Committee Goal :

Israeli attacks against Gaza civilians

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 18:30:26 GMT

Jamal is a 5 years old. He is talking about his exprince during Israeli invaion.

http://www.nepras.tv/ar/vedio.php?id=130

please write some thing for gaza

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 19:54:15 GMT

please write some thing for gaza

http://freegaza.ps/index.php?scid=16

just write anything

thanx

song of gaza

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 06:17:19 GMT

its unfair

Sun, 08 Jun 2008 19:59:20 GMT

http://www.palestine-info.info/Ar/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7Wc9RzHMs527wAvPnGaQRtjXzUa4psU6jrAAzLdR7UlsXuYk2L%2fcMi00T8T6HutgqVNx1YgoE7xbbEDvIarSYWTaxcT%2bFyM90Vq%2f3jZi%2fCjk%3d

Thumbs up for Hamas!

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 19:29:35 GMT

Thumbs up for Hamas!

Despite all what the world might think of, Palestinian under occupation (and elsewhere for sure) still believes that Hamas and Haniyeh are in better position than what the trio - Rice, Bush and Olmert - are trying to present as an alternative for Palestinian Democracy to the world, the corrupted Fatah and President Abbas.

In a recent Palestinian public opinion poll, the results shown increased dissatisfaction with the performance of Mahmud Abbas and with the Government of Ismail Haniyeh Seen as having greater legitimacy and better performance than the Government of Salam Fayyad. Hamas’s and Haniyeh’s Popularity increased, Fateh’s and Abbas’s decrease.

Despite all the atrocities that the Palestinians in general, and Gazans in particular, went through during the last few months, this survey shows the real metal of Palestinians. Hunger or death will not force Palestinians to bow for occupation or for corrupted, disrespected leadership in Ramallah.

The latest poll was conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip between 13 and 15 March 2008. This period witnessed a limited lull that prevailed between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip in the aftermath of the Israeli incursion into Gaza in early March that left more than 130 Palestinians dead and after the bombing attack in West Jerusalem that led to the death of 8 Israeli religious students.

Main Findings:

Findings indicate that a major shift, in Hamas’s favor, had occurred during the last three months with about 10% of the population shifting their attitudes and perceptions. The change included increased popularity of Hamas and its leadership, increased support for its positions and legitimacy, and greater satisfaction with its performance. These changes might have been the result of several political developments starting with the breaching of the Rafah border with Egypt during the last week of January and first week of February, followed by the Israeli military incursion into the Gaza Strip leading to a large number of Palestinian causalities and an increase in the number of rockets launched from the Gaza Strip against Israeli towns such as Sderot and Ashkelon, the two suicide attacks in Dimona and Jerusalem leading to the death of nine Israelis, and ending with the failure of the Annapolis process in positively affecting daily life of Palestinians in the West Bank, in stopping Israeli settlement activities, or in producing progress in final status negotiations. These developments managed to present Hamas as successful in breaking the siege and as a victim of Israeli attacks. These also presented Palestinian President Abbas and his Fateh faction as impotent, unable to change the bitter reality in the West Bank or ending Israeli occupation through diplomacy.

- The gap between the standing of Fateh compared to the standing of Hamas decreases significantly in three months from 18 percentage points to 7. If new parliamentary elections were to take place today, Hamas would receive 35%, Fateh 42%, other electoral lists combined 12%, and 11% remain undecided. This represents a significant increase in Hamas’s popularity compared to December 2007 when it received 31% compared to 49% to Fateh, 10% to other lists and 11% undecided. Hamas’s popularity increased to 34% during the breaching of the Rafah border with Egypt during the last week of January while Fateh’s popularity dropped to 46%. Hamas is more popular in the Gaza Strip reaching 40% compared to 31% in the West Bank. Fateh’s popularity is slightly greater in the Gaza Strip, reaching 43% compared to 41% in the West Bank.

- The gap between the standing of Abbas compared to the standing of Haniyeh decreases significantly in three months from 19 percentage points to almost zero. If new presidential elections were to take place today, Mahmud Abbas and Ismail Haniyeh would receive almost equal number of votes, 46% for Abbas and 47% for Haniyeh. Abbas’s popularity stood at 56% and Haniyeh’s at 37% last December. During the breaching of the Rafah border with Egypt, Abbas’s popularity dropped to 51% and Haniyeh’s increased to 43%. Haniyeh’s popularity today is the highest ever registered since Hamas’s electoral victory in January 2006. However, if the competition was between Marwan Barghouti and Haniyeh, the former would receive 57% and the latter 38%. Moreover, the percentage of non-participation would decrease from 34% (if the competition was between Abbas and Haniyeh) to 24% (if the competition was between Barghouti and Haniyeh).

- Findings show continued decrease in the level of satisfaction with the performance of Abbas and a greater positive evaluation for the performance of Haniyeh’s government over the performance of Fayyad’s government. Satisfaction with the performance of Abbas stands today at 41% and dissatisfaction at 56%. Satisfaction with Abbas’s performance stood at 50% last December and 46% during the breaching of the Rafah border with Egypt. Moreover, only 30% say that the performance of the Fayyad government is good or very good and 42% say it is bad or very bad. By contrast, 39% say the performance of the Haniyeh’s government is good or very good and only 34% say it is bad or very bad.

