Date: 05 / 10 / 2008 Time: 15:38

Gaza – Ma’an – Thirty-year-old Karimah Abu Dalal was pronounced clinically dead in a Gaza City hospital while she waited for permission to undergo a second bone marrow transplant in Jordan, after a relapse in her leukemia, discovered after the birth of her first son.

Karimah is from the An-Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, and was diagnosed with leukemia after the birth of her son Ahmad, who is now three.

The disease spread rapidly, and Karimah was never able to nurse her son. She was sent to Egypt where she had her first bone marrow transplant at twenty-seven, but six months later she experienced a chronic immune response against the transplanted tissue, and her health deteriorated rapidly.

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Video: Gaza's underground lifelines

Al Jazeera, Oct 5, 2008

Hundreds of vehicles to break siege on Gaza Monday via Egyptian border

04.10.08 - 21:36

Bethlehem / PNN – Members of Egyptian parliament and activists are preparing to launch a convoy of 20 buses and hundreds of cars from the Journalists Syndicate in Cairo to pass the Rafah border. The convoy has tents, mobile toilets, food, water and a medical station. Representatives from the parliaments of Turkey and Malaysia are on board as are international activists. The group intends to enter the Guinness Book of World Records with a giant quilt sewn of messages in solidarity with the people of the Gaza Strip. Egyptian parliamentarian and member of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamdi Hassan says of Monday’s crossing, “It aims to break the siege imposed on the Strip for nearly two years.” --MORE--

“We cannot change the whole world but we can change the world for one person at a time,” said the Chief Executive of BibleLands, Nigel Edward-Few on Saturday.

Speaking at a BibleLands service of celebration and thanksgiving in central London, Mr Edward-Few and other presenters outlined the challenges facing millions of people in the Holy Land.

“There is a lack of opportunity for many, a lack of care for those with special need, massive unemployment, poverty and a lack of basics,” he told the congregation.

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Added: September 18, 2008

The Israeli blockade of Gaza is creating a health crisis amongst Palestinian children. Mothers are bringing infants suffering from malnutrition to the Ard al-Insan Child Nutrition Centre in Gaza- By British Journalist Lauren

w w w . h a a r e t z . c o m
Last update - 17:59 23/09/2008
MK Zahalka, preparing to board Gaza protest boat, calls Israeli siege 'a crime'
By The Associated Press, and Haaretz Service

Balad faction chairman MK Jamal Zahalka called Israel's siege of the Gaza Strip "a crime" Tuesday, while preparing to join a group of protesters setting sail to the coastal strip from Cyprus.

Zahalka told Haaretz his Balad faction supports breaking the siege and that he hopes a direct line for sea traffic will be established between Cyprus and Gaza.

"This siege is a crime against hundreds of thousands of people, and I am here in order to fight this crime," he said, before adding that his actions are political and granted immunity by law.

Earlier, protesters who defied Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip to bring aid to Palestinians last month announced they would be making their return voyage on Wednesday.

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Refusal by Israel and Egypt to let Western peace activists leave Gaza has given them a new will to protest against the siege, writes Saleh Al-Naami

A wide smile spread across the face of Jimmy Lail when the sunset call to prayer rang out announcing the end of another day of Ramadan fasting. Lail began to eat the fast-breaking meal, beginning with a few dates. Lail is one of the international peace activists stuck in the Gaza Strip since Israel and Egypt refused to allow them to leave, and he and his five colleagues were the guests that day of a Gazan family who insisted they break the fast with them.

Lail and his colleagues began fasting at the start of Ramadan in solidarity with the Palestinians. "We declared our fasting in solidarity with a million and a half Palestinians who fast under a deadly siege," he said. Since the start of Ramadan, Palestinian families and the Popular Committee for Ending the Siege have invited the six activists to their fast-breaking tables and have provided their pre-dawn meals. The six plan to fast the entire month of Ramadan as an expression of their solidarity with the Palestinians.

Although the Israeli and Egyptian authorities barred them from leaving the Gaza Strip, the international activists have shown no complaints over staying in Gaza. On the contrary, they have all expressed that this Israeli and Egyptian action has allowed them to better experience the reality of thousands of Palestinians' suffering. One of the solidarity activists who had intended to leave the Gaza Strip is Lauren Booth, the sister-in-law of former British prime minister and Quartet committee delegate Tony Blair. "I thank the Israeli army that allowed me, with its decision to prevent my leaving the Gaza Strip, to get to know what life is like in the world's largest prison," she told Al-Ahram Weekly. Booth said that although she had intended to leave the Gaza Strip and return to Britain to be present as her children returned to school, her staying in Gaza has allowed her to experience the extent of the humanitarian catastrophe Palestinians there suffer under the siege.

