By Dr. Ashraf Ezzat * | Sabbah Report | www.sabbah.biz

Demands: Embassy Closure and Withdrawal from The Camp David Accords in Wake of Renewed Attacks on Gaza

From Exclusive Video Coverage of The Embassy Seige

Editor's notes: The western press and even Al Jazeera have failed to report today's demonstrations in Tahir Square, Cairo accurately. Thousands of Egyptians marched from the square to the Israeli Embassy, demanding that the current military government end diplomatic relations with Israel in wake of the recent assault on Gaza by the IDF.

Israel claims that a school bus was attacked with a mortar round this week and it was necessary for the army to respond with tanks, helicopters, rockets and a step-up of the nightly bombing campaign that has gone on for months.

Skeptics doubt Israel's claim of an attack from Gaza, citing Israel's propensity for fabricating threats and the bizarre choice of weapons. From an American intelligence source who has worked with Israel for decades:

Israel has been using the "mortar attack" story more and more. Any small explosive charge can be made to look like a mortar attack. even a hand grenade. You only need to throw a few shards of metal around, the cheapest and dirtiest "false flag" possible and Israel has done this dozens of times.

Hamas has mortars but they also have thousands of RPGs. That's the weapon used to go after a vehicle. Saying someone shot a mortar at a bus is simply idiotic. If Gaza has the weapons Israel claims, Russian Kornet and RPG 29s which are capable of destroying Israel's Merkava tanks quite readily, as Hizbollah proved, the "school bus" story is even more fictional.

EXCLUSIVE TODAY VIDEO

VIDEO LINK: http://youtu.be/u6jC4gCGH4s

Background, The Egyptian Anti-Israeli Backlash

Egyptians marching to the Israeli embassy in cairo, protesting over Israeli strikes of Gaza.

On this very day, April 8th since 41 years the Israeli air force struck the village of Bahr el-Baqar – an Egyptian small village near Suez Canal. The raid resulted in the total destruction of an elementary school full of school children. Five bombs and 2 air-to-ground missiles struck the single-floor school. Of the 130 school children who attended the school, 46 were killed, and over 50 wounded, many of them maimed for life. The school itself was completely demolished.

That tragic day marked the first encounter of the Egyptian people with the brutality and the indiscriminate aggression of the Israelis that targeted the innocent and unarmed civilians. This air raid demolished not only the school building but also the remains of any hopes for Israel to be seen as a friendly neighbor state.

From then on Israel was the absolute enemy in the eyes of every average Egyptian.

This terrorist attack on the innocent Egyptian school children has been deeply engraved in the memory of all Egyptians. And to make sure that no one forgot what Israel had done on that day, Egyptians made April 8th a mourning day for the killed school children of Bahr el-Bakar and to be commemorated every year for the last 41 years.

Only this year it was rather different.

Egypt-Israel relations in the last 40 years

Egypt has just emerged from its worldwide celebrated revolution which managed to topple the long lasting in power dictator, Hosni Mubarak.

So many things happened in Egypt since the Israeli raid on April 8th, 1970.

• Egypt retaliated against years of Israeli military aggression and political arrogance in the glorious October war 1973 against Israel.

• President Sadat signed – on an individual initiative- a peace treaty with Israel 1979 (based on Camp David accords) that never managed to naturalize relations between Egyptians and Israelis.

• Mubarak ruled Egypt since 1980 and began a long era of not only observing the terms of the peace treaty but to acting as the closest friend of Israel and the White House in the Middle East.

• Mubarak, through his corrupt reign, helped Israel tighten its shameful siege on Gaza and even supplied Tel Aviv with the natural gas they needed for power and electricity production with prices well under the world rates. (enriching himself in the process) But his most appreciated contribution to the Zionist regime in Israel was the complete Egyptian withdrawal from actively participating in the key issues of the Arab- Israeli conflict.

Gaza under fire again

Lately, the unrest began to resurface again at the border line between Gaza and Israel. On Friday April 8th Five Palestinians have been killed and around 45 wounded in Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip following an offer of a ceasefire from Hamas after a surge in cross-border violence that was dramatically reduced by Israel and sold to the world as the usual "selective" Palestinian attack, by their most primitive handmade rockets, on a school bus – an area of specialty long mastered by the Israelis since Bahr el-Bakar school massacre.

Thus began another expected scenario of disproportionate Israeli attacks on the civilians and children in Gaza with the civilized world muted and turning a blind eye as usual.

The world has grown numb and painfully insensitive to the crimes of Israel against the Arab Palestinians in Gaza and the west bank.

And with judge Richard Goldstone bowing out and going back on his indictment of the Israeli crimes committed during the war on Gaza 2009; the world seems like a barren place for the Palestinians devoid of any free voices left to stand up against the Israeli insolence.

And just when the Palestinians in Gaza thought they were facing this new Israeli attacks alone and with their backs against the wall, they found out they forgot, over the years, that they had brothers in Egypt who are willing not only to accompany them in their struggle against Israel but to protect their backs as well.

Embassy under siege

On the very same day of April 8th and as Egyptians were protesting in Tahrir square demanding that Mubarak and his inner circle of aids to be put on trial and as the news of the Israeli attacks on Gaza made its way to the square at the heart of Cairo, thousands immediately took to the district where the Israeli embassy in Cairo is located.

Egyptians held back – by the military forces- from advancing into the building where the embassy lies practically surrounded the embassy in what seemed like a gigantic human shield. The angry protesters held flags of both Egypt and Palestine and raised big posters of al Aqsa mosque- temple mount in Jerusalem.

On a live coverage by Aljazeera of the march to the Israeli embassy- that somehow failed to make it to the news headlines- some of the protesters expressed their anger at the recent unjust Israeli attacks on Gaza and they made it clear they expected nothing less than the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador out of Egypt and taking the Israeli flag off the embassy building.

Some of the protesters went far as to demand the immediate end to the siege imposed on Gaza from the Egyptian side and a freeze of the Egyptian supply of natural gas to Israel. But the most daring request came by many protesters who called for a public referendum to allow the Egyptian people to have their say about the peace treaty president Sadat had signed 30 years ago.

Amidst that overwhelming atmosphere of antagonism to Israel and its unacceptable and inhuman war of ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians the Israeli embassy at the top floor of the building on the other side of the Nile opposite to Tahrir square found no other option than to dim out the lights and keep its staff hiding inside.

While the Egyptian crowd down in the streets were still swelling in great numbers around the embassy with the intensity of their enthusiasm rising high as they chanted for eternal solidarity with Palestinians the Israeli embassy's lights were almost turned off with the Israeli flag kept as unapparent and way out of sight as possible.

On this April 8th night, and on the very same day that witnessed the massacre of Bahr el-Bakar the Israeli embassy with all the Israeli diplomatic mission in Cairo seemed under siege.

It must have been a terrible night for the Israeli diplomats in Cairo but at least they have experienced, even it was for few hours how it feels to be vulnerable, threatened and under relentless siege.

This public display of the Egyptian anger and dissatisfaction of the Israeli aggressive policy against the Palestinians may pass unreported by the main stream media but never unnoticed by the analysts of the Arab- Israeli conflict especially in the post-Mubarak era in Egypt for what happened on that night of April 8th, 2011 might well depict the scene of the coming Egyptian-Israeli state of affairs.

On this day of commemoration, May the souls of innocent Egyptian and Palestinian children, massacred by the Israeli criminal forces, rest in peace.

* Dr. Ashraf Ezzat: Apart from the medical experience, he's always been engaged in writing activities. He writes articles about ancient Egyptian history, Ancient Near Eastern history, comparative religion and politics especially the Arab- Israeli conflict. Founder and board member of the bibliotheca Alexandrina friends society. Some of His articles have been published in Egyptian magazines and online publications.

