EIRUT (Ma’an) -- Along with the direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians, France and the US are acting to put in motion negotiations between Israel and Syria, the Lebanese newspaper As-Safir reported.
Over the course of the holiday and yesterday, two top officials responsible for talks on this channel visited Israel, the newspaper reported. They met with top Israeli officials and in the next few days will go to Damascus for meetings with Syrian President Bashar Assad and with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, according to the report.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Edward Said prophetic analysis of Oslo revisited 17 years later
[Before Dahlan , Abbas and Fayaad , before we slam the current crop of "PLO" officials , let us never forget that Arafat is the worst leader the Palestinians could have ever had. He single handedly ended the Palestinian struggle and did Israel the biggest favor of all time. The current incarnation of Fatah with it's puppets is nothing more than a continuation of Arafat's shameless selling out of Palestine. May his soul never find peace]
The Morning After
Edward Said
Now that some of the euphoria has lifted, it is possible to re-examine the Israeli-PLO agreement with the required common sense. What emerges from such scrutiny is a deal that is more flawed and, for most of the Palestinian people, more unfavourably weighted than many had first supposed. The fashion-show vulgarities of the White House ceremony, the degrading spectacle of Yasser Arafat thanking everyone for the suspension of most of his people’s rights, and the fatuous solemnity of Bill Clinton’s performance, like a 20th-century Roman emperor shepherding two vassal kings through rituals of reconciliation and obeisance: all these only temporarily obscure the truly astonishing proportions of the Palestinian capitulation.
So first of all let us call the agreement by its real name: an instrument of Palestinian surrender, a Palestinian Versailles. What makes it worse is that for at least the past fifteen years the PLO could have negotiated a better arrangement than this modified Allon Plan, one not requiring so many unilateral concessions to Israel. For reasons best known to the leadership it refused all previous overtures. To take one example of which I have personal knowledge: in the late Seventies, Secretary of State Cyrus Vance asked me to persuade Arafat to accept Resolution 242 with a reservation (accepted by the US) to be added by the PLO which would insist on the national rights of the Palestinian people as well as Palestinian self-determination. Vance said that the US would immediately recognise the PLO and inaugurate negotiations between it and Israel. Arafat categorically turned the offer down, as he did similar offers. Then the Gulf War occurred, and because of the disastrous positions it took then, the PLO lost even more ground. The gains of the intifada were squandered, and today advocates of the new document say: ‘We had no alternative.’ The correct way of phrasing that is: ‘We had no alternative because we either lost or threw away a lot of others, leaving us only this one.’
In order to advance towards Palestinian self-determination – which has a meaning only if freedom, sovereignly and equality, rather than perpetual subservience to Israel, are its goal – we need an honest acknowledgment of where we are, now that the interim agreement is about to be negotiated. What is particularly mystifying is how so many Palestinian leaders and their intellectuals can persist in speaking of the agreement as a ‘victory’. Nabil Shaath has called it one of ‘complete parity’ between Israelis and Palestinians. The fact is that Israel has conceded nothing, as former Secretary Of State James Baker said in a TV interview, except, blandly, the existence of ‘the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people’. Or as the Israeli ‘dove’ Amos Oz reportedly put it in the course of a BBC interview, ‘this is the second biggest victory in the history of Zionism.’
By contrast Arafat’s recognition of Israel’s right to exist carries with it a whole series of renunciations: of the PLO Charter; of violence and terrorism; of all relevant UN resolutions, except 242 and 338, which do not have one word in them about the Palestinians, their rights or aspirations. By implication, the PLO set aside numerous other UN resolutions (which, with Israel and the US, it is now apparently undertaking to modify or rescind) that, since 1948, have given Palestinians refugee rights, including either compensation or repatriation. The Palestinians had won numerous international resolutions – passed by, among others, the EC, the non-aligned movement, the Islamic Conference and the Arab League, as well as the UN – which disallowed or censured Israeli settlements, annexations and crimes against the people under occupation
Al-Jazeera Video: Empire special - Islam and America
Hosted by Marwan Bishara
"On the 9th anniversary of 9/11, the fault lines between the US and the Muslim world seem to have expanded. As America's internal cultural wars begin to affect its foreign policy, what are the options for President Obama? Which is the real US: The one that fights for Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan, or the one that considers US Muslims as the enemy within? And have Osama bin Laden's hopes of driving a wedge between the US and the Muslim world become a reality?"
