Adalah-NY, a human rights organization in New York, has posted a very useful Q&A about what is really happening in Gaza and how the war started.  Click here to read the Q&A.  Those who are confused about what is going on or who think you know what's going on but get your news from the mainstream media, this is a useful review of facts.

Today, the Israeli military bombed or shelled a UN school in Jabaliya refugee camp in Gaza, where hundreds of civilians were taking refuge.  Local doctors reported at least 40 killed.  Israel also bombed two other schools in Gaza today, killing 6 other civilians.

Regardless of whether these schools were deliberately targeted, Israel is responsible for the civilian deaths.  Legally, all parties to a conflict are required to take appropriate measures to minimize civilian casualties.  Bombing and shelling a densely populated area of 1.5 million people inherently puts large numbers of civilians at risk.

But more generally, we have to break out of the much-repeated concept of "proportional" attacks.  Israel is morally culpable for all the deaths in Gaza, regardless of the identity of the victim or the nature of the death.  Israel is an illegal occupier, holding millions of Palestinians hostage under an illegitimate colonial regime.  ALL of its military and non-military coercive activities are designed to enforce its illegal regime of repression and control.  All of its actions are designed to steal as much land and resources as possible from Palestinians, while terrorizing Palestinians into submission.  Do not speak to me of "proportionate" responses.  It is time to speak of justice and to criticize the occupying power for the full extent of its crimes.

All deaths in Gaza are unjustified, as they are in furtherance of an unjust, oppressive, and illegal regime.

The army of Israeli officials and spokespersons speaking to media emphasis over and over that Israel is "not seeking to topple Hamas," but that they want to establish a new "security situation" in the south.  Israel, they say, just wants the rockets to stop.  What are Israel's real war aims?

Let's start by pointing out that during the sixth month ceasefire ending December 19, Hamas did not initiate a single unprovoked attack at Israel.  Hamas upheld its obligations under the ceasefire.  It is Israel that attacked Hamas on November 5, killing a number of Hamas members and civilians.  Since the ceasefire, Israel failed to live up to its obligations under their agreement with Hamas.  Not only has Israel attacked Hamas militarily, but it has also failed to allow food, medicine, fuel and other supplies to enter into Gaza, as it is required to do under the ceasefire agreement.  

So the timeline and course of events is uncontroversial:  Hamas held its fire until Israel violated the ceasefire agreement.  The violence has escalated since.  This casts serious doubt on Israeli claims that it only wants calm in the south.

But history, of course, did not begin six months ago.  Since January 2006, when Hamas was victorious in Palestinian parliamentary elections, Israel has been tightening its blockade of Gaza.  Israel has been choking 1.5 million Palestinians to a slow death.  Food, fuel and medical supplies cannot get in.  UNRWA has had to suspend its operations due to the closure.  Most of the bakeries in Gaza have had to close.  Israel's only power plant has had to close on numerous occasions and has insufficient fuel to supply constant power to Gaza's population.   Unemployment in Gaza is at least 50%.  Poverty is at 80%.  Israel is keeping the noose around 1.5 million people, mostly refugees.  One thousand five h... [Read More]

Like so many human beings around the world, I watch in horror as the Israeli machinery of death steals hundreds of lives in the Gaza Strip. And yet, no one can reasonable claim to have been surprise. Israel has been promising a "holocaust" in Gaza for some time, and now the world is witnessing it. Israel is clearly attempting to do in Gaza what it could not do in Lebanon, destroy as much indigenous resistance as possible. It's also trying to banish the ghosts of 2006. Israel wishes to reestablish its "deterrence" since its drubbing at the hands of Hizballah. And ordinary Gazans are having to pay the price. Some 300 people have been killed and over 1000 wounded. Those numbers will continue to rise as Israel continues to strike. Make no mistake, the firing of rockets into Israel, which have killed only a handful of Israelis in the last couple of years, is merely a pretext for Israel's murderous assault. While all life is precious, Palestinians firing rockets into Israel is a desperate attempt at resistance, not a form of aggression. Once more, as ever, Israel is the aggressor. Just as it was in 2006 and countless times before, Israel pursues its racist agenda with violence and a cold determination. Israel has systematically made Palestinians' lives unbearable: it has sealed off Gaza to food, fuel and medical supplies; it assassinates Palestinians regularly; it holds over 10,000 prisoners in its prisons (including hundreds of children); and it is stealing land and resources left and right in an attempt to prevent any viable Palestinian state from emerging. In every way, Israel is continuing to make life hell for Palestinians. It is, as always, Palestinians who are thus retaliating, not Israel. It is Israel that is the aggressor, not the Palestinians. Anyone who attempts to argue otherwise, or argue that someone "both sides" are to blame, is either a fool or a charlatan. As the bombs continue to fall, let us remember that t... [Read More]

Today, Iraqi journalist Muntathir al-Zaidi was forced to apologize today for throwing his shoes at U.S. President George Bush and insulting him.  Al-Zaidi, who achieved hero status in much of the world for throwing his shoes at Bush during a press conference last weekend, was beaten by Iraqi officials and jailed in the Green Zone.  He was held for days without due process of law, and is reported to have suffered a broken arm and other injuries, including possible broken ribs.

