Hear Ye, Hear Ye....Preparing for the New McPalestine!

Peace talks by proximity?

By Sherine Tadros
Al-Jazeera

"....George Mitchell, the US envoy, will shuttle between Ramallah and West Jerusalem (and back again), talking to the two sides separately for one week every month. The Palestinians and Israelis will be invited to the US for talks and be in constant contact (not with each other of course, but with the Americans).

The problem is, that’s exactly what Mitchell has been doing for over a year.

US-style re-branding

But the point of these talks may be less grandiose than achieving Middle East peace – the US administration’s aim may be simply to add some momentum to a process currently in regression.

It’s classic American re-branding. If people stop buying the McChicken Burger because it’s become stale and boring, you call it a Chicken Surprise, market it and it will start selling again. It’s still two buns, chicken breast and lettuce in the middle, but it has a different wrapper - and that’s what counts......"

Ex-US ambassador Bolton: Obama trying to rid Israel of nukes

The Jerusalem Post

"Former US ambassador to the UN John Bolton on Tuesday expressed concern over what he says is pressure being exerted by President Barack Obama on Israel to rid the country of nuclear weapons....

“When I was in the Bush administration we refused to even talk about these kinds of ideas,” he said. “I’d be quite worried about the possible outcome there.”

“The president is not happy with Israel’s nuclear capabilities. I think he would be delighted if Israel gave up its nuclear weapons,” Bolton asserted. “The only unknown answer at this point is exactly how much pressure he would exert on Israel to do just that. Part of that pressure is being exerted right now, by even considering the possibility of a conference on a nuclear-weapons-free Middle East.”....

Bolton also expressed dismay at the fact that the UN hosted Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at its Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference on Monday, but said that it was business as usual.

“This is nothing exceptional for the UN, this is the way the UN is day in and day out,” Bolton told the radio station...."

Indirect Peace Talks - Stalling for Time

By Abdelbari Atwan

".....These are futile negotiations intended to provide a cover for a US administration that might have good intentions but is unable to translate them into action on the ground. Perhaps it will be a great disaster when we find out that the main and true aim behind these negotiations is to provide a "cover" for an imminent Israeli aggression against Syria and Lebanon on the pretext of the Scud missiles [allegedly supplied by Syria to Hezbollah], which has apparently altered the balance of power in the region and which now threaten the entire existence of Israel.

Congratulations to the Arabs and to the follow-up committee on this great achievement of resuming indirect negotiations. The Arab foreign ministers showed unprecedented courage when they insisted on fixing a timeframe of 120 days for these negotiations. In our opinion, this timeframe is sufficient - if it was not decided beforehand - for Israel to complete its preparations for war."

"Apology" over Lebanon lynching death

Lebanon's justice minister has apologised for the lynching of an Egyptian man accused of a quadruple homicide.

Mohammed Muslem, who was accused of killing an elderly couple and their two granddaughters in Ketermaya, died after being attacked by a mob in the village south of Beirut.

Hundreds of Ketermaya residents attacked Muslem last week, while he was being driven by police to re-enact the crime.

He was beaten and stabbed to death, and his body was hung from a pole.

"I would like to personally apologise to the government and people of Egypt for the reaction in the village of Ketermaya, which would not have happened had it not been for the gruesome crime that preceded it," Ibrahim Najjar, Lebanon's justice minister, said in a statement on Tuesday.[Why even Bother to apologize if you are going to justify the behavior of the mob , Irony is Lebanese often brag about how civilized and refined they are compared to other Arabs]

My mandate on Gaza was even-handed, my loyalty is to justice

It would have been hypocritical for me not to speak out about Israeli violations of international law simply because I am Jewish

Richard Goldstone
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 5 May 2010

This statement, released Wednesday, was made at the meeting on Monday between South African Zionist Federation chairman Avrom Krengel and Judge Richard Goldstone, following the dispute over Judge Goldstone's attendance of his grandson's bar mitzvah at the weekend. This event had been threatened by Jewish protesters objecting to Goldstone's report for the UN on war crimes in Gaza, but they were called off after mediation led to Monday's meeting. The original report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict (the "Goldstone report") can be read here. You can read Avrom Krengel's statement here

"....Without more, allow me to turn to the Gaza report that has caused so much anger in this and other Jewish communities. It is well known that initially I refused to become involved with what I considered to be a mandate that was unfair to Israel by concentrating only on war crimes alleged to have been committed by the Israel Defence Forces. When I was offered an even-handed mandate that included war crimes alleged to have been committed against Israel by Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza, my position changed.

I have spent much of my professional life in the cause of international criminal justice. It would have been hypocritical for me to continue to speak out against violations of international law and impunity for war crimes around the world but remain silent when it came to Israel simply because I am Jewish.

The state of Israel was established in 1948 by the United Nations acting on the principles of international law [Really??]. It should not be surprising that Israel has always committed itself to being bound by the norms and practices of international law [Is this Goldstone groveling in front of the Zionist Federation??]. I have always assumed that Israel would wish to be judged by the highest standards of international law [Now Goldstone the Zionist is speaking!]. One of the cardinal norms, accepted by Israel, is that of "distinction", the requirement that there be proportionality between a military goal and civilian casualties caused in achieving that goal....."

All Options on the Table, by Carlos Latuff

(Click on cartoon to enlarge)

Al-Jazeera Cartoon

"Life is Negotiations!"

BP Funnels Millions into Lobbying to Influence Regulation and Re-Brand Image

Democracy Now!
With Amy Goodman



"We speak with Antonia Juhasz, author of The Tyranny of Oil: The World’s Most Powerful Industry – and What We Must Do To Stop It. “The entire oil industry, will continue to use its vast wealth – unequaled by any global industry – to escape regulation, restriction, oversight and enforcement,” Juhasz writes. “BP, now the source of the last two great deadly US oil industry explosions, has shown us that this simply cannot be permitted.”...."

I Wish My People Would Learn

A Pathetic Piece by the Rabbit's Advisor

Of Scuds and Assassinations

By BOUTHAINA SHAABAN
CounterPunch

"....I wish my people would learn from the organizers of the Freedom Fleet which will sail from Turkey on May 24 to break the Israeli blockade. Organizations from Turkey, Malaysia, Sweden and Greece will send ships carrying goods and educational and medical supplies and ships carrying at least 600 people. Where are the Arabs in this effort? [How about your own regime Bouthaina??] What are Arab businessmen doing to support their brethren in Gaza?

