Gaza: Civilians Under Siege
Snapshots of the evolving humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
"I am deeply alarmed."
Statement by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, Dec. 29:
I am deeply alarmed by the current escalation of violence in and around Gaza. This is unacceptable. I have been repeatedly condemning the rocket attacks by Hamas militants against Israel. While recognizing Israel's right to defend itself, I have also condemned the excessive use of force by Israel in Gaza. The suffering caused to civilian populations as a result of the large-scale violence and destruction that have taken place over the past few days has saddened me profoundly. The frightening nature of what is happening on the ground, in particular its effects on children -- who are more than half of the population -- troubles me greatly. I have continuously stressed the need for strict observance of international humanitarian law... All this must stop. Both Israel and Hamas must halt their acts of violence and take all necessary measures to avoid civilian casualties. A ceasefire must be declared immediately.
“The army has bombed dozens of houses, public buildings, and other structures…”
Letter from B'tselem, Israeli human rights group, to Israeli government, Dec. 31:
Since the beginning of the military operation in the Gaza Strip, on 27 December 2008, the army has bombed dozens of houses, public buildings, and other structures throughout the Gaza Strip. The principle of distinction, one of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law, states that all parties engaged in combat must distinguish between civilian objects and military targets, and are forbidden to intentionally attack civilians and civilian objects. The First Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions establishes two conditions that must be met for an object to be considered a legitimate military target: it must effectively contribute to military action and its total destruction or partial neutralization offers a clear military advantage. Despite this, other statements made by Israeli officials in recent days raise the suspicion that the army is not maintaining the requisite distinction in its attacks in Gaza... An examination of the sites that were bombed in recent days raises questions regarding the legality of targeting many of them. For example, the military bombed the main police building in Gaza and killed, according to reports, forty-two Palestinians who were in a training course and were standing in formation at the time of the bombing. Participants in the course study first-aid, handling of public disturbances, human rights, public-safety exercises, and so forth. Following the course, the police officers are assigned to various arms of the police force in Gaza responsible for maintaining public order.
“There are no ‘safe' places in Gaza for civilians.”
Statement by Amnesty International, Dec. 31:
Israeli forces must bear in mind that there are no "safe" places in Gaza for civilians to seek shelter. They know how densely populated the Jabalia Refugee Camp is and that the homes are mostly light structures with flimsy asbestos roofs and not able to withstand the effect of strikes. Strikes are virtually sure to kill and injure civilians. The Israeli army must not carry out attacks which pose a disproportionate risk to civilians. They must always choose means and methods of attack that are least likely to harm civilians. We urge all parties not to target civilians and not to carry out indiscriminate or disproportionate attacks that put civilian lives in danger.
Examples:
On 27 December seven students from a school run by the United Nations were killed outside the school, just after lessons finished as they were trying to get home. The Israeli bombardment had first started at about 11.30 am on a Saturday, a day and time when the streets are very busy, particularly as children finish school just after midday, just as the initial bombardment was at its most intense. Seven students from a UNRWA school were killed outside the school just after lessons finished and they were trying to get home.
On 27 December Muhammad al-Awadi finished his exam and left the al Carmel School in the Rimal district of downtown Gaza City, a school located near the al-Abbas police station in a residential district, at about 11.30 am to return to the orphanage where he lived with his brother Ahmed. He was fatally wounded when a bomb was dropped on the Police station, just as he came out of the school. Muhammad was treated in the ICU unit of Gaza City Hospital but died in the evening of 30 December. This happened at the very beginning of the bombing campaign and was totally unexpected.
On 28 December five sisters from the Baalousha family aged four to 17, (Jawhir, 4; Dina, 8; Samar, 12; Ikram, 14; and Tahrir, 17) were killed in their home in Jabalia Refugee Camp, located north of Gaza city in Gaza's most densely populated area. Four other children siblings were injured when the mosque near their home was bombed, and theirs and several other homes were destroyed and damaged.
“20,000 people a day have been without food that they expect.”
