My Beautiful Palestine

My beautiful Palestine transcends space and time.

By Samah Sabawi

Palestine chronicle

This is to all of the Palestinian parents in exile and the long trail of olive trees they've planted around the globe.

A few days ago, my father emailed me a photo of my mom and him standing proudly next to my newest sibling; a young olive tree they've planted in their garden in Queensland Australia. I was moved beyond belief looking at that photo and thinking of my beautiful Palestine.

My father always told us “To be a Palestinian means you must speak truth to power and you must never give up.” He was always busy teaching us through his poetry and his stories about being good citizens of the world, identifying with the oppressed and standing for the rights of those who have none. He brought home dozens of movies including "Ghandi", and "Cry Freedom" and he sat us down to watch the series "Roots", always discussing the movies and stories afterward. It didn’t matter if it was about abolishing slavery, apartheid in South Africa or non-violent civil disobedience in India, the message was always the same: Palestine is not one battle, it is an epic human story told again and again of how the oppressed stand up against the oppressors. "To understand our story, we must understand the age-old human battle for freedom". My father had a strong conviction that to be of use to Palestine you had to be a part of the world at large. “Palestine is not about a tiny spot on the map,” he always said, “it is about the awakening the human conscious”.

As for my mother, she never failed to give us doses of a quiet yet infinite love filled with all the colors of a culture that could not be crushed, denied or forgotten. If you spend some time with my mother you will know Israel has a losing battle on its hand. She kept Palestinian food on the table, told Palestinian folk tales, sang us Palestinian lullabies and when we were ready to move away and start our own lives, she orchestrated for us Palestinian weddings that didn’t miss any of the details they had back home. Palestine lives uninterrupted through the army of millions of exiled Palestinian mothers who like my mother, have became a solid bridge to the homeland for their families.

I look at the photo my parents sent me, how extraordinary their journey has been and what examples they've set for us. Indeed, my beautiful Palestine transcends space and time. It is much larger than any one country on a map. It is a trail of Olive trees planted around this globe. My beautiful Palestine is the undefeated and unbreakable human spirit soaring above borders, over walls and beyond oppression.

Egypt's uneasy political truce

Egypt's secularists and Islamists agree on one thing: Mubarak must go. But when he does, how long will they stand united?

Osama Diab
guardian.co.uk, Monday 29 March 2010

"The current political debate in Egypt can be summed up in one sentence: parties and activists of all political colours are campaigning to end almost 30 years of President Hosni Mubarak's rule and stop his son, Gamal, from inheriting power and returning Egypt to the dynastic era.

For the time being, the opposition is united by anti-Mubarakism, despite comprising elements that traditionally been fierce rivals, such as Islamists, liberals and Nasserists. Umbrella movements like Kifaya and the 6 April Youth Movement are a good example of broad-based groups which draw Egyptians from different political, religious and social backgrounds.

In fact, the unity of the opposition is not a sign of love or matching ideologies but merely reflects the realisation that breaking Mubarak's stranglehold on power requires the kind of broad-based popular alliance last seen during Egypt's resistance to foreign occupation.....

Egyptian secularists also need to remind people that Egyptians were never as united as they were when they fought occupation and a monarchy under the slogan "Religion is for God, and the nation is for everyone". Moreover, in order for Egypt's opposition to gain support and win ground internally and internationally, it has to be based on universal human rights and not discriminate on the basis of religion, gender, etc. An Islamic regime won't provide this, but secularism based on equality for all will."

Breaking and Exciting News....New (NOT) US Policy Towards Israel!

U.S. official: No plans to withhold veto on a Jerusalem UN resolution

"A U.S. State Department official has denied an earlier report saying the United States will consider abstaining if the the United Nations votes on East Jerusalem.

The BBC reported on Sunday that the United States would "seriously consider abstaining" should the United Nations Security Council pass a resolution condemning Israel's housing construction in East Jerusalem.

That message was passed during a meeting between a senior U.S. official and Qatari Foreign Minister Hamad Bin Jasim Al Thani, a diplomatic source told the BBC.

Replying to the BBC report on Tuesday, the U.S. official said that "there is no such initiative before the Council, and we are not pursuing or encouraging any such action."....."

اختبار الأمة في امتحان القمة

"عندما قال رئيس الوزراء التركي أمام القمة العربية إن مصير إسطنبول مرتبط بمصير القدس، ومصير تركيا مرتبط بمصير العالم العربي، فإنه بدا كأنه يغرد خارج السرب، لأن أغلب سامعيه من القادة العرب يبدو كأن لهم رأيا آخر في المسألة.

فاجأنا السيد رجب طيب أردوغان وذكرنا بحقيقة إستراتيجية نسيها كثيرون وتجاهلها الباقون، وهي أن نجاح إسرائيل في تهويد القدس واقتلاع الفلسطينيين منها يعد تتويجا لانتصارها وتمكينا يطلق يدها في المنطقة بأسرها، ليس فقط باعتبارها مشروعا توسعيا واستيطانيا، ولكن أيضا بحسبانها رأس حربة لمشروع الهيمنة الغربية، الراعي الحقيقي للدولة العبرية. وأمام ذلك التمكين فإنه لن يكون أحد بمنأى عن الخطر، ليس في العالم العربي وحده، وإنما أيضا في تركيا وإيران تحديدا، ذلك أن القدس من هذه الزاوية ليست مدينة فلسطينية عادية يتم تهويدها وابتلاعها، ولكنها رمز للعالم الإسلامي كله
.....
قراءة إسرائيل للموقف العربي لم تكن خاطئة، فقد ذكرت التقارير الصحفية التي خرجت من اجتماعات سرت أن مصر والأردن اعترضتا على استخدام القمة كورقة ضغط على إسرائيل، وهو ما تم أثناء اجتماعات وزراء الخارجية أعضاء لجنة مبادرة السلام، إذ عارض وزيرا خارجية البلدين اتخاذ أي قرارات تتعلق بإلغاء أو تجميد المبادرة العربية،
.....
السلطة الفلسطينية قامت بإجراءات غير مسبوقة لم يعهدها الفلسطينيون، أدت إلى كبت الشارع وعدم السماح له بالتعبير عن غضبه وسخطه إزاء الجرائم الإسرائيلية المتلاحقة, وذلك للحيلولة دون اندلاع شرارة انتفاضة ثالثة
.....
رغم أنه لا أحد يستطيع الادعاء بأن حكومة حماس أنجزت شيئا على صعيد التحرير المنشود، فإنه أيضا لا أحد يشك في أن وجودها عطل مسيرة بيع فلسطين والتفريط في ثوابتها
....

“Our President Is Deceiving the American Public”: Pentagon Papers Whistleblower on President Obama and the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq

Democracy Now!
With Amy Goodman






"We are joined now by a man who played a major role in efforts to end the Vietnam War in the 1970s. In 1971, the then-RAND Corporation analyst Daniel Ellsberg leaked to the media what became known as the Pentagon Papers, a 7,000-page classified history outlining the true extent of US involvement in Vietnam. After avoiding a life sentence on espionage charges, Daniel Ellsberg has continued to speak out against U.S. militarism until the present day....."

Al-Jazeera Video: Gazans pay with lives for work

"Gaza has one of the poorest economies in the world and last year's Israeli offensive on the territory has made matters worse.

According to the United Nations, the offensive destroyed or damaged hundreds of factories, besides ruining Gaza's agriculture.

The UN puts the region's jobless rate at 45 per cent.

As a result, thousands of Gazans try to cross into Israel in desperate search for work. But in view of the siege imposed on the territory by Israel, it is a hazardous journey and many do not make it.

