Hamas offers conditional ceasefire Palestinian factions meeting in Syrian capital give Israeli army a week to leave the Gaza Strip. Twitter: Live Gaza war updates Video: Gazans find homes destroyed Video: Palestinian divide grows Video: Arab division over Gaza Gaza voices: 'People still afraid' Timeline: Gaza crisis

Hamas offers conditional ceasefire

Gazans' attempts at rescuing trapped bodies were hampered by continued attacks on Sunday [AFP] Hamas and several allied Palestinian factions have announced a conditional, one-week ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, giving Israel seven days to pull out of the territory. The move, following a meeting of the factions in Damascus, comes a day after Israel announced a unilateral ceasefire, ending its 22-day offensive in Gaza which has left at least 1,203 Palestinians dead.  "We in the Palestinian resistance movements announce a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and demand that enemy forces withdraw in a week and open all the border crossings to permit the entry of humanitarian aid and basic goods," Mousa Abu Marzuk, deputy leader of Hamas's political bureau, said in Damascus on Sunday. Besides Hamas, Palestinian factions at the Damascus meeting included Islamic Jihad, Al Nidal, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and al Saeqa. Israeli response The Israel military said on Sunday that troops withdrawals had begun from key positions in and around Gaza City. However, Israel earlier said that it will not consider a timetable for withdrawing all of its forces from the Gaza Strip until Hamas and other groups halt their fire. Speaking to Al Jazeera on Sunday, Avital Leibovich, an Israeli military spokesperson, said: "I am sorry, Hamas will not give Israel a deadline to pull out its troops. "We will pull out the troops if and when we will decide that a permanent safe and secure situation has arrived in our country - which has not [yet]. Since from the morning we were targeted by 16 rockets from Hamas. "We have to assess the situation every day and then see whether we are heading towards a stable secure situation or [if] we have to continue the operation. "The operation is not over. This is only a holding of fire." 'Objectives achieved' Palestinian factions have continued to fire rockets into southern Israel since the beginning of the offensive, killing three Israelis, out of a total of 13 Israelis that have died since the begining of the war.

which enterd the Gaza Strip in the second week of the offensive.

An end to rocket fire from the Gaza Strip into Israel was the stated aim of the Israeli offensive.

Israel declared a unilateral ceasefire on Saturday, with Ehud Olmert, the prime minister, stating that the country had achieved its objectives. "We have reached all the goals of the war, and beyond," he said. "[But] if our enemies decide to strike and want to carry on, then the Israeli army will regard itself as free to respond with force." Olmert also said the war boosted Israel's deterrence and that Hamas's actions would decide when the military would withdraw. "This operation strengthened the deterrence of the state of Israel in the face of all those who threaten us," he said. "If Hamas completely stops its attacks, we will judge at what moment we will leave the Gaza Strip."

'Symbolic victory'

However, Ayman Mohyeldin, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Gaza City, said some in the Gaza Strip are claiming a victory for Hamas and other Palestinian factions. "On an operational level on the last day of the war and even after the war Palestinian factions are still capable of firing rockets, no doubt about that.

Hamas and Israel declared independent ceasefires each with separate terms [AFP]

"In fact, more than a dozen or so have been fired today according to the factions here on the ground. "On a symbolic level, at the end of the day the Palestinian people remain here on the ground, having paid a very heavy price though.

"Their position was one of steadfast defiance. The fact that they can stay and essentially ... claim that they have been able to stave off this aggression, in terms of the leadership and the command and control structure of Hamas and the government here, is certainly a sign for many here that they have been victorious."

'Extremely fragile'

At least 16 rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel on Sunday morning after it declared its ceasefire.

Israel responded with air attacks, according to Israeli sources.

Barnaby Phillips, Al Jazeera's correspondent, reporting from near the Gaza-Israel border, said that the situation is extremely fragile.

"This ceasefire ... could go horribly wrong at any moment. There are thousands of troops in Gaza. We did see some withdraw we think this morning, we are not sure of numbers but they are in close proximity to Hamas fighters," he said.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/01/2009118123631230393.html
http://english.aljazeera.net/

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Israel begins to withdraw from Gaza

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/4/20090118/twl-israel-begins-to-withdraw-from-gaza-41f21e0.html

Israel has begun to withdraw its armed forces from the Gaza Strip, a military source has said.

"I can confirm that a gradual withdrawal of our forces is under way," the source said, refusing to elaborate on when the pullback might be completed. Palestinian militant group Hamas has announced a ceasefire with Israel, giving the Jewish state one week to pull troops out of the Gaza strip. It comes hours after the Israeli leaders voted to halt the offensive in region that has killed nearly 1,200 people. A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said earlier that if a ceasefire held in the Hamas-ruled enclave, Israel could start the process of withdrawing its forces. A Hamas official in Cairo, Ayman Taha, said: "Hamas and the factions announce a ceasefire in Gaza starting immediately and give Israel a week to withdraw." The Islamist group said previously it would not stop its attacks as long as Israeli soldiers remained in the Gaza Strip. Mr Taha said Hamas was demanding the opening of all Gaza border crossings for the entry of "all materials, food, goods and basic needs". Meanwhile, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has touched down in the Middle East for an international summit on the crisis. International leaders are holding a summit at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh which is to be co-chaired by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Also attending are United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and senior politicians from Germany, Italy, Spain, Turkey and Jordan. As he arrived in Egypt, Mr Brown announced an additional £20 million of British humanitarian aid and called for renewed efforts to find a lasting peace in the region. In an apparent criticism of the scale of the Israeli response to Hamas rocket attacks, Mr Brown said "too many" innocent people had died in the 22-day assault on Gaza. Mr Brown said the violence in Gaza must not halt the search for a path to peace, but should spur the international community on in its efforts to establish a sustainable two-state solution.

"This conflict has once again demonstrated the urgent need to forge a longer term settlement which gives security to both Israelis and Palestinians," he said.

• Play video Hamas announces own ceasefire terms

• Egypt summit ups pressure on Israel to quit…

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• Hamas and Israel announce ceasefire 

• 1 hour 51 mins ago

  Celebration and solemnity as Obama nears inauguration 

  Barack Obama approached his inauguration as the 44th U.S. president with a mix of solemnity and celebration on

Hamas, Israel separately announce ceasefire
http://tvnz.co.nz/world-news/hamas-2446174

Hamas said it would cease fire immediately along with its Islamist allies in the Gaza Strip and give Israel, which already declared a unilateral truce, a week to pull its troops out of the territory.

A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in response: "We'll play this day by day. We'll see how this goes. We want to leave Gaza. We'll do so as soon as we can." Troops and tanks had streamed back over the border since dawn and the army later confirmed it had begun withdrawing after a three-week war in which 10 Israeli soldiers and over 1,300 Palestinians were killed. Three Israeli civilians also died. In Gaza, families began emerging from their places of hiding, including UN school compounds where some 45,000 people sought refuge during the fighting, and returning to their homes - some only to find them damaged or destroyed. Hamas, whose rocket fire Israel said triggered its assault, announced its ceasefire about 12 hours after Israel's own unilateral move. Hamas also said Israel, which launched its offensive on December 27, had a week to pull its troops from Gaza.

Hamas officials, in Cairo for talks with Egypt on resolving the 22-day conflict, also said the movement was demanding the opening of all Gaza's border crossings for the entry of "all materials, food, goods and basic needs". The Islamist group said previously it would not stop its attacks as long as Israeli soldiers remained in the Gaza Strip. With no formal deal between the two sides, despite mediation efforts by Egypt, the situation looked much like that before the conflict - an armed standoff and a grim future for 1.5 million people penned inside Gaza by a blockade aimed at punishing Hamas for its rocket fire and ambitions to destroy the Jewish state. As scores of bodies of Hamas fighters were recovered from suddenly quiet urban battlefields on Sunday, Gaza medical officials said about 700 of the 1,300 dead were civilians. Israel's leading newspapers put pictures of victorious Israeli troops on their front pages on Sunday, but behind the banner headlines some commentators wondered whether the conflict had not worsened the prospects for peace with Gaza.

"This war was a just war," wrote one leading commentator in Ma'ariv, a right-of-centre tabloid. "But this was not a wise war. This war presumed to change the situation ... But the situation, regrettably, will change only for the worse." Some 17 rockets hit southern Israel after the ceasefire Olmert declared went into effect at 2 am. (0000 GMT). Israel responded with two air strikes against launching sites and medical workers said a Palestinian civilian was killed. At least three rockets struck southern Israel after Hamas said it was halting attacks, Israeli police said. Despite those breaches, the United States welcomed the ceasefire and the United Nations expressed its relief. "The goal remains a durable and fully respected ceasefire that will lead to stabilisation and normalisation in Gaza," said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. A spokeswoman for President-elect Barack Obama said he welcomed the truce and would say more about the situation in Gaza after he is inaugurated on Tuesday.

Egypt meeting

In Jerusalem Olmert's spokesman, Mark Regev, offered hope that crossings into Gaza would open if the truce persists: "If this ceasefire holds, and I hope it does, you'll see the crossings open to an enormous amount of humanitarian support." In the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, the leaders of Britain, the Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Germany, Jordan, Spain and Turkey, along with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, met to coordinate policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. They gathered to back Egyptian efforts to turn a shaky ceasefire into a solid agreement leading to Israeli withdrawal. Many were later due to dine with Olmert in Jerusalem. In the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahiya, Palestinian ambulances picked up more than 95 bodies, most of them gunmen, that had lain in the rubble of buildings and open areas, Hamas police and health officials said. Some of those who returned to their homes were distraught to find them destroyed on Sunday, but there was also hope. "Thank God you are alive!" Abu Daoud Amer consoled a friend. "The house can be rebuilt, God willing." The civilian death toll and destruction in the Gaza Strip brought strong international pressure on Israel to stop the offensive it launched with the declared aim of ending rocket attacks that had killed 18 people over the previous eight years. Olmert said on Saturday that Israel would not bring its troops home until Hamas ceased fire completely and he threatened to respond strongly to any attacks on the soldiers or cross-border rocket salvoes. He cited internationally backed understandings with Egypt, Gaza's southern neighbour, on preventing Hamas from rearming through smuggling tunnels as a reason behind Israel's decision to call off its attacks.

