Protests against Israeli Aggression-click here for updates

[Mick]

Israel's killings have prompted tens of thousands of people in Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Arab towns inside Israel to take to the streets in protest.


The Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Stop the War and the Muslim Association of Britain have called an emergency solidarity demonstration for 4pm on Monday at the Israeli embassy in London's Kensington High Street.

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published by the Peoples Press Printing Society

'Coward' Brown won't condemn Gaza slaughter
Thinking Man's Idiot

OTHER DEMONSTRATIONS IN LONDON:

TUESDAY 30 DECEMBER, 2 - 4pm outside Israeli Embassy,
Kensington High Street, London, W4. Nearest tube
Kensingston High Street (turn right out of tube station and
walk along the main road.

WEDNESDAY 31 DECEMBER, 2 - 4pm outside Israeli Embassy

THURSDAY 1 JANUARY, 2 - 4pm outside Israeli Embassy

FRIDAY 2 JANUARY 2 - 4 pm. Outside the Egyptian Embassy, .
26 South Street, London, W1K 1DW. Call for Egypt to open
the border immediately.

*********************************
DEMONSTRATIONS ROUND THE COUNTRY

GLASGOW
Saturday 3 January 12 noon. Outside Lloyds TSB St Vincent
Street then assemble for demo at Blytheswood Square 2pm

EDINBURGH
Saturday 3 January 12 noon. Foot of the Mound, Princes
Street

BRISTOL
Centre, opposite the Hippodrome, Tuesday - Friday 5.00 -
6.00 and Saturday 3.00 - 4.00.

CARDIFF
Tuesday 30 December 12 to 1pm. outside Cardiff Market/ St
John's Church, the Hayes
Wednesday 31 December New Year Vigil. Nye Bevan Statue,
Queen Street

NOTTINGHAM
Tuesday 30 December 12 noon, Market Square

SOUTHAMPTON
Tuesday 30 December 12 to 2pm, West Quay Entrance, High
Street

PORTSMOUTH
Saturday 3 January 11am, Guildhall Square
Organised by Portsmouth Network for a Just Settlement of the
Arab-Israeli Conflict, and Portsmouth Stop the War Coalition

HULL
Saturday 3 January, 11am. Queen Victoria Square.

[Thinking Man's Idiot]

Clashes break out at Israeli embassy

(Sunday 28 December 2008)


ANGRY confrontations broke out at the Israeli embassy in London on Sunday as protesters against the Gaza bombing blitz gathered in a vociferous demonstration.



Palestinian families and campaigners crammed the pavement of High Street Kensington and chanted in unison: "Five, six, seven, eight - Israel is a terror state."

Barriers penning the demonstrators were torn down and riot police were brought in to control the crowds.


The protesters, who eventually totalled more than 500, waved Palestinian flags and held up placards, including some which read: "Holocaust in Gaza" and "No peace, no justice."


Among them was Gamal Hamed from Hammersmith, whose son lives in Gaza.


"Yesterday was the bloodiest day in my homeland's history," she said.


"We will do what we can to make the world take notice. I am delighted by the number of people who have pledged their support today. We are all worried about where the conflict goes from here."


Traffic on the busy shopping street was brought to a standstill as more protesters arrived and the road was blocked off near the embassy.


Six police vans, four police cars and territorial units from the Metropolitan Police waited to intervene as the chanting continued. Some protesters were forcibly removed and others were seen with bloodied faces as violence erupted.


One campaigner was seen throwing a bag and what appeared to be a book over some gates towards the embassy and another was seen throwing red liquid. Officers retreated from the immediate scene as the crowds swelled.

