Saturday, September 10, 2011
علماء الدين الاسلامى: الاعتداء على السفارة الاسرائيلية مخالف للشريعة الاسلامية والقوانين الدولية ..ويسئ لسمعة مصر وللثورة
أكد علماء الدين الاسلامى رفضهم للاعتداء على مقر السفارة الاسرائيلية بالجيزة وما أسفرت عنه من وقوع ضحايا من الشعب والشرطة.مؤكدين أن هذا العمل مخالف للشريعة الاسلامية وللقوانين الدولية ،ويسئ إلى سمعة مصر دوليا وإلى ثورتها الناجحة, ويعطى انطباعا سلبيا عن الشعب المصرى وحضارته العريقة وتقاليده السمحة ،مطالبين أبناء الشعب المصرى جميعا بالهدوء والتروى وعدم الانسياق وراء اى دعاوى باطلة تضر بوطنهم ،مناشدين الجميع الالتفاف حول قواتهم المسلحة والتعاون مع رجال الامن لعودة الهدوء والاستقرار .
Real News Video:
EuroNews: Demonstrators organized a day of action to demand a more transparent process towards democracy.
Real News Video: Egypt clashes at Israeli Embassy
Crowds swinging sledgehammers and using their bare hands tore apart the embassy's security wall
Israel’s treatment of Palestinians to dominate UN racism conference
Thalif Deen
The Electronic Intifada
9 September 2011
"UNITED NATIONS, (IPS) - A high-level UN meeting on racism, scheduled to take place later this month, looks set to be dominated by questions relating to Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians.
Expressing fears that the meeting might turn out to be anti-Israel, several Western states, including Canada, Germany, the United States, Italy, Austria, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Australia, have indicated they will not participate.
The boycott is the result of an intense campaign by Israel, which has branded the meeting “anti-Semitic” even before it could get off the ground.
Still, an overwhelming majority of the UN’s 193 member states — along with dozens of human rights activists and organizations — are expected to actively participate in the meeting, scheduled to take place on 22 September during the 66th session of the UN’s General Assembly....."
The Electronic Intifada
9 September 2011
"UNITED NATIONS, (IPS) - A high-level UN meeting on racism, scheduled to take place later this month, looks set to be dominated by questions relating to Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians.
Expressing fears that the meeting might turn out to be anti-Israel, several Western states, including Canada, Germany, the United States, Italy, Austria, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Australia, have indicated they will not participate.
The boycott is the result of an intense campaign by Israel, which has branded the meeting “anti-Semitic” even before it could get off the ground.
Still, an overwhelming majority of the UN’s 193 member states — along with dozens of human rights activists and organizations — are expected to actively participate in the meeting, scheduled to take place on 22 September during the 66th session of the UN’s General Assembly....."
With focus on bogus "statehood" bid, Israel resumes home demolitions
By Ali Abunimah
"While world attention remains focused on whether or not the UN will admit as a full member a nonexistent Palestinian state, Israeli occupation forces are escalating their very real demolitions of Palestinian homes and infrastructure in the occupied West Bank.
On 8 September, Chris Gunness, spokesman for UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestine Refugees, stated:
On the eve of discussions about Palestinian statehood in New York, the Israeli authorities have resumed home demolitions in the West Bank after a month long suspension......
Schools face Israeli demolition
"While world attention remains focused on whether or not the UN will admit as a full member a nonexistent Palestinian state, Israeli occupation forces are escalating their very real demolitions of Palestinian homes and infrastructure in the occupied West Bank.
On 8 September, Chris Gunness, spokesman for UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestine Refugees, stated:
On the eve of discussions about Palestinian statehood in New York, the Israeli authorities have resumed home demolitions in the West Bank after a month long suspension......
Schools face Israeli demolition
Threat of further demolitions still looms. UNRWA reports that there are more than 3,000 outstanding demolition orders in so-called “Area C” – the more than 60 percent of the West Bank under full Israeli military control with no presence of Palestinian Authority forces.
Eighteen of the demolition orders have been issued to schools....."
Eighteen of the demolition orders have been issued to schools....."
Libya: 19 Suffocated in Gaddafi Detention
Bodies Revealed by Gaddafi Soldier
September 9, 2011
"(Tripoli) – The discovery on September 8, 2011, of 18 bodies buried in western Libya corroborates reports of the death by suffocation of detainees held by Gaddafi forces in June in the town of al-Khoms, Human Rights Watch said today. Another victim died a few days later, so was not buried with the other 18.
Officials from the military council of al-Khoms, about 120 kilometers east of Tripoli, found the bodies in a remote area between the towns of Bani Walid and Orban. The officials said a captured Gaddafi soldier led them to the spot. The bodies are apparently those of men ranging in age from 23 to 50 who suffocated to death on June 6, when they were held in two metal shipping containers, according to two survivors interviewed by Human Rights Watch.
“The Gaddafi forces threw detainees in metal containers with little water and air on a brutally hot day, and refused to let them out despite cries for help,” said Fred Abrahams, special advisor at Human Rights Watch. “It’s the latest evidence of inhumane treatment faced by Libyans who opposed the Gaddafi regime.”....."
September 9, 2011
"(Tripoli) – The discovery on September 8, 2011, of 18 bodies buried in western Libya corroborates reports of the death by suffocation of detainees held by Gaddafi forces in June in the town of al-Khoms, Human Rights Watch said today. Another victim died a few days later, so was not buried with the other 18.
Officials from the military council of al-Khoms, about 120 kilometers east of Tripoli, found the bodies in a remote area between the towns of Bani Walid and Orban. The officials said a captured Gaddafi soldier led them to the spot. The bodies are apparently those of men ranging in age from 23 to 50 who suffocated to death on June 6, when they were held in two metal shipping containers, according to two survivors interviewed by Human Rights Watch.
“The Gaddafi forces threw detainees in metal containers with little water and air on a brutally hot day, and refused to let them out despite cries for help,” said Fred Abrahams, special advisor at Human Rights Watch. “It’s the latest evidence of inhumane treatment faced by Libyans who opposed the Gaddafi regime.”....."
Embassy attack a wake-up call for Israel
Israel has clearly not grasped that Turkey and Egypt in 2011 are nothing like they were a decade or even a year ago.
Marwan Bishara
Al-Jazeera
"Protests at Israel's embassy in Cairo on Friday escalated into an attack on the facility that brought down the Israeli flag and forced the ambassador and his staff to flee in the middle of the night.
These dramatic events should come as a wake-up call: the Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, can no longer take Egypt for granted.
Egypt's empowered and vocal public opinion since the revolution that threw out the government of Hosni Mubarak, the former president, has changed the way Cairo does business with its presumed "peace partner".
The window of opportunity to halt the deterioration of relations is closing fast. Do not expect relations to recover any time soon.....
Isolation beckons
As it stands, Netanyahu's Israel has lost the only two significant allies it had in the region.
Its attempts to pressure Washington into cleaning up its mess and tame its adversaries does not seem to be helping either.
Washington has also lost much of its political leverage in Turkey and Egypt because of the public pressure in both countries.
Any more pressure by Washington would only embarrass the generals in Turkey and the ruling military council in Egypt which are already under tremendous pressure from their respective publics....
Israel's intransigence will ultimately lead not only to its isolation, but also to a weakened US posture in the region...."
Marwan Bishara
Al-Jazeera
"Protests at Israel's embassy in Cairo on Friday escalated into an attack on the facility that brought down the Israeli flag and forced the ambassador and his staff to flee in the middle of the night.
These dramatic events should come as a wake-up call: the Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, can no longer take Egypt for granted.
Egypt's empowered and vocal public opinion since the revolution that threw out the government of Hosni Mubarak, the former president, has changed the way Cairo does business with its presumed "peace partner".
The window of opportunity to halt the deterioration of relations is closing fast. Do not expect relations to recover any time soon.....
Isolation beckons
As it stands, Netanyahu's Israel has lost the only two significant allies it had in the region.
Its attempts to pressure Washington into cleaning up its mess and tame its adversaries does not seem to be helping either.
Washington has also lost much of its political leverage in Turkey and Egypt because of the public pressure in both countries.
Any more pressure by Washington would only embarrass the generals in Turkey and the ruling military council in Egypt which are already under tremendous pressure from their respective publics....
Israel's intransigence will ultimately lead not only to its isolation, but also to a weakened US posture in the region...."
Tunisia is leading the way on women's rights in the Middle East
Tunisia is the first country in the region to withdraw reservations to the UN convention granting equal rights to men and women
Brian Whitaker
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 10 September 2011
"Last December, Tunisians rose up against their dictator, triggering a political earthquake that has sent shockwaves through most of the Middle East and north Africa. Now, Tunisia is leading the way once again – this time on the vexed issue of gender equality.
It has become the first country in the region to withdraw all its specific reservations regarding Cedaw – the international convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women.
This may sound a rather obscure and technical matter but it's actually a very important step. It reverses a long-standing abuse of human rights treaties – especially in the Middle East – where repressive regimes sign up to these treaties for purposes of international respectability but then excuse themselves from some or all of their obligations.
Saudi Arabia, for example, operates the world's most blatant and institutionalised system of discrimination against women – and yet, along with 17 other Arab states, it is also a party to Cedaw. It attempts to reconcile this position through reservations saying it does not consider itself bound by any part of the treaty which conflicts "with the norms of Islamic law"......"
Brian Whitaker
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 10 September 2011
"Last December, Tunisians rose up against their dictator, triggering a political earthquake that has sent shockwaves through most of the Middle East and north Africa. Now, Tunisia is leading the way once again – this time on the vexed issue of gender equality.
It has become the first country in the region to withdraw all its specific reservations regarding Cedaw – the international convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women.
This may sound a rather obscure and technical matter but it's actually a very important step. It reverses a long-standing abuse of human rights treaties – especially in the Middle East – where repressive regimes sign up to these treaties for purposes of international respectability but then excuse themselves from some or all of their obligations.
Saudi Arabia, for example, operates the world's most blatant and institutionalised system of discrimination against women – and yet, along with 17 other Arab states, it is also a party to Cedaw. It attempts to reconcile this position through reservations saying it does not consider itself bound by any part of the treaty which conflicts "with the norms of Islamic law"......"
