By GEORGE BISHARAT
(George Bisharat is a professor at the University of California Hastings College of the Law)
N.Y. Times
".....While Israel disputes some of the soldiers’ accounts, the evidence suggests that Israel committed the following six offenses:
• Violating its duty to protect the civilian population of the Gaza Strip.....
• Imposing collective punishment in the form of a blockade, in violation of Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.....
• Deliberately attacking civilian targets......
• Willfully killing civilians without military justification.....
• Deliberately employing disproportionate force......
• Illegal use of weapons, including white phosphorus.....
Israeli political and military personnel who planned, ordered or executed these possible offenses should face criminal prosecution. The appointment of Richard Goldstone, the former war crimes prosecutor from South Africa, to head a fact-finding team into possible war crimes by both parties to the Gaza conflict is an important step in the right direction. The stature of international law is diminished when a nation violates it with impunity."
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Please Sign the Online Petition by Amnesty International. Ask Secretary Clinton Why the US Continues to Deliver Arms to Israel
The pale blue 155mm rounds are clearly marked with the designation M825A1, an American-made white phosphorus munition.
"Despite strong evidence of the misuse of U.S. weapons against civilians in Gaza, Amnesty International recently revealed that the United States sent a massive new shipment of arms to Israel. The Wehr Elbe, a ship controlled by the U.S. Military Sealift Command, docked and unloaded several thousand tons of arms on March 22 at the Israeli port of Ashdod. Ask State Department officials why the United States would deliver these arms to Israel. » Background Information"
Click Here to Sign Petition
The Smooth Criminal Transition from Bush/Cheney to Obama
Corrupt new administration deepens and expands systemic criminalization and war agenda
A GOOD PIECE
by Larry Chin
Global Research, April 4, 2009
"To sober, clear-eyed observers of history and political deception, the ascension of Barack Obama held the promise for unprecedented new dangers: a revitalized New World Order, led by the Anglo-American empire’s neoliberal criminal faction and an iconic, deceptive new facilitator; and a continuation of Bush/Cheney criminality and war, under smarter and much more effective management.
Now, just months into their tenure, the Barack Obama administration has more than fulfilled the promises he made to his elite constituency, deepening the mass destruction of Bush/Cheney, while charming its victims all over the world into enjoying their own demise.
The empire’s facilitator
Beneath his seemingly boundless charisma and charm, Barack Obama has always been an utterly ruthless politician. He has been a compromiser who has danced with the darkest forces of political and criminal power, while winning over common people; a consensus-abiding chameleon and a “pragmatist”. Obama is the true model of what George W. Bush only claimed to be: “a uniter, not a divider”......
A call to resist
As this writer warned in “Obama: return to elite status quo”, written shortly following Obama’s victory:
“…the arrival of Obama as the new imperial figurehead of the Anglo-American empire is not a victory of, or for, the people. It will not signify a dramatic upheaval, in any way, and by no means is any sort of revolution at hand. This election was a necessary rotation of management, scripted at the highest levels of the Anglo-American elite.
“The “change” that a Barack Obama presidency will bring to America and the world will be one of style, not substance: a return to the centrist corporate globalism of the Clinton and Carter eras, complete with regurgitated Democratic Party elites from those administrations, and new neoliberal politicians touting similar ideologies.
“…The velvet gloves will be slipped back over the iron fists, but the fists will still be wielded aggressively. Within months, the global conquest that Bush-Cheney started will resume under the vastly more convincing and adored Obama, who has consistently stated his intention to intensify the war in Afghanistan, and “kill ‘terrorists’” across the Middle East.”
For those who have spent the past eight hellish years opposing and resisting the crimes of Bush/Cheney, prepare yourselves for worse: the “friendliest” fascism, and the most dangerous stealth messenger in history. "
A GOOD PIECE
by Larry Chin
Global Research, April 4, 2009
"To sober, clear-eyed observers of history and political deception, the ascension of Barack Obama held the promise for unprecedented new dangers: a revitalized New World Order, led by the Anglo-American empire’s neoliberal criminal faction and an iconic, deceptive new facilitator; and a continuation of Bush/Cheney criminality and war, under smarter and much more effective management.
Now, just months into their tenure, the Barack Obama administration has more than fulfilled the promises he made to his elite constituency, deepening the mass destruction of Bush/Cheney, while charming its victims all over the world into enjoying their own demise.
The empire’s facilitator
Beneath his seemingly boundless charisma and charm, Barack Obama has always been an utterly ruthless politician. He has been a compromiser who has danced with the darkest forces of political and criminal power, while winning over common people; a consensus-abiding chameleon and a “pragmatist”. Obama is the true model of what George W. Bush only claimed to be: “a uniter, not a divider”......
A call to resist
As this writer warned in “Obama: return to elite status quo”, written shortly following Obama’s victory:
“…the arrival of Obama as the new imperial figurehead of the Anglo-American empire is not a victory of, or for, the people. It will not signify a dramatic upheaval, in any way, and by no means is any sort of revolution at hand. This election was a necessary rotation of management, scripted at the highest levels of the Anglo-American elite.
“The “change” that a Barack Obama presidency will bring to America and the world will be one of style, not substance: a return to the centrist corporate globalism of the Clinton and Carter eras, complete with regurgitated Democratic Party elites from those administrations, and new neoliberal politicians touting similar ideologies.
“…The velvet gloves will be slipped back over the iron fists, but the fists will still be wielded aggressively. Within months, the global conquest that Bush-Cheney started will resume under the vastly more convincing and adored Obama, who has consistently stated his intention to intensify the war in Afghanistan, and “kill ‘terrorists’” across the Middle East.”
For those who have spent the past eight hellish years opposing and resisting the crimes of Bush/Cheney, prepare yourselves for worse: the “friendliest” fascism, and the most dangerous stealth messenger in history. "
Not an analogy: Israel and the crime of apartheid
An Excellent Piece
By Hazem Jamjoum, The Electronic Intifada, 3 April 2009
By Hazem Jamjoum, The Electronic Intifada, 3 April 2009
(Hazem Jamjoum is the editor of al-Majdal, the English language quarterly magazine of the Badil Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights in Bethlehem, Palestine.)
".....Many of the writings stemming from this analysis work to detail levels of similarity and difference with apartheid South Africa, rather than looking at apartheid as a system that can be practiced by any state. To some extent, this strong emphasis on historical comparisons is understandable given that boycott, divestment and sanctions is the central campaign called for by Palestinian civil society for solidarity with the Palestinian liberation struggle, and is modeled on the one that helped end South African apartheid. However, an over-emphasis on similarities and differences confines the use of the term to narrow limits. With the expanding agreement that the term "apartheid" is useful in describing the level and layout of Israel's crimes, it is important that our understanding of the "apartheid label" be deepened, both as a means of informing activism in support of the Palestinian anti-colonial struggle, and in order to most effectively make use of comparisons with other struggles.
Colonialism and the role of comparison
I have argued that the question of whether apartheid applies cannot be determined by means of comparison with South Africa, but rather by legal analysis. This, however, does not mean that comparative study is not useful. Comparison is in fact essential to the process of learning historical lessons for those involved in struggle. A central point of comparison with South Africa is the fact that it was, and for the indigenous people of Palestine and the Americas, continues to be a struggle against colonialism.
Focusing on the colonial dimension of Israeli apartheid and the Zionist project enables us to maintain our focus on the issues that really matter, such as land acquisition, demographic engineering and methods of political and economic control exercised by one racial group over another. Comparison with other anti-colonial struggles provides the main resource for understanding this colonial dimension of Israeli oppression, and for deriving some of the lessons needed to fight it......
The push for the establishment and international recognition of an independent Palestinian state within the Palestinian Bantustan is no different from the South African apartheid regime's campaign to gain international recognition of Transkei or Ciskei. This is the core of the "two-state solution" idea. The major and crucial difference is that in the current Palestinian case, it is the world's superpower and its adjutants in Europe and the Arab world pushing as well, and armed with the active acceptance of Palestine's indigenous intermediaries."
Arab 'Reconciliation' Summit a Bust
By Rannie Amiri
Palestine Chronicle
".....Not only did the Arab heads of state fail to heal deep regional rifts, they did not tackle the thorny issue of relations with Iran or even begin to address the regional ramifications an increasingly likely Israeli attack will have. Instead, egos, petty disputes, red-carpet welcomes and diplomatic snubs held sway.
Once again, ordinary citizens of the Middle East this week were reminded why the Arab League has become an utterly irrelevant, feckless institution."
Friday, April 3, 2009
Noam Chomsky on US Expansion of Afghan Occupation, the Uses of NATO, and What Obama Should Do in Israel-Palestine
Democracy Now!
With Amy Goodman
"President Obama and European leaders arrived in France today ahead of a key NATO summit to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the alliance. Obama will visit Germany today as well which is also playing host to the summit....The focus of the summit will be Afghanistan where 70,000 troops–mostly under NATO command–are at war. President Obama will use the talks to enlist support for his escalation of the war. Obama has sent 21,000 extra US troops to Afghanistan and is considering deploying 10,000 more.
Meanwhile Taliban militants in Pakistan marked the start of the two-day summit by destroying a fleet of nine parked NATO vehicles in transit for Afghanistan.
To talk about Afghanistan, NATO, and the state of US economic and military power in the world today, I’m joined by one of the world"s most astute thinkers and most important intellectuals of our time, according to the New York Times. Linguist, philosopher, social critic, and political analyst Noam Chomsky......."
With Amy Goodman
"President Obama and European leaders arrived in France today ahead of a key NATO summit to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the alliance. Obama will visit Germany today as well which is also playing host to the summit....The focus of the summit will be Afghanistan where 70,000 troops–mostly under NATO command–are at war. President Obama will use the talks to enlist support for his escalation of the war. Obama has sent 21,000 extra US troops to Afghanistan and is considering deploying 10,000 more.
Meanwhile Taliban militants in Pakistan marked the start of the two-day summit by destroying a fleet of nine parked NATO vehicles in transit for Afghanistan.
To talk about Afghanistan, NATO, and the state of US economic and military power in the world today, I’m joined by one of the world"s most astute thinkers and most important intellectuals of our time, according to the New York Times. Linguist, philosopher, social critic, and political analyst Noam Chomsky......."
