14 july 2014
The aggression launched on the Gaza Strip almost a week ago reveals that the political solutions have failed despite the fact that they reached the highest level, because the aggressor "Israel", has no intention of ending the conflict except by the full surrender of the Palestinians and not before imposing full domination over the Palestinian land.
It is more than two decades since the Oslo Accords were signed between the PLO and Israel; the Accords stipulate a permanent settlement to be reached within five years. Since then, Israel has been ducking and evading its obligations.
Commitments were always made by the weaker part of the equation "the Palestinians", whose wishes were and still are, to get rid of the occupation.
During that era, Israel headed to the right; extreme rightists dominated the political scene. Their atrocities were not only against Palestinians, but also against Israeli society: the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin was an example.
Fanatical politicians succeeded in dragging Israel to their point of view, Israel became ‘a hostage' for people like Avigdor Lieberman and Naftali Bennett and others, and Israeli intransigence reached a high degree of control over everything, until the State itself became party to the crime, and raised the bar for revenge and vengeance.
The mentality which governs the Israeli leaders is the mentality of revenge, a mentality of a colonialist oppressor, who seeks only the surrender of the victim, and will not understand or accept any kind of resistance, regardless of how legal or even how weak this resistance is.
A few weeks ago, three illegal teen settlers disappeared; Israel said they were kidnapped, no one claimed responsibility for the act, Israel didn’t give a single evidence that the teens were kidnapped by any Palestinian faction. Despite that, Israel launched a campaign throughout the West bank; hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were victims of that campaign and calls for revenge came first from Benjamin Netanyahu, followed by the rest of his government members.
Among the measures taken against the Palestinians in the occupied territories, was the closure of Hebron area, where almost one million people are living, several hundred Palestinians were arrested, and previously freed prisoners were rearrested, by invasions of towns, villages, camps and cities of the West Bank, including the banning of the movement of all Palestinians.
After the teens bodies were discovered by some Israeli volunteers, calls for revenge came louder from the same leaders of the State of Israel, such calls for revenge reveal how this State is a State of crime, led by a group of fanatics, who pay no attention to international law or human values, a State which has nothing to do with democratic values or human rights.
The Israeli media, backed with biased international media, focused on the three teens’ disappearance, ignoring the reality that during the campaign, ten Palestinians were killed, dozens injured, and hundreds were arrested.
It could be understandable when individuals retaliate or act in the midst of a culture of hatred, but when a State bears the slogan of revenge, this is not more than an invitation to mass killings, making the State of Israel the centre of the crime.
The campaign of hatred and revenge launched by Netanyahu and his government, led to the burning alive of a Palestinian teen in Jerusalem "Mohammad Abu Khdair" and the torturing of his cousin.
This campaign did not stop at just killing the child, but now extends to the killing of an entire people in one of the most densely populated spots on earth, while the whole world is watching, and doing nothing to stop the massacre.
As for the teens on both sides, the size of international hypocrisy was very clear, despite the condemnations we heard about what happened to the Palestinian kid.
With regard to the aggression on Gaza, it is obvious that things are completely different, especially when we hear condemnations, only against Palestinians, whom according to international law, have the right to defend themselves and to resist the occupiers.
If Israel seeks peace as it claims, the "road to peace" is clear, give the Palestinians their rights, stop the aggression against the Palestinians, and end the occupation, it is as simple as that.
By: Rashid Shahin
It is more than two decades since the Oslo Accords were signed between the PLO and Israel; the Accords stipulate a permanent settlement to be reached within five years. Since then, Israel has been ducking and evading its obligations.
Commitments were always made by the weaker part of the equation "the Palestinians", whose wishes were and still are, to get rid of the occupation.
During that era, Israel headed to the right; extreme rightists dominated the political scene. Their atrocities were not only against Palestinians, but also against Israeli society: the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin was an example.
Fanatical politicians succeeded in dragging Israel to their point of view, Israel became ‘a hostage' for people like Avigdor Lieberman and Naftali Bennett and others, and Israeli intransigence reached a high degree of control over everything, until the State itself became party to the crime, and raised the bar for revenge and vengeance.
The mentality which governs the Israeli leaders is the mentality of revenge, a mentality of a colonialist oppressor, who seeks only the surrender of the victim, and will not understand or accept any kind of resistance, regardless of how legal or even how weak this resistance is.
A few weeks ago, three illegal teen settlers disappeared; Israel said they were kidnapped, no one claimed responsibility for the act, Israel didn’t give a single evidence that the teens were kidnapped by any Palestinian faction. Despite that, Israel launched a campaign throughout the West bank; hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were victims of that campaign and calls for revenge came first from Benjamin Netanyahu, followed by the rest of his government members.
