Obama Returns to Greater Middle East Mess

Analysis by Jim Lobe

"......On top of all this, events in Israel and the Occupied Territories – most recently, Israel's approval this week of the construction of 900 housing units in the Palestinian neighbourhood of Gilo in East Jerusalem – has dealt a perhaps fatal blow to the Oslo framework that has guided the Israeli-Palestinian "peace process" since 1993.

Coming after threats by senior Palestinian officials to resign in protest over Washington's refusal to back up its earlier demands for a halt to all Jewish settlement expansion, Obama himself warned Wednesday that the latest action by the Netanyahu government "embitters the Palestinians in a way that could end up being very dangerous".

Even before the Gilo announcement, experts here were warning that a third intifada could break out at any time, with potentially disastrous consequences not only for Israeli-Palestinian peace prospects, but also for Obama's efforts to restore Washington's image throughout the region."

Migrant Women Dying on the Job in Lebanon

By Dalila Mahdawi

BEIRUT, Nov 21 (IPS) - October and November have been bloody months for Lebanon's migrant domestic workers - over the last five weeks nine women have died. Most deaths have been reported as suicide.

The body of 20-year old Anget R. of Madagascar was found hanging from a rope at her employer's bedroom door Nov. 11. A newspaper in Madagascar reported the deaths of two other Malagasy women in October. One, identified only as Mampionona, was said to have fallen from the balcony of her employer's house. The other, identified as Vololona, died after reportedly jumping from the balcony.

Sunit Bholan of Nepal, who was 22, allegedly committed suicide Oct. 8. Ethiopian Kassaye Etsegenet, 23, died after reportedly jumping from the seventh floor of her employer's house Oct. 15. She left behind a suicide note citing personal reasons......

Lebanon has signed the International Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment, but has yet to move towards signing the Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families - a measure that would obligate it to take protection measures for the migrant community.

But more practical measures the Lebanese could take are to create a national hotline for distressed workers and a labour inspection force to monitor the treatment of migrants, says Houry. "More broadly, society has to mobilise. Not everyone is guilty of ill-treatment, but everyone has to feel responsible. People need to start speaking out and express that this is unacceptable." "

Should Obama Fire Gen. McChrystal?

by Ray McGovern, November 21, 2009

"It is not too late for President Barack Obama to follow the example of Harry Truman, who fired the famous Gen. Douglas MacArthur in 1951 for insubordination. Then, as now, the stakes were high. Then it was Korea; now it is Afghanistan.

In my view, Obama should fire Gen. Stanley McChrystal.

In that showdown nearly six decades ago, President Truman and his advisers were preparing to engage North Korea and China in peace negotiations when MacArthur, commander of the U.N. forces in Korea, issued an unauthorized statement containing a veiled threat to expand the war into China......

The future expectation would be that when the chips are down, Obama won’t be a Truman or a Kennedy, both of whom had the guts to face down the Pentagon by rebuffing military demands for wider wars.

It would be hard to write a Profile in Courage for one who bowed as low to his opinionated — but myopic — generals, as he did, physically, to the Japanese emperor, de rigueur, last Saturday......."

Karzai 'would fall in weeks' if Nato pulls out

David Miliband says UK needs more time to shore up Afghan government

Julian Glover
guardian.co.uk, Friday 20 November 2009

(Cartoon by Steve Bell)

"The Afghan government could fall within weeks if Nato pulled out troops now, David Miliband warned today as he urged British opponents of the war to give the fight to rebuild the country more time.

In an interview with the Guardian at the end of a visit to Kabul for the presidential inauguration of Hamid Karzai, the foreign secretary said: "If international forces leave, you can choose a time – five minutes, 24 hours or seven days – but the insurgent forces will overrun those forces that are prepared to put up resistance and we would be back to square one."......"

You Want to Laugh? Read This: LAF Opens Fire at Israeli Reconnaissance Plane over South

"The Lebanese Army Command – Orientation Directorate said in a statement on Saturday that army forces have fired anti-aircraft rounds at an Israeli reconnaissance plane over the Bint-Jbeil region in the south. The statement added that the plane was flying at a medium altitude and that the anti-aircraft fire forced it to fly higher and then leave Lebanon’s airspace.... "

Celebrate Now and Withhold Tea Service!

Emad Hajjaj's Latest Cartoon

تنديد بزيارة ليفني للمغرب

This Notorious War Criminal is Afraid of Visiting Western Capitals for Fear of Arrest.....
But She is Currently in Morocco, Received with Open Arms!

FIFA and Germany helped finance a soccer stadium in the Palestine. Now that it is almost complete, Israel has decided to tear it down.

Oon October 11 of this year, Israeli soldiers and representatives of the Civil Administration showed up at the site. They arrived via the neighboring Jewish settlement of Psagot, which overlooks Palestinian neighborhoods and was built on Al-Bireh land. They delivered a stop-work order from the administration to one of the workers (whose name was handwritten, in Hebrew, on it).

On November 1, the municipality received a "final" stop-work order - addressed anonymously to "the holder," from "the Supreme Planning Council's building inspection subcommittee," and issued by "Assaf."

The document claims that work on the stadium's stands is being carried out "without a license," and contains other standard admonitions: "You were given an opportunity to appear before the inspection subcommittee to state your case. The subcommittee has concluded that the aforementioned work was carried out without proper permission ... You are hereby obligated, in accordance with section .... of the 1966 City, Village and Buildings Planning Law, to cease activity upon and use of said land, and to raze the building ... and to restore the location to its previous state within 7 days ... If you do not act as required, all legal means will be taken against you, including demolition of the structure and any means required to restore the situation to its prior state, at your expense."

A German source has told Haaretz: "This could become a major diplomatic issue between Germany and Israel. Just imagine: A German-financed project being torn down. It would definitely be a political scandal."

53% of Israelis polled prefer ethnic cleansing as a final solution to the conflict

Transfer of Arabs from the Palestinian Authority to "actual Arab countries" was the most popular solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict, according to a poll this week by Israel National News. Of the more than 6,400 people surveyed, 53.2 said 'Transfer of Palestinians to another Arab country' when asked, "What's the best solution for the Arab-Israeli conflict?"

The "two-states for two peoples" solution being pushed by the United States and the international community received 30.8 percent support, while the idea of giving Palestinians Jordanian citizenship was approved by 14.5 percent. Maintaining the status quo received 1.3 percent of the vote.

