Israelis Scared Existence of Entity Threatened by New Balances!

Hussein Assi - Hasan Hijazi


24/04/2010 Day after another, the Israeli "fears" seem to be higher and higher…

Dangers are surrounding the so-called Israeli State from all directions. The existence of the Zionist entity is in itself threatened by the new balances of terror or power in the region.

The previous statement was not delivered by a Resistance leader or an anti-Israeli activist. Instead, it was a "fear" or even an "obsession" expressed by Israeli daily Yedihot Ahronot as a result of the new balances of deterrence in the region.

"Israel is the most dangerous place for Jewish people in the world," the Israeli daily pointed out in its main headlines, emphasizing, in one sense or another, the level of dangers felt by the Israelis during the last stage.

Yedihot noted that the Zionist entity was aimed, when created, to represent the "safety coast" for Jewish people. "However, and since its creation, it turned to be the one and only place in the world in which Jewish people are killed in a systematic way in military confrontations and terrorist attacks just because they belong to the Zionist scheme," the daily claimed.

The Israeli daily went on in its analysis to say that after Israel became a regional power and after the Israeli army was believed to be the strongest one in the Middle East, the Israeli fears didn't see an end. "Israelis feel threatened today more than ever, threatened by an Iranian nuclear weapon once and by thousands of rockets launched from the North or the South," the daily said.

Not only this, the Israeli daily had the courage to ask a dangerous question, a question that touches the cause of commitment to remain inside the Zionist entity. "We have to ask ourselves whether we are really ready to sacrifice our own sons for the sake of the Israeli sovereignty at the time we can guarantee a future of safety and security for them somewhere else."


River to Sea  Uprooted Palestinian

Obama team works to head off new Mideast war amid confusion about Syrian intentions

Via Friday-Lunch-Club

In the Cable/ here

When U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michele Sison met with Lebanese officials on Wednesday, she had a mission: She was there to urge Lebanon to help avoid a new outbreak of violence between Israel and the Shiite militant group Hezbollah.

Sison, an affable and well-liked career Foreign Service officer, was given the difficult task of both urging the Lebanese to do what they can to avoid an eruption of war and convincing them that U.S. and Israeli concerns about alleged Syrian arms transfers over the Lebanese border should be taken seriously.

Arab press reports cited anonymous sources as saying Sison showed Lebanese Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri photos of truck convoys, evidence  of increasing and escalation weapons shipments to Hezbollah. More shockingly, the reports said that she told Lebanese officials the United States had stopped Israel from launching an imm inent strike against the convoys. Neither of those details is true, according to multiple administration sources.

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told The Cable that the idea American waived Israel off of a strike on Syrian weapons transfers is "totally false," but declined to describe the specifics of the meeting. Another U.S. official described the Arab press reports as "bullshit."

Two administration officials close to the issue, however, said that the meeting did in fact take place, but no photos were shown and the United States did not halt an imminent Israeli strike.

"The Israelis weren't ready to shoot anything. Ther e was never a point where they said, ‘We are going to strike something,'"....Sison's message was the same message the U.S. is sending to all the parties, which is, "A war now is not in anyone's interest," the official said.

The administration is still not clear that any SCUDs have been transferred, but there is an acknowledgement that Syrian weapons transfers are increasing in both quantity and quality.

"It's a deterrence game and each side is building up its deterrence capability," this official said, adding that as both the Israelis and Hezbollah prepare for war, the seriousness of any actual outbreak of fighting is keeping both sides from initiating battle -- for now. "In a way, the deterrence is working," the source added, noting that the downside risk of the arms buildup is that any miscalculation that begins an open conflict would precipitate a large-scale war that whose consequences would be impossible to predict.

According to this official, who stressed that they were only conveying their personal analysis, not the overall administration position, Hezbollah is still seeking revenge for the 2008 Israeli assassination of its military leader Imad Mughniyeh, and sees some spectacular attack on Israel as a way to achieve that. But Hezbollah, now accountable to the Lebanese people due to its role in the government, doesn't want to be seen as firing the first shot that could lead to devastating retaliation from Israel. So the group is trying to goad the Israelis into starting the conflict, the official believes.

The Israelis are aware they are being goaded, the official said, and are doing their best to resist while warning Washington that at some point violence might be unavoidable. "The Israelis know that once they strike, that's all the excuse that Hezbollah needs to wage a full-scale war," the official explained.

As for why Syria seems to be playing such an unhelpful role, "that's the million-dollar question," the official said. The Obama administration genuinely does not understand Syrian intentions and there are three basic theories within the administration as to why Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would continue to escalate arms shipments to Hezbollah despite U.S. warnings.

According to one school of thought, this is Assad's way of playing hardball with the Israelis in advance of Israeli-Syrian negotiations. No one wants to negotiate from a weak position, so he is amassing chits that he can bargain away later.

An opposing theory is that Assad has no interest in engaging with the Americans or negotiating with Israel at all. This line of thinking concludes that he is simply paving the way for eventual conflict with Israel.

"We do not understand Syrian intentions. No one does, and until we get to that question we can never get to the root of the problem," the official said. "Until then it's all damage control."

The third, more nuanced analysis portrays Assad as a man in a bind. He has himself so tied up with Iran and Hezbollah that perhaps he can't disengage as easily as those in the West think he can. Also, Assad has always been a gambler and may have simply become entangled in his own web of deals with so many competing interests.

Meanwhile, the administration is trying to explain to the Syrians how foolish the weapons transfers are, if they are really happening, while telling the Israelis to be patient and arguing that the only beneficiary of a new Israeli-Hezbollah war would be Iran, which would seize upon a new conflict to deflect international pressure over its nuclear program.

And what about Hariri, who said the SCUD allegations were "reminiscent of the weapons of mass destruction allegations against Saddam Hussein" and "a pretext for threatening my country"?

"Hariri is terrified that another war is going to break his country apart and if that means denying the weapons transfers or whatever, he's going to do it," our official speculated. "He's desperately trying to save his country from utter decimation."

