"Top Gazan Farmer" wounded by Israel attack May 17, 2012 Photo: Palestinian information Centre
A rude awakening this morning visiting our friend and contributor Refaat Alareer's twitter page, to hear the pain in his communication. Israel attacked Gaza while we were sleeping. And brought devastation on a group of Gazan farmers!
at least 5 injured by israel's random shelling East Gaza, Shijaia Neighbourhood. a father 8 and breadwinner of a huge family seriously hit
my sexagenarian relative was going to work when israel's shells hunted him down. his leg to be amputated.
two of the five injured people in most recent israel's aggression are my relatives. one in serious condition
my relative israel just shelled is the breadwinner of at at 20. israel just amputated his leg
the more people israel kills, the more support and US tax money it gets
i swear to God if all israel enemies disappear, israel will pay people be its enemy.
I am off to hospital to check on my relatives israel just randomly on purpose shelled them. will keep you updated.
just come back from hospital; doctors are struggling to save my cousin's leg. israel targeted him as he went to work
Several Gazans reporting the attack as random Israeli shelling.
Refaat Alareer's relative Abu Hesham, 55, taken to the Emergency Room at Al Shifa hospital, says he was struck by a random shell:
Abu Hesham wounded by Israeli attack, May 17, 2012.
The Israeli army fired into the Gaza Strip on Thursday, injuring seven Palestinians in an incident that broke a relative lull in the coastal enclave, Palestinian and Israeli sources said.
Palestinian medics said two of the wounded were in a critical condition. Three of those hit were elderly farmers, a hospital source said, but the identity of the other four was not immediately clear.
The Israeli army said they shot at people who had approached the fence that separates Gaza from Israel in an area where Palestinian militants had previously planted bombs targeting their patrols.
"Initial investigation of the incident suggests that tank shells were fired against the terrorists," a military spokesman said.
Terrorists? Does this man in his sandals look like a terrorist to you??? No, he looks like what he is, a farmer.
Gazan farmer wounded by Israeli attack, May 17, 2012. Photo: Palestinian information Centre
Doctors and medical staff tend to Gazans wounded by Israeli attack, May 17, 2012. Photo: Palestinian information Centre
When will this madness end?
maybe israel just couldn’t stand that gaza was honoring the nakba anniversary .
That presumes that they need a reason. The israeli are sadistic psychopaths. They needs no reason to harm the Palestinians, just an opportunity. Indeed, it is in their interest to shed innocent blood like this at random because it keeps the oppressed Palestinian people always on guard of the next attack, and under stress, which increases the pleasure gained by the israelis from their demonic acts.
“When will this madness end?”
When the head of the viper called “Zionism” is crushed. Then, and only then, can all of the good people in the region move forward.
sadistic psychopaths
i have had that word sadism on my mind all morning.refaat just wrote this…
link to thisisgaza.wordpress.com
Thanks, Annie, for your post and comment beneath it here. On the upside, unlike the main Methodist body, the Quakers have just divested in Caterpillar: link to endtheoccupation.org
““When will this madness end?”
When Israel and/ or zionism is destroyed. No one wants to hear that but that’s the truth.
You can’t ‘change’ the essence of something and what you see is the essence of zionism.
I am waiting for a statement from our Dept. of State about how this is “unhelpful”. That should make up for it.
Hi Annie,
I can hear IDF fieldmarshal von Dagan explain how we should be thankful that ‘although we could have fired flechette shells, our brave men and women in uniform choose not to. They opted to remain humane.’
Farming verboten.
Random acts of evil, followed by utterly insincere and insouciant lying.
You have to feel for Refaat and his family, attacked for no reason other than being who they are, and existing. Their legs lost for some sport for knuckle-headed morons in IDF uniforms who know no-one will utter a word of criticism of them. The most immoral army in the world, terrorists who hide behind their crappy mythology and their stunted, defective, ignorant culture. Sadists and cowards.
Just seen Rafeef Ziadah at the Pavilion in Cork, courtesy IPSC it finished 20 minutes ago, the audience of 200 maybe 30 arabs the rest irish went crazy also that lebanese guy Mansour who did well and unnamed guy from the golan and a great arab female vocalist. she made me think of Fairuz’s Sanaraj3ou yawman : “heart dont drop weary on the road to our return”
link to youtube.com
ahh gamal thank you for posting my favorite fairuz (if there can be such a thing).
the audience of 200 maybe 30 arabs the rest irish went crazy
wish i was there! with phil mansour? ahhh!
link to mondoweiss.net
link to ipsc.ie
Terez Sliman link to myspace.com
I wonder though why this is considered breaking a lull
while those rockets (or rocket i think it was just one)
that hit us a last week isn’t.