Israel evacuates ambassador to Egypt after embassy attack
Egypt declares state of alert after three die and more than a thousand are injured as crowds storm the Israeli embassy in Cairo
David Batty and agencies
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 10 September 2011
"Israel has evacuated its Egyptian ambassador after crowds stormed the embassy in Cairo, plunging Egypt's ruling army deeper into its worst diplomatic crisis since the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak.
Egyptian prime minister Essam Sharaf is holding a crisis cabinet meeting and a state of alert has been declared as protesters remain on the streets following the violence on Friday, burning tyres and chanting slogans against the governing military council.
A senior Egyptian official says at least three people died and more than 1,000 were hurt during street clashes with police and army troops after an angry mob attacked the embassy building.....
The incident was the second major eruption of violence at the embassy since five Egyptian border guards were killed last month during an Israeli operation against gunmen. That incident prompted Egypt briefly to threaten to withdraw its envoy.
"This action shows the state of anger and frustration the young Egyptian revolutionaries feel against Israel especially after the recent Israeli attacks on the Egyptian borders that led to the killing of Egyptian soldiers," Egyptian political analyst Nabil Abdel Fattah said...."
Israeli embassy under attack in Cairo - in pictures
Egyptian protesters storm the Israeli embassy in Cairo
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 10 September 2011
(13 photos)
Friday, September 9, 2011
Al-Jazeera Video: Military using 'live ammunition' on 'unarmed protesters' in Cairo
"Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros, reporting from Cairo near the Israeli embassy where police have been cracking down on protesters, said that the military has begun to use live ammunition along with tear gas on unarmed protesters."
Egyptians break into Israeli embassy in Cairo
Interior ministry declares state of alert and prime minister summons cabinet crisis team to discuss the situation.
Al-Jazeera
Al-Jazeera
COMMENT:
I am so proud of the Egyptian youth! They remind me of how the Palestinians used to be.
"Israel's embassy in Cairo has been stormed by protesters who tore down one of the outer embassy walls and threw thousands of documents from the embassy's windows.
The angry Egyptians also replaced the neighbouring country's flag with their own after breaking in on Friday night.
In response, the Egyptian prime minister summoned the cabinet crisis team to discuss the situation, and the interior ministry declared a state of alert.
Hundreds of Egyptian soldiers backed by armoured cars were rushed to the embassy district and clashed with the protesters who torched police trucks and attacked regional police headquarters nearby.....
Flight of Israeli envoy
The Israeli ambassador to Egypt has reportedly boarded a flight at the Cairo airport bound for Tel Aviv, along with his family and 70 other embassy workers.
US President Barack Obama was first to react, calling on Egypt to protect the embassy and "to honor its international obligations to safeguard the security of the Israeli Embassy,"
A White House statement said that "the President expressed his great concern about the situation at the embassy, and the security of the Israelis serving there".
The statement said that Obama spoke by telephone to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the two agreed “to stay in close touch until the situation is resolved."
Embassy wall damaged
The incident began with around 1,000 people attacking a wall recently built outside the Israeli embassy in Cairo to protect the building.
Using hammers and a large metal bar, the protesters managed to partially destroy the wall, about two metres high.
Last month, Egyptians staged huge protests outside the embassy and called for the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador over the border deaths of Egyptian policemen killed as Israel hunted a group of attackers.
Egypt has asked Israel for an official apology and demanded a probe into the deaths of the five policemen."
Syrian soldiers executed for refusing to target activists
Protesters claim deaths happened at Damascus barracks as analysts report increasing number of troop defections
Paul Owen and agencies
guardian.co.uk, Friday 9 September 2011
"Eight soldiers were executed in the Syrian capital Damascus on Friday for refusing to fire on protesters, activists have claimed.
The Local Co-ordination Committees (LCCs), which monitor demonstrations in the country, said the soldiers were killed in the Kesweh area of the capital after a dispute at their barracks. Six people were injured, some of them critically, when security forces fired on demonstrators, the LCCs said.
Analysts say the number of soldiers defecting from the Syrian army seems to be increasing...."
Paul Owen and agencies
guardian.co.uk, Friday 9 September 2011
"Eight soldiers were executed in the Syrian capital Damascus on Friday for refusing to fire on protesters, activists have claimed.
The Local Co-ordination Committees (LCCs), which monitor demonstrations in the country, said the soldiers were killed in the Kesweh area of the capital after a dispute at their barracks. Six people were injured, some of them critically, when security forces fired on demonstrators, the LCCs said.
Analysts say the number of soldiers defecting from the Syrian army seems to be increasing...."
المتظاهرون المصريون يقتحمون السفارة الاسرائيلية ويرفعون العلم المصري فوقها
عــ48ــرب
"سيطر المنظاهرون المصريون على السفارة الإسرائيلية في القاهرة بعد اقتحامها وإنزال العلم الاسرائيلي ورفع العلم المصري مكانه، وشوهدت آلاف الأوراق والوثائق تتطاير في محيط البناية التي تقع فيها السفارة الاسرائيلية في الدور العشرين.
وقد شهدت تظاهرات جمعة "تصحيح مسار الثورة" تصعيدا، في شهدتها القاهرة ومعظم المحافظات المصرية تصعيدا ملحوظا أعاد ، الزخم للحركة الاحتجاجية التي شهدتها المحافظات المصرية منذ اندلاع الثورة المصرية في 25 يناير/كانون الثاني الماضي.
ويعتبر المتظاهرون الذين شاركوا في فعاليات اليوم، أنهم "أصحاب الثورة الحقيقيين"، وأنهم من تحملوا عبء إطلاقها "قبل أن يحاول التيار الاسلامي السطو عليها ونسب الفضل لنفسه في إطلاق شرارتها"، ويقولون إنهم مَن "واجه بصدور عارية حشود الداخلية وعناصرها الأمنية المدربة".
....
...."
"سيطر المنظاهرون المصريون على السفارة الإسرائيلية في القاهرة بعد اقتحامها وإنزال العلم الاسرائيلي ورفع العلم المصري مكانه، وشوهدت آلاف الأوراق والوثائق تتطاير في محيط البناية التي تقع فيها السفارة الاسرائيلية في الدور العشرين.
وقد شهدت تظاهرات جمعة "تصحيح مسار الثورة" تصعيدا، في شهدتها القاهرة ومعظم المحافظات المصرية تصعيدا ملحوظا أعاد ، الزخم للحركة الاحتجاجية التي شهدتها المحافظات المصرية منذ اندلاع الثورة المصرية في 25 يناير/كانون الثاني الماضي.
ويعتبر المتظاهرون الذين شاركوا في فعاليات اليوم، أنهم "أصحاب الثورة الحقيقيين"، وأنهم من تحملوا عبء إطلاقها "قبل أن يحاول التيار الاسلامي السطو عليها ونسب الفضل لنفسه في إطلاق شرارتها"، ويقولون إنهم مَن "واجه بصدور عارية حشود الداخلية وعناصرها الأمنية المدربة".
....
...."
Who Wants Those Troops to Stay in Iraq?
By Patrick Cockburn
CounterPunch
"The United States is negotiating to keep several thousand troops in Iraq beyond the official withdrawal date at the end of the year, but its influence in the country is being eclipsed by Iran and Turkey...
Turkey’s influence is growing in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East because it is a Muslim state with a strong government, prospering economy, powerful army and large population. It is able to project growing authority among Arab states such as Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, Bahrain, Tunisia and Libya, all of which have been weakened by wars, civil wars and rebellions. Iraq remains weak because of its sectarian and ethnic divisions. “There is no national identity any longer,” Ghassan al-Attiyah, an Iraqi political scientist and commentator, said. “Iraqis are either Sunni, Shia or Kurd.” Attiyah said Iran will ultimately tolerate a small US force remaining in Iraq, because the majority of US troops will have gone and those remaining are too few to be militarily effective. “Will the Iranians find 10,000 men too many?” Attiyah asked. “I doubt it.”...."
CounterPunch
"The United States is negotiating to keep several thousand troops in Iraq beyond the official withdrawal date at the end of the year, but its influence in the country is being eclipsed by Iran and Turkey...
Turkey’s influence is growing in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East because it is a Muslim state with a strong government, prospering economy, powerful army and large population. It is able to project growing authority among Arab states such as Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, Bahrain, Tunisia and Libya, all of which have been weakened by wars, civil wars and rebellions. Iraq remains weak because of its sectarian and ethnic divisions. “There is no national identity any longer,” Ghassan al-Attiyah, an Iraqi political scientist and commentator, said. “Iraqis are either Sunni, Shia or Kurd.” Attiyah said Iran will ultimately tolerate a small US force remaining in Iraq, because the majority of US troops will have gone and those remaining are too few to be militarily effective. “Will the Iranians find 10,000 men too many?” Attiyah asked. “I doubt it.”...."
The PA doesn’t represent me; why should I trust its statehood bid?
A GOOD PIECE
By Sameeha Elwan
The Electronic Intifada
Gaza Strip
"....To claim that an average Palestinian would take the time to think through the political and legal implications of such a move would be misleading. An average Palestinian might in fact be the least interested in whether a state would be declared in September. Yet he or she will be the one whose life will be most profoundly impacted by any hasty act of folly by the PA. This has been demonstrated by a long history of disappointing actions by the PA.
This is not to dismiss Palestinian public political awareness. Palestinians are the ones who live with the consequences of any step or measure suggested or implemented by the PA. Therefore, they would definitely have more pressing priorities than to think of the consequences. They would instead be preoccupied with the struggle to survive the consequences of yet another foolish action by their wise government.....
I am a refugee. Who will represent me?
Among the debates among the public about whether this bid would endanger the Palestinians was the discussion over representation. Who would represent the Palestinians? And who exactly would this state represent?
Less than half the Palestinian population live in the occupied Gaza Strip and the West Bank, the territories to be declared as the Palestinian state. What will happen to the other millions who live outside this terrotiory?.....
Who will represent me? I did not vote for the PA
For almost two decades, the PA has been assuming that it represents the Palestinian people based on the Oslo accords.
The PA, however, falls short on the questions of genuine democratic representation.
The last democratic elections for the PA took place more than five years ago....
The fact that the new state is offering no reform of the Palestinian leadership tells how unpromising such a move is. One cannot but imagine the forthcoming state as offering nothing more to the Palestinians than further fragmentation. A state that offers no relief from the current situation on the ground, that is led by the same leadership, that fails to uphold the rights of the Palestinians, sounds like the very definition of insanity."
