Demonizing Hezbollah; A Déjà Vu Prior To 1982 Invasion of Lebanon

Demonizing Hezbollah; A Déjà Vu Prior To 1982 Invasion of Lebanon

23/09/2010

Between theory and practice, calming down the deteriorating political situation in Lebanon could determine the fate of the country, and even the region.

What had started as a debate on whether false witnesses in the Rafiq Hariri murder case existed or not, whether the Special Tribunal for Lebanon was politicized or not, or even whether Israel was behind the assassination or not, has turned into political wrangling and tense rhetoric.

Worse, March 14 bloc members have taken their speech to a more dangerous sectarian level.

Last week, Lebanon First parliamentary bloc member MP Mohamad Kabbara accused Hezbollah of aiming at “the leader of the Sunnis in Lebanon,” in reference to Hariri.
Before him, Mustaqbal [Future] Movement MP Ammar Houri made similar comments.

Hezbollah retorted by warning against bids to take the country into sectarian strife.

“We will not allow sedition to infiltrate” regardless of the tense rhetoric, Hezbollah MPs have stressed.

According to Houri, “Hariri did not give me or colleague Kabbara any remarks about our recent comments.”

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) is expected to issue an indictment over the assassination case of former Prime Minister martyr Rafiq Hariri. However, the date set for issuance remains undisclosed, although expectations have put the date sometime next December.

According to ‘leaks’ to the German magazine ‘Der Spiegel’, the indictment will implicate “undisciplined members of Hezbollah.”

The party’s S.G. Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah also said that Prime Minister Saad Hariri had told him that the STL’s indictment is inclined to accuse Hezbollah members. Hariri’s bloc, or at least part of it, denied this conversation ever took place although Hariri himself did not.

However, Hezbollah stressed it has not taken its final stance with regards to the STL.

“We are waiting for the outcome of Arab – and particularly Saudi – efforts in light of the Lebanese-Syrian-Saudi commitment to seek ways to keep the STL away from politicization and unfair accusations,” Hezbollah’s Deputy S.G. Sheikh Naim Qassem told the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Rai on Thursday.

Qassem added that S.G. Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah will announce the party’s finale stance “after the time limit of Arab efforts expires, and then we will see whether the STL will redirect its investigation in light of the evidence that implicate Israel in the Rafiq Hariri assassination, which Sayyed Nasrallah has presented.”

The end of September could mark the end of the time limit, according to opposition sources.

Hezbollah maintains that it will regard the STL as politicized as long as it rules out Israel’s involvement in the Hariri murder, and as long as the false witnesses who diverted the course of the international investigation are not tried.

In a recent interview with the Saudi Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, Hariri acknowledged the existence of false witnesses, after years of denial by his March 14 bloc. He also acknowledged that accusing Syria of assassinating his father was a mistake.

DEMONIZING HEZBOLLAH, A DÉJÀ VU PRIOR TO 1982 INVASION

Demonizing Hezbollah in Lebanon and the world is a prerequisite to achieve a number of objectives within the framework of the US-Israeli scheme being planned for the region.

Hezbollah constitutes an example of resistance revered by all resistance movements in the region and criminalizing it would gradually dismantle, or at least weaken, other resistance movements in occupied Palestine, Iraq, and elsewhere.
With its arsenal of defensive weapons a few meters away from “Israel,” Hezbollah constitutes a crucial element preventing – so far – the Zionist entity from striking Lebanon, Iran, and maybe Syria. Disarming Hezbollah has been a demand by Israel and the US and was internationally endorsed through UNSCR 1559.

In 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon under the pretext of crushing the Palestinian resistance, mainly operating in south Lebanon and Beirut. Some in the southern community welcomed the Israeli forces with rice and flowers. Israel had relentlessly worked on paving the ground for its invasion; its tool was its network of collaborators.

Prior to the invasion, dozens of clashes, skirmishes, and scuffles took place in south Lebanon between the Palestinian Liberation Organization and active forces in the southern community; some were pro-Palestinian. The PLO was eventually deemed an aggressive force to the community harboring it.

The invasion happened and one year later, then President Amine Gemayel signed the humiliating May 17 agreement with Israel, but it was destined to be brought down by national forces in Lebanon.

Despite its failure in 2006, Israel’s strive to crush Hezbollah as a resistance force has not changed; and so is its endeavor to strike another May 17 agreement to isolate Lebanon from, Syria, Iran, and the whole Arab-Israeli struggle.


NEXT INVASION?

Playing on the sectarian chord has proved to be the most effective way to keep a people divided; it’s been tried in Lebanon before, and the 1982 invasion came as civil war was reaching its peak.

The STL today is under Hezbollah’s microscope until it proves it is handling the Hariri assassination case properly, in light of the provided evidence that point to Israel, the persecution of the false witnesses who deluded the investigation for five years, and the upcoming indictment.

“If the indictment echoed the Der Spiegel report, this will mark the beginning of a US-Israeli invasion similar to that of 1982. Every invasion necessitates a proper confrontation.

The objective of the 1982 invasion was the May 17, 1983 agreement and the new invasion, should it happen, aims at a new May 17 agreement which we will categorically refuse.

When Lebanon comes under invasion, the resistance has an obligation to defend the country,” Hezbollah MP Nawaf Moussawi said in a televised interview Wednesday.

Pending the outcome of the tripartite Arab efforts and the indictment, Hezbollah sees no possible settlement to the political deterioration in Lebanon. Calm, amid incitement and sectarian mobilization by some March 14 officials, could only be a temporary solution.

The ultimate solution for Hezbollah is to stop targeting the resistance.

