Saturday, January 31, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Letters to COMPLETE 1
To whom it may concern:
With respect to the destruction in GAZA, I am not really happy with what Israel is doing but the Gaza indigenes are to blame for supporting HAMAS. Hamas is an organization that has no regards for the citizen of Gaza. Can you tell me the intention of HAMAS when they are throwing missiles into Israel? If Hamas is wise, they should have known that you don't go to war with stones only. You don't initiate conflict with someone more powerful.
I don't have much to say but I wish HAMAS will be wise one day and know that it is really important to give life a meaning. The consequence of throwing missile into Israel is never at their advantage.
James Clinton
Response from Sis Zabrina
Dear Sir,
Thank you for your email. We, at COMPLETE appreciate you taking the time to write us your comments and opinion.
After reading your email, here is our response.
We quote "Can you tell me the intention of HAMAS when they are throwing missiles into Israel?" and "You don't initiate conflict with someone more powerful'.
May we bring your attention to a few facts:
a) A few days into the war, various news agencies including CNN, verified and confirmed that it was Israelis who had broken the ceasefire first which means that they are the ones who violated and attacked the Palestinians in Gaza. This means that their 'self-defense' reasoning was a total lie. Unfortunately, due to unprofessional and biased reporting by the many media, only a handful has acknowledged their errors.
Kindly click on the independent links provided below as proof that the ceasefire was first broken by Israelis and not Hamas as claimed. If you need more sources, we would be glad to provide.
Source: Anti War. Title: Israel Rejected Hamas Cease-Fire Offer in December
Source: CNN. Title: CNN Confirms Israelis Broke Cease-Fire First
Source: Global Research (Center for Reserach and Globalization ). Title: Israel Slow Motion Genocide in Occupied Palestine
Source: Redress Information and Analysis. Title: Israel Lies Machine Dodging Killer Question
b) We would also like to respond to your opinion that "you don't initiate conflict with someone more powerful".
1- First of all, the Palestinians are being occupied and the Israelis as the occupier. No one has refuted this basic fundamental fact.
2- Reflecting into history, the resistance by the occupied against its occupier is nothing new. Let us bring your attention to some historical facts below:
a- Refer back to the Vietnamese war where the villages armed with mediocre weapons and tunnel strategy against the mighty United States of America. Resisting and fighting against 'someone more powerful' was seen as a necessary step to achieve independence from their occupier. This resistance against 'someone more powerful' has led them to their freedom.
b- The Huk rebellion in the Philippines which can be considered as traditional insurgency group first surfaced as an armed force; had resisted the Japanese occupation of the Second World War.
c- The Indonesians fight against the Dutch using merely sharpened bamboos as bamboos are easily available; and they won. People need to use whatever resources they have around them to defend themselves against occupiers- whatever it may be.
d- The Somalis won and kicked the Americans out of their countries using normal mediocre weapons.
e- The British failed at Suez and Gallipoli against the people who resisted being occupied.
f- The Hezbollah won against Israelis noted as the 4th biggest army in the world by using mediocre weapons during the last Lebanese-Israeli war.
g- The Soviets lost badly in Afghanistan who simply used again, normal mediocre weapon as compared to their occupiers.
h- In fact, looking into history, resistance movements that had used normal mediocre weapons and was in 'conflict' against their so-called 'someone more powerful' had won.
Should the people in the occupied land submit to their 'fate' without fighting for their rights, just because the occupiers are more powerful? We leave the answer to you, Sir.
And it is interesting that you mentioned Hamas should know the importance of giving life a meaning. We totally agree with you. But what would really give life a meaning to the Palestinians?
It is this- To RETURN back what is theirs.
And if only Israelis could act as such…
Sincerely,
Zabrina A Bakar
COMPLETE.
Response from Azra Banu
A. Thank you for your email. Your comments and opinions are valuable to us and most appreciated.
Any objective and just analysis of this situation must go beyond 27th December 2008. The latest invasion of Gaza cannot be looked at isolated and independent of the factors and circumstances that culminated in this 'monstrosity' as described by Father Miguel D'Escoto Brockmann, President of the United Nations General Assembly.
