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Friday, August 7, 2009

Dr. Adel Samara: A letter to Brothers in Hamas

This Article, refects the author's concern on Human rights in Gaza. I agree with Dr. Adel Samara, "Such decisions, is an ideal gift for bankrupted defeated groups collaboring with the ememy agaist resistance, who shall use it to turn people against resitance. Is that what Hamas wants? I hope no."

Like,Dr. Adel Samara, I am a born Moslem. I started my political life as a nationalist in Arab nathionalist movement passed by PFLP, and moved with hawatmi to DFLP, In 1982 I decided to get out the box, and think with my own mind, see with my own eyes.

A book, ( The book and Quran, a medern reading) I read in early 90's trigered a great need to know ISLAM, and to read Quran for the first time in my life.

I read tens of books, my intensive reading made me understand why Islam is under attack not only by the enimies of Islam, but by people claimg to be muslims just because they were born to Muslim parent. They are the victims of Talban version the goes back beyond Ibn abdulwahab to Ibn Taymeya, and back to Ibn Hanbal.

They failed to see the thin thread seperating Islam (I mean by Islam the Holly text -Quran only) and the human understanding of the Holly text, between Islam and the History of Islam.
Quran is Holly, it's Human understanding (Tafseer) is not.Quaran is Holly the History of Islam is not.

Those who killed Othman where commrads (sahaba) of our Prophet PUH.And those who fought Ali in Jammal battle wre lead by Aysha and Sahaba, Talhah and Zubair. Their disagreement was not about relgion, but about power.That disagreement started before the funeral of our Profit, and turned into a revolution (Ulama call it fitna" against Othman, that plitted Muslims till this very day.

I never felt, any contardiction between bein a Palestinian by birtn, an arob by nationality, a leftist by idiology, and a moslem by religion,

Pharoah, Quroun and Haman mentioned in Quran are not Just names they are symbols what we call now, the alliance of Political power, (Pharoah), financial power (Qaroun) and Media (Haman), Religion, all religions, were in fact revolution against that alliance.

Prophets, all Prophet, were the first freedom fighter in human history. I would say the first "Suicide bombers" , because their mission was by all means suicidal.
Qyran call jews as Prophet killers.

My message to Hamas:

Human freedom is the first pillar in the Islam I believe in.

18:29
And say: “The truth is from your Lord, so let whoever desires believe, and whoever desires reject.” We have prepared for the wicked a Fire whose walls will be surrounding them. And if they cry out, they are given a water like boiling oil which burns their faces. What a miserable place!

However, absolute freedom belongs to God only, and He has given this power to us in various degrees according to our human abilities. we has been given limited freedom. The Quran affirms the fundamental rights that we possess. These rights are so deeply rooted in our humanness that denying or violating them has nothing to do with Islam. "A large part of Quran is focused on freeing human beings from the bondage of traditionalism, authoritarianism (religious, political, economic), tribalism, racism, sexism, slavery, or anything else that prohibits or inhibits human beings from actualizing the Quranic vision of human destiny."

Socially and politically freedom is not complete or absolute. No society or State can give absolute freedom to anybody in order to secure harmony and mutual respect of all the citizens.

Equality of human beings, men and women is the second Pillar.

"0 Mankind ! we created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other." (49, 13).

Islam does not accept the Christian notion of original sin, as a punishment for which man was exiled from Heaven.

فَأَكَلَا مِنْهَا فَبَدَتْ لَهُمَا سَوْآتُهُمَا وَطَفِقَا يَخْصِفَانِ عَلَيْهِمَا مِن وَرَقِ الْجَنَّةِ وَعَصَى آدَمُ رَبَّهُ فَغَوَى 20.121 .
Then they twain ate thereof , so that their shame became apparent unto them , and they began to hide by heaping on themselves some of the leaves of the Garden . And Adam disobeyed his Lord , so went astray .

Man's coming to Earth was an act of his free choice,




Adel Samara is PhD in political economy and development, University of Exeter, England. Writer and Communist Political and Class activist. He has been arrested by Jordan, Israel, and the PA. He is a journalist of the newspaper AlarabOnline. He is also director of the Eastern Center for Cultural Studies.


قالها سعد وسعد مشتمل ما هكذا تورد يا سعد الإبل

د. عادل سمارة


(نشرة “كنعان” الالكترونية ـ السنة التاسعة ـ العدد 1980)

وصلني كغيري بيان المؤسسات والأطر النسوية بشأن قرار فرض لبس الجلباب على المحاميات…الخ في قطاع غزة. فأولاً، إن صح ما في البيان، وثانياً لست من المعنيين بما ورد في البيان من عبارات مثل “حكومة مقالة”، “ومخالفة دستورية” و “مخالفة تنظيم مهنة المحاماة”، و “التناقض مع وثيقة الاستقلال”…الخ.

قد يكون دافعي للكتابة هو حماية المقاومة بما هي الطريق الوحيد للحق في الوجود وليس فقط للحفاظ على المشروع الوطني، لأن المشروع الوطني اقل بكثير من الحق في الوجود، ولأن الحق في الوجود يشتمل حرية الأشخاص فردا فرداً. صحيح ان المقاومة هي في الأساس ضد الاحتلال، ولكن حين يسيطر شخص على آخر، تضيع المقاومة ضد الاحتلال ليصبح الحق في الوجود هو هدف من يخضع للاضطهاد.

لذا، ليس المهم هنا المفاضلة بين المقاوم والتسوية، لأن هذا ما قام به الناس في الانتخابات الأخيرة التي مهما قبل فيها من غزل، هي انتخابات تحت نير الاحتلال، ديمقراطية ممنوحة من الاحتلال! وهي هديتنا المسمومة إلى شعب العراق العربي لينتخب تحت المذبحة الاحتلالية، ولكل شعب تحت الاحتلال.

ما يهم مختلف تماماً. فمن حيث المبدأ، هل انتخب الناس حركة حماس لغرض سياسي أم انتخبوها لكي تتحكم حتى في دواخل الأسرة، وشخص المرأة وربما الرجل؟ وهل كان أصلاً قرار حماس دخول الانتخابات عملا مقاوماً، أم خطوة للتساوق مع أوسلو؟ ولو كان لي أن اقول رايي، فأنا لم أنتخب في حياتي قط، ولكنني ايدت حماس، خارج الانتخابات، لأجل المقاومة.

ما هو مناخ دخول الانتخابات اصلا غير أن ما أرادته اميركا والكيان وهو إدخال كل طرف وحتى فرد فلسطيني في مطهر التسوية، وبعد مجرد الدخول، يتم تقييده ومعاقبته وقتله إن أمكن. ما أُريد من حماس هو فقط دخول الانتخابات، وبعدها يجب أن تنتهي حماس!. وكلنا يعرف ما كان بعد ذلك وحتى اليوم.

السؤال الأساسي الذي يشغلني متعلق بالحريات الفردية، لا بل الشخصية. من الذي يحق له التدخل في لباس امرأة، حتى زوجته؟ لماذا يقرر لها هذا اللباس أو ذاك؟ فما بالك بمن يتدخل في لباس نساء أخريات؟ كيف يمكن السماح لرجل أن يسأل ابنتي أو زوجتي : لماذا تلبسين هذا؟ لماذا يحق له النظر إليها وتقييم لباسها؟ من اين اتى بهذا القدر من استصدار حق الاعتداء؟ قد يكون لكل إنسان حق نصح الآخر بالكتابة او الحديث أو اي أمر آخر. أما إصدار قرارات ملزمة للآخرين دون استشارتهم ومثلا التصويت على ذلك، والأهم والأصح ترك الحريات للناس.

كيف اصدق أن من يراقب ملابس سيدة ، لا يفكر بأبعد من ذلك مستخدما الدين الذي لا نص فيه على هذا أو غيره. لست مشرعاً ولا هذا مجالي، ولكنني اؤمن أن شخصي أنا حر فيه، ولا إنسان له حق التدخل في شخصي، ومن يتدخل في الشكل يتدخل في العقل. ومن الذي أكد له انه أكثر علما ووعيا من غيره في ذلك الغير حتى يضع لغيره حدود شكله؟ وحتى لو كان اوعى، كيف له أن يرغم الآخر بقبول ما يراه هو لغيره؟ أليست إدانتنا للاستشراق بأنه يصوغنا كما يرانا هو؟ فماذا نسمي هذا الذي يحصل حين يعيد الرجل صوغ المرأة على الصورة التي يريد!