- Findings show depreciation in the legitimacy of Fayyad’s government and a significant rise in public perception of the legitimacy of Haniyeh’s government. 49% say Haniyeh should stay in office as Prime Minister while 45% say he should not. Last September only 40% said Haniyeh should stay as prime minister. By contrast, today only 38% say Fayyad’s government should stay in office and 55% say it should not. Support for Fayyad’s government stood at 49% last September. Similarly, 34% say Haniyeh’s government is the legitimate Palestinian government and only 29% say Fayyad’s government is the legitimate one. 9% say both governments are legitimate and 24% say both are illegitimate. It is noticeable that Haniyeh’s government receives greater public legitimacy both in the West Bank (32% to Haniyeh’s compared to 26% to Fayyad’s) and the Gaza Strip (37% to Haniyeh’s compared to 34% to Fayyad’s). It is also worth mentioning that this is the first time that Haniyeh’s government has received greater public legitimacy than Fayyad’s. Last December, belief that Fayyad’s government was legitimate stood at 38% and belief that Haniyeh’s government was legitimate stood at 30%.

- Despite the fact that the majority continues to reject Hamas’s June 2007 violent takeover of the Gaza Strip, only a small minority believes that Hamas alone is responsible for the continued political split between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Rejection of Hamas’s violent takeover stands today at 68% and acceptance of the takeover at 26%. Rejection of the takeover stood at 73% last September. Acceptance of Hamas’s takeover increases in the Gaza Strip reaching 33% compared to 23% in the West Bank. However, only 17% believe that Hamas alone is responsible for the continued split between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and in fact 21% say Fateh alone is responsible for the continued split. A majority of 54% believes that both Hamas and Fateh are responsible for the continued split. The tendency to avoid blaming Hamas alone for the continuation of the split reflects a change in public perception regarding the positions of the two factions regarding return to dialogue as an exit from the current crisis. Support for Fateh’s and Abbas’s position, which demands a return to the status quo ante as a precondition to dialogue drops from 46% last September to 39% in this poll. Support for Hamas’s position, which calls for unconditional dialogue, increases from 27% to 37% during the same period.

- Perception of personal and family security and safety diminishes considerably in the West Bank declining from 44% last December to 32% in this poll. Perception of security and safety improved greatly in the West Bank in December 2007 compared to September when it stood at 35%. In the Gaza Strip, perceptions of personal and family security and safety diminish somewhat from 52% to 46% between December 2007 and March 2008.

Narratives Under Siege: Gaza’s 700 Stranded Students

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 19:25:16 GMT

Hadeel Abu Kwaik is one of 7 students whose Fulbright scholarships were recently withdrawn, then swiftly reinstated by the US State Dept. But almost 700 other students remain stranded in Gaza

Few days ago, on 1 June, Hadeel Abu Kwaik was sitting in her computer lab at Al-Azhar University in Gaza looking worried, and perplexed. Today, having just been told her Fulbright scholarship has been reinstated, she says she is “Happy but still worried. I’m still not sure we will [all] be able to leave for the US.”

Hadeel is one of seven Gaza students who, on 29 May, all received letters from the US Consulate in Jerusalem, informing them that their Fulbright scholarship applications would not be finalised. The US consulate letter gave no reason for the sudden withdrawing of the 7 scholarships: instead all seven students, three women and four men, were “Strongly encouraged” to re-apply for the same Fulbright scholarships the following year, and assured they would receive “Priority consideration.”

The withdrawing of these Fulbright scholarships caused international uproar, momentarily focusing the world’s attention on the plight of the seven Gaza Strip students. US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice intervened, saying she was “Surprised” by the decision, and adding “If you cannot engage young people and give complete horizons to their expectations and their dreams, I don’t know that there will be any future for Palestine. We will take a look.”

In the face of mounting criticism from both within the US and Israel, the US State Department swiftly reinstated the seven Fulbright scholarships, and on 2 June assured the students they were “working closely” with Israeli officials to secure permits for the students to leave Gaza. Hadeel is now waiting to travel to Jerusalem, where she will be interviewed at the US Consulate in order to secure her US visa. Then she will return to Gaza in order to prepare for her departure at the end of summer. She hopes to study her MBA in software engineering at Minnesota University.

For the mainstream press, this story “moved quickly” and has now concluded with a positive ending for the Gaza Fulbright seven. But hundreds of other Palestinian students remain stranded inside the Gaza Strip, and the number is expected to rise this summer. According to data from the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), almost 700 Palestinian students are still waiting to leave Gaza in order to pursue studies, and scholarships, abroad. “This number will increase within the next month, after the schools announce their exam results and Gaza students want to move onto universities” says Khalil Shaheen, a senior PCHR researcher. “All of these students are stranded inside the Gaza Strip because of the Israeli siege and closure, and they are being denied their rights to pursue their education, and their futures.”

The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights both explicitly confirm the rights of all people to freely travel to and from their own state. The Israeli closure of the Gaza Strip, which is about to enter its third year, is systematically and deliberately destroying the Gazan economy, its health and education services, and crushing the future of its people. Gazan students who want to pursue specialist education abroad, many of whom intend to return to Gaza afterwards and assist in rebuilding their country, are being denied this right because Israel remains intent on its illegal policy of collective punishment. An Israeli human rights organization, GISHA, has just gone to the Israeli Supreme Court to petition for 2 Gaza students, Wissam Abuajwa and Nibal Nayef, to be permitted to leave Gaza and study their Masters in the UK and Germany.

