Palestinian police officers beat a protester during clashes at a demonstration against the U.S.-sponsored Annapolis peace conference, in the West Bank city of Hebron, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2007. Palestinian police loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday violently dispersed a demonstration against the Annapolis peace conference, killing one protester, medical officials said. (AP Photo)


A Palestinian protester runs from members of the Palestinian security forces during an anti-Annapolis rally in the West Bank city of Hebron November 27, 2007. A Palestinian demonstrator was killed on Tuesday during a West Bank protest against the Annapolis peace conference that drew fire from Palestinian security forces, local medics said. Medical workers said the 35-year-old killed in Hebron had been shot in the chest and that 15 other protesters were injured during clashes with security forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas, who were trying to disperse the rally. REUTERS


A Palestinian police officer points his weapon at protesters during clashes at a demonstration against the U.S.-sponsored Annapolis peace conference, in the West Bank city of Hebron, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2007. Palestinian police loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday violently dispersed a demonstration against the Annapolis peace conference, killing one protester, medical officials said. (AP Photo)


A Palestinian police officer aims his automatic weapon at protesters, during a demonstration against the U.S. sponsored Annapolis meeting in the West Bank city of Hebron, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2007. (AP Photo)


Palestinian police officers beat a protester during clashes at a demonstration against the U.S. sponsored Annapolis meeting in the West Bank city of Hebron, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2007. Palestinian police loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday violently dispersed a demonstration against the Annapolis peace conference, killing one protester, medical officials said. (AP Photo)


Palestinian police officers arrest a protester during a demonstration against the U.S. sponsored Annapolis meeting in the West Bank city of Hebron, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2007. (AP Photo)


Members of the Palestinian security forces detain a protester during an anti-Annapolis rally in the West Bank city of Hebron November 27, 2007. A Palestinian demonstrator was killed on Tuesday during a West Bank protest against the Annapolis peace conference that drew fire from Palestinian security forces, local medics said. Medical workers said the 35-year-old killed in Hebron had been shot in the chest and that 15 other protesters were injured during clashes with security forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas, who were trying to disperse the rally. REUTERS


Members of the Palestinian security forces scuffle with a protester during an anti-Annapolis rally in the West Bank city of Hebron November 27, 2007. A Palestinian demonstrator was killed on Tuesday during a West Bank protest against the Annapolis peace conference that drew fire from Palestinian security forces, local medics said. REUTERS


Members of the Palestinian security forces scuffle with a protester during an anti-Annapolis rally in the West Bank city of Hebron November 27, 2007. A Palestinian demonstrator was killed on Tuesday during a West Bank protest against the Annapolis peace conference that drew fire from Palestinian security forces, local medics said. Medical workers said the 35-year-old killed in Hebron had been shot in the chest and that 15 other protesters were injured during clashes with security forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas, who were trying to disperse the rally. REUTERS


A Palestinian police officers points his rifle during clashes protester at a demonstration against the U.S.-sponsored Annapolis peace conference, in the West Bank city of Hebron, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2007. Palestinian police loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday violently dispersed a demonstration against the Annapolis peace conference, killing one protester, medical officials said. (AP Photo)


Members of the Palestinian security forces scuffle with a protester during an anti-Annapolis rally in the West Bank city of Hebron November 27, 2007. A Palestinian demonstrator was killed on Tuesday during a West Bank protest against the Annapolis peace conference that drew fire from Palestinian security forces, local medics said. Medical workers said the 35-year-old killed in Hebron had been shot in the chest and that 15 other protesters were injured during clashes with security forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas, who were trying to disperse the rally. REUTERS


Palestinian police officers arrest a man during clashes at a demonstration against the U.S. sponsored Annapolis meeting in the West Bank city of Hebron, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2007. Palestinian police loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday violently dispersed a demonstration against the Annapolis peace conference, killing one protester, medical officials said. (AP Photo)


Members of the Palestinian security forces scuffle with protesters during an anti-Annapolis rally in the West Bank city of Hebron November 27, 2007. A Palestinian demonstrator was killed on Tuesday during a West Bank protest against the Annapolis peace conference that drew fire from Palestinian security forces, local medics said. Medical workers said the 35-year-old killed in Hebron had been shot in the chest and that 15 other protesters were injured during clashes with security forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas, who were trying to disperse the rally. (REUTERS)


Palestinian police officers beat a protester during clashes at a demonstration against the U.S.-sponsored Annapolis peace conference, in the West Bank city of Hebron, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2007. Palestinian police loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday violently dispersed a demonstration against the Annapolis peace conference, killing one protester, medical officials said. (AP Photo)


Members of the Palestinian security forces take position outside a mosque, where Palestinians were praying before heading out to a anti-Annapolis rally, in the West Bank city of Ramallah November 27, 2007. Security forces clashed with protesters, hitting out at the crowd with batons, shooting into the air and firing tear gas to disperse the rallies. (REUTERS)


A Palestinian police officer swings his baton at a protester during a demonstration against the U.S.-sponsored Annapolis peace conference, in the West Bank city of Hebron, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2007. Palestinian police loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday violently dispersed a demonstration against the Annapolis peace conference, killing one protester, medical officials said. (AP Photo)


Palestinan security forces loyal to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas arrest a demonstrator protesting against the U.S.-sponsored Mideast peace conference, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2007. (AP Photo)


Members of the Palestinian security forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas stand in front of protestors during a demonstration in the West Bank city of Ramallah November 27, 2007 against the US-sponsored peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland. Security forces in Ramallah, Abbas's West Bank stronghold, dispersed crowds after scuffles at a protest there. REUTERS


Jordanian protesters burn an Israeli flag in Amman November 27, 2007, during a protest against the Middle East peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland. REUTERS


