Blogueiros em Gaza não se surpreenderam com os depoimentos de soldados israelenses documentando crimes de guerra que cometeram ou testemunharam [en] durante os recentes ataques a Gaza - ou por quaisquer outras histórias, que agora estão sendo relatadas, a respeito da conduta militar israelense.

A ativista canadense Eva Bartlett bloga em In Gaza [en]:

What we knew of Israel’s war crimes during Israel’s war on Gaza, what the medics, the victims, the doctors, the witnesses have testified is now gaining growing recognition. The calls for international inquiry are growing, as are the reasons. […] The Guardian has just published an excellent series of articles and videos on Israel’s crimes of war in and on Gaza. Included in the reports are focuses on attacks on medical workers, Israel’s use of drones to target and kill with pinpoint accuracy civilians, and Israel’s use of civilians (including minors) as human shields during their military operations. […] People in Gaza were very acutely aware of the lethal drones, without having to be told thus by formal groups or experts. At new year’s the sordid text message about zanana (drone) missiles spread in a dark attempt at humour. We knew they were deadly.

Eva então disponibiliza links para outras fontes midiáticas, incluindo Al Jazeera [ar], Ha'aretz [en], The Independent [en], e The Times [en].

O ativista australiano Sharyn Lock escreve em Tales to Tell [en]:

Do you remember that before the ground incursion began, E and I were spending nights with our Jabalia friends as they hid in the basement while the bombs fell? And then we would go out in the morning (somewhat less bombs) to document the attacks. And you might remember a picture we took of a yellow truck in which a family had been blown up.
Well, what I didn’t know was that Israel was actually using footage of the last minutes of these people’s lives, taken from the air, as a youtube propaganda video about how they were just targeting Hamas rocket firers. However the locals told a B’Tselem field worker the same story they told us (the Guardian newspaper picked up on it also) and a very different version of events was posted to youtube here.

Louisa Waugh, que trabalha em Gaza, escreve no Gaza Blog [en] do New Internationalist:

An American friend who has lived in Jerusalem for almost two years tells me she thinks Israel is unnerved by recent testimonies from soldiers who were recently in Gaza.
The Israeli soldiers were graduates of the Oranim College military academy, which has just published the testimonies. They describe attacks on civilians, including what one soldier described as ‘The cold-blooded murder' of an elderly Palestinian woman, and incidents of soldiers being ordered to trash civilian houses and throw the contents, furniture and all, out of the windows. The academy director, Dany Zamir, told an Israeli radio station that, ‘[The testimonies] conveyed an atmosphere in which one feels entitled to use unrestricted force against Palestinians.'
Alongside these disturbing but unsurprising revelations which the Israeli military says it will investigate, is the ugly scandal of T-shirts with vicious slogans being worn by some young Israeli soldiers. According to reports in the Israeli media, and BBC news, one of the T-shirts has the slogan ‘Bet you got Raped!' over a picture of a bruised woman in a head-scarf. Another shows the picture of a clearly pregnant head-scarved woman with the words, ‘One shot two kills.' […] I think my friend in Jerusalem is overly optimistic: it's hard to get any perspective on Israel from here in Gaza, especially so soon after the devastating offensive. But mainstream Israeli public opinion seems to be that although the Israeli military offensive in Gaza was clearly brutal and disproportionate, Palestinians got what they deserved.

Mango Girl, radicada no Egito, refere-se a um relatório de um rabino que acompanhou soldados israelitas:

Dirty laundry from the recent military campaign against Gaza is being aired in Haaretz [newspaper], and one of the allegations is that a radical rabbi was brought in to exhort Israeli soldiers to do their religious duty in clearing the land of non-Jews so that Jews could realize their religious rights to it. Golly gee, do you think that maybe Israel is motivated by religion or religious identity? You mean they’re not super secular and liberal and democratic and are, just maybe, more similar to the unwashed wild-eyed jihadi Arabs they are fighting than different?

Terminamos com o pensamento da ativista libanesa Natalie Abou Shakra, que bloga em Moments of Gaza [en]; ela questiona sobre as imagens de aviões de guerra sobre as quais publicou [en]:

Don't they look like insects, the ones that bite deep into your skin? […] And, to humanity's dismay, when one searches on the internet, the search results display artistic photos of the war planes, as if they can be added to a collection… perhaps they would like to also take artistic photos of the aftermath of using these man-slaughtering machines looking at the Israeli Apache… does it not look like an abnormally large insect (an abnormally large fly)… do you understand what i mean now that we lived a horror movie…? there were huge insects and parasites feeding on human flesh

No Morro do Samba, no Rio de Janeiro, “Notório pelo tráfico de drogas e a violência, o Morro do Samba é conhecido como uma das comunidades mais perigosas de nossa região”, foto de carf usada sob a doutrina de: Creative Commons License

Assim como no resto do mundo, os blogueiros brasileiros estão acompanhando atentamente as notícias sobre o conflito Israel-Palestina. As opiniões divergem entre si, no entanto, o conflito está fazendo muitos blogueiros refletirem sobre uma mesma coisa: o que está acontecendo em Gaza lembra muito a guerra e a violência cotidiana que assola as favelas brasileiras, o que nos faz pensar em nossa própria Faixa de Gaza, onde muitas vidas inocentes são perdidas todos os dias. Sérgio Vaz explica:

Aqui no Brasil, na Baixa do Sapateiro, faixa de gaza baiana, menino Matheus morreu com um tiro de Fuzil quando saía de casa para comprar pão, no mesmo momento em que a polícia invadia sua favela.
Mera coincidência ou são sempre os mesmos que sangram nas calçadas, quer seja na faixa de Gaza brasileira ou na Faixa de Gaza Palestina? Será que a sede de sangue nunca cessa?
A Periferia debaixo de tiros, a Palestina debaixo de bombas. Será que deus foi passar o réveillon em Copacabana?

