This is what war looks like...

thanks for sharing this..

Amazing ! Thank you for this link.

Thanks for the link. Impressive pictures (in many ways).

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Seen in aachen13 home page (?)

thank you very much Roberto for your sensitivity..

grazie Roberto...

Very powerful and sad statement about the ingenuity of mankind to invent and perfect the power of destruction. Thank you for sharing and may some eyes be opened. Grazie.

Très belles images. Et c'est toujours très dérangeant de voir d'aussi belles images de conflits meurtriers. / Beautiful pictures. And it's always very disturbing to see such beautiful pictures of bloody conflicts.

Thank you Roberto for this images...It tells the war's sadness...

grazie

Belle trouvaille.
Que le laid est beau ... /:(

And that's how it sounds: www.t-mobile.de/downloads/endlos_telefonieren/laras_song.zip (a german telco)...

There's more pictures in another entry on that blog: www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/12/israel_and_gaza.html

Violence is no solution, not from palestine, not from israel. The more it is used the more the path of the downward spiral is followed that leads into aggression, hate and rejection. There's only one exit: No more violence!

It shows war and destruction in an almost romantic and picturesque way, as if this fire is New Year's firework. Look at the pictures a bit closer and interpret them:
Picture 1: Urban area, or let us say a former urban being molten by this hell's fire. Compare with picture 7: This is a Qassam rocket, that is terrorising Israel. Look at it. It was not even able to make a small hole in the street. You can understand this way why there are 850 dead on Palestinian side and 16 on Israel's side
Picture 6: a boy fleeing from a rocket alarm in fear of rockets like those in picture nr. 7. He does not seem to be in a hurry. In Gaza there are no shelters and also no way to flee too. You would survive only by luck.
Picture 3: As if they are having a peaceful walk in the morning sun and not a murdering tour
Picture 11. these are phosphorus bombs that cause severe burns, at least according to this source: www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article5447590.ece?&EMC-Bltn=FGNE1A
Picture 13. compare with Palestinian Qassam rocket on picture 6 and launched on picture 22. Any differences?
Picture 29: another phosphorus bomb, that is internationally prohibited, exploding. I do not want to people how many and people were burnt with this, something like Napalm
Picture 31: and this about the freedom of press. If Israel hadn't got bad conscious about the atrocities it is doing in Gaza it would have allowed reporters to enter Gaza.
Picture 16: leaflets telling people to leave their homes because they are going to be bombed. the problem is that there is no where else to go as other areas of the Gaza strip had also such leaflet drops and there is no way out of the region.
electronicintifada.net/v2/article10154.shtml
What should people do? They leave their homes under Israeli instructions and go to safe buildings where they then get shelled. 30 of 100 people who fled this way died. here are details:
www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/massacre-of-a-family-seeking-sanctuary-1297577.html

What does that mean? The pictures are beautiful and very well made, as I said almost romantic. They are only showing the whole thing as if it is small thing or little fighting, not harmful at all, and this is dangerous, I would say.

"This is a Qassam rocket, that is terrorising Israel. Look at it. It was not even able to make a small hole in the street. You can understand this way why there are 850 dead on Palestinian side and 16 on Israel's side"

So what should that mean: Look at this crappy rocket. It can't do anything. But Palestine continues to fire them, still, because... yes, because what? Because crappy rockets will improve the Palestine situation?

Have you heard of something called an act of resistance? How should you resist an occupier enclosing you in a enclave and sitting outside and clamping down everything on you?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDe65-nF3FQ&eurl=http://sabbah.biz/mt
I find this video can tell you about the logic of it. The video has been taken during a similar war 2 years ago.

I have no problems with it being viewed as acts of resistance. But you can't claim that "this resistance is really kind of lame as you can see in the picture, so actually it's harmless" which just ridicules the Palestine positions and the resistance itself.