An Egyptian brokered truce between Hamas and Israel took effect on 19th June 2008. Part of this truce included the lifting of Israel's siege of Gaza, which it had imposed after the June 2007 Hamas takeover. Israel however failed to honour this and Gaza was left on the brink of a humanitarian crisis, with serious shortages of medicine, food, electricity, fuel; in essence all basic necessities to life.
It is a documented fact and reported by several news agencies that it was indeed Israel that had violated the truce when on November 4th 2008, it conducted an air raid that killed six Palestinians. This brings into question Israel's constant line that it acted in self-defense. If the various news agencies had as a barometer, truth, objectivity and integrity, this fact would not have gone largely unnoticed.
For more on this kindly click on the links provided and should you require more sources, we will be more than happy to oblige.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/05/israelandthepalestinians
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KntmpoRXFX4
http://www.ww4report.com/node/6572
As to the question that "you don't initiate conflict with someone more powerful", again to be fair, one must look beyond the borders of the apparent.
Israel is an occupying force. The Palestinians have been living under Israeli military occupation since 1967 in their own land. They have been dispossessed, their lands stolen and made refugees in their own homeland. In fact the vast majority of people in Gaza are refugees made homeless with the creation of the State of Israel in 1948. This fact is indisputable.
The loss of any life is tragic, be they Palestinian or Israeli, but the fact remains that many of the areas that were targeted by Hamas's rockets were illegal settlements built on stolen Palestinian land, an act condemned by United Nations and the world at large. It would be highly unreasonable, in fact outrageous to expect the Palestinians to sit idly by and have their lands snatched by an intrusive force. And for these illegal settlers to demand that they be left to dwell in peace and tranquility by the people they stole from is unconscionable. Imagine a thief questioning his victim's retaliation.
Hamas is not the first to fight Israeli occupation, nor will they be the last. The Palestinians have been resisting the Israelis since their land was first stolen from them. Man's expansive history provides abundant examples of resistance to an occupying force or colonial masters. One need only look at the resistance in Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia, India, Algeria even the American war of independence; a pattern repeated through the annals of history across the globe. Where man has been oppressed, he has resisted.
These resistance movements always had a David versus Goliath slant. The occupied had the least sophisticated of weapons and suffered heavier casualties and losses but they fought on relentlessly till independence was achieved. Today the Palestinians are fighting for national liberation against a colonial Zionist state, an occupying force that is the fourth mightiest military power in the world, backed by the mightiest, the USA. So despite the odds, the Palestinians will continue to resist for to not do so would be to succumb to oppression.
It is indeed important to give meaning to life. Everyone deserves the right to live in peace in their homeland and not witness the atrocities committed on one's people through generations. To compound matters, the world is disturbingly quiet. Is it too much to ask for the occupation to end and for the Palestinians to be given their land back and be allowed to return home? Or should the Palestinians just meekly surrender their homes and dignity, and leave their fate at the hands of a powerful and brutal force?
Azra Banu
Secretary
COMPLETE
With respect to the destruction in GAZA, I am not really happy with what Israel is doing but the Gaza indigenes are to blame for supporting HAMAS. Hamas is an organization that has no regards for the citizen of Gaza. Can you tell me the intention of HAMAS when they are throwing missiles into Israel? If Hamas is wise, they should have known that you don't go to war with stones only. You don't initiate conflict with someone more powerful.
I don't have much to say but I wish HAMAS will be wise one day and know that it is really important to give life a meaning. The consequence of throwing missile into Israel is never at their advantage.
James Clinton
Response from Sis Zabrina
Dear Sir,
Thank you for your email. We, at COMPLETE appreciate you taking the time to write us your comments and opinion.
After reading your email, here is our response.
We quote "Can you tell me the intention of HAMAS when they are throwing missiles into Israel?" and "You don't initiate conflict with someone more powerful'.
