Saturday, March 1, 2008
Shame on the Arabs, shame on the Muslims, shame on humanity
Comment by Khalid Amayreh in the West Bank
"As Israel is fulfilling its threat to inflict a “greater holocaust” (greater than the German Holocaust) on the Palestinian people, the vast bulk of Arabs and Muslims, as well as the rest of the world, are looking on passively as the Judeo-Nazi state is having a free season on the helpless Palestinians. This is not a matter of controversy and the facts are neither nebulous nor incomplete. You are all watching the slaughter show before your eyes, on you TV screens.
Yes, the scope of the massacres has not yet reached the Auschwitz proportions, but soon it will if you continue to play deaf and dumb as if the wanton slaughter is taking place on a different planet. To the Arab masses and governments, I say shame on you. You are not worthy of being true descendants of Ali Ibn Abe Taleb, Abu Bakr al Siddique and Omar Ibn al-Khattab. You are the worst progeny of the best of mankind. Can’t you see your shame? Your ignominy is clarion, your apostasy is striking.
How could you continue to look yourselves in the mirror? Have you lost all your senses, all your sensibility, your honor, your humanity? How could you go on living normally while your brothers and sisters in Gaza are being slaughtered like helpless sheep at the hands of the Nazis of our time?
Shame on you, shame on your Petro-dollars! What good could there be in your billions or trillions when they can’t protect our crying women and children from the bayonets of the Judeo-Nazis? What good can there be in your hefty bank account when you can’t look Israel in the face? Have you completely lost your dignity, your sense of honor and pride, even humanity? When will you stop kissing the hands of your child-killers?Are you dead?
And to the Muslims? You babble endlessly about solidarity with the Palestinian people. But you are busy killing each other in Iraq and Pakistan and Lebanon while Jerusalem is being decapitated, very much like the children of Gaza. You, too, are liars and hypocrites. You claim to be followers of the Prophet Muhammed who said a Muslim is a brother to every other Muslim. So why have you betrayed your Muslim brothers and sisters in Palestine, leaving them at the mercy of the Nazis of our time? Why? Are you afraid of upsetting your perfidious rulers, the slaves of America? Are you worried about losing a day’s wage? Are you so addicted to the comfort and luxury of life that you can’t devote a day for the people of Palestine and al-Masjidul Aqsa. You are more than 1.4 billion human beings living on a vast expanse of land extending from Indonesia in the east to Morocco in the West . How is it that you can’t do anything to help your Palestinian brothers who are facing the prospect of annihilation at the hands of Nazis of our time?Yes, you, too, are responsible for the merciless murder of these innocent children in Gaza. What will you tell your maker when you meet Him on the Day of Judgment?Shame on you for your silence, passivity and cowardice. You surely could do a lot to save the Palestinians from this ongoing genocide in Gaza.
Take to the streets wherever you are and make your voices heard. Let the Judeo-Nazis and their supporters feel your presence. Try to pressure your respective governments to sever ties with Israel and her supporters. You can always do much more…if you have the will.
And a last word to the peoples of the world, if you think that the Judeo Nazis are only after the Palestinians, you are dead wrong. The Judeo Nazis are after world domination. They are after your freedoms, your resources, and your future. The Palestinians are only the first step, and then will come your turn. So, wake up, speak up and make your voices heard, or they will control your life and enslave you as they have enslaved the United States and much of Western Europe.
Zionism is simply the Nazism of our time; it is a real cancer.
If you don’t defeat it, it will kill you."
زوجة القائد مغنية تنفي توجيه الاتهام لاي دولة عربية
Al-Manar
Contributed by my dear friend, Uprooted Palestinian
"تنفي زوجة الشهيد القائد الحاج عماد مغنية السيدة سعدى بدر الدين ان تكون قد وجهت اتهاما لأي دولة عربية في قضية اغتيال زوجها , وتعتبر أن كل ما طرح في وسائل الإعلام حول هذه المسألة هو مجرد أكاذيب تهدف إلى تضليل التحقيق والتغطية على القاتل الحقيقي وهو العدو الصهيوني "
Contributed by my dear friend, Uprooted Palestinian
"تنفي زوجة الشهيد القائد الحاج عماد مغنية السيدة سعدى بدر الدين ان تكون قد وجهت اتهاما لأي دولة عربية في قضية اغتيال زوجها , وتعتبر أن كل ما طرح في وسائل الإعلام حول هذه المسألة هو مجرد أكاذيب تهدف إلى تضليل التحقيق والتغطية على القاتل الحقيقي وهو العدو الصهيوني "
Israeli Genocides, Holocausts & Massacres: 55 Victims in 12 hours, names included
Anna Goldman reports from the Gaza Strip
"Gaza strip, 1st, March, 2008, (PCAS)- Since the early morning, the Israeli holocausts against Palestinians have started. About 10 freedom fighters died but the majority (45) of the victims were civilians.
The holocaust which was declared by Matan Vilnai, Vice Israeli defence (War) minister, yesterday is being launched by today morning with confines. Diverse sorts of weapons, such as F16 and Apaches planes were used. In addition to using heavy guns, bombs, missiles and cluster bombs as well.
Attalla Family was exposed to a 1-ton-missle fired by F16. The missile destroyed their house which was of 2 floors resulted in killing 4 members including a child.
Around 30 air raids and 50 bombs and artillery shells fired towards the Palestinian civilians. The Jabalya camp which is the position of the military holocaust is densely populated. Around 1000 thousands live in about 1 kilometer. Thus a lot of innocent victims fell quickly......."
"Gaza strip, 1st, March, 2008, (PCAS)- Since the early morning, the Israeli holocausts against Palestinians have started. About 10 freedom fighters died but the majority (45) of the victims were civilians.
The holocaust which was declared by Matan Vilnai, Vice Israeli defence (War) minister, yesterday is being launched by today morning with confines. Diverse sorts of weapons, such as F16 and Apaches planes were used. In addition to using heavy guns, bombs, missiles and cluster bombs as well.
Attalla Family was exposed to a 1-ton-missle fired by F16. The missile destroyed their house which was of 2 floors resulted in killing 4 members including a child.
Around 30 air raids and 50 bombs and artillery shells fired towards the Palestinian civilians. The Jabalya camp which is the position of the military holocaust is densely populated. Around 1000 thousands live in about 1 kilometer. Thus a lot of innocent victims fell quickly......."
حزب الله: الشعوب العربية مدعوة لنصرة الشعب الفلسطيني
قناة المنار
"2008 اصدر حزب الله بيانا علّق فيه على الاعتداءات والمجارز الاسرائيلية التي ترتكب بحق الشعب الفلسطيني والتي راح ضحتها عشرات الشهداء بينهم اطفال ونساء. وجاء في البيان الحزب :
"تحت أنظار العالم أجمع تقوم آلة الحرب الإسرائيلية بقتل أبناء الشعب الفلسطيني وذبح أطفاله دون أن يرف جفن لزعماء وقادة يدعون حماية حقوق الإنسان أمام المحرقة الفلسطينية التي تجري بتواطؤ عربي فاضح وبأسلحة وتمويل غربيين وبحماية أميركية شاملة للسفاح الإسرائيلي".
تابع البيان، وإذا كان سكوت الأنظمة مداناً فإن الشعوب العربية مدعوة إلى نصرة الشعب الفلسطيني والعمل على فك الحصار الظالم عنه والذي يشارك فيه النظام السياسي العربي وإلى الضغط بكل الوسائل المتاحة لدعم أبناء غزة والضفة وتمكينهم من الدفاع عن أنفسهم وصد الغزاة.
اضاف حزب الله في بيانه، لقد قدم الشعب الفلسطيني تضحيات هائلة وأبدى قدرة عظيمة على الصمود والصبر . وهو إذ يمثل نموذجاً فريداً في ذلك فإن أي تنازل أو مساومة عن الحقوق التاريخية يمثل تنكراً لهذه التضحيات ومكافأة للمعتدي، وقد علمنا التاريخ أن مآل مثل هذا الكفاح البطولي في النهاية هو تحقيق النصر ودحر الاحتلال وانتصار المظلوم على رمز الطغيان والشر الذي يمثله في عصرنا الكيان الإسرائيلي وخلفه الإدارة الأمير كية الفاشية.
بدوره اعتبر نائب الامين العام لحزب الله الشيخ نعيم قاسم، أن العدوان الإسرائيلي الهمجي والنازي على أطفال ونساء وشيوخ وشباب غزة هو أكثر من محرقة, وهو جزء من التآمر الدولي الذي ترعاه أميركا على حقوق الفلسطينيين, وتساءل سماحته أين الأمم المتحدة ؟ ومجلس الأمن ؟ والاتحاد الأوروبي ؟ والرأي العام الدولي ؟ وهم الذين يستنكرون ويدينون ويهددون لأتفه الأمور اذا كان الأمر يتعلق بإسرائيل !! أما وهو مرتبط بالشعب الفلسطيني فلا من يسمع ولا من يجيب! الشيخ قاسم أكد أن الجرائم الصهيونية لن تركع الشعب الفلسطيني ومقاومته. داعيا الحكام العرب للوقوف الى جانب هذا الشعب."
Showboat Diplomacy
U.S. Warships Steam Toward Lebanon
By RANNIE AMIRI
CounterPunch
"Life to the free is full of misery when one is forced to count a foe as friend."
-- Al-Mutanabbi
".....Although Prime Minister Siniora denied making any request for them, one cannot imagine him objecting too strongly over their presence. Since the USS Cole is far enough away from the shores of Lebanon and Bush still relishing in the conjecture and speculation his actions have caused, for the moment, this gunboat diplomacy may be more appropriately termed showboat diplomacy. Should this change and the U.S. once again decide to enter into a reckless military adventure in Lebanon, among its many consequences would likely be the precipitation of civil war......"
By RANNIE AMIRI
CounterPunch
"Life to the free is full of misery when one is forced to count a foe as friend."
-- Al-Mutanabbi
".....Although Prime Minister Siniora denied making any request for them, one cannot imagine him objecting too strongly over their presence. Since the USS Cole is far enough away from the shores of Lebanon and Bush still relishing in the conjecture and speculation his actions have caused, for the moment, this gunboat diplomacy may be more appropriately termed showboat diplomacy. Should this change and the U.S. once again decide to enter into a reckless military adventure in Lebanon, among its many consequences would likely be the precipitation of civil war......"
Direct From MOHAMMED OMER in Rafah
"March 1, 2008
Dear Friends,
I had a long day, an awful day, taking photos and writing from on the ground in Gaza
City and northern Gaza. I met with two children who survived Wednesday’s Jabalyia soccer bombing: the other 4 kids were, as you likely know, killed. One of the children I saw had no flesh on their legs, had burns all over their bodies from the tank’s shelling. This was one of the scariest things I have seen yet, and I have seen a lot more than that.
