~ Gesticht àls Gesticht ter Voorkoming v/d Maatschappelijke Randdebiliteit ~
~ HÉT "progressief" Orgaan Der "Hangmatsocialisten" ~ Gesticht àls Gesticht ter Voorkoming v/d Maatschappelijke & Politieke Randdebiliteit
09-01-2009
Gaza 2009 How to cast lead into gold ?!... ofte "De Gaaaz van Gaza !!" - Deel 1
Laat ons eventjes wat puntjes op wat i's zetten... Want dat mag zo stilaan ook eens gebeuren...
Gaza... de terroristen van Hamas & de disproportionele reactie van Israël... Wij begrepen niet zo meteen de juiste reden van de gebeurtenissen van de laatste dagen & dus gingen wij daar maar achter op zoek... Sommige flipo's hier op onze eigenste bloggensites begonnen al te raaskallen over "Heilige Oorlogen". Maar als er nu iets is waarvan onze haren gaan recht staan, is het wel de term/het begrip "Heilige Oorlog"...
Laat ons daarbij duidelijk zijn & dus onomwonden stellen waar 't 'm om gaat : oorlogen draaiden ~& dat gold zowel in het verleden als nù~ nog A-L-T-IJ-D om geld - PUNT !!
...& In dat opzicht vroegen wij ons dus af waarover dit conflict nu juist ook weer over ging. Die zandbak vol vluchtelingen leek ons niet meteen een èchte vetpot. Dat gelul van die qassamraketten hebben we ook al uitgelegd Kortom ...er is dus iets loos met dit conflict ...de nakende Israëlische verkiezingen misschien ?!... Neen !! Er moet nog iets anders zijn & kijk... leest u eventjes met grote oogjes met ons mee & let u daarbij vooral op de data van de publicaties die dateren van lang voor de aanval... Het gaat hier dus wel degelijk om het alchemistische principe van lood in goud te veranderen... In dit geval via gas & olie !! ...Het is misschien daarom juist dat deze ganse militaire operatie van Israël de codenaam "cast lead" meekreeg ?!...
...
Published October 2007
Vol. 7, No. 17 - 19 October 2007
Does the Prospective Purchase of British Gas from Gaza's Coastal Waters Threaten Israel's National Security?
Lt. Gen. (ret.) Moshe Yaalon(*)
---------- (*) Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Moshe Yaalon is a distinguished fellow at the Shalem Center's Adelson Institute for Strategic Studies. Capping a distinguished career as an officer in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), he served as Chief of Staff from 2002 to 2005, during which time he led the army's successful effort to quell the Palestinian terror war launched in September 2000.
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# British Gas is supposed to be the crown jewel of the Palestinian economy, and provide part of the solution to Israel's pressing energy needs. The British energy giant, now called the "BG Group," and its local partners - the Palestinian Authority under Mahmoud Abbas and the private, Palestinian-owned Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC) - are currently involved in advanced negotiations to sell to Israel massive amounts of natural gas - reserves of nearly 1.4 trillion cubic feet - that BG first discovered in 2000 off the Gaza coast. The market value of the gas has been estimated at $4 billion. Therefore, sale of the gas to Israel would mean a billion-dollar windfall for the PA and, potentially, for the Palestinian people.
# Unfortunately, British assessments, including those of former Prime Minister Tony Blair, that Gaza gas can be a key driver of an economically more viable Palestinian state, are misguided. Proceeds of a Palestinian gas sale to Israel would likely not trickle down to help an impoverished Palestinian public. Rather, based on Israel's past experience, the proceeds will likely serve to fund further terror attacks against Israel. No less threatening is the fact that terror organizations associated with the global Jihad, like al-Qaeda, will be highly motivated to attack any British Gas installation off Gaza's shores that provided fuel to Israel.
# For Israel, the need for BG's gas may have already taken a toll. It is possible that the prospect of an Israeli gas purchase may have played a role in influencing the Olmert cabinet to avoid ordering a major IDF ground operation in Gaza, despite at least 1,000 rocket and mortar attacks against southern Israel since the Hamas takeover of Gaza in June 2007.
# Clearly, Israel needs additional natural gas sources, while the Palestinian people sorely need new sources of revenue. However, with Gaza currently a radical Islamic stronghold, and the West Bank in danger of becoming the next one, Israel's funneling a billion dollars into local or international bank accounts on behalf of the Palestinian Authority would be tantamount to Israel's bankrolling terror against itself. Therefore, an urgent review is required of the far-reaching security implications of an Israeli decision to purchase Gaza gas.
Selling British Gas to Israel: A Key British Foreign Policy Goal Since 2000
The British government seems to have pinned much of its Middle East policy on the successful outcome of British Gas negotiations with Israel. A September 18, 2007, report in the Arabic al-Quds newspaper noted that the British government views Gaza's natural gas reserves as central to 10 Downing Street's "economic road map" for the Middle East region."(1) Tony Blair's position, first as prime minister and now as the very active Quartet Envoy for Palestinian Economic Development, has been that the Palestinian Authority's share of the gas sale proceeds, which could reach well over a billion dollars, could serve as the economic fuel to jump-start the Palestinian economy and advance the peace process.
The Blair government's admirable goal of helping the Palestinian economy wean itself from about a billion dollars a year in international handouts may have driven BG in November 1999 to make former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and his tightly-controlled Palestinian Authority a local partner in the gas project, together with the Athens-based Palestinian concern, the Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC). Arafat clearly understood the financial potential of a billion dollars in royalties. Soon after the gas discovery, BG and its local Palestinian licensees approached the State of Israel to buy the gas. Then Prime Minister Tony Blair personally urged former Prime Ministers Barak and Sharon to finalize a deal.
Despite Blair's enthusiasm for the deal, Mossad Chief Meir Dagan opposed the transaction on security grounds, that the proceeds would fund terror.(2) Israeli fears were justified. Arafat and Fatah leaders stole billions from the public till to finance terror against Israel, as documents recovered by the Israel Defense Forces from Arafat's compound revealed.(3) Israel also faced virtually non-stop Palestinian terror attacks from 2000 to 2005, resulting in more than 1,000 Israelis killed.(4)
There had been no comprehensive interagency security assessment between 2002 and 2005 regarding a potential BG deal with Israel. However, Dagan's opposition to it (as noted by Member of Knesset Gilad Erdan in a 2006 speech to the Knesset Plenum) was also shared by former Prime Minister Sharon. Today, Prime Minister Olmert has revived the relationship with BG and has exerted much energy to reach a definitive agreement for the purchase of the offshore natural gas.
---------- (1) The Economic Road Map for the Middle East," Al Quds, September 18, 2007.
(2) Member of Knesset Gilad Erdan, Address to the Knesset on "The Intention of Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to Purchase Gas from the Palestinians When Payment Will Serve Hamas," March 1, 2
(3) Dan Diker and Khaled Abu Toameh, "What Happened to Reform of the Palestinian Authority?" Jerusalem Issue Brief, vol. 3, no. 20, March 3, 2004, http://www.jcpa.org/brief/brief3-20.htm. See also Lesley Stahl, "Arafat's Billions," CBSNews.com, November 9, 2003.
Since Sharon's opposition to the BG deal, and its subsequent collapse in 2005, strategic security threats to Israel have worsened considerably. Iran has fully penetrated Palestinian areas, particularly Gaza, from which its proxies Hamas and Islamic Jihad have fired some 2,000 rockets at Israel since its 2005 withdrawal. Iran is today the major funder, trainer and provider of advanced weaponry to its various Shiite and Sunni proxies including Hizbullah in southern Lebanon, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza, and the Fatah-associated Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades in the West Bank. Iran funneled more than $250 million to Hamas in 2006 alone. Other Sunni Jihadi groups associated with al-Qaeda and the global Jihad also operate in Gaza.
Iran is also interested in controlling energy assets in the region and would likely target off-shore gas reserves either as a "carrot" to induce Hamas cooperation or as a "stick" against Hamas in the event of diverging interests with Teheran.
Hamas' "Partnership" in the BG Transaction
British officials have expressed confidence that the gas proceeds can bypass Hamas and benefit the Palestinian public by being deposited and monitored in international bank accounts.(5) Israel has also proposed paying for the gas in goods and services.(6) However, these assessments are mistaken. A gas transaction with the Palestinian Authority will, by definition, involve Hamas. Hamas will either benefit from the royalties or it will sabotage the project and launch attacks against Fatah, the gas installations, Israel - or all three.
Soon after Hamas' takeover of Gaza in June 2007, Hamas' economic minister in the PA government, Ziad Zaza, blasted BG as "an embarrassment to the Palestinian people," while labeling the transaction an "act of theft" against Palestinian lands.(7) However, Hamas soon reversed its position and now insists on renegotiating the agreed percentages in the deal to reflect its participation.(8) Dr. Mohammed Mustafa, head of the PA's Palestinian Investment Fund, a local BG partner, has indicated on more than one occasion that at least 10 percent of the gas proceeds will be directed to Gaza and that arrangements could be made to satisfy "the organizations" - meaning Hamas - in negotiations.(9) This means, in simple terms, that the current terms of the deal are still unsatisfactory to Hamas, although it stands to receive a minimum direct payout of $100 million, while the PA's Fatah leadership will likely pocket close to $900 million.
Hamas, in anticipation of its participation in BG negotiations, has confirmed its capability to bomb Israel's strategic gas and electricity installations in Ashkelon.(10) This type of threat is a pressure tactic against Israel that will most likely increase if the BG deal moves closer to completion. It is clear that without an overall military operation to uproot Hamas control of Gaza, no drilling work can take place without the consent of the radical Islamic movement.
---------- (5) Mathew Krieger, "British Gas, Israel to Freeze Hamas Out of $4B Gas Deal," Jerusalem Post, July 5, 2007. Senior British diplomats also indicated in July 2007 that gas proceeds would be placed in international bank accounts.
(6) Uri Yablonka, "Israel Close to BG Deal," Ha'aretz, July 2007.
(7) Sonia Verma and Steve Hawkes, "Hamas Says BG Plan to Pump Gas to Israel an Act of Theft," Times (UK), May 24, 2007.
(8) Interview in Arabic with Hamas official Mahmoud Al Zahar by a senior foreign journalist based in Israel, July 2007.
(9) Pazit Ravina, "One Hundred Million Dollars for the Hamas Command," Makor Rishon, August, 18, 2007 (Hebrew).
