Norman Finkelstein : “You Are Spouting Israeli Propaganda”

Posted September 25, 2010 by bandannie

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Syian Judiciary Prepares Arrest Warrants against 14 Persons

25/09/2010 Lebanese daily Ad-Diyar reported on Saturday that the Syrian judiciary is preparing arrest warrants against individuals former General Security chief Jamil al-Sayyed has filed lawsuits against.

According to the daily, the judiciary is waiting for the appropriate time to send the warrant to its Lebanese counterpart.

If the Lebanese judiciary does not comply with the Syrian demand, then Syria will take the appropriate measures to have Interpol issue arrest warrants against those individuals.

The 14 individuals, who were mentioned during Sayyed's recent press conference, include former head of the UN commission investigating ex-Premier Rafiq Hariri's assassination Detlev Mehlis and MP Marwan Hamadeh.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Army Intelligence: "PKK spying for Israel in Lebanon..."

Via Friday-Lunch-Club

Turkish Weekly:

"Three PKK members were arrested in Beyrout by Lebanon security forces. The operation against so-called Israeli spies still continues.During the last week, Lebanon Military Intelligence Service launched operations against the 'spies of Israel' in Jonieh, a coastal city 20 kilometers north of Beyrout. During the operation, 3 PKK members were also caught. Interrogated terrorists were put under arrest for spying for Israel in Lebanon.

Meanwhile, PKK's acting leader Murat Karayılan's recent speech is attracting more attention to the PKK-Israel relations. Two days ago he offered cooperation to Israel against Turkey. The PKK leader declared Turkey as a 'common enemy' by saying "Our enemies are also the enemies of Israel."

Posted by G, Z, or B at 10:20 AM

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STUART LITTLEWOOD — CLEGG NOW SINGING OFF ZIONIST HYMN-SHEET

Via My Catbird Seat

- 25. Sep, 2010 in Britain, Commentary/Analysis, Israel, Media, News/Politics, Palestine -

1

Cameron  came from nowhere to lead a party that’s said to be 80 percent loyal to Israel. This patron of the Jewish National Fund then became prime minister… with Clegg’s help.

Nick Clegg and David Cameron

In the space of a few short years Nick Clegg has shot from obscurity to stardom in British politics, joining Conservative leader David “I’m-a-Zionist” Cameron at the head of Britain’s new coalition government.

Clegg, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, is deputy prime minister and gets to play PM from time to time, like now when Zionist Dave appears to still be enjoying a perk that’s laughably called ‘paternity leave’.

Cameron too came from nowhere to lead a party that’s said to be 80 percent loyal to Israel. This patron of the Jewish National Fund then became prime minister… with Clegg’s help.

But what exactly is Clegg’s little game on the foreign affairs front? Last year he seemed to be his own man and was writing this about Gaza in The Guardian:
“…And what has the British government and the international community done to lift the blockade? Next to nothing. Tough-sounding declarations are issued at regular intervals but little real pressure is applied. It is a scandal that the international community has sat on its hands in the face of this unfolding crisis.


No doubt the febrile sensitivities of the Middle East have deterred governments, caught between recriminations from both sides. No doubt diplomats have warned that exerting pressure on Israel and Egypt may complicate the peace process.


But surely the consequences of not lifting the blockade are far more grave?”

It was shockingly provocative stuff in the cesspit of pro-Israel Westminster.
Around the same time he was telling the Jewish Chronicle:
“There is simply not a shred of racism in me….The very suggestion that I might explicitly or tacitly give cover for racism, I find politically abhorrent and personally deeply offensive.”

I presumed this to be a warning not to count on his support for the Zionist Project.

But now, following the freaky electoral good fortune that catapulted him to the top, and in the wake of Israel’s murderous assault on the Mavi Marmara, Clegg has begun to change his tune. He welcomed the appointment of Lord Trimble to the racist entity’s farcical inquiry into its own entrails, well aware that Trimble is a founding member of the new international movement “Friends of Israel Initiative”.

And at the Liberal Democrats’ annual conference a few days ago he abandoned any non-racist credentials he may have had by attending a fringe meeting of his party’s  Friends of Israel group along with the new deputy Israeli ambassador to the UK.

According to a report in Middle East Monitor

http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/articles/europe/1537-lib-dem-leader-clegg-attends-friends-of-israel-fringe-meeting-but-ignores-friends-of-palestine Clegg thanked Friends of Israel for all the work they had done to promote themselves within the party and declared himself an admirer of “the democratic traditions and liberal ethos of life within Israel”.

Clegg has a lot to learn if he seriously thinks Israel is some kind of western-style liberal democracy. He wasn’t even-handed enough to attend a meeting of the Liberal Democrat Friends of Palestine where Britain has helped crush a blossoming, non-racist democracy.

And, in harmony with the puppet-masters in the White House, he said that so much hinges on “the talks”. It is remarkable how those who promote “the talks” never speak of the Israelis’ automatic peace-wrecking tactics – their defiance of international law requiring them to get the hell off Palestinian territory and their continuing killing spree and land thieving, which continue unabated while Palestinians are required to meekly submit to the humiliation of going through the motions of negotiation.

Instead, they whisper respectfully of Israel’s partial “moratorium” on its illegal construction of settlements, as if suspending a criminal programme to seize more land and insert more armed squatters to terrorise Palestinian villagers amounts to a major concession.

The international community has unfinished business

And how can Clegg or any other respectable leader go along with talks that stand democratic principle on its head and invite Abbas, whose presidential term ran out long ago, who has no popular mandate from the Palestinians and who assumes brutal, dictatorial powers?

