PeaceNews' Book Review - The Wandering Who?

Wednesday, June 27, 2012 at 4:34PM Gilad Atzmon

http://peacenews.info/

Zero Books, 2011; 215pp; £8.99.

Gilad Atzmon has created a firestorm of controversy with this examination of Jewish identity, so I read it with some trepidation.

In the end I found it an engaging read, simply written, about complex ideas. He refuses to hedge words, to compromise in order to create allies, and in some cases he seems to have gone over the top, intentionally provoking friends and enemies alike.

Atzmon grew up in Israel, the grandson of one of the radical founders of Israel. As a youth, his burgeoning fascination with the saxophone and jazz music led him to a different understanding of Zionism - something cemented by his experiences in the Israeli Defence Force.

Now a well known international jazz musician, his irrepressible, emotional style flows through this book.

Atzmon’s main target is Jewish exceptionalism, and he dissects the phenomenon using the tools of his education in philosophy. And while one suspects that Atzmon is more comfortable as a musician than as a philosopher, what he discovers is critical in understanding Jewish identity and the continuing evolution of Israel.

This book is directed primarily at Jews, but anyone interested in identity politics – or in any aspect of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict – will find it fascinating, if a little bit like watching someone smashing windows.

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US finds isolated on sanctions against Iran

Posted on June 30, 2012 |

Once again, Washington is forced to exempt China and Singapore from sanctions over purchases of oil from the Islamic Republic. Israel-Firster Hillary Clinton used her usual lie that China has “significantly reduced” its oil purchases from Iran. In reality, China imported 524,000 barrels per day in May, a 35% jump on the previous month, the BBC reported on June 22, 2012.
On June 21, a spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry said that the country’s oil imports from Iran are “fully reasonable and legitimate,” and do not violate any relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
After being exempted, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Hong Lei reiterated its opposition to unilateral sanctions against Iran on Friday.

Hillary Clinton is welknown for lying against everything which moves against Israeli interests. She used the “significantly reduced” mantra as an excuse to exempt Turkey, Japan, India, South Korea and EU countries in the past. Even the Zionist Rep. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (with Jewish family roots), the Republican chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee slammed Hillary for her lie about China.

“The administration likes to pat itself on the back for supposedly being strong on Iran sanctions. But actions speak louder than words, and today the administration has granted a free pass to Iran’s biggest enabler,” said Ileana, who is a staunch critic of China due to country’s support for Iran.

With Thursday’s decision to grant exceptions to China, which buys up to a fifth of Iran’s oil exports, and Singapore, which buys Iranian fuel oil, the Obama administration has now spared all 20 of Iran’s major oil buyers from its unilateral sanctions.

RAND Corp. in its recent report had warned Washington that the US and EU sanctions against the Islamic Republic are harming the EU more than Iranian regime which the USrael desire to topple.

As usual, Washington reserved its vengeance for Iran’s Muslim neighbors, Pakistan and Afghanistan. They’re warned that they will lose USAID if they crossed the red-line.

In 2010, both Pakistan and Iran inked an agreement in Istanbul which involved the construction of a 900-kilometre-long gas pipeline, from Asalooyeh in Southern Iran and Iranshahr near the border with Pakistan that will transport 750 million cubic feet a day of gas from Iran to Pakistan for the next 25 years to generate 4,000 MW of electricity.
Iranian companies are helping Venezuela, Lebanon, Pakistan, Afghanistan and several other countries in developing their oil and gas fields.

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Little Hope for Change Among Egypt’s Poor

Boys play in a destroyed car at Manshiyet Nasser shanty town in eastern Cairo 28 June 2012. (Photo: Reuters - Amr Abdallah Dalsh)

 

By: Muhammad al-Khouli

Published Saturday, June 30, 2012

While Mursi is now tackling the difficult task of juggling affairs concerning the SCAF and international powers, Egypt’s poor are wondering if they will yet again be forgotten.

Ordinary Egyptians do not expect the future to differ much from the past with the arrival of a new president. That seems to be the prevalent attitude among Egypt’s urban poor and residents of its teeming working-class districts and shanty towns. Their accumulated impressions of the two candidates in the presidential run-off – the military’s candidate Ahmad Shafiq and Mohammed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood – appear to have prevented them from supporting either in large numbers.
Egypt’s poor suffered badly under the three-decade rule of Hosni Mubarak, who Shafiq described as his “highest example.” His regime treated them as an undesirable burden at best, or simply neglected them.

Few were therefore rooting for Shafiq, despite his campaign promises to maintain fuel and bread subsidies, provide benefits to the unemployed, extend medical insurance to everyone, double the Health Ministry’s budget, and set a minimum wage. He also said he would build new towns to house the poor, increase the provision of clean drinking water, and write off small farmers’ debts. People did not believe Shafiq because they had frequently heard similar pledges from his role-model, Mubarak.

But neither did poor Egyptians greet the news of Mursi’s election with general rejoicing, nor vest high hopes in the fact that he hails from the Brotherhood, which treats the poor as deserving of compassion, alms and charity.

