Saturday, July 14, 2007

Egypt Has No Sovereignty Over its Own Border; Israel Still in Effect Occupies the Sinai



With no travelers, Rafah terminal between Egypt and Gaza Strip is seen from Rafah, Egypt, Friday, July 13, 2007. Sleeping in the sand and running out of money, thousands of Palestinians have been stranded in Egypt's desert for more than a month since the border with Gaza has been closed. (AP Photo)


Palestinian Samira Abu Khammash, stranded in the border city of Rafah in Egypt for 38 days, holds a prescription given by a doctor of the Egyptian Physicians Syndicate's Human Relief Agency, in the frontier town of Rafah, Egypt, Friday, July 13, 2007. Sleeping in the sand and running out of money, thousands of Palestinians have been stranded in Egypt's desert for more than a month since the border with Gaza has been closed. (AP Photo)


Palestinians gather in front of the gate at the Rafah crossing border during a protest against the closure of the border in the southern Gaza strip July 14, 2007. (REUTERS)


Dr. Saber Ibrahim from the Egyptian Physicians Syndicate's Human Relief Agency, examines a Palestinian child hosted by Egyptian Bedouins in their home courtyard in frontier town of Rafah, Egypt, Friday, July 13, 2007. Sleeping in the sand and running out of money, thousands of Palestinians have been stranded in Egypt's desert for more than a month since the border with Gaza has been closed. (AP Photo)


Palestinian Gamil Abu Moammar sits in the desert sand in a ramshackle reed shelter hosted by Egyptian Bedouin in their courtyard at the frontier town of Rafah, Egypt, Friday, July 13, 2007. Sleeping in the sand and running out of money, thousands of Palestinians have been stranded in Egypt's desert for more than a month since the border with Gaza has been closed. (AP Photo)


Palestinian child, Mazen Abu Moammar, 6, sits in the sand with his family who are hosted by Egyptian Bedouin in a ramshackle reed shelter in their home courtyard at the frontier town of Rafah, Egypt, Friday, July 13, 2007. Sleeping in the sand and running out of money, thousands of Palestinians have been stranded in Egypt's desert for more than a month since the border with Gaza has been closed. (AP Photo)

The Future is a Woman.


By Layla Anwar

"Don't you ever tire? I mean don't you ever get sick with so much killing? Does your stomach not churn? Do you not get queazy or are you on a permanent Death fix ?

Us, women and I in particular, have had it with your "urges", your killing fields and your killing games.....

The rest we need to deal with. Carry an emerging life for 9 months, labour pains, birth pangs...
Maybe you are just an envious, jealous bunch.
Since you cannot give birth, you take Life and give Death instead. And we are always here behind to pick up the pieces and sometimes there are no pieces left because you have included us in your filthy equation......

As for the men, they are to be sent to a huge forced labour, rehabilitation camp. They will be made to cook, clean, bake bread , iron and look after the children. The rest of the time they are to engage in meditating on the essence of the Feminine for at least 12 hours a day.....A huge barbedwire camp.
No guns, no sports, no hunting, no beer, no TV, no heavy metal rock shit...
Short of that, lobotomy is called for, pronto. Yes a lobotomy. Before they exterminate the rest of us and totally destroy the whole planet.

Just in case you had not noticed, I am sick and tired.
Sick and tired of that stupid lot called "men".
Sick and tired of your ways, your egomanias, your conceit, your narcissism, your power trips, your psychopathic, sadistic tendencies, your death, rape, control, possess - restless "desires", impulses, cravings...
Sick and tired of your myopia, your greed, your unbriddled, uncontrolled, senseless, meaningless "ambitions"...
Sick and tired of the rationalizing robots that you have become or maybe that you have always been.

Come to think of it, your overall "performance" over the last few centuries has been abysmal. And you have made a total mess of this world......

Yes this is what you should do and leave the future to us Women.
No, not the Tzibi Livni's , nor the Condi Lice's of this world. Certainly not to the Fancyme Pelosi's, nor the Hilarious Clinton's. Nor the Angela Murky's, nor the Segolene Disloyal's. No, not a western "woman"...Please!.....

Or better still an Arab Woman - preferably of Sumerian origins with a fire raging in her belly. Yes let her be from Sumeria.
After all, you have killed our men - very dead. And rendered them useless...

A copy of yourselves - Dead and useless
.

PS : As for you women, you got it all wrong. The meek shall not inherit the earth."

Expats blast cash offer for Iran Jews to immigrate to Israel






An Iranian Jewish boy at a synagogue in Tehran.






"An Iranian Jewish organization announced over the weekend that it rejected an initiative to promote Iran's Jewish community to immigrate to Israel using cash incentives. "[The money is]inappropriate and politically immature," the group said in a statement that was carried by Western and Iranian news outlets.

It added Iran's Jewish community has remained loyal to the Islamic Republic and that their "Jewish Iranian identity is not a commodity that passes from the hands of one merchant to another in return for money."

The statment addressed an offer by expatriate Iranian Jews offering a sum of $10,000 to each individual to immigrate to Israel.

The $10,000 offer doubled the existing $5,000 allocated each Jewish Iranian upon arrival to Israel by the Ministry of Absorption and the Jewish Agency.

Iran's Jewish community has decreased from 80,000 before the Islamic revolution, to about 20,000 today.

It is represented in parliament by a Jewish lawmaker and is the largest Jewish community in the Middle East outside of Israel."

Surge Mentality: White House in Denial


by Robert Dreyfuss

"Reading the White House’s report, released Thursday, on whether President Bush’s January 2007 “surge” of 30,000 troops is working, you’d never know that a real-life, flesh-and-blood war is being waged in Iraq, with hundreds of people maimed and killed every day. You’d never know that May 2007 was the most violent month in that violent war in nearly three years, with 6,039 attacks on US and Iraqi government forces, 1,348 IEDs exploded under their vehicles, 286 “complex ambushes” involving roadside bombs and coordinated teams of attackers, 102 car bombs, 126 American soldiers killed and 652 wounded.

The report doesn’t mention that Gen. David Petraeus, the US commander in Iraq, warned this week that the resistance in Iraq is preparing a Tet-style offensive, like the one launched in January 1968 by the Viet Cong in South Vietnam. The insurgents, Petraeus said, intend to “pull off a variety of sensational attacks and grab the headlines to create a ‘mini-Tet.‘”......."

A Primer on Israeli Doublespeak


Language as an Instrument of Crime

By RANNIE AMIRI
CounterPunch

"It is indeed a great irony that George Orwell wrote 1984 in 1948, the same year Israel was created. For this nation, above all others, has proven itself most adept in the use and promulgation of doublespeak.

Defined by Webster's Dictionary as "evasive, ambiguous, high-flown language intended to deceive or confuse," Israeli governments have always relied on it to justify the expansionist nature of their state, excuse the confiscation of land and minimize the extent to which its inhabitants have been mistreated or abused.

A few examples:

The Security Fence

The monstrosity which Israel is constructing along the entire length of the West Bank is no more for security than it is a fence......

Moderate Physical Pressure and Work Accidents

Israel was at one time the only country to officially sanction the use of torture, euphemistically referred to as "moderate physical pressure." Lea Tsemel, a defense lawyer and founder of the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) remarked, "Israel is the only Western country that openly uses torture. This is not some brute in the secret services beating up a prisoner. It's done in the open. There is quiet legitimation by a high-ranking commission and government ministers" (New York Times, May 8, 1997).......

The Absent Present

This bizarre term was used describe those Palestinians who were not driven out of Palestine in 1948, but remained within what was to later become Israel. If they temporarily left their homes or were away from their land during the war, they were prevented from reclaiming it. Confiscation of the property of the "absent present" was then permitted (Haaretz, January 14, 1955).

The Abandoned Areas

"We take the land first and the law comes after."

- Yehoshafat Palmon, Arab Affairs advisor to the mayor of Jerusalem (Guardian, April 26, 1972)......

Definition of Israeli doublespeak: the use of language to hide crimes of the state.

It would surely make Big Brother proud
."

Support Their Troops?

By ALEXANDER COCKBURN
CounterPunch

"....."I was reading a recent piece by Phyllis Bennis recently. She talked about the 'US military casualties' and the 'Iraqi civilian victims' and it struck me that the grand taboo of the antiwar movement is to show the slightest empathy for the resistance fighters in Iraq. They are never mentioned as people for whom we should show concern, much less admiration.

"But of course, if you are going to sympathize with the US soldiers, who are fighting a war of aggression, than surely you should also sympathize with the soldiers who are fighting for their homeland. Perhaps not until the antiwar movement starts to some degree recognizing that they should include 'the Iraqi resistance fighters' in their pantheon of victims (in addition to US soldiers and Iraqi civilians) will there be the necessary critical mass to have a real movement."

Now there are many obvious reasons why the direct solidarity with resistance fighters visible in the Vietnam antiwar struggle and the Central American anti-intervention movement has not been visible in the movement opposing the Iraq war. The "War on Terror" means-and was designed to mean-that any group in the US with detectable ties or relations with Iraqi resistance movements would be in line for savage legal reprisals under the terms of the Patriot Act. Another important factor: The contours of the Iraqi resistance have been murky and in some aspects unappetizing to secular progressive coalitions in the West, or so they virtuously claim.

But such cavils were familiar in the Sixties and Eighties too as huge chunks of the solidarity movement found endless reasons to distance themselves from the Vietnamese NLF or the Nicaraguan FMLN. That said, ignorance about the Iraqi resistance is somewhat forgiveable. This time there has been no Wilfrid Burchett reporting from behind the lines, and that has had consequences of the kind McGuire sketches out above.

