GAZA: updates

Attacks Are Inhuman, Israeli Peace Activists Tell Olmert, Barak
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US Rabbis Urge Obama to Push for Immediate Gaza Truce
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Israelis Shell Hospitals and UN HQ
By Al Jazeera

Around 500 people were sheltering in the Al-Quds hospital in the city's southwestern Tal Al-Hawa district when it was bombed by Israeli jets and set ablaze on Thursday morning. Hospital officials said the fire was sparked by a "phosphorus shell".
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Gaza Witness Reports - Al Naakba 2009 By Vittorio Arrigoni PLEASE LISTEN to these words, this description of the agony of all humanity within this crowded prison of fear & hell! --They parade in fear, their eyes looking upwards, surrendering to the sky showering terror and death upon them, fearing the earth that keeps shaking under every step they take, opening craters where there were houses, schools, universities, markets, hospitals, and burying their lives within them forever.
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Ismail Haniyeh: My message to the West - Israel Must Stop the Slaughter
By Ismail Haniyeh, Prime Minister of Gaza

Ultimately, the Palestinians are a people struggling for freedom from occupation and the establishment of an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital and the return of refugees to their villages from which they were expelled. Whatever the cost, the continuation of Israel's massacres will neither break our will nor our aspiration for freedom and independence.
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The Sources of Arabs' Shame: Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia
By Dr. Abbas Bakhtiar

People not familiar with the political landscape of the area often see the Middle East as two camps, Arab countries on one side and Israel on the other. The reality is totally different. Israel has seldom been alone. Beside its usual American, French, British and other staunch allies, she has had the hidden backing of several Arab countries.
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Israel Bars Arab Parties From Election - Left Claims Ban is 'Patriotic'
By Jonathan Cook in Nazareth (one of the most informed & experienced reporters from the West who has lived in this area for years)--In an unprecedented move signaling a further breakdown in Jewish-Arab relations inside Israel, ALL the main Jewish parties voted on Monday for the blanket disqualification. Several committee members equated the Arab parties' vocal support for the Gazan people with support for terrorism. (How blind & deaf!)
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International Criminal Court Prosecutor Says Has No Jurisdiction In Gaza
By Reuters --Israel and the United States are not among the 108 countries that have signed the Rome Statute creating the court, but that would not prevent the ICC from launching an investigation.
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Almost 1,100 People Killed : 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.
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More Than 300 Children 'paying price of Gaza war':

More than 300 children have been killed and hundreds more wounded in Israel's aerial and ground assault, Ann Veneman, Unicef's executive director, said in a statement released on Wedneday
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/01/20091157268591938.html
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UN outraged after Israel shells its compound : Israeli forces shelled the United Nations Relief and Works Agency and wounding at least three people among the hundreds sheltering in the compound, UN officials and witnesses said.
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UK: Minister calls for inquiry into attack on UN HQ in Gaza: The Minister for Foreign Affairs Michael Martin is calling for an international inquiry to be held into the attack on the United Nation's headquarters in Gaza.
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Israelis 'shot at fleeing Gazans': Some Palestinian civilians in Gaza say Israeli forces shot at them as they tried to leave their homes - in some cases bearing white flags.
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Israel Navy ships turn back boat carrying Gaza humanitarian aid: Free Gaza group spokeswoman Mary Hughes-Thompson said Israeli naval vessels surrounded the 66-foot (20-meter) Greek-flagged boat off the coast of southern Lebanon and threatened to open fire if it did not turn back.
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Israel looking to ignite new war: Lebanon: Lebanon rejects Hezbollah involvement in a recent rocket attack on Israel, suggesting that the launch may have been a ploy by Tel Aviv.
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This is a surprise considering the way Haaretz has been supporting very NON-progressive news much more than usual...

Gilad Atzmon - Israel Has Managed to Lose Again: Haaretz reported today that IDF Senior officials "believe that Israel should strive to reach an immediate cease-fire with Hamas, and not expand its offensive against the Palestinian Islamist group in Gaza."
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Iran says oil embargo over Gaza is good idea: -
Iran's president said on Thursday imposing an oil embargo on backers of Israel over its attack on Gaza was a "good proposal" but such an idea was not on the agenda yet.
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Saudis reject oil embargo on Israel: OPEC's top producer says oil-producing states in the Middle East will not respond to Iran's call to halt crude supplies to Israeli supporters.
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Ahmadinejad: Israelis should pour into streets:
"I call on all those who live in the occupied territories, including Jews, Christians and Muslims to pour into the streets," said Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a Thursday message.
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Why isn't this news? US Rabbis call for Gaza Cease-Fire: Haaretz considered it news. So far no U.S. media have considered it news. Why not? This is a great puzzle to me. I hope you will consider it news and will pass the ad around, sign it, even contribute if you can so it can be put in more places.
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Not all Jews agree with Israel's Gaza action:

The fact the Islamist organisation has consistently offered to negotiate a two-state solution on the 1967 borders is something much of the West has conveniently ignored, including the Australian Government.
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The Black Congressional Caucus and Israel: Sullying Dr. King's Legacy :
Could it be that Los Angeles Congresswoman Maxine Waters and Milwaukee's Gwen Moore are the only Black Caucus members who remember that Israel was racist South Africa's closest ally?
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