Associated Press story, Jan. 1:
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Gaza's 1.5 million residents are facing an "alarming" humanitarian situation under constant Israeli bombardment, with the main power plant shut down, overcrowded hospitals struggling to cope and very limited food supplies, U.N. officials said. The power plant shut down on Tuesday because Israel has blocked fuel delivery through the main pipeline since Dec. 26, U.N. humanitarian chief John Holmes said Wednesday. This has forced hospitals to use generators, which have limited fuel supplies, and left many of the 650,000 people in central and northern Gaza with power cuts of 16 hours a day or more, he said. "The situation remains alarming," Holmes said. "Hospitals are obviously still struggling very much to cope with the number of casualties. We have continued to get some medical supplies in and to help them cope, but this remains difficult and fragile." Karen Abu Zayd, commissioner of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, which helps Palestinian refugees, told reporters by video link from Gaza that the agency has not distributed any food for two weeks because of the shortage of supplies and the Israeli bombardment. "I think that means that 20,000 people a day have been without food that they expect — and probably is the bulk of what they get," she said. "So people are doing pretty badly. Everyone we know is sharing whatever they have, not just with their families but with their neighbors."
“There is no electricity at all in Gaza City.”
Statement of Maher Najjar, Deputy Director, Palestinian Coastal Municipalities Water Utility, Jan. 4:
Since the beginning of the military operation on December 27, 2008 and especially since the electricity and water systems were badly damaged in the start of the ground operation on January 3, 2008, we have been unable to provide water to well over 530,000 of Gaza's residents (approximately 400,000 people in Gaza City and the North, 100,000 people in Rafah, and 30,000 people in the Middle Area). In addition, because of the lack of fuel and electricity to sewage pumping stations, sewage is piling up in the streets and harming the health and safety of Gaza residents. There is an additional danger that the sewage lake in Beit Lahiya will overflow within a week, endangering the lives of 10,000 people living nearby...
As of last night, there is no electricity at all in Gaza City. All lines feeding Gaza City from Israel have been shut down due to damage from the shelling and bombing. The local power plant has been shut down since December 30, due to lack of industrial diesel. As of today, the entire water and sewage system in Gaza City and the Northern Area is entirely dependent on backup generators run by diesel. In addition, two of the lines feeding electricity to Rafah, one from Israel and one from Egypt, have been damaged. I have no additional diesel reserves, and I cannot obtain additional diesel right now. The water wells and sewage pumping stations that still have diesel will run out within a few days, others have none.
“An Israeli ground operation in Gaza will likely mean intense combat in densely populated areas.”
Statement by Human Rights Watch, Jan. 4:
As an Israeli ground offensive in Gaza gets underway, both Israeli and Palestinian forces must address heightened civilian protection concerns because of likely combat in densely populated urban areas, Human Rights Watch said today. Both sides must stringently abide by the laws of war, including taking all feasible measures to avoid harm to civilians and facilitating access for humanitarian workers and medical personnel. Human Rights Watch investigations of previous ground operations in Gaza and the West Bank by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) found evidence of unlawful killings by Israeli forces. In addition, Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups fired rockets or conducted other military operations from densely populated areas, placing civilians at risk of serious harm. An Israeli ground operation in Gaza will likely mean intense combat in densely populated areas, where the threat to civilians is substantial. The IDF and Hamas must take concrete steps to minimize the fighting's impact on civilians or the results could be catastrophic.
The IDF's last major ground operation in Gaza, from February 27 to March 3, 2008, killed 107 Palestinians, more than half of whom were civilians, and wounded more than 200. Two Israeli soldiers died. Human Rights Watch's detailed field investigation of that operation found serious violations by the IDF, including the killing of a wounded man getting treatment in an ambulance, the shooting deaths of two civilians on donkey carts, and the shooting and wounding of two men in IDF custody. In two cases, tank crews opened fire on unarmed civilians. All of these incidents took place in an area that was firmly under the control of the IDF. Palestinian medics and ambulance drivers also faced restrictions on their ability to treat the wounded and dead - both civilians and combatants - and came under fire that killed one medic.
