Israel admits that no Hamas rockets were fired during the ceasefire:

“The International Committee of the Red Cross accused Israel of failing in its international obligations after its staff were met with “shocking” scenes

One medical team found 12 bodies in a shelled house, and alongside them four very young children, too weak to stand, waiting by their dead mothers, the ICRC said.

Aid workers had been denied access to the site for days, it added.”

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CNN’s Rick Sanchez confirms (with other news sources) that Israel broke the ceasefire back in November.

“At the same time as Ehud Barak was ordering the army to start the bloody ground offensive against Gaza, some ten thousand protesters from all over Israel marched in Tel-Aviv in a massive demonstration against the war. All four lanes of Ibn Gvirol St., one of the city’s main throughfares, were packed full of demonstrators who marched the two kiolometres from the Rabin Square to the Cinemateque, chanting and waving banners all the way.

“One does not build an election campaign over the dead bodies of children!” shouted the protesters in Hebrew rhymes. “Orphans and widows are not election propaganda!”, “Olmert, Livni and Barak – war is no game!”’ “All cabinet ministers are war criminals!!” Barak, Barak, don’t worry – we shall meet you in The Hague!”, “Enough, enough – speak with Hamas!””

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by Chris McGreal

“…the tape recording of the radio conversation between soldiers at the scene reveals that, from the beginning, she was identified as a child and at no point was a bomb spoken about nor was she described as a threat. Iman was also at least 100 yards from any soldier.

Instead, the tape shows that the soldiers swiftly identified her as a “girl of about 10″ who was “scared to death”.

The tape also reveals that the soldiers said Iman was headed eastwards, away from the army post and back into the refugee camp, when she was shot.

At that point, Captain R took the unusual decision to leave the post in pursuit of the girl. He shot her dead and then “confirmed the kill” by emptying his magazine into her body.”

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by Robert Fisk

“We’ve got so used to the carnage of the Middle East that we don’t care any more – providing we don’t offend the Israelis. It’s not clear how many of the Gaza dead are civilians, but the response of the Bush administration, not to mention the pusillanimous reaction of Gordon Brown, reaffirm for Arabs what they have known for decades: however they struggle against their antagonists, the West will take Israel’s side. As usual, the bloodbath was the fault of the Arabs – who, as we all know, only understand force.

Ever since 1948, we’ve been hearing this balderdash from the Israelis – just as Arab nationalists and then Arab Islamists have been peddling their own lies: that the Zionist “death wagon” will be overthrown, that all Jerusalem will be “liberated”. And always Mr Bush Snr or Mr Clinton or Mr Bush Jnr or Mr Blair or Mr Brown have called upon both sides to exercise “restraint” – as if the Palestinians and the Israelis both have F-18s and Merkava tanks and field artillery. Hamas’s home-made rockets have killed just 20 Israelis in eight years, but a day-long blitz by Israeli aircraft that kills almost 300 Palestinians is just par for the course.”

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The violence continues.

Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss, from Orthodox Jews United Against Zionism, peacefully protests.

Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land, a riveting look at the war waged by Israel, both on Palestine and on American airwaves

After the Israeli-orchestrated massacres of Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Lebanon in 1982, an Israeli review determined that the problem lay in bad publicity that Israel received rather than the events that took place. Determined to avoid negative press coverage in the future, Israel has since been involved in a relentless PR campaign targeting the American people.

Learn about the systematic manipulation of our news outlets and harassment of our journalists by Israel’s consulate and PR officers, who play a critical role in maintaining public support for its illegal occupation of Palestine

The Shministim are Israeli high school students who have been imprisoned by Israel for refusing to serve in an army that occupies the Palestinian Territories.

Find out more.