The Distant Ocean

Weekend movie recommendation

I know you're probably thinking this place has become all Israel all the time, and honestly I'm as sick of it as you probably are.  And it's not over yet by a long shot.

So now for something completely different: if you're looking for a movie this weekend, I can recommend Four Minutes, a very intense German film with superb acting, direction that's always impressive and at times breathtaking (I stopped the film a few times to admire the framing), and at least one stunning musical performance.  Easily one of the best films I've seen in the past year.

If you have any film recommendations you'd like to share, please do.

I can name that tune in...

When I heard Israel singing this song...:

Israel has said it will hold Gaza's Hamas rulers responsible for all attacks launched from the coastal territory, and had warned of a stronger response to the killing of a soldier on Tuesday in an explosion by a Gaza border fence.

...(and a few more bars)...:

Senior officials said on Tuesday evening that they see Hamas as solely responsible for the attack, and have no intention of playing along with its scheme to evade responsibility.

...I wondered: where have I heard this tune before?  And then it came to me:

Sharon went on national television Monday evening to hold Arafat “directly responsible” for all attacks against Israel, calling them part of a concerted crusade to destroy the Jewish state.

That familiar old refrain:

Police say at least 15 people are dead and dozens wounded after a suicide bomber blew himself up in the northern Israeli coastal city of Netanya. The Islamic militant group Hamas claimed responsibility for the bombing. [...] Israeli government spokesman Ra'anan Gissin blamed the bombing on Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and said Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is currently consulting with top Israeli officials regarding a possible response.

It just never goes out of style, does it?

As usual, the Israeli government held the PA and Arafat directly responsible. A spokesman called the attack "a continuation of the terrorist campaign against Israeli civilians, women and children, committed by terrorist organizations with the passive or active encouragement of the Palestinian Authority."

That's the great thing about the classics: you just change a few words and it's like you've got a whole new song.

E-liars update

The latest news on Israel's e-liars program:

In the cross hairs are problematic blogs, talkbacks, online social networks, online polls, Youtube videos, and more.

The ministry was amazed by the massive response to the effort. More than 1,000 interested applicants contacted them, of which 350 are Russian speakers, 250 English speakers, 150 Spanish speakers, 100 French speakers, and 50 German speakers. [...]

The Absorption Ministry forwarded the volunteers' details to the Foreign Ministry, which briefed them via email and provided up-to-date material on the situation, including video clips that could help them in the field.

While the Absorption Ministry is tasked with recruitment, the Foreign Ministry will be responsible for directing the volunteers online. Each time the ministry identifies an anti-Israel trend on a foreign-language blog, news site, or other website, it will immediately put out a message to the volunteers to flood the site with pro-Israel opinions.

Well that certainly will raise the level of discourse, now, won't it.

It's hard to believe they even feel this is necessary, given that supporters of Israel regularly perform this function without any official prompting.  But the totalitarian mind can brook no dissent (or is it that guilty feet have got no rhythm? I can never keep it straight).

(Original e-liars posting here.)

Spain begins investigation of Obama for crimes against humanity

News flash:

A Spanish judge today opened preliminary investigations into claims that Predator drone attacks on Pakistan warranted the prosecution of Barack Obama and six senior U.S. officials for crimes against humanity.

Judge Fernando Andreu agreed to ­investigate the deaths of 21 people, including children, who died when Obama ordered U.S. Predator drone attacks on targets in Pakistan. [...]

The magistrate accepted that the aim of the attack had been to kill suspected members of "the terrorist group called al Qaeda".

But the United States appeared to have fired so many missiles that it was inevitably going to kill many other innocent people living nearby, Andreu said.

No, not really; sorry to get your hopes up.  Here's the actual story:

A Spanish judge today opened preliminary investigations into claims that a bomb attack on Gaza in 2002 warranted the prosecution of a former Israeli defence minister and six senior military officers for crimes against humanity.

Judge Fernando Andreu agreed to ­investigate the deaths of 15 Palestinians, mostly babies and children, who died when the Israeli air force bombed a target in Gaza City. [...]