The personal aspect of international political solidarity is not just the stuff of nostalgic anecdote. In the late 1980s the Central American resistance was constantly among us here in the United States in physical form. While Daniel Oretega and Rosario Murillo worked the Hollywood liberal circuit, the sanctuary movement sheltered militants and sympathizers in churches across the country and defied federal efforts to seize them. Labor organizers from El Salvador traveled across North America from local to friendly local....."

Mustafa Barghouti: Israel is "attacking the Palestinian population"


"Ramallah – Ma'an – Palestinian Legislative Council member Dr. Mustafa Barghouti has on Saturday condemned arbitrary Israeli procedures and the siege of Tulkarem, in the north of the West Bank, that has now been ongoing for 14 consecutive days.

In a statement received by Ma'an, Al Barghouthi said that the Israeli actions disrupt the Palestinians' ability to transport their produce, and that the harassment at the checkpoints should be interpreted as nothing less than "attacking the population."

Al Barghouti further condemned the repeated Israeli invasions in the Gaza Strip, claiming that "what Israel is doing is an operation to re-occupy the Gaza Strip step by step, in order to confiscate more than a third of the territory, which Israel will then turn into closed military locations".

The PLC member warned that "these Israeli actions are meant to turn the Gaza Strip into a jail". "

Jews can’t have it both ways


Jews can’t have it both ways

From Khalid Amayreh in occupied East Jerusalem

"OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- I realize that there are many good Jews who reject racism of any kind, including Zionism, an explicitly fascist movement of East European origin that has seriously eroded the moral fabric of Judaism. I also know there are many honest and conscientious Jews who have spoken up against the evils of the Israeli state which has made the Star of David look like the Swastika of Hitler.

Similarly, I know there are many practicing Jews who don’t accept the scandalous abuse and degradation of their great monotheistic religion by some cultist-minded “rabbis” and “religious leaders” who claim that Jews are outside the realm of human norms and that what applies to the rest of humanity doesn’t apply to them.

These people can only be commended for their honesty and morality. They are not the subject of this article. The subject is rather those powerful but deceitful Zionist leaders who claim to speak on behalf of Jews and Judaism while allowing themselves to sink in a sea of hypocrisy, mendacity and moral depravity.......

But this is a two-way street that is not confined to Christianity and Islam and other religions. Jews also have much to do in this regard. The reincorporation of the scandalously anti-Christian text of “Chesronot Shas” into the Talmud also hurts Christian feelings, and if Jews are truly serious about inter-religious harmony, they, too, should reform their ancient books, which by the way had nothing to do with the authentic religion that Moses preached and taught.....

Indeed, a mere glance at Talmudic texts, such as Shulhan Aruch and Chesronot Shas, which views Jesus Christ as “child of adultery” and his mother, Mary, as a “ whore,” is far more injurious to Christians than any “greed charges” leveled by a polish priest against Jews. According to Israel’s Shahak’s Jewish History, Jewish Religion: The Weight of Three Thousand Years, the Talmud states that “Jesus’s punishment in hell is to be immersed in boiling excrement.”

Moreover, ha’Tanya, the fundamentalist book of the Habad (Chabad) movement, which is one of the most important branches of Hassidism, states that all non-Jews are totally Satanic creatures in whom there is absolutely nothing good. “Even a non-Jewish embryo is qualitatively different from a Jewish one. The very existence of non-Jews is inessential, whereas all of the creation was created solely for the sake of Jews.”

Of course, these are not irrelevant, anachronistic or even anecdotal texts that some Zionist apologists would claim. In fact, these books are manuals for action for hundreds of thousands of Jewish settlers, including cabinet ministers and army generals who view non-Jews, e.g. Arabs, as lesser human beings or even animals in a human form......

In short, Zionism, especially religious-Zionism, can’t have it both ways. They can’t rail and rant and rave against anti-Semitism, real or imagined, while they themselves indulge in a far more virulent racism against non-Jews. This is a two-way street, and non-Jews are not children of a lesser God. "

حركة فتح بلبنان تدعو الفصائل لدعم الجيش اللبناني بالبارد


Fatah Wants Palestinians in Lebanon to Fight With the Siniora Army

This important news item appears only in Arabic. I will translate and will try to put it in perspective.

"The Fatah official in Lebanon, Sultan Abu Al-Ainain, stated that the time has come for the various Palestinian organizations in Lebanon to take part in military operations, side by side with the Lebanese army, to finish off the "gang" of Fatah Al-Islam which still has tens of fighters inside Nahr El-Bared refugee camp in north Lebanon.

In a press conference, the Fatah official said that from the beginning some Palestinian organizations (not including Fatah) have insisted on limiting the Palestinian contribution to trying to find only a political solution to end the crisis.

According to Abu Al-Ainain, it is the duty of the Palestinian organizations in Lebanon to take part in the military operations after the failure of political efforts to convince the "gang of Fatah Al-Islam" to surrender. He stated that the shelling of Lebanese villages close to the camp by this "gang" was a flagrant and unacceptable attack on the Lebanese people......"

The significance of this news item is that it hints of a strategic alliance between Fatah and the American-Israeli-Saudi project in the area. Just as Fatah's thugs under Dahlan, with arming and financing by Elliott Abrams and Condoleezza Rice, were intended to spread "creative destruction," chaos and division in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, Fatah is now intent on doing the same in Lebanon.

By clearly taking sides with the Siniora army, which for two months has been shelling and destroying the Nahr El-Bared camp resulting in scores of Palestinian dead and wounded and the forced destitution of over 35,000 Palestinian refugees Fatah, again, puts itself not on the side of the Palestinian people.

By demanding that Palestinians fight and die for the Siniora army, while that same army is still detaining, abusing and torturing over 150 Palestinians from the camp, would only mean that Fatah wants Palestinians to fight each other; is this not the plan? If they fought with the Siniora army, how would those Fatah fighters have reacted when the Siniora army opened fire on peaceful Palestinian refugees from the camp who simply wanted to go back, killing two and injuring a dozen?

Equally important, is Fatah advocating becoming a party to a potential civil war in Lebanon? The answer is apparently yes, since that civil war is being instigated by Usrael. Does Fatah want all Palestinians in Lebanon to join in the Usraeli fight against Hizbullah? Apparently this is the plan.

Fatah is now solidly in the Usraeli camp and this will mean the acceleration of its demise, which will not come too soon.

***

"قال أمين سر حركة فتح في لبنان إن الوقت قد حان لتشارك الفصائل الفلسطينية في لبنان، بالعمليات العسكرية إلى جانب الجيش اللبناني للقضاء على "عصابة" فتح الإسلام التي يتحصن العشرات من أفرادها في مخيم نهر البارد شمال لبنان.

وأوضح سلطان أبو العينين في مؤتمر صحفي أن بعض الجماعات الفلسطينية هي التي أصرت منذ البداية على أن تقتصر مساهمة الفلسطينيين بإنهاء أزمة نهر البارد على الجانب السياسي فقط.

وحسب أبو العينين فإن من واجب الفصائل الفلسطينية الموجودة في لبنان أن تساهم في العمل العسكري بعد أن فشلت الجهود السياسية بإقناع "عصابة فتح الإسلام" بالاستسلام، معتبرا أن قصف هذه الجماعة قرى لبنانية بالقرب من المخيمات "اعتداء سافر وغير مقبول على الشعب اللبناني". كما رأى أن لجوء فتح الإسلام لإطلاق هذه الصواريخ "دليل على أنها في النفس الأخير من حياتها".


......
......"

TE Lawrence had it right about Iraq

'Rebellions can be made by 2 per cent active and 98 per cent passively sympathetic'

By Robert Fisk

"Back in 1929, Lawrence of Arabia wrote the entry for "Guerrilla" in the 14th edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. It is a chilling read - and here I thank one of my favourite readers, Peter Metcalfe of Stevenage, for sending me TE's remarkable article - because it contains so ghastly a message to the American armies in Iraq.

Writing of the Arab resistance to Turkish occupation in the 1914-18 war, he asks of the insurgents (in Iraq and elsewhere): "... suppose they were an influence, a thing invulnerable, intangible, without front or back, drifting about like a gas? Armies were like plants, immobile as a whole, firm-rooted, nourished through long stems to the head. The Arabs might be a vapour..."

How typical of Lawrence to use the horror of gas warfare as a metaphor for insurgency. To control the land they occupied, he continued, the Turks "would have need of a fortified post every four square miles, and a post could not be less than 20 men. The Turks would need 600,000 men to meet the combined ill wills of all the local Arab people. They had 100,000 men available."

Now who does that remind you of? The "fortified post every four square miles" is the ghostly future echo of George W Bush's absurd "surge". The Americans need 600,000 men to meet the combined ill will of the Iraqi people, and they have only 150,000 available. Donald Rumsfeld, the architect of "war lite" is responsible for that. Yet still these rascals get away with it......

"Rebellion must have an unassailable base ...

In the minds of men converted to its creed. It must have a sophisticated alien enemy, in the form of a disciplined army of occupation too small to fulfil the doctrine of acreage: too few to adjust number to space, in order to dominate the whole area effectively from fortified posts.

