Saturday, August 9, 2014

Melbourne joins Global Day of Rage for Gaza - 9 August 2014

Dear friends,
as Israel resumed its murderous bombardment of Gaza, hundreds of thousands around the world prepared to join the Global Day of Rage for Gaza on Saturday, 9 August. Melbourne joined the Day of Rage, holding it fifth demonstration in support of the people of Gaza in as many weeks. More than 1000 people joined the rally.

After hearing speakers at the State Library of Victoria, the protest marched through the Melbourne CBD up to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) office. At DFAT, protesters posted up the names of the Gaza dead on the windows and walls of the building to highlight not only Israel's brutality in Gaza but to also highlight the complicity of the Australian Abbott government which has continued to support Israel and its "right to ~~self-defense"~~, massacre the largely defenseless population of Gaza who have been locked in an open air prison for the last 8 years.

The protest organised by the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid and Students for Palestine called on the Australian Abbott government to break all ties with apartheid Israel and call on the Australian public and all people of conscience to support the Palestinian initiated Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign.

The next Melbourne event in support of Palestine is a public meeting: After Israel's massacre in Gaza: Why you should boycott apartheid Israel

You can check out photos from earlier Melbourne rallies here (1 Aug), here (26 July), here (19 July) and here (12 July). Also you can view a roundup of Australian rallies from the weekend of 19th & 20th July here.

In solidarity, Kim

**

Gaza Calling: All out on Saturday 9 August Day of Rage
Join the Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions Movement today. Demand Sanctions on Israel Now.
As we face the full might of Israel’s military arsenal, funded and supplied by the United States and European Union, we call on civil society and people of conscience throughout the world to pressure governments to sanction Israel and implement a comprehensive arms embargo immediately.
Take to the streets on Saturday 9 August with a united demand for sanctions on Israel.
From Gaza under invasion, bombardment, and continuing siege, the horror is beyond words. Medical supplies are exhausted. The death toll has reached 1813 killed (398 children, 207 women, 74 elderly) and 9370 injured (2744 children, 1750 women, 343 elderly). Our hospitals, ambulances, and medical staff are all under attack while on duty. Doctors and paramedics are being killed while evacuating the dead. Our dead are not numbers and statistics to be recounted; they are loved ones, family and friends.
While we have to survive this onslaught, you certainly have the power to help end it the same way you helped overcome Apartheid and other crimes against humanity. Israel is only able to carry out this attack with the unwavering support of governments – this support must end.
This is our third massacre in six years. When not being slaughtered, we remain under siege, an illegal collective punishment of the entire population. Fishermen are shot and killed if they stray beyond a 3 km limit imposed unilaterally by Israel. Farmers are shot harvesting their crops within a border area imposed unilaterally by Israel. Gaza has become the largest open-air prison, a concentration camp since 2006. This time, we want an end to this unprecedented crime against humanity committed with the complicity and support of your own governments!
We are not asking for charity. We are demanding solidarity, because we know that until Israel is isolated and sanctioned, these horrors will be repeated.
Take action this Saturday

Make boycotts, divestments and sanctions the main message at every protest around the world. Take banners and placards calling for sanction on Israel to every protest. Tweet them using the hashtag #GazaDayofRage. Email us your pictures and action details to GazaDayofRage@gmail.com.
While news of all the mass protests outside Israel’s embassies around the world have given us hope, after weeks of protests, we urge you to intensify your actions. Occupy Israeli embassies, challenge Israeli officials (and others) supporting the current aggression against Gaza whenever they appear in public and stage sit-in in government buildings.
Boycott all Israeli products and take action against corporations profiting from Israel’s system of colonialism, occupation and apartheid. March to boycott targets in your city and educate the public about companies complicit in Israel’s ongoing military assault and illegal siege of Gaza.
Palestinian trade unions are calling on our brothers and sisters in the trade union movement internationally to stop handling goods imported from or exported to Israel. The trade union movement has a proud history of direct action against Apartheid in South Africa, the Congress of South African Trade Unions has joined us in the call for direct action to end Israel’s impunity.