A Palestinian human rights group says about 60 Gazans have been killed trying to cross the border since 2000.

According to John Ging, the director of the UN Relief and Works Agency in Gaza, there is no legitimate economy in Gaza anymore."eighty per cent of Gazans are dependent UN food handouts and the amount given is totally inadequate for a dignified existence," he says.

Barnaby Phillips reports from Gaza.

A second Israeli assassination in Eastern Europe?

By Wayne Madsen
Online Journal Contributing Writer

"(WMR) -- Israel appears intent on maintaining its image as a pariah state that flouts international law in carrying out political assassinations using what many Israelis now see as a revived Mossad -- an intelligence agency that provides the same type of national self-esteem for Israelis as the Waffen SS did for German Nazis.

Israel is now suspected to using two Israel Defense Force (IDF) Gulfstream V intelligence aircraft in the skies over Budapest to assassinate Bassam Trache, a Hungarian-Syrian citizen. Trache was shot in his car by a single assassin on foot while he was stopped at a traffic light in the suburbs of Budapest. Trache’s assassin, who has not been identified, also removed a briefcase from his car.

The United States and the rest of NATO failed to respond to the Israeli aggression by using the collective defense clause that states that and attack on one NATO nation -- in this case, Hungary -- is an attack against every NATO country. In fact, there is now evidence that three NATO nations -- Turkey, Bulgaria, and Romania -- conspired with the Israelis in allowing the IDF planes to overfly their territories to complete their deadly mission in Budapest. The Turkish General Staff and Air Force Command admitted that it had granted “conditional” overflight rights to the Israelis. The conditions stated by the air force were that the aircraft had to stay within set air corridors, could not refuel in mid-air, and not be “equipped with electronic apparatuses intended for photography, exploration and intelligence.”....."

Swedish Retirement Fund Boycotts Elbit Israeli Military Systems Company

"The Israeli Army electronics company “Elbit systems” has been barred by the Första AP-Fonden pension fund, the biggest pensions fund in Sweden. The pensions fund decided to boycott Elbit on Ethical grounds. The fund said that Elbit systems is involved in the operation of the surveillance system installed on the Annexation Wall in the occupied West Bank.

Israel claims that the Wall managed to significantly reduce the number of suicide bombings, but ignores the fact that it is built deep inside the Palestinian territories, isolating Palestinian farmlands and preventing the farmers from reaching their orchards.

The Wall also totally isolated Palestinian villages and towns, and is leading to the total isolation of the Palestinian Plains, the fruit basket of Palestine, in the Jordan valley area.

The Swedish Pensions fund stated on its Website that the Ethical Council recommended divesting from Elbit Systems due to the company’s involvement in the Annexation Wall.

The Swedish government stated that the Annexation Wall is illegal under International law. The decision is supported by the 2004 advisory ruling of the International Court at the Hague in which the Wall was deemed illegal.

Israel is planning to construct a 709 Kilometer-long (435 miles) Wall, and has already constructed 413 kilometers.

In September of 2009, the State Pension Fund in Norway decided to divest from Elbit Systems, an issue that led to a controversy with Israel. Israel then decided to summon the ambassador of Norway and protested against the decision."

Iraq squeezed between US and Iran

By Pepe Escobar
Asia Times

"Sectarianism is the only winner to emerge so far in post-election Iraq. As the struggle to form a ruling coalition pits United States-backed Iyad Allawi against Nuri al-Maliki, the Iran-aligned present prime minister, neither is likely to succeed. But one thing's certain: violence will erupt in the Sunni backlash if Allawi, whose coalition won the most seats for the National Assembly, fails to take power....

So the stage is set for major fireworks to erupt. Washington's game is to do everything to back Allawi. Tehran's game is to support Maliki, the Sadrists and ISCI inside the INA, and the Kurds against Allawi. In one more piercing irony permeating the whole Iraqi tragedy, if "Saddam lite" Allawi ends up getting nothing, one can bet a basket of explosives that the Sunnis will go literally ballistic.

Sectarianism, not "democracy", rules. "

Israel's blood diamonds

Seán Clinton, The Electronic Intifada, 29 March 2010

"Every year, consumers the world over unwittingly spend billions of dollars on diamonds crafted in Israel, thereby helping to fund one of the world's most protracted and contentious conflicts. Most people are unaware that Israel is one of the world's leading producers of cut and polished diamonds. As diamonds are normally not hallmarked, consumers cannot distinguish an Israeli diamond from one crafted in India, Belgium, South Africa or elsewhere. The global diamond industry and aligned governments, including the EU, have hoodwinked consumers into believing the diamond trade has been cleansed of diamonds that fund human rights abuses, but the facts are startlingly different....."

Zionists Against Zion?

By M. Shahid Alam
Palestine Chronicle

".....Defeating the Arab nationalists too carried a risk. By eliminating the threat of Arab nationalism, Israel risked losing its strategic value to the US. Considering the payoff, Israel was eager to defeat the Arab nationalists. As for the risk, the Jewish lobby in the US, energized by Israel’s victory, ensured that US could only draw Israel tighter to its bosom.

A weak civil society in the Arab states also helped Israel. Although the mantle of resistance passed to the Islamists after 1967, they could not displace any of the discredited Arab regimes. US and Israel too gave a boost to these regimes. With US prodding, Israel returned a demilitarized Sinai to bring Egypt on its side. In return, Egypt switched sides.

In time, most of the Arab regimes would serve as Israel’s first line of defense against the Islamists. This was a self-reinforcing arrangement. As US-friendly Arab regimes lost legitimacy and became more repressive, they could only survive by drawing closer to the US and Israel.

At this point, luck too favored Israel, as it often has in the past. In 1979, Iran, the second pillar of US hegemony in the region, fell to Islamists who openly opposed US presence in the region. Instantly, Israel began to promote itself as the rampart against the rising Islamist tide.....

It appear unlikely that this ‘flap’ between the US and Israel will blow over soon. If it does not, attacks by Jewish groups – inside and outside Israel – against Obama will become more frequent and nastier. The loyalty of some Americans, both inside and outside the Congress, will be tested. It is hard to predict where this will go....."

Words! Words! Words!

By Sonja Karkar
Palestine Chronicle

"'There isn't one I haven't heard' or so goes one of the lines in a well-known American musical. Yet, this time the world is imbuing the words with new meaning when it comes to US/Israel relations. The hope is that at long last the US is going to discipline Israel.......

.....In other words, regardless of the song-sheet, America never misses a beat to give Israel what it wants. It will be interesting to see if the US does withdraw support for Israel in the United Nations on any resolutions before the Security Council critical of Israel’s settlement policies in occupied East Jerusalem. The rumours are fulminating amongst denials from both sides. While to many this signifies a change of heart in America’s love affair with Israel, it may be no more than the stuff of gossip columns to re-make America’s image as honest broker in the Middle East.

The disconnect between words and actions might please those who want peace more than they want justice for the Palestinians, but for many, the words have been done to death. By the time proximity talks morph into full negotiations, there will be no Jerusalem left to negotiate and no Palestinians left in Jerusalem. All words will then be meaningless."

US-Iran 'cold war' warming up

By Marwan Bishara in Imperium

".....By the time US forces withdraw from Iraq and presumably from Afghanistan by the end 2011, the Gulf region and Iran in particular will be the new front where the US forces will redeploy.

Would Tehran become a 'nuclear power' by then, or merely a 'nuclear state' with no nuclear arms? The answer will determine whether the US will confront Iran head on sooner rather than later, or will leave it to implode from within over the next decade like its Cold War bogeyman, the Soviet Union.