"This is organised state terrorism practised against Palestinians, when they leave the sick to die for lack of treatment or permission to travel," she said. "Only those who visit Gaza can know the truth of the tragic reality of people here, and can discover how misleading Israel is in its claims." Booth considers Israel's decision to prevent her from leaving the Gaza Strip a form of punishment for her participation in the Free Gaza boat trip that broke the siege, but stresses that this has not crushed her resolve to continue the struggle against the siege. What is more disturbing for Booth is the Egyptian position, for the Egyptian authorities refused to let her leave the Gaza Strip when she tried while the Rafah crossing was open for two days. Booth says that over three days she spent 25 hours trying to leave the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing in a bus with more than 100 people and in heat exceeding 50 degrees Celsius.

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FREE GAZA MOVEMENT MEETS WITH EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND CALLS FOR WIDE INTERNATIONAL PARTICIPATION TO BREAK THE SIEGE OF GAZA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Date : 09-11-2008

BRUSSELS (11 September 2008) - Today, in a special session of the European Parliament's Delegation to the Palestinian Legislative Council (DPLC), Paul Larudee, one of the organizers of the Free Gaza Movement’s successful breach of the Israeli blockade of Gaza in August, called upon the international community to join the Movement’s efforts to lessen the human suffering created by Israeli’s strangulation of Gaza.

“The Israeli siege has produced widespread and needless human suffering in Gaza,” Larudee told DPLC Parliamentarians. “We’ve proved that the sea link to Gaza is viable, but the humanitarian needs in Gaza are overwhelming and our two, small boats cannot even begin to meet those needs. Today we call for a much broader effort; specifically, we are calling on other members of the international community - governments, non-governmental organizations, and others dedicated to protecting human rights - to join us by providing their own ships, humanitarian goods, and human capital to open wide Gaza’s access to the world. This is an opportunity that simply must not be squandered.”

Since Israel imposed the blockade two years ago, malnutrition and unemployment rates in Gaza have soared. In May 2008, several international aid organizations, including CARE International UK, CAFOD, Christian Aid, Oxfam, and Medecins du Monde UK, stated that, “the stranglehold on Gaza’s borders has made ... the work of the UN and other humanitarian agencies ... virtually impossible. Only a trickle of medicine, food, fuel and other goods is being allowed in. [The Israeli blockade of Gaza] has made people highly dependent on food aid, and brought the health system and basic services such as water and sanitation near to collapse.”

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British left-wing activist Lauren Booth remains stuck in Strip after journey to 'break' Israeli naval blockade, equates situation to Holocaust, Darfur

Noa Raz
Published: 09.11.08, 02:12 / Israel News

Unlike her brother-in-law, Quartet envoy to the Middle East Tony Blair, who frequently travels from Israel to the Palestinian territories and back, Lauren Booth has found herself stuck in the Gaza Strip.

The British left-wing activist arrived in the Hamas-controlled coastal enclave as part of the dozens of 'Free Gaza' activists who set out on two boats from Cyprus last month with the intent of "breaking" the Israeli naval blockade imposed on the Strip. Booth is one of the 10 activists who chose to remain in Gaza while her companions set sail back to Cyprus.

Since then she has been stuck in Gaza, unable to exit through Israel or Egypt.

