Even more flotillas going to Gaza

German-Jewish organisation to send flotilla to Gaza

Gaza: George Galloway announces new convoys

Iranian Aid Ships to Set Sail for Gaza

This one might be the one to watch. If Israel shoots its friends from Turkey and the US in their heads, at point blank range multiple times, I wonder what sort reception Iran's flotilla will get.

Israel soldiers speak out on Gaza

Soldiers denounce Gaza 'war crimes'

Source


Israeli soldiers have described the use of "permissive" rules of engagement that cost civilian lives during the recent military campaign in Gaza.

The troops said they had been urged to fire on any building or person that seemed suspicious and said civilians were sometimes used as human shields.

Breaking the Silence, a campaign group made up of Israeli soldiers, gathered anonymous accounts from 26 soldiers.

Israel denies breaking the laws of war and dismissed the report as hearsay.

Breaking the Silence described most of the testimonies of soldiers who took part in Operation Cast Lead as "sober, regretful and shocked".

Many of the testimonies are in line with claims made by human-rights organisations that Israeli military action in Gaza was indiscriminate and disproportionate.

According to testimonies from the 14 conscripts and 12 reserve soldiers:

• Rules of engagement were either unclear or encouraged soldiers to do their utmost to protect their own lives whether or not Palestinian civilians were harmed.

• Civilians were used as human shields, entering buildings ahead of soldiers

• Large swathes of homes and buildings were demolished. Accounts say that this was often done because the houses might be booby-trapped, or cover tunnels. Testimony mentioned a policy referred to as "the day after", whereby areas near the border where razed to make future military operations easier

Israeli soldiers deployed on the Israel-Gaza border 28 Decmeber 2008
Soldier testimonies appear to contradict official Israeli statements

• Some of the troops had a generally aggressive, ill-disciplined attitude

• There was incidents of vandalism of property of Palestinians

• Soldiers fired at water tanks because they were bored, at a time of severe water shortages for Gazans

• White phosphorus was used in civilian areas in a way some soldiers saw as gratuitous and reckless

• Many of the soldiers said there had been very little direct engagement with Palestinian militants

The report says Israeli troops and the people who justify their actions are "slid[ing] together down the moral slippery slope". Read more...

Cynthia McKinney - Another black eye for Isreal

I am so grateful for the courage of women.

Cynthia McKinney Refuses Israel's Offer
of Release from Custody

7/3/2009
Jon Shirek
ATLANTA, Ga.
Source
Former Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, who was taken into custody by the Israeli Navy on Tuesday with 20 others while trying to sail through a navy blockade to deliver humanitarian supplies to Gaza, has refused Israel's initial offer to release her from custody. According to her supporters in Atlanta, McKinney refused the offer because she would have been required to sign an admission of guilt that she violated Israel's blockade.

"At issue is the fact that Ms. McKinney was in international waters" when the Israeli Navy stopped the group's boat, according to a statement from the Rev. Dr. Joseph Lowery and the Atlanta-based Coalition for the People's Agenda.

Israel disagrees, insisting that the Palestinian Authority and the rest of the international community long ago agreed to the off-shore blockade to prevent arms smuggling into Gaza.

The office of the Consulate General of Israel in Atlanta issued its own statement Friday, saying, "According to Israeli law Ms. McKinney and her fellow crew members were suggested to sign a form acknowledging their deportation, however since Ms. McKinney has refused to do so, she is expected to appear before an Israeli judge on Sunday, July 5th and afterwards be returned home as soon as possible."

McKinney did not address any of that in a message of just under three minutes, posted on youtube.com, that she delivered by telephone from Israel.

"The Israelis hijacked us because we wanted to give crayons to the children of Gaza.... We have not committed any crime. We have been detained," McKinney said.

She said she wants the world to "see how we have been treated just because we wanted to deliver humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza."

Soon after Israel seized McKinney and the others and their boat, the government promised to deliver all of the humanitarian supplies that were on the boat, but would deliver them by the ground routes into Gaza that Israel has been permitting international aid groups to use.

McKinney and the 20 others associated with the U.S.-based "Free Gaza Movement" [click here for original article] boarded the Greek-registered ship "Arion" Tuesday in Cyprus and tried to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza by sea, by going through the Israeli Navy's security blockade.

The Israeli Navy stopped them and took them and their boat into custody at Ashdod.

"I admire her courage. I might differ with her strategy sometimes," said Dr. Lowery with a smile, speaking at his Atlanta home Friday evening.

Lowery and other civil rights activists met with the Consulate General's office by conference call, urging McKinney's immediate release, without conditions.

"We wanted to express our concern.... Here in her home community, we are concerned for her safety. And since she's on a mission of mercy and not munitions, we think they ought to let her come home."

The Israeli government says McKinney was on a mission of confrontation, seeking publicity.

"Well, I'm sure they have a good argument for their action," Lowery said. "But nevertheless, she was carrying food and medicine to heal the sick and wounded. And I think that's a good thing. And I would hope that in the spirit of compassion and mercy and ministry, that they'll let her come on back home."

So as it stood as of Friday night, the Israeli justice system will not decide before Sunday what to do with McKinney and the others.

Related

Irish Noble Peace Prize Winner shot by Israeli Army VIDEO



The Free Gaza 21 video message

Israel poisons Palestinian water

Caption: Now you just have to imagine the room with a different color scheme, hardwood floors, and all these people living in the street and the six year-old shot through the head and the rest of the family acting crazy as if things could have been handled differently.

Nothing Israel does surprises me anymore. Zionists seem to be able to justify any atrocity as long as it serves their interests. Must be lovely to tell oneself all actions are mandated by God. I am sure they are not the first to do this.

I can't do much about it: but I can boycott their products. Read Naomi Klein's renewed call for Israeli boycott and spread the word. The only way to hurt Israel is talk their language: money.

Israel Poisons Palestinian Water

29 June 2009
Source

Ya know, wouldn't it be grand to wake up one day and not have to read where Zionist Racists murdered a non-Jew, attacked a non-Jew, attempted to kill a non-Jew, stolen land from a non-Jew, perpetuated crimes against humanity on a non-Jew. Until they can learn to become humans perhaps they should all be shot into space, yes, that's it!! And be given their own rocky desert planet, so they can live with only their kind forever and always, which, is of course their dream to expel everyone "not" like them from the middle east. Don't they know there is a word for that? "Racist"

Israeli soldiers poured dirt, stones and toxic chemicals in the only well in the hamlet of Khirbat Makehl near the village of Ya’bad in the northern West Bank overnight on Saturday, according to Palestinians in the community.

The village’s official representative, Walid Hamdan, said soldiers riding in three military jeeps entered the community overnight and sabotaged the well. The chemicals caused the water to change color and taste, he said.

The 80 cubic-meter well is the only source of water for the village of 70 to 80 families, Hamdan said.

He also said that, since the village lies near the Israeli settlement of Hermesh, the armed guards of the settlement often harass and assault Palestinians, particularly herders who venture near the edges of the settlement. Israeli forces also sometimes close the road leading to the community, preventing deliveries of food.


Related:

Picture of demolitions in Palestine
REALITY CHECK; ILLEGAL CHECKPOINTS IN PALESTINE NOW OPERATED BY PRIVATE COMPANIES
GAZA gets "Lip Service" but NO JUSTICE

Author Naomi Klein Calls for Boycott of Israel

Author Naomi Klein Calls for Boycott of Israel

By Agence France Presse
June 26, 2009
Source
Bestselling author Naomi Klein on Friday took her call for a boycott of Israel to the occupied West Bank village of Bilin, where she witnessed Israeli forces clashing with protesters.

"It's a boycott of Israeli institutions, it's a boycott of the Israeli economy," the Canadian writer told journalists as she joined a weekly demonstration against Israel's controversial separation wall.

"Boycott is a tactic . . . we're trying to create a dynamic which was the dynamic that ultimately ended apartheid in South Africa," said Klein, the author of "The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism."

"It's an extraordinarily important part of Israel's identity to be able to have the illusion of Western normalcy," the Canadian writer and activist said.