"أم المعارك" بين مصر والجزائر كشفت عورة الأمّة

A Great Comment (Arabic)

اختلاط الأوراق

كرة القدم وفلسطين

التاريخ يعلمنا

"...
هل ما وقع بين مصر والجزائر لم يكن ليحدث لو أنّ القائد الراحل هواري بومدين، كان لا يزال رئيساً للجزائر، وطيّب الذكر جمال عبد الناصر، زعيماً لمصر؟
....
أثبت الشعب الجزائري وشقيقه المصري، أننّا ما زلنا في مرحلة ما قبل الأمّة، كنّا وما زلنا شعوبيين، نلعن "سنسفيل" الدولة وحكامها الطغاة طيلة أيام السنة، ولكن عندما وصلنا الموقعة، أي المباراة الحاسمة، سامحنا الحكام الفاسدين والمفسدين، وبدأنا بصب جام غضبنا على الشعب الآخر، العدو، ونسينا إسرائيل وأميركا وأوروبا، وتناسينا ماذا فعلوا بنا، نحن العرب والمسلمين،
......
يمكن القول إنّ تصرفات الجمهور الجزائري والمصري على حدٍ سواء، نابعة فيما هي نابعة من حالة الاحتقان التي تعيشها هذه الشعوب بسبب الأنظمة العربية الشمولية والديكتاتورية، التي تقوم بقمع المواطن بشكل منهجي، عن طريق المخابرات التي تحكم السواد الأعظم من الوطن العربي، وتحاول عن طريق لعبة كرة قدم أن تسمح له بالتنفيس عن حالة الاحتقان الشديد، وهكذا يربح الحاكم الشعب، الذي يتحول إلى شعبه، فبدل أن يتظاهر هذا الشعب ضدّ الحاكم وسياسته الاستبدادية، يقوم بالتظاهر ضدّ الفريق العربي الشقيق
.....
خرج مئات آلاف المصريين للتظاهر، بدون رخصة وبدون تراخيص، تخيّلوا لو أنّ هذا الكم الهائل من المواطنين المصريين خرج للتظاهر لنصرة شعب غزة المحاصر والمجوع، ماذا كان جرى، وكيف كانت قوات الأمن ستقمع المظاهرات بالأسلحة،
.....
تذكروا يا عرب المحيط، ويا عرب الخليج، أنّه في عام 1982 فازت الدولة "العربية الشقيقة"، إيطاليا، بكأس العالم، تذّكروا أنّ المنتخب الإيطالي، من إداريين ولاعبين، قام بإهداء الكأس للشعب العربي الفلسطيني، الذي كان يتعرض آنذاك لأبشع عدوان من قبل دولة الاحتلال في لبنان، هذا العدوان الذي تُوّج بمجزرة صبرا وشاتيلا، وبطرد الرئيس عرفات من بيروت إلى تونس.
هذه الخطوة النبيلة من قبل الإيطاليين كانت وما زالت وستبقى مكتوبة بأحرف من ذهب في تاريخ الشعب الإيطالي، أما أنتم أيُها العرب، فماذا فعلتم من أجل نصرة القضية،
......
الروح الرياضية معدومة في بلادنا، والشوفينية باتت سيّدة الموقف، والتعصب الشعوبي أصبح الماركة المسجلة التي نهتدي بنورها، ونصل بواسطتها إلى حالة من الهذيان والنشوة العارمة
.....
ديفد بن غوريون، الذي يعتبر مؤسس الدولة العبرية، والذي رفض حمل الهوية الزرقاء حتى مماته بسبب وجود اللغة العربية بين طيّاتها، سئل مرّة: ماذا نفعل بالعرب في إسرائيل، فردّ امنحوهم قليلاً من الديمقراطية لكي ينشغلوا بعضهم ببعض ويتركونا في شأننا، وفي أواخر السبعينيات من القرن الماضي، فاز مناحيم بيغن، المتطرف الذي صنع السلام مع مصر قبل أكثر من ثلاثين عاماً، بيغن، الذي كان لا يقل دهاءً وخبثاً وكرهاً للعرب عن بن غوريون، قال للمسؤولين الجدد في حكومته، علينا أن نمنح العرب في إسرائيل الفرصة لتأسيس فرق كرة قدم لكي ينشغلوا بذلك، وفعلاً نجح المخطط وباتت مناطق الـ48 تعج بالفرق الرياضية، وهو النهج المستمر حتى اليوم، ولا نكشف سراً بأنّ العنف في المباريات بين الفرق العربية يسيطر على المشهد، وهذا العنف لا يختلف بالمرة عن العنف بين الجزائر ومصر، وبالتالي لا يبقى لنا سوى أن نقول: نتيجة المباراة أفرزت فريقاً فائزاً وفريقاً خاسراً، ولكنّ الخسارة الكبرى هي خسارة الأمّة العربية برمتها، وبالتالي نقول: كل مونديال والأمّة العربية بألف خير.
....."

It’s Show Trial Time!

By ALEXANDER COCKBURN
CounterPunch

".....The scenario envisaged by Obama, his chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and Holder is presumably that somehow a jury of unprejudiced citizens will be convened, and ultimately – hopefully sometime before the election of 2012, at least Khaled Sjhaikh Mohammed will step into the execution chamber, thus vindicating Obama’s oft-advertised commitment to track down the perps of 9/11 and kill them. So eager is Obama to underline this point that last Friday he declared in Japan that those offended by the trial will not find it “offensive at all when he’s convicted and when the death penalty is applied to him.”. This remark came right after his assertion that the trial would be “subject to the most exacting demands of justice.” Realising that the latter remark might be construed by some pettifogging civil libertarians as prejudicial to a fair trial , Obama then added that he was “not going to be in that courtroom. That’s the job of the prosecutors, the judge and the jury.”......

Of course there are those who gravely lament the impending spectacle, the fakery of judicial “impartiality”, the pompous sermons about the rule of law, the hysteria, the howls for vengeance. Bring them on, say I. Let's face it, we could do with some drama and American political life is at its most vivid amid show trials. Their glare discloses the larger political system in all its pretensions and its disfigurements. The show trial is as American as cherry pie , as the former Black Panther H. Rap Brown – currently serving life without the possibility of parole in the Supermax in Florence, Colorado – famously said about violence."

Rabbi's Followers 'Terror Cell in Parliment'

By JONATHAN COOK in Nazareth
CounterPunch

"A plan by right-wing legislators in Israel to commemorate the anniversary this month of the death of Meir Kahane, whose banned anti-Arab movement is classified as a terrorist organization, risks further damaging the prospects for talks between Israel and the Palestinians, US officials have warned.

A move to stage the commemoration in Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, is being led by Michael Ben-Ari, who was elected this year and is the first self-declared former member of Kahane’s party, Kach, to become a legislator since the movement was banned 15 years ago.

The US Embassy, in Tel Aviv, has sent a series of e-mails to Reuven Rivlin, the parliamentary speaker, asking that he intervene to block the event......"

Israel Under Widespread International Criticism for Settlement Expansion Plan

Democracy Now!
With Amy Goodman



"Israel is coming under widespread international criticism for its plan to engage in a new round of illegal settlement expansion on occupied Palestinian land. Israel says it will build 900 new housing units in the East Jerusalem settlement of Gilo. Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority leaders began a renewed effort last week to win international support for formal Security Council endorsement of a Palestinian state based on 1967 borders. We speak with UCLA professor Saree Makdisi, author of “Palestine Inside Out: An Everyday Occupation.”....."

On 20th Anniversary of Killings of 6 Jesuit Priests by U.S.-Backed Salvadoran Forces, Thousands to Protest “School of the Assassins” at Ft. Benning

Democracy Now!
With Amy Goodman



"Thousands are gathering at Fort Benning in Georgia this weekend for the annual protest to shut down the U.S. Army training center dubbed by critics as the “School of the Assassins” for having trained some of the worst human rights violators in Latin America. This year’s protest will mark the 20th anniversary of the murder of six Jesuit priest in El Salvador by the US-backed Salvadoran military. It comes days after the priests were posthumously bestowed El Salvador’s highest civilian award, marking the first time the Salvadoran government has honored the priests since their deaths. To talk about the priests and the overall state of Latin American affairs, we’re joined by Blasé Bonpane, Director of the Office of the Americas. A former Maryknoll priest, he was worked for more than four decades to promote human rights in Latin America...."