May we bring your attention to a few facts:
a) A few days into the war, various news agencies including CNN, verified and confirmed that it was Israelis who had broken the ceasefire first which means that they are the ones who violated and attacked the Palestinians in Gaza. This means that their 'self-defense' reasoning was a total lie. Unfortunately, due to unprofessional and biased reporting by the many media, only a handful has acknowledged their errors.
Kindly click on the independent links provided below as proof that the ceasefire was first broken by Israelis and not Hamas as claimed. If you need more sources, we would be glad to provide.
Source: Anti War. Title: Israel Rejected Hamas Cease-Fire Offer in December
Source: CNN. Title: CNN Confirms Israelis Broke Cease-Fire First
Source: Global Research (Center for Reserach and Globalization ). Title: Israel Slow Motion Genocide in Occupied Palestine
Source: Redress Information and Analysis. Title: Israel Lies Machine Dodging Killer Question
b) We would also like to respond to your opinion that "you don't initiate conflict with someone more powerful".
1- First of all, the Palestinians are being occupied and the Israelis as the occupier. No one has refuted this basic fundamental fact.
2- Reflecting into history, the resistance by the occupied against its occupier is nothing new. Let us bring your attention to some historical facts below:
a- Refer back to the Vietnamese war where the villages armed with mediocre weapons and tunnel strategy against the mighty United States of America. Resisting and fighting against 'someone more powerful' was seen as a necessary step to achieve independence from their occupier. This resistance against 'someone more powerful' has led them to their freedom.
b- The Huk rebellion in the Philippines which can be considered as traditional insurgency group first surfaced as an armed force; had resisted the Japanese occupation of the Second World War.
c- The Indonesians fight against the Dutch using merely sharpened bamboos as bamboos are easily available; and they won. People need to use whatever resources they have around them to defend themselves against occupiers- whatever it may be.
d- The Somalis won and kicked the Americans out of their countries using normal mediocre weapons.
e- The British failed at Suez and Gallipoli against the people who resisted being occupied.
f- The Hezbollah won against Israelis noted as the 4th biggest army in the world by using mediocre weapons during the last Lebanese-Israeli war.
g- The Soviets lost badly in Afghanistan who simply used again, normal mediocre weapon as compared to their occupiers.
h- In fact, looking into history, resistance movements that had used normal mediocre weapons and was in 'conflict' against their so-called 'someone more powerful' had won.
Should the people in the occupied land submit to their 'fate' without fighting for their rights, just because the occupiers are more powerful? We leave the answer to you, Sir.
And it is interesting that you mentioned Hamas should know the importance of giving life a meaning. We totally agree with you. But what would really give life a meaning to the Palestinians?
It is this- To RETURN back what is theirs.
And if only Israelis could act as such…
Sincerely,
Zabrina A Bakar
COMPLETE.
Response from Azra Banu
A. Thank you for your email. Your comments and opinions are valuable to us and most appreciated.
Any objective and just analysis of this situation must go beyond 27th December 2008. The latest invasion of Gaza cannot be looked at isolated and independent of the factors and circumstances that culminated in this 'monstrosity' as described by Father Miguel D'Escoto Brockmann, President of the United Nations General Assembly.
An Egyptian brokered truce between Hamas and Israel took effect on 19th June 2008. Part of this truce included the lifting of Israel's siege of Gaza, which it had imposed after the June 2007 Hamas takeover. Israel however failed to honour this and Gaza was left on the brink of a humanitarian crisis, with serious shortages of medicine, food, electricity, fuel; in essence all basic necessities to life.
It is a documented fact and reported by several news agencies that it was indeed Israel that had violated the truce when on November 4th 2008, it conducted an air raid that killed six Palestinians. This brings into question Israel's constant line that it acted in self-defense. If the various news agencies had as a barometer, truth, objectivity and integrity, this fact would not have gone largely unnoticed.
For more on this kindly click on the links provided and should you require more sources, we will be more than happy to oblige.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/05/israelandthepalestinians
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KntmpoRXFX4
http://www.ww4report.com/node/6572
As to the question that "you don't initiate conflict with someone more powerful", again to be fair, one must look beyond the borders of the apparent.