Some Arabs lost their international status and their regional role when they abandoned their people and the dignity and rights of their Arab nation [Because, just like your regime, all they care about is the survival of their illegitimate regimes.]. They should take note because the West, which believes in solidarity, does not respect those who deal with their brothers on the basis of division and fragmentation.

The West is right in considering those who act against their people not trustworthy. That is why those who imagine they are the West's friends live an illusion. The West cares only about itself and about its interests. So, why do not the Arabs befriend themselves and be true to their interests? I wish my people would learn how to unify their ranks even from their enemies. "

Did You Hear the Joke About the Predator Drone That Bombed?

by Medea Benjamin and Nancy Mancias
CommonDreams

"At the 2004 Radio and Television Correspondents' Dinner, President Bush joked about searching for WMDs under Oval Office furniture. The joke backfired when parents who had lost their children fighting in Iraq said they found the joke offensive and tasteless. Senator John Kerry said Bush displayed a "stunningly cavalier" attitude toward the war and those serving in Iraq.

So it’s odd that President Obama would make a crude joke about deaths that he is responsible for. But that’s just what he did at the May 1 White House Correspondents Dinner....

Whoever said laughter was the best medicine was never attacked by a predator drone. President Obama, just like George Bush before him, should not be allowed to get away with telling tasteless war jokes. But more important, he should not be allowed to keep employing weapons that, as in the case of landmines and cluster bombs, disproportionately kill civilians. "

Real News Video with Transcript: Global food bubble on the way?

Jayati Ghosh: Food prices set to surge due to Wall Street speculation

Warmongers of the world, unite

Is there any difference between Australia’s leaders and the three front-runners in Britain’s election when it comes to attitudes to war?

By John Pilger
New Statesman via Uruknet

"....All three party leaders are warmongers. Nick Clegg, the darling of former Blair lovers, says that, as prime minister, he will "participate" in another invasion of a "failed state" provided there is "the right equipment, the right resources". His one reservation is the standard genuflection towards a military now scandal­ised by a colonial cruelty of which the Baha Mousa case is but one of many.

For Clegg, as for Brown and Cameron, the horrific weapons used by British forces, such as cluster bombs, depleted uranium and the Hellfire missile, which sucks the air out of its victims' lungs, do not exist. The limbs of children in trees do not exist. This year alone, Britain will spend £4bn on the war in Afghanistan. That is what Brown and Cameron almost certainly intend to cut from the health service.

Edward S Herman explained this genteel extremism in his essay "The Banality of Evil". There is a strict division of labour, ranging from the scientists working in the laboratories of the weapons industry, to the intelligence and "national security" personnel who supply the paranoia and "strategies", to the politicians who approve them. As for journalists, our task is to censor by omission and make the crime seem normal for you, the public. For, above all, it is your understanding and your awakening that are feared."

Scoring Round 1 of Hillary vs. Ahmadinejad

By Tony Karon

"Walking out on Monday’s U.N. speech by Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may have been good domestic politics for the Obama Administration and its closest European allies, but it won’t necessarily help them prevail at the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference that began Monday. In fact the move by delegates from the U.S., Britain, France, Canada, Hungary, New Zealand and the Netherlands, among others, may have perversely played to Ahmadinejad’s advantage....."

Colombia: State Terror in the Name of Peace

By James Petras

"The first casualty of state terror is the corruption of language, the invention of euphemisms, where words mean their opposite and slogans cover great crimes: There is no longer a world consensus that condemns crimes against humanity.....

A Novel Definition of Sovereignty

According to el Presidente, ceding territory to a foreign imperial power to build seven military bases operating with their own laws and jurisdiction is the new definition of sovereignty. Sovereignty equals foreign occupation.

The New Definition of Subversion

According to el Presidente, humanitarian accords and initiatives for peace are pretexts for subversion; their advocates know in advance they will be rejected by the State. Instead, dehumanizing the enemy and the advocates of peace facilitates the bombing of subversive villages, the ‘real’ enemies of peace.

On Praise and Condemnation

What does it tell you about a President when he is condemned by all the human rights groups and social movements and praised by all the financial newspapers and military institutions?....."

BP: Billionaire Polluter

By Amy Goodman
TruthDig

"Less than a week after British Petroleum’s Deepwater Horizon drilling platform exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 workers and unleashing what could be the worst industrial environmental disaster in U.S. history, the company announced more than $6 billion in profits for the first quarter of 2010, more than doubling profits from the same period the year before. Oil industry analyst Antonia Juhasz notes: “BP is one of the most powerful corporations operating in the United States. Its 2009 revenues of $327 billion are enough to rank BP as the third-largest corporation in the country. It spends aggressively to influence U.S. policy and regulatory oversight.” The power and wealth that BP and other oil giants wield are almost without parallel in the world, and pose a threat to the lives of workers, to the environment and to our prospects for democracy......"

Al-Jazeera Video: Ahmadinejad's take on ties with US

"Iran's president says if new international sanctions are passed against his country, relations with the United States will never improve.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was speaking a day after western diplomats walked out during his speech at a United Nations nuclear non-proliferation conference in New York.

He spoke to Al Jazeera's Shihab Rattansi about Iran-US ties, as well as the possibility of reaching an agreement on Iran's nuclear aspirations."

Death Watch for the Old Cow!

Take a Good Look at This Dying Cow....
It Doesn't Have Many Days Left.

Video: Israeli settlers set fire to a Palestinian mosque in latest attack

Press TV

Israeli settlers set fire to a Palestinian mosque in latest attack

Cartoon for Iranian newspaper Jame Jam, by Carlos Latuff

(Click on cartoon to enlarge)

Video: The Future of Palestine: Righteous Jews vs. the New Afrikaners

A lecture by Professor John J. Mearsheimer



NOTE:

I posted an article on May 1, which was an excerpt from this speech.

Warehousing Palestinians

(Left: Bashir Gemayel)

Ending the Hypocrisy of Lebanon's "Voice for Palestine"

By FRANKLIN LAMB
CounterPunch

Beirut
"This year, the Merry Month of May in Lebanon includes Labor day, the May 15 anniversary of the Nakba, the month-long Lebanese municipal elections and the May 5 elevation of Lebanon to the presidency of the United Nations Security Council.

Yet, for most Palestinians whiling away their lives in Lebanon’s 12 fetid refugee camps and 27 gatherings, May will pass anything but Merry. The festive Labor day and month long elections, held in the 26 municipalities in Lebanon, with the participation of more than 650 glad-handing -vote seeking candidates extolling the Lebanese virtue of working to provide for one’s family, constitute a cruel joke for Palestinian refugees denied the right to work......

