The Royal Asshole Wants to Make a Deposit!

King Abdullah floats 'deposit' to spur Israel

"King Abdullah of Jordan told Jewish leaders here Friday that Arab countries need to take steps to encourage Israel to advance final-status negotiations with the Palestinians, according to several participants in the closed-door meeting.

.....it was the first time he spoke about Arab responsibilities for moving the process forward beyond the confines of the Arab Peace Initiative, and suggested it indicated new possibilities for regional peace-making. Several meeting attendees said that Abdullah staked out the concept of an "Arab deposit," or commitment of deliverables.....

Jewish leaders who participated in the conversation, however, said Abdullah also referred to Iran and the impetus it provides for working together to solve the regional discord."He thought that there was more common ground than ever existed before between Arabs and Israelis, given the common threat of Iran,"......

US officials are increasingly referring to the Arab peace plan as an approach that could provide a way forward, and appreciate Abdullah's efforts to maintain support in the Arab world for the program. The proposal offers Israel full normalization with Arab countries....."

Video: Palestinians hail Ahmadinejad Durban Review speech

Click Here to Watch Video

Israel and its Bodyguards, by Carlos Latuff

(Click on cartoon to enlarge)

Two-State Solution

Two-State Solution.....
By Naser Jafari

Current Al-Jazeera (Arabic) Online Poll

This poll asks:

To what do you ascribe the lack of progress in the discussions in Cairo, between the various Palestinian organizations, external pressures or sharp divisions among the organizations?

With about 1,000 responding so far, 83% said external pressures.

السلطة تعتقل المفكر الفلسطيني عبد الستار قاسم

[COMMENT: This is a very serious development and goes to show the extent to which the collaborating PA thugs will go to stifle any criticism of the stooge Abbas and his Dayton "Security" forces.

All Palestinians in the West Bank need to speak up against this quisling PA and such tactics of a police state, when a state does not even exist! The PA now clearly plays an important role in reinforcing the Israeli occupation, confiscation of Palestinian land and preparation for the liquidation of what is left of the cause.

My question to the Palestinians in the West Bank is this: If you are not going to speak up now, when will you? Tomorrow might be too late!]

"اعتقل جهاز الأمن الوقائي التابع للسلطة الفلسطينية المفكر وأستاذ الدراسات الفلسطينية بجامعة النجاح الوطنية بنابلس عبد الستار قاسم بعد أن دهم منزله مساء أمس الاثنين.

وقالت عائلة الدكتور قاسم إن أفرادا من الأمن الوقائي حضروا مساء أمس إلى المنزل واخبروه بضرورة أن يحضر معهم خوفا على حياته، خاصة أن الدكتور قاسم كان قد تعرض قبل ذلك لتهديدات بالقتل من أشخاص مجهولين عبر اتصال هاتفي به.

وأشارت العائلة في حديثها للجزيرة نت إلى أن جهاز الأمن الوقائي أخبرهم أن الدكتور قاسم موجود لديه لأمر احترازي "لحمايته وخوفا على حياته" بعد تلقيه التهديد.

وفي اتصال مع الجزيرة نت وصف فيصل نجل الدكتور قاسم عملية الاعتقال بأنها مفبركة ومخطط لها منذ زمن، موضحا أن نفس الشخص الذي أطلق النار على الشيخ حامد البيتاوي رئيس رابطة علماء فلسطين عضو المجلس التشريعي عن حركة المقاومة الإسلامية (حماس) بالضفة، هدد والده بالقتل.

وأشار إلى أن الدكتور قاسم اتصل بالشرطة شاكيا فطلبت منه الحضور قبل أن يفاجئ بوصول سيارة الأمن الوقائي وعلى متنها أربعة أشخاص سلموه ورقة استدعاء للتحقيق، مؤكدا أنه ذهب للشرطة وتم احتجازه هناك.