In February-March 2008, as on other occasions, Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups placed civilians at risk by firing rockets and mortars from densely populated areas and storing weapons in civilian structures. Those acts, too, violate the laws of war. Human Rights Watch said that during past hostilities both sides have failed to take adequate steps to remove civilians from areas where there was fighting, putting them at unnecessary risk.
“Patients were lying everywhere.”
CNN report, Jan. 4:
GAZA CITY (CNN) -- Gaza's main hospital, already overloaded with Palestinians wounded in the week-long Israeli air assault, has reached critical mass, according to a Norwegian doctor volunteering at Shifa Hospital. Word of health facilities being pushed to the limit came as Israel announced on Monday it was opening up border crossings to allow the flow of humanitarian goods into the Palestinian territory. "The injured patients are mainly civilians, a lot of children with dreadful injuries," Dr. Erik Fosse told CNN on Monday, estimating that 20 percent of the more than 500 people dead were children. "This figure is rising, and I think it has to do with the development of the war as it moves into the city," he added. After a weeklong series of air strikes, Israel launched a ground assault Saturday night. "We've had a steady stream (of patients) every day, but the last 24 hours has (seen) about triple the number of cases," Fosse said late Sunday. Fosse said that he estimated that about 30 percent of the casualties at Shifa Hospital on Sunday were children, both among the dead and wounded. The increase in casualties at Shifa followed Israel's ground incursion into Gaza, which it launched on Saturday night. Fosse said 50 patients were "severely wounded" when an Israeli air strike hit a food market in Gaza City. "We were operating in the corridors, patients were lying everywhere, and people were dying before they got treatment," he said.
--By Scott MacLeod
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26
Jacob,
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I apologize for my blithe comments about the rocket fire. I did not meant to dismiss the issue as trivial. I do care about those directly in the path of the rockets and I do very much sympathize with Israels desire to defend her territory. However, I do think that my original point still stands. Israel is literally shooting its cause in the foot, and the fact that this latest incursion has a very high level of popular support within Israel shows how much Israeli policy and public opinion is influenced by visceral reaction and not longterm strategy.
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Hamas is not waging a typical war here and it seems that this article from time agrees with me.
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I'm genuinely interested in your take on this, Jacob, as an advocate for the Israeli point of view. Do you think Israel can be successful this round without permanantely occupying Gaza again? Do think Israel is damaging its image more than they are damaging Hamas, or do you think Israel can really defeat Hamas and stop the rockets with this invasion?
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My opinion is that Israel decided to invade Gaza in order to draw attention, good or bad, to the rocket fire. I don't believe Israel honestly thought they can severely weaken Hamas just by camping outside Gazan cities without entering them. However, they knew that an escalation of the conflict would pressure the international community to find some other enforcable solution.
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I believe Israel's message is designed not just for Hamas but for the rest of the world. That message reads: "Do something about Hamas rocket fire or we will and you won't like it". Hamas may be holding Gaza hostage, but Israel is attempting to give the international community a lesson for trivializing the rocket fire.
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In this context, Israel is trying to avoid inciting to much international outrage at the heavy handed invasion and civilian deaths while artfully framing the conflict as an invasion that was absolutely necessary in order to defend Israel from Hamas rocket attacks. Thus the reason why you only saw news reports about Israel possibly accepting a cease fire the day after reports that Israel had bombed two UN schools, reports that accompanied increasingly critical media coverage about Israel. That is why today we thankfully see Israel finally opening up corridors for humanitarian aide.
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Unfortunately I think Israel has a serious problem with its image. It is losing the war to extremists in the fact that these invasions and occupations and border closings only cause more sympathy for Hamas and more resentment of Abbas. If Israel can release a whole bunch of fighters to Hezballah to get back the bodies of two Israeli soldiers, why can't they release a whole bunch of Palestinians to Fatah to fortify the image that Fatah cooperation with Israel is yielding real rewards?
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Likewise, why does Israel think it's absolutely necessary to return fire every time Hamas launches a mortar? Hamas fighters are just goading Israel into shelling those schools and residences and mosques because they know it does more damage to Israel's image than it does to Hamas.
