[cross posted at NPR Check]

On her blog Alicia Shepard recently made an enhanced response to her initial harsh defense of not using "coded language" like the word torture, Alicia Shepard makes the following bold claim:

Doug From Boston writes:

This will cause the residents of Gaza to suspect Hamas even more, and spread paranoia between Hamas members.

Viva Israel!

Jerry From New York:

I can only surmise that Ms. Hass` piece was passed the the Israeli censors. Should it have slipped by, she should be tried for treason. If the methods she has described are true, then she has placed some very brave men`s lives at risk for the sake of her political views. Will she offer her condolences to the mother of this or that undercover agent, explaining that it was more important to demonstrate how unfair the war against Hamas is and that she is unfortunately responsible for the death of this mother`s son, done purposely to ease the suffering of the Palestinians, a plurality or perhaps a majority of whom would slit her throat as well if given a chance of getting away with it. Her views would in no way have saved her skin if Hamas had been the successful combatant in this conflict.

Your Tax dollars at work:

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Photo by Adel Hana AP

The silence is deafening.

January 18, 2008

Israel blocked shipment of food, fuel and all other supplies into the Gaza Strip on Friday and intensified airstrikes on the Palestinian territory, calling the steps a response to increasing rocket attacks into Israel. Ellen Knickmeyer, Washington Post

December 27, 2008

Hospitals crowded with people, civilians rushing in wounded people in cars, vans and ambulances. "There are heads without bodies .... There's blood in the corridors. People are weeping, women are crying, doctors are shouting, "

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Steven D speaks for me. We don't do much Israel/Palestine posting here, not for lack of interest so much as the need to write about things happening right here and not enough time to cover all of it. Let this story be an example to all those who believe that walling up America will help anything or anyone other than the wall-builders.

I found the story of the "breakout" particularly tragic and heartbreaking. Women and children, desperate for food and water...a real "Wailing Wall," no? How they "deserved" this "collective punishment" is beyond the comprehension of decent people. I imagine good people in Israel are as ashamed of their government today as I have been of mine. But I will only reserve contempt and anger for American politicians too cowardly to stand up to the Likudnik lobby. Israel is our friend, and funding this kind of oppression to the tune of billions annually is not the act of a friend. There is no freedom for anyone, not on any side of any Ghetto wall.

Color me not surprised. Off the top of my head, I can think of plenty of things Israel has done to make itself less and less defensible; shooting photographers, bombing civilian homes, locking up whistleblowers. So I suppose denying a visa to one nigger with some silly "peace" prize is par for the course:

Israel Blocks Desmond Tutu From Fact-finding Mission in Gaza
In other news from the region, Israel has blocked a United Nations fact-finding mission to the Gaza Strip that was supposed to have been led by Nobel Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Tutu was scheduled to investigate the killings of 19 civilians in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun. Israel refused to grant Tutu the necessary travel clearance.