Baum: New technologies are allowing Israel to maintain control over its occupation remotely
You Have to See This Video; it is Excellent!
"This week, the chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erakat, announced that because Israeli settlements continue to grow (with de facto US support) and annex the land planned for a future Palestine, the Palestinians may have to abandon hopes for an independent state. He therefore urged Palestinians to fight for one democratic state where all citizens will be equal. With this announcement, many are wondering what the future of the Israeli occupation would look like. Meanwhile, Israel is continuing its technological evolution of the occupation, making it possible to institutionalize control over the occupation remotely. At the end of October, the joint Israeli-Palestinian Alternative Information Center held a conference in Bethlehem on economy of the occupation. The Real News' Lia Tarachansky attended and spoke to Dalit Baum of Who Profits and Shir Hever, of the Alternative Information Center about the changing face of the Israeli occupation."
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Good Riddance, Abbas
Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, was no good for Palestine. And his exit will make a peaceful solution more likely.
BY SAREE MAKDISI
Foreign Policy
"The announcement that Mahmoud Abbas has decided not to stand for re-election as head of the Palestinian Authority should come as a relief to all Palestinians. In fact, Abbas's departure will open a much-needed opportunity to take stock of where things stand and assess the future course of the Palestinian struggle....
Today, the Palestinian Authority (PA) over which Abbas presides is seen as a puppet. It has become the manager of the day-to-day burdens of military occupation, responsible for the hassle and expense of administering a restless population. All this is done on behalf of the Israelis, who have meanwhile gone on expropriating Palestinian land, bulldozing Palestinian homes, and building exclusively Jewish settlements in violation of international law (doubling the population of settlers since peace talks began). To all Palestinians other than the tiny clique who benefit from this arrangement, the sight of Abbas's U.S.-trained and Israeli-armed PA militiamen cooperating with Israeli forces -- if not taking direct orders from them -- is nothing short of grotesque. And when Abbas recently succumbed to Israeli and U.S. pressure and dropped his support for the Goldstone report, a U.N. Human Rights Council-mandated investigation into last year's Gaza incursion, many Palestinians saw it as the last straw both for Abbas -- and for the PA itself......
But to get bogged down in a discussion of other alternative candidates for the PA presidency, whether from Fatah or other parties, is to miss the point: The PA is irrelevant to the future of the Palestinian people as a whole.
The single largest component of the Palestinian people consists of those who were driven from their homes during the 1948 creation of Israel and their descendants. They were never, even theoretically, addressed or represented by the PA. Nor were the 1.5 million Palestinians who live as second-class citizens in Israel and who suffer from systematic and institutionalized discrimination because they are non-Jews inhabiting a state that wants to be Jewish.....
The demise of Abbas, and with him, hopefully, the PA and the illusion of the two-state solution, opens up the possibility that Palestinians will once again embrace the one-state solution and demand the creation of a single, democratic, and secular state in which Israeli Jews and Palestinians live as equals. That is the only way to a just and lasting peace. Abbas's departure is a start."
BY SAREE MAKDISI
Foreign Policy
"The announcement that Mahmoud Abbas has decided not to stand for re-election as head of the Palestinian Authority should come as a relief to all Palestinians. In fact, Abbas's departure will open a much-needed opportunity to take stock of where things stand and assess the future course of the Palestinian struggle....
Today, the Palestinian Authority (PA) over which Abbas presides is seen as a puppet. It has become the manager of the day-to-day burdens of military occupation, responsible for the hassle and expense of administering a restless population. All this is done on behalf of the Israelis, who have meanwhile gone on expropriating Palestinian land, bulldozing Palestinian homes, and building exclusively Jewish settlements in violation of international law (doubling the population of settlers since peace talks began). To all Palestinians other than the tiny clique who benefit from this arrangement, the sight of Abbas's U.S.-trained and Israeli-armed PA militiamen cooperating with Israeli forces -- if not taking direct orders from them -- is nothing short of grotesque. And when Abbas recently succumbed to Israeli and U.S. pressure and dropped his support for the Goldstone report, a U.N. Human Rights Council-mandated investigation into last year's Gaza incursion, many Palestinians saw it as the last straw both for Abbas -- and for the PA itself......
But to get bogged down in a discussion of other alternative candidates for the PA presidency, whether from Fatah or other parties, is to miss the point: The PA is irrelevant to the future of the Palestinian people as a whole.
The single largest component of the Palestinian people consists of those who were driven from their homes during the 1948 creation of Israel and their descendants. They were never, even theoretically, addressed or represented by the PA. Nor were the 1.5 million Palestinians who live as second-class citizens in Israel and who suffer from systematic and institutionalized discrimination because they are non-Jews inhabiting a state that wants to be Jewish.....
The demise of Abbas, and with him, hopefully, the PA and the illusion of the two-state solution, opens up the possibility that Palestinians will once again embrace the one-state solution and demand the creation of a single, democratic, and secular state in which Israeli Jews and Palestinians live as equals. That is the only way to a just and lasting peace. Abbas's departure is a start."
Ni’lin demonstrators topple 8 meter tall concrete wall
International Solidarity Movement (ISM)
"20 years to the fall of the Berlin wall: Demonstrators toppled 8 meters tall concrete wall in Ni’ilin.
Three protest marches were held today in the West Bank to mark the 20th anniversary to the fall of the Berlin wall, which has been declared an international day of action against Israel’s barrier. In Ni’lin, the 300 demonstrators managed to topple a part of the eight meters tall concrete wall that cuts through the village’s land. Following the direct action, the army fired scores of live rounds at the demonstrators......
"20 years to the fall of the Berlin wall: Demonstrators toppled 8 meters tall concrete wall in Ni’ilin.
Three protest marches were held today in the West Bank to mark the 20th anniversary to the fall of the Berlin wall, which has been declared an international day of action against Israel’s barrier. In Ni’lin, the 300 demonstrators managed to topple a part of the eight meters tall concrete wall that cuts through the village’s land. Following the direct action, the army fired scores of live rounds at the demonstrators......
In total, 19 people have been killed during demonstrations against the Wall.
Israeli armed forces have shot 40 demonstrators with live ammunition in Ni’lin. Of them, 11 were shot with 5.56mm caliber live ammunition and 24 were shot with 0.22 caliber live ammunition.
Israeli armed forces have shot 40 demonstrators with live ammunition in Ni’lin. Of them, 11 were shot with 5.56mm caliber live ammunition and 24 were shot with 0.22 caliber live ammunition.
Since May 2008, 87 arrests of Ni’lin residents have been made in relation to anti-Wall demonstrations in the village. The protesters seized by the army constitute around 7% of the village’s males aged between 12 and 55. The arrests are part of a broad Israeli intimidation campaign to suppress all demonstrations against the apartheid infrastructure in the West Bank."
Real News Video: Don't repeat Vietnam in Afghanistan Pt.3
Daniel Ellsberg: The counter-insurgency plan in Afganistan is similar to Viet Nam Pt3
Israel Is Not A Tolerant Society, Says US State Department. No Shit!
"Israeli daily, Haaretz, reported that according to a new report by the U.S State Department, Israel fails all requirements of a tolerant pluralistic society....."
France Concerned Over Abbas’ Decision Not To Run For President
"French Foreign Minister, Bernard Kouchner, stated Friday that he intends to pressure Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, into altering his decision regarding not running for president in the upcoming Palestinian elections...."
No Partner for Peace: Our American Problem
By Jeff Halper
"It was as if some official, perhaps one of President Obama's "czars," like the Czar for Demolishing American Credibility, had orchestrated a systematic campaign to isolate the US from the rest of the world, make it a political laughingstock and, finally, render it a second-rate power capable of throwing around tremendous military weight but absolutely incapable of leading us to a better future. The Israel-Palestine conflict, while not the world's bloodiest, constitutes, for many people of the world, a unique gauge of American interests and intentions. So consider the messages this string of actions sent out to the world:.....
The degree to which American policy regarding Palestinian rights diverges so sharply from even that of its European allies, not to mention from the Muslim world with which it is attempting to achieve a modicum of stability and accommodation that will allow it to remove its troops, has implications far beyond that particular conflict itself. When the US stands, as it often does, with Israel but against the entire international community on matters of human rights (as it did in regard to apartheid South Africa and support for the contras in Nicaragua, among others), it's isolation is highlighted, rather than its leadership. All of its other slogans, such as "spreading freedom and democracy," are rendered hollow. Neither America nor its erstwhile ally Israel can avoid accountability for their policies and actions. Realpolitik cannot replace a policy based on human rights. If the US wishes to rejoin the international community and genuinely pursue its interests, there is no better place to start than carving out a foreign policy based on justice. Until then, America remains part of the problem, not the solution. "
"It was as if some official, perhaps one of President Obama's "czars," like the Czar for Demolishing American Credibility, had orchestrated a systematic campaign to isolate the US from the rest of the world, make it a political laughingstock and, finally, render it a second-rate power capable of throwing around tremendous military weight but absolutely incapable of leading us to a better future. The Israel-Palestine conflict, while not the world's bloodiest, constitutes, for many people of the world, a unique gauge of American interests and intentions. So consider the messages this string of actions sent out to the world:.....
The degree to which American policy regarding Palestinian rights diverges so sharply from even that of its European allies, not to mention from the Muslim world with which it is attempting to achieve a modicum of stability and accommodation that will allow it to remove its troops, has implications far beyond that particular conflict itself. When the US stands, as it often does, with Israel but against the entire international community on matters of human rights (as it did in regard to apartheid South Africa and support for the contras in Nicaragua, among others), it's isolation is highlighted, rather than its leadership. All of its other slogans, such as "spreading freedom and democracy," are rendered hollow. Neither America nor its erstwhile ally Israel can avoid accountability for their policies and actions. Realpolitik cannot replace a policy based on human rights. If the US wishes to rejoin the international community and genuinely pursue its interests, there is no better place to start than carving out a foreign policy based on justice. Until then, America remains part of the problem, not the solution. "
Mass Shooting Indicates Breakdown of Military
by Dahr Jamail
Global Research, November 6, 2009
"....The shocking story of a soldier killing five of his comrades does not come as a surprise when we consider that the military has, for years now, been sending troops with untreated PTSD back into the US occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan.
According to an Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center analysis, reported in the Denver Post in August 2008, more than “43,000 service members -- two-thirds of them in the Army or Army Reserve -- were classified as nondeployable for medical reasons three months before they deployed” to Iraq.
Mark Thompson also has reported in Time magazine, “Data contained in the Army’s fifth Mental Health Advisory Team report indicate that, according to an anonymous survey of US troops taken last fall, about 12 percent of combat troops in Iraq and 17 percent of those in Afghanistan are taking prescription antidepressants or sleeping pills to help them cope.”
In April 2008, the RAND Corporation released a stunning report revealing, “Nearly 20 percent of military service members who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan - 300,000 in all - report symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder or major depression, yet only slightly more than half have sought treatment.”......"
Global Research, November 6, 2009
"....The shocking story of a soldier killing five of his comrades does not come as a surprise when we consider that the military has, for years now, been sending troops with untreated PTSD back into the US occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan.
According to an Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center analysis, reported in the Denver Post in August 2008, more than “43,000 service members -- two-thirds of them in the Army or Army Reserve -- were classified as nondeployable for medical reasons three months before they deployed” to Iraq.
