Understanding the Gaza Catastrophe

For eighteen months the entire 1.5 million people of Gaza experienced a punishing blockade imposed by Israel, and a variety of traumatizing challenges to the normalcy of daily life. A flicker of hope emerged some six months ago when an Egyptian arranged truce produced an effective ceasefire that cut Israeli casualties to zero despite the cross-border periodic firing of homemade rockets that fell harmlessly on nearby Israeli territory, and undoubtedly caused anxiety in the border town of Sderot. During the ceasefire the Hamas leadership in Gaza repeatedly offered to extend the truce, even proposing a ten-year period and claimed a receptivity to a political solution based on acceptance of Israel's 1967 borders. Israel ignored these diplomatic initiatives, and failed to carry out its side of the ceasefire agreement that involved some easing of the blockade that had been restricting the entry to Gaza of food, medicine, and fuel to a trickle.

Israel also refused exit permits to students with foreign fellowship awards and to Gazan journalists and respected NGO representatives. At the same time, it made it increasingly difficult for journalists to enter, and I was myself expelled from Israel a couple of weeks ago when I tried to enter to carry out my UN job of monitoring respect for human rights in occupied Palestine, that is, in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, as well as Gaza. Clearly, prior to the current crisis, Israel used its authority to prevent credible observers from giving accurate and truthful accounts of the dire humanitarian situation that had been already documented as producing severe declines in the physical condition and mental health of the Gazan population, especially noting malnutrition among children and the absence of treatment facilities for those suffering from a variety of diseases. The Israeli attacks were directed against a society already in grave condition after a blockade maintained during the prior 18 months.

WTC7: NIST Finally Admits Freefall (Part III) is now posted on YouTube. This concluding segment explores the implications of NIST's concession (to easily observed reality) that freefall occurred.

Revisiting the 9-11 newspaper archives in light of seven years of research: Part II

by Peter Duveen

PETER'S NEW YORK, December 31, 2008--There's a tremendous amount of material to be gleaned from the newspaper editions that were published in the days immediately following the events of September 1, 2001. Only seven years have passed since that human tragedy was visited upon us, yet already an aura of history has surrounded it. There is a certain forgetfulness that makes revisiting the moment all that much more of a discovery, even though, with the advent of the electronic media, there is unprecedented access to the written word in all its forms.

Below are some cogent passages from The New York Times and the New York Post that I found among a personal stack of archived newspapers, dating from the days immediately following 9-11. These passages are made all the more relevant by research conducted over much of the decade. They supplement others I have already brought to the attention of readers in "Early 9-11 Reportage Reveals Surprises" (see below, also here and here).

I think Israel should stop immediately. The United States should use its influence to make them stop. I do not understand why peace can not be achieved. Both sides of the equation have the ability to put their guns down and talk. There HAS to be a peaceful solution. Whatever that is, I hope they find it soon. The following are a collection of articles from my site dating back to 2/7/2005. Everything that has happened recently started here, but ended up here. This is every article with the word "Gaza" in it.

BREAKING NEWS: Israel And Palestine Declare Truce

Gaza Shootings Jeopardize Truce

Rice Witheld Information On Terrorists

Muslims Skeptical On Quran Apology