Why Not Hamas?

The answer to Israel’s strategic dilemma may reside in Gaza.

Efraim Halevy
(Efraim Halevy is head of the Center for Strategic and Policy Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He served as head of the Mossad from 1998 to 2002, and he was national security adviser to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in 2002-2003.)

Via Angry Arab

"Under the current circumstances—with the destructive gamesmanship of the Palestinian Authority and the stagnation in Gaza—the time has surely come to explore a new relationship with Hamas. Attempts to penalize the group with exclusion have failed; perhaps, the time has come for a strategy that co-opts Hamas....Right now, the decaying Palestinian administration in Ramallah doesn’t have the credibility to survive the rigors of negotiations, let alone the implementation of an agreement. Abu Mazen can only speak in the name of the West Bank, and recent events have shown that his mandate there is (at best) fragile....

Hamas has demonstrated a will and a capacity to think and act pragmatically when it believes it useful or necessary. There’s no better example of this than its governance of Gaza. Yes, it continues to play the role of peace-process spoiler when that role suits its interests. But Hamas has also demonstrated a serious capacity to exercise responsibility and restraint when that role suits its purposes. It has demonstrated its ability to control Gaza effectively, to both enforce a long-term cessation of hostilities....

...But the more that Hamas is permitted inside the tent, the better the prospects of a modest (yet historic) success. Of course, there will be those who say this is impossible. They will say Hamas is inhuman, and why would the Iranians ever allow this? The answer is that Fatah hardly behaves much better than Hamas. Besides, Fatah has limited ability to deliver any sort of peace without the consent of Hamas. As far as the Iranians go, once you start talking with Hamas, you soon discover how much they hate the guts of those renegade Shiites in Tehran....."

Real News Video: Helen Thomas on her one question for Obama

DC's most experienced journalist says Obama lost credibility when he dodged question on Israeli nukes



"In part one of his interview with Helen Thomas, longest-serving member of the White House Press Corps, Paul Jay asks her about her first question for President Obama. The question, asking President Obama to name all the countries in the Middle-East that have nuclear weapons, was avoided by the President, who claimed to not want to "speculate". Thomas claims that knowledge of Israeli nukes is very public in DC and Obama's answer shows a lack of credibility. She explains the importance of this question for U.S. policy in the region. Finally, she confides that she has not been called on by the President since that day, but that if she does, she will ask him whether or not he has found any more information about nukes in the Middle-East since their last encounter."

لن نسكت: فليسقط النظام اللبناني

بيان صادر عن تجمّع المدونين في لبنان

خضر سلامة

"أحب القصص الخرافية، كقصص الساحرات والأقزام والجن، وقصص الحرية العربية! ومن هذه القصص، قصة الحرية في لبنان، لدينا رئيس جمهورية، مجلس نواب، حكومة.. لا ينقصنا إلا… دولة! دولة تضمن حقوقاً مدنية، تضمن قداسة أكبر من قداسة الرئاسة وهيبة الجيش وقداسة الطوائف، قداسة يقال لها: حرية التعبير، تكون خارج مصيدة القانون البدوي للمطبوعات والإعلام، وخارج قناع ديكتاتورية المذاهب والمصارف والمخافر، حرية تعبيرٍ على حجم القرن الواحد والعشرين، لا على حجم جزمة ظابط، أو عمامة رجل دين.

يقال في كل العالم، أن ثمة ملاك حارس لكل مواطن، إلا في بلادنا، ثمة لكل مواطن مخبر حارس، لا أعرف من صاحب الفضل عليّ في أوّل استدعاءٍ رسميّ إلى مركز مخابرات عربية، بعد أن جربت الفرنسية سابقاً، ولكنني الآن أستطيع بوضوح أن أحدد مكمن الخلل في لبنان: لا عجب أن الأمن الوطني غير ممسوك، فالمخابرات اللبنانية مشغولة بمسك المواطن من أذنيه، كي لا يقلق نوم الرؤساء على جماجم الفقراء.

إنزعج بعض زبانية القصر الجمهوري البعيد عن أجواء عتمة المنازل ليلاً، وفراغ أمعاء الأطفال نهاراً، وعطالة نصف شبابنا عن العمل، إنزعجوا من بعض ما كتبت مدوناً، ربما كنت بحجة الغضب قاسياً في بعض مقالاتي، لاذعاً، ساخراً، وأحياناً كثيرة شاتماً، قيل لي في التحقيق ذلك، ولكن المؤسف، المضحك، أن المحقق لم يقل لي أني كنت مخطئا، فلان سرق، فلان قتل، فلان ذبح، فعلى ماذا أندم؟ ولماذا أعتذر؟ لا أعتذر. ثم بالله عليك يا زميلي في الجوع إلى الحرية، إلى الوطن، إلى الرغيف، أيها القارئ: علام أخاف؟ على أن يحرموني في الزنزانة نعمة التأمل في جمال الخريطة اللبنانية الآخذة في التصحر؟ أو على حريتي في قول ما أشاء كي تفعل بعدها سكاكين الطوائف وميليشياتها فيّ ما تشاء؟ أو أخاف على فرص العمل المفتوحة أمامي منذ سنين لحد الحيرة؟ إلى ماذا سأشتاق إذا حدث ما هُدِّدت به من ملاحقة قضائية؟ أأشتاق إلى وطنٍ مسروق معروض للبيع في سوق النخاسة المصرفية؟ أو أشتاق إلى مساحة رأيٍ يحدها من الشرق قضاءٌ أعوج ومن الغرب هراوة شرطي أهوج؟ أو أشتاق إلى أبٍ وأمٍ منشغلان عن عاطفة العائلة البدائية، بتأمين مصروف المنزل رغم سيف رب العمل المحمي من حكومة وحدةٍ متفقة على أكل أحلام الفقراء؟

قيل قديماً، لو كان الفقر رجلاً لقتلته، وأقول اليوم، لو كان في النظام اللبناني رجلاً واحداً، لقتلته! لو كان هناك رجلاً واحداً لا حاجة له أن يختبأ خلف أجهزة أمنية، أو خلف زعران طائفته، أو خلف مرجعية روحية، أو خلف تحريض مذهبي، كي يضمن استمرارية فساده السياسي، لكان ممكناً الحديث عن تفاهمٍ مع النظام، ولكن، هيهات! هذا النظام نظام فوضى، لا يمكن إصلاحه، لا يمكن التحاور معه، لا حل مع أنيابه إلا بتكسيرها، ولا معادلة رياضية تنفع مع أزلامه، إلا معادلة الضرب، بقلمٍ من حديد، لا يُكسَر!

إليك يا سيدي الظابط، يا صديقي المخبر، يا عزيزي العماد: الجندي الحقيقي، هو الذي يحييه المواطن احتراماً، لا خوفاً.


إلى الناشطين السياسيين والإعلاميين: إن خلاصة هذه المرحلة البذيئة، من قمع مظاهرة السفارة المصرية، إلى ملاحقة الصحفيين، وصولاً إلى استدعاء المدونين: في هذه البلاد، أجهزة الأمن تحرس أمن السفارات، والسفارات تلهو بأمن البلاد.

