1400 Israeli air strikes, over 1000 rockets fired, and Israel says there is much more to come. Over 200 Palestinians have been killed, 77% of them civilians, a quarter of them children. 1500 have been injured, 800 homes destroyed. Israeli prime minister Netanyahu says, “No international pressure will prevent us from striking.“
Israel’s barbaric bombardment of the most densely populated area on earth must stop now. Barack Obama, David Cameron and UK foreign secretary William Hague’s support for “Israel’s right to defend itself“ is nothing less than collusion with war crimes killing women, children and disabled people.
Please join the demonstration this Saturday, 19 July, assembling at 12 Noon outside Downing Street, London, before marching to the Israeli Embassy. Publicise it as widely as you can among your family, friends, in your workplace, college, local community etc. Israel’s crimes against humanity must stop now. Details of transport from various parts of the country can be found here. Volunteers needed to help steward on the day – please email alistair@stopwar.org.uk or call 020 7561 4830.
The demonstration is called by Stop the War Coalition, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, CND, Friends of Al Aqsa, British Muslim Initiative, War on Want, Islamic Forum of Europe, Palestinian Forum in Britain
I hope it’s well attended. I can’t go.
Let’s consider the timeline for this, beginning with the breakdown of “peace” negotiations – which, although that was Israel’s preferred outcome, backfired in that the blame for failure was squarely placed on them. Humiliation, followed by fury at the Fatah/Hamas unity govt. Preparations were being made. Then two Palestinian boys killed by live fire on Nakba Day. More humiliation, as this was filmed by cctv & CNN. Former Amb Oren told Blitzer they might not even be dead. Then the abduction and killing of 3 Israeli youths in Palestine. (Here you might be shocked, if you’re not as cynical as me, to know that Israel found the bodies very quickly but concealed them until they were ready to “find” them – autopsy bears this out) For 18 days, Israel went on the rampage across the WBank, wrecking property, stealing over $3m of cash, jewellery, electronic goods, etc. *AND CARRIED OUT BOMBING RAIDS ON OVER 50 TARGETS IN GAZA WITHOUT HAMAS RETALIATING!* As well as several military incursions. Only the splinter groups and factions fired any (few) rockets into Israel. ONLY after a tunnel was bombed and 6 Hamas personnel killed did they RESPOND with their rocket fire. And this is what gave Israel its excuse to escalate their attacks into another onslaught of murder and mayhem. Israel, as the “belligerant occupier” (even its own High Court of Justice agrees) is the aggressor. It doesn’t matter how much, how often, its spokespeople witter and whine about a “right to defend itself”, the facts are that it is Gaza that is attempting futilely to defend itself!
Letter from Mads Gilbert (don’t know who/where it was first sent:
From: Mads Gilbert
Date: Fri, Jul 18, 2014 at 7:10 AM
Subject: Gaza needs you!
Dearest friends –
The last night was extreme. The “ground invasion” of Gaza resulted in scores and carloads with maimed, torn apart, bleeding, shivering, dying – all sorts of injured Palestinians, all ages, all civilians, all innocent.
The heroes in the ambulances and in all of Gaza’s hospitals are working 12-24hrs shifts, grey from fatigue and inhuman workloads (without payment all in Shifa for the last 4 months), they care, triage, try to understand the incomprehensible chaos of bodies, sizes, limbs, walking, not walking, breathing, not breathing, bleeding, not bleeding humans. HUMANS!
Now, once more treated like animals by “the most moral army in the world” (sic!).
My respect for the wounded is endless, in their contained determination in the midst of pain, agony and shock; my admiration for the staff and volunteers is endless, my closeness to the Palestinian “sumud” gives me strength, although in glimpses I just want to scream, hold someone tight, cry, smell the skin and hair of the warm child, covered in blood, protect ourselves in an endless embrace – but we cannot afford that, nor can they.
Ashy grey faces – Oh NO! not one more load of tens of maimed and bleeding, we still have lakes of blood on the floor in the ER, piles of dripping, blood-soaked bandages to clear out – oh – the cleaners, everywhere, swiftly shovelling the blood and discarded tissues, hair, clothes, cannulas – the leftovers from death – all taken away…to be prepared again, to be repeated all over. More then 100 cases came to Shifa last 24 hrs. enough for a large well trained hospital with everything, but here – almost nothing: electricity, water, disposables, drugs, OR-tables, instruments, monitors – all rusted and as if taken from museums of yesterdays hospitals.But they do not complain, these heroes. They get on with it, like warriors, head on, enormous resolute. And as I write these words to you, alone, on a bed, my tears flows, the warm but useless tears of pain and grief, of anger and fear. This is not happening!
An then, just now, the orchestra of the Israeli war-machine starts its gruesome symphony again, just now: salvos of artillery from the navy boats just down on the shores, the roaring F16, the sickening drones (Arabic ‘Zennanis’, the hummers), and the cluttering Apaches. So much made and paid in and by US.
Mr. Obama – do you have a heart?
I invite you – spend one night – just one night – with us in Shifa. Disguised as a cleaner, maybe.
I am convinced, 100%, it would change history.
Nobody with a heart AND power could ever walk away from a night in Shifa without being determined to end the slaughter of the Palestinian people.
But the heartless and merciless have done their calculations and planned another “dahyia” onslaught on Gaza.
The rivers of blood will keep running the coming night. I can hear they have tuned their instruments of death.
Please. Do what you can. This, THIS cannot continue.
Mads
Gaza, Occupied Palestine
Numbers are enclosed (last page in the MOH-report in English. The pictures are mine, taken some few hours ago, in the early morning hours of Friday July 18th 2014). More to come. I’m sorry to bug you).
Mads Gilbert MD PhD
Professor and Clinical Head
Clinic of Emergency Medicine
University Hospital of North Norway
N-9038 Tromsø, Norway
Eds – this is worthy of a page of its own.