وإذا كان من يصدر هذا القرار منطلقاً من قناعة ما وربما حكمة ما، هل يدري كيف ستحمل هذا القرار مجموعات من الشباب الذين يتمنون التحكم بالآخرين معتقدين أنهم يحملون رؤوساً ملآى بالحكمة؟ وكيف سيعاملوا النساء؟

كنت ممن تمنوا لو أن حماس في غزة، دعت إلى مؤتمر عام لمناقشة آليات الحكم، والتنمية، وإدارة الموارد المحدودة، وفتح فرص التشغيل، وإشراك النساء على قدم المساواة، وتشكيل لجان لقراءة الاحتلال بسياساتنه ومخططاته ومشاريعه ل 2020 و 2050، وارتباطه بالمركز المعولم وتغلغله في القطريات العربية وخاصة التي تفرض الحجاب والاحتجاب…الخ هذا قبل الدمار، اما بعده فاصبحت إدارة الحياة بحاجة أكثر لمؤتمر شعبي عام من الجنسين، ونظراً لوجود الحصار كان يمكن تشكيل لجنة من الخبراء والأمناء لدراسة ملفات الفاسدين وانتزاع ما سرقوا لستر حياة الأسر المستورة التي ربما لا تلبس نسائها الحجاب لأنها لا تملك ثمنه. أو نشر ثقافة تجاوز الاستهلاك، الاستهلاك الواعي، والوعي بالاستهلاك، لا سيما من منتجات الدول المعادية لشعبنا ولأمتنا، خاصة في ظروف الحصار القاتل. هذا قليل مما كان يجب أن يحصل ولم يحصل!! بل ما يحصل كما يبدو هو الاستفراد بالنساء كمستضعفات. ثم يبدأ القول، إن النساء اللاتي يرفضن هذا القرار هن متغربنات سافرات وحتى “نُشَّزا”! أما والنساء هن المستضعفات، فهل يقضي الدين باستضعاف الضعيف[1]؟ كيف كان للسيدة فاطمة الزهراء أن تفرض على الإمام علي أن لا يتزوج عليها، فهل كان سيتدخل في لباسها؟ لماذا اختراع معارك صغيرة للتشاغل والانتصار فيها؟ وهناك معارك كبرى عديدة يمكن الانتصار فيها. يمكن دخول معركة التنمية والتعليم الحقيقي والثقافة والانتاج …الخ.

يكون العمل ثورياً حين يفكك أجهزة الدولة بما هي قمعية ويفتح المجال لمائة زهرة كي تتقتح. فالوصول إلى قلعة الحكم يجب ان يكون تضحية من أجل الناس. أما أن يكون من أجل وضع عدادات على أنفاس النساء فهذا في منتهى الغرابة.

قد تتمكن هذه القيادة من فرض هذا وغيره، وما النتيجة؟ فتنة مستدامة، سيبقى هناك من يرفض ويعارض ويُقتل ويُذبح، وستسقط الضحايا بتنوعاتها، وسيكون هذا على حساب المقاومة والتنمية والبناء والحريات، وسيجيء يوم يتوقف هذا، ولكن بعد ان يصبح البلد يباباً حتى بالمقارنة مع يباب اليوم! وبلا قدرة على المقاومة، فما لزوم ذلك، فهل يخسر الاحتلال والدول العربية القطرية والغرب الراسمالي ام يكسبوا!

هل حماس في غزة أكملت كل ما هو مطلوب وبقي شعر المرأة؟

إذا لم تستشر قيادة حماس، القوى الأخرى في غزة، فهل يمكنها الزعم أنها قد غيرت ما كان قبلها؟ أم أنننا انتقلنا من تفرَّد فريق التسوية والفساد والبحث عن دولة وعد بها بوش سفاح التاريخ المهووس بالقتل، إلى تفرد فريق الأُصولية ؟ لقد دافعنا كثيراً ضد تهمة الأصولية والسلفية وضد من روجوا للغرب وحتى للكيان …الخ فماذ نقول لهم اليوم؟ وكان دفاعنا أملاً في رغبة في تغير ما! لكن الوضع لم يبق حتى كما كان.

وحتى لو تم التراجع عن هذا القرار، يبقى مُداناً لأن مجرد التفكير فيه يشكل بادرة خطيرة على مستقبل داكن.

لماذا يُقاس الإنسان بلباسه؟ ولماذا يُنصب البعض أنفسهم وكلاء على غيرهم؟ لو كان الله معنياً باللباس وإخفاء العورات والملكية الخاصة لولد الإنسان بلباس كامل. اي أن الأصل في الإنسان العري النظيف، وبعدها يلبس ليتقي الطبيعة وليس أعين الآخرين.

لو كان الانضباط الأخلاقي بكمية اذرع القماش، لما عرفت البشرية كل أنواع البغاء إلا حيت هيمن نمط الانتاج الراسمالي وحده. فهل خلت مجتمعات العالم الثالث ومنها العربية من البغاء في الألفيتين الماضيتين؟ هل اكتشفنا هذا من علاقتتنا بالغرب؟ ما يضبط الإنسان وينظم علاقته بالآخرين هي قناعته أولاً. ثم لماذا لا نقرأ ولا نرحل لنرى أن المجتمعات الصناعية الغربية ليست شوارع بغاء على الأرصفة كما يصور المعاقون نفسياً الذين يثرثرون حول هذا فيشوهون عقول البسطاء؟

كان بوسع حماس أن تفكر في تشكيل مثلث التحالف التاريخي في غزة ليضم المسلمين والاشتراكيين والقوميين لتشكيل كتلة وطنية تقاوم وتبني، وخاصة أن غزة تحت الاحتلال والدمار والفقر والحصار. فلو كانت غزة بقعة وهابية نفطية، لكان هناك ما يبين اسباب الانغلاق السلفي الذي يمول نفسه. أما أن نشحذ من كل ذي مال مهما كان مصدر ماله، ومن ثم نفرض على الناس حتى ما يلبسونه؟ وماذا عن عقولهم؟ هل نقيم محاكم تفتيش لما قد يكونوا فكروا به؟

لقد استبشرنا خيراً حين تزايد الدعم أو حتى التعاطف العالمي (الشعبي طبعا) معنا، لنطلع عليه الآن بمشروع وضع الكلبشات على جسد المرأة. فما الذي نقوله لجورج جالاوي، ولغيره؟ لماذا هذا الإصرار على تجنيد العالم لاحتقارنا؟ أكل هذا كي ترضى الوهابية؟ وهل الأنظمة التي تقيد حرية النساء “فالحة” إلى هذا الحد؟ ولو كانت كذلك، لماذا نرى كل يوم محاكم وعقوبات على الاغتصاب والبغاء ,,,الخ.

مثل هذا القرار، يدفع كثيرين للانحياز والتخارج إلى الغرب، ويجعل من السهل عليهم تجنيد غيرهم لذلك. وبعدها نأتي للقول: هؤلاء متغربنون وعملاء…الخ.

ولكن، إذا كانت المقاومة قد تحولت لتقاوم حريات الناس، فمن المتوقع أن ينحرف الناس سياسياً دفاعاً عن رؤوسهم، ومن المستفيد؟ ليس فقط الاحتلال بل كذلك الذين ينشغلون في فرض القوة والسيطرة على المجتمع وهي آليات تحول دون اي تقدم اجتماعي وثقافي، وبالتالي لا يريد الاحتلال أفضل من مجتمع يعتقل فيه الرجال النساء! نصف الشعب يقاوم النصف الآخر الذي يضطهده ، وليس شرطاً كيف؟

أعرف أن كثيرين، وخاصة من أهل التسوية، واللبرالية سيستغلوا مقالة كهذه، ولكن الرائد لا يكذب أهله. لا بد من وقفة للدفاع عن الإنسان لأن ذلك حقه علينا. لا بد من نقلة وعي لمن لا يريد الوعي، أو على الأقل تجريده من سلاح إضافي لم يكن بيده وليس من حقه.

قد يصح لنا القول، إن عالم العولمة والعالمية لن يسمح لأحد أن يغلق على نفسه ابوابه، فإما أن تتحدى العالم بما لديك من قوة، وأهمها حق الإنسان، وإما أن يدخل عليك العالم بالقوة المتعددة، وليست العسكرية وحدها.

لا يمكن لثقافة إلغاء حق المواطن أن تواكب العصر. ولا يمكن للسلاح الذي قد يهزم المحتل والمستعمِر أن يهزم المواطن، ناهيك عن أن رفعه ضد المواطن، ضد شخص المواطن هو مدخل للانتحار الجماعي، واستدعاء للاستعمار بأشكال عدة ذات يوم قادم! هذا بدل أن نقول كان الاستعمار هنا ذات يوم مضى!