"It must have a friendly population, not actively friendly, but sympathetic to the point of not betraying rebel movements to the enemy. Rebellions can be made by 2 per cent active in a striking force, and 98 per cent passively sympathetic ... Granted mobility, security ... time, and doctrine ... victory will rest with the insurgents, for the algebraical factors are in the end decisive, and against them perfections of means and spirit struggle quite in vain."

Has the US General David Petraeus read this? Has Bush? Have any of the tired American columnists whose anti-Arab bias is wobbling close to racism, bothered to study this wisdom?.....

So we are going to have yet another war in the Middle East, this time against Hamas - democratically elected, of course, but only as a result of what Pipes calls "the Bush administration's heedless rush to Palestinian elections"? It's good to see that the late Tony Blair is already being dubbed a "savant". But shouldn't Pipes, too, read Lawrence? For insurgency is a more powerful "vapour" than that which comes from the mouths of illusionists."

Friday, July 13, 2007

A Different 'Gut Feeling': Israel Attacking Iran

The Village Voice

"It always pays to be suspicious when a U.S. official ramps up fear, but Homeland Security czar Michael Chertoff's "gut feeling" remark about an Al Qaeda attack on the U.S. this summer sparks a different suspicion — and a similar sinking feeling: Israel is about to launch a unilateral strike on Iran.

It's not a cinch, but that queasy feeling is building......

One of Israel's top officials (Avigdor Lieberman) says he's got the go-ahead from NATO's U.S. and European officials to attack Iran. Chertoff, aware of a longstanding, fierce debate in the White House over attacking Iran, admits a "gut feeling," saying it's about Al Qaeda but probably feeling queasier about what an attack on Iran would do to inflame terrorists. Condoleezza Rice, said to be an opponent of a U.S. attack on Iran, suddenly cancels a visit to Israel. For the warhawks, that keeps her out of harm's way and blunts her attempts to talk with both Muslims and Jews. Israel couldn't very well attack Iran while hosting the U.S. secretary of state.

For all you conspiracy theorists out there — and those of you who pooh-pooh this as simply conspiracy theorizing — here are some of the building blocks of that suspicion......."

Israel wants Jews wiped off the map of Iran

Jews sans frontieres

Contributed by europe

"Yes, in spite of Israel and the zionist movements best efforts Iran's Jews are hanging in there. Zionists love to say that there were Jewish communities throughout the middle east that have now gone, in many cases to Israel. Now that most witnesses to whatever caused them to go are dead, there are lots of zionists suggesting that there was an ethnic cleansing campaign throughout the Arab world that caused them to leave. The saga of Iran's Jews is a telling case of how zionists are happy to destroy long-standing Jewish communities in order to acquire cannon fodder for their colonial settler project......"

Olmert praises Abbas's stern stand against Hamas


Olmert praises Abbas's stern stand against Hamas. Chief Editor of the London based al-Quds al-Arabi, warns Abbas that he is sliding towards becoming another General Lahd, in reference to General Antoine Lahd of the South Lebanese Army

"NAZARETH, LONDON, (PIC)-- While the Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, has not been so generous towards PA President Mahmoud Abbas in terms delivering promises, he has been so generous with praise. Meanwhile a Palestinian commentator warned Abbas of becoming another Lahd.

Olmert spoke of a "tangible change" in Abbas's policies as he has started to "sternly confront Hamas and took steps that he did not in the past."

Olmert also praised the so called "emergency government" of Salam Fayyad adding that "if this government fights terrorism [Palestinian resistance], then it will be possible to dramatically accelerate the implementation of international resolutions."

He also said that he is going to release 250 Fatah prisoners to reinforce the moderate trend within Palestinian society.

Meanwhile, Abdul-Bari Atwan, a Palestinian renown political commentator and Chief Editor of the London based al-Quds al-Arabi, has warned Abbas that he was sliding towards being another General Lahd, in reference to General Antoine Lahd of the South Lebanese Army which collaborated with the Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon between 1983 and 2000.

He pointed out in his editorial on Friday that Israel is already dealing with Abbas on this basis and said: "Most of the actions of the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, are in the direction of unprecedented subservience to the United States and Israel and without any contemplation of the effect of this on the Palestinian cause."

He also accused Abbas of taking haphazard decisions since the success of Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the fall of the security authority of the "warlords and the president's office."

Atwan warned Abbas that the Israeli occupation government could see his (Abbas's) loss of strategic vision and is dealing with the "Ramallah authority" on a security level only taking advantage of the state of division the Palestinians are living.

He added that Abbas, now, has a personal grudge against Hamas and that is the only explanation for his recent comments about Hamas and alleged links to al-Qaida, an accusation which "gives justification for all previous and future Israeli massacres of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip."

He also quoted two prominent Palestinian legal experts, who are not affiliated with or supporters of Hamas, and who were of the opinion that Abbas's decrees and his emergency government were illegal and that the only legal government was the Palestinian unity government which was sacked by Abbas.

He criticized Abbas's use of the PLO's Central Council instead of the elected PLC and added that Abbas's policies with regard to salaries and the use of Karm Abu Salem border crossing instead of Rafah only serve the Israeli occupation.

He called on Abbas not to continue on this slippery slope saying that "We do not want to see President Abbas turning into another General Lahd."

He ended his editorial with: "Palestine is not the [personal] property of Abbas, and the Palestinian cause should not be hostage to him. He [Abbas] should remember that all those who allied themselves with America and Israel met a sad end and he will not be different.""

***

The editorial of Abdul-Bari Atwan, in Arabic, was posted here yesterday. Scroll down about 15 posts to find it.

More entering Army with criminal records

What Can be More Natural? Criminals Helping War Criminals

"WASHINGTON -- Nearly 12 percent of Army recruits who entered basic training this year needed a special waiver for those with criminal records, a dramatic increase over last year and 2 1/2 times the percentage four years ago, according to new Army statistics obtained by the Globe......

Army officials acknowledge privately that the increase in moral waivers reflects the difficulty of signing up sufficient numbers of recruits to sustain an increasingly unpopular war in Iraq; the Army fell short of its monthly recruiting goals in May and June......"

Clown King Farts...., I mean Speaks


Jordan: Next few weeks crucial for Mideast peace

"The next few weeks will be crucial if new efforts to resuscitate a Middle East peace process are to succeed, Jordan's King Abdullah said on Friday.

"The next couple of weeks and months are going to be critical to bring the Israelis and the Palestinians to launch the process forward and it cannot be done alone," King Abdullah said after talks with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper......"

قيادي في المقاومة: ما فعلناه غير موجود في كل المدارس


" قيادي بارز في المقاومة الإسلامية يتحدث لـ"الانتقاد" عن تفكيك المنظومة العسكرية للعدو : ما فعلناه غير موجود في كل المدارس العسكرية
من الوعد الصادق الى الانتصار الإلهي

"الاسابيع الاولى من الحرب انتهت الى فشل سلاح الجو في تدمير القوة الصاروخية للمقاومة، وإبعاد سلاح البحر عن الأراضي اللبنانية بعد ضرب البارجة، شل القوة البرية ومنعها من السيطرة على جنوبي الليطاني (الدبابات)".
خلاصة انتهت اليها المقاومة الاسلامية في الفترة الاولى من الحرب الاسرائيلية ضد لبنان في تموز من العام 2006، وأظهرت لها الضعف الاستراتيجي عند العدو، وبالتالي خسارته للحرب.
يدوّن القيادي البارز في المقاومة الاسلامية على ورقة أمامه هذه العبارات مؤكداً أن "مجرد التأثير في هذه الأذرع من قبل المقاومة في بداية الحرب بانت معالمها وصار العدو بلا أفق، وبات يفتش عن مخرج مناسب من هذه الأزمة".
....

* أين تقع عملية الوعد الصادق (الأسيرين) في استراتيجية المقاومة الإسلامية؟
نحن نواجه عدواً خطيراً يمتلك قدرات مادية مهمة جداً ومهارات عالية ووسائل متطورة ودعماً مادياً ومعنوياً كبيراً على المستوى الدولي، إضافة الى تراكم الخبرة لديه.. واستراتيجيتنا في مواجهته تستند الى مجموعة من الأعمال النوعية والمركزة والمشروعة في آن، الى جانب التنوع في الأسلوب والزمان والحجم بما يضمن استمرارية التأثير المادي والمعنوي في صراعنا معه.
وأحد هذه الأساليب الموجعة للعدو والضرورية من قبلنا في مسارنا العملياتي هو عمليات الأسر التي تشكل مقتلاً معنوياً لدى العدو وعملياتياً، وضرورة إنسانية على صعيد المقاومة لجهة تحرير أسرانا في سجونه.
.....

