Abbas: The man and the politician

By Lamis Andoni
Al-Jazeera

"Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, has insisted that he will withdraw from direct talks with Israel if it does not extend its freeze on settlement building when it expires on September 26.

The pledge was intended to placate widespread opposition to the resumption of negotiations from within both Hamas and Abbas' own Fatah group. But his promises are unlikely to make a dent in the growing disillusionment with a 'peace process' many see as providing cover for continued Israeli expansion. And, coming after he backed down on his vow to boycott the talks without a prior Israeli commitment to extending the freeze, Abbas' words are lacking in credibility.

It is, in fact, the words of Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, that today ring louder and clearer in the ears of Palestinians. "You don't need to worry. Nobody needs to teach me what it is to love Eretz Israel," he told Likud party members before leaving for Washington. His use of the term 'Eretz Israel' - meaning the land between the Mediterranean and the River Jordan - implies that he has no intention of giving up control of the West Bank and East Jerusalem and, consequently, will not allow the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state.

So, while Israelis may have nothing to worry about, Palestinians most certainly do and Abbas has failed to reassure even his own supporters that he will not succumb to Israeli and American pressure....

Abbas is fully aware that he goes to Washington with many Palestinians, including some of those closest to the PA, viewing him as having at best surrendered and at worst as being a traitor.

He was badly shaken when, in the wake of his initial support for a postponement of the discussion on the Goldstone report, his grandson came to him crying and explained that children at his school had called his grandfather a "traitor"....."

600,000 books looted in 1948

Antony Loewenstein

Jews looting Palestinian books in 1948

(The Great Book Robbery (teaser) from Benny Brunner on Vimeo.)

Only a few years after the Holocaust, this reveals the depravity of many early Zionists:

The Great Book Robbery is a multifaceted cultural heritage project. It has two major components, a documentary film to be produced, broadcast and screened internationally and this very website which will grow into a multi-function platform.

Two European broadcasters already committed to air the film. Furthermore, we are in advance negotiation with various international broadcasters to join us as co-producers. Currently we are seeking strategic partners and public financial support for the film as well as the website.

60,000 Palestinian books were systematically looted by the newly born State of Israel during the 1948 war. The story of the stolen books is not only at the heart of our project but also the launching pad of a much bigger and wider endeavor: We intend on communicating the scope and depth of the Palestinian tragedy through the destruction of Palestinian culture in 1948.

The Dayton Gang on a Rampage to Earn Their Pay: Palestinian Authority claims arrests of 300 Hamas members in response to killing of settlers

"In the largest arrest campaign since it took power in 1994, the Palestinian Authority, run by the Fateh party, sent security officers all over the West Bank Wednesday morning to arrest known members of the rival Hamas party, after Hamas' armed wing claimed responsibility for the killing of four Israeli settlers Tuesday night.

According to the Palestinian Authority, at least 300 were arrested and taken to Palestinian police stations and prisons...."

COMMENT

The message is very clear and very ominous: The Palestinian cause is finally being liquidated by Washington and Tel Aviv.

The Dayton gang was formed, trained and armed for just this moment. New prisons have been built and expanded all over the West Bank.

The stooge Abbas will sell everything and Dayton and Fayyad will impose the agreement by force of arms. The police non-state will pull all the stops to crush any resistance. These are the orders of the Empire and they are to be obeyed!

Participate in the End the Blockade of Gaza postcard action!

Click on Title to go to the Amnesty site to fill out the forms

More than 1.5 million Palestinian men, women, and children have been trapped in the Gaza Strip for more than three years. In addition to restricting Palestinians' movement from Gaza into Israel, the blockade has also severely undermined Palestinians' right to access clean water, food, medical care and proper education. Help us send at least 10,000 postcards to the White House demanding action to lift the blockade of Gaza!

1) Fill out the form below
2) Within two to three weeks, you will receive your postcards
3) Sign and address them
4) Standard postage rates apply. Send your postcards back to Amnesty offices and we will personally deliver all postcards at the same time the White House to have the greatest impact.

WMD, by Mike Luckovich

Throw these infidels in jail

LIFE IN TALIBANISTAN, Part 1

By Pepe Escobar

Asia Times

"....Ten years ago, New York-based photographer Jason Florio and myself slowly crossed Talibanistan overland from east to west, from the Pakistani border at Landi Kotal to the Iranian border at Islam Qillah. As Afghan aid workers acknowledged, we were the first Westerners to pull this off in quite a while.....