What Egypt’s poor want is recognition that they have rights which have been denied them, and that these go beyond occasional charitable handouts. The Brotherhood is well known for distributing food in working-class districts. It does so all year round, but increases the quantity ahead of any elections. Besides, there was little difference between Mursi and Shafiq in terms of their championing of the free-market economy, which invariably puts the poor last. Both strongly support the private sector, whose only concern is businessmen and their bank balances, and for which the poor are merely cheap labor.

But what do poor Egyptians think about their new president now that the Brotherhood candidate has won?

Evidently, many were strongly influenced by the ferocious anti-Brotherhood media campaign that has been waged in recent weeks by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). When asked, residents of working class districts of Cairo often said that they expected the Brotherhood to take the country to war against Israel, or force women to wear the hijab or niqab. Others thought it would amputate the hands of thieves, slit the throats of murder suspects, and sentence people to lashings for failing to perform prayers. These were the kind of fears raised about the Brotherhood by the likes of widely-watched talk-show host Tawfiq Okasha, as part of the effort to misrepresent and discredit the Brotherhood and improve the image of SCAF and, subsequently, Shafiq.

Few respondents in these neighborhoods thought the new president represented them, and many said neither of the contenders was the kind of president they wanted for the country after the revolution. Many expressed support for Nasserist candidate Hamdeen Sabahi, who came third in the first round and narrowly failed to make it to the run-off.

“People felt Hamdeen was the closest to them,” he said Muhammad Saad, who lives in the central Cairo district of Bulaq Abul-Ila. “But he didn’t have the money to match the financial resources of the Brothers, or of Shafiq who was backed by the fuloul – the “remnants” of Mubarak regime – and the military.”

There was widespread dismay in such districts at Sabahi’s defeat, and at being left with a choice between the Brothers and the fuloul. Those who went on to back Shafiq generally did not do so out of admiration for or confidence in him, but dislike of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Yet all concur that there is much for the new president to do.

Muhammad Ibrahim, a young man from the working class Cairo district of Duweiqa, said he wanted the president to treat poor Egyptians “as though he is one of them,” not as objects of charity but as people with rights. “We wanted a poor president, but elections cost a lot of money for advertising and paying for campaigns,” he said.

“Suitable housing and a decent job,” said Hassan Nada, another resident of the neighborhood, when asked what he wanted from the new president. “I wish I had somewhere to sleep without worrying about scorpions and snakes.” Duweiqa, where many people live in barely habitable wood and corrugated iron shacks, has been suffering a major infestation of parasites.

“The new president should provide jobs for young people and put an end to unemployment,” said Naased Abd al-Sattar from the Sayyeda Zeinab quarter. “If he did that, Egypt would be the best country in the world,” he added. “The youth are poor and need jobs so they can find somewhere to live and lead a normal life.”

Safaa al-Agrouti wanted the new president merely to “be a man and keep his word,” by doing what he said he would in his election program.

The demands of Egypt’s poor may be simple, but much political will and focus will have to be mustered if they are to be fulfilled.

This article is an edited translation from the Arabic Edition.
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The Map of Foreign Armed Groups in Homs and Al-Qusayr

Nidal Hamadeh
Well-informed French sources declared that thousands of Arab and foreign fighters are in Homs and its surrounding territories, as well as in Al-Qusayr and the nearby villages, especially those to the west of Al-Assi River.

The previously mentioned sources quoted French security sources as saying that almost all of those fighters entered Syria through Lebanon, some of which came through Beirut International Airport, while others came through the Mediterranean upon ships that docked off the port of Tripoli whose passengers, the foreign fighters, came to the Lebanese land on-board small boats.

The same sources stated that the armed groups in Al-Qusayr and its nearby villages are around twelve thousand fighters from different countries (Pakistan, Afghanistan, Somalia, Tunisia, Libya, Jordan, Algeria, Palestine, and Lebanon), besides the armed Syrian fighters who are fighting against the regime. The French sources mentioned that the majority of the Lebanese fighters come from Irsal, Sidon, and Tripoli. As for the foreigners, they spread through the villages to the west of Al-Assi River taking advantage of the environment which is full of trees; those villages are Saqarja, Abou Houri, Al-Nahriya, Al-Azaniya, Al-Burhaniya, and Ain Al-Tannour. The latter is the center of gravity of those fighters because the Syrian Army exclude it from shelling for it contains the reservoir of drinking water for Homs and Hamah from the Al-Assi River. The army avoids bombing the village not to hit this reservoir and consequently cut off water from both Homs and Hamah.

Most of Al-Qusayr is under total control of the insurgents, and the majority of them are Syrians, the French sources stated. However, the Syrian Army controls the building of the directorate to the east of the city and close to the borders with Homs, in addition to the villages along the international road between Homs and the Lebanese borders in Al-Qa’a. In this wide area, armed groups are well-equipped with rocket launchers, heavy-caliber cannons, anti-aircraft weapons, ammunition, and automatic rifles. They also built fortifications, passageways, and barricades, and they immediately bury their homicidal.

Homs...