(10) Wa'ri Suleiman, "Was Gaza Gas One Reason for the Coup?" AMIN website, June 23, 2007, http://www.amin.org/look/amin/press.htm. Wa'ri claimed that Hamas timed the coup in Gaza according to the reports of progress in negotiations on the BG deal in order to be party to it. He also noted that if Hamas' participation was rejected, Hamas would launch a "rocket intifada" covering all the areas in reach around
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Israel's Past Experience: Money Flowing into PA Also Funds Fatah Terror Groups
Israel's experience during the Oslo years indicates Palestinian gas profits would likely end up funding terrorism against Israel. The threat is not limited to Hamas. Since the establishment of the PA in 1993, monies that flowed into the Palestinian Authority from international donations, tax revenues, or profits from business with Israelis and other international investors - such as the Jericho Casino and other transactions - have ended up funding terror groups such as the Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades, Fatah Tanzim, and others. Simply put, once the funds reached the PA in the past, they could not be controlled by any outside authority.
For example, in the Oslo era, it has already been disclosed that monies that flowed through the PA's PCSC - a division of the PA's Palestinian Investment Fund (PIF), one of the partners in the current British Gas negotiations - ended up funding terror actions against Israel by the Fatah-associated Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades.(11) Another good example is the money raised by Hamas charities in the United States that U.S. government prosecutors now charge is funding Hamas terror activities in Gaza.(12) True, part of these monies raised by charity ended up funding the Hamas' "Dawa" social programs in Gaza. However, a good portion of these financial resources also ended up funding terror against Israel. While senior British officials have continued to call Hamas "a problem that can be solved," their confidence is misplaced if they believe that they can find international financial mechanisms to bypass Hamas and other terror groups. Simply put, Israel's longstanding experience shows empirically that it is impossible to prevent at least some of the gas proceeds from reaching Palestinian terror groups.
---------- (11) Uzrad Lev, In the Pocket of the Chairman (Tel Aviv, 2005), pp. 162-63, 239 (Hebrew).
(12) Associated Press, "HLF Found Guilty of Funding Hamas," Jerusalem Post, September 18, 2007.
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BG Gas Deal Frees Hamas from Isolation
BG's negotiations with Israel, that have the full backing of the British government, have already helped unshackle Hamas from political and diplomatic isolation. While British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's official position is that Britain will not talk to Hamas as long as its goal is to destroy Israel, a number of prominent voices in Britain including the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee are calling for reengaging with "moderate" Hamas elements.(13)
Former MI6 official Alistair Crooke, who was also a former advisor to EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, has "opened up unofficial channels of communications between Hamas and Western governments."(14) Quartet envoy Tony Blair has also advocated speaking to Hamas to replicate the Northern Ireland model.(15) Crooke's formal plan, entitled "Politicizing Hamas," was backed by Blair during his tenure as prime minister. Crooke's ideas today are clearly illustrated in the recent Labor conference speech by Foreign Minister David Miliband, who praised Hamas for the release of BBC journalist Alan Johnston and called for "listening" to Islamists.(16) Senior Hamas official Ahmad Yusuf has indicated that many behind-the-scenes meetings between Hamas and European officials have been keys to a Hamas reengagement in the diplomatic process.(17)
Furthermore, current British Gas negotiations have already helped fuel Fatah and Hamas discussions of a possible reengagement. Hamas' Yusuf has also indicated that despite U.S. and Israeli isolation of Hamas, Fatah and Hamas have been conducting back-channel negotiations to resolve their differences and reenergize a national unity government.(18) Palestinian Prime Minister Salaam Fayad has also continued to pay the salaries of the Hamas Executive Force in Gaza.
---------- (13) Melanie Phillips, "Engaged to Hamas," Jerusalem Post, September 15, 2007.
(17) Ahmad Yusuf, "Hamas Is the Key," Ha'aertz, September 21, 2007.
(18) "Ahmad Yusuf Reveals: Secret Draft Negotiations between Hamas and Fatah," Maan Palestinian News Agency September 20, 2007 (Arabic), and Khaled Abu Toameh, "Hamas Ready to Settle Tough Issues," Jerusalem Post, September 21, 2007.
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A Prospective Gaza Off-Shore Gas Installation: A Magnet for Global Jihad
The Israeli government reportedly intends to deploy IDF naval combat vessels to protect a future British-Palestinian gas installation about 800 feet below sea level. According to this strategy, the BG installation would be guarded against above sea terror attacks while diver terrorists would not be able to execute attacks so far below sea level.(19)
However, even with IDF protection, the sea-based British gas installation will be a very attractive target for both local and international terror groups. Al-Qaeda's deadly "rubber dingy" attack in 2000 against the USS Cole is just one illustration. Hamas has announced the formation of a 150-man light naval force that will be deployed to protect "Palestinian interests" in Gaza's territorial waters.(20) Hamas has also smuggled high-quality weaponry into Gaza via underground tunnels from Egyptian Sinai, including medium-range Katyusha rockets, much of it supplied and financed by Iran. Some of the weaponry captured on the Karine A weapons ship in 2002 by the IDF included 22-km.-range Katyusha rockets and amphibious equipment that could be effective in attacks against an off-shore gas installation. Moreover, the tens of tons of heavy weaponry that have been smuggled into Gaza since 2006 alone via the Rafah tunnels include Katyusha rockets.
Al-Qaeda would also clearly be interested in sabotaging gas flow to Israel. Global Jihad groups, particularly al-Qaeda, would also be interested in attacking British targets, as was illustrated in the London attacks of July 7, 2005, and the ongoing al-Qaeda operations against British forces in Iraq. Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades, and other local terror groups will be highly motivated to attack BG gas drilling installations, particularly to sabotage a multi-billion dollar deal that excludes them.
---------- (19) Yablonka "Israel Close to BG Deal."
(20) Ali Waked, "Hamas Establishes Naval Force," Ynet News, August 9, 2007 (Hebrew).
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BG and Israeli Security Decisions Regarding Gaza
Israel must consider whether it can afford to be dependant on the Palestinians for such a critical energy asset as natural gas. If Israel becomes the Palestinians' main gas customer in a multi-year agreement, the PA or Palestinian terror groups could use the continued supply of gas as a lever to pressure Israel to make additional concessions and "gestures" as part of political negotiations. More significantly, the Palestinians could threaten to cut off the natural gas supply to Israel to prevent the IDF from responding to terror attacks and other threats emanating from Gaza or the West Bank.
It is possible that the prospect of a major natural gas transaction with the Palestinians has been a factor in the Israeli cabinet's refusal to launch a Defensive Shield II operation in Gaza. This concern is a result of the high price Israel has already paid for its relatively muted responses to Palestinian rocket attacks from Gaza. The September 11, 2007, rocket attack by the Iranian-commanded and financed Palestinian Islamic Jihad, that wounded 61 IDF soldiers asleep in their Negev base, is a recent example. Despite hundreds of rockets and mortars, and various terrorist infiltration attempts against Israel from Gaza, there still has been no comprehensive military response by Israel.21
(22) Yablonka, "Israel Close to BG Deal."
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Have British Gas Negotiations Prejudiced Israel from Exploring Other Supply Options?
Another national security issue that must be considered is whether Israel's preference to advance the British Gas purchase has prevented or delayed government consideration of other natural gas options. For example, BG's original license was for drilling and exploration of natural gas off of Haifa Bay with the Israeli-owned drilling company Yam Thetis. While the license was granted in 1998, the nearly single focus on pursuing the Gaza gas option resulted in major delays in exploration and drilling off the coast of Haifa. It is possible that Yam Thetis will eventually be able to provide sufficient amounts of natural gas found in Israel's coastal waters, thus obviating the need to take unnecessary risks at this juncture in the Palestinian transaction. In fact, Yam Thetis is currently arguing this case in a petition to Israel's Supreme Court.
Conduct a Thorough Security Assessment Before Approving the British Gas Deal
The multiple dangers lurking behind Israel's potential natural gas purchase from BG have not deterred another attempt at finalizing a deal, due in large part to the redoubled efforts of Quartet envoy Tony Blair. The latest indications are that the BG Group, with the full backing of the British government, intends to finalize a multi-year agreement with Israel before the end of 2007.22
The dangers inherent in Israel's potential purchase of British Gas from the marine reserves off Gaza require an immediate, comprehensive, interagency security assessment by the IDF, Israeli Security Agency, Mossad, and other organs. This type of interagency assessment did not take place when I was IDF Chief of Staff from 2002 to 2005. Since then, to the best of my understanding, no comprehensive security assessment has occurred, despite the intention of the parties to sign an agreement in the coming weeks.
Regional and local security conditions have worsened since 2005, and Israel must be prepared to face a possible two-front war against Hamas in Gaza, and Syria and Hizbullah in the north. Therefore, Israel will pay a painful price in its security if the British Gas transaction were to take place in the foreseeable future.
Israel needs additional sources of energy, including natural gas, and the Palestinians clearly need to create a peaceful civil society and a self-sustaining economy. However, with Gaza currently a radical Islamic stronghold, and the West Bank in danger of becoming the next one, Israel's funneling a billion dollars into local or international bank accounts on behalf of the Palestinian Authority would be tantamount to Israel's bankrolling terror against itself. Therefore, an urgent review is required of the far-reaching security implications of an Israeli decision to purchase Gaza gas by the State Comptroller's office or another external review panel.
Gaza 2009 How to cast lead into gold ?!... ofte "De Gaaaz van Gaza !!" - Deel 2
Begin deel (2) ...Het vervolg...!!
Gesnopen beste ?!... Wij zijn dus héél erg gerust gesteld want blijkbaar is dit dus weer eens bekend terrein... Namelijk één van die terreinen waarop een menselijk leven niks waard is & géén enkel ander principe standhoudt dan dat van pùùr economisch eigenbelang... lees dus : big money !!...
We vonden een zeer degelijke samenvatting van de situatie waarvan we jullie natuurlijk laten meegenieten...
...
Global Research, January 8, 2009
War and Natural Gas: The Israeli Invasion and Gaza's Offshore Gas Fields
by Michel Chossudovsky
The military invasion of the Gaza Strip by Israeli Forces bears a direct relation to the control and ownership of strategic offshore gas reserves.
This is a war of conquest. Discovered in 2000, there are extensive gas reserves off the Gaza coastline.
British Gas (BG Group) and its partner, the Athens based Consolidated Contractors International Company (CCC) owned by Lebanon's Sabbagh and Koury families, were granted oil and gas exploration rights in a 25 year agreement signed in November 1999 with the Palestinian Authority.
The rights to the offshore gas field are respectively British Gas (60 percent); Consolidated Contractors (CCC) (30 percent); and the Investment Fund of the Palestinian Authority (10 percent). (Haaretz, October 21, 2007).
The PA-BG-CCC agreement includes field development and the construction of a gas pipeline.(Middle East Economic Digest, Jan 5, 2001).