I spent a long time talking to the Dari-speaking Three Graces inside their bombed-out home - with translation provided by their brother Aloyuz, who had spent a few years in Iran supporting the family long-distance. This simple fact in itself would assure that, if caught, we would all be shot dead by the Taliban V&V - the notorious Department for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, the Taliban religious police.

The Three Graces' dream was to live "free, not under pressure". They had never been to a restaurant, a bar or a cinema. Fatima liked "rock" music, which in her case meant Afghan singer Natasha. She said she "liked" the Taliban, but most of all she wanted to get back to school. They never mentioned any discrimination between Sunnis and Shi'ites; they actually wanted to leave for Pakistan.

Their definition of "human rights" included priority for education, the right to work, and to get a job in the state sector; Fatima and Maliha wanted to be doctors. Maybe they are, today, in Hazara land; 10 years ago they spent their days weaving beautiful silk shawls. Education was terminally forbidden for girls over 12. The literacy rate among women was only 4%. Outside the Three Graces' house, almost every woman was a "widow of war", enveloped in dusty light-blue burqas, begging to support their children. Not only was this an unbearable humiliation in the context of an ultra-rigid Islamic society, it contradicted the Taliban obsession of preserving the "honor and purity" of their women....."

Al-Jazeera Video: Inside Story - Achieving real peace

With Dianna Buttu



"Direct peace talks between Israelis and palestine are set to begin on Thursday after being frozen for two years. But with Hamas noticeably missing, can real peace be achieved? Is it time for the other players to recognise them? Or could talks with the Palestinian Authority simply make Hamas less relevant?"

"Security for Everyone, Not Just Settlers and Occupiers"–Ali Abunimah on Opening of U.S.-Brokered Mideast Peace Talks

Democracy Now!
With Amy Goodman



"U.S.-brokered talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority begin today in Washington. Both sides agreed to sit down last month after the U.S. successfully pressured Palestinian leaders to drop their pre-condition of an Israeli settlement freeze. On the eve of the summit, Palestinian militants killed four Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank. We speak with Ali Abunimah, co-founder of The Electronic Intifada....."

"Iraq is a Shattered Country"–Nir Rosen on Obama Declaring an End to U.S. Combat Mission in Iraq

Democracy Now!
With Amy Goodman


"President Obama declared an end to the combat mission in Iraq Tuesday night in the second Oval Office address of his presidency. Although tens of thousands of US troops, special operations forces and private contractors remain in Iraq, Obama announced that Operation Iraqi Freedom is now officially over. We go to Baghdad to speak with independent journalist Nir Rosen....."

Withdrawal or Enduring Presence? U.S. Military Continues to Invest Hundreds of Millions in Iraq Bases

Democracy Now!
With Amy Goodman



"In his Oval Office address Tuesday night, President Obama said the US had closed or transferred hundreds of bases to the Iraqis. But many US bases remain in Iraq as well as the massive US embassy in Baghdad–the size of eighty football fields. We play a report on US bases in Iraq by independent journalist Jacquie Soohen of Big Noise Films....."

Claim for Native Title Threatens Jewish State

By Jonathan Cook - Hura, the Negev
Palestine Chronicle

"Nuri al Uqbi's small cinderblock home in a ramshackle neighbourhood of Hura, a Bedouin town in Israel’s Negev desert, hardly looks like the epicentre of a legal struggle that some observers say threatens Israel's Jewish character.

Inside, the 68-year-old Bedouin activist has stacks of bulging folders of tattered and browning documents, many older than the state of Israel itself, that he hopes will overturn decades of harsh government policy towards the Negev’s 180,000 Bedouin......

He also has a copy of the treaty signed in 1948 between 16 Bedouin tribes, including the Uqbi, and the new Israeli army, pledging loyalty in return for a guarantee that they could continue living on their lands.

Mr Yiftachel said the legal battles of the Bedouin should be compared to those waged by other indigenous peoples in countries such as Australia, Canada, South Africa, India and Brazil. “Like them, they are fighting for recognition of ‘native title’,” he said."