وكشف فيصل أن الأمن الوقائي يزعم أن الدكتور قاسم يواجه قضية تشهير لتصريحات أدلى بها عبر محطات تلفزة فضائية وسيتم توجيه تهمة له بهذا الشأن.

ودعا فيصل -باسم أسرة الدكتور قاسم- المؤسسات الحقوقية الفلسطينية والعربية والدولية إلى العمل على إطلاق سراحه وضمان أمنه.

وكان الدكتور قاسم قد تحدث أمس إلى بعض وسائل الإعلام عن قيام أشخاص وصفهم بالمجهولين بتهديده عبر الاتصال به.

واعتقل الدكتور قاسم قبل عدة أشهر من قبل أجهزة السلطة الوطنية بمدينة نابلس لعدة أيام وأطلق سراحه بعد ذلك، كما تعرضت سيارته الخاصة قبل عدة أسابيع للحرق من قبل أشخاص مجهولين بينما كانت في منزله في منطقة الجبل الجنوبي بمدينة نابلس، ولم تعرف أسباب ذلك أو من يقف خلفها
....."

The Story of Mitchell Jessen & Associates: How a Team of Psychologists in Spokane, WA, Helped Develop the CIA’s Torture Techniques

Democracy Now!
With Amy Goodman

"We broadcast from Spokane, Washington, less than three miles from the headquarters of a secretive CIA contractor that played a key role in developing the Bush administration’s interrogation methods. The firm, Mitchell Jessen & Associates, is named after the two military psychologists who founded the company, James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen. Beginning in 2002, the CIA hired the psychologists to train interrogators in brutal techniques, including waterboarding, sleep deprivation and pain. We speak with three journalists who have closely followed the story...."

Gilad Atzmon – Ahmadinejad: “Read My Lips” plus Full Text of Speech

By Gilad Atzmon

Palestine Think Tank

"Once again I find myself saluting Iranian President Ahmadinejad, in full support of his words. No one could do better bringing to light European racial discriminatory sentiments.

What we saw yesterday at the UN Anti Racism Forum was crude collective institutional Islamophobic racism in its making, a coordinated show of rabid western chauvinism. A bunch of European diplomats behaving as a herd of sheep, exhibiting complete denial of the notion of freedom of speech and the culture of debate.

Eloquently and profoundly, President Ahmadinejad was stating the full truth and expressing some universally acknowledged facts.

Israel is indeed a racist state!......"

VIDEO: Taxpayers, Where Is Your Money Going?

Tax dollars are allocated to financing the war and the "bank bailout"

by Michel Chossudovsky
Global Research, April 20, 2009

The writing on the wall spells "freedom"

Arjan El Fassed, The Electronic Intifada, 20 April 2009

""My dear Palestinian brothers and sisters, I have come to your land and I have recognized shades of my own." These are the first 20 words of an open letter written by Farid Esack, a South African scholar and political activist known for his role in the struggle against apartheid. The total length of his letter is 1,998 carefully chosen words in which he argues that the situation in Palestine is worse than it ever was in South Africa under apartheid rule. Esack, a black South African who worked closely with Nelson Mandela, is astonished at how ordinary people beat about the bush when it comes to Israel and the dispossession and suffering of the Palestinians. "Do 'objectivity,' 'moderation,' and seeing 'both sides' not have limits?" he asks. "Is moderation in matters of clear injustice really a virtue?......."

Al-Quds Al-Arabi: Ahmadinejad Only Told the Truth

Al-Manar

"21/04/2009 Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has exposed the West’s double standards, the London-based Al-Quds al Arabi said.

The Iranian President stressed in his speech at the anti-racism conference in Durban on Monday that Israel was a racist Zionist entity and that the West was seeking to solve the “Jewish problem” at the expense of the Palestinian people.

