Special Report: More Sewage Floods in Gaza are Likely

The Union of Gaza Local Municipalities announced that 25 Gaza municipalities are on the verge of complete paralysis due to inability to provide services to residents in light of the economic embargo.

By Rami Almeghari in Gaza
PalestineChronicle.com

"The Um Al Nasser village, on the northern Gaza-Israel borders, woke up on Tuesday to tens of thousands of gallons of sewage water flooding it's small cottages.

Many of the villagers fled the scene, while weaker ones could not. Two elderly women and three children drowned in dirty water, facing a horrible fate, while at least 20 others were injured. Rescue teams rushed to save those who could be saved. The Bedouin village of Um Al Nasser was established by the Palestinian Authority in 1999 to house some one thousand Palestinian Bedouins, the majority of whom are shepherds or manual labourers.

Disaster struck on Tuesday when a 6.5 acre septic cesspool containing 20,000 cubic meters of sewage water collapsed completely. It had weakened over time and had sustained several hits during the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Dr. Moawiya Abu Hasanain, spokesman of the emergency department at the Palestinian health ministry, said that what happened in Um Al Nasser required the health ministry to declare a state of emergency. The sewage flood could result in health complications and diseases in the area.

Sixty cottages have been completely destroyed and 226 others have been partially damaged due to this humanitarian crisis. Hundreds of families are now living in tents that have been supplied by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Why has this crisis happened? A question we asked the municipality officials of Um Al Nasser in light of repeated warnings by the Palestinian Environment Authority that a collapse of the cesspool was likely.

"We were surprised at 9:30 yesterday morning that a 26-dunum cesspool containing 20,000 cubic meters of sewage water, collapsed", Kamel Abu Qayeda, secretary of the Um Alnasser municipality initially answered. "The problem of sewage water disposal is not only faced by the municipality or the village of Um Alnaser, it is also encountered by the northern area in general, including the municipalities of Jabalya , Beit Lahya and Beit Hanoun", he maintained.

The collapse was likely, a warning that has not only been uttered by the official Palestinian body, but also by the local inhabitants of the village. Said Abu Safra, who has lost his 65 year-old mother and 3 year-old nephew said that the villagers had complained repeatedly of leakage of sewage water from the cesspool, reporting to the local government about such a concern, yet no one has responded positively.

Abu Safra said: “Let me give you an example, a neighbour of mine saw some leakage of water in the cesspool; so he informed those in charge. Yet, officials responded by claiming that the actual life of the structure would hold up for another month. ”We call on our brothers to come here and see the misery the village has just suffered", he appealed.

The villagers of Um Al Nasser are now living in the open air in cold spring weather, while their houses, personal belongings and some of their loved ones have been lost. They are waiting for food, assistance and shelter from an already untenable Palestinian authority, which has been exhausted enough by an economic embargo which has been internationally-imposed since last January’s parliamentary elections.

Head of the Palestinian environment authority, Yousef Abu Safiya, has stated that there are 40 other similar cesspools in the Gaza Strip which desperately need renovation. This would curb the breakout of similar humanitarian disasters in the future.

On March 24th, the Union of Gaza Local Municipalities announced that 25 Gaza municipalities are on the verge of complete paralysis due to inability to provide services to residents in light of the economic embargo that has led to the highest rate of poverty yet- approximately 80% of Gazans are now living below the poverty line. "

***

Don't expect a visit from Habila anytime soon; he doesn't like the smell of sewage. He prefers to travel by jet and meet equally impotent Arab presidents and kings.

The Telegraph Pimping for War on Iran

Fears of expert sniper in Basra

"Fears that an expert sniper is operating in Basra are growing after two British soldiers were shot dead by single bullets in the past two days.

At least three have been killed and five wounded in the past six weeks by single shots. The marksman is equipped with a powerful rifle that can penetrate body armour, military sources believe.

Earlier this year, The Daily Telegraph reported that insurgents in Iraq had at least 100 Austrian Steyr sniper rifles the country had sold to Iran. The Teheran regime is widely recognised as a prime trainer of insurgents and provides them with money and equipment.

Iraqi intelligence sources have also said that Iranian security figures were operating in Basra as Teheran attempts to gain total influence in southern Iraq......"

"The Worse Things Get in Iraq, the More Privatized This War Becomes, The More Profitable This War Becomes" Naomi Klein on the Privatization of State

Democracy Now!
With Amy Goodman

"As we continue to look at the issue of Iraq and the US occupation, we turn to the acclaimed author and journalist, Naomi Klein. Naomi is a widely read columnist for the Nation magazine and the London Guardian. She is the author of the international bestseller "No Logo" and more recently of "Fences and Windows." She visited Iraq in 2004 and published an article later that year for Harper's Magazine titled "Baghdad Year Zero" in which she detailed the privatization of Iraq's state-dominated economy. She has continued to cover the issue and her forthcoming book on disaster capitalism is due to be published in the fall.
Naomi Klein recently spoke at an event here in New York celebrating the launch of Jeremy Scahill's first book, "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army." In her talk, Naomi Klein spoke about the privatization of the state......."

Click Here to Watch, Listen or Read Transcript

Habila Never Tires of Waving, He is Always "Campaigning".....
He Waves Even When There is no One to Wave to.....He Waves to the Trees.....
These Are the Instructions of Ahmad Yousef

The Arab "Peace Initiative" and the Response to it
By Baha Boukhari

McCain Wrong on Iraq Security, Merchants Say

"BAGHDAD, April 2 — A day after members of an American Congressional delegation led by Senator John McCain pointed to their brief visit to Baghdad’s central market as evidence that the new security plan for the city was working, the merchants there were incredulous about the Americans’ conclusions.

“What are they talking about?” Ali Jassim Faiyad, the owner of an electrical appliances shop in the market, said Monday. “The security procedures were abnormal!”

The delegation arrived at the market, which is called Shorja, on Sunday with more than 100 soldiers in armored Humvees — the equivalent of an entire company — and attack helicopters circled overhead, a senior American military official in Baghdad said. The soldiers redirected traffic from the area and restricted access to the Americans, witnesses said, and sharpshooters were posted on the roofs. The congressmen wore bulletproof vests throughout their hourlong visit.

“They paralyzed the market when they came,” Mr. Faiyad said during an interview in his shop on Monday. “This was only for the media.”

He added, “This will not change anything.”......"

The botched US raid that led to the hostage crisis

Exclusive Report: How a bid to kidnap Iranian security officials sparked a diplomatic crisis

By Patrick Cockburn

"A failed American attempt to abduct two senior Iranian security officers on an official visit to northern Iraq was the starting pistol for a crisis that 10 weeks later led to Iranians seizing 15 British sailors and Marines.

Early on the morning of 11 January, helicopter-born US forces launched a surprise raid on a long-established Iranian liaison office in the city of Arbil in Iraqi Kurdistan. They captured five relatively junior Iranian officials whom the US accuses of being intelligence agents and still holds.

In reality the US attack had a far more ambitious objective, The Independent has learned. The aim of the raid, launched without informing the Kurdish authorities, was to seize two men at the very heart of the Iranian security establishment.

Better understanding of the seriousness of the US action in Arbil - and the angry Iranian response to it - should have led Downing Street and the Ministry of Defence to realise that Iran was likely to retaliate against American or British forces such as highly vulnerable Navy search parties in the Gulf. The two senior Iranian officers the US sought to capture were Mohammed Jafari, the powerful deputy head of the Iranian National Security Council, and General Minojahar Frouzanda, the chief of intelligence of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, according to Kurdish officials.

The two men were in Kurdistan on an official visit during which they met the Iraqi President, Jalal Talabani, and later saw Massoud Barzani, the President of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), at his mountain headquarters overlooking Arbil.......

The attempt by the US to seize the two high-ranking Iranian security officers openly meeting with Iraqi leaders is somewhat as if Iran had tried to kidnap the heads of the CIA and MI6 while they were on an official visit to a country neighbouring Iran, such as Pakistan or Afghanistan. There is no doubt that Iran believes that Mr Jafari and Mr Frouzanda were targeted by the Americans. Mr Jafari confirmed to the official Iranian news agency, IRNA, that he was in Arbil at the time of the raid......

For more than a year the US and its allies have been trying to put pressure on Iran. Security sources in Iraqi Kurdistan have long said that the US is backing Iranian Kurdish guerrillas in Iran. The US is also reportedly backing Sunni Arab dissidents in Khuzestan in southern Iran who are opposed to the government in Tehran. On 4 February soldiers from the Iraqi army 36th Commando battalion in Baghdad, considered to be under American control, seized Jalal Sharafi, an Iranian diplomat.

