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PALESTINA/IZRAEL:
Airstrikes on Gaza continue for fourth day
Zračni udari na Gazu nastavljaju se četvrti dan (17. studeni 2012)
Izraelski su ratni zrakoplovi rano u subotu (17. studenog) bombardirali izbjeglički logor al-Mughazi u središnjem dijelu Pojasa Gaze. U bombardiranju su ubijena 3 pripadnika vojnog krila Hamasa. U izraelskom zračnom napadu na Deir al-Balah u središnjem dijelu Pojasa Gaze ranjeni su 1 žena i 1 dijete. U izraelskim zračnim napadima također je oštećeno sjedište vlade i jedna policijska postaja. Unatoč nasilju, Pojas Gaze je rano ujutro u subotu posjetio tuniški ministar vanjskih poslova Rafik Abdessalem, koji je iskazao solidarnost s Palestincima u Gazi i obišao ranjene u jednoj bolnici, te zgradu u kojoj se nalazio ured Hamasovog premijera Haniyeha, a koja je uništena u izraelskom zračnom napadu na grad Gazu. Izraelski projektili također su uništili dom Hamasovog čelnika Suleimana Salaha u izbjegličkom logoru Jabaliya. Iz ruševina uništene trokatnice bolničari i spasilačke ekipe su izvukli 30 ranjenih ljudi, a potraga za preživjelima nastavila se tijekom subote. Jedan je Palestinac, ranjen u izraelskom napadu u petak, preminuo od zadobivenih ozljeda. Izraelski su zrakoplovi također gađali dom jednog pripadnika Hamasa u četvrti al-Adas na sjeveru Rafaha na jugu Pojasa Gaze. U bombardiranju džamije i jedne kuće u izbjegličkom logoru al-Bureij ranjeno je 5 ljudi. Izraelske su zračne snage izvele nekoliko napada na područje tunela između Pojasa Gaze i Egipta južno od Rafaha, no nije bilo dojava o ozlijeđenima u tim napadima. Iz zraka su također bombardirana poljoprivredna zemljišta u Beit Lahiyi i Jabaliyi, te Khan Younisu.
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In Gaza, It's the Occupation, Stupid
Jody Williams, winner of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize for her work with the International Campaign to Ban Landmines and chair of the Nobel Women's Initiative told me, “It is very hard to think about Israel calling what it is doing defending itself when it is occupying Palestinian territory. It's collective punishment. We cannot support punishing an entire population because of the policies and attacks of Hamas. It's illegal.”
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A sign of shifting Egypt-Israel relations? (video)
Israeli officials use fake graphic to justify bombing Gaza hospitals
Izraelska vojska koristila lažne crteže kako bi opravdala eventualno bombardiranje bolnica u Gazi (17. studeni 2012)
Izraelski su dužnosnici tijekom posljednjeg napada na Gazu distribuirali crtež čija je namjena opravdanje eventualnog bombardiranja bolnica i zdravstvenih ustanova u Gazi. Crtežom koji je objavila izraelska vojska želi se neosnovano prikazati kako se Hamasovi čelnici skrivaju u podrumima bolnica i tamo drže zalihe oružja. Tijekom svog divljačkog napada na Gazu 2008/09. Izrael je izveo brojne napade na bolnice i zdravstvene ustanove. Svjetska zdravstvena organizacija je u svojoj procjeni stanja u 122 zdravstvene ustanove u Gazi otkrila da ih je 48% oštećeno ili uništeno tijekom ofenzive: 15 bolnica i 41 primarna zdravstvena ustanova djelomično su oštećene, 2 primarne zdravstvene ustanove su uništene, a djelomično je oštećeno ili uništeno 29 kola hitne pomoći. Tijekom te invazije izraelske su snage ubile 16 bolničara iz spasilačkih ekipa, uključujući 4 u samo jednom danu, dok ih je 57 ranjeno. U UN-ovom Goldstoneovom izvještaju o kršenjima međunarodnog humanitarnog prava u Gazi 2008/09 razmatrani su izraelski navodi o tome kako „Hamas sustavno koristi liječničke ustanove, vozila i uniforme za svoje terorističko djelovanje“. Izrael je tvrdio da Hamas zlorabi znak Crvenog križa i polumjeseca, te da bolnice i zdravstvenu infrastrukturu koristi kao svoja sjedišta, prostorije, zapovjedne