Monday, June 07, 2010
(22) إسرائيل
عبد الحليم قنديل
"لا نريدها فورة غضب وتنتهي. نعم، الغضب واجب أخلاقي، وقبل أن يكون فريضة دينية ووطنية وقومية وإنسانية، فالجريمة غاية في البشاعة والخــــسة والنذالة، وصدمة مفجعة لضمائر أحرار العالم، والذين صارت دماء شـــهداء أسطول الحرية رمزا جليلا على نقائهم ونبلهم الإنساني العابر لحدود الأمم والأديان، وتأكيدا لصلات العروة الوثقى بين الدم الشهيد وفلسطين الشهيدة.
إنها بركة دم الشهيد التي تزيح الغشاوات عن الأبصار، فإذا هي اليوم حديد، ترى الباطل باطلا بلا شبهة تأويل، وترى الحق في نصرة فلسطين وشعبها المحاصر، وتعيد النجوم إلى مداراتها، وتجلل بالعار وجه كيان الاغتصاب الإسرائيلي وحماته في البيت الأبيض وقصور الحكم العربية.
غزة التي يستمر حصارها بأبشع ما عرف التاريخ، هي ذاتها غزة التي تحيي قضية فلسطين بعد أن صارت رميما، هي ذاتها غزة التي كانت موردا سيالا بالعزة والكرامة وأفواج المقاومة، فقد ولدت حركة فتح ـ أساسا ـ من شباب قطاع غزة، وولدت حركة حماس ـ أساسا ـ من شباب قطاع غزة، ومن رماد الحرب والحصار على غزة ينفخ الصور من جديد في قضية فلسطين، وتكسب أنصارها الجدد، فالدور التركي الجديد الباهر من مواليد حرب غزة، وجيوش أحرار العالم تعطف على الهوى الفلسطيني بتأثير فياض من دراما غزة، والتي تلد الجند والشهداء والخيل والأغاني.
وإذا غضبنا فالغضب حق، لكن الغضب لا يصح أن يكون محصورا بجهاته الإسرائيلية والأمريكية، بل الغضب ـ أيضا ـ من الذين ينتحلون صفاتنا ويسرقون أسماءنا ويلبسون أرديتنا، الغضب من النظم العربية التي أذلتنا وتآمرت على فلسطين، وعلى غزة بالذات، فلا جديد في جرائم إسرائيل، وهي في الأصل ـ والمنتهى ـ كيان لمجرمين إرهابيين سارقين وأكلة للحوم البشر، ولا جديد في جرائم أمريكا، فما بين أمريكا وإسرائيل أكبر من تحالف استراتيجي، إنه اندماج استراتيجي كامل، وشراكة كاملة الأوصاف، وقد قتلت أمريكا بسلاحها ـ منذ الحرب العالمية الثانية ـ أكثر من ثمانية ملايين إنسان، ودمرت دولا ونهبت أمما، وصارت أعتى أعداء الحياة، وأن تهدد أمريكا بالفيتو لتنقذ إسرائيل، فما من جديد، ولا شيء آخر كان متوقعا منها، إلا أن يكون البعض فقد عقله أو مات ضميره، وكل هذه حقائق قديمة جديدة وأكثر صلابة من غبار التأويل، لكن المجرمين الذين لم يعلق الجرس في رقابهم إلى الآن هم نظم الحكم العربية، لا نستثني منهم أحدا، لا المعتدلين ولا الممانعين، كلهم شركاء في الجريمة، وبسابق القصد والإصرار والتصميم والترصد.
بركة الدم تزيح الغشاوات عن الأبصار، وتضع النظم العربية في قفص الاتهام، ولا يصح وصف هذه النظم بأنها صامتة أو متخاذلة، فهذه كلها أوصاف لا تعني شيئا، ربما سوى التواطؤ على الحقيقة، وسوى استمرار الدوران في الحلقات المفرغة، وسوى توجيه الرجاء إلى حيث لا يطلب، فهذه النظم اختارت وانتهى أمرها، اختارت الانضمام إلى أمريكا وإسرائيل في معسكر عدوان ثلاثي ضد الأمة، وكان ذلك استطرادا لسير الحوادث، والتحولات التي جرت على نخب الحكم، ووحدتها على قلب البؤس الواحد، فكلها نظم أشبه بقوات احتلال داخلي لشعوبها، كلها نظم ـ على اختلاف اللافتات الجمهورية والملكية ـ تحكم بالحق العائلي، كلها نظم تنتمي إلى معنى النهب العام، وكلها نظم تستند إلى عصا الكبت العام، كلها نظم برؤوس معلقة على خوازيق أمنية، كلها نظم تحتقر شعوبها، وتدوسهم بالنعال، فلا شيء يربطها بناسها، لا تأوي إلى أصواتهم، ولا إلى مجمعاتهم الانتخابية التي تزور بصفة منهجية، وكلها نظم تضع رغبات الإدارة الأمريكية فوق أحكام الإرادة الإلهية، وتلتمس رضا الراعي الأمريكي - الإسرائيلي، وترتبط في مصالح بقائها فوق الرقاب بكلمة سيد البيت الأبيض، وتحكم بقاعدة ذهبية صريحة في منطوقها، وهي: إدفع في حساب إسرائيل تكسب رضا الباب العالي في واشنطن، وتحصل على تأشيرات إقامة إضافية في قصور الحكم.
والمعني، أنه ليست أمريكا فقط هي التي تحمي إسرائيل، بل النظم العربية تحمي إسرائيل بذات القدر، وتأمل ركاكة قرار مجلس الأمن بأثر من الفيتو الأمريكي، ثم أنظر إلى بيان الجامعة العربية بتأثير من فيتو النظم، إنها نفس اللغة تقريبا، ونفس القصد، وهو تمييع مشاعر الغضب، وحجزها عن التحول لفعل يؤذي أو يهدد إسرائيل، وهي الحليفة الضمنية للنظم العربية تحت القيادة الأمريكية، بل أن النظم العربية تحولت إلى ما هو أفدح، فالنظم العربية في 22 عاصمة عربية هي 22 إسرائيل إضافية، وكلها تسند إسرائيل الأصلية، وتتستر على جرائمها، وتفرح لانتصاراتها، وتحزن على هزائمها، فقد حزنت هذه النظم ـ الكبرى منها بالذات ـ بسبب نتائج حربي 2006 و 2009، حزنت لأن المقاومة انتصرت في لبنان، ولأنها لم تنهزم في غزة، وكما تطلب إسرائيل رأس حسن نصر الله ورأس خالد مشعل، فإن النظم العربية ـ إياها ـ تتمنى لو فازت إسرائيل، وأراحتها من صداع المقاومة التي تكشف وتفضح تواطؤها أمام شعوبها.
والمعنى ـ ثانية ـ أن المعركة ليست مع أمريكا وإسرائيل فقط، بل هي أيضا ـ وبذات القدر ـ مع النظم الإسرائيلية الهوى في العواصم العربية، شيء من ذلك جرى بعد نكبة فلسطين الأولى، حين تكشفت عمالة النظم للاستعمار البريطاني الفرنسي وقتها، وشيء من ذلك يجري الآن، وقد تكشفت تبعية النظم للاستعمار الأمريكي الإسرائيلي هذه المرة، فوجود هذه النظم في ذاته قيد ثقيل يكبت طاقات الأمة، ولم تكن مصادفة أن المقاومة المسلحة لأمريكا وإسرائيل نشأت وتطورت حيث اختفت النظم، نشأت في لبنان حيث لا نظام يقمع، وانتقلت إلى فلسطين ـ مع الانتفاضة الثانية ـ حين ضعفت سلطة الحكم الذاتي، ثم تألقت في العراق بعد نهاية نظام صدام حسين، وواجهت ببسالة ومقدرة منقطعة النظير أكبر آلة حربية في التاريخ، بل أن صدام حسين نفسه تألقت سيرته بعد أن زالت صفته كحاكم، وتحول إلى قائد مقاوم، وكتب تاريخا مجيدا لنفسه توج بالشهادة، وهذه المقاومة التي تألقت، حيث تختفي النظم، هذه المقاومة هي التي تكتب التاريخ الناصع لعصرنا العربي الراهن، وهي التي تعيد خلق الأمة، وقد حققت إنجازاتها الباهرة، وتخطت فكرة إعاقة الاستعمار الأمريكي الإسرائيلي إلى حد وضعه في خانة العجز، لكن الاحتفاء بالمقاومة المسلحة وحدها لا يكفي لتغيير المشهد، ولا بد من مقاومة بالسياسة تسند المقاومة بالسلاح، وتستلهم درسها العظيم، وهو أن القلة المؤمنة الصابرة المحتسبة قادرة على تحقيق المعجزات، المقاومة بالسلاح أثبتت مقدرتها على كسر أنف العدو الأمريكي الإسرائيلي، والمقاومة بالسياسة عليها واجب المساندة للمقاومة المسلحة، وعليها فريضة إزاحة حكام الهوى الإسرائيلي في قصور الحكم العربية، وبطريق المقاومة المدنية والعصيان السلمي والاعتصام بالشارع وقوة الناس.
هذا إن كنتم تريدون وفاء لدماء شهداء الحرية، وإن كنتم تريدون للغضب أن يفعل في التاريخ، وقبل أن تجف الدموع على حائط المبكي.
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"لا نريدها فورة غضب وتنتهي. نعم، الغضب واجب أخلاقي، وقبل أن يكون فريضة دينية ووطنية وقومية وإنسانية، فالجريمة غاية في البشاعة والخــــسة والنذالة، وصدمة مفجعة لضمائر أحرار العالم، والذين صارت دماء شـــهداء أسطول الحرية رمزا جليلا على نقائهم ونبلهم الإنساني العابر لحدود الأمم والأديان، وتأكيدا لصلات العروة الوثقى بين الدم الشهيد وفلسطين الشهيدة.
إنها بركة دم الشهيد التي تزيح الغشاوات عن الأبصار، فإذا هي اليوم حديد، ترى الباطل باطلا بلا شبهة تأويل، وترى الحق في نصرة فلسطين وشعبها المحاصر، وتعيد النجوم إلى مداراتها، وتجلل بالعار وجه كيان الاغتصاب الإسرائيلي وحماته في البيت الأبيض وقصور الحكم العربية.
غزة التي يستمر حصارها بأبشع ما عرف التاريخ، هي ذاتها غزة التي تحيي قضية فلسطين بعد أن صارت رميما، هي ذاتها غزة التي كانت موردا سيالا بالعزة والكرامة وأفواج المقاومة، فقد ولدت حركة فتح ـ أساسا ـ من شباب قطاع غزة، وولدت حركة حماس ـ أساسا ـ من شباب قطاع غزة، ومن رماد الحرب والحصار على غزة ينفخ الصور من جديد في قضية فلسطين، وتكسب أنصارها الجدد، فالدور التركي الجديد الباهر من مواليد حرب غزة، وجيوش أحرار العالم تعطف على الهوى الفلسطيني بتأثير فياض من دراما غزة، والتي تلد الجند والشهداء والخيل والأغاني.
وإذا غضبنا فالغضب حق، لكن الغضب لا يصح أن يكون محصورا بجهاته الإسرائيلية والأمريكية، بل الغضب ـ أيضا ـ من الذين ينتحلون صفاتنا ويسرقون أسماءنا ويلبسون أرديتنا، الغضب من النظم العربية التي أذلتنا وتآمرت على فلسطين، وعلى غزة بالذات، فلا جديد في جرائم إسرائيل، وهي في الأصل ـ والمنتهى ـ كيان لمجرمين إرهابيين سارقين وأكلة للحوم البشر، ولا جديد في جرائم أمريكا، فما بين أمريكا وإسرائيل أكبر من تحالف استراتيجي، إنه اندماج استراتيجي كامل، وشراكة كاملة الأوصاف، وقد قتلت أمريكا بسلاحها ـ منذ الحرب العالمية الثانية ـ أكثر من ثمانية ملايين إنسان، ودمرت دولا ونهبت أمما، وصارت أعتى أعداء الحياة، وأن تهدد أمريكا بالفيتو لتنقذ إسرائيل، فما من جديد، ولا شيء آخر كان متوقعا منها، إلا أن يكون البعض فقد عقله أو مات ضميره، وكل هذه حقائق قديمة جديدة وأكثر صلابة من غبار التأويل، لكن المجرمين الذين لم يعلق الجرس في رقابهم إلى الآن هم نظم الحكم العربية، لا نستثني منهم أحدا، لا المعتدلين ولا الممانعين، كلهم شركاء في الجريمة، وبسابق القصد والإصرار والتصميم والترصد.