The BG licence covers the entire Gazan offshore marine area, which is contiguous to several Israeli offshore gas facilities. (See Map below). It should be noted that 60 percent of the gas reserves along the Gaza-Israel coastline belong to Palestine.
The BG Group drilled two wells in 2000: Gaza Marine-1 and Gaza Marine-2. Reserves are estimated by British Gas to be of the order of 1.4 trillion cubic feet, valued at approximately 4 billion dollars. These are the figures made public by British Gas. The size of Palestine's gas reserves could be much larger.
map 1
map 2
Who Owns the Gas Fields
The issue of sovereignty over Gaza's gas fields is crucial. From a legal standpoint, the gas reserves belong to Palestine.
The death of Yasser Arafat, the election of the Hamas government and the ruin of the Palestinian Authority have enabled Israel to establish de facto control over Gaza's offshore gas reserves.
British Gas (BG Group) has been dealing with the Tel Aviv government. In turn, the Hamas government has been bypassed in regards to exploration and development rights over the gas fields.
The election of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in 2001 was a major turning point. Palestine's sovereignty over the offshore gas fields was challenged in the Israeli Supreme Court. Sharon stated unequivocally that "Israel would never buy gas from Palestine" intimating that Gaza's offshore gas reserves belong to Israel.
In 2003, Ariel Sharon, vetoed an initial deal, which would allow British Gas to supply Israel with natural gas from Gaza's offshore wells. (The Independent, August 19, 2003)
The election victory of Hamas in 2006 was conducive to the demise of the Palestinian Authority, which became confined to the West Bank, under the proxy regime of Mahmoud Abbas.
In 2006, British Gas "was close to signing a deal to pump the gas to Egypt." (Times, May, 23, 2007). According to reports, British Prime Minister Tony Blair intervened on behalf of Israel with a view to shunting the agreement with Egypt.
The following year, in May 2007, the Israeli Cabinet approved a proposal by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert "to buy gas from the Palestinian Authority." The proposed contract was for $4 billion, with profits of the order of $2 billion of which one billion was to go the Palestinians.
Tel Aviv, however, had no intention on sharing the revenues with Palestine. An Israeli team of negotiators was set up by the Israeli Cabinet to thrash out a deal with the BG Group, bypassing both the Hamas government and the Palestinian Authority:
"Israeli defence authorities want the Palestinians to be paid in goods and services and insist that no money go to the Hamas-controlled Government." (Ibid, emphasis added)
The objective was essentially to nullify the contract signed in 1999 between the BG Group and the Palestinian Authority under Yasser Arafat.
Under the proposed 2007 agreement with BG, Palestinian gas from Gaza's offshore wells was to be channeled by an undersea pipeline to the Israeli seaport of Ashkelon, thereby transferring control over the sale of the natural gas to Israel.
The deal fell through. The negotiations were suspended:
"Mossad Chief Meir Dagan opposed the transaction on security grounds, that the proceeds would fund terror". (Member of Knesset Gilad Erdan, Address to the Knesset on "The Intention of Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to Purchase Gas from the Palestinians When Payment Will Serve Hamas," March 1, 2006, quoted in Lt. Gen. (ret.) Moshe Yaalon, Does the Prospective Purchase of British Gas from Gaza's Coastal Waters Threaten Israel's National Security? Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, October 2007)
Israel's intent was to foreclose the possibility that royalties be paid to the Palestinians. In December 2007, The BG Group withdrew from the negotiations with Israel and in January 2008 they closed their office in Israel.BG website().
Invasion Plan on The Drawing Board
The invasion plan of the Gaza Strip under "Operation Cast Lead" was set in motion in June 2008, according to Israeli military sources:
"Sources in the defense establishment said Defense Minister Ehud Barak instructed the Israel Defense Forces to prepare for the operation over six months ago [June or before June] , even as Israel was beginning to negotiate a ceasefire agreement with Hamas."(Barak Ravid, Operation "Cast Lead": Israeli Air Force strike followed months of planning, Haaretz, December 27, 2008)
That very same month, the Israeli authorities contacted British Gas, with a view to resuming crucial negotiations pertaining to the purchase of Gaza's natural gas:
"Both Ministry of Finance director general Yarom Ariav and Ministry of National Infrastructures director general Hezi Kugler agreed to inform BG of Israel's wish to renew the talks.
The sources added that BG has not yet officially responded to Israel's request, but that company executives would probably come to Israel in a few weeks to hold talks with government officials." (Globes online- Israel's Business Arena, June 23, 2008)
The decision to speed up negotiations with British Gas (BG Group) coincided, chronologically, with the planning of the invasion of Gaza initiated in June. It would appear that Israel was anxious to reach an agreement with the BG Group prior to the invasion, which was already in an advanced planning stage.
Moreover, these negotiations with British Gas were conducted by the Ehud Olmert government with the knowledge that a military invasion was on the drawing board. In all likelihood, a new "post war" political-territorial arrangement for the Gaza strip was also being contemplated by the Israeli government.
In fact, negotiations between British Gas and Israeli officials were ongoing in October 2008, 2-3 months prior to the commencement of the bombings on December 27th.
In November 2008, the Israeli Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of National Infrastructures instructed Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) to enter into negotiations with British Gas, on the purchase of natural gas from the BG's offshore concession in Gaza. (Globes, November 13, 2008)
"Ministry of Finance director general Yarom Ariav and Ministry of National Infrastructures director general Hezi Kugler wrote to IEC CEO Amos Lasker recently, informing him of the government's decision to allow negotiations to go forward, in line with the framework proposal it approved earlier this year.
The IEC board, headed by chairman Moti Friedman, approved the principles of the framework proposal a few weeks ago. The talks with BG Group will begin once the board approves the exemption from a tender." (Globes Nov. 13, 2008)
Gaza and Energy Geopolitics
The military occupation of Gaza is intent upon transferring the sovereignty of the gas fields to Israel in violation of international law.
What can we expect in the wake of the invasion?
What is the intent of Israel with regard to Palestine's Natural Gas reserves?
A new territorial arrangement, with the stationing of Israeli and/or "peacekeeping" troops?
The militarization of the entire Gaza coastline, which is strategic for Israel?
The outright confiscation of Palestinian gas fields and the unilateral declaration of Israeli sovereignty over Gaza's maritime areas?
If this were to occur, the Gaza gas fields would be integrated into Israel's offshore installations, which are contiguous to those of the Gaza Strip. (See Map 1 above).
These various offshore installations are also linked up to Israel's energy transport corridor, extending from the port of Eilat, which is an oil pipeline terminal, on the Red Sea to the seaport - pipeline terminal at Ashkelon, and northwards to Haifa, and eventually linking up through a proposed Israeli-Turkish pipeline with the Turkish port of Ceyhan.
Ceyhan is the terminal of the Baku, Tblisi Ceyhan Trans Caspian pipeline. "What is envisaged is to link the BTC pipeline to the Trans-Israel Eilat-Ashkelon pipeline, also known as Israel's Tipline." (See Michel Chossudovsky, The War on Lebanon and the Battle for Oil, Global Research, July 23, 2006)
...& Voor de laatste twijfelaars zetten we nog dit laatste artikel erbij, zodat het zelfs voor een totaal gelobotomisserde chimpansee moet beginnen duidelijk te worden dat er nooit voldoende doden zullen kunnen vallen langs Palestijnse kant. Het is een heruitgave van het verhaal van de Noord en Zuid- Amerikaanse indianen die telkens weer op een verkeerde plaats een reservaat gekregen hadden... maar dus deze keer wonen de indianen in kwestie... in Gaza !!
...
From The Times - May 23, 2007
BG Group at centre of $4bn deal to supply Gaza gas to Israel
The British energy firm is set to agree terms of a $4bn, 15-year deal over gas discovered off the Gaza coast
Steve Hawkes and Sonia Verma in Jerusalem
BG Group is poised to agree the terms of an historic $4 billion (£2 billion) deal to supply Palestinian gas to Israel from a discovery off the Gaza coastline, The Times has learnt.
Representatives from the British energy company are scheduled next week to meet a team of negotiators chosen by the Israeli Cabinet to thrash out a 15-year contract. Despite the violence in Gaza, the Israeli Foreign Ministry has insisted that it wants to conclude a deal as soon as possible.
It would enable BG Group, the former owner of British Gas, to begin to develop an offshore field that is the Palestine Authoritys only natural resource. The move would mark an unprecedented milestone in Middle East relations. There would be enough gas to provide 10 per cent of Israels annual energy requirement, and the Palestinians would receive total royalties of $1 billion. Sources in the Middle East note that the sensitive talks could be derailed at any time by the acute political tension that surrounds the deal.
However, Nigel Shaw, the BG Group vice-president in the region, said: We are making progress. There are commercial issues to be completed and we also require bilateral agreement between the two governments to get this project across the line. But this is a chance for greater economic prosperity in Palestine and that is only good for peace.
The signing of heads of terms would mark an amazing turnaround, given the political and legal disputes that have dogged the project since BG Group discovered the Gaza Marine field in 2000. It holds one trillion cubic feet of gas, the equivalent of 150 million barrels of oil, equivalent to a large North Sea field.
Six years ago Ariel Sharon, the Israeli Prime Minister at the time, vowed that Israel would never buy gas from its neighbour. The project also was held up by a legal challenge in the Israeli Supreme Court to establish whether the Palestinians had any right to the discovery. Last year BG Group was close to signing a deal to pump the gas to Egypt before Tony Blair intervened and asked the company to give Israel a second chance. Three weeks ago the Israeli Cabinet approved a proposal by Ehud Olmert, the Israeli Prime Minister, to buy gas from the Palestinian Authority. The Cabinet recognised the need for new energy sources to feed Israels rapidly growing economy.
Under BG Groups plans, gas from the field would be transported by an undersea pipeline to the seaport of Ashkelon. Although Israeli insiders are confident of a deal,significant questions remain, not least how payments to the Palestinian Authority will be made. Israeli defence authorities want the Palestinians to be paid in goods and services and insist that no money go to the Hamas-controlled Government.
Gaza 2009 De zoveelste doodgewone oorlog of een nieuwe genocide ?!...
Is dit de zoveelste doodgewone oorlog of wordt dit dan toch de zoveelste genocide... Iets wat we van Israël zo 'n beetje mogen verwachten na al het vorige wat Israël al in haar ~"burger"~ (-)Oorlogen heeft uitgestoken... 't Is zo precies weer één van die oorlogen waar we met z'n allen lijdzaam gaan op toezien, zonder ook maar even een protesterende stem te laten horen of een concrete poot naar uit te steken ?!... Het wordt dus waarschijnlijk de zoveelste beschamende vuile oorlog waarbij we ons ~zoals de zoveel andere keren~ schokschouderend omdraaien & er ons weer eens weinig of niets van gaan aantrekken, want het is toch maar de zoveelste "ver-van-onze-bed-show" ?!... Kortom, wordt dit dan toch de zoveelste schandvlek op gebied van politieke moed ~& dan zeggen we zowel op nationaal als internationaal gebied~ omdat er teveel "andere grote belangen" op het spel staan ?!...
