Israel Keeping Ghaddafi Afloat

March 7, 2011 posted by Veterans Today ·

by Barry Chamish

On Feb. 18, Israel’s Prime Minister along with his Foreign and Defence Ministers hatched a plot to keep Libyan strongmen Muamar Ghaddafi in power and his opponents dead or wounded.

 The big three would use Israeli taxpayers’ money to hire mercenaries to slaughter any Libyan who wanted anew leader.

(ANSAmed) – ROME, MARCH 1 – With approval from the government in Tel Aviv, an Israeli security firm is responsible for sending groups of African mercenaries to Libya to fight the protestors who have been calling for the fall of the Gaddafi regime for the last two weeks, reports Al Jazeera’s website, citing a source in the Israeli press. The journalist from Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot, who prefers to remain anonymous, said that according to speculation in the security sector, Israel looks at Libya from a strategic perspective and in terms of security. The fall of Gaddafi would open the door for an Islamic regime in Libya, accordingto speculation. In a meeting on February 18, Prime Minister Netanyahu, Defence Minister Barak and Foreign Minister Lieberman decided to recruit African mercenaries to fight alongside Gaddafi, according to the journalist. During the meeting, they decided to let General Israel Zef, the director of security firm Global CST, which is active in many African countries, to make a group of paramilitary mercenaries from Guinea, Nigeria, Central Africa, Mali, Senegal, Darfur and Southern Sudan available to Abdullah Assinousi, one of the heads of Libya’s intelligence agency.

In just a few weeks, Libya was crawling with guns for hire, many without knowledge that their paychecks originated at the Bank of Israel. How could Israel justify the ongoing massacre of Libyan civilians by its hired guns? Because Ghaddafi’s defeat would mean an Islamist government, though it’s anybody’s guess if that is even the case. Meanwhile in Israel, the police shot 15 Jews at Havat Gilad with experimental crowd-control bullets, while most of the population was too shell-shocked by never-ending poverty and debt to even care. Would they care if they knew their taxes were paying hundreds of mercenaries $300 to $2000 bucks a day to shoot Libyans? Nah, not when there’s the mortgage to be paid and children to feed. Israelis are too worn down and out to care that their government is risking huge international censure for prolonging the Libyan civil war.

Gaddafi amasses army of African mercenaries

Gaddafi is said to have lured some 25,000 mercenaries to quash a popular revolt against his regime. The head of the Libyan Human Rights League Ali Zeidan says Chad is leading this group of foreign fighters including citizens from Niger, Mali, Zimbabwe and Liberia who are being paid between $300 and $2,000 a day. While most of these governments have denied their nationals are fighting as mercenaries in Libya, Mali officials have confirmed hundreds of young Tuaregs from Mali and Niger have been recruited by Gaddafi.

There may be more to Israel’s support than just the fear of radical Islam taking control of Libya. Fifteen years ago, I interviewed a family of Libyan Jews living in southern Israel, who claimed that Ghaddafi’s mother was Jewish and he was their cousin. Since the protests of Libya turned into a civil war, thanks in part to Israel, interest in Ghaddafi’s Jewish cousins has been revived by the local media:

Gaddafi tried to buy Israeli political party

As Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi fights desperately to cling to power, killing thousands of his countrymen in the process, more and more bizarre stories about his connections to Israel are coming to light. According to a Tel Aviv-based organization of Jews of Libyan descent, in 2007 the Gaddafi regime offered a large sum of money for the formation of a “Libyan political party” to run in Israel’s 2009 Knesset elections. Last week we reported on Gaddafi’s suspected Jewish heritage, citing an Israeli television interview last year with an Israeli Jew of Libyan descent who claims to be Gaddafi’s cousin.

Is it possible that the expensive and insane risks Israel is taking over Ghaddafi is, at least partly, just a family affair?

end
**
The Barry Chamish Page


River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Mofaz demands more pressure on Palestinian prisoners

[ 07/03/2011 - 09:23 AM ]

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Shaul Mofaz, the head of the Israeli parliament's foreign and security committee, urged the Israeli government to re-consider visits allowed to Palestinian captives.

He added that prisoners meet Red Cross representatives once every three months and relatives once every two weeks.

Mofaz, a former war minister and a member of the parliamentary lobby pressuring for the release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, said that the government should use all available means to force Hamas to accept the Israeli position and conclude the swap deal (according to Israeli terms).

Members of the parliamentary lobby visited the Ofer jail, north of occupied Jerusalem, on Sunday where one of them Miriam Regev said that the Palestinian prisoners should be deprived of all privileges in order to pressure Hamas.

• IOF troops serve demolition notices, detain ten Palestinians including children
• Urgent appeal for releasing mother of two kids from Israeli jails

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

The Sturdy House That Assad Built

Via Friday-Lunch-Club

"... Paradoxically, Syria’s grave economic situation and its Alawi minority rule, which has been safeguarded by repressive mechanisms, will prevent oppositional forces from gaining critical mass in the near future....

Syrian youth certainly share the economic grievances of young people in Tunisia and Egypt, but widespread poverty and unemployment are unlikely to catalyze sudden regime change now. Despite the policy of cautious economic liberalization that Assad initiated after taking office in 2000, Syrian society continues to be defined by its high degree of egalitarianism. True, Western luxury goods are increasingly available to elites, and some members of Assad’s extended family have been accused of nepotism and profiteering. However, the accumulation of excessive wealth in the hands of an oligarchic political elite has been more an exception than a rule. Political isolation and domestic authoritarianism have severely restricted the development of a politically conscious and economically empowered middle class. As such, the situation in Damascus differs significantly from pre-revolutionary Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya. In all three countries, public fury was fueled by a highly visible and ever-increasing status gap between a large elite class and a marginalized majority. Unlike Syrians, protesters in Tunisia, Egypt, and now Libya perceived their poverty to be relative rather than absolute -- and thus as an injustice caused by the regime.