Real News Video: Noam Chomsky on the economy and democracy Pt.3
Chomsky: It should be remembered that Germany went to the depths of barbarism in 10 years
Globocop versus the TermiNATO
A Good Piece
By Pepe Escobar
"No one will actually admit it - but many in Washington and Brussels would love the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to really be a borderless international sheriff, bypassing the United Nations to perform humanitarian imperialism all over the globe, taking out al-Qaeda and "terrorists" anywhere, and protecting energy pipelines for Western interests in all directions......
The US, supported by NATO, was the midwife of a new incarnation of "Islamic fundamentalism" which should, as it did, get rid of the Soviets in Afghanistan and in the former, energy-rich Soviet republics. The fact that, millions of dead and millions of displaced people later, NATO is now asking for Russian help so as not be stranded in Afghanistan is just another bitter irony of AfPak history, and certainly not the last. "
By Pepe Escobar
"No one will actually admit it - but many in Washington and Brussels would love the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to really be a borderless international sheriff, bypassing the United Nations to perform humanitarian imperialism all over the globe, taking out al-Qaeda and "terrorists" anywhere, and protecting energy pipelines for Western interests in all directions......
The US, supported by NATO, was the midwife of a new incarnation of "Islamic fundamentalism" which should, as it did, get rid of the Soviets in Afghanistan and in the former, energy-rich Soviet republics. The fact that, millions of dead and millions of displaced people later, NATO is now asking for Russian help so as not be stranded in Afghanistan is just another bitter irony of AfPak history, and certainly not the last. "
American Lawyers in Gaza: Evidence that Israel Violated International Law, U.S. Domestic Law Implicated
Written by National Lawyers Guild Delegation to Gaza
"New York - Israel violated international law by targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure, misusing weapons, deliberately denying medical care to the wounded and attacking medical personnel, the National Lawyers Guild Delegation to Gaza said today upon releasing a 37 page report containing new evidence on the facts surrounding Israel's 22 day military offensive in Gaza. The full report can be viewed at www.nlg.org. Photos are also available upon request.
"Our findings join a growing chorus of voices-which include Israeli soldiers themselves-asserting that Israeli forces deliberately targeted civilians during the Gaza offensive," said Radhika Sainath, one of the attorneys who initiated the seven-day fact-finding delegation to Gaza. "On a number of occasions, Israeli soldiers shot and killed young children as well as unarmed civilians holding white flags-both violations of the laws of war."......"
"New York - Israel violated international law by targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure, misusing weapons, deliberately denying medical care to the wounded and attacking medical personnel, the National Lawyers Guild Delegation to Gaza said today upon releasing a 37 page report containing new evidence on the facts surrounding Israel's 22 day military offensive in Gaza. The full report can be viewed at www.nlg.org. Photos are also available upon request.
"Our findings join a growing chorus of voices-which include Israeli soldiers themselves-asserting that Israeli forces deliberately targeted civilians during the Gaza offensive," said Radhika Sainath, one of the attorneys who initiated the seven-day fact-finding delegation to Gaza. "On a number of occasions, Israeli soldiers shot and killed young children as well as unarmed civilians holding white flags-both violations of the laws of war."......"
Big Powers Moving In on Gaza
By Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa Al-Omrani
"CAIRO, Apr 3 (IPS) - Nine NATO member states agreed last month to utilise naval, intelligence and diplomatic resources to combat the alleged flow of arms into the Gaza Strip. Some Egyptian commentators see the move as a surreptitious means of cementing foreign control over the region.
"These new protocols aren't really about halting arms smuggling," Tarek Fahmi, political science professor at Cairo University and head of the Israel desk at the Cairo-based National Centre for Middle East Studies, told IPS. "Rather, they aim to establish foreign control over the region's strategic border crossings and maritime ports."......
"The West, along with Israel, is attempting to establish regional domination on multiple fronts," said Fahmi. "The plan to redraw the map of the Middle East - from Sudan and Somalia to Palestine and Iraq - is progressing apace, and the hopelessly divided Arabs appear unable to do anything about it." "
"CAIRO, Apr 3 (IPS) - Nine NATO member states agreed last month to utilise naval, intelligence and diplomatic resources to combat the alleged flow of arms into the Gaza Strip. Some Egyptian commentators see the move as a surreptitious means of cementing foreign control over the region.
"These new protocols aren't really about halting arms smuggling," Tarek Fahmi, political science professor at Cairo University and head of the Israel desk at the Cairo-based National Centre for Middle East Studies, told IPS. "Rather, they aim to establish foreign control over the region's strategic border crossings and maritime ports."......
"The West, along with Israel, is attempting to establish regional domination on multiple fronts," said Fahmi. "The plan to redraw the map of the Middle East - from Sudan and Somalia to Palestine and Iraq - is progressing apace, and the hopelessly divided Arabs appear unable to do anything about it." "
Iraqi Shoes Revisited: A Pair of Narratives
By Ramzy Baroud
Palestine Chronicle
"It’s remarkable how some in the media can cleverly manipulate a story by avoiding its essence and focusing on marginal details. The chucking of a pair of shoes at former President George W. Bush by an Iraqi journalist, Muntazer al-Zaidi during a Baghdad press conference, on December 14, 2008 is a case in point.
Most Arab and Muslim media – and other media around the world, save mainstream western media – framed al-Zaidi’s deed within its proper context, that of a horrific, genocidal war, bloody and humiliating occupation and the colonial hubris of a superpower that gave itself the right and ‘moral’ justification to devastate a sovereign nation for the sake of oil, Israel and the desire for sheer hegemony.......
Al-Zaidi’s action was reduced in mainstream media, perhaps because he was an Iraqi fighter of a different type, the kind that fails to fit the media’s stereotype, that of the sectarian militant, blowing people up, gunning them down, or detonating their homes and houses of worship. Indeed, al-Zaidi didn’t only challenging Bush, the occupation and the quisling government of Iraq, but the media perception itself.
The true story, conveniently missed or reinterpreted by many in the media, was not about a pair of shoes, but a pair of narratives, that of the Iraqi court and the government it represents – compromising, self-serving and sectarian – and that of Muntazer al-Zaidi and the people he represents, occupied and oppressed, true, but daring, and exceptionally proud. "
Palestine Chronicle
"It’s remarkable how some in the media can cleverly manipulate a story by avoiding its essence and focusing on marginal details. The chucking of a pair of shoes at former President George W. Bush by an Iraqi journalist, Muntazer al-Zaidi during a Baghdad press conference, on December 14, 2008 is a case in point.
Most Arab and Muslim media – and other media around the world, save mainstream western media – framed al-Zaidi’s deed within its proper context, that of a horrific, genocidal war, bloody and humiliating occupation and the colonial hubris of a superpower that gave itself the right and ‘moral’ justification to devastate a sovereign nation for the sake of oil, Israel and the desire for sheer hegemony.......
Al-Zaidi’s action was reduced in mainstream media, perhaps because he was an Iraqi fighter of a different type, the kind that fails to fit the media’s stereotype, that of the sectarian militant, blowing people up, gunning them down, or detonating their homes and houses of worship. Indeed, al-Zaidi didn’t only challenging Bush, the occupation and the quisling government of Iraq, but the media perception itself.
The true story, conveniently missed or reinterpreted by many in the media, was not about a pair of shoes, but a pair of narratives, that of the Iraqi court and the government it represents – compromising, self-serving and sectarian – and that of Muntazer al-Zaidi and the people he represents, occupied and oppressed, true, but daring, and exceptionally proud. "
The One World Leader With Guts to Call it as it is; Yes, Hugo Chavez! Viva Chavez!!
Chavez in Iran: Obama Still Leads 'Empire'
"TEHRAN - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Wednesday that he has little hope of better relations with Washington under President Barack Obama, saying the United States is still acting like an "empire" in his eyes.
Chavez made the comments after arriving in Tehran on a two-day visit to Iran. In recent years, Chavez and Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - both well-known for their anti-U.S. rhetoric - have boosted economic and political ties....."
"TEHRAN - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Wednesday that he has little hope of better relations with Washington under President Barack Obama, saying the United States is still acting like an "empire" in his eyes.
Chavez made the comments after arriving in Tehran on a two-day visit to Iran. In recent years, Chavez and Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - both well-known for their anti-U.S. rhetoric - have boosted economic and political ties....."
The Goldberg Syndrome
It renders journalists, and lobbyists, blind …
by Justin Raimondo, April 03, 2009
"..........If Jeffrey Goldberg has any doubts about the existence of such an entity, he should try looking in the mirror. That he can’t – or won’t – see what, increasingly, the rest of America sees, is an indication that either he’s going blind, or that he’s just not telling us the truth. Of course, it could be both: that he’s blind, and willfully so. This is a telling symptom of what we might call the Goldberg Syndrome: an inability to see and/or acknowledge what everyone knows to be true – that a lobby, and a powerful one, exists in this country that puts Israel’s interests above those of the US.
Furthermore, this Lobby is currently running into some big problems: the foreign policy it has imposed – yes, imposed – on the US has caused a train-wreck in the Middle East, with reverberations around the world and on the home front, too. Americans are waking up, and the Israel Lobby is reacting with its characteristic blind virulence. The consequences – for Israel, first of all – aren’t going to be pretty. Yet the blindness of the pro-Israel ideologues renders them unable to see any of this coming."
by Justin Raimondo, April 03, 2009
"..........If Jeffrey Goldberg has any doubts about the existence of such an entity, he should try looking in the mirror. That he can’t – or won’t – see what, increasingly, the rest of America sees, is an indication that either he’s going blind, or that he’s just not telling us the truth. Of course, it could be both: that he’s blind, and willfully so. This is a telling symptom of what we might call the Goldberg Syndrome: an inability to see and/or acknowledge what everyone knows to be true – that a lobby, and a powerful one, exists in this country that puts Israel’s interests above those of the US.
Furthermore, this Lobby is currently running into some big problems: the foreign policy it has imposed – yes, imposed – on the US has caused a train-wreck in the Middle East, with reverberations around the world and on the home front, too. Americans are waking up, and the Israel Lobby is reacting with its characteristic blind virulence. The consequences – for Israel, first of all – aren’t going to be pretty. Yet the blindness of the pro-Israel ideologues renders them unable to see any of this coming."