Among the measures taken against the Palestinians in the occupied territories, was the closure of Hebron area, where almost one million people are living, several hundred Palestinians were arrested, and previously freed prisoners were rearrested, by invasions of towns, villages, camps and cities of the West Bank, including the banning of the movement of all Palestinians.
After the teens bodies were discovered by some Israeli volunteers, calls for revenge came louder from the same leaders of the State of Israel, such calls for revenge reveal how this State is a State of crime, led by a group of fanatics, who pay no attention to international law or human values, a State which has nothing to do with democratic values or human rights.
The Israeli media, backed with biased international media, focused on the three teens’ disappearance, ignoring the reality that during the campaign, ten Palestinians were killed, dozens injured, and hundreds were arrested.
It could be understandable when individuals retaliate or act in the midst of a culture of hatred, but when a State bears the slogan of revenge, this is not more than an invitation to mass killings, making the State of Israel the centre of the crime.
The campaign of hatred and revenge launched by Netanyahu and his government, led to the burning alive of a Palestinian teen in Jerusalem "Mohammad Abu Khdair" and the torturing of his cousin.
This campaign did not stop at just killing the child, but now extends to the killing of an entire people in one of the most densely populated spots on earth, while the whole world is watching, and doing nothing to stop the massacre.
As for the teens on both sides, the size of international hypocrisy was very clear, despite the condemnations we heard about what happened to the Palestinian kid.
With regard to the aggression on Gaza, it is obvious that things are completely different, especially when we hear condemnations, only against Palestinians, whom according to international law, have the right to defend themselves and to resist the occupiers.
If Israel seeks peace as it claims, the "road to peace" is clear, give the Palestinians their rights, stop the aggression against the Palestinians, and end the occupation, it is as simple as that.
By: Rashid Shahin
Basically we have learnt that for the Palestinians to attain Western media and human rights legitimacy and sympathy, they need to emulate Israeli tactics and methods according to those rules:
1) That Palestinians are justified in killing Israelis if they knock first on their roofs or if they call them first on their cellphones.
2) Palestinians are justified in shelling Israel provided they declare that their intentions are not to harm civilians.
3) Palestinians will get Western media support if they say that the civilians they may hit in Israel are command and control centers.
4) Palestinians would be justified in killing Israelis if they claim that Israeli terrorists hide behind civilians.
5) That Palestinians need to kill far more of the enemy than they do, so that the actual death ratio becomes like it is now in Gaza: 200 to 0, because the absence of casualties in Israel makes Israel the victim and not vice versa.
6) The Palestinians need to acquire far more advanced weapons because Human Rights Watch has ruled that possessing advanced weapons makes you far superior morally and less able to commit war crimes.
7) Palestinians need to add to their calculations of casualties by adding to their list of victims all those who were “shell-shocked” or who died from illnesses or natural causes during the conflict.
8) Palestinians need to form a lobby to control the US Congress.
9) Palestinians need to be less poor and to have more of their members speak in unaccented American English to make them more friendly to American TV audiences.
10) Palestinians need to somehow convince The New York Times and The Washington Post to plaster the pictures and profiles of their victims on their front pages otherwise no one in the US would believe that they are victims.
11) Palestinians need to refer to every Israeli as a terrorist because that makes you the victim – in the case of Israeli terrorists that is.
12) Palestinians need to claim that they are pained by any killing they cause on the other side, and to pretend that anguish makes them less guilty of war crimes. Invoking anguish has made Israeli terrorists sympathetic in US eyes.
13) Palestinians need to convert en masse to Judaism because Islam or even eastern Christianity is not something that Westerners like to identify with.
14) Palestinians need to acquire an air force ASAP and to use it regularly on Israel because that would seem quite impressive in Western eyes.
15) Palestinians need to obtain the support of Micronesia and the Marshall Islands at the UN because those two states really help Israel at the UN and protect it from international condemnation.
16) Palestinians need to declare that the Saudi king is their leader because the Saudi royal family enjoys wide respect in Western capitals.
17) Palestinians need to stop punishing collaborators and agents of Israeli terrorism who provide bombing information to Israeli military because those collaborators and agents are the only Palestinians who are liked by Western media and governments.
18) Palestinians in Gaza need to remind the West – just as Israel does daily – that their government is the only one that is freely elected in the region.
19) Palestinians need to bring out their national orchestra into the streets of Gaza because Aaron David Miller once told me that it is the very existence of the Israeli national orchestra that explains American support for Israel.
20) Palestinians need to label every one of their victims as a Mossad-affiliated terrorist or Mossad terrorists. These labeling tricks work wonders for Israel.
21) Palestinians need to show the world that there are Palestinians who drink whiskey: that seems to impress the hell out of American correspondents. They are not accustomed to seeing Arabs drink whiskey.
22) Palestinians need to call any attack on their cause racist and anti-Arab, just as Israel considers any criticisms of its policies and war crimes anti-Semitic.