By Lawrence Davidson* | Sabbah Report | www.sabbah.biz

I. The Usual Suspects

Back on August 23, 2010 Israel's most prestigious human rights organization, B'Tselem released a short report on the condition of water supplies in the Gaza Strip. Referencing the United Nations Environment Program as well as the Palestine Water Authority, B'Tselem reported that the Strip's underground water system is in such bad repair that, even if rehabilitation was begun immediately, it would take twenty years for it to be restructured as a modern system. This is compounded by the dilapidated state of the Gaza wastewater-system which is also antiquated. As a result it is estimated that "40% of the incidence of disease in Gaza is related to polluted drinking water." B'Tselem blames this shocking situation on the Israeli government. "Since it began its siege on the Gaza Strip, in June 2007, Israel has forbidden the entry of equipment and materials needed to rehabilitate the water and wastewater-treatment systems there." The blockade of these materials remains in place to this day. Finally, during its "Operation Cast Lead" invasion of the Gaza Strip, Israel targeted the water networks, treatment plants, wells, and even home water tanks.

Israel's great power patron is the United States. This arrangement entails American protection of the Zionist state from the legal consequences that should result due to its purposeful harming of civilians. The United States, sitting as a permanent member of the UN Security Council has, in recent years, cast some forty vetoes so as to shield its ally from accusations of violations of international law. Actually this action by the United States is entirely logical. Why so? Because both the U.S. and Israel are practicing the exact same tactics against civilian populations.

Back in September 2001 George Washington University professor Thomas Nagy revealed the existence of Defense Intelligence Agency documents" proving beyond a doubt that, contrary to the Geneva Convention, the U.S. government intentionally used sanctions against Iraq to degrade the country's water supply after the Gulf War. The United States knew the cost that civilian Iraqis, mostly children, would pay, and it went ahead anyway." On May 12, 1996 some of the horrible consequences of this policy were revealed when the CBS news program 60 Minutes reported that roughly half million Iraqi children had died as a consequence of U.S. imposed sanctions. This led to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's infamous answer to the question, "is the price worth it?" Her reply was yes "we think the price is worth it." Albright later apologized, not for the murderous policy for which she was partially responsible, but rather for the fact that her answer to the above question had "aggravated our public relations problems" in the Middle East. As to domestic reaction, her comment "went unremarked in the U.S." Subsequently, in 2003, the U.S. invaded Iraq using the strategy of "rapid dominance" (more popularly known as "shock and awe"). The object of this strategy was to "paralyze" the enemy's "will to carry on" through the disruption of "means of communication, transportation, food production, water supply, and other aspects of infrastructure." One of the targets of the bombing campaign that led off the invasion was Iraq's electrical grid. That directly impacted the country's ability to process clean water.

II. Resulting Criminal Status

Neither American nor Israeli behavior is legal under international law. It is all a violation of Article 54 of Protocol I, Part IV, of the Geneva Conventions (1977). The law reads, "It is prohibited to attack, destroy, remove or render useless objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, such as ...drinking water installations and supplies...whatever the motive whether in order to starve out the civilian population, to cause them to move away, or for any other motive." What this means is that the political leaders of the United States and Israel (among other countries) who have devised and implemented this, and similar strategies, are indictable as war criminals. Further, they almost certainly know this to be so. That is why they must dismiss international law as "obsolete" as did Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and his minions in 2004.

As to "motives" for purposely destroying the civilian infrastructures of whole nations, it would seem that in both cases, that of the United States in Iraq and Israel in Gaza, the aggressors sought to induce the civilian population to either just give up out of exhaustion or turn against the regimes ruling over them. The assumption that such a strategy will achieve such results is remarkably naive. Historically, it has almost never happened. For instance, despite the massive conventional bombing of British, Japanese and German cities during World War II, the populations rallied around their flags! And so, one can conclude that our present leaders and strategists who pursue such an end through these means simply know no history. This is a good example of a case where ignorance, here leading to massive death and destruction, is a de facto criminal state of mind.

III. The Issue of Double Standards

This state of affairs raises the seminal question of what will be the fate of international law as it applies to the protection of civilian populations? Today, the most we can say is that enforcement is selective and, in a certain odd way, "class based." In other words if you are the leader of a small state lacking a great power patron you are indeed subject to this sort of international law. For example, if you are the leader of Serbia, Sudan, Chile, Rwanda, Congo, etc. and persecute civilian populations you have a rather good chance of being brought before a tribunal such as the International Criminal Court. If, however, you are an American, Israeli, Russian, Chinese or British leader, etc. you have almost zero risk. You know the statue of Justice standing blindfolded holding up a scale? Well, she is peeking.

However, there is an interesting loop hole that can lead us around the problem of double standards. Since the 1990s the concept of universal jurisdiction has gained popularity. This is the legal notion that ordinary people in one country can seek to bring to trial those who allegedly violated public international law in an altogether different country. It is under this law that General Ernesto Pinochet of Chile was detained in England in 1998. Of course, the aged general, who was responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of his countrymen, was relatively "lower class." That is, he was the ex-dictator of a country that has no real influence in the international arena and no great power patron. So, he was vulnerable.

What happens when such a law is applied to Americans or Israelis? Well, in 2003 U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, in what can only be described as an act of imperial blackmail, threatened to remove NATO's headquarters from the city of Brussels unless "Belgium revoked legislation giving its courts the power to prosecute foreigners for alleged war crimes committed anywhere in the world." Rumsfeld was reacting against a move by Belgian human rights lawyers seeking the indictment of General Tommy Franks, then commander of U.S. troops in Iraq, for the illegal use of cluster bombs against civilian populations. The Belgian government quickly amended their universal jurisdiction law to meet American demands. Then in May 2010 Israel's opposition leader Tzipi Livni found that it was inadvisable to visit England because there was an arrest warrant waiting for her. The charge was war crimes associated with the Israeli invasion of Gaza. This attack took place while she was Foreign Minister. Livni was not Pinochet. For one thing she had a great power patron in Washington, and secondly the U.K. itself has a powerful Zionist lobby. The British government quickly announced that it would seek to rewrite the country's law on universal jurisdiction.

IV. Conclusion

The rules produced by our legislatures, by the United Nations Charter and by our ratified treaties are not supra-human. We make them for our own benefit so that we may live in communities with congenial standards of behavior and thus pass our days productively and in relative security. And, since we make them we can unmake them. That is exactly what too many of our leaders are now trying to do in terms of public international law. They have contrived such double standards that the laws against the wanton slaughter of civilians simply do not apply if committed by the strong. It is only the weak who are to be held accountable for their crimes.

If those in civil society do not like this arrangement they will have to fight hard against it. And here in the West it is our own state institutions and their leaders that we must fight against, for it is they who are the most ardent hypocrites when it comes to international law. It is they who demand immunity for the slaying of the innocent (who they conveniently dehumanize as "collateral damage"). They refuse to go after their criminal predecessors lest they too be held responsible for similar crimes (as in the case of President Obama). Where necessary they bully others into turning a blind eye to their crimes (as with Defense Secretary Rumsfeld). And, if we in civil society, press them hard they will simply seek to change the law to suit their dehumanizing policies. We might here repeat a question once asked, some 94 years ago by a Russian legislator who stood appalled by the bloody slaughter brought on by his government's strategy during World War I. He asked, "is this stupidity or is it treason?" I will leave the reader to seek his own answer.

There are so many battles to be fought that one can easily get frustrated and discouraged. In truth, however, they are really all just parts of a larger struggle. They add up to the struggle for humane rules, their universal application, and no double standards. The law must cease to be "class based." Only then can one approach a less unjust society than our present one. It is really a battle for the type of world we want to live in - our world or theirs.

* Lawrence Davidson is professor of history at West Chester University. He is the author of numerous books, including Islamic Fundamentalism and America's Palestine: Popular and Official Perceptions from Balfour to Israeli Statehood.

By Nicole Johnston

As you approach Gaza's main dump by road you see a massive wall of trash looming over the plain.

It's crawling with around one hundred scavenger dogs and dozens of poor children, combing through the trash for anything they can sell.

In this cesspit of disease is 20 percent of all the donated medicine Gaza has received since the end of the January 2009 war with Israel.

The Health Ministry in the deposed government of Hamas and the World Health Organisation say this aid had already expired or was close to expiring, before it arrived in Gaza.