"When that is threatened, when the rock concerts don't come, when the symphonies don't come, when a film you really want to see doesn't play at the Jerusalem film festival . . . then it starts to threaten the very idea of what the Israeli state is."

She briefly joined about 200 villagers and foreign activists protesting the barrier which Israel says it needs to prevent attacks, but which Palestinians say aims at grabbing their land and undermining the viability of their promised state.

She then watched from a safe distance as the protesters reached the fence, where Israeli forces fired teargas and some youths responded by throwing stones at the army.

"This apartheid, this is absolutely a system of segregation," Klein said adding that Israeli troops would never crack down as violently against Jewish protesters.

She pointed out that her visit coincided with court hearings in Quebec in a case where the villagers of Bilin are suing two Canadian companies, accusing them of illegally building and selling homes to Israelis on land that belongs to the village.

The plaintiffs claim that by building in the Jewish settlement of Modiin Illit, near Bilin, Green Park International and Green Mount International are in violation of international laws that prohibit an occupying power from transferring some of its population to the lands it occupies.

"I'm hoping and praying that Canadian courts will bring some justice to the people of Bilin," Klein said.

Her visit was also part of a promotional tour in Israel and the West Bank for "The Shock Doctrine" which has recently been translated into Hebrew and Arabic. Klein said she would get no royalties from sales of the Hebrew version and that the proceeds would go instead to an activist group.

© Copyright (c) AFP

Irish Civil Society Calls For Boycott of Israel

By Pulse
February, 04, 2009
Source
The following letter was published in a full-page advertisement in The Irish Times on 31 January 2009:

The original ad, including signatures may be downloaded here. [PDF]

Israel’s bombardment of Gaza killed over 1,300 Palestinians, a third of them children. Thousands have been wounded. Many victims had been taking refuge in clearly marked UN facilities.

This assault came in the wake of years of economic blockade by Israel. This blockade, which is illegal under international humanitarian law, has destroyed the Gaza economy and condemned its population to poverty. According to a World Bank report last September, “98 percent of Gaza’s industrial operations are now inactive.”

The most recent attack on Gaza is only the latest phase in Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people and appropriation of their land.

Israel has never declared its borders. Instead, it has continuously expanded at the expense of the Palestinians. In 1948, it took over 78 percent of Palestine, an area much larger than that suggested for a Jewish state by the UN General Assembly in 1947. Contrary to international law, Israel expelled over 750,000 Palestinians from their homes. These refugees and their descendants, who now number millions, are still dispersed throughout the region. They have the right, under international law, to return to their homes. This right has been underlined by the UN General Assembly many times, starting with Resolution 194 in 1948.

In 1967, Israel occupied the remaining 22 percent of Palestine: the West Bank and Gaza. Contrary to Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, Israel has built, and continues to build, settlements in these occupied territories. Today, nearly 500,000 Israeli settlers live in the illegal settlements in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem), and the number grows daily as Israel expands its settler program.

Israel has resisted pressure from the international community to abide by the human rights provisions of international law. It has refused to comply with UN Security Council demands to cease building settlements and remove those it has built (Resolutions 446, 452 and 465) and to reverse its illegal annexation of East Jerusalem (252, 267, 271, 298, 476 and 478). Since September 2000, over 5,000 Palestinians, almost 1,000 of them minors, have been killed by the Israeli military.

Eleven-thousand Palestinians, including hundreds of minors, languish in Israel jails. Hundreds are detained without trial. In addition, Israel is breaking international law by imprisoning them outside the occupied territories, thereby making it almost impossible for their families to visit them. Every year, hundreds of Palestinian homes are demolished. The Palestinian population of the West Bank and Gaza livesw imprisoned by walls, barriers and checkpoints that prevent or impede access to shops, schools, workplaces, hospitals and places of worship. They are subjected to restrictions of every kind and to daily ritual humiliation at the hands of occupation soldiers and checkpoint guards.

Invasion, occupation and plantation of their land is the reality that Palestinians have faced for decades and still face on a daily basis, as their country is reduced remorselessly. Unless, and until, this Israeli aggression is halted, and the democratic rights of the Palestinian people are vindicated, there will be no justice or peace in the Middle East. Israel’s 40-year occupation of the West Bank and Gaza must be ended.

The occupation can end if political and economic pressure is placed on Israel by the international community. Recognizing this, the Palestinian people continually call on the international community to intervene.

We, the signatories, call for the following:

* The Irish Government to cease its purchase of Israeli military products and services and call publicly for an arms embargo against Israel.
* The Irish Government to demand publicly that Israel reverse its settlement construction, illegal occupation and annexation of land in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions and to use its influence in international fora to bring this about.
* The Irish Government to demand publicly that the Euro-Med Agreement under which Israel has privileged access to the EU market be suspended until Israel complies with international law.
* The Irish Government to veto any proposed upgrade in EU relations with Israel.
* The Irish people to boycott all Israeli goods and services until Israel abides by international law.

Ireland calls on EU to cut ties with Israel

Never underestimate the power of the Ire in Ireland.

148 Irish academics issue call
for EU to cut links with Israel

23 Jan 2009
Source
In a letter published today, Friday, 23rd January in the Irish Times(text below), over 140 Irish academics from a wide variety of disciplines called for a moratorium on EU support of Israeli academic institutions until Israel abides by UN resolutions and ends the occupation of Palestinian territories.

The letter was organised in response to the Israeli attack on Gaza and the Palestinian call for an academic and cultural boycott. The letter demands that the EU cease funding collaborative projects with Israeli institutions and "and an end to the EU's practice of treating Israel as a European state for the purposes of awarding grants and contracts".

The letter accuses Israel of destroying the Palestinians right to education as guaranteed by international law. It states: 'we note that during its recent offensive Israel expressly targeted educational institutions including the Islamic University, the Ministry of Education, the American International School, and 3 UN schools which were destroyed with massive loss of civilian life. During the illegal sealing off of the Gaza Strip that preceded the current aggression, Israel had prevented numerous Palestinian students from leaving Gaza to avail of Fulbright scholarships to the USA"

The ongoing Israeli occupation has meant that educational establishments are closed off for many Palestinians. The checkpoints, closures and curfews Israel has imposed, as well as the ongoing harassment of academics and students, have played havoc with university life. In addition, military attacks on universities and schools and the occupation of many schools by Israeli soldiers have turned education into a life-threatening activity.

The letter is signed by 148 academics. Prominent names include author and critic Seamus Deane, poet and academic Louis de Paor, UCD academic Kathleen Lynch, cultural critics Luke Gibbons and Joe Cleary, Israeli political scientist Ephraim Nimni, and former TUI (Teachers Union of Ireland) head Paddy Healy. It follows a similar letter in September 2006 signed by 61 academics.

Text of letter with signatories
There has been widespread international condemnation of Israel's bombardment and subsequent invasion of Gaza, which has been defined by international lawyers as a violation of the 4th Geneva Convention. No civilians, Israelis or Palestinian should be subjected to attack whether from rockets from Gaza or bombs and bullets from Israel. However, while every government has both the right and responsibility to defend its civilian population, we believe that Israel's violent actions are disproportionate and constitute collective punishment of a civilian population.

We also note that Israeli spokespersons themselves have admitted that prior to Israel's killing of 6 Hamas members in the Nov 4 attack on Gaza, Hamas appears to have abided by its ceasefire agreement with Israel, firing no rockets and trying to prevent other groups from doing so. This begs the question: what is the real reason behind the onslaught?

In addition, we note that during its recent offensive Israel expressly targeted educational institutions including the Islamic University, the Ministry of Education, the American International School, and 3 UN schools which were destroyed with massive loss of civilian life. During the illegal sealing off of the Gaza Strip that preceded the current aggression, Israel had prevented numerous Palestinian students from leaving Gaza to avail of Fulbright scholarships to the USA.

We believe that it is time to renew the call made by Irish-based academics in September 2006 for a moratorium on the funding of Israeli academic institutions by national and European cultural and research institutions, and an end to the EU's practice of treating Israel as a European state for the purposes of awarding grants and contracts. Such a moratorium should continue until Israel ends its repressive policies against Gaza, and abides by UN resolutions (which include the ending of the occupation of all Palestinian territories).

