Gideon Levy / Let's hope Obama won't be a 'friend of Israel'

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Contributed by Lucia

By Gideon Levy

Tags: occupation, Israel News

The march of parochialism started right away. The tears of excitement invoked by U.S. president-elect Barack Obama's wonderful speech had not yet dried, and back here people were already delving into the only real question they could think to ask: Is this good or bad for Israel? One after another, the analysts and politicians got up - all of them representing one single school of thought, of course  and began prophesizing.

They spoke with the caution that the situation required, gritting their teeth as though their mouths were full of pebbles, trying to soothe all the fears and concerns. They searched and found signs in Obama: The promising appointment of the Israeli ex-patriots' son, whose father belonged to the Irgun, and maybe also Dennis Ross and Dan Kurtzer and Martin Indyk, who may, God willing, be included in the new administration.

But in the background, a dark cloud hovered above. Careful, danger. The black man, who had associated with Palestinian expats, who speaks of human rights, who favors diplomacy over war, who even wants to engage Iran in dialogue, who will allocate more funding for America's social needs than to weapons exports. He may not be the sort of "friend of Israel" that we have come to love in Washington, the kind of friend we have grown accustomed to.











What's the panic all about? The truth needs to be said: At the base of all of these fears is the angst that this president will push Israel to end the occupation and move toward peace.

Well, maybe Obama will not be a "friend of Israel." May the great change he is promising not omit his country's Mideast policy. May Obama herald not only a new America, but also a new Middle East.

When we say that someone is a "friend of Israel" we mean a friend of the occupation, a believer in Israel's self-armament, a fan of its language of strength and a supporter of all its regional delusions. When we say someone is a "friend of Israel" we mean someone who will give Israel a carte blanche for any violent adventure it desires, for rejecting peace and for building in the territories.

Israel's greatest friend in the White House, outgoing U.S. President George W. Bush, was someone like that. There is no other country where this man, who brought a string of disasters down upon his own nation and the world, would receive any degree of prestige and respect. Only in Israel.

Only in Israel does the prime minister place George Bush's portrait in his den, in his private home. Only in Israel does the prime minister travel to visit him in the White House.

That's because Bush was a friend of Israel. Israel's greatest friend. Bush let it embark on an unnecessary war in Lebanon. He did not prevent the construction of a single outpost. He may have encouraged Israel, in secret, to bomb Iran. He did not pressure Israel to move ahead with peace talks, he even held up negotiations with Syria, and he did not reproach Israel for its policy of targeted killings.

Bush also supported the siege on Gaza and participated in the boycott of Hamas, which was elected in a democratic election initiated by his own administration.

That's just how we like U.S. presidents. They give us a green light to do as we please. They fund, equip and arm us, and sit tight. Such is the classic friend of Israel, a friend who is an enemy, and enemy of peace and an enemy to Israel.

Let us now hope that Obama will not be like them. That he will reveal himself to be a true friend of Israel. That he will put his whole weight behind a deep American involvement in the Middle East, that he will try to solve the Iranian issue through negotiation - the only effective means. That he will help end the siege on Gaza and the boycott of Hamas, that he will push Israel and Syria to make peace, that he will spur Israel and the Palestinians to reach a settlement.

We should hope Obama will help Israel help itself, because that is how friendship is measured. That he will criticize its policy when he must, because that, too, is a test of true friendship.

Let him use his clout to end the occupation and dismantle the settlement project. Let him remember that human and civil rights also apply to the Palestinians, not only to black Americans. And apropos world peace, he needs to start with peace in the Middle East, home to the most dangerous of conflicts, which has been threatening the world for a century now, and is feeding international terrorism.

A true friend of Israel needs to remember that Israel may be "the only democracy in the Middle East," but not in its own backyard. That next to Sderot, which he visited, is Gaza. That "common values" must not include a cruel occupation. That friendship does not mean blind and automatic support.

Let him speak with Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas, as often as he can and with whomever is willing to talk. And let him do it before the next war, not after it. Let him remember that he has the power to do all that.

Changing the Middle East was in the power of each and every U.S. president, who could have pressured Israel and put an end to the occupation. Most of them kept their hands off as if it were a hot potato, all in the name of a wonderful friendship.

So bring us an American president who is not another dreadful "friend of Israel," an Obama who won't blindly follow the positions of the Jewish lobby and the Israeli government. You did promise change, did you not?

*******************************************
Amira Hass reporting from Gaza: Haniyeh: Hamas willing to accept Palestinian state with 1967 borders

Obama, don’t surrender to the Zionist lobby

Obama, don’t surrender to the Zionist lobby

Contributed By Fatima

By Khalid Amayreh in Occupied Jerusalem

5 November, 2008

Barack Obama’s landslide victory against the republican candidate John McCain is undoubtedly a landmark event in American history. A Blackman, after all, has for the first time been elected President of the very country that only a few decades ago murdered Rev. Martin Luther King for daring to dream of racial equality in America.

Obama’s spectacular victory is already fostering a certain atmosphere of optimism in many quarters, mainly because America and the world won’t be affronted by another four years of George Bush’s lies, wars and mindless bellicosity.