Jordanian protesters hold pictures of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during a protest in Amman November 27, 2007, against the Middle East peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland. (REUTERS)


Jordanian protesters hold pictures of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during a protest in Amman November 27, 2007, against the Middle East peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland. (REUTERS)


Members of the Palestinian security forces surround a protester during an anti-Annapolis rally in the West Bank city of Ramallah November 27, 2007. Hundreds defied a ban on anti-Annapolis rallies in the West Bank. Abbas's security forces clashed with protesters, hitting out at the crowd with batons, shooting into the air and firing tear gas to disperse the rallies. (REUTERS)


Palestinian police officers march through the center of the West Bank city of Ramallah, to prevent demonstrations against the U.S.-sponsored Annapolis Mideast peace summit, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2007. (AP Photo)


Egyptian women shout anti-U.S slogans as they demonstrate against U.S. Annapolis, Maryland, Middle East peace conference to be attended by representatives of 16 Arab countries, during a protest in Cairo, Egypt, on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2007, as they carry posters of late Egyptian Arab nationalism leader Gamal Abdel Nasser. Arabic slogan read as 'Annapolis conference is support for the American-Zionist project and liquidation of the Palestinian issue'. (AP Photo)


Palestinians rally against the Annapolis Mideast conference, in Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp, south Lebanon, November 27,2007. (REUTERS)


Members of the Palestinian security forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas, take position during a demonstration in the West Bank city of Ramallah November 27, 2007 against the US-sponsored peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland. (REUTERS)




Members of the Palestinian security forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas detain a protestor during a demonstration in the West Bank city of Ramallah November 27, 2007 against the US-sponsored peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland. Security forces in Ramallah, Abbas's West Bank stronghold, dispersed crowds after scuffles at a protest there. (REUTERS)



A Palestinian police officer swings his baton at a protester during a demonstration against the U.S. sponsored Annapolis meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2007. (AP Photo)

The Palestinian protest against the Annapolis conference

"As leaders commenced the Annapolis conference in Maryland USA, Palestinians took to the streets in the West Bank city of Ramallah and Gaza city in protest against the conference.

In Ramallah scores of Palestinians responded to the call by the popular committees against the Wall and a number of Palestinian nongovernmental organizations to protest in the city center. The protesters called for the Palestinian delegation at the conference not to make any more compromises until Israel ends its occupation of Palestinian land.


Palestinian police attacked the protest, arresting at least 5 people and leaving several residents injured.

In Gaza city, thousands gathered in the city center in response to a call by the ruling Hamas party and the Islamic Jihad movement. Leaders of both movements delivered speeches declaring the Annapolis conference as yet another agreement aimed at killing the Palestinian case and the dream of freedom. Local sources reported that more protests are expected to take place later in the day in the cities of Ramallah and Bethlehem.

The Palestinian appointed government in the West Bank issued a statement on Monday evening trying to prevent the demonstration organized against the Annapolis conference. The Israeli army for its part erected blockades around the cities in the West Bank with soldiers at the military checkpoints implementing harsh military tactics such as searching residents and restricting there movement in addition to closing all checkpoints leading to Israeli controlled areas from the West Bank. "

'Our' dictator gets away with it

By Pepe Escobar
Asia Times

".....Musharraf's bungled approach has in fact accelerated what may be the partition of Pakistan - a cataclysmic event that would not be exactly regretted in Washington. Admiral William Fallon, US Central Command chief, has made a typical Bush administration "creative destruction" proposition to Musharraf: let us fight the Taliban in the tribal areas and in the Swat Valley. Musharraf might have been in trouble, but he's certainly not suicidal; that would lead directly to the partition of Pakistan.

Khaled Ahmed of the Friday Times newspaper has been one among many to alert what may happen: Pakistan reduced to basically the Punjab. The NWFP would gladly recover a lot of hydroelectric power. Balochistan would gladly recover a lot of gas - and become a Turkmenistan-style gas republic. And Sindh would gladly profit from its industry and ports.

The partition of Pakistan as we know it is not such a far-fetched scenario because, according to a wealth of Pakistani civil society's opinions, there seems to be no national consensus whatsoever regarding the current mega-crisis. This is above all a crisis of the Pakistani state - which simply cannot be in place any more just based on an idea of Islam.

Washington think-tanks will come up with piles of studies certifying how to profit from the partition of Pakistan......."

US wages covert war on Iraq-Iran border

By Nelson Rand
Asia Times

"For weeks, the Iranian artillery has been raining shells on hills where suspected Kurdish anti-Iranian militants are based on both sides of the Iran-Iraq border. At the same time, elite US Special Forces are operating inside Iran, training the militants and scouting potential targets for air strikes, a former commando tells Nelson Rand. The Kurdish administration in northern Iraq has placed temporary curbs on the anti-Tehran rebels, but as they have US backing, their fight is far from over.....

But with likely support from the United States and the possibility of a US-led strike on Iran, these temporary constraints appear mere hiccups in an otherwise healthy geopolitical environment for the guerilla group. The PJAK seems destined for anything but demise......."

Chasing a ghost

Annapolis: The 'viable Palestinian state' is an illusion, a deformed reality from which Palestinians must break free

A Very Good Comment
By Soumaya Ghannoushi
The Guardian

"If Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas is to be believed, the Annapolis peace conference "will be a historic opportunity to open a new page in the history of the Middle East based on the establishment of our independent Palestinian state". But this seems more like wishful thinking. For aside from being more concerned with preparing the ground for the approaching attack on Iran than with resolving the Palestinian Israeli conflict, the conference is subject to a set of limitations that combine to lower its threshold and shrink its potential.