إن قرارات من هذا الطراز هي الهدية المثلى للكثير من القوى المهزومة والمأزومة والمرتبطة بالعدو الثلاثي التي هي ضد المقاومة، لتجعل من هذه القضية وغيرها جسراً للتكفير بكافة أنواع المقاومة، وهذا ما سيخلق لها جمهوراً رغم إفلاسها. فهل هذا ما ترجوه قيادة حركة حماس وكوادرها؟ نتمتى لا!!!




[1] جلست قبل ربما خمس عشرة سنة في دائرة من الحضور لحفل عرس في قريتنا، كانوا عشرة رجال ما بين طلبة جامعيين ومدير المدرسة وعمال. كان الحديث عن المرأة، ووجوب ضبطها والسيطرة عليها منذ ليلة الصراع الأولى، من يتفوق على الآخر…الخ. وكان كل يقول انا فعلت وفعلت. ماذا كان لي أن اقول في حفلة عنتريات من هذا الطراز! لم أزد سوى القول، إذا كنتم رجالاً حقيقيين، فالمرجلة على الاحتلال، ولا تكون على المرأة التي تعتبرونها أضعف منكم. فقط بلغة كلغتهم كان يمكن أن يسكتوا ولا يقتنعوا بالطبع. هل كانت اللحظة لحظة حوار حول المساواة وتساوي القدرات ومناقشة النوع وغيرها!


Irving Moskowitz's bingo madness

Link

How an American gambling mogul is forcing a showdown between the Obama administration and Israel over settlements

Irving Moskowitz has come a long way since he began his medical career as an young internist in California 60 years ago. Shortly after earning his medical degree in 1952, he bought his first hospital. This transaction turned into a lucrative business of buying and selling hospitals, which earned him his first fortune.

As early as 1969, he began to turn his attention from hospitals to real estate of a different sort: holy real estate. He began to buy property for yeshivot in East Jerusalem. But he was running out of hospitals to sell and needed a new source of income to fund his dreams.

In 1972, he opened the first hospital in the small southern California town of Hawaiian Gardens and became a local hero. So in 1988, when the town faced the loss of $200,000 in revenue from the local bingo parlour, they turned to the orthodox Jewish doctor to take over the operation. The town agreed to accept 1% of gross receipts, and Moskowitz kept the rest – tens of millions of dollars. He never looked back, and his second fortune was guaranteed.

California law required that bingo be conducted by a non-profit organisation. So he shrewdly incorporated the Moskowitz Foundation, enabling his profits to be transferred directly to Israeli projects and largely avoid US taxes.

Over time, Moskowitz and other supporters of a far-right settler agenda developed a vision of "Judaising" East Jerusalem and its environs. They began after the 1967 war with a goal of repopulating formerly Jewish neighbourhoods, whose inhabitants had been expelled in 1948. The vision has gradually become more ambitious, seeking to dislodge Arab inhabitants from their traditional homes in villages like Silwan in order to transform Jerusalem into an exclusively Jewish city that can never be divided or shared with the Palestinians. Rabbi Haim Beliak, a pre-eminent Jewish activist and opponent of Moskowitz, goes so far as to call this "ethnic cleansing" of the indigenous population. Moskowitz's goal is to impose, through demography and population transfer, a political agenda on the state.

In 1985, Moskowitz purchased a political and real estate crown jewel: the Shepherd Hotel, for which he paid $1m. The property had been the headquarters of the Mufti, Haj Amin al-Husseini, a leader of Jerusalem Palestinians in the 1940s, who allied himself with the Nazis during the second world war. The state took control of the property decades ago and then sold it to Moskowitz. In one stroke, Moskowitz wrested from Palestinians part of their historic legacy and enabled the settler movement to make inroads into a new Arab neighbourhood.

Moskowitz plans to raze the hotel and construct residential units for like-minded ideological settlers. But for years, no Israeli government or municipal administration would to give him permission to build on the site. They understood the tinder-box nature of Moskowitz's proposal, remembering his last foray into sacred real estate: the Hasmonean Tunnel, a major Jewish excavation under the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem – the opening of which in 1996 led to violence that left 85 Palestinians and 16 Israelis dead.

The current rightist Israeli government and new nationalist mayor of Jerusalem are prepared to throw caution to the wind and push the Shepherd Hotel project through, however. Last month, the city of Jerusalem approved Moskowitz plans.

This is where the Obama administration comes in. They put up a big red stop sign in front of the development, telling Netanyahu in no uncertain terms that it should not begin. The US state department took the highly unusual step of summoning Israeli ambassador Michael Oren to tell him of its displeasure with the project.

Netanyahu's reply was bull-headed and typically disingenuous. There would be no limits on Jewish construction in " & hotel>

Bibi neglected to mention that no one in the world recognises Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem. Thus we're not talking about Jews being prevented from living in New York. Rather, we're talking about a hypothetical New York divided between two nations which are in a state of hostility. Naturally, one of the nations might want to regulate the settlement of citizens from the other in its neighbourhoods.

Based on a review of his foundation's tax forms, Moskowitz has sunk at least $70m as of 2002 into various settlement projects (not including his own personal fortune, which could add millions more). Besides him, there are a number of other American Jewish pro-settler groups raising millions of dollars for similar projects.

One of Moskowitz's favourite charities, to which he has given at least $5m, is American Friends of Ateret Cohanim, which runs a prominent East Jerusalem yeshiva. More importantly, its mission calls for rebuilding the Holy Temple and re-instituting animal sacrifices from the time of King David. The yeshiva trains those who would become priests if such a temple were ever built. If any of this came to fruition, it would likely ignite a holy war between Jews and Muslims.

I have urged the IRS to revoke the non-profit status of these entities. By granting tax-exempt status to the groups and their donations, the US taxpayer becomes an indirect subsidiser of the occupation. Denying non-profit status would strike a major blow against the American Jewish funding pipeline, which advances the most noxious projects of the extremist settler movement.

Given that Moskowitz is a political ally of Netanyahu, the Obama administration may have deliberately chosen a showdown over the Shepherd Hotel, since it knows very few American Jews (let alone Americans in general) will have any sympathy for such a provocative project to destroy a Palestinian historic landmark.

Sabah al-Baghdadi - Iraq: Disastrous and Shocking Official Statistics

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By Guest Post • Aug 7th, 2009 at 15:21 • Category: Analysis, Counter-terrorism, No thanks!, Maps, Newswire, Somoud: Arab Voices of Resistance, War

Translated and adapted from Arabic by Khalil Nakhleh


The following official governmental statistics, up to December 2008, show the disastrous conditions prevalent in Iraq since the American invasion and occupation of that country.


1. One million widowed Iraqi women (according to Iraqi Ministry of Women Affairs).


2. Four million orphaned Iraqi children (according to estimates by the Iraqi Ministry of Planning).


3. Two and a half million (2,500,000) Iraqis killed (according to the Iraqi Ministry of Health and Forensic Medicine).


4. 800,000 Iraqis have disappeared in secret holding places connected with the different ruling parties (according to registered complaints at the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior).


5. 340,000 Iraqi prisoners, detained without charge, in U.S. army prisons, the prisons of the Iraqi government, and the prisons in the Kurdistan District (according to Iraqi, Arab, international and UN human rights organizations and agencies). US occupying forces admit officially that the number of Iraqi detainees in their prisons is about 120,000.


6. Four and a half million (4,500,000) Iraqis are refugees outside Iraq (according to statistics of those seeking passports (category C) from the General Directorate of Passports.


7. Two and a half million (2,500,000) Iraqis are refugees inside Iraq (according to the Iraqi Ministry of Refugees).


8. 76,000 registered Iraqi cases of AIDS; this number did not exceed 114 cases before the invasion and occupation of Iraq (according to the Iraqi Ministry of Health).


9. Frightening spread of the use of addictive drugs imported from Iran, among youth (according to the Iraqi Ministry of Health and the Center for Combating Drugs and Addictions). I have written a series of well-researched articles about the various methods used to smuggle drugs, some of which are highly toxic, and how they are collected in different storage places in the southern districts, under the total control of some of the parties and the militias participating in the government, and how the profits from these drugs are used to buy (pay off) government officials, in order to gain their support and silence, and to finance their election campaigns.


10. Three out of every four marriages end up in divorce since the invasion and occupation of Iraq (according to Iraqi Ministry of Health).


11. More than 40% of the Iraqi people are under the poverty line (according to the Iraqi Ministry of Human Rights). I believe, however, that the actual percentage is much higher, and surpasses 55%.


12. Decline in the level and quality of basic and tertiary education, according to statements made by officials in UNESCO, which led this organization to refuse to recognize university degrees issued by Iraqi tertiary institutions (universities and colleges).