Non the less, lest Obama repeat Bush’s criminal sins, he will have to adopt a truly moral approach to domestic and foreign policies, especially with regard to the Middle East, the most unstable and destabilizing spot on earth.

In fact, I dare say that with a combination of honesty, good-will, wisdom, and fair-play, Obama could neutralize or eliminate all hostility to the United States all over the globe.

Yes, Obama could accomplish such a monumental task without shedding a single drop of blood, American or otherwise, provided he walks in the right path and does what is morally correct, even if it is proven to be politically incorrect.

First and foremost, Obama would have to disobey and disregard the monstrous power now holding America by the throat. It is the insolent Jewish lobby, or AIPAC, which is brazenly bragging about its “tight control” of American politics and policies, especially foreign policy. Defying and ignoring AIPAC will eventually make the difference between a successful Obama administration, or another four years of fiasco and failure. AIPAC would try to mobilize the American media and Congress against the new President. However, with the right combination of wisdom and determination, Obama can defeat them.

So don’t let them bully you or scare you. Ignore their threats.

It was this evil monster that effectively coerced America, by way of deception and mendacity, to invade, occupy and destroy two sovereign countries and cause the death and maiming of millions of people, including thousands of Americans. It is the same monster that is now pressing, even pressuring, America to attack another sovereign Muslim country to ensure Israel’s regional supremacy.

So, Mr. Obama, don’t surrender to them, you are not indebted to them, you owe them nothing. You are only accountable to the American people who elected you to lead, and the American people don’t want more wars, neither for Israel nor for oil.

Second, you should understand that hostility toward the US in some parts of the Muslim world is not an intrinsic phenomenon having to do with built-in elements in the Islamic faith as we are told by the likes of Daniel Pipes and Steve Emersons and other Islamophobes, who have made their hatred of Islam and Muslims a career and a way of life.

This is simply a canard, a monumental lie, a kind of modern blood libel meant to create a false and unnecessary clash between America and the Muslim world for the sake of Israel and its territorial aggrandizement.

Certainly Muslims don’t hate America for its freedoms and civil liberties, and especially its democracy, the very democracy that enabled you to become President of the most powerful nation on earth.

Indeed, the opposite is truth.

If anything, Muslims hate those American policies that enforce oppression, injustice, authoritarianism, and dictatorship; policies that enable criminal regimes, like Israel, to torment, dispossess and persecute innocent people whose only “crime” is their enduring determination to be free; policies that allow Arab dictators to savage their own people for desiring freedom and democracy.

It is these policies that allowed Nazi-like Israel to perpetrate the worst conceivable crimes under the sun and get away with impunity, thanks to unlimited and unconditional American support. Is this “the shining city upon a hill” that John Winthrop dreamed of 378 years ago?

Mr. President, Israel, which many intellectuals, including Jewish intellectuals, have described as a crime against humanity, had arrogated an entire country from its rightful native inhabitants and is now trying to finish the job by stealing more Arab land, carrying out more ethnic cleansing and building more Jewish-only settlements for fanatical settlers who want to commit a Biblical-style genocide in the name of God. This is not far-fetched, ask a trusted academic or scholar, or even an honest observer, and he would tell you the truth.

Mr. President, do you think that a country that builds on occupied territories hundreds of for- Jew-only-settlements, inhabited by racist religious fanatics who claim that non-Jews are animals in a human shape, really desire peace with its neighbors? Come to the West Bank, Mr. President, and you will see what defies linguistic description. The comparisons between Israel and Nazi Germany are not made out of nothing.

This is the very country that murders babies and school children “in self defense?!! A country that demolishes innocent people’s homes “in self defense”!! A country whose Gestapo-like soldiers raid orphanages in the dead of night and throw orphan children onto the street. It is a country that is based on murder, theft and lie while claiming to be a light upon the nations.

A true democracy, Mr. President, doesn’t bar millions of men, women and children from accessing food and work for years simply because they elected a political party that Israel didn’t like.

A true democracy doesn’t force starving people to smuggle cattle for food via underground tunnel. I needn’t remind you Mr. President that the last time this happened was at Ghetto Warsaw. We know the rest of the story.

A true democracy doesn’t discriminate against a segment of its citizens because they follow the “wrong” religion.

Israel, Mr. President, is not a true democracy, Israel is a true terrorocracy.

So, don’t be deceived by the nice-sounding words of Israeli leaders. Don’t pay attention to what Israeli leaders say, pay attention to what they do. And what they do is more ethnic cleansing and more settlement expansion in order to make true peace unachievable and impossible, which I believe they have already done, taking advantage of American collusion, acquiescence and flaccidity.

As to the Palestinians, I would like to appeal to you Mr. President to put an end to the policy of deception adopted by successive American administrations.

A few years ago, we were promised a state where people can travel, access their schools, colleges and hospitals freely. However, thanks to the American government’s subservience to the Jewish lobby, we ended up having a police state without a state where our basic human rights and civil liberties are constantly violated jointly by Israel and the so-called Palestinian Authority.

Mr. President don’t help the PA torment its own citizens and violate their human and civil rights under the rubric of fighting terror. I am saying this because the Bush administration has been spending hundreds of millions of dollars to train PA security forces to repress our people on Israel’s behalf.

