Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Screw You Bibi *#Gaza)


THE ABSURD TIMES

I think just about everyone has had it with these criminals. I'm not going to waste time with epithets right now, but I did want to get these interviews to you. Illustration is by Carlos Latuff. We have been waiting for some s0-called “cooling off period” and things just heated up. Even reporters on corporate media are pissed off. Sorry this is so long.  And some of the transcript (from Monday) needs work that I don't have time for):

















Filed under  Gaza, Dr. Mona El-Farra
Guest:
Dr. Mona El-Farra, director of Gaza Projects for the Middle East Children’s Alliance and writes the blog, "From Gaza, with Love." She is also the Health Chair of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society of the Gaza Strip.

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AMY GOODMAN: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is heading to Jerusalem, Ramallah and Cairo today as the Israeli attack on Gaza enters its seventh day. Over the past week, Israeli strikes have killed at least 116 Palestinians, the majority of them civilian. The dead include 27 children. Palestinian rockets fired into Israel have killed three people over the past week. Earlier today, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon called for an immediate cease fire and said an Israeli ground operation in Gaza would be a dangerous escalation that must be avoided.
BAN KI-MOON: All parties must respect the obligations under international humanitarian law to ensure the protection of civilians. That is true of those bearing arms and it is true of those giving the orders to use them. My message is clear. Both sides must halt fire immediately. Further escalating the situation will put the entire region at risk.
AMY GOODMAN: Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri said Hamas has set two conditions for accepting a cease-fire; lifting the military blockade on the Gaza Strip and international assurances that Israel would stop assassinating and other military measures.
SAMI ABU ZUHRI: The occupation is the side responsible for all that is happening. They killed [Ahmed al-] Jabari during the time of calm and they should take responsibility for their actions. We have paid a huge price for our leaders, women and children and we will not accept any ceasefire without guarantees for our security on all fronts.
AMY GOODMAN: For more, we go directly to Gaza where we’re joined by Dr. Mona El-Farra. She is the director of Gaza projects for the Middle East Children’s Alliance and the Health Chair for the Palestinian Red Crescent Society of the Gaza Strip. She writes the blog "From Gaza, with love." Dr. El-Farra, can you start off by describing what it is like there today?
DR. MONA EL-FARRA: Today, since the early hours of the morning, it is quiet. It is not as violent and tense as it was in the last five days. It is quiet, but airplanes are still in the sky. Drones are in the skies. We can hear intermittent shelling here and there. People are tense, are hoping for a cease fire. But, in the mean time, we don’t want a cease-fire at any cost. We want guarantees from Israel that this will not happen again. This is the situation in Gaza. The number of killed, you have mentioned it, but I’m sorry to say that the majority of the killing are amongst women and children. Some homes have been knocked down to the ground and toppled on civilians, and the Israeli Army later on said we are sorry, it was a mistake. How come it is a mistake to kill, for example, twelve civilians in their homes with women and children, and just what we hear is, sorry it was a mistake.
What is happening is not a war. What’s happening is unequal confrontation between very sophisticated fighters and [INAUDIBLE] that’s bombing Gaza Strip facility camps, schools, apartments, blocks. Everyplace has been blocked, either directly we have been affected and affected by feeling terrified, hating the bombing and the shelling and the shattered windows. I’m very concerned about civilian loss. Of course I am concerned about civilian loss from both sides. I am sorry about the three women or the three civilians on the Israeli side who were killed, but as I said, it is not equal confrontation.
The situation is much, much different than Gaza when we have terrified children in Gaza. Children who do not have enough water, don’t have enough food, no medication; the medications are getting less and less in the stores and in the medical facilities. And with all that, children who have no safe place, no place safe in Gaza. Many families left their homes to other safer place in the town or in the [INAUDIBLE] camp to be bombed again in the new places. So, no place is safe. Some of my friends advised me to leave my own apartment to go to another place. I decided I am staying in my place, but I want to make sure I take my own precautions to protect myself and protect my daughter. But, I don’t know what will happen next if this madness continues.
AMY GOODMAN: We just got this Reuters news flash, Mona El-Farra, the Egyptian president says the Israeli, what he says aggression against Gaza, will end on Tuesday, according to the state news agency.
DR. MONA EL-FARRA: If this will happen, I will be relieved. But, after that we need to look after the community who has been traumatized in the last week. It was like hell for us. I am glad to hear this. But what I have hear that, Israel have postponed the land operation. So, I am not sure. In the end, I wish this will stop because it is not nice to live in such circumstances. It is ugly, it is horrible. It is horrible to feel that you are subjected to all of those attacks. I don’t know — I lost count how many air raids, but not less that 1,500, sometimes in one night — 200 raids, I mean, 200 raids.
AMY GOODMAN: Dr. Mona, what does a raid mean? I have been reading your blog as you describe these nights, the last, what, five nights you haven’t slept. What does it mean to live through this. Describe Gaza for us.
DR. MONA EL-FARRA: OK, it means that the last four days, I will describe the last four days because today is quiet. Continuous shelling every other minute, either directly in my area — the airplanes are there and they hit around me, 100 meters, sometimes, from my building. This is directly against my area. Then you can overhear from the other areas, it is very noisy as well. Very, very noisy, because it is F-16 that’s bombing with large explosions. The whole building shakes. Some of my windows have been shattered. Other families as well.
I describe it as this way, it is simple, but it means that I have to hurry up with my daughter, who is a grown-up now, she went to school ten years ago, she’s now 20 years old, we have to hurry up and to go either next to concrete wall or underneath the table and feel a little bit safe, then it continues. I try to sleep, for example, I thought it is over, then I try to sleep. I shut my eyes a few minutes and then it is again, bombing and shelling from the air raids. Raids, I mean explosions coming on top of us from the sky, carrying destruction of course, because with every air raid, I can see the fire from my window. The fire and the smoke it is very close to my neighborhood. I can hear the sighs of the ambulances carrying the casualties. It is very dark. It is air raids. But if it is by the sea it is more terrifying for me because I feel [INAUDIBLE]. My apartment is there and the gun boats are again shelling the whole area.
Yesterday, there was a shelling that landed just on the beach in front of me. It was very loud and horrifying. In the meantime, I need to work. The first day I could not leave home. Then second day I started to go to the Red Crescent Society because I have duties there as well, and we formulated a team of workers all through Gaza strip; nurses, psychologists and we opened hotlines for population. During us — bringing psychologists to comfort them and support them, because my main concern are women and children, especially children who are subjected to such horror. And children who are feeling that their parents are no comfort. The parents cannot protect their children. In the meantime, they have to be protected by us, by other emergency workers.
AMY GOODMAN: Dr. Mona, Al Jazeera’s Nour Samaha has just tweeted, an Israeli air strike hit a kilometer from hotels were journalists are staying in Gaza. Israel has repeatedly broadcast a recorded Arabic-language warning to the people of Gaza to stay away from Hamas installations and personnel. I think it is translated, to the people of Gaza, Hamas is playing with fire and gambling with your fate. The Israeli Defense Force is moving toward the second phase of its operation. For your safety you should stay away from Hamas infrastructure and personnel. What do you say to the Israeli government that says this is in response to Hamas and other groups firing rockets into Israel?
DR. MONA EL-FARRA: I think that the Israelis end the occupation now. Stop occupying and oppressing other nations and then you gain your own security. Their security comes from ending the occupation, and now stop the attacks. But, in general, they will never, ever, ever — the Israeli population will never, ever enjoy security while other nation is under occupation. This is the main issue, this is my message. If their Government is attacking Gaza with all this madness for the Israeli security reasons, then Gaza population have the right to resist with whatever we have.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to thank you for joining us, Dr. Mona El-Farra, chair of the Red Crescent of the Gaza Strip, health chair of the Palestinian Red Crescent society. Thank you for joining us from Gaza. This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. When we come back, we go to Phyllis Bennis in Washington, D.C. of the Institute for Policy Studies.
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Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Gaza Ceasefire to Be Decided in Cairo, But Will Washington Rein In Israeli Occupation, Blockade?