The first of these is Bush's letter to former Israeli Prime Minister Sharon of 14 April 2004 which was ratified in both houses of the US Congress. The document confers full American backing for Israel's positions regarding refugees - who would be settled outside Israel's borders in contravention of UN resolution 194, which demands their immediate return to their homes - and illegal settlements, since as it states "In light of new realities on the ground, including already existing major Israeli population centres, it is unrealistic to expect that the outcome of final status negotiations will be a full and complete return to the armistice lines of 1949." In other words, Palestinians should accept Israel's expropriations as a fait accompli.

The second is the demand that Arabs recognise the Jewishness of the Israeli state. This would effectively wipe out the existence of over four million Palestinian refugees. It would mean the legitimisation of the forced expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians by Zionist gangs and militias in the lead up to, and after the establishment of the state of Israel and possible ethnic cleansing of the remaining 1.5 millions inside Israel.

This is the thrust of the Israeli foreign minister's recent statement that "It must be clear to everyone that the state of Israel is a national homeland for the Jewish people," and that "the future Palestinian state would provide a solution to Palestinians worldwide - including Israeli Arabs - in their struggle for national expression. Coming from one of the most senior officials in the Israeli government, this signals a move towards the transfer policy championed by many within the Israeli political class......

On the core issues at the heart of the conflict very little will be said: viz, the occupation, settlements, separation wall, refugees' status, and Jerusalem. Instead, we will hear much on the coming of the "viable Palestinian state", an amorphous shapeless and faceless notion devised to divert attention from the real issues on the ground. This is one of history's greatest fallacies; a "state" founded with no distinct boundaries, no coherent territory, no freedom of movement, no control over borders, water, airspace or communications, no economic viability, no military, and not even the right to forge alliances without Israeli permission.

A handful of scattered cantons enclosed by Israel from all sides, this "state" had been invented to fulfil a crucial task: the regulation of the indigenous population's movement internally - much like the colonial administrations of old. What it amounts to in the final run is a collection of security services devised to relieve the Israeli military machine of the Palestinian burden. Yitzhak Rabin used to wish that he would awake in the morning and find that Gaza had drowned in the sea. Oslo was his chance to do just that.

Palestinians have been chasing this ghost, this endless mirage since Madrid 16 years ago, all in vain. The foggy entity keeps shrinking by the hour. Today, all that Palestinians have been left with is much less than 12% cent of historic Palestine and only 10% of land occupied in 1967, with 30% of prime agricultural land annexed in the Jordan Valley for a border with Jordan, and 9.5% expropriated from the West Bank for the wall, the military buffer zones around the Israeli settlements, the restricted reservation areas, the security checkpoints, and all the Israeli-only roads. Palestine is gone and all that remains is the "viable Palestinian state".

It is time that Palestinians broke free from this deformed reality in which they have embroiled themselves, where prisoner turns into jailer in a bigger Israeli jail. For the truth is that all are prisoners in a prison whose keys lie in an Israeli hand. They must regain their unity, reject this sick state of schism and self-mutilation, and rebuild bridges between the West Bank and Gaza on the shared ground of opposing occupation, dismantling settlements, demolishing the Apartheid wall, and returning the displaced to their homes through a civil protest movement and the mobilisation of international public opinion in their favour.

It is time they shook off the suicidal illusion of statehood. Had the Algerians, Vietnamese, or any of the nations whose lands were occupied throughout history viewed their reality through the prism of the "viable state", they would have never wrested land and sovereignty and never founded a state. Liberating land and freeing sovereignty are the way to the state and not the other way round."

Current Al-Jazeera (Arabic) Online Poll

The question is:

Do you support Arab participation in the Annapolis meeting?

With about 1,000 responding so far, 85% said NO.

Video: The Headmistress Condi and Her "Shater" Kids

The International Call to Stop The Gaza Siege Now

Don't Forget to Sign the Petition Today! Time is Running Out and You Could be Helping to Save Someone's Life in Gaza

Iraq Has Only Militants, No Civilians

by Dahr Jamail

".....From the beginning of the American occupation in Iraq, air strikes and attacks by the U.S. military have only killed “militants,” “criminals,” “suspected insurgents,” “IED [Improvised Explosive Device] emplacers,” “anti-American fighters,” “terrorists,” “military age males,” “armed men,” “extremists,” or “al-Qaeda.”

The pattern for reporting on such attacks has remained the same from the early years of the occupation to today.....

Iraqis Dehumanized

None of this — from the unending “incidents” themselves to the way the Pentagon has dominated the reporting of them — would have been possible without a widespread dehumanization of Iraqis among American soldiers (and a deep-set, if largely unexpressed and little considered, conviction on the American “home front” that Iraqi lives are worth little). If, four decades ago, the Vietnamese were “gooks,” “dinks,” and “slopes,” the Iraqis of the American occupation are “hajis,” “sand-niggers,” and “towel heads.” Latent racism abets the dehumanization process, ably assisted by a mainstream media that tends, with honorable exceptions, to accept Pentagon announcements as at least an initial approximation of reality in Iraq......

It is an indication of the success of an effective Pentagon “tactical perception management campaign,” of the way the Bush administration has continued to “catapult propaganda,” and of the dehumanization of Iraqis that has gone with it, that the possibility of the number of dead Iraqis being in this range has largely been dismissed (or remained generally undealt with) in the mainstream media in the United States. Add to that the refusal of the U.S. military to bring justice to those charged with some of these heinous crimes, the lack of accountability, and an establishment media which has regularly camouflaged the true nature of the occupation, and we have the perfect setting for a continuance of industrial-scale slaughter in Iraq, even while the news highlights the likes of Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan and their adventures in various rehab clinics.