As UC Regents Approve Major Tuition Hike, Students, Faculty Decry Erosion of Public Education in CA and Nationwide

Democracy Now!
With Amy Goodman


"Amid thousands of student protesters and armed police standing guard, the University of California’s Board of Regents has approved a 32 percent increase in student fees. The vote will bring the total cost of a UC education to more than $10,000 dollars per year for the first time. We discuss the protests and the growing privatization of public education with UCLA student activist Zen Dochterman and the president of the UC American Federation of Teachers, Bob Samuels....."

Al-Jazeera Video: Tunnels provide lifeline for Gazans - 20 Nov 09

"While Israel maintains its blockade around the Gaza Strip, tunnels used for smuggling goods continue to provide a lifeline for the beseiged people living there.

According to World Bank officials, 80 per cent of Gazas imports currently come through the tunnels, which has only increased the worth of Gaza's tunnel smuggling economy from $30 million in 2006 to $650 million in 2007.

However, rampant smuggling makes the price of basic goods almost unbearable for the average Gazan."

Palestinian Ministry of Prisoners' affairs: Israeli army kidnapped 6200 children since 2000

Official Report

"An official report, received by Arab League from the minister of prisoners' affairs in the Palestinian Authority (Ramallah), revealed that the Israeli occupation forces have kidnapped about 6,200 Palestinian children since the beginning of Al Aqsa Intifada (2000), including approximately 337 children still detained in Israeli prisons and interrogation centers....."

Worker Occupations And The Future Of Radical Labor

An Interview With Noam Chomsky
By Noam Chomsky and Diane Krauthamer
Znet

"....
DK: On that note, I'm also looking to think ahead with what's in the future for the labor movement and the IWW. More generally, if you had one piece of advice to offer future generations of Wobblies—especially in light of the tough financial times that we are facing and will probably continue to face for a long time in the Western world—what would it be?

NC: Well, I get a lot of letters from people. When I go home tonight I'll have 15 letters today from mostly young kids who don't like what's going on and want to do something about it, and [they ask me] if I can give them some advice as to what they should do, or can I tell them what to read or something. ......

First of all, don't believe anything you hear from power systems. So if Obama or the boss or the newspapers or anyone else tells you they're doing this, that, or the other thing, dismiss it or assume the opposite is true, which it often is. You have to rely on yourself and your associates—gifts don't come from above; you're going to win them, or you won't have them, and you win by struggle, and that requires understanding and serious analysis of the options and the circumstances, and then you can do a lot. So take right now, for example, there is a right-wing populist uprising. It's very common, even on the left, to just ridicule them, but that's not the right reaction. If you look at those people and listen to them on talk radio, these are people with real grievances. I listen to talk radio a lot and it's kind of interesting. If you can sort of suspend your knowledge of the world and just enter into the world of the people who are calling in, you can understand them. I've never seen a study, but my sense is that these are people who feel really aggrieved. These people think, "I've done everything right all my life, I'm a god-fearing Christian, I'm white, I'm male, I've worked hard, and I carry a gun. I do everything I'm supposed to do. And I'm getting shafted." And in fact they are getting shafted. For 30 years their wages have stagnated or declined, the social conditions have worsened, the children are going crazy, there are no schools, there's nothing, so somebody must be doing something to them, and they want to know who it is. Well Rush Limbaugh has answered - it's the rich liberals who own the banks and run the government, and of course run the media, and they don't care about you—they just want to give everything away to illegal immigrants and gays and communists and so on.

Well, you know, the reaction we should be having to them is not ridicule, but rather self-criticism. Why aren't we organizing them? I mean, we are the ones that ought to be organizing them, not Rush Limbaugh. There are historical analogs, which are not exact, of course, but are close enough to be worrisome. This is a whiff of early Nazi Germany. Hitler was appealing to groups with similar grievances, and giving them crazy answers, but at least they were answers; these groups weren't getting them anywhere else. It was the Jews and the Bolsheviks [that were the problem].

I mean, the liberal democrats aren't going to tell the average American, "Yeah, you're being shafted because of the policies that we've established over the years that we're maintaining now." That's not going to be an answer. And they're not getting answers from the left. So, there's an internal coherence and logic to what they get from Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and the rest of these guys. And they sound very convincing, they're very self-confident, and they have an answer to everything—a crazy answer, but it's an answer. And it's our fault if that goes on. So one thing to be done is don't ridicule these people, join them, and talk about their real grievances and give them a sensible answer, like, "Take over your factories." "

Bantustans and the unilateral declaration of statehood

A Very Good Piece

Virginia Tilley, The Electronic Intifada, 19 November 2009
(Virginia Tilley is a former professor of political science and international relations and since 2006 has served as Chief Research Specialist at the Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa. She is author of The One-State Solution (U of Michigan Press, 2005) and numerous articles and essays on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.)

"From a rumor, to a rising murmur, the proposal floated by the Palestinian Authority's (PA) Ramallah leadership to declare Palestinian statehood unilaterally has suddenly hit center stage. The European Union, the United States and others have rejected it as "premature," but endorsements are coming from all directions: journalists, academics, nongovernmental organization activists, Israeli right-wing leaders (more on that later). The catalyst appears to be a final expression of disgust and simple exhaustion with the fraudulent "peace process" and the argument goes something like this: if we can't get a state through negotiations, we will simply declare statehood and let Israel deal with the consequences.

But it's no exaggeration to propose that this idea, although well-meant by some, raises the clearest danger to the Palestinian national movement in its entire history, threatening to wall Palestinian aspirations into a political cul-de-sac from which it may never emerge. The irony is indeed that, through this maneuver, the PA is seizing -- even declaring as a right -- precisely the same dead-end formula that the African National Congress (ANC) fought so bitterly for decades because the ANC leadership rightly saw it as disastrous. That formula can be summed up in one word: Bantustan......

Still, when "separate development" flounders in the West Bank, as it must, Israel will face a Palestinian insurrection. So Israel needs to anchor one last linchpin to secure Jewish statehood before that happens: declare a Palestinian "state" and so reduce the "Palestinian problem" to a bickering border dispute between putative equals. In the back halls of the Knesset, Kadima political architects and Zionist liberals alike must now be waiting with bated breath, when they are not composing the stream of back-channel messages that is doubtless flowing to Ramallah encouraging this step and promising friendship, insider talks and vast benefits. For they all know what's at stake, what every major media opinion page and academic blog has been saying lately: that the two-state solution is dead and Israel will imminently face an anti-apartheid struggle that will inevitably destroy Jewish statehood. So a unilateral declaration by the PA that creates a two-state solution despite its obvious Bantustan absurdities is now the only way to preserve Jewish statehood, because it's the only way to derail the anti-apartheid movement that spells Israel's doom.

This is why it is so dangerous that the South African Bantustan comparison has been neglected until now, treated as a side issue, even an exotic academic fascination, to those battling to relieve starvation in Gaza and soften the cruel system of walls and barricades to get medicine to the dying. The Ramallah PA's suddenly serious initiative to declare an independent Palestinian state in non-sovereign territory must surely force fresh collective realization that this is a terribly pragmatic question. It's time to bring closer attention to what "Bantustan" actually means. The Palestinian national movement can only hope someone in its ranks undertakes that project as seriously as Israel has undertaken it before it's too late."