Meanwhile, 29 year old Said Ahmad Said Al-Madhoun has been waiting more than a year to pursue his Master of Law abroad. After being awarded a fellowship by the Open Society Institute in January 2007, he was accepted onto a Masters program at the American University, Washington College of Law, but has been unable to reach the US. “I managed to get out of Gaza in December 2007 and to travel to the Egyptian border” says Said. “It was a complex journey - because of the closure we were forced to travel through Erez Crossing (in northern Gaza) and then via another Israeli crossing, at Kerem Shalom, to the Egyptian border. But I was turned back at the [Egyptian] border because I had no US visa.” Said could not obtain a US visa, because, like the vast majority of other Gazans, he is not permitted to travel to Jerusalem, where the US Consulate issues its visas. He attempted to leave Gaza once more in early January, and was turned back at the Egyptian border again. His academic career, and life, suspended, Said is still waiting. “This is so frustrating for me, and for all of us students in Gaza” he says wearily. “We want to work and to learn. We want to enjoy our freedom of movement. We want to determine our future.”

When Hadeel Abu Kwaik first heard that her Fulbright scholarship had been withdrawn, she said she felt angry and disappointed. “I wonder if Israel wants an educated neighbor or an angry one” she stated publicly. Like Said Al-Madhoun, Hadeel wants to pursue her studies overseas and then return to Gaza and work in her own community. Although she says she’s happy her Fulbright scholarships has been reinstated, she admits she is still worried about whether she will actually be able to leave Gaza, and her anxiety is clearly tainting her joy. “I won’t be relieved until we actually reach the United States (to start my studies),” she says.

help gaza 2 help your self

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 13:05:39 GMT

support gaza even in words

please talk about gaza with everyone in school in university in cafes at parties in gardens everywhere, just send your massege 2 help gaza & the children in gaza

EU delegation in Palestine: Improvement on the ground is crucial

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 13:00:51 GMT

PRESS RELEASE

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT DELEGATION URGES ACTION TO COUNTERACT ERODING CONFIDENCE IN THE PALESTINIAN-ISRAELI PEACE PROCESS

Improvement on the ground is crucial

Jerusalem, 2 June 2008
A European Parliament delegation visited Israel and the Palestinian Territories from 31 May to 2 June with the aim of assessing the situation on the ground as regards developments since Annapolis.

"We have observed encouraging improvements in the security situation in the West Bank municipalities with Palestinians being able to take on their responsibilities. Nevertheless, Israeli incursions and other restrictions undermine the authority and ability of Palestinian police and security forces to function.

We further witnessed the beginnings of Palestinian economic recovery with greater commerce, trade and tourism in some West Bank areas. However in order for these economic and security improvements to be consolidated, the movement of people and access of goods needs to be ensured. Palestinian compliance in this field is not enough; a change in Israel's policies is required. The existing policy of roadblocks and the impact of the route of the "separation barrier" seriously hamper on-going efforts, strongly backed by the European Union, to achieve economic recovery.

We have observed considerable and continuous expansion of settlements which is illegal, and incompatible with the objectives laid out in Annapolis and with the Road Map, making a two-state solution impossible. In particular, we are worried over the future of East Jerusalem, the "E1" settlement project and the situation in the old city of Hebron.

In the Gaza Strip the revolting consequences of the ongoing sanctions and blockade policy were all too evident. Dramatic overall shortages - in particular, medical supplies, food and fuel - result in unacceptable human misery, which, in turn, will generate future violence. We were positively struck by the mobilisation of the civil society, as well as the activities of UNRWA, who try to counterbalance the effect of the siege. Their efforts need immediate increased support from the international community.

On behalf of the European Parliament, we reiterate our pressing call to put an end to the geographical and political isolation of the Gaza Strip and to reconnect it to the rest of the world. We call on the Quartet, and its representative Mr Blair, and on the Palestinian Authority institutions to re-engage on the ground and to collaborate with the Gazans. The only identified project of a sewage plant in the context of the Quartet's quick impact projects must be urgently implemented. We condemn the launching of rockets on the neighbouring State of Israel and consider it as totally counterproductive with respect to the willingness for peace that is the desire of a great majority of Gazans.

All the above points were raised during discussions between the delegation and members of the Knesset. Finally, we strongly feel that without serious signs of good faith translated into tangible improvements on the ground, the time is not yet right to upgrade EU-Israel relations."

The delegation comprised fourteen MEPs and co-chaired by Mrs Veronique DE KEYSER and Mrs Annemie NEYTS-UYTTEBROECK. Luisa Morgantini, Vice President of the European Parliament, also participated to the MEPs delegation.

Further info Luisa Morgantini 00972 547271742 or Office 0032 22 84 51 51 or 0039 06 6...

Luisa.morgantini@europarl.europa.eu; www.luisamorgantini.net

Israel kills a 20-year-girl, Siege Victims up to180

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 12:36:40 GMT

Israel kills a 20-year-girl, Siege Victims up to180

Gaza Strip, June, 7, 2008, (PCAS)- A new patient died today morning due to Israeli refusal to let her travel for treatment. The number of dead patients raised to up to 180 persons in a very obvious violation for all human rights accords and treaties.

Medical sources reported that the new casualty was seeking treatment outside Gaza strip. Rnia Thabet, aged 20 years old died due to the Israli ban over leaving. Israeli authorities neither secured her medicines nor allowed her to leave for treatment abroad.