By Sameeha Elwan
The Electronic Intifada
Gaza Strip
"....To claim that an average Palestinian would take the time to think through the political and legal implications of such a move would be misleading. An average Palestinian might in fact be the least interested in whether a state would be declared in September. Yet he or she will be the one whose life will be most profoundly impacted by any hasty act of folly by the PA. This has been demonstrated by a long history of disappointing actions by the PA.
This is not to dismiss Palestinian public political awareness. Palestinians are the ones who live with the consequences of any step or measure suggested or implemented by the PA. Therefore, they would definitely have more pressing priorities than to think of the consequences. They would instead be preoccupied with the struggle to survive the consequences of yet another foolish action by their wise government.....
I am a refugee. Who will represent me?
Among the debates among the public about whether this bid would endanger the Palestinians was the discussion over representation. Who would represent the Palestinians? And who exactly would this state represent?
Less than half the Palestinian population live in the occupied Gaza Strip and the West Bank, the territories to be declared as the Palestinian state. What will happen to the other millions who live outside this terrotiory?.....
Who will represent me? I did not vote for the PA
For almost two decades, the PA has been assuming that it represents the Palestinian people based on the Oslo accords.
The PA, however, falls short on the questions of genuine democratic representation.
The last democratic elections for the PA took place more than five years ago....
The fact that the new state is offering no reform of the Palestinian leadership tells how unpromising such a move is. One cannot but imagine the forthcoming state as offering nothing more to the Palestinians than further fragmentation. A state that offers no relief from the current situation on the ground, that is led by the same leadership, that fails to uphold the rights of the Palestinians, sounds like the very definition of insanity."
It's not the brutality that is 'systematic'. It's the lying about it
By Robert Fisk
"It was Baha Mousa's dad I will always remember. On an oppressively scorching day in Basra, Daoud Mousa first spoke of his son's death, telling me how the boy's wife had died of cancer just six months earlier, how Baha's children were now orphans, how – not long after the British Army had arrested Baha Mousa and beaten him to death, for that is what happened – a British officer had come to his home and stared at the floor and offered cash by way of saying sorry.
"What do you think I should do?" Daoud asked me. Get a lawyer, I said. Tell Amnesty and Human Rights Watch. Let me write about it. When I called at the British base at Basra airport, one officer laughed at me. "Call the Ministry of Defence," he said dismissively. He didn't care.....
It wasn't the brutality that was "systematic". It was the lying that was systematic. In Northern Ireland, among the Americans after Abu Ghraib and Bagram and the black prisons and the renditions. Baha Mousa received 93 wounds. There was an inquiry, I was imperiously told. It was all sub judice....
Baha Mousa's nose was broken. There was blood above the corpse's mouth. The skin had been ripped off his wrists. According to his friend, Baha had been crying and pleading for his life from beneath his hood. "They gave us the names of footballers and cursed us with them as they attacked us," he said.
The Brits did the same in Northern Ireland, I remember. Catholics would often tell me they were given the names of footballers before the beatings began.
A bit systematic, perhaps? "They were kick-boxing us in the chest and between the legs and in the back..." Baha's friend said. "He kept asking them to take the bag off and said he was suffocating. But they laughed at him and kicked him more."....."
"It was Baha Mousa's dad I will always remember. On an oppressively scorching day in Basra, Daoud Mousa first spoke of his son's death, telling me how the boy's wife had died of cancer just six months earlier, how Baha's children were now orphans, how – not long after the British Army had arrested Baha Mousa and beaten him to death, for that is what happened – a British officer had come to his home and stared at the floor and offered cash by way of saying sorry.
"What do you think I should do?" Daoud asked me. Get a lawyer, I said. Tell Amnesty and Human Rights Watch. Let me write about it. When I called at the British base at Basra airport, one officer laughed at me. "Call the Ministry of Defence," he said dismissively. He didn't care.....
It wasn't the brutality that was "systematic". It was the lying that was systematic. In Northern Ireland, among the Americans after Abu Ghraib and Bagram and the black prisons and the renditions. Baha Mousa received 93 wounds. There was an inquiry, I was imperiously told. It was all sub judice....
Baha Mousa's nose was broken. There was blood above the corpse's mouth. The skin had been ripped off his wrists. According to his friend, Baha had been crying and pleading for his life from beneath his hood. "They gave us the names of footballers and cursed us with them as they attacked us," he said.
The Brits did the same in Northern Ireland, I remember. Catholics would often tell me they were given the names of footballers before the beatings began.
A bit systematic, perhaps? "They were kick-boxing us in the chest and between the legs and in the back..." Baha's friend said. "He kept asking them to take the bag off and said he was suffocating. But they laughed at him and kicked him more."....."
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi 'protected from assassination plot in 2004' by UK police
Metropolitan police and special branch placed Gaddafi's son on 'at risk' register in 2004 after plot to kill him was uncovered
Nick Hopkins
guardian.co.uk, Friday 9 September 2011
"One of Colonel Gaddafi's sons was offered police protection in the UK in 2004 after intelligence was uncovered about an apparent plot to have him killed.
Officers from Scotland Yard's special branch spoke to Saif al-Islam Gaddafi and reassured him that steps were being taken to ensure his safety. He was also put on the police's "at risk" register.
The details of the threat to Gaddafi's 38-year-old son, and the efforts that Scotland Yard and MI5 made to look after him, are contained in documents found in Tripoli [See post below] since the fall of the old regime.
At the time of the plot in early 2004, Saif Gaddafi was living in London. Britain and the US were at pains to ensure that nothing upset Libya's return into the international community.
Like his father, Saif is now on the run in Libya, hunted by the National Transitional Council and wanted by the international criminal court accused of crimes against humanity, murder and torture....."
Nick Hopkins
guardian.co.uk, Friday 9 September 2011
"One of Colonel Gaddafi's sons was offered police protection in the UK in 2004 after intelligence was uncovered about an apparent plot to have him killed.
Officers from Scotland Yard's special branch spoke to Saif al-Islam Gaddafi and reassured him that steps were being taken to ensure his safety. He was also put on the police's "at risk" register.
The details of the threat to Gaddafi's 38-year-old son, and the efforts that Scotland Yard and MI5 made to look after him, are contained in documents found in Tripoli [See post below] since the fall of the old regime.
At the time of the plot in early 2004, Saif Gaddafi was living in London. Britain and the US were at pains to ensure that nothing upset Libya's return into the international community.
Like his father, Saif is now on the run in Libya, hunted by the National Transitional Council and wanted by the international criminal court accused of crimes against humanity, murder and torture....."
Tripoli files - the documents
Exchanges between western intelligence agencies and the regime of Muammar Gaddafi provide an insight into the process whereby sworn enemies became close allies
guardian.co.uk, Friday 9 September 2011
(14 pages)
guardian.co.uk, Friday 9 September 2011
(14 pages)
Syria: Security Forces Remove Wounded From Hospital
Interfere in Work of Red Crescent in Homs
September 8, 2011
"(New York) – Syrian security forces forcibly removed 18 wounded people from al-Barr hospital in the central city of Homs on September 7, 2011, including five from the operating room, Human Rights Watch said today, based on reports from witnesses, including doctors. Security forces also prevented medical personnel from reaching the wounded [This should thrill Hassan Nasrallah!] in a number of the city’s neighborhoods on that day.
Human Rights Watch interviewed two doctors from al-Barr hospital as well as two Red Crescent volunteers. Syrian authorities should allow injured protesters unimpeded access to medical treatment, Human Rights Watch said.
“Snatching wounded people from the operating room is inhumane and illegal, not to mention life-threatening,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Cutting people off from essential medical care causes grave suffering and perhaps irreparable harm.”
Syria’s security forces began a large-scale military operation in Homs in the early hours of September 7. Many residents said they heard heavy gunfire starting at 6:30 a.m. Local activists provided Human Rights Watch with a list of 23 people they said were killed that day by the security forces....."
September 8, 2011
"(New York) – Syrian security forces forcibly removed 18 wounded people from al-Barr hospital in the central city of Homs on September 7, 2011, including five from the operating room, Human Rights Watch said today, based on reports from witnesses, including doctors. Security forces also prevented medical personnel from reaching the wounded [This should thrill Hassan Nasrallah!] in a number of the city’s neighborhoods on that day.
Human Rights Watch interviewed two doctors from al-Barr hospital as well as two Red Crescent volunteers. Syrian authorities should allow injured protesters unimpeded access to medical treatment, Human Rights Watch said.
“Snatching wounded people from the operating room is inhumane and illegal, not to mention life-threatening,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Cutting people off from essential medical care causes grave suffering and perhaps irreparable harm.”
Syria’s security forces began a large-scale military operation in Homs in the early hours of September 7. Many residents said they heard heavy gunfire starting at 6:30 a.m. Local activists provided Human Rights Watch with a list of 23 people they said were killed that day by the security forces....."
Israeli ambassador returns to Egypt
Yitzhak Levanon back in Egyptian capital after tense period during which widespread protests held in front of embassy.
The wall around the embassy painted in colors of Egyptian flag
The wall around the embassy painted in colors of Egyptian flag
The crime of apartheid
In order to keep Israel a "Jewish" state, racist policies amounting to apartheid have been used against Palestinians.
 |
| In the occupied Palestinian Territories, a "matrix of control has been put into place that curbs Palestinians' most basic human rights" |
South Africa, 1948.
After winning the elections, the National Party turned the racial segregation policies put in place under Dutch and British colonial rule, into something a lot more sophisticated and Machiavellian. The government classified all peoples in three separate races. White, coloured and blacks. Each race had its rights and limitations. The white minority controlled the much larger black majority .
This system of domination and separation became known as "apartheid".
Through a combination of non-violent and armed struggle, international pressure and boycott, the system was brought to an end in 1990 (when ban on the African National Congress and other political parties was lifted) and Nelson Mandela was elected president of the country in 1994, after an overwhelming victory of its party, the ANC in the universal elections.
In the early 70s, many countries opposed to the regime, decided that something of a legal nature was needed to put even more pressure on the South African government. The International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid (ICSPCA) was ratified by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 1973.