Sobre as fotos chocantes que vê sobre o conflito na internet, Anderson Vieira não pode deixar de lembrar da época em que ele costumava visitar uma favela no Rio de Janeiro. Ele disse que era normal ver traficantes pesadamente armados andando ao lado de crianças, mulheres grávidas, idosos e que, de vez em quando, a polícia fazia aparições desastrosas:

Acontece que não foram poucas as vezes que em incursões da polícia em morros e favelas cariocas, na troca de tiros, no fogo cruzado, pessoas inocentes acabavam sendo atingidas pelas famosas balas perdidas, que de perdidas não têm absolutamente nada.
A situação da Faixa de Gaza é de certa forma parecida com a das favelas e morros cariocas. Ali em meio aos terroristas do Hamas há crianças, mulheres, homens, cidadãos palestinos inocentes e desprotegidos. À semelhança dos traficantes que se escondem em barracos e casas de moradores a fim de fugir da polícia, os terroristas do Hamas também se valem dessa estratégia no mínimo covarde e se infiltram em casas de inocentes.

Aparecido José do Rosário [pt] concorda e adiciona que, nesses casos, os fins justificam os meios:

Mas voltando a questão sobre o que Israel deve fazer contra esses ataques, e faço um paralelo com o problema dos morros no Rio de Janeiro. Desculpem-me mas sou um tanto radical nesse sentido. Tenho a minha opinião de que a polícia e/ou exército deve atacar os morros a todo custo. Aqueles que nada tem a ver com os traficantes, que são inocentes devem sair de lá e deixar que as forças militares façam o serviço completo, agora, aqueles que protegem tais traficantes, são cúmplices e tão criminosos quanto eles, e portanto que sofram as conseqüências. Estarei eu sendo insensível?

“27/07/2005 - A polícia encontra três corpos queimados em Inhaúma. As vítimas podem ter sido mortas quando entravam na favela para tentar recuperar um veículo roubado por traficantes da Favela do Alemão.” Foto de Andréa Farias, usada sob a doutrina de Creative Commons License.

Sonia Fancine, uma jovem política em ascenção na cidade de São Paulo, diz que culpar o Hamas pela morte de civis é o que a polícia brasileira faz ao justificar suas causalidades dizendo que estava protegendo a população, e “se uma criança morre de um tiro de bala perdida é um efeito colateral de uma operação de sucesso”:

As mortes “acidentais” freqüentemente são justificadas como decorrentes de “autos de resistência” (aquelas trocas de tiros que, curiosamente, só deixam marcas de um dos lados) ou como sendo de ” pessoas ligadas ao tráfico” (aí fica fácil - se mora na favela, é ligado ao tráfico, pronto). Então ficamos assim: as crianças palestinas e das favelas do Rio morreram porque tiveram a idéia de jerico de estar em um lugar cheio de terroristas/ traficantes. E ainda foram botar o corpo bem na frente dos mísseis/ fuzis… Foi mal aê. Mas da próxima vez, as vítimas que tomem mais cuidado, pô!

Em um comentário à postagem acima, um leitor chamado Fernando sente-se impotente frente a ambos os conflitos:

E como acabar com tudo isso? Seja no Rio ou lá em Gaza é a mesma coisa: desrespeito ao comum - incompreensão do diferente! E como eu posso ajudar para acabar com tudo isso?

Alberto Ricardo Präss acha que o Brasil deveria boicotar os produtos israelenses para ajudar, lembrando da situação que ele testemunhou quando viveu lá durante seis meses, em 1985, e concluiu que o Brasil não está muito diferente disso:

Não é de se espantar que homens bombas surjam sem parar naquelas bandas. É muito evidente que pessoas acuadas tendem a ter reações radicais para sobreviver. Mais ou menos como os moradores das favelas do Rio, que reagem por estar sem muita saída.

Por outro lado, Mr X [pt], um partidário de Israel, acredita que Israel e Palestina não mereçam tanta atenção da mídia ou mesmo comoção popular se comparados com outros conflitos no mundo, inclusive o do Brasil:

Mata muito menos do que qualquer conflito na África hoje em dia, menos do que a cólera no Zimbabwe, menos até do que os tiroteios nas favelas do Rio de Janeiro.

Tania Celidonio diz que está chocada com as notícias diárias que assiste sobre a violência no Oriente Médio, mas que a violência tornou-se um clichê no Rio de Janeiro:

Motorista da ONU assassinado, trinta civis palestinos mortos num abrigo, fim da ajuda humanitária…. Juro que travei. E ainda por cima, aqui na faixa tupiniquim do Rio de Janeiro, os tiros não esperaram passar a primeira semana de 2009. Os morros da Babilônia e Chapéu Mangueira foram sacudidos por várias saraivadas. Nós, do asfalto, ficamos torcendo para que nada de muito ruim aconteça por lá. O pior são as centenas de trabalhadores que voltam para suas casas, no cair da noite, e são recebidos por esse ambiente de terror que já virou rotina nos morros da cidade.

