Monday, November 07, 2011
Sarkozy calls Netanyahu a liar
Microphones accidently left on after G20 meeting pick up private conversation between US, French presidents. Sarkozy admits he 'can't stand' Israeli premier. Obama: You're fed up with him? I have to deal with him every day!
Islamists on Probation
The Ghosts of the "Islamic Menace"
By Ramzy Baroud
CounterPunch
"Following Tunisia’s first fair and free elections on 27 October, the Western media responded with a characteristic sense of fear and alarm. For many, it seemed that the ghost of the Islamic menace was back to haunt Western Values throughout the Arab world. The narrative employed by media outlets was no more than cleverly disguised Islamophobia, masquerading as genuine concern for democracy and the welfare of women and minority groups.
The victory of the Al-Nahda (Renaissance) Party was all but predictable. Official results showed that the party won more than 41 per cent of the vote, providing it with 90 seats in the 217-member new Constituent Assembly, or parliament......
The Middle East “really worries me”, said Congressman Dan Burton. He asked Secretary of State Hillary Clinton what the Obama administration “plans to do make sure that we don’t have a radical government taking over those places”.
“I think a lot of the leaders are saying the right things and some are saying things that do give pause to us,” she said. “We’re going to do all that we can within our power to basically try to influence outcomes.”
Is any further comment necessary?"
By Ramzy Baroud
CounterPunch
"Following Tunisia’s first fair and free elections on 27 October, the Western media responded with a characteristic sense of fear and alarm. For many, it seemed that the ghost of the Islamic menace was back to haunt Western Values throughout the Arab world. The narrative employed by media outlets was no more than cleverly disguised Islamophobia, masquerading as genuine concern for democracy and the welfare of women and minority groups.
The victory of the Al-Nahda (Renaissance) Party was all but predictable. Official results showed that the party won more than 41 per cent of the vote, providing it with 90 seats in the 217-member new Constituent Assembly, or parliament......
The Middle East “really worries me”, said Congressman Dan Burton. He asked Secretary of State Hillary Clinton what the Obama administration “plans to do make sure that we don’t have a radical government taking over those places”.
“I think a lot of the leaders are saying the right things and some are saying things that do give pause to us,” she said. “We’re going to do all that we can within our power to basically try to influence outcomes.”
Is any further comment necessary?"
Israel Intercepts Gaza-Bound Flotilla; Dozens Detained Including Democracy Now! Correspondent
Democracy Now!
"Israeli forces intercepted two Gaza-bound boats in international waters on Friday to prevent the boats from breaking the naval blockade of Gaza. The Canadian and Irish boats made up the "Freedom Waves to Gaza" flotilla. Israel detained the 27 activists on board, as well as all of the journalists — including Democracy Now! correspondent Jihan Hafiz. According to flotilla organizers, 21 people remain in Israeli custody, including Hafiz. The flotilla marked the latest failed attempt by international activists to challenge the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza. We speak to journalist Lina Attalah, who was on the Canadian boat named "Tahrir" in the flotilla and was deported to Egypt yesterday. She is the managing editor of Al-Masry Al-Youm, English edition, an independent news website. The Israeli navy "cornered our boats from all sides... We were all equally put at gunpoint. Even before they boarded our boat, everyone was put at gunpoint from Israeli ships," Attalah says. "Although we were clearly showing that we are journalists, Jihan Hafiz, for example, who is a Democracy Now! journalist, had her press card out and clear, but she was one of the first people asked to kneel on her knees and to raise her hands." Attalah said some passengers were tasered...."
"Israeli forces intercepted two Gaza-bound boats in international waters on Friday to prevent the boats from breaking the naval blockade of Gaza. The Canadian and Irish boats made up the "Freedom Waves to Gaza" flotilla. Israel detained the 27 activists on board, as well as all of the journalists — including Democracy Now! correspondent Jihan Hafiz. According to flotilla organizers, 21 people remain in Israeli custody, including Hafiz. The flotilla marked the latest failed attempt by international activists to challenge the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza. We speak to journalist Lina Attalah, who was on the Canadian boat named "Tahrir" in the flotilla and was deported to Egypt yesterday. She is the managing editor of Al-Masry Al-Youm, English edition, an independent news website. The Israeli navy "cornered our boats from all sides... We were all equally put at gunpoint. Even before they boarded our boat, everyone was put at gunpoint from Israeli ships," Attalah says. "Although we were clearly showing that we are journalists, Jihan Hafiz, for example, who is a Democracy Now! journalist, had her press card out and clear, but she was one of the first people asked to kneel on her knees and to raise her hands." Attalah said some passengers were tasered...."
Egypt’s Military Widens Crackdown As Prominent Blogger Alaa Abdel Fattah Remains Imprisoned
Democracy Now!
"The mother of prominent Egyptian political activist and blogger Alaa Abdel Fattah began a hunger strike yesterday protesting her son’s detention by the country’s military council. Abdel Fattah was arrested last week after being accused of instigating clashes between military forces and Coptic Christians nearly a month ago at the state television building, Maspeero. At least 28 people were killed in the incident. As calls among activists grow for limiting U.S. military assistance to Egypt, Secretary of State Hilary Clinton said that the United States is not in favour of imposing any conditions on American aid. Democracy Now! correspondent Anjali Kamat is in Cairo and filed this report. Special thanks to Jacquie Soohen of Big Noise Films and Mosireen for foot...."
"The mother of prominent Egyptian political activist and blogger Alaa Abdel Fattah began a hunger strike yesterday protesting her son’s detention by the country’s military council. Abdel Fattah was arrested last week after being accused of instigating clashes between military forces and Coptic Christians nearly a month ago at the state television building, Maspeero. At least 28 people were killed in the incident. As calls among activists grow for limiting U.S. military assistance to Egypt, Secretary of State Hilary Clinton said that the United States is not in favour of imposing any conditions on American aid. Democracy Now! correspondent Anjali Kamat is in Cairo and filed this report. Special thanks to Jacquie Soohen of Big Noise Films and Mosireen for foot...."
حنين زعبي تنهي تقديم شهادتها أمام محكمة راسل: "نحن لسنا أمام سياسة عنصرية، وإنما أمام نظام عنصريّ"
"النائبة زعبي تنهي تقديم شهادتها أمام "محكمة راسل" في جنوب أفريقيا:
- "نحن لسنا أمام سياسة عنصرية، بل نحن أمام نظام عنصري".
- "في الوقت الذي يقوم العالم فيه في الكشف عن إسرائيل كدولة عنصرية، تقوم فيها إسرائيل بمطالبة العالم الإعتراف بها كدولة يهودية".
- "إسرائيل تطالب العالم بالاعتراف بحقها في أن تكون عنصرية".
- هيئة القضاة والطاقم القانوني للمحكمة أعلن عن دعمه للنائبة زعبي.
- تقرير خاص بعرب 48 -
....
إسرائيل لم تكتف بسرقة الأرض كما الأبرتهايد، إنما تسرق وطننا أيضا عبر التهويد
وأكملت زعبي قائلة: "الأبرتهايد سرق الأرض من السود، أما إسرائيل فتحاول سرقة الوطن منا، هي تحاول مصادرة علاقتنا مع الوطن، فتمحو الأسماء العربية من فضاء الوطن، وتعبرن الشوارع والمفارق، وتمحو أي إشارة للقرى والمدن العربية، وتهود المكان برمته."
وأضافت: "يريدون أن يسرقوا منا وطنا وليس فقط أرضا"، وتابعت "أكثر من هذا، في الكنيست وفي بعض قرارات المحكمة، يبررون مصادرة الأرض بأننا غزاة للأرض، وليس أصحابها الأصليين. كما أن جنوب أفريقيا لم تقم بهندسة هويات، ولم تحاول تشكيل أو محو هوية السكان الأفارقة، السود أو الملونين، ولم تنكر عليهم هويتهم، ولم تحاول خلق هوية جديدة مشوهة، وتختلف طبيعة الصراع على مستوى الهويات التي تتقاطع بشكل مركب في أفريقيا، أما السياسات الاسرائيلية، فقد قامت بشكل عنيف وهمجي بتشكيل هوية <صهيونية>، وفي الوقت نفسه تحارب الهوية الفلسطينية، وتمنع تدريس كل ما يتعلق بها، وتحاول تشويهها، وتشكيل ما يعرف بـ <عرب-إسرائيل>".
سياسات الولاء والهوية
وأوضحت النائبة زعبي أن سياسات الولاء هذه "تطورت" بدرجات، وتم تقنينها بما أصبح يعرف بقوانين الولاء، إذ أن إسرائيل هي الدولة الوحيدة في العالم التي تطالب مواطنيها بالولاء لأيديولوجية الدولة، وليس فقط احترام قوانينها، وتابعت: "إسرائيل تريد أن تكون عنصرية تجاهي، وتطالبني بأن أقتنع بأن هذا جزء من قناعاتي الخاصة أيضا!"
....."
- "نحن لسنا أمام سياسة عنصرية، بل نحن أمام نظام عنصري".
- "في الوقت الذي يقوم العالم فيه في الكشف عن إسرائيل كدولة عنصرية، تقوم فيها إسرائيل بمطالبة العالم الإعتراف بها كدولة يهودية".
- "إسرائيل تطالب العالم بالاعتراف بحقها في أن تكون عنصرية".
- هيئة القضاة والطاقم القانوني للمحكمة أعلن عن دعمه للنائبة زعبي.
- تقرير خاص بعرب 48 -
....
إسرائيل لم تكتف بسرقة الأرض كما الأبرتهايد، إنما تسرق وطننا أيضا عبر التهويد
وأكملت زعبي قائلة: "الأبرتهايد سرق الأرض من السود، أما إسرائيل فتحاول سرقة الوطن منا، هي تحاول مصادرة علاقتنا مع الوطن، فتمحو الأسماء العربية من فضاء الوطن، وتعبرن الشوارع والمفارق، وتمحو أي إشارة للقرى والمدن العربية، وتهود المكان برمته."
وأضافت: "يريدون أن يسرقوا منا وطنا وليس فقط أرضا"، وتابعت "أكثر من هذا، في الكنيست وفي بعض قرارات المحكمة، يبررون مصادرة الأرض بأننا غزاة للأرض، وليس أصحابها الأصليين. كما أن جنوب أفريقيا لم تقم بهندسة هويات، ولم تحاول تشكيل أو محو هوية السكان الأفارقة، السود أو الملونين، ولم تنكر عليهم هويتهم، ولم تحاول خلق هوية جديدة مشوهة، وتختلف طبيعة الصراع على مستوى الهويات التي تتقاطع بشكل مركب في أفريقيا، أما السياسات الاسرائيلية، فقد قامت بشكل عنيف وهمجي بتشكيل هوية <صهيونية>، وفي الوقت نفسه تحارب الهوية الفلسطينية، وتمنع تدريس كل ما يتعلق بها، وتحاول تشويهها، وتشكيل ما يعرف بـ <عرب-إسرائيل>".
سياسات الولاء والهوية
وأوضحت النائبة زعبي أن سياسات الولاء هذه "تطورت" بدرجات، وتم تقنينها بما أصبح يعرف بقوانين الولاء، إذ أن إسرائيل هي الدولة الوحيدة في العالم التي تطالب مواطنيها بالولاء لأيديولوجية الدولة، وليس فقط احترام قوانينها، وتابعت: "إسرائيل تريد أن تكون عنصرية تجاهي، وتطالبني بأن أقتنع بأن هذا جزء من قناعاتي الخاصة أيضا!"
....."