With Israel preparing for worst case scenarios, the US striking multi-billion dollar arms deals with Gulf States, and US-Israeli threats to strike Iran are on the rise, the sectarian rhetoric by some March 14 officials in Lebanon is giving US-Israeli warmongers the strategic advantage, the power and the needed spark to enflame the region.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Abbas Meets With Leaders of American Jewish Community

Abbas Meets With Leaders of American Jewish Community

Calls Prime Minister Netanyahu “My Partner in Our Quest for Peace,” Addresses Settlement Moratorium, Security, Incitement, Hamas, Right of Return, Anti-Semitism

New York, NY—The S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace hosted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for dinner on Tuesday, September 21, 2010, with over 50 top leaders of the American Jewish community and former American administration officials. The dinner, hosted by Center founder and chairman Dan Abraham and Center president Robert Wexler at the Plaza Hotel, was organized at the request of Abbas, following a dinner hosted by the Center with Abbas and Jewish leaders in Washington DC in May.

Guests included former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, former National Security Advisor Sandy Berger, and former US Ambassador to Israel Daniel Kurtzer; former Congressmen Mel Levine and Sam Gejdenson; Alan Solow and Malcolm Hoenlein, Chairman and Executive Vice Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations; Mort Zuckerman, Editor-in-Chief of U.S. News & World Report and former chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations; Robert Sugarman and Abraham Foxman, National Chair and National Director of the Anti-Defamation League; Steve Savitsky, President of the Orthodox Union; Daniel S. Mariaschin, Executive Vice President of B’nai Brith International; Ronald Lauder, Chairman of the Jewish National Fund; Kathy Manning, CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America; Jerry Levin and Alisa Robbins Doctoroff, President and Chair of the Board of the UJA Federation of New York; Martin Raffel, Senior Vice President of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs; Ruth Messinger, President of American Jewish World Service; Robert Bernstein, founder of Human Rights Watch; and other American Jewish community leaders and foreign policy scholars.

Abbas framed the meeting as an opportunity “to communicate with you directly without mediators. I would like for us to engage in a dialogue where we listen to each other and where I can respond to your question, because I trust we have one mutual objective to achieve peace.”

Abbas described Prime Minister Netanyahu as “my partner in our quest for peace,” saying that “this is the time to make the difficult and courageous decisions. We should not allow those who oppose peace to keep us hostages in their hands. Peace ultimately will prevail.” He characterized Netanyahu’s recent comments about the Palestinian right to sovereignty as “encouraging. It would encourage us to go ahead to the bridge the gaps.”

Though Abbas said he would not violate the confidentiality of the current negotiations, he laid out a clear vision of his objectives: “The establishment of independent Palestinian state that can live side-by-side with the state of Israel in peace and security on the borders of 1967 with agreed swaps. And a resolution to all the permanent status issues. Security will be guaranteed by a third party accepted by both to be deployed on the Palestinian side. We want a just resolution for the refugees problem agreed by the two parties as stipulated by the Arab Peace Initiative.”

Abbas stipulated that “we accept the state of a demilitarized Palestine,” and expressed his willingness to allow Jewish soldiers to participate in a third-party security force within Palestinian territory. When asked if he is willing to compromise on the right of return for Palestinian refugees, Abbas said, “We have to discuss it. We have a problem. We have a problem of five million refugees and I am one of them. Let us say that we want to solve this problem. What’s so important about this issue is that nobody can impose on the other while they are negotiating any issue.”

When asked about the likelihood of Prime Minister Netanyahu not extending the settlement construction moratorium, Abbas said, “I cannot say I will leave the negotiations, but it’s very difficult for me to resume talks if Prime Minister Netanyahu declares that he will continue his activity in the West Bank and Jerusalem.”

In response to a question about recognizing Israel as a Jewish state, Abbas said, “If the Israeli people want to name themselves whatever they want, they are free to do so.” He said he would accept Israel’s characterization as a Jewish state if the Israeli Knesset voted to designate the state as such.

Abbas reiterated the Jewish people’s historical connection to the Middle East, as well as the historical tragedy of the Holocaust. “For that I sent my Ambassador in Poland to attend the memorial of Auschwitz and I sent my Ambassador to Moscow to attend that meeting called by the High Rabbi of Russia. We are not ashamed to do this because we believe that it was a crime against humanity. And we want these crimes not to be repeated."

Abbas condemned the spread of anti-Semitism across the world. “We are against those heretics who try to say something anti-Semitic,” he said. “If I insult the Jews I would not be Muslim.” He also condemned statements by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad to destroy Israel. “Our opinion is that a state should be created, not canceled,” he said.

When asked about anti-Israel incitement in the Palestinian territories, Abbas said, “I didn’t deny it. But I can say there is some incitement on the other side. It doesn’t mean we have to exchange blame and accusations here and there. We want to put an end to this incitement since 11 years we agreed upon the establishing trilateral group to deal with all kinds of incitement and we are ready to get eliminate any incitement from our side decided by this community and of course the same should operate from the Israeli side.”

Abbas expressed his understanding of Israel’s security concerns, and how those concerns are shared by Palestinians.

“We know the Israelis want to live inside their borders, inside secure borders, they want their families to feel that they are secure, no suicide bombers, I know that they want peace and they want security. If you ask me how that in three or four years until now no single event comes from the West Bank, why? I’ll tell you it’s because we decided to cooperate with the Israeli side, and we prevent anybody from doing anything against Israel, because the security of Israel is our security,” Abbas said. “The goal of maintaining law and order is in Palestinians’ interest.”

Abbas emphasized the importance of the Arab Peace Initiative, which offers full diplomatic recognition of Israel by the countries of the Arab League and the Organization of the Islamic Conference once peace is reached with the Palestinians. “We are not only looking for a peace between the Palestinians and Israelis, we are looking for a peace with all the Arab and all the Muslims,” Abbas said. “We are working very hard on this.”