Alas, it is very difficult to say if or when Tehran might produce the nuclear arms considering the disinformation about Iran's nuclear programme over the last quarter of a century.

If I got a dollar every time the media predicted imminent production of Iranian nuclear arms, I would have been a millionaire by now. Ahem..."

Neil Tyson talks about Islam and science

Neil Tyson talks about this period of time when the scientific centre of the world was Baghdad (from the Beyond Belief lectures). People of all beliefs were free to come and exchange ideas, including 'doubters' or what we'd call athiests. Out of this came a great number of scientific discoveries about astronomy, mathematics, medicine, engineering.

However something happened that led to the end of this age of science in the Islamic world. Neil Tyson describes what happened, involving a scholar (Imam Hamid al-Ghazali) who put forth the idea that mathematics was the work of the devil. This plus other things led to the collapse of that scientific tradition, and it has not since recovered.
I suspect that if the thinkers from that period saw the evidence for evolution, they would accept it gladly. Only with this attitude of accepting evidence as more reliable than dogma can a society develop intellectually, as it did in the time of Islamic science, when doubt wasn't blasphemy.

The Science Network:
http://www.thesciencenetwork.org

Unbreakable Bond with Israel, by Khalil Bendib

(Click on cartoon to enlarge)

Bondage Indeed!

Boycotting H & M, by Carlos Latuff

(Click on cartoon to enlarge)

Artist's Comments

"This campaign builds on the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) call made by the Palestinian civil society in 2005 and the international BDS movement that followed. Inspired by the non-violent struggle against the Israeli occupation and oppression of Palestine, we acted when we heard that H&M were about to open seven stores in Israel. To buy into the occupation and oppression is not fashionable and it shouldn't be profitable. Make your voice heard and tell H&M not to invest in Israel until Israel respects international law and human rights!"

Israel gets ready to strike at Iran's nuclear sites – media

Author: RIA Novosti

"Israeli air force have practiced simulated strikes at Iran's nuclear facilities using airspace of at least two unidentified Arab countries, a newspaper published in east Jerusalem reported.

According to Al Manar paper, several Israeli combat jets carried out in late February bombing drills "targeting" known Iranian nuclear sites "in two Arab countries in the Persian Gulf, which are close territorially with the Islamic republic and cooperate with Israel on this issue."

Al Manar said Israel had received the permission to use the airspace from the top leadership of these countries and Washington "gave a blessing" to Tel Aviv to conduct these exercises.

Despite broad international efforts to persuade Tehran to halt its uranium enrichment, both the United States and Israel have not ruled out military action if diplomacy fails to resolve the dispute over Iran's nuclear program.

Iran, which is currently under three sets of UN sanctions for refusing to halt uranium enrichment, insists it needs nuclear technology to generate electricity, while Western powers suspect it of pursuing an atomic weapons program.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has recently called for the international community to impose a new set of 'crippling' sanctions on Iran to make the Islamic republic scrap its controversial nuclear program."

Current Al-Jazeera (Arabic) Online Poll

This poll asks:

Do you support the formation of a league of Arab neighbors which includes non-Arab Turkey and Iran, but excludes Israel?

With over 3,000 responding, 91% said yes.

Karzai's China-Iran dalliance riles Obama

By M K Bhadrakumar
Asia Times

"Concern that Afghan President Hamid Karzai is steadily disengaging Afghanistan from the grip of the United States and seeking friendships with China and Iran prompted President Barack Obama's flying visit to Kabul on Sunday. What alarms Washington most is that China's position on Afghan national reconciliation fits Karzai's political agenda and also accords with Iran's interests...."