Finding Freedom in Handcuffs
By Chris Hedges
Posted on Nov 7, 2011
"Editor’s note: Truthdig columnist Chris Hedges, an activist, an author and a member of a reporting team that won a 2002 Pulitzer Prize, wrote this article after he was released from custody following his arrest last Thursday. He and about 15 other participants in the Occupy Wall Street movement were detained as they protested outside the global headquarters of Goldman Sachs in lower Manhattan.
Faces appeared to me moments before the New York City police arrested us Thursday in front of Goldman Sachs. They were not the faces of the smug Goldman Sachs employees, who peered at us through the revolving glass doors and lobby windows, a pathetic collection of middle-aged fraternity and sorority members. They were not the faces of the blue-uniformed police with their dangling cords of white and black plastic handcuffs, or the thuggish Goldman Sachs security personnel, whose buzz cuts and dead eyes reminded me of the East German secret police, the Stasi. They were not the faces of the demonstrators around me, the ones with massive student debts and no jobs, the ones whose broken dreams weigh them down like a cross, the ones whose anger and betrayal triggered the street demonstrations and occupations for justice. They were not the faces of the onlookers—the construction workers, who seemed cheered by the march on Goldman Sachs, or the suited businessmen who did not. They were faraway faces. They were the faces of children dying. They were tiny, confused, bewildered faces I had seen in the southern Sudan, Gaza and the slums of Brazzaville, Nairobi, Cairo and Delhi and the wars I covered. They were faces with large, glassy eyes, above bloated bellies. They were the small faces of children convulsed by the ravages of starvation and disease.
I carry these faces. They do not leave me. I look at my own children and cannot forget them, these other children who never had a chance. War brings with it a host of horrors, including famine, but the worst is always the human detritus that war and famine leave behind, the small, frail bodies whose tangled limbs and vacant eyes condemn us all. The wealthy and the powerful, the ones behind the glass at Goldman Sachs, laughed and snapped pictures of us as if we were a brief and odd lunchtime diversion from commodities trading, from hoarding and profit, from this collective sickness of money worship, as if we were creatures in a cage, which in fact we soon were...."
I carry these faces. They do not leave me. I look at my own children and cannot forget them, these other children who never had a chance. War brings with it a host of horrors, including famine, but the worst is always the human detritus that war and famine leave behind, the small, frail bodies whose tangled limbs and vacant eyes condemn us all. The wealthy and the powerful, the ones behind the glass at Goldman Sachs, laughed and snapped pictures of us as if we were a brief and odd lunchtime diversion from commodities trading, from hoarding and profit, from this collective sickness of money worship, as if we were creatures in a cage, which in fact we soon were...."
Mr Amano goes to Washington
By Kaveh L Afrasiabi
Asia Times
"The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Yukiya Amano, is in Washington ahead of a new report on Iran's nuclear program that is being released into the less-than-rarefied air of disinformation. Not since 2002-2003, when United States officials willingly lied to the world community about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, has there been such a deafening noise surrounding an IAEA country report....
According to a well-placed source in Washington, who didn't want to be identified, Israel's real intention is not war, but rather to accelerate the Iran sanctions, particularly by the US Congress, which is mulling energy sanctions and the like. If so, Israel is doing a good job, even though its bluff may backfire next time around, especially with the Iranians having warned Israel of very dire consequences if it were to attack Iran.
To be successful, an Israeli strike at Iran has to target dozens of sites, some in or around populated areas, which simply means a strong likelihood of high civilian casualties. That would trigger a tsunami of Iranian popular anger that would in turn impel the political leaders to try to respond as hard as possible at Israeli and US interests. It is a sure bet that the conflict would spread to the Persian Gulf and adversely affect the flow of oil from the region....."
War and the Word Cloud
Why the usual war propaganda won’t save the American empire
by Justin Raimondo, November 07, 2011
"An alleged “nuclear weapons” site in Syria has been revealed to be a textile factory – and another of the War Party’s tall tales is debunked. To those of a skeptical mindset – i.e., nearly anyone outside of Washington – this throws fresh doubt on the claim that the Israeli raid on a supposed Syrian nuclear weapons facility at Deir ez Zour, in 2007, destroyed anything more dangerous than an empty warehouse.
The War Party doesn’t give up quite so easily, however: now we are being told that the International Atomic Energy Administration (IAEA), the UN’s nuclear watchdog agency, has a new report coming out with satellite photos of a supposed nuclear facility in Iran – just as in the case of the two Syrian sites.
Get out your bullshit detector, press the “on” button, and watch it light up like a fourth of July fireworks display......
This is not something to be celebrated. Empires can fall gracefully, with minimum damage to the imperial power – but only if they are dismantled quite deliberately, rather than simply lost. Because losing implies a fight to retain it, a battle that slowly (or rapidly) drains the very lifeblood out of us. The political class has no intentions of relinquishing its vaunted role as the World’s Sole Superpower, and so what we are in for is a ruinous and protracted implosion that pulverizes the social order and flattens longstanding political institutions. What’s left is a void, an enormous vacuum waiting to be filled – but with what?........"
by Justin Raimondo, November 07, 2011
"An alleged “nuclear weapons” site in Syria has been revealed to be a textile factory – and another of the War Party’s tall tales is debunked. To those of a skeptical mindset – i.e., nearly anyone outside of Washington – this throws fresh doubt on the claim that the Israeli raid on a supposed Syrian nuclear weapons facility at Deir ez Zour, in 2007, destroyed anything more dangerous than an empty warehouse.
The War Party doesn’t give up quite so easily, however: now we are being told that the International Atomic Energy Administration (IAEA), the UN’s nuclear watchdog agency, has a new report coming out with satellite photos of a supposed nuclear facility in Iran – just as in the case of the two Syrian sites.
Get out your bullshit detector, press the “on” button, and watch it light up like a fourth of July fireworks display......
This is not something to be celebrated. Empires can fall gracefully, with minimum damage to the imperial power – but only if they are dismantled quite deliberately, rather than simply lost. Because losing implies a fight to retain it, a battle that slowly (or rapidly) drains the very lifeblood out of us. The political class has no intentions of relinquishing its vaunted role as the World’s Sole Superpower, and so what we are in for is a ruinous and protracted implosion that pulverizes the social order and flattens longstanding political institutions. What’s left is a void, an enormous vacuum waiting to be filled – but with what?........"
Reports: Israel, Saudis United in Desire to See Attack on Iran
Saudis, GCC Members Seen as 'Cornerstone' for US Moves Against Iran
by Jason Ditz, November 06, 2011
"Though Israel’s traditional rhetoric suggests any Arab nation is automatically at odds with their position, media reports tonight are marveling at the growing unity between Israel and the Saudi leader GCC nations in their desires to see Iran attacked.
Both Israel and the Saudis are long time enemies of the Iranian government, and even if they both came by this in very different ways it should come as no surprise that the Sunni-dominated regimes of the Gulf nations are fine with Israel attacking a major Shi’ite nation.
Of course the Israeli preference remains seeing the US starting the war, but increasingly Israel’s current far-right government is mulling attacking unilaterally. Either way, Gulf officials seem to hope starting a war with Iran will quiet their respective Shi’ite populaces, which they are convinced are being roused to protest primarily by Iran...."
Over 200 Killed Since Syria Agreed to Stop Crackdown
Arab League to hold emergency meeting
by Jason Ditz, November 06, 2011
"Early last week the Syrian government agreed to an Arab League plan that would have them removing all troops and tanks from cities and releasing thousands of political prisoners detained for participating in pro-democracy rallies.
Today, the Arab League is calling an “emergency meeting” on Syria, as the crackdown in the nation has continued and even escalated, with over 200 slain just since the regime agreed to the Arab League’s plan.
The violence continued again today, as protesters took to the streets along with many others to celebrate the festival Eid al-Adha, and troops killed at least 16 of the celebrants. After Eid prayers many of the worshipers launched new protests against Assad....."
by Jason Ditz, November 06, 2011
"Early last week the Syrian government agreed to an Arab League plan that would have them removing all troops and tanks from cities and releasing thousands of political prisoners detained for participating in pro-democracy rallies.
Today, the Arab League is calling an “emergency meeting” on Syria, as the crackdown in the nation has continued and even escalated, with over 200 slain just since the regime agreed to the Arab League’s plan.
The violence continued again today, as protesters took to the streets along with many others to celebrate the festival Eid al-Adha, and troops killed at least 16 of the celebrants. After Eid prayers many of the worshipers launched new protests against Assad....."
Syria's rebuff threatens the Arab League with relegation
The Assad regime's disdain for the Arab League's peace initiative is another blow to the organisation's credibility
Simon Tisdall
guardian.co.uk, Monday 7 November 2011
"The Syrian regime's refusal even to pretend to implement last week's peace "road map" has provoked a portentous response from the deal's diplomatically challenged progenitors, the Arab League. "The failure of the Arab solution will have disastrous consequences in Syria and the region," the 22-nation organisation's secretary general, Nabil el-Araby, warned. What Araby did not say is that the apparent collapse of the initiative, only days after its launch in Cairo last week, is a potential catastrophe for the league, which was forced to call an emergency meeting after further deaths on Sunday.....
The Arab League faces a momentous, possibly make-or-break decision. To avoid a big split involving the likes of Iraq, it either goes on pretending a peace process is in place and the regime is genuinely engaged – at the risk of destroying what little credibility it has left. Or it takes the courageous step of expelling Syria, one of the league's six founding members in 1945, imposing additional, punitive sanctions – and in effect sending a message to the west that Arabs cannot manage Arab problems.
There is a third option, of course: collective Arab military intervention to bring Assad to book. Sadly, this sort of Lawrence of Arabia fantasy is out of fashion."
Simon Tisdall
guardian.co.uk, Monday 7 November 2011
"The Syrian regime's refusal even to pretend to implement last week's peace "road map" has provoked a portentous response from the deal's diplomatically challenged progenitors, the Arab League. "The failure of the Arab solution will have disastrous consequences in Syria and the region," the 22-nation organisation's secretary general, Nabil el-Araby, warned. What Araby did not say is that the apparent collapse of the initiative, only days after its launch in Cairo last week, is a potential catastrophe for the league, which was forced to call an emergency meeting after further deaths on Sunday.....
The Arab League faces a momentous, possibly make-or-break decision. To avoid a big split involving the likes of Iraq, it either goes on pretending a peace process is in place and the regime is genuinely engaged – at the risk of destroying what little credibility it has left. Or it takes the courageous step of expelling Syria, one of the league's six founding members in 1945, imposing additional, punitive sanctions – and in effect sending a message to the west that Arabs cannot manage Arab problems.
There is a third option, of course: collective Arab military intervention to bring Assad to book. Sadly, this sort of Lawrence of Arabia fantasy is out of fashion."
Sunday, November 06, 2011
Al-Jazeera Video: Rula Amin reports on ongoing Syrian violence
Real News Video: Denying Civil Rights is a Crime
Paul Jay on austerity, mass protests and mass arrests (TRNN Replay)
The globalisation of protest
Protesters around the world say they are part of a generation that played by the rules but has no hope for the future.
Joseph E Stiglitz
Al-Jazeera
"The protest movement that began in Tunisia in January, subsequently spreading to Egypt and then to Spain, has now become global - with the protests engulfing Wall Street and cities across America. Globalisation and modern technology now enables social movements to transcend borders as rapidly as ideas can.
And social protest has found fertile ground everywhere: A sense that the "system" has failed, and the conviction that even in a democracy, the electoral process will not set things right - at least not without strong pressure from the street.
In May, I went to the site of the Tunisian protests; in July, I talked to Spain's indignados; from there, I went to meet the young Egyptian revolutionaries in Cairo's Tahrir Square; and, a few weeks ago, I talked with Occupy Wall Street protesters in New York. There is a common theme, expressed by the OWS movement in a simple phrase: "We are the 99%.".....