I asked one boy to give me details of what happened that Thursday afternoon. The 9 year old boy cried while he told that he’d seen the decapitated head of his cousin strewn far from his body, arms and legs, far away from where they were all playing soccer. His mother added that there wasn’t any electricity when her son was admitted to the hospital.
He was crying as he told the story, his tears hurting him even more than his psychological pain, as he has burns in his eyes. His mother uncovered his wounded leg where I could only see bones without flesh in places. I could not understand how he managed to lay down conscious, but knew it was a consciousness full of pain and anguish. I felt this pain in my own heart and head.
As I talked this child’s mother, she said that she’d had to evacuate her children, as it's no longer safe to be in that area where the children had been playing. The kids ranged from 6 to 14 years old. The two ones who survived said they had all been playing soccer in front of the door of their house in Jabalyia when the Israeli missile hit them.
I finally came back home some hours ago, after waiting a long time to find transportation. But, eventually managing to make it back to Rafah, I collapsed for a nap for an hour. My sleep was disrupted: I awoke scared by the bombing of F-16s (I learned later on). I ran from my bed through our dark house, and seeing no one from my family inside, I ran without shoes into the street. People were out in the street, young men running. I didn't understand, didn't know what I was doing other than that I was running but didn’t know to where. Most people's windows were down, shutters closed, as it is freezing cold at moment.
I was glad not to be injured by shattered glass and debris on the streets. I made it back home to write this on my laptop. But I’ve decided going back to sleep is not a good idea, no matter how exhausted I am. If I have to die (not my wish) , I want to be awake, so I know I’m dying, and by whom. Not asleep."
Abu Marzouk: Gaza genocide carried out in coordination with Washington
"DAMASCUS, (PIC)-- Dr. Mousa Abu Marzouk, the deputy political chairman of Hamas, has charged that the IOF massacres in Gaza were carried out in coordination with the American administration and regional forces that brought back to memory the Lebanon war in 2006.
Abu Marzouk in an exclusive statement to the PIC on Saturday said that the Palestinian people and their democratic option were targeted in this "genocide", which he described as the "most savage in history of mankind".
He emphasized, however, that killing the children, women and elderly people would not bring security and safety to Zionists but rather would bring them more destruction.
The Hamas leader urged the PA leadership to immediately stop all talks with the Zionists, return to the embraces of its people and end the internal division.
Abu Marzouk opined that the Gaza massacre was an introduction to another scheme targeting the entire region, pointing to the presence of the American USS Cole destroyer off the Lebanese coasts.
He described as "hollow" and lacking credibility the justifications for the Israeli aggression on the part of the IOA and certain Palestinian politicians, and charged that the ongoing carnage would remain a shame on the entire world.
He questioned how many more martyrs were the Arab and international conscience waiting for in order to wake up and condemn those acts of annihilation, and warned that silence on the part of the official Arab regimes was tantamount to "collusion"."
This is the Time to Topple the Ghetto Wall, Again
A Comment by Tony Sayegh
The Palestinians are now subjected to double genocide: a Zionist holocaust directed at the entire population, especially the civilians, which has claimed more than 80 killed in just 3 days, and a tight blockade imposed jointly by Israel and Egypt. While hundreds of wounded are crowding hospitals and dozens more die because they can't reach hospitals since there is no fuel for the ambulances, the hospitals themselves have run out of medicine and have no power to operate. The rest of the population is starved with no drinking water and no power or fuel.
This situation has reached the explosive boiling point. The Palestinians in Gaza can't be expected to be marched meekly to the Zionist slaughter house while still living with the blockade. If they are going to die they might as well storm the ghetto wall at Rafah again, to reach food, water, medicine, etc.
This is the time to expose the complicity of all Arab regimes, especially those of Abbas and Egypt, in this calculated bloodbath. It is time for a massive Palestinian Intifada everywhere the Palestinians live, especially in Gaza and the West Bank. Hundreds of thousands should march and say, we have had enough and we are not going to take it anymore!
Hamas should organize and lead the march on the ghetto wall at Rafah. We know that the Egyptian soldiers, whose numbers have doubled with the permission of Israel, are there to protect Israel. This is not an exaggeration, but these are the words of Ehud Olmert. Egypt's Foreign Minister, Abu Al Gheit, had threatened to break the legs of any Palestinians who dare break the siege. I am sure that the USraeli orders to them are to kill and not just break legs.
Expose the full complicity of USrael and the Arab regimes. Let Al-Jazeera show Palestinians being slaughtered by Israel in Jabalya and by Egypt in Rafah. This is the reality, why keep it secret? Expose it in its gory details to the world.
Intifada, Now!
Israel kills some more children
Medical workers evacuate a family after their house was hit in an Israeli air raid in Jabaliya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, 1 March 2008. (Wissam Nassar/MaanImages)
Mohammed Omer, The Electronic Intifada, 1 March 2008
"GAZA CITY, 1 March (IPS) - Tamer was nine, and no child soldier. He did not live in the area from where homemade rockets are launched into Israeli territory. The day he was killed, he was at least two kilometers from the place Israeli troops had entered Gaza, and met with return fire by Palestinian resistance.
His tragedy was that the family home was near Deir al-Balah in the middle of the Gaza Strip, close to the area the Israelis have set up as their Kussfim base.
"We were all inside the house when shooting started," Tamer's aunt Etaf tells IPS. "It was right after members of the Palestinian resistance stopped shooting at Israeli troops," she said, pointing towards the scene of those clashes a couple of kilometers away. But the Israelis marched into this area as well, hardly for the first time.
Members of the family decided to crawl out into the rain after a bullet hit a gas cylinder, Etaf said. "But Israeli soldiers continued to fire on us from a tank and Hummer military jeep." After some time, seeing that the gas cylinder had not exploded, Etaf said she crawled back into the house. Tamer followed, but never made it. "I saw Tamer shot, with a bullet in his head."....."
Bishara accuses Abbas of involvement in the IOF aggression on Gaza
"DOHA, (PIC)- Dr. Azmi Bishara, the prominent Palestinian leader in the 1948 occupied lands, has accused PA chief Mahmoud Abbas of participation in the IOF genocide in Gaza.
Bishara, who is also a former MP in the Israeli parliament, told Al-Jazeera TV network on Saturday that the one (Abbas) who affirms to the world that Al-Qaeda is present in Gaza is considered a participant in the Gaza bloodbath and is providing a cover up for the spate of murders launched by the IOF troops against the Palestinian people.
The Palestinian leader, who renounced his Israeli citizenship and opted to live in the diaspora, asked Abbas to declare that Hamas is part and parcel of the Palestinian people and political system and to halt all contacts with the "Zionists". The current settlement process is covering up for the escalating aggression in Gaza, he elaborated.
Bishara said that a new Palestinian national unity government should be declared and the Palestinians in the diaspora should assume their role in the struggle.
Abbas had asked Palestinian resistance factions in Gaza to halt the firing of locally made missiles on Israeli targets as a pre-condition for lifting the siege on Gaza. He also claimed Al-Qaeda was present in Gaza in a statement one day before the IOF aggression, which drew wide denunciation in the Palestinian arena."
Understanding the Nazis of Our Time
Whether Zionazis or American "liberation" Nazis, they operate with the same mindset and employ the same methods.
To have a better understanding of the goals of the Zionist holocaust visited upon Gaza as I write these words, I include the following excerpt from a report titled, "Virtuous Destruction, Decisive Speed" by Ralph Peters. He is a retired US Army lieutenant colonel who wrote the book,"Beyond Baghdad: Postmodern War and Peace."
"...Our unwillingness to create a psychological atmosphere of defeat also guarantees us that, if we wish the object population to continue to behave, our troops will have to remain on the scene for years—perhaps decades. America’s military can afford the costs of war, but not the ever-rising costs of one flawed peace after another. First whittled down and now devoured by occupation duties, from South Korea (still) to Afghanistan and the Balkans, then on to Iraq, we have robbed our strategic reserve in order to deploy sufficient babysitters with bayonets. Gulliver is presently tied to the ground by the Lilliputians.
How much physical destruction is required to bring conflict X to a decisive conclusion? Again, there is no easy answer. In particularly oppressive states, a thorough, graphic destruction of the military and security apparatus may suffice. When faced with hostile populations, far more destruction may be required to achieve our goals and insure that the achievement will last.
Even the notion that we must preserve the enemy’s infrastructure is often misguided. Such a policy not only complicates the achievement of victory, but extracts no serious price from the population. Consequences matter. Enemy populations must be broken down to an almost childlike state (the basic-training model) before being built up again. But war cannot be successfully waged—especially between civilizations, as is overwhemingly the case at present—without inflicting memorable pain on the enemy."
Thanks to Evelyn at Free Iraq for this excerpt.
أولمرت يعتبر زيادة مصر لقواتها على الحدود خدمة لمصالح إسرائيل
"......
وكانت صحيفة "يديعوت أحرونوت" العبرية قد نقلت عن أولمرت تأكيده أن مصر لم تنتهك اتفاقية السلام الموقعة بينها وبين إسرائيل حين قامت بزيادة عدد قواتها المتواجدة على طول معبر صلاح الدين الحدودي "فيلادلفيا" إلى 1500 جندي .
وبرر أولمرت موافقته على زيادة مصر لقواتها بأن :" هدف إسرائيل هو إغلاق معبر رفح الحدودي لمنع عمليات تهريب السلاح والمسلحين من سيناء " ، معتبرا أن زيادة القوات المصرية كفيلة بتحقيق مصلحة إسرائيل في هذا الشأن ، بحسب قوله .
ويعتبر تصريح أولمرت الرد الرسمي الأول من نوعه على زيادة مصر لقواتها على الحدود إلى1500 جندي بعد انهيار الجدار الحدودي الفاصل بينها وبين القطاع ،
يذكر أن مصر كانت قد طلبت موافقة إسرائيل رسميا على مضاعفة عدد قواتها على الحدود إلى 1500 جندي، إلا أن مجلس الوزراء الإسرائيلي المصغر ـ المعني بالشئون الأمنية ـ رفض في اجتماعه الذي عقد في الخامس من فبراير برئاسة أولمرت زيادة هذه القوات أو استقدام قوة دولية لتأمين حدود قطاع غزة مع مصر."
وكانت صحيفة "يديعوت أحرونوت" العبرية قد نقلت عن أولمرت تأكيده أن مصر لم تنتهك اتفاقية السلام الموقعة بينها وبين إسرائيل حين قامت بزيادة عدد قواتها المتواجدة على طول معبر صلاح الدين الحدودي "فيلادلفيا" إلى 1500 جندي .