The Lieberman leaning
If Israelis think their foreign minister's ascent is an aberration, they're being disingenuous about the nation's rightwing forces
Seth Freedman
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 2 April 2009
" Yesterday's tub-thumping tirade by Israel's new foreign minister and deputy prime minister sent tremors through political circles, both internally and internationally. Politicians and pundits alike scrambled to distance themselves from Avigdor Lieberman's vitriol, implying that his views are utterly at odds with mainstream Israeli thinking, as though he and his ideology simply sprang out of a vacuum....
The Gaza "withdrawal" pulled the wool over the eyes of none but the most ardent members of the "Israel right or wrong" brigade. Annapolis was rendered all but obsolete as soon as Olmert signed the agreement with one hand while concurrently rubberstamping settlement expansion with the other. The treadmill effect – where Israeli leaders act as though they're forever breathlessly running towards peace while never actually moving from the spot to which they're rooted – means that those backing the two-state solution are no nearer to realising their ambitions now than they ever have been.....
The incumbent foreign minister is merely the latest manifestation of a 60-year-old malaise, and to pretend otherwise is to lead observers up the garden path. Israeli voters have been making our bed for decades, plumping up the pillows and smoothing out the sheets at every electoral opportunity: now we get to lie in it alongside Lieberman. That speaks volumes about the entire country, not just one politican and his master-plan."
Seth Freedman
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 2 April 2009
" Yesterday's tub-thumping tirade by Israel's new foreign minister and deputy prime minister sent tremors through political circles, both internally and internationally. Politicians and pundits alike scrambled to distance themselves from Avigdor Lieberman's vitriol, implying that his views are utterly at odds with mainstream Israeli thinking, as though he and his ideology simply sprang out of a vacuum....
The Gaza "withdrawal" pulled the wool over the eyes of none but the most ardent members of the "Israel right or wrong" brigade. Annapolis was rendered all but obsolete as soon as Olmert signed the agreement with one hand while concurrently rubberstamping settlement expansion with the other. The treadmill effect – where Israeli leaders act as though they're forever breathlessly running towards peace while never actually moving from the spot to which they're rooted – means that those backing the two-state solution are no nearer to realising their ambitions now than they ever have been.....
The incumbent foreign minister is merely the latest manifestation of a 60-year-old malaise, and to pretend otherwise is to lead observers up the garden path. Israeli voters have been making our bed for decades, plumping up the pillows and smoothing out the sheets at every electoral opportunity: now we get to lie in it alongside Lieberman. That speaks volumes about the entire country, not just one politican and his master-plan."
نتنياهو ورصاصة الرحمة
نتنياهو ورصاصة الرحمة
عبد الباري عطوان
"اطلق بنيامين نتنياهو رئيس وزراء اسرائيل الجديد رصاصة الرحمة على عملية سياسية تحتضر، عندما اعلن امام الكنيست عدم التزامه بحل الدولتين، ولم يتلفظ بكلمة دولة فلسطينية مستقلة، وجاء مهندس دبلوماسيته ليبرمان ليشيّعها الى مثواها الاخير عندما اكد رفضه لمسار انابوليس ولكل ما تمخض عنه من مفاوضات وتفاهمات
.....
ردود الفعل الفلسطينية، وخاصة من قبل السلطة في رام الله، محيرة، ان لم تكن مخجلة، فالدكتور صائب عريقات كبير المفاوضين الفلسطينيين الذي سيجد نفسه عاطلاً عن العمل، وصف مواقف نتنياهو بأنها تعني نهاية العملية السلمية، بينما قال السيد احمد قريع رئيس الوفد المفاوض إن تنكر الحكومة الاسرائيلية الجديدة لمسار انابوليس، ورفض التسوية وحل الدولتين هو 'عودة الى نقطة الصفر، وخطة لتصفية العملية السلمية'.
تصريحات السيد قريع (ابو العلاء) هذه توحي بان العملية السلمية التي يترحم عليها قد تحركت، وحققت تقدماً، وهي في واقع الحال لم تغادر نقطة الصفر على الاطلاق،
.....
توقعنا ان تؤدي تصريحات نتنياهو وليبرمان الاستفزازية هذه الى حرص اكيد على انجاح اللقاء الذي تم بين طرفي المعادلة الفلسطينية، اي حركتي 'فتح' و'حماس' الذي انعقد اخيرا في القاهرة، ولكن ما حدث هو العكس تماما، حيث انهار اللقاء،
....
فإذا كانت الحكومة الاسرائيلية اعلنت عدم التزامها بهذه الاتفاقات علنا، فهل من المنطقي اجبار 'حماس' على القبول بها، وفي مثل هذا التوقيت بالذات؟
.....
لا نريد ان نبدو منفعلين، ونكرر مطالبنا السابقة بحل السلطة فورا،
....
حكومة نتنياهو اليمينية المتطرفة يجب ان لا تخيفنا، لا بل انها تعطينا القوة والذريعة للتنصل من عملية سلمية خدمت اسرائيل، وحسِّنت صورتها، وكسرت عزلتها عربيا ودوليا، بينما لم تحقق للشعب الفلسطيني غير الهوان والاذلال والحصارات التجويعية.
الشعب الفلسطيني الذي قاوم حربا شرسة لثلاثة اسابيع تعرض خلالها للقصف الوحشي من كل الاتجاهات، برا وبحرا وجوا، ودون اي مساعدة من احد، بل تواطؤ بعض الاشقاء مع العدوان، هذا الشعب يستطيع بمقاومته وصموده ان يواجه حكومة نتنياهو ويهزمها، ويعمق من مأزق الدولة العبرية السياسي والاخلاقي، مثلما فعل اثناء حكم 'كاديما'، وكل ما يحتاجه هو قيادة ترتقي الى مستوى تضحياته، وشهدائه.
من تابع القمة العربية الاخيرة في الدوحة يخرج بانطباع ان الوفد الفلسطيني كان اقل الوفود حركة وتأثيرا ويعيش حالة من الانكسار وكلمته الاضعف، رغم انه من المفترض ان يكون الرقم الصعب ونجم هذه القمة بسبب قضيته ومكانتها العربية والعالمية، لدرجة انني تمنيت لو ان هوغو تشافيز رئيس الوفد، وليس الرئيس محمود عباس، لما اتسمت به كلمته من شجاعة وقوة وتحديا لاسرائيل وجرائمها، ولكن التمنيات شيء والواقع شيء آخر."
عبد الباري عطوان
"اطلق بنيامين نتنياهو رئيس وزراء اسرائيل الجديد رصاصة الرحمة على عملية سياسية تحتضر، عندما اعلن امام الكنيست عدم التزامه بحل الدولتين، ولم يتلفظ بكلمة دولة فلسطينية مستقلة، وجاء مهندس دبلوماسيته ليبرمان ليشيّعها الى مثواها الاخير عندما اكد رفضه لمسار انابوليس ولكل ما تمخض عنه من مفاوضات وتفاهمات
.....
ردود الفعل الفلسطينية، وخاصة من قبل السلطة في رام الله، محيرة، ان لم تكن مخجلة، فالدكتور صائب عريقات كبير المفاوضين الفلسطينيين الذي سيجد نفسه عاطلاً عن العمل، وصف مواقف نتنياهو بأنها تعني نهاية العملية السلمية، بينما قال السيد احمد قريع رئيس الوفد المفاوض إن تنكر الحكومة الاسرائيلية الجديدة لمسار انابوليس، ورفض التسوية وحل الدولتين هو 'عودة الى نقطة الصفر، وخطة لتصفية العملية السلمية'.
تصريحات السيد قريع (ابو العلاء) هذه توحي بان العملية السلمية التي يترحم عليها قد تحركت، وحققت تقدماً، وهي في واقع الحال لم تغادر نقطة الصفر على الاطلاق،
.....
توقعنا ان تؤدي تصريحات نتنياهو وليبرمان الاستفزازية هذه الى حرص اكيد على انجاح اللقاء الذي تم بين طرفي المعادلة الفلسطينية، اي حركتي 'فتح' و'حماس' الذي انعقد اخيرا في القاهرة، ولكن ما حدث هو العكس تماما، حيث انهار اللقاء،
....
فإذا كانت الحكومة الاسرائيلية اعلنت عدم التزامها بهذه الاتفاقات علنا، فهل من المنطقي اجبار 'حماس' على القبول بها، وفي مثل هذا التوقيت بالذات؟
.....
لا نريد ان نبدو منفعلين، ونكرر مطالبنا السابقة بحل السلطة فورا،
....
حكومة نتنياهو اليمينية المتطرفة يجب ان لا تخيفنا، لا بل انها تعطينا القوة والذريعة للتنصل من عملية سلمية خدمت اسرائيل، وحسِّنت صورتها، وكسرت عزلتها عربيا ودوليا، بينما لم تحقق للشعب الفلسطيني غير الهوان والاذلال والحصارات التجويعية.
الشعب الفلسطيني الذي قاوم حربا شرسة لثلاثة اسابيع تعرض خلالها للقصف الوحشي من كل الاتجاهات، برا وبحرا وجوا، ودون اي مساعدة من احد، بل تواطؤ بعض الاشقاء مع العدوان، هذا الشعب يستطيع بمقاومته وصموده ان يواجه حكومة نتنياهو ويهزمها، ويعمق من مأزق الدولة العبرية السياسي والاخلاقي، مثلما فعل اثناء حكم 'كاديما'، وكل ما يحتاجه هو قيادة ترتقي الى مستوى تضحياته، وشهدائه.
من تابع القمة العربية الاخيرة في الدوحة يخرج بانطباع ان الوفد الفلسطيني كان اقل الوفود حركة وتأثيرا ويعيش حالة من الانكسار وكلمته الاضعف، رغم انه من المفترض ان يكون الرقم الصعب ونجم هذه القمة بسبب قضيته ومكانتها العربية والعالمية، لدرجة انني تمنيت لو ان هوغو تشافيز رئيس الوفد، وليس الرئيس محمود عباس، لما اتسمت به كلمته من شجاعة وقوة وتحديا لاسرائيل وجرائمها، ولكن التمنيات شيء والواقع شيء آخر."
This Soap Opera is Not Even Interesting. I Don't Know Why I Am Posting This.
Mashaal: Reconciliation Talks Deadlocked over Israel
Al-Manar
"03/04/2009 The reconciliation talks between the Palestinian factions, which were launched this week in Egypt, were abruptly halted on Thursday due to the ongoing differences of opinion between the parties.