During its decades of rule, moreover, the Assad family developed a strong political safety net by firmly integrating the military into the regime....In fact, the military, ruling elite, and ruthless secret police are so intertwined that it is now impossible to separate the Assad regime from the security establishment....

Another Syrian particularity is Assad’s affiliation with a religious minority: the Alawi sect. Political observers have established a near-unanimous consensus that his minority status has severely jeopardized long-term stability. This assessment is plausible but fails to account for Syria’s specific circumstances.

It is true that Assad has even fewer enthusiastic supporters beyond his small group of co-opted elites than did former Tunisian President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali and former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, but the regime’s opposition has even less popular support. Unlike other dictators in the region, Assad is seen by many as a counterweight to sectarian disintegration rather than as a champion of sectarian interests. Moreover, Syrians have had frequent and direct exposure to the devastating outcomes of sectarian conflicts in Iraq and Lebanon. In 2005 and 2006, hundreds of thousands of Lebanese and Iraqi refugees flowed into Damascus, reminding Syrians of the dire consequences of religiously fueled carnage. And seeing how sectarianism has stunted Lebanon and Iraq, Syria’s equally pluralist society has good reason to acquiesce to Assad’s leadership.

Moreover, Assad’s comparable youth (he is 45, Ben Ali is 74, Mubarak is 82, and Qaddafi is 68) and his record of staunch anti-Westernism give him a layer of protection that the other leaders did not enjoy. Many Syrians perceive his opposition to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and his anti-Israel policies as desirable and in the national interest. In fact, Assad’s reputation in the West as an unyielding pariah has translated into popularity in his own country. In a somewhat twisted way, his willingness to stand up to the United States comports with the theme of Arab dignity that has rallied protesters throughout the region....

This is not to say that the Syrian regime has demonstrated complete indifference to regional developments. Indicating at least some uneasiness at the toppling of his counterparts in Tunisia and Egypt, Assad recently promised reforms “to open up society” and “start dialogue.” So far, his reforms have been limited to ad hoc increases in certain wages and the (surprising) unlocking of social media networks. Still, Syrians will likely prefer to pin their hopes on a slow but stable process of reform rather than an uncertain and violent revolution.....

Certainly, an early test of whether Assad’s promise of reforms was sufficient will be seen in municipal and parliamentary elections scheduled for later this year. However these elections turn out, it seems that the current wave of anti-authoritarianism will continue to largely pass Syria by. Ironically, the one Arab regime Western leaders would probably most like to see ousted from power may very well end up relatively strengthened compared to the fledgling regimes in the rest of the region. This is especially worrisome, given the possibility that an unshaken regime in Damascus might seriously consider a rapprochement with a newly elected Egyptian leadership. The question of how the West should engage Assad, now bolstered by the demise of Western-backed leaders in Tunisia and Egypt, will thus soon reemerge with even greater acuteness."

Posted by G, Z, or B at 10:04 AM

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

"... He has difficulties walking and hearing, & sometimes has trouble with his memory..."

Via Friday-Lunch-Club

 

"...  Chirac could finally appear in the dock this week in a historic corruption trial in the same courtroom which saw Marie-Antoinette sentenced to the guillotine. ... Chirac is accused of masterminding a scheme in which cronies who worked for his political party, the RPR, were on the Paris City Hall payroll, receiving salaries for jobs that never existed. Chirac is expected to take the stand on Tuesday.... Chirac will be the first former French head of state to stand trial since Marshal Philippe Petain was convicted of treason and shipped into exile after the second world war.

....... Alain Juppé, a close Chirac ally, was convicted over the fake jobs scandal in 2004 and received a 14-month suspended prison sentence and a year's ban from politics. Yet he has just been appointed Nicolas Sarkozy's new foreign minister and de facto "deputy-president" tasked with making Sarkozy look more respectable in the run up to a difficult re-election......  Paris is rife with rumours about his health. He was believed to have suffered from depression after leaving the Elysee. His wife Bernardette recently denied reports that he was suffering from Alzheimers but confessed: "He has difficulties walking and hearing, and sometimes has trouble with his memory."

Posted by G, Z, or B at 9:11 PM

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

IOA extends control on Jenin land till 2013

[ 06/03/2011 - 08:26 PM ]

JENIN, (PIC)-- The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) informed Palestinian citizens in ten villages to the east and west of Jenin city that their land would remain under IOA control till 2013.

The affected citizens said that the IOA informed them that 746 dunums of their land in five villages east of Jenin and five others west of the city would remain under IOA control until 2013.

They added that the IOA gave them two weeks to object to the decision, which is usually not accepted by those authorities.

The citizens appealed to all those concerned to return their land, which they described as their sole source of living.

The IOA has been controlling the land since 2007.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Rise Of The Arabs — Tribute to the Arab revolution [Song VIDEO]

Via MCS

- 07. Mar, 2011

By Ladybat  (batlady)

I’ve been reading every thing about the history of the Arab people for years. I’ve also been married to one for 18 years and a lot of my circle of family and friends are Arab people.

People seem to forget that the Arabs already knew, understood, and lived with democracy long before the west even began living with it. This is not a new concept just being learned by the Arabs.

THEY INVENTED DEMOCRACY THEMSELVES.

It’s just that the Arab world has faced invasions  and colonization by outsiders over and over until they lost their democracy because of puppet leaders that were forced on them and who have kept them down, subjugated, crushed, enslaved  for too long.

The Arabs were a world empire for 800 years! America has been an empire for not even half that long. And we propose that we are teaching the Arabs? Ha! It is the Arabs that are teaching us! I know they sure have taught me things I never knew until they came crashing into my Yanky Doodle Dandy life.

