Israel launches deadly Gaza attacks

Deputy Secretary-General's (Dr. Asha Rose Migiro) statement to the Emergency Session of the General Assembly

New York, 15 January 2009

Mr. President,
Distinguished Members of the General Assembly,
You are meeting today as the crisis in and around Gaza has entered its twentieth day.
Despite urgent efforts at the United Nations and elsewhere, the situation on the ground remains extremely dire for the civilian populations.
The continued violence and suffering is unacceptable.
As you all know, The Secretary-General is currently in the region to underscore the urgent need for an immediate, durable and fully respected ceasefire and the implementation of Security Council resolution 1860. He held talks this week in Egypt and Jordan, and is in Israel today.
He will also meet with Palestinian leaders and then travel on to Turkey, Lebanon, Syria and Kuwait.
In all his talks, the Secretary-General's message has been unequivocally clear: All violence must cease, and the bloodshed and suffering among the civilian populations must be halted. The fighting must come to an end, and it must do so now.
The rockets must stop. Israel's offensive must end. Security Council resolution 1860, now a week old, must be respected.

Over a thousand Palestinians are now reported dead, a large number of them women and children, with more than 4,700 injured. Three Israeli civilians have died, and dozens been injured. As he has said time and again during the past few days; the fighting must stop. Now.

Over-night and today, the violence has intensified. Families trying to flee the fighting had nowhere to go. Over 40,000 people are now taking refuge in UNRWA shelters and people seeking sanctuary are being turned away. Hospitals have been hit. This is unacceptable and must stop.

Mr. President, Distinguished Members of the General Assembly,
In the Secretary-General's talks with leaders in the region, he has also demanded that urgent humanitarian assistance be provided and distributed, without restriction, to those in need. Food, fuel, medical treatment and other urgently required humanitarian assistance must reach the civilian population of Gaza without delay.

There is no question that the civilian population of Gaza faces an acute and deepening humanitarian crisis. Entire families have perished in the violence, including women and children, UN staff, and medical workers.

We are all truly proud of the UN staff braving difficult and dangerous circumstances to help those in need. Today, a UN compound in Gaza was shelled again. The Secretary-General has conveyed his strong protest and outrage to Israel's Prime Minister, Defence Minister and
Foreign Minister, and he has demanded a full explanation of the attack.
Israeli leaders called the incident a grave mistake and apologized for the incident. They also assured him that extra attention would be paid to UN facilities and staff and that this would not be repeated.

It is imperative that the UN not be prevented from its ability to help people who are in dire need of assistance.
The United Nations calls for an immediate ceasefire, and for humanitarian access to provide crucial services.

There is a basic obligation to protect civilians and respect the sanctity of human life.
It is incumbent on the United Nations not only to help alleviate the suffering, as our staff on the ground are so ably trying to do under dangerous conditions, but also to act decisively to help resolve the crisis and prevent its recurrence.

Only an end to violence and a political way forward, can deliver enduring security and peace.
The Secretary-General believes from his talks in the region so far that the elements are in place for this violence to end now.

It is clear that a return to the status quo ante cannot be an option. If a ceasefire is to be sustainable, we need arrangements to ensure a halt to the smuggling of weapons into Gaza, the reopening of the crossings, and the reuniting of Gaza with the West Bank under its legitimate leadership.
Beyond humanitarian assistance, the international community must engage in an early reconstruction effort. We call on all member states to contribute to this endeavour.
We need to reiterate: the time has come for the violence to stop and for us to change fundamentally the dynamics in Gaza.
It is the intention of the Secretary-General to send a humanitarian and reconstruction assessment mission to Gaza as soon as a ceasefire is put in place.
We must return to the road to peace, to end the occupation that began in 1967, attain the establishment of a Palestinian state which coexists alongside Israel in peace and security, and to achieve the goal of a just, lasting and comprehensive peace in the Middle East, based on Security Council resolutions.

There is no more time to lose. The civilian suffering must end now.

Thank you.