I am neither suggesting nor recommending that the US stop supporting our people. We do need your support and goodwill.

However, it is morally imperative that you tell the PA in unmistakable language to stop violating our human rights and civil liberties.

Mr. President, don’t surrender to the tendentious and utterly unethical classification of other nations into rouge states and civilized states. This is a racist classification, to say the very least, because all human beings, irrespective of their religion and race deserve to be treated with respect. All men are created equal by God.

Hence, I suggest you try to sit down with all these “pariah groups and regimes,” talk to them, listen to their perspectives, maybe, just maybe, they have a legitimate view point.

Don’t surrender to the ready-made stereotypes about Hamas and Iran, to mention a few examples. Try to initiate contacts with them. This wouldn’t harm anyone.

Let it be known that your upcoming administration will be willing and ready to sit down with whoever is willing to talk.

In fact, if America sits down with her real or imagined enemies, you probably will discover, even though belatedly, that these people have no real hatred for America and that they do have legitimate grievances. Don’t let Israel and American Zionism shape your perception of other nations and other people.

As to Islam, you should try to seek authentic information about this great religion which once was the leading force of enlightenment in this world.

Islam is not Osama bin Laden and Abu Musaab al Zarkawi. Islam is the religion of 1.5 billion human beings the vast majority of whom are honest people who lead an honest and moral life, very much like other people in the rest of the world.

And don’t you pay attention to those who would tell you that Muslims don’t like freedom and democracy or that they are anti-American. There are no people on the face of earth who hate freedom.

Muslims, especially Arabs, are thirsty for the type of democracy that has just brought you to power. Muslims, especially Arabs, want to be able to exercise their God-given rights and freedoms, the very rights and freedoms they are denied thanks to evil and corrupt dictators who are supported and backed and sustained in power by your country.

And don’t you believe those who would tell you that democracy in the Arab world would breed rulers who are anti-American. This might happen at the beginning, but eventually mutual interests and good-will would prevail.

The important thing is that under your administration, America should stop supporting and backing dictatorial regimes that savage, mistreat and humiliate their own masses. These regimes are hated by the masses, which eventually generates hatred and hostility toward the United States, the real or perceived guarantor of these dictatorships.

So, please, don’t side with these dictators and despots against the will of their own people. Let America adopt a moral stance in this regard, a stance that we would make America proud and make hundreds of millions of Arabs realize that America is more than just rapacious multi-national companies and greedy arms manufacturers.

Yes, we don’t expect America to be the moralist policeman of the world. But America can and should tell these tyrants to stop oppressing their people. After all, many of these dynastic dictatorships are answerable to you, to the US, not to their own people.

Mr. President, if you address these very real grievances honestly and seriously, and if you force Israel to give up the spoils of war and end its decades-old Nazi-like occupation of our ancestral homeland and oppression of our people, you will succeed in neutralizing most or all of America’s perceived or imagined enemies.

And I assure you, Mr. President, that all Muslims and Arabs and humans on this earth would then stand alongside America for the common good of humanity.

Mr. President, God willed that America be the richest and most powerful nation of our time. So don’t abuse or misuse this status.

If you do, you will only be charting your way toward self-destruction and ultimate demise.

God doesn’t wrong people, people wrong themselves.

(end)

Israel Sets New Rules on Lebanon Targets

Source

Mohamad Shmaysani
Readers Number : 321




08/11/2008

In any future conflict with Hezbollah, Israel will likely target Lebanon's entire infrastructure, Israeli government sources have told The Jerusalem Post.

According to the paper, in the Second Lebanon War, the IAF did target some of Lebanon's infrastructure but was asked to stop by the US and others.

According to assessments in Israel, Hezbollah’s influence over Lebanese politics is expected to grow, and it is set to gain at least two more cabinet posts in elections next spring - likely the Interior Ministry and, as a remote possibility, the defense portfolio, The Jerusalem Post said.

It said it had learned that “Hezbollah is four times stronger militarily today than it was at the end of the last Lebanon war. In August 2006 Hezbollah had 14,000 rockets, with Hadera being the southernmost city within their range. Two years after the war, Hezbollah has some 40,000 rockets and Dimona (with its nuclear reactor), Yeroham and Arad, all in the Negev, are at risk.”

According to assessments in Jerusalem cited by the Post, “should the next Lebanese defense minister be a member of Hezbollah or from a Hezbollah-affiliated party, Israel could argue that there is no difference between the Lebanese army and Hezbollah, and act accordingly.”

Hezbollah and the opposition maintain that its form of "resistance" is the best means of maintaining Lebanese sovereignty against any aggression. While Hezbollah accepts having close coordination with the Lebanese army, it insisted on preserving its autonomy and thus a separate chain of command to fight against Israel, a western journalist based in Lebanon told the paper.

Hamas Refused to Bow and Egypt Cancelled/Delayed Palestinian Talks

Palestinian Unity Talks Delayed after Hamas Boycott

Readers Number : 42

08/11/2008

Palestinian reconciliation talks due to be held in Cairo were called off on Saturday after Hamas announced a boycott in protest at the detention of hundreds of its members by president Mahmud Abbas's security forces.

