Saturday, October 30, 2010
Al-Jazeera Video: The Listening Post - Missing the mark on Wikileaks?
"There has been another deluge of information released on Wikileaks - this time about the war in Iraq. But many of the resulting stories have focused on Julian Assange's character as much as on the contents of the leaked documents. Has the media missed the mark or has the Wikileaks front man become a liability for the organisation? The Listening Post this week looks at how the media has become more interested in the life of one man than the deaths of 109,000 Iraqis."
Al-Jazeera Video: Inside Story - Lebanon's rising tensions
"Hezbollah has called for a boycott of the UN investigation into the assassination of Rafiq al-Hariri, the late Lebanese prime minister, in 2005. Reports now suggest that some Hezbollah members could be indicted. The Lebanese government has co-operated with the tribunal since it was established but Hezbollah considers the assassination to be an internal matter and has called for a local investigation. Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader, believes information from the probe is being passed on to the group's arch rival - Israel. So, has Hezbollah moved on to the offensive? And what role could regional powers play in escalating or defusing rising tensions in Lebanon?"
Real News Video and Transcript: Yemen, the real conflict
Poverty, dictatorship & suppression of socialist movement till soil for extremist forces
Part 2:
Walid Al-Saqaf: Yemen gov and US use fight against al-Qaeda to target opposition movement in South
Part 2:
Walid Al-Saqaf: Yemen gov and US use fight against al-Qaeda to target opposition movement in South
Israeli settlers burn church in Jerusalem
"A hundred year old church was burned Friday by right-wing Israeli settlers, who broke a number of windows of the church and hurled Molotov cocktails inside.
The damage to the church was substantial, with burn damage throughout the first floor of the building.
The church was built in Jerusalem in 1897, and housed the Palestinian Bible College until 1947, when parishioners were pushed out by Jewish armed gangs during the violence accompanying the creation of the state of Israel...."
The damage to the church was substantial, with burn damage throughout the first floor of the building.
The church was built in Jerusalem in 1897, and housed the Palestinian Bible College until 1947, when parishioners were pushed out by Jewish armed gangs during the violence accompanying the creation of the state of Israel...."
Caterpillar Corporation stops shipment of armored bulldozers to Israeli military
"Peace activists around the world are celebrating Friday's announcement that the Illinois-based company, Caterpillar, has decided to hold off shipment of dozens of armored bulldozers to the Israeli military while a trial about the killing of Rachel Corrie is ongoing in Israel.
Corrie was run down by a Caterpillar D9 armored bulldozer in 2003 while trying to prevent the demolition of a Palestinian doctor's home in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. Her parents launched an unsuccessful lawsuit against Caterpillar Corporation in the US for their role in her death. Now, they are pursuing a lawsuit in Israel against the Israeli military and the soldiers involved in her death......"
Corrie was run down by a Caterpillar D9 armored bulldozer in 2003 while trying to prevent the demolition of a Palestinian doctor's home in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. Her parents launched an unsuccessful lawsuit against Caterpillar Corporation in the US for their role in her death. Now, they are pursuing a lawsuit in Israel against the Israeli military and the soldiers involved in her death......"
ATTN. ALL FLAG-WAVERS. YOU WANT WAR? PAY FOR IT.
By Eric Margolis
"I don’t ever recall seeing such an ugly, dim-witted, childish American election as this coming week’s mid-term vote.
"I don’t ever recall seeing such an ugly, dim-witted, childish American election as this coming week’s mid-term vote.
A national frenzy has seized America. Fierce debate and name-calling has raged about job losses, the nation’s growing $12 trillion debt, mandatory health care, socialism – and even witchcraft. Sarah Palin, the patron saint of low IQ Americans, has hovered over this sordid contest like an evil Halloween wraith.
If we believe polls, the Democrats look like toast. President Barack Obama may be ready to join the ranks of the unemployed....
Right-wing Republicans will press for more war, in more places – financed, of course, by the magic of credit. Few stop to think that this manic borrowing it wrecking America."
If we believe polls, the Democrats look like toast. President Barack Obama may be ready to join the ranks of the unemployed....
Right-wing Republicans will press for more war, in more places – financed, of course, by the magic of credit. Few stop to think that this manic borrowing it wrecking America."
Pre-Election Bomb Plot a Political Boost for Obama
'Terror Threat' a Big Political Win for Obama, Dems
by Jason Ditz, October 29, 2010
Antiwar.com
"Though the administration has declined to raise the terror alert level, the very public nature of the Yemen bomb plot is seen as giving President Obama and incumbent Congressional Democrats a much-needed political shot in the arm, conveniently enough just days before the midterm elections.
by Jason Ditz, October 29, 2010
Antiwar.com
"Though the administration has declined to raise the terror alert level, the very public nature of the Yemen bomb plot is seen as giving President Obama and incumbent Congressional Democrats a much-needed political shot in the arm, conveniently enough just days before the midterm elections.
The plot gave an opportunity for President Obama to look “presidential,” experts say, as he gave a high profile speech vowing “any steps necessary” to see al-Qaeda’s Yemeni affiliate destroyed.....
Recent polls had showed Democrats taking big hits in the upcoming Midterm election, and President Obama’s campaigning doing very little to help. The consequences of a shift in the popular interest away from the economy and onto hawkish rhetoric about revenge attacks against al-Qaeda at the last minute could be significant, and might well mean that the massive losses the incumbents were facing will no longer apply."
Lebanon and Iran make uneasy bedfellows
Read at Your Own Risk....
By Robert Fisk
"....The moment the Iranian President sat down, he turned to Saad and said: "Let's skip the lunch. Let's have sandwiches and go to southern Lebanon together."
Now here was a problem. Saad is a Sunni Muslim; Mahmoud, of course, is a Shia, and the Iranian President was inviting a Sunni Prime Minister of Lebanon to visit the Shia south of Lebanon where he (Mahmoud, that is) would declare that southern Lebanon – he was speaking less than two miles from the Israeli border – was Iran's "front line" against Israel. Saad politely declined the invitation and Mahmoud went on to Bint Jbeil to rally his lads and lassies on his own.....
Stopping over in Damascus, Ahmadinejad told Assad he wanted Nouri al-Maliki to be Iraq's prime minister. Assad told his Syrian cabinet – the source is impeccable – that "our friends want Maliki"......
Wasn't it supposed to be the Syrians who killed Hariri (or so The New York Times and the London Times would have us believe) that blew Hariri's motorcade up – along with the 21 others whose names we have all forgotten – on St Valentine's Day of 2005? Nope. Since the Syrians offered their assistance to the United States in Iraq, it's been the pesky Iranians (courtesy The New York Times and The Times of London) who, through their Hezbollah allies, have been blamed for the mass slaughter. Notice, by the way, how the Syrians and Iranians were blamed for Lockerbie and then, post-Syrian help in the liberation of Kuwait in 1991, the Libyans?......."
By Robert Fisk
"....The moment the Iranian President sat down, he turned to Saad and said: "Let's skip the lunch. Let's have sandwiches and go to southern Lebanon together."
Now here was a problem. Saad is a Sunni Muslim; Mahmoud, of course, is a Shia, and the Iranian President was inviting a Sunni Prime Minister of Lebanon to visit the Shia south of Lebanon where he (Mahmoud, that is) would declare that southern Lebanon – he was speaking less than two miles from the Israeli border – was Iran's "front line" against Israel. Saad politely declined the invitation and Mahmoud went on to Bint Jbeil to rally his lads and lassies on his own.....
Stopping over in Damascus, Ahmadinejad told Assad he wanted Nouri al-Maliki to be Iraq's prime minister. Assad told his Syrian cabinet – the source is impeccable – that "our friends want Maliki"......
Wasn't it supposed to be the Syrians who killed Hariri (or so The New York Times and the London Times would have us believe) that blew Hariri's motorcade up – along with the 21 others whose names we have all forgotten – on St Valentine's Day of 2005? Nope. Since the Syrians offered their assistance to the United States in Iraq, it's been the pesky Iranians (courtesy The New York Times and The Times of London) who, through their Hezbollah allies, have been blamed for the mass slaughter. Notice, by the way, how the Syrians and Iranians were blamed for Lockerbie and then, post-Syrian help in the liberation of Kuwait in 1991, the Libyans?......."
لبنان والهرولة نحو الانفجار
لبنان والهرولة نحو الانفجار
عبد الباري عطوان
"ليس جديدا القول بان الوضع في لبنان متأزم، وان حالة التوتر في قمة ذروتها، ولكن الجديد ان هناك حالة من الاستعجال من قبل اكثر من طرف، داخلي وخارجي، لاشعال فتيل الانفجار، واغراق البلاد في دوامة المواجهات الدموية، وربما الحرب الطائفية.
هناك عدة نقاط يجب التوقف عندها كمدخل لقراءة الخطوط العريضة لما يمكن ان يحدث في الاسابيع القليلة المقبلة:
* اولا: المواجهة التي وقعت بين فريق محققين تابع للمحكمة الدولية المشكلة للتعاطي مع جريمة اغتيال رفيق الحريري، وبعض النساء في عيادة للامراض النسائية في الضاحية الجنوبية متخصصة في علاج زوجات بعض المسؤولين في حزب الله.
* ثانيا: اعلان السيد حسن نصر الله زعيم المقاومة الاسلامية وقف كل انواع التعاطي مع المحكمة وفرق تحقيقاتها بسبب خروجها عن قواعد الاخلاق في التدخل في المواضيع الحساسة وجمع معلومات عن لبنان ومؤسساته وطلابه وتحويلها الى اسرائيل.
* ثالثا: مطالبة اكثر من كاتب في صحف سعودية باستقالة السيد سعد الحريري رئيس الوزراء، وانسحاب المملكة العربية السعودية سياسيا من لبنان والاهتمام بقضايا اكثر حيوية بالنسبة اليها مثل اليمن والسودان.
* رابعا: شن رئيس تحرير صحيفة 'الاهرام' المصرية هجوما شرسا على سورية والرئيس بشار الاسد على وجه الخصوص، في افتتاحية على الصفحة الاولى في عدد امس، وهو هجوم استخدم عبارات والفاظاً غير مسبوقة، واذا جرى ربط ذلك بما يشاع عن دعم مصري لكتلة الرابع عشر من آذار، واستقبال الرئيس المصري حسني مبارك للسيدين سعد الحريري وسمير جعجع قائد القوات اللبنانية يمكن رسم ملامح الدور المصري الحالي والقادم في لبنان.
ما يمكن استخلاصه ان هناك سباقا بين تيارين في لبنان، الاول يريد البحث عن تسوية اقليمية بمباركة امريكية غربية تؤدي الى تأجيل صدور القرار الظني الذي يؤكد الجميع تقريبا انه سيتهم حزب الله بالوقوف خلف جريمة اغتيال الرئيس الحريري، والثاني يتعمد التصعيد ووضع عراقيل امام الجهد السعودي ـ السوري المشترك في هذا الصدد لتفجير الاوضاع في لبنان.
