"This is the Hamas dual strategy," according to Dershowitz, "to kill and injure as many Israeli civilians as possible by firing rockets indiscriminately at Israeli civilian targets, and to provoke Israel to kill as many Palestinian civilians as possible to garner world sympathy."
But this appears to be a libel against the Palestinians in Gaza by Mr. Dershowitz. Since Israelis so completely dominate the contemporary paradigm (acting as antagonists, as well as protagonists in many cases, obviating the need for Palestinians to even get up out of their chairs.) one must hunt to find authentic Palestinian voices. When found, they are instantly recognizable contrasted with the Jewish faux.
At the English-language web site, Ezzedeen al Qassam Brigades Information Office, Israel is only known as "the Zionist entity," so here is an authentic voice of opposition. In what they call "Statements," the military wing of Hamas archives hundreds of what appear to be scrupulous after-action reports of the military actions they undertake. A sense of purpose about their enterprise is readily apparent here, especially when contrasted with the guile and deflection so common in Israeli and American reporting. And in a clear preponderance of cases, Hamas is targeting Israeli military resources, or their equivalents.
I wasn't aware that the sort of mortar and homemade-Qassam rockets that Hamas mostly utilizes could be targeted with the kind of specificity recorded here. But judging by their level of intent as spelled out here, Hamas doesn't engage in a policy of indiscriminate firing into purely civilian areas.
In the West Bank, on Monday, 15 December 2008, an OF undercover unit extra-judicially executed Jihad Ahmed Ameen Nawahda, 21, a member of the al-Quds Brigades
(the armed wing of Islamic Jihad), in al-Yamoun village west of Jenin. Nawahda was hit by multiple gunshots to the back, the abdomen and the legs. Nine Palestinian civilians, including 3 children, were wounded when OF used force against peaceful demonstrations organized in protest to the construction of the Annexation Wall west of Ramallah.
Also 3 Palestinian civilians, including a man and his son, were wounded by Zionist settlers' gunfire in Hebron on 4 and 5 December 2008. On Sunday, 12 December 2008, a Palestinian child was seriously wounded by a gunshot to the head fired by OF troops that provided protection to Zionist settlers who attacked Palestinian civilians and property in Hebron.
OF conducted at least 38 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank. During these incursions, OF arrested 50 Palestinian civilians, including 14 children and a girl, Thus, the number of Palestinian civilians arrested by OF in the West Bank since the beginning of 2008 has mounted to 2,311. OF also transformed 8 houses in Hebron into military sites. In the Gaza Strip, OF troops that had moved into 'Abassan village, east of Khan Yunis, arrested 3 Palestinian civilians, including 2 children, for some hours.
OF have continued to impose a tightened siege on the OPT and imposed severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. OF imposed a comprehensive closure on the OPT for the the Jewish Sukkot. Gaza Strip OF have continued to close all border crossings to the Gaza Strip for more than two years. The OF siege of Gaza, which has steadily tightened since June 2007, has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic situation in the Gaza Strip.
The Gaza Power plant completely stopped operation due to the lack of energy fuel. Over the past three weeks, OF have allowed only 1,721,610 liters of energy fuel into the Gaza Strip, an amount which can operate the power plant for only 5 days.
The main concern of 1.5 million people living in the Gaza Strip is to obtain their basic needs of food, medicines, water and electricity supplies. The majority of the civilian population lack access to drinking water. Electricity is cut off for 100,000s of civilians from 8-12 hours daily, which has impacted at least 500,000 students or various stages of education who are currently having exams.
The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) was forced to suspend it humanitarian aids program for at least 750,000 Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip for 5 days. Thousands of Palestinian civilians have been forced to wait in long queues to buy bread. The Rafah International Crossing Point has been opened for a few days for a number of patients who received medical treatment abroad and needed to return home to the Gaza Strip.
OF have continued to close Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing in the face of Palestinian civilians wishing to travel to the West Bank and Zionist for medical treatment, trade or social visits.
OF have imposed additional restrictions on access of international diplomats, journalists and humanitarian workers to the Gaza Strip. They have prevented representatives of several international humanitarian organizations from entering the Gaza Strip.