centre i skrovišta. UN-ovo istražno povjerenstvo je istražilo ove izraelske tvrdnje u pogledu nekoliko bolnica koje je Izrael bombardirao, kao na primjer bolnicu al-Quds u Tal el-Hawi, na koju su pale izraelske granate s bijelim fosforom. Proučilo je i klimave „dokaze“ koje je Izrael naveo. U slučaju bolnice al-Shifa u gradu Gazi, radilo se o „intervjuu s aktivistom Hamasa“ kojeg je Izrael zarobio i članku u jednom talijanskom listu koji je svoju tvrdnju temeljio na jednom jedinom anonimnom izvoru. UN-ovo povjerenstvo nije pronašlo nikakav dokaz koji bi podupirao tvrdnje izraelske vlade, kao ni učestale izraelske tvrdnje kako se zlorabe kola hitne pomoći. Upravo suprotno, brojni su dokazi koji proturječe ovim izraelskim navodima. U izraelskom Nacionalnom društvu - Magen David Adom su UN-ovim istražiteljima rekli da „nije bilo korištenja kola hitne pomoći Palestinskog Crvenog polumjeseca za prijevoz oružja ili streljiva“, te da nije bilo ni zloporabe znaka Palestinskog Crvenog polumjeseca. Ukratko, Izrael nikad nije podastrijeo nikakve vjerodostojne dokaze kojima bi potkrijepio svoje tvrdnje, no nastavlja proizvoditi propagandu kojom želi opravdati stvarne zločine protiv ionako krhkog zdravstvenog sustava u Gazi.
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Gaza Lives On (video) (Arabic/English)
Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (08 -13 Nov. 2012)
Saturday, 10 November 2012: At approximately 15:30, Israeli military vehicles stationed at the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel fired an artillery shell at a number of Palestinian children who were playing football at al-Mentar Hill east of al-Shoja'iya neighborhood, which is east of Gaza City and nearly 1,500 meters away from the border. As a result, 2 children were instantly killed ... Following this attack, a number of Palestinian civilians, who were gathered to mourn a bereaved in the house of the Harara family, rushed to the area, where the IOF immediately fired another 3 shells. As a result, 2 Palestinian civilians were instantly killed: ... Additionally, 38 civilians, including 8 children, were wounded; the wounding of 10 of these civilians was described by medical crews as being serious. At approximately 17:00, the IOF, positioned at the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel, east of Khan Yunis, fired 2 artillery shells at the water tank of the Khuza'a Municipality, nearly 800 meters away from the border. Shrapnel from the shells hit 11 Palestinian civilians, including 5 women and 2 children, while they were inside their houses or in nearby streets: ... At approximately 20:40, Israeli warplanes opened fire at Gaza International Airport, southeast of Rafah. No casualties were reported. At approximately 21:50, Israeli warplanes opened fire at open areas in the east of Jabalya town in the northern Gaza Strip. No casualties were reported, but Palestinian civilians, especially women and children, were extremely terrified. At the same time, the IOF, positioned at the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel, fired an artillery shell at the office of the Gaza Electricity Distribution Company in al-Sha'af neighborhood east of Gaza City. The office was heavily damaged, but no casualties were reported. At approximately 22:45, an Israeli drone fired a missile at a number of members of the al-Quds Brigades (the armed wing of Islamic Jihad) near al-Khuzondar fuel station in the west of Jabalya town in the northern Gaza Strip. No casualties were reported. At approximately 23:00, an Israeli drone fired a missile at a group of the al-Quds Brigades (the armed wing of Islamic Jihad) in the west of Jabalya town. As a result, a member of the group, Mohammed Sa'id Mohammed Eshkokani, 18, from the Beach camp west of Gaza City, was killed by shrapnel throughout the body.
