novum opus hominum

Therhi/Khaipur massacre, 49th anniversary of the first large scale sectarian attack in Pakistan

One hundred and eighteen Shia Muslims were martyred in Therhi on June 6, 1963 on the sacred day of ‘Yom-e-Aashura’ during the tenure of military dictator Ayub Khan. They sacrificed their precious lives for the sacred cause of the protection of Azadari.

THEHRHI is located around 8 kilometer when we travel by road from district Khairpur to Sukkur. In 1963, the population of THERHI was around 4 to 5 thousands, out of them 99 percent belonged to the nasbi ‘Wahabi Sect’ while there was only one house of Shia named Mehdi Shah. There was also a very big Madrassa of Wahabis in the locality. On 6th of June, a Majlis (congregation to commemorate the tragedy of Karbala) was being held in which around 15 to 20 Maumineen (Shias) had gathered.

A Jaloos(religious procession) was also scheduled after this gathering, but during the gathering some stalwarts attacked and severely injured the audience.
The news of this mishap was reported by Nawab Sultan Hussain to the residents of Mohalla Luqman (a nearby thickly populated locality of Shias) around 2 p.m. where a religious procession had already been brought out.

Maumineen became very sentimental by this news and raised Alams (Sacred flags hoisted during the procession) and said ‘Let the procession of THERHI should be brought out first, we would have later’. In this situation the uncle of Allama Irfan Haider Abidi (late) namely Sibtain Hussain, who was a renowned Zakir-e-Hussain (orator) came forward and said ’ Today it’s a war between Hussainiat and Yazidism’. Hearing this, the participants of mourning procession marched towards THERHI shouting slogans of ‘Ya Ali.’

The processionists, who marched towards THERHI, comprised of people from children aged 8 years to persons of 55 years. They had to cross Khairpur city to reach THERHI therefore the procession of Aashura was also taken out in Khairpur .The residents of Luqman said to people of Khairpur to accompany them, at this time some people said that enemy has planned attack and they should also prepare to counter, however, ignoring the facts, around 4 to 5 thousand people of Luqman and Khairpur marched towards THERHI, all of them unarmed except Naseem Haider Abbas (who was martyred) had got a revolver. When they reached THERHI it was around 6 p.m. close to dusk.
On the other hand the residents of THERHI were well armed and hidden on several places to attack.
The house of Mehdi Shah was in the middle of THERHI, the lanes were narrow, hardly 3 feet wide and due to firing and stone pelting only 150 to 200 people were able to reach his house, the rest awaited outside the city.

At the time of dusk someone said that the Army has arrived and hearing. This the people who went there without planning and leadership left for Khairpur. After the departure of these people, the Wahabis of THERHI encircled the Imambargah (place of congregation) of Mehdi Shah and in a brutal way, following the tradition of their ancestors, killed the Shias ruthlessly with the help of rifles, axes, knives and stone pelting. Further they put to the fire Shamiana (shade)which fell on the injured people. Even cattle were hurled on the dead and injured to inflict further pain.

At midnight, Wahabis of THERHI impersonated them as Shias, took empty water buckets and shouted the slogan of ‘Ya Hussain’ walking in groups among the injured and deceased. They were asking if someone need water, whoever requested for water they slaughtered him ruthlessly. (It must be noted that most of the people who slaughtered Maumineen were the Hafiz-e-Quran, students of Wahhabi madrassa. In this way, the Maumineen sacrificed their lives but did not ask for help and died following the tradition of Hazrat Imam Hussain (A.S.)

Now almost all of the Maumineen in THERHI were martyred, but the tyranny of Wahabis was not over. To hide their heinous crime they collected all the dead bodies and put them in an empty well and planned to burn them after putting kerosene oil. However, the police arrived and took the dead bodies into custody. Another reason for the failure in the burning of dead was that The Assistant Director Information of that time Mr. Ishtiaq Azher and the reporter of APP Mr. Ali Akbar Zaidi had already released the news of the death of more then 100 people to the local and international media.

Later the dead bodies were shifted to the Civil Hospital Khairpur from THERHI and kept in hospital’s compound. Among them there was a body of a Wahabi, which was stinking. The doctors kept his body separately. The relatives took their bodies after identification to their houses without post-mortem. Next day the burial of the martyrs was started, which took place on several places. However, on the advice of the leader of the congregational prayer of the Central Mosque of Mohalla Luqman, Molana Safdar Hussain, the martyrs of Luqman were buried at one place which was named Ganj-e-Shaheedan (the adobe of the martyrs).