بركة الدم تزيح الغشاوات عن الأبصار، وتضع النظم العربية في قفص الاتهام، ولا يصح وصف هذه النظم بأنها صامتة أو متخاذلة، فهذه كلها أوصاف لا تعني شيئا، ربما سوى التواطؤ على الحقيقة، وسوى استمرار الدوران في الحلقات المفرغة، وسوى توجيه الرجاء إلى حيث لا يطلب، فهذه النظم اختارت وانتهى أمرها، اختارت الانضمام إلى أمريكا وإسرائيل في معسكر عدوان ثلاثي ضد الأمة، وكان ذلك استطرادا لسير الحوادث، والتحولات التي جرت على نخب الحكم، ووحدتها على قلب البؤس الواحد، فكلها نظم أشبه بقوات احتلال داخلي لشعوبها، كلها نظم ـ على اختلاف اللافتات الجمهورية والملكية ـ تحكم بالحق العائلي، كلها نظم تنتمي إلى معنى النهب العام، وكلها نظم تستند إلى عصا الكبت العام، كلها نظم برؤوس معلقة على خوازيق أمنية، كلها نظم تحتقر شعوبها، وتدوسهم بالنعال، فلا شيء يربطها بناسها، لا تأوي إلى أصواتهم، ولا إلى مجمعاتهم الانتخابية التي تزور بصفة منهجية، وكلها نظم تضع رغبات الإدارة الأمريكية فوق أحكام الإرادة الإلهية، وتلتمس رضا الراعي الأمريكي - الإسرائيلي، وترتبط في مصالح بقائها فوق الرقاب بكلمة سيد البيت الأبيض، وتحكم بقاعدة ذهبية صريحة في منطوقها، وهي: إدفع في حساب إسرائيل تكسب رضا الباب العالي في واشنطن، وتحصل على تأشيرات إقامة إضافية في قصور الحكم.
والمعني، أنه ليست أمريكا فقط هي التي تحمي إسرائيل، بل النظم العربية تحمي إسرائيل بذات القدر، وتأمل ركاكة قرار مجلس الأمن بأثر من الفيتو الأمريكي، ثم أنظر إلى بيان الجامعة العربية بتأثير من فيتو النظم، إنها نفس اللغة تقريبا، ونفس القصد، وهو تمييع مشاعر الغضب، وحجزها عن التحول لفعل يؤذي أو يهدد إسرائيل، وهي الحليفة الضمنية للنظم العربية تحت القيادة الأمريكية، بل أن النظم العربية تحولت إلى ما هو أفدح، فالنظم العربية في 22 عاصمة عربية هي 22 إسرائيل إضافية، وكلها تسند إسرائيل الأصلية، وتتستر على جرائمها، وتفرح لانتصاراتها، وتحزن على هزائمها، فقد حزنت هذه النظم ـ الكبرى منها بالذات ـ بسبب نتائج حربي 2006 و 2009، حزنت لأن المقاومة انتصرت في لبنان، ولأنها لم تنهزم في غزة، وكما تطلب إسرائيل رأس حسن نصر الله ورأس خالد مشعل، فإن النظم العربية ـ إياها ـ تتمنى لو فازت إسرائيل، وأراحتها من صداع المقاومة التي تكشف وتفضح تواطؤها أمام شعوبها.
والمعنى ـ ثانية ـ أن المعركة ليست مع أمريكا وإسرائيل فقط، بل هي أيضا ـ وبذات القدر ـ مع النظم الإسرائيلية الهوى في العواصم العربية، شيء من ذلك جرى بعد نكبة فلسطين الأولى، حين تكشفت عمالة النظم للاستعمار البريطاني الفرنسي وقتها، وشيء من ذلك يجري الآن، وقد تكشفت تبعية النظم للاستعمار الأمريكي الإسرائيلي هذه المرة، فوجود هذه النظم في ذاته قيد ثقيل يكبت طاقات الأمة، ولم تكن مصادفة أن المقاومة المسلحة لأمريكا وإسرائيل نشأت وتطورت حيث اختفت النظم، نشأت في لبنان حيث لا نظام يقمع، وانتقلت إلى فلسطين ـ مع الانتفاضة الثانية ـ حين ضعفت سلطة الحكم الذاتي، ثم تألقت في العراق بعد نهاية نظام صدام حسين، وواجهت ببسالة ومقدرة منقطعة النظير أكبر آلة حربية في التاريخ، بل أن صدام حسين نفسه تألقت سيرته بعد أن زالت صفته كحاكم، وتحول إلى قائد مقاوم، وكتب تاريخا مجيدا لنفسه توج بالشهادة، وهذه المقاومة التي تألقت، حيث تختفي النظم، هذه المقاومة هي التي تكتب التاريخ الناصع لعصرنا العربي الراهن، وهي التي تعيد خلق الأمة، وقد حققت إنجازاتها الباهرة، وتخطت فكرة إعاقة الاستعمار الأمريكي الإسرائيلي إلى حد وضعه في خانة العجز، لكن الاحتفاء بالمقاومة المسلحة وحدها لا يكفي لتغيير المشهد، ولا بد من مقاومة بالسياسة تسند المقاومة بالسلاح، وتستلهم درسها العظيم، وهو أن القلة المؤمنة الصابرة المحتسبة قادرة على تحقيق المعجزات، المقاومة بالسلاح أثبتت مقدرتها على كسر أنف العدو الأمريكي الإسرائيلي، والمقاومة بالسياسة عليها واجب المساندة للمقاومة المسلحة، وعليها فريضة إزاحة حكام الهوى الإسرائيلي في قصور الحكم العربية، وبطريق المقاومة المدنية والعصيان السلمي والاعتصام بالشارع وقوة الناس.
هذا إن كنتم تريدون وفاء لدماء شهداء الحرية، وإن كنتم تريدون للغضب أن يفعل في التاريخ، وقبل أن تجف الدموع على حائط المبكي.
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Israel refuses to lift blockade, by Carlos Latuff
Was the Obama Administration involved in the Planning of the Israeli Attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla?
The Broader Military Agenda
by Michel Chossudovsky
Global Research
"The Israeli Navy Commando had prior knowledge of who was on the Turkish ship including where passengers were residing in terms of cabin layout. According to Swedish author Henning Mankell, who was on board the Marmara , "the Israeli forces attacked sleeping civilians."
These were targeted assassinations. Specific individuals were targeted. Journalists were targeted with a view to confiscating their audio and video recording equipment and tapes.
"We were witnesses to premeditated murders," said historian Mattias Gardell who was on the Mavi Marmara.....
The Role of Rahm Emmanuel
Several high level US-Israel meetings were held in the months prior to the May 31st attacks.
Rahm Emmanuel, Obama's White House chief of Staff was in Tel Aviv a week prior to the attacks. Confirmed by press reports, he had meetings behind closed doors with Prime Minister Netanyahu (May 26) as well as a private visit with President Shimon Peres on May 27....."
by Michel Chossudovsky
Global Research
"The Israeli Navy Commando had prior knowledge of who was on the Turkish ship including where passengers were residing in terms of cabin layout. According to Swedish author Henning Mankell, who was on board the Marmara , "the Israeli forces attacked sleeping civilians."
These were targeted assassinations. Specific individuals were targeted. Journalists were targeted with a view to confiscating their audio and video recording equipment and tapes.
"We were witnesses to premeditated murders," said historian Mattias Gardell who was on the Mavi Marmara.....
The Role of Rahm Emmanuel
Several high level US-Israel meetings were held in the months prior to the May 31st attacks.
Rahm Emmanuel, Obama's White House chief of Staff was in Tel Aviv a week prior to the attacks. Confirmed by press reports, he had meetings behind closed doors with Prime Minister Netanyahu (May 26) as well as a private visit with President Shimon Peres on May 27....."
Israel Rejects Call for International Probe into Attack on Gaza Flotilla
Democracy Now!
With Amy Goodman
"While international condemnation of Israel continues, inside Israel the mood is quite different. An Israeli parliamentary panel recommended today that the Knesset revoke the privileges of Israeli Arab lawmaker Hanin Zoabi for participating in last week’s Gaza-bound aid flotilla. Right-wing demonstrators targeted a peace protest in Tel Aviv Saturday and reportedly attacked veteran Israeli activist, the eighty-six-year-old Uri Avnery. For more on the fallout of the flotilla attack and the reactions inside Israel, I’m joined now from Jaffa by Max Blumenthal..."
With Amy Goodman
"While international condemnation of Israel continues, inside Israel the mood is quite different. An Israeli parliamentary panel recommended today that the Knesset revoke the privileges of Israeli Arab lawmaker Hanin Zoabi for participating in last week’s Gaza-bound aid flotilla. Right-wing demonstrators targeted a peace protest in Tel Aviv Saturday and reportedly attacked veteran Israeli activist, the eighty-six-year-old Uri Avnery. For more on the fallout of the flotilla attack and the reactions inside Israel, I’m joined now from Jaffa by Max Blumenthal..."
On Cowardice and Violence
Reflections by a Former US Marine on the Mavi Marmara
By KEN O'KEEFE
CounterPunch
Istanbul
(Left: KEN O'KEEFE)
".....And yes, we fought.
When I was asked, in the event of an Israeli attack on the Mavi Marmara, would I use the camera, or would I defend the ship? I enthusiastically committed to defence of the ship. Although I am also a huge supporter of non-violence, in fact I believe non-violence must always be the first option. Nonetheless I joined the defence of the Mavi Mamara understanding that violence could be used against us and that we may very well be compelled to use violence in self defence.
I said this straight to Israeli agents, probably of Mossad or Shin Bet, and I say it again now, on the morning of the attack I was directly involved in the disarming of two Israeli Commandos. This was a forcible, non-negotiable, separation of weapons from commandos who had already murdered two brothers that I had seen that day. One brother with a bullet entering dead center in his forehead, in what appeared to be an execution....."
By KEN O'KEEFE
CounterPunch
Istanbul
(Left: KEN O'KEEFE)
".....And yes, we fought.
When I was asked, in the event of an Israeli attack on the Mavi Marmara, would I use the camera, or would I defend the ship? I enthusiastically committed to defence of the ship. Although I am also a huge supporter of non-violence, in fact I believe non-violence must always be the first option. Nonetheless I joined the defence of the Mavi Mamara understanding that violence could be used against us and that we may very well be compelled to use violence in self defence.
I said this straight to Israeli agents, probably of Mossad or Shin Bet, and I say it again now, on the morning of the attack I was directly involved in the disarming of two Israeli Commandos. This was a forcible, non-negotiable, separation of weapons from commandos who had already murdered two brothers that I had seen that day. One brother with a bullet entering dead center in his forehead, in what appeared to be an execution....."
Al-Jazeera Video: Gaza activist denies 'terrorist' tag
"June 07, 2010 — Israeli authorities are defying international criticism of last week's raid on the Gaza aid flotilla, in which nine people were killed.
They are now claiming that five passengers on board the Mavi Marmara were "active terrorists".
Israel's "terrorist" list includes two Turks, one French, and two US citizens.
Ken O'Keefe, a former US marine, who is on the list, is accused of being a "radical anti-Israel activist" whom the Israelis say wanted to "train a commando unit" for Hamas.
But speaking to Al Jazeera's Veronica Pedrosa, O'Keefe denied the allegation."
Al-Jazeera Video: Al Jazeera talks to US activist named by Israel as a 'terrorist'
"Israel claims five activists on Mavi Marmara were "active terrorists".
Israel's "terrorist" list includes two Turks, one French, and two US citizens.