Al Jazeera
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Hummus starts trickling past Israel's blockade on Gaza
Maj. Gen. Amos Gilad, formerly acting Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT ), permitted bringing processed hummus into the Gaza Strip in July 2009, for the first time in two years. However, Gilad did not permit bringing hummus with extras, such as pine nuts or mushrooms, into the strip.
My comment:
Perfectly understandable! Mushrooms were forbidden because Hamas could grow a nuclear plant out of them. But no chances for that happening now, we're sure they don't have the technology. As for nuts, no chance either. They made for very lousy Kassams!
My comment:
Perfectly understandable! Mushrooms were forbidden because Hamas could grow a nuclear plant out of them. But no chances for that happening now, we're sure they don't have the technology. As for nuts, no chance either. They made for very lousy Kassams!
Turkish charter airlines cancel weekly Israel flights
Turkish charter airlines yesterday began to cut back weekly flights on routes to and from Israel against the backdrop of the crisis in relations between the two counties and the rise in canceled reservations for travel to Turkey.
Haaretz
Haaretz
Israelis could face trial in The Hague if Palestinian statehood recognized at UN, experts warn
According to the statute of the court, the direct or indirect transfer of an occupier’s population into occupied territory constitutes a war crime.
Haaretz
Recognition of a Palestinian state could, in theory, lead to Israeli officials being dragged repeatedly before the International Criminal Court in the Hague for claims regarding its settlement policies in the West Bank, legal experts say.
According to the statute of the court, the direct or indirect transfer of an occupier’s population into occupied territory constitutes a war crime.
Epitaph For Another 9/11: Renown Writer Ariel Dorfman on 1973 U.S.-backed Coup in Chile
Democracy Now!
""That September 11, that lethal Tuesday morning, I awoke with dread to the sound of planes flying above my house. When, an hour later, I saw smoke billowing from the center of the city, I knew that life had changed for me, for my country, forever." Those are the words of our guest, Chilean-American author Ariel Dorfman, writing not about the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon 10 years ago this week, but another September 11th. On September 11, 1973 a U.S.-backed coup in Chile led by General Augusto Pinochet ousted Chile’s democratically elected president, Salvador Allende. Allende died in the palace on that day. Ariel Dorfman, served as a cultural advisor to Salvador Allende from 1970 to 1973. After the coup, he went into exile and today he is recognized as one of Latin America’s greatest writers. “Chile reacted to the terror that was inflicted upon us with nonviolent resistance. For instance, we did not go and bomb Washington because Washington ordered and helped to create the coup in Chile. On the contrary, we created a peaceful revolution against Pinochet,” Dorfman notes. “If you contrast that to what Bush did as a result of this very small band of terrorists, the results have been absolutely terrible. If this was a test, and I think these are tests of national values and national will, the U.S. has failed that test terribly.”....."
Real News Video: Yemen Opposition Calls for Massive Campaign to Oust Dictator
Walid Al-Saqaf: Opposition has united with militant students to intensify campaign to overthrow President Ali Abdullah Saleh
Bahrain’s Movement Alive Regardless of Media Neglect
by Nada Alwadi
CommonDreams
"....Although protests have continued on the streets of Bahrain every day since the Saudi-led crackdown on Pearl Roundabout last March, there has been very little coverage of the Bahraini movement in the international media.
There are several reasons for this. First, six months after the movement started, it’s clear to Bahraini activists that the United States is not in favor of any changes. The US wants to protect its interests in Bahrain—most importantly, securing the Navy’s Fifth Fleet—and avoid any direct confrontation with Saudi Arabia, which is calling the shots in Bahrain right now. The US’s posture has played a major role in marginalizing Bahrain in the eyes of the international media.
Second, the Bahraini government has successfully killed the movement’s presence internationally. It has used several tactics to achieve this, including a ban preventing international media from entering the country and ensuring that many local journalists are jailed, tortured, or fired from their jobs.....
Lastly, events in the rest of the Middle East have overshadowed the struggle on this tiny island, which has a population of around one million. For the mainstream media, the 34 people killed in this struggle, including four who died in jail after being tortured, are not as significant as the thousands being killed in Syria and Libya, regardless of the fact that this is a very large number for such a small country....."
CommonDreams
"....Although protests have continued on the streets of Bahrain every day since the Saudi-led crackdown on Pearl Roundabout last March, there has been very little coverage of the Bahraini movement in the international media.
There are several reasons for this. First, six months after the movement started, it’s clear to Bahraini activists that the United States is not in favor of any changes. The US wants to protect its interests in Bahrain—most importantly, securing the Navy’s Fifth Fleet—and avoid any direct confrontation with Saudi Arabia, which is calling the shots in Bahrain right now. The US’s posture has played a major role in marginalizing Bahrain in the eyes of the international media.
Second, the Bahraini government has successfully killed the movement’s presence internationally. It has used several tactics to achieve this, including a ban preventing international media from entering the country and ensuring that many local journalists are jailed, tortured, or fired from their jobs.....
Lastly, events in the rest of the Middle East have overshadowed the struggle on this tiny island, which has a population of around one million. For the mainstream media, the 34 people killed in this struggle, including four who died in jail after being tortured, are not as significant as the thousands being killed in Syria and Libya, regardless of the fact that this is a very large number for such a small country....."
Palestinian civil society welcomes Turkey’s decision to suspend military ties with Israel
Ehud Barak in Turkey
Palestinian civil society welcomes Turkey’s Decision to Suspend All Military Ties with Israel and Lower Diplomatic Relations
By Ali Abunimah
"The Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC), the broad Palestinian civil society coalition that acts as the Palestinian reference point of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, welcomes the recent decision by the Turkish government to impose limited sanctions on Israel and hopes that it is implemented from today as announced.
On September 2, the Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoğlu announced that the Turkish government would downgrade its diplomatic relations with Israel and suspend all military relations with Israel. Davutoğlu gave today, September 7, as the deadline for Israel to withdraw all diplomatic personnel above the second-secretary level.
This decision comes only two months after the BNC launched its call for an immediate and comprehensive military embargo on Israel.
Turkey imported more than double the amount of arms from Israel than any other country in 2009 and was the second largest importer of Israeli arms in 2010.....
Jamal Juma, Stop the Wall campaign coordinator and BNC secretariat member, said:
“In the context of the Arab Spring, this decision should be seen as a victory not only for Palestinians but also for all movements, civil society organizations and people of conscience that have shown solidarity with Palestinians and demonstrated to their governments the strength of public support for the Palestinian struggle. The Turkish government decision is clearly a result of the hugely unpopular nature of its support for Israel.”
“That Turkey, formerly such a staunch ally of Israel, has taken this step shows that governments are finding it increasingly difficult to justify their support for Israel’s regime of colonisation, occupation and apartheid. Where international institutions such as the UN are failing to hold Israel accountable for its violations of international law, the call for BDS is being heeded in the corridors of power, providing a concrete tool with which international diplomacy can be used in support of Palestinian rights.”....."
By Ali Abunimah
"The Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC), the broad Palestinian civil society coalition that acts as the Palestinian reference point of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, welcomes the recent decision by the Turkish government to impose limited sanctions on Israel and hopes that it is implemented from today as announced.
On September 2, the Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoğlu announced that the Turkish government would downgrade its diplomatic relations with Israel and suspend all military relations with Israel. Davutoğlu gave today, September 7, as the deadline for Israel to withdraw all diplomatic personnel above the second-secretary level.
This decision comes only two months after the BNC launched its call for an immediate and comprehensive military embargo on Israel.
Turkey imported more than double the amount of arms from Israel than any other country in 2009 and was the second largest importer of Israeli arms in 2010.....
Jamal Juma, Stop the Wall campaign coordinator and BNC secretariat member, said:
“In the context of the Arab Spring, this decision should be seen as a victory not only for Palestinians but also for all movements, civil society organizations and people of conscience that have shown solidarity with Palestinians and demonstrated to their governments the strength of public support for the Palestinian struggle. The Turkish government decision is clearly a result of the hugely unpopular nature of its support for Israel.”
“That Turkey, formerly such a staunch ally of Israel, has taken this step shows that governments are finding it increasingly difficult to justify their support for Israel’s regime of colonisation, occupation and apartheid. Where international institutions such as the UN are failing to hold Israel accountable for its violations of international law, the call for BDS is being heeded in the corridors of power, providing a concrete tool with which international diplomacy can be used in support of Palestinian rights.”....."
Hail to the true victors of Rupert's revolution
By John Pilger
8 September 2011
"On 13 September, one of the world's biggest arms fairs opens in London, backed by the British government. On 8 September, the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry will hold a preview entitled "Middle East: A vast market for UK defence and security companies". The host was the Royal Bank of Scotland, a major investor in cluster bombs. According to Amnesty international, the victims of cluster bombs are 98 per cent civilians and 30 per cent children. The Royal Bank of Scotland has received £20 million in public money. The blurb for the bank's arms party reads: "The Middle East is one of the regions with the greatest number of opportunities for UK defence and security companies. Saudi Arabia... is the world's top defence importer, having spent $56bn in 2009... a very worthwhile region to target."
Such are the Cameron government's priorities following the great "humanitarian" victory in Libya. As Margaret Thatcher once declared: "Rejoice!".....
The west's humanitarian mission is not quite finished. Nearly six months after securing a UN resolution authorising "the [protection] of civilians and civilian-populated areas under the threat of attack", Nato is raining fragmentation bombs on civilian-populated Sirte and other "Gaddafi strongholds" where, says a Channel 4 News reporter, "until they cut off the head of the snake, Libyans will not feel safe". I quote that not so much for its Orwellian quality but as a model of journalism's role in justifying "our" bloodbaths in advance.
This is Rupert's Revolution, after all. Gone from the Murdoch press are pejorative "insurgents". The action in Libya, says The Times, is "a revolution... as revolutions used to be". That it is a coup by a gang of Muammar Gaddafi's ex cronies and spooks in collusion with Nato is hardly news. The self-appointed "rebel leader", Mustafa Abdul Jalil, was Gaddafi's feared justice minister. The CIA runs or bankrolls most of the rest, including America's old friends, the Mujadeen Islamists who spawned al-Qaeda......"
