Ah. Ceasefire, Gaza style.

So what is France going to do about it?

I heard the Israeli government is going to defend their troops from war crimes.
But isn’t this a conflict of interest? If your client is guilty and the other side can prove it then you should plea bargain and rat out your boss who gave the order.
Unless your lawyer is paid for by your boss who ordered the crime and has a vested interest in getting paid by making sure the boss does not go to jail.

All the research so far suggests they shot civilians that were leaving their homes with white flags.”(h/t markfromireland)

How much of a Scaredy Cat do you have to be to shoot first and ask questions later when someone waves a white flag and is surrendering?

The outgoing Bush administration adds to the attacks against the french by raising the duty on Roquefort Cheese to 300% of value- virtually outlawing the stuff. Take that you French elderberry sniffers!

What does it take to get the MSM to cover this story? Don’t say Ratings there are more Muslims than Jews in this country.
That and many Jews are sick of this.

It does sound like the soldiers are shooting indiscriminately. Which really undercuts the argument, that this is all about terra-ists. I mean French diplomats and schoolchildren including toddler age seem like unlikely suspects.

The Times Online UK link was horrifying. The story of soldiers instructing people to enter a building which was subsequently bombed really threw me over the edge. It is a great crime and know amount of historical justifications can cover up the stink.

Thanks, Siun.

Every time I think I’ve lost the capacity to be surprised something like this happens.

It’s pretty clear that the Israeli incursion was designed to create death and terror in the general population. That was the whole point of the thing. It is also obvious that there will be no punishment for it- there never is unles a nation is forced to surrender on the battle field.

What are the Arab States going to do about this?

File complaints I suppose. They don’t have the strength to take on Israel militarily.

OT Blago summation:

Blago arguing he wasn’t able to present a full case (so he didn’t give any). He’s saying that there was nothing criminal just politics.

Not good. The French do not take diplomatic insults lightly, and they know where to apply pressure where the pain points are located.

An oil embargo would raise the price of oil and pressure all the world’s economies. The GOP listens real well when you threaten their cash.
I don’t think the Arab states for all their talk want to do anything.

Yes well, many jewish people do not consider themselves israeli first, second, third or at all. It can go like this: I am a human first, a woman second, a librul third . . and so on. Being technically jewish, does not guarantee identification with the Israeli government.

I hope so but lets see what they do.

Gotcha

Blago raving at the moment talking about how when he met John Warner all he could think of was that he was married to Elizabeth Taylor and served him coffee even though he Blago was a Congressman at the time. Outsie of showing that he had the hots for Taylor I have no idea what this has to do with anything.

Public condemnation and little else. They view the Palestinians like down-on-their-luck relatives. They don’t want to see them bullied but prefer to keep them (and their tribulations) at arms length.

Up here in Canada, our ‘paper of record’ today reports that the UN wasn’t really hit. Poor Israelis getting a bad rap when they were really so moderate and careful, although terrorists claim otherwise. Sigh. The G+M publishes Israeli propaganda daily, and has shut down all comments on anything to do with I/P, I can only assume so their staggering bias isn’t as noticeable.

Sigh.

He has 90 minutes to fill. Apparently he’s opting for the “can’t dazzle them with brilliance baffle them with bullshit” defense.

hey, why are you guys impeaching blago? all he did was try to get health care for kids and flu vaccinations for seniors? /s

(thanks for the link to it in the last thread-i like the part where he insinuates that they all do the same things.)

siun–i’m shocked that israel would risk pissing off the french. seriously, i am. lotta ties there. does anyone know who the ‘other european diplomats’ are? haven’t done links yet.

I had to laugh when he cited an exchange with Bill Richardson.