The Arabs have only been asleep for a while is all.  THEY are waking up to show the world what TRUE DEMOCRACY really is. Not the fake kind of “‘democracy” the U.S. tries to pass off on the world. Not an illusion of democracy, not the myth the Johnny- come-lately has turned US into and forever threatening to deliver unto the world, BUT REAL DEMOCRACY. You can count on that.

Do you see them standing up and giving their lives for it now? Do you think they are paying that price for nothing? They know, for them now, its sink or swim. This is their chance and it might not come again for a very long time. Its freedom and sovereignty time.

There are so many things going on its hard to tell whose side who is on. And I really think our US government is stumped on what to do. Its almost comical watching my government  jump around like bugs on a hot stove not knowing what they should do first.

The world is going to change now. It will change for the better. And the Arabs are showing the people of the world the way. They are leading by example. They have overthrown three puppet governments without firing a shot or killing anyone, if only the US stays out and lets them do it their way.

It will take time. But a people as old as the Arabs don’t mind the passing of time. They are a very patient people.

They are wide awake now. I can see it in their eyes just like the song in my tribute says. I see the future in their wide awake eyes. And I like what I see.

Thats right! I can see the future locked inside the crystal ball!

And its looking very good to me.

That is the theme of my video. Its my personal tribute to the Arab people and their revolution and struggle to oust their oppressive puppet leaders and win their freedom and sovereignty.  I’ve been wanting to make this video for some time now but I had to find just the right song and images for it first. And I found them. But to really appreciate it, it needs to be heard through good speakers so put your head phones on.

RISE OF THE ARABS! (my tribute)Blackmore’s Night

batlady2

** This song is titled “Locked Within The Crystal Ball” by Blackmore’s Night. All the images taken from Google Images and the Deviant Art website.

Lyrics to Locked Within The Crystal Ball :

Here in the spotlight this moment is ours
No one can stop us, we’re one with the stars

I feel the waves begin to rise
Far across the ocean deep within your eyes
Silently watching as they fall
I can see the future locked within the crystal ball

Strike up the lightening, hear my prayer
Feel the light electric dancing through the air
Here by the ancient castle wall
Can you see the future locked within the crystal ball

Here in the spotlight this moment is ours
No one can stop us, we’re one with the stars

Quiet by nature, standing tall
Old stone circles, they have seen it all
Caught like a ghost in yesterday, shadows down the hall
Are locked within the crystal ball

Fire and water, earth and sky
Mysteries surround us, legends never die
They live for the moment, lost in time, I can hear them call
They’re locked within the crystal ball

I feel the waves begin to rise
Far across the ocean deep within your eyes
Silently watching as they fall
I can see the future locked within the crystal ball

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Relatives: Detainees in Egyptian jails on 15th day of hunger strike

[ 06/03/2011 - 03:03 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- Relatives of Palestinians held in the Egyptian jails of Aqrab and Burj Al-Arab affirmed that their next of kin were still on hunger strike for the 15th day running protesting their continued incarceration.

They told a press conference in Gaza city on Sunday that the detainees had entered a "dangerous stage" and their lives were in danger.

They held all concerned parties responsible for the lives of those detainees, adding that they were being held without any sin committed and in very bad conditions.

The detainees decided to go on open-ended hunger strike demanding their release, the relatives said, adding that ten of the 13 released detainees from Egyptian jails were workers in tunnels and the others were members of Palestinian factions.

They asked the Egyptian authorities to disclose the whereabouts of Ala'a Al-Mansi and Abdul Rahman Al-Najjar, who went missing in Egypt more than two and a half years ago.

They asked the Palestinian government and factions to demand release of those detainees, and called on Egyptian and international human rights groups to press for the release of the detainees.

The relatives finally asked renowned Egyptian propagator Sheikh Yousef Al-Qaradawi and leaders of the Egyptian revolution to exert their good offices for the sake of those detainees.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

SSI 'Baltagis' mount assault on Egyptian demonstrators

Via Friday-Lunch-Club

 'They're baaaaack...'

"... Dozens of men wielding knives and machetes and hurling bricks and petrol bombs confronted protesters at the headquarters of Egypt's state security, a force whose abuses fueled an uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak, they said. ...... The scenes evoked attacks on protesters in Tahrir Square by men claiming loyalty to Mubarak during the 18-day uprising that led to his downfall. Since then, activists have pressed demands for deeper reform, including a major shake-up of the police..... The state news agency said the demonstrators were trying to break into the building. ... In the last two days, protesters have broken into 11 offices belonging to the state security apparatus across the country, seizing documents which they feared would be destroyed by officers to cover up abuses perpetrated by the force. ..... Redeploying the police force, which largely disintegrated in the early days of the uprising, and building public confidence in the internal security forces is one of the main challenges confronting a new government unveiled on Sunday. New ministers of the interior, foreign affairs and justice were announced in a reshuffle that met some of the demands of reformists in a purge of officials chosen by Mubarak......."

Posted by G, Z, or B at 8:56 PM

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Pro-democracy protests spread to Oman

Report, The Electronic Intifada, 7 March 2011

Hundreds of Omanis protest in Sohar, the Gulf country's second largest city, 28 February. (Karim Sahib/AFP)

SOHAR, Oman (IPS/AJ) - Fresh protests have taken place in the Gulf sultanate of Oman, following a wave of pro-democracy demonstrations across the Arab world. The unrest in Sohar has been a rare outbreak of discontent in the normally calm sultanate of Oman.

Witnesses said troops fired in the air, wounding one person, Tuesday as they attempted to disperse a crowd of protesters near the northern port of Sohar.

"We were about 200 to 300 people in the road. The army started shooting in the air," one protester said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"Many people ran. The man who was shot came to calm the army down."