We believe that opposition to such a move based on the principle of academic freedom has lost the last semblance of validity in view of the above-mentioned violations of the right to education enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (art. 26), the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (Article 28) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (art. 14).

Yours sincerely

1. Dr Kieran Allen, School of Sociology, UCD
2. Professor James Anderson, Dept of Geography, Queen's University Belfast, Co-Director, Centre for International Borders Research (CIBR)
3. Dr Iain Atack, Lecturer and Programme Coordinator, International Peace Studies, Irish School of Ecumenics, (TCD)
4. Dr David Atkinson, Dept. of Languages and Cultural Studies, University of Limerick
5. Professor Ibrahim Banat, Faculty of Life and Health Sciences, University of Ulster
6. Darius Bartlett, Department of Geography, University College Cork
7. Professor James Bowen, Computer Science, UCC, Cork
8. Dr. Barbara Bradby, Department of Sociology, TCD
9. Dr. Colin Breen, School of Environmental Sciences, University of Ulster
10. Dr Keith Breen, School of Politics, International Studies & Philosophy, Queen's University Belfast
11. Dr Pat Brereton, Dublin City University.
12. Harry Browne School of Media, DIT
13. Carlos Bruen, Dept of Epidemiology & Public Health Medicine (Division of Population Health Sciences) Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland
14. Audrey Bryan School of Education, UCD
15. Noreen Byrne, Department of Food Business and Development, UCC
16. Dr Rachel Cassidy, School of Environmental Sciences, University of Ulster
17. Professor Joe Cleary, Department of English, NUI Maynooth
18. Dr. Steve Coleman Department of Anthropology, NUI Maynooth
19. Dr. Maeve Connolly, School of Creative Arts, Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design & Technology, IADT
20. Eddie Conlon, Department of Engineering Science and General Studies, DIT
21. Dr Colin Coulter, Dept of Sociology, NUI Maynooth
22. Dr. Laurence Cox, Dept of Sociology, NUI Maynooth
23. Dr Patrick Crowley, Department of French, University College Cork
24. Tony Cunningham, Department of Sociology NUI Maynooth
25. Charlie Daly, School of Computing, DCU.
26. Dr Kelly Davidson School of Business and Humanities, Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design & Technology, IADT
27. Cormac Deane, School of Business and Humanities, IADT Dun Laoghaire
28. Professor Seamus Deane, University of Notre Dame
29. Dr. Teresa Degenhardt, School of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work Queens University Belfast
30. Dr Louis de Paor, NUI Galway
31. Derek Dodd, Centre for Public Culture Studies, IADT.
32. Dr Bill Dorris, Dept. Of Communications, DCU
33. Collette Doyle, School of Social Justice, UCD
34. Dr. Paul Dunlop, School of Environmental Sciences, University of Ulster 35. Mary Eldin, University College Dublin
36. Ray English, School of Manufacturing and Design Engineering, DIT
37. Dr. Adel Farrag, Department of Electronic Engineering, ITT Dublin
38. Angela Farrell, Dept. Languages and Cultural Studies University of Limerick
39. Mike FitzGibbon, Food Business and Development Department, University College Cork 40. Richard Fitzsimons, School of Media, DIT
41. Professor Tadhg Foley Department of English & Chair of the Board, Centre for Irish Studies, NUI Galway
42. Dr Oona Frawley, School of English, NUI Maynooth,
43. Malcolm Garland. Senior Lecturer in Psychiatry, RCSI and Consultant Psychiatrist/Post-Graduate Tutor, St Ita's Hospital.
44. Dr Mark Gardiner, Dept of Archaeology, Queen's University Belfast
45. Professor Luke Gibbons, University of Notre Dame
46. Dr. Paula Gilligan, Dept. of Humanities, IADT Dun Laoghaire
47. Professor Robbie Gilligan, School of Social Work and Social Policy, TCD
48. Dr Kathy Glavanis-Grantham, Department of Sociology, UCC
49. Liam Greenslade, National College of Art and Design
50. Fergal Goulding, Cork Institute of Technology
51. Brian Hand, Wexford Campus IT Carlow
52. Dr Brian Hanley, School of History, Queens University Belfast
53. Seán Harrington, Dublin School of Architecture, DIT,
54. Mike Haslam, Dublin School of Architecture, DIT
55. Deena Haydon, School of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Justice, Queen's University Belfast
56. Paddy Healy, School of Physics, DIT
57. Goretti Horgan, School of Policy Studies, University of Ulster
58. Professor Jane Horgan Dublin City University
59. Dr Kevin Hourihan, Dept of Geography, UCC
60. Dr. John Karamichas, School of Sociology, Social Policy & Social Work, Queen's University Belfast
61. Dr Brian Kelly, School of History and Anthropology, Queen's University Belfast
62. Dr. Sinéad Kennedy, Department of English, NUI Maynooth
63. Dr. Dorothy Kenny, School of Applied Language and Intercultural Studies, DCU
64. David Landy Department of Sociology, TCD
65. Dr Fintan Lane. Historian
66. Zoe Lawlor, Dept. of Languages and Cultural Studies, University of Limerick
67. John J. Lauder, Dublin School of Architecture, DIT
68. Dr. Ronit Lentin, Dept of Sociology, TCD
69. Martin McCabe, School of Media, DIT
70. Professor Madeleine Leonard, School of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work, Queen's University Belfast
71. Tom Lonergan, Dublin City University
72. Professor Kathleen Lynch, Equality Studies Centre, School of Social Justice, University College Dublin
73. Piaras MacEinri, University College Cork
74. An Dr. Seosamh Mac Muirí, Grág na Fearna, Droim Dhá Thiar. Co. Liatroma.
75. Professor John Maguire Professor Emeritus, UCC
76. Dr. Hussain Mahdi, Department of Electronic & Computer Engineering, University of Limerick
77. Dr. Sean Marlow, School of Electronic Engineering, Dublin City University,
78. Dr. Chandana Mathur, Dept of Anthropology, NUI Maynooth
79. Dr Cillian McBride, School of Politics, International Studies and Philosophy, Queen's University Belfast
80. Dr Cathal McCall, School of Politics, International Studies and Philosophy, QUB
81. Dr Gerard McCann, European Studies, St Mary's College, Queens University Belfast 82. Dr Conor McCarthy, Department of English, NUI Maynooth
83. Professor John McCloskey, School of Environmental Sciences, University of Ulster
84. Professor Terrence McDonough, Dept of Economics, NUI Galway
85. Dr. Karen McElrath, School of Sociology, Social Policy & Social Work, Queens University Belfast
86. Dr Des McGuinness, School of Communication, Dublin City University
87. Dr. Martina McKnight, Queens University Belfast
88. Dr Gerard McMahon, Business Faculty, DIT
89. Dr Bill McSweeney, International Peace Studies, Trinity College Dublin
90. Rosie Meade, Dept. of Applied Social Studies, UCC
91. Dr. Pat Meere, Department of Geology, UCC.
92. Professor Stephen Mennell, School of Sociology, UCD
93. Mick Monk, Department of Archaeology, UCC
94. Anna Maria Mullally, Dept. of Humanities, ITT Dublin.
95. Tony Murray, School of Media, DIT
96. Professor Patrick Murphy, Dept of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, UCC
97. Dr. Suleyman S. Nalbant, School of Environmental Sciences, University of Ulster
98. Tom O'Connor, School of Media, DIT
99. Dr. Ephraim Nimni, School of Politics, International Studies & Philosophy, Queen's University Belfast
100. Dr. Emer Nolan, Dept of English, NUI Maynooth
101. Dr. John O'Brennan, Department of Sociology, NUI Maynooth
102. Gerard M. O'Brien, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Ulster, Coleraine
103. Dr Barra O'Donnabhain, Department of Archaeology, University College Cork
104. Dr Ruan.O'Donnell, Historian
105. Professor Liam O'Dowd, School of Sociology, Social Policy & Social Work, Queens University Belfast
106. Professor Patrick O'Flanagan, Dept of Geography, UCC
107. Dr Feilim O Hadhmail, Dept of Applied Social Studies, UCC
108. Professor Denis O Hearn, School of Sociology, Queen's University Belfast
109. Dr. Theresa O'Keefe, Department of Sociology, NUI Maynooth
110. Dr. Des O'Rawe, School of Languages, Literatures and Arts, Queen's University Belfast
111. Dr. Jacqui O'Riordan, Dept. Applied Social Studies, UCC
112. Dr K.C. O'Rourke, Dublin Institute of Technology
113. Eddie O'Shea Head, Department of Architecture+Urban Design, Dublin School of Architecture, DIT
114. Joan O'Sullivan, Dept of Languages and Cultural Studies, University of Limerick
115. John O'Sullivan, Dept. of Languages and Cultural Studies, University of Limerick
116. Maria Parsons, Department of Humanities, IADT
117. Dr Mark Phelan, School of Languages, Literatures and Performing Arts, Queen's University Belfast
118. Professor Barbara Pierscionek, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Ulster 119. Dr Lionel Pilkington, Dept of English, NUI Galway
120. Professor John Pinkerton, School of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work, Queens University Belfast
121. Professor Paschal Preston, School of Communication, DCU
122. Rory Quinn, School of Environmental Sciences, University of Ulster
123. Dr Mary Roche, Department of Geography, UCC
124. Jim Roche, Dublin School of Architecture, DIT.
125. Professor Bill Rolston, Department of Sociology, University of Ulster
126. Eilish Rooney, School of Sociology & Applied Social Studies, University of Ulster
127. Sima Rouholamin, School of Architecture, Dublin Institute of Technology.
128. Pól Ruiséal, Ionad na Gaeilge Labhartha, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Corcaigh
129. Brigid Ryan, Dept. of Languages and Cultural Studies, University of Limerick
130. Dr Colin Sage, Department of Geography, UCC
131. Dr Tam Sanger, School of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work, Queen's University Belfast
132. Professor Phil Scraton, Institute of Criminology and Criminal Justice, School of Law, Queen's University Belfast
133. Liz Shannon, Dept of Languages and Cultural Studies, University of Limerick
134. Professor Helena Sheehan, School of Communications, Dublin City University
135. Dr Sally Shortall, School of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work, Queen's University Belfast
136. Ailbhe Smyth, WERCC, School of Social Justice, UCD
137. Professor Mike Scott, School of Computing, DCU
138. Dr. Lisa Smyth, School of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work, Queen's University Belfast
139. Andy Storey, Centre for Development Studies, UCD
140. Karen Sugrue, Department of Humanities, Limerick Institute of Technology
141. Prof. Alan Titley Roinn na Nua-Ghaeilge, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Corcaigh
142. Dr Gavan Titley, Dept of Media Studies NUI Maynooth
143. Prof. Mike Tomlinson, School of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work, Queens University Belfast
144. Hilary Tovey, Dept of Sociology, TCD
145. Dr Simon Trezise, Department of Music, TCD
146. Theresa Urbainczyk, School of Classics, UCD
147. Judy Walsh, School of Social Justice, UCD
148. Dr Gillian Wylie, International Peace Studies, Irish School of Ecumenics (TCD)

