14 mar 2011
Israel’s Weapons a Crime on Humanity
Israel’s Weapons a Crime on Humanity
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In an article of March 4, Richard Lightbown argues that Israel’s use of depleted uranium, white phosphorus and other toxic metals in its war on the people of the Gaza Strip has put the whole of the Strip’s population and its environment – air, soil, groundwater and possibly seawater – at risk of serious long-term injury and contamination.
Press TV on 4 March 2011 reported that cancer cases in Gaza had increased by 30 per cent, and that there was a link between the occurrence of the disease and residence in areas that had been badly hit by Israeli bombing. Zekra Ajour from the Al-Dameer Association for Human Rights told the channel that Gaza had been a testing ground for illegal weapons. Birth defects 
On 20 December 2009 Al-Dameer had published another paper in Arabic on the increase in the number of babies born in Gaza with birth defects, thought to be the result of radioactive and toxic materials from Operation Cast Lead. [1] The birth defects included incomplete hearts and malformations of the brain.
During August, September and October 2008 the number of cases had been 27. In the comparable months in 2009 the numbers had risen to 47. There was a similar rise in aborted foetuses. Al-Dameer had called for scientific monitoring throughout the Gaza Strip to obtain statistics on deformed foetus cases relating to the intentional use of internationally banned weapons. Similar dramatic increases in birth defects over a longer period have been recorded in Iraq and have been linked to widespread use of depleted uranium (DU) weapons. (It is reported that local midwives no longer look forward to births as they don’t know what is going to come out.) Depleted uranium “Depleted uranium burns at almost 1200 degrees Celsius. (TNT by comparison burns at 576 degrees Celsius.) At this temperature the fire vaporizes any metals in the target which in combination with uranium are released into the air in aerosol form. After deposition the aerosols have the potential to contaminate groundwater.” Although the epidemiologist Professor Alastair Hay told the BBC in March 2010 that it was difficult to suggest any particular cause for the trend,[2] scientific data has been published which contradicts his opinion. A review in Environmental Health in 2005 [3] concluded by saying: Regarding the teratogenicity of parental prenatal exposure to DU aerosols, the evidence, albeit imperfect, indicates a high probability of substantial risk. Good science indicates that depleted uranium weapons should not be manufactured or exploded. When later asked in the same interview about white phosphorus, Prof. Hay had replied; …phosphorus is an essential element in our bodies and so you would I think have to ingest a huge amount to cause any particular problem. But there has been no investigation anywhere that I am aware of to link phosphorus with health problems… Apparently the professor has not read the Goldstone Report [PDF] of the previous year which states in paragraph 896: Medical staff reported to the mission how even working in the areas where the phosphorus had been used made them feel sick, their lips would swell and they would become extremely thirsty and nauseous. The toxicity of phosphorus is also recorded in a report by New York medical staff: [4] Oral ingestion of white phosphorus in humans has been demonstrated to result in pathologic changes to the liver and kidneys. The ingestion of a small quantity of white phosphorus can cause gastrointestinal complaints such as nausea, abdominal cramps, and vomiting. Individuals with a history of oral ingestion have been noted to pass phosphorus-laden stool (“smoking stool syndrome”). The accepted lethal dose is 1 mg/kg, although the ingestion of as little as 15 mg has resulted in death. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) reported that breathing white phosphorus for long periods causes “phossy jaw”, a condition in which there is poor wound healing of the mouth and breakdown of the jawbone. [5] Depleted uranium in US-supplied bunker-buster bombs Evidence of the use of depleted uranium against Gaza is tenuous and Goldstone merely recorded in paragraph 907 that it had received allegations which it had not further investigated. Much of this evidence came from Action des citoyens pour le désarmement nucléaire (ACDN: Citizens Action for Nuclear Disarmament). Their report of July 2009 hypothesizes that the GBU-39 bunker-buster bomb is packed with 75 kilogram of depleted uranium. (A UNEP report also ambiguously refers to bunker-buster bombs containing depleted uranium.) The US delivery of 1,000 of these bombs to Israel arrived in early December 2008 shortly before the start of the war. The GBU-39 is considered one of the world’s most precise bombs and Boeing, the manufacturer, claims that the bomb will penetrate three feet of steel-reinforced concrete. (UNEP suggests that it can penetrate reinforced concrete to depths ranging from 1.8 to over 6 metres.) Boeing’s patent on the weapon mentions depleted uranium. [6] It is not known how many bunker-buster bombs were used against Gaza but it seems reasonable to assume that the