According to the same sources, the Syrian army controls most of the quarters in Homs while the armed groups control a part of the overpopulated Al-Khalediya Quarter, near the Al-Qosour Quarter which is geographically outside Homs. The Syrian army intended to control the latter quarter, and is performing combing operations in the area. It is also continuing to cordon off Al-Khalediya Quarter where fighters were shifting between the two quarters either for withdrawal or storage. The army is tightening the grip over the area where armed groups are hiding by which almost all the quarters are under its control. As for the armed groups, they are fortified in a 1 squared Kilometer piece of land.

500 armed fighters are in this area while the majority of the fighters are in Bustan Al-Diwan Quarter in Al-Hamidiya neighborhood. They caused Christian populations to immigrate from their hometown, and established a field court in Beit Al-Agha, the majestic historic landmark in Homs. The situation in Jouret Al-Shayah, very close to the city's commercial center, is more likely in favor of the regime, which is, seemingly, about to end the battles with significant military success during the last days in which hundreds of fighters were killed.

The Regime's Strategy

French sources stated that the Syrian regime is applying the anti-insurgency war or confronting guerrillas plan which allows it to control the strategic facilities, Homs-Levant highway, Homs-Aleppo highway, military and civil airports, public facilities, electricity stations, oil refinery in Homs, military bases such as the Al-Dhab'a Airport in Al-Qusayr valley, Al-Baath University in Homs, and all the governmental institutions in the city. The army seeks decreasing its losses and not exhausting it throughout avoiding presence in the small rural villages where fighters are located. The Syrian army follows the method of bombarding on a daily basis, but seems tending to finalize its operations in the summer.

What is the military solution?

As the source mentioned, the situation in Homs is in the regime's favor. However, the regime must use its ground forces in Al-Qusayr to terminate the battles in this flat land where trees are spread all over the area. It also has to increase the number of its helicopters, and after the battle of Homs ends, the army can send its special forces to Al-Qusayr. The regime wishes to end the battles in the summer, before the American presidential elections in November because Obama, the busy man about being reelected, prefers not to have foreign troubles. This is what he said to the Europeans concerning the Iranian nuclear program, and was asserted on by a French diplomat in front of Arab journalists in a closed meeting in the French Foreign Ministry on the Iranian issue. "France won't be the diplomatic spearhead against Iran, because President Hollande doesn't want to annoy Obama in the climax of his electoral campaign," the man said. It is self-evident that what is applied on Iran is also applied on Syria since the NATO didn't react against shooting down the Turkish jet in the Syrian regional waters along with the Turkish borders.

Translated by Zeinab Abdallah

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Ahmad al-Assir: Crisis or Opportunity?

Why all the worry that the actions of Assir and his followers could set the stage for a clash which in turn triggers widespread strife in the country? (Photo: Haitham Moussawi)

By: Ibrahim al-Amin

Published Saturday, June 30, 2012

It may be hard to discuss the issue of Saida and Sheikh Amad al-Assir.
He has managed to make many enemies in a short period of time. These are essentially from the club of traditional political players, whose membership seems to elude him. He denies wanting to join it. Yet he accuses “the political representatives of the Sunni sect in Lebanon” of failing in their duty, and he hopes to “achieve that which would safeguard the dignity” of the community so he can go back to his mosque and resume his mission as a preacher.
It may be hard for many people to adopt Assir’s discourse. Some of those who enthused about him after he started making his political voice heard have clearly stepped back. Perhaps they concluded that continuing to follow his lead would entail more sacrifices than they could bear. Others saw him as their spokesman, but not their leader. A third group felt that Assir was going further than his supporters would have wanted in pressing his demands.

The majority of the above had either gone along with Harirism, or were politically disillusioned. Assir also unsettled Harirism’s Christian and even Druze allies, Walid Jumblatt’s overture to him notwithstanding. But most worrying of all is Assir’s willingness, if only rhetorically, to enter into an all-out confrontation with the two most powerful forces in the Shia sect.

What may be even harder is persuading the powers-that-be, both in government and opposition, that someone should breach the wall with the aim of extending a hand to Assir. A dialogue needs to be sought with him to discuss what he deems to be public demands, and to work out solutions that convince him to abandon the plans he has recently been putting into action.

The difficulty here lies in the fact that most of the major players in government and opposition refuse to treat Assir as a general trend. They insist on considering him to be a confined individual case, which can be isolated and bypassed. This is because Assir does not possess the same stature as the country’s main political forces. He cannot claim to speak for a Sunni majority, nor is he capable of getting all other Islamist groups in Lebanon to join an action that leads to the unknown.

So why all the worry that the actions of Assir and his followers could set the stage for a clash which in turn triggers widespread strife in the country?

Siniora

The real answer lies in the fact that Assir, with his actions and his rhetoric, is filling a vacuum among Syria’s and Hezbollah’s Sunni enemies in Lebanon. He proclaims out loud what most of them say in their homes, private discussions, workplaces and late night chats. His show of defiance is one which many believe that Sunni political leaders should be mounting themselves.

When Assir says his actions hinge on the resolution of the issue of weapons, he does not mean, and cannot reasonably mean, that he wants a quick resolution to the question of the arms held by the resistance in Lebanon.