Posted by G, Z, or B at 12:01 PM

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Syrian Scud Missiles Transfer to Hezbollah Remains Israeli Hypothesis

Syrian Scud Missiles Transfer to Hezbollah Remains Israeli Hypothesis

24/04/2010 A day after two US officials said there were "no indications" any Scud rockets were transported into Lebanon, a US diplomat said Syria is providing a “wider array” of missiles to Hezbollah.

"We are concerned with the broadening nature of cooperation between Syria and Hezbollah. They are providing a wider array of missiles to Hezbollah," a senior State Department official said on Friday, according to AFP news agency, on condition of anonymity.
"As to the narrower question of do we have evidence of Scuds crossing into Lebanon, that's something... to watch carefully."

However, on Thursday, two US officials said there were "no indications" any Scud rockets were transported into Lebanon.
"We don't think Scuds, of any shape or size, have been moved to Lebanon," AFP quoted the official as saying.

"The Syrians aren't always known for making the right political calculations. But in this case, surely they realize that transferring this kind of weapons system to Hezbollah – and especially to Hezbollah in Lebanon – could lead to serious consequences," the official added.

The assistant secretary of state for the Middle East, Jeffrey Feltman said Wednesday the United States would have "really, really serious concerns" if Syria had delivered such high-grade weapons to Hezbollah.
"If these reports turn out to be true, we're going to have to review the full range of tools that are available for us in order to make Syria reverse what would be an incendiary, provocative action," Feltman said.

On Monday, the most senior Syrian diplomat in Washington, Deputy Chief of Mission Zouheir Jabbour, was summoned to the State Department to review what the United States called "Syria's provocative behavior concerning the potential transfer of arms to Hezbollah."

The alleged transfer from Syria involved Scuds believed to have a range of more than 435 miles (700 km), which would put occupied Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Israel's nuclear reactor sites in Dimona and near Tel Aviv in range, The Wall Street Journal reported last week.

Scud-type missiles, originally designed and produced by the Soviets, are usually about 11 meters long and have a range of roughly 300 kilometers, though some versions can strike beyond 500 kilometers.

US officials voiced confidence that Scuds crossing the Syrian-Lebanese border would be detected, because the large rockets cannot be readily broken down into small parts for transport, the officials said.

AFP noted that a US defense official speaking on condition of anonymity said that smuggling missiles and mobile launchers into Lebanon without US or Israeli intelligence agencies noticing would be “possible, but difficult.”

However, analysts said that missiles and mobile launcher could be taken apart to avoid detection.
"All you have to do is separate the tail from the missile, which is something you can do easily. And then move it to some other vehicle," said Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.

But Damascus denied the alleged transfer to Hezbollah. On Wednesday, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Mouallem said that "it was regrettable that the United States had accepted Israel's accusations against Damascus as true."

Did Syria Supply Hezbollah with Scud missiles or not remains the throwing puzzle which both Israel and the US administration have been confused by for more than a week.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Qassem to Abbas: Reconciliation does not match with security coordination

[ 24/04/2010 - 04:41 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- Political science professor Abdul Sattar Qassem on Saturday told Mahmoud Abbas, the PA chief whose tenure in office expired last year, that wanting reconciliation does not match with maintaining security coordination with the Israeli occupation authority (IOA).

Qassem told the PIC that if the main reasons for the division were dealt with then reconciliation would automatically follow, but he recalled that former reconciliations in 2005 and 2007 did not live long because the basic reasons for the rift were not treated.

For his part, Fayez Abu Shammale, a Palestinian writer and political analyst, told the PIC that Abbas should have approved negotiations with Hamas instead of announcing readiness to have talks with all Jewish forces in the world.

Abbas acknowledged that the IOA practices on the ground were tearing up the foundations of a Palestinian state, yet he was still adamant on negotiations with the IOA because he did not seek to have an alternative choice, Abu Shammale added.

He described the Palestinian factions' position regarding Abbas's policy as "careless".

A prominent Hamas leader said that Abbas's speech did not carry anything new but rather reiterated the same old phrases accusing Hamas of delaying reconciliation, and insisting on negotiations with the IOA.

Dr. Salah Al-Bardawil said in a press release that the only new thing was Abbas's open demand on Hamas to recognize the two-state solution in order to accomplish national reconciliation.

The Hamas-affiliated change and reform bloc expressed absolute dismay over Abbas's repeated attempt to market the illusion of peace, adding that his speech was full of "lies".

It said that Abbas and his entourage, who refuse political partnership, should declare in a courageous stand their acceptance of amending the Egyptian proposed national reconciliation agreement as what have been agreed upon during the dialog sessions.

Hamas: The national reconciliation is practices, not a signature on paper

[ 24/04/2010 - 02:37 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- The Movement of Hamas said it did not see any serious tone in Mahmoud Abbas’s speech, affirming that the national reconciliation is not slogans or a signature on paper, but it is procedures and practices.

In a press statement to the Palestinian information center (PIC), Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri stressed that his Movement is ready for the national reconciliation, but Abbas’s behavior on the ground confirms he is not serious at all and this is evident in the ongoing political arrests and trials taking place against Hamas cadres in the West Bank.

“Abbas’s speech reflects that he is dealing selectively with Egypt’s reconciliation paper; he wants presidential and legislative elections while ignoring the elections of the Palestine liberation organization, although it was approved by the Egyptian paper,” spokesman Abu Zuhri underlined.

Commenting on Abbas’s intention to supervise national dialog between the factions after the signing, the spokesman said that this mechanism was not agreed upon because Abbas is a party to the conflict in his capacity as the head of Fatah faction, adding that Abbas asserted that the elections should be held first before discussing the other contentious issues and this collides in general with Cairo talks.

He pointed out that raising the issue of the reconciliation in this way by Abbas is aimed at covering up the preparations for resuming peace negotiations between Israel and Fatah.

In separate incidents, Abbas’s militias kidnapped 16 Palestinian citizens affiliated with Hamas in the districts of Jenin, Qalqiliya, Ramallah and Salfit.

