Today My Name is Samouni, and I am Palestinian

"If we would have listened to Ken O'Keefe then, many people would be alive, a trillion dollars, a million lives" - Hesham Tillawi, Current Issues TV

Tim interviewing Ken in Newport, Oregon last summer.

(GAZA / SALEM) - Listening to our friend Ken O'Keefe's live appearance on Hesham Tillawi's Current Issues TV show today, I had another episode of realization, the worst kind in fact. It's the heaviness and matter of fact quality in Ken's voice; it is helplessness in the face of unbelievable cruelty toward human beings. The white flag of our inner-being screams and twists as the slaughter of Gaza residents continues.

Ken O'Keefe doesn't mince words, he expresses his horror over what took place during Operation Cast Lead, which happened in 2008 and 2009, leaving over 1400 Gazans dead.

With regard to Israel's unrelenting, violent patterns, O'Keefe said, "They honestly think stealing lands, building walls, denying due process, murdering people in cold blood in front of their families... the Israelis think this is going to bring peace."

He continued, "I don't believe the Israelis are idiots, they do not want peace and they certainly don't want a just peace, so they continually stir the resistance to justify the insanity of the invasion."

Stating the ridiculous aspect of the endless propaganda and media wars, and Israel's obvious fall from grace, he summarized: "Israelis are about as stupid as a bag of cement". It is slightly ironic, as cement and building supplies are among the items consistently blocked, and sometimes seized, by Israel.

Rolling in the Goldstone

With regard to Justice Richard Goldstone reportedly changing his tune about Israel's having committed war crimes, Hesham and Ken clarified several important points. First, Goldstone is being taken way out of context, and did not actually 'go back' on what he said. He has no intention of revising his report, yet we know it is a moot point as the report sits on a shelf collecting dust, officially derailed by the United States' super veto power in the United Nations.

And even if Goldstone really retracted his investigation, it would not change the facts.

O'Keefe said, "How does that explain little Ahmed Samouni being shot in front of his mother?"

The Samouni family in Gaza was hard hit. Children were murdered in the street while their parents held white flags. Ken's ongoing work with this precious group of people has been ripping at our hearts, and as we wonder if Israel is preparing for another round of mass slaughter against civilians in Gaza, he talks about the need to provide psychological treatment, he talks about a little girl who still has metal from an Israel rocket in her head. Her nose sometimes just starts bleeding, she becomes dizzy and her family says the pieces of metal move around.

Coming Slaughter in Gaza?

Ahmed Samouni died in his mother's arms

Ken says there are people who believe this one could be quite serious, the positioning of Israel always continues, as Netanyahu and his cadre continually find reasons to excuse the illegal acts of Israel's occupational forces.

Ken said, "The children are terrorized, I hear drones flying overhead right now."

When Americans hear a jet flying by they think nothing of it, but if your name is Samouni and you live in Gaza, it puts incredible fear in you soul.

"They're prepared for whatever comes their way, will this be another Cast Lead? It is hard to say, even though it will be a PR disaster for them," Ken said.

"The May Flotilla is a huge problem for the Israelis. Ken would know, he was aboard what is probably the most famous one in history. Last May Ken and other unarmed peace activists were aboard the Mavi Marmara, a ship in the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, that was attacked by Israel in international waters, leaving ten dead and dozens gravely injured.

And as Ken discussed hearing the planes from Israel flying overhead, his line dropped cold and I can tell you that all of us who know and love this man hate things like that, because we know the bitter reality of what might be.

Referring to Ken's Human Shields Project during the launch of the US war against Iraq, Hesham Tillawi said, "If we would have listened to Ken O'Keefe then, many people would be alive, a trillion dollars, a million lives. We could have saved thousands of lives from here in the United States if we would just have listened."

And then as quickly as he went away, Ken was back on the line.

Please go to the right side of the main page and click on the Samouni family link. Give what you can, or send an email simply telling them you care. It matters.

Past reports detail far more about the Samouni family:

• Samouni Family Olive Tree Orchard in Gaza - Ken O'Keefe Salem-News.com
• Samouni Family Responds to Justice Goldstone Backtrack on Israeli War Crimes - Ken O'Keefe Salem-News.com
• The Samouni Family Children - Survivors of the Israeli Massacre - Ken O'Keefe Salem-News.com
• A Mother's Loss - Operation Cast Lead Mass-Murder - Ken O'Keefe Salem-News.com
• Israel Launches Operation Cast Lead Investigation - Salem-News.com
• Murdering Babies is 'Permissible' When They're Palestinian - Alison Weir Salem-News.com

  _________________________________________________________

  Tim King is a former U.S. Marine with twenty years of experience in broadcast and Internet news. In addition to his role as a war correspondent, this Los Angeles native serves as Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor. Tim spent the winter of 2006/07 in Afghanistan, and he was in Iraq over the summer of 2008, reporting from the war while embedded with the U.S. Army and Marines.

  Tim holds awards for reporting, photography, writing and editing, including the Excellence in Journalism Award by the Oregon Confederation of Motorcycle Clubs (2010), Oregon AP Award for Spot News Photographer of the Year (2004), First-place Electronic Media Award in Spot News, Las Vegas, (1998), Oregon AP Cooperation Award (1991); and several others including the 2005 Red Cross Good Neighborhood Award for reporting. Tim has several years of experience in network affiliate news TV stations, having worked as a reporter and photographer at NBC, ABC and FOX stations in Arizona, Nevada and Oregon. Tim is a member of the Orange County Press Club in Southern California. You can send Tim an email at this address: newsroom@salem-news.com

  
  

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  Colli April 8, 2011 8:38 am (Pacific time)
  

  At first glance . . . no, at every glance, it appears that they who were victims of one of the most horrible genocides the world has ever seen . . . are perpetrating genocide themselves. Can they not see that this is true? I guess that the old saying that “those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it” is true. As the world once sat back and denied what Hitler was doing, the world sits back and denies what the offspring of the survivors of that genocide are doing. In heavens name Israel . . . THINK of exactly what it is you are doing!

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