The magistrate accepted that the aim of the 2002 attack had been to kill Saleh ­Shehadeh, who he described as a suspected leader of "the terrorist group called Hamas".

But the Israeli air force appeared to have dropped such a huge bomb on Shehadeh's house that it was inevitably going to kill many other innocent people living nearby, Andreu said.

I should say "not yet" rather than "not really", though, because although this was wishful thinking it wasn't baseless.  As I read this story I was struck by the fact that Obama's extrajudicial executions in Pakistan are closely analogous to Israel's 2002 assassination strike in almost every way—and especially in terms of the lack of concern about the inevitable civilian death toll.  So the Spanish case against Ben Eliezer and others would seem to set a strong precedent for Obama's own future war crimes trial.

Israel has vowed to do everything in its power to quash the Spanish case, of course, and the United States will no doubt do the same.  But as I've observed before, despite the rabid opposition of outlaw states like these, the mechanisms of international justice keep expanding year after year and also reaching higher in terms of who's being held accountable.  So it's not unreasonable to hope that in a few years that first version of the article will go from a wish to a reality, and our child-killing President will be held to account for his decision to appoint himself international judge, jury, and executioner.

AND ALSO: Illustrating that Obama's actions should be condemned even if you set aside the utter contempt for morality and law and look at them solely through a practical lens, the BBC reported that the second of the drone attacks "actually hit the house of a pro-government tribal leader, killing him and four members of his family, including a five-year-old child."

NO ONE SAW THIS COMING: Reuters is reporting that "Israel said on Friday the Spanish government had said it would work to amend a law under which a Madrid court is to consider trying seven Israelis over the killing of Palestinians."  I'd hate to see Spain go the route of Belgium (which amended its universal jurisdiction law under intense pressure from the United States), so let's hope the forces of evil are thwarted in this attempt to subvert justice.

Great news!

Check it out:

Climate change is essentially irreversible, according to a sobering new scientific study. [...]

"People have imagined that if we stopped emitting carbon dioxide that the climate would go back to normal in 100 years or 200 years. What we're showing here is that's not right. It's essentially an irreversible change that will last for more than a thousand years," Solomon says.

This is because the oceans are currently soaking up a lot of the planet's excess heat — and a lot of the carbon dioxide put into the air. The carbon dioxide and heat will eventually start coming out of the ocean. And that will take place for many hundreds of years.

Oh, whoops, did I say great news?  I meant spirit-crushingly horrendous news.  Sorry about that.

LET ME EASE YOUR PAIN: I know I'm probably really bringing you over, so maybe this will help you mellow off: engrish.com (or if you're feeling particularly mature you can try adult.engrish.com, which is approximately 72.3 times funnier).  Yes, I know this isn't exactly the latest Internet sensation, but I'm guessing there's at least one person out there who hasn't seen it.

Hillary Clinton just as odious as you thought

Here's Hillary Clinton giving us a crystal clear statement of the Obama administration's official position on the propriety of Israel's killing of 1285 Palestinians in Gaza, overwhelmingly civilians:

[W]e support Israel’s right to self-defense. The rocket barrages, which are getting closer and closer to populated areas, cannot go unanswered. And it’s, you know, regrettable that the Hamas leadership apparently believes that it is in their interest to provoke the right of self-defense instead of building a better future for the people of Gaza.

Unfortunately none of the reporters at this press conference felt it was necessary to ask Clinton 1) if Palestinians have a similar right to self-defense, 2) what it would take to "provoke" this right, or 3) how many Israeli deaths would be justified—and rationalized by the United States, rather than condemned—once it was provoked.

UPDATE: Ramzy Baroud points out that "For Palestinians, Obama's Message Is Crystal Clear":

These are remarks made by Obama (not Bush), on Jan. 22, and seen as the first major statement by his administration regarding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict: "Let me be clear: America is committed to Israel's security. And we will always support Israel's right to defend itself against legitimate threats." [...]

Funny how Obama started his statement with "let me be clear." He cannot possibly be any clearer as he spent endless hours for many months assuring Israel and its supporters, while condemning Palestinians without any reservation or remorse.