number could run into hundreds. It is thought that they were used mostly in the Philadelphia corridor against the tunnels. Desmond Travers, the former Irish army officer who was a member of the Goldstone Commission, would only say that depleted uranium may have been used during the war, although he did agree that it would have been well suited for attacking the tunnels where maximum penetration would have been desired. [7] He was also in agreement with ACDN that the use of below-ground targets would have considerably reduced the levels of aerosol uranium that was dispersed into the air. Col Raymond Lane, who is chief instructor of ordnance with the Irish armed forces, gave testimony to the Goldstone Commission on weapons used in the Gaza conflict. He told the commission that he had no expertise of depleted uranium and so had not investigated it. He gave no reason for his failure to bring in specialist expertise to investigate the subject. [8] In April 2009 Jean-François Fechino from ACDN was part of a four-person team which went to Gaza for the Arab Commission for Human Rights. |
Click here to watch the full albums of Israel’s war on Gaza “Cast Lead” 2008-2009
Samples that the team brought back were analysed by a specialist laboratory which identified carcinogens: depleted uranium, caesium, asbestos dust, tungsten and aluminium oxide.
Thorium oxide was also found, which is radioactive, as are depleted uranium and caesium. The analysis also identified phosphates and copper, along with volatile organic compounds (VOCs) which are a health hazard, especially to children, asthmatics and elders. [9]
Depleted uranium burns at almost 1200 degrees Celsius. (TNT by comparison burns at 576 degrees Celsius.) [10]
At this temperature the fire vaporizes any metals in the target which in combination with uranium are released into the air in aerosol form. After deposition the aerosols have the potential to contaminate groundwater. (The Gaza aquifer, which is the Strip’s only water source, is also connected to ground water supplies in Egypt, although water only flows into Gaza from Israel. [11]WaterFlyer.pdf )
There is empirical documentation that the aerosols can travel up to 42 Km and theoretical documentation that they can travel further. Sderot is about 43 kilometres from the Philadelphia corridor and less than five kilometres from Beit Hanoun. In consequence, it may be that the activities of Israel’s air force have created a greater threat to the Israeli city than all of the 8,000 well-publicized rockets from Gaza ever have.
Depleted uranium accumulation has been recorded in the bone, kidney, reproductive system, brain and lung. It is carcinogenic, toxic to the kidneys, damaging to cellular DNA and causes malformations to an embryo or foetus.
White phosphorus
“Doctors found that when they removed bandages applied to a wound that still contained fragments of white phosphorous, smoke would come from the wound since the chemical continues to burn as long as it is in contact with oxygen.”
Although an Israeli army spokesman told CNN on 7 January 2009, “I can tell you with certainty that white phosphorus is absolutely not being used.” the chemical had been used by Israeli forces since the beginning of the war. [12]
The Goldstone Report stated that Israeli sources later claimed their forces had stopped using white phosphorous on 7 January 2009 because of international concerns. This was also untrue as there is evidence that it had been used after that date. Goldstone declared the Israeli armed forces to have been “systematically reckless” in using white phosphorous in built-up areas (paragraphs 884, 886 and 890).
Difficulty in detecting the extent of damage to tissue and organs gave serious problems to medical staff trying to treat white phosphorus injuries. Several patients died as a result. Doctors found that when they removed bandages applied to a wound that still contained fragments of white phosphorous, smoke would come from the wound since the chemical continues to burn as long as it is in contact with oxygen.
White phosphorous sticks to tissue so that all flesh and sometimes muscle around the burn would have to be cut out. The substance is also highly toxic (Goldstone paragraphs 892/4/5/6).
An article published in The Lancet included photographs of a young man who was admitted to hospital in Gaza with white phosphorous burns on 30 per cent of his body.
The day after admission smoke was noticed coming from the wounds and the patient was rapidly transferred to the operating room for removal of dead tissue and removal of white phosphorus particles. During the operation a particle of the chemical was dislodged and caused a superficial burn on a nurse’s neck. The patient survived. [13]
Col Lane testified that although white phosphorus gave the best quality of smoke for military purposes it was “horrible stuff” and the Irish army had stopped using it 20 years previously. He recounted how the British army had sea-dumped quantities of the material off the coast of southwest. Scotland in the 1950s, some of which had been washed up on the coast of Ireland by a storm in 2007. It had ignited on drying (the colonel had witnessed this himself) and in one instance a child had suffered burns as a result.
