Death toll in Gaza has surpassed 1,000

Don't call it a war; it's a massacre. Don't call it a conflict; it's genocide. What Israel is currently doing in Gaza is a crime against humanity, a violation of numerous international laws, and absolutely reprehensible. Yet the media keeps spinning and distorting the facts. Here are some important facts to consider.

Israel broke the Gaza truce, not Hamas. The truce between Hamas and Israel was so shaky because during the entire period of that truce Israel had turned Gaza into a massive open-air prison, which a senior aid to the Pope has compared to a concentration camp. Israel maintained a constant siege on the people of Gaza by blocking food, fuel and medicine shipments from coming into the territory. They repeatedly denied Gazans the rights to leave for even medical reasons.

Israel also maintained an economic blockade and crippled Gaza's economy by preventing all exports out of Gaza. Israel also sent tactical units into Gaza who assassinated several members of Hamas before Palestinians responded by firing homemade rockets into Israel. Israel then responded to the homemade rockets by dropping over 100 tons of bombs from the sky on the densely populated Gaza strip in the first day of their brutal attack.

Since the Israeli military launched ‘Operation Cast Lead' on December 27, 2008, they have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, of whom over 400 have been women and children, according to Reuters. During the same period of time only 13 Israelis have been killed, 10 of them Israeli soldiers.

Israel has not only bombed police stations and political offices. They've bombed hospitals, mosques and even schools. Last week they bombed two U.N. schools, attacked a U.N. convoy carrying medical supplies and food into Gaza, and several Mosques while hundreds were praying and seeking shelter from the chaos.

While Palestinians use homemade rockets, Israel is using illegal chemical weapons including the incendiary ‘white phosphorus', and has been charged by international scientists, geneticists, and medical observers with using Gaza as a testing ground for new chemical weapons including Dense Inert Metal Explosives (DIME). Using white phosphorus against people is forbidden by nearly all military codes and laws because it causes unnecessary suffering and horrible damage to the human body. The fact that Israel is using white phosphorus in crowded civilian areas is a war crime.

The Israeli Navy also violated international law and the law of the seas when it intercepted ‘the Dignity', a humanitarian aid ship carrying 15 civilians from 11 different countries, in international waters. The ship was heading to Gaza with medical supplies and had US congresswoman Cynthia McKinney on board, as well as a member of the Cyprus parliament, journalists, and doctors from the Doctors without borders movement.

The whole world is watching and the world is outraged. There have been major demonstrations all over the world condemning this massacre. Hundreds of thousands of people of all faiths and political backgrounds have taken to the streets in protest. In the West Bank soldiers used live ammunition on protesters, killing many, while in Israel tens of thousands of Jews and Arabs took to the streets together demanding the right to live in peace together.

In Toronto, a group of Jewish women occupied the Israeli consulate in Toronto demanding an end to the Israeli massacre of Palestinians in Gaza and a lifting of the siege to allow humanitarian aid into the territory.

Here in London there have been over half a dozen protests and actions, with the biggest protests this past weekend drawing over 1,000 people Students at Western organized a silent vigil and human chain which drew more than 400 people while high school students protested inside and outside of two separate Starbucks locations for that corporation's long history of supporting Israeli apartheid and the occupation of Palestinian land.

Now is the time to take a stand. We must not be silent as Gaza is bleeding. We will make our voices heard everywhere and dispel the lies in the corporate media. If you believe in peace, justice and equality for everyone join us in Forwell Hall this Friday, January 23 at 10 am for a rally against the current massacre of the defenseless civilians of Gaza. Email fanshawesocialjusticeclub@yahoo.ca for more details.

Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
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