Reality vs. Barack Obama

Here's what Barack Obama had to say about George Mitchell's Middle East trip:

U.S. President Barack Obama says "the moment is ripe" for Israelis and Palestinians to achieve a lasting peace, but he stressed that all parties in the region must play a role in the process. [...]

The president says he told Mitchell to use the trip to begin listening to all parties concerned, saying that all too often the U.S. starts the process by "dictating" the terms of the negotiations.

Obama then added, "And by 'all parties' I actually mean 'not all parties'":

Continuing with a Bush administration policy of not talking to Hamas, which the United States considers a terrorist organization, Mitchell is not expected to meet with any members of the movement. Instead, he is expected to focus on talks with the more moderate Palestinian Authority, which holds sway in the West Bank but was ousted from Gaza by Hamas forces in June 2007.

So Obama expects us to believe that by ostracizing the legitimately-elected government of the Palestinians, the U.S. is involving "all parties concerned" and is no longer "dictating" the terms of the negotiations.  And he also apparently expects us to accept the idea that the best path to peace is to sideline Hamas—an organization which is not only the elected government but now the primary resistance force of the Palestinians, against which Israel just initiated a massive military operation, and without whose active participation any extended truce or negotiated settlement will be impossible to implement.

I don't know about you, but I certainly don't see any glaringly obvious fatal flaws in this strategy.

UPDATE: The first citation above is from a VOA article which was later significantly edited.  Here are Obama's actual words, from the transcript:

And so what I told him is start by listening, because all too often the United States starts by dictating -- in the past on some of these issues -- and we don't always know all the factors that are involved. So let's listen. He's going to be speaking to all the major parties involved.

White phosphorous prevarication timeline

The Times of London, which broke and then aggressively pursued the story of Israel's use of white phosphorous in Gaza, has a handy timeline of Israel's lies on the topic:

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"

Seeing as we've reached the "few bad apples" stage—painfully familiar to anyone who's spent time following our own military's similar cascades of evolving lies—I think it's safe to say we're not going to make it to reality:

Pigs Fly Israel said it used white phosphorous on civilians and "militants" alike because it's a highly-effective terror weapon that leaves psychological scars almost as deep as the physical ones.

Much less the deeper underlying truth:

Hell Freezes Over Israel admits it used white phosphorous because Palestinians are no more than "lice" and "drugged cockroaches in a bottle" anyway, so who gives a shit how they die?

Sometimes I hope all the unspoken truths in the history of the world will gather together beyond the brightest rainbow and form a magnificent dinosaur.  We'll call it a Truthceratops, or a Truthosaurus Rex, or maybe even a Veraciloptor.  But I know it's just a crazy dream.

Reality obstruction field breached!

I thought I was hallucinating tonight as I saw a segment on 60 Minutes that explained the reality of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.  And by "reality" I actually do mean reality—presented in a fair amount of detail, making it perfectly clear who is the victim and who is the victimizer, and with almost zero reference to standard Israeli talking points.  It started out with this quote from an Israeli settler...:

I think that settlements prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state in the land of Israel.  This is the goal and this is the reality.

...and continued in essentially that same vein for 13 minutes.  It wasn't perfect, but given what we're used to seeing from the mainstream media in this country it was nothing short of stunning.  As I watched it I could only wonder what the average American (or the average American who watches 60 Minutes, anyway) would make of it, since compared to the steady stream of Israeli propaganda they usually receive it must have seemed like it was beamed here from Mars.

I'm sure this breach in the reality obstruction field will be located and plugged soon, but for now go ahead and treat yourselves to 13 minutes of quality mainstream journalism on the Middle East.  It doesn't happen often.  And given the avalanche of ADL-inspired hate mail CBS will no doubt be receiving soon, I think it's worth writing to them to thank them for putting this piece on the air.

(The transcript of the segment is available here, but I recommend watching rather than reading in this case since the visuals are a critical part of the story.)

THE SUN RISES, SURPRISING MILLIONS: It turns out the ADL didn't like the segment.  Go figure.

My favorite headline of the day

"Battered Gaza Still In the Grip Of Hamas," from the Washington Post.

