His comments were the clearest indication yet that Israel was preparing a possible Gaza offensive which could result in heavy casualties on both sides and fuel a humanitarian crisis.

Israeli political sources said Olmert's security cabinet approved a "staged" military escalation, beginning with air strikes against a wider range of Hamas targets in the densely-populated enclave.

A large-scale operation has yet to be authorised but could get a green light depending on Hamas's response, the sources said.

In Gaza, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said Israel would "pay the price" for any attack.

Olmert told Al Arabiya television, an Arab broadcaster widely watched in Gaza: "I didn't come here to declare war." "But Hamas must be stopped -- that is the way it is going to be. I will not hesitate to use Israel's might to strike Hamas and (Islamic) Jihad. How? I will not go into details now," Olmert said, according to a statement issued by his office.

Olmert has resisted calls within Israel for a major military operation against Hamas, but rocket and mortar fire from the coastal enclave since a six-month truce brokered by Egypt expired last week has increased pressure on him to act.

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, a leading candidate to replace Olmert in a Feb. 10 election, held emergency talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, in Cairo, who cautioned against an escalation.

Rocket fire 'unbearable'

Livni said Hamas had to pay for "unbearable" rocket fire, declaring: "Enough is enough."

Adding to the sabre-rattling, army chief Gabi Ashkenazi said Israel would have to act with "all our force to hurt the terrorist infrastructure and change the security reality".

In a sign any fighting with Gaza ran the risk of igniting a wider war, Lebanese troops dismantled eight rockets set up for launch at Israel in a border village. Israel fought an inconclusive war with Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon in 2006.

Egypt appealed to Hamas leaders after the talks with Livni "to calm the situation so as to avoid an Israeli military escalation", a Palestinian official said in Gaza.

In response to world appeals and a reduction in rocket fire from Gaza, Israel agreed later to let about 100 trucks carrying food, humanitarian aid, grain and animal feed travel into Gaza on Friday through two crossings, officials on both sides said.

Israel has tried to weaken Islamist Hamas by keeping the Gaza Strip's border crossings closed, increasing hardship for the territory's 1.5 million residents. But there is little doubt that Hamas has control and can counter internal challenges.

Since the ceasefire ended on Friday, more than 200 rockets and mortar shells have been fired at Israel, causing damage but few injuries, the Israeli army said. In the same period, six Gaza militants have been killed in Israeli attacks.

But rocket fire from Gaza declined to 16 launches on Thursday, from dozens the day before.

In the Al Arabiya interview, Olmert issued what amounted to a public call to Gazans to overthrow their Hamas leaders to prevent an escalation with Israel.

I'm telling them now. It may be the last minute. I'm telling them. Stop it. We are stronger. There will be more blood there. Who wants it? We don't want it," Olmert said.

Olmert questioned whether Hamas's stance was consistent with Islam. "Is the spirit of Islam to kill innocent children, to fire rockets at kindergartens and civilians? I don't think that is the spirit of Islam," Olmert said.

http://smokingmirrors.blogspot.com/2008/12/its-holiday-celebration-for-synagogue.html - http://smokingmirrors.blogspot.com/2008/12/its-holiday-celebration-for-synagogue.html

Robert Fisk: Leaders lie, civilians die, and lessons of history are ignored

Monday, 29 December 2008

Reuters

A Palestinian woman walks past a destroyed Hamas police compound after an Israeli air strike

We've got so used to the carnage of the Middle East that we don't care any more � providing we don't offend the Israelis. It's not clear how many of the Gaza dead are civilians, but the response of the Bush administration, not to mention the pusillanimous reaction of Gordon Brown, reaffirm for Arabs what they have known for decades: however they struggle against their antagonists, the West will take Israel's side. As usual, the bloodbath was the fault of the Arabs � who, as we all know, only understand force.

Ever since 1948, we've been hearing this balderdash from the Israelis � just as Arab nationalists and then Arab Islamists have been peddling their own lies: that the Zionist "death wagon" will be overthrown, that all Jerusalem will be "liberated". And always Mr Bush Snr or Mr Clinton or Mr Bush Jnr or Mr Blair or Mr Brown have called upon both sides to exercise "restraint" � as if the Palestinians and the Israelis both have F-18s and Merkava tanks and field artillery. Hamas's home-made rockets have killed just 20 Israelis in eight years, but a day-long blitz by Israeli aircraft that kills almost 300 Palestinians is just par for the course.

