NYCLAW Antiwar Bulletin: Israeli Massacre in Gaza — 12.27.08

HUNDREDS OF CASUALTIES

Single Bloodiest Day
[U]nprecedented waves of airstrikes Saturday, killing at least 155 and wounding more than 310 in the single bloodiest day of fighting in recent memory. . . . Some of the Israeli missiles struck in densely populated areas as children were leaving school, and women rushed into the streets frantically looking for their children. . . . ”We are treating people on the floor, in the corridors. We have no more space. We don’t know who is here and what the priority is to treat.”
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2008/12/27/world/AP-ML-Israel-Palestinians.html

Hospitals Overwhelmed
At Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, scores of dead bodies were laid out in front of the morgue waiting for family members to identify them. Many were dismembered.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/28/world/middleeast/28mideast.html?_r=1&hp

And More Where That Came From
Israeli military spokesman Avi Benayahu said the bombardment of Gaza was “only the beginning.”
http://www.russiatoday.com/news/news/35350

Video (1:38m): Brought to You By . . . U.S. F-16s
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7801128.stm

Video (1:41m): Scenes of Destruction in Gaza
This video contains some disturbing images.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7801012.stm

Video (4:59m): Witness Describes Gaza Attacks
Fikr Shallpoot, a health worker and resident in Gaza, spoke to the BBC about the attacks that she witnessed.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7801291.stm

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LIES AND PRETEXTS

“Security”
[N]o Israelis were killed or seriously injured in the recent [Palestinian] attacks.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/28/world/middleeast/28mideast.html?_r=1&hp

Who is the Real Victim Here?
By contrast, Israel has terrorized 1.5 million Gazans, locked them inside their awfully narrow borders, throttled their economy, and killed and seriously wounded thousands of them.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1230111687765&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

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ACTUAL MOTIVES

Zionist Electioneering
Leadership credentials will be built on spilling Palestinian blood.
http://counterpunch.org/amiri12262008.html

Breaking Palestinian Resistance
Israel wasn’t willing to live and let live with Hamas – it was intent on making them cry uncle or, ideally, on getting rid of Hamas altogether by turning Gaza’s population against them.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1230111687765&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Coup d’etat
Gaza’s final and unpardonable sin was, in a completely fair election, to elect a party that displeased Israel and the US. Elliott Abrams of Iran-Contra infamy helped the reprisal along by engineering civil war between Hamas and Fatah (see Vanity Fair, April, 2008.)
http://counterpunch.org/cantarow12262008.html

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WORLDWIDE RESISTANCE AND BLOWBACK

Gaza

–”My son is gone, my son is gone. May I burn like the cigarettes, may Israel burn.”
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2008/12/27/world/AP-ML-Israel-Palestinians.html

–Hours after the Israeli assault, Gaza fighters fired home-made rockets into southern Israel, heeding calls by Hamas and other affiliated Palestinian groups to avenge the attacks, unprecedented in their scale. One Israeli was killed in the rocket fire, medics said.
http://mwcnews.net/content/view/27520&Itemid=1

–As for Israeli air raids, assassinations and the sort, they would only serve to help Hamas regain some popularity – and not only in Gaza, but also in the West Bank and across the Arab-speaking world.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1049778.html

Nablus
–Video (1:23m): Palestinians have taken to the streets of the West Bank following Israel’s air raids on Gaza City.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7801311.stm

Hebron

East Jerusalem

Amman

Cairo

Beirut

Karachi