Popular Committee against siege warned previously and several times of what's going on now. " Israel is issuing slow death sentences against our people and the world is silent! We call upon the world to intervene strongly in Gaza." Said PCAS Chairman, Gamal El Khoudary

It's remarkable that all life aspects in Gaza are so deteriorating. Tens of thousands became jobless, basic food stuff unavailable, medicines are prevented to get into Gaza and patents are being sentenced

to slow death by Occupation.

links

Sun, 25 May 2008 18:34:26 GMT

Palestine/Israel
• The Palestinian Youth Network
• The Alternative Information Center, www.alternativenews.org
• Israeli Committee agaisnst House Demolitions (ICAHD), www.icahd.org
• Gaza Community Mental Health Programme (GCMHP), www.gcmhp.net
• The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), www.palestinercs.org
• Palestinian Centre For Human Rights (PCHR), www.pchrgaza.org
• Palestine Medical Relief Society, www.pmrs.ps

USA/Canada
• MidEast: JustPeace, Michigan, www.mideastjustpeace.org
• Global Exchange, San Francisco, CA, www.globalexchange.org
• Palestine Solidarity Committee - Seattle, www.palestineinformation.org
• Justice for Palestinians, San Jose, CA, U.S.A., website
• Women in Black - Los Angeles, www.wib-la.org
• Women in Black - Amherst, Massachusets
• Women in Black - Green Valley, Arizona
• Women in Black - St. Louis, MO
• Middle East Crisis Response, Woodstock, NY, http://mideastcrisis.org
• Code Pink, www.codepink4peace.org
• Women of a Certain Age (WCA) New York, NY
• CEIA - Campaign to end Israeli Apartheid Southern California, http://ceia-sc.org
• Olympia/Rafah Sister City Project - Olympia, WA/Rafah, Gaza, www.orscp.org
• International Action Center San Diego, CA
• Americans for a Palestinian State, CA, http://americansforapalestinianstate.org
• ISM Northern California, www.norcalism.org
• I-Witness Palestine, Southern California, www.iwitnesspalestine.org
• ISM Michigan
• Stand Up Seattle, Seattle, WA, www.standupseattle.org
• Women in Black-Victoria BC, Canada
• Jewish Voice for Peace, www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org
• LA Jews for Peace, www.geocities.com/LAJewsforPeace
• SUSTAIN Stop US Tax Aid to Israel Now, http://sustainphilly.blogspot.com/
• Nonviolent Action Community of Cascadia, http://seanacc.org
• Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), www.cair.com
• Noam Chomsky, www.chomsky.info

Europe
• Women in Black, Edinburgh, Scotland, www.wibs.org.uk
• Women in Black, Vienna, Austria, www.fraueninschwarz.at
• Women in Black, Netherlands, www.vrouweninhetzwart.nl
• Olive Cooperative, UK
• Zaytoun, UK, www.zaytoun.org
• Friends of Al-Aqsa, UK, www.aqsa.org.uk
• Intifada Solidarity Association to the Palestinian People - Greece, www.intifada.gr
• ISM France, www.ism-france.org
• ISM Switzerland, www.ism-suisse.org
• ISM Italy
• ISM Spain, www.internacionalesporpalestina.org
• Intersindical Alternativa de Catalunya (IAC), www.pangea.org/iac
• Paz Ahora, www.pazahora.org
• Pau Ara Madrid
• Pau Ara Valencia
• Xarxa de Solidaritat amb Palestina del Pais Valencia
• ISM London UK, www.ism-london.org.uk
• Palestine Solidarity Campaign, UK, www.palestinecampaign.org
• The Antonine Friendship Link, UK
• Jeremy Hardy, star of 'Jeremy Hardy versus the Israeli Army', and comedian,UK, Wikipedia
• Alice Mahon, retired UK Labour Party MP, Wikipedia
• Dr. Caroline Lucas, Green Party MEP South East England, www.carolinelucasmep.org.uk
• Dr. David Halpin, co-ordinator Dove and Dolphin aid voyage to Gaza

Australia, India, Asia
• Women in Black-Armidale, Australia
• Australians for Justice and Peace in Palestine, www.ajpp.canberra.net.au
• Palestine Relief Fund, Sydney Australia, www.palestiniansunited.org/palrelief
• Women in Black, India

Un «tsunami» des égouts de Gaza

Sun, 25 May 2008 18:29:37 GMT

Un «tsunami» des égouts de Gaza
Jeremy Bowen
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/7354571.stm

Un bébé de cinq mois est couché sur une couverture à l'ombre d'une cabane en tôle.

Des fines branches d'arbres ainsi que des feuilles et des brindilles étaient attachées autour des extrémités de la cabane pour l'isoler du vent chaud qui souffle dans les dunes de sable, traversant le mur frontalier pour se diriger vers Israël.

La mère du bébé était assise les jambes croisées sous elle, une grande partie de son visage cachée derrière son foulard noir. Il bougeait légèrement avec la brise, et elle s'en servait pour essuyer ses larmes et étouffer ses sanglots.

La femme s’appelle Aziza Abu Otayek. Elle pleurait parce qu'elle se souvenait de la mort de l'un de ses fils, un matin de mars l'année dernière, juste après que ses ainés soient partis à l'école.

Jusqu'à ce jour-là, leur maison se trouvait en bas d’un bassin profond d’eaux usées, acheminées vers un creux dans les dunes et retenues par des murs de terre parce que les services chargés de l'eau dans la bande de Gaza n'avaient aucun endroit où les mettre.

"Mur de déchets humains"

Le 27 mars 2007, les murs ont cédé.

Aziza a entendu quelqu'un crier, lui disant de s'enfuir. Elle est sorti de la cabane, puis est retournée à l’intérieur dans parce qu'elle avait oublié son foulard.