In response to a question about Hamas, Abbas said, “I have heard some encouraging statements that they accept ’67 borders, and they are ready if Israel wants to talk to them. They will talk to Israel. But anyhow we have a problem with Hamas. Leave this problem to us. Let us focus on the final agreement between us and the Israelis and after that we will handle this issue internally.”

Abbas said that all parties involved need “to listen to our hearts, to our minds, to our grandchildren’s demands, requirements, what they want and need – the children in Israel, the children in Palestine. If we misread their messages, we are not going to achieve a peace. We tell our people that we will be criminals on both sides if we do not reach peace for the sake, not for us – we are old men, we will make peace for the new generations, for our grandsons in the region,” he said. “We believe that our children and grandchildren deserve a better future for peace, prosperity, dignity, and security.”

Source

See also
Lessons of resistance from southern Lebanon
".."The hard realities of demography will take hold. More blood will be shed.."





River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

A Jewish state or an Israeli democracy?

A Jewish state or an Israeli democracy?

Benjamin Netanyahu is unsure of his identity: His insecurity is behind his pointless demand for Palestinian recognition of Israel as uniquely Jewish.

By Shlomo Sand

A Jewish state or an Israeli democracy? In the talks that appear to be taking place between Israel and the Palestinians, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked his negotiating partner to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. One can understand the prime minister: A man so little observant of the Jewish religious tradition is unsure of his Jewish identity, hence his insecurity about the identity of his state - and the need to seek validation from our neighbors.


There's far too little criticism in Israel of this latest whim, which until recently was absent from Israeli diplomacy. For years, Israel struggled to be recognized by the Arab world. But in March 2002, when the Arab League and the Muslim world took up the Saudi initiative to recognize Israel within its 1967 borders, a new threat appeared: peace, which can fragment the Jewish character of the state from within, and rightfully so.


There's a wall-to-wall consensus, from Yisrael Beiteinu to Meretz, from enlightened journalists to learned professors, on Israel's definition as a Jewish state. But this definition strikingly resembles the definition of Iran as an Islamic republic or the United States as a Christian country. True, some American evangelists believe that the United States' Christian character is at risk and seek to cement it in legislation. But the United States, like the rest of the enlightened world, still sees itself as belonging to all its citizens, regardless of religion and creed.


Most Israelis would respond to this by saying Judaism and Jewishness represent not a religion but a people, so Israel must belong not to all its citizens but to the Jews of the world, who, as we know, prefer not to live here.


Strange, I didn't know you could only join a people via religious conversion and not by taking part in its day-to-day culture. But perhaps there's a secular Jewish people-culture I'm not aware of? Maybe Woody Allen, Philip Roth and others are secretly well-versed in the Hebrew language, cinema, literature and theater? For me, the best definition of belonging to a people is the ability to recognize the name of at least one soccer team competing in the local leagues.


The trouble is that the Zionist enterprise, which created a new people here, is far from satisfied with its creation and prefers to see it as a bastard. It prefers to cling to the idea of a Jewish people-race, profiting for now from its imaginary existence. We should remember that the strong solidarity among evangelical Christians and the partnership in faith among members of the Bahai faith still doesn't make them peoples or nations.


Rahm Emanuel, as we know, belongs to the American people, and Bernard Kouchner belongs to the French people. But if tomorrow the United States decides to define itself as an Anglo-Saxon rather than an American state, or France seeks recognition not as a French but as a Gallic-Catholic republic, both men will have to immigrate to Israel.


I'm sure many of us wish for that. This is yet another reason for the insistence Israel is the state of the Jewish people and not an Israeli democracy.


Since not all the non-Jews among us can identify with their state, what they have left is identifying with the Palestinian Authority, Hamas or the movie "Avatar," and perhaps demand tomorrow that the Galilee, which as we know does not have a Jewish majority, will be the Kosovo of the Middle East.  


The writer is a history professor at Tel Aviv University.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Aoun from Jezzine: "Lies, Insolence control Lebanese Judiciary"

26/09/2010 Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun said on Sunday that “lies and insolence are now controlling the Lebanese judiciary and state,” adding that the Lebanese judiciary has become worse than “the rude liars who violate the laws.”

 

During his visit to the southern district of Jezzine, Aoun asked: "“Why do [the March 14 parties] refuse the judiciary’s investigations into the witnesses who gave false testimonies [to the international commission investigating the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri]?”

“They say that the [opposition] has invented the false witnesses… Let them tell us how we did so,” Aoun said.

He also said that western powers want to "kill" Hezbollah to prevent it from stopping Israel to implement its decision to naturalize Palestinians in Lebanon.

"They want to kill the resistance which is an obstacle in the face of Israel. The first decision they want to implement is naturalization, but as long as there is a resisting people there is no naturalization," Aoun said following mass at Saint Takla church in Bkessine in Jezzine district.

Giving the example of lies by the Bush administration to launch war on Iraq, the MP wondered: "What would prevent the Security Council and the international community from coming up with a new lie and covering up the truth by preventing the prosecution of false witnesses" in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination case.

"We were accused of conspiring against our country because we respected our words," he added.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Israeli Discrimination Against Arabs

Arabs claim Israeli discrimination

Palestinians living within Israel's borders complain of discrimination.

Last Modified: 25 Sep 2010 12:40 GMT

Discrimination faced by Palestinians living within Israel's borders remains one of the key sticking points in Middle East peace talks.

Umm al-Fahm is a town made up almost entirely of Palestinian Israelis - those who found themselves within the new border when Israel was created in 1948.
Israel's declaration of independence, the equivalent of a constitution, states that all citizens are equal but the one-fifth of the population who are Palestinian, believe they are less equal than others.

