Category Archives: Global Politics

Israeli Strike Kills a Leader of Islamic Jihad – NYTimes.com

Israeli forces killed a leader of Islamic Jihad’s military wing and two of his sons early Friday with an airstrike on their home in the southern Gaza Strip, as the Palestinian death toll topped 800 in the battle’s 18th day. A 36-year-old reservist also fell in combat in Gaza’s north, the military said, bringing the number of Israeli soldiers killed over the past week to 33.

A statement from Islamic Jihad, which has been fighting Israel alongside the Islamist Hamas movement, said that Salah Abu Hassanein, 45 — a spokesman for its militia, Al-Quds Brigades — and his sons, aged 15 and 12, were killed in the entrance to their home in the southern city of Rafah.

via Israeli Strike Kills a Leader of Islamic Jihad – NYTimes.com.

That is so precise – that someone had to know that the two sons were being killed at same time. Leader? The PR person is a fighter to be assassinated along with his sons?

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Condemns Attack On School In Gaza – Look to the Stars

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today he is “appalled” by the news of an attack on a United Nations-run school in Gaza where hundreds of people had taken refuge from the ongoing hostilities, adding that the incident underscores the need to stop all fighting immediately.

“Many have been killed – including women and children, as well as UN staff,” Mr. Ban said in statement issued in Erbil, Iraq, where he is currently on an official visit. “Circumstances are still unclear. I strongly condemn this act.”

Media reports say at least 15 people died in the attack on the school in Beit Hanoun, which was run by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). More than 100,000 Gazans – 5 per cent of the total population – have sought refuge in UNRWA facilities since the conflict began over two weeks ago.

Mr. Ban expressed his profound condolences to the families of the victims and those of the many hundreds of innocent Gazans who have tragically been killed as a result of what he described as “the massive Israeli assault.”

The UN chief, who has been in the region this week to express solidarity with Israelis and Palestinians and to help them end the current cycle of violence, again stressed to all sides that they must abide by their international obligations to respect the sanctity of civilian life and the inviolability of UN premises, and to honour their obligations to humanitarian workers.

“Today’s attack underscores the imperative for the killing to stop – and to stop now,” Mr. Ban declared.

via Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Condemns Attack On School In Gaza – Look to the Stars.

empty shoes | Palestine Rose

Oh what will you wear for Eid,

My darling young one,

Oh what will you wear for Eid,

My darling young one?

I’ll wear my burial shroud

In my Grave.

I Miss You

Mother, please don’t be afraid

For me, my journey cut short

By Israeli Demons’ so Loud,—

Their rockets went past clouds

In the sky, a Space

Satellite Saw Gaza Ablaze.

I Miss You

Mother, please don’t be afraid

For me, my journey cut short

By Israeli Demons’ so Loud,—

I’m Praying for Gaza, my head bowed.

In Paradise, with Allah, who Hears

Every Prayer, He wiped away all of my Tears.

via empty shoes | Palestine Rose.

Interview with Former Israeli Security Chief Yuval Diskin – SPIEGEL ONLINE

In an interview with SPIEGEL, Yuval Diskin, former director of Israel’s internal security service Shin Bet, speaks of the current clash between Israel and the Palestinians, what must be done to achieve peace and the lack of leadership in the Middle East.

via Interview with Former Israeli Security Chief Yuval Diskin – SPIEGEL ONLINE.

Israeli fire hits UN school in Gaza, killing 15 | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR

Gaza health officials say the death toll from an Israeli strike on a compound housing a U.N. school in the northern Gaza Strip has risen to at least 15.

Gaza health official Ashraf al-Kidra says the 15 were among hundreds of people seeking shelter in the school in Beit Hanoun from heavy fighting in the area. At least 150 people were injured.

Thursday’s strike is the fourth time a U.N. facility has been hit in fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza, which is ruled by the Islamic militant group Hamas. But it’s the first time casualties have been reported.

via Israeli fire hits UN school in Gaza, killing 15 | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR.

2 Foreign Aid Workers Are Gunned Down in Afghanistan, Officials Say – NYTimes.com

The women worked for the International Assistance Mission, were both from Finland, and were in their 40s or 50s, Mr. Wafa said. “They were inside a taxi and we have no idea as of now what they were doing in downtown Herat city,” he said.

A spate of shootings of foreign citizens occurred earlier this year before Afghanistan held elections, causing many organizations to curtail the movements of foreign staff members.