8 September 2011
"On 13 September, one of the world's biggest arms fairs opens in London, backed by the British government. On 8 September, the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry will hold a preview entitled "Middle East: A vast market for UK defence and security companies". The host was the Royal Bank of Scotland, a major investor in cluster bombs. According to Amnesty international, the victims of cluster bombs are 98 per cent civilians and 30 per cent children. The Royal Bank of Scotland has received £20 million in public money. The blurb for the bank's arms party reads: "The Middle East is one of the regions with the greatest number of opportunities for UK defence and security companies. Saudi Arabia... is the world's top defence importer, having spent $56bn in 2009... a very worthwhile region to target."
Such are the Cameron government's priorities following the great "humanitarian" victory in Libya. As Margaret Thatcher once declared: "Rejoice!".....
The west's humanitarian mission is not quite finished. Nearly six months after securing a UN resolution authorising "the [protection] of civilians and civilian-populated areas under the threat of attack", Nato is raining fragmentation bombs on civilian-populated Sirte and other "Gaddafi strongholds" where, says a Channel 4 News reporter, "until they cut off the head of the snake, Libyans will not feel safe". I quote that not so much for its Orwellian quality but as a model of journalism's role in justifying "our" bloodbaths in advance.
This is Rupert's Revolution, after all. Gone from the Murdoch press are pejorative "insurgents". The action in Libya, says The Times, is "a revolution... as revolutions used to be". That it is a coup by a gang of Muammar Gaddafi's ex cronies and spooks in collusion with Nato is hardly news. The self-appointed "rebel leader", Mustafa Abdul Jalil, was Gaddafi's feared justice minister. The CIA runs or bankrolls most of the rest, including America's old friends, the Mujadeen Islamists who spawned al-Qaeda......"
Current Al-Jazeera (Arabic) Online Poll
This brand new poll asks:
Do you see that the PA's asking of the UN to recognize a Palestinian state is serving the Palestinian cause?
With about 300 responding so far, 75% said yes.
Do you see that the PA's asking of the UN to recognize a Palestinian state is serving the Palestinian cause?
With about 300 responding so far, 75% said yes.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Explosion of violence in Syria caught in series of horrifying video clips
Pressure mounts on Syria as Alain Juppé accuses the regime of crimes against humanity
Ian Black
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 7 September 2011
"Syria's violence has escalated sharply, with up to 28 people reportedly killed across the country on Wednesday as France bluntly accused Bashar al-Assad's regime of committing crimes against humanity.
Horrifying film clips were posted on YouTube, one showing a dead or injured man in the central city of Homs apparently being shot by uniformed men. Another showed a young man named Abdel-Hadi Mustafa dying after being shot by a sniper. A third recorded the death of 15-year-old Zakaria Firzat from al-Rastan on Tuesday. None of the incidents could be independently authenticated as most foreign journalists have been banned from Syria. Casualty figures cannot be easily verified either.
Medical sources in Homs reported patients being kidnapped from al-Birr hospital by security personnel. "We have no idea where they've taken them," said a journalist named Fadi, describing ambulances commandeered by regime forces....."
Ian Black
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 7 September 2011
"Syria's violence has escalated sharply, with up to 28 people reportedly killed across the country on Wednesday as France bluntly accused Bashar al-Assad's regime of committing crimes against humanity.
Horrifying film clips were posted on YouTube, one showing a dead or injured man in the central city of Homs apparently being shot by uniformed men. Another showed a young man named Abdel-Hadi Mustafa dying after being shot by a sniper. A third recorded the death of 15-year-old Zakaria Firzat from al-Rastan on Tuesday. None of the incidents could be independently authenticated as most foreign journalists have been banned from Syria. Casualty figures cannot be easily verified either.
Medical sources in Homs reported patients being kidnapped from al-Birr hospital by security personnel. "We have no idea where they've taken them," said a journalist named Fadi, describing ambulances commandeered by regime forces....."
Libyan Rebels Try to Stabilize Tripoli as Weapons from Gaddafi Compounds Go Missing
Democracy Now!
"In Libya, rebel forces say Col. Muammar Gaddafi’s stronghold of Bani Walid is ready to come under the National Transitional Council’s authority, despite pockets of resistance. Meanwhile, rebel troops say they have advanced about five miles towards Gaddafi’s hometown of Sirte in heavy fighting today. Reuters reports the U.S. government has urged Niger to detain senior officials from the Gaddafi government who it believes crossed into the country in a convoy from Libya. Niger officials say the convoy carried several senior members of Gaddafi’s government, but gave no indication that Gaddafi himself was among them. We go to Tripoli for an update from Peter Bouckaert, the emergencies director at Human Rights Watch, who has recently discovered that Gaddafi’s warehouses, which were formerly full of assault rifles and anti-aircraft missiles, have been looted. "We have been warning the U.S. and other Western countries that these weapons are floating around all over the country," Bouckaert says. "Every time a city falls, they end up being looted... Every facility we go to where there were surface-to-air missiles, they’re gone."...."
Discovered Files Show U.S., Britain Had Extensive Ties with Gaddafi Regime on Rendition, Torture
Democracy Now!
"Human Rights Watch has uncovered hundreds of letters in the Libyan foreign ministry proving the Gaddafi government directly aided the extraordinary rendition program carried out by the CIA and the MI6 in Britain after the 9/11 attacks. The documents expose how the CIA rendered suspects to Libyan authorities knowing they would be tortured. One of the most prominent suspects rendered to Libya was an Islamic militant named Abdelhakim Belhaj, who is now the military commander for the Libyan rebels. At the time of his capture in 2004, Belhaj was a member of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, a group that had ties to al-Qaeda. We speak to Peter Bouckaert, the emergencies director at Human Rights Watch, who helped find the documents in Tripoli, and Gareth Peirce, a well-known British human rights attorney who has represented numerous Guantánamo prisoners as well as WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange...."
Perpetual War
“Grand Strategy” after 9/11
A VERY GOOD PIECE
By Tariq Ali
CounterPunch
"....War—jus belli– is now a legitimate instrument as long as it is used with US approval or preferably by the US itself. These days it is presented as a ‘humanitarian’ necessity: one side is busy engaged in committing crimes, the self-styled morally superior side is simply administering necessary punishment and the state to be defeated is denied its sovereignty. Its replacement is carefully policed both with military bases and with a combination of No’s and money. This 21st Century colonization or dominance is aided by the global media networks, an essential pillar to conduct political and military operations.....
Take Libya, the latest case of ‘humanitarian intervention’. The US-NATO intervention in Libya, with United Nations security council cover, is part of an orchestrated response to show support for the movement against one dictator in particular and by so doing to bring the Arab rebellions to an end by asserting western control, confiscating their impetus and spontaneity and trying to restore the status quo ante. As is now obvious the British and French are boasting of success and that they will control Libyan oil reserves as payment for the six month bombing campaign.
Meanwhile, Obama’s allies in the Arab world were hard at work promoting democracy.
The Saudis entered Bahrain where the population is being tyrannised and large-scale arrests are taking place. Not much of this is being reported on al-Jazeera. I wonder why?.....
The frontiers of the squalid protectorate that the west is going to create are being decided in Washington. Even those Libyans who, out of desperation, backed NATO’s bomber jets, might – like their Iraqi equivalents – live to regret their choice.
All this might trigger a third phase at some stage: a growing nationalist anger that spills over into Saudi Arabia and here, have no doubt, Washington will do everything necessary to keep the Saudi royal family in power. Lose Saudi Arabia and they will lose the Gulf States. The assault on Libya, greatly helped by Gaddafi’s imbecility on every front, was designed to wrest the initiative back from the streets by appearing as the defenders of civil rights. The Bahrainis, Egyptians, Tunisians, Saudi Arabians, Yemenis will not be convinced, and even in Euro-America more are opposed to this latest adventure than support it. The struggles are by no means over....."
A VERY GOOD PIECE
By Tariq Ali
CounterPunch
"....War—jus belli– is now a legitimate instrument as long as it is used with US approval or preferably by the US itself. These days it is presented as a ‘humanitarian’ necessity: one side is busy engaged in committing crimes, the self-styled morally superior side is simply administering necessary punishment and the state to be defeated is denied its sovereignty. Its replacement is carefully policed both with military bases and with a combination of No’s and money. This 21st Century colonization or dominance is aided by the global media networks, an essential pillar to conduct political and military operations.....
Take Libya, the latest case of ‘humanitarian intervention’. The US-NATO intervention in Libya, with United Nations security council cover, is part of an orchestrated response to show support for the movement against one dictator in particular and by so doing to bring the Arab rebellions to an end by asserting western control, confiscating their impetus and spontaneity and trying to restore the status quo ante. As is now obvious the British and French are boasting of success and that they will control Libyan oil reserves as payment for the six month bombing campaign.
Meanwhile, Obama’s allies in the Arab world were hard at work promoting democracy.
The Saudis entered Bahrain where the population is being tyrannised and large-scale arrests are taking place. Not much of this is being reported on al-Jazeera. I wonder why?.....
The frontiers of the squalid protectorate that the west is going to create are being decided in Washington. Even those Libyans who, out of desperation, backed NATO’s bomber jets, might – like their Iraqi equivalents – live to regret their choice.
All this might trigger a third phase at some stage: a growing nationalist anger that spills over into Saudi Arabia and here, have no doubt, Washington will do everything necessary to keep the Saudi royal family in power. Lose Saudi Arabia and they will lose the Gulf States. The assault on Libya, greatly helped by Gaddafi’s imbecility on every front, was designed to wrest the initiative back from the streets by appearing as the defenders of civil rights. The Bahrainis, Egyptians, Tunisians, Saudi Arabians, Yemenis will not be convinced, and even in Euro-America more are opposed to this latest adventure than support it. The struggles are by no means over....."
Real News Video: Tribunal Concealed Evidence Al-Qaeda Cell May Have Killed Hariri
Gareth Porter: In focusing entirely Hezbollah Special Tribunal refuses to acknowledge stronger evidence Al-Qaeda was responsible for the assassination
Activists plan welcome rally for visiting Turkish PM
Al-Masry Al-Youm
"A number of Egyptian activists have posted a Facebook invitation for a rally in front of the Turkish consulate in Alexandria, to welcome Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on 12 September.
Erdogan previously said he would head to the Gaza Strip through Egypt.
The activists said participants in the rally will hoist Egyptian, Turkish and Palestinian flags. Their statement labeled Erdogan as a "brave man" for dismissing the Israeli ambassador to Turkey.
