The pictures from Gaza we're not supposed to see (WARNING: GRAPHIC)

[Roy Serohz]

Last edited Sat Jul 19, 2014, 09:51 PM - Edit history (1)

Israeli air strikes have killed at least 231 Palestinians in total. More than 1,650 have been wounded in 10 days of attacks. More than 75 percent of those killed were non-combatants, according to the United Nations. Nearly a quarter of the dead were children, including four young boys killed on June 16 by an Israeli air strike while playing soccer on a Gaza beach. They were all members of the Bakr family and between the ages of nine and 11.

Those numbers don't convey the horror of what's happening right now in Gaza. Neither do most of the photographs you'll find in news media. Streets and buildings have been blasted to rubble, yes. People are broken and mourning. Those things must be documented. But too often, we hide from the most graphic scenes of violence and death.









http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/middle-east/140709/these-are-the-photos-gaza-too-graphic-for-some-news-media-to-show

All the children in these photos are dead, killed by weapons we paid for and supplied.

If this post gets hidden, believe me when I say I'll understand! Right now, I have to go to the bathroom and puke my fucking guts up.

[bravenak]

1. Horrible.

Thank you for the graphic warning.

[Sunlei]

2. This is horrible and needs to stop. Remember when Bush admin. banned pics from his wars? Those wars

would have stopped faster with Local media pictures like this.

[blkmusclmachine]

62. This killing is fully sanctioned by the US Gov't. They are under the spell of religion/End Times

prophecy. And to them, this is a good and necessary step ... to get to "Heaven."

[Laughing Mirror]

3. Gaza’s Torment, Israel’s Crimes, Our Responsibilities

Noam Chomsky:

When Israel is on “good behavior,” more than two Palestinian children are killed every week, a pattern that goes back over 14 years. The underlying cause is the criminal occupation and the programs to reduce Palestinian life to bare survival in Gaza, while Palestinians are restricted to unviable cantons in the West Bank and Israel takes over what it wants, all in gross violation of international law and explicit Security Council resolutions, not to speak of minimal decency. And it will continue as long as it is supported by Washington and tolerated by Europe – to our everlasting shame.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article39071.htm

[newfie11]

17. +Infinity!

Horrible!!!!

[Roy Serohz]

20. and beyond

If more people listened to Chomsky, this country would be in vastly better shape. In all areas, both foreign and domestic.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

30. This needs to be its OWN post.

There is so much truth here that needs to be spread.

Please consider posting your link as a separate post.

Thank you.

[Agony]

68. yup

even some Israelis care enough to document the violence

http://www.btselem.org/statistics/fatalities/after-cast-lead/by-date-of-event

The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories

http://www.btselem.org/statistics/casualties_clarifications

[rdking647]

4. if hamas wants to stop the killing

all they need to do is stop firing rockets at israel

[ananda]

5. Something to consider is that Palestinians are living in a virtual hell already.

You should do some serious research on the truth about what Israel is doing
to Palestinians, an oppressive wrong so horrible that it hardly bears
thinking about.

But we must look at it and do our best to get the truth out so that a
decent nation can emerge with room for both Jews and Arabs with
equal rights.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

79. there's no recommend button for posts but I informally RECOMMEND your's ananda

thank you. well said. all of it.

[cali]

6. but that won't stop the Israeli land theft

It won't stop the existence of Gaza as nothing but an open air prison. It won't stop the oppression of Palestinians by Israel. So say Hamas stops or is stopped from firing rockets which I can agree is a bad thing. What about the issues I listed?

[Roy Serohz]

22. Excellent Point

No sane person thinks that firing rockets at Israel is right. But none of these rockets are coming from the West Bank, where the Israelis continue to flout international law by constructing more settlements.

[awoke_in_2003]

57. +1000. nt

[DanTex]

8. If IDF wants to stop the killing, all they need to do is, you know, stop the killing.

How many innocent civilians has Hamas killed? How many has IDF killed?

And here's an honest question. Do you think there is any limit to the number of Palestinian civilians that IDF can justifiably kill in response to the rocket attacks? Would you be just as callous to the plight of Palestinian civilians if the number killed were in the thousands or tens of thousands, rather than hundreds?

