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Trafalgar Square: anniversary of Israeli military incursion into Gaza

Alec Smart | 16.01.2010 23:45 | Smash EDO | Free Spaces | Palestine | Terror War | South Coast | World

Saturday 16 January 2010: First anniversary commemoration of the 1417 victims of the 2009 Israeli military incursion into Gaza, held in London's Trafalgar Square.

Two women raise a Palestinian flag in Trafalgar Square
Two women raise a Palestinian flag in Trafalgar Square

Palestinian supporters held a 'die-in' in Trafalgar Square
Palestinian supporters held a 'die-in' in Trafalgar Square

Palestinian supporters held a 'die-in' in Trafalgar Square
Palestinian supporters held a 'die-in' in Trafalgar Square

Palestinian supporters hold the names of some of the 1417 dead
Palestinian supporters hold the names of some of the 1417 dead


Palestinian supporters congregated in London's Trafalgar Square during a demonstration to commemorate the first anniversary of the Israeli military incursion into Gaza
Demonstrators held aloft pieces of paper with the printed names of many of the 1417 casualties, while honoring the dead with a minute's silence. Later, five blood-spattered 'corpses' had a 'die-in' on the ground.
Speakers included Palestinian journalist Sameh Habib, who reported from Gaza during the Israeli occupation, Natalie Abou Shakra, who lived through the siege, and Manal Timraz, who lost 15 members of her family to Israeli brutality, one of which was her 2-year-old nephew.
[Photos: Alec Smart]

Alec Smart

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Great photos!

17.01.2010 21:43

Thank-you for sharing these. It was good to see many people there despite the bad weather.

In solidarity.

Josh Jones
mail e-mail: joshua.c.j@gmail.com
- Homepage: http://photographywithoutborders.org


The numbers don't add up

18.01.2010 16:49

Palestine Press Agency reports that the house of Ibrahim Naji Sumairi was damaged by a Qassam rocket that fell short in the southern Gaza town of Qarara, and that his family was saved from a "certain death" by sheer luck. The rocket sprayed shrapnel all around the home.

Which brings up a question that the PCHR and B'Tselem and Goldstone did not try to answer: How many of the civilians killed in Gaza were actually killed by fire from Palestinian Arab armed groups? In the days before Cast Lead, two girls were killed in Gaza, and others were injured in separate rocket attacks.

These were not isolated incidents. In fact, in the month before Cast Lead began about 6% of the rockets fired landed in Gaza itself. During Cast Lead, some 800 Qassams were fired towards Israel, and the percentage that landed in Gaza itself is unknown, but we can safely assume that the number would have been even greater than 6% as the people launching the rockets were in a greater hurry than usual.

This indicates that between 40 and 50 rockets meant for Israel may have landed in Gaza itself, maybe more.

Every civilian killed by these rockets were counted as casualties of Israeli fire.

This does not include any civilians killed by Hamas and Islamic Jihad bullets, mortars or anti-tank missiles that were meant for the "Zionist enemy." Nor does it include those killed by secondary explosions from weapons caches purposefully placed in civilian areas.

No "human rights" organization cares enough to do the research and find out the details, though. It is much easier just to attribute all of these deaths to Israel and wash their hands of the issue.

This is what happens when truth is less important than furthering an agenda.

kellyp
mail e-mail: kellyp@hotmail.com