إلى المواطن العربي المريض سياسياً: لا تقلق إن كان ضغطك واطياً، ثمة أنظمةٌ وأجهزة بأمها وأبيها، من ساسها لراسها، واطية!
على الأشجار نكتب، على خشب البواريد ، على حيطان الزنازين ، على أعواد المشانق، على بلاط القبور، على عبسة جبين المخبر، على كلّ شيءٍ سنكتب، لنبقى أحراراً، ضد النظام، ضد الفوضى.

أخيراً: وزارة الجوع تحذّر: القمع والتهديد يؤديان إلى نتائج خطيرة ومميتة.
"

Our new facebook page

We now have a facebook page.
There's not much up yet, but please become a fan.

A picture of the child who didn't "exercise restraint" and got shot by Israeli thugs in Gaza

By Ali Abunimah

"The photo below, taken by Eva Bartlett in Gaza, and posted on Facebook, shows Said Hamdan, age 15, who was shot this morning in the Gaza Strip, by Israeli forces in a watchtower. Eva writes: "Said Hamdan, 15, went to near the northern border to collect scrap metal. Had he not been shot by the IOF [Israeli Occupation Forces], he might have earned 20 shekels, if lucky, to add to his incomeless family's needs. Seven brothers, five sisters, an unemployed father, and no prospect of work in Gaza under siege, Said went to where many other youths and men go daily to gather anything recyclable and sellable. It was his first day.".....
My question to Lady Ashton is this: what sort of "restraint" should Said have exercised to avoid being randomly shot by armed Israeli thugs in a watchtower? The fact is such shootings are a daily occurrence, and just because the *western* media do not report them, does not mean they don't happen. Said was "lucky." He survived....."

You Won't See This in an Arab Country: Thai Troops Retreat in Face of 80,000 Protesters

Al-Manar

"27/03/2010 Thai troops withdrew from several security posts in the capital Saturday, under pressure from some 80,000 red-shirted protesters who mounted a new rally to demand fresh elections.

The "Red Shirts" loyal to ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra targeted seven points where soldiers have been stationed during two weeks of street demonstrations, including the city's zoo and Buddhist temples.

In the face of the massive flag-waving crowds of protesters, who arrived in cars, on motorbikes and on foot, the military agreed to retreat from positions in Bangkok's old quarter where the Reds' main rally base is situated......"

EGYPT: Civil Society Sidelined Ahead of Elections

By Cam McGrath

"CAIRO, Mar 26, 2010 (IPS) - Egypt's ruling party is taking measures to restrict the work of non-governmental organisations ahead of crucial parliamentary elections.

"The future is very dark for us," says Nasser Amin, director of the Arab Centre for the Independence of the Judiciary and Legal Profession (ACIJLP). "The government will do anything to win the upcoming elections...and it will take aggressive action against anyone who participates, or monitors them.".....

A strong majority in parliament would help the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) secure its candidate in the presidential race, says Amin. "The government wants a secure legislative bloc so it can make constitutional changes before the presidential election."....

The Egyptian government may have a few more tricks up its sleeves. In 2004 it established the National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) to monitor and report on human rights. Critics say the council, whose 27 members are handpicked by the President, is window-dressing designed to gloss over human rights abuses and drown out criticism from independent rights groups.

The ruling party appears to be preparing several more of these government- operated non-governmental organisations, or 'GONGOs', to create the illusion of independent electoral oversight......."

Expect More From These Beasts......
Than the "Leaders" at the "Summit".....

On the streets of Pakistan, it's as if the sun hasn't set on the Raj

Like everything else here, the bigger your cortège, the more important you are

By Robert Fisk

".....There's a pecking order in all this, of course. Like everything in Pakistan, the bigger your cortège, the more important you are. In that order. Unlike The Independent's humble correspondent, these nabobs live in residence-fortresses, air-conditioned bunkers, seals of security which cut them off from the 150 million people of Pakistan as surely as the razor wire around their electrified gates. As Mohamed Jamil of Islamabad's Daily Times points out, this profligacy, along with the usual perks and privileges, is one of the reasons for the perpetual increase in Pakistan's fiscal deficit. "They move around with multiple-layered security escorts, equipped with the most sophisticated weapons and equipment. Exorbitantly expensive bulletproof cars and vehicles are being imported and provided to them." They are often guarded, I need hardly say, by gun-happy and brutal Western mercenaries, in some cases the direct descendants of the Brits who guarded governors general, chiefs of staff and humble district commissioners of the Raj. How typical, you might say, of the high and mighty in what we used to call the Third World – after which we called it, even more patronisingly, the developing world – but which we shall now just call Pakistan.....

....And the most prominent characteristic of all post-colonial independent states is their ability, willingness and even desire to imitate their oppressors.

When the president of the company of Madras went out, he took with him 400 native personal guards, his arrival presaged by the beating of kettledrums, his flag decorated with shining stars; his council members might be protected with aftabgir (umbrellas) while British officers would normally be accompanied by 20 horsemen, usually preceded by four servants carrying a silver staff (an asa) as a symbol of authority.....

....I leave it to the new nabobs of Pakistan to uphold the standards of the Raj. I'm just a representative of scaredy-cat Britain, sneaking out of the North West Frontier as the sun set on the empire upon which the sun was never supposed to set. "

All citizens treated equally? Not if you're an Arab in the Jewish state!

All articles/ Haaretz:
The discrimination towards Israeli Palestinians must stop
The numbers speak for themselves: 1.5 million Arabs, Druze and Circassians make up 20% of the Israeli population, but contribute only 8% of Israel's gross domestic product.

The unseen country
There is a second country in Israel, one that all too many people prefer not to acknowledge. It's the country that contains 129 Arab towns, which make up 11 percent of all the municipalities in Israel.

Survey: Managers think Arab candidates worthy but prefer not to employ them
While 86% of managers in Israeli industry think there are worthy Arab candidates for management positions, 73% admit they prefer not to employ them.

'They glanced at my resume and sent me on my way'
Most of accountant Wajdi Biadsi's classmates managed to find internships at major firms while still students. But for Biadsi, from the Arab town of Baka al-Garbiyeh, the process was more difficult.

The sight of me frightens them
Dr. Riam Abu-Mukh, 31, from Baka al-Garbiyeh, has an impressive resume. She holds not one but two bachelor's degrees from Hebrew University and a doctorate in chemistry from Bar-Ilan University.

Twelve years spent looking for a job
Boutros Askar, a 39-year-old Christian Arab, has been unemployed in high-tech for 12 years. Askar finished his studies in computer sciences at Tel-Hai Academic College in 1996, but has never found work in the field.

3,000 Arab graduates looked for jobs: Only 170 found one
Israel's keenness to join the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development presents a golden opportunity for minorities to narrow the economic gap with the Jewish population.

Israel could use tactical nukes on Iran: thinktank

"Despite the 65-year-old taboo against carrying out -- or, for that matter, mooting -- nuclear strikes, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) says in a new report that "some believe that nuclear weapons are the only weapons that can destroy targets deep underground or in tunnels."