Al Jazeera's Dan Nolan reports from Umm al-Fahm, Israel.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Two Palestinians injured in fourth day of Silwan protests

[ 26/09/2010 - 09:09 AM ]

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- The fourth day of clashes on Saturday in the Silwan district of Jerusalem was heated, as the area saw an unusually heavy presence of Israeli soldiers, who turned the Batn al-Hawa neighborhood into a military zone, local residents said.

Ali al-Ruwaidi, 19, sustained injuries to his eye after Israeli soldiers violently beat and pepper sprayed him directly in the eyes after raiding his home, the sources said, adding that he was later hospitalized. Another youth was hit in the foot with a rubber bullet.

Abu Nasir Abu Sanad of the Bustan neighborhood said his wife Haneyya Awda Abu Sanad, 65, is in intensive care after she suffered a stroke when she was hit last Wednesday with a stun grenade while on the balcony of her home after she learned about the death of her daughter’s husband.

Abu Sanad said she lost consciousness after Israeli soldiers blocked ambulances from delivering treatment for her at the appropriate time.

Violent clashes reportedly broke out Saturday night between Palestinians and Israeli troops, who fired a barrage of gas bombs on homes.

A cautious calm returned to Jerusalem at midnight Saturday after Israeli forces withdrew from those districts after fierce clashes with Palestinians, Mohammed Sadiq, director of the Jerusalem Information Center told the PIC Sunday morning.

He said there is still no accurate count of the number of casualties in the onslaught by Israeli forces on Silwan, Isawiya, and other districts of Jerusalem, but preliminary information suggests 30 cases of suffocation from tear gas.

A Palestinian man was seriously injured after inhaling toxic gas fired by Israeli soldiers in Silwan before partially withdrawing from the district. A Palestinian woman was hit with a rubber bullet, he reported.

Sadiq said earlier in a press statement that large numbers of the Israeli police attempted to storm the Isawiya district, but youths confronted them with stones and empty bottles before violent clashes erupted, ending in several cases of suffocation. Israeli police let off occasional barrages of toxic gas and gunfire.

Isawiya residents marched through the town carrying a symbolic coffin of the one year old baby Mohammed Abu Sarah, who died yesterday after inhaling toxic gas on Friday, in the first time in years armed protesters appeared in the Palestinian march.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

While negotiating reconciliation 22 Palestinians carried to hospitals due to torture in Abbas's jails

22 Palestinians carried to hospitals due to torture in Abbas's jails

[ 26/09/2010 - 08:50 AM ]

AL-KHALIL, (PIC)-- Militias loyal to Mahmoud Abbas, the de facto Palestinian president, have transferred 22 citizens from West Bank jails to hospitals due to worsening health conditions as a result of severe torture rounds.

Media sources said that Abbas's militias employ cruel interrogation methods coupled with beatings using batons and whips, beating on all parts of the body including genitals, and constant beating on the head.

They said that the militias also force detainees to sit in awkward positions for long period, dangle them from their hands, and force them to stand on cans for hours.

The sources noted that one of the detainees, Mohammed Al-Atrash, has been in isolation for 30 days in addition to being tortured.

• Resheq: Egypt not against reconciliation understandings between Hamas and Fatah
• Radwan: Hamas earnestly interested in reconciliation
• Hamas, Fatah agree to move towards reconciliation in Damascus meeting
• Hamas, Fatah Revive Palestinian Reconciliation Talks
  
  River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Even if Settlements Freeze Is Not Extended, Abbas Will Not Walk out

26/09/2010 Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Sunday he would not walk away immediately from "Peace" Talks with the Zionist entity if it does not extend a 10-month partial settlements moratorium due to expire on Sunday at midnight.

Earlier, Palestinian leaders have vowed to break off US-brokered peace talks which resumed only earlier this month if Israel ends the freeze on construction of Jewish homes in the occupied West Bank.
On Saturday Abbas told the UN General Assembly in New York that Israel must choose between "peace and the continuation of illegal settlements" if it wants international talks to succeed.

However on Sunday he told al-Hayat newspaper that if the freeze was not continued he would "go back to the Palestinian institutions, to the Arab follow-up committee".

As Abbas traveled to Paris for a meeting with Nicolas Sarkozy, France's president, to "explore developments in the peace process", Israelis and US mediators were racing to find a compromise that would allow the fragile talks to continue.

Diplomatic efforts intensified to try to get Israel to extend the partial freeze on Israeli settlements construction in the occupied West Bank.

US HOPEFUL

A top White House official said on Sunday that his country remains "hopeful" that Israelis and Palestinians will pursue fledgling peace talks despite the scheduled expiration on Sunday.

"We are going to urge and urge, and push throughout this day to get some kind of resolution" of the settlement issue, David Axelrod, President Barack Obama's top policy advisor, said in a television interview.

Axelrod told ABC News that Washington still thought a compromise was possible on the issue, despite preparations by Jewish settlers to immediately begin new West Bank building when the freeze ends.

"We think it's essential that they keep on moving forward, keep on talking, keep on trying to work through these issues, and we're hopeful that they will," he said.

 

Abbas: "Even if talks break down, and they won't, my beloved people will not resort to violence ...."

Posted by G, Z, or B at 10:36 AM

...And the winner is? Netanyahu!

"... Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, his threats to the contrary, will not scuttle the peace talks that have barely begun just because Netanyahu isn't extending the freeze. U.S. President Barack Obama, preaching for the moratorium to continue, can't force it on Netanyahu on the eve of the congressional elections when his party's leaders are calling for negotiations to continue without regard to The settlments.
Abbas and Obama will swallow the end of the freeze and wait for Israel to stumble by approving a provocative building plan. Then they will try to trap Netanyahu again and threaten him with a diplomatic crisis or endanger his coalition. This is what happened with Ramat Shlomo in Jerusalem, when Israel announced more construction while U.S. Vice President Joe Biden was visiting in March...."