Earlier this week, Ankara expelled the ambassador and severed military and commercial cooperation with Tel Aviv when Israel declined to apologize for a naval attack in May 2010 that killed nine activists aboard a Gaza-bound Turkish aid convoy.
Israel has imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip since Palestinian faction Hamas took control.
Erdogan's move was hailed by Egyptians who slammed their own rulers for failure to take similar action after five Egyptian security and police forces were killed during a border raid last month.
"Egyptians have to credit the man (Erdogan) for his courage and self-esteem. We have to support his visit, which aims to lift the seige on Gaza in a time when Egypt's ruling military is erecting a fence to protect the Israeli Embassy in Cairo," the activists said in their statement.
Meanwhile, Youth for Freedom and Justice, an Alexandria-based group, announced its participation in the welcoming rally.
Group spokesperson Mohamed Abdel Salam said members will participate to express soldiarity with Erdogan and to demand that Egyptian authorities facilitate his trip."
"A number of Egyptian activists have posted a Facebook invitation for a rally in front of the Turkish consulate in Alexandria, to welcome Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on 12 September.
Erdogan previously said he would head to the Gaza Strip through Egypt.
The activists said participants in the rally will hoist Egyptian, Turkish and Palestinian flags. Their statement labeled Erdogan as a "brave man" for dismissing the Israeli ambassador to Turkey.
Earlier this week, Ankara expelled the ambassador and severed military and commercial cooperation with Tel Aviv when Israel declined to apologize for a naval attack in May 2010 that killed nine activists aboard a Gaza-bound Turkish aid convoy.
Israel has imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip since Palestinian faction Hamas took control.
Erdogan's move was hailed by Egyptians who slammed their own rulers for failure to take similar action after five Egyptian security and police forces were killed during a border raid last month.
"Egyptians have to credit the man (Erdogan) for his courage and self-esteem. We have to support his visit, which aims to lift the seige on Gaza in a time when Egypt's ruling military is erecting a fence to protect the Israeli Embassy in Cairo," the activists said in their statement.
Meanwhile, Youth for Freedom and Justice, an Alexandria-based group, announced its participation in the welcoming rally.
Group spokesperson Mohamed Abdel Salam said members will participate to express soldiarity with Erdogan and to demand that Egyptian authorities facilitate his trip."
Uncovered: Israel’s role in planned US lawsuit to fight BDS
Ali Abunimah
The Electronic Intifada
6 September 2011
"A group of pro-Israel activists, backed by StandWithUs, a national US pro-Israel US organization, is planning to take legal action to force the Olympia Food Co-op to rescind its historic decision to boycott Israeli products.
The Electronic Intifada has obtained a copy of a 31 May 2011 letter sent to the Board of Directors of the Olympia Food Co-op in Olympia, Washington, threatening “expensive” legal action if the pro-Israel activists’ “demands” to end the boycott of Israeli products are not met.
Other documents, supported by interviews, confirm that the Israeli government has taken part in discussions about, and been given advance knowledge of, the planned lawsuit and another planned action against Evergreen State College in Olympia in response to Palestine solidarity activism by students.
Evergreen State is noted for being the school attended by Rachel Corrie, who was killed by an Israeli occupation soldier operating a bulldozer in the Gaza Strip in March 2003.
These developments indicate new, even more aggressive tactics by pro-Israel organizations to suppress, deter and malign any form of Palestine-related dissent, protest or solidarity action....."
The Electronic Intifada
6 September 2011
"A group of pro-Israel activists, backed by StandWithUs, a national US pro-Israel US organization, is planning to take legal action to force the Olympia Food Co-op to rescind its historic decision to boycott Israeli products.
The Electronic Intifada has obtained a copy of a 31 May 2011 letter sent to the Board of Directors of the Olympia Food Co-op in Olympia, Washington, threatening “expensive” legal action if the pro-Israel activists’ “demands” to end the boycott of Israeli products are not met.
Other documents, supported by interviews, confirm that the Israeli government has taken part in discussions about, and been given advance knowledge of, the planned lawsuit and another planned action against Evergreen State College in Olympia in response to Palestine solidarity activism by students.
Evergreen State is noted for being the school attended by Rachel Corrie, who was killed by an Israeli occupation soldier operating a bulldozer in the Gaza Strip in March 2003.
These developments indicate new, even more aggressive tactics by pro-Israel organizations to suppress, deter and malign any form of Palestine-related dissent, protest or solidarity action....."
The crime of apartheid
In order to keep Israel a "Jewish" state, racist policies amounting to apartheid have been used against Palestinians.
Frank Barat
Al-Jazeera
"....In November this year, a group of legal experts, academics, witnesses, jurists and personalities will meet in Cape Town, South Africa for the 3rd International Session of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine .
This group will go further than previous studies on the question as it will address apartheid against the Palestinian people as a whole and will look into possible consequences for the International Community and legal remedies.
Led by luminaries such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Stephane Hessel, the jury panel (composed of South African heroes such as Ronnie Kasrils and Yasmin Sooka as well as British Barrister Michael Mansfield, US activist Cynthia McKinney, US author Alice Walker, Nobel Prize Winner Mairead Maguire, Spanish Judge Martin Pallin, French lawyer Gisele Halimi and Mali former Minister of Culture Aminata Traore) will listen to testimonies from legal experts and on the ground witnesses (including Winnie Mandela, John Dugard, Raji Surani, and Leah Tsemel) coming from all over the world that will focus on examining Israeli policies towards the Palestinians in detail.
After hearing those people, as well as an envoy of the state of Israel (that has been invited), the jury will deliberate and issue a final opinion.
What if the jury finds that Israel's policies towards the Palestinian people amount to the crime of apartheid defined in the 1976 convention and the 2002 Rome Stature of the ICC?
Duty to prosecute under universal jurisdiction exists under the 1976 Apartheid Convention and under general international law. States (third parties) have a duty to cooperate to end apartheid and not to assist the apartheid regime in question. The case, for added weight, could even be taken to the International Court of Justice.
Will states fulfil their duties? Or will political interest come first, as usual?
As it is often the case, it might have to be down to the people of the world - who want to live in a world based on equality, equal rights for all and justice - to take those findings and make it theirs.
Will they be up to the challenge? Our future depends on it."
Frank Barat
Al-Jazeera
"....In November this year, a group of legal experts, academics, witnesses, jurists and personalities will meet in Cape Town, South Africa for the 3rd International Session of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine .
This group will go further than previous studies on the question as it will address apartheid against the Palestinian people as a whole and will look into possible consequences for the International Community and legal remedies.
Led by luminaries such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Stephane Hessel, the jury panel (composed of South African heroes such as Ronnie Kasrils and Yasmin Sooka as well as British Barrister Michael Mansfield, US activist Cynthia McKinney, US author Alice Walker, Nobel Prize Winner Mairead Maguire, Spanish Judge Martin Pallin, French lawyer Gisele Halimi and Mali former Minister of Culture Aminata Traore) will listen to testimonies from legal experts and on the ground witnesses (including Winnie Mandela, John Dugard, Raji Surani, and Leah Tsemel) coming from all over the world that will focus on examining Israeli policies towards the Palestinians in detail.
After hearing those people, as well as an envoy of the state of Israel (that has been invited), the jury will deliberate and issue a final opinion.
What if the jury finds that Israel's policies towards the Palestinian people amount to the crime of apartheid defined in the 1976 convention and the 2002 Rome Stature of the ICC?
Duty to prosecute under universal jurisdiction exists under the 1976 Apartheid Convention and under general international law. States (third parties) have a duty to cooperate to end apartheid and not to assist the apartheid regime in question. The case, for added weight, could even be taken to the International Court of Justice.
Will states fulfil their duties? Or will political interest come first, as usual?
As it is often the case, it might have to be down to the people of the world - who want to live in a world based on equality, equal rights for all and justice - to take those findings and make it theirs.
Will they be up to the challenge? Our future depends on it."
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Libya is now set to be a scene of multiple battles
NATO's Man, The Libyan Karzai.
A growing rift between the National Transitional Council and local leaders exposes conflicting visions for Libya's future
A GOOD ANALYSIS
A GOOD ANALYSIS
Soumaya Ghannoushi
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 6 September 2011
"....The vacuum created by Gaddafi's departure is now filled by two polarised camps. The first is the National Transitional Council (NTC), made up largely of ex-ministers and prominent senior Gaddafi officials who jumped from his ship as it began to sink. These enjoy the support of Nato and derive their current power and influence from the backing of western capitals. The second is composed of political and military local leaders who have played a decisive role in the liberation of the various Libyan cities from the Gaddafi brigades.
The thousands of fighters and activists these command are now convened within local military councils, such as the Tripoli council, which was founded following the liberation of the capital and which recently elected Abdul Hakim Belhaj as its head. Ironically, this hero of the liberation of Tripoli is the same man who, a few years back had been deported, along with other Libyan dissidents, by MI6 and the CIA to Gaddafi, their close ally at the time.....
Many fighters, such as Sallabi, are insisting that they played the key role in toppling Gaddafi. Some go further, saying that their swift capture of Tripoli had taken the NTC by surprise and that they had defeated what they claim was Nato's real plan for the country: its partition into east and west. Nato's strategy, they maintain, was to freeze the conflict in the west, effectively turning Brega into the dividing line between the liberated east and Gaddafi's west.
Two sources of legitimacy now confront each other in Libya: a legitimacy derived from armed struggle on the one hand, and the de facto legitimacy of a self-appointed leadership with western support on the other. The two are locked in a cold (and potentially hot) conflict over Libya's future, the nature of its political order and its foreign policy.....
Gaddafi has gone, but Libya is now set to be a scene of multiple battles: not only conflicts between Nato's men and the fighters on the ground, but also between the foreign forces that have invested in the war – the French, who are determined to have the upper hand politically and economically; the Italians, who regard Libya as their backyard; the British, who want to safeguard their contracts; the Turks, who are keen to revive their influence in the old Ottoman hemisphere; and of course the losing players in the emerging order, the Chinese and the Russians."
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 6 September 2011
"....The vacuum created by Gaddafi's departure is now filled by two polarised camps. The first is the National Transitional Council (NTC), made up largely of ex-ministers and prominent senior Gaddafi officials who jumped from his ship as it began to sink. These enjoy the support of Nato and derive their current power and influence from the backing of western capitals. The second is composed of political and military local leaders who have played a decisive role in the liberation of the various Libyan cities from the Gaddafi brigades.
