Saturday, September 4, 2010

سلام أوباما.. سنة للتوقيع وعشر للتطبيق


"....
أوباما إذن يريد إرضاء اللوبي الصهيوني وتحسين وضعه الداخلي على حساب القضية الفلسطينية (يشمل ذلك الحيلولة دون انتفاضة جديدة في الضفة الغربية ومواجهة الملف النووي الإيراني خدمة للصهاينة)، يشجعه على ذلك وجود قيادة بالغة المرونة كالتي في رام الله ووضعا عربيا هو الوحيد في العالم الذي يخضع لرغباته.

من جهته لا يجد الرئيس الفلسطيني ما يخسره كما قال في سياق التعليق على عودته للمفاوضات المباشرة (قال ليس لدينا ما نخسره)، متجاهلا أن ما يجري على الأرض هو مدخل لتصفية القضية الفلسطينية وتحويلها إلى نزاع حدودي مثل النزاعات التي تزدحم بها أروقة الأمم المتحدة، وبالطبع بعد تحويلها إلى قضية رواتب ومعونات، لا قضية تحرير وكرامة.

لكن الشعب الفلسطيني لن يلبث أن ينقلب على هذه اللعبة ورموزها ويستعيد وعيه وبوصلته كما فعل من قبل، سواء جاء ذلك ردا طبيعيا على بؤس مضامينها إلى جانب ممارسات (فضلا عن مواقف) إسرائيلية متوقعة في القدس والمسجد الأقصى، أم جزءا من تطورات عربية وإقليمية مشجعة تتعلق بالملف النووي الإيراني والنزاع الضمني بين محوري المقاومة والممانعة ومحور الاعتدال، فيما سيكون الوضع الداخلي المصري وتحولاته القادمة جزءا أساسيا من تلك التطورات في حال انتهى على غير ما تشتهي واشنطن وتل أبيب.
"

Obama's Ridiculous Mid-East Summit


A VERY GOOD COMMENT

By ALEXANDER COCKBURN
CounterPunch

"It has been impossible to read the agenda for the Oval Office summit between Obama, Netanyahu and Abbas without laughing out loud at the absurdity of its pretensions. The American plan was that President Obama would inform Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas, representing the Palestinian Authority, that this is make-or -break time for a peaceful settlement. The US wants an agreement within a year, with the stipulations in this agreement to be phased in over a decade.

At issue: the illegal Jewish settlements, the status of East Jerusalem, the treatment of Palestinian refugees and final borders between Israel and a Palestinian state.

The man greeting Netanyahu and Abbas was no longer the icon of change who aroused the world with his address to Muslims in Cairo and who tasked former US Senator George Mitchell with setting the stage for a just settlement of issues that have remained unsettled for more than half a century.

Obama is now in poor political shape.....

Gone was any notion of twisting Netanyahu’s arm, or trying to, as when the Administration criticized one illegal Jewish settlement four months ago and when vice president Biden relayed in Tel Aviv Gen. Petraeus’ concerns that Israel’s obduracy was imperiling US security interests in the region.

The lobby struck back, with political threats.....

And with the September summit Israeli delightedly pointed to Obama's withdrawal of a demand that Israel freeze Jewish colonies on Palestinian land. Instead he urged "restraint". "The prime minister is satisfied because his main position that negotiations should be without preconditions was accepted.....

For his part, Abbas is no longer president of the Palestinian Authority, which has no democratic mandate among the vast majority of Palestinians. They voted for Hamas and regard Abbas as a quisling, who exists solely by the favor of US money, Pentagon security advisors and Israeli support....."

Fascism in Ramallah


A VERY GOOD PIECE

By Khalid Amayreh

"The American-backed, Israeli-tolerated Palestinian Authority has been unmasking its ugly face. In recent days and weeks, ruthless and undisciplined Security forces have been suppressing public dissent, especially opposition to futile talks with Israel. Such talks are looked upon by most Palestinians as a clear surrender to Israeli whims and dictates.....

There are those who argue that savaging the Palestinians is a sin-qua-non for the PA. This argument shouldn't be dismissed easily. There are real fears among Palestinians that the PA security forces would be eventually used to suppress any opposition to any unacceptable deal with Israel [ Comment: I fully agree that this is likely to happen and I have repeatedly expressed this fear.], a deal that would liquidate the Palestinian cause. Some say this is the raison d'etre of the PA security forces.

This is the real looming danger that all free and dignified Palestinians must be vigilant about."

Video: Blair pelted with eggs in Dublin. I Salute the Irish!

Al-Jazeera



"Anti-war protesters in Dublin have thrown shoes, eggs and plastic bottles at Tony Blair, the former British prime minister, as he arrived at the first public signing of his memoirs.

About 200 people in the Irish capital shouted that Blair had "blood on his hands" over the 2003 Iraq war when he arrived at the bookshop on Saturday amid tight security. The projectiles did not strike Blair...."

Video (Arabic) of Sayyed Nasrallah on Al-Quds Day (9/3/2010)



السيد حسن نصرالله في مناسبة يوم القدس ( السيد حسن نصر الله

A very good speech, especially the first half hour. He, in a far more explicit manner, addresses the resistance in Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine. As usual, he is direct and confident with no hyperboles.

Certainly worth watching, if you know Arabic.

Sayyed Nasrallah: Mideast Peace Talks Are "Born-Dead"

Al-Manar

"03/09/2010 Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah said on Friday that the so-called Middle East peace talks were stillborn and doomed, stressing that Jerusalem cannot be the eternal capital of the illegal State of Israel.

His eminence said that the Israeli enemy is facing a lot of challenges, emphasizing that the American-Israeli scheme has failed and that the one representing the Resistance has won although the conflict didn’t reach its end yet......"

Current Al-Jazeera (Arabic) Online Poll


The question asked is:

Do you support Palestinian factions opposed to direct negotiations?

With over 4,000 responding so far, 86% said yes.

Friday, September 3, 2010

Al-Jazeera Video: Hamas fighters threaten peace talks



"Hamas fighters have threatened to launch a fresh wave of attacks against Israel to undermine ongoing peace talks that the group has described as "useless".