From occupied and besieged Gaza
Signed by
Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions
General Union of Palestinian Women
University Teachers’ Association in Palestine
Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network (Umbrella for 133 orgs)
Medical Democratic Assembly
General Union of Palestine Workers
General Union for Health Services Workers
General Union for Public Services Workers
General Union for Petrochemical and Gas Workers
General Union for Agricultural Workers
Union of Women’s Work Committees
Pal-Cinema (Palestine Cinema Forum)
Youth Herak Movement
Union of Women’s Struggle Committees
Union of Synergies—Women Unit
Union of Palestinian Women Committees
Women’s Studies Society
Working Woman’s Society
Palestinian Students’ Campaign for the Academic Boycott of Israel
Gaza BDS Working Group
One Democratic State Group
- See more at: http://www.bdsmovement.net/2014/gaza-calling-all-out-on-saturday-9-august-day-of-rage-12423#sthash.M3O2tCyb.dpuf

Make boycotts, divestments and sanctions the main message at every protest around the world. Take banners and placards calling for sanction on Israel to every protest. Tweet them using the hashtag #GazaDayofRage. Email us your pictures and action details to GazaDayofRage@gmail.com.
While news of all the mass protests outside Israel’s embassies around the world have given us hope, after weeks of protests, we urge you to intensify your actions. Occupy Israeli embassies, challenge Israeli officials (and others) supporting the current aggression against Gaza whenever they appear in public and stage sit-in in government buildings.
Boycott all Israeli products and take action against corporations profiting from Israel’s system of colonialism, occupation and apartheid. March to boycott targets in your city and educate the public about companies complicit in Israel’s ongoing military assault and illegal siege of Gaza.
Palestinian trade unions are calling on our brothers and sisters in the trade union movement internationally to stop handling goods imported from or exported to Israel. The trade union movement has a proud history of direct action against Apartheid in South Africa, the Congress of South African Trade Unions has joined us in the call for direct action to end Israel’s impunity.

Gaza Calling: All out on Saturday

9 August Day of Rage

Join the Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions Movement today. Demand Sanctions on Israel Now.

As we face the full might of Israel’s military arsenal, funded and supplied by the United States and European Union, we call on civil society and people of conscience throughout the world to pressure governments to sanction Israel and implement a comprehensive arms embargo immediately.

Take to the streets on Saturday 9 August with a united demand for sanctions on Israel.

From Gaza under invasion, bombardment, and continuing siege, the horror is beyond words. Medical supplies are exhausted. The death toll has reached 1813 killed (398 children, 207 women, 74 elderly) and 9370 injured (2744 children, 1750 women, 343 elderly). Our hospitals, ambulances, and medical staff are all under attack while on duty. Doctors and paramedics are being killed while evacuating the dead. Our dead are not numbers and statistics to be recounted; they are loved ones, family and friends.

While we have to survive this onslaught, you certainly have the power to help end it the same way you helped overcome Apartheid and other crimes against humanity. Israel is only able to carry out this attack with the unwavering support of governments – this support must end.

This is our third massacre in six years. When not being slaughtered, we remain under siege, an illegal collective punishment of the entire population. Fishermen are shot and killed if they stray beyond a 3 km limit imposed unilaterally by Israel. Farmers are shot harvesting their crops within a border area imposed unilaterally by Israel. Gaza has become the largest open-air prison, a concentration camp since 2006. This time, we want an end to this unprecedented crime against humanity committed with the complicity and support of your own governments!

We are not asking for charity. We are demanding solidarity, because we know that until Israel is isolated and sanctioned, these horrors will be repeated.