فرص التيار الثاني المدعوم امريكيا هي الاقوى، وزيارة ديفيد فيلتمان مساعد وزير الخارجية الامريكي الخاطفة لبيروت ومن قبلها الرياض لتطويق آثار زيارة السيد محمود احمدي نجاد رئيس ايران الى العاصمة اللبنانية كانت لتأييد هذا التيار، وتحريضه للاستئساد في المواقف والتصلب في التمسك بالمحكمة ومساندة تحقيقاتها.
فلم يكن من قبيل الصدفة ان تأتي الردود من قبل متحدثين باسم تكتل الرابع عشر من اذار على تصريحات السيد ناجي عطري رئيس وزراء سورية التي وصف فيها هذا التكتل بانه 'هيكل كرتوني' في قمة الشراسة والاستفزاز، بل وخارجة عن كل الاعراف من حيث التطاول على سورية وجيشها ورئيسها، والتشفي بخروجها 'المذّل' من لبنان.
** *
من الواضح ان عمليات الاستفزاز لحزب الله وتكتله ستشهد تصعيدا اكبر بعد انتهاء انتخابات الكونغرس النصفية، ومن غير المستبعد ان يمتد هذا التصعيد باتجاه سورية وايران ايضا، فعندما تقول السيدة سوزان رايس مندوبة امريكا في الامم المتحدة ان سورية تزعزع الاستقرار في لبنان والمنطقة، وعندما يحذر فيليب كراولي المتحدث باسم الخارجية الامريكية من وضع مقلق بسبب اسلحة حزب الله ومواقفه، فان علينا ان نتوقع الاسوأ.
السيناريو المتوقع والذي يمكن استخلاصه من 'المواجهة النسائية' مع فريق المحققين في الضاحية الجنوبية، عنوانه 'الاستفزاز' والمزيد من الاستفزاز لايقاع حزب الله في مصيدة عدم التعاون مع القرارات الدولية وتجريمه ومن ثم شيطنته بالتالي.
السيناريو نفسه جرى استخدامه مع الرئيس العراقي الراحل صدام حسين، عندما تعمدت فرق التفتيش الدولية، التي تبين فيما بعد ان معظم عناصرها من عملاء المخابرات الامريكية والاوروبية، تفتيش غرفة نوم الرئيس الراحل بحثا عن اسلحة الدمار الشامل للامعان في اذلاله، وتهشيم كبريائه، لدفعه الى الرفض، وبالتالي تبرير اي عدوان على العراق تحت ذريعة عدم التعاون مع فرق التفتيش الدولية.
ريتشارد بيرل 'أمير الظلام' واحد ابرز مخططي الحرب على العراق، ابلغني شخصيا، على هامش محاضرة مشتركة بعد الحرب على العراق بعام، ان ادارته كانت تعرف ان الرئيس العراقي لا يملك اسلحة دمار شامل، وانها كانت تبحث عن ذرائع لاستفزازه، ولا نستبعد ان يكون فريق المحققين الذي ذهب الى عيادة نسائية في الضاحية الجنوبية يتبنى المخطط نفسه، فما علاقة هذه العيادة المتخصصة في امور نسائية حساسة بعملية اغتيال الرئيس الحريري، ولماذا يريدون جميع الملفات (سبعة آلاف ملف) ثم يكتفون، وبسبب شجاعة الطبيبة المسؤولة، بتخفيض العدد الى سبعة عشر ملفاً؟
الدخول الى غرفة نوم صدام حسين، لم يمنع مسلسل المطالب المذلة المتلاحقة لنظامه، كما ان تعاونه مكرهاً مع هذه المطالب وتلبيتها لم يمنع العدوان على بلاده واحتلالها وتدميرها وايقاعها في حال من الفوضى الدموية، والحرب الطائفية، ومقتل مليون انسان بريء، ومن يضمن لنا، في حال موافقة حزب الله على مطلب فرق التحقيق المذكورة بالحصول على ملفات المريضات من زوجات مسؤولي حزب الله، ان يكون الطلب القادم تفتيش غرفة نوم السيد حسن نصر الله مثلاً.
لا نريد ان نرش الملح على جرح التوتر اللبناني النازف، وان نرسم صورة تشاؤمية لما يمكن ان يتبلور عن سياسات التهور التي تتبناها بعض الاطراف اللبنانية بتحريض خارجي، ولكن نجد لزاماً علينا القول بان من يحرضون على استقالة السيد الحريري لا يدركون حجم المخاطر التي يمكن ان تترتب على ذلك، وابرزها حدوث فراغ سياسي، وازمة دستورية قد تؤدي الى نسف اتفاقي الدوحة والطائف، وترسيخ الانقسام الحالي، وربما الدفع باتجاه حرب طائفية سنية شيعية. فاذا كانت النخبة السياسية العراقية عجزت عن تشكيل حكومة بعد سبعة اشهر من الانتخابات فكم سنة ستحتاج نظيرتها اللبنانية لفعل الشيء نفسه في ظل حالة الاستقطاب الراهنة.
***
المحكمة الدولية مجرد اداة لتجريم 'حزب الله' كمقدمة لتجريم سورية، وبما 'يشّرع' عدواناً اسرائيلياً على الطرفين، بدعم من تيار لبناني داخلي. فالعقلية الغربية تبدأ بالاسهل ثم بالأصعب، وهناك من يعتقد ان الوصول الى ايران ومنشآتها النووية يجب ان يمر عبر الحرب ضد حزب الله، وسورية اذا تدخلت لنصرته.
القرار الظني قد يصدر قبل موعده في شهر كانون الاول/ديسمبر المقبل ويبدو ان جهود العاهل السعودي لاحتواء التوتر في لبنان بالتنسيق مع الرئيس السوري، لتأجيل صدوره تواجه العديد من العراقيل ان لم تكن قد انهارت، ولا نستبعد ان يكون هناك جناح في المملكة يعارض هذا التنسيق ويريد ان ينسف معادلة 'س.س' اي السعودية وسورية القادرة على التهدئة في لبنان.
رفض السيد نصر الله التعاون مع فريق المحققين التابع لمحكمة الحريري قد يكون مبرراً، لان التعاون من عدمه لن يغير من الخطة الامريكية الاسرائيلية المدعومة من بعض العرب لتدمير الحزب ومحاولة نزع اسلحته او بالاحرى انهاء وجوده على الساحة اللبنانية بالقوة التدميرية، ولنا مما حصل في العراق ونظامه السابق عبرة.
السؤال هو عما اذا كان بعض اللبنانيين المتحمسين للمحكمة يتبصرون بما يمكن ان يحدث لبلدهم في حال انفجار الوضع عسكرياً، داخلياً او نتيجة غزو اسرائيلي؟
امريكا ارسلت 170 الف جندي الى العراق واحتلته، ولكنها لم تستطع فرض السلام والاستقرار على ارضه بعد تغيير النظام. وها هي تستجدي التفاوض مع حركة طالبان في افغانستان لتأمين هروب آمن، فكيف سيكون الحال لو كررت الخطأ نفسه بطريقة مباشرة، او عبر اسرائيل بغزو لبنان؟
اسرائيل جربت الغزو مرتين، الاولى صيف عام 1982 والثانية صيف عام 2006، وخرجت من الغزوين مهزومة ذليلة، فلتجرب للمرة الثالثة، وقد تكون النتائج اكثر دماراً لها وللبنان ايضاً، هذا اذا لم تجر المنطقة كلها الى حرب اقليمية.
السيد حسن نصر الله قال المطار بالمطار، والضاحية بتل ابيب. ولا بد انه عندما يرفض التعاون مع فرق التحقيق الدولية يعرف ما يترتب على ذلك، وقد وضع كل الخطط لمواجهة كل الاحتمالات، او نأمل ذلك.
"
عبد الباري عطوان
"ليس جديدا القول بان الوضع في لبنان متأزم، وان حالة التوتر في قمة ذروتها، ولكن الجديد ان هناك حالة من الاستعجال من قبل اكثر من طرف، داخلي وخارجي، لاشعال فتيل الانفجار، واغراق البلاد في دوامة المواجهات الدموية، وربما الحرب الطائفية.
هناك عدة نقاط يجب التوقف عندها كمدخل لقراءة الخطوط العريضة لما يمكن ان يحدث في الاسابيع القليلة المقبلة:
* اولا: المواجهة التي وقعت بين فريق محققين تابع للمحكمة الدولية المشكلة للتعاطي مع جريمة اغتيال رفيق الحريري، وبعض النساء في عيادة للامراض النسائية في الضاحية الجنوبية متخصصة في علاج زوجات بعض المسؤولين في حزب الله.
* ثانيا: اعلان السيد حسن نصر الله زعيم المقاومة الاسلامية وقف كل انواع التعاطي مع المحكمة وفرق تحقيقاتها بسبب خروجها عن قواعد الاخلاق في التدخل في المواضيع الحساسة وجمع معلومات عن لبنان ومؤسساته وطلابه وتحويلها الى اسرائيل.
* ثالثا: مطالبة اكثر من كاتب في صحف سعودية باستقالة السيد سعد الحريري رئيس الوزراء، وانسحاب المملكة العربية السعودية سياسيا من لبنان والاهتمام بقضايا اكثر حيوية بالنسبة اليها مثل اليمن والسودان.
* رابعا: شن رئيس تحرير صحيفة 'الاهرام' المصرية هجوما شرسا على سورية والرئيس بشار الاسد على وجه الخصوص، في افتتاحية على الصفحة الاولى في عدد امس، وهو هجوم استخدم عبارات والفاظاً غير مسبوقة، واذا جرى ربط ذلك بما يشاع عن دعم مصري لكتلة الرابع عشر من آذار، واستقبال الرئيس المصري حسني مبارك للسيدين سعد الحريري وسمير جعجع قائد القوات اللبنانية يمكن رسم ملامح الدور المصري الحالي والقادم في لبنان.
ما يمكن استخلاصه ان هناك سباقا بين تيارين في لبنان، الاول يريد البحث عن تسوية اقليمية بمباركة امريكية غربية تؤدي الى تأجيل صدور القرار الظني الذي يؤكد الجميع تقريبا انه سيتهم حزب الله بالوقوف خلف جريمة اغتيال الرئيس الحريري، والثاني يتعمد التصعيد ووضع عراقيل امام الجهد السعودي ـ السوري المشترك في هذا الصدد لتفجير الاوضاع في لبنان.
فرص التيار الثاني المدعوم امريكيا هي الاقوى، وزيارة ديفيد فيلتمان مساعد وزير الخارجية الامريكي الخاطفة لبيروت ومن قبلها الرياض لتطويق آثار زيارة السيد محمود احمدي نجاد رئيس ايران الى العاصمة اللبنانية كانت لتأييد هذا التيار، وتحريضه للاستئساد في المواقف والتصلب في التمسك بالمحكمة ومساندة تحقيقاتها.