It must be noted that next day when the bodies were carried for burial, almost 22 to 23 hours had been passed, the weather was extremely hot and there was a failure of electricity at several places. Despite all these facts, the bodies of martyrs were fresh and even blood was running from several of them.

Around 5 p.m. all dead bodies which were 32 in number were gathered in the Central Imambargah of Luqman. Among the dead there were the bodies of two young brothers, whose father was standing nearby, and when someone condole him on the death of his sons he replied with patience ‘My sons were not better than the sons of Hazrat Zainab (peace b e upon her). There were two families in Luqman, whose two sons were martyred in this tragedy. The bodies were taken to the graveyard around 6 p.m. from Central Imambargah.

It should be noted that the population of Mohallah Luqman was around 6 to 7 thousand at that time, among them around 90 percent were Shias and 10 percent were Sunnis who were mainly concentrated in Kawnpur colony. After the tragedy of THERHI, when almost from every lane one or two persons’ bodies was taken for burial, the people of Kawnpur colony became very frightened and due to the fear of retaliation, they started migrating from their houses. When the Shias of Luqman asked them about the reason, they expressed their apprehension, at that moment the Shia assured them of their security and told them that we have grievances against the people of THEHRH and they remained there.

The people of Luqman also saw, the character of the follower of Imam Hussain A.S., when the burial procession of 32 martyrs that consisted of thousands of people crossed Kawnpur colony, neither even a single stone was pelted nor any resident was disturbed. After observing this character, the leader of the congregational prayer of the Kawnpur colony mosque, Mr. Siddique, who used to recite Marsia written by his father on loudspeaker all night, started attending the Majalis (religious gathering in the memory of the tragedy of Karbala) and also started reciting his own composed Marisas. When he died, people offered his Namaz-e-Janaza twice, once by the Shias because he said in his will that he should be buried as Shia. He also said in his will that second namaz-e-janaza should be held by the Sunnis because they considered him the leader of the congregational prayer.

source

(via theillspirit-deactivated2013040)

Wow, i had no idea about this one. Now it makes sense why so many Sikhs rush to Lahore for pilgrimage and always say extra good things about it.

(Source: hoodinididit, via fuckyeahsouthasia)

Unholy Alliance Forming Against Syria Washington, Tel Aviv, Ankara, Brussels, Arab puppet regimes, Extremist Wahhabis, Al-Qaeda

thetruthaboutsyria:

Syria is bracing for more political chaos as all antagonistic forces appear to have entered into an unholy alliance to bring the government to its knees by ingeniously choreographing massacres and attributing them to Syrian government, thereby turning the country into fertile soil for US-led invasion.

Deadly clashes broke out on Friday between Syrian forces and armed groups in the township of Houla in Homs and claimed the lives of 108 people including at least 32 children according to the head of the UN observer mission in Syria. However, Syrian authorities on Sunday denied having a hand in the carnage.

“Women, children and old men were shot dead. This is not the hallmark of the heroic Syrian army,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdesi told reporters in Damascus.

Makdesi said the massacre was carried out by “terrorists” after fighting between rebels and forces loyal to al-Assad.

“They (rebels) were equipped with mortars and anti-tank missiles, which is a quantitative leap,” he said.

Violence is spiraling drastically despite the presence of 260 UN observers who are currently monitoring the ceasefire as part of a six-point peace plan proposed by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan in March.

Earlier this month, 55 people were killed and about 400 others injured in two strings of terrorist bombings near a military intelligence building in Damascus.

What deserves due attention in the carnage that happened in Houla is that many were shot dead at close range, many were Shia Muslims and many were women and children. In other words, these atrocities are conjectured to have been carried out at the hands of the extremist Wahhabis and al-Qaeda elements who are notorious for targeting women and children in their terrorist operations.

Another element which reinforces this speculation is that many among those who were killed were Shia Muslims for whom the Wahhabis nurse inveterate loathing. Despite the prevailing trend in western media to rule out the possible presence of the al-Qaeda in the country, the presence of al-Qaeda terrorists is gradually gaining strength in Syria. They are believed to have penetrated the country from Iraq, Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon.

Washington is funding the rebel groups in Syria. A report reveals that the rebels in Syria “have begun receiving significantly more and better weapons in recent weeks, an effort paid for by Persian Gulf nations and coordinated in part by the United States” (The Washington post, ).

