The cultivation of genocide
In the last 24 hours, dozens of Palestinians have been hospitalized from attacks by rioting Jewish settlers. Settlers throughout the West Bank slashed the tires of non-Jews, broke windows, and attacked Palestinians in the streets and in their homes. Mosques in several West Bank cities were vandalized overnight with racist slogans calling for "death to arabs!", while settlers desecrated graves in a Hebron cemetery, painting tombstones with stars of david and racist slurs. One Palestinian in Nablus was assassinated by an Israeli death squad, and two Palestinian children (aged 15 and 17) were killed and 4 others hospitalized when Israeli terror-bombers fired missiles into Rafah, a densely peopled city and adjacent refugee camp with a combined population of over 150,000.
Meanwhile in the Gaza Strip, Israel continues to impose deliberate mass starvation on the 1.5 million non-Jews imprisoned in what is effectively a vast outdoor concentration camp. More than half the population of the Gaza Strip are children under the age of 15.
After years of systematically destroying all food-production and water infrastructure, and rendering about 80% of the population unemployed and totally dependent on foreign aid, international agencies reported half a decade ago that Palestinians in Gaza were suffering from malnourishment at levels worse than the worst famine zones of sub-saharan Africa. That was when Israel still permitted a trickle of relief aid to come in.
Now, for the last month, Israel has completely sealed off the Gaza Strip, and refuses to allow food or water in, or electricty, or fuel, any medical supplies, or even any reporters.
Every few months Israel adds more items to the list of goods which for "security reasons" may no longer be brought into the Gaza Strip - a list which now includes such deadly items as:
-chocolate, inlcuding chocolate candy, chocolate spread or cooking chocolate
-yarn
-seeds, either for eating or planting
-paper
-blankets
-toothpaste
-coconuts
-kitchenware (plates or any kind of silverware)
-cooking spices of any kind, including salt
-antiobiotic creams or any cream or gel hygiene products
-glassware
-metal piping
-construction and building materials & tools, such as nails, paint, trowels, tiles, or hammers
-fertilizer or gardening equipment
-nuts
-hair gel
etc.
After the United Nations announced it was no longer permitted by Israel to provide food to Palestinians, a shipment of emergency food aid was scramabled together and sent from Libya; although starving Palestinians lined up at the beaches hoping for the vessel to arrive, this civilian humanitarian ship was turned back yesterday by Israeli warships.
Journalists have been completely barred from entering the strip, as have representatives of international relief agencies, churches, or diplomatic missions. Israel explained that it will not allow any foreign observers into Gaza, as it does not want to permit anyone to "exaggerate" the suffering of Gazans.
Israel's outrageous collective punishment of Gazans is a violation of international law and a grave violation of human rights, and has been condemned by every human rights organization on the planet, manyof whom are now beginning to use the word "genocide."
Here in the US, none of this is mentioned. The only headlines are hundreds of banners proclaiming that Israel has anounced "yet another goodwill gesture" - it intends to release 250 Palestinian prisoners. What is not mentioned is that Israel is holding about 10,000 Palestinian prisoners, many thousands of them snagged at random and held without any charges at all, many of them children -0 some as young as 12 years old. What is also not mentioned here is that while Israel brags about releasing 250, human rights groups on the ground report that Israel has escalated its kidnapping campaigns - over 330 Palestinians were abducted by the Israelis in November alone. According to a Ramllah human rights group, "the Palestinian citizens kidnapped during the last month included more than 60 children and a number of women from Gaza, faction leaders, activists, journalists and students. [...] the Israeli police also kidnapped a large number of Jerusalemite Palestinians either because they protested for demolishing their houses or because they boycotted the municipal elections in occupied Jerusalem. Eight foreign activists were also locked up in Israeli jails, three of them were kidnapped along with dozens of Palestinian fishermen as they were fishing in the Gaza waters."
ORIGINAL PHOTO: Ahmad Gharabli. A Palestinian man outside a mosque near Ramallah which was vandalized by Jewish settlers, 12/2/08.
IMAGE ALTERATION: /anomalous
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Uploaded on Dec 2, 2008
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