Ex-US marine, Ken O'Keefe who is on the list, denies all the allegations. (6 May 2010)
He talks to Al Jazeera "
Al-Jazeera Video: Activists vow to stand by Gazans
"Seven pro-Palestinian activists from the Rachel Corrie, an aid ship on its way to the Gaza Strip when it was forced to change course by Israeli forces and taken to the port of Ashdod, have been deported to Jordan.
They say despite being peaceful and calm when Israeli soldiers boarded the vessel on Saturday, the troops still pointed guns at their heads.
While they failed to deliver the 1,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid they were carrying, they believe their actions have succeeded in raising awareness about the conditions Palestinians endure under the Israeli blockade.
And they are still determined to make further attempts to break the siege.
Al Jazeera's Nisreen el-Shamayleh met up with the activists when they came through the King Hussein Bridge crossing from Israel to Jordan. (6 June 2010) "
Video: Gaza Freedom Flotilla Massacre: London Rally - Ewa Jasiewicz and Alex Harrison [inminds]
"June 06, 2010 — Following previous actions, on 5th June 2010 over 20,000 people marched in London from Downing Street to Kensington, laying siege to the Israeli Embassy to protest against the murder and kidnapping of activists by Israeli commandos on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla and to demand an end to the barbaric siege of Gaza."
Beatings, Abuse, Doctored Evidence Emerge
By Mel Frykberg
"RAMALLAH, Jun 7, 2010 (IPS) - Although Israel successfully controlled news of its deadly commando raid on the Free Gaza (FG) flotilla during the first crucial 48 hours of media coverage, emerging evidence from witnesses and survivors is challenging the Israeli government's version of events.
These include claims of medical treatment being withheld; beatings and abuse of passengers who never resisted; the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) doctoring audio and selectively editing videos.
Furthermore, allegations of a possible shoot-to-kill policy, amidst autopsies revealing repeated gun shots to the heads of the victims, are also part of an emerging pattern....
This IPS correspondent was physically threatened and verbally abused by Israeli police when she witnessed, and took pictures of, several frightened and cuffed activists being frog-marched away from the airport’s departure lounge.
Paul Larudee, a 64-year-old activist from the U.S. and a diabetic, had to be hospitalised after he was beaten repeatedly on different occasions by the navy seals. Kenneth O’Keefe, an Irish-American and former marine, was hospitalised in Tel Aviv after he too was beaten by security officials at the airport.
O’Keefe wanted to fight his deportation but was advised by his lawyer to leave the country for his own safety."
"RAMALLAH, Jun 7, 2010 (IPS) - Although Israel successfully controlled news of its deadly commando raid on the Free Gaza (FG) flotilla during the first crucial 48 hours of media coverage, emerging evidence from witnesses and survivors is challenging the Israeli government's version of events.
These include claims of medical treatment being withheld; beatings and abuse of passengers who never resisted; the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) doctoring audio and selectively editing videos.
Furthermore, allegations of a possible shoot-to-kill policy, amidst autopsies revealing repeated gun shots to the heads of the victims, are also part of an emerging pattern....
This IPS correspondent was physically threatened and verbally abused by Israeli police when she witnessed, and took pictures of, several frightened and cuffed activists being frog-marched away from the airport’s departure lounge.
Paul Larudee, a 64-year-old activist from the U.S. and a diabetic, had to be hospitalised after he was beaten repeatedly on different occasions by the navy seals. Kenneth O’Keefe, an Irish-American and former marine, was hospitalised in Tel Aviv after he too was beaten by security officials at the airport.
O’Keefe wanted to fight his deportation but was advised by his lawyer to leave the country for his own safety."
The Old Gaza Boy and the Sea
By Ramzy Baroud
Palestine Chronicle
"....From a young age, I would embark with my family on the short journey from our refugee camp to the beach. We went on a haggard cart, laboriously pulled by an equally gaunt donkey. The moment our feet touched the warm sand, the deafening screams would commence. Little feet would run faster than Olympic champions and for a few hours all our cares would dissipate. Here there was no occupation, no prison, no refugee status. Everything smelled and tasted of salt and watermelon....
....But despite the pain that is now too deep, the lives that were so unfairly taken, the tears that were shed across the world for the Freedom Flotilla, I know now that my fantasy was not a child's dream. That there were people from Australia, France, Turkey, Morocco, Algeria, the US and many other countries, who were coming to us in boats loaded with gifts from those who, for some reason, really liked us.
I cannot wait to get to Gaza, on top of a boat, so I can tell my brothers, "I told you so.""
Palestine Chronicle
"....From a young age, I would embark with my family on the short journey from our refugee camp to the beach. We went on a haggard cart, laboriously pulled by an equally gaunt donkey. The moment our feet touched the warm sand, the deafening screams would commence. Little feet would run faster than Olympic champions and for a few hours all our cares would dissipate. Here there was no occupation, no prison, no refugee status. Everything smelled and tasted of salt and watermelon....
....But despite the pain that is now too deep, the lives that were so unfairly taken, the tears that were shed across the world for the Freedom Flotilla, I know now that my fantasy was not a child's dream. That there were people from Australia, France, Turkey, Morocco, Algeria, the US and many other countries, who were coming to us in boats loaded with gifts from those who, for some reason, really liked us.
I cannot wait to get to Gaza, on top of a boat, so I can tell my brothers, "I told you so.""
Israel's Flotilla Massacre: Made in the USA
(Cartoon by Khalil Bendib)
Maybe the Obama administration will use this moment to show us a real "change we can believe in" for Middle East policy.
by Phyllis Bennis
CommonDreams
"....In the first 24 hours after the raid on the Gaza-bound ship, the Obama administration limited itself to expressions of concern and regret for the loss of life, and a polite request to Israel for "clarifications." But maybe this will mark the beginning of a shift in U.S. policy [Dream on Phyllis!]....."
by Phyllis Bennis
CommonDreams
"....In the first 24 hours after the raid on the Gaza-bound ship, the Obama administration limited itself to expressions of concern and regret for the loss of life, and a polite request to Israel for "clarifications." But maybe this will mark the beginning of a shift in U.S. policy [Dream on Phyllis!]....."
Defending the indefensible: a how-to guide
By Stephen M. Walt
"....To help students prepare for future acts of diplomatic casuistry, and to raise public consciousness about these tactics, I offer as a public service this handy 21-step guide: "How to Defend the Indefensible and Get Away With It." The connection to recent events is obvious, but such practices are commonplace in many countries and widely practiced by non-state actors as well.
"....To help students prepare for future acts of diplomatic casuistry, and to raise public consciousness about these tactics, I offer as a public service this handy 21-step guide: "How to Defend the Indefensible and Get Away With It." The connection to recent events is obvious, but such practices are commonplace in many countries and widely practiced by non-state actors as well.
Here are my 21 handy talking-points when you need to apply the white-wash....."
Our Enemies, the Israelis
When will we wake up to the threat?
by Justin Raimondo, June 07, 2010
"....Well, actually, there is a lot wrong with that, but, in any case, what’s the answer to this question? Again and again Israel has outraged the world, and even many of its most dedicated supporters, by its actions: multiple invasions of Lebanon, “incursions” into Gaza and the West Bank, the ever-expanding settlements, the vicious racism and tribalism that characterizes the present ultra-rightist government of Benjamin Netanyahu, which includes the openly racist and fascist party of the thuggish Avigdor Lieberman – the list of Israel’s sins is a long one, and that’s going back but a few years.
Even when the Israelis blew up a US Navy ship, the USS Liberty, a military reconnaissance vessel that was monitoring Israeli troops movements prior to the Six Day War, Washington went along – in public – with Tel Aviv’s fairy tale claiming it was an “accident.” This disgrace is repeated, today, as the beaten and battered Americans who lived to tell the tale of what happened aboard the flotilla return to bear witness to Israeli brutality. An American citizen is killed, and Washington looks the other way.
The ghost of Rachel Corrie is not surprised. Nor am I. Because the Israelis, after all, are our enemies........"
by Justin Raimondo, June 07, 2010
"....Well, actually, there is a lot wrong with that, but, in any case, what’s the answer to this question? Again and again Israel has outraged the world, and even many of its most dedicated supporters, by its actions: multiple invasions of Lebanon, “incursions” into Gaza and the West Bank, the ever-expanding settlements, the vicious racism and tribalism that characterizes the present ultra-rightist government of Benjamin Netanyahu, which includes the openly racist and fascist party of the thuggish Avigdor Lieberman – the list of Israel’s sins is a long one, and that’s going back but a few years.
Even when the Israelis blew up a US Navy ship, the USS Liberty, a military reconnaissance vessel that was monitoring Israeli troops movements prior to the Six Day War, Washington went along – in public – with Tel Aviv’s fairy tale claiming it was an “accident.” This disgrace is repeated, today, as the beaten and battered Americans who lived to tell the tale of what happened aboard the flotilla return to bear witness to Israeli brutality. An American citizen is killed, and Washington looks the other way.
The ghost of Rachel Corrie is not surprised. Nor am I. Because the Israelis, after all, are our enemies........"
Israel and the aid convoy: How to make enemies
Israel's defiant reaction to the raid on the Gaza aid convoy is almost as appalling as the attack itself
Editorial
The Guardian, Monday 7 June 2010
"....There are real questions to answer, such as testimony that shots were fired before the commandos hit the deck of the Mavi Marmara, that the victims had multiple gunshot wounds to the head, apparently contradicting the claim that commandos only fired in self-defence. There is also testimony that backs the claim that soldiers were seized and stripped of their weapons before others stormed aboard. This evidence is unlikely to be tested by an Israeli inquiry and the rest of the world, particularly the Muslim one, will conclude that it is because Israeli commanders have something to hide.
Turkey is unlikely to take the shooting of its citizens lying down. Even less so, now that the Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman has branded the Turkish prime minister Reccep Erdogan an Islamic extremist. This week Istanbul will host a Eurasian security summit, attended by eight presidents, which will rapidly turn into an international forum for condemning Israel and its illegal siege of Gaza. Alienating not only 72 million Turks, but the only Muslim member of Nato, will have repercussions for Israel that spread far and wide. Day by day, Israel is isolating itself both from international law and world opinion.
The cost of underwriting the self-destructive behaviour of its strategic partner in the Middle East is starting to mount exponentially in Washington. Both Barack Obama and General David Petraeus have adversely linked the Arab-Israeli conflict to America's own security interests. First came Mr Netanyahu's refusal to stop construction in Arab East Jerusalem; now Israel has picked a fight with a key Muslim ally. Israel's refusal to accept an international inquiry will only add weight to the view that it has become a strategic liability to the interests of the country that guarantees its survival. Mr Netanyahu would be foolish to assume that Mr Obama is not drawing the same conclusion."
Editorial
The Guardian, Monday 7 June 2010
"....There are real questions to answer, such as testimony that shots were fired before the commandos hit the deck of the Mavi Marmara, that the victims had multiple gunshot wounds to the head, apparently contradicting the claim that commandos only fired in self-defence. There is also testimony that backs the claim that soldiers were seized and stripped of their weapons before others stormed aboard. This evidence is unlikely to be tested by an Israeli inquiry and the rest of the world, particularly the Muslim one, will conclude that it is because Israeli commanders have something to hide.
Turkey is unlikely to take the shooting of its citizens lying down. Even less so, now that the Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman has branded the Turkish prime minister Reccep Erdogan an Islamic extremist. This week Istanbul will host a Eurasian security summit, attended by eight presidents, which will rapidly turn into an international forum for condemning Israel and its illegal siege of Gaza. Alienating not only 72 million Turks, but the only Muslim member of Nato, will have repercussions for Israel that spread far and wide. Day by day, Israel is isolating itself both from international law and world opinion.
The cost of underwriting the self-destructive behaviour of its strategic partner in the Middle East is starting to mount exponentially in Washington. Both Barack Obama and General David Petraeus have adversely linked the Arab-Israeli conflict to America's own security interests. First came Mr Netanyahu's refusal to stop construction in Arab East Jerusalem; now Israel has picked a fight with a key Muslim ally. Israel's refusal to accept an international inquiry will only add weight to the view that it has become a strategic liability to the interests of the country that guarantees its survival. Mr Netanyahu would be foolish to assume that Mr Obama is not drawing the same conclusion."
