A Middle East Peace That Could Happen (But Won’t)

by Noam Chomsky, April 28, 2010

"....
Blockading Gaza by Land and Sea

One step towards cantonization and the undermining of hopes for Palestinian national survival is the separation of Gaza from the West Bank. These hopes have been almost entirely consigned to oblivion, an atrocity to which we should not contribute by tacit consent. Israeli journalist Amira Hass, one of the leading specialists on Gaza, writes that.....

Obama and the Settlements

The kinds of restrictions on movement used to destroy Gaza have long been in force in the West Bank as well, less cruelly but with grim effects on life and the economy. The World Bank reports that Israel has established "a complex closure regime that restricts Palestinian access to large areas of the West Bank....

Washington’s "Evenhandedness"

....Obama politely refrained from comment about his host, President Mubarak, one of the most brutal dictators in the region, though he has had some illuminating words about him. As he was about to board a plane to Saudi Arabia and Egypt, the two "moderate" Arab states, "Mr. Obama signaled that while he would mention American concerns about human rights in Egypt, he would not challenge Mr. Mubarak too sharply, because he is a ‘force for stability and good’ in the Middle East…. Mr. Obama said he did not regard Mr. Mubarak as an authoritarian leader. ‘No, I tend not to use labels for folks,’ Mr. Obama said. The president noted that there had been criticism ‘of the manner in which politics operates in Egypt,’ but he also said that Mr. Mubarak had been ‘a stalwart ally, in many respects, to the United States.’"

When a politician uses the word "folks," we should brace ourselves for the deceit, or worse, that is coming. Outside of this context, there are "people," or often "villains," and using labels for them is highly meritorious. Obama is right, however, not to have used the word "authoritarian," which is far too mild a label for his friend.

Just as in the past, support for democracy, and for human rights as well, keeps to the pattern that scholarship has repeatedly discovered, correlating closely with strategic and economic objectives. There should be little difficulty in understanding why those whose eyes are not closed tight shut by rigid doctrine dismiss Obama’s yearning for human rights and democracy as a joke in bad taste."

Gates: Hezbollah More Armed than Most Gov’ts; Resistance Vows to Continue Arming

Al-Manar

"28/04/2010 Once again, Scud missiles and Hezbollah’s military capabilities seem to be the chief concern for the US administration and Israeli government.

Though two US officials said last week there were "no indications" any Scud rockets were transported into Lebanon, however Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said Tuesday that Syria and Iran are providing Hezbollah with rockets and missiles of ever-increasing capability in a clear hint to Scud missiles.

Following a meeting with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Tuesday during which Iran and the rearming of Hezbollah were major topics, Gates said that Hezbollah was at a point where it "has far more rockets and missiles than most governments in the world.".......

HEZBOLLAH SLAMS US ACCUSATIONS, VOWS TO CONTINUE ARMING
For its part, Hezbollah has shot back at the US accusations it was stockpiling sophisticated weapons and vowed to continue to build its artillery, in comments published on Wednesday.
"Our choice was and remains to secure all the arms of resistance that we can," Loyalty to the Resistance parliamentary bloc MP Hassan Fadlallah told the Lebanese daily As-Safir.

Hezbollah's arms do not compare to "the level of armament of the United States, which it used in its crimes against peoples around the world, from Hiroshima to the more than 100,000 martyrs killed in Iraq and the tens of thousands killed in Palestine, Lebanon and Afghanistan," Fadlallah said.

He added, "There is a difference between arms which only serve invasions, occupations and aggressions, such as those of the United States and its ally Israel ... and the arms of a resistance which defends, protects, and liberates." "

Video: عباس للقناة الثانية: نأمل إستئناف المفاوضات... (فيديو)

"منح رئيس السلطة الفلسطينية، محمود عباس، مقابلة خاصة ومطولة للقناة الإسرائيلية الثانية أجرها مراسل القناة للشؤون العربية، ايهود يعاري، أكد خلالها انه يأمل بأن يكون رد لجنة المتابعة العربية على مقترحات المبعوث الأميركي، جورج ميتشل، إيجاباً لإستئناف المفاوضات غير المباشرة. وقال "جاء السيد ميتشل وعرض علينا بعض الافكار ونحن اعطيناه بعض الافكار وسمع ايضا من الجانب الاسرائيلي".
وقال عباس انه سيعرض على لجنة المتابعة العربية بداية ايار/مايو افكارا جديدة طرحها المبعوث الاميركي جورج ميتشل خلال جولته الاخيرة من اجل استئناف مفاوضات السلام المجمدة مع اسرائيل.
واضاف الرئيس الفلسطيني "لا تزال المباحثات جارية ونحن في اليوم الاول من الشهر القادم (ايار/مايو) سنطرح ما عرض علينا على لجنة المتابعة العربية ونرجو ان يكون هناك جواب ايجابي".
وفي رد على سؤال حول ما يتردد عن "حساسية" تعتري علاقته مع بنيامين نتانياهو اكد عباس انه يتعامل معه بصفته "رئيس وزراء انتخب من الشعب الاسرائيلي ويتمتع باغلبة في الكنيست".
واضاف "من واجبي ان اتعامل معه على هذا الاساس وليس من حقي ان اقول احبه او اكرهه".
كما اكد عباس خلال المقابلة ان المفاوضات في عهد رئيس الوزراء الاسرائيلي السابق ايهود اولمرت حققت تقدما كبيرا في بعض الملفات، لا سيما الترتيبات الامنية المرافقة لقيام دول فلسطينية، قبل ان تتوقف محادثات السلام بسبب الهجوم الاسرائيلي عل قطاع غزة نهاية العام 2008.
وقال عباس "هناك ملفات بحثت في عهد اولمرت واقفلت، مثل ملف الامن الذي اقفل تماما".
واوضح انه تم الاتفاق في تفاصيل هذا الملف على وجود "طرف ثالث" لضمان تنفيذه مؤكدا ان الحديث دار حينها عن امكانية نشر قوة "للناتو بقيادة اميركية".

كما تطرق عباس الى قضية الجندي الإسرائيلي الأسير في غزة، غلعاد شاليط، وقال إنه طالب حركة حماس بنقل الجندي الى السلطة لإتمام صفقة تبادل "ترضي الجميع"

وقال فيها رداً على محاوره حول تطبيق حق العودة للفلسطينيين: إن "الحل (لقضية العودة) موجود في خارطة الطريق... وفي مبادرة السلام العربية ولن نفرض الحل عليكم"."

"سمع يا ناس": "الرئيس" صرح تصريحا يهز الريح../

ناصر السهلي

"....
ما هي المقاومة الشعبية عند الرئيس عباس؟
هي من النوع الفريد من نوعه.. اختراع تحت التجريب.. ليفعل الاحتلال والمستوطنون ما يريدون، لكنهم لن يستفزوننا ولا حتى بصرخة ألم وغضب.. لماذا؟ لأنهم يضعون لنا فخا.. يعني كل الأفخاخ تحتاج حكمة من نوع آخر.. تعايش مع الاحتلال مهما فعل.. لا تعطيه فرصة ليستفزك.. وبصراحة أكثر مباشرة، يبدو أن الحق هو على الشعب الفلسطيني الذي يقع في فخ الاستفزاز.. يعني مثلا إخطارات بهدم المنازل في سلوان ونابلس وجنين واقتحام القرى بقوات عسكرية وإعدام الناس بدم بارد وبالقرب من عاصمة الرئيس لا تحتاج أكثر من دورة في دوار المنارة تهتف الجماهير "فليسقط الاحتلال. وليتوقف عن قتلنا واعتقالنا وقرارات طردنا..إلخ" وربما مع بعض الخطب الرنانة يكفي بالغرض.. لأن الاحتلال عندها سيرتعد ويرتدع ويفر هاربا ولا يجتاح أو يعتدي على الأرض والشعب..