Defence of Apartheid Israel Unjustifiable

By Iqbal Jassat – Pretoria
(Iqbal Jassat is chairperson of the Media Review Network (MRN), an advocacy group based in Pretoria, South Africa.)
Palestine Chronicle

"I wonder whether pro-Israeli apologists ever sense the sheer hopelessness of their desperate attempts to shield the apartheid regime from legitimate and necessary criticism.....

What I find even more amazing is his dismissal of critical views by “columnists” and “former government leaders” as ranging from plain ignorance to vicious distortions. The inherent arrogance in Pogrund’s righteous contempt of these faceless critics is embedded in his “basic fact” that Israel is under “constant threat”.

As usual and in common with most propagandists for Israel, he implies that these critics possess streaks of anti-semitism. Its outrageous for one who claims a journalist’s pedigree to make such outlandish allegations as “…their views seem to come out of underlying dark feelings about Israel and Jews”!.....

Only by understanding the historic disaster in Palestine and the scale of the injustice done to the Palestinians, will people such as Pogrund appreciate what Nelson Mandela has called “the greatest moral issue of our time”."

Acts of Contrition

Neocon has second thoughts on Iraq

by Justin Raimondo, September 01, 2010

".......Soon enough this coalition of the clueless will be telling us that Iran must be our next target: that we can and must “liberate” the Persians, who are just waiting for the slightest signal from Uncle Sam to rise up and smite their oppressors.

Which brings us to the real lesson to be learned from Iraq, and it is this: whenever you hear someone pontificating on American foreign policy, do a little research. Find out what their position was on the invasion of Iraq, and if they were for it there’s just one thing left to do: change the channel and walk away."

Book Launch, by Dave Brown

A Middle East peace that wreaks havoc

With the odds stacked so strongly in Israel's favour, Palestinians rightly view the US talks with dread

Ghada Karmi
The Guardian, Wednesday 1 September 2010

"What an irony that the Palestinians' arch-enemy, Israel, should also be their saviour. There is a real danger that the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks due to starton September 2 in Washington could yield a botched deal that falls far short of the needs of international law or elemental justice, and sets back the cause of Palestine for decades, if not for ever. Fortunately this will not happen as long as Israel's obduracy can be relied on to save the Palestinians from such an outcome.

Time and again, when Israel was thrown a lifeline by Arab neighbours that could have ensured its legitimacy and security, its folly and greed lost it those opportunities. But, since they came at great cost to Palestinian rights, Israel's obduracy had the perverse effect of safeguarding those rights....

How could that be achieved, within the constraints of an Israel that cannot be pressured and a weak, unrepresentative Palestinian leadership that excludes Gaza and Hamas? And since Israel's position rejects all the main Palestinian requirements – land, Jerusalem, refugees – progress, if any, can only be made by demanding more concessions from the weaker side. This will mean less land available for the putative Palestinian state, reducing its viability. Hence Jordan's and Egypt's presence at the talks to work out a deal that provides an extension for the West Bank into Jordan, and Gaza into Egypt. No other permutation is possible. Israel will lose very little, but even this may be too much for its "greater Israel" proponents....."

There Goes the War Criminal, Again: Tony Blair: West should use force if Iran 'continues to develop nuclear weapons'

Former prime minister says it is wholly unacceptable for Tehran to seek nuclear weapons capability

Mark Tran
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 1 September 2010

"The west should use force against Iran if it "continues to develop nuclear weapons", Tony Blair said today, aligning himself with US hawks who have called for strikes against Iranian nuclear sites.

The former prime minister made his comments in a BBC interview to publicise his memoirs, A Journey, which are published today.

Blair said it was "wholly unacceptable" for Tehran to seek a nuclear weapons capability and insisted there could be "no alternative" to military force "if they continue to develop nuclear weapons"......"

ANSWER Coalition Responds to President Obama's Speech on Iraq

It is necessary to separate fact from fiction regarding the announcement by the Obama administration that it is removing "combat brigades" from Iraq.

This is not the time for progressive people to pat themselves on the back, claim "victory" and pretend that the U.S. government is pursuing a different policy than that which was carried out by the previous administration.