(USAID) Money can't buy you love

"This year, USAID plans to spend 153 million dollars on infrastructure projects in the West Bank alone. That includes the construction of up 180 kilometres of roads. It's a considerable jump from the 65 million the agency spent on similar projects in 2009."
But the numbers are not adding up right for ordinary Palestinians. The smooth ride hasn't managed to sooth people's perceptions of the country that paid for it.

One driver told me all this money and all these projects are driven by a political agenda. "They want to distract us with roads until our country is gone" he said…
Nour Odeh-Al Jazeera

Look at this headline ( BBC ) ! : "Israeli troops killed in Gaza border clashes"

Two Palestinians were also killed in the "clash" but that's not worth a mention until further down in the article.

"

"Two Israeli soldiers have been killed during clashes with Hamas fighters on the Gaza Strip's southern border, the Israeli army has said.

Two other soldiers were wounded during the fighting which broke out east of the town of Khan Younis.

Two Palestinian militants were also killed in the clashes inside the Gaza Strip, sources say.

During the clashes, a BBC correspondent says it appears there may have been an opportunistic bid to seize a soldier.

According to Palestinian sources, Israeli forces used tank shells and heavy machine guns, our correspondent adds."

"
--------------------------
BTW, in an Haaretz article you discover this sentence: "An Israeli army force raided 500 metres (yards) into Palestinian territory"..
Not important enough to highlight, maybe?

The Circus is About to Open....

Come On Colonel Gaddafi, Bring it On!
We Need Some Entertainment....
Too Bad the Saudi Royal Won't be There to Rip into Him, as you did Last Time.

The Tomb of........The Arab Street! By Emad Hajjaj

الانسداد والارتداد وصناعة الخبر

".....
لقد تجلى بما لا يقبل الشك عدم قدرة الدول العربية وعدم رغبتها في فعل شيء في ظل علاقاتها الحالية. ومن دفعته علاقاته الأميركية الإسرائيلية إلى ارتكاب ما لم يمكن تخيله في الماضي، وتم الإمساك به متلبسا بالجريمة أمعن في مواقفه وأصبح محصنا شعوريا ضد الفضائح.

هذه الحالة التي نشأت مؤخرا، (يضاف إليها تلويح إسرائيل برفع ثمن المقاومة بواسطة الحرب، وهو ما لم يجد ردا مقاوما بعد) تسمى حالة انسداد. وقد تعرف سكان غزة معنى الانسداد الحرفي والجسدي.

من قال إنه لا توجد أخبار؟ بل توجد. توجد أخبار يصنعها الأميركيون حتى في الرباعية إبان القيلولة. تصنع الولايات المتحدة أخبارا سيئة. ليس فقط لا يطرأ تقدم، بل يحصل تدهور، فيما يتلهى العرب بأخبار متخيلة عن خلافات وهمية بين إسرائيل والولايات المتحدة. فالولايات المتحدة لا تكتفي بتمرير الوقت، بل تنتج في هذه السياق أخبارا لا يسمعها أحد من المخدرة حواسهم تثاؤبا لرؤية كبير المفاوضين وسماع كبير المحللين... لقد قرأ مون بيان الرباعية وقد تضمن أمرين جديدين: أنه في القدس الشرقية (وليس في القدس) توجد مطالب مشروعة للطرفين... وهذا يعني أن لإسرائيل مطالب مشروعة في القدس الشرقية، وأنه ليس للفلسطينيين مطالب في القدس الغربية، وأن حل القضية يجب أن يكون حتى العام 2014.

وطبعا التشديد ليس على "يجب"، بل على اتفاق المشاركين في اجتماع موسكو على تأجيل توقعات، ما يسمى بـ"الحل"، إلى ما بعد انتهاء مدة وظائفهم... وهو تجديد لا ينفك يتجدد من تلقاء نفسه كل خمس سنوات. وافرحوا أيها الكتاب، وتهللوا أيها المحللون لا تخشوا البطالة، سيكون كلاما.

هذه أخبار إذن رغم كل شيء. وقد مرت من دون انتباه.

لو شكل الغضب العربي الرسمي سببا للولايات المتحدة كي تختلف مع إسرائيل لحصل خبر. ولو شكل الغضب الشعبي المنظم إحراجا للواقع الرسمي لصنع خبرا.

لا بد من قطيعة معرفية مع الوهم المقدم كأنه حدث. ولا بد من وقف التوقعات من النظام العربي الحالي. ولا بد من توضيح المبادئ والأساسيات للبناء عليها، لمقاومة ما يجري ولتحديد ماذا نريد.
"

Real News Video: Fatah vs Hamas debate

Doha Debates features Fatah and Hamas debating reconciliation and the future of the resistance



NOTE

At the end of the debate, the audience was asked to vote on the question:

Do you have confidence in the current Palestinian leadership (from both sides)?

89% voted no.

Current Al-Jazeera (Arabic) Online Poll

This timely poll asks:

Do you expect important decisions from the Arab summit (in Libya) to protect Al-Quds (Jerusalem)?

With over 1,500 responding so far, 92% said no.

نفوذ سوري بلبنان مقابل العراق

"كشفت مصادر غربية أن المملكة العربية السعودية طلبت من رئيس الحكومة اللبنانية وقف الانتقادات الموجهة إلى سوريا وذلك بهدف ضمان التعاون السوري في الشأن العراقي.

فقد نقلت المصادر عن مصدر مقرب من الحكومة السعودية قوله إن الملك عبد الله بن عبد العزيز استدعى قبل فترة رئيس الحكومة اللبنانية سعد الحريري وطلب منه صراحة بذل المزيد من الجهود لدفع عملية المصالحة مع الرئيس السوري بشار الأسد.

وبحسب المصدر السعودي، استمر لقاء الملك عبد الله والحريري ثلاثين دقيقة أبلغ فيها الملك ضيفه استياءه من انتقاد بعض وسائل الإعلام اللبنانية للسياسة السورية.

وقف الانتقادات
وأضافت المصادر أن الحريري طلب عقب اللقاء مباشرة من وسائل الإعلام التابعة لتيار المستقبل الذي يتزعمه، ترك توجيه انتقادات إلى دمشق.

ووفقا لما ذكرته المصادر الغربية نفسها، يريد الملك عبد الله من الحكومة اللبنانية القبول بالنفوذ السوري في لبنان وتقديم مؤشرات إيجابية تجاه دمشق المتعاونة مع الرياض في المسألة العراقية.

وبعبارة أوضح -تقول المصادر- لا تريد السعودية أن تعطي السوريين ذريعة ما في لبنان للتراجع عن تعاونهم في العراق لاسيما في أعقاب الانتخابات البرلمانية التي جرت في السابع من الشهر الجاري.

المسألة العراقية
ولفتت المصادر إلى أن للسعودية مصلحة إستراتيجية في ضمان تشكيل حكومة جديدة في العراق لا تخضع للنفوذ الإيراني، فضلا عن مساعيها لاحتواء المجموعات المسلحة السنية وهي القضية التي تعول الرياض على سوريا كثيرا فيها.