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is heading to Jerusalem, Ramallah and Cairo today as the Israeli attack on Gaza enters it seventh day. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is also in the region after calling for an immediate ceasefire and warning an Israeli ground operation in Gaza would be a "dangerous escalation" that must be avoided. As ceasefire talks continue in Cairo, Hamas has set two conditions for accepting a cease-fire: lifting the military blockade on the Gaza Strip and international assurances that Israel would stop assassinations and other military measures. We speak with Phyllis Bennis of the Institute for Policy Studies based in Washington, D.C. [Includes rush transcript]
Filed under  Gaza, Phyllis Bennis
Guest:
Phyllis Bennis, Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies and author of several books, including "Understanding the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: A Primer," and "Challenging Empire: How People, Governments, and the U.N. Defy U.S. Power."

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AMY GOODMAN: As Israel continues to bombard the occupied Gaza Strip after killing 34 people Monday, the deadliest single day toll since the assault began last week. The overall Palestinian death toll has topped 116 over the last week, more than half civilian. Israeli death toll from Palestinian rocket attacks stands at three. We go to Washington to Phyllis Bennis, fellow at the Institute for Policy studies. Phyllis, Reuters flashed the Egyptian president says the Israeli siege on Gaza will end today. Hillary Clinton has left Obama’s Asia trip to go to Jerusalem saying she is going to Jerusalem and Ramallah, I believe Cairo as well. Talk about what is happening now in Gaza.
PHYLLIS BENNIS: We don’t know yet what the announcement from the Egyptian Prime Minister means. There was an announcement from the Israeli side the they will delay — I think that was their word — the possibility of a ground invasion, but they are continuing, as we just heard, the air bombardment that has killed so many people in Gaza. This is, Amy, very definitely a U.S. central institutionalized action that’s going on. We heard, just in the last couple of days, from the Israeli Defense Minister who said directly, this effort could not have been concluded without the generous and consistent support of the American administration led by President Obama.
I think that’s the most important thing for those of this in the U.S. to keep in mind. This is something where the United States has made clear that it is giving Israel carte blanche to use U.S.-made weapons — we’re talking about f-16’s, we’re talking about Apache helicopters, we’re talking about armored Caterpillar bulldozers, we’re talking about drones — most of which are produced in the U.S., purchased with our tax dollars, in violation, in this use, of U.S. laws, specifically the Arms Export Control act that makes it illegal to use U.S. arms in an illegal way. For example, in maintaining an illegal occupation, in violating the Geneva conventions, etc.
What we’re looking at is a moment where for both the U.S. and Israel, as they take up this question of whether there could be an immediate cease-fire as the world is demanding, the question of the Middle East having changed so dramatically since four years ago during Operation Cast Lead, at that time, Israel could count on a U.S.-dependent dictator in Egypt, governments throughout the Arab world that had no accountability to their own population, that were only really accountable to the U.S., and were in that context prepare to play nicely with Israel. Do whatever the U.S. one of them to do, visa-vis Israel, whether it be peace treaties whether it be trade arrangements, etc.. Because the U.S. was calling all the shots.
Today, the situation is very different. The two countries the U.S. most needs to act as Interlocutors in the region — Turkey and Egypt — are arguably right now the closest and most important allies of Hamas. Hamas is no longer an isolated outlier in the region. Hamas, now, is arguably less isolated than Israel is. Israel is more isolated than Hamas, has fewer friends. That changes the dynamics. It does not mean that any Arab countries are about to join the war against Israel. That would disastrous, that kind of escalation would not help anyone. But the that fact Israel cannot count on diplomatic support from Arab governments etc., changes the dynamics; it puts far greater pressure on Israel so that the possibility becomes much more realistic that there could be an immediate cease-fire, perhaps today, as the Egyptian Prime Minister said.
The question will be immediately with the cease-fire, is there going to be a change in the policy, as we heard from Dr. Mona El-Farra just now? If there is not an end to the siege of Gaza, if the Gaza crossings are not opened, the Israeli controlled crossings — because, we should remember, Gaza is still under occupation, despite the withdrawal of troops and soldiers in 2005, Israel continues its control over the airspace, the waters, the borders, everything about Gaza is under Israeli control. Given that, if there is not an agreement to end that control, to open the border crossings, to let Gaza breathe, this will continue. It will continue in a year, in two years, in four years. Maybe once again just after the next U.S. elections, that seems to be the favorite Israeli timeline. Maybe just before the next Israeli elections, which is what we’re looking at right now. Much of the timing of this has to do with the pressures on Netanyahu as he looks to his re-election in January. So all of those political factors are under way. But the possibility right now that there might be a desperately needed cease-fire is made more possible by these massive changes in the region where the U.S. is no longer able to count on compliant dictators willing to violate the wishes of their own populations to abide by Washington’s dictates.
AMY GOODMAN: Phyllis, give us a quick time line. Israel says they’re doing this because rockets, Hamas and other groups from Gaza, fired hundreds of rockets onto Israeli soil. Can you give us the timeline of how all of this has taken place?
PHYLLIS BENNIS: History can be determined by when you start the clock. If we start the clock the way most of the U.S. press now is, which is a change, now saying that this escalation began when Israel assassinated a Hamas leader on November 14, that is one time line. The Israeli position is, well, we did it because they fired — the Palestinians fired a rocket at an Israeli Jeep. Well, why did that happen? That happened because a few hours before there had been that firing on an Israeli military Jeep and a patrol, there had been the killing of a 13-year-old child in Gaza who was playing soccer. Two days before that, there had been the assassination of a young man walking in the no walk area, the no go zone near the border, where Israelis say, we told him, we called out to him not to go there and he did not listen.
It turns out this was a mentally disabled man who maybe didn’t hear, maybe didn’t understand, continued to walk and was shot dead. We could start the clock then. But, at the end of the day, we can look back four years, we can look back to the end of Cast Lead and say, since Cast Lead, 271 Palestinians, according to the Israeli human rights organization B’tselem, have been assassinated by Israeli air strikes, by drones, by planes, by helicopters. 271 Palestinians in Gaza killed by Israelis, zero Israelis killed by Palestinian rockets.
If Israel was seriously trying to protect its population, that’s the period when no Israelis were killed. During this escalation, three Israelis were killed, tragically, civilians who should not have been killed. But, the reality is, that this goes back to the occupation. If we don’t acknowledge this in the context of occupation, the siege of Gaza, the traditional occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, we will never be able to stop it. We can get a cease fire right now, stop it for the moment, but then it will continue because there is no option.