Le mur de déchets humains s’est abattu sur en eux. Il l’a fait tomber et a arraché le bébé de ses bras.

Il s'est noyé. Ils ont trouvé son corps contre le mur de la mosquée à une centaine de mètres. Il avait neuf mois.

Sa grand-mère a aussi été noyée.

Aziza s’inquiète au sujet de son nouveau bébé qui est né à la fin de l'année dernière, parce que quand elle a été touchée par le déluge, elle a avalé une partie des eaux usées et elle pense que celui lui est peut-être nocif.

Ils ont appelé le nouveau bébé Mohammed, en souvenir de son frère décédé.

Pendant qu’elle parlait, il gazouillait gaiement, même pas dérangé par les mouches qui bourdonnaient autour de ses yeux et de ses lèvres.

Aziza a un fils aîné, âgé de quatre ans qui s’appelle Ramadan. Son père dit qu'il pose des questions à propos de la mort de son frère, et quand il est contrarié, il dit qu'il préférait le premier Mohammed.

Mais Ramadan semble plutôt enjoué, mais il a des cauchemars au sujet de l'inondation.

Il regarde les lacs d’eaux d'égout à peine traités qui s’étendent encore à côté de chez eux et il demande à ses parents si une autre vague va venir.

Cela pourrait arriver. Le bassin qui a tué le frère et la grand-mère de Ramadan n'est pas le seul à proximité de leur domicile. Les autres sont beaucoup plus gros et remplis d'eaux usées.

Augmentation de la population

Un ingénieur palestinien des eaux a appelé Sadi Ali qui m'a emmené faire une visite. Il m’a expliqué que les bassins d'eaux usées s’étaient agrandis de façon importante en raison de l'augmentation de la population de Gaza - 1,4 millions de personnes dont la moitié ont moins de 16 ans - a débordé les équipements qui étaient de toute façon étaient inadéquats pour traiter les eaux usées.

A son grand regret, même s’ils déversaient tous les jours des dizaines de milliers de litres d'eaux usées non traitées dans la Méditerranée, il faudrait qu’ils s’occupent des autres.

Sadi explique que les bassins sont plus hauts de 11m que les terrains environnants et que seuls les murs de terre autour retiennent la merde à l’intérieur.

Rien que dans cet endroit - et il dit que dans d'autres parties de Gaza, c’est pire - les bassins sont si grands que si les digues cèdent, un tsunami d'eaux usées de 6 à 7 mètres de haut submergera une zone habitée par 10000 personnes.

Conflit avec Israël

Sadi Ali a peur qu'une bombe ou un missile brise une digue.

Il existe un projet de 80 millions d’euros financé par des donateurs internationaux, pour la construction d’un bon système de traitement des eaux usées au nord de Gaza.

Sadi Ali cherche à le construire. Mais il est en retard sur le calendrier.

Le problème est le même que celui qui domine tous les aspects de la vie ici : le conflit avec Israël.

Les restrictions imposées par les Israéliens - qui, selon eux sont nécessaires à la protection de leur population - ont ralenti, et parfois complètement arrêté l'importation de matières premières pour la construction telles que le ciment et les tuyauteries.

Les entrepreneurs n'ont pas été en mesure de se déplacer librement. Le dernier problème est le manque de carburant.

Essayez de construire un réseau d'égouts pendant une guerre.

Gaza est meurtrie par des années de combats.

Lorsque nous avons installé la caméra de télévision près des bassins d’égouts, un gamin aux pieds nus, tout juste en âge de marcher, est venu et a demandé si nous allions attaquer les positions israéliennes.

Il aurait pu demander s’il allait pleuvoir.

Pour lui, et pour plusieurs centaines de milliers d'autres enfants de Gaza, les explosions font partie de leurs vies. Le gamin a du penser que la caméra et son trépied ressemblait à une arme.

Après cela, nous avons accéléré le travail au cas où les Israéliens penseraient la même chose.

Aftermath of operation ’warm winter’: the tragic story of a boy in Gaza

Sun, 25 May 2008 10:59:45 GMT

A tragic story of a boy in Gaza

Defence for Children International - Palestine Section

2 April 2008

Ahmad, nicknamed “Misho”, is 16 years old and lives in Block 2 of Jabalia Camp in the North of the Gaza Strip. On 1st March, during the recent Israeli military operation codenamed “Warm Winter”, he was seriously injured by shrapnel from a missile launched by Israeli tanks invading northern Gaza. For two weeks Misho was thought dead, as his identity was tragically mistaken for that of his friend Mohammad, killed in the same missile attack. He was lying in Al Shifa’ hospital, his body so wounded that everyone failed to identify him and his parents assumed he had been killed. Misho is alive, and has been reunited with his parents, but he is in need of specialised medical assistance. He has been referred to receive professional medical support abroad, as the damage to his brain and spine has hampered his ability to speak and he is paralysed on the right side. Gaza’s hospitals, affected by the Israeli imposed blockade, are not sufficiently equipped to support his rehabilitation and the Palestinian Ministry of Health cannot fully fund the treatment needed for his recovery.

For this reason, DCI/PS appeals to its partners and to all concerned to help Misho receive appropriate medical assistance. Through this article, we urge organisations willing and able to facilitate Misho’s treatment to get in touch with DCI/PS.

Read the full story below.


