Palestinian/ Israeli update 5/05/2016..Israeli escalation is new development and Palestinian resistance is deciding how to react.”
Israeli jets pound Gaza strip again
Palestinian woman killed by Israeli tank fire in Gaza
http://www.timesofisrael.com/palestinian-woman-killed-by-israeli-tank-fire-in-gaza/
A Palestinian woman was killed when Israeli tank shells hit her home east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Thursday, the southern city’s Nasser hospital said.
The Israeli fire came in response to a spate of mortar attacks on troops along the Gaza border fence since Tuesday.
The woman was identified by the hospital as Zeina al-Amour, 54.
The Hamas-affiliated Palestinian news agency Shehab posted photos on Facebook from the aftermath of the tank fire.
Palestinian media also reported that a number of people were injured in a series of Israeli airstrikes in the area of Rafah on Thursday, also in the southern Gaza Strip.
The Israeli Air Force confirmed its aircraft hit four military posts belonging to Hamas, the de facto rulers of the Palestinian enclave, Thursday afternoon.
The air raids came after Palestinians fired another round of mortar shells from the southern Gaza Strip Thursday afternoon at Israeli troops operating on the Gaza frontier. IDF forces responded with tank fire, shelling nearby “suspicious” sites believed to be the source of the mortar launches, the military said.
Iranian president hails Palestinians’ resistance
Israel Stoking More Conflict With Gaza
by Stephen Lendman
Three Israeli wars of aggression on illegally besieged Gaza since December 2008 perhaps aren’t enough for Israel’s killing machine.
Repeated inter-war ground, air and sea attacks occur regularly. Is Israel preparing the ground for another major assault – blaming Gazan victims like it always does for its high crimes against peace?
On Wednesday, Israeli tanks shelled two Hamas watchtowers provocatively. Senior Hamas official Musheer al-Masri called the attacks “dangerous developments and an obvious breach of the ceasefire in Gaza.”
“The Israeli occupation should avoid testing the Palestinian resistance. The enemy should realize that the toll would be in proportion to the Israeli crimes.”
“The Israeli escalation is a new development, and the Palestinian resistance is (deciding) how to react.”
Hamas’ armed wing al-Qassam Brigades responded with mortar fire on an Israeli bulldozer. An Interior Ministry source reported no casualties, just damage.
Islamic Jihad spokesman, Daud Shihab, said “Israel has not ceased its hostilities against the Palestinian people since the ceasefire was agreed on in 2014.”
“There are continued onslaughts and infiltrations in both Gaza and the West Bank and in other locations in Palestine.”
Gaza remains illegally blockaded since June 2007 – for political, not security reasons. According to an April UN report, about 75,000 Palestinians remain displaced from Israel’s summer 2014 naked aggression.
Affected families are forced to “liv(e) in store rooms, unfinished units, substandard apartments in relatives’ or neighbors’ buildings” or wherever else they can find shelter.
Some live in damaged homes, others in prefabricated shelters. War and displacement affected women and children hardest.
Over 30% of displaced females “liv(e) in shelter conditions…lacking safety, dignity and privacy, including tents, makeshift shelters, destroyed houses or the open air.”
Nearly all affected families lack resources and construction supplies to rebuild. Most funds pledged for reconstruction weren’t delivered.
Israel blocks or greatly restricts building supplies entering the Strip on the phony pretext of being useful to Hamas or other resistance groups.
The UN warned “(a)t the present rate, it will take years to address the massive reconstruction and repair needs, adding to the general frustration of the population following years of movement restrictions, rising unemployment and poverty.”
Gazans suffer hugely under open-air prison conditions. Israel attacks the Strip at its discretion.
Are things heading for another war? Does Israel want remaining parts of Gaza turned to rubble – thousands more of its residents slaughtered or injured?
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at [email protected].
His new book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.”
http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html
Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.
Gaza musicians and the struggle to be heard
https://electronicintifada.net/content/gaza-musicians-and-struggle-be-heard/16521
I’m a 23-year-old rapper, music producer and filmmaker living in the world’s largest open air prison.
I’m also a multimedia student at university. I’ve worked with many other young artists on creative projects, but unfortunately these projects never see the light of day, because no matter how hard we try, our dreams are constantly crushed by the tyranny of the limitations we face.
This article is my attempt to reach out to the world to share a different perspective on life in Gaza for musicians and rappers, to vent some of the frustrations we feel and to explain the obstacles we face. I hope to spark a discussion that could lead to change.
Of the many barriers artists and performers in Gaza face, the biggest of all is Israel’s ongoing siege and repeated wars and bombing raids. But we face many other challenges from the ground up.
To begin with, many people here see music as a luxury that we can’t afford under siege and occupation. Our society is constantly confronted with unimaginable suffering and cruel daily challenges. A large portion of the population struggles every day to find work, shelter, warmth, medicine and even bread. So it is true that for many, attending a music performance, even by local artists, is beyond reach.
Financial constraints are often compounded by heavy-handed government censorship, imposing pressure on musicians to “clean up” their content and to ensure their message fits within specific criteria.
As any artist around the world would understand, this interference with free expression is demoralizing. It chips away at creativity and artistic output.
read it all here…..https://electronicintifada.net/content/gaza-musicians-and-struggle-be-heard/16521
Source: http://blogdogcicle.blogspot.com/2016/05/palestinian-israeli-update_5.html
