of a human rights organization???

Hours before Israel announced a ceasefire, an Amnesty International fact finding mission gained access to Gaza. Their initial reports are disturbing: the team found first hand evidence of war crimes, serious violations of international law and possible crimes against humanity by all parties to the conflict. AI researchers continue investigating attacks against southern Israel and are currently documenting the true scale of devastation wrought on civilians in Gaza. The stories they report are harrowing. In the early afternoon of January 4th, three young paramedics walked through a field on a rescue mission to save a group of wounded men in a nearby orchard. A 12-year-old boy, standing by his house, assisted the operation by pointing to where the men could be found. An Israeli air strike on the area killed all four. The bodies of the four victims could not be retrieved for two days. Ambulance crews who tried to approach the site came under fire from Israeli forces. Our researchers later traveled to the scene of the strike with the two ambulance drivers who witnessed the attack. They met with the boy’s distraught mother and found the remains of the missile. The label of the missile read, “guided missile, surface attack” and cited the United States as the country of origin. US Weapons Used in Attacks Label on the remains of a US-made missile that killed three paramedics and a child. The U.S. has to support investigations about misuse of US weapons in attacks against civilians. Tell Secretary Clinton and Ambassador Susan Rice to support an independent investigation. © AI This is just one of many similar stories. Under the Geneva Conventions, medical personnel searching, collecting, transporting or treating the wounded must be protected and respected in all circumstances. Clearly, this was not the case on Jan. 4th. Since we last emailed you, more than 87,000 of you have written Congress and former administration officials. These emails, along with the massive outpouring of letters from around the world from other Amnesty sections, are making an impact. Just this week: * the United Nations pledged $613 million in aid for Gaza * 60 members of Congress signed a letter to Secretary of State Hillary of Clinton calling for humanitarian support for Gaza * And hours ago, the US pledged $20 million in aid1-2 We have a small window of opportunity to build on this momentum: urge Secretary Clinton and Ambassador Susan Rice to push for a full-fledged independent investigation. This investigation is critical for many reasons, not the least of which is the clear evidence of the use of white phosphorous, as well as the mounting evidence of the misuse of US arms3. As you read this, Amnesty researchers continue documenting the use of arms, and we expect an action specifically calling on Congress to investigate the misuse of US weapons in this conflict in the coming weeks. Everyone is responsible for the protection of international law. The US government must not turn a blind eye to possible war crimes and crimes against humanity. It should support an independent international inquiry by the United Nations into allegations of violations of international humanitarian and human rights law - by all groups participating in the conflict. The story of the paramedics and the young boy is not an anomaly. Write Secretary Clinton and Ambassador Rice today and urge accountability for abuses in Gaza and southern Israel now. Thank you for your continuing support, Zahir Janmohamed Advocacy Director Middle East and North Africa P.S. For comprehensive information on the conflict, go to www.amnestyusa.org/gaza. For late breaking updates, visit our blog, Human Rights Now. For organizing resources on the conflict, visit the Gaza Resources page

Meanwhile Hamas is holding an Israeli prisoner without observing the geneva convention. Does AI make a report about that ? They have no time because they dedicate all their time at criticising Israel.

No right minded person would like to see a human being set on fire, let alone a child. Had you been a Jew you would have probably looked at the situation in a more balanced way. I am a Jew so please let me give you my view. 1. Israel wants peace and is prepared to make painful sacrifices for it. It made peace with Egypt by giving back the Sinai peninsula and even succumbed to Egypt's request to keep Gaza. Smart Egyptians! It also made peace with the Jordanians who did not want the West Bank because it didn't want all the Palestinians in it. 2. Israel has tried to make peace with the Palestinians on numerous occasions. It even left Gaza in return for what? Continuous bombardment from the same area it evacuated. 3. The democratically elected Hamas's charter calls for the destruction of Israel. Basically, peace with them is a no no. Who elected a government that many countries consider to be terrorist? 4. 8 years and 10,000 missiles later finally Israeli citizens pushed their liberal government to finally do its duty. Bring some sort of security to nearly a million inhabitants who spent most of their lives in shelters, thanks to the daily quota of missiles they receive. Of course over the years they have lost many lives and hundreds got maimed. 5. The Palestinians know well they can have their own state and receive 100% co-operation from the Israelis. The billions they have received, more than any other people in the world, could have given them the best infra-structure and education money can buy. That is not in their agenda. The destruction of Israel is, so all that money was used to buy arms, line pockets and instill hate. 6. The power of the Israeli army is such that, used carelessly in a densely populated area like Gaza, would easely inflict thousands of victims in an hour, let alone weeks. You know the result of the Gaza war. 7. Before any kind of bombardment the Israeli government distributed leaflets and even telephoned the civilians of Gaza asking them to evacuate the targeted area. Did you stop to think of the possibility that Hamas may have held them as human shields? 8. During war, who in their right minds allows children to roam free in the streets? It appears that, for perverse reasons going back 2000 years, a lot of non-jews find Jews fair targets. It is sad but it is a fact. I wonder how many less gentiles would hate us if they engaged in fair judgement?