أسئلة لم يسألها الصحفي لسيادته، ترى ما الداعي لأن تتلقف أجهزتــ"ك" الأمنية كل أسير مفرج عنه أو مطارد لم يسلم نفسه؟.. ولماذا يهدد عزام الأحمد بوقف التنسيق الأمني بينما تقولون لشعبكم لا يوجد مثل هذا التنسيق؟.. ترى لماذا قلبك رقيق جدا تجاه معاناة أولمرت الجنائية وتتفرد مع أطراف فلسطينية بنظرية صارت أكثر قدسية عندك من القرآن.. لا لقاء قبل التوقيع؟؟
هل يقوم جيش الاحتلال بعملية وقائية واحدة بحق المستوطنين وسلاحهم المكدس للاعتداء على شعبك وممتلكاته؟.. تماما مثلما يريدكم الاحتلال أن تصبحوا قوات لحماية أمنه وعربدة مستوطنيه، أنتم تقعون في مطب تلو المطب.. ولا مصداقية في التاريخ لمن يقبل إملاءات محتليه بإفراغ حركة شعبه التحررية من مضمونها عبر التهديد والترغيب.. ولماذا لا تصارحون شعبكم كما تصارحون دولة الاحتلال كما جرى في المقابلة التي اشرنا إليها؟
"

Iraq: Detainees Describe Torture in Secret Jail

Human Rights Watch

April 27, 2010

"Baghdad) - Detainees in a secret Baghdad detention facility were hung upside-down, deprived of air, kicked, whipped, beaten, given electric shocks, and sodomized, Human Rights Watch said today. Iraq should thoroughly investigate and prosecute all government and security officials responsible, Human Rights Watch said.

Human Rights Watch interviewed 42 of the men in the Al Rusafa Detention Center on April 26, 2010. They were among about 300 detainees transferred from the secret facility in the old Muthanna airport in West Baghdad to Al Rusafa into a special block of 19 cage-type cells over the past several weeks, after the existence of the secret prison was revealed.

The men's stories were credible and consistent. Most of the 300 displayed fresh scars and injuries they said were a result of routine and systematic torture they had experienced at the hands of interrogators at Muthanna. All were accused of aiding and abetting terrorism, and many said they were forced to sign false confessions.

"The horror we found suggests torture was the norm in Muthanna," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "The government needs to prosecute all of those responsible for this systematic brutality.".....

Security officials whipped detainees with heavy cables, pulled out fingernails and toenails, burned them with acid and cigarettes, and smashed their teeth. If detainees still refused to confess, interrogators would threaten to rape their wives, mothers, sisters, or daughters. The interrogation sessions usually lasted three or four hours and occurred every three or four days......"

A flotilla to break Israel’s illegal blockade on Gaza

Arafat Shoukri: “Conditions are ripe to make this flotilla the ‘tipping point’“

Interview by Silvia Cattori
Uruknet

"A coalition bringing together a number of organizations is preparing to send in May 2010 a relief flotilla of more than ten ships and cargo-boats to Gaza. Dr. Arafat Shoukri, president of the European Campaign to End the Siege of Gaza (ECESG) will participate in this spectacular convoy with his Campaign, which is an NGO. He has spared no effort for three years to lead delegations of European parliamentarians to allow them to see on the ground the untenable situation in Gaza and to encourage them to call on the Member States of the European Union to exert pressure on Israel with a view to ending its suffocation of the people of Gaza. Dr. Arafat Shoukri responds here to the questions of Silvia Cattori....."

Al-Jazeera Video: Green light for Jerusalem settlers

"The road map for peace in the Middle East has been jammed for years, with Jewish settlers given the "green light" to build settlements on occupied Palestinian land.

Now it seems the inequalities between Israelis and Palestinians are being reflected also on the roads in East Jerusalem.

As Al Jazeera's Jacky Rowland experiences, the traffic lights seem to favour some more than others. "

Surprise, Surprise! The Whore is Willing and Ready.....Again....and Again....

Al-Manar

"27/04/2010 Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday declared his willingness to work with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, adding that he hoped to get Arab League approval for indirect proximity talks on May 1.
"Try me," Abbas told Channel 2. "I say on behalf of the Palestinian Liberation Organization [what a joke!], that we are prepared for an agreement."

He said that US Middle East envoy George Mitchell had put forward "various ideas" on his recent trips to the region, and that the PLO would present its proposal to the Arab League on the first day of next month.

"We will submit everything that has been presented to us to the Arab Follow-up Committee on the first of next month and we hope there will be a positive response," he said, referring to the group of foreign ministers....."

Horse Feathers and Horse Sense

By Stephen M. Walt

Foreign Policy

"Ever since 9/11, commentators of a hawkish persuasion -- and most recently the New York Times' Thomas ("Suck on This") Friedman -- have been fond of quoting Osama bin Laden's statement that "When people see a strong horse and a weak horse, by nature they will like the strong horse."

Pundits like Friedman don't normally embrace any of Bin Laden's other views on world politics, but they like this line because it seems like a good reason for us to obsess about resolve, credibility, and the possibility that even the tiniest setback somewhere might have catastrophic consequences. It suggests that if third parties begin to suspect that the U.S. isn't the "strong horse," they will abandon us in droves and leave the United States isolated and friendless in a hostile world. Conversely, it also suggests that one or two successes will suddenly trigger a similar wave of favorable developments: by this logic, we pass a Health Care Bill, and suddenly those mullahs in Tehran will start quaking in their turbans. It's the latest version of the old domino theory: a single setback somewhere might trigger a cascade of defeats and defections, but a minor victory in some other spot will have positive reverberations all over the world.....

In other words, fighting foolish wars in order to convince people that we are the "strongest horse" is an obvious way to make Bin Laden's fantasies more likely. After all, his greatest achievement to date is not the damage that al Qaeda inflicted on September 11. Instead, his real achievement was helping convince the Bush administration to adopt the neo-conservative program in the Middle East-most notably in the 2003 invasion of Iraq-a set of self-inflicted wounds from which we are still laboring to recover. And one way to avoid such blunders is to disregard Bin Laden's ill-informed notions about equine diplomacy. "

Iran a Threat? I Mean, Really?

A Very Good, Long Article

by Ray McGovern, April 27, 2010

"With all the current hype about the "threat" from Iran, it is time to review the record – and especially the significant bits and pieces that find neither ink nor air in our Israel-friendly Fawning Corporate Media (FCM).

First, on the chance you missed it, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said publicly that Iran "doesn’t directly threaten the United States." Her momentary lapse came while answering a question at the U.S.-Islamic World Forum in Doha, Qatar, on Feb. 14.....

Obama Overachieving

As for Obama, the die was cast during the presidential campaign when, on June 3, 2008, in the obligatory appearance before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), he threw raw red meat to the Likud Lobby.

Someone wrote into his speech: "Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided." This obsequious gesture went well beyond the policy of prior U.S. administrations on this highly sensitive issue, and Obama had to backtrack two days later.....

The real threat to Israel’s "security interests" would be something quite different. If Iran acquired one or two nuclear weapons, Israel might be deprived of the full freedom of action it now enjoys in attacking its Arab neighbors.

Even a rudimentary Iranian capability could work as a deterrent the next time the Israelis decide they would like to attack Lebanon, Syria, or Gaza. Clearly, the Israelis would prefer not to have to look over their shoulder at what Tehran might contemplate doing in the way of retaliation.....

Indeed, the Iranians have been about five years away from a nuclear weapon for several decades now, according to periodic intelligence estimates. They just never seem to get much closer. But there’s no trace of embarrassment among U.S. policymakers or any notice of this slipping timetable by the FCM.

Not that NIEs – or U.S. officials – matter much in terms of a potential military showdown with Iran. The "decider" here is Netanyahu, unless Obama stands up and tells him, publicly, "If you attack Iran, you’re on your own."

Don’t hold your breath."

The luxury resort in the middle of a war zone

Under the gaze of the Israeli army, but protected by Lebanon, one man is building an extraordinary hotel.

Robert Fisk reports

"Khalil Abdullah is the king of the castle – and the enemy is at his gates. The castle in question is the Village Chateau Wazzani Touristique; the enemy, 30ft across the brown-flowing stream, is the entire Israeli army in Israeli-occupied Golan. Indeed, two Israeli tanks turned up two weeks ago, their guns pointing menacingly towards Khalil Abdullah's 60ft palm-roofed Africa-style barn-restaurant, his castellated walls, his wooden drawbridge and his windmill-topped entrance towers. The Lebanese army have a sentry box above what will be the swimming pool and United Nations troops of the German and Belgian battalions drop by twice a day to make sure the world has not gone to war over Mr Abdullah's 40,000sq m hotel-to-be......"