The blood-splattering has its own routine. Yes, Hamas provoked Israel's anger, just as Israel provoked Hamas's anger, which was provoked by Israel, which was provoked by Hamas, which ... See what I mean? Hamas fires rockets at Israel, Israel bombs Hamas, Hamas fires more rockets and Israel bombs again and ... Got it? And we demand security for Israel � rightly � but overlook this massive and utterly disproportionate slaughter by Israel. It was Madeleine Albright who once said that Israel was "under siege" � as if Palestinian tanks were in the streets of Tel Aviv.

By last night, the exchange rate stood at 296 Palestinians dead for one dead Israeli. Back in 2006, it was 10 Lebanese dead for one Israeli dead. This weekend was the most inflationary exchange rate in a single day since � the 1973 Middle East War? The 1967 Six Day War? The 1956 Suez War? The 1948 Independence/Nakba War? It's obscene, a gruesome game � which Ehud Barak, the Israeli Defence Minister, unconsciously admitted when he spoke this weekend to Fox TV. "Our intention is to totally change the rules of the game," Barak said.

Exactly. Only the "rules" of the game don't change. This is a further slippage on the Arab-Israeli exchanges, a percentage slide more awesome than Wall Street's crashing shares, though of not much interest in the US which � let us remember � made the F-18s and the Hellfire missiles which the Bush administration pleads with Israel to use sparingly.

Quite a lot of the dead this weekend appear to have been Hamas members, but what is it supposed to solve? Is Hamas going to say: "Wow, this blitz is awesome � we'd better recognise the state of Israel, fall in line with the Palestinian Authority, lay down our weapons and pray we are taken prisoner and locked up indefinitely and support a new American 'peace process' in the Middle East!" Is that what the Israelis and the Americans and Gordon Brown think Hamas is going to do?

Yes, let's remember Hamas's cynicism, the cynicism of all armed Islamist groups. Their need for Muslim martyrs is as crucial to them as Israel's need to create them. The lesson Israel thinks it is teaching � come to heel or we will crush you � is not the lesson Hamas is learning. Hamas needs violence to emphasise the oppression of the Palestinians � and relies on Israel to provide it. A few rockets into Israel and Israel obliges.

Not a whimper from Tony Blair, the peace envoy to the Middle East who's never been to Gaza in his current incarnation. Not a bloody word.

We hear the usual Israeli line. General Yaakov Amidror, the former head of the Israeli army's "research and assessment division" announced that "no country in the world would allow its citizens to be made the target of rocket attacks without taking vigorous steps to defend them". Quite so. But when the IRA were firing mortars over the border into Northern Ireland, when their guerrillas were crossing from the Republic to attack police stations and Protestants, did Britain unleash the RAF on the Irish Republic? Did the RAF bomb churches and tankers and police stations and zap 300 civilians to teach the Irish a lesson? No, it did not. Because the world would have seen it as criminal behaviour. We didn't want to lower ourselves to the IRA's level.

Yes, Israel deserves security. But these bloodbaths will not bring it. Not since 1948 have air raids protected Israel. Israel has bombed Lebanon thousands of times since 1975 and not one has eliminated "terrorism". So what was the reaction last night? The Israelis threaten ground attacks. Hamas waits for another battle. Our Western politicians crouch in their funk holes. And somewhere to the east � in a cave? a basement? on a mountainside? � a well-known man in a turban smiles.

Egypt's president has hit back against critics throughout the region and said he would not fully open the crossing into the Gaza Strip unless the Palestinian Authority was in control of the border to preserve unity.

Egypt has come under heavy criticism in the Arab world for its refusal over the past year to open the Rafah crossing, which has helped complete an Israeli blockade of the territory.

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni also visited Egypt just before the assault, leading many to accuse Egypt of giving a green light to the attack.

"It might seem completely absurd," Lobel said. "But we have the privilege to be doctors. Our medical ethics do not distinguish between patients. We treat whoever needs to be treated."

A Gaza woman, whose two-month-old granddaughter was being treated for an unidentified ailment, wept when asked how she was coping. She said she was fortunate her granddaughter was getting the best medical treatment but was worried about her daughter and other grandchildren in Gaza City. She said some of their neighbors were among the more than 280 people killed in the Israeli airstrikes.