Find out how many of the reports by UNRWA and arab journalists, fed information by Hamas, turned out to be false. I trust you will make the effort instead of readily swallowing what AIs website feeds you.

In a bus, Ken. The entire bus was on fire, with everyone in it. Because there was a suicide bomber who decided to blow himself up in that bus, with an incendiary bomb courtesy of Yahya Ayyash. Oh, wait, I forget... only Palestinians suffer. Israelis are evil. There are no Israeli civilians. How could I ever forget?

Help the the palestinians return home to Egypt(Genesis 10-13&14)

"amnesty international" is proposing an arms embargo on hamas - and who will enforce that? when israel attempts to stop the flow of arms to hamas, it is amnesty international who screams the loudest! they are once again showing themselves to be the "useful fools" of the palestinian terrorists. this report of theirs sounds like it was written by a 6-year-old first grader, with very limited understanding of the world in general, and of islamist terrorism in particular. it has the word "NAIVE" written all over it....

Is a group that looks out for one side's interests only. Worse, it inflates, exagerates, ans ignores most nin arab groups. It should be taken to court.

the "white phosphorous" boogie-man emerges again: israeli troops in gaza used white phosphorous for illumination and to create smoke screens, both legitimate (and legal) uses under international law. it is also highly likely that phosphorous is still burning because hamas has repeatedly interfered with bomb-clearing efforts, preferring, like hezbollah, to use unexploded bombs for propaganda points, rather than protecting the lives of its own people. (hezbollah actually posed young children alongside unexploded 1-ton bombs for the bbc!) but hamas also fired qassams containing white phosphorous into israel, as usual aimed at nothing but civilian targets. why does "amnesty international" not utter a single word of condemnation against hamas for this clear and obvious war crime under international law?

They are an international joke. They selectively choose awards for 'Jew of the Day' or "Americans for the day.' While islamic hordes murder innocents all over the globe. Kiss my tuchas AI. You kiss theirs.

SPINELESS PUKES. when was war a 'manners' party? Is there an acceptable way to fight a war? Why no condemnation of using women and their kids as shields and cover for terrorists?

they dont need to waste money and materials on producing any "smoke screens". they (palis) have no materials in which to shoot down the planes that IL uses--unless it was IL flying low enough in the firstplace, then they could have used (and did try) their puny, messy, non-precise kassams-but failed anyway. or using them with ground opperation, but that, officially on stations like cnn never happened. why do they need smokescreens? Gazans are the only people in a closed sardine can. They have nowhere to hide or go to for safety, even pleaces that are assumed to be safe (UN facilities) are of no use there for safety. do you want the gazans to construct primitive boats inwhich to save them? they were hunted down by air and by the israeli naval ships stationed around the gaza waterline that kept shooting blindly into gazas shores. do you expect gazans to head for cover in their homes? rockets have been shot time and time again at civilian/ "terrorist" homes, which results in the home falling into itself of burning everything. the only cover in these conditions is being outside away from homes falling and burning out. you are a very ignorant person. what can i say, reporters werent even allowed to go in the war zone. for your information during that whole operation it was aljazeera that was broadcasting from in there if you want to catch up on almost last 2 months' events.

I understand Israeli's are upset, I am too, its sickening. Terrorists are terrorists, suicide bombers have no future unless the Israeli's give them one. .What Israel has to do is show it cares more for the civilians of Gaza than they do(Hamas) , not less. Its a tricky conflict but I think, if the civilians were Jewish then perhaps they (Israeli's) would try harder. Ps I'm sorry for all the deaths and wasted human lives, not to mention all the wasted resource.

white phosphorus is also an agent that burns human flesh; it also suffocates the subjects. go see this baby in action-the burns and amputated limbs.

because, as a father, I can think of you imagining your own son or daughter in that situation. To think of revenge would be so easy. The problem is you both suffer, Palestinians, and Israelis .Your right I live far away and it not my problem ,but your wrong. If people would have spoken out louder to nazi Germany perhaps we could have avoided the holocaust. I think I'll keep trying!