"They've been cancelled," Egyptian foreign ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki said. Another Egyptian official, who asked not to be named, said the talks "have been delayed to an undetermined date... at the request of Hamas."

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said that "Hamas decided not to attend the dialogue talks in Egypt. We have informed the Egyptian authorities of our decision."

"Our decision was made because president Mahmud Abbas is continuing to weaken the Hamas movement and he has not released any Hamas detainees in the West Bank," he said.

Egyptian intelligence, which had been mediating talks between individual rival Palestinian groups, said in a statement that round-table talks set for Monday were cancelled after Hamas announced its withdrawal. "Hamas told us it would not participate in the dialogue and therefore Egypt delayed talks until an opportunity presents itself," the statement said.

A leading member of the Islamic Jihad delegation in Cairo for the talks, Mohamad al-Hindi, said his delegation was returning to Gaza. "The Islamic Jihad delegation in Cairo is leaving to Gaza because there is no meaning to dialogue without Hamas and Fatah," said al-Hindi. "We expended great efforts in the last moments... Egypt told us that it will continue efforts to remove obstacles and come up with a new date," he added.

Meanwhile, Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina slammed Hamas's decision and blamed the rival movement for being responsible for the talks' failure. "Hamas carries the responsibility for the failure of the Cairo dialogue and the responsibility for losing the opportunity to regain Palestinian unity and stop the division between Palestinians," he said. Abu Rudeina also denied Abbas has arrested Hamas members.

Hamas had already expressed reservations about the plan, which calls for a politically independent transitional government to pave the way for new elections, saying Abbas would get an automatic extension of a term the Islamists insist ends in January.

Abbas insisted his law enforcement forces arrested people who posed a security risk, irrespective of political affiliation. "They are arrested and brought to justice," he said at a joint news conference on Friday with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Hamas Refused to Bow and Egypt May Cancel Palestinian Talks

Egypt May Cancel Palestinian Talks




07/11/2008
The Egyptians may postpone next week's "national reconciliation" conference for the Palestinian factions following threats by Hamas to boycott the gathering, Palestinian Authority officials said Thursday.

The PA officials told Israeli daily The Jerusalem Post that Hamas has informed the Egyptians that the movement has many reservations regarding the Egyptian initiative for solving the crisis between Hamas and Fatah.

They added that Hamas was afraid that the PA would use the conference as a means of pressure on the Islamic resistance movement to end its control over the Gaza Strip. At least six Arab foreign ministers have been invited to the parley, in addition to Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa.

"Hamas is afraid that the conference would force it to accept the Egyptian initiative," said a PA official in Ramallah. "Hamas doesn't like the Egyptian proposals because they want to continue their rule over the Gaza Strip."

The official said that Hamas was also opposed to the idea of deploying an Arab peace-keeping force in the Gaza Strip and bringing forces loyal to PA President Mahmoud Abbas back to the Rafah border crossing.

Earlier this week, Hamas dispatched its top official, Mahmoud Zahar, to Cairo in a last-minute bid to persuade the Egyptians to change some of their proposals. Zahar met with Egyptian Intelligence Chief Gen. Omar Suleiman, who is personally supervising the mediation efforts, but failed to convince him to make the required changes.

During the visit, Zahar also made it clear that Hamas would boycott the planned conference unless Abbas's forces halted their crackdown on Hamas supporters and released all Hamas detainees in the occupied West Bank.

Zahar also demanded that there will be no reference to the truce with Israel during the conference, arguing that this was an Israeli-Palestinian issue and not an internal Palestinian case.

Zahar said Thursday that Hamas may eventually decide to go the conference despite the "many obstacles" that stand in the way of ending the crisis with Fatah.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum accused Abbas of lying when he announced that the PA was not holding any Hamas men in its prisons in the West Bank.

"The continued arrests [of Hamas members in the West Bank] jeopardize the Egyptian efforts to end the crisis," Barhoum said. "Abbas and his officials in Ramallah are committing a big crime by denying that Hamas members are not being held in their prison cells. This shows that they don't have good intentions."

Yussef Farhat, a top Hamas official in the Gaza Strip, said he was "very pessimistic" regarding the prospects of success of the Cairo conference.

"The Egyptian plan looks as if it were written by Fatah spokesmen," he said. "I would not be exaggerating if I said that the plan is an anti-Hamas initiative. Besides, the Egyptians are trying to impose the plan on all the Palestinian factions, ignoring our reservations and ideas."

Farhat said Hamas was also opposed to the plan because it allows Abbas to remain in power after his term in power expires in January 2009. "What's outrageous is that the Egyptians are treating their plan as if it were a holy book," he added. "They have made it clear to all parties that the plan is final and that they don't want to hear any reservations."


Bardawil: If political arrests continue, dialog won't succeed
[ 06/11/2008 - 09:45 AM ]

Contributed By Lucia

Palestinian local sources reported that the prisoner was subjected to excruciating torture, where PA officers poured a flammable liquid on his limbs especially his legs and then set fire to him, adding that he screamed in pain until he lost consciousness.