فلم يكن من قبيل الصدفة ان تأتي الردود من قبل متحدثين باسم تكتل الرابع عشر من اذار على تصريحات السيد ناجي عطري رئيس وزراء سورية التي وصف فيها هذا التكتل بانه 'هيكل كرتوني' في قمة الشراسة والاستفزاز، بل وخارجة عن كل الاعراف من حيث التطاول على سورية وجيشها ورئيسها، والتشفي بخروجها 'المذّل' من لبنان.
** *
من الواضح ان عمليات الاستفزاز لحزب الله وتكتله ستشهد تصعيدا اكبر بعد انتهاء انتخابات الكونغرس النصفية، ومن غير المستبعد ان يمتد هذا التصعيد باتجاه سورية وايران ايضا، فعندما تقول السيدة سوزان رايس مندوبة امريكا في الامم المتحدة ان سورية تزعزع الاستقرار في لبنان والمنطقة، وعندما يحذر فيليب كراولي المتحدث باسم الخارجية الامريكية من وضع مقلق بسبب اسلحة حزب الله ومواقفه، فان علينا ان نتوقع الاسوأ.
السيناريو المتوقع والذي يمكن استخلاصه من 'المواجهة النسائية' مع فريق المحققين في الضاحية الجنوبية، عنوانه 'الاستفزاز' والمزيد من الاستفزاز لايقاع حزب الله في مصيدة عدم التعاون مع القرارات الدولية وتجريمه ومن ثم شيطنته بالتالي.
السيناريو نفسه جرى استخدامه مع الرئيس العراقي الراحل صدام حسين، عندما تعمدت فرق التفتيش الدولية، التي تبين فيما بعد ان معظم عناصرها من عملاء المخابرات الامريكية والاوروبية، تفتيش غرفة نوم الرئيس الراحل بحثا عن اسلحة الدمار الشامل للامعان في اذلاله، وتهشيم كبريائه، لدفعه الى الرفض، وبالتالي تبرير اي عدوان على العراق تحت ذريعة عدم التعاون مع فرق التفتيش الدولية.
ريتشارد بيرل 'أمير الظلام' واحد ابرز مخططي الحرب على العراق، ابلغني شخصيا، على هامش محاضرة مشتركة بعد الحرب على العراق بعام، ان ادارته كانت تعرف ان الرئيس العراقي لا يملك اسلحة دمار شامل، وانها كانت تبحث عن ذرائع لاستفزازه، ولا نستبعد ان يكون فريق المحققين الذي ذهب الى عيادة نسائية في الضاحية الجنوبية يتبنى المخطط نفسه، فما علاقة هذه العيادة المتخصصة في امور نسائية حساسة بعملية اغتيال الرئيس الحريري، ولماذا يريدون جميع الملفات (سبعة آلاف ملف) ثم يكتفون، وبسبب شجاعة الطبيبة المسؤولة، بتخفيض العدد الى سبعة عشر ملفاً؟
الدخول الى غرفة نوم صدام حسين، لم يمنع مسلسل المطالب المذلة المتلاحقة لنظامه، كما ان تعاونه مكرهاً مع هذه المطالب وتلبيتها لم يمنع العدوان على بلاده واحتلالها وتدميرها وايقاعها في حال من الفوضى الدموية، والحرب الطائفية، ومقتل مليون انسان بريء، ومن يضمن لنا، في حال موافقة حزب الله على مطلب فرق التحقيق المذكورة بالحصول على ملفات المريضات من زوجات مسؤولي حزب الله، ان يكون الطلب القادم تفتيش غرفة نوم السيد حسن نصر الله مثلاً.
لا نريد ان نرش الملح على جرح التوتر اللبناني النازف، وان نرسم صورة تشاؤمية لما يمكن ان يتبلور عن سياسات التهور التي تتبناها بعض الاطراف اللبنانية بتحريض خارجي، ولكن نجد لزاماً علينا القول بان من يحرضون على استقالة السيد الحريري لا يدركون حجم المخاطر التي يمكن ان تترتب على ذلك، وابرزها حدوث فراغ سياسي، وازمة دستورية قد تؤدي الى نسف اتفاقي الدوحة والطائف، وترسيخ الانقسام الحالي، وربما الدفع باتجاه حرب طائفية سنية شيعية. فاذا كانت النخبة السياسية العراقية عجزت عن تشكيل حكومة بعد سبعة اشهر من الانتخابات فكم سنة ستحتاج نظيرتها اللبنانية لفعل الشيء نفسه في ظل حالة الاستقطاب الراهنة.
***
المحكمة الدولية مجرد اداة لتجريم 'حزب الله' كمقدمة لتجريم سورية، وبما 'يشّرع' عدواناً اسرائيلياً على الطرفين، بدعم من تيار لبناني داخلي. فالعقلية الغربية تبدأ بالاسهل ثم بالأصعب، وهناك من يعتقد ان الوصول الى ايران ومنشآتها النووية يجب ان يمر عبر الحرب ضد حزب الله، وسورية اذا تدخلت لنصرته.
القرار الظني قد يصدر قبل موعده في شهر كانون الاول/ديسمبر المقبل ويبدو ان جهود العاهل السعودي لاحتواء التوتر في لبنان بالتنسيق مع الرئيس السوري، لتأجيل صدوره تواجه العديد من العراقيل ان لم تكن قد انهارت، ولا نستبعد ان يكون هناك جناح في المملكة يعارض هذا التنسيق ويريد ان ينسف معادلة 'س.س' اي السعودية وسورية القادرة على التهدئة في لبنان.
رفض السيد نصر الله التعاون مع فريق المحققين التابع لمحكمة الحريري قد يكون مبرراً، لان التعاون من عدمه لن يغير من الخطة الامريكية الاسرائيلية المدعومة من بعض العرب لتدمير الحزب ومحاولة نزع اسلحته او بالاحرى انهاء وجوده على الساحة اللبنانية بالقوة التدميرية، ولنا مما حصل في العراق ونظامه السابق عبرة.
السؤال هو عما اذا كان بعض اللبنانيين المتحمسين للمحكمة يتبصرون بما يمكن ان يحدث لبلدهم في حال انفجار الوضع عسكرياً، داخلياً او نتيجة غزو اسرائيلي؟
امريكا ارسلت 170 الف جندي الى العراق واحتلته، ولكنها لم تستطع فرض السلام والاستقرار على ارضه بعد تغيير النظام. وها هي تستجدي التفاوض مع حركة طالبان في افغانستان لتأمين هروب آمن، فكيف سيكون الحال لو كررت الخطأ نفسه بطريقة مباشرة، او عبر اسرائيل بغزو لبنان؟
اسرائيل جربت الغزو مرتين، الاولى صيف عام 1982 والثانية صيف عام 2006، وخرجت من الغزوين مهزومة ذليلة، فلتجرب للمرة الثالثة، وقد تكون النتائج اكثر دماراً لها وللبنان ايضاً، هذا اذا لم تجر المنطقة كلها الى حرب اقليمية.
السيد حسن نصر الله قال المطار بالمطار، والضاحية بتل ابيب. ولا بد انه عندما يرفض التعاون مع فرق التحقيق الدولية يعرف ما يترتب على ذلك، وقد وضع كل الخطط لمواجهة كل الاحتمالات، او نأمل ذلك.
"
The western myth of Arab men
Some in the west struggle to believe in the existence of secular, modern Arab men who do not oppress women
Khaled Diab
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 30 October 2010
".....So, what is behind this almost casual hatred and vilification? Many cite the September 11 attacks in 2001 as an important turning point. While prejudice against Arabs, and Muslims in general, certainly increased after these atrocities, the growing demonisation and the public debate it sparked also, and perhaps ironically, led to more people developing greater understanding and sympathy towards Arabs.
But history did not begin on 9/11, nor did anti-Arab prejudice. It has a long history in the west, dating back to the colonial era and even the earlier, mutual love-hate relationship between "Islam" and "Christendom". While there were some orientalists who were Arabophiles, particularly in their admiration for the "noble and honourable" Bedouin but not for the "wily and cunning" city Arab, orientalism as a whole lent a respectable academic veneer, as Edward Said so convincingly demonstrated, to crude racism.
In this view, the Arab is indistinguishable as an individual, unchanging, backward, passive, deceitful, ruled by lust and sexuality, and "in all the centuries has bought no wisdom from experience", as Gertrude Bell, who played a crucial role in creating modern-day Iraq and Jordan, once put it."
Khaled Diab
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 30 October 2010
".....So, what is behind this almost casual hatred and vilification? Many cite the September 11 attacks in 2001 as an important turning point. While prejudice against Arabs, and Muslims in general, certainly increased after these atrocities, the growing demonisation and the public debate it sparked also, and perhaps ironically, led to more people developing greater understanding and sympathy towards Arabs.
But history did not begin on 9/11, nor did anti-Arab prejudice. It has a long history in the west, dating back to the colonial era and even the earlier, mutual love-hate relationship between "Islam" and "Christendom". While there were some orientalists who were Arabophiles, particularly in their admiration for the "noble and honourable" Bedouin but not for the "wily and cunning" city Arab, orientalism as a whole lent a respectable academic veneer, as Edward Said so convincingly demonstrated, to crude racism.
In this view, the Arab is indistinguishable as an individual, unchanging, backward, passive, deceitful, ruled by lust and sexuality, and "in all the centuries has bought no wisdom from experience", as Gertrude Bell, who played a crucial role in creating modern-day Iraq and Jordan, once put it."
Friday, October 29, 2010
OECD and Israel's "tourist" colonization of Syria's Golan
Charlotte Silver, The Electronic Intifada, 25 October 2010
On 20 and 21 October, the 86th session of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) tourism committee was held in Jerusalem. Leading up to the conference, there was conjecture on how the member countries in attendance would handle Israel's tourism policies regarding the occupied territories: the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Gaza Strip and the Syrian Golan Heights.
The Palestine Liberation Organization called on countries to boycott the meeting, saying that it served to condone Israel's illegal annexation of Jerusalem. The Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee also called on the OECD to relocate the conference.
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| Israeli tourists visit an abandoned army post from the 1967 war in the occupied Golan Heights. (Moti Milrod/MaanImages) |
On 20 and 21 October, the 86th session of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) tourism committee was held in Jerusalem. Leading up to the conference, there was conjecture on how the member countries in attendance would handle Israel's tourism policies regarding the occupied territories: the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Gaza Strip and the Syrian Golan Heights.
The Palestine Liberation Organization called on countries to boycott the meeting, saying that it served to condone Israel's illegal annexation of Jerusalem. The Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee also called on the OECD to relocate the conference.
Israel, the thieving state, angry over UNESCO description of West Bank holy site
The board of the UN's cultural organization, in its biannual session which ended last week, adopted five proposals initiated by Arab member states regarding sites which are considered holy to both Jews and Muslims.
Suspicious packages 'contain explosive material,' Obama says
[Obama has been itching to escalate in Yemen ala Pakistan and have his drones kill innocent civilians masquerading as Terrorists. This is his justification and trigger point. It does not take a conspiracy theorist to see the set up that took place here. Did the Package Originate in Yemen , Yes , did the US's Agents and KSA's Agents place them : ABSOLUTELY. It is getting old but Obama is looking more like Bush , deploying fear and false evidence to escalate the empire's "war on Terrorism"]
The packages led to increased searches of cargo planes and trucks in several U.S. cities, said law enforcement sources with detailed knowledge of the investigation.