Posted by G, Z, or B at 10:22 AM

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Hariri Back to Jeddah, MP Fadlallah: Hezbollah Not Afraid of the Indictment

Hariri Back to Jeddah, MP Fadlallah: Hezbollah Not Afraid of the Indictment

26/09/2010 Prime Minister Saad Harir on Saturday left Beirut to Jeddah, and he had "no scheduled visit to Syria", as Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Hassan Fadlallah assured that Hezbollah is not afraid of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) but has concerns on its effect in the country.

According to a statement issued by his office, the PM's visit to Jeddah was special.

On the other hand, sources close to the premier denied that he was scheduled to visit the Syrian capital Damascus on Tuesday, the Central News Agency reported. "PM Hariri's meetings agenda doesn't mention a visit to the Syrian capital this week," the sources stressed.

Recent reports have suggested that Hariri may be heading to Syria on Tuesday given his recent phone call with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Kuwait News Agency quoted a source close to Hariri as saying that the prime minister's visit could last a day "where he will hold talks with a number of high-ranking Syrian officials, including President Assad, on developing bilateral ties."

Tension ran high in Lebanon after reports said that the (STL) would soon issue its indictment in the 2005 assassination of former PM Rafik Hariri, accusing Hezbollah members of committing the murder.

For its part, Hezbollah declared clear positions from the indictment, through repeatedly warning from the damage that the indictment will cause to Lebanon and the region.

Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Hassan Fadlallah told New TV on Sunday that Hezbollah Hezbollah is not afraid of the STL’s pending indictment, adding that the problem is with the project which is aiming at targeting the resistance.

“The problem is with the project that began with [UN Security Council] Resolution 1559 [issued in 2004], the 2006 July War and the STL indictment that aim at targeting the Resistance,” Fadlallah said, adding that “some Lebanese parties are involved [in the project].”

He said that Hariri is primarily requested to resolve the controversies regarding the STL adding that “the premier has many responsibilities to bear.”
“We did not ask anything of Hariri in specific because he knows what he should do,” Fadlallah said, adding that his bloc does not have a problem with Hariri as the head of a national-unity cabinet.

Hezbollah official in southern Lebanon Sheikh Nabil Qaouq stressed on Saturday that no indictment, international accusation, or international resolutions would affect the party's determination in its resistance, stressing that the July war goals wouldn’t be achieved through the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

"The camp of the July 2006 war has now become that of the indictment, which is being used against Hezbollah," Sheikh Qaouq said. "If they think that the indictment will bind Hezbollah, then the results will backfire against them," he noted.

On Friday, MP Nawwaf Moussawi warned that "the period that will follow the indictment won't be the same as the one before, and any group in Lebanon that might endorse this indictment will be treated as one of the tools of the U.S.-Israeli invasion, and it will have the same fate as the invader."

"Those must not only be worried, but also panic-stricken, and we tell everyone that those who couldn't defeat the Resistance through fire and iron and billions of dollars will not be able to defeat it through an indictment or anything else," Moussawi warned.

Uncovering the Hariri veil:

My weekly article in Al-Akhbar:  "Uncovering the Hariri veil:  The State of Sectarian Sedition."

Posted by As'ad at 11:24 AM

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Resistance leaders sit in at Gaza to support Palestinian prisoners

[ 25/09/2010 - 04:47 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- Palestinian faction leaders and other speakers at a press conference on Saturday agreed to escalate efforts supporting Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. The press conference was organized at the sidelines of a sit-in held in Gaza to support war prisoners.

The sit-in was held at the courtyard of the Unknown Soldier in Gaza and was attended by Palestinian forces and factions, prisoners’ families, and hundreds of Palestinian people.

Gaza’s prisoner committee coordinator Sabir Abu Karish warned that medical neglect on the part of the Israeli prison administrations has caused 199 deaths since 1967.

More than 15 women continue to be held and tortured in Israeli jails and placed in solitary confinement, Karish said, adding that they are subjected to policies that conflict with international law, conventions, and humanitarian norms.

On his part, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said that such events involve several messages, the first of which is addressed to Israel, that the violations it commits against war prisoners will only cause activists to increase their demand for the release of prisoners on their terms.

The second message is to the world, which has supported one captured Israeli soldier and does not care about the torture of thousands of Palestinian POWs.

The third message is to the Red Cross and other human rights organizations, “to come out of the box of silence” and try to expose Israel’s violations against prisoners and take action to release them.

On his part, Nasir al-Far secretary of the national and Islamic committee for POWs said the event came as part of a range of public events to support the prisoners cause, and is also timed to coincide with the current hunger strike in protest to poor treatment prisoners have sustained from the Israeli prisons authority.

Linking prisoner issues to the peace talks, Islamic Jihad movement politburo member Dr. Mohammad Al-Hindi said the direct negotiations held between de facto Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have provided the prison administrations a cover for brutal attacks against Palestinian prisoners.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Independent Committee of Experts on Gaza War

by Stephen Lendman

On September 21, the UN Human Rights Council's independent fact finding Committee issued its report titled, "No Safe Place," assessing "investigat(ions) and report(s) on violations of human rights law and international humanitarian law during" Operation Cast Lead. Its members included:

-- Professor John Dugard, Chairman, former UN Special Human Rights Rapporteur for Occupied Palestine;

-- Norwegian Judge Finn Lynghjem;

-- Chilean attorney Gonzalo Boye;

-- Professor Corte-Real, a forensic body damage evaluator; and

-- solicitor Ms. Raelene Sharp.

On February 21, it held an initial meeting with the Arab League's Secretary-General in Cairo, then entered Gaza the next day through the Rafah crossing. The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights organized its six day visit with a wide range of persons, including Cast Lead victims, witnesses, doctors, lawyers, journalists, business people, and members of NGOs, UN agencies and Hamas.

