"One Shot, Two Kills": Israeli Army T-Shirts Mock Gaza Killings.

3:45pm UK, Friday March 20, 2009
by: Dominic Waghorn, Middle East correspondent

photo: courtesy of Yanai Yechiel

The Israeli army is at the centre of a second controversy over the moral conduct of its soldiers in as many days.

The revelations centre on t-shirt designs made for soldiers that make light of shooting pregnant Palestinian mothers and children and include images of dead babies and destroyed mosques.

The t-shirts were printed for Israeli soldiers at the end of periods of deployment or training courses and were discovered by Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

One, printed for a platoon of Israeli snipers depicts an armed Palestinian pregnant women caught in the crosshairs of a rifle, with the disturbing caption in English: "1 shot 2 kills".

Another depicts a child carrying a gun also in the centre of a target.

"The smaller, the harder," read the words on the t-shirt.

According to a soldier interviewed by the newspaper, the message has a double meaning: "It's a kid, so you've got a little more of a problem, morally and also the target is smaller."

Another shows an Israeli soldier blowing up a mosque and reads "Only God forgives".

Above a ninja figure, yet another shirt bears the slogan "Won't chill until I confirm a kill".

The revelations, coming so soon after Israel's offensive in Gaza in which hundreds of civilians were killed - many of them women and children - are causing outrage.

Perhaps the most shocking design shows a Palestinian mother weeping next to her dead baby's grave, also in the crosshairs of a rifle.

It suggests it would have been better if the child had never been born, with the slogan "Better use Durex".

The controversy follows more revelations by other soldiers about abuses and the shooting of civilians during Israel's offensive during the Gaza offensive.

Ex-soldier and campaigner with Breaking The Silence, Michael Maniken, told Sky News Online this week's revelations suggest a pattern of immoral conduct in the army.

"The army keeps on saying we're talking about a few rotten apples but it seems the army doesn't understand there's a norm in this kind of action," he explained.

"We're hearing about this time and time again and the army seems disconnected from reality."

A spokesman for the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) told Sky News Online, the t-shirts were printed on the private initiative of the soldiers and their designs "are not in accordance with IDF values and are simply tasteless. This type of humour is unacceptable and should be condemned".

LET THE REVOLUTION BEGIN!

Thanks for all you do!
Live your values. Love your country.
And, remember: TOGETHER, We can make a DIFFERENCE!

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Iraq Veterans Against the War: Open Letter - Our troops & Iraqis are Still Dying.

March 19, 2009.

Our Troops and Iraqis are Still Dying

An Open Letter to the Peace/Anti-War Movement from Iraq Veterans Against the War, Military Families Speak Out, and Veterans For Peace

After six years of war and the historic election of a new President, we as veterans, military and Gold Star families felt an urgent need to reach out to the larger peace/anti-war movements to make our position on Iraq clear during this time of political and economic uncertainty. Iraq Veterans Against the War, Military Families Speak Out and Veterans For Peace continue to stand together in our demand to Bring the Troops Home Now! We ask all those who have stood with us in the past to stay faithful to the cause.

President Obama has announced a plan to gradually reduce troop levels in Iraq. Many in the peace/anti-war movements are breathing a sigh of relief, and suggesting that it is time for us to scale back our efforts to bring an end to the occupation of Iraq. But for our troops on the ground, their families and the Iraqi people, the nightmare continues. They need all of us to stay in the struggle. IVAW, MFSO and VFP have been long united in our call for an immediate and complete end to the occupation of Iraq and will not shift our stance under any circumstances.

President Obama's plan will result in more casualties and suffering for U.S. troops, their families and Iraqis. To the American public facing hard times here at home, two and a half more years of occupation may not sound like that long — but for our troops and their families it means two and a half more years of fear, pain, and separation in a war and occupation based on lies. Hundreds of the troops deployed in the next two and a half years will not come home alive. Many more will return forever scarred by deep wounds to their bodies, minds, and spirits. Well over a million Iraqis have died as a result of this war — many more will be killed as the occupation continues.

We cannot afford the cost of empire. Today we are in the midst of the worst economic crisis most of us have seen in our lifetimes. Yet our government continues to allow the occupation to drain $10 billion a month from our nation's coffers. Meanwhile, veterans and military families struggle to put food on the table and get decent housing and adequate medical care. Women and men who risked their lives for this country are often forced to fight tooth and nail to get health care from an underfunded and overburdened Veterans Administration. Hundreds of thousands of veterans are homeless.

The occupation of Iraq is the source of the violence not the solution. Living under occupation the people of Iraq are held back from taking control of their own lives to determine their destiny. The continued U.S. military presence there is a cause of the violence they face, not its solution. U.S. continued interference contradicts the principles of democracy and self-determination our country was founded on.