The Israeli occupation forces at Jaba checkpoint, for their part, kidnapped two students at Al-Quds university after tying and beating them up.



River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Report from Bil’in: ’soldiers showed no discrimination with their firing, shooting directly at the faces of the protestors’

From Michael @ Respect Discussion

Report from Bil’in: ’soldiers showed no discrimination with their firing, shooting directly at the faces of the protestors’

by Adam Horowitz on April 23, 2010 · 

The Israeli military chases a protester in Bil'in. (Photo: Hamde Abo Rahma)

Hamde Abo Rahma sends this report on the latest protest in Bil'in:

Today’s demonstration marked the culminating event in the Fifth Bil’in International Conference for Palestinian Popular Resistance, which began on Wednesday, April 21 with a full line-up of speakers including politicians, leaders of Popular Committees, Israeli activists, and international solidarity activists. The conference continued through Thursday and Friday. After the final conference session on Friday morning, in which workshop groups reported on their conclusions in preparation for the conference statement, the conference participants gathered with scores of other Israeli, international, and Palestinians waiting at the mosque for the weekly demonstration.

Today’s demonstration was larger than normal in size, and lasted an especially long period of time. Serious injuries were sustained during the demonstration, and several were arrested. Present at the demonstration were local political figures, including Mustafa Barghouti, and international solidarity leaders such as Luisa Morgantini.

At 1:30pm the crowd of demonstrators processed to the site of the Wall, carrying posters and flags, and were immediately met by soldiers, sound grenades, and smoke bombs. Protestors encountered a line of soldiers who were hiding; these soldiers fired a wall of gas at the protestors in order to force the demonstrators into a second line of soldiers who were waiting to make arrests. Demonstrators reported that soldiers showed no discrimination with their firing, shooting directly at the faces of the protestors, and no discrimination in their arrests, trying to arrest even journalists.

Imad Rizka being led away from the protest. (Photo: Hamde Abo Rahma)

Several serious injuries were sustained. Imad Rizka, approximately 37 years of age, from Yaffa, was shot in the forehead with a tear gas canister. He was taken away immediately to Ramallah Hospital by ambulance. His condition is unknown at the time of writing. Rizka is well-known in Bil’in, as he comes to the village every Friday to demonstrate.

Soldiers fired a great deal of tear gas from both sides of the fence. Demonstrators were forced to retreat, but among those who remained, several were arrested. Soldiers crossed the fence and advanced well into the demonstrators’ territory, grabbing five demonstrators. Those arrested were a Palestinian journalist Muheeb Barghouti; an Israeli journalist, an elderly Palestinian man named Abu Sadi; Israeli activist Tali Shapiro; and two internationals from Liverpool, England, who were visiting Bil’in as part of a twin cities partnership. The soldiers took them away in between firing rounds of tear gas to drive the protestors back.

Additional injuries are as follows:

One demonstrator from Italy, struck in the back by a tear gas canister; an Italian demonstrator who was shot in the arm with a new type of weapon; an Israeli activist; Um Samarra, 45, from Bil’in, who was hit in the leg by a tear gas canister; Haitham al-Khatib, cameraman, who was slightly injured; a Palestinian woman from Bethlehem who sustained a leg injury; and a Palestinian journalist named Abbas al-Momni.

Today’s protestors showed great tenacity in the face of tear gas, injuries, and arrests, and an especially large number of demonstrators remained at the fence, facing the soldiers. The demonstration lasted an especially long period of time, as demonstrators refused to completely leave the area, and returned several times during lulls between waves of tear gas.

Update from the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee:

Emad Rezqa was hit in the forehead by an aluminum tear gas projectile shot directly at him by Israeli soldiers during the weekly anti-Wall demonstration in Bil'in earlier today. He suffered a fractured skull and brain hemorrhage. Rezqa is currently hospitalized at the Hadassa Ein Karem hospital in Jerusalem.
The demonstration Rezqa was injured in concluded the three-day International Bil'in Conference on Popular Struggle, and was attended by hundreds of people. Five demonstrators were arrested during the protest.
The march, which commenced at the village's mosque after the midday prayer, was attacked with tear gas some 30 seconds after reaching the gate in the Wall, despite the fact that it was entirely peaceful. The gas forced most of the participants to retreat back towards the village, but a smaller group managed to stay by the gate, chanting and shouting slogans.

A few minutes after, a group of soldiers began firing a second round of tear gas projectiles, this time directly at the demonstrators from a distance of about 30 meters. Rezqa was hit and quickly evacuated to the Ramallah hospital with blood gushing from his forehead. He was transferred to the Hadassa Ein Karem hospital after being x-rayed and diagnosed as suffering a broken skull.

Following Rezqa's injury, soldiers invaded Bil'in through the gate in the Wall and arrested four protesters who were staging a sit-in some hundred meters away from the Wall, as well as a journalist who was next to them.

Another demonstrator was similarly injured today during a demonstration in the village of Nabi Saleh. The protester was hit in the head with a tear gas projectile shot directly at him after the Army invaded the village even before the demonstration began.

In Ni'ilin, roughly 300 people demonstrated in solidarity with the villages political prisoners. The demonstration was attended by two PLC members from the Change and Reform party – Mahmoud Ramahi and Fadhel Saleh, who joined the protest today following Ramahi's statement in support of the popular struggle last Wednesday during the Bil'in conference.

Ramahi and Slaeh's participation is yet another sign of the recent expansion of the popular struggle and the momentum the movement is gaining in the Palestinian street.

River to Sea  Uprooted Palestinian

Holocaust Tax Allowance by Gilad Atzmon

I do think that taking Tax from Jews is nothing less than Anti Semitism in practice. After the Holocaust and 2000 years of Jewish suffering we should accept that Jews have the right to hide some money from the tax authorities, just in case the horror repeats itself.

The BBC reported today that A US watchmaker told the American court that he “hid $10,000,000 in a Swiss bank account because of ‘survival behaviour’ learned from the Holocaust”.