بالمقابل، يتطلع السوريون -حسب المصادر نفسها- لاستعادة نفوذهم في لبنان وهو الأمر الذي بدت الرياض منفتحة عليه إلى أبعد الحدود مقابل ابتعاد سوريا عن إيران وتقديم مزيد من التعاون في المسائل الإقليمية الأخرى وعلى رأسها العراق"

Lebanese army encircling Baddawi refugee camp

Ahmed Moor and Deen Sharp, Electronic Lebanon, 26 March 2010

"The relationship between the Lebanese government and the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon is changing. The process of redefining the old relationship began explosively with the battle and subsequent demolition of the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp, near the northern city of Tripoli, in 2007. Now the Lebanese army is erecting a barrier around the nearby Baddawi refugee camp because of "security concerns."

According to Baddawi's Popular Committee, which is comprised of different Palestinian political groups and governs the camp, the Lebanese army claimed that the barrier is being built to prevent smuggling and the infiltration of Islamic extremists into the camp.....

Palestinians in Lebanon view the issue of disarmament warily. Chief among their concerns is not weapons, but civil rights. In particular, Palestinians are denied the right to work in Lebanon in a range of blue- and white-collar professions....."

Al-Azhar's New Grand Sheikh

Just Another Political Appointee?

By RANNIE AMIRI
CounterPunch

"......But the telltale sign that el-Tayeb will simply reflect the regime’s wishes is his membership in Mubarak’s ruling National Democratic Party (NDP)—the only political party in Egypt that matters.

He is also a member of the NDP’s policies committee, chaired by Mubarak’s son Gamal no less. Gamal is widely expected to succeed his father if and when he steps down. With both houses of parliament having solid NDP majorities, Hosni Mubarak was able to easily pass a series of constitutional amendments making it nearly impossible for any outside or independent candidate from challenging Gamal. Despite his recent appointment, el-Tayeb has refused to resign from the NDP.

It thus appears Mubarak and son will now have the requisite backing of Egypt’s preeminent spiritual authority in their quest to achieve dynastic authoritarian rule....."

Deadly blast 'kills Israeli troops'

Al-Jazeera

"At least two Israeli soldiers have been killed in an explosion east of the Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis, reports say.

According to witnesses an Israeli patrol along the frontline was targeted with a bomb, and then a gunfight followed the explosion.

Two Palestinians were also reportedly killed in Friday's clash.

There has been no official confirmation yet from the Israeli military and details of the clash are still coming in.

Al-Qassam Brigades - the armed wing of Hamas - has claimed responsibility....."

'Arab summit is political theatre'

FOCUS: OPINION

By As'ad AbuKhalil (Angry Arab)
Al-Jazeera

"....Arab summits were capable of at least rhetorical surprises: the "Three No's" of Khartoum (no to peace with Israel, no to recognition, and no to negotiation) in 1967 are the most famous, but now we know that those governments that officially endorsed the formula were already negotiating secretly with the Israelis.

The US government now keeps a very tight lid over the regimes that it controls. When King Abdullah, the Saudi monarch, referred to the US occupation in Iraq as "illegitimate" during his opening speech at the Riyadh Arab summit in 2007, a diplomatic crisis ensued and the King has never used that expression since.

The Arab people now are accustomed to gatherings that produce long, tedious documents that no one (except translators at foreign embassies) actually read.

Between watching Syrian and Turkish TV serials, and watching proceedings of Arab summits, the Arab people may be worshipping the remote control. Gone are the days when they were subjected to one state-controlled channel that bombarded them with speeches and daily movements of the "dear Arab leader"."

Israel opts to ‘lie low’ after Britain expels its spy chief

By Jonathan Cook

"NAZARETH, ISRAEL // Israel chose to “lie low” yesterday in response to Britain’s decision to expel an Israeli diplomat over the use of forged passports in the assassination of a Hamas leader in Dubai, though senior officials were reported to be seething in private.

According to the Israeli media, the foreign ministry was surprised by the British move against its embassy official, widely believed to be the London station chief for Israel’s Mossad spy agency. Israeli officials noted the gravity of the decision: no Israeli diplomat has been expelled from a western country in more than two decades.....

But Amir Oren, a leading military affairs commentator for the liberal Haaretz newspaper, sounded a more critical note, castigating Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, for being “the one who did not check things fully, did not weigh the risks and rewards, and eroded Israel’s diplomatic standing around the world”.

He noted that Israel had broken a promise it made in 1986 not to misuse British passports after a Mossad agent left a batch of eight passports in a phone box in Germany. A year later Britain closed down Mossad’s offices in London after a Palestinian double agent was discovered with an arms cache.

Zvi Stauber, a former Israeli ambassador the Britain, said London had no interest in blowing up the affair but that “they had to do something”."

Right-winger call to vandalize Democratic offices over #hcr actually "terrorism" under Patriot Act

By Ali Abunimah

"The Washington Post reports this evening:

Former militiaman unapologetic for calls to vandalize offices over health care

By Philip Rucker

Thursday, March 25, 2010; 3:52 PM
"To all modern Sons of Liberty: THIS is your time. Break their windows. Break them NOW."
These were the words of Mike Vanderboegh, a 57-year-old former militiaman from Alabama, who took to his blog urging people who opposed the historic health-care reform legislation -- he calls it "Nancy Pelosi's Intolerable Act" -- to throw bricks through the windows of Democratic offices nationwide......

What continues to interest me is the avoidance of the use of the term "terrorism" in connection to white non-Muslim people even when they clearly espouse political violence (as here), or engage in suicide bombings (such as the gentleman who recently crashed an aircraft into an IRS building).

This is further evidence that the term "terrorism" is a political/racial label, much more than a useful descriptive term. The Patriotic Act's definition of "domestic terrorism" is so laughably broad that even throwing bricks through a window can be defined as a crime legally indistuinguishable from, say, flying an airplane into a building. But it's also so broad as to provide alarming discretion to authorities such that the actions of one group of people will be defined as "terrorism" while those exact same acts, when carried out or planned by another group, are merely "vandalism.""

Apartheid on Two Continents

By Mats Svensson
(Mats Svensson, a former Swedish diplomat working on the staff of SIDA, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, is presently following the ongoing occupation of Palestine.)
Palestine Chronicle

"We all have a common history that crosses borders in terms of both country and time. Together with black and white in South Africa we acted forcefully, taking a stand against apartheid and defining the evil and the good. We became part of a historic decision. A decision that was made by an earlier generation and led to that many today can feel pride over our common history.

Today we can unfortunately read analytical reports showing that the evil remains in other parts of the world. Today we should therefore again react forcefully when this appears, when it becomes visible. Tor Sellström has in his work documented what Sweden did to fight apartheid in southern Africa. South African researchers have now found signs of apartheid in Palestine. But how do we use this knowledge? How does the world react?......

Israel bears the main responsibility to eradicate the crime it has itself created. This can be done by removing the structures and institutions that have led to apartheid and colonialism. There are also rules that demand compensation from Israel for the damage caused. Israel must also ensure that each individual in Palestine has the right to decide over his or her future, political belonging and economic and social development. For this to become possible, everyone living in Israel or within the occupied territory must be equal before the law.

In this work to ensure that each Palestinian can live freely, a third party, for example Sweden has an important voice and an important role. The international community demands in accordance with international law that also Sweden lives up to the common undertakings, to fight apartheid and colonialism in all its forms. South Africa has given us a baton and it is now therefore up to us to dare to pick it up, to begin to call a spade a spade."

