Wednesday, January 7, 2009

ISRAEL IS A FAILED STATE Israel's60thBirthday: "A U.N. official in Gaza said a school where dozens of Palestinians were killed by tank shells on Tuesday was clearly marked with a U.N. flag and its location had been reported to Israeli authorities. John Ging, director of operations in Gaza for UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, said the death toll in the Israeli artillery strike near the school in Jabalya refugee camp was 30 dead with another 55 people injured. Medical officials on the spot have said more than 40 people were killed." Antiwar: "Meanwhile the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which has declared a 'full-blown humanitarian crisis' in Gaza, said it is investigating reports that a Palestinian Red Crescent (PRC) ambulance station in Jabaliya refugee camp was targeted Monday night. In an earlier attack last Friday, the ICRC reported that two clearly marked ambulance medics from the PRC, evacuating the dead and wounded from an earlier Israeli attack, were targeted by Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) fire." Firedoglake: "Multiple sources are reporting that medics and ambulances have come under repeated attack in Gaza by Israeli forces." The war crimes of Israel must be kept secret. That is why Israel prohibits journalists to enter Gaza. RedressNews: "Mads Gilbert, a Norwegian doctor in Gaza, tells CBS News that the number of civilians injured and killed in Gaza proves that Israel is deliberately attacking the population." Which means Israel is committing war crimes and ethnic cleansing of the most dirty kind. More info from Gaza. Ramattan website. It is a bit cynical, but the number of victims from Hamas rockets is probably much lower than the number of victims from organized crime in Israel. LATimes: "Daylight bombings, bystander deaths and the occasional rocket attack have laid bare the shortcomings of Israel's formidable security apparatus in dealing with the crime wave. An over-the-top gang war between Israeli crime families, complete with daylight bombings, bystander deaths and the occasional rocket attack, has laid bare the shortcomings of the country's formidable security apparatus. 'In many respects we are losing the battle,' said Menachem Amir, a criminology professor at Hebrew University. Organized crime blossomed here in the 1980s and '90s while security forces were focused on Palestinian terrorist threats. By the time Israeli authorities truly began to grapple with the problem a few years ago, they faced a sophisticated global network of gambling, prostitution and drug trafficking, with Los Angeles as one of its hubs. Israel is a heavily militarized country where weapons flow freely. While the intelligence agencies and army vigilantly watch the borders for Palestinians intent on carrying out attacks, Israeli criminals use the country's tightknit social connections to steal guns, explosives and antitank missiles from the army." 10:43:28 AM

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