U.S. officials believe that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, commonly referred to as AQAP, is behind the incident.
Obama confirmed that the packages originated in Yemen, the stronghold of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
Save Tariq Aziz!
AN IMPORTANT COMMENT
By Robert Dreyfuss
The Nation
"Lots of people have weighed in to condemn the planned execution of Tariq Aziz [1], the former Iraqi official who was condemned to death this week, including the Vatican, Russia, and Amnesty International. Let me add my voice to theirs.
By Robert Dreyfuss
The Nation
"Lots of people have weighed in to condemn the planned execution of Tariq Aziz [1], the former Iraqi official who was condemned to death this week, including the Vatican, Russia, and Amnesty International. Let me add my voice to theirs.
The hanging judge [2]in this particular kangaroo court is a former aide to Prime Minister Maliki, who ran for election on Maliki’s misnamed State of Law coalition. It’s clear that Maliki wants to use the execution of Tariq Aziz, a Roman Catholic, to build support for his party among the most extreme Shiite partisans. Like Maliki’s support for the pre-election shenanigans in January, when Iran and Ahmed Chalabi maneuvered to exclude hundreds of legitimate candidates from running over charges of connections to the old Baath Party, Maliki wants to wave the bloody shirt of Tariq Aziz to rally his supporters. The fact that he’s not a Muslim makes that even more popular among Shiite radicals.
Anyone who dealt with Iraq from the 1970s through 2003 knows that Tariq Aziz shouldn’t be put to death for crimes committed during the Saddam Hussein era. As a civilian official, he was often a moderating voice within Iraqi councils, including during the first Gulf War in 1990-91, and he certainly wasn’t responsible for internal repression by the secret police. The biggest irony in the whole affair is that the very people who’ve condemned him to death, led by functionaries of the secretive, Islamic fundamentalist Dawa party led by Prime Minister Maliki, are themselves responsible for atrocities at least on the scale of the repression visited on the Shiites and Kurds in the old Iraq.
Since taking over in Baghdad in 2003, the Shiite majority has been responsible for tens or hundreds of thousands of deaths, carried out by Shiite death squads under the command of the Badr Corps, the militia of the former Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, the Sadrist Mahdi Army, now allied to Maliki’s political bloc, and by Dawa fanatics, too, who helped run infamous prisons in Iraq where many innocent Sunnis were tortured or killed. It should be noted that in 1980, soon after becoming Iraq’s deputy prime minister, assassins from Dawa, backed by Iran, threw a grenade that almost killed Aziz and did kill a number of others. At the time, the new regime of Ayatollah Khomeini in Iran was bent on expanding its power by toppling the government of Iraq, and Dawa—which had been responsible for other terrorist acts in Iraq, too, over the years—helped raise tensions that provoked the eight-year Iran-Iraq was that began in September 1980.
A spokesman for the Vatican, Federico Lombardi, said, “We really want the sentence against Tariq Aziz not to be carried out.” Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, warned [3]that killing Aziz “will only worsen the situation in Iraq.” Part of the reason why Iraq wants him dead, and why the United States hasn’t intervened [4]on his behalf, is that Aziz reportedly plans to spill secrets about Iraq’s diplomacy [5]over the decades that he served as foreign minister, including American contacts with Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war, when Washington tilted to favor Baghdad over Tehran.
Aziz, whose been in prison since 2003 after surrendering to US forces,is frail, ill, and harmless, and he's someone who has a lot of history to tell. He can appeal his sentence, and his execution can be avoided. But given Maliki's desperate scramble to hold onto his job, it's looking like Aziz will be a human sacrifice."
Palestanic, by Emad Hajjaj
But Wait!
The Traitors of Fatah and the Reactionaries of Hamas Will "Reconcile"....
And Share the Wreckage.
Strike Up the Band!
Killing Reconciliation: Military Raids, Backing of Corrupt Government Undermining Stated U.S. Goals in Afghanistan
Democracy Now!
With Amy Goodman
"The Obama administration says it is backing a strategy of reconciliation with the Taliban. But just back from Afghanistan, unembedded investigative journalists Jeremy Scahill and Rick Rowley say night raids by U.S. Special Operations are killing the reconciliation the administration claims to support...."
With Amy Goodman
"The Obama administration says it is backing a strategy of reconciliation with the Taliban. But just back from Afghanistan, unembedded investigative journalists Jeremy Scahill and Rick Rowley say night raids by U.S. Special Operations are killing the reconciliation the administration claims to support...."
Osama has (not) left the building
By Pepe Escobar
Asia Times
"It has 16 intelligence agencies employing a million spooks at its disposal, along with the military muscle of the entire NATO alliance. And it's been on the job for at least a decade. So why can't the US find Osama bin Laden? Maybe someone should ask Pakistan’s spy agency......"
Asia Times
"It has 16 intelligence agencies employing a million spooks at its disposal, along with the military muscle of the entire NATO alliance. And it's been on the job for at least a decade. So why can't the US find Osama bin Laden? Maybe someone should ask Pakistan’s spy agency......"
Such is the Peace Process: Obama as a Salesman
By Ramzy Baroud
Palestine Chronicle
".....Hundreds of Israeli speakers, politicians, diplomats and scholars have been circling the globe in recent months, talking about Israel’s undying commitment to peace. While this goes on, Israeli bulldozers are back in full gear, tearing down homes, businesses and olive groves. Israel continues to expand settlements and build what is rightly termed the Apartheid Wall, all with little, if any criticism from the US, the self-declared honest peace broker. Worse, as much as the political theater is organized and financed by US dollars, the full-scale destruction taking place in the West Bank and East Jerusalem is also courtesy of US coffers. Such is the self-defeating policy of the United States. Such is the peace process."
Palestine Chronicle
".....Hundreds of Israeli speakers, politicians, diplomats and scholars have been circling the globe in recent months, talking about Israel’s undying commitment to peace. While this goes on, Israeli bulldozers are back in full gear, tearing down homes, businesses and olive groves. Israel continues to expand settlements and build what is rightly termed the Apartheid Wall, all with little, if any criticism from the US, the self-declared honest peace broker. Worse, as much as the political theater is organized and financed by US dollars, the full-scale destruction taking place in the West Bank and East Jerusalem is also courtesy of US coffers. Such is the self-defeating policy of the United States. Such is the peace process."
Israeli Police Shoot 'Hated' Arab Legislator in Back
By Jonathan Cook - Nazareth
Palestine Chronicle
(Left: Haneen on the Mavi Marmara)
"Israeli police injured two Arab legislators yesterday in violent clashes provoked by Jewish rightwing extremists staging a march through the northern Arab town of Umm al-Fahm.
Haneen Zoubi, a parliament member who has become a national hate figure in Israel and received hundreds of death threats since her participation in an aid flotilla to Gaza in the summer, was among those hurt.
Ms Zoubi reported being hit in the back and neck by rubber bullets as she fled the area when police opened fire. In an interview, she said she believed she had been specifically targeted by police snipers after they identified her....."
Palestine Chronicle
(Left: Haneen on the Mavi Marmara)
"Israeli police injured two Arab legislators yesterday in violent clashes provoked by Jewish rightwing extremists staging a march through the northern Arab town of Umm al-Fahm.
Haneen Zoubi, a parliament member who has become a national hate figure in Israel and received hundreds of death threats since her participation in an aid flotilla to Gaza in the summer, was among those hurt.
Ms Zoubi reported being hit in the back and neck by rubber bullets as she fled the area when police opened fire. In an interview, she said she believed she had been specifically targeted by police snipers after they identified her....."
Protest works. Just look at the proof
Yes, you can choose to do nothing. But you will be choosing to let yourself and your family and your country be ripped off
By Johann Hari
The Independent
"There is a ripple of rage spreading across Britain. It is clearer every day that the people of this country have been colossally scammed. The bankers who crashed the economy are richer and fatter than ever, on our cash. The Prime Minister who promised us before the election “we’re not talking about swingeing cuts” just imposed the worst cuts since the 1920s, condemning another million people to the dole queue. Yet the rage is matched by a flailing sense of impotence. We are furious, but we feel there is nothing we can do. There’s a mood that we have been stitched up by forces more powerful and devious than us, and all we can do is sit back and be shafted.
This mood is wrong. It doesn’t have to be this way – if enough of us act to stop it. To explain how, I want to start with a small scandal, a small response – and a big lesson from history....."
By Johann Hari
The Independent
"There is a ripple of rage spreading across Britain. It is clearer every day that the people of this country have been colossally scammed. The bankers who crashed the economy are richer and fatter than ever, on our cash. The Prime Minister who promised us before the election “we’re not talking about swingeing cuts” just imposed the worst cuts since the 1920s, condemning another million people to the dole queue. Yet the rage is matched by a flailing sense of impotence. We are furious, but we feel there is nothing we can do. There’s a mood that we have been stitched up by forces more powerful and devious than us, and all we can do is sit back and be shafted.
This mood is wrong. It doesn’t have to be this way – if enough of us act to stop it. To explain how, I want to start with a small scandal, a small response – and a big lesson from history....."
Obama hope was all hype
The US president has caved into vested interests and preserved extraordinary rendition. Not so different to his predecessor, then
Tariq Ali
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 28 October 2010
"....In times of crisis, the incumbent suffers. And the bigger the crisis the greater the punishment inflicted on those in power, unless they do something that makes a change. Obama has not done so. Instead, both at home and abroad, the continuities between Obama's administration and that of Bush-Cheney far outweigh any differences.
Whenever vested interests resisted, Obama caved...."
Tariq Ali
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 28 October 2010
"....In times of crisis, the incumbent suffers. And the bigger the crisis the greater the punishment inflicted on those in power, unless they do something that makes a change. Obama has not done so. Instead, both at home and abroad, the continuities between Obama's administration and that of Bush-Cheney far outweigh any differences.
Whenever vested interests resisted, Obama caved...."
Al-Jazeera Cartoon
The Stupid Arab....
Still Waiting for the Milk of "Peace".....
From the "Peace" Billy Goat!
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Hezbollah urges Hariri case boycott
[One thing Nasrallah is not is naive , but I fully don't understand the reaction of the Party to the tribunal. He calls on "All Lebanese" but everyone who knows anything about Lebanon is that "All Lebanese" are divided up in this matter on sectarian lines. He can preach all he wants to the Sunnis and Christians but that will not change their attitude or view of either the tribunal or the Resistance. His over reaction could also points to an implicit guilt !! If the party did not do it (and there is not enough evidence to indict anyone and the witnesses have been proven to be lying) they should not be so reactionary towards the tribunal. The Tribunal is politicized and is acting as a tool of the US/Israel/KSA to be used against the resistance, most rational people believe so. But most people in Lebanon are not thinking rationally and think along sectarian lines, and he FAILED to gain the support of Lebanon the moment he took over Beirut 2 years ago , and for him to try to convince the non Shia Lebanese that he is speaking on behalf of All Lebanon is both inaccurate and insincere. He should stop acting like he is guilty , stop being defensive. Because all he is doing now is adding fuel to the fire]
Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Hezbollah movement, has urged all Lebanese to boycott a UN-backed investigation into the murder of Rafiq Hariri, Lebanon's former prime minister.
