Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Centre, www.imemc.org, for Thursday February 21st, 2008.
The Israeli army invades southern Gaza and opens fire at school children, while in the West Bank Israeli troops kidnap 20 civilians, these stories and more coming up stay tuned.
The News Cast
Palestinian school children in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah came under Israeli army gun fire on Thursday morning as resistance fighters clashed with the invading troops.
The Israeli army forces invaded the city of Rafah on Thursday morning, opened heavy gun fire on Palestinian school children as well as local residents' homes.
During a short time the invading tanks and bulldozers exchanged fire with local resistance fighters and resistance groups announced that they fired several home made shells at the invading forces, neither side reported any injuries.
Meanwhile, today the Israeli army kidnapped 20 Palestinian civilians from several parts of the West Bank.
The Israeli army attacked and searched homes in the village of Beita located near the northern West Bank city of Nablus and kidnapped 18 civilians there. Sources in the village said that troops kept the village under curfew until late morning.
On Thursday, two Palestinian civilians were kidnapped when Israeli troops attacked several villages located near the southern West Bank city of Hebron.
In addition, troops attacked and searched homes in Sa'er and Sourif villages located near Hebron. Eyewitnesses said that the troops forced families out of their homes during the search. The witnesses added that soldiers ransacked the homes they searched and assaulted men.
Moreover on Thursday afternoon the Israeli army forces invaded Sourif village again, took control of two homes and made them into army posts.
Conclusion
Thank you for joining us from occupied Bethlehem. You have been listening to Palestine Today from the International Middle East Media Center, www.imemc.org. This report has been brought to you by Louisa White and Ghassan Bannoura.
The News Cast
Palestinian school children in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah came under Israeli army gun fire on Thursday morning as resistance fighters clashed with the invading troops.
The Israeli army forces invaded the city of Rafah on Thursday morning, opened heavy gun fire on Palestinian school children as well as local residents' homes.
During a short time the invading tanks and bulldozers exchanged fire with local resistance fighters and resistance groups announced that they fired several home made shells at the invading forces, neither side reported any injuries.
Meanwhile, today the Israeli army kidnapped 20 Palestinian civilians from several parts of the West Bank.
The Israeli army attacked and searched homes in the village of Beita located near the northern West Bank city of Nablus and kidnapped 18 civilians there. Sources in the village said that troops kept the village under curfew until late morning.
On Thursday, two Palestinian civilians were kidnapped when Israeli troops attacked several villages located near the southern West Bank city of Hebron.
In addition, troops attacked and searched homes in Sa'er and Sourif villages located near Hebron. Eyewitnesses said that the troops forced families out of their homes during the search. The witnesses added that soldiers ransacked the homes they searched and assaulted men.
Moreover on Thursday afternoon the Israeli army forces invaded Sourif village again, took control of two homes and made them into army posts.
Conclusion
Thank you for joining us from occupied Bethlehem. You have been listening to Palestine Today from the International Middle East Media Center, www.imemc.org. This report has been brought to you by Louisa White and Ghassan Bannoura.
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Israeli Extremists Prepare for Gaza Assault
21.02.2008 16:38
Berlin first stop in Israeli effort to obtain international backing ahead of Gaza operation
Roni Sofer Published: 02.14.08, 17:35 / Israel Opinion
Olmert, Livni and Barak know that Israel’s public relations apparatus is currently facing a problem. The Western world, which maintained its support for Israel’s right to act against the rocket attacks from Gaza employed by Hamas and its associates, is inclined to criticize the Jewish State over the Gaza siege and economic sanctions.
(Collective Punishment is a War Crime. The rockets that Israel is trying to use to justify attacks it planned long before Annapolis have been provoked by its imposition of Collective Punishment, its War Crimes. Its own defence staff warned that when these illegal measures were increased months ago, that this policy would provoke such a response.)
Israel’s stock is dropping, reaching the point of a condemnation by British foreign secretary David Miliband last weekend. The concern is growing in light of the possibility that Israel will need to embark on a wide-scale military operation in Gaza early in spring.
(It doesn't 'need' to do this, and therein lies the rub. Israel's ruling Extremists simply reject any notion of ending its war to wipe Palestine off the map, especially if it involves partaking in a 'peace process' it can't control, one which would force Israel to give back much of what it has stolen, as demanded by international Law and UN Security Council Resolutions.)
Olmert is reading the international map and he knows what Israel has planned should the Qassam fire continue. Together with Livni and Barak, they postpone the decision to embark on major Gaza operation every week. Yet the three of them know that it is impossible to go on with a situation whereby civilians are subjected to Qassam barrages and a game of Palestinian roulette.