Wij vreesden er al voor & deze vrees wordt precies ook alleen maar bewaarheidt als we zo wat het nieuws volgen...
Als de internationaal erkende pers al niet ter plekke wordt toegelaten, dan zijn daar meestal ook goede redenen voor... Bijvoorbeeld omdat er zaken gebeuren, die maar beter het licht niet zien... lees : de wereldpers niet halen...
Laten we dus zo eens hier & daar ons oor te luisteren leggen & u konde doen van hoe 't er ginder ter plaatse in Gaza aan toe gaat...
...
donderdag 08 januari 2009
'Inwoners Gaza zijn kapot'
JERUZALEM - INTERVIEW EVELYN LERNOUT, HULPVERLEENSTER OXFAM Het Israëlische leger heeft gisteren drie uur lang een grenspost van Gaza opengesteld voor een hulpkonvooi. 'Natuurlijk verwelkomen we elke vooruitgang, maar in de praktijk is het resultaat beperkt', zegt Evelyn Lernout van Oxfam, in Jeruzalem. 'Er vallen nog altijd doden en gewonden, de hulp bereikt alleen mensen dichtbij de grensovergang, en de hele situatie in Gaza blijft een catastrofe. De mensen zijn kapot.'
Van onze redacteur
in Israel
foto hiernaast : Palestijnen in het vluchtelingenkamp van Jabaliya bidden voor enkele van de 43 doden die dinsdagavond vielen bij de Israëlische beschieting van een VN-school. epa
In het kantoor van de hulporganisatie Oxfam, in een buitenwijk van Jeruzalem, heerst frustratie na twaalf dagen oorlog in Gaza en achttien maanden van Israëlische blokkade die het offensief van vorige week voorafgingen. 'De situatie in Gaza was voordien al verschrikkelijk en nu is het breekpunt voor de bevolking ver gepasseerd', zegt Evelyn Lernout (30).
'De mensen zijn kapot. Er mogen nauwelijks hulpgoederen binnen, de inwoners hebben geen gas om te koken, geen zuiver water, en door de bombardementen vaak geen dak boven het hoofd. Geen enkele van onze drie lokale medewerkers woont nog in zijn eigen huis. En als er gewonden vallen, worden vaak ook de ambulances beschoten.'
Dinsdagavond bestookten Israëlische mortieren een school onder bestuur van de Verenigde Naties - volgens Israël waren er twee Hamasstrijders in de buurt, die samen met een veertigtal burgers werden gedood. Na de internationale verontwaardiging bleek de Israëlische regering bereid tot het instellen van een 'humanitaire corridor': drie uur per dag, van 13 tot 16 uur lokale tijd, moeten de wapens zwijgen en mogen hulpgoederen het omsingelde Gaza weer binnen.
'Natuurlijk verwelkomt Oxfam elke poging om de toegang van humanitaire hulp tot Gaza te verbeteren', zegt Lernout. 'Maar een bestand van drie uur per dag is onvoldoende. Wij vragen een onmiddellijk en volledig staakt-het-vuren, waarbij de Israëlische regering de toegang voor hulpgoederen moet faciliteren, niet beperken of controleren. De reële impact van zulke kortstondige maatregelen is beperkt, omdat het onveilig blijft om de burgers in Gaza echt te bevoorraden.'
'Gaza is bovendien doormidden gesneden door het Israëlische leger. Alleen zij die in de directe omgeving van de doorvoer- en distributiepunten wonen, geraken aan goederen. De meerderheid van de bevolking heeft geen directe toegang tot voedsel, medicijnen en andere essentiële goederen. Zij worden aan hun lot overgelaten. Er zitten mensen vast in het puin van hun huis, zonder enige hulp. Zolang de grensovergangen niet onmiddellijk en volledig worden geopend voor humanitaire hulp én hulpverleners, neemt de humanitaire crisis alleen verder toe.'
De noden van Gaza zijn volgens Lernout immens, en het feit dat de internationale hulporganisaties - net zoals buitenlandse journalisten - worden buiten gehouden door het Israëlische leger, bemoeilijkt de zaken verder. 'Wij werken met lokale medewerkers en partnerorganisaties, terwijl we zelf een uurtje verder in Jeruzalem zitten', zegt Lernout. 'Met onze lokale medewerkers hebben we alleen nog telefonisch contact. Het enige wat je kan vragen, is telkens weer: is iedereen OK? Is je familie veilig? En intussen hoor je op de achtergrond de schoten en de explosies.'
Voor de bombardementen bijna twee weken geleden begonnen, werden de noden van de bevolking van Gaza geschat op een aanvoer van 400 trucks met hulpgoederen per dag. 'Eergisteren heeft het Israëlische leger er veertig van de Verenigde Naties doorgelaten', zegt Lernout. 'In de maanden tevoren zelden meer dan honderd per dag.'
'Zelfs de trucks die worden binnengelaten, geraken nauwelijks verder dan de grensposten. De enige grenspost waar hulp door mag, is Kerem Shalom, helemaal in het zuiden. De aanvoerband voor graan via de grenspost Karni is gesloten, en de pijpleiding voor brandstof via Natal Oz is ook afgesloten. Stel dat de ziekenhuizen zonder elektriciteit en brandstof voor hun generatoren vallen, wat gebeurt er dan met couveuses en beademingstoestellen voor patiënten in intensive care? Intussen houden de gevechten niet op en blijven de gewonden toestromen. Zonder een onmiddellijk staakt-het-vuren en een complete toegang voor humanitaire hulp zijn de gevolgen niet te overzien.'
...& De al evenmin te verdenken Gazet van Antwerpen die sympathieën zou hebben voor...
...
08/01
Druk op Israël verhoogt nu dodentol snel groeit
Ondanks de korte periodes van staakt-het-vuren heeft Israël ook donderdag delen van de Gazastrook zwaar onder vuur genomen. Daardoor liep de dodentol al op boven 750. Ondertussen lijkt het er ook op dat Libanon zich in het conflict wil mengen. Enkele organisaties willen Israël aanklagen voor het plegen van oorlogsmisdaden. Ook het Rode Kruis uit zware kritiek op Israël.
De stad Rafah, vlak bij de Egyptische grens, werd het slachtoffer van tientallen luchtaanvallen. Het was vooral Israëls bedoeling om de lokale smokkeltunnels te vernietigen, die dienen om Hamas te bevoorraden.
Zuiden zwaar onder vuur
Aan de grensovergang Kisufim, richting de stad Khan Younis, zijn verschillende Israëlische tanks het zuiden van de Gazastrook binnengetrokken.
Volgens de laatste cijfers zouden bij de heropflakkering van het geweld nu al 763 Palestijnen en 11 Israeli's om het leven gekomen zijn. Meer dan 3000 mensen raakten gewond.
Rode Kruis kwaad
Opnieuw stierven tientallen burgers, waaronder vrouwen en kinderen. Volgens de hulpverleners wordt hun werk enorm bemoeilijkt door het optreden van de grondtroepen in het gebied. Onder meer het Internationale Rode Kruis schreeuwt moord en brand en wil ook dat de hulpverlening vlot kan verlopen los van de drie uur waarop er een staakt-het-vuren is.
Ook de VN voelt zich bedreigd door de Israëlische aanvallen nadat een VN-hulpkonvooi werd aangevallen. Daarbij kwamen twee mensen om het leven. Daarop besliste de VN om alle transporten van hulpgoederen voorlopig op te schorten.
Libanon
Ondertussen wordt Israël opnieuw zelf bestookt. Donderdagochtend zouden verschillende raketten afgevuurd zijn. Daarbij zouden geen doden gevallen zijn. Het radicale Hezbollah ontkent elke betrokkenheid. De wereld houdt nu zijn hart vast dat de oorlog zal uitbreiden naar Libanon. De Libanese regering heeft de beschieting vanop haar grondgebied alvast veroordeeld.
Oorlogsmisdaden
Volgens Raji Sourani, hoofd van het Palestijnse Centrum voor Mensenrechten (PCHR) in Gaza, heeft Israël oorlogsmisdaden gepleegd en zou het voor een internationaal rechtshof moeten vervolgd worden.
"De herhaalde bombardementen op duidelijk gemarkeerde civiele doelwitten waar burgers schuilden, overtreedt verschillende regels van het internationale recht", zegt Sourani. De gezant van de Palestijnse Autoriteit (PA) in Groot-Brittannië, Manuel Hassassian, heeft al laten weten dat de PA gerechtelijke stappen wil ondernemen tegen de Israëlische leiders die volgens haar verantwoordelijk zijn voor de oorlogsmisdaden in Gaza.
Hassassian had het met name over het Israëlische bombardement op een school van de Verenigde Naties in het vluchtelingenkamp Jabaliya, waarbij veertig Palestijnse burgers het leven lieten. De voorbije dagen werden nog verschillende andere scholen van de VN geraakt. Bij bombardementen woensdagmorgen vielen vier slachtoffers op een speelplaats nabij een moskee in Gaza-stad.
...& Ook de buitenlandse pers laat hetzelfde alarmbelletje horen... We beginnen bij de Washington Post...
...
At Gaza Hospital, Chaos and Desperation
Israel's Strategy Of Dividing the Strip Hinders Relief Efforts
By Sudarsan Raghavan and Reyham Abdel Kareem
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
foto hiernaast :A Palestinian girl injured in the Israeli assault is carried to Shifa Hospital, which as been overwhelmed by the number of dead and injured. (By Abid Katib -- Getty Images)
JERUSALEM, Jan. 5 -- Mohammed Alwan applied pressure to the wounds of the young man in a corridor of Gaza City's Shifa Hospital on Monday. Blood flowing from his body turned the surgeon's gloved hands crimson.
"Khalas," a voice said, Arabic for "It's over."
The doctor refused to give up. He pumped the man's chest, hoping to resuscitate him. A few minutes later, the man died.
"What can I say?" he said in a fatigued voice. "I have seen this scene many times. I've been here four days straight and I've yet to go home."
As Israeli tanks and infantry push deeper into Gaza, an already dire humanitarian situation has worsened. The Israeli government has imposed what Palestinians call a siege on the coastal strip -- restricting deliveries of food, medicine and other staples -- since Hamas took Gaza by force from the rival Fatah party in June 2007. On Monday, Israel's military strategy of dividing the strip in two further hampered Gazans ability to reach hospitals and relief efforts.