الانتفاضة هي الحل

**
الانتفاضة هي الحل
عبد الحليم قنديل
**

"نخشى ـ إن ظلت الأمور على حالها ـ أن تتحول القدس إلى صفحة حنين فى كتاب التاريخ، أو إلى خزانة أغاني على طريقة فيروز في شدوها الملائكي.
نخشى أن تتحول القدس إلى موضوع للمراثي، وإلى زحام صور في ألبوم ذكريات عتيقة، وأن تصبح مدينة الأنبياء سكنا مفضلا للأشقياء.
فثمة حرب إبادة ومحو لعروبة القدس، وخطط تنفذ منذ عقود لتهويدها على نحو كامل، وجعل الوجود العربي فيها بقايا صور، والارتفاع بسقف 'الكنس' اليهودية عن سقف المسجد الأقصى، وجعل المقدسيين غرباء في قدسهم، وتحويل المدينة المقدسة إلى حائط مبكى تجف دموعه مع تقادم الوقت.
وقد شهدت القدس علينا، شهدت على خيبتنا الجامعة، على مذلة حكامنا، وعلى صمت شعوبنا، ونهايتنا إلى متاهة قلوب تطمس الضمائر، وكأن القصة كلها في المسجد الأقصى على عظمة قدره، بينما المسجد الأقصى رمز للقدس ولعروبة فلسطين كلها، فهو ليس مجرد دار للعبادة، وحرمه الشريف ليس مجرد متاجر لبيع التذكارات، وخلع أساسات المسجد الأقصى بالحفريات تحته، وبالإغارات المنتظمة على بنيانه، وسعي إسرائيل لتحطيمه وتهديمه، هذه كلها نذر خطر تلخص ما يجري للقدس كلها، والتي تبدل إسرائيل في هويتها، وفى شوارعها، وفي مبانيها، وفي موازين سكانها، وتسعى لطرد آخر عربي منها بالتوازي مع هدم آخر حجر في المسجد الأقصى.
يعنى ذلك ـ ببساطة ـ أن نغير فى فهمنا لرمزية المسجد الأقصى، فالمسجد المقدس ليس مجرد بناية تاريخ، وليس مجرد مسرى للنبي الكريم، إنه اختصار لحقائق وجود وحياة مهددة بالاقتلاع، والدفاع عنه ليس حفظا لحجر على قداسته، بل دفاع عن بشر ووطن يتسع من حول أولى القبلتين وثالث الحرمين الشريفين، وقد كان المسجد الأقصى عنوانا لانتفاضة فلسطينية عارمة فى بدايات القرن الجاري، وهي الانتفاضة الثانية التى مزجت الحجارة بالسلاح والعمليات الاستشهادية، وأنجزت للشعب الفلسطيني جلاء نسبيا للاحتلال عن غزة، وتفكيكا لمستوطناتها، وبيانا عمليا عن الطريق الوحيد الممكن للتحرير، وهو المقاومة بما ملكت الأيدي من سلاح، والنفوس من غضب، والأرض من حجارة مقدسة تماما كحجارة المسجد الأقصى.
ولا أحد عاقل ـ أو نصف عاقل ـ يتصور طريقا آخر، فقد جرى تجريب كل الخيارات الأخرى، وفشلت، ولم تؤد المفاوضات والتسويات ـ إياها ـ إلا إلى خراب القدس وتهديد المسجد الأقصى، وأصبح واضحا أن الخطر ليس في عدوانية إسرائيل وحدها، ولا في فرضها لحقائق التهويد الاستيطاني على الأرض، ولا في استثمارها للتواطؤ الدولي، ولغفلة الفلسطينيين والعرب، فإسرائيل ليست المجرم الوحيد، بل هي رأس حربة الإجرام المسنود أمريكيا، ومعها في نفس التشكيل الإجرامي آخرون منا، فلسطينيون يرتدون الكوفية على سبيل التمويه، وملوك ورؤساء وأمراء الطوائف العرب، وكلهم شركاء ـ بالتواطؤ ـ في جريمة تهويد القدس وطمس الحق الفلسطيني.
ثم أن الإنصاف يقتضي توشجيه بعض اللوم لتيار المقاومة في الحركة الوطنية الفلسطينية، فقد أدى اندفاع حــــماس للمشاركة فى خدعة الانتخابات الفلسطينية، وسعيها المتعــــجل لبناء سلطة على أرض لم تتحرر بعد، ثم الوقوع ـ باستطراد الحوادث ـ في انقسام بدا صراعا على سلطة، وليس دفاعا عن مشـــروع المقاومة بالسلاح، أدت هذه التطورات إلى خيبة تنطوي على مفارقة مريرة، فقد بدا الطرفان في سباق إلى تسوية، وإلى أوهام مفاوضات مباشرة أو غير مباشرة، وسعى إلى هدنة مطولة أو إلى سلام موهوم، ومع تجميد فعلي لمشروع المقاومة والانتفاض الفلسطيني.
صحيح أنه لا يمكن التسوية فى مقادير الخطأ، لكن الخطيئة وقعت على أي حال، ورسمت مسارات تغري بالتقدم إلى الحائط المسدود، وبدا الحديث عن المصالحة الفلسطينية، وكأنه سعى إلى مصالحة إسرائيل، وطاعة هواها علنا أو ضمنا، بينما المطلوب : مصالحة مع القدس، وليس مع إسرائيل، وهو ما لن يحدث بمصالحة تجري أو تتعثر بين عباس وحماس، ولا بتوقيعات توشك في هذه العاصمة العربية أو تلك، فالأهم من شكـــل المصالحة هو مضمونها، وما تؤدي إليه بالضبط، الأهم هو كنس سلطة أوسلو، ووقف الاحتراب عليها بالانقسام أو بالمصالحة، وإزالة العقبة الكبرى التي تعترض طريق المقاومة، والانتقال إلى تنظيم قوى الكفاح الفلسطيني سياسيا و عسكريا في إطار فعال، ومن حول برنامج مباشر يعطي الأولوية الآن لمهمتين عاجلتين، هما إستكمال تحرير غزة، وإشعال انتفاضة جماهيرية ثالثة في الضفة والقدس.
ورغم ظواهر محزنة تطغى على السطح، فقد بدا شعاع الفرح متوهجا طالعا من رماد العذاب الفلسطيني، بدت الامكانية قائمة لبدء انتفاضة ثالثة، وتدافعت موجات أولية ـ ولكن محسوسة ـ تشق نهر الفداء من جديد، وبأجيال شابة طالعة وأطفال مدارس، ودارت مواجهات باسلة في القدس ومدن الضفة ضد قوات الاحتلال، وتوالت قوافل الحجارة والشهداء والأسرى، وهو ما قد يصح أن يكون موضع العناية والانتباه الأول، وأن يكون الموقف منه هو معيار الفرز الوحيد، فالذين يصادمون التحول لانتفاضة ثالثة هم أعداء وخونة الشعب الفلسطيني، والذين يدعمون ويرعون بواكير 'انتفاضة القدس' هم أهل فلسطين وحملة الأمانة المقدسة، صحيح أنه جرى إنهاك الجهاز التنظيمي لمنظمات المقاومة في الضفة، وباعتقالات شبه يومية تجري بتواطؤ وتشارك علني مفضوح بين قوات الاحتلال وقوات الجنرال دايتون الحارسة لسلطة عباس، لكن الروح الفلسطينية الجديدة تبدو ملهمة، والتحول الذي يجرى في قطاعات من حركة فتح يبدو إيجابيا، والمطلوب: كنس موضوع السلطة قضية الصراع الظاهرة، وإحلال الموقف من الانتفاضة الثالثة كقضية أولى تجب غيرها، خاصة أن القدس ـ في خرائط الحال الفلسطيني ـ تبدو محطة لقاء واجتماع ممثلي لقطاعات الشعب الفلسطيني كله، فالفلسطينيون في الأرض المحتلة ـ منذ حرب 1948 ـ طرف مباشر في قضية القدس والمسجد الأقصى، وقد لعبوا الدور الأبرز إلى الآن في تعزيز حس الانتفاض المقدسي والفلسطيني مجددا، لعبوا أدوارا أكبر مما كان عليه الأمر في الانتفاضة الثانية، ثم أن نار القوة الاسرائيلية الهمجية تحرق ما تبقى من أوراق عباس، وتكشف عورات سلطتها البائسة أمام الشعب الفلسطينى، وتجعلها فى صدام مباشر مع أولوية المقدس الفلسطينى الذي ترمز إليه القدس والمسجد الأقصى، وهو ما يتيح قوة معنوية أكبر لحماس والجهاد والجبهة الشعبية والقادة المستقلين لتعويض وتجاوز العجز التنظيمي الموقوت.
وباختصار، فإن انتفاضة القدس هي الحل الآن، وكل ما عداها باطل وقبض ريح.
"

Is America ‘Yearning For Fascism?’

Another Very Good Comment

By Chris Hedges

"The language of violence always presages violence. I watched it in war after war from Latin America to the Balkans. The impoverishment of a working class and the snuffing out of hope and opportunity always produce angry mobs ready to kill and be killed. A bankrupt, liberal elite, which proves ineffectual against the rich and the criminal, always gets swept aside, in times of economic collapse, before thugs and demagogues emerge to play to the passions of the crowd. I have seen this drama. I know each act. I know how it ends. I have heard it in other tongues in other lands. I recognize the same stock characters, the buffoons, charlatans and fools, the same confused crowds and the same impotent and despised liberal class that deserves the hatred it engenders.....

These movements are not yet full-blown fascist movements. They do not openly call for the extermination of ethnic or religious groups. They do not openly advocate violence. But, as I was told by Fritz Stern, a scholar of fascism who has written about the origins of Nazism, “In Germany there was a yearning for fascism before fascism was invented.” It is the yearning that we now see, and it is dangerous. If we do not immediately reincorporate the unemployed and the poor back into the economy, giving them jobs and relief from crippling debt, then the nascent racism and violence that are leaping up around the edges of American society will become a full-blown conflagration.

Left unchecked, the hatred for radical Islam will transform itself into a hatred for Muslims. The hatred for undocumented workers will become a hatred for Mexicans and Central Americans. The hatred for those not defined by this largely white movement as American patriots will become a hatred for African-Americans. The hatred for liberals will morph into a hatred for all democratic institutions, from universities to government agencies to the press. Our continued impotence and cowardice, our refusal to articulate this anger and stand up in open defiance to the Democrats and the Republicans, will see us swept aside for an age of terror and blood. "

Talk about US/Israel Crisis

By Dr. Elias Akleh
Palestine Chronicle

(Left: Another Arab League Summit)

".....So, what is the fuss about this so-called US/Israeli crisis? This is a double stick-and-carrot approach to the Arab leaders, who just concluded their summit (March 27 & 28). It is meant as a face saving for the US and giving the illusion that the administration might pressure Israel providing the Arab leaders do not come up with any strong resolutions and give the administration the time to deal with Israel. The stick comes in the Congress’s commitment to Israel’s security.

The ball is now in the Arab’s court. What will they decide: the usual empty condemnations or real action this time? [We already know the answer; don't we?]"

The 'Long War' quagmire

The doctrine, which posits an 80-year or so war against insurgents in the Middle East to South Asia, needs more scrutiny.

By Tom Hayden
L.A. Times

"Without public debate and without congressional hearings, a segment of the Pentagon and fellow travelers have embraced a doctrine known as the Long War, which projects an "arc of instability" caused by insurgent groups from Europe to South Asia that will last between 50 and 80 years. According to one of its architects, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan are just "small wars in the midst of a big one."