(But the facts that Israel's attacks on Gaza have doubled since Annapolis, as has the murder of Palestinian civilians during these attacks, and the severity of Israel's War Crimes in Gaza are apparently inconsequential. Israel is wholly responsible for this 'crisis', one which could quickly be averted if they truly wanted this to happen.)
In closed-door sessions, Olmert’s people make it clear that should Israel decide on a wide-scale operation, it would need international room for maneuver. It needs support that would be similar to what Israel enjoyed in the last war in Lebanon. This will enable Israel to complete an effective military operation and also, if necessary, would facilitate the involvement of a UN-mandated multinational force in order to prevent the emergence of a new Gaza vacuum.
(The only UN force needed is one to seperate the Israelis from the Palestinians, and to enforce the many Security Council Resolutions Israel is currently in violation of.)
Grand diplomatic campaign
Berlin, which is undecided on the prospects of a major Israeli operation, was a good place to start. On the one hand there is Chancellor Merkel there, who was convinced of the need to back Israel’s actions – ranging from continued civilian sanctions to expanded military operations. On the other hand, there is German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Merkel’s coalition partner, who does not automatically back everything Israel says.
(Appeasement doesn't work. Haven't we learned that by now? If you allow Israel this murderous rampage, where does it end?)
Olmert presented to the German administration the distress faced by Sderot and Gaza-region residents, pointed to Hamas-Iran ties, and warned that fundamentalist terrorism has no boundaries. This public relations work was apparently useful.
(But that's all it is; empty PR. The attack which has been planned for months would make the abject suffering of Gazans immeasurably worse.)
Now, officials at the Prime Minister’s Office are expecting the grand campaign to start.
Yesterday, Foreign Minister Livni took 70 foreign diplomats to see a 15-second film, about the 15 seconds that Sderot residents have in order to find a shelter from the exploding Qassams. Now she traveled to Washington, where she will meet her counterpart Condoleezza Rice, who is expected to arrive here next month. In the meeting Livni will discuss the intolerable situation in the south.
(Immorality breeds contradiction. Nothing the residents of Sderot have to 'endure' because of their Government's rejection of peace even approaches the suffering endured, the terror felt, by the people of Gaza.)
Meanwhile, Defense Minister Barak traveled to Turkey, and spoke about the need to safeguard southern residents even before promoting negotiations on the establishment of a Palestinian state. Other ministers will travel worldwide, while our ambassadors will work hard.
(He means to say 'instead of', not 'even before' ...)
Berlin came first, as a harbinger of what the political leadership in Jerusalem wishes to achieve internationally, ahead of the hot summer in Gaza.
'IDF should wipe out parts of Gaza'
Warnings Pour in For Israel to Cease Collective Punishment
Red Cross Condemns Gaza Collective Punishment (the First Round)
winnipeg.indymedia.org/item.php?8994S
As Predicted: Gaza Reoccupation Planned
www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/01/388658.html
As Predicted: Israel Attacks Gaza
alaanasnews.blogspot.com/2007/12/as-predicted-israel-attacks-gaza.html
Gaza Food Supplies 'Getting Worse by the Day'
winnipeg.indymedia.org/item.php?10015S
Israel Destroys Gaza Interior Ministry, Blocks UN Aid
today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyid=2008-01-18T
Probe: At Least Half of Palestinians Killed by IDF Were Civilians
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/944276.html
Israeli Attacks on Palestinians, Killings, Doubled Since Annapolis
www.uruknet.de/?p=m40008&hd=&size=1&l=e
UN Condemns Collective Punishment of Gaza
www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/01/389757.html?c=on#c187937
UN Condemns 'Cowardly Israeli War Crime'
www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/01/389828.html
The True Miracle of Israel
What is remarkable is not Israel's creation, but rather the perpetuation of the lies and the injustice upon which it survives
It's All Right, I'm Only Bleeding
Israel, World Jewry Drift Apart
That Tricky Torture File
Israel, U.S. to boycott UN rights council meet on Gaza
Olmert Pressured to Step Down Over Lebanon Defeat
Bush's Delusions Die in Gaza
An Experiment in Famine: Hamas is Not the Real Issue
Winograd Report Acknowledges Israeli War Crimes
Hundreds of Children Killed by Israel
Amnesty International Condemns Lack of Action on War Crimes
Jewish Groups Condemn Collective Punishment of Gaza
As Predicted