido pela ONG israelense Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, datado do dia 02 de março de 2008:
"Israeli military forces commenced widespread operations against Gaza on 27 February 2008, following the death of an Israeli civilian in a college campus in the south of Israel, and damage caused by a Qassam rocket to a hospital campus in the town of Ashqelon. As a result of these operations 101 Palestinians (according to Palestinian counts), the majority of whom were civilians, have been killed. Two Israeli soldiers have also been killed. This number of casualties is the highest since the start of the second intifada in 2000.
As early as Wednesday at 10:30pm, Israeli forces shelled the compound of the Ministry of Interior. As a result two civilian structures were severely damaged: the Palestinian Medical Relief Society office and dispensary, including its Mobile Clinic vehicle, and the offices of Palestinian human rights organization Al Mezan. Both organizations are long-term partners of PHR-Israel and have provided for the rights of Palestinian patients and civilians for many years. Seven-month-old baby Mohammad al-Bor’i was killed in the same attack when his home, adjacent to the compound, collapsed on top of him.
Following a weekend of continuous air strikes, shellings and limited land strikes, hospitals in Gaza are now finding it almost impossible to function due to massive overload of injured people continuing to arrive for admission today, and since last Wednesday, 27 February 2008.
The larger hospitals in Gaza are fully occupied. Since Friday 29 February 2008, surgery has been performed 24 hours a day in all 12 operating theaters of Shifa Hospital. Medical teams at this hospital are working in emergency mode since four days ago. Medical supplies and other equipment are dwindling, and there is a shortage in beds, needles, wound dressings, anesthetics and heavy medical equipment such as CPR machines.
As a result of recent events, the ability of hospital departments to maintain their routine services is impaired. The enormous numbers of injured arriving and the necessity to cover the shortage in beds has forced hospitals to stop medical treatment of dozens of patients, including cancer patients, heart patients and other chronic patients, and to send them to their homes until the end of the crisis.
According to medical information received from Shifa hospital, the majority of injuries are a result of direct hits, shrapnel and shock waves caused by bombardments by the Israeli air force, as well as the collapse of buildings on their inhabitants.
Following basic initial care provided at Shifa, and after assessment, the hospital has decided to refer dozens of patients in life-threatening condition with the greatest possible urgency to hospitals outside the Gaza Strip.
Of these dozens, PHR-Israel has received a list of 25 patients, all suffering from explosive injuries, who are in urgent need of medical care and were referred to Israeli medical centers. Fourteen are currently unconscious, their lives in grave danger, seven others are severe orthopedic cases (injuries to lower limbs) and four are severe internal cases. All have submitted requests to exit Gaza via Erez Crossing but have not yet received any response from the Israeli authorities. All the cases are severe and extremely urgent.
Although some patients have been allowed exit for care in recent days, Erez Crossing has been closed since noon today. Hundreds of other injured people, whose conditions allow transport to more distant medical centers, have been referred to Egypt, following an arrangement regarding injured patients between the Hamas government and the Egyptian government. A similar agreement has been reached with Jordan, but patients referred to Jordan must apply for an exit permit via Erez with the Israeli authorities.
PHR-Israel today received testimony regarding the death of Qusai Issa, four years old, of cancer (a neuroblastoma), on 12 February 08.
Qusai was treated in 2007 in Egypt, where his illness was diagnosed. He returned to the Gaza Strip since the treatment he needed was unavailable in Egypt. When he arrived in Gaza he received a referral to Tel HaShomer, an advanced Israeli medical center. After submitting a request for a permit and a delay of 20 days while awaiting a response, Qusai exited Gaza accompanied by his grandmother. He was hospitalized for a month at Tel Hashomer hospital and was released in good condition for a week’s rest at home. He was told he must return to the hospital one week from his release for continued care.
Qusai’s family applied for a permit but this time their request was rejected “on security grounds.” The family submitted four separate additional requests, each with a different relative as companion, but to no avail. Only then did the family apply to PHR-Israel for help.
After several urgent phone calls made by PHR-Israel to the Israeli authorities at Erez Crossing, the request was approved the same day, and Qusai finally exited Gaza with his grandmother on 7 February 2008 — after a delay of 80 days!
When Qusai arrived at the hospital, his grandmother was told that due to the very great delay, his condition was extremely serious, terminal and irretrievable. He was returned to Gaza the same day.
Samir, Qusai’s father, told us how his son deteriorated rapidly, and died five days later, on 12 February 2008.
. Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-Israel) condemns this blatant attack on patients and medical installations and demands its immediate cessation by the Israeli government.
. PHR-Israel condemns any attack against civilians and civilian structures and demands that all sides respect this principle.
. PHR-Israel demands that the government of Israel immediately ensure free access for patients and injured persons to medical centers outside Gaza, in order to ensure treatment both for them and for the other patients who are still awaiting care.