According to the daily, European delegations that left the conference room have clearly expressed their support to Israel’s racism and to the massacres committed by this entity, the last of which was in Gaza a few months ago. These delegations, the daily adds, have established that they do not really believe in democracy and freedom of speech. “If they did, they would not have cut their participation and responded to the Iranian President with convincing proof, however they do not believe in democracy and freedom of speech when they expose the racist nature of a state they founded and are acquainted with its barbaric practices against innocent people,” the daily said......."

Original Editorial (in Arabic):

نجاد لم يقل غير الحقيقة
رأي القدس

POLITICS-US: Prominent Lawmaker Caught Up In AIPAC Scandal

By Daniel Luban

(Jane Harman, left)

"WASHINGTON, Apr 20 (IPS) - A U.S. government investigation of Israeli spying caught a prominent Democratic congresswoman discussing what is alleged to be a "quid pro quo" deal involving the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Washington’s powerful hawkish pro-Israel lobby.

Representative Jane Harman of California was recorded in 2005 on a National Security Administration (NSA) wiretap promising a suspected Israeli agent that she would intervene on behalf of two AIPAC staffers accused of passing classified information to the Israeli government, and her interlocutor responded by promising to help get Harman appointed to a top congressional intelligence post, according to an article published Sunday by Congressional Quarterly (CQ)........"

The Death of Bassem Abu Rahme

By Frank Barat
(Frank Barat is in the organizing committee of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine and a member of Palestine Solidarity Campaign UK.)

Palestine Chronicle

(Left: Bassem Abu Rahme. (Activestills.org))

"On April the 17th, like any Fridays afternoon for the last 4 years, the small village of Bil'in, north of Ramallah, was preparing for the usual demonstration against Israel's annexation wall (some people call it apartheid wall or separation wall. The Israeli government refers to it as the security fence).

The village of Bil'in has, since the mid eighties, lost more than 60% of its land for the purpose of Israeli growing settlements and the construction of the wall......

....As soon as prayer was over with, the demonstration started to move forward in direction of the wall, a few kilometers away.

You can be sure that Bassem (aka Phil) was right at the front of the march. He always was. I had met Bassem a few times while visiting Bil'in. He was a strong looking man, singing the loudest.....

....and Bassem too, screamed “We are in a non violent protest, there are kids and internationals...”. He was shot in the chest and never managed to finish his sentence. He fell on the floor, moved a little bit, fell again, and died......

The international community (for what it means) will not mention this “incident” (it is for them) and continue issuing calls for the Palestinians to renounce violence and resist peacefully while saying nothing about Israel's killings (since the start of the second Intifada, 87% of the dead have been Palestinians), violations of international law and oppression of the Palestinians......."

The lessons of Ireland

This riches-to-rags story is an example for Obama - and the world - of how not to run an economy

Paul Krugman
The Guardian, Tuesday 21 April 2009

"'What," asked my interlocutor, "is the worst-case outlook for the world economy?" It wasn't until the next day that I came up with the right answer: America could turn Irish.

What's so bad about that? Well, the Irish government now predicts that this year GDP will fall more than 10% from its peak, crossing the line that is sometimes used to distinguish between a recession and a depression......

That's one reason I'm so concerned about the Obama administration's bank plan. If, as some of us fear, taxpayer funds end up providing windfalls to financial operators instead of fixing what needs to be fixed, we might not have the money to go back and do it right.

And the lesson of Ireland is that you really, really don't want to put yourself in a position where you have to punish your economy in order to save your banks."