Other toxic materials
Mass spectrometry analysis conducted by the New Weapons Research Group (NWRG) found aluminium, titanium, strontium, barium, cobalt and mercury in biopsies taken from white phosphorus wounds at Shifaa Hospital, Gaza.
(Aluminium, barium and mercury have potential for lethal and intoxicating effects; aluminium and mercury can cause chronic pathologies over time; mercury is carcinogenic for humans; cobalt can cause mutations; and aluminium is fetotoxic, i.e. injurious to foetuses.) [14]
White phosphorus bombs are built with alternating sectors of white phosphorus and aluminium. Analysis by NWRC of the powder from a shell near Al-Wafa Hospital in Gaza also found high levels of molybdenum, tungsten and mercury. Tungsten and mercury are carcinogenic, while molybdenum is toxic to sperms.
In a report appropriately entitled “Gaza Strip, soil has been contaminated due to bombings: population in danger”, NWRG also conducted analyses of two craters caused by bombs in 2006 and two others by bombs in 2009. In the 2006 craters they identified tungsten, mercury and molybdenum, while in the 2009 craters at Tufah they discovered molybdenum, cadmium, cobalt, nickel, manganese, copper and zinc. Cadmium and some nickel and manganese compounds are carcinogenic. [15]
NWRG has further conducted research of hair samples from 95 children resident in heavily bombed areas of Gaza. Again using mass spectrometry the study identified the carcinogenic or toxic metals chromium, cadmium, cobalt, tungsten and uranium. One wounded individual also had unusually high levels of lead. The study found the results alarming and considered the levels could be pathogenic in situations of chronic exposure. Thirty-nine of the examinees were recommended for further checks. [16]
DIME weapons, soil contamination and cancer
“DIME bombs cause a high proportion of amputations particularly of legs, while patients often suffered internal burns as well.”
It has been reported that soil in the area of a DIME (dense inert metal explosive) bomb blast may remain barren for an indefinite period of time because of contamination from heavy metal tungsten alloy. [17] The same material in trial rapidly caused tumours in 100 per cent of rats when used at both low and high doses, with the tumours spreading to the lungs, necessitating euthanasia.[18] tungsten_cancer.pdf
DIME weapons were first used against Gaza by Israeli drones in the summer of 2006, when Palestinian medical personnel reported that it significantly increased the fatality rate among victims. [19] Shortly after the DIME weapons were also trialled during the first week of the war in Lebanon in July 2006.
The Goldstone Commission was unable to confirm that DIME munitions were used by Israeli forces during Operation Cast Lead. Col Lane had told the commission in testimony that there was no actual proof. He then went on to testify that he had been given samples in Gaza which analysis in Dublin had shown to contain DIME materials consisting mostly of tungsten with traces of iron and sulphur.
He was of the opinion that ordnance had been used that had some sort of DIME component. He also mentioned that he had read of unusual amputations, and that tungsten and cobalt would have this effect. Weaponry had been found with DIME components which was capable of amputation and there are Palestinian amputees, yet neither Col Lane nor the commission was prepared to say that DIME weapons had been used by Israeli forces.
DIME bombs cause a high proportion of amputations particularly of legs, while patients often suffered internal burns as well. The bombs consist of powdered tungsten alloy mixed with an explosive material inside a casing which disintegrates on explosion.
The tungsten powder tears apart anything it hits including soft tissue and bone, causing very severe injuries. Tungsten alloy particles, described as “finely powdered micro-shrapnel”, are too small to be extracted from the victim’s body and are highly carcinogenic. (Goldstone, paragraphs 902-4)
No weapons fragments can be found from DIME bombs with standard diagnostic resources, despite the indication of heavy metals from this type of injuries.
Mass spectrometry analyses by NWRG of biopsies from amputation injuries revealed aluminium, titanium, copper, strontium, barium, cobalt, mercury, vanadium, caesium, tin, arsenic, manganese, rubidium, cadmium, chromium, zinc and nickel. Doctors reported that it was difficult to determine the extent of dead tissue (which it is vital to remove).