In a televised address on Thursday, he warned that the country had reached "a very dangerous point".
In a televised address on Thursday, he warned that the country had reached "a very dangerous point".
"I call on all Lebanese, citizens and politicians alike, to boycott this tribunal and end all co-operation with its investigators.
"Any further co-operation with the tribunal is equal to an attack on the resistance," Nasrallah said, referring to his predominatly Shia Muslim movement.
Iraq war logs: 'The US was part of the Wolf Brigade operation against us'
Omar Salem Shehab tells of torture at hands of notorious Iraqi police unit and says US forces were involved in his capture
AN IMPORTANT PIECE
Martin Chulov in Baghdad
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 28 October 2010
"During the foreboding months of 2005, one police unit struck more fear into Iraqis than the entire occupying US army. They were known as the Wolf Brigade.
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 28 October 2010
"During the foreboding months of 2005, one police unit struck more fear into Iraqis than the entire occupying US army. They were known as the Wolf Brigade.
Brutal even by Iraqi standards, their soldiers and officers seemingly answered to no one. They were seen as indiscriminate and predatory. The unit's reputation had been known Iraq-wide and results of their numerous raids are still bogged down in Iraq's legal system.
But the full range of their abuses and close co-operation with the US army remained in the shadows until the WikiLeaks disclosures showcased them in stark detail.....
But the full range of their abuses and close co-operation with the US army remained in the shadows until the WikiLeaks disclosures showcased them in stark detail.....
"We were at home that night," Shehab recalled this week. "We were three brothers sleeping above my ice-cream shop. We were woken by soldiers entering our house by force. They came with Americans. They said we were wanted and produced a document. The Americans took our pictures, then the soldiers we now knew were the Wolf Brigade took us to the Seventh Division camp [of the Iraqi army]."......
"We were tortured all the time, he said. "We were never investigated, just tortured. The commander of the Wolf Brigade, Abu al-Walid was one of the torturers. My brother had a kidney problem and they continued to torture him without giving him medicine. "He died after a month and the doctor wrote 'kidney failure' as a cause of death, despite his body being covered with torture marks. ......
"We were tortured all the time, he said. "We were never investigated, just tortured. The commander of the Wolf Brigade, Abu al-Walid was one of the torturers. My brother had a kidney problem and they continued to torture him without giving him medicine. "He died after a month and the doctor wrote 'kidney failure' as a cause of death, despite his body being covered with torture marks. ......
Torture and death seemed synonymous with the almost exclusively Shia unit, which was tasked with rooting out Sunni insurgents from post-Saddam Iraq. As security unravelled across the country, they were often seen alongside US forces, particularly in Baghdad and Mosul.......
"They arrested us all," he said. "There was an Iranian officer, his name was Ali. Many other officers with him were proud to tell us that they were not police, but Wolf Brigade. They said they had come from Baghdad to arrest us because we supported Saddam and deserved to be executed.
"One officer threatened to rape my wife. He tore at her dress and four of my colleagues were killed in front of my eyes. They drilled holes in my legs and arms and did all manner of things to me. They took me and around 1,500 other prisoners to a basement inside the police commander's headquarters."
The unit stayed in Mosul for five months. Ahmed remained in prison for eight months, before being released by a court without conviction........
The Wolf Brigade unit was formed in late 2004, drawing many recruits from the impoverished Shia slums of Sadr city. By late 2005, it was around 2,000-strong and roaming the country with impunity. The unit notionally answered to the then interior minister, Ibrahim al-Jafari, who became prime minister in April 2005 for 12 months as sectarian carnage spiralled out of control.......
Questions have endured in the ensuing five years about the extent of US co-operation with the unit and whether US forces knew of the scale of their abuses.
"The Americans were there," said Shehab. "They weren't just witnesses. They were part of the operation against us.""
"They arrested us all," he said. "There was an Iranian officer, his name was Ali. Many other officers with him were proud to tell us that they were not police, but Wolf Brigade. They said they had come from Baghdad to arrest us because we supported Saddam and deserved to be executed.
"One officer threatened to rape my wife. He tore at her dress and four of my colleagues were killed in front of my eyes. They drilled holes in my legs and arms and did all manner of things to me. They took me and around 1,500 other prisoners to a basement inside the police commander's headquarters."
The unit stayed in Mosul for five months. Ahmed remained in prison for eight months, before being released by a court without conviction........
The Wolf Brigade unit was formed in late 2004, drawing many recruits from the impoverished Shia slums of Sadr city. By late 2005, it was around 2,000-strong and roaming the country with impunity. The unit notionally answered to the then interior minister, Ibrahim al-Jafari, who became prime minister in April 2005 for 12 months as sectarian carnage spiralled out of control.......
Questions have endured in the ensuing five years about the extent of US co-operation with the unit and whether US forces knew of the scale of their abuses.
"The Americans were there," said Shehab. "They weren't just witnesses. They were part of the operation against us.""
Current Al-Jazeera (Arabic) Online Poll
This new poll Asks:
Are you optimistic about the upcoming parliamentary elections in Egypt?
With over 1,000 responding so far, 93% said no.
Are you optimistic about the upcoming parliamentary elections in Egypt?
With over 1,000 responding so far, 93% said no.
Squeezing Hezbollah
Jeffrey Feltman's "Really Great Plan"
By FRANKLIN LAMB
CounterPunch
(Left: Feltman with the Witch.)
".....Earlier this month, Feltman sent a message to Hezbollah to the effect that if Hezbollah will go along with blaming Mughniyah for killing Hariri that works for the Americans because it will be circumstantial evidence that he also did acts of terrorism in the 1980’s so all files could be closed once and for all. He told more than one person he met with in Beirut this month that he thought his was “a really great plan.”
Apparently Secretary Clinton and President Obama did too.
Hezbollah did not....."
By FRANKLIN LAMB
CounterPunch
(Left: Feltman with the Witch.)
".....Earlier this month, Feltman sent a message to Hezbollah to the effect that if Hezbollah will go along with blaming Mughniyah for killing Hariri that works for the Americans because it will be circumstantial evidence that he also did acts of terrorism in the 1980’s so all files could be closed once and for all. He told more than one person he met with in Beirut this month that he thought his was “a really great plan.”
Apparently Secretary Clinton and President Obama did too.
Hezbollah did not....."
Real News Video with Transcript: Reaction to Wikileaks in Iraq
Sahar Issa: Iraqis scoff at notion that only 100,000 civilians died in war
MK Hanin Zoabi Wounded By Israeli Fire
"Arab member of the Israeli Knesset, Haneen Zoabi, stated that she was hit by two rubber-coated bullets fired by the Israeli police during Wednesday clashes in Umm al-Fahm, after the police violently attacked protesters who took off to the streets to counter a march by fundamentalist settlers....."
Deja Vu All Over Again, Just Like the Traitors of Fatah Before Him: Habila: “It Is Important To Hold Direct Dialogue With Western Governments”
"Ismail Haniyeh, Prime Minister of the dissolved government in Gaza, stated that it is important to hold talks and dialogue sessions with western governments so that the governments can know the stances of his government in Gaza directly instead of just hearing about them...."
Video: Ray McGovern on WikiLeaks Assault
By RT America
"The U.S. news media is framing the debate about the WikiLeaks revelations of the Iraq War's savagery as a story about the alleged misconduct of WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange, in an attempt to destroy the message by discrediting the messenger, says former CIA analyst Ray McGovern...."
"The U.S. news media is framing the debate about the WikiLeaks revelations of the Iraq War's savagery as a story about the alleged misconduct of WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange, in an attempt to destroy the message by discrediting the messenger, says former CIA analyst Ray McGovern...."
The Tea Party Disconnect
by Philip Giraldi, October 28, 2010
"Some have expressed hopes that the tea partiers, many of whom grew out of the Ron Paul movement, will bring about a shift away from American imperialism through their demands for smaller, cheaper, less intrusive, and more accountable government. But it ain’t necessarily so. The tea partiers generally fail to understand that the indispensable element in the explosive growth of big government over the past ten years has been Washington’s failure to craft a foreign and security policy that is commensurate with the nation’s resources and proportional to the actual level of threat that exists in the world. This results in the tea partiers overwhelmingly supporting an aggressive security policy even though they must know that leaving the Pentagon budget untouched and untouchable guarantees deficit spending and continued growth of the parts of government that are allegedly committed to “keeping us free.”....."
"Some have expressed hopes that the tea partiers, many of whom grew out of the Ron Paul movement, will bring about a shift away from American imperialism through their demands for smaller, cheaper, less intrusive, and more accountable government. But it ain’t necessarily so. The tea partiers generally fail to understand that the indispensable element in the explosive growth of big government over the past ten years has been Washington’s failure to craft a foreign and security policy that is commensurate with the nation’s resources and proportional to the actual level of threat that exists in the world. This results in the tea partiers overwhelmingly supporting an aggressive security policy even though they must know that leaving the Pentagon budget untouched and untouchable guarantees deficit spending and continued growth of the parts of government that are allegedly committed to “keeping us free.”....."
Of course Iran wants to meddle in its region
By Adrian Hamilton
The Independent
"...Cash has always been the currency of the East. So it's hardly a surprise that Iran was found bringing bags of it to President Karzai's office in Afghanistan, nor that the world's best-dressed leader should admit it with a smile when caught out.
What is a little more confusing is the contortion with which the US government has reacted to the news. Since, as Karzai cheerfully revealed, Washington pays him in precisely the same manner [equal opportunity whore??], the State Department is hardly in a position to denounce Tehran's act. On the other hand, it is terribly anxious to demonise the country and paint it as a supporter of terror throughout the region and to keep it from having any influence in Afghanistan. Just as in Iraq one might add....
So they may have. They were also aiding and abetting with cash the forces of Moqtada al Sadr, al-Maliki and anyone else they thought was useful....
With its two greatest regional enemies, Saddam Hussein and the Taliban, overthrown, Tehran could have hardly been more delighted and it rushed to offer convenient views, and co-operation with Washington to sort out the aftermath. It was an offer meant to limit US involvement as much as aid it, but it could have been built on to lock Tehran into the post-war reconstruction of the two countries. Instead it was flatly rejected...."
The Independent
"...Cash has always been the currency of the East. So it's hardly a surprise that Iran was found bringing bags of it to President Karzai's office in Afghanistan, nor that the world's best-dressed leader should admit it with a smile when caught out.
What is a little more confusing is the contortion with which the US government has reacted to the news. Since, as Karzai cheerfully revealed, Washington pays him in precisely the same manner [equal opportunity whore??], the State Department is hardly in a position to denounce Tehran's act. On the other hand, it is terribly anxious to demonise the country and paint it as a supporter of terror throughout the region and to keep it from having any influence in Afghanistan. Just as in Iraq one might add....
