Category Archives: Palestine

“Please stop!”: Pope makes plea for peace | News , World | THE DAILY STAR

With his voice appearing to crack with emotion, the pope broke off from his scripted remarks to make a direct appeal for fighting to end.

“Please stop! I ask you with all my heart, it’s time to stop. Stop, please!”

While he made no direct reference to the situation in the Gaza Strip, the comments came after a humanitarian truce broke down Sunday with the resumption of fighting in which more than 1,000 people, mostly civilians including dozens of children, have been killed.

“Brothers and sisters, never war, never war! I am thinking above all of children, who are deprived of the hope of a worthwhile life, of a future,” he said.

“Dead childen, injured children, mutilated children, orphaned children, children whose toys are things left over from war, children who can’t smile any more,” he said.

via “Please stop!”: Pope makes plea for peace | News , World | THE DAILY STAR.

Hamas announces 24-hour humanitarian ceasefire | News | DW.DE | 27.07.2014

(Deja vu WWl where opposing armies bombarded each other as truces came closer just to show they could – we laugh or wonder “what the…?” but more people die and truces falter, just because those controlling the fighters but not on front lines want to “look” strong – fail. Hamas says yes, Israel says no, then Israel says yes and Hamas says no. You put your right foot out, you pull your right foot back, you put your left foot in and pull your left foot back and shake it all about – that’s hokie-pokie war!)

The militant group Hamas has announced that it has agreed to a 24-hour humanitarian truce. This came as heavy fighting raged in the Gaza Strip after Hamas broke a previous humanitarian ceasefire observed by Israel.

via Hamas announces 24-hour humanitarian ceasefire | News | DW.DE | 27.07.2014.

Gaza crisis: 815 Palestinians killed, no sign of ceasefire – The Times of India

UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon condemned the attack, which came hours after the agency had warned that Israel’s actions in the Gaza could constitute war crimes.

According to the UN, more than 118,000 people are now sheltering in UN schools and people are running out of food.

Palestinian toll now stands at 815 killed and more than 5,000 injured. Thirty two Israeli soldiers, two civilians and a Thai worker in Israel have also been killed in the conflict. One other soldier remains missing, but is presumed dead.

In a statement, Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu said he regretted each Palestinian civilian death, but said they were “the responsibility of Hamas”.

He keeps saying this as if it makes sense – It is fault of Hamas that Israel has killed 815 people – most of whom have nothing to do with Hamas?

via Gaza crisis: 815 Palestinians killed, no sign of ceasefire – The Times of India.

4 Palestinians killed in West Bank amid protests against Gaza assault | Maan News Agency

NABLUS (Ma’an) — Four Palestinians were killed in the West Bank on Friday, three by Israeli forces and one by an Israeli settler, amid widespread protests in solidarity with Gaza.

The four deaths on Friday come after a Palestinian was killed by Israeli forces late Thursday in clashes at Qalandia, bringing the total death toll in the West Bank to eight as thousands have marched in protest against the Israeli assault on Gaza over the last two weeks.

The victims were identified as Khaled Azmi Khaled Yousef, 18, Hashem Abu Maria, 47, Tayeb Abu Shehada, 22, and Sultan Al-Zaaqiq, 30.

Yousef was killed and three were injured on Friday when an Israeli settler opened fire at a protest march near Nablus, an official said.

In the village of Huwwara, Palestinians began marching in protest against Israel’s deadly offensive in Gaza when an Israeli settler drove by in a car and fired into the crowd, the mayor of the village said.

Khalid Mari Khalid Yousef, 18, died after being hit directly in the chest, a Ma’an reporter said, after Fatah spokesman Awwad Nijm said earlier that Yousef was critically injured.

Israeli forces who subsequently arrived on the scene got involved in the clashes, killing another Palestinian named Tayeb Abu Shehada, 22.

Nijm identified the other three injured as Tariq Issam, Muhammad Nasasrah, and Jihad Odeh.

Twenty Palestinians suffered from excessive tear gas inhalation, he added.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said that “approximately 200 Palestinians gathered in the area and a riot erupted” as they “were hurling rocks.”

Although she was familiar with the report of an Israeli settler opening fire, she said that the police and border police were responsible in the area. However, spokesmen for both the police and the border police denied any knowledge of the incidents.

In Beit Ummar, Palestinians clashed with Israeli soldiers in protest of Israel’s assault on Gaza.

Hashem Abu Maria, 47, was shot in the chest by Israeli forces and died soon after.

Sultan al-Zaaqiq, 30, was also slain by Israeli forces during the clashes.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said she was looking into the incident.

via 4 Palestinians killed in West Bank amid protests against Gaza assault | Maan News Agency.

Estonia to Aid Gaza With 75,000 Euros | News | ERR

Estonia has earmarked 75,000 to ease the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, with the money going to the area through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).

“Access to water is a huge problem and there are also problems with sewage disposal, and medication is needed,” Foreign Minister Urmas Paet said.

via Estonia to Aid Gaza With 75,000 Euros | News | ERR.

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 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.”