IDF fashion 2009 – Dead Palestinian babies

 

A T-shirt printed at the request of an IDF soldier in the sniper unit reading 'I shot two kills.'

Subhanallah!!! Is this how Israel talks about supporting peace?

After an infamous incursion into Gaza, killing scores of people and razing hundreds of buildings to the ground, the people are printing T-shirts with derogatory slogans for the Israeli Defence Force.

Read the whole story here: Dead Palestinian babies and bombed mosques – IDF fashion 2009

And watch the news report by Al Jazeera English here:

May Allah [swt] protect the Muslims in this fitnah and destroy the falsehood perpertrated during this incursion.

U-Turn! Israel accepts using White Phosphorous

 

The incident being investigated is believed to be the firing of white phosphorous shells at a UN school in Beit Lahiya on January 17 (Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images)

 

This is turning out to be a really interesting after-math topic.

After denying to allegations of using white phosphorous, the Israeli government has confirmed the usage of the banned chemical substance in the Gaza offensive.

Subhanallah…

And as the news piece reported in The Times goes, the Israeli government is denying that they tried covering it up in the first place! Can it get more idiotic than this??? Read it here: Israel admits using white phosphorous in attacks on Gaza

The same was posted on this blog: Gaza Special – Controversial Chemical used

The Times did a brief timeline on the White Phosphorous Expose:

CHANGING TUNE

January 5 The Times reports that telltale smoke has appeared from areas of shelling. Israel denies using phosphorus

January 8 The Times reports photographic evidence showing stockpiles of white phosphorus (WP) shells. Israel Defence Forces spokesman says: “This is what we call a quiet shell – it has no explosives and no white phosphorus”

January 12 The Times reports that more than 50 phosphorus burns victims are taken into Nasser Hospital. An Israeli military spokesman “categorically” denies the use of white phosphorus

January 15 Remnants of white phosphorus shells are found in western Gaza. The IDF refuses to comment on specific weaponry but insists ammunition is “within the scope of international law”

January 16 The United Nations Relief and Works Agency headquarters are hit with phosphorus munitions. The Israeli military continues to deny its use

January 21 Avital Leibovich, Israel’s military spokeswoman, admits white phosphorus munitions were employed in a manner “according to international law”

January 23 Israel says it is launching an investigation into white phosphorus munitions, which hit a UN school on January 17. “Some practices could be illegal but we are going into that. The IDF is holding an investigation concerning one specific unit and one incident”

Source: Times database

Is the Gaza offensive successful?

The Economist posted an article on a growing Israeli controversy, among the Israelis, of whether the recent military operation in Gaza was worthwhile. 

It should be noted by the readers that the general elections will be held in Israel next month, and one of the “unofficial” reasons stated by news reports at the beginning of the offensive was that the governing parties wanted to show the people of Israel their might in protecting them.

Read it here: Israel after Gaza – Counting the cost

Obama’s ‘Concern’ is Not Good Enough

By Abeer Mishkhas – Khaleej Times

 

“What in the name of humanity are you doing?” That was what a British broadcaster asked the Israeli government spokesperson on TV after the Israelis attacked a UN school killing more than 40 people. 

To watch the news of the attack on Gaza from abroad is really hard, or so you would think at the beginning; at first I was looking for Arabs to talk to and discuss with them the shocking news reports that have been dominating the media for the past two weeks. But the angry reactions came not only from Arabs but also from non-Arabs.

The BBC coverage as well as that of other British media was both full and balanced. It did not hesitate to show images of carnage and suffering. It simply warned viewers of what was coming. It was a humanitarian crisis and it was treated as such.

Last week, protests took place all over London and in them, I saw faces from all over the world — former London Mayor Ken Livingstone and parliamentarian Tony Benn were prominent speakers in the protest around Trafalgar Square. Equally, there were public figures representing British Muslims and ordinary people who felt outraged by the Israeli aggression and subsequent savagery. A British friend marked a day to go to the protest, saying he owed it to his conscience to go and make his opinion clear on the matter. After Trafalgar Square, protesters rained down on the Israeli Embassy.

Protests were held around the Arab world, the latest in the UAE, where thousands took to the streets condemning the war. The American position was, as always, biased toward Israel. President George W. Bush did not do himself a favour by leaving office without even a single act of mercy and compassion. He evidently prefers to leave office content to be remembered as one of the most unpopular presidents in US history.

But most eyes were on the president-elect, who was celebrated around the world for his optimistic and inspiring message of change — and there could be no better time than this to manifest a change in American foreign policy.

But Obama failed to wow people on this issue; he kept his silence for more than a week, which made many people who supported him wildly during his campaign feel disappointed.

A friend who was an Obama admirer said: “I am afraid that ‘change’ is not happening.” And seeing that Obama avoided the question for days made me feel the same. Finally, the president-elect spoke to say he was “concerned” which does not mean much. “Concerned” is not really what you expect from an American president who promised a different policy and a different America. The children of Gaza that have been killed daily deserved more than “concern.” The newspapers remembered that when Obama visited Israel last July, he condemned Hamas rockets and said: “If someone was firing rockets onto my house where my daughters were sleeping at night, I would do everything to stop them, and I would expect the Israelis to do the same thing.” But when he was asked to comment on the carnage in Gaza, he did not talk about Palestinian children who were killed by Israeli bombs.

Somehow those children were not mentioned when Obama spoke again and said he had a plan to deal with the situation in the Middle East when he takes office. When Obama was vacationing in Hawaii and the situation erupted, protesters gathered outside his residence wanting a reaction from him. They reported that he talked about other issues; he condemned the Mumbai attacks and kept talking about economic matters even though they demanded he address the situation in Gaza. Well, he did at last but his words were simply not enough.

Gaza Special – Hamas vs Israel now on Twitter

 

 

 

First it was Youtube. Now the war of words on the conflict between Hamas and Israel is raging on Twitter.

As reported from Information Week:

Twitter’s been in the news repeatedly recently for its emergence as a news source of sorts. It exploded on the scene during the Mumbai bombings in India after simmering during the election and the earthquake in China earlier this year.

Now, it’s making waves again, this time as Israel and those sympathetic to its cause wage the battle of words against Hamas and those not so sympathetic to Israel’s course of action in Gaza.

Last Tuesday, the Israeli consulate in New York held a question and answer session on Twitter (from the screen name israelconsulate) that was open to anyone with a Twitter account. During the Q&A, Israel was subject to — and answered or at least dodged — tough questions about the effectiveness of military action, whether the conflict was tied to upcoming Israeli elections, Hamas’ role as an elected government, conditions for a cease-fire, and even pointed attacks accusing Israel of Nazi-like tactics.

From another point of view, Al Jazeera has set up a Twitter account called AJGaza and is affixing text topic identifiers, called hashtags, that are marked #Gaza, to all of its posts. Recent posts highlight President-elect Barack Obama’s reaction to the crisis, near real-time reports on explosions and fighting around Gaza, and updates on the Gaza death tolls.

Another account, QassamCount, tallies Qassam rockets fired into Israel by Hamas. Overall, tweets labeled with the #Gaza hash are flowing in at a blistering pace with viewpoints and news updates from all sides in the conflict.

Twitter is only one of several social media sites tracking the conflict beyond the view of television and print media. Social media search engines like WhosTalkin and Social Mention turn up reams of online conversation about the conflict.

Here’s the report from Information Week:Israel-Gaza Conflict Spills Over Into Twitter