Maybe if they would hit a kindergarten or something…
Also and i am not
trying to downplay these guys suffering or anything .
There is something a bit strange that all the news agencies including the Palestinian
Maan claim that these guys were injured on Thirsday which is the 17 of May
in the morning.
But the photos as i can see from the metadata were taken on the 16′s in the evening.
late in the evening 10:27 PM.
And IDF also did not report any incident on that evening only that 2 militants
were fired upon in the morning of the 17′s and that no hits were observed.
oleg, the Palestinian information Centre is in london, when it’s 10:27 PM in london it’s thursday morning in palestine. or maybe the camera was set on the timeframe of where the photographer came from. maybe the photos were processed in london or the US…are you questioning whether these are the people targeted by israel this morning? refaat was live tweeting before these photos started streaming in.
watch this video from the 15th
link to youtube.com
see how they gang up on him and start beating him. note how his head wasn’t all bashed in earlier in the video? see how young he is? do you think all those soldiers, probably buddies, do you think they get off on bashing in the head of a kid?
for what?
video from kate’s list today. sadism.
you still absorbed wondering about the timestamp on the camera?
threadjacker.
can you tell i’m just a little bit pissed?
i am not
trying to downplay these guys suffering or anything
yeah we so get that, all of us..really.
And IDF also did not report any incident on that evening only that 2 militants
were fired upon in the morning of the 17′s and that no hits were observed.
yeah, the first report out (RT) contacted the idf who said at that time they had no record of any attack. this was likely the result of some trigger happy (tank happy) fanatic in a uniform wanting to send palestinians a nakba message. they kill indiscriminately sometimes, some of them kill for the thrill of it. like Maxim Vinogradov.
these farmers, they go to the field every morning, same place, same time…so this morning they were live fodder.
Yes i can see that his first tweet is the morning of the 17 which fits the reports in the news agencies.
It still does not fit that date from the camera.
But you are correct that it could be the camera’s setup.
/ this was likely the result of some trigger happy (tank happy) fanatic in a uniform wanting to send palestinians a nakba message. they kill indiscriminately sometimes, some of them kill for the thrill of it/
Speculation Annie and a generalization.
They include me btw.
And you (as always when it suits) ignored my remark regarding the
one sided broken lull headline.
They include me btw.
if the shoe fits wear it oleg. you might want to check out what Maxim Vinogradov wrote on his facebook page before you say that tho. if you’re denying israeli soldiers have never killed for sport i’d wager you’re delusional.
as for your other allegations..i don’t recall hearing about it. and the iof are famous for false flags and lying so it’s questionablwe the source of the allege rocket anyway, if there was one.
one of the first lessons i learned about life is don’t lie. you know why? people won’t trust you. people who lie will do it time and again. once you’ve lost someones trust it is hard to gain it back. the iof lie w/impunity, all the time. this is the world the young are learning from . israel lies.
there, all better now that i didn’t ignore you? i’m taking reuters word for it. besides, maybe they meant israel’s lull on massacring palestinians. palestinian rockets very rarely injure or kill so they do not cause as much concern. obviously.
Right IDF lies,and the Palestinians don’t lie.
Ah the Holy simplicity.
@ OlegR
“And you (as always when it suits) ignored my remark regarding the
one sided broken lull headline.”
Here’s something for you to ignore:
“Protection of civilians Weekly Report 9-15 May
“At least 370 Palestinians were injured by Israeli forces in demonstrations commemorating the 64th anniversary of what Palestinians refer to as the 1948 An Nakba (the catastrophe).