“We are increasing our nonlethal assistance to the Syrian opposition, and we continue to coordinate our efforts with friends and allies in the region and beyond in order to have the biggest impact on what we are collectively doing,” said a senior State Department official, one of several US and foreign government officials on the condition of anonymity.

Besides, Washington is pressing Qatar and Saudi Arabia to fund and provide the rebels with heavy weaponries.

This behavior on the part of Washington runs counter to the fact that many rebels are linked with al-Qaeda and that the US claims to be fighting terror group. Along with Washington, the British government acknowledged early in March that it has provided an extra 2 million to the Western-backed rebels fighting the Syrian government. Prime Minister David Cameron told a hearing at the House of Commons Liaison Committee that his government had provided cash and equipment to western-backed rebels in Syria in the name of emergency medical supplies and food.

The government of al-Assad is losing ground thanks to the influx of the extremist Wahhabis and al-Qaeda members and on account of the financial and military support the rebels receive from the West and the Persian Gulf regimes.

The noose is getting tighter and tighter and all Washington and the extremists want is an absence of Bashar al-Assad. The implication is not that they are consciously united to topple the government of al-Assad but that they are united in a malicious cause to do so, each with its own benefits to reap. In other words, all these groups are fomenting unrest in Syria, and dragging the country into shreds of despair in their own way. Although these groups may ostensibly be at daggers drawn over different issues, they share one common point: the fall of al-Assad and therefore turning the situation to their own interest.

Metaphorically speaking, Syria is now going through a sea of troubles where there are many opportunists who will readily make the best of the crisis in the country.

Most importantly, Israel is silently and ironically funneling millions of dollars to the rebels in Syria. In fact, Israel is capitalizing enormously on the collapse of Bashar al-Assad government.  The fall of al-Assad in Syria means a lot to Israel. It is in fact tantamount to immense latitude and a capacious place of potency in the Middle East.

Syria is now a nightmarishly humanitarian catastrophe lavishly brought about by the regional Arab puppet regimes, extremist Wahhabis, al-Qaeda, Washington and Israel.

Ismail Salami is a frequent contributor to Global Research.  Global Research Articles by Ismail Salami

Wikileaks: Kony video maker spied for UPDF

By EMMANUEL GYEZAHO

Leaked cables of secret diplomatic notes by American officials in Uganda to Washington reveal that Invisible Children, the makers of the controversial film, Kony 2012, shared intelligence information with Ugandan security operatives that led to the arrest of a number of suspected regime critics. According to the memos posted by whistle-blower Wikileaks, Mr Patrick Komakech, a reported ex-LRA child soldier currently facing treason charges with a dozen other co-accused, was arrested on March 5, 2009, following a tip-off from officials of Invisible Children.

The development will offer critics fodder to suggest that the US charity should not be entitled to its not-for-profit status that presents fringe benefits such as tax exemptions. Mr Komakech’s arrest, the cable said, was made possible because he had been featured in past documentaries by Invisible Children, and is understood to have led to a swoop that eventually uncovered the supposed recruitment of disgruntled “northerners into anti-Museveni rebel groups”, backed by LRA-leaning individuals from the Acholi Diaspora.

“Invisible Children reported that Komakech had been in Nairobi and had recently reappeared in Gulu, where he was staying with the NGO. Security organisations jumped on the tip and immediately arrested him,” wrote former US ambassador to Uganda Steven Browning in the June 11, 2009 cable.

“He had a satellite telephone and other gadgets which were confiscated when he was picked up.”
Both the UPDF and Invisible Children moved to dismiss details of the leaked memo yesterday, while officials from the US Mission in Kampala were unavailable for comment due to the Easter holiday.
“That’s a lie. Komakech was arrested in broad day light and we didn’t need a muzungu to tell us where he was,” UPDF Spokesperson Felix Kulayigye said.

Invisible Children Uganda Spokesperson Florence Ogola said: “That is not true. We are not involved in anything to do with security. We only deal with development.”

She said allegations that the charity was involved in spy work on behalf of the UPDF is part of the “propaganda” and “tagging” that is gaining prominence after the release of the 30-minute Kony 2012 video early this year, which critics dismissed for its supposed simplistic portrayal of the two-decade conflict and insistence on a military solution.

