باز آفريني واقعيت ها: 14 ژانویه 2009

۱۳۸۷ دی ۲۵, چهارشنبه

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Vigil for U.S. Support for Ceasefire in Gaza Tuesday,

January 13 5:30-6:30

PMUS Mission to the United Nations 140 E. 45th St. (between 3rd Ave & Lexington Ave)Antiwar Activists to Demand:

U.S. Join International Call for Ceasefire!

Join a vigil organized by NYC-UFPJ, Code Pink NY, Peace Action NYS, American Friends Service Committee, World Without Wars and other groups to call for an immediate ceasefire and unimpeded humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza. There is no military solution to the crisis in Gaza, Iraq or Afghanistan. A negotiated settlement is the only way to end the death and suffering. Last week, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1860 by a vote of 14-0 with the U.S. abstaining. The resolution calls for:1) An "immediate, durable and fully respected ceasefire, leading to the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza." 2) "Unimpeded provision and distribution throughout Gaza of humanitarian assistance, including of food, fuel and medical treatment.".
Although the White House reportedly overruled the State Department and changed the U.S. vote from "yes" to "abstain", this vote is a clear indication that our collective pressure is being heeded and we are forcing a change in U.S. policy.
We must keep the pressure on the Bush administration and the State Department -- even in its last week in power because people are dying every minute in Gaza.
Bring candles and banners! There will be an interfaith ceremony.Click here for more information on the crisis in Gaza and actions being taken to end it.

Help us continue to do this critical work: Make a donation to UFPJ

today.UNITED FOR PEACE AND JUSTICEwww.unitedforpeace.org

212-868-5545PO Box 607;

Times Square Station;

New York, NY 10108

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UPDATED ON:Wednesday, January 14, 2009 18:14 Mecca time, 15:14 GMT
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Gaza death tolls passes 1,000

More than 80,000 Gazans have been forced to flee their homes because of the fighting [EPA]
More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed during Israel's 19-day war in Gaza, Palestinian medical officials have said, as clashes continue throughout the Strip.
Civilians make up the majority of casualities with children accounting for a third of the dead, aid agencies and Palestinian medics said.
At least 4,630 people have been injured, Hasanein Myawaya, the head of Palestinian emergency services, said.
Ayman Mohyeldin, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Gaza, said while fewer Palestinians had been killed on Wednesday than during previous days, the situation for Gazans remained one of "complete fear and terror".
"For those who venture out [for food]... they know that anytime they leave their house it could be the last time.
"More than 80,000 Palestinians have now fled their homes because of the fighting around them ... there is a sense of overcrowding ... UN schools have taken in 35,000 refugees.
'Desperation and fear'
"There is real desperation and fear among the people," he said.
IN DEPTH
Analysis and features from Gaza and Israel
Al Jazeera Labs: Report on and track the war
Send us your views and eyewitness videos
Watch our coverage of the war on GazaMohyeldin also said that the so-called "humanitarian corridor" - the Israeli three-hour daily lull in fighting to allow food and medical supplies into Gaza - is "simply not producing a cessation of hostilities".
Shelling could still be heard in parts of Gaza City during the three-hour armistice, he reported.
Alan Fisher, reporting for Al Jazeera from Israel close to the Gaza border, said around 15 rockets had been fired from the Strip into Israeli territory.
As the death toll continued to rise, diplomatic efforts to bring about a ceasefire appeared to make little progress.
Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, arrived in Cairo earlier on Wednesday in a bid to kick-start ceasefire negotiations between Hamas - the Palestinian faction that controls the Gaza Strip - and Israel.
Ban met Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, on arrival and is expected to hold talks the leaders of Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Turkey.
The UN chief has not said whether he will have direct contact with Hamas leaders.
Ban has repeatedly called for both sides to immediately end hostilities, so far to no avail.
Diplomacy doomed?
Robert Fisk, a journalist and Middle East expert, said neither the current Gaza war nor the broader 60-year regional conflict would end without resolving the Palestinian issue.
"Unless we deal with... [Palestinian refugees], there will not be an end to this war"
Robert Fisk, journalist and Middle East expert"Why are they [Palestinians] dispossessed? Why are settlements - colonies for Jews and Jews only - being built on Arab land illegally? And still it continues,"

he told Al Jazeera.
"Unless we deal with this [Palestinian refugees], there will not be an end to this war. There might be a ceasefire in Gaza, a ceasefire in the West Bank, but there will not be an end to the war. That is the problem."
Earlier this week,

the United Nations Security Council agreed a binding resolution

demanding an immediate ceasefire in the Strip.