. PHR-Israel strongly believes that the leaders of both peoples bear a responsibility to stop functionalizing people for their political ends and to find an alternative way that will end occupation and bloodshed.
. PHR-Israel calls upon all parties, including international donors, to prioritize a policy that will prevent bloodshed, over provision of charity that will only prolong the occupation."
Gaza in rubble, but IDF srikes fail to stop rocket fires at Israel (02/03)
Quando as tropas bateram em retirada por pressão da ONU, o primeiro ministro Ehud Olmert declarou o fim desta operação. Aproveitou para avisar que Israel logo retornaria com soldados para combater o lançamento de foguetes, e que os bombardeios continuariam (fora do quadro da Warm Winter).
O dia 04 foi de balanço. Os palestinos contaram 110 mortos. Israel tentou enganar o mundo dizendo que eram todos militantes, mas a B'Tselem retrucou com estatísticas irrefutáveis devido ao rigor que lhe é peculiar: 54 dos enterros eram de mulheres e crianças, mais de cinquenta por cento. Ao divulgar estas estatísticas, esta ONG israelense de Direitos Humanos declarou que "expressed grave concern at the large number of children and other uninvolved (Palestinian) civilians among those killed and wounded in the Gaza Strip".
Os outros mortos eram sobretudo do Hamas, alguns do Jihad.
Os palestinos estavam chocados com tantas perdas. Não que a IDF os tivesse deixado sossegados e sim que matava e aleijava a conta-gotas ou em operações relâmpago como a Hot Winter em Nablus em 2007. Desde o fim da Segunda Intifada que não enterravam tantos compatriotas de uma vez só.
E as mortes não se resumiram à Faixa de Gaza. Um menino de 13 anos foi morto durante uma das muitas passeatas na Cisjordânia em solidariedade à Faixa de Gaza.
Como por acaso, nem a Associated Press nem a Agence France Presse, que informava a grande-mídia ausente no terreno, se estenderam em informações sobre os civis mortos. Foi como se não existissem, que os caixõezinhos fossem invisíveis. Aliás, esta operação Warm Winter passou quase desapercebida na mídia internacional até a hora em que os correspondentes ouviram a palavra shoah. Das cadeias internacionais, a Al Jazeera, Press TV foi a única a divulgar este novo ataque. E das nacionais, a Channel 4 inglesa foi a única que deu destaque ao evento sangrento.
O general Ehud Barak ( ex-primeiro ministro criador da campanha de assassinatos e mentor de Binyamin Netanyahu na expansão das colônias) era então ministro da Defesa. E como era de se esperar, divulgou um comunicado culpando o Hamas "and those firing rockets at Israel", prometeu continuar na ofensiva "a fim de proteger as cidades israelenses vizinhas" e aproveitou para pôr culpa no Hamas pelo número de crianças palestinas mortas. Serviu-se bem da cumplicidade da AP que escarafunchou até conseguir fotos de lançamento de foguetes artesanais lançados de áreas densamente populadas no norte de Gaza.
O problema é que a Faixa inteira é densamente populada. Onde ficar? Para onde correr? De onde combater? Tem gente em todo lugar. O "presídio" está super-lotado e bem quardado por terra, ar e mar; correr pra onde?
Hamas celebrates victory (03/03)
“The occupation doesn’t need any justifications to commit crimes against Palestinians,” disse Nabil al-Mabhouh, diretor do PGFTU em Gaza. "But the building was apparently targeted because we at PGFTU are supporting the rights of tens of thousands of Palestinian workers.”
Mabhouh disse que sua organização não era militante e sim uma “rights-based organization open to all people from different political affiliations and locations. We have relations with many international Trade unions.” O prédio foi construído com dinheiro doado pela Noruega.
“Targeting a civil organization shows how barbaric and outrageous the Israeli occupation is. We are not launching rockets; targeting a laborers union building is not justified.”
O prédio estava sendo usado também como posto de saúde para dezenas de milhares de trabalhadores e suas famílias, através de um sindicato de previdência social. "We strongly condemn this crime which aims to break down the Palestinian laborers, and call for all trade unions in the world to stand by us and protect the Palestinian laborers from such criminal practices.”
Como sempre acontece com este tipo de bombardeio "cirúrgico", vários prédios vizinhos foram danificados (centenas de apartamentos da área densamente populada), devido à potência do impacto das duas bombas de uma tonelada.
Morte só houve uma, mas 37 civis foram feridos, na maioria mulheres e crianças, muitas destas em condições críticas quando foram transportadas para o hospital infantil Shifa.
Os israelenses conseguiram aterrorizar a população do bairro inteiro e dos vizinhos, apavorados com os danos e os impactos dos shrapnels (bombinhas filhas das bombas).
