SAVE THE PALESTINIANS

SAVE THE PALESTINIANS

Assalamualikum

Adalah dimaklumkan bahwa program 'Save The Palestinians' akan diadakan pada:

Tempat :Bangsar Sport Complex, Jalan Terasek 3, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur
Tarikh :18hb Januari 2009
Masa :10 pagi - 5 petang
Anjuran :C.O.M.P.L.E. T.E (Coalition of NGOs Against Persecution of Palestinians)

Semua ahli-ahli ACCIN adalah dialu-alukan untuk menyertai program tersebut. ACCIN sub-committee Palestine turut mengambil bahagian didalam program ini.

Sekian, terima kasih.

Said Seyam martyred in an Israeli occupation airstrike

GAZA, (PIC)-- Said Seyam, a prominent Hamas leader and Interior Minister of the elected government of Ismail Haneyya, was martyred Thursday evening along with his son, his brother and his brother's wife in an Israeli airstrike at a house in the Yarmouk neighbourhood at the centre of Gaza city.

Hamas sources said that Seyam was martyred when Israeli occupation airforce bombed the house of Sheikh Eyad Seyam, the brother of Said Seyam during a visit by the latter to his brother's house.

The bodyguard of Said Seyam was also martyred in the attack along with his brother and his brother's wife.

Four other citizens from a neighbouring house were killed in the airstrike, three of them children.

Eyewitnesses said that Israeli occupation airplanes fired two rockets at the house of Said Seyams brother.

Hamas mourned Said Seyam saying that leaders of the movement were always at the forefront and that Seyam has joined previous martyrs of the movement such as Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, Dr. Abdel-Aziz al-Rantisi, Ibrahim al-Maqdmah, Ismail Abu Shanab, Jamal Mansour, Jamal Salim, Salah Shehadeh and Dr. Nizar al-Rayyan.

Said Seyam was born on 22 July 1959 at the Shati' Rafugee camp to the west of Gaza City as his family was uprooted in 1948 from the village of Jura near the city of Askalan.

He graduated at the Teachers College in Ramallah in 1980 with a Diploma in teaching sience and maths. He earned a degree in Islamic Studies from the Jerusalem Open University in 2000.

He taught at UNRWA schools in Gaza from 1980 till 2003 when he resigned as a result of harassment of the employer because of his political affiliation.

He worked as a voluntary Imam of the Yarmouk Mosque in Gaza city as well as other mosques in the Gaza Strip.

He participated in the reconciliation committees formed by late Shiekh Ahmad Yassin during the first intifada.

He was a trustee of the Islamic university, a founder member of the Future Research Centre, head of external relations department and a member of the political leadership of the Hamas movement.

He was elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council in 2006 and was appointed Interior Minister in the tenth PA government.

He was married and a father of six children.

Osama bin Laden Urged Jihad blame Arabs Leaders

An audio recording, attributed to Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda, has called on Muslims to wage jihad against Israel over its offensive in Gaza.

The recording, which was dated to the current month in the Islamic calendar and called "A Call for Jihad to Stop the Aggression against Gaza", was posted on websites on Wednesday.

"God has bestowed us with the patience to continue the path of jihad," the voice on the tape, purported to be that of bin Laden, said.

"The question is, can America continue its war with us for several more decades to come? Reports and evidence would suggest otherwise."

It was not possible to independently verify the voice in the recording.

The 22-minute audio statement said jihad was necessary to restore "Jerusalem and Palestine" and criticised the way Arab governments have handled the war Israel has been waging in Gaza.
"Our brothers in Palestine, you have suffered a lot... the Muslims sympathise with you in what they see and hear. We, the mujahideen, sympathise with you also," the voice in the recording said.

He called on Muslims to rise in support of Gazans and not to rely on Arab leaders "the great majority of whom are allied with the Crusader-Zionist coalition".

Protests

Nearly 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive, and more than 4,000 others injured over the last three weeks. Israel says 13 Israelis have been killed.

Thousands of people have taken to the streets across the Arab world in protest against the attacks, but Arab government have responded with little concrete action against Israel.

The speaker on the recording also hailed the global financial crisis as a decline in US influence around the world and said it would, in turn, weaken Israel - one of Washington's closest allies.

Commenting on the recording, Gordon Johndroe, a US White House spokesman, said: "It appears this tape demonstrates his isolation and ... looks to be an effort to raise money as part of [al-Qaeda's] ongoing propaganda campaign."