This resulted in higher rates of deep infection, subsequent amputation and higher mortality. [20]
The wide range of heavy metals discovered by analysis in casualties, residents and soil in Gaza suggests that other unidentified weapons may have also been trialled. (Sensor Fuzed Weapon has been suggested as one such technological perversion that the Israeli forces may have used.[21]
The whole Gaza population and their environment, including generations yet to be conceived, have been put at risk of serious long-term injury from heavy metal pollution of the air, soil and groundwater (and possibly the seawater too), while the causal pollution is likely to cross state borders into Egypt and even into Israel.
Reassurances of the legitimate and responsible use and the reduced lethality of weapons (an opinion in part shared by Col Lane) are callous and inadequate in the context of the dangerous reality that has resulted. Meanwhile, the impacts of Israel’s illegal assaults on Gaza remain ignored and its deeds uncensored by the wider international community.
[5] UNEP, 2007; Lebanon Post-Conflict Environmental Assessment, p 149.
More sources
http://www.redress.cc/palestine/rlightbown20110314
Killing weapons with the music of the A-Team
Samples that the team brought back were analysed by a specialist laboratory which identified carcinogens: depleted uranium, caesium, asbestos dust, tungsten and aluminium oxide.
Thorium oxide was also found, which is radioactive, as are depleted uranium and caesium. The analysis also identified phosphates and copper, along with volatile organic compounds (VOCs) which are a health hazard, especially to children, asthmatics and elders. [9]
Depleted uranium burns at almost 1200 degrees Celsius. (TNT by comparison burns at 576 degrees Celsius.) [10]
At this temperature the fire vaporizes any metals in the target which in combination with uranium are released into the air in aerosol form. After deposition the aerosols have the potential to contaminate groundwater. (The Gaza aquifer, which is the Strip’s only water source, is also connected to ground water supplies in Egypt, although water only flows into Gaza from Israel. [11]WaterFlyer.pdf )
There is empirical documentation that the aerosols can travel up to 42 Km and theoretical documentation that they can travel further. Sderot is about 43 kilometres from the Philadelphia corridor and less than five kilometres from Beit Hanoun. In consequence, it may be that the activities of Israel’s air force have created a greater threat to the Israeli city than all of the 8,000 well-publicized rockets from Gaza ever have.
Depleted uranium accumulation has been recorded in the bone, kidney, reproductive system, brain and lung. It is carcinogenic, toxic to the kidneys, damaging to cellular DNA and causes malformations to an embryo or foetus.
White phosphorus
“Doctors found that when they removed bandages applied to a wound that still contained fragments of white phosphorous, smoke would come from the wound since the chemical continues to burn as long as it is in contact with oxygen.”
Although an Israeli army spokesman told CNN on 7 January 2009, “I can tell you with certainty that white phosphorus is absolutely not being used.” the chemical had been used by Israeli forces since the beginning of the war. [12]
The Goldstone Report stated that Israeli sources later claimed their forces had stopped using white phosphorous on 7 January 2009 because of international concerns. This was also untrue as there is evidence that it had been used after that date. Goldstone declared the Israeli armed forces to have been “systematically reckless” in using white phosphorous in built-up areas (paragraphs 884, 886 and 890).
Difficulty in detecting the extent of damage to tissue and organs gave serious problems to medical staff trying to treat white phosphorus injuries. Several patients died as a result. Doctors found that when they removed bandages applied to a wound that still contained fragments of white phosphorous, smoke would come from the wound since the chemical continues to burn as long as it is in contact with oxygen.
White phosphorous sticks to tissue so that all flesh and sometimes muscle around the burn would have to be cut out. The substance is also highly toxic (Goldstone paragraphs 892/4/5/6).
An article published in The Lancet included photographs of a young man who was admitted to hospital in Gaza with white phosphorous burns on 30 per cent of his body.
The day after admission smoke was noticed coming from the wounds and the patient was rapidly transferred to the operating room for removal of dead tissue and removal of white phosphorus particles. During the operation a particle of the chemical was dislodged and caused a superficial burn on a nurse’s neck. The patient survived. [13]
Col Lane testified that although white phosphorus gave the best quality of smoke for military purposes it was “horrible stuff” and the Irish army had stopped using it 20 years previously. He recounted how the British army had sea-dumped quantities of the material off the coast of southwest. Scotland in the 1950s, some of which had been washed up on the coast of Ireland by a storm in 2007. It had ignited on drying (the colonel had witnessed this himself) and in one instance a child had suffered burns as a result.