23) Palestinians need to appoint Abraham Foxman as their representative in Washington, DC. For some bizarre reason, US media considers him the authority on the Palestinian national movement.
Dr. As’ad AbuKhalil is a professor of Political Science at California State University, Stanislaus, a lecturer and the author of The Angry Arab News Service. He tweets @asadabukhalil.
1) That Palestinians are justified in killing Israelis if they knock first on their roofs or if they call them first on their cellphones.
2) Palestinians are justified in shelling Israel provided they declare that their intentions are not to harm civilians.
3) Palestinians will get Western media support if they say that the civilians they may hit in Israel are command and control centers.
4) Palestinians would be justified in killing Israelis if they claim that Israeli terrorists hide behind civilians.
5) That Palestinians need to kill far more of the enemy than they do, so that the actual death ratio becomes like it is now in Gaza: 200 to 0, because the absence of casualties in Israel makes Israel the victim and not vice versa.
6) The Palestinians need to acquire far more advanced weapons because Human Rights Watch has ruled that possessing advanced weapons makes you far superior morally and less able to commit war crimes.
7) Palestinians need to add to their calculations of casualties by adding to their list of victims all those who were “shell-shocked” or who died from illnesses or natural causes during the conflict.
8) Palestinians need to form a lobby to control the US Congress.
9) Palestinians need to be less poor and to have more of their members speak in unaccented American English to make them more friendly to American TV audiences.
10) Palestinians need to somehow convince The New York Times and The Washington Post to plaster the pictures and profiles of their victims on their front pages otherwise no one in the US would believe that they are victims.
11) Palestinians need to refer to every Israeli as a terrorist because that makes you the victim – in the case of Israeli terrorists that is.
12) Palestinians need to claim that they are pained by any killing they cause on the other side, and to pretend that anguish makes them less guilty of war crimes. Invoking anguish has made Israeli terrorists sympathetic in US eyes.
13) Palestinians need to convert en masse to Judaism because Islam or even eastern Christianity is not something that Westerners like to identify with.
14) Palestinians need to acquire an air force ASAP and to use it regularly on Israel because that would seem quite impressive in Western eyes.
15) Palestinians need to obtain the support of Micronesia and the Marshall Islands at the UN because those two states really help Israel at the UN and protect it from international condemnation.
16) Palestinians need to declare that the Saudi king is their leader because the Saudi royal family enjoys wide respect in Western capitals.
17) Palestinians need to stop punishing collaborators and agents of Israeli terrorism who provide bombing information to Israeli military because those collaborators and agents are the only Palestinians who are liked by Western media and governments.
18) Palestinians in Gaza need to remind the West – just as Israel does daily – that their government is the only one that is freely elected in the region.
19) Palestinians need to bring out their national orchestra into the streets of Gaza because Aaron David Miller once told me that it is the very existence of the Israeli national orchestra that explains American support for Israel.
20) Palestinians need to label every one of their victims as a Mossad-affiliated terrorist or Mossad terrorists. These labeling tricks work wonders for Israel.
21) Palestinians need to show the world that there are Palestinians who drink whiskey: that seems to impress the hell out of American correspondents. They are not accustomed to seeing Arabs drink whiskey.
22) Palestinians need to call any attack on their cause racist and anti-Arab, just as Israel considers any criticisms of its policies and war crimes anti-Semitic.
23) Palestinians need to appoint Abraham Foxman as their representative in Washington, DC. For some bizarre reason, US media considers him the authority on the Palestinian national movement.
Dr. As’ad AbuKhalil is a professor of Political Science at California State University, Stanislaus, a lecturer and the author of The Angry Arab News Service. He tweets @asadabukhalil.
Palestine believes that the UN Security Council will soon condemn Israeli activities in Gaza, Palestinian Ambassador in Moscow Fayed Mustafa said at a news conference in Moscow. "The war, unleashed by Israel against Palestinian people, is under way. We demand international community condemn this aggression and interfere urgently in order to stop the slaughter," the ambassador said. World powers should do their best to settle the crisis as quickly as possible, Mustafa said.
"Palestinian people in Gaza Strip need urgent humanitarian aid," he said. "They say that Israel had developed a ground-operation plan, and this means new casualties among civilians will occur," the ambassador said. International community, firstly the United States, does not implement the task of maintaining security, he said. "We are urging to pass a resolution condemning the aggression at the UN Security Council today," Mustafa said. Palestine continues to insist on calling an international conference "with the authority enabling it to resolve the situation," the ambassador said.
At the same time the question of a possible start of a full-scale ground operation in the Gaza Strip is on the agenda but no decision has been made yet, Israeli Ambassador to Russia Dorit Golender said on Monday. "The launch of a ground operation is on today's agenda but no decision has been made yet," Golender told a press conference at the Interfax head office on Monday.