In what could reasonably serve as a summary of the American occupation of Iraq, the eighteenth century philosopher Voltaire wrote, “It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.”

Courtesy of Imad Khadduri's blog, Free Iraq

Leaders Gather in Annapolis for U.S.-Sponsored Middle East Summit, Hamas Not Invited

Democracy Now!
With Amy Goodman

A Good Interview

".......Phyllis Bennis is a fellow at the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Policy Studies, where she focuses on US Middle East policy. Her most recent book is Understanding the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: A Primer. She joins us now from Washington, D.C.

Phyllis Bennis, what do you expect to happen at this summit?

PHYLLIS BENNIS: Very little, Amy. I think there has been a great successful effort at tamping down expectations. But what has not been clarified is that the real goal of these meetings also have very little to do with actually reaching a just and comprehensive and lasting peace, which of course requires ending Israeli occupation and ending Israel’s policies of apartheid and discrimination.

There are two real goals for this meeting; neither of them have really anything to do with Palestinian rights, a Palestinian state, Israeli security or anything else. They are, number one, to shore up Arab States’ support for the US crusades against Iran and Iraq in the region, and, two, to rebuild Condoleezza Rice's legacy, which right now is grounded in her being the person who stood before the world in the summer of 2006, as Israeli bombs were devastating Lebanon, and said, “We don’t need a ceasefire yet.” She wants to change that. That’s a huge part of why this meeting is going forward.....

PHYLLIS BENNIS: Well, on the question of Lebanon, the political crisis is very strong. There is no agreement yet on -- between the two almost-equal factions in the government about how to choose the successor to President Lahoud, who just resigned at the end of his term. There are new negotiations scheduled for this coming weekend. But it does mean that Lebanon, even if other parties are discussing it -- for example, the Syrians or the Israelis -- the Lebanese are not in a position to play much of a role at this conference. I assume they will send an official delegation, but it will be understood that it will not be a delegation that is authorized to speak in any definitive way.

The question of Iran, of course, is very central. Even European diplomats, even the Israeli Meretz Party and many others around the world, are acknowledging that this summit has more to do with Iran than it does with the Palestinians. This is a summit designed to shore up Arab States’ support for the US escalations against Iran. This is a situation in which most Arab regimes would be only too happy to jump into the US -- to jump into bed with the US in attacking Iran. The problem is that the Arab people in all those Arab countries are not so keen on that, do not see Iran as a major enemy. So, in order to gain political credibility at home and avoid being overthrown, in some cases, those governments need to be able to give their people something. The US is essentially throwing them a bone, saying, “Here, give your people this, so that you can come onboard our anti-Iran crusade and stay onboard our war in Iraq.” The bone they are throwing to the Arab regimes is this photo op in Annapolis."

U.S. Jewish leader visits Pakistan to show support to Musharraf

Head of AJC Council for World Jewry meets Pakistani Pres., army leaders, says leader essential for security

"With the blessing of Washington, Jack Rosen, chairman of the American Jewish Congress's Council for World Jewry, traveled halfway across the globe for a face-to-face meeting with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, who he had hailed two years ago as a courageous leader and driving force in Jewish-Muslim dialogue.....

"The real choice we face is not between Musharraf and a return to an effective democratic system, but between Musharraf and the possible collapse of Pakistan," Rosen wrote in a letter to the editor appearing in this week's edition of the Jewish Daily Forward.

Rosen made the trip to Islamabad after consulting with the State Department and key members of Congress......"

The Judaization of East Jerusalem

by Alice Rothchild

"With the Golden Dome and the ancient walls of the Old City as backdrop, the cascade of Palestinian homes in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan is undergoing a dramatic transition.

At first it is hard to spot the Israeli flags draped over scattered homes on the hill, but it is soon easily apparent that right-wing Jewish settlers and politically motivated archaeologists are rushing to claim this fragment of the Holy City as the ancient City of David, complete with a visitors center and busloads of young Israeli recruits and tourists, and plaques thanking generous donors for their support.

Then there is the little-noticed news that the Israeli Parliament has given preliminary approval to a bill, in violation of international law and United Nations resolutions, which would seize East Jerusalem as a permanent part of Israel. It is thus not surprising that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s belated efforts to corral reluctant world diplomats to an increasingly downgraded meeting in Annapolis are rapidly becoming mission impossible.......

A particularly egregious player in this dangerous political game is Irving Moskowitz, a U.S. physician, bingo and gambling magnate, who secretly purchases Palestinian homes in and around East Jerusalem using front organizations that appear to be Arab, and then rapidly flips the property to extremist Jewish settlers, often arranging new construction and infusions of militant settlers at particularly sensitive political moments.

His foundation is also an avid supporter of American Friends of Ateret Cohanim, a group of militant Jews who believe that Jews should be in sole control of the Old City and should rebuild the Old Temple on the site of the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque......."

Video: Shater...Shater

Heading for Annapolis

Fantasy vs. Reality in Palestine-Israel

By KATHLEEN and BILL CHRISTISON
CounterPunch

In Jerusalem.

"......These establishment Palestinians, in the assessment of one serious Palestinian analyst, are almost desperate for some kind of American involvement, as the only hope of ever overcoming Israeli intransigence and moving toward a peace agreement. They believe that, because the U.S. has now become engaged and supports Mahmoud Abbas, this will bring at least a credible peace process, and they operate on the naïve assumption that if you get a peace process, you'll get peace.