The raid in Arbil was a far more serious and aggressive act. It was not carried out by proxies but by US forces directly. The abortive Arbil raid provoked a dangerous escalation in the confrontation between the US and Iran which ultimately led to the capture of the 15 British sailors and Marines - apparently considered a more vulnerable coalition target than their American comrades."

Palestinians Frustrated With Make Believe "Government"

The deafening silence of the new interior minister - editorial

"Bethlehem – Ma'an - editor in chief - The Palestinian factions chose a new interior minister, former general director of the Sharia courts in Gaza, Mr Hani Qawasmi.

Since then we have witnessed the opening moves of the new unity government, which focuses on two main issues, first is lifting the siege and second, an end to the disorder and lawlessness.

The siege is the issue which the minister of finance is to address and the other issue is the responsibility of Mr Qawasmi.

Silence

We have waited for the first week and then the second, we wanted to see the minister say something in a press statement or a speech or a short message or even an oppressive order, but up to this moment he has done nothing.

I do not deny that we are a people who want to see results in a hurry; we want to see the bloodshed ending and to move quickly to the era of law sovereignty.

I do not exaggerate when I say that we are still in the stage of getting to know the new minister, he is not politically known and is not a member of a faction.

We would like to see the minister, to speak to him about our problems, our pain and suffering, we want to talk to him and want him to talk to us.

Opinion?

Since the formation of the unity government, we are waiting for him to express his opinion about what is going on, about what he thinks about the Israeli threats to invade the Gaza Strip, the abduction of Alan Johnston and the launching of projectiles.

We want to see what he thinks about all the killing and daily clashes on the streets of the Gaza Strip, the bombing of internet cafes, the new formation of the new Fatah Special Force and the increase in crime, poverty and drugs-smuggling.

Qawasmi what do you have to say? "

***

It seems that the "unity celebrations" were for nothing.

الدواعي الحقيقية و الأبعاد والمخاطر الإستراتيجية لقرارات القمة العربية في الرياض..!!

A Good Analysis in Arabic

بقلم: عماد عفانة

".............

الأبعاد الإستراتيجية لقرارات القمة:

1- نخلص إلى أن المبادرة العربية التي تستند إليها القمة، والتي يجري تصوير عدم تعديلها كما لو كان انتصاراً كبيراًً للعرب، هي بمثابة إقرار نهائي، من قبل أصحاب الحق، وبغطاء عربي رسمي بشرعية وجود إسرائيل في قلب الأمة، وتنازل من النظام العربي عن أرض فلسطين التاريخية

وهذا يمثل إقراراً عربياً رسمياً بصحة الرواية الصهيونية للصراع على فلسطين التي قامت على الظلم والإرهاب، فهو إذا استسلام رسمي بغطاء الإجماع العربي ينسف مشروعية الحق العربي والإسلامي بأي شبر من فلسطين، ويعطي الحق والمشروعية للدولة اليهودية للتشبث بالأرض ومواصلة عدوانها وأطماعها وهيمنتها في قلب الأمة.

2- إن أكثر ما كان يخيف الحلف الصهيوني الأمريكي هو البعد الإسلامي والإمكانات الإسلامية في حسابات الصراع على فلسطين، لهذا كانت السعودية هدفا وصيداً ثميناً تم جره إلى حلبة الاستسلام العربي الرسمي في الاعتراف بإسرائيل وإنهاء الصراع على فلسطين وجسر الاعتراف والتطبيع، وبالتالي تخلص الحلف الصهيوامريكي من البعد

العربي الديني الإسلامي للقضية الفلسطينية وبحضور اكبر حركات المقاومة الإسلامية في فلسطين.

3- صحيح أن اتفاق مكة فتح أمام حماس أبواب الشرعية العربية بل والدولية، وشرعن وجودها على رأس سدة الحكم في أراضي السلطة، بما يعنيه ذلك من فتح الساحات الشعبية العربية أمام تحركات الممثل الفلسطيني الجديد، إلا أن الثمن يبدوا حسب هذا المخطط الرهيب اكبر من القدرة على التصديق، فحماس الإسلامية الراديكالية المقاومة استعملت كجزء من الغطاء للتنازل العربي الرسمي عن ثلثي فلسطين التاريخية لصالح إسرائيل بل وفتح أبواب العواصم العربية والإسلامية أمامها والتطبيع معها.

4- إذا كان هدف حماس البعيد من قيادتها لتيار المقاومة في فلسطين ليس من اجل تحرير فلسطين فهي تعرف أنها لا تستطيع ذلك ولكن من اجل إبقاء شعلة المقاومة متقدة في أذهان وضمير الأمة إلى حين توفر الأجواء والظروف لحرب التحرير الحقيقية، فان وجود حماس في القمة العربية التي تنازلت عبر المبادرة العربية

بالإجماع عن ثلثي فلسطين قد نسف هذا الهدف الذي عملت حماس من اجله طوال العشرين سنة الماضية.

وهذه النتيجة تضع حماس أمام امتحان غاية في الدقة والصعوبة وليس أمامها إلا النجاح فيه وإلا فستذوب في مسلسل التنازلات العربي كما ذابت فتح من قبلها، وهذا الامتحان يتمثل بمدى تمسكها بالمقاومة وعليها أن تثبت ذلك بتصعيد ملموس في عملياتها العسكرية بالتوازي التام مع تحركاتها السياسية فلسطينيا وعربيا ودوليا.

5- قرارات القمة لم تتطرق إلى انتصار المقاومة اللبنانية والتي لم يمضي عليها سوى بضعة أشهر، كما أغفلت هذه القرارات عن عمد الغرق الأمريكي الصاخب في وحل المقاومة العراقية، وعوضا عن استغلال أجواء الانتصار الذي أشاعته المقاومة في لبنان والعراق للضغط على أمريكا وإسرائيل لجهة تحقيق المصالح الفلسطينية

والعربية، قام العرب بتجيير الهزيمة الصهيوأمريكية لصالح المخططات الصهيوأمريكية، الأمر الذي ربما يمثل تهديدا لمشروعية المقاومة في العراق وفلسطين ولبنان في الدفاع عن الأرض والمقدسات، خصوصا وأن العرب عرضوا المبادرة العربية للسلام مع إسرائيل كخيار استراتيجي دون أن يكون له أي بديل يضغط على إسرائيل أو يدفعها لقبول المبادرة، في ظل الحديث عن الاستعداد الأمريكي لضرب إيران، بعد عزلها عن الأمة تحت دعاوى مذهبية وقومية، يجري تضخيمها خدمة لأغراض ومخططات أمريكية ."

Jenin Massacres, 5th Anniversary

Sabbah Blog

"In the following pages a light will be shed on the pictures of tragedy committed by Sharon’s gangs. In Jenin, humanity was squeezed under the chains of tanks, flesh and plants were mixed with iron and dust. What happened in Jenin was stripped out of the so-called human and international laws.

Tens of books will sooner or later appear documenting this vigorous crime, but we will try to shed a light on some statements released by people who witnessed the massacre........"


Over 140 buildings, most multifamily dwellings, were completely destroyed (green) in Jenin and more than 200 others (red) were seriously damaged. Hawashin district, where more than 100 buildings were razed, is at the center of the map. (source: Human Rights Watch)

Arab Summit and the Carrot of Palestinian State

A Good Article

By Elias Akleh
(Dr. Elias Akleh is an Arab writer of Palestinian descent, born in the town of Beit-Jala. Currently he lives in the US)

"......The Arab leaders were supposed to deal with political crises in the Arab World such as occupation of Iraq, political division in Lebanon, and the Palestinian problem. Yet, as usual, they failed to come up with positive action plans to remedy any of these problems.

As for the occupation of Iraq, the Saudi King Abdullah acknowledged in his opening speech the fact that there is an illegitimate foreign occupation of Iraq, and the existence of an “ugly sectarianism threatening civil war”. His acknowledgement of this very-well known fact aimed to divert any popular blame from the Arab leaders toward foreign powers. He was trying to deny the fact that the forces of this foreign occupation had been launched from Arab countries, mainly from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan, in 1990 and again in 2003, to murder Iraqis and to destroy Iraq as a sovereign country. Late conservative counts of the murdered Iraqis reached to one million. Two other millions had evacuated their homes and ran away to adjacent countries.......

