The Use and Abuse of Martin Luther King Jr. by Israel's Apologists. Desperation and Drastic Measures

Fadi Kiblawi and Will Youmans, CounterPunch, 17-18.1.08

CAMERA, a rabidly pro-Israeli organization, published a statement declaring that the letter was "apparently" a hoax.

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End the Siege! On Saturday January 26, Relief convoy to our neighbors in Gaza

Participating organizations:

Gush Shalom, Combatants for Peace, Coalition of Women for Peace, ICAHD - The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, Bat Shalom, Bat Tzafon for Peace & Equality, Balad, Hadash, Adalah, Tarabut-Hithabrut, Physicians for Human Rights, Alternative Information Center, Psychoactive - Mental Health Professionals for Human Rights, ActiveStills, Student Coalition Tel-Aviv University, New Profile, Machsom Watch, PCATI - Public Committee

Against Torture.

Does it help the children of Sderot when we force the children of Gaza to drink polluted water? It seems the government of Israel thinks so (if they think).

Gaza is under siege! Hundreds of commodities needed for maintaining daily life are not allowed into the Strip, by order of the Government of Israel. Even the entry of water filters - vital for purifying the water drawn from Gazan wells, which are heavily polluted by brine, oil and sewage - has already been prevented for over half a year. The Israeli media doesn’t succeed (and doesn’t even try always) to convey to the public a true impression of how severe the situation is. But anyone who has talked to Gazans in the past months understands that the situation has long since developed into a regional disaster, which puts us, too, in danger.

As is well known, the Gaza Strip is a small, poor, overcrowded territory even in "ordinary" times. The occupation of the Strip did not end with the "Disengagement"; on the contrary, passage of persons and goods, in and out of the Strip, was made far more difficult by the Israeli authorities, and no one can enter or leave, by land, sea or air, except by permission from the Israeli security services. As far as Gazans are concerned, Disengagement brought no liberty, but just made occupation that much worse!

However bad the suffering is of the residents of Sderot, Ashkelon and the kibbutzim and moshavim in the area under the barrage of Qassam missiles, mortar shells and sniper bullets, it is in no way a justification for a cruel siege which severely harms a million and half civilians - men, women and children. The siege is an immoral act and a violation of International Law - and from a practical point of view, increasing the bitterness and suffering in Gaza leads to an intensification of attacks on the Israeli side, not to their end. Unlike what we have been made to believe, residents of Sderot and residents of Gaza are not to be seen as opponents: both are victims of a stupid and vicious policy of the Government of Israel.

In the convoy, departing from all over Israel on Saturday January 26, 2008, we will take with us a large quantity of water filters and firmly demand of the military authorities that they be allowed into the Strip where they are urgently needed, together with basic foodstuffs - flour, rice, oil, salt, lentils, beans - for distribution to residents driven to extreme poverty and despair by the siege.

On the border of the Strip we will conduct a protest rally, simultaneously with a rally held by our Palestinian friends on the other side. Together, we will demand of the Government of Israel to remove the siege of Gaza forthwith! We intend to hold the rally where we can have eye contact with the Palestinians, at a distance of no more than one kilometer.

Our friends on the Palestinian side, peace and human rights activists of the Palestinian International Campaign To End The Siege such as the well-known psychiatrist Dr. Eyad Sarraj, will go to the border area despite the great difficulty and risk, in order to greet and support us. It is far easier for us to go towards them and support them. In a joint Israeli-Palestinian action on both sides of the border we will present a true alternative to the continuing escalation, to the shooting and killing, destruction and suffering, missiles and tanks. An alternative of ceasefire, of a true end to direct and indirect occupation, an alternative of peace and prosperity for Israelis and Palestinians, for Sderot and for Gaza.

The convoy will include both buses and private cars. It is very important to arrive with a car, if you have

one, in order to create a long and highly visible convoy. If at all possible, let us know in advance, even before

Monday Jan. 21, to Ya'akov 050-5733276 or Teddy 052-5017141. It is especially important to let us know as soon as

possible if you can come with a car - so that we can make better preparations.

Donations to help buy products for the convoy, and defray other expenses, can be transferred via POB 3322, Tel-Aviv 61033, Israel, or handed to our activists during the convoy itself (checks should be made out to Gush Shalom, and prominently marked 'For Gaza Convoy').

We have made considerable and lengthy efforts to coordinate this activity. The convoy will depart from organized rendezvous points at predetermined hours, in order to arrive together and create a long convoy. The rendezvous points are as follows:

Haifa: Solel Boneh Square (buses & private cars) 7:45

Tel-Aviv: Arlozorov Railway Station (buses) 8:15

Reading Parking Lot (private cars, joined by the buses from Arlozorov 8:30

Jerusalem: Liberty Bell Park (buses) 8:30

Teddy Parking Lot (private cars, joined by the buses from Liberty Bell 8:45

Be'er Sheba: University Gate (buses & private cars) 10:15

Signs, posters and cloth banners for the buses will be available at the rendezvous points. Please arrive in time to 'decorate' the cars. Everybody is asked to bring from home commodities needed in Gaza (milk powder, mineral water [not of Eden Springs], oil, flour, school supplies [satchels, pens and pencils etc.] and cigarettes) as a family package for a Gazan family. If you want you can add a personal letter in Arabic or English to the recipients.

Those who arrive in their cars are asked to tie a symbolic aid package to the roof of the car (if you were not able to do it before arriving, please bring the products and a rope with you, and we will help you tie them at the rendezvous).

We also ask all of you to bring drums, whistles, and those who have them - a shofar, in order to make a huge outcry of breaking down the wall of the siege. Please bring food and drink for a whole day.

Registration for Tel-Aviv and Haifa:

taliashiff@gmail.comTalia Shiff 052-3738832

Registration for Jerusalem and Be'er Sheba:

moshepesach@yahoo.esMoshe Pesach 050-9702338

Two Hamas fighters killed in Gaza. Death toll stands at 37 this week

Gaza – Ma'an, 19.1.08 (9,44) – Two Palestinian activists affiliated to Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades were killed and three others injured in an Israeli air raid on a group of fighters who attempted to stop the infiltration of an Israeli force into Izbat Abed Rabbo in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, on Saturday morning. Early on Saturday, more than 40 Israeli military tanks entered Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip from the east, destroying Palestinian homes.

Muawiya Hassanain, the director of ambulance and emergency services in the Palestinian health ministry named the victims as Eyhab Al-Banna and Ali Jum'a. He added that three wounded were taken to hospital.