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In an interview yesterday, Water Minister Betty Bigombe, who was at the heart of negotiations between government and the LRA, admitted that she “got wind of the role” Invisible Children played in bringing Mr Komakech back to Uganda from Nairobi, where he had been holed up but said she was “unaware” if the charity may have helped Ugandan security in having him arrested.
Mr Browning wrote that Ms Bigombe, “who has known Mr Komakech for 10 years, said he had confessed to being part of a new anti-government movement in the north.”

Mr Komakech is said to have been on the Ugandan security radar, reputedly for impersonating LRA leaders to extort money by presenting “fake defection” plans.

Ms Bigombe said she knew Komakech “very well”, as a child soldier she met during the first peace process in the early 90s and eventually a resourceful individual during the Juba peace process but admitted she was “shocked” to discover “he was playing games with other ex-rebels.”

Mr Browning wrote, however: “Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence officers confirmed Komakech’s confession and said the new group, previously called the Uganda People’s Front, is now the PPF.”
The ex-envoy said Mr Komakech reportedly gave the locations of several arms caches in Pader District with a total of 600 weapons recovered, and reported that the group had begun recruiting throughout the north, from West Nile to Pader.

Mr Komakech is said to have named several former LRA combatants that had been integrated into the UPDF as members of the new group as well as other civilian participants.

picturesofwar:

This day in history:

Between 250 and 500 (a definitive number is unknown) innocent Vietnamese villagers, consisting mostly of elderly men, women and children, are killed and their village is destroyed in what is later known as the “My Lai Massacre.” The incident is covered up by high-ranking military officers and not reported to the public until an investigative journalist catches wind of the story more than a year and a half later.

The massacre itself was finally put to an end after American helicopter pilot Hugh Thompson landed between a group of soldiers and villagers, threatening to shoot his fellow soldiers should they have continued.

The photo above shows one group of villagers seconds before they were killed.

March 16, 1968 - 44 years ago today.

(via raw-r-evolution)

"Mowing the lawn": On Israel's latest massacre in Gaza and the lies behind it

diaryofamadmuslimwoman:

A wounded Palestinian child is checked by doctors at a hospital in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, on March 11, 2012, following a fresh Israeli air raid, bringing the death toll from strikes since March 10 to 17 and dashing Hamas hopes of restoring a tacit truce.
(Ali Jadallah / APA images)

By this Sunday evening in Gaza, a weekend of relentless Israeli bombing has left 18 people dead and dozens wounded. Israeli propaganda insists that the attacks are about preventing “terrorism” and stopping “rockets.”

But in fact, Israel provoked this violence and according to some Israeli commentators its goals are to escalate pressure for war with Iran and to drag Hamas away from diplomacy and back into violence.

The latest of Israel’s victims today include Ayoub Useila, 12, of Jabalya refugee camp, whose seven year-old cousin was injured, and Adel al-Issi, 52, a farmer near Gaza City. Others suffered horrifying injuries, as recounted by doctors at Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital.

Israel launches attack on Friday

The Israeli assault began on Friday, when Israeli forces carried out the extrajudicial executions of Zuhair Al-Qaisi and Mahmoud Al-Hannani of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), whom Israel alleged were “masterminds” of an attack near Eilat last year. Except, as Max Blumenthal demonstrated, this is untrue, as even Israel previously acknowledged.

This weekend’s attacks have followed a typical pattern. Israel launches a lethal attack knowing full well that Palestinian resistance factions will respond. It then uses the response—dozens of rockets falling on Israel rarely causing injuries or damage—as the very pretext for continued bombing. Israel also claims to have shot down several dozen incoming missiles using its US-subsidized “Iron Dome” anti-missile system.

On Twitter, the Israeli military spokesperson even praised Israel for its “restraint” as if Israel hadn’t started the violence itself on a completely false pretext:

@IDFSpokesperson
IDF#IDF Spox: No other country in the world would have allowed 130 rockets in 48 hours and shown such restraint. #IsraelUnderFire
Mar 11 via HootSuite Favorite Retweet Reply

Recall that after the Eilat attack last August, Israel launched a ferocious assault on Gaza, also on false pretexts, killing 14 people including a 2-year old child, a 13-year-old boy and a doctor.

Extrajudicial murder

Beyond the propaganda, informed Israeli commentators, even those supporting the action, acknowledge that Israel chose to initiate the current escalation of violence:

In the Jerusalem Post, Yaakov Katz wrote:

When the IDF decided on Friday afternoon to assassinate the leader of the Popular Resistance Committees in the Gaza Strip, it knew what it was getting itself into.

