Latest Beirut Bombing Incident

 

by Stephen Lendman

First impressions suggest another "who done it" incident. Similar ones occurred many times before. Guilty parties often get named later. Key always is cui bono?

Media scoundrels never explain what's most important. Instead, headlines like "Blast in Beirut Is Seen as an Extension of Syria's War" circulate.

The New York Times said it "devastated a Christian neighborhood (Friday), killing an intelligence official long viewed as an enemy by neighboring Syria and unnerving a nation as Syria’s sectarian-fueled civil war spills beyond its borders and threatens to engulf the region."

Instead of explaining what's likely going on, managed news misreporting like the above substitutes.

Intelligence head of Lebanon's Internal Security Forces, General Wissam al-Hasan, was killed. He appeared the likely target. He was the most high-profile death since former prime minister Rafiq Hariri's 2005 assassination. More on him below, what's really going on, and what's at stake.

At least seven others died. Information Minister Walid Daouk said 86 people were wounded. Buildings were heavily damaged.

A follow-up Times report headlined "After Attack, Lebanese Opposition Calls for New Government," saying:

Opposition pro-Western March 14 alliance officials called for "the Hezbollah-led government to resign….intensifying fears that Syria's 'civil war' could lead to a political crisis in Lebanon."

Again, dubious reporting substituted for explaining things correctly. Syria was invaded. Washington bears full responsibility. Fighting since winter 2011 reflects nothing civil. Saying so is false and misleading.

Protesters wave FSA and Saudi flags in Martyrs' Square for the funeral
 (Picture: AP)

Rafiq Hariri's son Saad heads the pro-Western March 14 alliance. Hezbollah, the Amal Movement, the Free Patriotic Movement, Progressive Socialists, and other political groups comprise the March 8 alliance majority.

Washington and Israel want March 14 extremists replacing it. Killing al-Hasan appears intended for that purpose. It also advances the ball for full-scale NATO intervention in Syria.

The regional pot keeps boiling dangerously. Media scoundrels add more heat. Washington Post columnist David Ignatius wants America openly involved in arming Free Syrian Army (FSA) death squads.

Headlining "Rethinking Syria Policy," he called for all-out US support. He played the jihadist terrorists/Syrian chemical weapons card threat.

He spent time in Syria. He met with FSA commanders. They're "solid military leaders," he said. They need more guns and money, he added. Pile it on, he recommends.

"The Free Syrian Army has a long shopping list." He named enough to blow up half the country. Washington doesn't "have to sign off on this whole war chest…." Just enough for greater conflict to topple Assad.

Mossad-connected DEBKAfile (DF) threw its own fuel on the fire. It pointed fingers the wrong way. It headlined "Syria, Iran, Hizbollah attack while US and Israel play (earlier planned) computerized war games," saying:

The East Beirut Ashrafiya district bombing "marked the brutal spillover of the Syrian bloodbath into a second Arab capital and the threat of its spread towards Israel."

Blaming Syria, Iran and Hezbollah is spurious. On October 20, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) headlined "Russia, Iran Condemn Beirut Terrorist Blast," saying:

Moscow's Foreign Ministry said "Russia expresses solidarity with Lebanon and support to its sovereignty, territorial integrity and stability based on a Lebanese national dialogue." It added:

"What happened showed once again the importance of stopping the activities of destructive forces that are trying to drown the Middle East in chaos and sedition.''

Iran's Foreign Ministry also condemned the blast. It said "the Zionist entity is the beneficiary of instability in Lebanon."

On October 19, Press TV said Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi told his Lebanese counterpart, Adnan Mansour, that "enemies seek to increase insecurity in the region and achieve their ill intentions."

Tehran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said "the attack aimed to sow discord among different currents and social classes in Lebanon."

Reuters quoted Syria's Information Minister Omran Zoabi saying, "We condemn this terrorist explosion and all these explosions wherever they happen. Nothing justifies them."

DEBKAfile claimed General al-Hasan "uncovered a Syrian plot to destabilize Lebanon by a bombing campaign…." Pro-Assad politician and former information minister Michel Samaha was arrested "for complicity in the plot."

"The Syrian bloodbath is spreading more malignantly than ever with solid Iranian and Hizballah support and Tehran is closer than ever to realizing its nuclear aspirations."

All of the above doesn't wash. More spurious accusations followed. DF often reports inaccurately. This account was one of its worst. It was straight out of Mossad's propaganda playbook. Charges were laughable on their face.

Syria, Iran and Hezbollah have everything to lose and nothing to gain from Friday's blast. Israel, Washington, key NATO partners, and regional allies benefit greatly from further instability and conflict.

Targeted Killings: US and Israeli Specialties

Killing al-Hasan looks very much like Hariri 2.0. Compelling visual and audio evidence identified Israel as likely responsible. Real time intercepted Israeli aerial surveillance footage showed routes Hariri took on the day his motorcade was attacked. That and more pointed fingers the right way.

Initially, Syria was falsely blamed. Hezbollah was then wrongfully accused. The assassination was typical Mossad. Killing al-Hasan looks like its latest false flag.

Press TV interviewed political analyst Ralph Schoenman. He said:

"As 1992 to today in the day bombing of Beirut the identical scenario, who benefits from attempting to divide Lebanon and spread the turmoil, who benefits destabilizing the government in Damascus, who states to destabilize Beirut and subject Lebanon to civil war, the Zionist regime (Israel), the Mossad. It is a classical operation of Mossad."