Other toxic materials
Mass spectrometry analysis conducted by the New Weapons Research Group (NWRG) found aluminium, titanium, strontium, barium, cobalt and mercury in biopsies taken from white phosphorus wounds at Shifaa Hospital, Gaza.
(Aluminium, barium and mercury have potential for lethal and intoxicating effects; aluminium and mercury can cause chronic pathologies over time; mercury is carcinogenic for humans; cobalt can cause mutations; and aluminium is fetotoxic, i.e. injurious to foetuses.) [14]
White phosphorus bombs are built with alternating sectors of white phosphorus and aluminium. Analysis by NWRC of the powder from a shell near Al-Wafa Hospital in Gaza also found high levels of molybdenum, tungsten and mercury. Tungsten and mercury are carcinogenic, while molybdenum is toxic to sperms.
In a report appropriately entitled “Gaza Strip, soil has been contaminated due to bombings: population in danger”, NWRG also conducted analyses of two craters caused by bombs in 2006 and two others by bombs in 2009. In the 2006 craters they identified tungsten, mercury and molybdenum, while in the 2009 craters at Tufah they discovered molybdenum, cadmium, cobalt, nickel, manganese, copper and zinc. Cadmium and some nickel and manganese compounds are carcinogenic. [15]
NWRG has further conducted research of hair samples from 95 children resident in heavily bombed areas of Gaza. Again using mass spectrometry the study identified the carcinogenic or toxic metals chromium, cadmium, cobalt, tungsten and uranium. One wounded individual also had unusually high levels of lead. The study found the results alarming and considered the levels could be pathogenic in situations of chronic exposure. Thirty-nine of the examinees were recommended for further checks. [16]
DIME weapons, soil contamination and cancer
“DIME bombs cause a high proportion of amputations particularly of legs, while patients often suffered internal burns as well.”
It has been reported that soil in the area of a DIME (dense inert metal explosive) bomb blast may remain barren for an indefinite period of time because of contamination from heavy metal tungsten alloy. [17] The same material in trial rapidly caused tumours in 100 per cent of rats when used at both low and high doses, with the tumours spreading to the lungs, necessitating euthanasia.[18] tungsten_cancer.pdf
DIME weapons were first used against Gaza by Israeli drones in the summer of 2006, when Palestinian medical personnel reported that it significantly increased the fatality rate among victims. [19] Shortly after the DIME weapons were also trialled during the first week of the war in Lebanon in July 2006.
The Goldstone Commission was unable to confirm that DIME munitions were used by Israeli forces during Operation Cast Lead. Col Lane had told the commission in testimony that there was no actual proof. He then went on to testify that he had been given samples in Gaza which analysis in Dublin had shown to contain DIME materials consisting mostly of tungsten with traces of iron and sulphur.
He was of the opinion that ordnance had been used that had some sort of DIME component. He also mentioned that he had read of unusual amputations, and that tungsten and cobalt would have this effect. Weaponry had been found with DIME components which was capable of amputation and there are Palestinian amputees, yet neither Col Lane nor the commission was prepared to say that DIME weapons had been used by Israeli forces.
DIME bombs cause a high proportion of amputations particularly of legs, while patients often suffered internal burns as well. The bombs consist of powdered tungsten alloy mixed with an explosive material inside a casing which disintegrates on explosion.
The tungsten powder tears apart anything it hits including soft tissue and bone, causing very severe injuries. Tungsten alloy particles, described as “finely powdered micro-shrapnel”, are too small to be extracted from the victim’s body and are highly carcinogenic. (Goldstone, paragraphs 902-4)
No weapons fragments can be found from DIME bombs with standard diagnostic resources, despite the indication of heavy metals from this type of injuries.
Mass spectrometry analyses by NWRG of biopsies from amputation injuries revealed aluminium, titanium, copper, strontium, barium, cobalt, mercury, vanadium, caesium, tin, arsenic, manganese, rubidium, cadmium, chromium, zinc and nickel. Doctors reported that it was difficult to determine the extent of dead tissue (which it is vital to remove).