Misho in his hospital bed in Gaza

Early morning on Saturday 1st March, Misho, Mohammad, Abed, Abdullah and Mohammad Emad, aged 15 to 16, were walking towards Al-Seka street, north of Jabalia camp, to watch Israeli military operations. DCI/PS met with Mohammad Emad, who survived the attack. According to his recollection of the events, the Israeli army had invaded the Izbet Abed Rabbo area and stationed their troops on Al-Khashef mountain. Filled with curiosity, the children approached the area where Israeli forces were engaged in violent combat with resistance fighters, but shocked by the gruesome sights they moved from the mountain back towards the camp on Salah Eddin Street. There, they asked a shopkeeper for some water then walked towards Jabalia Martyrs school. As the fighting intensified the children ran away, and hid behind a wall near the school. Suddenly, Mohammad Emad reports, there was a huge explosion:

I felt pain in my foot, fire on my face, and I felt that I was burning all over my body, my right eye was bleeding. It was around 10:15 am. I saw Abdullah (…) to my left 1 metre away and he was lying on the ground on his abdomen (…), he was trying to stand but he couldn’t. After 5 minutes, several ambulances arrived, because of the severe burn I was unable to turn my face to see what had happened to my friends.

As the ambulance reached them, the area was evacuated and Mohammad Emad fainted, only to wake up three days later in Kamal Adwan hospital. He was told that two of his friends had died, Abed Al Raouf and Abdallah, and that Mohammad was seriously injured. However there was no information about Misho.

Misho’s father, Na’im, also spoke with DCI/PS, and recalled the events of that day. After he heard about the attack, he realised that Misho had been missing from home since the morning and started to panic. He started to search for his son under heavy bombardments. He visited all the hospitals in the area, the Red Cross headquarters, and Al Shifa’ hospital in Gaza City, where many dead and injured had been transferred. On the second day of his search, Na’im returned to Kamal Adwan hospital, where he was told about the unidentified body of a child in the morgue; he asked if he could see it. It was a horrible sight. The body was so dismembered, that he was not able to identify it. He tried to recognise the features of the dead child, and identify his belongings, but he could not be certain. Filled with uncertainty and despair, Na’im returned home.

On 3rd March, as the Israeli military eventually withdrew from Izbet Abed Rabbo and Al-Kashef mountain, the search for Misho started again. In the evening of that day, a boy came to visit Na’im. He informed him that a friend of Misho’s, Mohammad Emad, had been injured in the same attack, and had been taken to Kamal Adwan hospital, where he still was. Na’im ran to meet him, and the child’s account prompted Misho’s father to look for the body of his son in the area where the attack took place. Through pictures, a shopkeeper indentified Misho as the child who had asked him for water, and someone had found Misho’s torn shoes near the school. Na’im deduced from this that the child in the morgue was his son. The following day, Na’im buried the child.

Mohammad Emad recounts to DCI/PS how, on that morning, he attended the burial ceremony of his three friends, Misho, Abed Al Raouf and Abdallah. On the same day, he learned that Mohammad had been hospitalised in the Intensive Care unit of Al Shifa’ hospital in Gaza City. About a week later, on 13th March, Mohammad Emad visited him in Al Shifa’ hospital. However, instead of Mohammad, he recognised Misho.

As I entered to visit my friend, I saw something that I couldn’t imagine. I saw Ahmad (…) sleeping in the bed, not Mohammad (…). His features were slightly changed due to the shrapnel in his face, and the bandage on his head and the pipes in his mouth. His body was totally bandaged but his features were that of Ahmad!(…) I looked towards Mohammad’s (…) father, who was standing near Ahmad (…) and told him “this is not your son”. He looked astonished and told me “this is Mohammad, but the shrapnel changed his look slightly”. I told him that that was not Mohammad, but Misho. And Abdo (…), and those who knew Ahmad and Mohammad, said the same thing. Also the other children with me said the same thing. But Mohammad’s father was insisting.

On the same day, a phone call changed the life of Misho’s family. As he left the hospital, Mohammad Emad immediately called Na’im, who could not believe what he was told. He ran to Gaza City, his nerves tense with hope. As he entered the room, Na’im recognised his son.

When I entered the room, 5 metres away from Misho bed, it was like a miracle, the boy on the bed is Misho my son, I recognised him, and I ran toward him saying: Misho… my son…. I am your father! It was unbelievable to see my son again! I looked at Misho in the eye, but he did not say anything, his mouth was full of pipes and his face was full of shrapnel. But he was my son; I could recognise him. Misho looked at me and a tear drop fell from his eye, it was one tear only.

The scene, however, turned tragic when Mohammad’s family continued to claim Misho as their son. Contacted by Na’im, Misho’s mother made her way to the hospital. She lifted her niqab, in order to identify herself to her son, and Misho started trembling, as if suffering from an electric shock; tears pouring down on his face. After establishing their son’s identity through his body marks, Misho’s parents were finally reunited with their son. Misho was alive, severely and irremediably injured, but alive.

Misho needs immediate assistance. He is hemiplegic and both his legs are severely burnt. He lost a finger on his left hand which is also burnt. There are still pieces of shrapnel embedded in his right hand and jaw. He has now been transferred to the Al Wafa’ rehabilitation centre in Gaza City but the hospital cannot continue his treatment, as it is too costly. Misho is slowly re-gaining the ability to speak and on 6th April he will be transferred to Hashomer hospital in Israel. The Palestinian Ministry of Health will partially cover his treatment which, according to the Israeli doctors, should last at least one and a half months. Misho needs to receive urgent specialised treatment. DCI/PS holds Misho’s medical reports; they can be consulted by those with the capacity to help Misho.

Another patient dies due to the siege, death toll mounts to 160

Sun, 25 May 2008 10:53:47 GMT

Spokesperson of the Popular Committee Against the Siege in Gaza, Rami Abdo, stated on Tuesday that Dr. Abdul-Karim Hussein, 69, died of brain tumor after he was unable to leave the Gaza Strip for medical treatment abroad.
Hussein, from Al Nusseirat refugee camp, was supposed to be transferred to a hospital abroad, but the Israeli authorities said that he can only be transferred on November this year. His health condition had sharply deteriorated and he died on Wednesday.
His son stated that he underwent surgery in Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza to remove the tumor but needed further medical attention and a potential surgery as the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip emptied the hospitals from the needed medications and medical equipment.

Abdo of Popular Committee stated that the death of Dr. Hussein raises the number of patients who died due to the ongoing siege to 160, including several children.

He added that that hundreds of patients are facing imminent death in Gaza as the Israeli authorities had rejected this year to grant 1285 patients permits to leave the Gaza Strip for medical treatment elsewhere.

Abdo also said that last year, Israel rejected more than 1627 requests to transfer patient out of the Gaza Strip, and in 2006 the Israeli Authorities rejected the transfer of 588 patients.

Abdo said that these practices and unjustified rejections are considered death sentences against the patients.

New ILO report on the situation of workers of the occupied Arab territories

Sun, 25 May 2008 10:51:58 GMT

New ILO report on the situation of workers of the occupied Arab territories

GENEVA (ILO News) ─ The annual report of the International Labour Office (ILO) on the situation of workers of the occupied Arab territories depicts a much degraded employment and labour situation showing that the plight of the Palestinian people has deteriorated alarmingly in a number of respects (1).

‘Working poverty is rising, genuine employment is declining, and frustration is growing’, the report says.

According to the report, only one person of working age (15 years and above) in three living in the occupied Arab territories was employed for all or part of the time, with unemployment hovering above 20 per cent. Over 80 per cent of the population in Gaza is now dependent on food aid as a result of the severe economic siege imposing a closing of all crossings save essential humanitarian supplies.

What’s more, about half of all Palestinian households are dependent on food assistance provided by the international community, a situation which has become even more critical with the rise in food prices, the report says.

The incidence of extreme poverty was 40 per cent of the population in Gaza and 19 per cent in the West Bank in November 2007, showing some improvement compared to November 2006 levels though remaining alarmingly high. According to the report, the reduction was mostly due to the resumption of wage payments to civil servants by the Palestinian Authority who regained the financial support of the international community.

The report was prepared for the ILO’s International Labour Conference which opens its annual session here on 28 May. The findings of the report are based on missions sent to the occupied Arab territories and Israel and to the Syrian Arab Republic earlier this year to assess the situation of workers of the occupied Arab territories, including the West Bank, Gaza and the Golan. The ILO mission also consulted with the Arab Labour Organization (ALO) and the League of Arab States in Cairo.

The report evokes the concerns of the ILO mission about the danger of a growing gap between peace talks, which have acquired a new momentum following the Annapolis Conference in November 2007, and the continuing ‘facts on the ground’ as reflected in closures, military incursions, checkpoints, the permits regime, the endless patience required to cross the Separation Barrier, the continuing construction within settlements, and ‘settlers-only’ roads, including the separation of East Jerusalem from the Palestinian territory.

‘With the devastation of military action, and the continuing fine net of restrictions on movement, there is no doubt that economic and social hardship is mounting in the occupied Arab territories’, the report says, adding that ‘pitting the claim ‘security first, then peace’ against ‘peace as a condition for security’ leads to an impasse’.

According to the report, the unfolding employment crisis is compounded by systematic disregard of the fundamental right of Arab workers to equality of opportunity and treatment in employment and occupation.

The report also says that institutions representing free and democratic employers and workers are facing interference in their right to organize, leading to considerable difficulties in carrying out their basic functions.

Occupation forces open fire on rally against Gaza siege; one dead 17 injured

Sun, 25 May 2008 10:49:09 GMT

Occupation forces open fire on rally against Gaza siege; one dead 17 injured

A Palestinian man was killed and 17 others were injured on Thursday as Israeli forces opened fire on a rally protesting against the crippling siege on the Gaza Strip, near the Karni crossing east of Gaza City.

Palestinian medics named the dead man as 22-year-old Abdul-Kareem Ramadan. Muawiyya Hassanain, the director of ambulance and emergency services in the Palestinian health ministry, said a number of people sustained serious injuries.

Eyewitnesses said the Israeli soldiers opened fire on rally, hitting a number of protestors directly. The injured were evacuated to Ash-Shifa hospital in Gaza City.

Stuart Littlewood We need more like him

Thu, 15 May 2008 10:30:05 GMT

Good for Carter

He does what the 'gutless wonders' are afraid to

Things are going from bad to worse in the Holy Land while the international community does what it does best: twiddling its thumbs.

Israel's blockade of Gaza brings UN aid to a standstill and ensures no ambulances can run. The UN says it is having to suspend deliveries of food and essential commodities to 860,000 of Gaza's 1.4 million population due to fuel shortages. Gaza's infrastructure, sewage treatment, water supply, electricity, public health and medicare are in meltdown. Children and undernourished, many people are dying for want of medicines and proper treatment, and few, if any, can earn a living.

Gaza’s fragile economy lies in tatters, thanks smart-ass connivers in Washington, London and Tel Aviv.