30 percent of Israeli airstrikes' victims on Gaza are women and children
Of the 172 Palestinians killed in seven days and nights after Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, around 30 percent are women and children. The count by dpa is based on a list of the fatalities provided by Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qedra.
The dead include 29 women, of whom seven are under the age of 18. They also include 24 men under 18. About half are small boys aged 10 or under, the youngest an 18-month-old baby. It is not immediately possible to independently verify how many of the 119 men killed are civilians. Two of them are aged 75 and 80.
Death toll in Gaza rises to 165 as Israeli military operation enters sixth day
Israeli strikes on Gaza killed a teenage boy and a woman on Sunday, medics said, raising the overall death toll to 165 as the punishing air campaign entered its sixth day. According to emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra, one strike on the northern town of Jabaliya struck a house, killing a 14-year-old boy. Shortly afterwards, another strike killed a woman in the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza, he said.
Elsewhere, a man injured in an earlier strike died of his wounds, hiking the toll to 165, Qudra said.
More than 1,000 people have been injured.
Saturday was the bloodiest day by far of the operation, with 52 people killed.
Israel began Operation Protective Edge before dawn on Tuesday in an attempt to halt cross-border rocket fire by militant groups, AFP reports.
"Palestinian people in Gaza Strip need urgent humanitarian aid," he said. "They say that Israel had developed a ground-operation plan, and this means new casualties among civilians will occur," the ambassador said. International community, firstly the United States, does not implement the task of maintaining security, he said. "We are urging to pass a resolution condemning the aggression at the UN Security Council today," Mustafa said. Palestine continues to insist on calling an international conference "with the authority enabling it to resolve the situation," the ambassador said.
At the same time the question of a possible start of a full-scale ground operation in the Gaza Strip is on the agenda but no decision has been made yet, Israeli Ambassador to Russia Dorit Golender said on Monday. "The launch of a ground operation is on today's agenda but no decision has been made yet," Golender told a press conference at the Interfax head office on Monday.
30 percent of Israeli airstrikes' victims on Gaza are women and children
Of the 172 Palestinians killed in seven days and nights after Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, around 30 percent are women and children. The count by dpa is based on a list of the fatalities provided by Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qedra.
The dead include 29 women, of whom seven are under the age of 18. They also include 24 men under 18. About half are small boys aged 10 or under, the youngest an 18-month-old baby. It is not immediately possible to independently verify how many of the 119 men killed are civilians. Two of them are aged 75 and 80.
Death toll in Gaza rises to 165 as Israeli military operation enters sixth day
Israeli strikes on Gaza killed a teenage boy and a woman on Sunday, medics said, raising the overall death toll to 165 as the punishing air campaign entered its sixth day. According to emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra, one strike on the northern town of Jabaliya struck a house, killing a 14-year-old boy. Shortly afterwards, another strike killed a woman in the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza, he said.
Elsewhere, a man injured in an earlier strike died of his wounds, hiking the toll to 165, Qudra said.
More than 1,000 people have been injured.
Saturday was the bloodiest day by far of the operation, with 52 people killed.
Israel began Operation Protective Edge before dawn on Tuesday in an attempt to halt cross-border rocket fire by militant groups, AFP reports.
Saudi Arabian King Abdullah Bin Abdul-Aziz has donated $53.3 million to the victims of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, the official Saudi news agency reported yesterday evening. Speaking to the news agency, Saudi Financial Minister Ibrahim Bin Abdul-Aziz said: "This donation was specified to afford urgent medical needs and equipment needed for the treatment of the victims of the Israeli war on Gaza, which affected thousands of innocent people, including the disabled."
In a pre-dawn attack on Saturday, Israeli warplanes targeted a charity association for the disabled. Three Palestinians were killed and several others were wounded.
Since the beginning of the Israeli war on Gaza, dubbed by Israel as "Operation Protective Edge", Israel killed more than 170 Palestinians and wounded more than 1,200. Most of the casualties are civilians, with large numbers of children and women.
After a meeting of the Israeli security cabinet, Israeli leaders decided to continue and intensify the war on the Strip. They ignored a UN Security Council resolution calling for both sides to declare a ceasefire.
Israeli emergency services said that the number of Israeli casualties among, caused by Palestinian rockets, is 208, including 11 hit by shrapnel, 36 wounded as they were rushing to shelters, six wounded in car accidents as they heard the sirens and 151 suffered from panic attacks.
In a pre-dawn attack on Saturday, Israeli warplanes targeted a charity association for the disabled. Three Palestinians were killed and several others were wounded.
Since the beginning of the Israeli war on Gaza, dubbed by Israel as "Operation Protective Edge", Israel killed more than 170 Palestinians and wounded more than 1,200. Most of the casualties are civilians, with large numbers of children and women.
After a meeting of the Israeli security cabinet, Israeli leaders decided to continue and intensify the war on the Strip. They ignored a UN Security Council resolution calling for both sides to declare a ceasefire.