So now officials are left with the job of disposing of it. But how? Gaza doesn't have the proper facilities to do it, so it's dumped in a landfill and bulldozed along with the rest of the garbage.

Millions of dollars of aid – going to waste.

Men use their bare hands to push boxes of medicine off the back of a truck, into the dump. The stench is disgusting and flies are everywhere.

Not only are donors sending expired medicine, the Health Ministry says most of the aid they receive is unsuitable, poor quality, and the wrong types of drugs.

As for medical equipment, doctors say it's often outdated, up to 10 years old, broken, and incompatible with the local electricity supply.

In total, the Ministry claims they have to dispose of 70 percent of all the medical aid they've received in the last 18 months.

A dumping ground for aid?

One doctor told us he believes Gaza has become a dumping ground for aid. But Gaza isn't alone. He says sometimes medicine is sent to El Arish in Egypt, before going overland to Gaza. When Gaza’s officials are told it's expired, they reject it, and it's then sent to Darfur in Sudan!

The Health Ministry says two months ago it received $2 million worth of Tamiflu drugs for the H1N1 virus, enough for a third of Gaza's population. The ministry didn't want these drugs, saying the H1N1 threat had passed. So the Tamiflu is also in the rubbish dump now.

They also say sometimes donors send huge supplies of drugs, more than Gaza could use in five years. Unable to get through it all, it expires and has to be dumped.

Co-ordination with Hamas

Dr Ehab Hjazi, the Head of the Donations Committee in the Health Ministry for the deposed government of Hamas, says if countries and organisations co-ordinated with the ministry directly, they would find out exactly what Gaza needs. And the list is long. Hospitals are critically short of 115 drugs, including antibiotics and cancer drugs.

But while Hamas is listed in many countries as a 'terrorist' group, donors' hands are tied. If they deal with Hamas, they risk being banned and losing their funding.

However, donors can find out what Gaza needs from the World Health Organisation.

So it''s time for the international community to get it right.

Sending millions of dollars worth of aid may give a country or Non Government Organisation (NGO) some positive short-term publicity. But if it's ending up in landfill where children and dogs sift through it, then it's more than a problem for the people of Gaza, it's an insult.

Source: Al Jazeera

(Toronto and Montreal, Aug 19, 2010) - Canada's Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) got the message across last week that cutting off mail delivery to Gaza is another abusive measure intended to heighten the suffering and hardship of the besieged residents of the occupied strip.

The Canadaian Boat to Gaza Campaign salutes the union and its workers for their solidarity with our campaign and with the Palestinian people in their struggle for freedom. We look forward to working with Canada Post and CUPW to facilitate in the best way possible the delivery of mail to Gaza.

"The Canadian Boat to Gaza is eager to carry mail to Gaza if the ban is not lifted soon" said Sandra Ruch, spokesperson for the Canadian Boat to Gaza. "We will make every effort to deliver any mail we get to the postal authorities in Gaza. We ask senders to limit mail they send us to unsealed postcards of greeting and support to loved ones keeping in mind that it, as well as the rest of our cargo, may end up in Israeli hands if our boat is pirated."

CUPW called on Canadians to back efforts to break the siege by sending their Gaza-bound mail via the Canadian Boat to Gaza. The Canadian Boat to Gaza is urging those who wish to break this ban to send with us postcards with messages of support to the besieged strip. Article 25 of the fourth Geneva Convention guarantees the right to personal correspondence with family members under occupation.

"As postal workers, we know very well that cutting off mail creates suffering and hardship for people, who are isolated from their loved ones," said Denis Lemelin, National President of CUPW. "How many more abuses will the people of Gaza have to endure?"

Get the message through. Send your mail with us,
Send your postcards (only) for people in Gaza to
Canadian Boat to Gaza
C.P. 92087, Portobello
Brossard, Quebec
J4W 3K8

Media Contact
Ehab Lotayef
514.941.9792

Stéphan Corriveau
514 586-6810

http://canadaboatgaza.org

By Laila El-Haddad* | Sabbah Report | www.sabbah.biz

Palestinians in Gaza don't want handouts and uncertainty and despair; they want their dignity and their freedom. (Ahmed Ghabayen/MaanImages)

I needed to regain perspective. So I walked and I talked and I listened. I went to the beach where women -- skinny jeans and all -- were smoking water pipes, swimming and generally having a good time, irrespective of the purported Hamas ban on women smoking sheesha.

During the eight hours of electricity we get each day, I logged on to the Internet and browsed the English-language papers. It seemed like suddenly everyone was an expert on Gaza, claiming they knew what it's really like. Zionist sympathizers and their ilk have been providing us with the same "evidence" that Gaza is burgeoning: the markets are full of produce, fancy restaurants abound, there are pools and parks and malls ... all is well in the most isolated place on earth -- Gaza, the "prison camp" that is not.

If you take things at face value, and set aside for a moment the bizarre idea that the availability of such amenities precludes the existence of hardship, you'll be inclined to believe what you read.

So, is there a humanitarian crisis or not? That seems to be the question of the hour. But it is the wrong one to be asking.

The message I've been hearing over and over again since I returned to Gaza is this: the siege is not a siege on foods; it is a siege on freedoms -- freedom to move in and out of Gaza, freedom to fish more than three miles out at sea, freedom to learn, to work, to farm, to build, to live, to prosper.

Gaza was never a place with a quantitative food shortage; it is a place where many people lack the means to buy food and other goods because of a closure policy whose tenets are "no development, no prosperity, and no humanitarian crisis," Gisha, the Legal Centre for the Freedom of Movement, explained in a press release.

The move from a "white list" of allowable imports to a "black list" might sound in good in theory (ie everything is banned except xyz, to only the following things are banned) but in practice only 40 percent of Gaza's supply needs are being met, according to Gisha. The Palestinian Federation of Industries estimates that only a few hundred of Gaza's 3,900 factories and workshops will be able to start up again under present conditions.

Sure, there are a handful of fancy restaurants in Gaza. And yes, there is a new mall (infinitely smaller and less glamorous than it has been portrayed).

As for food, it is in good supply, having found its way here either through Israeli crossings or the vast network of tunnels between Gaza and Egypt. Of course, this leaves aside the question of who in Gaza's largely impoverished population (the overwhelming majority of whose income is less than $2 a day, 61 percent of whom are food insecure) can really afford mangoes at $4 a kilo or grapes at $8 a kilo. A recent trip to the grocery store revealed that meat has risen to $13 a kilo. Fish, once a cheap source of protein, goes for $15 to $35 a kilo. And so on.

Prices are on par with those of a developed country, except we are not in a developed country. We are a de-developed occupied territory.

All of the above adds up to the erasure of the market economy and its replacement with a system where everyone is turned into some kind of welfare recipient. But people don't want handouts and uncertainty and despair; they want their dignity and their freedom, employment and prosperity and possibility.

Perhaps most significantly, they want to be able to move freely -- something they still cannot do.

Let's take the case of Fadi. His father recently had heart surgery. He wanted to seek followup care abroad, at his own expense, but he doesn't fall into the specified categories allowed out of Gaza for travel, whether through Egypt or Israel. "He's not considered a level-one priority," Fadi explained. "Can you please tell me why I can't decide when I want to travel and what hospital I can take him to?"

Even the cream of Gaza high-school students must lobby the Israeli authorities long and hard to be allowed out to complete their studies. They literally have to start a campaign in conjunction with human rights groups to raise enough awareness about their plight, and then look for local individuals to blog about their progress, explained Ibrahim, who was approached by one organization to "sponsor a student."

I have no doubt that if journalists Stephanie Gutmann and Melanie Phillips -- who devoted recent columns to disputing British Prime Minister David Cameron's description of Gaza as a "prison camp" -- lived in Gaza their principle worry would not be about "what parts of their bodies they can display," it would be the fact that they would not be allowed out again. It would be because everything from the kind of food they would have on their plate to when they can turn on the lights to what they can clothe those bodies with and whether or not they can obtain a degree is determined by an occupying power.