The air assaults and ground clashes have paralyzed much of what makes the strip of 1.5 million people work -- hospitals, water and power systems, markets and roads.
About 550 Palestinians have been killed and more than 2,500 have been reported wounded in the 10-day offensive; Palestinian health officials estimate that many of them -- between 24 and 30 percent -- are women and children. Most are at Shifa, Gaza's largest hospital.
Doctors there are working day and night on floors soaked with blood to help the rapidly mounting numbers of wounded. In the halls and corridors, screams and uncontrolled sobbing, along with the sounds of bombs and mortars, punctuate conversations.
"The numbers of killed and wounded are rising. Every minute we have a bombardment," said Hassan Khalaf, the director of Shifa Hospital. "The number of cases is overwhelming us. No hospital in the world can handle this."
It's become too dangerous for his staff to retrieve victims. Eleven members of his medical staff have been killed since the offensive began. "They were in ambulances," Khalaf said.
For the past three days, there has been no electricity. The hospital's emergency generators have been working around the clock. Even before then, when electricity was sporadic, the generators were working 16-hour-days. The hospital, he said, has only two days of fuel left.
"Electricity and communications are down over much of the strip both on account of lack of fuel and damage to critical infrastructure," said Maxwell Gaylard, the United Nations' humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories. "Over a million people are currently without power, and over a quarter million without running water, some for up to six days."
Khalaf said there are also shortages of medicines, medical tools, nitrogen for anesthesia, monitors -- nearly every item imaginable. Many essential staff members, especially nurses, have been unable to come to work, cut off by the fighting, Israeli tank positions and fear.
"Those in the middle of Gaza Strip could not come to work because the Israeli tanks have cut the strip into two pieces," Khalaf said.
Fawzi Nabulsia, the head of the hospital's intensive care unit, said he hasn't worked since the ground invasion began Saturday. He lives south of Gaza City near the former Israeli settlement of Nitzarim. Israeli forces are now in the area, blocking the road between his house and Gaza City, Nabulsia said.
"Maybe you can speak with the Israelis and ask them to allow me to go to hospital," he said over the telephone, his voice tinged with desperation. "We are in crisis."
Khalaf said hospital staffers who live north of the city, where some of the heaviest fighting and attacks have unfolded, are too fearful to leave their homes. "Moving along Gaza's streets is dangerous," he said.
Inside Shifa Hospital on Monday, its doctors struggled to cope. Imad Majdalawi had handled 20 operations in 24 hours. In virtually every case, he had to fix broken bones, treat burns and cuts, and stop bleeding. "The worse thing I saw was the burns," he said.
In one case, he wanted to send a patient who lost one of his eyes in an Israeli bombing to an eye hospital. But his request was turned down: the generator for the surgical theater in the hospital was needed to fuel the emergency room.
On Monday, he was treating Ghadeer, a 14-year-old girl whose hands were covered in gauze. Blood seeped through it. She was crying and shaking. Her mother and four brothers had been killed an airstrike. She didn't know this.
"I am cold. I can't move," Ghadeer moaned.
Majdalawi soothed her. "Don't worry Ghadeer. Everything will be fine."
But there was no anesthesia or even the appropriate scissors and thread to help Ghadeer. "We are leaving patients in pain," Majdalawi said.
A neurosurgeon, Rami al-Sousi, was engaged in a delicate operation to pull shrapnel from 5-year-old Salim al-Ar's head. The boy would survive. Sousi has two small children but he hasn't seen much of them in the past three days. Ninety percent of the patients he treated were civilians, he said.
"Yes, I'm tired. But I forget everything when I save lives," Sousi said.
A paramedic working for an Oxfam-funded organisation was killed today after an ambulance was hit by an Israeli-fired shell, the charity said.
The Palestinian, working for the Union of Health Work Committees, was killed in Gaza.
Another paramedic lost his foot and the ambulance driver was injured in the same incident.
The paramedic was trying to help evacuate an injured person in the Beit Lahiya area, when the shell struck the ambulance, Oxfam said.
The UN estimates over 100 civilians have been killed in Gaza over the past week although some other organisations believe the civilian death toll is significantly higher.
John Prideaux-Brune, Oxfam's Country Director for Israel and Palestine, speaking from Jerusalem said: "The incident shows yet again that trying to fight a military campaign in the densely populated streets and alleys of the Gaza Strip will inevitably lead to civilian casualties.
"There are no safe areas and Gazans who want to flee the fighting have been prevented from leaving the Strip."
The charity said that the Israeli ground offensive into Gaza is preventing urgently needed supplies of medicine, food, water, and fuel from reaching one and a half million Palestinian women, men and children.
Prideaux-Brune added: "Hospitals in Gaza are overflowing with dead and wounded while facing severe shortages of essential medical supplies and spare parts.
"Oxfam and local partners have had to suspend all our work, apart from emergency medical aid. Many of our colleagues in Gaza are trapped in their homes, and in fear of their and their families' lives. Others, such as the paramedic have lost their lives trying to save others.
"The trickle of humanitarian aid that Israel has sometimes allowed in through one border crossing at Kerem Shalom has been completely inadequate to meet the needs of 1.5 million people - 80% of whom are reliant on this aid.
"Since the start of the Israeli ground offensive, even that trickle has dried up. An immediate ceasefire is urgently needed to allow essential aid to reach those families who need it."
'Een tijdelijk bestand? Wij van Artsen Zonder Grenzen hebben er weinig van gemerkt. Voor ons maakte het geen verschil uit', zegt Jessica Pourraz aan de telefoon vanuit Gaza. Het Israëlische leger had aangekondigd dat het om de twee dagen gedurende enkele uren de wapens zou doen zwijgen om de humanitaire organisaties de kans te geven hun werk te doen. Gisteren om dertien uur (twaalf uur Belgische tijd) stopten de Israëli's met schieten en borgen ook de Palestijnse strijders even hun wapens op.
Volgens Jessica Pourraz van de internationale hulporganisatie Artsen Zonder Grenzen werd alleen in Gaza-Stad niet geschoten. 'Onder meer in het noorden zijn de Israëli's blijven bombarderen. De meeste gewonden die medische hulp nodig hebben, bevinden zich in de periferie. En uitgerekend daar werd nog geschoten.' Artsen Zonder Grenzen is er dan ook niet in geslaagd om de gewonden te bezoeken, laat staan hen naar het ziekenhuis in Gaza-Stad te brengen. 'Een bestand van drie uur heeft geen zin', zegt Pourraz. 'Het is veel belangrijker dat dokters de garantie krijgen dat ze gewonden kunnen bezoeken.'
Artsen Zonder Grenzen kon geen extra materiaal in Gaza krijgen. 'Er staan honderden vrachtwagens met hulpgoederen aan de grensovergangen te wachten. Maar de weg die in Gaza naar de grensovergangen leidt, werd gebombardeerd. Wij geraakten gewoonweg niet tot bij de vrachtwagens. Het was te gevaarlijk.'
De VN-organisatie die de Palestijnse vluchtelingen helpt (UNWRA), heeft 36 vrachtwagens over de grens gekregen. 'Ruim onvoldoende', zegt woordvoerder Chris Gunness aan de telefoon. Normaal passeren dagelijks 475 VN-trucks met hulpgoederen. 'Dit heeft geen zin. Israël bombardeert de mensen 21 uren per dag en dan laat het gedurende drie uur enkele hulpgoederen binnen.'
Een hooggeplaatste bron in Gaza is van mening dat het bestand niet meer is dan een manier om het gedeukte imago van Israël op te krikken. Israël kreeg veel kritiek nadat zijn leger dinsdag minstens dertig burgers had gedood bij een aanval op een school van de VN.
De inwoners van Gaza-Stad hebben tijdens het bestand hun gewonden in de ziekenhuizen bezocht en geprobeerd levensmiddelen in te slaan.
De woordvoerder van het Israëlische leger zei gisteren dat de 'humanitaire corridor' misschien wel elke dag open kan gaan. 'Alles hangt af van de veiligheid.'
...& Wat vinden we bij Artsen Zonder Grenzen hierover terug ?!...
...
08/01/2009
Tijdelijk staakt-het-vuren ontoereikend om hulp te bieden
Het militaire offensief in de Gazastrook treft burgers zonder onderscheid en medische teams blijven ernstige hinder ondervinden bij hun hulpverlening, zegt Artsen Zonder Grenzen. De organisatie stuurt een extra chirurgisch team.
De internationale gemeenschap mag niet tevreden zijn met een beperkt staakt-het-vuren, dat volgens Artsen Zonder Grenzen absoluut ontoereikend is om levensreddende hulp te bieden. Het Israëlische militaire offensief gaat door en het aantal slachtoffers naar schatting 600 doden en 2.950 gewonden in slechts 11 dagen neemt alarmerende proporties aan. Het toont aan hoe het extreme geweld burgers raakt.
Vandaag zijn anderhalf miljoen Palestijnen in de Gazastrook, waarvan de helft kinderen zijn, het slachtoffer van onophoudelijke beschietingen en bombardementen, zei Franck Joncret, landenverantwoordelijke van Artsen Zonder Grenzen. Hoe kan je nu geloven dat zon allesverpletterende aanval burgers zou sparen, die verhinderd worden te vluchten en die in zon dichtbevolkt gebied leven?
Het militaire offensief heeft terreur gezaaid bij de bevolking. Bewoners durven hun huizen niet meer uit om zich te laten verzorgen. Ook hulporganisaties lijden onder de onveiligheid. Palestijnse hulpverleners werden gedood en ziekenhuizen en ambulances zijn gebombardeerd.
De spoedafdelingen worden overrompeld door gewonde patiënten. De laatste tien dagen voerde het personeel van het Al Shifa ziekenhuis meer dan 300 operaties uit. De zes operatiekwartieren werken op volle capaciteit, met twee operaties tegelijk in elk kwartier, zegt dr. Cécile Barbou, medisch coördinator van Artsen Zonder Grenzen in Gaza. De Palestijnse chirurgen en het personeel zijn uitgeput. Ze kunnen het aantal patiënten amper aan. De meeste noodgevallen zijn patiënten met ernstige wonden en meerdere traumas, meestal aan de borstkas, de buik en het gezicht.