Israel is an occupying force. The Palestinians have been living under Israeli military occupation since 1967 in their own land. They have been dispossessed, their lands stolen and made refugees in their own homeland. In fact the vast majority of people in Gaza are refugees made homeless with the creation of the State of Israel in 1948. This fact is indisputable.
The loss of any life is tragic, be they Palestinian or Israeli, but the fact remains that many of the areas that were targeted by Hamas's rockets were illegal settlements built on stolen Palestinian land, an act condemned by United Nations and the world at large. It would be highly unreasonable, in fact outrageous to expect the Palestinians to sit idly by and have their lands snatched by an intrusive force. And for these illegal settlers to demand that they be left to dwell in peace and tranquility by the people they stole from is unconscionable. Imagine a thief questioning his victim's retaliation.
Hamas is not the first to fight Israeli occupation, nor will they be the last. The Palestinians have been resisting the Israelis since their land was first stolen from them. Man's expansive history provides abundant examples of resistance to an occupying force or colonial masters. One need only look at the resistance in Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia, India, Algeria even the American war of independence; a pattern repeated through the annals of history across the globe. Where man has been oppressed, he has resisted.
These resistance movements always had a David versus Goliath slant. The occupied had the least sophisticated of weapons and suffered heavier casualties and losses but they fought on relentlessly till independence was achieved. Today the Palestinians are fighting for national liberation against a colonial Zionist state, an occupying force that is the fourth mightiest military power in the world, backed by the mightiest, the USA. So despite the odds, the Palestinians will continue to resist for to not do so would be to succumb to oppression.
It is indeed important to give meaning to life. Everyone deserves the right to live in peace in their homeland and not witness the atrocities committed on one's people through generations. To compound matters, the world is disturbingly quiet. Is it too much to ask for the occupation to end and for the Palestinians to be given their land back and be allowed to return home? Or should the Palestinians just meekly surrender their homes and dignity, and leave their fate at the hands of a powerful and brutal force?
Azra Banu
Secretary
COMPLETE
Response to 'Hamas Sickos'
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Hamas Sickos - http://khookaypeng.blogspot.com/2009/01/hamas-sickos.html
I was shocked listening to Buletin Utama on TV3 about the ceasefire news in Gaza. Hamas leaders are taunting the Israelis for their failure to extinguish their group.
The reaction of Hamas leaders should make us wonder if they are fit to govern Gaza or they have taken over the territory by force and terror.
Imagine the sheer magnitude of destruction and death. Yet these bunch of Hamas fighters shed no tears, feel no remorse for the death of their own people.
Muted criticism and condemnation against Hamas and their reaction only reinforces the hypocrisy of this world.
Our response
We refer to your post 'Hamas Sickos' Tuesday, 20th January 2009.
The Palestinian tragedy, which has been around longer than many of us, deserves an objective and fair study that must go beyond the latest monstrosity in Gaza and must take into account all the stakeholders.
Hamas is the democratically elected voice of the Palestinian people, winning an overwhelming electoral vote in 2006. They are first and foremost a resistance movement, established at the beginning of the first Palestinian intifada of 1987 – 1994, a resistance against Israeli occupation.
Israel is an occupying force, living on stolen land and the Palestinians have borne and withstood the brutality of the world's fourth strongest military force, backed by the mightiest, the USA. In fact the vast majority of people in Gaza are refugees made homeless with the creation of the State of Israel in 1948. These facts are indisputable.
Hamas is not the first to fight Israeli occupation, nor will they be the last. The Palestinians have been resisting the Israelis since their land was first stolen from them. Man's expansive history provides abundant examples of resistance to an occupying force or colonial masters. One need only look at the resistance in Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia, India, Algeria even the American war of independence; a pattern repeated through the annals of history across the globe. Where man has been oppressed, he has resisted.
As a resistance movement, it would be expected of them to declare victory, especially when Israel, from the very beginning of the onslaught declared their objective to be the annihilation of Hamas. History again provides ample examples of resistance movements standing defiant.