Uma jovem mãe disse que acordou com o estrondo e deu-se conta que seu prédio estava chacoalhando. Seus cinco filhos choraram a noite toda pedindo para os pais os esconderem em lugar seguro. Onde? Seu marido, desempregado desde o início do bloqueio e bombardeios (de fábricas e armazéns agrícolas para destruir estoques e levar empresas à falência), disse que não conseguiriam arcar com os consertos "We can’t even afford to buy nylon [to cover the windows]. We can afford nothing but bare food."
Além dos prejuízos, a explosão cortou a eletricidade da área inteira - o que também é comum. Além de matar e destruir lares, as bombas destróem os fios nas ruas e os tanques de água. E era inverno e faz frio na Faixa de Gaza. Daí a ironia do nome da operação Warm Winter que aquecia com bombas o frio dos desabrigados.
“I heard shooting and Iyad was screaming. As I ran upstairs the shooting continued, and both children were on the living room floor” he says, sitting in the blood-stained living room where Jacqueline died and Iyad was critically injured. “I tried to revive them, but Jacqueline was dead, and even though Iyad was alive and making sounds we could not save him. We had to wait for an ambulance because my car had been shelled by an Israeli tank.” Hatem Abu Shbak shows us the mirrors and windows shattered by bullets, the bullet holes in the walls, and the children’s blood on the furniture.
The Israeli soldiers who killed Jacqueline and Iyad had occupied the opposite house, and were holding Ramez Etbail and his family hostage so they could use the house to shoot at local Hamas fighters. The Israelis fired straight through the kitchen window of the Abu Shbak house, striking Jacqueline and Iyad who were both cowering in the corner. Their mother was in her own bedroom trying protecting her youngest child from the onslaught of bullets.
The children’s father, Mohammed Hosni Abu Shbak, works as a security guard in Ramallah, in the West Bank. He has been in Ramallah since Hamas’ takeover of the Gaza Strip in June 2007.
As soon as the Israeli military withdrew from northern Gaza, at around 6:00am on Monday 3 March, people came out onto the streets of Jabaliya in order to start to bury their dead. Drivng through Jabaliya just hours later, funerals were being held in street after street.
Israel has described its incursion into Gaza as a “routine” military operation. However, the Israeli military’s intentions were made clear prior to the incursion, when Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter stated that unlawful rocket fire by armed Palestinians must be stopped “irrespective of the cost to the Palestinians.”
The use of excessive lethal force, and the targeting of civilians during a military operation are both illegal under international human rights law including the Fourth Geneva Convention. Jabaliya is one of the most densely populated places on earth, which makes it impossible for Israeli troops to distinguish between military targets and civilians. Israel’s deliberate and continual use of excessive lethal force in densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip has killed 237 Palestinians, including 128 civilians in the Gaza Strip this year.
Majid Abu Jelhum lives in a small quiet street about a kilometer from Abed Rabbo Street. On Saturday morning Majid and his wife were inside their house whilst four of their young children were playing in the garden. The area was quiet — Majid says there had been no fighting near his home and he thought his children would be safe in their own garden. At around 8:30am he heard an explosion, and his young son cried out for help.
“I ran to the garden, and Selsabil was on unconscious the ground; she’d been hit by a small rocket.” Selsabil’s two young sisters, and her brother who had cried out for help, were also injured by the rocket strike. The four children were rushed to Shifa Hospital in the Gaza City, which has been overwhelmed with deaths and injuries throughout the Israeli incursion. Selsabil died half an hour after arriving at Shifa hospital. She was two years old.
There are many other equally horrific cases of children having been killed during this supposed routine military operation. On 28 February, four young cousins were struck by Israeli rockets while playing football in an open area near their home in al-Qerem Street, East Jabaliya. The four children, nine-year-old Mohammad Na’im Hammouda, eight-year-old Ali Munir Dardouna, twelve-year-old Dardouna Deeb Dardouna and fourteen-year-old Omar Hussein Dardouna were dismembered by the rockets. Mohammed’s father, Naim Hamouda, told Ibrahim Sourani, a human rights lawyer at the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, that when he found the four dead children, he could not identify which one of them was his son, because the bodies had been completely torn apart.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has threatened that the military operation is not over, but has merely been suspended and will be resumed. The civilian population of the Gaza Strip, including the stunned residents of Abed Rabbo St., are waiting to see whether Israel will launch more attacks against them — and hoping the outside world will meanwhile finally speak out on their behalf.
This report is part of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights’ Narratives Under Siege series.
Não falou nada sobre o bloqueio que sufocava dezenas de milhares de famílias inocentes.
Todos os jornais que deram a notícia faziam os discursos de sempre. O de Baker que repetia o do Israel Project: "They [the resistance] hide behind civilians, using them as human shields, while actively targeting Israeli populationc enters. They bear the responsibility for the results." Ou seja, Israel era isento de culpa de matar mais de 50 civis. A culpa era dos resistentes.