On one level, today's protesters are asking for little: A chance to use their skills, the right to decent work at decent pay, a fairer economy and society. Their hope is evolutionary, not revolutionary. But, on another level, they are asking for a great deal: A democracy where people, not dollars, matter, and a market economy that delivers on what it is supposed to do.
The two are related: As we have seen, unfettered markets lead to economic and political crises. Markets work the way they should only when they operate within a framework of appropriate government regulations; and that framework can be erected only in a democracy that reflects the general interest - not the interests of the 1%. The best government that money can buy is no longer good enough."
Joseph E Stiglitz
Al-Jazeera
"The protest movement that began in Tunisia in January, subsequently spreading to Egypt and then to Spain, has now become global - with the protests engulfing Wall Street and cities across America. Globalisation and modern technology now enables social movements to transcend borders as rapidly as ideas can.
And social protest has found fertile ground everywhere: A sense that the "system" has failed, and the conviction that even in a democracy, the electoral process will not set things right - at least not without strong pressure from the street.
In May, I went to the site of the Tunisian protests; in July, I talked to Spain's indignados; from there, I went to meet the young Egyptian revolutionaries in Cairo's Tahrir Square; and, a few weeks ago, I talked with Occupy Wall Street protesters in New York. There is a common theme, expressed by the OWS movement in a simple phrase: "We are the 99%.".....
On one level, today's protesters are asking for little: A chance to use their skills, the right to decent work at decent pay, a fairer economy and society. Their hope is evolutionary, not revolutionary. But, on another level, they are asking for a great deal: A democracy where people, not dollars, matter, and a market economy that delivers on what it is supposed to do.
The two are related: As we have seen, unfettered markets lead to economic and political crises. Markets work the way they should only when they operate within a framework of appropriate government regulations; and that framework can be erected only in a democracy that reflects the general interest - not the interests of the 1%. The best government that money can buy is no longer good enough."
Empire: A revolution for all seasons
Empire asks what has become of the Arab revolutions after the initial euphoria has passed.
"The winds of change have swept the Arab world, with uneven results. Progress in places like Tunisia and Egypt, repression in Syria, bloody stalemate in Yemen, and unfinished business in Libya: the Arab Spring is at a crucial stage.
The impressive achievements since January have also highlighted new challenges. Islamist movements, long banned during decades of repression, are out in the open and face new types of political challenges and responsibilities. Will political changes in the region pass the test of national unity in the likes of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya?
Whilst the Syrian regime attempts to crush the growing opposition, killing thousands from Homs to Dar'a, the Syrian people continue their marches calling for change and democracy. As the Arab League enters the fray and Syria asks for international protection, where is the country heading? Militarisation of the revolution and growing sectarianism is threatening the unity of the country.
Meanwhile, as Libya emerges from NATO's aerial bombardment and Muammar Gaddafi's death, much work has to be done to avoid anarchy and civil war.
As the contest between democracy and dictatorships continues apace, what has become of the Arab revolutions after the initial euphoria?"
GUESTS ON THIS MONTH'S SHOW
Nir Rosen, author, Aftermath: Following the Bloodshed of America's Wars in the Muslim World
Seumas Milne, associate editor, The Guardian
Professor Nadje Al-Ali, Gender Studies, SOAS
Dr Radwan Ziadeh, Human Rights Center, Harvard University.
"The winds of change have swept the Arab world, with uneven results. Progress in places like Tunisia and Egypt, repression in Syria, bloody stalemate in Yemen, and unfinished business in Libya: the Arab Spring is at a crucial stage.
The impressive achievements since January have also highlighted new challenges. Islamist movements, long banned during decades of repression, are out in the open and face new types of political challenges and responsibilities. Will political changes in the region pass the test of national unity in the likes of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya?
Whilst the Syrian regime attempts to crush the growing opposition, killing thousands from Homs to Dar'a, the Syrian people continue their marches calling for change and democracy. As the Arab League enters the fray and Syria asks for international protection, where is the country heading? Militarisation of the revolution and growing sectarianism is threatening the unity of the country.
Meanwhile, as Libya emerges from NATO's aerial bombardment and Muammar Gaddafi's death, much work has to be done to avoid anarchy and civil war.
As the contest between democracy and dictatorships continues apace, what has become of the Arab revolutions after the initial euphoria?"
GUESTS ON THIS MONTH'S SHOW
Nir Rosen, author, Aftermath: Following the Bloodshed of America's Wars in the Muslim World
Seumas Milne, associate editor, The Guardian
Professor Nadje Al-Ali, Gender Studies, SOAS
Dr Radwan Ziadeh, Human Rights Center, Harvard University.
Saturday, November 05, 2011
Al-Jazeera Video: Bahrain security forces clash with protesters
Syria: Homs military attacks continue, say activists
BBC
"Syrian military forces have resumed attacks in the city of Homs, activists say, despite agreeing to withdraw from urban areas under an Arab League deal.
Tanks have been shelling parts of the city, and medics at the main hospital told the BBC more than 100 bodies had arrived in the past two days.
Activists say at least 19 people were killed in protests in Homs and other cities on Friday.
Wednesday's Arab League deal had called for an end to suppression of protests....
'Machine-gun fire'
Homs has been a focus of opposition to President Bashar al-Assad since the uprising against him began in March.
Local human rights groups report continued operations against opposition strongholds, including artillery bombardments of residential areas.
The killings over the past two days have mostly been in the Baba Amr district. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights group said the area had been "raked with heavy machine-gun fire" on Friday, with a number of deaths.
It also reported that troops had opened fire in the city's Ghuta neighbourhood, killing two civilians and wounding four.
At least seven protesters were also killed by troops in the town of Kanaker, outside Damascus, the Observatory said....."
"Syrian military forces have resumed attacks in the city of Homs, activists say, despite agreeing to withdraw from urban areas under an Arab League deal.
Tanks have been shelling parts of the city, and medics at the main hospital told the BBC more than 100 bodies had arrived in the past two days.
Activists say at least 19 people were killed in protests in Homs and other cities on Friday.
Wednesday's Arab League deal had called for an end to suppression of protests....
'Machine-gun fire'
Homs has been a focus of opposition to President Bashar al-Assad since the uprising against him began in March.
Local human rights groups report continued operations against opposition strongholds, including artillery bombardments of residential areas.
The killings over the past two days have mostly been in the Baba Amr district. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights group said the area had been "raked with heavy machine-gun fire" on Friday, with a number of deaths.
It also reported that troops had opened fire in the city's Ghuta neighbourhood, killing two civilians and wounding four.
At least seven protesters were also killed by troops in the town of Kanaker, outside Damascus, the Observatory said....."
Is Netanyahu bluffing once again?
By Trita Parsi - Special to CNN
"Should the latest episode of Israeli calls for bombing Iran be taken seriously, or is it – like the many cases prior to it – yet another (politically motivated) false alarm? Like clockwork, Israeli alarm bells have gone off in the past fifteen years with predictable regularity. Bellicose statements by Israeli officials have been followed by alarmist analyses describing military measures as both necessary and inevitable. And then, without any explanation, the bellicosity recedes and Iran and Israel return to their more normal levels of animosity.
By now, as WikiLeaks documents show, U.S. officials tend to view the Israeli threats as a pressure tactic to get the United States and Europe to adopt tougher measures against Iran, and to refrain from any compromise with Tehran over the nuclear issue. These intense periods of Israeli warnings about its imminent intent to bomb Iran have indeed tended to coincide with times when the international community has been debating additional sanctions on Tehran.
This latest call for war is no different....."
"Should the latest episode of Israeli calls for bombing Iran be taken seriously, or is it – like the many cases prior to it – yet another (politically motivated) false alarm? Like clockwork, Israeli alarm bells have gone off in the past fifteen years with predictable regularity. Bellicose statements by Israeli officials have been followed by alarmist analyses describing military measures as both necessary and inevitable. And then, without any explanation, the bellicosity recedes and Iran and Israel return to their more normal levels of animosity.
By now, as WikiLeaks documents show, U.S. officials tend to view the Israeli threats as a pressure tactic to get the United States and Europe to adopt tougher measures against Iran, and to refrain from any compromise with Tehran over the nuclear issue. These intense periods of Israeli warnings about its imminent intent to bomb Iran have indeed tended to coincide with times when the international community has been debating additional sanctions on Tehran.
This latest call for war is no different....."
Down With The Rule of The Slaughterhouse!
Courtesy of Arabs48.com
Down With The Rule of The Slaughterhouse!
Down With The Rule of The Slaughterhouse!
Guardian Video: Israel's navy intercepts Gaza flotilla
Two protest boats heading to Gaza to try to break the blockade have been boarded by the Israeli navy. The military said forces moved after repeated calls for the boats to turn around were ignored. It added that the boarding was carried out peacefully and nobody was hurt
guardian.co.uk, Friday 4 November 2011
guardian.co.uk, Friday 4 November 2011
Guardian Video: Occupy demonstrators at St Paul's link up with protests in Syria
Occupy London protesters take part in a two-way livestream connecting demonstrations at St Paul's Cathedral with those in Damascus and Homs in Syria. They claim it is the first such event in the UK, and part of their attempts to link protest movements around the world. Around 50 UK-based Syrians took part in the protest, which streamed live to Syria
John Domokos and Mustafa Khalili
guardian.co.uk, Friday 4 November 2011
John Domokos and Mustafa Khalili
guardian.co.uk, Friday 4 November 2011
Current Al-Jazeera (Arabic) Online Poll
Do you believe that the Syrian government will abide by the terms of the Arab League's initiative?
With about 600 responding so far, 93% said no.
With about 600 responding so far, 93% said no.
Friday, November 04, 2011
Syria and Iran: the great game
Regime change in Syria is a strategic prize that outstrips Libya – which is why Saudi Arabia and the west are playing their part
Alastair Crooke
guardian.co.uk, Friday 4 November 2011
Note:
I don't agree with a lot in this comment, but the author is well-connected and some of the points he makes are worth taking into account. I think that the author is close to Hizbullah, or at least very sympathetic to it.
"This summer a senior Saudi official told John Hannah, Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, that from the outset of the upheaval in Syria, the king has believed that regime change would be highly beneficial to Saudi interests: "The king knows that other than the collapse of the Islamic Republic itself, nothing would weaken Iran more than losing Syria."
This is today's "great game" – losing Syria. And this is how it is played: set up a hurried transitional council as sole representative of the Syrian people, irrespective of whether it has any real legs inside Syria; feed in armed insurgents from neighbouring states; impose sanctions that will hurt the middle classes; mount a media campaign to denigrate any Syrian efforts at reform; try to instigate divisions within the army and the elite; and ultimately President Assad will fall – so its initiators insist.....
The origins of the "lose Assad" operation preceded the Arab awakening: they reach back to Israel's failure in its 2006 war to seriously damage Hezbollah, and the post-conflict US assessment that it was Syria that represented Hezbollah's achilles heel – as the vulnerable conduit linking Hezbollah to Iran. US officials speculated as to what might be done to block this vital corridor, but it was Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia who surprised them by saying that the solution was to harness Islamic forces....
Hypothetical planning, however, only became concrete action this year, with the overthrow of Egypt's President Mubarak. Suddenly Israel seemed vulnerable, and a weakened Syria, mired in troubles, had heightened strategic allure. In parallel, Qatar had stepped to the fore. Azmi Bishara, a pan-Arabist who resigned from the Israeli Knesset and self-exiled to Doha, was according to some local reports involved in a scheme in which al-Jazeera would not just report revolution, but instantiate it for the region – or at least this is what was believed in Doha in the wake of the Tunisian and Egyptian uprisings. Qatar, however, was not merely trying to leverage human suffering into an international intervention, but was also – as in Libya – directly involved as a key operational patron of the opposition....."