Whether the world likes it or admits it, Hamas is one of the stakeholders and has a significant role in a solution to this crisis. They are 'kampung boys' if you like it and are highly regarded by their people and have in fact grown in popularity among the ordinary Palestinian since the Gaza massacre.
To label them as 'sickos' would be callous especially if it is based solely on one report.
We attach the following as further reading and understanding. It is an extract of an interview, which can be read in its entirety at
http://www.thenutgraph.com/liberating-palestine.
Azra Banu
Secretary
COMPLETE
www.completemalaysia.com
completemalaysia.blogspot.com
complete2009@gmail.com
The Nut Graph spoke exclusively with Australian author and lawyer Randa Abdel-Fattah via e-mail. The Sydney-based Abdel-Fattah is an award-winning novelist who has written three novels for young adults. Her latest book, Where the Streets Had a Name, features as its main characters two teenagers living in Bethlehem, the West Bank.
An Australian of Palestinian and Egyptian descent, Abdel-Fattah has also been active in inter-faith advocacy. She is one of the original members of a Melbourne-Palestinian/Jewish women's friendship group. Abdel-Fattah has also been active in a number of Palestinian human rights campaigns, the Australian Arabic council and various Australian Muslim women networks.
Q. Why is there so much support for Hamas, and so little for Fatah, in Gaza and the West Bank? Why do you think Palestinians are opting to support an organisation that many perceive to be Islamist and terrorist in orientation?
A. I think firstly Palestinians revolted against Fatah because of its internal corruption and seeming complicity with Israel. For example, Israel relies on Palestinians in the West Bank to assist it in rounding up "terrorists". Secondly, at the very least, Palestinians are opposed to Fatah's impotence.
I believe that Hamas won [the previous elections] because it was an alternative to the corruption in Fatah. It was perceived to be a better defender of Palestinians.
Hamas also does plenty of social services work. This arm of Hamas has been a huge factor in swaying public opinion from Fatah. Again, it appears to be a more "caring" alternative to a more elitist Fatah.
Most importantly, the more brutal and belligerent the occupation, the more desperate Palestinians are for leaders to stand up in support of their rights and independence. The nature of occupation determines the nature of the resistance. Fatah failed to deliver so Hamas was a welcome, new alternative to try.
I think it is a gross over-simplification to denounce Hamas as a terrorist organisation. As much as we may have problems with its charter, it is a resistance movement. Indeed, any organisation deemed to be a terrorist organisation by the West is usually an organisation resisting tyranny and oppression.
We never question why Israelis support their leaders and parties, both left and right, which are the mouth-pieces of the most reprehensible state-sponsored terrorism. The war on Gaza is the clearest example of a state using terror against a besieged and starved people.
Ultimately, we cannot champion democracy when we refuse to accept democratically-elected governments because we don't like them. We may disagree and loathe them, as Palestinians do of every democratically-elected "terrorist" Israeli government, but peace will only come when we negotiate with our enemies. This is the true test of democracy. Israel cannot have it both ways.
Hamas Sickos - http://khookaypeng.blogspot.com/2009/01/hamas-sickos.html
I was shocked listening to Buletin Utama on TV3 about the ceasefire news in Gaza. Hamas leaders are taunting the Israelis for their failure to extinguish their group.
The reaction of Hamas leaders should make us wonder if they are fit to govern Gaza or they have taken over the territory by force and terror.
Imagine the sheer magnitude of destruction and death. Yet these bunch of Hamas fighters shed no tears, feel no remorse for the death of their own people.
Muted criticism and condemnation against Hamas and their reaction only reinforces the hypocrisy of this world.
Our response
We refer to your post 'Hamas Sickos' Tuesday, 20th January 2009.
The Palestinian tragedy, which has been around longer than many of us, deserves an objective and fair study that must go beyond the latest monstrosity in Gaza and must take into account all the stakeholders.