Today's announcement that renames the 50,000 U.S. troops in Iraq is nothing more than the rebranding of the illegal U.S. occupation of Iraq that began with the criminal invasion of the country by hundreds of thousands of U.S. forces on March 20, 2003. Let's remember, the goal of the Bush administration, too, was not to keep a certain number of U.S. troops in Iraq forever, but instead to exercise U.S. domination over the country and the region.

The Obama administration has maintained the principal military and civilian leaders from the Bush administration. The withdrawal of some combat brigades from Iraq is essentially a redeployment exercise so that tens of thousands more U.S. troops can be sent toAfghanistan.

Since Bush left office, and contrary to the deep desire of the masses of people who constituted the electoral base for President Obama’s November 2008 victory, the U.S. military machine has grown, not diminished. The U.S. military budget has actually increased, not decreased.

The ongoing occupation of Iraq, the escalation of the war in Afghanistan, the increasing threats against Iran, and the enduring U.S.-Israeli war directed against the Palestinian people are all clear indicators that U.S. foreign policy and its military strategy are premised on the pursuit and maintenance of Empire regardless of whether the Democrats or the Republicans occupy the White House.

When he delivered his major address in Cairo on June 4, 2009, President Obama described the war in Iraq as a "war of choice." That is simply popular vernacular for a war of aggression. The reality of his position, however, was revealed today when President Obama actually called George W. Bush to confer with him in advance of tonight's address on Iraq. Tonight, President Obama took the occasion to salute Bush as a "patriot" with "love of country and commitment to our security." George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and other high officials in the Bush administration should be indicted and prosecuted for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The invasion and ongoing occupation of Iraq has shredded Iraqi sovereignty and "succeeded" in killing as many as 1 million Iraqis. The invasion and ongoing occupation has succeeded in ripping apart a once-united country. It is the U.S. invasion that stoked a sectarian civil war. It was a deliberate and conscious policy by the U.S. occupation forces to organize, finance and arm Iraqis along ethno-sectarian lines in order to weaken the nationwide resistance of the people against foreign occupation.

The thousands of organizers and volunteers who have worked with the ANSWER Coalition in organizing mass protests and nearly daily activities in cities throughout the country for the past nine years believe that the U.S. should end all of its foreign occupations, and that the people in Iraq and Afghanistan must have the right of self determination.

The struggle for jobs, social justice, equality and freedom at home cannot be separated from the international struggle against empire, colonialism and war. Last Saturday, Glenn Beck and the forces of right-wing racism tried to hijack the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the millions of people who fought, organized—including for some going to jail and giving their life—in the struggle against racism at home and war abroad. We must take note of the fact that the forces of right-wing racism and militarism are mobilizing throughout the country. Their demagogic attacks against the Obama administration are nothing more than a cover for their real agenda.

We in the ANSWER Coalition believe that it is imperative that all those in the anti-war movement, labor and civil rights movements and others come together in a massive mobilization on Oct. 2 in Washington, D.C., for jobs, peace and justice. Only the mobilization of the people, and not the politicians, can radically change the political climate. When we march together on Oct. 2, we must raise high the banners of "U.S. out of Iraq now," "End the occupation of Afghanistan Now" and "Money for jobs, schools, health care and housing, not war and occupation."

How to Kill Goyim and Influence People: Israeli Rabbis Defend Book's Shocking Religious Defense of Killing Non-Jews (with Video)

As soon as it was published late last year,Torat Ha'Melech sparked a national uproar. The controversy began when an Israeli tabloid panned the book's contents as "230 pages on the laws concerning the killing of non-Jews, a kind of guidebook for anyone who ponders the question of if and when it is permissible to take the life of a non-Jew." According to the book's author, Rabbi Yitzhak Shapira, "Non-Jews are "uncompassionate by nature" and should be killed in order to "curb their evil inclinations." "If we kill a gentile who has has violated one of the seven commandments… there is nothing wrong with the murder," Shapira insisted. Citing Jewish law as his source (or at least a very selective interpretation of it) he declared: "There is justification for killing babies if it is clear that they will grow up to harm us, and in such a situation they may be harmed deliberately, and not only during combat with adults."

"The obligation to sacrifice your life is above all others when fighting those who wish to destroy the authority of the Torah," bellowed Rabbi Yehoshua Shapira, head of the yeshiva in the Tel Aviv suburb of Ramat Gan. "It is not only true against non-Jews who are trying to destroy it but against Jewish people from any side."