When will time run out for a two-state solution?

The Palestinians must draw the line on settlements, or the facade of a two-state discussion will continue ad infinitum

Yousef Munayyer

guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 27 April 2010

"Among those involved in the Middle East peace process industry there is much talk about "time running out" for a two-state solution.

Recently, the same sentiments were echoed by the US state department, reflecting a shift in the way the Obama administration is publicly talking about the conflict. On more than one occasion, the state department and other Obama administration figures have said that "the status quo is unsustainable". Notice again the element of time.

Time has been running out for a two-state solution since the beginning of Israel's colonial enterprise in occupied Palestinian territory in 1967. Yet despite this reality, analyses of the situation continue to repeat this now-meaningless cliche year after year, decade after decade. It seems that, to many, time in the Middle East can be magically be suspended. Gravity, in this war-torn region, ceases to affect the inverted hourglass......

However, the PA could declare a date by which the Israeli occupation had to end and settlements be dismantled. If this deadline is not met, the PA should dissolve the authority and convert the disjointed national movement into a broad civil rights movement seeking equal rights in a bi-national state. They would surely make many in Washington and Tel Aviv take notice.

Of course, the PA's entrenched interests and intuitions may make it incapable of doing this, but the Palestinian public is moving in this direction anyway."

CPJ seeks Pentagon investigations in Iraq journalist deaths

"Dear Secretary Gates:

The Committee to Protect Journalists is disturbed by a video recently disclosed by the Web site WikiLeaks showing a U.S. military strike that took place on July 12, 2007. The attack killed an unspecified number of individuals, including Reuters photographer Namir Noor-Eldeen and his assistant, Saeed Chmagh.

CPJ has made numerous calls for thorough and transparent investigations into the deaths of these two men, as well as into all other cases of journalists and media workers killed by U.S. fire in Iraq. The U.S. military's Central Command said it has no current plans to reopen an investigation, Reuters reported on April 8. But in light of the fact that at least 16 journalists and three media support workers have been killed by U.S. forces’ fire, according to CPJ’s research, a systematic and comprehensive investigation is clearly warranted. The findings should be made public and lessons learned should be incorporated into military training to reduce the likelihood that journalists covering combat operations will come under fire.

The recently disclosed tape has been viewed by millions around the world. Several experts on international humanitarian law, including Amnesty International’s Malcolm Smart and Bibi van Ginkel, a lawyer and senior fellow at the Clingendael Netherlands Institute of International Relations, have called for investigations to determine whether U.S. forces complied with international humanitarian law.

In the video, U.S. forces can be seen opening fire on a group of men—some of whom they said they believed were armed—killing or critically injuring at least a dozen people. We are particularly concerned that the troops in the helicopter mistook a camera for a weapon. This is not the first such claim by the U.S. military. In August 2003, a U.S. soldier killed Reuters photographer Mazen Dana after mistaking, according to the military’s investigation, Dana’s camera for a rocket-propelled grenade.

The WikiLeaks tape identifies one of the injured men in the July 12 strike as Chmagh. Soldiers are heard urging him to pick up a weapon so that they can fire. A van approaches to evacuate the man identified as Chmagh. Someone in the helicopter is heard informing a commander that the van is “possibly” picking up bodies as well as weapons. Despite the fact that no weapons are visible in the video, the helicopter is granted permission to fire and does so, killing Chmagh and several people in the van and injuring children.

It is crucial that any future investigation satisfactorily determine why an injured media worker who posed no threat to U.S. personnel was fatally shot as he was being evacuated from the scene of an initial attack, also perpetrated by U.S. fire.

The attached appendix lists the 16 journalists and three media support workers who have been killed by U.S. forces’ fire in Iraq......"

Déjà Vu All Over Again: Remember the Fake Yellowcake Memo and Niger? They are at it Again; this Time it is Iran!

Zimbabwe denies uranium deal with Iran

"Zimbabwe has denied reports that it has signed an agreement allowing Tehran to mine uranium reserves in exchange for Harare's access to oil from Iran.

A report by the UK-based Daily Telegraph claimed on Saturday that a deal had been reached between the two countries under which Iran would be allowed to mine potential uranium deposits in Zimbabwe to provide fuel for its nuclear reactors and in exchange Zimbabwe would get oil from Iran.

The report said that the agreement was sealed secretly last month during a visit to Tehran by a close aide to Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe.

Industry and Commerce Minister Welshman Ncube on Monday rejected the report, saying there was no evidence suggesting that Zimbabwe had such deposits. “It's not true. No such agreement was signed,” said Ncube.

“There is no certainty that Zimbabwe has uranium deposits. You first have to prove that there are uranium deposits and that has not been done,” Reuters quoted him as saying......"

Al-Jazeera Cartoon

This cartoon contrasts the decision of African countries which contain the sources of the Nile water to reduce supply to Egypt, under the rubric of "sovereignty"....
With the Pharaoh's decision to cut supplies to the besieged Gaza ghetto, under the rubric of......."sovereignty."

Christians walk fine line in Gaza balancing act

GAZA CITY: A tiny Palestinian Christian community has had to find a modus vivendi in the Islamist-ruled Gaza Strip, while enduring the same hardships as Muslims in the besieged and impoverished coastal enclave.

Caught in the crossfire of the Israel-Hamas conflict which cost 1,400 lives in a December 2008-January 2009 war and wary of groups more radical than Gaza’s rulers, discretion has been the name of the game.

“Each moment is a balancing act. We have to stay alert at all times,” said Greek Orthodox Archbishop Alexios after a service attended by around 100 worshippers in Gaza City’s Saint Porphyrios church.

“We have good relations with the Hamas leadership. Tolerance serves both sides,” said Alexios, who has regular meetings at the highest level at Hamas-run ministries.

“They asked us if we need guards for the church” after a spate of violent incidents in 2007 and 2008, when a member of the Baptist Church was murdered and several Christian targets were firebombed, he added.

“We said we felt very safe. We don’t want guards,” added Alexios, whose flock accounts for about 2,500 of the estimated 3,000 Palestinian Christians in the densely populated narrow territory of 1.5 million people.

He has also instructed members of his Church not to give in to demands for women in Gaza’s traditionally conservative society to wear Islamic headscarves, whether it be at school or on the streets.

But to respect the red lines of conduct, apparent would-be converts are turned away to avoid accusations of proselytising, a criminal offence in Muslim countries.

Amid alleged Baptist efforts to convert people through aid work in an enclave suffering an economic meltdown and perceived Western influences, Bible School bookshop-owner Rami Ayyad was kidnapped and killed in October 2007.

