GAZA RESISTS U.S.-backed Israeli terror
November 20, 2012
By Gene Clancy and Deirdre Griswold
Nov. 19 — Israel has launched another brutal military attack on the
Palestinian people living in Gaza, a small, densely populated strip of land
that houses 1.7 million people. Once again, Israel has the complete backing of
the U.S. government, which for decades has bankrolled the Zionist settler state
and its military, enabling their many assaults on the Arab and Muslim peoples
of the oil-rich region.
Protest in New York City’s
Times Square Nov. 18 as Israel
masses tanks and troops on Gaza border.
photo: G. Dunkel
|
Gilad Sharon, a major in the Israeli army and son of former Israeli prime
minister Ariel Sharon, wrote in the Nov. 18 Jerusalem Post: “We need to
flatten entire neighborhoods in Gaza. Flatten all of Gaza.” He justified
this by comparing Gaza to Nagasaki, where the U.S. dropped the atomic bomb at
the end of World War II, killing at least 75,000 people.
Israel has launched hundreds of missile and air strikes into Gaza since Nov.
14. Its most recent targets have been media offices and vehicles. Israeli
strategists don’t want the world to see heart-wrenching images of what
they have done, like the photo of a grief-stricken father carrying his dead
11-month-old son, the victim of a U.S.-made Israeli “smart bomb.”
Jihad Misharawi, an employee of BBC Arabic, not only lost his young son, Omar.
His sister-in-law was killed and his brother was seriously injured when their
house was struck in the Israeli attack.
For days, the Israeli military propaganda machine has been pumping out
images and commentary bragging about “surgical strikes” and killing
Hamas’ top military commander, Ahmed Said Khalil al-Jabari, at the
beginning of this new onslaught.
The U.S. capitalist-owned media focus mostly on the few casualties in
southern Israel caused by missiles fired from Gaza. When the destruction and
death caused by Israeli air and missile strikes are shown, they rarely get
equal coverage. The casualty figures, however, tell the real story: Palestinian
deaths and injuries are 10 times those of Israelis. As of Nov. 19, the dead in
Gaza numbered 91 and the wounded 700. Israel reports three people killed and 79
wounded by Hamas rockets.
Despite Israel’s overwhelming military advantage, the impoverished
people of Gaza have not been cowed by these latest attacks. They continue to
support Hamas, which is demanding that Israel end its five-year blockade of
Gaza and pledge not to attack again. Hamas is also demanding multinational
guarantees that Israel will abide by its commitments. In the meantime, Hamas
says it will continue launching rockets into Israel, including a newer
generation that can reach as far as Tel Aviv, Israel’s capital.
News reports on funerals for Gazans killed in the attacks describe a
passionate determination to continue the struggle rather than surrender to
Israeli terror — like the murder of a 13-year-old Palestinian by an
Israeli military vehicle. It was when Palestinians responded by attacking the
vehicle that Israel claimed the right to revive its criminal policy of
“targeted assassination” and launched its deadly assault on Gaza
City.
The condemnation of these deadly outrages has been swift and worldwide.
Demonstrations against Israel and in solidarity with the Palestinian people in
Gaza are taking place on every continent.
As thousands demonstrated in Cairo’s Tahrir Square in support of Gaza,
Egypt recalled its ambassador to Israel and sent Prime Minister Hisham Kandil
to Gaza to offer Egypt’s solidarity.
Arab politicians used to collaborating with U.S. imperialism have been put
on the spot by the mass reaction to Israel’s aggression. Iraq’s
representative to the Arab League, Qais al-Azzawy, called on Arab states to use
oil as a weapon to put pressure on the U.S. and Israel.
Even Jordan’s King Abdullah cancelled a trip to Britain amid fears
that his country could be the next to experience the Arab Spring’s
demands for change. Protesters had packed the streets of Amman, the capital,
demanding an end to the monarch’s rule. The cancellation followed
protests in solidarity with Palestine but also opposing a hike in gasoline
prices. At least one protester was killed and 75 injured.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdoðan, who has joined the
imperialist-supported attacks on Syria, told the truth when he called Israel a
terror state after its assault on Gaza.
The Palestinian people have every right to return to historic Palestine, but
they are banned from doing so by a murderous regime of settlers who have come
primarily from Europe and the U.S. and who every year encroach further on their
lands.
The Palestinian people have every right to defend themselves against
Israel’s military onslaught and economic strangulation. Now is the time
to support their heroic determination to stand up against U.S./Israeli terror
in the Middle East.
photo: Betsey Piette
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Philadelphia: Gaza assault protested
By Betsey Piette
November 20, 2012
The U.S.-backed Israeli attacks on Gaza were protested by outraged activists
outside the Philadelphia Israeli Consulate at rush hour on Nov 16. An earlier
protest took place at noon.