It's hard disagreeing. Mossad's entire history reflects targeted killings, false flags, and other destabilizing acts. CIA elements operate the same way.

Take nothing about these incidents at face value. Look deeper for more likely explanations than what media scoundrels and other dubious sources provide.

Washington and key allies want the last independent Arab nations destabilized, toppled, and reinvented into pro-Western ones. Ousting Assad and Hezbollah are key objectives. So is isolating Iran ahead of focusing full attention on regime change in Tehran by any means including war.

The Levant is in serious crisis. Tinderbox best describes things. Aggressors are playing with fire. Everyone may end up burned. Regional war is overreach. It assures losers, not winners.

Drawing a red line on Syria is top priority. It's up to Russia, China and other anti-war nations to make clear they'll tolerate no more.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book is titled "How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War"

http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html

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 

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this Blog!

Damascus Street Notes

By Franklin Lamb
Al-Manar


Graphics by Alex

The half hour drive from the Lebanese border at Maznaa to Damascus is always pleasant with the wide, well paved and maintained highway, cutting through rolling hills often with large herds of goats and sheep lazily watching the traffic below. As this observer watched some of the herds the other day when traveling to Damascus, I noticed that there appeared to be an unusually large number of shepherds above us tending their herds. On second look, the shepherds turned out to be soldiers peering down on the main highway from among and behind the vegetation nibbling animals.

The increased security in Damascus has brought hundreds of shabab (youths), shahiba (“ghosts” in Arabic, but in the vernacular, “thugs”), popular committees, neighborhoods watch types and one presumes various security agency personnel from their early 20’s to middle age to control literally hundreds of checkpoints in central Damascus and the suburbs. Sometimes it appears that every fifty yards or so one encounters yet another checkpoint.

Damascus is currently calm with a few exceptions such as the Tadamon, Al-Qadam and Al-Asali neighborhoods where sporadic clashes are being discussed by friends the past two days. As with Libya last summer, many media reports are not at all accurate in depicting this city as on the edge and a panicked population. Last night this observer was up until almost 1 a.m. with friends in the old city at a restaurant and then driving around Damascus with still some cafes open, although according to local residents not as late as before the crisis began.

There are also plenty of security measures being strictly imposed around many governmental building including erected cement walls and the closure of nearby streets that cause traffic problems.

The Syrians are very serious about security. One government official told this observer,

“Look, if someone is intending to become a suicide bomber, it is very difficult for us to stop them. But we are doing our best and we conduct many random vehicle searches.”

A checkpoint experience here is not like in Lebanon where typically an approaching driver will simply roll down his window with a quick salute and a grinned “kefack habibi?” (“How are you dear?”) as the frequently sleepy soldier often just waves through the vehicle.

In contrast, Syrian checkpoints employ hi-tech weapons and explosive detection devices and search most cars, from underneath-up. Near government buildings or certain streets where high ranking officials have homes or offices metal detectors are also used.

This observer had an experience with a metal detector yesterday and with half a dozen or so security guys. Passing thorough the airport style device, having emptied my pockets of any metal and my phone, the loud alarm still went off. I was asked to pass through a second time.

I did with the same result. As three guys came close with new model hand held devices now being used, I also set off their alarms.

It finally dawned on me what the problem was.

I have recently had a state of the hart pacemaker implanted a few inches above my left nipple. I suddenly remembered that my cardiologist in Beirut warned me against passing thru a metal detector or allowing a hand held scanning device to come within two feet of me my pacemaker due to potential electronic problems.
 

Too late for that precaution, I opened my shirt and pointed to the four inch square lump in my chest and said “batterie.” Not being understood, two of the guys cocked their Kalashnikovs and things got tense. Later I was informed that they were pretty sure I was another of the recent suicide bombers plaguing Damascus and the lump was a bomb and they were edgy.

The situation was diffused by a middle aged fellow who apparently was the squad’s commander. When he approached me, by now I had my hands up, I said, “batterie, batterie, Dr.” He stared at my chest and replied, “Yalla, batterie, cardio, nam?” (“Ah, for your heart yes?”) After a little more discussion and checking my passport and visa I was on my way. This morning the young lady at the guest relations desk in my hotel kindly wrote me a card in Arabic, for future use if necessary, that I had a pacemaker and would very likely set off metal detectors. So as long as no one tips off my dream doctor at Hezbollah’s Cardiac Center in Beirut she won’t shout at me during our next appointment.

Sanctions as indiscriminate weapons against non-combatants

The legality of the western imposed sanctions on Syria and Iran are being discussed at the University of Damascus as well as among some officials and NGO’s here. A fairly cogent argument can be made that the type of sanctions being imposed on Syria and Iran are illegal under international customary law and, as with the banning of cluster bombs in 2008, should also be outlawed by an international convention. This is because the sanctions are political, rather obviously designed to achieve regime changes. They are also fundamentally indiscriminate and target and endanger the civilian non-combatants population particularly the poor, young, infirm and senior citizens

Claims are made in Washington and Europe that the increasing layers of sanctions target only the regime’s leader and its policies. This is nonsense. As in Iraq where US organized sanctions have been found to be a main cause of nearly 500,000 deaths of children, those seriously affected here are not the government officials.

The sanctions, as designed for application to both Syria and Iran also violate Art. 2 (4) of the UN Charter which commands that all Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.

In discussions with officials as well as a rough cross-section of the citizenry of Damascus, including shoppers and clerks at a central Damascus supermarket, as well as students, it is possible to get a fairly good idea how the Western imposed sanctions are affecting families here.