Exclusive: Video from Gaza Flotilla as Israeli Navy Prepares to Intercept Boats
Democracy Now!
"Two Gaza-bound boats carrying pro-Palestinian activists are within 50 nautical miles of their destination, but reports are emerging that Israeli Navy ships have intercepted the "Freedom Waves to Gaza" flotilla. Communication with the boats has largely been cut off. Prior to losing contact, we received two exclusive video reports from aboard the "Tahrir," the Canadian ship. Speaking to Democracy Now! correspondent Jihan Hafiz last night, passenger Ehab Lotayef said, "We are approaching the 100-nautical-mile point away from Gaza, which is usually the point where Israel declares—starts the blockade ... Will they try to come and board us? All these questions are now at the moment of truth. The major preparation we did is to prepare that we don’t want anybody to act in any violent way or in any way that can even induce violence by the Israelis."....."
"Two Gaza-bound boats carrying pro-Palestinian activists are within 50 nautical miles of their destination, but reports are emerging that Israeli Navy ships have intercepted the "Freedom Waves to Gaza" flotilla. Communication with the boats has largely been cut off. Prior to losing contact, we received two exclusive video reports from aboard the "Tahrir," the Canadian ship. Speaking to Democracy Now! correspondent Jihan Hafiz last night, passenger Ehab Lotayef said, "We are approaching the 100-nautical-mile point away from Gaza, which is usually the point where Israel declares—starts the blockade ... Will they try to come and board us? All these questions are now at the moment of truth. The major preparation we did is to prepare that we don’t want anybody to act in any violent way or in any way that can even induce violence by the Israelis."....."
Al-Jazeera Video: Footage from aid boat en route for Gaza
Al-Jazeera Video: Israel preparing for a nuclear Iran
"On Thursday the Israeli army practised evacuations near Tel Aviv. On Wednesday, it test-fired a long-range ballistic missile, its first in three years. And earlier in the week, the military was involved in joint exercises with the Italian air force near Sardinia.
Israel says the timing of these operations is a coincidence, but with the International Atomic Energy Agency about to release a new report on Iran's nuclear capabilities next week, some have speculated that Israel may be considering a strike against Iran.
Al Jazeera's Nicole Johnston reports from Jerusalem."
Al-Jazeera Video: Injured Syrians seek medical help in Jordan
Al-Jazeera Video: Raw footage from Gaza-bound ships
"The two boats carrying pro-Palestinian activists bound for the Gaza Strip have left the port of Fethiye in southwest Turkey on Wednesday after Turkish authorities gave them permission to sail to the Greek island of Rhodes.
The following raw footage shows the Canadian boat Tahrir and the Irish boat MV Saoirse at sea."
Real News Video: Euro-Chaos and Global Capitalism
Leo Panitch: We are witnessing the irrationality of capitalism and the incredible struggle of people in the street
Israel’s Big Bluff
How we'll go to war with Iran
By Justin Raimondo
November 04, 2011
".....The Israeli government has been openly threatening Iran with attack for years, and we have learned not to take their outbreaks of war hysteria too seriously. During the last year of George W. Bush’s final term in office, there was heightened speculation that Tel Aviv was pressuring Washington to launch such an attack, and indeed it appears Vice President Dick Cheney argued for precisely that, albeit to no avail. Now the war talk has been revived by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who, along with his defense minister, Ehud Barak, has not only been arguing within the Cabinet for such a strike, but has now supposedly moved into the implementation stage.
We are told by the Israeli media that there is a big debate going on, with two former top officials – Meir Dagan, recently retired as head of the Mossad, and Yuval Diskin, head of Shin Bet – going so far as to leak the specifics of Bibi’s scheme in order to torpedo the plan. Dagan is said to have remarked that the war plans are "the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard" – and he’s quite right.
The problem with this alleged plan is that Israel doesn’t have the military capacity to do the job and do it well: Iran’s nuclear facilities are enclosed within hardened sites, and are spread out to such a degree that Israeli war planes would have trouble reaching them. While the Israelis have recently tested a long-range missile that has the capacity to hit Iranian targets, the idea that they could take out all the intended targets in one fell swoop is simply a fantasy. Therefore, this alleged "debate" taking place within the Israeli leadership, complete with a phony "investigation" by Netanyahu into who leaked the nonexistent Israeli attack "plan," is a non-event. The whole thing, in short, is a bluff.
But who is being bluffed here? Not the Iranians, who are surely aware of Israel’s incapacity. The volume of the war hysteria is being turned up with one purpose in mind: the Israelis want the US to do their dirty work for them. This is a threat aimed not only – or even primarily – at Iran, but at us......"
By Justin Raimondo
November 04, 2011
".....The Israeli government has been openly threatening Iran with attack for years, and we have learned not to take their outbreaks of war hysteria too seriously. During the last year of George W. Bush’s final term in office, there was heightened speculation that Tel Aviv was pressuring Washington to launch such an attack, and indeed it appears Vice President Dick Cheney argued for precisely that, albeit to no avail. Now the war talk has been revived by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who, along with his defense minister, Ehud Barak, has not only been arguing within the Cabinet for such a strike, but has now supposedly moved into the implementation stage.
We are told by the Israeli media that there is a big debate going on, with two former top officials – Meir Dagan, recently retired as head of the Mossad, and Yuval Diskin, head of Shin Bet – going so far as to leak the specifics of Bibi’s scheme in order to torpedo the plan. Dagan is said to have remarked that the war plans are "the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard" – and he’s quite right.
The problem with this alleged plan is that Israel doesn’t have the military capacity to do the job and do it well: Iran’s nuclear facilities are enclosed within hardened sites, and are spread out to such a degree that Israeli war planes would have trouble reaching them. While the Israelis have recently tested a long-range missile that has the capacity to hit Iranian targets, the idea that they could take out all the intended targets in one fell swoop is simply a fantasy. Therefore, this alleged "debate" taking place within the Israeli leadership, complete with a phony "investigation" by Netanyahu into who leaked the nonexistent Israeli attack "plan," is a non-event. The whole thing, in short, is a bluff.
But who is being bluffed here? Not the Iranians, who are surely aware of Israel’s incapacity. The volume of the war hysteria is being turned up with one purpose in mind: the Israelis want the US to do their dirty work for them. This is a threat aimed not only – or even primarily – at Iran, but at us......"
Fear and loathing in the Cannes debt festival
By Pepe Escobar
Asia Times
"After posing as the Great Liberator of Libya, French President Nicolas Sarkozy thought this week's Cannes Group of 20 summit would crown his Napoleonic ambitions. Instead, the Greeks made the (invisible) God of the Market angrier than Zeus and more psychotic than a German chancellor. All eyes are on China, but the Middle Kingdom's generosity carries a hefty price tag - European exceptionalism itself...."
Asia Times
"After posing as the Great Liberator of Libya, French President Nicolas Sarkozy thought this week's Cannes Group of 20 summit would crown his Napoleonic ambitions. Instead, the Greeks made the (invisible) God of the Market angrier than Zeus and more psychotic than a German chancellor. All eyes are on China, but the Middle Kingdom's generosity carries a hefty price tag - European exceptionalism itself...."
The Russell Tribunal on Palestine can promote peace, truth and reconciliation
The Israel-Palestine situation demands truth and reconciliation. We hope to aid that process
Desmond Tutu and Michael Mansfield
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 3 November 2011
"Opportunities to break seemingly intractable and deadlocked situations are rare – especially on a scale which has rapidly developed this year from the beleaguered cries of citizenry across North Africa and the Middle East. There is a palpable consensus that the provenance of this movement is lodged firmly in the fundamental prerequisite for meaningful democracy: self-determination. All conventions on human rights have this tenet as a core rationale. Where it is repeatedly denied and suppressed there will never be peace or justice, let alone stability.
On Saturday the Russell Tribunal on Palestine will open its third session: after Barcelona and London, this session will take place in South Africa, the location of a seminal struggle for self-determination by a community oppressed by apartheid. Partly as a result of this courageous and persistent protest by thousands of ordinary people, who were regularly demonised as terrorists by political opponents within the South African regime (and by certain world leaders, including the UK's), there was a concerted international effort to bring international law to bear upon an entrenched position.
Between 1948 and 1990, the UN regularly condemned apartheid as a crime.....
As part of a South African religious delegation to Israel in the 1980s, Michael Nuttall, the bishop of Natal, pointed out that there were things happening in Israel that did not even happen in South Africa – forms of collective punishment. This has special resonance in the light of Richard Goldstone's attempt to pre-empt the tribunal in the New York Times this week by an assertion that nothing in Israel comes close. His analysis is simplistic. No one is suggesting the two situations are identical.
These are all matters the tribunal will be assessing in order to ascertain what parallels and comparisons can be drawn. Whatever they may be, the ultimate objective is to consider the Israel-Palestine situation on its own facts and apply the norms of international law to identify three major issues. Have there been violations? If so, what are they and who is responsible? And thirdly, what are the legal ramifications and processes which should ensue? It is hoped that this process may contribute and not detract from the urgent need to progress understanding and peace, truth and reconciliation."
Desmond Tutu and Michael Mansfield
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 3 November 2011
"Opportunities to break seemingly intractable and deadlocked situations are rare – especially on a scale which has rapidly developed this year from the beleaguered cries of citizenry across North Africa and the Middle East. There is a palpable consensus that the provenance of this movement is lodged firmly in the fundamental prerequisite for meaningful democracy: self-determination. All conventions on human rights have this tenet as a core rationale. Where it is repeatedly denied and suppressed there will never be peace or justice, let alone stability.
On Saturday the Russell Tribunal on Palestine will open its third session: after Barcelona and London, this session will take place in South Africa, the location of a seminal struggle for self-determination by a community oppressed by apartheid. Partly as a result of this courageous and persistent protest by thousands of ordinary people, who were regularly demonised as terrorists by political opponents within the South African regime (and by certain world leaders, including the UK's), there was a concerted international effort to bring international law to bear upon an entrenched position.
Between 1948 and 1990, the UN regularly condemned apartheid as a crime.....
As part of a South African religious delegation to Israel in the 1980s, Michael Nuttall, the bishop of Natal, pointed out that there were things happening in Israel that did not even happen in South Africa – forms of collective punishment. This has special resonance in the light of Richard Goldstone's attempt to pre-empt the tribunal in the New York Times this week by an assertion that nothing in Israel comes close. His analysis is simplistic. No one is suggesting the two situations are identical.
These are all matters the tribunal will be assessing in order to ascertain what parallels and comparisons can be drawn. Whatever they may be, the ultimate objective is to consider the Israel-Palestine situation on its own facts and apply the norms of international law to identify three major issues. Have there been violations? If so, what are they and who is responsible? And thirdly, what are the legal ramifications and processes which should ensue? It is hoped that this process may contribute and not detract from the urgent need to progress understanding and peace, truth and reconciliation."
Egyptians call for day of action to revive their 'stifled' revolution
Links between Cairo and Occupy movement strengthen as anger grows at actions of military junta
Jack Shenker
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 3 November 2011
"Egyptian activists have called for an international day of action to defend their country's revolution, as global opposition mounts towards the military junta.
In a statement appealing for solidarity from the worldwide Occupy movement that has taken control of public squares in London, New York and hundreds of other cities, campaigners in Egypt claim their revolution is "under attack" from army generals and insist they too are fighting against a "1%" elite intent on stifling democracy and promoting social injustice.