So its fine with you that at least 1 missile has been fired into Israel-a totally random missile that might land anywhere and kill any number of people-as they have been doing for the past 8 years, yet let just one arab person in Gaza die in a war that they started, and headlines all over the world scream about it.
Sniff sniff, what is that that I smell? Why a whiff of antisematism is in the air once more
It is never ever right that Israel defend itself against enemies that openly declare that they want and desire the destruction of the state of Israel. Yet it is quite alright with everyone that Gaza and Hamas fire rockets(again) into Israel.
Other than the arab mob in the streets I do not see any arabic country in the middle east saying anything to support Hamas in its desire to destroy Israel.
I have fought in a war, I have seen for myself how orders and targets can get scrambled in the heat of battle. Unless one were like the US and could afford to spend hundreds of thousands to buy JDAMS kits for dumb iron bombs so that one could avoid civilian deaths, then guess what. People die in wars. And I have no sympathy for the population of any govt that starts a war. Hamas started this war, and talk about “proportionality” is just BS from people who have never been shot at. What? Should Israel have fired 600 rockets into Gaza in response? What would you do if you were in charge of Israel and a group that openly demands your total destruction as a country as its principle aim continues to fire unaimed rockets into your country every day? So Hamas claims that it was in response to Israel closing the Gaza borders. Well, one border is with Egypt, yet no one says anything about Egypt keeping its Gaza border closed. Nope, don’t buy into Hamas argument. Every nation state has the right to defend itself against attack by another country ot territory outside its borders. How they conduct that attack is their business.
Why haven’t any of you been up in arms about Darfur? Christians are being killed by Muslims, a minority tribe of Africians is being wiped out by arabs.Yet this was only something that people cared about for a very short time, has it stopped? Africans are being slaughtered, yet it is no longer the cause of the day, so people don’t care any more.
The world is a sad place when people other than white are being killed daily and no one protests. Slavery is alive and well. Yet the majority of slaves are women who are not white, so no one cares.
Yet you all seem to care deeply about Hamas and Gaza, blaming Israel for defending itself while giving a terrorist group-Hamas-a free pass.

All the more reason that we pursue war crimes trials for US misdeeds. We need to clean up our glass house.

So its fine with you that at least 1 missile has been fired into Israel

of course not. that’s absurd.

blago goes on and on—-first i put on my socks, but not just any socks, my lucky socks…the ones i got from my neighbor’s sister-in-law thanking me for saving her husband from a burning car in my bare feet. then i put on my shoes, after i found them downstairs in the den, oh, oh, the den, where i was relaxing looking at all of my appreciation plaques from widows and orphans when i saw the car on fire. same car i own. weird. anyway, putting on shoes and socks is what i do. shouldn’t go without them. same as you would.

his speech will be interesting to read without the vocal inflections.

not a resident of illinois, so it shouldn’t be up to me. still, i think the guy should be kicked out, if no other reason than he thinks it’s all about him and has yet to mention how all this circus is affecting the people of illinois and whether or not they, the people. would be better off if he were to resign.

reminder to all politicians: the phrase “public servant” includes the word “servant”

Blago: I know we have had some ups and downs.

This is beginning to sound like the scene with Hal in 2001.

Or maybe it’s like the stages of grief: denial, anger, feeling sorry for yourself, etc.

Politicians perceive the phrase “public servant” as referring to a servile public.

maybe part of the problem and in answer to many of your questions about africa and such, is that in the case of israel we are paying for the weapons and do not agree with how they are being used..

Siun, I posted this on Guardian under another screen name and also on Laura F’s recent article on war crimes here. Thanks again for your updates.

“I appreciate the emphasis on how governments who do malignant things don’t represent the will of the peoples they serve so often.

I am grateful to have a website with electic views so I can explore my thoughts and feelings about the present Gaza crisis. I have read that there are more objections to the Israeli leadership’s behaviors among the Israeli citizens and US citizenry itself than my US Congress.

I am confounded by the choices of Israel but even more by the US Congress, our political class, ignoring the grave judgments of Amnesty Intl, Intl Red Cross, UN, of crimes against humanity. Instead of being an honest broker for peace, the Congress declared Israel’s leadership’s choices 100% okay.