A progressive Syrian journalist who works part time with an American NGO, and is critical of the Assad government but even more so of the desperate rebel groups, shared a fairly representative analysis regarding what is the current situation in Damascus regarding the Western sanctions:

“I think the sanctions being imposed on our country have a tremendous effect on the current crisis. Prices on average have risen at least 40 percent, especially consumer goods and basic food, like meat, milk bread, vegetables, fruit etc. Eggs and chicken have doubled in price and are unavailable in some small shops. Lines are getting longer at some gas stations in some parts of Damascus. The sanctions have also forced many people to close down their factories in Damascus and Aleppo because of lack of raw materials, and the spiral increase in their prices. My daughter works in an accessory household company. They need to import materials from Turkey. Clothing is more expensive since Turkish goods are not entering. I believe her company will close down soon. You can talk to her about it if interested. My son is considering travelling because of the lack of job opportunities. Young men his age are very frustrated here and some of the idle young are joining gangs and being recruited by jihadist groups offering cash and weapons along with indoctrination. As a mother I worry about him staying out of trouble but young people don’t seem to listen. The crisis has also forced employers to discharge people to cut down expenses. Many merchants have already left the country and transferred their money elsewhere. Others, such as warmongers, have benefitted from the crisis. Smuggled goods are expensive if available. The sanctions have hurt the ordinary people more than the regime by far. We are far worse off than 20 months ago.”

What worries this observer a bit is that last night a businessman close to the leadership assured me that “We can fight ten years to retain control of Damascus from Al Qaeda and the fanatics. Do not worry my friend.”

 Worried? I was speechless. Because on exactly August 12, 2011, these were the exact words spoken to me by a friend, Mr Khaled Kane, a good man and at the time Deputy Foreign Minister of Libya. Ten days later, not ten years, Tripoli fell to the rebels and following arrest, torture, and now ill health, Khaled languishes in a Misrata jail.

Franklin Lamb is doing research in Lebanon. He is reachable c\o fplamb@gmail.com

He is the author of The Price We Pay: A Quarter-Century of Israel’s Use of American Weapons Against Civilians in Leanon.

He contribute to Uprooted Palestinians Blog
Please Sign http://www.petitiononline.com/ssfpcrc/petition.html

Beirut Mobile: +961-70-497-804
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River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this Blog!

Jewish Domination? Occupation More Likely

"Being subject to vile Zionist occupation, we had better urgently be in solidarity with ourselves — for we are all Palestinians now. We are abused by Israel, by its Sayanim, and by their collaborators."

By Gilad Atzmon

The recent attack on Free Gaza’s Greta Berlin and Colonel Ann Wright suggest that we have crossed a red line — Jewish domination within the Palestinian solidarity movement belongs to the past. We are now, it seems, under Zionist occupation, and we are subject to all the symptoms of Israeli abuse and Zionist brutality.

The expulsions,  the exclusions and the cleansings that are inherent within Zionism, Israeli and Jewish politics, are now alive and kicking within the Palestinian solidarity movement itself.

On a daily basis we are notified about more and more people who ‘must be’ expelled from the ‘movement’: earlier this year we learned that the Palestinian poet and writer Nahida Izzat  had first been harassed and later expelled from her local Palestinian solidarity group by a Liverpool Jewish activists’ gang.

Next,  Dr Francis Clark Lowes, former Chairman of the UK PSC was expelled from the organisation, for allegedly being an ‘Anti Semite’ and a ‘holocaust denier’.

Norman Finkelstein, probably the leading pro Palestinian Jewish scholar, has also been subjected to repeated smears and  attempts at character assassination for voicing some legitimate criticisms re BDS being a cult, and recently, the greatly admired Greta Berlin, co-founder of Free Gaza, has also been subjected to harassment and abuse in the last few weeks. Berlin was labeled ‘an anti Semite’ and ‘a Holocaust Denier’ — and yet, up until the present time, there has not been a shred of  evidence provided by her detractors to support such accusations. 

And now, the respected peace activist Colonel Ann Wright has also been ‘purged’, and expelled from the current attempt to break the siege on Gaza – simply  for being associated with Mrs Berlin.  The pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim is also subject to a BDS  boycott. And six months ago I too, faced a call for a disavowal – by people who were foolish enough to confess that they had not even read a single line of my work.

The message here is clear – Some elements within the Palestinian solidarity movement have obviously adopted the most repellent and brutal Zionist symptoms, and we are now engaged, caught up in, and beset by a sinister series of expulsions, purges, crude witch hunts, exclusions, smears, character defamations and cleansings.

Palestinian Authority– The Palestinian authority was formed by Israel in order to ‘maintain order’ within the occupied territories. We are fully aware of the PA’s difficult and problematic role in Palestine – but in recent years we have also become familiar with a new type of exilic Palestinian ‘authority’:

I refer here to those few Palestinians who are in place to maintain the solidarity movement as ‘a Kosher haven’. In the last six months, some exiled Palestinians have been involved in numerous  ‘targeted character assassinations’ of some of our most valued leading activists and scholars.

In the last month we saw Solidarity activists openly joining forces and collaborating with the darkest Zionist forces against Greta Berlin, Ann Wright, Ken O’Keefe, Norman Finkelstein,  and myself amongst others.