No We Can't! By Dave Brown

(Click on cartoon to enlarge)

Israeli historian Yehouda Shenhav: Any analogy between Palestinian refugees and Jewish immigrants from Arab lands is folly

(Iraqi Jews arrive in Israel, 1949:"We are not refugees.")


Hitching a ride on the magic carpet
By Yehouda Shenhav
Any analogy between Palestinian refugees and Jewish immigrants from Arab lands is folly in historical and political terms
(Not a new article, it dates from 2003, but it's always worth it as a reminder of the misrepresentations of historical facts Israeli propagandists resort to..)
-------------------

"An intensive campaign to secure official political and legal recognition of Jews from Arab lands as refugees has been going on for the past three years. This campaign has tried to create an analogy between Palestinian refugees and Mizrahi Jews, whose origins are in Middle Eastern countries - depicting both groups as victims of the 1948 War of Independence. The campaign's proponents hope their efforts will prevent conferral of what is called a "right of return" on Palestinians, and reduce the size of the compensation Israel is liable to be asked to pay in exchange for Palestinian property appropriated by the state guardian of "lost" assets.

The idea of drawing this analogy constitutes a mistaken reading of history, imprudent politics, and moral injustice.

Bill Clinton launched the campaign in July 2000 in an interview with Israel's Channel One, in which he disclosed that an agreement to recognize Jews from Arab lands as refugees materialized at the Camp David summit."

Beastly and cruel: Jerusalem Family ordered to Pay Expenses of Eviction from their Home

The Jerusalem Center for Social and Economical Rights (JCCER) reported that the Israeli occupation government police handed Wednesday a Palestinian family from East Jerusalem an order to pay 13.000 NIS, demanding family members to pay the expenses of their eviction from their home.

Members of Majed Hannoun family, from Shaikh Jarrah neighborhood, were forced out of their home last year and were replaced by fundamentalist Jewish settlers.

But now, the settler-run Jerusalem Municipality is asking the family to pay 13.000 NIS for the expenses of the workers who removed them from their homes, and for equipment the municipality used during the evacuation.

The Research and Documentation Unit at the JCCER reported that two other families who were also forced out of their homes in Sheikh Jarrah last year, fear the same measure would be taken against them.

The families of Maher Hannoun and Abdul-Fattah Al Ghawi were forced out of their homes and fundamentalist settlers threw their furniture and belongings in the street

The Jerusalem municipality later moved the furniture to a square in front of the City Hall building in Shaikh Jarrah.

The two families are now living in tents and fear that Israel will also attempt to oblige them to pay the expenses of their evacuation

The Jerusalem Municipality repeatedly removed the tents and tried to force the residents our of Shaikh Jarrah.

Haaretz: Despite row, US and Israel sign massive arms deal

(F-35 fighter: next on the US military aid agenda)

"As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Washington this week absorbing the full wrath of the Obama administration, the Pentagon and Israel’s defense establishment were in the process of sealing a large arms deal.

According to the deal, Israel will purchase three new Hercules C-130J airplanes. The deal for the three aircrafts, designed by Lockheed Martin, are worth roughly a quarter billion dollars. Each aircraft costs $70 million.

The aircrafts were manufactured specifically for Israeli needs, and include a large number of systems produced by Israel’s defense industry.

The deal will be covered by American foreign assistance funds. The Pentagon will issue a formal announcement on the matter on Thursday evening.

Saudi Wahabi Propaganda

This video of the high production shows arab/muslim youths the importance of prayers and how by ignoring prayers they will regret their decisions when they die. As usual the wahabis always care more about ritual than substance. Praying and fasting are more important than why we should pray or why we should fast, and again religion to them is reduced to a set of rituals to be performed without a single thought about anything else. As long as the ritual is performed all is well in the land of Saud. When I watched this video I was reminded by the great Schopenhauer who once said:

"Religion is the masterpiece of the art of animal training, for it trains people as to how they shall think."

Have a Nice World War, Folks

By John Pilger

".....Norman Mailer once said he believed the United States, in its endless pursuit of war and domination, had entered a “pre-fascist era”. Mailer seemed tentative, as if trying to warn about something even he could not quite define. “Fascism” is not right, for it invokes lazy historical precedents, conjuring yet again the iconography of German and Italian repression. On the other hand, American authoritarianism, as the cultural critic Henry Giroux pointed out recently, is “more nuance, less theatrical, more cunning, less concerned with repressive modes of control than with manipulative modes of consent.”

This is Americanism, the only predatory ideology to deny that it is an ideology. The rise of tentacular corporations that are dictatorships in their own right and of a military that is now a state with the state, set behind the façade of the best democracy 35,000 Washington lobbyists can buy, and a popular culture programmed to divert and stultify, is without precedent. More nuanced perhaps, but the results are both unambiguous and familiar. Denis Halliday and Hans von Sponeck, the senior United Nations officials in Iraq during the American and British-led blockade, are in no doubt they witnessed genocide. They saw no gas chambers. Insidious, undeclared, even presented wittily as enlightenment on the march, the Third World War and its genocide proceeded, human being by human being....."

فلسفة الهزيمة

A Great Piece by Professor Abdul-Sattar Qassem (Arabic)

"....
نحن العرب من أحق الناس في الكتابة عن فلسفة الهزيمة لأن الهزائم تلاحقنا على مختلف المستويات وفي مختلف المجالات. بالرغم من ذلك لا نكتب بصراحة ووضوح، ويبدو أننا نفضل تحويل كل هزيمة إلى نصر بحيث تضيع الهزائم في زخم الخطابات الرنانة المليئة بالأكاذيب والتضليل.

لقد انتصرنا في هزيمة عام 1967، وكذلك في هزيمتي 1973 و1982. انتصرنا عام 1967 لأننا، حسب قول مذيع صوت العرب، "لولا الهزيمة لما عرفنا حقيقة أنفسنا" وانتصرنا عام 1973 لأننا حاربنا بجد، في حين أنه كان من المفترض ألا نحارب. أما عام 1982، طُرد الفلسطينيون من بيروت وهم يرفعون أصابعهم بعلامات النصر والرصاص يلعلع ابتهاجا بالمناسبة السعيدة
...
المبادئ الأساسية للهزيمة
إذا كنت قائدا أو حاكما عربيا، وتعمل بجد واجتهاد نحو إلحاق الهزائم بشعبك على مختلف المستويات، فإن عليك التمسك بالمبادئ التالية والتي تشكل كلا متكاملا يرتقي إلى فلسفة:

