gaza strip | DEMOTROPOLIS

Since 14 November 2012, after decades of struggle including routine intermittent attacks against individuals, Israel, using funds provided by the United States of America, has begun an all-out war against the civilian Palestinian population of Gaza. These attacks are being excused by much of the world as retaliation for attacks on Israel. History shows us that any attacks by Hamas or anyone in Gaza or Palestine against Israel were defensive maneuvers and were in response to ongoing destructive and murderous attacks by Israeli soldiers against the Palestinian people in Gaza.

We are receiving reports directly from Gaza about many civilian casualties. Over three hundred people have been injured. Updates are being reported via every social media tool, including twitter.

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UPDATE Sunday 18 November 08:47 U.S. Pacific time :

Late yesterday afternoon (nighttime in Gaza), we listened to many explosions over the microphone Harry Fear left on as he slept. Drones circled nearby continuously for hours. Some of the explosions were heard as we listened to Gazans singing in prayer.

Many Palestinian children in Gaza have been killed by Israeli bombs in the past five days. The total death toll at this point is 69, 24 of whom were children. It has consistently been reported as 80% of the dead are civilians.

The resistance group al Qassam has downed an Israeli helicopter in the last hour, and resistance forces are firing on Israeli warships, which have been firing indiscriminately on the people of Gaza. Explosions have now been heard in Tel Aviv, reinforcing the reports that resistance fighters are firing back at Israel.

A nearly full term fetus was killed inside the womb of a Palestinian woman by shrapnel from an Israeli bomb.

Meanwhile, anonymous is on the job and Israel is targeting journalists.

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UPDATE Sunday 18 November 11:27 U.S. Pacific time :

In Gaza, at the hands of Israel in the past five days : 71 people have been killed, 25 of whom were children. More than 600 people have been injured 250 of whom are children.

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UPDATE Monday 19 November 15:13 U.S. Pacific time :

The death toll in Gaza is now 108, including journalists who were intentionally targeted.

this video is part of today’s update, a reading of the names of the dead :

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UPDATE for the sake of this graphic :::

This tally illustrates the situation in Gaza from Wednesday evening to 19/11/2012 18:00 GMT.

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UPDATE 21 November 2012 5:22pm in Gaza :::

tweet one hour ago via Harry Fear ‏@harryfear :
Recent update from Gazan Ministry of Health: 147+ killed (11+ today); 2000+ injured #GazaUnderAttack

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UPDATE 21 November 2012 9:44pm in Gaza :::

Word just in of a ceasefire, which seems to have occurred and been reported just afternoon EST by Reuters via Huffington Post :::

Irael-Gaza Truce Deal Agreed To, Israel Will Not Lift Gaza Blockade
Reuters | Posted: 11/21/2012 12:25 pm EST Updated: 11/21/2012 2:05 pm EST

Unfortunately, there is not yet an agreement to tear down the fence and stop the blockade : ‘Israeli sources said Israel had agreed to a truce, but would not lift its blockade of the Palestinian territory.’

Also unfortunately, Reuters is not shy about repeatedly blaming Hamas for firing rockets, while paying no attention to the apartheid being foisted on the region by Israel. The firing of rockets into Israel by Hamas would likely be eliminated by a dismantling of the apartheid system.

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Harry Fear, a reporter and documentary producer, has been keeping the world up to date in a minute by minute narrative of realtime attacks in Gaza.

This photo shows the beauty of the region from which Harry Fear is continuing to provide updates of the situation in the Gaza Strip.

‎”The incursion and bombardment of Gaza is not about destroying Hamas. It is not about stopping rocket fire into Israel, it is not about achieving peace. The Israeli decision to rain death and destruction on Gaza, to use lethal weapons of the modern battlefield on a largely defenseless civilian population, is the final phase in a decades-long campaign to ethnically-cleanse Palestinians.Israel uses sophisticated attack jets and naval vessels to bomb densely-crowded refugee camps, schools, apartment blocks, mosques, and slums to attack a population that has no air force, no air defense, no navy, no heavy weapons, no artillery units, no mechanized armor, no command in control, no army… and calls it a war. It is not a war, it is murder. When Israelis in the occupied territories now claim that they have to defend themselves, they are defending themselves in the sense that any military occupier has to defend itself against the population they are crushing. You can’t defend yourself when you’re militarily occupying someone else’s land. That’s not defense. Call it what you like, it’s not defense.” Noam Chomsky