Um charge do Blog do Bonitão ambienta o conflito Israel-Palestina num violento bairro do Rio de Janeiro que é cercado de favelas.

Em Pernambuco, a contagem de homicídios do PEBodyCount, um blog que fornece estatísticas diárias sobre o índice de mortes relacionada à crimes, contabiliza que, a partir de hoje, somente 11 dias após o início do ano de 2009, 81 homicídios já ocorreram naquele Estado. O blog contabilizou 4.525 homicídios em 2008, em 2007 foram 4.592 e em 2006 foram 4.638. Os números vêm caindo, mas:

“Raciocinar que 78 pessoas a menos (pelas contas do Governo, pelas nossas, foram 67) perderam a vida não quer dizer que foram salvos 78 seres humanos. Continuamos tendo mais de 4.500 assassinatos. É um patamar que coloca nosso estado entre os locais mais violentos do mundo. São poucos os países que tem tantos crimes de morte por ano. A mudança tão apregoada precisa começar de verdade.”

Contra todas as probabilidades, novas postagens chegam de Gaza e os blogueiros de lá descrevem incisivamente o medo que os aflige frente aos ataques israelenses em curso.

Exiled diz que não é um herói [ar]:

على قيد الحياة ولكني لست بخير
وقد اكون في اي لحظة على قيد الموت لاكون بخير
فالاموات وحدهم آمنون في غزةتركت شقتي وذهبت انا وزوجتي الى بيت العائلة،ليس بحثا عن مكانا آمناً من القصف
احب ان اكون بجانب امي في هذه الاحوال

لست بطلا،كابن اخي الصغير ارتعش من الصوت المعدني المتفجر في الهواء القريب
ولكني اكبت رعشتي خجلا،فلست بطلا

Laila El-Haddad, autora do blog Raising Yousuf and Noor, entra em contato com os pais em Gaza [en]:

My father just called to inform me he was ok – after warplanes bombed the Islamic University there, considered to be the Strip's premiere academic institution.

A little later I called my mother, only to hear her crying on the phone. “The planes are overhead” she cried “the planes are overhead”. I tried to calm her down – planes overhead mean the “target” is further away. But in such moments of intense fear, there is no room for rationality and logic.

Outra blogueira de origem palestina, a Doutora Mona El-Farra, que se encontra na Grã-Bretanha assistindo os acontecimentos está desconsolada [en]:

With an aching heart I continue to watch Gaza from a distance. I cannot turn the TV off, cannot detach myself from what is going on there. Not while my medical colleagues work hard under such extraordinarily circumstances. Not while my friends, my family, and the whole population of Gaza face such horrible atrocities and constant fear. The nightmare isn’t over.

A ativista de direitos humanos, Eva Bartlett, canadense, autora do blog In Gaza, descreve como ela está fazendo para dar conta:

How to explain this feeling? I am physically numb to the explosions, not that I am in any way brave, but just physically unaffected. This is useful, it allows me to continue to write, to photograph, to speak. But it is my rational side which is continuing these things. Alberto, a Spanish journalist sitting next to me, helps me to recall that last night I told him: “I’m so focused on conveying the eyewitness account that I’m not thinking about danger.”

[…]

It’s nearly impossible to finish this entry…still more explosions are erupting every few minutes: a car in Al Bureijj camp, central Gaza, another hit in the Zaytoun residential area of Gaza City, another in the north… This time, it is not the electricity that prevents me from writing, nor certainly not want of words or information. It is that the appalling bombing at close range that Israel is unleashing on us here in Gaza, since just after 11 am on December 27th continues at full speed, full strength, despite over 300 dead and over 800 injured, by conservative estimates (1000 by other estimates), not including the victims and casualties from the latest and ongoing attacks. The outside world rightfully wants to know what is going on in Gaza, and I too want to know, even though I am here. Gaza has become isolated areas, where people are trapped in their homes for fear of being out on the streets. And, as it turns out, even homes are not safe. There is no where safe in Gaza. Any place can be a target. Any target can be justified as being a planned target or being closed to a planned target.

Mais tarde, ela simplesmente diz [en]:

For now…i prepare for no electricity, no internet, and the worst
i’m praying that you will do your part outside Gaza to end this horror
7 more killed, 10s wounded in latest attack in north of gaza

O fotojornalista palestino Sameh Habeeb bloga no Gaza Strip, The Untold Story [Faixa de Gaza, a História não Contada, en]:

Most of the Gaza Strip plunges into deep darkness since the start of this war. I find several hardships to send out this report due to power problem. Today, a rocket targeted my uncle's house. My house got several splinters and rocket shrapnel. Thanks to God, we all safe but I don't know what will happen next. I live east of Gaza, Toffah area, were artillery shells rained down every single moment.

Natalie Abou Shakra, uma ativista libanesa, escreve no blogue coletivo Moments of Gaza [Momentos de Gaza, en]. Em sua postagem, ela traduz dois folhetos enviados pelo exércido isreaelense pedindo aos residentes de Gaza que fornecessem mais informações sobre o paradeiro dos soldados do Hamas. Natalie comenta:

What really shocked me is the username they chose for their email. “Helpgaza2008″ ?!