The Lebanese Forces has the clearest political party position on the subject of granting the right to work to Palestinian refugees and it has never wavered over the years. During my first ever visit to Lebanon in July of 1981, following the Israeli massacre that killed more than 170 and wounded more than 800, in the Palestinian neighborhood adjacent to Shatila camp called Fakhani, I had lunch with the Lebanese Forces leader Bashir Gemayel. A gracious host and the son of Pierre Gemayel, who along with Camille Chamoun founded the Lebanese Forces in 1976 with the primary objective of killing Palestinians, Bashir invited a couple of his friendly and charming aides, Elie Hobeika ( leader of the LF 1985-86) and Fadi Frem ( leader of the LF 1982-84)-both of whom would participate in the massacre the following fall at Sabra Shatila. The slaughter, which has been planned weeks in advance in Israel according to LF participants, was ordered executed the day after Bashir’s September 14, 1982 assassination.

What Bachir said privately about Palestinians over lunch 29 years ago is virtually identical to what representatives of the Lebanese Forces, which fought Palestinians during the 1975-90 Civil War, are saying today. In public, their language is more restrained and less profane, but equally bigoted. As LF representative Fadi Zarifeh informed a working group on civil rights for Palestinian refugees on February 10, 2010, the Lebanese Forces remain “quite hostile to the whole idea. The Lebanese state should first take care of its own citizens and not others.” Zarifeh added that his party was “the one farthest away from approving greater rights for Palestinian refugees”......"

Current Al-Jazeera (Arabic) Online Poll

This New poll asks:

Do you feel the presence of free press in the Arab world?

With about 1,000 responding so far, 90% said no.

EXCLUSIVE…Secret Recording of Erik Prince Reveals Previously Undisclosed Blackwater Ops

Democracy Now!
With Amy Goodman



"Investigative journalist and Democracy Now! correspondent Jeremy Scahill obtains a rare audio recording of a recent, private speech delivered by Erik Prince, the owner of Blackwater, to a friendly audience in January. The speech, which Prince attempted to keep from public consumption, provides a stunning glimpse into his views and future plans and reveals details of previously undisclosed activities of Blackwater. In a Democracy Now! exclusive broadcast we play excerpts of the recording and speak with Scahill about the revelations......"

Al-Jazeera Video: Inside Story - The US role in the Middle East

Real News Video: Modern history of Lebanon Pt3

Traboulsi on the roots of militias and the bloody civil war in Lebanon

Settlers Torch Mosque South Of Nablus

"A group of fundamentalist settlers torched the main mosque of the Al Lubban Al Sharqiyya village, south of the northern West Bank city of Nablus.

Jamal Daraghma, head of the Al Lubban Village Council, stated that the settlers attacked the mosque approximately at 3 A.M, rounded up several copies of the Holy Koran in one place and set them ablaze.

Daraghma added that the mosque is located in the center of the village which is surrounded by three settlements built on %30 of lands stolen from the residents. The village, 22 kilometers south of Nablus, is inhibited by 3000 residents. He stated that the village is subject to frequent attacks carried out by the settlers who previously set ablaze farmlands and uprooted trees.....


The mosque was totally torched, some fifty copies of the Holy Koran were burnt and its walls and ceilings became cracked with significant parts of its ceramics falling down.....

This is the third mosque to be torched by the settlers this year as the settlers torched a mosque in Yasuf village near Salfit and another mosque in Huwwara town, near Nablus."

Corruption Muddies Egypt’s Labour Pool

By Cam McGrath

"CAIRO, May 3, 2010 (IPS) - Saeed El-Masry was born poor, raised poor and, unless he can get ‘kosa,’ will probably die poor. Kosa is the Arabic word for zucchini, but it also means someone in a position of power who can open doors to gainful employment.

"There are no good jobs unless you know a cabinet minister or pay off a high-ranking official," El-Masry resigns. "That’s the way it’s always been in Egypt."

Nepotism is a glaring facet of the Egyptian workforce, research has shown. Nowhere is it more apparent than in the bloated public sector, where landing a job often has more to do with who you know than your career qualifications.

"Social background and networks are part of the selection criteria," Transparency International (TI) said in a report released in March. ...."

Israel, Iran Targeted at Nuke Non-Proliferation Meet

By Thalif Deen

"UNITED NATIONS, May 3, 2010 (IPS) - A month-long Review Conference on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) began Monday with a predictable target: Israel.

As the only Middle Eastern country armed with nuclear weapons, Israel has been treated as a political sacred cow, one whose weapons programmes have not been publicly challenged either by the United States or Western powers.

But on Monday an overwhelming majority of U.N. member states - 118 out of 192 - wanted the defiant Jewish state to come clean with its nuclear weapons programme and sign the NPT, which is aimed at halting the spread of these devastating armaments.

Speaking on behalf of the 118-member Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said the fact that Israel has refused to sign and ratify the NPT has resulted in the continued exposure of non-nuclear weapon states of the region to nuclear threats by the only country possessing these weapons of mass destruction......."

Israel's Stasi Watch over Imams

By Jonathan Cook - Jaffa
Palestine Chronicle

"Job interviews for the position of imam at mosques in Israel are conducted not by senior clerics but by the Shin Bet, Israel’s secret police, a labour tribunal has revealed.

Sheikh Ahmed Abu Ajwa, 36, is fighting the Shin Bet’s refusal to approve his appointment as an imam in a case that has lifted the lid on Israel’s secret surveillance of the country’s Islamic leaders.

At a hearing last month, a senior government official admitted that 60 undercover inspectors were employed effectively as spies to collect information on Muslim clerics, reporting on political opinions they expressed in sermons and relaying gossip about their private lives.....

During one Shin Bet interview, he said, he had been told: “We know everything about you, we are always watching you.”

The goal of such interviews was often to recruit Muslim clerics to become informers themselves, he added."

Who is fanning the flames of this campus conflagration?

After a Jewish-Muslim initiative to defuse student tension was thwarted, critics of Israel are liable to be vilified as 'extremist'

Azzam Tamimi
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 4 May 2010

".........In a bid to intimidate students and dissuade them from inviting me to speak, the Jewish Chronicle has repeatedly claimed that I was reported to the police after speaking at Soas in February and that "the Crown Prosecution Service is considering whether to press charges" because of comments I made against Israel.

If anything, these interventions by pro-Israel lobbyists in the media and parliament prove that the flame of tension on campus is not without external fanners. The extremism and the hate-speech often referred to as reasons to stifle free speech are nothing but code words for any attempt to criticise Israel or shed light on the plight of the Palestinians, its victims."