OF have decreased the number of patients allowed to travel through Erez crossing to receive medical treatment in hospitals in the West Bank and Zionist entity to an average of 17 patients daily, which marks a decrease by 15% in comparison with the first quarter of 2008.
Health conditions in the Gaza Strip have deteriorated and all medical facilities have been impacted as scores of medical sets are operated by electricity. Dozens medicines have been lacking.
The lives of newly born babies, whose development has not been completed, is endangered as they need medical equipments in neonatal units that are operated by electricity. Living conditions of the Palestinian civilian population have seriously deteriorated; levels of poverty and unemployment have sharply mounted. At least 900 Palestinian prisoners in Zionist jails have been deprived for family visitation for more than 16 months.
West Bank OF have continued to impose severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians throughout the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. Thousands of Palestinian civilians from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip continue to be denied access to Jerusalem. OF have established checkpoints in and around Jerusalem, severely restricting Palestinian access to the city. Civilians are frequently prevented from praying at the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. There are approximately permanent 630 roadblocks, manned and unmanned checkpoints across the West Bank. In addition, there are some 60-80 ‘flying’ or temporary checkpoints erected across the West Bank by OF every week.
When complete, the illegal Annexation Wall will stretch for 724 kilometers around the West Bank, further isolating the entire population. 350 kilometers of the Wall has already been constructed. Approximately 99% of the Wall has been constructed inside the West Bank itself, further confiscating Palestinian land. At least 65% of the main roads that leads to 18 Palestinian communities in the West Bank are closed or fully controlled by OF (47 out of 72 roads).
There are around 500 kilometers of restricted roads across the West Bank. In addition, approximately one third of the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, is inaccessible to Palestinians without a permit issued by the OF. These permits are extremely difficult to obtain. OF continue to harass, and assault demonstrators who hold peaceful protests against the construction of the Annexation Wall. Palestinian civilians continue to be harassed by OF in Jerusalem, and across the West Bank, including being regularly stopped and searched in the streets by OF.
OF arrested 6 Palestinian civilians, including a child, at various checkpoints in the West Bank. OF have escalated arbitrary measures against Palestinian civilians in East Jerusalem to force them to leave the city. OF stormed and confiscated for the third a tent set up by the al-Kurd family in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem. It is worth noting that OF seized Fawzia al-Kurd's house on 9 November 2008 and expelled the family from it. Since that date, Fawzia al-Kurd has lived in a tent set up near the house.
OF have continued settlement activities and Zionist settlers living in the OPT in violation of international humanitarian law have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property. Zionist settlers living in "Kiryat Arba" and "Kharsina" settlements and settlement outposts in the southeast and the center of Hebron launched a series of systematic terrorist attacks against Palestinian civilians and property in nearby Palestinian residential areas in Hebron. OF provided protection for settlers, the settlers used firearms, empty bottles and stones in their attacks. A number of Palestinian civilians were injured, 4 houses were burnt, 5 vehicles were destroyed and some other property was damaged.
In the West Bank, on Monday, 15 December 2008, an OF undercover unit extra-judicially executed Jihad Ahmed Ameen Nawahda, 21, a member of the al-Quds Brigades (the armed wing of Islamic Jihad), in al-Yamoun village west of Jenin. Nawahda was hit by multiple gunshots to the back, the abdomen and the legs.
Nine Palestinian civilians, including 3 children, were wounded when OF used force against peaceful demonstrations organized in protest to the construction of the Annexation Wall west of Ramallah.
Also 3 Palestinian civilians, including a man and his son, were wounded by Zionist settlers' gunfire in Hebron on 4 and 5 December 2008.
On Sunday, 12 December 2008, a Palestinian child was seriously wounded by a gunshot to the head fired by OF troops that provided protection to Zionist settlers who attacked Palestinian civilians and property in Hebron.
OF conducted at least 38 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank. During these incursions, OF arrested 50 Palestinian civilians, including 14 children and a girl, Thus, the number of Palestinian civilians arrested by OF in the West Bank since the beginning of 2008 has mounted to 2,311. OF also transformed 8 houses in Hebron into military sites. In the Gaza Strip, OF troops that had moved into 'Abassan village, east of Khan Yunis, arrested 3 Palestinian civilians, including 2 children, for some hours.
OF have continued to impose a tightened siege on the OPT and imposed severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. OF imposed a comprehensive closure on the OPT for the the Jewish Sukkot.