Unfortunately, the only people on the ground outside were kids put there according to IDF., by Hamas, and there all dead. I guess what is needed are monitors on the ground next time, to bad Israel kept out all the Media , I mean, you don't think they were trying to hide something do ya?

Amnesty Int'l. is just one in a long line of useful idiots.

One, trying to play on my emotional associations to the Holocaust is a cynical tactic. One that has little, if anything, to do with actual reality. Two, I am not interested in revenge. I never have been. Inflicting suffering upon another is not something that is even in my set of priorities. I am only willing to consider such harm, through armed warfare most often, when I consider the alternatives to be worse. Such alternatives include suicide bombers in my streets, gun and knife-totting men trying to attack and kill me due to me being an "evil outsider", kidnappers, death squads shooting up houses... That is something, at least, that Israel has manged to stop over the past ten years. A pity you weren't here, safe and sound as you were in Europe. A pity you're not here now, in southern Israel, wondering where the next Kassam, Grad, or artillery round will land. And why every single one of them is aimed at residential areas. And why the hours with the highest launch attempts are 7 in the morning and 6 in the afternoon - you know, when people leave for school and work and when people head back. When the roads are packed. When civilian casualties can be maximized. I have yet to an army in the world that actually calls in ahead, on the phone, via dropped flyers, to warn of approaching air and ground assaults, to give civilians a chance to leave. And yet this army is "Nazi" when it attempts to put a halt to a neverending rocket barrage on its citizenry, to kidnapping attempts and planted explosive charges. Yes, I daresay it would be interesting to watch how long it takes your nerve to snap, as it seems you're just a couch activist with a rather one-side view.

what happened in previous armed conflicts in which Israel was involved. You know, a media frenzy? Calls of genocide that were retracted, quietly, only months later? Does Jenin ring any bells? Oh and of course, Israel being accused of any harm befalling a reporter in the field. Judging from past experience, where Israel could expect nothing more than an outright media crucifiction regardless of what actually happens, this was a step forward. Perhaps when the world press finally grows up, stops taking every rumor as fact and every propaganda piece as a scoop, then they can be treated like adults and not like children. And children have no place in a battlefield, now do they.

rather trying to sound concerned. Two, I'm glad to hear revenge is not one of your interests. My question is would you prefer living in Gaza without any luxeries and no escape? To raise your children there? Do you think by locking up Gaza your problems would go away. Oh yes, I know you say you gave back Gaza, and it's not your problem anymore, and I guess in a way your right, but would you say its free. If you were me, has there been a time in the past two years when you would feel more secure in Gaza than the south of Israel with all the rocket? Be honest. I don't condon suicide bombers in your streets, gun and knife-totting men trying to attack and kill you due to your being an "evil outsider", kidnappers, death squads shooting up houses or rockets aimed at anyone. I also don't think you can lock up your problem and wish it to go away either. You have to set it free or even help it be free, help it as a neighbour helps a neighbour. Yes I am a couch activist, but I try to see both sides, I guess it alot to ask of you, to do the same.

With or without the media there's always accusations, do you think being blind is better? Do you stop the media from reporting what happens to Israelis? Oh yes I know it dangerous for reporters, and I don^t believe every thing I read, but every only in a while a fact will appear like a dead child. Yes children have no place in a battlefield like Gaza( a City), now do they, and I guess they have no place in southern Israel either, for the same reason.

Kibbutzim offering R & R to Gazan children whose parents were killed by the Israel: Hmmm Slaughter 1,400 mostly civilians, destroy $1.4 Billion infrastructure, maintain the siege so all the people (and children) starve and can't get medical care. And then subject a few orphans to self-serving propaganda from the murderers. Makes me ashamed to be Jewish. Diana Ralph , Ottawa, Canada (02.05.09)