But, back in real life, where Palestinians live with the grim daily realities of the occupation and the remembrance of two wasted decades of unproductive peacemaking efforts, any mention of Annapolis is greeted with cynicism and black humor. To the assertions of wishful thinkers in the establishment that Condoleezza Rice has a good understanding of the Palestinian position going into Annapolis, the Palestinian man in the street offers a short video on his mobile phone -- a clip circulating so widely that it is difficult to find anyone who has not seen it -- showing a flirtatious Rice with bouncy curls and swinging hips, singing to a line-up of "moderate" Arab leaders seated in front of her (the ones known to be more or less in the U.S. pocket) that they are "good boys" for having done the U.S. bidding......."

***

The reference is to the video Shater, Shater, which I will repost!

Tragedy and Travesty at Annapolis

By Stephen Lendman

"November 27 at Annapolis kicks off the latest Israeli-Palestinian Middle East peace process round that may be an historic first. It's the first time in memory the legitimate government of one side is excluded, and that alone dooms it. Like previous rounds, it's more pretense than peace, and as Jonathan Steele puts it in his November 16 Guardian column "The Palestinian path to peace does not go via Annapolis....so what do....Palestinians do next....In their decades-long bid for justice, they have tried everything:" armed struggle to compromise, but nothing works and the reason is simple. Their sincerity isn't matched by Israel, the West, other Arab states and the US most of all with all the muscle in its hands to push or constrain Israelis to be serious and fair. That's the problem. How can one side negotiate in good faith without a willing partner.......

Either way matters little as once again fanciful language will substitute for substantive results. With Gaza under siege, Hamas uninvited, and an illegitimate government in its place, peace and any progress toward resolution can't happen. That's how it's always been and won't change until Israel begins negotiating in good faith. But that won't happen until the world community accepts nothing less because world public opinion and people of conscience demand it."

(Click on cartoon to enlarge)
By Khalil Bendib

Iran: The uninvited guest a peace summit

By Kaveh L Afrasiabi
Asia Times

"Tuesday's Arab-Israeli peace summit in Annapolis, Maryland, is supposed to be about resolving long-standing Palestinian issues, the Golan Heights, and other contentious matters. But, increasingly, it is framed in the United States and Israeli media as a dual-purpose conference, the other being the containment of Iran.

Thus, an editorial in the Jerusalem Post writes that "the process that Annapolis seeks to launch will be inherently conditional on Western success against the Iranian challenge ... The idea that holding an Arab-Israeli peace summit would be a setback for Iran is a valid one." The more liberal Ha'aretz went even further by stating the goal of the Annapolis conference to be the formation of a "global coalition against Iran".....

In conclusion, the potential for a successful resolution of the Iran nuclear crisis has now gained unprecedented momentum and erasing that momentum by a "peace conference" is also a distinct possibility that, hopefully, will be avoided by the triumph of reason and a peace mindset at the Annapolis summit. "

Israel's Cement Supplier Negotiating a new Cement Deal with Livni on the Side?
He is All Ears

Driving Miss Condi

A Great Piece
By Franklin Lamb

"......Skilled at Curriculum Vitae enhancement, Miss Condi is not about to follow others over the rails of the sinking Bush ship. With a flurry of activity which both she and her colleagues know is pure fluff and photo op, she is hyping the moribund ‘Roadmap’ and planning a menu of Maryland Blue Crabs for the 49 invitees to the Annapolis ‘Middle East Peace Conference’ next week which any self respecting Arab would do well to avoid.....

....A Palestinian quisling signature on an understanding that will likely be offered on the Chesapeake Bay risks condemning a Palestinian “state” to a small portion of its territory. The Annapolis gathering is not being convened to benefit Palestinians. It is designed to give Israel a cover for taking more Palestinian land and cleansing more of the Arabs from the “the land of Israel”, by setting up Palestinian leaders for the ‘Israel has no peace partner’ hustle just as the Clinton, Dennis Ross, and Barak trio did to Arafat at Camp David in 2000.

The Annapolis get-together is designed for legacy-building for Bush and CV enhancement for Rice, as well as pressuring Iran, weakening Hamas, and shoring up Arab ‘leaders’ support for the US occupation of Iraq.......

Rice’s cold words during the July 2006 War are indelibly etched throughout Lebanon and the Middle East:

“We are witnessing the birth pangs of the New Middle East”, she trumpeted, as Israel targeted civilian convoys and killed the fleeing Canadian Hasan al-Akrass family of 15 from Montreal, 8 of them children, and bombed other families who took to the roads on Israeli orders near Marwahin on July 15, and yet another convoy of more than 3,000 fleeing refugees the UN got Israeli permission for on August 11 at Marjayoun, killing or wounding more than 40.

“We don’t want a ceasefire yet”, Rice told the United Nations Security Council in late July 2006 as Israel bombed families in a basement shelter at Qana, killing 28 civilians including 16 children and killed four UN Observers near Khiam and continued the relentless slaughter of more than 1,250 civilians, with 84.5% of Israel’s weapons coming from America according to the October 2007 Report of the General Accounting Office.

“Israel has a right to defend itself and we will wait for a sustainable ceasefire “, she told the World from her podium at the UN as more than $4 billon in destruction was inflicted on Lebanon’s infrastructure, factories, schools, agriculture, and more 15,400 homes......."

America in the Time of Empire

By Chris Hedges

"All great empires and nations decay from within. By the time they hobble off the world stage, overrun by the hordes at the gates or vanishing quietly into the pages of history books, what made them successful and powerful no longer has relevance. This rot takes place over decades, as with the Soviet Union, or, even longer, as with the Roman, Ottoman or Austro-Hungarian empires. It is often imperceptible.

Dying empires cling until the very end to the outward trappings of power. They mask their weakness behind a costly and technologically advanced military. They pursue increasingly unrealistic imperial ambitions. They stifle dissent with efficient and often ruthless mechanisms of control. They lose the capacity for empathy, which allows them to see themselves through the eyes of others, to create a world of accommodation rather than strife. The creeds and noble ideals of the nation become empty cliches, used to justify acts of greater plunder, corruption and violence. By the end, there is only a raw lust for power and few willing to confront it.....