When the Gaza attacks began Rep. Howard Berman D. of Calif. insisted the Congress “formally” back the Israeli actions. Senators Reid and McConnell led the confirmation in the Senate. It passed in the Senate 100%, in the House, 435 supported it, 5 against, 20 voted present. What incredible agreement.

Glenn Greenwald reported that polls on how US citizens feel about our appropriate degree of involvement was according to Univ. of Maryland 71% wanting US not to take sides in this conflict. A Rasmussen study in Jan, went 41-44% about support for Israel and a poll among Democrats showed 55% against to 31%. Clearly the political class is not representing its constituents.

The more I read about my country’s overt and covert meddling in the affairs of other countries the more I understand anger and distrust of us. And the profound callousness of Israel and US leaderships to the massive humanitarian horrors and the US providing ever more deadly weaponry.

A new US weapon was used, DIME “dense inert metal explosives,” Powerful blasts within small areas, crushes the whole limb not just parts, no longer knife-like cuts, but uses a nuclear-like fusion process

It has been reported we provided phosphorous which was illegally used in populated areas on civilians. Times of London reports it adheres to flesh, its flames continue for 5 to 10 minutes often penetrating to the bone.

For the air strikes, assaults that necessarily include civilians, 2300 air strikes total, 226 US supplied F-16s were used. And US smart bombs penetrating 3 feet of steel reinforced concrete.

The casualties for the Israelis: a number of damaged buildings, 13 dead, including 3 civilians and 3 soldiers from friendly fire. Yes, any number of deaths is tragic.

The latest statistics for the Gazans: 1400 dead, 5500 wounded, hundreds of children dead (over 400), 4-5000 homes destroyed, 20,000 homes damaged, 14% of all buildings, 50 UN facilities, 21 medical buildings, 1500 factories, $2 bn damage on land 25 miles long, 7.5 miles wide. Farms bombed out, or swamped with sewage. Traumatized children. 50,000 people malnourished. Destroyed mosques, a university, most govt buildings, courts, 25 schools, 20 ambulances, bridges, 10 electricity generating stations, sewage lines, 1500 factories, 100,000 Palestinians into refugeedom.

Despite the refusal to allow journalists in, there were horrifying anecdotal stories such as 40 people in UN shelter killed. Emaciated children found too weak to stand up, beside corpses of their parents. How can this kind of massacre be defended?

So, the country that brought us the Iraq War is asserting Israeli neocons’ devastation should be regarded as righteous. Minimizing the above described bloodbath. Have we learned nothing from our mistakes? Iraq?

And according to Article 2 of Geneva Convention on Genocide, 3 requirements of such a crime seem to fit this situation: 1) killing members of a group, 2) causing serious bodily and mental harm to members of a group, 3) deliberately inflicting on a group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.

I have heard of Hamas savagery in the past. Also, I know the chronic shooting of rockets by Hamas was a nightmare. But the blockade was provocative to say the least. I am not an apologist for Hamas. But to punish the Gazans for voting for Hamas against what sounds like a corrupt and weak Abbas regime is illegitimate. And our collusion is crazymaking and more of the same imperially exploitive and destructive path. Obama is a member of this groupthinking political class, enabled by corporate media.

Thanks if you waded through all this. I have started calling my Congress persons to protest, but it seems sadly futile.

[end of comment I made]

jane has a new post up: Meet Your New Blue Dog Overlords

Can’t wait to hear him begin to sing, “Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer true…”

Jane’s up
Meet Your New Blue Dog Overlords

Oh this will go over well. Blago is asking why the legislature is holding things up instead of working with him.

Now talking about a working woman in Chicago, who knows why?

From Sameh Habeeb today:

On 5 January, many Israeli tanks, troops and bulldozers advanced into the al-Zeitoun neighborhood south east of Gaza City. In this area, called al-Samouni, Israel killed 49 members of the Samouni family, after soldiers ordered them to gather into a single home, which was shelled several hours later.