Why Elton John is considered a danger to Egypt

A move to ban Elton's gig is about fear of social discord. Yet in other ways the Arab world fails to address 'the public good'

Brian Whitaker
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 4 May 2010

"Elton John is due to give a private concert in Egypt later this month. Or rather, he was, until the Egyptian musicians' union stepped in.

Mounir al-Wasimi, head of the union, announced on Sunday that he is "co-ordinating" with the authorities to stop the concert going ahead because Elton John is gay, believes Jesus was gay too, and has been critical of organised religions.

Now, you might be wondering why that should be of any concern to a musicians' union or why a union set up (presumably) to promote music should be trying to ban a concert, but it's none of your business. As Wasimi points out, his union is the only body "authorised to allow performances by foreign singers in Egypt".....

It was a lack of this type of regulation that contributed to the deaths of more than 150 people when floods swept through Jeddah in Saudi Arabia last November. One important factor was the unregulated construction that had taken place over many years in normally dry river beds.

But protecting against disasters like that has never figured strongly in the Saudi concept of the public good. Instead, a huge amount of effort goes into ensuring that people comply with the rules of morality set by religious scholars....."

"Proximity" Talks

"Proximity" Talks Start Wednesday....
Don't You Think This is Proximate Enough?
Way to Go O'Bummer!

Obama Renews Sanctions on Syria for a Year

Al-Manar

"04/05/2010 President Barack Obama Monday renewed US sanctions on Syria for a year, accusing Damascus of supporting what he called "terrorist" groups and pursuing missile programs and weapons of mass destruction.

There had been no expectation that Obama would lift the measures, but the renewal came at an especially sensitive time in often tense US-Syria relations, despite efforts by the administration to return an ambassador to Damascus.

The United States has also recently accused Syria and Iran of arming Hezbollah with increasingly sophisticated rockets and missiles, which it says are undermining stability in the region....."

"بدنا نعيش" وهموم فلسطينية راهنة

COMMENT:

In this article Azmi Bishara has sharpened and focused his message. He is openly attacking the treason of Abbas and Fayyad, which I do not recall him doing up to now.

He is (in my opinion) the best Palestinian to lead the new nationalist coalition representing all Palestinians, inside and in the Diaspora, to reorganize a new PLO and to challenge the traitorous PA.

Overall, an excellent piece. Waiting for the English version.

Highly recommended reading.

"تهنئة إسرائيل بـ"استقلالها"، أو بإنشائها تساوي تهنئتها بالنجاح في عملية سرقة وطن بالسطو المسلح على فلسطين وتشريد شعبها. هذا في حال قدّم التهنئة، أو أقدم عليها، رئيس الولايات المتحدة، أو فرنسا، أو ساحل العاج. أما إذا قُدِّمَت التهاني لـ"رئيس دولة إسرائيل في يوم تأسيسها" من قبل رئيس دولة عربية، فيستحسن الصمت. وليس صمت المتأمل، بل صمت العاجز، لأن البحث عن كلمات لا يجدي، يفترض أن اللغة وطن مشترك لكن "الفتى العربي فيها غريب الوجه واليد واللسان"، فيهب أبو الطيب لنجدتنا في كل مرة.

ليست هذه أول تهنئة، وربما لن تكون آخر تهنئة. وقد يتمنى أحدنا للآخر أن تكون خاتمة التهاني. وعلامَ الصدمة (؟) فلا غريب إلا الاستغراب. ومع ذلك طفح الكيل هذا العام. فغالبية أهل غزة تشكل جزءا من اللاجئين الذين شرِّدوا من ديارهم في عام 1948. وفيما تقدم التهاني للفاعل يُحاصَر الضحايا في سجن كبير. شيء ما جعل الأمر خانقا هذه المرة، حتى بدت أنفاق غزة، التي يزحف فيها الناس لفتح ممرات من أجل الحياة، أرحبَ من أنفاق السياسة العربية الحالية.

وسبق أن قاد أحد أنفاق السياسة العربية إلى مقابلة منحها الرئيس المعيّن للحكومة الفلسطينية المعيّنة لصحيفة هآرتس يوم 2 أبريل/نيسان 2010. وقال فيها أمورا من نوع: "ليست لدي مشكلة مع من يعتقد أن إسرائيل هي أرض التوراة، "التناخ"... ولكن يوجد الكثير من التلال والمساحات غير المأهولة، لماذا لا تبنون فيها وتمنحونا إمكانية أن نعيش حياتنا؟"، "النزاع الرئيس في المنطقة ليس بيننا، بل بين المعتدلين والمتطرفين"، "نحن نبني لاستقبال اللاجئين في الدولة الفلسطينية"، وغيرها من الدرر. إنها لغة الإسرائيليين، والحقيقة أن بعض هذه العبارات مقبول حتى على المستوطنين الذين يدعون أنهم يبنون "على تلال غير مأهولة".
....
أجرى هذه المقابلة المتطرفة في ابتعادها عن الخطاب الوطني الفلسطيني رئيس الحكومة الفلسطينية المعيّن إثر انقلاب على حكومة منتخبة، والذي حاز على 1% من أصوات الشعب الفلسطيني، والذي كان وزير مالية معيّنا من قبل الأميركان مفروضا على ياسر عرفات في حصاره. وقد أغدقت عليه الصحافة الإسرائيلية بلقب بن غوريون فلسطين. وما أدراك من هو بن غوريون؟ ومؤخرا حظي بمرتبة عاشرة على لائحة أهم مائة شخصية قررتها مجلة تايم. كيف ولماذا؟ هكذا. فما قيمة الإمبريالية إن لم يكن بمقدورها أن ترتبنا وفق منازل ومراتب، وأن تقرر من منا المعتدل ومن المتطرف، وإن لم يكن بوسعها أن تمنحنا جوائز، وتحدد لنا أولّنا وثانينا؟.
.....
لكن ما إن أنهيت قراءة هذه المقابلات التي تستحق لغتها وحدها بحثا، وإذا برئيس السلطة ينافس رئيس حكومته بالتقرب إلى الرأي العام الإسرائيلي. فبعد أن تبيّنت حدود رغبة إدارة أوباما في الضغط على إسرائيل، وبما أن "الحياة مفاوضات"، وبما أنه لا بديل للتفاوض، فإن الحل للجمود هو المزيد من التفاوض. وقد انتقل رئيس السلطة إلى "هجوم" لكسب الرأي العام الإسرائيلي يشبه الانتقال من مفاوضة حكومة إسرائيل إلى مفاوضة كل مواطن إسرائيلي على حدة. لقد أعلن رئيس السلطة عن إستراتيجيته الحكيمة هذه بشكل هجومي في اجتماع للمجلس الثوري لحركة فتح
....
لم يصبر رئيس السلطة. فبعد إعلانه بيومٍ عاجَلَ الإسرائيليين، وربما عاجَلَنا، بمقابلة في القناة الإسرائيلية الثانية قضى فيها بالنقاط على ما أبقى رئيس حكومته من الخطاب الفلسطيني. "لا توجد أزمة ثقة مع نتنياهو"، وبالنسبة لحق العودة "الحديث هو عن حل عادل ومتفق عليه، لا توجد مرونة أكبر من هذه"، "سوف نتفق على الحل ثم آتي به للشعب الفلسطيني". لقد منح رئيس السلطة الفلسطينية دولة الاحتلال حق قبول أو رفض حق العودة. فما سيعرضه هو فقط الحل المقبول لدى إسرائيل. ويأمل أن يتجاوب معه نتنياهو، لأنه لا يريد كما يقول "أن يفكر فلسطيني حتى في مظاهرة
....
فموظف البنك -الذي يتباهى بأنه شخص عملي يقدم للناس حلولا يومية بدل القضية الوطنية، ويسمي ذلك توجها عمليا- يحصد إعجاب وترويج الغرب "العملي جدا" لأنه لا يضيِّع وقته في السياسة، أي يتركها للغرب والرباعية وإسرائيل، وينشغل هو ببناء المؤسسات الاقتصادية
....
وظيفة القيادة أن تطرح للشعب "كيف نعيش؟" و"لماذا نعيش؟" و"هل سيدعنا الاحتلال نعيش بعد أن نسلم كافة أسلحتنا؟"، "ومن سوف يُمَوِّل هذه المؤسسات بعد أن تفقد الدول المتبرعة اهتمامها"، "من سيمول ما يقارب 200 ألف وظيفة تعيل أكثر من مليون شخص يعيشون على رغبة ما يسمى المجتمع الدولي في دعم التسوية غير العادلة؟"، "وماذا نكون من دون بقية شعبنا؟ وما هو التزامنا للقدس واللاجئين؟"، و"أي حياة يعيشها شعب تنازل عن سيادته من أجل الفتات؟".