Consider the audacity of such an idea. An 80-year undeclared war would entangle 20 future presidential terms stretching far into the future of voters not yet born......"

Who Is Iyad Allawi?

Nobody you'd want to know

by Justin Raimondo, March 29, 2010

".......Today the same centrifugal forces that threatened to rip apart the country in the wake of Saddam’s defeat are stretching the national fabric to the breaking point: the country has become a battlefield between the US and Iran, in a war that hasn’t quite yet reached the shooting stage. With the Iranians backing Maliki, there can be little doubt the Americans provided the Allawi forces with substantial aid, as they have in the past.

The Iranian-backed Maliki government – whose installation, in another one of those dark ironies of the invasion, was due to US force of arms – has done everything it can to neutralize the Allawi coalition’s razor-thin margin of victory, such as arresting successful candidates, etc. However, the Allawi-ites are no angels, as their leader’s personal history illustrates. In the end, one has to ask: is this what all those people died for – so that a thug not named Saddam Hussein could place his boot on the throats of the Iraqi people?

"His strongest virtue is that he’s a thug" says neocon (and ex-CIA analyst) Reuel Marc Gerecht, and Obama’s CIA apparently agrees. If Gerecht and his friends had had their way, Iraq would have been handed over to Chalabi long ago, but Allawi will do. This way both the neocons and the Obama-ites can claim the "credit" for yet another US "victory" – one that old King Pyrrhus would surely recognize."

Mr Fish: Madame Sectretary is wondering if it's time to start playing tough with Israel

Ralph Nader on the US aid to Israel

Israel & Aid
"On July 10, 1996, at a Joint Session of the United States Congress, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received a standing ovation for these words: “With America’s help, Israel has grown to be a powerful, modern state. …But I believe there can be no greater tribute to America’s long-standing economic aid to Israel than for us to be able to say: we are going to achieve economic independence. We are going to do it. In the next four years, we will begin the long-term process of gradually reducing the level of your generous economic assistance to Israel.”

Since 1996, the American taxpayers are still sending Israel $3 billion a year and providing assorted loan guarantees, waivers, rich technology transfers and other indirect assistance. Before George W. Bush left office a memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Israel stipulated an assistance package of $30 billion over the next ten years to be transferred in a lump sum at the beginning of every fiscal year. Israel’s wars and colonies still receive U.S. taxpayer monies.

What happened to Mr. Netanyahu’s solemn pledge to the Congress? The short answer is that Congress never called in the pledge."

Akiva Eldar / The plague of darkness has struck modern Israelites

Haaretz
"One of the harshest of the 10 plagues has smitten the children of Israel this Passover, and they are stumbling about in pitch darkness, bumping blindly into anyone in their way as they head toward the edge of the precipice. Warm friends, cool friends, icy enemies: Jordan and Turkey, Brazil and Britain, Germany and Australia - it's all the same.

And if that's not enough, the myopic Jewish state also has gone and collided head-on with the ally that offers existential support. Israel has become an environmental hazard and its own greatest threat. For 43 years, Israel has been ruled by people who have refused to see reality. They speak of "united Jerusalem," knowing that no other country has recognized the annexation of the eastern part of the city. They sent 300,000 people to settle land they know does not belong to them. As early as September 1967, Theodor Meron, then the legal adviser to the Foreign Ministry, said there was a categorical prohibition against civilian settlement in occupied territories, under the Fourth Geneva Convention. Meron - who would become the president of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and is now a member of the Appeals Chamber for both that court and a similar one for Rwanda - wrote to prime minister Levi Eshkol in a top-secret memorandum: "I fear there is great sensitivity in the world today about the whole question of Jewish settlement in the occupied territories, and any legal arguments that we try to find will not remove the heavy international pressure, from friendly states as well."

Marriage between Lebanese and Palestinians الزواج بين لبنانيين وفلسطينيين

بنجامين غِير، طالب دكتوراة بجامعة لندن
كيف تحافظ مجموعة قومية على حدودها؟

يقدم (دانيال ماير) هذه المسألة في مقالته
Mariages sur la frontière du groupe national: Normalité et transgressions dans les unions matrimoniales libano-palestiniennes au Liban
المنشورة في عدد شتاء عام ٢٠٠٨ من مجلة
Cultures & Conflits
.والمتاحة للقراءة مجاناً على موقع المجلة

يذكر (ماير) أن سياسة الدولة اللبنانية تجاه اللاجئين الفلسطينيين من أكثر السياسات تمييزاً في العالم العربي. فالدولة لا تعترف بأنهم لاجئون أصلاً وإنما تعتبرهم مجرد « أجانب ». وقد أنشأ القادة السياسيون اللبنانيون ما هو بمثابة حدود قانونية بين المواطنين اللبنانيين واللاجئين الفلسطينيين في أعقاب الحرب الأهلية (١٩٧٥-١٩٩٠). ويؤكد المؤلف أن جزءاً كبيراً من الانتماء القومي اللبناني أصبح يعتمد على احتقار اللاجئين الفلسطينيين، الذين تم تحميلهم مسؤولية الحرب. ويرى (ماير) أن دراسة الزواج بين أعضاء مجموعتين قوميتين قد تلقي الضوء على الطرق التي يتم بها تحديد الحدود الرمزية بين المجموعتين. قد يتجاوز الأفراد هذه الحدود ولكن بشروط. فيُعتبر الزواج بين لبنانيين وفلسطينيين مشلكة في حالات معينة بينما يُعتبر عادياً في حالات أخرى.

يقدم المؤلف عدة بيانات أساسية عن الموضوع، وأهم العوامل التي قد تسهّل هذه الزيجات أو تحول دونها، وفقاً لنتائج بحثه الميداني. يذكر أن الزواج في لبنان ليس اتفاقاً بين فردين فحسب، بل يعبر عن التزام وتقدير متبادليْن بين عائلتين. ويصعب الزواج بشكل عام بين عائلتين لا تنتميان إلى نفس الطائفة أو بين عائلة لبنانية وعائلة أجنبية. وليس هناك زواج مدني في لبنان فيخضع الزواج لقانون الأحوال الشخصية الخاص بكل من الطوائف الثماني عشرة. لذلك فإن الزواج بين امرأة مسلمة ورجل غير مسلم ممنوع، على سبيل المثال. وليس من حق امرأة لبنانية أن تعطي أبناءها جنسيتها إذا كان أبوهم أجنبياً، حتى ولو وُلدوا في لبنان، مما يمنعهم من العمل في بعض المهن. وعلاوة على ذلك فإن المرأة الفلسطينية التي تتزوج لبنانياً تحصل على إقامة لبنانية فوراً، ثم الجنسية اللبنانية بعد عام من الزواج، بينما الرجل الفلسطيني الذي يتزوج لبنانية لا يحصل على إقامة ويظل لاجئاً. ويحدث الزواج بين لبنانيين وفلسطينيين خاصة بين مسلمين، فإن تجنيس الفلسطينيين المسيحيين في لبنان تم بشكل جماعي في الخمسينيات

Conclusion of "Arab Summit," by Emad Hajjaj

Helen Thomas on White House Press Corps

Thomas: Most press rolled over and played dead during Bush years, press was gung-ho to go to war

NOTE:

This is a new video, different from the one posted yesterday.

Israeli Troops Attack Palm Sunday Protest In Bethlehem, Detain 15 Among Them Two Journalists

(Left: Troops attacking Palm Sunday Protest - Photo by IMEMC's Ghassan Bannoura)

"Fifteen people among them two journalists were detained by Israeli troops and police officers when they attacked a Palm Sunday protest near Bethlehem.