وبرر أولمرت موافقته على زيادة مصر لقواتها بأن :" هدف إسرائيل هو إغلاق معبر رفح الحدودي لمنع عمليات تهريب السلاح والمسلحين من سيناء " ، معتبرا أن زيادة القوات المصرية كفيلة بتحقيق مصلحة إسرائيل في هذا الشأن ، بحسب قوله .
ويعتبر تصريح أولمرت الرد الرسمي الأول من نوعه على زيادة مصر لقواتها على الحدود إلى1500 جندي بعد انهيار الجدار الحدودي الفاصل بينها وبين القطاع ،
يذكر أن مصر كانت قد طلبت موافقة إسرائيل رسميا على مضاعفة عدد قواتها على الحدود إلى 1500 جندي، إلا أن مجلس الوزراء الإسرائيلي المصغر ـ المعني بالشئون الأمنية ـ رفض في اجتماعه الذي عقد في الخامس من فبراير برئاسة أولمرت زيادة هذه القوات أو استقدام قوة دولية لتأمين حدود قطاع غزة مع مصر."
Israeli-Nazi Holocaust continues, 27 children and freedom fighters massacred
"Israeli-Nazi Holocaust continues, 27 children and freedom fighters massacred
Gaza Strip, 1st, March 2008, (PCAS) - The last few hours witnessed a very dangerous stage in the Israeli war of Holocaust against Palestinians. In the early hours of today, Saturday, 27 children and freedom fighters killed by the new Nazis.
Vice Israeli defence (War) minister, Matan Vina, threatened of new Holocaust in Gaza Strip. The call was quickly implemented on the ground as convoys of tanks invaded the northeastern area of Gaza Strip.
A Salya family which is of 7 members was bombed by Nazis' Helicopter (American Apache) leaving 1 woman and a child dead. They were exposed to an air raid while having their breakfast!
About 27 freedom fighters and civilians killed by Israel - a father and his son, as well as two children - during an Israel Holocaust ground incursion in northern Gaza Strip town of Jabaliya before dawn Saturday.
Two of the dead Palestinian children have been identified as Jacqueline Abu-Shbak, 12, and her brother Iyad Abu-Shbak. Some names of victims are identified as the follows:
Iyad ashram, 26 years old
Musbih abu Ali, 22 years old
Basam ubaid, 45 years old
His son, 15 years old
Hamza Al jamal, 40 years old
Iyad abu shbak, 14 years old
Abdalah abd rabu, 40 years old
An Israeli air strike on the Al-Farta neighborhood of Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip on Friday afternoon left four Palestinians injured.
Muawiya Hassanain, the director of ambulance and emergency services in the Palestinian health ministry said that Beit Hanoun hospital received four people with shrapnel injuries caused by an Israeli missile.
This round of Israeli war against Palestinians came after Palestinian freedom fighters stopped firing some old home-made rockets. These rockets killed 1 Israeli only, while Israel retaliated and killed 57 persons!
In less than 3 days, the Israeli war of Holocaust killed 57 Palestinians and injured 250 most of them Children including 3 babies. The Israeli-Nazi holocaust comes in time of siege imposed in Gaza Strip.
Heavy missiles, rockets, bombs, Apaches, F16 planes are being used against the innocent Palestinians. "
A Holocaust Progress Report
Israel Gaza Genocide: 72 Killed Including 17 Children
Al-Manar
"01/03/2008 Israel pressed its genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip with a series of strikes on Saturday, killing 35 people, including five children. According to medical sources, the number of Palestinians killed in the Israeli army incursion into the crowded Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza has reached 72 since Wednesday including 17 children and newborns, 3 women and 28 civilians. The sources added that at least 185 people have been injured including 78 on Saturday alone adding that 25 of them are in intensive care units. Speaking to Al-Jazeera satellite channel a senior medical official from the Palestinian Health Ministry said that no medical aids can reach Palestinian hospitals in Gaza because of the Israeli imposed blockade.
Isreal has threatened the besieged Gaza strip with a "holocaust." Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said earlier Israel was considering the possibility of launching a wide-scale ground operation in Gaza.
Demonstrators poured into the streets on Friday throughout the impoverished and isolated territory to denounce the air strikes.
"They've killed my right to childhood," read a sign held by a child, clad in a red-stained white funeral shroud, who attended a large rally in Jabaliya.
"Gaza today faces a real war, a crazy war led by the enemy against our people," said Ismail Haniya, the premier in the Hamas-led government. Haniya lashed out at the US administration, which he claimed backs the Israeli attacks by portraying them as "self-defense." He also accused the Arab world of "encouraging the Israeli aggression" through its silence."
Friday, February 29, 2008
Welch Club Ups the Ante in Lebanon
By Franklin Lamb
Palestine Chronicle
"....Over the past few days these groups have become activated by the deployment of the guided missile destroyer USS Cole, which reportedly left Malta on February 26 en route to a position over the horizon from Beirut. Its imminent arrival is seen in Lebanon as a warning to Syria, Iran and the Lebanese Resistance, led by Hezbollah. Its meaning is that while the Bush administration has arguably 'lost' Iraq, Afghanistan, and perhaps soon Pakistan and parts of the Gulf, that it is ready to join the fight with Israel in order not to' lose' Lebanon.....
Lebanon has not been responsive to the Bush Administration. It has had to endure serial failures during a three year run of failed projects in Lebanon. Among these were the 2006 July War, the tempting 'forward reaching' NATO airbase at Kleiat, importing Salafists to fight Hezbollah, trying to organize a Northern Sunni army around Tripoli and Akkar to fight the Shia in the South, offering to fund a third Shia political party to confront Hezbollah and Amal, working to ignite a civil war, and recently, unproven allegations of a 'green light' for political assassinations in an attempt to finger and isolate Syria. The Club is nearly at its wits end and is becoming aggressive, according to one Staff Member at the US Senate Intelligence Committee.
The irony of sending the USS Cole, as "a show of support for regional stability" which was the identical mission it was on when it was attacked in the port of Aden, Yemen, in October 2000 (by water-borne Al-Qaeda suicide bombers killing seventeen US sailors and wounding more than 50, while badly damaging the craft) is not lost on Al Qaeda inspired militants from the blueline in the South to Ain el Helwe and up North to Tripoli and Hermel......
Ahmad's friend added "Sooner or later the US Warship will bomb Lebanon. They are not coming to gaze at our scenery. When they do, the US Embassy will disappear within hours along with other identified targets. Probably they are coming in order to wage war against Syria and Iran as well as Lebanon. It will be a big war and it may start very soon."
Ex-MP Nasser Qandil claimed on Friday that in sending its warships to Lebanon, the United States wanted to "tell us we've killed (Hezbollah's) Imad Mughniyeh and we've made a come-back, Imad."......"
محرقة لغزة.. وبوارج لسورية
محرقة لغزة.. وبوارج لسورية
A Great Editorial
عبد الباري عطوان
"يبدو ان المحرقة التي هدد بها نائب وزير الدفاع الاسرائيلي لن تقتصر فقط علي اطفال قطاع غزة، بل ربما تمتــــد الي المنطقة العربية بأسرها، فليس من قبيل الصدفة ان تتزامن الحشودات العسكريـــة الاسرائيلية البرية علي حدود القطاع مع وصول المدمرة الامريكية يو. اس. اس. كول الي الشواطئ اللبنانية وبصحبتها مجموعة من السفن الحربية الامريكية المجهزة بالطائرات العمودية وآلاف جنود المارينز.
انها حرب الابادة التي خططت لها امريكا واسرائيل، بالتعاون مع انظمة الاعتدال العربية، بهدف تركيع العرب مرة واحدة، والي الابد، بعدها يتم تتويج اسرائيل زعيمة اقليمية دون اي منازع، ويستمر تدفق النفط تحت السيطرة الامريكية، وبالأسعار التي تحددها الادارة في واشنطن.
لم يكن السيد وليد جنبلاط ينطق عن هوي عندما صرخ متحديا قبل شهر: اهلا بالفوضي، اهلا بالحرب. فالرجل كان لتوه عائدا من واشنطن، ومعرّجا علي الرياض، ولا بد انه سمع ما يرضيه ويشفي غليله، فها هي نبوءته تترجم عمليا في البحر، وربما نراها واقعا علي الأرض في الاسابيع القليلة المقبلة.
القيادة العسكرية الامريكية تقول انها ارسلت هذه المدمرة واخواتها بهدف دعم استقرار لبنان، ولا نعرف كيف يتم ذلك من خلال تدخل عسكري سافر، فالبوارج ترسل الي مناطق الحرب، للتمهيد لها، او المشاركة فيها، ولا نعتقد ان البوارج الامريكية هذه المزودة بصواريخ مضادة للصواريخ، جاءت الي لبنان من اجل السياحة والاستمتاع بشمسه الدافئة.
الحرب الاسرائيلية الاخيرة علي لبنان جاءت بتعليمات امريكية، والحرب المقبلة ستكون كذلك ايضا، وهذا هو التفسير الوحيد لعدم ادانة تقرير فينوغراد لايهود اولمرت رئيس الوزراء الاسرائيلي، لان القرار لم يكن قراره اساسا، وهذا هو التبرير الوحيد لنفض الغبار عن ايهود باراك واعادته وزيرا للدفاع.
رأسا المقاومتين، اللبنانية والفلسطينية، هما المطلوبان امريكيا وعربيا، ولا يمكن ان يتأتي ذلك الا من خلال الحرب، وقد بدأت اسرائيل الحرب فعلا علي حركات المقاومة في قطاع غزة تحت ذريعة وقف اطلاق الصواريخ، وشاهدنا الاطفال يستشهدون في محرقة نازية اكثر شراسة، بينما يلتزم العالم بأسره، بمن في ذلك حكام العرب الصمت المطبق.
الرئيس الفلسطيني محمود عباس متواطيء ايضا مع هذا المخطط، ليس لانه لم ينأ بنفسه عنه، وانما عندما اكد ان تنظيم القاعدة موجود في قطاع غزة بتسهيل من حركة حماس ودعم منها، معطيا الضوء الاخضر للطائرات الاسرائيلية لقصف الابرياء والاطفال تحت غطاء محاربة الارهاب واجتثاث جذوره، فالقاعدة هي كلمة السر التي تحشد العالم خلف اي جهة تحارب الارهاب.