Using the phrase "prison camp" to describe Gaza is not vile rhetoric. It is an understatement and even a misnomer. Prisoners are guilty of a crime, yet they are guaranteed access to certain things -- electricity and water, even education -- where Gazans are not. What crime did Gazans commit, except, to quote my late grandmother, "being born Palestinian?"

Ketchup and cookies may be flowing to Gaza in slightly greater quantities than before. But so bloody what? Goods for export are not flowing out. Nor, for that matter, are people. So while there may be some semblance of civil life and stability in Gaza, there is absolutely no political horizon or true markers of freedom to speak of.

And as long as freedom of movement is stifled, whether by Israel or Egypt, and export-quality goods, which account for a large portion of Gaza's manufacturing output, are forbidden from leaving Gaza, all the malls and mangoes in the world won't make a bit of difference.

* Laila El-Haddad is a Palestinian freelance journalist, photographer and blogger (www.gazamom.com) who divides her time between Gaza and the United States. This article was originally published in the Guardian's Comment is Free.

By Jonathan Cook* | Sabbah Report | www.sabbah.biz

As Israel this week declared the "easing" of the four-year blockade of Gaza, an official explained the new guiding principle: "Civilian goods for civilian people." The severe and apparently arbitrary restrictions on foodstuffs entering the enclave – coriander bad, cinnamon good – will finally end, we are told. Gaza's 1.5 million inhabitants will have all the coriander they want.

This "adjustment", as the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu termed it, is aimed solely at damage limitation. With Israel responsible for killing nine civilians aboard a Gaza-bound aid flotilla three weeks ago, the world has finally begun to wonder what purpose the siege serves. Did those nine really need to die to stop coriander, chocolate and children's toys from reaching Gaza? And, as Israel awaits other flotillas, will more need to be executed to enforce the policy?

Faced with this unwelcome scrutiny, Israel – as well as the United States and the European states that have been complicit in the siege – desperately wants to deflect attention away from demands for the blockade to be lifted entirely. Instead it prefers to argue that the more liberal blockade for Gaza will distinguish effectively between a necessary "security" measures and an unfair "civilian" blockade. Israel has cast itself as the surgeon who, faced with Siamese twins, is mastering the miraculous operation needed to decouple them.

The result, Mr Netanyahu told his cabinet, would be a "tightening of the security blockade because we have taken away Hamas' ability to blame Israel for harming the civilian population". Listen to Israeli officials and it sounds as if thousands of "civilian" items are ready to pour into Gaza. No Qassam rockets for Hamas but soon, if we are to believe them, Gaza's shops will be as well-stocked as your average Wal-Mart.

Be sure, it won't happen.

Even if many items are no longer banned, they still have to find their way into the enclave. Israel controls the crossing points and determines how many trucks are allowed in daily. Currently, only a quarter of the number once permitted are able to deliver their cargo, and that is unlikely to change to any significant degree. Moreover, as part of the "security" blockade, the ban is expected to remain on items such as cement and steel desperately needed to build and repair the thousands of homes devastated by Israel's attack 18 months ago.

In any case, until Gaza's borders, port and airspace are its own, its factories are rebuilt, and exports are again possible, the hobbled economy has no hope of recovering. For the overwhelming majority of Palestinians in Gaza, mired in poverty, the new list of permissible items – including coriander – will remain nothing more than an aspiration.

But more importantly for Israel, by concentrating our attention on the supposed ending of the "civilian" blockade, Israel hopes we will forget to ask a more pertinent question: what is the purpose of this refashioned "security" blockade?

Over the years Israelis have variously been told that the blockade was imposed to isolate Gaza's "terrorist" rulers, Hamas; to serve as leverage to stop rocket attacks on nearby Israeli communities; to prevent arms smuggling into Gaza; and to force the return of the captured soldier Gilad Shalit.

None of the reasons stands up to minimal scrutiny. Hamas is more powerful than ever; the rocket attacks all but ceased long ago; arms smugglers use the plentiful tunnels under the Egyptian border, not Erez or Karni crossings; and Sgt Shalit would already be home had Israel seriously wanted to trade him for an end to the siege.

The real goal of the blockade was set out in blunt fashion at its inception, in early 2006, shortly after Hamas won the Palestinian elections. Dov Weisglass, the government's chief adviser at the time, said it would put Palestinians in Gaza "on a diet, but not make them die of hunger". Aid agencies can testify to the rampant malnutrition that followed. The ultimate aim, Mr Weisglass admitted, was to punish ordinary Gazans in the hope that they would overthrow Hamas.

Is Mr Weisglass a relic of the pre-Netanyahu era, his blockade-as-diet long ago superseded? Not a bit. Only last month, during a court case against the siege, Mr Netanyahu's government justified the policy not as a security measure but as "economic warfare" against Gaza. One document even set out the minimum calories – or "red lines", as they were also referred to – needed by Gazans according to their age and sex.

In truth, Israel's "security" blockade is, in both its old and new incarnations, every bit a "civilian" blockade. It was designed and continues to be "collective punishment" of the people of Gaza for electing the wrong rulers. Helpfully, international law defines the status of Israel's policy: it is a crime against humanity.

Easing the siege so that Gaza starves more slowly may be better than nothing. But breaking 1.5 million Palestinians out of the prison Israel has built for them is the real duty of the international community.

* Jonathan Cook is a writer and journalist based in Nazareth, Israel. His latest books are "Israel and the Clash of Civilisations: Iraq, Iran and the Plan to Remake the Middle East" (Pluto Press) and "Disappearing Palestine: Israel's Experiments in Human Despair" (Zed Books). His website is www.jkcook.net .

A version of this article originally appeared in The National (www.thenational.ae), published in Abu Dhabi

Most of Gaza's factories have closed and its water is polluted as a result of Israel's siege policy, according to a new report being released today by the Israeli Human Rights group - B'tselem.

The siege policy has "led to economic collapse in Gaza," B'tselem noted in a 44-page report (PDF) that looked at Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem during the period from January 2009 to the end of April 2010.

Following is a summery of this report:

• The prohibition on bringing in raw materials and exports into Gaza, which has been in place since Hamas's takeover of the Strip in June 2007, forced 95 percent of the factories and workshops in the area to close.
• Before 2007, 4,000 types of goods were let into Gaza, compared with less than 150 that come in now. Among the restricted items are building materials such as iron and cement, which are needed to rebuild the 3,500 homes destroyed during last Israeli assault on Gaza - Operation Cast Lead.
• The quantity of goods that comes through the crossings is less than one-quarter of what entered prior to the siege.
• Before 2007, 70 trucks laden with export goods such as furniture, clothing and produce left Gaza daily for Israel. Now, only the export of strawberries and flowers to Europe is allowed in "certain instances". Goods are coming into Gaza through a system of tunnels set up under the border with Egypt, although the system is not enough to revive Gaza's economy.
• Electricity is a problem in Gaza. 98% of the residents suffer from blackouts ranging from eight to ten hours a day, while the remaining 2% do not receive any electricity at all.
• The power outages due to lack of fuel and spare parts have prevented the proper operation of wells and desalination plants.
• At the end of 2009, studies showed that 93% percent of the Gaza Strip's water was polluted, with high quantities of chloride and nitrates.
• "The water supply is defective and thousands of residents are not even connected to the water grid. Waste treatment has also been affected. Every day, some 100,000 cubic meters of untreated or partially untreated waste-water flow into the sea."
• A lack of pesticides and spare parts for irrigation systems makes it hard for farmers. Those with land near the border with Israel can no longer farm because access is forbidden or restricted, and those who violate these orders risk being shot.
• Fisherman cannot go out farther than three nautical miles, which limits the Strip's fish supply.
• The number of Palestinian fatalities at the hands of the IOF dropped from 456 in 2008 to 83 from January 21, 2009, through the end of April 2010. These numbers do not include Palestinian deaths that occurred during Operation Cast Lead.
• The report noted that Israel demolitions had continued in Area C of the West Bank, where from January 2009 to the end of April 2010, the occupation forces had destroyed 44 residential structures. The demolitions left 317 Palestinians homeless.
• In 2009, the Jerusalem Municipality demolished 48 buildings in east Jerusalem. The demolitions left 247 Palestinians homeless.
• The report notes that the IOF had not stop building settlements and no outposts been removed.
• According to the report, very few IOF or police investigations into allegations of wrongdoing against Palestinians had actually lead to convictions. From the start of the second intifada in September 2000 to the end of April 2010, B'tselem reported 255 cases of violence to the military advocate-general's office. Only 11 indictments were filed, and one of those was canceled.
• During that same period, B'tselem turned to the Justice Ministry's Police Investigation Department concerning 180 cases of violence, but only 12 indictments were filed.
• Since September 2000, B'tselem has submitted 220 complaints to the Israel Police, demanding investigations of cases where Israelis harmed Palestinians or damaged their property. Only nine of these complaints resulted in indictments.