Palestinians along with international and Israeli supporters gathered at the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem city, southern West Bank. The Palm leaves and flags carrying protesters headed towards the gate of the wall separating Bethlehem form Jerusalem city.

People demanded their right of worship. Israeli only allows a limited number of Christian Palestinians permission to reach Jerusalem for the Easter week starting this Sunday.

At the gate of the wall protesters marched forward and managed to pass the military checkpoint there and entered Jerusalem. At the street after the checkpoint troops and police officers attacked protesters and detained fifteen people among them a Palestinian and an Israeli journalists.

Also Abbas Zakki, a Fatah high official was among those detained. In total three Israeli activists and one American was among those detained by the Israeli military.

Later soldiers forced people back to the wall and detained all the protesters and journalists between the wall and the gate of the wall until officer opened the gate of the wall and allowed people back to Bethlehem city. Troops used batons and rifle butts to bush people through the gate."

مسودة البيان الختامي للقمة العربية في سرت

BREAKING AND EXCITING NEWS!
"Arab" Summit Exceeds Expectations (NOT)

"....Crap....Crap.....Crap....
السلام العادل والشامل هو الخيار الاستراتيجي
وأكدوا أن السلام العادل والشامل هو الخيار الاستراتيجي وأن عملية السلام عملية شاملة لايمكن تجزئتها، وأن السلام العادل والشامل فى المنطقة لا يتحقق إلا بالانسحاب الاسرائيلي الكامل من الأراضى الفلسطينية والعربية المحتلة بما فى ذلك الجولان العربي السوري المحتل
.....
وشددوا على أن دولة فلسطين شريك كامل في عملية السلام وعلى ضرورة استمرار دعم منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية فى مطالبتها لإسرائيل بالوقف الكامل للاستيطان قبل استئناف المفاوضات من النقطة التى انتهت عندها وتحديد مرجعية واضحة لعملية السلام ووضع إطار زمني للمفاوضات
....

وأكدوا أن استمرار الممارسات الإسرائيلية في الأراضي الفلسطينية سيؤدي إلى فشل المباحثات غير المباشرة ما سيؤدي إلى قيام الدول العربية بالدعوة إلى عقد اجتماع عاجل لمجلس الأمن لإعادة عرض النزاع العربي الإسرائيلي من مختلف أبعاده والطلب من الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية عدم استخدام الفيتو باعتبار أن فشل المباحاثات وتدهور الأوضاع في الأراضي المحتلة يبرر ذلك.

Man, that is really getting serious! This should make Netanyahu wet his pants!

.....
More khara....More khara....More khara...."

Egypt antiquities chief Zahi Hawwas: I gave the Zionist enemy a slap in the face

"The head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, Dr. Zahi Hawwas said that "he gave the Zionist enemy a slap in the face," when he canceled the inauguration of a restored Cairo synagogue two weeks ago, Army Radio reported on Sunday.

Hawass, dubbed the "Egyptian Indiana Jones," is known worldwide as responsible for all the ancient sites in Egypt including the pyramids and the pharaohs' treasures.
Throughout the years, Zahi Hawass has expressed his stance against normalization of ties with Israel, but has yet to refer to Israel as "the enemy."
Two weeks ago, Egypt has canceled the inauguration of a restored synagogue citing the Israeli oppression of Muslims in the occupied territories as well as excesses by Jews during an earlier ceremony at the synagogue"
Haaretz

Imagining an Israeli Strike on Iran

By DAVID E. SANGER
N.Y. Times

"In 1981, Israel destroyed Iraq’s nuclear reactor at Osirak, declaring it could not live with the chance the country would get a nuclear weapons capability. In 2007, it wiped out a North Korean-built reactor in Syria. And the next year, the Israelis secretly asked the Bush administration for the equipment and overflight rights they might need some day to strike Iran’s much better-hidden, better-defended nuclear sites.

They were turned down, but the request added urgency to the question: Would Israel take the risk of a strike? And if so, what would follow?

Now that parlor game question has turned into more formal war games simulations. The government’s own simulations are classified, but the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution created its own in December. The results were provocative enough that a summary of them has circulated among top American government and military officials and in many foreign capitals.

For the sake of verisimilitude, former top American policymakers and intelligence officials — some well known — were added to the mix. They played the president and his top advisers; the Israeli prime minister and cabinet; and Iranian leaders. They were granted anonymity to be able to play their roles freely, without fear of blowback. (This reporter was invited as an observer.) A report by Kenneth M. Pollack, who directed the daylong simulation, can be found at the Saban Center’s Web site.

A caution: Simulations compress time and often oversimplify events. Often they underestimate the risk of error — for example, that by using faulty intelligence leaders can misinterpret a random act as part of a pattern of aggression. In this case, the actions of the American and Israeli teams seemed fairly plausible; the players knew the bureaucracy and politics of both countries well. Predicting Iran’s moves was another matter, since little is known about its decision-making process. —DAVID E. SANGER
....

A REPORTER'S OBSERVATIONS

1. By attacking without Washington's advance knowledge, Israel had the benefits of surprise and momentum - not only over the Iranians, but over its American allies - and for the first day or two, ran circles around White House crisis managers.

2. The battle quickly sucked in the whole region - and Washington. Arab leaders who might have quietly applauded an attack against Iran had to worry about the reaction in their streets. The war shifted to defending Saudi oil facilities, and Iran's use of proxies meant that other regional players quickly became involved.

3. You can bomb facilities, but you can't bomb knowledge. Iran had not only scattered its facilities, but had also scattered its scientific and engineering leadership, in hopes of rebuilding after an attack.

4. No one won, and the United States and Israel measured success differently. In Washington, officials believed setting the Iranian program back only a few years was not worth the huge cost. In Israel, even a few years delay seemed worth the cost, and the Israelis argued that it could further undercut a fragile regime and perhaps speed its demise. Most of the Americans thought that was a pipe dream. —D.E.S. "

سلامة مرارتك يا ريس*../

* بمناسبة خضوع الريس لعملية استئصال المرارة
أحمد فؤاد نجم

"سلامة مرارتك
يا فاقع مرارة مرات الفقير
فلا جوزها جايب
ولا الفقر تايب
ولا حتى سايب
مَيَّة في قُلة
ولا كوز في زير

سلامة مرارتك

سلامة مرارتك
مرارة العُـزاز
وإيه يعني إحنا
ما نِوْلع بجاز
إنتَ الحقيقة وإحنا المجاز
تفضلْ وييجي بدالنا البديل
شوية خباثة
وعوامل وراثة
نصبح بهايم ... ونصبح بديل
فتقدر ساعتها تنام مَلو عينك
ويعلى الشخير

سلامة مرارتك

سلامة مرارتك
سلامة المرارة
يا واقع علينا بسعر الخسارة
فلا فيه صناعة
ولا فيه تجارة
ولا فيه مدير
ولا فيه إدارة
ولا فيه وزارة تسيب الوزير

سلامة مرارتك

سلامة مرارتك
فداها المواطن
أبو قلب راطن كلام الهموم
فلا نفس راضية
ولا جتة فاضية
بلاوي وسموم
ولا علاج مداوي
مفيش غير حكاوي
بتاخد بإيدنا لآخر المصير

سلامة مرارتك
سلامة مرارتك
وألفين سلامة
يا سايب في كل المنازل علامة
مجاعة ... أنين ... كآبة ... ندامة
جهل وبطالة وعوالة وعيا
وفنون رخيصة وقِلِّة حيا
وهموم بتكتر ... وهموم تزيد
إنت في زيادة همومنا خبير