النائبة زعبي: مسيرتنا مستمرة مهما حرّضوا ومهمّا هددّوا
One Very Brave Palestinian.....
Haneen Zou'bi.
Salute!
UK anti-Israel protests spread to Egyptian embassy
A Good Short Video Featuring an Announcement by George Galloway
Press TV
UK anti-Israel protests spread to Egyptian embassy
Press TV
UK anti-Israel protests spread to Egyptian embassy
Hamas welcomes EU monitoring force
Press TV
"Hamas has welcomed a proposal by the European Union (EU) to monitor Gaza crossings in a bid to help lift the Israeli-imposed siege on the Palestinian territory.
Hamas "welcomes this proposal in all its aspects," of EU or international presence at Rafah, Ma'an news agency quoted the Palestinian movement's senior official Salah al-Bardawil as saying on Sunday.
Bardawil, however, strongly rejected the idea of Israel policing in the south, stressing that "Israel should not obstruct any convoys or ships coming to the Gaza port."
Spanish Foreign Minster Miguel Angel Moratinos, whose country currently heads the rotating EU presidency, floated the idea of an international monitoring force on Saturday.
The proposed plan reportedly includes the activation of the EU monitoring committee at Rafah and developing similar initiatives at at least three other crossings.
The force would also assist in sea patrols so that the Gaza port could open...."
"Hamas has welcomed a proposal by the European Union (EU) to monitor Gaza crossings in a bid to help lift the Israeli-imposed siege on the Palestinian territory.
Hamas "welcomes this proposal in all its aspects," of EU or international presence at Rafah, Ma'an news agency quoted the Palestinian movement's senior official Salah al-Bardawil as saying on Sunday.
Bardawil, however, strongly rejected the idea of Israel policing in the south, stressing that "Israel should not obstruct any convoys or ships coming to the Gaza port."
Spanish Foreign Minster Miguel Angel Moratinos, whose country currently heads the rotating EU presidency, floated the idea of an international monitoring force on Saturday.
The proposed plan reportedly includes the activation of the EU monitoring committee at Rafah and developing similar initiatives at at least three other crossings.
The force would also assist in sea patrols so that the Gaza port could open...."
First the Turks, Now the Iranians; Where are the Arabs?? Do They Exist?? How About a Spine Transplant??
Iranian aid ships to set sail for Gaza
Press TV
"Two Iranian aid ships carrying humanitarian relief and medical supplies for the people of Gaza will set sail for the coastal sliver in the upcoming days.
Iran's Red Crescent announced Monday that the cargo will include food, medicine and appliances and it will be accompanied by a group of Iranian doctors and relief workers.
"The aid consists of food and medical supplies, which will be transported into Gaza via the Rafah border in Egypt before the week is through," the country's Red Crescent Director Abdolraoof Adibzadeh said.
The Rafah border crossing is the only escape route from Gaza that does not lead to Israel.
"Iran is also preparing to dispatch a navy hospital ship for the people of Gaza, which will have onboard doctors, nurses and all the medical equipment required for emergency surgeries and procedures," Adibzadeh further explained.
The decision comes in the wake of a deadly Israeli attack on the Gaza-bound Freedom Flotilla carrying thousands of tons of aid supplies and hundreds of humanitarian activists to the coastal strip.
Israel's military attack into the Turkish aid vessel M.V. Mavi Marmara resulted in the death of nine activists -- including a Turkish teenager -- and the injury of more then 40 others."
Press TV
"Two Iranian aid ships carrying humanitarian relief and medical supplies for the people of Gaza will set sail for the coastal sliver in the upcoming days.
Iran's Red Crescent announced Monday that the cargo will include food, medicine and appliances and it will be accompanied by a group of Iranian doctors and relief workers.
"The aid consists of food and medical supplies, which will be transported into Gaza via the Rafah border in Egypt before the week is through," the country's Red Crescent Director Abdolraoof Adibzadeh said.
The Rafah border crossing is the only escape route from Gaza that does not lead to Israel.
"Iran is also preparing to dispatch a navy hospital ship for the people of Gaza, which will have onboard doctors, nurses and all the medical equipment required for emergency surgeries and procedures," Adibzadeh further explained.
The decision comes in the wake of a deadly Israeli attack on the Gaza-bound Freedom Flotilla carrying thousands of tons of aid supplies and hundreds of humanitarian activists to the coastal strip.
Israel's military attack into the Turkish aid vessel M.V. Mavi Marmara resulted in the death of nine activists -- including a Turkish teenager -- and the injury of more then 40 others."
Kidnapped by Israel, forsaken by Britain
By Jamal Elshayyal
Al-Jazeera
"....It was this time last week that I was on the top deck of the Mavi Marmara, and first spotted Israeli war ships in the distance, as they approached the humanitarian flotilla. Little did I know how deadly and bloody were the events that soon began to unfold.
What I will write in this entry is fact, every letter of it, none of it is opinion, none of it is analysis, and I will leave that to you, the reader....
Commandos on board the choppers joined the firing, using live ammunition, before any of the soldiers had descended onto the ship.
Two unarmed civilians were killed just meters away from me. Dozens of unarmed civilians were injured right before my eyes.
One Israeli soldier, armed with a large automatic gun and a side pistol, was overpowered by several passengers. They disarmed him. They did not use his weapons or fire them; instead they threw his weapons over board and into the sea.
After what seemed at the time as roughly 30 minutes, passengers on board the ship raised a white flag. The Israeli army continued to fire live ammunition. The ships organisers made a loud speaker announcement saying they have surrendered the ship. The Israeli army continued to fire live ammunition.
I was the last person to leave the top deck.....
Several announcements were made on the loud speakers in Hebrew, Arabic and English - "This is a message to the Israeli army, we have surrendered. We are unarmed. We have critically injured people. Please come and take them. We will not attack."
There was no response.
One of the passengers, a member of the Israeli Parliament wrote a sign in Hebrew, reading the exact same thing; she held it together with a white flag and approached the windows where the Israeli soldiers were standing outside. They pointed their laser guided guns to her head, ushered her to go away.
A British citizen tried the same sign only this time holding a British Flag and taking the sign to a different set of windows and different set of soldiers. They responded in the same manner.
Three hours later, all three of the injured were pronounced dead. The Israeli soldiers who refused to allow them treatment succeeded where their colleagues had earlier failed when they targeted these three men with bullets.....
Masked Israeli soldiers and commandos took me from international waters.
Uniformed Israeli officials locked me behind bars.
The British government did not lift a finger to help me, till this day I have not seen or heard from a British official.
The Israeli government stole my passport.
The Israeli government stole my lap top, two cameras, 3 phones, $1500 and all my possessions.
My government, the British government has not even acknowledged my existence.
I was kidnapped by Israel. I was forsaken by my country."
Al-Jazeera
"....It was this time last week that I was on the top deck of the Mavi Marmara, and first spotted Israeli war ships in the distance, as they approached the humanitarian flotilla. Little did I know how deadly and bloody were the events that soon began to unfold.
What I will write in this entry is fact, every letter of it, none of it is opinion, none of it is analysis, and I will leave that to you, the reader....
Commandos on board the choppers joined the firing, using live ammunition, before any of the soldiers had descended onto the ship.
Two unarmed civilians were killed just meters away from me. Dozens of unarmed civilians were injured right before my eyes.
One Israeli soldier, armed with a large automatic gun and a side pistol, was overpowered by several passengers. They disarmed him. They did not use his weapons or fire them; instead they threw his weapons over board and into the sea.
After what seemed at the time as roughly 30 minutes, passengers on board the ship raised a white flag. The Israeli army continued to fire live ammunition. The ships organisers made a loud speaker announcement saying they have surrendered the ship. The Israeli army continued to fire live ammunition.
I was the last person to leave the top deck.....
Several announcements were made on the loud speakers in Hebrew, Arabic and English - "This is a message to the Israeli army, we have surrendered. We are unarmed. We have critically injured people. Please come and take them. We will not attack."
There was no response.
One of the passengers, a member of the Israeli Parliament wrote a sign in Hebrew, reading the exact same thing; she held it together with a white flag and approached the windows where the Israeli soldiers were standing outside. They pointed their laser guided guns to her head, ushered her to go away.
A British citizen tried the same sign only this time holding a British Flag and taking the sign to a different set of windows and different set of soldiers. They responded in the same manner.
Three hours later, all three of the injured were pronounced dead. The Israeli soldiers who refused to allow them treatment succeeded where their colleagues had earlier failed when they targeted these three men with bullets.....
Masked Israeli soldiers and commandos took me from international waters.
Uniformed Israeli officials locked me behind bars.
The British government did not lift a finger to help me, till this day I have not seen or heard from a British official.
The Israeli government stole my passport.
The Israeli government stole my lap top, two cameras, 3 phones, $1500 and all my possessions.
My government, the British government has not even acknowledged my existence.
I was kidnapped by Israel. I was forsaken by my country."
Sunday, June 06, 2010
بلير صديقا للقذافي وعائلته
These Are The Arab "Leaders"....
Tfuh On All of Them!
بلير صديقا للقذافي وعائلته
رأي القدس
"ان ينفي توني بلير رئيس وزراء بريطانيا الاسبق صحة ما ذكرته تقارير صحافية بريطانية بانه اصبح مستشارا للزعيم الليبي معمر القذافي، وهيئة الاستثمار الليبية على وجه الخصوص، فهذا شأنه، ولكن هذا لا يقلل من ان الرجل مستعد للقيام بالعديد من المهام المماثلة، وبات يجني اموالا طائلة بحكم علاقاته مع حكومات عربية، يعمل لديها في وظائف استشارية مماثلة.
السيد سيف الاسلام القذافي نجل الزعيم الليبي اكد لصحيفة 'الديلي ميل' البريطانية ان بلير مستشار لوالده، وصديق شخصي للعائلة، وزار ليبيا مرارا منذ خروجه من منصبه، وأقام في منزل العائلة، وقام بدور استشاري لصندوق حكومي ليبي يدير الثروة النفطية الليبية التي تقدر باكثر من 94 مليار دولار.
ايهما نصدق اذن نفي المستر بلير الذي اصبح مبعوث اللجنة الرباعية الدولية للسلام، وهو متهم باشعال حرب دمرت العراق، وقتلت وجرحت الملايين من ابنائه، ام السيد سيف الاسلام القذافي المرشح لخلافة والده في السلطة، وكان مهندس تسوية ازمة لوكربي من خلال مساعدة الحكومة البريطانية التي كان يتزعمها بلير؟
نحن نصدق نجل الزعيم الليبي، لاننا ندرك جيدا ان بلير كاذب محترف، فقد ضلل الشعب البريطاني وبرلمانه باكاذيبه الموثقة حول اسلحة الدمار الشامل التي أكد ان الرئيس العراقي الراحل صدام حسين كان يملكها، ويستطيع تجهيزها في اقل من ثلاثة ارباع الساعة، لنكتشف انه كان يعرف ان الرئيس العراقي دمر اسلحة الدمار الشامل التي كانت بحوزته، ورغم ذلك ذهب الى الحرب ضد العراق.
رئيس الوزراء البريطاني الاسبق محب للمال، ويجني اموالا طائلة مقابل استشارات ومحاضرات يقدمها لحكومات عربية مثل الكويت، وهذا امر لا غبار عليه قانونيا، ولكنه موضع تساؤل من الناحية المبدئية من جانبنا كعرب اكتوينا من نيران سياساته واكاذيبه عندما كان في سدة الحكم.
فالمستر بلير كمبعوث للجنة الرباعية، والاب الروحي للسلام الاقتصادي في الضفة الغربية، يتحمل جزءا من مسؤولية الحصار المفروض حالياً على قطاع غزة بحكم منصبه وتوصياته في هذا الخصوص، حيث لم يعمل على رفع هذا الحصار ووضع حد له، وحتى عندما فعل ذلك فإن مطالبته بانهاء الحصار ارتبطت بشروط تعجيزية من وجهة نظر حركة 'حماس' مثل الاعتراف بخريطة الطريق ونبذ العنف (الارهاب) والقبول بالاتفاقات الموقعة بين السلطة واسرائيل، والاعتراف بحق الاخيرة في الوجود.