Segregation – Like in occupied Palestine (or ‘apartheid’ Israel, if you prefer), the solidarity movement is now clearly a segregated society: we can  witness a clear division between the ‘Jews only’ groups (racially driven and tribally oriented), and the ‘Palestinians only’ groups (ethnically segregated).  And then there is the general solidarity activist network,  that still insists to promote those consistent humanist values and goals of inclusivity and universality that it it has always upheld.

Espionage –Recent Jewish ‘progressive’ campaigns against Berlin and Colonel Wright have proved that, like Hasbara agents and Mossad, some of the so-called ‘anti’ Zionist Jewish organisations within our movement have been spying and tracking our moves, our private life, and  even our social network activity. They also use Hasbara disinformation and spin tactics in order to ruin the names of those who ‘got too close to the bone’ i.e. criticising Jewish power.

I have been monitoring these Hasbara tactics for more than a while and I have seen these tactics being used by some marginal Sayanim individuals within the movement. But I was slightly disappointed to find out that slander, smear and abuse are now  increasingly openly used by leading solidarity outlets such as Mondoweiss and Electronic Intifada.

The Verdict Is Clear
We are not a ‘solidarity’ movement anymore, for we have become foreign to the notion of solidarity as well as empathy.

But this is not necessarily entirely bad news. Being subject to vile Zionist occupation, we had better urgently be in solidarity with ourselves — for we are all Palestinians now. We are abused by Israel, by its Sayanim, and by their collaborators.

I guess that we had better liberate ourselves first. And such an aspiration would certainly give the concept of Palestinian resistance a new meaning and dimension.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this Blog!

Turkey Agrees on Syrian Solution that Assad Is Part of

Turkey Agrees on Syrian Solution that Assad Is Part of

Local Editor

Well-informed Iranian sources revealed that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed in a meeting with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Baku on discussing a solution for the Syrian Crisis that excludes the ouster of President Bashar Al-Assad. According to Al-Akhbar news paper, this was not “due to his love to the Syrian president but rather a last chance choice.” The Lebanese daily said in a report on Saturday that “the agreement is what urged Erdogan to present the proposal on settlement systems or liaison committees, as a preface for a “Syrian Taef” expected after the US presidential elections, and which the concerned parts are currently wrestling over the nature of the parts with the right to join it.” The source indicated that “the Americans and westerners in general have reached an estimation, which the Turks are aware of us, that they are incapable of toppling Assad for several reasons on top of which is the internal Syrian steadfastness, as well as the red line that Russia, China and Iran drew against any solution that excludes Assad.” “Iraq supports this troika’s direction, and it is taking strong action in this field, some of which is announced and some of which is under table. The punitive measures against Ankara and the arms deal with Russia are only bits of this support,” the source further told Al-Akhbar. The source referred to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s latest statement during a dinner the European Union minister in which he directly said: “Assad will never leave”. As he pointed out that the meeting between Ahmadinejad and Erdogan lasted for 40 minutes on the sidelines of the Economic Cooperation Organization summit on Tuesday, the source assured that “Ahmadinejad had regained the Iranian approach to the regional files. He told Erdogan that the United States wants to make changes in the region but under the condition that the three models in Afghanistan , Iraq, and Libya do not be repeated. He added that Washington has clearly empowered Saudi Arabia and Qatar to lead the region under the new American system, ignite regional crises, and appoint groups to topple this and that regional leaders.” On the Syrian issue, the source added that “Washington has authorized Turkey with the field and logistics management, a Saudi Arabia and Qatar provide fund, arms, and Islamist fighters whom the US and its allies want to evacuate from the Gulf and the new ally regimes. So, they either succeed in overthrowing the Syrian regime, and this is a success for this group, or it gets rid of them in Syria where they are used as firewood there, and this is also a success.” From here, the West, Al-Akhbar continued, hopes to successfully overthrow Assad before the US elections, even if it was through assassination. “If this goal was not achieved, as developments favor, the United States will demands other powers, such as Russia and China, to reach an agreement over Syria. By this Washington would have achieved its first goal, which is weakening the country, ripping its social structure, hitting the structure of its regime, destroying it as well as its economy,” the paper added. The Iranian source assured that “Turkey is now undoubtedly aware that eventually it will stay alone in this battle, especially if the Syria-Turkey borders exploded. Neither the US nor the Europeans or even the NATO will intervene in support of the new Ottomans. Similar would be the case if there was a settlement.” The paper referred to a settlement plan previously proposed by Iran, which states the implementation of ceasefire followed by a national dialogue between all parts, excluding the armed groups, pointing out that “the Turks are aware now that the Iranian proposal is the only intact proposal that has Russia and China support… and was approved by Egyptian President Mohammad Mursi.” In this context, Al-Akhbar reported that Erdogan had told Ahmadinejad in that meeting in Baku that “as long as this is the situation, lets form an Iranian, Turkish, Egyptian, or Iranian, Turkish, Russian liaison committee,” but he did not get any reply from the Iranian president. River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this Blog!

Israel, Syria, Iraq: Who Benefits From the Beirut Blast?

Who is the benificiary?? I asked lmmediatly after the attack
"MOSSAD, most likely its a response to Ayoub surveillance drone. As Israel can't attack Hezbollah, because such attack could lead to war, Mossad selected an easy target, to hit two birds, Al-Hassan who arrested many mosad cells in Lebanon, and target Lebanese stability. " I answered


Israel, Syria, Iraq: Who Benefits From the Beirut Blast?