Hamas politburo Chief Khaled Mashaal said that the negotiations hit a deadlock due to "foreign conditions" dictated to the negotiating teams that Hamas must recognize Israel......"
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Support the Hope Fleet
The Free Gaza Movement
"The Free Gaza Movement will again challenge Israel's illegal closure of the Gaza Strip by sailing a flotilla of passenger and cargo ships to Gaza in late May 2009. Please help support this important initiative. Our aim is to highlight the illegality of Israel’s sea blockade. This maritime siege is an act of collective punishment adding to the misery suffered by all inhabitants of the Gaza Strip.
Since August 2008, our small, yet committed group has completed five successful voyages, delivering human rights workers & humanitarian supplies to those in desperate need. Each voyage helps lessen Gaza's terrible isolation from the world.
When our governments fail to act, we - the citizens of the world - must stand up and make our voices heard.
At the end of May 2009, we are inviting all those who believe in the International Declaration of Human Rights to sail with us from Cyprus to Gaza. You will need to supply the ship, but we can help you to find an excellent crew. Our international flotilla will be called THE HOPE FLEET.
We need as many ships as possible to show the people of Palestine that the world is not deaf to their cries for justice. Please help fund a ship for this historic voyage.
If you are interested in joining or supporting this action, please email Iristulip(at)gmail.com. We are already collecting names and information as we prepare for this historic journey. With your help, we will make the HOPE FLEET a reality."
"The Free Gaza Movement will again challenge Israel's illegal closure of the Gaza Strip by sailing a flotilla of passenger and cargo ships to Gaza in late May 2009. Please help support this important initiative. Our aim is to highlight the illegality of Israel’s sea blockade. This maritime siege is an act of collective punishment adding to the misery suffered by all inhabitants of the Gaza Strip.
Since August 2008, our small, yet committed group has completed five successful voyages, delivering human rights workers & humanitarian supplies to those in desperate need. Each voyage helps lessen Gaza's terrible isolation from the world.
When our governments fail to act, we - the citizens of the world - must stand up and make our voices heard.
At the end of May 2009, we are inviting all those who believe in the International Declaration of Human Rights to sail with us from Cyprus to Gaza. You will need to supply the ship, but we can help you to find an excellent crew. Our international flotilla will be called THE HOPE FLEET.
We need as many ships as possible to show the people of Palestine that the world is not deaf to their cries for justice. Please help fund a ship for this historic voyage.
If you are interested in joining or supporting this action, please email Iristulip(at)gmail.com. We are already collecting names and information as we prepare for this historic journey. With your help, we will make the HOPE FLEET a reality."
Al-Maliki Draws U.S. Troops into Crackdown on Sunnis
By Gareth Porter
"WASHINGTON, Apr 1 (IPS) - When U.S. troops and Apache helicopters joined Iraqi forces in putting down an uprising by Sunni "Sons of Iraq" militiamen in central Baghdad last weekend, it was a preview of the kind of combat the U.S. military is likely to see increasingly over the next three years unless a policy decision is made in Washington to avoid it.
Although the arrest of a Sunni Awakening Council leader and seven of his deputies that triggered the uprising was spun both by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and by the U.S. command as an anti-terrorism issue rather than sectarian repression, it was in fact part of the long-term struggle for power between the Shi’a-dominated government of Iraq and Sunnis who have been disenfranchised......"
"WASHINGTON, Apr 1 (IPS) - When U.S. troops and Apache helicopters joined Iraqi forces in putting down an uprising by Sunni "Sons of Iraq" militiamen in central Baghdad last weekend, it was a preview of the kind of combat the U.S. military is likely to see increasingly over the next three years unless a policy decision is made in Washington to avoid it.
Although the arrest of a Sunni Awakening Council leader and seven of his deputies that triggered the uprising was spun both by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and by the U.S. command as an anti-terrorism issue rather than sectarian repression, it was in fact part of the long-term struggle for power between the Shi’a-dominated government of Iraq and Sunnis who have been disenfranchised......"
An Interview With Charles Freeman
by Jim Lobe, April 02, 2009
"....One of the most highly regarded and experienced diplomats of his generation, Freeman, now 66, was strongly supported not only by Blair, but also by many retired senior intelligence and foreign service officers, including former U.N. Amb. Thomas Pickering and Samuel Lewis, both of whom had themselves served at one time as ambassadors to Israel.
They, along with 15 other top-ranking retired diplomats, praised Freeman as a "man of integrity and high intelligence who would never let his personal views shade or distort intelligence estimates."
In an exclusive interview, which is excerpted below, IPS Washington bureau chief Jim Lobe asked Freeman about his ambitions as chairman of the NIC......"
"....One of the most highly regarded and experienced diplomats of his generation, Freeman, now 66, was strongly supported not only by Blair, but also by many retired senior intelligence and foreign service officers, including former U.N. Amb. Thomas Pickering and Samuel Lewis, both of whom had themselves served at one time as ambassadors to Israel.
They, along with 15 other top-ranking retired diplomats, praised Freeman as a "man of integrity and high intelligence who would never let his personal views shade or distort intelligence estimates."
In an exclusive interview, which is excerpted below, IPS Washington bureau chief Jim Lobe asked Freeman about his ambitions as chairman of the NIC......"
Fake Faith and Epic Crimes
By John Pilger
"These are extraordinary times. With the United States and Britain on the verge of bankruptcy and committing to an endless colonial war, pressure is building for their crimes to be prosecuted at a tribunal similar to that which tried the Nazis at Nuremberg. This defined rapacious invasion as "the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole." International law would be mere farce, said the chief US chief prosecutor at Nuremberg, Supreme Court justice Robert Jackson, "if, in future, we do not apply its principles to ourselves."
That is now happening. Spain, Germany, Belgium, France and Britain have long had "universal jurisdiction" statutes, which allow their national courts to pursue and prosecute prima facie war criminals. What has changed is an unspoken rule never to use international law against "ourselves," or "our" allies or clients......"
"These are extraordinary times. With the United States and Britain on the verge of bankruptcy and committing to an endless colonial war, pressure is building for their crimes to be prosecuted at a tribunal similar to that which tried the Nazis at Nuremberg. This defined rapacious invasion as "the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole." International law would be mere farce, said the chief US chief prosecutor at Nuremberg, Supreme Court justice Robert Jackson, "if, in future, we do not apply its principles to ourselves."
That is now happening. Spain, Germany, Belgium, France and Britain have long had "universal jurisdiction" statutes, which allow their national courts to pursue and prosecute prima facie war criminals. What has changed is an unspoken rule never to use international law against "ourselves," or "our" allies or clients......"
Leading article: France and Germany dare to challenge the US-British way
G20: The European dimension
The Independent
".....But the last minute, and very public, démarche from the leaders of Europe's two biggest economies also casts the whole project for global economic management in a different light. The combination of a new and untried President in the White House, a rising China, a friendlier Russia and a more vocal Franco-German alliance marks a signal change. Yesterday, the United States and Britain seemed suddenly a little smaller, China a little bigger, and Continental Europe a force to be reckoned with......."
The Independent
".....But the last minute, and very public, démarche from the leaders of Europe's two biggest economies also casts the whole project for global economic management in a different light. The combination of a new and untried President in the White House, a rising China, a friendlier Russia and a more vocal Franco-German alliance marks a signal change. Yesterday, the United States and Britain seemed suddenly a little smaller, China a little bigger, and Continental Europe a force to be reckoned with......."
Our leaders still aren't facing up to the scale of the crisis
It's hardly surprising that some want to trash the City, but to claim that the G20 protesters have no alternative is nonsense
Seumas Milne
The Guardian, Thursday 2 April 2009
"When mass protests exploded on the streets of Seattle in 1999 against the kind of globalisation embodied in the World Trade Organisation, their anti-capitalist message was widely portrayed as utopian. A decade on, as anti-capitalist demonstrators vented their fury yesterday on the social and ecological vandals of the City and prepared to do battle today outside the G20 meeting in the heart of what was once London's docks, it looks more like common sense.
The wreckage of the neoliberal order - which reached its zenith in the wake of Seattle and has generated the greatest global economic crisis since the 1930s - is now all around us. World trade is in free fall and, by some measures, collapsing faster than at the time of the Great Depression........"
Seumas Milne
The Guardian, Thursday 2 April 2009
"When mass protests exploded on the streets of Seattle in 1999 against the kind of globalisation embodied in the World Trade Organisation, their anti-capitalist message was widely portrayed as utopian. A decade on, as anti-capitalist demonstrators vented their fury yesterday on the social and ecological vandals of the City and prepared to do battle today outside the G20 meeting in the heart of what was once London's docks, it looks more like common sense.
The wreckage of the neoliberal order - which reached its zenith in the wake of Seattle and has generated the greatest global economic crisis since the 1930s - is now all around us. World trade is in free fall and, by some measures, collapsing faster than at the time of the Great Depression........"
Israeli Strike on Iran, A Matter of When?
Al-Manar
"The United States seems certain that Israel will eventually strike Iran although Washington “would be surprised if they (Israel) acted this year.” Top commander of US forces in Middle East David Petraeus told a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Wednesday that the new Israeli government led by Benjamin Netanyahu may ultimately see itself so threatened by the prospect of an Iranian nuclear weapon that it would take preemptive military.....
An article in The Atlantic magazine indicated that Netanyahu was prepared to act unilaterally to prevent Iran from going nuclear. The introduction to the piece, written by Jeffrey Goldberg, reported that Netanyahu has given US President Barack Obama a challenge to stop the Islamic republic from developing nuclear weapons, “or else watch Israel do so.”
The quotes from Netanyahu, however, seemed more opaque and supportive of American attempts to use diplomacy and sanctions on Iran, but wouldn’t provide a timeline for American efforts. According to the article, an unnamed adviser said Israeli timelines were calculated in months, "not years," and estimated that Iran's defenses could be overcome - potentially without a green light from America. Goldberg quoted an adviser as saying, "The problem is not military capability, the problem is whether you have the stomach, the political will, to take action."........"
"The United States seems certain that Israel will eventually strike Iran although Washington “would be surprised if they (Israel) acted this year.” Top commander of US forces in Middle East David Petraeus told a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Wednesday that the new Israeli government led by Benjamin Netanyahu may ultimately see itself so threatened by the prospect of an Iranian nuclear weapon that it would take preemptive military.....