Israeli emergency services said that the number of Israeli casualties among, caused by Palestinian rockets, is 208, including 11 hit by shrapnel, 36 wounded as they were rushing to shelters, six wounded in car accidents as they heard the sirens and 151 suffered from panic attacks.
The Arab League has called on the international community to end Israeli air strikes on Gaza and to protect Palestinians, ahead of a foreign ministers' meeting later Monday.The call, in a report to be submitted to the ministerial meeting, comes as Israel pressed its campaign of punishing raids on Gaza into a seventh day Monday, and the Palestinian death toll rose to more than 170, with another 1,230 wounded.
The Arab League "affirmed the necessity of urgent steps for an immediate end to the Israeli aggression on Gaza and providing protection for the Palestinians," the report said.
Israeli "air strikes on Gaza have become a matter that cannot be met with silence anymore," it said.
The pan-Arab organization "demands that the international community intervene through its legal and humanitarian institutions to protect the Palestinian people."
The call echoes a demand by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas in the occupied West Bank, where the Palestinian Authority is based.
The Israeli campaign was launched in response to rocket fire from Gaza.
So far, no Israelis have been killed since the operation began on July 8, despite 777 rockets hitting Israel and more than 200 others intercepted, the army says.
The Arab League meeting comes amid intense international efforts to broker a truce, and with Abbas seeking U.N. intervention.
The Arab response has been lackluster compared with its reaction to an eight-day war in 2012, when it sent Arab ministers to visit the besieged enclave in a show of support.
An Egyptian foreign ministry statement said Monday's meeting, due to begin at 1900 GMT, "is aimed at finding a solution to stop the shedding of Palestinian civilians' blood and to formulate a common Arab stance on the issue."
So far, efforts to secure a ceasefire have been unsuccessful, with Cairo taking more hands-off approach than in 2012, when it brokered an end to the eight-day war.
Ties between Cairo and Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement, have worsened since Egypt's military ousted president Mohammad Morsi last July.
Morsi belongs to the Muslim Brotherhood, of which Hamas is an affiliate. After removing Morsi, Egypt's military-installed authorities designated the Brotherhood a "terrorist" organization.
World leaders have been in contact with Egyptian officials, including President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, to discuss ways of ending the latest conflict.
Israeli Finance Minister Yair Lapid said Sunday that his government was not contemplating a ceasefire yet, hoping the military campaign would deter Hamas in the future.
A Hamas official said the militant Islamist movement, the main power in Gaza since 2007, has said it would not agree to a ceasefire without gaining terms.
The Arab League "affirmed the necessity of urgent steps for an immediate end to the Israeli aggression on Gaza and providing protection for the Palestinians," the report said.
Israeli "air strikes on Gaza have become a matter that cannot be met with silence anymore," it said.
The pan-Arab organization "demands that the international community intervene through its legal and humanitarian institutions to protect the Palestinian people."
The call echoes a demand by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas in the occupied West Bank, where the Palestinian Authority is based.
The Israeli campaign was launched in response to rocket fire from Gaza.
So far, no Israelis have been killed since the operation began on July 8, despite 777 rockets hitting Israel and more than 200 others intercepted, the army says.
The Arab League meeting comes amid intense international efforts to broker a truce, and with Abbas seeking U.N. intervention.
The Arab response has been lackluster compared with its reaction to an eight-day war in 2012, when it sent Arab ministers to visit the besieged enclave in a show of support.
An Egyptian foreign ministry statement said Monday's meeting, due to begin at 1900 GMT, "is aimed at finding a solution to stop the shedding of Palestinian civilians' blood and to formulate a common Arab stance on the issue."
So far, efforts to secure a ceasefire have been unsuccessful, with Cairo taking more hands-off approach than in 2012, when it brokered an end to the eight-day war.
Ties between Cairo and Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement, have worsened since Egypt's military ousted president Mohammad Morsi last July.
Morsi belongs to the Muslim Brotherhood, of which Hamas is an affiliate. After removing Morsi, Egypt's military-installed authorities designated the Brotherhood a "terrorist" organization.
World leaders have been in contact with Egyptian officials, including President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, to discuss ways of ending the latest conflict.
Israeli Finance Minister Yair Lapid said Sunday that his government was not contemplating a ceasefire yet, hoping the military campaign would deter Hamas in the future.
A Hamas official said the militant Islamist movement, the main power in Gaza since 2007, has said it would not agree to a ceasefire without gaining terms.
The European Union said Monday it was in touch with "parties in the region" to press for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. The EU was following events in Gaza, where health officials said more than 170 Palestinians have been killed during a week-long Israeli offensive, with great concern.
"We call on all sides to exercise maximum restraint, to avoid casualties and to return calm. We are in contact with parties in the region to do their utmost to achieve an immediate ceasefire," EU foreign policy spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic told reporters, without giving details.