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Mon, 8 Sep 2008
ICAHD-USA

The S.S. Liberty arrives at port in Gaza "What we've done shows that people can do what governments should have done. If people stand up against injustice, we can truly be the conscience of the world." --Jeff Halper We write to you at this time to both CELEBRATE the historic voyage of 44 international activists to Gaza and, at the same time, inform you of some DIFFICULT NEWS about the future of ICAHD: As you know, ICAHD Director Jeff Halper, our partner on numerous educational and Palestinian home rebuilding projects, was one of 44 activists from 17 nations who successfully sailed from Cyprus to Gaza aboard two fishing boats in defiance of Israel's blockade. The group was met by 40,000 "joyous Gazans." Jeff and the others brought with them 200 hearing aids; the main aim of the symbolic blockade-busting action was to publicize the plight of the people in this besieged territory. As the only Israeli Jew on this historic challenge to Israel's blockade, Jeff was arrested and spent the night in an Israeli jail upon his return, where he tells us he was protected from threatening Israeli right-wingers by his Palestinian cellmates. He still faces possible indictment. In his latest communication, he describes how "reaching Gaza and leaving has created a free and regular channel between Gaza and the outside world. It has ... forced the Israeli government to make a clear policy declaration that it is not occupying Gaza and therefore will not prevent the free movement of Palestinians in and out (at least by sea)." To read more details about Jeff's experience and about the Free Gaza effort, go to our website at www.icahdusa.org or visit the ICAHD website at www.icahd.org. Unfortunately, right before this historic boat ride, ICAHD was informed that they had lost their funding from the European Union, funding essential to their operations. Here is an excerpt from Jeff Halper's email to us: We have just heard that our request for re-funding has been rejected, in high probability because of pressure brought to bear by right-wing Israeli neo-cons who have campaigned obsessively against our funding while threatening publicly to close us down. So we now face a real crisis. That said, those who want us "gone" make a mistake in assuming that we will close if our funding is withdrawn. Our plan is to keep the office open and retain two staff; I will work on a voluntary basis until the financial picture improves. We continue to be very grateful for the support we've received from the ICAHD-USA community; your contributions have been an important supplement to the EU funding, allowing us to launch the Constructing Peace Campaign. Now we are turning to you for help; we must work together to preserve ICAHD's position as a leader in the Israeli peace movement. I promise you, no matter what, ICAHD will not be silenced. We obviously want to help Jeff and ICAHD honor this critically important promise. As the board of ICAHD-USA, we have pledged to raise at least $30,000 in the next couple of months. Here is what we have planned. First, we have invited Jeff to the States for a fall tour. As you know, Jeff's tours are one of the primary ways that we educate people in the U.S. and build support for our joint work. A tour at this critical time will both serve the educational mission of our two organizations and help raise desperately needed financial support for ICAHD's work. Second, we are reaching out to you. Our plan is raise money with both this email appeal as well as a letter we are sending out through the regular mail. We will grant what we raise to ICAHD to support our joint educational and house building efforts. Individual board members have agreed to match what you give in response to this specific appeal dollar for dollar. It is not our custom to send urgent appeals and we wish we didn't have to now. All of us appreciate how generous you have been with both your moral and financial support in the past. At this critical time, we're asking you to consider making another thoughtful and generous donation to get us to the $30,000 goal. If you have given ICAHD-USA $25 in the past, consider whether you might be able to double that amount. If you have given $50, or $100, or $250, please also consider doubling, increasing, or repeating that gift now. Whatever you can give, at whatever level, will be deeply appreciated. Keep in mind that your gift will have twice the punch, as we will match your giving dollar for dollar. We, along with Jeff, promise you that ICAHD will not be silenced. Together, we will continue to be a loud and persistent voice for justice. For a strong ICAHD supported by both a strong ICAHD-USA family and a strong will to carry on, the ICAHD-USA Board Betsy Barlow Marc Braverman Hassan Fouda John Hickox Jack Holtzman Jennifer Loewenstein Dave Neunuebel Tom Stern Wafa Shami Mary Lou Smith

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Arab activists accuse Israel of Gaza 'genocide'

1 day ago

DUBAI (AFP) — A group of Arab international lawyers and human rights activists accused Israel on Sunday of committing "genocide" through its crippling blockade of the Gaza Strip.

"The catastrophic situation in which Gaza citizens live, which led to the deterioration of medical, economic, ecological and humanitarian conditions, in addition to the death of innocent people, amounts to genocide," said the 11 activists in a statement received by AFP.

By preventing food and medicines from reaching civilians "under the pretext of besieging 'a terrorist government'," Israel is committing "genocide" as defined in the 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, they wrote.

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Israelis are sick f***ks.

Article published Sep 4, 2008

Omak doctor trapped in Gaza after mission
By K.C. Mehaffey
World staff writer

OMAK — By his own description, the past month for Dr. Bill Dienst of Omak has been more like a James Bond movie than the life of a rural physician who practices emergency room and family medicine.
Communications cut off, a meeting with a prime minister, the threat of getting shot at while cautiously approaching an international border with hands high, one hand clutching his passport.

Dienst, 49, says he is now trapped on the Gaza Strip and has asked for help from the U.S. government after being turned back at the border by both the Israeli and Egyptian governments.

The doctor has worked for more than two decades in his own small way to bring attention to the plight of Palestinians. In 1985, he went to the West Bank and Gaza and volunteered for Palestinian health-care organizations, including the Palestine Red Crescent Society. He returned on trips sponsored by the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme, the Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility to Israel/Palestine and the Palestine Medical Relief Society.

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Related
Two injured in Israeli attacks on Palestinian fishermen in Gaza
Weekly report of Israeli war crimes, 9/3/08

Added: September 03, 2008