collective punishment

WikiLeaks: Israel told US it would keep Gaza near collapse

by News Sources 01.05.2011

Reuters reports: Israel told U.S. officials in 2008 it would keep Gaza’s economy “on the brink of collapse” while avoiding a humanitarian crisis, according to U.S. diplomatic cables published by a Norwegian daily on Wednesday. Three cables cited by the Aftenposten newspaper, which has said it has all 250,000 U.S. cables leaked to WikiLeaks, showed [...]

Read the full article →

The UN and Red Cross agree: the siege of Gaza is unsustainable — it must end

by Paul Woodward 06.15.2010

Although President Obama acknowledges that the situation in Gaza is “unsustainable”, he refuses to draw the obvious conclusion and insist that Israel’s siege must end. But if it can’t continue, it must end, right? The International Committee of the Red Cross and the UN are happy to adopt Obama’s term (unsustainable) but are less willing [...]

Read the full article →

Israel ready to soften economic warfare against Gaza

by Paul Woodward 06.11.2010

Haaretz reports that Benjamin Netanyahu is looking for global support to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza — economic warfare has suddenly gone out of style. But the new expressions of concern for the well-being of the 1.5 million Palestinians incarcerated in Gaza — let them have snack food and soda — sounds about as [...]

Read the full article →

Israel’s security cannot come at any price

by Paul Woodward 06.02.2010

Ben Saul, who teaches the law of armed conflict at The University of Sydney, writes: Israel’s response to the Gaza flotilla is another unfortunate example of Israel clothing its conduct in the language of international law while flouting it in practice. If you believe Israeli government spokesmen, Israel is metabolically incapable of violating international law, [...]

Read the full article →

EU calls for immediate end to Israel’s siege on Gaza

by Paul Woodward 05.29.2010

(Click the image above to watch livestream video from the Freedom Flotilla.) EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on Friday called for an immediate end to Israel’s Gaza blockade, as an aid flotilla prepared to set sail for the enclave despite the embargo. “The continued policy of closure is unacceptable and politically counterproductive,” she said [...]

Read the full article →

Obama’s Middle East mess

by Paul Woodward 10.06.2009

Obama’s Middle East mess Paul Woodward, War in Context, October 6, 2009 As Abbas falls, have no doubt that he got pushed by an inept administration that similarly gets weak-kneed whenever it feels pressure from either the Israel lobby or the Israeli government. Yesterday, State Department spokesman, Ian Kelly, was asked: “What role specifically did [...]

Read the full article →

Abbas may reverse Goldstone report stance

by Paul Woodward 10.06.2009

Abbas may reverse Goldstone report stance AFP, October 6, 2009 Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas was on Tuesday “seriously studying” the possibility of asking that a UN Gaza war report be passed on to the Security Council, a senior official said. “President Abbas is seriously studying the possibility of asking the Arab and Islamic bloc [...]

Read the full article →

NEWS & OPINION: Collective punishment of Gaza

by Paul Woodward 01.21.2008

Strong in numbers By Gideon Levy, Haaretz, January 21, 2008 Here we have the yardstick for security success: the number of Palestinians killed. As in the most primeval wars, the heads of the defense establishment are boasting about the number of people Israel has killed. Their job is to ensure protection for the residents of [...]

Read the full article →

OPINION: Peace through strangulation

by Paul Woodward 11.27.2007

Fire and water in Gaza By Maher Najjar, Washington Post, November 27, 2007 On Sept. 19, the Israeli government declared the Gaza Strip “hostile territory” and authorized steps to punish its civilian population. It decided that every Qassam rocket fired into Israel would carry a price tag: cutting the supply of electricity and fuel that [...]

Read the full article →