Source: mjengwa
 
Mbu said:
...:D Mwana wa mungu yupi asiye na chembe ya huruma? hujui Israeli wanabanwa na 4th Convetion ya Geneva kuhusu non-combatants, au ndio collateral damage? haya jikumbushe basi;
Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War

au ndio upuuzi wa Hamas uwe two wrongs makes right kwa wanachofanya wa-Israeli?.
Click to expand...

Bwana mdogo, kwani hiyo convention ina guide nini, si upiganaji wa vita kati ya taifa na taifa? sasa israel hapo wanapigana na taifa gani? israel hawako vitani kupigana na nchi yoyote, israel wameingia kutafuta magaidi kwenye kitongoji cha gaza, ndio maana kule westbank kwa Abas mambo yanaendelea kama kawa. hamna vita. israel hawapigani vita na mtu, israel wanapiga na kustopisha roketi zinazorushwa na magaidi, hivyo wanatakiwa kwa nguvu zote kuwatafuta magaidi popote walipojificha. hawatakiwi kuwaacha kwasababu wakifanya hivyo roketi zitawamaliza. hamas hawatakiwi kuichukulia hii convention kama kinga, pia hawatakiwi kukaa kwenye majengon ya UN na hospitals kama shield. pia hawatakiwi kuwachukulia raia kama shields. na raia hawa wote wanawasapoti, hivyo wanachopata hamas, ni halali kwao pia. wapalestina wote wa gaza wanaisapoti hamas, hivyo they need to share the same bread. they are one enermy to israel. halafu palestina hata kama tungesema tutumie hiyo sheria, sio taifa. hakuna taifa linaloitwa palestina duniani. hii ni operation ambayo ni sawa na kikwete kutuma fidifosi kule kariakoo kutuliza gasia na kukamata machinga. the convention does not operate here. na pia, israel needs no conversation with a terrorist organisation, they would do that with Mahmud Abasi may be, lakini hamas hawawezi kwasababu they are not a legitimate state. they are terrorists.
 
His watchmen are all blind, they are all ignorant: dumb dogs not able to bark, seeing vain things, sleeping and loving dreams. And meet impudent dogs, they never had enough: the shepherds themselves knew no understanding: all have turned aside into their own way, every one after his own gain, from the first even to the last.
Isaiah 56:10-11
 
Tutu condemns Israeli 'apartheid'
Tutu said 'oppression' would not bring security
Monday, 29 April, 2002, 11:55 GMT 12:55 UK

South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu has accused Israel of practising apartheid in its policies towards the Palestinians.

The Nobel peace laureate said he was "very deeply distressed" by a visit to the Holy Land, adding that "it reminded me so much of what happened to us black people in South Africa".

In a speech in the United States, carried in the UK's Guardian newspaper, Archbishop Tutu said he saw "the humiliation of the Palestinians at checkpoints and roadblocks, suffering like us when young white police officers prevented us from moving about".

The archbishop, who was a leading opponent of apartheid in South Africa, said Israel would "never get true security and safety through oppressing another people".

Archbishop Tutu said his criticism of the Israeli Government did not mean he was anti-Semitic.
"I am not even anti-white, despite the madness of that group," he said.
Jewish lobby

The archbishop attacked the political power of Jewish groups in the United States, saying: "People are scared in this country, to say wrong is wrong because the Jewish lobby is powerful - very powerful. Well, so what? "The apartheid government was very powerful, but today it no longer exists. "Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Pinochet, Milosevic, and Idi Amin were all powerful, but in the end they bit the dust," he said.

Speaking at a conference called Ending the Oppression in Boston, Archbishop Tutu told delegates Jewish people had been at the forefront of the struggle against apartheid in South Africa.

He asked: "Have our Jewish sisters and brothers forgotten their humiliation? Have they forgotten the collective punishment, the home demolitions, in their own history so soon? "Have they turned their backs on their profound and noble religious traditions?"

The archbishop said that while he condemned suicide bombings by Palestinian militants against Israel, Israeli military action would not bring security to the Jewish state.

Israel must "strive for peace based on justice, based on withdrawal from all the occupied territories, and the establishment of a viable Palestinian state on those territories side by side with Israel, both with secure borders," he said.
 
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