"On the 9th anniversary of 9/11, the fault lines between the US and the Muslim world seem to have expanded. As America's internal cultural wars begin to affect its foreign policy, what are the options for President Obama? Which is the real US: The one that fights for Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan, or the one that considers US Muslims as the enemy within? And have Osama bin Laden's hopes of driving a wedge between the US and the Muslim world become a reality?"
Real News Video: UK Investigates Iraq War - US is Silent
Gardner: MI5 head testimony disproves Bush-Cheney-Blair claims intelligence agencies agreed on Iraq WMD
(David Gardner is International Affairs Editor at the Financial Times.)
(David Gardner is International Affairs Editor at the Financial Times.)
Israeli art student activity reported at federal officials' homes
By Wayne Madsen
Online Journal Contributing Writer
"On the eve of the 9/11 anniversary and in an eerie repeat of Israeli “art student” activity a year and a half prior to the 9/11 attack at the offices and homes of federal government, U.S. military, and even federal judges, WMR has been informed of an increase in similar renewed activity at the homes of current and former federal officials.
In the most recent incident, federal officials of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) report Israeli “art students” visiting their homes in Brea, California, in Orange County. Similar to the art student activity in late 2000 and early 2001, one Israeli, accompanied by one or two others, including a driver, canvassed the neighborhood offering Israeli paintings door-to-door. The TSA individuals in the area are not airport screeners but more senior officials of the aviation security agency, part of the Department of Homeland Security....
WMR has also been alerted by a former member of Congress to a new twist in Israeli activity in the Atlanta area. Foreign individuals meeting the description of Israelis have visited the homes and made phone calls to the family and a friend of the former member, asking if they would consider hosting a foreign exchange student at their residences. There are reports that these foreign exchange student canvassers travel in groups and drive into neighborhoods in a similar fashion to the Israeli art student vendors....
WMR has previously reported on Israeli kiosk vendors asking probing questions of military members at malls in Norfolk, Virginia; Columbia, Maryland; and at Pentagon City in Arlington, Virginia...."
Online Journal Contributing Writer
"On the eve of the 9/11 anniversary and in an eerie repeat of Israeli “art student” activity a year and a half prior to the 9/11 attack at the offices and homes of federal government, U.S. military, and even federal judges, WMR has been informed of an increase in similar renewed activity at the homes of current and former federal officials.
In the most recent incident, federal officials of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) report Israeli “art students” visiting their homes in Brea, California, in Orange County. Similar to the art student activity in late 2000 and early 2001, one Israeli, accompanied by one or two others, including a driver, canvassed the neighborhood offering Israeli paintings door-to-door. The TSA individuals in the area are not airport screeners but more senior officials of the aviation security agency, part of the Department of Homeland Security....
WMR has also been alerted by a former member of Congress to a new twist in Israeli activity in the Atlanta area. Foreign individuals meeting the description of Israelis have visited the homes and made phone calls to the family and a friend of the former member, asking if they would consider hosting a foreign exchange student at their residences. There are reports that these foreign exchange student canvassers travel in groups and drive into neighborhoods in a similar fashion to the Israeli art student vendors....
WMR has previously reported on Israeli kiosk vendors asking probing questions of military members at malls in Norfolk, Virginia; Columbia, Maryland; and at Pentagon City in Arlington, Virginia...."
Do Not Pity the Democrats
A VERY GOOD PIECE
By Chris Hedges
"There are no longer any major institutions in American society, including the press, the educational system, the financial sector, labor unions, the arts, religious institutions and our dysfunctional political parties, which can be considered democratic. The intent, design and function of these institutions, controlled by corporate money, are to bolster the hierarchical and anti-democratic power of the corporate state. These institutions, often mouthing liberal values, abet and perpetuate mounting inequality. They operate increasingly in secrecy. They ignore suffering or sacrifice human lives for profit. They control and manipulate all levers of power and mass communication. They have muzzled the voices and concerns of citizens. They use entertainment, celebrity gossip and emotionally laden public-relations lies to seduce us into believing in a Disneyworld fantasy of democracy....
We do not have much time left. And the longer we refuse to confront corporate power the more impotent we become as society breaks down. The game of electoral politics, which is given legitimacy by the right and the so-called left on the cable news shows, is just that—a game. It diverts us from what should be our daily task—dismantling, piece by piece, the iron grip that corporations hold over our lives. Hope is a word that is applicable only to those who grasp reality, however bleak, and do something meaningful to fight back—which does not include the farce of elections and involvement in mainstream political parties. Hope is about fighting against the real forces of destruction, not chanting “Yes We Can!” in rallies orchestrated by marketing experts, television crews, pollsters and propagandists or begging Obama to be Obama. Hope, in the hands of realists, spreads fear into the black heart of the corporate elite. But hope, real hope, remains thwarted by our collective self-delusion."