الصواريخ الفلسطينية هي فرقعات مثلما يقول رئيس الوزراء الفلسطيني سلام فياض، وعبثية مثلما يراها رئيسه عباس، ولكن لم يقل الاثنان، واي من حوارييهما في رام الله، عن البديل لهذه الصواريخ، خاصة انهم اعترفوا في اكثر من مناسبة ان مفاوضاتهم مع اسرائيل لم تحقق اي تقدم، وان استئناف الاستيطان نسف مؤتمر انابوليس للسلام، فإذا كان الحال كذلك اليس من حقنا ان نطالبهم بالاستقالة والانسحاب من الحياة السياسية وحل السلطة التي يتدثرون بشرعيتها بالتفاوض باسم الشعب الفلسطيني؟
سلطة الرئيس عباس افلست، وباتت مهمتها محصورة في تسول المال لدفع الرواتب للأنصار، وتبرير الاعتداءات الاسرائيلية، وفي العرفين التجاري والسياسي، انه اذا افلست شركة او حكومة فان حلها هو النتيجة المنطقية، ولكن يبدو ان منطق الرئيس عباس يفوق إدراكنا، بحيث لا نستطيع فهمه.
اسرائيل تريد سلطة فلسطينية علي غرار قوات انطوان لحد في جنوب لبنان، مهمتها توفير الأمن للاسرائيليين، ووقف العمليات الفدائية، وحتي هذه اللحظة لم تجد في هذه السلطة الرغبة او القدرة علي تحقيق هذا الهدف، ولهذا لن تقدم لها اي تنازلات، ولن تعقد معها اي اتفاقات سلام، وهذا ما يفسر استئناف الاستيطان، وتوسيع المستوطنات، وعدم تحقيق اي تقدم حقيقي في المفاوضات.
التوغل الاسرائيلي الاخير في نابلس هو المحطة الاولي في الخطة الأمنية الاسرائيلية لتقويض سلطة الرئيس عباس، واستشهاد اثنين من كتائب شهداء الاقصي قتلا بدم بارد في مخيم بلاطة علي ايدي المستعربين، هو دليل اضافي علي عدم احترام اسرائيل لهذه السلطة، ولاي اتفاقات معها.
حرب تصفية المقاومة، بدأت في قطاع غزة، وحرب اخري متوقعة في لبنان لتصفية المقاومة الاقوي، اي حزب الله ، والهدف هو جر ايران وسورية الي المواجهة. ادارة بوش لم تعد تملك الوقت الكافي، وعنصر الزمن ليس في صالحها في التعامل مع البرنامج النووي الايراني، والمدمرة الامريكية كول جاءت للتصدي لاي صواريخ سورية او ايرانية يمكن ان توجّه الي اسرائيل.
امريكا ستخوض هذه الحرب، اذا ما قررت اشعالها بالطائرات والمدمرات والصواريخ، بينما ستكون المنطقة العربية هي مسرحها الحقيقي، فإشعال الحرب الداخلية في لبنان لتفجير المواجهة الاكبر مع سورية وايران، سيدفع اللبنانيون البسطاء ثمنها، ولن تكون دول الخليج في منأي عن انتقامات ايرانية مكلفة جدا. اسرائيل رأس الحربة فيها ربما تكون الخاسر الاكبر.
اذلال العرب في حرب عام 1967 واحتلال سيناء والضفة والقطاع والجولان لم يوفرا الأمن لاسرائيل، وابعاد المقاومة الفلسطينية من لبنان بعد غزو عام 1982 اتي بمقاومة اخري اسلامية لا تقل بأسا وقوة، واحتلال العراق وافغانستان لم يحقق لواشنطن طموحاتها في حكم المنطقة والهيمنة عليها. وآخر التقارير الغربية يقول ان حكومة كرزاي تسيطر جزئيا علي ثلث افغانستان، وان طالبان تستعد لاجتياح كابول.
اجتياح اسرائيل لقطاع غزة لن يوقف المقاومة ولا صواريخها، وحتي اذا توقفت فلفترة مؤقتة، والتهديد بمحرقة في قطاع غزة قد يرتد علي مطلقيه بالقدر نفسه، وربما يكون اي عدوان اسرائيلي علي لبنان محرقة لاسرائيل نفسها، لان السيد حسن نصر الله عندما يهــــدد باستخدام اسلحة جديدة تدمرها فإنه يعني ما يقول.
مشكلتنا كعرب محصورة في كرزاياتنا الذين فقدوا البوصلة، وباتوا يرتعدون امام الرئيس بوش او وزيرة خارجيته كوندوليزا رايس. اما الشعوب التي تقاوم في غزة ولبنان والعراق وافغانستان، حتي لو كان ثمن المقاومة باهظا، فهي التي تعيد كتابة التاريخ بطريقة مشرفة.
امريكا تستطيع ان تحسم الحرب لصالحها في الايام او الاسابيع او الاشهر الاولي بما تملكه من ترسانة عسكرية جبارة، ولكن السؤال هو عما سيحدث بعد ذلك، او ما يسمي في الغرب (The Morning After) فقد افلستها تماما حرباها في افغانستان والعراق (800 مليار دولار حتي الآن)، والاقتصاد الغربي كله في حال ركود، واسعار النفط تجاوزت المئة دولار للبرميل، ولولا شراء السعودية والصين للسندات الامريكية لانهارت امريكا كليا.
اطفال غزة الذين يذبحون اليوم في المحرقة الاسرائيلية الجديدة هم شهداء الامة، وهم النقطة الوحيدة الأكثر اضاءة في حاضرها، ومن المؤكد ان دماءهم لن تذهب سدي، وسيأتي من يثأر لهم حتما، ان لم يكن اليوم، ففي الغد، أو بعد الغد."
A Great Editorial
عبد الباري عطوان
"يبدو ان المحرقة التي هدد بها نائب وزير الدفاع الاسرائيلي لن تقتصر فقط علي اطفال قطاع غزة، بل ربما تمتــــد الي المنطقة العربية بأسرها، فليس من قبيل الصدفة ان تتزامن الحشودات العسكريـــة الاسرائيلية البرية علي حدود القطاع مع وصول المدمرة الامريكية يو. اس. اس. كول الي الشواطئ اللبنانية وبصحبتها مجموعة من السفن الحربية الامريكية المجهزة بالطائرات العمودية وآلاف جنود المارينز.
انها حرب الابادة التي خططت لها امريكا واسرائيل، بالتعاون مع انظمة الاعتدال العربية، بهدف تركيع العرب مرة واحدة، والي الابد، بعدها يتم تتويج اسرائيل زعيمة اقليمية دون اي منازع، ويستمر تدفق النفط تحت السيطرة الامريكية، وبالأسعار التي تحددها الادارة في واشنطن.
لم يكن السيد وليد جنبلاط ينطق عن هوي عندما صرخ متحديا قبل شهر: اهلا بالفوضي، اهلا بالحرب. فالرجل كان لتوه عائدا من واشنطن، ومعرّجا علي الرياض، ولا بد انه سمع ما يرضيه ويشفي غليله، فها هي نبوءته تترجم عمليا في البحر، وربما نراها واقعا علي الأرض في الاسابيع القليلة المقبلة.
القيادة العسكرية الامريكية تقول انها ارسلت هذه المدمرة واخواتها بهدف دعم استقرار لبنان، ولا نعرف كيف يتم ذلك من خلال تدخل عسكري سافر، فالبوارج ترسل الي مناطق الحرب، للتمهيد لها، او المشاركة فيها، ولا نعتقد ان البوارج الامريكية هذه المزودة بصواريخ مضادة للصواريخ، جاءت الي لبنان من اجل السياحة والاستمتاع بشمسه الدافئة.
الحرب الاسرائيلية الاخيرة علي لبنان جاءت بتعليمات امريكية، والحرب المقبلة ستكون كذلك ايضا، وهذا هو التفسير الوحيد لعدم ادانة تقرير فينوغراد لايهود اولمرت رئيس الوزراء الاسرائيلي، لان القرار لم يكن قراره اساسا، وهذا هو التبرير الوحيد لنفض الغبار عن ايهود باراك واعادته وزيرا للدفاع.
رأسا المقاومتين، اللبنانية والفلسطينية، هما المطلوبان امريكيا وعربيا، ولا يمكن ان يتأتي ذلك الا من خلال الحرب، وقد بدأت اسرائيل الحرب فعلا علي حركات المقاومة في قطاع غزة تحت ذريعة وقف اطلاق الصواريخ، وشاهدنا الاطفال يستشهدون في محرقة نازية اكثر شراسة، بينما يلتزم العالم بأسره، بمن في ذلك حكام العرب الصمت المطبق.
الرئيس الفلسطيني محمود عباس متواطيء ايضا مع هذا المخطط، ليس لانه لم ينأ بنفسه عنه، وانما عندما اكد ان تنظيم القاعدة موجود في قطاع غزة بتسهيل من حركة حماس ودعم منها، معطيا الضوء الاخضر للطائرات الاسرائيلية لقصف الابرياء والاطفال تحت غطاء محاربة الارهاب واجتثاث جذوره، فالقاعدة هي كلمة السر التي تحشد العالم خلف اي جهة تحارب الارهاب.
الصواريخ الفلسطينية هي فرقعات مثلما يقول رئيس الوزراء الفلسطيني سلام فياض، وعبثية مثلما يراها رئيسه عباس، ولكن لم يقل الاثنان، واي من حوارييهما في رام الله، عن البديل لهذه الصواريخ، خاصة انهم اعترفوا في اكثر من مناسبة ان مفاوضاتهم مع اسرائيل لم تحقق اي تقدم، وان استئناف الاستيطان نسف مؤتمر انابوليس للسلام، فإذا كان الحال كذلك اليس من حقنا ان نطالبهم بالاستقالة والانسحاب من الحياة السياسية وحل السلطة التي يتدثرون بشرعيتها بالتفاوض باسم الشعب الفلسطيني؟
سلطة الرئيس عباس افلست، وباتت مهمتها محصورة في تسول المال لدفع الرواتب للأنصار، وتبرير الاعتداءات الاسرائيلية، وفي العرفين التجاري والسياسي، انه اذا افلست شركة او حكومة فان حلها هو النتيجة المنطقية، ولكن يبدو ان منطق الرئيس عباس يفوق إدراكنا، بحيث لا نستطيع فهمه.
اسرائيل تريد سلطة فلسطينية علي غرار قوات انطوان لحد في جنوب لبنان، مهمتها توفير الأمن للاسرائيليين، ووقف العمليات الفدائية، وحتي هذه اللحظة لم تجد في هذه السلطة الرغبة او القدرة علي تحقيق هذا الهدف، ولهذا لن تقدم لها اي تنازلات، ولن تعقد معها اي اتفاقات سلام، وهذا ما يفسر استئناف الاستيطان، وتوسيع المستوطنات، وعدم تحقيق اي تقدم حقيقي في المفاوضات.