Madness of Crowds & Bankruptcy of Arab Regimes: Israeli Cairo Embassy Safe & Secure with No Crowds Attempting to Storm it; Gaza Ghetto Starved, but...

Protestors Clash with Police near Algeria Cairo Embassy

Al-Manar

"20/11/2009 Protestors hurled stones and firebombs at police near the Algerian embassy in Cairo on Friday, wounding 11 officers as anger mounted over attacks on Egyptians after the countries' World Cup qualifier.

The interior ministry said 11 officers were hurt and 15 cars were damaged in the violence. The protest started on Thursday night on a street leading to the embassy, when riot police repeatedly turning back the demonstrators, who burned Algerian flags.

The demonstrators were enraged by reports of attacks against Egyptian fans in Khartoum on Wednesday after a World Cup qualification decider with Algeria, and demanded the expulsion of the Algerian ambassador. Egyptian fans told AFP that stones were thrown at their bus as they made their way back to Khartoum airport after the 1-0 defeat, which followed a 2-0 victory for the Pharoahs in Cairo on Saturday......"

British TV documentary tackles taboo of Israel's lobby

Diane Langford, The Electronic Intifada, 19 November 2009

"For the first time a mainstream British television program has tackled the Zionist lobby head-on. Channel 4's Dispatches (Posted here), broadcast on 16 November, promised to hold the pro-Israel lobby up to rigorous public scrutiny and it succeeded. Presented by Peter Oborne, former political editor of the right-wing weekly The Spectator, Dispatches revealed the cozy relationship between Britain's pro-Israel lobby and both the Conservative and Labour parties as well as its attempts to stifle criticism of Israel in the press......

Perhaps the most revealing aspect of the program are those who refused to talk on camera. Oborne describes how while gathering material for the show, he was subjected to taunts from a Member of Parliament who stated that "You would never have the guts to make a television program about the pro-Israel lobby." The MP explained that it was "the most powerful lobby by far in parliament. It's a big story. If you have any balls you'll make a program about it." Like many others approached, the MP who made those comments declined when Oborne asked to interview him on camera. One can only hope that this will be the first of many programs to expose the influence and implications of the pro-Israel lobby on British politics and policies. "

Exiting Afghanistan

A Letter to President Obama

By RALPH NADER
CounterPunch

"....
Mr. Hoh proceeds to list these persistent failings and adds his articulate doubts about the strategic purposes of your Administration's military presence in Afghanistan. He asks, "Why and to what end?" His letter of conscience and protest concludes by noting the limitless effects on our foreign and military policy, and on our country and its economy.
Your staff estimates each U.S. soldier is costing $1 million a year, in addition to the horrific toll on these soldiers and the Afghan people. You owe the American people an un-Bush-like explanation. Why are you not receiving these groups of American from varied backgrounds and experience at the White House on this pending Afghan decision?

They may wonder, by contrast, why you have so many White House meetings with major corporate CEOs from Wall Street, from the health insurance companies and the drug companies. Is not the White House the peoples' House? Along with many other citizens in our country, I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Ralph Nader"

As Wall Street Posts Record Profits and U.S. Hunger Rate Grows, Robert Scheer Asks: “Where is the Community Organizer We Elected?”

Democracy Now!
With Amy Goodman


"A pair of new government reports released this week paint a startling picture more than a year after the economic meltdown. On Tuesday, the New York Comptroller Office said Wall Street profits are set to exceed the record set three years ago. The four largest firms took in $22.5 billion in profits through September. Meanwhile far more people are going hungry in the United States than previously thought. The Department of Agriculture estimates 50 million Americans—including a quarter of all children—struggled to get enough to eat last year. We speak to veteran journalist Robert Scheer....."

Al-Jazeera Video: Boycott targets Israeli settlement products - 19 Nov 09

"boycott several large supermarket chains in the West Bank that carry Israeli products.

The decision targets upscale markets in Ramallah, in an attempt to pressure the stores to discontinue the sale of fruits and vegetables grown and processed on Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Al Jazeera's Nour Odeh reports from Ramallah. "

One by One, The Zionists Line Up; Now it is Kouchner's Turn...

Kouchner Claims Gilo Settlement Expansion Would Not Hinder Peace

"French Foreign Minister, Bernard Kouchner, claimed Wednesday that the Israeli plan to construct hundreds of homes in Gilo settlement, near Bethlehem, would not hinder the peace process. He also expressed opposition to a unilateral declaration of Palestinian statehood...."

Neoliberalism and the Dynamics of Capitalist Development in Latin America

By James Petras and Henry Veltmeyer

"An analysis of the dynamics of capitalist development over the last two decades has been overshadowed by an all too prevalent “globalization” discourse. It appears that much of the Left has bought into this discourse, tacitly accepting globalization as an irresistible fact and that in many ways it is progressive, needing only for the corporate agenda to be derailed and an abandonment of neoliberalism.

This is certainly the case in Latin America where the Left has focused its concern almost exclusively on the bankruptcy of “neoliberalism”, with reference to the agenda pursued and package of policy reforms implemented by virtually every government in the region by the dint of ideology if not the demands of the global capital or political opportunism. In this concern, imperialism and capitalism per se, as opposed to neoliberalism, have been pushed off the agenda, and as a result, excepting Chavéz’s Bolivarian Revolution, the project of building socialism has virtually disappeared as an object of theory and practice.

In this paper we would like to contribute towards turning this around—to resurrect the socialist project; to do so by deconstructing the discourse on “neoliberal globalization” and reconstructing the actual contemporary dynamics of capitalist development......"

The Architecture of Apartheid

By Sarah Lazare and Clare Bayard
Znet

"The word "Revenge" is scrawled in Hebrew on a Palestinian school in Hebron. The windows are covered with screens and the play yard obstructed with more screens tipped with barbed wire, to obstruct the stones regularly pelted down by Jewish settlers. The space between the school and the neighboring building is blocked off with large, wooden slabs, to ensure that Palestinian school children do not encroach into settler territory. Nearby checkpoints and cameras placed on rooftops serve as constant reminder that these kids' every movement is monitored and contained.


This schoolyard scene, on an empty weekend day, illustrates the separation and containment that has become written into the architecture of Hebron. In this city where 1,500 Israeli soldiers are stationed on any given day, the 170,000 Palestinians living here are kept under constant watch, their movements restricted while their safety is under constant threat. The Jewish settlers who have been moving in since the late '70s, now numbering 800, are known for repeatedly attacking Palestinians while Israeli soldiers sit idly by......"

This Idiot Insists on Living in La-La Land.

Dweik: I am not afraid of any arrest threats, and I will be assuming my duties

"DAMASCUS, (PIC)-- Dr. Aziz Dweik, the speaker of the Palestinian legislative council (PLC) [What a joke!], said Wednesday that there are indirect threats to arrest him, stressing that he does not fear these threats and will remain assuming his duties [What are those duties, Mr. Speaker?? And how did you assume them while you and fellow MPs were in Israeli prisons? Get real and wake up! Stop playing this "elected government" make-believe game.] until the elections of a new council.