By Chris Hedges
"There are no longer any major institutions in American society, including the press, the educational system, the financial sector, labor unions, the arts, religious institutions and our dysfunctional political parties, which can be considered democratic. The intent, design and function of these institutions, controlled by corporate money, are to bolster the hierarchical and anti-democratic power of the corporate state. These institutions, often mouthing liberal values, abet and perpetuate mounting inequality. They operate increasingly in secrecy. They ignore suffering or sacrifice human lives for profit. They control and manipulate all levers of power and mass communication. They have muzzled the voices and concerns of citizens. They use entertainment, celebrity gossip and emotionally laden public-relations lies to seduce us into believing in a Disneyworld fantasy of democracy....
We do not have much time left. And the longer we refuse to confront corporate power the more impotent we become as society breaks down. The game of electoral politics, which is given legitimacy by the right and the so-called left on the cable news shows, is just that—a game. It diverts us from what should be our daily task—dismantling, piece by piece, the iron grip that corporations hold over our lives. Hope is a word that is applicable only to those who grasp reality, however bleak, and do something meaningful to fight back—which does not include the farce of elections and involvement in mainstream political parties. Hope is about fighting against the real forces of destruction, not chanting “Yes We Can!” in rallies orchestrated by marketing experts, television crews, pollsters and propagandists or begging Obama to be Obama. Hope, in the hands of realists, spreads fear into the black heart of the corporate elite. But hope, real hope, remains thwarted by our collective self-delusion."
PA has its Back to the Wall
Analysis by Mel Frykberg
"BANI NAIM, Occupied West Bank, Sep 13, 2010 (IPS) - The village of Bani Naim, near Hebron in the southern West Bank, was under curfew and sealed off by Israeli soldiers stationed in troop carriers and jeeps, as peace talks continued in Washington.
The only way IPS was able to enter was by taking a circuitous route over a dirt-track through another village. Upon entry nervous Israeli soldiers pointed their guns and demanded identification.
The previous night had been fitful. During the early hours of the morning, dozens of Palestinian Authority (PA) jeeps, security vans and police cars could be seen and heard racing up and down a main road leading to the PA's main interrogation centre in Al-Bireh, bordering Ramallah, where political opponents are interrogated and tortured....
More militant Palestinian groups including the Islamic Jihad and Hamas have warned that the armed struggle is on again [Until Hamas is invited to the "talks"??] and have sworn to carry out more attacks despite the wave of arrests. Israeli security officials have also warned of pending attacks....
Another possibility is that the PA will maintain its tenuous grip on power as Palestinians grow ever more disillusioned. Further armed attacks against Israeli settlers could take place which would weaken the Palestinian cause.
These attacks would lead to massive retaliation by Israel along the lines of the last military assault on Gaza. World opprobrium would follow and strengthen the growing Boycott, Disinvestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel....."
"BANI NAIM, Occupied West Bank, Sep 13, 2010 (IPS) - The village of Bani Naim, near Hebron in the southern West Bank, was under curfew and sealed off by Israeli soldiers stationed in troop carriers and jeeps, as peace talks continued in Washington.
The only way IPS was able to enter was by taking a circuitous route over a dirt-track through another village. Upon entry nervous Israeli soldiers pointed their guns and demanded identification.
The previous night had been fitful. During the early hours of the morning, dozens of Palestinian Authority (PA) jeeps, security vans and police cars could be seen and heard racing up and down a main road leading to the PA's main interrogation centre in Al-Bireh, bordering Ramallah, where political opponents are interrogated and tortured....
More militant Palestinian groups including the Islamic Jihad and Hamas have warned that the armed struggle is on again [Until Hamas is invited to the "talks"??] and have sworn to carry out more attacks despite the wave of arrests. Israeli security officials have also warned of pending attacks....
Another possibility is that the PA will maintain its tenuous grip on power as Palestinians grow ever more disillusioned. Further armed attacks against Israeli settlers could take place which would weaken the Palestinian cause.
These attacks would lead to massive retaliation by Israel along the lines of the last military assault on Gaza. World opprobrium would follow and strengthen the growing Boycott, Disinvestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel....."