I think this e-mail of theirs deserves to be bombed with the right kind of messages!

Nirmeen Kharma Elsarraj escreve no blogue coletivo Lamentations-Gaza [Gaza-Lamentações, en] :

There are things that are not well reported in the news, feelings!! I have three children, a daughter Nour who is 14, a son Adam who is 9 and another son Ali who is 3. We live in an area in Gaza city that used to be described 'safe'. Nowhere is safe anymore. My children cannot sleep and I cannot help them. The feelings of helplessness and guilt (which always accompanies your inability to protect or at least comfort your children) are stronger than those of fear and horror. My daughter was telling a journalist on the phone yesterday that she had never got the real support she sought from me whenever there was a shelling. I was shocked!! I felt so guilty because my daughter felt my fears. But is it not normal to be scared after all?! Adam is asthmatic and he uses a ventilator. Due to the stress and the pollution resulting from rubbles, he is getting more frequent asthma attacks and there is no electricity for his ventilator. Each time he has an attack, we have to put the generator on for him and then put it off. There is no enough fuel to keep the generator on and we have no idea till when this is going to continue. Ali has no idea what this is all about. All what he does is scream in fear whenever there is a bombing and when it is over, he uses his imagination to tell stories about ‘qasef - bombing'. The kids do not sleep. We spend our days and nights in one single room with my sister in law and her daughter. You feel the stress and fear. You can see it on everyone's face.
Last night I was thinking about all this. I do not want anyone of my family to get hurt and I thought if anything should happen, I pray it happens to me and not my kids. Then I thought I do not want my kids to see me torn into pieces. The scenes on tv of people killed are so terrifying and I know what it means for children to see such thing. What I really want is for all this to end and for me and my kids to live just like anyone else in the world. I want to get rid of the feeling of guilt towards my kids. Was I mistaken to have kids in the first place? Do I not have the right to be a mother? But am I really doing a good mother's ‘job' in being the source of comfort for my kids. I know it is not my fault but I knew also that I live in Gaza and Gaza has never been a healthy environment to raise children. Was I that selfish to think about my own feeling to want to be a mother and ignoring my expected failure to protect my kids?

A ativista australiana Sharyn Lock escreve no Tales to Tell [Estórias para Contar, en]:

So, Thursday: the Red Cross co-ordinated evacuation into Zaytoun. Doctor Said would look good on a Red Cross poster - black sweater, shaved head, muscles enough to keep that Red Cross flag held above his head for the two hours we were behind army lines. You’d definitely invite him in for coffee to ask for his opinion on the state of the world. His colleague has more of an accountant look about him, but his job is to keep us alive - he is armed with a walkie-talkie and is negotiating our path constantly with the army as we move. With May, a small, quick woman who is the Engineer for the Red Crescent, supervising all the vehicles etc, I carry a stretcher and water. About 8 intrepid Red Crescent paramedics join us, wearing weighty bullet proof vests or not dependent on their preference for possible death or certain backache.
[…]
When I was a kid, I was very aware of war zones, but I always understood they happened in places different from my home. I would like to tell you about what I am seeing right now as I walk. I am seeing flowering vines. Bright curtains in windows. Chickens running about. This is your home, you know. This is the garden where your children play. This is your house with obscene holes blown in it, with Israeli snipers lurking in the shadows of its roof, with a dead resistance fighter sitting with his back to your wall.

Blogueiros de toda a blogosfera árabe publicam o vídeo Não vamos cair (Canção para Gaza) de Michael Heart. Adham Khalil, do campo de refugiados de Jabaliya, que bloga no Free Free Palestine [Palestina Livre, Livre, en], é um deles:

Como uma forma de protesto contra o apoio de Washington a Israel, alguns malaios estão boicotando produtos americanos. Israel está levando a cabo ataques militares em Gaza [en] e já causaram a morte de mais de 800 palestinos. O ex-primeiro ministro malaio Mahathir Mohamad está ativamente apoiando a campanha de boicote.

Mais de 2 mil restaurantes muçulmanos pertencentes à Associação de Operadores de Restaurantes Muçulmanos pararam de servir produtos da marca da Coca-Cola aos seus clientes. A Associação de Consumidores Islamitas Malaios também identificou 100 outros produtos de marcas como Starbucks, Colgate, McDonald's, Nike, Wendy’s, Tommy Hilfiger, Gap, Dell e Maybelline como alvos da campanha de boicote.

Imagem do blogue Shamsul Yunos

A blogosfera malaia tem opiniões divididas sobre a campanha.

O blogue In my humble opinion [Em minha humilde opinião] lista os seguintes critérios para a escolha de produtos americanos [en]:

1. Is the product solely manufactured in USA?
2. Is the company opposed to the war?
3. Does the company have direct relations with Israel?

Everyday Ordinariness [Normalidade Diária] prefere outras formas de protesto [en]:

As much as I want to participate in this boycott, I have to constantly ask myself: Will it do more harm than good? It seems so easy to boycott American goods but I have to give up on a lot to do so.

When we are so used to Americanization and globalization, do you think it is easy to boycott goods, products and brands that have been part of our life for years? Who are we kidding? Look around and I am sure you have a piece of “Americanization”.