التوغل الاسرائيلي الاخير في نابلس هو المحطة الاولي في الخطة الأمنية الاسرائيلية لتقويض سلطة الرئيس عباس، واستشهاد اثنين من كتائب شهداء الاقصي قتلا بدم بارد في مخيم بلاطة علي ايدي المستعربين، هو دليل اضافي علي عدم احترام اسرائيل لهذه السلطة، ولاي اتفاقات معها.
حرب تصفية المقاومة، بدأت في قطاع غزة، وحرب اخري متوقعة في لبنان لتصفية المقاومة الاقوي، اي حزب الله ، والهدف هو جر ايران وسورية الي المواجهة. ادارة بوش لم تعد تملك الوقت الكافي، وعنصر الزمن ليس في صالحها في التعامل مع البرنامج النووي الايراني، والمدمرة الامريكية كول جاءت للتصدي لاي صواريخ سورية او ايرانية يمكن ان توجّه الي اسرائيل.
امريكا ستخوض هذه الحرب، اذا ما قررت اشعالها بالطائرات والمدمرات والصواريخ، بينما ستكون المنطقة العربية هي مسرحها الحقيقي، فإشعال الحرب الداخلية في لبنان لتفجير المواجهة الاكبر مع سورية وايران، سيدفع اللبنانيون البسطاء ثمنها، ولن تكون دول الخليج في منأي عن انتقامات ايرانية مكلفة جدا. اسرائيل رأس الحربة فيها ربما تكون الخاسر الاكبر.
اذلال العرب في حرب عام 1967 واحتلال سيناء والضفة والقطاع والجولان لم يوفرا الأمن لاسرائيل، وابعاد المقاومة الفلسطينية من لبنان بعد غزو عام 1982 اتي بمقاومة اخري اسلامية لا تقل بأسا وقوة، واحتلال العراق وافغانستان لم يحقق لواشنطن طموحاتها في حكم المنطقة والهيمنة عليها. وآخر التقارير الغربية يقول ان حكومة كرزاي تسيطر جزئيا علي ثلث افغانستان، وان طالبان تستعد لاجتياح كابول.
اجتياح اسرائيل لقطاع غزة لن يوقف المقاومة ولا صواريخها، وحتي اذا توقفت فلفترة مؤقتة، والتهديد بمحرقة في قطاع غزة قد يرتد علي مطلقيه بالقدر نفسه، وربما يكون اي عدوان اسرائيلي علي لبنان محرقة لاسرائيل نفسها، لان السيد حسن نصر الله عندما يهــــدد باستخدام اسلحة جديدة تدمرها فإنه يعني ما يقول.
مشكلتنا كعرب محصورة في كرزاياتنا الذين فقدوا البوصلة، وباتوا يرتعدون امام الرئيس بوش او وزيرة خارجيته كوندوليزا رايس. اما الشعوب التي تقاوم في غزة ولبنان والعراق وافغانستان، حتي لو كان ثمن المقاومة باهظا، فهي التي تعيد كتابة التاريخ بطريقة مشرفة.
امريكا تستطيع ان تحسم الحرب لصالحها في الايام او الاسابيع او الاشهر الاولي بما تملكه من ترسانة عسكرية جبارة، ولكن السؤال هو عما سيحدث بعد ذلك، او ما يسمي في الغرب (The Morning After) فقد افلستها تماما حرباها في افغانستان والعراق (800 مليار دولار حتي الآن)، والاقتصاد الغربي كله في حال ركود، واسعار النفط تجاوزت المئة دولار للبرميل، ولولا شراء السعودية والصين للسندات الامريكية لانهارت امريكا كليا.
اطفال غزة الذين يذبحون اليوم في المحرقة الاسرائيلية الجديدة هم شهداء الامة، وهم النقطة الوحيدة الأكثر اضاءة في حاضرها، ومن المؤكد ان دماءهم لن تذهب سدي، وسيأتي من يثأر لهم حتما، ان لم يكن اليوم، ففي الغد، أو بعد الغد."
Red carpet awaits Ahmadinejad in Baghdad's Green Zone
"Baghdad/Teheran/ (dpa) - It's a visit to bring sweat to the brow of diplomats on both sides: The arrival of Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad in Baghdad planned for Sunday.....
....the Iraqi government - dominated by religious Shiite parties with close ties to Tehran - is not the only one calling the shots, but also the US troops.
Delicate is even the issue of where Ahmadinejad is to meet with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. According to unofficial reports from Baghdad, the Iranian president is holding talks in the so-called Green Zone.
It's home to the Iraqi parliament, a section of government buildings and the large embassy of the United States, whose president considers Iran one of the leading purveyors of "evil" in the world.
The strictly walled off area on the banks of the River Tigris is guarded not only by Iraqi but American soldiers.....
Iranian observers expect that the Iraqis will attempt to convince Ahmadinejad to open a constructive dialogue with arch-nemesis the US.
Iran wants this dialogue too, but is expecting in return the end of US sanctions (particularly those targeting Iran's nuclear programme). "
....the Iraqi government - dominated by religious Shiite parties with close ties to Tehran - is not the only one calling the shots, but also the US troops.
Delicate is even the issue of where Ahmadinejad is to meet with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. According to unofficial reports from Baghdad, the Iranian president is holding talks in the so-called Green Zone.
It's home to the Iraqi parliament, a section of government buildings and the large embassy of the United States, whose president considers Iran one of the leading purveyors of "evil" in the world.
The strictly walled off area on the banks of the River Tigris is guarded not only by Iraqi but American soldiers.....
Iranian observers expect that the Iraqis will attempt to convince Ahmadinejad to open a constructive dialogue with arch-nemesis the US.
Iran wants this dialogue too, but is expecting in return the end of US sanctions (particularly those targeting Iran's nuclear programme). "
Twilight Zone / 'My wife will die in the car'
By Gideon Levy
"They wanted to spend their old age together. An elderly couple, Fauziyah al-Darek, 66, and her husband, Mahmoud Qab, 70. They wanted to continue to enjoy their only daughter and their three young grandchildren in their modest home in Dir al-Ghusun. But now Mahmoud, a widower, sits on a white plastic chair in the center of the guest room in his house, a kaffiyeh wrapped around his bony face, alone. On the table stands a picture of his granddaughter and on the wall hangs a photograph of his wife, adorned with a black ribbon, pictures of colorful flowers surrounding the mourning photo.
Fauziyah died because of the insensitivity of soldiers who would not allow her to be rushed to the hospital in Tul Karm after she suffered a serious heart attack. She lay in the back seat of a taxi (the army had not allowed an ambulance to pick her up at home), breathing with difficulty and moaning in pain, her husband pleading with the soldiers, trying to persuade them, trying to explain to them that his wife was about to die - all to no avail. "Get out of here, we don't care if your wife dies," one of them said......."
"They wanted to spend their old age together. An elderly couple, Fauziyah al-Darek, 66, and her husband, Mahmoud Qab, 70. They wanted to continue to enjoy their only daughter and their three young grandchildren in their modest home in Dir al-Ghusun. But now Mahmoud, a widower, sits on a white plastic chair in the center of the guest room in his house, a kaffiyeh wrapped around his bony face, alone. On the table stands a picture of his granddaughter and on the wall hangs a photograph of his wife, adorned with a black ribbon, pictures of colorful flowers surrounding the mourning photo.
Fauziyah died because of the insensitivity of soldiers who would not allow her to be rushed to the hospital in Tul Karm after she suffered a serious heart attack. She lay in the back seat of a taxi (the army had not allowed an ambulance to pick her up at home), breathing with difficulty and moaning in pain, her husband pleading with the soldiers, trying to persuade them, trying to explain to them that his wife was about to die - all to no avail. "Get out of here, we don't care if your wife dies," one of them said......."
Jews and the Gaza holocaust
Funeral of the four boys killed Thursday in an Israeli airstrike while playing outside their homes.
Comment by Khalid Amayreh in Occupied East Jerusalem
"In June, 1942, in reprisal for the assassination of the Nazi commander Reinhard Heydrich, the Germans carried out a murderous rampage of murder and terror throughout Czechoslovakia. The small Czech village of Lidice bore the brunt of the German revenge, with the SS killing all the men, deported all women and children and razed the village to the ground.
Similarly, in March 1944, thirty-three German soldiers were killed when members of an Italian resistance group set off a bomb close to a column of German troops who were marching on via Rasella in Rome . Adolph Hitler got furious and ordered that within 24 hours, ten Italians were to be shot for each German soldier that had been killed. Herbert Kappler, the local German commander, quickly compiled a list of 320 civilians who were to be assassinated as vengeance. On March 24, the victims were transported to the Ardeatine caves where they were summarily executed by the SS.....
Now what is the difference between these Nazi atrocities and what Israel, the “only democracy in the Middle East” is doing in the Gaza Strip, where “the most moral army in the world” is slaughtering babies as young as six-months’ old? I know that many Jews, especially Zionist Jews, have developed almost instinctive knee- jerk defensive reactions to any comparisons between Israel and Nazi Germany. However, the truth must be proclaimed aloud, irrespective of how many Zionists will get angry.
Israel claims that it doesn’t murder innocent civilians deliberately. But this is a big, obscene lie, of which even most Israelis aware. Mistakes happen a few times, but when the wanton slaughter of children occurs each day and every day of the year, it means it is policy......
What is happening in Gaza is actually a merciless and brutal rampage of murder and terror waged by a Wehrmacht-like army against a blockaded, beleaguered and starved people who want to survive and be free, very much like Jews did under the Nazi occupation of Europe. Indeed, when Israel murders a hundred Palestinian, mostly innocent civilians, for every Israeli killed, there is a name for that, it is massacre.....
.....A holocaust, after all, doesn’t become lesser or less evil when perpetrated by Jews. There is no such a thing as a kosher holocaust or kosher massacres.....
Now, once again, human decency is being affronted and insulted by this reptile terrorist Matan Vilnai, Israel’s deputy defense minister, who has gone as far as threatening the thoroughly tormented Gazans with a holocaust....
I think Jews should realize that this criminal state, with its manifestly intransigence and bellicosity, is forcing them to make a moral judgment. In the face of evil, and Israel is a clear embodiment of evil, one can’t be neutral. It is either one stands with evil or stands against it.
Today, people around the world, including millions of Jews, are watching the pornographic slaughter in Gaza live on their TV screens. And no amount of spin, lie, or hasbara will make the images of mutilated babies look innocuous."
UN now seen as the enemy
"THE UN is now seen as an "enemy" and a legitimate target for attacks because of its perceived lack of impartiality, a retired UN troubleshooter says.