VENEZUELA Breaks off Israel ties

Venezuela has joined Bolivia in severing ties with Israel in protest against its war in the Gaza Strip, which has left more than 1,000 Palestinians dead."Venezuela ... has decided to break off diplomatic relations with the state of Israel given the inhumane persecution of the Palestinian people," the foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president, decided to expel Israel's ambassador and embassy staff last week because of the offensive, calling the Israeli onslaught a "holocaust".

Evo Morales, the president of Bolivia and a close ally of Chavez, said that he would seek to get senior Israeli officials, including Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, charged with "genocide" in the International Criminal Court.

'Insecurity Council'

The Bolivian president also dismissed the United Nations and its "Insecurity Council" for its "lukewarm" response to the crisis and said the general assembly should hold an emergency session to condemn the invasion.

"Considering these grave attacks against ... humanity, Bolivia will stop having diplomatic relations with Israel," Morales told diplomats in the Bolivian capital, La Paz.

He also said that Shimon Peres, the Israeli president, should be stripped of his Nobel Peace Prize for failing to stop the invasion.

At least 1,033 Palestinians have now died in Israel's offensive in Gaza, around 40 per cent of whom were civilians, aid agencies and Palestinian medics say.Roberto Nelkenbaum, the Israeli consul in La Paz, told the Reuters news agency that he was "surprised and sad" after hearing Morales's comments in local media.

He said that the two countries have had good diplomatic relations for more than 50 years.

Thirteen Israelis have also died since the assault began, four from rocket fire from Gaza.

Shahrul PESHAWAR - I'm a bit surprise on how Hugo Chavez and Evo Morales respond to the Gaza bloodshed. And I'm more surprise when none of the Islamic-Arab states neighbouring with Palestine did almost nothing in term of political pressure... arent they share the same bloodline? arent they share the same book from ALlah?

Israel Is Committing War Crimes

Hamas's violations are no justification for Israel's actions.

By GEORGE E. BISHARAT

Israel's current assault on the Gaza Strip cannot be justified by self-defense. Rather, it involves serious violations of international law, including war crimes. Senior Israeli political and military leaders may bear personal liability for their offenses, and they could be prosecuted by an international tribunal, or by nations practicing universal jurisdiction over grave international crimes. Hamas fighters have also violated the laws of warfare, but their misdeeds do not justify Israel's acts.

The United Nations charter preserved the customary right of a state to retaliate against an "armed attack" from another state. The right has evolved to cover nonstate actors operating beyond the borders of the state claiming self-defense, and arguably would apply to Hamas. However, an armed attack involves serious violations of the peace. Minor border skirmishes are common, and if all were considered armed attacks, states could easily exploit them -- as surrounding facts are often murky and unverifiable -- to launch wars of aggression. That is exactly what Israel seems to be currently attempting.

Israel had not suffered an "armed attack" immediately prior to its bombardment of the Gaza Strip. Since firing the first Kassam rocket into Israel in 2002, Hamas and other Palestinian groups have loosed thousands of rockets and mortar shells into Israel, causing about two dozen Israeli deaths and widespread fear. As indiscriminate attacks on civilians, these were war crimes. During roughly the same period, Israeli forces killed about 2,700 Palestinians in Gaza by targeted killings, aerial bombings, in raids, etc., according to the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem.

But on June 19, 2008, Hamas and Israel commenced a six-month truce. Neither side complied perfectly. Israel refused to substantially ease the suffocating siege of Gaza imposed in June 2007. Hamas permitted sporadic rocket fire -- typically after Israel killed or seized Hamas members in the West Bank, where the truce did not apply. Either one or no Israelis were killed (reports differ) by rockets in the half year leading up to the current attack.

Israel then broke the truce on Nov. 4, raiding the Gaza Strip and killing a Palestinian. Hamas retaliated with rocket fire; Israel then killed five more Palestinians. In the following days, Hamas continued rocket fire -- yet still no Israelis died. Israel cannot claim self-defense against this escalation, because it was provoked by Israel's own violation.

An armed attack that is not justified by self-defense is a war of aggression. Under the Nuremberg Principles affirmed by U.N. Resolution 95, aggression is a crime against peace.

Israel has also failed to adequately discriminate between military and nonmilitary targets. Israel's American-made F-16s and Apache helicopters have destroyed mosques, the education and justice ministries, a university, prisons, courts and police stations. These institutions were part of Gaza's civilian infrastructure. And when nonmilitary institutions are targeted, civilians die. Many killed in the last week were young police recruits with no military roles. Civilian employees in the Hamas-led government deserve the protections of international law like all others. Hamas's ideology -- which employees may or may not share -- is abhorrent, but civilized nations do not kill people merely for what they think.