"We call on all sides to exercise maximum restraint, to avoid casualties and to return calm. We are in contact with parties in the region to do their utmost to achieve an immediate ceasefire," EU foreign policy spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic told reporters, without giving details.
Lebanese Democratic Party leader Talal Arslan Monday blasted Israel for committing a holocaust against the Palestinian people as he condemned “consistent” attacks against the civilian population in Gaza.
“Israel's consistent targeting of the elderly and children, among other civilians, is a holocaust against the Palestinian people and the Holy Land,” Arslan said in a statement.
“This should be a historic opportunity for Arabs to embrace wounded Palestine, which keeps reminding us that it is the central Arab cause.”
“A loss only means a victory for the project to divide this region that will target all of us unless we find a permanent solution to Palestine.”
Over 170 Palestinians have been killed in less than a week after Israel launched its air offensive against Gaza. Militants, mainly from Hamas, have also fired rockets deep into the Jewish state, in the most serious hostilities between the two since 2012.
“Israel's consistent targeting of the elderly and children, among other civilians, is a holocaust against the Palestinian people and the Holy Land,” Arslan said in a statement.
“This should be a historic opportunity for Arabs to embrace wounded Palestine, which keeps reminding us that it is the central Arab cause.”
“A loss only means a victory for the project to divide this region that will target all of us unless we find a permanent solution to Palestine.”
Over 170 Palestinians have been killed in less than a week after Israel launched its air offensive against Gaza. Militants, mainly from Hamas, have also fired rockets deep into the Jewish state, in the most serious hostilities between the two since 2012.
Israel continued airstrikes and shelling on the Gaza Strip overnight Sunday, killing two Palestinians, medical sources said.
Adham Muhammad Abdul-Fattah al-Abdul succumbed to wounds sustained earlier in Gaza City, Gaza health official Ashraf al-Qidra said.
Hanadi Hamdi Muammar, 27, was killed in Israeli airstrikes on Khan Younis early Monday.
Over 60 Palestinians were injured overnight as warplanes bombarded homes, abandoned military bases and agricultural areas across the territory.
Al-Noor Mosque in Deir al-Balah was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike and a government building was hit in Gaza City.
There was shelling reported in Beit Lahiya, in the far north, where Israel had earlier warned residents of an impending assault.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon said "too many" Palestinian civilians have been killed, as the Palestinian death toll from the punishing Israeli campaign hit 172 with another 1,230 people wounded.
Ban also urged Israel to scrap plans for a potentially devastating ground offensive, fears of which have sent over 17,000 Gazans fleeing from the north.
Israeli media reported that a security cabinet meeting ended late Sunday with no orders for a ground assault.
Israeli army radio quoted security sources "at the most senior level" as saying that there were "four channels for attempts to reach a ceasefire -- Qatar, the Palestinian Authority, the Americans and the Egyptians."
As the death toll rose, the Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights said most of the victims were civilians, putting their number at more than 130, among them 35 children and 26 women.
Clashes erupted in central Paris as thousands of people protested against Israel and in support of Gazans. Protesters also rallied across Asia to condemn the Israeli offensive, with 3,000 gathering in Sydney and hundreds more in Hong Kong, New Delhi and Jakarta.
Adham Muhammad Abdul-Fattah al-Abdul succumbed to wounds sustained earlier in Gaza City, Gaza health official Ashraf al-Qidra said.
Hanadi Hamdi Muammar, 27, was killed in Israeli airstrikes on Khan Younis early Monday.
Over 60 Palestinians were injured overnight as warplanes bombarded homes, abandoned military bases and agricultural areas across the territory.
Al-Noor Mosque in Deir al-Balah was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike and a government building was hit in Gaza City.
There was shelling reported in Beit Lahiya, in the far north, where Israel had earlier warned residents of an impending assault.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon said "too many" Palestinian civilians have been killed, as the Palestinian death toll from the punishing Israeli campaign hit 172 with another 1,230 people wounded.
Ban also urged Israel to scrap plans for a potentially devastating ground offensive, fears of which have sent over 17,000 Gazans fleeing from the north.
Israeli media reported that a security cabinet meeting ended late Sunday with no orders for a ground assault.
Israeli army radio quoted security sources "at the most senior level" as saying that there were "four channels for attempts to reach a ceasefire -- Qatar, the Palestinian Authority, the Americans and the Egyptians."
As the death toll rose, the Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights said most of the victims were civilians, putting their number at more than 130, among them 35 children and 26 women.
Clashes erupted in central Paris as thousands of people protested against Israel and in support of Gazans. Protesters also rallied across Asia to condemn the Israeli offensive, with 3,000 gathering in Sydney and hundreds more in Hong Kong, New Delhi and Jakarta.