Are they all barmy? Their idea appears to be to get an agreement – any agreement, even one signed by a chancer like Abbas who has no legitimacy – just to save a few worthless faces rather than deliver justice to millions and resolve the decades-old bloody conflict.

They show no respect whatever.

Hamas’s chief is right when he says that the massive imbalance of power on the ground makes negotiation at the present time grossly unfair and would play into the enemy’s hands. That’s another fundamental point of principle studiously ignored by the West’s political élite.

The international community has unfinished business to take care of before meaningful talks can take place. And it stands to reason that the correct sequence of events should be (1) Israel ends the occupation and siege, (2) Israel withdraws behind its pre-1967 borders in compliance with UN resolutions and international law, (3) talks begin with no gun to the Palestinians’ head, (4) the Palestinians are properly represented by their elected leadership, even if that’s Hamas.

If the Americans have a problem with these basics they should keep away from the process and let the UN handle it. Actually the UN should have insisted on handling it in the first place. Why don’t they get a grip on their responsibilities?
Meantime Nick Clegg might find it refreshing to stop and re-read the Preamble to his own party’s Constitution, a very fine document indeed especially where it says:

“We champion the freedom, dignity and well-being of individuals, we acknowledge and respect their right to freedom of conscience…”

“We reject all prejudice and discrimination based upon race, colour, religion, age, disability, sex or sexual orientation and oppose all forms of entrenched privilege and inequality. Recognising that the quest for freedom and justice can never end, we promote human rights and open government…


“Our responsibility for justice and liberty cannot be confined by national boundaries; we are committed to fight poverty, oppression, hunger, ignorance, disease and aggression wherever they occur and to promote the free movement of ideas, people, goods and services.”

These principles are as good as any for guiding a person through political life. But how many of them are reflected in the coalition’s policy dealing with the scandal of the Holy Land and in Clegg’s recent pronouncements?

I wait with interest to see how he and Cameron react when Israel’s “moratorium” on squatter settlements expires this weekend.

Will our dynamic duo call for sanctions against Israel for persistent land theft, endless breaches of international law, ongoing lethal violence and continuing defiance of UN resolutions?

And, if necessary, will they show the way and take unilateral action, as principled leaders should?

Stuart Littlewood is author of the book Radio Free Palestine, which tells the plight of the Palestinians under occupation.

For further information please visit www.radiofreepalestine.co.uk

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

9/11 – Obama lives in ‘self-denial’

Posted on September 25, 2010 by rehmat1|

Ben Obama on Friday condemned as “hateful” and “excuseable” suggestions by Iranianian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that the US government may have been behind the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Dr. Ahmadinejad’s response to the ‘self-denials’ was that they should have the moral courage “to listen”. (Watch the video)

Anyone, who has read the Chicago Jewish News (October 24, 2008) boasting that it were the people belonging to Chicago Jew Mafia who had groomed Ben Obama’s political career – would know who Obama is trying to protect.

One of the first person among the international spy community was Lt. Gen. Hamid Gul, the former head of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency.

He was reported by Newsweek (Sept. 14, 2001) and United Press International (September 26, 2001), as of the opinion that Osama Bib Laden is not responsible for 9/11 and that he believes the attacks were perpetrated by the Israeli overseas intelligence service Mossad and renegade elements within the US Air Force.

Gen. Gul Hamid told Newsweek: “F16s don’t scramble in time though they had 18 minutes after the first plane hit the World Trade Center…. A flight to Los Angeles turns to Washington and is in the air for 45 minutes, and the world’s most sophisticated air defense doesn’t go into action”.

In an interview with UPI editor Arnuad de Borchgrave, Gul Hamid said: “The attack against the Twin Towers started at 8:49 a.m. and four flights were diverted from their assigned air space and no air controller sounds the alarm. And no Air Force jets scramble until 10:00 a.m. That also smacks of a small scale Air Force rebellion, a coup against the Pentagon, perhaps? Radars are jammed, transporation fails. No IFF – friends or foe indentification – challenge….”
“In Pakistan, if there is no response to IFF, jets are instantly scramble and the aircraft is shot-down with no further questions asked. This was clearly an inside job,” said Gen. Hamid Gul.
In December 2008, April Gallop, a former administrative specialist at the Pentagon filled a civil suit against former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, vice-President Dick Cheney and US Air Force General Richard Meyer – alleging that they all were part of conspiracy to facilitate the terrorist attacks and purposefully failed to warn those inside the Pentagon, contributing to injuries she and her 2-month-old son incurred.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

It's Obama vs infinite war

By Pepe Escobar

One may be tempted to evaluate American foreign policy as concocted by some deviant disciple of cinema exploitation genius Russ Meyer - of Faster Pussycat, Kill, Kill! fame - minus the profusion of breasts, of course.

And so as that self-appointed court stenographer Bob Woodward reveals in his latest court opus Obama's Wars - conveniently leaked to the Washington Post and the New York Times - the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is shelling out the moolah for its own, 3,000-assassin-plus Murder Inc to roam in AfPak.

These paramilitary - brigade-size - outfits, "elite and well trained", have been branded Counter-terrorist Pursuit Teams (CPT).

Much is being made in US corporate media that this shady CPT

posse is able to "cross-over" to the tribal areas in Pakistani territory and, like in that famous Heineken ad campaign, reach the parts US intelligence are not able to reach. Aware Latin Americans - with a shrug - will see this as Bad Joke redux: the "Salvador option" is back. As much as these Afghan assassins have been flown to the US for training, the infamous School of the Americas in the 1970s and 1980s trained death squads of natives to kill their compatriots from Chile to El Salvador. The CIA not exactly excels on thinking outside the box.