B'tselem executive director Jessica Montell said that the report was being released to mark "the 43rd anniversary" of the end of the Six Day War, which marked "the beginning" of Israel's occupation.

"The ongoing occupation both violates" Palestinian rights and "poses clear dangers for Israel's democracy," Montell said. "For this reason we as Israelis must demand accountability for actions taken in our name in the occupied territories and work to change in policies that infringe human rights."

In the wake of the commando raid that left nine dead, the Israeli government confiscated every recording and communication device it could find–thus allowing the state to control what the world learned about the assault.

Filmmaker and activist Iara Lee was one of the few Americans on-board the Mavi Marmara. Despite the Israeli government's thorough efforts to confiscate all footage taken during the attack, her equipment was confiscated but she managed to smuggle out an hour's worth of footage. Iara Lee was able to retain some of her recordings. Below is 15 minutes of footage from the moments leading up to and during the Israeli commandos' assault on the Mavi Marmara.

Video link: http://vimeo.com/12429821

Watch the full interview with Iara Lee where she describes her experience on board here.

Iara Lee held a press conference at the UN 10 June 2010 to release the one hour video smuggled out.

There are other videos showing Israeli commanders obviously not under any threat shooting point blank at passengers who are down. Here the soldier empties four bullets into the head of a 19 year old US citizen and still the US refuses an independent investigation (or at least demand Israel return all confiscated cameras and video and photos).

By Dr. Alan Sabrosky* | Sabbah Report | www.sabbah.biz

In a gesture that has received more than a little attention in the Western media, Israeli officials announced with some fanfare that they were easing the embargo of goods they allow into Palestine. Israel's supporters have been using the opportunity to declare that this demonstrates Israel is reasonable, and that US support of Israel is fully justified, even given the exceptionally tepid US response to the Israeli assault on the Gaza flotilla and America's sustained opposition to any international efforts to hold Israel accountable for its actions.

This gesture becomes markedly less impressive once one examines the list of items once embargoed but now (at least for a while) allowed by Israel into Gaza. As a news website in India reported, "Palestinian liaison official Raed Fattouh, who coordinates the flow of goods into Gaza with Israel, said that soda, juice, jam, spices, shaving cream, potato chips, cookies and candy were now permitted." Not much, to put it mildly, but to a suffering people in the ruins of their city, I imagine almost anything will be better than nothing. Besides, at least some of the aid supplies the Israelis have removed from the pirated Gaza flotilla vessels may end up in Gaza at some point, and that, too, will be something.

But the announced easing of the embargo, slight or even less than that, is significant in a way I am certain Israel did not intend, and which may even make a few of its supporters just a little anxious. This is because it provides an interesting insight into the real Israeli motivation behind the embargo, and thus of the blockade itself, and not the one it professes internationally and its cabal elsewhere echoes so vociferously.

Consider first of all Israel's defense of its blockade of Gaza as something that is essential for its security, with the accompanying embargo on products that it allows to enter Gaza officially being intended to deprive Hamas of anything that might strengthen its position there, and allow it to strike Israel anywhere with anything. This is the theme reiterated by Israeli officials when they halt land convoys and intercept sea-going ones, and applauded by its cheerleaders in the US Congress and the mainstream media in the US and elsewhere.

Then look at the once-embargoed items now allowed at least temporarily into Gaza. Potato chips?? Potato chips were once considered by the Israeli government as a staple of Hamas support, or a weapon that could threaten Israel, or both?? Now, I confess that I personally have nothing against potato chips. In fact, I love them. But I cannot see how they constitute a threat to anything except possibly the health of the person consuming them. They make terrible bunkers, hitting someone with a bag of potato chips -- even a large one -- cannot remotely be considered life-threatening, and putting them into a catapult and throwing them at a Merkava tank or a nearby Israeli town isn't going to be a threat to anyone.

So embargoing potato chips, like so many other items on Israel's list in support of its illegal blockade of Gaza, has absolutely nothing to do with Israeli security interests -- can we agree on this point? But it symbolizes a key aspect of the core Israeli strategy underlying the blockade, which is a blend of heavy-handed brutality and small-minded malevolence, designed first to ruin what little the Palestinians there have, and then to make sustained misery their present fare and future diet until they succumb and either go away, accept their Israeli overlords, or die.

This strategy of the collective punishment of a people -- which is a breach of international law and a war crime, ladies and gentlemen of any legislatures and media outlets who have not checked their ethics into their respective Israeli embassies and consulates -- is essentially designed to hurt Palestinians and not to protect Israelis. The Israelis understand this, as do their supporters overseas. The Palestinians in Gaza, and many in the West Bank, certainly understand that -- even Abbas may on those rare moments when thought works its way through the murkiness surrounding it. And so do those who try, often bravely but usually unsuccessfully, to bring some humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.

This knowledge alone isn't much help. But it is always a good thing to really understand your enemy, and an enemy that has an affinity for dominance and inflicting deaths of a thousand cuts in the name of intangibles such as the Exodus theme, is very different from one that confronts you directly over tangible interests that permit compromise.

Too many of us -- myself once included -- for too long have viewed Israelis as just a particularly nasty variant of a type often seen in the world, something like semi-Semitic Prussians or an apartheid-era South Africa of the Middle East. They are not. They are much worse, and much more dangerous to all of us, than either of those -- the Palestinians and Israel's neighbors are just in the front line now. Their chips -- and not the edible ones -- are on Israel's playing table now. Do any of the rest of us really want to sit back and wait for our round in the game to begin at Israel's pleasure?

*Alan Sabrosky (Ph.D, University of Michigan) is a ten-year US Marine Corps veteran and a graduate of the US Army War College. He can be contacted at docbrosk@comcast.net

The three year old siege on the Gaza Strip and its 1.5 million inhabitants is a testament to the Israeli regime's disregard of law, decency and morality. This siege amounts to collective punishment, an action outlawed by various conventions and humanitarian laws. This is not to mention the suffering and humanitarian crisis caused by this law. This siege has been disgracefully condoned by the "international community" and justified by the "free world" as a measure that safeguards the security of the Israeli regime.

Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfEmA4tUNVc

The same position was applied to the various humanitarian aid ships that were attacked and abducted in international waters, and the aid carried by those ships confiscated. The killing of 9 Turkish activists on the the Freedom Flotilla on 1 June brought an abrupt end to international silence regarding the siege. It is unfortunate that the world needed to see the blood of those brave men to realize the brutality of the siege and of the besieger.

Nevertheless, it is our duty to finish what the brave men and women of the Freedom Flotilla and the campaigns that preceded it. It is time to break the siege.

h/t: neverbeforecampaign

By Yousef Munayyer* | Sabbah Report | www.sabbah.biz

Much debate about the legality of Israel's naval blockade and siege of Gaza has occurred in the U.S. media with little serious analysis of the laws. Pro-Israel spokesmen and Israeli officials like the Israeli Prime Minister's spokesman Mark Regev have claimed their blockade and siege is legal in accordance with the "San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea."

Few people have ever heard of this agreement and even fewer have read it. Newscasters and program hosts airing this Israeli spin certainly have failed to put the claims to the test. Instead, some have promulgated the flawed analogy between Israel's blockade of Gaza and the United States' blockade of Germany in WWII.

One does not have to be an international legal expert to read the San Remo Manual and realize the Israeli claims to legality do not hold water. A number of points in the San Remo Manual make it clear that the Israeli blockade of Gaza is not sanctioned by international law or this agreement in particular.