السؤال الذي يطرح نفسه ليس حول صحة ما اذا كان بلير يتلقى اموالاً من ليبيا، وانما حول كيفية قبول الزعيم الليبي معمر القذافي الذي يعتبر من اشد المؤيدين لقضية فلسطين والمعارضين لحرب العراق، بشخص مثل بلير صديقاً او مستشاراً له؟
ليبيا تعرضت للقصف والعدوان بسبب مواقفها الداعمة لقضايا الامة العربية، ودعمها للمقاومة الفلسطينية على وجه الخصوص، ولم نكن نتوقع ان يقبل زعيمها بصداقة شخص فعل بالعراق اخطر بكثير مما فعله رونالد ريغان الرئيس الامريكي الاسبق بليبيا عندما امر قاذفاته بقصفها، ومحاولة اغتيال الزعيم الليبي نفسه بتدمير منزله فوق رأسه واسرته.
نتمنى ان لا يكون بلير مجرم الحرب صديقا للزعيم الليبي واسرته، واذا كان فعلاً كذلك فان هذا ينتقص كثيراً من الرصيد الوطني للزعيم الليبي.
"
Tfuh On All of Them!
بلير صديقا للقذافي وعائلته
رأي القدس
"ان ينفي توني بلير رئيس وزراء بريطانيا الاسبق صحة ما ذكرته تقارير صحافية بريطانية بانه اصبح مستشارا للزعيم الليبي معمر القذافي، وهيئة الاستثمار الليبية على وجه الخصوص، فهذا شأنه، ولكن هذا لا يقلل من ان الرجل مستعد للقيام بالعديد من المهام المماثلة، وبات يجني اموالا طائلة بحكم علاقاته مع حكومات عربية، يعمل لديها في وظائف استشارية مماثلة.
السيد سيف الاسلام القذافي نجل الزعيم الليبي اكد لصحيفة 'الديلي ميل' البريطانية ان بلير مستشار لوالده، وصديق شخصي للعائلة، وزار ليبيا مرارا منذ خروجه من منصبه، وأقام في منزل العائلة، وقام بدور استشاري لصندوق حكومي ليبي يدير الثروة النفطية الليبية التي تقدر باكثر من 94 مليار دولار.
ايهما نصدق اذن نفي المستر بلير الذي اصبح مبعوث اللجنة الرباعية الدولية للسلام، وهو متهم باشعال حرب دمرت العراق، وقتلت وجرحت الملايين من ابنائه، ام السيد سيف الاسلام القذافي المرشح لخلافة والده في السلطة، وكان مهندس تسوية ازمة لوكربي من خلال مساعدة الحكومة البريطانية التي كان يتزعمها بلير؟
نحن نصدق نجل الزعيم الليبي، لاننا ندرك جيدا ان بلير كاذب محترف، فقد ضلل الشعب البريطاني وبرلمانه باكاذيبه الموثقة حول اسلحة الدمار الشامل التي أكد ان الرئيس العراقي الراحل صدام حسين كان يملكها، ويستطيع تجهيزها في اقل من ثلاثة ارباع الساعة، لنكتشف انه كان يعرف ان الرئيس العراقي دمر اسلحة الدمار الشامل التي كانت بحوزته، ورغم ذلك ذهب الى الحرب ضد العراق.
رئيس الوزراء البريطاني الاسبق محب للمال، ويجني اموالا طائلة مقابل استشارات ومحاضرات يقدمها لحكومات عربية مثل الكويت، وهذا امر لا غبار عليه قانونيا، ولكنه موضع تساؤل من الناحية المبدئية من جانبنا كعرب اكتوينا من نيران سياساته واكاذيبه عندما كان في سدة الحكم.
فالمستر بلير كمبعوث للجنة الرباعية، والاب الروحي للسلام الاقتصادي في الضفة الغربية، يتحمل جزءا من مسؤولية الحصار المفروض حالياً على قطاع غزة بحكم منصبه وتوصياته في هذا الخصوص، حيث لم يعمل على رفع هذا الحصار ووضع حد له، وحتى عندما فعل ذلك فإن مطالبته بانهاء الحصار ارتبطت بشروط تعجيزية من وجهة نظر حركة 'حماس' مثل الاعتراف بخريطة الطريق ونبذ العنف (الارهاب) والقبول بالاتفاقات الموقعة بين السلطة واسرائيل، والاعتراف بحق الاخيرة في الوجود.
السؤال الذي يطرح نفسه ليس حول صحة ما اذا كان بلير يتلقى اموالاً من ليبيا، وانما حول كيفية قبول الزعيم الليبي معمر القذافي الذي يعتبر من اشد المؤيدين لقضية فلسطين والمعارضين لحرب العراق، بشخص مثل بلير صديقاً او مستشاراً له؟
ليبيا تعرضت للقصف والعدوان بسبب مواقفها الداعمة لقضايا الامة العربية، ودعمها للمقاومة الفلسطينية على وجه الخصوص، ولم نكن نتوقع ان يقبل زعيمها بصداقة شخص فعل بالعراق اخطر بكثير مما فعله رونالد ريغان الرئيس الامريكي الاسبق بليبيا عندما امر قاذفاته بقصفها، ومحاولة اغتيال الزعيم الليبي نفسه بتدمير منزله فوق رأسه واسرته.
نتمنى ان لا يكون بلير مجرم الحرب صديقا للزعيم الليبي واسرته، واذا كان فعلاً كذلك فان هذا ينتقص كثيراً من الرصيد الوطني للزعيم الليبي.
"
The Pirates of the Mediterranean, by Emad Hajjaj
What the Gaza Flotilla Tells Us About the Future of the Mideast
By Tony Karon
"‘We’re the only ones who believe them,” a US official was quoted as complaining last week in response to Israel’s account of its attack on the Gaza aid flotilla.
The bloodshed on the high seas and the resulting diplomatic fallout is a reminder of just how far US influence has fallen in the region, and the grim prospects for the US president Barack Obama reversing that trend as long as the US continues to accord Israel special status...."
Israel hasbara fails again: Photos show Mavi Marmara passengers protecting, aiding Israeli soldiers
Captured, disarmed hijackers did not face "lynching" as Israel claimed
By Ali Abunimah
"The website of Turkish newspaper Hürriyet published a gallery of photos showing Israeli soldiers captured after their attack on the Mavi Marmara in international waters in the early hours of 31 May.....
In some of the Hürriyet photos passengers or medics appear to be protecting and aiding the Israeli soldiers. Below we see a passenger taking a clearly wounded Israeli attacker and protecting him -- not from any violent attack -- but merely from being photographed...."
By Ali Abunimah
"The website of Turkish newspaper Hürriyet published a gallery of photos showing Israeli soldiers captured after their attack on the Mavi Marmara in international waters in the early hours of 31 May.....
In some of the Hürriyet photos passengers or medics appear to be protecting and aiding the Israeli soldiers. Below we see a passenger taking a clearly wounded Israeli attacker and protecting him -- not from any violent attack -- but merely from being photographed...."
Video: Amid violent Israeli attack on Marmara, passengers aid soldiers injured in descent from choppers #flotilla
By Ali Abunimah
"This raw video of the first moments of Israel's attack on the Mavi Marmara in the early hours of 31 May suggests a number of things, according to what contemporaneous eyewitnesses are saying in the thick of the action. The video is in English, Turkish and Arabic with French subtitles.
-Israel launched an unprovoked attack on the ship in international waters, firing tear gas and live ammunition onto a ship carrying 600 civilian passengers.
-Israeli commandos were injured while descending onto the ship from helicopters.
-Passengers on the ship said they were aiding the injured commandos, who were safe, even as Israel pressed on with a military attack on a civilian ship.
-Passengers were stunned by the sheer violence of the Israeli attack, reported many injured people, collected live ammunition casings."
"Les données sur IDF shoothing AVANT D'ENTRER VAISSEAU
C'est la vidéo très dernier shoot avant la ISRAEL prendre le bateau .. VIDEO VIDEO VIDEO TRES IMPORTANT TRES IMPORTANT TRES IMPORTANT .. S'IL VOUS PLAÎT SHARE
Les passagers parler de la tenue de deux soldats en toute sécurité et de la prise de vue sur tout le navire, avant d'entrer et de blessés parmi les passagers et les activistes criant à l'aide SOS .. Un militant a été tué à distance immédiatement FM et Apache tente d'atterrir sur des navires ..
Pour architectes-Gaza: Gaza Flottille - Dernière vidéo. Le monde doit savoir la vérité: Le tir des FDI à la population avant d'entrer dans le bateau."
"This raw video of the first moments of Israel's attack on the Mavi Marmara in the early hours of 31 May suggests a number of things, according to what contemporaneous eyewitnesses are saying in the thick of the action. The video is in English, Turkish and Arabic with French subtitles.
-Israel launched an unprovoked attack on the ship in international waters, firing tear gas and live ammunition onto a ship carrying 600 civilian passengers.
-Israeli commandos were injured while descending onto the ship from helicopters.
-Passengers on the ship said they were aiding the injured commandos, who were safe, even as Israel pressed on with a military attack on a civilian ship.
-Passengers were stunned by the sheer violence of the Israeli attack, reported many injured people, collected live ammunition casings."
"Les données sur IDF shoothing AVANT D'ENTRER VAISSEAU
C'est la vidéo très dernier shoot avant la ISRAEL prendre le bateau .. VIDEO VIDEO VIDEO TRES IMPORTANT TRES IMPORTANT TRES IMPORTANT .. S'IL VOUS PLAÎT SHARE
Les passagers parler de la tenue de deux soldats en toute sécurité et de la prise de vue sur tout le navire, avant d'entrer et de blessés parmi les passagers et les activistes criant à l'aide SOS .. Un militant a été tué à distance immédiatement FM et Apache tente d'atterrir sur des navires ..
Pour architectes-Gaza: Gaza Flottille - Dernière vidéo. Le monde doit savoir la vérité: Le tir des FDI à la population avant d'entrer dans le bateau."
IDF Admits It Doctored the Audio Tapes
The Free Gaza Team
"Cyprus, June 6, 2010) The IDF admitted today in a press release that it doctored audio footage from its exchanges with the Gaza flotilla in order to paint the flotilla passengers as anti-Semites.
However, their comments made no more sense with this explanation: “This transmission had originally cited the Mavi Marmara ship as being the source of these remarks, however, due to an open channel, the specific ship or ships in the “Freedom Flotilla” responding to the Israeli Navy could not be identified.
During radio transmissions between Israeli Navy and the ships of the “Free Gaza” Flotilla on 31 May 2010, the Israeli Navy ship attempts to make contact with the ‘Defne Y’ on channel 16. Other ships from the flotilla respond on the channel, without identifying themselves. At some point during the radio exchange the Israeli Navy is told by one of the ships to “shut up, go back to Auschwitz” (2:05) and “don’t forget 9-11. (5:42).”
According to our Captain of Challenger 1, Denis Healey, a man with 25 years of experience on the sea, there would be no way that anyone could communicate with each other without the entire fleet hearing the exchange. “There was no exchange like this by anyone on any boat during the entire time I was piloting the boat,” said Denis.
Huwaida Arraf, the woman you hear on the radio, concurred. “The open channel is always the open channel, and everyone knows who is on the radio.”
All radio transmissions on the sea are heard by all captains. Once again, Israel is caught in a lie trying to defned itself for the murder and mayhem it committed the morning of May 31, 2010.
Contact:Huwaida Arraf, +970-598-336-215 or +972-548-817-046
Greta Berlin 00 357 99 18 72 75
....."
"Cyprus, June 6, 2010) The IDF admitted today in a press release that it doctored audio footage from its exchanges with the Gaza flotilla in order to paint the flotilla passengers as anti-Semites.
However, their comments made no more sense with this explanation: “This transmission had originally cited the Mavi Marmara ship as being the source of these remarks, however, due to an open channel, the specific ship or ships in the “Freedom Flotilla” responding to the Israeli Navy could not be identified.