هذه مهمة القيادة الوطنية. أما إذا وُفِّقَ شعبٌ تحت الاحتلال بقيادة سوّقها أو فرضها الممولون في مرحلة الأزمة، ولا تقول إلا ما يقوله أي إنسان للابتعاد عن السياسة: "بدنا نعيش"، فلا حاجة للتسويق. هذه بضاعة رخيصة لا تحتاج إلى أي تسويق. ولكنها مثل أي بضاعة رخيصة قصيرة الأجل والمفعول.
"

Details of Gaza blockade revealed in court case

BBC News has seen documents, submitted to an Israeli Court, which give more detail than ever before about how and why Israel maintains its Gaza blockade.

In one document, Israel describes the import curbs as "a central pillar in the armed conflict with Hamas".

It also confirms estimates were made of how many calories Gazans need, but says these were not used for policy-making.

Israel says the blockade is to pressure Hamas, which does not recognise Israel and backs attacks on its citizens

The Israeli authorities also confirm the existence of four documents related to how the blockade works: how they process requests for imports into Gaza, how they monitor the shortages within Gaza, their approved list of what is allowed in, and a document entitled "Food Consumption in the Gaza Strip - Red Lines" which sets out the minimum calorie intake needed by Gaza's million and a half inhabitants, according to their age and sex.

This paper was however, the state insists, just a draft power-point presentation, used for "internal planning work", which "never served as a basis for the policy of the authority".

European Jews decry Israel policies

[Another Zionist Light Organization ala JStreet]

A group of over 3,000 European Jews, known as JCall, have signed a petition, speaking out against Israel, that was presented to the European Parliament in Brussels.

"We are speaking as friends of Israel and we are saying: You are going to make a mistake. You have to decide how to behave, not us," David Chemla, head of the group, told the Haaretz newspaper on Monday.

...

"However, I find the "Call for reason" wholly inappropriate, due to its failure to mention the fact that these settlements are illegal," Kahn, chair of a UK-based activist group, Islington Friends of Yibna, said.

"I am utterly appalled by the failure of the petition to mention Gaza and the barbaric siege Israel imposes on the 1.5 million Palestinians living there," she said.

Will Obama adopt a dangerously simplistic peace plan?

Ali Abunimah, The Electronic Intifada, 3 May 2010

"A new conventional wisdom is rapidly taking shape that the United States can resolve the 130-year-old conflict in Palestine by advancing its own peace plan. Former US National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski and former US Congressman Stephen Solarz outlined such a plan in The Washington Post recently, and argued that President Obama could boost its prospects with a "bold gesture" -- a trip, to Jerusalem and Ramallah in the company of Arab and other leaders to unveil it ("To achieve Mideast peace, Obama must make a bold Mideast trip," 11 April 2010)......

I write from downtown Pretoria, once the all-white capital of the South African apartheid state, which also argued that ending white rule would be "political suicide." The notion that people of different groups cannot or should not mix is belied by the vibrant multiracial reality in the streets of Pretoria outside my window today.

And precedents for the actual return of refugees abound....

By endorsing Israel's self-definition as a "Jewish state," Brzezinski and Solarz not only ratify the violation of the fundamental rights of refugees, but consign another 1.4 million Palestinian citizens of Israel to permanent second-class status within an increasingly intolerant and ultranationalist Israel. A more likely outcome than "two states living side by side in peace" is that Palestinian citizens of Israel will come under increasing threat of expulsion to the Palestinian state -- in other words, a new round of ethnic cleansing....."

35 Years Since the Fall of Saigon

Why the U.S. Still Doesn't Get the Message

By GABRIEL KOLKO
CounterPunch

"....When the Korean war ended, the U.S. leaders swore they would never fight another land war in Asia. The Korean war was fought to a draw, basically a defeat for U.S. objectives to reunite the country. Vietnam proved yet again that the U.S. could not win a land war—and it failed entirely there, at least in the military sense. Their ultimate success was due to the confusion of the Vietnamese Communists themselves, not the success of the Saigon regime or American arms. The U.S. has always been vulnerable militarily precisely because its enemies have been primarily poor and compelled the adapt to the limits of their power.