Where's the limit? How many Palestinian civilians do you think IDF can justifiably kill in response to rocket attacks by Hamas?

[Jappleseed]

9. So it's down to the she was wearing a short skirt argument.

Well done.

Loss of humanity comes with the unwillingness to blame self for what self does.

[panader0]

12. Welcome to DU!

Have fun.

[zeemike]

16. No I think it is more like the "stop resisting" argument

That the cops use to justify beating people up or shooting them...they have all the power and if they want to beat the crap out of you it's your fault.

[Roy Serohz]

27. Either way,

it's excusing oneself of any responsibility, I agree.

[Violet_Crumble]

10. Are you saying it's okay to kill children playing on a beach unless Hamas stops??

I doubt there's many people who'd argue that Hamas is wrong, but to argue that the killing of children by Israeli missiles is an acceptable response to it is disgusting.

[Katashi_itto]

11. Lol!! such a profound answer must have taken a great deal of thought.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

14. Who cares what Hamas wants?

The collective punishment of Palestinians is reminiscent of the US war of aggression against Iraq after a bunch of Saudi terrorists attacked the US.

Go in, kill and destroy randomly because your police are incompetent at arresting the actual criminals.

[yurbud]

66. it's mostly reminiscent of how we treated Native Americans

until there weren't enough left to treat any particular way.

Some Indians fought us, some tried to assimilate, but one way or another, most got killed.

Israelis aren't even giving Palestinians the option of assimilating.

They can suffer, die, or leave.

[obxhead]

18. That might stop the bombs, but it won't end the murder of children by Israel.

Poverty and lack of food, medical supplies, and other vital resources will still be cut offaking for a slow painful death.

For now Israel will continue the murder of innocents with weapons wearing the badge of the United States.

[malaise]

23. These children were killed by the government of Israel

On whose behalf shelling took place from off-shore.
You have no credibility re this war crime and one day those who continue this genocide will pay just like the Nazis

[Roy Serohz]

28. Sadly, that's true

I just hope you're right about justice being done, eventually. Then again, we can't/won't prosecute Cheney!

[malaise]

29. Did you see how long it took to get Pinochet

in Chile and some of the other butchers in Argentina. Kissinger knows a lot about that period.
There are so many criminals among us that it is frightening.

[Roy Serohz]

42. Kissenger, Westmoreland, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Rice, the Shrub

Never prosecuted. (smh)

[A Simple Game]

40. You and others that think the same as you really need to educate yourself about

what is going on over there. Israel declared war on the Palestinians long before Hamas was firing rockets or even in existence.

It's all there for you to find, read, and hopefully understand.

This is important to understand because it is our tax money that is allowing this to happen.

[All_Corners]

45. Correct...

[840high]

47. Absolutely right. Israel has

a right to defend itself.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

48. So does Palestine. nt

[Aerows]

72. I'm sorry if this offends you

but can the armies of the world STOP FUCKING KILLING CHILDREN!!??

MH17 and this. What in the hell did these children do to anyone? A baby can hardly fire a rocket.

A child still in diapers isn't your enemy, but killing his siblings and parents is a way to make another one so that the disgusting cycle can continue.

There are assholes and evil people on both sides - children aren't the actors here.

[JoeyT]

74. A post showing dead Palestenian children, and it took four

posts...four fucking posts, for the Nits Make Lice brigade to show up.

It's bizarre. People supporting displacing a population and slaughtering them when they object aren't hidden on a liberal message board, yet people responding to them a little too harshly are.

[lunasun]

77. My thoughts exactly

[sabrina 1]

85. Shameful isn't it What is being done to the Palestinian people is sickening, there are no words

and worse is OUR GOVERNMENT, the SILENCE in the face of the murder of so many innocent children. The last report I saw was 76 children so far, and it's only begun. SOMEONE NEEDS TO STOP IT!

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

84. “If we kill their families, that will frighten them.” ~ Israeli reserve major general Oren Shachor

“If we kill their families, that will frighten them.”
~ Israeli reserve major general Oren Shachor

Gaza: this shameful injustice will only end if the cost of it rises
The idea that Israel is defending itself from unprovoked attacks is absurd. Occupied people have the right to resist
...
For the third time in five years, the world’s fourth largest military power has launched a full-scale armed onslaught on one of its most deprived and overcrowded territories. Since Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip began, just over a week ago, more than 200 Palestinians have been killed. Nearly 80% of the dead are civilians, over 20% of them children.
...
The idea that Israel is defending itself against unprovoked attacks from outside its borders is an absurdity. Despite Israel’s withdrawal of settlements and bases in 2005, Gaza remains occupied both in reality and international law, its border, coastal waters, resources, airspace and power supply controlled by Israel.

So the Palestinians of Gaza are an occupied people, like those in the West Bank, who have the right to resist, by force if they choose – though not deliberately to target civilians. But Israel does not have a right of self-defence over territories it illegally occupies – it has an obligation to withdraw. That occupation, underpinned by the US and its allies, is now entering its 48th year. Most of the 1.8 million Palestinians enduring continuous bombardment in Gaza are themselves refugees or their descendants, who were driven out or fled from cities such as Jaffa 66 years ago when Israel was established.

...more here
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jul/16/gaza-shameful-injustice-israel-attacks-occupied-people

[bigdarryl]

7. And we want to condeme Russia for the plane shot down yet

We say nothing of Israel killing little babies.This country is so hypercritical

[Roy Serohz]

31. And when we DO say something, we're accused of antisemitism

I don't have a problem with Israel. I have major problems with its government and its policies!

[Mnemosyne]

13. Heinous and heart-breaking beyond words. nt

[Scuba]

19. "All the children in these photos are dead, killed by weapons we paid for and supplied."

Says it all.

[Faryn Balyncd]

21. SCOTUS's religious freedom: corps can refuse to pay for insurance, but those that believe financing

....the murder of these children must continue to pay for it.

[broiles]

26. +1

[Roy Serohz]

32. Bingo

We're pretty much fucked. If I were younger, I'd start learning Mandarin.

[alterfurz]

24. "cutting the grass"

"...the conflict remains at a relatively low level until, every couple of years, it flares up with heavy Israeli strikes on Gaza that also cost a large number of Palestinian lives. But it kills very few Israelis, which is a big part of why Israeli voters and leaders have appeared willing to accept it.

"This Israeli strategy is sometimes described as "cutting the grass." In this thinking, Israel never really solves the conflict or even tries; it tolerates a level of violence from Gaza-based militant groups, but every few years bombs and maybe invades Gaza to weaken militants there and destroy their weapons – to cut the grass. It treats the Israel-Palestine conflict, at least as it pertains to Gaza, as something to be managed rather than solved.

"It is important to stress that this strategy is not one that ever produces peace or that is designed to lead to a solution. It accepts a low level of Israeli deaths from rocket fire, and occasionally dozens or hundreds of Palestinian deaths from air strikes, as status quo."

http://www.vox.com/2014/7/14/5898581/chart-israel-palestine-conflict-deaths

________

What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty and democracy? -- Gandhi

[busterbrown]

44. Yep....One might even think Israel’s purpose of these attacks..

Are to stoke tensions so that a few Israeli’s will die defending the State..in order to constantly keep the tensions high. Of course the deaths of several hundred Palestinians is a fair number in relations to the few Israeli’s who also are killed... Does seem like a statistical decision.

Keep the tensions high but most of all keep it going as long as possible until there is finally a mass exodus out of the Gaza..

[sabrina 1]

25. Heartbreaking, the innocents are the ones who mostly die in these despicable wars.

RIP little ones, so sorry we cannot seem to stop the violence. Too many cheerleaders supporting it.

[Roy Serohz]

34. Cheerleaders

May they all

[TBF]

37. You got that right. nt

[MrMickeysMom]

33. And… With OUR military weapons… It should sicken everyone what was observed by Al Jezeera

And, let me just say now for those who jump on my comment, that I don't want to HEAR anymore about this humanitarian bullshit we are their to assist with Israel. My comment isn't anti-Semitism … It has to do with real WAR CRIMES.

Where this shit happened… an Al Jezeera reporter was staying in a near-by hotel on the beach where some of these now dead children were playing. Upon the attack, some children ran away from the bombing towards her. They were TARGETED and GUNNED DOWN as they ran away from it. KILLED by OUR Military Industrial Complex.

You satisfied with that, folks?

I've HAD IT with this bullshit. WE are FUNDING these military weapons… and for WHAT? Humanitarian causes?

This is beyond sickening.

[cer7711]

35. 'Member Way Back When Barbara Bush Said:

"Why would I want to pollute my beautiful mind with such things?"

Ummm . . . maybe it's because the LEAST thing advocates of war (and I am not always anti-war--just most of the time; 90% of the time) can do is look at the carnage they've voted for/defended/wish to see continued.

It's a moral duty.

'Cause if you flinch from the horror of war, maybe . . .

[TBF]

36. I really wish someone who gets along with Hamas would

try to broker some kind of peace with Israel - some land where the Palestinians would have their own area. What's happening now clearly isn't working and I don't see Hamas as a leadership organization that can pull itself together and stop the violence without some help. This is so sad to watch.

[Moostache]

38. Horrifying...these should be taped to the mirror of all war mongers...

If you can stare at these photos and STILL want violence, mindless and random and hateful, then you are something outside the humanity I wish to defend. This must stop and the Israelis must own their overkill just as much as anyone else who commits such atrocities.

[JoeyT]

76. If you honestly think it bothers them, look upthread.

The only vengeance you'd inflict on them by making them see it all the time is carpal tunnel.

[yellowwoodII]

39. This breaks my heart

We are helping to fund these killings. That makes us morally responsible. President Obama has asked Israel to stop expanding the settlements without success.
Remember the PNAC and its support of this kind of killing before the Iraq invasions. Americans must protest this!

[cali]

43. President Obama told Israel that he supports their attack on Gaza.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

50. If he showed any compassion ...

...for the Palestinians, he'd literally be Hitler. /s

[NealK]

51. You know, I think that the Nobel Peace Prize that he recieved...

is as much of a sick joke as Kissinger getting one.

[emsimon33]

41. K&R

[TRoN33]

46. Oh good lord. These are just kids who want to live their own lives! For God sake, this atrocities by

Israeli government against Palestinians need to stop! Netanyahu is monster thug in $20,000 U.S. Taxpayer-paid suit.

[YarnAddict]

56. I wonder how many Israeli children

would be dead, if not for the Iron Dome defense system. Seems to me, the only reason there aren't many, many more dead Israelis than Palestinians is that Israel does what it needs to to protect its own people, instead of using them as human shields.

[cali]

59. Look, I think Hamas is atrocious and firing rockets indiscriminately is a war crime

but to answer your question: very few. How do we know that? Recent history, that's how. Israel has an extensive complex of bomb shelters throughout the country and the rockets, to date, simply haven't (thankfully) been very effective. Your simplistic comment ignores reality- like the FACT that until recently Israel used Palestinian civilians as human shields.

<snip>

The IDF admitted it had used Palestinians as 'human shields', in limited capacities, a practice subsequently banned by Israel's High Court of Justice.[27] The Israeli Defense Ministry appealed this decision.[28] Specifically, while acknowledging and defending the "use of Palestinians to deliver warnings to wanted men about impending arrest operations", the IDF denied reports of "using Palestinians as human shields against attacks on IDF forces", claiming it had already forbidden this practice.[27]

Amnesty International[29] and Human Rights Watch[30] said the Israel Defense Forces used Palestinian civilians as human shields during the 2002 Battle of Jenin. The Israeli human rights group B'Tselem said that "for a long period of time following the outbreak of the second intifada, particularly during Operation Defensive Shield, in April 2002, the IDF systematically used Palestinian civilians as human shields, forcing them to carry out military actions which threatened their lives".[31][32] Al Mezan reported the systematic use of "human shields" during the invasion of Beit Hanoun in 2004.[33]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_shield#Israel

[YarnAddict]

63. So, just to clarify

it is only because of Israel's defenses, and not due to any restraint on the part of Hamas.

Do you think Hamas would drop leaflets or make phone calls to warn Israelis of an impending attack? I really doubt it. But that is what Israel is doing. And if I were a Palestinian mom, and got a phone call that there would be an attack at 2:30 p.m., I certainly wouldn't send the little tykes out to play on the beach!

The info you provided wasn't something I had been aware of, and I appreciate knowing it; however, that appears to have been in the past, and the Israelis are bending over backward to avoid civilian casualties, a task made more difficult by the fact that Hamas is benefitting from photos like the ones posted here.

It would be easy enough for Hamas to call a halt to this whole thing, by simply ceasing to fire rockets. Why hasn't that happened? Could it be that this kind of publicity is exactly what they want?

[840high]

69. Agree.

[allinthegame]

49. Just keeping recalling

They get most of their weapons from US either through direct sales or the massive amount of foreign aid we give them yearly.
My congressman and senators hear from me constantly about this….do yours?

[Douglas Carpenter]

52. thank you for posting ...knr

[Arugula Latte]

53. Our U.S. taxpayer dollars are partially financing this despicable carnage.

I am sickened.

[NealK]

54. Disgusting.

[Joe Shlabotnik]

55. Thanks for posting,

just like anti-war rallies held in Europe today, these are all images that we won't be seeing on the evening news tonight.

[U4ikLefty]

58. Human sheilds....la-la-la can't hear you!1!1!!1!

Did I mention Rachel Corrie was a "stupid bitch"? http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x216793

[whathehell]

60. What is wrong with Israeli conservatives?..Wouldn't they rather have less real estate

and MORE actual security?....an actual chance at peace?...I don't

understand why they won't accept a two state solution.

[truebluegreen]

64. Their whole economy is based on "security."

It has become a self-perpetuating cycle. Not unlike ours.

[whathehell]

82. They can't really be

that cynical, can they?

They been going through these cycles of terroristic violence for decades -- It's relatively

new (9/11) for us.

[truebluegreen]

86. I think they can.

And the security state has been driving our economy for decades, not just since 9/11. The Cold War was all about that too, especially since St Ronnie of Raygun started ramping up military spending while the Soviet Union was collapsing under its own weight. We the People lost the guns-or-butter debate; I think Israel is in a similar position.

[blkmusclmachine]

61. YOUR Tax Dollars at work, people. Meanwhile, Catfood Commission #3 is organizing for another stab at

gutting your Social Security safety net. The 1% have spoken. They will not be denied.

Change!

[JSK]

65. These are tame

Compared to some I have seen on Facebook.

[niyad]

67. k and r and thank you for the warning. welcome to du.

[easychoice]

70. Our TAX DOLLARS!!!

We,the taxpayers, are a milk cow to fund genocide.

[Aerows]

71. Dead children

[Helen Borg]

73. Each person at those funerals...

Will be a mortal enemy of Israel for as long as they live... Imagine if it happened to you.

[KauaiK]

75. This is beyond words....

At the risk of being called an anti-semite, the Israeli's are doing to the Palestinians what was done to them for centuries. Why can't they see that? I am appalled that MY tax dollars are paying for this horror. Without US aid and arms, Israel could not do this. They would have to go to the negotiating table.

[d_b]

78. someone please tell those dead children about the holocaust

I'm sure they'll be appreciative that they're blown to shit.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

80. these pictures may help to stop the genocide, so SHARE!

I posted some of these same posts on my fb page.

It has awakened many people who were either misinformed or disinformed.

[DeSwiss]

81. Fuck you Netanyahu!

Damn you and all those who helped you to perpetrate this horror -- to HELL where you belong.

[Tommy2Tone]

83. War is horrible but the Palestinians have no one to blame but themselves

The Palestinians elected Hamas, a terrorists organization, who's charter calls for the destruction of Israel. It's a clear case of voting against your own interests and putting you children in harms war.

Israel isn't blameless in this war, but they were provoked and if we know nothing else, we know Israel will respond ten fold to whatever action taken against them.