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When I said Hamas rocket fire was not complex, I meant that Hamas rocket fire is only one element of a very complex situation. It is true that most news reporting does not focus much on Hamas rocket fire, but that is simply because Hamas rocket fire does not produce as much suffering as the blockade does in Gaza. You know how much the media loves to report suffering and conflict.
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There is, however, much more in depth analysis on the situation as a whole, in which there is always a reference to the fact that Hamas has launched daily rocket attacks against Israel for the past three years. So it's not that the media, or the bloggers here, ignore Hamas provocation against Israel. They instead choose to focus on civillian suffering in Gaza, in the same way that Israel chooses to focus on Hamas rocket attacks while trying to ban journalist coverage of Gaza.
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You seem to think that the bloggers here are playing into the Arab narrative that Israel is wholly responsible for the conditions in Gaza. I guarantee that you won't find a post on this blog that tries to blame Israel entirely for the situation and certainly not one from Scott.
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And you don't have just a small beef about a lack of commentary about the rocket fire. You rip into the author of nearly every post here, critizing them for taking up the Arab agenda, trivializing the Israeli position, spreading propoganda; and you even call some anti-Semitic, bad journalists, and Arab mouth-peices. I don't consider that a small beef. I consider that biased in it's own right. You trivialize Gaza suffering, blaming the victim for their condition, stripping them of their humanity, and all the while placing every Israeli decision and action beyond reproach.
.
Also, a blog is inherently opinionated, as is most analysis. I seriously saw nothing wrong with this post. Do you think Scott shouldn't have posted "Snapshots of the evolving humanitarian crisis in Gaza"? Should we not be concerned? Should we not be trying to find a way to end both the rocket fire and the terrible conditions in Gaza? -
27
"As long as the Israelis and the Palestinians only see themselves as victims and not recognize the injustices each has suffered, there can never be peace in Palestine."
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I whole-heartedly agree.
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And NK:
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Opening up the border crossings in hopes that Hamas would halt rocket attacks would be pretty dangerous for Israel. Hamas would use that time to smuggle in weapons and send suicide bombers into Israel. While I agree that something must be done to help the Gaza citizens, I want to see Hamas give up its militarism and I think you are overlooking the fact that Hamas has not and will not do so, even if the border crossings are opened. They have indicated, a few times, that they may be willing to renounce their goals of "destroying Israel", but those opportunties always pass when violance flares.
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I hate to say it, but sometimes the best opportunity for peace arises from the rubble of war. The world cannot lose this opportunity again and risk more death and destruction later on. -
28
FHMADVOCAT,
Hamas's rocket sites are wherever they park their trucks. If the IDF is fortunate, it can spot rockets being assembled and prepared for fire and hit that site, but that is a rare occassion. Instead, the IDF targets areas where the rockets are stored, and that may include apartment buildings, which I suppose offends people's sense of "proportionality" (whatever that term means).
•
"Propotionality" is viewed from at least two sides. From Hamas's side, the IDf's use of force is disproportionate. All they did was launch a couple of bottle rockets with some M80s on them. Right? I mean, who really got hurt? Just a few dead Jews. Oh, and an Arab, but virgins await.
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But from Israel's point of view, the IDF's use of force is proportionate to Israel's frustration with Hamas's ceaseless firing of rockets at Israeli towns. There really is no good reason for Israel to sit there at take it. Israel withdrew from Gaza only to see Hamas elected and sanction the almost daily launching of rockets (despite a ceasefire). Three years later, Hamas refuses to lengthen the ceasefire and orders a barrage of rockets. Israel's restraint was rewarded with attempts on it's citizens lives. So now Israel has taken a different tack and decided to show Hamas that the fly eventually gets the flyswatter.