A number of chicken farms are located only a few meters away from the Samouni house. These farms came under fire by Israeli forces and were totally bulldozed. Thousands of chickens were caught in their sheds, as the bulldozing destroyed their cages. Some died immediately, others slowly without food or water for four days.

Abu Ahmed al-Sawafari, an owner of a chicken farms owners, was sitting amidst the rubble of his destroyed farm. He explained that “I have been working on that profession for long years. I have been growing my business by all efforts. Israelis came then left causing an earthquake in the area. They have killed these chickens, they are equal to human souls. They were suffocated and died due to hunger. I wonder why the Israelis killed these chickens? Were they firing rockets into Israel?”

Uprooting orchards, bulldozing farms, spoiling food sources, firing on the fishermen (still, daily), blowing up schools and mosques and community buildings, destroying the infrastructure not only now, but for months by not allowing materials in, refusing to allow building materials in now…. How much of picture needs to painted before we begin to talk about Israel’s careful plan to make Gaza a completely unlivable place (for Palestinians at least) ?

…who knows why?

hey, i’m looking to you and ratfood to explain this circus!

Thank you for your informed comment. This is a little long, yet still within bounds for a comment here, but I would like to encourage you to take long material and shape it into a diary for a broader audience at Oxdown:

http://oxdown.firedoglake.com/diary/post

want to add one–building walls so that farmers no longer have access to their crops.

Libbyliberal – thank you for sharing that very solid comment. Please, as Egregious suggested consider posting it as an Oxdown Diary!

And Laura – thank you for passing along Sameh’s latest … the tales of workers and tiny business owners whose entire livelihood was destroyed are another facet of this heartbreaking attack.

Siun, had you seen this?

The battle against brutality
In her new book, Nadje Al-Ali shows how the US invasion has set Iraqi women’s rights back as much as 70 years. She speaks to Sara Wajid

Sara Wajid
The Guardian, Wednesday 28 January 2009

‘Women [in Iraq] are being killed simply for being women,” says Nadje Al-Ali when I meet her at her home in south London. “In Basra in 2008 a reported 133 women were killed for not ‘being Islamic’ enough. And these are only the ones that made it to be officially counted. I saw the police photos – they were horrific.”

Al-Ali’s new book, What Kind of Liberation? Women and the Occupation of Iraq, analyses how Iraqi women have fared since the US invasion of March 2003. The news, unsurprisingly, is grim. Written with the political scientist Nicola Pratt, the book is based on interviews with 120 women, including Iraqi women’s rights activists, NGO workers and international policymakers. The climate that they describe in Iraq is one of lawless “hyper-patriarchy”, and with this evidence in tow, Al-Ali and Pratt take aim at a wide range of targets. These include the occupying powers, extremist Islamist militias, Iraqi leaders and “imperialist feminists” (those who claim solidarity with women from developing countries while stereotyping their cultures as barbaric).

http://www.guardian.co.uk/life…..ts-us-news

thank you t-bear. one thing i learned from feminism was if i wanted to help someone the first thing to should do is ask what they would like me to do and not attempt to impose my own “solution” on anyone.

should not have written “learned,” instead “am learning” would be on a good day closer to the truth.

Another facet of a gem of a bankrupt foreign policy. ;-(

At least there is a voice to be heard, if anybody listens anymore. Sometimes despair threatens all.

This is the voice or reason to that irrational cabal – from AlJazeera

Carter says Hamas must be included

Jimmy Carter, the former US president, has said any future permanent Israeli-Palestinian agreement has to include Hamas, the Palestinian movement that controls the Gaza Strip.

Carter also told Al Jazeera’s Riz Khan on Wednesday that US presidents were unable or unwilling to take on Israel’s supporters in the US, but said he had high hopes for George Mitchell, the new US Middle East envoy.

http://english.aljazeera.net/n…..96434.html

Thanks, egregious. I will consider this option for my longer opinions. I am not that familiar with the structure here and will explore more. :)

Thanks, Siun. I wanted to share it here because of your inspiration and always up to date reports! Much appreciated. Will explore the diary option I am unfamiliar with.