His Name Was Basem…..

His name was Basem, which means smile, and that is how he greeted everyone. But we all called him ‘Pheel’, which means elephant because he had the body the size of an elephant. But Basem had the heart of a child.

He loved everyone, and because of his sweetness and ability to make us laugh, everyone loved him. Basem was everyone’s friend: the children talk about how he would play with them, scare them and then make them laugh. He would tend the garden in the playground and bring toys and books to the kindergarten. The old ladies in the village talk about how he used to visit, to ask after them and see if they needed anything. In the village, he seemed to be everywhere at once. He would pop in to say hello, take one puff of the nargila, and be off to his next spot. The morning he was killed he went to the house of Hamis, whose skull had been broken at a previous demonstration three months ago by a tear gas canister projectile - the same weapon that would kill Basem.

Basem woke Hamis and gave him his medicine, then off he went to visit another friend in the village who is ill with cancer. Then a little girl from the village wanted a pineapple but couldn’t find any in the local stores. So Basem went to Ramallah to get a pineapple and was back before noon for the Friday prayers and the weekly demonstration against the theft of our land by the apartheid wall. Pheel never missed a demonstration; he participated in all the activities and creative actions in Bilin. He would always talk to the soldiers as human beings. Before he was hit he was calling for the soldiers to stop shooting because there were goats near the fence and he was worried for them. Then a woman in front of him was hit. He yelled to the commander to stop shooting because someone was wounded. He expected the soldiers to understand and stop shooting. Instead, they shot him too.

People came to his funeral from all the surrounding villages to show Basem that they loved him as much as he had loved them. But those of us from Bil’in kept looking around for him, expecting him to be walking with us.

Pheel, you were everyone’s friend. We always knew we loved you, but didn’t realize how much we would miss you until we lost you. As Bil’in has become the symbol of Palestine’s popular resistance, you are the symbol of Bil’in. Sweet Pheel, Rest in Peace, we will continue in your footsteps.

Source: http://www.bilin-village.org/english/articles/different-look/His-name-was-Basem

This was a caring human being who gave of himself to all those around him.  It’s the people like the fine gentle soul you have just read about who inspire me to do what I do. 

Yes, Pheel, rest in peace now.  I too will attempt to continue in your footsteps.   Though yours are very big shoes to fill I promise I will never give up. 

The Cowards Have Rammed The Dignity.....

Israel, what are you afraid of, the outside world finally paying attention and possibly learning the truth. You must have something to hide if you have to resort to preventing that possibility by ramming an aid boat carrying reporters, doctors and human rights activists therefore preventing it from reaching Gaza. Again, low very low, you gutless bastards.

CNN) -- An Israeli patrol boat struck a boat carrying medical volunteers and supplies to Gaza early Tuesday as it attempted to intercept the vessel in the Mediterranean Sea, witnesses and Israeli officials said.

CNN Correspondent Karl Penhaul was aboard the 60-foot, Gibraltar-registered pleasure boat Dignity when the contact occurred. When the boat later docked in the Lebanese port city of Tyre, severe damage was visible to the forward port side of the boat, and the front left window and part of the roof had collapsed.

The Dignity was carrying crew and 16 passengers -- physicians from Britain, Germany and Cyprus and human rights activists, including former U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney -- who were trying to reach Gaza through an Israeli blockade of the territory.

The captain of the Dignity said the Israelis broadcast a radio message accusing the vessel of being involved in terrorist activity. But Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor denied that and said the radio message simply warned the vessel not to proceed to Gaza because it is a closed military area.

Palmor said there was no response to the radio message, and the vessel then tried to out-maneuver the Israeli patrol boat, leading to the collision.

Penhaul said at least two Israeli patrol boats had shadowed the Dignity for about half an hour before the collision, moving around the vessel on all sides. One of the patrol boats then shined its spotlight on the Dignity while the other, with its lights off, "very severely rammed" the boat.

The captain of the Dignity told Penhaul he received no prior warning. Only after the collision did the Israelis come on the radio to say they struck the boat because they believed it was involved in terrorist activities.

The captain and crew said their vessel was struck intentionally, Penhaul said, but Palmor called those allegations "absurd."

"There is no intention on the part of the Israeli navy to ram anybody," Palmor said.

"I would call it ramming. Let's just call it as it is," McKinney said. "Our boat was rammed three times, twice in the front and one on the side.

"Our mission was a peaceful mission to deliver medical supplies and our mission was thwarted by the Israelis -- the aggressiveness of the Israeli military," she said.

The incident occurred in international waters about 90 miles off Gaza. Israel controls the waters off Gaza's coast and routinely blocks ships from coming into the Palestinian territory as part of an ongoing blockade that also applies to the Israel-Gaza border. Human rights groups have expressed concern about the blockade on Gaza, which has restricted the delivery of emergency aid and fuel supplies.