Assessments ahead of the decision to bomb the car carrying Zuhair Qaisi predicted that around 100 rockets could be fired into Israel during each day of the round of violence expected to erupt. This was a price the government felt it was capable of paying.

In other words, Israel was prepared to carry out an extrajudicial execution, a war crime, knowing that there would be retaliation. Israel’s routine policy of executing Palestinians in occupied territories without charge or trial, based on flimsy allegations made by the killers themselves, is a major violation of international humanitarian law and makes a mockery of Israel’s claim to be a “democracy” by any possible measure.

Even in China, Iran, and the United States, all prolific users of the death penalty where no doubt many innocent people have been put to death, authorities at least go through the formality of a trial. Not so in Israel, where in the past decade hundreds of Palestinians have been sentenced to death in secret and then executed in their beds, on the street, while riding in cars, or even when confined to wheelchairs, along with hundreds of bystanders.

Of course now, the Obama administration has openly adopted Israeli-style extrajudicial execution even of its own citizens—just another example of the “shared values” US and Israeli leaders are always eager to proclaim.

Israeli commentators cut through the official propaganda

In Haaretz, Gideon Levy undercut the official propaganda, that extrajudicial executions—“targeted killings”—are ever justified, let alone in this instance:

Who started it? The IDF and the Shin Bet security service did. The impression is that they carry out the targeted killings whenever they can, and not whenever it is necessary.

When are they necessary? Do you remember the debate on targeted killings sometime in the distant past? Then, it seemed the targets had to be “ticking time bombs” en route to carry out their attacks. In any event, such a vague standard no longer applies. In 2006, in his last court ruling handed down before his retirement, then Supreme Court President Aharon Barak barred such killings when they were meant to be “a deterrent or punishment.”

The latest target killed was Zuhair al-Qaissi, the secretary general of the Popular Resistance Committees in Gaza. IDF sources said he was responsible for the terrorist attack on the Egyptian border last August - which would make his killing an act of “deterrence or punishment.” But to be on the safe side, it was also noted that he had “led and directed plans to carry out a terror attack within Israel, which was in its final stages of preparation.”

This convoluted announcement by the IDF spokesman was enough to get the Israeli public to accept this latest regular dose of targeted killing with automatic understanding and sympathy. And who knows what the late al-Qaissi had planned? Only the Shin Bet does, so we accept his death sentence without unnecessary questions.

Also in Haaretz, Zvi Bar’el cast further doubt on the Israeli claim that the executed PRC men posed a threat that would justify the Israeli attack:

It is hard to understand what basis there is for the assertion that Israel is not striving to escalate the situation. One could assume that an armed response by the Popular Resistance Committees or Islamic Jihad to Israel’s targeted assassination was taken into account. But did anyone weigh the possibility that the violent reaction could lead to a greater number of Israeli casualties than any terrorist attack that Zuhair al-Qaisi, the secretary-general of the Popular Resistance Committees, could have carried out?

“Mowing the lawn”

Perhaps the most chilling explanation of why Israel was bombing Gaza came, again, from Yaakov Katz in The Jerusalem Post:

the IDF is using this as an opportunity to do some “maintenance work” in Gaza and to mow the lawn, so to speak, with regard to terrorism, with the main goal of boosting its deterrence and postponing the next round of violence for as long as possible.

So 12 year-old Ayoub Useila is not even an animal. He’s just part of a “lawn” of faceless nameless Palestinians, to be bombed into submission as routinely as an Israeli settler on stolen West Bank land maintains his suburban-style yard and swimming pool.

Hamas “completely uninvolved”

Katz continues:

This is essentially the situation in the Gaza Strip since Operation Cast Lead ended in January 2009.

Every few months, something happens, setting off a round of violence that usually lasts a few days until it suddenly ends just like it began. Once it is an antitank missile attack against an Israeli school bus and the next time a targeted killing of a top terrorist.

Either way, the scenario is pretty much played out the same way. The main difference today is that Hamas is completely uninvolved in the sense that its operatives are not firing rockets into Israel. On the other hand, Israel does believe that Hamas could be doing more to stop the fire into Israel.

Katz himself had already acknowledged that Israel set off the round of violence by its assassination of the PRC activists but then he goes on to admit that Hamas isn’t even involved. Hamas, the usual bogeyman and justification for Israel’s aggression on Gaza “is completely uninvolved in the sense that its operatives are not firing rockets into Israel.” That’s quite an admission.