In the same regard, another Al-Qassam activist twenty-one-year-old Shadi Qteifan has died of wounds he sustained two days ago east of Gaza City.

Hassanain said that the Israeli forces fired at ambulances as they tried to evacuate injured people, preventing ambulance crews from reaching the injured.

Separately, a group of Palestinian activists survived an assassination attempt on Saturday morning, as Israeli warplanes targeted a car in the area of Sanafur east of Gaza City, completely destroying the car.

Early on Saturday, more than 40 Israeli military tanks entered Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip from the east, destroying Palestinian homes.

Meanwhile, Israeli warplanes have launched intermittent airstrikes on open areas in different parts of the Gaza Strip.

Hamas policy: Escalation to force Israel into cease-fire in Gaza

Amos Harel, Avi Issacharoff and Yuval Azoulay, Haaretz Correspondents, and News Agencies, 18.1.08 (12,36). Pestinians fired some 40 Qassam rockets and two mortar shells at the western Negev on Thursday, lightly wounding two Israelis and causing several others to be treated for shock. Palestinians said they believe this escalation is part of a new Hamas policy aimed at forcing Israel into a cease-fire.

Also on Thursday, Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip killed at least five Palestinians, including a senior operative of the Popular Resistance Committees and his wife.

The current escalation began on Tuesday, when the Israel Defense Forces killed 19 Palestinians, mostly armed Hamas operatives. Since then, Palestinians have fired more than 130 rockets and dozens of mortar shells at Israel.

Hamas was responsible for most of Thursday's launches, and senior IDF officers believe that unless the situation calms down soon, Israel will have to further escalate its military operations.

But Palestinian sources predicted that Hamas would continue the rocket barrages, in an attempt to force Israel to agree to a cease-fire. Hamas, they said, believes that its previous, lower level of rocket and mortar fire allowed the IDF to operate freely in Gaza without Israel paying a serious price.

Moreover, Hamas believes that Israel wants to avoid a major ground operation in Gaza, and therefore, it will have no choice but to call a truce if heavy rocket fire on southern Israel continues. Hamas is currently refraining from firing rockets on Ashkelon lest that reverse Israel's opposition to a major incursion, the sources added.

However, Hamas officials declined to confirm that the recent escalation represents a new policy. Both organization spokesman Ismail Radwan and Ahmed Yusuf, who is Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh's political advisor, insisted that the rockets were merely a response to the IDF operations and the resultant Palestinian casualties.

The IDF currently opposes a cease-fire, arguing that continued military pressure on Hamas will enable Israel to achieve a truce on better terms.

On orders from the government, the IDF is currently refraining from ground operations, focusing instead on aerial assaults. In one such strike on Thursday, Raed Abu el-Foul, a senior PRC operative, and his wife were killed by a missile fired at their car. Two other Palestinians were wounded, Palestinian officials said.

Later, another air strike on a car in Gaza killed an Islamic Jihad operative along with a mother and child who were riding in a donkey cart nearby, Palestinian sources said. A second Islamic Jihad man was critically wounded. The IDF said it had targeted the militants shortly after they fired rockets at Israel.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordered the IDF on Thursday to more forward with planning a large-scale ground operation in Gaza, but stressed that no such operation has yet been authorized. Barak's office noted that the army has been planning such an operation for the past several months, so as to be ready for any contingency.

Barak also decided to tighten economic sanctions on Gaza's Hamas government - inter alia, by reducing the amount of fuel allowed into the Strip. In addition, cargo trucks bringing humanitarian supplies into Gaza will undergo stricter inspections, due in part to the fact that two such trucks were recently found to be carrying material that could be used to make Qassam rockets.

In addition, Barak said that the IDF would "deepen" its military operations against the rocket-launching crews. "It won't be simple, it won't happen this weekend, but we will stop the rocket fire on Sderot," he said, speaking during a tour of the South

Barrages prove Hamas able to stockpile missiles

The barrage of rockets fired at Israel from Gaza this week confirms intelligence assessments that Hamas has upgraded its rocket capabilities over the past few months. The fact it could fire 130 rockets in less than three days proves it has overcome the technical hurdles involved in stockpiling them.

Until a few months ago, Hamas was unable to store Qassam rockets for more than a few weeks, because their launch capability would degrade. Now that this barrier has evidently been overcome, the organization can manufacture and store thousands of rockets, which it can unleash in any future clash with Israel.

Hamas is also thought to have significant numbers of longer-range rockets capable of hitting Ashkelon. It has thus far used such rockets very sparingly, but if its conflict with Israel escalates, that might change.

The organization has also upgraded its launching capabilities: Some of the rockets that hit Israel this week were fired by remote control from buried launchers, which makes it hard for Israeli forces to attack the launch crews. Hezbollah used this tactic extensively during the Second Lebanon War.

A Gaza, avec ceux qui lancent des roquettes sur Israël

AFP/MAHMUD HAMS
Des graffiti représentant des roquettes sur un mur à Gaza, le 16 janvier 2008.

"Israël ne viendra jamais à bout de nous, car, contrairement à eux, nous n'avons pas peur de la mort. Nous nous faisons même de la concurrence pour savoir qui va mourir le premier. Ce ne sont pas les Israéliens qui vont décider de l'heure de ma mort. Elle est déjà connue. C'est le destin ! C'est notre droit. C'est notre force ! C'est pour cela que nous allons gagner. D'ailleurs, regardez, nous leur faisons peur, poursuit Abou Haroun. Les habitants de Sderot partent. Une grande majorité d'entre eux veut partir. Plus personne ne veut vivre dans le sud. Nous les poussons vers le nord (d'Israël), vers le Hezbollah (le mouvement armé chiite du Liban sud). Ils sont pris en sandwich. Dans moins de dix ans, ils vont disparaître. Ils vont comprendre qu'ils ne sont pas chez eux ici." Cette semaine, Youval Diskin, le chef du Shin Bet (sécurité intérieure israélienne), a dressé un bilan : 356 Palestiniens ont été tués dans la bande de Gaza en 2006 et 454 autres en 2007. B'Tselem, organisation israélienne de défense des droits de l'homme, a précisé que 360 des 810 victimes ne faisaient pas partie d'une organisation armée. M. Diskin a ajouté que ces 810 tués ne représentaient que "5 % des 20 000 militants armés estimés dans la bande de Gaza".