Israeli authorities demolished seven Palestinian-owned livelihood structures due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits, affecting over 40 people. …
Palestinian casualties by Israeli forces:
Killed this week: 0
Killed in 2012: 3
Killed in 2011: 11
Injured this week: 441; majority in demonstrations
Injured in 2012: 1,339
2012 weekly average of injured: 69
2011 weekly average of injured: 28
Search-and-arrest operations by Israeli forces this
week: 57 …
Overall in 2012, 85 percent of Palestinian injuries by Israeli
military forces have occurred in the context of demonstrations protesting settlement takeover of land and water resources, or access restrictions aimed at protecting settlements or allowing for their expansion. …
This week, OCHA recorded eight incidents that led to the injury of two Palestinians and damage to over 430 trees. In two separate incidents in the vicinity of the two Israeli settlements of Karmei Tzur and Yizhar, Israeli settlers physically assaulted and stoned a farmer and a shepherd, injuring them. Also this week, Israeli settlers cut down or uprooted around 430 trees, including over 280 olive trees, belonging to the Palestinian communities of Burin (Nablus), Yasuf (Salfit), Al Khader (Bethlehem)
and At Tuwani and Beit Ummar (Hebron). Since the beginning of the year, around 3,070 trees, the majority of which were olive trees, have been
vandalized by settlers. …
Settler-related incidents:
Settler-related incidents resulting in injuries or
property damage:
This week: 8
2012 weekly average: 6
2011 weekly average: 8
Palestinians injuries by settler violence:
This week: 2
Injured in 2012: 50
2011 weekly average: 4
Israeli settlers injured by Palestinians:
This week: 0
Injured in 2012: 15
Injured in 2011: 37 …
Palestinian-owned structures demolished
in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem
This week:
Demolished: 7
Displaced: 0
Demolished in 2012: 285
People displaced in 2012: 477
2012 vs. 2011 demolitions (weekly av.): 15 vs. 12
2012 vs. 2011 people displaced (weekly av.): 25 vs. 21
Palestinian casualties by Israeli forces in the
Gaza Strip:
Killed this week: 0
Killed in 2012: 29
Injured this week: 8
Injured in 2012: 155
2012 weekly average of injured: 9
2011 weekly average of injured: 9 …”
/ocha_opt_protection_of_civilians_weekly_report_2012_05_18_english.pdf
One sided, right?
OlegR: Truth is on the side of the oppressed and that ain’t you frankenstein monsters no matter how much you whine about it. I have said it once I shall say it again “Oleg” sounds so at home in Russia, not in the ME.
Your numbers don’t add up. 69 injured per week would be about 3500 injured in a year, not 1339. With 1339 injured in a year, the average injured per week would be about 26.
Yes, the holy simplicity of your clutching at straws defence. Apparently you are blissfully unaware of the track record of the IDF and Israel in this regard. Blaming the victim is an Israeli sport, no wonder Israel comes equal with North Korea in people’s impressions in the latest BBC poll, only just above Iran and Pakistan. People judge you by your actions, not your feeble excuses and lies.
@ Fredblogs.
“Your numbers don’t add up. 69 injured per week would be about 3500 injured in a year, not 1339. With 1339 injured in a year, the average injured per week would be about 26.”
1339 injuries in 19 weeks of 2012 are 69 average per week. The year 2012 is not over yet. Who knows how many demonstraters the most moral army of the only democracy in the middle east is going to injure or even kill in the remaining weeks.
Whoops, sorry, misread that. I thought that was for 2011.
This incident reflects the status quo Bill Kristol chooses to maintain, despite the changing demographics in area controlled by Israel, as he bluntly tells head of J-St, right here: link to youtube.com
Bill tells him it’s “unfortunate,” but that’s the best thing to do no matter how many Palestinians there are, ever, living under Israel’s power. Bill is trotted out as a regular TV guru on the I-P situation, to inform Dick and Jane what’s in their best interest.
killer video citizen. what a grotesque pompous little man he is.
that hit us a last week
us? did the alleged rocket even hit one of you?
If a rocket falls in the wood but no one get’s
heart , did it really fell or even existed.
An interesting philosophical question.
A bit like, if Israel destroys a village or wipes a country off the map, did they ever exist?
OlegR, if nobody pays any attention to you, are you really there or have you ever existed?
But is it a big enough attack on Gaza to keep the Quaker BDS “peace offensive” out of the American MSM? Surely all of the bombs in Syria (which Assad blames on terrorists AKA “freedom fighters”) are providing enough distraction from Israel — or maybe those are only enough distraction this week from the MEK getting de-listed by the State Department as a Terrorist Group.
I think your first question is the right one to ask – does this provocation either distract the media or trigger a Palestinian retaliation that can distract the media from discussion of non-violence? I don’t think it’s meant to distract from the MEK delisting. Israel can and is distracting from that through the more traditional route of upping the rhetoric against Iran.