"I am very sad and hurt," she said, in Arabic. "We want peace, not war."

She refused to identify herself or have her picture taken, for fear of retribution if her presence in Israel was discovered in Gaza.

Published: September 30,2007More Palestinians Die After Being Denied Access Through Israeli Checkpoints

"An increasing number of Palestinians have died after being denied passage through Israeli checkpoints, according to the latest United Nations humanitarian report on the occupied Palestinian territory.

The latest incident occurred in August when a 76-year-old woman from Barta'a a-Sharqiya in Jenin district with heart problems died after Israeli soldiers refused to allow her to pass a gate in order to reach the hospital in Jenin, the Humanitarian Monitor Report for August said." http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=24054&Cr=gaza&Cr1 - http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=24054&Cr=gaza&Cr1 =

"According to B'Tselem, two themes clearly emerge from examination of the spectrum of human rights concerns in 2007. The first is the use of security justifications for virtually every Israeli action in the Occupied Territories . There is no doubt that Israel faces serious security threats, and is entitled and even obligated to do its utmost to protect its population. However, far too often, Israel fails to appropriately balance its security needs with equally important values, including protecting the rights of Palestinians under its control. In addition, Israeli authorities often exploit security threats in order to advance prohibited political interests, such as perpetuating settlements and effectively annexing them to Israel .

The second theme arising from the report is the lack of accountability of Israeli security forces, in all matters relating to human rights. This can be seen clearly in the reluctance of the state to thoroughly investigate violations and to prosecute those responsible for them. The lack of accountability can also be seen in the denial of most Palestinians' right to compensation when they are injured through no fault of their own by Israeli forces."

http://www.btselem.org/english/Press_Releases/20071231.asp - http://www.btselem.org/english/Press_Releases/20071231.asp

This verse does not say as much about pacifism as it has to say about the culture of honor and shame that they lived in. They heard these words totally different than we hear them today."

Love for Enemies

The Israeli government's propaganda about the war in Gaza has been
uncritically accepted by Canadian media, becoming the dominant discourse
in most news reports. The violence we are witnessing is explained by
declaring that Hamas has broken the truce with Israel, and therefore it is
responsible for the current level of Israeli violence, which is thereby
represented merely as a reasonable and justified retaliation. According to
this view, Israel is only defending itself against a vicious enemy which
is still intent on destroying it. At best, the excesses of the attacks
against Gaza are deplored, but their presentation as retaliation is not
even questioned.

The meaning that the government of Israel wants to give to the event is
thereby internalized, becoming the frame through which the present
situation is perceived and understood. The principle of using violence to
resolve a dispute is not put in question, so long as it is Israel that
uses the violence and the dispute is one with Palestinians. In this case
violence is seen as legitimate, but illegitimate if committed by Hamas.
This remains the case even if the means at the disposal of each of the
protagonists are not comparable and even if neither the damage they suffer
nor the capacity each has to inflict damage are not at all comparable.

This logic suffers from two fundamental flaws. First it contradicts the
empirical facts on the ground, which are well documented and are not so
much called into question as they are conveniently forgotten. Second, this
logic is openly a colonial logic.

Who broke the truce ?

Contrary to what has been repeated in editorials and in the TV interviews
of various experts, it was not Hamas who broke the truce, but Israel. On
November 4, 2008, a truce that had lasted for four months was broken by
Israel in a bombardment that killed six Palestinians. Only after these
killings did Hamas resume its rocket-launching against Israeli localities.
On November 17, Israeli planes bombed once again, killing four more
Palestinians, bringing the total number of Palestinian casualties since
November 4, to 15. These facts are well documented. (See, for instance,
the report of former Jerusalem Post correspondent, Joel Greenberg, in the
Chicago Tribune of November 17, 2008, among many others.) Immediately
after the first bombing of November 4, Israel started its full blockade of
Gaza, preventing the entry of food and medication. Between November 5 and
November 30, only 23 trucks of food and supplies were allowed into Gaza,
whereas the average in the preceding period was about 3000 trucks monthly
for a population numbering 1.5 million. The humanitarian situation,
already a disaster, and described as such by the United Nations' envoy,
became even more catastrophic as a result of the blockade. Yet neither the
bombings nor the blockade are considered to be aggressions.