At a glance...

Protest war of Gaza-Sydney

Protest Kuwait protestors
burn an Israel flag and hit it with shoes during a demonstration in Kuwait City
 
Palestinian-protest-shoes-London  Protest war of Gaza Lebanon

Protest war of Gaza Nice
Protest war of Gaza Toulouse SFP/Eric Cabanis-
Manifestation a Toulouse contre la Guerre De Gaza, Saedi 10 janvier

Protest war of Gaza Nirobi -
Police blocked protesters in nairobi from reaching the Israel Embassy-Reuters

Protest out side of Israel embassy London

AFP – Protesters opposed to Israeli military action in the Gaza Strip demonstrate outside the Israeli embassy in west London. Angry demonstrators hurled missiles at riot police outside the Israeli embassy in London on Saturday as a protest against the Jewish state's offensive in the Gaza Strip turned ugly.(AFP/Shaun Curry)

protest lebanon- AP – Protesters hold a mock dead body and shout slogans against the Israeli offensive in Gaza during a demonstration …

Protest Near London's Israeli Embassy- A protester swings a club at a police horse Saturday night near London's Israeli Embassy

Protest War of Gaza Japan  The participant raised voice "Do not  kills the children of Gaza  and to desire an immediate cease-fire. Tokyo Japan

protest people with candles

A google serach of No Where to Hide..N Where to Run comes up witht he following:

1. Mad Blast have also produced their own version of No Where to Hide ..No Where to Run Description: Nowhere to run, Bin Laden! Colin Powell and George W. Bush sing a funny political song to Bid Laden…"Come Mr. Taliban turn over Bin Laden. We kicked your ass and we're gonna go home."

2. "Nowhere to Run" is a 1965 pop single b/w "Motoring" by Martha & the Vandellas for the Gordy (Motown) label and is one of the group's signature songs. The song, written and produced by Motown's main production team of Holland-Dozier-Holland, depicts the story of a woman trapped in a bad relationship with a man she cannot help but love. Holand-Dozier-Holland and the Funk Brothers band gave the song a large, hard-driving instrumentation sound similar of the sound of prior Dancing In The Street with snow chains used as percussion alongside the tambourine and drums. Included on their third album, Dance Party, "Nowhere to Run" hit number eight on the Billboard Pop SinglesR&B) chart. It also charted in the UK peaking at number twenty-six on the chart.This version was ranked #358 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. chart, and number five on the Billboard Black Singles (^[1]  The record's brass-heavy arrangement and chorus of "nowhere to run to, baby/nowhere to hide" have made the song a popular one at sporting events, whether played in its original version or reinterpreted by a marching band. The song has also been seen as one of the songs played heavy by troops during the Vietnam War and has since been a title and inspiration in TV shows such as Quantum Leap and Murphy Brown This song is contained within the in-game soundtrack of the PC game Battlefield Vietnam. It is also included in the soundtrack of Good Morning Vietnam This song is also featured in the 1995 movie, Crimson Tide.

3. Martha Reeves and The Vandellas - Nowhere To Run

4. Gravediggaz-Nowhere To Run , Nowhere To Hide

5.

Gazans tell of ordeal as war rages

[Gallo/Getty] With more than 1,000 Palestinians dead amid Israel's war on Gaza - more than 300 of them children - Al Jazeera spoke to citizens of the territory struggling to surivive under the Israeli offensive.

Moussa el-Haddad, a doctor at Shifa hospital in Gaza City

"We hear screams over the radio from people injured in the streets asking for emergency help, but paramedics can't reach them and, besides, the hospitals are overcrowded.

Even those killed can't be reached.

I'm telling you, Gaza is on fire. Everyone on this piece of land is under attack. In this time and age, I can't believe the world is watching and no one is doing anything.

I don't understand Ban Ki-moon is making trips from here to there. Why doesn't he help stop this bloody war?"

A mother who lost her only son

"They [Israeli soldiers] opened fire at us.

My son Faris was killed in my arms.

I couldn't have children for 21 years after marriage until God gave me this child.

Elaina Qleibo, the head of food and security for Oxfam

"There is this grave feeling of impotence and I wish I was a doctor or a magician so I can save all of these people.

There is no safe place to say and there is a lack of water, so it's become a very overbearing situation.

People here are sufferring deeply, so much that they are numb, like when you have an accident, you immediately enter a state of numbness.

You see an old man sitting by himself looking like he's about to cry or you'll see a group of people walking to pretend that nothing is happening.

The shock is so big here, I don't know if people realise what is happening to them."

A four-year-old girl attacked by an Israeli soldierby an Israeli soldier

"I saw him [the solider] hiding next to the shop.

I looked around for my mum, then he shot me.

One bullet hit my hand and the other penetrated my stomach through my back."

Maysa al-Khitab, a resident of Gaza City

"Please help us. The Israelis are bombing us with phosphorus bombs, so please help us.

The shelling has been continuous since last night. We are in an area where 500 other families are under bombardment.

"Where are the Arabs? Where is the world? None of them are doing anything.

"We are being killed. I just saw 300 people killed in front of my own eyes when the tower collapsed. Please stop this war."

A father who lost two daughters

"My three daughters went out with my mother.

All of a sudden, Israeli soldiers started shouting at them from a very close distance.

My eldest was hit by 17 bullets in the chest and my two-year-old was hit by 12.

They both died, of course."

Khaled Ezzidin, a resident of Deir al-Balah outside of Gaza

"I used to live in a city called al-Zahra and, one night, me and my family were hiding in the basement of our house.

We came under fire for about two hours and by a miracle we survived the bombardment.

The next day we left the city and moved to Deir al-Balah."

http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2009/01/20091155194386203.html

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Gaza diary: To die with hope

By Mohammed Ali in Gaza City

Carrying pieces of wood from the destroyed building is the sign that Gazans' spirits keeping hope alive [Gallo/Getty] As the death toll from Israel's war on Gaza continues to climb, Mohammed Ali, an advocacy and media researcher for Oxfam who lives in Gaza City, will be keeping a diary of his feelings and experiences. "If I die now, at least I'll die with hope." This morning, I heard people chanting outside, I wondered what it was, and then, the lights came on - the electricity had come back on; hurrah! I immediately turned on the television, charged my phone, checked emails. For a moment, I felt somewhat liberated. These things that we often take for granted have become so precious of late. Solidarity and trust We have no clean water left. Our water tank is empty. My father could not turn away the increasing amount of people knocking at our door with empty jerry cans in hand. He did not realise how much water he had given out until it was too late. Shops are running out of clean water; we were not able to find any in our neighbourhood. We can use the untreated water but we should really boil it first to avoid getting sick, but we face another obstacle; we have very little gas left.

We will just have to drink the unsterilised water so that we can save the rest of the gas for cooking food. But, if you have never cooked with a gas burner, it makes the food taste of gasoline, the coffee taste of gasoline, we now even smell of gasoline. I received a call from a good friend in Jabaliya, he was telling me how awful life has become for his family; sonic booms from F-16 fighter planes constantly shake his home - there is no chance any of his six children and wife are getting any sleep. His sister's home has already been evacuated and he wants to leave as soon as he can. He has a small bag packed and ready to go. I told him to bring his family and to stay with us - I am expecting him to arrive at any moment. The news is getting more and more horrific as the situation here deteriorates. The latest report, I saw, was of a child clutching on to her dead parent's bodies for four days before anyone was able to come to her rescue, dogs are starting to eat the corpses that no one has been able to bury. This reality does not seem to be reaching some parts of the world. Is it censored because people cannot cope with the truth of what is happening to us? If the truth did get out, would it make a difference? Fortunately, we have a lot of solidarity and trust in our community, we share what we have - I guess this is why we have just about managed to feed ourselves. Some shopkeepers are allowing people to buy food on credit; people's debts are quickly mounting up. But solidarity and trust will not feed us now that food - and everything else it seems - is running out. Keeping hope alive I applied for a scholarship in the UK several months ago. I was expecting to find out in early January whether or not my application was successful. I have been waiting impatiently for days. I could not wait any longer so I finally called the British Council; I wanted to know the outcome to put my mind at rest. They told me that they would call back in two minutes. During those two minutes I almost stopped breathing - this scholarship is the only hope I have at the moment for a better life. The lady called back and said: "I am afraid we do not have an answer yet for you." To which I responded: "Please be honest with me; is it that you really do not have an answer or that you do not want to give me bad news at this point in time?" The possibility of going to the UK is giving me the hope I need to live. My wife thinks I am crazy, as I talk to her as if we are definitely going; I describe the friends we will have, the restaurants we will go to, the walks around the parks. At least if I die, I will die with a little hope, the hope that I will have the chance to live a better life, even if for now it is but a dream.

Gaza: The endless cycle of trauma

By Sandy Tolan, Middle East analyst

Some Palestinians still hold keys to the homes they left during the 'nakba' [GALLO/GETTY] The Israeli bombs and rockets streaking through the skies of Gaza trace not only a path of death and terror for Palestinians in 2009, they also outline the smoke trails of traumas past, from the Nakba, or 'catastrophe,' in 1948 to the 1967 war; from the Lebanon invasions, to the 2002 assault on Jenin. All are echoes of today's calamity of US-made missiles and mortars raining down on Gazans. Watching history repeat itself is, of course, most horrifying for the people through whose roofs the missiles are falling, whose children are dying. For the outsider, peering in from a safe perch, it is merely surreal. We look on as Israel replays the tape-loop of its brutal and tragic follies. Israel has shown again and again that, rather than vanquishing its enemies, it makes new ones while strengthening old ones. Many commentators have invoked 2006 and Israel's invasion of Lebanon, when, in trying to destroy Hezbollah, it made it stronger. But this is only a relatively recent example. 'My enemy's enemy' Consider early 1988, near the beginning of the First Intifada, when Israel, trying to weaken Yasser Arafat, the late PLO leader, invoked the ill-fated strategy known as "the enemy of my enemy is my friend."

