Dissatisfaction is a Motivator

Dissatisfaction is a motivator to seek out better character. A human being is spiritually stalled as long as he is content and smug with his state. The basis of achieving good is knowing yourself. When this happens, a person becomes aware of his imperfections, minor and major, and ashamed of them to the point he strives to replace them with generosity, agreeableness, honesty, reliability, dignity, and other noble traits.

When the mind is given the responsibility to decide upon right and wrong it will usually base its judgment subjectively: what advances or thwarts one's whims? Our understanding of right and wrong, licit and illicit, needs a judge higher than ourselves and our whims. We are beings who are created and, therefore, have a Creator who brought us into existence for a reason. It is His purpose and guidance that informs our sensitivity and response to right and wrong. [Purification of the Heart]

The Christian Armageddon

Armageddon refers generally to end times or giant, apocalyptic catastrophes in various religions and cultures. It may also refer to any great loss of life in battle or use of weapons of mass destruction.


by Housewife4Palestine


Many feel we are in the last days, if so it is being pushed on us by war mongers bent on global domination and the extermination of millions of people; while many feel the end of times is a wonderful thing and are at this time pushing for such a horrendous thing what they are not taking into account is even in the Christian ideology the earth will eventually burn with fervent heat. That the Christian teachings also stress all humanity will die except 144,000 and believe me that is a drop in the bucket compared to the population explosion of today.

While the West and Israel is bent on Arab extermination, what they are not taking into account if they are trying to perpetuate this kind of situation is they are putting their lives at risk also.

What they are not taking into account is the aggressor’s will not see Paradise, but hell.

Those who are fighting back or known today as the resistance are the Martyrs, they will be the ones to see Paradise as well as anyone who is innocent of this blood shed.

If you Evangelistic Christians want this, you and your families will not only see each other die but you will never see Jesus (PBUH) or Paradise.

So the next time with venom on your lips for the death of other’s, think; you are making your life worthless!

Tens of thousands rally in Baghdad to show support for Hezbollah

Thousands of Iraqi Shiites gather against Israel's bombing of Lebanon on Friday in the Sadr City area of Baghdad.

August 4, 2006

BAGHDAD (AP) — Tens of thousands of Shiites thronged a Baghdad slum Friday to show support for Hezbollah as Arab anger toward Israel mounted on the Muslim holy day. Such protests have even reached Saudi Arabia, where public discontent is rare.

In the most violent demonstration, about 100 people threw stones and a firebomb at the British Embassy in Tehran, damaging the building but harming nobody as they accused Britain and the United States of being accomplices in Israel's fight against Hezbollah, a Shiite group in Lebanon that is backed by Persian Iran.

Even Sunni Muslim demonstrators took to the streets of Damascus, Cairo and Amman. But their numbers were dwarfed by the huge Shiite turnout in Baghdad, organized by anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Crowds of al-Sadr supporters from across Iraq's Shiite heartland converged on the capital's Sadr City district, chanting "Death to Israel, Death to America" in the biggest pro-Hezbollah rally since the conflict began July 12.

Demonstrators, wearing white shrouds symbolizing willingness to die for Hezbollah, waved the guerrillas' banner and chanted slogans in support of their leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah.

"Allah, Allah, give victory to Hassan Nasrallah," the crowd chanted before burning Israeli and American flags.

Organizers and local police said hundreds of thousands attended the rally, but the U.S. military later estimated the crowd at 14,000. Associated Press reporters at the scene thought attendance was at least in the tens of thousands during the high point of the march.

The rally went off peacefully — a remarkable achievement in a city where bombings and shootings are an everyday occurrence. Sadr City is under the effective control of the cleric's Mahdi Army militia, which maintains its own security network.

However, five busloads of Shiite demonstrators were ambushed southwest of Baghdad late Friday as they returned home from the rally, police said. Imam Ali hospital in Sadr city received 14 wounded from the attack, who told them that three others had been killed, Rasool Qasim al Zibon director of media office in hospital said.

At least five members of the Iraqi parliament from al-Sadr's movement attended the Baghdad demonstration, but the cleric himself was not there, presumably because of safety concerns.

In Saudi Arabia, hundreds of Shiites, who make up about 12% of the predominantly Sunni country's population, have marched over the past three days in al-Qatif municipality in the Gulf coast region.

Under the watchful eyes of anti-riot police during a demonstration Thursday, protesters chanted: "No Sunni, no Shiites, only one Muslim unity" while others waved posters of Nasrallah chanting "Oh Nasrallah, oh beloved one, destroy destroy Tel Aviv."

Israel launched its military campaign after Hezbollah guerrillas captured two Israeli soldiers and killed three others in a cross-border raid. Saudi rulers issued a statement chastising the group for "uncalculated adventures," and a popular Sunni cleric even issued a religious edict that Muslims disavow Hezbollah.

But with the death toll of Lebanese civilians now in the hundreds and some 1 million people displaced, the Saudi government has backpedaled on its stance, even allowing rare demonstrations in favor of Hezbollah.

Support for Hezbollah has spread among Sunnis, despite tensions between the sects over Iraq and the rise of Shiite-dominated Iran.

Arab League Spokesman Hesham Youssef said in Cairo an emergency meeting of Arab foreign ministers would be held in Beirut on Monday "as a way to express the Arabs' solidarity with the Lebanese people, of which they will discuss the standoff in Lebanon."

During Friday prayers at the Tarek bin Zayed mosque in Bahrain, Sunni preacher Sheik Salah al-Jodar warned against edicts opposing Hezbollah.

Such fatwas are "only benefiting the Zionist entity. ... The ones who are resisting are the Lebanese people and we have to support them," he said.

Ten people were arrested and four injured, including two police, when demonstrators clashed with officers in Amman, Jordan. Police had to use batons to stop a crowd of about 200, some waving Hezbollah flags, from marching from their mosque to the Israeli Embassy after noon prayers.

In Damascus, the Syrian capital, about 500 Communist Party protesters staged a sit-in. They carried Syrian, Lebanese, Palestinian and Hezbollah flags, and photos of Syrian President Bashar Assad and Nasrallah.

The protesters carried banners with slogans like: "Glory to the heroes of the resistance in confronting the outrageous U.S.-Zionist aggression."

"It's a clear and big plot led by the U.S. and Israel in the pretext of rebuilding the Middle East," said Ibrahim Zgheir, 57. "Lebanon is an entrance and the plan would expand to other countries."

Some 5,000 Egyptians, mostly followers of the banned Muslim Brotherhood, gathered in Cairo's al-Azhar mosque after prayers. Thousands of Muslim Brotherhood supporters marched in three other Egyptian cities.