Indeed it has been reported that leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad are completely uninterested in escalating violence with Israel and are committed to a “ceasefire.” That would be consistent with their long-term policies which are to retaliate against Israeli aggression but not to seek out confrontation.

“The escalation in Gaza is good for Israel”

So given all this, why has Israel decided to kill people in Gaza for no discernible reason? According to Bar’el in Haaretz it has everything to do with Israel’s effort to build support for an attack on Iran:

Advocates of a strike on Iran couldn’t have hoped for a more convincing performance than the current exchange of fire between Israel and Gaza. “A million Israelis under fire” is only a taste of what is expected when Iran’s nuclear project is completed. When that happens, seven million Israelis will be under the threat of fire and nuclear fallout.

This is what happens when “only” the Islamic Jihad fires Grad rockets, when Hamas stays out of the fight, and when the “miraculous system” that prevents missiles from falling on kindergartens still works. Under the threat of a nuclear Iran, miracles won’t help, and people in Tel Aviv will also be forced to hide in bomb shelters or escape to Eilat.

Here’s the proof: There is no alternative to striking Iran and there is no better time than the present, when the weather permits and world diplomacy is preoccupied with Syria. For Israelis, there is no better proof that no harm will come to them as a result of an attack on Iran than the performance of the Iron Dome anti-rocket system, which has demonstrated a 95% rate of effectiveness. The escalation in Gaza is good for Israel – that is, for that part of Israel that wants to strike Iran.

It is hard to understand what basis there is for the assertion that Israel is not striving to escalate the situation. One could assume that an armed response by the Popular Resistance Committees or Islamic Jihad to Israel’s targeted assassination was taken into account. But did anyone weigh the possibility that the violent reaction could lead to a greater number of Israeli casualties than any terrorist attack that Zuhair al-Qaisi, the secretary-general of the Popular Resistance Committees, could have carried out?

Bar’el sees at least one other compelling reason why Israel chose violence once again: the ‘threat’ from Hamas’ ever more determined turn to reliance on diplomacy over armed struggle—which Bar’el attributes in part to Hamas’ need to maintain good relations with Egypt:

This dependence on Egypt has managed in the past to produce extended ceasefires which have proven themselves in recent months, especially after the signing of the reconciliation agreement with Fatah, which produced Khaled Meshal’s declarations that Hamas would restrict itself to nonviolent forms of struggle against Israel.

However, it seems that the change in Hamas not only hasn’t convinced Israel, but even stands in the way of its “no partner” policy and could sabotage its efforts to head off the creation of a Palestinian unity government, which would lead to renewed efforts at the UN to secure an independent Palestinian state.

Thus, Hamas must be dragged toward military activity against Israel, and nothing is easier, at least in Israel’s estimation, than to launch a “unilateral” attack against a wanted non-Hamas man, to wait for the response to come, and hope that Hamas joins in.

So far, it hasn’t happened. Hamas still prefers the diplomatic channel and has carried on intensive diplomatic contacts over the past two days with Egypt’s Supreme Military Council. Israel apparently needs to wait for another opportunity.

What that “opportunity” will be no one yet knows, but what is sure is that innocent people will pay with their lives.

Facts behind Israel’s rocket propaganda

Whenever you hear Israel’s tired hasbara refrain about rockets, rockets, rockets, remember to ask the question Yousef Munayyer recently asked: Why don’t Israel’s spokespeople ever tell us how many rockets, missiles and bullets Israel has fired on Gaza?

Of course the answer is because it is by orders of magnitude greater in both number and explosive power than anything Palestinian armed groups have or ever could muster against Israel. There are some data, however.

In one 18-month period between September 2005 and May 2007 in which Palestinian armed groups fired 2,700 rockets toward Israel killing four people, Israel fired 14,617 heavy artillery shells into Gaza killing 59 people, including at least 17 children and 12 women. Hundreds more were injured and extensive damage caused.

This data comes from a 2007 Human Rights Watch reported titled Indiscriminate Fire, which states in addition that:

A subsequent artillery attack on November 8 [2006] killed or mortally wounded 23 and injured at least 40 Palestinians, all civilians.

The report adds:

Human Rights Watch has been unable to find any report or claim that those killed or injured by artillery fire included persons believed to be combatants, and the IDF has not responded to a Human Rights Watch request about whether any Palestinians killed or injured by artillery fire into the Gaza Strip were combatants or believed to be combatants. Israeli artillery strikes in 2006 also left many unexploded shells strewn on the ground that constitute a continuing hazard to lives and livelihoods.