IVAW, MFSO and VFP will continue to keep pressure on Congress and the President to bring all our troops home from Iraq NOW, ensure that veterans receive the care they need and deserve, and that the U.S. provides resources to rebuild a country we destroyed. But we cannot do that alone. We need your help to reach out to the vast majority of the American people who are completely isolated from the realities of this war. Please don't abandon this struggle or shift your position before the occupation is over and our veterans and the Iraqi people are on the path to healing.

— Signed by Iraq Veterans Against the War, Military Families Speak Out, and Veterans For Peace

LET THE REVOLUTION BEGIN!

Thanks for all you do!
Live your values. Love your country.
And, remember: TOGETHER, We can make a DIFFERENCE!

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Code Pink: Yes We Can Live in Peace.

March 19, 2009.

Dear American Citizens,

In December of last year an Iraqi reporter, Muntadar al-Zaidi, was launched into the spotlight for hurling his shoes at President Bush during a Baghdad press conference. As the shoes sailed through the air, he shouted, "This is a gift from the Iraqis. This is a farewell kiss, you dog! This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq." He has been in custody since the incident and reportedly tortured. Last week, he was sentenced to three years in prison for assaulting a foreign dignitary.

On the sixth anniversary of the disastrous Iraq War, Al-Zaidi's story highlights the reality of the US-imposed democracy in Iraq. One of Bush's false justifications for the invasion was the need to save Iraqis from a repressive regime and give them the freedom of expression they deserved. Six years later, expressing yourself freely will still get you tortured and imprisoned in Iraq. This is the democracy that over 4,000 US soldiers and over 1 million Iraqis have lost their lives for?

Obama promised to end the war and bring the troops home in 2009 and we will continue to hold him to his word. He deserves to be pushed, we deserve to have our troops home and the Iraqis deserve peace, respect and to have their country back. This morning, in solidarity with our Iraqi friends, we gathered outside the Iraqi embassy in Washington, DC and call for Al-Zaidi's release. Read Medea's piece, "Is Shoe Throwing A Crime?"

Join our Obama's Promises Action Team today in honor of the 6th Anniversary and you will receive action updates on how you can act boldly in 2009!

Join or organize a march, rally or other event in your community this week to mark and mourn the sixth anniversary of the occupation of Iraq. See if there's an event planned in your area or create your own by clicking here. Let's use this grim anniversary to highlight how military spending has crippled our failing economy.

Join us in Washington, DC May 9th and 10th for a 24 hour Mother's Day peace vigil. We'll surround the White House with pink and reclaim Mother's Day as a time to gather as women and work together to end war.

Thank you for refusing to be silent,
Audrey, Blaine, Dana, Deidra, Desiree, Farida, Gael, Gayle, Jean, Jodie, Liz, Lori, Medea, Nancy, Paris, and Rae

PS - Check out our pink presence in yesterday's AIG hearing in Congress! (As you can see, we are never silent…)

Join our Obama Keep Your Promises Action Team

Mark the 6th anniversary of the war at a march or rally this Thursday, March 19

CODEPINK connects with the hip-hop community on the 6th anniversary

Join us for Mother's Day in DC, May 9-10!

LET THE REVOLUTION BEGIN!

Thanks for all you do!
Live your values. Love your country.
And, remember: TOGETHER, We can make a DIFFERENCE!

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

National Mobilization: New York City, April 4th 2009.

It is Time to End the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan!
It is Time to Address the Economic Crisis by Cutting Military Spending!

“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. April 4, 1967.

Dr. King taught us we had to move beyond war if our country and our world were to be safe and prosperous and secure. He taught us that we could – and that we must – reshape our world so that poverty, racism and war no longer define our reality. And today, in this springtime of hope, to Dr. King and to the movements of which he was a part, we say “Yes We Can” organize a new world of equality and justice, a world beyond war.

Our country and our world are confronting grave problems – wars and occupations, poverty and inequality, the climate in crisis, and whole economies collapsing under the weight of war spending and greed. The election of President Barack Obama represents significant - though not yet sufficient - progress towards fulfilling Dr. King’s dream “that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” Now we must advance the dream “Beyond Vietnam.”

On the April 4th anniversary of Dr. King’s prophetic “Beyond Vietnam” speech, delivered at Riverside Church, we will gather in New York City determined to lead our nation in the new direction so many long for. For the first time in too long, we will march filled with hope. Now is the time that our movements for racial justice and economic equality, our movements against the wars and occupations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine and elsewhere, our movements for a new economy based on people’s needs, green union jobs and sustainability will ALL come together to say YES WE CAN! Yes We Can move beyond war. Yes We Can build a new world of justice, equality and peace.