One wonders why would the Arab leaders revive their peace initiative since they know very well Israel’s response to it. Some attributed this to what they think is the American failure in Iraq. They think that the American administration needs Arab’s help in order to withdraw honorably from Iraq. They believe that Americans have a change in foreign policies due to the Democratic Party “taking over” the Congress......

These leaders are trying to divert the attention of their people away from the fact that many Arab countries had been willing contributors to this financial blockade in order to topple the democratically elected Hamas government. They wanted to mislead the people into believing that Palestine could not be regained since all the Arab armies combined are no match for the “undefeated” Israeli army. History shows that this “undefeated” Israeli army had been defeated many times.....

The peace initiative and the false hope of ending the Arab/Israeli conflict through the two states solution are just a political trick against Arabs to introduce the false hope that peace with Israel, Arab’s mortal enemy, is now possible through the present American administration, providing the Arab countries do not oppose the American policies in the region especially its aggression against Iran. US and Israel are planning to hit Iran shortly, and they want to neutralize any Arab opposition to US using Arab Gulf States as its launching pads, and to prevent any retaliation against Israel. The carrot of establishing a Palestinian state had been successfully used to neutralize Arab opposition to the American aggression in the region in 1990 Gulf War and in 2003 invasion of Iraq when some Arab countries were used as launching pads for the American forces to invade Iraq......"

Latest Al-Jazeera (Arabic) Online Poll

The question is:

Do you have confidence in the fairness of Western media?

With more than 3,000 responding so far, 90% said no.

Al-Jazeera Cartoon

I apologize for those who do not speak Arabic, but this cartoon is hard to translate and would lose its meaning.

A Bogus Hostage Crisis

By GARY LEUPP
CounterPunch

"On March 31 the President of the United States made a statement pertaining to the 15 British sailors and marines unfortunately detailed in Iran: "The Iranians must give back the hostages. They're innocent. The Iranians took these people out of Iraqi waters. It's inexcusable behavior."

But since the American people don't trust George W. Bush, let's seek a second opinion. A credible authoritative one.

Let's ask the top Iraqi military officer in charge of guarding the Shatt al-Iraq waterway where the Brits were actually apprehended. This man is working for the U.S.-backed regime and probably not inclined to make up stuff to embarrass the U.S. president, who gives him his paycheck. So his opinion should be relevant here. Let's ask Brigadier General Hakim Jassim.

The good general told Associated Press the day after the March 23 incident: "We were informed [about the British troops' arrests] by Iraqi fishermen, after they had returned from sea that there were British gunboats in an area that is out of Iraqi control. We don't know why they were there.'" ......

Bush is trying to depict the March 23 incident as a "hostage crisis," stoking memories of the 1979-81 Iran Embassy episode......

Just as the seizure of the Americans in 1979 needs to be understood in perspective, the detention of these Britons has to be understood in the context of the crime of the Iraq War itself. Whatever the actual coordinates of the vessel boarded and seized by the Iranians, why are the British policing the Shatt al-Arab waterway at all?.

They're there fighting an imperialist war. That war is going badly. The neocons still in charge in Washington (and building bridges to the resurgent Democrats led by opportunists competing to convey deference to AIPAC and embrace a hard line against Iran) wish to expand it to include the Islamic Republic. They work overtime organizing that project. That much should be obvious to anybody paying attention.....

I will not prophesy that the evil, dangerous persons (including fundamentalist Christians and secular Jewish neocons) responsible for the war on Iraq will purvey a Good Friday assault on Iran. But I won't be surprised if it happens, with apocalyptic ramifications. Perhaps only in the aftermath will redeeming regime change come here."

The Political Economy of a Disaster

Bush, AIPAC and Palestine

By JAMES PETRAS
CounterPunch

"On Monday, March 26, 2007 in Northern Gaza a river of raw sewage and debris overflowed from a collapsed earth embankment into a refugee camp driving 3,000 Palestinians from their homes. Five residents drowned, 25 were injured and scores of houses were destroyed.......

The disaster at Umm Naser (the village in question) is emblematic of everything that is wrong with US-Israeli politics in the Middle East. The disaster in this isolated village has its roots first and foremost in Washington where AIPAC and its political allies have successfully secured US backing for Israel's financial and economic boycott of the Palestinian government subsequent to the democratic electoral victory of Hamas.

AIPAC's victory in Washington reverberated throughout Europe and beyond as the European Union also applied sanctions shutting off financing of all new infrastructure projects and the maintenance of existing facilities. At the AIPAC conventions of 2005 through 2007, the leaders of both major American parties, congressional leaders and the White House pledged to re-enforce AIPAC's boycott and sanctions strategy. AIPAC celebrated its victory for Israeli policy and claimed authorship of the legislation. In addition to malnutrition, the policy undermined all public maintenance projects.

Equally central to the disaster, Israel's massive sustained bombing attack on Gaza in the summer of 2006, demolished roads, bridges, sewage treatment facilities, water purification and electrical power plants. Northern Gaza was one of its many targets, putting severe strain on already precarious infrastructure and government budgets including the maintenance of sewage treatment plants and cesspools......

To the extent that any Palestinian leader can be held responsible, the finger points to the US and Israeli-backed PLO and its titular head Abbas who receives whatever 'humanitarian' aid flows into Palestine. The tens of millions of dollars of Palestinian import taxes held by Israeli banks were handed over to Mahmoud Abbas , to arm the anti-Hamas vigilantes. Over the past two decades the US-backed 'moderate' PLO leaders and crony 'capitalists' have diverted tens of millions of dollars and euros to their private overseas bank accounts, with the acquiescence of their European, US and Israeli patrons. What is a bit of Palestinian corruption if it means propping up an incompetent group of
pliant 'leaders'?.

The plight of the Umm Naser villagers deluged by their own sewage was neither an act of fate nor a result of local negligence or theft: It was a direct consequence of all that is wrong in US-Middle East politics, the taking sides with a brutal colonial power and its powerful voices and organizations in Washington. Umm Naser is written large throughout Palestine, Iraq and Lebanon: Millions of Arab villagers suffer the consequences of pre-emptive wars to secure Greater Israel as both President Bush and Vice President have publicly stated in justifying their aggression."

BAE Systems ‘paid actresses to entertain Saudi prince’

Contributed by Fatima

"Glamorous hostesses were allegedly paid tens of thousands of pounds from a BAE Systems slush fund to attend lavish parties where a Saudi prince and his entourage were guests of honour.

According to documents seen by The Sunday Times, the money was paid to Anouska Bolton Lee and Karajan Mallinder to meet mortgage, rent, credit card and council tax bills.

The two women went to parties in a penthouse suite at the Carlton Tower hotel in Knightsbridge attended by Prince Turki bin Nasser and other senior Saudis involved in the £40 billion al-Yamamah arms deal.

The claims will revive the controversy over the Government’s decision to order the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) to abandon a long-running corruption inquiry, which had been examining BAE’s relationship with the Saudi regime.

The SFO had amassed a wealth of material and, since 2004, had been attempting to piece together the workings of the alleged £60 million slush fund. But the investigation was abandoned last December after consultations between the Prime Minister and Lord Goldsmith, QC, the Attorney-General.

The move followed pressure from Saudi Arabia, which had expressed anger at the SFO inquiry and was threatening to back out of a £10 billion deal to buy Eurofighter jets from BAE.

There were also claims that the Saudis would withdraw cooperation on counter-terrorism and intelligence.

Robert Wardle, the director of the SFO, said that the inquiry had been discontinued because of “the need to safeguard national and international security”......."

McCain Strolls Through Baghdad Market, Accompanied By 100 Soldiers, 3 Blackhawks, 2 Apache Gunships

"Sen. John McCain strolled briefly through an open-air market in Baghdad today in an effort to prove that Americans are “not getting the full picture” of what’s going on in Iraq.

NBC’s Nightly News provided further details about McCain’s one-hour guided tour. He was accompanied by “100 American soldiers, with three Blackhawk helicopters, and two Apache gunships overhead.” Still photographs provided by the military to NBC News seemed to show McCain wearing a bulletproof vest during his visit."

Watch Video

New Pressure to Relinquish Rights

By Jamal Juma
PalestineChronicle.com

"Palestinians in our homeland and the Diaspora remember the 30th of May as Land Day. On this day in 1976, six Palestinians were killed and a hundred injured by Israeli forces as Palestinians went on strike against a massive land confiscation scheme in the Galilee. Land theft and colonization continues in the Galilee, Naqab and the West Bank until today.

