Peoples Geography — Reclaiming space

Creating people's geographies

Jennifer Loewenstein reports from Beirut

gazaernica .....Latest report on Gaza attacks from Jennifer Loewenstein by emailed dispatch
Beirut, 10 January 2009  2:30am

Here are some newsworthy items out of Gaza that are unlikely to be making it to the Western presses. I received this information directly from one of the staff of the Mezan Center for Human Rights about twenty minutes ago.

1. Israel has begun a new policy in Gaza in the past two days called the “roof knock”. This is when a “small” rocket is fired from Israeli military aircraft that is strong enough to blast open the roof of a targeted building. It is sent as a “warning message” to the building’s inhabitants giving them between 2 and 3 minutes to evacuate before the building is completely destroyed. A number of cases of this new technique have been reported recently.

2. While the UN continues to claim that “only” 25% of the casualties from the attacks on Gaza are civilian, the Mezan Center for Human Rights (known for the care it takes not to overstate the numbers and for its strict verification policies) estimates that the number of civilian casualties is approximately 85%. In particular, the number of children has increased to over 200, and the number of women has surpassed 75. One reason for the low civilian casualty figures used by the UN has to do with the reluctance to consider men -other than the elderly and sick- as non-combatants.

In fact the overwhelming majority of men killed in “Operation Cast Lead” up to now have been non-combatants, including fathers, teachers, shopkeepers, construction workers, laborers, students, as well as the civil policemen. The vast majority are not “Hamas militants.” Note that the civil police are considered ‘non-combatants’ under international law and are therefore not ‘legitimate’ targets in any military confrontation any more than traffic cops or firemen.

3. The UN announced this evening that “almost everyone in the Gaza Strip” is now in need of humanitarian aid. Indeed, even those with adequate food supplies are a) handing out what they have to people in “shelters” (which have been targeted consistently by Israeli war machines in the past); Even those with adequate food supplies are b) unable to obtain bread anywhere. Many are using rice or spaghetti to substitute for carbohydrates — when these are available and when there is water and electricity to allow for cooking these items.

4. There are widespread reports now of forced evacuations of entire neighborhoods of people who go mainly to nearby schools or other public buildings not yet destroyed. These are considered no more secure than their homes but remain the only other places to go (other than to move into
crowded dwellings with relatives; or places no more secure than their own homes). The congregation of so many people in these enclosed spaces
increases the likelihood of major civilian casualties when airstrikes target the area.

PLEASE PROTEST THESE AND OTHER ACTIONS OF THE UNITED STATES AND ISRAEL, TWO COUNTRIES THAT CLAIM THE WHOLESALE DESTRUCTION OF A PEOPLE IS A MATTER OF ‘SELF DEFENSE’.

One comment on “Jennifer Loewenstein reports from Beirut

  1. margaret rinaldi
    13 January, 2009

    The paradigm of the Middle East much change. All there must learn to live in peace together. It is the only practical strategy.

    The game of Israel manipulating the world with the tragedy of the Holocaust has worn thin. When the victims become perpetrators action must be taken to help them find another way. I as an American am tired of being held hostage by the history of the Jews and their justifications for bad behavior.

    They are capable of better. Yes, they deserve a homeland. So do the Palestinians.

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This entry was posted on 11 January, 2009 by in Civilians, Gaza, Israel, UN and tagged , , .

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"Those who crusade, not for God in themselves, but against the devil in others, never succeed in making the world better, but leave it either as it was, or sometimes perceptibly worse than what it was, before the crusade began. By thinking primarily of evil we tend, however excellent our intentions, to create occasions for evil to manifest itself."
-- Aldous Huxley

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