Michel Bôle-Richard, Gaza Envoyé Spécial, Le Monde, 18.1.08. Abou Haroun aurait voulu montrer comment il construit et lance les Qassam, ces roquettes qui sèment la terreur dans le sud d'Israël, à la périphérie de la bande de Gaza, mais le moment est mal choisi. Trop dangereux. Les Israéliens sont sur les dents. Beaucoup de ses camarades sont déjà tombés. Abou Haroun les désigne du doigt sur les vidéos qu'il fait défiler sur son ordinateur. "Celui-là est mort, et celui-là aussi." Cela l'émeut à peine. C'est devenu une habitude. La mort ne lui fait pas peur. Il sait qu'elle va venir, un jour ou l'autre.

Abou Haroun a choisi de se battre à l'âge de 13 ans et, aujourd'hui, à 30 ans, père de trois enfants, il n'a pas l'intention d'arrêter. Il ne masque pas son visage. Il sait qu'il est connu. Il a déjà échappé à la mort. Il a perdu un oeil. Les Israéliens l'ont toujours dans le collimateur.

Il se présente comme le chef de la brigade Abou Rich, organisation armée proche du Fatah. Il refuse de dire de combien de combattants sa brigade est composée, mais précise que, pour construire une Qassam et la mettre à feu, ils ne sont qu'une dizaine, et que les différents groupes s'entraident pour "continuer à améliorer les performances des Qassam".

Abou Haroun développe son argumentaire : "L'Intifada a commencé avec des pierres, elle a continué avec des cocktails Molotov, s'est poursuivie avec des balles et aujourd'hui avec des explosifs. La résistance est en progression et en développement. Nous n'avons jamais arrêté, et nous n'arrêterons jamais."

Et Abou Haroun ajoute : "Israël ne viendra jamais à bout de nous, car, contrairement à eux, nous n'avons pas peur de la mort. Nous nous faisons même de la concurrence pour savoir qui va mourir le premier. Ce ne sont pas les Israéliens qui vont décider de l'heure de ma mort. Elle est déjà connue. C'est le destin ! C'est notre droit. C'est notre force ! C'est pour cela que nous allons gagner."

"D'ailleurs, regardez, nous leur faisons peur, poursuit Abou Haroun. Les habitants de Sderot partent. Une grande majorité d'entre eux veut partir. Plus personne ne veut vivre dans le sud. Nous les poussons vers le nord (d'Israël), vers le Hezbollah (le mouvement armé chiite du Liban sud). Ils sont pris en sandwich. Dans moins de dix ans, ils vont disparaître. Ils vont comprendre qu'ils ne sont pas chez eux ici."

Abou Haroun occupe un immense appartement qui était celui d'un haut responsable du Fatah qui a pris la fuite après le coup de force du Hamas à Gaza, le 15 juin 2007. Ses enfants viennent jouer avec lui pendant qu'il fume chicha sur chicha (narguilé).

Il trouve amusant que la plus puissante armée du Proche-Orient soit dans l'incapacité d'arrêter ce qu'il appelle ses "casseroles en fer" : les Qassam. En fait, un bout de tuyau bourré d'explosif avec, à une extrémité, une charge détonante et, à l'autre, une charge de propulsion. Leur trajectoire est imprécise et leur rayon d'action d'une quinzaine de kilomètres.

Les Qassam palestiniennes ont causé la mort de dix personnes en Israël depuis octobre 2001, date du premier tir, sur un total d'environ 3 100 jusqu'à aujourd'hui.

Ces roquettes peuvent être lancées de n'importe où. Il suffit d'une rampe rudimentaire. La mise à feu ne l'est pas moins. Ces engins zigzaguent dans le ciel avant d'atterrir la plupart du temps en rase campagne. En raison de leur courte durée de vol, aucun système d'interception performant n'a pu être mis au point. Il y aurait bien la destruction par rayon laser, mais le procédé coûte cher et ne sera vraiment efficace que dans cinq ans, selon le général de réserve Isaac Ben-Israël.

Pour réduire cette menace, Tsahal procède à des incursions dans la bande de Gaza pour éliminer les tireurs et détruire les ateliers de fabrication. Un vaste no man's land a été dégagé tout autour de la bande de Gaza. Les bulldozers ont tout aplani et déraciné la végétation. En vain.

Depuis plusieurs mois, il est question d'une intervention militaire massive afin d'essayer de venir à bout de ces tireurs de Qassam qui terrorisent les habitants de Sderot et des kibboutz environnants. "Qu'ils viennent ! dit Abou Haroun. Qu'ils s'aventurent dans les villes, plutôt que de rester dans les espaces nettoyés près de la frontière. Ils savent que cela va leur coûter cher, que leurs Merkava (chars) vont sauter en l'air."

Abou Haroun s'emporte de plus en plus : "Ce sont des trouillards. Ils n'osent pas sortir de leurs blindés. Ils tuent de loin, avec leur obus et leurs avions."

Il trouve inadmissible que le monde entier ne dise rien, alors que les Palestiniens sont tués "tous les jours". Il se perd alors dans sa diatribe. "Leur but, c'est de tuer. Leurs mains sont pleines de sang ! Les soldats israéliens ont les mains pleines de sang ! Tout le peuple a les mains pleines de sang parce que tout le monde fait son service militaire, parce que le peuple, c'est l'armée !"

Abou Haroun affirme qu'il ne renoncera jamais. Il n'a pas peur de dire son nom. Et, s'il meurt, "d'autres assureront la relève et les tirs de Qassam continueront".

Israeli aircraft bomb interior ministry of de facto government in Gaza; one woman dead, 46 injured

Gaza - Ma'an. 18.1.08 (16,04) - A woman was killed and 46 people were injured, three of them seriously, in an Israeli airstrike on the interior ministry of the de facto government in the Gaza Strip, in Tel Al-Hawa, on Friday afternoon. The building was completely destroyed. According to Muawiya Hassanein, director of emergency and ambulance services in the Palestinian health ministry, fifty-two-year-old Haniya Abd Al-Jawad was killed. 32 of the injured were taken to Ash-Shifaa' Hospital in Gaza City, three of them in a critical condition. 14 others were taken to Al-Quds Hospital. The de facto government's interior ministry has been targeted twice in the past several months by the Israeli airforce. Meanwhile Israeli warplanes also bombed the marine headquarters of the security services, west of Dir Al-Balah. No one is reported injured.