The announcement follows the first face-to-face talks in nearly two years between Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, and Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, in the US capital. The two agreed to meet regularly to work out a framework for peace.

But no sooner had the statements been made then they were quickly rejected by Palestinian factions vowing to fight on.

Hamas said 13 different armed factions, including themselves and Islamic Jihad, would join forces to launch attacks against Israel.

Al Jazeera's Bernard Smith reports from Gaza."

Al-Jazeera Video: Egyptians react to Mubarak's son in Israeli-Palestinian talks



"The attendance and involvement of the son of the Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak in the ongoing Middle East talks in Washington DC has raised speculation in Egypt over whether he will become his father's successor.

Opposition groups say Gamal Mubarak's appearance in such high-level discussions is an attempt to boost his image as a potential leader, and many fear a presidential election could be rigged to grant him victory.

Attempts to hand over power to him could trigger a major backlash and instability in the most populous Arab country.

Ayman Mohyeldin reports from Cairo, Egypt's capital, on reactions to his involvement in the talks."

Real News Video with Transcript: IS SOME CRITIQUE OF ISRAEL ANTISEMITIC?

Should people boycott Israel? Pt.4 Omar Barghouti


More at The Real News

Why Israel imprisoned my best friend


(Abdallah Abu Rahmah being arrested by Israeli soldiers at demonstration in Bilin in 2005.)

Mohammed Khatib, The Electronic Intifada, 2 September 2010

"And just as Israel has gradually increased restrictions of where we can go, the boundaries of what is permissible to do as a Palestinian have narrowed markedly. We have reached a point where peaceful protest is unacceptable to the Israeli state and military legislation has been constructed to criminalize and throw in jail anyone who dares to publicly voice dissent...."

Is the World Bank deliberately concealing disappointing West Bank economic "growth" figures?


By Ali Abunimah

"......What is very interesting is that the press release provides no breakdown for growth in the West Bank separate from the Gaza Strip. What we have instead apparently is a 7% overall growth figure.

In June a highly informed source who has since been proven correct on a number of other issues told me:

"World Bank figures due to be published in coming weeks are likely to show that economic growth in the Gaza Strip in the first quarter of 2010 has exceeded that in the West Bank. While virtually all economic growth in the West Bank is a result of foreign aid, much of the growth in Gaza is attributable to a "parallel economy" that has emerged thanks to the tunnels. This has even created a small new class of nouveaux riches in Gaza."

At the time the source told me that what we'd probably see as a result is the World Bank and PA emphasizing the overall growth figure, rather than dwelling on disappointing results in the West Bank -- where a huge politically-motivated aid effort has been aimed at shoring up the Israeli-backed collaborator regime of Mahmoud Abbas and illegally-appointed "prime minister" Salam Fayyad.

Could this be what is happening here? Perhaps the World Bank has provided a West Bank/Gaza breakdown somewhere else? (I haven't had time to conduct a thorough search yet, but a quick search didn't reveal it). But I do think its significant there is no breakdown in the press release. It's a safe assumption that if there had been stellar performance in the West Bank, the World Bank would have emphasized it.

The whole narrative of "Fayyadist" state building depends on the notion that the West Bank economy is booming. There are claims, for example, of a "property boom" in Ramallah, which as I explained tells us nothing about the true state of the West Bank economy.

Indeed a recent Save the Children study found that outside the Ramallah bubble, poverty conditions across much of the West Bank are even worse than in Gaza. My recent Los Angeles times op-ed references that and debunks more "Fayyadist" myths."

Come Home America


by Justin Raimondo, September 03, 2010

"If we don’t bail out the Kabul Bank – the notoriously corrupt institution run by Mahmoud Karzai, brother of the Afghan "president," which has handed out millions in "loans" to Karzai’s cronies – will the terrorists have won? Well, yes, according to Mahmoud, who demands that America "do something," i.e. hand over lots of cash.....

Our President, a captive of the bipartisan foreign policy of global intervention, no doubt knows it’s time for America to come home, but seems helpless to change course. That helplessness may sweep away his presidency, just as a similar paralysis swept away that of Lyndon Baines Johnson in the Vietnam era. More than that, it may catalyze a growing left-right movement against our crazy foreign policy of all war all the time. "

Blair should take responsibility for Iraq. But he won't. He can't


This is not a debate, it's a bloody, blood-soaked disaster for which the former PM should take responsibility

By Robert Fisk

"Has this wretched man learned nothing? On and on, it went during his BBC interview: "I would absolutely...","I definitely...", "I believed absolutely clearly...", "It was very, very clear that this changed everything"....

And I hereby abandon all further reference to Lord Blair of Kut al-Amara, with its unhappy reference to Britain's humiliating military defeat in 1915 Mesopotamia. He must be re-created Lord Blair of Isfahan. Having conquered Saddam, he wants to conquer Ahmadinejad. "I am saying that it is wholly unacceptable for Iran to have nuclear weapons capability," he told poor old Andrew Marr. It was necessary for the Iranians," quoth he, "to get that message, loud and clear." Thus did our Middle East peace envoy prepare us for war with Persia......

Sometimes, Blair sounded like the Israeli foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman. He and his Israeli boss believe Ahmadinejad is worse than Hitler....even though Blair blurted out to the Chilcot inquiry that there had been "phone calls" with Israelis during his decision-making conference with Bush over Iraq. Marr missed out there. What on earth were Blair and Bush talking to the Israelis about as they prepared to take us into this catastrophe?....

.... I noticed, too, how Marr stuck to the minimum 100,000 figure for Iraq's dead, rather than the half million or million statistic which haunts our former prime minister. Thus Blair was able to refer to the "hundreds of thousands of people who died under Saddam". It was the old story. Blair wasn't as bad as Saddam. And Blair's nicer than Hitler, more sympathetic than Stalin, kinder than Genghis Khan. Nope. This whole mess had nothing to do with Lord Blair. "You have to have the courage to do what you think is right." But "thinking" is not good enough. I hope the air-raid sirens in Isfahan are in good working order."