This random Israeli shelling is state terrorism. There is no escaping that fact. Unfortunately for Palestinians, Israeli forces have been committing terrorism against civilians on a regular basis since at least 1948. Tragically, western governments have yet to acknowledge that.
Just imagine the headlines around the world if it was Israeli civilians getting hurt from Palestinian shelling and the “retaliation” by Israel which would probably claim the lives of a hundred untermensch.
You won’t see any mention of this incident in any mainstream media. These are the “unpeople” as Chomsky refers to the perception of value of life of the poor and powerless. Israel can get away apparently with shooting fish in the Gaza barrel. Even in Israel this was barely mentioned.
Have you heard the Mainstream media reporting that rockets fired from Gaza into Israeli Civilian Targets since January 2012 total over 265?
Do you remember seeing photos of Israeli Civilian casualties? No? They must not exist, right? No. The casualties exist. The damage is real. It’s just that the Israelis still treat casualties with discretion and respect, not just another photo op to: “Advance the Cause.”
If you think that Israeli Soldiers are indiscriminately firing tank shells you are misinformed as to how the military works. This will be investigated. You just won’t hear about it because the “actual cause” of the firing may not adequately serve the Palestinian people.
Samuel T.
Any source that they were fired “into Israeli Civilian Targets”? Or just made up?
Please explain this Samuel.
1. What were the 265 Israeli civilian targets?
2. How did Gazans manage to target 265 Israeli. Ivorian targets without guidance systems?
3. How many bombs and shells did Israel fire into Gaza since Jan 2012?
4. What do you expect to have happened after Israel broke yet another ceasefire last October? Do you think breaking ceasefires is an effective way to stop rockets being fired?
Yeah, so much so that they place the residents of Asheklon and Sderot in danger every time they break a ceasefire.
If you think that Israeli Soldiers are indiscriminately firing tank shells you are misinformed as to how the military works.
I agree, there is nothing indiscriminate about the way the IDF targets civlians. It is part of a deliberate policy of terror, as Mordecai Gur(Israeli politician and the 10th Chief of Staff of the IDF) told Ze’ev Shiff from Ha’aretz.
The Israeli army has always struck civilian populations, purposely and consciously. The army has never distinguished civilian from military targets, but has purposely attacked civilian targets.
“Do you remember seeing photos of Israeli Civilian casualties? No? They must not exist, right? No. The casualties exist. The damage is real.”
So bung ‘em up Sam. I’m prepared to have a look.
“Does this look like a terrorist”. To answer that, I need to know “what does a terrorist look like”?
Terrorists do their best _not_ to look like what they are. If a terrorist was trying to plant a bomb, wouldn’t it behoove him to look like a farmer? Or an ambulance driver, or any random profession other than terrorist? Because there is no visual way to distinguish a terrorist from an innocent person, the Israelis rely on geographical ways. “If you come near place X, we have to assume you are a terrorist”.
So where are the bombs Fred? Or should the IDF simply kill all of them just in case?
Especially when place X is land you’ve stolen.
Oh, and the reason perfidy is a war crime isn’t that it is unfair to the Israeli soldiers, it is because of exactly this type of case. Perfidy endangers your own civilians.
Lets not forget that the justification Israel used to establish the settlements was that they served security needs. In other words, every settler is acting to further the military conquest of the territories and to pacify the local population. Many of the settlers are armed.
Most settlers, however, most don’t regularly wear uniforms even though they are acting as part Israel’s military. It isn’t just that they’re civilian aides or something. Quote from affidavit of the Israeli government: “… In times of calm these settlements serve the purpose of presence and control of vital areas, maintaining observation, and the like. The importance of these settlements is enhanced in particular time of war when the regular army forces are shifted, in the main, from their bases for purposes of operational activity and the said settlements constitute the principal component of presence and security control in the areas in which they are located.”
So, the Israeli government purposefully used its civilian population to further its military aim, though a lot of them were glad to do so. It isn’t as if the settlers are a bunch of civilians who don’t have any army do wear a uniform of, acting in defense of their land and rights, they’re part and parcel of Israel’s military invasion. So why aren’t they wearing uniforms?
“If you come near place X, we have to assume you are a terrorist”.
From whence does this paranoia come?