لو ضربونا بالرصاص

لو ضربونا بالرصاص
عبد الحليم قنديل

"لم يكن طلب إطلاق الرصاص على المتظاهرين مجرد فلتة لسان ولا انفلات أعصاب وحشي جهول من بلطجية 'عينهم' حزب مبارك نوابا بالبرلمان المصري.
إنها الطبعة الصافية الوحشية لنظام مبارك، وهو يمضي إلى نهاياته، وبغير زوائد من رتوش الادعاء بالديمقراطية وحرية الرأي، وعلى طريقة تصريحات صفوت الشريف الأمين العام للحزب الحاكم، والتي استنكر فيها مطالب نواب الضرب بالرصاص، وادعى أن الحزب الوطني يرفضها، فهذه كلها ـ مع غيرها ـ تراجعات لفظية تحت ضغط الاستنكار العام، وتحت ضغط مظاهرة بادرت إليها حركة كفاية في 13 نيسان (أبريل) 2010، وأطلقت فيها نداء 'الشارع لنا' دفاعا وتأكيدا لكسب حق التظاهر السلمي، ثم أتبعتها 'كفاية' بمشاركة قادتها في تجمع احتجاجي مع نواب المعارضة وشباب 6 نيسان (أبريل) أمام مبنى البرلمان، وطالبت بمحاكمة نواب البلطجة والإجرام العلني، والذين خانوا الدستور، وأطاعوا أوامر جهاز مباحث أمن الدولة، وكشفوا للناس حقيقة هويتهم كنواب في الهيئة البرلمانية لجهاز مباحث أمن الدولة الذي يقع مبناه الرئيسي الرهيب في ميدان لاظوغلي على بعد أمتار من مبنى مجلس الشعب.
وبالطبع، لن يستجيب حزب مبارك لطلبات رفع الحصانة عن نواب لاظوغلي، ولا لطردهم من البرلمان، فلا صوت يعلو على صوت جهاز الأمن في مصر، وهو جهاز تعذيب وقتل محترف، وارتكب المئات من جرائم القتل خارج القانون، وبـ 'الضرب في المليان' حسب الاستراتيجية الموضوعة لوزارة الداخلية من أيام وزيرها البلطجي زكي بدر، والتي راح ضحيتها مئات المعارضين من الجماعات الإسلامية بالذات، ثم تكاثفت بمعدلات القسوة في السجون وأقسام الشرطة، فــــقد مات مئــــات المواطنين تحت التعذيب في أقسام الشرطة، وانتهت مئات أخرى إلى الموت في السجون بينهم بعض قادة جماعة الإخوان، وفي مظاهرات دعم الانتفاضة الفلسطينية بالإسكندرية عام 2000، جرى قتل طالب متظاهر بالرصاص الحي، قبلها، كان قد جرى قتل أحد العمال في إضراب شهير لشركة الحديد والصلب بحلوان، وبحسب تقارير حقوقية، فقد جرى رصد وتوثيق ما يقارب الستين حالة 'اختفاء قسري' لمواطنين وناشطين، أي أنهم اختفوا كـ'فص ملح وذاب'، ولم يعثر لهم على أثر ولا جثث، وبينهم صحافي معروف هو الزميل رضا هلال مدير تحرير' الأهرام'.
والمعنى، أن ما يطالب به نواب البلطجة حدث من قبل، وأن المطلوب هو تعميمه، وتشريع إطلاق الرصاص الحي على المتظاهرين السلميين جميعا، وفرض حظر التجول السياسي على الشارع، وبعد أن فشلت الاعتقالات والانتهاكات البدنية المروعة، والتي كانت أحدث مظاهرها ما جرى من ترويع وتنكيل واعتقال لعشرات من شباب المتظاهرين في 6 نيسان (أبريل) 2010، وقبلها على سلالم مجلس الدولة في مظاهرة كفاية في 4 ايار(مايو) 2009، وقبلها في مظاهرة كفاية في 25 ايار (مايو) 2005، والتي شهدت انتهاكات مروعة، ووقائع هتك علني لأعراض الفتيات والسيدات المتظاهرات، وكلها انتهاكات موثقة بالصور وشرائط الفيديو، وقدمت عنها بلاغات للنائب العام، ووضعت كلها في الأدراج دون التصرف فيها، وتماما كما جرى في التحقيقات بصدد حادث الخطف والاعتداء الشهير الذي تعرض له كاتب السطور فجر 2 تشرين الثاني (نوفمبر) 2004، وكما سيجري في البــــــلاغات التي قدمت إلى النائب العام في الحوادث الأخيرة، فلا توجد إمكانية حقيقية لمحاكمة المجرمين في مصر الآن، والسبب ظاهر، وهو أنه لاصوت يعلو على صوت الأمن، وأن حصانة جهاز الأمن من حصانة بيت الرئاسة.
نحن ـ إذن ـ بصدد معركة واسعة متصلة، ولن يكون إطلاق الرصاص الحي على المتظاهرين مفاجأة إذا ما حدث وتكرر، فالنظام بلا قواعد اجتماعية ولا سياسية، ويعتمد بإطلاق على جهاز أمن متضخم، ويرقى تسليحه إلى تسليح الجيوش، ويبلغ عدد أفراده ما يقارب المليونين، وانتقاله من الدهس والسحل إلى قتل المتظاهرين وارد جدا، وليست القصة في ضمان الدستور لحق التظاهر، فلا قيمة للدستور في مصر، وحالة الطوارئ والأحكام العرفية سارية على مدى ثلاثين سنة خلت، وهي تصادر بالجملة على حق التظاهر، وتعتبر اجتماع خمسة أشخاص تجمهرا يعاقب عليه القانون، لكن تلك ليست تفاصيل الصورة كلها، فثمة ميل متزايد إلى خط المقاومة المدنية والعصيان السلمي، وانتزاع الحقوق بالتظاهر والاعتصام والإضراب، وفي موجات متلاحقة لا تهدأ، وكانت مظاهرات كفاية الأولى في 2004 و 2005 هي خط ابتداء الموجة الراهنة، ثم انتقلت رغبات العصيان من مئات كفاية إلى مئات الآلاف من المصريين، وصار الشارع هو المصدر الأول للأخبار في مصر وليس جهاز الدولة، ونمت جماعات تغيير سياسي جديدة وعديدة على ضفاف كفاية أو بالقرب منها، وتخلقت جماعات غضب اجتماعي عفية وعفوية، ثم بدا التقاء الغضب السياسي والغضب الاجتماعي واردا بدلالة انتفاضة المحلة الكبرى في 6 نيسان (أبريل) 2008، كان التطور يحتمل قليلا من التنظيم وكثيرا من العفوية، وبدا- لوقت ـ أن موجة العصيان تتراجع، وبأثر من اعتقالات وانتهاكات واسعة شملت الآلاف من الإخوان والكفائيين وغيرهم، لكن استطراد البؤس المصري ـ سياسيا واجتماعيا ـ أحيا الظاهرة من جديد، وخلق المشهد الفريد في مثلث الخطر عند مجلس الشعب ومجلس الوزراء، وحيث تأوى جماعات غاضبة تفترش الشارع، وفي طوق حصار للنظام تزيد وفوده يوما بعد يوم، وهو ما يــــزيد من فــــزع النظام بالغريزة، خاصة أن جماعات التغيير السياسي عادت تعاود نشاطها، وتمد خيط التضامن مع جماعات الغضب الاجتماعي المحتشدة على الأرصفة، وفي 'بروفات' صغيرة تنذر بطوفان كاسح، وفي بلد ساكن عند السطح مفاجئ جدا في العمق، فالسطح المصري الهادئ ليس سوى قشرة خداع، ومصر الهادئة عند السطح تعوم فوق آبار غضب جوفي تقترب مواعيد فيضانه.
والمعنى ـ كما ترى ـ أوسع من فلتات لسان نواب البلطجة، ويتعلق بمصائر بلد تأخرت مواعيد خلاصه، وأغلقت عليه طرق تغيير بدت واردة نظريا، ومن نوع الطريق الانتخابي الذي حمل ظلا من أمل في انتخابات 2005، والتي بدت فيها 'ثغرات نزاهة' نسبية، وحملت إلى البرلمان أكثر من مئة نائب معارض، ثم جرى العصف بمبدأ الانتخابات نفسه في تعديلات الدستور التي استفتى عليها صوريا في 26 آذار (مارس) 2007، ومن وقتها جرى التحول إلى المسخرة المنهجية بعد التزوير المنهجي، وانتهت قصة الانتخابات التي تحولت إلى تعيينات إدارية وأفلام كارتون، ولم يعد سالكا غير الطريق الوحيد المتاح على خطورته، وهو الاستناد إلى قوة الناس وقوة الشارع، وقد يكون بوسع الحكم المتداعي أن يزور الانتخابات، وهو يفعل، لكنه لايستطيع أن يزور إرادة الشارع، فهو لا يملك في الشارع سوى قوات الأمن، ولا تملك المعارضة الحقيقية ـ بالمقابل ـ سوى غضب الشارع، وغير الفعل الأصدق إنباء من البيانات والخطب، وهو ما يفسر فزع النظام الجنوني من حق التظاهر، وتهديداته العلنية بتعميم إطلاق الرصاص الحي على المتظاهرين السلميين، فالنظام لايملك الآن سوى أن يكون أكثر وحشية، ولا يملك المبادرون للتظاهر سوى التمسك بمبدأ العصيان، يملك النظام قوة القمع، بينما يملك المبادرون للتظاهر قوة الفضح، والثبات على خط التظاهر حتى لو ضربونا بالرصاص.
"

Iran – a Dangerous Escalation

By Abdel Bari Atwan
24 April 2010 (Special to Gulf News)

"The recent outbreak of alarmist warnings by US defence officials regarding Iran's military capabilities – a long range missile able to strike the US homeland by 2015 among them – is reminiscent of the build up to the invasion of Iraq, when Tony Blair assured the British public that Saddam Hussein's missiles could reach them in just 40 minutes. In other words, such claims, however far-fetched, are proven harbingers of war.