In a press statement to the Jordanian Al-Sabeel newspaper, Dr. Dweik affirmed that the Palestinian Authority’s security apparatuses had arrested his office director three times since he was released from Israeli jails and told him that there were cells reserved for him and me.
He added that he is not afraid of such threats because his legitimacy is based on a solid constitutional ground, noting that the former PLC stayed for 10 years and kept its authorities without transferring them to any side....."

Abbas Insists He Won’t Run for Second Term; “Mideast Deal Won't Happen with Me”

Al-Manar

(Cartoon by Khalil Bendib)

"19/11/2009 Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas this week countered Israeli and American claims that a Middle East peace deal could be reached before the end of his term.

In an interview with Egyptian television on Wednesday, Abbas denied that either side has been pleading with him persistently to remain in office against his declared plan not to run for presidency in the Palestinian Authority's next election.

"If [Israeli and U.S.] intentions are sincere, then I am still here and have been here for years. They could have reached a deal with me already," said Abbas. "If Israel is prepared to advance peace on the basis of prior agreements and in accordance with the outline laid out in the road map, then it can do so with any Palestinian leader that succeeds me."

Abbas said he had made clear during talks with U.S. President Barack Obama that he did not seem himself as likely to convince Israel to halt construction in West Bank settlements. "I told President Obama, if you can't halt [settlements] why could I?"

His decision to step down, viewed by many in the international community as a political tactic, was final, said Abbas. "There is nothing I can give to my people, so I should quit," he said. "My decision is clear: I will not run in any elections."[The catch is that there will be no elections and the Traitor will be "president" for life!]......"

Internet Under Siege

An Important Piece

by Philip Giraldi, November 19, 2009

"It is ironic that President Barack Obama would travel to China and speak against government control over the internet. If the American Department of Homeland Security has its way new cybersecurity laws will enable Obama’s administration to take control of the internet in the event of a national crisis. How that national crisis might be defined would be up to the White House but there have been some precedents that suggest that the response would hardly be respectful of the Bill of Rights......

The free flow of information on the internet has also produced a reaction among those who are more concerned with getting out a specific message. If you have noticed the frequent appearance of bloggers and "talkbackers" on the various internet sites who write in less than perfect English and who always support attacking Iran and are defensive about Israel, sometimes overwhelming sites with garbage messages, you are not alone as it is clear that a sustained effort is underway to intimidate, influence opinion, and suppress opposing views. The United States and Israeli governments have taken the lead in putting out propaganda over the internet and there are also indications that several European countries, including Britain and Germany, are engaged in creating regulatory hurdles and countering information that they do not approve of. When the debate is open and the interlocutors are identifying themselves as government representatives one might well argue that the process is healthy as it permits a genuine exchange of views, but where the government hand is hidden the exchange should be regarded as little more than propaganda, what the old Soviet Union might well have referred to as "agitprop."

The focus on war by other means over the internet is important, if only because it means that governments are using their vast resources to spread propaganda in a deliberate effort to confuse the debate over important foreign and domestic policy issues. Israel is at the forefront, exploiting its cutting edge telecommunications industry and enabled by its large and powerful diaspora to get out its message. Not surprisingly, its lobbies including AIPAC are also leaders in the effort, sometimes acting openly and sometimes covertly.

Israel became heavily engaged on the internet during its devastating assault on Gaza last January, when world opinion came down strongly against it, recruiting teams of young soldiers and students to blog in support of Operation Cast Lead. It has recently focused on the UN’s Goldstone Report that claimed that Tel Aviv had committed numerous war crimes in Gaza, supporting a worldwide organized campaign to discredit anyone promoting the report. The latest victim of the smear has been the respected and nonpartisan group Human Rights Watch (HRW). In June Israel’s Deputy Prime Minister pledged that his government would "dedicate time and manpower to combating" human rights organizations. Shortly afterwards Ron Dermer of the Israeli Prime Minister’s office named Human Rights Watch as one of the offending organizations. Many attacks on HRW were subsequently carried out openly using various front organizations, including NGO Monitor which is based in Jerusalem and funded by wealthy Americans. Elie Wiesel, who cashes in on his humanitarian credentials while remaining notably silent over Israeli war crimes, is on the Monitor board and has written a letter attacking HRW. Critical pieces in the Wall Street Journal and New York Times soon followed the initial attacks, commentary that was distributed widely by AIPAC on Capitol Hill and also all over the internet.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry, headed by right-wing extremist Avigdor Lieberman, runs a semi-covert program which is openly funded by the government as the "internet fighting team" but which deliberately conceals the affiliation of the "talkbackers." Ilan Shturman coordinates the Ministry effort, which is run out of the Hasbara Department, "hasbara" being a Hebrew word that is normally translated as propaganda. Shturman’s young and enthusiastic employees work from a prepared script of official Israeli government positions. They are instructed not to identify themselves either as Israelis or as government employees. There have been numerous applicants to work for Shturman. An Israeli source reports that one applicant emphasized his own qualifications, writing "I’m fluent in several languages and I’m able to spew forth bullsh*t for hours on end."

But there is also concern that the program will further distort the news cycle which is already suffering from deliberately misleading government leaks, making it impossible to discern what information that is surfacing is being fabricated. One Israeli critic of the Foreign Ministry program has described it as part of a "thought police state." And the effort is increasingly international in nature. During the attack on Gaza, Shturman headed an effort to obtain the assistance of Jews abroad, recruiting a "few thousand" to work with his Israeli volunteers to bombard hostile websites with Israel-friendly commentary. Much of the chatter is in English, though the teams also work in the other principal European languages. Recent immigrants from the Israeli government’s Ministry of Absorption have been recruited and used to attack sites in their own more exotic native languages.

The Israeli government program is expected to increase. A private advocacy group called Give Israel Your United Support has a reported 50,000 activists who use a specially developed software called megaphone that sends an alert when anti-Israeli commentary appears, permitting supporters to bombard the hostile site with their own comments. In July, 5,000 members of the World Union of Jewish Students were given the megaphone software. There are also reports that several American Christian evangelical groups have indicated that they are interested in helping the cause. The goal is to have hundreds of thousands of activists worldwide who are prepared to place messages supportive of Israel.

The danger is real. Most Americans who are critical of the actions of their own government rely on the internet for information that is uncensored and often provocative, including sites like Antiwar.com. As the United States generally follows Israeli initiatives for security it is likely only a matter of time before Obama’s internet warfare teams surface either at the Defense Department or at State. Deliberately overloading and attacking the internet to damage its credibility is all too possible; witness the numerous sites that have been "hacked" and have had to shut down or restrict their activities. American citizens who are concerned about maintaining their few remaining liberties should sound the alarm and tell the politicians that we don’t need more government advice on what we should think and do. Hands off the internet."

With all due respect, Mr President

Barack Obama has talked about 'respect' on his Asian tour, but risks getting into a muddle over its meaning

Brian Whitaker
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 18 November 2009

"After respectfully bowing to the emperor of Japan last week, President Obama travelled on to China where both countries agreed that "the fundamental principle of respect for each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity" was at the core of China-US relations.

Obama is big on respect. Speaking to the Muslim world in his inaugural address, he promised to "seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect", and in his Cairo speech last June the president used the word "respect" no fewer than 10 times.....