De teams van Artsen Zonder Grenzen in Gaza bestaan uit drie internationale en bijna 70 Palestijnse medewerkers. Zij proberen al sinds het begin van het offensief de Palestijnse medische structuren te ondersteunen en de gewonden te behandelen. Ze verdeelden medische noodvoorraden en medicijnen in verschillende ziekenhuizen die zonder materiaal dreigden te vallen. Momenteel behandelen 20 medewerkers van Artsen Zonder Grenzen mensen thuis en bezoeken ze dagelijks 40 mensen.
De onveiligheid is zo groot, dat onze bewegingsvrijheid en de mogelijkheid om medische hulp te bieden, extreem beperkt is, zegt Jessica Pourraz, terreinverantwoordelijke voor Artsen Zonder Grenzen in Gaza. We hebben onbeperkte toegang nodig om de gewonden de klok rond te verzorgen, en de burgerbevolking moet de ziekenhuizen kunnen bereiken.
Op vraag van artsen in het Al Shifa Ziekenhuis stuurt Artsen Zonder Grenzen een chirurgisch team (een chirurg, een anesthesist en een verpleegster), en een mobiel ziekenhuis met een operatiekwartier en een unit voor intensieve zorgen. Dat zal de capaciteit van het ziekenhuis vergroten. Artsen Zonder Grenzen hoopt de nodige toelatingen te verkrijgen om het team en het materiaal in de Gazastrook binnen te laten.
Het tijdelijke staakt-het-vuren zou misschien de toegang van gewonde patiënten tot de gezondheidsstructuren kunnen verbeteren, hulpverleners de kans geven zich te verplaatsen en transport van levensreddende voorraden toelaten (benzine, voedsel, medische voorraden en medicatie). Maar deze halve maatregelen zijn bedoeld om de internationale gemeenschap te sussen, en hebben geen impact op het geweld dat de bevolking ervaart, zegt dr. Marie-Pierre Allié, voorzitter van de Franse sectie van Artsen Zonder Grenzen.
Zaterdagavond zette het Israëlische leger in de Gazastrook een grondoffensief in dat tot vandaag in alle hevigheid doorgaat. De reeds uiterst kwetsbare burgerbevolking in de Gazastrook wordt hierbij het zwaarst getroffen. Zij kregen vorige week hevige luchtaanvallen te verduren waarbij reeds enkele honderden doden en gewonden vielen, waaronder ook vrouwen en kinderen. Tezelfdertijd blijven raketten vanuit Gaza ook de Israëlische burgerbevolking treffen in het zuiden van Israël.
Aanwezigheid van het Rode Kruis
Een chirurgenteam van het Internationale Comité van het Rode Kruis (ICRC) heeft groen licht gekregen van de Israëlische autoriteiten om de Gazastrook binnen te komen en zal de chirurgische staf van het Shifa hospitaal ondersteunen bij het behandelen van gecompliceerde kwetsuren. Tevens zijn Rode Kruis- en Rode Halve Maanvrijwilligers aan beide kanten van de grens dag en nacht in de weer met het evacueren van burgers, het opvangen van gewonden en het transporteren van de doden. Door de gevechten duurt het soms echter uren vooraleer de ziekenwagens van de PRHM de gewonden kunnen bereiken. Sommige gewonden sterven door het lange wachten op de ziekenwagens zegt Antoine Grand, hoofd van het ICRC in Gaza, dit is vanzelfsprekend ontoelaatbaar, de ziekenwagens moeten de gewonden onder alle omstandigheden snel kunnen bereiken.
Dankzij de voorafgaandelijke aanleg van noodstocks door het ICRC konden de meeste ziekenhuizen ook voorzien worden van generatoren, zuiver water, essentiële geneesmiddelen en medisch materiaal, maar de ziekenhuizen liggen overvol en de medische staf is uitgeput.
Watervoorziening in gevaar
Intussen komt ook de watervoorziening in het noorden van de Gazastrook in gevaar : door onderbreking van de stroomvoorziening vallen meerdere waterbevoorradingspunten in Gaza stad uit, en dreigt de bevolking van een half miljoen mensen op korte termijn van zuiver water verstoken te blijven indien de stroomvoorziening niet snel hersteld kan worden.
Bescherming van burgers
Het ICRC wijst alle betrokken partijen bij het conflict in Gaza op de regels vastgelegd in het internationaal humanitair recht die bescherming van burgers in een gewapend conflict voorschrijven. Ook blijft het ICRC de strijdende partijen aansporen om de hulpdiensten te ontzien en humanitaire hulp toegang te verlenen tot de getroffen gebieden.
...& Als extra ~om u toch enigszins inzicht te geven in de toestand van voor, tijdens & na...~ nog een korte reportage, gemaakt omstreeks de jaarwisseling over de humanitaire hulp aan Gaza die volgens Israël toch zo "probleemloos" verliep...
"Gaza Humanitarian Crisis That Israel Denies is Happening" duur : 7:21 minuten ...
...
Kortom... we mogen zo stilaan daarbij duidelijk spreken van "ONAANVAARDBARE RISICO'S VOOR BURGERS"... Weerloze vrouwen & kinderen waar Israël als 't er op aankomt weinig of géén rekening mee houdt...
"Rudi Vranckx in Sderot" duur : 3:05 minuten VRT-Journaal
...
...& Een getuigenverslag door Dr Mads Gilbert vanuit Gaza...
...& We vertalen hier eventjes een klein fragment voor onze Oost-Indische Doven & onze Selectieve Leesblinden !!
45 procent van de slachtoffers zijn volgens de arts uit Noorwegen vrouwen en kinderen. Veel mensen hebben zware brandwonden. Mensen gaan dood door gebrek aan medische faciliteiten !!
Volgens Mads Gilbert mogen er geen buitenlandse medische teams Gaza binnen omdat Israël deze tragedie ontkent !!
...& Een interview eerder met Dr Mads Gilbert vanuit Gaza...
"The Reality In Gaza" duur : 4:33 minuten ...
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Hoe lang nog ?!... & Hoeveel onschuldige slachtoffers zijn er nog nodig ?!...
Wij maken er anders wel geen punt van, om het allemaal bij deze nog eens uitdrukkelijk te herhalen !!
Gaza 2009 De "Digital Wargames" van Israël op YouTube...
Wij hadden zo intussen reeds enige tijd het donkerbruine vermoeden dat er nogal behoorlijk wat gemanipuleerd werd & wordt op het grote world wide internet... & jammer genoeg ook, eens temeer wat betreft Gaza. ...& Bij dit alles in het bijzonder spreken we dan hier over het u welbekende youtube !!
Israël is... & niet meer dan terecht, woedend dat Hamas tuigen afvuurt op de burgerbevolking, maar dat wil niet zeggen dat wat er nu ginds gebeurt, dit ook allemaal zo verantwoord. Wij noemen het "tuigen" omdat we die ~toch wel zeer primitieve~ dingen moeilijk kunnen beschouwen als raketten voor zover het gaat over die fameuse "qassamrockets". Dit neemt natuurlijk niet weg dat ook die knutseltuigen moordwapens zijn. In onze eerdere bijdrage(s) hebben we al uitgelegd hoe die dingen werken, maar sinds enige tijd wordt er ook beweerd dat Hamas Gradraketten zou afvuren. Wij durven natuurlijk niet twijfelen aan wat er door al die ernstige lieden wordt verteld... al willen we toch jullie een aantal dingen laten zien zodat jullie een eigen mening kunnen vormen... & aan dat laatste, daar houden wij nogal sterk aan.
Eerst & vooral.. wat is nu het verschil tussen een qassam & een grad ?!... De qassam moeten we niet meer uitleggen dachten we zo... & de gradraket is niet meer dan professioneel spul dat eigenlijk hier beter bekend staat onder de naam "stalinorgel". Het gaat natuurlijk over één zulke raket als we over een gradraket spreken. Hieronder kunnen jullie die in al hun glorie bewonderen:
Het hoeft dus geen al te grote &/of omslachtige uitleg, maar na de zoveelste "bewering" vroegen wij ons dus quasi onmiddellijk af hoe Hamas aan dit soort spul zou zijn geraakt... met lanceercamion &/of lanceerplatvorm, kortom tutti quanti ?!... Onmogelijk natuurlijk... Maar na wat speurwerk kwamen we er achter dat er toch een mogelijkheid bestaat om dat spul op een veel eenvoudiger manier af te vuren. Het gaat dan over een iets gewijzigde versie van dat stalinorgeltype.
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Weapons: The 9K132 Grad-P Rocket
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This latest conflict in Israel has highlighted an interesting weapon. Enter the 122 mm Grad Missile, or the 9K132 Grad-P rocket. Why is this different from the Kassam rockets and other homemade stuff? The range and lethality. It can go 20 plus kilometers and it is a factory made rocket. That means more Israeli deaths, and someone outside of the country is getting these things in. It could be Hezbollah, Syria, Iran (their Arash rocket-see article below), Egypt, Russia Who knows? But they have them, and they are using them. The most recent attacks were Grad rockets, and these longer range rockets were probably the tipping point(as well as just launching a massive amount of homemade missiles) for the recent activity. Just check out how many attacks have increased over the years.-Matt
Edit : According to news sources, these are Chinese made Grad rockets.
9K132 Grad-P(Wikipedia)
Single-round man-portable launcher, which can be reloaded and used again. The rocket itself is a 122mm fin-stabilized rocket, armed with any of the warheads used on BM-21 rockets. The weapon is not often used by the Russian military, but is popular with paramilitary and guerrilla force.
Egypt(Wikipedia)
The Egyptians domestically manufacture the rockets Sakr-36″ and Sakr-18″ with a respective range of 36 and 18 km. Rather than a standard HE-Frag round, the Egyptian military prefers a 23 kilogram cluster munition, which can be extremely effective against lightly armored equipment and troop concentrations. Both rockets, as well as the original Soviet models of course, are fired by locally manufactured rocket launchers like the RL-21 (copy of BM-11) and RC-21 (copy of BM-21, similar to the Hadid HM20). The Helwan Machine Tools Company also produces portable systems with one, three, four and eight launch tubes.
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The discovery of BM-21 components indicates that the Palestinians can now buy, or build, more accurate, and longer ranged, rockets. The 150 pound, 122mm Russian designed BM-21 rocket is nine feet long and has a range of 20 kilometers and a 45 pound warhead. Developed in the late 1930s, the 122mm rocket is normally fired in large numbers from many launchers at spread-out targets.Thats because the rockets are unguided. Aim lots of them at a target and youll hit something. Aim a few of them at something, and you usually wont, But the rockets are made by many countries, are relatively easy to get, and favored by terrorists for attacks that terrorize, rather than actually do any damage.
Well thats a matter of conjecture that rather than actually do any damage. If you believe that shit you havent been pounded by them.