Mark Thompson also has reported in Time magazine, “Data contained in the Army’s fifth Mental Health Advisory Team report indicate that, according to an anonymous survey of US troops taken last fall, about 12 percent of combat troops in Iraq and 17 percent of those in Afghanistan are taking prescription antidepressants or sleeping pills to help them cope.”
In April 2008, the RAND Corporation released a stunning report revealing, “Nearly 20 percent of military service members who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan - 300,000 in all - report symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder or major depression, yet only slightly more than half have sought treatment.”......"
COMMENT: In Vietnam, the phenomenon of US soldiers killing their own commanders by tossing fragmentation grenades in their quarters was called "fragging." Is this not similar?
World's barriers: West Bank
BBC
"On the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, BBC Mundo looks at barriers which are still standing - or have gone up since - around the world.
The barrier which separates Israel from the West Bank is a mixture of fences, barbed wire, ditches and concrete slabs up to 8m (26ft) high......"
"On the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, BBC Mundo looks at barriers which are still standing - or have gone up since - around the world.
The barrier which separates Israel from the West Bank is a mixture of fences, barbed wire, ditches and concrete slabs up to 8m (26ft) high......"
On the anniversary, Palestinians toppled a section of the Apartheid wall at Bil'in.
مثلما هُدم الجدار في برلين سيهدم في بلعين وفلسطين
Breaking the Australian Silence
by John Pilger, November 07, 2009
"....The shock at what I saw is unforgettable. The poverty. The sickness. The despair. The quiet anger. I began to recognize and understand the Australian silence.
Tonight, I would like to talk about this silence: about how it affects our national life, the way we see the world, and the way we are manipulated by great power which speaks through an invisible government of propaganda that subdues and limits our political imagination and ensures we are always at war – against our own first people and those seeking refuge, or in someone else’s country.
Last July, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said this, and I quote: "It’s important for us all to remember here in Australia that Afghanistan has been a training ground for terrorists worldwide, a training ground also for terrorists in South-East-Asia, reminding us of the reasons that we are in the field of combat and reaffirming our resolve to remain committed to that cause."
There is no truth in this statement. It is the equivalent of his predecessor John Howard’s lie that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction......
During the first world war, the British prime minister David Lloyd George confided to the editor of the Manchester Guardian: "If people really knew [the truth], the war would be stopped tomorrow. But of course they don’t know and they can’t know."
What has changed? Quite a lot actually. As people have become more aware, propaganda has become more sophisticated.
One of the founders of modern propaganda was Edward Bernays, an American who believed that people in free societies could be lied to and regimented without them realizing. He invented a euphemism for propaganda — "public relations," or PR. "What matters," he said, "is the illusion." Like Kevin Rudd’s stage-managed press conferences outside his church, what matters is the illusion. The symbols of Anzac are constantly manipulated in this way. Marches. Medals. Flags. The pain of a fallen soldier’s family. Serving in the military, says the prime minister, is Australia’s highest calling. The squalor of war, the killing of civilians has no reference. What matters is the illusion......"
"....The shock at what I saw is unforgettable. The poverty. The sickness. The despair. The quiet anger. I began to recognize and understand the Australian silence.
Tonight, I would like to talk about this silence: about how it affects our national life, the way we see the world, and the way we are manipulated by great power which speaks through an invisible government of propaganda that subdues and limits our political imagination and ensures we are always at war – against our own first people and those seeking refuge, or in someone else’s country.
Last July, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said this, and I quote: "It’s important for us all to remember here in Australia that Afghanistan has been a training ground for terrorists worldwide, a training ground also for terrorists in South-East-Asia, reminding us of the reasons that we are in the field of combat and reaffirming our resolve to remain committed to that cause."
There is no truth in this statement. It is the equivalent of his predecessor John Howard’s lie that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction......
During the first world war, the British prime minister David Lloyd George confided to the editor of the Manchester Guardian: "If people really knew [the truth], the war would be stopped tomorrow. But of course they don’t know and they can’t know."
What has changed? Quite a lot actually. As people have become more aware, propaganda has become more sophisticated.
One of the founders of modern propaganda was Edward Bernays, an American who believed that people in free societies could be lied to and regimented without them realizing. He invented a euphemism for propaganda — "public relations," or PR. "What matters," he said, "is the illusion." Like Kevin Rudd’s stage-managed press conferences outside his church, what matters is the illusion. The symbols of Anzac are constantly manipulated in this way. Marches. Medals. Flags. The pain of a fallen soldier’s family. Serving in the military, says the prime minister, is Australia’s highest calling. The squalor of war, the killing of civilians has no reference. What matters is the illusion......"
The German Lawrence of Arabia had much to live up to – and failed
The victors write the history, so Frobenius's adventures are today virtually unknown
By Robert Fisk
"His name was Captain Leo Frobenius and he was the German Lawrence of Arabia, tasked to start an Arab Muslim insurgency against British rule in Sudan and Egypt. Colonel Lawrence's mission, of course, was to persuade the Arabs of the Gulf to rebel against the German-allied Turkish army of the Ottoman empire. There were a few differences. A colonel Lawrence may have been; a captain Frobenius was not. His military rank was a fraud. And unlike Lawrence, the secret Frobenius mission in 1915 was a hopeless failure....."
By Robert Fisk
"His name was Captain Leo Frobenius and he was the German Lawrence of Arabia, tasked to start an Arab Muslim insurgency against British rule in Sudan and Egypt. Colonel Lawrence's mission, of course, was to persuade the Arabs of the Gulf to rebel against the German-allied Turkish army of the Ottoman empire. There were a few differences. A colonel Lawrence may have been; a captain Frobenius was not. His military rank was a fraud. And unlike Lawrence, the secret Frobenius mission in 1915 was a hopeless failure....."
Without Abbas, does doomsday loom?
By Donald Macintyre in Jerusalem
"....Washington is said to be quietly working on possible negotiating parameters but meeting resistance from Israel. Used to pressure from Israel, but much less so from the Palestinians, the US may be disinclined to harden its line in those discussions. Of course, there are Fatah alternatives to Mr Abbas, most enticingly the more charsimatic Marwan Barghouti who might be much better placed to sell a deal if and when one is struck. But Mr Barghouti is in jail; and there is little sign that the Netanyhau government is ready to free him to become its "partner."
The "terms of reference" for negotiations which Mr Abbas spelt out on Thursday are not ones the West can easily disagree with, and Washington would do well not be too dismissive of them. As the Israeli commentator Ben Caspit wrote yesterday in Maariv: "Anybody mocking Abu Mazen today will be missing him tomorrow.""
"....Washington is said to be quietly working on possible negotiating parameters but meeting resistance from Israel. Used to pressure from Israel, but much less so from the Palestinians, the US may be disinclined to harden its line in those discussions. Of course, there are Fatah alternatives to Mr Abbas, most enticingly the more charsimatic Marwan Barghouti who might be much better placed to sell a deal if and when one is struck. But Mr Barghouti is in jail; and there is little sign that the Netanyhau government is ready to free him to become its "partner."
The "terms of reference" for negotiations which Mr Abbas spelt out on Thursday are not ones the West can easily disagree with, and Washington would do well not be too dismissive of them. As the Israeli commentator Ben Caspit wrote yesterday in Maariv: "Anybody mocking Abu Mazen today will be missing him tomorrow.""
'US foreign policy is straight out of the mafia'
Noam Chomsky is the west's most prominent critic of US imperialism, yet he is rarely interviewed in the mainstream media. Seumas Milne meets him
Seumas Milne
The Guardian, Saturday 7 November 2009
"....When he spoke in London last week, thousands of young people battled for tickets to attend his lectures, followed live on the internet across the globe, as the 80-year-old American linguist fielded questions from as far away as besieged Gaza.
But the bulk of the mainstream western media doesn't seem to have noticed. His books sell in their hundreds of thousands, he is mobbed by students as a celebrity, but he is rarely reported or interviewed in the US outside radical journals and websites. The explanation, of course, isn't hard to find. Chomsky is America's most prominent critic of the US imperial role in the world, which he has used his erudition and standing to expose and excoriate since Vietnam.....
Indeed, his books have been banned from the US prison library in Guantánamo. You'd hardly need a clearer example of his model of how dissenting views are filtered out of the western media, set out in his 1990's book Manufacturing Consent, than his own case. But as Chomsky is the first to point out, the marginalisation of opponents of western state policy is as nothing compared to the brutalities suffered by those who challenge states backed by the US and its allies in the Middle East......
The veteran activist has described the US invasion of Afghanistan as "one of the most immoral acts in modern history....."States are not moral agents," he says, and believes that now that Obama is escalating the war, it has become even clearer that the occupation is about the credibility of Nato and US global power.
This is a recurrent theme in Chomsky's thinking about the American empire. He argues that since government officials first formulated plans for a "grand area" strategy for US global domination in the early 1940s, successive administrations have been guided by a "godfather principle, straight out of the mafia: that defiance cannot be tolerated. It's a major feature of state policy." "Successful defiance" has to be punished, even where it damages business interests, as in the economic blockade of Cuba – in case "the contagion spreads".
The gap between the interests of those who control American foreign policy and the public is also borne out, in Chomsky's view, by the US's unwavering support for Israel and "rejectionism" of the two-state solution effectively on offer for 30 years. That's not because of the overweening power of the Israel lobby in the US, but because Israel is a strategic and commercial asset which underpins rather than undermines US domination of the Middle East. "Even in the 1950s, President Eisenhower was concerned about what he called a campaign of hatred of the US in the Arab world, because of the perception on the Arab street that it supported harsh and oppressive regimes to take their oil.".....
....He also believes there are now constraints on imperial power which didn't exist in the past: "They couldn't get away with the kind of chemical warfare and blanket B52 bombing that Kennedy did," in the 1960s. He even has some qualified hopes for the internet as a way around the monopoly of the corporate-dominated media.....
..."Anti-Americanism is a pure totalitarian concept," he retorts. "The very notion is idiotic. Of course you don't deny other crimes, but your primary moral responsibility is for your own actions, which you can do something about....""
Seumas Milne
The Guardian, Saturday 7 November 2009
"....When he spoke in London last week, thousands of young people battled for tickets to attend his lectures, followed live on the internet across the globe, as the 80-year-old American linguist fielded questions from as far away as besieged Gaza.
But the bulk of the mainstream western media doesn't seem to have noticed. His books sell in their hundreds of thousands, he is mobbed by students as a celebrity, but he is rarely reported or interviewed in the US outside radical journals and websites. The explanation, of course, isn't hard to find. Chomsky is America's most prominent critic of the US imperial role in the world, which he has used his erudition and standing to expose and excoriate since Vietnam.....
Indeed, his books have been banned from the US prison library in Guantánamo. You'd hardly need a clearer example of his model of how dissenting views are filtered out of the western media, set out in his 1990's book Manufacturing Consent, than his own case. But as Chomsky is the first to point out, the marginalisation of opponents of western state policy is as nothing compared to the brutalities suffered by those who challenge states backed by the US and its allies in the Middle East......
The veteran activist has described the US invasion of Afghanistan as "one of the most immoral acts in modern history....."States are not moral agents," he says, and believes that now that Obama is escalating the war, it has become even clearer that the occupation is about the credibility of Nato and US global power.