A porta-voz da IDF, major Avital Leibovich, repetiu a lenga lenga, chamando a Warm Winter de "pinpoint operation" provocada pelo ataque em Ashkelon. Ela também culpou o Hamas por seus compatriotas mortos, dizendo que os resistentes usavam "casas para estocar projéteis"... e soltou a frase que também viraria lugar comum na hasbara (propaganda) israelense: "We are not targeting homes and we have no intention of targeting uninvolved civilians. We will target launchers and Hamas militas, and bunkers."
Usou a palavra alemã bunker para referir-se aos túneis a fim de assimilá-los à ideia de arsenal e potência bélica, embora eles fosse construídos para transportar produtos essenciais à sobrevivência do povo privado de comércio por vias normais. Sem os túneis, os gazauís não teriam aguentado nem seis meses de bloqueio.
De Washington, o apoio a Israel chegou pelo porta-voz do National Security Council Gordon Johndroe. Ele também pôs em prática o Israel Project (blog 08/08/14) 'lamentando' as vítimas civis, e culpando os palestinos: "There is a clear distinction between terrorist rocket attacks that target civilians and action in self-defense".
Não eram os palestinos que exerciam seu direito de auto-defesa do invasor, ocupante e carcereiro e sim este. A ladainha da "auto-defesa" era copiada ipsis litteris do Israel Project. Frase martelada sem parar para a opinião pública acreditar na hasbara.
Várias crianças palestinas atingidas pelas bombas perderam pernas, braços, olhos, ficaram deficientes físicos para toda a vida. Ficaram fora da mídia. Um menino israelense de 8 anos teve a perna amputada devido a um foguete do Hamas e saiu em todos os jornais. De tão inusitado que era o fato ou porque a desgraça de um menino palestino não conta como desgraça?
No frigir dos ovos, fois soldados israelenses foram feridos. Dois. Notícia também amplamente divulgada junto com a dos dois mortos, embora fossem soldados treinados para matar, e morrer,s e preciso. Esta é a lógica inclemente de exércitos e guerras.
Os 46 resistentes palestinos mortos não foram relevados. Nem as dezenas de civis e militantes feridos.
Foi divulgado também que os foguetes do Hamas deixavam centenas de israelenses traumatizados, temerosos de sair às ruas, e que muitas propriedades foram danificadas. "Perdas de milhões de dólares", inclusive para conserto de escolas, choramingaram.
As centenas de crianças gazauís que dormem todas as noites em sobressalto com o barulho dos drones, dos helicópteros e das bombas que podem cair sobre suas cabeças de madrugada, foram irrelevadas. Poucos relevaram os prédios públicos e residenciais destruídos pelas bombas da IDF, mil vezes mais potentes do que o foguetório do Hamas. Poucos lembraram que na Cisjordânia, centenas de alunos eram barrados nos checkpoints para não poderem aceder a suas escolas, para perderem aulas.
O objetivo do Hamas era resistir como podia, revidar na medida do possível, e manter o pânico no sul de Israel. Nas cidades vizinhas que durante séculos foram terra natal de muitas famílias palestinas expulsas de seus lares e obrigadas a buscar refúgio na Faixa.
Oficiais da IDF admitiram sem constrangimento que a operação Warm Winter era um "smaller dress-rehearsal for a much large operation for which planning is already well under way".
Na época, sob o choque de tantas mortes, os jornalistas pensaram que o tal 'ensaio em pequena escala de uma operação bem maior' que os ocupantes planejavam fosse uma lorota para tentar apavorar o Hamas. Sobretudo porque com a perda de dois soldados e com dois feridos, muitos militares estavam reticentes em re-invadir a Faixa.
Além disso, apesar da maioria da grande-mídia negligenciar as perdas civis palestinas, ficou o estigma. The Real News, Press TV, Channel 4, Al Jazeera, Democracy Now, tinham mostrado imagens, dado realce ao ataque e vídeos circulavam na internet à vontade. E basta a opinião pública ocidental sensibilizar-se para a União Europeia reagir, assim como as Nações Unidas, pressionada pelos países árabes. Estes, mais por obgrigação de atender à demanda pública de condenar o ataque covarde do super-potente David sobre Golias.
Sem contar os palestinos habitantes da Cisjorânica, que ficaram tão revoltados que Mahmoud Abbas foi obrigado a suspender as pseudo-negociações de Annapolis.
O resultado da Operação Warm Winter, para Israel, foi um fracasso. Mesmo assim a IDF cantou vitória. Do quê, não se sabia ainda, já que os grupos resistentes ficaram muito pouco desfalcados de armas.
Entender-se-ia mais tarde que o sucesso fora do "treinamento" para um maior massacre.