The Path to Peace, by Dave Brown


(Click on cartoon to enlarge)

The skewed Middle East peace talks


Whether there's a deal or not, the Palestinians can't really win, while the Israelis have little to lose

Hussein Agha and Robert Malley
The Guardian, Friday 3 September 2010

".....In any event, Abbas will return to a fractured, fractious society. If he reaches a deal, many will ask in whose name he was bartering away Palestinian rights. If negotiations fail, most will accuse him of once more having been duped. If Netanyahu comes back with an accord, he will be hailed as a historic leader. His constituency will largely fall in line; the left will have no choice but to salute. If the talks collapse, his followers will thank him for standing firm while his critics are likely in due course to blame the Palestinians. Abbas will be damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. Netanyahu will thrive if he does and survive if he doesn't. One loses even if he wins, the other wins even if he loses. There is no greater asymmetry than that."

'US runs murder program across world'


Press TV Interview
With Stephen Lendman

"Civil rights organizations the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) have filed a lawsuit against the White House, protesting issuance of death warrants for the people the government suspects of terrorist activities.

One such warrant was signed by the country's President Barack Obama for Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born cleric, who is identified by the White House as an al-Qaeda leader.

Washington reportedly authorized the Central Intelligence Agency, CIA, to assassinate the cleric.

Here is the script of a Press TV interview on the issue with Stephen Lendman, radio host and writer in Chicago, and Staff Attorney in the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) Pardiss Kebriaei.

Press TV: How can the US authorize the assassination of people, specially their own citizens like this?

Stephen Lendman: Let me just begin by saying that everything going on in the Middle East ties together, the strands all connect. So whether you are talking about occupied Palestine and peace, the war in Iraq that goes on, the one in Afghanistan that continues to get worse, it is already raging in parts of Pakistan, it is spreading into Yemen, and now we have this policy. The only difference between this policy, which of course is outrageous, and what has been going on for many decades past, perpetrated by US administrations, is the Obama administration made it official. We have always murdered people, whether they may be US citizens, [or] citizens of other countries. I think less US citizens.

But if anyone is nasty in our opinion and is getting in the way of our policy, they become a target. We don't talk about it, we just do it...."

'Nuclear weapons legitimize US policies'


Press TV Interview
With Scott Ritter

"Following is the transcript of Press TV's interview with Scott Ritter, former chief UN weapons inspector and one of the world's leading experts on arms control.

In his latest book Dangerous Ground: America's Failed Arms Control Policy, from FDR to Obama, Ritter tells a bold and revisionist account of the inseparable histories of the post World War II American presidency and nuclear weapons.

Unpacking sixty years of nuclear history, Ritter shows that nuclear weapons have become such a fixture that they define present-day America on economic, military, political, and moral grounds. And despite fears of global nuclear proliferation, the greatest threat to international stability, Ritter argues, is the US's addiction to nuclear weapons....."

Al-Jazeera Cartoon


Thursday, September 2, 2010

"شركاء" في الاحتلال


حسام كنفاني

"دارت عجلة المفاوضات رغم أنف الرافضين، أو مدّعي الرفض. والرافضون هنا هم المسؤولون الفلسطينيون أنفسهم، الذين أشبعونا في الأيام الأخيرة شروطاً وتدلّلاً أوحى لفترة وجيزة أنّ هذه القيادة بدأت بمراجعة خياراتها، وتنحو باتجاه التراجع عن المسار الذي رسمته لنفسها.

الإيحاء كان واهياً بالتأكيد. فالقيادة الفلسطينية تبدو ذاهبة إلى طاولة المفاوضات باندفاعة غير مسبوقة تخالف كل ما قيل وروّج في المرحلة الماضية. اندفاعة عنوانها «نحن شركاء، وأنتم؟». العبارة الأخيرة هي جوهر الحملة الإعلامية التي أطلقها مسؤولو السلطة في التلفزيونات والإذاعات الإسرائيلية، وعلى طرقات الدولة العبرية وشوارعها، للتوجّه إلى «الجمهور الإسرائيلي» وإقناعه بإمكان إتمام السلام.

كلام كثير في الحملة الإعلامية يصدر عن كبار «القادة» الفلسطينيّين، في مقدمتهم رئيس السلطة محمود عباس، ورئيس الحكومة سلام فياض، ووزير الخارجية رياض المالكي وجبريل رجوب وياسر عبد ربه وصائب عريقات. حملة تحمل الكثير من الرسائل والدلالات، ربما في مقدمتها الكشف عن مدى نفاق السلطة في «دلالها» التفاوضي، ولا سيما أن الحملة تبدو مبرمجة منذ مدة، وليست وليدة «اللحظة التاريخية» حين أعلن محمود عبّاس موافقته على بيان الرباعية ودعوة هيلاري كلينتون، ربما قبل صدورهما.

الحملة أميركية والرعاية إسرائيلية. هذا ما تشير إليه تفاصيلها، ولا سيما أنها ممولة بالكامل من الولايات المتحدة عبر منظمة «يو اس ايد» بقيمة مليون شيكل، وتنفّذ بإشراف «مبادرة جنيف» السيئة الذكر، التي أسسها يوسي بيلين وياسر عبد ربه.

قد يكون كلام صائب عريقات في الحملة عيّنة من «الشراكة» المبتغاة من جانب السلطة الفلسطينية. عريقات يبدأ «دوره» في الشريط المصوّر بعبارة «أنا شريككم». أبو علي لا شكّ يعبّر عن نفسه بشفافيّة. هو شريك قديم للإسرائيليين باعتباره رئيس دائرة المفاوضات، كما أن غيره من المسؤولين الفلسطينيين «شركاء» للإسرائيليّين في التجارة والاستيطان وبناء الجدار وغيرها من الأمور الاقتصادية، التي لا تدخل في نطاق «العداوة» بما أن التجارة لا تعترف إلا بالمصالح الشخصيّة.