The decision to measure the strength of the state in military terms is fatal. It leads to a growing cynicism among a disenchanted citizenry and a Hobbesian ethic of individual gain at the expense of everyone else. Few want to fight and die for a Halliburton or an Exxon. This is why we do not have a draft. It is why taxes have not been raised and we borrow to fund the war. It is why the state has organized, and spends billions to maintain, a mercenary army in Iraq. We leave the fighting and dying mostly to our poor and hired killers. No nationwide sacrifices are required. We will worry about it later.

It all amounts to a tacit complicity on the part of a passive population. This permits the oligarchy to squander capital and lives. It creates a world where we speak exclusively in the language of violence. It has plunged us into an endless cycle of war and conflict that is draining away the vitality, resources and promise of the nation.

It signals the twilight of our empire. "

Video: niños de Palestina (Children of Palestine)

Contributed by Lucia in Spain

Sayyed Khamenei, Ahmadinejad Denounce Annapolis Summit

Al-Manar

"Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution and Chief Commander of the Armed Forces Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei on Monday denounced a US-sponsored conference in Annapolis, saying the meeting will bring about nothing for the Palestinians. The aim of the conference is to "give assistance to the occupying regime" of Israel, the leader said of the ongoing efforts by the White House which Sayyed Khamenei described as "the Black House".......

Moreover, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told Saudi King Abdullah that he "wished" the kingdom was not taking part in a US-hosted conference for settlement in the Middle East, state media reported Monday. "I wish the name of Saudi Arabia was not among those attending the Annapolis conference," Ahmadinejad was quoted as telling Abdullah in a telephone conversation late Sunday, according to the IRNA agency.

"Arab countries should be watchful in the face of the plots and deception of the Zionist enemy," he added. "The US government, which is an accomplice to Zionist crimes, cannot play the role of savior by hosting the Annapolis conference," he continued. More than a dozen Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia and Syria, are to send representatives. Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said he had been "reluctant" to join the conference but agreed to go so as not to break Arab consensus........"

When You Have No Shame, Say Anything. The Shameless Syrian Regime: 'Syria Will Foil Olmert's Plan to Force Normalization' (by Normalizing!)

Al-Manar

"26/11/2007 "Syria will attend the Annapolis conference in order to examine the US's commitment to peace," according to Monday's editorial in Syria's official daily newspaper Teshreen......

"Syria will be part of the consensus which aims to force Israel to follow International and Arab principles for peace, and to foil [Israeli Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert's plan to force Arab countries to recognize Israel as a Jewish state," the article read.

Also on Monday, the London-based Arabic daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi quoted Arab diplomatic sources as saying that Saudi pressure prompted Syria's announcement that it will be participating in the Annapolis conference.....The Saudis headed the group of nations which requested that Washington soften its approach to Syria, the sources said, adding that one of the motivations for Syria's attendance was to slacken US pressure on Damascus."

***

What can you say to such mendacity and duplicity? The analogy that comes to mind is that of a seasoned whore who says that she sleeps with her clients just to prove that they are not honorable men!

PA-Israeli document liquidating RoR unveiled

An Important Story

"OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- The Hebrew Haaretz newspaper has unveiled in its late edition on Monday a "serious" PA-Israeli document that aims at liquidating the right of return of millions of Palestinian refugees to their homeland in the 1948-occupied Palestinian lands.

According to the paper, an Israeli group close to Israeli premier Ehud Olmert along with a Palestinian team associated with PA chief Mahmoud Abbas had negotiated the possibility of replacing the RoR with some economic projects that could cost 90 billion dollars.

The document, the paper added, was an initial semi-official attempt to dismantle the barrier of the RoR and to transform it into economic benefits that could help reaching practical solutions to the issue.

The paper also quoted Israeli deputy premier Haim Ramon as saying that the document was a work paper that both Israeli and Palestinian parties should study, and once PA-Israeli talks on the final status started, the document could help the negotiating teams of what is possible to do......

Furthermore, the paper disclosed that a number of international parties, including the World Bank and the EU among other parties had financed activities of the Israeli group in coordination with the Peres center for peace and the Data Institution in Bethlehem city.

A number of alternatives were suggested by the document to solve the refugees' issue, including naturalizing them in their host countries and improving their housing, transferring and naturalizing them in different countries, and sending them to the PA-controlled land that could be arranged with the Israelis through the "exchange of lands" process....."

Kurdistan leader Masoud Barzani reported secretly admitted to an Israeli hospital after attempted assassination

November 25, 2007, 10:12 PM (GMT+02:00)

"The president of Iraqi Kurdistan is said to have been taken secretly to a hospital in central Tel Aviv after a brief stopover in Amman, Jordan. This is not confirmed by any other source. Neither is the report that Barzani had been wounded Friday, Nov. 24, in an assassination attempt by one of his aides in Irbil, the Kurdish capital. Kurdish officials only admitted he was out of the country, while a source close to Barzani’s Kurdistan Democratic Party said he had been taken out of Iraq Friday for medical treatment without mentioning his destination."

Ah......
Finally,.....Genuine Peace!

We have not given up

The Palestinian people will not yield to the west's cynical pressure on them to surrender

A Great Comment
By Karma Nabulsi
(fellow in politics and international relations at St Edmund Hall, Oxford University)
Monday November 26, 2007
The Guardian

Contributed by Lucia

"If you want bad symbolism, you need look no further than the venue. The US naval academy of Annapolis
is the current representation of unrestrained global supremacy, from where young cadets are being sent forth to occupy Arab land by force of arms. Appropriate place, then, for the US to host the meeting between Palestinian officials and the Israeli state, with every important government and international institution in obedient attendance. No one has misunderstood the nature of this meeting or is vaguely fooled by what is taking place. What we have at Annapolis is yet another ultimatum to the Palestinian people to surrender their sovereign rights.....