The crowd dispersed only to regroup at the nearby Globe Roundabout, located close to the port, and the troops pulled back, witnesses said.

Later, traffic started to flow freely into the port, and at the roundabout five armored vehicles watched the square but no protesters could be seen.

It was the fourth day of protests in Oman, with the crowd continuing to demand jobs and political reforms. On Monday, demonstrators blocked the entrance to Sohar port, which exports 160,000 barrels per day of refined oil products.

Small protests have also been held in the capital, Muscat.

About 300 protesters staged a sit-in outside the sultanate's consultative council Tuesday, demanding reforms and an end to corruption.

The demonstration was organized by intellectuals and non-governmental associations and protesters held placards reading "We want jobs," "We want higher salaries" and "We want freedom of the press."

Meanwhile, about 2,000 people gathered at a mosque to voice support for Sultan Qaboos bin Said and the government, blaming violence during this week's demonstrations on protesters.

Rare outbreak

The unrest in Sohar, Oman's main industrial center, was a rare outbreak of discontent in the sultanate which has been ruled by Sultan Qaboos for four decades.

On Sunday, in a bid to calm tensions, the sultan promised 50,000 jobs, unemployment benefits of 390 US dollars a month, and to consider widening the power of a quasi-parliamentary advisory council.

There were conflicting reports on the death toll from clashes in Sohar Sunday, when police opened fire on stone-throwing demonstrators after failing to disperse them with batons and tear gas.

A doctor and several nurses at a state hospital said six people died, but the health minister put the toll at one.

PJ Crowley, the US state department spokesman, said Monday: "We have been in touch with the government and encouraged restraint and to resolve differences through dialogue."

Political parties are banned in Oman and Sultan Qaboos exercises absolute power in the country.

He reshuffled his cabinet Saturday, a week after a small protest in the capital Muscat gave the first indication that Arab discontent could reach Oman.

Oman is a non-OPEC oil exporter which pumps around 850,000 barrels per day, and has strong military and political ties to the West.

Mostly wealthy Arab countries in the region, including Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, have pledged billions of dollars in state benefits and offered modest reforms to appease their populations.

The moves follow popular unrest that toppled the leaders of Tunisia and Egypt and is threatening Muammar Gaddafi's grip on Libya.

Published under an agreement with Al Jazeera.

All rights reserved, IPS -- Inter Press Service (2011). Total or partial publication, retransmission or sale forbidden.

Extrajudicial Assassinations: Official Israeli Policy

by Stephen Lendman

Extrajudicial assassinations are willful, premeditated, cold-blooded murder. Nonetheless, they're official Israeli policy. Killers get impunity. Investigations rarely happen. Occasional ones absolve crimes, letting new ones repeat freely. Israel's Turkel commission sanctioned the Mavi Marmara massacre. A previous article discussed it, accessed through the following link:

http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2011/01/gaza-flotilla-massacre-whitewash.html

Israel's internal 2008 - 2009 Cast Lead investigation absolved brazen Gaza crimes of war and against humanity, explained through the following link:

http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2010/06/gaza-flotilla-massacre-goldstone.html
Israel's July 22, 2002 Al-Daraj massacre is discussed below. Belatedly, its Special Investigatory Commission (SIC) whitewash followed, exonerating 16 murders, including eight children. More details below.

Relevant International Law

Portions of a previous article on extrajudicial assassinations are repeated below.

They're indefensible, morally abhorrent, and illegal under international laws and norms. Article 23b of the 1907 Hague Regulations prohibits "assassination, proscription, or outlawry of an enemy, or putting a price upon an enemy's head, as well as offering a reward for any enemy 'dead or alive.' "

Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) states that "Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person." UDHR also recognizes the "inherent dignity (and the) equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family."

So do "just war" principles that rule out gratuitous violence, assassinations, (especially premeditated ones), war against civilians, and so on, despite the difficulties of distinguishing between combatants, those who've laid down their arms, and innocent civilians in times of war.

In 1980, the Sixth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders condemned "the practice of killing and executing political opponents or suspected offenders carried out by armed forces, law enforcement or other governmental agencies or by paramilitary or political groups," supported by official forces or agencies.

The General Assembly also acted in response to arbitrary executions and politically motivated killings. On December 15, 1980, it adopted resolution 35/172, urging member states to abide by the provisions of Articles 6, 14 and 15 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political rights, covering the right to life and various safeguards guaranteeing fair and impartial judicial proceedings.

The first provision of the 1989 UN Principles on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions states:

"Governments shall prohibit by law all extra-legal, arbitrary and summary executions and shall ensure that any such executions are recognized as offences under their criminal laws, and are punishable by appropriate penalties which take into account the seriousness of such offenses. Exceptional circumstances, including a state of war or threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency may not be invoked as a justification of such executions. (They) shall not be carried out under any circumstances including, but not limited to, situations of internal armed conflict, excessive or illegal use of force by a public official or other person acting in an official capacity or by a person acting at the instigation, or with the consent or acquiescence of such person, and situations in which deaths occur in custody. This prohibition shall prevail over decrees issued by governmental authority."

These articles and provisions apply to occupied civilian populations. So does Fourth Geneva. Its Article 3 affords occupied populations special protection, covering all actions related to "(v)iolence to life and person, Murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture." In addition, "The passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court, affording all the judicial guarantees....recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples."

Its Article 32 states: "the High Contracting Parties specifically agree that each of them is prohibited from taking any measure of such a character as to cause the physical suffering or extermination of protected persons in their hands. This prohibition applies not only to murder, torture, corporal punishment, mutilation and medical or scientific experiments not necessitated by the medical treatment of a protected person, but also to any other measures of brutality whether applied by civilian or military agents."

Its Article 85 refers to "Grave Breaches" and defines them as "Acts committed willfully and causing death or serious injury to body or health....making the civilian population or individual civilians the object of attack (or)launching an indiscriminate attack affecting the civilian population or civilian objects...."

