Palestine War Enters Science-Fiction Realms
~ Ground War Imminent, but Uncertain
~ Sound Bombs, Propaganda Battles and the Mental Battlefield
~ Global Protests
~ A humanitarian crisis spiraling from bad to worse
~ How you can help
The Palestinian Resistance has issued calls to the peoples' militia to continue firing rockets against the invader. Preparations have been made for an urban guerilla war to defend neighborhoods of Gaza in case of a ground invasion.
Israeli and global Corporate media sources are "hinting" that a ground war will begin tonight, in a few hours.
Around 440 people have been killed in Gaza so far this week and almost 2,300 injured; the majority of them are civilians, children, non-combatants, and civilian Police.
Four people in Israel died from random Palestinian home-made rocket attacks; two of them are Palestinian Israelis.
Major demonstrations are taking place all over the world this weekend against the massacre and in support of the Palestinian people. Istanbul in Turkey, London, New York, Indonesia, Teheran, Cairo, Amman, Damascus and even tiny Cyprus plus cities within Israel itself are the scenes of multi-ethnic multi-national mobilizations of people against the US-armed Zionist war in Gaza.
An article in the JERUSALEM POST describes IndyMedia's coverage of the war as "unprofessional" and paints a picture of IndyMedia as being "in coalition" with "the large Arab networks". Which in the Western media is code language for saying "a mouthpiece of Arab terror":
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1230733119488
&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
The Israeli military is bombing Gaza with new technologies and tactics.
Sound bombs (giant versions of shock-grenades) are being used in some cases, supposedly to "warn away civilians" from homes that are being targeted and then the "real" bombs are dropped either from the air or fired by naval or ground artillery. Or delivered by missile. Also, neighbours of targeted homes in Gaza are receiving phone calls from the Israeli occupation forces urging them to run outside because their neighbourhood will be bombed in a few seconds.
But these "brilliant" tactics are still murdering children: "Ismail was with his two sisters when the missile struck, they were both torn to pieces on impact Tuesday afternoon. The three were pulled out of a rubble pile by a passerby and transported to hospital via donkey-cart....":
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=34448
Propaganda wars have escalated and are being fought on the new 21st century battlefield - the Internet - while at the same time entering a level of absurdity: Hackers working for the anti-zionist solidarity movement have carried out electronic attacks on major Israeli websites, altering them with anti-war materials. Leaflets have been dropped over Gaza by the Israeli air-force seeking to ...employ spies and traitors!
The leaflets say:
"Dear people of the Gaza Strip,
Bear the responsibility for your fate!
The Projectile launchers and the terrorist elements pose a threat on you and your families.
If you wish to provide help and assistance to your people in the sector, call the number below to provide us with the needed information. The future of the massacre is in your hands. Don’t hesitate! We will be glad to receive any information you have and it is not necessary to give us your personal information.
We will keep it as a secret.
Call us at the following number: 02-5839749
Or e-mail us at: Helpgaza2008@gmail.com
to provide us with any information on the terrorist factions.
Note: To protect your safety we ask you to be secretive when you call us.
Head of the Israeli defense forces."
Please see copies of the leaflets published here:
"Israel looks for Gazan spys; drops thousands of leaflets over Gaza"
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=34493
If you wish to aid the defence of Gaza, we'd recommend sending a million emails to the above address with various bogus items of "information on the terrorist factions"; go to a payphone and keep dialing that number and hanging up when someone answers - or maybe even engage in a polite discussion with the personnel staffing the phones.
~ The Electronic Battlefield ~
Two separate teams of hackers ("internet crackers") from Turkey and Morocco attacked a domain server succeeding in a redirection of visitors of a large number of Israeli websites to pages with photos and information about the slaughter of Palestine and Iraq.
IMEMC reports:
"The main page of the Ynet News was replaced by a black page which included four pictures; the first picture included a large number of bodies of Palestinians or Lebanese who were killed in Israeli offensives, the second pictures was of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, all forced nude and forced over each other, the third picture was an image of an Israeli religious man carrying a poster which reads Ending Zionism = Peace, and the fourth picture was the historic map of Palestine which has several images of illegal land grab and annexation by Israeli through different historical periods.
The hackers also played a song about Gaza in the background. The website was fixed several hours later and the Ynet News managed to gain control over it again.
Furthermore, the hackers also controlled an Israeli Weather Forecast website.
It was revealed later on that the hackers are from Turkey and that they hacked into the websites in retaliation to the ongoing Israeli attacks against the Gaza Strip.