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Copyright Morning Star, all rights reserved
published by the Peoples Press Printing Society

[Thinking Man's Idiot]

Gaza massacre - Emergency Protest Monday 29 December 4.00pm – 6.00pm

Opposite Israeli Embassy - Palace Green W8
Nearest tube: High Street Kensington
Please monitor news channels and call BBC and ITV every day to ask for accurate figures of numbers killed and injured. We will not accept Israeli spokespersons – we want Palestinian commentators.
Called by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign
www.palestinecampaign.org

[Thinking Man's Idiot]

Massacre in the Gaza Strip

Gaza massacre over 280 killed - Emergency Protests
LONDON
Sunday 28 December 2.00 pm - 4.00 pm and Monday 29 December 4.00pm – 6.00pm
Both protests opposite Israeli Embassy - Kensington High Street
Nearest tube: High Street Kensington
Protests organised and supported by PSC, Palestine Return Centre (PRC), Palestinian Forum of Britain (PFB), British Muslim Initiative (BMI), Stop the War, Friends of al Aqsa, Muslim Association of Britain (MAB), Respect, Islamic Human Rights Commission, Association of the Palestinian Community in Britain (APC), Jews for Justice for Palestinians (JFJFP), Jews for Boycotting Israeli Goods (JBIG), Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD), International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN), Haldane Society
GLASGOW
Sunday 29 December, 4.30 George Square
EDINBURGH
Sunday 29 December 4.30, Foot of mound, Princes Street
BIRMINGHAM
Monday 29 December, 5.00 pm, outside Zavvi, Waterstones, High Street, Birminham City Centre (near the bull in the Bull Ring Centre)
MANCHESTER
Sunday 28 December 1pm, BBC Oxford Road
HALIFAX
Monday 29 December 4-5pm, outside Central Library
YORK
Monday 29 December 12 - 2pm St Sampsons Square, please come for all or part of our vigil
SHEFFIELD
Monday 29 December, 4pm, outside Town Hall
BRADFORD
Monday 29 December 2pm, Centenary Square. We will provide leaflets please bring placards, banners etc or bring with you marker pens and large size paper.
CARDIFF
Tuesday 30 December 12 to 1pm. Nye Bevan Statue, Queen Street
PORTSMOUTH
Saturday 3 January 11am, Guildhall Square
Organised by Portsmouth Network for a Just Settlement of the Arab-Israeli Conflict, and Portsmouth Stop the War Coalition


Visit our latest news section for updates
Humanitarian crisis
We are witnessing a horrific escalation and intensification in the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, with food, fuel and medicine being blocked for prolonged periods.
In November Israel issued a written list of goods banned from import into Gaza. The list, which has baffled UN officials, includes spices, kitchenware, glassware, yarn and paper.

This is a disastrous situation, and it's getting worse and worse... It is unprecedented that the UN is unable to get its supplies in to a population under such obvious distress; many of these families have been subsisting on this ration for years, and they are living hand-to-mouth."
John Ging, Director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Gaza, The Washington Post 15 November 2008

The UN General Secretary has demanded that Israel lift the blockade of humanitarian goods, medicine and access for relief agencies. http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/och...2008_11_17.pdf
The UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Maxwell Gaylard, described the Gaza blockade as “an assault on human dignity with serious humanitarian implications.”
The blockade of Gaza, which began in June 07 and has been compounded by the recent full closure, has caused the degradation of daily life for most of the 1.5 million Palestinians living in the Gaza – half of them children. The lack of fuel shut Gaza’s sole power plant on 9 and 10 November, resulting in blackouts of up to eight hours per day in most areas. The only line to import fuel into the Gaza Strip remains closed by the Israeli authorities except on two days, leaving 70 per cent of Gazan residents without electricity.
• The poverty rate stands at 76% and the unemployment rate at 45%.
http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/och...25_english.pdf

• UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has been forced to suspend financial support to just under 100,000 of the poorest refugees in November due to a lack of available currency in the Gaza - the grants enabled refugees to buy basic food.
http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/och...18_english.pdf
Food