خلطة فاسدة.. سلطة وانتخابات ومعونات ومقاومة

ياسر الزعاترة

"الذين عارضوا مشاركة حركة المقاومة الإسلامية (حماس) في الانتخابات التشريعية مطلع العام 2006، ونحن منهم، لم يفعلوا ذلك إلا إدراكا لحقيقة أن هذه السلطة قد صممت لخدمة الاحتلال، ومعها ديمقراطيتها، والذين سهّلوا مشاركة الحركة فيها لم يكونوا يريدون الخير بها ولا بالقضية الفلسطينية (الكاتب الإسرائيلي المعروف (عكيفا الدار وصفها في أحد مقالاته بأنها "الاختراع العبقري المسمى سلطة فلسطينية"، فهل يعني ذلك شيئا بالنسبة للبعض؟).
.....
لو أعلنت حماس أنها أرادت نتيجة الانتخابات تأكيدا على انحياز الجماهير لخيار المقاومة، وأنها لا تقبل بواقع السلطة القائم ولا تشارك فيه، لوجهت صفعة تاريخية لخيار المفاوضات، ولتركت فتح تتفكك في صراع السلطة
ولكان بالإمكان الحديث عن حسم الخيار الإسلامي في القضية الفلسطينية بدل التنازع القائم
......
الاعتقالات التي جرت في الضفة ضد عدد من قادة ورموز حماس جاءت لتذكّر الغارقين في الوهم مرة أخرى بأن الديمقراطية تحت الاحتلال كذبة كبرى، وأن بقاءها رهن بخدمتها لبرنامج الاحتلال، أما إذا تمردت عليه فمصير رموزها السجون والمعتقلات
.....
واللافت بالطبع أن تأتي موجة الاعتقالات في وقت لم تتوقف فيه الاعتقالات من طرف السلطة، ولم يفرج عن المعتقلين من أجل إنجاح حوار القاهرة. وكما يريد الإسرائيليون هذه الاعتقالات وسيلة ابتزاز من أجل عيون الجندي شاليط، فضلا عن عدم السماح للحركة بترميم صفوفها، فإن الطرف الآخر يستخدمها لذات الغرض الأخير (تمهيدا للانتخابات)، فضلا عن الضغط من أجل فرض المصالحة ضمن الرؤية التي يتبناها.

نتذكر هنا أن مسألة الحفاظ على الأمن الإسرائيلي هي جزء أساسي من مهمات تلك السلطة، وإذا لم تقم بها على أكمل وجه، فإن لدى الطرف الآخر وسائله للضغط، المباشر
....
ليس ثمة في الأفق غير استمرار الانفصال بين الضفة وقطاع غزة في حال فشل الحوار في الوصول إلى الأهداف التي يريدها قادة السلطة، ومعهم مصر والأميركان والإسرائيليون، أما إذا نجح ووصلنا إلى محطة الانتخابات، فالمتاهة مؤكدة
بديل هذه المتاهة معروف وطرحناه من قبل، ونتمنى أن تطرحه حماس والجهاد على الجماهير في الداخل والخارج مهما كان موقف السلطة، ويتمثل في وحدة ميدانية على قاعدة المقاومة حتى دحر الاحتلال دون قيد أو شرط، وإدارة بالتوافق لقطاع غزة بوصفه قاعدة للمقاومة ومنطقة شبه محررة، مع تخلص من أسر المعونات وإعادة الإعمار عبر رمي الكرة في الملعب العربي الرسمي، فضلا عن إلقاء العبء على دولة الاحتلال المسؤولة عن حياة الناس تحت الاحتلال بحسب ميثاق جنيف
......"

PIRATES OF SOMALIA

By Eric Margolis
April 20, 2009

"....But the bitterly anti-Muslim Bush administration quickly engineered an invasion of Somalia by its old foe, Ethiopia, aided by US warplanes and special forces, and overthrew the Islamic-light government which was backed by Ethiopia’s blood enemy, Eritrea. . Ethiopia received generous cash rewards from Washington for its invasion.

Since then, anarchy has reigned. Efforts by the US and Ethiopia to impose a puppet regime on Somalia failed miserably as Somalis, led by a militant Islamic youth group called Shebab, battled Ethiopian occupation forces and their local Somalia stooges. Ethiopia finally withdrew from Somalia, leaving a complete mess behind.