So they may have. They were also aiding and abetting with cash the forces of Moqtada al Sadr, al-Maliki and anyone else they thought was useful....
With its two greatest regional enemies, Saddam Hussein and the Taliban, overthrown, Tehran could have hardly been more delighted and it rushed to offer convenient views, and co-operation with Washington to sort out the aftermath. It was an offer meant to limit US involvement as much as aid it, but it could have been built on to lock Tehran into the post-war reconstruction of the two countries. Instead it was flatly rejected...."
March of Jewish extremists inflames Arab stronghold
By Donald Macintyre in Umm el-Fahm
The Independent
"Riot police protecting 30 far-right Israeli extremists who marched in the country's largest Arab town yesterday chanting "death to terrorists" used a barrage of tear gas and stun grenades to disperse protesting residents.
Ten arrests were made during clashes between stone-throwing Israeli Arab youths and riot police after the arrival of the marchers, who were led by two of the country's most extreme right-wing activists, Hebron settlers Baruch Marzel and Itamar Ben Gvir.....
Rabbi Meir Kahane: The Ultranationalist [Was Hitler also "Ultranationalist", Mr. Macintyre??]
Meir Kahane was an American-Israeli Orthodox rabbi, ultra-nationalist and politician. A passionate activist for Jewish causes in New York, he emigrated to Israel in 1971. Soon after his arrival, he established the militantly anti-Arab Kach party, declaring that all Arabs should be deported. He led Kach to parliament in 1984 before it was eventually banned as racist; his most famous work, They Must Go, has been likened to Mein Kampf....."
The Independent
"Riot police protecting 30 far-right Israeli extremists who marched in the country's largest Arab town yesterday chanting "death to terrorists" used a barrage of tear gas and stun grenades to disperse protesting residents.
Ten arrests were made during clashes between stone-throwing Israeli Arab youths and riot police after the arrival of the marchers, who were led by two of the country's most extreme right-wing activists, Hebron settlers Baruch Marzel and Itamar Ben Gvir.....
Rabbi Meir Kahane: The Ultranationalist [Was Hitler also "Ultranationalist", Mr. Macintyre??]
Meir Kahane was an American-Israeli Orthodox rabbi, ultra-nationalist and politician. A passionate activist for Jewish causes in New York, he emigrated to Israel in 1971. Soon after his arrival, he established the militantly anti-Arab Kach party, declaring that all Arabs should be deported. He led Kach to parliament in 1984 before it was eventually banned as racist; his most famous work, They Must Go, has been likened to Mein Kampf....."
Russia's Afghan agenda
Gorbachev has valuable advice for the US on the war in Afghanistan that Putin would rather he keep to himself
Jonathan Steele
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 27 October 2010
"The surprise in this week's reports that Russia is planning to help Nato in Afghanistan by training Afghan helicopter pilots is that people are surprised. Memories are short, it seems, for the shift in Moscow's line came as early as July last year during Barack Obama's first summit in the Kremlin.....
Jonathan Steele
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 27 October 2010
"The surprise in this week's reports that Russia is planning to help Nato in Afghanistan by training Afghan helicopter pilots is that people are surprised. Memories are short, it seems, for the shift in Moscow's line came as early as July last year during Barack Obama's first summit in the Kremlin.....
Today's war is at roughly the point where Gorbachev was in late 1985 – except that the generals in the field are united in still hoping for military victory. Obama's top commander, David Petraeus, has not given up on his surge, and if he decides to overrule his top brass the US president is in a harder political position than Gorbachev was in the Soviet Union's undemocratic system. The international context is also worse, given that Pakistan and Iran take opposite sides today.
As for the "new" Russia's position on Afghanistan, the irony is that Moscow is less willing to see a US withdrawal than Obama appears to be. Medvedev and Putin will not send their own troops, but they firmly want the Americans to stay."
Desmond Tutu calls on South African opera company to boycott Israel
Archbishop emeritus tells Cape Town Opera that the treatment of Palestinians is like South Africa under apartheid
David Smith in Johannesburg
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 27 October 2010
"Archbishop emeritus Desmond Tutu has urged a South African opera company to boycott Israel, comparing its treatment of Palestinians to his own country's era of racial apartheid. The Nobel peace prize laureate said that it would be "unconscionable" for Cape Town Opera to perform in Israel while millions of people living there are denied access to culture and education...."
David Smith in Johannesburg
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 27 October 2010
"Archbishop emeritus Desmond Tutu has urged a South African opera company to boycott Israel, comparing its treatment of Palestinians to his own country's era of racial apartheid. The Nobel peace prize laureate said that it would be "unconscionable" for Cape Town Opera to perform in Israel while millions of people living there are denied access to culture and education...."
Photo Gallery: Israeli Arab and Jewish protesters clash in Umm Al-Fahm
The Guardian
"Clashes broke out after extreme right-wing Jewish protesters marched through the outskirts of Umm Al-Fahm in Israel. The march commemorated the 20th anniversary of the assassination of Rabbi Meir Kahane in New York. Hundreds of Israeli Arabs began throwing stones and police, who had been supervising the march, responded with tear gas, stun grenades and arrests."
"Clashes broke out after extreme right-wing Jewish protesters marched through the outskirts of Umm Al-Fahm in Israel. The march commemorated the 20th anniversary of the assassination of Rabbi Meir Kahane in New York. Hundreds of Israeli Arabs began throwing stones and police, who had been supervising the march, responded with tear gas, stun grenades and arrests."
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Debunking pro-Israeli arguments against boycott
There have been noble attempts by civil society groups, in and outside the US, to boycott the US. However, such boycotts have never truly been consolidated nor have their positions been coherently articulated. More important, the power of the US, the nature of its political system and internal social fabric, and its control of the world through numerous military bases that, on a map, look like a science fiction alien takeover of Earth, demands other strategic and pragmatic considerations. To think of strategies for ending Israeli apartheid and occupation in the same way as US occupation and imperialism is to have a naive understanding of the dynamics of power in both contexts.
Nevertheless, because of the special relationship between Israel and the US, one can think of the boycott of Israel as a way to boycott a US satellite in the Middle East. By changing the nature of the regime in Israel, ending the occupation and recognizing and promoting the Palestinian right of return, this could begin to reverse US policy elsewhere in the world by exposing the failed policies of the US government. In other words, the special US-Israeli relationship means that the boycott of Israel has the potential to significantly impact US policy elsewhere and shift the balance of power in the region.
Nevertheless, because of the special relationship between Israel and the US, one can think of the boycott of Israel as a way to boycott a US satellite in the Middle East. By changing the nature of the regime in Israel, ending the occupation and recognizing and promoting the Palestinian right of return, this could begin to reverse US policy elsewhere in the world by exposing the failed policies of the US government. In other words, the special US-Israeli relationship means that the boycott of Israel has the potential to significantly impact US policy elsewhere and shift the balance of power in the region.
Al-Jazeera Video: Gazans missing out on school
"In Gaza, 40,000 students have been unable to start school this year because there are not enough buildings to accomodate them.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency says the Palestinian territory needs at least 100 new schools but there is simply not enough construction material available because of Israel's blockade of the territory.
Al Jazeera's Nadim Baba reports from Gaza."
Aziz's story will remain untold
By Pepe Escobar
Asia Times
"Maliki and his Shi'ite Da'wa party had a score to settle with Aziz, and they will believe justice has now been done. Everyone else loses badly because Aziz is arguably the only person on Earth who could tell the real story, bit by juicy bit, about the rolling, decades-long American dirty game in Iraq....
History may judge that Bush and Blair - with their Moloch-style terrorizing machine dubbed "shock and awe" - have been no better than Saddam's inner circle; directly and indirectly, their "policies" killed more Iraqi civilians than Saddam ever did. Yet they did (Blair) and they will (Bush) publish books extolling their "glory".
Aziz instead is the only one left with a real breathtaking story to tell. And as the proverbial man who knows too much, he had to be taken out."
Asia Times
"Maliki and his Shi'ite Da'wa party had a score to settle with Aziz, and they will believe justice has now been done. Everyone else loses badly because Aziz is arguably the only person on Earth who could tell the real story, bit by juicy bit, about the rolling, decades-long American dirty game in Iraq....
History may judge that Bush and Blair - with their Moloch-style terrorizing machine dubbed "shock and awe" - have been no better than Saddam's inner circle; directly and indirectly, their "policies" killed more Iraqi civilians than Saddam ever did. Yet they did (Blair) and they will (Bush) publish books extolling their "glory".
Aziz instead is the only one left with a real breathtaking story to tell. And as the proverbial man who knows too much, he had to be taken out."
WPost Downplays Iraq War Crimes
By Robert Parry
October 26, 2010
"The judges at Nuremberg after World War II had a much deeper understanding of the horrors of war than the neocon editors at the Washington Post do. Assessing the barbarity unleashed by the Nazis, the Nuremberg Tribunal identified “war of aggression” as “the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole.”
What those judges meant was that every evil that comes with war – the slaughter of civilians, the brutality faced by soldiers, the depredations of hunger and disease, the destruction of homes and businesses, the temptation to torture, and all other war crimes – can all be traced back to the original crime of invasion.
Yet, the Post’s editors, who aided and abetted President George W. Bush in building public support for his war of aggression against Iraq, have never been willing to stand up and take full responsibility for those deceptive editorials that parroted Bush’s WMD lies and contributed to the bloodbath that followed.
Instead, the Post editors have continued to cavil and quibble. On Tuesday, the Post attacked WikiLeaks for its latest release of secret U.S. military field reports from Iraq...."
October 26, 2010
"The judges at Nuremberg after World War II had a much deeper understanding of the horrors of war than the neocon editors at the Washington Post do. Assessing the barbarity unleashed by the Nazis, the Nuremberg Tribunal identified “war of aggression” as “the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole.”
What those judges meant was that every evil that comes with war – the slaughter of civilians, the brutality faced by soldiers, the depredations of hunger and disease, the destruction of homes and businesses, the temptation to torture, and all other war crimes – can all be traced back to the original crime of invasion.
Yet, the Post’s editors, who aided and abetted President George W. Bush in building public support for his war of aggression against Iraq, have never been willing to stand up and take full responsibility for those deceptive editorials that parroted Bush’s WMD lies and contributed to the bloodbath that followed.
Instead, the Post editors have continued to cavil and quibble. On Tuesday, the Post attacked WikiLeaks for its latest release of secret U.S. military field reports from Iraq...."
Pack Assange off to Guantanamo, US conservatives tell Obama
The Independent
"The White House and the Pentagon have failed to confront and contain the threat to national security posed by WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange who should be arrested as an "enemy combatant", voices on the US conservative right insisted yesterday.
Frustration with the failure of President Barack Obama to combat WikiLeaks has grown since the release of almost 400,000 secret documents that exposed the extent of abuse of prisoners in Iraq by US and Iraqi personnel......"