The 2002 International Criminal Court's Rome Statute also calls these violations war crimes. Under Article 8, they include:

-- "Grave" Geneva Convention breaches;

-- "Willing killing...."

-- "Intentionally launching an attack" knowing it will "cause incidental loss of life...."

-- "Killing or wounding" combatants who've laid down their arms;

-- extrajudicial killings; and

-- "Killing or wounding treacherously a combatant adversary...."

Israel's Al-Daraj Massacre

On July 22, 2002, an Israeli jet bombed a three-story apartment building in densely populated Al-Daraj, a residential Gaza City neighborhood. Suspected Izzidin al-Qassam Brigade leader Salah Shehade was killed. So were 14 civilians, including eight children, Shehade's wife, son, daughter, and bodyguard among them. Eight nearby apartment buildings were completely destroyed, nine others partly, and 21 more sustained significant damage. In total, 150 civilians were injured, some seriously.

At the time, Haaretz writer Amira Hass quoted the pilot describing a "good strike." One of his crewmen said he didn't know or want to know the identity of those killed. Their mission completed, they flew home and went to sleep.

On January 23, 2008, Israel appointed a three-member Special Investigation Commission (SIC) to "investigate," including:

-- former Military Advocate General Brig. Gen. (Res.) Tzvi Inbar, chairman;

-- Maj. Gen. (Res.) Yitzhak Eitan; and

-- Yitzhak Dar, former head of Shin Bet's Jewish section.

After Dar died on August 31, 2009, retired Supreme Court Justice Tova Strasberg-Cohen took his place.

Like for all Israeli "investigations," their mandate was circumvent the law, cover up and absolve, no matter the crime. They didn't disappoint.

On February 27, SIC's findings were released, an official statement accessed through the following link:

http://www.pmo.gov.il/PMOEng/Communication/Spokesman/2011/02/spokeshchade270211.htm

The "investigation" "focused on the legality of the decision-making process" to attack and kill lawlessly. All issues "were investigated in light of legal, normative, moral and ethical criteria, according to Israeli and international law, and the values and norms of the State of Israel and its security forces."

In fact, past investigations of Israeli actions by independent commissions and human rights groups found clear evidence of serious crimes of war and against humanity, including targeted assassinations.

Israel flaunts international law and its own. It respects no "legal, normative, moral and ethical criteria." It does what it wants because no accountability follows, including for conducting targeted assassinations. Since September 2000 alone, the start of the second Intifada, Israel killed hundreds extrajudicially, including many women and children.

Once again, Israel's SIC sanctioned murder, releasing a sanitized report of findings, excluding "facts that cannot be disclosed for reasons of national security." In fact, it's to suppress important evidence too embarrassing and potentially indictable independently to reveal.

It called assassinating Shehadeh "imperative," despite killing and injuring many civilians as well as causing disproportionate destruction uncompensated for.

Israel bombed a densely populated civilian neighborhood at midnight when residents were inside sleeping, knowing maximum casualties would result. Yet SIC outrageously claimed that:

"targeted killing was selected as a measure that would guarantee Shehadeh's elimination, with the expectation that this would not cause disproportionate harm to uninvolved civilians." Only "in hindsight" was it "clear" that many "uninvolved civilians, mostly women and children" would be harmed. Doing so "was unintended, undesired and unforeseen. It did not stem from disregard or indifference to human lives," an outrageous statement showing contempt for non-Jewish ones.

SIC's entire statement defied responsibility and belief, claiming Israel answers to a higher power, its own depraved authority to do what it wants, including committing targeted or mass killings.

A Final Comment

Avi Dichter, Israel's former Internal Security Minister (2002 - 2005), now an MK, was in charge at the time, one of many unindicted Israeli war criminals. He knowingly and willfully ordered indiscriminate murders, injuries and residential destruction - crimes of war and/or against humanity, besides many others during his tenure. The Washington Post once quoted him saying, "After each success, the only thought is, 'Okay, who's next?' "

In Matar v. Dichter, the Center for Constitutional Rights filed a federal class action lawsuit against him. On April 16, 2009, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit dismissed it, granting him immunity under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA). In so doing, it absolved him of mass killings. In Al-Daraj alone, they included:

-- Salah Shehadeh, his wife, son, and young daughter;

-- Ra'ed Matar, his wife Eman Ibrahim Hassan Matar, and their three children, aged 1 and a half, three and five;

-- Matar's sister (aged 10), niece (two months), and grandmother; and

-- Mahmoud Al Huweiti's wife, Muna Fahmi Al Muweiti, and their two sons (aged four and five).

Marwan Zeino was among the 150 wounded, his spinal vertebrae crushed. He also sustained other multiple injuries, remains disabled and can't work. The killers and co-conspirators got off scot free to this day. They never then or now said they're sorry. Only Arabs died. According to Israel's moral code, only Jewish lives matter.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.

posted by Steve Lendman @ 1:54 AM

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Gaza city council agrees to twin with Tripoli, Lebnanon

[ 06/03/2011 - 03:01 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- The Gaza municipal council has agreed to establish a ”twinning” relationship with Lebanon's second capital of Tripoli.

The agreement is based on the historical, religious and social ties shared by the ancient towns as well as similarities in the landmarks.

The mayors of Gaza and Tripoli are soon due to undersign and finalize the arrangement.

Twinning agreements are aimed at promoting cultural and commercial ties between geographically or politically distinct cities.

The Gaza city council said the move was in line with the common desire to ”embody the meanings of solidarity, friendship and cooperation between the people”, and was based on the ”cultural and historical ties and Islamic heritage and brotherhood shared by the two cities.”