A Faixa de Gaza é um laboratório para testar armamento e para se desfazer de armamento ultrapassado. Depois do fiasco no Líbano, a IDF precisava aperfeiçoar sua capacidade de ataque, de matar evitando morte de seus soldados, de demolir cidades e um povo sem sofrer as perdas que sofrera em 2006 contra o Hizbollah.
Com a ofensiva terrestre queriam verificar a reação do Hamas, sua capacidade de lutar. E no final reconheceram que o Hamas evoluíra para um "exército convencional mais do que de guerrilha urbana que antes praticavam".
No final das contas, a IDF não conseguiu parar os foguetes do Hamas, mas conseguiu o que desejava - treinar, matar o máximo de gente possível em cinco dias e destruir infra-estruturas privadas e públicas importantes no norte da Faixa.
O bloqueio criminoso conrtinuou sem que ninguém o mencionasse. Sem que a grande-mídia lembrasse o porquê da resistência lançar foguetes contra o ocupante. Era surreal, como se o Hamas se defendesse de um inimigo fictício, que os moradores da Faixa de Gaza fossem livres de ir e vir à vontade, como se não fizesse dois anos que eram privados diariamente de gêneros de primeira necessidade - comida, água - e de liberdade.
Pois de fato, a entrada na Faixa, até de voluntários estrangeiros e joranlistas, era submetida à penosa autorização de Israel. A punição coletiva da população por ter eleito o Hamas era exercida de todas as formas imagináveis e inimagináveis, tais como o envenenamento paulatino através da água semi-potável que é fornecida à população da Faixa.
As Nações Unidas criticaram o "disproportionate use of force" de Israel. A União Européia tentou agradar gregos e troianos (esquecendo que na Segunda Guerra seus heróis resistiram aos nazistas com os meios que tinham) exigindo que os palestinos parassem o foguetório contra Israel e criticou Israel pelo "uso desproporcional de força".
As reações oficiais na época foram as seguintes.
O secretário geral da ONU Ban Ki-Moon disse que "While recognizing Israel's right to defend itself, I condemn the disporportionate and excessive use of force that has killed and injured so many civilians, including children. I call on Israel to cease such attacks'. Mas repetiu a frase do embaixador dos EUA para agradar seu patrão: "I condemn Palestinian rocket attacks and call for the immediate cessation of such acts of terrorism". (Interessante, deixar uma população inteira exangue trancada em um pedacinho de terra bloqueado por terra, mar, ar, e aterrorizar a população da Cisjordânia no quotidiano não são atos de terrorismo reprováveis.)
O Conselho de Segurança da ONU votou uma Resolução condenando esta nova operação militar de Israel exprimindo "shock at the bombardment of civilian homes in Gaza". O Canadá, cujo governo é controlado por lobbies sionistas, considerou esta resolução partidária, assim como alguns membros da União Européia.
Na época, a Líbia e seus vizinhos fronteiriços ainda viviam uma paz relativa proporcionada pelo autoritário, mas eficiente para acalmar os extremistas, Muammar al-Gaddafi. Seu embaixador apresentou uma Resolução que foi rejeitada e causou arrepios quando comparou a situação na Faixa de Gaza aos campos de concentração nazistas. Os embaixadores da França, Estados Unidos, Inglaterra, Bélgica, Costa Rica se retiraram acintosamente e o presidente do conselho de então, Dumisani Kumalo da África do Sul, foi obrigado a encerrar a sessão do Conselho.
O escândalo mesmo não veio da operação em si e sim da boca de Matan Vilnai ao declarar que com o foguetório, os palestinos estavam atraindo sobre si uma maior "shoah". Provocou controvérsia com a palavra hebráica conhecida, mas com outra finalidade.
Em Israel, Uri Avnery (abaixo) justificou o deslize do uso da palavra shoah como uma banalidade semântica. Já que shoah em hebraico não tem a conotação de 'holocausto' usada por historiadores ao referir-se aos crimes de Hitler contra a humanidade. Shoah em hebraico é uma palavra banal usada para designar desastre, ruína ou destruição, e não genocídio.
Na Inglaterra, o jornal Guardian titulou: "Israeli minister warns of Palestinian 'holocaust'". O Times, "Israel threatens to unleash "Holocaust"in Gaza". Quanto ao presdiente do Hamas Khaled Meshaal, disse que os ataques de Israel eram "more than a holocaust". E assim por diante.
O futuro provaria que é bem provável que a palavra shoah tenha sido escolhida de propósito. A não ser que tenha sido um lapso de quem conhece a fundo o objetivo de Israel na Faixa.
A prova viria nas três próximas operações em que Israel prosseguiu a estratégia de "podar a grama", a fim de atender a demanda crescente dos extremistas no governo israelense da "Solução Final". A mesma expressão de extermínio usada pelos nazistas durante o holocausto ou shoah.