Deliberate attacks on civilians that lack strict military necessity are war crimes. Israel's current violations of international law extend a long pattern of abuse of the rights of Gaza Palestinians. Eighty percent of Gaza's 1.5 million residents are Palestinian refugees who were forced from their homes or fled in fear of Jewish terrorist attacks in 1948. For 60 years, Israel has denied the internationally recognized rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes -- because they are not Jews.

Although Israel withdrew its settlers and soldiers from Gaza in 2005, it continues to tightly regulate Gaza's coast, airspace and borders. Thus, Israel remains an occupying power with a legal duty to protect Gaza's civilian population. But Israel's 18-month siege of the Gaza Strip preceding the current crisis violated this obligation egregiously. It brought economic activity to a near standstill, left children hungry and malnourished, and denied Palestinian students opportunities to study abroad.

Israel should be held accountable for its crimes, and the U.S. should stop abetting it with unconditional military and diplomatic support.

Mr. Bisharat is a professor at Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco.

Hamas: We will win war in Gaza

Abu Marzouq insists Hamas will win the war against Israel (Reuters)

By Shane Bauer in Damascus

Israel's war on Gaza has left more than 700 Palestinians dead - nearly a third of them women and children - and more than 3,000 injured.

But at the organisation's headquarters in Damascus, 100km from the territory, Musa Abu Marzouq, the deputy head of Hamas' political bureau, told Al Jazeera why he believes his organisation is on the verge of victory against Israel.

Al Jazeera: Under what conditions will Hamas agree a ceasefire with Israel?
Abu Marzouq: We have three conditions for any peace initiative coming from any state.
First, the aggression of the Israelis should stop. All of the gates should be opened, including the gate of Rafah between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. Finally, Israel has to withdraw from the Gaza Strip.

We are not saying we will stop firing rockets from the Gaza Strip to Israel - we are only talking about stopping the aggression from the Israelis against the civilian population in the Gaza Strip.
When others talk about a ceasefire, they are saying all military operations should stop.

But we are sending a message [by firing rockets]: "We will not surrender. We have to fight the Israelis and we will win this battle."

We know we are going to lose a lot of people from our side, but we are going to win, inshallah.

Members of Hamas have said that Israel is using collective punishment by targeting civilians who support Hamas. But is Hamas' targeting of Israeli civilians also not a type of collective punishment?

We are defending ourselves.

When you talk about any occupation, people should resist the soldiers and the army who occupy their country.

We don't have weapons sophisticated enough to launch at exact targets.

We are sending a message: "You can't provide security to your side until you bring security to the Palestinian side."

We are looking for freedom and for security for the Palestinian people. This is our message to Israel.

They need to understand that we are working for an independent state.

How do you think Israel's war on Gaza will affect Hamas' position?

The Israeli push against Hamas has increased our popularity sharply among the Palestinian people and throughout the Muslim world.

After the Israelis killed Hamas leaders like Ahmed Yassin and Ismail Abu Shanab, Hamas won the elections with 76 seats out of a 132-seat parliament.

Using these means doesn't decrease the popularity of Hamas, it increases it.

What exactly would you consider to be "victory" for Hamas?

A victory for Hamas would mean the Israelis did not accomplish their objectives.

If they can't stop rockets from coming into Israel, that means they failed.

But the real reason for Israel's aggression is to change the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip - they have been thinking about this since Hamas won the elections - it is not because of the rockets.

They failed to lead the people in an uprising against Hamas in the Gaza Strip with their economic embargo.

They tried to push Fatah to stand and fight Hamas, but we defeated them in the Gaza Strip, so the Israelis have taken action themselves.

Why, at the beginning of this conflict, did Hamas decide not to renew the six-month ceasefire?

We agreed to this ceasefire under Egyptian mediation with certain conditions.

All military operations were to be stopped by June 19.

All of the six gates between Israel and Gaza were to remain open.

In the first 10 days of the truce, 30 per cent of the goods coming from Israel to the Gaza Strip were to be allowed in and, after that 10-day period, all supplies were to be allowed to enter.

Also, there was to be a meeting between the Europeans, Egyptians, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas to discuss how to open the Rafah gate.

Finally, the ceasefire was supposed to be extended to the West Bank.

During those six months, the Israelis kept the border crossings closed most of the time.

Only 15 per cent of goods were allowed to enter the Gaza Strip from Israel.

They killed more than 40 people in the last month of the ceasefire, eight of which were in the last week.