More than 30 years later, we will again be out on the streets and in the fields confronting the Occupation. Over 20 protests and demonstrations will unite the people in villages and cities across the West Bank in a week of continuous mobilization, while Palestinians on the other side of the Green Line will hold protests against the ongoing racism and colonization of their lands. But is the world willing to see our protests and the reality on the ground?

In the West Bank, including Jerusalem , the Israeli Apartheid Wall, settlements and their road systems are de facto confiscating over half of our land and most of our water resources and agricultural fields. Israeli apartheid is creating something worse than Bantustans: Palestinian residential areas surrounded by 8-meter high cement walls and sealed by gates, checkpoints and terminals.......

In the meanwhile, the newly formed Palestinian government has to be integrated into these plans to ensure it underwrites the formula. The ongoing sanctions against the Palestinian people represent the backdrop of international pressure and such efforts.

In this situation, it is neither Palestinians nor those in the Arab world that strive for justice and self-determination that need a deal. The ongoing resistance in Palestine and Iraq is the unpredictable factor that might change the cards on the table. It is time to underline the principles of our struggle and the baselines for peace and justice: the end of the occupation, equality for all of our people within our homeland, the right of return to their homes for our refugees, Jerusalem, home to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians and cultural and economic center of Palestine as our capital, are integral parts of our right to self-determination. It is only when diplomacy is forced to see and change the reality on the ground in Palestine and accepts the pillars of our struggle, human rights and international law that justice comes closer.

The demonstrations and protests all over Palestine for Land Day are thus yet another call to our leadership and the wider region that they at least second, if not lead, the steadfastness and resistance of the people. Approximately 97 villages in the West Bank are completely isolated and slated for destruction or ethnic cleansing and some 4,500 houses are under demolition order to make space for Israeli colonization. Dispossessed farmers watch industrial estates growing on their land in a system designed to exploit and control. Six out of ten Palestinians live below the poverty line. Yet the calls that lead the demonstrations do not ask for food or survival. It is the calls for dignity and rights – the full implementation of our rights – that brings the people onto the streets. Another popular Intifada is inevitably building up as long as our rights are ignored and our future confiscated. "

Sleep in Peace

By Layla Anwar

Damn, she is a good writer!
I recommend reading the whole article

"Did you know that the 28th of March was the 7th International Sleeping Day?.....

Who said the Arab world is behind in innovations?
We too had our special day of sleep and it coincidentally took place the same day as the collective snooze in Bordeaux. However, ours was called the Arab Summit.

For those of you who don't know what the Arab summit is, I will give you a brief description. Heads of states, Excellencies, Ambassadors, Royalties, gather every few years to discuss the same agendas except at each Summit, you can be sure that the "Arab condition" has worsened. The reason is quite simple. "They" are either catatonically asleep or in some profound "reverie".

Does not really matter, the end result is always the same - No results.

A good example was Jalal Talabani, our kurdish peshmerga turned buffoon, the president of the New Iraq. He was in full oneiric vagary himself.
Jalal Talabani corpulently collapsed in one of these opulent golden armchairs, flushed rosy cheeks, blushing with puerile excitement at the wonderful developments taking place in Iraq. He stated unequivocally that the "liberation" of Iraq was the "best thing" that happened since the last Arab summit in 2002.....

His Excellency, Amr Moussa, the Ambassador of the Arab Leg - sorry meant League, having proclaimed the peace process dead a few months back, revived it. The Pharaonic high priest who previously embalmed mummies suddenly gave them the secret elixir of life. Who said we can't resuscitate the dead ?!

"Al Rayess" Hosny Mubarak assured us on the other hand, that the region could not handle more turmoil and another war. No shit? Al Rayess also forgot to mention that he (as well as the Saudi monarch) were the first to agree to the Coalition of the Brave Farts bombing of Baghdad on condition that this time around Saddam Hussein be removed from power......

As for the Palestinian "freedom fighter" Abbas, he was all smiles. He walked in and out as if he had just won a poker game except his deck of cards were left behind with Olmert.....

Now His Majesty, King Abdullah, the Monarch of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Don't you just love those long titles?) dared call the Iraq occupation "illegal".
Oh thank you your Highness. After 4 years of total destruction - I hope you did not lose too much sleep over it. In any event, he was quickly reprimanded by the White House for erring from the herd's line.....

Not really, since they too had joined al Rayess of Egypt in showering the American cowboys with money, logistics and blessings, profusely thanking their uncle Bush for finally delivering the long awaited promise. Regime change in Iraq......

And no one can accuse them of not being true feminists. They do take orders from a woman and are eager to serve, please and satisfy...always. Ask Condi Rice......

Called Zakariah.

- So what do you think of the Arab summit?
- What Arab summit? Come and see my condition first then talk to me about the Arab summit.
- But Talabani said there is an economic boom?
- An economic boom huh ? The only "booms" are his own farts and the explosions near my house...

Meanwhile in Northern Gaza.

300 people have fled from the sewage floods which killed two elderly women in their 70's, two toddlers and one teen age girl, injuring 35 others and destroying 100 homes.

Between occupied Iraq and its floods and occupied Palestine and its floods, who said there is no Arab unity ?!

You can go to sleep now, joining the lot from Bordeaux and Riyadh, but before you leave, let me offer you this poem as a lullaby. It was written by the famous Iraqi poet M.Al-Risafi during Her majesty's colonial rule in Iraq in the 30's and is entitled :

"Freedom as understood by the occupiers"

"People, do not speak
speaking is forbidden.
Sleep, sleep, and do not awaken
victory is only for those
who are asleep.
Postpone in advance
whatever you are supposed to do
and leave behind all understanding
for it is best that you do not understand.
Take root in your ignorance
for it is evil that you become learned men.
As for politics, leave it aside
lest you regret..."

Nite Nite"

A Filter for Life to Save Children in Gaza

By Silvia Cattori

"A source of life, water has become a major health problem in Gaza.

After the fear, the hunger, now it’s thirst.

Israel diverts 80% of the water resources in the West Bank and Gaza.

After fifty years of appropriating the most fertile and water rich land in Palestine, Israel is diverting Jordan’s water, which has given rise to reactions on the part of the UN. Since the 60s and the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, Israel has profited by controlling the water resources of its neighbours. Sixty-five percent of water consumed by Israel comes from deep layers in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, and the Golan Heights, annexed by force in 1981.

Since the year 2000, Israel has intensified its pillage of both surface and subterranean water through illegal measures. For example: Israel constructed the so-called “security wall” on the interior of Palestinian lands following the traces of basins of water. They also installed wells up to 500 metres deep all along the Gaza to take up water that from time immemorial flowed in the natural reservoir of Gush-Katif.

The intensive pumping effected by Israel has thrown the hydrostatic balance in disequilibrium. The result: in the Gaza Strip, seawater has infiltrated into the water layer. Today, 90% of the tap water coming from that layer is salty and utterly undrinkable, and homes only have access to water a few hours a day.

In the north of Gaza, where there is no separation between the water layers and dirty water, the sanitary situation linked to contaminated water has become extremely aggravated. The people are forced to drink this water, giving rise to an important increase in associated diseases, above all in children.

Well-to-do Palestinians have the means to buy bottled water. There are many religious charity organizations that have built their own water filtration stations and take it upon themselves to distribute small quantities of water to the most impoverished. Moreover, several municipalities have built their own filtration plants and have installed faucets where people can go to fill their water containers. But this doesn’t cover the entire population.

We think it is important to support the project Drinking Water in order to protect the health of these poorest inhabitants of Gaza, those who are the most touched by malnutrition.

The objective of this small project, A "Filter for Life", is modest but vital.

Contaminated and brackish water compromises the health of tens of thousands of the poorest people who have no other choice but to drink this water. A "Filter for Life" seeks to offer to the families of Gaza that live in the neighbourhoods where the water is dirty and polluted, an individual filter that purifies and desalinates tap water.

Every penny donated will go to the purchase of filters. The first beneficiaries: the poorest families, who because they lack the means to buy bottled water, must drink water that is salty and highly polluted. A donation is a way to protect those who are the most vulnerable, such as children, from a slow death."

Barghouthi warns of Olmert’s conference invitation

"RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- The PA government has warned that the call of Israeli premier Ehud Olmert on Arab countries to sit and negotiate with him was an attempt to divide the Arab world.

Dr. Mustafa Al-Barghouthi, the PA information minister, charged that the Israeli occupation government is attempting to evade its political obligations for a just and peaceful solution in the region.

