Israeli military officials say a mysterious explosion that killed eight members of a Palestinian family on the first day of the current round of fighting in the Gaza Strip was caused by a misfired Palestinian rocket, not an Israeli airstrike.
Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, a military spokesman, said the rocket was launched in Gaza and fell inside Gaza and killed “almost an entire family.” Conricus added that “this wasn’t an Israeli attack.”
A senior military officer on Wednesday said the incident was investigated, and Israel did not strike the Beit Hanoun area where the family members were killed that night.
The officer said a total of 700 rockets — roughly one-fifth of the total launched by Palestinian militants — failed to reach Israel and landed inside Gaza. He provided no further estimates on how many Palestinians had been harmed by errant rocket fire. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity under military briefing guidelines.
Israel says Hamas is responsible for civilian deaths because the militant group uses residential areas for cover to fire rockets and carry out other military operations. Twelve people in Israel have also been killed, 10 by rocket fire aimed at Israeli towns and cities. Two people died in accidents while rushing for shelter.
THANKS SO MUCH,, IT MEANS THE WORLD TO US IN THESE DIFFICULT TIME
A group of (misunderstood) Jewish employees of Google calls on the tech giant to increase support of Palestinians in response to ongoing fighting between Israel & the Hamas terrorists that rule Gaza.
ReplyDelete"Jewish Diaspora in Tech" describes itself as a community working in the tech industry.
In an internal letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, the group's “concerned about dialogue around political & racial violence in Israel-Palestine.”
“Both Israelis & Palestinians are hurting right now, but ignoring destructive & deadly attacks faced by Palestinians erases our Palestinian coworkers,” the authors wrote in the letter, a version of which's available publicly online.
They call on Google to state company-wide “recognizing violence in Palestine & Israel must directly recognize harm done to Palestinians by Israeli military & gang violence.”
It also urges Google “reject any definition of antisemitism that holds criticism of Israel / Zionism's antisemitic, which limits freedom of expression & distracts from real antisemitism.”
The company should also affirm its commitment to human rights as “Israeli actions violate UN human rights principles, which Google commits to uphold.” The group also asks for a review of contracts & corporate donations with “institutions supporting Israel violating Palestinian rights.” It points to the IDF as just such an institution.
The letter continues “we object to conflating Israel with Jews, affirm anti-Zionism's not antisemitism.”
The group formed last year to counter pro-Israel attitudes in Google’s in house resource group Jewglers, the Verge reported Tues. As per the report, 2 Google workers say Jewglers “supports pro-Israel discussions & isn't a safe space to express anti-Zionist beliefs.”
So far, 250+ people signed the letter to Pichai, the Verge reported.
Palestinian terrorists have fired 1000s of rockets at Israel since last Monday, drawing heavy retaliatory Israeli airstrikes.
12 Israelis, including a 5-year-old boy & 16-year-old girl, have been killed in the rocket fire from Gaza & 100s have been injured.
As per the Hamas-run Health Ministry, 212 Palestinians have been killed in 9 days of conflict, including 60 children. It's not immediately clear if this tally included all of those killed or if terrorists weren't included in the count. As per the IDF, 145+ killed were members of Hamas & Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
On its webpage, Jewish Diaspora in Tech says “mobilizing access & resources, we act in solidarity with all peoples at the forefront of fighting white supremacist violence & the carceral state.”
In a list of its values, it says it supports “celebrating anti-colonialist traditions of our Jewish ancestors” & it opposes “borders on stolen land”
The working definition of antisemitism by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, widely accepted as a standard, states that it's antisemitic to “apply double standards by requiring of Israel a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.”