There are two ways to assess the legality of the Israeli blockade in accordance with the San Remo Manual. The first is assessing the legality of the nature of the blockade. This means asking if the way in which the blockade exists is in accordance with the San Remo Manual's guidelines for sanctioned blockades. The second is by assessing the legality of the existence of the blockade. In essence, this means asking if the very existence of a naval blockade of Gaza by Israel is permitted under the guidelines of the San Remo Manual. Let's begin with the question of the nature of the blockade first.

Part V Section II (95) of the San Remo Manual states that a blockade must be effective and cannot let certain vessels in while rejecting others. Israel has, since the start of the blockade, permitted certain ships to enter while not permitting others. Of the numerous trips staged by the Free Gaza Movement, several earlier trips have been permitted to reach Gaza through the blockade, where as others were not. All of these ships were carrying flags of "neutral states." This inconsistency is contrary to Part V Section II (100 & 101) which states that the blockading party must treat ships of neutrally flagged states equally, and is a clear indication that the nature of the blockade is not legal.

The blockade is also in violation of Part V Section II (102) which prohibits blockades that:

a.) have the sole purpose of starving the civilian population or denying it other objects essential to its survival; or

b.) the damage to the civilian population is, or may be expected to be, excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated from the blockade.

Dov Wiesglass, the Israeli official and aid to Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert stated the intention of the blockade was "to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger." Numerous international aid agencies and non-government organizations have made it clear that the deleterious effects on the civilian population are severe. (Arabic) A growing chorus of NGOs and officials, not excluding Israelis, has questioned the blockade's strategic value to Israel and many have concluded it is instead counterproductive in nature.

Further, the Israel blockade is also in violation of Part V Section II 106 (c) which states that the zone of the blockade shall not exceed the area "strictly required by military necessity and the principles of proportionality." Israel has enforced a blockade around the 20 nautical mile mark for incoming ships, like those which are part of the Freedom Flotilla, but it has also enforced it at the three nautical mile mark against Gaza's fishermen, devastating their livelihoods out of no military necessity whatsoever.

Clearly, a number of arguments can be made regarding the nature of the blockade and its failure to meet the standards required by the San Remo Manual. However, all of the above violations are predicated on the assumption that the San Remo Manual even applies to the territorial entities involved, in this case, Gaza and Israel.

The Manual only applies to "belligerent states" and "neutral states" as clearly indicated in Section IV. Gaza, which is part of the Palestinian Occupied Territories along with the West Bank, is not a state, due in large part, ironically, to Israeli intransigence. Gaza was occupied by Israel in 1967 and, under customary international law, Israel has been the belligerent occupier of the strip since. Despite ending their colonization of the Gaza Strip in 2005 when they withdrew the colonies they had developed and populated with their civilians, Israel still maintains "effective control" over the Gaza Strip through control of its borders, air space and of course, sea lanes.

Israel has had a love/hate relationship with its occupation of the Gaza Strip. It has loved the security advantage of effective control which it has exercised through incursions, the creation of buffer zones within the strip, routine aerial attacks and so on. But it has simultaneously hated (and denied) the obligations which come along with belligerent occupation; prime among which is upholding the well-being of the civilian population.

The international legal framework which is most appropriate for assessing Israel's obligations is the Fourth Geneva Convention, to which Israel is a party to. Part 1 Article 55 of the IV Geneva Convention clearly states:

To the fullest extent of the means available to it, the Occupying Power has the duty of ensuring the food and medical supplies of the population; it should, in particular, bring in the necessary foodstuffs, medical stores and other articles if the resources of the occupied territory are inadequate.

And Article 56:

To the fullest extent of the means available to it, the Occupying Power has the duty of ensuring and maintaining, with the cooperation of national and local authorities, the medical and hospital establishments and services, public health and hygiene in the occupied territory, with particular reference to the adoption and application of the prophylactic and preventive measures necessary to combat the spread of contagious diseases and epidemics. Medical personnel of all categories shall be allowed to carry out their duties.

Clearly, not only does the San Remo Manual not apply to this blockade since Gaza is occupied territory and not a state, even if Gaza was a state, the nature of the blockade is contrary to the stated requirements in the Manual. Further, since the Geneva Conventions do apply to this situation, the blockade and siege of Gaza are intentional efforts on Israel's behalf that leave it in default of its primary obligation as a belligerent occupier: the protection of the Palestinian civilian population.

* Yousef Munayyer is the Executive Director of the Jerusalem Fund and the Palestine Center.

As you might have heard now, Iran has volunteered to send aid ships to Gaza. As stated in Tehran, "The Iranian Red Crescent has decided to send two aid ships to Gaza this week and has called for volunteers to act as relief workers and accompany the vessels, the state IRNA news agency reported."

On top of this, "Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards are ready to escort aid flotillas to Gaza if the country's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei orders this, a Khamenei aide said on Sunday.

"The Revolutionary Guards' naval forces are fully prepared to escort freedom and peace flotillas carrying humanitarian aid from all over the world to the oppressed people of Gaza," Ali Shirazi, Khamenei's naval representative, told the Mehr news agency.

"If the respected leader of the revolution (Khamenei) gives an order in this regard to the Revolutionary Guards' naval forces, it will take a practical step using its capability and equipment to escort flotillas to Gaza," he said.

As Iran always did in the case of Palestinian conflict, they try to make use of the plight of Palestinians for their benefit. The "liberation of Palestine" was always part of the "Iranian Islamic Revolution" propaganda. But when you look in realities on the ground, they have never done anything good for Palestine or Palestinians except talk and raising Palestinian flags in their in-home demonstrations every now and then. Apart from that, they supported Hamas and still do so with little or no money to keep them alive in front of the other Palestinian parties. Whether this is good or not is debatable, but in general, non-Hamas supporters see no good in this relationship, but on the contrary it was always a reason for those who don’t support Hamas to stay away from it so that they will not be considered as Iran supporters.

Now let's be clear here. We are not against Iran’s legitimate rights. Like all nations on earth, we respect and accept any government that is the voice of its people, that is, a democratically elected government, but this is not the case. On the other hand, we are absolutely not against any help offered to Palestinians, but we should always ask ourselves a question about anything that has to do with our struggle: at what cost?

Iran is at the centre of international pressure on account of its nuclear program issue, so the Gaza Freedom Flotilla issue and all the positive reaction the Palestinians are getting as a result of Israeli stupidity is going to be a goldmine for the Iran propaganda machine at a time when they need it. But who will buy it? Apparently, even Hamas has realised that underneath the surface, it would only exacerbate tensions if they accepted the offer. According to Stratfor sources:

June 7, 2010
Hamas rejected the request of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to escort vessels to break the siege imposed on Gaza, saying they do not want further tensions in the region, Al Sharq Al Awsat reported June 7. Hamas lawmaker Jamal al Khzri said the organization does not want any military intervention that could lead to further tension in the region or involve civil authorities to come to Gaza via military activities.

And this is how it appeared on Al Sharq Al Awsat website:

Translation:

The Iranian Revolutionary Guards offer to escort "Gaza ships" and Hamas rejects

While the Iranian Revolutionary Guards offered to escort "Gaza ships", the Hamas Movement has rejected any military interference regarding the subject of ships that are trying to break the siege on Gaza. Hamas lawmaker Jamal al Khodari told "Al Sharq Al Awsat" that Hamas does not want any military intervention. [...]

Let's look at it, who wants this siege on Gaza to end? Everyone but the Zionists! But if Iran enters this global wave of support to end the siege, who will have a stronger reason to make the siege all that more of a stranglehold and attempt to justify it? Of course, Israel! They always claimed that Iran is supplying Hamas with rockets (which no one has ever seen directly or indirectly), but what better reason can we give to Israel to oppose ending the siege? It would play straight into their propaganda.

Palestine was never of interest to Iran. The conflict has been going on for decades now, how many times did Iran shoot a single bullet towards the Israeli occupation (literally or hypothetically)? Never! All they want is attention for themselves and to provoke so they think they look like heroes.