This resulted in higher rates of deep infection, subsequent amputation and higher mortality. [20]
The wide range of heavy metals discovered by analysis in casualties, residents and soil in Gaza suggests that other unidentified weapons may have also been trialled. (Sensor Fuzed Weapon has been suggested as one such technological perversion that the Israeli forces may have used.[21]
The whole Gaza population and their environment, including generations yet to be conceived, have been put at risk of serious long-term injury from heavy metal pollution of the air, soil and groundwater (and possibly the seawater too), while the causal pollution is likely to cross state borders into Egypt and even into Israel.
Reassurances of the legitimate and responsible use and the reduced lethality of weapons (an opinion in part shared by Col Lane) are callous and inadequate in the context of the dangerous reality that has resulted. Meanwhile, the impacts of Israel’s illegal assaults on Gaza remain ignored and its deeds uncensored by the wider international community.
[5] UNEP, 2007; Lebanon Post-Conflict Environmental Assessment, p 149.
More sources
http://www.redress.cc/palestine/rlightbown20110314
Killing weapons with the music of the A-Team
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10 feb 2011
From Egypt to Palestine: U.S. Corporation supplies tear gas in order to violently repress protesters
An Israeli and American flag fly next to each other in front of CSI headquarters in Jamestown, PA
Tear gas is one of the many products that American allies in the Middle East import from U.S. corporations. Used primarily to suppress protests, Egyptian, Tunisian and Israeli security forces all employ tear gas manufactured and shipped from Combined Systems Inc., a U.S. corporation based in Jamestown Pennsylvania.
Tear gas is a seriously dangerous chemical used to disperse crowds, however many deaths and serious injuries have been caused by the military's use and misuse of the product.
Adalah-New York, a U.S.-based campaign to boycott Israel, is calling upon U.S. citizens to pressure their government to end support for such undemocratic and inhumane policies.
Due to the massive amount of economic assistance provided to Israel and Egypt by the U.S. government, most of which comes in the form of military aid, it is highly likely that these tear gas canisters are paid for by U.S. tax dollars.
Furthermore, Propublica.org is reporting that the Department of State and Department of Commerce regulate all exports of tear gas. Therefore, it is necessary that the U.S. approved the shipment of tear gas to Egypt, Israel and Tunisia.
U.S. aid to support the Israeli military has not been curbed under the Obama Administration. According Jeremy's Scharp's report, U.S. Foreign Aid to Israel, [PDF] for the Congressional Research Service, the Obama administration requested $3 billion in Foreign Military Financing for the 2011 fiscal year. Since 1973, Israel has been the number one recipient of U.S. foreign assistance; annual aid amounts to $3 billion dollars.
Second in line for receiving military and financial assistance has been Hosni Mubarak's Egyptian regime. Since 1979, Egypt has received $2.9 billion dollars in U.S. foreign aid, most of which is military aid; the Obama administration has also asked congress to maintain this level of support for 2011.
Tunisia received an annual $15 million from the U.S. government.
To join the call to end US Support of Combined Systems Inc., send an email to the US state department and CSI.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1678
From Egypt to Palestine: U.S. Corporation supplies tear gas in order to violently repress protesters
An Israeli and American flag fly next to each other in front of CSI headquarters in Jamestown, PA
Tear gas is one of the many products that American allies in the Middle East import from U.S. corporations. Used primarily to suppress protests, Egyptian, Tunisian and Israeli security forces all employ tear gas manufactured and shipped from Combined Systems Inc., a U.S. corporation based in Jamestown Pennsylvania.
Tear gas is a seriously dangerous chemical used to disperse crowds, however many deaths and serious injuries have been caused by the military's use and misuse of the product.
Adalah-New York, a U.S.-based campaign to boycott Israel, is calling upon U.S. citizens to pressure their government to end support for such undemocratic and inhumane policies.
Due to the massive amount of economic assistance provided to Israel and Egypt by the U.S. government, most of which comes in the form of military aid, it is highly likely that these tear gas canisters are paid for by U.S. tax dollars.
Furthermore, Propublica.org is reporting that the Department of State and Department of Commerce regulate all exports of tear gas. Therefore, it is necessary that the U.S. approved the shipment of tear gas to Egypt, Israel and Tunisia.
U.S. aid to support the Israeli military has not been curbed under the Obama Administration. According Jeremy's Scharp's report, U.S. Foreign Aid to Israel, [PDF] for the Congressional Research Service, the Obama administration requested $3 billion in Foreign Military Financing for the 2011 fiscal year. Since 1973, Israel has been the number one recipient of U.S. foreign assistance; annual aid amounts to $3 billion dollars.