In trying to marginalise the exiled Arafat and his Tunis cadre, Israel helped seed the growth of a fledgling Hamas in Gaza. 

Or recall March 1968, when Israeli infantry, tanks, paratroopers, and armoured brigades - 15,000 soldiers in all - moved east across the Jordan River to attack the village of Karama. Though, technically, the Israelis won a military victory, they encountered far stiffer resistance than expected, losing 28 soldiers.

At the centre of the heroic Palestinian battle of Karama was the man who would emerge strongest from the fight: Yasser Arafat. The biggest loser was the pro-Western "moderate," King Hussein of Jordan, who in the wake of the battle was forced to declare, no doubt to the alarm of Israel, "we are all fedayeen now."

Or, we can revisit the pre-dawn of November 13, 1966, when Israeli planes, tanks and troops attacked the West Bank village of Samu, blowing up dozens of houses and killing 21 Jordanian soldiers.

The attack deepened anger on the 'Arab Street' against Israel and its Western benefactors, and badly weakened King Hussein, who imposed martial law. "The monarchy itself is in jeopardy," American officials in Amman cabled Washington.

Largely as a result of the attack, the Jordanian king was forced into a pan-Arab alliance with his arch-rival, Gamal Abdel Nasser, the Egyptian president. The 11th-hour pact helped seal the fate of the 1967 war, and the 41-year occupation whose echoes can be heard in the exploding shells of Gaza.

US response

Yet it is worth considering the American response to Israel's Samu raid for the lessons it contains for US policymakers today. For although the US sided with Israel, many American officials were working hard behind the scenes to prevent war, and US officials, unlike those of the outgoing and incoming American administrations today, were furious at Israel. 

The "3000-man raid with tanks and planes was all out of proportion to the provocation," wrote Walt Rostow, the national security adviser, in a memo to Lyndon Johnson, the then-US president. 

"They've undercut Hussein… It makes even the moderate Arabs feel fatalistically that there is nothing they can do to get along with the Israelis no matter how hard they try."

When Levi Eshkol, the Israeli prime minister, wrote to Johnson for American support "in this difficult hour for us," the president ignored him, instead writing a note of sympathy to King Hussein, expressing his "sense of sorrow and concern … words of sympathy are small comfort when lives have been needlessly destroyed".

Then, in words scarcely imaginable for a US president today, Johnson added: "My disapproval of this action has been made known to the government of Israel in the strongest terms."

In the end, of course, the US, distracted by Vietnam and in a Cold War struggle with the Soviet Union, backed Israel in the Six Day War, giving it a tacit green light for the surprise attack on Egypt in June 1967. (When Meir Amit, the then-head of the Israeli intelligency agency Mossad, visited Robert McNamara in the Pentagon, he told the inquiring defence secretary that the war would take "seven days".) 

Lessons for Obama

Yet US officials, before acquiescing to Israel in the final days before war, actually fought to prevent it, and it is there, in that lost moment, that the lessons lie for Barack Obama, the incoming US president.

Similar to (but far worse than) the Samu raid of 1966, Israel now wages a war whose destruction is "all out of proportion to the provocation."

Like the days leading up to the Six Day War, hundreds of thousands of people are taking to the streets, with mass protests in Cairo, Beirut, Amman, Doha, Paris, Athens, Istanbul, Sydney and other international capitals.

These genuine expressions of fury, combined with wide-ranging condemnations from international leaders, and increasing outrage from a vocal minority of Israelis, do not bode well for the US or Israeli governments. 

Unlike 42 years ago, however, no US president, incoming or outgoing, is willing to criticise Israel.

Obama's tepid comment - "the loss of civilian life in Gaza and Israel is a source of deep concern" - does not qualify.

Worse, his statement in Sderot last July - "If somebody was sending rockets into my house, where my two daughters sleep at night, I'm going to do everything in my power to stop that" - has been used as another green light by Israeli military politicians whose prime ministerial ambitions are a key factor underlying the assault on Gaza.

Hillary Clinton's declaration, during her senate confirmation hearings on Tuesday, January 13, 2008, that "the president-elect and I understand and are deeply sympathetic to Israel's desire to defend itself under the current conditions," hardly points to a visionary change in US policy. 

Yet if Obama wishes to preserve the truest hopes inherent in his election - that his presidency would stand for real change; that his internationalist view of the world would translate into wisdom and compassion for people other than the most powerful - he must be willing to transform US dealings in a region where the phrase "honest broker" has become a parlour joke. 

For the US to restore its credibility, Obama must send clear signals that Israeli impunity cannot continue. He needs to speak hard truths to an old friend, pointing out the Jewish state's history of making its enemies stronger.

Strengthening Hamas

And this, beyond the needless deaths, may be the ultimate result of the current war on Gaza.  Israel, despite its stated goal of stopping Hamas' rocket attacks, has simply not done so. Despite the latest wave of assassination by bombing, Israel's attempts to destroy Hamas seem to be going the route of Lebanon, 2006.

"What is the strategic purpose behind the present fighting?" asks the normally staid Anthony Cordesman in a commentary for the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC.

"Has Israel somehow blundered into a steadily escalating war without a clear strategic goal or at least one it can credibly achieve? … It is also far from clear that the tactical gains are worth the political and strategic cost to Israel. At least to date, the reporting from within Gaza indicates that each new Israeli air strike or advance on the ground has increased popular support for Hamas and anger against Israel in Gaza. The same is true in the West Bank and the Islamic world."

Or, as Khaled Meshaal, the Hamas leader, declared to Israel last weekend, "you have created resistance in every household".

Thus the horrible chapter called "Gaza 2009" fits snugly into Israel's book of outsized assaults on Palestinian civilians. It seems it will ever be so, until a US president steps forward with the guts and vision to change the game. 

Sandy Tolan is associate professor at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California, and author of The Lemon Tree: An Arab, A Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East.

The views expressed by the author are not necessarily those of Al Jazeera.

Khaled Meshaal, the political leader of Hamas, has said Israel has increased resistance

US President-elect Barack Obama's election campaign promised change [AFP]

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Arab-Israelis lament war on Gaza

By Rachel Shabi in Israel

"This is murder and a crime," says the 82-year-old Palestinian standing on a Jaffa street corner. "Killing children, destroying homes on top of the women and children still inside them - this is murder. Don't they see what they are doing?" This man has been standing on this same street corner every evening since the Israeli assault on Gaza began in late December. He is one in a crowd of varying sizes - sometimes less than 100, sometimes 1000-strong - forming a candle-lit protest vigil in Jaffa, a mixed Arab-Jewish city just south of Tel Aviv. Palestinian protests

This daily demonstration is just one in a chain of anti-war protests staged across Israel by its Palestinian citizens.

This sector of society - around 20 per cent of the population - is overwhelmingly against the war on Gaza at a time when most Jewish Israelis support the assault.   

The latest polls show that more than 94 per cent of Israel's Jewish population backs the war, while 85 per cent of the Palestinian sector opposes it.

"We don't know how to express our emotions, our anger and our sorrow at what is happening," says Buthayna, another demonstrator at the Jaffa street vigil.

"All we can think about are the massacres in Gaza of our people. And our big sorrow is that we have no influence, the whole Jewish state wants this war."

Tens of thousands demonstrated in the Palestinian-Israeli village of Baka al-Gharbiya last week, while 10,000 more protested in the Galilee village of Sakhnin a few weeks ago, in what the town mayor described as "the biggest procession in the history of the Palestinian people in Israel".

While protests have been many, Palestinian-Israelis (or 'Arab-Israelis' as they are more commonly labelled) say that there have been attempts to dissuade them from such action.

"Most people are frightened," says Hana Amoury, a 25-year-old political activist from Jaffa.

"The authorities work really hard to put people off protesting in the streets and are arresting demonstrators all over the country."

According to several sources, over 500 Palestinian-Israelis have been arrested since the start of the war on Gaza. Many of those are still in prison, and around half are under 18. 

One protester, who has been questioned both by the Israeli police and the Israeli security services, says: "They try to trick us into saying we support terror and are against the state of Israel."

Other residents of Jaffa talk of the "police vans on every street corner" during the past weeks of the Israeli war on Gaza.

Widening gaps

Last week, Israel's parliament banned two Arab-Israeli parties from running in the forthcoming election. 
The all-party central election committee accused the two parties of incitement and supporting terrorist groups.

The Israeli Supreme Court has yet to rule on whether to uphold this ban, which Ahmed Tibi, a member of the Israeli Knesset, has described as "a political trial led by a group of Fascists and racists".

Tibi has previously spoken out against the war on Gaza, describing it as "genocide".

Palestinian commentators say that the Gaza war and the treatment of Palestinian-Israelis at this time is simply a manifestation of ever-widening gaps between Arab and Jewish sectors of society.

"The Palestinians in Israel don't count, not in the politics of peace and not in the politics of war," says Dr Adel Manna, a historian and director of the Centre for the Study of Arab Society in Israel.

"The common good of the Israeli society is a Jewish Zionist one, so anybody who is not Jewish or not a Zionist is totally outside."

Several analysts point out that, whereas once calls for "transfer" of Israel's Palestinian population into the Palestinian territories was a battle cry of the extreme right, it has now become more mainstream. 

In November, Tzipi Livni, the Israeli foreign minister, said that any future Palestinian state would be a "comprehensive national solution" for all Palestinians, including those currently living within Israel.

'Burning inside'

On the day-to-day level, some are so appalled at Israeli actions than they struggle to participate in everyday life within Israel.

"I have given up four jobs in 20 days," says Samieh Jabbarin, from Jaffa.

"I didn't want to be involved with Zionists because I know the minute we start to discuss things, it will get very hard so I try to avoid such situations."

Others deconstruct the majority Jewish support for the war within Israel.

"The Israeli population don't support the war because they believe in killing children and civilians," says Amoury.