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Hamas can scream bloody murder (with which it is well acquainted) and "disproportionality" all it wants, but it has only itself to blame. Actually, "blame" is the wrong word, because I'm sure Hamas is reveling in the IDF's use of force and the death of civilian Palestinians. Those deaths are what Hamas cynically uses to gain support from the bitter and myopic. Any rational person can see Hamas is a failure as a government and that its subjects would be vastly better off it rockets had never been fired at Israel. Actually, "failure" is the wrong word because it assumes Hamas as a government is more concerned with the welfare of its subjects than the destruction of Israel. That is an incorrect assumption. Hamas has perversely changed the Jeffersonian "life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness" to "death, fundamentalism, and the destruction of Israel."
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I take back what I wrote about Hamas's view of proportionality. The IDF's use of force is actually directly proportional to Hamas's desire to revel in death and cynicism rather than embrace a chance for peace by taking such as unthinkable steps as halting rocket fire and recognizing Israel.
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The Palestinians in Gaza can blame Israel for effecting deaths of civilians. But they need to place as much or more blame on Hamas for the cause of those deaths. -
29
"Yes, conspiracy theories, kind of like your false genocide claim. I'm sure that a state that plans a genocide would not only provide humanitarian assistance, but take in wounded Palestinians to its own hospitals and now set up a corridor for further aid to get trucked in to Gaza."
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A humanitarian corridor is only essential because Israel has starved these people of basic necessities like food, water, and energy for 3 -
30
"Yes, conspiracy theories, kind of like your false genocide claim. I'm sure that a state that plans a genocide would not only provide humanitarian assistance, but take in wounded Palestinians to its own hospitals and now set up a corridor for further aid to get trucked in to Gaza."
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A humanitarian corridor is only essential because Israel has starved these people of basic necessities like food, water, and energy for 3 years, and now has invaded them, violently killing over 350 civilians (by modest estimates).
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They have taken in a very, very limited amount of medical treatment, and it has been very widely reported -- much like a PR gimmick. First, Israel is not directly providing the humanitarian assistance. Second, the corridor was opened, but a ceasefire did not ensue long enough for people to actually collect the goods. Finally, evidence of ethnic cleansing runs for 50 years. Therefore, David Ben Gurion, and the Zionist mentality, unchanged for that time, still remains relevant. Even today, Livni has called for labeling all Arab-Israelis "Palestinians" to make sure the statistics show a purely Jewish constituency.
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Even Ethiopians are considered 2nd class Jews by their own people. How shameful. -
31
Jacob in NYC says:
"Indeed, the schools that were attacked today were hit because HAMAS fired mortars from these locations at Israeli troops."
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Gunness of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency IN the Gaza Strip says,
"We are 99.9 percent certain that there were no militants. There were no militant activities in the school or in the school compound."
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Who to believe? -
32
Nathan,
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Yes, opening up Gaza's borders long ago would have, perhaps, subjected Israel to some danger. But,'
(1) Israel would have had some moral ground to stand on, whereas now it's all based on lies, inaccurate framing of the facts, or spins/embellishments;
(2) smuggling happened anyway; and,
(3) many countries have blockaded inlets to other countries in the past, but still have let basic essentials in such as food, water, hospital supplies, energy, etc. -
33
I believe what the UN. officials said: there was no militants in the school where children and seniors where killed, and I ask myself; is this what the elite in Israel gov. learned from Hitler? that is a complete DESPISE for human life, by a State, member of the UN.
-
34
Nick,
50 years of ethnic cleansing yet Gaza's population today is much greater than it was 50 years ago? Wow, the Israelis are the most incompetent genociders ever. And it's standard operating procedure for a genocidal government to text message apartment dwellers that their building is about to be attacked because a terrorist lives there. Remember all those telegrams the Nazis sent the Jews in Warsaw that a pogrom was about to start so you had better pack your things and leave? No, neither do I.
•
You rail against lies, but the biggest one perpetrated in this conflict is the "ethnic cleansing"/genocide lie. I know this point has been made to you over and over, but if Israel really wanted all the Palestinians in Gaza dead or gone they would be dead or gone. Israel has the military strength to accomplish that. Same for the West Bank and Jerusalem. Yet is hasn't done it. Why? Because Israel isn't genocidal. To claim otherwise is to be ignorant, stupid or lying.