That report dates from 2007, but in the years before and since, thousands more Palestinian civilians were killed and injured in Israeli attacks, by what must be tens of thousands of Israeli munitions. This included the 2008-2009 assault called “Operation Cast Lead” and Israeli fire has been an almost daily occurrence since its end claiming many innocent lives.

And Operation Cast Lead itself was launched on the false pretext—echoed ad nauseam by media—that Palestinians were firing unprovoked barrages of rockets into Israel leaving it no choice to attack in “self-defense.” That too was a lie as Israel’s own official figures showed at the time.

As Munayyer notes, citing UN statistics:

In 2011, the projectiles fired by the Israeli military into Gaza have been responsible for the death of 108 Palestinians, of which 15 where women or children and the injury of 468 Palestinians of which 143 where women or children. The methods by which these causalities were inflicted by Israeli projectiles breaks down as follows: 57% or 310, were caused by Israeli Aircraft Missile fire, 28% or 150 were from Israeli live ammunition, 11% or 59 were from Israeli tank shells while another 3% or 18 were from Israeli mortar fire.

That is why Israeli official propaganda has to be so distorted and selective.

An analysis of Palestine/Israel conflict with a pinch of history

After ww2, after looking at the atrocities committed by hitler, the western powers decided to give Jews a homeland. But instead of that country being somewhere in europe, probably carved out of germany (since they’re the ones who committed the crimes) the U.N decided that it should be where the British territory of Palestine was. Now this decision had come in 1948. The truth of the matter was, before WW2, the jewish population in Palestine was close to 4%. But due to the continued exile and holocaust and ww2, the jews had started fleeing their historical home of Europe. Jews that escaped from Austria, Hungary, Germany, Poland etc were denied haven in the U.S, Britain, or France. But the Palestinians accepted the refugees with open arms. So throughout this period, we see a rapid migration of Jews from Europe to Palestine. By 1948, the Jews made up about 40some% of the people living in Palesinte. Now remember, this 40some% is made up of a majority of refugee Jews, not Citizen Jews. Yes, there were some minor clashes between the refugees and the Arab citizens of Palestine. But that is to be expected when we see such a large refugee influx, infact anti0semitism was soo prevalent in Britain and France and USA that it was the main reason why they didn’t accept Jewish refugees in the first place. They wanted to avoid such clashes.

Now when U.N comes out and divides Palestine in 1948. It does so such that Jerusalem becomes an international city, 52% of the land is allotted to Jews as Israel, and 48% of the land is allotted to the Palestinians. Basically giving the majority of the land to the minority of population which had just immigrated there. Of course this division was unacceptable to the Arabs. But thanks to U.S arms and Zionist mindset, the Immigrant Jews triumphantly kicked the Arabs out of their land. Over the years, the imperialist “European” character the “European Jews” had brought with them showed more and more brutality and took over more and more land that belonged to the Palestine. We can call the people who express such “Imperialistic European jewish” characteristics as Zionists for short.

Now as far as Hamas is concerned. Hamas does not complicate things. What complicates things is the P.A actually. After the division, as a resistance mechanism, the Palestinians formed the P.L.O, which under U.N charter, has the right to use armed force to resist the occupying power. That is exactly what it did. The P.L.O led many small attacks and were basically undefeatable by regular war-fare as all Guerilla movements are. The devastating defeat of Israel in Lebanon by Hezbollah (which it invaded saying that Lebanon was harboring P.L.O) made it clear that the Guerilla movement will not die. Hence more subtle means became necessary to end resistance to imperialism. Basically, Israel bought the P.L.O leaders. This is where Yasser Arafat comes in. It is not a secret that he was collaborating with Israel. He broke the P.L.O and made it give up arms. this is where the peaceful P.A is formed and the “militant” Hamas.

In reality, the P.A was anything but peaceful. the reason it was recognized as such was because the P.A actually tortured and incarcerated Palestinians instead of Imperialists. Whereas Hamas led social programs that improved lives of the Palestinians. Now, this is where the Palestinians become divided, and hence easily conquered. I will go into how in just a little bit. Now, when democratic elections were held, in Gaza the P.A did not have that much of a strong hold, so Hamas won easily. But in the West Bank, the P.A led terror campaigns and dirty tactics to “win”. It is also widely acknowledged that Hamas would have won the West Bank as well if it was not for the terror induced by the P.A.