KHAN YOUNIS, (PIC)-- Dr. Salah Al-Bardawil, the spokesman for the Hamas parliamentary bloc, stated Wednesday that his Movement would never condone the use of political arrests in the West Bank as a trump card to pressure the Palestinian interlocutors in Cairo, highlighting that if these arrests continue, the dialog with "Israel's collaborators" would never succeed.

In a speech delivered during a massive march held in Khan Younis in protest at the political arrests in the West Bank, Dr. Bardawil strongly castigated the PA security apparatuses for persisting in hunting Palestinian resistance fighters and women, asserting that these acts proved that the PA and Fatah never wanted dialog because they still rely on the Zio-American support.

The angry masses carried banners and chanted slogans condemning PA chief Mahmoud Abbas's security apparatuses for hunting and arresting Palestinian citizens affiliated with Hamas and Islamic Jihad in order to please the Israeli occupation, calling for creating an atmosphere appropriate for the success of the inter-Palestinian dialog to be held in Cairo.

In a serious development, the PA intelligence apparatus in the Junied prison in Nablus transferred prisoner Hasan Marshoud, one of the Islamic Jihad leaders, to the Rafidya hospital after suffering severe burns all over his body. Medical sources described his condition as serious.
Palestinian local sources reported that the prisoner was subjected to excruciating torture, where PA officers poured a flammable liquid on his limbs especially his legs and then set fire to him, adding that he screamed in pain until he lost consciousness.

Well Done Hamas: Let Abbas and Pharoah take the BLAME for the failure of dialog.

Yes, well done "Habilas", very smart, they went to cairo thrown their demands, knowing that it will not be accepted. Four Palestinian factions decided to boycott dialog
Let Abbas and Pharoah take the BLAME for the failure of dialog.

Hamas: Abbas declared his responsibility for the failure of dialog efforts

[ 08/11/2008 - 10:33 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- The Hamas Movement stated that PA chief Mahmoud Abbas's denial of the presence of political prisoners in his jails in the West Bank is a clear declaration of his responsibility for the failure of dialog efforts and that he is not concerned with dialog in any way.

In a press release received by the PIC, Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman, underlined that Abbas's denial during his meeting with US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice means that he is still adherent to the American dictates and keen on pleasing the US administration at the expense of the national reconciliation and the higher national interests.

Barhoum also said that these positions which are hindering dialog require an Egyptian declaration that Abbas is responsible for the failure of dialog efforts.

Taher Al-Nunu, the spokesman for the Palestinian caretaker government in Gaza, said that Abbas's disclaimer of having political prisoners in his jails and his insistence on implementing the security part of the roadmap plan represent a fatal blow to the Egyptian reconciliation efforts.

"If the PA in the West Bank could not release the political prisoners in its jails today, what would be the fate of dialog on rebuilding and restructuring the security apparatuses on national basis," Nunu rhetorically questioned.

For his part, Dr. Yahya Moussa, a member of the Hamas parliamentary bloc, strongly denounced the statements made by Abbas during his press conference with Rice in which he said that his aim of the national dialog was to achieve a government committed to the PLO program.

Dr. Moussa, in a statement to the PIC, also described Abbas as the spokesman for Israel and the US, adding that he (Abbas) is working according to the "traitorous" agreements which the PLO had signed and in accordance with the Zio-American demands for the recognition of the Israeli state.

The lawmaker opined that Abbas does not represent the Palestinian people anymore because he still does not believe in the inalienable Palestinian rights especially the right to return and Jerusalem, stressing that the Palestinian people has to end this tragedy in order to able to continue their liberation project.

For his part, Ziyad Al-Nakhala, the deputy secretary-general of the Islamic Jihad Movement, affirmed that all the prisoners in PA jails are political detainees and must be released in order to remove an obstacle in the way of holding the national dialog.

Resheq: There is no change in Abbas's positions regarding dialog

Izzat Al-Resheq, a member of the Hamas political bureau, stated that there is no sign of change in Abbas's positions which are in compliance with the Zio-American opposition to reconciliation

Four Palestinian factions decide to boycott dialog

[ 08/11/2008 - 05:23 PM ]

DAMASCUS, (PIC)-- Egypt decided Saturday to postpone holding the inter-Palestinian dialog after four factions including Hamas officially informed Egypt this morning that they would not attend the dialog sessions unless their remarks on the Egyptian draft were taken into account.

Informed sources told the PIC that Hamas reservations concentrated on two basic principles, one is related to the release of all political prisoners in PA jails and the other about the administrative arrangements for dialog, where the four factions saw a clear Egyptian bias in favor of current PA chief Mahmoud Abbas at the expense of the resistance factions.

The sources said that the four Palestinian factions who sent their message to Egypt were Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the popular front for the liberation of Palestine-general command and Al-Sa'ika organization.

In a televised show broadcast today by Al-Aqsa satellite channel, Dr. Salah Al-Bardawil, the spokesman for the Hamas parliamentary bloc, announced that Hamas would not attend the national dialog in Cairo in light of the ongoing war waged by the PA security apparatuses on Hamas cadres and institutions as well as the Palestinian citizens in the West Bank including women, children and worshipers at mosques.