Gunning for Islam
The Islamophobes: fringe wackos, or rising mass movement?
by Justin Raimondo, September 13, 2010
"Three people are dead because US "pastor" Terry Jones, in collaboration with the American media, staged (or threatened to stage) an anti-Muslim Koran-burning exhibition, which predictably stoked anti-American protests in Afghanistan: also predictably, US troops fired on demonstrators. The result: yet more "collateral damage."....
by Justin Raimondo, September 13, 2010
"Three people are dead because US "pastor" Terry Jones, in collaboration with the American media, staged (or threatened to stage) an anti-Muslim Koran-burning exhibition, which predictably stoked anti-American protests in Afghanistan: also predictably, US troops fired on demonstrators. The result: yet more "collateral damage."....
The only way to defeat these bastards is to counter-attack immediately, and mercilessly: don’t let them get away with it for one moment. The very idea of forbidding the building of a mosque, or any religious edifice, is anti-American to the core, and must be fought tooth and nail. What could be a clearer confirmation of the libertarian contention that a foreign policy of global intervention necessarily means the rollback of our civil liberties here at home? For libertarians, there is no question but that Muslims must be defended against the gathering lynch mob....."
Echoes of Vichy
With France back to business after the August break, politicians of the right are once again leaping on the one trick that they hope can help them win back public support — xenophobia.
By Nabila Ramdani
New Statesman
".....Associating people of "foreign origin" with violent crime is a favourite Sarkozy tactic. Consider the way he has successfully portrayed the burqa and niqab, face-covering garments worn by no more than a few hundred women in France, as symbols of all that is wrong with the country's Muslims. Sarkozy's crude arguments are presented in black-and-white terms, often literally. Just as views on a "burqa ban" have been transformed into a simple choice between Islam and secular France, so definitions of modern French citizenship may soon exclude Muslim lawbreakers....."
By Nabila Ramdani
New Statesman
".....Associating people of "foreign origin" with violent crime is a favourite Sarkozy tactic. Consider the way he has successfully portrayed the burqa and niqab, face-covering garments worn by no more than a few hundred women in France, as symbols of all that is wrong with the country's Muslims. Sarkozy's crude arguments are presented in black-and-white terms, often literally. Just as views on a "burqa ban" have been transformed into a simple choice between Islam and secular France, so definitions of modern French citizenship may soon exclude Muslim lawbreakers....."
The two faces of modern America
Even before the attacks on the twin towers, millions of Americans despised and blamed Muslims unfairly, as they did after the Oklahoma bombings
By Yasmin Alibhai-Brown
The Independent
(Currently the most read opinion)
".....There were always virtuous, exceptional Americans who stood by the persecuted through the worst of times. They are there today, too, those who stand against mobs, like Donna Marsh O'Connor, whose pregnant daughter was murdered by the 9/11 bombers. She backs the Islamic cultural centre in New York because that freedom is what her country stands for – or should: "I cannot afford to allow my country to perish in the ashes with my baby girl."
The real struggle today is between hate-filled Yankees and those who hold on to the most noble aspirations of their country. If the idealists fall, it will be hell for Muslims, yes, and a catastrophe for the superpower. Its potent mythology, self-definition, patriotic anthems, poems and hymns will turn to ash and the Great United States Of America that was will be no more. "
By Yasmin Alibhai-Brown
The Independent
(Currently the most read opinion)
".....There were always virtuous, exceptional Americans who stood by the persecuted through the worst of times. They are there today, too, those who stand against mobs, like Donna Marsh O'Connor, whose pregnant daughter was murdered by the 9/11 bombers. She backs the Islamic cultural centre in New York because that freedom is what her country stands for – or should: "I cannot afford to allow my country to perish in the ashes with my baby girl."
The real struggle today is between hate-filled Yankees and those who hold on to the most noble aspirations of their country. If the idealists fall, it will be hell for Muslims, yes, and a catastrophe for the superpower. Its potent mythology, self-definition, patriotic anthems, poems and hymns will turn to ash and the Great United States Of America that was will be no more. "
Obama: Thou shall not lie
By Khalid Amayreh
".....I strongly believe that America's ugly crimes in the Muslim world, which are often justified in the name of Christianity, give a bad name for Christianity just as the ugly crimes committed by some nominally Muslim terrorists give a bad name for Islam. Which effectively puts the US government on a morally equal footing with the terrorists? The only difference is that in the terrorists' case, the crime is called "terror," while in America's case, the same crime is called "war."
But there is another difference: America's crimes are probably supported by a majority of hopelessly ignorant and/ or misinformed Americans, while al-Qaeda's crimes are rejected by the vast majority of Muslims. I know what I am saying because I am a Muslim who happens to be living in the heart of the Muslim world.