They denounced the war and were sharply critical of Egyptian and Saudi leaders, condemning what they said was their "shameful silence" on the conflict.

"Oh Mubarak Oh Abdullah, you let us down," protesters chanted while calling on the Egyptian government to open the way for volunteers to join Hezbollah.

The crowd refused to leave, and police broke up the demonstration with water cannon and tear gas.

Justice Is Dead, If You’re Born an Arab

August 4, 2006

by Lubna Hussain

I still feel a shudder of deja-vu at the irony with which I wrote last week about the 'generosity’ of the US government’s gift of 2,000 rolls of plastic sheeting to the Lebanese as it rushed precision guided missiles to its henchmen in Israel.

Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that my macabre analogy would become a self-fulfilling prophecy. But there it was right before my eyes. A picture of a series of tiny bodies wrapped in plastic sheets so magnanimously donated by Uncle George and Aunti Condi, callously murdered by the very weapons they had so eagerly equipped the Israelis with.

The names of little Mehdi aged seven and Abbas aged one were scrawled in black ink on labels identifying the victims of the US-sponsored Israeli genocide of innocent Lebanese civilians. (I wonder if the felt tip pens and labels were included in the humanitarian aid packages as a gesture of thoughtfulness? What a touching detail!)

Photostory: Israeli brutality at the US Consulate in Jerusalem

Bell Way writing from Jerusalem, Live from Palestine, 5 August 2006

On Monday, July 31st, Palestinians in Jerusalem implemented a general strike in solidarity with the people of Lebanon. The city was closed down.

On Tuesday, August 1st, Palestinians and some Americans held a protest outside of the American consulate in East Jerusalem, protesting America's massive political and financial roie in the assault on Lebanon. A small group of about 40 protestors gathered on the opposite side of the street. They were quiet for some time, then chanted for awhile, then sang. Israeli border police and Israeli regular police lounged against the consulate on the other side of the road. There were no physical or verbal exchanges between protestors or police. A police jeep arrived with back up.

Suddenly, about 15 police crossed the street to the protestors quickly in a column and began shoving everyone down the hill. They immediately became violent with the protestors, shoving them, aggressively using batons and horses. I really thought their intention was to kill one of the men they attacked. They directed all of their force at his head and neck -- four or five officers strangling him, beating his head and twisting it at the same time. Source

Pictures:

Israeli Brutality Part 2

Israeli Brutality Part 3

Israeli Brutality Part 2

Israeli Brutality Part 3

Israeli commando raid in Tyre

Helicopters and jets struck Tyre as Israeli troops moved in

5 August 2006

Ajazeera

At least five people have been killed and eight Israeli commandos injured in a raid near the Lebanese port city of Tyre.

Israel said the troops landed in Tyre by sea on Saturday and destroyed a Hezbollah unit.

"Guided by very precise intelligence, navy commandos entered an apartment on the second floor of a five-story building in the north of Tyre where they killed at least three Hezbollah leaders," a senior Israeli naval commander said.

"These three men were notably responsible for firing a missile against the city of Hadera" late Friday, he said.

Friday's missile strike on Hadera caused no casualties but was the furthest south that Hezbollah rocket attacks have reached.

Before departing, the Israeli force also killed and wounded several other Hezbollah fighters who had launched a counter-attack on the raiders.

"Our commandos were able to retreat and to hit with counterstrikes six to eight terrorists from neighboring buildings, killing some of them, and to return to Israel with aviation support," the Israeli naval officer said.

"We could have contented ourselves with liquidating these terrorists with a missile strike, but we launched this risky raid to spare innocent lives and to prove that we are capable of reaching terrorists wherever they are," he said.

Israeli forces were supported by air strikes from helicopter gunships and fighter-bombers.

Hezbollah said its fighters repelled the attackers, killed an Israeli member of the force and wounded others.

Lebanese soldier killed

A Lebanese soldier was among the five killed in the commando raid, a Lebanese army officer said.

One Israeli soldier was killed and another wounded in fighting around the Lebanese village of Taibe.

Also on Saturday, Israeli aircraft repeatedly bombed Beirut's southern suburbs. There were no reports of any casualties, local television and radio stations said. The Israeli army confirmed the raids, saying it had hit nine buildings used by Hezbollah.

In eastern Lebanon the road linking the town of Hermel with the Syrian city of Homs was attacked, residents said. The road was closed because of heavy damage. Further strikes hit areas in the eastern Bekaa Valley.

Warning leaflets

Israeli aircraft again dropped warning leaflets on the southern market town of Nabatiyeh during the night, urging civilians to move north "immediately, for your own safety".

David Welch, the US Middle East envoy, has arrived in Beirut to discuss a draft UN resolution with Lebanese officials. He has met Nabih Berri, the Lebanese parliament’s speaker - a key negotiator with Hezbollah.

It was unclear whether he would meet Fuad Siniora, the prime minister, officials said.

France and the US remain divided over the draft. Paris wants existing UN peacekeepers and Lebanon's army to monitor a truce but Washington wants the Israeli army to stay in southern Lebanon until an international force arrives.

The Lebanese government says at least 880 of its civilians and 27 police or government troops have been killed since the fighting began. Forty-four Israeli soldiers and 30 civilians have also died.

Venezuela pulls out Israel ambassador

Chavez expressed his 'indignation' at Israel's offensive in Lebanon

4 August 2006

Aljazeera

Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president, said he had recalled his country's ambassador to Israel to show his "indignation" over the military offensive in Lebanon.


In a televised speech on Thursday, he called the Israeli attacks "genocide".

He said: "It really causes indignation to see how the state of Israel continues bombing, killing ... with all of the power they have, with the support of the United States."

Chavez has repeatedly criticised the Israeli offensive.

He said: "It's hard to explain to oneself how nobody does anything to stop this horror."

His government has until recently said it had good relations with Israel.

During a recent visit to Iran, Chavez called Israeli attacks on Lebanon a "fascist outrage".

He said: "The Israeli elite repeatedly criticise Hitler's actions against the Jews, and indeed Hitler's actions must be criticised, not just against the Jews but against the world. It's also fascism what Israel is doing to the Palestinian people ... terrorism and fascism."

Venezuela has both Arab immigrant and Jewish communities and Venezuelan officials have insisted that the government will continue to fully respect the Jewish community despite its strong opposition to Israel's war in Lebanon.

Thousands marching in London, demand Middle East cease-fire

British police apprehending a protestor during a demonstration in London on Saturday calling for an immediate cease-fire in the Middle East. (Reuters)

August 5, 2006

By Reuters

LONDON - Thousands marched through London to demand a halt to the Lebanon war on Saturday as the British government tried to deflect criticism that it has failed to call for an immediate cease-fire.