Gaza Strip OF have continued to close all border crossings to the Gaza Strip for more than two years. The OF siege of Gaza, which has steadily tightened since June 2007, has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic situation in the Gaza Strip.
The Gaza Power plant completely stopped operation due to the lack of energy fuel. Over the past three weeks, OF have allowed only 1,721,610 liters of energy fuel into the Gaza Strip, an amount which can operate the power plant for only 5 days. The main concern of 1.5 million people living in the Gaza Strip is to obtain their basic needs of food, medicines, water and electricity supplies. The majority of the civilian population lack access to drinking water. Electricity is cut off for 100,000s of civilians from 8-12 hours daily, which has impacted at least 500,000 students or various stages of education who are currently having exams.
The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) was forced to suspend it humanitarian aids program for at least 750,000 Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip for 5 days. Thousands of Palestinian civilians have been forced to wait in long queues to buy bread. The Rafah International Crossing Point has been opened for a few days for a number of patients who received medical treatment abroad and needed to return home to the Gaza Strip. OF have continued to close Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing in the face of Palestinian civilians wishing to travel to the West Bank and Zionist for medical treatment, trade or social visits.
OF have imposed additional restrictions on access of international diplomats, journalists and humanitarian workers to the Gaza Strip. They have prevented representatives of several international humanitarian organizations from entering the Gaza Strip.
OF have decreased the number of patients allowed to travel through Erez crossing to receive medical treatment in hospitals in the West Bank and Zionist entity to an average of 17 patients daily, which marks a decrease by 15% in comparison with the first quarter of 2008. Health conditions in the Gaza Strip have deteriorated and all medical facilities have been impacted as scores of medical sets are operated by electricity. Dozens medicines have been lacking. The lives of newly born babies, whose development has not been completed, is endangered as they need medical equipments in neonatal units that are operated by electricity. Living conditions of the Palestinian civilian population have seriously deteriorated; levels of poverty and unemployment have sharply mounted. At least 900 Palestinian prisoners in Zionist jails have been deprived for family visitation for more than 16 months.
OF have continued to impose severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians throughout the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. Thousands of Palestinian civilians from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip continue to be denied access to Jerusalem. OF have established checkpoints in and around Jerusalem, severely restricting Palestinian access to the city. Civilians are frequently prevented from praying at the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
There are approximately permanent 630 roadblocks, manned and unmanned checkpoints across the West Bank. In addition, there are some 60-80 ‘flying’ or temporary checkpoints erected across the West Bank by OF every week. When complete, the illegal Annexation Wall will stretch for 724 kilometers around the West Bank, further isolating the entire population. 350 kilometers of the Wall has already been constructed. Approximately 99% of the Wall has been constructed inside the West Bank itself, further confiscating Palestinian land.
At least 65% of the main roads that leads to 18 Palestinian communities in the West Bank are closed or fully controlled by OF (47 out of 72 roads.) There are around 500 kilometers of restricted roads across the West Bank. In addition, approximately one third of the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, is inaccessible to Palestinians without a permit issued by the OF. These permits are extremely difficult to obtain.
OF continue to harass, and assault demonstrators who hold peaceful protests against the construction of the Annexation Wall. Palestinian civilians continue to be harassed by OF in Jerusalem, and across the West Bank, including being regularly stopped and searched in the streets by OF. OF arrested 6 Palestinian civilians, including a child, at various checkpoints in the West Bank. OF stormed and confiscated for the third a tent set up by the al-Kurd family in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem. It is worth noting that OF seized Fawzia al-Kurd's house on 9 November 2008 and expelled the family from it. Since that date, Fawzia al-Kurd has lived in a tent set up near the house.
OF have continued settlement activities and Zionist settlers living in the OPT in violation of international humanitarian law have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property. Zionist settlers living in "Kiryat Arba" and "Kharsina" settlements and settlement outposts in the southeast and the center of Hebron launched a series of systematic terrorist attacks against Palestinian civilians and property in nearby Palestinian residential areas in Hebron. OF provided protection for settlers, the settlers used firearms, empty bottles and stones in their attacks. A number of Palestinian civilians were injured, 4 houses were burnt, 5 vehicles were destroyed and some other property was damaged.
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