Dr. Bardawil strongly denounced Abbas for denying the presence of political prisoners in his jails, saying that Abbas lies as he breathes and is not qualified at all to be a president.

Regarding the Egyptian mediator, the spokesman stated that Egypt either adopts Abbas's story or is unable to pressure him.

In an exclusive statement to the PIC, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum on Saturday held Abbas fully responsible for the lives of 600 political detainees in his jails after he denied their existence, and for the failure of dialog efforts because of his refusal to release the political prisoners.

"We networked with Cairo to overcome all the obstacles in order to start a successful dialog, but Abbas did not respond to the demand for releasing detainees and stopping the ongoing liquidation and massacre against Hamas in the West Bank,"

In a press statement received by the PIC, Hamas issued a statement in the West Bank in which it underlined that its boycott of the national dialog was not a maneuver or a lack of seriousness, but it was a serious decision showing that Hamas considers the dialog as means to solve all crises that afflicted the Palestinian people and their cause.

Hamas added that the dialog would be meaningless as Abbas's security apparatuses are waging their most ferocious campaign against Hamas cadres and supporters and at the same time misleading the public opinion by alleging that they hunt thieves and law breakers.

For its part, the Salahuddin Brigades, the armed wing of the popular resistance committees, announced that it would not go for any dialog not attended by both Hamas and Fatah, holding Abbas responsible for the collapse of the national dialog because of his refusal to release the political prisoners in his jails.

Abu Abeer, the spokesman for the Brigades, told Al-Quds Press that Egypt understood Hamas decision not to go for dialog especially after the arrival of US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice in the region carrying threats to Abbas against his participation in the dialog.

Abu Abeer also pointed out that the PA security apparatuses are detaining political prisoners from Salahuddin, Islamic Jihad and Hamas.

In an exclusive statement to the PIC, Dr. Ghazi Hussein, a prominent leader of the movement of the popular liberation war-Al-Sa'ika forces, said that his Movement's decision to boycott the dialog was taken after it made sure that its remarks on the Egyptian draft would not be taken into consideration.

Hussein also strongly castigated the PA unconstitutional government in Ramallah, describing its security apparatuses' practices in the West Bank as those used by the IOF troops against the Palestinian resistance.

Al-Sa'ika leader also pointed to his Movement's rejection of the arrangements for the opening session of the national dialog, adding that the attendance of Abbas as a sponsor of the dialog session was unacceptable because he is the head of Fatah and the dialog was between Palestinian factions.

Palestinian local sources told the PIC that Abbas's security apparatuses kidnapped during the last 24 hours 26 Palestinian citizens thought to be affiliated with Hamas in different West Bank areas mostly in Al-Khalil.

Other local sources told the PIC that the PA security apparatuses kidnapped 15 Palestinians in the Beit Ummar town, north of Al-Khalil, including mayor Farhan Alkam, adding the campaign is still ongoing in the town until the moment of writing this news report.

Khalil Abu Shammala, the director of the Dhameer foundation for human rights, confirmed Saturday that human rights organizations in the West Bank have lists of all political prisoners in PA jails, denying Abbas's allegations that there are no prisoners in his jails.

Abu Shammala underscored that the human rights organizations in the West Bank do not follow up the violations against human rights committed by PA security apparatuses, pointing out that the security apparatuses in Gaza respond positively with the human rights organizations and ease their missions.

Update: By Lucia

Fatah official: Egypt in intensive contact with Palestinians to resume dialogue

Hamdan: We did not ask for postponement of the dialog Osama Hamdan, the Hamas representative in Lebanon, has pointed out that his Movement did not ask for postponement of the national dialog but opted not to attend it.

Comments

Lucia said

I'd expect the PFLP to be up to the circumstances but, regretfully, it has failed the people again. This time they have been a tiny little bit more principled, since they'd decided to attend as an independent party (as it must be) and refused to pitch the PLO against Hamas as Abbas-Fatah wanted.But, this was not enough.The PFLP has to engage in some soul searching and check out what they really -and I mean really- stand for.

11:00 PM, November 08, 2008

Uprooted Palestinian Said

I agree, thanks to Syria for making PFLP "a little bit more principled", The four oraganizations who decided to boycott Cairo meeting are based in Syria. I am sure the boycott is co-ordinated with Syria. Still the PP anal-ysist shall hunt any thing to mock Syria and Hamas.

Ahmadinejhad's Letter to Obama

In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Mr. Barack Obama

President-elect of the United States of America

I congratulate you on having gained the majority of the votes of those who took part in the election. As you know, the chances that God gives to his subjects pass swiftly. They can be used for the perfection of humanity and to the benefit of nations or, God forbid, to the detriment of nations.

I hope you will choose to honor the real interests of people and justice and equity over the insatiable appetites of the selfish minority. Use this chance to serve to the extent you can. And leave a good name behind for yourself.

People expect an immediate and clear response to the pressure for fundamental change in the American government's policies, both foreign and domestic. This is the desire of all the world's nations and of the American nation as well, and it should be the objective and basis of all your future government's programs and actions.