من هذا المنطلق، فإن حديث عريقات عن «الشراكة التفاوضية» سيكون مقبولاً إلى حدّ ما، لكنه لم يقف عند هذا الحد في رسالته «الإقناعيّة»، بل زاد عليها ما يشبه الاعتذار «للشعب الإسرائيلي»، فهو توجّه إليه قائلاً «أعلم أننا خيّبنا أملكم على مدى التسع عشرة سنة الماضيّة»، قاصداً تاريخ المفاوضات منذ مؤتمر مدريد. من «نحن» هنا ومن «أنتم». من هو خائب الأمل؟ ومن هو المذنب؟

من المؤكّد أن عريقات لا يقصد إلا «نحن» الفلسطينيين و«أنتم» الإسرائيليين، ما دامت الرسالة موجّهة إليهم. «نحن» خيّبنا أملكم لأننا لم نكن هذا الشعب المحتل الودود طيلة سنوات الاحتلال الطويلة. خيّبنا أملكم لأننا كنا نصرخ في وجوه جنودكم الغازين، وبعضنا كان يواجههم بالبنادق بدل الورود. خيّبنا أملكم لأننا لم نكن نموت بسرعة، وكنا نواظب على التمسك بأرضنا والوقوف في وجه دباباتكم وجرافاتكم التي تأتي لجرف منازلنا وتدمير مزروعاتنا لبناء مستوطناتكم «الحضارية» على أنقاض قرانا «المتخلّفة».

خيّبنا أملكم لأنّ بعض شعبنا لا يؤمن بـ«أرض إسرائيل»، التي يؤمن بها أبو مازن ويرفض عدم الاعتراف بأحقيّة اليهود فيها. فعلاً خيبنا أملكم لأنّ لاجئينا لا يزالون يحتفظون بصكوك أراضيهم ومفاتيح بيوتهم ويصرّون على «وهم» العودة لتهديد واقعكم الديموغرافي الهش. وأخيراً، خيّبنا أملكم لأننا لم نقدّم المزيد من التنازلات على طاولة المفاوضات، ولأننا تمسكنا بالعشرين في المئة من مساحة فلسطين التاريخية، ربما كان يجدر بنا الاكتفاء بعشرة في المئة أو أقل، عندها كنا سنكون عند حسن ظنكم بنا.

هل هذه هي خيبة التي يريد أن يعبّر عنها صائب عريقات؟ لا يمكن أن يُفهم منها غير ذلك. ربما كان من الأجدر بالأخ أبو علي أن يوفر مثل هذه الرسالة للشعب الفلسطيني الأجدى برسالة الاعتذار السلطوية. هذا الشعب يستحق من عريقات وسائر أركان «القيادة» الفلسطينية تلاوة فعل الندامة. يستحق الإقرار بأن السلطة خيّبت أمله، وخانت طموحاته، واستهترت بحقوقه وضيّعت مكتسباته. ومن الواجب أيضاً أن تعتذر هذه القيادة، بشقّيها الفتحاوي والحمساوي، للشعب الفلسطيني عن مأساة الانقسام التي أدخلت القضية في نفق لن تخرج منه لا بالمفاوضات ولا بالمقاومة.

مع ذلك فالقيادة لا تبدو معنية بهذا الاعتذار الإقرار بالذنب، هي معنية فقط بالشراكة مع شعب إسرائيل. شراكة قد تترجمها في واشنطن عبر التكفير عن «أخطاء الماضي» والتعويض عن خيبة الأمل بإبداء المزيد من المرونة والليونة في المواقف.

«نحن شركاء، وأنتم؟» رسالة القيادة الفلسطينية إلى الإسرائيليّين. أما رسالة الشعب الفلسطيني إلى قيادته، فلا بد أن تكون «أنتم شركاء... في الاحتلال
». "

Real News Video with Transcript: OBAMA'S "NEW DAWN" IN IRAQ

Phyllis Bennis: The President has adopted the Bush Iraq narrative


More at The Real News

Real News Video: THE FATAH HAMAS SPLIT

Should people boycott Israel? Pt.3 Omar Barghouti


More at The Real News

The State and Local Bases of Zionist Power in America


AN EXCELLENT, 13-page STUDY

By James Petras

"Any serious effort to understand the extraordinary influence of the Zionist power configuration over US foreign policy must examine the presence of key operatives in strategic positions in the government and the activities of local Zionist organizations affiliated with mainstream Jewish organizations and religious orders.

There are at least 52 major American Jewish organizations actively engaged in promoting Israel’s foreign policy, economic and technological agenda in the US (see the appendix). The grassroots membership ranges from several hundred thousand militants in the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) to one hundred thousand wealthy contributors, activists and power brokers in the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). In addition scores of propaganda mills, dubbed think tanks, have been established by million dollar grants from billionaire Zionists including the Brookings Institute (Haim Saban) and the Hudson Institute among others.....


Lovers' Whispers?
"No Direct Negotiations," Abbas?


What An Asshole!

Flying the flag, faking the news


Loud noises from Washington about a US pull-out from Iraq are a poor disguise for America’s determination to keep waging war. And the same sort of spin is at work here in Britain

A GOOD PIECE
John Pilger
New Statesman

Published 01 September 2010

"Edward Bernays, the American nephew of Sigmund Freud, is said to have invented modern propaganda. During the First World War, he was one of a group of influential liberals who mounted a secret government campaign to persuade reluctant Americans to send an army to the bloodbath in Europe. In his book Propaganda, published in 1928, Bernays wrote that the "intelligent manipulation of the organised habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society", and that the manipulators "constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power in our country". Instead of propaganda, he coined the euphemism "public relations".....

Bernays was no rabid right-winger. He was an elitist liberal who believed that "engineering public consent" was for the greater good. This could be achieved by the creation of "false realities" which then became "news events". Here are examples of how it is done these days.

False reality The last US combat troops have left Iraq "as promised, on schedule", according to President Barack Obama. The TV news has been filled with cinematic images of the "last US soldiers", silhouetted against the dawn light, crossing the border into Kuwait.

