Day 19 of the Israeli attack on Gaza. The toll until now:
- 928 Palestinians killed, 764 of them civilians, including 215 children and 118 women
- 4,663 Palestinians wounded, mostly civilians, including 1,358 children and 932 women
- 561 houses destroyed and hundreds of others extensively
- thousands of Palestinian civilians forcibly displaced
- Source: Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), a non-governmental organization based in Gaza City.
The Israeli military assault also continues in the West Bank: Six Palestinians killed (on July 26) in West Bank protests against Gaza slaughter.
These war crimes could not continue without enablers, accomplices.
On July 23 the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) met in special session to consider the matter of war crimes, and decided “… to urgently dispatch an independent, international commission of inquiry, to be appointed by the President of the Human Rights Council, to investigate all violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, particularly in the occupied Gaza Strip, in the context of the military operations conducted since 13 June 2014, whether before, during or after….”
The 47-member council voted 29-1 in favor of the resolution. 17 members (11 of them European) abstained. Only one country voted to oppose the commission of inquiry: the United States. (Neither Israel nor the Palestinians are members of the council.) Despite the US, the commission of inquiry will proceed.
For people of conscience who feel helpless to stop these war crimes, the international boycott, investment & sanctions (BDS) movement offers these suggestions for action.
Michael Riordon 
July 27, 2014 at 4:34 am
Despite all the evidence and popular feeling on Israel’s brutality there is a deafening silence from the majority of western ‘democracies’ and Arab countries that have been supporting Israel. Israel will resume its attack, that aims to annihilate Palestinians from their land, under the pretext of Hamas is at fault. I fear they will kill so many people and cripple the strip that they might even achieve their aim. The powerlessness I feel cripples me and feel that just going to protests, writing letters and using social media to expose and fight against Israel isn’t really helping the children of Gaza. I need a sign of hope desperately.
LikeLike