The thousands of fighters and activists these command are now convened within local military councils, such as the Tripoli council, which was founded following the liberation of the capital and which recently elected Abdul Hakim Belhaj as its head. Ironically, this hero of the liberation of Tripoli is the same man who, a few years back had been deported, along with other Libyan dissidents, by MI6 and the CIA to Gaddafi, their close ally at the time.....
Many fighters, such as Sallabi, are insisting that they played the key role in toppling Gaddafi. Some go further, saying that their swift capture of Tripoli had taken the NTC by surprise and that they had defeated what they claim was Nato's real plan for the country: its partition into east and west. Nato's strategy, they maintain, was to freeze the conflict in the west, effectively turning Brega into the dividing line between the liberated east and Gaddafi's west.
Two sources of legitimacy now confront each other in Libya: a legitimacy derived from armed struggle on the one hand, and the de facto legitimacy of a self-appointed leadership with western support on the other. The two are locked in a cold (and potentially hot) conflict over Libya's future, the nature of its political order and its foreign policy.....
Gaddafi has gone, but Libya is now set to be a scene of multiple battles: not only conflicts between Nato's men and the fighters on the ground, but also between the foreign forces that have invested in the war – the French, who are determined to have the upper hand politically and economically; the Italians, who regard Libya as their backyard; the British, who want to safeguard their contracts; the Turks, who are keen to revive their influence in the old Ottoman hemisphere; and of course the losing players in the emerging order, the Chinese and the Russians."
Video: Gaddafi loyalists' 'torture chamber and mass grave' in Khoms
Amateur footage obtained by Reuters purports to show anti-Gaddafi fighters being tortured in what appears to be a shipping container, while residents of the Libyan town of Khoms, 60 miles east of Tripoli, have unearthed the bodies of 17 men in a mass grave
Warning: Contains disturbing images
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 6 September 2011
Warning: Contains disturbing images
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 6 September 2011
Turkish PM 'totally suspends' defence trade links with Israel
Turkey's Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is threatening wider sanctions after Israel refused to apologise for the killing of nine Turks on a Gaza-found flotilla
The Independent
Turkey's Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has threatened to widen sanctions against Israel – which he accused of behaving like a "spoiled boy" – and confirmed he was considering a politically highly sensitive visit to Gaza, possibly as early as next week.
The crisis in Israel-Turkish relations deepened as Mr Erdogan said his government was "totally suspending" defence industry links after Israel refused to apologise for the killing of nine Turks on a Gaza-bound flotilla 15 months ago.
Mr Erdogan said there would also be an enhanced Turkish naval presence to ensure "freedom of navigation" in the eastern Mediterranean and declared: "Trade ties, military ties, regarding defence industry ties, we are completely suspending them." He added without elaboration: "This process will be followed by different measures."
Erdogan to speak at Tahrir on Sept 12 and try and visit Gaza after
(Via Mondoweiss)
From a Turkish broadcasting site. This could be big, in the runup to the statehood initiative. The item says that Erdogan may go to Gaza after addressing Tahrir, but that part of the trip has not been confirmed. This could be international theater on a grand scale. And a call for Palestinian freedom, heard round the world. Even National Public Radio is on the Israel-Turkey divorce.
From a Turkish broadcasting site. This could be big, in the runup to the statehood initiative. The item says that Erdogan may go to Gaza after addressing Tahrir, but that part of the trip has not been confirmed. This could be international theater on a grand scale. And a call for Palestinian freedom, heard round the world. Even National Public Radio is on the Israel-Turkey divorce.
استلام الرسالة التركية واجب الوقت
"طرد السفير الإسرائيلي من تركيا ليس صفعة موجهة إلى تل أبيب فحسب، لكنه أيضا يوجه رسالة مهمة إلى العواصم المعنية في المنطقة، تدعو إلى ضرورة إيقاف إسرائيل عند حدها؛ لذلك فإن استلام الرسالة يصبح واجب الوقت.
.....
إسرائيل لم تحسن قراءة الوضع الداخلي في تركيا، خصوصا بعد الفوز الكبير الذي حققه حزب العدالة والتنمية في الانتخابات التشريعية الأخيرة، وتراجع دور العسكر في صناعة القرار السياسي
....
التعليقات الإسرائيلية على المظاهرات التي خرجت في القاهرة داعية إلى طرد السفير الإسرائيلي، وإعادة النظر في معاهدة السلام، كلها تعبر عن التشاؤم من مستقبل العلاقات بين البلدين
....
تقدم لنا تركيا درسا جديدا، خلاصته أن القيادة التي تستمد شرعيتها من ثقة الشعب وتأييده تملك رصيدا من القوة يمكنها إذا أرادت أن تتحدى أساطين الاستعلاء والاستكبار
....
الذي يبعث على الدهشة أيضا ذلك الخوف والوهن البادي في خطاب بعض عناصر النخبة السياسية، الذين ما انفكوا يحذرون من "التصعيد" ضد إسرائيل. وكأن أي تصرف دبلوماسي أو إجراء سياسي قريب مما فعلته تركيا، تعبر به مصر عن غضبها وغيرتها على دماء أبنائها، هو إطلاق لنفير الحرب وتوريط في المواجهة العسكرية!
لقد أدركنا من الثورة في مصر وتونس، أن شعوبنا ليست بالضعف الذي توهمته، وأن المستبدين ليسوا بالقوة التي صوروها لنا. لكن يبدو أن هذه الثقة التي توافرت لشعوبنا لم تنتقل بالدرجة الكافية إلى النخب الطافية على السطح بالرغم من أن المقولة ذاتها تنطبق على إسرائيل، التي أدركنا منذ محاولة غزو لبنان في عام 2006، وحملة اجتياح غزة في 2008، أنها أيضا ليست بالقوة العسكرية التي ادعتها. كما اكتشفنا خلال السنوات الأخيرة أن قوتها السياسية بذات المستوى.
...."
.....
إسرائيل لم تحسن قراءة الوضع الداخلي في تركيا، خصوصا بعد الفوز الكبير الذي حققه حزب العدالة والتنمية في الانتخابات التشريعية الأخيرة، وتراجع دور العسكر في صناعة القرار السياسي
....
التعليقات الإسرائيلية على المظاهرات التي خرجت في القاهرة داعية إلى طرد السفير الإسرائيلي، وإعادة النظر في معاهدة السلام، كلها تعبر عن التشاؤم من مستقبل العلاقات بين البلدين
....
تقدم لنا تركيا درسا جديدا، خلاصته أن القيادة التي تستمد شرعيتها من ثقة الشعب وتأييده تملك رصيدا من القوة يمكنها إذا أرادت أن تتحدى أساطين الاستعلاء والاستكبار
....
الذي يبعث على الدهشة أيضا ذلك الخوف والوهن البادي في خطاب بعض عناصر النخبة السياسية، الذين ما انفكوا يحذرون من "التصعيد" ضد إسرائيل. وكأن أي تصرف دبلوماسي أو إجراء سياسي قريب مما فعلته تركيا، تعبر به مصر عن غضبها وغيرتها على دماء أبنائها، هو إطلاق لنفير الحرب وتوريط في المواجهة العسكرية!
لقد أدركنا من الثورة في مصر وتونس، أن شعوبنا ليست بالضعف الذي توهمته، وأن المستبدين ليسوا بالقوة التي صوروها لنا. لكن يبدو أن هذه الثقة التي توافرت لشعوبنا لم تنتقل بالدرجة الكافية إلى النخب الطافية على السطح بالرغم من أن المقولة ذاتها تنطبق على إسرائيل، التي أدركنا منذ محاولة غزو لبنان في عام 2006، وحملة اجتياح غزة في 2008، أنها أيضا ليست بالقوة العسكرية التي ادعتها. كما اكتشفنا خلال السنوات الأخيرة أن قوتها السياسية بذات المستوى.
...."
Meet Captain Israel, the anti-BDS superhero
Creators of a new comic hope that they can counter the 'venomous' Israel boycott movement.
Mark LeVine
Al-Jazeera
"...
Saving Brand Israel
It turns out that Captain Israel has come - from where, no one knows (Brooklyn? Miami Beach? Petakh Tikva?) - to save Brand Israel from the evildoers behind the Boycott, Disinvestment and Sanctions movement. In my last column I interviewed Birzeit University sociologist Lisa Taraki, one of the founders of the movement, who explained that the BDS programme sought to raise awareness of how the Israeli government and its allies in the US spend millions of dollars to create a brand image of Israel that occludes the realities of the occupation and its treatment of Palestinians....
Comically revisionist history
Captain Israel could use his super brain power to help educate Israelis - actually, American Jews, since I can't imagine any Israeli wasting her time reading the comic - about the realities of decades of brutal occupation, the same way the great Jewish superheroes of old, the Prophets, took on the People of Israel when their actions contradicted biblical injunctions against oppression and exploitation.
Captain Israel could even show up at the next demonstration in Bil'in or Sheikh Jarrah and defend the Israeli and Palestinian peace activists who are routinely attacked by Israeli forces and settlers. (In fact, in working together non-violently against occupation, they are the true superheroes of today.)
Instead, Captain Israel seems to be reading from a very old (comic) book, one in which Israel can do no wrong and the Land of Israel is empty of Palestinians, who don't exist in his version except as "absentee landowners" 100 years ago and terrorists today.
Perhaps his super vision is such that he doesn't even have to see them. Why should he, when he tells us that nothing important happened for the last 400 years in the country, until Jews came back and took a desolate, barren, empty land and repopulated and restored it?...."
Mark LeVine
Al-Jazeera
"...
Saving Brand Israel
It turns out that Captain Israel has come - from where, no one knows (Brooklyn? Miami Beach? Petakh Tikva?) - to save Brand Israel from the evildoers behind the Boycott, Disinvestment and Sanctions movement. In my last column I interviewed Birzeit University sociologist Lisa Taraki, one of the founders of the movement, who explained that the BDS programme sought to raise awareness of how the Israeli government and its allies in the US spend millions of dollars to create a brand image of Israel that occludes the realities of the occupation and its treatment of Palestinians....