An Egyptian company manufactures the BM-21, including a longer range version of the 122mm rocket. This one has a range of 45 kilometers. The additional range is achieved by reducing the size of the warhead. Another terrorist favorite is the is the 42 pound, 107mm, 33 inch long, Russian BM-12. This rocket has a range of about six kilometers and three pounds of explosives in its warhead. Normally fired, from a launcher, in salvoes of dozens at a time, when used individually, they can only be aimed at a large target, like a large village, or small town, with any expectation of hitting anything.
Islamic Jihad, the Palestinian terrorist group that is firing the rockets, says the BM-21s are Russian made, and of the 30 kilometer range variety.
9K132 Grad-P missile. Has a range of about 25 kilometers, payload of about 30 kilograms and the accuracy of /- a few kilometers. Pretty useless against modern military formations, but can kill a whole lot of random civilians if fired at, say, Tiberias. Or any of the kibbutzim, moshavim, villages and small towns around the Kinneret.
The timer-operated 9K132 Grad-P can be easily hidden in a loft, a garden, or just some bushes. It can be set to fire an hour or a month after it has been activated. The Syrian military has been stocking up on these lately (Russians were happy to provide them, even canceling Syrias tremendous debt to do so. Iran has their own variant, basically a mountless Arash missile with a modified launching mechanism) and training their slave-soldiers to operate these.
Notre: The article was originally written shortly after the capture of the ship Karin-A, however it is still very relevant, since it provides considerable information about the weapons the Palestinian terrorists could have accumulated in the Gaza strip.
On 6 May 2001 an IAF aircraft on routine patrol over the Mediterranean, spotted a suspicious vessel, named Santorini. Two Dabur patrol craft were sent to intercept the small (length 25 m, displacement 40 tonnes) ship, followed by two missile boats.
The missile boats intercepted the vessel in international waters, some tens of miles from the Israeli coast. Their crews noticed on the Santorinis deck a large number of plastic barrels of different sizes. A marine commando contingent of the IDF Navys Flotilla-13 (Shayetet-13′, Israels naval special forces unit) proceeded to board the vessel. The four crewmen aboard the Santorini did not attempt to resist the takeover. Upon inspection, the boarding party found the barrels filled with weaponry. The vessel was escorted to port at Haifa.
The investigation that followed revealed that the shipment had been purchased by Ahmed Jibrils Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command (PFLP-GC). Its value, including the price of the contraband delivery, was estimated at $10 million. The smugglers, who departed with the cargo from Tripoli, Lybia, were tasked with unloading the barrels-carefully sealed and waterproofed along with their contents-at a prearranged location off the Gaza coast, where they would be picked up by Palestinian Authority (PA) representatives.
The next day, 7 May 01, at 8:00 pm local time, a press conference was held on the matter in Haifa, with the participation of the Minister of Defense, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer and commander-in-chief of the IDF Navy, Maj-Gen.Yedidia Yaari. The latter denied any knowledge of recent attempts at smuggling contraband by sea. By the next day, however, the interrogation of the suspects revealed that they had made three such attempts in the past, two of which were successful.
Eight months later, on the morning of 2 Jan 02 a squadron of Dvora patrol craft (and possibly Dabur boats) and fast attack boats of Flotilla-13 departed Eilat. This time the operation-code-named Noahs Ark-was planned well in advance. The task was the takeover of the weapons-laden Karine A. The actual interception was preceded by months of intelligence activity, code-named Operation Milk and Honey (khalav u-dvash).
The patrol vessels are too small to carry the commando boats on board, so the latter traveled the entire distance covered in the operation on their own power, refueling several times from the patrol craft. The takeover of the Karine-A, which Flotilla-13 personnel executed in 8 minutes without firing a shot, occurred on the night of 3-4 Jan in international waters on the Red Sea, between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, about 500 km from Eilat. Part of the contingent was fast-roped onto the vessel from helicopters, while the rest boarded from the speedboats. The takeover and escort of the Karine-A back to Eilat was supported by IAF attack helicopters. The operation was 0commanded from an aerial platform by Brig-Gen (tat-aluf) Eli Merom, chief of naval operations (mispen yam), with IDF chief-of-staff Lt-Gen (rav-aluf) Shaul Mofaz also on board. Karine-A arrived in Eilat the evening of 4 Jan 02, the entire operation completed in less than 60 hours.
The same day, at 14:00, the IDF held a press conference (Shaul Mofaz, Yedidia Yaari, IAF commander-in-chief Maj-Gen (Aluf) Dan Halutz, and IDF spokesman Brig-Gen (Tat-Aluf) Ron Kitrey participating) making public the Karine-As takeover. The first photos (taken while the ship was still at sea) of the deadly cargo were released. Two days later, on 6 Jan 02 at 17:00, another press conference, this time with the Prime Minister and Defence Minister attending, was held at Eilat naval base. The captured armaments were made available for the inspection of foreign military attaches, diplomatic officials and reporters.
This time the catch was more substantial: over 50 tonnes (up to 70-80 T) of arms and ammunition. It was to have been delivered by Karine-A (length 97.4m, disp.4000 T, constructed 1979) through the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean off the Egyptian port of Alexandria, where it would be picked up and reloaded onto smaller craft. These were to deliver the payload, packed in 80 (83 according to certain sources) watertight containers, to the Gaza coast. A typical fishing vessel is capable of towing several such containers, with the added advantage that the containers in the rear would remain underwater. If the fishing boat were spotted by an Israeli patrol, the containers could be released and relocated later (with floating markers). The weaponry was hidden under a layer of civilian cargo (clothing, mattresses, suitcases, electronics, etc.)
The captain of the Karine-A was Omar Ashawi, a FATAH activist since 1976, Lt-Col in the PAs Naval Police, and its adviser on maritime affairs. Several other members of the Karine-As crew were Naval Police officers; the rest were Egyptian sailors, who may or may not have not known of the contraband aboard. Ashawis interrogation revealed that the vessel had been purchased by Adal Mugrabi, a representative of the PA. According to Ashawi, the deputy commander of the Naval Police, Fatkhi Gazem, and the PAs finance Fuad Shubaki, also participated in the operation, the latter charged with making payment for the cargo. The ships last run took it from the Jordanian port of Aqaba (neighboring Eilat) on 24 Sep 01, to an Iranian island in the Persian Gulf, where its cargo was loaded.
Further investigation revealed that the arms were purchased through Irans so-called Export Committee of the Islamic Revolution for $15 million. Payment was delivered via Lebanon through Hizballah middlemen. The civilian cargo used to smuggle the contraband was worth about $3 million, the ship itself about $400,000.
It has been reported that the IDF will make use of part of the confiscated materials (including sniper weapons and explosives) and destroy the rest. The vessel may be used by the IDF Navy for training purposes (but its mechanical condition was deemed questionable).
Armaments and Ammunition :
Santorini
Additional notes on Karine-A cargo:
* The shipment was so large that various items, such as RPG-7 rocket motors and AK magazines were not counted.
* A large part of the weaponry (mortars, anti-tank rockets, RPG-7 and motors) is of Iranian manufacture
* In addition to the Zodiac boats, a substantial quantity of diving equipment was present (diving suits, aqualungs, underwater illuminators).
* All mortar rounds and unguided rockets have impact fuse*
* All mortars and unguided rocket launchers were complete with aiming sights.
* In addition to the fuses in the mines, grenades, and rockets, the cargo included a large quantity of electric and mechanical fuse mechanisms of various types.
Rockets:
Arash. Analog to BM-21 Grad, Iranian manufacture.
Caliber: 122mm
Range: 20.75 km
Weight of rocket: 66.4kg
Warhead (WH): 19.18kg, high-explosive (HE)/fragmentation. Includes 6.4kg HE
Copy of Grad MLRS produced in China, Egypt, Rumania, South Africa, Iraq and Iran (?rash). Iranian variant is truck-mounted, with up to 30 launch tubes depending on model. Hizballah makes use of lighter trucks with 10 launch tubes, and of single launch tubes analogous to the Soviet 9K132 Grad-P (Partisan) system. Launchers intended for delivery to the PA were of the latter type.
Range depends on variant and warhead; data above is for BM-21OF (most common variant). Rocket is stabilized in flight by rotation and stabilizer fins, which open after launch.
Dit modelleke grad kan dus inderdaad afgevuurd worden op een eenvoudige manier & waarschijnlijk ook door 1 of 2 personen... Màààrrr... bekijk dat type dus eens heel goed & onthou ongeveer de grootte van de eigenlijke raket...
We gaan dan snel eventjes over naar de andere kant, namelijk naar het Israëlische leger die ons zéér boeiende beelden bezorgt van de slechterikken die Gradraketten aan het laden zijn. Jullie hebben dat ding nog steeds in jullie geheugen ?!...
Kijk maar :
"Israeli Air Force Strikes Rockets in Transit 28 Dec. 2008" duur : 2:42 minuten ...
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...& kijk... Goed als we zijn gunden we ze hier nog het voordeel van enige twijfel... Tót we het volgende filmpje onder ogen kregen... 't Is maar dat u enig idee heeft hoe deze oorlog in werkelijkheid uitgevochten wordt...
"B'Tselem questions Israeli account of attack - 1 Jan 09" duur : 2:37 minuten ...
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...& Al even veel last hebben we met het volgende filmpje ...
"Israel Air Force Pinpoint Strike on Grad Missile Launchers 30 Dec. 2008" duur : 0:40 minuten ...
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Volgens onze bescheiden mening gaat het hier toch wel duidelijk over veel grotere types raketten & wij hebben daarbij niet meteen het gevoel dat je zulke dingen door een onderaardse tunnel vanuit Egypte in Gaza kunt naar binnen wurmen... zeg nu zelf...
...& Nog het meest tot de verbeelding sprekende voorbeeld vonden we hier & we vragen daarbij uitdrukkelijk om beide fimpjes goed te bekijken. Wees gerust. Het is dus niet het spel van de 7 fouten. Alleeen de titeltjes & de commentaren werden "aangepast"
"Direct hit of qassam in Ashkelon" duur : 0:17 minuten ...
Op het eerste zicht lijken zulke dingen natuurlijk erg banaal. Ach, het is tenslotte een raket. Maar in werkelijkheid is het verschil tussen de in mekaar geknutselde qassamraketten & de pofessionele grad hemelsbreed, laat staan het resultaat van de impact van die dingen... & als je daarbij beseft dat Israël dit als excuus heeft gebruikt om te doen wat ze nu doen ?!...
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Tot slot & toch ook een beetje van kwestie van jullie enigszins met de neus op de feiten te drukken, over waar dit artikel over ging...
