By Yossi Sarid, Ha’aretz, 29 March 2009

On Wednesday, a military affairs correspondent for the daily Yedioth Ahronoth – yes, he, not a sports reporter – published an exclusive item on the news pages: The commander of the Givati Brigade will be giving pep talks to Israel’s national soccer team before the game against Greece. In recent weeks, coaches have been looking for a senior commander who fought in the Gaza Strip. In the wake of recommendations they received from the Israel Defense Forces, national team coach Dror Kashtan and his assistant, Moshe Sinai, contacted Col. Ilan Malka.

“Malka intends to speak with the players about the significance of the crucial game and about how the eyes of the nation of Israel are upon them,” the reporter said, citing what Malka had told him. “He will demand of the players that they correct the mistakes of the past, just as he demanded of his soldiers that they correct the shortcomings of the Second Lebanon War – because just like in the battles in Gaza, they will not get a second chance. Fight like lions. You are representing something far greater than just a soccer match.”

[Read the report | hat tip]

Related:
Crete, April 2: Demonstration in support of sports boycott and protest of the Greece – Israel soccer match in Heraclion.

George Bisharat, SF Chronicle, 1 April 2009

The extent of Israel’s brutality against Palestinian civilians in its 22-day pounding of the Gaza Strip is gradually surfacing. Israeli soldiers are testifying to lax rules of engagement tantamount to a license to kill. One soldier commented: “That’s what is so nice, supposedly, about Gaza: You see a person on a road, walking along a path. He doesn’t have to be with a weapon, you don’t have to identify him with anything and you can just shoot him.”

What is less appreciated is how Israel is also brutalizing international law, in ways that may long outlast the demolition of Gaza.

Continue reading →

By VOA News
01 April 2009

Thousands of angry demonstrators have converged on central London to protest against the G20 summit, challenging police conducting one of the city’s largest-ever security operations.

By mid-morning Wednesday, protesters were pushing against police barricades outside the Bank of England, where they threatened to storm banks in what they called “Financial Fools Day” demonstrations. Television footage showed some protesters bloodied as they pushed against police lines. Police were also blocking crowds in front of the London Stock Exchange and other financial institutions.

[Read the report | View video (WM)]

Latest updates from Indymedia London:

14.22pm – G20 Meltdown: There is still a large crowd at Bank – cordoned off in a police pen, with no one allowed in or out. At RBS Bank nearby, Bartholomew Street police are violently attacking the tightly-packed crowd.

14.15pm – Climate Camp: The camp is relaxed with games, food, speeches and school kids enjoying the recliamed space.

13:50pm – G20 Meltdown: Police trampled over people sitting on the ground peacefully with riot police on horses. A guy’s flute was kicked away from him since it could be “used as a weapon”. One imc reporter reports being thrown to the ground, punched and kicked by a police officer, with the cop shouting “It’s a shame isn’t it” as he continued to kick.

Crowd outside the Bank of England this morning

13.45pm – G20 Meltdown: RBS Bank surounded on Threadneedle street, reports of one window smashed, and orange smoke

13.33pm – G20 Meltdown: Tactical withdrawl of police line up Princes street – some bottles thrown, another police line and riot police remain, with the crowd chanting “let us out”. Two arrests outside magistrates court, initial arrest was because someone spoke in a ‘foreign accent’, Many people witnessing the event were pushed over and assaulted by FIT officers (sh104 sh660).