By RT

At least eight are dead and 118 wounded after a car bomb rocked the Lebanese capital of Beirut. The attack in the majority Christian neighborhood killed a top-ranking security official.
RT crosses over to Beirut to talk to Ali Rizk – an expert on the Middle East.
Posted October 20, 2012

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32810.htm

 

Related

 

• Top intelligence official killed in deadly Beirut blast
• JA'JA SEES "SMALL WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY" WITH HIZBALLAH; MISSED OPPORTUNITIES WITH HARIRI
• Wissam al-Hassan and the Information Branch
• Jamil Sayyed to Saad Hariri: You Are Your Dad's Killer till You Punish Forgers
• Wissam al-Hassan, suspect of involvement in the assassination of Rafik Hariri, assassinated

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this Blog!

Netanyahu: 'No Limit on our aggression & expansion!'

Via FLC

"... Netanyahu spoke Sunday after the European Union's foreign policy chief criticized plans to build 800 new apartments and a military college on contested land, which the international community considers to be under Israeli occupation."We are not imposing any restrictions on construction in Jerusalem" Netanyahu told his Cabinet. "It is our capital."

(Oh, & this happened)

"... A top aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas promptly accused Netanyahu of deliberately destroying prospects for peace..."

Israel captures Gaza-bound Zionist ‘Estelle’ vessel

Posted on October 20, 2012 |

 

Today, Israeli troops intercepted and took control of Gaza-bound Finnish-flagged vessel ‘Estelle’ carrying 16 human rights activists from several western countries including a former Israeli pilot and former Canadian MP Jim Manly.

Interestingly, the leader of this ‘provocation’ against the Zionist entity is no other than Israeli Jewish activist Dror Feiler. He is chairman of the Jews-Only Swedish organization ‘Jews For Israeli Palestinianian Peace (JIPF)‘ and European Jews for Just Peace (EJJP). That shows how the so-called ‘pro-Palestinian’ groups are also controlled by the pro-Israel Zionist Jews.

On October 16, the Israeli ambassador to United Nations, Ron Prosor, in a letter to UN secretary general UN chief Ban Ki-moon and UNSC’s president for October, Guatemalan envoy Gert Rosenthal, had demanded that United Nations persuade Swedish boat ‘Estelle’ carrying human rights activists not to try to break the Zionist state’s six year old blockade of Gaza Strip which is home to 1.6 million Native Muslim and Christian Palestinians.

An interesting unfolding story tells us that even the who should be on board of ‘Estelle’ is controlled by Israel. For example, US Colonel Ann Wright, a former US diplomat who resigned in March, 2003 in opposition to the Iraq war was told three hours before she was to board a flight to Europe to meet up with the Swedish boat to Gaza, the ‘Estelle’ – by a board member of the ‘Estelle’ that being a critic of Israel , she had been dis-invited.

Ann Wright is member of Free Gaza Movement, co-founded by Greta Berlin (born 1941), who is being portrayed an anti-Semite by the Israel Hasbara media outlets in the US, Canada and Israel. Greta Berlin is accused of calling Israel an “illegal entity” and a “country founded on terrorism”, the “US Congress is occupied by Israel Lobby” – and “Zionists Ran the Holocaust and the Concentration Camps”. Greta is well-known for her support for one state solution for Palestine and Palestinians refugees’ right to return to their lands, homes and businesses stolen by foreign Jews.

But the fact is that there are more people in the world than world’s total Jewish population of 12.7 million including those 8,000 Jews listed on the ‘Self-Hating, Israel-Threatening (S.H.I.T)‘ list – who agree with Greta Berlin. As for Zionists running the Nazi concentration camps and the ethnic-cleansing of non-Zionist Jews – Rabbi Wolf Gunther Plaut, former president of the Canadian Jewish Congress in his 1990 book, ‘The Man Who Would Be Messiah’ did claim that Frankist Jews committed Holocaust. The book’s ‘Forward’ was written by no other than Elie Weisel, the father of ‘holocaust religion’.

 

Interestingly, Berlin’s scandal has exposed several so-called “pro-Palestinian Jewish groups” and individuals’ hypocrisy. For example, the Jewish Voice for Peace has distanced itself from Greta Berlin and the Free Gaza Movement which had sponsored several aid vessels to Gaza in the past. Naomi Klein has resigned from Gaza Free Movement advisory board. Tom Pessah criticized Berlin at Israeli +972 magazine while Derfner at the same magazine defended Berlin against Zionists’ smear campaign lead by JTA, Ha’aretz, Desert Peace blog and Canada’s National Post.

Ali Abunimah also joined the Zionists’ crusade against Berlin. Gilad Atzmon, Jeffrey Blankfort and Ramzy Baroud took Ali Abunimah to task. Israeli-born Gilad Atzmon wrote:

“The recent attack on free Gaza’s Greta Berlin and Colonel Ann Wright suggests that we have crossed the red line – Jewish domination within the Palestinian solidarity movement belongs to the past. We are now, it seems, under the Zionist occupation, and we are subject to all the symptoms of Israel abuse and Zionist brutality“.

 

Read the entire article here.

Kevin Barrett wrote an excellent article, entitled ‘Mind-controllers chant “anti-Semite” to prevent thought crime’, published by the Press TV on October 16, 2012. Read the article here.