There has been much discussion about the cultural significance of throwing or waiving shoes at someone in the Arab world.  Indeed, shoes are considered unclean, and throwing one's shoes at a person would be considered quite an insult.  The only Western equivalent that I can think of might be spitting on someone.

But what is not likely to receive much attention is the import of al-Zaidi's apology, especially his choice of words.  The Guardian reports that in a plea for clemency to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, al-Zaidi stated: "I remember in the summer of 2005, I interviewed your excellency and you told me, 'Come in, this is your house.' And so I appeal to your fatherly feelings to forgive me."

In his apology, the theme of the Arab leader as father emerges clearly.  This is a theme cultivated by many, perhaps all dictators in the Arab world, from Saddam Hussein to Hosni Mubarak to King Hussein of Jordan. Added to the severity of al-Zaidi's potential punishment (he could receive 15 years in prison for "aggression against a president") suggest how much Iraq remains an oppressed society.  They suggest how much the old paradigms of domination and submission cultivated by autocratic regimes in the Arab world continue to this day.

The U.S. government loudly proclaimed its intentions to "liberate" the peopl... [Read More]

The Palestinian Information Center reported today that Shaul Mofaz, current Israeli Transportation Minister and Former Defense Minister under former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, advocated Israel's cutting off of the heads of Hamas' leaders in the Gaza Strip.  This would be a supposed "return" to the "targeted assassinations" policy Israel has used against the Palestinians.

Let me first make a couple of corrections. Israel never stopped assassinating Palestinians, so there would be no "return," only a continuation. And second, assassinations are by definition targeted.

There is not much to write about this one, I'm afraid.  It is grotesque and further sign of the brutality of the Israel government.  Earlier this year, Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai warned that Israel would unlease a "holocaust" against Gaza.

What is remarkable about these comments, though, is not their brutality. It is that so many people see them as remarkable.  Israel is carrying out a vicious campaign of murder and ethnic cleansing against the Palestinians.  These statements are not out of character. 

The press is reporting that UN Special Rapporteur Richard A. Falk, whose mandate is to investigate and report on the human rights condition of Palestinians under Israel occupation, was denied entry into Israel on Sunday.

The United Nations Human Rights Council announced Falk's appointment earlier this year.  He replaced outgoing Special Rapporteur John Dugard.  Both have been outspoken critics of Israel's crimes against the Palestinians for years.

Falk, a former professor of international law at Princeton University, arrived at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport on Sunday.  He was held by Israel authorities and sent back to the United States on a plane Monday morning.

This incident follows a familiar patter in the Palestine-Israel context.  As Israeli crimes grow more egregious, the world outcry grows stronger.  In response, Israel exerts more and more effort at silencing those who would interfere with its brutalization of the Palestinian people.  This vicious cycle was the pattern followed by Israel's erstwhile partner-in-crime Apartheid South Africa.

Thankfully, Professor Falk has said that while his inability to access the West Bank or Gaza would hamper his work, it would not end it.

The press is reporting that a fourth boat filled with supplies has reached Gaza from Larnaca, Cyprus. The shipments are part of a private effort on the part of human rights activists to help bring aid and hope to the people of Gaza, who are under a weeks-long total closure.

This latest feat shows the total impotence of world governments, particularly those of the Middle East and Europe, in the face of Israel's actions. These governments simply do not want to do want it takes to put real pressure on Israel. 

That is why the world has seen in recent years and increasing initiative on the part of private individuals and civil society groups to stand in solidarity with the Palestinians, as well as a growing sign that Palestinians are taking it upon themselves to do what their supposed representatives will not do.  Inside Palestine, a growing movement of creative non-violent resistance has won much attention in towns like Bil'in, Nil'in, Budrous and elsewhere.  The Palestinian initiative of boycott, divestment and sactions against Israel is also leading a world-wide effort to put non-violent political, economic and cultural pressure on Israel.  See the web site of the Global BDS Movement here. This movement is growing in momentum and will continue to embarrass governments around the world.

Once again, people are demonstrating that they must lead if their leaders are to follow.