Prime Minister Tony Blair's government has come under fire at home for following U.S. President George W. Bush's lead on the conflict between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas and refusing to call for an immediate halt to hostilities.

Thousands of demonstrators marched through central London holding placards reading "End Israeli crimes in Lebanon" and "Freedom for Palestine". Police said around 15,000 people were marching but organizers put the number at more than 100,000.

The Stop the War Coalition, a group formed to oppose the U.S.-led "war on terror" which helped organize the march, urged demonstrators to pile children's shoes near Blair's residence in protest at the death of children in the war.

"This will be a memorial to the hundreds killed in Lebanon," a spokesman for the Stop the War Coalition said in a statement.

Marchers were also hand in a petition to Blair urging the government to call for an immediate, unconditional cease-fire.

Despite Blair's decision to delay his holiday to take part in negotiations on a United Nations resolution aimed at stopping the fighting, members of his Labour Party kept up attacks on his stance.

"Our prime minister has failed to represent the country's feelings during the conflict," Mohammad Sarwar, one of a number of Labour legislators calling for parliament to return from its summer break to discuss the crisis, told BBC radio.

Work and Pensions Secretary John Hutton, speaking for the government, denied the cabinet was split and tried to placate critics by saying Blair was making efforts to stop the war.

"The prime minister has made it very clear that the present situation simply cannot continue ... The violence is unacceptable," Hutton told the BBC, adding that Blair was trying to bring the conflict to an end as quickly as possible.

Israel has responded to Hezbollah rocket attacks by pounding Lebanon with devastating air strikes. At least 734 people in Lebanon and 75 Israelis have been killed.

Hutton said London had made clear to Israel that its actions must be proportionate and comply with international law.

Minister and former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw fuelled reports of cabinet divisions last week when he called Israel's bombing of Lebanon "disproportionate". Blair and Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett have avoided similar language.

A spokesman for Blair said he had talked to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Friday and would make further calls on Saturday. "The prime minister believes progress is being made in New York (at the United Nations)," he said.

Worried by Blair's plunging popularity, some Labour politicians were already urging him to quit sooner rather than later, after he said he would not stand in the next election expected in 2009.

Blair's stance on the Lebanon crisis has further weakened his authority, potentially hastening his departure from office.

Link:

At least 100, 000 March Against US-Israeli Aggression

Voices From the Street

5, August, 2006

Tariq A. Al-Maeena, Arab News

As the ongoing destruction of Lebanon by Israeli forces continues well into its fourth week, there is an unquestionable rise of hostile sentiment against the policies of Israel and its prime ally, the US and President Bush in particular on the Arab street.

While there may be some political restraint shown by some of the governments in the region toward this unchecked assault, there is no doubt where the true feelings of the masses lie. In a review of such emotions that covered several regions of this country, Saudis and non-Saudis alike echoed similar sentiments: “This barbarity has to be stopped immediately.”

Samir asks: “If the US is hurriedly delivering bombs and weaponry to the Israelis to continue their carnage against the Lebanese people, why shouldn’t we supply those resisting such aggression with the armaments that would let them defend themselves?”

Jonathan adds, “It is a crime when nations stand by or get embroiled in diplomatic maneuvers while innocent people are getting killed everyday. We have seen enough of the suffering and destruction on both sides and in particular of the Lebanese who have been losing unnecessary civilian lives.”

Nora is vehement when she says, “Israelis have craftily painted a picture of self-defense and the West has eagerly swallowed their version of the conflict. How many in the West know that southern Lebanon and the occupied territories have been under consistent Israeli attacks months before the capture of the soldiers?”

According to Lana, “The fact remains that the US is currently using Israel to push forward their vision of a greater Middle East, as they themselves cannot get out of the mess they have created in Iraq and Afghanistan. The policies of Bush and company are to ensure that only Israel remains a military power in the region. This will allow them to continue with their expansion plans.”

Brenda is sickened by recent events and adds, “Contrary to public opinion back home, there has been no period of truce during the months leading to the capture of the Israeli soldiers. And if you want proof, ask the mothers of the Palestinian and Lebanese children killed this year before this latest circus of carnage began.”

Ahmed believes “It is time to embargo the United States, period. They are the primary force behind Israeli aggression in the region. They will never waver in their blind support for the terrorist policies of Israel, regardless of reason or national interest. They have single-handedly vetoed every move by other nations to demand an immediate cease-fire and supply multinational forces to ensure peace. Peace is not their agenda for the region.”

Pierre wonders, “If George Bush is so blinded and in love with these transplanted East European Zionists who are squatting on land they have taken illegally and by force, why does not he generously declare Wyoming or Utah as their new homeland? I am sure they would be welcomed with open arms by the existing tenants.”

Debra says: “Manipulating many God-fearing Christians into believing his evil message and his private communications from God, Bush has spread nothing but terrorism in this world. He is a failure as a world leader, and is now recklessly heading us all into Armageddon.”

Jaber wonders, “Whether Americans will ever wake up and realize that their silence is giving birth to legions of those who will have nothing but hatred one day for the United States with their one-sided support of Israel. We bear no grudge against the people, but the sight of civilians and especially children being bombed and killed by Israeli aircraft is a sight which is too much to bear.”

Omar adds, “We are all Hezbollah now. Anyone who resists the advances of the enemy is my friend. And Israel is the enemy, make no mistake about it. They have no desire for peace, or else peace would have been established long ago. What we see angers us deeply, and America is the accomplice. You can bet on one thing and that is that Hezbollah’s value has shot up tremendously among the people.”

Badr says: “Olmert is a war criminal just as was his boss Sharon. But now we have two more: Bush and Blair. It was bad enough what they have done in Iraq, but this time they have advanced it a notch further. And they are resisting all efforts to stop this bloodshed. Do they think by eliminating Hezbollah fighters, they have solved their problems? They would have to eliminate all of us.”

And I conclude with these thoughts from Abdulla: “Regardless of the outcome of the current carnage, a great deal of damage has already been done. Not just to the peace process, but to the image of the United States as an honest broker of peace. Vilified now as never before for its blind and unflinching support of Israel, the US has lost many allies and eroded much support for its policies and image in the region. Thanks to Bush, Rice, Rumsfeld et al.”

Bombing is backed by most American voters

August 4, 2006

From Tom Baldwin in Washington

Israel’s military campaign in southern Lebanon is still being backed by most American voters, according to a survey published yesterday that shows public opinion in the US once again sharply at odds with views in Europe. Continue

The American Voter’s got a doomed legacy to be proud of, votes for death and destruction!

