Date: February 29th 2008

29 February 2008

Israel's deputy defense minister Matan Vilnai has
threatened Palestinians in Gaza with a "holocaust." The
BBC which reports this fact says that the word
"'holocaust' is a term rarely used in Israel outside
discussions of the Nazi genocide during World War II."

Here is the country, supposedly the built from legacy of
the Nazi holocaust now openly threatening genocide against
another people.

What will the response of the world be? What will the
response be of all those hypocrites that preach human
rights and international law but praise Israel as the
finest, most upstanding, most faultless nation on earth,
or who know of its crimes but are afraid to act against it?

What will the EU, NATO, the United States, the Arab
League do? What will Human Rights Watch and Amnesty
International do? What will the Save Darfur campaign do?
What will those who express daily outrage about the
statements of Ahmedinejad do? What will Ban Ki Moon and
Javier Solana do?

What will "stalwart" supporters of Israel, Barack Obama,
Hillary Clinton and John McCain say?

Israel is by its own admission all that it claims to abhor.

Ali Abunimah
http://electronicIntifada.net

**********************************************************

Israel warns of Gaza 'holocaust'

BBC News
29 February 2008

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7270650.stm

Israeli leaders are warning of an imminent conflagration
in Gaza after Palestinian militants aimed rockets at the
southern city of Ashkelon. The deputy defence minister
said the stepped-up rocket fire would trigger what he
called a "bigger holocaust" in the Hamas-controlled
coastal strip. Israeli air strikes have killed about 30
Palestinians, including six children in the past two days.

Israel has activated its early warning system in Ashkelon
for the first time. One rocket hit a block of flats in the
city of 120,000 inhabitants about 10km (six miles) north
of the Gaza Strip breaking through the roof and slicing
through three floors below.

No-one was injured, but another rocket landed near a
school, wounding a 17-year-old girl.

"The more [rocket] fire intensifies and the rockets reach
a longer range, they (the Palestinians) will bring upon
themselves a bigger holocaust because we will use all our
might to defend ourselves," Matan Vilnai told Israeli army
radio. Correspondents say the "holocaust" is a term rarely
used in Israel outside discussions of the Nazi genocide
during World War II.

Separately, the chairman of the parliamentary defence and
foreign affairs committee said Israel troops must topple
the Hamas movement in Gaza and take over areas used to
fire rockets.

"The state of Israel must make a strategic decision to
order the army to prepare quickly," Tzachi Hanegbi told
Israel Radio.

Code red

Israeli aircraft launched at least three raids on Gaza
overnight. In one attack in the Jabalya area at least four
people were wounded including two children. One Israeli
civilian was killed in rocket fire on Wednesday. Of the
Palestinian fatalities, about half have been civilians,
including at least six children.

Hamas has called on Palestinians and Arabs to hold
protests after Friday prayers against Israel's raids on
Gaza.

Israeli security officials said that the rockets fired at
Ashkelon have been Grad-type imports made in Iran with a
range of about 22km.

It is the first time Israel has ordered Code Red sirens to
be sounded in Ashkelon as well as Sderot, the town almost
abutting Gaza territory where the civilian was killed.

Reports say dozens of soldiers in orange berets from the
Israeli military's Home Front Command have been hanging
posters around the city instructing residents on what to
do when the warning sounds.

"It's a city with large facilities - a huge soccer
stadium, and a basketball stadium, and a beach. No-one is
ready for this," Ashkelon mayor Roni Mehatzri told Israel
Radio.

Israel's leadership has been under pressure in some
quarters to launch a ground invasion of Gaza to end the
rocket fire. However, a recent opinion poll also indicated
a majority of Israel's favour a negotiated truce with
Hamas. Hamas has been shunned by the West for refusing to
recognise Israel's legitimacy, it beat the Fatah faction
in a parliamentary election two years ago. Hamas says it
will cease fire if Israel stops military operations in
Palestinian areas. It is also demanding an end to the
Israeli-led blockade of Gaza that has cut supplies to its
1.5m inhabitants.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/7270650.
stm

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