Gilad Atzmon - Interview in Iran

Conversation with Gilad Atzmon, world-renowned Jazzist: Bring justice to the Israeli criminals, today!

Palestine Think Tank
Wed, 21 Jan 2009
Source

Interview by: Kourosh Ziabari, MMN

Gilad Atzmon is unique in his stance, unprecedented in his voice and unequivocal in his statements. As an Israel-born jazz musician and anti-Zionist activist, he propagates and chants his anti-Israeli contemplations explicitly and once he finds the opportunity.

As a musician who plays soprano, tenor and baritone saxophones, clarinet, sol, zurna and flute, Atzmon has won several international awards so far, including the BBC Jazz Award 2003, and is considered as one of the most prosperous artists of his rank.

In the position of an anti-Zionist activist, despite being Israeli originally, Gilad Atzmon incessantly denounces his belonging to the Jewish state and proclaims that he merely was born there and no more, which was perceptibly out of his knack and election, and that he feels no sympathy, compassion or nostalgia toward the occupying state of Israel.

During the past years, he has written a stack of articles and given a batch of lectures, performs regularly to condemn the historical belligerence of Israel in the occupied territories of Palestine and currently is lobbying dynamically by traveling to different countries so as to augment the cognition of public opinions about the massacre of Gaza and the butchery of innocent civilians, children and women in the strip.

In his recent trip to Greece, which he departed for a few days ago, Atzmon conducted quite a lot of interviews and appeared on a number of TV, Radio programs so as to express his sharp censure of Israeli genocides in Gaza. He believes that the people of Greece are hopefully much more knowledgeable, well-informed and that's why they have made great efforts to convey their sympathy and patronage to the people in Gaza.

Following is the full text of an exclusive interview with Gilad Atzmon in which a variety of topics related to the ongoing slaughter of Gaza, Israeli crimes against humanity and the necessity of holding a trial for the Israeli officials in a just and objective international court is discussed:

Kourosh Ziabari: First, I would like to ask your opinion about the ongoing conflict of Gaza which some named "the most catastrophic battle" in the last decade. What's your idea about the carnage of civilians, children, women and infants in Gaza?

Gilad Atzmon: What we see in Gaza is holocaust denial in its making. The Jewish state exercises hardcore barbarism. Yet, the world keeps silent. Once again we are confronted with the realization that giving a mandate for a national home for the Jewish people has been demonstrated to be a grave lethal mistake. The only question is how to dismantle this monstrous suicidal hawkish creature without turning our planet into a fireball.

Kourosh Ziabari: You criticize the Israeli state so sharply; nevertheless, you may have noted that the Israeli media and statesmen simply stick a label of "traitor" to each of the Israeli citizens, journalists, professors or rhetoricians who uses to blame the Jewish state for its butcheries and onslaughts. How do you solve this?

Gilad Atzmon: To start with, it is not such a bad thing to be a 'traitor' in a murderous state. However, I do not regard myself as an Israeli. I was born there but I haven't lived or visited there for many years. Once I realized that I was residing on stolen land as an oppressor I packed my saxes and left. To a certain extent, I can be regarded as a 'proud self hating Jew'. I am full of shame of myself and those who were my co-nationals. I talk about my shame; I write about it and compose music trying to deal with it.

Kourosh Ziabari: Israeli officials claim that they are just seeking retaliation by attacking the bases of Hamas, merely killing the individuals of army and military. In the other side, they disallow the entrance of journalists and media correspondents into the occupied Gaza Strip and ban them from broadcasting the reality. How can they justify this contradiction? Why they don't allow the journalists into Gaza if they are righteous about their pretensions?

Gilad Atzmon: I do not think that Israelis are concerned at all with contradictions or logical discrepancies. Israelis are not concerned at all with their image either.

I will try to elaborate. Israel is now the largest Jewish Ghetto ever. The Jewish Ghetto is basically a place where Jews can celebrate their symptoms collectively among themselves, without being shy about what they say, think or feel. Israel has already surrounded itself with gigantic walls just to give segregation a real significant meaning. And yet, the Israeli Jewish Ghetto is very different from the East European one. While in the European Ghetto the Jews were intimidated by their surrounding reality, in the Israeli Ghetto the Jews intimidate others. They insist that the entire Middle East must be kept in a state of constant anxiety.

The Ghetto mentality is a very helpful analytic tool. It helps us, for instance, to grasp why Prime Minister Olmert allowed himself to brag in public about humiliating President Bush and Secretary of State Rice. In the Ghetto Jews feel safe, they can speak their mind while being pretty sure that nothing would leak out to the Goyim. In the Ghetto only one logic applies, the Jewish logic.