He is in fact – regardless of whether some people like this reasoning or reject it – urging on a debate about the relationship between the different groups in Lebanon.

This absent, or rather abandoned, debate has many themes, the weapons issue being one of them. But its aim is to reformulate the rules of Lebanon’s governance and the relationship of its citizens to the state. Assir may be uninterested in much of that, but he has seized on an issue that goes to the heart of Lebanon’s current difficulty, which stems from the profound dispute between the political leaders of the majority of the country’s Shia and the majority of its Sunnis.

In short, the problem will not be solved either by cracking down on Assir’s group, as some hot-heads believe, or by the sheikh obtaining a clear and convincing answer about the future of Hezbollah’s weapons.

For a solution to be reached, those concerned must dare to take two simultaneous steps.

The first of these concerns Assir himself. He needs to provided with an acceptable ladder with which to climb down from his tree.

The second step is more general, and relates to the essence of the issue. In this regard, the onus lies with those who wield the most influence. With Syria preoccupied by its domestic crisis, the main regional parties to such a dialogue now would be Saudi Arabia (plus perhaps the new Egypt) and Iran, and the main local ones Hezbollah and the Future Movement.

There may be no sign of that happening. But Assir’s actions managed to bring antagonistic parties in Saida together around a single table to confer about what should be done. A get-together could be more focused and effective if it involved the main players in the Sunni-Shia cold war which the country and the region are witnessing.

As recent and earlier experience has taught us, and as the ongoing tragedy in Syria underlines, attempts to avoid dialogue in order to pursue gains, by this side or that, only succeed in postponing the inevitable.

Eventually, all the players must sit around the table to produce a feasible compromise that ensures they can continue living together.

Ibrahim al-Amine is editor-in-chief of al-Akhbar.
This article is an edited translation from the Arabic Edition.

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President al-Assad : Syria Built its Policy on National & Popular Compass, We Don't Accept any Type of Solution from Abroad Regardless of its Content

Jun 30, 2012

DAMASCUS, (SANA) – President Bashar al-Assad stressed that the national and ethical conditions which are interrelated for the majority of Syrian people are the primary element that confronted the pressures which Syria is exposed to at the hands of the world's most powerful states along with many regional states, adding "the national and ethical conditions withstood many tempting offers of money and other things."

In an interview with the Iran's Channel 4 on Thursday evening, President al-Assad said the Syrian people play the primary role in preserving Syria as a state, since the role of the state institutions and army can't be separated from the people, and that otherwise the state could not have stood in the face of the popular stance, noting that this was expressed through the spontaneous demonstrations in the street.

President al-Assad emphasized that the solid internal situation is the real barrier which prevents the success of any foreign interference, whether this interference is through pumping money or sending weapons, stressing that the internal and external situations are inseparable and that one cannot assign percentages to their role in the crisis.
The President voiced support to the six-point plan brokered by special envoy Kofi Annan, saying that the plan is good and is still viable now and in the future, affirming that Syria approved it out of conviction, particularly the article related to the ending of violence which means the cessation of the criminal acts of the terrorist groups and the cessation of providing them with money and weapons by the countries who sponsor them.

President al-Assad said that western and regional countries who claim to back this plan are making false claims because they consider the failure of the Annan's plan in their favor as a way of accusing Syria of causing its failure and justify their going to the UN Security Council to adopt resolutions against it.

He added that some countries are not content with the Security Council; rather they want a military strike similar to what happened in Libya, but it seems that their attempts, until the moment, have failed.

"We don't have any information of specific plans, but there are bids by the a few countries to push the issue towards military action. However, a little sense they have prevents them from going to a military action because the region – with its geopolitical importance and social structure – is a seismic fault line, and in a case of any manipulation of this fault line, the earthquake will move far in different directions. So, this issue is much greater than the calculations of some," President al-Assad said.

He noted that proper analysts for what is going on in the region shows that there is a conflict between two projects: the resistance project which rejects hegemony, and the Greater Middle East project, adding that this conflict is not new but as old as colonialism; it was just given a new name.

Eisenhower in the Oval Office with
 Muslim delegates, 1953,
after July revolution. Said Ramadan, t
he Son in-law of Hassan Al-Bana
the founder ofBrotherhood,
is second from the right.

President al-Assad pointed out that the New Middle East which people of the region want is a Middle East which is resistant to all projects that come from abroad, all dictations, all occupation and hegemony, as it is a project that stems from the people in the region and their interests.

President Shukri al-Quwatli welcoming
President Gamal Abdul Nasser to Syria
in February 1958

He went on to say that he believes that this conflict will continue, saying "however, we as states and peoples in this region will not allow any other project to pass if it does not express our interests."

President al-Assad said that Syria is paying the price for its political positions in supporting the resistance and adhering to the Arab and Islamic rights, in addition to the fact that its geo-political position is important, adding that Syria has always been exposed to interference bids or an arena for conflict between superpowers throughout history.

"Controlling Syria means controlling a big part of the political decision in the region, and the attack to which Syria is exposed to today is not the first one; in 2005 it was exposed to a similar attack but it failed, so it they moved to another method," he said.
President al-Assad stressed that supporting the resistance in Palestine and other areas will continue as long as the people don't relinquish this support, stressing that Syria has mainly built its policy on the national and popular compass, and not the foreign or Western one.