On many occasions, the Egyptians told us that the Israelis were not respecting the agreement.

Their refusal to allow supplies to enter was a type of slow killing of the Palestinians.

The Palestinians eventually asked: "What is the use of this ceasefire for us?"

For that reason, we didn't renew that agreement.

Khalid Meshaal, the leader of Hamas, in December called for a "military intifada against the Zionist enemy" and as a "peaceful intifada internally".
What did he mean by an internal peaceful intifada?

I think he meant that there needs to be internal change among the Palestinians.

Right now the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank controls everything. This is not acceptable.

We need to peacefully change these conditions.

How are relations between Hamas and Fatah now?

Now the priority for Hamas, Fatah or any Palestinian organisation is to stand against the Israeli aggression.

After we finish with this battle, I guess we can talk about reconciliation or reuniting with Fatah.

We openly welcome any kind of negotiation or dialogue between Fatah and Hamas to end the separation of the Palestinians.

When French president Nicolas Sarkozy met with Syrian president Bahsar al-Assad, many said he tried to encourage Damascus to put pressure on Hamas to stop firing rockets.

Have you faced any kind of pressure from Syria?

We haven't seen any pressure from Syria.

They respect our independence. They respect our choices. They respect the policies we chose for our people.

Has Hamas had any contact with the administration of Barack Obama, the US president-elect?

No, we haven't had any direct contact.

Do you have any expectations regarding the approach of Hillary Clinton, the US nominee-designate for the post of US secretary of state?

We cannot evaluate something that lies in the future.

We know that in the US senate, Hillary Clinton's vote was always with Israel, but maybe there will be some differences when she becomes secretary of state.

Source: Al Jazeera

US Congress votes to back Israel

The US House of Representatives has voted to endorse a resolution backing Israel in its offensive in Gaza, in which at least 780 Palestinians have been killed.

The body passed Friday's resolution "recognising Israel's right to defend itself against attacks from Gaza" by 390 votes to five.

The measure also noted that the humanitarian situation in Gaza "is becoming more acute" but did not rebuke Israel.

Keith Ellison, the only Muslim member of US congress, was among the 22 members of the House who voted "present", which means that they voted neither in favour or against the resolution.

"I cannot vote against this resolution because I believe every country in the world has the right to defend itself," the Minnesota congressman said in a statement.

"At the same time I cannot vote for this resolution because it barely mentions the human suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza."

Dennis Kucinich, a Democratic congressman for Ohio who voted against the bill said before the vote: "I'm hopeful that we do not support the inhumanity that has been repeatedly expressed by the Israeli army."

"We must take a new direction in the Middle East, and that new direction must be mindful of the inhumane conditions in Gaza".

US-Israel ties

Washington has been Israel's closest ally since 1948, when Harry Truman, the former president, made the US the first country to recognise Israel.

The US has been repeatedly criticised by Arabs for its unstinting support of Israeli actions. The US frequently blocks United Nations resolutions critical of Israel and on Thursday abstained from a Security Council vote calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

The House has passed similar measures in recent years by massive majorities.

In 2006, the House voted to condemn Hamas and Hezbollah for "unprovoked and reprehensible armed attacks against Israel" and supported Israel's incursion into Lebanon.

In 2004, the body voted to support a statement by George Bush, the US president, that it was "unrealistic" to expect Israel to return completely to its pre-1967 borders.

The US senate had voted on Thursday to back its own resolution offering "unwavering commitment" to Israel.

That recognised "its right to act in self-defence to protect its citizens against acts of terrorism" and urged a ceasefire that would keep Palestinians from firing rockets at Israel.

Harry Reid, who leads the Democratic majority in the senate, said on Thursday following that vote: "Our resolution reflects the will of the state of Israel and the will of the American people."

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

Washington diary: While Gaza burns

Most of the world's attention is riveted by the war in Gaza, the raw sights and sounds of which are brought home most vividly by the coverage provided by Al Jazeera's English and Arabic channels.

Here in the US however, the Gaza story is seldom the lead on the major evening news programmes.

The mainstream media is too squeamish to show the reality of war - the blood, the pain, the screaming children.

And US cable networks and satellite systems seem afraid to allow Al Jazeera English into their lineup of channels, quailing at the prospect of a political backlash from far right-wing, self-appointed media "watchdogs" who caricature Al Jazeera as "terror TV".

The preoccupation here in the US is much closer to home: The economic crisis.

