back to school in gaza

the first placard reads: the martyr 'Amr Qudas

(the placards commemorate the memory of these boys'
schoolmates, killed during the Gaza attacks)

gaza aftermath, day 10

Mitchell heads to Middle East to initiate dialogue between Israel and Hamas
(Guardian)

Gazans wounded in Israeli air raid
(al Jazeera english)

George Mitchell and the Middle East
(Gerry Adams, Guardian)

TV appeal for Gaza raises 1m pounds, despite BBC and Sky refusal (and BBC faces lawsuit over broadcast refusal)
(Guardian)

Obama: Time for Palestinians, Israelis to talk
(Haaretz, plus youtube video of his al Arabiya interview)

gaza aftermath, day 9

The Indian example
(Radhika Sainath, EI-- on non-violence vs. violence as means of resistance)

Gaza appeal video
(Guardian-- the video BBC will not air)

Tony Benn makes his own appeal on BBC
(youtube video "if you won't broadcast the Gaza appeal then I will myself.")

Error of judgement
(Editorial, Guardian)

Fear and trauma in Gaza's schools
(al Jazeera english)

Writing checks for Gaza is easy. Politics is the tricky bit.
(Chris Patten, Guardian)

Americans turn to Al Jazeera for coverage of Gaza conflict
(Guardian)

For Gaza's dead children

We have been flooded with your memories. Do not think your faces have blended together. Each of you has died a horrific and unique death. And we honor you and remember you. We remember you.

We see your chest, riddled with dime sized holes from phosphorous munitions...and know our silence was complience.

We see your eye lids stitched shut, after a bomb's fury ripped out your eyeballs...and we know our governments helped do this.

We see your porcelain faces, calm like a sleeping doll...and know we must fight so your brothers and sisters will never sleep this macabre slumber.

We see your body without legs and arms...and feel shame.

We see you without family, without your beloved parents...and know this is an unbearable loss, a void that no cease-fire, or two-state solution can ever fill.

I feel a sense of responsibility for these losses, these deprivations. That somehow, something I-- we-- could have done, would have spared these children their lives...and the loss of their beloved families. Their deaths and losses are done. We cannot bring them back to life through tears or guilt. But we can remember them. We can remember that their deaths do not have to be repeated. Ever. They were, and are, preventable. I think it is important to remember that this number of 1,300 is comprised of unique, beloved, funny, grumpy, smart, creative, stubborn, generous, strict, curious, human individuals-- each person has a story and a name. What we read as numbers of casualties and piles and piles of names, each one holding the story of an entire person, who was loved by many...both living and dead. We must remember they are human. They are not numbers.

In particular, I remember the lurch in my stomach reading about Shahed Abu Sultan, an 8 year old girl who was killed by an Israeli helicopter who shot her in the head. Her father wrote her a letter...

"I cried a sea of tears for you but those tears have not calmed my heart because you left, my daughter. I have no tears remaining, but my heart wants to go on cryng blood, my daughter, my beloved Shahed. Your smooth smile, your sweet and angelic face, we miss you with each moment, our darling. My daughter Shahed died once, but I die a million times a day...My heartache will go on forever."

We continue to fight for the children of Gaza, so they may have a future brighter, and less destructive, than phosphorous bombs. And for the babas of Gaza, so they will never have to cry again.

gaza aftermath, day 8

Archbishop of Canterbury joins criticism of BBC refusal to screen Gaza appeal
(Guardian)

The BBC has been here before
(Nigel Fountain, Guardian-- BBC and apartheid 35yrs ago)

From London to Gaza
(George Galloway, Guardian)

Egypt aims to cement Gaza ceasefire
(al Jazeera english)

Children of Gaza in Egyptian hospitals
(video, al Jazeera English)

Schools reopen
(pictures, al Jazeera english)

gaza aftermath, day 6

Please visit Electronic Intifada for a variety of excellent pieces on Gaza and Palestine in general...it is very hard to pick out just one or two to post, so I would encourage you all to visit it independently.

The children of Palestine
(Rory McCarthy, Guardian-- personal stories of 10 children who were killed)

UN human rights official:Gaza evokes memories of Warsaw Ghetto
(Haaretz)

Q/A with Taghreed el Khodary, NYT reporter from, and in, Gaza

The Self defense defense
(Rachel Shabi, Guardian)

Israel forms war crimes defense team
(al jazeera english)

BBC refuses airtime to Gaza aid appeal
(Guardian)

Is the BBC right on Gaza?
(Guardian poll-- please vote!)

In praise of...The Disaster Emergency Committee
(Editorial, Guardian)

Sharpeville, 1960, Gaza 2009
(Dr. Haider Eid, EI)

Why I'm boycotting Israeli produce
(Blog, Guardian)

Journey Home
(short film showing the return of exiled Palestinians to Palestine, al Jazeera english)

gaza aftermath, day 5

Who will save the Palestinians?
(Mark LeVine, al Jazeera English-- very good read on the merits of violent vs. non-violent resistance and a brief history of Hamas)

So far, Obama's missed the point on Gaza
(Robert Fisk, Independent)

Gaza war ended in utter failure for Israel
(Gideon Levy, Haaretz)

Obama lays out Middle East vision
(al Jazeera english)

Protests over Gaza spread to eight English Universities
(Guardian)

Stop trying to Hamas, Deal with us
(Khaled Meshal, Haaretz)