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Do you really believe that if the Gazans were really working to improve their situation rather than attacking Israel that Gaza would be getting attacked now? Imagine a Gaza that is engaged in state building rather than rocket building. Would Israel look at the population growth and say, "Wow, there's a lot more of those Palestinians. We better go in a kill a few thousand to cleanse the place." Seriously, do you think that would happen? Because that's what an ethnic cleanser would do. -
35
CGTX,
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Natural laws dictate that if population A (Pals) is double to triple that of population B (immigrant Jews and the few Sephardics already living in the region) 50 years ago, it will probably be 8-10x greater currently. However, it's only about 3-4x greater still.
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And of course, there ARE more Palestinians in Gaza today because that's where they were forced to travel from their original residences inside what is now considered Israel by the West. As I said before, Palestinians who live in Gaza are not FROM Gaza.
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Israel has restraints. They are not all powerful. Indeed, we saw that in 2006 and continue to see it while they level empty threats against a far more powerful Iran. They also have a weakness against bad PR. They cannot simply commit mass genocide using nuclear weapons and such. But they do it very subtly and the numbers show: there is a slow genocide being committed.
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Palestinians are imprisoned into what Israel calls "Palestinian Territories". The truth of the matter is that Israel continually terrorizes the former inhabitants of its land in vicious ways and denies them their rights. They do not have the ability to improve their territories because Israel does not allow it militarily.
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The Gazans had no hope in Israel, so they resorted to Hamas. The fault still lays with Israel no matter how you try to spin or frame the facts, lie, or embellish. It will never be a virtuous nation. -
36
BTW, Israel has been using depleted uranium shells in all of their bombings report foreign health officials inside the Gaza Strip. The depleted uranium has a 95% chance of causing cancer in the victim within 10 years of injury.
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So much for saving civilians via "leaflets" and "phone calls". -
37
This Time article by Tim McGirk, with reporting from our friend, Scott MacLeod, supports many of my viewpoints (not to say that I agree with EVERYTHING - especially the un-evidenced speculation about leaders in Iran swearing to wiping Israel off the map and vowing to get nuclear weapons -- what??!! c'mon guys lol.. who paid you? I'll double it!) http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1870314-3,00.html
.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-meserole/israel-and-international_b_155419.html - Another great article -
38
Well, here's my take on "proportionality":
Recent estimates are putting the current Palestinian death toll at or near 700 with another 3,000 reported injured. And a good HALF of these cases are reported to have been civilians.
Israeli reports put their numbers at 7 soldiers and only 3 civilians killed.
That said, a quick review of the "proportionality" of this situation might indicate a slight imbalance, don't you think???
To use an analogy here, it would be like a grown man at a crowded park being annoyed by a few bratty kids with slingshots, so he retaliates by leveling the entire park with a bull-dozer, indiscriminately inflicting maximum casualties with the justification that the culprits will most likely be among the dead.
The ends DO NOT justify the means!
In order for this type of indiscriminate assault to actually prove effective at eradicating HAMAS militants from Gaza, how long would something like this need to go on? And at what cost? For those of you who are math-savvy, let's think this through:
If we use the reported data that half of the Palestinian deaths have been civilians and the other half were militants, we can assume a ratio of 1:1, so if Israel's ultimate goal is the defeat of HAMAS and they are perfectly content maintaining a ratio of 1 dead civilian for every militant killed, where does that leave things? The only figure we're missing is the number of HAMAS militants currently active; are there 5,000? 10,000? Is Israel prepared to murder just as many Palestinian civilians? Sure, killing 1-2% of the population might free up some space in the currently overcrowded Gaza Strip, but I sincerely doubt it's going to score Israel any brownie points with Yahweh....and it definitely won't help their image with the international community.
In summary, to argue that the death toll between Israelis and Palestinians is "proportional", one would have to somehow conclude that 3 Israeli civilian lives are worth the same as 350 Palestinian civilian lives.
Anyone care to make that argument?