13. Tens of thousands of forged university degrees are granted to high government officials, high ranking officers, directors generals, and senior officials of political parties (according to statements and statistics from the Iraqi Honesty and Transparency Commission).


14. There exist about 550 political bodies and party coalitions (according to the Iraqi Independent Public Elections Commission), and, as of today, there is no law regulating this large number of political bodies.


15. There exist about 11,400 civil society organizations (according to the Iraqi ministries of the Interior, Justice and Social Welfare). These organizations have public and secret objectives, and it is not clear what these are, and how they are financed.


16. There are 126 security companies controlled by foreign secret service agencies, and registered at the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior. The declared objective of these companies is to protect foreign embassies, foreign diplomats, and visiting VIPs. However, their hidden objectives are unknown. In this case, what is the value of having today one million persons under arms in Iraq, distributed among the Ministries of Defense, the Interior, the various governmental security agencies, in addition to the security agencies of the various ruling parties.


17. There are 43 officially registered armed militias connected to parties.


18. There are 220 newspapers and media publications financed by foreign secret service agencies (according to Iraqi Journalist Union). The specific objectives of these publications is to do brainwashing of Iraqis, to remove their thinking about the various projects aiming at fragmenting Iraq into sectarian, regional, and ethnic mini-states, and to destroy their national identity.


19. There are 45 TV channels financed by foreign secret service agencies (according to statements by the Management of Nilesat and Arabsat satellite service providers).


20. There are 67 radio stations financed by foreign secret service agencies (according to statements by the Iraqi Information Commission).


21. There are 4 networks of digital communications, the estimated value of each is 12 billion dollars, financed in favor of party leaders. Among which are the following companies:


· Kork Company owned exclusively by Mas’aoud Barazani (the President of the Kurdistan District);


· Assia Company owned exclusively by Jalal Talbani (the President of Iraq);


· Zein Company (Kuwaiti), 50% is owned by Ahmad Jalabi and the Islamic Da’wah Party;


· Atheer Company owned exclusively by Abdel Aziz al-Hakim.


22. There are more than 11,400 official and unofficial party headquarters. These could be the offices of fake contracting company, or an NGO, or a political group. However, these headquarters in reality are public premises for the Iraqi government that were taken over from their legitimate owners after they were eliminated, or forced to vacate and seek refuge somewhere else. All are paid for from the Iraqi national budget.


This is only the tip of the iceberg of what’s happening in “their new democratic Iraq”, since the American invasion and occupation of the country.


The article appeared originally in www.kanaanonline.org, no. 1973, on 30.7.2009.


Sabah al-Baghdadi is an independent Iraqi journalist and researcher; he may be reached at sabahalbaghdadi@maktoob.com.


Translated and adapted by Dr. Khalil Nakhleh:


Dr. Khalil Nakhleh is an independent Palestinian researcher and development consultant; he may be reached at abusama@palnet.com.



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PA Ministry of Information: HRW report equates the victim with the villain


PA Ministry of Information: HRW report equates the victim with the villain

[ 07/08/2009 - 12:22 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- The Ministry of Information (MI) of the PA government in Gaza expressed astonishment at the report of Human Rights Watch (HRW) in which the organisation accused Hamas and Palestinian resistance factions of committing war crimes.

The MI said in a statement on Thursday that the projectiles fired by the resistance into the 1948 occupied Palestinian lands is a natural response to the continued Zionist aggressions against the Palestinian people, especially Israeli occupation military aggressions carried out against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on the land, from the air and from the sea.

The MI expressed shock at how the organisation practices a policy of turning a blind eye to the Israeli occupation atrocities, especially those atrocities which are well documented. It also accused the HRW of not being objective as it talked about 3 Israelis killed by resistance primitive projectiles while it ignores 1500 Palestinians, mostly women and children, killed and 6000 others wound in a systematic manner using state of the art weapons during the war on Gaza.

There could be no comparison between primitive projectiles used by the resistance to defend the Palestinian people and their land and cluster bombs and other state of the art weaponry used by the occupation, adding that if the resistance projectiles were causing fear amongst the Israeli occupiers the Israeli weaponry is causing much more fear amongst Palestinian children and women.

Another political site blocked by Google/Blogger

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By Mary Rizzo • Aug 7th, 2009 at 15:00 • Category: Counter-terrorism, No thanks!, Ideas and Projects, Internet and Communication, Israel, Newswire, Resistance, Zionism

The censorship of Google/Blogger does not cease. Many have fallen victim to it, and when it happens, it's quite shocking, especially if you have many thousands come to read each day and what you print can't usually be found in mainstream media. I ran Peacepalestine, which was a very popular blog. It had faced quite of few of its own trials, especially because censorship and gatekeeping are enemies of spreading information about our situation, as did many other blogs that reported the atrocities of Israel and the Imperialist Occupation forces causing hell in the Middle East. We went through all that happened below, and I have written amply about it, as well as my friend, Blogger Machetera, giving some insight but also some tips for bloggers to protect their rights of free speech. http://peacepalestine.wordpress.com/2008/04/05/internet-censorship-the-ballad-of-gilad-and-pepa/. Another dear friend, Steve of Desert Peace posted my tips. http://desertpeace.wordpress.com/2008/05/06/is-google-ethnic-cleansing-the-internet/. I can only suggest that those who run blogs consider seriously making mirror sites, archiving what you can, and not giving up!


This was sent to me by Machetera:
Sibel Edmonds just emailed me saying that she has been blocked from her Blog account by Google. The timing is suspicious given her two recent explosive radio interviews and having just been subpoenaed as well. She wants support from anyone to disseminate this information.


I have deleted her personal email but the below is in its entirety from her
website
http://www.justacitizen.com/Press_Releases/URGENTGoogle%27s%20Blogger-Aug6.htm


URGENT: GOOGLE BLOCKS MY SITE DURING SENSITIVE PERIOD

WE NEED YOUR HELP

My Blog Site http://123realchange.blogspot.com is now blocked by Google/Blogger. They will not let me post during this most sensitive period, when I am about to provide deposition on Foreign US government illegal operations in the United States!

A few weeks ago I started receiving Google & Blogger warnings from my
technologically savvy friends and well-wishers, who encouraged me to have a mirror site as a back up and or cease using Google's Blogger all together. I
did take these warnings seriously and started looking at alternatives and
other options. Well, this is what I got from Blogger yesterday:

*From: **Blogger** <no-reply@google.com>
Date: Thu, Aug 6, 2009 at 8:19 AM
Subject: http://123realchange.blogspot.com/ - ACTION REQUIRED
To: XXXXXXXXXXXX

Hello,

Your blog at: http://123realchange.blogspot.com/ has been identified as a
potential spam blog. To correct this, please request a review by filling
out the form at
http://www.blogger.com/unlock-blog.g?lockedBlogID=6542765284440328864

Your blog will be deleted in 20 days if it isn't reviewed, and your
readers will see a warning page during this time. After we receive your
request, we'll review your blog and unlock it within two business days. Once
we have reviewed and determined your blog is not spam, the blog will be
unlocked and the message in your Blogger dashboard will no longer be
displayed. If this blog doesn't belong to you, you don't have to do
anything, and any other blogs you may have won't be affected.

We find spam by using an automated classifier. Automatic spam detection
is inherently fuzzy, and occasionally a blog like yours is flagged
incorrectly. We sincerely apologize for this error. By using this kind of
system, however, we can dedicate more storage, bandwidth, and engineering
resources to bloggers like you instead of to spammers. For more information, please see Blogger Help: http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=42577

Thank you for your understanding and for your help with our spam-fighting
efforts.

Sincerely,

The Blogger Team

P.S. Just one more reminder: Unless you request a review, your blog will
be deleted in 20 days. Click this link to request the review:
http://www.blogger.com/unlock-blog.g?lockedBlogID=6542765284440328864

*

I am still looking into it and will be corresponding with them to find out
what the heck is going on, but I must say the timing of this is extremely
troubling:

Is it coincidence that this comes up when I am subpoenaed <http://123realchange.blogspot.com/2009/08/breaking-news.html>to
provide sworn deposition on matters that have sent our government
scrambling and certain high-level criminal entities sweating big time?

Is this due to my latest interviews for my Boiling Frogs Show on explosive
issues such as AIPAC, Iran, Central Asia, and Pakistan? We know big brother
NSA has been listening, and my guests have really been talking. We just
wrapped up our phone interviews with Phil Giraldi (on AIPAC & Israel and
more), Richard Barlow (on Pakistan and what our government didn't want its
people to know), Joe Trento (on Iran, Brzezinski, and more), Sandalio
Gonzalez (on our phony War on Drugs, House of Death, Kent Memo, and
more)? You see what I am getting at here?