"It's just that they have been told these lies for so many years, that the only solution here is military, and that weakening the Palestinians is the only way for Jews to stay on this land."

But the stark differences of opinion over this war have not resulted in violent clashes between Arab and Jewish co-nationalists in Israel - perhaps because both sides are wary of such a confrontation. 

"The tension and the potential is there, but people are feeling that these are extreme days and if one got into a clash with the other, it would be very serious," says Jabbarin.

"People are cautious, but they are burning inside."
Palestinian-Israelis protest against Israel's war on Gaza [AFP]

Fierce fighting in Gaza

• Fierce fighting in Gaza
• Casuaties as Gaza crisis esculates
• President Bush blames Hamas for fresh violence
• Gaza onslaught sparks 'humanitarian crisis'

The crown yelled Stop Bomdbing Paslestine,
Free Free Free Palestine Free Free Free Palistine Occupation is a crime

Gaza voices: 'People still afraid'


There are many children in Gaza traumatised by the war [GALLO/GETTY]

As Gazans start to venture out on to the streets again after 22-days of bombardment by the Israeli military, residents share their firsthand experience with Al Jazeera.

Motasem Dalloul, a Gaza City resident and freelance journalist

"Here in Gaza, the Gazans have not slept for the noise of the helicopters, of the Israeli drones and the artillery shelling. These things were continuous all night and until now.

I am now speaking with you while walking on the street and, in order to hear you, I am putting my finger on the other ear in order not to hear the noise of the drones and the helicopters in the skies of Gaza.

There was many artillery shelling, there was sporadic helicopter shooting, there was a clear attack on a certain area of the Gaza Strip.

People are still afraid to return back to their homes after they have heard about the unilateral ceasefire because they know the Israelis may break this ceasefire easily and also because they are hearing the sporadic shelling of the helicopters and the artillery shellings.

I am now walking in the streets alone. No one is walking. No one is going back to his home. No one is in the old area where I am living, it is empty.

I myself have returned to my house alone without my children and wife in order to look at my house."

Taghreed El-Khodary, a resident of Gaza City

"This is the first time that we, in a week, slept and Al Jazeera tonight, today woke me up.

I am hearing the drones still hovering in the skies of Gaza, continuously of course, to remind us that the Israelis are saying: 'We are still here.'

But all of a sudden I don't know why I'm crying, I just keep remembering all these women, the mothers, the fathers, that I interviewed who lost their loved ones and I don't now what kind of life they are going to have after this.

I remember those people who I interviewed, they lost parts of their bodies. How are they going to survive this? If anyone wants to help those people, the victims, the civilians, I think one must consider sending therapists.

There are many children that are extremely traumatised, the people in Gaza City, in the north are extremely traumatized.

There is no other option but to go out and to keep alive, to keep walking. Nobody will stop people now from moving around.

The fear will always be there and with the drones, the F-16 now, it will be there.

But what to do now for these people who stayed 21 days inside a classroom with 40 other people? They don't know.

You think they will stay in these Unrwa schools? No, they will go home.

Amr Moussa says the Kuwaiti talks are an opportunity for Palestinian unity [AFP]

"I call on the Arab summit to officially declare Israel as a terrorist state for the crime it did in Gaza"

Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president

Arab summit debates Gaza response

The crisis in Gaza is topping the agenda of Arab leaders who have gathered in Kuwait for a summit aimed at boosting regional economic growth.

King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia pledged on Monday to donate one billion dollars towards the reconstruction of the Palestinian coastal territory, which has faced deadly attacks by Israeli forces since December 27.

"On behalf of the Saudi people, I declare the donation of one billion dollars for programmes to rebuild Gaza," he said at the opening session of the summit on Monday.

"We have to overcome Arab political differences that led to a division in the Arab ranks which can be exploited by those who want to achieve their regional ambitions," he said.

The meeting in Kuwait City came a day after Hamas, which has de facto control of Gaza, announced a week-long ceasefire.

Israel late on Saturday declared a unilateral ceasefire in the territory but warned that its forces would respond to any attacks from Palestinian fighters.

Arab leaders gathered at the summit are expected to explore possibilities on how to set up a durable ceasefire and rebuild Gaza's devastated infrastructure.

At least 1,300 Palestinians have been killed over the course of the Israeli offensive, according to estimates from doctors in the territory, which Tel Aviv says is aimed at preventing rocket attacks from Hamas, which is in de facto control of Gaza.

Israeli says that 13 of its citizens have been killed during the conflict, including three civilians.

'United effort'

At least 17 Arab heads of state were attending the two-day talks, while senior representatives stood in for the other five member states of the Arab League.

Arab leaders have been divided on how to respond to Israel's assault on the Palestinian territory and have faced heavy criticism for their apparent inaction.

"In many ways, the Arab world was at a point of profound division until 48 hours ago - the sort of division that has not been seen since the early 1960s," Abdallah Schleifer, professor emeritus of the American University in Cairo, told Al Jazeera.

"This summit is critical in that it is an attempt to come to some sort of consensus between two rival Arab camps that have emerged over the last year."

Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, the Kuwaiti emir, said that those attending the summit would aim to lay out "practical steps to stabilise the ceasefire", as he opened the meeting.

Condemning the Israeli offensive as a "war crime and a crime against humanity", he called for "those responsible to be held accountable".

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president and head of Fatah, Hamas' main rival, said that Palestinian political groups should work together to form a national unity government.

"What is required today ... is to form a [Palestinian] national unity government which will then conduct presidential and legislative elections simultaneously," Abbas said at the summit.

"What is needed and necessary now is that all Palestinians should meet to reach an agreement."

His comments were echoed by Ban Ki-moon, secretary general of the United Nations, who was also attending the summit in Kuwait.

"The Palestinians themselves must face the challenge of reconciliation, and work to achieve a unified government under the leadership of President Abbas," Ban said.

"I call on all Arab leaders to unite and support this endeavour. We cannot rebuild Gaza without Palestinian unity."

Ban is set to visit the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, a spokesman for the Israeli foreign ministry said on Monday, marking the first visit to the territory by the UN chief since the Israeli offensive began.

"Ban is planning to begin his trip in Jerusalem and from there he will visit several UN sites in Gaza," Yossi Levy told AFP.

The UN leader will also visit the Israeli town of Sderot, which lies 5km from the Gaza border and which has been hit by thousands of rockets from Palestinian fighters in recent years.

Regional 'rapprochement'

Also at the summit, the leaders of five Arab states held sideline talks aimed at repairing relations.

Syria and Qatar held Kuwaiti-mediated discussions with Saudi Arabia and Egypt in an attempt to heal a rift over the Israeli offensive on Gaza.

“The meeting was important, clear, and sincere to bring deep reconciliation among the attending leaders. I believe we left the meeting with a new page of relations that should benefit and strengthen the Arab position," Hamed bin Jassim bin Jabr Al-Thani, Qatar's prime minister and foreign minister, said after the meeting.

While Qatar and Syria favour a firm stance on Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia has said that the conflict has its roots in the alleged interference of Iran.

"The meeting ended with a very positive note. Basically, the leaders were able to come together and reach a rapprochement in their views, in regard to Gaza," Mohammed Vall, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Kuwait City, said.

Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, had earlier come down hard against Israel at the summit.

"Arabs should declare an unequivocal support for the Palestinian  resistance ... I call on the Arab summit to officially declare Israel as a terrorist state for the crime it did in Gaza," he said.

"Ceasefire does not mean the end of aggression as the invading forces are still in Gaza," the Syrian leader said, urging "Arab solidarity... for our causes."

Ali Abdullah Saleh, the Yemeni president, said he intends to submit proposals to the summit to review all forms of co-operation with Israel and for "imposing an economic, political and military blockade on Israel."

Egypt and Jordan are the only Arab countries which have official ties with Israel.

Rival Palestinian groups must work
towards unity, Ban said [AFP]

Al-Assad, right, said the Palestinian resistance against Israel should continue [AFP]

Al-Assad, right, said the Palestinian resistance against Israel should continue [AFP]

Protesters called for the expulsion of the US ambassador to Lebanon

Lebanese protest targets US embassy

Several demonstrators have been injured in clashes between Lebanese security forces and protested who rallied in front of the US embassy near Beirut, Lebanon's capital.

More than 200 people carried Lebanese and Palestinian flags on Sunday to show their solidarity with the Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip.

Hanan Zbeeb, a protester, said: "We are here to protest against the aggression on Gaza and against the 1,200 martyrs and 5,500 wounded."

Members of the rally broke through barbed wire near the embassy, and security forces used tear gas and water cannon to disperse the crowd.

Some demonstrators regrouped and continued to protest, calling on the US ambassador to be expelled from the country.

Demonstrators had also placed dolls representing babies killed during Israeli's war on the barbed wire barricade outside the building.

The protest comes amid sporadic fire after Israel began a unilateral cessation of hostilities early on Sunday morning in its 22-day war on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, which has so far killed more than 1,200 people since December 27.

Khaled Meshaal, the exiled leader of Hamas, also called for Arab nations to cut ties with Israel [AFP]

Qatar, Mauritania cut Israel ties

Qatar and Mauritania have suspended economic and political ties with Israel in protest against the war in Gaza, Al Jazeera has learned.

The move announced on Friday followed calls by Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, and Khaled Meshaal, the exiled leader of Hamas, for all Arab nations to cut ties with Israel.

Addressing leaders at an emergency Arab summit in Doha, the Qatari capital, al-Assad declared that the Arab initiative for peace with Israel was now "dead".

He said Arab countries should cut "all direct and indirect" ties with Israel in protest against its offensive in Gaza.

Egypt and Jordan are the only Arab countries to have signed peace treaties with Israel and have Israeli embassies.

Summit demands

The Qatari-hosted Arab summit concluded on Friday with participants agreeing to present a Kuwaiti-hosted summit - to be held on Sunday - with a list of measures to end the conflict in Gaza.

Those measures include demanding that Israel stops its offensive in the Strip, is held responsible for "crimes" committed in Gaza and immediately re-opens all crossings.