A colonial logic

What is it that gets the opinion-makers to "forget" these "minor"
details?
In reality the government of Israel gives itself the right to use violence
against a population that it considers inferior. It considers that these
inferior people should not even be allowed to protest. With such colonial
logic, nothing is considered as an aggression if it is conducted against a
subaltern population. Any movement of revolt, on the part of the
subaltern, is considered a challenge to the colonial order and must be
severely punished. Accordingly, there is no need to respect international
law, as inferior people are deemed to understand only the language of
force.

Fortunately this logic is not shared by all Israelis, and movements, such
as Gush Shalom, challenged it vigourously; they also called for an
immediate ceasefire. Unfortunately the Canadian political elite seems to
have accepted Israeli propaganda fully. But the language of force will not
ever get us out of the dead end we're in; only respect for international
law will.

* Rachad Antonius is a professseur at the Universit� du Qu�bec � Montr�al.

This is an excellent point, and like USA attacking Iraq, warmongers were winners.  Why is this?  Now sadly, as not to repeat what happened in Lebanon, Israel must seek an exit strategy, which will only likely prolong the suffering on both sides.

It is known that truth is the first casualty in wars. The current war on Gaza is no different. Below is a list of 10 myths perpetuated by Israel and repeated ad nauseum by many in the media.

Myth # 1 Israel had no alternative

Ever since starting the air campaign the Israelis have been stating that they had no choice but to carry out this invasion. Acting Israeli prime minister repeated this myth saying that Israel had no alternative but to begin the ground war on the Gaza strip.

The truth is that Israel had a clear alternative. The Islamic Hamas movement and the various Palestinian factions in Gaza offered to extend the truce in December if the Israelis agreed to lift the massive blockade and siege on Gaza. Israel also had an even easier alternative, they could have agreed to talk to Hamas and worked out a true and lasting ceasefire, but they choose to refuse to legitimize the rulers of Gaza backed by the so called global war on terror that Israel's main ally, the Bush Administration has been implementing.

Myth # 2 Hamas rockets were targeting Israeli civilians without provocation

Ever Israeli spokesman repeats the myth that Hamas has been attacking Israeli communities with missiles coming out of Gaza without any provocation. International leaders, media anchors repeated ask how could any country tolerate its citizens being attacked without provocation such as what is happening to the citizens of south Israel.

The truth is that Palestinians and Israelis have been at war since 1948 when nearly 500 Palestinian villages were erased, its residents became refugees (the refugees constitute more than 50% of the population of Gaza). The UN has resolved that the refugees should be allowed to return and the Arab countries have offered a peace agreement that includes an agreed upon resolution of the refugee problem. Furthermore Israel occupied Gaza in 1967 and has not (according to international standards) ended its occupation of Gaza. As stated above, Hamas has offered short and long term truce with Israel but the latter has rejected these offers.

Myth # 3 Israel is acting in self defense

This myth has been repeated enough times that the na�ve rotating head of the European Union initially stated that Israel's ground invasion is a defensive act (he later recanted). Emerging from a security council meeting that failed to stop the Israeli ground attack, the United States' deputy chief at the UN stated that the UN charter allows member countries to defend themselves and that "Israel's right to defend itself is not negotiable."

The truth is that the Israeli offensive against a population still legally under its occupation is anything but defensive. Countries do have a right to defend themselves but they don't have the right to occupy and continue to occupy. The same charter that the deputy US official was quoting also states in its preamble:

We the peoples of the United Nations determine to:

� save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and

� to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small.

Myth # 4 That Israel is only targeting Hamas fighters not Palestinians

Foreign minister Tzipi Livini regularly repeated the term that the Israeli army is targeting only what she called Hamas terrorists and that her country has no fight with the Palestinian people.

The truth is that by shelling the densely populated Gaza strip (1.5 million living in a 350 square km area) the Israelis hit both Hamas combatants and civilians. One of the best proofs of this is in the fact that about one third of the casualties in the first week alone were children- hardly members of Hamas. International law is very clear about the responsibility of warring parties to limit deaths of civilians. The Israelis totally destroying a four story building in which a Hamas leader and his wives and children living with F16 planes is a clear example of a lack of effort to distinguish between civilians and fighters.