The President stressed that the Palestinian cause is the core of all causes in our region, particularly the Arab region, and if the Palestinian issue isn't resolved and if the rights aren't restored, then there would be no changes in positions even if one waited for generations, adding

" now we are speaking about the third or fourth generation since the occupation of Palestine, and the positions didn't and will not change. "

"What is happening in Syria has several aspects; international, regional and internal dimensions which converged with each other to carry Syria into a crisis it never experienced before nor did it experience anything similar to it… The international side is mainly linked to the position of countries with colonial history which did not change the essence of their colonialist policies; rather they changed the form and moved from direct occupation to methods of imposing opinions and dictations… they reject the existence of countries which have independence and defend their interests and say no when there is something contrary to their own convictions or principles."

President al-Assad said that the regional aspect is linked to the region's countries and has multiple aspects as well, as there are countries that are shamed by the Syrian political position towards various issues, whether in Palestine, Iraq, Lebanon or elsewhere, adding "they saw a chance in these circumstances to downscale or crush the Syrian role… and then there are countries that aren't necessarily against the Syrian position, but they are subject to foreign dictations and unable to adopt a resolution to express their vision or that of their people."

He pointed out that some states formally announced that it will send weapons in one way or another to the terrorist groups, and since these forces spoke about themselves as such then there's no point in discussing this issue or seeking evidence.

"In terms of the internal aspect, Syria, like any country, has positives and negatives, but any problems or challenges should not reach the point where a Syrian kills another Syrian… We, as in many countries of the world, have problems related to corruption, equitable distribution of income, equality of opportunities, and economic or political development, but these points were exploited to convert some Syrian who are ignorant or have no principles to mercenaries working against their own country for money," President al-Assad explained.
President al-Assad made it clear that those who are killing the Syria people are a mixture of outlaws and religious extremists whose numbers are not very big but they are dangerous, along with Al Qaeda or organizations that adopt a similar ideology, stressing that the rate of participation in the killings differed since the beginning of the crisis, but currently the extremists constitute the largest number of killers.

He said that these people receive money to commit massacres at specific times to support a certain decision or a particular conflict at the UN Security Council in order to change the balance inside the council, adding that the same thing happened to the resistance in Lebanon in past years when a certain assassination or a particular crime was committed on the eve of issuing a certain decision pertaining to the resistance or the situation in Lebanon.

President al-Assad added that Al Qaeda is present in Syria and a number of persons who belong to this organization were arrested and confessed to committing crimes.

"Al Qaeda is a US creation financed by Arab countries, and this is well-known… the Americans adopt an interim policy according to the interim interests. They used to support Al Qaeda and called its members in the eighties – as former US President Ronald Reagan did –freedom fighters, and years later they became terrorists… Now some of them are back to dealing with them and now they say that there's good extremism and bad extremism, meaning that they divide roles and change their labels and terms according to the condition of the U. S.; if Al Qaeda strikes at a country that they do not like, it is good, and if it strikes against the U.S. or its allies' interests in a certain area, it becomes bad."

President al-Assad said that the state's responsibility, in accordance with the Constitution, is to protect all its citizens in all the Syrian territories, and when it takes out a terrorist, it protects dozens and perhaps hundreds or thousands, because a terrorist targets citizens from one place to another.

"We didn't release any person whose hands are stained with Syrian blood; we released persons who have taken up arms as a result of false understanding or ignorance or because of the need for money, but they have not committed criminal acts, and they made a self-initiative and turned themselves in to the state and asked to be allowed to return to the correct position in society… it's natural to be tolerant with those and give them the opportunity to be patriotic people again," he explained.

President al-Assad pointed out that reform in Syria is an ongoing process which started in 2000 in parallel with difficult external circumstances faced by Syria pertaining to putting pressure on it to give up the Palestinian cause and stop supporting the resistance.

"Indicators today don't show a link between reform and what is going on because the reform now didn't improve the conditions… the terrorists and the countries that back them are not concerned with reform; rather they want chaos. Even if we implemented reform now or before, what happened would have happened, because it was planned abroad and not a spontaneous issue linked to reform," he elaborated.

President al-Assad said that the replication or cloning of any model from one country in another requires cloning the entire people with their history, customs, morals, traditions and the context they are going through, which is practically impossible, stressing there is no model that is applied in a place to resolve a certain crisis that can be applied elsewhere, regardless of the fact what was applied in Libya is not a model of a solution since it transferred Libya to a much worse situation and now everyone can see how the Libyan people are paying the price.

"We, in Syria, do not accept any model that is not Syrian and national, regardless of whether it was imposed by superpowers or proposed by friendly countries. No one knows how to resolve the problem in Syria as well as we do, as Syrians… so, any model that comes from abroad is unacceptable regardless of its content."