Fact They have not left. At least 50,000 troops will continue to operate from 94 bases. American air assaults are unchanged, as are special forces' assassinations. The number of "military contractors" is 100,000 and rising. Most Iraqi oil is now under direct foreign control....."

Hamas Claims 2nd West Bank Attack in 2 Days


Al-Manar

"02/09/2010 Hamas on Thursday claimed responsibility for a shooting attack in which two Israelis were wounded, one of them seriously, in the occupied West Bank. Wednesday's roadside attack occurred on the eve of face-to-face “peace negotiations” between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington.

"The attack was a message to those who pledged to the Zionist enemy that there would be no more attacks," said Hamas armed wing spokesman Abu Ubaida, referring to Abbas's U.S.-backed Palestinian Authority administration.

Hamas resistance fighters killed four settlers in a similar attack on Tuesday and had vowed more resistance to derail the talks....."

Abbas: The man and the politician


By Lamis Andoni
Al-Jazeera

"Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, has insisted that he will withdraw from direct talks with Israel if it does not extend its freeze on settlement building when it expires on September 26.

The pledge was intended to placate widespread opposition to the resumption of negotiations from within both Hamas and Abbas' own Fatah group. But his promises are unlikely to make a dent in the growing disillusionment with a 'peace process' many see as providing cover for continued Israeli expansion. And, coming after he backed down on his vow to boycott the talks without a prior Israeli commitment to extending the freeze, Abbas' words are lacking in credibility.

It is, in fact, the words of Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, that today ring louder and clearer in the ears of Palestinians. "You don't need to worry. Nobody needs to teach me what it is to love Eretz Israel," he told Likud party members before leaving for Washington. His use of the term 'Eretz Israel' - meaning the land between the Mediterranean and the River Jordan - implies that he has no intention of giving up control of the West Bank and East Jerusalem and, consequently, will not allow the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state.

So, while Israelis may have nothing to worry about, Palestinians most certainly do and Abbas has failed to reassure even his own supporters that he will not succumb to Israeli and American pressure....

Abbas is fully aware that he goes to Washington with many Palestinians, including some of those closest to the PA, viewing him as having at best surrendered and at worst as being a traitor.

He was badly shaken when, in the wake of his initial support for a postponement of the discussion on the Goldstone report, his grandson came to him crying and explained that children at his school had called his grandfather a "traitor"....."

600,000 books looted in 1948

Antony Loewenstein

Jews looting Palestinian books in 1948

(The Great Book Robbery (teaser) from Benny Brunner on Vimeo.)

Only a few years after the Holocaust, this reveals the depravity of many early Zionists:

The Great Book Robbery is a multifaceted cultural heritage project. It has two major components, a documentary film to be produced, broadcast and screened internationally and this very website which will grow into a multi-function platform.

Two European broadcasters already committed to air the film. Furthermore, we are in advance negotiation with various international broadcasters to join us as co-producers. Currently we are seeking strategic partners and public financial support for the film as well as the website.

60,000 Palestinian books were systematically looted by the newly born State of Israel during the 1948 war. The story of the stolen books is not only at the heart of our project but also the launching pad of a much bigger and wider endeavor: We intend on communicating the scope and depth of the Palestinian tragedy through the destruction of Palestinian culture in 1948.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

The Dayton Gang on a Rampage to Earn Their Pay: Palestinian Authority claims arrests of 300 Hamas members in response to killing of settlers



"In the largest arrest campaign since it took power in 1994, the Palestinian Authority, run by the Fateh party, sent security officers all over the West Bank Wednesday morning to arrest known members of the rival Hamas party, after Hamas' armed wing claimed responsibility for the killing of four Israeli settlers Tuesday night.

According to the Palestinian Authority, at least 300 were arrested and taken to Palestinian police stations and prisons...."

COMMENT

The message is very clear and very ominous: The Palestinian cause is finally being liquidated by Washington and Tel Aviv.

The Dayton gang was formed, trained and armed for just this moment. New prisons have been built and expanded all over the West Bank.

The stooge Abbas will sell everything and Dayton and Fayyad will impose the agreement by force of arms. The police non-state will pull all the stops to crush any resistance. These are the orders of the Empire and they are to be obeyed!

Participate in the End the Blockade of Gaza postcard action!

Click on Title to go to the Amnesty site to fill out the forms

More than 1.5 million Palestinian men, women, and children have been trapped in the Gaza Strip for more than three years. In addition to restricting Palestinians' movement from Gaza into Israel, the blockade has also severely undermined Palestinians' right to access clean water, food, medical care and proper education. Help us send at least 10,000 postcards to the White House demanding action to lift the blockade of Gaza!

1) Fill out the form below
2) Within two to three weeks, you will receive your postcards
3) Sign and address them
4) Standard postage rates apply. Send your postcards back to Amnesty offices and we will personally deliver all postcards at the same time the White House to have the greatest impact.

WMD, by Mike Luckovich


Throw these infidels in jail


LIFE IN TALIBANISTAN, Part 1

By Pepe Escobar

Asia Times

"....Ten years ago, New York-based photographer Jason Florio and myself slowly crossed Talibanistan overland from east to west, from the Pakistani border at Landi Kotal to the Iranian border at Islam Qillah. As Afghan aid workers acknowledged, we were the first Westerners to pull this off in quite a while.....

I spent a long time talking to the Dari-speaking Three Graces inside their bombed-out home - with translation provided by their brother Aloyuz, who had spent a few years in Iran supporting the family long-distance. This simple fact in itself would assure that, if caught, we would all be shot dead by the Taliban V&V - the notorious Department for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, the Taliban religious police.

The Three Graces' dream was to live "free, not under pressure". They had never been to a restaurant, a bar or a cinema. Fatima liked "rock" music, which in her case meant Afghan singer Natasha. She said she "liked" the Taliban, but most of all she wanted to get back to school. They never mentioned any discrimination between Sunnis and Shi'ites; they actually wanted to leave for Pakistan.