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39
Go IDF!
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40
Charming. Thanks for the input, nycdavid
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Are you just perusing Time.com while you wait for your cartoons to come on? -
41
David was waiting for this:
...
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/08/opinion/08khalidi.html?_r=1
...
The Old Gray Lady is awake... -
42
Muslim fundamentalists suck!
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43
I like this article, about how the CIA is getting Afgan warlords to rat on each other by giving them...viagra!
Got to give it up, to get it up!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/25/AR2008122500931.html
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44
you WOULD have interest in Afghan woodies...
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45
Oh Persian one, lighten up. Don't take everything personally.
Besides, I don't think they should be giving these guys Viagra. It's not fair to the camels.
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46
The only silver lining in this war: it'll end before the new US administration begins, about a ten days.
I don't think Israel want to start relationship with Obama with wrong foot in door, Obama has been quite about this conflict and do want to change world perception toward US foreign policies in positive manner, Israel have to be an idiot to force a event on him which he have to chose between previous or new image for US foreign policies, usually a nemesis challenge a new guy around the block for his cohunes not a lackey! -
47
Here is a excellent article to shed lights on Israel and Palestine modern historical conflict,
http://www.johnpilger.com/page.asp?partid=519 -
48
Here is the Solution to the Conflict. Be patient, and listen to the whole Message!
http://www.google.com/s2/sharing/stuff?user=107144048214030666073
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49
Here is the solution to this and all conflict. Be patient and listen in full to Spiritual Step 13:
http://www.google.com/s2/sharing/stuff?user=107144048214030666073
THE THIRTEENTH STEP
1. God is One Spirit, Whose Essence is Love, Goodness, Truth, and Beauty.
2. He is All Powerful, thereby removing all power from form and effect,
3. He is Everywhere Present and therefore present right where I am.
4. He expresses Himself as my Individual Consciousness, through which He manifests Himself as All Wisdom, All Knowledge, and All Power in every situation and at every single moment of my life.
5. He appears as my Perfect Life, when I first renounce the human belief in good and evil, and affirm that God is the Only Power, the Only Presence, the Only Law, and the Only Activity, and I am the expression of His Life in Time and Space.
6. He expresses Himself as the individual consciousness of all men, but this Blessed Truth benefits only those who are consciously aware of His Presence, and who are willing to experience His Life as their own.
7. He has no favorite religion, race or creed, but is the heartbeat of all men for all time.
8. He is Eternal and Indestructible, and, when actually experienced by men,
9. Destroys all sin, sickness, disease, lack, and limitation of any name or nature.
10. He communicates His Will and Direction to all men, giving specific guidance to each one of us at our point of need, but His Love benefits only those who can be still and listen for His Still, Small Voice, and who can summon the inner courage and will to see the Universe though His Eyes.
11. He flows as an Infinite River of Life, Light, and Understanding, through our individual God given consciousness, our minds, our bodies, and our world of affairs, and He uses our individual consciousness as His Gate,
12. Through which He appears as the substance of all harmonious from, and the destroyer of all that testifies to deceit and illusion, and
13. And, last, He shares with us all that He is, and all that He has, giving us His Name, I, and His Nature, Love.
Given in Meditation, Sunday, March 6th, 2005
Richard Peter
7522 Holly Hill Drive
Apt. 3
Dallas, TX 75231
214.365.0042 Phone
469.569.8209 Mobile
infinityasi@yahoo.com email -
50
Join us for two live chats about the Middle East conflict on News Talk Online on Paltalk.com.
The host, Gary Baumgarten, would like to hear your opinion about the situation in the Middle East in a special two part series. Today (Monday, Jan 12), Paltalk will chat with the Israeli Consul General Asaf Shariv at 5pm EST.
Tomorrow, Tuesday Jan 13 at 5pm EST, Paltalk will have Hussein Ibish, the executive director of the Foundation for Arab-American Leadership join the show.
For more info go to http://blog.paltalk.com/paltalkblog/2009/01/join-us-for-two-live-chats-abo.html
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