President al-Assad said that Syria appreciates the objective positions of countries on the international level such as China and Russia, countries in the region like Iran, and other countries in the world, noting that these positions are not in defense of a government or a person as the west is trying to portray them; rather they defend the stability of the region because Syria is an important country and its stability affects the stability of the region and the world.
On Turkey's position regarding the Syrian crisis, President al-Assad stressed the need to make a distinction between the positions of some Turkish state officials and the popular temperament, the later being positive towards what is happening in Syria because they know most of the facts despite the media falsification in Turkey.

"As for the revival of the Ottoman Empire, I believe we're now in another age that is different in every way, and this is no longer possible… our vision for relations with Turkey and the Turkish role was that it was possible to build an empire of good relations, alliances and organizations that unite interests, similar to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and others; these new empires can be built through objective and rational positions that express the region's interests, and not by becoming subject to westerns – or specifically U.S. – positions."

President al-Assad noted that the Arab League was never allowed to play a positive role in the causes of Arab countries, and that the Arab Summits were mostly arenas of conflict in the face of the proposed projects or concepts that are against Arab interest, adding that the League wasn't allowed to play a role due to the actions of certain well-known countries that always implement foreign plans in the Arab arena.

He pointed out that the League was allowed to play a role through these very countries, only it was against Arab countries, which is what happened with Libya when the Arab League gave cover to the bombardment of Libya.

"Syria may have been the only country that openly rejected that decision, and we had to pay the price of that position. So they moved directly after that decision to attack Syria through the Arab League… this is the truth of the Arab League, in the past and in the present," President al-Assad concluded.

Ghossoun / H. Sabbagh

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A VOICE OF IGNORANCE DARKNESS AND BETRAYAL

After he received a kiss and a hug from the Lebanese minister of interior during one of his sits in down town Beirut as a sign of the policy of openness and tolerance adopted by the ministry , the notorious Sheikh Ahmad al Assir -who has mastered all kinds of knowledge- felt secure enough to appear on one Lebanese local TV and send threats to Sayyed Hassan Nasrullah ( May God preserve him) directly from the screen .
The fake Sheikh said that he will do his best to deprive Sayyed Hassan from all kinds of sleep forgetting that the Sayyed of the Resistance is ever vigil protecting –day and night -the country and the people.

The channel that hosted such pitiable drama is none other than Al Jadeed or the Lebanese New TV that used to be supportive of the Resistance but now is seriously drifting towards Gulf policy after Saudi al Waleed bin Talal of the ruling family and of Rotana channel signed several deals with it.

Inspiration had fallen upon the Sheikh and the Lebanese channel at the same time in terms of big amounts of petro dollars enough for a religious man to forsake his religion for fitna and for a local channel to change its policy for direct affiliation .

Well , the show of threats and slanders performed by the all knowing fake Sheikh must not have been a great success or was half a success to the taste of both the Sheikh and the channel . Sayyed Hassan who had more important things to do than to listen to the delirium of the ambitious mediocre Sheikh did not respond , it was as if no one had said anything .

For this reason , and in order to add some pep and maybe some petro dollars to the story , the dark forces of sectarianism –active on the Lebanese ground –and to which our venerable Sheikh belongs- sent- the next day – a group of thugs to attack the channel and burn tires at its front doors.

The thugs had covered faces and weapons and they started shooting at the channel building terrorizing people. One of them who was caught seeking refuge in a Palestinian camp had precedents with the army and the police

 After all this the unfortunate Sheikh accused Hizbullah of attacking the local channel while the truth is- according to some -that the Sheikh himself has probably sent the thugs- with the consent of the channel -to give a touch of reality to the whole thing and to increase the expected retribution .

Money can definitely work miracles for those who think otherwise ; but there is something that the venerable fake Sheikh is not aware of that neither he nor his masters nor his likes -who are on the payroll of some corrupt Saudi prince -can disturb anything or affect in any way the life of the leader of the Umma , be it his sleep or his waking ; all they can do is play their number, get paid and go home. God bless our leader, the hero of the Resistance ever vigil and awake whose integrity no one can touch or disturb .
River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian  
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this Blog!

AL QUA’IDA ORDER OF THE WORLD

Congratulations for to the Statue of Liberty and for Lincoln who freed the slaves , and congratulations to the United Nations of Ban Ki Moon .

All these lies inculcated to children at schools by the Western Establishment now will surface again . It is in Syria that these lies are surfacing again , in Syria where truth will be told by dead journalists , by killed newsmen and women shot dead at the hands of thugs armed by the Saudi king and by the prince of Qatar and organized by the UN and by Obama and Cameron . You have to listen to Syria and to watch Syria so that you know the truth for this is from where truth is coming , don’t listen to anything else if you are a truth seeker , just watch . Get to know the people who are ruling you , get to know and get acquainted with what they do and how they kill .

From Syria you can know all , how they kill helpless people and how they kill journalists .Get acquainted with the killers , the killers of women and children and of so many others . Get acquainted with the monsters who are ruling you , the monsters of this world, get to know Obama the killer and Cameron the killer and Sarkozy or Hollande , get to know Ban Ki Moon the killer . Get to know Columbus the killer , and George Washington the killer and the queen of England , get to know all these killers descendents of killers and who will bear killers in their turn.