The guy in the video is an idiot btw. and he has the same winkers view on conflicts as everybody: Violence and War are the only solution.
It's not true. It's not true. It's not true!
There are 4 things that are important to a victory by violence: Size, strength, technical superiority and friends (actually part of size). Palestine doesn't surpass Israel in any of these properties. They're smaller, weaker, technically inferior and without strong friends to make up for their own size. How would they win by violent means?
Laying down your weapons doesn't mean you're stopping to fight! Mahatma Gandhi won without firing a single bullet. Martin Luther King won without violence, history has many examples where guns and rockets are ineffective and that's what picture 7 shows exactly: The wrong way.

Andre, I have no mood to discuss in this aggressive way first , second you might be right but the other thing is you have to learn from history. I have the impression that you are not fully informed about the conflict that is now at least 90 years old. I have to give you another hint: Israel would not be so powerful without all the military aid it is getting from the US and Europe, for example 22 Billion USD since Bush is in power.
What are Paletsine's possibilities? Give up and do so called peace talks according to Israel's rules. What does that bring? Look at the rate Colonies grew in the West Band since the Oslo accords. Then they let the talks take years and then Oh sorry guys, we can't give you this village back anymore because we have a settlement now there. What do you think brought Rabin to start peace talks? Go and read history: it was the first Intifada. It almost drove Israel to an economic collapse. What moved Israel out of Gaza (to then clamp it down)? It costed them too much to protect the bunch idiots in the settlements because of the acts of resistance every day. What happened then? They drew 8000 settler from Gaza and in the next year there were 12000 more in the West Bank. What is the solution then? tell me. What would move Israel to give any meter back to a people they do not recognize as human and belonging to that land in the first place? The world forgot the word Palestine and Palestinians in the 60es. It knew only Israel. How were they reminded of Palestine? It was the PLO and its international operation against Israel.
My answer is Resistance

My intention was not to sound aggressive and btw, I only said something aggressive about Finkelstein. So sorry if the rest sounded like this.

"I have to give you another hint: Israel would not be so powerful without all the military aid it is getting from the US and Europe, for example 22 Billion USD since Bush is in power."

See point 4 of what I mentioned to win by violence: Friends

"What would move Israel to give any meter back to a people they do not recognize as human"

Somehow I think that's a problem both sides have...

And to the rest, Palestine is fighting a guerrilla war against Israel for more than 30 years now and not much has improved. I see you're criticizing actions such as qassam rockets as ineffective and I do the same, just from different points of view. I don't know about a solution, of course, if I would know it, a million people would know it already. I see that resistance and resistance is not the same. There are multiple ways to resist. The first intifada showed how a grassroots campaign of civilian protest is able to put a lot of pressure on Israel.

maybe it's about time to start a political discussion in Europe to Boycott, Divest, Sanction Israel - the more discussion this initiative gets, the better - I suppose following it would meet many of the points both of you have made - I adopt to Naomi Klein's discussion on this - spread the word!

You got Merodrama. Europe should sanction them but more importantly is tha the USA sanctions them. Imagine them missing unconditional 4 billion USD a year? In one year time maximally they would a solution for the stalking peace talk and withdraw their settlers from the West Bank. the question is: Which US administration would dare do that? Maybe such a decision is easier in times of financial crisis like this.
I find it unbelievable that everybody is worrying about the tunnels under the Egyptian-Gaza border as arms are being smuggled there. The whole area of the frontiers from Palestinian side has been levelled with the earth and the inhabitants of the Egyptian side are leaving their homes because of the heavy shelling. On ther hand nobody is considering cutting the "tunnel" to Israel with all these horrible weapons being sold to them or even worse granted as a gift. If they want to stop arms to one party fine, why don't they stop giving them to the other one?

Thanks for the explanations, KliX. Particularly useful here, where people are used to receive those images without any analysis, sot that they do'nt try to understand, but just "feel".

you are welcome Charp! I am happy that my words are useful to you and to anybody who is appreciating reading them.

good point, kliX - though submitting to the harsh israeli propaganda, by merely showing just people in shelters in Israel (as is done in many western countries, the US and Holland in particular) is even worse! HRW broke the news on the use of phosphorus in densely populated areas

Thanks for the link, Roberto.
I knew this site for the great pictures of the Athens movement, pictures I used in my political blog.