This is a recurrent theme in Chomsky's thinking about the American empire. He argues that since government officials first formulated plans for a "grand area" strategy for US global domination in the early 1940s, successive administrations have been guided by a "godfather principle, straight out of the mafia: that defiance cannot be tolerated. It's a major feature of state policy." "Successful defiance" has to be punished, even where it damages business interests, as in the economic blockade of Cuba – in case "the contagion spreads".
The gap between the interests of those who control American foreign policy and the public is also borne out, in Chomsky's view, by the US's unwavering support for Israel and "rejectionism" of the two-state solution effectively on offer for 30 years. That's not because of the overweening power of the Israel lobby in the US, but because Israel is a strategic and commercial asset which underpins rather than undermines US domination of the Middle East. "Even in the 1950s, President Eisenhower was concerned about what he called a campaign of hatred of the US in the Arab world, because of the perception on the Arab street that it supported harsh and oppressive regimes to take their oil.".....
....He also believes there are now constraints on imperial power which didn't exist in the past: "They couldn't get away with the kind of chemical warfare and blanket B52 bombing that Kennedy did," in the 1960s. He even has some qualified hopes for the internet as a way around the monopoly of the corporate-dominated media.....
..."Anti-Americanism is a pure totalitarian concept," he retorts. "The very notion is idiotic. Of course you don't deny other crimes, but your primary moral responsibility is for your own actions, which you can do something about....""
Friday, November 6, 2009
Abbas admits failure of the peace process
By Khalid Amayreh in Ramallah
"....But Abbas can still embark on some daring steps to salvage things before it is too late.
At the top of these steps should be the orderly dismantling of the Palestinian Authority under whose rubric the national Palestinian cause is being liquidated.
"....But Abbas can still embark on some daring steps to salvage things before it is too late.
At the top of these steps should be the orderly dismantling of the Palestinian Authority under whose rubric the national Palestinian cause is being liquidated.
[COMMENT:
Dream on Khalid; this will never happen. A whole class of collaborators and "businessmen" have become rich due to the existence of the PA. Do you think that they would voluntarily give up all the wealth and privilege? When did such a thing happen in history? Do you expect the drug lord Karzai in Afghanistan to resign voluntarily?
Do you expect the Mafia to voluntarily dissolve itself ??
Let us mature as a people and stop making such simplistic and naive requests. After 90 years of struggle, you would think that the Palestinians can do better than this.
The PA will only be dismantled by Palestinians opposed to it (and that does not include Hamas). So, those truly opposed to the PA and the disaster of Oslo should start organizing to topple the PA by all means possible.]
Failure to do so, under whatever pretexts and excuses, would only mean legitimizing the colonial Israeli scheme and capitulating to the status quo.
Let us get rid of the big lie and confront ourselves with the all too-clear fact that the colonialist Zionist occupation of our country never really receded and that the Oslo Agreement was a deception from A to Z. We must tell our people that the PA is not a phase toward liberation from Zionist tyranny, as we have been told, but is rather an instrument for the liquidation of the Palestinian cause.
Is Abbas willing to face reality? Or does he need another15 years of deception and lies to realize what every Palestinian child knows thoroughly well."
Failure to do so, under whatever pretexts and excuses, would only mean legitimizing the colonial Israeli scheme and capitulating to the status quo.
Let us get rid of the big lie and confront ourselves with the all too-clear fact that the colonialist Zionist occupation of our country never really receded and that the Oslo Agreement was a deception from A to Z. We must tell our people that the PA is not a phase toward liberation from Zionist tyranny, as we have been told, but is rather an instrument for the liquidation of the Palestinian cause.
Is Abbas willing to face reality? Or does he need another15 years of deception and lies to realize what every Palestinian child knows thoroughly well."
Goldstone and Gaza
By JIMMY CARTER
The New York Times
".....A year later, after the Israeli attack on Gaza, I was able to examine the damage done to the small and heavily populated area, surrounded by an impenetrable wall, with its gates tightly controlled. Knowing of the ability of Israeli forces, often using U.S. weapons, to strike targets with pinpoint accuracy, it was difficult to understand or explain the destruction of hospitals, schools, prisons, United Nations facilities, small factories and repair shops, agricultural processing plants and almost 40,000 homes.
The Goldstone committee examined closely the cause of deaths of the 1,387 Palestinians who perished, and the degree of damage to the various areas. The conclusion was that the civilian areas were targeted and the devastation was deliberate. Again, the criticism of Israel in the Goldstone report is justified......."
The New York Times
".....A year later, after the Israeli attack on Gaza, I was able to examine the damage done to the small and heavily populated area, surrounded by an impenetrable wall, with its gates tightly controlled. Knowing of the ability of Israeli forces, often using U.S. weapons, to strike targets with pinpoint accuracy, it was difficult to understand or explain the destruction of hospitals, schools, prisons, United Nations facilities, small factories and repair shops, agricultural processing plants and almost 40,000 homes.
The Goldstone committee examined closely the cause of deaths of the 1,387 Palestinians who perished, and the degree of damage to the various areas. The conclusion was that the civilian areas were targeted and the devastation was deliberate. Again, the criticism of Israel in the Goldstone report is justified......."
Egypt's Next Unelected President?
The Ascendancy of Gamal Mubarak
By RANNIE AMIRI
CounterPunch
"....Egypt indeed has become the epitome of a police state. Mubarak has never ruled a day without the powers bequeathed to him by Emergency Law. Instituted immediately after Anwar Sadat’s assassination, these wide-sweeping measures allow his State Security forces to arrest any person without warrant; indefinitely detain any citizen without charge; try civilians in military court; censor the media; restrict political organizations’ freedom of assembly; and tightly curb what the media is permitted to broadcast or publish – all powers of which Mubarak has taken full advantage. Egypt’s largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, is officially banned and its members routinely arrested, jailed and tortured under its mandates.
Questions about Mubarak’s potential successor – a subject normally off-limits to public or media speculation – came to a head this week when the NDP held its annual party conference (in direct violation of Egypt’s constitution, Mubarak has never appointed a vice president). Would he announce his intention to seek re-election in 2011 or would his 46-year-old son Gamal, widely believed to be his political heir apparent, declare his own candidacy?.....
But in Egypt, where the political infrastructure is so intertwined with the state security apparatus, there will never be open and fair elections, despite the senior Mubarak’s proclamation they would be “clean and free.” The only realistic possibilities outside himself are Suleiman, or most likely, Gamal.
Just as with King Abdullah of Jordan, Bashar Assad of Syria, and the current grooming of Libya’s Saif Ghaddafi, it will be a dictator’s son who assumes power; a “candidacy” endorsed by Washington, and one in which the Egyptian people, regrettably, will have very little say."
By RANNIE AMIRI
CounterPunch
"....Egypt indeed has become the epitome of a police state. Mubarak has never ruled a day without the powers bequeathed to him by Emergency Law. Instituted immediately after Anwar Sadat’s assassination, these wide-sweeping measures allow his State Security forces to arrest any person without warrant; indefinitely detain any citizen without charge; try civilians in military court; censor the media; restrict political organizations’ freedom of assembly; and tightly curb what the media is permitted to broadcast or publish – all powers of which Mubarak has taken full advantage. Egypt’s largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, is officially banned and its members routinely arrested, jailed and tortured under its mandates.
Questions about Mubarak’s potential successor – a subject normally off-limits to public or media speculation – came to a head this week when the NDP held its annual party conference (in direct violation of Egypt’s constitution, Mubarak has never appointed a vice president). Would he announce his intention to seek re-election in 2011 or would his 46-year-old son Gamal, widely believed to be his political heir apparent, declare his own candidacy?.....
But in Egypt, where the political infrastructure is so intertwined with the state security apparatus, there will never be open and fair elections, despite the senior Mubarak’s proclamation they would be “clean and free.” The only realistic possibilities outside himself are Suleiman, or most likely, Gamal.
Just as with King Abdullah of Jordan, Bashar Assad of Syria, and the current grooming of Libya’s Saif Ghaddafi, it will be a dictator’s son who assumes power; a “candidacy” endorsed by Washington, and one in which the Egyptian people, regrettably, will have very little say."
Obama's Mid-East Mess
Broken Pledges
By FRANKLIN LAMB
CounterPunch
"....Hoyer and Ros-Lehtinen are pillars of the fake US Congressional Human Rights Caucus, founded in l983 which in its quarter century of self congratulatory investigations of Human Rights abuses has yet to find a single human rights abuse by Israel, irrespective of any murders, slaughtering of innocents, home demolitions, political incarcerations, religious bigotry, illegal use of American weapons, illegal siege of Gaza, and serial invasions of Lebanon, and the continuing theft of Syria’s Golan heights. Over the past few years the CHRC has become an Iran-bashing forum for all manner of Zionist zealots and kooks spreading falsehoods and defamations against Islam and the Islamic Republic.....
Both Hoyer and Ros-Lehtinen could have been deterred by the White House from creating this latest anti-Arab, anti-Islam House Resolution but they were given a green light by the Obama administration to push their screed. Obama joined in condemning the Goldstones Report and not much appears to be left of his pledge to break from the past and open a new chapter of civility with Iran.....
One can hardly expect Iran to believe that these US policy makers should be taken seriously or have any interest to advance their country’s interests rather than Israel’s. Questions of credibility rest more at the door of Barack Obama’s White House that at Iran’s Shura and Majlis.
U.S. Mid-East policy clearly in disarray, from Iran to Palestine. Time is running out if Obama’s claimed vision of dialogue on the basis of mutual respect and equality does not collapse into complete derision and caricature."
By FRANKLIN LAMB
CounterPunch
"....Hoyer and Ros-Lehtinen are pillars of the fake US Congressional Human Rights Caucus, founded in l983 which in its quarter century of self congratulatory investigations of Human Rights abuses has yet to find a single human rights abuse by Israel, irrespective of any murders, slaughtering of innocents, home demolitions, political incarcerations, religious bigotry, illegal use of American weapons, illegal siege of Gaza, and serial invasions of Lebanon, and the continuing theft of Syria’s Golan heights. Over the past few years the CHRC has become an Iran-bashing forum for all manner of Zionist zealots and kooks spreading falsehoods and defamations against Islam and the Islamic Republic.....
Both Hoyer and Ros-Lehtinen could have been deterred by the White House from creating this latest anti-Arab, anti-Islam House Resolution but they were given a green light by the Obama administration to push their screed. Obama joined in condemning the Goldstones Report and not much appears to be left of his pledge to break from the past and open a new chapter of civility with Iran.....
One can hardly expect Iran to believe that these US policy makers should be taken seriously or have any interest to advance their country’s interests rather than Israel’s. Questions of credibility rest more at the door of Barack Obama’s White House that at Iran’s Shura and Majlis.
U.S. Mid-East policy clearly in disarray, from Iran to Palestine. Time is running out if Obama’s claimed vision of dialogue on the basis of mutual respect and equality does not collapse into complete derision and caricature."
Al-Jazeera Video: Abbas' move highlights failure of peace process - 06 Nov 09
"The decision by Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, to bow out of politics has raised doubts over the future of the Middle East peace process.
Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, in praising his efforts said she would work with Abbas in whatever capacity he was working in the future.