After its defeat in Vietnam in 1975 the U.S. leaders once again resolved yet again never to fight a land war without massive military power from the inception of a conflict and the support of the American people — which gradually eroded during the Vietnam war. The Weinberger doctrine in 1984 enshrined this principle. The U.S. has won wars against small, relatively weak enemies, as in Nicaragua, but in both Iraq and Afghanistan it has made the mistakes of the Korea and Vietnam wars all over again. It still wishes to be the “indispensable power,” to quote former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, but it cannot win the victories it covets. Like a drunken person, it no longer controls itself, its environments, or makes its actions conform to its perceptions. It is therefore a danger both to itself and the world."

Iran offers to help contain US oil spill. How About That for PR?

Press TV

"The National Iranian Drilling Company (NIDC) has offered to assist the US in efforts to prevent an ecological disaster caused by the spreading oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Following an explosion on a BP-operated oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico last month, at least 210,000 gallons (5,000 barrels) of crude oil are thought to be spilling into the water every day.

NIDC managing director Heidar Bahmani announced the firm's readiness to use its decades-long expertise to fight the oil slick, the company's public relations office told Press TV......"

Al-Jazeera Cartoon

The Difference Between....
Direct and ......Indirect....
"Negotiations!"

Why Ahmadinejad (Hearts) NY

By Tony Karon

"....Somewhere in Tehran, Mrs Clinton’s remarks will have prompted Mr Ahmadinejad to smile his pantomime villain’s smile. He’s going to New York because he believes he’ll have an opportunity to confound US objectives.

Sure, he’ll be the focus of much opprobrium – senators from Mrs Clinton’s own party tried to reverse her administration’s decision to grant him a visa, apparently ignorant of their country’s obligations as host to the United Nations. And there will be hundreds of demonstrators across from the UN headquarters, perhaps some waving Israeli flags. At least, Mr Ahmadinejad hopes so, because he too intends to make an issue of Israel – not by threatening to wipe it out, but by pointing that Israel possesses a nuclear arsenal capable of wiping out Iran 20 times over, and yet doesn’t feature in Washington’s non-proliferation agenda.

So while the US hopes to use Iran’s failure to fully comply with the transparency requirements of the treaty to raise support for new sanctions against Tehran, the Iranians plan to draw attention to western double standards in applying the NPT....."

No One Cares

By Chris Hedges

"We are approaching a decade of war in Afghanistan, and the war in Iraq is in its eighth year. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and thousands more Afghans and Pakistani civilians have been killed. Millions have been driven into squalid displacement and refugee camps. Thousands of our own soldiers and Marines have died or been crippled physically and psychologically. We sustain these wars, which have no real popular support, by borrowing trillions of dollars that can never be repaid, even as we close schools, states go into bankruptcy, social services are cut, our infrastructure crumbles, tens of millions of Americans are reduced to poverty, and real unemployment approaches 17 percent. Collective, suicidal inertia rolls us forward toward national insolvency and the collapse of empire. And we do not protest. The peace movement, despite the heroic efforts of a handful of groups such as Iraq Veterans Against the War, the Green Party and Code Pink, is dead. No one cares.....

Liberals, who failed to grasp the dark intentions of the corporate state and its nefarious servants in the Democratic Party, bear some responsibility. But even an enlightened liberal class would have been hard-pressed to battle back against the tawdry emotional carnivals and the political theater that have thrust the nation into collective self-delusion. We were all seduced. And we, along with thousands of innocents in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and beyond, will all be consumed. "

الزهار: الأردن حافظ على عروبة الضفة منذ 48

أشاد بدوره في احتضان اللاجئين الفلسطينيين

There he Goes Again!
How Do You Spell Idiot?
Z-A-H-H-A-R.

"غزة - المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام
أشاد الدكتور محمود الزهار القيادي في حركة المقاومة الإسلامية "حماس" بدور المملكة الأردنية الهاشمية في خدمة الشعب الفلسطيني، مشيرًا إلى جهود عمَّان في الحفاظ على عروبة الضفة الغربية بعد حرب 1948م، واحتضان الأردن للاجئين الفلسطينيين ورعايته المستمرة للمسجد الأقصى والإشراف عليه وإعادة إعماره.
....."

"Palestinian" Ben Gurion Retracts Previous Announcement, Says: 'We Won’t Declare Independence.' Now That's a GOOD Puppet!

Al-Manar

"03/05/2010 PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Sunday that a Palestinian state will not be declared by August 2011, adding that "as far as government institutions are concerned, we will be prepared for the establishment of a Palestinian state."

Fayyad recently presented a two-year plan for the establishment of a Palestinian state.

The PA premier has stated a number of times in the past that in case the negotiations with Israel continue to advance at a slow pace he would promote unilateral state-building measures and work towards getting the UN Security Council's recognition of an independent Palestinian state.

Speaking to Al Hurra, a US-based satellite TV channel ahead of the launching of indirect talks with Israel, Fayyad criticized the Israeli government saying it is disrupting the work of Palestinian security forces in the occupied West Bank [Puppet: We are doing your dirty work; leave us alone and don't embarrass us!]....."

The US nuclear obsession with Iran

By Marwan Bishara
Al-Jazeera

"As the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference convenes here in New York this week to assess compliance and to agree on steps to achieve its goals, the world cannot afford a repeat of its 2005 fiasco.

There is a general perception that the NPT regime is in bad shape. In reality, it is worse.

Behind its failures lie double standards and narrow strategic thinking by its five certified nuclear powers, which hampers implementation of its decisions and erodes its credibility.

At the heart of the NPT crisis are three failures relating to the treaty's three main pillars: Disarmament, non-proliferation and access to civilian nuclear energy.....

Double standard ...

When it comes to the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, the words that trump all others are double standard.

While certain states have pursued nuclear weapons programmes to fulfill national ambition or to achieve hegemony, generally their pursuit was possible thanks to a double standard on the part of the world's five nuclear powers.

Take the countries that did not sign and/or violated the non-proliferation regime in one way or another: Israel, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Iran.

They are listed above according to the potency of their nuclear weaponisation and deployment. But in terms of Western-led reaction, Iran tops the list with Israel last on the Western agenda.

Iran then North Korea, and on to Pakistan with India and notably Israel accepted as de facto nuclear powers with little or no comment.....

Alas, the US/Western obsession with Iran has been devoid of geopolitical consideration, and the need to emphasise the importance of a world, or at least a Middle East region, free of nuclear weapons.

When the new round of sanctions fail to force Iran to back track on its nuclear programme, as other sanctions have failed before, the non-proliferation efforts will have been damaged, leaving the region at the mercy of less diplomatic means."