When the world abandons a people under occupation, as we have seen in the Palestinian Territories, there is reaction from those people. We hear a great deal from world leaders about the responsibility to protect the new mantra of the United Nations. We have a responsibility to protect the people of Libya, we have a responsibility to protect the the people of Syria. There are serious reasons why the responsibility to protect should have been invoked, in my view, not the way it was, but the world did owe a level of protection to people living under repressive regimes around the world. That has also been true of U.S.-backed regimes that continues around the world. What we have seen in Bahrain and other places.
But, in the question of Palestine, that responsibility to protect for the Obama administration as was true of every administration before it, only applies to Israel. We heard it again and again from President Obama, from other officials of the administration, members of congress. Israel has the right to defend itself. Israel has the right of self-defense. Asked whether Palestinians have the right of self-defense, the State Department’s spokesperson said, "Israel has the right of self-defense." Implying Palestinians have no rights at all, they only apparently have the right to die under Israeli rockets.
AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to turn to a clip, right now of Churkin. This was Russia’s ambassador to the U.N., Vitaly Churkin, who said on Monday his delegation is preparing a Security Council draft resolution on the conflict in Gaza. He indicated the effort is likely to face resistance from some quarters.
VITALY CHURKIN: One member of the Security Council, I am sure you can guess which, indicated sort of quite transparently that they will not be prepared to go along with any reaction of the Security Council, somehow allegedly that Could hurt the current efforts carried out by Egypt and the region. We could not figure out how that could be the case because it was the Arab League who proposed the press statement and of course Egypt is a very active member of the Arab League.
AMY GOODMAN: That was the Russian ambassador to the U.N. Phyllis, comment on that, and also, just how much does this have to do with Netanyahu coming to the United Nations for — seen as very much humiliated by many around the world as opposition to President Obama and moving into elections, his own election?
PHYLLIS BENNIS: Well, on your second question first, on the question of the internal politics going on inside Israel with the Netanyahu camp, he is facing a great deal of opposition inside Israel these days for having dissed President Obama, for having essentially campaigned for Romney during the U.S. campaign. There’s a lot of resentment about how that, how that undermined the traditionally strong U.S.-Israeli relationship. Part of what this escalation against Gaza led to was an immediate reassertion of the longstanding U.S. position, which, in fact, had never changed, during those periods, even when there was tension between Obama and Netanyahu personally, the U.S. support for Israel had never change. But, there was a fear that it could lead to a diminishing level of U.S. support for Israel and so there was opposition growing to Netanyahu. What this gives him the opportunity to do is to convince the far right wing of his supporter, a growing cohort, that whatever he might do visa-vis the U.S., he is still prepared, even if he is not bombing Tehran as they might prefer, he still can still kill and bomb Arabs in Gaza. So, that was partly driving the timing of this.
The fact of this escalation was long standing. The chief of staff of Israel’s army said over a year ago that the time was very close when Israel would have to go back into Gaza, said that it would have to be painful and harsh and that it would be necessary to shore up Israel’s power of deterrence against Gaza. So, that was long standing. But, the timing has a lot to do with the coming Israeli elections which are scheduled for this January. Now, back at the United Nations, I think with the Russian ambassador, Ambassador Churkin, was referring to of course, the idea that the U.S. would certainly use a veto against any resolution that was perceived to be even-handed. Even-handedness is considered a crime in U.S. political circles at times.
The irony here of course is that right now, on this issue, President Obama and the Congress, which are so determined to keep this focus solely on Israel as a victim as if Israel was not the occupying force with a far greater military force, where almost all the casualties are on the Palestinian side only three on the Israeli side, 116, most of them civilians and including far too many children on the Palestinian side, what we’re looking at is a scenario where that reality is still seen as unacceptable to talk about in political circles here in Washington, but it’s no longer the popular view. If you look at the polls just two days ago, there was a new poll by CNN that indicated that when you divide it by parties, and this is becoming an increasingly partisan issue, Democrats dropped their support by 11% lower than it was four years ago when asked, do you think the Israeli move is legitimate? Only 41% of Democrats said, yes, we think this is legitimate. Four years ago 52% said that.
AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to go back to President Obama speaking on Sunday.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: There’s no country on earth that would tolerate missiles raining down on its citizens from outside its borders. So we’re fully supportive of Israel’s right to defend itself from missiles landing on people’s homes and workplaces and potentially killing civilians.
AMY GOODMAN: Final comment as Hillary Clinton leaves President Obama in Asia to come to Jerusalem and, apparently, to Ramallah. It’s being touted as her negotiating a truce. Can she do that?
PHYLLIS BENNIS: The negotiations are going on in Cairo. Presumably she will go there as well, I suppose she will not go to Gaza, unlike the leaders, the prime ministers, the foreign ministers, the parliamentarians of countries across the region, including key U.S. allies like Turkey, are sending their top diplomats, their top officials to Gaza in a show of support and solidarity for the people there that are living under Israeli bombs. It’s extraordinary for Obama to say no country would allow this, as if the Palestinians don’t even exist, that they don’t have those same rights. So, I think if we’re serious about this, two things need to happen. An immediate cease fire on all sides to stop the Rockets in all directions, stop the bombings in all directions. But, immediate end to the siege of Gaza that has given rise to this kind of desperate resistance in the first place. If that does not happen, the immediate cease-fire that will happen, whether it’s today or tomorrow, that will happen, but it will not last unless the fundamental underlying root causes are addressed. The immediate root causes have to deal with the siege of Gaza, the closure, the turning of 1.6 million Gazan residents, half of them children under 16, into inmates in an open-air prison. That’s what has to stop.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to thank you for being with us, Pyllis. Phyllis Bennis, fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, written a number of books including, "Understanding the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict," and, "Challenging Empire: How People, Governments, and UN Defy U.S. Power."
Creative Commons License The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

