Sunday 17 March 2024

THEY KILLED YITZHAR HOFFMAN. LET THERE BE A THOUSAND MORE.

 It has been reported that the asshole commander behind the attack on Al Shifa hospital has been killed by the Al-Qassam Brigades . One can hope that it's true, and that a thousand more troops and commanders will follow him to hell .

Israeli Commander Responsible for Storming Al-Shifa Hospital Killed – VIDEO & REPORT

Yitzhar Hoffman, the Israeli officer behind the Al-Shifa onslaught, was killed by the Palestinian Resistance in Gaza. (Photo: video grab)

By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

On Sunday, Al-Qassam released a video showing the killing of Hoffman, the man behind the Al-Shifa onslaught. They also released a statement, providing context to the video. 

Yitzhar Hoffman, an Israeli officer in the elite Shaldag Unit, is believed to have been the commander responsible for the besiegement and storming of Al-Shifa Hospital in November 2023. 

The attack on Al-Shifa was one of the bloodiest chapters of the war, compared to the Israeli strike on the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza City where hundreds were killed.

Israel justified its attack on Al-Shifa by describing it as the headquarters of the Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas. Yet, no such headquarters were found, however hard Daniel Hagari, the mouthpiece of the Israeli army, tried to convince his audiences.

It turned out that Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, knew precisely the identity of those who stormed the hospital, carrying out field executions and ultimately expelling patients and medical staff from Gaza’s largest medical center. 

On Sunday, Al-Qassam released a video showing the killing of Hoffman, the man behind the Al-Shifa onslaught. They also released a statement, providing context to the video. 

Find below Al-Qassam’s video and a full statement provided by the Resistance News Network using their Telegram Channel. 

“Martyr Izz El-Din Al-Qassam Brigades unveils exclusive scenes to Al-Jazeera showing their monitoring and tracking of the IOF officer in the elite Shaldag Unit, Yitzhar Hoffman, before he was killed by a resistance sniper using a locally-made Ghoul sniper rifle.

“It is noteworthy that this officer was the one responsible for besieging and storming Al-Shifa Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip in November 2023.

“The report describes how the IOF unit fortified itself in Gaza City. Their field command center was based in one of the sports clubs, about 1km away from Al-Shifa Hospital, near the Jawazat area, which witnessed fierce clashes from all resistance factions. The area was overseen by the killed officer Hoffman.

“Al-Qassam Brigades precisely tracked Hoffman from the immediate moment after he decided to storm and besiege Al-Shifa Hospital until the perfect opportunity to guarantee his death two months later, using a bullet and sniper made in Gaza, the Ghoul rifle. 

“The bullet penetrates IOF helmets and vests, and even disable vehicles. Special units within Al-Qassam were trained on it, as shown in the second half of the report. 

“The training is conducted after selecting resistance fighters who possess characteristics enabling them to endure long waiting periods to capture a potential target, the ability to work under severe pressure in difficult field conditions, the flexibility of concealment, identifying the importance of the target, and making the decision of execution. 

“Over 34 operations have been executed with the Ghoul rifle. Remarkably, Al-Jazeera confirmed that an Al-Qassam fighter confirmed a hit distance of 1,800 meters using the Ghoul rifle during Al-Aqsa Flood.”

(The Palestine Chronicle

Friday 15 March 2024

NEVER FORGET AARON BUSHNELL

 The absolute selflessness of Aaron Bushnell, who self-immolated in front of the israeli embassy to protest the genocide happening in Gaza must never be forgotten. He could no longer be complicit in this crime against humanity , and committed the ultimate act of self-sacrifice. Please read this article by Ilan Pappe, a courageous historian in his own right .

Unlocking the ‘Mystery’ – Ilan PappĂ© Writes In Memory of Aaron Bushnell

Aaron Bushnell set himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC, in protest against Israel’s genocidal war. (Image: Palestine Chronicle, via social media)

By Ilan Pappe – The Palestine Chronicle  

Hopefully, one day, in a liberated Palestine, there will be a street to commemorate these brave young men and women, who taught the world that what is taking place in Palestine is an injustice that cannot be tolerated.

Senior Airman Aaron Bushnell’s sacrifice for the sake of Gaza and Palestine became yesterday’s news too quickly.  

Aaron was a cyber defense operation specialist in the US Airforce and he died at the age of 25 from injuries sustained when he set himself on fire in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington.

The official US army and police conveyed their sympathy to the family, but nothing was mentioned about the background and the cause Aaron was willing to die for. 