A 21st Century Holocaust

August 5, 2006

Ibtissam Al-Bassam, Arab News

Is it not appalling that the so-called “democracies” are going about smashing countries, destroying lives, killing men, women and children in cold blood and with total immunity?

Is it not sad that hundreds of murdered and injured Lebanese men, women and children, have failed to soften cruel hearts and waken sleeping conscience?

Is it not despicable that the illegal policy of expansion of borders through aggression continues to receive the support of warmongers, who applaud the destruction of crowded cities, enjoy the sight of demolished homes, relish the death of innocent citizens and celebrate the imprisonment and torture of “suspects”, who are in most cases innocent?

Is it not ironic that ostensibly out of respect for the sanctity of life in the fetus, a veto privilege was used to curb embryonic stem cell research, while an order was given to speed up the delivery of some of the most lethal arms in military arsenal to be used in destroying a sovereign state?

Do we not see contradiction in the denunciation of Syria and Iran for allegedly arming Hezbollah, while the most sophisticated weapons are being rushed to the Middle East to accelerate the massacre of Palestinian and Lebanese civilians?

Is it not shocking that voices, which can end the mad war on Lebanon, have been raised to support naked aggression and block an immediate cease-fire?

Is it not outrageous to call bloodshed, destruction, and aggression “birth pangs”? Is not such a description an insult to every woman who has given birth? One wonders what monster would emanate from the womb of a deadly, unjust war!

Since Sept. 11 2001 the world has gone mad.

On that dark day in modern history, America was attacked, the Twin Towers were destroyed and three thousand innocent victims of different nationalities, cultures, faiths and colors lost their lives. America was deeply hurt, Americans were stunned, and the world at large condemned the crime.

An endless war on terror was declared.

Iraq had nothing to do with an act of terror that came to be known as “Sept. 11” and it had no links with its perpetrators, yet it fell prey to a war which has developed a dangerous tendency to go off the track.

The world was told that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction that threatened America and its allies and had to be destroyed. When no such weapons were discovered, the world was told that the invasion and destruction of Iraq was part and parcel of the ongoing efforts to eliminate evil from the world, to topple a cruel dictator, to end a ruthless regime and replace it with an elected, democratic government that respects the human rights of all Iraqis and treats all Iraqis equally. The world was also told “New Iraq” would be a showcase of freedom and democracy, a role model to be emulated by its Arab neighbors and a catalyst of positive changes in one of the most troubled regions of the world.

Sadly, New Iraq is a showcase of bloodshed, torture, conflicts, destruction and insecurity. It is a graveyard where truth, international laws, Geneva Conventions and human rights lie buried.

Everyday bombs kill and injure scores of innocent Iraqi men, women and children and destroy cities and ancient ruins. The land of the Euphrates and the Tigris and the cradle of great ancient civilizations has been the scene of hair-raising torture, gory crimes and vicious acts of terror.

The misery and the slaughter of Palestinians have gone unabated. In fact, it has increased. Ironically enough, when Palestinians chose the path of democracy, they were punished by starvation and bankruptcy, their homes were demolished, their infrastructure was smashed, their electricity and water systems were destroyed, their loved ones killed, their leaders assassinated and many of their ministers kidnapped and placed behind bars.

And as if the bloodshed, the violence and the mayhem in New Iraq and old Palestine were not enough, Lebanon too has fallen victim to a raging madness with no cure in sight.

“The only democracy in the Middle East” has waged a bloody, vicious, open war on a small Arab democratic country. Hundreds of innocent men, women and children have been injured or burned to death. The number of displaced Lebanese is escalating sharply, hundreds of families have lost their breadwinners, homes, roads, hospitals and schools have been bombed and demolished and miserable citizens have joined the ever-growing number of homeless and handicapped.

Once again Qana is the site of a horrendous massacre or war crime.

When a mess reaches an unacceptable level, truth begin to emerge and lies come out of the closet.

The conflict and the tragedies in the Middle East have exposed many falsehoods and uncovered many lies.

They have defeated the brittle argument that anti-Americanism is promoted by an envy of the prosperity of the developed world and the appetite of Arabs and Muslims for democracy and freedom is blocked by a wave of fanaticism and extremism, a reluctance to embrace modernism and an adherence to a religion that promotes hatred, violence and brutality.

The strong solidarity between Christians and Muslims in Lebanon is ample proof that Christians and Muslims are best of friends and that the Middle East wars are political, not religious. They are not about the God we worship and the faiths we follow. They are the outcome of decades of injustice inflicted on the Palestinian people, conflicting interests of countries, personal interests of individuals, illegal occupation of lands, a belief that might is right and a devilish desire to destroy Arab countries, occupy Arab lands and imprison, humiliate and kill innocent Arab women, men and children.

The heart breaking images from Iraq, Lebanon and Gaza and the occupied territories defeat the toothless argument that Arabs are barbarians and the Arab countries a threat to the existence of the “only democracy in the Middle East”.

The atrocities in the Middle East prove beyond doubt that Arabs and Muslims are victims of a 21st century holocaust, just as their cousins were victims of a 20th Century holocaust.

Nazis burned innocent Jews in gas chamber, Iraqis, Lebanese and Palestinians are being burned in homes, schools, hospitals and shelters by “smart bombs” and sophisticated weapons made in the developed world.

Peaceful Muslims, who practice their religion, are considered potential terrorists. Homes of Muslims, who wear beards and pray five times a day in mosques have been raided, their occupants humiliated or wounded. A year ago an innocent young Latino with Arab features was killed by the police, who mistook him for a “terrorist”.

Arab and Muslim “suspects” have been detained and imprisoned, Arab and Muslim prisoners have been humiliated and tortured, innocent Arab and Muslim blood has been shed profusely, thousands of Arab women and children have been kept behind bars for years.

History is busy recording a shameful “New Holocaust”. Is it not time the entire international community spoke with one voice and demanded an immediate cease-fire? Is it not time a fair and just solution was found to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, which is the real source and the true cause of the wars, the conflicts and the violence in the Middle East?

We Can Handle the Music to a Free Palestine

You make think you have us right where you want us, but I will assure we can handle the music and our dance card is still clear.

Death Rains on Lebanon

Lebanese soldiers and Red Cross workers evacuate the body of a man at the Halat main bridge, which linked northern Lebanon with the rest of the country, after it was hit by an Israeli airstrike on Friday. (AFP)

BEIRUT, 5 August 2006 — Israel pounded Hezbollah’s southern Beirut strongholds with missiles early yesterday and, in a sharp expansion of its bombing of Lebanon, blasted highway bridges for the first time in the Christian heartland north of the capital during morning rush hour.