* في اللحظة التي أدركتم أن العدو ذاهب باتجاه حرب واسعة، هل كانت المقاومة على جاهزية كاملة؟
ـ منذ العام 2000 ونحن نعمل على جاهزية كاملة عدة وعديداً على قاعدة "وأعدوا لهم ما استطعتم من قوة".. فمثلا في عملية أسر الجنديين الإسرائيليين عملنا في دائرة معينة، وكنا نتوقع كما ذكرت ردا إسرائيليا محدودا، إلا انه عندما استشعرنا بأن المسألة راحت باتجاه الحرب، استنفرنا كل قوانا المحلية والاحتياط لمواجهة هذه المعركة. في حقيقة الأمر ما شهدته أثناء الحرب فاجأني بالحجم الإيجابي الذي حققناه من ربح على الإسرائيلي، نظرا لكونه عدوا مقتدرا على المستوى المادي وعلى مستوى القدرة العسكرية التي يمتلكها مقابل القدرة التي نمتلكها نحن كمقاومين.. وبسير العمليات العسكرية التي خضناها وما آلت إليه على مستوى سقوط العدد القليل من الشهداء والجرحى، وعلى مستوى صمود الإخوة في القرى والخطوط الأمامية. أستطيع أن أدعي أن حزب الله منذ الأيام الأولى للحرب حتى اللحظة الأخيرة كان موجوداً بشكل فعال، كطاقة بشرية وكقوة صاروخية، حتى انه في الأيام الأخيرة من العدوان كنا نرمي صليات الصواريخ من قرى الشريط وبأداء مهم جداً ومنسق، هذا فضلاً عن الروح القتالية العالية لدى الأفراد.
* هل يمكن القول إنكم تفاجأتم بقدراتكم كمقاومة؟
ـ بصراحة نعم، فحينما ترى أننا في الجغرافيا صامدون، والسلاح متوافر في أيدينا بمختلف أنواعه، والمبادرة ما زالت بأيدينا، فهذا الأمر غير طبيعي. يدخل الإسرائيلي إلى القرية فأطلق النار عليه، أتخذ قرارا برمي المستعمرة فأرمي، على الأطراف أرمي، أينما أرد أرمِ بحرية كبيرة.. هذا المستوى من الحرية في التحرك فاجأنا. بصراحة هذا كان يجري في وقت كان هناك ما يزيد على أربعين ألف جندي إسرائيلي بيننا! لذا علينا ان نأخذ الأمور بهذا المستوى، لا تنظر إلى الإسرائيلي أين وطئت قدماه، أنظر إلى ما فعلته المقاومة التي خاضت أهم حرب عصابات في العالم، وأهم تجليات هذه المعركة أن ما فعلته المقاومة غير موجود في أي مدرسة عسكرية على وجه البسيطة.
....
...."

Kassem: If Israel attacks, we'll show them surprises


Al-Manar Special - Hanan Awarekeh

"12/07/2007 "Hezbollah is as strong as it needs to be to withstand any Israeli aggression," Hezbollah's Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Kassem told al-Manar Channel Wednesday, in a political talkshow "Maza ba'ad".
"The latest aggression only made us stronger. We acquired forces, we're still highly prepared," he said, referring to the Second Lebanon War.
Sheikh Kassem said that Hezbollah does not intend to attack, but that if Israel attacks, "we'll show them some surprises…Israel is weaker today than it was in the last war, whereas the party (Hezbollah) is strong…We won't leave behind our prisoners," he added.
His eminence accused 'Israel' of functioning as an arm of the United States. "Everyone has always said that Israel pulls America's strings, but now it turns out that America rules Israel. Israel has turned into America's arm."
"We didn't initiate the war with Israel," he stated. "Who started the war? Israel. It turned out that Israel does not respond proportionally, but rather executes preplanned American decisions. The aggression was planned in advance."
"We did not give Israel an excuse," Sheikh Kassem affirmed. "Taking the soldiers captive was aberrant and we did not consult with anyone when doing this…We carried out an operation to release our detainees," he said.
"The problem is Israel's decision and not the incident itself," he said.
Sheikh Kassem continued to speak of the heavy price 'Israel' paid for last summer's war. "The entire Israeli military establishment suffered a heavy blow. But (Prime Minister Ehud) Olmert also paid a price – support for him dropped to 2 percent. If Olmert falls, it will have implications for the Zionist entity that may not serve America well," he said.
"America sends money and does everything in order to stabilize Olmert, because Olmert proved that he is in its favor and is weaker than ever. We will discover in the future that the outcomes of our victory reach much further. That's why I don't think that a collapse of the Israeli government is the only sign. The entire Zionist entity is on the verge of a breakdown," he added.
When asked about the damage sustained by Lebanon, Sheikh Kassem responded, "we got into this war in order to defend ourselves. What about the damage caused to Israel? The material, spiritual and strategic damage? This is also important.
"Yedioth Aharonoth said that the enemy suffered billions of dollars of damage. In Lebanon, the damages didn't cost more than two billion dollars. Yes, there was damage, but we protected Lebanon from occupation."
Hezbollah's Deputy Secretary General added that the resistance fighters have defeated the Israeli army, "We caused them to withdraw from combat and we caused them the greatest defeat since 1948. Was this simple to do? Of course not." "

Audio: Crossing the Line interviews witness to killings of Palestinians by Lebanese Army


Audio: Crossing the Line interviews witness to killings of Palestinians by Lebanese Army

"This week on Crossing the Line, host Chris Brown continues to focus on the ongoing crisis in the Palestine refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared located in northern Lebanon. This week Brown speaks with activist Caoimhe Butterly who is in Lebanon working with Palestinians who have been forced from their homes in Nahr al-Bared because of the fighting between the Lebanese Army and militants from Fatah al-Islam. Butterly speaks about an event she witnessed where two Palestinians were killed and 27 injured when the Lebanese Army opened fire on a non-violent protest organized by Nahr al-Bared residents wishing to return to their homes......."

Click Here to Listen

Dahlan was pressured into leaving the Palestinian territories


Dahlan was pressured into leaving the Palestinian territories, Lebanese paper claims

"Bethlehem - Ma'an - Fatah leader Muhammad Dahlan left the Palestinian territories for Germany on false pretenses, a Lebanese paper claimed on Thursday.

The 'Al-Akhbar' newspaper said that Dahlan, who formerly lived in the Gaza Strip and was President Abbas' national security advisor, was pressured into leaving the region following Abbas' anger at Hamas succeeding in taking control of the Palestinian Authority security headquarters in Gaza.

According to the paper, Dahlan also obtained Jordanian nationality at the beginning of July while en route to Germany for his alleged medical treatment. He then flew to Cairo and on to Berlin.

According to the newspaper's correspondent, Sami Sa'id, President Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) did not want Dahlan to participate in his meeting with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Therefore he allegedly asked some of Dahlan's advisors to put pressure on Dahlan to leave the West Bank, claiming necessary medical treatment. Dahlan responded to the pressures, and left unexpectedly.

On 8 July, Dahlan's office confirmed that the Fatah leader had left for four weeks of medical treatment in Germany, after a short stopover in Cairo. According to his office, Dahlan also underwent a surgical operation on his knees in Berlin two months ago.

According to the Lebanese paper, Abbas was angry with Dahlan and blamed him for Fatah's defeat in Gaza.

However, the paper also added that Tayeb Abdel Rahim, an aide of Abbas, apologized to Dahlan, saying that Abu Mazen was just exhausted.

According to the same newspaper, people close to Dahlan have said that some of the countries that Dahlan is visiting have not welcomed him as they used to a year ago. "

Israel planning to assassinate Haniyeh

Israel planning to assassinate Haniyeh, Nazareth-based paper says

"Bethlehem - Ma'an - An Arabic-language newspaper published in Nazareth, in northern Israel, reported on Friday that the Israeli cabinet has approved plans to assassinate Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of the Hamas movement. According to the paper's Israeli sources, the Israeli defence minister, Ehud Barak, has also approved the decision.

The As-Sennara newspaper added that sources "close to the Israeli decision-makers" affirmed that the Israeli security bodies have drawn up plans to "eliminate" Haniyeh. According to the Nazareth-based paper, the Israeli security bodies have handed over these plans to Barak, who, in turn, has agreed from a preliminary point of view to the plans.

Barak also raised the issue in the cabinet last week, the paper said, and the issue was approved.

The paper added that Barak urged the cabinet to agree to the plan fully and "without reservations." Reportedly, the cabinet agreed. The paper said the execution of the plan is now only a matter of timing. "

German TV: Kurds Used to Attack Iran


By Kurt Nimmo

"Last month, as the corporate media mulched over renewed Pentagon claims Iran is providing deadly IEDs to Iraqi “insurgents,” German television reported the Maoist Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or Partiya Karkaren Kurdistan (PKK), has “killed over 200 Iranians,” a handful by way of IED, according to a PKK terrorist quoted by German ARD television (original in German).......

....In fact, the plan is to destabilize, deconstruct, and balkanize Iraq, that is top say carve it up into three distinct pieces based along ethnic and religious lines. Moreover, it is extremely difficult to believe the Pentagon would be left out of the loop, especially the side of the Pentagon to this day dominated by intractable and quite maniac neocons. More likely, the Israelis and the U.S. are collaborating in northern Iraq and directing attacks against Iran through surrogates such as the PKK, or rather its cover PJAK. Iran, after all, is the next target on the “clean break” list......"

Fayyad's precarious government


The new Palestinian government appears to be treading on very thin ice

By Khaled Amayreh from Ramallah

Al-Ahram Weekly

"Is Salam Fayyad a political amateur? Well, his behaviour during the course of the past three weeks would suggest he is.

Indeed, ever since the "coup" in Gaza on 14 June, which generated another "coup" in Ramallah a few days later, Fayyad, the appointed prime minister of the Ramallah-based government has been striving to be everybody's man, except for Hamas, of course.

He has been telling the Israelis that he will "change the reality" in the West Bank and eradicate "terror" and "fight Hamas" as nobody has ever done before.

Meanwhile, he has told the Americans that he is their man in Palestine and that he will seek to implement George Bush's disingenuous vision of two states.....

Of course, while Fayyad's assessment of Hamas may have some superficial rationality, the thrust of his perception is wrong. After all, Israel and the PLO negotiated for close to 15 years in the absence of Hamas, and all the Palestinians got were more Jewish settlements on their occupied land, more roadblocks and checkpoints, a hateful apartheid wall built in the heartland of the West Bank, and the diminishing chance for peace......