O jornal inglês The Guardian deu espaço para um palestino expor os fatos: "Once again Israel defies an impotent international community which offers nothing but timid calls for ceasefire on “both sides.” And once again Palestinian suffering and death tolls continue to break records in the territories occupied by Israel since 1967.
When examined closely, however, reality rules out crude explanations of “violence without reason” and “terrorism without context.” It becomes apparent that one cannot seriously discuss a legitimate resistance to a prolonged and horrendous military occupation within the context of the “war on terrorism.” Moreover, even if one finds a place to critique some practices of the oppressed one should keep in mind the root of the problem: it is the occupation, not the resistance. No rhetorical device can conceal the reality of colonialism by transforming it either to a mere “conflict” between equally culpable sides or to portray the occupier as the retaliating victim.
In his most recent report of January 2008, the UN rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied territories has recounted Israel’s actions in Gaza, calling them “war crimes” and demonstrating how these have been relentlessly producing a humanitarian crisis. Indeed, more than 80 percent of Gaza’s Palestinians are living below the poverty line and depend on the food aid supplied by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA. In recent years Israel has destroyed power plants and other civilian facilities, reduced the fuel and electricity supply, and closed the borders. Palestinians’ basic human needs, such as movement, food and medical treatment, became totally dependent on the whims of Israeli security technocrats and political demagogues. It was unsurprising then to witness on 23 January the overflow of tens of thousands of Palestinians to Egypt following the destruction of a part of the Gaza-Egypt border.
By the so-called disengagement plan Israel has aimed to escape its responsibility for Gaza’s fate while effectively remaining the occupier. It has also sought to impede Palestinian self-determination by separating the West Bank from Gaza and intensifying the colonization of the West Bank and East Jerusalem along with the vehement denial of the right of the Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland. One cannot expect the Palestinians to sit quietly while Israel is creating facts on the ground to transform and fragment the ever-shrinking Palestinian homeland making their aspirations as remote as they have ever been. One cannot expect the Palestinians to submit to their reduction from humans to mere beings concerned only with survival.
Israel should not be allowed to escape its responsibility. The tens of thousands of Palestinians who have been killed, wounded, imprisoned, or handicapped only in recent years, and the thousands of houses that have been demolished can testify to the cruelty of one of the longest military occupations in recent modern history.
Unfortunately, parts of the international community have tolerated Israel’s atrocities and continue to turn a blind eye on Israel’s long list of war crimes and crimes against humanity. It is hard to escape the irony and hypocrisy when we compare the international strong condemnation of the capture of Israeli soldiers by resistance groups and the timid calls for Israel “to restrain” herself in massacring the Palestinians or in destroying Lebanon. These Israeli soldiers have names and families that broadcasters around the world learn to spell, while the Palestinians remain nameless and faceless numbers. This hypocrisy conveys a dichotomy between the powerful who by definition cannot commit terrorism no matter how reprehensible the actions are, and the underprivileged who by definition cannot commit but terrorism no matter how marginal and pitiful the actions are.
It is about time that Israel be held accountable. There is a need for an international protection for the Palestinians. Under the current conditions of gross power asymmetry it is unlikely that Israel will comply with the demands of international law and just peace without a pressure from the international community. The sooner this pressure comes and the sooner the international community assumes its responsibility, the less suffering we will witness in the region.
The Palestinians, however, cannot wait till the international community self-awakes into action. They will have to continue to resist in order to assert and restore their humanity. And for that purpose they will have to overcome their own internal differences and unite. Indeed, the long walk toward Palestinian freedom is overwhelming and becoming even more demanding of Palestinian blood. Yet, history informs us that the Palestinians will eventually have their freedom like the South Africans, Algerians, Egyptians, Indians and others.
Not only will the Palestinians overthrow the colonial yoke, but they will also have grounds for questioning the international community on its indifference to their cry for freedom and justice, and its apathy to the too heavy price that has been paid for these noble aspirations. Indeed, the question of Palestine is the current litmus test for the human condition under modernity. Palestinians bear not only the burden of liberating themselves but also of unmasking humanity’s false pretensions; ie exposing the realities of power that always trump universalist and humanist postures. In this sense, Palestinians are the voice of the wretched of the earth."
Nimer Sultany is a Palestinian citizen of Israel who was at the time a doctoral candidate at Harvard Law School. He has worked as a human rights lawyer in the Association for Civil Rights in Israel and as the head of the political monitoring project at Mada al-Carmel(the Arab center for applied social research).
Documentário Journeyman: The Heartland of Hamas
No dia 01 de março de 2008, em plena Operação Warm Winter - "ensaio" da IDF da futura Operação Cast Lead, Uri Avnery analisou o Hamas da seguinte maneira:
Let's try to bring this war down from virtual spheres to the solid ground of reality. There can be no reasonable policy, nor even rational discussion, if we do not escape from the realm of horrors and nightmares.