Second in line for receiving military and financial assistance has been Hosni Mubarak's Egyptian regime. Since 1979, Egypt has received $2.9 billion dollars in U.S. foreign aid, most of which is military aid; the Obama administration has also asked congress to maintain this level of support for 2011.
Tunisia received an annual $15 million from the U.S. government.
To join the call to end US Support of Combined Systems Inc., send an email to the US state department and CSI.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1678
31 jan 2011
Israeli soldiers told to 'cleanse' Gaza
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Exclusive: Israeli soldiers tell Channel 4 News they were ordered to "cleanse" Palestinian neighbourhoods, as filmmaker Nurit Kedar says "the atmosphere was that nobody should talk about this war".
Cleansing Gaza - Israel/Palestine It's the two-year anniversary of Operation Cast Lead and for the first time Israeli soldiers are speaking publicly about their orders. In startling interviews they claim the IDF brutally targeted civilians. These soldiers are laying bare the true extent of Israel's cruelty in Gaza. Yet while many expected human rights abuse, the horrific attacks on civilians they speak about was worse than anyone imagined. "It sounds really terrible to say 'cleanse', but those were the orders", says tank commander Ohad. |
Speaking candidly of the instructions they were given before their entry into Gaza, the soldiers accuse their leaders of a 'disproportionate' response, which aimed to target civilians.
One soldier recalls being instructed to shell every house in a neighbourhood. Officers created an environment that encouraged indiscriminate killing. Soldiers even boasted to each other about the number of civilians they had killed.
Yegev remembers being told, "I heard you killed two today, great!"
Whilst the IDF have asserted that their operational orders focused on 'humanity', the soldiers recall how their leaders would 'psych up' the troops to encourage unprovoked violence. "The order was very clear - if a car came within 200 metres of me I could simply shoot a shell at it".
One soldier recalls being instructed to shell every house in a neighbourhood. Officers created an environment that encouraged indiscriminate killing. Soldiers even boasted to each other about the number of civilians they had killed.
Yegev remembers being told, "I heard you killed two today, great!"
Whilst the IDF have asserted that their operational orders focused on 'humanity', the soldiers recall how their leaders would 'psych up' the troops to encourage unprovoked violence. "The order was very clear - if a car came within 200 metres of me I could simply shoot a shell at it".
12 jan 2011
Project Description
January 12, 2011 is a day I will never forget, visiting the Samouni family could not possibly be anything but a life-changing event. Words simply cannot describe the devastation wrought upon this family by a marauding band of Israeli psychopaths, otherwise known as the Givati Brigade of the Israeli Defence Forces.
Today my team heard from mothers and fathers and children the story of the hell on Earth created by Operation Cast Lead. Twenty-nine people were killed in this family, children shot in front of parents, parents shot in front of children, a group of 97 in one home blasted to bits by rockets and mortars. Made to live amongst the mutilated and dead for several days, ambulances were kept away and some died slowly over hours and even days.
If you knew the details of this story you would conclude as one mother did, those soldiers that committed these acts, could not be considered human. These were demons with the latest high-tech weapons, courtesy of the US tax-payer and if the good people of the US knew what was done in their name here, they would be sick to their stomachs. Shame on all of us for allowing this to happen and to go completely unpunished.
But amidst all the horrifying memories the children still have their moments of childhood, even if they quiver with terror in the night as the Israeli jets fly overhead as they do to this day nearly every night. I love these people, we are all touched beyond words by the experience of being with them, I wish we could take the whole world on a date with this most incredible family.
I want us to do one small thing for this family, to plant one Olive Tree for each family member murdered, on Samouni Family land. I would like to plant one larger tree to represent the spirit of the entire family. If possible we will look to create some sort of plaque for each tree with the name of the family member.
If we do this it will be a gift from all the people of conscience outside of Palestine.
http://www.pozible.com/index.php/archive/index/207/description/0/0
Project Description
January 12, 2011 is a day I will never forget, visiting the Samouni family could not possibly be anything but a life-changing event. Words simply cannot describe the devastation wrought upon this family by a marauding band of Israeli psychopaths, otherwise known as the Givati Brigade of the Israeli Defence Forces.