The 65 year-old watchmaker, Jack Barouh, argued his secretive behaviour was motivated by his “fear as a Jew of persecution and sudden loss.”

Indeed with 10 million dollars Barouh could barely survive; he could for instance, hire a private jet that would fly him anywhere in the world, he could settle in 5 star hotels in the most beautiful sea resorts, yet, no one could guarantee Barouh a constant supply of matzo balls and gefilte fish and this may well be the true meaning of Jewish fear.

In fact the Jewish businessman is not at all a thief or a fraudster, he actually suffers from a uniquely recognised Jewish mental condition. According to Barouh’s doctor we are dealing here with "hide and hoard mentality”, something often found in Holocaust survivors and their families.

Evidently, the relationships between America and Israel do deteriorate rapidly. Assistant US Attorney, Jeffrey Neiman, said the Holocaust defence was no excuse: "It does not give this defendant a license to break the law. Tax fraud is tax fraud." I am reluctant to suggest that Mr Neiman is an exemplary case of a ‘new anti Semitism’ instead of calling Barouh a fraudster the prosecuting attorney should have stressed the need for ‘special holocaust allowance for Jews and Jews only’.

I do believe that Jews must unite and fight the sudden change and the growing dismissal of the holocaust. I suggest that Holocaust Museums such as Yad Va Shem and the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington dedicate one of their many rooms to the sufferers of “hide and hoard”. They can even call it ‘Yad Va Tax’. They can advise tormented people how to hide their money from the tax man. They can also monitor the Madoffs of this world just to make sure that the Elie Wiesels do not become a subject of a Ponzi scheme once again.

World’s greatest “nuclear threat” hoax

Rehmat's World

April 24, 2010 ·

Here is a country which has not invaded any of its neighbors for over 200 years; is a signatory to NPT and has a very moderate military budget of US$5.6 billion and no nuclear bomb. This country is constantly projected as a “nuclear threat” to the world by the US, which has military presence in 145 countries and an annual military budget of US$692 billion and close to 9,000 nuclear bombs – and Israel which has invaded each of its neigboring countries during it 62-year existence and with an annual military budget of US$13.3 billion plus US$3 billion annual USAID and between 240-400 nuclear bombs.

Interestingly, a poll taken among the 15-EU in states in 2003 showed that 59% of the 7,500 participants believed that Israel poses the greatest threat to the world peace followed by the US. A 2007 European survey carried out by the Harris Research for the Financial Times (FT) showed that 32% of the respondents believed that the US is the biggest threat to the world than any other country. In 2006, The Populus poll showed that 73% of the British participants wanted London to distance itself from Washington’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan while 62% called London to be more critical of Israel.

American author William Pfaff in his latest article, titled LIES AND WARS, wrote:
It is a dismaying reflection that the facilitators of major violence thus far in the 21st century have been lies told by democratic governments. The lies are continuing to be told, about the supposed “existential” menace posed by Iran to Israel, America and (if you believe some European leaders) Western Europe…..

The American invasion of Iraq in 2003 was motivated by the neoconservative illusion that the Iraqi people would welcome invasion and become a force for democracy, and friends to Israel. Instead, the death of Saddam Hussein and destruction of his government, the wrecking of Iraqi urban society and the country’s infrastructure and industry, which will take years to reconstruct, ignited anarchic insurrection and sectarian conflict, delivering the country into the power and influence of a much larger and more important enemy of both the United States and Israel—Iran. Another lesson about lies, one might have thought.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates reportedly sent a secret letter to President Barack Obama in January reviewing the military options available if diplomacy and the new American attempt to intensify international sanctions on Iran fail to produce the desired halt in Iran’s effort, if that is what it is, to build a nuclear deterrent.

If Iran does pursue a nuclear capability, once again it is to deter attack. Precisely the same objection exists to theories of Iranian aggression as to those lies put forward in 2002-03 about Iraq posing a nuclear menace to the world.

Once more, the threat is a polemical invention, intended to frighten American and Israeli (and European) voters and to prompt a preemptive attack on Iran. The reason Gates expressed his uncertainties to the president is that he, too, recognizes that the conflict with Iran is constructed from fictions—which, as with the lies about Iraq, may turn into another war, whose consequences are sure to be worse for all concerned than the fiasco and tragedy of America’s invasion of Iraq.

River to Sea  Uprooted Palestinian

Viva Palestina Flotilla

Via Intifada Voice
Viva Palestina Flotilla
24. Apr, 2010

On May 15th, an international flotilla of cargo and passenger ships will depart from various European ports and set sail for Gaza. 3 cargo ships will carry over 5,000 tonnes of medical and building supplies, and 5 passenger boats will carry over 600 people.

This flotilla is been led by the IHH charity from Turkey, and is supported by many groups worldwide, including the Free Gaza Movement, Viva Palestina, Free Palestine Movement, European Campaign to End the Siege of Gaza and the Greek and Swedish Boat to Gaza groups amongst others.

In January of this year, IHH was an integral partner with Viva Palestina on the convoy to Gaza, where 500 people in over 200 vehicles successfully broke the siege on Gaza and delivered essential humanitarian aid. Viva Palestina are therefore very proud to announce their involvement with IHH again on this flotilla, and in addition to sending medical and building supplies, a Viva Palestina Coalition team will be on board this historic journey.

The siege imposed on Gaza is now in it’s 4th year. It has created a humanitarian crisis that has left the entire population without sufficient food, water, medicine, electricity, building supplies, clothes, toys, and freedom of movement. 1.5 million people, over half of whom are children, suffer directly because of this siege. Since the attacks on Gaza last year that left over 1,400 people dead, and 50,000 people homeless, no building supplies have been allowed to enter Gaza. 15 months on, people still live in tents and temporary shelter, unable to rebuild their homes.

Viva Palestina, led by George Galloway M.P. have successfully broken the siege on Gaza 3 times with land convoys of aid. Over 1,000 volunteers in 500 vehicles have delivered essential humanitarian aid to the stricken region in the past year. By taking part in this flotilla, Viva Palestina will be bringing much needed humanitarian aid, and attempting to break the siege once more.