Hamas is the democratically elected voice of the Palestinian people, winning an overwhelming electoral vote in 2006. They are first and foremost a resistance movement, established at the beginning of the first Palestinian intifada of 1987 – 1994, a resistance against Israeli occupation.
Israel is an occupying force, living on stolen land and the Palestinians have borne and withstood the brutality of the world's fourth strongest military force, backed by the mightiest, the USA. In fact the vast majority of people in Gaza are refugees made homeless with the creation of the State of Israel in 1948. These facts are indisputable.
Hamas is not the first to fight Israeli occupation, nor will they be the last. The Palestinians have been resisting the Israelis since their land was first stolen from them. Man's expansive history provides abundant examples of resistance to an occupying force or colonial masters. One need only look at the resistance in Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia, India, Algeria even the American war of independence; a pattern repeated through the annals of history across the globe. Where man has been oppressed, he has resisted.
As a resistance movement, it would be expected of them to declare victory, especially when Israel, from the very beginning of the onslaught declared their objective to be the annihilation of Hamas. History again provides ample examples of resistance movements standing defiant.
Whether the world likes it or admits it, Hamas is one of the stakeholders and has a significant role in a solution to this crisis. They are 'kampung boys' if you like it and are highly regarded by their people and have in fact grown in popularity among the ordinary Palestinian since the Gaza massacre.
To label them as 'sickos' would be callous especially if it is based solely on one report.
We attach the following as further reading and understanding. It is an extract of an interview, which can be read in its entirety at
http://www.thenutgraph.com/liberating-palestine.
Azra Banu
Secretary
COMPLETE
www.completemalaysia.com
completemalaysia.blogspot.com
complete2009@gmail.com
The Nut Graph spoke exclusively with Australian author and lawyer Randa Abdel-Fattah via e-mail. The Sydney-based Abdel-Fattah is an award-winning novelist who has written three novels for young adults. Her latest book, Where the Streets Had a Name, features as its main characters two teenagers living in Bethlehem, the West Bank.
An Australian of Palestinian and Egyptian descent, Abdel-Fattah has also been active in inter-faith advocacy. She is one of the original members of a Melbourne-Palestinian/Jewish women's friendship group. Abdel-Fattah has also been active in a number of Palestinian human rights campaigns, the Australian Arabic council and various Australian Muslim women networks.
Q. Why is there so much support for Hamas, and so little for Fatah, in Gaza and the West Bank? Why do you think Palestinians are opting to support an organisation that many perceive to be Islamist and terrorist in orientation?
A. I think firstly Palestinians revolted against Fatah because of its internal corruption and seeming complicity with Israel. For example, Israel relies on Palestinians in the West Bank to assist it in rounding up "terrorists". Secondly, at the very least, Palestinians are opposed to Fatah's impotence.
I believe that Hamas won [the previous elections] because it was an alternative to the corruption in Fatah. It was perceived to be a better defender of Palestinians.
Hamas also does plenty of social services work. This arm of Hamas has been a huge factor in swaying public opinion from Fatah. Again, it appears to be a more "caring" alternative to a more elitist Fatah.
Most importantly, the more brutal and belligerent the occupation, the more desperate Palestinians are for leaders to stand up in support of their rights and independence. The nature of occupation determines the nature of the resistance. Fatah failed to deliver so Hamas was a welcome, new alternative to try.
I think it is a gross over-simplification to denounce Hamas as a terrorist organisation. As much as we may have problems with its charter, it is a resistance movement. Indeed, any organisation deemed to be a terrorist organisation by the West is usually an organisation resisting tyranny and oppression.
We never question why Israelis support their leaders and parties, both left and right, which are the mouth-pieces of the most reprehensible state-sponsored terrorism. The war on Gaza is the clearest example of a state using terror against a besieged and starved people.
Ultimately, we cannot champion democracy when we refuse to accept democratically-elected governments because we don't like them. We may disagree and loathe them, as Palestinians do of every democratically-elected "terrorist" Israeli government, but peace will only come when we negotiate with our enemies. This is the true test of democracy. Israel cannot have it both ways.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
CBS 60 Minutes: "Is Peace Out of Reach?"