سلامة مرارتك

سلامة مرارتك يا ابو القد فارع
يا مالي عنينا بزبالة الشوارع
أمال بندفع ضرايب لمين
شمالك بتاخد ...
وواخدة اليمين
شكلك بتحلف علينا اليمين
ما تجعل في جيبنا قليل أو كتير

سلامة مرارتك

سلامة مرارتك
دي واخدة الحصانة
بنشقى وتاكل علينا شقانا
لا خلِّيت أمامنا ولا فيه ورانا
ضرايب ... عوايد ... فاتورة ... رسوم
ننام بالفاتورة
وبيها نقوم
على البصَّة ندفع فاتورة لعِنينا
ولو نعمى ندفع فاتورة ضرير

سلامة مرارتك

سلامة مرارتك يا صاحب الهمم
بخطبة بنطلع لأعلى قمم
وننزل على جدورنا بين الرمم
على الوهم ياما وياما بنينا
أوامر تجيبنا
أوامر تجينا
على خطوة واحدة في محلك نسير

سلامة مرارتك

سلامة مرارتك
إحنا فداها
تفرقع مرارتك
نفرقع وراها
حالنا بدونك عمره ما ماشي
إحنا بدونك شوية مواشي
من غير راعيها ... ومن غير كبير
سلامة مرارتك "

Why Not Hamas?

The answer to Israel’s strategic dilemma may reside in Gaza.

Efraim Halevy
(Efraim Halevy is head of the Center for Strategic and Policy Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He served as head of the Mossad from 1998 to 2002, and he was national security adviser to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in 2002-2003.)

Via Angry Arab

"Under the current circumstances—with the destructive gamesmanship of the Palestinian Authority and the stagnation in Gaza—the time has surely come to explore a new relationship with Hamas. Attempts to penalize the group with exclusion have failed; perhaps, the time has come for a strategy that co-opts Hamas....Right now, the decaying Palestinian administration in Ramallah doesn’t have the credibility to survive the rigors of negotiations, let alone the implementation of an agreement. Abu Mazen can only speak in the name of the West Bank, and recent events have shown that his mandate there is (at best) fragile....

Hamas has demonstrated a will and a capacity to think and act pragmatically when it believes it useful or necessary. There’s no better example of this than its governance of Gaza. Yes, it continues to play the role of peace-process spoiler when that role suits its interests. But Hamas has also demonstrated a serious capacity to exercise responsibility and restraint when that role suits its purposes. It has demonstrated its ability to control Gaza effectively, to both enforce a long-term cessation of hostilities....

...But the more that Hamas is permitted inside the tent, the better the prospects of a modest (yet historic) success. Of course, there will be those who say this is impossible. They will say Hamas is inhuman, and why would the Iranians ever allow this? The answer is that Fatah hardly behaves much better than Hamas. Besides, Fatah has limited ability to deliver any sort of peace without the consent of Hamas. As far as the Iranians go, once you start talking with Hamas, you soon discover how much they hate the guts of those renegade Shiites in Tehran....."

Real News Video: Helen Thomas on her one question for Obama

DC's most experienced journalist says Obama lost credibility when he dodged question on Israeli nukes



"In part one of his interview with Helen Thomas, longest-serving member of the White House Press Corps, Paul Jay asks her about her first question for President Obama. The question, asking President Obama to name all the countries in the Middle-East that have nuclear weapons, was avoided by the President, who claimed to not want to "speculate". Thomas claims that knowledge of Israeli nukes is very public in DC and Obama's answer shows a lack of credibility. She explains the importance of this question for U.S. policy in the region. Finally, she confides that she has not been called on by the President since that day, but that if she does, she will ask him whether or not he has found any more information about nukes in the Middle-East since their last encounter."

لن نسكت: فليسقط النظام اللبناني

بيان صادر عن تجمّع المدونين في لبنان

خضر سلامة

"أحب القصص الخرافية، كقصص الساحرات والأقزام والجن، وقصص الحرية العربية! ومن هذه القصص، قصة الحرية في لبنان، لدينا رئيس جمهورية، مجلس نواب، حكومة.. لا ينقصنا إلا… دولة! دولة تضمن حقوقاً مدنية، تضمن قداسة أكبر من قداسة الرئاسة وهيبة الجيش وقداسة الطوائف، قداسة يقال لها: حرية التعبير، تكون خارج مصيدة القانون البدوي للمطبوعات والإعلام، وخارج قناع ديكتاتورية المذاهب والمصارف والمخافر، حرية تعبيرٍ على حجم القرن الواحد والعشرين، لا على حجم جزمة ظابط، أو عمامة رجل دين.

يقال في كل العالم، أن ثمة ملاك حارس لكل مواطن، إلا في بلادنا، ثمة لكل مواطن مخبر حارس، لا أعرف من صاحب الفضل عليّ في أوّل استدعاءٍ رسميّ إلى مركز مخابرات عربية، بعد أن جربت الفرنسية سابقاً، ولكنني الآن أستطيع بوضوح أن أحدد مكمن الخلل في لبنان: لا عجب أن الأمن الوطني غير ممسوك، فالمخابرات اللبنانية مشغولة بمسك المواطن من أذنيه، كي لا يقلق نوم الرؤساء على جماجم الفقراء.

إنزعج بعض زبانية القصر الجمهوري البعيد عن أجواء عتمة المنازل ليلاً، وفراغ أمعاء الأطفال نهاراً، وعطالة نصف شبابنا عن العمل، إنزعجوا من بعض ما كتبت مدوناً، ربما كنت بحجة الغضب قاسياً في بعض مقالاتي، لاذعاً، ساخراً، وأحياناً كثيرة شاتماً، قيل لي في التحقيق ذلك، ولكن المؤسف، المضحك، أن المحقق لم يقل لي أني كنت مخطئا، فلان سرق، فلان قتل، فلان ذبح، فعلى ماذا أندم؟ ولماذا أعتذر؟ لا أعتذر. ثم بالله عليك يا زميلي في الجوع إلى الحرية، إلى الوطن، إلى الرغيف، أيها القارئ: علام أخاف؟ على أن يحرموني في الزنزانة نعمة التأمل في جمال الخريطة اللبنانية الآخذة في التصحر؟ أو على حريتي في قول ما أشاء كي تفعل بعدها سكاكين الطوائف وميليشياتها فيّ ما تشاء؟ أو أخاف على فرص العمل المفتوحة أمامي منذ سنين لحد الحيرة؟ إلى ماذا سأشتاق إذا حدث ما هُدِّدت به من ملاحقة قضائية؟ أأشتاق إلى وطنٍ مسروق معروض للبيع في سوق النخاسة المصرفية؟ أو أشتاق إلى مساحة رأيٍ يحدها من الشرق قضاءٌ أعوج ومن الغرب هراوة شرطي أهوج؟ أو أشتاق إلى أبٍ وأمٍ منشغلان عن عاطفة العائلة البدائية، بتأمين مصروف المنزل رغم سيف رب العمل المحمي من حكومة وحدةٍ متفقة على أكل أحلام الفقراء؟

قيل قديماً، لو كان الفقر رجلاً لقتلته، وأقول اليوم، لو كان في النظام اللبناني رجلاً واحداً، لقتلته! لو كان هناك رجلاً واحداً لا حاجة له أن يختبأ خلف أجهزة أمنية، أو خلف زعران طائفته، أو خلف مرجعية روحية، أو خلف تحريض مذهبي، كي يضمن استمرارية فساده السياسي، لكان ممكناً الحديث عن تفاهمٍ مع النظام، ولكن، هيهات! هذا النظام نظام فوضى، لا يمكن إصلاحه، لا يمكن التحاور معه، لا حل مع أنيابه إلا بتكسيرها، ولا معادلة رياضية تنفع مع أزلامه، إلا معادلة الضرب، بقلمٍ من حديد، لا يُكسَر!