The summit also agreed that all Arab countries should form a "sea-bridge" that would enable aid supplies to reach Gaza.

Speaking from Ankara, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, said Israel should be barred from the United Nations while it continues to ignore UN demands to end the fighting in Gaza.

"How is such a country, which totally ignores and does not implement resolutions of the UN Security Council, allowed to enter through the gates of the UN?" he said.

Erdogan's comments came hours ahead of Friday's official visit to Turkey by Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general.

The Turkish leader also added his voice to widespread condemnation of Israel's bombing of a UN compound in Gaza on Thursday.

"The UN building in Gaza was hit while the UN secretary-general was in Israel ... this is an open challenge to the world, teasing the world," he said.

Diplomatic efforts to broker a ceasefire have intensified over recent days with emergency meetings being held in Qatar, Turkey, Kuwait and Egypt.

Arab divisions

However, Friday's emergency summit in Doha has highlighted divisions within the Arab world, with Egypt and Saudi Arabia declining to attend, preferring instead to send delegates to a separate meeting of foreign ministers in Kuwait.

The Palestinian political factions Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) did attend the Doha summit.

Hashem Ahelbarra, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Doha, said the delegates recognised the legitimacy of the Gazan factions, whereas Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Western nations have sidelined them from ceasefire talks.

"You have two camps: The so-called moderate Arab countries, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, some Gulf monarchies like the UAE, and those who are trying to say that we totally disagree with the US attempt to implement a new Middle East."

Ahelbarra said the "moderate camp" is uncomfortable with Hamas's ties with Iran and suspects that the Iranian leadership is using some Arab countries to further its influence in the region.

He said that the latter group believes it has the duty to convey the anti-war feeling of the Arab street and condemn Israel's actions.

Talks are continuing in Cairo over an Egypt-sponsored truce, with Amos Gilad, the Israeli chief negotiator, telling Egyptian officials Israel wants an open-ended ceasefire.

Israel is demanding that rocket fire from Gaza ceases and that an international force is established to prevent weapons being smuggled into Gaza.

Hamas want Israeli troops to be withdrawn from the Gaza Strip immediately and for all border crossings into the territory to be permanently re-opened.

While Israel says it reserves the right to use military action if under threat, its emergency security cabinet is expected to vote on Saturday in favour of a unilateral ceasefire in Gaza, according to news agency AFP.

By Friday morning, 1,155 Palestinians have been killed and more than 5,200 injured since Israel launched its offensive on December 27. One third of the dead are children.

Qatar summit: Key points

The following demands will be taken to Sunday's Kuwait summit for pan-Arab approval:

 

- Strong condemnation of Israel

- Israel withdraws from Gaza

- Legal liability for Gaza "crimes"

- Re-opening of crossings

- "Sea-bridge" to supply Gaza

- Assist Palestinian reconciliation

- Establish Gaza rebuilding fund

Hundreds of civilians have died in Gaza since the Israeli offensive began on December 27 [Reuters]

Bolivia cuts Israel ties over Gaza

Bolivia, says he is breaking off ties with Israel in protest against its war in Gaza, which has left more than 1,000 Palestinians dead.

Morales said on Wednesday that he would seek to get top Israeli officials, including Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, charged with "genocide" in the International Criminal Court.

The Bolivian president also dismissed the United Nations and its "Insecurity Council" for its "lukewarm" response to the crisis and said the general assembly should hold an emergency session to condemn the invasion.

"Considering these grave attacks against ... humanity, Bolivia will stop having diplomatic relations with Israel," Morales told diplomats in the Bolivian capital, La Paz.

He also said that Shimon Peres, the Israeli president, should be stripped of
his Nobel Peace Prize for failing to stop the invasion.

Palestinian 'holocaust'

Morales's move follows the decision by his ally Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president, to expel Israel's ambassador and embassy staff last week because of the offensive, calling it a "holocaust".

On Wednesday, Venezuela's foreign ministry said it had broken off diplomatic relations with Israel over the Gaza offensive.

Venezuela "has decided to break off diplomatic relations with the state of Israel given the inhumane persecution of the Palestinian people", the foreign ministry said.

More than 1,000 Palestinians have now died in Israel's offensive in Gaza, around 40 per cent of whom were civilians, aid agencies and Palestinian medics say.

Thirteen Israelis have also died, four from rocket fire from Gaza.

"He [Bush] gave an order to the secretary of state and she did not vote in favour of it, a resolution she cooked up, phrased, organised and manoeuvred for"

Ehud Olmert

  Olmert, left, described Bush as "an
unparalleled friend" of Israel [AFP]

US denies Olmert influenced UN vote

The US has denied that a telephone call made by Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, to George Bush, the US president, led to the US abstaining in a UN vote on the Gaza war last week.

In a speech late on Monday, Olmert said Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, was left "pretty shamed" at the vote and had to abstain on a resolution she had helped arrange.

Sean McCormack, a US state department spokesmen, who was with Rice at the UN last week during debate on the security council resolution, said the remarks were "just 100 per cent, totally, completely untrue".

McCormack said that Washington had no plans to seek clarification from Israel.

Mark Regev, a spokesman for Ehud Olmert, said the Israeli leader stood by his remarks.

Telephone influence

The Israeli prime minister said on Monday that he demanded to talk to Bush last Thursday, minutes before a vote in the UN Security Council on a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

"When we saw that Rice, for reasons we did not really understand, wanted to vote in favour of the resolution ... I looked for President Bush," Olmert said.

Bush, who Olmert said was taken off a stage in Philadelphia where he was making a speech, said he was not informed on the resolution and was "not familiar with the phrasing".

"I'm familiar with it. You can't vote in favour." Olmert claimed telling the US president.

"He [Bush] gave an order to the secretary of state and she did not vote in favour of it, a resolution she cooked up, phrased, organised and manoeuvred for," Olmert said.

Bush was in Philadelphia on Thursday morning and gave a 27-minute speech on education policy that ended about 10 hours before the UN vote and there was no interruption of the public event.

The Israeli prime minister described Bush as an "unparalleled friend" of Israel.

UN call

Fourteen of the security council's 15 members supported the legally binding resolution, which has until now failed to stop Israel's offensive in Gaza.

Olmert criticised the UN resolution, saying that "no decision, present or future, will deny us our basic right to defend the residents of Israel".

Israel launched its offensive on December 27, in what it said was an attempt to stop Hamas firing rockets into southern Israel from Gaza.
 
After an intensive air campaign in the first week, Israel sent ground forces into Gaza in the second week of fighting and continues to push deeper into the strip. 

Olmert call 'behind US abstention'

Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, has said a last-minute telephone call to George Bush forced the US to abstain in a crucial UN vote on the Gaza war.

In a speech late on Monday, Olmert said Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, was left "pretty shamed" at the vote and had to abstain on a resolution she had personally arranged.

The Israeli prime minister narrated how he demanded to talk to Bush last Thursday, minutes before a vote in the UN Security Council on a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

"When we saw that Rice, for reasons we did not really understand, wanted to vote in favour of the resolution ... I looked for President Bush," Olmert said.

Bush, who apparently was taken off a stage in Philadelphia where he was making a speech, said he was not informed on the resolution and was "not familiar with the phrasing."

"I'm familiar with it. You can't vote in favour." Olmert claimed telling the US president.

"He [Bush] gave an order to the secretary of state and she did not vote in favour of it, a resolution she cooked up, phrased, organised and manoeuvred for," Olmert said.

The Israeli PM described Bush as an "unparalleled friend" of Israel.

UN call

Fourteen of the Security Council's 15 members supported the resolution, which has until now failed to stop Israel's operation in Gaza.

Olmert criticised the UN resolution, saying that "no decision, present or future, will deny us our basic right to defend the residents of Israel".

Israel launched its offensive on December 27, in what it said was an attempt to stop Hamas firing rockets into southern Israel from Gaza.
 
After a first week of intense air campaign, Israel sent ground forces into Gaza in the second week of fighting and is now making its deepest push into the Strip.

Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann has been a vocal
critic of the Israeli offensive [Al Jazeera]

Israel 'breaking law' with Gaza war

The president of the United Nations General Assembly has accused Israel of violating international law with its war on Gaza in which almost 1,100 Palestinians have been killed, nearly half of them civilians.

"Gaza is ablaze. It has been turned into a burning hell," Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann told an emergency session of the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday.

He said Israel's offensive was "a war against a helpless, defenceless and imprisoned people" and accused Israel of carrying out attacks on civilian targets.

"The violations of international law inherent in the Gaza assault have been well documented: collective punishment, disproportionate military force [and] attacks on civilian targets, including homes, mosques, universities, schools," he said.

He also rebuked UN member-states for their lack of action over the crisis, saying: "The [UN Security Council] may have found itself unable or unwilling to take the necessary steps to impose an immediate ceasefire, but outsourcing that effort to one or two governments, or through the quartet, does not relieve the council of its own responsibilities under the UN charter.

"The council cannot disavow its collective responsibility. It cannot continue to fiddle while Gaza burns."

Ryad Mansour, the Palestinian observer at the UN, called for an independent investigation of Israel's "grave breaches and systematic violations of international law".

"Since this crisis began, it is without a doubt that a multitude of war crimes have been perpetrated by the occupying power [Israel]," he said while also calling for "measures for the protection of the defenceless Palestinian civilian population."

Gabriela Shalev, the Israeli ambassador to the UN, dismissed the session as a "cynical, hateful and politicised [attempt] to de-legitimize Israel's fundamental right to defend its citizens".

Gaza war 'genocide'

The emergency meeting had been requested by the 118-member UN member states making up the non-aligned movement.

An Israeli delegate had sought to block the session on procedural grounds by arguing that under the UN charter the 192-member assembly could not rule on a matter already being tackled by the Security Council, but the move was dismissed.

D'Escoto noted that the Security Council last week had called for a Gaza ceasefire leading to the withdrawal of Israeli forces.

"Prime Minister Olmert's recent statement disavowing the authority of Resolution 1860 [the Security Council resolution] clearly places Israel as a state in contempt of international law and the United Nations," d'Escoto added.