Many people believed the world body "has become their enemy and is therefore a legitimate target'' for attacks because of its perceived double standards and lack of impartiality in handling world crises, said Lakhdar Brahimi.
UN boss Ban Ki-moon last month directed a six-member panel led by Mr Brahimi, 74, to look into measures to better protect UN staff around the world, in the wake of last December's suicide bombing of UN offices in Algiers that killed 18 UN employees.
"I think the UN has been on notice that its flag is not anymore a guarantee for protection,'' said Mr Brahimi, a former Algerian foreign minister who had a long and distinguished career in the UN......"
Many people believed the world body "has become their enemy and is therefore a legitimate target'' for attacks because of its perceived double standards and lack of impartiality in handling world crises, said Lakhdar Brahimi.
UN boss Ban Ki-moon last month directed a six-member panel led by Mr Brahimi, 74, to look into measures to better protect UN staff around the world, in the wake of last December's suicide bombing of UN offices in Algiers that killed 18 UN employees.
"I think the UN has been on notice that its flag is not anymore a guarantee for protection,'' said Mr Brahimi, a former Algerian foreign minister who had a long and distinguished career in the UN......"
ما الرابط بين المدمرة(كول) والتصعيد الإسرائيلي في غزة?
Al-Manar
(I will post the English version as soon as it is available. Bottom line? More "birth pangs" in Gaza and Lebanon are very imminent.)
قناة المنار - أحمد عمار
"29/02/2008 كشفت صحيفة هآرتس الإسرائيلية عن طلب وجهته إسرائيل للإدارة الأميركية لإكمال الجهوزية من اجل شن عملية عسكرية واسعة على قطاع غزة، خوفا من ان تفشل إسرائيل كما فشلت في لبنان. وهو ما طرح الكثير من الاسئلة عما اذا كان هناك من رابط بين قدوم المدمرة العسكرية الأميركية (يو اس اس كول) قبالة الشواطيء اللبنانية، وبين ما كشفته أوساط إسرائيلية عن طلب أميركي من إسرائيل بشن حرب واسعة على قطاع غزة للقضاء على سلطة حماس واستعادة سيطرة السلطة الفلسطينية برئاسة محمود عباس. وهل قدوم المدمرة (كول) هو لشحذ معنويات إسرائيل وطمأنتها إلى أنها محمية عن قرب هذه المرة، لاسيما في ظل مخاوف إسرائيلية من مواجهة أكثر من جبهة في حال شنت الهجوم على غزة.
تساحي هنغبي النائب عن حزب كاديما قال: " يجب أن نضع إسقاط حكومة حماس هدفاً استراتيجياً وتصفية جميع قيادتها وضرب الإمبراطورية التي تنشئها ايران على حدودنا الجنوبية. ويجب علينا تشكيل حكومة وحدة وطنية لأن عامي الفين وثمانية والفين وتسعة هما عامي مواجهة ربما لا تقتصر على الجبهة الجنوبية".
صحيفة هآرتس كشفت أن الولايات المتحدة التي تخشى أن تُخيِّبَ إسرائيل أملها كما حصل في حرب تموز، وحددت بنفسها هذه المرة لإسرائيل سيناريو تلتزم قائم على الجهورية العسكرية الكاملة التي توصل إلى تحقيق نتائج سياسية وليس كما حدث في حرب تموز2006 ، حين وضعت إسرائيل سقفاً عالياً من الأهداف وخرجت دون تحقيق أي هدف، واضطُرت القيادة الإسرائيلية للخضوع إلى تحقيق لجنة فينوغراد. وأضافت هآرتس أنَّ تشديد إدارة بوش على ضرورة الجهوزية الإسرائيلية الكاملة قبل الهجوم على غزة نابع من الرعب الذي تشعر به إدارة بوش من انتصارٍ آخر بعد انتصار تموز يحققه معسكر من وصفتهم بالمتطرفين في المنطقة.
وتعليقا على هذا قال يوآف ليمورالمحلل العسكري :" الوزير باراك أصدر الأوامر لتسريع الاستعدادات للعملية في غزة إلاَّ أن ذلك يتطلب عملاً تمهيدياً واسعاً على الساحة الدولية، لذا تحدث باراك مع عمر سليمان وطوني بلير".
كما كشفت هآرتس أن اغتيال الشهيد عماد مغنية والغارة الإسرائيلية على سوريا من شأنهما أن ترممان الصورة العسكرية لإسرائيل لدى الولايات المتحدة، لكن ذلك لا يمكن أن يرمم ثقة الولايات المتحدة بقدرة إسرائيل على القيام بعملية أكثر طموحاً، وهي احتلال غزة وتحطيم قوة حماس وتسليم القطاع الى سلطة محمود عباس. وذكرت الصحيفة بكلام وزيرة الخارجية الأميركية كونداليزا رايس في الكونغرس الأسبوع الماضي عندما قالت إنَّ الوضع القائم في غزة لا يمكن أن يستمر."
USS Cole Dispatched to Lebanese Cost
"29/02/2008 The Israeli daily Haaretz revealed that Tel Aviv had requested assistance from the United States to complete its operational readiness to launch an all-out offensive against Gaza to crush Hamas. The daily added that Israel told the US that Tel Aviv does not want to fail as it did in Lebanon in 2006. This has raised questions about the circumstance behind dispatching the USS Cole destroyer off Lebanon's coast on February 28......"
Is It Genocide Yet?? Israeli minister threatens "holocaust" as public demands ceasefire talks
By Ali Abunimah, The Electronic Intifada
Via Uruknet
"Israeli officials began damage limitation efforts after the country's deputy defense minister Matan Vilnai threatened Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip with a "holocaust.".....
The attempt to limit the damage of Vilnai's comments is not surprising. It was recently revealed how another Israeli official, Major-General Doron Almog, narrowly escaped arrest at London's Heathrow airport in September 2005, in connection with allegations of war crimes committed against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. British police feared a gunfight if they attempted to board the El Al civilian aircraft on which Almog had arrived and on which he hid until he fled the United Kingdom back to Israel as a fugitive from justice.
Incitement to genocide is a punishable crime under the international Genocide Convention, adopted in 1948 after the Nazi holocaust.
"The 8 Stages of Genocide," written by Greg Stanton, President of Genocide Watch, sets out a number of warning signs of an impending genocide, which include "dehumanization" of potential victim groups and preparation, whereby potential victims "are often segregated into ghettoes, deported into concentration camps, or confined to a famine-struck region and starved." [1]
Vilnai's holocaust threat, however much Israeli officials attempt to qualify it, fits into a consistent pattern of belligerent statements and actions by Israeli officials. Israel has attempted to isolate the population of Gaza, deliberately restricting essential supplies, such as food, medicines and energy, a policy endorsed by the Israeli high court but condemned by international officials as illegal collective punishment.
As The Electronic Intifada has previously reported, dehumanizing statements by Israeli political and religious leaders directed at Palestinians are common (see "Top Israeli rabbis advocate genocide," The Electronic Intifada, 31 May 2007 and "Dehumanizing the Palestinians," Ali Abunimah, The Electronic Intifada, 21 September 2007)
On 28 February, Vilnai's colleagues added their own inflammatory statements. Cabinet minister Meir Sheetrit stated that Israel should "hit everything that moves" in Gaza "with weapons and ammunition," adding, "I don't think we have to show pity for anyone who wants to kill us."
And today, Tzachi Hanegbi, a senior member of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Kadima party said that Israel should invade Gaza to "topple the Hamas terror regime" and that Israeli forces, which now enforce the occupation of Gaza from the periphery and air, should prepare to remain in the interior of the territory "for years.".....
The question remains as to why when the vast majority of Israelis and Palestinians, some senior Israeli officials, and Hamas leaders are all talking about a ceasefire, the Israeli government refuses to accept one and the US refuses to call for one. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has blamed the escalating bloodshed entirely on Hamas, and has failed to call for a ceasefire. This echoes her support for Israel's merciless 2006 bombardment of Lebanon which she notoriously celebrated as being "the birth pangs of a new Middle East."......"
Iran Nuke Laptop Data Came from Terror Group
By Gareth Porter
"WASHINGTON, Feb 29 (IPS) - The George W. Bush administration has long pushed the "laptop documents" -- 1,000 pages of technical documents supposedly from a stolen Iranian laptop -- as hard evidence of Iranian intentions to build a nuclear weapon. Now charges based on those documents pose the only remaining obstacles to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) declaring that Iran has resolved all unanswered questions about its nuclear programme.
But those documents have long been regarded with great suspicion by U.S. and foreign analysts. German officials have identified the source of the laptop documents in November 2004 as the Mujahideen e Khalq (MEK), which along with its political arm, the National Council of Resistance in Iran (NCRI), is listed by the U.S. State Department as a terrorist organisation.
There are some indications, moreover, that the MEK obtained the documents not from an Iranian source but from Israel's Mossad......"
"WASHINGTON, Feb 29 (IPS) - The George W. Bush administration has long pushed the "laptop documents" -- 1,000 pages of technical documents supposedly from a stolen Iranian laptop -- as hard evidence of Iranian intentions to build a nuclear weapon. Now charges based on those documents pose the only remaining obstacles to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) declaring that Iran has resolved all unanswered questions about its nuclear programme.
But those documents have long been regarded with great suspicion by U.S. and foreign analysts. German officials have identified the source of the laptop documents in November 2004 as the Mujahideen e Khalq (MEK), which along with its political arm, the National Council of Resistance in Iran (NCRI), is listed by the U.S. State Department as a terrorist organisation.
There are some indications, moreover, that the MEK obtained the documents not from an Iranian source but from Israel's Mossad......"
غزّة تنازع... والعرب يتنازعون
"لليوم الثاني، للعام الثاني، للعقد الثاني، على التوالي، يواصل قطاع غزة دفع فواتير الدم التي ما ما زالت تُحرر له منذ اختار التمرّد على احتلال أراد أن يفرض نفسه قدراً. آخر الفواتير 29 شهيداً، بينهم أطفال، حصدتهم آلة القتل الإسرائيلية خلال اليومين الماضيين، وسط صمت عربي بلغ حد التواطؤ، وخاصة مع استقبال وفد إسرائيلي في القاهرة لـ«التنسيق».
وبات واضحاً أن المجازر الإسرائيلية، مع ما يرافقها من تنكيل وحصار وتجويع، لم تعد كافية لدفع العرب إلى تجاوز نزاعاتهم الداخلية حول القمّة المرتقبة في دمشق الشهر المقبل. ولم تعد دماء أطفال غزة قادرة على إخماد نيران الانقسامات العربية، التي بلغت حدة توترها مستوى قياسياً وصل بالسعودية إلى نقل سفيرها في دمشق إلى الدوحة من دون أن تعيّن له بديلاً، بعد وقت قصير على هجوم شنه وزير الخارجية السوري وليد المعلم عليها، متهماً إياها بتحريض الخارج على سوريا (التفاصيل).