Israel blocked all provision of essential supplies to the Gaza Strip in November, except for allowing in a “token” amount of goods on 4 days.
According to OCHA-OPT’s report, ‘the amounts of supplies imported remain wholly insufficient to meet the basic needs of the population and restore any semblance of normal life.’
*The level of imports since the closure of the crossings on 5 November stands at an average of less than five truckloads a day, compared to 123 in October 08 and 475 in May 07. UNRWA alone needs at least 15 trucks per day to sustain normal humanitarian operations.
*A Red Cross report, based on the situation in May and June 2008, found that the blockade of Gaza means that ‘chronic malnutrition is on a steadily rising trend and micronutrient deficiencies are of great concern’. The report says the siege is causing "progressive deterioration in food security for up to 70 per cent of Gaza's population". http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...l-1019521.html
• There is a daily struggle to obtain clean running water, fuel for cooking, and fresh foods to maintain families.
• Half of Gaza's bakeries have closed down and the other half have resorted to using animal feed to produce bread
http://www.metimes.com/International...s_israel/9217/
Fuel/water/sewage
• Without electricity and back-up fuel, most basic services and utilities including the sewage system, are on the brink of disaster - having received only limited maintenance and spare parts, and no investment in more than a year.
• UNICEF states 80% of Gaza’s water wells (115 wells) are only partially functioning due to intermittent electricity, shortages of backup fuel and the lack of spare parts. As a result, 20% of the Gaza population has six hours water access every five days, 40% of the population have access to water every four days and 40% of the population has access to water every three days.
Medicine
• Palestine Monitor reports that the lack of fuel means Shifa hospital, the largest in the Gaza Strip, could see patients die as it is now dependent on a faulty generator.
• Stocks of about 160 essential medicines have run out, while about 120 other healthcare drugs are running low. Additionally Gaza's health ministry has run out of over 300 essential medicines as Israel bans the imports of these.
• UNRWA have expressed concerns about rising anemia amongst children as a result of malnutrition.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip...php?article704
http://www.metimes.com/International...s_israel/9217/

Israel forced to respect freedom of the press following petition to Supreme Court.
Israel lifted its two week ban on international journalists entering Gaza following pressure from the Foreign Press Association which called on the Supreme Court to overturn this ban. The Israeli government had ignored a letter signed by the world's largest news organizations including the New York Times, the BBC, CNN, calling for the ban to be lifted. Israel clearly did not want the outside world to see the impact of its blockade on Gaza.
What you can do:
Write to your MP outlining the crisis in the Gaza Strip and ask them to call on the Foreign Office to support the UN’s calls for an immediate end to the siege on Gaza.
You can send an email to your MP using www.theyworkforyou.com
Please inform PSC of any responses. Email info@palestinecampaign.org
Coming soon!
PSC will be launching a postcard campaign to MPs in the New Year campaigning against hunger in Gaza, while food from stolen Palestinian land is sold in Britain.
See Press Releases for PSC's latest statements on Gaza
Other links
Free Gaza. Get the latest on the solidarity boats sailing to Gaza to break the siege.
End Gaza Siege. Palestinian International Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza.
Popular Committee Against the Siege. Campaign from Gaza.

[Thinking Man's Idiot]

Britain's Communists demand action against Israeli aggression
Sunday, 28 December 2008


The Communist Party condemns the barbaric attack of the Israeli armed forces on largely defenceless police and residential areas of Gaza.
The callous slaughter of innocent Palestinian lives cannot be justified by mostly ineffectual and token missile attacks from Palestinian militias on Israeli territory.



These latter are the product of Israel's breach of the letter and spirit of the ceasfire brokered by Egypt, during which the Israeli government tightened its economic stranglehold on the Gazan population and continued to launch armed raids into Gaza in pursuit of Hamas leaders.This latest brutal assault on the people of Palestine confirms that the Israeli regime has no sincere intention of negotiating a lasting and just settlement with the elected representatives of the Palestinian nation.



The Communist Party therefore calls for mass demonstrations and mobilisations against Israeli aggression, and demands that the United Nations and individual states impose economic, political and military sanctions on the state of Israel until its government declares a commitment to negotiate with the Palestinian Authority on the basis of UN resolutions against illegal Zionist settlements and the theft of Palestinian land, and in favour of a sovereign Palestine based on its
pre-1967 borders.