Old Afghan hands will also be thrilled; this is a small-scale remix of the Afghan mujahideen fighting the anti-Soviet 1980s jihad. Everyone knows what happened afterwards to those bad asses Ronald Reagan called "freedom fighters"; they turned against the US. Maybe some enterprising CIA analysts should share a kebab with their old pal on a payroll, former Afghan prime minister Gulbuddin "bomb, bomb Kabul" Hekmatyar, an eternal mujahid today on Washington's most wanted list.

Calling Jack Bauer

Every grain of sand in the Hindu Kush has known since 2001 that the Americans, be they Pentagon, CIA - some Pakistanis say even the Federal Bureau of Investigation - employ a "secret army" in AfPak. The Pentagon's Murder Inc was unveiled by Wikileaks only three months ago. Now it's Woodward unveiling the CIA's. What next? A Jack Bauer unit, serialized on cable?

Civilian "collateral damage" by the Pentagon's Murder Inc has been splashed on the news virtually every week. As for the CIA's, still there are no numbers. The Hindu Kush grains of sand are also aware that the concept of Pakistani "sovereignty" is a myth. Everyone should expect from now on another rainfall of denials from Islamabad - notwithstanding the fact of Pentagon and CIA killer drones raising hell over large swathes of Pakistani territory (more than 70 strikes in 2010 alone).

If this is a war against al-Qaeda, as the George W Bush/Barack Obama continuum insists, Langley, we got a problem; there's fewer than 50 Arab al-Qaeda jihadis in Afghanistan, as every US intelligence agency proclaims. And there are fewer than 100 jihadis in the Waziristans. If Washington really wants to know where the leadership is, the easiest way is to bribe mid-level Pakistani Inter Services Intelligence operatives in Rawalpindi/Islamabad. The ISI-al Qaeda-Taliban connection is and will remain unbreakable - part of Islamabad's obsession with "strategic depth". This is the connection that killed Northern Alliance commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, the Lion of the Panjshir, on September 9, 2001, two days before 9/11 - thus precluding a true Afghan nationalist from reaching power instead of that Zalmay "Bush's Afghan' Khalilzad asset, Hamid Karzai.

Across what is in effect Pashtunistan, the "border" does not exist - after all the Durand Line was a British invention to split the Pashtuns; everyone has interwoven webs of Pashtun "cousins", everyone is "family". Some family members may rat on others for financial gain, but nothing extremely substantive will come out of it.

I was in Tora Bora in late 2001 when US Special Forces were bribing and advising local commanders on how to attack al-Qaeda. The commanders gleefully took US money, made a pose of throwing a few shells with their outdated Soviet tanks, and helped al-Qaeda - Osama bin Laden included - to escape the other way, to Parachinar, towards the Pakistani tribal areas. They even "advised" the American B52s to bomb the wrong mountains…

Washington is now deploying its full metal jacket - from the Pentagon and CIA secret armies to killer drones to special forces commando raids to Blackwater-conducted "snatch and grab" commandos. All these special effects for what? To kill a few tribal Pakistani Taliban commanders - replaced the same week by a blood relative - and a few jihadis, replaced the same week by a steady stream from the Gulf.

Neither Woodward nor the CIA are volunteering where the Afghan warriors for this Murder Inc are coming from. If they are Tajiks or Uzbeks or Hazaras they cannot crossover to Pakistan's tribal areas without being detected. So they must be Pashtuns from rival tribes. And they're only in it for the money. It's also interesting to consider that the CIA pays for yet another Pashtun militia in Kandahar led by none other then drug business warlord Ahmed Wali Karzai, President Hamid's brother.

Never lose sight of the spectrum

This whole scheme is essentially what passes for General David "I'm always positioning myself to 2012" Petraeus' grandiose COIN strategy; co-opted locals ranged in death squads and paid with Samsonites full of cash (plus a drone war as "back up"). It worked for Petraeus in Iraq - leading him to boast to a gullible corporate media he had "won" the war. Petraeus believes he can pull a remix in AfPak. The Pentagon seems to be at least a bit wary of warlords - as warlord-hostage Hamid Karzai cannot rule even over his throne in Kabul. But the CIA doesn't care about warlords - it goes for broke.

Nothing will change on the ground in terms of the ISI-Taliban nexus. But the game gets much more interesting when one factors what enlightened Pakistani public opinion - in the major urban centers - already fed up with Islamabad's subservience to Washington, will make of Woodward's disclosure.

The key - one may say tragic - point of Woodward's book is that Obama not only cannot end the Afghan war; he cannot even downscale it to target only the fewer than 100 jihadis and the Pakistani Taliban sheltered in the tribal areas without incurring blowback. Woodward says that Obama is seriously betting on his exit strategy - he wants by all means a progressive withdrawal from Afghanistan starting next summer. But "his" general, Petraeus - the Pentagon in fact - wants infinite war.

What Woodward's book - and the corporate media orchestrated narrative - will never tell is "why" infinite war. Because of the New Great Game in Eurasia. Because of the need of military bases to spy on strategic competitors Russia and China. Because of the US's obsession with Pipelineistan in Central Asia bypassing both Russia and Iran. Because of the Pentagon's full spectrum dominance doctrine - which justifies infinitely ballooning military budgets.

If Obama has really admitted, "I can't lose the whole Democratic Party", he knows he is really in a jam; Obama thought he had 2011 and 2012 to wrap-up some kind of AfPak "victory" before US public opinion turned against him. Well, public opinion is already against him (Bill Clinton is encouraging the president to "embrace people's anger" ...) As for wily Petraeus, he has now unleashed a media blitz revolving around one single theme - he won't be rushed, and the war could go on until 2020. In the book, Obama is quoted as saying, "I'm not doing 10 years ... I'm not doing long-term nation-building. I am not spending a trillion dollars".