400 Israeli citizens die in road accidents each year. This is many times the number of deaths due to “terrorism”. Rockets for, example, took one or two lives per annum.
If the paranoia arose out of a fear for Israeli lives, would it not be better to assign these IDF thugs to traffic control?
As to when this madness will end. When the Israelis no longer have to assume that anyone in civilian attire approaching the fence is trying to plant bombs. That would be some time after the Palestinians stop sending people in civilian attire to approach the fence to plant bombs.
“That would be some time after the Palestinians stop sending people in civilian attire to approach the fence to plant bombs.”
Does Israel have to prove this before killing or injuring?
They have to have some evidence that terrorists might target the area. Of course, given the proclivities of Palestinian terrorists to target the fence area, they have all the evidence they need.
Conclusive proof is when something explodes. By then, it is too late. The fence is a known no go area. So anyone who goes there is either a terrorist or someone who is ignoring their own safety. Complaining that you got shot for going near the fence is like complaining that the clearly marked mine field blew you up.
They have to have some evidence that terrorists might target the area.
clueless
In other words, that’s a bit like saying that the murder of Fogel family was not murder, but a pre- emptive attack, given the proclivities of ISraeli settler terrorists to unleash violence on the Palestinians.
No, conclusive proof would be a bomb that they woudl have seized. After all, tehre was no explosion, so where are the bombs?
The same goes for teh occupied territories. Any Israeli who goes there is either a terrorist or someone who is ignoring their own safety.
By your own standards, the Fogel family had it comming to them.
Fredblogs
The Palestinians actually have a legal RIGHT to plant bombs on the Palestinian side of the fence against the IDF encroaching on Gaza. The fence BTW is not the border, it was only an Armistice Demarcation Line ISRAEL AGREED TO. Israeli territory has never legally changed since being acknowledged by the Israeli Government May 22nd 1948. Israel does not have a right to illegally acquire any territory
A terrorist in civilian attire:
link to beirut.indymedia.org
The Palestinians have no legal right to plant bombs while dressed as civilians. That’s a war crime. It’s called “perfidy”. Look it up.
The Palestunians have a right to do whatever they damn well please on their own land.
I they want to plant bombs on their side if the fence dressed in spandex and leotards, that’s their business.
They are only required to dress in military uniforms when UN enemy territory.
And please remind us how tennis outfits in Dubai are not an example of pefidity.
“It’s called “perfidy”. Look it up.”
Yeah. They “anathemise” (sic) people for that, don’t they?
Fred, I think you should look it up. So you have learnt a new word which you think you can be clever with. Unfortunately it doesn’t mean what your grade book has said, and certainly doesn’t apply in this context. If you want actual examples the many examples of Israeli deception would be a good place to start. Shooting unarmed civilians without reason other than intimidation is not perfidy. It is called murder. As usual, you don’t know what you are talking about. You are way out of your depth here, with your laughably cheap attempts at defending the criminals.
“The Palestinians have no legal right …”
Do you really want to start a discussion about rights? You’re a Zionist, never forget that. We won’t.
“… while dressed as civilians.”
What were the Jews in Warsaw Ghetto Uprising dressed like? Or did they have no legal right to do what they did?
Think before you write, Fredblogs.
“That’s a war crime. It’s called “perfidy”. Look it up.”
Being so knowledgeable, you surely have it at your fingertips. No? Oh well….
• simulation of civilian status because civilians not taking a direct part in hostilities must be respected and may not be the object of attack.
Oh just let it go Mooser, like you never mis-spelled a word.
anathematize:
Curse; condemn.
Exactly. Especialy seeing as Israel plants landmines on territory it has no claim to.
Yeah, just like the Zionist militias stopped planting dressing up as Arabs and planting bombs in hotels – it ended when the British left.
That is, until the Lavon Affair, when they planted bombs in Egypt.
If Israel’s so concerned about violence from people approaching the fence it could establish a buffer zone on its side. Not that most Palestinians in Gaza don’t have every right to go over the fence and rebuild their homes in Israel under the terms of UN resolution 194. Israel has no right to shoot people inside Gaza, simply for approaching the fence.
Mammon nightmare
And the shooting continues:
“He was working in fields near al-Qarara, north-east of Khan Younis, when a soldier opened fire from a military watch-tower, Salmiya added.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said she had no record of the incident.”
link to maannews.net