Unfortunately, it's lack of the Arab states’ positive action that gives Iran a space to play this game. But being late is better than never arriving. We Arabs all hope that our leaders take one positive action for Palestine, just once at least, maybe! But it should be a real, worthy and sustainable positive action, just for a change, not sounds and echoes.

We all should keep in our minds that the global movement isn't about Iran! It's about Palestine. Iran escalation is not needed as long as we have the world behind us. We certainly know that the world is not behind Iranian propaganda to send their Republican Guards to break the siege. In fact deep inside each one of us knows that Iran will never do it. But we also should be clear.

It should be clear that we absolutely do not support war on Iran or interference with their internal affairs, and official Iranians should understand that pro-peace and global support to Iran in this case does not mean that activists will support their cheap and selfish propaganda. Anti-war activists are not ignorant to buy this free media bubble. We support FREE Iranians, the Iranian people as a whole, not any specific Iranian government or the "Islamic Revolutionists" (although they have their own supporters around the world). We are anti-war and will always be because we love and support Iranians, not the "Iranian Islamic Revolution." In fact official Iranians should understand that this game might cost them a lot of support, globally.

So, thank you Iran, but we don't need your humanitarian aid.

What exactly is the blockade of Gaza?

By Yousef Munayyer* | Sabbah Report | www.sabbah.biz

In recent days, coverage of the attack on the aid flotilla headed to the Gaza Strip has focused on the lack of availability of certain humanitarian goods. This fact sheet is a reference tool based on international aid agencies and human rights groups on the impact of the siege on the population of Gaza.

Electricity: The siege has led to a significant lack of power in the Gaza Strip. In 2006, Israel carried out an attack on Gaza's only power plant and never permitted the rebuilding to its pre-attack capacity (down to producing 80 megawatts maximum from 140 megawatts). According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA), the daily electricity deficit has increased since January of 2010 with the plant only able to operate one turbine producing only 30 megawatts compared to its previous average of 60-65 megawatts in 2009. The majority of houses have power cuts at least eight hours per day. Some have no electricity for long as 12 hours a day. The lack of electricity has led to reliance on generators, many of which have exploded from overwork, killing and maiming civilians. Oxfam reported that "[in 2009], a total of 75 Palestinians died from carbon monoxide gas poisoning or fires from generators, and 15 died and 27 people were injured in the first two months of this year."

Water: Israel has not permitted supplies into the Gaza Strip to rebuild the sewage system. Amnesty International reports that 90-95 percent of the drinking water in Gaza is contaminated and unfit for consumption. The United Nations even found that bottled water in Gaza contained contaminants, likely due to the plastic bottles recycled in dysfunctional factories. The lack of sufficient power for desalination and sewage facilities results in significant amounts of sewage seeping into Gaza's costal aquifer--the main source of water for the people of Gaza.

Industry: Prior to the siege, the industrial sector employed 20 percent of Gaza's labor force. One year after the siege began, the Palestinian Federation of Industries reported that "61% of the factories have completely closed down. 1% was forced to change their scope of work in order to meet their living expenses, 38% were partially closed (sometimes means they operate with less than 15% capacity)". A World Health Organization report from this year states: "In the Gaza Strip, private enterprise is practically at a standstill as a consequence of the blockade. Almost all (98%) industrial operations have been shut down. The construction sector, which before September 2000 provided 15% of all jobs, has effectively halted. Only 258 industrial establishments in Gaza were operational in 2009 compared with over 2400 in 2006. As a result, unemployment rates have soared to 42% (up from 32% before the blockade)."

Health: Gaza's health sector, dramatically overworked, was also significantly damaged by Operation Cast Lead. According to UN OCHA, infrastructure for 15 of 27 of Gaza's hospitals, 43 of 110 of its primary care facilities, and 29 of its 148 ambulances were damaged or destroyed during the war. Without rebuilding materials like cement and glass due to Israeli restrictions, the vast majority of the destroyed health infrastructure has not been rebuilt. Many medical procedures for advanced illnesses are not available in Gaza. 1103 individuals applied for permits to exit the Israeli-controlled Erez crossing for medical treatment in 2009. 21 percent of these permits were denied or delayed resulting in missed hospital appointments, and several have died waiting to leave Gaza for treatment.

Food: A 2010 World Health Organization report stated that "chronic malnutrition in the Gaza Strip has risen over the past few years and has now reached 10.2%. Micronutrient deficiencies among children and women have reached levels that are of concern." According to UN OCHA: "Over 60 percent of households are now food insecure, threatening the health and wellbeing of children, women and men. In this context, agriculture offers some practical solutions to a humanitarian problem. However, Israel's import and access restrictions continue to suffocate the agriculture sector and directly contribute to rising food insecurity. Of particular concern, farmers and fishers' lives are regularly put at risk, due to Israel's enforcement of its access restrictions. The fact that this coastal population now imports fish from Israel and through tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border speaks to the absurdity of the situation." 72 percent of Gaza's fish profit comes from beyond the three nautical mile mark, but further restrictions by Israel's naval blockade prevents Gazans from fishing beyond that mark. Between 2008 and 2009 the fishing catch was down 47 percent.

* Yousef Munayyer is the Executive Director of the Jerusalem Fund and the Palestine Center.

Illustration by David Dees

By Mohamed Khodr* | Sabbah Report | www.sabbah.biz

"I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented."
--Elie Wiesel, Nobel Prize Speech, 1986

Dear Mr. President Barack Obama:

Again, congratulations on winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Hundreds of Millions of people around the world hoped and prayed that this prize will give you the courage, motivation, and strong will to bring peace to the world, most especially in Palestine.

But Israel in its humiliating defiant "slap and insult" to you and your government's stated policy to freeze settlement construction, even temporarily, continues unabated to build more illegal settlements, demolishing more Palestinian homes, expelling Palestinians from their homes in the West Bank, continuing its inhumane siege of Gaza, now for 3 years, continuing to build the Apartheid Wall that annexes more Palestinian land; steals water from Palestinians, and allowing daily settler violence against Palestinian civilians including children; all with total impunity knowing that our government always "caves" in to the assault by Israel's powerful lobbies such as AIPAC with support from an AIPAC compliant Congress and a media that portrays Israel as infallible. Former Senator Ernest Hollings (D-SC) upon leaving the Senate noted: "You can't have an Israeli policy other than what AIPAC gives you around here."

Your wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan are causing daily civilian deaths with no end in sight. Iraq is still occupied by our military and mercenaries and when we allegedly leave we would've established permanent military bases to ensure oil and contain Iran. You're blind adoption of Israel's demand to bomb Iran is a repeat of the same lies and media hysteria that pushed us into devastating Iraq.

But first I feel compelled for the record to inform you that I am a SEMITE while Elie Wiesel and the rest of the American Jewish community are not.

It is you Mr. President who's been disrespectfully called an "Anti Semite" by Hagai Ben-Artzi, Netanyahu's brother in law.

Sir, If the U.S., the most powerful nation on earth can easily be "slapped" and "insulted" and still remain politically paralyzed to respond and deal with a small nation who's very founding and support is due to this nation, do you then expect the Palestinians to have any say in their future or for that matter Arab leaders who's regimes are dependent on our protection?

What conceivable concessions can the Palestinians offer Israel except to voluntarily leave their remaining land, a mere 12% of their previous homeland.

You began your presidency with some chutzpah in dealing with Israel but like all previous Presidents you've retracted any semblance of courage in dealing with the Israeli Palestinian issue or facing down Israel, the little nation that could.

You've gone out of your way to appease the Jewish community, having lunch with Elie Wiesel (imagine a U.S. President meeting with one Jew to comfort his concern about Jerusalem, ignoring Christian and Muslim concerns), sending Clinton to comfort the American Jewish Community on Israel while joining the Zionist call of the wild to attack Iran, forcing General Petreus to withdraw his remarks that link the Israeli Palestinian conflict as a direct threat to the lives of our military men and women in the Muslim world, and your repetitive reassurance to Israel that their "security" is sacrosanct while it is the brutal military aggressor, occupier and dictator of millions of Palestinians. Mr. President, what about the security of Palestinians who are killed on a daily basis either by Israeli troops or terrorist settlers? You've been unable to convince Israel to even allow meager food, water, and medicines into besieged Gaza.