Autres vidéos de : AlJazeeraEnglish

Autres vidéos de : AlJazeeraEnglish

Israel's 'other voices' go unheard

By Rachel Shabi in Israel

Israeli activists demonstrate

against the war in Tel Aviv [AFP]"It is very difficult to add a different voice, because the public and media discourse is so monochrome and so militaristic," said Nomika Zion, an Israeli member of the peace collective, Another Voice.
This group, which comprises residents of both Gaza and neighbouring Israeli towns like Sderot, is seeking to present an alternative to the majority of Israeli pro-war opinions that currently dominate the media.
It is a tough task. Zion, herself from Sderot, recalled one occasion when a colleague was verbally attacked in the middle of a TV interview by a group of passers-by who tried to pull the mike away from him.
"I really feel that our democracy is in trouble sometimes," she says.
"If you can't raise your voice and say things aloud without being scared that someone will attack you, it is very dangerous for our society."Deconstructing government justifications Media reports on the Israeli view of the country's war in Gaza converge on the overwhelming public approval for it - polls show over 80 per cent are in favour of the attacks.
IN DEPTH
Latest news and analysis from Gaza and Israel
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Watch our coverage of the war on GazaIsraelis who are not supportive of the war face the sort of public derision that Zion describes. They also face the challenge of deconstructing the government's justification for its deadly assaults on Gaza - a series of key messages that are strongly endorsed in both public and media spheres.
Such messages include assertions that Hamas is a terrorist organisation backed by Iran; Hamas broke the six-month ceasefire that ended a few weeks ago; and that Israel is waging a war of self-defence against Hamas and not against ordinary Gazans.
"Many people in Israel call us traitors and war criminals because we talk about the war while it is still going on," said Teddy Katz of the Israeli peace group, Gush Shalom.
"But the truth is that this government ordered a criminal war."Alternative voices
Gush Shalom is one member of a coalition that held a news conference on Wednesday, January 7, 2009, to brief the media on peace camp positions.
Some speakers at the news conference focused on what they held to be Israel's real motives for the war - election success and also, according to Katz, sanitising corrupt political reputations is also a factor.
The Israeli opposition to the war struggles to make its voice heard inside Israel [AFP]Others presented alternative voices from Israel's southern region, which has for years been in the line of fire of rockets from Gaza – and which is considered predominantly in favour of the war ostensibly waged to defend it. "My son is there [serving in Gaza] and my other sons are scared by the bombs falling over our house," said Dr Yeela Raanan, from Moshav Ein-Habsor, a farm community on the Israeli edge of the Gaza strip.
"As a mother, it's scary ... and I think about the mothers in Gaza and how much more scared they are feeling during this time."
In Sderot, Zion explains that it is precisely because she has been traumatised by rocket attacks that she has less tolerance for her nation's current militaristic mood.
"As a wounded person, I cannot bear this," she said.
"I feel there is such a euphoria and glorification of war, as though it's a wedding or a celebration. I can't agree with this attitude. War is a dangerous and traumatic thing and we have to treat it like that."Media shift
Mass support for war surfaces in the national media at the start of any assault, says Professor Gabriel Weimann, a communications expert at Haifa University who has researched media coverage across several conflict zones.
"During the first week, in every war, the media is very patriotic and rallies round the flag," he said.
"Journalists see themselves more as citizens than professionals."
Analyst says the fate of Israeli soldiers may turn public opinion [GALLO/GETTY]But the national media shifts as a war progresses, he adds, and this is already beginning to happen in Israel.
"You can see a split and cleavages within the Israel public media," he said.
"At every junction of the operation, there is potential for disagreements. So, now, after the ground attack began, you see articles about how far Israel should go, if it should stay in Gaza, move into the cities, go after Hamas or negotiate with Hamas."
Analysts say that the fate of the Israeli combat soldiers on the ground in Gaza is the factor most likely to turn public opinion about the war.
"The value of a soldier is perceived as greater than the value of a civilian," said Professor Tamara Hermann, the co-author of a monthly poll that monitors Israeli public opinion.
"The media and public discussion on Israeli soldiers relates to them as children, as sons and not as actual soldiers in tanks and so on. There is an understanding that Israeli soldiers are all our children - so that's why they are so dear to us."