Comically revisionist history
Captain Israel could use his super brain power to help educate Israelis - actually, American Jews, since I can't imagine any Israeli wasting her time reading the comic - about the realities of decades of brutal occupation, the same way the great Jewish superheroes of old, the Prophets, took on the People of Israel when their actions contradicted biblical injunctions against oppression and exploitation.
Captain Israel could even show up at the next demonstration in Bil'in or Sheikh Jarrah and defend the Israeli and Palestinian peace activists who are routinely attacked by Israeli forces and settlers. (In fact, in working together non-violently against occupation, they are the true superheroes of today.)
Instead, Captain Israel seems to be reading from a very old (comic) book, one in which Israel can do no wrong and the Land of Israel is empty of Palestinians, who don't exist in his version except as "absentee landowners" 100 years ago and terrorists today.
Perhaps his super vision is such that he doesn't even have to see them. Why should he, when he tells us that nothing important happened for the last 400 years in the country, until Jews came back and took a desolate, barren, empty land and repopulated and restored it?...."
9/11 and the Imperial Mentality
Looking Back on 9/11 a Decade Later
by Noam Chomsky
"....We might also do well to recall Jackson’s eloquent words at Nuremberg on the principle of universality: “If certain acts in violation of treaties are crimes, they are crimes whether the United States does them or whether Germany does them, and we are not prepared to lay down a rule of criminal conduct against others which we would not be willing to have invoked against us.”
It is also clear that announced intentions are irrelevant, even if they are truly believed. Internal records reveal that Japanese fascists apparently did believe that, by ravaging China, they were laboring to turn it into an “earthly paradise.” And although it may be difficult to imagine, it is conceivable that Bush and company believed they were protecting the world from destruction by Saddam’s nuclear weapons. All irrelevant, though ardent loyalists on all sides may try to convince themselves otherwise.
We are left with two choices: either Bush and associates are guilty of the “supreme international crime” including all the evils that follow, or else we declare that the Nuremberg proceedings were a farce and the allies were guilty of judicial murder....."
by Noam Chomsky
"....We might also do well to recall Jackson’s eloquent words at Nuremberg on the principle of universality: “If certain acts in violation of treaties are crimes, they are crimes whether the United States does them or whether Germany does them, and we are not prepared to lay down a rule of criminal conduct against others which we would not be willing to have invoked against us.”
It is also clear that announced intentions are irrelevant, even if they are truly believed. Internal records reveal that Japanese fascists apparently did believe that, by ravaging China, they were laboring to turn it into an “earthly paradise.” And although it may be difficult to imagine, it is conceivable that Bush and company believed they were protecting the world from destruction by Saddam’s nuclear weapons. All irrelevant, though ardent loyalists on all sides may try to convince themselves otherwise.
We are left with two choices: either Bush and associates are guilty of the “supreme international crime” including all the evils that follow, or else we declare that the Nuremberg proceedings were a farce and the allies were guilty of judicial murder....."
9/11: A 'babble of idiots'? History has been the judge of that
The Guardian's comment editor at the time of 9/11 on a savage response to those who foresaw the reality of a war on terror
Seumas Milne
guardian.co.uk, Monday 5 September 2011
"By the time the second plane hit the World Trade Centre, the battle to define the 9/11 attacks had already begun, on both sides of the Atlantic. In the US President Bush made the fateful call for a war on terror, as the media rallied to the flag. In Britain Tony Blair and his cheerleaders enthusiastically fell into line. Inevitably, they faced a bit more opposition to the absurd claim that the atrocities had come out of a clear blue sky, and the country must follow wherever the wounded hyperpower led.
But not a lot. Political and media reaction to anyone who linked what had happened in New York and Washington to US and western intervention in the Muslim world, or challenged the drive to war, was savage.
From September 11 2001 onwards, the Guardian (almost uniquely in the British press) nevertheless ensured that those voices would be unmistakably heard in a full-spectrum debate about why the attacks had taken place and how the US and wider western world should respond.
The backlash verged on the deranged. Bizarre as it seems a decade on, the fact that the Guardian allowed writers to connect the attacks with US policy in the rest of the world was treated as treasonous in its supposed "anti-Americanism".....
The most heartening response to the breadth of Guardian commentary after 9/11 came from the US itself, where debate about what had happened, and why, was as good as shut down in the mainstream media in the wake of the attacks. One byproduct of that official public silence was a dramatic increase in US readership of the Guardian's website, as millions of Americans looked for a perspective and range of views they weren't getting at home.
Traffic on the Guardian's website doubled in the months after 9/11, driven from the US. Articles from the Guardian were taped in bookshop windows from Brooklyn to San Francisco. As Emily Bell, then editor of Guardian Unlimited and now digital director at Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism, puts it, the post-9/11 debate was "totally transformative" for the Guardian, turning it into one of the two fastest growing news sites in the US – and creating the springboard for a US readership now larger by some measures than in Britain.
Which only goes to show how those who accused us of "anti-Americanism" in 2001 so utterly misjudged the society they claimed to champion."
Seumas Milne
guardian.co.uk, Monday 5 September 2011
"By the time the second plane hit the World Trade Centre, the battle to define the 9/11 attacks had already begun, on both sides of the Atlantic. In the US President Bush made the fateful call for a war on terror, as the media rallied to the flag. In Britain Tony Blair and his cheerleaders enthusiastically fell into line. Inevitably, they faced a bit more opposition to the absurd claim that the atrocities had come out of a clear blue sky, and the country must follow wherever the wounded hyperpower led.
But not a lot. Political and media reaction to anyone who linked what had happened in New York and Washington to US and western intervention in the Muslim world, or challenged the drive to war, was savage.
From September 11 2001 onwards, the Guardian (almost uniquely in the British press) nevertheless ensured that those voices would be unmistakably heard in a full-spectrum debate about why the attacks had taken place and how the US and wider western world should respond.
The backlash verged on the deranged. Bizarre as it seems a decade on, the fact that the Guardian allowed writers to connect the attacks with US policy in the rest of the world was treated as treasonous in its supposed "anti-Americanism".....
The most heartening response to the breadth of Guardian commentary after 9/11 came from the US itself, where debate about what had happened, and why, was as good as shut down in the mainstream media in the wake of the attacks. One byproduct of that official public silence was a dramatic increase in US readership of the Guardian's website, as millions of Americans looked for a perspective and range of views they weren't getting at home.
Traffic on the Guardian's website doubled in the months after 9/11, driven from the US. Articles from the Guardian were taped in bookshop windows from Brooklyn to San Francisco. As Emily Bell, then editor of Guardian Unlimited and now digital director at Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism, puts it, the post-9/11 debate was "totally transformative" for the Guardian, turning it into one of the two fastest growing news sites in the US – and creating the springboard for a US readership now larger by some measures than in Britain.
Which only goes to show how those who accused us of "anti-Americanism" in 2001 so utterly misjudged the society they claimed to champion."
Monday, September 5, 2011
The tide may be turning against systematic abuses of prisoners
The close co-operation amounted to farming out torture by the CIA and MI6 to Gaddafi and his interrogators
By Patrick Cockburn
Tuesday, 6 September 2011
"....Will the close co-operation on what amounted to farming out torture by the CIA and MI6 to Muammar Gaddafi and his interrogators be forgotten in the rush of events in Libya? Western intelligence services presumably hope so. The fragile and divided Libyan authorities may think twice before quarrelling with the very organisations whose aid over the past six months enabled them to defeat Gaddafi.
I saw Abdelhakim Belhaj, the head of the military council controlling all militia brigades in Tripoli, last week and asked him about how he was arrested in Malaysia, tortured in Thailand, and sent back for more torture and imprisonment in Abu Salim prison in Tripoli. Given the Libyan rebels' reliance on Nato air strikes, I thought it likely that Belhaj, a founder of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group which had been accused of links to al-Qa'ida, would avoid talking about his rendition. Instead Belhaj showed that he was still a very angry man. He said he was considering suing those responsible.
It is good that Belhaj is not willing to cover up what happened to him, and that his story is confirmed by documents in Tripoli proving the cosy relationship between MI6, the CIA and Gaddafi. It should help to discredit the way in which the world's most disgusting and oppressive dictators have been able in the decade since 9/11 to claim that anybody opposing them was an Islamic fundamentalist linked to al-Qa'ida. By 2003 the government of Uzbekistan boiled to death two prisoners and still got a US grant for its security services.....
It now turns out that several of the rebels who played a crucial role in overthrowing Gaddafi, and have been lauded as freedom fighters by Western leaders, were among those savagely tortured by MI6's friends in Abu Salim. This might just begin to turn the tide against the systematic mistreatment of prisoners which has become such a hallmark of the security world since 9/11."
By Patrick Cockburn
Tuesday, 6 September 2011
"....Will the close co-operation on what amounted to farming out torture by the CIA and MI6 to Muammar Gaddafi and his interrogators be forgotten in the rush of events in Libya? Western intelligence services presumably hope so. The fragile and divided Libyan authorities may think twice before quarrelling with the very organisations whose aid over the past six months enabled them to defeat Gaddafi.
I saw Abdelhakim Belhaj, the head of the military council controlling all militia brigades in Tripoli, last week and asked him about how he was arrested in Malaysia, tortured in Thailand, and sent back for more torture and imprisonment in Abu Salim prison in Tripoli. Given the Libyan rebels' reliance on Nato air strikes, I thought it likely that Belhaj, a founder of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group which had been accused of links to al-Qa'ida, would avoid talking about his rendition. Instead Belhaj showed that he was still a very angry man. He said he was considering suing those responsible.
It is good that Belhaj is not willing to cover up what happened to him, and that his story is confirmed by documents in Tripoli proving the cosy relationship between MI6, the CIA and Gaddafi. It should help to discredit the way in which the world's most disgusting and oppressive dictators have been able in the decade since 9/11 to claim that anybody opposing them was an Islamic fundamentalist linked to al-Qa'ida. By 2003 the government of Uzbekistan boiled to death two prisoners and still got a US grant for its security services.....
It now turns out that several of the rebels who played a crucial role in overthrowing Gaddafi, and have been lauded as freedom fighters by Western leaders, were among those savagely tortured by MI6's friends in Abu Salim. This might just begin to turn the tide against the systematic mistreatment of prisoners which has become such a hallmark of the security world since 9/11."
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