I am very sure there are other ways to express our sentiments in this issue. During Friday prayers just now, the money collected will be donated and benefit the people of Palestine. By doing so, the money will be used for daily necessities, such as food. I prefer doing donation so that it will, in one way or another, benefit the innocent victims.

My anger, it may be yours too [Minha raiva, pode ser sua também, en] acredita que um boicote passará uma messagem poderosa ao Ocidente:

I don't think the point here is to bankrupt Coca Cola but to send a message that the Muslim economy is strong enough to affect the West, after all this is as much economic warfare as it is about territory

New Malaysia [Nova Malásia] duvida que o boicote [en] terá algum efeito:

It's always easy to call for a boycott of American goods. Groups and individuals advocating such a boycott may have the best intentions but seriously, does it work? We call for a boycott of US products and have we considered the economic consequences of the US and Jewish lobbyists hitting us back?

Let's ditch the logical [Vamos largar alógica, en] despreza o protesto:

Malaysian politicians think too highly of themselves. The US doesn't really care if we boycott their companies. They can see through the smoke and mirrors. Who're the big foreign investors in Malaysia? American companies!

Imagens gentilmente cedidas por Hantulaut e Tunku.

The Artist [O Artista, en] implora líderes estudantis a apoiarem o boicote:

It’s time for Malaysian Student Leaders to take action and follow suit on an economic boycott. This will give us a double edge benefit: helping our Malaysian industry & creating a consumer-centered business model.

Carefully select products to boycott: We wouldn’t want our industry to be in trouble don’t we? Let’s examine which products would be wise to boycott at a start and which we can live without. Then we work to boycott others from there.

Think; Think; Think [Pense; Pense; Pense] enfatiza que o sucesso da campanha depende da cooperação dos consumidores:

Its an ORDER! Boycott, Refuse, Stay Away From, Impose Sanctions, Embargo, Shun, Proscribe, Prohibit, Reject, and all other synonyms to Boycott, Israeli’s or Jewish, or any organizations or products related to them, or even supporting them. Boycott!

They maybe laughing at me, as a Muslim independent blog writer, “who are you to boycott us?”, but if we all cooperate together, boycott their product, they will feel some (if not huge) impact from our actions.

Icedlemontea não se opõe à idéia de boicotar a Coca-cola:

I never much favor coca-cola in the first place so I think this boycott can be done for me. Now I just have to change all my cosmetic products to local’s. That’s right, gosh.

Jaff Point enumera as várias formas de protesto [en] que indivíduos e grupos podem adotar para ajudar Gaza:

WHAT SHALL WE DO?

1) Keep up the demonstration against Israel brutality in Gaza
2) BOYCOTT all Israel and USA goods and currency
3) Keep praying for God justice against Israel
4) Keep up the moral and financial support to Palestinians – DONATE
5) Spreads the words on Israel cruelty to the people around you and the world community

Hantulaut lembra aos blogueiros [en] para pensarem duas vezes antes de aderirem ao boicote:

“Those bloggers who supported Dr Mahathir's call probably forgot they are blogging on American products. If you boycott America then you have to stop using computers, computer software and all American made blogs and not forgetting the Internet. Can you? Our former premier probably didn't realize that he himself is a blogger and very deeply involved in using American products.”

O ex-primeiro ministro da Malásia Mahathir Mohamad fez um pronunciado em uma mesquita nacional. Foto do blogue de Jaff Point

Ontem (6 de janeiro) uma escola da ONU no campo de refugiados Jabaliya [en], que estava sendo usado como abrigo, foi atingida por bombas israelenses e cerca de 40 pessoas foram mortas. Hoje, o exército israelense suspendeu suas operações militares [en] por três horas, para permitir que a ajuda humanitária chegue a Gaza Strip. Nesse artigo, ouvimos reações de blogueiros em Gaza.

Prof. Said Abdelwahed, que ensina inglês na Universidade de Al-Azhar, escreve no Moments of Gaza [Momentos de Gaza, en]:

Thousands of the Palestinians took refuge into UNRWA schools. 40 of those have been killed in an air attack today on that school!! It seems even the U.N flag does not have any meaning to Israel? How can it consider itself a part of the international community?!

A ativista canadense Eva Bartlett, bloga no In Gaza [en] o seguinte:

If your unbelievably small and overcrowded land was being terrorized, pulverized by bombs from the world’s 4th largest military, and your borders were closed; if your house was not safe, mosque (church) not safe, school not safe, street not safe, UN refugee camp not safe…Where would you go, run, hide? Over 15,000 have been made homeless, internal refugees from Israel’s house-bombings, shelling, and shooting. Some have been housed in UN schools around Gaza. In Jabaliya today, Israeli warplanes bombed one such school. Shifa’s [hospital] director conservatively estimates 40 dead, 10s injured. It must be higher. […] The Shifa director also told me that emergency medics still cannot reach the Zaytoun house that yesterday morning was bombed with inhabitants locked inside. There are two main accounts of the story, both criminal. One: Israeli soldiers rounded up the inhabitants of the multi-story house, separated the men – 15, I was told – and shot them point blank in front of the women and children of the family, 20, I was told. Then, laid explosives around the house and bombed the rest of the extended family. Two: Israeli soldiers rounded up the inhabitants of the multi-story house, locked them in one room for a day, and bombed it the following morning. Either way, Israeli soldiers intentionally imprisoned and bombed the inhabitants of the house. And are actively preventing medics from reaching any potential survivors. The medics have tried to coordinate with the ICRC (international committee of the red cross) without success: no one can reach the house.