An article in The Atlantic magazine indicated that Netanyahu was prepared to act unilaterally to prevent Iran from going nuclear. The introduction to the piece, written by Jeffrey Goldberg, reported that Netanyahu has given US President Barack Obama a challenge to stop the Islamic republic from developing nuclear weapons, “or else watch Israel do so.”
The quotes from Netanyahu, however, seemed more opaque and supportive of American attempts to use diplomacy and sanctions on Iran, but wouldn’t provide a timeline for American efforts. According to the article, an unnamed adviser said Israeli timelines were calculated in months, "not years," and estimated that Iran's defenses could be overcome - potentially without a green light from America. Goldberg quoted an adviser as saying, "The problem is not military capability, the problem is whether you have the stomach, the political will, to take action."........"
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
A REPOST: REMEMBERING HOW ABBAS' PA THUGS CRACKED DOWN ON PALESTINIAN OPPOSITION TO ANNAPOLIS
A PHOTO JOURNAL REPOST
Palestinian police officers beat a protester during clashes at a demonstration against the U.S.-sponsored Annapolis peace conference, in the West Bank city of Hebron, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2007. Palestinian police loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday violently dispersed a demonstration against the Annapolis peace conference, killing one protester, medical officials said. (AP Photo)
Palestinian police officers march through the center of the West Bank city of Ramallah, to prevent demonstrations against the U.S.-sponsored Annapolis Mideast peace summit, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2007. (AP Photo)
Lest We Forget The Recent Past. This PP Post is Dated November 27, 2007, the Day the Annapolis "Peace" Conference Was Held, With All the Attendant Fanfare.
Click Here to See Posted Photos of How The Thug Abbas and His "Security" Forces Crushed Palestinian Opposition to the Annapolis Conference.
And This Is What All Those Arab Clowns Who Attended the Annapolis Conference (Including a Syrian Delegation), Together With The Traitor Abbas, Get Now:
Israeli FM dismisses Annapolis deal
"Israel's new foreign minister has said that the government is not bound by the agreement reached at the Annapolis conference in the US in 2007, which provides for a Palestinian state.
Avigdor Lieberman, leader of the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party, made the remarks at a handover ceremony at the foreign ministry on Wednesday, the day after a new broad coalition government was sworn in.
"There is one document that obligates us - and that's not the Annapolis conference, it has no validity," he said.
"The Israeli government never ratified Annapolis, nor did parliament."......."
Palestinian police officers beat a protester during clashes at a demonstration against the U.S.-sponsored Annapolis peace conference, in the West Bank city of Hebron, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2007. Palestinian police loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday violently dispersed a demonstration against the Annapolis peace conference, killing one protester, medical officials said. (AP Photo)
Palestinian police officers march through the center of the West Bank city of Ramallah, to prevent demonstrations against the U.S.-sponsored Annapolis Mideast peace summit, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2007. (AP Photo)
Lest We Forget The Recent Past. This PP Post is Dated November 27, 2007, the Day the Annapolis "Peace" Conference Was Held, With All the Attendant Fanfare.
Click Here to See Posted Photos of How The Thug Abbas and His "Security" Forces Crushed Palestinian Opposition to the Annapolis Conference.
And This Is What All Those Arab Clowns Who Attended the Annapolis Conference (Including a Syrian Delegation), Together With The Traitor Abbas, Get Now:
Israeli FM dismisses Annapolis deal
"Israel's new foreign minister has said that the government is not bound by the agreement reached at the Annapolis conference in the US in 2007, which provides for a Palestinian state.
Avigdor Lieberman, leader of the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party, made the remarks at a handover ceremony at the foreign ministry on Wednesday, the day after a new broad coalition government was sworn in.
"There is one document that obligates us - and that's not the Annapolis conference, it has no validity," he said.
"The Israeli government never ratified Annapolis, nor did parliament."......."
The secrets of Obama's surge
By Pepe Escobar
Asia Times
"President Barack Obama is selling the US's military surge in Afghanistan and Pakistan as nation-building based on trust. A hard sell if there ever was one - as Washington cannot trust the Pakistani government or security forces, while the Pakistanis don't trust Washington. Can nation-building be done by Predator drones? Will this become Obama's Vietnam? Whatever it is, it's not about "terrorists". Not really..... Follow the money. Follow the energy. Follow the map."
Asia Times
"President Barack Obama is selling the US's military surge in Afghanistan and Pakistan as nation-building based on trust. A hard sell if there ever was one - as Washington cannot trust the Pakistani government or security forces, while the Pakistanis don't trust Washington. Can nation-building be done by Predator drones? Will this become Obama's Vietnam? Whatever it is, it's not about "terrorists". Not really..... Follow the money. Follow the energy. Follow the map."
Changing the rules of war
By George Bisharat
(George Bisharat is a professor of law at Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco, and writes frequently on law and politics in the Middle East.)
San Francisco Chronicle
"The extent of Israel's brutality against Palestinian civilians in its 22-day pounding of the Gaza Strip is gradually surfacing. Israeli soldiers are testifying to lax rules of engagement tantamount to a license to kill. One soldier commented: "That's what is so nice, supposedly, about Gaza: You see a person on a road, walking along a path. He doesn't have to be with a weapon, you don't have to identify him with anything and you can just shoot him."
What is less appreciated is how Israel is also brutalizing international law, in ways that may long outlast the demolition of Gaza....."
(George Bisharat is a professor of law at Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco, and writes frequently on law and politics in the Middle East.)
San Francisco Chronicle
"The extent of Israel's brutality against Palestinian civilians in its 22-day pounding of the Gaza Strip is gradually surfacing. Israeli soldiers are testifying to lax rules of engagement tantamount to a license to kill. One soldier commented: "That's what is so nice, supposedly, about Gaza: You see a person on a road, walking along a path. He doesn't have to be with a weapon, you don't have to identify him with anything and you can just shoot him."
What is less appreciated is how Israel is also brutalizing international law, in ways that may long outlast the demolition of Gaza....."
The Slow Demise of Ehud Olmert
A Politician Remembered for Little But Scandal
By JONATHAN COOK
CounterPunch
Nazareth.
"......Palestinians, he predicted, would realise that they could destroy Israel not through armed resistance but by waging a “powerful struggle” for “one-man, one-vote”.
This assessment provided the rationale for Sharon’s disengagement from Gaza in Aug 2005, which required a small territorial sacrifice in return for Israel’s being able to claim it had divested itself of responsibility for nearly one-third of the Palestinians under its rule. Importantly, the move postponed the apartheid analogy......"
By JONATHAN COOK
CounterPunch
Nazareth.
"......Palestinians, he predicted, would realise that they could destroy Israel not through armed resistance but by waging a “powerful struggle” for “one-man, one-vote”.
This assessment provided the rationale for Sharon’s disengagement from Gaza in Aug 2005, which required a small territorial sacrifice in return for Israel’s being able to claim it had divested itself of responsibility for nearly one-third of the Palestinians under its rule. Importantly, the move postponed the apartheid analogy......"
Canadian Judge Upholds Government Decision to Bar British MP George Galloway on National Security Grounds
Democracy Now!
With Amy Goodman
"A Canadian judge has upheld the Canadian government’s decision last month to ban the outspoken British lawmaker George Galloway from entering the country for a speaking tour. The Respect party leader led a humanitarian aid convoy of over a 100 vehicles to Gaza earlier last month. Dubbed “Viva Palestina” the convoy brought in clothes, food, toys, and medicines.
Canadian officials say they banned Galloway on national security grounds, saying he provided financial support to Hamas, the Palestinian political party which was elected in January 2006 and controls the Gaza Strip. Canada, like the United States, the European Union, and Israel consider Hamas to be a terrorist group.
Canadian immigration minister Jason Kenney has said those who support, promote and help terrorist organizations should not visit the country.
George Galloway addressed his Canadian supporters and detractors through video link from New York Monday night and joins me now here in the firehouse studio......."
With Amy Goodman
"A Canadian judge has upheld the Canadian government’s decision last month to ban the outspoken British lawmaker George Galloway from entering the country for a speaking tour. The Respect party leader led a humanitarian aid convoy of over a 100 vehicles to Gaza earlier last month. Dubbed “Viva Palestina” the convoy brought in clothes, food, toys, and medicines.
Canadian officials say they banned Galloway on national security grounds, saying he provided financial support to Hamas, the Palestinian political party which was elected in January 2006 and controls the Gaza Strip. Canada, like the United States, the European Union, and Israel consider Hamas to be a terrorist group.
Canadian immigration minister Jason Kenney has said those who support, promote and help terrorist organizations should not visit the country.
George Galloway addressed his Canadian supporters and detractors through video link from New York Monday night and joins me now here in the firehouse studio......."
Real News Video with Pepe Escobar: The secrets of Obama's surge
The President is not exactly telling all that’s going on in AfPak
"President Obama's highly anticipated new strategy for what the Pentagon now calls AfPak - Afghanistan and Pakistan - is full of grey areas. Most extra troops will be deployed to poppy-growing areas, not to fight al-Qaeda, the President's stated number one objective. The President talks about building trust - but as the US cannot trust the Pakistani ISI, the Pakistani people don't trust the US or even their own government. Pepe Escobar argues there are many more strategic issues at play than meets the eye - and the President and his team's spin."
"President Obama's highly anticipated new strategy for what the Pentagon now calls AfPak - Afghanistan and Pakistan - is full of grey areas. Most extra troops will be deployed to poppy-growing areas, not to fight al-Qaeda, the President's stated number one objective. The President talks about building trust - but as the US cannot trust the Pakistani ISI, the Pakistani people don't trust the US or even their own government. Pepe Escobar argues there are many more strategic issues at play than meets the eye - and the President and his team's spin."
Let the world see Israel's true, ugly face
By Khalid Amayreh
Palestine Think Tank
"There is no doubt that the new Israeli government, led by Benyamin Netanyahu, honestly reflects the collective mindset of the Israeli Jewish Zionist society. True, there are Israelis who are averse to racism and fascism, but these are unfortunately very few in numbers and their influence is almost negligible......"
Palestine Think Tank
"There is no doubt that the new Israeli government, led by Benyamin Netanyahu, honestly reflects the collective mindset of the Israeli Jewish Zionist society. True, there are Israelis who are averse to racism and fascism, but these are unfortunately very few in numbers and their influence is almost negligible......"