He urged the assembly to agree its own non-binding assembly resolution reflecting "the urgency of our commitment to end this slaughter" in Gaza.

Israel has continued its offensive regardless of the resolution which was also rejected by Hamas.

D'Escoto, a former Nicaraguan foreign minister, told Al Jazeera on Tuesday that Israel's killings of Palestinians in Gaza amounted to "genocide".

Almost 1,100 Palestinians have been killed during Israel's Gaza offensive, which Israel says is to stop Palestinian rocketfire coming from Gaza.

Almunia says he is not worried that the eurozone area would break apart [EPA]

Europe to suffer 'deep recession'

The European economy will shrink nearly two per cent this year as a severe recession drives unemployment and government deficits to levels not seen for years, the European Commission (EC) has forecast.

After growing one per cent in 2008, the 27-nation economy of the European Union is poised to contract by 1.8 per cent this year, the EC said in a dramatic downward revision of its forecasts.

Predicting that the roots of recovery will only take hold in the middle of the year, the commission forecast that the EU would achieve economic growth of only 0.5 per cent in 2010.

The outlook was marginally worse for the 16 countries sharing the euro, which the commission forecast would see their combined economy shrink by 1.9 per cent this year after growing 0.9 per cent in 2008.

The forecast marked a severe downward revision from the EC's last estimate in November, when it predicted that the eurozone economy would eke out growth of 0.1 per cent.

Unemployment levels

With the eurozone economy suffering from a 9.2 per cent drop in business investment this year, it too would only begin picking up in the middle of the year before managing to grow 0.4 per cent in 2010, the commission said.

At the same time, unemployment will climb to levels not seen in Europe for over a decade.

The commission forecast that the eurozone jobless rate would rise from 7.5 per cent in 2008 to 9.3 per cent this year and hit 10.2 per cent in 2010.

This would bring it over the 10 per cent mark for the first time since 1998.

With their economies in a tailspin, European governments pledged in December to pump a combined $265bn into a Europe-wide economic stimulus package.
 
Joaquin Almunia, the EU economic and monetary affairs commissioner, said: "The measures to stabilise the financial market, the easing of monetary policies and the economic recovery plans will enable us to put a floor under the deterioration of the economy this year."

Deficit surge

As governments commit billions of dollars to trying to revive their economies and bail out their banks, public deficits in the eurozone are expected to swell from 1.7 per cent of output in 2008 to four per cent in 2009 and 4.4 per cent in 2010.

However, the EC cautioned that some countries would see much more dramatic downturns than others, with the financial crisis and housing market crashes taking a heavy toll on the Irish and Spanish economies in particular.

Spain will see its unemployment rate surge from 11.3 per cent in 2008 to 16.1 per cent in 2009 and to 18.7 perc ent in 2010.

In Ireland, the deficit is expected to increase from 6.3 per cent in 2008 to 11 per cent in 2009 and 13 per cent in 2010.

Greece's deficit

Meanwhile, following a rise in Greece's deficit, Standard and Poor's has cut its rating on the country's debt.

However, Almunia dismissed concerns that the move targeting Greece was an ominous sign that the shared-currency bloc could break apart.

He said it was normal for markets to demand different rates according to the perception of risks.

"I am not worried at all by those who have announced for 10 years in a row that the euro area will split. Honestly I dont think that this is a real hypothesis," he said.

Click here for a live Discussion of the Arab
divide over the Gaza war - 17 Jan 09

News Middle East


Egypt summit backs peace efforts

Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's president, has called for the international community to support ongoing efforts to achieve a lasting peace in the Gaza Strip.

He spoke on Sunday as the host of a summit of European and Middle East leaders on the Gaza crisis.

The meeting was held in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Sunday, as both Hamas and Israel announced unilateral ceasefire.

No unanimous position statement came out of the summit, but all the leaders emphasised the need to deal with Gaza's immediate humanitarian and reconstructions needs.

They also stressed the need to work towards a more permanent resolution to the conflict.

Meeting with Olmert

After the summit, the European leaders who participated travelled to Israel where they met Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister.

Olmert told them he wanted to pull Israel's forces out of the Gaza Strip as soon as possible following.

"We are interested in quitting the Gaza Strip at the greatest possible speed. We don't want to stay in Gaza and we intend to leave it as quickly as possible," he said.

Before heading to Israel, Nicolas Sarkozy, France's president, said: "We will now head to Israel, in order to convey a message. We support Israel in order to achieve its rights and security.

"However, Israel should state immediately and clearly that if rocket fire stops, the Israeli army will leave Gaza. There is no other solution to achieve peace."

Earlier, at the Sharm el-Sheikh meeting, Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president who is based in the West Bank, expressed hope that the ceasefire will be lasting and that the Palestinians will now be given access to humanitarian support and assistance.

"We also call for a reconstruction conference and a national conference to discuss reconciliation, but all these issues can be discussed later on," he said.

"The utmost urgency was to stop the war and the hostilities. That has happened and we hope it will be lasting."

The summit was also attended by the presidents of France, Turkey and Jordan, secretaries-general of the United Nations and the Arab League, prime ministers of the UK, Italy, Spain, Czech Republic and Germany's chancellor.

Hamas, which forms the de facto government in Gaza, had not been invited.

Irrelevant leaders

Mouin Rabbani, a contributing editor to the Middle East Report magazine, dismissed the significance of the Sharm el-Sheikh summit.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, he said: "What we are seeing now is a sideshow by people who through their own misjudgments, miscalculations, and ill-advised alliances, have sidelined and marginalised themselves, and made themselves irrelevant to the objectives they are seeking to achieve."

Rabbani also said the leaders talked about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza as if it had been caused by an earthquake.

"I'm speechless, that you can, in 2009, have a major international gathering to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and have a whole series of keynote addresses, in which the word occupation isn't mentioned even once."

Al Jazeera's Amr El Kahky, reporting from the summit, said that even though no unified statement was agreed, there were positive bits and pieces for all parties.

"For Israel, the security guarantees, to stop the smuggling of arms, that Hamas will not rearm again. At the same time, they spoke for the first time about ending the blockade, of reopening the crossing points and getting the peace process back on track."

Ceasefire 'insufficient'

Mubarak met Abbas in Cairo on Sunday before the Sharm el-Sheikh summit to discuss how to open Gaza's border crossings and mobilise humanitarian aid in the territory.

Abbas said "the ceasefire is important and necessary but insufficient".

"There must be a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a reopening of crossing points to allow the arrival of aid to the Palestinian people of Gaza," he said, as quoted by MENA, the official Egyptian news agency.

Mubarak is expected to travel to Kuwait on Monday for an Arab economic summit, which has shifted its focus to the crisis in Gaza.

Arab leaders have faced sharp criticism for an apparent lack of action over Israel's offensive in Gaza, and even organising a meeting has highlighted deep divisions.

An emergency summit held in Doha earlier in the week saw Qatar and Mauritania severing ties with Israel, while Egypt and Saudi Arabia refused to attend.

 

The European leaders travelled to Israel late on Sunday hold talks with Olmert [AFP]

Abbas called for a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from within the Gaza Strip [AFP]

Khaled Meshaal-political leader of Hamas

War on Gaza

Arab-Israelis lament war in Gaza- Arabs in Israel say war has increased divisions between Israeli-Arabs and Jews

Twitter: Live Gaza war updates


Gaza City’s al-Shifa hospital has been swamped with civilian casualties [AFP]

Stay up to date with all the latest developments on the Israeli asault on Gaza, including reports from our correspondents in and around the Gaza Strip with Al Jazeera's Gaza Twitter channel.


Gazans inspect the damage after an air strike hit a mosque [GALLO/GETTY]

Support for the war remains high in Israel[GALLO/GETTY]

Who will save Israel from itself?

By Mark LeVine

The Israeli government's justifications for the war are being scrutinised [GALLO/GETTY]

One by one the justifications given by Israel for its latest war in Gaza are unravelling.

The argument that this is a purely defensive war, launched only after Hamas broke a six-month ceasefire has been challenged, not just by observers in the know such as Jimmy Carter, the former US president who helped facilitate the truce, but by centre-right Israeli intelligence think tanks.

The Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, whose December 31 report titled "Six Months of the Lull Arrangement Intelligence Report," confirmed that the June 19 truce was only "sporadically violated, and then not by Hamas but instead by ... "rogue terrorist organisations".

Instead, "the escalation and erosion of the lull arrangement" occurred after Israel killed six Hamas members on November 4 without provocation and then placed the entire Strip under an even more intensive siege the next day.

According to a joint Tel Aviv University-European University study, this fits a larger pattern in which Israeli violence has been responsible for ending 79 per cent of all lulls in violence since the outbreak of the second intifada, compared with only 8 per cent for Hamas and other Palestinian factions.

Indeed, the Israeli foreign ministry seems to realise that this argument is losing credibility.

During a conference call with half a dozen pro-Israel professors on Thursday, Asaf Shariv, the Consul General of Israel in New York, focused more on the importance of destroying the intricate tunnel system connecting Gaza to the Sinai.

He claimed that such tunnels were "as big as the Holland and Lincoln tunnels," and offered as proof the "fact" that lions and monkeys had been smuggled through them to a zoo in Gaza. In reality, the lions were two small cubs that were drugged, thrown in sacks, and dragged through a tunnel on their way to a private zoo.

Israel's self-image

The claim that Hamas will never accept the existence of Israel has proved equally misinformed, as Hamas leaders explicitly announce their intention to do just that in the pages of the Los Angeles Times or to any international leader or journalist who will meet with them.

With each new family, 10, 20 and 30 strong, buried under the rubble of a building in Gaza, the claim that the Israeli forces have gone out of their way to diminish civilian casualties - long a centre-piece of Israel's image as an enlightened and moral democracy - is falling apart.

Anyone with an internet connection can Google "Gaza humanitarian catastrophe" and find the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Territories and read the thousands of pages of evidence documenting the reality of the current fighting, and the long term siege on Gaza that preceded it.