However, in the 1950's PM Ben Gurion adopted the Jewish Ghetto framework into an Israeli political mantra which he eloquently articulated as follows: "It doesn't matter what the Goyim say, the only thing that matters is what the Jews do". Seemingly, the Jewish Ghetto mantra à la Ben Gurion succeeded in separating the Israelis from the rest of humanity. But it goes further, as we see in Gaza and in any Israeli conflict; it detaches the Hebraic paradigm from any notion of humanist ethics.

This very philosophy is translated easily into Israeli lethal military pragmatism. 'It obviously doesn't really matter what the UN or world's media thinks, all that matters is what the IDF does'.

Now, I will try to address the foreign Journalist topic. Israeli military leaders knew in advance that Gaza was about to become a bloodbath for Palestinian civilians. They obviously knew in advance the weaponry they were about to employ. The last thing they needed was foreign journalists reporting to their media outlets about a massacre in Gaza. World media and the 'right to know' is not an Israeli interest. In the Jewish Ghetto state, all that matters is what the IDF is doing.

The Israelis wanted to finish their job first, to kill many Palestinians, to destroy Gaza and to dismantle its infrastructure so they retrieve their power of deterrence which they have lost many years ago. Journalists reporting from Gaza could simply stand in the way.

Kourosh Ziabari: given such an intricate description, what's the main reason, in your view, for Israel blocking the humanitarian aid ships heading to Gaza? Is there something wrong with the admittance of foods, medicine and first aid to a multitude of people who do not have the least access to the outside world?

Gilad Atzmon: The answer is almost etymological. Talking about 'Humanitarian effort' presumes a deep familiarity with the notion of humanism. Since Israelis have zero commitment to ethics or universal humanism, we cannot expect them to succumb to any humanitarian effort or humanist issue. In the last few days, Israel bombarded hospitals, schools, refugee centers and UN aid distribution centers. We better admit it: the Jewish state is a boiling criminal setting with no comparison. We cannot and should not expect them to follow a humanist call. We should instead anticipate Israel to perform as embodiment of the ultimate evil, and sadly, I must say, they indeed never disappoint here.

Kourosh Ziabari: The employment of white phosphorus in the bombs that the Israeli army unleashes on the heads of civilians and their houses in Gaza seems to be an evident violation of international regulations and the Geneva Convention, significantly. Is there any way of recompensing these war crimes?

Gilad Atzmon: I am not a legal expert so cannot address this question properly. However, it is very interesting to note that in spite of large worldwide condemnation of Israel for using white phosphorus bombs, the Israeli army didn't stop employing this tactic, and it's not the first time they've used unconventional weapons against civilians in the face of international outrage. Every day we see those lethal bombs bursting over civilian targets. Once again we see that it doesn't matter at all what the Goyim say, all that matters is what the Jews do, i.e., kill Palestinian civilians. I would further add that the Israelis lament in continuation about "potential" weapons of mass destruction that other nations might have, it seems to be pathetic while possessing an obscene arsenal of nuclear warheads themselves. If they have no regard for international law, why would they care what world opinion is?

Kourosh Ziabari: Provisionally, even if the war ends now and Israel withdraws from the occupied territories, the result of fatal conflict is more than 1300 dead people and 70% of the infrastructure, buildings, public places has been destroyed. How the real justice could be administered about Israel and its crimes against humanity?

Gilad Atzmon: Again, I am not a legal expert. Yet I do not hold my breath. However, my subject of study is Jewish and Israeli identity. I am interested in the metaphysics of the Israeli genocidal inclination. I am elaborating on the Identity that can inflict so much pain and carnage on innocent civilians. I am interested in the banality of evil as exposed by Israel's ultimate barbarism and the Jewish institutional support of that evil around the world. I believe that once we start to realize what we are up against, we may know how to fight it. I honestly do not believe in international tribunals.A general widely accepted acknowledgment that the Jewish state is nothing but crude barbarism seems to me far more effective.

Kourosh Ziabari: For the last question, what's your message, as an Israeli artist, to the people of Palestine; those mothers who have lost their children or those traumatized children who undergo the aftershocks of losing their parents?

Gilad Atzmon: My Dearest brothers and sisters. It is heartbreaking to watch the death and carnage inflicted on you by the Jewish state. We all see what you are going through and we all know that justice is on your side. I beg you not to lose hope. Evil always comes to an end and Israeli evil is no different. Israel will come to an end though we may have to do something to bring this end about.

However, one thing is rather clear. The so called 'liberal' west failed to save you, sadly enough; the Arab states failed to join your struggle yet. As sad as it may be, as much as justice is on your side, you are alone here confronted with the ultimate evil.

Israel has many bombs in its arsenal. But you Palestinian brothers and sisters have a few things they do not have: Justice is in your side, humanity is in your streets, you have the spirit and you have the ultimate bomb, namely the demographic one.

Palestine is the land, Israel is a state;
States come and go, land stays forever.
Long live Palestine.

Naomi Klein - No profits for Zion!

On the Question of One-Sided Boycotts

By Naomi Klein
January 21st, 2009
Source
Read a letter exchange between Robert Pollin, co-director of the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts, and Naomi on the question of one-sided boycotts.

Robert Pollin:
I strongly oppose Naomi Klein’s proposal to begin boycotts and divestment initiatives against Israel, similar to the approach used against South Africa in the apartheid era [“Lookout,” Jan. 26]. Klein anticipates four objections to her proposal and offers responses. But her list ignores the most important and obvious objection: it is entirely one-sided both in blaming Israel for the horrible cycle of violence in the region and in meting out punishment.

I agree entirely that the Israeli occupation is brutal. But Hamas is also brutal. To date, the only thing preventing Hamas from being less lethal than Israel in the damage it inflicts is its limited resources. Hamas is deliberately firing rockets into Israel with the aim of killing and terrorizing civilians. Should Iran, for example, succeed in supplying Hamas with more effective weapons, Hamas will become more successful in killing and terrorizing Israeli citizens. Rockets are beginning to land only twenty miles south of Tel Aviv.

The toll on Palestinian civilians of the current Israeli attack on Gaza is horrible. But let’s also recognize that Hamas is deliberately using civilians as human shields. The bomb that hit the home of Hamas leader Nazar Rayyan in Jabaliya tragically killed his wives and children as well as himself. Why was Rayyan exposing his family to such danger?

I agree with Klein that economic levers probably have the best chance of dramatically shifting the status quo (even while, given the history and emotions involved, economic initiatives could never offer a sufficient solution on their own). But instead of a one-sided boycott to punish Israel, why not pursue a positive agenda of economic development that would benefit both sides? Consider, for example, a development aid package on the order of $10 bil-lion, spread over two to four years, with funds supplied on an equitable basis from the United States, the European Union and the Arab oil-exporting countries. This amount would be enough to: (1) undertake a massive infrastructure investment and job creation program in Gaza and the West Bank to help create an economically viable Palestinian state; and (2) comfortably resettle the roughly half-million Israelis now living in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem and turn over these communities and homes to Palestinians. This second initiative would entail a large-scale home-building, community infrastructure and job-creation program in Israel, perhaps concentrated in the less well-developed northern and southern regions.

The amount of money I’m suggesting seems large, of course. But $10 billion is only about 7 percent of what the United States spent in Iraq in 2007 and 5 percent of Saudi Arabia’s $194 billion in oil revenues in 2008. In short, the amount is modest in comparison with the opportunities it will create to contribute to an equitable and lasting peace in the region.

- Robert Pollin, co-director, Political Economy Research Institute University of Massachusetts

Naomi Klein Replies:
Robert Pollin believes that the biggest problem with the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) strategy is that it targets only one side in the conflict. For Pollin, this is a conflict between equally guilty parties deserving of equal punishment. It is not. Israel is the party that displaced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in 1948, annexed more of their land in 1967 and continues to occupy the land today. Occupiers and occupied people do not share the same responsibilities, which is why the duties and responsibilities of an occupying power are laid out in the Geneva Conventions—laws Israel violates with impunity.