Nobel Peace Laureate Jody Williams on Gaza: "We Can’t Support Punishing an Entire Population"

Jody Williams, winner of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize for her work with the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, calls for an end to Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip. Williams chairs the Nobel Women’s Initiative and is author of the forthcoming book, "My Name Is Jody Williams: A Vermont Girl’s Winding Path to the Nobel Peace Prize." In 2011, she joined three other women Nobel Peace laureates in calling for the safe passage of an international flotilla to Gaza. [Includes rush transcript]
Filed under  Gaza, Jody Williams
Guest:
Jody Williams, winner of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize for her work with the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. She is the chair of the Nobel Women’s Initiative.

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AMY GOODMAN: Jody, I want to end and a slightly different issue, speaking to you as a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. We’ve spent the rest of the day looking at Gaza. Last year, four Nobel peace Laureates, Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Shirin Ebadi, Rigoberta Menchu Tum including you, Jody WIlliams, wrote a letter to the U.N. Secretary General to "Use his offices in support of the humanitarian needs for the people of Gaza by appointing a representative to inspect and seal the cargo of the boats of the freedom flotilla thus assuring the Israeli government that the boats are carrying humanitarian supplies such as toys, medical supplies, cement and educational materials." Supporting the embargo – the flotilla of boats that have come in to try to challenge the embargo. And now what’s happening in Gaza is a new level, there are more than 116 Palestinians who have been killed in the last week under the Israeli bombardment. Three Israelis have died from missiles that have come from Gaza. What are your thoughts today on what should take place?
JODY WILLIAMS: I think that Gaza needs to be open to humanitarian aid and all sorts of products. I think that it’s very hard to think about Israel calling what it is doing, “defending itself,” when it’s occupying Palestinian territories. It’s collective punishment. We cannot support punishing an entire population because of the policies and attacks of Hamas. It’s illegal. There just has to be away to stop this madness and find peace. I think it is possible. I can’t understand why so many people are willing to continue holding Palestinian people themselves hostage when they should be free, just like most of us.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, Jody, I want to thank you for being with us, winner of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize, who won for her work with the International Campaign to Ban Land Mines and Chair of the Women’s Initiative. Thank you to Steve Goose who has joined us from Human Rights Watch.
Creative Commons License The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.



Tuesday, November 20, 2012

"Where Should the Birds Fly?": Gaza Filmmaker Documents Civilian Toll of 2008-09 Israeli Assault

As Israeli air strikes continues for a seventh day, we turn to a film by Fida Qishta, a young Palestinian filmmaker born and raised in Gaza. The documentary, produced by DeepDish TV, is called "Where Should the Birds Fly?" The title is taken from a poem by renowned Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish. The film looks at the effects of the 22-day Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip in 2008-09 that killed more than 1,400 Palestinians, the vast majority civilians. [Includes rush transcript]

Transcript

AMY GOODMAN: We end today with an excerpt of a documentary made by a young Palestinian woman in Rafah. This was four years ago in Operation Cast Lead. Today, as the assault on Gaza enters the seventh day, we turn to Fida Qishta’s documentary, who was born and raised in Gaza. The documentary produced by DeepDish TV is called "Where Should the Birds Fly." The title taken from a renowned poet, Mahmoud Darwish. The film looks at the effects of the 22 day Isreali military operation in the Gaza Strip for in which it is believed 1400 Palestinians were killed, the vast majority civilians. Let’s go to a clip.
FIDA QISHTA: [Jet aircraft noise] Israel’s war on Gaza began without warning on December 27, 2008, with a massive F-16 and drone assault. Israel has attacked Gaza hundreds of times in the last decade. But the scale and destructiveness of this assault was unprecedented. They called it Operation Cast Lead, we call it a massacre. In Rafah, where my family lives, the attack began in mid-morning while the school shifts were changing. The streets were filled with children. I was visiting a friend when the bombs started to fall. We saw smoke coming from every direction. I ran toward the flames. I was the first journalist on the scene. I had to capture the moment, but I didn’t have my camera. I called my brother on the cellphone, “Avid, bring me the camera.” He came running. I could see fear in everyone’s eyes. The screaming children were the most horrible sight. My brother was terrified. He tried to pull me out, “Fida! Fida! The plane! The plane!" But I couldn’t leave. My camera is the only weapon I have against these attacks on the people of Gaza. Despite my own fear and anger, I felt safe behind the camera. I know if I am shot my camera will capture—
AMY GOODMAN: That was Fida Qishta’s film "Where Should the Birds Fly." The film looks at the effects of the 22-day Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip four years ago, right after President Obama was elected the first time, just as this attack happened after he was elected the second time. In that attack, more than 1400 Palestinians were killed, the vast majority civilians. Tune in to democracynow.org to the latest on what is happening today in Gaza.
Creative Commons License The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.



MONDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2012

Palestinian Civilians Bear the Brunt of Unrelenting Bombings in U.S.-Backed Attack on Gaza

President Obama has announced his full support for Israel’s ongoing assault on the Gaza Strip even as dozens of Palestinians, including many civilians, continue to be killed by U.S.-supplied weaponry. At least 95 Palestinians have been killed in air strikes by warplanes and drones. More than 700 have been wounded, including 200 children. On Sunday, a massive air strike leveled a home in Gaza City killing 12 people, including 10 members of the same family. Over the past week, rockets fired from Gaza have killed three Israelis. We go to Gaza to speak with Raji Sourani, an award-winning human rights lawyer and director of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights in Gaza. [includes rush transcript]
GUEST:
Raji Sourani, an award-winning human rights lawyer. He is the director of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights in Gaza and is on the executive board of the International Federation for Human Rights. In 1991, he won the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award.
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AMY GOODMAN: The Israeli attack on Gaza has entered its sixth day with few signs of letting up. At least 95 Palestinians have been killed in air strikes by warplanes and drones. More than 700 have been wounded, including 200 children. Earlier today, an Israeli strike near the Bureij refugee camp killed at least three children, including an 18-month-old infant, and two women. On Sunday, a massive air strike leveled a home in Gaza City killing 12 people, including 10 members of the same family. Over the past week, rockets fired from Gaza have killed three Israelis.
Speaking in Bangkok Sunday, President Obama supported Israel’s attack on Gaza.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: There is no country on earth that would tolerate missiles raining down on its citizens from outside its borders. So, we are fully supportive of Israel’s right to defend itself from missiles landing on people’s homes and workplaces and potentially killing civilians.
AMY GOODMAN: Joining us now from Gaza is Raji Sourani, an award-winning human rights lawyer, director of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights in Gaza. He is on the executive board of the International Federation for Human Rights. In 1991, he won the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Prize.
Raji, can you tell us where you are right now and describe what’s happening in Gaza?
RAJI SOURANI: I’m in Gaza City in the western part of the city, just near the beach. And the situation for the last 24 hours has been escalated in a very, very drastic way, meaning—I mean more and more aerial bombardment coming for the Gaza. Gunships have been bombing all over the place. And the number of killings and injuries, especially among civilians, raised in a very unique way. In the last five days, we lost 27 civilians, women and children. But in the last 24 hours, we lost 31 civilians, including al-Dalo family where 10 family members has been killed during this air raid on their three-stories home.
AMY GOODMAN: Do you know who this family was? And who were the 10 members of this family?
RAJI SOURANI: We are talking about six children, four women. And this family good—I mean, nice, good, working family, a successful businessman who’s doing well, I mean, in Gaza. And they have nothing to do with politics. I mean, like any ordinary, standard Gazans. I think this wasn’t, I mean, the first, you know, house to be targeted. And the eye of the storm, Gaza civilians. An overwhelming majority so far among the killings and injuries are civilians. More than 70 percent are civilians. We know them, we count them, we document them, and we are aware about that. Even, I mean, the targets are very, very civilian targets. You are talking about private houses. You are talking about police stations. You are talking about soccer fields. You are talking about water wells. I mean, it’s amazing. I think the Israelis very intentionally targeting civilians. They are the one in the eye of the storm.
I’ll share with you a very personal story. My family house, located in the heart of the Gaza City, is just near a police station. And this police station, since first hour, no one in it. It’s entirely empty. But last night, 3:00 in the morning, my aunt—she is 87—and I have two brothers who passed through open-heart surgeries, and many of the children rounded the house, and 10 to 3:00 a.m. in the early morning, maybe one-ton bomb hit the first time, and second bomb exploded. And the entire neighborhood, I mean, was just insane. I mean, it’s like earthquake hit to place, tsunami hit the place.
I’m wondering, Amy, what’s the added security value of bombing a civilian police station? And this police station is empty. And what’s the added value of causing damage for something around 10 houses around that police station? And what’s the added value of terrorizing more than 20-30,000 people who live around that place? It’s incredible what’s going on here. We don’t feel entirely hostage to this Israeli belligerent occupation and their practice. Civilians are the target. They are exactly the same thing which had happened four years ago, when Cast Lead operation has been carried by Israel, and again, civilians were in the eye of the storm. If these things—Dalo family killed, bombing these places, terrorizing civilians—are not war crimes, what are war crimes?
AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to play for you a comment by Ehud Barak, Israel’s defense minister. He thanked the Obama administration for its support.
EHUD BARAK: This effort could not have been concluded without the generous and consistent support of the American administration, led by President Obama.
AMY GOODMAN: I was wondering if you can comment on what the Israeli defense minister said and President Obama’s own words, saying that any country has the right to defend its own population, talking about the Hamas missiles that are being shot out of Gaza.
RAJI SOURANI: First thing I have to say that, I swear, one day we will hold accountable all these Israeli leaders because of the war crimes and crimes against humanity they are perpetrating against children and women, against civilians in this part of the world. We are people who believe in rule of law and accountability. And Obama administration provided full legal, political immunity for those who are criminals, when Cast Lead operation had happened few years ago. And they used a veto in the Security Council not to pass Goldstone Report and being tried through the ICC.
Now, that makes us—when I do hear this statement of Mr. Obama and Mr. Barak, that Mr. Obama is a real partner of Israel and the crimes they are doing against civilians. If there are a lack of facts—and I am sure there are not—we can provide them with very first-class, legal-documented files showing, I mean, all these war crimes and crimes against humanity, I mean, Israel do perpetrate. We are civilians under occupation. We are entitled for protection. International law, international humanitarian law give us that. Geneva Conventions are not for intellect or academics; it’s for civilians to have it on their skin, to be protected at the time of war, not peace. We are the targets of this Israeli belligerent occupation offensive. We are the target of this war. We are the one whom we face state terrorism on our skin. We are the ones who are counting the corpses and injuries of the children, women and civilians. This is shame, because—this is not, I mean, really what we say; this is what Human Rights Watch says. This is what ICJ, International Commission of Jurists; FIDH; [inaudible] the Euro-Med Human Rights Network; even Israeli human rights organization talk about what’s going on here. It’s Kafka, when we are the people who are entitled for protection, and we’re called in law that protected civilian under the occupation, being exposed as the victimizers of this Israeli belligerent occupation, reminding everybody that we are the only country on earth who have this belligerent occupation for the last 45 years.
AMY GOODMAN: We’re going to break, then come back to this discussion. We are with Raji Sourani, a well-known Palestinian human rights attorney, winner of the RFKMemorial Prize for his human rights work. And we’re also going to be joined by the U.N. rapporteur, Richard Falk. So, stay with us.
Creative Commons LicenseThe original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2012

U.N. Special Rapporteur Calls for Global Protection of Gaza Civilians from U.S.-Backed Israeli Assault