Or is it the fact that this blog is becoming more popular, the visitors'
number has been going up rapidly, and its content getting picked up by many, nationally and internationally? And I am talking about content and topics that are blacklisted by the US Mainstream Media.

I don't know the answer. I may never know. However, what I know is this: I
better find a different or multiple different, blog sites and keep this forum alive. I also want to warn others who may become subject to this kind of notice, or maybe get terminated without any notice!

Please help me, thus all of us, resolve this blockage immediately, since in
the next few days this blog may prove to be extremely crucial to report
developing news and cases which will not be covered by MSM.

Thank you,

Sibel Edmonds

Tagged as: , , , ,

Mary Rizzo is an art restorer, translator and writer living in Italy. Editor and co-founder of Palestine Think Tank, co-founder of Tlaxcala translations collective. Her personal blog is Peacepalestine.
Email this author All posts by Mary Rizzo

Ajlouni: support of the captives does not match their great sacrifice


Link

[ 07/08/2009 - 10:40 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- Sultan al-Ajlouni, a Jordanian former captive in Israeli jails, on Thursday called for the activation of the issue of captives in Israeli occupation jails until the last captive is freed.

"Whatever we do in support of the captives, we would not be doing enough to match their great sacrifices and their defence of the honour of the Ummah," Ajlouni said during a press conference at the start of his visit to the Gaza Strip.

He said he was glad to visit the liberated land of Gaza; "I am a guest of a people who are still making great sacrifices to liberate their land."

Ajlouni's visit is mainly aimed at supporting captives and their families as well as connecting with societies that work in this field.

He said that he will cover these issues on his weekly television programme "ahrar" which is dedicated to the issue of Palestinian captives in Israeli occupation jails.

Ajlouni was captured and jailed by the Israelis in 1990 when he crossed the Jordan as he was still a teenager and attacked an Israeli occupation military post with a hand pistol killing an IOF officer. He was freed in August 2008.

Waed society for captives and ex-captives welcomed Ajlouni and prepared a special programme of visits and interviews for him.

US 'to be blamed' in case of Israeli strike on Iran: Bolton

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Thu, 06 Aug 2009 22:00:33 GMT





Former UN Ambassador to the UN, John Bolton

The former US ambassador to the UN John Bolton says that Washington should support Tel Aviv if it decides to attack Iran, since it will be 'blamed for it anyway'.

The worst outcome of an Israeli attack on Iran would be its failure to halt Tehran's nuclear program, Bolton said in an interview with Russia Today on Thursday.

"I personally believe the US should assist Israel, I think if Israel does attack, the United States is going to be blamed for it anyway," he said.

Bolton, however, described the Obama administration's relationship with Israel as "probably as bad as any since the Suez Canal crisis of 1956," saying that Washington's pressure on Tel Aviv has "complicated" the decision to "use military force".

Earlier this week in an interview with Fox News, when Bolton was asked if Israel is likely to take unilateral steps against Iran, he said, "I don't think Israel has really made a decision. But I think if you look at the history, Israel has not been afraid to take preemptive military action when it has seen an existential threat to ... Israel."

"It destroyed the Osirak reactor outside Baghdad in 1981. It destroyed a North Korean reactor in Syria in September 2007," he added.

Israel, which is the sole possessor of nuclear weapons in the Middle East, has repeatedly voiced its determination to halt Iran's nuclear program, even through military options.

Tel Aviv and its Western allies accuse Iran, a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), of pursuing a military nuclear program through its enrichment activities.

Tehran, however, denies the charges saying its nuclear program only serves civilian purposes and aims at generating electricity to meet the country's growing demand.

SUPPORT GROWS FOR BREAKING THE SILENCE TO KEEP ‘SOUNDING OFF’


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August 7, 2009 at 10:51 am (Activism, Gaza, Genocide, Israel, Palestine, Soldier Brutality, War Crimes)


One of the thousands of war crimes that Israel wants to hide from you….

israeli-war-crimes

Despite governent attempts to discredit and silence the group known as ‘Breaking the Silence’, public support for them continues to grow.

THE TRUTH WILL BE HEARD!

and

WE WILL NOT BE SILENCED!!


Don’t silence “Breaking the Silence”

Ten human rights and social change organizations in Israel have publicly declared support for the organization “Breaking the Silence” (Shovrim Shtika). In a letter to the Prime Minister, the Minister of Defense and the Foreign Minister, the organizations protested the Israeli government’s attack on the group, which reached its peak when the government attempted to prevent the group from receiving funding.

“Indeed, the soldiers’ testimonies that were published by “Breaking the Silence” do not tell the ‘official’ story that the government of Israel wants to tell the public. They place a large question mark over the ‘most moral army in the world.’ image. They call on the Israel public to leave behind its illusions and participate in a meaningful discussion about the character of the society in which they live” say the organizations. “Unfortunately, instead of living up to the challenge set by this report, initiating a real public debate about the significance of the testimonies and holding a thorough investigation of the matter, those in power in the military and government preferred to wage a frontal assault on the organization through the publication of baseless accusations meant to challenge the authenticity of the organization and the report’s findings.”


The organizations called on the Israeli government to participate in the public debate over the issues raised in the document released by “Breaking the Silence,” and to deal with the content of the testimonies in a meaningful way. “The aggressive pressure employed by the Foreign Ministry and other governmental bodies in order to silence ‘Breaking the Silence’ is dangerous and troubling,” said the organizations, who added that the health and proper functioning of democracy are expressed in, among other things, the legitimacy it grants to organizations who criticize the authorities.


Organizations that participated in the statement: The Association for Civil Rights in Israel, Bimkom, B’Tselem, Gisha, Physicians for Human Rights, Adalah , Yesh Din, HaMoked,Center for the Defence of the Individual, Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, Rabbis for Human Rights.

Source

Divisions rock Fatah conference

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The first Fatah party conference in 20 years has been extended amid infighting between delegates.

The meeting of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' movement in Bethlehem was scheduled to end on Thursday after resolving disputes over how to vote for a new leadership.

But it has been extended into the weekend after some reformists walked out of the conference on Wednesday after Abbas was accused of manipulating their choice of delegates.

There have also been widespread calls for a full report on how party funds have been spent over the last two decades.

"[The conference] is not a disaster, it's expected after 20 years of no conference being held," Maryam al-Arouri, a Fatah delegate, told Al Jazeera.


'Screaming matches'

"Right now we are trying to go through those 20 years of mistakes and we are trying to make sure to hold some accountable, move forward and put differences aside.

"There are accusations of corruption and screaming matches ... but that is to be expected and it will all be resolved," al-Arouri said.

Al Jazeera's Nour Odeh, reporting from Bethlehem, said the delegates have made some progress but that serious differences of opinion remain.

"The fact that they've extended the time of the conference has really calmed a lot of nerves here," she said.

"The discussions that happened in the morning session were a lot calmer than the ones we were reporting on a day before.

"[They are] discussing issues ranging from culture and labour rights to women's issues and also significant issues of national ramifications like ... the takeover of the Gaza Strip, or the failure of the Fatah movement over the past decade to yield any results in the peace process."

Delegates blocked

The Fatah conference suffered a blow before it began after Hamas, which effectively rules the Gaza Strip, refused to allow 400 Fatah delegates based in Gaza to attend unless Fatah releases hundreds of Hamas activists detained in the West Bank.

The conference has split Fatah delegates from Fatah-controlled West Bank and those from Hamas-run Gaza.

The Gaza delegates now demand a quota be set aside for them in Fatah's leadership bodies, and threaten repercussions - presumably a split - if they are turned down.

The West Bank delegates say the absent Gazans can vote by phone or e-mail and do not need the quotas.

Abbas was to decide on the issue later on Thursday.

The key task for the conference is to elect a new central committee and a ruling council, in the hope of giving more of a say to a younger generation that grew up fighting Israel's occupation of the West Bank.

The last Fatah congress was held in Tunis in 1989, when the movement was under the leadership of Yasser Arafat, the late Palestinian leader.

".....nothing but a battle over a slogan"

Link


In Al Hayat, here

Between Lebanon’s independence and Jumblatt’s independence along with other politicians who are seeking significant roles, we wouldn’t be adding anything new if we said that everlasting constants or unchanging alliances in any policy in the region and the world is impossible. But this impossible becomes a characteristic of Lebanon’s politicians, who, when facing misfortune, resort to their sects to justify their overthrowing principles under the pretext of defending these sects. Otherwise, if using this discourse openly is shameful, then let it be for the sake of cementing civil peace!

With Jumblatt’s awakening, we should ask if embarrassment alone is what bitterly prevented the leader of the Socialist Party from frankly relaying his feeling to his previous allies in the March 14 group, after talk about the need for this group to practice self-criticism to address its mistakes, approaches, and behaviors after the May 7 tumultuous events was on the rise.