أما المقاومة الفلسطينية فتسعى بالمتوافر إلى خلق توازن، والتصدّي لحملة القتل الهمجي في قطاع غزة، الذي لم يفرّق بين المسلح والطفل، ووصل إلى الأراضي المصرية حيث استشهدت فتاة بطلقة إسرائيلية في الرأس. وتمكنت المقاومة من إدخال مدينة عسقلان في دائرة الاستهداف المكثف، للمرة الأولى، بصليتين من صواريخ «الغراد» حققت إصابات مباشرة في مبانٍ سكنية وأدت إلى عدد من الإصابات في صفوف الإسرائيليين.
المستجد «العسقلاني» ترك إسرائيل في حال إرباك، انعكس بوضوح في تعليقات الصحف العبرية، التي اجترّت الحديث عن معضلة غزة، مشيرة إلى قصر المسافة الزمنية التي أصبحت تفصل بين جولة مواجهة وأخرى وإلى الارتفاع المطّرد لمستوى العنف في هذه الجولات.
وقال رئيس الحكومة الإسرائيلية، إيهود أولمرت، إن «حرباً تدار في الجنوب، وما من شخص في حماس، سواء في المستوى الأدنى أو في المستوى الارفع، سيكون بمنأى عن تلك الحرب».
وقالت مصادر عسكرية إسرائيلية إن «الجيش الإسرائيلي يوشك على إنهاء استعداداته بالنسبة إلى العملية (في قطاع غزة) خلال الأسابيع القليلة المقبلة، وذلك قبل أن يصدر المستوى السياسي أمراً بالتوجه» إلى العملية.
أما وزير الدفاع الإسرائيلي إيهود باراك، فقال من جهته، خلال مشاورات مع مسؤولين عسكريين: «يجب الاستعداد لتصعيد على الجبهة الجنوبية. إن عملية برية واسعة النطاق أصبحت واردة». وأضاف: «لن نقوم بذلك بطيبة خاطر، لكننا سنفعل ما هو ضروري... بعد درس خيارات أخرى»، مشدداً على أن «حماس ستدفع ثمن أفعالها»، وأن «رد إسرائيل أصبح ضرورياً».
ولم يكن العرب والغرب بمنأى عن التحضيرات الإسرائيلية للعدوان، إذ قال مكتب باراك إنه اتصل بممثل اللجنة الرباعية الدولية في الشرق الأوسط طوني بلير ورئيس المخابرات المصرية عمر سليمان.
ودعت وزيرة الخارجية الإسرائيلية، تسيبي ليفني، «الأسرة الدولية إلى احترام أي عملية تشنها إسرائيل للدفاع عن مواطنيها». وأضافت: «لا نقبل بالحجج التي تقول إن هناك ضحايا في الجانبين، لانه لا يمكننا أن نضع على قدم المساواة الإرهاب الفلسطيني الذي يستهدف مدنيين أبرياء، والأشخاص الذين يحاربون هذا الإرهاب، حتى وإن قتل مدنيون بشكل غير متعمد في هذه العمليات».
وفي سياق التنسيق مع العرب أيضاً، قال مكتب ليفني إنه «بحث آخر المستجدات في غزة خلال لقاء في القاهرة بين وزير الخارجية المصري أحمد أبو الغيط ومدير وزارة الخارجية الإسرائيلية ارون ابراموفيتش».
وقال المتحدث باسم وزارة الخارجية المصرية، حسام زكي، إن «أبو الغيط طرح على الوفد الإسرائيلي عناصر الرؤية المصرية المتكاملة في ما يتعلق بالوضع القائم». وشدد على أن «إسرائيل تتحمل المسؤولية الأساسية إزاء حالة التدهور في الأوضاع الإنسانية داخل القطاع». وأضاف أن أبو الغيط أبلغ الوفد أن «مصر تستشعر القلق جراء استمرار الأعمال العسكرية التي يسقط على آثارها المدنيون الأبرياء».
وفي ظل الصمت الرسمي العربي عما يجري في غزة، كان «المتخاصمون» العرب يواصلون التراشق الإعلامي؛ فبعدما اتهم وزير الخارجية السوري طرفاً عربياً «بالتحريض الخارجي على دمشق عبر زيارات لعواصم غربية»، في إشارة على ما يبدو إلى وزير الخارجية السعودي سعود الفيصل، أعلن القائم بأعمال السفارة السعوديّة في الدوحة، علي قزاز، أنّ الرياض اختارت سفيرها الحالي في سوريا، أحمد بن علي القحطاني، سفيراً جديداً لها في قطر، وذلك للمرّة الأولى بعد 6 سنوات على سحب سفيرها من قطر، متوقعاً أن ينتقل إلى الدوحة بعد القمّة العربية.
وفيما لم تقترح الرياض سفيراً بديلاً في دمشق، قال دبلوماسي عربي في نيويورك، لـ«الأخبار» إن ذلك «نذير شؤم ويدل على سوء نية، وخصوصاً أنه يأتي قبل القمة»."
Saniora: US Warship? What US Warship?
Al-Manar
"29/02/2008 The head of the unconstitutional government Fouad Saniora said that no US warships are present in Lebanese territorial waters, but declined to comment on former US Ambassador to Lebanon Jeffrey Feltman's words that the US administration had ordered the dispatch of the USS Cole destroyer to position off Lebanon's coast. "Only Lebanese armed forces and UNFIL forces are present in Lebanese territorial waters," said Saniora as he received Arab Ambassadors and representatives in Lebanon.
However Saniora's words intersected with Washington's justification to dispatch the destroyer. "We gather here today and Lebanon, as you all know, is passing through an unprecedented crisis that threatens its fate, system and entity," Saniora said.
"The United States believes a show of support is important for regional stability. We are very concerned about the situation in Lebanon. It has dragged on very long," said a top US official, who spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity signaling 'impatience' with Syria. Moreover, US Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters in Washington Thursday that "this is an area that is important to us, the eastern Mediterranean." "The presence is important, it isn't meant to send any stronger signals than that, but in fact it does signal that we are engaged," Muller added."
US Retorts to Hezbollah: We Have Concerns About You
Al-Manar
"29/02/2008 The United States on Friday criticized Hezbollah's criticisms of the deployment of the US warship USS Cole to waters off Lebanon and insisted the show of force meant to promote stability and pointed out US concerns regarding Hezbollah. "On Hezbollah's concerns, I would express some of our own concerns with Hezbollah's actions. So I'll just leave it at that," White House national security spokesman Gordon Johndroe told reporters.
"This decision proves that it's the United States which is interfering in Lebanese affairs, and that this interference has taken on a military slant," Hezbollah MP Hussein Hajj Hassan said.
Johndroe sidestepped questions about comments from the head of the unconstitutional government Fouad Saniora, who said Friday that his Western-backed government did not ask Washington to send the USS Cole guided-missile destroyer to the area. "We have regular consultations with Prime Minister Saniora and his government, as well as our allies, both in the immediate region, as well as in Europe on the situation in Lebanon," said the spokesman. "There's constant communication at various levels. But let's be clear: The purpose of the US Navy ships in the eastern Mediterranean is a show of support for regional stability," amid Lebanon's political crisis, he emphasized. "I know we share with Prime Minister Saniora a desire for the situation in Lebanon to be resolved, and resolved by the Lebanese people," said Johndroe. "We did not ask anyone to send warships," Saniora said in a speech during a meeting with Arab ambassadors, adding that no US warship was in "Lebanese waters.""
"29/02/2008 The United States on Friday criticized Hezbollah's criticisms of the deployment of the US warship USS Cole to waters off Lebanon and insisted the show of force meant to promote stability and pointed out US concerns regarding Hezbollah. "On Hezbollah's concerns, I would express some of our own concerns with Hezbollah's actions. So I'll just leave it at that," White House national security spokesman Gordon Johndroe told reporters.
"This decision proves that it's the United States which is interfering in Lebanese affairs, and that this interference has taken on a military slant," Hezbollah MP Hussein Hajj Hassan said.
Johndroe sidestepped questions about comments from the head of the unconstitutional government Fouad Saniora, who said Friday that his Western-backed government did not ask Washington to send the USS Cole guided-missile destroyer to the area. "We have regular consultations with Prime Minister Saniora and his government, as well as our allies, both in the immediate region, as well as in Europe on the situation in Lebanon," said the spokesman. "There's constant communication at various levels. But let's be clear: The purpose of the US Navy ships in the eastern Mediterranean is a show of support for regional stability," amid Lebanon's political crisis, he emphasized. "I know we share with Prime Minister Saniora a desire for the situation in Lebanon to be resolved, and resolved by the Lebanese people," said Johndroe. "We did not ask anyone to send warships," Saniora said in a speech during a meeting with Arab ambassadors, adding that no US warship was in "Lebanese waters.""
Egypt expresses "concern" over Israeli attacks on Palestinians in Gaza
Oh Really?? This is Very Touching Indeed! How About Egypt Breaking Palestinians' Legs??
"Thursday, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry [Break-their-legs-Abu al Gheit] expressed concerns over the continuation of Israeli attacks on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.With especial concern over the recent series of air strikes on different areas in the Gaza Strip which have claimed the lives of 33 Palestinians including eight children......"
***
Now you can go back to sleep, Break-their-legs-Abu al Gheit.
"Thursday, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry [Break-their-legs-Abu al Gheit] expressed concerns over the continuation of Israeli attacks on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.With especial concern over the recent series of air strikes on different areas in the Gaza Strip which have claimed the lives of 33 Palestinians including eight children......"
***
Now you can go back to sleep, Break-their-legs-Abu al Gheit.
Because the Pharaoh Has No Balls
EGYPT: Opposition Slams Gas Sale to Israel
By Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani
"CAIRO, Feb 29 (IPS) - On Monday, Egypt began pumping natural gas to Israel in accordance with an energy accord between Cairo and Tel Aviv. While the government defends the move as being in the country's best interest, opposition figures decry the notion of economic cooperation with Israel, especially in light of the latter's ongoing siege of the Gaza Strip......"
By Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani
"CAIRO, Feb 29 (IPS) - On Monday, Egypt began pumping natural gas to Israel in accordance with an energy accord between Cairo and Tel Aviv. While the government defends the move as being in the country's best interest, opposition figures decry the notion of economic cooperation with Israel, especially in light of the latter's ongoing siege of the Gaza Strip......"