Richard Falk, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, calls on the international community to help defend the people of Gaza from the ongoing U.S.-backed Israeli assault. "It’s time, it seems to me, for the international community to take some responsibility for protecting the people of Gaza," Falk says. "The responsibility to protect norm was very self-righteously invoked in relation to Gaddafi’s Libya, but there’s utter silence when it comes to the people of Gaza." Falk is a professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University and the author of more than 50 books on war, human rights and international law. We also speak with Raji Sourani, an award-winning human rights lawyer and director of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights in Gaza. [includes rush transcript]
GUESTS:
Richard Falk, United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University, and the author of more than 50 books on war, human rights and international law. He now teaches at University of California at Santa Barbara.
Raji Sourani, an award-winning human rights lawyer. He is the director of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights in Gaza. He is on the executive board of the International Federation for Human Rights.
RUSH TRANSCRIPT
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AMY GOODMAN: For more on the attack on Gaza, we’re joined by Richard Falk, United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories. He’s a professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University, author of more than 50 books on war, human rights, international law. He now teaches at University of California at Santa Barbara. We’re also joined by Raji Sourani, joining us from Gaza City, the director of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights.
I wanted to go to Richard Falk right now. Can you talk about international law in relation to what has happened so far? The latest numbers we have, at least 95 Palestinians have been killed, at least half of them believed to be civilians, since the Israeli assault began last week. The number of Palestinians wounded, over 600. At the same time, Palestinian rocket firings were about 75 on Sunday after a two-day average of 230 rockets. According to Israeli government statistics, Israel has carried out over 1,350 attacks since launching the offensive last week. The number of Israelis that have been killed is three. Your response to what is taking place?
RICHARD FALK: I share very much the legal assessment that Raji Sourani has been offering a few minutes ago. There is no question in my mind that to launch this kind of all-out attack on a defenseless civilian society is something that must be viewed with the greatest alarm by those that take international law and international humanitarian law seriously as a way of governing the behavior of sovereign states.
And in this setting, it’s particularly shocking because there existed a diplomatic alternative. It was clear that Hamas had agreed to an informal truce and had proposed, through its Israeli interlocutor, a long-term truce, and there’s no question that this was a choice made by Israel to assassinate a Hamas leader—in fact, the person that had endorsed the truce—a few days after it had been established. So one has to question any kind of recourse to this kind of violence in a setting where a peaceful alternative seems to have existed and was rebuffed. And that’s—that’s a very serious element that’s been almost totally ignored in the media reaction in the West, particularly the United States, and certainly in the Obama misleading presentation of the issue as the right of a country to defend itself. There’s—no one questions that right. The question is: When and how is it appropriate?
And here, as before in 2008, when Israel launched a similar devastating attack on the population and people of Gaza, there were alternatives, and this kind of approach to security ends up with a new cycle of violence at higher levels of intensity. So it’s time, it seems to me, for the international community to take some responsibility for protecting the people of Gaza. The responsibility to protect norm was very self-righteously invoked in relation to Gaddafi’s Libya, but there’s utter silence when it comes to the people of Gaza.
AMY GOODMAN: Gilad Sharon, the son of the former Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, who remains in a coma, wrote in an op-ed in the Jerusalem Post over the weekend, quote, "We need to flatten entire neighborhoods in Gaza. Flatten all of Gaza. The Americans didn’t stop with Hiroshima – the Japanese weren’t surrendering fast enough, so they hit Nagasaki, too.
"There should be no electricity in Gaza, no gasoline or moving vehicles, nothing."
Richard Falk, that’s—those are the words of the son of Ariel Sharon.
RICHARD FALK: And those words have also been repeated in more or less those same terms by the deputy prime minister of Israel, and it is a shocking embrace of criminality, of crimes against humanity of the most severe kind. Indeed it has a genocidal edge to it, when you talk about depriving a population of its entire infrastructure, as if that’s the way to produce security. It’s a very perverse notion, and, as I say, in a setting where it is clear that if Israel were prepared to lift the blockade and to—which is unlawful form of collective punishment that is prohibited by Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention—and was willing to deal with the governing authorities in Gaza as if they’re a political actor, this would produce real security, at least as a foundation for the relations between this portion of the Palestinian people and the state of Israel.
AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to bring Raji Sourani back into the conversation to respond to Israeli President Shimon Peres saying that the country is being pushed to fight against its will, talking about Israel.
PRESIDENT SHIMON PERES: This strange war, we don’t have any ambitions or any claims of this war. We don’t want to get rid of—by war with Hamas, we don’t want to change the state of Gaza. We don’t want to fire at all. But we were left without a choice.
AMY GOODMAN: That is the Israeli president, Shimon Peres, saying "We [were] left without a choice." Raji Sourani, three Israelis have been killed by the rocket fire, about 80 wounded. Your response?
RAJI SOURANI: Well, I mean, it’s very interesting what Mr. Peres is saying. Even he blames the victim. I mean, we are criminals because we push them to kill us, to bomb us, to destroy us, to launch a war against us. That’s obscene. That’s the absurd. I mean, it’s too much.
Regarding Gilad Sharon, a Dahiya doctrine, it’s not a theory; it’s a practice. And this practice had happened during the Lebanon war. And I’m sure, with all the introductions we have for Gaza for the last six days, that the worst is yet to come. In the last five days, things were going really—I mean, every day worse than the other. But in the last 24 hours, things are escalating in a very drastic way. Just half an hour ago, ambulance with a doctor and nurse has been targeted and killed. These are the last victims, I mean, we are having in Gaza. And all over Gaza, there is no safe haven.
What triggered this war really? What triggered it? The assassination of one of Hamas leaders who was negotiating with the Egyptian and the Israelis the truce. And that’s what triggered, Amy, everything. Mr. Peres is forgetting that Gaza, for the last seven years, suffer a criminal siege, suffocating socially and economically 1.7 million people, unable to move in or out, and no movement for goods whatsoever. And they shifted Gaza to be a first-class, human-disaster-made, de-developed place. And, you know, they are practicing all kinds of suffocation on it through that criminal siege, which all international human rights organizations said this is illegal, inhumane, as Mr. Falk rightly said.
AMY GOODMAN: Raji Sourani, President Obama, the Israeli government, the U.S. media, overall, says what’s triggered this Israeli military assault on Gaza are the missiles, the rocket attacks that are coming from Gaza.