Here, the beauty is really disturbing. For a lot of reasons.
But the most important is that it reduced to "events" what is a political strategy of terror implemented by a colonial state and its european and american allies. They bombed civilians in Gaza, as they have done in Irak, as they do in Afghanistan, just to be sure the people accept their tyranny.

Roberto, what now? After the ceasefire? A collection of fanatics had their forum ... and will continue to blame each other. Each photo can be seen differently. This is why its meaning comes only with the subtitle to it. We never read the photographer's comment as he is too busy to get his product sold with agencies in prosperous countries in a safe distance. Satellite phones are used to beam the cruelty of war to the media around the world. And later at home they cash in - either money or privileges in kind for their propaganda.
Disgusting this war business.

I'm sorry of thinking that ceasefires don't change nothing that wars have done. Only time will tell what will happen in the Holy Land. I continue to hope in a better future for both populations, but I'm too realist and I think this isn't something they can achieve with their current leaderships...
I agree with you: war business is more disgusting that the war itself, but the information availability is the only kind of guarantee for the weaks against the stronger, so even if it's disgusting I'm happy for those shots which can save children's lives...

Okay, time will tell. We will see the arsonists how they behave in future. Some of them will not give up. Even here in this forum. Let us keep an eye on them.
By the way, whoever is proud to tell us that Hamas has won the media war is a cynical idiot. Winning a war while showing hell, destruction and dead children is more than cynical but inhuman.

I agree with you: humanity has lost, as in every war (and perhaps more...)

Interesting thoughts. First, I hope that you don't mean me with "the Arsonists", fan_berlin. Second, what is the alternative? Roberto said it: "war business is more disgusting that the war itself, but the information availability is the only kind of guarantee for the weaks against the stronger, so even if it's disgusting I'm happy for those shots which can save children's lives...". So, you prefer that there would be no pictures of the atrocities? that murderers can keep on slaughtering and nobody knows about it? So, in a way the censorship imposed by Israel on journalists in this was would fulfil your wish. No reporting on atrocities is a good thing and would stop this filthy business.
Finally, are you bothered this time especially because what you call Hamas won the so called battle of Media, or is it something that bothers you generally when you look at news, whatever news at all?
No, these pictures must appear and help us never to forget.

Since when do photographers save children's lives? They want their picture - and sell it. What saves lives is a ceasefire. Fortunately both side have agreed to stop firing at each other.

I am strictly against censorship. But I do not understand why the display of mutilated bodies in the media is a sign of victory over the invader. How can the boss of Hamas in exile cry victory when he sees Gaza in rubble, destruction and reads the report about the death-toll. My European cultural background tells me that military victory is an ancient term which does not apply to any kind of warfare in this 21st century. Battles cannot be won - not even in the media. Or do we talk about computer games?

I hope the ceasefire will hold for the next 50 years and a peace treaty will be ready by then.

I will stop here and no longer reply to any messages.

you don't have to answer, still I feel that I have to answer. Following your logic pictures of dead bodies stacked and murdered people in Ausschwitz and the other concentration caps and all other atrocities during World War II including Hiroshima and Nagasaki should not have appeared and they should have been used as warning to the future generations. This would have been fatal because we would not have known how awful that was and we would not mind doing that again. Imagine all the propaganda machine tat has been built on that? So, if you accept these you should accept showing the atrocities that happened in Gaza in order to make sure this does not happen again and that people responsible for this would stand before the International Court.
About victory, if this awful catastrophe can count for a victory (a very macabre one) then it is in fact maybe hard for the others to imagine. Israel's main strength was its army and deterrence and that everybody is afraid of it and whoever would stand in its face would be destroyed. Gaza proved that a bunch of a few hundred gunmen was able to stop that 5th strongest army in the world and prevented it from re-occupying the whole Gaza strip and "achieve its goals", even if Gaza is now literally in ashes. Lebanon showed that 2006 and Gaza showed that again. The vanishing of the feeling that the IDF is invincible is gone and this is going to make a deep crisis in the Israeli politics and this is what counts as a victory.