“It is clear that Israel is trying to overcome Palestinian legal rights, and directly negotiate with the Arab countries to normalize diplomatic relations with them without solving the Palestinian problem”, Barghouthi said in a press statement he issued and a copy of which was obtained by the PIC.

He also affirmed that Olmert wants to change the idea of an international conference with a comprehensive solution into a regional conference with partial and interim solutions.

On Sunday, Olmert called on the Arab countries to invite him to an Arab-sponsored “peace conference” to discuss and modify the Arab peace initiative, which his government promptly rejected on Thursday.

“By calling for such a conference, Olmert is obviously trying to drive a wedge between the Arab countries and the Palestinians in a bid to sideline Palestinian legal demands, including the right of return among other rights, and to overcome them”, the PA minister furthermore underscored.

Moreover, Barghouthi accused the Israeli occupation government of Olmert of enhancing settlement projects in the occupied Palestinian lands, stealing Palestinian people’s money, and strangling the PA economy among other suffocating practices."

'World's most powerful woman' visits PA and leaves Palestinians 'disappointed'

"Bethlehem - Ma'an - Palestinian high-ranking sources expressed disappointment with the visit of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who Forbes Magazine considers to be the world's most powerful woman.

Impolite

The sources told Ma'an that "Merkel lacked all elements of common decency and respect; she was not polite as a high-ranking official like her should be and failed to observe basic codes of conduct."

They said that she did "everything possible to provoke the Palestinian people and underestimated the suffering of these people, but was the opposite on the Israeli side that is occupying the land and oppressing the Palestinians."

The sources said that the German chancellor was "interested only in the case of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit but she did not say a word about 12,000 Palestinian prisoners including women, children, old people and sick people, in Israeli jails."

Bias

They also said that although she visited the families of the three captured Israeli soldiers in Lebanon and Gaza she refused to meet any of the families of the Palestinian prisoners.

The sources stated that the discrimination was obvious in her visit from the very beginning. "She refused to meet Abbas in Bethlehem to see the separation wall, which causes endless suffering to Palestinians, claiming that she might be reminded of the Berlin wall, which she observed daily when working in East Berlin."

The sources also said that Merkel refused to meet the representatives of the Christian Church in the Bethlehem. "She refused, even during Easter to witness the Israeli measures of restriction on Christians, banning them from entering the holy city of Bethlehem, which is surrounded by the separation wall."

The sources added that she also cancelled a meeting with the representatives of the Palestinians Non-Government Organisation's, such meetings have become convention the foreign diplomats and officials visiting the PA territories. Merkel did not give any reason for the cancellation.

With regard to her meeting with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, the sources said that she "concentrated only on the issue of Shalit and did not pay much attention to the issue of peace process or the Israeli measures on the ground, which make the lives of Palestinians unbearable."

"She refused to meet any of the ministers despite the decisions of the Europeans to meet with some of the ministers, thus contradicting the trend of the EU."

The sources expressed deep disappointment because she received a doctorate degree from the Hebrew university in Jerusalem but refused to visit the city. "She refused to meet with its citizens and to see the kind of lives they are living and the way the Israelis are transforming the city and destroying its Arabian landmarks in violation of international legitimacy and resolutions."

Holocaust hangover

The result of the visit of Merkel, according to the sources, "raises the question about the impact of a biased Germany policy, how can such a policy play a role in reviving the peace process and how can Merkel be a fair party?"

Finally, the sources asked whether "the Palestinian people have to pay the price for the suffering of the Jews and the crimes committed against them?""

The war of humiliation

By Robert Fisk

"Our Marines are hostages. Two more were shown on Iranian TV. Petrol bombs burst behind the walls of the British embassy in Tehran. But it's definitely not the war on terror. It's the war of humiliation. The humiliation of Britain, the humiliation of Tony Blair, of the British military, of George Bush and the whole Iraqi shooting match. And the master of humiliation - even if Tony Blair doesn't realise it - is Iran, a nation which feels itself forever humiliated by the West......

The Iranians, you see, understand the West. And they understand it much better than we understand - or bother to understand - Iran.

We have forgotten the years of Allied occupation in the Second World War, the deposition of the pro-German Shah and then, humiliation of humiliations, the overthrow of the democratic Prime Minister, Mohamed Mossadeq, engineered by the CIA's Allen Dulles and an eccentric British scholar of Greek, an ex-Special Operations Executive operative - "Monty" Woodhouse by name - with a few guns and a pile of dollars. And the Iranians remember well, how back came the Shah of Iran, our "policeman" in the Gulf, the King of Kings, Light of the Aryans, descendant of Cyrus the Great, to stretch out the young Iranian men and women of the resistance on the toasting racks of their Savak torturers......

But behind all this lie some dark questions - with, I fear, some still unknown but dark answers. The Iranian security services are convinced that the British security services are trying to provoke the Arabs of Iran's Khuzestan province to rise up against the Islamic Republic. Bombs have exploded there, one of them killing a truck-load of Revolutionary Guards, and Tehran blamed MI5. Outrageous, they said. Inexcusable.

The Brits made no comment, even when the Iranians hanged a man accused of the killings from a crane; he had, they said, been working for London.

Are the SAS in south-western Iran, just as the British claim the Iranians are in south-eastern Iraq, harassing the boys in Basra with new-fangled bombs? Will the Americans release the five Iranians issuing visas to Kurds in Arbil whom they locked up a couple of months ago. No, says Bush. Well, we shall see......"

Iran forces Israeli rethink

A Lousy Comment from the Supposedly "progressive" Guardian

By Simon Tisdall

"Uzi Arad, former director of intelligence at Israel's spy agency, Mossad, has made a lifetime's study of revolutionary Iran. If international sanctions and diplomatic arm-twisting fail to halt its suspect nuclear activities, he is clear what the west must do: bomb Tehran.

Israel's official policy, like Britain and the US, stresses peaceful pressure to secure Iran's compliance with its nuclear obligations. The so-called military option has been assiduously talked down ever since President George Bush appeared to talk it up in January. In any case, military experts say, air strikes would have limited success.

Mr Arad has no such inhibitions: "A military strike may be easier than you think. It wouldn't just be aimed at the nuclear sites. It would hit military and security targets, industrial and oil-related targets such as Kharg island [Iran's main oil export terminal in the Gulf], and regime targets ... Iran is much more vulnerable than people realise.".....

To say Iran has become an obsession for Israeli leaders is an understatement. Tehran's sinister hand is seen in all the key problems facing the country, including Hizbullah in Lebanon and Hamas in Palestine, and in the fostering of what Professor Amnon Rubinstein calls Israel's "sense of abandonment surrounded by a rising sea of Islamism"......

But perhaps the most startling shift in Israel's outlook is its increased willingness to "internationalise" the search for solutions, whether in Lebanon, where it agreed to an enlarged peacekeeping presence after last summer's war, in Palestine, where it has sought EU and other help in isolating Hamas, and in terms of improving relations with the UN......."

(Click on cartoon to enlarge)
By Bendib.

Beyond Munich: The UN Security Council Helps Disarm a Prospective Further Victim of U.S. Aggression

by Edward S. Herman and David Peterson

Global Research, April 1, 2007

"Imagine that when Hitler was threatening to invade Poland, after having swallowed Czechoslovakia—with the help of the Western European powers' appeasement of Hitler at Munich in September 1938—the League of Nations imposed an arms embargo on Poland, making it more difficult for the imminent victim to defend itself, and at the same time suggested that Poland was the villainous party. That didn’t happen back in 1939, but in a regression from that notorious era of appeasement something quite analogous is happening now......

It should be recognized that the treatment of Iran ’s nuclear program, and the Security Council’s cooperation in this treatment, is the ultimate application of a global double standard, enforced by an aggressive superpower now able to get away with both hypocrisy and murder. Only the United States and its allies may possess nuclear weapons. They alone may threaten to use nukes. They alone may improve their nukes and delivery systems. Only client states such as Israel may remain outside the NPT indefinitely and without penalty. The United States may ignore its NPT obligation to work toward nuclear disarmament. It may even renege on its promise never to use nukes against nuke-free states that joined the NPT. But no matter. By sheer fiat-power, no other state may acquire nukes without U.S. consent. Nor as the case of Iran shows may a state engage in its "inalienable right" to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes unless and until the United States approves.

