More than 1,000 Palestinians living in Gaza have been killed by Israeli air attacks, and more than 4,700 have been injured. The world is debating who is to blame - Hamas leaders in Gaza who continue to fire rockets into southern Israel, or Israel, who continues air strikes against an unevenly armed opponent?
Read more here.
Look at an interactive map of the conflict and its death toll here.
Showing posts with label war. Show all posts
Showing posts with label war. Show all posts
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Former President Jimmy Carter on Gaza
An Unnecessary War
By Jimmy Carter
The Washington Post
Thursday, January 8, 2009; Page A15
I know from personal involvement that the devastating invasion of Gaza by Israel could easily have been avoided.
After visiting Sderot last April and seeing the serious psychological damage caused by the rockets that had fallen in that area, my wife, Rosalynn, and I declared their launching from Gaza to be inexcusable and an act of terrorism. Although casualties were rare (three deaths in seven years), the town was traumatized by the unpredictable explosions. About 3,000 residents had moved to other communities, and the streets, playgrounds and shopping centers were almost empty. Mayor Eli Moyal assembled a group of citizens in his office to meet us and complained that the government of Israel was not stopping the rockets, either through diplomacy or military action.
Knowing that we would soon be seeing Hamas leaders from Gaza and also in Damascus, we promised to assess prospects for a cease-fire. From Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, who was negotiating between the Israelis and Hamas, we learned that there was a fundamental difference between the two sides. Hamas wanted a comprehensive cease-fire in both the West Bank and Gaza, and the Israelis refused to discuss anything other than Gaza.
We knew that the 1.5 million inhabitants of Gaza were being starved, as the U.N. special rapporteur on the right to food had found that acute malnutrition in Gaza was on the same scale as in the poorest nations in the southern Sahara, with more than half of all Palestinian families eating only one meal a day.
Palestinian leaders from Gaza were noncommittal on all issues, claiming that rockets were the only way to respond to their imprisonment and to dramatize their humanitarian plight. The top Hamas leaders in Damascus, however, agreed to consider a cease-fire in Gaza only, provided Israel would not attack Gaza and would permit normal humanitarian supplies to be delivered to Palestinian citizens.
After extended discussions with those from Gaza, these Hamas leaders also agreed to accept any peace agreement that might be negotiated between the Israelis and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who also heads the PLO, provided it was approved by a majority vote of Palestinians in a referendum or by an elected unity government.
Since we were only observers, and not negotiators, we relayed this information to the Egyptians, and they pursued the cease-fire proposal. After about a month, the Egyptians and Hamas informed us that all military action by both sides and all rocket firing would stop on June 19, for a period of six months, and that humanitarian supplies would be restored to the normal level that had existed before Israel's withdrawal in 2005 (about 700 trucks daily).
We were unable to confirm this in Jerusalem because of Israel's unwillingness to admit to any negotiations with Hamas, but rocket firing was soon stopped and there was an increase in supplies of food, water, medicine and fuel. Yet the increase was to an average of about 20 percent of normal levels. And this fragile truce was partially broken on Nov. 4, when Israel launched an attack in Gaza to destroy a defensive tunnel being dug by Hamas inside the wall that encloses Gaza.
On another visit to Syria in mid-December, I made an effort for the impending six-month deadline to be extended. It was clear that the preeminent issue was opening the crossings into Gaza. Representatives from the Carter Center visited Jerusalem, met with Israeli officials and asked if this was possible in exchange for a cessation of rocket fire. The Israeli government informally proposed that 15 percent of normal supplies might be possible if Hamas first stopped all rocket fire for 48 hours. This was unacceptable to Hamas, and hostilities erupted.
After 12 days of "combat," the Israeli Defense Forces reported that more than 1,000 targets were shelled or bombed. During that time, Israel rejected international efforts to obtain a cease-fire, with full support from Washington. Seventeen mosques, the American International School, many private homes and much of the basic infrastructure of the small but heavily populated area have been destroyed. This includes the systems that provide water, electricity and sanitation. Heavy civilian casualties are being reported by courageous medical volunteers from many nations, as the fortunate ones operate on the wounded by light from diesel-powered generators.
The hope is that when further hostilities are no longer productive, Israel, Hamas and the United States will accept another cease-fire, at which time the rockets will again stop and an adequate level of humanitarian supplies will be permitted to the surviving Palestinians, with the publicized agreement monitored by the international community. The next possible step: a permanent and comprehensive peace.
The writer was president from 1977 to 1981. He founded the Carter Center, a nongovernmental organization advancing peace and health worldwide, in 1982.