After the Hamas victory in the Palestinian elections, Gush Shalom said that we must speak with them. Here are some of the questions that were showered on me from all sides:
Do you like Hamas?
Not at all. I have very strong secular convictions. I oppose any ideology that mixes politics with religion - whether Jewish, Muslim or Christian, in Israel, the Arab world or America.
That does not prevent me from speaking with Hamas people, as I have spoken with other people with whom I don't agree. It has not prevented me from being a guest at their homes, to exchange views with them and to try to understand them. Some of them I liked, some I did not.
It is said that Hamas was created by Israel. Is that true?
Israel did not "create" Hamas, but it certainly helped it along in its initial stages.
During the first 20 years of the occupation, the Israeli leadership saw the PLO as its chief enemy. That's why it favored Palestinian organizations that, it was thought, could undermine the PLO. One example of this was Ariel Sharon's ludicrous attempt to set up Arab "village leagues" that would act as agents of the occupation.
The Israeli intelligence community, which in the last 60 years has failed almost every time in forecasting events in the Arab world, also failed this time. They believed that the emergence of an Islamic organization would weaken the secular PLO. While the military administration of the occupied territories was throwing into prison any Palestinian who engaged in political activity - even for peace - it did not touch the religious activists. The mosque was the only place where Palestinians could get together and plan political action.
This policy was, of course, based on a complete misunderstanding of Islam and Palestinian reality.
Hamas was officially founded immediately after the outbreak of the first intifada at the end of 1987. The Israeli Security Service (known as Shabak or Shin Bet) handled it with kid gloves. Only a year later did it arrest the founder, Sheik Ahmad Yassin.
It is ironic that the Israeli leadership is now supporting the PLO in the hope of undermining Hamas. There is no better evidence for the stupidity of our "experts" as far as Arab matters are concerned, stemming from both arrogance and contempt. Hamas is far more dangerous to Israel than the PLO ever was.
Did the Hamas election victory show that Islam was on the rise among the Palestinian people?
Not necessarily. The Palestinian people did not become more religious overnight.
True, there is a slow process of Islamization throughout the region, from Turkey to Yemen and from Morocco to Iraq. It is the reaction of the young Arab generation to the failure of secular nationalism to solve their national and social problems. But this did not cause the earthquake in Palestinian society.
If so, why did Hamas win?
There were several reasons. The main one was the growing conviction of the Palestinians that they would never get anything from the Israelis by non-violent means. After the murder of Yassir Arafat, many Palestinians believed that if they elected Mahmoud Abbas as the new president, he would get from Israel and the US the things they would not give Arafat. They found out that the opposite was happening: No real negotiations, while the settlements were getting larger every day.
They told themselves: if peaceful means don't work, there is no alternative to violent means. And if there be war, there are no braver warriors than Hamas.
Also: the corruption in the higher Fatah echelons had reached such dimensions, that the majority of Palestinians were disgusted. As long as Arafat was alive, the corruption was somehow tolerated, because everybody knew that Arafat himself was honest, and his towering importance for the national struggle overrode the shortcomings of his administration. After Arafat, tolerating the corruption became impossible. Hamas, on the other hand, was considered clean, and its leaders incorrupt. The social and educational Hamas institutions, mainly financed by Saudi Arabia, were widely respected.
The splits within Fatah also helped the Hamas candidates.
Hamas, of course, had not taken part in previous elections, but it was generally assumed - even by Hamas people themselves - that they represented only about 15-25 percent of the electorate.
Can one reasonably expect the Palestinians to overthrow Hamas themselves?
As long as the occupation goes on, there is no chance of that. An Israeli general said this week that if the Israeli army stopped operating in the West Bank, Hamas would replace Abbas there too.
The administration of Mahmoud Abbas stands on feet of clay - American and Israeli feet. If the Palestinians finally lose what confidence they still have in Abbas, his power would crumble.
But how can one reach a settlement with an organization that declares that it will never recognize Israel and whose charter calls for the destruction of the Jewish state?
All this matter of "recognition" is nonsense, a pretext for avoiding a dialogue. We do not need "recognition" from anybody. When the United States started a dialogue with Vietnam, it did not demand to be recognized as an Anglo-Saxon, Christian and capitalist state.
If A signs an agreement with B, it means that A recognizes B. All the rest is hogwash.
And in the same matter: The fuss over the Hamas charter is reminiscent of the ruckus about the PLO charter, in its time. That was a quite unimportant document, which was used by our representatives for years as an excuse to refuse to talk with the PLO. Heaven and earth were moved to compel the PLO to annul it. Who remembers that today? The acts of today and tomorrow are important, the papers of yesterday are not.
What should we speak with Hamas about?