......There is no peace process, and hasn't been one for a very long time. It is no secret this conference won't bring an improvement in the intolerable status quo. It is a meeting to legitimise that status quo......

Our leaders, our pundits, are worn out, defeated: they simply want it over with. They no longer believe they can do anything to help the Palestinians gain their freedom, or even have a responsibility to do so......The desire emanating throughout European ministries for the Palestinians to surrender is now palpable.

Yes, these are tired politicians without valour who are holding the reins of power in Palestine, the Arab world and the west. And there has never been a more visible rupture between governments and ordinary citizens than we witness today. But this also reveals a more hopeful reality: ordinary citizens all over the world have not given up on the Palestinians, and the Palestinians have not given up on themselves. They are organising to create a national consensus and democratic representation, calling for steadfastness and courage: this general will is manifest everywhere today except Annapolis.

In Venice the astonishing art of young Emily Jacir, which paid tribute to the sublime in the Palestinian history of freedom, won her the Golden Lion at the Biennale, and demonstrated to the world that the undimmed Palestinian heart is true and free. Today in Villiers-sur-Loir, a village near Paris, more than 100 young Palestinians from every continent overcame the obstacles of visas, checkpoints and lack of passports to join a remarkable initiative, the Palestinian Youth Network, to "prove that the cause of Palestine remains in the hearts and consciousness of this new generation of Palestinians throughout the world" and to further discussions on a common political platform. Today our eyes are not on Annapolis, for there is no future there. Today they are on Villiers-sur-Loir."

Posing For A Peace Snap:

The Photo Ops in Maryland Will Be Easy. Developing a Fix For Mideast Woes, a Little More Difficult

by Eric Margolis
The Toronto Sun

"....After creating disasters in Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, and Palestine, and fanning worldwide anger against America, President George Bush desperately needs a foreign policy success in the final year of his ill-starred term. So the same White House fib factory that produced such hit science fiction epics as Saddam’s Death Rays, Iran’s Nukes Menace the Globe and Muslim Terrorists Under Our Beds has been ordered to churn out the pre-Xmas fantasy Bush Brings Peace to the Holy Land.

A bunch of U.S. clients has been dragooned into reluctantly appearing as spear carriers. The cast includes Israeli PM Ehud Olmert, Palestinian semi-leader Mahmoud Abbas, and delegations from U.S. Arab allies......

Abbas can’t even control his own extreme factions that launch attacks on Israelis, never mind militant Hamas Islamists who lob rockets at Israel from that other open air prison, Gaza. Washington and Israel are trying to starve Hamas and Gaza into submission while building up the ineffectual, but obedient, Abbas, whom they engineered into power after PLO leader Yasser Arafat’s mysterious death.

America’s other Arab clients proclaim their support of Palestinian rights while secretly collaborating with Israel to thwart emergence of an independent Palestinian state on the West Bank. Hamas’ victory in free democratic elections in Gaza sent tremors of fear through the region’s U.S.-backed monarchies and dictatorships.

Palestinian Mini-State

The Bush administration’s goal is to get Olmert to agree to a feeble Palestinian mini-state made up of tiny cantons isolated by Israeli-only roads, led by U.S. and Israeli appointed yes-men who will keep their more volatile compatriots in line......."

Israelis Reject Ceding Golan Heights to Syria

"(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Many adults in Israel believe their government should not include the Golan Heights in an eventual peace agreement with Syria, according to a poll by the Dahaf Institute published in Yediot Ahronot. 70 per cent of respondents are not prepared to give up on the Golan Heights......."

By Tom Toles

Demands of a thief

By Gideon Levy

"...... Israel is not being asked "to give" anything to the Palestinians; it is only being asked to return - to return their stolen land and restore their trampled self-respect, along with their fundamental human rights and humanity. This is the primary core issue, the only one worthy of the title, and no one talks about it anymore......

.....there is no justification for abusing an entire people in the name of our security. The question of whether ending the occupation would threaten or strengthen Israel's security is irrelevant. There are not, and cannot be, any preconditions for restoring justice.

No one will discuss this at Annapolis. Even if the real core issues were raised, they would focus on secondary questions - borders, Jerusalem and even refugees. But that would be escaping the main issue. After 40 years, one might have expected that the real core issue would finally be raised for honest and bold discussion: Does Israel have the moral right to continue the occupation? The world should have asked this long ago. The Palestinians should have focused only on this. And above all, we, who bear the guilt, should have been terribly troubled by the answer to this question. "

Livni: 'No Arab meddling in talks.' This Woman Has More Balls Than All the "Men" Attending

Upon landing in Washington, FM Tzipi Livni outlines what she expects from the Arab world. 'They are not to define the terms of negotiations, or even be involved in them, only to stand behind the Palestinians'

"......During the flight, Livni said that "the Arab world is not supposed to define the terms of negotiations or even be involved in them." When asked what role she envisions for Arab leaders in the peace process, she said, "there is not a Palestinian in the world who could compromise without the entire Arab world standing behind him; this is part of the Palestinian ethos."......."

Hezbollah, Iran, Hamas Denounce Annapolis Talks

Al-Manar

"25/11/2007 Hezbollah joined Iran and Hamas movement on Sunday in denouncing this week's U.S.-hosted Middle East conference, calling it a "media show" in support of Israel. The United States aims to relaunch settlement talks on Palestinian statehood at Tuesday's conference in Annapolis, Maryland, that will bring together Arab and Israeli leaders.