Philip Rizk, blogueiro egípicio-alemão que bloga no Tabula Gaza, relata uma conversa que teve com Dr Attalah Tarazi em Gaza [en]:

The numbers of death and injured reported in the media are far below reality as the media is not able to cover incidents as they unfold. I know of cases where homes were surrounded by the Israeli army and people inside gave themselves up and were shot anyway when they exited. […] We have witnessed weapons we have never seen before in our lives. Some explode in the sky and scatter bombs all over. Sporadically, I have smelt smells from some of the burns and wounds that I have never before witnessed […] May god protect us, may god have mercy on us

Em outra postagem, Prof. Said Abdelwahed diz [en]:

The 1:00-4:00 p.m. truce was a little bit relief to the civilians in the city. The main concern of the people was to get water from distribution centers. There were long lines of people waiting to get drinking water in plastic jugs! Tanks and artillery are still operating at the edges of Gaza city! More people evacuated their places and resorted to relatives and UNRWA schools…. but yesterday's bombing has scared everyone sleeping in the schools! Today, there were trucks of urgent food stuff and other medical aids have been allowed to be entered from Rafah into Gaza. In Gaza, we are all subject to news but we cannot see TVs. We hear about it from relatives who call us by telephones from abroad. We are still without electricity and water, plus that a great number of people are without cooking gas!

O fotojornalista palestino Sameh Habeeb, que bloga no Gaza Strip, The Untold Story [Faixa de Gaza, a Estória Não Contada, en], explica como ele está cobrindo os eventos:

Dear Editors, Journalists and Friends,
Some of you do wonder how I send news in such conditions. I really suffer a lot to send you this update due to lack of power. I go around 4 kilometers a day in this cruel war where I charge my laptop battery to be able to send this work! This is very risky since shells rain down and drones hover over me! I will keep this up.

Laila El-Haddad, cujo pais estão em Gaza, bloga no Raising Yousuf and Noor [Criando Youself e Noor], descreve uma conversa com o pai, ao vivo no Canadian Broadcasting:

I asked if he had gone out at all – he said my mother has not left the house in days, but that they needed some tomatoes to cook supper with. “The stores are empty-there is very little on the shelves; and the Shanti bakery had something like 300 people waiting in line.” Surprisingly, he said people are trying to go on with their lives. It is the mundane and ordinary that often save your sanity, help you live through the terror. It is no small thing to endure: knowing that both in deliberateness and scope, it is an unprecedented modern-day assault against an occupied, stateless people – most of them refugees.

Safa Joudeh escreve no Lamentations-Gaza [Lamentações–Gaza, en] sobre aproveitar os momentos ordinários ao máximo:

I woke up to the smell of freshly baked bread, at around noon today. I stay up most of the night and catch a few hours sleep after the sun rises. […] My mother has taken to making homemade bread the last ten days. Thanks her careful management of the small amount of cooking gas we have, and to her idea of buying a gas oven in anticipation of an Israeli invasion only days before the attacks began, she is able to bake occasionally. Furthermore, we had found a store with its doors partially open in our area a couple of days ago and were able to stock up on flour. Having lunched with my younger siblings and my parents on bread, cheese, eggs and some leftover pasta, we all went out onto the balcony, and what a beautiful sunny day it was! The iciness had dissipated somewhat with the early day sun, the few trees outside were green and luminous and birds were singing! We all stood for about half an hour, looking out through the metal railings like caged birds. We could hear an occasional explosion in the distance but that did not deter us from standing there breathing in the fresh air we so longed for.

RafahKid não está acreditando [en]:

what's to say? would you believe back in October we had our first Opera [music concert] in Gaza. Life is hard when you are kept prisoner your whole life even though you are acknowledged as the victim. But we try hard to live a life and we study very hard. Even to say Hamas is the cause of this is to blame the rape victim for what she was wearing.

Vittorio Arrigoni, um ativista italiano bloga no Guerrilla Radio:

Ho scattato alcune fotografie in bianco e nero ieri, alle carovane di carretti trascinati dai muli, carichi all'inverosimile di bambini sventolanti un drappo bianco rivolto verso il cielo, i volti pallidi, terrorizzati. Riguardano oggi quegli scatti di profughi in fuga, mi sono corsi i brividi lungo la schiena. Se potessero essere sovrapposte a quelle fotografie che testimoniano la Nakba del 1948, la catastrofe palestinese, coinciderebbero perfettamente. Nel vile immobilismo di Stati e governi che si definiscono democratici, c'è una nuova catastrofe in corso da queste parti, una nuova Nakba, una nuova pulizia etnica che sta colpendo la popolazione palestinese.