إليك يا سيدي الظابط، يا صديقي المخبر، يا عزيزي العماد: الجندي الحقيقي، هو الذي يحييه المواطن احتراماً، لا خوفاً.


إلى الناشطين السياسيين والإعلاميين: إن خلاصة هذه المرحلة البذيئة، من قمع مظاهرة السفارة المصرية، إلى ملاحقة الصحفيين، وصولاً إلى استدعاء المدونين: في هذه البلاد، أجهزة الأمن تحرس أمن السفارات، والسفارات تلهو بأمن البلاد.

إلى المواطن العربي المريض سياسياً: لا تقلق إن كان ضغطك واطياً، ثمة أنظمةٌ وأجهزة بأمها وأبيها، من ساسها لراسها، واطية!
على الأشجار نكتب، على خشب البواريد ، على حيطان الزنازين ، على أعواد المشانق، على بلاط القبور، على عبسة جبين المخبر، على كلّ شيءٍ سنكتب، لنبقى أحراراً، ضد النظام، ضد الفوضى.

أخيراً: وزارة الجوع تحذّر: القمع والتهديد يؤديان إلى نتائج خطيرة ومميتة.
"

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A picture of the child who didn't "exercise restraint" and got shot by Israeli thugs in Gaza

By Ali Abunimah

"The photo below, taken by Eva Bartlett in Gaza, and posted on Facebook, shows Said Hamdan, age 15, who was shot this morning in the Gaza Strip, by Israeli forces in a watchtower. Eva writes: "Said Hamdan, 15, went to near the northern border to collect scrap metal. Had he not been shot by the IOF [Israeli Occupation Forces], he might have earned 20 shekels, if lucky, to add to his incomeless family's needs. Seven brothers, five sisters, an unemployed father, and no prospect of work in Gaza under siege, Said went to where many other youths and men go daily to gather anything recyclable and sellable. It was his first day.".....
My question to Lady Ashton is this: what sort of "restraint" should Said have exercised to avoid being randomly shot by armed Israeli thugs in a watchtower? The fact is such shootings are a daily occurrence, and just because the *western* media do not report them, does not mean they don't happen. Said was "lucky." He survived....."

You Won't See This in an Arab Country: Thai Troops Retreat in Face of 80,000 Protesters

Al-Manar

"27/03/2010 Thai troops withdrew from several security posts in the capital Saturday, under pressure from some 80,000 red-shirted protesters who mounted a new rally to demand fresh elections.

The "Red Shirts" loyal to ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra targeted seven points where soldiers have been stationed during two weeks of street demonstrations, including the city's zoo and Buddhist temples.

In the face of the massive flag-waving crowds of protesters, who arrived in cars, on motorbikes and on foot, the military agreed to retreat from positions in Bangkok's old quarter where the Reds' main rally base is situated......"

EGYPT: Civil Society Sidelined Ahead of Elections

By Cam McGrath

"CAIRO, Mar 26, 2010 (IPS) - Egypt's ruling party is taking measures to restrict the work of non-governmental organisations ahead of crucial parliamentary elections.

"The future is very dark for us," says Nasser Amin, director of the Arab Centre for the Independence of the Judiciary and Legal Profession (ACIJLP). "The government will do anything to win the upcoming elections...and it will take aggressive action against anyone who participates, or monitors them.".....

A strong majority in parliament would help the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) secure its candidate in the presidential race, says Amin. "The government wants a secure legislative bloc so it can make constitutional changes before the presidential election."....

The Egyptian government may have a few more tricks up its sleeves. In 2004 it established the National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) to monitor and report on human rights. Critics say the council, whose 27 members are handpicked by the President, is window-dressing designed to gloss over human rights abuses and drown out criticism from independent rights groups.

The ruling party appears to be preparing several more of these government- operated non-governmental organisations, or 'GONGOs', to create the illusion of independent electoral oversight......."

Expect More From These Beasts......
Than the "Leaders" at the "Summit".....

On the streets of Pakistan, it's as if the sun hasn't set on the Raj

Like everything else here, the bigger your cortège, the more important you are

By Robert Fisk

".....There's a pecking order in all this, of course. Like everything in Pakistan, the bigger your cortège, the more important you are. In that order. Unlike The Independent's humble correspondent, these nabobs live in residence-fortresses, air-conditioned bunkers, seals of security which cut them off from the 150 million people of Pakistan as surely as the razor wire around their electrified gates. As Mohamed Jamil of Islamabad's Daily Times points out, this profligacy, along with the usual perks and privileges, is one of the reasons for the perpetual increase in Pakistan's fiscal deficit. "They move around with multiple-layered security escorts, equipped with the most sophisticated weapons and equipment. Exorbitantly expensive bulletproof cars and vehicles are being imported and provided to them." They are often guarded, I need hardly say, by gun-happy and brutal Western mercenaries, in some cases the direct descendants of the Brits who guarded governors general, chiefs of staff and humble district commissioners of the Raj. How typical, you might say, of the high and mighty in what we used to call the Third World – after which we called it, even more patronisingly, the developing world – but which we shall now just call Pakistan.....

....And the most prominent characteristic of all post-colonial independent states is their ability, willingness and even desire to imitate their oppressors.

When the president of the company of Madras went out, he took with him 400 native personal guards, his arrival presaged by the beating of kettledrums, his flag decorated with shining stars; his council members might be protected with aftabgir (umbrellas) while British officers would normally be accompanied by 20 horsemen, usually preceded by four servants carrying a silver staff (an asa) as a symbol of authority.....

....I leave it to the new nabobs of Pakistan to uphold the standards of the Raj. I'm just a representative of scaredy-cat Britain, sneaking out of the North West Frontier as the sun set on the empire upon which the sun was never supposed to set. "

All citizens treated equally? Not if you're an Arab in the Jewish state!

All articles/ Haaretz:
The discrimination towards Israeli Palestinians must stop
The numbers speak for themselves: 1.5 million Arabs, Druze and Circassians make up 20% of the Israeli population, but contribute only 8% of Israel's gross domestic product.

The unseen country
There is a second country in Israel, one that all too many people prefer not to acknowledge. It's the country that contains 129 Arab towns, which make up 11 percent of all the municipalities in Israel.

Survey: Managers think Arab candidates worthy but prefer not to employ them
While 86% of managers in Israeli industry think there are worthy Arab candidates for management positions, 73% admit they prefer not to employ them.

'They glanced at my resume and sent me on my way'
Most of accountant Wajdi Biadsi's classmates managed to find internships at major firms while still students. But for Biadsi, from the Arab town of Baka al-Garbiyeh, the process was more difficult.

The sight of me frightens them
Dr. Riam Abu-Mukh, 31, from Baka al-Garbiyeh, has an impressive resume. She holds not one but two bachelor's degrees from Hebrew University and a doctorate in chemistry from Bar-Ilan University.

Twelve years spent looking for a job
Boutros Askar, a 39-year-old Christian Arab, has been unemployed in high-tech for 12 years. Askar finished his studies in computer sciences at Tel-Hai Academic College in 1996, but has never found work in the field.

3,000 Arab graduates looked for jobs: Only 170 found one
Israel's keenness to join the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development presents a golden opportunity for minorities to narrow the economic gap with the Jewish population.

Israel could use tactical nukes on Iran: thinktank

"Despite the 65-year-old taboo against carrying out -- or, for that matter, mooting -- nuclear strikes, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) says in a new report that "some believe that nuclear weapons are the only weapons that can destroy targets deep underground or in tunnels."