Their definition of "human rights" included priority for education, the right to work, and to get a job in the state sector; Fatima and Maliha wanted to be doctors. Maybe they are, today, in Hazara land; 10 years ago they spent their days weaving beautiful silk shawls. Education was terminally forbidden for girls over 12. The literacy rate among women was only 4%. Outside the Three Graces' house, almost every woman was a "widow of war", enveloped in dusty light-blue burqas, begging to support their children. Not only was this an unbearable humiliation in the context of an ultra-rigid Islamic society, it contradicted the Taliban obsession of preserving the "honor and purity" of their women....."

Al-Jazeera Video: Inside Story - Achieving real peace

With Dianna Buttu



"Direct peace talks between Israelis and palestine are set to begin on Thursday after being frozen for two years. But with Hamas noticeably missing, can real peace be achieved? Is it time for the other players to recognise them? Or could talks with the Palestinian Authority simply make Hamas less relevant?"

"Security for Everyone, Not Just Settlers and Occupiers"–Ali Abunimah on Opening of U.S.-Brokered Mideast Peace Talks

Democracy Now!
With Amy Goodman



"U.S.-brokered talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority begin today in Washington. Both sides agreed to sit down last month after the U.S. successfully pressured Palestinian leaders to drop their pre-condition of an Israeli settlement freeze. On the eve of the summit, Palestinian militants killed four Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank. We speak with Ali Abunimah, co-founder of The Electronic Intifada....."

"Iraq is a Shattered Country"–Nir Rosen on Obama Declaring an End to U.S. Combat Mission in Iraq

Democracy Now!
With Amy Goodman


"President Obama declared an end to the combat mission in Iraq Tuesday night in the second Oval Office address of his presidency. Although tens of thousands of US troops, special operations forces and private contractors remain in Iraq, Obama announced that Operation Iraqi Freedom is now officially over. We go to Baghdad to speak with independent journalist Nir Rosen....."

Withdrawal or Enduring Presence? U.S. Military Continues to Invest Hundreds of Millions in Iraq Bases

Democracy Now!
With Amy Goodman



"In his Oval Office address Tuesday night, President Obama said the US had closed or transferred hundreds of bases to the Iraqis. But many US bases remain in Iraq as well as the massive US embassy in Baghdad–the size of eighty football fields. We play a report on US bases in Iraq by independent journalist Jacquie Soohen of Big Noise Films....."

Claim for Native Title Threatens Jewish State


By Jonathan Cook - Hura, the Negev
Palestine Chronicle

"Nuri al Uqbi's small cinderblock home in a ramshackle neighbourhood of Hura, a Bedouin town in Israel’s Negev desert, hardly looks like the epicentre of a legal struggle that some observers say threatens Israel's Jewish character.

Inside, the 68-year-old Bedouin activist has stacks of bulging folders of tattered and browning documents, many older than the state of Israel itself, that he hopes will overturn decades of harsh government policy towards the Negev’s 180,000 Bedouin......

He also has a copy of the treaty signed in 1948 between 16 Bedouin tribes, including the Uqbi, and the new Israeli army, pledging loyalty in return for a guarantee that they could continue living on their lands.

Mr Yiftachel said the legal battles of the Bedouin should be compared to those waged by other indigenous peoples in countries such as Australia, Canada, South Africa, India and Brazil. “Like them, they are fighting for recognition of ‘native title’,” he said."

Defence of Apartheid Israel Unjustifiable


By Iqbal Jassat – Pretoria
(Iqbal Jassat is chairperson of the Media Review Network (MRN), an advocacy group based in Pretoria, South Africa.)
Palestine Chronicle

"I wonder whether pro-Israeli apologists ever sense the sheer hopelessness of their desperate attempts to shield the apartheid regime from legitimate and necessary criticism.....

What I find even more amazing is his dismissal of critical views by “columnists” and “former government leaders” as ranging from plain ignorance to vicious distortions. The inherent arrogance in Pogrund’s righteous contempt of these faceless critics is embedded in his “basic fact” that Israel is under “constant threat”.

As usual and in common with most propagandists for Israel, he implies that these critics possess streaks of anti-semitism. Its outrageous for one who claims a journalist’s pedigree to make such outlandish allegations as “…their views seem to come out of underlying dark feelings about Israel and Jews”!.....

Only by understanding the historic disaster in Palestine and the scale of the injustice done to the Palestinians, will people such as Pogrund appreciate what Nelson Mandela has called “the greatest moral issue of our time”."

Acts of Contrition

Neocon has second thoughts on Iraq

by Justin Raimondo, September 01, 2010

".......Soon enough this coalition of the clueless will be telling us that Iran must be our next target: that we can and must “liberate” the Persians, who are just waiting for the slightest signal from Uncle Sam to rise up and smite their oppressors.

Which brings us to the real lesson to be learned from Iraq, and it is this: whenever you hear someone pontificating on American foreign policy, do a little research. Find out what their position was on the invasion of Iraq, and if they were for it there’s just one thing left to do: change the channel and walk away."

Book Launch, by Dave Brown


A Middle East peace that wreaks havoc


With the odds stacked so strongly in Israel's favour, Palestinians rightly view the US talks with dread

Ghada Karmi
The Guardian, Wednesday 1 September 2010

"What an irony that the Palestinians' arch-enemy, Israel, should also be their saviour. There is a real danger that the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks due to starton September 2 in Washington could yield a botched deal that falls far short of the needs of international law or elemental justice, and sets back the cause of Palestine for decades, if not for ever. Fortunately this will not happen as long as Israel's obduracy can be relied on to save the Palestinians from such an outcome.

Time and again, when Israel was thrown a lifeline by Arab neighbours that could have ensured its legitimacy and security, its folly and greed lost it those opportunities. But, since they came at great cost to Palestinian rights, Israel's obduracy had the perverse effect of safeguarding those rights....

How could that be achieved, within the constraints of an Israel that cannot be pressured and a weak, unrepresentative Palestinian leadership that excludes Gaza and Hamas? And since Israel's position rejects all the main Palestinian requirements – land, Jerusalem, refugees – progress, if any, can only be made by demanding more concessions from the weaker side. This will mean less land available for the putative Palestinian state, reducing its viability. Hence Jordan's and Egypt's presence at the talks to work out a deal that provides an extension for the West Bank into Jordan, and Gaza into Egypt. No other permutation is possible. Israel will lose very little, but even this may be too much for its "greater Israel" proponents....."