 Forget about their great discoveries and their cities and their cartels , forget about the great inventions and great theories , forget about their scientific progress and technological achievements , forget about their letters and about their art and music , forget about their great innovations, forget the space and the moon and the satellites , forget about their spaceships and space probes . Forget about all this . Just look at how they kill and who they kill and why they kill , just look at this . This is not only the Saudi king or the prince of Qatar or mediocre Erdugan . This is the dynasty of killers that has started hundreds of years ago in Europe and then in the States .

The dynasty of killers is now performing in Syria art works of slaughters and massacres . It is creating masterpieces that they have the guts to accuse others of committing. They have the guts to accuse Kaddhafi or al Assad or whoever of their own massacres . Previously they killed using Zionist Jews , they killed and killed and killed and are still killing , now they are killing through Muslim Sunni fanatics and they kill and kill and kill and tomorrow they will still be killing for this is their daily bread , this is what they have been doing and what they will still be doing .

 As you buy your loaf of bread they go out in the early morning and start killing , from the White House and the Congress and L’Elysee , from Downing Street they start killing and from Buckingham Palace and the Vatican , they organize meetings for the whole week , they meet and decide whom to kill this week and how are they going to kill, and it goes from week to week .

Who are they ? They are the rulers of this world , They are the al Qa’ida if you’re not aware . The rulers of this world are the terrorists of this world , or did you think al Qa’ida is made only of the few poor people recruited in some camps or some poor neighborhood, given some money and some weapons and explosives to tie to someone waste and then off to paradise ? Did you think really that al Qa’ida is only constituted of these poor credulous people with beards and beeds , of ambitious blind mediocre believers ? Not at all , for Al Qa’ida is Obama, is Ban Ki Moon , is Sarkozy and Cameron and Bush and her Majesty the queen of England and his eminence the pope . This is the al Qa’ida, this is the first rank of al Qa’ida and the others are subordinates, the Netenyahu and Peres and Hamad and Abdullah are nothing but subordinates , they carry on the orders of the first rank ,It is al Qa’ida that is ruling you and it is time for you to know..
River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian  
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this Blog!

deLiberation: Your comment is awaiting moderation.

The good news from Cairo and the Anti-anti- anti-zionist Jornalism

"deLiberation is the future of journalism."

"the future of journalism."

alex Reply

June 29, 2012 at 12:05 am

There is no doubt that the election of Muammed Morsi as President of Egypt, the great event, the first of its kind since the downfall of the Ottoman state in 1924, is a heartening news for all free men and women around the world. Thus claimed the sectarian Khalid Amayereh.

The free men around the world are nothing but his Brothers of America brothers around the world.

He hope the election of Muammed Morsi as President of Egypt ”is going to be good news for the Palestinians and their enduring just cause.”

In fact Mursi is aware that “It is a pre-condition to recognize Israel in order to govern?” Therefore govern he should recognize he avoided to mention Palestine not once in his inaugural speeches but managed to send many peace gestures to Israel.

Amayereh is calling Egypt to guard “its sovereignty and national dignity, even at the expense of displeasing Washington and other western capitals.” and “make it clear to the Zionist leadership that Egypt can never be a friend or peaceable neighbor of the Jewish state as long as the Zionist regime occupies Palestine, especially Jerusalem, and pursues its ethnic cleansing enterprise against its people.”….” no one is suggesting that Egypt should wage an all-out war against the criminal entity. However, Egypt under the new leadership can’t and must not allow Zionist terrorists and gangsters to have a free season on the Palestinians with impunity.”…”renegotiate its peace treaty with Israel”… “must seek the possession of a strategic deterrent if only to protect its people and their vital interests from the morbid vagaries and sick tendencies of Israel”

With “the mind of an engineer and a sense of a wise man”, shall turn Egypt into another Turkey or even another South Korea. In other words in a Nato puppet regime lending “a helping hand to all Arab peoples seeking freedom and liberation from their tyrannical regimes as in Syria where a decidedly criminal minority sectarian regime is effectively exterminating its people in order to stay in power.”

In fact the opportionist MB sold Palestine, Jerusalem, and Hamas, their daughter for a president without balls while the tyrannical regime in Syria is fighting the global war to keep their cause the Palestinian cause alive.

Amayereh Quoted ”the late British writer and journalist, Peter Mansfield, wrote that the Muslim Brotherhood was a spent force and that it wouldn’t see the light of the day again, thanks to Nasser’s repression of the group.”.

In fact thanks to MB treason.

Meanwhile, “Hamas is now doing a dance toward the Syrian regime. The organization has been a close ally – if not client – of the Syrian regime for long years and yet now its wants to pretend that its years of alliance with the Syrian regime never ever happened.

Hamas wants to have it both ways: it wants to take the easy road by waiting the Syrian crisis out, hoping that it would inflict little political damage on its fortunes.

To the Syrian opposition, Hamas can claim that it did not support the Syrian regime and that its leader in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, once made a generic and general statement about support for the Syrian people. This is the claim of support for the Syrian uprising by Hamas.