We also call upon the British and US governments to withdraw their support for Israeli imperialism and instead to exert pressure on the Israeli government to abide by international law.

[Thinking Man's Idiot]

GAZA CARNAGE SETS
WEST BANK AFLAME


Across Mideast, Thousands Protest Israeli Assault

[Thinking Man's Idiot]

Press Releases


27 December 2008
Gaza massacre – Israel’s cynicism supported by the West’s complicity

Today the Israeli army launched its long awaited strikes against the Gazan people, an unarmed, captive civilian population.
Read More



27 December 2008
Letter to David Milliband, Foreign Secretary from Jeremy Corbyn MP, Patron of PSC, re Israel's bombing of Gaza

I am shocked, appalled, and very angry at the behaviour by Israel in bombing Gaza, killing 145 people and injuring a further 200. This is nothing more than an act of wanton aggression by a very powerful and well armed state, against a largely unarmed, and defenceless population living in what is a virtual open air prison of Gaza.
Read More

[Thinking Man's Idiot]

More than a year since the complete closure of Gaza’s borders by the fascistic Israeli regime, the zionist stranglehold over the most densely-populated strip on earth is unrelenting, plunging the population ever deeper into poverty. Since the beginning of the year, 389 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza by Israeli occupation forces, including 9 over 60, many women and large numbers of children – 103 teenagers and 18 young children, including several babies and toddlers. One young family, consisting of a mother and three children under 5, were wiped out by gunfire whilst eating dinner in their courtyard at home. (Figures taken from the website for Israeli human rights organisation B’tselem)

A further 200 have died as a result of Israel’s blockade on medical supplies and its refusal to allow Palestinian patients to leave the strip for essential hospital treatment.

Eighty percent of Gaza’s population are now living below the poverty line and over three quarters are dependent on international food aid, which is about the only thing that is allowed, in pitiful quantities, through the Israeli-controlled Karni and Sofa border crossings.

The blockade on Gaza was imposed in June 2007 by Israel with the sole aim of undermining the Hamas government. The Israelis have since maintained that the siege, along with the regular and brutal military attacks on the Palestinian population, is a ‘response’ to rockets fired into Israel from Gaza by ‘militants’.

Yet, as Ali Abunimah points out in The Electronic Intifada: “Israel’s massacres in Gaza were never about stopping rocket fire … they were intended to break the will of the civilian population and force it to turn against the resistance factions and towards the US and Israeli-backed Ramallah Authority. If Israel had wanted to stop the rockets the easy way to do that would have been to accept any one of the truce offers repeatedly proffered by Hamas.” (‘Rays of hope from the Gaza ceasefire’, 20 June 2008)

June ceasefire

Almost a year into the siege, a six-month ceasefire was finally agreed through mediated talks in Cairo in June this year. Part of the agreement, and one of the main incentives for Hamas, was that Israel would loosen its grip on the borders, allowing the much-needed routes to be opened up for trade, aid and passage.

However, despite the ceasefire having been more or less maintained, there has been only a minimal increase in the number of crossings into the strip allowed by Israel, with still nothing and no-one allowed out. As a result, there has been little visible effect from the ceasefire on the living conditions in Gaza.

Not content with failing to lift the blockade to anything near the agreed level, Israel is, in fact, still closing Gaza’s borders completely for long periods at a time. This is always justified as a ‘response to infringements’ of the ceasefire by Palestinians, although only a few rockets have actually been launched and none of those have caused anything more than damage to buildings or land.

It is significant, however, that, having refused offers of a truce many times in the last year, Israel has finally had to negotiate with Hamas, albeit through the mediation of Egypt. Israel has thus, however reluctantly, recognised that Hamas is in control in Gaza and is a force to be reckoned with.

Breaking the siege

As the situation in Gaza continues to spiral downwards, the need for an alleviation of the stranglehold is imperative. The bursting of the Rafah border in January by Hamas, enabling crowds of people to pass back and forth and replenish their stocks of food and fuel, was one such example.