The Red Cross, normally scrupulous in its unwillingness to single out parties to a conflict for criticism, sharply criticised Israel for preventing medical personnel from reaching wounded Palestinians, some of whom remained trapped for days, slowly starving and dying in the Gazan rubble amidst their dead relatives.

Meanwhile, the United Nations has flatly denied Israeli claims that Palestinian fighters were using the UNRWA school compound bombed on January 6, in which 40 civilians were killed, to launch attacks, and has challenged Israel to prove otherwise.

War crimes admission

Additionally, numerous flippant remarks by senior Israeli politicians and generals, including Tzipi Livni, the foreign minister, refusing to make a distinction between civilian people and institutions and fighters - "Hamas doesn't ... and neither should we" is how Livni puts it - are rightly being seen as admissions of war crimes.

Indeed, in reviewing statements by Israeli military planners leading up to the invasion, it is clear that there was a well thought out decision to go after Gaza's civilian infrastructure - and with it, civilians.

The following quote from an interview with Major-General Gadi Eisenkot that appeared in the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth in October, is telling:

"We will wield disproportionate power against every village from which shots are fired on Israel, and cause immense damage and destruction. From our perspective these [the villages] are military bases," he said.

"This isn't a suggestion. This is a plan that has already been authorised."

Causing "immense damage and destruction" and considering entire villages "military bases" is absolutely prohibited under international law.

Eisenkot's description of this planning in light of what is now unfolding in Gaza is a clear admission of conspiracy and intent to commit war crimes, and when taken with the comments above, and numerous others, renders any argument by Israel that it has tried to protect civilians and is not engaging in disproportionate force unbelievable.

International laws violated

On the ground, the evidence mounts ever higher that Israel is systematically violating a host of international laws, including but not limited to Article 56 of the IV Hague Convention of 1907, the First Additional Protocol of the Geneva Convention, the Fourth Geneva Convention (more specifically known as the "Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August 1949", the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the principles of Customary International Humanitarian Law.

None of this excuses or legitimises the firing of rockets or mortars by any Palestinian group at Israeli civilians and non-military targets.

As Richard Falk, the UN special rapporteur, declared in his most recent statement on Gaza: "It should be pointed out unambiguously that there is no legal (or moral) justification for firing rockets at civilian targets, and that such behavior is a violation of IHR, associated with the right to life, as well as constitutes a war crime."

By the same logic, however, Israel does not have the right to use such attacks as an excuse to launch an all-out assault on the entire population of Gaza.

In this context, even Israel's suffering from the constant barrage of rockets is hard to pay due attention to when the numbers of dead and wounded on each side are counted. Any sense of proportion is impossible to sustain with such a calculus.

'Rogue' state

Israeli commentators and scholars, self-described "loyal" Zionists who served proudly in the army in wars past, are now publicly describing their country, in the words of Oxford University professor Avi Shlaim, as a "rogue" and gangster" state led by "completely unscrupulous leaders".
Neve Gordon, a politics professor at Ben Gurion University, has declared that Israel's actions in Gaza are like "raising animals for slaughter on a farm" and represent a "bizarre new moral element" in warfare.

"The moral voice of restraint has been left behind ... Everything is permitted" against Palestinians, writes a disgusted Haaretz columnist, Gideon Levy.

Fellow Haaretz columnist and daughter of Holocaust survivors, Amira Haas writes of her late parents disgust at how Israeli leaders justified Israel's wars with a "language laundromat" aimed at redefining reality and Israel's moral compass. "Lucky my parents aren't alive to see this," she exclaimed.

Around the world people are beginning to compare Israel's attack on Gaza, which after the 2005 withdrawal of Israeli forces and settlers was turned literally into the world's largest prison, to the Jewish uprising in the Warsaw Ghetto.

Extremist Muslims are using internet forums to collect names and addresses of prominent European Jews with the goal, it seems clear, of assassinating them in retaliation for Israel's actions in Gaza.

Al-Qaeda is attempting to exploit this crisis to gain a foothold in Gaza and Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon and Syria, as well as through attacking Jewish communities globally.

Iran's defiance of both Israel and its main sponsor, the US, is winning it increasing sympathy with each passing day.

Democratic values eroded

Inside Israel, the violence will continue to erode both democratic values in the Jewish community, and any acceptance of the Jewish state's legitimacy in the eyes of its Palestinian citizens.

And yet in the US - at least in Washington and in the offices of the mainstream Jewish organisations - the chorus of support for Israel's war on Gaza continues to sing in tight harmony with official Israeli policy, seemingly deaf to the fact that they have become so out of tune with the reality exploding around them.

At my university, UCI, where last summer Jewish and Muslim students organised a trip together through the occupied territories and Israel so they could see with their own eyes the realities there, old battle lines are being redrawn.

The Anteaters for Israel, the college pro-Israel group at the University of California, Irvine, sent out an urgent email to the community explaining that, "Over the past week, increasing amounts of evidence lead us to believe that Hamas is largely responsible for any alleged humanitarian crisis in Gaza".

I have no idea who the "us" is that is referred to in the appeal, although I am sure that the membership of that group is shrinking.

Indeed, one of the sad facts of this latest tragedy is that with each claim publicly refuted by facts on the ground, more and more Americans, including Jews, are refusing to trust the assertions of Israeli and American Jewish leaders.

Trap

Even worse, in the Arab/Muslim world, the horrific images pouring out of Gaza daily are allowing preachers and politicians to deploy well-worn yet still dangerous and inciteful stereotypes against Jews as they rally the masses against Israel - and through it - their own governments.

What is most frightening is that the most important of Israel's so-called friends, the US political establishment and the mainstream Jewish leadership, seem clueless to the devastating trap that Israel has led itself into - in good measure with their indulgence and even help.

It is one that threatens the country's existence far more than any Qassam rockets, with their 0.4 per cent kill rate; even more than the disastrous 2006 invasion of southern Lebanon, which by weakening Israel's deterrence capability in some measure made this war inevitable.

First, it is clear that Israel cannot destroy Hamas, it cannot stop the rockets unless it agrees to a truce that will go far to meeting the primary demand of Hamas - an end to the siege.

Merely by surviving (and it surely will survive) Hamas, like Hezbollah in 2006, will have won.
Israel is succeeding in doing little more than creating another generation of Palestinians with hearts filled with rage and a need for revenge.

Second, Israel's main patron, the US, along with the conservative Arab autocracies and monarchies that are its only allies left in the Muslim world, are losing whatever crumbs of legitimacy they still had with their young and angry populations.

The weaker the US and its axis becomes in the Middle East, the more precarious becomes Israel's long-term security. Indeed, any chance that the US could convince the Muslim world to pressure Iran to give up its quest for nuclear weapons has been buried in Gaza.

Third, as Israel brutalises Palestinians, it brutalises its own people. You cannot occupy another people and engage in violence against them at this scale without doing even greater damage to your soul.

The high incidence of violent crimes committed by veterans returning from combat duty in Iraq is but one example of how the violence of occupation and war eat away at people's moral centre.

While in the US only a small fraction of the population participates in war; in Israel, most able-bodied men end up participating.

The effects of the latest violence perpetrated against Palestinians upon the collective Israeli soul is incalculable; the notion that it can survive as an "ethnocracy" - favouring one ethnic group, Jews, yet by and large democratic - is becoming a fiction.

Violence-as-power

Who will save Israel from herself?

Israelis are clearly incapable. Their addiction as a society to the illusion of violence-as-power has reached the level of collective mental illness.

As Haaretz reporter Yossi Melman described it on January 10, "Israel has created an image of itself of a madman that has lost it".

Not Palestinians, too many of whom have fallen prey to the same condition.

Not the Middle East Quartet, the European Union, the United Nations, or the Arab League, all of whom are utterly powerless to influence Israeli policy.

Not the organised Jewish leadership in the US and Europe, who are even more blind to what is happening than most Israelis, who at least allow internal debate about the wisdom of their government's policies.

Not the growing progressive Jewish community, which will need years to achieve enough social and political power to challenge the status quo.

And not senior American politicians and policy-makers who are either unwilling to risk alienating American Jewish voters, or have been so brainwashed by the constant barrage of propaganda put out by the "Israel Lobby" that they are incapable of reaching an independent judgment about the conflict.

During the US presidential race, Barack Obama was ridiculed for being a messiah-like figure. The idea does not sound so funny now. It is hard to imagine anyone less saving Israel, the Palestinians, and the world from another four years of mindless violence.

Update: In a further challenge to the democratic process in Israel, on January 12, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that the Central Elections Committee had voted overwhelmingly to bar Arab-led parties from participating in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Also, there are reports that the claim that extremist Muslims are using the internet to collect names and addresses of prominent British Jews in order to attack them, might in fact have been a hoax.

Mark LeVine is a professor of Middle East history at the University of California, Irvine, and is the author of Heavy Metal Islam: Rock, Resistance, and the Struggle for the Soul of Islam and the soon to be published An Impossible Peace: Israel/Palestine Since 1989.

The views expressed by the author are not necessarily those of Al Jazeera.

Israel border residents mixed on ceasefire

The decision by Israel's leaders to declare a unilateral ceasefire in Gaza has prompted mixed feelings among people living in its southern towns along the border with the Palestinian territory.

Barnaby Phillips reports from the town of Sderot, which in recent years has been hit by hundreds of rockets launched by Palestinian fighters based in Gaza.

More from: AljazeeraEnglish

Click here to ses and here Family members die in Israeli house demolition

Israeli forces demolished the house of the Sammouni family in Gaza City after ordering them to remain in it for safety.

Twenty-seven members of the family died and another 90 Gazans remained trapped under the rubble, with rescue efforts hampered by Israeli forces.

Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros reports.