But it remains to be seen if the US, whose backing of the Israeli position on illegal settlements led to Abbas' decision, will now try to keep him....."
Real News Video: Nothing resolved in Honduras
Widely-celebrated, US-brokered agreement looks to have strengthened coup instead of reversing it
Real News Video: Don't repeat Vietnam in Afghanistan Pt.2
Daniel Ellsberg: The counter-insurgency plan in Afganistan is similar to Viet Nam Pt2
Video: Mohammed Omer on the Hell that is Gaza
"On Nov. 5, 2009, at the Palestine Center, in Washington, D.C., an award-winning journalist, Mohammed Omer, discussed the desperate human rights situation in Gaza--the result of Israel/s recent siege and military offensive. His presentation included his personal observations, interviews with the people of Gaza, his photographs and a video. Mr. Omer, now 25 years of age, was born and raised in the Rafah refugee camp. He spoke for over an hour, including the Q&A session....."
UNDER THE AFPAK VOLCANO, Part 2
Breaking up is (not) hard to do
By Pepe Escobar
Asia Times
PART 1: Welcome to Pashtunistan
"The Pentagon well knows that AfPak is the key land bridge between Iran to the west and China and India to the east; and that Iran has all the energy that both China and India need. The balkanization of AfPak would neutralize China's drive for land access from Xinjiang across Pakistan to the Arabian Sea, via the port of Gwadar in Balochistan province....."
By Pepe Escobar
Asia Times
PART 1: Welcome to Pashtunistan
"The Pentagon well knows that AfPak is the key land bridge between Iran to the west and China and India to the east; and that Iran has all the energy that both China and India need. The balkanization of AfPak would neutralize China's drive for land access from Xinjiang across Pakistan to the Arabian Sea, via the port of Gwadar in Balochistan province....."
Interview: Living under constant fear of arrest
Jody McIntyre writing from Bilin, occupied West Bank, Live from Palestine, 5 November 2009
"Mohammed Ahmed Issa Yassen, 20, lives in the occupied West Bank village of Bilin, where he works in his family's car garage business as a mechanic. He is also a student at the al-Quds Open University, but since he has joined the Israeli intelligence's "wanted" list from the village, studying has been difficult. The Electronic Intifada contributor Jody McIntyre interviewed Mohammed about living under the constant threat of arrest.....
JM: Why do you think the Israeli army want to arrest you?
MY: I don't know why they have made me into this big criminal ... I have to work all day to make sure my family has bread, so I don't even have time to go to the demonstrations! Young boys from the village, under intense interrogation, supposedly "confessed" that I had thrown stones in the past -- this isn't true, but even if I had, what difference does this make to the fourth largest army in the world? After all, they are the ones stealing our land!
It seems that every couple of years, the army in Bilin, perhaps under different leaderships, try a new tactic to stop our nonviolent demonstrations. Sometimes they arrest people from the village, like they are doing now, sometimes they impose curfews, and sometimes they kill people ... like my friend Bassem Abu Rahme.
They think they can stop the demonstrations in Bilin, but they can't, so they punish us instead......"
"Mohammed Ahmed Issa Yassen, 20, lives in the occupied West Bank village of Bilin, where he works in his family's car garage business as a mechanic. He is also a student at the al-Quds Open University, but since he has joined the Israeli intelligence's "wanted" list from the village, studying has been difficult. The Electronic Intifada contributor Jody McIntyre interviewed Mohammed about living under the constant threat of arrest.....
JM: Why do you think the Israeli army want to arrest you?
MY: I don't know why they have made me into this big criminal ... I have to work all day to make sure my family has bread, so I don't even have time to go to the demonstrations! Young boys from the village, under intense interrogation, supposedly "confessed" that I had thrown stones in the past -- this isn't true, but even if I had, what difference does this make to the fourth largest army in the world? After all, they are the ones stealing our land!
It seems that every couple of years, the army in Bilin, perhaps under different leaderships, try a new tactic to stop our nonviolent demonstrations. Sometimes they arrest people from the village, like they are doing now, sometimes they impose curfews, and sometimes they kill people ... like my friend Bassem Abu Rahme.
They think they can stop the demonstrations in Bilin, but they can't, so they punish us instead......"
This is What Arab Air Forces are For: Kill and Suppress Arabs; This is Their Mandate to Protect the Thrones
Continued Saudi air attacks kill 40 Houthis
Press TV
"More than forty Yemeni Houthis fighters have been killed in the fresh Saudi Arabia's air attacks on the northern Yemen fighters holding territory in the border region.
The fighters were killed in the remote mountainous regions of Malahit and Maran in Saada province.
The Saudi military said the attacks were in response to an earlier confrontation between Shia fighters and Saudi security forces that killed two Saudi security men.
Houthi fighters on November 3 attacked a border patrol on the brink of Yemen-Saudi Arabia border, killing two Saudi guards and wounding 10 others. Six Saudi border guard vehicles were also destroyed in the attack......"
Press TV
"More than forty Yemeni Houthis fighters have been killed in the fresh Saudi Arabia's air attacks on the northern Yemen fighters holding territory in the border region.
The fighters were killed in the remote mountainous regions of Malahit and Maran in Saada province.
The Saudi military said the attacks were in response to an earlier confrontation between Shia fighters and Saudi security forces that killed two Saudi security men.
Houthi fighters on November 3 attacked a border patrol on the brink of Yemen-Saudi Arabia border, killing two Saudi guards and wounding 10 others. Six Saudi border guard vehicles were also destroyed in the attack......"
Abbas Produces a Dubious Twist
Analysis by Mel Frykberg
"RAMALLAH, Nov 6 (IPS) - U.S. and Israeli failure to take either Palestinian rights or Israeli settlement expansion seriously has placed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his Palestinian Authority (PA) in an untenable situation, which could seriously damage peace prospects.....
"This has weakend the PA to the point where it is now confused and desperate," Awad tells IPS.
Realising that even a compliant and over-compromising Palestinian leader has his limits, both the Israelis and the U.S. have gone into damage control in a bid to woo Abbas back and persuade him to reconsider his decision.
As rumours of Abbas's impending decision began to circulate in the Israeli media on Wednesday, Israeli President Shimon Peres immediately called Abbas and asked him to stay on.....
"There is a strong possibility that if the Americans offer Abbas a way out, and recommit to international resolutions in regard to the occupied Palestinian territories, Abbas will withdraw his resignation," says Awad......"
"RAMALLAH, Nov 6 (IPS) - U.S. and Israeli failure to take either Palestinian rights or Israeli settlement expansion seriously has placed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his Palestinian Authority (PA) in an untenable situation, which could seriously damage peace prospects.....
"This has weakend the PA to the point where it is now confused and desperate," Awad tells IPS.
Realising that even a compliant and over-compromising Palestinian leader has his limits, both the Israelis and the U.S. have gone into damage control in a bid to woo Abbas back and persuade him to reconsider his decision.As rumours of Abbas's impending decision began to circulate in the Israeli media on Wednesday, Israeli President Shimon Peres immediately called Abbas and asked him to stay on.....
"There is a strong possibility that if the Americans offer Abbas a way out, and recommit to international resolutions in regard to the occupied Palestinian territories, Abbas will withdraw his resignation," says Awad......"
U.N. Affirms Israeli-Hamas War Crimes Report
By Thalif Deen
"UNITED NATIONS, Nov 5 (IPS) - A 575-page blistering report by Justice Richard Goldstone detailing war crimes in Gaza last December is refusing to die despite an aggressive Israeli smear campaign to kill it.
The report, which was favourably voted by the 47-member Human Rights Council in Geneva last month, received overwhelming support Thursday in the 192-member General Assembly.
The vote was 114 in favour and 18 against, with 44 abstentions.
The 18 countries that voted against the resolution included the United States, Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Israel......"
"UNITED NATIONS, Nov 5 (IPS) - A 575-page blistering report by Justice Richard Goldstone detailing war crimes in Gaza last December is refusing to die despite an aggressive Israeli smear campaign to kill it.
The report, which was favourably voted by the 47-member Human Rights Council in Geneva last month, received overwhelming support Thursday in the 192-member General Assembly.
The vote was 114 in favour and 18 against, with 44 abstentions.
The 18 countries that voted against the resolution included the United States, Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Israel......"
The Disenfranchised Antiwar Voter
On the left and the right, the War Party triumphs
by Justin Raimondo, November 06, 2009
"Why is it that the War Party invariably wins? Although the majority of Americans are rebelling against the idea that the US must endlessly police the world, and are souring on the crusade to "liberate" Afghanistan, how is it that the only voices heard on the national political scene are those in favor of intervention?......
There is no democracy in America. Our government is controlled by two "major" parties that have a monopoly on ballot status: try getting on the ballot as a "third party" – especially in New York state! It’s next to impossible. And if you should manage to get on the ballot, in spite of all the legal and logistical obstacles, then you faced the moneyed interests which have bought the Congress and the executive branch, and have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo – not only when it comes to foreign policy, but when it comes to anything and everything.
Our ruling elite is on a collision course with the citizenry. There is, at present, no way for disenfranchised voters to register their protest, and have their voices heard, and the pressure is building – slowly but surely – as Americans begin to ask where it will all end. We are headed for an era of unprecedented political and social turmoil, as the economy tanks and the wages of intervention are paid in the form of more "blowback" such as we experienced on 9/11. The America we know and love is rapidly sliding down into the abyss of national bankruptcy and international opprobrium – and our "leaders" are not only helpless to stop it, they are actively pushing us toward the edge."
by Justin Raimondo, November 06, 2009
"Why is it that the War Party invariably wins? Although the majority of Americans are rebelling against the idea that the US must endlessly police the world, and are souring on the crusade to "liberate" Afghanistan, how is it that the only voices heard on the national political scene are those in favor of intervention?......
There is no democracy in America. Our government is controlled by two "major" parties that have a monopoly on ballot status: try getting on the ballot as a "third party" – especially in New York state! It’s next to impossible. And if you should manage to get on the ballot, in spite of all the legal and logistical obstacles, then you faced the moneyed interests which have bought the Congress and the executive branch, and have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo – not only when it comes to foreign policy, but when it comes to anything and everything.
Our ruling elite is on a collision course with the citizenry. There is, at present, no way for disenfranchised voters to register their protest, and have their voices heard, and the pressure is building – slowly but surely – as Americans begin to ask where it will all end. We are headed for an era of unprecedented political and social turmoil, as the economy tanks and the wages of intervention are paid in the form of more "blowback" such as we experienced on 9/11. The America we know and love is rapidly sliding down into the abyss of national bankruptcy and international opprobrium – and our "leaders" are not only helpless to stop it, they are actively pushing us toward the edge."
Palestinian president: A dream turned sour
Editorial
The Guardian, Friday 6 November 2009
"Whether he makes good on the pledge he made last night not to stand in next year's elections, or whether he is eventually persuaded to stay, the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, has had enough already. And it is clear why. He was elected nearly five years ago to negotiate a Palestinian state and has got nowhere, even with two Israeli governments who understand that the alternatives to his leadership are worse. But even the best Palestinian president that Israel is going to get could not stop settlement construction, an obligation Israel signed up to in 2003. Even he could not stop the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, saying in Cairo at the weekend that Binyamin Netanyahu's offer of a partial freeze (the continued construction of 3,000 settler homes, continued building in East Jerusalem and all public projects in settlements) was "unprecedented". Mr Abbas has threatened to quit before. This time he means it.......