Even if I were to accept Pollin’s argument that any sanction should punish both sides equally, we face a rather large problem. How does Professor Pollin propose that we punish Gazans more than they are being punished already? In case he has failed to notice, there is already a fierce campaign of boycotts and sanctions under way, and it is completely one-sided. I am referring, of course, to Israel’s brutal eighteen-month siege of Gaza, launched to teach Gazans a lesson for voting for Hamas in US-backed elections. As a direct result of this siege, Gazans have been deprived of lifesaving medicines, cooking fuel and paper—not to mention food. This is far more than a mere boycott; it’s “collective punishment,” as described by Richard Falk, United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. By contrast, the kind of legal boycott being called for by the BDS campaign would deprive Tel Aviv of some international concerts and, if it really got going, would cost Israel some foreign investment. It would not starve and sicken an entire people. In this context of actual one-sided punishment inflicted on Palestinians, sanctioned by the so-called civilized world, to complain of one-sided boycotts against Israel is, frankly, obscene.

As for the proposed $10 billion for a redevelopment/relocation fund, there is no doubt that if a just peace agreement is ever to be reached, a generous peace dividend will be required to make it work. But before we start handing out rewards for a nonexistent peace, Israel first has to decide that endless war is too costly. And that’s what the BDS strategy is for: to help Israel come to that eminently reasonable conclusion.

- Naomi Klein

Irish people stand with Gaza and Palestine

Let there be no doubt that the little people of Ireland stand with Gaza and Palestine. We are well used to bloated tyrants using barbaric force. I am reminded of the Irish woman who was so mad at rendition flights refueling here, six years ago, she took a hatchet to a US military plane at Shannon airport. We might be small but we are mighty. Only a drop of Irish blood in your heritage will give ye a bit of courage now.

Letter to Dr Zion Evrony,

Israeli Ambassador to Ireland

Palestine mural updated in Belfast

January 03, 2009
Justin Morahan
Source

Dear Ambassador Dr. Zion Evrony,

Further to my telephone call to your office this morning I wish to reiterate some of the points which I made in the conversation with your secretary, and to elaborate on them a little further.

1. I am sick to the teeth of the lies you are telling on RTE and in the Irish media about what is happening in Gaza. Israel has killed over 400 people there on the pretext that a cease-fire had been broken unilaterally by Hamas. You know this is not true.

2. You said that Israel is trying to avoid civilian casualties but that Hamas use their civilians as shields for Hamas soldiers. You know that this is not true. Gaza is smaller in area than our smallest County, Louth, and is over-populated with 1.4 million people, before your country reduced the population with murder from the sky.

3. Your Army invaded Gaza prior to an election and in the interregnum between the Presidencies of George W. Bush and Barack Obama. You kill over 400, injure over 1000 and promise more killings and injuries. And you blame Hamas for all of these killings and injuries. You know that it is not true that Hamas are to blame for your murders. You, the State of Israel and the IDF, are to blame for the people you kill and injure, no one else but you.

Protests continue across Ireland:
• Gaza Solidarity March Dublin 2009 - Photo Series and more photos
• About 100 people came out in Limerick today to protest at the ongoing slaughter in Gaza. - photos and report
• Brief video of SF MEP Mary Lou McDonald's speech at the Gaza Solidarity march - news, photos and video
• Cork Protests in ‘Disgust’ at Israel War Crimes - Photos and story
• Palestine Solidarity in Omagh - Photos and details
• 3rd Jan, Derry Protests Against Israel's Attacks on Gaza - Photos and report
• 5th Jan, Lurgan Palestine Solidarity Protest - more news and photos
• 6th Jan, Anti-War protest at the Israeli embassy in Dublin - Photo series
• 7th Jan, Cork does a stall and vigil for Gaza - Photo series

Protests continue across the World:
• Photostory: World demonstrates for Gaza - ElectronicIntifada.net
• Riding on fire and a third intifada, by Ewa Jasieiwcz - read at FreeGaza.org

Government TD calls for Expulsion of Israeli Ambassador

Gaza Invasion Blogging....
In the face of protests worldwide, Israel has tonight launched an incursion into the Gaza Strip. Their 'war' continued today with the bombing of a mosque in Gaza. Reports indicate that more than ten people were killed in this latest terrorist attack. Read more Gaza Blogging below....
read the rest of Justin Morahan's Eight Point letter to the Israeli Ambassador to Ireland...

4. You said the upcoming elections had nothing to do with the massacre in Gaza. You know that this is not true. On the eve of the election you deliberately provoked a barrage of rockets from Hamas, even though you knew it would put Israeli lives in danger because you also knew that the Hamas response would give you a pretext to wreak havoc on Gaza and make it appear that it was Hamas' fault.

5. You and other Israeli propagandists keep repeating ad nauseam on RTE and in articles in the Irish Times the question: "What would you do, if you lived in Sderot or Ashkelon and your children had to run from constant rocket fire?" But you never ask the countering questions: "What would you do if you lived in Gaza, besieged by an Israel that denied the legitimacy of your democratically elected Parliament, and where Israel,a hostile power, has ultimate control over every aspect of your life? What would you do when this hostile power has the fourth or fifth most powerful army in the world, complete even with a nuclear arsenal, when it "agrees" to a truce (good public relations) that it breaks at will (no-one will notice the "small" incursions and killings of Palestinians)? What would you do if Israel invaded your little plot of land, murdering men, women and children, including many civilians, from the sky? Would you take your children and run to the sea (there is no other escape in Gaza) or would you think "This is a war against me and my children" and would you resist in whatever way you could?"

6. Do you think that all of the Irish people are stupid enough to believe your propaganda (2) , no matter how often it is repeated?

7. Though not mentioned this morning, your Government has lied about the Israeli navy ramming the Dignity in international waters. The Dignity was carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza and had two Irish citizens on board. I protest against this action also and strongly condemn it

8. As a result of the war crimes which the IDF/Israel has committed in the Gaza Strip and in Palestine, I believe that our Government should call you in, advise you to leave and shut down the Israeli Embassy in Ballsbridge.

I have already written to Minister Mícheál Martin making this precise request.

With best personal wishes

Justin Morahan
2 January 2009

Chains of Solidarity Link Gaza And Derry

Derry plant of Arms manufacturer and Israel

sponsor occupied for 3d time since 2003

January 13, 2009 09:29
John Doherty - Derry Anti War Coalition
Source
Nine Women from Derry Make a Stand Against
Raytheon Weapons and its Tools of Occupation 'We call for a criminal investigation into the activities of the Raytheon company in Ireland, Britain and elsewhere with a view to the prosecution of Raytheon executives for complicity in war crimes.' Statement issued by the nine women as they entered the Raytheon premises:

From the Derry Anti War Coalition: From Nine Women Who Have Chained Themselves Inside The Raytheon Building At Springtown Today (January 12Th) At 2.30pm

We have taken this action in an effort to prevent or delay war crimes being committed by the Israeli Defence Forces in Gaza with the use of Raytheon weapons and to try to force a criminal investigation into the activities of the Raytheon company in Derry and elsewhere which, we believe, amount to complicity in war crimes.

Like millions of others, we have watched television pictures of innocent people being slaughtered since the Israeli assault on Gaza began on December 27th, and have wanted it to stop. But nobody with the power to make it stop seems willing to intervene to do so.

Lawyers and international human rights organisations have declared that the Israeli bombing and shelling of Gaza involves war crimes. The bombing of a UN-sponsored school on January 6th, killing at least 40 civilians, including children, has merely been the worst of these war crimes.

Raytheon is one of Israel’s main suppliers of the weapons being used in the attacks on Gaza. The company is either aware or doesn’t care that its weapons are being used to commit war crimes.

Nine Derry Women Updates:
• Police Agree to Investigate Raytheon's Role in War Crimes - Read more, plus photos
• Galway Women's Vigil for Gaza: 'We are Muslim, Jewish, Catholic and women of no religion. From the Middle East and Ireland. Mothers, housewives, students, teachers, office workers, pensioners.' - read more
• Protest as the Israeli ambassador enters Dáil Éireann - Photo series

Raytheon is aiding and abetting Israel in committing these war crimes against the people of Gaza. We are trying to stop them.