We are calling on our supporters to donate towards the cost of medical and building supplies. Viva Palestina will be purchasing supplies in Turkey that will be loaded onto the IHH cargo ship departing from Istanbul. People can donate towards the cost of materials by clicking on the following link: http://www.vivapalestina.org/alerts/cement.htm

You can donate by credit card, or via pay pal. Plus, you can donate in various international currencies, including dollars and euro’s among others.

If you live in the UK, you can text the word Cement to 70060, and £5 will be deducted from your phone bill. You will recieve a thank you message by reply to confirm your donation.

You can also follow us on facebook by joining the following Viva Palestina Flotilla group:
http://www.facebook.com/amesleh#!/group.php?gid=238347355199&ref=mf

If anyone has any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at:
info@vivapalestina.org
Thanks for your valuable support,
Viva Palestina
PS. Please forward this e mail onto all your contacts as support for this flotilla is vital in making it a success.

River to Sea  Uprooted Palestinian

'Al-Hayat': Russia Supplied Syria With S-300 Missiles

Via Friday-Lunch-Club

Al-Hayat reports, citing a Russian source, that Russian President Vladimir Medvedev is to visit Syria on May 11 to discuss promoting Syria-Russia military and other cooperation. According to the paper, in accordance with contracts signed between the two, Russia has supplied Syria with S-300 and Iskander missile defense systems, and there are contacts between the sides for the provision of new models of MiG aircraft and air defense systems.

Posted by G, Z, or B at 6:37 PM

Posted by G, Z, or B at 6:37 PM River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Nathaniahu is not worse........

Frustrated Arab's Diary

Nathaniahu , is not worse.....
 than any other thief.

Lately ,
Benjamin Nathaniahu defending his settlements policy
declared his astonishment to see that he is being blamed
when all the previous governments of Israel has done the same
wild spread of settlements ,  whether  "legal" or illegal.

In other words ,
Nathaniahu was telling to the US-public and to Obama in peculiar :
Why to blame me for stealing ,  when everybody before me was also a thief ??

For once I do agree with Nathaniahu ,
and I ask Obama and the whole world too :
Why to blame Nathaniahu for doing anything illegal
when the whole foundation and history of Israel
is based on a theft.....??  and a big one too !!

You cannot lock-in the wolf in a chicken-farmand them blame him if he eats.........all the chickens.

You cannot expect that a wolf becomes a vegetarian
when you do not punish him when he eats your chickens.


Sherlock Hommos 

Posted by Тлакскала at 2:53 PM

Posted by Тлакскала at 2:53 PM'


River to Sea  Uprooted Palestinian

Mazin Qumsiyeh: Urgent: Upswing in Israeli violence

From karmalised.com

Published by Diane Warth on 23 April 2010 0 Comments

Imad Rizka critically injured during the weekly Bil’in protest on Friday – photo by Hamdi Abu Rahmah www.bilin-ffj.org

Bil’in Ends Its Fifth Conference, Soldiers Attack The Weekly Protest Injuring A Dozen Civilians

At least a dozen Palestinian and international civilians were injured during the weekly nonviolent protest at the central West Bank village of Bil’in.

Mazin Qumsiyeh: Urgent: Upswing in Israeli violence

Things are really getting out of hand in the occupied territories and our reports may have to become more frequent to keep up with the rapidly evolving situation.  We must write to let you know what is going on and ask you to take urgent actions on all fronts (media, politicians, on the ground etc).  On the last day of the conference in Bil’in, the Israeli army was particularly violent against the demonstrators injuring Palestinians and Internationals.  The most critical injury was to Imad Rizka, a Palestinian from Jaffa inside the Green line  (see http://www.imemc.org/article/58514 including picture of Imad).

Video just loaded that covers places I was at in the past couple of days including inspiring acts of popular resistance from Bilin to Beit Jala to Al-Walaja. In Al-Walaja, we took over the mountain and the Shabab blocked the new road that soldiesr had opened to get equipment that uproots the olive trees in the villager’s land. Watch here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNrplPXm9Qs And here is the ISM story on what happened in Beit Jala http://palsolidarity.org/2010/04/12098

ACTION ITEM (before listing more videos and inspiring stories): We have acts of popular resistance in Al-Walaja and Beit Jala planned this Sunday.  Email me if you want more details on times etc.


Bilin-inspired Gaza protests against the “buffer zone” that now eats 20% of Gaza and is a no-man’s land according to the Israeli occupation authorities.

http://gazadispatches.blogspot.com/2010/04/leader-of-gazas-new-wave-of-bilin.html
Video: Young Palestinian women do investigative journalism.  Here they accompany the body of Raed Abu Hamad who was murdered while in Israeli custody
http://www.youtube.com/sleeplessingaza#p/u/2/1r1o2B7ts5U
http://www.youtube.com/sleeplessingaza#p/u/0/o5AHZ_swQCQ
(while ther,e you can explore other documentaries done by these aspiring and great journalists)
Stand-up for human rights: Protest AIPAC (Apartheid Israel Pirates Against Coexistance) in Portland, Oregon this Sunday
http://www.auphr.org/index.php?option=com_extcalendar&Itemid=36&extmode=view&extid=360

Hard talk: Zionists occupiers… Heed my call!! by Nahida
http://uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.com/2010/04/hard-talk-zionists-occupiers-heed-my.html

Action: BNC calls on Trade Unions and others to urgently intervene with their governments to stop Israel from joining the OECD.

On May 2010, OECD is going to decide the accession of Israel into the organization.  For Israel, membership in the OECD would mean a victory of legitimacy, that the violations of international law are rewarded and all the member countries of OECD will be accomplices of the illegal Israeli occupation, since according to the European law, European countries are forbidden to recognize the Israeli occupation to the Palestinian territories. Yet by granting Israel membership in the OECD, they will be doing exactly that.  Israel has refused to comply with the OECD demand to provide statistical data which applies only to the internationally-recognized parts of Israel , excluding the illegal settlements in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). OECD members will knowingly accept Israel to the organization based on deceptive statistics provided by the latter, statistics which conceal the occupation while simultaneously treating it as a permanent fact. It only takes one OECD country to oppose the integration of Israel into the organization in order to block the process.