Then explain to me why was it that when Hamas broke down the border wall between Gaza and Egypt, Gazan Palestinians went into Sinai to buy TV's. Not exactly a bare necessity. In any case, we did indeed give back Gaza. We also gave it the greenhouse infrastructure that the settlers once owned - with it, Gazan farmers would have been capable of being entirely self-sufficient in terms of food produce. We also supply their water and electricity to this day. Want to know what happened next? They elected Hamas, which promptly rescinded on all previous agreements. They elected it freely. And since then, began lobbing rockets over the border in earnest, and sending suicide bombers over the Gaza border. And then Hamas killed off all the Fatah members who didn't manage to run away. Kneecapping and being dropped from tall buildings was involved. Fun for the whole family. So Israel waited. Israel waited for about two years, in fact. Then Israel saw that Hamas was smuggling even bigger and better rockets under the Egypt-Gaza border, and then Hamas began launching *them* as well. Which meant that now, Hamas had actual cities in its threat radius, and not just small towns. Israeli tolerance eroded rather quickly at that, and at cross-border raids that resulted in a captured soldier for whom Hamas is now demanding ransom. So yes, we closed our border. And asked Egypt to monitor their border with Gaza to prevent smuggling. That's within our rights as a sovereign nation - and in fact, it's the duty of said sovereign nation to protect its citizens, and at some point enough is enough. So Gaza got humanitarian aid - and Hamas took anything it could from that aid to make even *more* explosive devices. And that's how we got to our current situation today. When you bother treating the supposedly poor and defenseless Gazans as responsible humans beings, who are responsible for what their leaders do - and in fact, what many of the actual citizens do - then I will consider you someone who sees both sides. You know, Sderot, that little town near the Gaza border that Hamas so loves to attack with rockets? They have whole stocks of shrapnel and rocket remains. The police station can't hold them all any more. Thousands, Ken. Thousands of rockets, day after day after day... And they began before the current so-called siege. They were, in fact, the very reason for it. They, and the suicide bombers, and the fact that Hamas declared that any agreements that recognized Israel were null and void. That it was war. Well, when you play with fire, you get burnt, Ken. Imagine a similar situation in Europe, where, say... Belgium throws rockets at French towns. Day after day after day. How long would you say until Belgium has its borders closed from all sides? How long until open armed conflict ensues?

something to do with Israel, and I'm supposed to bother with it? Why? Kibbutzim are offering R&R for Palestinian orphans? Gee. And Ken, here's another scoop... mostly Palestinian casualties get treated in Israel - as long as Hamas lets them leave Gaza, that is! We have a quick line at border crossings for medical emergencies, and they used to be even quicker before some rather nasty people began using that line to smuggle explosives into Israel. One time, Ken? A Gazan woman, being treated for burns received from a gas accident in her house? She went to the border strapped in an explosive belt. She was told she doesn't have a chance to get married anymore, so she might as well do something for The Cause. And that's the reality *I* live in. So how's Switzerland these days?

I WROTE A LETTER WHICH DID NOT GET POSTED HERE REGARDING THE "KENS" OF THIS WORLD, PAST AND PRESENT. HE IS A PRODUCT OF THE "KEN KLAN"........... ALL THE SINCERE ATTEMPTS BY THE EXCELLENT POSTS I HAVE SEEN HERE ON YNET ARE MAGNIFICENT. ATTEMPTS AT TRYING TO HELP "KEN" KNOW WHO TO BELIEVE AND WHAT FACTS TO TRUST OR BELIEVE ARE FUTILE. DESPITE MANY POSTERS LIKE RAM, ROMAN, WHO ARE SINCERE, AND ARE TRYING THEIR ADMIRABLE BEST TO EDUCATE "KEN" WITH FACTS AND TRUTH........... NEWS FLASH !!! ............"KEN" DOES NOT REALLY CARE ABOUT TRUTH OR FACTS...... THIS IS ABUNDANTLY CLEAR TO ME AND HAS BEEN SINCE I REVIEWED AND STUDIED HIS INSENCERE TACTICS, JUST HOURS AGO. AND NOW, BACK TO YNET POSTS...... I REVIEWED THE POSTS AGAIN ALONG WITH THAT "IMPOSTER" KNOWN AS "KEN"......... A MOST UNWORTHY "KEN" .... AN IMPOSTER CLAIMING TO PURSUE THE TRUTH !!

here in Switzerland, we let the prisoners watch TV's because we don't allow them to be free. Children we allow to visit, but we don't keep them there. We even eduacate and feeded and supply their electricity. But we don't set them free until they serve their time. Their our responsiblity. And if something go wrong we our to blame. Israelis and Jews are for the most part, are highly educated, is there not some way to achieve your objective without the killing. Your not revengeful, but I think your advisary is. People with less eduacation normally are. You say, and I agree, the rockets are getting bigger and their going further, how do you defend against them? Putting walls up around you is like building your own prison, where's your freedom? I'm sorry but it doesn't take a rocket scienctist to see the future. What are we going to do to stop it? What can I do to stop it?

"If I were you I wouldn't waste my time with people like me." You might learn something: "How do you see your future, is it bright?