Procuring Academics for Empire: The Pentagon Minerva Research Initiative
The Pentagon’s military strategists have recognized that they have suffered political losses, with strategic consequences in their recent military invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.
By James Petras
"......We can expect the Obama regime, with its ‘missiles for peace’ rhetoric and populist images, will provide a cover for Pentagon recruitment of liberal academics to “work for change from within.” Unmasking the role of the Pentagon’s Minerva Research Initiative as an integral part of Obama’s military escalation is a challenge to all academics who are opposed to empire building and who support the reconstruction of an American republic supportive of international rights of self-determination. "
By James Petras
"......We can expect the Obama regime, with its ‘missiles for peace’ rhetoric and populist images, will provide a cover for Pentagon recruitment of liberal academics to “work for change from within.” Unmasking the role of the Pentagon’s Minerva Research Initiative as an integral part of Obama’s military escalation is a challenge to all academics who are opposed to empire building and who support the reconstruction of an American republic supportive of international rights of self-determination. "
Israel's Illegal Annexation of East Jerusalem
by Stephen Lendman
Global Research, April 1, 2009
"So says a confidential EU report revealed on March 7 by The London Guardian's Rory McCarthy. It accuses Israel "of using settlement expansion, house demolitions, discriminatory housing policies and the West Bank (Separation) barrier as a way of 'actively pursuing the illegal annexation' of East Jerusalem." More still, including restrictive permits, "closure of Palestinian institutions," and various other ways to "increase Jewish presence in" the city, "impede Palestinian urban development, and separate East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank" incrementally to annex it.
It says plans are now accelerated and have undermined the Palestinian Authority's (PA) credibility as well as weakened support for peace.....
That's where things stand today under new leadership in Tel Aviv, Washington, and a complicit West Bank coup d'etat Palestinian government serving Israel as its enforcer and in the process betraying its own people.
When will it end? When people everywhere say enough is enough and join the Global BDS (boycott, divestment, and sanctions) Movement to punish Israel until it complies with international law, recognizes Palestinian self-determination, ends its illegal occupation, disbands its settlements, demolishes the Separation Wall, grants Israeli Arabs equal rights as Jews, recognizes the right of return, and gives Palestinians their legal claim to Jerusalem for their capital. Global grassroots movements are determined to make it happen."
Global Research, April 1, 2009
"So says a confidential EU report revealed on March 7 by The London Guardian's Rory McCarthy. It accuses Israel "of using settlement expansion, house demolitions, discriminatory housing policies and the West Bank (Separation) barrier as a way of 'actively pursuing the illegal annexation' of East Jerusalem." More still, including restrictive permits, "closure of Palestinian institutions," and various other ways to "increase Jewish presence in" the city, "impede Palestinian urban development, and separate East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank" incrementally to annex it.
It says plans are now accelerated and have undermined the Palestinian Authority's (PA) credibility as well as weakened support for peace.....
That's where things stand today under new leadership in Tel Aviv, Washington, and a complicit West Bank coup d'etat Palestinian government serving Israel as its enforcer and in the process betraying its own people.
When will it end? When people everywhere say enough is enough and join the Global BDS (boycott, divestment, and sanctions) Movement to punish Israel until it complies with international law, recognizes Palestinian self-determination, ends its illegal occupation, disbands its settlements, demolishes the Separation Wall, grants Israeli Arabs equal rights as Jews, recognizes the right of return, and gives Palestinians their legal claim to Jerusalem for their capital. Global grassroots movements are determined to make it happen."
Israel may have deliberately attacked sewage infrastructure
Marian Houk, The Electronic Intifada, 31 March 2009
(Marian Houk is a journalist currently working in Jerusalem with experience at the United Nations and in the region.)
"During Israel's invasion of Gaza, it was predicted that the heavy bombing and shelling across the territory could breach the earthen walls of the sewage collection ponds there and cause a large, potentially catastrophic, sewage overflow. These fears arose from recent experience. In March 2007, six people drowned in a sudden flood of wastewater when the earthen retaining walls at a sewage lagoon, weakened by neglect and heavy rains, collapsed in the northern Gaza hamlet of Umm Nasr, near Beit Lahiya.
During the Israeli attack in January, there was a breach in one of the earthen embankment walls of a sewage containment lagoon in Gaza due to some form of Israeli military activity resulting in a large sewage flood.
Although the incident was only reported recently, it was evident from a United Nations analysis of QuickBird satellite images taken from space on 16 January, and confirmed by photos taken by a UN Environmental Program team on the ground in Gaza on 30 January, was an outflow from a sewage lagoon in Sheikh Ejleen, next to the main wastewater treatment plant in Gaza City.
While there was no loss of life this time, there was likely long-term environmental damage, including to Gaza's already polluted water aquifer -- the only source of water for the coastal strip -- with dangerous consequences for human health.........."
(Marian Houk is a journalist currently working in Jerusalem with experience at the United Nations and in the region.)
"During Israel's invasion of Gaza, it was predicted that the heavy bombing and shelling across the territory could breach the earthen walls of the sewage collection ponds there and cause a large, potentially catastrophic, sewage overflow. These fears arose from recent experience. In March 2007, six people drowned in a sudden flood of wastewater when the earthen retaining walls at a sewage lagoon, weakened by neglect and heavy rains, collapsed in the northern Gaza hamlet of Umm Nasr, near Beit Lahiya.
During the Israeli attack in January, there was a breach in one of the earthen embankment walls of a sewage containment lagoon in Gaza due to some form of Israeli military activity resulting in a large sewage flood.
Although the incident was only reported recently, it was evident from a United Nations analysis of QuickBird satellite images taken from space on 16 January, and confirmed by photos taken by a UN Environmental Program team on the ground in Gaza on 30 January, was an outflow from a sewage lagoon in Sheikh Ejleen, next to the main wastewater treatment plant in Gaza City.
While there was no loss of life this time, there was likely long-term environmental damage, including to Gaza's already polluted water aquifer -- the only source of water for the coastal strip -- with dangerous consequences for human health.........."
Egypt severs Gaza food arteries
Press TV
"Egypt has again tightened the noose around Gaza with its destruction of six tunnels -- considered the food artery into the besieged ghetto.
The six tunnels along the Egyptian border with the Gaza Strip contained piping, toys, spare auto parts as well as clothes and other products destined for the Palestinian territory, Egypt's official MENA news agency revealed.
The attacks on the tunnels is the latest move by Cairo -- an accomplice in the imposition of a 20-month Israeli-imposed blockade on Gaza -- to stop the delivery of food and supplies into the territory.
In mid March, Egypt seized a flock of 560 sheep from entering the Palestinian ghetto and auctioned them off to the highest bidder.
Israel imposed a blockade on Gaza in 2007 after the democratically-elected Palestinian government Hamas took control of the territory. The blockade has been in place ever since. The siege prevents necessary humanitarian aid and assistance from reaching the 1.5 million people inside the strip -- only about twice the size of Washington DC.
To add to the humanitarian catastrophe in the territory, Israel unleashed a three-week war on the sliver on December 27. Three weeks of ensuing airstrikes and a ground incursion inflicted more than $1.6 billion in damages on the Gazan economy. The carnage also killed around 1,350 Palestinians and injured nearly 5,450 people -- mostly civilians........
In line with its efforts in support of Israel, the Egyptian government has installed surveillance cameras along its border with Gaza -- an initiative that has won strong praise in Tel Aviv. The cameras help Cairo in pinpointing tunnel entries, allowing them to be targeted by Egyptian forces and Israeli aircraft. "
"Egypt has again tightened the noose around Gaza with its destruction of six tunnels -- considered the food artery into the besieged ghetto.
The six tunnels along the Egyptian border with the Gaza Strip contained piping, toys, spare auto parts as well as clothes and other products destined for the Palestinian territory, Egypt's official MENA news agency revealed.
The attacks on the tunnels is the latest move by Cairo -- an accomplice in the imposition of a 20-month Israeli-imposed blockade on Gaza -- to stop the delivery of food and supplies into the territory.
In mid March, Egypt seized a flock of 560 sheep from entering the Palestinian ghetto and auctioned them off to the highest bidder.
Israel imposed a blockade on Gaza in 2007 after the democratically-elected Palestinian government Hamas took control of the territory. The blockade has been in place ever since. The siege prevents necessary humanitarian aid and assistance from reaching the 1.5 million people inside the strip -- only about twice the size of Washington DC.
To add to the humanitarian catastrophe in the territory, Israel unleashed a three-week war on the sliver on December 27. Three weeks of ensuing airstrikes and a ground incursion inflicted more than $1.6 billion in damages on the Gazan economy. The carnage also killed around 1,350 Palestinians and injured nearly 5,450 people -- mostly civilians........
In line with its efforts in support of Israel, the Egyptian government has installed surveillance cameras along its border with Gaza -- an initiative that has won strong praise in Tel Aviv. The cameras help Cairo in pinpointing tunnel entries, allowing them to be targeted by Egyptian forces and Israeli aircraft. "
Has Washington lost Lebanon? (Part I)
By Franklin Lamb – Beirut
Palestine Chronicle
Part I: US Sinking: Serious Performance and Credibility Issues
"Henry Kissinger, among others in the US foreign policy establishment, is reportedly aghast at how quickly and thoroughly the Bush administration botched US Middle East policy and handed much of the Near East and South Asia to Iran. Not just Iraq, Afghanistan, (plus the Af-Pak region) some of the countries bordering the Arab Gulf (increasingly referred to as the Persian Gulf) but the low hanging fruit of Palestine, ripe for picking.
As Iran rapidly expands its influence to South America, Asia and Africa, many observers in Lebanon think that their country may be next. Frankly, it is beginning to look that way........
Browbeating, threats, puffed promises, lack of respect, consistently advancing an Israeli agenda has tuned off many Lebanese from American overtures.
Increasingly people in Lebanon are wondering if Iran would make a better long term ally."
Palestine Chronicle
Part I: US Sinking: Serious Performance and Credibility Issues
"Henry Kissinger, among others in the US foreign policy establishment, is reportedly aghast at how quickly and thoroughly the Bush administration botched US Middle East policy and handed much of the Near East and South Asia to Iran. Not just Iraq, Afghanistan, (plus the Af-Pak region) some of the countries bordering the Arab Gulf (increasingly referred to as the Persian Gulf) but the low hanging fruit of Palestine, ripe for picking.