Fayyad, who is an independent and has no base support amongst Palestinians, is trying to play the tough guy, mainly to please and appease the West and Israel. However, his ability to effect change on the ground is very limited, indeed......

This week, lawyers and jurists who wrote the interim Palestinian constitution have said that Abbas exceeded his powers when he appointed the new emergency cabinet. Anis Al-Qassem and Eugene Cotran, who began drafting the Basic Law more than a decade ago, said it "gave Abbas the power to dismiss Haniya but did not allow him to appoint a new government without parliamentary approval." Al-Qasem and Cotran explained that the Basic Law makes it clear that Haniya's unity cabinet should remain the caretaker administration until Abbas secured parliamentary approval for a new government.

Ahmed El-Khaldi, a law professor who also worked on drafts of the Basic Law, said he was concerned Palestinian democracy was "in retreat". Two weeks ago, El-Khaldi was briefly abducted by armed militiamen loyal to Fatah.

Nevertheless, it is unlikely that Abbas, Fayyad and their cohorts will be willing to heed the rule of law in this regard as they rely first and foremost on the power of the fait accompli......"

Bush's optimism is impossible to square with the situation in Iraq

By Patrick Cockburn
The Independent

"......But in Iraq as in the US there is a sense that Washington is playing its last cards. "I assume the US is going to start pulling out because 70 per cent of Americans and Congress want the troops to come home," Mahmoud Othman, a veteran Iraqi politician, said. "The Americans are defeated. They haven't achieved any of their aims."

The report itself admits to a sense in Iraq that the US, one way or another, is on the way out more than four years after its invasion in 2003.......

Paradoxically, Iran, unlike Saudi Arabia and the Sunni Arab states, actually supports the Iraqi government in Baghdad. It is run largely by their Shia co-religionists and political leaderswho were supported by Iran for years against Saddam Hussein. The problem here is that Washington has never been willing to accept that the great campaign it launched to overthrow Saddam Hussein has increased Iranian influence and put Shia clergy in black turbans in power in Baghdad as they have long held power in Tehran.

The "benchmarks" in President Bush's report are trivial and prove nothing. They appear to be an attempt to pretend that the war is still winnable in Iraq up to the Presidential election in the US next year.

These vain hopes of victory rule out compromises that the US still might make and are a pretence which many Americans and Iraqis will die unnecessarily trying to sustain."

Is War With Iran Inevitable? Yes


By Justin Raimondo

"We didn’t just invade Iraq – when we launched "Operation Iraqi Freedom" the American people not only signed on to an occupation that resembles, in many respects, Israel’s occupation of Palestine, we also bought into a serial war strategy, the first of which was Gulf War I. Gulf War II landed us in our present predicament. Gulf War III – involving, at a minimum, Iran, Syria, and Lebanon – is about to break out, and no one seems willing to stand against it.

Indeed, the third Gulf War has already begun, and all that remains is for the aerial phase of it to commence. The presence of three U.S. carriers in the Gulf is a prelude to a much larger operation, and, as if on cue, accusations of Iranian interference in Iraq have escalated, with the US military now echoing earlier assertions by Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney that the Iranians stood behind the Iraqi insurgency. We are, of course, never allowed to see the "evidence" for this claim, and, in the long, anguishing reappraisal of the "intelligence" that rationalizes a strike at Tehran the real paucity of concrete facts backing up these statements will doubtless come out.....

It may be that the American people are opposed to another war in the Middle East: that may even be the last thing on their minds. Yet our elected "representatives" could care less about popular opinion, or else they would have gotten us out of Iraq last year. The Lobby is plumbing for war with Iran, and the tom-toms are beating out their message of fear, intimidation, and vaunting – the prelude to another symphony of "shock and awe.".....

At this point, unless the American people wake up in time – which I very much doubt – war with Iran seems all but inevitable. Politically, there is no one of any stature standing up to oppose it, or even to point out that the question of war with Iran is imminent. Ron Paul, alone of all the candidates in both parties, has warned of a Gulf-of-Tonkin-style incident, which could be blown up into a casus belli. It could happen tomorrow. It could happen three months from now. We can’t be sure of when, and yet I am convinced that it is only a matter of time – and not much time, at that – before the third Gulf war begins in earnest, and we enter an entirely new era in the history of this country – and the world. The global conflict the neocons are always eagerly anticipating, and which they call "World War IV," is about to break out – and it ought to make at least the most thoughtful among us just a little bit queasy that, in the coming struggle with Iran, Osama bin Laden is on our side."

By Mike Luckovich

War games, mind games or the real deal?

Israel's failure in Lebanon one year ago humiliated Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and shredded the myth of Israeli military invincibility. Hezbollah remains proud, defiant and active. Round 2 in Lebanon, or war with Syria, whether provoked or orchestrated, might be what Olmert needs to prove his mettle.

By Sami Moubayed
Asia Times

".......Lebanon, Olmert found it increasingly difficult to explain to the Israelis why his army was not winning a battle against a small group of guerrilla warriors. It was feared that if pressure rose within Israel, Olmert would attack Syria to prove to the Israelis that he was serious and capable of fighting the problem (Hezbollah) and its backers (Syria and Iran).

Part of that argument still stands. Olmert is still in a difficult position and, on the anniversary of the war, has solved none of Israel's worries with Hezbollah. A Round 2 with Lebanon, however, would seem more likely than a Round 1 with Syria. The Syrian Arab Army, although untried in battle for many years, is well armed and well trained. It can fire real missiles at Israel - not just Katyusha rockets. It has a military pact with Iran. There is no real reason to attack Syria unless Olmert wants to fabricate an excuse to go to war against the Syrians.

That can easily be done in a variety of ways. One way would be if an attack were launched against Israel by one of the many armed groups in Palestine. This attack would be blamed on Hamas, which is supported by the Syrian government. Already there is a campaign to root out Hamas from within the occupied territories, with Israel attacking it from outside and Fatah fighting it from within.

Proponents of the Israel-versus-Syria war claim such a conflict would lead to a weaker Damascus and the flushing out of Hamas. All of that, naturally, would incapacitate Hezbollah. Another way to wage war on Syria would be if hostilities were created on the Lebanese-Israeli border, and then blamed on Damascus......"

How far will this Brownian motion go

There is a definite shift in tone from No 10 on the 'special relationship', but the real crunch will come if the US decides to go to war with Iran.

By Julian Borger
The Guardian

"......His former chief of staff, Scooter Libby, may have been convicted, but Cheney has proven his strength once more by getting Bush to commute the prison term. And Cheney is still the biggest player of all in the policy debate. Bush still talks to him last before making up his mind on important policy decisions. The vice president doesn't always win, but he often does. And unless there is a diplomatic breakthrough he may win again, over Iran.

If Bush does decide to bomb as a way of halting Tehran's nuclear programme, Brown will be faced with possibly the hardest choice of all. US bombers would need British bases in Diego Garcia and in Britain itself. To deny the help would represent a breach in the alliance. Having lieutenants make nuanced speeches in Washington is one thing; saying no to the White House on a matter of war and peace is quite another. "

Iran's Jews spurn cash lure to emigrate to Israel


Robert Tait in Tehran
Friday July 13, 2007
The Guardian

"Iran's Jews have given the country a loyalty pledge in the face of cash offers aimed at encouraging them to move to Israel, the arch-enemy of its Islamic rulers.
The incentives - ranging from £5,000 a person to £30,000 for families - were offered from a special fund established by wealthy expatriate Jews in an effort to prompt a mass migration to Israel among Iran's 25,000-strong Jewish community. The offers were made with Israel's official blessing and were additional to the usual state packages it provides to Jews emigrating from the diaspora.

However, the Society of Iranian Jews dismissed them as "immature political enticements" and said their national identity was not for sale. "The identity of Iranian Jews is not tradable for any amount of money," the society said in a statement. "Iranian Jews are among the most ancient Iranians. Iran's Jews love their Iranian identity and their culture, so threats and this immature political enticement will not achieve their aim of wiping out the identity of Iranian Jews."....

Iran's sole Jewish MP, Morris Motamed, said the offers were insulting and put the country's Jews under pressure to prove their loyalty. "It suggests the Iranian Jew can be encouraged to emigrate by money," he said. "Iran's Jews have always been free to emigrate and three-quarters of them did so after the revolution but 70% of those went to America, not Israel."....."