So what should Obama do? He could call his backers in Hollywood - which after all won the Vietnam war on film. Hollywood also won the Iraq War - via The Hurt Locker. The president could even win an Oscar - much cooler than a Nobel.

Now seriously. In real life, history eschews Hollywood. AfPak may swallow this president, the next president, the CIA and row after row of full spectrum dominance-decorated generals faster than one can say "Faster CIA! Kill! Kill!" Goodbye Kabul? More like Good morning, Vietnam.

Pepe Escobar is the author of Globalistan: How the Globalized World is Dissolving into Liquid War (Nimble Books, 2007) and Red Zone Blues: a snapshot of Baghdad during the surge.

His new book, just out, is Obama does Globalistan (Nimble Books, 2009).

He may be reached at pepeasia@yahoo.com

.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Tens of thousands attend Aqsa Mosque in danger festival in Umm Al-Fahm town

[ 25/09/2010 - 07:59 AM ]

NAZARETH, (PIC)-- Tens of thousands of Palestinians attended the 15th festival of "Al-Aqsa Mosque in danger" held in Umm Al-Fahm town in the 1948 occupied lands on Friday evening and listened to a written speech sent by Sheikh Ra'ed Salah from his cell in Ayalon prison.

"I like to tell you that I am still convinced that this year hides fateful dangers to sacred Jerusalem and the holy Aqsa Mosque, and these threats in my view are limitless to the extent that they could be against the platform of the Aqsa Mosque or there could be attempts to impose the building of the temple at the expense of the Mosque or force its partition between Muslims and Jews," Sheikh Salah said in his letter.

Sheikh Salah, the head of the Islamic Movement in the 1948 occupied lands, stressed that the best response to these Israeli threats is to form a mass human shield protecting the Aqsa Mosque through frequenting and praying inside it on a daily basis.

He also called for supporting the Jerusalem people financially and spiritually through their respective institutions for this would strengthen their steadfastness and their support for the Islamic holy sites.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Dozens injured in clashes during weekly marches in Ramallah, Bethlehem

PIC

[ 25/09/2010 - 07:40 AM ]

RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- Dozens of protesters in weekly marches against the wall and settlement activity in Ramallah and Bethlehem were injured Friday amid clashes with Israeli occupation forces (IOF).

Bethlehem’s Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlement Activity media spokesman Mohammed Berjaya in a press statement said activists began marching in the village of al-Ma’sara, Bethlehem, early afternoon and headed out towards territories affected by the wall.

IOF soldiers stopped the marchers from progressing and fired stun grenades and toxic gas at them. Dozens of marchers sustained breathing difficulties and were left unconscious after inhaling gas.

In the same context, the anti-wall and settlement committee said four Palestinians, including two media reporters, were injured during clashes that erupted Friday at noon in the town of Bil’in, Ramallah. Dozens also sustained breathing difficulties when Israeli forces fired rubber bullets, stun grenades, and tear gas at marchers.

The injured were identified as photographer Iyad Jadallah, 25, Ashraf al-Khatib, 30, who was wounded in his leg, photographer Haytham al-Khatib, 34, who was wounded in the chest, and Samir Barnat, 32, who was wounded in the foot.

In a separate incident, thousands of Palestinians in occupied Jerusalem flooded roads along Jerusalem’s Old City after Israeli authorities passed a decision to shut off the Aqsa Mosque for anyone below the age of 50.

IOF troops shut down several of the mosque’s gates and posted checkpoints at the other gates into the mosque and Jerusalem’s Old City to check the IDs of visitors in an attempt to deny access to worshippers under 50 years of age.
Palestinian baby killed due to inhaling teargas

[ 24/09/2010 - 09:59 PM ]

Palestinian children trying to avoid breathing teargas fired by the IOF

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- A Palestinian child died at hospital on Friday evening as a result of teargas inhalation in the northern Jerusalem suburb of Eisaweyyah.

A source in Jerusalem informed the PIC correspondent that 12-month-old Muhammad Abu Sneimah was taken to hospital after suffering breathing difficulties as a result of inhaling teargas fired extensively by IOF troops that raided Eisaweyyah on Thursday evening.

There were confrontations between local youth and IOF troops who raided the Eisaweyyah suburb on Thursday evening and the IOF troops fired rubber-coated and live bullets as well as teargas canisters at the Palestinian youth.

Local sources said there were more confrontations Friday evening as the news of the death of the Palestinian baby broke out.

Protests broke out in Jerusalem after extremist Jewish settlers killed a Palestinian youth on Wednesday morning and the murderer was set free in the evening.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Is Gideon Levy the most hated man in Israel or just the most heroic?

Via Friday-Lunch-Club

Interview in the Telegraph:

"... In small biographical details, he recovers their humanity from the blankness of an ever-growing death toll. The Wahbas had tried for years to have a child before she finally became pregnant at the age of 36. The grandmother tried to lift little Khaled off the floor: that’s when she realised her son and daughter were dead.

Levy uses a simple technique. He asks his fellow Israelis: how would we feel, if this was done to us by a vastly superior military power? ..