The Guardian, Friday 6 November 2009
"Whether he makes good on the pledge he made last night not to stand in next year's elections, or whether he is eventually persuaded to stay, the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, has had enough already. And it is clear why. He was elected nearly five years ago to negotiate a Palestinian state and has got nowhere, even with two Israeli governments who understand that the alternatives to his leadership are worse. But even the best Palestinian president that Israel is going to get could not stop settlement construction, an obligation Israel signed up to in 2003. Even he could not stop the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, saying in Cairo at the weekend that Binyamin Netanyahu's offer of a partial freeze (the continued construction of 3,000 settler homes, continued building in East Jerusalem and all public projects in settlements) was "unprecedented". Mr Abbas has threatened to quit before. This time he means it.......
So often used to micromanage and manoeuvre personalities, US diplomats should step back and look at the bigger picture. It is one in which the dream of a two-state solution is souring. They should take this prospect seriously and assess which of two options poses the greater threat to US regional interests: forcing Israel, if necessary by withholding money or arms, to abide by a commitment which poses no existential threat to the Israeli state, or letting the impasse continue until a third Palestinian uprising ignites. Behind Mr Abbas's actions, serious and widespread frustration lies. And we know from past experience into whose hands this plays."
Berri Ready to Stage Sit-In at Parliament until Forming Gov't. Advice to Berri: Try "Shit Happens!" It Works or Your Money Back.
Al-Manar
""The government crisis reached a stage where effective action is needed to form a government as soon as possible," Lebanon's Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri was quoted as telling lawmakers in Parliament on Thursday. Yes… Five months after MP Saad Hariri was appointed as Prime Minister-Designate, Lebanese are still "unable" of forming a "partnership" cabinet that would represent Lebanon's actual "diversity."....."
""The government crisis reached a stage where effective action is needed to form a government as soon as possible," Lebanon's Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri was quoted as telling lawmakers in Parliament on Thursday. Yes… Five months after MP Saad Hariri was appointed as Prime Minister-Designate, Lebanese are still "unable" of forming a "partnership" cabinet that would represent Lebanon's actual "diversity."....."
"Stay for The Palestinians Sake," War Criminal Tells Traitor. This is so Touching!
Abbas Decision to Withdraw from Race Draws Israeli, US Concern
Al-Manar
"06/11/2009 Israeli and American officials expressed concern over Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's announcement on Thursday that he would not be running for reelection in January.
Israeli President Shimon Peres telephoned Abbas on Wednesday night in an effort to persuade the Palestinian leader to change his mind. Peres told Abbas that he was worried that the decision would trigger political crisis in the Palestinian Authority, leading to a Hamas takeover in the occupied West Bank.
"If you leave the Palestinians would lose their chance for an independent state," Peres told Abbas. "The situation in the region would deteriorate. Stay, for the Palestinian people's sake," he said......"
Al-Manar
"06/11/2009 Israeli and American officials expressed concern over Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's announcement on Thursday that he would not be running for reelection in January.
Israeli President Shimon Peres telephoned Abbas on Wednesday night in an effort to persuade the Palestinian leader to change his mind. Peres told Abbas that he was worried that the decision would trigger political crisis in the Palestinian Authority, leading to a Hamas takeover in the occupied West Bank.
"If you leave the Palestinians would lose their chance for an independent state," Peres told Abbas. "The situation in the region would deteriorate. Stay, for the Palestinian people's sake," he said......"
Who's Who on the CIA Payroll
During his 46-year rule, the Hashemite monarch was frequently accused by his enemies — Israeli and Arab alike — of being a CIA stooge. The agency became his paymaster in 1957, inheriting that role from the British: Hussein received $1 million a year until 1977, when President Carter ended the payments.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Current Al-Jazeera (Arabic) Online Poll
This current poll asks:
Do you believe the Israeli story about the ship carrying weapons from Iran?
With over 2,800 responding so far, 83% said no.
Do you believe the Israeli story about the ship carrying weapons from Iran?
With over 2,800 responding so far, 83% said no.
EGYPT: Nearly a third of children malnourished - report
Contributed by Molly
CAIRO, 5 November 2009 (IRIN) - Despite a number of positive economic
indicators, Egypt has a hunger problem: Nearly a third of all children
are malnourished, according to a new report compiled by the Ministry
of Health and the UN Development Programme (UNDP).
The Egyptian Demographic Health Survey (EDHS) 2008,
[http://www.measuredhs.com/
March 2009, recorded a 6 percent increase in undernourishment severe
enough to stunt growth in children under five, pushing the percentage
of stunted Egyptian toddlers to 29 percent from 23 percent in 2000.
The survey collected data in 2007/2008, when gross domestic product
(GDP) grew by 7.2 percent, indicating that strong economic growth had
not benefited ordinary Egyptians. A slower GDP growth of 4.7 percent
is forecast for 2008/2009.
"Within the recent context of economic crises and economic slowdown,
in addition to the growing epidemics of avian and H1N1 influenza,
nutrition is not treated as a priority," said Hala Abu Khatwa, head of
communications in Egypt for the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).
Government-run food programmes are in place: In partnership with the
World Food Programme (WFP), fortified date bars have been distributed
in high-risk schools since 1963; and government-subsidized flour and
cooking oil - used to make 'baladi' bread - are fortified with
iron/folic acid and Vitamins A and D.
Chicken cull
Yet some government policies have adversely affected the nutrition of
the poorest.
UNICEF and WFP said the EDHS report of a spike in malnourished
children was partly attributable to the government's decision to cull
millions of chickens in 2007.
"The culling had a significant and substantial impact on household
consumption of poultry and eggs, especially [on] young children, and
also put considerable strain on household resources since poultry
sales accounted for nearly half of the incomes of many Egyptian
households," said UNICEF's Abu-Khatwa citing a 2007 study by the Food
and Agriculture Organization (FAO) entitled Livelihood Impact
Assessment in Egypt.
[http://www.fao.org/docs/eims/
Gianpietro Bordignon, the director of WFP in Egypt, attributed growing
malnutrition among children to "the successive series of shocks that
affected people, especially the poorest. This started with the
outbreak of avian flu and the subsequent killing of poultry that
lowered the intake of protein, and then the financial and food crises
that followed."
No data has yet been collected on the nutritional status of the
estimated 70,000 unofficial garbage collectors and pig farmers in the
Cairo area [http://www.irinnews.org/
relied on pigs for meat, income and organic waste.
Economic reforms
Since 1991 Egypt has embarked on economic reform programmes which have
not necessarily helped the poorest in society.
A July report by Egypt's General Authority for Investment and Free
Zones, seen by IRIN and entitled Towards Fair Distribution of the
Fruits of Growth, found that 66 percent of the wealth generated in
Egypt is sector specific, benefiting only those directly employed by
the sector rather than the economy as a whole.
"Between 2005 and 2008, the risk of extreme poverty increased by
almost 20 percent. Poverty levels are highest in Upper [southern]
Egypt where 70 percent of the country's poor live," Abu Khatwa said.
Upper Egypt is home to about 17 percent of the country's 82 million
people.
WFP's Bordignon also pointed out that since Egypt is not a "least
developed country", it misses out on international food aid.
According to the 2009 UNDP Human Development Report,
[http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/
23 percent of the population are below the poverty line. Food riots
[http://www.irinnews.org/
symptomatic of widespread poverty.
Al-Jazeera Video: Is a two-state solution a viable option? - 05 Nov 09
"Saeb Erekat, the Palestinian chief negotiator, has warned that unless Israel halts illegal settlement construction a two-state solution may no longer be an option.
Al Jazeera's Ghida Fakhry spoke to Saree Makdisi, author of Palestine Inside Out: An Everyday Occupation, and Khalil Jahsan, a Middle East analyst and lecturer at Pepperdine University, on whether a two-state solution is still a viable option."
Al-Jazeera Video: Riz Khan - The Goldstone report dispute - 4 Nov 09
With Mustafa Barghouti
Part 1:
Part 2:
Part 1:
Part 2:
Real News Video: Don't repeat Vietnam in Afghanistan Pt.1
Daniel Ellsberg: The counter-insurgency plan in Afganistan is similar to Viet Nam
"Daniel Ellsberg is a former US military analyst employed by the RAND Corporation who precipitated a national political controversy in 1971 when he released the Pentagon Papers, a top-secret Pentagon study of US government decision-making about the Vietnam War, to The New York Times and other newspapers."
"Daniel Ellsberg is a former US military analyst employed by the RAND Corporation who precipitated a national political controversy in 1971 when he released the Pentagon Papers, a top-secret Pentagon study of US government decision-making about the Vietnam War, to The New York Times and other newspapers."
VIDEO: The Nature and Significance of NATO-US-Israeli War Crimes
by George Galloway
"Here is the speech by George Galloway MP at the War Crimes Conference & Exhibition that took place at the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia on 28th October 2009."
Part 1:
Part 2:
Part 3:
"Here is the speech by George Galloway MP at the War Crimes Conference & Exhibition that took place at the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia on 28th October 2009."
Part 1:
Part 2:
Part 3:
Welcome to Pashtunistan
UNDER THE AFPAK VOLCANO, Part 1
By Pepe Escobar
Asia Times
(Cartoon by Carlos Latuff)
"A rough beast, its hour come at last, Pashtunistan is already being born across the strategic corridor straddling eastern Afghanistan and western Pakistan. If the Pakistani Taliban and their Pashtun allies manage to establish full control, with or without jihadi support, an Islamic emirate will for all practical purposes be constituted......"
By Pepe Escobar
Asia Times
(Cartoon by Carlos Latuff)
"A rough beast, its hour come at last, Pashtunistan is already being born across the strategic corridor straddling eastern Afghanistan and western Pakistan. If the Pakistani Taliban and their Pashtun allies manage to establish full control, with or without jihadi support, an Islamic emirate will for all practical purposes be constituted......"
Is Obama's Iran policy doomed?
By Dilip Hiro
Asia Times
"China has a massive investment in Iranian energy and is willing to supply gasoline to that country in the face of United States threats of sanctions. The attitude of China - and Russia - towards Tehran's nuclear plans also varies radically from Washington's. In the face of this, US President Barack Obama's current Iran policy is unlikely to work...."
Asia Times
"China has a massive investment in Iranian energy and is willing to supply gasoline to that country in the face of United States threats of sanctions. The attitude of China - and Russia - towards Tehran's nuclear plans also varies radically from Washington's. In the face of this, US President Barack Obama's current Iran policy is unlikely to work...."
Scott Ritter on Afghanistan: Don’t Believe the Hype
Scott Ritter
"Is the war in Afghanistan worth the sacrifice of even one American life? Former U.N. weapons inspector Scott Ritter says, “No! And to date no one has articulated anything that remotely resembles a cause worthy of the death of even one American—let alone the hundreds who have already lost their lives.”
Our podcast conversation with Scott Ritter was alarming, because it reminded me of his warnings before the Iraq war. He told me on the phone in March 2003 that there were no weapons of mass destruction and that we were going to war without cause. It was his tone and logic that I remember most about that day on the phone. I heard that tone again as we talked about the current conflict in Afghanistan....."