The International Assistance Mission, known as I.A.M., has been operating in Afghanistan since the 1960s, running an eye hospital and offering orthopedic services, as well as offering assistance programs for the poor. Its expatriate staff are often well assimilated in Afghanistan, learn the local languages, and live quietly with their families in Afghan communities.

In 2010, members of a 10-member I.A.M. team conducting a mobile eye clinic in remote areas of Nuristan Province were ambushed and killed by gunmen.

via 2 Foreign Aid Workers Are Gunned Down in Afghanistan, Officials Say – NYTimes.com.

France criticized for Russian aircraft carrier contract – UPI.com

Leftist gone capitalist patsy and arms sales profiteering

What Me Worry?

! Despite increasing economic sanctions on Russia, France is continuing to build two aircraft carriers for Russia.

The first Mistral-class carrier, named the Vladivostok, will be delivered in October as planned, French President Francois Hollande said this week, despite international pressure.

“I have expressed some concerns, and I do not think I am alone in this, about continuing significant … defense deals with Russia at a time when they have violated basic international law and the territorial integrity and sovereignty of their neighbors. So President Hollande understands my position,” U.S. president Barack Obama said in June.

The carrier is under construction at the STX Le Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France.

The European Union is preparing to tighten sanctions against Russia in response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine and the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine. The $1.6 billion contract to build the carriers has therefore drawn widespread criticism.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said it was “unthinkable” that his country would proceed with an agreement under current circumstances. Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite and Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt have been similarly critical.

“I think we should have had an arms embargo quite some time ago. I do not think that is necessarily the answer. But of course to deliver arms to Russia in this situation is somewhat difficult to defend, to put it mildly,” Bildt said Tuesday at a European Union meeting in Brussels.

The sale of the aircraft carriers is an example of the difficulties Europe faces in attempting to influence Russia by economic sanction.

What is propelling the resolution of the contract is money, said Pierre Tran, Paris correspondent of U.S. magazine Defense News.

“France has severe budget pressure. Domestic budget pressure. So to keep a strong defense industry, France needs to sell weapons abroad, (to) the world market. On the one hand, there is a contractual obligation to Russia, which is important in terms of keeping a place in the arms market, the world arms market. There is also, of course, a political decision on how to maintain relations with friends, allies and partners, allies like Poland, like Britain, like the U.S.” Tran said.

via France criticized for Russian aircraft carrier contract – UPI.com.

Israeli artists opposing the war come under attack on social networks – Diplomacy and Defense Israel News | Haaretz

Israeli artists opposing the war come under attack on social networks – Diplomacy and Defense Israel News | Haaretz.

As the guns roar in Gaza, Israeli artists who express sorrow over the deaths on both sides have been pilloried on social networks. “A disgrace to the State of Israel,” is one of the kinder phrases.

Comedienne and actress Orna Banai is just one example. She described herself as a “weirdo left-wing Arab-lover” on a news broadcast — and yes, expressed sorrow over the deaths of civilians on both sides and said she opposed the war. In turn, wags on social networks have turned the guns on her, mixing in a dose of misogyny and homophobia; Banai is a declared lesbian.

The actress discussed her views with a local Tel Aviv newspaper, whose editor provided the following headline: “Orna Banai: ‘I’m ashamed that this is my people.’”

Over the weekend, a Hebrew-language Facebook page surfaced entitled “Orna Banai and anti-Israel artists to Gaza.” The page’s custodians made sure to add a subtitle: “Over there they’ll be happy to rape you and your daughters in front of your husband, and only afterward slaughter him as well.”

During the Jerusalem Film Festival, which ended Sunday, a raft of directors called for a cease-fire in a letter; one of them was Shira Geffen. None other than Culture and Sports Minister Limor Livnat replied in a Facebook post, referring to the directors as “a disgrace to the State of Israel.”

When Geffen’s film was about to be screened, the director went onstage, read out the names of four Palestinian children who had been killed on a Gaza beach, and asked those who felt as she did to stand for a moment of silence.

The responses were harsh. A Hebrew-language Facebook page entitled “Contra B’tselem” — referring to the rights group — published a post reading: “Does such a woman have a place in the State of Israel?! Does such a woman deserve that Israeli army troops should protect her while she sleeps?! Our troops are fighting and she stands for a moment of silence for the enemy that fires on us without letup?!