By Jimmy Carter
The Washington Post
Thursday, January 8, 2009; Page A15
I know from personal involvement that the devastating invasion of Gaza by Israel could easily have been avoided.
After visiting Sderot last April and seeing the serious psychological damage caused by the rockets that had fallen in that area, my wife, Rosalynn, and I declared their launching from Gaza to be inexcusable and an act of terrorism. Although casualties were rare (three deaths in seven years), the town was traumatized by the unpredictable explosions. About 3,000 residents had moved to other communities, and the streets, playgrounds and shopping centers were almost empty. Mayor Eli Moyal assembled a group of citizens in his office to meet us and complained that the government of Israel was not stopping the rockets, either through diplomacy or military action.
Knowing that we would soon be seeing Hamas leaders from Gaza and also in Damascus, we promised to assess prospects for a cease-fire. From Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, who was negotiating between the Israelis and Hamas, we learned that there was a fundamental difference between the two sides. Hamas wanted a comprehensive cease-fire in both the West Bank and Gaza, and the Israelis refused to discuss anything other than Gaza.
We knew that the 1.5 million inhabitants of Gaza were being starved, as the U.N. special rapporteur on the right to food had found that acute malnutrition in Gaza was on the same scale as in the poorest nations in the southern Sahara, with more than half of all Palestinian families eating only one meal a day.
Palestinian leaders from Gaza were noncommittal on all issues, claiming that rockets were the only way to respond to their imprisonment and to dramatize their humanitarian plight. The top Hamas leaders in Damascus, however, agreed to consider a cease-fire in Gaza only, provided Israel would not attack Gaza and would permit normal humanitarian supplies to be delivered to Palestinian citizens.
After extended discussions with those from Gaza, these Hamas leaders also agreed to accept any peace agreement that might be negotiated between the Israelis and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who also heads the PLO, provided it was approved by a majority vote of Palestinians in a referendum or by an elected unity government.
Since we were only observers, and not negotiators, we relayed this information to the Egyptians, and they pursued the cease-fire proposal. After about a month, the Egyptians and Hamas informed us that all military action by both sides and all rocket firing would stop on June 19, for a period of six months, and that humanitarian supplies would be restored to the normal level that had existed before Israel's withdrawal in 2005 (about 700 trucks daily).
We were unable to confirm this in Jerusalem because of Israel's unwillingness to admit to any negotiations with Hamas, but rocket firing was soon stopped and there was an increase in supplies of food, water, medicine and fuel. Yet the increase was to an average of about 20 percent of normal levels. And this fragile truce was partially broken on Nov. 4, when Israel launched an attack in Gaza to destroy a defensive tunnel being dug by Hamas inside the wall that encloses Gaza.
On another visit to Syria in mid-December, I made an effort for the impending six-month deadline to be extended. It was clear that the preeminent issue was opening the crossings into Gaza. Representatives from the Carter Center visited Jerusalem, met with Israeli officials and asked if this was possible in exchange for a cessation of rocket fire. The Israeli government informally proposed that 15 percent of normal supplies might be possible if Hamas first stopped all rocket fire for 48 hours. This was unacceptable to Hamas, and hostilities erupted.
After 12 days of "combat," the Israeli Defense Forces reported that more than 1,000 targets were shelled or bombed. During that time, Israel rejected international efforts to obtain a cease-fire, with full support from Washington. Seventeen mosques, the American International School, many private homes and much of the basic infrastructure of the small but heavily populated area have been destroyed. This includes the systems that provide water, electricity and sanitation. Heavy civilian casualties are being reported by courageous medical volunteers from many nations, as the fortunate ones operate on the wounded by light from diesel-powered generators.
The hope is that when further hostilities are no longer productive, Israel, Hamas and the United States will accept another cease-fire, at which time the rockets will again stop and an adequate level of humanitarian supplies will be permitted to the surviving Palestinians, with the publicized agreement monitored by the international community. The next possible step: a permanent and comprehensive peace.
The writer was president from 1977 to 1981. He founded the Carter Center, a nongovernmental organization advancing peace and health worldwide, in 1982.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Unit 7 Extra Credit Project
This extra credit activity is related to the people, places, events, and equipment of the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.
You will design, research, and produce a Modern American War ABCs book designed for an elementary school-level student. This book is worth 200 points.
• You are assuming the role of a teacher.
• Your book should be at least 26 pages long (one page per letter) and must be illustrated with student-created art. This can include drawings, sketches, collages, and paintings. Example: A is for Allies, B is for Battleship…
• Each page must contain simple explanatory text (it may be rhyming text). You must use your own words.