The end of August saw another, in the form of two internationally-crewed boats that defied the Israeli guns to dock in Gaza’s port for the first time in 40 years.

On 22 August, the boats, SS Free Gaza and SS Liberty, crossed the Mediterranean sea from Cyprus, with the express intention of challenging the Israeli blockade. The two boats, organised by the Free Gaza Movement, carried 44 activists from 14 different countries. The cargo they brought to Gaza included a consignment of hearing aids for young children who suffer hearing problems as a result of frequent exposure to the sonic booms emitted by low-flying Israeli jet fighters.


Israel initially declared that it would refuse the boats access to the shore, insisting ironically that they would be ‘breaking international law’ if they attempted to dock. Nevertheless, the boats’ crews persisted, demanding their right to land the boats in Gaza’s port to break the illegally imposed siege.

Israel eventually relented, recognising the international impact of refusing. As an Israeli official is quoted as saying to the Jerusalem Post: “it was clear from the beginning that this whole operation was a provocation aimed at making Israel look bad. We decided to let them through in order not to play into their hands.” (‘Israel: Gaza blockade in place despite ships’, 22 August 2008)

The landing of these two boats in Gaza, breaking through the blockade, has set a symbolic precedent. And despite Israel stating that it was a ‘decision made on a one-time basis only’, this has not deterred the members of the Free Gaza Movement, who are already planning their next trip in late September. This is in addition to a boat from Yemen that is due to make a similar journey organised by the Popular Committee Against the Siege.

Trapped in Gaza

Having broken through the siege, four of the ships’ crew, who did not leave when the boats returned to Cyprus, are now stuck in Gaza, with Israel refusing to let them leave via any of the land crossings.

After the zionist government’s initial statement permitting the entrance of Free Gaza and Liberty, it subsequently adopted a contradictory position, stating that the activists’ entry was illegal and that therefore exit via any of the land crossings will not be allowed.

One of the four internationals trapped in Gaza is none other than Tony Blair’s sister-in-law, Lauren Booth. His response to the situation as the ludicrously misnamed ‘Middle East Peace Envoy’ has been to maintain a deathly silence. Ms Booth, however, has made the following statement to the BBC, drawing a valid conclusion from her situation:

“I’d actually like to say ‘Thank you very much’ to the Israeli authorities at Erez for giving me this fantastic chance to feel just exactly what it is like to be inside what is effectively the world’s largest internment camp, where individuals who should have the right to travel under international law are withheld in a 40km by 10km camp.” (Quoted in ‘Blair’s relative “stuck in Gaza”’, 2 September 2008)

Blair himself recently reneged on a planned visit to Gaza after being advised against it on ‘security’ grounds. With the amount of blood on this war criminal’s hands, it should be Blair who is locked up in prison not 1.5 million Gazans.

Rafah crossing open

Just six days after the Free Gaza boats landed, symbolically breaking the siege, Egypt unilaterally opened the Rafah crossing for the weekend. This move, in violation of the US-brokered protocol requiring either a representative of the Mahmoud Abbas-controlled Palestinian Authority (PA) or an EU monitor to be present, allowed almost 2,000 Palestinians to leave and more than 1,000 to enter. The majority of those leaving were students attending Egyptian or other foreign universities and patients in need of medical assistance.

Clearly under pressure from its outraged population, Egypt has indicated that another opening of the crossing will take place during the month of Ramadan. Hamas has called for the crossing to be opened more regularly to alleviate the effects of the Israeli-imposed siege.

Oppose the siege, oppose the occupation

While the siege of Gaza continues, the suffering of Palestinians in the West Bank has not abated either. During the first half of 2008, Israeli occupation forces carried out over 827 military incursions into West Bank communities (an average of five per day) and kidnapped or arrested 1,334 civilians. (Figures from Palestinian Centre for Human Rights cited in ‘Rays of hope from the Gaza ceasefire’, The Electronic Intifada, 20 June 2008)

Yet despite the Israeli incursions, indiscriminate attacks and daily humiliations, the Palestinian people continue to stand and fight for their self-determination.