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".....but 70% of those went to America, not Israel"

I know, they came to live in Beverly Hills, California; one of the most expensive and exclusive cities.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

الحوار.. أو الاستقالة فورا

الحوار.. أو الاستقالة فورا

A Must Read Editorial (Arabic)

عبد الباري عطوان

"تتسم معظم تصرفات الرئيس الفلسطيني محمود عباس (ابو مازن) بالاندفاع نحو تبعية غير مسبوقة للولايات المتحدة الامريكية واسرائيل دون ان يتبصر النتائج الخطيرة التي يمكن ان تترتب علي هذا التوجه علي صعيد القضية الفلسطينية ومستقبل الصراع العربي ـ الاسرائيلي.
منذ استيلاء حركة حماس علي قطاع غزة، وانهيار اجهزة السلطة الامنية التابعة للوردات الحرب ومكتب الرئاسة، والرئيس عباس يتخبط في قراراته ومواقفه ويعمق تحالفاته مع الدولة العبرية، وضد شعبه، او قطاع كبير منه، مقابل حفنة من الاموال والمعونات الغربية والامريكية علي وجه الخصوص.
اسرائيل، وبسبب انعدام الرؤية الاستراتيجية لدي الرئيس الفلسطيني، باتت تتعامل مع سلطة رام الله كأنها سلطة لحد ، وحصرت كل تعاونها معها في المجالات الامنية فقط، مستغلة حالة الانقسام الكبيرة في الوسط الفلسطيني، وانتصار التيار المحيط بالرئيس عباس الذي يحقد علي العرب والاسلام، ويطالب بالارتماء الكامل في احضان اسرائيل وامريكا باعتبارهما عجلة الانقـــــاذ الوحيدة والبـــوابة الرئيســـية لهزيمة حماس واعادة الاوضاع الي ما كانت عليه قبل انتصارها الساحق في قطاع غزة.
الرئيس عباس بات يكن حقدا شخصيا علي حركة حماس وينظر اليها من زاوية محاولتها المزعومة لاغتياله، بحيث بات مسكونا بهذه المحاولة الفاشلة، ويري كل القضايا من زاويتها فقط، واصبح غير مستعد لسماع اصوات العقل والمنطق التي تخطيء قراراته غير المتزنة، وتطالبه بالعودة الي الشرعية والصواب، والابتعاد عن المواقف المتخبطة، والا كيف نفسر اتهامه للحركة بايواء تنظيم القاعدة وهي تهمة تعني وضع الغالبية الساحقة من الشعب الفلسطيني علي قوائم الارهاب والعنف، وتبرير كل المجازر الاسرائيلية السابقة واللاحقة في قطاع غزة.
الغالبية الساحقة من قرارات الرئيس عباس الاخيرة غير شرعية، وكل ما بني عليها بالتالي غير شرعي. فحكومة الطواريء التي اعلنها كبديل لحكومة الوحدة الوطنية تتعارض كليا مع القانون الاساسي للحكم الذي وضعه خبيران قانونيان فلسطينيان عالميان هما الدكتور انيس القاسم رئيس اللجنة القانونية في المجلس الوطني الفلسطيني، والبروفسور القاضي يوجين قطران.
السيدان القاسم وقطران اكدا دون اي لبس او غموض، ان حكومة الطواريء تفقد شرعيتها اذا لم تقر من قبل المجلس التشريعي الفلسطيني، وهو ما لم يحدث مطلقا، وقال لي الدكتور القاسم شخصيا، وهو ليس من حماس، وغير معروف بتوجهاته الاسلامية، ان الحكومة الشرعية الوحيدة هي حكومة الوحدة الوطنية برئاسة السيد هنية، وأكد لي ايضا، في محادثة هاتفية، ان حركة حماس لم تقم بحركة انقلابية في قطاع غزة، لأن حكومتها تتمتع بالشرعية، والشرعية لا تنقلب علي نفسها.
الرئيس عباس يريد الغاء المجلس التشريعي الفلسطيني المنتخب، واستبداله بالمجلس المركزي لمنظمة التحرير الفلسطينية غير المنتخب، ولذلك وجه الدعوة الي هذا المجلس للانعقاد الاسبوع المقبل من اجل توجيه الدعوة لعقد انتخابات جديدة في اقرب وقت ممكن.
المجلس المركزي الفلسطيني الذي يدعو السيد عباس لانعقاده، بتحريض وفتاوي من قبل بعض المحيطين به من بقايا بطانة الفساد، هو مجلس غير شرعي، لان صلاحيته انتهت قبل عشر سنوات علي الاقل. فالمجلس الوطني الفلسطيني الذي ينتخب المجلس المركزي لم ينعقد منذ عقد ونصف العقد، وانا شخصيا عضو مستقل في هذا المجلس واعرف قانونه جيدا. فالمجلس المركزي هذا علاوة عن كونه منتــــهي الصلاحية ومات عدد كبير من اعضائه، يمثل مرحلة انتهت وأسدل الستار عليها، مرحلة بيروت وتونس، ولا يضم أيا من القوي الجديدة الفاعلة علي الساحة الفلسطينية مثل حماس، والجهاد الاسلامي، ولجان المقاومة الشعبية، وكتائب شهداء الاقصي.
معظم الفصائل الفلسطينية الممثلة في المجلس المركزي لم تحصل علي مقعد واحد في انتخابات التشريعي الاخيرة، ومعظم امنائها العامين الذين يتصدرون مقاعد الصف الاول في جلساته لم يحصلوا حتي علي اصوات زوجاتهم وابنائهم. وافضل تمثيل لبعض الفصائل الكبري، باستثناء حركة فتح ، في المجلس التشريعي لم يزد عن مقعدين. وتكفي الاشارة الي ان كتلة السيد سلام فياض الذي يرأس حكومة الطواريء لم تحصل الا علي مقعده ومقعد السيدة حنان عشراوي شريكته السابقة فيها قبل ان تنفصل عنه.
اجراء انتخابات فلسطينية جديدة بدعوة من المجلس المركزي المحنط ، سيكون خطوة غير شرعية لان القسم الاساسي من الشعب الفلسطيني الذي تمثله حركة حماس وفصائل المقاومة الاخري لن يشارك فيها. ولهذا ستؤدي الي تثبيت حالة الانقسام الحالي، وتخلق مشاكل جديدة اكثر تعقيدا.
الرئيس عباس يقف حاليا امام مأزق خطير، وليس امامه غير احد خيارين للخروج منه، الاول ان يتقدم باستقالته كرئيس للسلطة، والثاني ان يعود الي مائدة الحوار مع حركة حماس متخليا عن عناده، ومتجاوزا مراراته الشخصية الناجمة عن محاولة اغتياله المزعومة من قبل كتائب عز الدين القسام التابعة لها.
من الواضح ان السيد عباس لا يريد الاستقالة وهو متشبث بكرسي الرئاسة، ويجد من يحرضه علي ذلك من المحيطين به الذين لا يتمتعون بأي شرعية سياسية او تنظيمية، كما انه اي الرئيس عباس لا يريد الحوار مع حركة حماس ويجد تشجيعا من اسرائيل وامريكا وبعض الأنظمة العربية للمضي قدما في هذا الطريق.
علي الرئيس عباس ان يدرك، انه بدفع رواتب موظفيه فقط، وتأييد الاملاءات الاسرائيلية بفتح معبر كرم سالم وبما يعيد الوصاية الاسرائيلية الكاملة علي قطاع غزة، انما يخدم المصالح الامريكية والاسرائيلية، بقصد او بدونه، ويعرض الشعب الفلسطيني لخطر الشرذمة والضياع.
لا نريد ان يتحول الرئيس عباس الي جنرال لحد آخر، وان تزداد عزلته الشعبية الفلسطينية والعربية الرسمية، بعد ان اغلق اقرب حلفائه الابواب في وجهه (مصر والسعودية) ولذلك نتمني عليه، وقبل ان تتكرس هذه العزلة، وتصبح طرق العودة الي الشرعيتين العربية والفلسطينية مغلقة نهائيا، بحيث لا تبقي امامه الا طريق باتجاه واحد نحو تل ابيب، نتمني عليه ان يتخلي عن عناده، والمجموعة المنتفعة والملتفة حوله، ويعود الي صوابه، وان فعل سيجد الشعب الفلسطيني كله ملتفا حوله، وان لم يفعل فعليه تحمل كل النتائج.
فلسطين ليست ملكا للسيد عباس، وقضيتها لا يجب ان تكون رهينة له، وعليه ان يتذكر ان كل الذين تحالفوا مع امريكا واسرائيل انتهوا نهاية بائسة، ولن يكون استثناء."

Democracy Now!

With Amy Goodman

Contributed by Datta

The Other War: Iraq Veterans Speak Out on Shocking Accounts of Attacks on Iraqi Civilians

"The Nation magazine has published a startling new expose of fifty American combat veterans of the Iraq War who give vivid on-the-record accounts of the US military occupation in Iraq and describe a brutal side of the war rarely seen on television screens or chronicled in newspaper accounts. The investigation marks the first time so many on-the-record, named eyewitnesses from within the US military have been assembled in one place to openly corroborate assertions of indiscriminate killings and other atrocities by the US military in Iraq. We speak with the article’s co-author, journalist Laila Al-Arian, and four Iraq veterans who came forward with their stories of war....."

(By the way Laila Al-Arian is the daughter of the Palestinian professor Sami Al-Arian, still jailed even though a jury has cleared him of all charges)

Iraq War Vets Describe "Brutal Techniques" Used by U.S. Military Against Iraqi Civilians

"Two Iraq war veterans, Sgt. John Bruhns and Spc. Garett Reppenhagen recount their experience in Iraq, particularly describe the brutal house raids they conducted on a regular basis in Iraq......"

If Soldiers Came From Another Country And Did This To My Family, I Would Be An Insurgent Too” – War Vet Describes Iraq House Raid

"Staff Sergeant Timothy John Westphal, who served in Iraq for one year, recalls raiding a sprawling farm on the outskirts of Tikrit in 2004 and the screams he can still hear of the man he woke up inside. Sgt. Westphal says, "He was so terrified and so afraid for his family. I thought of my family at the time and thought 'If I was the patriarch of the family, if soldiers came from another country and did this to my family, I would be an insurgent too.'"...."

Pro-Israel Lobby Throws Support Behind Fatah-Led Palestinian Cabinet


The Jewish Daily Forward

"Washington - Pro-Israel lobbyists and legislators have become unexpected cheerleaders for the Palestinian leadership after the new Fatah-led Cabinet took action against Hamas.