At least 28 farm workers were killed and 12 others wounded yesterday when four Israeli missiles slammed into a refrigerated warehouse near the Lebanon-Syria border, according to officials at the Syrian hospitals where the dead and wounded were taken.

Four civilians and a Lebanese soldier were killed and 19 wounded in the airstrikes on bridges north of Beirut early morning, Lebanese security officials said. Another Lebanese soldier was killed and two other soldiers were wounded along with four civilians in air raids near Beirut airport and the southern suburbs of the capital overnight, security officials and witnesses said.

Hezbollah said yesterday its fighters killed six Israeli soldiers in fierce fighting in the Lebanese border villages of Aita Al-Shaab and Markaba. Security officials said 57 people were buried in rubble after Israeli attacks on the southern villages of Taibeh and Aita Al-Shaab. The number of dead was not immediately known.

In response to the airstrikes on the bridges, Hezbollah said it unleashed dozens of long-range rockets on several northern Israeli towns, hitting an Israeli artillery base in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Four Israelis were reported to be killed by the rocket attacks. More than 140 rockets had hit northern Israel by yesterday afternoon.

Hezbollah hit its deepest Israeli target yet — the town of Hadera just 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of Tel Aviv. Israel’s private Channel 10 television reported that three missiles landed in the area.

South Beirut has been attacked repeatedly by Israeli warplanes since fighting began July 12. It is predominantly Shiite Muslim and largely controlled by Hezbollah.

But surprisingly, Israeli warplanes struck in the Christian areas north of Beirut where Hezbollah has no support and has no presence.

The sharp expansion of the aerial bombing campaign against Lebanon came a day after Hezbollah fired a large number of rockets on Israeli towns. It also came hours after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, in a speech televised Thursday, threatened to launch missiles at Tel Aviv, Israel’s largest metropolis, if Israel attacks Beirut proper. He also offered to halt rocket attacks on Israel in return for an end to the air attacks.

Israeli fighter jets destroyed four bridges on the main north-south coastal highway during the morning rush hour at the port city of Jounieh, a picturesque tourist resort on the Mediterranean 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) north of Beirut, and areas further north. Casualties were in moving vehicles or neighboring houses, the security officials said.

Meanwhile, Arab foreign ministers will hold an extraordinary meeting Monday in Beirut to support Lebanon, Arab League Deputy Secretary-General Ahmed Ben Helli said yesterday. “The meeting of Arab foreign ministers will take place next Monday in Beirut. It will be a follow-up of the session which took place in Cairo on July 15,” he said.

We Are Untouchable

August 4, 2006

Arab News

We are Israelis. We are untouchable. No matter what we do, the international community will not act against us. Oh, there will be talks at the United Nations but we know that the United States will intervene on our behalf. There will be Arab League discussions but we know that no state will take action against us. There will be mass protests and demonstrations; there will be activists and advocates begging for peace; there will be rallies and fund-raisers to help the targets of our bombs. And we know that nothing will make a difference because we are Jews — we are victims of the holocaust. We have suffered such that we have the right to make the rest of the world pay (even though organized Zionism officially declared war on Germany in 1933, long before Hitler’s Final Solution). Because we are victims.

Yes, we know that peoples all over the world have suffered worse crimes than ours, but they were not the Chosen People. We know that over 22 million Russians were killed under Stalin, 15 million Chinese were killed by the Japanese, millions elsewhere in the world suffered the same fate in the bloodiest 20th century.

We know that Zionism is an atheist Marxist creation using Judaism as its weapon; that we were founded upon terrorism and our leaders became Israel’s prime ministers and Nobel Peace Prize winners; that less than 10 percent of Jews worldwide supported the Zionist cause for decades until World War II. We know that the crimes committed by Hitler equally affected Communists, gypsies, the handicapped, and political prisoners. That does not matter — we are special. The rest of the world will not touch us because they are terrified of the label “anti-Semite”. World leaders are terrified of this ad hominem even though we are mostly not Semitic peoples. Jews of Israel, the Sephardim Jews, were almost nonexistent when we arrived from Russia, Poland, Austria-Hungary and elsewhere in the 20th century and demanded Arab land. They had spread out and moved on. We did not come from Yemen, Ethiopia or Iraq, but who cares? We are the victims and that is all that counts.

Time and again we wonder at how far American gullibility will take us. We push it to the limits on cable television and get away with it repeatedly. We know that the majority of the world is aware we blatantly lie when we express our “deepest regrets” because “terrorists” were hiding in the villages we destroyed. We even have the gall to pick the same targets as a decade ago, ignoring the cries of outrage from America and the West. We’ll just repeat the mantra “a tragic mistake”.

Honestly, we too are rather surprised to see that America patiently sits back and buys our words each time. We have trained our diplomats well, not only in the art of deception to the media, but by using powerful strong-arm, behind-the-scenes tactics to mold the views of US Congressmen and women in our favor.

We have worked on this for decades and it has been perfected for the one place it counts: Our bank America. We rely upon those weapons; we need to create constant conflict so as to receive a perpetual $13 billion annual aid package from the US, including unsecured loans that we have never been, nor ever will be, required to pay back. We are living a dream: What we want is given to us on a silver patter because we are Jews, and we have the holocaust.

The above is only daring in that it is never voiced publicly in the West. The world is watching as Israel incinerates the Lebanese, next the Syrians and Palestinians, then Iran. Diplomats call for peace, a cease-fire, and negotiations. They speak the language of noncommittance. It takes a few brave men and women in leadership positions to dare to speak the truth. Israel is in the position of dominating the US government to an extent never before seen in history, creating a regime who will fully fund a “new Middle East” which in reality means Eretz Israel consisting of Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, northern Saudi Arabia and even Cyprus by some accounts.

There is nothing speculative about these plans for hegemony — everything has been laid out, written down, and presented for years. Academics who dare write the facts know that their tenured careers are over. This war will not end with a cease-fire next week. This war will not end with a security zone controlled by the UN. This war will not end if Hezbollah and Hamas disappeared tomorrow. This war will not end as long as leaders and diplomats continue to fear the trump card charge of anti-Semitism by Israel.

So when hundreds of children are torn apart by uranium-tipped missiles provided courtesy of the US government, look in the mirror. Have you dared to offend Israel? Have you risked? Ask yourself what role you may have played in contributing to this global disaster. Nothing will change until you do.

— Tanya Cariina Hsu is a British Saudi-US Political analyst. She lives in Riyadh.

Palestine Solidarity

A protest in Atlanta, Georgia in front of the Israeli Consulate; every Wednesday.