The announcement came as Alaa Abd El Fattah, the jailed Egyptian revolutionary who has become a rallying figure for those opposed to the junta, had his appeal against detention refused by a military court. He and 30 other defendants accused of inciting violence against the military will remain in prison for at least 10 more days. The authorities could then choose to extend their incarceration indefinitely....
Meanwhile, in Egypt, more political leaders have spoken out against draft constitutional principles released by the interim cabinet that would see the military's influence over civilian government permanently enshrined in law....."
Jack Shenker
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 3 November 2011
"Egyptian activists have called for an international day of action to defend their country's revolution, as global opposition mounts towards the military junta.
In a statement appealing for solidarity from the worldwide Occupy movement that has taken control of public squares in London, New York and hundreds of other cities, campaigners in Egypt claim their revolution is "under attack" from army generals and insist they too are fighting against a "1%" elite intent on stifling democracy and promoting social injustice.
The announcement came as Alaa Abd El Fattah, the jailed Egyptian revolutionary who has become a rallying figure for those opposed to the junta, had his appeal against detention refused by a military court. He and 30 other defendants accused of inciting violence against the military will remain in prison for at least 10 more days. The authorities could then choose to extend their incarceration indefinitely....
Meanwhile, in Egypt, more political leaders have spoken out against draft constitutional principles released by the interim cabinet that would see the military's influence over civilian government permanently enshrined in law....."
Guardian Video: Syrian city of Homs hit by shelling
Amateur footage purportedly shows the besieged city of Homs being shelled less than a day after Damascus agreed to a regional plan to withdraw its armed vehicles and stop a violent crackdown against dissent. Activists in Syria's third city claimed at least seven people were killed and several more injured in the shelling. One Homs resident said the violence had intensified overnight
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 3 November 2011
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 3 November 2011
Video: يا مجلس عسكر إنت كذاب وقليل القيمة
جمال عيد في مؤتمر لا للمحاكمات العسكرية للمدنيين
Courtesy of Hossam El-Hamalawy
Courtesy of Hossam El-Hamalawy
Goldstone walks alone on a bridge to nowhere
The former judge who wrote the Gaza War report recently - and wrongly - wrote that Israel does not practice apartheid.
Richard Falk
Al-Jazeera
"Surely the New York Times would not dare turn down a piece from the new Richard Goldstone. He had already recast himself as the self-appointed guardian of Israel’s world reputation. This, despite the fact that he had earlier been anointed as the distinguished jurist who admirably put aside his ethnic identity and personal affiliations when it came to carrying out his professional work as a specialist in international criminal law.
Goldstone was even seemingly willing to confront the Zionist furies of Israel when criticised by one of their own adherents in chairing the UN panel appointed to consider allegations of Israeli war crimes during the Gaza War of 2008-09. A few months ago Goldstone took the unseemly step of unilaterally retracting a central conclusion of the "Goldstone Report" during those attacks on Gaza.
The former judge wrote in a column in the Washington Post that the Goldstone Report would have been different if he had known then what he came to know now, an arrogant assertion considering that he was but one of four panel members designated by the UN Human Rights Council, and considering that the other three publicly reaffirmed their confidence in the original conclusion as presented in the report, which was written and released months earlier....
Fall from grace
The sad saga of Richard Goldstone’s descent from pinnacles of respect and trust to this shabby role as legal gladiator recklessly jousting on behalf of Israel is as unbecoming as it is unpersuasive....
The Palestinians' long ordeal is sufficiently grounded in reality that the defection of such an influential witness amounts to a further assault not only on Palestinian wellbeing but also on the wider struggle to achieve justice, peace, and security for both peoples. Contrary to Goldstone's protestations that the Russell Tribunal will hinder a resolution to the conflict, it is the Goldstones of this world that are producing the smokescreens behind which the very possibility of a two-state solution has been deliberately destroyed by Israel’s tactics of delay and programmes of expansion.
In the end, if there is ever to emerge a just and sustainable peace, it will be thanks to many forms of Palestinian resistance and a related campaign of global solidarity, of which the Russell Tribunal promises to make a notable contribution. We should all remember that it is hard to render the truth until we see the truth - ugly as it may be! "
Richard Falk
Al-Jazeera
"Surely the New York Times would not dare turn down a piece from the new Richard Goldstone. He had already recast himself as the self-appointed guardian of Israel’s world reputation. This, despite the fact that he had earlier been anointed as the distinguished jurist who admirably put aside his ethnic identity and personal affiliations when it came to carrying out his professional work as a specialist in international criminal law.
Goldstone was even seemingly willing to confront the Zionist furies of Israel when criticised by one of their own adherents in chairing the UN panel appointed to consider allegations of Israeli war crimes during the Gaza War of 2008-09. A few months ago Goldstone took the unseemly step of unilaterally retracting a central conclusion of the "Goldstone Report" during those attacks on Gaza.
The former judge wrote in a column in the Washington Post that the Goldstone Report would have been different if he had known then what he came to know now, an arrogant assertion considering that he was but one of four panel members designated by the UN Human Rights Council, and considering that the other three publicly reaffirmed their confidence in the original conclusion as presented in the report, which was written and released months earlier....
Fall from grace
The sad saga of Richard Goldstone’s descent from pinnacles of respect and trust to this shabby role as legal gladiator recklessly jousting on behalf of Israel is as unbecoming as it is unpersuasive....
The Palestinians' long ordeal is sufficiently grounded in reality that the defection of such an influential witness amounts to a further assault not only on Palestinian wellbeing but also on the wider struggle to achieve justice, peace, and security for both peoples. Contrary to Goldstone's protestations that the Russell Tribunal will hinder a resolution to the conflict, it is the Goldstones of this world that are producing the smokescreens behind which the very possibility of a two-state solution has been deliberately destroyed by Israel’s tactics of delay and programmes of expansion.
In the end, if there is ever to emerge a just and sustainable peace, it will be thanks to many forms of Palestinian resistance and a related campaign of global solidarity, of which the Russell Tribunal promises to make a notable contribution. We should all remember that it is hard to render the truth until we see the truth - ugly as it may be! "
Thursday, November 03, 2011
Wall Street v. Greece: G20 Opens as Greek PM Pushes For Referendum on Bailout and Austerity Measures
Democracy Now!
"World leaders are gathering in Cannes for the opening of the Group of 20 summit today. On the top of the agenda is the Greece bailout and the European debt crisis. On Monday, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou angered many European leaders by announcing his support for a popular referendum — allowing the Greek people to decide if they want to accept the conditions of the $179 billion European Union bailout. After days of increasing criticism from European leaders, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou is now facing calls from within his party to resign. The Greek debt scandal has also pitted U.S. banking interests against France, Germany and other European powers. "The Americans are putting immense pressure on Europe saying, 'We will wreck your economy if you don’t wreck Greece's economy,’" says economic analyst Michael Hudson. President Obama is “basically telling Europe, ‘Don’t go the democratic route, support Wall Street.’”...."
"World leaders are gathering in Cannes for the opening of the Group of 20 summit today. On the top of the agenda is the Greece bailout and the European debt crisis. On Monday, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou angered many European leaders by announcing his support for a popular referendum — allowing the Greek people to decide if they want to accept the conditions of the $179 billion European Union bailout. After days of increasing criticism from European leaders, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou is now facing calls from within his party to resign. The Greek debt scandal has also pitted U.S. banking interests against France, Germany and other European powers. "The Americans are putting immense pressure on Europe saying, 'We will wreck your economy if you don’t wreck Greece's economy,’" says economic analyst Michael Hudson. President Obama is “basically telling Europe, ‘Don’t go the democratic route, support Wall Street.’”...."
EXCLUSIVE: Video Report from Gaza-Bound Flotilla Attempting to Break Israeli Blockade
Democracy Now!
"A Canadian boat and Irish boat quietly left a Turkish port Wednesday, bound for Gaza. Democracy Now! first broke the news on our live broadcast yesterday. This flotilla, named Freedom Waves to Gaza, marks the latest attempt by international activists to break the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza. The ships are hoping to reach Gaza by Friday, but Israel has threatened to stop the ships. "I anticipate that the Israeli army, probably, the navy, is probably considering boarding us at some point on our way to Gaza and the siege," said passenger Kit Kittredge of the group Code Pink. "I’m not feeling fearful. I’m feeling actually pretty peaceful. And that’s what we are: we are a peaceful boat and a peaceful flotilla going to end the siege." Democracy Now! correspondent Jihan Hafiz filed this video report from the Tahrir boat from international waters and joined us live on the telephone from the ship in international waters...."
"A Canadian boat and Irish boat quietly left a Turkish port Wednesday, bound for Gaza. Democracy Now! first broke the news on our live broadcast yesterday. This flotilla, named Freedom Waves to Gaza, marks the latest attempt by international activists to break the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza. The ships are hoping to reach Gaza by Friday, but Israel has threatened to stop the ships. "I anticipate that the Israeli army, probably, the navy, is probably considering boarding us at some point on our way to Gaza and the siege," said passenger Kit Kittredge of the group Code Pink. "I’m not feeling fearful. I’m feeling actually pretty peaceful. And that’s what we are: we are a peaceful boat and a peaceful flotilla going to end the siege." Democracy Now! correspondent Jihan Hafiz filed this video report from the Tahrir boat from international waters and joined us live on the telephone from the ship in international waters...."
Al-Jazeera Video: Protesters shut down huge Oakland port in US
Al-Jazeera Video: Several reported killed in Yemeni unrest
Al-Jazeera Video: Israel withholds Palestinian tax revenues
Al-Jazeera Video: Trita Parsi speaks to Al Jazeera on Israel's ballistic missile test
"Israel has test-fired a ballistic missile capable of reaching Iran, from the central Israeli Palmchamin base, Israeli radio said.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Trita Parsi, the president of the National Iranian American Council, says if Israel decided to go ahead with a strike against Iran, the current political timing is in their favour."
Al-Jazeera Video: Nisreen El Shamayleh reports on events in Syria
"In Syria, activists said security forces killed at least 13 factory workers in a village northwest of Homs.
There were other violent attacks reported in parts of the country on Wednesday.
International media are banned from Syria, but Al Jazeera's Nisreen El Shamayleh, in the border town of Ramtha in Jordan, reports on the latest events."
Real News Video: Bill Black: Jobs Now, Stop the Foreclosures, Jail the Banksters
Bill Black: Here are three things the "Occupy Movement" could focus on
AN EXCELLENT INTERVIEW
AN EXCELLENT INTERVIEW
Too Big to Jail
By Robert Scheer
TruthDig
"Can we all agree that a $1 billion swindle represents a lot of money, and the fact that Citigroup agreed last week to pay a $285 million fine to settle SEC charges for “misleading investors” demonstrates a damning admission of culpability?
So why has Robert Rubin, the onetime treasury secretary who went on to become Citigroup chairman during the time of the corporation’s financial shenanigans, never been held accountable for this and other deep damage done to the U.S. economy on his watch?....."
TruthDig
"Can we all agree that a $1 billion swindle represents a lot of money, and the fact that Citigroup agreed last week to pay a $285 million fine to settle SEC charges for “misleading investors” demonstrates a damning admission of culpability?
So why has Robert Rubin, the onetime treasury secretary who went on to become Citigroup chairman during the time of the corporation’s financial shenanigans, never been held accountable for this and other deep damage done to the U.S. economy on his watch?....."