The Ezzeddin al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' armed wing, claimed responsibility for a drone that was shot down by the Israeli army earlier Monday over the coastal city of Ashdod.
In a brief statement, the brigades said it managed to "launch drones in the Israeli airspace."
The group said it launched the drone to carry out “special missions" in Israel, giving no further details.
The Israeli army on Monday said it shot down a Hamas drone over Ashdod.
"An aerial drone from Gaza infiltrated Israel a short time ago. [Israeli Defense Forces] IDF forces shot it down with a Patriot missile above Ashdod," the army said on its official Twitter account.
Avichay Adraee, spokesman for the Israeli military to Arab media, said that Hamas was the group responsible for the drone that entered Israeli airspace.
Israel has launched a military operation – dubbed Operation Protective Edge - with the stated goal of ending rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.
Since late Monday, Israeli warplanes have staged hundreds of airstrikes on the besieged enclave – home to around 1.8 million Palestinians - while ground troops remain amassed on the borders in advance of a possible ground assault.
At least 172 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed in the Israeli aerial attacks.
Gaza-based resistance factions, meanwhile, have continued to fire hundreds of rockets into Israel, some of which have reached Tel Aviv, in response to the ongoing offensive.
No Israeli fatalities have been reported thus far.
In a brief statement, the brigades said it managed to "launch drones in the Israeli airspace."
The group said it launched the drone to carry out “special missions" in Israel, giving no further details.
The Israeli army on Monday said it shot down a Hamas drone over Ashdod.
"An aerial drone from Gaza infiltrated Israel a short time ago. [Israeli Defense Forces] IDF forces shot it down with a Patriot missile above Ashdod," the army said on its official Twitter account.
Avichay Adraee, spokesman for the Israeli military to Arab media, said that Hamas was the group responsible for the drone that entered Israeli airspace.
Israel has launched a military operation – dubbed Operation Protective Edge - with the stated goal of ending rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.
Since late Monday, Israeli warplanes have staged hundreds of airstrikes on the besieged enclave – home to around 1.8 million Palestinians - while ground troops remain amassed on the borders in advance of a possible ground assault.
At least 172 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed in the Israeli aerial attacks.
Gaza-based resistance factions, meanwhile, have continued to fire hundreds of rockets into Israel, some of which have reached Tel Aviv, in response to the ongoing offensive.
No Israeli fatalities have been reported thus far.
'His role is to prevent this kind of stone throwing, not engage in it.'
When former NSW premier Barry O’Farrell appointed the incumbent CEO of the NSW Jewish board of deputies, Vic Alhadeff, to the chair of the community relations commission (CRC) in December last year, did he think Alhadeff could straddle both roles?
Having been a commissioner myself, under both Labor and Liberal governments, I am acutely aware that this statutory body demands ambassadors of harmony. Yet a recent release, disseminated among his Jewish constituents, has achieved the opposite effect.
Wearing his CEO hat, Alhadeff issued a community update on 9 July, titled "Israel under Fire: Important points about Operation Protective Edge". His statement reached the Arab Australian community and went viral.
In the post he condemned the "Hamas terror organisation" for its "attacks on Israeli civilians", for "violating international law and engaging in war crimes as its militants launch rockets indiscriminately at civilians from civilian areas".
His statement failed to condemn the collective punishment and indiscriminate attacks against Gaza. As chairman, his role is to prevent this kind of stone throwing, not engage in it.
Community relations commissioners are not appointed to advocate for foreign governments. We are tasked with bringing local leaders together, as neutral arbiters. A Jewish colleague of mine, from my time in Melbourne, is a lifelong friend; we were part-time commissioners but full-time ambassadors. Whatever our other roles, we worked together, cautiously, to extinguish sparks before they became fires.
When he accepted the chairman’s position, he declared that he was “passionate about the need to advance social harmony and combat racism”. The Jewish board of deputies espouses the same view; its goals include combating all forms of racism. Alhadeff has spoken out in favour of retaining section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act and opposes all forms of racial vilification. Yet he makes an exception, when Israel vilifies Arabs.
His statement copy-pastes the Frequently Asked Questions from Israel’s ministry of foreign affairs. The references to Israel as "we" and "our operation" under his name raises serious questions about whether he can truly be an ambassador for community harmony.
He refers to "self defence in response", "operating with care" and "pinpoint technologies to hit targeted infrastructure". Yet he fails to explain, or even mention, how Israeli strikes had already killed Gazan children and civilians by the time his release was published. The Gazan fatalities now exceed 160.
The release refers to the "recent kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers", but not the recent burning alive of a 15 year old Palestinian student, even though Alhadeff personally tweeted his dismay. Neither did it mention the countless Palestinian children who are snatched from their beds, never to be seen again, and never to attract global condemnation.
