Demonstration against Israeli bombing of Gaza in London on Saturday.

[SmilleysPeople]

If anyone is intersted.

It's at 12.30pm along Embankment, nearest tubes Embankment and Charing Cross.

It's being organised by Palestinian Solidarity Campaign, Stop the War Coaltion and numerous other groups.

I will bump this sporadically, but if anyone else would like to help promote this, plaese bump too.

I will be there.

Yes I read that too Slim. I also just heard that Israel has announced they will stop bombing for three hours per day so that the humanitarian crisis can be addressed and aid can be distributed .I guess that would be the same Humanitarian crisis Israel has hitherto denied exists (and is no doubt a lie propogated by the anti semitic worldwide conspiracy). Crisis - what crisis?

well Slim - if Shimon Peres actually telephones Palestinians to warn them of imminent bombings then the only reasonable conclusion we can draw is that Palestinian civilans WANT to be blown up.

They are telephoned/texted /warned by loudspeaker to enable them to leave the immediate area being bombed. Don't know that i have ever heard Hamas give such a warning. Or are you saying Peres is lying?

well they obviously forgot to call the UN in time to warn them about the school.

No lisalisa he would never lie. Only The people who oppose Israeli actions lie - you have made me see the light on that one.

Israel is always right and The Palestinans are inventing all this 'crisis' lark. I am so glad I understand now. I agree with you that all palestinans ar " a murderous bunch of people" and that all their Muslim leaders are "ranting, raving, lunatic mullahs". (your words, which of course are NOT racist).

The UN has lied. The BBC has lied. CNN has lied. We are all lying right now. Thank you for clarifying that for the benefit of MN, so many of whom are clearly liars.

it's not hearsay www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/mar/09/Israel

Well, Reuters are claiming that the headmaster was a bomb-maker for Hamas, and Hamas are celebrating his death as a martyr. I was under the impression that Reuters are fairly neutral as a source, and there is video available of militants using weaponry in this particular school before.

It doesn't make it any prettier, and I wish Israel would see they can't win in this way, no matter what they do. The people in Gaza are desperate, and doing desperate things, and children are dying.

But I know that Israelis truly believe the only language that the militants understand is impacable force, just as the extremists in Gaza believe that fighting and fighting and fighting is the only option. What can ever by the productive end of that?

here rather (that link doesn't work)

www.guardian,co,uk/world/2007/mar/09/israel

I don't know why the link is not working but if anyone wants to check it's reported on The Guardian website, dated 9th March 2007 reported by Conal Urquhart in Tel Aviv.

Are you still at it Donnie .

Thanks for that link Saadia - will check it out.

Blimey Kayharker - that says it all then doesn't it? Head Master of a UN School as a bomb maker for Hamas ! Hamas have less than zero regard for human life.

Slim22 - they didn't forget - they called, texted and megaphoned warnings! And Hamas refused to let the children leave.

It's truly terrifying that they should be so desperate.

Not to say desperation excuses such barbaric tactics.

Just that nothing good will come out of pushing palestinians to the last depth of desperation.

Terrorism is the last resort. Palestinians have only their lives to loose now.

KayHarker, could you point me in the direction of the Reuters report you quote, I can't find it on their website.

Yes, saadie, certainly

sory saadia

I don't think the people of Gaza are that desperate Kay. This is a Hamas strategy. Utterly despicable

MT, Oh, I agree that it is a Hamas strategy. I just know I'd be desperate if I was trapped in a situation with dwindling resources, unable to see the end to it, and coupled with the bully-boy tactics that Hamas apparently use against innocent civilians for their own ends - against rival groups like Fatah and those suspected of collusion, etc.

In that situation, fearing for the lives of my children, knowing how very useful their deaths could be to some people, wanting an end to it all, wanting freedom and safety, I'd be desperate, I think. And yes, I think I would hate Israel for taking this course of action, as much as I may hate Hamas as well.

Thank you Kay Harper, that about sums up the feeling some people are refusing to acknowledge.

Totally

But kayharker - Hamas are the elected representatives of the palestinian people. What are we to think?

the BBC website has a page on it at the moment about the number of children murdered so far - 205 is the current number it cites. But I should warn anyone about to read it that if you click on the small picture (it runs a warning anyway) be prepared to be revolted by what you see. It is always the children and the women who suffer most.

Lisalisa - 'are you still at it' ? at what ? reminding you of your racist comments? why don't you take legal action, seeing as you claim to be a lawyer? trouble is, you'll have to somehow disprove that you wrote them in the first place.

The problem with Israel refusing to allow foreign journalists inside Gaza is that there is no independent corroboration to say what may - or may not - have happened.
So the Israelis claim that Hamas was launching rockets from the UN-run school; the Palestinians claim otherwise and the outside world has to choose which side to believe.

Personally speaking, I find it quite shocking that no foreign journalists are allowed to enter Gaza. I'm assuming that Israel will say that it is for their own safety (although, in fairness, I haven't heard the official reason). But that policy doesn't exactly fill me with confidence that Israel has nothing to hide with regard to its actions at present....

(And on a side note, I wish Israel would replace that awful woman who isacting as spokesperson at present. So aggressive and stressed and, IMO, completely out of her depth. Surely thay couldn't have found anyone worse if they'd tried. (Not the IDF woman who was speaking on TV last night, who seemed perfectly calm, rational and "normal").)

It doesn't matter who your leaders are, no children deserve to suffer in this way. Shelling hour after hour, surrounded by death and destruction, seeing their friends, parents killed and lives shattered.

For their sake the Israelis should stop. There is a very good piece in the Guardian on the lasting psychological trauma this bombing is causing. Israel will never have peace if this carries on.

Shell-shocked children who are drawn into the cult of the martyr

As the pyschiatrist says: "Children see their parents killed in front of them. What do you expect?"

Surely there are other, better, more permanent ways to resolve this?

lisalisa - what are we to think of Hamas being elected?

Well, personally, I think that Hamas are a deceptive group who did a good job of convincing the people that they would help them. Basically I think the election of Hamas shows that desperate people do silly things.

My understanding is that Israel is reluctant to allow the media in partly because they are worried about the media disrupting the military progress of the IDF, giving away manovuers and so on. I actually wish the IDF would allow the media in, because I genuinely think it would help them to have someone to corroborate what they are describing.