In a memo sent out to congressional offices this week, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee commended the new Palestinian government for “taking important steps needed for peace” and for breaking ties with Hamas, which now rules Gaza. “If followed with consistent action, these promising steps can serve as the foundation for negotiations with Israel,” the Aipac memo reads.

Separately, Rep. Steve Israel, a New York Democrat, traveled to Ramallah to visit with the new Palestinian prime minister, Salam Fayyad. Congress will soon vote on funding for the Palestinians, and Israel said he is now more disposed to supporting the aid......

The Aipac memo lists several recent steps taken by Abbas and Fayyad, including the dissolution of the national unity government with Hamas, the orders for presidential guards to take action against Hamas militants in the West Bank and the outlawing of militias in the Palestinian territories. The Palestinian leaders also won praise for their rhetoric on the peace process and their renunciation of violence as a means of achieving political goals.....

...While Congress scaled down the original package, the State Department is now trying again to increase the aid, following the formation of the new Palestinian government in the West Bank. Aipac did not oppose the increase in aid.

The funding issue was also central to the meeting between New York representative Israel and the Palestinian prime minister. Israel, a Democratic member of the House Appropriations Committee, told the Forward after the meeting that he is “slightly more comfortable” about approving money for the Palestinian guard....Fayyad, according to Rep. Israel, said that he “means business”....."

Breaking News: Arab Regimes Have Principles!


Visit by Egypt, Jordan FMs will not be an Arab League mission

"The foreign ministers of Egypt and Jordan, due to visit Israel later this month, will not be representing the Arab League as previously reported, but rather will represent only their respective countries, Egypt's foreign minister said Thursday.....

The Jordanian and Egyptian foreign ministers were recently reported to be acting as envoys from the Arab League on their upcoming visit.

This would have been the first such visit to Israel by the Arab League, which has historically been hostile toward it.

But Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said his visit to Israel with his Jordanian counterpart, planned for July 25, would only be on behalf of their respective countries. "This is not a visit where the Arab League flag will be raised," Aboul Gheit told reporters. "This is a matter of principle."......"

Generalissimo Abbas bringing Badr Division from Jordan to West Bank


Ynet: Olmert, Abbas to discuss bringing Badr Division from Jordan to West Bank

"Bethlehem - Ma'an - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to negotiate with Israeli Prime Minster Ehud Olmert on the latter's approval of allowing the Palestinian Badr Division of the Jordan Army into the West Bank to help bolster Abbas's position.

According to Ynet news, the Palestinian leader is also expected to request the entry of "dozens" of armored vehicles from Egypt into the West Bank.

The two leaders will likely discuss the matter during their meeting in Jerusalem on Monday.

Prior to the Hamas takeover in the Gaza Strip, Abbas also made the request concerning the Badr Division, but then they were to be deployed in the Gaza Strip. Now, they are likely to be used to bolster the president's control over the West Bank.

Ynet says that it is unclear if Olmert will consent, as a similar request by Abbas has been refused before.

Olmert and Abbas will also discuss on Monday the list of 250 Fatah members whom Israel may release from prison. Olmert is expected to officially inform Abbas on the transfer of $120 million of withheld Palestinian tax revenues, and Israel's guarantee not to hold back any Palestinian tax money in the future.

Israeli opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu has declared that he supports the initiative to bring Palestinian troops from Jordan into the West Bank, as well as Egyptian armored vehicles. Ynet quoted Netanyahu, who, during a visit to Washington last month, told Israeli reporters that Israel cannot "build on Palestinian President Abbas with Palestinian forces alone. We need Egyptian and Jordanian involvement." "

***

"Israel cannot build on Palestinian President Abbas with Palestinian forces alone. We need Egyptian and Jordanian involvement..." -- Netanyahu

This is the definition of a stooge: he can't trust or count on his people; he needs ouside forces to prop him up.

Interim Assessment of the Highly Successful Destruction of Iraq Due


By Kurt Nimmo

"Once again, they take us for complete idiots. “A progress report on Iraq will conclude that the U.S.-backed government in Baghdad has not met any of its targets for political, economic and other reform, speeding up the Bush administration’s reckoning on what to do next, a U.S. official said Monday,”.....

In fact, the “U.S.-backed government in Baghdad,” that is to say the U.S. puppet government in Baghdad, is doing precisely what it was cobbled together to do under the dog and pony show of purple finger democracy—absolutely nothing short of avoid car bombs and assassination attempts......

No doubt the “interim report” on “progress” in Iraq, due to arrive tomorrow, will not make mention of this “policy battle” between thieves. Instead, we will be told once again that the damn Iraqis are screw-ups, never mind the neocons decimated their country and “al-Qaida… tribal sheiks,” at least some of them doubling as SAS operatives in wigs and Arab garb, are busy blowing up mosques and markets, per plan, and the fact they are unloved and certainly unwanted bothers them not. It will, of course, sketch out in bold lines the plan to “fairly divide Iraq’s oil resources,” undoubtedly with the assistance of a few transnational oil corporations.....

As we know, or should if we read history, the 1916 Sykes-Picot Accord was as much about stealing oil as creating a Zionist state in the Middle East, the latter a pet project of Baron Edmond de Rothschild, known fondly in Israel as HaNadiv HaYdu’a, the “Famous Benefactor,” for spending over $50 million on settlements, a foothold that would eventually usher in the state of Israel....."

War Pimp Alert: US Senate warns Iran on Iraq attacks


"THE US Senate has unanimously backed a measure censuring Iran for what it said was complicity in the killing of US soldiers in Iraq, intending to send a stern warning to Tehran.

The chamber voted 97-0 in favor of the bill, making it one of the few areas of Iraq policy where all Democrats and all Republicans are in agreement, in a turbulent period of political recriminations over the war.

"Today's unanimous vote sends a strong, clear message from the entire Senate to the Iranians that we know what they are doing in Iraq, and they must stop,'' said Senator Joseph Lieberman, who framed the legislation. "This is a warning to the Iranians that whatever differences divide us politically here in Washington, we stand united against these outrageous attacks.''

The amendment laid out what it said was evidence about proxy attacks by Iranian forces on US soldiers in Iraq and called for a regular US government report to Congress on Tehran's role in the war-torn nation.

"The threat posed by Iran to our soldiers, to our allies, and to our national security is a truth that cannot be wished or waved away. Congress today began the process of confronting it,'' Mr Lieberman said.

The measure passed just over a week after the US military accused Iranian special forces of using Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah militiamen to train Iraqi extremists and of planning an attack that killed five US soldiers this year.

Iran dismissed the US accusations as "ridiculous''......"

People flee Nahr al-Bared camp ahead of expected final assault


UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

"BEIRUT, 11 July 2007 (IRIN) - Up to 150 people from the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in north Lebanon fled on 11 July, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Witnesses said the army was preparing a final assault on the Fatah al-Islam militants holed up inside.

ICRC spokeswoman Virginia de la Guardia said between 140 and 150 people, mostly men, had left the camp during a lull in fighting early in the day. By afternoon, the army had resumed heavy bombardment.....

"There are people leaving now, as yesterday the army hit five underground shelters. No civilians were killed but they are worried the army is going to destroy the whole camp now," said Abu Imad.

"Very, very grave" humanitarian situation

Abu Imad described the humanitarian situation in the camp as "very, very grave" with lack of food, water and medicine and with dead bodies rotting in the streets.

The ICRC has been unable to deliver any food, water or medicine into Nahr al-Bared since 22 June because the army is refusing to grant safe passage.

"Not allowing the supplies through is a mass punishment for all the civilians inside here
," said Abu Imad. "If there is not an immediate ceasefire we are afraid the army will destroy the camp and we will all die in here."....."

***

Salute the "heroic" Lebanese "army" in this dastardly act of mass destruction, slaughter and forced displacement of about 40,000 innocent refugees with no place to go!

Furthering Jewish domination in America, Europe


Elders of Zionism debate ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, furthering Jewish domination in America, Europe

Khalid Amayreh in Occupied East Jerusalem

"Zionist leaders from around the world are debating ways and means to effect further ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem as well as consolidating Jewish influence and domination in the western hemisphere, especially North American and Europe.

Participating in the three-day conference, organized by the Jewish People Policy Planning Institute (JPPPI), are leaders of major Jewish organizations in the United States and Canada as well academics, rabbis and Jewish business tycoons from around the world.

Speakers at the conference will include, among others, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, opposition head MK Binyamin Netanyahu, JPPPI Board Chairman and former US ambassador Dennis Ross, Jewish Agency Chairman Ze'ev Bielski, and Brandeis University President Jehuda Reinharz.....

According to the Israeli media, participants, dubbed as the crème de le crème of the Jewish people, are discussing three main themes: growing western opposition to the Israeli occupation of Palestine, which many delegates viewed as expression of "anti-Semitism," strengthening Israel's Jewish identity, an implicit reference to Israeli efforts and plans to check Palestinian demographic growth, and assimilation of Jews in the West.

Speakers have castigated "voices critical of Israel" at the American arena, an apparent reference to a recent study by two prominent American academics which claimed that the American policy in the Middle East was largely determined by Israel and its powerful Jewish lobby and also to the recent publication of a book, carrying the same message, by former President Jimmy Carter......