On May 10 you announced your nomination of Elena Kagan as the third Jewish American to the Supreme Court, if confirmed, making the Jewish constitution of the Supreme Court to be one third although they only make up 1.7% of the U.S. population. The Supreme Court has no Protestant Justice despite their constituting the largest percentage of the U.S. population. I am confident that this appointment of a lawyer with no judicial experience is just another appeasement to the Jewish community to comfort their concern about your Israeli policy and to keep their money flowing to the Democratic Party. They needn't worry. No politician at any level in America dares to speak out against Israel if he/she seeks office. It's a death sentence.

The entire world wants Israel to end its illegal Occupation as per hundreds of U.N. Resolutions but your administration is adopting the hypocritical position that it's Iran, not Israel, that is in violation of Security Council Resolutions.

Israel and its supporters have brilliantly succeeded in inflaming one Arab/Muslim nation after another to divert the world's attention from its murderous regime in the Occupied Territories. First it was Egypt, then Libya, Lebanon, Syria, then Iraq, Darfur, Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and now Iran. Does anyone remember Darfur after years of hysterical obsession by our politicians and media? The media has passed on to Israel's diversion du jour, Iran, deliberately not reporting that a peace agreement has been reached between the Sudanese government and the militias in Darfur.

As Ariel Sharon said: "The Arabs may have the oil, but we have the matches."

What incredible manifestation of Jewish power exists then that one Jew, Elie Wiesel, is able to convene a meeting of the U.N. Security Council, accompanied by the hapless George Clooney, to discuss the situation in Darfur. No other ethnic American could convene the Security Council on any other issue.

Our government has been Israel's poodle and patsy since 1948. Pity the American people whose consumer obsession and disinterest in governmental affairs, except along party or single issue lines, has created a void in Washington D.C. that is filled by powerful Corporate and foreign interests.

Mr. President, your Cairo words now run hollow, your courage is wanting, thus peace in the Holy Land is once again dead until the next President picks up the mantle of a "peace process" knowing he too shall fail.

Again in our capitol Wall Street comes before Main Street and our national interest is subservient to Israel's interest. Our citizens continue to pay hundreds of billions of dollars of their hard earned tax dollars during periods of ballooning deficits to a rich nation, Israel, while our young men and women in the military die for a forced "passionate attachment" to a foreign nation.

With all due respect Mr. President, the love and enthusiasm you received in Denver upon your election is slipping wide and fast. How ironic, how tragic, that a black President ignores what it means to be enslaved by white European colonial powers.

The persecuted Jews of Europe are now the brutal persecutors in Palestine with our money, weapons, and vetoes.

For 62 years Israel has foiled and sabotaged every American, U.N., and International peace initiative as it strives for a "Greater Israel", an Israel without Arab Christians and Muslims. The followers of Jesus Christ have been intimidated into silence about the brutality and ethnic cleansing of their Christian brethren in the Holy Land

Mr. President, under Jewish influence, you and Congress immediately rejected the much respected and accepted Goldstone report on Israel's "war crimes" in Gaza without even reading its content and evidence. That's power that no American person or group can ever dream of achieving.

How hypocritical and ironic that Netanyahu at the U.N. General Assembly chastised the world for its "silence" on Iran's nuclear program with these words: "Have you no shame, have you no decency?" Where is Israel's shame and decency in its commission of "war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and genocide" against millions of Palestinians made refugees in their own homeland.

"Why should the Arabs make peace? If I was an Arab leader I would never make terms with Israel. That is natural: we have taken their country ... There has been anti-Semitism, the Nazis, Hitler, Auschwitz, but was that their fault? They only see one thing: we have come here and stolen their country. Why should they accept that? They may perhaps forget in one or two generations' time, but for the moment there is no chance. So it is simple: we have to stay strong and maintain a powerful army"
--David Ben Gurion, in Nahum Goldman, 'The Jewish Paradox', translated by Steve Cox, 1978

How will your conscience, Mr. President, answer God when your held accountable for failing to use America's power and might to bring peace to the Holy Land choosing instead to appease a small minority of Jewish Americans whose policies run counter to the majority of Jewish Americans who want a two state solution, simply to keep your power, rain in Jewish millions, and through shameful appeasement seek their support for a second term. Like every American politician you've sold your soul to kosher dollars and thus the legacy of your memory and soul will join the tragic dustbin of failed men in the annals of humanity. .

I am confident that your administration's feigned work for peace will again be blown in the wind of history.

With due respect, I remain

* Mohamed Khodr is a political activist who frequently writes on the plight of Palestinians living under the brutal occupation of Israel, U.S. Foreign Policy, Islam, and Arab politics.

By Jamal Dajani* | Sabbah Report | www.sabbah.biz

The Israeli government's recent announcement of Army order No. 1,650 was just the latest act of provocation in a series of calculated measures to derail any possible resumption of peace negotiations. Under this new draconian measure, anyone who doesn't have a "permit" to be in the West Bank is to be considered an "infiltrator" and subject to expulsion or risk up to seven years in jail.

Expulsions and deportations are not something new for the Israeli military administrative system which was established in 1969, shortly after the occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and the Golan Heights in the 1967 Six-Day War. At the time, the Israeli military was given the legal power to expel "infiltrators" without trial for various unspecified "security reasons."

Two particular Palestinian communities will be impacted by order No. 1,650: Palestinians with Gaza residencies and Palestinians with East Jerusalem residencies, as well as foreign-born residents of the West Bank. But many Palestinian and Israeli experts believe that it's the foreigners living amongst Palestinians who are the real target of the Netanyahu government. Many believe that this is part of an ongoing Israeli effort to silence dissent and crack down on international solidarity members and activists who travel to Palestinian areas to support protests and rallies, often bringing with them the eyes of the outside world.

Now that Israel has almost completed its "Separation Wall", it wants to build a "Wall of Silence" and control the flow of information and limit the presence of foreign-born eyewitnesses on the ground. The question is, why now?

A "White Intifada" has begun to take hold in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Every Thursday and Friday, Palestinian peace activists, accompanied by members of the Israeli Peace Now movement and B'Tselem, as well as international supporters, gather to demonstrate against what they term as Israel's "Apartheid Wall" and land and home confiscations in the villages of Bil'in, Naalin, and the Sheikh Jarah neighborhood of East Jerusalem.

Two months ago, I witnessed a Friday demonstration in Sheikh Jarah where settlers tried to provoke peaceful demonstrators by harassing and spitting on them while Israeli Police and border patrol units watched from across the street. I was impressed by the demonstrators' calm and unfazed demeanor. Similarly, at the villages of Bil'in and Naalin, peaceful demonstrators have been brutally beaten and arrested by the Israeli army. Nevertheless, more keep coming back every week.

In February a Czech volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement was taken in the night from her house in Ramallah and deported by Israeli forces. This new order will give a blanket legal cover to the Israeli police and army to instantly deport foreign activists and aid workers spotted at demonstrations. Last December, at another demonstration I covered at Erez (Gaza-Israel Crossing), Israeli police did not engage the peaceful demonstrators who gathered calling for an end of the siege on Gaza. Instead, policemen were busy videotaping those who showed up, especially foreign nationals. Interestingly enough my Israeli Press Card was indefinitely delayed for renewal after my coverage of that story, but that's another subject on its own.

For years I've been hearing the popular question usually posed by Americans, "Where is the Palestinian Gandhi?"

During the past two trips that I've made to the Palestinian territories and Israel, I think that I discovered him/her in the eyes of the many peaceful demonstrators against the Israeli occupation. Nonviolent resistance could be the biggest threat to Israel's ability to justify it's continued military aggression and occupation of Palestinian lands. Order No. 1,650 is to neutralize the movement by deporting Gandhi.

Watch the Mosaic Intelligence Report!

* Jamal Dajani VP of International News, Series Producer of Mosaic News, Link TV

Source: Huffington Post