The Merchants of Death and Me
by Philip Giraldi, November 03, 2011
"I attended a recent talk on “defense cooperation” between the United States and the Arab world. Inevitably, no one on the panel of five bothered to ask why the United States should be fueling an arms race by selling to nearly every country in the region, but as each speaker had a personal interest in arming everyone to the teeth, the omission was perhaps understandable. It reminded me of Upton Sinclair’s famous quip that “It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”
One panelist was a senior employee of a major defense contractor. The other speakers were also cogs in the military-industrial complex. Most of the panelists were somewhat nuanced in their pronouncements even if they could not avoid slipping into government-speak with its mixture of acronyms and expressions like “kinetic” and “COIN doctrine” that are only used when Pentagon guys get together over a brewski (or when they are trying to impress a congressional committee).....
But perhaps the most startling insight revealed by the panel is the inability to understand why the United States has been unable to sell its message “Hollywood style.” Well, it should be obvious even to the masters of war who create the ordnance that goes off with a bang all around the world that the narrative proposed by the United States, i.e., that “we are here to protect you,” doesn’t sell too well in any part of the world where the people can look around and see the devastation that has actually been delivered. Garbage is still garbage no matter how you gift wrap it.
When the panel left the stage, with congratulations all around, I thought to myself, “What monsters we have become. Someone hand me a tomato so I can throw it.” Alas, there were no tomatoes. "
"I attended a recent talk on “defense cooperation” between the United States and the Arab world. Inevitably, no one on the panel of five bothered to ask why the United States should be fueling an arms race by selling to nearly every country in the region, but as each speaker had a personal interest in arming everyone to the teeth, the omission was perhaps understandable. It reminded me of Upton Sinclair’s famous quip that “It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”
One panelist was a senior employee of a major defense contractor. The other speakers were also cogs in the military-industrial complex. Most of the panelists were somewhat nuanced in their pronouncements even if they could not avoid slipping into government-speak with its mixture of acronyms and expressions like “kinetic” and “COIN doctrine” that are only used when Pentagon guys get together over a brewski (or when they are trying to impress a congressional committee).....
But perhaps the most startling insight revealed by the panel is the inability to understand why the United States has been unable to sell its message “Hollywood style.” Well, it should be obvious even to the masters of war who create the ordnance that goes off with a bang all around the world that the narrative proposed by the United States, i.e., that “we are here to protect you,” doesn’t sell too well in any part of the world where the people can look around and see the devastation that has actually been delivered. Garbage is still garbage no matter how you gift wrap it.
When the panel left the stage, with congratulations all around, I thought to myself, “What monsters we have become. Someone hand me a tomato so I can throw it.” Alas, there were no tomatoes. "
After Egypt's revolution, I never expected to be back in Mubarak's jails
I have been locked up, again on a set of flimsy charges, five years after imprisonment for supporting the judiciary
Alaa Abd El Fattah
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 2 November 2011
"I never expected to repeat the experience of five years ago: after a revolution that deposed the tyrant, I go back to his jails?
The memories come back to me, all the details of imprisonment; the skills of sleeping on the floor, nine men in a six-by-12-foot (two-by-four-metre) cell, the songs of prison, the conversations. But I absolutely can't remember how I used to keep my glasses safe while I slept.
They have been stepped on three times already today. I suddenly realise they're the same glasses that were with me in my last imprisonment; the one for supporting the Egyptian judiciary in 2006. And that I am locked up, again pending trial, again on a set of loose and flimsy charges – the one difference is that instead of the state security prosecutor we have the military prosecutor – a change in keeping with the military moment we're living now.
Last time my imprisonment was shared with 50 colleagues from the "Kifaya" movement. This time, I'm alone, in a cell with eight men who shouldn't be here; poor, helpless, unjustly held – the guilty among them and the innocent.
As soon as they learned I was one of the "young people of the revolution" they started to curse out the revolution and how it had failed to clean up the ministry of the interior. I spend my first two days listening to stories of torture at the hands of a police force that insists on not being reformed; that takes out its defeat on the bodies of the poor and the helpless.....
My thoughts wander as I listen to the radio. I hear the speech of the general as he inaugurates the tallest flagpost in the world – which will surely break all records. I wonder: does pushing the name of the martyr Mina Danial as one of those "accused of instigation" in my case break a record in insolence? They must be the first who murder a man and not only walk in his funeral but spit on his body and accuse it of a crime. Or perhaps this cell could break a record in the number of cockroaches in a prison cell? Abu Malek interrupts my thoughts: "I swear by God if this revolution doesn't do something radical about injustice it will sink without a trace.""
Alaa Abd El Fattah
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 2 November 2011
"I never expected to repeat the experience of five years ago: after a revolution that deposed the tyrant, I go back to his jails?
The memories come back to me, all the details of imprisonment; the skills of sleeping on the floor, nine men in a six-by-12-foot (two-by-four-metre) cell, the songs of prison, the conversations. But I absolutely can't remember how I used to keep my glasses safe while I slept.
They have been stepped on three times already today. I suddenly realise they're the same glasses that were with me in my last imprisonment; the one for supporting the Egyptian judiciary in 2006. And that I am locked up, again pending trial, again on a set of loose and flimsy charges – the one difference is that instead of the state security prosecutor we have the military prosecutor – a change in keeping with the military moment we're living now.
Last time my imprisonment was shared with 50 colleagues from the "Kifaya" movement. This time, I'm alone, in a cell with eight men who shouldn't be here; poor, helpless, unjustly held – the guilty among them and the innocent.
As soon as they learned I was one of the "young people of the revolution" they started to curse out the revolution and how it had failed to clean up the ministry of the interior. I spend my first two days listening to stories of torture at the hands of a police force that insists on not being reformed; that takes out its defeat on the bodies of the poor and the helpless.....
My thoughts wander as I listen to the radio. I hear the speech of the general as he inaugurates the tallest flagpost in the world – which will surely break all records. I wonder: does pushing the name of the martyr Mina Danial as one of those "accused of instigation" in my case break a record in insolence? They must be the first who murder a man and not only walk in his funeral but spit on his body and accuse it of a crime. Or perhaps this cell could break a record in the number of cockroaches in a prison cell? Abu Malek interrupts my thoughts: "I swear by God if this revolution doesn't do something radical about injustice it will sink without a trace.""
The elite still can't face up to it: Europe's model has failed
These bailouts are for the banks, not Greece – and they're deepening the crisis of democracy at the heart of the EU
Seumas Milne
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 2 November 2011
"You might think that giving people a say in the most crucial decisions affecting their country would be second nature for a union of states that claims democracy as its most sacred founding principle. But George Papandreou's announcement that Greece would hold a referendum on the EU's latest shock therapy "rescue" plan was greeted with outrage across the chancelleries of Europe.
The Greek prime minister has now been summoned to the G20 summit in Cannes by Angela Merkel to be "read the riot act" over such reckless ingratitude. Last week's dose of new loans, 50% voluntary bank debt write-offs and yet more savage cuts and privatisations was supposed to have settled the matter and halted the threat of eurozone contagion – even if the deal's flakiness had already become painfully clear.
Papandreou's manoeuvre is, of course, a last-ditch attempt to save his political skin after months of mass street action over previous helpings of failed austerity that have driven Greek society to the brink. His government may fall and the referendum never be held, and even if it goes ahead Greeks will certainly be subjected to a barrage of threats and blackmail.
But the controversy goes to the heart of Europe's problem with democracy. It's not just fear of the risks of delay on febrile bond markets that has caused apoplexy, but the danger that Greeks might vote the wrong way. Voting is not how things are done in the EU. And whenever a state does actually consult its people – Denmark and Ireland had a go – they are made to vote again until they get it right....
But the loss of credibility created by the crisis goes beyond the eurozone to the economic ideology that has shaped the whole European Union for decades: of deregulation, privatisation and the privileging of corporate power, regardless of the modest employment rights introduced to limit social dumping......"
Seumas Milne
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 2 November 2011
"You might think that giving people a say in the most crucial decisions affecting their country would be second nature for a union of states that claims democracy as its most sacred founding principle. But George Papandreou's announcement that Greece would hold a referendum on the EU's latest shock therapy "rescue" plan was greeted with outrage across the chancelleries of Europe.
The Greek prime minister has now been summoned to the G20 summit in Cannes by Angela Merkel to be "read the riot act" over such reckless ingratitude. Last week's dose of new loans, 50% voluntary bank debt write-offs and yet more savage cuts and privatisations was supposed to have settled the matter and halted the threat of eurozone contagion – even if the deal's flakiness had already become painfully clear.
Papandreou's manoeuvre is, of course, a last-ditch attempt to save his political skin after months of mass street action over previous helpings of failed austerity that have driven Greek society to the brink. His government may fall and the referendum never be held, and even if it goes ahead Greeks will certainly be subjected to a barrage of threats and blackmail.
But the controversy goes to the heart of Europe's problem with democracy. It's not just fear of the risks of delay on febrile bond markets that has caused apoplexy, but the danger that Greeks might vote the wrong way. Voting is not how things are done in the EU. And whenever a state does actually consult its people – Denmark and Ireland had a go – they are made to vote again until they get it right....
But the loss of credibility created by the crisis goes beyond the eurozone to the economic ideology that has shaped the whole European Union for decades: of deregulation, privatisation and the privileging of corporate power, regardless of the modest employment rights introduced to limit social dumping......"
Israeli doctors 'failing to report torture of Palestinian detainees'
Human rights groups accuse doctors of failing to document signs of torture and returning detainees to interrogators
Harriet Sherwood in Jerusalem
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 3 November 2011
"Medical professionals in Israel are being accused of failing to document and report injuries caused by the ill-treatment and torture of detainees by security personnel in violation of their ethical code.
A report by two Israeli human rights organisations, the Public Committee Against Torture (PCAT) and Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), claims that medical staff are also failing to report suspicion of torture and ill-treatment, returning detainees to their interrogators and passing medical information to interrogators...."
Harriet Sherwood in Jerusalem
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 3 November 2011
"Medical professionals in Israel are being accused of failing to document and report injuries caused by the ill-treatment and torture of detainees by security personnel in violation of their ethical code.
A report by two Israeli human rights organisations, the Public Committee Against Torture (PCAT) and Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), claims that medical staff are also failing to report suspicion of torture and ill-treatment, returning detainees to their interrogators and passing medical information to interrogators...."
Egyptian junta pledges to free hundreds after damning prison letter is published
Generals announce pardon for 334 inmates, following reaction to letter secretly written by activist Alaa Abd El Fattah from his cell
Jack Shenker
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 2 November 2011
"Egypt's military rulers have promised to pardon hundreds of civilians convicted in military courts, amid mounting pressure following the imprisonment of a leading revolutionary activist and the publication of a secret letter from his jail cell.
The damning anti-junta missive from jailed revolutionary Alaa Abd El Fattah was released as draft constitutional principles that could hand unprecedented power to the army were published.
Jack Shenker
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 2 November 2011
"Egypt's military rulers have promised to pardon hundreds of civilians convicted in military courts, amid mounting pressure following the imprisonment of a leading revolutionary activist and the publication of a secret letter from his jail cell.
The damning anti-junta missive from jailed revolutionary Alaa Abd El Fattah was released as draft constitutional principles that could hand unprecedented power to the army were published.
Cairo's ruling generals responded to mounting criticism by announcing plans to free 334 people locked away since the fall of Hosni Mubarak in February.
Abd El Fattah's wife, Manal Hassan, told the Guardian that the military's gesture was a drop in the ocean, given the thousands of Egyptians convicted by military courts. "We're happy for those that will be released but they should never have been there from the beginning, and it does nothing to change the unjust system that put them in jail in the first place," she said.
Abd El Fattah'scousin, Omar Robert Hamilton, a film-maker, said: "Alaa isn't in jail to bargain for specific prisoner releases. He isn't in jail to bargain at all. He's in jail because he won't submit himself to this illegal and unjust tribunal system. So that system has to end, and oversight of the law be returned to the civilian judiciary."