At best, the incident was described as a ‘tragic event’. The Pentagon explained that Aaron’s protest was against the war in Gaza and ignored his main message, blaming the United States for being complicit in the genocide.

I hope most of us will not be content with the official response. If we are, it means we disrespect the brave outcry of this young man and, in that case, his sacrifice will be in vain.

It was no accident that Aaron Bushnell donned his military uniform and broadcast live his heroic act of sacrifice over the internet.

As “an active duty member”, he wrote, “I will no longer be complicit in genocide”.

‘Free Palestine’

This was his main message before dousing himself in a clear liquid and setting himself on fire, crying “Free Palestine”.

In the pre-action message, he wrote:

 “I am about to engage in an extreme act of protest, but compared to what people have been experiencing in Palestine, at the hands of their colonizers, it’s not extreme at all.” 

I write this piece with trepidation, making sure it does not sound like encouragement for others to go to that extreme – but find it difficult not to admire Aaron’s bravery acknowledged by the resistance movement in Gaza that praised the American pilot who:

“Immortalized his name as a defender of human values and the plight of the Palestinian people, who are oppressed by the American administration and its unjust policies.”

An Important Message

Aaron’s message is simple and clear: the US is complicit in the first-ever televised genocide in modern times. And if you serve in the American administration or army, then you, too, are complicit.

The physical venue where the complicity is translated into actual collaboration is, indeed, the Israeli embassy in Washington, and this is why Aaron decided to protest there.

Other parts of Aaron’s message need to be repeated and echoed by many of us. 

He asked whether decent people should have been quiet during slavery in America, or during Apartheid in South Africa. Or everywhere in the world throughout history, when people sacrificed their lives in the struggle for justice? 

Aaron was unable to stop the American complicity in the genocide, but he hoped that it would not go unnoticed.

But it is not only the message of Aaron’s self-sacrifice that is so important. His persona was equally crucial.

Everyone who knew him remembered him for “his kindness, gentleness, thoughtfulness”. A friend told reporters that he was “the kindest, gentlest, silliest little kid in the Air Force” and “one of the most principled comrades”.

The day before his self-immolation, he sent a will to his friend, gave his cat to a neighbor and mentioned to his friend that his fridge was full for them to enjoy.

We Need You

It is important to know who Aaron was, as the tendency is to describe young men like him as insane, fanatics or zealots. 

The truth is Aaron was a healthy person who felt so helpless as to be part of an institution that is complicit in the suffering of the Palestinians.

He was a sensitive person who sacrificed his life, hoping this would send a message.

We shall beseech people not to take these extreme measures. We need them on the streets, at the protests.

We need them to quit positions and jobs to demonstrate their humanity in the face of a genocide that is televised to us on an hourly basis, one that is still ongoing.

Aaron was ready to face future challenges in life.

He was actively pursuing a bachelor’s degree in software engineering from the Western Governors University. Also, he had earlier engaged in coursework related to software development at the Southern New Hampshire University and computer science at the University of Maryland Global Campus, according to the information on his LinkedIn profile.

The mainstream media in the US asked how come a young man who loved the Lord of the Rings and karaoke would do something so extreme. They defined it as a mystery.  

The answer for them was not Palestine, but Aaron’s association with the religious group, a cult he belonged to as a child and that allegedly mistreated its members.

The explanation US media provided was that when you leave a tight-knit group, you find it hard to belong elsewhere. Maybe this is true, but still, it does not explain Aaron’s act of self-sacrifice.

He did not do this because he was a lost soul. 

To the contrary, the fact that he had experienced injustice, pushed him – in the words of his close friends –  to try and “defend those who don’t care or can’t defend themselves”. 

This is why he looked for ways of being a social activist for just causes.

Aaron is Not Alone

Mainstream media in the US refuses to accept Aaron’s, and many other young Americans’ perception of the injustice in Palestine as equal to that experienced by slaves in America, or the victims of American imperialism in Vietnam. 

But more and more young Americans realize that the US policy is one of the major reasons for the ongoing suffering of the Palestinians. Many more will be aware of it now.

Aaron was not a superficial observer.

He felt uneasy being in the army and began, in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, to research the history of violence inflicted by the US, both domestically – against its own citizens – and across the world, against others. 

His soul-searching led him to consider leaving the army. His dream of a career was strongly associated with a wish to earn enough money to help the just causes he believed in.

It is not only Aaron that we should not forget.

We still do not know the name and identity of the brave woman who set herself on fire in front of the Israeli consulate in Atlanta last December. Even in that case, a Palestinian flag was found at the scene.

