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Rafah - 20 feared dead after missile is fired into peaceful demo

freethepeeps | 19.05.2004 11:43

Really Bad News
Anees called several moments after I posted that last message. Practically the entire town turned out for the demonstration. As they made they way down Sea street (the main road from the town sqare) to Tel Al Sultan an Apache helicopter opened fire on them and fired a missile into the crowd. Anees is currently trapped there while ambulances race to and from the scene. No way of knowing figures at the moment but Anees thinks maybe twenty dead. As I was speaking to Anees I could hear ambulances wailing and people screaming. I will update this post when I get more information.  http://www.rafahkid.net

With 20 dead yesterday, including a 13 year old boy and his 16 year old sister, killed while collecting their laundry from the roof, Rafah looks set to be worse than Jenin 2002.

Reports coming in now suggest that as many as 20 have been killed after an Apache fired a missile into a peaceful demonstration.

The water and power have been disconnected, and the town has been sealed off.

Demonstrate outside the Israeli embassy 2-7pm or Palrliament Square 6 - 10pm.

freethepeeps
- e-mail: info@ism-london.org
- Homepage: http://www.ism-london.org

Comments

Hide the following 8 comments

Xenophobic comments hidden

19.05.2004 16:50

The words "zionazi" and "palinazi" etc. are examples of unacceptable xenophobia, and won't be displayed on Indymedia UK as a matter of our policy on racism and xenophobia.

Trivialising the word "nazi" in this way does a great disservice to the memory of the victims of the nazis.

Please refer to our editorial guidelines:
 http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/static/editorial.html

ta

an IMC admin


No Platform For Hatred

19.05.2004 17:14

Perhaps we shouldn't dignify these very extreme pro-Zionist elements by attempting to argue with them. I have many Israeli friends and they would be just as appalled by this filth as anyone who supports the Palestinian cause.

"Intifada" means lots of different things to different people. Clearly, if it means support for terrorism (even against Israeli soldiers), it is wrong, if only because it leads to a still greater number of Palestinian casualties.

The argument that there can be no civilians in this type of war is compelling, but insane. Ironically, this is also the argument that Bin Laden used to blow up the World Trade Centre. If children go out onto the streets to throw stones at Israeli tanks, this is regrettable, but it doesn't justify the use of live ammunition as a response. All violent acts are wrong, but some are a great deal more objectionable than others.

What we are seeing in Palestinian society is a complete collapse of moral values; in other words, a victory for nihilism. It is easy to blame the Palestinians for their own plight, but this would be to fall into the pro-Zionist trap. In actual fact, it was the refusal of the Israeli government to properly ratify the Oslo Peace Accords that led to this appalling situation.

I believe that we should work towards inter-faith dialogue, and encourage moderates on both sides to continue negotiations. These efforts are going on all over the world, but of course they receive far less publicity than the daily round of bloodshed. The extremists will always be with us but thankfully they do represent a small (if vocal) minority.

For a viable two-state solution!

For peace and justice for all the world's peoples!

For an end to political murder!

Down with Arafat AND Sharon!

Andy B


no more messing about

19.05.2004 17:57

one state - secular - for all who wish to live in peace alongside equals

full right of return for all refugees

full reparations for 50 years of theft

war crimes trials for israeli generals, politicians and others involved in theft and murder

no more compromise

an international brigade necessary?

more tunnels & fund raising for more advanced weapons for the Palestinians.

no more meely mouthed, wishy washy equivicating.

full boycott of EVERYTHING israeli.

in short - fuck talking peace to those who can only lie lie lie - whats the point in waiting around to be shelled and THEN accused?

destroy israel

karen elliot


Like I said previous

19.05.2004 22:41

like I said in a previous comment which was hidden co I used the dreaded ZN word .
The jackboot is firmly on the other foot now and it's a M:F fucking Israeli foot ........

Zx


saddened

20.05.2004 06:52

The atrocity in Gaza is deeply saddening. It is yet another piece of evidence that power mad 'democracy's' backed up by their trigger happy armies are not the way to do things.

I understand that it has gone past the stage of peaceful negotiation and protest (as this event shows - protest ends in tragedy).

Those of you who have turned this article into an argument, trying to defend the attack are nothing better than sick idiots. Firing a missile into a crowd of protesters as a 'warning missile' is just beyond stupid.

fredrico
mail e-mail: musteatvegan@yahoo.co.uk


Negotiation is the only game in town!

20.05.2004 09:34

I'm not sure that the situation has gone "beyond peaceful negotiation". No conflict is ever beyond negotiation, unless it is a thermonuclear one and everyone has been killed. So long as there is one Israeli and one Palestinian alive on this earth, there is a possibility for reconciliation.

I don't think Israel needs to be "destroyed" either (although an effective boycott of articles sourced from the Occupied Territories might help). What we need is a different kind of "Intifada" - one that is aimed at the political leadership that cynically keeps this war going.

Arafat and his EU-funded Palestinian Authority are part of the problem. The extreme religious parties are part of the problem. Armed settlers are part of the proplem. An Israeli government that is committed to military force as a substitute for negotiation is part of the problem. The active collusion of conservative Republicans in Washington is part of the problem.

The third "Intifada" has to aim squarely at eliminating all these elements from the equation. This will only happen - paradoxically - when ordinary Israelis realise that they have more in common with the Palestinians than they do with their own government.

Andy B


Or we could remain in the real world...

20.05.2004 20:11

Yes Andy B, and while the Palestinians stage their third Intifada the Israelis with all their lovley death dealing technology will still be firing their "deterent" (ref Rannan "Mad Dog" Gissing) shots on unarmed demonstrators. No amount of change in the leadership of the PA will change the fact that the Palestinian's number 1 problem is Israel.

Skyver Bill


But what if . . . ?

21.05.2004 15:29

You're not wrong - the Palestinian people's main enemy is Israel. I never said it wasn't.

But it is clear that the Israel Defence Force cannot be militarily defeated. There are 540,000 soldiers in the IDF. If your definition of "the real world" includes providing justifications for one of the world's most pointless conflicts, then I'd rather stick to my own (admittedly over-active) imagination!

One of my Israeli mates is a deserter from the IDF. He came to live in London because he didn't fancy getting his head blown off by some lunatic from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade. When more Israeli citizens get ideas like this, the Sharon regime is going to have problems.

I understand that the situation is very very desperate indeed, but calling for more violence really isn't the answer.

Not all Israelis support Sharon. A small but significant minority want a complete withdrawal from the Occupied Territories. Spouting inflammatory rhetoric just pisses them off and makes life very hard indeed for people who are actually trying to do something constructive.

Andy B