During radio transmissions between Israeli Navy and the ships of the “Free Gaza” Flotilla on 31 May 2010, the Israeli Navy ship attempts to make contact with the ‘Defne Y’ on channel 16. Other ships from the flotilla respond on the channel, without identifying themselves. At some point during the radio exchange the Israeli Navy is told by one of the ships to “shut up, go back to Auschwitz” (2:05) and “don’t forget 9-11. (5:42).”
According to our Captain of Challenger 1, Denis Healey, a man with 25 years of experience on the sea, there would be no way that anyone could communicate with each other without the entire fleet hearing the exchange. “There was no exchange like this by anyone on any boat during the entire time I was piloting the boat,” said Denis.
Huwaida Arraf, the woman you hear on the radio, concurred. “The open channel is always the open channel, and everyone knows who is on the radio.”
All radio transmissions on the sea are heard by all captains. Once again, Israel is caught in a lie trying to defned itself for the murder and mayhem it committed the morning of May 31, 2010.
Contact:Huwaida Arraf, +970-598-336-215 or +972-548-817-046
Greta Berlin 00 357 99 18 72 75
....."
South Africa Must Cut All Ties with Israel
By Iqbal Jassat – Pretoria
(Iqbal Jassat is chairperson of the Media Review Network (MRN), an advocacy group based in Pretoria, South Africa.)
Palestine Chronicle
"South Africa's response to the dastardly act of piracy and blatant savagery by the Israeli regime is reflective of a global mood that is increasingly becoming less tolerant of contemptuous disregard for international obligations flowing from a variety of conventions.
In addition to the decision to recall its Tel Aviv based ambassador, South Africa has also summoned the Israeli ambassador and presented him with a demarche, the strongest possible diplomatic protest short of expulsion. And included among 31 nations on the UN Human Rights Council, South Africa voted in support of a resolution that condemned Israel’s outrageous attack and endorsed a full inquiry into the incident...."
(Iqbal Jassat is chairperson of the Media Review Network (MRN), an advocacy group based in Pretoria, South Africa.)
Palestine Chronicle
"South Africa's response to the dastardly act of piracy and blatant savagery by the Israeli regime is reflective of a global mood that is increasingly becoming less tolerant of contemptuous disregard for international obligations flowing from a variety of conventions.
In addition to the decision to recall its Tel Aviv based ambassador, South Africa has also summoned the Israeli ambassador and presented him with a demarche, the strongest possible diplomatic protest short of expulsion. And included among 31 nations on the UN Human Rights Council, South Africa voted in support of a resolution that condemned Israel’s outrageous attack and endorsed a full inquiry into the incident...."
'Kill a Turk and Rest': But Israel Keeps on Going
By Uri Avnery
Palestine Chronicle
"....Making enemies of the Turks is more than foolish. For decades, Turkey has been our closest ally in the region, much more close than is generally known. Turkey could play, in the future, an important role as a mediator between Israel and the Arab-Muslim world, between Israel and Syria, and, yes, even between Israel and Iran. Perhaps we have succeeded now in uniting the Turkish people against us – and some say that this is the only matter on which the Turks are now united.
This is Chapter 2 of “Cast Lead”. Then we aroused most countries in the world against us, shocked our few friends and gladdened our enemies. Now we have done it again, and perhaps with even greater success. World public opinion is turning against us.
This is a slow process. It resembles the accumulation of water behind a dam. The water rises slowly, quietly, and the change is hardly noticeable. But when it reaches a critical level, the dam bursts and the disaster is upon us. We are steadily approaching this point.
“Kill a Turk and rest,” the mother says in the joke. Our government does not even rest. It seems that they will not stop until they have made enemies of the last of our friends."
Palestine Chronicle
"....Making enemies of the Turks is more than foolish. For decades, Turkey has been our closest ally in the region, much more close than is generally known. Turkey could play, in the future, an important role as a mediator between Israel and the Arab-Muslim world, between Israel and Syria, and, yes, even between Israel and Iran. Perhaps we have succeeded now in uniting the Turkish people against us – and some say that this is the only matter on which the Turks are now united.
This is Chapter 2 of “Cast Lead”. Then we aroused most countries in the world against us, shocked our few friends and gladdened our enemies. Now we have done it again, and perhaps with even greater success. World public opinion is turning against us.
This is a slow process. It resembles the accumulation of water behind a dam. The water rises slowly, quietly, and the change is hardly noticeable. But when it reaches a critical level, the dam bursts and the disaster is upon us. We are steadily approaching this point.
“Kill a Turk and rest,” the mother says in the joke. Our government does not even rest. It seems that they will not stop until they have made enemies of the last of our friends."
Fury over raid isolates Israel
Relations between Jewish state and longtime ally Turkey may never recover after foolish flotilla attack
By ERIC MARGOLIS
The Toronto Sun
(Left: Ehud Barak in a recent visit to Turkey)
"....Turkey’s brass have overthrown four governments since the Second World War and once ousted Erdogan from office. They particularly hate his AK party, which espouses principles of Islamic welfare, cuts in defence spending, friendship with Greece and joining the EU.
Turkey’s generals, and their allies in the security establishment, courts and academia, are militant secularist Kemalists who detest religious and political Islam, scorn Arabs, and are ideologically close to Israel’s right-wing military establishment. Israel has sold Turkey billions in arms deals, producing huge commissions for both sides.
Israel’s crack air force trains in Turkey and had been planning to use Turkish airspace to attack Iran. The two nations’ intelligence agencies co-operate closely.
After a series of intrigues collectively know as “Ergenekon,” the government has broken up cabals of far-right Turkish officers and civilian plotters, averting another military coup. Turkey’s bullying military has been largely pushed out of politics.
Ergenekon broke the secret Israeli-Turkish link. Erdogan denounced the killing of 1,300 Palestinians in Israel’s heavy bombing of Gaza in 2008-2009, infuriating Israel.
Now, Netanyahu’s bungling has shot Israel in both feet. To paraphrase Talleyrand, worse than crime, an error.
The world is demanding Israel end the brutal siege of hungry Gaza. More blockade-busting ships are at sea.
Israeli-Turkish relations may never recover. Crowds across Turkey wave banners, “We Are All Palestinians.” Erdogan has emerged as the Muslim world’s most important leader.
When Israeli’s emotions cool down, they will see how foolhardy Bibi Netanyahu, Israel’s George Bush, has been."
By ERIC MARGOLIS
The Toronto Sun
(Left: Ehud Barak in a recent visit to Turkey)
"....Turkey’s brass have overthrown four governments since the Second World War and once ousted Erdogan from office. They particularly hate his AK party, which espouses principles of Islamic welfare, cuts in defence spending, friendship with Greece and joining the EU.
Turkey’s generals, and their allies in the security establishment, courts and academia, are militant secularist Kemalists who detest religious and political Islam, scorn Arabs, and are ideologically close to Israel’s right-wing military establishment. Israel has sold Turkey billions in arms deals, producing huge commissions for both sides.
Israel’s crack air force trains in Turkey and had been planning to use Turkish airspace to attack Iran. The two nations’ intelligence agencies co-operate closely.
After a series of intrigues collectively know as “Ergenekon,” the government has broken up cabals of far-right Turkish officers and civilian plotters, averting another military coup. Turkey’s bullying military has been largely pushed out of politics.
Ergenekon broke the secret Israeli-Turkish link. Erdogan denounced the killing of 1,300 Palestinians in Israel’s heavy bombing of Gaza in 2008-2009, infuriating Israel.
Now, Netanyahu’s bungling has shot Israel in both feet. To paraphrase Talleyrand, worse than crime, an error.
The world is demanding Israel end the brutal siege of hungry Gaza. More blockade-busting ships are at sea.
Israeli-Turkish relations may never recover. Crowds across Turkey wave banners, “We Are All Palestinians.” Erdogan has emerged as the Muslim world’s most important leader.
When Israeli’s emotions cool down, they will see how foolhardy Bibi Netanyahu, Israel’s George Bush, has been."
Current Al-Jazeera (Arabic) Online Poll
This new poll asks:
Do the Arabs need a UN resolution to lift the Gaza siege?
With over 1,300 responding so far, 88% said no.
Do the Arabs need a UN resolution to lift the Gaza siege?
With over 1,300 responding so far, 88% said no.
Al-Jazeera Video: Israel boards another Gaza aid boat
"Israeli troops have boarded another aid ship bound for the Gaza Strip. However, unlike the deadly confrontation on when Israeli troops stormed the Mavi Maramara aid boat earlier this week, killing seven people, there was no violence. The crew aboard the Irish aid ship, the MV Rachel Corrie, surrendered quietly on Saturday. Israeli forces boarded the ship, and escorted it into port, where the aid will be processed. Jacky Rowland reports (5 June, 2010)"
Al-Jazeera Video: Anger continues on Turkish street
"The captured and the dead from the recent raid by Israeli commandos on an aid flotilla have been returned to Turkey, but the anger continues on the streets.
As thousands of Turks protested against Israel on Saturday, fuelling the fury further was the news of the preliminary autopsy reports.
The ever-present Palestinian flag was waved alongside that of Turkey. Also visible was the green flag of Hamas, signalling a new and widespread public embrace of all the Palestinian factions.
Even more surprisingly, the yellow flag of the Lebanese group, Hezbollah, was strongly present.
What began as an expression of support for Palestinians appears to have been transformed into fundamental opposition of Israel, evident in the images of the Israel flag being burned in the street.
Al Jazeera's Mike Hanna reports from Istanbul. "
The deadly closing of the Israeli mind
The decline in Israel's reputation since the brutal attack on the Gaza flotilla is unlikely to influence the country's leaders
By Ilan Pappé
The Independent
"At the top of Israel's political and military systems stand two men, Ehud Barak and Benjamin Netanyahu, who are behind the brutal attack on the Gaza flotilla that shocked the world but that seemed to be hailed as a pure act of self-defence by the Israeli public.
Although they come from the left (Defence minister Barak from the Labour Party) and the right (Prime Minister Netanyahu from Likkud) of Israeli politics, their thinking on Gaza in general and on the flotilla in particular is informed by the same history and identical worldview.
At one time, Ehud Barak was Benjamin Netanyahu's commanding officer in the Israeli equivalent of the SAS. More precisely, they served in a similar unit to the one sent to assault the Turkish ship last week. Their perception of the reality in the Gaza Strip is shared by other leading members of the Israeli political and military elite, and is widely supported by the Jewish electorate at home.....
The real, unlike the declared, strategy is to continue this state of affairs. As long as the international community is complacent, the Arab world impotent and Gaza contained, Israel can still have a thriving economy and an electorate that regards the dominance of the army in its life, the continued conflict and the oppression of the Palestinians as the exclusive past, the present and future reality of life in Israel. The US vice-president Joe Biden was humiliated by the Israelis recently when they announced the building of 1,600 new homes in the disputed Ramat Shlomo district of Jerusalem, on the day he arrived to try to freeze the settlement policy. But his unconditional support now for the latest Israeli action makes the leaders and their electorate feel vindicated.
It would be wrong, however, to assume that American support and a feeble European response to Israeli criminal policies such as one pursued in Gaza are the main reasons for the protracted blockade and strangulation of Gaza....."
Cartoon by Peter Schrank, The Independent
Pixies, Gorrilaz Cancel Tel Aviv show after latest Israeli Massacre
JERUSALEM — US alternative rock band The Pixies on Sunday cancelled their first-ever performance in Israel, the Tel Aviv promoters said in a statement, without giving any reason for the last-minute decision.
The group was to have performed a single gig on Wednesday as part of five-day music festival in Tel Aviv, but pulled out just days after a deadly Israeli naval raid on a foreign aid flotilla, which has provoked a huge international backlash.
"It is with great regret that we announce today The Pixies' decision to cancel their appearance in Israel on June 9," promoter Shuki Weiss said in a statement.
"We'd like to extend our deepest apologies to the fans, but events beyond all our control have conspired against us," it said, adding that all tickets would be fully refunded.
The move came just days after two British bands pulled out of the same music festival, Pic.Nic 2010, which started on Saturday and runs until June 9.
