This is for the July SR

Being taken prisoner, maimed or killed are occupational hazards for soldiers. Every fighting force in history has tried to do all three. The Palestinian fighters who took Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit prisoner were entirely justified in doing so. The Israeli state’s response has been a series of war crimes against the civilian population of Gaza.
They prevented the delivery of fuel to Gaza since the day of Shalit’s seizure. Thye used American F16 jets to destroy the electricity generators. As Gaza enters the hottest months of the year its residents face months without refrigeration, cooking and communications.
The sewage plants are not able to function and water pumps can only function for short periods each day. Medical supplies are running low. Cancer patients, the weak and old are dying for want of basic medical care.
The Israeli terror continues thoughout the night. They use their planes to create sonic booms over Gaza several times each night and day. This contributes to the high levels of pyschiatric illness and trauma suffered by the civilian popluiation, in particular the children. They did not do this before their withdrawal from Gaza.
By their silence on the suffering of the Palestinian populattion, Bush, Blair and Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett are endorsing the Israeli actions. Their own war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan have made them even more inclined to be indulgent to those of Ehud Olmert.
The attack on Shalit’s unit had been preceded by weeks of Israeli murders of Palestinian civilians. Blair, Bush and the European Union gave these a nod and a wink too. Since the election of the Hamas adminstration these three friends of the Israeli murder machine have taken every opportunity to de-litimise its electoral victory. The Israeli state interpreted this as a signal that it is free to arrest Hamas government.
The Israeli state can not commit its war crimes without its massive interantional support. It cannot exist without the billions of dollars given to it by US imperialism.
International solidarity on an equally huge scale is necessary to defend even the most basic human rights of Palestinians. Practical and political support for the Palestinian people is once again an essential issue for every socialist in Britain. And this time it is a matter of life or death.

http://fromgaza.blogspot.com/