Warnings Not Enough for Gaza Families (New York Times)

[Avalux]

By TAGHREED EL-KHODARY and ISABEL KERSHNER
Published: January 5, 2009

GAZA — The Samouni family knew they were in danger. They had been calling the Red Cross for two days, they said, begging to be taken out of Zeitoun, a poor area in eastern Gaza City that is considered a stronghold of Hamas.

No rescuers came. Instead, Israeli soldiers entered their building late Sunday night and told them to evacuate to another building. They did. But at 6 a.m. on Monday, when a missile fired by an Israeli warplane struck the relatives’ house in which they had sought shelter, there was nowhere to run.

Eleven members of the extended Samouni family were killed and 26 wounded, according to witnesses and hospital officials, with five children age 4 and under among the dead.

Hundreds of members of the clan flooded in to Shifa Hospital, all from Zeitoun, many in shock. Masouda al-Samouni, 20, lost her mother-in-law, her husband and her 10-month-old son. She said she had been preparing food for the baby when the missile struck. “He died hungry,” she said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/06/world/middleeast/06scene.html

[wellst0nev0ter]

1. They Were All Terrorists Anyways.

And I thought I saw some secondary explosions too :eyes:

[TahitiNut]

3. It's those damned exploding diapers that Hamas hands out.

Drop a bomb on an infant and its diapers become "secondary explosions."

It just couldn't be propane tanks used for cooking and heating. It just couldn't be. Nope.

[uppityperson]

2. damn. eom

[TahitiNut]

4. “He died hungry.”

Warnings Not Enough for Gaza Families
By TAGHREED EL-KHODARY and ISABEL KERSHNER
Published: January 5, 2009

GAZA — The Samouni family knew they were in danger. They had been calling the Red Cross for two days, they said, begging to be taken out of Zeitoun, a poor area in eastern Gaza City that is considered a stronghold of Hamas.

No rescuers came. Instead, Israeli soldiers entered their building late Sunday night and told them to evacuate to another building. They did. But at 6 a.m. on Monday, when a missile fired by an Israeli warplane struck the relatives’ house in which they had taken shelter, there was nowhere to run.

Eleven members of the extended Samouni family were killed and 26 wounded, according to witnesses and hospital officials, with five children age 4 and under among the dead.

Hundreds of members of the clan flooded in to Shifa Hospital, all from Zeitoun, many in shock. Masouda al-Samouni, 20, lost her mother-in-law, her husband and her 10-month-old son. She said she had been preparing food for the baby when the missile struck. “He died hungry,” she said.

<...more...>

[Avalux]

5. I posted this same story in the IP forum.

Heartbreaking. :cry:

[OhioChick]

6. Sad.

Did/does anyone ever stop to wonder how many "terrorists" ONE missile will create?

[liberalhistorian]

7. Color me suspicious, but doesn't it seem

strange that the IDF would tell the family to move to a certain place and then a short time later bombs would hit where they moved to, or is it just me?

[TahitiNut]

8. It's because they're trying so hard not to "hurt" civilians.

That's the word Maj. Avital Leibovich, an Israeli military spokeswoman, used. "Hurt." "Harming." Not "kill or "slaughter" or "mutilate" - "hurt." It sounds so kind. It's like spanking children: "this hurts me as much as you." But I've done my time in a combat zone. I've seen "hurt."

:puke: :puke:

[MrModerate]

9. Why are Israelis so blind as to why the world hates them?

Is there anyone here who thinks that Hamas rockets would be falling in Israeli territory if that country had not treated Palestinians as subhumans for 60 years? Is there anyone who thinks that Hamas would have even gained a foothold among the Palestinian people if Israel had not been such an arrogant, vicious thug for the same length of time?

Is there anyone here who thinks that 9/11 would have happened if we hadn't been Israel's armaments sugar daddy all these years?