There Goes the War Criminal, Again: Tony Blair: West should use force if Iran 'continues to develop nuclear weapons'


Former prime minister says it is wholly unacceptable for Tehran to seek nuclear weapons capability

Mark Tran
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 1 September 2010

"The west should use force against Iran if it "continues to develop nuclear weapons", Tony Blair said today, aligning himself with US hawks who have called for strikes against Iranian nuclear sites.

The former prime minister made his comments in a BBC interview to publicise his memoirs, A Journey, which are published today.

Blair said it was "wholly unacceptable" for Tehran to seek a nuclear weapons capability and insisted there could be "no alternative" to military force "if they continue to develop nuclear weapons"......"

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

ANSWER Coalition Responds to President Obama's Speech on Iraq

It is necessary to separate fact from fiction regarding the announcement by the Obama administration that it is removing "combat brigades" from Iraq.

This is not the time for progressive people to pat themselves on the back, claim "victory" and pretend that the U.S. government is pursuing a different policy than that which was carried out by the previous administration.

Today's announcement that renames the 50,000 U.S. troops in Iraq is nothing more than the rebranding of the illegal U.S. occupation of Iraq that began with the criminal invasion of the country by hundreds of thousands of U.S. forces on March 20, 2003. Let's remember, the goal of the Bush administration, too, was not to keep a certain number of U.S. troops in Iraq forever, but instead to exercise U.S. domination over the country and the region.

The Obama administration has maintained the principal military and civilian leaders from the Bush administration. The withdrawal of some combat brigades from Iraq is essentially a redeployment exercise so that tens of thousands more U.S. troops can be sent toAfghanistan.

Since Bush left office, and contrary to the deep desire of the masses of people who constituted the electoral base for President Obama’s November 2008 victory, the U.S. military machine has grown, not diminished. The U.S. military budget has actually increased, not decreased.

The ongoing occupation of Iraq, the escalation of the war in Afghanistan, the increasing threats against Iran, and the enduring U.S.-Israeli war directed against the Palestinian people are all clear indicators that U.S. foreign policy and its military strategy are premised on the pursuit and maintenance of Empire regardless of whether the Democrats or the Republicans occupy the White House.

When he delivered his major address in Cairo on June 4, 2009, President Obama described the war in Iraq as a "war of choice." That is simply popular vernacular for a war of aggression. The reality of his position, however, was revealed today when President Obama actually called George W. Bush to confer with him in advance of tonight's address on Iraq. Tonight, President Obama took the occasion to salute Bush as a "patriot" with "love of country and commitment to our security." George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and other high officials in the Bush administration should be indicted and prosecuted for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The invasion and ongoing occupation of Iraq has shredded Iraqi sovereignty and "succeeded" in killing as many as 1 million Iraqis. The invasion and ongoing occupation has succeeded in ripping apart a once-united country. It is the U.S. invasion that stoked a sectarian civil war. It was a deliberate and conscious policy by the U.S. occupation forces to organize, finance and arm Iraqis along ethno-sectarian lines in order to weaken the nationwide resistance of the people against foreign occupation.

The thousands of organizers and volunteers who have worked with the ANSWER Coalition in organizing mass protests and nearly daily activities in cities throughout the country for the past nine years believe that the U.S. should end all of its foreign occupations, and that the people in Iraq and Afghanistan must have the right of self determination.

The struggle for jobs, social justice, equality and freedom at home cannot be separated from the international struggle against empire, colonialism and war. Last Saturday, Glenn Beck and the forces of right-wing racism tried to hijack the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the millions of people who fought, organized—including for some going to jail and giving their life—in the struggle against racism at home and war abroad. We must take note of the fact that the forces of right-wing racism and militarism are mobilizing throughout the country. Their demagogic attacks against the Obama administration are nothing more than a cover for their real agenda.

We in the ANSWER Coalition believe that it is imperative that all those in the anti-war movement, labor and civil rights movements and others come together in a massive mobilization on Oct. 2 in Washington, D.C., for jobs, peace and justice. Only the mobilization of the people, and not the politicians, can radically change the political climate. When we march together on Oct. 2, we must raise high the banners of "U.S. out of Iraq now," "End the occupation of Afghanistan Now" and "Money for jobs, schools, health care and housing, not war and occupation."

How to Kill Goyim and Influence People: Israeli Rabbis Defend Book's Shocking Religious Defense of Killing Non-Jews (with Video)

As soon as it was published late last year,Torat Ha'Melech sparked a national uproar. The controversy began when an Israeli tabloid panned the book's contents as "230 pages on the laws concerning the killing of non-Jews, a kind of guidebook for anyone who ponders the question of if and when it is permissible to take the life of a non-Jew." According to the book's author, Rabbi Yitzhak Shapira, "Non-Jews are "uncompassionate by nature" and should be killed in order to "curb their evil inclinations." "If we kill a gentile who has has violated one of the seven commandments… there is nothing wrong with the murder," Shapira insisted. Citing Jewish law as his source (or at least a very selective interpretation of it) he declared: "There is justification for killing babies if it is clear that they will grow up to harm us, and in such a situation they may be harmed deliberately, and not only during combat with adults."

"The obligation to sacrifice your life is above all others when fighting those who wish to destroy the authority of the Torah," bellowed Rabbi Yehoshua Shapira, head of the yeshiva in the Tel Aviv suburb of Ramat Gan. "It is not only true against non-Jews who are trying to destroy it but against Jewish people from any side."

One of Shapira's followers, an American immigrant named Jack Teitel, has confessed to murdering two innocent Palestinians and attempting to the kill the liberal Israeli historian Ze'ev Sternhell with a mail bomb. Teitel is suspected of many more murders, including an attack on a Tel Aviv gay community center.