On the one hand, the American nation, which has spiritual inclinations, expects your government to focus its energy and will on serving the people; dealing with the current economic crisis; restoring the country's standing, morale and hope; eradicating poverty and discrimination; and renewing respect for individuals, their safety and their rights. It also expects policies that will strengthen the foundations of the family -- part of the teachings of the holy prophets, who are also revered in America.

On the other hand, the nations of the world expect an end to policies based on warmongering, invasion, bullying, trickery, the humiliation of other countries by the imposition of biased and unfair requirements, and a diplomatic approach that has bred hatred for America's leaders and undermined respect for its people. They want to see actions based on justice, respect for the rights of human beings and nations, friendship and non-intervention in the affairs of others. They want the American government to keep its interventions within its own country's borders.

In the sensitive Middle East region, in particular, the expectation is that the unjust actions of the past 60 years will give way to a policy encouraging full rights for all nations, especially the oppressed nations of Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan.

The great civilization-building and justice-seeking nation of Iran would welcome major, fair and real changes, in policies and actions, especially in this region.

If steps are taken in the path of righteousness, toward the goal of carrying out the teachings of the holy prophets, it is hoped that almighty God will help and that the enormous damage done in the past will be somewhat diminished.

I ask the high God to grant all of humanity and all nations health and happiness, honor and prosperity, and to grant rulers and officials the ability to learn from the past and to use every chance to serve, to spread love and kindness, to eradicate oppression, to do justice and to follow the holy guidelines.

Mahmoud Ahmadiniejad

source

P.S. Dear Mahmoud, sorry, Jewish apartheid trumps every other issue. We're going to bomb, bomb, bomb Iran

at 11/08/2008

Jewish settlers beat up Palestinian boy

It really is time this obsenity of a country was wiped off the face of the map. These jews are vicious cowards.


Jewish settlers beat up Palestinian boy

Agence France-Presse
First Posted 19:03:00 11/08/2008

HEBRON -- Jewish settlers on Saturday beat up a six-year-old Palestinian boy near the West Bank town of Hebron, and he was taken to hospital suffering from moderate head wounds, medics said.

Bilal Daana was attacked by a group of settlers near the Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba near Hebron. They beat him up and threw stones at him, the Palestinian medics said.

The boy was taken by Israeli soldiers to a checkpoint at the entrance to Hebron from where he was transferred to the local Al-Ahli hospital.

The incident was the latest in a surge of settler attacks on Palestinians, peace activists and Israeli soldiers since the authorities dismantled a settlement outpost near Hebron last month.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has vowed that Israeli security forces will continue cracking down on illegal outposts and settler violence in the West Bank, which Israel occupied in 1967.

Obama calls on Iran to dump their non-existant nuke weapons program

Not only unacceptable but even worse, non existant. It's easy to get rid of something which isn't acceptable but really hard for something which doesn't actually exist.
I wonder if Obama can find Iraq's WMD? It's just one more indication that nothing is going to change under Obama despite the election catch phrase.

Michael


You might need to ponder that one Obama




Iran’s nuke development ‘unacceptable’ – Obama

The New Boss Is Just Like The Old Boss, Change We Can Believe

U.S. President-elect Barack Obama has said Iran’s development of a nuclear weapon is ‘unacceptable’. At his first news conference since Tuesday’s victory, Barack Obama also said Tehran must stop its “support of terrorist organisations”.
Speaking to some 400 members of the media who gathered at the Chicago Hilton, Obama said:

“Iran's development of a nuclear weapon I believe is unacceptable. And we have to mount an international effort to prevent that from happening. Iran's support of terrorist organisations I think is something that has to cease.”

On Thursday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sent his congratulatory letter to Obama on his win over Republican John McCain. It’s the first time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that the head of the republic sent his wishes to an American leader. Obama said he would be reviewing the letter from President Ahmadinejad, and “we will respond appropriately”.

”It's only been three days since the election. Obviously, how we approach and deal with a country like Iran is not something that we should, you know, simply do in a knee-jerk fashion. I think we've got to think it through,” he added.

During his 20-minute conference, Obama underlined that he hasn’t yet been sworn in as the President of the U.S.

” I have to reiterate once again that we only have one president at a time. And I want to be very careful that we are sending the right signals to the world as a whole that I am not the president and I won't be until January 20th,” Obama said.

Not surprisingly, the financial crisis was the main topic the President-elect spoke about.

“Tens of millions of families are struggling to figure out how to pay the bills and stay in their homes. Their stories are an urgent reminder that we are facing the greatest economic challenge of our lifetime, and we're going to have to act swiftly to resolve it.”

He promised that immediately after he becomes President, he’s going “to confront this economic crisis head on by taking all necessary steps to ease the credit crisis, help hardworking families, and restore growth and prosperity.”

He spoke briefly about key priorities his team will focus on in the coming weeks.

“I do not underestimate the enormity of the task that lies ahead. We have taken some major action to date, and we will need further action during this transition and subsequent months. Some of the choices that we make are going to be difficult. And I have said before and I will repeat again: It is not going to be quick, and it is not going to be easy for us to dig ourselves out of the hole that we are in,” Obama said.