For the Syrian regime, Hamas can note that it has not made explicit statements against the Syrian regime and that it has not expressed any support for any of the armed opposition groups inside Syria.
Hamas wish that the Syrian crisis would end so that it can easily pick the side of the victor. It has been waiting for all those months hoping for an early outcome. The prolongation of the crisis has meant that Hamas can prefer to be mostly silent.

But the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in several Arab countries has made Hamas more obligated to pay homage to the mother organization. Mahmoud al-Zahhar even cast a ballot in the Egyptian election.

But if Hamas wants to identify with the Syrian opposition and its armed groups – in the event that its side wins, it should say so and it should state that clearly. But if Hamas were to do that, it would be obligated to explain and justify its long years of support for the Syrian regime.

And if Hamas wants to identify with the Syrian regime – in the event it succeeded in crushing opposition in the country – Hamas would be obligated to explain to the regime its months-long silence on Syria.

The position of Hamas vis-à-vis the Syrian crises reeks of political opportunism. Al-Quds Al-Arabi even cited Khaled Meshal as stating that he would abandon the Iranian sponsor if another financial backer can be found.

Hamas has been sending delegations to GCC countries but Saudi Arabia has rebuffed repeated requests by Hamas for meetings with Saudi officials. Saudi Arabia has been requesting that Hamas cut off ties with Iran.

It is likely that Hamas will maintain its policy of wait-and-stay-silent on Syria until a victor emerges. Only then will Hamas resume its tone of staunch support for the Syrian regime, or it will manufacture a new tone of support for its enemies. It all depends on the outcome

In case you missed it: Khalid Amayereh calling for “UNITY”??

alex Reply

June 29, 2012 at 12:09 am

Hamas wants to have it both ways

Laura Stuart Reply

June 29, 2012 at 12:17 am

Alex you really only want to write about how bad Sunnis are. You really really hate them don’t you.

alex Reply

June 29, 2012 at 7:13 am

Laura
Your are a LIAR, I am not talking about Sunnis. I am talking about MB, in Particular, here, about the Assh*le Khalid Amayereh. You know that I was a consistent Supporter of Hamas when Hamas its compus was Palestine. If you don’t just visit my blog. However, you are not able the think or see out of your sectarian box.

who_me Reply

June 29, 2012 at 12:24 am

“The good news from Cairo ”

this latest from agent amayreh reminds me of all those editorials and articles that appeared the day after obama won his presidential election. and like all those pundits praising that a new era has begun, their words of hope and change proved to be either very naive wishful thinking or cynical, duplitious advertising.

who_me Reply

June 29, 2012 at 5:55 am

alex
hamas’ indecision just cost it another member:
http://news.antiwar.com/2012/06/28/hamas-mans-assassination-in-syria-fuels-reports-of-mossad-involvement/
“The assassination of Hamas official Kamal Ranaja yesterday in the Syrian capital of Damascus has fueled speculation of Israeli culpability, with some Hamas figures pointing the finger directly at Mossad.”
cutting a deal with jewish zionists is like pouring blood in shark infested waters and going skinny dipping.

who_me Reply

June 29, 2012 at 6:01 am

antiwar.com including this hasbara:
“Experts quoted in the Israeli press…”
in the article only hurts their own credibility. “Experts quoted in the Israeli press” is ditz being a ditz again?

Laura Stuart Reply

June 29, 2012 at 7:46 am

Alex how can I read your blog if I have no clue who you are?

You are the liar, you have not one single word to say that is not against Sunni Muslims.

alex Reply

June 29, 2012 at 9:32 am

Your comment is awaiting moderation.

Let the readers know who is the liar,

Liar Laura claimed that she can’t read my blog because she has no clue who I am, Like all Zionist agents I met online she wants to know who is the uprooted Palestinian, is Alex is his real name???…

Here is a copy of her comment on the Blog she don’t know:  

laura stuart said…There are some Palestinians amongst my friends who say that Assad has helped them, this is true. But success will never come for the Muslims by expecting a solution from a deviant sect like the Shia. Success for the Palestinians will only come from Allah s.w.t. and the Palestinians of all people should know that there is no solution from any other power.8:53 AM, March 01, 2012

uprooted Palestinian said…

I am sure Laura have read my comment on her post What About Syria?on the wrong place. I wonder why”

I am sure she will read my new comment, and I hope she would comment here under this post3:25 PM, March 02, 2012

Peter said…
Shame on you “laura Stuart”!

Calling Shia a deviant sect?! (reveals the divide and conquer strategy of the neo colonial/neo-imperial mind set.)

I am being polite, because calling Shia a deviant sect is deeply criminal. But hey, criminality is what defines the neo liberal neo conservative death cult that sent you to deliver this message of hate.
My immdeiate reaction is you play the role of the “Bride of Frankenstein” since your creator cowers in some MI6, Mossad, or Army/Naval Intelligence gay party house in Marseille or Naples.

Run along and play dear cuz the death cult that pays you hates you more then anyone else. They are the ultimate misogynists , but I am sure you are ignorant of this.It’s a pity how you are being used, some day soon they will throw you over their shoulder for someone else.(use them awhile then it’s over the shoulder)9:35 PM, March 04, 2012