“Shira Geffen, you are a disgrace to the country! Why don’t you stand in silence in memory of Staff Sgt. Eitan Barak, a combat soldier who fell defending the country? We are ashamed that there are people like you in the country. And it’s even sadder to me that Staff Sgt. Eitan Barak, of blessed memory, was killed as he protected a woman like you. What does your brother [the singer Aviv Geffen] sing? We’re a screwed-up generation? Well, we’re a screwed-up generation because of people like you!”

Shira Geffen’s own Facebook post about the incident reads: “The fact that expressing empathy for the four dead children draws such hateful and violent responses shows how low our society has sunk. With your permission, I would like to come out of the closet — when a child is killed, it hurts me no matter whether he is an Israeli or a Palestinian, from Ashkelon or from Gaza.”

According to Geffen, “My very ability to feel empathy for both sides does not make me anti-Israel. I can have compassion and mourn with the three mothers who lost their children in the abominable terror attack of kidnapping and murder, just the same as I can feel compassion for a child who was burned alive.”

Trouble in Spain, too

On Thursday, the singer Achinoam Nini, also known as Noa, described an anti-Israel demonstration outside one of her concerts in Spain.

“Before the concert, there was a very loud demonstration against Israel,” including cries of “Noa terrorista.” As Noa described the situation on Facebook, in Israel she is attacked by the right and pays “a very high price for being outspoken about peace and expressing left-wing political views, and in Spain, the left calls me a terrorist.”

According to Noa in her English-language post, before the concert she told the audience how once again “we are paying the price of the failure and cowardice of political and religious leaders, who have betrayed us, Arabs and Jews alike, by not doing everything in their power to avoid violence. No excuses are acceptable.

“I believe in peace, I believe in two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side, supporting each other, growing together. I believe in dialogue, it is the only way.”

On the other side of the political map, rapper Yoav Eliasi, also known as Shadow, has launched a group called Shadow’s Lions, which expresses hatred of the war’s opponents. Eliasi’s people hold right-wing demonstrations directly across from left-wing rallies.

The Lions say they’re for anyone “tired of the left wing’s hypocrisy – anyone tired of sitting at the keyboard who wants to do something beyond putting up angry posts.” Eliasi marks out targets for the group and has his picture taken with rifles.

But he, too, has a tough adversary: the left wingers who make fun of the images he posts. They bash his musical career and create Facebook pages with titles like “Shadow does cute things.” Or they report his posts as offensive and try to get them taken off Facebook. He details these problems on his own page.

In the meantime, Noa is on the defensive. “To remove any shadow of a doubt: I have no sympathy for Hamas or any of the insane jihadis of whatever kind. The relentless, deliberate bombings of civilians are intolerable, and I too am frightened for the welfare of my family and for all of Israel,” she wrote in Hebrew on Facebook.

“I’m worried about the welfare of innocent civilians wherever they may be, even in Gaza! What — are they fair game? But I say again and again that our leaders have a responsibility to make peace in any way possible, and by doing so to protect our lives.”

Noa: Open letter to the wind

If we refuse to recognize each other’s rights and embrace our obligations, if we continue to each cling to his own narrative with contempt and disregard for that of the other, if we again and again choose swords over words, if we sanctify land and not the lives of our children, we shall soon be forced to truly seek a colony on the moon, for our land will be so drenched in blood and so cluttered with tomb stones there will be nothing left for the living.

I wrote these words, and sang them together with my friend Mira Awad. They stand truer than ever today:

“when I cry I cry for both of us,

My pain has no name.

When I cry, I cry to the merciless sky and say:

There must be another way”

Noa, july 22, 2014

via Noa: Open letter to the wind.

Gaza girls flee shells in Shujaiyeh, killed in place deemed safer | Maan News Agency

A Palestinian couple from Shajaiyeh decided to leave their home several days ago and bring their family to central Gaza City, thinking it would be a safer place.

However, four sisters from the family were killed when their grandparents’ home where they were taking refuge was hit by Israeli artillery shells.

“They fled the shelling in Shujaiyeh neighborhood, to their grandfather’s house in Thalathini, but shells followed them there,” the bereaved father said.

“My daughters were playing on the roof of their grandfather’s house when I was telling my wife on the phone that we should go back home,” father Yasser al-Qassas said.

The call ended all of a sudden, he said. “When I redialed there was no answer.”

“I telephoned one of my wife’s brothers and he didn’t answer either. A cousin of mine then answered my call to say that my daughters had been killed.”

via Gaza girls flee shells in Shujaiyeh, killed in place deemed safer | Maan News Agency.