"Is the war in Afghanistan worth the sacrifice of even one American life? Former U.N. weapons inspector Scott Ritter says, “No! And to date no one has articulated anything that remotely resembles a cause worthy of the death of even one American—let alone the hundreds who have already lost their lives.”
Our podcast conversation with Scott Ritter was alarming, because it reminded me of his warnings before the Iraq war. He told me on the phone in March 2003 that there were no weapons of mass destruction and that we were going to war without cause. It was his tone and logic that I remember most about that day on the phone. I heard that tone again as we talked about the current conflict in Afghanistan....."
Peres Calls Abbas to Discuss Resumption of Peace Talks
Al-Manar
"05/11/2009 Israeli President Shimon Peres called Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas Wednesday to discuss efforts to restart the peace process.
Sources said Peres asked Abbas to agree to resume negotiations with Israel and to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Officials at the Israeli President's Residence refused to comment on the report.
Netanyahu told the security cabinet Wednesday that Israel aims to resume talks shortly....."
"05/11/2009 Israeli President Shimon Peres called Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas Wednesday to discuss efforts to restart the peace process.
Sources said Peres asked Abbas to agree to resume negotiations with Israel and to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Officials at the Israeli President's Residence refused to comment on the report.
Netanyahu told the security cabinet Wednesday that Israel aims to resume talks shortly....."
Palestinian Women Suffer as Israel Violates CEDAW
By Mel Frykberg
"RAMALLAH, Nov 5 (IPS) - Palestinian women continue to suffer abuse and denial of basic human rights at the hands of Israeli settlers and soldiers in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
This is in flagrant violation of Israel’s obligations as a signatory to the UN Convention of the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). CEDAW is the first international human rights treaty devoted to the rights of women.....
In the report WCLAC says women and children bear specific consequences of the Israeli occupation.
"The Israeli occupation impacts on the lives of Palestinian women at every juncture. From sexual harassment and assault, discriminatory treatment of Palestinian female prisoners to being forced to give birth at Israeli checkpoints," Dima Nashashibi from WCLAC told IPS.......
Giving birth in the occupied territories can be a deadly game of Russian Roulette. "We are continuing to have cases of Palestinian women being forced to give birth at Israeli checkpoints," says Mutasem Awad from The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) in Ramallah.....
The more than 600 Israeli checkpoints and roadblocks, which cripple Palestinian movement in the West Bank, have also adversely affected the education of female students.
Female students in this conservative society, in greater numbers than males, prefer to stay at home to avoid being harassed and humiliated or exposed to attack at the checkpoints.
Palestinian women and children in East Jerusalem have also been subjected to home evictions and violence by Israeli security forces and settlers as well as threats of sexual assault......"
"RAMALLAH, Nov 5 (IPS) - Palestinian women continue to suffer abuse and denial of basic human rights at the hands of Israeli settlers and soldiers in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
This is in flagrant violation of Israel’s obligations as a signatory to the UN Convention of the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). CEDAW is the first international human rights treaty devoted to the rights of women.....
In the report WCLAC says women and children bear specific consequences of the Israeli occupation.
"The Israeli occupation impacts on the lives of Palestinian women at every juncture. From sexual harassment and assault, discriminatory treatment of Palestinian female prisoners to being forced to give birth at Israeli checkpoints," Dima Nashashibi from WCLAC told IPS.......
Giving birth in the occupied territories can be a deadly game of Russian Roulette. "We are continuing to have cases of Palestinian women being forced to give birth at Israeli checkpoints," says Mutasem Awad from The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) in Ramallah.....
The more than 600 Israeli checkpoints and roadblocks, which cripple Palestinian movement in the West Bank, have also adversely affected the education of female students.
Female students in this conservative society, in greater numbers than males, prefer to stay at home to avoid being harassed and humiliated or exposed to attack at the checkpoints.
Palestinian women and children in East Jerusalem have also been subjected to home evictions and violence by Israeli security forces and settlers as well as threats of sexual assault......"
U.S.: Congress Out of Step with Public on Intl Law?
By Eli Clifton
"WASHINGTON, Nov 4 (IPS) - The U.S. House of Representatives passed a non-binding resolution Tuesday condemning the Goldstone Report on Israeli and Hamas actions taking during the Gaza War as "irredeemably biased" against Israel and calling on U.S. President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to oppose any consideration of the report in multilateral fora, such as the United Nations.
But a poll released just the day before found that a large majority of U.S. citizens believe the U.S. should abide by international laws and view the international legal system favourably......."
"WASHINGTON, Nov 4 (IPS) - The U.S. House of Representatives passed a non-binding resolution Tuesday condemning the Goldstone Report on Israeli and Hamas actions taking during the Gaza War as "irredeemably biased" against Israel and calling on U.S. President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to oppose any consideration of the report in multilateral fora, such as the United Nations.
But a poll released just the day before found that a large majority of U.S. citizens believe the U.S. should abide by international laws and view the international legal system favourably......."
Hamas Wants Britain to Make Amends.....Dream on Hamas!
By Stuart Littlewood - London
Palestine Chronicle
"Hamas marked the 92nd anniversary of the infamous Balfour Declaration by recalling the misery of the 1948 Nakba (Catastrophe) and insisting that European states in general and Britain in particular make amends for the crimes committed against Palestine.
It is worth reminding ourselves from time to time what started the trouble all those years ago. Arabs know the details only too well, but you would be surprised how the British people are kept in ignorance. The history of the Arab-Israeli struggle is seldom taught in schools and our politicians are afraid to talk freely about it......"
"Hamas marked the 92nd anniversary of the infamous Balfour Declaration by recalling the misery of the 1948 Nakba (Catastrophe) and insisting that European states in general and Britain in particular make amends for the crimes committed against Palestine.
It is worth reminding ourselves from time to time what started the trouble all those years ago. Arabs know the details only too well, but you would be surprised how the British people are kept in ignorance. The history of the Arab-Israeli struggle is seldom taught in schools and our politicians are afraid to talk freely about it......"
Hollow Victory
According to the Republicans, the United States is once again at the crossroads of losing another critical war because of feckless Democrats. Only this time it's Afghanistan.
BY JOHN J. MEARSHEIMER
Foreign Policy
"....
The real tragedy of Vietnam is not that the United States lost, but that it became involved in the first place. It pains me to say this as someone who served in the American military from 1965 to 1975, but the anti-war movement was right: It did not matter to U.S. security whether North Vietnam conquered the south and unified that country under communist rule. More than 58,000 American soldiers and more than 2 million Vietnamese died in an unnecessary and foolish war.
A similar logic applies today with regard to Afghanistan. The Republicans and General McChrystal claim that it is absolutely necessary to win the war in Afghanistan for the simple reason that a Taliban victory will allow al Qaeda to re-establish a sanctuary in Afghanistan.....
In Afghanistan, as in Vietnam, it simply does not matter whether the United States wins or loses. It makes no sense for the Obama administration to expend more blood and treasure to vanquish the Taliban. The United States should accept defeat and immediately begin to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan.
Of course, President Obama will never do such a thing. Instead, he will increase the American commitment to Afghanistan, just as Lyndon Johnson did in Vietnam in 1965. The driving force in both cases is domestic politics. Johnson felt that he had to escalate the fight in Vietnam because otherwise the Republicans would lambaste him for "losing Vietnam," the same way they accused President Harry Truman of "losing China" in the late 1940s.
Obama and his fellow Democrats know full well that if the United States walks away from Afghanistan now, the Republicans will accuse them of capitulating to terrorism and undermining our security. And this charge will be leveled at them for decades to come, harming Democrats at the polls come election time. The Democrats have no intention of letting that happen.
The United States is in Afghanistan for the long haul. As was the case in Vietnam, more American soldiers and many more civilians are going to die in Afghanistan. And for no good reason."
A Manifesto for X Street
by Philip Giraldi, November 05, 2009
"It has been an interesting week. President Barack Obama is about to approve a strategy of holding urban centers in Afghanistan while surrendering the rest of the country to the Taliban. Someone should tell him that something like that called "strategic hamlets" was tried and failed in Vietnam. Meanwhile Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu tells Obama to go to hell on freezing settlements so Secretary of State Hillary Clinton rewards him by praising his "unprecedented concessions" and blames the Palestinians for not talking peace. Congress also demonstrated that it knows who to blame by overwhelmingly passing a resolution condemning the UN’s Goldstone report which documented Israeli atrocities in Gaza last January. And there have also been more harsh words and resolutions coming out of Washington about Iran from numerous parties, heightening concerns that another war is coming.
It’s not exactly the change that we Americans voted for a year ago, is it?........."
"It has been an interesting week. President Barack Obama is about to approve a strategy of holding urban centers in Afghanistan while surrendering the rest of the country to the Taliban. Someone should tell him that something like that called "strategic hamlets" was tried and failed in Vietnam. Meanwhile Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu tells Obama to go to hell on freezing settlements so Secretary of State Hillary Clinton rewards him by praising his "unprecedented concessions" and blames the Palestinians for not talking peace. Congress also demonstrated that it knows who to blame by overwhelmingly passing a resolution condemning the UN’s Goldstone report which documented Israeli atrocities in Gaza last January. And there have also been more harsh words and resolutions coming out of Washington about Iran from numerous parties, heightening concerns that another war is coming.
It’s not exactly the change that we Americans voted for a year ago, is it?........."
قرصنة اسرائيلية
قرصنة اسرائيلية
عبد الباري عطوان
"ان تعترض قوات كوماندوز اسرائيلية سفينة متجهة الى سورية، وبغض النظر عن حمولتها، فهذا يشكل عملاً من اعمال القرصنة، وانتهاكاً للقانون الدولي، وبما يصب في نهاية المطاف في مصلحة تشريع الارهاب، وتوسيع دائرته، وزعزعة استقرار المنطقة والعالم بأسره ايضاً.
نقل شحنات اسلحة من ايران الى سورية امر منطقي، تماماً مثله مثل نقل اسلحة من موسكو الى ايران او صربيا او سورية، فلا يوجد نص في القانون الدولي يحرّم هذه المسألة، والا كيف جرى تسليح جيوش اكثر من مئتي دولة عضو في الامم المتحدة، وكيف بلغت مبيعات السلاح العالمية اكثر من مئة مليار دولار سنوياً، تحتل اسرائيل المرتبة الرابعة على قائمة الدول المصدرة للأسلحة؟
اسرائيل تعطي لنفسها الحق في بناء صناعة عسكرية متطورة، تقليدية ونووية، وتصدير انتاجها التدميري الى مختلف دول العالم الراغبة في الشراء، بما في ذلك الهند والصين، حتى ان افيغدور ليبرمان وزير الخارجية الاسرائيلي اصطحب معه عشرة ممثلين لهذه الصناعة اثناء جولته الافريقية الاخيرة، التي شملت دول منابع النيل، لتسليح هذه الدول وتحريضها على تحويل مياه النيل باقامة سدود قد تقلص من حصة مصر مستقبلاً، ولكنها تعمل في الوقت نفسه على مصادرة حق الدفاع عن النفس بالنسبة للآخرين، والعرب على وجه الخصوص.