What message does his statement send to half a million Australian citizens of Arab ancestry, many with relatives cowering under beds in Gaza? Would such statements build bridges and community relations, or build a wall between us and them?
Alhadeff has neither retracted nor apologised for his statement. Instead, Yair Miller, the president of the Jewish board of deputies, added insult to injury when he criticised Sunday’s pro-Palestinian rally as activists bringing “foreign conflicts to the streets of Sydney”. So it's permissible to justify a foreign war on the Jewish board of deputies letterhead, but not to protest against war in the streets of your own city?
A spokesperson for Mike Baird, the NSW premier, gently rebuked Alhadeff in a statement, saying that while he "was not writing in his capacity as CRC chair ... “He has acknowledged the need to focus on issues in NSW and avoid using inappropriate language regarding overseas conflicts”.
Baird is not responsible for appointments made by his predecessor. Asking Alhadeff politely to resign for his comments, made at such a tense time, would be the moral thing to do. It would be pro-harmony. To avoid escalating tensions, it would be wise to announce a date for Alhadeff to step down – for him to essentially "give notice".
Honest dialogue may result from what has been a painful experience. It should go beyond exercising restraint about public statements, but on educating both parties about their impact on fellow human beings. Ironically, this what the chair of the community relations commission should have done in the first place.
When former NSW premier Barry O’Farrell appointed the incumbent CEO of the NSW Jewish board of deputies, Vic Alhadeff, to the chair of the community relations commission (CRC) in December last year, did he think Alhadeff could straddle both roles?
Having been a commissioner myself, under both Labor and Liberal governments, I am acutely aware that this statutory body demands ambassadors of harmony. Yet a recent release, disseminated among his Jewish constituents, has achieved the opposite effect.
Wearing his CEO hat, Alhadeff issued a community update on 9 July, titled "Israel under Fire: Important points about Operation Protective Edge". His statement reached the Arab Australian community and went viral.
In the post he condemned the "Hamas terror organisation" for its "attacks on Israeli civilians", for "violating international law and engaging in war crimes as its militants launch rockets indiscriminately at civilians from civilian areas".
His statement failed to condemn the collective punishment and indiscriminate attacks against Gaza. As chairman, his role is to prevent this kind of stone throwing, not engage in it.
Community relations commissioners are not appointed to advocate for foreign governments. We are tasked with bringing local leaders together, as neutral arbiters. A Jewish colleague of mine, from my time in Melbourne, is a lifelong friend; we were part-time commissioners but full-time ambassadors. Whatever our other roles, we worked together, cautiously, to extinguish sparks before they became fires.
When he accepted the chairman’s position, he declared that he was “passionate about the need to advance social harmony and combat racism”. The Jewish board of deputies espouses the same view; its goals include combating all forms of racism. Alhadeff has spoken out in favour of retaining section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act and opposes all forms of racial vilification. Yet he makes an exception, when Israel vilifies Arabs.
His statement copy-pastes the Frequently Asked Questions from Israel’s ministry of foreign affairs. The references to Israel as "we" and "our operation" under his name raises serious questions about whether he can truly be an ambassador for community harmony.
He refers to "self defence in response", "operating with care" and "pinpoint technologies to hit targeted infrastructure". Yet he fails to explain, or even mention, how Israeli strikes had already killed Gazan children and civilians by the time his release was published. The Gazan fatalities now exceed 160.
The release refers to the "recent kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers", but not the recent burning alive of a 15 year old Palestinian student, even though Alhadeff personally tweeted his dismay. Neither did it mention the countless Palestinian children who are snatched from their beds, never to be seen again, and never to attract global condemnation.
What message does his statement send to half a million Australian citizens of Arab ancestry, many with relatives cowering under beds in Gaza? Would such statements build bridges and community relations, or build a wall between us and them?
Alhadeff has neither retracted nor apologised for his statement. Instead, Yair Miller, the president of the Jewish board of deputies, added insult to injury when he criticised Sunday’s pro-Palestinian rally as activists bringing “foreign conflicts to the streets of Sydney”. So it's permissible to justify a foreign war on the Jewish board of deputies letterhead, but not to protest against war in the streets of your own city?
A spokesperson for Mike Baird, the NSW premier, gently rebuked Alhadeff in a statement, saying that while he "was not writing in his capacity as CRC chair ... “He has acknowledged the need to focus on issues in NSW and avoid using inappropriate language regarding overseas conflicts”.
Baird is not responsible for appointments made by his predecessor. Asking Alhadeff politely to resign for his comments, made at such a tense time, would be the moral thing to do. It would be pro-harmony. To avoid escalating tensions, it would be wise to announce a date for Alhadeff to step down – for him to essentially "give notice".
Honest dialogue may result from what has been a painful experience. It should go beyond exercising restraint about public statements, but on educating both parties about their impact on fellow human beings. Ironically, this what the chair of the community relations commission should have done in the first place.