We are in the midst of a crisis within the post-war international system, as a serial aggressor is now able to mobilize the Security Council, tasked with the maintenance of international peace and security, to declare the state that it threatens with war a menace to the peace and to help the aggressor disarm its target. This carries us beyond Munich . "

ما بعد قمة الرياض

بقلم : أ.د/ يوسف رزقة

"ماذا وراء الأكمة؟ وهل أكمة قمة الرياض يمكنها أن تخفي ما خلفها؟ في عالم بات شفافاً بتطور تقنية الاتصالات.سؤال يطرحه كل مراقب متتبع للأحداث الأخيرة وسياقاتها الناظمة لها.

قبل أسابيع تشكلت (الرباعية العربية) في سياق التعامل مع رايس والرباعية الدولية، وفي ظلال قسمة الاعتدال والتشدد بالمفهوم الأميركي. تشكل الرباعية العربية حدث لم يحظ باهتمام كبير، غير أنه مرشح للقيام بدور مهم.

في الشهرين الأخيرين أنشأت رايس سياقاً جديداً في زيارات مكوكية لأطراف الصراع في منطقة الشرق الأوسط. ثمة اهتمام دبلوماسي مفاجئ بعد غياب أميركي إلى ما يزيد على ست سنوات، أسفر عن تبديل مكان انعقاد القمة من شرم الشيخ إلى الرياض كما تقول بعض المصادر الصحفية، وأسفر عن قرار إسرائيلي أميركي بلقاءات نصف شهرية بين (أولمرت عباس)، وأسفر عن لغة إسرائيلية جديدة إزاء المبادرة السعودية تتحدث عن نقاط إيجابية، ونقاط قابلة للتناقض وأسس صالحة؟! وفي الوقت نفسه رفض الإملاءات العربية بحسب بيرس وأولمرت وفي المقابل مديح للدور السعودي حيث يقول أولمرت "المبادرة السعودية تدل على زعامة الملك" . (يديعوت 27/3/2007م).

في ثنايا هذا السياق تبلور سياق أممي قاطر بقيادة بان كي مون حيث زار إسرائيل واطلع من خلال الطائرة المروحية على الخاصرة الضيقة لإسرائيل، كما اطلع على القدس والمستوطنات والجولان، وانتقل إلى قمة الرياض محملاً برسائل واضحة إلى الرباعية العربية، ومصطحباً معه بعد الحصول على الإذن السعودي مراسلة صحيفة يديعوت أحرنوت الإسرائيلية اورلي ازولاي لتغطية أخبار القمة العربية في أول ظهور علني لمراسل إسرائيلي في الرياض.

وفي موازاة هذا السياق المتمم لدائرة الحركة السياسية قبل الأكمة وخلفها كان اتفاق مكة المكرمة، وحكومة الوحدة الوطنية العتيدة، وزيارات خالد مشعل المكوكية للرياض، وتأكيده على أن حركة حماس (تدعم الإجماع العربي) في مقام عنوانه الإجماع على المبادرة العربية.

سياقات تتداخل مكوناتها أحياناً وتتعارض أحياناً أخرى، يتقدم أحدها ويتأخر آخر، ولكن وفق إرادة ناظمة وسلطة قادرة تؤكد على أن الأحداث تسير في اتساق ما وفق خطة باتجاه هدف محدد يجري بلورته في إطار الصراع الإسرائيلي الفلسطيني وفي إطار العلاقات العربية الإسرائيلية وإعادة ترتيب منطقة الشرق الأوسط، وترتيب أولويات الأطراف فيها.

رفضت قمة الرياض تعديل المبادرة العربية رغم زخم المطالب الإسرائيلية الأميركية في هذا الشأن، غير أنها جددت حياة المبادرة بعد خمسة أعوام من التجميد بحضور قيادة حماس، وربطت القمة (في كلمة عمرو موسى) بين تجديد المبادرة والبحث عن آليات عمل لتنفيذها، وفي الحديث عن آليات تنفيذ يكمن الشيء الأهم مما يقع ربما خلف الأكمة، ولعل ما جاء على لسان بان كي مون عن نية الرباعية الدعوة إلى قمة بمشاركة السعودية وإسرائيل والدول العربية المعتدلة، التي عبر عنها أولمرت بقوله: " إذا وصلتني دعوة فسأنظر في ذلك بإيجابية". ما يشرح جزءاً من الآلية التي تتبلور.

أولمرت لا يوافق على مبدأ حق العودة رغم أنه غير مذكور في المبادرة ولا يوافق على مبدأ الحدود المؤرخة بـ 4/6/1967م، وبيرس يرى أن المبادرة تمثل موقفاً عربياً وليس مبادرة مكتملة، وإنها بصيغتها الحالية نوع من الإملاءات العربية المرفوضة، والحل الجلوس إلى مائدة المفاوضات للتفاوض حول ما هو مختلف فيه، ولا بأس من البدء الفوري بتطبيق ما هو متفق عليه يقصد التطبيع والعلاقات الاقتصادية العربية الإسرائيلية.

واحد من المطلعين قال إن حكمة الملك عبد الله والدبلوماسية السعودية تجنبت خلافاً مؤكداً في حال طرح تعديلات على المبادرة العربية، وأنتج المستشارون بديلاً من نقطتين: الأول إحياء المبادرة العربية من جديد وضم حماس إليها والتوجه بها إلى الأمم المتحدة، والثاني البحث عن آليات تنفيذ وعقد لقاءات للرباعيتين العربية والدولية وإسرائيل واستبعاد أطراف الرفض، للبحث في التعديلات دون تسميتها بهذا الاسم، وإطلاق مصطلح التطوير أو معالجة القضايا العالقة (اللاجئين والحدود) يقول نظير مجلي: (لا يتوجب أن تكون لإسرائيل مشكلة في قضية اللاجئين، وذلك لأن المبادرة العربية تعطيها الفيتو وتشترط موافقتها على أي حل).

كلمة الأمين العام عمرو موسى والبيان الختامي فتح الباب موارباً حول إمكانية إيجاد حلول وسط لقضية اللاجئين وقضية الحدود، ويبدو أن الدبلوماسية الإسرائيلية تفضل معالجة قضية اللاجئين أولاً لأنها في نظرها أصبحت ناضجة على المستويين العربي والفلسطيني، ولأن قضية الحدود بها القدس اللغم الكبير الذي أفشل كامب ديفد باراك عرفات كلينتون.

الدبلوماسية العربية والفلسطينية تتحدث وعن قناعة حول (حل عادل متفق عليه لقضية اللاجئين)، أي حل تفاوضي تقبل به إسرائيل، وما تتفق عليه الأطراف يكون هو التطبيق الحديث لقرار 194. مبدأ التفاوض مقبول وآلياته مهدت لها ورقة جنيف، ولقاءات أبو مازن بيلين، والتصريحات العريبة، وقمة الرياض تجميع نشط لكل متعلقات المسألة. تجميع يستمد قوته من المكان ومن الدولة ومن القيادة السعودية الكبيرة، والحاجة الفلسطينية للعمق العربي والإسلامي.

بعض الخطابات في قمة الرياض أوحت للمستمع أن هناك حراكاً خارج إطار الرباعية الدولية، وكأن ثمة نوع من التمرد على دبلوماسية واشنطن في سنة الأفول (لغة قومية) (العراق المحتل، لا لتعديل المبادرة العربية!!) ولكن البيانات المكتوبة واللقاءات تحكي غير هذه القصة تماماً (راجع النصوص).

بقي أن نقول إن هناك مخططاً نشطاً لتبديل مركزية الصراع يؤسس لاستراتيجية متكاملة يخمد فيها الصراع الفلسطيني الإسرائيلي، والعربي الإسرائيلي لينشط صراع آخر في منطقة الخليج حول التسلح والطائفية والإرهاب، وهذا يقتضي طوي ملفات قديمة أهمها الملف الفلسطيني المستعصي على الحل بسبب التعنت الإسرائيلي والانحياز الأميركي.هذا التحول الاستراتيجي يتغذى برغبة رايس لأحداث اختراق سياسي على الساحة الفلسطينية يعزز فرصة الجمهوريين بعد بوش ما وزراء الأكمة فيما يبدو لي أمران مهمان وفي غاية الخطورة:

الأول: تبديل مركزية الصراع.

الثاني: آليات تفاوضية على حق العودة والحدود.