"He who looks at the preparations for the Annapolis conference finds that it has no gains for the Palestinians. It is a media-political show in favor of Israel," Hezbollah's Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Kassem told a rally in Beirut. He said the conference aimed at propping up some Palestinian leaders, a clear reference to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

Iran said on Sunday the conference in Annapolis would result in an erosion of Palestinian rights because Washington had shown in the past that it was not an objective mediator. Iran called in October called for a boycott of the meeting. "The organizers of this conference are Americans and past experience tells us that they cannot be objective and credible mediators and they are providing all out support for the Zionist regime," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said, making a reference to ‘Israel’. "The end result of all of these conferences leads to a further erosion of Palestinian rights," he told a news conference.

"This conference, and whatever comes out of it, will not be fruitful if it does not safeguard the rights of Palestinians," Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said, IRNA news agency reported. "Attending this conference shows a lack of political intelligence... The names of those who give concessions to the Zionist occupiers by attending will not be remembered for goodness," the president told a gathering of Iran's Basij religious group.

On Saturday, Hamas condemned the decision by Arab powers to endorse next week's conference, saying the talks would favor Israeli policies rather than Palestinian demands. Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri called the announcement "a great shock for Palestinians because it opened the door for direct normalization with the occupation (Israel) amid (its) continued escalation and aggression."
"The Palestinian people had awaited an Arab consensus for breaking the siege," Abu Zuhri said in a statement, referring to a Western aid embargo and Israeli military crackdowns on Gaza since Hamas democratically won the elections in 2006.
"This meeting will only achieve more failure and more harm to the Palestinian cause and to Arab and Palestinian rights," he added."

وثيقة فلسطينية – صهيونية خطيرة لتصفية قضية "حق العودة" بـ 90 مليار دولار

This is a Must Read for Those Who Read Arabic; I will Post the English Version When Available.

"القدس المحتلة – المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام

كشفت صحيفة عبرية النقاب عن وثيقة جرى إعدادها من قبل مجموعة صهيونية مقربة من رئيس الوزراء إيهود أولمرت وأخرى فلسطينية على علاقة مع رئيس السلطة محمود عباس، تهدف إلى تصفية "حق العودة" للاجئين الفلسطينيين بصورة نهائية.

واستناداً إلى ما نشرته صحيفة "هآرتس" في عددها الأخير؛ فإن الوثيقة تضمنت ترجمة حق العودة إلى الوطن من لغة الحقوق التاريخية إلى مركبات اقتصادية تصل كلفتها إلى ما يقارب 90 مليار دولار، بمعدل 14-21 ألف دولار لكل لاجئ.

وفي كل الحالات؛ فإن الوثيقة المذكورة، والتي شارك فيها مجموعة فلسطينية، تنفي حق اللاجئين في العودة إلى الديار التي هجروا منها في الأراضي المحتلة سنة 1948.

كما تتناول الوثيقة مسألة القدس المحتلة وتطرح عدداً من السيناريوهات لحلها، وتسقط إمكانية زوال الاحتلال بشكل نهائي عن المدينة.
......
......
......"

Syria announces it will participate in Annapolis talks

No, He is Not Going.....
But He is Sending His Deputy to Annapolis....
This is Called "Syrian Steadfastness"......
Celebrate the Total Arab Surrender, Olmert; it Never Tasted so Sweet!

"......although the Golan was not formally on the agenda, participants could raise "whatever issues they want" in a forum due to discuss "comprehensive peace in the Middle East".

"As a result of the inclusion of this phrase, I believe Syria has decided to attend the conference," Livni said.

Speaking about the importance of wide Arab participation, including Syria and Saudi Arabia, Livni added: "There isn't a single Palestinian who can reach an agreement with Israel without the support of the Arab world. This is one of the lessons we learned seven years ago."

"I think there will be a joint document ... this is the statement that will launch the (peace) process, not solve (the conflict)."......."

Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa: I Am Not a Whore

"......"The Arab League will participate for the first time in a peace conference with an Israeli presence," Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa said on his departure Sunday. "We will say that there can be no normalization except in the framework of the Arab peace initiative and in the framework of total peace."
"We will speak with all frankness and we will inform the world everything that happens at the conference," he added......."

***

This is the same man who about a year ago at another meeting of the League of the Eunuchs said, "The peace process is dead......The US and Israel have fooled us all along." Now, that same dead "peace process" has been resurrected and "this is a historic opportunity."

In Arabic it is said that if you have no shame, do and say what you want. What a whore!

UNRWA commissioner promises to relay Gaza suffering to international forums

"GAZA, (PIC)-- Karen Abu Zayd, the UNRWA commissioner general, has said that she used to be cautious about using terms such as "big disaster" or "tragic situation" to describe the situation in Gaza Strip but not anymore in view of the seriousness of the human conditions in the Strip.

Abu Zayd said, during a meeting with a delegation from the popular anti-sanctions committee headed by MP Jamal Al-Khudari, that she would relay the committee's requests to international platforms.

She also promised to discuss the siege on the Strip at the Belgian parliament and at the Paris conference next December in addition to other foreign institutions.

Khudari had briefed Abu Zayd during the meeting on Saturday on nature of the committee's work, affirming that the committee's prime concern is to lift the siege and to end the suffering of the Gaza inhabitants.

The MP explained in detail the health problems engulfing the Strip as a result of the IOF siege and the death of many patients due to lack of adequate treatment and ban from travel abroad.

He further said that the economic and cultural sectors were collapsing with losses surpassing 100 million dollars. Khudari pointed out that more than 3,500 factories and workshops had closed down and 140,000 workers were out of work."

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