Today my team heard from mothers and fathers and children the story of the hell on Earth created by Operation Cast Lead. Twenty-nine people were killed in this family, children shot in front of parents, parents shot in front of children, a group of 97 in one home blasted to bits by rockets and mortars. Made to live amongst the mutilated and dead for several days, ambulances were kept away and some died slowly over hours and even days.
If you knew the details of this story you would conclude as one mother did, those soldiers that committed these acts, could not be considered human. These were demons with the latest high-tech weapons, courtesy of the US tax-payer and if the good people of the US knew what was done in their name here, they would be sick to their stomachs. Shame on all of us for allowing this to happen and to go completely unpunished.
But amidst all the horrifying memories the children still have their moments of childhood, even if they quiver with terror in the night as the Israeli jets fly overhead as they do to this day nearly every night. I love these people, we are all touched beyond words by the experience of being with them, I wish we could take the whole world on a date with this most incredible family.
I want us to do one small thing for this family, to plant one Olive Tree for each family member murdered, on Samouni Family land. I would like to plant one larger tree to represent the spirit of the entire family. If possible we will look to create some sort of plaque for each tree with the name of the family member.
If we do this it will be a gift from all the people of conscience outside of Palestine.
http://www.pozible.com/index.php/archive/index/207/description/0/0
7 jan 2011
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Gazans marked the second anniversary of an Israeli attack on a UN-run school during the 22-day war . In the attack forty two people, many of them children and women who had taken shelter in the school lost their lives. Schoolchildren reenacted the Israeli air and ground strike on the UN school, which took place on the 11th day of the Israeli war on the strip.
Hundreds of people including those injured in the attack and relatives of the victims took part in the ceremony Also in attendance were some senior Hamas officials. During the attack on the school, 500 had crammed into the classrooms in the hope that the place clearly marked by UN flag would be immune from Israeli strikes. An elderly woman recalls the time when she found her grandson lying dead in a pool of blood following the attack. During the war on Gaza more than 1400 people including hundreds of children and women were killed while thousands were injure, some with |
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permanent disabilities. On the second anniversary of the Israeli attack on the Fakhoura school, many are still traumatized, but hopeful that life may return to normal despite the international conspiracy of silence.
6 jan 2011
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Graphic!
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4 jan 2011
Major Tahseen Saad, director of the police explosives engineering department in Gaza, said that Israel used over 3,000 tons of bombs and projectiles containing internationally-banned substances during its war on the Gaza Strip.
In a press statement posted on the Palestinian ministry of interior's website, Saad pointed out that Israel tested and used up in Gaza war most of its ammunition stored in its military warehouses, recalling some news reports that talked recently about the aerial bridge that was established by the US and Israel's allies to supply it with its military needs.
The major said that the Israeli occupation forces used during the war bombs, missiles and shells of different sizes and weights, mainly the MK bombs which were dropped on Gaza in the first air strike.
He also talked about different missiles and shells that were used by Apache helicopters, drones and tanks to target civilians and vehicles, especially the anti-tank missiles named as Hellfire and Nimrod.
The police officer underlined that the impacts of these weapons are not confined to the killing of people, but also they contain chemical substances such as phosphorus, tungsten and uranium that causes cancer and body deformities.
The officer hailed the important role of police sappers who combed and cleanse many bombed areas, and managed to collect unexploded ordinance and remnants of projectiles and store them in safe places for later disposal.
In a press statement posted on the Palestinian ministry of interior's website, Saad pointed out that Israel tested and used up in Gaza war most of its ammunition stored in its military warehouses, recalling some news reports that talked recently about the aerial bridge that was established by the US and Israel's allies to supply it with its military needs.
The major said that the Israeli occupation forces used during the war bombs, missiles and shells of different sizes and weights, mainly the MK bombs which were dropped on Gaza in the first air strike.
He also talked about different missiles and shells that were used by Apache helicopters, drones and tanks to target civilians and vehicles, especially the anti-tank missiles named as Hellfire and Nimrod.
The police officer underlined that the impacts of these weapons are not confined to the killing of people, but also they contain chemical substances such as phosphorus, tungsten and uranium that causes cancer and body deformities.
The officer hailed the important role of police sappers who combed and cleanse many bombed areas, and managed to collect unexploded ordinance and remnants of projectiles and store them in safe places for later disposal.