اعمال القرصنة الاسرائيلية، البحرية والجوية والارضية، كثيرة يتعذر سردها في هذا المكان، وكلها تتم في وضح النهار ودون اي اعتراض دولي، خاصة من الدول التي تدعي الانتماء الى العالم الديمقراطي الحر، ولكننا نرى مؤتمرات دولية، وتنسيقات عسكرية، وتجريماً غير مسبوق لجوعى صوماليين يقدمون على خطف سفن، بطريقة بدائية، من اجل الحصول على فديات مالية، بعد ان دمر الغرب المتحضر دولتهم، وحوّلها الى دولة فاشلة.
هذه هي المرة الثانية في اقل من ستة اشهر تقدم فيها اسرائيل على التحرش بسورية، وتتعمد استفزازها بطريقة مهينة. ففي المرة الاولى ارسلت طائراتها لتدمير موقع عسكري في منطقة الكبر في الشمال الشرقي (قرب دير الزور) تحت ذريعة انه معمل نووي قيد الانشاء بمساعدة كورية شمالية، وها هي تعترض سفينة متجهة الى أحد الموانئ السورية.
لم نسمع اي رد فعل سوري على اعمال القرصنة هذه، وربما لن نسمع، فالسوريون مقتّرون في الحديث عن مثل هذه الاعتداءات الاسرائيلية، على عكس القضايا الأخرى، ولكن الصمت لا يفيدهم في هذه الحالة، بل ربما يعطي نتائج عكسية تماماً، فقد بدأ السوريون، والعرب جميعاً من خلفهم، يشعرون بحرج كبير من جراء تواصل مثل هذه الاهانات وغياب اي رد عليها بطريقة او اخرى.
' ' '
اسرائيل تستعد للحرب لاستعادة ما تبقى من كرامتها المهدورة بعد هزيمة قواتها اثناء حرب لبنان صيف عام 2006، وللخروج من ازماتها الحالية، وعزلتها الدولية، وتصاعد الكراهية لها عالمياً، بعد مجازرها في قطاع غزة، وادانتها بارتكاب جرائم حرب من قبل تقرير غولدستون الاممي، ولهذا لن يكون مستبعداً ان تحاول خلط الاوراق من خلال عدوان مزدوج على لبنان وقطاع غزة، لجر سورية وايران الى حرب اكثر اتساعاً. ولهذا لا تريد وصول اي اسلحة جديدة، وخاصة صواريخ مضادة للطائرات، الى حزب الله حتى تظل الاجواء اللبنانية مرتعاً لها 'تتبختر' فيها طائراتها الحربية دون اي ازعاج.
وما يجعلنا نرجح هذا الافتراض عدة أمور:
اولا: مفاوضات الغرب مع ايران حول برنامجها النووي ووقف تخصيبها اليورانيوم وصلت الى طريق مسدود، ورفض المرشد الاعلى السيد علي خامنئي للمقترح الغربي المقدم اثناء محادثات فيينا بنقل اليورانيوم الايراني منخفض التخصيب الى روسيا وفرنسا يعــــني ان ايران ماضية قدماً في مشاريعها النووية، وان لا خيار امام الغرب، والولايات المتحدة، غير القبول بهذه المشاريع والتعايش معها، او مواجهتها بحصار اقتصادي خانق، او هجمات عسكرية، او الاثنين معاً.
ثانيا: منذ اشهر و'الخبراء' الاسرائيليون يتحدثون عن نقل سورية مخزونها من الاسلحة الى حزب الله في لبنان، ونجاح حركة 'حماس' في قطاع غزة بتطوير قذائف صاروخية يصل مداها الى مدينة تل ابيب، الامر الذي يجعل من اجتياح القطاع مسألة حتمية، بسبب التهديد الخطير الذي يشكله امتلاك 'حماس' لمثل هذه القذائف الصاروخية.
ثالثا: حدوث انقلاب في الموقف الامريكي تجاه العرب والمسيرة السلمية، عبرت عنه السيدة هيلاري كلينتون وزيرة الخارجية اثناء جولتها الاخيرة في المنطقة، بتأييدها غير المتحفظ لخطط نتنياهو الاستيطانية، وتخليها عن شرط تجميد البناء في المستوطنات لاستئناف المفاوضات والعملية السلمية بالتالي. فهذا الانقلاب يعني ان ادارة اوباما بدأت تعطي اولوية للبرنامج النووي الايراني، وتتبنى وجهات النظر الاسرائيلية المطالبة بازالته بالقوة العسكرية.
' ' '
العرب، ونحن نتحدث هنا عن الانظمة، منقسمون حالياً الى ثلاثة معسكرات رئيسية: الاول يؤيد بالكامل الموقف الامريكي، والاسرائيلي بالتالي، بتدمير اي طموحات نووية ايرانية، ويفضل هذا المعسكر الوسائل العسكرية. والثاني يتحالف مع ايران (سورية) ويقف في خندقها علناً، وينسق معها سياسياً وعسكرياً. والمعسكر الثالث يضم مجموعة من الدول التي لا تريد اي دور عربي في مواجهة اسرائيل او غيرها، بعضها بحجة الإتجاه افريقياً، والبعض الآخر بحجج التركيز على التنمية، والبعض الثالث بحجة عدم اغضاب امريكا، وهكذا.
غياب الفعل العربي، واتباع السلام كاستراتيجية وحيدة، واسقاط جميع الخيارات الاخرى، ولو نظرياً، هو الذي أدى الى تشجيع هذه العربدة الاسرائيلية وتغوّلها، مثلما نرى حالياً.
السيد عمرو موسى امين عام جامعة الدول العربية قال لنا اثناء انعقاد مؤتمر القمة الاقتصادية في الكويت، ان مبادرة السلام العربية لن تظل مطروحة الى الابد، وانه سيتولى 'شخصيا' البحث عن بدائل اخرى لمواجهة الرفض الاسرائيلي المهين لها.
لا نعرف ما اذا كان السيد موسى يبحث عن هذه البدائل، ام انه نسيها، مثلما نسي والزعماء العرب الآخرون، شيئاً اسمه الكرامة العربية المهدورة امام هذه الاستفزازات الاسرائيلية المتكررة.
لا نتوقع رداً رسمياً عربياً على اعتراض اسرائيل لسفينة الاسلحة المزعومة هذه، فقد اعتدت اسرائيل على لبنان وقطاع غزة ولم يتحرك احد، وخطفت سفينة تقل نشطاء دوليين من المياه الاقليمية المصرية كانت في طريقها لكسر الحصار على غزة، وجاء الرد المصري على هذه الاهانة بتدمير المزيد من الانفاق، وتشديد الحصار اكثر على قطاع غزة، فانتهاك السفن الحربية الاسرائيلية للمياه الاقليمية المصرية امر عادي، لكن محاولة افريقي جائع التسلل الى اسرائيل عبر الحدود مع سيناء فأمر خطير، عقابه القتل رمياً بالرصاص.
السؤال الذي يتبادر الى ذهني وربما ذهن الملايين من العرب الآخرين هو متى ستستطيع الحكومات العربية التصدي لمثل هذه الاختراقات الفاضحة لسيادتها واجوائها؟ وهل سيأتي اليوم الذي نرى فيه فرق كوماندوز عربية تتصدى الى سفن تحمل اسلحة الى اسرائيل في عرض البحر وتقودها الى الموانئ العربية لتفتيشها لانها تنقل هذه الاسلحة لدولة معتدية تحتل اراضي عربية، وترتكب جرائم حرب في حق عرب ومسلمين ابرياء.
"
عبد الباري عطوان
"ان تعترض قوات كوماندوز اسرائيلية سفينة متجهة الى سورية، وبغض النظر عن حمولتها، فهذا يشكل عملاً من اعمال القرصنة، وانتهاكاً للقانون الدولي، وبما يصب في نهاية المطاف في مصلحة تشريع الارهاب، وتوسيع دائرته، وزعزعة استقرار المنطقة والعالم بأسره ايضاً.
نقل شحنات اسلحة من ايران الى سورية امر منطقي، تماماً مثله مثل نقل اسلحة من موسكو الى ايران او صربيا او سورية، فلا يوجد نص في القانون الدولي يحرّم هذه المسألة، والا كيف جرى تسليح جيوش اكثر من مئتي دولة عضو في الامم المتحدة، وكيف بلغت مبيعات السلاح العالمية اكثر من مئة مليار دولار سنوياً، تحتل اسرائيل المرتبة الرابعة على قائمة الدول المصدرة للأسلحة؟
اسرائيل تعطي لنفسها الحق في بناء صناعة عسكرية متطورة، تقليدية ونووية، وتصدير انتاجها التدميري الى مختلف دول العالم الراغبة في الشراء، بما في ذلك الهند والصين، حتى ان افيغدور ليبرمان وزير الخارجية الاسرائيلي اصطحب معه عشرة ممثلين لهذه الصناعة اثناء جولته الافريقية الاخيرة، التي شملت دول منابع النيل، لتسليح هذه الدول وتحريضها على تحويل مياه النيل باقامة سدود قد تقلص من حصة مصر مستقبلاً، ولكنها تعمل في الوقت نفسه على مصادرة حق الدفاع عن النفس بالنسبة للآخرين، والعرب على وجه الخصوص.
اعمال القرصنة الاسرائيلية، البحرية والجوية والارضية، كثيرة يتعذر سردها في هذا المكان، وكلها تتم في وضح النهار ودون اي اعتراض دولي، خاصة من الدول التي تدعي الانتماء الى العالم الديمقراطي الحر، ولكننا نرى مؤتمرات دولية، وتنسيقات عسكرية، وتجريماً غير مسبوق لجوعى صوماليين يقدمون على خطف سفن، بطريقة بدائية، من اجل الحصول على فديات مالية، بعد ان دمر الغرب المتحضر دولتهم، وحوّلها الى دولة فاشلة.
هذه هي المرة الثانية في اقل من ستة اشهر تقدم فيها اسرائيل على التحرش بسورية، وتتعمد استفزازها بطريقة مهينة. ففي المرة الاولى ارسلت طائراتها لتدمير موقع عسكري في منطقة الكبر في الشمال الشرقي (قرب دير الزور) تحت ذريعة انه معمل نووي قيد الانشاء بمساعدة كورية شمالية، وها هي تعترض سفينة متجهة الى أحد الموانئ السورية.
لم نسمع اي رد فعل سوري على اعمال القرصنة هذه، وربما لن نسمع، فالسوريون مقتّرون في الحديث عن مثل هذه الاعتداءات الاسرائيلية، على عكس القضايا الأخرى، ولكن الصمت لا يفيدهم في هذه الحالة، بل ربما يعطي نتائج عكسية تماماً، فقد بدأ السوريون، والعرب جميعاً من خلفهم، يشعرون بحرج كبير من جراء تواصل مثل هذه الاهانات وغياب اي رد عليها بطريقة او اخرى.
' ' '
اسرائيل تستعد للحرب لاستعادة ما تبقى من كرامتها المهدورة بعد هزيمة قواتها اثناء حرب لبنان صيف عام 2006، وللخروج من ازماتها الحالية، وعزلتها الدولية، وتصاعد الكراهية لها عالمياً، بعد مجازرها في قطاع غزة، وادانتها بارتكاب جرائم حرب من قبل تقرير غولدستون الاممي، ولهذا لن يكون مستبعداً ان تحاول خلط الاوراق من خلال عدوان مزدوج على لبنان وقطاع غزة، لجر سورية وايران الى حرب اكثر اتساعاً. ولهذا لا تريد وصول اي اسلحة جديدة، وخاصة صواريخ مضادة للطائرات، الى حزب الله حتى تظل الاجواء اللبنانية مرتعاً لها 'تتبختر' فيها طائراتها الحربية دون اي ازعاج.