Human rights groups estimate that more than 12,000 civilians have been processed through military tribunals this year, including several protesters, bloggers and journalists who have publicly questioned the army's commitment to democratic reform....."
Abd El Fattah's wife, Manal Hassan, told the Guardian that the military's gesture was a drop in the ocean, given the thousands of Egyptians convicted by military courts. "We're happy for those that will be released but they should never have been there from the beginning, and it does nothing to change the unjust system that put them in jail in the first place," she said.
Abd El Fattah'scousin, Omar Robert Hamilton, a film-maker, said: "Alaa isn't in jail to bargain for specific prisoner releases. He isn't in jail to bargain at all. He's in jail because he won't submit himself to this illegal and unjust tribunal system. So that system has to end, and oversight of the law be returned to the civilian judiciary."
Human rights groups estimate that more than 12,000 civilians have been processed through military tribunals this year, including several protesters, bloggers and journalists who have publicly questioned the army's commitment to democratic reform....."
UK military steps up plans for Iran attack amid fresh nuclear fears
British officials consider contingency options to back up a possible US action as fears mount over Tehran's capability
Nick Hopkins
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 2 November 2011
"Britain's armed forces are stepping up their contingency planning for potential military action against Iran amid mounting concern about Tehran's nuclear enrichment programme, the Guardian has learned.
The Ministry of Defence believes the US may decide to fast-forward plans for targeted missile strikes at some key Iranian facilities. British officials say that if Washington presses ahead it will seek, and receive, UK military help for any mission, despite some deep reservations within the coalition government.
In anticipation of a potential attack, British military planners are examining where best to deploy Royal Navy ships and submarines equipped with Tomahawk cruise missiles over the coming months as part of what would be an air and sea campaign.
They also believe the US would ask permission to launch attacks from Diego Garcia, the British Indian ocean territory, which the Americans have used previously for conflicts in the Middle East.
The Guardian has spoken to a number of Whitehall and defence officials over recent weeks who said Iran was once again becoming the focus of diplomatic concern after the revolution in Libya....."
Nick Hopkins
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 2 November 2011
"Britain's armed forces are stepping up their contingency planning for potential military action against Iran amid mounting concern about Tehran's nuclear enrichment programme, the Guardian has learned.
The Ministry of Defence believes the US may decide to fast-forward plans for targeted missile strikes at some key Iranian facilities. British officials say that if Washington presses ahead it will seek, and receive, UK military help for any mission, despite some deep reservations within the coalition government.
In anticipation of a potential attack, British military planners are examining where best to deploy Royal Navy ships and submarines equipped with Tomahawk cruise missiles over the coming months as part of what would be an air and sea campaign.
They also believe the US would ask permission to launch attacks from Diego Garcia, the British Indian ocean territory, which the Americans have used previously for conflicts in the Middle East.
The Guardian has spoken to a number of Whitehall and defence officials over recent weeks who said Iran was once again becoming the focus of diplomatic concern after the revolution in Libya....."
Wednesday, November 02, 2011
Al-Akhbar: A disgraceful "leftist" journal that supports "good" Arab dictators
[Ibrahim Al-Amin is the Lebanese Chirstopher Hitchens. He has lost all credibility just like Hizbullah
after the syrian revolution. Look at this article he published today in defense of Assad , a Thomas Friendmansque masterpiece: Filled with lies, inference and sensationalism. He NEVER mentions the atrocities or number of Civilians killed or jailed or tortured. To him it is all a small price to pay for the protection of the "regime of resistance", read at your own risk. Angry Arab picks on NYT and Al Arabia every day which are very easy targets, but does not dare to touch Al-Akhbar although its coverage of Syrian events has been a disgrace by every journalistic standard]
The Arab clients of Washington have a plan for Syria. A sizable group of Arab states are demanding that Bashar Assad relinquish power. Not via the street, but by dissolving his regime himself. After months of confrontations, justifiable or not, between the regime and protesters — or collaborators with foreign powers near and far
WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange Loses Appeal to Stop His Extradition to Sweden
"London’s High Court has ruled Julian Assange, WikiLeaks founder and editor-in-chief, should be extradited from the United Kingdom to Sweden to face questioning over alleged sex crimes. Swedish authorities want to question Assange over accusations of rape and sexual assault made by two women. Assange’s lawyers have argued the Swedish demand is legally flawed and that the sex was consensual. They are also concerned that the U.S. government will pressure Sweden to extradite him to the United States, where an ongoing investigation is underway about the source(s) who leaked classified U.S. diplomatic cables and Department of Defense files to WikiLeaks. They are now considering an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom and the European Court of Human Rights. For more, we speak with Helena Kennedy, an attorney on Assange’s legal team. We also air a statement made by Julian Assange this morning in London...."
Goldstone's 'apartheid' denial sparks strife
The author of the Gaza War report erroneously argues that Israel does not practice apartheid.
Ben White
Al-Jazeera
"After his famous article earlier this year on Gaza, Judge Richard Goldstone has written a new op-ed, this time seeking to defend Israel against charges of apartheid.
There are numerous problems with Goldstone's piece, but I want to highlight two important errors. First, Goldstone - like others who attack the applicability of the term "apartheid" - wants to focus on differences between the old regime in South Africa and what is happening in Israel/Palestine. Note that he does this even while observing that apartheid "can have broader meaning", and acknowledging its inclusion in the 1998 Rome Statute.....
Goldstone's second major error is to omit core Israeli policies, particularly relating to the mass expulsions of 1948 and the subsequent land regime built on expropriation and ethno-religious discrimination. By law, Palestinian refugees are forbidden from returning, their property confiscated - the act of dispossession that enabled a Jewish majority to be created in the first place.
As an advisor on Arab affairs to PM Menachem Begin put it: "If we needed this land, we confiscated it from the Arabs. We had to create a Jewish state in this country, and we did"....."
Ben White
Al-Jazeera
"After his famous article earlier this year on Gaza, Judge Richard Goldstone has written a new op-ed, this time seeking to defend Israel against charges of apartheid.
There are numerous problems with Goldstone's piece, but I want to highlight two important errors. First, Goldstone - like others who attack the applicability of the term "apartheid" - wants to focus on differences between the old regime in South Africa and what is happening in Israel/Palestine. Note that he does this even while observing that apartheid "can have broader meaning", and acknowledging its inclusion in the 1998 Rome Statute.....
Goldstone's second major error is to omit core Israeli policies, particularly relating to the mass expulsions of 1948 and the subsequent land regime built on expropriation and ethno-religious discrimination. By law, Palestinian refugees are forbidden from returning, their property confiscated - the act of dispossession that enabled a Jewish majority to be created in the first place.
As an advisor on Arab affairs to PM Menachem Begin put it: "If we needed this land, we confiscated it from the Arabs. We had to create a Jewish state in this country, and we did"....."
Current Al-Jazeera (Arabic) Online Poll
Do you see the admission of Palestine to UNESCO as serving the Palestinian cause?
With about 300 responding (it is early), 83% said yes.
With about 300 responding (it is early), 83% said yes.
Al-Jazeera Video: Tensions between tribe members in Libya
"Libya's new interim prime minister has promised to make national reconciliation one of his top priorities, but in the town of Bani Walid, a former stronghold of Muammar Gaddafi, this may prove to be difficult.
The new head of the main hospital in Bani Walid is a pharmacist turned NTC fighter, and it is apparent that this is not a place where the anti-Gaddafi fighters are welcomed like heroes.
There is little communication between the fighters and the visitors, even if both stem from the same tribe.
Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel-Hamid reports from Bani Walid, Libya."
Al-Jazeera Video: Greeks greet referendum with cynicism
لماذا تعادي أمريكا فلسطين؟!../ رشاد أبو شاور
القاسم المشترك بين الإدارات الأمريكية المتتالية منذ ترومان حتى يومنا هذا أنها تتآمر على فلسطين، وتعادي شعب فلسطين، وتعمل على تصفية القضية الفلسطينية بحيث تنتهي فلسطين العربيّة تماما، ويتكرّس بقاء الكيان الصهيوني بدون عرب نهائيا، وهو ما يضمن ديمومة الشرخ بين مشرق الوطن العربي ومغربه، لضمان الهيمنة عليه، ونهب ثرواته، وحرمانه من كل عناصر قوته وتطوره ونهوضه.
أمريكا لا تكف عن التآمر على فلسطين، وهي لا تتوقف عن دعم الكيان الصهيوني عسكريا، وسياسيا، واقتصاديا، ودبلوماسيا.. وهو ما بدأته قبل أن تعلن دولة الكيان الصهيوني، وبشكل سافر منذ إدارة ترومان التي سرّعت في هجرة ألوف اليهود إلى فلسطين، وتفوّقت على الانتداب البريطاني في السباق على إنجاز دولة للعصابات الصهيونية في قلب الوطن العربي، دون اكتراث بردود فعل العرب والمسلمين، ولا حتى بردود فعل الرأي العام العالمي ورفضه لهذا الظلم.
من جديد تعلن أمريكا عداءها لفلسطين، وشعب فلسطين، وللعرب مسلمين ومسيحيين، وللعالم كله، بتصويتها ضد عضوية فلسطين في منظمة اليونسكو، واتباع موقفها السياسي العدواني الوقح، بإيقاف دفع حصتها المالية للمنظمة العالمية، عقابا لها على الاعتراف الدولي بفلسطين البلد العريق، بلد الأديان، بلد السيد المسيح، وبلد الحضارة الكنعانية، وبلد الإشعاع الحضاري على البشرية كلها، من قلبها النابض عبر ألوف السنين: القدس الخالدة التي تحتضن كنيسة القيامة، والأقصى، والتي على ثراها مشى السيد المسيح وهو يبشر بدعوته الإنسانية، ثمّ وهو يقاد للصلب مفتديا البشر أجمعين!
Audio: Robert Scheer and Chris Hedges on Class Struggle
"Last week on Truthdig Radio, the columnists had an in-depth discussion about the Occupy movement and the ruling class, which Hedges said is “totally divorced from what’s happening.”
Al Jazeera - 15 years in the headlines
From small beginnings, the Qatar-based channel has become the world's best-known – and most influential – source of news from the Middle East
By Robert Fisk
"The Mubarak family still believe it was Al Jazeera wot did it. Without the Qatari satellite channel's constant live coverage of Tahrir Square last January and February, so the story goes, the Emperor Hosni would still be on Egypt's throne, his hair as dyed as his pronouncements, his satraps still slobbering over his wisdom, his regime still producing fake news and fake ministries and fake elections for his people....
Now, poor old Al Jazeera – or very wealthy Al Jazeera, which is closer to the truth – is the hateful channel undermining the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. "They lie – Al Jazeera is trying to kill Syria," a young Syrian government official insisted to me in Damascus last week. "They take these YouTube pictures which are lies and they are trying to destroy us all." I often appear on Al Jazeera myself. Dangerous friend. It even lets me speak my mind; say what I like; make jokes; poke fun at the pompous. Can it be that bad?.....
Now, don't get the impression that it's all squeaky clean. While the English channel was broadcasting live from the Bahrain revolution-that-wasn't, its Arabic twin was staying mum; studiously avoiding any coverage of the King of Bahrain's suppression of majority Shia protests in the streets of Manama. Osama bin Laden could broadcast unedited on Al Jazeera......"
By Robert Fisk
"The Mubarak family still believe it was Al Jazeera wot did it. Without the Qatari satellite channel's constant live coverage of Tahrir Square last January and February, so the story goes, the Emperor Hosni would still be on Egypt's throne, his hair as dyed as his pronouncements, his satraps still slobbering over his wisdom, his regime still producing fake news and fake ministries and fake elections for his people....