Al-Aqsa Brigades leader killed in clashes with Israeli forces

Nablus - Ma'an 18.1.08 (12,41) – A leader from the military wing of Fatah, the Al-Aqsa Brigades, was killed during several hours of clashes with Israeli Special Forces in the Balata refugee camp, east of Nablus on Friday. Israeli Special Forces stormed Balata refugee camp east of Nablus at dawn, and surrounded a house where four brigades members were holed up. Armed clashes ensued and Al-Aqsa leader Ahmed Sanakra was killed. His three fellow combatants, Yousef Hanoun, Mohamed Hweta and Mahmoud Shtawi, were arrested. The Israeli military had made several attempts to assassinate twenty-five-year-old Ahmed Sanakra in recent years. Medical sources reported that three-year-old Yazan Qar'an was also shot and wounded during the large scale invasion, carried out by more than 50 military vehicles that surrounded the camp from all its sides. The Israeli forces raided several houses and imposed a curfew in the camp before withdrawing, leaving Sanakra dead, and several Palestinian citizens injured.

Al-Aqsa Brigades announce an end to 3-month ceasefire

Bethlehem – Ma'an exclusive 18.1.08 (11,34) – The general commander of the Al-Aqsa Brigades, the military wing of Fatah, in the West Bank announced an end to their three-month ceasefire on Friday. Abu Uday said in a statement that the ceasefire was now over and that the Brigades will respond to the recent Israeli assassinations in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. "We will not stand idly by while witnessing massacres of our people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. We will respond to these massacres and we give the green light to all our brigades. Thus we will calm the hearts of the martyrs' families," he said. Abu Uday said that the ceasefire had been abandoned as the Israeli forces "have not stopped killing our people and destroying our institutions and our cities for a single day."

Two dead, two injured in Israeli airstrike on northern Gaza Strip. 35 dead in four days of Israeli military offensives against the Gaza Strip.

Gaza – Ma'an. 18.1.08 (11,05) – Two Palestinians were killed and two others injured on Friday morning in an Israeli airstrike on the city of Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip. Muawiyya Hassanain, director of ambulance and emergency services in the Palestinian Ministry of Health identified one of the dead as twenty-two-year-old Ismail Radwan. Seventeen-year-old. Mahmoud Ramadan was seriously wounded in the attack and died later in hospital, according to Hassanain. The latest killing brings the number of dead to 35 in four days of Israeli military offensives against the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, local Palestinian sources told Ma'an that Israeli forces have moved one of their military bases several hundred meters inside Israel from its original site, east of Khan Younis on the Gaza border. The base has been repeatedly targeted by Palestinian projectiles over the past few days.

Abu Mazen: "Mi dimetto se non cessano i raid militari israeliani"

La Stampa, 18.1.08 (9,19). Medio Oriente, cresce la tensione. Chiusi i valichi tra Israele e Gaza. Ancora razzi palestinesi su Sderot - GAZA. Il presidente palestinese Abu Mazen ha minacciato ieri sera, durante una riunione con i suoi più stretti collaboratori, di dare le dimissioni se non cesseranno i raid militari israeliani contro la Striscia di Gaza. L’Autorità nazionale palestinese ha condannato le operazioni militari lanciate dagli israeliani a Gaza ed in Cisgiordania come un tentativo di distruggere i tentativi di rilanciare i negoziati di pace. Lo riferisce oggi con evidenza il più diffuso dei quotidiani palestinesi, Al-Quds, edito a Gerusalemme Est. «Non ha senso negoziare (con Israele) in questo clima», ha detto il presidente palestinese sottolineando anche l’urgenza di una fine immediata dell’espansione delle colonie ebraiche in Cisgiordania, in particolare nella zona araba di Gerusalemme. Al-Quds tuttavia non precisa se Abu Mazen abbia ordinato una sospensione temporanea degli incontri con la controparte israeliana. Secondo il quotidiano Haaretz l’escalation di lanci di razzi rientrerebbe in una strategia di Hamas volta a tenere sotto pressione la popolazione civile israeliana residente nei centri adiacenti a Gaza e, quindi, ad obbligare il governo di Ehud Olmert ad accettare una tregua. L’agenzia delle Nazioni Unite per il soccorso e l’occupazione dei profughi palestinesi accusa: «L’isolamente della Striscia di Gaza riguarda anche gli aiuti umanitari alla popolazione palestinese». La principale agenzia per l’assistenza dei profughi in Medio Orienteha fattto sapere che è stato bloccato il transito alle frontiere tra Israele e Gaza dei camion carichi di aiuti umanitari. «Gaza è completamente isolata. E questo non farà che aggravare una situazione già tremenda», ha detto il portavoce, Christopher Gunness.

testo integrale

Fresh Israeli attack on Beit Lahiya in Northern Gaza strip leaves three killed from the same family

Child injured in Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip – file 2007

Ghassan Bannoura & Rami Al Meghari ghassanb at imemc dot org, IMEMC, 17.1.08 20.04. Palestinian sources reported that a fresh Israeli air raid targeting a horse carriage in the northern Gaza strip town of Beit Lahiya left three members of a Palestinian family killed and five others injured on Thursday night. With this attack, the number of the Palestinians killed today by the army reaches five. On Thursday midday in an 'apparently' total disregard to civilian lives in Gaza, an Israeli warplane fired a missile on a car in northern Gaza Strip, killing a Palestinian and his wife. Palestinian medical sources reported that Ra'd Abu Fool, 43, of the Popular Resistance Committees' armed wing and his wife Amna Abu Fool, 40, have been killed today noon, when an Israeli warplane fired at least one missile towards their car. Palestinian health ministry's sources had earlier voiced belief that the Israeli army has been using fletchets and illicit weapons against Palestinian civilians. Such doubts have not been verified by independent sources yet. Israeli army attacks on Gaza have been steadily increasing through the week, with a death toll estimated at least 28 and injuries at about 60; 12 of whom are critical.

Popular Resistance Committees leader, wife killed as Israeli helicopters target car in northern Gaza Strip

Popular Resistance Committees leader, wife killed as Israeli helicopters target car in northern Gaza Strip. Today's killings bring the total number of people killed in the Gaza Strip to 25 in the past two days.

Gaza – Ma'an – 17.1.08 13,48Israeli helicopters assassinated a leader in the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, the An-Nasser Salah Addin Brigades, and his wife by shelling his car as he was traveling near Sheikh Zayid City in the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday afternoon.

Palestinian medics and sources within the An-Nasser Salah Addin Brigades named the victims as forty-three-year-old Ra'd Abu Al-Ful and his forty-year-old wife Amina Abu Al-Ful.