“I am amazed again and again at how little Israelis know of what’s going on fifteen minutes away from their homes,” he says. “The brainwashing machinery is so efficient that trying [to undo it is] almost like trying to turn an omelette back to an egg. It makes people so full of ignorance and cruelty.” He gives an example. During Operation Cast Lead, the Israel bombing of blockaded Gaza in 2008-9,  “a dog – an Israeli dog – was killed by a Qassam rocket and it on the front page of the most popular newspaper in Israel. On the very same day, there were tens of Palestinians killed, they were on page 16, in two lines.”.........

Yet the absurdity nearly killed him. In the summer of 2003, he was travelling in a clearly marked Israeli taxi on the West Bank. He explains: “At a certain stage the army stopped us and asked what we were doing there. We showed them our papers, which were all in order. They sent us up a road – and when we went onto this road, they shot us. They directed their fire to the centre of the front window. Straight at the head. No shooting in the air, no megaphone calling to stop, no shooting at the wheels. Shoot to kill immediately. If it hadn’t been bullet-proof, I wouldn’t be here now. I don’t think they knew who we were. They shot us like they would shoot anyone else. They were trigger-happy, as they always are. It was like having a cigarette. They didn’t shoot just one bullet. The whole car was full of bullets. Do they know who they are going to kill? No. They don’t know and don’t care.”
He shakes his head with a hardened bewilderment. “They shoot at the Palestinians like this on a daily basis. You have only heard about this because, for once, they shot at an Israeli.”....
(read it all, here)

Posted by G, Z, or B at 9:32 PM

When Obama spoke of "the young girl in Gaza who wants to have no ceiling on her dreams" I thought of her (graphic)

By: Ali Abunimah

In his speech to the UN General Assembly on 23 September, U.S. President Barack Obama had a throwaway line typical of folksy American campaign speeches to justify why "this time" the so-called "peace process" would be different:

This time, we will think not of ourselves, but of the young girl in Gaza who wants to have no ceiling on her dreams, or the young boy in Sderot who wants to sleep without the nightmare of rocket fire.

When he uttered those words, this was the image that came to my mind. It is of the body of a young girl from the al-Daya family dug out of the rubble after her family's home was destroyed by an Israeli bombing on 6 January 2009.

This young girl and all the other hundreds of children slaughtered by Israel in cold blood with American-supplied weapons. Of course if Mr. Obama did care about the children of Gaza, he would have stood at the UN podium and demanded that the war crimes and crimes against humanity that the Goldstone Report alleges Israel committed be fully investigated and those responsible brought to justice. What he would not do is what he did -- stand there and utter cheap words, even having the chutzpah to tell people not to "tear Israel down" as if those who demand justice and accountability were simply schoolyard bullies picking on a blameless but unpopular student.

Obama, who often uses his own daughters to score political points and pander, once inserted them in a speech to the Israel lobby AIPAC. He recalled a January 2006 visit to the Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona near the border with Lebanon that resembled an ordinary American suburb where he could imagine the sounds of Israeli children at "joyful play just like my own daughters." It was in that particular speech that he justified Israel's 2006 bombing of Lebanon as "self-defense" just as he justifies every Israeli massacre of civilians as "self-defense."

He has never -- as far as we know -- imagined his daughters as Palestinian or Lebanese children (or Iraqi, or Afghan, or Somali, or Pakistani) victimized by the weapons his administration supplies to Israel and other rogue states or drops from the sky. Quite naturally, no parent, anywhere in the world, would want to imagine their daughter or son going through what children in Gaza suffer and have suffered as a result of Israel's illegal blockade -- itself a crime against humanity -- let alone its regular massacres of civilians whose only crime is that they don't belong to the privileged group under Israel's system of apartheid and racialism.

Indeed, Obama never thinks about Palestinian lives at all. In his UN speech he lectured the Palestinians that, "The slaughter of innocent Israelis is not resistance -- it's injustice." But does the President not know -- with all the vast "intelligence" agencies at his disposal -- that since January 1, 2008 Israel has killed more than 2,000 Palestinians -- the vast majority of them innocent civilians, and in the same period 60 Israelis have been killed -- many of them occupation soldiers? When last month, four settlers were killed in the occupied West Bank, Obama forcefully denounced the "senseless slaughter" and the United States offered condolences to the settlers' families. When yesterday Samir Sarhan -- a father of five -- was shot and killed by an Israeli settler in Silwan -- an area of occupied Jerusalem under constant attack by Israel which explicitly plans to ethnically cleanse its residents and build a Jewish-themed park there -- Obama remained silent.

Obama's speech came as well just a day after the United Nations Human Rights Council found that there was evidence -- sufficient for prosecutions -- consistent with Israeli soldiers carrying out summary executions and torture of passengers aboard the Gaza Freedom Flotilla last May.

Every death is one too many but we can only understand by his cold and studious silences that the slaughter of Palestinians -- and those in solidarity with them -- is in his eyes some form of justice.
span >River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Hezbollah MP Moussawi: "He who adopts the STL's indictment should not worry; he should be really scared..."

Via friday-Lunch-Clun

Al Akhbar:

لكن ملامح هذه التفاصيل، برزت في موقف للنائب نواف الموسوي، الذي رأى أن موقف المحكمة الدولية من ملف شهود الزور، وعدم التحقيق مع إسرائيل «سيؤسس لقرار ظني يهدف إلى حماية إسرائيل، وبالتالي إلى توجيه الاتهام لكل من يمثّل خطراً على إسرائيل في لبنان». وقال لـ«بعض ممثلي تيار المستقبل (الذين) يقولون إنه لا مشكلة في اتهام بعض اللبنانيين»، إن «هذا الكلام يهدف إلى ضرب حكومة الوحدة الوطنية»، معلناً أن «مرحلة ما بعد القرار الظني لن تكون كالتي قبلها»، وأن أي مجموعة لبنانية قد تلتزم بهذا القرار «سيكون التعاطي معها على أنها واحدة من أدوات الغزو الأميركي ـــــ الإسرائيلي، وستلقى ما يلقاه الغازي. وعلى هؤلاء أن لا يقلقوا فقط، بل عليهم أن يكونوا مذعورين».