Yeeeesss...in just the same sense that the United States is still in the grip of the Democrats and Republicans and Israel is still in the grip of Kadima.  How odd it is that elected governments continue to govern, even when we disapprove of them!

(Actually I'd be more than happy to support this nomenclature, so long as the Post was willing to apply it universally.)

Gob, prepare to be smacked

I somehow managed to miss this canonical example of Israeli thinking a few weeks back:

[Former government press adviser and air force colonel Uri] Dromi admitted that the administration will struggle to win hearts and minds if footage of those suffering in Gaza continues to be shown. "When you have a Palestinian kid facing an Israeli tank, how do you explain that the tank is actually David and the kid is Goliath?"

Just to keep firmly in mind that this isn't a hypothetical he's talking about, let's take a look at this menacing Goliath facing down brave, plucky David:

And recall another Goliath from history (though in this case David was fortunate enough to have a few friends):

When you finally manage to contain your gag reflex, it's worth considering that only the latter of these photos is one of the most famous of the past century.  How can this be?  What a perplexing conundrum!

[ Thanks to Ben White for pointing this out, in an article that's worth a read. ]

Killer-in-chief

As Obama's inauguration was approaching I was thinking that this person who'd never killed anyone in his life (that we know of) was about to soak himself in blood, as he assumed control of the most violent nation on the face of the earth—a country whose direct and indirect victims accrue every hour of every day.  I'd thought about writing a posting about it, and it was all going to be just about that much fun to read, but then Allan Nairn saved me the effort:

As Americans today justly celebrate their sweet win over the country's own racism they should at the same time see that they are now installing the world's new killer in chief.

Obama , on taking office, will inherit a state pre-programmed in ways that kill civilians, a vast, globe-spanning machine on autopilot, unconstrained by murder law.

As president, Obama will instantly become the world's number one arms dealer, number one trainer of secret police, number one detonator of bombs, and number one sponsor of forces, US and foreign, that by objective definition do terrorism.

Obama had little control over what he inherited, of course, but from here on out it's entirely up to him.  And I have no doubt about what he'll do (and what he'll therefore become).

Which is a shame, since underneath the grasping desire for power he seems like a fundamentally decent person (like a certain peanut farmer I could mention).  And I have to wonder: why would anyone who fits that description seek out a job like this?  Yes, I know it's a pointless question with plenty of obvious answers that show what a naif I am for even asking.  But still in my little human heart I wonder: why?

IT'S OFFICIAL: "President Obama 'orders Pakistan drone attacks'":

Eight people died when missiles hit a compound near Mir Ali, an al-Qaeda hub in Pakistan's North Waziristan region. Seven more died when hours later two missiles hit a house in Wana, in South Waziristan. Local officials said the target in Wana was a guest house owned by a pro-Taleban tribesman. One said that as well as three children, the tribesman's relatives were killed in the blast.

So as a result of his willingness to commit extrajudicial executions, in flagrant violation of international law, Obama is now (among other things) a child murderer.  I wonder how it feels?

Enjoy kissing those daughters of yours goodnight, Barack.

President Tabula Rasa

In her response to Obama's ascent to power, Katrina vanden Heuvel invoked the following "resonant and relevant words" from the Nation's 1933 editorial response to FDR's inaugural address:

"Never in our national history has there been so dramatic a coincidence as this simultaneous transfer of power and the complete collapse of a system and of a philosophy."

But here's what her own personal Jesus actually said yesterday:

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched.

I can't quite put a finger on it, but somehow—somehow—this second quote doesn't remind me of the first one.  Rather than indicting an entire system and philosophy, Obama offered us an economic few-bad-apples story as he called the current crisis "a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some" (though to be fair, he did also cast a wider net as he lamented "our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age").  So to summarize Obama's view:

1. The economic crisis is the fault of a few greedy, irresponsible people, and also...
2. ...all the rest of us collectively, but...
3. ...doesn't call into question the inherent goodness of the market.