The collision was so severe, Penhaul said, that the passengers were ordered to put on their life vests and be ready to get in lifeboats. The Dignity began taking on water, but the crew managed to pump it out of the hull long enough for the boat to reach shore.

Palmor said the vessel refused assistance after the incident.

The boat was carrying boxes of relief supplies, volunteers and journalists to Gaza, the Palestinian territory now subject to an intense Israeli bombing campaign.

Israel launched airstrikes against Gaza on Saturday in what Defense Minister Ehud Barak called an "all-out war" against the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which has ruled the territory since 2007.

The Palestinian death toll has topped 375, most of them Hamas militants, Palestinian medical sources said Tuesday. At least 60 civilians have been killed in Gaza, U.N. officials said.

Hamas has responded with volleys of rocket fire aimed at southern Israeli towns, which have left six Israelis dead -- five of them civilians.

Hamas has vowed to defend Gaza in the face of what it calls continued Israeli aggression. Each side blames the other for violating an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire, which formally expired December 19 but had been weakening for months.

"Each side blames the other for violating an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire, which formally expired December 19 but had been weakening for months."

What cease-fire!?!? Do you call 20 dead Palestinians during this so-called "cease-fire" accidental deaths? What a load of bullshit. Poke the lion in the cage with a stick until it retaliates, then call this justification for invasion. You fuckers.

I Stand By You, Palestina.....

Free Gaza.....

(Larnaca, Cyprus 29 December 2008) - There is a time when silence is
complicity and inaction is unacceptable. On Saturday, December 27, Israel
began Operation "Cast Lead," a military onslaught against the civilian
population of the Gaza Strip that has - so far - massacred more than
three-hundred men, women, and children, and seriously injured over a
thousand.

In response to Israeli butchery, the Free Gaza ship, the DIGNITY, will
depart Larnaca Port at approximately 5pm (UTC), on Monday, December 29,
bound for besieged Gaza. The ship is on an emergency mission carrying in
physicians, human rights workers and over three tons of desperately needed
medical supplies donated by the people of Cyprus. Coordinating with the
Gaza Ministry of Health, the doctors will be immediately posted to
overburdened hospitals and clinics upon their arrival.

We are not asking Israel for "permission" to go, and we will not stop
until the DIGNITY lands in Gaza. We are answering urgent calls from
hospitals and health care workers in Gaza by taking in three physicians
who will stay and work in Gaza for several weeks. We will hold Israel
responsible for the safety of our passengers and our cargo of emergency
medicine.

Even before the present Israeli blitzkrieg, Karen Koning Abu Zayd, head of
the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), asserted that, "Gaza
is on the threshold of becoming the first territory to be intentionally
reduced to a state of abject destitution, with the knowledge, acquiescence
and - some would say - encouragement of the international community."

Ewa Jasiewicz, a Free Gaza organizer living in Gaza, agreed with Abu Zayd,
saying: "Where is the United Nations? Where is the Arab League? Where is
the outrage against Israeli cruelty and Egyptian complicity? Every
hospital in Gaza is already overwhelmed. Israel is committing war crimes
here in Gaza, and words of condemnation are no longer enough. The world
must act now to stop this madness."

The Free Gaza Movement continues to do what the governments of the world
will not do - take direct action to defend the health, lives, and dignity
of 1.5 million Palestinians under siege in the Gaza Strip.

This catastrophe is still unfolding, and humanitarian needs in Gaza are
quite literally devastating. The world can no longer stay silent as the
Palestinian people are deliberately massacred, starved and humiliated. We
have to create a new consciousness that turns the practice of human rights
from rhetoric into reality. Palestinians have an inalienable right to
live, and the undeniable right to a life with dignity.

The passengers on this Free Gaza emergency delegation include:
* International humanitarian and human rights workers from Cyprus,
Australia, Ireland, Great Britain, Tunisia, and the United States.
* Doctors going to Gaza to volunteer in local hospitals, including Dr.
Elena Theoharous, surgeon and Member of Parliament from Cyprus.
* Journalists going to Gaza to report on the massacre, including
Al-Jazeera reporter Sami al-Haj, a former detainee at Guantanamo Bay.
* The Hon. Cynthia McKinney, former U.S. Congresswoman and Green Party
presidential candidate.

###########
The Free Gaza Movement, a human rights group, sent two boats to Gaza in
August 2008. These were the first international boats to land in the port
in 41 years. Since August, four more voyages were successful, taking
Parliamentarians, human rights workers, physicians, and other dignitaries
to witness the effects of Israel's draconian policies on the civilians of
Gaza.
FreeGaza.org