'Lingering' recession

With just a few days to go before Barack Obama takes over the White House and Americans bid George Bush a not-so-fond farewell, the president-elect has been outlining his economic recovery plans.

Attacking the growing economic crisis will be the prime objective of Obama's first 100 days in office.

He outlined the economic rescue package he says will create three million jobs, saying it will not be "just another public works programme".

"We'll invest in priorities like energy and education; healthcare and a new infrastructure that are necessary to keep us strong and competitive in the 21st century," Obama said. Obama said this plan will be costly - adding to deficits that will top a trillion dollars.

The total price tag on the package is still unknown - but will certainly be close to a trillion dollars itself. Also in question: Whether such an epic amount can be spent effectively without equally huge waste and mismanagement.

Obama also vowed to undertake a fundamental reform of the freewheeling, hands-off ethos of Wall Street and the anything-goes style of US capitalism. "No longer can we allow Wall Street wrongdoers to slip through regulatory cracks," he vowed.

"No longer can we allow special interests to put their thumbs on the economic scales."

Obama said that congress must work day and night to pass the measure quickly, and Nancy Pelosi, Democratic speaker for the house of representatives, predicted passage by mid-February, promising: "We will not go home until we have an economic reform package." Now, if only the US government would use some of its power to bear on forging a halt to the bloodshed in Gaza.

Obama's silence

Bush, as is his custom, sees the issue in black-and-white terms, with no shades of grey.

He has blamed the entire situation squarely and solely on Hamas, admitting no fault whatsoever on the Israeli side.

And while Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, claims to be working "day and night" to establish a ceasefire, it is quite clear that the Bush administration has given Israel broad latitude to smash Hamas - no matter what the cost in civilian lives.

So far, Obama has largely kept quiet, saying the US could not appear to speak with more than one voice on foreign policy.

He did offer some tepid words of concern for the unfolding humanitarian disaster in Gaza, saying the loss of civilian life in Gaza and in Israel was a source of "deep concern".

By mostly avoiding comment, or by making bland expressions of concern about civilian deaths, Obama is playing a political game: remaining careful not to upset Israel and its many powerful supporters in and out of the US congress, while at the same time giving hope to Arabs who are desperately anxious that Obama will usher in a new chapter in US policy toward the Middle East.

Obama says he will have much more to say about the situation after he takes office January 20 - but by then many more lives may have been lost in the war on Gaza.

Presidential meeting

The new US congress that took its seats on Tuesday includes many enthusiastic supporters of Israel but few members - other than Keith Ellison, the Muslim congressman from Minnesota, and Dennis Kucinich, the Ohio congressman - are willing to speak up for the Palestinians.

On Wednesday, Obama had lunch with all the living presidents at the White House.

Looking at the roomful of grinning leaders past, present and future seemed to me symbolic of the twists, turns and dead ends of four decades of American Middle East policy.

There was the aged Jimmy Carter, who brokered the Camp David accord between Egypt and Israel and has more recently spoken out strongly on behalf of the Palestinians, but whose mishandling of the Islamic Revolution in Iran ushered in nearly 30 years of wasteful hostility between two great nations.

Standing next to Carter was Bill Clinton, who orchestrated the famous Rose Garden handshake between Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin, sealing the peace agreements of the Oslo process, but who fell short in a later push for a final settlement, and whose final months in office saw the beginning of the second intifada, or uprising, in the Palestinian territories.

Smiling by Obama's right stood George Bush the father, who launched the Madrid peace talks and tried to pressure Israel to stop settlement building on Palestinian land.

'Elusive' peace

And to his left was Bush the son, who gave Israel a free hand to strike the Palestinian territories and Lebanon, and virtually ignored the peace process till his final year in office and whose Annapolis "process" now seems nothing better than a cruel joke. Bush welcomed the newest member of their select club, telling Obama: "All of us who have served in this office understand that the office itself transcends the individual.

"We wish you all the very best and so does the country."

While Obama says he is a strong friend of Israel - during last year's election campaign many American Jews were dubious about whether Obama would protect Israel - doubts he tried to assuage by fervent declarations of unconditional support.

Now, while Gaza burns, he promises to get involved in another round of Middle East peacemaking once he is sworn-in on January 20.

"I am doing everything that we have to do to make sure that the day that I take office we are prepared to engage immediately in trying to deal with the situation there," he said at a news conference.

"Not only the short-term situation, but building a process whereby we can achieve a more lasting peace in the region."

Peace in the Middle East - the same pledge, the same elusive goal, that has pre-occupied a roomful of presidents - now, being passed on to a new one.

Source: Al Jazeera