Ga zo ook maar eens een kijkje gaan nemen op "IDF Spokesperson's Unit", Israëls eigenste propagandakanaal op YouTube, of zeggen we misschien intussen op cynische wijze : MyTube ?!...
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IDF Spokesperson's Unit
idfnadesk
Lid geworden: 29 december 2008
Laatste aanmelding: 50 minuten geleden
Bekeken video's: 37
Abonnees: 13793
Kanaal aantal keren bekeken: 1036684
The IDF Spokesperson's Unit is the Israel Defense Forces' professional body responsible for media and public relations in Israel and around the world. This is our new site that will help us do so.
We thank you for visiting us and will continue to update this site with documentation of the IDF's humane action and operational success in Operation Cast Lead.
Sta ons toe dat we daar zo onze vragen bij hebben...
...& Nog zo'n voorbeeld hiervan. We zijn trouwens ook niet de enigen die dat zeggen &/of beweren...
"Oorlogsbloggers op het internet" duur : 1:52 minuten VRT-Journaal
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Zo vonden we ook bij De Standaard ONLINE het vrij verhelderende filmpje : Digitale media zijn de nieuwste wapens met volgende comment, dat daar misschien enig antwoord op kan geven...
05/01/2009 Israëlis en Palestijnen bestoken elkaar niet alleen met bommen. Ze gebruiken ook steeds meer het internet en telefonie om elkaar te treffen. De digitale media zijn de nieuwste wapens met het internet als ultieme oorlogsfront, zegt KU Leuven-professor communicatietechnologie Dirk De Grooff.
Wij blijven ons zo de vraag stellen of het geweld dat er op dit moment ginder gebruikt wordt, verhoudingsgewijs staat tot waar het in dit geval allemaal over begon ?!...
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...& Wat denken jullie nu zèlf hiervan ?!... In plaats van zonder enige twijfel aan te nemen, van wat men her en der in de kranten zoal vertelt ?!...
Gaza 2009 White Phosphorus - 's mens grootste smeerlapperij !!
Heeft u enig idee hoe een slachtoffer van witte fosfor ~White Phosphorus~ er uit ziet ?!...
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A Vietnam War Remnants Museum photo of a victim of a white phosphorus bomb
Volgens ons behoeft deze foto géén enkele commentaar... buiten misschien "verbijsterend barbaars" !! Wat u hier net kwam te zien was een slachtoffer van de Vietnam-Oorlog die in de jaren 60-tig & 70-tig werden uitgevochten... Intussen enkele decenia verder & 'n ietsje verder "gespecialiseerd" ziet het er niet veel anders uit...
...een eerste toelichting...
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White Posphorus used in Operation Silence
Posted by Teeth Maestro
July 14, 2007
On 12th July, AAJ Tv boradcasted a program of Live with Talat in which Talat Hussain visited Jamia Hafsa. While touring the bullet ridden compound a number of military personal hovered around, at a certain point Talat Hussain asked an accompanying Army personal about all the evidence of smoke around the area asking, Why is there so much smoke?, the solider replied WP, Talat put another question Please explain WP?, the solider answered White Phosphorus.
White Phosphorus is a flare / smoke producing incendiary weapon which is also used as an offensive Anti-Personnel flame compound capable of causing serious burns or death. White phosphorus weapons are controversial today because of its potential use against humans, for whom one-tenth of a gram is a deadly dose and according to the Geneva Convention which was later amended by the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons signed into effect in 1997, expressively prohibits the use against civilians. White Phosphorus weapons have been used in the recent past by Israel in Lebanon and US and UK in Iraq, but probably the first time ever by a an army against its own people
Article 1 of Protocol III of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons
defines an incendiary weapon as any weapon or munition which is primarily designed to set fire to objects or to cause burn injury to persons through the action of flame, heat, or combination thereof, produced by a chemical reaction of a substance delivered on the target. The same protocol also prohibits the use of incendiary weapons against civilians or in civilian areas. However, the use against military targets outside civilian areas is not explicitly banned by any treaty.
There continues to be a strong debate on how Musharraf should have handled this situation, but what surprises me is the inhumanity of this attack, dexterity of the assault should have meant targeted exchange of fire maybe an occasional rubber bullet to pacify the milder militants, but the indiscriminate use of chemical weapons, by the National Army against its own people. Is jaw dropping serious, its akin to the mass murder which happened in Karachi on May 12th when the Army headed off to the barracks leaving the city at the hands of ruthless killers for six hours..
To understand the gravity of the situation one has only to look at these two images of burnt bodies the sight is excruciatingly painful, when the Americans used White Phosphorous on the victims in Fallujah back in April 2004.
If you look at the top most image which appeared in Dawn on 13th July (link) one sees the classic signs of a high intensity flame, which reached astounding temperatures to melt the steel framework of ceiling fans, one must also noted that the public was not shown the remains of numerous people killed in the disaster and quickly buried them in concealed wooden coffins the next day.
I am shocked and stunned at what has just happened, it should be enough for the world to wake up and ask for an unconditional removal of the dictator
Voelt u zich nog goed bij dit alles ?!... Wij dus niet !!...
Als we onze eigenste Belgistaanse pers mogen geloven, gebruikt Israël op dit eigenste moment fosformunitie & clusterbommen in Gaza tegen Hamas... & het staat dachten we daarbij buiten kijf dat de complete civiele bevolking van Gaza daar ook slachtoffer van is... Mannen, vrouwen... kinderen... ongeacht !!
"Nachtelijke beschietingen in Gaza" duur : 0:30 minuten VRT-journaal
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De feeërieke vuurregen die u zonet in het korte beeldfragment uit de lucht zag vallen is géén kerst- of nieuwjaarsvuurwerk... maar is wel degelijk witte fosfor !!
"White Phosphorus 0001" duur : 0:49 minuten ...
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Owwww... u betwijfelt dit alles ?!...
Test van een fosforbom tot ontploffing gebracht boven de USS Alabama BB-8, September 1921.
An alleged White phosphorous shell fired by the Israeli military explodes in the northern Gaza Strip -
Saturday 3 January 2009 -
...& wat het goedje veroorzaakt :
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'Special Weapons' Have a Fallout on Babies in Fallujah
17 june,2008
The new cases, and the number of deaths among children, have risen after "special weaponry" was used in the two massive bombing campaigns in Fallujah in 2004.
After denying it at first, the Pentagon admitted in November 2005 that white phosphorous, a restricted incendiary weapon, was used a year earlier in Fallujah.
In addition, depleted uranium (DU) munitions, which contain low-level radioactive waste, were used heavily in Fallujah. The Pentagon admits to having used 1,200 tons of DU in Iraq thus far.
Many doctors believe DU to be the cause of a severe increase in the incidence of cancer in Iraq, as well as among US veterans who served in the 1991 Gulf War and through the current occupation.
"We saw all the colors of the rainbow coming out of the exploding American shells and missiles," Ali Sarhan, a 50-year-old teacher who lived through the two US sieges of 2004 told IPS. "I saw bodies that turned into bones and coal right after they were exposed to bombs that we learned later to be phosphorus.
"The most worrying is that many of our women have suffered loss of their babies, and some had babies born with deformations."
"I had two children who had brain damage from birth," 28-year-old Hayfa` Shukur told IPS. "My husband has been detained by the Americans since November 2004 and so I had to take the children around by myself to hospitals and private clinics. They died. I spent all our savings and borrowed a considerable amount of money."
Shukur said doctors told her that it was use of the restricted weapons that caused her children`s brain damage and subsequent deaths, "but none of them had the courage to give me a written report."
"Many babies were born with major congenital malformations," a pediatric doctor, speaking on condition of anonymity, told IPS. "These infants include many with heart defects, cleft lip or palate, Down`s syndrome, and limb defects."
The doctor added, "I can say all kinds of problems related to toxic pollution took place in Fallujah after the November 2004 massacre."
Many doctors speak of similar cases and a similar pattern. The indications remain anecdotal, in the absence of either a study, or any available official records.
The Fallujah General Hospital administration was unwilling to give any statistics on deformed babies, but one doctor volunteered to speak on condition of anonymity -- for fear of reprisals if seen to be critical of the administration.
"Maternal exposure to toxins and radioactive material can lead to miscarriage and frequent abortions, still birth, and congenital malformation," the doctor told IPS. There have been many such cases, and the government "did not move to contain the damage, or present any assistance to the hospital whatsoever.
"These cases need intensive international efforts that provide the highest and most recent technologies that we will not have here in a hundred years," he added.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) expressed concern Mar. 31 about the lack of medical supplies in hospitals in Baghdad and Basra.
"Hospitals have used up stocks of vital medical items, and require further supplies to cope with the influx of wounded patients. Access to water remains a matter of concern in certain areas," the ICRC said in a statement.
A senior Iraqi health ministry official was quoted as saying Feb. 26 that the health sector is under "great pressure", with scores of doctors killed, an exodus of medical personnel, poor medical infrastructure, and shortage of medicines.
"We are experiencing a big shortage of everything," said the official, "We don`t have enough specialist doctors and medicines, and most of the medical equipment is outdated.
"We used to get many spinal and head injures, but were unable to do anything as we didn`t have enough specialists and medicines," he added. "Intravenous fluid, which is a simple thing, is not available all the time." He said no new hospitals had been built since 1986.
Iraqi Health Minister Salih al-Hassnawi highlighted the shortage of medicines at a press conference in Arbil in the Kurdistan region in the north Feb. 22. "The Iraqi Health Ministry is suffering from an acute shortage of medicines...We have decided to import medicines immediately to meet the needs."
He said the 2008 health budget meant that total expenditure on medicines, medical equipment and ambulances would amount to an average of 22 dollars per citizen.
But this is too late for the unknown number of babies and their families who bore the consequences of the earlier devastation. And it is too little to cover the special needs of babies who survived with deformations.
...& Als u dacht het allemaal gezien te hebben, als u nog twijfelt over wat de effecten van deze onmenselijke smeerlapperij zijn, dan kunnen we u alsnog aanraden om naar volgende documentaire te kijken. Daar krijgt u het naaldje voor draadje uitgelegd... & voor eenmaal vinden wij het ontzettend jammer dat we u de geur ervan niet kunnen bijleveren, kwestie dat het even in uw geheugen zou doorbranden zodat u zulks nooit vergeet !!
The hidden massacre
by Sigfrido Ranucci
Produced by Italian state broadcaster RAI TV, the documentary charges U.S. warplanes illegally dropped white phosphorus incendiary bombs on civilian populations, burning the skin off Iraqi victims. One U.S. soldier charges this amounts to the U.S. using chemical weapons against the Iraqi people.
_1921.jpg/300px-USS_Alabama_(BB-8)_1921.jpg)