(If you have trouble viewing click here. )

Palestine Will Never Be Their's

With the background song of Palestine by 786, the very brutal reality of the occupied land.




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'Say that which is useful or keep silent'

By Shaikh Nasim Sultan

Hadhrat Abu Hurairah (Radhi Allaho anho) narrated that Prophet Muhammad (Sall Allaho alaihe wasallam) said, "A sign of one's excellence in his Islam, is ignoring what does not concern him." (Related by Ahmad, Malik and Tirmizi)
Ibn-e-Rajab said, "This Hadith is a basic and an important source of good behaviour in Islam." Mohammad bin Zayd, a great scholar of the Maliki School of thought, said, "Four Ahadith comprise a perfect code of conduct." One of them is, 'Whoever believes in Allah and His Messenger should say that which is useful or keep silent.' Another Hadith is when the Holy Prophet (Sall Allaho alaihe wasallam) said to the man who sought his advice, 'Avoid getting angry.' A third is the Hadith, 'The believer loves for his (believing) brother what he loves for himself.' The fourth is the above Hadith."

A sign of one's excellence in the religion is his ignoring what does not concern him, including all things said or done. The Muslim should only participate in what concerns him, such as anything that is his property, right, obligation or under his control. To be concerned with something entails preserving and taking care of this thing that one is allowed to be concerned with.

As for the matters that do not concern one, they are in abundance. Usually, when a person tries to interfere in such matters that do not concern him, the tool frequently used for this is the tongue. Muslims are ordered to utter only good words, for Allah said, what translated means, "Not a word he (man) utters, but there is a watcher by him ready (to record it)." [50:18]

Many people ignore the fact that in Islam, words are considered actions. Such people care not to preserve their tongues from uttering evil or nonsense. Mu`az bin Jabal (Radhi Allaho anho) did not know the importance of discretion in the words one utters, so he asked the Holy Prophet (Sall Allaho alaihe wasallam), "Are we going to be held responsible for what we say?" The Holy Prophet answered, "May your mother lose you! What else will lead people to be dragged in the Fire on their faces, but the result of what they utter with their tongues." [Irwaa' al-Ghaleel]

An-Nawawi said in his book, "Riyadh-us-Saliheen", "Know that everyone should only talk about what might lead to benefit. When talking and being silent are equal in benefit, then the Sunnah is to be silent. This is because to be talkative will usually lead to uttering evil, even if it starts with seemingly harmless words. One should always be on the safe side, a state that is indeed desired." When a person utters only good words, he gains respect in his community. Likewise, if he is talkative and nosy, disrespect and a bad reputation are the result.

This Hadith indicates that ignoring what does not concern one is a sign of his excellence in the religion. Being successful in working the righteous deeds and gaining an increase in the number of good deeds are all results of this better behaviour. The number of sins will also decrease if one protects his tongue from uttering evil. Hadhrat Abu Hurairah (Radhi Allaho anho) said, "If you improve your Islam, then every good deed you work will increase (and will be multiplied) by ten folds to seven hundred times in reward. On the other hand, each sin is recorded according to its weight, until one meets Allah, the Exalted One." [Muslim]

The only way to know right from wrong is through the Islamic Shari'ah (law). What one wishes and desires do not count in this regard. The Holy Prophet (Sall Allaho alaihe wasallam) has considered the one who ignores what does not concern him to be an excellent Muslim. Therefore, Islam alone must be consulted to define what does or does not concern a Muslim. Because many Muslims do not depend on the Shari'ah to define what they can or cannot participate in, they sometimes abandon their obligations or what they are supposed to do or say, thinking that this is not of their concern. They sometimes defy the rules of the religion by not advising their Muslim brothers, thinking that this also is not of their concern.

Or, they indulge in what does not concern them, thinking that this is their concern. To get out of this confusion, one should always consult the Shari'ah to know what he is supposed to do or say.

Benefits from the above quoted Hadith are:

1. This Hadith encourages Muslims to use the time in a manner that brings about their benefit in this life and in the Hereafter.

2. Muslims should always be concerned with what is beneficial and constructive, and should avoid what does not bring about benefit and what does not preserve the honour.

3. This Hadith also encourages Muslims to strive hard to discipline their behaviour, and to reject and abandon sins, dishonour and what brings about disrespect.

4. This Hadith also ordains avoiding interfering with other people's affairs, for unwarranted interference with other people's business causes divisions and hatred among Muslims.

Think before you stand on a Landmine

Editorial:

By Housewife4Palestine

It must be noted that not all Jews are Zionist, there is actually some very nice people out in the world that happen to be Jewish that in no way supports Israel or the current war escalating by Israel against their Arab neighbors.

What brings to mind is the current wave of Anti-Semitism in the world especially where shops which are a persons livelihood is being defaced with everything from Swastikas to other nonsense.

While I will admit I have a firm stance against the Zionist regime because of not only what they are doing currently, but the whole political background that they carry around like very smelly trash that they will never be able to throw away.

What makes it even worse is the Zionist hide behind the skirts of being Jewish when the majority even confesses to secularism or marginal Judaism to say the least.

But true people to Judaism should never have perpetrated violence or racism put on them, any more then these laggards committing said violence; has the sense to learn all the information of what is really at stake.

I for one have found that usually people that physically or verbally attack another lacks something within themselves and they can not justify their inadequacies except by harming another person or group.

No one should ever be a subject of blind Racism subjected upon those who are innocent.

Makes me think how in society, when one person does something wrong; all the innocent have to pay too.

Young Jews Say No to Murder

Young Jews stage "die-in" in Boston to protest Israeli war

Young Jewish protesters in Boston stage a "die-in" against Israeli war on Lebanon and Palestine. (Photo: Jonathan McIntosh)

By Marjorie Dove 3 August 2006

A group of young American Jews staged a "Die In" on Tuesday August 1, 2006 at South Station in downtown Boston to demonstrate their opposition to recent actions by the Israeli government in Lebanon and Gaza. More...

