eileen fleming

"It seems to us that the country which is not mentioned much, especially in the Middle East, or which this development seems to favor is Israel. This is how we see it in a way when we look in the context of who is benefitting and who is being harmed."

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, champion for freedom of speech maybe facing investigation in the US as to whether he violated espionage laws is hiding out after being charged by the international public prosecution office with "sex by surprise" for violating an obscure Swedish law against having sex without a condom.

Assange’s surreal saga cannot obscure the thousands of United States diplomatic cables already released that have leveled insults against statesmen and politicians, but Turkey's Interior Minister Besir Atalay nailed it when he said, "It seems to us that the country which is not mentioned much, especially in the Middle East, or which this development seems to favor is Israel. This is how we see it in a way when we look in the context of who is benefitting and who is being harmed." [1]

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also expressed doubt about the documents, obtained and published WikiLeaks, saying the US administration "released" the material intentionally.

In reply to a Press TV correspondent President Ahmadinejad said, "The material was not leaked, but rather released in an organized way. The countries in the region are like friends and brothers, and these malicious acts will not affect their relations." [Ibid]

"All governments are run by liars and nothing they say should be believed" [Izzy Stone] and all WikiLeak’s has so far exposed is that this Administration is no different than previous who talked about the equality of all people but in practice failed at what George Washington warned US in his Farewell Address:

"Observe good faith and justice towards all nations; cultivate peace and harmony with all...and passionate attachments for others, should be excluded; and that, in place of them, just and amicable feelings towards all should be cultivated. The nation which indulges towards another a habitual hatred or a habitual fondness is in some degree a slave...a passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils."

Among the US documents released by WikiLeaks, Israel discussed its planned war on Gaza with the Palestinian leadership and Egypt ahead of time. Israel also offered to hand control of the Gaza strip to them.

A Little History:

Israel launched its massive offensive, dubbed "Operation Cast Lead," on December 27, 2008 with the stated aim of halting rocket attacks from Gaza.

Over 5,000 Palestinians were injured, 400,000 were left without running water, 4,000 homes were destroyed, rendering tens of thousands who are still homeless because of Israel's targeted attacks upon them, their schools, hospitals, streets, water wells, sewage system, farms, police stations and UN buildings.

The 22 days of Israel's attack on the people of Gaza was enabled by US-supplied weapons and we the people of the US who pay taxes provide over $3 billion annually to Israel although Israel has consistently misused U.S. weapons in violation of America's Arms Export Control and Foreign Assistance Acts.

America is the worlds largest arms supplier to Israel and under a Bush negotiated deal with Israel, we the people who pay taxes in America will also provide another $30 billion in military aid to Israel over the next decade.

During the 22 days of Israeli assault on Gaza, "Washington provided F-16 fighter planes, Apache helicopters, tactical missiles, and a wide array of munitions, including white phosphorus and DIME. The weapons required for the Israeli assault was decided upon in June 2008, and the transfer of 1,000 bunker-buster GPS-guided Small Diameter Guided Bomb Units 39 (GBU-39) were approved by Congress in September. The GBU 39 bombs were delivered to Israel in November (prior to any claims of Hamas cease fire violation!) for use in the initial air raids on Gaza. [2]

In a 71-page report released March 25, 2009, by Human Rights Watch, Israel’s repeated firing of US-made white phosphorus shells over densely populated areas of Gaza was indiscriminate and is evidence of war crimes.

"Rain of Fire: Israel’s Unlawful Use of White Phosphorus in Gaza," provides eye witness accounts of the devastating effects that white phosphorus munitions had on civilians and civilian property in Gaza.

"Human Rights Watch researchers found spent shells, canister liners, and dozens of burnt felt wedges containing white phosphorus on city streets, apartment roofs, residential courtyards, and at a United Nations school in Gaza immediately after hostilities ended in January.

"Militaries officially use white phosphorus to obscure their operations on the ground by creating thick smoke. It has also been used as an incendiary weapon, though such use constitutes a war crime.