Please, send a letter of protest to the delegation of OECD of your country, demanding to vote NO to Israel ’s inclusion in economic organization. It only takes you a few minutes to act on this. In the link below you can find the list of OECD member-states and their email addresses (write to them):  http://www.oecd.org/contactus/0,3364,en_33873108_33844430_1_1_1_1_1,00.html
more at http://bdsmovement.net/?q=node/665

Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD
A Bedouin in Cyberspace, a villager at home
http://www.qumsiyeh.org
Popular Committee to Resist the Apartheid Wall and Settlements-Beit Sahour
Professor, Bethlehem and Birzeit Universities
Chairman of the Board, Palestinian Center for Rapprochement Between People, http://www.pcr.ps

River to Sea  Uprooted Palestinian

"... why not?..."

Via friday-Lunch-Club

FP/ here

"... in recent conversations concerning this possible shift in the situation in the Middle East with diplomats from several countries in Asia, the greater Middle East, and Latin America, another perceived consequence emerged: There was a universal sense that Israel is becoming more isolated and the United States is becoming more dependent for its regional strategy on Arab states. ... there was a sense that the evolving situation is having the added effect of emboldening the Palestinians.

The predicted result offered up in three separate conversations: that the Palestinians will declare independence unilaterally. And, in the words of one diplomat who is in regular contact with the Palestinians, "much sooner than you might think." .... right now, perhaps more than at any time in recent history, the likelihood of much global pushback seems low.

And frankly, reason even some mainstream American foreign policy specialists with whom I discussed this, why not? Edging up to the point of doing this is very nearly the same as having done it -- waters have been tested, tides have shifted increasingly in their favor. (The Palestinians seem to be using the same technique White Houses use when they float the names of Supreme Court candidates for a few days to see if anyone attacks.)

If there is support and the likelihood of meaningful pushback from anyone other than the Israelis and the United States seems low, why not proceed? The reality is that the vast majority of the world sees this as the Palestinians' right and doesn't care much that the closest recent brushes with a deal on this front involved Israeli concessions and Palestinian intransigence. Some see such a move as a way to move beyond process and to compress and focus negotiations.

Might this just be one of those diplo-rumors du jour? Yes. If it's real could it backfire? Sure ... in fact, it could lead to a flare up with Israel at precisely the worst moment for U.S. and Israeli concerns about Iran. But one would have to believe that there were Palestinian connections to Iranians to see that as something more than a coincidence..."

Posted by G, Z, or B at 3:24 PM

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Rabbit from Perth: .Nahida your words are like a flaming sword and I perceive them to be wielded by an angel.

Rabbit said...

Nahida your words are like a flaming sword and I perceive them to be wielded by an angel.

I am so impressed by how well you have used your gifts and very proud to have called you a friend. I still do, but feel like a suitor to royalty now for you truly belong to a much wider audience. I'd like to see this somehow presented at a possible upcoming debate between the local Jewish community org and the local Friends of Palestine chapter.

10:37 AM, April 24, 2010

Rabbit said...
I must just add, that whilst this will move a few hearts amongst the few Jews it may come into contact with, you don't need to be told what I think will happen to it. Even a pessimist like me though is certain things are reaching a critical mass and I sense the panic of rats facing imminent drowning amongst the Zionist Jews, although the Zionist Xtians are becoming more rapturous in their gloating arrogance. Both tend to presage an imminent end to the Zionist project.

I despair of the cost to your dear suffering people however.

All the best. Rabbit from Perth.

10:42 AM, April 24, 2010


*************************************

Rabbit

I fully agree, I can't say it better. However, Let us look at the full half of the cup. As  Gilad used to say: The Zionist project is shrinking and deemed. Let see beyond the Seperation Racist wall, and the Wall of Shame

Uprooted

From the River to the Sea by Gilad Atzmon


... in fact an agenda that is promoted by Zionists within the US Administration who realise like the late Sharon, that the only chance for the Jewish state to survive the next decade, is to shrink into a little Jewish shtetle (ghetto). ...

gilad atzmon - living on borrowed time in a stolen land

it thought to evade the demographic danger by shrinking into an intimate cosy jewish ghetto. nothing worked. it is palestinian persistence in the shape of hamas politics that defines the future of the region. ...

http://uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.com/2009/07/gilad-atzmon-uprooted-palestinian-i.html

the pls have managed to push the jew back to the ghetto, and this ghetto will shrink as pls ballistic capability grows. the jewish state is a matter for historians, its future is doomed." one of the reasons for building the wall was ...

River to Sea  Uprooted Palestinian

Ten Zionist Obfuscations

OBFUSCATION 1:  Israelis and Zionists never target Jews

REALITY
"about 125,000 Jews left Iraq for Israel in the late 1940s and into 1952, mostly because they had been lied to and put into a panic by what I came to learn were Zionist bombs [referring to the bombings done at Synagogues and other areas of Jewish public concentration]" Naeim Giladi, an Iraqi Jew in his book: Ben Gurion's Scandals (Flushing: Glilit Pub. Co., 1995).