'Turks see Ankara as merely a pawn in US plans to foment conflict in Syria'

[CSM] "... “What's happening in Syria is all part of America's great project to reshape the borders of the Middle East. America and its allies don't care about bringing democracy to the Syrian people. Look at what happened to Iraq!” he fumes. “The imperialist countries are only after oil and mineral resources.”
Nineteen months into Syria's conflict, resentment of Ankara and anti-US sentiment simmer in Antakya, which lies just over the border with Syria. The province is grappling with an ailing trade and tourism sector and an influx of refugees and rebel fighters. Locals blame the Turkish government for dragging them into the conflict by backing the Syrian opposition and aligning Turkey with the opposition's Western allies. 

The current administration's "zero problems with neighbors" foreign policy, which stood strong for several years, now rings hollow as Turkey's diplomatic ties with Syria and its ally Iran sour due to Ankara's support for the rebels. And many say that all of these problems can be traced back to the US, who they are convinced got involved with, and perhaps even fomented, the Syrian unrest to loosen up regional powers' grip on oil, enlisting Turkey as a pawn in the process. It had little to do with support for democracy, they believe.
Stirring up the 'beehive' 

The beliefs stem in part from a bold Bush administration political proposal that has faded into obscurity in the West, but remains lodged in the minds of many here. Known as the Greater Middle East Initiative, it was formally introduced by then-US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in 2006 at a conference in Tel Aviv. Her references to "the birth pangs of a New Middle East" and the unveiling there of a new map of the region featuring a "Free Kurdistan" are still remembered with resentment. .... 

"The access to oil will be made easier when people in these regions are divided and fighting amongst themselves. Both the US and Israel want to weaken Iran and strengthen their own position in the Middle East. But to do this, first they must weaken Syria and replace the current government with someone who supports them instead of Iran," says Mr. Eryilmaz..... 

Gilbert Achcar, a professor of international relations at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, says that the Greater Middle East Initiative has long since been abandoned, and all that remains is the deep skepticism of US motives that it spurred. Those in the Middle East tend to attribute more power to the US than it actually has, he says. 

“The US is overwhelmed by the situation in the Middle East and is not in control, let alone plotting something. The GMEI never took root. It just provided a grand name that fueled people's imaginations, and conspiracy theories were invented," he says....   

Tasked with alleviating Arab mistrust, the US selected Turkey as a key bridge between the US and the Middle East. .... But today, Turkey's role as a bridge between the West and the Arab world on the Syrian conflict has again raised suspicions. Its alliances with the US and autocratic countries like Saudi Arabia and Qatar, who have also come out as strong backers of the Syrian opposition, have provoked accusations that Turkey is more intent on weakening secular Syria and reinstating a Sunni government than in democracy...."

Mossad behind latest Beirut bombing

Posted on October 21, 2012 |

 

On October 19, Israeli Mossad car bombing killed Lebanese internal security chief Brigadier General Wissam al-Hassan near Sassine Square in Beirut’s predominantly Christian district of Ashrafiya. Wissam al-Hassan, a close Sunni ally of President Michel Sulaiman, had recently earthed an Israeli spy cell in Lebanon. The deadly blast killed 8 people and injured another 78, mostly Lebanese Christians.

American Jewish film-maker, political commentator and former personal secretary of Bertrand Russell, Ralph Schoeman 77, told Iranian Press TV that the bombing has all marks of Israeli Mossad.

“As 1992 to today in the day bombing of Beirut the identical scenario, who benefits from attempting to divide Lebanon and spread the turmoil, who benefits destabilizing the government in Damascus, who states to destabilize Beirut and subject Lebanon to civil war, the Zionist regime, the Mossad. It is a classical operation of Mossad,” he said.

Lebanese Islamic Resistance, Hizballah, has condemned the bombing. The pro-USrael opposition group March 14 lead by Sa’ad Hariri called for the resignation of Lebanese prime minister Najib Mikati, which he did – but Lebanese president Michel Sulaiman refused to accept it saying that Mikati cannot be blamed for the security breach. Both Hariri and Mikati are Sunni billionaires and are not connected to Hizballah in any way. Hizballah is member of the ruling March 8 Alliance.

It seems, the Zionist regime is playing its old covert operations to pit Lebanese against each other. It carried a similar car bombing to assassinate Rafik Hariri in February 2005. It was part of Israeli soft revolution before its invasion of Lebanon in Summer 2006. However, to western powers’ great surprise – the Jewish army met its first major military defeat at the hands of Hizballah fighters.

Israel and western Arab puppet rulers are trying to influence the June 2013 parliamentary election by the western-sponsored armed insurgency in neighboring Syria. In March 2012, United Nations’ envoy for the Middle East, Israel-Firster Jew Jeffrey Feltman told pro-Israel-Saudi, ‘Lebanese American Organization’ that Hizballah and its allies will be defeated in June 2013 election.

However, the recent Hizballah’s successful launching of a spy drone over Israel proves that the Jewish army is to face worse surprises than it faced in 2006.

•  Feltman Pledges Hezbollah Defeat in 2013 Parliamentary Campaign

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Egyptian presidency Spokeman: The letter is 100 % true

Updated

As expected, Mursi's leaked letter to child-murderer Shimon Peres, sparked criticism at home. Brotherhood's supporters denied the letter, but last night Yasser Ali, the spokesman for the Egyptian presidency, confirmed that the letter is 100 percent true. 

In his piece of sectarian shit, Khalid Hamayreh, wrote for PIC about his the hard time he lived at deLiberation, without providing links to the sectarian shit he left.