والرباعية العربية هي الجهة القادرة على احتواء الرفض الفلسطيني المتوقع في ضوء الحاجة الفلسطينية للعرب، وفي ضوء حاجة العرب لترتيب الأولويات والمصالح في ضوء التهديدات الجديدة وعلى الدبلوماسية الأميركية الإسرائيلية التوجه نحو العنوان، والعنوان اليوم السعودية والرباعية العربية ولا أحسب أن ما وراء الأكمة سيتخلف عن ارتياد الطريق المرسوم إلا في حالة الفيتو الاسرائيلي النابع من ضعف الحكومة؛ واللعب على الزمن، وتأجيل المقترحات إلى حكومة ديمقراطية في أميركا لأن اسرائيل ليست متعجلة بينما تفرض أمر واقع على الأرض يخدم مصالحها، والعرب يتسولون المفاوضات."

Pussycat

A Good Article

By Uri Avnery

"CAN A pantheress turn into a pussycat? Impossible, a zoologist would say. But last week, we saw it happen with our own eyes.

Condoleezza Rice came here to teach Ehud Olmert, once and for all, who is boss. The President of the United States wants to make order in the Middle East, and the government of Israel has to fall into line. Otherwise…

Two days later, nothing of the threat remained. Olmert refused again. And what happened? Nothing happened. The fearful pantheress slunk home, her tail between her legs.

Muammar al-Gaddafi, a unique combination of dictator and comedian, complimented the
"dark-skinned African woman", and disclosed that he likes her. She has but to raise her little finger, he said, and all the security chiefs in the Arab world, who are the real rulers of their countries, come running. But even Gaddafi did not argue that she had Israel on the run.

JULIUS CAESAR, as is well known, reported to the Roman Senate "I came. I saw. I conquered." Condoleezza could report to the US Senate: "I came. I saw. I capitulated." Who to? To a failing Israeli prime minister, whose popularity rating is approaching zero and who practically nobody expects to survive to the end of the year......

The united Arab world breathed new life into King Abdullah's peace plan, which offers Israel of recognition, peace and normalization with the entire Arab world, in return for its withdrawal to the borders of June 4, 1967. The plan pays lip service to a "just solution" of the refugee problem (and how could it avoid that?) but states unequivocally that any solution depends on Israeli agreement.....

All the Arab rulers who depend on the US are crying out that they cannot pledge their support as demanded, so long as the pus is still streaming from the occupation tumor. How can the King of Saudi Arabia and the President of Egypt rally their masses for a war against Iran, when they and their subjects are exposed on Aljazeera, morning, noon and evening, to the horrifying sight of the Israeli army attack dog sinking its teeth in the flesh of an old Palestinian woman and locking its jaws?.....

The two professors, Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer, won this round. In this clash between the national interests of the United States and the Government of Israel and its America fans, the Israeli side won......

Israel's largest mass circulation daily splashed a
sensational headline across its front page: "Olmert: Within Five Years We Can
Achieve Peace!" What? Five years? In 1993 we signed the Oslo accord, which foresaw the final peace settlement between Israel and the Palestinian people within five years. Since then, 13 years have passed, and even negotiations on this have not yet started.

It seems that the "five years" belong to the same world of illusions as Condoleezza's "political horizon": as you go forward, it recedes."

The War on Iran.

by Michel Chossudovsky

Global Research, April 1, 2007

"The US has completed major military maneuvers in the Persian Gulf within a short distance of Iranian territorial waters. This naval deployment is meant to "send a warning to Tehran" following the adoption of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1747, which imposes major economic sanctions on Iran in retaliation for its non-compliance with US demands regarding its uranium enrichment program......

" This marks the first time the Stennis and Eisenhower strike groups have operated together in a joint exercise while deployed to 5th Fleet. This exercise demonstrates the importance the ability for both strike groups to plan and conduct dual task force operations as part of the Navy's commitment to maintaining maritime security and stability in the region."......

While the Russian report must be taken seriously, there is, however, no corroborating evidence, which would enable us to pinpoint the exact timeline of a military attack on Iran. Moreover, there are several important factors which suggest, from a military organizational standpoint, that unless we are dealing with a case of sheer political madness, the Pentagon is not ready to launch an attack on Iran.......

Of significance, Admiral Keating was also involved in the 2003 attack on Iraq as commander of US Naval Forces Central Command and the Fifth Fleet.

While these key appointments point to a consolidation of the NeoCon military agenda in the Middle East, they also suggest that the US military would not launch a new phase of the Middle East war prior to consolidating these command appointments, particularly those at the level of US Central Command (CENTCOM), which is the key operational command unit in charge of the Middle East war theater......

Moreover, the appointment of an Admiral is indicative of a shift in emphasis of CENTCOM's functions in the war theater. The "near term" emphasis is Iran rather than Iraq, requiring the coordination of naval and air force operations in the Persian Gulf.......

The deployment of naval power prior to the March 2003 blitzkrieg against Iraq was on a significantly larger scale. In the early months of 2003, there were five US aircraft carriers within striking distance of Iraq plus one British aircraft carrier.......

The USS Nimitz nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and its accompanying battle group is currently on its way to the Persian Gulf., which would bring the number of aircraft carriers up to three.......

Iran is politically isolated. Unilateralism prevails within the corridors of the UN as well as within the Middle East war theater......

One would expect that separate "deals" were reached respectively with China and Russia, where certain commitments were met in bilateral discussions by Washington.......

Meanwhile, the US Congress is at war with the president regarding America's Iraq war strategy, but not a word is muttered on an impending war againsat Iran, as if it were totally irrelevant. The threats are real, an incident could trigger a war. The war criminals in high office desperately need this war to stay in power......

The Neocons in the Bush administration are in control of key military appointments: specifically those pertaining to Central Command (USCENTCOM), US Stratregic Command (USSTRATCOM) and the Joint Chiefs of Staff......"

Israel is to Join the Arab League!

Olmert invites Arab leaders to Israel

"Prime minister invites Arab leaders to meet with Israeli officials, declares Israel will attend Arab summit if invited. 'If the Saudi king initiates a meeting of the moderate states, I'll gladly arrive,' he says in meeting with German chancellor.

Israel will show up for a peace summit with Arab leaders if it is invited, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Sunday evening.

During a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the prime minister said, "I want to take this opportunity of being here with the European Union president in order to invite all Arab leaders, including the Saudi king. "I am telling the heads of Arab countries that if the Saudi king initiates a meeting of the moderate states' leaders and invites both me and the Palestinian Authority president, I would gladly come there and speak our mind."......."

Six U.S. Occupation Soldiers Killed in Two Successive Attacks

"BAGHDAD – While conducting a combat security patrol, two MND-B Soldiers died and two others were wounded when an improvised explosive device detonated near their unit southwest of the Iraqi capital March 31.

Four additional Soldiers were killed when a second improvised explosive device detonated near a separate unit responding to the initial IED strike southwest of the Iraqi capital April 1......."

Hezbollah, Hamas, Iran, Nukes, and Western Logic

By Kurt Nimmo

"Citizens of Lebanon, beware. Arieh Eldad has it out for you. After the scandal-ridden government of Ehud Olmert falls, probably within the next few weeks, a new government, likely led by Binyamin “Bibi” Netanyahu, will attack Lebanon. “We have no choice. We will have to do it,” Eldad tells the neocon website, NewsMax. “Dr. Eldad explained that Israel was facing a new strategic threat, caused in part by its own failure to deal a crushing blow to Hezbollah in Lebanon and the impression of weakness last summer’s failed war created in the minds of Israel’s enemies.”......

Since Israel will certainly face defeat on the ground in Lebanon, as it did last summer, the only option will be to shock and awe the country into submission......

Arie Eldad, a member of the “right-wing” (that is to say, fascist) Moledet political party, heads the Ethics committee of the Knesset. Of course, when we talk about ethics here, we are talking about a brand of “moral principles” alien to the West and Christianity. According to Eldad, sanctions of the sort to be levied against Iran are based on Western logic. “But when states have missions that are bigger than life, they are not obeying the basic rules of logic that Western civilization obeys.” And what is are these “missions that are bigger than life”?

Ethnic cleansing. Moledet advocates the “voluntary transfer” of the Palestinian population out of the West Bank and Gaza. A few years ago, Moledet bought space on billboards around Tel Aviv, calling for ethnically cleansing the Palestinians. “Only transfer will bring peace,” read the billboards.....