• The book should be bound with cardstock or other material, with an illustrated cover.
• A list of possible vocabulary words follows. You may want to conduct research to choose your own vocabulary words.
If you cheat in any way – using another person's words or images as your own – you will receive a zero for this project. Incomplete books without all 26 letters represented will not be accepted.
Your project must be submitted on or before 4:15pm Tuesday, January 13.
Possible Vocabulary Words for The ABCs of Modern American War
Allies, Auschwitz
Bombardment, beaches, Britain, battleship, Blitzkrieg
Churchill, courage, Canadians, camaraderie, Coral Sea
D-Day, Dunkirk, Doolittle, de Gaulle
Eisenhower, El Alamein
Foxhole, fortification, flame-thrower, Free French
Germans, G.I., Guadalcanal, Guam
Higgins boat, hedgehog, hedgerow, home front, helmet, Halsey, Hiroshima
Invasion, incoming, Iwo Jima, island hopping, Italy
Juno Beach, jump zone, June 6th, jeep
Kriegsmarine, K-ration, kamikaze
Landing craft, Luftwaffe, land mine, lend-lease, Leyte, Los Alamos, London
Medic, minesweeper, Manhattan Project, Midway, Moscow
Normandy, Navy, New Orleans, Nagasaki, North Africa, Nuremberg Trials
Overlord, Omaha, OSS, Okinawa
Paratrooper, Panzer, Paris, Patton, Pearl Harbor
Quisling, Quebec Conference, queasy, quiet, quick
Rommel, radar, Roosevelt, Rangers, rationing, Resistance
Submarine, Stalin, Second Front
Teamwork, tank, Tojo, Tokyo, Truman
Utah Beach, U-boat, uniform, USO
Victory, V-1 rocket, V-mail
World War II, Wake Island, WAC, WAVES, war bonds
X-ray, XX Committee, X-craft
Yalta Conference, Yank, Yamamoto
Zero, Operation Zeppelin, Zhukov
These are only suggestions. You may research your own words.
You will design, research, and produce a Modern American War ABCs book designed for an elementary school-level student. This book is worth 200 points.
• You are assuming the role of a teacher.
• Your book should be at least 26 pages long (one page per letter) and must be illustrated with student-created art. This can include drawings, sketches, collages, and paintings. Example: A is for Allies, B is for Battleship…
• Each page must contain simple explanatory text (it may be rhyming text). You must use your own words.
• The book should be bound with cardstock or other material, with an illustrated cover.
• A list of possible vocabulary words follows. You may want to conduct research to choose your own vocabulary words.
If you cheat in any way – using another person's words or images as your own – you will receive a zero for this project. Incomplete books without all 26 letters represented will not be accepted.
Your project must be submitted on or before 4:15pm Tuesday, January 13.
Possible Vocabulary Words for The ABCs of Modern American War
Allies, Auschwitz
Bombardment, beaches, Britain, battleship, Blitzkrieg
Churchill, courage, Canadians, camaraderie, Coral Sea
D-Day, Dunkirk, Doolittle, de Gaulle
Eisenhower, El Alamein
Foxhole, fortification, flame-thrower, Free French
Germans, G.I., Guadalcanal, Guam
Higgins boat, hedgehog, hedgerow, home front, helmet, Halsey, Hiroshima
Invasion, incoming, Iwo Jima, island hopping, Italy
Juno Beach, jump zone, June 6th, jeep
Kriegsmarine, K-ration, kamikaze
Landing craft, Luftwaffe, land mine, lend-lease, Leyte, Los Alamos, London
Medic, minesweeper, Manhattan Project, Midway, Moscow
Normandy, Navy, New Orleans, Nagasaki, North Africa, Nuremberg Trials
Overlord, Omaha, OSS, Okinawa
Paratrooper, Panzer, Paris, Patton, Pearl Harbor
Quisling, Quebec Conference, queasy, quiet, quick
Rommel, radar, Roosevelt, Rangers, rationing, Resistance
Submarine, Stalin, Second Front
Teamwork, tank, Tojo, Tokyo, Truman
Utah Beach, U-boat, uniform, USO
Victory, V-1 rocket, V-mail
World War II, Wake Island, WAC, WAVES, war bonds
X-ray, XX Committee, X-craft
Yalta Conference, Yank, Yamamoto
Zero, Operation Zeppelin, Zhukov
These are only suggestions. You may research your own words.
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