As Iran rapidly expands its influence to South America, Asia and Africa, many observers in Lebanon think that their country may be next. Frankly, it is beginning to look that way........
Browbeating, threats, puffed promises, lack of respect, consistently advancing an Israeli agenda has tuned off many Lebanese from American overtures.
Increasingly people in Lebanon are wondering if Iran would make a better long term ally."
Neoconservatism: The Return
A new incarnation, a new name – and the same old warmongering
By Justin Raimondo
"It was a neocon moment: there they were, the organizers of the Foreign Policy Initiative, the new neoconservative think-tank – Bill Kristol, Dan Senor, and Robert Kagan, with Clifford May, Randy Scheunemann, and junior neocon James Kirchick in tow. It was the occasion of FPI’s first public event – their Washington coming out party, so to speak – and who should show up but I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby. A more fitting symbol of the neoconservative tendency in American politics – its history, its methods, and its essential criminality – could hardly be conceived.......
As the neocons hail Obama, their new conquering hero, the irony of all this underscores the difficulties of instituting real change in our foreign policy. The same old faces turn up no matter which party is in power, and the same old ideas – shopworn "internationalist" bromides – dominate a consensus that never questions whether an empire is good for the American people."
By Justin Raimondo
"It was a neocon moment: there they were, the organizers of the Foreign Policy Initiative, the new neoconservative think-tank – Bill Kristol, Dan Senor, and Robert Kagan, with Clifford May, Randy Scheunemann, and junior neocon James Kirchick in tow. It was the occasion of FPI’s first public event – their Washington coming out party, so to speak – and who should show up but I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby. A more fitting symbol of the neoconservative tendency in American politics – its history, its methods, and its essential criminality – could hardly be conceived.......
As the neocons hail Obama, their new conquering hero, the irony of all this underscores the difficulties of instituting real change in our foreign policy. The same old faces turn up no matter which party is in power, and the same old ideas – shopworn "internationalist" bromides – dominate a consensus that never questions whether an empire is good for the American people."
FACTBOX-Israel's Lieberman and controversial comments
Reuters
"......Following is a selection of quotes from Lieberman, head of the Yisrael Beitenu party:
2009 - "No loyalty, no citizenship" -- Lieberman's election slogan calling for legislation to require Israelis, including Arab citizens, to swear loyalty to the Jewish state.
"What we state unequivocally is that we are completely opposed to what has been and still is the guiding principle of Israel's foreign policy: 'land for peace' ... There is either 'peace for peace' or the exchange of territory and populations."
(Referring to his proposal to trade Arab-populated parts of Israel to a Palestinian state in exchange for Israel annexing Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank)
"You have to be generous to your friends and cruel to your enemies. We are simply a society of wimps."
2008 - "Time and time again our leaders go to Egypt to meet (President Hosni) Mubarak and he has never agreed to make an official visit here as president. If he wants to talk to us, he should come here. If he doesn't want to come here, he can go to hell."
2007 - (To an Israeli Arab fellow member of parliament:) "You are an ally in the Knesset of terrorists. I hope that Hamas will take care of you and all the rest once and for all. Don't worry, your day will come."
"If Israel has to deal with the Iranian threat by itself, it can do so."
2006 - Speaking of Israeli Arab legislators who support the Palestinian cause: "The fate of the collaborators in the Knesset will be identical to that of those who collaborated with the Nazis. Collaborators, as well as criminals, were executed after the Nuremberg trials at the end of the World War Two. I hope that will be the fate of collaborators in this house."
2001 - "Mubarak continues to act against us and to travel for consultations with Saddam Hussein. If he carries out his threat and puts forces into the Sinai, it would be an example of a (crossing) of the red line to which we would have to respond strongly, including by bombing the Aswan Dam." "
"......Following is a selection of quotes from Lieberman, head of the Yisrael Beitenu party:
2009 - "No loyalty, no citizenship" -- Lieberman's election slogan calling for legislation to require Israelis, including Arab citizens, to swear loyalty to the Jewish state.
"What we state unequivocally is that we are completely opposed to what has been and still is the guiding principle of Israel's foreign policy: 'land for peace' ... There is either 'peace for peace' or the exchange of territory and populations."
(Referring to his proposal to trade Arab-populated parts of Israel to a Palestinian state in exchange for Israel annexing Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank)
"You have to be generous to your friends and cruel to your enemies. We are simply a society of wimps."
2008 - "Time and time again our leaders go to Egypt to meet (President Hosni) Mubarak and he has never agreed to make an official visit here as president. If he wants to talk to us, he should come here. If he doesn't want to come here, he can go to hell."
2007 - (To an Israeli Arab fellow member of parliament:) "You are an ally in the Knesset of terrorists. I hope that Hamas will take care of you and all the rest once and for all. Don't worry, your day will come."
"If Israel has to deal with the Iranian threat by itself, it can do so."
2006 - Speaking of Israeli Arab legislators who support the Palestinian cause: "The fate of the collaborators in the Knesset will be identical to that of those who collaborated with the Nazis. Collaborators, as well as criminals, were executed after the Nuremberg trials at the end of the World War Two. I hope that will be the fate of collaborators in this house."
2001 - "Mubarak continues to act against us and to travel for consultations with Saddam Hussein. If he carries out his threat and puts forces into the Sinai, it would be an example of a (crossing) of the red line to which we would have to respond strongly, including by bombing the Aswan Dam." "
غزل ايراني امريكي يتطور
غزل ايراني امريكي يتطور
رأي القدس
"بدأت السياسة الامريكية الجديدة تجاه ايران تدخل مرحلة التطبيق العملي، حيث أعلنت السيدة هيلاري كلينتون وزيرة الخارجية عن حدوث لقاء بين مسؤولين امريكيين مع نظرائهم الايرانيين على هامش مؤتمر يعقد حاليا حول افغانستان في مدينة لاهاي الهولندية.
الادارة الامريكية الجديدة باتت تعتمد سياسة الحوار لا المواجهة مع الحكومة الايرانية، وتستخدم المسألة الافغانية كورقة اختبار للنوايا الايرانية، ويبدو ان الايرانيين يرحبون بذلك، ويتجاوبون مع هذا النهج الامريكي بخطى متسارعة.
اختيار افغانستان لم يكن من قبيل الصدفة، فالبلدان تعاونا بشكل وثيق للاطاحة بنظام طالبان الذي لم يكن ودا للنظام الايراني الذي يختلف معه سياسيا ومذهبيا. والوضع الامريكي على الارض يتدهور بصورة متسارعة بعد تصاعد الهجمات ضد قوات الناتو، وتصاعد أعداد القتلى والجرحى في صفوفها نتيجة لذلك.
.....
هناك قضيتان اساسيتان تريد الادارة الامريكية التوصل الى تفاهم مع ايران حولهما، الاولى مكافحة زراعة المخدرات في افغانستان وعمليات تهريبها الى أوروبا والغرب عبر الاراضي الايرانية وغيرها، اما الثانية فتتلخص في الحصول على موافقة ايرانية على مرور امدادات عسكرية وتموينية امريكية الى قوات الناتو المتمركزة في افغانستان عبر الاراضي الايرانية بعد الهجمات الناجحة التي شنتها قوات طالبان على قوافل الامداد الامريكية في بيشاور قرب الحدود الافغانية ـ الباكستانية بحيث جعلت الطريق الرئيسي المستخدم لنقل هذه الامدادات غير آمن.
الحكومة الايرانية مستعدة للتعاون في مكافحة تهريب المخدرات، ولكن من المشكوك فيه ان تفتح اراضيها لمرور قوافل الامداد العسكري والمدني الامريكية الى قوات الناتو في افغانستان دون مقابل سياسي ومادي كبير.
فسماح ايران بمرور هذه الامدادات عبر اراضيها يعني انضمامها عمليا الى التحالف الامريكي الغربي الذي يخوض الحرب ضد طالبان وتنظيم 'القاعدة' في افغانستان،
....."
رأي القدس
"بدأت السياسة الامريكية الجديدة تجاه ايران تدخل مرحلة التطبيق العملي، حيث أعلنت السيدة هيلاري كلينتون وزيرة الخارجية عن حدوث لقاء بين مسؤولين امريكيين مع نظرائهم الايرانيين على هامش مؤتمر يعقد حاليا حول افغانستان في مدينة لاهاي الهولندية.
الادارة الامريكية الجديدة باتت تعتمد سياسة الحوار لا المواجهة مع الحكومة الايرانية، وتستخدم المسألة الافغانية كورقة اختبار للنوايا الايرانية، ويبدو ان الايرانيين يرحبون بذلك، ويتجاوبون مع هذا النهج الامريكي بخطى متسارعة.
اختيار افغانستان لم يكن من قبيل الصدفة، فالبلدان تعاونا بشكل وثيق للاطاحة بنظام طالبان الذي لم يكن ودا للنظام الايراني الذي يختلف معه سياسيا ومذهبيا. والوضع الامريكي على الارض يتدهور بصورة متسارعة بعد تصاعد الهجمات ضد قوات الناتو، وتصاعد أعداد القتلى والجرحى في صفوفها نتيجة لذلك.
.....
هناك قضيتان اساسيتان تريد الادارة الامريكية التوصل الى تفاهم مع ايران حولهما، الاولى مكافحة زراعة المخدرات في افغانستان وعمليات تهريبها الى أوروبا والغرب عبر الاراضي الايرانية وغيرها، اما الثانية فتتلخص في الحصول على موافقة ايرانية على مرور امدادات عسكرية وتموينية امريكية الى قوات الناتو المتمركزة في افغانستان عبر الاراضي الايرانية بعد الهجمات الناجحة التي شنتها قوات طالبان على قوافل الامداد الامريكية في بيشاور قرب الحدود الافغانية ـ الباكستانية بحيث جعلت الطريق الرئيسي المستخدم لنقل هذه الامدادات غير آمن.
الحكومة الايرانية مستعدة للتعاون في مكافحة تهريب المخدرات، ولكن من المشكوك فيه ان تفتح اراضيها لمرور قوافل الامداد العسكري والمدني الامريكية الى قوات الناتو في افغانستان دون مقابل سياسي ومادي كبير.
فسماح ايران بمرور هذه الامدادات عبر اراضيها يعني انضمامها عمليا الى التحالف الامريكي الغربي الذي يخوض الحرب ضد طالبان وتنظيم 'القاعدة' في افغانستان،
....."