The United Nations Contributed to the Establishment of a Mafia-State in Kosovo
by Michel Chossudovsky
Global Research, March 1, 2008
"The EU, the US, NATO and the UN Mission in Kosovo bear responsibility in the criminalization of Kosovo State institutions.
The following article, written in March 2000, focusses on the formation of a Kosovar Mafia State integrated by former members of the KLA.
With the February 2008 declaration of Independence, this process has reached its completion. Kosovo is not a mafia state in its own right, it is a US/EU protectorate under NATO military rule. The government of Kosovo, which has extensive links to organized crime, serves the interests of the US-NATO occupation......"
"Honor the Israeli Army Uniform," Lecturer Told
Academic Freedom? Not for Arabs in Israel
By JONATHAN COOK, in Nazareth
CounterPunch
"In the strange world of Israeli academia, an Arab college lecturer is being dismissed from his job because he refused to declare his "respect for the uniform of the Israeli army". The bizarre demand was made of Nizar Hassan, director of several award-winning films, after he criticised a Jewish student who arrived in his film studies class at Sapir College in the Negev for wearing his uniform and carrying a gun.
The incident raises disturbing questions about the freedom of Israeli academics, sheds light on the veneration of the military in Israeli public life, and exposes the close, verging on incestuous, ties between the army and Israeli academia.....
As in most other areas of Israeli life, the country's Palestinian minority faces systematic discrimination in higher education. No public university is located in an Arab community or teaches in Arabic, and, though the minority is a fifth of the population, fewer than 1 per cent of lecturers are Arab.
In addition, the number of Arab students is third of their proportion in the population -- an under-representation that is apparently intentional. In 2003, psychometric tests biased towards Western culture were scrapped in an effort to help "weaker sections" of society gain acceptance to university. However, when the Committee of University Heads learnt that the number of Arabs entering university had risen sharply as a result, the tests were immediately reinstated.
Several leading Israeli academics are outspoken racists, including David Bukay and Arnon Sofer at Haifa University and Raphael Israeli at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. The latter was called as an "expert" witness by the state at a trial in 2004 in which he stated that the Arab mentality was composed of "a sense of victimization", "pathological anti-Semitism" and "a tendency to live in a world of illusions"."
By JONATHAN COOK, in Nazareth
CounterPunch
"In the strange world of Israeli academia, an Arab college lecturer is being dismissed from his job because he refused to declare his "respect for the uniform of the Israeli army". The bizarre demand was made of Nizar Hassan, director of several award-winning films, after he criticised a Jewish student who arrived in his film studies class at Sapir College in the Negev for wearing his uniform and carrying a gun.
The incident raises disturbing questions about the freedom of Israeli academics, sheds light on the veneration of the military in Israeli public life, and exposes the close, verging on incestuous, ties between the army and Israeli academia.....
As in most other areas of Israeli life, the country's Palestinian minority faces systematic discrimination in higher education. No public university is located in an Arab community or teaches in Arabic, and, though the minority is a fifth of the population, fewer than 1 per cent of lecturers are Arab.
In addition, the number of Arab students is third of their proportion in the population -- an under-representation that is apparently intentional. In 2003, psychometric tests biased towards Western culture were scrapped in an effort to help "weaker sections" of society gain acceptance to university. However, when the Committee of University Heads learnt that the number of Arabs entering university had risen sharply as a result, the tests were immediately reinstated.
Several leading Israeli academics are outspoken racists, including David Bukay and Arnon Sofer at Haifa University and Raphael Israeli at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. The latter was called as an "expert" witness by the state at a trial in 2004 in which he stated that the Arab mentality was composed of "a sense of victimization", "pathological anti-Semitism" and "a tendency to live in a world of illusions"."
Obama, Being Called a Muslim Is Not a Smear
By Naomi Klein
"Hillary Clinton denied leaking the photo of Barack Obama wearing a turban, but her campaign manager says that even if she had, it would be no big deal. “Hillary Clinton has worn the traditional clothing of countries she has visited and had those photos published widely.”
Sure she did. And George W. Bush put on a fetching Chamato poncho in Santiago, while Paul Wolfowitz burned up YouTube with his antimalarial African dance routines when he was World Bank prez. The obvious difference is this: when white politicians go ethnic, they just look funny. When a black presidential contender does it, he looks foreign. And when the ethnic apparel in question is vaguely reminiscent of the clothing worn by Iraqi and Afghan fighters (at least to many Fox viewers, who think any headdress other than a baseball cap is a declaration of war on America), the image is downright frightening......"
Petition: Release 11.000 Palestinians in Israeli jails
"Please sign and support these political prisoners!
Disgrace for Democracy, Israel is detaining right now 40% of the Palestinian MPs who represent the people.
Sponsored by:
Iqbal Tamimi Creator of Palestinian Mothers Network
Disgrace for Democracy: 51 Palestinian MPs and Ministers are Detained in Israeli prisons along with 11,870 Palestinian citizens
A serious crime and new political slap in the face for democracy is committed by the Zionist system against representatives of the Palestinian people by the abduction of the Palestinian ministers and MPs. The latest of which was the arrest of MP Ahmed al-Haj from the city of Nablus on 16/12/2007. Al-Haj is over Seventy-years old.
Earlier on the 10th MP Dr. Maryiam Saleh Minister for Women in the Palestinian government has been abducted too. Dr Mariyam is a member in the Legislative Council from Ramallah governorate.
The Minister of Palestinian Prisoners is in prison since many years... for the fifth time.
There are more than 11,870 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, 117 of them are mothers. Some give birth while chained, and their children are forced to live in the cells where they do not live their childhood or play or go out.
I don't have to tell you about lack of healthy conditions, or medical negligence. Some prisoners are denied warm clothes sent to them by their families. They are held in 30 different prisons, and detention centers. 1189 prisoners are schools, collage, and universities students of both genders, 330 of the detained are children. Not only the students were detained, but their teachers too, there are 107 Palestinian teachers in Israeli prisons. 1150 Palestinian prisoners suffer acute illnesses.
A large number of the detained are denied visits by family members.
Thousands of Palestinian detainees in the Negev desert prison and other detention camps such as Ofer prison near the town of Ramallah, Hawara, Qadumim, Megiddo, Nafha, Beer Sheva, Ashkelon and other prisons are shivering from the cold under waves of rain and snowfall coming from northern regions of the world especially that some are detained inside tents made of cloth surrounded by walls open to the cruel cold of the desert, living in wet tents caused by snow falls and rain, sleeping on boards made of wood which gets soaked wet.
Soon, April 17th is the International day of prisoners. I hope you can join in denouncing what the Israeli government is doing to those prisoners, and demand their release to join their families.
Do not rely on journalism to get the news, journalists were the first to be attacked and harassed so that you do not know what was going on. The records documented 1147 aggressive attacks on journalists by the Israelis. Only between 28th of September 2000, and 31st of March 2007.
Please sign the petition and buy those prisoners some happiness.
We are hoping to get at least 11,000 signitures, one for each prisoner, and present this petition to International Human Rights bodies like Amnesty International, and United Nations. Please Circulate this petition to all the people you can get the message through to them. It is about time we show solidarity for each other on human level.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/release-11000-palestinians-in-israeli-jails "
Killed while they played football, the child victims of Israel's revenge on Gaza
By Donald Macintyre in Jerusalem
The Independent
"Four boys playing football have been killed in Gaza by Israeli air strikes, according to Palestinian officials, as Israel responded to the death of a man from a barrage of rocket attacks with a bloody escalation of violence.
At least 16 Palestinians – including the four children – were killed yesterday as Israel responded to the deadly attacks the previous day.
While the Israeli military said it had been targeting militants and rocket-launching squads, the officials said the boys were playing football close to their homes in Jabalya, northern Gaza.
A relative, Ahmed Dardouna, 42, said the family had located the bodies of the boys – reportedly two brothers and their cousins – at a local hospital after they failed to return home......"
Israeli minister warns of Palestinian 'holocaust'
guardian.co.uk, Friday February 29 2008
"An Israeli minister today warned of increasingly bitter conflict in the Gaza Strip, saying the Palestinians could bring on themselves what he called a "holocaust".
"The more Qassam [rocket] fire intensifies and the rockets reach a longer range, they will bring upon themselves a bigger shoah because we will use all our might to defend ourselves," Matan Vilnai, Israel's deputy defence minister, told army radio.
Shoah is the Hebrew word normally reserved to refer to the Jewish Holocaust. It is rarely used in Israel outside discussions of the Nazi extermination of Jews during the second world war, and many Israelis are loath to countenance its use to describe other events.
The minister's statement came after two days of tit-for-tat missile raids between Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip and the Israeli army. At least 32 Palestinians and one Israeli have been killed since the surge in violence on Wednesday.
Today Israel activated a rocket warning system to protect Ashkelon, a city of 120,000 people, from Palestinian attacks.
Ashkelon was hit by several Grad rockets fired from Gaza yesterday. One hit an apartment building, slicing through the roof and three floors below, and another landed near a school, wounding a 17-year-old girl....."
Looking for a new Palestinian partner
Hasan Abu Nimah, The Electronic Intifada, 29 February 2008
".....Ben-Eliezer's call for Barghouti's release is not the first to come from a prominent Israeli, but it must nevertheless come as a severe blow to Abbas. To call for Barghouti's release as, say, a gesture to the Palestinians, or in exchange for an Israeli prisoner of war held by the Palestinian resistance in Gaza, is one thing. But to view him as an alternative partner for a redundant Abbas is something else altogether.
For Abbas it means that all he invested in the peace process -- including his highly unpopular policies meant to appease Israel, Washington and the "international community," all at the expense of his popularity and even legitimacy among his own people -- is being thrown back at him with total ingratitude. Israel could not have invented a Palestinian leader more compliant than Abbas, and yet even Abbas is not good enough for Israel......
There is nothing new in this Israeli pattern: it has always tried to foster "alternative" Palestinian leaderships who would make peace not by insisting on fundamental rights, but through surrender and agreeing to serve as Israeli subcontractors. What is shocking is the folly of Palestinian leaders who claimed that they had learned the "lessons" of the past but who once again have gone chasing after a mirage and a fake promise of peace, squandering on the way valuable time and most importantly rights while Israel has continued to gobble up the land......
Yes, Abbas and Fayyad are weak primarily because they are dependent on Israel and Washington, and their weakness has never been the result of their failure to convince the Palestinian people to accept a peaceful settlement; on the contrary, they were totally unable to convince Israel to abide by any of the terms of the many accords and initiatives that they kept pinning their hopes on.
Even if Barghouti were released -- and it is to be demanded that he along with all the political prisoners held by Israel be promptly released -- and he were then to assume the leadership, he would not likely be as conciliatory and supplicant as the Israeli-recognized Palestinian leaders....."
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