The Tripoli city council has also approved the plan to twin with Gaza, which would include naming a square and street in the town ”the martyrs of Gaza”, as proposed by the head of the antiquities and heritage board of the Tripoli municipal council Khalid Tadmuri.

According to Tadmuri's proposal: ”The decision was in support of Gaza and was based on the close historical , geographical, religious and social ties between it and Tripoli, and the great similarity between the ancient cities and their archaeological possessions.”

Gaza and Tripoli are both two of the oldest cities on the planet.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

'Diplomacy' or deception in the desert?

Brits Bollix Benghazi Caper

by Justin Raimondo, March 07, 2011

| Antiwar Forum

As the usual suspects started howling for Western intervention in the Libyan revolution – in the name of “humanitarianism,” of course – the objects of their concern made it clear they didn’t want or need any such “help.”

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates was right on the mark when he described this howling as nothing but “loose talk” – and just how loose was dramatized by the dispatch of a British Special Forces team to Eastern Libya, a move that backfired badly. The Libyan rebels made their point by detaining the team, whose ostensible mission, as described by Western media, was to “escort a junior diplomat” to “reach out” to the Libyan rebels. They were discovered in the Eastern part of the country, which is held by the rebels, and brought to Benghazi – where they were promptly clapped in jail. After holding them for some 24 hours, the rebels sent them packing.

As the embarrassing incident came to light, British Foreign Secretary William Hague sought to rationalize his government’s rash action:

“It is a very difficult situation to be able to understand in detail. There are a number of different opposition groups to Colonel Gadhafi in Libya who do seem relatively disparate.
‘We want to clearly understand what the dynamic is here because we want to be able to work with them to ensure the demise of the Gadhafi regime, to see a transition to greater stability in Libya and ultimately to more representative government.”

Translation: We just were unlucky enough to meet up with the wrong group – but give us time, we’ll find more pliable elements soon enough.

Undeterred by the rude reception, Hague promised that efforts to “contact” the Libyan opposition would continue. We can count on that, I’m sure. “We intend, in consultation with the opposition, to send a further team to strengthen our dialogue in due course,” he said. “This diplomatic effort is part of the UK’s wider work on Libya, including our ongoing humanitarian support. We continue to press for Gadhafi to step down and we will work with the international community to support the legitimate ambitions of the Libyan people.”
If the Libyan people should begin entertaining any ambitions considered illegitimate by Her Majesty’s Government, well, then, that’s another matter.

This incident raises a number of questions, including: what were the Brits really doing in Libya, and why – if this was a “diplomatic” mission – did it require the services of 8 SAS (Special Air Service) tough guys, members of Britain’s legendary elite commando unit, crack troops who are the tip of Britain’s interventionist spear? After all, the normal way to engage in diplomacy is to contact the government– or, in this case, the rebel committee in Benghazi – one wishes to communicate with, and make arrangements out in the open. Why send a covert action team, peopled with top-notch military personnel whose job is not to negotiate but to kill – unless one is not engaging in diplomacy but in other activities of a less benign nature?

The Guardian reports that this very odd “diplomatic” delegation consisted of 6 SAS officers and 2 MI6 intelligence agents – who arrived via helicopter, although from where is unknown at the moment – and cites a rebel source as saying:

“They were carrying espionage equipment, reconnaissance equipment, multiple passports and weapons. This is no way to conduct yourself during an uprising.
“Gadhafi is bringing in thousands of mercenaries to kill us, most are using foreign passports and how do we know who these people are?
“They say they’re British nationals and some of the passports they have are British. But the Israelis used British passports to kill that man in Dubai last year.”

That last sentence was quite a zinger, and I had to laugh out loud as I read it. The whole affair is uproarious, rather like a particularly subversive installment of Yes, Minister. As the Western powers try to mold, manipulate, and “manage” events on the ground in the Middle East, this is a measure of just how much credibility they have in the people’s eyes: zero. Go home – and stay there: that’s the message. And one can hardly blame the Libyans, especially in the case of the Brits.

After all, wasn’t it Tony Blair who held Gadhafi’s hand throughout the despot’s rather rapid “rehabilitation” – and signed a secret military agreement with the Libyan government, affixing his signature to a document pledging to arm and train Gadhafi’s “specialized military units, special forces and border security units?” It most certainly was. As a reward for capitulating to the West so readily and publicly, Gadhafi was also to be given access to NATO’s military secrets. All this was done during Blair’s last trip abroad as the representative of the British government, in which his job was clearly to say to the Libyan dictator: “Join the club, Moammar. You’re one of us, now!”

What I want to know is why, having pledged to train and support the very troops the rebels are now battling, the British government thought they could send a “diplomatic” team into the country and be greeted with open arms. Unless, of course, their mission wasn’t just an innocent diplomatic blunder, and was, instead, of a more sinister cast.

There’s no end of hilarity in this episode. Feast your eyes on this Telegraph story, which purports to tell us “what went wrong” with the SAS intervention. The subhead alone is priceless: “As the diplomatic team in Libya were rescued by HMS Cumberland after their humiliating capture, the Ministry of Defense was left trying to work out what on earth went wrong.” The tone of wide-eyed naivete persists throughout:
“When the helicopter touched down outside Benghazi in the early hours of Friday morning, the SAS troops on board knew they were entering a volatile situation. Tasked with escorting a diplomat to meet rebel Libyan forces and assessing the humanitarian situation on the ground, they did not, however, expect a hostile reception. With the British Government openly rejecting Colonel Moammar Gadhafi and already in dialogue with opposition leaders, it should have been an uncontroversial visit.”

What, me worry?

Ah, but even the credulously pro-government Telegraph noted the, er, unusual circumstances of this diplomatic courtesy call:
“However, the manner of their arrival – in the dead of night, armed with weapons, maps and explosives while dressed in plain black clothing – did little to assuage local panic.”