London-based indie punk band Klaxons and Gorillaz, a hiphop project fronted by Blur's Damon Albarn, were supposed to headline Pic.Nic 2010 but pulled out on Thursday in a move believed to be linked to the aid flotilla storming.
Israel has no opposition and no alternative
By Gideon Levy
A dangerous, murky wave of nationalism and intolerance is washing over Israeli society. Some blame the Netanyahu-Lieberman government, but the truth is Kadima is no less to blame, no less responsible. It is not only silent, it is an active partner in the treachery. The only merchandise Livni has to offer - "the peace process" - is moldy and misleading. It's not peace, just a process.
The Arab Response So Far?
(by Carlos Latuff)
Blah....
Blah....
Blah....
COMMENT
Seeing the reaction of the Arab "masses" so far to the Turkish effort to break the siege of Gaza reminds me of the following joke. It was very popular in Cairo when I was a student there.
Nasser, who was the master of blah, blah, blah, was the president then. He would make fiery speeches that would last for hours and the "masses" throughout the Arab world loved those speeches. When it came to a real test, the military of his regime and of two other Arab regimes were routed in a few days, 43 years ago this week. I know, I was in Gaza then.
Anyway, one of Nasser's accomplishments was to get the Soviet Union to build the Aswan High Dam. That was a major project which took years and gave Nasser and Egypt a lot of pride.
There used to be a very popular song in Egypt at the time and the chorus line was, "...we said we would build the High Dam and now we are building the High Dam." ('Oulna 'hanibni wa da'hna binibni essad el-'aali!)
During the engineering phase, a Soviet journalist heard that Egyptian engineers were playing a key role in the design effort, so he wanted to interview them. He flew to Cairo and went to the headquarters of the design team. It was a high rise building in downtown Cairo.
He asked about the Egyptian design team because he wanted to interview them. He was told to go upstairs. He went up one floor, but he found Soviet engineers, speaking Russian, busy with their engineering drawings.
He asked again about the Egyptian team, and again was told to go upstairs. He went up another floor and found a group of engineers from the former East Germany, Poland and some other Warsaw Pact countries.
This kept going on and he kept going up one floor at a time.
He was getting frustrated and at the top floor he angrily asked, "where is the Egyptian team? I want to talk to them!"
He was told, "you are almost there; just go up one more time!"
There, on the roof, a group of Egyptians with drums and other musical instruments were playing their instruments and singing, "..we said we would build the High Dam and now we are building the High Dam."
That was the Egyptian team!
Video: Turks clamor for lifting of Gaza siege, cutting Israel ties
Two Very Popular Comments on Al-Jazeera (Arabic)
زمن الإعجاب العربيّ بأحفاد العثمانيين
"أولاً: حتى لا نضيع في التفاصيل الصغيرة، التي نعتبرها مهمة، يجب التأكيد أولاً وأخيرًا على أنّ جريمة حصار غزة من قبل الدولة العبرية ما زالت بدون عقاب، والجريمة، هي الحصار، لأنّ حصار غزة، الذي وافق عليه العرب، علانيةً أو خفيةً، هو الجريمة مع أل التعريف.
....
العرب يملكون الكثير من أوراق الضغط، ولكن هذه الأوراق موضوعة في الأدراج، وتآكلت بفضل العفن، فقد استخدم العرب هذا السلاح عام 1973 للضغط على رأس حربة الإمبريالية العالمية، أميركا، وربيتها وحليفتها إسرائيل
.....
لا أفعال ولا ردود أفعال، أمّة خاملة، تحوّلت إلى أمّة تعيش بفضل المعونات الغربيّة وأجهزة التنفس الصناعية، وديمقراطية حكّام دويلات سايكس بيكو، وعندما نطلب من الآخرين احترامنا، علينا أن نتذكّر أنّ هذا المطلب هو ضرب من المستحيل، لأنّنا أمّة لا تحترم نفسها، ولا تاريخها، ولا حضارتها
...."
"أولاً: حتى لا نضيع في التفاصيل الصغيرة، التي نعتبرها مهمة، يجب التأكيد أولاً وأخيرًا على أنّ جريمة حصار غزة من قبل الدولة العبرية ما زالت بدون عقاب، والجريمة، هي الحصار، لأنّ حصار غزة، الذي وافق عليه العرب، علانيةً أو خفيةً، هو الجريمة مع أل التعريف.
....
العرب يملكون الكثير من أوراق الضغط، ولكن هذه الأوراق موضوعة في الأدراج، وتآكلت بفضل العفن، فقد استخدم العرب هذا السلاح عام 1973 للضغط على رأس حربة الإمبريالية العالمية، أميركا، وربيتها وحليفتها إسرائيل
.....
لا أفعال ولا ردود أفعال، أمّة خاملة، تحوّلت إلى أمّة تعيش بفضل المعونات الغربيّة وأجهزة التنفس الصناعية، وديمقراطية حكّام دويلات سايكس بيكو، وعندما نطلب من الآخرين احترامنا، علينا أن نتذكّر أنّ هذا المطلب هو ضرب من المستحيل، لأنّنا أمّة لا تحترم نفسها، ولا تاريخها، ولا حضارتها
...."
أردوغان هذا الزعيم العربي المنتظر
"...يد النظام المصري التي تمسك بخناق غزة قد تراخت بعد شعوره بأن هناك خطر قطعها من طرف الشعب المصري الذي بدأت كل العلامات تنذر بأن صبره قد نفذ
....
لا يمكن أن نفهم الشعبية الخارقة لأردوغان إن لم ننظر لما تعبر عنه هذه الشعبية من رغبات لم تعد مكبوتة وما تحتوي عليه من أوامر صامتة لن تصمت طويلا ومن ثمة ضرورة تفكيك الظاهرة لننظر إلى أعمق من الشخص وأبعد من اللحظة
.....
أردوغان هو اليوم أفضل مرشح "للانتخابات" المصرية سنة 2011 و"للانتخابات" التونسية سنة 2014 ولأي "انتخابات" تقام هنا وهناك لنوبة جديدة من التزييف الذي أصبح أي حلقة أخرى من الكوميديا الحزينة المفروضة علينا
...."
Saturday, June 05, 2010
Israel's Attack on MV Rachel Corrie, by Carlos Latuff
Israeli War Crimes: From the U.S. Liberty to the Humanitarian Flotilla
This is dedicated to the brave Turkish martyrs on the Mavi Marmara, May 31, 2010, and to the 34 murdered American sailors on the USS Liberty, June 8, 1967 – all victims of an unrepentant criminal state - Israel.
By James Petras
"....In the face of Washington’s complicity with Israeli war crimes, the only road is to intensify the world-wide boycott, disinvestment and sanctions campaign against all Israeli products, cultural activities and professional exchanges. Hopefully, the Islamic led mass protests will find echo in the wider anti-Zionist Christian and Jewish communities – especially, when Israeli apologists for state terror make public appearances. Even more important each and every Israeli involved in the mass assault should be subject to criminal prosecution wherever they visit. Only by making the Israelis understand that they will pay a high price for their serial homicides and violations of international law will reason possibly enter their political narrative. Only by moving beyond symbolic protests, like recalling diplomats, and taking substantive actions, like breaking relations, will the international community isolate the perpetrator of state terrorism. All Americans should send loud and clear to President Obama –NEVER AGAIN. Otherwise, with the Zionist Power Configuration active 7/24, the Obama regime, true to the Zionist agenda, will once again focus attention on attacking Iran. Israel’s action today with US complicity is a prelude of the kind of deadly force it has in store for sabotaging the recent Turkey-Brazil-Iran diplomatic agreement...."
By James Petras
"....In the face of Washington’s complicity with Israeli war crimes, the only road is to intensify the world-wide boycott, disinvestment and sanctions campaign against all Israeli products, cultural activities and professional exchanges. Hopefully, the Islamic led mass protests will find echo in the wider anti-Zionist Christian and Jewish communities – especially, when Israeli apologists for state terror make public appearances. Even more important each and every Israeli involved in the mass assault should be subject to criminal prosecution wherever they visit. Only by making the Israelis understand that they will pay a high price for their serial homicides and violations of international law will reason possibly enter their political narrative. Only by moving beyond symbolic protests, like recalling diplomats, and taking substantive actions, like breaking relations, will the international community isolate the perpetrator of state terrorism. All Americans should send loud and clear to President Obama –NEVER AGAIN. Otherwise, with the Zionist Power Configuration active 7/24, the Obama regime, true to the Zionist agenda, will once again focus attention on attacking Iran. Israel’s action today with US complicity is a prelude of the kind of deadly force it has in store for sabotaging the recent Turkey-Brazil-Iran diplomatic agreement...."
A Global Civil Society Campaign to De-Legitimise Israel?
By Thalif Deen
"UNITED NATIONS, Jun 4, 2010 (IPS) - If, as expected, the U.N. Security Council remains politically impotent and refuses to penalise Israel for the killings of nine pro-Palestinian civilians on a ship carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza, what is the next course of action?
A global civil society campaign to de-legitimise Israel? Formal or informal sanctions by individual states? Worldwide arrest warrants?
All of these - and more - are in the realm of possibility, say two leading constitutional experts, Professor Richard Falk, U.N. Special Rapporteur on Occupied Palestinian Territories, and Michael Ratner, president of the New York- based Centre for Constitutional Rights....."
"UNITED NATIONS, Jun 4, 2010 (IPS) - If, as expected, the U.N. Security Council remains politically impotent and refuses to penalise Israel for the killings of nine pro-Palestinian civilians on a ship carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza, what is the next course of action?
A global civil society campaign to de-legitimise Israel? Formal or informal sanctions by individual states? Worldwide arrest warrants?
All of these - and more - are in the realm of possibility, say two leading constitutional experts, Professor Richard Falk, U.N. Special Rapporteur on Occupied Palestinian Territories, and Michael Ratner, president of the New York- based Centre for Constitutional Rights....."
Netanyahu was right
By Gideon Levy
"All the prime minister's predictions have come true. He always said the whole world was against us - now he is right...."
"All the prime minister's predictions have come true. He always said the whole world was against us - now he is right...."
Al-Jazeera Video: Turkish survivors recount terror on Gaza aid ship
"June 04, 2010 — Nine Turkish activists killed in an Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship were shot a total of 30 times and five died of gunshot wounds to the head, Britain's Guardian newspaper has reported.
Autopsy results showed the men were hit mostly with 9mm bullets, many fired at close range, the Guardian said, quoting Yalcin Buyuk, vice-chairman of the Turkish council of forensic medicine which carried out the autopsies on Friday.
Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught managed to speak to some of the injured activists, who are recovering in Ankara Hospital."
Real News Video: How Israel planned the Flotilla attack
As the MV Rachel Corrie ship is dragged to Israel, TRNN investigates Israel's plan for Flotilla attack.
"As the MV Rachel Corrie, the last boat in the Free Gaza Movement's Flotilla, is being dragged to Israel's Ashdod port after being boarded and taken over in the early hours of Saturday, Israel continues to react to its Flotilla attack. Protests have been taking place throughout Israel and the occupied Palestinian Territories. In the meantime, The Real News' Lia Tarachansky investigates how Israel prepared for the Flotilla attack, and how the media repeatedly portrayed a connection between the activists and terrorism. After the attack, Israel went on the offensive to prove there was indeed a connection to terrorism. The IDF published a press release saying the activists on board the Mavi Marmara ship that was the site of at least 9 deaths on Monday morning were actually al Qaeda mercenaries. When Tarachansky and journalist Max Blumenthaul questioned the IDF for evidence of this allegation, the IDF said it didn't have any and changed the title of the press release to "attackers of the IDF soldiers found without identification papers.""
"As the MV Rachel Corrie, the last boat in the Free Gaza Movement's Flotilla, is being dragged to Israel's Ashdod port after being boarded and taken over in the early hours of Saturday, Israel continues to react to its Flotilla attack. Protests have been taking place throughout Israel and the occupied Palestinian Territories. In the meantime, The Real News' Lia Tarachansky investigates how Israel prepared for the Flotilla attack, and how the media repeatedly portrayed a connection between the activists and terrorism. After the attack, Israel went on the offensive to prove there was indeed a connection to terrorism. The IDF published a press release saying the activists on board the Mavi Marmara ship that was the site of at least 9 deaths on Monday morning were actually al Qaeda mercenaries. When Tarachansky and journalist Max Blumenthaul questioned the IDF for evidence of this allegation, the IDF said it didn't have any and changed the title of the press release to "attackers of the IDF soldiers found without identification papers.""