One of Shapira's followers, an American immigrant named Jack Teitel, has confessed to murdering two innocent Palestinians and attempting to the kill the liberal Israeli historian Ze'ev Sternhell with a mail bomb. Teitel is suspected of many more murders, including an attack on a Tel Aviv gay community center.

In 2006, Shapira was briefly held by Israeli police for urging his supporters to murder all Palestinians over the age of 13. Two years later, according to the Israeli daily Haaretz, he signed a rabbinical letter in support of Israeli Jews who had brutally assaulted two Arab youths on the country's Holocaust Remembrance Day. That same year, Shapira was arrested under suspicion that he helped orchestrate a rocket attack against a Palestinian village near Nablus. Though he was released, Shapira's name arose in connection with another act of terror, when in January, the Israeli police raided his settlement seeking the vandals who set fire to a nearby mosque. After arresting ten settlers, the Shabak held five of Shapira's confederates under suspicion of arson.

If you ever wondered why Uri Avnery is "low calorie" Zionist read this

Channel 10, one of Israel’s three TV channels, aired a report this week that surely frightened a lot of viewers. Its title was “Who Is Organizing the Worldwide Hatred of Israel Movement?” and its subject was the dozens of groups in various countries which are conducting a vigorous propaganda campaign for the Palestinians and against Israel.

The activists interviewed, both male and female, young and old – quite a number of them Jews – demonstrate at supermarkets against the products of the settlements and/or of Israel in general, organize mass meetings, make speeches, mobilize trade unions, file lawsuits against Israeli politicians and generals.

Throughout the debate, Golda Meir – as was her wont – stood at the door of the plenum hall, chain-smoking. Summing up, she answered every speaker in turn, ignoring my speech. I thought that she had decided to boycott me, when – after a dramatic pause – she turned in my direction. “Deputy Avnery thinks that they hate us because of what we do. He does not know the goyim. The goyim love the Jews when they are beaten and miserable. They hate the Jews when they are victorious and successful.” If clapping were allowed in the Knesset, the whole house would have burst into thunderous applause.

There is a danger that the current worldwide protest will meet the same reaction: that the Israeli public will unite against the evil goyim, instead of uniting against the settlers.

The first thing is to clearly differentiate between the boycott of the settlements and a general boycott of Israel.

If the world protest is clearly focused on the settlements, it will indeed cause many Israelis to realize that there is a clear line between the legitimate state of Israel and the illegitimate occupation.

Today a large majority of Israelis say that they want peace and are ready to pay the price, but that, unfortunately, the Arabs don’t want peace. The mainstream peace camp, which could once bring hundreds of thousands onto the street, is in a state of depression.

Breaking News: مقتل 4 مستوطنين في عملية إطلاق نار جنوب الخليل..

عــ48ـرب

"قتل 4 مستوطنين، مساء اليوم الثلاثاء، في عملية إطلاق نار على مركبة على مدخل مستوطنة "كريات أرباع".

وبحسب المصادر الإسرائيلية فقد سمعت أصوات إطلاق نار في الساعة 19:30 باتجاه مركبة خاصة على مفرق بني نعيم جنوب "كريات أرباع". وتبين من التحقيقات الأولية أن المصابين هم مستوطن وزوجته وآخران.

وعلم أن المستوطنين هم من مستوطنة "بيت حاجي".

وبحسب التحقيقات الأولية فإن منفذي العملية اقتربوا من مركبة المستوطنين وأطلقوا النار مرة أخرى للتيقن من عملية القتل.

وبحسب شهادة أحد المسعفين الذين وصلوا إلى المكان فإن مركبة المستوطنين كانت مصابة بعشرات العيارات النارية، وبداخلها 4 جثث
...."

Four Israelis killed in West Bank

Al-Jazeera

"The military wing of Hamas has claimed responsibility for a shooting that killed four Israelis near Hebron in the occupied West Bank.

At least one gunman opened fire on a car driving on Highway 60 near the Kiryat Arba settlement on Tuesday.

The Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, claimed responsibility for the attack in a short statement posted on its website, and said it would be the first in a "series of operations" in the West Bank....."

القسام تتبنى عملية الخليلAl-Jazeera Video