My message to the Israelis: the Arab world is resistant to the idea of your survival because you are clearly resistant to theirs. You murder people callously and indiscriminately and continually. You profess shock when a people you rob, bully, and abuse respond with homemade weapons in sadly asymmetric payback. You are the most dangerous state in the region and all the sanctimony in the world will not turn your crimes into virtues.

US politicians need to grow some backbone and throw this vicious monkey off our back.

[TahitiNut]

10. Why are Americans so blind as to why the world hates them?

Not all of us. Not all of them. When an extreme right wing political class hijacks the government and plays the "fear card" to stampede the sheeple we get this shit.

A huge plurality of Israelis oppose this wanton killing. It's the Likud/Kadima franchise of the GOP right wing -- funded by global corporatism.

[MrModerate]

15. But for the US, Bush was merely the most inept of Israeli apologists . . .

Most US leaders let Israel literally get away with murder.

While some US leaders have made sincere and (temporarily) effective strides toward peace, it's always been against a background of *Israel is America's Friend* (and watching an ally squash the "little people" of the world makes us uncomfortable, so we'll ask Israel real nicely to be less vicious).

Israel shits bullets and complains that its nest is fouled with lead. Why must America continue to support Israeli administration after administration (going on 60 years) this way?

And I'm sorry, if a country follows the same homicidal/suicidal policies for half a century, then the "hijacked by thugs" argument begins to wear thin.

[scarletwoman]

11. If a state can only "survive" by raining down death and misery on its neighbors, then I don't see

why it deserves to exist.

sw

[madeline_con]

12. Thank you.

:hi:

[Duckhunter935]

13. raining down death and misery on its neighbors

I must have missed these

Egypt
Syria
Saudi Arabia
Jordon

Lebanon with the exception of responding to rocket attacks.

[scarletwoman]

14. Neighbors=the people who live next door to you.

Apparently, the Palestinians -- you know, the people who originally lived in that geographical location but were pushed out and now live under colonial occupation -- are invisible to you.

[LeftishBrit]

19. The world doesn't hate Israel.

The world is not unified for one thing!

'Is there anyone here who thinks that 9/11 would have happened if we hadn't been Israel's armaments sugar daddy all these years'

Yes. It would.

[delad]

16. their deaths are justified because they were murdered

by the IDF in an attempt to keep Israel safe. Or at least that's the logic of Lipni and Barak. These people need an injection of 500cc of humanity, stat
And for those who crawl around this forum trying to justify what's going on, I would love to hear your take on these deaths. This will ineluctably result in intense hatred for Isrealis, Israel, the US and the western world and not just from Gazans but masses of people across the muslim world who watch al jazeera and have seen these images. I can intellectually understand where suicide bombers come from watching some of this (for those of you with poor comprehension skills, note i am NOT saying that i agree or support suicide bombings)

[BunkerHill24]

17. New York Times reportIing from Gaza! WOW! better late than never!

After all they have been very quiet, and partisan, not reporting the carnage taking place inside Gaza. I am certain they will hear from their AIPAC handlers about this accurate reporting.

[cali]

18. baloney. I read the NYT every day and they have been covering

this including front page photos of Palestinian civilians injured and killed. Furthermore, the NYT has been posting pro-Palestinian op pieces for years and years.

but never mind the facts.

[BunkerHill24]

20. Baloney is your polar-personality in this conflict...

no punt intended.

[cali]

21. what does that even mean?

care to explain?

[ElsewheresDaughter]

22. How Many Israelis Have Died to Recent Rocket Attacks?

[Avalux]

25. Why does there need to be a comparison?

Do Israeli deaths justify deaths of Gazans? Your response to my post is very telling.

[ProgressiveMuslim]

23. As the IDF bombing of the UN Schools, used as shelter, shows: There truly is no safe place.

Zionism in action.

[Christa]

24. They learned nothing during the holocaust

“We have no intention of harming civilians,” said Maj. Avital Leibovich, an Israeli military spokeswoman. Hamas “cynically uses” civilians by operating in their midst, she said, adding, “Sometimes there can be situations where civilians get hurt.”

Yeah right.