Khalid Hamayreh, after smearing the thuggish foreign (Israeli) minister who invited the "elected leader " President Mohamad Mursi Mubarak "of the most important Arab country" to visit Jerusalem and meet "with child killers such as Shimon Peres, Benyamin Netanyahu" inorder to" decapitate Mursi's political career once and for all"
 



Tel Aviv wants Egypt's Morsi to visit Israel

Though Hamayreh "know quite well that Mursi is not a naïve leader, and.....that the imminent president of the largest Arab country wouldn't even pay the slightest attention to Lieberman's inauspicious invitation" is worried because the Big American boss is planning to sponsor such meeting, therefore he warned:

The visit would have disastrous moral ramifications for many years to come, so much so that Mursi and the Muslim Brothers would have a hard time looking any Egyptian, Arab or Muslim in the Eye as a result of the monumental shame and embarrassment the Islamist camp would suffer.

Indeed, the catastrophic legacy that such a visit would bequeath would keep the Islamists busy for half a century to fix the damage.
 

On Israeli latest weekend strikes killed five in Gaza. I wonder what the Sectarian THUG, Hamayreh, would say about the President of the largest Arab country, sending his Ambassador to toast child killer Peres in Jerusalem, . while Israel approves 800 new East Jerusalem settler homes and while Netanyahu endorses report that says West Bank occupation legitimate .

"From the River to the Sea"

from Al Quds Al Arabi

The word "Palestine" is divided into two syllables, one in the West Bank and one in Gaza. The first syllable "Flas" conjures the word "bankrupt" and the second,"teen," means "mud."

I wonder what Hamayreh would say about the Leader of Largest Arab country coveying his wish for happiness to the child-killer, and "HIS" country», the Jewish State.



 
Who would believe the Murshid is calling Muslims worldwide to defend Jerusalem, saying: “Zionists only know the way of force”,

Welcome to Jerusalem, Prez said

Presenting his credentials Wednesday, Ambassador Atef Salem al-Ahl told Israeli President Shimon Peres that Egypt is “committed to all the agreements we signed with Israel and we are also committed to the peace treaty with Israel.”

“I came with a message of peace and I came to confirm that we are working for mutual trust and transparency and we are committed to all the agreements we signed with Israel,” Atef Mohamed Salem Sayed Elahl said on presenting his credentials to President Shimon Peres.

The Egyptian Ambassador delivered a passionate letter from Mursi’s to his "great and good friend", the  Zionist President Shimon Peres.

«To h.e. Mr. Shimon Peres, President of Israel dear great and my boyfriend for my keen to steadily love relations that link our two countries happily have chosen Ambassador Atef Mohammed Salem Sayed parents to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary from me to you. The experience of his dedication and energy, and what I saw of his ability in high positions held firm, making me please to have success in performing the task entrusted to him. And count on his experience and a sincere effort of will to be worthy of your sympathy and discretion, I request you to please, they keep him your support, your patronage, they kept him and receive him accepted and fully trust him to you by my side, especially since I had the honour to convey to you what I wish for your happiness, and your country of carefree». Seal anchorage message with the words "dear friend ... Loyal friend ... Mohamed morsy». While most observers critical of the policy of brotherhood questioned the letter through saying that Marina is not obliged to use kind words contained therein, after brotherhood supporters denied message, came the surprise last night from the spokesman for the Egyptian presidency, Yasser Ali, who was ashamed of that speech the brother of Israeli President «true 100 percent. '' And did not transfer news from an anonymous source, said at a news conference in the Federal Palace, reported by Egyptian newspapers all sites. He said the reason that the «diplomatic communications that command formula, and that letters of the Egyptian Foreign Ministry to nominate ambassadors and no distinction for one». To H.E. Mr. Shimon Peres, President of Israel   Dear great and good friend   Being desirous of maintaining and strengthening the cordial relations which so happily exist between our two countries, I have chosed Mr. Atef Mohamed Salem Sayed El Ahl to be our ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary. I request you to please, grant him your support, your patronage... especially since I had the honour to convey to you what I wish happiness for your, and your country. With highest esteem and consideration   Your "loyal friend" Mohamad Mursi

The letter exposes the real policies of Egypt Brotherhood towards the Zionist enemy, and the lies of its supreme leader, Mohammad Badie, calling Muslims worldwide to defend Jerusalem, saying: “Zionists only know the way of force.” ....

Mursi, who has so far refused to mention “Israel” by name in his speeches, made no public comments about Badie’s remarks.

Jerusalem - Egypt's New Envoy To Israel Says Brings Message Of Peace

فضيحة مرسي : التودّد لبيريز صحيح %100

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Our Solidarity: Unity, and the Art of Keeping It Together

Friday, October 19, 2012 at 8:15AM Gilad Atzmon

By Tariq Shadid

What better way to defeat an enemy than to cause a situation which has its ranks divided, and seeing its energy unleashed by one faction upon another, followed by tit-for-tat retributions, in an unending cycle of mutual destruction?

Watch those who support one common cause going at each other’s throats, and you will find yourself faced with a very difficult dilemma. What if you feel that both sides should settle their differences and return to mutual cooperation and respect? Whatever you say, will always be perceived as wrong and insufficient by either side. Neither side will settle for anything but a complete denunciation of the other, and both will only be satisfied if you express unambiguous support for their camp.

Welcome to the dynamics of ‘internal strife’, one of the most difficult aspects of human interaction. Once the seed of strife has been sown, it proves extremely difficult to eradicate, and this is exactly why the creation of such a situation is always a cherished dream of those who oppose that common cause.