In other words, if AIPAC and the neocons cannot once again trick the American people into attacking Iran, as they tricked them into attacking Iraq in the name of Israel, the IDF will do it. Of course, this is nonsense, Israel will not go it alone against Iran. In fact, Eldad is simply spewing more rhetoric, as Israel has long expected the United States to attack and slaughter its enemies. If the invasion of Lebanon last summer demonstrated anything, it is that Hezbollah can hold its own and Israel is impotent to change the situation “on the ground,” in essence a result of its own unwavering policies of aggression, be it by way of direct military confrontation or black flag operations....

“Because Iran has built its nuclear plants in deeply buried, hardened facilities, it will be difficult if not impossible.”

Translation: simple high-explosives, depleted uranium, and millions of cluster bombs will no longer do the trick—it is time to nuke the Arabs and Muslims, as “Western logic,” i.e., use of nuclear weapons is unconscionable, does not apply....."

The Political History of the Car Bomb

Henry Ford Never Envisioned This

Contributed by Lucia

By RON JACOBS
CounterPunch

".....In what is certain to be a revelation for many supporters of the state of Israel, Davis explains the car bomb's modern origins in the tactics of the Zionist terrorists known as the Stern Gang. This group, composed of men-some who went on to help rule Israel--was ruthless in its application of car bombs. They genuinely did not seem to care who died in the explosions they caused, although they preferred them to be Arab. It was the success of their terror campaign that helped "cleanse" Palestine of Palestinians so that Israelis could take the lands.....

The anonymous nature of the car bomb is what makes it appealing to those guerrilla groups that use them. It is also why they have an appeal to intelligence agencies whose goal is to discredit legitimate insurgent groups. From Saigon, where CIA agents assisted a Vietnamese warlord in his car bomb campaign against Saigon and Hanoi and after his death continued on their own, to Baghdad, where rumors fly daily about which governments are really behind the assorted bombings of that day, the car bomb has been used to manipulate the public and kill the rulers' enemies. Nowhere did this secret government affinity for car bombing have a greater effect than in the campaign of terror unleashed by then CIA director William Casey in Afghanistan. With the general approval of the Reagan administration, Mr. Casey's minions trained, armed and ran interference for the holy warriors of the Afghani mujahedin, providing car bomb technical assistance and materials. Of course, it is the descendants of that same group that Casey's company trained that would eventually hatch the various plots against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon--car bombs with wings, as it were. More importantly, those acts have inspired many more such plots and acts, with no real end in sight....."

***

However, the article also adds this less than accurate statement:

"The Stern Gang's success would also prove to cause what we nowadays call blowback. Indeed, car bombs set off in civilian spaces have been a favorite tactic of the Palestinian resistance to Israel ever since its founding. Davis relates this story, too."

Latest From Dr. El-Farra in Gaza

poverty and occupation

"The beduin village –north of jabalia refugees camp
Thursday 30th of March 31, 2007

Today I visited the camp of the displaced families of the village , accamppanied by the RC Society crisis intervention team , the team consist of , , 2 community health educators , a psychologist and a social worker , the aim of the visit is to evaluate the social , health and psychological different needs of the displaced families, and to plan the right intervention programme later on ,to support the families and to show solidarity with the community.

I met tens of children , as well as some huminatarian aid organizations , I visited the mobile clinic of the union of health work committees , where tens of children received medical check up,for mainly gastroentritis , upper respiratoty infections as well as cut wounds and trauma symptoms.

A lot of work need to be done for this community of 5000 population , where poverty , is prevelant , and the population suffers as well as most residents of Gaza , when the local councils budgets are scarce ( half of the PA budget comes from Palestinian government tax revenue, that is held by Israel ,) and while the westren embargo continues the local councils warned of anticiptated environmental disasters few days prior to the swege system collapse ,this swege plant that shouldnot be so close to this residential area,those people poverty forced them to be in such slum area , they did not have other choice.

Life continues in my country , occupation, westren sanctions , no law and order , interclashes, ,paralysed national unity government and cruel poverty that affects the whole population , but is too harsh on women and children.

CNN: Military Sources Respond To McCain’s Escalation Remark With ‘Laughter Down The Line’

Click Here to Watch Video and Read Transcript

"Yesterday, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) told radio host Bill Bennett that President Bush’s escalation is working. “There are neighborhoods in Baghdad where you and I could walk through those neighborhoods, today,” he said. Today, when CNN’s Wolf Blitzer asked McCain why Americans still aren’t able to safely leave the Green Zone in Iraq, the senator replied that Blitzer was giving three-month-old talking points:

General Petraeus goes out there almost every day in an unarmed humvee. I think you oughta catch up. You are giving the old line of three months ago. I understand it. We certainly don’t get it through the filter of some of the media.

But according to CNN reporter Michael Ware, who has been in Iraq for four years, McCain is “way off base.” He stated, “To suggest that there’s any neighborhood in this city where an American can walk freely is beyond ludicrous. I’d love Sen. McCain to tell me where that neighborhood is and he and I can go for a stroll.”

Ware also rebutted McCain’s assertion that Petaeus travels in an unarmed humvee: “[I]n the hour since Sen. McCain’s said this, I’ve spoken to military sources and there was laughter down the line. I mean, certainly the general travels in a humvee. There’s multiple humvees around it, heavily armed.”"

SYMPATHY FROM ONE WAR CRIMINAL TO ANOTHER

Iraqi war unwinnable: Kissinger

"TOKYO: Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said yesterday the problems in Iraq were more complex than the Vietnam War and that military victory was no longer possible.

Dr Kissinger, who helped engineer the US withdrawal from Vietnam, said he sympathised with the troubles facing US President George W. Bush.
"A military victory in the sense of total control over the whole territory, imposed on the entire population, isn't possible," he said.

The faceless, ubiquitous nature of Iraq's insurgency, as well as the religious divide between Shia and Sunni rivals, made negotiating peace more complex, he said.

"It is a more complicated problem," Dr Kissinger said. "The Vietnam War involved states, and you could negotiate with leaders who controlled a defined area."

An architect of the Vietnam War who has also advised Mr Bush on Iraq, he warned that a sudden pullout of US troops or loss of influence could unleash chaos.

"I am basically sympathetic to President Bush," he said. "I am partly sympathetic to it because I have seen comparable situations." "

To Palestinian Puppet: Keep That Red Carpet Stretched Out.....One "Dignitary" After Another....And Keep That Stupid Pasted Smile on Your Face.....
"Peace" Opium Anyone?

Israel Preparing to Respond to Arab "Peace Initiative"

IDF prepared for possible major incursion into Gaza Strip

"The Israel Defense Forces last week completed its preparations for a possible major incursion in the Gaza Strip, including special training for most of the units that might be involved and an exercise at the command headquarters level. But military sources say the government prefers to avoid an escalation with the Palestinians.

At the end of last year, Chief of Staff Dan Halutz ordered that preparations be advanced for a possible action in the Gaza Strip that would use large numbers of ground forces. Infantry, armored units, artillery and intelligence units underwent training, mainly at the Tzeelim base in the South, and the Southern Command headquarters held an exercise last week.

The scenario for launching the operation was large-scale rocket fire on western- and northern-Negev communities and the abduction of soldiers. In the exercise, the Israel Air Force also responded against Palestinian terror targets......

The IDF also received approval to operate in a small area on the Palestinian side of the fence around the Gaza Strip to prevent the placing of explosive devices against Israeli forces patrolling the border, and to pinpoint tunnels for weapons smuggling......

Hamas is also digging tunnels, as well as bunkers in settled areas of the Gaza Strip, to stymie a ground attack. It is also improving its array of anti-tank missiles.

The IDF believes the chances of such an operation are slim because of government concerns in light of the poor outcome of the war in Lebanon. In an interview in Friday's Haaretz, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said such an action is not "the first thing I seek to do.""

MI chief: Syria, Iran, Hezbollah preparing for war in summer

"Head of Military Intelligence Major General Amos Yadlin said during a government session Sunday that Syria, Iran and the Hezbollah are preparing for war in the summer, and that Israel is closely monitoring the preparations.

According to Yadlin, Military Intelligence estimates that the war will be initiated by the U.S., and that Israel will be involved.

Yadlin said that the preparations by Syria, Iran and Hezbollah are defensive and that they aren't expected to initiate the war.

Yadlin noted that, as in the case of the six-day war, military conflict could erupt, despite that fact that neither side is interested in war, because of "the involvement of many players."

Regarding Hamas, Yadlin said that Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has warned that if the international financial embargo on Gaza is not lifted within three months, a third Intifada will breakout. Yadlin added that there are senior Hamas members that are displeased with the Saudi Arabian initiative, and that the military branch of Hamas has renewed its activity."

April Fools