Muawiya Hassanain, the director of ambulance and emergency services in the Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed that the bodies of the victims were torn to pieces. They were taken to Kamal Udwan hospital in the northern Gaza Strip.

Witnesses said several other people were injured in the raid.

Today's killings bring the total number of people killed in the Gaza Strip to 25 in the past two days. On Tuesday Israeli tank fire killed Husam Zahhar, the son of one of Hamas' senior leaders, Mahmoud Zahhar, a former Palestinian Foreign Minister.

Since September 2000 679 Palestinians, including 224 civilian bystanders (78 of them children) extra-judiciallly killed by IOF

This attacks demonstrate IOF blatant disregard for the lives of Palestinian civilians, who continue to be killed during extra-judicial executions carried out by IOF. According to PCHR research, 679 Palestinians, including 224 civilian bystanders (78 of them children) have been killed in extra-judicial executions committed by IOF since September 2000.

PCHR condemns this crimes, and:

1) Asserts they are part of a series of continuous crimes committed by IOF in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) with total disregard for the lives of Palestinian civilians.

2) Calls upon the international community to immediately intervene to stop such crimes, and calls upon the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Convention, Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, to fulfill their obligation under article 1 of the Convention to ensure respect for the Convention in all circumstances, and their obligation under article 146 to search for and prosecute those who are responsible for perpetrating grave breaches of the Convention. Such breaches constitute war crimes according to article 147 of the Convention and the Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and Relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I).

IOF Kill 3 Palestinian Civilians and Wound 3 Others in Gaza

On Wednesday noon, 16 January 2008, Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) launched an air strike against a civilian vehicle in Gaza City. Three Palestinian civilians (a man, his son and his brother) were killed in the strike.

According to preliminary investigations conducted by PCHR, at approximately 12:30 on Wednesday, an IOF aircraft fired a missile at a civilian vehicle, in which three members of the al-Yazji family, including a child, were traveling, in al-Nafaq Street in the al-Daraj neighborhood of east Gaza City. The missile killed all three civilians.

1) Mohammed Hashem Mohammed al-Yazji, 27.

2) His child Ameer, 5.

3) His brother ‘Aamer, 40.

In addition, three civilian bystanders sustained shrapnel wounds:

1) Shukri Salem al-Shukri, 78.

2) Marshoud Salah al-Mazloum, 39.

3) Rashed Salah al-Mazloum, 40.

The Israeli media reported that IOF sources have admitted the vehicle was attacked by mistake, and the target of the IOF attack was another vehicle, in which Palestinian resistance activists were traveling.

Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Escalate Attacks against Palestinian Civilians and Property in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT)

Weekly Report: On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. 10-16.1.08

Under fire: A paramedic attempting to evacuate one of the wounded during the Israeli military incursion into al-Zaytoun neighborhood in Gaza on 15 January 2008

• 26 Palestinians were killed by IOF in the Gaza Strip and 1 Palestinian was killed in the West Bank.

• 8 of the victims were civilians, including 2 brothers, a child and an elderly man.

• 17 of the victims were killed during an Israeli incursion into the east of Gaza City.

• 7 of the victims were extra-judicially executed by IOF.

• 51 Palestinians, including 3 elderly men, a woman and 2 brothers, were wounded by the IOF gunfire.

• IOF conducted 22 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank, and 3 into the Gaza Strip.

• IOF razed 30 donums of agricultural land in the Gaza Strip.

• IOF arrested 50 Palestinian civilians, including 3 children.

• IOF transformed 5 houses in Nablus and Qabatya into military sites.

• IOF have continued to impose a total siege on the OPT.

• IOF have isolated the Gaza Strip from the outside world and the humanitarian crisis is worsening.

• IOF have continued settlement activities in the West Bank and Israeli settlers have continued to attacks Palestinian civilians and property.

• IOF started to built a new settlement neighborhood in East Jerusalem.

• IOF razed 40 donums of agricultural land in Hebron.

Summary

Israeli violations of international law and humanitarian law escalated in the OPT during the reporting period (10 – 16 January 2008):

Shootings: During the reporting period, IOF killed 27 Palestinians, including a child, 2 brothers and an elderly man, and wounded 51 others.

In the Gaza Strip, IOF killed 26 Palestinians, and wounded 44 others.

On 15 January, IOF killed 17 Palestinians, including 5 civilians, and wounded 30 others, including a woman, during an incursion into the east of Gaza City, which lasted for 4 hours. On 13 January, IOF extra-judicially executed 2 Palestinians and wounded a third. On the same day, IOF shelled a site of the ‘Izziddin al-Qassam Brigades (the armed wing of Hamas), killing 2 members at the site and wounding a third. On 16 January, 3 Palestinian civilians (a man, his child and his brother) were killed when an IOF aircraft fired a missile at their car. On the same day, IOF extra-judicially executed 2 Palestinians in the central Gaza Strip.

In addition, IOF wounded 6 members of the Palestinian resistance in the northern Gaza Strip on 15 and 16 January. On 15 January, a Palestinian farmer was wounded by the IOF gunfire in al-Qarara village, east of Khan Yunis. On 16 January, an elderly man was wounded in Jabalya town in the northern Gaza Strip, when an IOF aircraft fired a missile at a tract of agricultural land.

In the West Bank, IOF killed a Palestinian and wounded 6 others.

On 11 January, a Palestinian civilian was wounded when IOF used force to disperse a peaceful demonstration organized in protest to the construction of the Annexation Wall in Bal’ein village, west of Ramallah. On 16 January, IOF extra-judicially executed the leader of the al-Quds Brigades (the armed wing of Islamic Jihad) in the West Bank. Another 2 Palestinians were wounded and arrested in the same attack. Also on 16 January, 4 Palestinian children were wounded when IOF used force to disperse a demonstration organized in Hebron in protest at Israeli attacks against the Gaza Strip.

Incursions: During the reporting period, IOF conducted at least 22 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank. IOF arrested 50 Palestinian civilians, including 3 children. Since the beginning of 2008, IOF have arrested 147 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. During the reporting period, IOF troops also transformed 5 houses into military sites.

In the Gaza Strip, IOF conducted 3 incursions into Palestinian communities. During these incursions, IOF demolished razed 30 donums of agricultural land. They also destroyed the remains of shops and factories in Beit Hanoun town in the northern Gaza Strip.

Restrictions on Movement: IOF have continued to impose a tightened siege on the OPT and imposed severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem.