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

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Viva Palestina 5

Viva Palestina 5

New convoy #5 by land and by sea. May Allah SWT bless those who put their life on the line.

The terrible massacre aboard the Mavi Marmara on 31 May has brought a sea change in international opinion against the inhumane siege on the people of Gaza.

Far from deterring people from seeking to bring that siege to an end, the Israeli assault on the Freedom Flotilla is spurring on even more people to bring humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and to end the blockade.

Viva Palestina has organised three massive land convoys to Gaza in the last 18 months - all of which have delivered their aid - and participated in the latest flotilla.

Over the last few weeks we have been discussing with partner organisations how to coordinate relief efforts by land and sea so as to have the maximum impact.

As a result Viva Palestina is launching "Viva Palestina 5 - a global lifeline to Gaza", a gigantic land convoy leaving London on Saturday, 18th September in conjunction with convoys leaving from Casablanca and Doha and timed to coordinate with a larger and even more international flotilla aiming to reach Gaza by sea at the same time as the land convoys reach by land.

Viva Palestina will be leading the Land Convoy, a Global Lifeline To Gaza, working in partnership with the International Committee to Break the Siege on Gaza and organisations from Europe, Turkey, Middle East, Australasia, India, South Africa and more.

Saturday 18 September will certainly be the first clear Saturday after the month of Ramadan. We are aiming, with the two other legs of the land convoy, to take 500 vehicles with aid to Gaza carrying medical equipment, educational supplies and the wherewithal to rebuild a destroyed mosque, a school for orphans and to construct a maternity facility in Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza. We will be supporting the international flotilla that is scheduled for the same time.

Important institutions are now calling for the end to the siege - the European Union, the United Nations, and major charities such as Oxfam. We are appealing for the widest and strongest participation in this latest effort, which will be all the stronger as it takes place in partnership with others who have a proven track record.

You can support the convoy in many ways, as outlined below, by fundraising, promoting it, or taking part yourself. Spaces for participants by land and sea will be limited and we urge you to sign up quickly and begin fundraising now to ensure you can take part.

We have drawn on the experience of the previous Viva Palestina missions to strengthen the organisational capacity and methods of this next one. So even if you have taken part before and want to do so again, please do carefully read through the information below and follow the registration and fundraising procedures.

Please also register for our e-mail bulletin to keep up to date as further information is sent out.

We would like to thank all those who have supported the previous convoys and flotillas and who responded so magnificently when the last one was so brutally attacked.

Now is the time to answer that atrocity with a flood of humanity towards the suffering people of Gaza.

Viva Palestina is also planning to support a new flotilla of aid ships to Gaza. No date has yet been fixed, but the organisations that brought together the Freedom Flotilla in May plus others are hopeful that it will coincide with the land convoys arriving in October.

A flotilla which will be stronger even than the great achievement in May will require a massive fundraising effort. And, as then, space aboard will necessarily be very limited. We hope to make a significant contribution to this initiative while building up a wide, international coalition of support for the land convoys, which are now underway.

The message from the besieged people of Gaza is loud and clear: Come in massive numbers, in a co-ordinated and organized way, by land and sea to deliver vital aid and to highlight the injustice of the siege.

To that end we are supervising the aid that we are taking to ensure it is of the highest quality and meets the needs the people of Gaza have identified. The Israeli government seems to regard Gaza as a junkyard: supporters of the Palestinian people believe that Gaza deserves no less than what we often take for granted in Western countries, including the movement of goods and people with neighbouring countries that is vital to the reconstruction of the economy.

That's why this global convoy to the Rafah crossing, which the Egyptian government has said is "open", is so vital.

Posted by Faisal Tehrani at 9:14 AM

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Islamic Jihad hold Abbas responsible for wellbeing of their detained members

[ 24/09/2010 - 03:58 PM ]

RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- The Islamic Jihad in the West Bank held Abbas's militia responsible for the wellbeing of their kidnapped members, especially that a number of them were arrested or assassinated by the IOF upon release from Abbas's jails.

The Islamic Jihad stressed that members of its armed wing the Quds Brigades are still detained after three years in Abbas's jails.

A responsible source in the movement said in a written statement on Thursday that the security coordination between the PA and the Israeli occupation is at its peak.

The source added that Abbas's militia still holds and send summonses to dozens of his movement's members.

He called on the PA to immediately release all detainees affiliated with his movement and to stop political arrests which are on a large scale particularly in the districts of Jenin and Tulkarem.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Lessons of resistance from southern Lebanon

Whould the Silwan Mini Intifada expand into a ‘full Palestian uprising’ against occupation and division?? Would the PLO Palestinian factions learn and fight the Zionist regime in Ramalla??

Lessons of resistance from southern Lebanon

Hasan Abu Nimah, The Electronic Intifada, 23 September 2010

An Israeli vehicle destroyed by the Lebanese resistance in south Lebanon. (Maureen Clare Murphy)

In May 2000, after two decades of brutal Israeli rule and stiff resistance, the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon suddenly ended. The Israeli army fled in haste and within hours the South Lebanon Army (SLA) -- its local collaborator militia -- collapsed and many of its members also fled to Israel where they still live. Joyful Lebanese, including tens of thousands of displaced southerners, streamed home to the liberated lands.