Opposition to the occupation of Palestine and support for the Palestinian resistance is a duty of all anti-imperialists and progressive people. Just as the boats broke the siege from the outside, all progressive people must show in as many ways as possible their solidarity with the just struggle of the Palestinians in their fight for the land of Palestine. Their struggle is our struggle.

> Olmert admits - Israel must withdraw - October 2008

> Palestine: Resistance victorious over its enemies - Lalkar May 2008

[Thinking Man's Idiot]

Seven Israeli Arabs arrested for hurling stones in protest of Gaza op By Eli Ashkenazi, Yoav Stern, Jack Khoury, and Jonathan Lis Tags: Gaza, Israel, Hamas
Police on Monday arrested seven Israeli Arabs, three of them youths, for allegedly hurling stones and setting fire to tires near the entrance to the Mishad municipal council in the north.

Authorities have arrested 49 people for disturbing the peace since the Israel Air Force began its aerial offensive in the Gaza Strip on Saturday.

Police will remain on high alert today to deal with a wave of disturbances among Israeli Arabs and residents of East Jerusalem. There is also concern that Palestinian terror groups might try to carry out attacks in protest against Israel's military action in the Gaza Strip.
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Police Commissioner David Cohen held a series of consultations on Sunday to assess the extent of violence in the area of Arab towns known as the Triangle, roughly bounded by Baka al-Garbiyeh, Taibeh and Tira, and in towns with mixed Arab-Jewish populations.

Cohen also said that there was little chance that the disturbances would escalate to the level of the October 2000 riots, in which 13 Arabs were killed.

A senior police official said Sunday that the police have no intelligence about an expected escalation of violence among Israeli Arabs.

The police said they intend to allow demonstrators to "let off steam" and Israeli Arabs could demonstrate as long as they do not endanger life or property. The police are holding talks with Arab community leaders to try to to tone things down and to prevent escalation. The police said yesterday they were optimistic, and that there was no evidence that the Arab community in Israel was headed toward an "intifada" against the state.

Meanwhile, police are also preparing for the possibility that terror organizations might launch revenge attacks over the Gaza operation within Israel. Police sources said yesterday that so far there has been no specific warnings of any organization preparing an attack against Israeli targets.

"The best evidence of the lack of intelligence data is the fact that the IDF has not placed a closure order on any of the cities in the West Bank, which is what is done when there is significant information about a terror attack, a police source said yesterday. According to police assessments, terror groups will in the near future opt for "relatively simple" and "popular" forms of attack, such as shootings, stabbings and assault with a vehicle, which do not require complex organization. Police also said the terror organizations will have difficulty right now in establishing a system for bringing explosives or suicide bombers into Israel. "The Israeli operation surprised terror elements in the West Bank," a police officer said, adding, however, "It is clear to us that the calls from the heads of Hamas to renew suicide bombings will eventually be heeded by those who will try to put those calls into action."

In East Jerusalem public disturbances were renewed following the Gaza operation, and 38 Palestinians were arrested in East Jerusalem for throwing stones at police and vehicles. There were no injuries in the stone-throwing incidents. Three residents of the Jerusalem neighborhood of A-Tur on the Mount of Olives were caught red-handed by under-cover Border Police while throwing stones at a police vehicle.

Three Palestinian minors were also arrested for throwing stones at a tour bus in Wadi Joz in northern Jerusalem, breaking the bus windshield, and in Beit Safafa in southern Jerusalem and Beit Hanina north of the city, young demonstrators burned tires in protest over Gaza.

I want to state how deeply shameful the actions of Israel is right now and how it simply is not the way to treat the innocent people of a neighbouring country.


Call off the murderers & lyres and send in the honest peace brokers and honest Israelis!


We know who broke this ceasefire, we know who has not abided by a single UN Mandate, and Obama, we know which criminal in America is pulling the strings!