'أم الحروب' تحل صيفا

'أم الحروب' تحل صيفا
عبد الحليم قنديل

"هذه المرة قد تحل الحرب فى الصيف أيضا.
كل الحروب التي شنتها إسرائيل ـ أو جرت معها ـ كانت في الصيف، في بواكير شهوره أو في أواسطها، أو في آخرها، الحرب الأولى كانت في ايار/مايو 1948، وفي حزيران/يونيو جرت حرب 1967 وحرب 1982 لاجتياح لبنان، وفي تشرين الاول/أكتوبر جرت حرب 1956 وحرب 1973، وفي تموز/يوليو 2006 جرت حرب إسرائيل ضد حزب الله، وكانت حرب 2009 ضد غزة استثناء وحيدا، فقد جرت في شتاء كانون الثاني/يناير.
وربما تكون الحرب المقبلة هي أم الحروب، وقد يكون صيفها هو الأسخن بامتياز، وبمزيج من حرارة الطقس وحرارة النار، وقد يكون وقتها هو الأطول متجاوزا الرقم القياسي الذي تحقق في حرب 2006، والتي استمرت على مدى 34 يوما.
ورغم أن الصورة تبدو ملتبسة، وتختلط فيها فكرة التهويل بفكرة الشروع في حرب بالفعل، وفكرة الحروب النفسية بمناورات الضغط على الزناد، إلا أن سير الحوادث يوحي أكثر بتوقع حرب تتصور إسرائيل أنها الأخيرة، وعلى امتداد جبهات الشرق من غزة إلى لبنان إلى سورية وإلى إيران.
وقد نكون بصدد قواعد قديمة تتبدل، وخاصة قاعدة أنه لاحرب بدون مصر ولا سلام بدون سورية، النصف الأخير من القاعدة لايزال صحيحا، فلا سلام يتحقق إن استثنى سورية، بينما ذهب النصف الأول من القاعدة ـ مؤقتا ـ إلى ذمة التاريخ، وجرت حروب عربية ناجحة ضد إسرائيل بدون مشاركة مصر، وحتى بدون مشاركة أي نظام عربي آخر، فقد خرجــــت إسرائيل خاســـــرة في حرب 2006 ضد حزب اللـــــه، ولم تحقق أهـــــدافها في حرب 2009 ضد حركة حماس في غزة، وقد تكون الحرب المقبـــلة استطرادا لتحطيم القواعد، وبجديد قد تنطوي عليه وقائعها المحتملة، وهو مزيج من الحروب النظامية وحروب المقاومة، وقد نكون بصدد جولة هي الأخطر في تاريخ الصراع العربي الإسرائيلي، وتمثل مشروعا عربيا مقاتلا برأس إيراني لا برأس مصري هذه المرة.
نعم، قد تكون إيران هي الطرف الأبرز في صورة الحرب المقبلة، لكن الحرب قد لاتشمل إيران بالضرورة في مراحلها الأولى، وقد لاتتوقف على تطورات صراع الغرب مع طهران حول مشروعها النووي، فقد تحدث انفراجة ما أو ينخفض التوتر، وقد ينفسح المجال أكثر لضغط بالعقوبات، أو بمناورات حول مشروع تبادل الوقود النووي، وقد تتأخر مواعيد فتح النيران على الجبهة الإيرانية، وبحسابات أمريكية معقدة تتخوف على جنودها في العراق، والذين يراد سحب 50 ألفا منهم إلى جبهة أفغانستان في آب/أغسطس المقبل، لكن ذلك لا يعني ـ بالضرورة ـ أن تتأخر مواعيد الحرب إلى موعد صب النار على رأس إيران، فأولويات إسرائيل مختلفة، والخطر الرئيسي الحال عليها ليس إيران بل حزب الله، والذي تضاعفت إمكاناته الصاروخية، وإلى حد تهديد الوجود الإسرائيلي في العمق، فوق أن حزب الله يربك إسرائيل بنشاطه الاستخباراتي المذهل، وبجعله لعواصم الدنيا على اتساعها مجالا محتملا لثأر صاعق يرد على اغتيال عماد مغنية القائد العسكري لحزب الله.
وتبدو إسرائيل في المأزق، فلا هي قادرة ـ بحكومتها اليمينيةـ على الإيحاء بتقدم في مفاوضات تجري مع عباس أو تحتمل مع سورية، ولا هي قادرة على مواجهة التهديد الوجودي الذي يمثله لها حزب الله بضغوط السياسة والتهديد النفسي، ولا هي تضمن أن تخوض حربا ضد حزب الله وحده، وتتوقع فيها كسبا، خاصة بعد خطاب الردع الذي صدر عن السيد حسن نصر الله قبل شهور، والذي هدد فيه بتدمير البنية التحتية لإسرائيل إن هي فعلت الأمر نفسه في لبنان، وقد لجأت إسرائيل إلى حل تتصور أنه يريحها، وهي أن تخرج من مأزقها بوضع سورية هي الأخرى في المأزق، وتحميل دمشق المسؤولية عن حزب الله، واعتباره فرقة من الجيش السوري، ولجأت ـ أي إسرائيل ـ لاختراع قصة نقل صواريخ 'سكود' من سورية إلى حزب الله، وبقصد تيسير الحصول على ضوء أخضر من إدارة أوباما لشن حرب على سورية، وعلى ظن أن سورية هي الطرف الأضعف الذي يمكن قهره عسكريا بسرعة، وكسر حلقة الوصل الناقلة للدعم الصاروخي من إيران إلى حزب الله، وهو ما قد يبدو لإسرائيل كمغامرة تستحق خوضها، وقد لاتمانع واشنطن، بل أن ترتيبات جارية على ما يبدو تمهد لحرب مزدوجة ضد سورية وحزب الله، ولعل مكوكيات الجنرال إيهود باراك وزير الحرب الإسرائيلي إلى واشنطن، ونقله لتقارير الموساد التي قالت واشنطن أنها تثق بها، وتصعيد اللهجة الأمريكية ضد دمشق وحزب الله، لعل ذلك كله ـ وغيره ـ مما يوحي باتفاق على حرب من مرحلتين، الأولى ضد سورية وحزب الله، وقد تشمل حماس، والثانية ضد إيران إن تكللت الحرب الأولى بفوز عسكري لإسرائيل.
وكما يبدو الذهاب للحرب نتيجة محتملة بشدة لمأزق إسرائيل، فإن الفكرة ذاتها تروق على ما يبدو للإدارة الأمريكية، فقد فشل الرئيس أوباما في أداء دور الرجل الطيب وصانع السلام، وفشلت كل محاولاته للضغط على إسرائيل، بل ارتد الضغط عليه في واشنطن، وصدمته قوة اللوبي اليهودي، وتراجعت شعبيته إلى حدود الخطر، وهو الذي يريد أن يؤهل نفسه لرئاسة أمريكية ثانية، ولا تريد إسرائيل حتى أن تحفظ ماء وجهه، ويبدو مبعوثه جورج ميتشل في صورة شحاذ مسكين حين يلتقي برئيس الوزراء الإسرائيلي نتنياهو، ويكتفي من الغنيمة بالإياب ودعوة عباس للقاء أوباما، وإلى حد تبدو معه 'المساجلات السلامية' كأنها مجرد غطاء للتمويه، فلا صوت يعلو على صوت أمن إسرائيل في واشنطن، ودعم ذهاب إسرائيل للحرب قد يفتح طريق أوباما لقلب تل أبيب، ويحملها على التجاوب الظاهري مع جهوده، والإيحاء بتقديم تسهيلات لسلطة عباس تمنع انهيارها الكلي في الضفة الغربية، وتحول دون تفجر انتفاضة فلسطينية ثالثة عنوانها القدس هذه المرة.
ودعك من الجهود التي يقال أنها تجري لتجنب الحرب، وسواء صدرت عن القاهرة الرسمية، والتي يلتقي رئيسها مبارك مع نتنياهو في شرم الشيخ، ويسعى لعقد لقاء مع الرئيس السوري بشار الأسد ربما يحضره الملك السعودي، أضف إلى ذلك ما يجري من زحمة اتصالات أوروبية مع دمشق، وكلها تحركات أقرب إلى معنى الدعم السياسي لهدف الحرب الإسرائيلية، فهي تهدف إلى فك الصلات أو خلخلتها بين دمشق وطهران، وتوريط سورية في حصار حزب الله، والمعنى: أن تتحقق نتائج الحرب الإسرائيلية المتوقعة حتى بدون احتياج لطلقة رصاص، وحين تمتنع دمشق عن قبول مالا يصح قبوله، فسوف يقول عرب أمريكا: لقد حذرنا وأنذرنا، وسوف ينتظرون ـ بشغف ـ أن تحقق إسرائيل فوزا بالسلاح يبدو مستبعدا.
"