This highly anticipated media briefing, however, left journalists a little bit disappointed because of the lack of information that they got.

Obama kept quiet about many important issues such as his future foreign policy, didn’t give many details about how exactly he is going to tackle financial crisis, and didn’t make any new announcements about appointments to his administration

The New Boss Is Just Like The Old Boss, Change We Can Believe

Obama Recites Bush on Iran
Fri, 07 Nov 2008 23:06:57 GMT

The US President-elect Barack Obama has accused Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons and lending support to terrorist organizations.

"Iran's development of a nuclear weapon I believe is unacceptable. We have to mount an international effort to prevent that from happening." Obama said at his first press conference since winning Tuesday's presidential election.

Obama also said, "Iran's support of terrorist organizations, I think, is something that has to cease."

He also pointed to a congratulatory message he received from President Ahmadinejad following his historic victory over Republican John McCain.

"I will be reviewing the letter from President Ahmadinejad and we will respond appropriately," he noted.

Source here.

Rahm Rahm Rahm, Rahm Rahm Iran

Posted by Lew Rockwell at November 7, 2008 07:26 AM

Yes, it's Change, as The One chooses his one, Congressman Rahm Emanuel (D-IL), to be his H.R. Haldeman. Emanuel is known for being smart and intense, mailing dead fish to people he hates, and freaking out at subordinates. Loving revenge, never forgiving a slight, and brooking no dissent, he's famous as an enforcer. Such figures are valued in the state (and the Mafia), if not in private society. Emanuel, with Pelosi's blessing, famously blocked antiwar Democrats from running for the House in 2006 (he controlled the money for new candidates). Emanuel is an advocate of endless war in the Middle East. No chickenhawk, during the Gulf War, he volunteered as a civilian worker for the Israeli army. His father Benjamin, a physician, was a guerilla fighter for the Irgun against the British occupation of Palestine. The Irgun, a secret insurgent group, is described by unfriendlies as a terrorist organization for such acts as bombing the King David Hotel and ethnically cleansing with extreme prejudice Arab villages. Rahm's mother, Martha, was a civil-rights activist and rock 'n roll nightclub owner in Chicago.

is there a Theologian on board ??

by Raja Chemayel

Is there a Theologian on board ???

Do you remember that Egyptian baby

who was found in a basket , down by the Nile ??

His is name was Moussa ,

otherwise known as Moses.......Moiise or Moshe....

He left very dramatically Egypt in the direction of Palestine

while saying : " let my people go "

and "his" people followed him........eastwards towards Palestine

it took him 40 years to cross about 300 kilometres....

do not ask me why....I am not a theologian !! ,

my father was a theologian but he died 23 years ago

and I forgot to ask him this precise question.

Back to Moussa and "his" people......

One day Moussa leaves "his" people in a valley

to go up on a Mountain to meditate

and to communicate with the Creator.

Moussa comes later back , down to his people ,

carrying with him , the TEN COMMANDMENTS.

But to his big surprise he finds that "his" people

were worshipping their Golden Calf.......while he was away.....

Moussa ,gets very angry and then he destroys this Golden Calf.....

and obliges "his" people to worship the only God

the one and only God........

You have probably hear this story , so many time....

but you surely have never heard the following questions :

If the people following Moses were those famous "chosen people"

how come they were worshipping the Golden Calf ??

How come that God would choose to protect ,

to rescue and to help a people who worshipped a Golden Calf...

and not obey and love the Almighty, himself ??

Why would the Creator rescue a people worshipping a Golden Calf

from the Pharaohs who worshipped Isis ,Osiris,Amon and Ra....?

what is the difference here ??

Was the Golden Calf superior to Isis ?

If the people following Moses were "God's only people"

or otherwise called the "chosen people" ,

then what does this Golden Calf would be doing among them??

This Golden Calf must have been brought along with them from Egypt

because it is unthinkable that during their desert-crossing

they could make one , from Gold (or even from plastic) .....

nor to buy one at the nearest supermarket ...

I do not claim giving any answer here and now....

I simply put in doubt the term "chosen-people"

in general and peculiarly in this above case .

I do not mind anyone calling himself "chosen"

if and when he can prove why , or if he can justify it

by telling me why I would not be also "chosen"....

a matter of self-pride , or jealousy from my side !!

How could we believe that our Creator

"rescued" those people from the Pharaonic-enslavement

when they worshipped a Golden Calf ??? and not him .

And allegedly, he also allowed them killing and robbing the Egyptians

who were as much "non-believers" as they , themselves , were ?? .

Were they simply slaves who made an escape

or an uprising to liberate themselves and run

away taking refuge in the land of the Philistines ?? ,

regardless which divinity they venerated at that time

but in this case , we could not call them "chosen" anymore....!!

And finally why would the Creator chose, or pre-select anyone

when Jesus never selected nor preferred anyone above the others.

The Prophet Mohammad also never differentiated between the believers,

and he even forbid it for the Muslims to discriminate.

As I said it before ,

I shall not present my answers ,

but provoke yours...............

Raja Chemayel

if I were "chosen ", I would ask myself, why ? first...!

25Th. of October 2005