So the US bears a good deal of responsibility for Somalia’s current chaos. Putting this African Humpty-Dumpty back together will make reassembling Iraq look easy....."

If The Shoe Fits....Wear it!

Ahmadinejad Denounces Israeli Racism, Sparks UN Walkout

Al-Manar

"20/04/2009 Dozens of delegates have walked out of a United Nations conference on racism after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's president, described the Israeli cabinet as a "racist government".......

The Iranian President criticized the creation of a "totally racist government in occupied Palestine" in 1948, calling it "the most cruel and racist regime".

"Following World War II they resorted to military aggressions to make an entire nation homeless under the pretext of Jewish suffering," Ahmadinejad told the conference, on the day that Jewish communities commemorate the Holocaust. "And they sent migrants from Europe, the United States and mother parts of the world in order to establish a totally racist government in the occupied Palestine," he said, according to the official translation. "And in fact, in compensation for the dire consequences of racism in Europe, they helped bring to power the most cruel and repressive racist regime in Palestine." .........

Poland became the latest nation Monday to boycott the meeting after the United States, Israel, Canada, Australia, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and New Zealand. France decided to attend the event but warned that Europeans would walk out if Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was due to address the conference, made "anti-Semitic accusations" during the event.

Ahmadinejad launched a new broadside against Israel before heading to the meeting, saying "the Zionist ideology and regime are the flag bearers of racism."
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told France Info radio: "We will have to be very clear. We will not tolerate any slips." "If he utters racist or anti-Semitic accusations, we will leave the room immediately," Kouchner said......

The European Union's traditional show of unity on international human rights unraveled, as Britain, France and Ireland decided to attend......

Campaign group Human Rights Watch faulted boycotting states for "turning their backs" on victims of racism. Juliette de Rivero of Human Rights Watch said that without Washington there, the meeting could lack diplomatic gravitas. "For us it's extremely disappointing and it's a missed opportunity, really, for the United States," she said. "If the U.S. fails to participate, it will disappoint many who invested hope in the Obama administration's commitment to engage internationally to protect human rights.""

"Shut up" a Poem by Khamees Lutfi (dedicated to all Arab leaders)

---

 

شَتْ ابْ "

أنا السببْ .

في كل ما جرى لكم

يا أيها العربْ .

سلبتُكم أنهارَكم

والتينَ والزيتونَ والعنبْ .

أنا الذي اغتصبتُ أرضَكم

وعِرضَكم ، وكلَّ غالٍ عندكم

أنا الذي طردتُكم

من هضْبة الجولان والجليلِ والنقبْ .

والقدسُ ، في ضياعها ، كنتُ أنا السببْ .

نعم أنا .. أنا السببْ .

أنا الذي لمَّا أتيتُ : المسجدُ الأقصى ذهبْ .

أنا الذي أمرتُ جيشي ، في الحروب كلها

بالانسحاب فانسحبْ .

أنا الذي هزمتُكم

أنا الذي شردتُكم

وبعتكم في السوق مثل عيدان القصبْ .

أنا الذي كنتُ أقول للذي

يفتح منكم فمَهُ :

" شَتْ ابْ "

***

نعم أنا .. أنا السببْ .

في كل ما جرى لكم يا أيها العربْ .

وكلُّ من قال لكم ، غير الذي أقولهُ ،

فقد كَذَبْ .

فمن لأرضكم سلبْ .؟!

ومن لمالكم نَهبْ .؟!

ومن سوايَ مثلما اغتصبتكم قد اغتَصبْ ..؟!

أقولها صريحةً ،

بكل ما أوتيتُ من وقاحةٍ وجرأةٍ ،

وقلةٍ في الذوق والأدبْ .

أنا الذي أخذتُ منكم كل ما هبَّ ودبْ .

ولا أخاف أحداً ، ألستُ رغم أنفكم

أنا الزعيمُ المنتخَبْ .!؟

لم ينتخبني أحدٌ لكنني

إذا طلبتُ منكم

في ذات يوم ، طلباً

هل يستطيعٌ واحدٌ

أن يرفض الطلبْ .؟!