Not quite the 1933 Nation editorial, is it?  Closer to the opposite; in fact I'd say that rhetoric like "the complete collapse of a system and of a philosophy" sounds an awful lot like Obama's boogeyman of "worn out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics."  But as usual, when Obama speaks, the actual words don't matter.

Plus-ca-change.gov

As Obama has moved between his web sites (first barackobama.com, then change.gov, and now whitehouse.gov), some of his policy statements have been removed from the list, while others have continued throughout—like these:

• Support Israel's Right to Self Defense: During the July 2006 Lebanon war, Barack Obama stood up strongly for Israel's right to defend itself from Hezbollah raids and rocket attacks, cosponsoring a Senate resolution against Iran and Syria's involvement in the war, and insisting that Israel should not be pressured into a ceasefire that did not deal with the threat of Hezbollah missiles. He and Joe Biden believe strongly in Israel's right to protect its citizens.
• Support Foreign Assistance to Israel: Barack Obama and Joe Biden have consistently supported foreign assistance to Israel. They defend and support the annual foreign aid package that involves both military and economic assistance to Israel and have advocated increased foreign aid budgets to ensure that these funding priorities are met. They have called for continuing U.S. cooperation with Israel in the development of missile defense systems.

Isn't it great to know that while Obama is preparing to take an axe to any domestic program that "doesn't work", military and economic assistance to Israel are both "funding priorities", and the foreign aid budget will be increased to make sure we can continue lavishing approximately $500 on every Israeli year after year*?

Setting aside that wonderful news, the fact that Obama has taken his policies wholesale from his campaign web site right through to the White House web site makes it pretty clear that those who were desperately hoping for a surprise from an Obama presidency are going to get one...just not the good kind.

ADDING: Not that it will bother them:

We must be careful not to give up our hope but to reduce our expectations so we won't be disappointed. The miracle has happened--the miracle of the most participatory inclusive campaign; the miracle of the election. Now we must keep our agenda alive, reasonable and doable.

And here I thought we should do just the opposite.  My mistake.

* (Israel is by far the largest recipient of US foreign aid—and the total is actually larger than it appears, since the huge annual subsidy for second runner-up Egypt is essentially an ongoing bribe begun in 1979 in exchange for Egypt's willingness to remain on the sidelines as Israel continued expropriating Palestinian land, attacked Lebanon, and so on.)

National Brain-Searing Irony Day

It's Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and this time around in addition to the usual quota of brain-searing irony we get the bonus of breathless claims that this man's dreams...:

I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today -- my own government. For the sake of those boys, for the sake of this government, for the sake of hundreds of thousands trembling under our violence, I cannot be silent. ... [America] can never be saved so long as it destroys the deepest hopes of men the world over.

...are realized by this man's ascendance:

I categorically denounce any statement that disparages our great country or serves to divide us from our allies.

Don't get me wrong; there's real progress in the fact that a black man can now rise to lead the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today.  But I suspect that King would have been happier with a change in substance, not just a change in skin color.

Serial e-liars emerge from e-lairs

Here's something to look forward to:

In cooperation with the [Israeli] Foreign Ministry's Public Relations Department, the Absorption Ministry has initiated a statewide effort to locate volunteers who speak other languages, to take part in the country's PR efforts over the Internet.

The volunteers will post comments in their native languages - including English, French, Spanish, German and others - on anti-Israel Web sites and blogs, presenting an Israeli perspective on the Middle East. ... The volunteers will be briefed, given up-to-date material and referred to problematic Web sites where an Israeli perspective is badly needed.

I guess we'll find out if this site is "problematic" enough to merit its own hasbara mascot the next time Israel needs cover for some industrial scale war crimes.

Peace just in time

My prediction of a "January surprise" is coming right along:

Israel's security Cabinet convened a meeting tonight, and officials said they expected a decision to halt its 3-week-old offensive in the Gaza Strip but to keep the army there while Egypt mediates a long-term cease-fire deal with Hamas.

"We believe that our military campaign has achieved its goals and that we are now in a situation where we can cease our military operations against Hamas," Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said.