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From Short-Term Ceasefire to Long-Term Peace, How to Resolve the Israel-Gaza Crisis? (video)
A Final Visit: The Kanafani Home in Haifa
I often stop by the old Kanafani house on Bourj Street in Haifa. It belongs to the family of Abdul-Latif Kanafani, a cousin of the celebrated Palestinian author and activist Ghassan Kanafani who was murdered by Israeli operatives in Beirut in 1972. The street became a frontline during the 1948 war, and the family fled to nearby Akka before being displaced a second time and becoming refugees in Lebanon.
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JORDAN:
Thousands of Jordan protesters tell Abdullah to "go down"
Thousands of protesters chanted the Arab Spring slogan "the people want the downfall of the regime" in Jordan's capital on Friday, as demonstrations against rising prices gather force in a country so far spared the brunt of Middle East unrest. The mainly urban Muslim Brotherhood joined hitherto largely rural protests that have erupted in the last few days, raising the spectre of lasting instability in the kingdom, a staunch US ally with the longest border with Israel. Friday's demonstration near the main Husseini Mosque in downtown Amman was peaceful, with unarmed police separating the demonstrators denouncing King Abdullah from a smaller crowd chanting in support of the monarch. "Go down Abdullah, go down," the main crowd of about 4,000 protesters chanted as police, some in riot gear, largely stayed away from crowd. Protests have turned violent in impoverished towns across the kingdom since Wednesday when the government imposed a hike in the price of fuel. Unemployed youths and demonstrators have attacked police stations, closed roads with burnt cars and torched government buildings. One protester was killed on Thursday as a crowd tried to storm a police station in the northern city of Irbid.
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Jordan vows 'iron fist' response to unrest
The protests, which erupted on Tuesday across the country in response to the government's raising fuel and gas prices, are the largest and most sustained to hit the country since the start of uprisings in the region nearly two years ago. ... Armed men taking advantage of street chaos caused by the protests, fired on two police stations late on Wednesday, wounding 17 people, including 13 police officers, officials said. One of the assailants was killed in the ensuing firefight. Assailants stormed a police station in Irbid, in the country's far north, and fired on officers there on Wednesday night. Another police station came under attack in the northern Amman suburb of Shafa Badran, where automatic weapons were used. In Salt, northwest of capital Amman, protesters set fire to a civil affairs office. The scene was less deadly in Amman itself on Wednesday night, although up to 1,000 people had spilled onto the streets. Hundreds of young men gathered at a usually busy road junction in the capital, facing off with riot police, who shot tear gas as tensions rose. The unrest was not confined to the country's north, as about 2,000 protesters in the city of Karak, about 140km south of Amman, shouted: "Down, down with you, Abdullah," and "Get out and leave us alone" as they marched through the town on Wednesday, shattering shop windows, witnesses and police said. The violence started on Tuesday night after news spread of the price increases, under which the cost of household gas will rise by 53 per cent and petrol around 12 per cent. The measure aims to rein in a bulging budget deficit and secure a $2bn loan from the International Monetary Fund. Minutes after state television announced the price rises, several thousand Jordanians poured into the streets. ... In Amman, around 500 demonstrators clashed on Tuesday with anti-riot police and hurled stones at them after they were prevented from holding a sit-in near the interior ministry on Gamal Abdel Nasser Circle. They set tyres and garbage containers ablaze and tried to block the main road between there and nearby Firas Circle in Jabal Hussein neighbourhood, but police prevented them and fired tear gas, an AFP journalist reported. Violent demonstrations broke out earlier this week across all 12 of Jordan's governorates, police said. Protesters burned tyres to block traffic, torched police and private cars and at least 20 government offices, including court buildings. Police said at least 120 people have been arrested nationwide. In the northwestern city of Salt, tens of protesters unsuccessfully tried to storm the residence of Jordanian Prime Minister Abdullah Nsur, while in the southern city of Maan, demonstrators fired in the air to force riot police out of town, wounding one officer, police said in a statement. Protesters have demanded the resignation of Nsur and his 36-day-old government. Police used tear gas and water cannons to break up the protest outside his home in Salt on Tuesday night.
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