60 Minutes on the Occupation and how the Zionists are dehumanising the Palestinians:
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4752349n
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4752349n
Press Statement by UN
27 December 2008
PRESS RELEASE
STATEMENT BY PROF. RICHARD FALK,
UNITED NATIONS SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
IN THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
ON THE CRISIS IN THE GAZA STRIP
For further information, contact
Phyllis Bennis, Institute for Policy Studies, Washington DC
Email: pbennis@ips-dc.org
Telephone: 1-202-234-9382 ex 206
Mobile: 1-202-309-1377
PRESS RELEASE
STATEMENT BY PROF. RICHARD FALK,
UNITED NATIONS SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
IN THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
ON THE CRISIS IN THE GAZA STRIP
For further information, contact
Phyllis Bennis, Institute for Policy Studies, Washington DC
Email: pbennis@ips-dc.org
Telephone: 1-202-234-9382 ex 206
Mobile: 1-202-309-1377
The Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip represent severe and massive violations of international humanitarian law as defined in the Geneva Conventions, both in regard to the obligations of an Occupying Power and in the requirements of the laws of war.
Those violations include:
Collective punishment – the entire 1.5 million people who live in the crowded Gaza Strip are being punished for the actions of a few militants.
Targeting civilians – the airstrikes were aimed at civilian areas in one of the most crowded stretches of land in the world, certainly the most densely populated area of the Middle East.
Disproportionate military response – the airstrikes have not only destroyed every police and security office of Gaza’s elected government, but have killed and injured hundreds of civilians; at least one strike reportedly hit groups of students attempting to find transportation home from the university.
Those violations include:
Collective punishment – the entire 1.5 million people who live in the crowded Gaza Strip are being punished for the actions of a few militants.
Targeting civilians – the airstrikes were aimed at civilian areas in one of the most crowded stretches of land in the world, certainly the most densely populated area of the Middle East.
Disproportionate military response – the airstrikes have not only destroyed every police and security office of Gaza’s elected government, but have killed and injured hundreds of civilians; at least one strike reportedly hit groups of students attempting to find transportation home from the university.
Earlier Israeli actions, specifically the complete sealing off of entry and exit to and from the Gaza Strip, have led to severe shortages of medicine and fuel (as well as food), have resulted in the inability of ambulances to respond to the injured, the inability of hospitals to adequately provide medicine or necessary equipment for the injured, and the inability of Gaza’s besieged doctors and other medical workers to sufficiently treat the victims.
Certainly the rocket attacks against civilian targets in Israel are unlawful. But that illegality does not give rise to any Israeli right, neither as the Occupying Power nor as a sovereign state, to violate international humanitarian law and commit war crimes or crimes against humanity in its response. I note that Israel’s escalating military assaults have not made Israeli civilians safer; to the contrary, the one Israeli killed today after the upsurge of Israeli violence is the first in over a year.
Israel has also ignored recent Hamas’ diplomatic initiatives to reestablish the truce or ceasefire since its expiration on 26 December.
The Israeli airstrikes today, and the catastrophic human toll that they caused, challenge those countries that have been and remain complicit, either directly or indirectly, in Israel’s violations of international law. That complicity includes those countries knowingly providing the military equipment including warplanes and helicopters used in these illegal attacks, as well as those countries that have supported and participated in the siege of Gaza that itself has caused a humanitarian catastrophe.
I remind all Member States of the United Nations that the UN continues to be bound to
an independent obligation to protect any civilian population facing massive violations of international humanitarian law – regardless of what country may be responsible for those violations. I call on all Member States, as well as officials and every relevant organ of the United Nations system, to move on an emergency basis not only to condemn Israel’s serious violations, but to develop new approaches to providing real protection for the Palestinian people.
*****
The Star - 28th January 2009
Speaking up for the Palestinians
by Salina Khalid
THOUSANDS of people came to the “Save The Palesinians” campaign held at the Bangsar Sports Complex recently.