It seems that the Obama administration is split with regard to Iran. One side hopes that diplomacy – with or without an accompaniment of sanctions - might yet prove successful. The other is clearly in favour of military action.

Let us consider the possible outcomes of both courses....."

Gaza's calm determination

By Norman Finkelstein, The Electronic Intifada, 26 April 2010

This essay is the fifth chapter ("Inside Gaza") of Norman Finkelstein's latest book, This time we went too far, available from OR Books.

"To preserve my sense of purpose, and keep the Palestine struggle from becoming a lifeless abstraction, I need periodically to recharge my moral batteries by reconnecting with the actual people living under occupation and by witnessing firsthand the unfolding tragedy. From each trip I invariably carry away a handful of stark images that I fix in my mind's eye to dispel the occasional hesitations about staying the course. When the memories begin to fade I know it is time to return.

And so, in June 2009, six months after Israel's invasion, I joined a delegation that journeyed to Gaza for a brief visit....

For most of the time in Gaza, our delegation was guarded by young Hamas militants. As we parted ways at the end of the visit I felt moved and obliged to state publicly that in my opinion none of them was deserving of the death Israel has attempted to inflict on them. I am aware that according to the "laws of war" they are "legitimate" military targets. But in a rational world the locution "laws of war" would make as much sense as "etiquette of cannibals." It is probably true that violent conflicts would be more lethal and destructive in the absence of these laws, but it is also true that, in their pretense of neutrality, they obscure fundamental truths. Whether from conviction, frustration, or torment, these young men have chosen to defend their homeland from foreign marauders with weapon in hand. Were I living in Gaza, still in my prime and able to muster the courage, I could easily be one of them."

“The United Nations Is Beyond Reform…It Has to Be Reinvented”–Fmr. UN General Assembly President Miguel d’Escoto

Democracy Now!
With Amy Goodman



"One of the higher-profile participants at the Cochabamba climate conference was the former president of the United Nations General Assembly, Father Miguel d’Escoto. A Roman Catholic priest from Nicaragua, d’Escoto served as foreign minister in Daniel Ortega’s government from 1979 to 1990. He joins us to talk about the failures of the UN, the importance of the Bolivia climate summit, why Latin America doesn’t need the United States, and much more...."

Al-Jazeera Video: Inside Story - Sharing the Nile

"April 26, 2010 — The Nile basin countries meeting in Egypt last week failed to reach an agreement on water-sharing because Egypt and Sudan refused to sign the new deal.
Can there be a fair distribution of the Nile waters with Egypt claiming historical rights, while other downstream nations say they were not consulted? Could water disputes over the Nile spark a water war? "

The New Secessionists

By Chris Hedges

"Acts of rebellion which promote moral and political change must be nonviolent. And one of the most potent nonviolent alternatives in the country, which defies the corporate state and calls for an end to imperial wars, is the secessionist movement bubbling up in some two dozen states including Vermont, Texas, Alaska and Hawaii. These movements do not always embrace liberal values....

What all these movements grasp, however, is that the American empire is over. It cannot be sustained. They understand that we must disengage peacefully, learn to speak with a new humility and live with a new simplicity, or see an economic collapse that could trigger a perverted Christian fascism, a ruthless police state and internecine violence.

“There are three or four possible scenarios that will bring down the empire,” Naylor said. “One possibility is a war with Iran. Another will see the Chinese pull the plug on Treasury bills. Even if these do not happen, the infrastructure of the country is decaying. This is a slower process. And they do not have the economy fixed. It is smoke and mirrors. This is why the price of gold is so high. The economy and the inability to stop the wars will alone be enough to bring us down. There is no escape now from our imperial overstretch.”"

Israel angry after Egyptian foreign minister calls Israel 'enemy'

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abu Al-Gheit called Israel the "enemy" on Saturday during a press conference in Beirut, and claimed that the reports of Scud missiles being transferred from Syria to Lebanon were not true.

When asked if he had come to pass on warnings from Israel to Lebanon, he said he wouldn't come to a sister Arab state to give messages from the enemy. A source in Jerusalem said Israel sees the foreign minister's words in a very grave light.

Israel's Big and Small Apartheids: Meaning of a Jewish State

By Jonathan Cook
Palestine Chronicle

Below is the text of a talk delivered to the fifth Bilin international conference for Palestinian popular resistance, held in the West Bank village of Bilin on April 21.
"Israel’s apologists are very exercised about the idea that Israel has been singled out for special scrutiny and criticism. I wish to argue, however, that in most discussions of Israel it actually gets off extremely lightly: that many features of the Israeli polity would be considered exceptional or extraordinary in any other democratic state.

That is not surprising because, as I will argue, Israel is neither a liberal democracy nor even a “Jewish and democratic state”, as its supporters claim. It is an apartheid state, not only in the occupied territories of the West Bank and Gaza, but also inside Israel proper. Today, in the occupied territories, the apartheid nature of Israeli rule is irrefutable -- if little mentioned by Western politicians or the media. But inside Israel itself, it is largely veiled and hidden. My purpose today is to try to remove the veil a little......"

Yes, We Could… Get Out!

by Tom Engelhardt, April 26, 2010

"Yes, we could. No kidding. We really could withdraw our massive armies, now close to 200,000 troops combined, from Afghanistan and Iraq (and that’s not even counting our similarly large stealth army of private contractors, which helps keep the true size of our double occupations in the shadows). We could undoubtedly withdraw them all reasonably quickly and reasonably painlessly.

Not that you would know it from listening to the debates in Washington or catching the mainstream news.....

Perhaps it’s historically accurate to say that great powers generally leave home, head elsewhere armed to the teeth, and then experience the urge to stay. With our trillion-dollar-plus wars and yearly trillion-dollar-plus national-security budget, there’s a lot at stake in staying, and undoubtedly in fighting two, three, many Afghanistans (and Iraqs) in the years to come.

Sooner or later, we will leave both Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s too late in the history of this planet to occupy them forever and a day. Better sooner."

The Alien Menace!

We're ready for it

by Justin Raimondo, April 26, 2010

"......As Hawking puts it:“We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn’t want to meet. I imagine they might exist in massive ships, having used up all the resources from their home planet. Such advanced aliens would perhaps become nomads, looking to conquer and colonize whatever planets they can reach.”

Hey, wait a minute: is he talking about the aliens – or us? Untethered from solid ground – and from reality – rampaging across the known universe, plundering everything in their path. That sounds like our ruling class, all right, and it’s certainly no surprise they’re extending their hubris into outer space, as the Times of London reports....

As we thrust outward, the inner core is rotting and ready to bring the whole structure down. Empire-building, whether on earth or in the heavens, is a huge drain on our resources, one we can ill afford at the moment. As Garet Garrett, the Jeremiah of the old “isolationist” right, put it: the American empire is unique in human history in that “everything goes out, and nothing comes in.” The last American President will be announcing yet another glorious “victory” in our War on Everyone – perhaps the conquest of Altair V – even as the bankers foreclose on the heavily-mortgaged White House.

Unless, of course, the American people wake up, and realize their country is committing suicide. There are some hopeful signs that this is indeed happening, or could happen, but so far I wouldn’t bet the farm on it. As long as the US government can build and launch the X37B without telling the American taxpayers either how much it costs or what purpose it serves, without facing a public outcry, our doom is sealed.

No need to worry about the threat of an invasion from outer space: the real space aliens, the real threat to our existence, isn’t coming from outer space. It comes straight from the planet Washington, D.C."