So, Mr. Obama, I suggest you stop this mendacious propaganda, this "holier-than-thou-attitude" about the US being "the" representative of light while its enemies being the embodiment of darkness....."
".....I strongly believe that America's ugly crimes in the Muslim world, which are often justified in the name of Christianity, give a bad name for Christianity just as the ugly crimes committed by some nominally Muslim terrorists give a bad name for Islam. Which effectively puts the US government on a morally equal footing with the terrorists? The only difference is that in the terrorists' case, the crime is called "terror," while in America's case, the same crime is called "war."
But there is another difference: America's crimes are probably supported by a majority of hopelessly ignorant and/ or misinformed Americans, while al-Qaeda's crimes are rejected by the vast majority of Muslims. I know what I am saying because I am a Muslim who happens to be living in the heart of the Muslim world.
So, Mr. Obama, I suggest you stop this mendacious propaganda, this "holier-than-thou-attitude" about the US being "the" representative of light while its enemies being the embodiment of darkness....."
If That 'Mosque' ISN'T Built, This Is No Longer America
By Michael Moore
Information Clearing House
"I am opposed to the building of the "mosque" two blocks from Ground Zero.
I want it built on Ground Zero.
Why? Because I believe in an America that protects those who are the victims of hate and prejudice. I believe in an America that says you have the right to worship whatever God you have, wherever you want to worship. And I believe in an America that says to the world that we are a loving and generous people and if a bunch of murderers steal your religion from you and use it as their excuse to kill 3,000 souls, then I want to help you get your religion back. And I want to put it at the spot where it was stolen from you......"
Information Clearing House
"I am opposed to the building of the "mosque" two blocks from Ground Zero.
I want it built on Ground Zero.
Why? Because I believe in an America that protects those who are the victims of hate and prejudice. I believe in an America that says you have the right to worship whatever God you have, wherever you want to worship. And I believe in an America that says to the world that we are a loving and generous people and if a bunch of murderers steal your religion from you and use it as their excuse to kill 3,000 souls, then I want to help you get your religion back. And I want to put it at the spot where it was stolen from you......"
Thousands of Iraqi detainees at risk of torture after US handover
Amnesty International
"Tens of thousands of detainees held without trial in Iraq, many of whom were recently transferred from US custody, remain at risk of torture and other forms of ill-treatment, Amnesty International said in a new report launched on Monday.
New Order, Same Abuses: Unlawful detentions and torture in Iraq details thousands of arbitrary detentions, sometimes for several years without charge or trial, severe beatings of detainees, often in secret prisons, to obtain forced confessions, and enforced disappearances.
"Iraq's security forces have been responsible for systematically violating detainees' rights and they have been permitted to do so with impunity," said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International's Director for the Middle East and North Africa....."
Click Here to Download PDF Report (59 pages):New Order, Same Abuses: Unlawful detentions and torture in Iraq
"Tens of thousands of detainees held without trial in Iraq, many of whom were recently transferred from US custody, remain at risk of torture and other forms of ill-treatment, Amnesty International said in a new report launched on Monday.
New Order, Same Abuses: Unlawful detentions and torture in Iraq details thousands of arbitrary detentions, sometimes for several years without charge or trial, severe beatings of detainees, often in secret prisons, to obtain forced confessions, and enforced disappearances.
"Iraq's security forces have been responsible for systematically violating detainees' rights and they have been permitted to do so with impunity," said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International's Director for the Middle East and North Africa....."
Click Here to Download PDF Report (59 pages):New Order, Same Abuses: Unlawful detentions and torture in Iraq
Also, See This:
Stop unlawful detentions in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Who made Kabul corrupt?
Pious bromides about tackling corruption in Afghanistan cannot hide the fact that the buck stops in Washington
Pratap Chatterjee
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 12 September 2010
(Left: Corrupt stooges are the norm, not the exception)
"....Most of the 250,000 government employees in Afghanistan receive their salaries via electronic transfer to Kabul Bank, the country's largest private bank, which is reported to be on the verge of collapse. Blame has been cast on the biggest borrower – a man named Abdul Hasin, who was given $100m for a variety of projects which he has not repaid. Hasin happens to be the half-brother of the vice president of the country, Mohammed Qasim Fahim.