In 2006, Shapira was briefly held by Israeli police for urging his supporters to murder all Palestinians over the age of 13. Two years later, according to the Israeli daily Haaretz, he signed a rabbinical letter in support of Israeli Jews who had brutally assaulted two Arab youths on the country's Holocaust Remembrance Day. That same year, Shapira was arrested under suspicion that he helped orchestrate a rocket attack against a Palestinian village near Nablus. Though he was released, Shapira's name arose in connection with another act of terror, when in January, the Israeli police raided his settlement seeking the vandals who set fire to a nearby mosque. After arresting ten settlers, the Shabak held five of Shapira's confederates under suspicion of arson.

If you ever wondered why Uri Avnery is "low calorie" Zionist read this

Channel 10, one of Israel’s three TV channels, aired a report this week that surely frightened a lot of viewers. Its title was “Who Is Organizing the Worldwide Hatred of Israel Movement?” and its subject was the dozens of groups in various countries which are conducting a vigorous propaganda campaign for the Palestinians and against Israel.

The activists interviewed, both male and female, young and old – quite a number of them Jews – demonstrate at supermarkets against the products of the settlements and/or of Israel in general, organize mass meetings, make speeches, mobilize trade unions, file lawsuits against Israeli politicians and generals.

Throughout the debate, Golda Meir – as was her wont – stood at the door of the plenum hall, chain-smoking. Summing up, she answered every speaker in turn, ignoring my speech. I thought that she had decided to boycott me, when – after a dramatic pause – she turned in my direction. “Deputy Avnery thinks that they hate us because of what we do. He does not know the goyim. The goyim love the Jews when they are beaten and miserable. They hate the Jews when they are victorious and successful.” If clapping were allowed in the Knesset, the whole house would have burst into thunderous applause.

There is a danger that the current worldwide protest will meet the same reaction: that the Israeli public will unite against the evil goyim, instead of uniting against the settlers.

The first thing is to clearly differentiate between the boycott of the settlements and a general boycott of Israel.

If the world protest is clearly focused on the settlements, it will indeed cause many Israelis to realize that there is a clear line between the legitimate state of Israel and the illegitimate occupation.

Today a large majority of Israelis say that they want peace and are ready to pay the price, but that, unfortunately, the Arabs don’t want peace. The mainstream peace camp, which could once bring hundreds of thousands onto the street, is in a state of depression.


Breaking News: مقتل 4 مستوطنين في عملية إطلاق نار جنوب الخليل..


عــ48ـرب

"قتل 4 مستوطنين، مساء اليوم الثلاثاء، في عملية إطلاق نار على مركبة على مدخل مستوطنة "كريات أرباع".

وبحسب المصادر الإسرائيلية فقد سمعت أصوات إطلاق نار في الساعة 19:30 باتجاه مركبة خاصة على مفرق بني نعيم جنوب "كريات أرباع". وتبين من التحقيقات الأولية أن المصابين هم مستوطن وزوجته وآخران.

وعلم أن المستوطنين هم من مستوطنة "بيت حاجي".

وبحسب التحقيقات الأولية فإن منفذي العملية اقتربوا من مركبة المستوطنين وأطلقوا النار مرة أخرى للتيقن من عملية القتل.

وبحسب شهادة أحد المسعفين الذين وصلوا إلى المكان فإن مركبة المستوطنين كانت مصابة بعشرات العيارات النارية، وبداخلها 4 جثث
...."


Four Israelis killed in West Bank

Al-Jazeera

"The military wing of Hamas has claimed responsibility for a shooting that killed four Israelis near Hebron in the occupied West Bank.

At least one gunman opened fire on a car driving on Highway 60 near the Kiryat Arba settlement on Tuesday.

The Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, claimed responsibility for the attack in a short statement posted on its website, and said it would be the first in a "series of operations" in the West Bank....."

القسام تتبنى عملية الخليلAl-Jazeera Video

Abu Shakha has no shame.

Via Angry Arab

Current Al-Jazeera (Arabic) Online Poll


This new poll asks a dumb question:

Do you see Iraq as being in a better condition, 7 years after the US invasion?

Duh!

With over 1,200 responding so far, 94% said no.

Here is a suggested question for the next poll, Al-Jazeera:

Do you think it would hurt, if you drive a nail into your thumb?

Ground Zero Mosque, by Khalil Bendib



(Click on cartoon to enlarge)

Mahmoud Abbas: Double Agent


The Washington Farce

By JEFFREY BLANKFORT
CounterPunch

"This coming week we will witness the latest challenge for the man who is arguably the most extraordinary double agent in the Middle East. What is unusual about Mahmoud Abbas, or Abu Mazen, as he was known when his fellow Palestinians had yet to take his measure, is that most of what he does for his Israeli and US masters he does in plain sight.

To which of the two he is most beholden will be determined during his upcoming visit to Washington for the latest chapter in what has euphemistically been referred to as the “peace process” since it was launched in the aftermath of the Oslo Agreement. The odds are it will be Israel. In Oslo, it should be recalled, Abbas, as the chief Palestinian negotiator, played Neville Chamberlain for Tel Aviv, agreeing to surrender occupied Palestinian land with a view toward putting a permanent end to Palestinian resistance and, immediately, to the first Intifada...."

Afghanistan bomb attacks kill twenty-one US soldiers in 48 hours, but Obama is still making progress!


Twenty-one American troops have been killed in Afghanistan since Friday in one of the bloodiest periods of the summer.

The Telegraph

"A series of bomb attacks have badly hit US troops in eastern and southern Afghanistan in the past 48 hours.

The death toll among in the Nato-led coalition has reached 484 this year and is predicted to far surpass 2009’s total of 521...."

Al-Jazeera Video: Israeli settlements to be determining issue in peace talks



"The building of new Israeli settlements on Palestinian territories will be one of the key and determining issues in upcoming peace talks that will be held in the US capital Washington DC.

Israel has been criticised by all sides, including the US, for its illegal construction of thousands of homes, which have been separated by an imposing wall.

Nour Odeh reports from the Palestinian village of Al-Walajeh in the West Bank, where many are suffering from the unlawful settlements."