Lebanese march in Beirut to demand secularism

Hundreds of civil society activists have marched on the Lebanese parliament in an unprecedented rally in Beirut.

The protesters are calling on all Lebanese to help bring an end to the country's divisive sectarian system and replace it with a secular system.

The organisers say it is time to redefine what it means to be Lebanese.

Demonstrators blocked the main road leading to parliament, waving Lebanese flags and chanting "secularism" as security in the city was stepped up.

A leader of the march, which was organised by an independent grassroots movement, Laique Pride, addressed the crowds through a loudspeaker outside the building.
------------------------
Not too early if you ask me.

الفلسطينيون بين المصالحة ونقض البيت

COMMENT

This is a good article by professor Qassem. I wish he would write more articles in English. He is one of the few Palestinian thinkers I respect because he is analytical, uses scientific methodology (not demagoguery) and you usually find some meat in his articles.

الصلح خير
تكرار الصراعات الفلسطينية
االمصالحة لا تردع إسرائيل
العلة في ترتيب البيت
االمبادرة المصرية
ما العمل؟

"....
تكرار الصراعات الفلسطينية
تكررت الصراعات الدموية بين الفصائل الفلسطينية عبر عشرات السنين حتى بدت وكأنها ظاهرة في تاريخ القتال من أجل استرداد الحقوق الوطنية الثابتة للشعب الفلسطيني. حصلت صراعات دموية بين القيادات القبلية الفلسطينية قبل عام 1948، واستهلكت الجهود الفلسطينية التي كان من المفروض توجيهها ضد الانتداب البريطاني والحركة الصهيونية.

وقد اشتدت هذه الصراعات مع ظهور فصائل المقاومة الفلسطينية بعد هزيمة حزيران بحيث حصلت فيما بينها اشتباكات مسلحة متكررة. لقد شهد الفلسطينيون قتالا دمويا بين الفصائل في الأردن ولبنان، وشهدوا جهود الوساطة وإصلاح ذات البين من أجل محاصرة النزيف. لكن فرحة الفلسطينيين بمناظر قادة الفصائل وهم يظهرون أمام وسائل الإعلام بأيد متشابكة تدل على الوحدة والاتفاق لم تكن لتدوم طويلا، واستمر مسلسل الصراعات يقضي على الفرحات والآمال.

تكرار الصراعات الدموية والقطيعة بين الأحزاب والتنظيمات يشير إلى خلل تركيبي خطير في المجتمع الفلسطيني وفي القيادات الفلسطينية. هذا أمر بحاجة إلى أبحاث علمية للوقوف على دقائقه، لكنني أكتفي هنا بالإشارة إلى أن ظاهرة الصراع الدموي لم تحظ حتى الآن من قبل الفصائل ولا من قبل منظمة التحرير بالاهتمام العلمي، ولم تبادر القيادات إلى دراستها بمنهجية علمية من أجل الوقوف على أسبابها ومعالجتها.
.....
العلة في ترتيب البيت
الانقسام الفلسطيني عبارة عن نتيجة وليس سببا، وإذا كان لنا أن نتغلب عليه فعلينا أن نبحث عن الأسباب التي أدت إليه ونتخلص منها. أما إذا كنا نبحث عن إنهاء للانقسام دون معالجة الأسباب فإن علينا أن ننتظر نشوب الخلاف مجددا وعلى وجه السرعة.

أمر الفلسطينيين هذا شبيه بأمر الأنظمة العربية التي تظن دائما أن المصالحات تحل الأزمات التي تنشب بينها، فيلتقي الزعماء في المطارات وردهات الفنادق ويتعانقون ويذرفون دموع الندم على الشقاق، لكنهم يعودون إلى سابق عهودهم بعد أسبوع من اللقاء الحميم. العناق يعطي انطباعا شكليا، لكنه لا يعالج أسباب الشقاق، ويفرح الناس قليلا بلقاءات الإخوة ليعودوا للطم الخدود حزنا على حليمة.

البيت الفلسطيني يعاني من علل كثيرة تقود جميعها إلى الانقسام، وذلك في تاريخ الصراع قبل عام
1948 وبعده. هناك عقلية قبلية ما زالت متجذرة، وطغت على فكرة التنظيم حتى باتت الفصائل تتصرف وكأنها قبائل على النمط الجاهلي.

العقلية القبلية عقلية متحوصلة ذاتية تتغذى على المجتمع الأوسع، وتؤثر مصلحتها الخاصة على المصلحة العامة، وتلغي الشخص وتقتل فيه الإبداع والمبادرة. وكم من الأحيان تعاونت قبائل وفصائل مع عدو أو خصم نكاية بقبيلة أخرى أو فصيل، أو رغبة في الحصول على دعم لحسم خلاف داخلي.

فضلا عن العقلية القبلية، تعاني الساحة الفلسطينية من عقلية قيادية استبدادية مشابهة تماما للعقلية القيادية العربية، وهي عقلية ترخي السبيل في النهاية للفشل والهزيمة والتنابز الداخلي والاتهامات والاتهامات المضادة. هذا إن لم تكن بعض القيادات مرتبطة ارتباطا خيانيا جاسوسيا بالعدو وتعمل بصورة متعمدة على صناعة الخلافات والاقتتال تحت شعارات وطنية أو شعارات فصائلية تعصبية عمياء. وقد تمت قيادة الشعب الفلسطيني عبر سنوات طويلة بطريقة "فهلوية" لم تترك قيمة لعالم أو أكاديمي أو مفكر أو شيخ جليل، أو لمقوم أخلاقي أو تماسك اجتماعي، ولم يكن من مفر من وقوع الشعب الفلسطيني عبر السنوات في مصيدة الاقتتال والنزف الدموي على أيدي الإخوة والأحبة الشركاء في السلاح.

لم تلتزم الساحة الفلسطينية منذ البدء بالمواثيق الفلسطينية، وعلى رأسها الميثاق الوطني الفلسطيني، ولم تلتزم بالوحدة الوطنية إلى درجة أن الفصائل اضطرت إلى أن ترفع شعارا يقول "الدم الفلسطيني خط أحمر". الشعب الذي يصل إلى هذا الشعار إنما يعي تماما أن مجمل ما يجري داخله يؤدي إلى الاقتتال، وشعار من هذا القبيل لا يعني سوى أن الشعب متجه نحو الاقتتال.
....."

Israel's man in the US Senate

By Clayton Swisher

Al-Jazeera


"From my Doha perch it's easy to avoid the whole "dual loyalty" debate currently raging in Washington. That does not mean that as a reporter I have shied away from raising it where appropriate.

But in case anyone missed it, there has been a growing argument in recent weeks among Washington policy wonks over this very issue, with scathing editorial salvos fired between the formidable Harvard Professor Stephen Walt and the pro-Israel Washington Institute's equally outspoken Robert Satloff.

Their debate centres on whether "dual loyalty" is an appropriate term to use when describing US government officials who put Israel's interests ahead of America's, even when it jeopardizes US national security.

According to Politico's Ben Smith, it seems US Senator Charles Schumer (Democrat-New York) has added more grist to the intellectual food fight.

(Schumer is the one on the left)

In effect, Schumer has done to the Obama administration the equivalent of what Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, did to Joe Biden, the US vice-president, on his disastrous visit to Israel in March......"

Egypt a ticking time bomb

The Arab world’s leading nation has become a political and cultural backwater — and that’s not good

By Eric Margolis
The Toronto Sun

"As battered air travelers struggle to recover from Iceland's volcanic big bang, another explosion is building up. This time, it's a political one that could rock the entire Mideast, where rumors of war involving the U.S., Syria, Israel and Iran are intensifying.

President Hosni Mubarak, the U.S.-supported strongman who has ruled Egypt with an iron hand for almost 30 years, is 81 and in frail health. He has no designated successor.

Mubarak, a general, was put into power with U.S. help after the 1981 assassination of President Anwar Sadat by nationalist soldiers. Sadat had been a CIA "asset" since 1952.

