[IMC-Palestine] FEATURE PROPOSAL: "A Massacre in Palestine - Responses and Developments"

[Petros Evdokas]

BCC: Zikit, Marco
CC: imc-palestine, eastern mediterranean, imc-cyprus.



Hello,

The material for publishing the proposed Feature (with embedded html
codes) is pasted below the dotted line in the format of:
HEADER, TITLE, PICTURE, ABSTRACT, BODY.

I do not have access to the global imc editorial tools. If there are no
objections to publishing it, can someone please take care of it? Time is
a pressing factor for this article.

Thank you very much,
Petros
------------------------


HEADER:
<a href="http://www.indymedia.org/en/static/palestine">PALESTINE</a>, <a
href="http://cyprus.indymedia.org">CYPRUS IMC</a>: MASSACRE IN GAZA - 28
DEC, 2008


TITLE:
A Massacre in Palestine - Responses and Developments


PICTURE:
http://www.imemc.org/attachments/dec2008/bodiespapolice.jpg


ABSTRACT:
The Palestinian Resistance has issued a general call for an all out
response to the Israeli massacre of Gaza - military, political and
diplomatic action is already underway. Popular mobilizations in
solidarity with the Palestinian people are sprouting up everywhere, both
organized and spontaneous: within Israel itself, and in every country of
the world, communities are mobilizing for demonstrations and other
solidarity actions.

BODY:

US-supplied Israeli warplanes struck heavily populated areas of Gaza in
Palestine today, killing more than 200 people and injuring more than
700. Gaza's population of a million and a half has been under an Israeli
blockade and military siege for the last eighteen months.

Children who were on the streets heading home from school were among the
dead and injured, while almost every single building of the
democratically elected Government of Palestine was targeted in the
airstrikes. Some sources report more than 100 bombings - and the
operations are not yet finished.

Some buildings were struck repeatedly in second and third waves of
airstrikes, so that medics who rushed on site to rescue the injured were
caught in the subsequent bombings and were killed as well.

TV stations in the Middle East are showing scenes of the streets of Gaza
filled with dead bodies were they fell among the rubble and the flames.
Some images of mutilated and grossly butchered bodies are so gruesome
that digital masking was used to spare the viewers. Ma'an News Agency
reports that according to medical sources most victims are being brought
to hospitals "in pieces". Also, that hospital corridors and morgues have
run out of space.

Kristen Ess, writing for the Palestine News Network reported that local
stations are providing live coverage of the attacks, showing "...bodies
are blown apart, children’s heads are split, there is blood everywhere
and the cameras are shaking from the explosions."

The photo that accompanies this article was taken by a viewer watching
Al Jazeera on television and published by the International Middle East
Media Center. The dead pictured are civilian Police; the willful
targeting of civilians is a violation of the Geneva Convention.

Many Governments around the world are condemning the actions, calling
for a cease-fire and protesting the disproportionate force exerted by
Israel. Many European and Arab Governments have been calling for calm
and an immediate end to the operations. Russia, the Vatican and the EU
also joined in expressing deep concern over the slaughter of innocents.
Only the US and UK Governments have refused to join the world community,
siding with the Zionist Israeli regime and making inflammatory and
provocative statements calculated to add insult to the massacres.

Protests in solidarity with Palestine are springing up all over the
world in every major city. Many political parties in Europe are issuing
condemnations of the Israeli massacre.

In Palestine itself, as soon as news of the attacks spread to the
communities and the scale of the atrocities was beginning to be known,
demonstrations broke out everywhere, leading to battles of youth armed
only with sticks and stones against Israeli troops who fought them with
chemical and many other weapons - there were also arrests.
Demonstrations took place in every city in the West Bank and also in
East Jerusalem and Hebron.

Three days of mourning are being called all over the country, and a
general strike is being organized in protest for the massacre.

Palestinian militia and resistance groups have launched about 70
improvised rockets targeting locations in Israel. One person has died in
these attacks. Most of the rockets hit empty areas, causing no damages
or injuries. There is a high possibility that the airstrikes might lead
to a ground war and all the resistance forces are preparing to defend
the neighborhoods.

Within Palestinian society, there is now a renewed urging for unity
among the many factions, with a special concern for unity between Hamas
and Fatah, the two largest and most influential of the Palestinian
organizations.

The political leadership of Hamas has called for a Third Intifada
(uprising). The call is for a Military Intifada against Zionist forces,
and for a Peaceful Intifada "internally", meaning that there is concern
to keep minimizing the scale of conflict between Hamas and Fatah and
especially to avoid bloodshed.

As the world mobilizes to oppose Israel's atrocities, the cause of Unity
is going to be the most crucial factor that will determine the outcome
of every effort.

Cyprus IndyMedia Collective
~~~~~~~~~~

Related

"It was just before noon when I heard the first explosion. I rushed to
my window and barely did I get there and look out when I was pushed back
by the force and air pressure of another explosion..."
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10059.shtml

"Protests in the West Bank, Ramallah catches fire, Hamas women demonstrate"
by Kristen Ess
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4298&Itemid=1

"Israeli airstrikes continue on Gaza; 225 Palestinians dead, hundreds
injured":
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=34246

"Israelis kill 225 Palestinians in Gaza and say this is just the beginning"
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4297&Itemid=1

"TODAY WE STOP THE WAR"
https://israel.indymedia.org/newswire/display/9995/index.php

A Third Intifada
"Israeli raid prompts intifada call":
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2008/12/20081227193910425276.html

"Israeli airstrikes kill 205 Palestinians in Gaza"
http://www.imemc.org/article/58164

Additional Independent Resources:

- Electronic Intifada
http://electronicintifada.net

- International Middle East Media Center (en)
http://www.imemc.org

- The Palestine News Network (en/ar/he/fr)
http://www.pnn.ps

- WAFA - Palestine News Agency (en/ar/he/fr)
http://english.wafa.ps/

- Ma'an News (en/ar)
http://www.maannews.net