Aaron reminds us of Norman Morrison who did the same in front of the offices of Robert McNamara, the most senior American politician responsible for the devastation of Vietnam in the mid-1960s. 

And there were others in the US, such as Wyne Alan Bruce, who set himself on fire in April 2022 in Washington, on Earth Day, as a form of protest against international inaction in the face of environmental catastrophes, including climate change. 

And beyond the US, we all remember Thich Quang Duc, the Buddhist monk who set himself on fire in 1963, in protest against the pro-American South Vietnamese persecution of Buddhist monks.

And we also remember Mohamed Bouaziz, the Tunisian food trader who, in his act of sacrifice, triggered what became known as the Arab Spring.

Inquiring a bit deeper, I was surprised to learn that hardly anyone in the US military voiced concern, let alone criticism, about the American involvement in the Israeli genocide in Gaza.

Therefore, one can understand how lonely Aaron must have felt.

I wish we could all have talked to Aaron and told him that we could have used his expertise for the cause we all believe in. 

But the least we could do now is to remember him. 

And hopefully, one day, in a liberated Palestine, there will be a street to commemorate these brave young men and women, who taught the world that what is taking place in Palestine is an injustice that cannot be tolerated.

– Ilan PappĂ© is a professor at the University of Exeter. He was formerly a senior lecturer in political science at the University of Haifa. He is the author of The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, The Modern Middle East, A History of Modern Palestine: One Land, Two Peoples, and Ten Myths about Israel. He is the co-editor, with Ramzy Baroud of ‘Our Vision for Liberation.’ PappĂ© is described as one of Israel’s ‘New Historians’ who, since the release of pertinent British and Israeli government documents in the early 1980s, have been rewriting the history of Israel’s creation in 1948. He contributed this article to The Palestine Chronicle

Tuesday 12 March 2024

MORE THAN 100 MISSILES

 People in the west often get tired of hearing persistent reports on war over and over again, while they sit in the safety of their homes immune to the bloodshed perpetrated by their own leaders , or at the very least supporting the carnage done by their willing lapdogs. Imperialism has to die.

‘More than 100 Missiles’ – Hezbollah Responds to Israeli Attack

Hezbollah has entered the fight against Israel in solidarity with Gaza. (Photo: Al Manar TV)

By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

The missiles were launched “in response to the Israeli attacks on our people, villages and cities, the latest of which was in the vicinity of the city of Baalbek” on Monday night.

The Lebanese Resistance Movement Hezbollah announced on Tuesday the launch of more than 100 missiles toward military sites in northern Israel in response to its bombing of areas in Lebanon, most notably the eastern city of Baalbek, Al-Jazeera reported.

The Israeli Army Radio confirmed that about 100 missiles were launched from Lebanon and targeted the occupied Syrian Golan Heights and the Hula Plain in Upper Galilee.

Hezbollah said in a statement that the missiles were launched “in response to the Israeli attacks on our people, villages and cities, the latest of which was in the vicinity of the city of Baalbek” on Monday night.

The statement added that the attack targeted  “the headquarters of the Air and Missile Defense Command in the Kaila barracks, the missile and artillery base in Yoav, and the artillery positions deployed in its vicinity with more than 100 Katyusha rockets.”

Israeli Army Radio reported that a number of missiles were intercepted and some of them landed in uninhabited areas, without recording any injuries or damage.

Earlier on Monday, Israeli fighters launched two raids on the vicinity of the city of Baalbek, in eastern Lebanon.

“A person was martyred in the Israeli raid that targeted an olive oil factory,” Baalbek Governor, Bashir Khader,  said. According to Al-Jazeera.

Medical sources added that ambulance teams transported six wounded to nearby hospitals. 

In Support of Gaza

Since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza, on October 7, the Lebanese movement Hezbollah has engaged directly, but relatively in a limited way in the war against the Israeli occupation.

According to Hezbollah sources, the movement has carried out 169 military operations in the first 120 days of war, killing over 2,000 Israeli soldiers.

Israel has occupied parts of Lebanon for decades and has only left the country in 2000, following stiff Lebanese resistance under Hezbollah’s leadership. 

It attempted to re-occupy Lebanon in 2006 but failed in what Lebanon considers a major victory against Israel. 

Israel, however, continues to occupy parts of Lebanon, namely the Sheeba Farms region.

Hezbollah has vowed to recover every inch of Lebanon that has been occupied by Israel contrary to international law.

(PC, AJA