أشنقهُ ، أقتلهُ ،

أجعلهُ يغوص في دمائه حتى الرُّكبْ ..

فلتقبلوني ، هكذا كما أنا ، أو فاشربوا " بحر العربْ " ..

ما دام لم يعجبْكم العجبْ .

مني ، ولا الصيامُ في رجبْ .

ولتغضبوا ، إذا استطعتم ، بعدما

قتلتُ في نفوسكم روحَ التحدي والغضبْ .

وبعدما شجَّعتكم على الفسوق والمجون والطربْ .

وبعدما أقنعتكم أن المظاهراتِ فوضى ، ليس إلا ،

وشَغَبْ .

وبعدما علَّمتكم أن السكوتَ من ذهبْ .

وبعدما حوَّلتُكم إلى جليدٍ وحديدٍ وخشبْ .

وبعدما أرهقتُكم

وبعدما أتعبتُكم

حتى قضى عليكمُ الإرهاقُ والتعبْ .

***

يا من غدوتم في يديَّ كالدُّمى وكاللعبْ ..

نعم أنا .. أنا السببْ .

في كل ما جرى لكم

فلتشتموني في الفضائياتِ ، إن أردتم ،

والخطبْ .

وادعوا عليَّ في صلاتكم وردِّدوا :

" تبت يداهُ مثلما تبت يدا أبي لهبْ ".

قولوا بأني خائنٌ لكم ، وكلبٌ وابن كلبْ ..

ماذا يضيرني أنا ؟!

ما دام كل واحدٍ في بيتهِ ،

يريد أن يسقطني بصوتهِ ،

وبالضجيج والصَخبْ .؟!

أنا هنا ، ما زلتُ أحمل الألقاب كلها

وأحملُ الرتبْ .

أُطِلُّ ، كالثعبان ، من جحري عليكم فإذا

ما غاب رأسي لحظةً ، ظلَّ الذَنَبْ ..!

فلتشعلوا النيران حولي واملأوها بالحطبْ .

إذا أردتم أن أولِّيَ الفرارَ والهربْ .

وحينها ستعرفون ، ربما ،

مَن الذي ـ في كل ما جرى لكم ـ

كان السببْ .!؟

 

Chávez's perfect gift to Obama

Presenting Eduardo Galeano's book, Open Veins of Latin America, to Barack Obama was a brilliant idea

Richard Gott
guardian.co.uk, Monday 20 April 2009

"Some surprise has been expressed in the Anglo-Saxon world that Hugo Chávez should have presented a book to Barack Obama by Eduardo Galeano. Ignorance can be the only defence, the very fault that the Venezuelan president had earlier accused his US counterpart of suffering from. For Galeano is one of the most well-known and celebrated writers in Latin America, up there with Gabriel García Márquez, and his huge output of fact and fiction, as well as his journalism, has been published all over the continent. His books have been continuously in print since the 1960s, read voraciously by successive generations.

It was a brilliant idea of Chávez's to give Galeano's Open Veins of Latin America to Obama, since this book, first published in 1971, encapsulates a radical version of the history of Latin America with which most Latin Americans are familiar. Its subtitle, Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent, gives a flavour of its contents, which discuss the way in which Latin America has been dominated and exploited by its European invaders (and later by US corporations) for hundreds of years....."

More Countries Join US, Israel Boycott of UN Racism Conference

Democracy Now!
With Amy Goodman

"A growing number of Western countries are joining the United States and Israel in boycotting the United Nations World Conference on Racism, which opened today in Geneva, Switzerland. Australia, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and New Zealand all announced they would boycott the conference soon after the US announced its formal decision not to attend Saturday. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the opening session he was “profoundly disappointed” at the boycotts. We go to Geneva to get the latest......"