There is an important reason why I am stubbornly refraining from naming any names or groups. I am not even going to explicitly state which situation I am referring to, although those who are active for the Palestinian cause and are in the possession of a Twitter account stand a very good chance of understanding which conflicts I am talking about.

This piece has a different ambition than to support or oppose any of the sides who are in furious disagreement with one another. Although I am not expecting it to be successful, this piece is an attempt to refrain from adding any fuel to the fire, and to avoid expressing myself in a way that pushes me into either camp, against my will.

I am talking about general principles of unity and perhaps even reconciliation, not about analyzing the chain of events that has led to the situation that has arisen from it. Internal strife is a potential threat to any existing group of people who work towards a common end, and without any exception is detrimental to the effectiveness of the movement as a whole. What I am writing here should be applicable to any situation where tons of energy are being spent by groups and individuals who at least partly share one common goal, on words and actions that stand in the way of attaining it.
The dynamic that ensues from hard-hitting internal strife develops into a spiral of mutual vilification that can impossibly end in any satisfactory outcome for those involved in this internal struggle. It doesn’t depend on who is ‘right’ and who is ‘wrong’, despite the fact that both sides are usually deeply convinced that their entire string of actions from the very beginning was entirely justified, logical, and unavoidable.

What the warring sides usually fail to see, is that once the mud-wrestling is in full swing, neither side can avoid being stained by it. This is only one of the reasons why such internal struggles never fail to yield a favorable outcome for those who are outside of the movement, and wish to see its failure. You can always count on them to be ready to throw some more gasoline on the blaze, and indulge in the pleasures of watching a movement being damaged in ways that they could never have attained on their own accord, but were always dreaming of.

Some would argue that conflicts like these sometimes are necessary, a form of ‘self-cleansing’, or a stage in the development of a movement in which it redefines itself, and corrects its flaws and weaknesses. Unfortunately, those who think so are misguided, unless they believe that the entire movement must be destroyed and rebuilt from its very foundations at random moments in time. But whoever watches the pinball machine in action without too high a level of personal involvement, can clearly see how the ricochet movement of the bullet continues to deal blast after blast, widening its range, and damaging sectors that will take a lot of energy to repair and rebuild. It also clearly shows that there can only be one winner: the injustice that both warring factions aim to oppose. It gloats, it giggles, it rejoices and it cheers at every blow that is dealt in either direction.

We are all in opposition to Zionism. This is the essence of our unity. We can only succeed at opposing it if we give it our full energy. It is not an easy enemy to beat, in the same way that other forms of racism are stubborn, persistent and powerful forces that permeate deeply into the fabric of society. We simply cannot afford to allow that common struggle to be weakened by internal strife and spite. The mere fact that Zionism benefits from infighting within anti-Zionist ranks should be reason enough to bury the hatchet and focus upon what we are really here for. We wish to see a free Palestine, so let that be our focus.

Indeed, I am telling both sides: enough quarreling about whose fault it is that this is all happening. Enough quarreling about who has the moral high ground. Back to the struggle, isn’t that what you set out to do in the first place? You are apparently forgetting that before this agonizing infighting, we all stood united against the occupation, against the Nakba, against the murders on the Mavi Marmara, against settler terrorism, and against the siege and the bombing of Gaza, to mention only a few of the many things we all agreed on.

If you are convinced that the ‘other side’ within these anti-Zionist ranks is ‘evil’, then let me tell you one thing: you can never convince them that they are. You can never defeat them, or wish them out of existence. You can never sway the entirety of public opinion to your side and make them oppose those others as much as you do. ‘They’ are there, and they will not simply disappear.

And, guess what: neither will Zionism. It will not simply disappear. It requires genuine efforts and hard work to oppose and expose its racist tenets, and to act against its interests. One of its main interests is – yes, you probably guessed it again – our division. Let us counter that with unity, or at least with an end to internal fighting. I know its too much to ask to want both sides to shake hands and say that it’s all in the past. If you can’t make peace with each other, then at least call it a truce, perhaps even by ignoring one another. Let’s show the Zionists that the pro-Palestinian movement as a whole is capable of keeping things together.

I have some genuine worries about publishing this blog. Perhaps I should ask you to forget what you just read, and not to share it on Twitter or Facebook. Perhaps you are being perceived by one of the sides in conflict as a supporter of one of those two sides. If that is the case and you share it, this blog probably will be considered a defense for that side. In reality, it is a defense for neither side, but a criticism of both. I know how unpopular that must probably make me, but I have always stuck with expressing my opinion, and the fact that I am publishing this blog makes it clear that I am willing to face the consequences.
 
If it ends up being read, I am already prepared for a wave of opposition and hatred against me. I wouldn’t have published it if I wasn’t prepared to face that. But let me tell you this: I will ignore it. Zionism is my target, and I will never lift a finger against those who stand in opposition to it, whether they consider themselves to be my allies or not. Shout, scream, blacklist and vilify as you wish, I am not interested. I am only interested in opposing Zionism and all other forms of racism. If you oppose these too, don’t waste your energy shouting at me – nor at one another – but join me in the struggle against these dehumanizing ideologies.

- Tariq Shadid is a surgeon living in the Arab Gulf who has been contributing articles to the Palestine Chronicle for many years. Some of these essays have been bundled in the book 'Understanding Palestine', which is available on Amazon.com. He also is the founder of the website 'Musical Intifada' featuring his songs about the Palestinian cause, on www.docjazz.com.

Source: http://www.palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=19644

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