Em outro artigo, Eva Bartlett diz [en]:

To walk in Gaza city now is to walk through a ghost town, passing shells of buildings, rubble-filled streets, closed shops, and streets barren of life. Before Israel’s attacks across the Gaza Strip’s densely-populated civilian areas began on December 27th, Gaza was a different scene: it was stifled under a siege […] but Palestinians in Gaza still walked the streets, still frequented the parks and public spaces, still pursued education within the Strip and had weddings. On any given day, the main street, Omar Mukthar, would be crowded with taxis heading along the east-west road, kids going to and from school, shoppers, and vendors. Walking Omar Mukthar now is an eerie experience […] In the first days after the missiles hit police stations, mosques, civil administration buildings, Municipal buildings, cars, houses, iron and metal workshops, and universities across the Gaza Strip’s tiny length, people walked carefully, avoiding the bombed sites, very aware they could be re-bombed. […] But now its gotten to such a point, all over Gaza is so completely and thoroughly bombed, that the initial detours we took are pointless: there are simply too many bombed-out buildings and sites to bother avoiding the street. […] So a bombed population already besieged, with no where to run, shot and shelled when running no where, already deprived of medicines and medical care, is now on a new level of starvation, deprivation of water (70 % of people are without), and continues to be psychologically-terrorized by the air activity and bombing. Where to walk? Anywhere, it doesn’t really matter.

Fida Qishta, que bloga no Sunshine, é jornalista freelance, cineasta e ativista morando em Rafah, ao sul da Faixa de Gaza:

Humanitarian aid is still a big problem, including the lack of medicine and food. The Israeli government said that they opened the border crossings to let Palestinians travel to Egypt for medical treatment and for humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip. It’s like the wolf killing the sheep and then selling its leather. Why did they shoot them if they want them to be in good health? Why didn’t they stop the air strikes before they killed and injured all these civilians? They tell the world that the food trucks enter the Gaza Strip. Do you know how many trucks? Do you know that the Gaza Strip is cut into two parts now by the Israeli army? That means that if the humanitarian aid gets through into Rafah, it will never reach Gaza City, because they cut the main road into two parts. It reminds me of the Abu Holy checkpoint which used to divide the Gaza Strip in two. My friends and I used to wait to go to our university for hours and hours. And at the end of the day we went back home, without attending any classes. Our only class was on how to wait. My mother is sitting in the door of our house counting the drones and the F16s. I think that if I asked her to count the air strikes she would do it.

Nader Houella, que gerencia o blogue coletivo Moments of Gaza [Momentos de Gaza], escreve um artigo explicando o que as pessoas interessadas em ajudar podem fazer.

“Na noite passada, enquanto assistia a vários canais de notícias internacionais, fiquei consternado em ver todos eles relatando o aumento do número de mortos em Gaza como se Israel tivesse indiscriminadamente ceifado uma grande faixa de inocentes insuspeitos”, escreve Treppenwitz [en] reagindo aos ataques aéreos de Israel na Faixa de Gaza. Sua reação é comum entre os blogueiros israelitas, onde essas ações são uma reação justificável a uma situação que há muito é insuportável.

Jewlicious [en] elabora mais a idéia:

Aron Heller of Associated Press for Yahoo News (Dec. 25) writes this past week that the massive barrage of Palestinian rockets slamming into Israel during Hanukkah, “caused no injuries but generated widespread panic.” The headline for his article–”Israel warns Hamas will pay heavy price,” simply implies that Israel plans to act because of widespread panic.

Heller makes no mention of the Israeli homes destroyed by the Palestinian rockets, the 60 plus Israelis who were hospitalized for shock and trauma, including 12 Ashkelon children, or the thousands of dollars in damages that the Palestinian rockets caused to Israeli properties and businesses.

The international media ignores far too often another critical player in the Arab-Israeli conflict and its role in continuing the conflict. Hamas, the ruling party who took over Gaza in 2006, is a terrorist organization that was established in 1987, an offshoot of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.

Hamas has led a brilliant public relations campaign that has consistently de-legitimized the actions of Israel, as we find in the media coverage of the conflict, while simultaneously legitimizing its own regime in Gaza.

What the international media and world community often fail to see is that Hamas has its own interests in mind - whether it be the starvation of its people or the launching of rockets at Israeli civilians. In other words, the critical role that the ruling regime of Gaza, known as Hamas, has played in contributing to the continuation of the conflict, has been too often overlooked.

Chayyei Sarah [en] tem uma opinião parecida a da maioria dos blogueiros israelitas:

My feelings about what happened in Gaza yesterday: I feel very sad that it had to be that way. But it had to be that way. We can't let rockets rain down on our citizens and do nothing. I look forward to the day — may I live to see it — when the Palestinian leadership figures out what “compromise” and “good leadership” and “promises” and “tolerance” actually mean. I'd really like for our army to have nothing to do. That would be fantastic.

Mais uma impressão, pelo blogueiro Tzipiyah [en]:

Over the weekend, Israel has started an operation in the Gaza strip. However, even after those years of attacks which make this response more than justified, there is a sense of shock at the numbers coming out of Gaza. Over 280 dead. Wow! 280 human beings were killed. For people who hate death, this is, honestly, a horrible tragedy. So, how are we to react to that?

In today’s world, there is an underlying pressure for Jews, and Zionists, to put their heads down in shame after seeing these numbers. Yes, even the strong Zionists are afraid to switch their facebook status in support of the Gaza operation. Yes, even the strong Zionists are afraid to scream their support for the State of Israel in such a time of bloodshed and conflict.

The Torah does tell us that we cannot, we are forbidden, to rejoice in our enemies’ suffering. So, we should not rejoice in their death. However, let’s make no mistake: I am not, in the slightest way, ashamed of the State of Israel. I am proud of the State of Israel for finally standing up and defending it’s citizens.