Bombs and tanks in the night

Jenny Digi writing from Nablus, Live from Palestine, 3 August 2006

The Muqata, a local government building, in Nablus, after it is attacked and destroyed by Israeli occupation forces. (Jenny Digi)

It's taken me a while to get used to being back in Nablus and my sleep on the first few nights was broken regularly by bangs, explosions and the 4 AM call to prayer. Lying in bed on the first night, I moved my mattress away from the window, feeling too exposed to the soldiers who have a large base at the top of the hill. In 2003 there was safety in my nationality to some degree - the Israeli soldiers were not so likely to randomly shoot internationals. Now, this feeling of protection doesn't feel quite so strong in the light of what the Israeli military have been doing in Lebanon, indiscriminately killing anyone regardless of nationality, status (civilian or combatant) and age. My dreams were full of tanks and soldiers, only to be expected really as the city itself has plenty of these around in the night when they spread out from their daily haunts (either the bases and checkpoints surrounding Nablus) and caging the population in a modern ghetto or harassing civilians in the camps or Old City. Like a deadly disease seeping along the highways they spread anger, hopelessness and fear. The fear that I felt is just a taste of what the people of Nablus are living with every day, even when the soldiers are not in the city itself. Nablus is nestled in a valley between two mountains, and there are Israeli military bases on the top of the mountains, practically invisible during the day, their presence is felt at night by the glinting of red lights marking their towers and fences, and by the intermittent gunfire as snipers pass their time aiming at random targets from bins, streetlights and windows, to people on the streets or in their homes.

One evening while we waited on the street corner for a taxi to get us back to our apartment, after cutting our business meeting short due to the increasing military activity in the area (gunfire doesn't matter so much, but when we heard the Israeli soldiers had brought cannons in we decided it would be safer to head back then). An SUV drove past with about 10 shebab ("youth") hanging off the side driving through the city to where the Israeli soldiers were. A young Palestinian woman voiced her dislike for the deliberate antagonism of youths to go and confront the military, throwing stones and sometimes Molotov cocktails at tanks. She feels that by doing this all it does is increase the tension and provides an excuse for the soldiers to use their weapons. Such activities generally end up with wounded, or even dying, shebab on the streets, adding to the rising death toll, and the anger of the people, part of the endless cycle in this place of violence and retribution.

An ambulance destroyed after being attacked by Israeli occupation forces in Nablus. (Jenny Digi)

An interesting point that I've heard from two Palestinians since I arrived here already is regarding the activities of people trying to resist the occupation. In response to the destruction of the Muqata last week, the people of Nablus called a general strike, closing their shops and staying home. When the point of this was questioned by one of the internationals (as it appears to have little effect on the Israelis), these two replied that it is only done because there is a history of taking that action. The resistance is, in a way, stuck in its ways.

Today (Sunday) the city is shut down again in mourning over the assassination of two wanted men in the Old City last night. These assassinations are completely illegal under international law.

Life can feel deceptively normal here on some level; getting up in the morning, eating breakfast, walking to work or taking a taxi (and getting stuck in the endless queues of commuters traveling through the city to work, to university, to the market), sitting in front of a computer in the office typing away at reports and funding proposals, walking home in the evening going via the market then getting home and taking a shower before going back in to town for a party or to meet up with friends. However, while within Nablus these things are all possible, every single one of them is impacted upon by the occupation.

Take, for example, Saturday night when I was walking through the city from the flat to a hotel next to the Old City where the brother of a friend was having a birthday party. It is a beautiful walk, especially at that time of night as the sun is setting over the city; reflections in the thousands of windows multiply the golden orb to infinity and turn the white bricks of the houses a stunning pink and gold. It is a quiet time, the mad bustle from the day has ended and most people are in their homes, many of them eating their only full meal of the day as at least 60% of the population in Palestine lives beneath the poverty line. Suddenly, the peace of the evening is disturbed, near the Old City in the centre of Nablus there are loud explosions and Israeli gunfire (it's disturbing how quickly you can tell the difference between the different weapons and whether they are being used in anger or celebration). Walking in the dark through the quiet streets which only moments before felt welcoming is no longer comfortable, knowing the Israeli soldiers are about the friendly groups of men chatting on the corners are replaced by anxious huddles of shebab, waiting to see where the soldiers will go to next.

At the hotel we still have a pleasant drink; this is normal life here. The hotel run by an amazingly diligent and dedicated man who is trying to keep the place going despite there not having been any real tourism for 6 years. He'd been managing to exist on trade from the various NGOs in the city until the election of Hamas, but now so many of them have pulled out of the area, or had their funding stopped, that he is struggling to pay the wages of his staff every month. There is a lot of anger and confusion over the reaction of the international community to the elections. The way that people here see it is that they tried to be democratic, they had elections (that international observers witnessed and were happy with) and then the reaction from others is that they withdraw money because they don't like a choice. To the Palestinians this is like saying, okay, you can have democracy, but only if you elect the people we want you to elect. What form of democracy is this?

The party finishes as the young men go off to pray and we wait for a lift home watching the tiny slice of the moon slip behind the roof. After the mosque PA system has sounded the call the prayer one of the militant groups takes over and shouts unintelligibly, disturbing the night once again, and on the way home the tension on the streets is almost visible. Throughout the night the PA system alternates between the call for prayer and the militants, one a pleasant musical addition to dreams, the other eliciting uneasiness and distress.

Flights from the US carrying weapons to Israel to be used to bomb civilians in Lebanon are traveling through Prestwick Airport in Scotland. This is a chance for you to do something to stop this madness. Stop those planes, protest at the airport...I hear the bombs being flown across this city, knowing the destruction that they are going to do, but from here in my room, I can't reach them.

Jenny Digi is a peace activist from Scotland. She first visited Nablus in April 2002 during Operation "Defensive Shield", experiencing first hand the illegal acts of the Israeli military against medical personal. She now volunteers with Project Hope, providing education and recreation services in Nablus, Balata and Askar. She is in Palestine with Project Hope and making a film about life under occupation. She maintains a blog at http://jaidigi.livejournal.com/. Source

And it gets worse ... (4 August 2006)

Hezbollah leader threatens Tel Aviv

These two satellite images provided by GeoEye show the same area of Beirut, Lebanon before and after Israeli bombardment. The image on the left was taken Wednesday July 12, 2006, and the image on the right was taken Monday July 31, 2006. (AP Photo/GeoEye)

August 4, 2006

By RAVI NESSMAN, Associated Press Writer


JERUSALEM - A massive wave of guerrilla rockets pounded northern Israel in a matter of minutes Thursday, killing eight people hours before Hezbollah's leader offered to stop the attacks if Israel ends its airstrikes. With four soldiers killed in Lebanon, it was the deadliest day for Israel in its two-front war.

Israeli warplanes pounded south Beirut early Friday, launching 15 bombing runs in a half hour, local media reported.

Fighter jets flew over the Hezbollah stronghold of Ouzai after hitting the suburb of Dahieh. Israel said its targets were guerrilla facilities and an office of Hamas, the militant group which runs the Palestinian government. Israeli artillery shells earlier soared into the hills of southern Lebanon, sometimes as many as 15 per minute.

In the second front of its offensive against Islamic militants, Israel sent dozens of tanks into the Gaza Strip as aircraft fired at clusters of militants. The heavy clashes killed eight Palestinians, including an 8-year-old boy. Read more...