Similar arguments arise in many situations. Out of "respect" for its "culture and traditions", Saudi Arabia asks us to accept its treatment of women. Demanding respect for its national sovereignty, Egypt objects to EU criticisms of its human rights record and rejects international observers for its elections. Most recently, it succeeded in watering down plans for inspections under the international Convention Against Corruption – again citing a need to respect its sovereignty.

The danger is that the more Obama talks about "mutual respect" the more others will hurl the phrase back at him in defence of the indefensible."

Germany to Extend Afghanistan Mission: Merkel

Al-Manar

"18/11/2009 Germany's cabinet agreed Wednesday to extend by one year the mandate for its up to 4,500 troops in Afghanistan, Chancellor Angela Merkel said. "In a regular cabinet meeting, we decided to get the process of extending the mandate underway," Merkel told reporters. The lengthening of the mandate is subject to parliamentary approval before it expires in December.

Foreign Minister and Vice-Chancellor Guido Westerwelle added: "With this, we want to send a clear signal. The new federal government is sticking by Germany's responsibilities." "It is about more than security, it is also about reconstruction and it is about good leadership, including the fight against corruption," Westerwelle said......"

Militants' possession of Israeli arms raises questions

ISLAMABAD – Use of Israeli-made light arms by militants against security forces in Waziristan has raised several questions amongst many recently.
TheNation has learnt on good authority that militants are using Israeli-made light arms including “Uzi gun” and “Rapid-fire pistol” against security forces in North Waziristan as the operation Rah-I-Rast reached its final stage.
The Nation

Emad Hajjaj's Latest Cartoon

Change We Can Believe in?....Sure....Obama popularity below 50 percent for first time: poll

"WASHINGTON (AFP) – President Barack Obama's job approval rating has dipped below 50 percent nationally for the first time, as Americans worry about the war in Afghanistan, a new poll released Wednesday found.

The Quinnipiac University poll showed 48 percent of Americans approve of the way Obama is handling his job as president, compared to 42 percent who disapprove.

The president also scored low marks from Americans on his handling of the situation in Afghanistan, with just 38 percent saying they approved of his approach, but a majority did say it was the "right thing" for US troops to be in the country......"

Palestinian "Independence"

From The Theater of The Absurd:

The Quisling PA Celebrated "Independence" Day a Couple of Days Back (Nov. 15)!
In The Meantime, Palestinians in The Gaza Concentration Camp Refused to Join The "Celebrations."

As You Can See, Marwan Barghouti is Celebrating His "Independence!"

The politics of sporting rivalry

By As'ad Abu Khalil
Al-Jazeera

"The hooliganism and violence that have accompanied the football matches between Egypt and Algeria as they each seek to qualify for the 2010 World Cup have brought something new to Arab sports and political cultures.

The vehemence, fanaticism, and recriminations that were blatantly expressed in the media and on the streets of Algeria, Egypt, and Sudan [the host country where the deciding final game is to be played] all point to a trend. This is the logical outcome of the narrow nationalism that has prevailed in Arab politics since the death of Gamal Abdel Nasser, the former Egyptian president....

This narrow chauvinism and the association of national pride with the victory of state teams has become a staple of regime policies.

The battle on Facebook between Egyptian and Algerian football fans reveals the extent to which Arab youth are tuned in to the nationalist paradigm. The performance of the teams reflect on the reputation of the regimes themselves.

This helps explains why senior princes run the football teams in some Arab countries. Saddam put his own son in charge of the Iraqi Olympic committee. And Jibril Rajjub, one of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's former security chiefs, now runs the Palestinian football committee.

All sports are political in the Arab world, and that makes sports dangerous, and potentially violent."

Al-Jazeera Video: Gaddafi lures Italian girls to Islam lecture - 17 Nov 09

"Muammar Gaddafi, Libya's leader, has made headlines in Rome, Italy, where he is attending a UN global food conference.

But it was his activities away from the summit which grabbed the media's attention.

The Libyan leader sparked controversy by encouraging a group of 200 young women in the staunchly Roman Catholic country to convert to Islam....."

Al-Jazeera Video: Inside Story - The pending Palestinian issue - 17 Nov 09

"Frustrated by a lack of progress in peace talks, and feeling let down by the Obama administration, the Palestinian Authority says it wants to take its case to the United Nations Security Council
The PA is seeking UN endorsement for the declaration of a de facto Palestinian state, on the land occupied in June 1967. The move is an implicit admission of failure by the Palestinian Authority of its bilateral engagement with Israel, which gave the US the authority to oversee the peace talks, at the expense of the United Nations.
Israel is worried that should Abbas succeed, all that would be left to negotiate, would be the terms of Israeli military and civilian withdrawal, from territories that would be internationally recognized as Palestinian. But can Abbas re-shape the parameters of negotiation."

Globalization Unchecked: How Alien Media is Suffocating Real Culture

by Ramzy Baroud
Global Research, November 18, 2009

"....Recently in some Gulf country, a few Turkish teenagers turned an Internet café into a shouting match as they engaged one another in some violent computer game. I desperately tried to mind my own business, but their shrieks of victory and defeat were deafening. “Kill the Terrorist”, one of them yelled in English, with a thick Turkish accent. The “Rs” in “terrorists” rolled over his tongue so unnaturally. For a moment, he was an “American”, killing “terrorists”, who, bizarrely looked more Turkish than American. As I walked out, I glanced at the screen. Among the rubble, there was a mosque, or what was left of it. The young Turkish Muslim was congratulated by his friends for his handy work......"

Secrecy shrouds Iran's contingency centers

By Gareth Porter
Asia Times

"Evidence produced by the International Atomic Energy Agency suggests that Iran's Qom uranium enrichment plant was constructed on one of many sites earmarked as early as 2002 as a "contingency center" in the event of a United States air attack. The big issue now is at what point the center evolved from a series of tunnels into a nuclear facility, and whether there are others...."

عزمي بشارة :الدول العربية فشلت في مهمة بناء الأمة

".....الدكتور عزمي بشارة تطرق الى الهم العربي في كتابه المسألة العربية متسائلا عما إذا كانت هناك استثنائية عربية في قضية الديمقراطية، وهل يشكل العرب حالة استثنائية في التاريخ في مسألة التحول الديمقراطي منوها بأنه راجت نظرية حول موضوع الإسلام طيلة التسعينات والثمانينات ان هناك تناقضا بين الإسلام والديمقراطية. وهو الموضوع الذي قال انه سيعالجه في كتاب من 3 مجلدات يعكف عليه حاليا.

ان تعثرات التحول الديمقراطي هي عربية وليست إسلامية وانه لا يوجد تناقض بين الإسلام والديمقراطية وان الإسلام عالم آخر والديمقراطية شيء آخر لكن الحالة العربية ليست عالما آخر
....
والمسألة العربية " لها علاقة بمسألة الهوية وهي في الجوهر ان الأمة العربية لم تحقق حق تقرير المصير وإننا أمام اكبر امة معاصرة بدون دولة وقال إننا لا ننتظر الوحدة العربية لتحقيق الديمقراطية وان الدولة الأمة لم تقم بعد وكل المحاولات الأخرى انهارت الى عشائر ومؤخرا الى مذاهب. والقوميون العرب لم يلحظوا هذا الأمر لأنهم كانوا يحولون القومية الى ايدولوجيا ونسوا ان القومية هوية وليست ايدولوجيا لأنها ان كانت كذلك تتحول الى فاشية ونازية لأنها تصبح عندئذ منظومة ايدولوجية لفهم العالم وهو جوهر الفاشية.
.....
وأوضح بشارة ان نتائج إدارة الدول في واقع الحال بشكل استبدادي وتحويل هذه الفكرة الى اطر وحدوية وايدولوجية تبريرية لتبرير القمع والاستبداد وعدم تحقيق الديمقراطية وانتهاك حقوق الإنسان وان هذه الدولة التي وعدت بالوحدة لم تحقق الوحدة واقتصادها رأسمالي عادي فضلا عن أنها لم تنجز وعد التنمية ولم تنجز وعد التحرير فيما يتعلق بفلسطين ولذلك دخلت في أزمة نرى نتائجها في عدة أماكن في الوطن العربي خاصة في الدول الأربع الأساسية التي كان بها هذا الوعد.