Sites visited included hospitals, schools, universities, mosques, businesses, police stations, government buildings, UN facilities, private homes, and agricultural lands - all devastated by destruction or damage.

Three times the Committee requested Israeli cooperation, getting no response. "The Committee regrets the decision of the Government of Israel to withhold cooperation." It also stonewalled the Goldstone Commission, as it always does to prevent independent investigations from exposing its crimes.

"Operating under internationally recognized standards, the report documents the injuries suffered and their alleged causes." The Committee obtained firsthand evidence of great loss of life and injuries in Gaza, as well as the vast amount of destruction, mostly affecting civilians, their homes, neighborhoods, and other non-military facilities - a clear violation of international law, documented clearly in earlier articles.

Palestinian losses were immense, also documented earlier. Israel's were minor - four civilians and ten soldiers killed (three by friendly fire), and 148 wounded. Palestinians had only "unsophisticated weapons" against the world's fourth most powerful military, using everything (except its nuclear capability), including illegal weapons like white phosphorous.

"It was clear to the Committee that the IDF had not distinguished between civilians and civilian objects and military targets. Both the loss of life and the damage to property were disproportionate to the harm suffered by Israel or any threatened harm." Israel was the clear aggressor in violation of international law, waging premeditated war largely against civilians. The Goldstone Commission highlighted the crime, saying:

"The report concludes that the Israeli military operation was directed at the people of Gaza as whole, in furtherance of an overall and continuing policy aimed at punishing the Gaza population, and in a deliberate policy of disproportionate force aimed at the civilian population. The destruction of food supply installations, water sanitation systems, concrete factories and residential housing was the result of a deliberate and systematic policy which has made the daily process of living, and dignified living, more difficult for the civilian population."

Israel willfully killed hundreds of civilians as a result of "disproportionate attacks," including on hospitals, homes, and other civilian structures. "Repeatedly, the Israeli Defense Forces failed to adequately distinguish between combatants and civilians, as the laws of war strictly require....Pursuing justice in this case is essential because no state or armed group should be above the law." Failure to do so "will have a deeply corrosive effect on international justice, and reveal an unacceptable hypocrisy. As a service to the hundreds of civilians who needlessly died and for the equal application of international justice, the perpetrators of serious violations must be held to account."

So far, they have not. Gaza remains under siege, and world leaders are doing nothing to end it and demand justice for Israeli war crimes. Instead they support a bogus "peace process," that's neither a process or a way to peace. It's the same shameless on and off 35 year charade going nowhere, unless the PA agrees to unconditional surrender, the only outcome Israel will accept.

On September 22, Haaretz report its latest wrinkle, headlined "US won't comment on reports of (Jonathan) Pollard release deal," saying:

Citing unnamed sources, Israeli Radio said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet might propose extending the (September 26 expiring) construction "freeze" in exchange for releasing the convicted spy. Why not when no freeze exists. Construction continues unabated. PA President Mahmoud Abbas accepts the charade as well as the Obama administration and Western media. The reported pressure on Netanyahu is bogus. He loses nothing by agreeing or perhaps negotiating an illusion of compromise.

"Pollard is regarded as a hero in Israel, but a traitor by the US government. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for passing classified documents to the Israeli government in the 1980s while working in the US Navy's intelligence unit."

For years, Israel asked US presidents for clemency, so far without results. If Netanyahu succeeds, he'll gain political prestige and more popularity at home. However, On June 20, 2009, Haaretz writer Amir Oren explained that US intelligence officials "unequivocally oppose" the release, saying doing so "will undermine US security practices and complicate counterintelligence." Then, and likely now, "The US intelligence community hasn't altered its position. It's unknown whether Obama will go along, given how much he yields to Israel on most everything requested.

Conclusions from the Committee's Report

It explained that:

-- as an occupying power, "Israel is obligated to comply with the Fourth Geneva Convention" and other related international laws;

-- "aggression" isn't clearly defined, so it couldn't conclude whether "Israel's offensive constituted" it;

-- "Israel's actions could not be justified as self-defense;"

-- it urged the principles of proportionality be applied to assess criminal responsibility; and

-- it "could not examine" whether Israel or Hamas committed international terrorism "as (its) meaning (is) too uncertain; consequently, criminal responsibility was best measured in accordance with the rules of international humanitarian law."

Nonetheless, the Committee found "serious violations of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child." Also, Fourth Geneva and its Additional Protocols were violated, especially on the issue of collective punishment, specifically prohibited at all times under all circumstances.

On issues of crimes of war and against humanity, "The Committee found that the IDF was responsible for the crime of indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks on civilians....It rejected Israel's determination of who is a civilian." Members of Hamas' civil government are not combatants "as claimed by Israel." Nor are police.

"The Committee found that the IDF was responsible for the crime of killing, wounding and terrorizing civilians," based on the numbers of dead and wounded as well as Israel's use of banned weapons and intense bombardment for over three weeks.

"The Committee rejected Israel's claim that it warned civilians in advance to leave." Use of leaflets and phone calls "only served to cause confusion and panic. Incessant bombing and misleading warnings of this kind served to terrorize the population." Where could they go with Gaza under siege, its borders closed?

The Committee called the IDF "responsible for the wanton destruction of property and that such destruction could not be justified on grounds of military necessity." The harm done was disproportionate and illegal.

Israel committed grievous crimes of war and against humanity, whitewashing them through internal investigations and obstruction of independent ones by refusing to cooperate.

The Committee called Cast Lead so grave, "it was compelled to consider whether (genocide) had been committed. Without question in the context of 62 years of displacement and persecution and 43 years of brutal military occupation, punctuated by regular attacks, killings, targeted assassinations, arrests, torture, and other types of abuses daily.