Take action this Saturday

Make boycotts, divestments and sanctions the main message at every protest around the world. Take banners and placards calling for sanction on Israel to every protest. Tweet them using the hashtag #GazaDayofRage. Email us your pictures and action details.
While news of all the mass protests outside Israel’s embassies around the world have given us hope, after weeks of protests, we urge you to intensify your actions. Occupy Israeli embassies, challenge Israeli officials (and others) supporting the current aggression against Gaza whenever they appear in public and stage sit-in in government buildings.
Boycott all Israeli products and take action against corporations profiting from Israel’s system of colonialism, occupation and apartheid. March to boycott targets in your city and educate the public about companies complicit in Israel’s ongoing military assault and illegal siege of Gaza.
Palestinian trade unions are calling on our brothers and sisters in the trade union movement internationally to stop handling goods imported from or exported to Israel. The trade union movement has a proud history of direct action against Apartheid in South Africa, the Congress of South African Trade Unions has joined us in the call for direct action to end Israel’s impunity.

From occupied and besieged Gaza

Signed by: Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions, General Union of Palestinian Women, University Teachers’ Association in Palestine, Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network (Umbrella for 133 orgs), Medical Democratic Assembly, General Union of Palestine Workers, General Union for Health Services Workers, General Union for Public Services Workers, General Union for Petrochemical and Gas Workers, General Union for Agricultural Workers, Union of Women’s Work Committees, Pal-Cinema (Palestine Cinema Forum), Youth Herak Movement, Union of Women’s Struggle Committees, Union of Synergies—Women Unit, Union of Palestinian Women Committees,Women’s Studies Society, Working Woman’s Society, Palestinian Students’ Campaign for the Academic Boycott of Israel, Gaza BDS Working Group, One Democratic State Group.

Palestinian Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions National Committee (BNC)

BNC includes: Council of National and Islamic Forces in Palestine, Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO), Palestinian National Institute for NGOs, Global Palestine Right of Return Coalition, Palestinian Trade Union Coalition for BDS (PTUC-BDS), Federation of Independent Trade Unions, General Union of Palestinian Workers, Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions, General Union of Palestinian Women, Union of Palestinian Farmers, General Union of Palestinian Teachers, General Union of Palestinian Writers, Palestinian Federation of Unions of University Professors and Employees (PFUUPE), Union of Professional Associations, General Union of Palestinian Peasants, Union of Public Employees in Palestine-Civil Sector, Grassroots Palestinian Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign (STW), National Committee for Grassroots Resistance, Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), National Committee to Commemorate the Nakba, Civic Coalition for the Defense of Palestinian Rights in Jerusalem, Coalition for Jerusalem, Union of Palestinian Charitable Organizations, Palestinian Economic Monitor, Union of Youth Activity Centers-Palestine Refugee Camps, Occupied Palestine and Syrian Golan Heights Initiative

**
All photos by Kim Bullimore, unless indicated otherwise (other photos by Emerson Tung).

Palestinian speaker, Nasser Mashni from Australians for Palestine speak the importance of solidarity with Palestine and the Palestinian BDS campaign.

Cuban activist, Aili Labinino, daughter of Ramon Labinino, one of the "Cuban Five" political prisoners jailed by the USA gives solidarity greetings to Palestine and conveys her father's solidarity message from prison. with Palestine. The Cuban Five are five Cuban men who are unjustly imprisoned in 1998, falsely accused by the US government of committing espionage conspiracy against the USA. The Cuban Five are Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando González and René González.

Trade Unionist, Cecilia Judge from the Australian Services Union speaks on union support for Palestine.

Long time, anti-war activist, Jacob Grech speaks on arms traders and dealers and the Australian government's complicity with Israeli arms traders.

Above: Photo by Emerson Tung

Israeli and Jewish activists oppose Israel's massacre in Gaza. Photo by Emerson Tung

Heba from Federation of Australian Muslim Students and Youth leading a chant at the rally

Greens MP, Adam Bandt speak in solidarity with Palestine.

Mai Saif, Palestinian activist from Students for Palestine calls for continued solidarity with Palestine

Dr Rick Kuhn, from the Canberra based Jews against the Occupation condemns Israel's occupation and apartheid regime and calls for support for the Palestinian BDS campaign.

Protest takes to the street to march to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFAT)

Above:Photo by Emerson Tung

Above: Photo by Emerson Tung

Arriving at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) to protest Australia's support for Israel and to call on the Australian Abbott government to break ties with apartheid Israel.

Outside DFAT

Posting the names of the Gaza dead on the windows/walls of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). Demanding the Australian government breaks all ties with apartheid Israel.

Posting the names of the Gaza dead on the windows/walls of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT)

Rally outside of the DFAT building

Posting the names of the Gaza dead on the windows/walls of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT)

Posting the names of the Gaza dead on the windows/walls of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). Demanding the Australian government breaks all ties with apartheid Israel.

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Palestine and the struggle of Indigenous peoples around the world (or Why these memes are problematic)

Dear friends,
over the last month, hundreds of thousands of people around the world have been outraged at Israel's murderous assault on Gaza which has left 1800 people dead, 85% of whom have been civilians. Hundreds of thousands around the world have taken to the streets and stood in solidarity with the Palestinian people in Gaza. During this period, in order to get information out and to try and educate others on the Palestinian struggle, many memes, images and infographics have been produced and distributed by groups and individuals. Most of these memes have been amazing, clever and very useful in explaining the Palestinian situation and struggle, as well as the unfolding horrors in Gaza.

Amongst the memes that have been produced have been a series of memes which have drawn inspiration from well-known four panel map of Palestine showing Palestinian land loss from 1947 until today. These memes have sought to ask people how they would feel if a similar thing happen in the country in which they lived (see examples, below)

While clearly the intention behind these memes is well meaning, as an Aboriginal Australian woman who is actively involved in the Palestine solidarity campaign, I find this particular set of memes very problematic.

While I understand what these memes are trying to convey - that they are trying to highlight the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people from their lands and get people to think about it in the context of their own lives or that they are trying to highlight government complicity in Israel's human rights abuses - they unfortunately ignore the settler-colonial history of countries like Australia, Canada and the United States and the struggles of the Indigenous peoples in these countries for their land and other rights.

While there is unlikely any ill-intention meant by the creators of these memes, it does reveal a failure to understand that like the Palestinian people, there are other indigenous people around the world who have been dispossessed and ethnically cleansed from their homelands by setter-colonialism and that they too are continuing the struggle to win their rights.

What has been heartening, however, is that many in the Palestine solidarity movement have also identified the problem with these memes and have challenged them. Here in Australia, when myself and other Aboriginal activists pointed out the problem with these memes, the creator of one of the Australian versions of the meme, immediately recognised his mistake, offered a heartfelt apology and withdraw the meme.

Indigenous communities, whether in Australia, the US, Canada, New Zealand or elsewhere are important allies in the struggle for a free Palestine. We need to recognise this and we need to treat their struggles with respect, rather than ignoring their history and their struggles as these have inadvertently done.

In 2008, I interviewed Omar Barghouti, one of the founders of the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign and he made precisely this point, that Indigenous communities are important allies.

At the time, he pointed out that BDS and the struggle for Palestine needed to be seen as not only part of the progressive social movements across the world but also a part of the struggle by indigenous people for freedom and justice saying:

Indigenous activists should be our closest allies everywhere. As an indigenous population who suffered ethnic cleansings, we do see them as our natural allies, but also every progressive social movement should see the BDS movement as part of their agenda. We are part of the social movement across the world struggling for peace, democracy, justice, human rights and equality for all humans.

Here in Australia, over the last few weeks as we have organised rallies in support of Palestine opposing Israel's murderous assault on Gaza, it has been and is a priority for us to include Indigenous Australian speakers on our rally platforms and to make the links between the Palestinian and Indigenous Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander struggle in Australia.

It has been and is a priority for us to highlight that Australia, like Israel, is a settler-colonial country which ethnically cleansed the Indigenous population.

It has been and is a priority for us to acknowledge that our rallies take place on stolen Aboriginal land.

It has been and is a priority for us to acknowledge and give respect to the traditional owners of the country and to acknowledge that sovereignty over the land has never been ceded by the Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander communities of Australia.

Indigenous communities around the world are natural allies of the Palestinian people and for the Palestine solidarity movement. So rather than ignoring their histories and struggles, as these memes have done, it is important that we acknowledge and respect their struggle and acknowledge their histories.

If you would like to read more about the Indigenous Australian struggle, I have written previously on this blog on the issue here (on Aboriginal resistance) and here (on how Aboriginal Australia view Australia Day).

You can also read older articles which I wrote in 2000/2001 here (on racism in Australia) and here (on the Aboriginal struggle in Australia).

In solidarity, Kim

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Next Melbourne Rally for Gaza: Stop Israel Aggression - Free Palestine, Sat 9 August 2014

Al Monitor: Never ask me about peace again

Dear friends,
The following article was first published by Al Monitor. I am reprinting this as it is a very moving and powerful first-hand account of the aftermath of an Israeli strike that killed nine members of the author's family.

in solidarity, Kim

NEVER ASK ME ABOUT PEACE AGAIN

Asmaa al-Ghoul is a columnist for Al-Monitor's Palestine Pulse and a journalist from the Rafah refugee camp based in Gaza.

Al Monitor: 4 August 2014

Tears flowed until my body ran dry of them when I received a telephone call on Aug. 3, informing me that my family had been targeted by two F-16 missiles in the city of Rafah. Such was the fate of our family in a war that still continues, with every family in the Gaza Strip receiving its share of sorrow and pain.

My father’s brother, Ismail al-Ghoul, 60, was not a member of Hamas. His wife, Khadra, 62, was not a militant of Hamas. Their sons, Wael, 35, and Mohammed, 32, were not combatants for Hamas. Their daughters, Hanadi, 28, and Asmaa, 22, were not operatives for Hamas, nor were my cousin Wael’s children, Ismail, 11, Malak, 5, and baby Mustafa, only 24 days old, members of Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine or Fatah. Yet, they all died in the Israeli shelling that targeted their home at 6:20 a.m. on Sunday morning.

Their house was located in the Yibna neighborhood of the Rafah refugee camp. It was one story with a roof made of thin asbestos that did not require two F-16 missiles to destroy. Would someone please inform Israel that refugee camp houses can be destroyed, and their occupants killed, with only a small bomb, and that it needn’t spend billions to blow them into oblivion?

If it is Hamas that you hate, let me tell you that the people you are killing have nothing to do with Hamas. They are women, children, men and senior citizens whose only concern was for the war to end, so they can return to their lives and daily routines. But let me assure you that you have now created thousands — no, millions — of Hamas loyalists, for we all become Hamas if Hamas, to you, is women, children and innocent families. If Hamas, in your eyes, is ordinary civilians and families, then I am Hamas, they are Hamas and we are all Hamas.

Throughout the war, we thought that the worst had passed, that this was the pivotal moment when matters would improve, that they would stop there. Yet, that real moment of pain, of extreme fear, was always followed by something even worse.

Now I understood why the photographs of corpses were so important, not only for international public opinion, but for us, the families, in search for an opportunity to bid farewell to our loved ones, so treacherously killed. What were they doing in those last moments? What did they look like after their death?

I discovered the photos of my dead relatives on social networking sites. The bodies of my cousin’s children were stored in an ice cream freezer. Rafah’s Abu Yousef al-Najjar Hospital was closed after being shelled by Israeli tanks, and the Kuwaiti Hospital that we visited just a day earlier had become an alternate venue, where this freezer was the only option available.

Al-Najjar’s director, Abdullah Shehadeh, told Al-Monitor, “We decided to move the patients when shells hit the main gate. Some patients, out of fear, ran out, despite the gravity of the security situation. We are now working out of this ill-equipped hospital.”

The Emirati Red Crescent Maternity Hospital, west of Rafah, has been transformed into a large container for corpses, with fruit and vegetable freezers filled with dozens of bodies.
I saw corpses on the floor, some with nametags on their chests, while others remained unknown. We held our noses, for the stench was unbearable, as flies filled the air.

Ibrahim Hamad, 27, removed his five-year-old son’s shroud-wrapped body from a vegetable freezer. Fighting back tears, he told Al-Monitor, “He died as a result of a reconnaissance drone missile attack. His body has been here since yesterday. The dangerous situation prevented me from coming to take him any sooner.”

I thank God that my relatives were quickly buried, and that my cousins Mustafa, Malak and Ismail did not remain long in a freezer, lest their bodies freeze, and their souls now rest in peace, leaving us with nothing but the silence of death and bodies forever trapped in the postures of their passing.

On the fifth day of the war, when I went to write my Rafah report about the shelling of the Ghannam family, I stopped by to visit my cousin’s house. I saw my relatives and we took photographs together. During the war, my cousin Wael’s wife had given birth to twins, Mustafa and Ibrahim, who were like two tiny angels, harbingers of hope and joy.

How could I have known that this would be our last meeting? I wish I had stayed longer and talked to them some more. Hanadi, Asmaa, my uncle and his wife laughed as they joked about the twist of fate that brought us together in the middle of a war, at a time when Israeli occupation forces had not yet begun perpetrating their wanton war crimes against Rafah.

Endings are so strange, as are living moments that suddenly become relegated to the past. We will never see them again, and the pictures that I took of the twins are now so precious, as one of them, Mustafa, was killed, while the other, Ibrahim, remained alive.

I wonder how they could differentiate between them, for they looked so much alike. Who identified them when their father died and their mother lay wounded in intensive care? Who was Mustafa, and who was Ibrahim? It was as if they had merged upon one twin's death.

In the photos taken after their death, my family looked so peaceful, asleep with their eyes closed. None of them were disfigured or burned, unlike hundreds of dead children and civilians that US-made weapons killed before them. We wondered if they died in pain. What happened when the missile, carrying tons of explosives, impacted their modest house and exploded, creating air pressure so fierce that their internal organs burst? Their suffering was perhaps lessened by the fact that they were sleeping.

I didn't see them when I went to Rafah on Aug. 2. I wrote about the death of the Ayad Abu Taha family, which was targeted by warplanes, and saw the corpse of Rizk Abu Taha, one year old, when it arrived at the Kuwaiti Hospital.

I observed him at length. He looked alive. One could see that he had been playing when he died, dressed in his pink pants. How could he be at such peace? The bodies of war victims look so different from how they appear on television. They are so real, so substantial, suddenly there before you, without any newscast introductions, music or slogans.

Bodies lay everywhere, and it was if everything in life had been to prepare us for this moment. Suddenly, the dead left their personal lives behind: their cell phones, homes, clothes, perfumes and daily chores. Most importantly, they left the fear of war behind.

Distances in the small Gaza Strip have grown larger, distances and time expanding as a result of the fear and death that shrank the life expectancy of the populace. We were unable to join the family for the funerals. My uncle, Ahmad al-Ghoul, later told me over the phone, “Because of the inherent danger, our goodbyes to them lasted mere seconds. Malak’s eyes laid open, as if to ask, 'What wrong did I commit?'”

I was born in 1982, in that same house in Rafah’s refugee camp, where the family’s large household expanded. I grew up there, and everything else grew with us: the first intifada, the resistance, my nearby school that I walked to every day. There, I saw my first-ever book library. There, I remember seeing my grandfather fall asleep as he listened to the BBC. And there, I laid eyes on the first Israeli soldier in my life, striking my grandfather to force him to erase the national slogans that adorned the walls of our refugee camp home.