Myth # 5 Israel ended its occupation of Gaza in 2006

Part of the well weaved Israeli narrative is that Palestinians are not really interested in land for peace because they have continued to attack Israel after the Israelis ended the occupation of the strip in 2006. Again the truth is different. The UN Security Council resolution 242 which called the occupation of Gaza 'inadmissible' called on Israel to withdraw from occupied territories, to acknowledge the sovereignty and territorial integrity and political independence of every State in the area and their right to live in peace with secure and recognized boundaries and it also affirmed for 'achieving a just settlement on the [Palestinian] refugee problem.' By all standards and as agreed by neutral international observers the occupation of Gaza that was established in 1967 continues with all the responsibility that befalls on the Israeli occupying authorities.

Myth # 6 Hamas is the military arm of Iran

As part of justifying the local attack, Israel and its apologists paint a much larger regional picture with Hamas and Hizbullah as the military arm of Iran and the Iranian Islamic revolution.

The truth is that whereas as a Shiite movement Hizbuallah might have natural relations with Shiite Iran, Hamas is a Sunni Islamic movement and in general Sunnis look down at Shiites and reject them theologically. True Hamas leaders have visited Iran, but it is a long shot to say that they are the military arm of Iran.

Myth # 7 Hamas uses the Palestinian population as human shields

The difficulties that Israel has had in locating and destroying Hamas leaders has led to this myth. The Israeli PR machine uses quotes made by Hamas leaders that the Palestinian population is not afraid of death as proof that they are using Palestinians as human shields.

The truth is that the international law that forbids the use of human shields is referring to militants who use captured enemy civilians as hostages to prevent an attack. There is no evidence that Hamas is forcing their own population against their will to be where they are. In fact the irony is that Palestinian civilians have no where to go within the Gaza Strip even if they wanted to leave.

Myth # 8 There is no humanitarian crisis

Speaking in Paris, the Israeli foreign minister insisted that the attacks on Gaza are not causing a humanitarian crisis. Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said there was no need for a ceasefire on humanitarian grounds as more lorries containing aid were entering Gaza than before the conflict began last Saturday.

The truth as quoted by according to the latest bulletin from the Gaza office of the UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs:

"The military incursion compounds the humanitarian crisis following more than a week of shelling and an 18-month long blockade of the territory. There is an increased threat to civilians due to combat in densely populated urban areas. "Hospitals continue to be overstretched because of the large number of casualties that have accumulated since the beginning of Israeli attacks, and ambulances and medical personnel face difficulties in accessing casualties. Electricity and telecommunications are down over much of the Gaza Strip. Food distributions have been suspended and all crossing points remain closed."

A flash appeal issued by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency this month said that the bombing was "destroying what remains of Gaza's crumbling infrastructure and public service capacity," and "threatens dramatically to worsen an already dire food security situation for the entire population.

Myth # 9 Israel wants to weaken Hamas

Another Israeli myth is that the campaign aims at weakening Hamas. Amos Gilad, a senior Israeli Defense Ministry official, told Israel Radio the goal is to weaken the movement.

While the Israelis will certainly weaken the movement military at the present time, it has already raised their public stature in Palestine and the Arab world. Hamas whose public standing was deteriorating because of its difficulty to govern has now become popular as they are seen as heroes who are standing up to the Israeli military machine. As a movement Hamas can't be destroyed even if many of its leaders are killed. Furthermore, Hamas's hard-line political position has caused a major set back to moderate Arab leaders especially those in Arab countries who have a peace treaty with Israel.

Myth # 10 Hamas is not only a danger on Israel but also on the Arab world

As part of the effort to dehumanize their enemy, the Israelis justify their attacks against Palestinians in Gaza by saying that somehow they are encouraged to do so by Palestinians and Arabs who disagree politically with Hamas.

The truth is that while Palestinians and Arabs have had differences with Hamas, the Palestinian Authority and Arab leaders have been consistent in their repeated and constant denunciation of the Israeli actions. In fact the Palestinian president has released all Hamas prisoners and an effort for national unity has taken place.

"Where it is found that international humanitarian law has been violated, those responsible must be held to account. Under international law, installations such as schools, health centres and UN facilities should be protected from attack. Well before the current fighting, the UN had given to the Israeli authorities the GPS co-ordinates of all its installations in Gaza, including Asma elementary school."