They left messages in Turkish and English stating 'You will be cursed in the electronic world', and other messages such as 'to the Palestinian people, your Muslim brothers salute you… be patient…we in Turkey support you..' ” Please see more details here:
http://www.imemc.org/article/58292
~ Humanitarian Crisis ~
The siege and blockade of Gaza continue. Fuel and electricity are scarce, necessitating the evacuation of casualties to the hospital by donkey carts. At the hospital, patients and casualties are dying from lack of medicines.
International medical volunteers, doctors and aid workers bringing much needed medicines to Gaza are being denied entry and turned away by the Israeli military. Meanwhile, Israel's foreign minister, Tzipi Livni has stated to the international media that "There is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza".
~ The military situation ~
The Times, a prominent UK newspaper, has published speculation that a ground invasion of Gaza will begin tonight in a few hours. There are reports that Israeli warplanes and artillery are bombing the open spaces ahead of them to clear them of mines, in order to prepare for an assault.
Military observers and analysts are clear that the numbers of Israeli ground forces amassed on the edge of Gaza are inadequate for such a mission, condemning the soldiers who will be ordered in to meet unavoidable deaths. Or, it might mean that a ground war is not necessarily part of the plan, and that it is only an uncertain possibility being considered along with other options.
Furthermore, the nature of Gaza's physical arrangement shapes into it a battlefield that favours the urban guerilla. Invading tanks will have a hard time moving in such areas, and large numbers of Israeli soldiers can be pinned down by few street fighters without heavy weapons. This scenario can be repeated numerous times in the maze of Gaza's streets forcing the invaders to a house-by-house battle, as took place in Jenin a few years ago where Israeli forces committed tremendous atrocities against the civilian population and yet sustained very high losses.
Palestinian preparations for a possible battle of this type have been in place for a long time and now the popular militia are in a high morale; leaders of the resistance have openly invited the Israeli army to enter, if they dare, and face the Gaza peoples' militia in direct combat. It's being widely reported in the Middle East that Israeli military and political leaders are divided on this particular decision.
Israel is increasingly using more naval forces for artillery and rocket attacks against Palestine.
The potential for a second front is still real; Hezbollah in Lebanon are in a state of high alert and it is unknown if it will enter the war.
~ Global Protests ~
Bianca Jagger, a human rights activist and culture star and Member of British parliament George Galloway joined global protests against the Israeli strikes against Palestine. The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, called for the European Union and Britain to withdraw their ambassadors from Israel in protest at what he viewed as "the systematic slaughter and killing of innocent citizens, the Arabs":
http://209.216.195.132/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4382&Itemid=1
Updates from Israel's peace movement (this page is updated often):
https://israel.indymedia.org/newswire/display/9995/index.php
~ How you can help ~
Please give generously to the United Palestinian Appeal, which continues to deliver much need life-saving medicines and medical equipment to Gaza:
http://www.helpupa.com/
Please give generously to the Israeli organization of Physicians for Human Rights who are assembling medical aid to deliver to Gaza - this page contains information on how to send money:
http://www.phr.org.il/phr/article.asp?articleid=653&catid=55&pcat=-1&lang=ENG
Please help with this effort; every dollar can save a life or help to mend a broken body.
Your presence at every demonstration and every form of protest can help bring about Peace - or even a temporary ceasefire - one minute earlier.
Cyprus IndyMedia Collective
~~~~~~~~~
More Resources
"The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza reported that by Friday morning, the death toll in Gaza, due to the Israeli Air Force bombardments, now stands at 422. The ministry added that there are an additional 2220 injured, among them at least 300 are in critical condition."
http://www.imemc.org/article/58281
"This time Hamas is again saying that it is ready to accept the Paris initiative, which it also accepted yesterday when it was issued, and the day before when it was suggested. The Israeli administration refused the request for a 48 hour “cease-fire” to allow humanitarian aid into the Strip which came out of the European Union Foreign Minister’s meeting held in the French capital.
Hamas spokesperson Fawzi Barhoum said in a statement this evening, “Hamas has given its consent to the initiative which will stop the aggression and end the siege, open the crossings and grant international guarantees that this terrorist war of the occupation will not start again.”
The Hamas party said on several occasions as the six-month “period of calm” came to an end on 18 December that it would renew the period if the Israeli administration honored it by opening the crossings, ending the siege and stopping attacks. The Israeli administration refused the conditions."
Hamas reiterates readiness for "cease-fire"
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4373&Itemid=1
On the edge of the bayonette - an excellent military and political analysis of the current moment, in context.
"The real goal of the slaughter in Gaza"
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10091.shtml
"There is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza"
Tzipi Livni, Israel's foreign minister, has again rejected a French proposal for a ceasefire to allow aid into the Gaza Strip, saying there is "no humanitarian crisis"...
http://www.imemc.org/article/58285
London Mayor: "Remove EU and UK ambassadors from Israel"
http://209.216.195.132/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4382&Itemid=1