Tag: Mazin Qumsiyeh

The story is getting out despite massive Israeli propaganda strategy

By Mazin Qumsiyeh

The Israeli lies combined with media blackout on anything but their own version were apparently prepared long in advance of their planned massacre. Claiming they found weapons but all they could show is kitchen knives and construction tools (wrenches, water pipes etc).  All cargo was listed on the ships’ manifesto that the Israeli ‘intelligence’ agencies could easily acquire and were freely available and meticulously documented by the organizers.  The Israeli spin machine also claimed they were first trying to use non-lethal weapons including, and this is no joke, paint ball guns (funny that we did not see evidence of passengers with painted shirts but only blood soaked shirts). The respected media watch group FAIR detailed how some Western media (mis)reported of the attack on the humanitarian aid ships: ‘Reporting Israeli Assault Through Israel’s Eyes: Attack on humanitarian flotilla prompts little media skepticism‘

Reporters Without Borders urges the Israeli authorities to release a list of the journalists who were arrested during yesterday’s raid on the humanitarian flotilla and to say where they are being held.  There were at least 15 foreign journalists travelling with the flotilla who still cannot be reached directly. These are the names of the journalists known to have been aboard the flotilla:
http://en.rsf.org/israel-israeli-military-prevents-media-31-05-2010,37630.html

Continue reading “The story is getting out despite massive Israeli propaganda strategy”

Nakba day – يوم النكبة Yawm al-Nakba 2010

By Mazin Qumsiyeh

Today is the day we actually commemorate Nakba Day, 14 May 1948, the date the state of Israel was declared.  However, it is not the beginning of our Nakba (catastrophe) nor its end.  Over 200 villages were ethnically cleansed in the six months before 14 May 1948.  This simple fact illustrate that it is not the founding of the militarized state of Israel that began the Nakba but that it was a pivotal moment in it.  After that date, the wave of ethnic cleansing was being done in a name of a nation-state established by and for Jews from Europe and not just the terrorist underground Jewish militias. The ethnic cleansing accompanying the foundation of this apartheid Jewish state and its maintenance meant the destruction of 530 villages and towns and meant that in the past 9 years alone over 10,000 homes were destroyed in the West Bank (including occupied Jerusalem), Gaza, and the Negev.

Today 7 million of the 11 million Palestinians around the world are refugees or displaced people.  The Israeli population according to the Israeli central bureau of statistics is 7,510,000 of which 5,984,500 are “Jews and others” (presumably the others are Druze, Russian non-Jews, and similar categories) and 1,525,500 Palestinian Arabs (1).  The population of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza is 4 million allowed to live on areas A & B, small parts of the 22% of Palestine occupied since 1967 (2).  The total area allowed for Palestinian use is 2.5% of the area of pre-1967 Israel (3) plus areas A & B of the West Bank .  In total this comes to 2.5% of 78% and 29% of the 22% that is the West Bank and Gaza (4). The total geographic access to all remaining Palestinians (5.525 million) is thus 1.95%+6.38%=8.33% while the Jewish and other population (Zionist preferred) consists of 5.5 million with access to the remaining lands comprising 91.67% of historic Palestine.

Continue reading “Nakba day – يوم النكبة Yawm al-Nakba 2010”

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