So, these elections proved half good and half bad for Israel. Under the P.A, the land would have been easily conquerable. But the P.A only succeeded in “winning” half of the land. Which is why from that moment on, a propaganda campaign against Hamas was launched, Gaza was put under a siege, bombed with missiles, white phosphorous etc etc. Where as the west bank was treated more “humanely”, though i cringe at using that term in this respect.

But you see, look at the data. How many settlements Gaza has? none. How many walls are cutting through Gazan neighborhoods and villages? none. Hamas has been able to actually defend Gaza. Now if u look at the west bank, that area has only been decreasing since the P.A came to power. They have done absolutely nothing to stop Israel from taking over Palestinian land. They are always “talking” about stopping settlements as more settlements are being built. So, even today, the P.A is a sell out to the Israeli govt. and only promotes their goals. Where as Hamas has been the one which has defended Palestine and Palestinian rights.

To me, the conflict is simple. ISRAEL IS NOTHING MORE THAN A TOOL OF THE EMPIRE USED TO PROMOTE ITS POLICIES IN THE MIDDLE-EAST. THE P.A IS A TOOL OF THE ISRAELI GOVT. WHICH PROMOTES ISRAELI POLICIES IN PALESTINIAN LANDS. HAMAS IS A DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED PARTY WHICH USES ANY MEANS NECESSARY TO PROTECT ITS NATION.

thingsnotinthehistorybooks:

No actually, let me back up and rant about that for a second.

If you have to justify your argument with the statement that Kashmiri Muslims are ‘inbred’ because of cultural and religious practices that allow (note: allow is not the same thing as everybody doing it) first cousins to marry, you are being very dishonest.

If you will not concede that the economy of Kashmir was ruined during the occupation and militant uprisings and that this is not just something that a region recovers from and that hundreds of young men leave their families and friends to go abroad because there are no jobs where they live and their traditional means of support and the economic networks have been ruptured, you are being very dishonest.

No, nothing excuses the expulsion of the Pandits, nor the execution and massacres of other religious minorities in the Kashmir region. (Kashmiris looking for a ‘pan-Islamic’ Pakistani allied state, I’m looking at you.) But to suggest that Hindus and Muslims existed in Kashmir throughout time immemorial without any imbalance or discriminatory thought until those awful barbaric Muslims threw you out ignores the subtle patterns of disruption, elevation, and elitism in pre-Partition Kashmir, ignores the history of the region under princely powers, and ignores the grievances lobbied against the Hindu rulers of Kashmir. Knowing the context of conflict is not the same as justifying it. Knowing the roots of conflict is not the same as supporting it. Knowing where and when and how and why conflict comes about does not weaken you or your pain or your own grievances and lived experience or your legitimate arguments or anything else. It doesn’t.

(via agonyoftheleaves)

There was a massacre in Yemen yesterday by the armed goons of the regime. They massacred civilians with automatic weapons. Notice that the humane West did not react with outrage: notice that Saudi Arab media did not orchestrate a campaign of sympathy for the Yemeni people. And notice that NATO did not launch “liberating” bombing campaign. And notice that the New York Times today talked about “fighting” and “clashes” and civil war, as if there are two equal sides engaged in military combat: certainly the peaceful demonstrators were not a match for the US-armed and trained army of the tyrant.

As’ad AbuKhalil, “What about Yemen?” (via neverdancewiththedevil)

(via neverdancewiththedevil)

self-iindulgence:

The Massacre of Deir Yassin, Palestine; April 9th, 1948

Irgun and Stern Gang, the Jewish forces, stormed into the village of Deir Yassin on this day 63 years ago, they sprayed the houses with machine gun fire, killing many. They raped and killed some of the women, they gathered the remaning villagers in one place and shot them all in cold blood.

Fahim Zaydan was 12 at the time;

“They took us out one after the other; shot an old man and when one of his daughters cried, she was shot too. Then they called my brother Muhammad, and shot him infront of us, and when my mother yelled, bending over him- carrying my little sister Hudra in her hands, still breastfeeding her- they shot her too.”

Zaydan was shot too (he survived) when the troops lined up children against a wall and sprayed them with bullets “just for the fun of it”.

Research suggests that between 93-170 people were massacred, this list doesn’t include the people killed during the fighting.

Info source; The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine by Ilan Pappe (see pages 90-92)

Picture source; http://www.theoccidentalobserver.net/authors/Darkmoon-Rachel.html

(Source: stay-human)