Update:

Hezbollah missiles land on Al Khadera, 20 km from Tel Aviv

Jordan king says Hezbollah heroes in Arab eyes

4 August, 2006


AMMAN: Jordan’s King Abdullah said yesterday that Israel’s offensive against Hezbollah had turned its fighters into heroes among ordinary Arabs.

In the toughest rebuke against his peace partner Israel in recent years, the monarch said the rise of guerrilla groups such as Hezbollah who targeted the Jewish state stemmed from Israel’s reluctance to give up Arab territory captured in the 1967 war in return for lasting peace.

"They (Israelis) want to destroy Hezbollah by tanks and air force. Peace comes by returning occupied territory and setting up a Palestinian state," he said.

The staunchly pro-US ally said Israel’s three-week bombing campaign against Hezbollah guerrillas had given a boost to radicals fighting to end occupation of Arab land.

"The war will not solve anything and Arab peoples see now in Hezbollah a hero facing aggression and defending their land," the monarch told the Al Ghad and Al Rai dailies in an interview released by the state news agency Petra.

"Ok, if you (Israel) destroy Hezbollah and, let’s say, after a year or two there is no solution to the Palestinian cause or Lebanon or Syria ... then a new Hezbollah would emerge, maybe in Jordan, Syria or Egypt .. Israel should know this.

"A fact America and Israel must understand is that as long as there is aggression and occupation there will be resistance and popular support for the resistance," the monarch said.

Echoing discomfort among Arab states friendly to Washington about its public defence of Israel, the monarch said the US administration should move quickly to end the Arab-Israeli conflict to regain its credibility among ordinary Arabs.

The king said Israel’s tough policies against the Palestinians and its Lebanon bombing campaign spread radicalism and undermined moderates.

"Unfortunately Israeli policy ... has contributed to the rise in the wave of extremism in the Arab world and this war has come to weaken the voices of moderation," he said.

"People cannot sleep and wake up to pictures of the dead and images of destruction in Lebanon and Gaza and for us to say we want moderation. Moderation needs deeds." – Agencies

World of Propaganda

"Oh what a tangled web we weave, when at first we practice to deceive."


Propaganda: deceptive or distorted information that is systematically spread.

Propaganda is a specific type of message presentation directly aimed at influencing the opinions of people, rather than impartially providing information. Literally translated from the Latin gerundive as "things which must be disseminated," in some cultures the term is neutral or even positive, while in others the term has acquired a strong negative connotation. Its connotations can also vary over time. For instance, in English, "propaganda" was originally a neutral term used to describe the dissemination of information in favor of a certain cause. Over time, however, the term acquired the negative connotation of disseminating false or misleading information in favor of a certain cause. Strictly speaking, a message does not have to be untrue to qualify as propaganda, but it may omit so many pertinent truths that it becomes highly misleading.

Link:

Propaganda Source Watch

Propaganda Kindergarten is at it again

Khalid Mash'al caricatured by Israeli propagandists

August 4,2006

Gaza- Ma'an- On Thursday, Israeli planes dropped thousands of pamphlets on Gaza City, portraying a caricature of Khalid Mash'al, the head of Hamas' political bureau.

It was printed on an A4 page depicting a man sitting at a gambling roulette table.

This is not the first time that Israeli forces have provoked the Palestinian resistance and government in this way.

Jordanian committee: "Withdraw our ambassador from Tel Aviv and expel the Israeli ambassador to Amman"

August 4, 2006

Amman - Ma'an - The supreme executive committee for the defence of the homeland and opposition of normalization, has called on the Jordanian government to expel the Israeli ambassador from Amman, recall the Jordanian ambassador from Tel Aviv and suspend diplomatic relations with Israel.

In a message from the head of the committee, Hamza Mansur, to the Jordanian Prime Minister, Ma'ruf Al-Bakhit, the call was clear: "We call you to a stance that will be recorded for your government in which you may win victory for the innocent souls that are killed day and night by the Israeli government's butchery and you also defend the reputation of Jordan, which we look forward to improving."

Four Israeli soldiers killed Friday morning; 3 injured in Hezbollah attack on tank

August 4, 2006

Bethlehem - Ma'an - Four Israeli soldiers have been killed on Friday morning, and a further three injured, when Hezbollah destroyed an Israeli tank in south Lebanon. This raises the Israeli soldiers' death toll, since Thursday, to seven, with four injured.

The Israeli army admitted on Thursday evening that one of its soldiers was killed and two injured, during battles with Hezbollah, at the Lebanese village of At Tis.

Earlier on Thursday afternoon, three Israeli soldiers were killed when an anti-tank missile struck their vehicle, killing two and seriously injuring a third who later died of his wounds at an Israeli hospital.

In related news, nine Israelis were killed, including three Arabic citizens of Israel, from the village of Tarshiha, and a further six Israelis from Acre, were killed as a result of rockets that Hezbollah had launched towards northern Israel. 60 further injuries were reported from the Hezbollah attacks.

A three-day old baby girl named Shahd, killed by the Israeli offensive in Rafah on Friday morning

August 4, 2006

Khan-Younis - Ma'an - A Palestinian source said that two Palestinians were killed on Thursday, at Rafah, raising the death toll there to 12, including two children. 29 others have been injured, 11 of which seriously, in a new Israeli escalation of violence in the southern Gaza Strip. Palestinian medical sources said that 'Iz Abu Jazar 22, Ahmad Shahin, 24, 'Isam Al-Bashiti, 20, and a baby girl Shahd Sheikh Al- Id, 3 days old, were killed by the Israeli attacks.

The Israeli army had claimed that his operating forces had killed two Palestinian gunmen while they were trying to plant an explosive device.

The latest of the Israeli raids targeted a crowd of Palestinians at the town of Al-Shokah, in eastern Rafah, resulting in the deaths of two citizens and injuring three, including a child.

Palestinian medical sources confirmed that Abdur-Rahman Abu Sneinah, 20, Yousif Abu Mur, 22, and Sulaiman Rmailat were killed by Israeli missiles and their bodies arrived to hospital in several pieces.

In the immediate aftermath of the early morning attack on Thursday 5th, eight citizens, including a child, were killed and 26 injured after an Israeli incursion to the town of Ash-Shukah, near Yasser Arafat Gaza airport in southern Rafah. The first victims were: Anis Salem Abu Awwad, 12, Zial Sulaiman Sheikh Al-'Id, 23, Adnan Abu Libda, 22, Wa'l 'Atiyyah Younis, 24, and Mahmoud Anwar Kilab, 21.

Link:

PLC member condemns Israeli atrocities in Rafah