Now, the house and its future memories have been laid to waste, its children taken to early graves. Homes and recollections bombed into oblivion, their inhabitants homeless and lost, just as their camp always had been. Never ask me about peace again.

Saturday, August 2, 2014

Al Jazeera: Israel has no red lines' in Gaza

Al Jazeera video report outlining that Israel has no "redlines" in Gaza, attacking civilian areas and infrastructure, including hospitals, ambulances, "first responders", schools, mosques and universities.

Friday, August 1, 2014

Euro-Mid: Israeli assault seeks to destroy the foundations of the future life in Gaza

Dear friends,
this article provides a relatively succinct overview of the destruction wrought in Gaza by Israel. I have also included below the Euro-Mid's latest info graphic.

in solidarity, Kim

click on image to enlarge

Israeli assault seeks to destroy the foundations of the future life in Gaza

1 August, 2014. Euro-Mid Observer for Human Rights

Gaza City, Occupied Palestinian Territories- With the ongoing Israeli assault on the besieged Gaza Strip in its 24th day, it is much clear today than ever that the Israeli army is deliberately seeking to achieve not only short-term goals, but also long-term goals by destroying the foundations of the future life in Gaza.

The Euro-Mid Observer for Human Rights documented the Israeli forces' premeditated targeting of a number of vital factories and economic installations, which had been partially contributing to facilitating the daily life of the people of Gaza, who have been besieged for eight years and already facing certain obstacles, including high unemployment rates and the Palestinian government's failure to pay the salaries on a regular basis.

The Israeli aggression has caused significant losses to the various aspects of the economy, which was already suffering mainly due to the eight year blockade. According to the Euro-Mid, 243 commercial and industrial facilities have been fully destroyed, causing substantial economic losses, and brining the total direct losses caused by the Israeli offensive to more than 1.1 billion dollars.

The grave economic situation is not limited to the disruption of work in factories, as well as in the employees' salaries and high unemployment rates. Its graveness also increases the significant impact inflicted by the fuel shortage at all walks of life, since fuel is required to operate many of the necessary facilities. Bakeries for example are facing the risk of work stoppage amidst fuel shortage and electricity outages, which causes a real crisis that is starting to emerge. This morning, dozens of people lined up in front of bakeries under the heavy and indiscriminate bombardment, risking their lives to buy bread. At the same time, it is expected that such bakeries will run out of bread at any time, especially following the damage caused to the power plant. Thus, residents of Gaza city have access to electricity for about two hours every three days, whereas those in the central area of the Gaza Strip have no access to electricity at all.

Add to this the substantial financial losses caused by the Israeli attacks on civilian homes, flattening hundreds of them. The losses of homes destroyed completely are estimated at 231 million dollars, and those destroyed partially at 154 million dollars, in addition to the damage losses of thousands of other homes.

Furthermore, 29 health facilities were targeted, causing damage to some, while others had to be shut down. 13 hospitals were targeted; three of which were shut down and the rest were significantly damaged. Seven primary health care centres were also targeted, in addition to nine ambulances targeted directly.

The Euro-Mid is expressing concerns over the Israeli army's attempt to find a cover for its massacres by targeting vital infrastructures linking the Gaza Strip to the outside world. Due to the severe damage caused to the terrestrial and cellular communications and internet infrastructure, the Palestinian Telecommunication Group (PalTel) has announced that a large part of its landline and cellular networks and internet services have been interrupted and disrupted as a result of the destruction of Gaza's power plant and fuel shortage. Also, 85% of the cellular communications network – Jawwal in the Gaza Strip has been also disrupted, and the network may fully stop functioning within 48 hours at the latest.