"In Gaza, the Israeli military didn’t just use white phosphorus in open areas as a screen for its troops," said Fred Abrahams, senior emergencies researcher at Human Rights Watch and co-author of the report. "It fired white phosphorus repeatedly over densely populated areas, even when its troops weren't in the area and safer smoke shells were available. As a result, civilians needlessly suffered and died." [Ibid]

During the 22 days of attack on Gaza, the UN Security Council, Amnesty International, International Red Cross, and global voices of protest rose up and demanded a ceasefire, but both houses of Congress overwhelmingly endorsed resolutions to support a continuation of Israel’s so called "self defense."

In a cable exclusively leaked to Al-Masry Al-Youm–a privately-owned Egyptian daily newspaper-it was reported:

"The wall, which the Egyptian government says is aimed at curbing smuggling between Egypt and the besieged Gaza Strip, has been shrouded in secrecy until the present. The cable, dated 20 December 2009, was sent from the US Embassy in Cairo to the Secretary of State in Washington DC, and copied to the American Embassy in Tel Aviv, the American Consul in Jerusalem, the US Defense Department, and the White House’s National Security Council.

"The cable reveals that the wall is being constructed with Egyptian government money, while a tunnel detection system is being funded and built by the United States. In the document, the US Embassy in Cairo recognizes Egypt’s efforts to combat smuggling by installing the subterranean steel wall, which began construction in 2009, and resuming installation of a tunnel activity detection system.

"The document also reveals the US has provided technical support for the installation of the tunnel detection system, which was due to be finished by the US Army Corps of Engineers and handed over to the Egyptian military in April 2010. According to the document, the US Foreign Military Financing-funded tunnel detection system has been key in detecting two to three tunnels a day.

"Smuggling has been on-going in Sinai, especially after the imposition of a coordinated Egypt-Israel blockade on Gaza. Arms smuggling in particular has been on the rise in the area, although several smugglers previously told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the activity is slowing down, especially since Gaza has been flooded with arms from other sources."

There have been ‘leaks’ of information, warnings, prayers, pleas and links for years, and the following was written in November 2006, by Father Manuel, the parish priest at the Latin Church and school in Gaza:

"Gaza cannot sleep! The people are suffering unbelievably. They are hungry, thirsty, have no electricity or clean water. They are suffering constant bombardments and sonic booms from low flying aircraft. They need food: bread and water. Children and babies are hungry...people have no money to buy food. The price of food has doubled and tripled due to the situation. We cannot drink water from the ground here as it is salty and not hygienic. People must buy water to drink. They have no income, no opportunities to get food and water from outside and no opportunities to secure money inside of Gaza. They have no hope.

"Without electricity children are afraid. No light at night. No oil or candles...Thirsty children are crying, afraid and desperate...Many children have been violently thrown from their beds at night from the sonic booms. Many arms and legs have been broken. These planes fly low over Gaza and then reach the speed of sound. This shakes the ground and creates shock waves like an earthquake that causes people to be thrown from their bed. I, myself weigh 120 kilos and was almost thrown from my bed due to the shock wave produced by a low flying jet that made a sonic boom.

"Gaza cannot sleep...the cries of hungry children, the sullen faces of broken men and women who are just sitting in their hungry emptiness with no light, no hope, no love. These actions are War Crimes!"

-###-

1. http://www.presstv.ir/detail/153615.html

2. http://www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/9-us-arms-used-for-war-crimes-in-gaza/

--

Eileen Fleming,
Founder of WeAreWideAwake.org
Staff Member of Salem-news.com
A Feature Correspondent for Arabisto.com

Producer "30 Minutes with Vanunu" and "13 Minutes with Vanunu"
Author of "Keep Hope Alive" and "Memoirs of a Nice Irish American 'Girl's' Life in Occupied Territory" and BEYOND NUCLEAR: Mordechai Vanunu's FREEDOM of SPEECH Trial and My Life as a Muckraker: 2005-2010
http://www.youtube.com/user/eileenfleming

Only in Solidarity do "we have it in our power to begin the world again."-Tom Paine