Now, poor old Al Jazeera – or very wealthy Al Jazeera, which is closer to the truth – is the hateful channel undermining the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. "They lie – Al Jazeera is trying to kill Syria," a young Syrian government official insisted to me in Damascus last week. "They take these YouTube pictures which are lies and they are trying to destroy us all." I often appear on Al Jazeera myself. Dangerous friend. It even lets me speak my mind; say what I like; make jokes; poke fun at the pompous. Can it be that bad?.....
Now, don't get the impression that it's all squeaky clean. While the English channel was broadcasting live from the Bahrain revolution-that-wasn't, its Arabic twin was staying mum; studiously avoiding any coverage of the King of Bahrain's suppression of majority Shia protests in the streets of Manama. Osama bin Laden could broadcast unedited on Al Jazeera......"
Obama will rue his lack of principle on Palestine's Unesco membership
In pulling out of Unesco, Obama gives the right a boost and abandons all pretensions of being an honest peace broker
Ian Williams
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 1 November 2011
"....The White House should listen to the cheers in the hall that followed the Unesco vote – reminiscent of those that greeted the end of another period of diplomatic folly when Beijing took Chiang Kai-Shek's seat in the UN after decades of American pretence that an off-shore island represented China there.
Over-stretched financially and militarily, beset with problems that can only be solved multilaterally, doing Binyamin Netanyahu's bidding will win Obama few votes at home. The American Likudniks will still believe the president is an alien-born Muslim and send their votes and cheques accordingly. Abroad, the US has abandoned all logic, all signs of joined-up diplomacy, and abandoned the last vestiges of pretensions to be an honest broker in the Middle East.
As an epitaph to American diplomacy and illusions of empire, look at the votes for Palestine: Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait and Libya all voted against the US. Any more candidates for liberation?"
Ian Williams
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 1 November 2011
"....The White House should listen to the cheers in the hall that followed the Unesco vote – reminiscent of those that greeted the end of another period of diplomatic folly when Beijing took Chiang Kai-Shek's seat in the UN after decades of American pretence that an off-shore island represented China there.
Over-stretched financially and militarily, beset with problems that can only be solved multilaterally, doing Binyamin Netanyahu's bidding will win Obama few votes at home. The American Likudniks will still believe the president is an alien-born Muslim and send their votes and cheques accordingly. Abroad, the US has abandoned all logic, all signs of joined-up diplomacy, and abandoned the last vestiges of pretensions to be an honest broker in the Middle East.
As an epitaph to American diplomacy and illusions of empire, look at the votes for Palestine: Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait and Libya all voted against the US. Any more candidates for liberation?"
The world must not forsake Yemen's struggle for freedom
Yemenis are ready to pay the ultimate price to take on a brutal dictator. Yet the UN can't even bring itself to condemn him
Tawakkol Karman
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 1 November 2011
"We in Yemen are no less thirsty for freedom and dignity than our brothers and sisters in Tunis. After the fall of President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, our own vigils took a new direction when thousands of young people went on to the streets. They reached their climax with the fall of the Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, when millions of Yemenis called for the departure of the dictator, Ali Abdullah Saleh. Many in the Arab world were worried about our uprising. Everyone knew that the country is awash with weapons. It was feared that the revolution would descend into violence and distort the image of the other Arab uprisings.
But the Yemeni revolution surprised everyone with its astonishingly peaceful nature. This peacefulness exposed the unrestrained brutality of the regime toward the revolutionaries. They met the bullets of the regime with bare chests, preferring to guard their revolution rather than be lured into the quagmire of violence. A thousand martyrs fell and thousands more were injured, yet not one revolutionary raised a weapon in the face of the butchers.....
But perhaps the most basic error of the international community is to describe what is happening in Yemen as a political crisis and not a revolution. The Yemenis insist it is – not by words only, but with their blood, which the regime continues to shed.
In my capacity as a leader of the popular and youth revolution in Yemen, I reaffirm our adherence to the peaceful nature of our struggle until the end. At the same time, I ardently call upon the free people of the world to examine what is happening in my country and Syria especially, and to honour their responsibilities to confront rulers who do not hesitate to carry out the most heinous crimes against people who have the temerity to demand their natural rights to freedom and dignity."
Tawakkol Karman
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 1 November 2011
"We in Yemen are no less thirsty for freedom and dignity than our brothers and sisters in Tunis. After the fall of President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, our own vigils took a new direction when thousands of young people went on to the streets. They reached their climax with the fall of the Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, when millions of Yemenis called for the departure of the dictator, Ali Abdullah Saleh. Many in the Arab world were worried about our uprising. Everyone knew that the country is awash with weapons. It was feared that the revolution would descend into violence and distort the image of the other Arab uprisings.
But the Yemeni revolution surprised everyone with its astonishingly peaceful nature. This peacefulness exposed the unrestrained brutality of the regime toward the revolutionaries. They met the bullets of the regime with bare chests, preferring to guard their revolution rather than be lured into the quagmire of violence. A thousand martyrs fell and thousands more were injured, yet not one revolutionary raised a weapon in the face of the butchers.....
But perhaps the most basic error of the international community is to describe what is happening in Yemen as a political crisis and not a revolution. The Yemenis insist it is – not by words only, but with their blood, which the regime continues to shed.
In my capacity as a leader of the popular and youth revolution in Yemen, I reaffirm our adherence to the peaceful nature of our struggle until the end. At the same time, I ardently call upon the free people of the world to examine what is happening in my country and Syria especially, and to honour their responsibilities to confront rulers who do not hesitate to carry out the most heinous crimes against people who have the temerity to demand their natural rights to freedom and dignity."
Egypt's military may soon regret jailing Alaa Abd El Fattah
The imprisonment of the high-profile revolutionary could escalate tensions between the ruling junta and the protest movement
Brian Whitaker
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 1 November 2011
"Alaa Abd El Fattah is in jail. He was arrested on Sunday – accused of inciting violence against the Egyptian military – and on Monday was given 15 days' detention for refusing to answer questions to a military court.
A campaign to secure his release has also got under way with extraordinary rapidity: protests in the streets, a Twitter hashtag (#FreeAlaa) and even graffiti appeared within the first 24 hours or so. That is not especially surprising as Alaa, besides being a pioneer of Egyptian blogging, belongs to one of the most famous families of leftist agitators.
By arresting him, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which is currently running Egypt (and increasingly being referred to as "the junta"), has picked a fight with the core of the movement that toppled President Mubarak in January. Leftists, liberals and Islamists have all been rallying to Alaa's support and it may not be long before the junta starts to regret its action.
There are two reasons why this could turn into a cause célèbre. One is a growing recognition that the military, after initially supporting the revolution, has been back-pedalling ever since and in some ways is even more repressive than the old Mubarak regime. Military trials of civilians such as Alaa are the most obvious sign of that....."
Brian Whitaker
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 1 November 2011
"Alaa Abd El Fattah is in jail. He was arrested on Sunday – accused of inciting violence against the Egyptian military – and on Monday was given 15 days' detention for refusing to answer questions to a military court.
A campaign to secure his release has also got under way with extraordinary rapidity: protests in the streets, a Twitter hashtag (#FreeAlaa) and even graffiti appeared within the first 24 hours or so. That is not especially surprising as Alaa, besides being a pioneer of Egyptian blogging, belongs to one of the most famous families of leftist agitators.
By arresting him, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which is currently running Egypt (and increasingly being referred to as "the junta"), has picked a fight with the core of the movement that toppled President Mubarak in January. Leftists, liberals and Islamists have all been rallying to Alaa's support and it may not be long before the junta starts to regret its action.
There are two reasons why this could turn into a cause célèbre. One is a growing recognition that the military, after initially supporting the revolution, has been back-pedalling ever since and in some ways is even more repressive than the old Mubarak regime. Military trials of civilians such as Alaa are the most obvious sign of that....."
Egypt: Prominent blogger and activist detained
"The authorities must stop trying civilians before unfair military courts, Amnesty International said today, after a prominent Egyptian blogger and activist was detained.
Alaa Abdel Fattah appeared before military prosecutors on Sunday, but refused to answer questions because of his opposition to civilians being tried before military courts.
The prosecution ordered his detention for 15 days pending further investigation. Activist Bahaa Saber, who was interrogated at the same time, also refused to be questioned and was released on bail.
Both men criticized the fact that the military is in charge of investigating the killing of at least 27 people on 9 October, when troops and riot police violently dispersed protests around the state television building, known as Maspero. The demonstrations were sparked by attacks on Egypt’s Coptic Christian minority.
“The Egyptian military was part of the violence which occurred during the Maspero protests and is also leading the investigation into the bloodshed,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
“This is totally unacceptable and raises serious and fundamental questions about the inquiry’s independence and impartiality.
“Egypt’s military authorities must allow an independent investigation into these killings if they are serious about bringing those responsible to justice.”....."
Alaa Abdel Fattah appeared before military prosecutors on Sunday, but refused to answer questions because of his opposition to civilians being tried before military courts.
The prosecution ordered his detention for 15 days pending further investigation. Activist Bahaa Saber, who was interrogated at the same time, also refused to be questioned and was released on bail.
Both men criticized the fact that the military is in charge of investigating the killing of at least 27 people on 9 October, when troops and riot police violently dispersed protests around the state television building, known as Maspero. The demonstrations were sparked by attacks on Egypt’s Coptic Christian minority.
“The Egyptian military was part of the violence which occurred during the Maspero protests and is also leading the investigation into the bloodshed,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
“This is totally unacceptable and raises serious and fundamental questions about the inquiry’s independence and impartiality.
“Egypt’s military authorities must allow an independent investigation into these killings if they are serious about bringing those responsible to justice.”....."
Tuesday, November 01, 2011
U.S. Pulls All Funding for UNESCO After Sweeping Vote to Support Palestinian Membership
"In an emotional—and largely symbolic—move, the United Nations cultural organization known as UNESCO overwhelmingly voted to grant membership to the Palestinians, despite opposition from the United States and Israel. Now the United States says it will cancel a $60 million payment due in November to the U.N. body. Membership dues paid by the U.S. account for about a fifth of UNESCO’s annual budget. The U.S. is also threatening to veto any Palestinian effort to be recognized by the U.N. Security Council as an independent state. "By going to UNESCO, this was a way both of gauging where the public opinion is among the various governments and, more importantly, symbolically for the world, showing that this is a moment of recognition that the 20-year-old U.S.-controlled so-called 'peace process' simply hasn’t worked," said Phyllis Bennis of the Institute for Policy Studies...."
As NATO Ends Libyan Bombing Campaign, Is the U.S. Seeking Greater Military Control of Africa?
"NATO ended its bombing campaign in Libya on Monday. Over the past seven months, NATO aircraft conducted more than 26,500 sorties, including 9,700 strike missions. NATO said it bombed 5,900 military targets inside the country. While NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen hailed the campaign as a success, many analysts say NATO’s intensive bombing campaign violated its U.N. mandate. "The role that NATO played in Libya has been a very, very problematic one, a very troubled one, and ultimately is going to have a very long-term, deleterious impact on Libya’s future," says Phyllis Bennis of the Institute for Policy Studies. "The notion that the NATO bombings somehow was to do nothing but protect civilians is simply not the case." Bennis said the Libyan revolution began as part of the Arab Spring, but the NATO intervention turned it into a "Western assault on another North African, Middle Eastern, Arab country." She also expresses alarm over the rising U.S. military presence in Africa. "Despite efforts to claim that AFRICOM [U.S. Africa Command] is really about healthcare and AIDS education and women’s rights, to be carried out by the U.S. military, we have a very serious reality that Africa now provides more oil to the United States than the entire Middle East."...."