PCHR is following the deterioration of economic and social conditions resulting from the total siege imposed by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) on the Occupied Palestinian Territory with the utmost concern, especially as regards the Gaza Strip. PCHR is extremely concerned that living standards of the Palestinian civilian population in Gaza will further deteriorate if the recommendations of the Israeli Security Committee continue to be implemented, as this will result in at least 60% of the Palestinian civilian population being deprived of electricity supplies. In addition, many facilities that provide vital civilian services will be curtailed, due to lack of electricity.

Gaza Strip

To date, IOF have closed all border crossings to the Gaza Strip for almost 18 months continuously. The total siege imposed by IOF on the Gaza Strip has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and has violated the economic and social rights of the Palestinian civilian population, particularly their rights to appropriate living conditions, health and education. It has also paralyzed most economic sectors. Furthermore, severe restrictions have been imposed on the movement of the Palestinian civilian population. The siege of the Gaza Strip has severely impacted the flow of food, medical supplies and other necessities, such as fuel, construction materials and raw materials for various economic sectors. After the Hamas' takeover of Gaza in June 2007, IOF further tightened the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip, and the living and economic conditions of Palestinian civilians in Gaza have subsequently deteriorated. On 19 September 2007, the Israeli government declared the Gaza Strip “A hostile entity” and measures of collective punishment against the civilian population of Gaza escalated from this point. Since September 2007, the Israeli Government have severely limited the goods exported to the Gaza Strip to just nine basic materials. Consequently, local markets have run out of many goods, causing sharp increases in prices, which in some cases have amounted to 500%.

West Bank

IOF have continued to impose severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians. Thousands of Palestinian civilians from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip have systematically been denied access to Jerusalem. IOF have established many checkpoints in and around the city. Restrictions of the movement of Palestinian civilians often escalate on Fridays to prevent them from praying at the al-Aqsa Mosque. IOF often assault and beat Palestinian civilians who attempt to bypass checkpoints and enter the city. IOF have also tightened the siege imposed on Palestinian communities in the West Bank. IOF positioned at various checkpoints in the West Bank have continued to impose severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians. IOF have also erected more checkpoints on the main roads and intersections in the West Bank.

Settlement Activities: IOF have continued settlement activities, and Israeli settlers living in the OPT have, in violation of international humanitarian law, continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property. During the reporting period, IOF started construction of a settlement that would include 66 housing units for Israeli settlers in the Ras al-‘Aamoud neighborhood in East Jerusalem. According to the Israeli daily newspaper, Haaretz, the project obtained its license from the Israeli Municipality of Jerusalem. On 15 January, IOF They razed at least 40 donums of agricultural land planted with olive and almond trees, and destroyed 6 wells and a number of fences and roads in Beit Oula village near Hebron. On 12 January, dozens of Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian civilians and property in Hebron. Twelve Palestinian civilians were wounded, and IOF troops arrested 4 of them.

Israeli Violations Documented during the Reporting Period (10 – 16 January 2008)

Exiled Hamas leader says Gaza raid result of Bush's visit

Abbas: IDF raid on Gaza is a massacre which can't be ignored
IDF kills 19 Palestinians in raids on Gaza Strip
Haaretz, 15.1.08. The exiled leader of Hamas said Tuesday that the Gaza raids were the fruit of U.S. President George W. Bush's visit to the Middle East region.

Khaled Meshal, in an interview with The Associated Press in Damascus where he lives, accused Bush of inciting Israeli leaders.

"This crime is the ugly fruit of Bush's visit to the region. He has incited the Zionists and has exerted pressure on the Palestinian side to become more hardline against Palestinian dialogue," he said during the interview in his office.

"This proves that our people are great and our leaders sacrifice their sons. These are the real leaders that meld with their people and defend them, not those who infiltrate to the futile negotiating table with the Zionist entity, he said of Fatah."

Barenboim, c’è un muro anche nella musica

l'Unità, 15.1.08. «Proponiamo un modello - riflette Barenboim -. Dei ragazzi con in comune la musica possono esprimere se stessi e ascoltare al contempo le ragioni dell’altro. Perché non esiste una soluzione militare, e i destini del popolo palestinese e israeliano sono inestricabilmente uniti». Uniti come la West-Eastern Divan Orchestra - realizzata nel 1999 su un progetto che Barenboim aveva messo a punto assieme ad Edward Said, il più grande intellettuale palestinese, ora scomparso. Uniti come il doppio passaporto - israeliano e palestinese - di Daniel Barenboim.