We hope that we encourage others to take similar action against other Raytheon plants and against arms companies generally.

We call for a criminal investigation into the activities of the Raytheon company in Ireland, Britain and elsewhere with a view to the prosecution of Raytheon executives for complicity in war crimes.

We call on all political parties, community groups, trades unions, churches and others in the Derry area to say clearly that we do not want a company involved in war crimes in our town and to declare that Raytheon should get out.

Statement Issued By The Women Immediately After Leaving The Building At 6pm.
A deputation from the Derry Anti-War Coalition is to meet with senior PSNI officers this week to present evidence which, they say, warrants a criminal investigation into the Raytheon company.

The coalition says that an agreement by the PSNI to formally consider the evidence was one of the reasons for ending the protest at Raytheon in which nine women chained themselves together inside the building.

A spokeswoman for the nine said: "While inside the building, we had a series of discussions with the Foyle commander of the PSNI, Chris Yates. As a result of these discussions between ourselves and Chief Inspector Yates, it was agreed that he would accept delivery of our dossier of evidence and arrange that it be studied to determine whether a basis exists for criminal charges against Raytheon.

We thank all those who gathered outside Raytheon to support our action. The Derry Anti War Coalition again calls on the local political parties to join us in demanding that Raytheon get out of Derry

The comments on this post are well worth reading. Go to Source

DDoS Attack: Website Monitoring
Military and CIA Planes through Shannon

Screenshot from ShannonWatch.org

attacked repeatedly this week

Well organised, repeated attempts to shut down ShannonWatch.org

January 12, 2009
Source
Shannonwatch.org, a website set up in December 2008 to document US military traffic and rendition flights through Shannon Airport has become the victim of organised international attacks. The attacks which started on January 8th are being repeated, and efforts to keep the website live are currently proving difficult. The website managers are determined that they will not be silenced however, and will continue in one form or another to publish information on military and suspect CIA flights through Shannon.

Related Links:
• Check to see if the Site is online yet: ShannonWatch.org
• ShannonWatch asks Is Ireland facilitating possible genocide at Shannon?

The attacks on ShannonWatch.org indicate that a concerted effort is under way to stop the dissemination of information about US activities in Shannon. According to the Internet Service Provider (ISP) that hosts the website, the ongoing distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks are far more sophisticated and determined than most such attacks. Efforts to make websites unavailable are not unusual, but a spokesperson for the ISP said this was “the second serious one [they have seen] in ten years”. The attacks involve thousands of hits per second, first on the nameserver, then on the server hosting the website, with uploads of hundreds of megabytes designed to bring the entire system down.

After the initial attack on Thursday (Jan 8th), the website was successfully restored. However the attacks were repeated, causing many of the websites hosted by the ISP to become unavailable.

One can only speculate as to exactly why the site is being attacked, and by whom. It may be because it provides a count of planes carrying US troops through Shannon airport on their way to/from an illegal war, or because it documents the number of US military planes landing at Shannon and passing through Irish airspace. Or it may be linked to the fact that the website lists the known CIA-controlled planes that have used Shannon airport since August, along with details of other rendition planes that people should watch out for.

Another possible reason for the attack is that the website identified a recent landing at Shannon that may be connected to the covert transportation of deadly weapons. Shannonwatch.org highlighted the fact that a plane registered to Kalitta Air landed in Shannon on Dec 20th and again on Dec 22nd. Given that this airline company transported laser-guided bombs for the Israeli bombing of Lebanon in 2006 and that it brought these through Prestwick without the appropriate clearance (see http://uk-airport-news.info/prestwick-airport-news-281106.htm), the presence of its aircraft in Ireland merits further investigation.

Shannonwatch.org is maintained by Cosantoiri Siochana, which is a group of human rights and anti-war activists based in the mid-West of Ireland. They are now appealing for assistance towards getting the website up and running again as quickly as possible. Mirrored hosting and/or an ISP that can handle large scale malicious attacks may be required; anyone with suggestions or offers of help is invited to contact shannonwatch[at]gmail.com.

Is Ireland facilitating possible

genocide at Shannon?

4 Hercules C 130 US military aircraft refuelled

at Shannon over the past 48 hours

January 10, 2009
Shannonwatch
Source
Israel has been using a huge amount of munitions and explosives in its assault on Gaza. War crimes have been committed during this assault in which over 800 Palestinian people have been killed including as many as 250 children. Over the past 48 hours four Hercules military aircraft landed and were refuelled at Shannon airport. Their destination is not yet known, but in recent times only about four military aircraft were refuelled at Shannon per month. The possibility exists that Israel is being resupplies with munitions expended in its murderous attacks on Palestinians by aircraft transiting through Ireland and Irish airspace with the permission of the Irish Government.

Given that almost six millions Jewish people were killed in the genocide committed in German death camps, known as the Holocaust. I might seem outrageous to now accuse the Jewish Israeli Government of genocide against the Palestinian people. However, an examination of the Genocide Convention 1948 reveals that Israel may well be in serious breach of several aspects of the Genocide Convention in its treatment of and attacks on the Palestinian people since 1948, and in particular in its most recent attacks on Gaza.

Israel is one of the 142 countries that have ratified the Genocide Convention 1948. Given the horrific Jewish experiences of the Holocaust Israel should be one of the strongest supporters of the Genocide Convention, and should be exemplary in its compliance and enforcement of this convention. Yet a study of the behaviour of the state of Israel since its foundation in 1948 shows that the treatment of the Palestinian people by the Israeli state has been in breach of the spirit and in some cases the letter of international laws on genocide.

The full title of the convention is: Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Its first two articles are:

Article I: The Contracting Parties confirm that genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, is a crime under international law which they undertake to prevent and to punish.
Article II: In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious groups, as such:

a. Killing members of the group;
b. Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group.
c. Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
d. Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
e. Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

Israel has been in very serious breach of Article II especially, including in the following respects:

1. The virtual ethnic cleansing of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their lands and homes in 1948, and is subsequent conflicts, and by other means including restrictive planning, purchase, and destruction of property including farm land and crops.
2. The deliberate targeting of religious buildings particularly Mosques.
3. The killing of large numbers of the Palestinian group in a very disproportionate manner (approximately 100:1) contrary to Article II a.
4. Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group, contrary to Article II b.
5. Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part, contrary to Article II c.

In recent years prominent national leaders and others from several countries, including, Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia, Rwanda and Liberia, have been brought before international courts for crimes against humanity. The leaders of Israel should be no exception, and if any Palestinian leaders have been involved in crimes against humanity, they should also face trial before international courts.

Peace activist monitoring US aircraft breaching Irish neutrality

Given the above legal situation, it behoves the Irish Government and the Irish people to ensure that Ireland and its territory and airspace are in no way being used to facilitate or be complicit in war crimes that may amout to acts of genocide.

Protest as Israeli ambassador enters Dáil

January 13, 2009
Michael Gallagher
Source
There were 20-30 people protesting at the dáil today, which included members of the public and IPSC, as the Israeli ambassador arrived for a hearing before the Irish foreign affairs committee.
There was a lot of media there also, but the ambassador slipped in through another entrance.

No details were given to any media from the Israeli embassy about his time of arrival or what entrance he was going to use.

Police Agree to Investigate
Raytheon's Role in War Crimes

Nine Women obstruct doors inside Raytheon Plant Derry

January 13, 2009
George Row
Source
Nine women obstructed doors inside Raytheon plant in Derry by chaining themselves together and to the doors. They were protesting against the use of Raytheon's weapons by Israel in the commission of war crimes in Gaza. They also called upon the local police to investigate Raytheon's participation in such crimes.

On Monday 12th Jan. 09 nine Derry women entered the building that houses Raytheon and chained themselves to each other and to the internal doors leading to Rayhtheon's part of the building.

After some time inside they started negotiating with Chief Inspector Chris Yates, of the PSNI.

The women made it clear that they were there to highlight Raytheon's participation in war crimes and that they would come out if the police agreed to investigate the extent to which Raytheon was implicated in the war crimes being carried out in Gaza using weapons created and supported by Raytheon.