Much of the equipment left behind by Israel and its collaborators is now exhibited at a museum housed in a former Hizballah command center in the village of Mlita, in the heart of southern Lebanon.

I was in Mlita last week. From that hilltop, one can see occupied Palestine very close across the border fence. While there were thousands of Lebanese families and foreign tourists inspecting Israeli military debris, which included tanks, artillery, ammunition, helmets, boots, small arms, jeeps and lots more, and joyfully posing for photos on top of the displayed equipment, there was no sign of movement on the Israeli side, except for the tightly protected and heavily camouflaged bunkers and observation posts.

The site is similar to the kind of war museums I visited, like the one in Bastogne, Belgium. Like Mlita, Bastogne was the site of a major battle (the Battle of the Bulge in the last months of Second World War). And like in Mlita, the victors established a war museum displaying much of the military memorabilia, with constantly running movies showing horrifying war scenes.

But Mlita offers more than solemn memorials. There is also a well-organized amusement park and picnic area, and displays showcasing the "superb and resolute" organization of the resistance. It is clear from the way the project has been planned, the polite and cordial demeanor of the ushers and guides, that the purpose is to impress, and generate admiration for a just cause and a determined resolve to serve it.

For the last couple of decades, Lebanon has been recovering from wars -- internal and external. Despite the fact that it had long been considered a "non-belligerent" country within the framework of the ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict (in the sense that it did not participate in the 1956, 1967 or 1973 wars), in the end Lebanon had to fight alone, more than any other Arab state.

Since the 1950s, Israeli leaders plotted to dismember Lebanon, annex parts of it and install a friendly regime. Israel has invaded and attacked Lebanon numerous times since the 1970s, when the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was in virtual control of the southern part of the country.

In 1982, Israel launched a full-scale invasion, aimed at destroying the PLO, liquidating the Palestinian cause and forcing Lebanon into "peace" on Israel's terms. The first of Israel's goals was more or less accomplished, albeit at a high cost for the invader and an even higher cost for the invaded.

But the Palestinian cause itself survived -- and has strengthened. Today, it is still Israel begging for recognition and fearing "delegitimization," and Palestinians everywhere hold fast to their rights even if their so-called leaders do not. And the short-lived Israeli-Lebanon "peace treaty" signed in May 1983 soon collapsed in disarray.

For the first time in the history of Arab-Israeli wars, an Israeli military victory was not matched by any political gain.

The 1982 invasion was the war which marked the end of Israeli military power as an effective tool for imposing political realities.

Since then, Israel has used brute military force without limits, as it did against Lebanon in 1996 and 2006, and against Gaza in 2008-2009. But Israel's atrocities and massacres offer at best a reprieve from whatever problem it is trying to "solve" while its standing, legitimacy and deterrent power continue a long and steady decline.

When the Israeli invaders withdrew from most of Lebanon in 1983, Israel decided to keep a so-called "security zone" of roughly ten kilometers inside Lebanese territory. This was policed by the SLA, created and financed by Israel with Lebanese collaborators.

Israel later envisaged the Palestinian Authority's security apparatus along the same lines -- a local native militia meant to serve and protect the occupier and relieve the Israeli army as much as possible of the burden of occupation. But it was the local Lebanese resistance that foiled Israeli plans, and this is what the museum at Mlita commemorates and celebrates.

After touring the indoor and open air displays, including a seven-minute video of short shots of heroic battle scenes, we were led downhill on a paved, meandering path with steps at some points, under thick oak trees. On the sides, one would see every now and then a rocket launcher with a mannequin of a resistance fighter behind it, a trench, a cache of arms with boxes of ammunition next to it, a praying place or an anti-aircraft gun pointing upwards. One could also see mock fighters attending or transporting injured colleagues.

A few hundred meters down, there was a discreet entrance to a tunnel dug deep in solid rock under the mountain. In the tunnel, which was well-lit and spacious, one could see how ammunition and arms were stored, food, a kitchen, water supplies and communication equipment. There were rooms for sleeping, and a soundtrack of the resistance leaders' speeches played in the background.

The walk in that particular display tunnel was about 300 meters long. We did not need to walk back as the exit was at the other end -- obviously to prevent people from becoming trapped. The exit was also well camouflaged. Walking back up, amid thick greenery, we speculated on the wisdom of revealing resistance locations and tactics to a ruthless enemy that continues to threaten Lebanon and violate its sovereignty on a daily basis. It was clear, though, that the idea was to demonstrate skill and determination. Probably what is now revealed is outdated. It was quite impressive, regardless.

Driving along the many villages in the vicinity of the border fence, one could see the people's resolve to lead a normal life despite the constant threat of attack and destruction from Israel. The villages of Bint Jbeil, Maroun al-Ras, Aitaroun, Ainata, Meiss al-Jabal and others along the border which sustained massive destruction in the 2006 war -- and whose names have become synonymous with resistance and steadfastness -- have been fully rebuilt. No sign of destruction could be seen and we were amazed to witness large stone villas, houses, beautiful constructions all along the border, as if there were no daily threat of renewed war.

As we drove along the Hjeir valley, flanked on both sides by steep mountain slopes, we noted warning signs against land-mines and the hundreds of thousands of cluster bombs dropped by Israel in the last days of the 2006 war, evidently to prevent people who departed the area from returning.

We were told that people returned immediately after the ceasefire to rebuild their houses and lives with no fear -- that was apparent from what we saw.

We were told that Israeli tanks were drawn in this valley, trapped, and forty of them destroyed in the final moments of the war (accounts published in the Israeli press after the war told a very similar story).