This cruel and ineffective blockade of Gaza must be brought to an end
Leading article
The Independent
".....Yet the Israeli government seems unable to admit that its policy is failing. Vocal elements of Israeli public opinion are pushing for a still tighter squeeze on Gaza. Israel is a country which has ceased to listen to the voice of even its firmest allies in the outside world.
International intervention is needed to break the deadlock. If Israel will not lift the blockade, then a United Nations aid flotilla should be sent. The Israeli military might feel no compunction about boarding private vessels, but a UN convoy would be a different prospect. Meanwhile, the US[It is the US that is demanding the blockade and the US Army is actually building the steel wall to block the building of tunnels!!] must put pressure on Egypt to open Gaza's southern border. Cairo has opened the Rafah crossing in the wake of this week's flotilla deaths. But this is likely to be only a temporary measure.
The Gazan people need more than short-term relief. They must be allowed to breathe freely again. And the international community has a moral responsibility to ensure that this freedom is granted."
The Independent
".....Yet the Israeli government seems unable to admit that its policy is failing. Vocal elements of Israeli public opinion are pushing for a still tighter squeeze on Gaza. Israel is a country which has ceased to listen to the voice of even its firmest allies in the outside world.
International intervention is needed to break the deadlock. If Israel will not lift the blockade, then a United Nations aid flotilla should be sent. The Israeli military might feel no compunction about boarding private vessels, but a UN convoy would be a different prospect. Meanwhile, the US[It is the US that is demanding the blockade and the US Army is actually building the steel wall to block the building of tunnels!!] must put pressure on Egypt to open Gaza's southern border. Cairo has opened the Rafah crossing in the wake of this week's flotilla deaths. But this is likely to be only a temporary measure.
The Gazan people need more than short-term relief. They must be allowed to breathe freely again. And the international community has a moral responsibility to ensure that this freedom is granted."
The truth behind the Israeli propaganda
By Robert Fisk
"......I wasn't personally at all surprised at the killings on the Turkish ship. In Lebanon, I've seen this indisciplined rabble of an army – as "elite" as the average rabble of Arab armies – shooting at civilians. I saw them watching the Sabra and Shatila massacre of Palestinians on the morning of 18 September (the last day of the slaughter) by their vicious Lebanese militia allies. I was present at the Qana massacre by Israeli gunners in 1996 – "Arabushim" (the equivalent of the abusive term "Ayrab" in English), one of the gunners called the 106 dead civilians, more than half of them children, in the Israeli press. Then the Israeli government of Nobel laureate Shimon Peres said there were terrorists among the dead civilians – totally untrue, but who cares? – and then came the second Qana massacre in 2006 and then the 2008-09 Gaza slaughter of 1,300 Palestinians, most of them children, and then...
But back to our chronology. Then we had the Mossad murder of a Hamas official in Dubai with the Israelis using at least 19 forged passports from Britain and other countries. And the pathetic response of our then foreign secretary, David Miliband? He called it "an incident" – not the murder of the guy in Dubai, mind you, just the forgery of UK passports, a highly "controversial" matter – and then... Well, now we've had the shooting down of nine passengers at sea by more Israeli heroes.
The amazing thing in all this is that so many Western journalists – and I'm including the BBC's pusillanimous coverage of the Gaza aid ships – are writing like Israeli journalists, while many Israeli journalists are writing about the killings with the courage that Western journalists should demonstrate.....
Yes, the Israeli army is second to none, elite, humanitarian, heroic. Just don't tell the Somali pirates."
"......I wasn't personally at all surprised at the killings on the Turkish ship. In Lebanon, I've seen this indisciplined rabble of an army – as "elite" as the average rabble of Arab armies – shooting at civilians. I saw them watching the Sabra and Shatila massacre of Palestinians on the morning of 18 September (the last day of the slaughter) by their vicious Lebanese militia allies. I was present at the Qana massacre by Israeli gunners in 1996 – "Arabushim" (the equivalent of the abusive term "Ayrab" in English), one of the gunners called the 106 dead civilians, more than half of them children, in the Israeli press. Then the Israeli government of Nobel laureate Shimon Peres said there were terrorists among the dead civilians – totally untrue, but who cares? – and then came the second Qana massacre in 2006 and then the 2008-09 Gaza slaughter of 1,300 Palestinians, most of them children, and then...
But back to our chronology. Then we had the Mossad murder of a Hamas official in Dubai with the Israelis using at least 19 forged passports from Britain and other countries. And the pathetic response of our then foreign secretary, David Miliband? He called it "an incident" – not the murder of the guy in Dubai, mind you, just the forgery of UK passports, a highly "controversial" matter – and then... Well, now we've had the shooting down of nine passengers at sea by more Israeli heroes.
The amazing thing in all this is that so many Western journalists – and I'm including the BBC's pusillanimous coverage of the Gaza aid ships – are writing like Israeli journalists, while many Israeli journalists are writing about the killings with the courage that Western journalists should demonstrate.....
Yes, the Israeli army is second to none, elite, humanitarian, heroic. Just don't tell the Somali pirates."
The other side of the Gaza blockade
Catrina Stewart
The Independent
"Taysir Al Burai is severely disabled. He requires round-the-clock medical care. If he were allowed to leave Gaza, he could make a full recovery. But Israel won't let him...."
Hamas must reshape itself
Fatah is too weak to deal with Israel – Palestine needs a strong leadership that is ready to negotiate
David Hearst
The Guardian, Saturday 5 June 2010
".....The rules of the game are changing: overwhelming force no longer guarantees the right outcome. Turks, not Arabs, have taken up the cudgels of the fight to end the occupation; Palestinians are increasingly looking away from the air-conditioned offices in Ramallah for moral leadership and casting nervous glances at Gaza City. Call the Hamas-run regime what you will, but beseiged Gaza remains a potent political symbol.....
The most important Palestinian occupant of the doomed convoy was a man called Sheikh Raed Salah, one of the founders of the Islamic Movement in Israel, a campaigner on East Jerusalem and a popular former mayor of his home town Umm al-Fahm, where he was elected with 70% of the vote. He is currently under house arrest in Israel, but had he been killed in the Israeli operation – and he has since alleged that Israeli commandos tried to kill him – it would have been Hamas, not Fatah, flags flying over Umm al-Fahm. The Fatah-run Palestinian Authority is one of the main sponsors of the siege of Gaza, and is still paying tens of thousands of its former employees in Gaza not to turn up for work for the government there.....
In the Israeli prisons, in the refugee camps, Fatah no longer enjoys the hold it once had, so that if a deal on the borders of a Palestinian state were cut between Abbas and Israel's prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, it would be questionable as to what it would be worth, especially if it fell short of the two other core demands: East Jerusalem and the right of return of Palestinian refugees....
Whether Hamas is ready to assume the leadership of the Palestinian movement is another matter. If Fatah is falling off the cliff, Hamas still describes itself as being on the first foothold up it. There is a concern about keeping the Islamist movement together as it shifts from resistance only to resistance and negotiation...."
David Hearst
The Guardian, Saturday 5 June 2010
".....The rules of the game are changing: overwhelming force no longer guarantees the right outcome. Turks, not Arabs, have taken up the cudgels of the fight to end the occupation; Palestinians are increasingly looking away from the air-conditioned offices in Ramallah for moral leadership and casting nervous glances at Gaza City. Call the Hamas-run regime what you will, but beseiged Gaza remains a potent political symbol.....
The most important Palestinian occupant of the doomed convoy was a man called Sheikh Raed Salah, one of the founders of the Islamic Movement in Israel, a campaigner on East Jerusalem and a popular former mayor of his home town Umm al-Fahm, where he was elected with 70% of the vote. He is currently under house arrest in Israel, but had he been killed in the Israeli operation – and he has since alleged that Israeli commandos tried to kill him – it would have been Hamas, not Fatah, flags flying over Umm al-Fahm. The Fatah-run Palestinian Authority is one of the main sponsors of the siege of Gaza, and is still paying tens of thousands of its former employees in Gaza not to turn up for work for the government there.....
In the Israeli prisons, in the refugee camps, Fatah no longer enjoys the hold it once had, so that if a deal on the borders of a Palestinian state were cut between Abbas and Israel's prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, it would be questionable as to what it would be worth, especially if it fell short of the two other core demands: East Jerusalem and the right of return of Palestinian refugees....
Whether Hamas is ready to assume the leadership of the Palestinian movement is another matter. If Fatah is falling off the cliff, Hamas still describes itself as being on the first foothold up it. There is a concern about keeping the Islamist movement together as it shifts from resistance only to resistance and negotiation...."
Can Mubarak weather a perfect storm?
Anger over support for Israel in addition to political stagnation and economic instability could undermine Egypt's president
Jack Shenker
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 5 June 2010
"Holed up under the belle époque domes of his presidential palace this week, ailing Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak would not have heard the crowds chanting his name on the streets of Cairo, Alexandria, Fayoum and other major cities across the country.
Jack Shenker
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 5 June 2010
"Holed up under the belle époque domes of his presidential palace this week, ailing Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak would not have heard the crowds chanting his name on the streets of Cairo, Alexandria, Fayoum and other major cities across the country.
Which is just as well, as their words were enough to send a chill down the spine of any Arab autocrat fighting to maintain his grip over a nation increasingly reluctant to afford those at the top of the political tree any kind of credibility. "Ya Mubarak, Ya Sahyoni" ("Mubarak the Zionist") sang the protesters, as anger over Israel's deadly assault on the Gaza aid flotilla gathered momentum. "Down with the siege, down with Mubarak."
Only last month the Israeli newspaper Haaretz was describing the relationship between Mubarak and Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu as a "wonderful friendship" and claiming that Bibi felt closer to the 82-year-old Egyptian than to any other world statesman....
Prominent political activist Hossam el-Hamalawy told me:
"Unanimously now, whenever protesters get together, you'll find their first chants are against Mubarak. Whenever anything happens with Palestine and Israel, the strongest impact is here in Egypt. It's very ironic: we have the most treacherous regime when it comes to the Palestinian cause – Mubarak is America's most senior thug in the region – and yet the people of Egypt are among the most sympathetic you can find in terms of the Palestinians, because they can understand the correlations between the Palestinian issue and their own situation.".....
Even more worryingly for the Egyptian government, the very leverage it held in the Israel/Palestine arena may itself be draining away. "The situation is explosive and in the upper echelons of the state there's total confusion in terms of how to handle it," el-Hamalawy argues.
Caught between his people and his paymasters, tough times lie ahead for one of the Middle East's oldest western stalwarts."
Gaza flotilla: Turkey's stance is a lesson to the west
Turkish efforts to change policies that turn blind eye to suffering in Gaza are characteristic of its diplomacy in last decade
Hugh Pope
(Hugh Pope is the Turkey/Cyprus project director for the International Crisis Group.)
guardian.co.uk, Friday 4 June 2010
".....Turkey's dispute with Israel is therefore not evidence of a Turkish animus against the west. Turks may have been the main organisers of the Gaza flotilla, but they were joined by activists, vessels and supplies from more than 30 countries, including several politicians from EU states. There is nothing un-European about protesting against Israel's punishment of the inhabitants of Gaza. All that is uncharacteristic of today's European states is that Turkey is actually doing something to end it."
Hugh Pope
(Hugh Pope is the Turkey/Cyprus project director for the International Crisis Group.)
guardian.co.uk, Friday 4 June 2010
".....Turkey's dispute with Israel is therefore not evidence of a Turkish animus against the west. Turks may have been the main organisers of the Gaza flotilla, but they were joined by activists, vessels and supplies from more than 30 countries, including several politicians from EU states. There is nothing un-European about protesting against Israel's punishment of the inhabitants of Gaza. All that is uncharacteristic of today's European states is that Turkey is actually doing something to end it."