First of all, about a cease-fire. When a wound is bleeding, the blood loss must be stemmed before the wound itself can be treated.
Hamas has many times proposed a cease-fire, Tahidiyeh ("Quiet") in Arabic. This would mean a stop to all hostilities: Qassams and Grad rockets and mortar shells from Hamas and the other organizations, "targeted liquidations", military incursions and starvation from Israel.
The negotiations should be conducted by the Egyptians, particularly since they would have to open the border between the Gaza Strip and Sinai. Gaza must get back its freedom of communication with the world by land, sea and air.
If Hamas demands the extension of the cease-fire to the West Bank, too, this should also be discussed. That would necessitate a Hamas-Fatah-Israel trialogue.
Won't Hamas exploit the cease-fire to arm itself?
Certainly. And so will Israel. Perhaps we shall succeed, at long last, in finding a defense against short-range rockets.
If the cease-fire holds, what will be the next step?
An armistice, or Hudnah in Arabic.
Hamas would have a problem in signing a formal agreement with Israel, because Palestine is a Waqf - a religious endowment. (That arose, at the time, for political reasons. When Caliph Omar conquered Palestine, he was afraid that his generals would divide the country among themselves, as they had already done in Syria. So he declared it to be the property of Allah. This resembles the attitude of our own religious people, who maintain that it is a sin to give away any part of the country, because God has expressly promised it to us.)
Hudnah is an alternative to peace. It is a concept deeply embedded in the Islamic tradition. The prophet Muhammad himself agreed a Hudnah with the rulers of Mecca, with whom he was at war after his flight from Mecca to Medina. (By the way, before the Hudnah expired, the inhabitants of Mecca adopted Islam and the prophet entered the town peacefully.) Since it has a religious sanction, its violation by Muslim believers is impossible.
A Hudnah can last for dozens of years and be extended without limit. A long Hudnah is in practice peace, if the relations between the two parties create a reality of peace.
So a formal peace is impossible?
There is a solution for this, too. Hamas has declared in the past that it does not object to Abbas conducting peace negotiations, on condition that the agreement reached is put to a plebiscite. If the Palestinian people confirm it, Hamas declared that it will accept the people's decision.
Why would Hamas accept it?
Like every Palestinian political force, Hamas aspires to power in the Palestinian state that will be set up along the 1967 borders. For that it needs to enjoy the confidence of the majority. There is no doubt whatsoever that the vast majority of the Palestinian people want a state of their own and peace. Hamas knows this well. It will do nothing that would push the majority of the people away.
And what is the place of Abbas in all this?
He should be pressured to come to an agreement with Hamas, along the lines of the earlier agreement concluded in Mecca. We believe that Israel has a clear interest in negotiating with a Palestinian government that includes the two big movements, so that the agreement reached would be accepted by almost all sections of the Palestinian people.
Is time working for us?
For many years, Gush Shalom was telling the Israeli public: let's make peace with the secular leadership of Yasser Arafat, because otherwise the national conflict will turn into a religious conflict. Unfortunately, this prophecy, too, has come true.
Those who did not want the PLO, got Hamas. If we don't come to terms with Hamas, we shall be faced with more extreme Islamic organizations, like the Taliban in Afghanistan."
Uri Avnery, 01/03/08
Alan Hart entrevista o reverendo anglicano Stephen Sizer,
doutor em teologia e autor de vários livros relacionados com o sionismo.
Abordam (em três partes de 8') a heresia de ser cristão sionista
doutor em teologia e autor de vários livros relacionados com o sionismo.
Abordam (em três partes de 8') a heresia de ser cristão sionista
Reservistas da IDF, forças israelenses de ocupação,
Shovrim Shtika - Breaking the Silence
Were people creative?
Again, hassling Palestinians was the creative part of heating up the ground, let’s say.
What’s that?
It’s done a lot in squadron-commander training in the Border Patrol. You stand and have to run in place, mustn’t stop.
How do you say it in Arabic?
They’re addressed in Hebrew. They’re forced to understand Hebrew. You don’t understand me? I’ll hit you.
Finally they understand?
Look, many of them know Hebrew, at least partially, and some of the Patrolmen speak Arabic because there are a lot of Druze and Bedouins on the force, so sometimes they spoke Arabic. But there were quite a few Patrolmen who wouldn’t speak Arabic, even if they did know the simple words for ‘hand over your ID’ which we all knew. “No, I won’t speak Arabic. ” Even the simplest things. And really, it was routine. I mean, the specific events I remember were the one with that kid, and also detaining older people for a long time.
How long?
Sometimes for an hour. Sit here for an hour. Stay.
What do they do while they wait?
Nothing. Sit.
Can they let them go?
They can. But they’re passing the time. They don’t want to let them go. Lunch is here, wait, we’re sitting down to have lunch. You sit here, wait.
Sargento da IDF na reserva
Dor I
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