"The White House and the Pentagon have failed to confront and contain the threat to national security posed by WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange who should be arrested as an "enemy combatant", voices on the US conservative right insisted yesterday.
Frustration with the failure of President Barack Obama to combat WikiLeaks has grown since the release of almost 400,000 secret documents that exposed the extent of abuse of prisoners in Iraq by US and Iraqi personnel......"
Victory in Afghanistan 'Impossible': Gorbachev
AFP
"LONDON – Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev said it was "impossible" for coalition forces to secure victory in Afghanistan in a BBC interview broadcast Wednesday.
Gorbachev, who was in charge when Soviet troops withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989 after a war lasting nearly a decade, added that the alternative to pulling out troops was "another Vietnam" which "wouldn't work."....
"It will be more difficult for America to get out of this situation. But what's the alternative? Another Vietnam? Sending in half a million troops? That wouldn't work," Gorbachev added......"
"LONDON – Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev said it was "impossible" for coalition forces to secure victory in Afghanistan in a BBC interview broadcast Wednesday.
Gorbachev, who was in charge when Soviet troops withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989 after a war lasting nearly a decade, added that the alternative to pulling out troops was "another Vietnam" which "wouldn't work."....
"It will be more difficult for America to get out of this situation. But what's the alternative? Another Vietnam? Sending in half a million troops? That wouldn't work," Gorbachev added......"
Like my Pentagon papers, these Iraq war logs can't be buried
There is no security risk in revealing the scale of torture and killing. Far more damage was done by trying to suppress it
Daniel Ellsberg
guardian.co.uk, Monday 25 October 2010
"Nearly 40 years ago I leaked the Pentagon papers – a top secret 7,000-page study of US decision-making during the Vietnam war which revealed repeated lies and cover-ups by the administration. The Iraq war logs, published this weekend by Wikileaks, could be even more significant.
Daniel Ellsberg
guardian.co.uk, Monday 25 October 2010
"Nearly 40 years ago I leaked the Pentagon papers – a top secret 7,000-page study of US decision-making during the Vietnam war which revealed repeated lies and cover-ups by the administration. The Iraq war logs, published this weekend by Wikileaks, could be even more significant.
As with Vietnam, we have again seen evidence of a massive cover-up over a number of years by the American authorities. The logs reveal the human consequences of the continuing Iraq war, which have been concealed from the western public for too long: the countless instances of torture; the killing of hundreds of civilians at roadside checkpoints....
In the coming months I hope the courage and patriotism shown by the sources of these records – who risk long prison sentences – will be emulated by those with access to higher level documents. We need to see White House, Pentagon and CIA papers that reveal evidence of war crimes by top-level policy-makers – to bring the criminal activity that's happening right now into the conscience of the American people.
The possibility of uncovering this is worth the great personal risk by whoever the sources may be – just as I never doubted that it was worth risking my own freedom to reveal the Pentagon Papers four decades ago."
Nato's Afghan endgame begins with a helping hand from Russia
A formal deal with Russia was always likely to be explored by the Western military alliance
Leading Article
The Independent
"The Great Game reasserts itself. Dmitry Medvedev will attend Nato's summit in Lisbon next month, where the Russian President is expected to provide help for the Western military alliance's faltering mission in Afghanistan.
There is little prospect of Russia sending troops to the country, but this is, nevertheless, a remarkable turn of events. Two decades after the Soviet Union withdrew from Afghanistan, after a disastrous 10-year occupation which left 15,000 Russian troops dead, Moscow is coming back.....
The plan does not come from out of the blue. Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, outlined a potential deal last month, in which Russia would help to stabilise Afghanistan. And Moscow already permits the transit of certain supplies across Russian territory. An agreement is also in place allowing Nato planes to pass through Russian airspace. With Nato's land supply routes through Pakistan under increasing pressure, the logic has long been closer co-operation with Moscow.
A formal deal with Russia was always likely to be explored. For Nato, this partnership with the old enemy makes sense....."
Leading Article
The Independent
"The Great Game reasserts itself. Dmitry Medvedev will attend Nato's summit in Lisbon next month, where the Russian President is expected to provide help for the Western military alliance's faltering mission in Afghanistan.
There is little prospect of Russia sending troops to the country, but this is, nevertheless, a remarkable turn of events. Two decades after the Soviet Union withdrew from Afghanistan, after a disastrous 10-year occupation which left 15,000 Russian troops dead, Moscow is coming back.....
The plan does not come from out of the blue. Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, outlined a potential deal last month, in which Russia would help to stabilise Afghanistan. And Moscow already permits the transit of certain supplies across Russian territory. An agreement is also in place allowing Nato planes to pass through Russian airspace. With Nato's land supply routes through Pakistan under increasing pressure, the logic has long been closer co-operation with Moscow.
A formal deal with Russia was always likely to be explored. For Nato, this partnership with the old enemy makes sense....."
Russian military could be drawn back into Afghanistan
Nato officials explore joint initiatives ahead of landmark alliance summit, which is to include President Medvedev
Simon Tisdall in Brussels
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 26 October 2010
"Russia's military could be drawn back into the Afghanistan theatre for the first time since the Red Army was forcibly expelled by US-backed mujahideen fighters in 1989 under plans being discussed by Nato officials. The proposals precede a landmark alliance summit next month, to be attended by the Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev.
The officials said several joint Nato-Russian initiatives on Afghanistan were on the table......"
Simon Tisdall in Brussels
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 26 October 2010
"Russia's military could be drawn back into the Afghanistan theatre for the first time since the Red Army was forcibly expelled by US-backed mujahideen fighters in 1989 under plans being discussed by Nato officials. The proposals precede a landmark alliance summit next month, to be attended by the Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev.
The officials said several joint Nato-Russian initiatives on Afghanistan were on the table......"
ماذا تبقّى من الشرف العسكري؟!../
رشاد أبو شاور
"نقل موقع ( عرب 48) ما نشرته صحيفة ( بديعوت أحرونوت)، يوم الجمعة 22 تشرين أوّل الجاري، نبأ زيارة عشرة ضبّاط ( رفيعي) الرتب من قادة الأجهزة الأمنيّة للسلطة، لزملائهم و( رفاقهم) في السلاح ضبّاط الاحتلال، حيث استقبلوا بالحفاوة والترحاب في ( تل أبيب)!.
وتأتي الزيارة، وتناول الغداء، والاستماع لوصلة عسكريّة عن حياة الجنرال رابين، مُكسّر عظام الفلسطينيين، ومقتحم القدس يوم 6 حزيران 67 مع قائده دايان، في ذروة انهماك حكومة نتينياهو في تهويد القدس، وتدمير المزيد من بيوت أهلها، إن في سلوان، أو الشيخ جرّاح، أو حي البستان، أو مقبرة ( مأمن الله)، حيث لا أمن للأحياء ولا للموتى في الزمن الأُوسلوي! .
يوم 12 الماضي نقل موقع ( وكالة فلسطين اليوم) ما نشرته صحيفة ( هآرتس) عن زيارة رئيس( الشاباك) يوفال ديسكن لمدينة جنين البطلة، ومكوثه في ضيافة أجهزة أمن السلطة يوما كاملاً، وبحسب الصحيفة فإن زيارة ديسكن لم تكن الأولى، فقد زار من قبل مدن الضفّة، وتجوّل فيها. وديسكن هذا هو المشرف على ما يُسمّى بـ( رزمة بناء الثقة)، وهو حلقة الاتصال بين قيادة السلطة ونتينياهو شخصيّا.
زار الضبّاط الاحتلاليون زملاءهم في مدن الضفّة، ولا سيّما( جنين) التي ما أن يذكر اسمها حتى نستعيد بطولات لاجئي مخيّم جنين، والأبطال الذين أذلّوا جيش الاحتلال، واستشهدوا مقاومين في أزقّة المخيّم.
الصحيفة قالت بأن ضبّاط أمن السلطة طلبوا أن تبقى زيارتهم سريّة، حتى لا تصل للإعلام!
.....
ضبّاط السلطة لم يروا وهم يهرولون متسابقين لنيل رضا جنرالات العدو، قطعان المستوطنين التي تنهب ما تبقّى من أرض الضفّة، فجنرالات السلطة لهم مهمة واحدة: مطاردة ( الإرهابيين) – المقاومين، والوشاية بهم، وإعانة المستعربين وأجهزة الاحتلال على تحديد أمكنة المقاومين كائنا من كانوا، وحتى من عندهم نوايا مقاومة، سواء أكانوا من الجهاد، أو أبوعلي مصطفى، أو حماس، أو أبناء فتح الذين يفجعهم ما آلت إليه حركتهم الأم، واندثار وعودها بتحرير فلسطين، وتحولها إلى عقبة!
العجب العجاب أن ( هؤلاء) الموظفين الأمنيين لخدمة العدو، وتأمين الراحة للاحتلال، يحرجهم أن يًفتضح أمر زيارتهم إلى.. كيان نتينياهو وشركاه، الذين يطالبون بأن تكون( دولتهم) يهوديّة، بحيث يكون مليون ونصف المليون عربي فلسطيني صامد، صابر، غرباء في وطنهم!
أي حضيض يهوي إليه هؤلاء، وما يمثلون؟!
اقّل عقاب لهؤلاء نشر أسمائهم، وصورهم، لتلحق بهم الفضيحة والعار أبد الدهر، بل ومطالبة ذويهم التبرّؤ منهم، فهم عار على كل من له صلة بهم.
....
لعلها مناسبة لمناشدة من تبقّى وفيّا لفتح الرصاصة، والشهادة، والبطولة، أن يهبّوا لإنقاذ شرف حركتهم التي لم تعد قائدة للثورة والشعب، بل باتت غطاء للثورة المضادة، وسندا للاحتلال، ومنصاعة لمخططات أمريكا!
أمّا أولئك المعنيون بالالتحاق بمسيرة التسوية، فإنني أقول لهم، لا بلساني، ولكن بلسان ملايين الفلسطينيين، والعرب، والمسلمين: عودوا للمقاومة، وأنقذوا وطنيتكم من هاوية المنافسة على دور هو تفريط بفلسطين، وانتحار سياسي لن يُغفر لكم.
من ( عبد ربّه) إلى ( الأجهزة) إلى..نحن نمضي إلى (أم النكبات) إذا لم نتصدّ وبحزم، ونوقف الانهيار بكّل طاقاتنا، بدأ من العودة لثقافتنا الوطنيّة، ثقافة الانتماء، ثقافة فلسطين العربيّة الواحدة، قلب الأمة والوطن العربي الكبير..إلى أقصى طاقاتنا على المقاومة بكّل أشكالها
....."
هآرتس: مسؤولون في السلطة الفلسطينية يشرحون لضباط الاحتلال حجم التغييرات في الضفة الغربية
"كتبت صحيفة "هآرتس" اليوم، الأربعاء، أن مسؤولين كبار في السلطة يقدمون في الآونة الأخيرة محاضرات أمام جنود جيش الاحتلال وكبار ضباط الجيش، وذلك بهدف "إطلاع الاحتلال على حجم التغيير الذي تمر به الضفة الغربية في السنوات الأخيرة". كما لفتت إلى ما أسمته بـ"التحسن" في التنسيق الأمني بين الطرفين، وتبادل المعلومات.