Gaza death toll nears 1,000

Smoke blanketed Gaza City after an Israeli attack set a house ablaze [AFP]
The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip is continuing to climb with Israel keeping up its offensive on the territory for a 19th straight day, pushing deeper into densely populated areas.
By last count, 984 Gazans, many of them women and children, have died in the Israeli assault since it began on December 27.
Diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict meanwhile appeared to make little ground, although Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, arrived in Cairo on Wednesday morning to again push for a ceasefire.
After a comparatively quiet night, large plumes of smoke were seen rising over Gaza City on Wednesday morning. A house near the centre of the city was ablaze after Israelis bombed the area.
Intermittent gunfire
IN DEPTH
Analysis and features from Gaza and Israel
Al Jazeera Labs: Report on and track the war
Send us your views and eyewitness videos
Watch our coverage of the war on GazaSameh Akram Habeeb, a journalist and blogger, told Al Jazeera by phone from inside Gaza City that periodic gunfire between Palestinian fighters and Israeli forces could be heard.
Israeli helicopters could be heard firing and at least two big explosions were heard from the western and northern parts of the city, he added.
The Israeli military says six soldiers were injured during clashes overnight.
Al Jazeera's Zeina Awad, reporting from the Israeli side of the Gaza border, said the Israeli public was still largely supportive of the military campaign as the general feeling was that it was going very much in Israel's favour.
Israel says 10 Israeli soldiers and three civilians hit by Hamas rockets have been killed so far in the campaign, a casualty rate that the Israeli public seems willing to accept, our correspondent said.
The conflict has left 4,530 Gazans wounded, Palestinian medics say.
'No hope'
Painting a bleak picture of the conflict, Robert Fisk, the Middle East expert and author, said he saw no reason for "any optimism at all in the near future, or even in the medium future".
He said no progress can be made, either in the 19-day-old Gaza war, or in the broader Middle East conflict that has continued on and off for more than 60 years, until the issue of the Palestinians is addressed.
"Why are they dispossessed? Why are settlements - colonies for Jews, and Jews only - being built on Arab land, illegally? And still it continues," he told Al Jazeera. "Unless we deal with this, there will not be an end to this war. There might be a ceasefire in Gaza, a ceasefire in the West Bank, but there will not be an end to the war. That is the problem."
The United Nations security council had earlier in the week issued a binding resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip - a measure that has so far gone unheeded.
But Fisk said Israel would get away with flouting the UN call so long as the US continues to back it.
"And its quite clear from Hillary Clinton's [incoming US secretary of state] most recent comments that its going to continue under [a President] Barack Obama. I see no change, I see no hope at all in the future." he said.

Israel accused of Gaza 'genocide'

D'Escoto has made a series of outspoken attacks on Israel
The president of the UN General Assembly has condemned Israel's killings of Palestinians in its Gaza offensive as "genocide".
Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann also told Al Jazeera he had never believed that the UN Security Council would be able to stop the violence in Gaza and that Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, had practically told the UN to "mind their own business" by continuing the offensive.
"The number of victims in Gaza is increasing by the day... The situation is untenable. It's genocide," d'Escoto said at the UN in New York.
About 970 Palestinians have been killed and 4,300 injured since Israel began its Gaza offensive on December 27, which it says is to stop Palestinian fighters attacking Israel with rockets.
Emergency session
The UN General Assembly said on Tuesday that it was set to hold an emergency session on Thursday to discuss the crisis after a previous session was postponed last week ahead of a UN Security Council vote on the issue.
IN DEPTH
Analysis and features from Gaza and Israel
Al Jazeera Labs: Report on and track the war
Send us your views and eyewitness videos
Watch our coverage of the war on Gaza
The Security Council adopted a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, but Israel has escalated its offensive and Palestinian rocket fire has also continued.
"There have been some who were under the illusion that the Security Council would do something that could help the situation," d'Escoto said. "I never thought so.
"Now we're faced with not only with a lack of compliance but with a prime minister of Israel who has practically responded to the Security Council by saying 'mind your own business'.
"It's unbelievable that a country that owes its existence to a general assembly resolution could be so disdainful of the resolutions that emanate from the UN."
D'Escoto, a former Roman Catholic priest and Nicaragua foreign minister, is known for his outspoken criticism of Israel and last year likened Israel's treatment of the Palestinians to the racist apartheid system previously used in South Africa.
Gabriela Shalev, Israel's ambassador to the UN, called d'Escoto an "Israel hater" for having hugged Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president and a vocal critic of Israel.
D'Escoto also said the UN had to bear some responsibility for the long-standing conflict in the Middle East as it had allowed the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, leaving the Palestinians stateless.
"You have to attack problems at their root cause and the Palestinian people have been subjected to subhuman treatment for decades and this [the Israeli offensive] is going to make matters worse."

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