With regard to "Israel's shrinking demographic advantage in Palestine," Zionist leaders reportedly proposed a "set of measures" to check the "worrying trend," including encouraging higher birth rates among Jews by offering financial and other inducements, exploring ways and means to lower the Arab birth rate especially in Israel proper and encouraging Palestinians to emigrate as well as promulgating laws that would strengthen Israel's Jewish identity.

Some speakers suggested that economic and financial inducements be channeled exclusively to Jews in Israel through special non-governmental agencies in order to avoid the appearance of adopting discriminatory policies against Israel's Arab minority. Arabs in Israel constitute nearly a quarter of the country's population.....

Some Zionist leaders, like former Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, reportedly suggested that Israel and Zionism stood to actually benefit from the anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli atmospheres in Europe and even in North America. Netanyahu's argued that anti-Semitism had always been and continued to be "a key reason" behind "the return of Jews to their ancestral land."....."

Escalation in Palestine with US support


Missing Links

".....But this was "clearly what Mr Abbas wanted", says the New York Times, explaining that "Mr Abbas may be able to declare the government a 'caretaker' until new elections can be held..." pursuant to Article 43 of the Basic Law, which, the NYT explains, "gives him the right to issue decrees in exceptional cases." Not entirely clear? Something escaping you?

Here's the explanation in Al-Akhbar, with the missing piece added:
Hamas was able to block the holding of a session of the Leglsiative Assembly called by Abbas to elect [new parliamentary leadership] and remove Hamas from control of Parliament, taking advantage of the fact that 41 of the Hamas members of the Assembly are in Israeli jails. It appears that Abbas is going to use the blocking of this session to extend the life of the emergency government he has formed, and give it legal powers, on the basis that Hamas disrupted this legal proceeding, a charge that is repeated by all the Fatah spokesmen, on the view that their competitor [Hamas] is intent on establishing a "Somalian emirate" in the Gaza Strip to be a pawn in the hands of regional parties.

Those were the words of the official Fatah spokesman, Ahmad abdul Rahman. Hamas continues to call for dialogue, and Haniyya said what Abbas proposes to do will amount to dissolution of the whole Palestinian political structure. David Welsh, currently the State Department's man in the region, said the US government approves of everything Abbas has done since Hamas took control of Gaza. And the Al-Akhbar reporter adds Condoleeza Rice will be visiting in person on July 18."

Fear and fragile peace


Fear and fragile peace: a long-suffering people prepare for a new war

Last July the country was plunged into a 34-day conflict that left it in ruins. Amid the reconstruction, fighters are digging in again

Suzanne Goldenberg in Bint Jbeil, Lebanon
Thursday July 12, 2007
The Guardian

".....The sense of siege has not yet lifted in Lebanon - despite a durable ceasefire, the deployment of 13,500 United Nations troops to keep the peace in the south, and millions of dollars pledged for reconstruction from Arab states.

Instead, say many Lebanese, there is a deepening dread of a new war to come. There is no shortage of likely pretexts for a confrontation: a string of high-profile assassinations and bombings, and deepening political divisions in Beirut. In the north, there have been fierce clashes with al-Qaida affiliates at the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared, outside Tripoli. In the south, there are suggestions of a plot to drive out the UN peacekeepers and provoke a new war with Israel.

There are also undeniable signs that Hizbullah is digging in for a new encounter with Israel, this time in the isolated and sun-scorched mountains just north of the Litani river......"

The Other War: Iraq Vets Bear Witness


Chris Hedges & Laila Al-Arian
The Nation

Sorry for the delay in posting this important report.

"Over the past several months The Nation has interviewed fifty combat veterans of the Iraq War from around the United States in an effort to investigate the effects of the four-year-old occupation on average Iraqi civilians. These combat veterans, some of whom bear deep emotional and physical scars, and many of whom have come to oppose the occupation, gave vivid, on-the-record accounts. They described a brutal side of the war rarely seen on television screens or chronicled in newspaper accounts.

Their stories, recorded and typed into thousands of pages of transcripts, reveal disturbing patterns of behavior by American troops in Iraq. Dozens of those interviewed witnessed Iraqi civilians, including children, dying from American firepower. Some participated in such killings; others treated or investigated civilian casualties after the fact. Many also heard such stories, in detail, from members of their unit. The soldiers, sailors and marines emphasized that not all troops took part in indiscriminate killings. Many said that these acts were perpetrated by a minority. But they nevertheless described such acts as common and said they often go unreported--and almost always go unpunished.

Court cases, such as the ones surrounding the massacre in Haditha and the rape and murder of a 14-year-old in Mah­mudiya, and news stories in the Washington Post, Time, the London Independent and elsewhere based on Iraqi accounts have begun to hint at the wide extent of the attacks on civilians. Human rights groups have issued reports, such as Human Rights Watch's Hearts and Minds: Post-war Civilian Deaths in Baghdad Caused by U.S. Forces, packed with detailed incidents that suggest that the killing of Iraqi civilians by occupation forces is more common than has been acknowledged by military authorities......."

The March to War

The March to War: Détente in the Middle East or "Calm before the Storm?"

by Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya

Global Research, July 12, 2007

"Despite the discussions of détente in the Middle East, the peril of war is still a real menace that threatens to proliferate globally. The dialogue taking place between the U.S., the E.U., Russia, Syria, and Iran seems to be merely a transient point in the timeline of the Middle East and Central Asia. The ongoing international discussions focused on the Middle East are part of an instant in time and history that will come to pass. Attached to these discussions are the fate of the Middle East, or so it may seem. With certainty, only time will tell what will unfold in the Middle East and become recorded in the annals of history.

A deeper look must be taken at the evolving domestic conditions within the “American Homeland” and at the wave of events that are unfolding in the Palestinian Territories, Israel, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, the Persian Gulf, the former Soviet Union, and Iran.

There have been reports and chatter about war between Israel and Syria and a “Summer War” that could breakout in the Levant with the initiation of Israeli strikes in the Palestinian Territories and Lebanon. The summer-months of 2007 may see international tensions rise, but witness no regional war that could potentially spread in the Middle East and beyond......"

Khalid Mash'al asserts Hamas' steadfastness


Khalid Mash'al asserts Hamas' steadfastness,
stresses his opposition to factionalism


Contributed by Lucia

"Bethlehem - Ma'an - Khalid Mash'al, the Damascus-based head of Hamas' politburo, has asserted on Thursday the Hamas' movement's steadfastness and determination to prevail in the face of any attempts to sideline them.

He assured that the Hamas movement is not facing a dilemma regarding its future, following its overthrow of the Palestinian Authority institutions in the Gaza Strip three weeks ago.

"We are not in a dilemma, and let those who are counting on that wait one or two months or even a year," Mash'al said. "Let those who want to gamble and sustain the Palestinian schism be responsible for their position, yet they will never succeed as they have selected the wrong track which will lead them to the wrong results."

Mash'al asserted that all wars waged against Hamas and the Palestinian people would not work. "The names and the plans which the US and Israeli occupation counted on have gone with the wind, and the Palestinian legitimacy is not determined by the US and Israel, nor will it be determined by suspending the law or through deception," Mash'al explained.

In a statement distributed by Hamas' politburo, Mash'al stated that his movement is used to coping with hard conditions, and those who plan to punish the people through basic issues such as salaries must be ready for the consequences. He was referring to the Palestinian president's decision to suspend the salaries of Hamas-affiliated civil servants.

With regards to the security issue, Mash'al stressed that control of Palestinian security should be in Palestinian hands, and be free from factional interests.

"We want security for all, and the headquarters belong to the Palestinian people," Mash'al asserted. "The security services must be reformed and restructured in order to help the Palestinian homeland and to come under the command of the Palestinian Authority, without partiality. The leaders of those security services have to be decent men, who do not sign agreements with the Israeli occupation or betray the people. We do not look forward to any proportional divisions."

Mash'al also denied President Abbas' claims that Hamas has links to the Al-Qaeda network. "This is unreasonable, and any sane man can determine the invalidity of that," Mash'al said. He added that the Israeli media was behind the promotion of that idea and the incitement against Hamas......"

Hamdan: Abbas's statements lack credibility, give cover for Israeli escalation


Hamdan: Abbas's statements lack credibility, give cover for Israeli escalation

"DAMASCUS, (PIC)-- Osama Hamdan, the Hamas representative in Lebanon, described on Wednesday PA chief Mahmoud Abbas's allegations that Hamas is harboring elements from the Al-Qaeda in the Gaza Strip as "lacking credibility and giving cover for Israel to escalate its aggression against and to tighten the siege on Palestinian people in Gaza."

"Accusing a large segment of the Palestinian people of being terrorists and claiming that there are hotbeds of terrorism in the Palestinian lands give the IOA a political cover to escalate its aggression and to persist in committing massacres against our people," Hamdan warned during an interview with PIC, adding that Abbas's statements are "a political price for the American and Israeli support."......

In another context, Hamas held the PA chief and Fayyad's government responsible for the collapse of the Palestinian political program through issuing illegal decrees and interfering negatively in the course of the PLC's sessions and programs taking advantage of the absence of 41 MPs from Hamas-affiliated "change and reform" Bloc in the Israeli jails.

Hamas also warned that a human catastrophe had occurred as a result of Abbas and Fayyad's abolition of the customs code of the Gaza Strip and held them responsible for the consequences of collaborating with the IOA in starving the Palestinian people.

Hamas on Wednesday had deplored Abbas's accusation of harboring elements from Al-Qaida, considering it an attempt to incite the world and the EU on the Palestinian people and its cause after positive European and international indicators started to surface regarding the Palestine question."