وما يجعلنا نرجح هذا الافتراض عدة أمور:
اولا: مفاوضات الغرب مع ايران حول برنامجها النووي ووقف تخصيبها اليورانيوم وصلت الى طريق مسدود، ورفض المرشد الاعلى السيد علي خامنئي للمقترح الغربي المقدم اثناء محادثات فيينا بنقل اليورانيوم الايراني منخفض التخصيب الى روسيا وفرنسا يعــــني ان ايران ماضية قدماً في مشاريعها النووية، وان لا خيار امام الغرب، والولايات المتحدة، غير القبول بهذه المشاريع والتعايش معها، او مواجهتها بحصار اقتصادي خانق، او هجمات عسكرية، او الاثنين معاً.
ثانيا: منذ اشهر و'الخبراء' الاسرائيليون يتحدثون عن نقل سورية مخزونها من الاسلحة الى حزب الله في لبنان، ونجاح حركة 'حماس' في قطاع غزة بتطوير قذائف صاروخية يصل مداها الى مدينة تل ابيب، الامر الذي يجعل من اجتياح القطاع مسألة حتمية، بسبب التهديد الخطير الذي يشكله امتلاك 'حماس' لمثل هذه القذائف الصاروخية.
ثالثا: حدوث انقلاب في الموقف الامريكي تجاه العرب والمسيرة السلمية، عبرت عنه السيدة هيلاري كلينتون وزيرة الخارجية اثناء جولتها الاخيرة في المنطقة، بتأييدها غير المتحفظ لخطط نتنياهو الاستيطانية، وتخليها عن شرط تجميد البناء في المستوطنات لاستئناف المفاوضات والعملية السلمية بالتالي. فهذا الانقلاب يعني ان ادارة اوباما بدأت تعطي اولوية للبرنامج النووي الايراني، وتتبنى وجهات النظر الاسرائيلية المطالبة بازالته بالقوة العسكرية.
' ' '
العرب، ونحن نتحدث هنا عن الانظمة، منقسمون حالياً الى ثلاثة معسكرات رئيسية: الاول يؤيد بالكامل الموقف الامريكي، والاسرائيلي بالتالي، بتدمير اي طموحات نووية ايرانية، ويفضل هذا المعسكر الوسائل العسكرية. والثاني يتحالف مع ايران (سورية) ويقف في خندقها علناً، وينسق معها سياسياً وعسكرياً. والمعسكر الثالث يضم مجموعة من الدول التي لا تريد اي دور عربي في مواجهة اسرائيل او غيرها، بعضها بحجة الإتجاه افريقياً، والبعض الآخر بحجج التركيز على التنمية، والبعض الثالث بحجة عدم اغضاب امريكا، وهكذا.
غياب الفعل العربي، واتباع السلام كاستراتيجية وحيدة، واسقاط جميع الخيارات الاخرى، ولو نظرياً، هو الذي أدى الى تشجيع هذه العربدة الاسرائيلية وتغوّلها، مثلما نرى حالياً.
السيد عمرو موسى امين عام جامعة الدول العربية قال لنا اثناء انعقاد مؤتمر القمة الاقتصادية في الكويت، ان مبادرة السلام العربية لن تظل مطروحة الى الابد، وانه سيتولى 'شخصيا' البحث عن بدائل اخرى لمواجهة الرفض الاسرائيلي المهين لها.
لا نعرف ما اذا كان السيد موسى يبحث عن هذه البدائل، ام انه نسيها، مثلما نسي والزعماء العرب الآخرون، شيئاً اسمه الكرامة العربية المهدورة امام هذه الاستفزازات الاسرائيلية المتكررة.
لا نتوقع رداً رسمياً عربياً على اعتراض اسرائيل لسفينة الاسلحة المزعومة هذه، فقد اعتدت اسرائيل على لبنان وقطاع غزة ولم يتحرك احد، وخطفت سفينة تقل نشطاء دوليين من المياه الاقليمية المصرية كانت في طريقها لكسر الحصار على غزة، وجاء الرد المصري على هذه الاهانة بتدمير المزيد من الانفاق، وتشديد الحصار اكثر على قطاع غزة، فانتهاك السفن الحربية الاسرائيلية للمياه الاقليمية المصرية امر عادي، لكن محاولة افريقي جائع التسلل الى اسرائيل عبر الحدود مع سيناء فأمر خطير، عقابه القتل رمياً بالرصاص.
السؤال الذي يتبادر الى ذهني وربما ذهن الملايين من العرب الآخرين هو متى ستستطيع الحكومات العربية التصدي لمثل هذه الاختراقات الفاضحة لسيادتها واجوائها؟ وهل سيأتي اليوم الذي نرى فيه فرق كوماندوز عربية تتصدى الى سفن تحمل اسلحة الى اسرائيل في عرض البحر وتقودها الى الموانئ العربية لتفتيشها لانها تنقل هذه الاسلحة لدولة معتدية تحتل اراضي عربية، وترتكب جرائم حرب في حق عرب ومسلمين ابرياء.
"
Deaths bring whole Afghan strategy into question
Analysis by Patrick Cockburn
"I was in an office in Kabul this summer being lectured by a mid-ranking official about the successful work of the government. "Completely off the record, what do you really think of this government?" I asked him, not expecting a very interesting reply.
"So long as you promise not to reveal my identity, I can tell you that this government is made up of killers and crooks," answered the official with scarcely a pause. He gave some examples of government-inspired killings and corruption....."
"I was in an office in Kabul this summer being lectured by a mid-ranking official about the successful work of the government. "Completely off the record, what do you really think of this government?" I asked him, not expecting a very interesting reply.
"So long as you promise not to reveal my identity, I can tell you that this government is made up of killers and crooks," answered the official with scarcely a pause. He gave some examples of government-inspired killings and corruption....."
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Deja Vu All Over Again! Hamas casts vote for peace with eye on polls
The group's changed view on US support is an attempt to present itself as the new interlocutor that can help Washington make headway in the Palestinian territories
A Very Revealing Article
By Sami Moubayed
(Sami Moubayed is editor-in-chief of Forward Magazine in Syria. He is close to the Syrian regime)
Special to Gulf News
Published: 00:00 November 3, 2009
"Speaking to a delegation of American doctors visiting the Gaza Strip on October 29, Hamas Prime Minister Esmail Haniya acknowledged an "optimistic mood" in the region, thanks to the Obama Administration.
He commended "Obama's new language" and called for direct dialogue between Hamas and the US — words that sent shockwaves throughout the upper echelons of power in the Fatah-controlled West Bank.
Haniya added, "We are for peace [with the Israelis], not against it," adding that the Palestinians are looking for "real support" from Obama.
These strong words — a U-turn on the behalf of Hamas —.......
Haniya is clearly trying to market himself and his party as new interlocutors for the United States in the Occupied Territories. He believes that after the Goldstone Report scandal, which turned Palestinian public opinion against Abbas, Fatah's ability to unify its rank and consolidate its power is shrinking to comically low levels.
Although still an unspoken truth, many powers in the West — the US included — have concluded that Abbas and his team can no longer deliver, neither on nation-building nor on peace, and have lost what remains of the credibility bequeathed to them by Yasser Arafat. If the US wants to reach any solution on the Palestine-Israeli conflict, it has to engage directly with Hamas.
The scenario clear in Haniya's mind is that of Arafat's 1987 dialogue with the United States, which he hopes to repeat with Obama. After decades of being treated as an outlaw and terrorist, Arafat had been eager to open direct contact with the incoming administration of Ronald Reagan. He agreed to deliver a speech the Americans dictated to him, via George Shultz, at a UN meeting in Geneva, denouncing all kinds of terrorism as a condition for engagement between Fatah and the US......
Hamas hopes that by stating its willingness to engage with the US, just like Arafat did 22 years ago, someone as pragmatic as Obama will jump at the opportunity to engage with Hamas......
What Haniya was saying was: "Ditch Abbas and come deal with us, instead, as the legitimate representatives of the Palestinians. You can do business with us and we are both ready and willing to sit down and talk with the US."
It is a big departure for a man who not only refused to deal with the US but also sought to restore all of the 1948 areas to Palestinians and entirely destroy the state of Israel. Haniya is the face of a Hamas that has become wiser with age, more pragmatic in its outreach thanks to the trappings of power.
Hamas leaders want to be recognised as statesmen, rather than guerrilla fighters, and nothing would grant them de facto recognition in Gaza better than direct talks with the United States....."
A Very Revealing Article
By Sami Moubayed
(Sami Moubayed is editor-in-chief of Forward Magazine in Syria. He is close to the Syrian regime)
Special to Gulf News
Published: 00:00 November 3, 2009
"Speaking to a delegation of American doctors visiting the Gaza Strip on October 29, Hamas Prime Minister Esmail Haniya acknowledged an "optimistic mood" in the region, thanks to the Obama Administration.
He commended "Obama's new language" and called for direct dialogue between Hamas and the US — words that sent shockwaves throughout the upper echelons of power in the Fatah-controlled West Bank.
Haniya added, "We are for peace [with the Israelis], not against it," adding that the Palestinians are looking for "real support" from Obama.
These strong words — a U-turn on the behalf of Hamas —.......
Haniya is clearly trying to market himself and his party as new interlocutors for the United States in the Occupied Territories. He believes that after the Goldstone Report scandal, which turned Palestinian public opinion against Abbas, Fatah's ability to unify its rank and consolidate its power is shrinking to comically low levels.
Although still an unspoken truth, many powers in the West — the US included — have concluded that Abbas and his team can no longer deliver, neither on nation-building nor on peace, and have lost what remains of the credibility bequeathed to them by Yasser Arafat. If the US wants to reach any solution on the Palestine-Israeli conflict, it has to engage directly with Hamas.
The scenario clear in Haniya's mind is that of Arafat's 1987 dialogue with the United States, which he hopes to repeat with Obama. After decades of being treated as an outlaw and terrorist, Arafat had been eager to open direct contact with the incoming administration of Ronald Reagan. He agreed to deliver a speech the Americans dictated to him, via George Shultz, at a UN meeting in Geneva, denouncing all kinds of terrorism as a condition for engagement between Fatah and the US......
Hamas hopes that by stating its willingness to engage with the US, just like Arafat did 22 years ago, someone as pragmatic as Obama will jump at the opportunity to engage with Hamas......
What Haniya was saying was: "Ditch Abbas and come deal with us, instead, as the legitimate representatives of the Palestinians. You can do business with us and we are both ready and willing to sit down and talk with the US."
It is a big departure for a man who not only refused to deal with the US but also sought to restore all of the 1948 areas to Palestinians and entirely destroy the state of Israel. Haniya is the face of a Hamas that has become wiser with age, more pragmatic in its outreach thanks to the trappings of power.
Hamas leaders want to be recognised as statesmen, rather than guerrilla fighters, and nothing would grant them de facto recognition in Gaza better than direct talks with the United States....."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)