وتحدث عن التجزئة الاستعمارية كواقع تعرضت له الدول العربية خاصة في بلاد الشام حيث جلس ضابطان " مستر سايكس - مسيو بيكو " وبالمسطرة قاما بتقسيم بلاد الشام فخرجت سوريا ولبنان والأردن وكان على شعوب تلك الدول ان تقدس هذه الحدود وتتعصب لهذا التقسيم ويسب بعضها بعضا إذا تجاوزت احداها حدود دولته التي وضعها ضابطان وهما جالسان بالسودان ثم نأتي نحن ونحول ذلك الى ايدولوجيا !!
......"

West Is East, When Israel Decides

By Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler

"JERUSALEM, Nov 18 (IPS) - Along a wall not about to come down - a hotel no longer a hotel, but an outpost.

(Left: what used to be the Cliff Hotel)

The three-storey, 36-room Cliff Hotel used to be a favourite for Western pilgrims in quest of the 'authentic Holy Land flavour' because of its extensive gardens; it was a favourite also among Jerusalem Palestinians for wedding parties.

Perched on a hillock opposite the biblical Mount of Olives, The Cliff offered (still offers) imposing views - eastward through the Judean desert down to the Dead Sea and up the mountains of Moab across the Jordan River; southwards to the church spires of Bethlehem; and westwards to the walled Old City and the Golden Dome of the Rock.

Five years ago, in the wake of the Palestinian Intifadah uprising, Israel began to build its concrete security wall to fend off would-be bombers coming into Jerusalem. Border police seized the hotel and turned into a security outpost.

Last week, the world united in celebration of the coming down of another infamous wall......

"There's no hope here, no point of staying," Deif adds, "I plan to move to the U.S. to further my studies, and from there to Canada."

The prevailing sentiment about living in Jerusalem is one of impotence: "Nothing can change here - they hold all the cards." Back in 2005 just at the time of The Cliff takeover, Condoleezza Rice was making her first trip to the region as former president George W. Bush's secretary of state. In meetings with Israeli leaders, she warned against one- sided actions that could influence the city's status: "We do believe that unilateral steps in Jerusalem, particularly those that might appear to prejudge future discussions, would be unhelpful at this time."

Same old same when Barack Obama's secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, made her first visit to Jerusalem earlier this year.

Nothing changed indeed, except a deepening of Palestinian incapacity, and of pain - as the wall graffiti says, around "This Wall of Tears". "

Afghan Lessons from the Iraq War

You don’t have to go back 40 years to the Vietnam War to feel the sting of déjà vu. Returning to the Iraq War just three years ago will suffice.

By Ray McGovern
November 17, 2009

"Last week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates summed up the administration’s dilemma on Afghanistan in a single question: “How do we signal resolve and at the same time signal to the Afghans and the American people that this is not open-ended?”

It is the same question that policymakers and generals were grappling with three years ago with respect to Iraq. Let’s hope they learned the right lessons from that experience, but it’s doubtful since the Fawning Corporate Media (FCM) has been no help in shedding light on what actually happened......

If Obama is to resist the pressure to escalate in Afghanistan, he will find himself tacking into the stiff wind of the FCM’s “successful surge myth” and having to maneuver around the recommendations of his field commanders and his Defense Secretary.

Though Democratic officials are notoriously disinterested in history, Obama may find that his acceptance of a false history for Iraq has real-life consequences in Afghanistan.

At least on the Vietnam War, thanks to Daniel Ellsberg’s leaking of the Pentagon Papers, Americans have a relatively clear understanding of how they got dragged into that mess......"

Exposing Britain’s Pro-Israel Lobby: Channel 4 TV Makes a Bold Start

By Stuart Littlewood
Palestine Chronicle

"Last night Channel 4's ‘Dispatches’ program set out to investigate the pro-Israel lobby in Britain, and to boldly go where no TV team had gone before.

On the Dispatches website we were told that the lobby "aims to shape the debate about Britain's relationship with Israel and future foreign policies relating to it".....

Interesting though the program was, it left out too much. For example, it didn’t name and shame enough individuals. It didn't tell the nation that our most important security bodies – the Intelligence & Security Committee, Foreign Affairs Committee and Defense Committee – are all headed by Israel flag-wavers. How can that possibly be in our national interest?

It didn’t reveal that our Labor and Conservative leaders are both patrons of the Jewish National Fund or explain the sinister purpose of that organization.

According to Mr Oborne, ”the pro-Israel lobby, in common with other lobbies, has every right to operate and indeed to flourish in Britain. But... the present obscurity surrounding it can, paradoxically, give rise to conspiracy theories that have no basis in fact.” However, he spent the best part of an hour convincing us (well me, anyway) it is indeed a conspiracy and a very large and well organized one.

He didn’t mention that two years ago a group of individuals asked the Committee on Standards in Public Life to investigate the undue influence of the Friends of Israel lobbies...."

Face down the militarists and get out of Afghanistan. No strings attached

Obama must call time on the Afghan war. Retreat can be spun as victory. But it can't be conditional on impossible objectives

Simon Jenkins
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 17 November 2009

".....This war was never to be won, any more than that in Iraq. Both were neocon nation-building stunts that ran amok on too much money. Three million Iraqis, including almost all Iraq's Christians, were driven into exile. The same is starting in Afghanistan and will become a flood as Nato retreats. That nation's agony is not over yet, but the end cannot begin until the invaders depart. That will happen only when the pain outweighs the pride. The question is, how many corpses will that take?"

Our Chief Industry: War

The economy may be collapsing, but the war business is booming

by Justin Raimondo, November 18, 2009

"We often hear the complaint that America doesn’t make anything anymore: that is, our economy seems driven not by producing actual things, but utterly intangible creations such as credit default swaps and securitized sub-prime mortgages. Our once-bustling factories are rusted relics. Entire industries have collapsed. Ghost towns have sprung up where cities once thrived, like mushrooms sprouting in a cemetery. Baffled Americans, who – mistaking debt for wealth – thought they lived in the wealthiest country in the world, struggle to define what is happening. Old words like "correction," contraction," and "recession" give way to talk of a second Great Depression, and, in this context, the question "What does America make anymore?" is raised with renewed vigor.

While our factories have long since moved abroad, where wages are lower and regulation is lax, and our crippled industries are in Dr. Obama’s economic intensive care unit, on life support and awaiting last rites, America’s number-one export – representing, by far, our single largest capital investment – is our overseas military presence. What Chalmers Johnson referred to as our "empire of bases" is the framework of an international economic system in which the division of labor is roughly as follows: while Asia is the factory of the world, South America the farmland, and Europe increasingly a theme park/museum, the U.S. role is that of world gendarme........"