أولا: يجب الإصرار على الانحدار بالمستوى الأخلاقي للشعب وذلك من خلال تعليمهم الكذب والتضليل والدجل والنفاق والتكاسل والتقاعس والاعتماد على الغير. يجب أن تمتهن أنت الكذب على الناس وتستعمل كل الأساليب الميكافيللية المخادعة التي تعطيك وجها غير ذلك الوجه الحقيقي، وعليك أن تشبعهم بالآمال والتطلعات، وتصور لهم مدى التطور الذي استطعت إنجازه.
....
ثانيا: يجب هدم التماسك الاجتماعي وذلك من خلال نشر الضغائن والأحقاد والكراهية بين الناس. يجب أن تطمئن إلى نزع الثقة من بين الناس،
.....
ثالثا: الحرص كل الحرص على تطوير أجهزة العسس، أو أجهزة الأمن التي تتخذ من ملاحقة الناس ومراقبتهم همها الأول. أجهزة المخابرات ضرورية من أجل نزع الثقة بين الناس، ومن أجل دب الرعب في القلوب حتى لا يفكر أحد بينه وبين نفسه في تغيير الأوضاع القائمة
.....
رابعا: الوعي عبارة عن عدو خطير قد يؤدي إلى ثورة تنتهي إلى التغيير، ولذلك لا بد من إتباع سياسة دؤوبة وممنهجة للحيلولة دون تطور مشاعر الناس، ومن ثم تطور الوعي لديهم بسياساتك التي تصفها أنت دائما بالعاقلة والحكيمة
.....
يجب أن يكون التعليم الديني غيبيا، ومركزا على الحياة الآخرة دون المرور بالحياة الدنيا. الشخص المتدين هو الذي يتقن الوضوء، ويؤدي شعائر العمرة ببراعة، أما الذي يريد بعث التفكير في الناس فعبارة عن زنديق مندس يمتهن الإلحاد والغوغائية، وقد يكون مرتبطا بالعدو الذي من المفروض أن يهزمنا
.....
ولهذا عليك أن تعمل دائما على تخريب الإنتاج بخاصة الزراعي حتى لا يفكر الناس بالاعتماد على أنفسهم، وعليك أن تصنع عقلية استهلاكية لكي يستهلك الناس أكثر مما ينتجون فيقعون بالديون المرهقة التي تشغلهم عن حال الأمة.
....
سادسا: تعمل العناصر أعلاه معا لكي تنتج شخصا مهزوما من الداخل يمجد أسياده وجلاديه، ويهرب من أجواء الحرية والنور ليستظل بأجواء التيه والضياع. الشخص المهزوم داخليا لا يبحث عن الحرية، ولا يبغي التقدم، ولا يجد لنفسه مخرجا إلا من خلال الآخرين الذين يستعبدونه
.....
تبعية الشخص

الخلق القبلي يذيب شخصية الفرد، والفرد لا يُعرف إلا من خلال قبيلته، ومن الصعب جدا أن تكون له قيمة بدون القبيلة. هذا بالضبط ما تعمل الأنظمة العربية على صناعته حتى لا تتكون هناك شخصيات مستقلة قادرة على الإبداع وبث الوعي. الفرد لا يشعر بذاته إلا من خلال منصبه أو راتبه أو تسجيله في حزب يعمل قبليا، ولا قيمة للفرد إلا من خلال الأدوات. لا يوجد تقدير للفرد لذاته وبذاته، وإنما من خلال أدوات خارجة عن ذاته، ولا مجال أمامه للبقاء الاجتماعي إلا من خلال الأداة.
....
تسييس المؤسسة كفيل بتخريبها لأن الهدف في النهاية هو خدمة النظام وليس خدمة الناس. خدمة الناس تأتي عادة كثمرة لخدمة النظام، وبالتالي فإن المؤسسة تتحول إلى تكية للنظام ورجالاته وأنصاره وأتباعه
....
ولهذا تعمل الأنظمة العربية على ضرب التفكير العلمي تماما لينسجم مع الثقافة الببغاوية المشار إليها أعلاه. ولهذا تجد في الساحة العربية الكثير من الكتب التي تتحدث عن عظمة النظام الحاكم وإنجازاته وعن الحاكم نفسه، لكنه من النادر جدا أن نجد كتابا في الداخل العربي يتحدث عن مخازي النظام، أو عن أهمية التغيير السياسي والاجتماعي.
.....
وقد حصل ذات مرة أن أصبح العرب مثلا للهزيمة عندما قال رئيس الأرجنتين لبريطانيا إن الأرجنتين ليست العرب وستحارب. لقد هزمت الأرجنتين لكنها حاربت، ولو تعلمت فلسفة الهزيمة من أنظمة العرب لهزمت دون أن تحارب
.....
تتطلب الهزيمة الانصياع والتسليم للإهانات والإذلال، ولا يمكن أن يتأتى ذلك إلا من خلال تجارب عميقة ومتكررة في استمراء الإهانة والذل. لا يتمتع كل إنسان بقدرة عجيبة على تبجيل الانسحاق الذاتي والسعي إليه لأن الطاقات الإنسانية ترفض ذلك أحيانا بالطبيعة، أما قادة العرب فقد تفوقوا على الطبيعة وأبدعوا في نفي أنفسهم وجر شعوبهم إلى بلع كل ما يراد لهم ابتلاعه."

The Crisis That Wasn’t

A Good Comment
by Philip Giraldi, March 25, 2010

"It might have seemed a no-brainer that the vital security interests of the United States would eventually trump the demands of a small client state that lately has not been much given to rational behavior. But in the latest showdown between the friends of Israel and the Obama Administration the President of the United States blinked first, demonstrating once and for all that no one in the US has the power to say no to Israel. And the truly amazing part was that the America Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) was so confident of the outcome that it didn’t even bother to hide very much of what it was doing, hardly deigning to engage in its usual clandestine arm twisting and slipped under the door "position papers." It immediately issued a public statement slamming the White House, asserting that "The Obama Administration’s recent statements regarding the US relationship with Israel are a matter of serious concern. AIPAC calls on the Administration to take immediate steps to defuse the tension with the Jewish State." It then unleashed its friends in Congress and the media. Its brazen campaign against the American president was executed all out on public view, right up front and recorded on the AIPAC website. ....

Now that we have returned to the status quo ante of wag the dog, it is perhaps a good time to consider if anything positive has resulted from the American-Israeli crisis that never was. The disagreement revealed the utter impotence of the American government in dealing with Israel, even when national security issues are raised. For those who care about the future of the United States, it’s really past time to get hopping mad. The US government has effectively been held hostage to uncritically support a foreign government that engages in both apartheid and ethnic cleansing, something that few Americans would endorse if they were ever allowed a voice in shaping foreign policy. The presence of half of the US Congress at a dinner paying tribute to a foreign leader who is pursuing policies damaging to the United States is little more than a shameless spectacle, but no less than what we have come to expect from the Quislings on the Potomac. And then there is the fighting and dying in what is fashionably referred to as the "long war." Israel and its lobby were undeniably significant players in contriving the case that led to war with Iraq. The propaganda spewed at the current AIPAC conference makes it equally clear that Israel and its supporters are the leading advocates of an attack on Iran and their victory over Obama will only embolden them. Israel can trigger a war by bombing Iran and provoking retaliation that will draw the United States in and there is nothing Washington can do to stop that. When war happens and the awful consequences become clear Obama and Hillary will wish that they had stood up to Israel and AIPAC this week and stopped the madness. But by then it will be too late."

So, What's for Dinner at the Banquet?

That's What WE Care About!

Israel's Provocation at al-Aqsa: Rabbi Plans 'Miracle'

By Jonathan Cook - Jerusalem
Palestine Chronicle

"The Israeli government has indicated that it will press ahead with a plan to enlarge the Jewish prayer plaza at the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City, despite warnings that the move risks triggering a third intifada.

Israeli officials rejected this week a Jerusalem court’s proposal to shelve the plan after the judge accepted that the plaza’s expansion would violate the “status quo” arrangement covering the Old City’s holy places. Islamic authorities agreed to the arrangement after Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967.

The site eyed by Israeli officials is located at the Mughrabi Gate, an entrance to the mosque compound known as the Haram al Sharif, the most sensitive site in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Inside are Al Aqsa Mosque and the golden-topped Dome of the Rock......

Jewish groups soon sprang up demanding more: that the mosques be blown up to make way for a third temple that would bring nearer the arrival of the Messiah.

Since the outbreak of the second intifada, little of the status quo agreement remains. Israeli movement restrictions affecting both Gaza and the West Bank mean that today only a tiny number of Palestinians can reach the mosques. Palestinian institutions are also barred from operating inside Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, settlers and Israeli officials have encroached on more and more land around the mosque compound. At the Camp David talks with the Palestinians in 2000, Israel proposed for the first time that Jews be allowed to pray in the compound and that Israel have a degree of sovereignty over the site.

In recent years Jews have started to be escorted by Israeli police inside the compound through the Mughrabi Gate, though praying so far has not been sanctioned. "

Al-Jazeera Cartoon

Heading for the "Arab Summit!"

مسؤول أميركي بليبيا قبل القمة
Acting Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs and ardent Zionist Jeffrey Feltman (hated former US ambassador to Lebanon) was in Libya on March 16 to discuss the agenda of the "Arab" summit!

Al-Jazeera Video: Will Israeli settlement push spur US to tackle the issue?

"Israel looks set to carry out plans to build 20 new apartments in East Jerusalem despite reported strong objections from the US.

While there is nothing new about Israel's illegal building in the occupied territory nor Washington's stance in opposing it, Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros looks at whether recent events will push the US to finally tackle the thorny issue, or gloss it over for the sake of "proximity talks" and an appearance of progress. (Mar 25, 2010)"

Real News Video: Palestinian teens killed as tensions rise

Four Palestinian youth were killed this weekend in the West Bank. Army denied live ammo despite evidence



"Four teenagers in the West Bank villages of Iraq Burin and Awarta were killed this weekend by Israeli soldiers. Initially the army denied the use of live ammunition but an X-ray of an M-16 bullet lodged in the skull of one of the killed disproved the claim. In the second incident, where Israeli soldiers detained two teenage farmers, the army claimed the Palestinians were shot (one with five bullets and the other with at least two) because they attempted to attack a soldier with pitchforks, knives, or axes. The Real News' Lia Tarachansky spoke to Edo Medicks and Jesse Rosenfeld of The Daily Nuisance. Rosenfeld and Medicks attended the funerals at Iraq Burin when the shooting in Awarta took place and investigated what actually took place."

Obama squeezed between Israel and Iran

Washington's schizophrenic reaction to the US-Israel "crisis" - a brief scolding followed by talk of an "unshakeable bond" and sanctions "that bite" for Iran, reveals the spat may be theater designed to obscure a not-so-subtle drive to attack Tehran. After all, Israel's powerful friends have determined the broad outlines of US policy in the Middle East for decades.

By Pepe Escobar
Asia Times

"The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) annual show in Washington would hardly be out of place in a Quentin Tarantino movie; picture a giant hall crammed with 7,500 very powerful people regimented by a very powerful lobby - plus half of the United States Senate and more than a third of the congress - basically calling in unison for Palestinian and Iranian blood.

The AIPAC 2010 show predictably was yet one more "bomb Iran" special; but it was also a call to arms against the Barack Obama administration, as far as the turbo-charging of the illegal colonization of East Jerusalem is concerned....

But crisis? What crisis? Phyllis Bennis of the Institute for Policy Studies could not have put it better. "Someone seems to have told the Obama administration that a series of polite requests equals pressure. It doesn't. Real pressure looks like this: 'Please stop settlements.' Answer: 'No.' 'Then, you know that [the] $30 billion that [former president George W] Bush arranged for you from US tax money, and we agreed to pay - you can kiss that goodbye.' That's what pressure looks like."......"

Zionism is Racism; Want a Proof?.....

Rendered Homeless, Family Ordered To Pay Its Expulsion Expenses

"The Jerusalem Center for Social and Economical Rights (JCCER) reported that the Israeli police handed Wednesday a Palestinian family from East Jerusalem an order to pay 13.000 NIS, demanding family members to pay the expenses of their expulsion from their home.

Members of Majed Hannoun family, from Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, were forced out of their home last year and were replaced by fundamentalist Jewish settlers.

But now, the settler-run Jerusalem Municipality is asking the family to pay 13.000 NIS for the expenses of the workers who removed them from their homes, and for equipment the municipality used during the evacuation.

The Research and Documentation Unit at the JCCER reported that two other families who were also forced out of their homes in Sheikh Jarrah last year, fear the same measure would be taken against them.

The families of Maher Hannoun and Abdul-Fattah Al Ghawi were forced out of their homes and fundamentalist settlers threw their furniture and belongings in the street. The Jerusalem municipality later moved the furniture to a square in front of the City Hall building in Sheikh Jarrah.

The two families are now living in tents and fear that Israel will also attempt to oblige them to pay the expenses of their evacuation. The Jerusalem Municipality repeatedly removed the tents and tried to force the residents our of Sheikh Jarrah.

This issue comes amidst ongoing Israeli violations against the Palestinian natives of Jerusalem, and amidst ongoing settlement construction and expansion in the city and around it.

This is also part of Israel’s policy to demolish Arab and Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem. "

Tunisia: End Arbitrary Restrictions on Ex-Political Prisoners

Post-Prison Regime Robs Dissidents of Normal Lives

"(New York) - The Tunisian authorities should end arbitrary restrictions on released political prisoners, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The measures seem aimed to ensuring that dissidents are unable to resume normal lives upon release, Human Rights Watch said.

The Tunisian authorities said they would not allow Human Rights Watch to release the report at a news conference, but did not present any legal basis for the decision. Human Rights Watch planned to proceed with the public release on March 24, 1010. Human Rights Watch held news conferences in Tunisia in 2004 and 2005. In the past year, Human Rights Watch has held numerous news conferences in the region, including in Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.

"When Tunisia releases political prisoners, it ensures that life resembles a larger prison defined by surveillance, threats, and a cocktail of restrictions," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "The government's attempts to silence Human Rights Watch reflect another element of the repression that is a fact of life for too many Tunisians."

The 42-page report, "A Larger Prison: Repression of former political prisoners in Tunisia," documents the range of repressive measures, many of them arbitrary, that Tunisian authorities impose on former prisoners. These include close monitoring and surveillance, denial of passports, threats to re-arrest some who speak out on human rights or politics, and restrictions on movement that are not delivered in writing to the affected person and the violation of which can lead to re-imprisonment.

Many of these measures appear to be imposed at the whim of officials, without any legal basis. Courts do sometimes legally impose "supplementary sentences" of "administrative control" when they send defendants to prison....."

Israel's interests are not the same as ours on Palestine

Its greatest fear in its relationship with the West is marginalisation

By Adrian Hamilton
The Independent

"One benefit of President Obama cancelling his trip to Indonesia for the Health Reform vote, said a Senator in Washington this week, was that it enabled him to see Benjamin Netanyahu on his visit to the US capital. Well, if that was the bonus, it didn't seem to achieve much. Agreement to disagree is the polite phrase for a meeting that ended in a frozen silence....

Washington, far more than Jerusalem, is desperate for peace talks be conducted, for the sake of appearances as much as anything else. But in pursuing them, it is only adding to the humiliation of its Arab allies and the hatred in which it is held in the Arab street.

In the end the US will let Israel go its own way. It won't, and probably can't, stop it. And peace talks, as Prime Minister Netanyahu has warned (not without a hint of satisfaction), will be played into the long grass. But maybe in this week of spats in Washington and London, we are seeing the first glimmering of understanding that Israel has its interests and we have ours and that the two are not necessarily the same."

Fury as plan for new homes in East Jerusalem is agreed

Scheme to redevelop hotel in Arab part of city further threatens peace talks

By Donald Macintyre In Jerusalem

"A fresh row that could place even further strain on US-Israel relations was triggered yesterday after Jewish settlers were given the final go-ahead to build 20 new homes in a highly sensitive part of Arab East Jerusalem.

Furious Palestinian negotiators denounced the approval for a settlement at the site of the old Shepherd Hotel in Sheikh Jarrah which started to come to light just before the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met the US President Barack Obama on Tuesday night....."

Read it and Puke! Al-Manar’s Interview with Syrian President Bashar Assad

Al-Manar’s Interview with Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Interview conducted by Amr Nassif

"Introduction: Whenever they criticize the official Arab regime, Arab journalists usually use the expression: "The majority of the Arab regimes," to distinguish some Arab leaders, at the top of whom comes President Bashar Assad who enjoys special characteristics in the minds of the Arab citizens [such as duplicity, double talk, servility, mendacity, saying something in Arabic and its opposite in English, turning the other cheek when repeatedly slapped by Israel, trying to repeat what Sadat did 30 years ago, working as a CIA subcontractor in secret, terrorizing his own citizens while talking about freedom and democracy, serving as the latest Caliph in the Arab world, doing a balancing act between Iran and Uncle Sam, and much, much more!]....."

لا خير يرجى من قمة سرت..

جميل مطر

".....
وكالعادة، لن يمل المسؤولون عن الجامعة العربية من تكرار عبارات معينة مثل “انتهاج أسلوب المصارحة والشفافية والحوار والتشاور في حل الخلافات العربية” ومثل “بلورة رؤية استراتيجية موحدة للتعامل مع التحديات السياسية والأمنية والاقتصادية” وسوف يصدر عن القمة في الغالب بيان أو قرار يحث الدول الاعضاء، أي تحث نفسها، على “تفعيل آليات فض المنازعات” . . ولن تنفض القمة قبل أن تعلن للعالم للمرة السادسة أو السابعة “تمسكها الدائم بمبادرة السلام كخيار استراتيجي . . وفقاً للإطار الذي يقوم على أن مبادرة السلام المطروحة اليوم لن تبقى على الطاولة طويلاً . . واستمرار تمسك العرب بها مرتبط بقبول “إسرائيل” لها . . وتفعيلها مرتبط ببدء تنفيذ “إسرائيل” التزاماتها” .

***
بعد القمة يعود كل حاكم، أو من قام بتمثيله، إلى بلده واثقاً من أن مبادرة السلام العربية ستبقى على الطاولة طويلاً، وأن العرب مستمرون في التمسك بها قبلتها “إسرائيل” أم لم تقبلها، وملتزمون بتفعيلها في السر وبالتطبيع المتدرج سواء نفذت “إسرائيل” التزاماتها أم توسعت في عمليات الاستيطان وتهويد الأماكن الإسلامية وتهديد سلامة، وربما بقاء، المسجد الأقصى .

من هكذا قمم وبيانات لا خير يرجى لأمن الأمة العربية ورفاهتها ولا لأمن ورفاهة بقية أمم الشرق الأوسط .
"

Adonis interview (3 parts) حوار مع أدونيس

في حوار مع "الحياة" ... أدونيس: تركت العائلة مراهقاً وانتمائي الى الحزب القومي أخرجني من العشيرة (1)
أدونيس: القومية العربية لم تجذبني إطلاقاً ... ومجلة «شعر» هذه أسرارها (2)
أدونيس: السيّاب كتب عشراً من أهم القصائد العربية وقصيدة النثر لا تعني بذاتها شيئاً (3)
-------------
You may or may not appreciate him or agree with him but it's always worth the read..

Discrimination against Arabs and non-Jews in Israel.

Targeted Citizen - English from Adalah on Vimeo.

Adalah is an Israeli organisation that focuses on legal rights for the country’s Arab minority.
ts new short film, Targeted Citizen, highlights the inherent discrimination against non-Jews in Israel. The only democracy in the Middle East, indeed:

Zionism’s dark forces don’t want the lights on : Alan Hart

"At the opening of AIPAC’s annual foreign policy conference its new president, Lee Rosenberg, was not a happy man. As he put it, “In recent days we have witnessed something (the Obama administration’s initial public anger with Netanyahu and his government) very unfortunate.”

The Biden “incident”, Rosenberg said, was “regrettable”, but Netanyahu had apologized “four separate times” and said “the announcement” (of more Jewish construction in occupied Arab East Jerusalem) was “hurtful and should not have been made.” Quite so, Mr. Rosenberg. It would have been much better from Zionism’s point of view if the announcement had not been made and Israel had just got on with the business of de-Arabizing East Jerusalem."
Intifada-Voice of Palestine
*Alan Hart is a former ITN and BBC Panorama foreign correspondent who covered wars and conflicts wherever they were taking place in the world and specialized in the Middle East.
His Latest book Zionism: The Real Enemy of the Jews, is a three-volume epic in its American edition. He blogs on www.alanhart.net and tweets on www.twitter.com/alanauthor.

UN Human Rights Council passes 3 resolutions condemning Israel ..Surprise! US votes against..

The United Nations Human Rights Council passed three resolutions on Wednesday condemning Israel over its policies related to what it called Palestinian and Syrian territories, but the United States voted against them all.

A further resolution, calling for a fund to compensate Palestinians who suffered losses during Israel's offensive in Gaza 14 months ago, is expected to be passed on Thursday.
One resolution on "grave human rights violations" by Israel Defense Forces soldiers in the Palestinian territories - which was passed by 31 votes to 9, with 7 abstentions in the 47-member Council - demanded that Israel end its occupation of Palestinian land occupied since 1967.
It also demanded that Israel stop what it called targeting of Palestinian civilians and systematic destruction of their cultural heritage, halt all military operations across Palestinian land and lift its blockade of Gaza.

The United States and the European Union, whose seven members on the Council vote separately but generally in unison, opposed the resolution, with both saying it was unbalanced.

Also from Al Jazeera:
UN rights body censures Israel