The tour was amazing. One can draw enormous lessons. People there defended their land and their dignity. They paid for it heavily in blood and treasure. Now they are proud of their achievement and courage. The message they convey is simple: "We are here. We will fight again if attacked. We will continue to demand the liberation of every grain of soil under occupation. Other than that, we want to live in peace."

Hasan Abu Nimah is the former permanent representative of Jordan at the United Nations. This essay first appeared in The Jordan Times and is republished with the author's permission.

State Official: "The Saudis want to kill the STL...Lebanon is not important enough to them anymore..."

Via Friday-Lunch-Club

MPEG's STATE Department's 'take:

"... Even top US officials are far from certain that a last minute deal can be worked out between Israel and the Palestinian Authority over how and whether to extend the ten month settlement freeze that is scheduled to end on Sunday. As recently as last week, some officials believed a deal could be worked out that would extend it for perhaps two months. And initial reports of Palestinian President Abu Mazen's meeting with American Jewish leaders in New York (while there for the opening of the United Nations General Assembly) suggested that he would settle for something less than a complete freeze. However, both Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Abu Mazen are under strong pressure from their respective political constituencies not to give way. And some well placed US officials are working on the assumption that it will take an American proposal to bridge the gap. That being said, these same officials despair of progress on so-called "core" issues if talks on something as relatively minor as a settlement freeze takes matters to the brink. " How are those two supposed to agree on Jerusalem, borders and right of return [of Palestinian refugees], if they can't find common ground on a simple extension of current settlement policy?"" asks one veteran US analyst. And European, not mention Arab diplomats warn that while the US may try to assign blame proportionately [As one top official asked rhetorically, "Where were the Palestinians during the first nine months of the settlement freeze?"], the rest of the world will put the blame squarely on Israel. European diplomats voice another, even greater concern. As one said last week, "What is `Plan B?'"

For some officials, an alternative route would be reaching out to Syria.  Over the years, a number of Israelis, including Netanyahu have expressed an interest in pursuing the Syrian "track."  And while the US has yet to send its Ambassador back to Damascus (due to a Senate "hold"), this has not stopped a parade of officials, including Speaker of the House Pelosi, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Kerry, as well as most recently Special Envoy George Mitchell from making the trek there. Part of the appeal of increased US engagement with Syria, in the view of those advocating it, is that it could help head off what many fear will be renewed violence in Lebanon.... 

For some, apparently including the younger Hariri, Syria could provide a buffer against this eventuality.  Saad has journeyed to Damascus in an attempt to sidle up to Syrian President Assad. 

This moves follows closely a rapproachment between Saudi Arabia and Syria. 

However, the STL operates independently of any government and Western governments, notably the US and France have firmly resisted entreaties to intercede with the STL. 

Moreover, the initial price US officials believe Assad wants Lebanon to pay is a denunciation of the STL and a cut-off in Lebanon's financial contribution to this international organization.  This seems to be what the Saudis would prefer as well, say key State Department officials.  Says one veteran insider, "The Saudis want to kill the STL.  Lebanon is not important enough to them anymore."

What does concern the Saudis the most, is, of course, the Iranian threat. But here too, say US officials, Riyadh has been less than a reliable partner. Says one key US official, "The Saudis -- and by extension, the Arabs -- want the Iranian `problem' solved. But just want us to make it go away." Or as one of his colleagues put it this week,

"We [Saudis] don't want to take any risks. You do  it" [Parenthetically he added, "They act lot like Abu Mazen."]

In "solving' the Iranian problem, top US officials believe they have gone a long way, notably with the increasingly burdensome sanctions that have been applied to Iran. Although Iranian businessmen have shouldered most of the burden so far, some analysts say it is only a matter of time before the political elite has to grapple with increasing isolation. "The Iranians were first surprised when we got the UN resolution," argues one key US official. Next, the EU [European Union] expanded them dramatically. Now, we have the Asians, especially the Japanese and South Koreans, cooperating." Treasury, long active in going after banks and businesses cooperating with banned Iranian entities, are now, under the continued leadership of Under Secretary Stuart Levey, become even more aggressive. And even when some in the Administration albeit, a minority, talk of trying again to engage the Iranian leadership in a dialogue, along comes the likes of President Ahmadinejad spinning conspiracy theories ....

Most analysts say Ahmadinejad is playing to a domestic audience. Under attack by key figures in the clerical establishment, he is engaged in nothing less than a struggle for control in Teheran. With subsidies to be ended, there is fear of a public backlash [even though the time line for their elimination could be as long as five years]. And although these officials believe the opposition "Green Movement" is "effectively non-existent" to use a senior State Department words, Ahmadinejad's supporters still attack its leadership both rhetorically and most recently physically with assaults on their homes. "There is a warning there for all who dissent," says one US official. "And as long as Ahmadenijad has the backing of the "Supreme Leader" he will continue to be successful [This official is convinced that Ayotollah Khameini - the Supreme Leader -- still finds Ahmadinejad useful as a "lightning rod" or "foil" for his own hard line views."]

 

As for the allure of attracting Syria away from Iran's orbit, veteran US analysts consider it a waste of time for the US as well as other more interested parties, including the Saudis and some European governments. 

 

They argue that the Syrians already believe they are on a roll. 

 

Assad, in their view, has already discounted US and Israeli complaints about handing over missile systems to Hezbollah [Survey May 26, 2010]; brought Saudi King Abdallah back to him, kept his relationship with Iran and continues playing politics (albeit with modest success) in Iraq. 

 

For the US to add an approach on the peace process, says this official, "...would only feed his arrogance."

Posted by G, Z, or B at 3:46 PM

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian