Dec. 27 of 2009 marks the first anniversary of the Israeli attack and invasion of the Gaza Strip. At least 1,300 Palestinians - among them some 220 children - were killed in Israel's 22-day assault of Gaza in the winter of 2008-09, and over to 5,400 were wounded. The IMEU presents a collection of background information and resources on this continuing crisis, as well as coverage of the ongoing efforts to draw attention to the siege, such as the Gaza Freedom March.

THE ONGOING CRISIS IN GAZA:
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

This is not humane. We need dignity
The Guardian

On my way to visit a friend in the Abed Rabbo district, north of the Gaza Strip, the taxi driver handed me a small pack of biscuits for change. There are nearly no copper coins left here so cab drivers barter a half Israeli shekel for biscuits brought in from the tunnels between the southern city of Rafah and Egypt's northern Sinai.


Gaza must be rebuilt now
The Guardian

US objections have impeded Egyptian efforts to resolve differences between Hamas and Fatah that could lead to 2010 elections. With this stalemate, PLO leaders have decided that President Mahmoud Abbas will continue in power until elections can be held - a decision condemned by many Palestinians.

Gaza one year on: the aftermath of a tragedy
The Independent

Hilmi Samouni still hopes at some point - "inshallah" - to go back to his old job as a kitchen assistant in the Palmyra, Gaza City's best known shwarma restaurant. But unlike his 22-year-old brother Khamiz, who is working once again in a car paint shop, and his 20-year-old cousin Mousa, on a two-year accountancy diploma course at Al Azhar University, Hilmi, who is 26, found that he couldn't cope when he returned to the Palmyra after the war.

The Goldstone Report on the Israeli incursion into Gaza
The Palm Beach Post

Israel claims self-defense, but Gaza incursion was a war crime. Palm Beach County Democratic officials ignored overwhelming evidence of Israeli war crimes in Gaza by disinviting Rep. Dennis Kucinich as their keynote Truman-Kennedy-Johnson Dinner speaker. Efforts to malign the report of Justice Richard Goldstone into Israeli and Hamas war crimes last winter are irresponsible and highlight the growing sense of Israeli exceptionalism - international law applies to others but not to Israel.

Gazans brace for cold, bleak and miserable winter
Inter Press Service

Tens of thousands of Gazans living in tents and damaged homes face a wet, cold and miserable winter as Israel's blockade of the coastal territory continues to prevent the importation of building and reconstruction material. During the last few weeks Gazans were given a brief reprieve from the oncoming winter as an unseasonal snap of warmish, sunny weather held off winter rain and plummeting temperatures.

Obama should back Goldstone report
The San Francisco Chronicle

President Obama has placed restoration of the stature of the United States among his primary foreign policy goals. He has already achieved substantial progress in Europe, where polls indicate that he is widely admired. The president's June Cairo University speech also won praise in the Arab and Muslim worlds. Yet there are still no substantive policy changes implied by his inspiring words.

THE GAZA FREEDOM MARCH

Egypt to allow 100 Gaza Freedom Marchers into Gaza
Agence France Presse

Egypt has offered to allow only 100 out of about 1,300 Gaza Freedom march delegates into blockaded Gaza after they staged demonstrations and a hunger strike.

Prescott man embarks to Gaza
The Daily Courier

Dennis DuVall will leave his Prescott home for a two-week humanitarian and peace mission to the Middle East as part of a 1,000-member international coalition sponsoring the Gaza Freedom March on Dec.

International participation in December 31 Gaza Freedom March tops 1,000
commondreams.org

Over 1,000 delegates from 42 countries have signed up to participate in the December 31st Gaza Freedom March that will mark the one-year anniversary of the Israeli invasion and call for an end to the siege that has brought 1.5 million people to the edge of disaster.

Gaza Freedom March: The Siege Has to End
The Palestine Chronicle

The feedback to the Goldstone report has awakened an important historic lesson that sometimes the international community gets it wrong and in this situation it is up to us, the people of the world to work for justice and to say NO. This is not so much our choice as it is our duty.

'Dear President Mubarak, the Gaza people need our moral support on this difficult anniversary'
Mondoweiss

We, representing 1,362 individuals from 43 countries arriving in Cairo to participate in the Gaza Freedom March, are pleading to the Egyptians and your reputation for hospitality. We are peacemakers. We have not come to Egypt to create trouble or cause conflict. On the contrary. We have come because we believe that all people - including the Palestinians of Gaza - should have access to the resources they need to live in dignity.

Gaza Freedom March Planned for One-Year Anniversary of Israeli Assault
Democracy Now

This weekend marks that one-year anniversary of the start of Israel's three-week assault on the Gaza Strip that killed some 1,400 Palestinians and thirteen Israelis. To mark the occasion, a group of over nearly 1,400 individuals from over forty countries around the world are aiming to break the siege of Gaza and participate in a nonviolent march inside Gaza alongside thousands of Palestinians.

GAZA FREEDOM MARCH VIDEO

Gaza Freedom March participants confronted by Egyptian security on the banks of the Nile. International Gaza Activists have been denied access to the Erez border crossing, and some groups have been confined to their lodgings, bus stations and embassies under threat of deportation. Thanks to Konda Mason for this footage.

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Gaza Freedom March




Activists for peace and justice in the Middle East discuss the events that first inspired them to get involved with The Gaza Freedom March

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Gaza Freedom March




More video here.

ISRAEL'S 22-DAY ASSAULT OF GAZA, 2008-2009: COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

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READ MORE COMMENTARY & ANALYSIS

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