71 Palestinians dead in two days. Half were civilians. (A third were children? (More accurately, a third of the first 55 reported deaths were children))
The violence continued into Sunday. 8 more Palestinians were killed in Israel's continued ground and air assault of Gaza.
The international outcry -- that is from citizens of the world in general, and leadership in the south/third world -- is, as always, uniformly against Israel's illegal operation, and the wanton killing of civilians and children etc. But more importantly, at least as far as the leadership of of Israel is concerned -- when you start massacring this many people in such a blatant fashion, there starts to be tiny rumbles from the White House and the EU. So when the newswires report that there's "international outcry," they mean that other like-minded war criminals like Israeli PM Olmert, are a little too uncomfortable with having to explain away these acts of state terror. Other times, like everyday, the real International Community is absolutely reeling from the illegal, 40-year occupation of Gaza, West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the continual land grabs, extra-judicial killings, and outright massacres that happen therein.
So the White House issued a statement: "The violence needs to stop and the talks need to resume." It's as if 'violence' is what afflicts the peoples of the Middle East. No condemnation for the perpetrators is attached, because we all know who we're not allowed to blame and who we are allowed to blame.[1]
BTW, The death toll for the past three months in the fighting now stands at 305 people. 3? of that 305 are Israelis. Two soldiers killed in the incursion into Occupied Palestinian Territory (isn't that supposed to be a sovereign state by now as per UN 242 and the will of the "international community" [U.S.]?), and one woman killed in Sderot from a falling Qassam -- the first death of its kind in nine months.
On the subject of 71 Palestinian deaths vs. 2 Israeli deaths, PM Olmert pledged that the incursion will continue. As he, and Defense Minister Barak have said in previous days, the deaths resulting from Israeli attacks are actually the fault of Hamas, and those firing Qassam rockets. It seems thus that both will be able to shrug off the deaths, and get over it for the remainder of their courageous invasion. However, if a judgment is every rendered by the World Court, they might not take the massacre with as much bravado.
Similar logic was employed a few days ago by Deputy Defense Minister Vilnai, when he threatened a 'shoah' upon the Gazan people if Qassam fire continues. The word 'shoah' literally means holocaust or disaster, but has in recent history been used solely to refer to THE HOLOCAUST. There was some backpedaling by Mr. Vilnai's PR people, that 'shoah' can be used to mean things other than the big H... But when you say 'shoah', everyone knows what you mean. And it's hypocritical considering how Israel's leaders and their cheerleaders in the U.S. have silenced any comparison between The Holocaust and other genocides as being 'anti-semitic'.
There was much ado about the usage of this no-no word, but that's a sideshow. The real issue is that an Israeli official threatened a holocaust on a people. As the U.N. Charter states: "The threat or the use of force" is a war crime. That's obviously something that neither Israel nor the U.S. has taken very seriously -- the most recent illustration being threats against Iran, which continue even from the leading Democratic Pres. candidates. So nothing new there. But worth considering if you think international laws ought to be applied equally.
Comparisons between Israeli crimes in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and those of the Nazis in East and West Europe have been longstanding. Most recently, the walled in, and besieged Gaza has been called a Warsaw Ghetto. Now that the Nazi analogy has been made by decree from an Israeli official, it seems that the floodgates have opened, and officials from Hamas, Fatah, and Saudi Arabia are now calling this latest incursion on Saturday and Sunday 'a holocaust' in addition to the less inflammatory and legal definition -- which is apt: "war crimes".[2]
The gravity of the most violent days since the beginning of the uprising in 2000 are relatively diminished in U.S. media, obscured by the farcical presidential debates. However, the issue is at the forefront in Israel, and while now it is still small, the peace movement within Israel (or Leftists as they're generally referred to in the press there) are out on the streets. They were protesting in front of the defense ministry in Tel Aviv on Sunday night.
Demonstrators held up signs expressing hope: "[Don't] despair Gaza, we'll end the occupation" and "Don't worry Ehud [Olmert], Bush will be meeting you at The Hague."[3]
1. Just ask Barak Obama, who in January, before Gazans blew up the wall at Rafah, sent the US's UN Ambassador a letter, to veto a resolution to end the siege, because " All of us are concerned about the impact of closed border crossings on Palestinian families. However, we have to understand why Israel is forced to do this... Israel has the right to respond while seeking to minimize any impact on civilians." And his critics say he's not tough on terror. Well I guess they're right, in a way, since he effectively condones Israeli terror against Palestinians.
2. http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080302/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictgazasaudi
3. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3513953,00.html
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