At 5:45 pm the women emerged to be greeted by loud cheering and chanting from the anti-war campaigners outside.

Goretti Horgan of Derry Antiwar Coalition spoke briefly to the crowd, saying that as long as Raytheon's weapons continued to be used to kill innocent people they can be assured that Derry people will continue to protest about their presence here.

DAWC issued the following statements:
Statement issued by the women as they entered the Raytheon premises:

DERRY ANTI WAR COALITION

FROM NINE WOMEN WHO HAVE CHAINED THEMSELVES INSIDE THE RAYTHEON BUILDING AT SPRINGTOWN TODAY (JANUARY 12th) AT 2.30PM

We have taken this action in an effort to prevent or delay war crimes being committed by the Israeli Defence Forces in Gaza with the use of Raytheon weapons and to try to force a criminal investigation into the activities of the Raytheon company in Derry and elsewhere which, we believe, amount to complicity in war crimes.

Like millions of others, we have watched television pictures of innocent people being slaughtered since the Israeli assault on Gaza began on December 27th, and have wanted it to stop. But nobody with the power to make it stop seems willing to intervene to do so.

Lawyers and international human rights organisations have declared that the Israeli bombing and shelling of Gaza involves war crimes. The bombing of a UN-sponsored school on January 6th, killing at least 40 civilians, including children, has merely been the worst of these war crimes.

Raytheon is one of Israel’s main suppliers of the weapons being used in the attacks on Gaza. The company is either aware or doesn’t care that its weapons are being used to commit war crimes.

Raytheon is aiding and abetting Israel in committing these war crimes against the people of Gaza. We are trying to stop them.

We hope that we encourage others to take similar action against other Raytheon plants and against arms companies generally.

We call for a criminal investigation into the activities of the Raytheon company in Ireland, Britain and elsewhere with a view to the prosecution of Raytheon executives for complicity in war crimes.

We call on all political parties, community groups, trades unions, churches and others in the Derry area to say clearly that we do not want a company involved in war crimes in our town and to declare that Raytheon should get out.

STATEMENT ISSUED BY THE WOMEN IMMEDIATELY AFTER LEAVING THE BUILDING AT SIX PM.

A deputation from the Derry Anti-War Coalition is to meet with senior PSNI officers this week to present evidence which, they say, warrants a criminal investigation into the Raytheon company.

The coalition says that an agreement by the PSNI to formally consider the evidence was one of the reasons for ending the protest at Raytheon in which nine women chained themselves together inside the building.

A spokeswoman for the nine said: "While inside the building, we had a series of discussions with the Foyle commander of the PSNI, Chris Yates. As a result of these discussions between ourselves and Chief Inspector Yates, it was agreed that he would accept delivery of our dossier of evidence and arrange that it be studied to determine whether a basis exists for criminal charges against Raytheon.

We thank all those who gathered outside Raytheon to support our action. The Derry Anti War Coalition again calls on the local political parties to join us in demanding that Raytheon get out of Derry

Galway Women's Vigil for Gaza

January 13, 2009
Global Women's Strike Ireland
Report on the daily women's vigils
Source
Since last week women have been maintaining a daily vigil for Gaza in the centre of Galway city.

We are Muslim, Jewish, Catholic and women of no religion. From the Middle East and Ireland. Mothers, housewives, students, teachers, office workers, pensioners. Some are members of organisations and some not. Placards include 'Stop killing women, children and men in Gaza’, ‘Boycott Apartheid Israel’, ‘Zionism =Colonialism/Zionists = Racists’, ‘Stop Israel's Genocide in Gaza’, ‘No Peace without Justice’, ‘Gaza Strip=Warsaw Ghetto'.


We have an open mic for anyone who wants to speak or give information and we use our megaphone to speak out for Gaza including chants such as:

No Starvation, No Occupation, No Invasion
Boycott: Israel, Sanctions: Israel, Divestment: Israel
Free, Free Gaza/Palestine: Boycott Israel
Women of Gaza/children of Gaza/men of Gaza: we are with you

We also vary the last one to say we are with women, children and men in Iraq, Afghanistan, Africa and Haiti, with mothers in Gaza who have lost children or who are trying to feed children while being starved by Israel, with Israeli refuseniks, with Arab Israeli people who are demonstrating and being arrested, and with all Israelis who are against the war, with Jewish anti-Zionists around the world, with women demonstrating in Israel and other countries against the war. Following the lead of President Chavez of Venezuela, we chanted: 'Israeli ambassador: out, out, out!'

The Global Women’s Strike called the vigil, and women and men we spoke with on other demonstrations were very supportive and eager for it. Two women proposed that we go to help on stalls by a political party to 'speak with one voice'! But Middle East women in particular did not feel that it is disunity when women come together across divides, supported by children and men, to speak out in support of people in Gaza. If we had joined with a party, whose ‘one voice’ would it have been? Our vigil ensured that women’s voice was not silenced yet again. Apart from the Strike, women from Women in Media and Entertainment, Galway Alliance Against War, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Palestine Children’s Charity , Save Tara campaign and Shell to Sea have also participated.

About 10 of us have kept it going with others joining briefly then leaving; mothers have had to take children home and many cannot come every night but are taking it in turns. Men have also supported women, joined the vigil and spoken out. Passersby stop to listen, support, applaud or even speak among whom were Kurdish and Turkish women and children who wanted to support us and said there was a lot of support from the community from Turkey in Galway for Palestinian people.

Women speak on the mic about why we are there. Of the 1.5 million people imprisoned in Gaza, starved, bombarded and murdered by Israel, women and their children are the majority under attack. But it's also women the main carers who have kept people alive, recently but also during decades of Israel's ethnic cleansing of Palestinian people. Israel has targeted women for precisely this reason; to attack women is to attack the whole population. All of us have talked about the fact that it is very clear that Israel just wants to try to kill as many as possible. This is ethnic cleansing; this is genocide. This is racism and colonialism.

We also give others, including those passing, information and news you don’t hear in the corporate media about actions taken by the worldwide movement we are part of – people in Turkey mounting a spectacular shoe protest and stopping a basketball game with an Israeli team, Jewish women in Canada occupying an Israeli consulate, President Chavez of Venezuela expelling the Israeli ambassador, massive marches in London . . .

An Arab mother spoke to let people know how they could boycott Israeli goods in Galway as a way to support people in Gaza. She told us that the bar code for Israeli products begins with 729 and we can all look out for this. Others have added practical information along the same lines, naming products and shops to boycott. We find that we are being asked about this more and more and we’ve decided to hand out leaflets about it.

An Irish woman reminded everyone of the fact that Gaza had been a blockaded prison before Israel's attacks, starved and with little medicine or even anaesthetic in the hospitals. Bombing and invading a trapped population is of course a war crime. She demanded that the Irish government press the EU to break its trade agreement with Israel. They should be excluded from everything – even the Eurovision song contest! Another mother, speaking in support of the mothers of Gaza, said that if Israel can get away with doing this in Gaza none of us are safe. She also brought greetings and support from the Save Tara campaign, fighting destructive development by the M3 motorway. We spoke on the mic about the connections between destruction by war and development, how these wars are for land, oil, gas and other resources, for private sector profit at the expense of lives. Israel’s invasion is also to grab Gaza’s gas.

A 9 year old boy explained to us the different types of bombs that Israel was raining down upon children in Gaza and their mums and dads. He listed other colonialists and empires throughout history and the Nazis: 'What they're doing is the same as Hitler. It's worse because Hitler did it to Jewish people and now Israel is doing it to other people.' He was too upset to continue. The Strike added information on the Zionist history of collaboration with the Nazis and their undermining of the boycott of Germany.

An immigrant man from France spoke about how people opposing Israel used to be called anti-Semitic but you can oppose Zionism and not be against Jewish people, you can be an Israeli refusenik for example. Now everyone is doing it and it is becoming clear. We said that to be against Israel's genocidal actions is to be anti-racist.

A woman from the Strike said that as Irish people we have a long history of fighting colonialism and we know colonial savagery when we see it.
Related Link: http://www.globalwomenstrike.net