Un messaggio di speranza che viaggia sulle note musicali. Un messaggio tanto più pregnante perchè a veicolarlo è un grande direttore d’orchestra: Daniel Barenboim. In Israele la destra oltranzista si è scagliata contro di lui per aver accettato il passaporto palestinese. Si è gridato al «tradimento», la stessa accusa a suo tempo lanciata contro il premier israeliano Yitzhak Rabin, colpito a morte da un giovane zelota per aver «osato» di fare la pace con il «Nemico», Yasser Arafat. Ma prima di riflettere sul significato del «doppio passaporto», vale la pena soffermarsi sul contesto nel quale questa scelta è stata annunciata.
Perché è quel contesto a dare il senso della straordinaria esperienza di cui Daniel Barenboim si è reso protagonista. I Territori palestinesi conquistano l’interesse internazionale quando sono associati a raid, atti di terrorismo, rappresaglie, sofferenze, patimenti... Ramallah, capitale della Cisgiordania, è balzata ai tristi onori della cronaca nei mesi dell’assedio israeliano alla Muqata, il quartier generale dell’Anp dove era confinato Yasser Arafat. Le «note» di quei mesi erano quelle, lugubri, di mitragliatori, colpi di artiglieria, missili... È con queste «note» che i giovani di Ramallah sono cresciuti, che sono stati costretti a «imparare» fin da piccoli. Ben diverse, erano le note che hanno riempito, l’altra sera, il Palazzo della Cultura di Ramallah. Note che hanno beato un pubblico di oltre 1200 persone. Molti avevano le lacrime agli occhi nell’ascoltare le composizioni di Beethoven eseguite dall’orchestra diretta da Barenboim.
È questo il «miracolo» maturato a Ramallah: invece di ingrossare le fila delle milizie armate, centinaia di ragazzi e ragazze palestinesi erano lì ad ascoltare quel maestro israeliano. E la sua orchestra. Un’orchestra composta da giovani musicisti israeliani e arabi ( in maggior parte palestinesi). In platea c’erano ragazzi in jeans e donne velate. Quelle note struggenti hanno superato i Muri, quelli fisici e quelli mentali che segnano la Terra Santa. Note che uniscono. Che fannno sognare. Note che liberano la mente dalle angosce del presente, un presente di sofferenza per tanti palestinesi e israeliani. Il doppio passaporto è la carta d’identità di questa speranza. Perché la musica raggiunge i cuori prima e meglio di tante esternazioni politiche. Perché la West-Eastern Divan Orchestra - realizzata nel 1999 su un progetto che Barenboim aveva messo a punto assieme ad Edward Said, il più grande intellettuale palestinese, ora scomparso - racchiude in sé, più e meglio di tanti accordi scritti e mai praticati, una idea alta, nobile, e concreta, di cooperazione tra i due popoli. Tra le loro gioventù.
Quel doppio passaporto non è una provocazione. È un investimento sul futuro. La forza di Barenboim è di non voler vestire i panni del politico. Ed è per questo che il suo messaggio è ancora più (positivamente) dirompente, ed è per questo che è entrato nel mirino dei seminatori di odio: «Non credo che la musica sia il veicolo di qualcosa. Io vengo qui (a Ramallah) come un essere umano, con lo spirito di chi vuol far conoscere e migliorare la vita delle persone», ha spiegato dopo aver concluso il suo concerto. E la musica aiuta, e molto, a migliorare la vita dei giovani di Ramallah. E, se fosse per il maestro, le note di Beethoven riempirebbero anche Gaza. Se fosse per lui, porterebbe anche la Scala di Milano a Ramallah.
Non dà lezioni di diplomazia, Daniel Barenboim. Ma ricorda che «la musica ti dà soprattutto la possibilità di capire il mondo. Suonare in orchestra, ad esempio, è una grande lezione di democrazia. Forma l’abitudine ad ascoltare gli altri. Così i modi di fare musica possono, devono essere modelli per l’esperienza umana. E la missione della musica in questo millennio è quella di lottare contro chi la vuole staccata dalla vita...». Una lotta che Barenboim conduce con coerenza. Attraverso le note e l’esperienza di un’orchestra che parla ai politici dei due campi. E racconta di una pace possibile. «Proponiamo un modello - riflette Barenboim -. Dei ragazzi con in comune la musica possono esprimere se stessi e ascoltare al contempo le ragioni dell’altro. Perché non esiste una soluzione militare, e i destini del popolo palestinese e israeliano sono inestricabilmente uniti». Uniti come la West-Eastern Divan Orchestra. Uniti come il doppio passaporto - israeliano e palestinese - di Daniel Barenboim.

As a response to Olmert's statements, Sederot residents call Olmert to travel them away like the settlers of Gaza

Ezzedeen Al Qassam Brigades, 15.1.08. Olmert's statements he said to the security and exterior committee, about not invading Gaza made the residents of Sedrot settlement be angry from his statements.

The head chief in Sederot, in a talk to Maaref electronic site, appealed to transform the residents of Sederot like the settlers of Gaza according to a well-known criterion of evacuation and compensation. "He asked Olmert to submit the power to another men who can treat the terrorism coming from Gaza", as he claimed.

The chief of rulers in Sederot also considered Olmert's statements as a green light to the resistance to continue shelling the city with homemade rockets.

21 Citizens Killed due to Ongoing state of Lawlessness and Political Conflict throughout

December 2007 Report on Human Rights Violations. During the month of December 2007, the Palestinian Independent Commission for Citizens' Rights (PICCR) reported several human rights violations throughout the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) controlled territory, particularly incidents resulting from the state of lawlessness, security instability and political conflict. PICCR also monitored a number of violations against other human rights and freedoms, including the right to freedom of opinion and expression, peaceful gatherings, attacks on personal security and arrests.

1. Violation of the right to life and physical safety:
Compared to 17 citizens killed in November, incidents of violations of the right to life and physical safety increased during the month of December. PICCR reported that 21 citizens were killed during incidents of security chaos and infighting throughout the PA controlled territory. Of these, 6 citizens were killed in the West Bank and 17 in the Gaza Strip.
In the course of ongoing political conflict in the Gaza Strip, Police Forces affiliated with the Hamas' deposed government prevented Fatah activists from commemorating Fatah's 43rd anniversary on 31 December 2007. As a result, an armed confrontation took place between Police Forces and armed members of Hamas as well as armed individuals from Fatah and their respective families, during which 7 citizens were killed in several areas in the Gaza Strip.
In the West Bank, 5 citizens were killed in family fights and acts of revenge. In addition, 4 citizens were slain as a result of arms chaos. Another 3 citizens died under obscure circumstances; 1 citizen in a robbery; and another in prison under unknown conditions.
Of those killed were 4 children. Additionally, 17 citizens were killed by firearms or du to the detonation of explosive devices.
Furthermore, PICCR reported that 130 citizens were injured as a result of infighting and
security instability, particularly during the armed confrontation reported on 31 December
in the Gaza Strip.

Full Text:
2. Atrocities against Freedom of Opinion and Expression
3. Attacks on public and private Institutions and property
4. Attacks on personal security and arrests
5. Attacks on Academic Freedom

IOF Escalate Attacks against the Gaza Strip: 17 Palestinians Killed and at Least 30 Others Wounded in Gaza City in Less Than 4 Hours

PCHR is gravely concerned about this continuing escalation in attacks by IOF, and therefore:

1) Condemns these crimes, which are part of a serious of continuous crimes committed by IOF in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) with total disregard for the lives of Palestinian civilians, considering them a form of collective punishment against the Palestinian civilian population in violation of article 33 of the Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War.

2) Stresses that IOF do not pay attention to the principles of necessity and proportionality when using their full-fledged arsenal against members of the Palestinian resistance, who are sometimes present in densely populated areas.

3) Calls upon the international community to immediately intervene to stop such crimes, and calls upon the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Convention, Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, to fulfill their obligation under article 1 of the Convention to ensure respect for the Convention in all circumstances, as well as their obligation under article 146 to search for and prosecute those who are responsible for perpetrating grave breaches of the Convention, as such breaches constitute war crimes according to article 147 of the Convention and the Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and Relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I).