On

• The Transfer Agreement (Edwin Black)
• Original Sins  (Benjamin Beit-Hallami)
• Beyond Innocence and Redemption: Confronting the Holocaust and Israeli Power (Dr. Marc H. Ellis)
• Ben-Gurions Scandals (Noam Giladi)
• Unholy Alliance (Marc H. Ellis)
• Ending Auschwitz  (Marc H. Ellis)
• Selected essays in the compendium "Walking the Red Line" (ed. Deena Hurwitz).  For example, the essay "Living Comfortably with Taboos" by Rabbi Gary Nitzan-Ginzberg, asserts that many aspects of Zionism in theory and as practiced can be categorized as racist.
• The Seventh Million (Tom Segev)
• The Holocaust Industry (Norman Finkelstein)- Perfidy (Ben Hecht)
• The Holocaust Victims Accuse (Neturei Karta)
• Ben-Gurion and the Holocaust (Shabbtai Teveth)
• Zionism in the Age of the Dictators (Lenni Brenner)
• 51 Documents: Zionist Collaboration with the Nazis (Lenni Brenner)

OBFUSCATION 2:  "We don't start wars: This war was forced on us. Arafat is responsible for all. He made his strategic decision of terrorism to reach diplomatic achievements by murdering. In this, he chose terrorism." Ariel Sharon, December 2, 2001

REALITY
In a Los Angeles Times column published October 13, Rabbi Michael Lerner wrote:
"The preponderance of responsibility lies with Israel and with an international media that continue to obscure the basic realities facing the Palestinian people, and continue to treat the death of Israeli soldiers enforcing a brutal occupation as somehow more outrageous and barbarous than the killing of many times as many Palestinian teenagers who were resisting the occupation." 

See also http://al-awda.org/media/myths.html

OBFUSCATION 3:  Zionism is a rational discourse in a world of turmoil

REALITY
" You would like me to look at it objectively.  Objectively, I agree: we are only breeding more hatred and violence. You want me to imagine how I would feel if I were a Palestinian.  I suppose that if I were, I might want to kill Israelis myself.  But I am not objective and I am not a Palestinian.  It's not that the lives of Palestinians don't matter to me.  But Israeli lives matter more. I know this doesn't sound terribly enlightened.  And it certainly doesn't lead to any of the political solutions that we both know are necessary if this horror is going to end." Hillel Halkin ,?Objectivity is morally overrated?, Jerusalem Post, 14 November 2002. Also on the web at
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/A/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1037248935749

OBFUSCATION 4:  Israel is a state like any other state
 

REALITY
"The Jewish State cannot exist without a special ideological content.  We cannot exist for long like any other state whose main interests is to insure the welfare of its citizens."  Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, New York Times, 14 July 1992

A 1975 resolution of the Organization of African Unity stated that "the racist regime in occupied Palestine and the racist regime in Zimbabwe and South Africa have a common imperialist origin, forming a whole and having the same racist structure and being organically linked in their policy aimed at repression of the dignity and integrity of the human being."

"In Israel for example, several laws are explicitly discriminatory.  These can be traced back to Israel's foundation in 1948 which, driven primarily by the racist genocide suffered by Jews in Europe during the Second World War, was based on the notion of a Jewish state for Jewish people.  Some of Israel's laws reflect this principle and as a result discriminate against non-Jews, particularly Palestinians who had lived on the lands for generations.  Various areas of Israeli law discriminate against Palestinians.  The Law of Return for instance provides automatic Israeli citizenship for Jewish immigrants, whereas Palestinian refugees who were born and raised in what is now Israel are denied even the right to return home.   Other statutes explicitly grant preferential treatment to Jewish citizens in areas such as education, public housing, health, and employment."  A report on "Racism and the Administration of Justice", Amnesty International (2001), also found at

 http://www.amnestyusa.org/stoptorture/racismreport.pdf.

OBFUSCATION 5:  Israeli leaders tell the truth when speaking about the Israeli Palestinian Conflict

REALITY
Binyamin Netanyahu, a leader of the Likud Party and an ex-prime minister of Israel had an interesting advice to Israelis.  He was giving a speech to dozen's of Likud Party members in Eilat. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz (7/15/01) reported that: "...giving his audience a bit of advice on how to deal with foreign interviewers [Netanyahu said]: 'Always, irrespective of whether you're right or not, you must always present your side as right.' "

OBFUSCATION 6:  Israel is a reliable ally and a true friend of the US

REALITY
Time and time again, Israel has been shown to be a strategic liability for America and counter to America's national interest. By being associated with Israel's actions, America's standing in the entire Muslim world is damaged.
Israel routinely spies on the United States and carries out espionage and political assassinations on the soil of America's allies.

And on June 8, 1967, with no other combat taking place nearby, Israeli warplanes and torpedo boats repeatedly attacked the U.S. intelligence ship Liberty off the Sinai coast, killing American sailors and wounding 171. Though Israel insists the attack was an accident, abundant evidence has surfaced that Israel deliberately attacked the ship, fearing it would monitor Israeli preparations for an attack on the Golan Heights the next day. In 1991, columnists Rowland Evans and Robert Novak discovered that the US embassy in Beirut had intercepted Israeli radio traffic in which an Israeli pilot reported:  "It's an American ship." The Israeli command ignored the report and ordered the pilot to press the attack.

Even in commercial areas important to a few in the US, Israel has become a major competitor of the US by selling American technology given free to Israel to others (this includes military and military related high tech sales which are now Israel's biggest exports).

Research has also shown that Israel's cost to US taxpayers ranged from a few hundred billion dollars to nearly $4 Trillion.

OBFUSCATION 7:  Israel seeks peace based on International law

REALITY
" It seems almost inevitable that the United States will initiate new peace efforts, but it is unlikely that real progress can be made on any of these issues as long as Israel insists on its settlement policy, illegal under international laws that are supported by  the United States and all other nations.  There are many questions as we continue to seek an end to violence in the Middle East, but there is no way to escape the vital one: Land or peace?" President Jimmy Carter, Washington Post, November 26, 2000

Israel is currently in violation of 69 UN Security Council resolutions and countless UN General Assembly resolutions.