Egypt, with 82 million people, is the most populous and important Arab nation and Cairo the cultural center of the Arab world. It is also an overcrowded madhouse with eight million people whose population has tripled since I lived there as a boy. Not counting North Africa, one in three Arabs is Egyptian.

Egypt was once the heart and soul of the Arab and Muslim world. Under Sadat's predecessor, the widely adored nationalist Gamal Abdel Nasser, Egypt led the Arab world. Egyptians despised Sadat as a corrupt western toady and sullenly accepted Mubarak.

After three decades under Mubarak, Egypt has become a political and cultural backwater. In a telling incident, Mubarak recently flew to Germany for gall bladder and colon surgery. After billions in U.S. aid, Mubarak could not even trust a local hospital in the Arab world's leading nation.

The U.S. gives Egypt $1.3 billion annually in military aid to keep the generals content and about $700 million in economic aid, not counting secret CIA stipends, and vast amounts of low-cost wheat.

Mubarak's Egypt is the cornerstone of America's Mideast Raj (dominion). Egypt's 469,000-man armed forces, 397,000 paramilitary police and ferocious secret police keep the regime in power and crush all dissent. Though large, Egypt's military is starved by Washington of modern weapons, ammo and spare parts so it cannot wage war against Israel. Its sole function is keeping the U.S.-backed regime in power.

Mubarak has long been a key ally of Israel in battling Islamist and nationalist groups. Egypt and Israel collaborate on penning up Hamas-led Palestinians in Gaza.

Egypt is now building a new steel wall on the Gaza border with U.S. assistance. Mubarak's Wall, which will go down 12 meters, is designed to block tunnels through which Gaza Palestinians rely for supplies.

While Washington fulminates against Iran and China over human rights, it says nothing about client Egypt - where all elections are rigged, regime opponents brutally tortured and political opposition liquidated. Washington could quickly impose real democracy to Egypt where it pulls all the strings, if it wanted.

Ayman Nour, the last man who dared run in an election against the eternal Mubarak - "pharaoh" to Islamist opponents - was arrested and tortured.


Now, as Mubarak's health fails, the U.S. and Israel are increasingly alarmed his death could produce a political eruption in long-repressed Egypt. Mubarak has been trying to groom his son, Gamal, to succeed him. But Egyptians are deeply opposed. The powerful 72-year old intelligence chief, Gen. Omar Suleiman, an ally of the U.S. and Israel, is another possible strongman. CIA will also be grooming another army or air force general for the job.

Egypt's secular political opposition barely exists. The regime's real opponent remains the relatively moderate, highly popular Islamic Brotherhood. It would win a free election hands down. But its leadership is old and tired. Half of Egyptians are under 20.

Mohammed El-Baradai, the intelligent, principled, highly respected Egyptian former UN nuclear chief, is calling for real democracy in his homeland. He presents a very attractive candidate to lead post-Mubarak Egypt.

Washington hopes it can ease another compliant general into power and keep the security forces loyal before 30 years of pent-up fury at Mubarak's dictatorship, Egypt's political emasculation, thirst for change and dire poverty produce a volcanic eruption on the Nile. "

Current Al-Jazeera (Arabic) Online Poll

This poll asks:

Do you see the current Iranian military maneuvers in the Gulf (Arab or Persian) as serving the interests of the area?

With over 1,200 responding so far, 69% said yes.

Deportation to Gaza Ghetto by Carlos Latuff

(Click on cartoon to enlarge)

Artist's Comments:

"As Israelis well know, the Holocaust started with human rights violations which turned into mass deportations and ended in genocide."

Clashes as Israeli settlers march

Al-Jazeera

"Palestinian protesters and Israeli police have clashed after Jewish settlers marched in the Arab neighbourhood of Silwan in occupied East Jerusalem.

The hardline settlers, who live in illegal housing units on occupied Palestinian land, want Arabs removed from the area and their homes demolished to make way for Israeli construction projects.

Al Jazeera's Jacky Rowland, reporting from Silwan, said that the demonstration had been"extremely provocative."

"[It is] a highly aggressive gesture on the part of the settlers - people really hell-bent on driving Palestinians from their land," she said, adding that Israeli police had allowed the protestors to march around 200 metres into the Palestinian neighbourhood.

The settlers view Jerusalem as their "eternal capital" and want to rid it of Arabs residents "affirming Jewish sovereignty over the whole city."....."

Al-Jazeera Video: Scuffles at Jerusalem protest

"April 25, 2010 — Palestinian demonstrators have hurled stones at Jewish settlers rallying for the demolition of Arab houses in occupied East Jerusalem.

The clashes took place on Sunday as George Mitchell, the US special envoy to the Middle East, was visiting Israeli officials in Tel Aviv for talks on restarting the peace process between Palestinians and Israelis.

Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, reportedly tried but failed to ban the settlers' march [Give me a break; what a joke!].

Al Jazeera's Jacky Rowland reports from East Jerusalem."

Real News Video: Obama's world without nuclear weapons?

Jonathan Schell: Nuclear strategy still rooted in cold war thinking

3D Hamas Video Shows Shalit in Captivity as Father Ages

Al-Manar

"25/04/2010 The Ezzeddine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's military wing, published Sunday a computer animated video entitled "The Sentiment in the Zionist Society regarding Shalit," threatening that captured Israeli occupation soldier Gilad Shalit will share the same fate as Ron Arad should not progress be made in talks. Arad is an Israeli pilot who went missing when he flew a mission over southern Lebanon in 1986.

The three-minute three-dimensional cartoon depicts the father of captured soldier Gilad Shalit visibly aging as he walks through empty city streets in another 20 years past billboards of former and future Israeli leaders vowing to free his son.

In the end the occupation soldier is shown returned in a flag-draped coffin as part of a prisoner exchange, just before his father, Noam Shalit, wakes up from the dream and realizes there is still time to bring his son back alive.

"We are addressing Zionist society and not its leadership and elected officials, who don't see anything outside their personal interests and therefore are holding up the prisoner swap deal. The option still exists that we will reach an agreement in which Shalit will be released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners," explained Hamas officials.

They added a threat to their message: "If the enemy continues its stubbornness, it will be sorry. But the regret will not have any significance. Shalit will not see the light of day until your government pays the price. If it rejects the conditions we have stipulated, you will have to pay a much higher price."

Hamas members clarified towards the end of the video that they intend to invest efforts in capturing additional Israelis, and threatened to do so on a much wider scale than has been seen thus far. "The organization will continue its activities to get its hands on more of Shalit's friends – so many that the Zionist government will be forced to establish a new government ministry for addressing Zionist soldiers and captives," they said in the video.

"If Zionist society wants Shalit to be returned safely, its government must pay the price by releasing Palestinian detainees," they added.

Noam Shalit is seen in the animated clip walking towards this fictitious "prisoner affairs ministry."...."