Yes, that does seem a tad suspicious, now doesn’t it? But, of course, those excitable Libyans would go into a “panic.” Just because their country has been invaded and occupied countless times by foreigners, why get all huffy and hostile when a mysterious helicopter carrying armed foreigners arrives in the dead of night? I guess some people are just hypersensitive.

Whether the Brits really believed they would be showered with rose petals and hailed as saviors upon arrival, as the “allied” forces were supposed to have been greeted by grateful Iraqis in 2003, is almost beside the point. The point being that what is happening in Libya, and throughout North Africa and the Middle East, is the exact opposite of what occurred in Iraq, and – contra Charles Krauthammer – refutes the Bush Doctrine that served to justify the invasion.

The idea that Washington could lead a regional revolution against corrupt authoritarians who ruled with our open support – in Tunisia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the Gulf emirates – is such an obvious contradiction that several observers doubted the President’s sincerity, concluding that Bush’s “global democratic revolution” was just an ideological cover for some ulterior motive – oil, Israel’s “security,” or some combination of the two.

In order to “drain the swamp” of the Middle East, and eliminate the conditions that led to the proliferation of terrorism in the Muslim world – as the neoconservative Deep Thinkers theorized – the first obstacles to be removed were US allies in the region: Tunisia’s Ben Ali, Pharaoh Mubarak, and the tinpot kings and emirs of the Gulf. In any genuinely revolutionary upsurge in support of democracy these characters would logically be the first to go – and so they are gone, or going very shortly. The very fact that these tyrants were – and are – valued allies of the American Imperium will mean that we can expect the same “welcome” experienced by our British partners.

As the tag team of John McCain and Joe Lieberman calls for all measures short of an outright invasion to “help” the rebels, the War Party is being told firmly but politely “thanks but no thanks” by the emerging rebel leadership.

Aside from the complete repudiation of the War Party’s agenda, what’s interesting about this story of a spy mission gone bad is the question of just what these “special forces” were really doing in Libya. My guess is they were trying to aid a particular faction of the Libyan opposition by providing its members with logistical and military support. They could hardly do so openly, and so they arrived in the dead of night, armed to the teeth and loaded down with enough spy paraphernalia to outfit a James Bond movie.

Apparently determined to provide as much comedic relief during the Libyan crisis as possible, the Telegraph released a partial transcript of the conversation between the British ambassador, Richard Northern, and a rebel leader. Here is Mr. Northern, explaining what that crack team of British commandos and two spooks were up to:

“We have been planning to send some officials to stay in Benghazi to liaise with you, with the National Council,. … And we sent today, ahead of those officials who were coming, we sent a small group just to find if there was a hotel, if everything was working, if there was somewhere they could stay and work when we get our group organized.”

Did the Ambassador really think the Libyans would fall for this? Somehow, I doubt it. A more calculated insult would be hard to imagine. The rebel leader, who is not named, responded with admirable calm: instead of berating Northern, the official said the matter is “under investigation.” That’s one investigation I would love to see pursued to the very end.

The hilarity ends, however, with the realization that this dubious “diplomatic” mission will have some real-world consequences, the first being that Gadhafi will use this incident to do what all tyrants do when their rule is challenged: point to a dreaded foreign threat to justify the continuation of their onerous rule. The Gadhafi clique has maintained from the very beginning that the rebellion is the result of a foreign “conspiracy” consisting of Washington, Al-Qaeda, and the purveyors of “hallucinogenic drugs.” To this rather disparate rogues gallery they can now add the Brits, giving the germ of credibility to Gadhafi’s somewhat LaRouchian paranoia – and prolonging the civil war that is tearing the country apart.

Speaking of paranoia: it almost makes one wonder if, perhaps, they did it on purpose – that they wanted to be caught. What else did they expect by landing in an open field, on the outskirts of a populated center? When confronted, they claimed they weren’t armed. From all accounts, however, they had enough explosives and other weapons to outfit a small army. So much for that “weapons embargo”!

The British government is saying – with a straight face – that they intend to send in yet more “diplomatic” missions, presumably with the agreement of the rebel high command, but if I were them I wouldn’t count on it.

NOTES IN THE MARGIN

On another topic: If you’re wondering where the next Muslim domino is going to fall, I say look to Pakistan – where the corruption that provoked the ire of the Tunisians, Egyptians, Bahrainis, and Iraqis has reached Brobdingnagian proportions. And speaking of the Iraqis – expect the anti-government demonstrations to be met with even worse repression (dozens have already been killed by US-funded “security” forces), and the protests to grow much larger and more radical in their demands.

Some of you may have noticed that we have resumed our relationship with Amazon.com. The reason is simple: it was dumb to boycott just Amazon when practically every banking institution and every hosting service in the country was caving in to pressure to refuse services to WikiLeaks. We thought it was important, however, to speak out against the intimidation tactics of the US government, and that we did: as George W. Bush would say – “Mission accomplished!” Seriously, though, we didn’t really think that one through: and I, for one, never thought that so many would be cowed into bowing to the dictates of the US government. Ever the optimist, I was shocked when so many caved. Live and learn.

And of course another reason for our return to the Amazon fold is financial: we just can’t afford the thousand or so dollars a month we make from the relationship, and several of our donors raised this question with us during the recent fundraising drive. It is a point well taken. We listen to you, our readers and supporters, and not only that, we respond.

Speaking of our recent fundraising campaign: I am pleased to say it was a great success – although it did get scary for a while there, especially in the beginning. And it did take a good three weeks: why, I remember – years ago – when it used to only take a single week to make our goal. Times sure have changed: they’ve gotten harder.

Yet we at Antiwar.com are determined to ride out this economic storm, and we’re doing it with your essential and much-appreciated support. To all those who dug down deep in their pockets and gave, you have my eternal thanks.