OBFUSCATION 8:  Zionism was a rational response to anti-Semitism of Europe

REALITY
Zionism and Nazism were twins in their narrow nationalism and even collaborated against the public.  The Zionists thus found no reason not to collaborate with the Nazis in the mid-thirties to rid Europe of its Jews.  The details of this transfer agreement were given by Edwin Black's book, The Transfer Agreement:  the Untold Story of the Secret Pact Between the Third Reich & Jewish Palestine (New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., London: Collier Macmillan Publishers, 1984).  After commencement of attacks on Jews under German control, the British, in the hope of easing the pressure for increased immigration into Palestine, proposed that thousands of Jewish children be admitted directly into Britain.   Ben-Gurion, the recognized leader of labor Zionism at the time was absolutely against the plan, telling a meeting of Labour Zionist leaders on 7 Dec. 1938:

"If I knew that it would be possible to save all the children in Germany by bringing them over to England, and only half of them by transporting them to Eretz Yisrael, then I would opt for the second alternative.   For we must weigh not only the life of these children, but also the history of the People of Israel" Lenni Brenner, The Iron Wall: Zionist Revisionism from Jabotinsky to Shamir (Zed Books, 1984). cites as reference no. 23: Yoav Gelber, ' Zionist Policy and the Fate of European Jewry (1939-42)' Yad Vashem Studies, vol. XII, p. 199.

Below are two other relevant quotes.

"It is inconceivable from a physical point of view, that a Jew born to a family of pure Jewish blood over several generations can become adapted to the spiritual outlook of a German or a Frenchman.  A Jew brought up among Germans may assume German customs, German words.  He may be wholly imbued with that German fluid but the nucleus of his spiritual structure will always remain Jewish, because his blood, his body, his physical-racial type are Jewish ... And a man whose body is Jewish can not possibly mold within himself the spirit of a Frenchman ... It is impossible for a man to become assimilated with people whose blood is different than his own" Vladimir Jabotinsky (ideological father of Sharon's Likud party), ?A Letter on Autonomy, 1904', reprinted in Brenner, 51 Documents: Zionist Collaboration with the Nazis (New Jersey: Barricade, 2002) p. 10.

"Wherever I went, I began to see Jews, and the more I saw, the more sharply they became distinguished in my eyes from the rest of humanity.  Particularly the Inner City and the districts north of the Danube Canal swarmed with a people, which even outwardly had lost all resemblance to Germans.  And whatever doubts I may still have nourished were finally dispelled by the attitude of a portion of the Jews themselves.  Among them there was a great movement, quite extensive in Vienna, which came out sharply in confirmation of the national character of the Jews: this was the ZIONISTS (emphasis in original)" Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, reissue edn (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998), p. 56.

OBFUSCATION 9:  Zionists tried to accomodate the native people in their colonization efforts

REALITY
" Zionist colonization, even the most restricted, must either be terminated or carried out in defiance of the will of the native population.  This colonization can, therefore, continue and develop only under the protection of a force independent of the local population ? an iron wall which the native population cannot break through.  This is, in toto, our policy towards the Arabs." Vladimir Jabotinsky, "The Iron Wall: We and the Arabs"  First published in Russian under the title "O Zheleznoi Stene" in Rasswyet," November 4, 1923. Translated by Lenni Brenner. It can be downloaded at
http://www.marxists.de/middleast/ironwall/ironwall.htm

"There is no such thing as a Palestinian people... It is not as if we came and threw them out and took their country. They didn't exist." Golda Meir statement to the Sunday Times, 15 June, 1969.

Gideon Levy, Ha'aretz, 3 November 2000:

"Terrible things were done [even] after the War of Independence, too; for example, in the town of Majdal in 1950. ...Some 10,000 Palestinians lived in Majdal before the war ....In 1949, Yigal Allon demanded "to transfer all the Arab inhabitants." Ben-Gurion objected.  An inter-ministerial committee for the "transfer of Arabs from place to place" -- yes, we had one of those as well -- decided to thin out the population somewhat; another ministerial committee -- "on abandoned property" -- decided to settle Majdal with Jews.  From committee to committee, Majdal was "Judaized," until, with 2,500 Jewish residents, it became known as Migdal-Ad.  In December 1949, more Arabs were deported so as to vacate a few more houses -- "abandoned property" -- for a few more discharged soldiers. The IDF made the life of those Arabs who remained a misery, hoping they'd get the message. The new commanding officer of the Southern Command, Moshe Dayan, rekindled the ideas of his predecessor, Yigal Allon.  'I hope that perhaps in the coming years, there will be another opportunity to transfer these Arabs [170,000 Israeli Arabs - G.L.] out of the Land of Israel,' he said at a meeting of the Mapai faction, outlining its ideas while in uniform. Dayan backed up his words with actions: He submitted a detailed proposal for "the evacuation of the Arab inhabitants of the town of Majdal." the chief of staff agreed and Ben-Gurion authorized the plan. The government was circumvented, the Histadrut labor federation objected, and Rabin informed the residents.  The transfer began at the beginning of 1950, although the "official operation" took off in June. There were still those who spoke of dispersing the Arabs around the country; in the end, they were deported to Gaza. They were loaded onto trucks and dropped off at the border -- "deliveries," as they were termed. Just to remind you again, the state already existed. The last delivery of 229 people left for Gaza on October 21.  Back in Israel, the officials pondered over how to distribute the "abandoned" houses, most of which went to individuals who had some political clout. In 1956, Migdal-Ad changed its name to Ashkelon. To this very day, the former residents of Majdal live in the shacks and shanties of the refugee camps in Gaza.  But, there were also incidents in which they shot -- oh, how they shot -- and didn't weep at all. And lied. This is the picture that emerges from the chapter about the Israeli press at the time of the Kibiya affair, which expresses the dark side of the then already five-year-old state: no longer a community struggling to establish a country, but an orderly, victorious state, thought of as a democracy, with David Ben-Gurion, who lies, poker-faced, and its press, which brazenly conceals scandalous information from its readers and even lies knowingly - all for the glory of the State of Israel."

OBFUSCATION 10:  Asking for Palestinian refugee return is unreasonable and is not conducive to peace

REALITY
http://www.al-awda.org/therefugeeprimer/
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/651/op11.htm
 

Compiled by Mazin Qumsiyeh

November 25, 1940, Zionists attacked with explosives in Haifa Harbor the S.S. Patria carrying illegal Jewish immigrants.  The attack was meant to embarrass the British and was also a result of rivalry among Zionist groups.  In that incident 268 Jewish immigrants drowned.  See these books for details on many more of these issues.