The UN Security Council meets to discuss the crisis in Gaza, which Libya's deputy UN ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi likens to a Nazi concentration camp, and Western representatives throw their toys out of the pram and head for the exit, among them Karen Pierce, the UK’s Deputy Permanent Representative.

Why did they feel an irresistible urge to leave? According to Ms Pierce: "A number of Council members were dismayed by the approach taken by Libya and do not believe that such language helps advance the peace process," Oh dear, a few robust words that smack of truth 'dismayed' the poor darlings and they promptly turned their backs on this, the most urgent of international problems... Is that how our brave 'representatives' do business?

Indeed, when was the last time they did their job in a way that made us proud? Ms Pierce's boss is Sir John Sawers, Permanent Representative of Great Britain to the United Nations. Here is the statement he made to the UN Security Council on 30 January 2008 ... "We condemn the near daily rocket attacks out of Gaza, targeted at Israeli civilians, and we recognize that Israel has a right to self-defence against such attacks. But the closing of all crossings and restriction of the supply of fuel, food and other goods in order to create suffering among the civilian population is not the right response. We welcome the decision of the Israeli Government to resume fuel and food supplies to Gaza, and the Palestinians must address Israel's security concerns and put an end to the launching of rocket and mortar attacks from Gaza against Israel."

He readily condemns the tinpot rockets from Gaza but not the thousand-times-more-lethal assaults on civilians by Israel’s F-16s, helicopter gun-ships, armed drones and tanks. He won't condemn the siege and blockade... it's just "not the right response", tut-tut. And he's far more concerned about Israel's security than the Palestinians'.

A year ago Sawers, then political director of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, was cooking up big trouble for the Iranians as revealed in a leaked letter to his buddies in France, Germany and the US... "Our own assessment here is that the Iranians will not feel under much pressure… they will need to know that more serious measures are likely. This means putting the Iran dossier onto a Chapter VII basis."

Chapter VII can make life utter misery for a country if people like Sawers say it poses a threat to peace – whether real or imaginary - especially if that country isn't approved of by Israel. Let's not forget the 13 years of US/UK-inspired draconian sanctions and bombings that wrecked Iraqi infrastructure, health, education and means of production, and all but brought the population to its knees. And that was before we compounded our rottenness by launching an illegal war and inflicting mega-deaths.

Right now the Collective Punishment School of international diplomacy is basking in the sadistic pleasure of the Gaza siege and resists all calls to intervene and put a stop to the Palestinians’ pain. Remember how they revelled in prolonging the agony of the Lebanese in 2006?

And what is this peace process Ms Pierce spoke of? Surely not the tired old ‘PP’ that everyone outside the diplomatic corps knows is dead, kaput, deceased…

The only real peace move is Jimmy Carter's. Of course his initiative towards Hamas provokes squawks of panic from sadistic diplomats and others who are interested only in keeping the Arab-Israeli pot boiling. Robert Satloff, of The Washington Institute, says it "could represent just the first ripple of a tidal wave of dangerous and desperate initiatives designed to 'save' the Middle East peace process". Here’s another who clings to the defunct.

Hamas has not met the pre-conditions that merit dialogue (renouncing violence and recognising Israel's right to exist, though no-one explains why they should unless Israel reciprocates), and Satloff reminds us how the Reagan administration refused to open dialogue with the PLO until, after 13 years, Arafat "uttered the magic formula". It would be folly, he says, for the US government to ask less of Hamas today than it asked of the PLO 20 years ago, and that Carter seems to have forgotten the most important lesson of 35 years of US-led peacemaking in the Middle East: "The road to a secure peace has no shortcuts".

Given the situation on the ground these last 60 years you could die laughing. There was scarcely a glimmer of meaningful peace before Carter’s trip. And the big lesson to be learned about the years of US meddling in the Middle East is that the lessons have still not been learned.

I say, "Good for Carter." He has done at a stroke what peace envoy Blair was too dim or cowardly to do and what all the gutless wonders who represent us at the UN are afraid even to contemplate.

While hell and disaster continue to stalk the Holy Land, a shortcut has to be found. Nowadays it takes good men like Jimmy Carter to bypass the stooge-infested diplomatic machinery and go straight to the nub of the issue, and connect with the key players.

We need more like him.

-ends-

25/04/2008

Stuart Littlewood

Stuart Littlewood is author of the book Radio Free Palestine, which tells the plight of the Palestinians under occupation. For further information please visit www.radiofreepalestine.co.uk

do u know anything about the unfair

Thu, 15 May 2008 10:24:10 GMT

they are destroying every thing in this small area

to let u know .............

http://freegaza.blogspot.com/

Soon

Thu, 15 May 2008 10:04:05 GMT

Soon...1 million voice to end the Siege on Gaza

Free Innocents in Gaza

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 22:15:03 GMT

Free Innocents in Gaza

Friends of Humanity International
calls defenders of justice to contribute
to the “Free Innocent Gazans” Campaign

http://www.freegaza.ps/english/video.php

Since the announcement of the results of the Palestinian legislative elections which took place in January 2006 in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the Israeli Occupational Authorities and some other states of the world have collaborated to impose an inequitable siege on the innocent citizens of the Palestinian Gaza Strip.

As this siege poses an unprecedented formidable injustice, Friends of Humanity International calls all justice advocates all over the world to take action to urge decision makers to reconsider their governments’ policies towards lifting the siege on Gaza

To Participate, Please send this message :

http://www.friendsofhumanity.info/en/pages/index.php?page=gaza

http://www.friendsofhumanity.info/en/index.php