IOF Escalate Attacks against the Gaza Strip: 17 Palestinians Killed and at Least 30 Others Wounded in Gaza City in Less Than 4 Hours

On Tuesday morning, 15 January 2008, Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) killed 17 Palestinians, including 5 civilians, and wounded at least 30 others, 5 of whom are in a serious condition, during an incursion into the al-Shojaeya and al-Zaytoun neighborhoods of east Gaza City. The incursion continued until noon. Preliminary investigations conducted by PCHR indicate that most of the victims were killed by tank shells, and that IOF troops used excessive lethal force without regard for the lives of Palestinian civilian living in the affected areas.
PCHR strongly condemns these latest crimes, and continues to be gravely concerned about the escalation of attacks by IOF against the Gaza Strip. PCHR calls upon the international community to immediately intervene in order to stop these crimes, as well as repeated Israeli threats to invade the Gaza Strip en masse, which will undoubtedly cause even more destruction, including deaths and injuries, to the Palestinian civilian population of the Gaza Strip.
ccording to the preliminary investigations conducted by PCHR, at approximately 08:00 on Tuesday, 15 January 2008, IOF heavy military vehicles moved nearly 3,000 meters into Palestinian areas around Malaqa Square, which lies between al-Shojaeya and al-Zaytoun neighborhoods in the east of Gaza City. IOF then indiscriminately opened fire at anything that moved within the area. A number of militants from the Palestinian resistance clashed with IOF, and the IOF responded by firing tank shells. As a result, 5 Palestinian militants were killed:

1) Rami Talal Farahat, 30.

2) ‘Aahed Sa’dallah ‘Ashour, 27.

3) Mahmoud ‘Ata Abu Laban, 21.

4) Hussam Mahmoud al-Zahhar, 22.

5) Saleem ‘Abdul Haq al-Mdallal, 20
IOF continued to indiscriminately shell Palestinian houses and agricultural areas. As a result, 3 Palestinian farmers were also killed:

1) As’ad ‘Eissa Radwan Tafesh, 65;

2) Marwan Sameer ‘Ouda, 22.

3) Sa’id Mustafa al-Sammouni, 50.

Another 2 civilians, including a student, were also killed during the incursion:

1) Ayman Fadel Malaka, 35, a car trader who was in the car market located neat the affected area.

2) ‘Abdul Salam ‘Atiya Abu Laban, 19, a student.

In addition, 30 Palestinians, including a woman, were wounded by the IOF gunfire. The conditions of five of those wounded during the incursion is described as "serious" by medical sources.

The victims were identified as:

1) Mohammed Majdi Hejji, 20.

2) Sakher Saleem Zwayed, 27.

3) Mustafa Yahia Selmi, 20.

4) Mos’ab Saleem Selmi, 21.

5) ‘Abdullah Taleb Salem, 23.

6) Mohammed Sabri Hana, 20.

7) Khamis Abu Sawawin, 25.

IOF withdrew from the area at approximately 12:30. Soon afterwards, Palestinian ambulances rushed to al-Shojaeya and al-Zaytoun. Medical personnel found the bodies of 7 militants from the Palestinian resistance who had been killed by IOF during the incursion.

I want a better life for my people in the year to come with whatever that entails!

Heba, Contemplating from Gaza, 13.1.08. ...young girls in different body shapes, dressing in their mothers' clothes, not a single one had boots on; all wore sandals in cold winter, pale and seemingly poor. Regardless, you can't imagine how full of life they were, how innovative standing there bravely acting their roles, laughing full-heartedly, carefree still of life troubles, and smarter than expected in their society criticism. I asked them with eyes watered with tears "what do you want girls in the future." They said "We Want a Better Life." So I want a better life for my people in the year to come with whatever that entails!

You know it is the beginning of the year and everybody starts sending text messages, emails or whatever have you, wishing a happy new year or even stranger things like "may the best of 2007 be the worst of 2008." You can't blame me or us, more or less, in Gaza for not having big hopes for the New Year. I guess not! However, as human beings, we hang on to hope, even at our darkest moments, hope is our only exit. What else do we have to depend on other than hoping that things will take a better turn in Gaza, though we have absolutely no indicators for that yet!

Friends of mine asked me about the things that I remember the most about the past year. It took me a while to decide since it was a roller coaster year to Gazans in a sad regressive manner. In 2007, we saw with our own eyes factional fighting and as hard as it was, for people, to digest the fact that Palestinian blood is irresponsibly spelt, as an accepted thing of the history it became later. Of course, sitting on the kitchen floor with my husband and terrified daughters during the peak of the fight is something difficult to erase from my memory and from theirs. The astonishment that hits me every time one of my little daughters sings a factional song, such as "Hamsawi" or "Om El Jamaheer ya Fateh"; songs that they pick up from playmates or radio stations, is all the same. It makes me think how bizarre it is the way politics, in our case as Palestinians, crawls under our noses to our houses and starts messing up with our kids' innocence.

The change of power and Hamas becoming the government in Gaza with Abu Mazen forming a different government in Ramalla — with all the positive and negative changes that took place in Gaza of enforcement of order, protection of properties, control over irresponsible weapon use, tension with Fateh supporters, complexity of formal procedures in ministries and governmental bodies, etc. — is of course the most remarkable change of all, a change that has follow up scenarios that are yet unwritten.

And, I don't even want to go there and talk about Gaza siege. But how can I help it? It is there and it is tangible; the imprisonment, dire constant need, deprivation, anticipation and tunnel light waiting, relentless attempts to get a job, always wondering about fuel or electricity availability, extremely high prices, patients dying dreaming at night of a permit or a border open, women; sad old women urging emergency programs for a food coupon, and political speeches; long political speeches condemning asking for lifting the siege from Gaza, and deaf ears to people's suffering, suffocating, and drowning in despair.

Nevertheless, the most vivid thing in my memory about the past year is my visit to a community center in Beit Hanoun in the Northern area of the Gaza Strip, right on the border with Israel. In there, I met a group of teenage girls (aged 13-15 yrs.) who came to attend a workshop on child human rights. So they were supposed to perform acted scenes that they wrote as a group on some of the children's rights, such as child right to education, to play, to health services, etc. I looked at them, whilst performing, young girls in different body shapes, dressing in their mothers' clothes, not a single one had boots on; all wore sandals in cold winter, pale and seemingly poor. Regardless, you can't imagine how full of life they were, how innovative standing there bravely acting their roles, laughing full-heartedly, carefree still of life troubles, and smarter than expected in their society criticism. I remember in one of the scenes, one of them was asking her father (acted by another female colleague) to give her pocket money and he said "I have no money" and she said "but you only have money to buy cigarettes which are very expensive." How perceptive and reflective of the cruel reality of unemployment and prices inflation in Gaza. At the end, I asked them with eyes watered with tears "what do you want girls in the future." They said "We Want a Better Life." So I want a better life for my people in the year to come with whatever that entails!