So as I expected, Israel is going to pull back from full-on Guernica levels of mayhem to a less obtrusive Jack the Ripper style before Obama is inaugurated, thus helping him avoid the embarrassment of openly backing mass murder on his first day in office—as the Israelis were helpful enough to say outright:

Officials in Israel also said they wanted to stop the fighting before Barack Obama is sworn in as president Tuesday to avoid clouding a historic day for the Jewish state's main ally and creating friction with the new U.S. administration.

Any other predictions, you ask?  One word: plastics.

Tell us what you really think

Gerald Kaufman, a British politician who was raised as an Orthodox Jew, delivers a blistering attack:

"The present Israeli government ruthlessly and cynically exploits the continuing guilt from Gentiles over the slaughter of Jews in the Holocaust as justification for their murder of Palestinians," he said. [...]

"I suppose the Jews fighting for their lives in the Warsaw ghetto could have been dismissed as militants," he said.

Kaufman urged the British government to impose an arms embargo on Israel.

"My grandmother was ill in bed when the Nazis came to her home town. ... A German soldier shot her dead in her bed," he said. "My grandmother did not die to provide cover for Israeli soldiers murdering Palestinian grandmothers in Gaza."

And Amira Hass offers a lesson on current events:

History did not begin with the Qassam rockets. But for us, the Israelis, history always begins when the Palestinians hurt us, and then the pain is completely decontextualized. We think that if we cause the Palestinians much greater pain, they will finally learn their lesson. [...]

The siege of Gaza did not begin when Hamas seized control of the Strip's security organs, or when Gilad Shalit was taken captive, or when Hamas was elected in democratic elections. The siege began in 1991 - before the suicide bombings. And since then, it has only become more sophisticated, reaching its peak in 2005. [...]

Gaza is not a military power that attacked its tiny, peace-loving neighbor, Israel. Gaza is a territory that Israel occupied in 1967, along with the West Bank. Its residents are part of the Palestinian people, which lost its land and its homeland in 1948.

As I keep saying, the strongest voices condemning Israel's crimes are those of Jews themselves—and I have nothing but respect for their willingness to do so, especially now.

Regarding Hass's article, it's a testament to the power of Israeli propaganda—faithfully parroted by our media here—that this straightforward factual account would sound even more exotic to most Americans than it does to Israelis.  As hard as it is for those of us who are paying attention to comprehend, many Americans really do believe that terrorists in Gaza attacked their "tiny, peace-loving neighbor" without any provocation or warning, for no reason other than their burning desire to kill as many Jews as possible.

So when your friends or relatives or coworkers say they don't see anything wrong with what Israel is doing, don't start banging your head against the wall or screaming at the top of your lungs or weeping openly, as natural as any of those responses might be.  Just try to remember that they've reached a perfectly reasonable conclusion based on the fantasies they've been fed—and then do whatever you can to dispel those fantasies.

"A scene from Dante's Inferno"

A Norwegian doctor who's been working in Gaza describes the abattoir Israel has created:

DR. MADS GILBERT: The condition in Shifa Hospital and in the other hospitals in Gaza is horrifying. I’ve been to Gaza for the last ten years, in and out, teaching and training people in the medical field. I’ve never seen anything like this. I mean, all windows in the Shifa Hospital are out, due to the bombing of the mosque across the street. They have very unstable electricity. They lack supplies, disposables, surgical equipment, trolleys, beds even. They have a fantastic staff, who are working heroically to save their patients, but we have been doing surgery with, almost regularly, two patients in each OR, on the wall, on the floor, in the corridors. The lifts are barely working. The ICU had to triple its capacity with makeshift ICUs.

It is really, truly a scene from Dante’s Inferno. It is these loads of patients coming in. We had 120, 130 patients coming a day, children, women. And I would say approximately 90 percent—I repeat, 90 percent—of the killed and injured that we have seen are civilians. Up ’til yesterday, 971 people have been killed; of them, one of three is a child below eighteen. 4,500 injuries, as of yesterday at 4:00; among them, every second is a woman or a child. So this is really targeting civilian Palestinian population.