مهمة حرب.. لا سلام

مهمة حرب.. لا سلام
عبد الباري عطوان

" المعادلات الاستراتيجية تتغير بطريقة استفزازية في منطقتنا العربية، ففي الماضي كانت اسرائيل تهدد بالحروب اذا تعرضت لقصف صاروخي، من هذه الجهة او تلك، الآن باتت التهديدات لسورية باعادتها الى العصر الحجري لمجرد نقلها صواريخ الى 'حزب الله' اللبناني.
والاغرب من ذلك كله ان الولايات المتحدة الامريكية، الدولة الاعظم في العالم، باتت تؤيد اسرائيل في هذا الموقف 'الترهيبي'، وتستعد لاعطاء الضوء الاخضر لها لشن عدوان جديد يستهدف سورية ولبنان معا.
دعم سورية لحزب الله ليس وليد الساعة، كما انه ليس اكتشافا يستحق كل هذه الضجة وكأنه 'اكتشاف أرخميدس'، فالغالبــــية الساحقــــة من اسلـــحة 'حزب الله' وصواريخه القادمة من ايران خصوصا كانت تمر عبر البوابة السورية، والتحالف الثلاثي السوري ـ الايراني وحزب الله لم يعد سرا، وجرى تتويجه باللقاء الذي انعقد في دمشق قبل شهر بحضور زعمائه الثلاثة.
الجديد هو التحرش الامريكي ـ الاسرائيلي بسورية، والبحث عن ذرائع للهجوم على الاخيرة، او الضغط عليها، وبشكل ذي طابع ارهابي تخويفي، للتخلي عن حلفائها في ايران ولبنان، والدخول في عملية تفاوضية وفق الشروط الاسرائيلية.
بالامس واشنطن قالت في بيان رسمي ان سورية تزّود حزب الله بمجموعة واسعة من الصواريخ، وان احتمال تزويدها للحزب بصواريخ من نوع 'سكود' ما زال موضع دراسة.
هذه هي المرة الاولى التي نسمع فيها ان امتلاك صواريخ 'سكود' بات خرقا لكل الخطوط الحمراء، ويبعث على القلق في واشنطن وتل ابيب، وكأن هذه الصواريخ ستغير موازين القوى العسكرية في المنطقة، وتنهي التفوق الاستراتيجي الاسرائيلي في هذا المضمار.
نفهم مثل هذا القلق المفتعل لو ان سورية زوّدت حزب الله برؤوس نووية، او 'قنابل قذرة'، ولكن ما يصعب علينا فهمه هو ان هذه الضجة المفتعلة هي بسبب صواريخ لم يثبت عمليا ان سورية زوّدت حزب الله بها حتى الآن، وان هذه الصواريخ قديمة ولا تشكل اي خطر وجودي على الدولة الاسرائيلية. فقد اطلق الرئيس الراحل صدام حسين 43 صاروخا منها اثناء حرب الكويت عام 1991 ولم تحدث اي اضرار مادية او بشرية حقيقية.
' ' '
سورية ليست محاطة بدول اسكندنافية، او تحدها سويسرا في الجنوب والنمسا في الشمال، وانما ابتلاها الاستعمار الغربي بجار عدواني صلف، والحال نفسه يقال ايضا عن لبنان والدول العربية الاخرى. فاسرائيل هي مصدر العدوان الازلي على سورية ولبنان، وهي التي اغارت على الاراضي السورية اكثر من مرة تحت اعذار وحجج واهية مثل ضرب المفاعل النووي المزعوم، وهي ايضا التي غزت لبنان اكثر من مرة آخرها في تموز (يوليو) عام 2006.
من الواضح ان الولايات المتحدة في عهد ادارة الرئيس اوباما تريد 'من اسرائيل ان تعيد سورية الى العصر الحجري' مثلما هدد رئيس وزرائها، دون ان تكون لديها اي وسيلة، ولو كانت بدائية، للدفاع عن نفسها.
نشعر بالمرارة ونحن نرى سورية تواجه هذه الحملة الارهابية الامريكية ـ الاسرائيلية وحدها، ودون اي تعاطف ولو شفهي من اشقائها العرب. لم نقرأ او نسمع عن برقية تضامن واحدة من مصر او المملكة العربية السعودية او السودان او حتى ليبيا، والأكثر من ذلك ان السيد عمرو موسى أمين عام الجامعة العربية فضّل الذهاب الى الصومال للبحث عن مخرج لحربها الاهلية، وكيف نتوقع منه ذلك وهو الحريص على عدم إغضاب حلفاء امريكا في المنطقة، واحجم حتى عن زيارة المحاصرين المجوّعين في قطاع غزة بسبب ذلك.
وصول السناتور جورج ميتشل مبعوث السلام الامريكي الى الاراضي الفلسطينية المحتلة، وتصاعد الحديث عن صفقة امريكية بإحياء المفاوضات الفلسطينية الاسرائيلية، مقابل التشدد مع سورية وحزب الله، يجعلنا نضع أيدينا على قلوبنا، لأن هذه الزيارة التي تأتي في ظل استمرار عمليات الاستيطان في القدس، وعدم اجابة نتنياهو على الاسئلة الامريكية الاحد عشر هي نذير شؤم، وقد تكون احدى مقدمات الحرب على سورية، ولبنان وغزة، وربما ايران ايضاً.
' ' '
توني بلير رئيس وزراء بريطانيا السابق قال في شهادته امام لجنة التحقيق بشأن الحرب على العراق انه كان يصعب على امريكا وحلفائها شن حرب على العراق عام 2003 قبل وقف الانتفاضة الفلسطينية واعادة الحياة الى عملية السلام. السناتور ميتشل جاء الى المنطقة للهدف نفسه، وحاملاً اقتراحاً بقيام دولة فلسطينية بحدود مؤقتة وتأجيل التفاوض على مستقبل القدس المحتلة واللاجئين.
لا نرى اي جدوى من مناشدة العرب بالوقوف الى جانب سورية، لان معظم هؤلاء متواطئون مع العدوان الامريكي الاسرائيلي القادم، نقولها بكل ألم وحسرة. فمثلما تركوا العراق يواجه الغزو والاحتلال وحده، وبتواطؤ عربي مع الغزاة، سيفعلون الشيء نفسه مع سورية العربية المسلمة وحلفائها.
اسرائيل لن تفلح باعادة سورية الى العصر الحجري، ولن تركّع المقاومة في لبنان وقطاع غزة، مع تسليمنا الكامل بتفوقها العسكري الكبير، فإذا كانت امريكا الدولة الاعظم في التاريخ لم تستطع الاحتفاظ بنصريها في العراق وافغانستان، فهل ستستطيع اسرائيل التعايش مع منطقة ملتهبة في اليوم الثاني لانتصارها؟
الذين رقصوا على ايقاعات نشوة النصر في العراق وافغانستان يكتوون حالياً بنار هذا الانتصار التي احرقت اصابعهم وجيوب دولهم في الوقت نفسه، ويبحثون عن مخارج مشرفة تنقذ ماء الوجه دون جدوى.
سورية وقوى المقاومة في لبنان وقطاع غزة لم تختر الحرب، ولم تقدم على اي استفزاز لاسرائيل او امريكا، واذا ارادت الاخيرتان هذه الحرب، فان الدفاع عن النفس حق مشروع كفلته كل المواثيق والاديان والقوانين الالهية والوضعية.
مرة اخرى نكررها، بان اليابان لم تُزل من الخريطة، ولم تعد الى العصر الحجري رغم القاء قنبلتين نوويتيــــن على اكــــبر مدنها، والمانيا عادت موحدة بعد الهزيمة والتقسيم، والعراق مازال العراق رغــــم الاحتـــلال والغـــزو، ولكن هل ستظل اسرائيل هي اسرائيل بعد الحرب المقبلة اذا ما أشعلت إوارها؟.
هذا هو السؤال الذي قد تجيب عليه الأشهر المقبلة.
"

PA Says No to Shrunk and provisional Palestinian State on 40- 50% of the West Bank

The Palestinian Authority has rebuffed the idea of a downsized Palestinian state which is marked out of the ideal with makeshift borders.

Acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday said the Palestinians were asked to "take a state with provisional borders on 40 or 50 percent, and after that we will see," the Associated Press reported.

"Frankly, we will not accept the state with temporary borders, because it is being offered these days," he added, addressing the leaders of his Fatah party.

The Palestinian side wants Israel to enforce a permanent and complete freeze on its settlement expansion in the entire occupied territories as a precondition for the resumption of the so-called peace talks.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has, however, recurrently rejected a total freeze on the expansion of the settler units, repeating former and current Israeli leaders.
Palestine Chronicle

Right of return not negotiable

Ahmed Moor, The Electronic Intifada.
Washington insiders are now touting a misguided Obama-dictated plan to solve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Most recently, Zbigniew Brzezinski and Stephen Solarz took to the pages of The Washington Post to float the idea of an imposed peace, which largely undermines non-negotiable historic Palestinian rights. The authors call for the annulment of the Palestinian right of return, and the creation of a "demilitarized Palestinian state.
The trial balloon avoids any talk of Israeli parliamentary dynamics and the incapacity of the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cede anything without sowing the seeds of its own dissolution, something Netanyahu probably realized while negotiating the composition of his coalition government. But its most glaring failure is the presumption that Palestinians will meekly accept American dictates regarding the right of return. As a Palestinian, I believe that any plan that seeks to sacrifice our inalienable human rights to ensure race-based majorities in Israel will fail."