Pratap Chatterjee
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 12 September 2010
(Left: Corrupt stooges are the norm, not the exception)
"....Most of the 250,000 government employees in Afghanistan receive their salaries via electronic transfer to Kabul Bank, the country's largest private bank, which is reported to be on the verge of collapse. Blame has been cast on the biggest borrower – a man named Abdul Hasin, who was given $100m for a variety of projects which he has not repaid. Hasin happens to be the half-brother of the vice president of the country, Mohammed Qasim Fahim.
A little less than a year ago, I visited the heavily guarded headquarters of Abdul Hasin's business conglomerate – Zahid Walid – in the wealthy Kabul neighbourhood of Wazir Akbar Khan, not far from the even more heavily fortified US embassy. Neither Hasin nor Fahim were wealthy when the US invaded Afghanistan in 2001, but as the de facto leader of the Northern Alliance, Fahim was perfectly placed to profit from the new opportunities created by the collapse of the Taliban....
There is absolutely no doubt in the mind of anyone in Kabul that corruption is endemic among Afghanistan's ruling elite. But who granted the contracts, put them on the payroll and gave them the money?
So, when are we going to see those CIA and Pentagon officials in Washington DC facing charges?"
There is absolutely no doubt in the mind of anyone in Kabul that corruption is endemic among Afghanistan's ruling elite. But who granted the contracts, put them on the payroll and gave them the money?
So, when are we going to see those CIA and Pentagon officials in Washington DC facing charges?"
British servicemen suspected of murdering Iraqi civilians
British soldiers and airmen are suspected of the murder and manslaughter of significant number of Iraqi civilians, but have not been put on trial
Ian Cobain
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 12 September 2010
"British soldiers and airmen have been suspected of being responsible for the murder and manslaughter of a number of Iraqi civilians in addition to the high-profile case of Baha Mousa, defence officials have admitted.
Ian Cobain
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 12 September 2010
"British soldiers and airmen have been suspected of being responsible for the murder and manslaughter of a number of Iraqi civilians in addition to the high-profile case of Baha Mousa, defence officials have admitted.
The victims include a man who was allegedly kicked to death on board an RAF helicopter, another who was shot by a soldier of the Black Watch after being involved in a traffic incident, and a 19-year-old who drowned after allegedly being pushed into a river by soldiers serving with the Royal Engineers.
Military police recommended that some of the alleged killers be put on trial for murder and manslaughter, but military prosecutors declined to do so after concluding that there was no realistic prospect of convictions......"
Quran burning and US inconsistency
Why does the US government think burning Qurans is less civilised than drone attacks on civilian populations?
Lamis Andoni
Al-Jazeera
"....The US government's reaction to the plan will not have gone unnoticed. But no matter how strong the words of condemnation, those on the receiving end of US occupation or air raids will be struck by the apparent inconsistency.
General David Petraeus, the US commander in Afghanistan, warned that burning the Quran could endanger the lives of US troops who might become the target of retribution. But why do Obama and Petraeus think that burning the Quran is any less civilised or more dangerous than their use of unmanned drones to target suspected Taliban or al-Qaeda fighters and the subsequent civilian casualties these attacks often entail?....
Lamis Andoni
Al-Jazeera
"....The US government's reaction to the plan will not have gone unnoticed. But no matter how strong the words of condemnation, those on the receiving end of US occupation or air raids will be struck by the apparent inconsistency.
General David Petraeus, the US commander in Afghanistan, warned that burning the Quran could endanger the lives of US troops who might become the target of retribution. But why do Obama and Petraeus think that burning the Quran is any less civilised or more dangerous than their use of unmanned drones to target suspected Taliban or al-Qaeda fighters and the subsequent civilian casualties these attacks often entail?....
In the words of Kathy Kelly, an American peace activist who is currently facing trial for 'trespassing' in a drone-manufacturing plant during an anti-war protest, the mainstream media "does little to help ordinary [Americans] ... understand that the drones which hover over potential targets in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen create small "ground zeroes" in multiple locales on an everyday basis"."
Current Al-Jazeera (Arabic) Online Poll
This poll has just been posted, so the results are preliminary; it asks:
Do you trust that freedoms are respected in the USA?
With about 300 responding so far, 82% said no.
Do you trust that freedoms are respected in the USA?
With about 300 responding so far, 82% said no.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Al-Jazeera Video: Palestinian prisoners denied visits
"Muslims around the world are celebrating Eid, a festival that brings families together.
However, Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails find it very difficult to receive visits from their families and relatives.
Human rights organizations say that while Israeli convicts are allowed family and home visits, Palestinians are denied even a phone call .
Al Jazeera's Nour Odeh reports from the West Bank in the Palestinian Territories."
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