what about ghaza

Date : 12-27-2008
3pm from Gaza city (from Sharon, Australia) I was at home beside the
small Gaza port, eating a bread and jambreakfast, when the rockets
began to fall at about 11am. Six or seven deafening explosions occured
not far from my building, which rocked fromthe impact, smoke and dust
filling the air. This occurred just as thechildren were on the streets
walking back from school, and when I went outonto the stairs, a
terrified 5 year old girl ran sobbing into my arms.Vik (Italy) later
ascertained that these rockets had targetted the port police station,
and also the "President's Palace" nearby, killing about 20. At the
time of the attacks, Eva (Canada) was on Omar Mukhtar street wherea
police station had just been hit, and witnessed a last rocket hit
thestreet 150 m away where crowds had already gathered to try to
extract thedead bodies. The street was littered with rubble, making it
difficult forambulances and cars to get near enough to take bodies
away.Al Shifa hospital in Gaza city is full of dazed, wounded people -
andalso, we are told, pieces of what were people. Two from our group
arecurrently inside ********ing. Eva stood outside the hospital,
watching ascar after car, as well as the small number of functional
ambulances,rushed into the hospital, Gaza's main hospital, bringing
the dead and theseverely injured. We also have a team ********ing in
Rafah. We are hearing that over 100 aredead and over 200 wounded.
Several of the police stations that were targetted were having
training days, but the dead and wounded includecivilians and children.
More detailed reports will follow.

__________________

On Jan 22, 8:15*am, Van Chocstraw
wrote:

Why is it that when Gaza buys weapons it's smuggling and when Israel
buys weapons it's business?

Israel is a sovereign state with a democratic government.

The weapons smuggled into Gaza are smuggled there by Hamas, a
terrorist organization. Not by the Palestinian Authority. And they're
used to attack peaceful civilians in Israel - not to defend against
Israel.

The recent unfortunate military incursion by Israel into the Gaza
strip only happened because of these rocket attacks. Attacks that were
completely unnecessary. The Camp David peace accords, which date from
the Carter presidency, set forth a framework for Palestinian
statehood.

But because Hamas prefers instead to drive Israel into the sea, it
chose to *delay* the progress of the Palestinian people towards normal
life in an independent nation by continuing to attack Israel, even
after this agreement had been reached.

Israel is a country like any other. So when it buys weapons, that is
business.

The Palestinian Authority is subject to certain limitations, growing
out of its transitional status between existing within Israeli
occupation and eventual Palestinian statehood, so it can only buy
weapons in a limited fashion.

Hamas is an illegal private organization, not authorized by the
legitimate authorities - either Israel or the Palestinian Authority -
to bring weapons into either the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. As
well, its use of weapons does not qualify as legitimate defense
against, or resistance to, oppression.

I hope this answers your question.

John Savard