Brown can't even stick to his own nonsense on Afghanistan

By Mark Steel
The Independent

(Cartoon by Dave Brown)

"Bit by bit, as happened with Iraq, the reasons for staying in Afghanistan slide into gibberish. So Gordon Brown's reasons for the war seem to change every week.

At one point we were there to stop the opium, then to install democracy, now to prevent terrorist attacks in Britain. Next week he'll tell us the Taliban must be defeated as emissions from burqas are the greatest cause of climate change, or the plan is to buy the Taliban with public money until Afghanistan is back on its feet, and sell off the profitable sections such as Jihad training camps at a rate that makes sound economic sense.

At least Tony Blair used to come up with a pile of nonsense and stick to it......"

Withdrawal from Afghanistan: Another way out of the mire

The international community is attempting to shore up an inherently defective government while trying to fight an increasingly effective enemy. The military tactic has failed

Editorial
The Guardian, Wednesday 18 November 2009

(Cartoon by Carlos Latuff)

"The case for continuing the war effort in Afghanistan is buttressed by negatives: the west can not afford to cede al-Qaida the space to regroup; there will be a civil war if foreign troops leave; Pakistan's fight against the Taliban would be undermined; Afghanistan would be abandoned for the second time in eight years. We can say what our forces are fighting against, but not what they are fighting for. Is it a second term of Hamid Karzai, whose inauguration tomorrow the west will endorse? The most devastating description of his government was provided by a former US marine captain, Matthew Hoh, who resigned as a US foreign serviceman in Zabul province. He described the government's failing as legion and metastatic: glaring corruption; a president whose confidants comprise drug lords and war criminals; provincial and district leaders who live off US handouts ; an election dominated by fraud and discredited by low voter turnout....."

Islamic Groups Rally for Livni's Morocco Visit

Al-Manar

"17/11/2009 The Islamic party and other groups in Morocco are preparing to rally against the upcoming visit of Israeli opposition chairwoman Tzipi Livni, and a protest focusing on the former Israeli foreign minister's part in Operation Cast Lead is scheduled to take place in Tangier on Thursday.

Saad Al-Din Al-Othmani, the secretary general of the Islamic-leaning Justice and Development party in Morocco, called for the cancellation of Livni's participation in the Amadeus Institute's conference set to take place in the country.

"We reject the visit of Livni or any other official representative of the Zionist entity to our country, especially after the UN General Assembly has accepted the Goldstone report, which condemns it and accuses its leaders – wanted in European courts – of committing war crimes in Gaza," Othmani said.

Moroccan news agencies have reported that pro-Palestinian groups in the country plan to file a law suit against Livni for her part in the Gaza conflict in January, and the Foreign Ministry's claims department has begun research on the possible effects of this move.

"We are familiar with this issue and see it as part of a global trend to try and harm Israeli leaders' images in court," Yossi Levy, the ministry's spokesman, told Ynet. He added that the ministry was preparing for any scenario, but that it would not recommend Livni cancel her visit. "

ليفني في المغرب: استفزاز مهين

ليفني في المغرب: استفزاز مهين
رأي القدس

"يتجنب المسؤولون الاسرائيليون، سياسيين كانوا او عسكريين، زيارة اي عاصمة غربية خوفاً من ان يتعرضوا للاعتقال والمثول امام المحاكم بتهم ارتكاب جرائم حرب ضد الشعبين الفلسطيني واللبناني، ولكنهم لا يواجهون الخطر نفسه، في حال زيارتهم لعواصم عربية تلبية لدعوات من حكومات او مؤسسات بحثية او سياسية، لانهم يستقبلون بحفاوة وتكريم بالغين.
السيدة تسيبي ليفني وزيرة الخارجية الاسرائيلية السابقة وزعيمة حزب 'كاديما' شاركت بحماس غير مسبوق في العدوان الاسرائيلي على قطاع غزة، والحصار التجويعي الظالم الذي سبقه لأكثر من مليون ونصف المليون فلسطيني من ابناء القطاع، ومع ذلك تتلقى دعوة للمشاركة في ملتقى سياسي ينظمه في طنجة نهاية هذا الاسبوع معهد 'اماديوس' الذي يترأسه ابراهيم الطيب الفاسي ابن وزير الخارجية المغربي.
لا نعرف ما اذا كان السيد الفاسي الذي وجه الدعوة هذه للسيدة ليفني قد سمع عن تقرير القاضي اليهودي الصهيوني ريتشارد غولدستون الذي ادان حكومة كاديما وجنرالاتها، وأكد انهم استخدموا المدنيين والاطفال كدروع بشرية اثناء عدوانهم على القطاع، ناهيك عن استخدامهم قنابل الفوسفور الابيض، وقتل اكثر من 1400 انسان عربي مسلم من العزل، وتدمير آلاف المنازل فوق رؤوس اسرهم.
ولا نعرف ايضا اذا كان السيد الفاسي قد شاهد ابناء الشعب المغربي في جميع انحاء البلاد وقد خرجوا في مظاهرات غاضبة بالملايين استنكارا وادانة لهذا العدوان، وتضامنا مع ضحاياه، مؤكدين اصالتهم ومعدنهم الانساني الصلب، وانتماءهم الى هذه العقيدة السمحاء. ولو جرى فتح ابواب التطوع للجهاد ضد الاسرائيليين لشاهدنا عشرات الملايين من ابناء المغرب يتدفقون الى حدود الارض المحتلة طلبا للشهادة.
المحامون المغاربة الذين طالبوا باعتقال السيدة ليفني فور وصولها الى ارض المغرب الطاهرة كانوا يعبرون عن المشاعر الوطنية المتأصلة لدى الغالبية الساحقة من ابناء شعبهم، وينتصرون لاشقائهم في فلسطين المحتلة وضحايا المجازر الاسرائيلية.
مأخذنا على هؤلاء المحامين انهم اقتصروا في طلبهم للاعتقال والمحاكمة على السيدة ليفني فقط، ولم يشملوا ايضا الذين جرحوا مشاعر الشعب المغربي بتوجيه دعوة استفزازية كهذه اليها، وفي هذا الوقت الحرج حيث ما زالت دماء شهداء جرائم السيدة ليفني وجنرالاتها طرية، وما زال هناك اكثر من ستين الف فلسطيني يعيشون في العراء على انقاض بيوتهم المدمرة.
مجرمو الحرب الاسرائيليون لا مكان لهم على ارض المغرب او اي ارض عربية او اسلامية اخرى، فمكانهم الحقيقي خلف القضبان امام محكمة جرائم الحرب الدولية مثلهم مثل النازيين الالمان والصرب مثل سلوبودان ميلوسفيتش ورادوفان كراديتش، والسيدة ليفني على رأس هؤلاء.
دعوة السيدة ليفني الملطخة يداها بدماء اطفال غزة ولبنان الى ندوة مغربية، في طنجة المعروف ابناؤها بوطنيتهم، وللحديث عن السلام هي اهانة للمدينة وتاريخها الوطني العريق اولا، مثلما هي اهانة للسلام، واستفزاز لكل ابناء المغرب.
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