RAJI SOURANI: It’s not true at all. It’s not true at all. There was assassination, and there was bombing immediately after assassination all over Gaza Strip. And this you can—being asked by any local observer, whether local, international, neutral or—I mean, these are given facts. But obviously, U.S. and Mr. Obama try to provide Israel with full excuse, with full legal, political immunity to do whatever they want to do against Gazans. This is—this is unjust. This is unfair. This makes U.S. on the same foot, I mean, equal to Israel and real partner of what they are doing, of war crimes or crimes against humanity, against Gazan civilians.
AMY GOODMAN: U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has announced plans to travel to Egypt to seek a ceasefire, but many residents of Gaza say they’re skeptical of Ban’s trip to the Middle East. This is one resident of Gaza named Yousif.
YOUSIF: [translated] I do not welcome him, because he came here during the last war, 2008-2009, and did nothing for us. He will come again for the second war but will never do anything for us. He will speak about taking action but will not do anything.
AMY GOODMAN: Do you share that view, Raji Sourani?
RAJI SOURANI: I want him to come, and I want him to be the real international conscience of the most important system on earth, the U.N., in order to bring rule of law, not the rule of jungle, to this part of the world. Gaza is not part of his visit. He’s going to Israel, and he’s going to the West Bank. But those who need his visit, Gazans, he’s not going to visit them. And he, in advance, once and again, blamed the victim. He says, you know, Gaza deserve what had happened, for simple reason: They are bombarding Israel. Once again, Amy, it’s Kafka. It’s absurd. How can occupied people, those who are entitled by law, by international humanitarian law, to protection, can be victimizers for belligerent, criminal occupation practicing war crime, not this time, but just in Cast Lead operation, as well, and wasn’t held accountable?
AMY GOODMAN: The latest news around the attack on the media center: On Sunday, six Palestinian journalists wounded when Israeli missiles slammed into the offices of the Hamas TV station, Al Aqsa, and the Lebanon-based Al Quds TV, a number of international media outlets, including Fox, CBS, Sky, have used the studios in targeted buildings. One of the victims lost his leg. And I’m looking at a tweet from the Netanyahu spokesperson, Ofir Gendelman, who said, "No Western journalists were hurt during the IAF operation aimed to destroy Hamas’ military comm. situated on the roof of a media building." And I’d like to get the U.N. rapporteur Richard Falk’s response.
RICHARD FALK: It is clear that any kind of deliberate attack on journalists is itself a deliberate, intentional war crime. The U.N. has clearly declared that journalists are civilians. And this isn’t as if there is an attack on a communications system that manipulates the weapons that Hamas has been using. It is an attack on journalists that are doing their professional job, and it represents an attempt by Israel, I suppose, to avoid any kind of effort to tell the story of what is really happening. And we’re thankful to media personalities such as yourself that are at least trying to get at the truth of what is going on and the terrible ordeal that the people of Gaza are once again subjected to without the kind of protection that international law and international morality should be according them.
AMY GOODMAN: Raji Sourani, what is life like on the ground right now? You are in your office. How are Gazans dealing with the attacks right now?
RAJI SOURANI: Well, I mean, if you are sitting in my office, I mean, you will hear the bombs, I mean, all over the place. Every minute or two passes, I mean, you will hear, you know, one bomb from Apache or a drone or F-16 hitting, bombing. And just half an hour ago, the Shoroq Tower, where these journalists were targeted at dawn yesterday, have been bombed again, under fire right now at this tower. For the second consecutive time in less than 30 hours, this tower has been targeted. And this tower, I mean, full of media people—yesterday, six has been injured, one have leg amputated. And again, I mean, they are doing this once and again. And yesterday, another building full of journalists were actually threatened to evacuate. And they sent message to international journalists—not Gazan journalists, international—to evacuate and leave the place. And we went there, all the human rights organization leaders, in solidarity, I mean, with them, and we held a press conference at that building, in front of that building, and in solidarity with them.
Once and again, Israel feel immune: they are not going to be held accountable. They count too much in U.S., and they count too much in Europe, and they know that, you know, they are not going to be criticized or blamed, as far, I mean, all these superpowers giving them that protection. And that’s why they feel almost having a free hand to do whatever they want to do.
And by the way, yesterday, when they bombarded al-Dalo three-stories house, and they killed these 12 people, 10 from one family, they said, "Well, we committed minor mistake. We just didn’t pick the right house. We think the house which was supposed to be targeted, the one next to it." So they mean, I mean, even choosing houses, choosing inhabited houses, choosing houses full of civilians, it’s very legitimate target for one reason, because the owner of that house is in Hamas or Fatah or belong to this or that group. This is a clear policy, again Israel putting in the eye of the storm civilians, and they are doing a Dahiya doctrine. And I believe all introductions, especially in the last 24 hours, indicates in a very clear way that the worst is yet to come. And I’m anticipating and expecting soon, I mean, drastic change and much more killings and injuries and destruction going to happen in this part of the world, as if what had happened so far is not enough.
AMY GOODMAN: As you were saying, Raji Sourani, this is a tweet from the BBC: "Tower block gaza housing offices Arab tv channels & Al Aqsa tv of Hamas hit 3 times. Reports 7 injured." And we are showing live onDemocracy Now! right now the tower where the—where the Palestinian media is. And for our radio listeners, you can go to our website at democracynow.org to see those images. As we wrap up, what you feel needs to be done now? Raji Sourani, you wrote a piece called "History is Repeated as the International Community Turns Its Back on Gaza," referring to what happened four years ago soon after President Obama was elected the first time in that interim before he was inaugurated, similar to what we’re seeing now, with Operation Cast Lead. What about the world community? What about Egypt now with a president from the Muslim Brotherhood? Who are you looking to to help? And I want to put that question also to Richard Falk after.
RAJI SOURANI: I want a free, committed people across the globe break this conspiratorial silence and to ask for rule of law and justice for this part of the world. All what we want, rule of law, not the rule of jungle. And Israel is effectively doing the rule of jungle in this part of the world. I think and I’m sure if Israel were held accountable in Cast Lead operation, wouldn’t dare to do this. As a citizen of the world who believes in the world of law, asking individuals, groups, states, to do something effective to have an end for this criminal offensive by Israel. Egypt and other states, they are good, but I don’t believe, I mean, they are in capacity to stop that. I think what we need, something very simple: very strong intervention to have an end for this crime and to bring peace to this part of the world, which only can it be brought by one thing: have an end for this Israeli belligerent occupation.
AMY GOODMAN: Raji Sourani, do you also call on Hamas to stop hitting Israel with their missiles?
RAJI SOURANI: Well, right of self-determination and right of self-defense, it’s a very basic fundamental right for any occupied people, but that should be abide with the rule of law, as well. And I think, you know, we should be on higher moral ground than this Israeli belligerent occupation.
Creative Commons LicenseThe original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2012

