Stop the violence, cure the sick

Stop the violence, cure the sick. Well its an aspiration.

Tragically, for the last 24 hours theres been media report after media report of terrible violence in several spots around the globe - from Sri Lanka (mentioned in yesterdays blog), Afghanistan and Iraq, to Gaza and Kenya.

On the last two - news that machete-wielding youths have been clashing with the police in Kenya is deeply worrying. As are reports that the police have been shooting protestors indiscriminately.

The death toll has already been enormous and like so many stories coming out of African countries, this crisis is still not getting the coverage it deserves.

Meanwhile in Gaza, where, conversely, the worlds media are basically primed to cover fresh violence stories at the drop of a hat, the latest Israeli military incursions into Gaza have so far killed at least 22 Palestinians.

See this Al-Jazeera YouTube film for a powerful account of the numbers of casualties overwhelming hospitals.

And, speaking of hospitals in Gaza. At Amnesty weve been telling journalists today about the plight of 13 Palestinians with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses who cant get out of Gaza because of the Israeli security stranglehold.

The Israelis cite security reasons but were saying this is ridiculous (everyone gets security-checked at the border crossings anyway) and stopping people with throat cancer receiving radiotherapy in Egypt is simply callous and unacceptable.

Check out the full story here.

Finally, President Bushs much-publicised Middle East tour has wended its way to Egypt where, interestingly, George Dubya spoke out against the repression of journalists and bloggers in the country. At Amnesty we may not agree with everything Mr Bush says about freedom and human rights but on this one we do!