وأضافت أن ذلك قد بدأ منذ عدة شهور، حيث تحدث مسؤول كبير في السلطة الفلطسينية أمام جنود إحدى وحدات جيش الاحتلال الناشطة في الضفة الغربية.
وعلم أن المسؤول قد تحدث في مناسبة أمام جنود الاحتلال إلى جانب رئيس ما يسمى بـ"المجلس الاستيطاني ييشاع/الضفة الغربية"، داني ديان، وعدد من أفراد الأجهزة الاستخبارية الإسرائيلية سابقا، وصحافي إسرائيلي.
وكتبت الصحيفة أنه في الأسبوع الأخير تحدث ضابط فلسطيني كبير أمام عدد من ضباط جيش الاحتلال من
وحدات المشاة، والذين وصلوا لـ"الخدمة العملانية" في الخليل. وكان ذلك بمشاركة مستوطنين من المستوطنات اليهودية في المنطقة
.....
وتابعت الصحيفة أن المسؤولين الفلسطينيين الذين يقدمون هذه المحاضرات طلبوا عدم الكشف عن أسمائهم، لتجنب "تعريض مكانتهم للخطر".
وأشارت الصحيفة إلى أن "الحديث عن ظاهرة غير عادية، ولم تكن مقبولة’ بين جنود الاحتلال والفلسطينيين، حتى قبل أيلول/ سبتمبر 2000 عندما اندلعت الانتفاضة الثانية".
وكتبت الصحيفة أيضا أنه في هذه الأثناء فإن التنسيق بين أجهزة الأمن الفلسطينية وجيش الاحتلال في تحسن مستمر، وأن الطرفين يتبادلان المعلومات، في حين تقوم السلطة الفلسطينية بتسليم إسرائيل كل الأسلحة والوسائل القتالية التي يتم ضبطها
...."
"نقل موقع ( عرب 48) ما نشرته صحيفة ( بديعوت أحرونوت)، يوم الجمعة 22 تشرين أوّل الجاري، نبأ زيارة عشرة ضبّاط ( رفيعي) الرتب من قادة الأجهزة الأمنيّة للسلطة، لزملائهم و( رفاقهم) في السلاح ضبّاط الاحتلال، حيث استقبلوا بالحفاوة والترحاب في ( تل أبيب)!.
وتأتي الزيارة، وتناول الغداء، والاستماع لوصلة عسكريّة عن حياة الجنرال رابين، مُكسّر عظام الفلسطينيين، ومقتحم القدس يوم 6 حزيران 67 مع قائده دايان، في ذروة انهماك حكومة نتينياهو في تهويد القدس، وتدمير المزيد من بيوت أهلها، إن في سلوان، أو الشيخ جرّاح، أو حي البستان، أو مقبرة ( مأمن الله)، حيث لا أمن للأحياء ولا للموتى في الزمن الأُوسلوي! .
يوم 12 الماضي نقل موقع ( وكالة فلسطين اليوم) ما نشرته صحيفة ( هآرتس) عن زيارة رئيس( الشاباك) يوفال ديسكن لمدينة جنين البطلة، ومكوثه في ضيافة أجهزة أمن السلطة يوما كاملاً، وبحسب الصحيفة فإن زيارة ديسكن لم تكن الأولى، فقد زار من قبل مدن الضفّة، وتجوّل فيها. وديسكن هذا هو المشرف على ما يُسمّى بـ( رزمة بناء الثقة)، وهو حلقة الاتصال بين قيادة السلطة ونتينياهو شخصيّا.
زار الضبّاط الاحتلاليون زملاءهم في مدن الضفّة، ولا سيّما( جنين) التي ما أن يذكر اسمها حتى نستعيد بطولات لاجئي مخيّم جنين، والأبطال الذين أذلّوا جيش الاحتلال، واستشهدوا مقاومين في أزقّة المخيّم.
الصحيفة قالت بأن ضبّاط أمن السلطة طلبوا أن تبقى زيارتهم سريّة، حتى لا تصل للإعلام!
.....
ضبّاط السلطة لم يروا وهم يهرولون متسابقين لنيل رضا جنرالات العدو، قطعان المستوطنين التي تنهب ما تبقّى من أرض الضفّة، فجنرالات السلطة لهم مهمة واحدة: مطاردة ( الإرهابيين) – المقاومين، والوشاية بهم، وإعانة المستعربين وأجهزة الاحتلال على تحديد أمكنة المقاومين كائنا من كانوا، وحتى من عندهم نوايا مقاومة، سواء أكانوا من الجهاد، أو أبوعلي مصطفى، أو حماس، أو أبناء فتح الذين يفجعهم ما آلت إليه حركتهم الأم، واندثار وعودها بتحرير فلسطين، وتحولها إلى عقبة!
العجب العجاب أن ( هؤلاء) الموظفين الأمنيين لخدمة العدو، وتأمين الراحة للاحتلال، يحرجهم أن يًفتضح أمر زيارتهم إلى.. كيان نتينياهو وشركاه، الذين يطالبون بأن تكون( دولتهم) يهوديّة، بحيث يكون مليون ونصف المليون عربي فلسطيني صامد، صابر، غرباء في وطنهم!
أي حضيض يهوي إليه هؤلاء، وما يمثلون؟!
اقّل عقاب لهؤلاء نشر أسمائهم، وصورهم، لتلحق بهم الفضيحة والعار أبد الدهر، بل ومطالبة ذويهم التبرّؤ منهم، فهم عار على كل من له صلة بهم.
....
لعلها مناسبة لمناشدة من تبقّى وفيّا لفتح الرصاصة، والشهادة، والبطولة، أن يهبّوا لإنقاذ شرف حركتهم التي لم تعد قائدة للثورة والشعب، بل باتت غطاء للثورة المضادة، وسندا للاحتلال، ومنصاعة لمخططات أمريكا!
أمّا أولئك المعنيون بالالتحاق بمسيرة التسوية، فإنني أقول لهم، لا بلساني، ولكن بلسان ملايين الفلسطينيين، والعرب، والمسلمين: عودوا للمقاومة، وأنقذوا وطنيتكم من هاوية المنافسة على دور هو تفريط بفلسطين، وانتحار سياسي لن يُغفر لكم.
من ( عبد ربّه) إلى ( الأجهزة) إلى..نحن نمضي إلى (أم النكبات) إذا لم نتصدّ وبحزم، ونوقف الانهيار بكّل طاقاتنا، بدأ من العودة لثقافتنا الوطنيّة، ثقافة الانتماء، ثقافة فلسطين العربيّة الواحدة، قلب الأمة والوطن العربي الكبير..إلى أقصى طاقاتنا على المقاومة بكّل أشكالها
....."
هآرتس: مسؤولون في السلطة الفلسطينية يشرحون لضباط الاحتلال حجم التغييرات في الضفة الغربية
"كتبت صحيفة "هآرتس" اليوم، الأربعاء، أن مسؤولين كبار في السلطة يقدمون في الآونة الأخيرة محاضرات أمام جنود جيش الاحتلال وكبار ضباط الجيش، وذلك بهدف "إطلاع الاحتلال على حجم التغيير الذي تمر به الضفة الغربية في السنوات الأخيرة". كما لفتت إلى ما أسمته بـ"التحسن" في التنسيق الأمني بين الطرفين، وتبادل المعلومات.
وأضافت أن ذلك قد بدأ منذ عدة شهور، حيث تحدث مسؤول كبير في السلطة الفلطسينية أمام جنود إحدى وحدات جيش الاحتلال الناشطة في الضفة الغربية.
وعلم أن المسؤول قد تحدث في مناسبة أمام جنود الاحتلال إلى جانب رئيس ما يسمى بـ"المجلس الاستيطاني ييشاع/الضفة الغربية"، داني ديان، وعدد من أفراد الأجهزة الاستخبارية الإسرائيلية سابقا، وصحافي إسرائيلي.
وكتبت الصحيفة أنه في الأسبوع الأخير تحدث ضابط فلسطيني كبير أمام عدد من ضباط جيش الاحتلال من
وحدات المشاة، والذين وصلوا لـ"الخدمة العملانية" في الخليل. وكان ذلك بمشاركة مستوطنين من المستوطنات اليهودية في المنطقة
.....
وتابعت الصحيفة أن المسؤولين الفلسطينيين الذين يقدمون هذه المحاضرات طلبوا عدم الكشف عن أسمائهم، لتجنب "تعريض مكانتهم للخطر".
وأشارت الصحيفة إلى أن "الحديث عن ظاهرة غير عادية، ولم تكن مقبولة’ بين جنود الاحتلال والفلسطينيين، حتى قبل أيلول/ سبتمبر 2000 عندما اندلعت الانتفاضة الثانية".
وكتبت الصحيفة أيضا أنه في هذه الأثناء فإن التنسيق بين أجهزة الأمن الفلسطينية وجيش الاحتلال في تحسن مستمر، وأن الطرفين يتبادلان المعلومات، في حين تقوم السلطة الفلسطينية بتسليم إسرائيل كل الأسلحة والوسائل القتالية التي يتم ضبطها
...."
Israeli flotilla probe 'a sham'
By Sherine Tadros
Al-Jazeera
"....Or, I could describe the humiliating and condescending way in which the panelists spoke to the Arab-Israeli passengers who came to testify (compared to the respect they showed whilst interviewing Opposition leader Tzipi Livni and military chief Gabi Ashkenazi).
I could even explain how for 45 minutes I watched the panelists argue with the Arab passenger about how being that "he seemed like a reasonable man" he could breach Israeli law (as an Israeli citizen) and decide to get on a ship to Gaza. Indeed – a Palestinian going to a Palestinian territory seemed more absurd to these judges than the actual policy that stops him getting there (and by extension anyone getting out).
Every step of the way it was obvious that this commission, which was tasked with determining whether Israel is in breach of international law in blockading Gaza, had made up their minds long before they stepped into the Rabin Guest House.
But put all that aside, here are five simple reasons why this Commission is a sham....."
Al-Jazeera
"....Or, I could describe the humiliating and condescending way in which the panelists spoke to the Arab-Israeli passengers who came to testify (compared to the respect they showed whilst interviewing Opposition leader Tzipi Livni and military chief Gabi Ashkenazi).
I could even explain how for 45 minutes I watched the panelists argue with the Arab passenger about how being that "he seemed like a reasonable man" he could breach Israeli law (as an Israeli citizen) and decide to get on a ship to Gaza. Indeed – a Palestinian going to a Palestinian territory seemed more absurd to these judges than the actual policy that stops him getting there (and by extension anyone getting out).
Every step of the way it was obvious that this commission, which was tasked with determining whether Israel is in breach of international law in blockading Gaza, had made up their minds long before they stepped into the Rabin Guest House.
But put all that aside, here are five simple reasons why this Commission is a sham....."
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