Al-Jazeera Video: Egyptian workers demand more pay

"May 02, 2010 — Under Egyptian law, people found guilty of inciting or organising demonstrations without permission face jail terms of up to one year and hefty fines.

However, hundreds have gathered in downtown Cairo to protest against Egypt's high unemployment rate and the government's failure to increase the national minimum wage.

Workers' groups say the government's eagerness to attract foreign investment, has increasingly exposed the jobless to exploitation.

Al Jazeera's Tarek Bazley reports from Cairo. "

Hezbollah Rocket Inventories Worry Israel, U.S.

By Mona Alami

"BEIRUT, May 2, 2010 (IPS) - Recent warnings by the United States that Hezbollah (Party of God) possesses more rockets than most governments has once again placed the party’s arsenal under the spotlight.....

It was during the July 2006 war that Israel first experienced the extent of Hezbollah’s weaponry and military strategy. "Hezbollah was successful in the 2006 war because it was able to retain its firing capacity in spite of the Israeli bombings," said Timur Goskel, defence analyst and professor of conflict resolution at the American University of Beirut.

Blanford is sceptical about the Israeli Defence Force’s claim that much of Hezbollah’s chief long-range rockets were destroyed at the beginning of the 2006 war. "The party installed several dummy rocket launchers with fake heat signatures, which might have protected the party’s long-range capabilities," he told IPS.

The 2006 war also revealed that the Party of God had C-802 cruise missiles of Chinese origin, which were used against an Israeli battleship on Jul. 14. "No one imagined then that Hezbollah had this type of capability," says Goskel....."

Israelis, Palestinians 'to Start Talks within Days'

Al-Manar

"02/05/2010 Israeli and Palestinian officials said Sunday they expected to start indirect peace talks within days [What a farce!], following the Arab League's endorsement of a US-brokered plan to end the impasse.

"From the very start we have been in favor of peace talks without preconditions [colonization construction will be even sped up!] and the objective is to start in the

coming days, at the latest next week," Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon told public radio. "It is a positive development. The Arabs also want to break the deadlock," Ayalon added, referring to the Arab League decision Saturday to back a US plan to mediate talks between the sides as a prelude to direct negotiations....."

Interview with Human Rights Activist Caoimhe Butterly

Al-Manar Exclusive

"As the whole world has shifted to the “World Cup mode”, with flags of every participating country seen on balconies, cars, stores, and practically everything in most countries including Arab states, a European young woman has decided to give momentum to the struggle for the rights of the Palestinians in occupied territories and in diaspora.

On May 24, 2010, the Freedom Flotilla sets sail for Gaza determined to, once again, challenge Israel’s blockade of 1.5 million Palestinians trapped in an open-air prison. Under the coordination of the Free Gaza Movement, numerous human rights organizations, including the Turkish Relief Foundation (IHH), the Perdana Global Peace Organization from Malaysia, the European Campaign to End the Siege of Gaza, and the Swedish and Greek Boat to Gaza initiatives will send three cargo ships loaded with reconstruction, medical and educational supplies. At least five passenger boats with over 600 people on board will accompany the cargo ships.

Al-Manar.com.lb interviewed Caoimhe Butterly, the celebrated Irish human rights activist who worked on human rights observation projects and with NGOs in Zimbabwe, Chiapas, Guatemala, Iraq and Palestine. Caoimhe lived in the Jenin refugee camp for a year in 2002 before being shot by Israeli soldiers, then deported......."

'Unlike Europe, Iran never hurt Jews'

Press TV

"An Iranian lawmaker representing the country's Jewish minority says Iran has never harmed its Jewish community, condemning Western propaganda against Iran.

"While Jews were hurt by European churches during the Middle Ages, no case of a crackdown against Jews by Muslims has been reported in historical records," Siamak Morsadegh said in a conference on religious minorities that was held in Paris on Saturday. Iran's embassy in France had organized the conference that brought together a number of French intellectuals and scholars.

"Jews have been in Iran for the past 3,000 years, they consider themselves Iranian and they were martyred during the war" the Iranian lawmaker said, pointing to the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.

He also condemned Western propaganda against Iran calling it "baseless", IRNA reported.

The Jewish lawmaker objected to Israel's ongoing crackdown on Palestinians and stressed that the "Zionist school of thought does not represent Judaism in any way, just as al-Qaeda does not represent Islam."