Nicolaides said the novel was his take on political and social life in contemporary Thailand [Reuters]

Critics say the laws against insulting Thailand's royal family are outdated [AFP]

Author guilty of Thai king insult

"I would like to apologise. This can't be real. It feels like a bad dream"

Harry Nicolaides

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2009/01/200911942531718232.html

A court in Thailand has sentenced an Australian author to three years in jail after finding him guilty of insulting the country's royal family. Appearing in a Bangkok court house on Monday, Harry Nicolaides, had pleaded guilty to the charges, related to a 2005 novel he authored which reportedly sold just seven copies. He was convicted under Thailand's strict lese majeste laws, designed to protect the royal family but which activists say are outdated and stifle free speech. Passing the court's verdict, the judge initially sentenced Nicolaides to six years in jail, but reduced the sentence to three years because of his guilty plea. Speaking in court earlier, Nicolaides, who was shackled at the ankles and wore a prison uniform, said he had endured "unspeakable suffering" since his arrest five months ago and that the case had taken a toll on his health and family. "I would like to apologise," he said, breaking down in tears. "This can't be real. It feels like a bad dream." He said he had "unqualified respect for the king of Thailand" and had not intended to insult him. The case comes as Thai authorities step up prosecutions under the country's controversial laws on lese majeste or insulting the monarchy, which mandates a severe sentence for "whoever defames, insults or threatens the king, the queen, the heir to the throne or the regent".

He had faced a jail term of up to 15 years.

Arrest

Nicolaides, who lived in Thailand from 2003-2005 and taught in the northern city of Chiang Rai, was arrested in August at Bangkok's international airport as he was about to board a flight home to Melbourne. The author was unaware of a warrant issued in March for his arrest in connection with his novel, Verisimilitude, rights group Reporters Without Borders said. The group had urged the Thai authorities to drop the charges against him and to release him. Nicolaides has described his book as a commentary on political and social life of contemporary Thailand, saying it was "never intended to threaten or defame the royal family".

Laws 'outdated'

Several academics, authors and journalists are also currently facing similar charges under the lese majeste laws. Free speech activists have condemned the laws as outdated, saying it has no place in a democracy.

Sulak Sivaraksa, a Bangkok-based social activist, said many people were critical of the strict monarchy laws in private but did not have the courage to speak up openly about changing it.
  "The lese majeste laws have mostly been used by politicians to get rid of or to silence the opposition," he told Al Jazeera, adding that even the king had a few years ago said that the law was harmful to him and detrimental to the monarchy. "I think we should be brave to do something to have this law changed," Sulak said. "Unfortunately in this country the people generally have no moral courage." Giles Ungpakorn, a Thai academic who is himself facing charges of lese majeste, said the laws undermined democratic rights to free speech. "This law is not about protecting the monarchy, it's about certain groups trying to protect their privilege and their power," he told Al Jazeera. "Thailand is supposed to be a democracy. And in a democracy you're supposed to be entitled to free speech." The severity of the lese majeste laws was highlighted last year when a Swiss man, apparently acting in a drunken frenzy, was found guilty and sentenced to 10 years for defacing images of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world's longest-serving monarch. He was pardoned by the king after serving about a month in jail. Last week Thailand's new prime minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, told reporters the monarchy had to be protected because it has "immense benefits to the country as a stabilising force", adding that his government would try to ensure the law is not abused.

Gus McCann, Ireland's new Bob Dylan and  Eliah the amazing 12 string guitarist from California
out celebrating the 2008 Dublin Fringe Festival Gus McCann comes back to his roots in Dublin to sing


Chapmans Limited part owner of a new
 BrokeBack Mountain Film called
BrokeBack Mountain -The Untold Story
see www.YahooUSANews.com and www.YahooUKNews.com
"BrokeBack Mountain - The Untold Story"

A new screen play

Jewish Voice for Peace
       Israelis and Palestinians Tow Peoples....On Future

Tashlich: Justice and recommitment to something bigger than ourselves

The Nakba, Palestinians, and Organizations Working on Palestinian Issues

Gaza Downloadable Posters

Gaza Action and Information Center

Watch video of the JVP National Conference

Important new book on Jews and Palestinians: Broken Promises, Broken Dreams

JVP In-Depth: After Lebanon

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Israeli Palestinian Conflict 101

Booklist

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The Nakba, Palestinians, and Organizations Working on Palestinian Issues

E

JVP's statement on the Nakba and Israel's 60th anniversary.

Download JVP's informational fact sheets about the Nakba and Jews in the Middle East. 
  





























General Resources

BADIL, Resource Center for Palestinian Residency & Refugee Rights

• Publications

http://www.badil.org/Publications/publications.htm

• Electronic library with articles and monographs

http://www.badil.org/e-library/e-library.htm

• List of organizations that work on Palestinian refugee issues:

http://www.badil.org/Links/links.htm

American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), Middle East Peacebuilding Unit

• Discussion on Carter’s Peace Not Apartheid:

http://afsc.org/carter-discussion/

• Fact sheets in Israel/Palestine:

http://afsc.org/israel-palestine/learn/default.htm

• Reading list:

http://afsc.org/israel-palestine/learn/reading.htm

US Campaign to End the Occupation

• Understanding the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: A Primer, by Phyllis Bennis

http://endtheoccupation.org/article.php?list=type&type=52

• Palestinian Right of Return Fact Sheet:

http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?list=type&type=52

• Los Angeles Teaching Curricula on Israel and Palestine:

http://www.afsc.org/pacificsw/curricula-ip.htm

Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA)

• Reading list:

http://www.mecaforpeace.org/article.php?id=116

United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA):

http://www.un.org/unrwa/english.html

Films

Al Nakba: The Palestinian Catastrophe 1948,Benny Brunner and Alexandra Jansse, 1998

http://www.arabfilm.com/item/2/ ; contact institutions@arabfilm.com

AFSC’s list of Israel-Palestine films:

http://afsc.org/israel-palestine/learn/films.htm

• Frontiers of Dreams and Fears by Mai Masri/Jean Chamoun, Documentary, Palestine, 2001, 56 minutes, Arabic with English subtitles. Available at Arab Film Distribution http://www.arabfilm.com/

• 500 Dunum on the Moon by Rachel Leah Jones, USA/France, 2002, 48 min. Arabic/Hebrew with English subtitles. Available at Arab Film Distribution http://www.arabfilm.com/

• The Children of Ibdaa: to Create Something out of Nothing by Documentary, S. Smith Patrick, 2002, 30 min., Arabic with English subtitles. Available from the Middle East Children's Alliance http://www.mecaforpeace.org/ibdaamovie.html

• Collecting Stories from Exile: Chicago Palestinians Remember 1948
  Video documentary; AFSC Chicago, 1998. Available from AFSC Chicago http://www.afsc.org/chicago/middle-east/resources.htm

Quaker International Affairs Representatives, AFSC

http://afsc.org/israel-palestine/learn/Film-Series.htm

• Film: Children of the Nakba, Produced by MCC 2005 Length: 26 min. Available to borrow or buy, http://secure.mcc.org/mccstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=18

Other Films:

Forgiveness by Udi Aloni

http://www.forgivenessthefilm.com/

Route 181: Fragments of Journey to Palestine-Israel, Directed by Michel Khleifi and Eyal Sivan

Organizations

• ADRID Association for the Defense of the Rights of the Internally Displaced, http://www.ror194.org/index.php?lang=english
• BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights, www.badil.org
• Israeli and Palestinian population statistics, www.IsraeliPalestinianProCon.org
• Palestine Remembered, http://www.palestineremembered.com
• United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), www.un.org/unrwa
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights, http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html
• Zochrot, Remembering, www.zochrot.org

        US Campaign to end the Israel Occupation
"We aim to change those US policies that both sustain Israel's 41-year occupation of the Palestinian West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem, and deny equla rights to all." http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?list=type&type=52

Understanding the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: A Primer

PHYLLIS BENNIS If you have ever wondered “Why is there so much violence in the Middle East?”, “Who are the Palestinians?”, “What are the occupied territories?” or “What does Israel want?”, then this is the book for you. With straightforward language, Phyllis Bennis, longtime analyst of the region, answers basic questions about Israel and Israelis, Palestine and Palestinians, the US and the Middle East, Zionism and anti-Semitism; about complex issues ranging from the Oslo peace process to the election of Hamas. Together her answers provide a comprehensive understanding of the longstanding Palestinian–Israeli conflict. PART ONE:The CrisisPART TWO: The Other Players PART THREE: Recent History: The Beginning of the Crisis PART FOUR: Looking Backwards (1990-1991) PART FIVE: The Future PART SIX: Additional Resources This electronic version of the primer was made available to the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation with permission from the Trans-Arab Research Institute (TARI). TARI provides scholarly studies oriented towards understanding the present social, cultural, economic and political issues confronting Middle Eastern societies. This book is published by Olive Branch Press, an imprint of Interlink Publishing Group, Inc., which publishes socially and politically relevant non-fiction, concentrating on topics and areas of the world often ignored by the Western media. Titles also include works on a wide range of contemporary issues such as Middle East studies, African studies, women's studies, religion and translated works by academics of international stature. This book is also published in association with TARI. Send inquiries and orders for the hard copies of the primer by email to info@interlinkbooks.com. Bulk orders available. Phyllis Bennis is a fellow of the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, and Director of its New Internationalism Program. She is also a Fellow of the Transnational Institute in Amsterdam. Her areas include U.S. unilateralism and empire, the Middle East (particularly Israel-Palestine and Iraq), and US-United Nations relations. Her books include Before & After: U.S. Foreign Policy and the September 11th Crisis, Calling the Shots: How Washington Dominates Today's UN, and Beyond the Storm: A Gulf Crisis Reader. She is on the steering committee of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation and works closely with the United for Peace and Justice coalition in the U.S. and with numerous anti-war organizations in the global peace movement. Interlink Publishing 46 Crosby Street Northampton, MA 01060-1804 www.interlinkbooks.com (c) 2007. All maps courtesy of PASSIA unless otherwise noted in text. Front cover photo by George Azar PART ONE: The Crisis PART TWO: The Other Players PART THREE: Recent History PART FOUR: Looking Backwards (1990-91) PART FIVE: The Future PART SIX: Additional Resources For more information on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, please find below books, materials, and website links to centers that produce reports on current affairs, documents, maps and books, as well as to the work of some of the groups active in the cause of just peace.