Israel becoming a pariah as atrocities come to light

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The Zionist regime continues to be­ come more discredited and isolated internationally, as the new Israeli gov­ ernment adopts a more openly rightwing character. Israeli soldiers involved in the assault on Gaza have themselves denounced the indiscriminate terror in­ flicted on the entire Palestinian popula­ tion of the area.

For example, a McClatchy news dis­ patch reported July 14: “Two soldiers from the Givati brigade who served in Zeitoun told the story of shooting an unarmed civilian without warn­ ing him. The elderly man was walk­ ing with a flashlight toward a building where Israeli forces were taking cover. The Israeli officer in the house repeat­ edly ignored requests from other sol­ diers to fire warning shots as the man approached, the soldiers said. Instead, when he got within 20 yards of the sol­ diers, the commander ordered snipers to kill the man. The soldiers later con­ firmed that the man was unarmed.

“The soldiers told [us] that they were ordered to violate a code imposed by the Israeli Supreme Court itself: In the Ezbt Abd Rabbo neighborhood, Israeli combatants said they forced Palestin­ ians to search homes for militants and enter buildings ahead of soldiers in direct violation of an Israeli Supreme Court ruling that bars fighters from us­ ing civilians as human shields.

“Sometimes a force would enter while placing rifle barrels on a civilian’s shoulder, advancing into a house and using him as a human shield,” said one Israeli soldier with the Golani Brigade. ‘Commanders said these were the in­ structions, and we had to do it.’”

The soldiers confirmed that white phosphorus shells were used against civilian targets. “According to the sol­ diers, the Israeli military fired white phosphorus mortars and artillery shells to set suspicious buildings ablaze and destroyed scores of Palestinian homes for questionable reasons. The white phosphorus supplied by the U.S. is sup­ posed to be used to illuminate targets or provide smoke cover for advancing troops. “‘Phosphorus was used as an igniter, simply to make it all go up in flames,’ one soldier said.”

White phosphorus is an atrocious weapon when used against people. It can literally melt flesh. The most shock­ ing photo from the Vietnam War, one that helped inspire the U.S. antiwar movement, was a picture of a young girl hideously mutilated by white phospho­ rous.

The Israeli soldiers described a de­ liberate policy of destroying buildings in Gaza—supposedly to prevent them from being used for launching small Qassam rockets into Israel. “‘In practi­ (continued on page 5, in “Professor Gates and the ‘teachable moment’”)

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INSIDE SOCIALIST ACTION: Mumia Abu-Jamal — 2 New Haven firefighters — 3

Prof. Gates arrested — 4 Obama’s immigrant plan — 6 Iraq today — 9

Canada news — 10 Film: Hurt Locker — 11 Convoy breaks Gaza blockade — 12