On April 4th, we will bring our urgent message to the financial center of Wall Street. Our call will be heard in Washington, D.C. where Congress and the administration must take action to end these seemingly endless wars. Our call will be heard by millions of people around the world who share a common vision of a new world and hope for real change in the United States.

We look forward to April 4th when massive numbers of people will be in the street in a unified and nonviolent call to cut military spending and to fund human needs and ecological sustainability. Our nation must drastically reduce and redirect its military spending to reflect an entirely new foreign policy based on diplomacy and international law instead of military force, on global cooperation instead of domination, on a plan to live as a part of the world community instead of using brute power to stand astride the globe like the colossus of old.

Our nation must end torture and return to the rule of law; our justice system, that disproportionately locks up people of color must be fixed; and our economic policy must be rooted in our communities and not an out-of-date notion of trickle down growth.

Our hope is in the people. Our power has never been greater. We must build on this momentum in every school, every place of worship, every trade union hall, and every community center. A massive shift in our national priorities is crucial if we are to meet the urgent needs of our communities: for jobs, housing, health care, education, transportation, and for justice and equality.

We have hope knowing that our powerful grassroots movements for peace and an end to militarism, for racial, gender and economic justice, for sustainable energy, for human rights and human needs, are coming together to provide the support, the pressure, and the demand in the streets that is necessary to make sure our new administration and the Congress can deliver on their promises of a new direction.

Together, we can bring Dr. King’s legacy to life. Together we can build that new world. Join us in New York City on April 4th!

Click here to endorse this April 4 mobilization.

'Plans for the Day' on April 4.

Flier (NYC) / Flier (Local)

Flier (NYC) (Spanish) / Flier (Local) (Spanish)

Transportation Page / Ride Board

Help Volunteer!

Donate Here!

LET THE REVOLUTION BEGIN!

Thanks for all you do!
Live your values. Love your country.
And, remember: TOGETHER, We can make a DIFFERENCE!

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Is Pasta a Weapon? Ask Secretary of State Clinton.

Lately, the State Department has been…um…fumbling for the right words to describe Israel's illegal blockade of the occupied Gaza Strip. Just look at the ludicrous exchange between a reporter and State Department spokesperson Robert Wood at a press briefing last week here.

Discussing whether pasta is a dual-use weapon might be funny were it not for the fact that Israel's illegal blockade of the occupied Gaza Strip is barely keeping 1.5 million people at survival levels.

Meanwhile, earlier this week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pledged $900 million in U.S. aid at the International Conference in Support of the Palestinian Economy for the Reconstruction of Gaza.

At first glance, this pledge seems fair given that U.S. military aid to Israel was responsible for the destruction of an estimated $2 billion in Palestinian civilian infrastructure. But, look closer at the pledge, and you'll find that not one dollar is devoted to the reconstruction of the occupied Gaza Strip.

Instead, the money, if approved by Congress, will go towards humanitarian aid ($300 million), budgetary support for the Palestinian Authority ($200 million), and economic and institutional reforms in the West Bank ($400 million).

For details on the pledge package, please click here. Worse yet, in her speech to the donor's conference, Clinton made no mention of ending Israel's illegal military occupation of the Gaza Strip or lifting Israel's illegal blockade of the Gaza Strip. For the text of her remarks, please click here.

TAKE ACTION:

1. Contact Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by text or email by clicking here.

While traveling in the Middle East and Europe through Saturday, Clinton will be taking questions from the public. Ask your question by clicking here.

Here are some suggested questions for the Secretary of State, or write your own:

* UN Security Council Resolution 1860 "Calls for the unimpeded provision and distribution throughout Gaza of humanitarian assistance, including of food, fuel and medical treatment." What are you doing to ensure that Israel complies with this resolution?

* President Obama stated that "Gaza's border crossings should be open to allow the flow of aid and commerce." What are you doing to end Israel's illegal blockade of the Gaza Strip?

* Rep. Dennis Kucinich has requested that the State Department investigate Israel's possible violations of the Arms Export Control Act during its recent war on Gaza. Could you please state what your department is doing to ensure that this investigation is conducted in an accurate and transparent manner?

* State Department spokesperson Robert Wood was unclear if the United States considers pasta a dual-use weapon. Could you state your opinion on whether Israel should be allowed to control what types of food Palestinians in the Gaza Strip eat?

LET THE REVOLUTION BEGIN!

Thanks for all you do!
Live your values. Love your country.
And, remember: TOGETHER, We can make a DIFFERENCE!

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.