Live Report from Gaza Hospital: As Civilian Toll Mounts, Israel Again Bombs Palestinian Journalists

We get a live report from independent journalist Mohammed Omer from a hospital in Gaza City, where injured journalists, medical workers and civilians — including children — are arriving for treatment. An award-winning journalist based in Gaza, Omer has been covering the latest Israeli assault since it began six days ago. We’re also joined by Richard Falk, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories. [includes rush transcript]
GUESTS:
Mohammed Omer, award-winning Palestinian journalist reporting from Gaza City.
Richard Falk, United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University, and the author of more than 50 books on war, human rights and international law. He now teaches at University of California at Santa Barbara.
RUSH TRANSCRIPT
This transcript is available free of charge. However, donations help us provide closed captioning for the deaf and hard of hearing on our TV broadcast. Thank you for your generous contribution.DONATE >

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AMY GOODMAN: We have Mohammed Omer on the phone right now at the hospital where the journalists have been brought who were injured in the attacks on the Palestinian media center. And we’re going to try to go to him in one minute. But, Richard Falk, I wanted to get your response and what i means for you to be the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories. I think we have Mohammed, though, so let’s go to him first in Gaza City, because it was hard to get him. Mohammed Omer, where are you, and what are you seeing? Mohammed, can you hear me? Mohammed, can you hear me?
MOHAMMED OMER: Yes, I hear you right now. [inaudible] Shifa Hospital at the moment, where a number of people just arrived with injuries, severe injury, and one of them was completely burned. The target is—this moment, is the building which belongs to all the journalists in Gaza City, in Gaza City. But right now I’m seeing—I’m seeing—I’m seeing all the ambulances and its passengers. They are bringing more casualties at this stage. And I’m just looking inside—I’m just looking inside to see what is this—OK, it’s coming now, the car. And one of the injuries is actually a medical staff who was trying to rescue the life of the journalists who were injured in the attack just a few minutes ago. The situation is deteriorating at the moment with a F-16 firing missiles on the Gaza Strip. And I am right now at the Shifa Hospital. It’s—it’s quite panic for all the journalists to see their colleagues being attacked at this stage.
AMY GOODMAN: I’m going to go back to you, Mohammed Omer, in just one second. I want to get a final comment from Richard Falk, U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories. As we wrap up, Richard, your final response?
RICHARD FALK: It is incredibly frustrating to represent the U.N. and to realize that it’s incapable of acting in a situation of such extremity from the point of view of the existential horror that the people of Gaza are being subjected to by this unlawful and criminal style of attack. I do agree that the rocket fire has to stop, too, but it has to stop in the context of a ceasefire, of ending the blockade, of returning to a condition where diplomacy and law and morality are respected as the foundation of the relations between Israel and the Palestinian people.
AMY GOODMAN: Richard Falk, I want to thank you for being with us, U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University. And Raji Sourani, I want to thank you, as well, winner of the Robert Kennedy Prize, Memorial Prize, director of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights. But I want to end with Mohammed Omer in the hospital now in Gaza City.
MOHAMMED OMER: I’m going to find out. I’m going to find out.
AMY GOODMAN: Mohammed, your final comments. How many bodies, how many people are you seeing? Mohammed Omer is asking questions of people around him. Just describing after the media center has been hit three times in—with Israeli fire, he says, from an F-16, he is seeing people being brought in, including a medical aid who had gone to help the journalists in the tower that was hit. Mohammed, final comments from the hospital?
MOHAMMED OMER: They just—they just—they just brought new casualties, and it’s mostly—it’s mostly children. It’s mostly children who are—
AMY GOODMAN: Mohammed? Mohammed, are you there? Well, we seem to have lost him. But, of course, we will continue to follow this story. This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. Mohammed Omer is a prize-winning Palestinian reporter, won the Martha Gellhorn Prize for Reporting. Mohammed, can you hear me? Your final comments from the hospital?
MOHAMMED OMER: Well, right now there are more children who are arriving with injuries. As we can hear, the F-16s are still firing missiles on a number of people. We just also arrived from the northern part of the Gaza Strip, where there was an assassination. So far, the guy who was killed is not identified because they found only pieces of flesh, a burning body. And we are not quite sure who is the person. This brings the number of people who were killed into—into 95 killed and 850 injured. The majority of them are the children.
AMY GOODMAN: And the significance of the journalists’ building that was hit, the media center, that the Israeli military says is Hamas’s communications center, which is why they hit it? And they—the—Ofir Gendelman, spokesperson for Netanyahu, put out a tweet saying, ""No Western journalists were hurt during the IAF operation aimed to destroy Hamas’ military comm. situated on the roof of [a] media building."
MOHAMMED OMER: Well, all we know is that this bombing is targeting journalists. There are six journalists who were injured, colleagues and journalists who were injured, and one of them who had his leg amputated as a result of the bomb. This is the third time that the building which housed most of the TV stations, including Reuters,NBC, and all the electronic—Al Arabiya and other TV channels, including international channels, working in the Gaza Strip. The situation, as I’ve said, is deteriorating at the moment. The bombing is reaching the journalists who are broadcasting. There is—I’m among many journalists here at the gate of Shifa Hospital, where they see some of their colleagues coming with injuries. There is news that some of their colleagues are still stuck in the building, and they are not able to leave the building, as one of the medical team workers who were trying to help is—has just been hit and arrived to the hospital with a severe injury.
AMY GOODMAN: And [Mohammed], you said most of the people you’re seeing being brought in now are children, mostly children?
MOHAMMED OMER: This is mostly children and civilians, that’s right, mostly children. I just saw, about a couple of minutes ago, more children who are brought here, and with severe injuries. Israel is using some type of weapons that burn the bodies of the children, burn the bodies of the children and makes it difficult to identify who are those people. We also see some of the staff, medical staff, who are bringing more bodies. Like just a minute ago, there was someone who’s collecting pieces of flesh and the brains of somebody who was killed by the Israeli missiles.
AMY GOODMAN: Mohammed Omer, speaking to us from right outside the hospital in Gaza City. Thank you, Mohammed Omer. We will continue to follow the siege of Gaza, of course. You can go to our website at democracynow.org, as well, tomorrow.
This is Democracy Now! When we return, President Obama is in Burma, the first time a U.S. president has gone there. Stay with us.
Creative Commons LicenseThe original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

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