Statistics:

Euro-Mid Observer for Human Rights has issued preliminary statistics for the outcome of the Israeli assault on the besieged Gaza Strip as of midnight of the 24th day of the Israeli offensive. The number of people killed Thursday is 80 people, including 12 children, and 18 women, bringing the total number of deaths to 1,4400 people, including 321 children and 181 women.

Due to the heavy bombardment of the Gaza Strip, which has intensified considerably in recent days, the number of people injured today is 645, including 82 children and 68 women, bringing the number of people wounded since the beginning of the assault to 8,114 people, including 2,511 children and 1,628 women.

On Thursday, the Israeli army carried out 4,978 attacks, including 345 airstrikes, 1,343 naval shells and 3,290 artillery shells, raising the number of attacks carried out by the Israeli army since the beginning of the offensive to 55,743 attacks, including 6,663 airstrikes, 15,209 naval shells and 33,871 artillery shells.

The Israeli armed forces have also continued targeting houses and civil facilities at an increasing pace. According to Thursday statistics, 608 houses were targeted, including 76 houses were completely destroyed, and 532 houses were partially destroyed, and thus the number of houses that have been targeted since the beginning of the offensive increases to 9,245 houses, including 1,537 that have been completely destroyed and 7,708 that have been partially destroyed.

In addition to that, places of worship have been also targeted. With the ongoing offensive, the Israeli forces have been deliberately targeting mosques.

According to the Euro-Mid, the Israeli warplanes on Thursday targeted nine mosques, four of which were completely destroyed, and the rest were partially damaged. This brings the number of mosques that have been targeted since the beginning of the offensive to 102 mosques, 30 of which were destroyed completely. Moreover, the Israeli army targeted and partially destroyed three hospitals, bringing the number of hospitals targeted since the beginning of the aggression to 21.

UNRWA facilities have not been spared by the Israeli attacks either. On Thursday morning, the Israeli army bombed Al Maghazi Girls School run by UNRWA in the central district of the Gaza Strip, bringing the number of schools targeted directly to 7, and the number of UNRWA's facilities affected to 100.

Since the beginning of the assault on Gaza, the Israeli forces have targeted more than eight water and sanitation stations providing services to more than 700,000 civilians. In addition to that, 147 schools have been damaged as a result of the Israeli assault.

The Euro-Mid confirms that thousands of Palestinians have been forced to flee their houses due to the ongoing and the indiscriminate Israeli artillery shelling of the border areas. As of Thursday evening, more than 247,000 people have been displaced as a result of their houses being bombed and blown up by Israeli airstrikes. Nearly half of them fled to dozens of schools run by UNRWA, which have not bee much safer either, as two UNRWA schools were targeted directly, leading to the death and the injury of dozens. Since the beginning of the ground operation, the Gaza Strip has been under heavy and random attacks by jet fighters, naval warships, and artillery shells that target civilian houses in particular.

The Euro-Mid Observer for Human Rights is a nonprofit, nongovernmental human rights organization dedicated to exposing human rights violations and defending human rights. The Euro-Mid Observer for Human Rights’ headquarters is based in Geneva, Switzerland, with regional offices in the Middle-East.

Rain, Hail or Shine, Melbourne Stands with Palestine - 1 Aug 2014

Dear friends,
Melbourne held its four rally in solidarity with Palestine tonight (Friday, 1 August). Despite the bitter pouring rain and hail, as the rally started we had approximately 500 - 600 people turned out on a bitterly cold Friday night in Melbourne. By the end of the rally, the numbers had grown to between 800- 1000.

Protesters were determined to stand in solidarity with the people of Gaza and Palestine. After hearing a number of speech, the rally participants took to the streets of the CBD.

Please find below photos of tonight's Melbourne solidarity action take by myself and my comrade, Corey Oakley, who is an editor of the socialist newspaper, Red Flag.

The next rally for Gaza will be at 1pm on Saturday, 9th August at the State Library of Victoria.

In solidarity, Kim