And I recently happened across this article in Ha'aretz:

Senior Hamas officials in Gaza are hiding out in a "bunker" built by Israel, intelligence officials suspect: Many are believed to be in the basements of the Shifa Hospital complex in Gaza City, which was refurbished during Israel's occupation of the Gaza Strip. [...]

During a cabinet meeting a week ago, Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin said senior Hamas officials found refuge in the hospital basement because they know Israel would not target it, due to the patients in the upper floors.

I have to wonder why this was leaked.  Are they trying to lay the groundwork for a move against Gaza's hospitals?  I'd like to think that actually bombing Shifa is beyond even the Israelis, though I'd never be foolish enough to overestimate them.  But one thing I know from my own experience is that the IDF will kidnap the wounded from hospitals—even going so far as to remove patients from live operating theaters.  I stayed overnight with other activists in Hebron's Al-Ahlia hospital in 2002 because the IDF had surrounded it with tanks the night before, searching for wounded Palestinians and abducting a doctor (who was taken away in a tank, ridden around Hebron, and finally released).  We slept uneasily on stretchers, stationed on various floors, ready to go at a moment's notice to do whatever we could—witness, if nothing else—should the Israelis come again in the night.

As we're seeing again in Gaza, helping the wounded is one of the quickest ways to become the next casualty.  One doctor we saw in Al-Ahlia was also a patient; he'd been shot in the side while trying to help two injured men in town, and was still delirious from the pain and medications.  We joined a funeral march for nine people who'd been killed in the previous day and met a paramedic who said three of the dead were his cousins, who'd been killed while trying to go out and help a man who'd been shot in front of their home.  An older man who'd lost two of his sons was there, crying and falling to the ground, and people were helping him to an ambulance.

Another man we saw in the hospital had been beaten down with rifle butts by Israeli soldiers.  His 2-and-a-half-year-old daughter ran away and was run over by an Israeli jeep, breaking her leg.  The man's brother had been shot in the head by the Israelis two years before.

That's just a small fraction of what I saw and heard.  Do you begin to get some idea of what it's like to be a Palestinian?  There wasn't a single person I met in the West Bank or Gaza who didn't have experiences just like this (going back decades), of beatings, humiliation, imprisonment, torture, shootings, family and friends killed and maimed by the Israelis.  Not one.  Can you imagine what it means to live an entire lifetime like this?

"A scene from Dante's Inferno" today in Gaza, but over the years Israel has played out the entire book.  And all of this—so many human lives disfigured and destroyed—for nothing more than its grasping territorial ambitions.

UPDATE: Oh good god:

In some of the most intense ground combat of the 20-day-old assault on Gaza, Israeli tanks powered into the southern suburb of Tel el Howa clashing with Palestinian militants firing rockets.

The tanks advanced under a barrage of artillery and mortar fire that struck the al Quds, al Fata and al Wafa hospitals.

There were unconfirmed reports that Shifa, Gaza City's biggest hospital, was on fire after being struck by Israeli shells.

The bottomless narcissism of the alpha victims, part 2

Despite the intense suffering of his country's citizens, Israeli president Shimon Peres is willing to forgive the one-sided media coverage of Israel's Gaza attack:

[Peres] understood that coverage could not be balanced, "because TV cannot show what it means for one million Israelis to be constantly nervous. We cannot show the daily tensions on TV."

(I know what you're thinking, but if you don't see just how awful it is to be "constantly nervous," try asking a chihuahua.  "Eet ees awful," the chihuahua will tell you.  "All the time I am worried that someone will step on me! I would shatter like glass!"  You can see a heartrending photo of some nervous Israelis here.)

Peres then helpfully provided advance testimony for his war crimes trial as he explained the goal of the attack:

Israel's aim, he said, was to provide a strong blow to the people of Gaza so that they would lose their appetite for shooting at Israel.

For reference, here's article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention:

Article 33

No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.

It may seem odd to hear a high Israeli official so openly admitting to terrorism and war crimes, but you have to recall that whereas most people see the Geneva Conventions as fundamental underpinnings of human rights, Israeli leaders just invert the sense of each article and then use them as military planning documents.  So it's easy to slip up when you're talking to outsiders.