Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Gazans unsure where to flee violence Hey! Look at this map insects. See that blue thingy, upper left hand side? It’s water. The Mediterranean.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - In four days of Israeli airstrikes, Rasha Khaldeh has already fled twice.
First she left her home, fearing Israeli warplanes would target her Hamas neighbors, only to be forced from her uncle’s house when it began to sway during nearby shelling.
Borders to the tiny territory are closed, and Gazans don’t know where to turn for refuge.
Hemmed in, Khaldeh, a secular university student, resorted to Muslim prayers and lowered the ring of her cell phone, a move to help her identify the approach of Israeli pilotless drones.
The strikes have killed more than 370 people, including at least 60 civilians, according to a U.N. tally. Most bombs hit their intended target, but the damage spreads to surrounding areas.
Borders with Egypt and Israel have been sealed for the most part since the militant group Hamas seized power of Gaza in June last year, confining 1.4 million residents in the coastal territory, 25 miles long and six to nine miles wide.
Even those who managed to flee to Egypt during a border breach on Sunday were returned to the coastal territory.
“Asylum (is) being totally denied to Gaza’s population. They have to stay in this tiny, dangerous place,” said Karen Abu Zayd, of the U.N. aid agency for Palestinian refugees.
On the Israeli side of the border, attacks by Hamas have killed four people since the weekend, and sent many more running for bomb shelters—some of them in cities under threat of attack for the first time, as the range of the rockets grows.
“It’s very scary,” said Yaacov Pardida, a 55-year-old resident of Ashdod, southern Israel’s largest city, which was hit Monday. “I never imagined that this could happen, that they could reach us here.”
Israel has warned Gazans of air strikes through leaflet drops—including one Tuesday that said the network of underground tunnels linking Gaza with Egypt, some used to smuggle weapons, would be bombed. And they have broadcast radio announcements telling residents to flee their homes if they are hiding weapons or militants.
But many Gazans do not know what their neighbors are hiding, and in crowded communities missile strikes can inflict damage beyond their intended targets. So, residents are left to second-guess the Israeli military.
Khaldeh, 22, fled with her family from their central Gaza Strip home late Sunday after Israel began striking the homes of Hamas militants. Her neighbors are local Hamas field leaders, and the family feared Israel would target the nearby home, putting them at risk.
They sped to a relative’s apartment in a Gaza City high-rise—but were only safe for two days. Early Tuesday, Israeli aircraft pounded nearby Hamas government buildings, causing the apartment building to sway wildly. Fearing it would collapse, the family went back to their home in central Gaza.
“I don’t know what’s safe anymore,” said Khaldeh, who keeps a tiny Muslim holy book, the Quran, encased in a gold box on a necklace, hoping it will keep her safe.
Some Gazans believe the key to their safety is staying in apartments next to sand dunes, which they believe will absorb blast waves from nearby explosions.
While other Gazans have taken up new rituals to help ease their concerns.
Anis Mansour, 22, who lives in the town of Rafah near the Egyptian border, briefly mumbles a prayer for his safe return every time he leaves his house.
Omar Azayzeh, a 34-year-old medic, works extra hours hoping that by helping save others he’ll shield his family from harm. His wife, meanwhile, keeps their apartment windows open in an effort to avoid glass shattering near their three young children.
Azayzeh lives in a compound with his extended family about 200 feet from a Hamas-run medical center in the central Gaza town of Deir al-Balah. After Israel bombed the Hamas-run Islamic University in Gaza City on Sunday, Azayzeh worried the center would also become a target.
His initial reaction was to send his family to his sister’s house, farther away. Then he realized she lived next to another prime target—a Hamas-run police station.
Abu Zayd, the U.N. official, said the agency is preparing to turn U.N.-run schools in Gaza into shelters. Already, 200 residents slept at a U.N. school close to Gaza’s border with Egypt on Sunday after Israel bombed nearby tunnels.
She said the U.N. had informed Israeli officials of their locations and did not expect them to be targeted.
But residents aren’t so confident. “They have shelled mosques, all sorts of places. We can’t distance any possibility,” Azayzeh said.
This Is Why Israel Needs To Destroy The Palestinians Once And For All
Pallywood In Full Force
Guess the Religion: Gee, I Wonder Who Threw A Molotov Cocktail at Chicago Synagogue
A Molotov cocktail thrown early today against the wall of one of Chicago's oldest synagogues caused minimal physical damage but worried local Jewish officials, who said the incident could be a response to the latest fighting in the Middle East.
"I can't help but think there's a relationship," said Roger Rudich, president of Temple Sholom of Chicago, 3480 N. Lake Shore Drive. No one was hurt in the arson that police are investigating as a hate crime. Bomb and arson detectives were at the scene Monday afternoon and the investigation was ongoing, said Chicago police officer Daniel O'Brien.
O'Brien said the fire "extinguished itself, nothing ever caught fire." No suspect was in custody as of Monday afternoon, he said.
"The offender drove off and made a derogatory statement" to a witness, and police were working to obtain and review surveillance equipment in the area, said O'Brien.
If you are a Jew in America, don't fool yourself. Your synagogue, school, or Jewish community center could be next. And you Christians, Hindus, etc., you're next on the list.
Topless ban to protect Muslims and Asians: Nile
Conservative MP Fred Nile says he wants topless bathing banned in NSW to protect Sydney's Muslim and Asian communities.
The Reverend Nile has rejected allegations that prudishness is behind a bill he has prepared to ban nudity, including topless sunbathing, on the state's most popular beaches.
Australia's reputation as a conservative but culturally inclusive sociery was at risk of erosion by more liberal overseas visitors, he said.
"Our beaches should be a place where no one is offended, whether it's their religious or cultural views," he said.
"If they've come from a Middle Eastern or Asian country where women never go topless - in fact they usually wear a lot of clothing - I think it's important to respect all the different cultures that make up Australia."
The practice was at risk of raising the ire of Muslim men in particular, Mr Nile said.
This is because a muslim man cannot control his sexual urges.
Acting Premier Carmel Tebbutt and the NSW Opposition Leader, Barry O'Farrell, have both said that topless bathing is an issue for local councils, not state governments.
But Mr Nile said he believed most politicians would come around once all the issues were considered.
"I think if you survey Australian women you'll find a lot of women would be uncomfortable if it became the custom [to be] topless at the beach," he said.
"Australia's always been a conservative country as far as beachwear goes.
"Once being topless is accepted as lawful the next question will be why can't women go totally nude on a public beach and I don't think Australians want to go down that pathway."
NSW Liberal powerbroker David Clarke and Labor MP Paul Gibson have reportedly vowed to support the bill
Reaction to Israel Hitting Hamas in the US
Saudi Arabia: Doctor halts wedding of 5-year-old girl
"Two sisters came to us accompanied by their parents to undergo pre-marital blood analyses. The first one was five, and the other 11 years-old. When we asked the mother why they wanted to do the tests, she told us that she wanted to marry the girls to cousins to preserve the family's property rights."
During the interview, Harsani remembers an episode when a 10-year-old orphan was brought to do pre-marital blood tests by her brother, who wanted to marry the sister to a 40-year-old friend who already had two other wives.
"We cannot technically impede a marriage with a girl of this age. However, we can delay the process (by refusing to carry out the tests)," said Harsani.
A law that prohibits child marriage will never happen in SA. The clerics will say that it is un-islamic and that Old Mo married Ayisha when she was only six.