It’s always hard to write these thank-you notes, because it’s difficult to express the depths of my gratitude. However, let me try.

Every time I sit down to write a column I give silent thanks to Antiwar.com’s readers – and its incomparable staff – for the opportunity to spread the anti-interventionist message far and wide. It is a privilege, and a responsibility, to be in this position, and I never forget – not for a moment – that this kind of support has to be constantly earned.

This is the whip that drives me, and keeps me trotting along, sometimes at a very rapid pace, and it can get exhausting. I struggle mightily, however, to make sure that exhaustion never turns up in my writing. By constantly challenging myself, and my readers, I strive to ward off the worst afflictions of the ideological writer: the recourse to formulaic jargon-clotted prose, and the kind of groupthink that accompanies every movement for social change. I may not always succeed as well as I would like, but this is the kind of lazy writing I could never habitually indulge in – because it would bore me to tears.

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Geneva to host soon int'l conference on rights of Palestinian prisoners

[ 06/03/2011 - 02:52 PM ]

GENEVA, (PIC)-- Under the slogan "working for justice," various European human rights organizations are preparing to hold the first international conference on the rights of Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israeli prisons.

The conference will be held in Geneva, Switzerland, March 11-12, 2011 in order to pool the efforts of many Palestinian and European members of parliament and human rights activists to support the issue of Palestinian prisoners.

The conference will be organized by Rights for All organization, the European network to support the rights of the Palestinian prisoners (UFree) and North-South 21. These organizations are aiming to combine their efforts to work against the brutal actions against Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons.

Director of the European network to support the rights of Palestinian prisoners (UFree) Mohammed Hamdan said that Palestinian prisoners live in harsh incarceration conditions in Israeli prisons and they are exposed to illegal and inhumane punishment methods.

The first day of the conference will include round table discussions by the representatives of the human rights council, while the second day will include five elaborated sessions that will cover the subject in detail.

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Hamas chief: Egypt revolt gave us back our lives:

By Simon Martelli (AFP)

KHARTOUM — Exiled Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal hailed the sweeping political changes in Egypt, which he said had given the Palestinian people their lives back, in a speech in Khartoum on Sunday.

"Today we are witnessing Cairo returning to its natural state, after it disappeared from that state for a long time," the Palestinian Islamist leader said in a speech broadcast live on Sudanese state television.

"The people in Egypt and Tunisia have given us back our lives," he added.

Meshaal was speaking at the opening of the eighth Al-Quds (Jerusalem) International Foundation conference, being held in the Sudanese capital this year and funded by Iran.

Egypt was the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel, in 1979, and president Hosni Mubarak, who came to power two years later after his predecessor was assassinated by Islamists, was overthrown last month after weeks of nationwide protests.

The toppling of Mubarak was celebrated across the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, which neighbour Egypt had blockaded since 2007 when the Islamists seized power and ousted the secular Fatah movement of president Mahmud Abbas whose writ is now limited to the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Hamas, which won parliamentary elections a year earlier, has refused to amend its charter, which calls for the destruction of Israel.

On Sunday, Meshaal called for reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah based on "jihad", or struggle, against the Jewish state.

"The first step (to liberating Jerusalem from Israeli occupation) is refusal to negotiate with Israel... and to establish a new, reconciled Palestinian position based on jihad," he said.

Under Mubarak, Egypt played an active part in trying to revive moribund Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and also sought vainly to reconcile the feuding Palestinian factions.

The Palestinian Authority abandoned direct peace talks with Israel last autumn over an intractable dispute about persistent Jewish settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank.

The status of Jerusalem was another key sticking point in the negotiations, with the Palestinians wanting the mostly Arab part of the city now annexed by Israel as the capital of their future state.

Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir reiterated his country's support for the Palestinian people in their "battle" for Jerusalem.

"What is going in the region is a prelude to the battle for Jerusalem. And we are committed to supporting the (Palestinian) people of Jerusalem in their jihad," he told the conference in Khartoum, adding that Egypt's 1979 peace accord with Israel had been a blow to the Arabs.

Egypt's newly-ruling military has vowed to abide by the agreement.

Mishaal calls for establishment of new Palestinian situation

[ 06/03/2011 - 08:23 PM ]

KHARTOUM, (PIC)-- Hamas politburo member Khalid Mishaal has said the time has come to ”establish a new Palestinian situation”, and added that Hamas wants reconciliation that upholds resistance and has a leadership on the path of Jihad.

The statements came Sunday during the eighth annual conference of the International Quds Foundation hosted by Sudan, including Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, Mishaal and other high-profile politicians from Palestine and the Arab world.

They discussed how to counter the threat of Judaization posed against Jerusalem and challenges faced by the Palestinians under the Israeli occupation.

Mishaal blamed part of the Jerusalem crisis on the Palestinian split and called for national reconciliation based on armed resistance of the Israeli occupation and not repeatedly failed negotiations.

”The time has come to change the reality and turn the page of the past,” Mishaal said. ”No one is entitled to abuse even a handspan of Palestinian land. There must be no negotiations with the enemy, and no coordination and conspiracy against our national rights and constants.”

”The time has come to establish a new Palestinian situation. After that we ask the world to stand with us. Based on this, the split will end, and national reconciliation will be realized. We want reconciliation that upholds resistance, and that the leadership leads its people on the path of Jihad.”

”Jerusalem is living under difficult circumstances in light of the Zionist occupation, and [is living] in a painful chapter and an attempt to change its religious landmarks and its image known to the world with the construction of phony synagogues, and attempts to invent its history, erase its identity with its Muslim and Christian population, and change its demographic structure.”

The conference hosted in Sudan included several high-profile Arab officials. Media Director of the International Quds Foundation Hisham Yaqoub had announced that it would be attended by 28 countries.

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