Nem todos os blogueiros apóiam essas ações cem por cento, alguns têm reservas, como Yoni the Blogger [en]:

I am against the up coming ground action in Gaza.

I am against this action for several reasons, first as late as the end of last week, Israel was feeding the terrorist of Gaza. Second the politicians have not stated what the goal of the operation is, so how will Israel know if the operation is a success or failure.

I would support a ground action in Gaza under the following conditions, first cut Gaza off 100% from the outside world for up to two months. This means no food, water, industrial supplies or even medicine into Gaza.

J Street [en] condenou as ações, mas foi criticado por Meryl Yourish [en] por fechar para comentários dizendo:

What are they afraid of?
Will they discover that the pro-Israel bloggers outnumber the anti-Israel bloggers, and that J Street speaks not for the “silent majority,” but for a tiny minority of Jews?
Probably.

Mais reações na blogosfera israelita aparecem com o desenrolar dos conflitos. Israellycool [en] está blogando os eventos ao vivo, à medida que acontecem, e veja também a página de cobertura especial do Global Voice [en] para saber das últimas notícias.

Tudo começou como um dia “normal” na Faixa de Gaza. Até o fim do dia, no entanto, estava claro que o 27 de dezembro ficaria conhecido como o dia mais sangrento do conflito entre Palestina e Israel desde 1967. Apesar do alvo dos ataques aéreos israelitas ter sido o Hamas, com o passar do dia ficou claro que houve também um grande número de civis entre as casualidades, cerca de 225 no total.

Blogueiros na Palestina e ao redor do mundo se chocam à medida em que os números sobem. Esse choque, junto com a raiva despertada pela cobertura tendenciosa dos acontecimentos na imprensa, é palpável nos artigos postados em blogues hoje [28 de dezembro].

Marcy Newman do blogue body on the line detalha o seu dia na Margem Ocidental [en] relembrando o momento em que ficou sabendo das notícias:

11:30 am the itf begin their air strikes in gaza with american-made f16 fighter jets. the radio is not on in the service. no one seems aware of this fact. but within 15 minutes over 200 patients flood hospitals, like al shifa hospital. orthopedic and maternity wards are turned into make-shift emergency rooms. from 10 month old babies to 55 year old women, palestinian civilians are massacred. this is the single bloodiest day since 1967.

Ela conclui:

this is the bloodiest day since 1967. i have lost track of time. i have been watching al jazeera–english and arabic–for hours. it is now 3:08 am. the itf bombed a mosque a couple of hours ago across the street from al shefa hospital. i think that was at 1:10 am. i cannot keep track. 225 palestinians massacred. more in the rubble.

Haitham Sabbah, que se auto-denomina “desarraigado blogueiro palestino”, compartilha um monte de fotografias tiradas hoje, dentro dos confins de Gaza. Sobre elas, ele comentou:

Palestinians in the Occupied West Bank went demonstrating against the Israel terrorist crimes in Gaza and attacked Israeli terrorists with stones. Reports indicated that all fractions between political parties vanished during these demonstrations, which included Hamas and Fatah supporters who attacked Israel's terrorist army side by side.

O blogueiro marroquinho Al Miraat (The Mirror) profere sua calma perspectiva de sempre [en], dizendo:

Bombing civilian areas is not something civilized countries do. Since Nuremberg this is considered a war crime. This is a war crime; a massacre; a mass murder, committed by American made deadly weapons, mostly paid for by American taxpayer’s money.

The terrible thing is, this will not make Israel safer and will only aggravate the trend in the Palestinian (and indeed the Arab street) toward a more extremist position. These policies have been pursued for decade after decade and have led nowhere. It is Israel that is upholding the status quo.

Mohammad, do KABOBfest, que é baseado na Palestina, resumiu os eventos do dia [en]. Ele conseguiu falar com amigos e parentes em Gaza, e relatou suas reações:

It was tough to get a line into Gaza during the day, but I managed to get hold of my uncle Mohammad in Gaza City. He sounded in shock, unable to say much. I asked him where he was; he replied that he was next to the building used to issue passports, and there were about 50 bodies inside. I couldn't say anything. I hung up.

My uncle Jasim in Khan Younis was also outside. He said he was okay, but there were explosions and dead people everywhere.

I didn't even bother talking to my uncle Mahmoud; my mom had called him and heard crying all around him. His wife was mourning the death of her brother.

I think the most poignant emotion was shock, whether in Gaza or in the West Bank. As its primary victims, we had become used to Israel crossing red lines in its continuous policy of opression and occupation. But this was something else. The sheer scale of the massacre was unfathomable.

Ele resume:

Israel still believes it can impose its will by force. The only way its goals will be met is through genocide. But there is another angle, and that is the upcoming Israeli election. It is not novel for incumbent Israeli governments to carry out atrocities against Palestinians to garner domestic support, and with the Likud expected to win the next elections, this is definitely a power play by the embattled ruling party, Kadima.

Today, and probably the days to come, will be a clear demonstration os the very worst of Israel, what Will termed a dangerous blend of Zionist fantasy and election posturing. For 60 years, Israel has tried to use its overwhelming military prowess to cow the Palestinians into accepting the fate it dictates for them, and for 60 years no Israeli government has been able to do that.

Remember Gaza.

Para obter mais informações sobre os ataques em Gaza, visite a página de cobertura especial sobre os bombardeios [en] do Global Voices.