Galloway a victim of Canada's baffling approach to fighting terror
By Robert Fisk
""Come out and debate with me like a man," the old bruiser shouted over the video-link to Toronto. "Let's book the biggest hall in Canada and you and I will debate these issues of war and peace and freedom of speech and censorship... If we don't achieve a political settlement (in the Middle East), we're in for war. If there's no justice, there will be no peace for Palestine."
It was, of course, the old scallywag himself, George Galloway, fuming about the Canadian Immigration Minister James Kenney's refusal to allow him to speak in Canada on the grounds that he – Galloway – was involved in "terrorism". The Scottish-born MP was talking from an important centre of "world terror" – New York City......"
""Come out and debate with me like a man," the old bruiser shouted over the video-link to Toronto. "Let's book the biggest hall in Canada and you and I will debate these issues of war and peace and freedom of speech and censorship... If we don't achieve a political settlement (in the Middle East), we're in for war. If there's no justice, there will be no peace for Palestine."
It was, of course, the old scallywag himself, George Galloway, fuming about the Canadian Immigration Minister James Kenney's refusal to allow him to speak in Canada on the grounds that he – Galloway – was involved in "terrorism". The Scottish-born MP was talking from an important centre of "world terror" – New York City......"
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Terrorist organization that planned to bomb Concordia University advised Canadian government to ban MP George Galloway
[Shame on Canada.]
An organization that planned to blow up Concordia University, and that the FBI, the U.S. State Department, and U.S. courts have branded a 'terrorist organization', has given advice to the Harper government that led Immigration Minister Jason Kenney to barring a British MP from Canada.
A Kenney spokesman said Kenney first heard about British MP George Galloway's visit from a Jewish Defense League (JDL) March 16 letter.
The Jewish Defense League, is categorized by the FBI as a "right-wing Jewish terrorist group", founded in 1968 by ultra Zionist Meir Kahane. Kanahe then founded the terrorist group Khach inIsrael Galloway .
Mr. Galloway, labeled a terrorist threat by the Conservative government, is freely touring theU.S. Gaza to Kandahar Afghanistan and uncritical support for Israel
The JDL can now claim further success becauseConcordia University just forbade a planned Galloway live video feed into their auditorium, citing Canada
A Kenney spokesman said Kenney first heard about British MP George Galloway's visit from a Jewish Defense League (JDL) March 16 letter.
The Jewish Defense League, is categorized by the FBI as a "right-wing Jewish terrorist group", founded in 1968 by ultra Zionist Meir Kahane. Kanahe then founded the terrorist group Khach in
Mr. Galloway, labeled a terrorist threat by the Conservative government, is freely touring the
The JDL can now claim further success because
The JDL's well documented history of terrorism
It is impossible that the Harper government is unaware that the JDL's terrorism designation given how earnestlyCanada and the US
The US State Department designated the JDL's Israeli affiliates, Kach, founded by Kahane, and the Kahane Chai, named in honor of Kahane after his murder, as "foreign terrorist organizations" - a decision recently upheld by a US Appeals Court. The Israeli Cabinet declared them terrorist organizations in 1994.
Baruch Goldstein massacred 29 Palestinians praying in a mosque inHebron
The JDL is still active withHebron
It is impossible that the Harper government is unaware that the JDL's terrorism designation given how earnestly
The US State Department designated the JDL's Israeli affiliates, Kach, founded by Kahane, and the Kahane Chai, named in honor of Kahane after his murder, as "foreign terrorist organizations" - a decision recently upheld by a US Appeals Court. The Israeli Cabinet declared them terrorist organizations in 1994.
Baruch Goldstein massacred 29 Palestinians praying in a mosque in
The JDL is still active with
Perhaps the Conservative government is testing whether Canadians still care about their rights, or Canada 's policies in Afghanistan and the Middle East . Canada
Iran offers to help US rebuild Afghanistan
Iranian delegate at Hague conference in major conciliatory move towards Obama administration
Julian Borger in The Hague
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 31 March 2009
"Iran made a significant conciliatory gesture towards the Obama administration today, offering to help US-led efforts to stabilise and rebuild Afghanistan.
At an international conference on Afghanistan at The Hague, in the Netherlands, the Iranian delegate, Mohammad Mehdi Akhundzadeh, responded positively to Barack Obama's new strategy for winning the war against the Taliban......."
Julian Borger in The Hague
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 31 March 2009
"Iran made a significant conciliatory gesture towards the Obama administration today, offering to help US-led efforts to stabilise and rebuild Afghanistan.
At an international conference on Afghanistan at The Hague, in the Netherlands, the Iranian delegate, Mohammad Mehdi Akhundzadeh, responded positively to Barack Obama's new strategy for winning the war against the Taliban......."
VIVA CHAVEZ! Chavez opposes arrest warrant for Bashir
"DOHA, March 31 (Xinhua) – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez here Tuesday voiced objection to the arrest warrant of the International Criminal Court (ICC) for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir for alleged war crimes in Darfur.
Upon his arrival at the Doha International Airport to attend the 2nd Arab-South American Summit scheduled for Tuesday, Chavez told reporters that the ICC should be requested to prosecute former U.S. President George W. Bush and Israeli President Shimon Peres, according to Spanish EFE news Agency.
"Why (the ICC) not order the capture of Bush? Why not order the arrest of the president of Israel?” he was quoted as asking.
Leaders of the 22-member Arab League who held a summit on Monday passed a communiqué on rejecting the ICC’s arrest warrant for Bashir.
Chavez said the ICC “has no power to make a decision against a sitting president, but does so because it is an African country, the third world,” said Chavez, whose country is a signatory to the ICC......"
شافيز يشن هجوما لاذعا على الجنائية الدولية بخصوص البشير
Upon his arrival at the Doha International Airport to attend the 2nd Arab-South American Summit scheduled for Tuesday, Chavez told reporters that the ICC should be requested to prosecute former U.S. President George W. Bush and Israeli President Shimon Peres, according to Spanish EFE news Agency.
"Why (the ICC) not order the capture of Bush? Why not order the arrest of the president of Israel?” he was quoted as asking.
Leaders of the 22-member Arab League who held a summit on Monday passed a communiqué on rejecting the ICC’s arrest warrant for Bashir.
Chavez said the ICC “has no power to make a decision against a sitting president, but does so because it is an African country, the third world,” said Chavez, whose country is a signatory to the ICC......"
شافيز يشن هجوما لاذعا على الجنائية الدولية بخصوص البشير
Seymour Hersh on “Syria Calling: The Obama Administration’s Chance to Engage in a Middle East Peace”
Democracy Now!
With Amy Goodman
"In the latest issue of The New Yorker, investigative journalist Seymour Hersh looks at Syria’s emerging role in the politics of Middle East peace. He also reveals new details on the behind-the-scenes dealings of the Bush administration and the then-incoming Obama camp during the Israeli attack on Gaza. The article is called “Syria Calling: The Obama Administration’s Chance to Engage in a Middle East Peace.” [Posted Here on PP ....."
Seymour Hersh: Secret US Forces Carried Out Assassinations in a Dozen Counties, Including in Latin America
Democracy Now!
With Amy Goodman
"Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh created a stir earlier this month when he said the Bush administration ran an “executive assassination ring” that reported directly to Vice President Dick Cheney. “Under President Bush’s authority, they’ve been going into countries, not talking to the ambassador or to the CIA station chief, and finding people on a list and executing them and leaving,” Hersh said. Seymour Hersh joins us to explain......"
With Amy Goodman
"Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh created a stir earlier this month when he said the Bush administration ran an “executive assassination ring” that reported directly to Vice President Dick Cheney. “Under President Bush’s authority, they’ve been going into countries, not talking to the ambassador or to the CIA station chief, and finding people on a list and executing them and leaving,” Hersh said. Seymour Hersh joins us to explain......"
Palestinians celebrate Land Day
Palestinians across the Middle East were due to commemorate Land Day today, marking the anniversary of clashes in 1976 in which six unarmed Palestinians were shot dead by the Israeli army as it tried to break up a general strike.
Although Land Day is one the most important anniversaries in the Palestinian calendar, sometimes referred to as the Palestinians’ national day, the historical event it marks is little spoken of and rarely studied.
“Maybe its significance is surprising given the magnitude of other events in Palestinian history,” said Hatim Kanaaneh, 71, a doctor, who witnessed the invasion.
“But what makes Land Day resonate with Palestinians everywhere is that it was the first time Palestinians inside Israel stood together and successfully resisted Israel’s goal of confiscating their land.”
Although Land Day is one the most important anniversaries in the Palestinian calendar, sometimes referred to as the Palestinians’ national day, the historical event it marks is little spoken of and rarely studied.
“Maybe its significance is surprising given the magnitude of other events in Palestinian history,” said Hatim Kanaaneh, 71, a doctor, who witnessed the invasion.
“But what makes Land Day resonate with Palestinians everywhere is that it was the first time Palestinians inside Israel stood together and successfully resisted Israel’s goal of confiscating their land.”
During military rule, historians have noted, vast swathes of land were taken from Palestinians, both from refugees in exile and from Israel’s own citizens. Jews had bought only six per cent of Palestine by the time of the 1948 war, but today the state has nationalised 93 per cent of Israel’s territory.
Real News Video: G20 - Make or Break?
Engdahl: The question in the EU is - will they go down with the dollar system or find their own way?
"As the G20 is set to begin on April 2nd in London, and as protests to it spread throughout Europe, Paul Jay speaks to Wiliam Engdhal about the significance of the summit. Engdahl says that, "the problem is that the G20 is an arbitrary construct that was hammered together largely by Washington in a vain attempt to keep the globalized system that they had created ... to keep the rules of the game intact." He says that, "the basis of consensus doesn't exist among the G20," because China, Russia, and Europe have different interests right now than to bail out the dollar."
"As the G20 is set to begin on April 2nd in London, and as protests to it spread throughout Europe, Paul Jay speaks to Wiliam Engdhal about the significance of the summit. Engdahl says that, "the problem is that the G20 is an arbitrary construct that was hammered together largely by Washington in a vain attempt to keep the globalized system that they had created ... to keep the rules of the game intact." He says that, "the basis of consensus doesn't exist among the G20," because China, Russia, and Europe have different interests right now than to bail out the dollar."
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