Organised by the Coalition of Malaysian NGOs Against Persecution of Palestinians (Complete), the event was to condemn the war in Gaza and to boost public awareness on the situation.
Although the programme was scheduled to start at 10am, people were seen crowding the sports complex much earlier.
Caring: Students making their pledge at `Save The Palestinians’ campaign.
There were booths providing information about the conflict and the issues involved. They also provided information on the NGOs involved in the campaign and how the public could be part of the effort.
The highlight of the event was a talk by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who was accompanied by his wife Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali and daughter Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir.
JUST president Dr Chandra Muzaffar and PACE director Dr Hafidzi M. Noor also gave talks.
Other speakers touched on the Palestinian issue from the Islamic perspective and about the Christian response to the Palestinian tragedy.
A Palestinian from the West Bank who is now living in Kuala Lumpur also gave a personal account of the situation in Gaza.
In addition to the talks, guests also had a chance to listen to the plea made by children, calling for an end to the massacre in Palestine via songs. Local artiste, Datuk Sheila Majid also made a sincere call for an end to the war and the killing of the innocent.
“The response was overwhelming and more than we expected,” said Complete chairman Mohd Adnan Tahir.
Creating awareness: One of the booths at ‘Save The Palestinians’ campaign.
He added that the campaign, which would be carried out on a long-term basis, was to create an awareness on the history of Palestinians and their plight, as well as garner support from the Malaysian public, regardless of race and religion.
It was also aimed at exerting pressure on Malaysian and foreign governments to highlight and work on a comprehensive and just solution to the crisis. They are also raising funds for the Palestinians.
After lunch, about 300 volunteers, comprising mainly students from higher learning institutions, went around distributing fliers on the campaign.
Formed on Jan 5, Complete was set up in response to the war in Gaza. It consists of more than 50 NGOs.
For further information about the coalition, visit http://completemalaysia.blogspot.com. Enquiries can also be sent to complete@gmail.com or contact Azra at 016-209 4500.
by Salina Khalid
THOUSANDS of people came to the “Save The Palesinians” campaign held at the Bangsar Sports Complex recently.
Organised by the Coalition of Malaysian NGOs Against Persecution of Palestinians (Complete), the event was to condemn the war in Gaza and to boost public awareness on the situation.
Although the programme was scheduled to start at 10am, people were seen crowding the sports complex much earlier.
Caring: Students making their pledge at `Save The Palestinians’ campaign.There were booths providing information about the conflict and the issues involved. They also provided information on the NGOs involved in the campaign and how the public could be part of the effort.
The highlight of the event was a talk by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who was accompanied by his wife Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali and daughter Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir.
JUST president Dr Chandra Muzaffar and PACE director Dr Hafidzi M. Noor also gave talks.
Other speakers touched on the Palestinian issue from the Islamic perspective and about the Christian response to the Palestinian tragedy.
A Palestinian from the West Bank who is now living in Kuala Lumpur also gave a personal account of the situation in Gaza.
In addition to the talks, guests also had a chance to listen to the plea made by children, calling for an end to the massacre in Palestine via songs. Local artiste, Datuk Sheila Majid also made a sincere call for an end to the war and the killing of the innocent.
“The response was overwhelming and more than we expected,” said Complete chairman Mohd Adnan Tahir.
Creating awareness: One of the booths at ‘Save The Palestinians’ campaign.He added that the campaign, which would be carried out on a long-term basis, was to create an awareness on the history of Palestinians and their plight, as well as garner support from the Malaysian public, regardless of race and religion.
It was also aimed at exerting pressure on Malaysian and foreign governments to highlight and work on a comprehensive and just solution to the crisis. They are also raising funds for the Palestinians.
After lunch, about 300 volunteers, comprising mainly students from higher learning institutions, went around distributing fliers on the campaign.
Formed on Jan 5, Complete was set up in response to the war in Gaza. It consists of more than 50 NGOs.
For further information about the coalition, visit http://completemalaysia.blogspot.com. Enquiries can also be sent to complete@gmail.com or contact Azra at 016-209 4500.
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