The Committee thus concluded that Israel "committed war crimes, crimes against humanity and, possibly genocide in the course of Operation Cast Lead" alone. Responsible military and civilian officials are culpable, yet so far unpunished.

The Committee also said "there is no indication that Israel has opened an investigation into the actions of those who designed, planned, ordered, and oversaw 'Operation Cast Lead.' "

It also found Hamas guilty of firing rockets into Israel, a defensive action in response to Israel's attack, and minor by comparison.

Some Final Comments

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights said Israel proved itself "genuinely unwilling to comply with its international legal obligation to conduct effective investigations, and appropriate prosecutions into the systematic violations of international law committed" during its offensive.

So far, only one prosecution occurred - for credit card theft, while serious war crimes have been whitewashed and ignored. As a result, responsible officials keep persecuting millions of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. They're no match against the world fourth most powerful military allied with collaborationist PA officials, principally Mahmoud Abbas and his appointed prime minister, Salam Fayyad, self-serving imperial tools.

On September 27, the Committee will present its report to the UN Human Rights Council. It will highlight Cast Lead's seriousness. Hopefully, it will also demand those responsible be held accountable, perhaps at the International Criminal Court (ICC). That's why it was established, though it fails to fulfill its mandate.

What better time than now to do it, then take on America for destroying Iraq and Afghanistan, and bankrolling Israeli belligerency, supplying money, weapons and munitions, both countries committing mass murder with impunity. It's high time their day of reckoning arrived. It can't come a moment too soon.

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

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

posted by Steve Lendman @ 3:02 AM    

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

One of History's Greatest Crimes

by Stephen Lendman

America's hidden history is ugly and disturbing. No nation ever matched it. To Iraq alone, over the past two decades, it includes ongoing genocide, destruction, terror, occupation, and contamination - a horrendous combination of crimes, unmentioned in Western discourse.

Environmental Engineering Professor Souad N. Al-Azzawi documents them, including in her report titled, "Crime of the Century: Iraq's Occupation and DU Contamination," a detailed account of US culpability.

America's strategic aims, she explains, include:

-- controlling most of the world's oil and other natural resources;

-- remaining permanently in the Middle East, "the intersection zone of the three continents where 80% of the world('s) population" lives; and

-- if the above two objectives are achieved, America will control the world's economy, or enough of it to matter.

Spread over a large enough area, depleted uranium (DU) is a weapon of mass destruction, because it's radioactive and chemically toxic. If ingested or inhaled through food, air, water or other means, it enters the human body, remaining for decades. An earlier article reported the dangers, accessed through the following link:

http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2006/01/depleted-uranium-hidden-looming_16.html

It explained that continued DU use has the potential to end planetary life, yet few understand the risk, or that weaponized DU is used regularly in missiles, bombs, shells and bullets wherever America wages war - first during the 1991 Gulf War.

Its danger comes from radiation residue after use. On impact, DU munitions penetrate deeply and aerosolize into a fine spray, polluting surrounding air, water and soil. It's microscopic, sub-miscroscopic, and permanent. Spread over vast areas as radioactive atmospheric dust, its contamination causes virtually all known illnesses and diseases from severe headaches, muscle pain and general fatigue, to major birth defects, infections, depression, cardiovascular disease, and many types of cancers. It also causes permanent disability and death.

Over the past two decades in Iraq alone, hundreds, perhaps thousands, of tons have been used, irradiating the entire country, some areas more than others. In her October 2009 presentation to the Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia International Conference to Criminalize War, Azzawi accused America and Britain of:

"subject(ing) the whole nation of Iraq for two decades to torture and slow death through the intentional use of radioactive weapons and the sanctions. The continuous and intentional use of (these) weapons is a crime against humanity due to its undifferentiating harmful health effects on civilians in contaminated areas tens of years to come after the military engagements." Radiation, in fact, is permanent, affecting unborn generations like living ones.

During the Gulf War, about 320 tons were used in southern Iraq, affecting the Basrah region. Post-conflict, "comprehensive" examination detected it, especially "in and around Al-Basrah City," showing:

-- "high gamma radiation" levels;

-- "soil samples from 39 locations (with) higher activities than natural background levels;" and

-- "Surface water channel sediments (with 2 - 3) times higher radioactivity than the natural background" level.

Contamination was widespread, affecting at least "45% of people in the area, the Iraqi troops, and" coalition ones. As a result, soldiers (and civilians) exposed "to DU oxides (can expect) 70 cancer cases per 1,000" persons. Perhaps a higher incidence over time, and along with other illnesses and diseases, an epidemic of human affliction.

Subsequent epidemiological studies in Basrah showed a "five times rise in the incidence rate of malignancies amongst children to be far more noticeable from 1995 onwards." In addition, exposure to ionized radiation caused:

-- higher child leukemia rates;

-- a "six fold increase in congenital malformations among births in Basrah City since 1995 onward," some too disturbing to view; and

-- higher rates of congenital heart diseases and chromosomal aberrations.

Even more destructive weapons were used in the 2003 war, including banned ones like napalm, white phosphorous, cluster bombs, and greater amounts of DU - "against people, infrastructure facilities, and environment." Further, "the looting and burning of factories, industrial complexes, laboratories, and ministries (including the looting of the Tuwaitha Atomic Energy Agency, and 300 other highly contaminated sites....)" caused contamination.

Much more as well across the country in Baghdad and suburbs, Basrah, Mosul, Fallujah, Balad, Anbar, Haditha, Qa'im, Rawa, Karbala, Najar, Aubaidi, Diala, Samara, Tikrit, Baiji, Ahsaiba, Mada'in, Kubaissa, and other locations.