The reassurance Jumblatt addressed to Saad al-Hariri, following the shock, that he will not abandon him, is more like adding salt on a deep wound which will not heal quickly, no matter how much Jumblatt insists that what he did was “misinterpreted”, justifying it with the need to raise new slogans.

The additional frustration has deprived the majority of the effects of its victory in the parliamentary elections to allow for the birth of “slogans”. The opposition can gratefully thank Jumblatt for his success in achieving what it failed to accomplish relentlessly alongside regional sides: Dividing the March 14 group. The catastrophe would be if it turns out that all the prices paid by the Lebanese during the past four years were nothing but a battle over a slogan

Posted by G, Z, & or B at 4:42 AM

ISRAEL DENIES INVOLVEMENT IN ARAFAT’S MURDER

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August 7, 2009 at 9:15 am (Assassinations, Conspiracy Theories, Fatah, Israel, Palestine, Palestinian Authority)

arafat_fateh

The issue of the mysterious death of Yasser Arafat resurficed at the Fatah Conference being held this week. One report states…

As Fateh’s conference, held in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, entered its second day, delegates participating in the conference criticized the movement’s leadership for not demanding an investigation into the death of late President, Yasser Arafat, and slammed it for not insisting on it.

That was taken from.

Last month, the Ramallah office of AlJazeera was closed down by the Palestinian Authority for covering a press conference regarding this matter.

Now we see Israel denying any involvement in the death. Is this assasination going to join the list of so many others? Will we ever really know who killed President John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr. and Yasser Arafat? So far, all we are hearing are denials from all the assumed gulty parties. Below is the latest denial from Israel.

Arafat murder conspiracy is back from the dead

By Avi Isaacharoff and Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondents

The mystery surrounding the 2004 death of Yasser Arafat, at the Percy military hospital near Paris, continues to hover over Fatah and the Palestinian Authority. The sixth Fatah convention on Thursday made no official decision about his death. But more than 2,000 delegates rose to applaud the late leader’s nephew Nasser al-Kidwa, former PLO ambassador to the UN, when he demanded the congress officially denounce Israel for being behind the “assassination” of the late PA chairman.

The affair resurfaced in the Palestinian discourse a few weeks ago in the wake of accusations by PLO enfant terrible Farouk Kaddoumi, head of the organization’s state department. Kaddoumi accused Arafat’s successor, PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas and PA senior official Mohamed Dahlan, of conspiring with Israel to murder Arafat.

This accusation is groundless. Even if one believes the allegations against Israel, the thought that then-prime minister Ariel Sharon enlisted senior Palestinian figures to plot against Arafat defies all reason. But Kaddoumi’s accusations were enough to ignite a lively argument in the Arab world, and al-Kidwa’s declaration Thursday fell on fertile ground.

None of the speakers at the Fatah congress had any new information on this issue. Al-Kidwa, who has a copy of the French hospital report on the circumstances of his uncle’s death, has admitted that his accusations against Israel are based on assumptions he cannot prove.

Fatah’s non-decision is not expected to affect Israel’s relations with the PA. The sides have considerable differences, first and foremost the final status arrangement and the construction in the settlements. Thursday’s announcement should be seen as lip service to Arafat’s memory that will yield no practical implications, not even an inquiry commission.

The official hospital report on Arafat’s death appeared in Haaretz in September 2005. The report rejects almost completely the possibility of poisoning (which Kaddoumi and al-Kidwa alluded to). On the other hand, it does not specify a definite cause of illness. Israeli doctors who read the report were surprised that nowhere in its hundreds of pages did it mention the possibility that Arafat had contracted HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. After all, the report described symptoms that could characterize AIDS, and many people close to Arafat presumed he had the disease. The findings also suggest a bacterial infection in the digestive system from spoiled food.

But the report reaches no final conclusions. Instead of spreading unfounded accusations, Fatah leaders should simply publish it in full so that the Palestinian public can read it and judge for itself.

Source


WITNESS~Ethnic Cleansing in Progress

Link


This has got to be one of the most vile things I've ever seen. Rhetorical Question: What has happened to Jewish people.

Answer: Zionism, the 21st Century Nazis...



Posted by irish4palestine at 1:42 PM

Wahhab Conveys Syrian Message of "Love and Appreciation" to Jumblatt


Link

07/08/2009 The leader of the Tawheed Party Wiam Wahhab conveyed to Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt a message of love and appreciation from Damascus. Following their meeting at later Clemenceau residence in Beirut on Thursday Wahhab told reporters: "Syria is his [Jumblatt's] family and home, what links the Druze sect with Damascus is far larger than all of us. I hope that everyone would come to understand this issue, as it is not directed against anyone. Moreover, Jumblatt is keen on the Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri and on making his mission a success in quickly forming a national unity government."

He went on to add: "Everyone must come to understand our distinctiveness as Druze, and the distinct relationship we have with Damascus. What Walid Bayk did goes beyond the issue of government formation." Wahhab explained that the PSP leader's statements last Sunday concerning the March 14 forces is not linked to the formation of the next Lebanese government but to other "calculated issues."

He added that the Druze sect is keen on safeguarding the Muslim line. "But this is not directed against anyone." "As for Syria, she is keen on maintaining equal and good relations with all Lebanese, on the condition in having a united Lebanon that safeguards the resistance, security" and the Arab identity of the country. Wahhab described Jumblatt's relationship to Syria as an old association "that had its bad moments."

"However, such moments are now wiped out from Syria's book and Walid Bayk's book as well and the coming days would witness positive developments not just for the Druze but for Lebanon as well," Wahhab said.

For his part, Jumblatt said: "We Lebanese when we visit Damascus apply the Taef accord that determined the who is our friend and who is our enemy." He added that the Taef accord set distinct relations with Syria. "We also welcome the rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Syria," Jumblatt said.

He described the Taef accord in saying it called for holding distinct relations with Syria, and armistice with Israel. "Which means, no peace, no settlement, no reconciliation and no relations with Israel," the progressive socialist leader said. "We shall study every incident in the right time for the benefit of both the Lebanese and Syrian states as well as for the special relationship among the Muslims. This talk is not directed against the Christians, rather to remove all of the residues of the events of May 7 2008 and to further establish the relationship our people in the mountains with those at Jabal al-Arab," he said.

PA militias intensify political arrests, kidnap 10 Hamas leaders and supporters

Link

[ 06/08/2009 - 11:54 AM ]

QALQILIYA, (PIC)-- The Palestinian authority’s militias in Qalqiliya carried out last night an unprecedented arrest campaign in the ranks of Hamas leaders and supporters in the city and kidnapped about 10 of them.

The Hamas-affiliated Omamah website reported that the militias kidnapped Dr. Hashim Al-Masri, the deputy head of the municipal council, after storming his home in the city.

The militias also broke into the house of journalist Isam Shower and rounded him up along with his guests in a barbaric way.

They also kidnapped six others affiliated with Hamas including leaders and supporters during raids on Qalqiliya villages.

In another context, the Palestinian rights assembly called on Wednesday for forming a legal committee at home and abroad to investigate the death of Sheikh Kamal Abu To’aima after he was exposed to severe torture in PA jails and disclose the circumstances to the public.

In a press release, the assembly also called for prosecuting the people who tortured the victim to death and to put an end to the continuing violations of freedoms and political arrests in the West Bank.

The assembly pointed out that the Palestinian high court had issued on 2/11/2008 a decision to release Abu To’aima, but the security apparatuses refused then to comply with the decision and released him on 3/6/2009 after he was in a critical health condition as a result of his exposure to excruciating torture.

Obama's letter to Assad ....

Link


الرئيس السوري بشار الأسد والموفد الأميركي جورج ميتشل (أرشيف ــ رويترز)


According to the Lebanese daily Al Akhbar, President Obama heeded a "french advice" and transferred the Lebanon-Syria file (s) to the White House, away from the tractions and the oversight of such officials as Jeffrey Feltman... Moreover, and always according to Al Akhbar, a senior Arab diplomat in Beirut said that President Obama sent a "three pages letter" to President Assad asking him to "turn a new page in the bilateral relations between the US and Syria" ... and outlining ways to move forward.


ينقل زوّار دمشق أن هناك حرباً من داخل الإدارة الأميركيّة على الرئيس باراك أوباما في هذا الإطار، لذلك فإن الرئيس الأميركي، بنصيحة فرنسيّة على ما يبدو، نقل إدارة الملفين، اللبناني والسوري، إلى البيت الأبيض مباشرةً، وسحبهما من وزارة الخارجيّة التي تخضع لتأثيرات من اللوبي الصهيوني.
وفي هذا الإطار، ذكر مصدر دبلوماسي عربي بارز في بيروت أن الأسد تلقّى منذ أيّام رسالة شخصيّة من أوباما لم يُكشف عنها، وهي من ثلاث صفحات، تناولت الوضع في لبنان والعراق وأفغانستان، وأبدى فيها أوباما استعداده للتعاون مع سوريا وفتح صفحة جديدة معها. وقد قابلت دمشق، بحسب المصدر الدبلوماسي، الرسالة بأحسن منها، ويقول المصدر: حرام بعض اللبنانيين الذين لا يزالون يعيشون في الماضي... سوريا والأميركيون أصبحوا في منتصف طريق التفاهم، وهنا لا يزالون ينظمون شعراً في ثورة الأرز.
يشار هنا، إلى أن الأميركيين يصارحون سوريا بأنهم يهتمون بالتعاون معها في معالجة ملف العراق. وحصل تفاهم على عناوين عدة بهذا الشأن في المحادثات التي يجريها المبعوث الأميركي جورج ميتشيل مع وزير الخارجية السورية وليد المعلم، علماً بأن ملف لبنان لم يكن غائباً عن محادثات الجانبين كما الملف الفلسطيني، لكن الأولوية الأميركية لا تزال في العراق. كذلك فإن ميتشيل تولى شخصياً إقناع الرئيس الأميركي بضرورة المبادرة إلى خطوات مباشرة مع سوريا ومع الرئيس الأسد للمساعدة في استعادة الثقة المفقودة، وخصوصاً أن الأسد كان قد صارح ميتشيل في أول لقاء بأن دمشق تستغرب كيف تطلب واشنطن تعاونها، والعلاقات الثنائية باردة أو شبه مقطوعة، فأبلغه ميتشيل أنه مكلف إدارة هذا الأمر، وأنه يسعى إلى خطوات في اتجاه تعزيز ثقة المسؤولين السوريين بالتغيير الحاصل.
حصل ذلك ودمشق تعي الدور السلبي لبعض الدبلوماسيين الأميركيين، ولا سيما جيفري فيلتمان، الذي يُعَدّ في دمشق ضيفاً ثقيلاً وغير مرغوب فيه، بل يُشَبَّه هناك بتيري رود لارسن، حتى إن الإعلام السوري الرسمي تجنب في مرة سابقة الإشارة إلى أعضاء الوفد المرافق لميتشيل حتى لا يُذكَر اسم فيلتمان.

Posted by G, Z, & or B at 3:50 AM

Hamas: World community involved in judaization of Jerusalem

Hamas: World community involved in judaization of Jerusalem

[ 06/08/2009 - 11:52 AM ]

RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- Hamas on Thursday issued a statement in the West Bank charging the world community with collusion in the Israeli occupation authority's (IOA) judaization of occupied Jerusalem.

The statement said that the IOA confiscation of land, seizure of houses, expulsion of inhabitants, digging tunnels under the Aqsa Mosque and the Old City of Jerusalem with the absolute silence on the part of the world indicate that those practices were made with the consent of the world community.

Hamas asked the Arab and Islamic countries, peoples, institutions and strugglers to act on all levels to protect the Aqsa Mosque and occupied Jerusalem in the face of IOA rabid judaization campaigns.

Israeli court asks evicted families to prove they lived in their own homes

[ 06/08/2009 - 11:41 AM ]



OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- An Israeli court has asked the families of Hanun and Ghawi, who were evicted from their homes by the Israeli occupation authority, to prove that they lived in their own homes and that they were forcibly evacuated from them.

Sources close to the two families said on Thursday that members of the two families asked neighbors to testify before the court that they lived in their homes and that the Israeli occupation policemen forced them out to the street.

The incident was watched on TV by millions of people all over the world and published in the newspapers but the court still wanted a proof!

Meanwhile, both families refused to leave the pavement where they live after their eviction and refused tents offered by the Red Cross.

They said they preferred to remain under the sun heat than turn into refugees anew and added that they would only leave the pavement back to their homes.

IOA delivers demolition orders to 13 Jerusalemite families

[ 06/08/2009 - 09:30 AM ]

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) has distributed demolition orders to 13 Jerusalemite families in five suburbs in occupied Jerusalem on Wednesday, Palestinian sources in the city reported.

They said that the IOA-controlled municipality of the holy city claimed in the notifications that the 13 houses were built without permits.

The sources pointed out that the campaign did not stop and that each day more homes are informed of similar destruction notices.

Issam Juwaihan, member of the Jerusalemite committee of the international Quds institution, told Quds Press news agency that the campaign covered all suburbs in the occupied city with special concentration on Aisawiye, Sha'fat and Beit Safafa.

He said that the IOA was totally indifferent about local and international calls to stop its racial cleansing policy in the city against the Palestinian inhabitants.

Threats to the citizens' and their property and holy shrines are very serious, which necessitate a real Arab, Islamic, and international intervention to curb such growing practices, Juwaihan concluded.

Meanwhile, in Salfit, citizens reported that armed Jewish settlers, escorted by army troops, were every now and then touring a tourist attraction west of Salfit apparently in preparation for expropriating it.

They noted that IOA bulldozers had leveled the land near the site and built factories, expecting that more such bulldozing would take place.

Letter campaign: Israeli apartheid deserves no amnesty

Link


Appeal, Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel and other groups, 6 August 2009

The following action alert was issued on 5 August 2009 by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), Adalah-NY: The Coalition for Justice in the Middle East, Boycott! Supporting the Palestinian BDS Call from Within (Israel), British Committee for the Universities of Palestine (BRICUP), International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Jews Against the Occupation-NYC, Jews for Boycotting Israeli Goods (UK), New York Campaign for the Boycott of Israel (NYCBI), New York City Labor Against the War, Palestine Solidarity Campaign (UK), US Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel

The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) and groups around the world have been calling for months for musician Leonard Cohen to cancel his planned September concert in Israel. With the international community failing to take action to stop Israeli oppression of the Palestinian people, and inspired by the international boycott movement that helped bring an end to apartheid in South Africa, Palestinian civil society has launched calls for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel, including an academic and cultural boycott of Israel. Ninety-three artists, writers and other cultural workers have signed onto the Palestinian cultural boycott call. Many dignitaries signed the "No Reason to Celebrate" pledge and refused to participate in any artistic or literary event during Israel's year-long 60th anniversary celebrations.

Feeling the heat of the protests, Cohen and his PR staff tried to schedule a small concert in Ramallah to "balance" his concert in Israel. However, Palestinians rejected the Ramallah concert and any claimed symmetry between the occupying power and the people under occupation.

Now Cohen and his PR staff are trying to whitewash the concert in Israel by using Amnesty International USA's good name. According to a July 28th article in The Jerusalem Post, Amnesty International USA will serve as sponsor of a new fund. The fund will launder the money raised at Cohen's concert in Israel by using it to finance programs for "peace."

In response, 16 groups and coalitions issued a 30 July Open Letter to Amnesty International calling on Amnesty to be true to its values and immediately withdraw support for Leonard Cohen's ill-conceived concert in Israel. The groups noted that by supporting Cohen's concert, Amnesty International is undermining a successful effort by Palestinian and international civil society to end Israel's occupation and other violations of international law and human rights principles. Amnesty International also is partnering in the initiative with Israeli institutions that undermine peace, including a bank directly involved in supporting Israeli settlement construction. The only alleged Palestinian partner has announced it is not taking part.

Take action

Please email Amnesty International, calling on Amnesty to withdraw from support for Cohen's concert. Amnesty International is recognized by many as defending human rights worldwide, so please be respectful and courteous in your message.

You can write and email your own letter, or use the sample letter below and email it, or send an editable form letter via the website of the New York Campaign for the Boycott of Israel. Linked here, for reference, is the full Open Letter to Amnesty International.

-If you send your own email, please email your letter to:

lcox@aiusa.org, cgoering@aiusa.org, ZJanmohamed@aiusa.org,
ikhan@amnesty.org, ccordone@amnesty.org, msmart@amnesty.org, drovera@amnesty.org

(Larry Cox, Executive Director of Amnesty International USA; Curt Goering, Senior Deputy Executive Director of Amnesty International USA; Zahir Janmohamed, Advocacy Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International USA; Irene Khan, Amnesty International Secretary General; Claudio Cordone, Amnesty International (UK) Senior Director, Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International (UK) Middle East Director, Research and Regional Programs; Donatella Rovera, Amnesty International (UK) Researcher on Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories)

-If you email your own letter, please cc it to: noamnesty4israeliapartheid@gmail.com so that we can keep track of the responses.

Sample letter to Amnesty International

Dear Amnesty International,

I hold Amnesty International's worldwide work for human rights and international law in high esteem. For this reason, I was very troubled to learn that Amnesty International has agreed to manage a fund that will disburse the proceeds from Leonard Cohen's planned concert in Israel in September. I call on Amnesty International to be true to your values, distance yourself from efforts to normalize Israel's occupation and apartheid, and immediately withdraw support for Leonard Cohen's ill-conceived concert in Israel.

By supporting Cohen's concert, Amnesty International will be subverting the worldwide movement to boycott Israel, a non-violent, effective effort by Palestinian and international civil society to end Israel's violations of international law and human rights principles. Accepting funds from the proceeds of Cohen's concert in Israel is the equivalent of Amnesty accepting tainted funds from a concert in Sun City in apartheid South Africa.

Ninety-three artists, writers and other cultural workers have signed onto the Palestinian cultural boycott call. Many dignitaries signed the "No Reason to Celebrate" pledge and refused to participate in any artistic or literary event during Israel's year-long 60th anniversary celebrations.

In his protest resignation from Amnesty International over this issue, Irish author and composer Raymond Deane wrote:

"By assisting Cohen in his ruse to bypass this boycott, Amnesty International is in fact taking a political stance, in violation of the premise of political neutrality with which it so regularly justifies its failure to side unambiguously with the oppressed. Amnesty is telling us: resistance is futile, the voice of the oppressed is irrelevant, international humanitarian law is a luxury."

Furthermore, the Israeli partners in the concert, the Peres Center for Peace and Israel Discount Bank, actively hinder efforts to achieve a just peace. A columnist in Israel's Haaretz daily called the Peres Center for Peace a patronizing and colonial organization that is in the business of training "the Palestinian population to accept its inferiority and prepare it to survive under the arbitrary constraints imposed by Israel." According to research by Who Profits, a project of Israel's Coalition of Women for Peace, Israel Discount Bank is deeply involved in supporting Israel's settlement enterprise. Israeli settlements violate the very tenets of international law that Amnesty International works to uphold.

Finally, the only Palestinian organization falsely reported in the 28 July Jerusalem Post article as being a partner in this project, the Palestinian Happy Child Center, has confirmed that it is not taking part. There is no Palestinian organization participating in this whitewash.

Thank you for your attention to this vital human rights issue. I look forward to learning of Amnesty International's withdrawal of its support for the Leonard Cohen concert in Israel.


Related Links

BY TOPIC: Boycott, divestment and sanctions

Smoke, mirrors and acrimony: The 2009 Fatah congress

Link

Sousan Hammad, The Electronic Intifada, 6 August 2009



Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (center) addresses delegates at the Fatah conference in Bethlehem. (Haytham Othman/MaanImages)

It has been an unnatural string of days here in Bethlehem. Gone is the usual quaintness. Palestinian police are working overtime and coffee shops are being lit up by men in suits with cigars in town for Fatah's sixth general assembly. The secular Fatah movement was founded in the 1950s and has since been at the forefront of the Palestinian national movement.

This is the first visit for many of the 2,000 Fatah officials who were exiled from Palestine decades ago. The last general conference of this kind happened more than 20 years ago in Tunis, but this year's assembly, which will re-elect the organization's 21-member central committee, comes at a bitter point in the Palestinian struggle. With Israel's recent (and yet another) act of violence -- the dispossession and eviction of two families from their Sheikh Jarrah home in East Jerusalem -- Palestinian Authority (PA) leader Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah cohorts have to work against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's uncompromising chutzpah attitude.

But if there is one thing for which Fatah can be counted on, it is exemplary power and its capacity to intimidate -- in this case with the trappings of totalitarianism as defined by the single party and the suppression of all opposition.

Back in Bethlehem, the opening ceremony to the conference began. Covering the walls of the conference room were posters of martyrs and multiple banners attempting to make a spirit of resistance visible: some with slogans calling for the Palestinian right of return, others emphasizing armed struggle and independence.



Thousands of Fatah delegates from around the world seated inside the conference hall. (Haytham Othman/MaanImages)

The Fatah anthem played and the solemn crowd stood with their arms catatonically hanging by their legs. In a matter of seconds, the delegates became absorbed in a spectacle of chanting and clapping when Abbas, whose presidential term expired in January, appeared on stage. As Abbas waited for his turn to read from what seemed like an inevitable 60-page speech, a man walked around the aisles handing out cheaply-made, Fatah-branded kuffiyehs (the traditional checkered scarf) to delegates and journalists. He insisted everybody wear it for the cameras.

The spectacle proceeded with an affectedly dramatic speech by former prime minister Ahmed Qureia, who partially owns al-Quds Cement, a company that has sold cement to Israel for the construction of Israel's illegal wall in the West Bank. Arousing anguish from the past, Qureia called for remembrance of the deceased Palestinian leader and founding member of Fatah Yasser Arafat and a moment of silence for the Fatah martyrs of Palestine.

Abbas took command of the stage, promoting Bethlehem as the besieged birthplace of Jesus. Delegates from Syria, Lebanon, Germany and other places, listened to Abbas talk about all the challenges facing Fatah, including an extended attack on Hamas' "shamefulness" for not allowing Fatah officials out of Gaza. As Abbas spoke about Gaza, a delegate stood up from his chair, yelling in a repeated and ominous tone, "Death to Hamas!" Nobody seemed bothered by the man's hatefulness. Abbas proceeded with his speech, giving a skewed history of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from its birth in 1964 to the present day, for the next two hours.

The old nationalist figures became restless one hour into his speech. In and out they went from the corridors to the outdoor canopy to catch up with their old comrades. In between the political gibberish, a sunglasses-clad Qaddafi clone arrived fashionably late while cell phones rang and clouds of cigarette smoke haloed the heads of delegates who sat and listened to a history they already knew and lived through.

It was hard not to hear the loud self-congratulatory tone of Abbas exuding from the speakers when he spoke of the importance of improving security measures inside Palestine. He spoke on the new laws the Palestinian police have been enforcing that are being used to "discipline Palestinians," as well as an investigation into Arafat's death -- without, of course, mentioning Fatah Secretary-General and PLO political department head Farouq Qaddumi's recent allegations that Abbas himself had collaborated with Israel to bring about the late president's death. He indirectly called out Qaddumi, saying those who wish to point fingers regarding Arafat's death should be ashamed of themselves. No mention, however, was made though of Abbas' draconian decision to temporarily shut the West Bank offices of Al Jazeera for airing interviews in which Qaddumi made his bombshell accusations.

Many of Fatah's young and old remained cynical about the possibility of overcoming the organization's infighting, saying they'd heard it all before. Apparently the one true believer was Jibril Rajoub, a former senior Fatah security official and former head of one of the many PA security forces, who is seen as a possible successor to Abbas. Rajoub told the horde of journalists who stuck microphones in his face that the the conference was "a rebirth" that would revitalize Fatah.



Palestinian police in riot gear outside the Fatah conference in Bethlehem. (Sousan Hammad)

But one just had to go outside to see the segregation among the delegates. The old and exiled, wearing khaki-colored uniforms reminiscent of their revolutionary days, gathered together to smoke cigarettes and drink Nescafe, while expressing gratitude to be back in Palestine for the one-week permit that was allowed them by Israel. Then there were the young: former fighters, such as Zakariya Zubeidi, who once led the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, but signed a so-called amnesty deal with Israel. He exuded optimism to the press on the urgency of pacification with Israel.

As one Fatah official, who wished to remain anonymous, said, "There are two planes in this movement: one plane of Dahlanists [Mohammed Dahlan and his cohorts] -- those who spout peace and pragmatism, and another plane of resistance -- those who want to keep armed struggle alive. But there is so much corruption that is occurring from those who hold high positions that I don't think we can come together ... it's between them and us."

No matter that the West Bank and Gaza are becoming increasingly dependent on Western aid organizations to develop their own cities and villages, Abbas insisted on showing the exiled delegates the PA's "success." Despite Palestine's statelessness, Abbas mentioned how he has been improving security for the state. Upon hearing this, Mohamed Edwan (Head Press Officer to the PA who happened to sit beside me) shook his head and said, "This is a police state, not a state of security."

It is already difficult to see the purpose of such ceremonies, but when Abbas' very own communicator dismisses what he says as a falsehood, how can we expect Fatah's central committee, political agenda and electoral decision-making bodies to act in unison with party members, much less the political leaders of other factions, or even Israel? These are the bonfires Fatah faces at the conference.

Sousan Hammad is a journalist based in the West Bank city of Ramallah. She can be reached at sousan D O T hammad A T gmail D O T com.