In March 2009, Gideon Polya used the Just Foreign Policy estimate of 1.32 million Iraqi deaths post-March 2003 alone, a number considerably higher today. It's also well below his post-9/11 eight million "war on terror" total, mostly affecting women and children, aged five and younger, killed by war, diseases, and/or depravation, America's horrific ongoing genocidal legacy - air-brushed from history. Azzawi adds more:

-- at least 4.5 internal or external refugees, many victimized by "militias and police raids and terrorist groups;"

-- death squads targeting "certain ethnic and sectarian groups" daily; and

-- in cities throughout Iraq, sieges cutting off "all life support aids on people, (affecting) Thousands of children, women and elderly who could not leave their houses and were subjected to collective punishment...." For weeks, these areas were deprived of food, water, healthcare, and electricity. As a result, contaminated water was used "from ditches and nearby rivers," causing cholera and other waterborne diseases.

The continuous use of DU weapons in heavily populated areas exposes millions to its destructive effects. Further, "Continuous negligence of medical care systems, hospitals, and the killing of prominent medical and healthcare specialists....after 2003" exacerbated a widespread health crisis.

Yet occupation forces provide no data on civilians killed, wounded, kidnapped or otherwise harmed. Nor do they allow "exploration programs to detect (DU) related contaminated areas." Yet they're vitally needed to "help Iraqi people....cope with the damages."

Known evidence shows "Continuous deterioration of environmental quality....in Baghdad City due to explosions, and heavy traffic of tanks and vehicles...." Concentrations of numerous toxins way exceed safe levels. "Water quality deterioration caused an increase in "pathogenic water born diseases like Cholera, Typhoid, Hepatitis, (and) others." Air pollution results from continuous bombing and explosions.

The "Multiple impact of all of the above pollution sources on the human body can be critical, especially for children, women and the elderly people."

From DU munitions alone, Azzawi told the Kuala Lumpur conference that contamination is spread over vast areas by "wind storms, dust storms, sandstorms, and rainstorms," besides polluted waterways and surface migration in soil, causing:

-- "Siltation, creeping, and suspension from contaminated soil to atmosphere; (and)

-- Suspension and re-suspension of deposited DU aerosols....the most dangerous and critical pathway of transfer and spreading from source to the human population."

America and Britain are responsible "for exposing a whole nation to the risk of continually receiving high radioactive and toxic persistent contaminants," including DU and many others, a noxious brew leaving no one untouched and many lethally harmed. "This is a crime against humanity (because of) its undifferentiated harmful health impacts on civilians long (after) military operations" are concluded.

A Final Comment

On September 19, BRussells Tribunal Executive Committee member Dirk Adriaensens headlined, "Iraq: The Age of Darkness," explaining "a devastating balance sheet (of) success," including:

-- a 150% increase in child mortality since 1990;

-- only half of primary-aged children in school;

-- about 1,500 children in (horrific) detention facilities;

-- in 2007, about "5 million Iraqi orphans;"

-- over two million external refugees and almost three million internal ones (IDPs);

-- official unemployment at 50%; real unemployment at least 70%;

-- at least 43% of Iraqis "in abject poverty;"

-- at least eight million need "emergency aid;"

-- at least four million "lack food and are in dire need of humanitarian assistance;"

-- at least 80% lack "effective sanitation;"

-- "Religious minorities are on the verge of extinction;" and

-- an Oxfam survey showed 33% of women got no humanitarian aid since 2003; 76% of widows lack pension help; 52% are unemployed; 55% have been displaced; and 55% have been "subjected to (various forms of) violence."

In Iraq today, "killing of innocent people has become part of daily life." America is committing genocide against the entire population. It persists daily unreported, yet called "a success."

It includes death, destruction, torture, terror, occupation, displacement, disease, and insecurity in a nation that no longer exists. For sure, one unfit to live in - unsafe, corrupt, terrorized, tyrannized, contaminated, and permanently occupied. In virtually all rankings that matter, Iraq scores last, Afghanistan second last, a testimony to America's liberating values.

They're run from Washington with no functioning governments, de facto satraps instead obeying their imperial masters. Yet on August 31, declaring an "end to the combat mission in Iraq," Obama outrageously said: "Through this remarkable chapter in the history of the United States and Iraq, we have met our responsibility," infamously displaying his culpability as a war criminal, matching the worst America ever produced.

Under him, George Bush, and their successors, "Iraq has no viable future," Adriaensens' final assessment of America's "success."

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

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

posted by Steve Lendman @ 3:30 AM  

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Egyptian sources: Dababesh and Naim were released after contacts made by Hamas

[ 25/09/2010 - 02:45 PM ]

CAIRO, (PIC)-- High-level Egyptian sources said that the release of senior Hamas official Mohamed Dababesh and the health minister's son Mohamed Naim happened following intensive contacts and top meetings between Hamas and Egyptian officials.

The sources told the Palestinian information center (PIC) that the release of other Palestinian detainees in Egypt would take place gradually in accordance with specific mechanisms agreed upon between Hamas and Egyptian officials in Saudi Arabia.

He noted that Dababesh and Naim were both released after a meeting between Hamas political leader Khaled Mishaal and Egyptian intelligence director Omar Suleiman, adding other prisoners will be set free in the framework of the meetings held for the inter-Palestinian reconciliation in Cairo.

Another meeting in Cairo will be held soon between a delegation from Hamas and Egyptian officials after a delegation from Fatah finishes its meetings with Hamas leadership in Syria, the sources said.

For his part, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri affirmed that the Egyptian authorities released at noon Friday Dababesh who was arrested upon his return from a minor pilgrimage trip in Saudi Arabia, expressing hope that the Egyptian side would close the file of Palestinian detainees in its jails forever.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian