IOF soldiers violently quell peaceful anti wall marches

PIC


[ 06/02/2010 - 07:59 AM ]

RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- Tens of Palestinians and foreign solidarity activists were treated for breathing difficulties after the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) fired tear gas bombs at their peaceful anti wall demonstration in Bilin village, Ramallah district, on Friday.

Locals said that the demonstrators hit the streets following the Friday congregation and hoisted Palestinian flags and chanted slogans denouncing the Israeli occupation authority's policies and demanding release of all detainees.

The marchers, who also chanted national slogans and called for shunning internal differences, were confronted by the IOF troops who used sound and gas bombs to chase them away.

A similar march was stopped before reaching the separation wall in Masara village, Bethlehem district, on Friday.

Local sources said that the IOF soldiers closed all entrances to the village with barbed wires and used force to block the march from heading to the village's confiscated land.

They said that foreign activists from Spain and Denmark took part in the march along with Arabs from Haifa.

River to Sea
 Uprooted Palestinian

Senate passes AIPAC sponsored Iran Sanctions Act

This is Zionism

Last week the Senate passed legislation to impose economic sanctions against Iran. The House version of the bill sponsored by Reps. Barney Frank (D-MA) and Mark Kirk (R-IL) passed in December. There is a separate Petroleum Sanctions act sponsored by Ileana Ros Lehtinen (R-FL) and Howard Berman (D-CA) that passed the House in October. The Senate bill was sponsored by Democrat Chris Dodd and Republican Richard Shelby.

The sanctions would target oil which Iran's economy is dependent on. The bill would also ban trade with companies that do business with Iran. The President has not stated whether he will sign the bill into law but did warn Iran that it would suffer "growing consequences" if they ignored international obligations. President Obama introduced similar legislation when he was Senator.

US sanctions alone will not cripple Iran's economy since Russia and China are dependent on Iran for oil. Hillary Clinton is now pressuring China to cooperate on Iran, but we have little leverage since we are in debt to them. Congressman Ron Paul observed, “Are we to conclude, with this in mind, that China or its major state-owned corporations will be forbidden by this legislation from doing business with the United States? What of our other trading partners who currently do business in Iran’s petroleum sector or insure those who do so? Has anyone seen an estimate of how this sanctions act will affect the US economy if it is actually enforced?”

This bill will send a clear message that America is an enemy of Iran and will likely cause more harm to the Iranian people than to the regime. The National Iranian-American Council says "the bill will impose "indiscriminate, unilateral sanctions that will hurt the Iranian people and play into the hands of Iran's rulers, who continue to commit flagrant human rights violations." More

• 'Russia guarantees delivery of S-300 system to Iran'
• West 'pushing for new UN sanctions against Iran'

Posted @ 21:17


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Uprooted Palestinian

Resheq slams Fatah officials for attacking Shaath’s visit to Gaza

PIC

[ 06/02/2010 - 07:46 AM ]

DAMASCUS, (PIC)-- Ezzat Al-Resheq, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, on Friday strongly denounced the scathing attack launched by some senior Fatah officials against the visit of Dr. Nabil Shaath to the Gaza Strip, saying that there are conflicting forces within Fatah seeking to abort any efforts made to reach real reconciliation.

Resheq added in a statement that this attack reflected that this visit was not unanimously supported by Fatah leaders, the thing which would have a negative impact on the reconciliation efforts.

He said that these conflicting forces are known for their opposition to the national reconciliation with Hamas and their compliance with the Zio-American dictates.

The Hamas official also denied that Hamas has changed its position on Egypt’s reconciliation paper or that it will sign it immediately once its delegation is in Cairo.

He said that Hamas's remarks, which he described as substantial and affecting the future of the Palestinian cause, should be taken into account before signing that paper.


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Uprooted Palestinian

Desmond Travis: Israel created the myth of Hamas using human shields

The Angry Arabs' comments section

Interview:

Desmond Travis – We found no evidence for the human shield phenomenon but, to be honest, I did expect to come across it.
HC – So who made these allegations (against Hamas) in the first place?
DT – The Israelis.
HC – But if they weren’t co-operating, how did they tell you about it?
DT – It was in the media reports. They made no formal statements. Here’s a little thing nobody has ever raised and I want you to think about this. There were functionaries in combat uniform and in civilian attire, Arab speaking, operating in Gaza. These were Israeli combat troops specially trained to operate in the Occupied Palestinian Territories in civilian attire. They worked as ‘franc-tireurs’ (literally “free shooters”) and could have been in a position to cause confusion among the population. It is for this reason that if there was evidence of Hamas intimidation of any kind, it would have been necessary for me, an investigator, to determine by identification who the perpetrators were.
The Israelis themselves have admitted it; if you go to military websites, there are reams of stuff about special Israeli combat troops trained to work in the West Bank and in Gaza infiltrating into the area and working behind the scenes before, during and after the actual ground invasion. What I’m saying to you is, if somebody tells me there is a Hamas operative doing something on some street corner I have to ask, can you identify him for me because, we don’t know.

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Uprooted Palestinian

GEORGE GALLOWAY ~~ A MAN WITH A VISION AND HOPE

But the Neopatriots at Rizzostine have different opinion:

"Galloway is no Salah Eddin" . Galloway has another Agenda Viva Palestina should apologize to Egypt in a public press conference. THUS "SAID" HAITHAM SABBAH

Now they are storming the Freeminds to find a way to Rectify Common Activist Errors, not their Sins.

Related:

How easy it is to be WHEELCHAIR critics!
Littlewood, Neo-Pan Arabs, Neopatriots On: Viva Palestina, Siege, Wall of Shame, and Liberating all Palestine
Ramullah Traitor, Neopatriots of Rizzostine On: Viva Palestina, Siege and the Wall of Shame
So your job is smearing Haitham and his sites and work? Thus Said Mary Rizzo
"So, UP site has become the Tony Greenstein site".."Now, the Queen will say a few things"

GEORGE GALLOWAY ~~ A MAN WITH A VISION AND HOPE

Source

February 5, 2010 at 9:04 am

Robert Burns would be proud of this man……

Commentary by Chippy Dee, Photos © by Bud Korotzer

On Sunday evening, January 31st, the Widdi Hall in Brooklyn was packed with people who had come to hear British M.P. George Galloway speak about the Viva Palestina convoy of over 520 people from 17 countries who brought 250 trucks and ambulances full of humanitarian supplies like generators, baby milk, medicine, medical equipment, and toys to the people of Gaza last month. Most of the people in the hall appeared to be Palestinian. Whole families were there with babies and there were many teenagers. The meeting opened with a color guard, young people carrying large Palestinian flags through the hall as the people sang the Palestinian national anthem. Lamis Deek of Al-Awda acted as MC and kept the program moving.

Many leaders of the Arab-American community spoke about the need to renew a commitment for action to support a people who “seek freedom and justice for all”. There was poetry, both original and by Mahmoud Darwish, the renown poet of Palestine, and an excellent documentary on the Viva Palestina convoy that brought aid to Gaza last summer. It also showed the devastation created by the Israeli assault last year.

Several people that were on that convoy reported on their experiences. Bill Doars of Al-Awda, one of the participants, said that Gaza is the heartbeat of the resistance – the struggle for freedom and the right of return.

They are being blockaded and bombed because they refuse to say that what happened 61 years ago is OK. 85% of the people there are refugees who were expelled from their homes when Israel was established as a state and they want to go home.

Gaza is a symbol for oppressed people all over the world.

Another member of last summer’s convoy said he saw that, despite what they endured, the people there retained their humanity, which he referred to as a very high form of resistance.

When Galloway entered the room surrounded by the color guard, he received a long standing ovation. Then, except for an occasional cry from a baby, the room fell silent. Galloway began by saying that he had just returned from a Palestinian refugee camp where he delivered the humanitarian aid that Egypt did not allow him to bring into Gaza.

Alluding to the trouble that the Egyptian government gave him in getting the convoy into Gaza, he said he loved the Egyptian people – his quarrel was with their “tin pot dictator”, Hosni Mubarak.

He said he is frequently asked why he, with a Scotch-Irish background and coming from thousands of miles away, has spent 35 years fighting for the Palestinian cause. His response was that Che Guevara was not Cuban, yet he fought for the freedom of Cuba. Che was not African, yet he fought beside Lumumba for freedom in Africa. Che was not Bolivian, yet he gave his life’s blood in their mountains.

“I march behind the banner of Guevara”. Che said that, “A man who is not capable of trembling with indignation at any injustice anywhere, he is not a real man”.

He continued, we are not here to say a word against the people of the US and we are not here to “harm” the US. We are not giving material aid to terrorists. We are here to raise funds for a people under siege. We are organizing to raise funds for victims of terror. Israeli terrorism has persisted for over 60 years. He said he spoke in Lyon, France last week at a rally for Palestine and there were thousands of people there of every religion and background. One of the Palestinian resistance leaders called and spoke to the crowd. Galloway realized that in another time it could have been a voice from occupied France, Nazi resistance was very strong in Lyon, and the next day that voice may have been stilled. The world would know that the voice represented resistance, and the people that killed him were the criminals occupying his land. The unkindest cut of all is that the victims of terror in Palestine are called terrorists, and the terrorists are called victims of terror.

At this point Galloway asked if the FBI agent in the room would care to identify himself?

He pointed out that the planes, helicopters, tanks, warships, and weapons were all paid for by the US government – it is funding Israeli state terrorism. But, he added, we are not fighting the US government, we are fighting the policy of that government. This is a free and democratic country and we have every right to fight that policy, not just because it harms the people of Palestine, but because it harms the interests of the people of America. The unlimited weaponry given to Israel is making hundreds of millions of people hate the USA – and some become ready to harm Americans. Galloway once spoke to Obama and urged him to change that policy in the interests of his own people. He had hope after hearing Obama speak in Cairo. Obama gave 300 million Arab people hope. But his actions do not match his words. The course he is on can only mean disaster for the world and for his presidency. The “settler state of Israel” shows contempt for US foreign policy. As soon as George Mitchell flew out of Israel Netanyahu was planting trees on the West Bank declaring that Israel will never leave that land. It is land stolen in 1967 and held in defiance of international law. Galloway posed a question for Obama, “Are you going to tolerate what you said is intolerable?”

The siege on Gaza was imposed for no other reason than that, in a free election, the Palestinian people voted for a party that Israel and America didn’t like. And because it was clear that the people who won the election weren’t prepared to impose the policies of the people that they defeated in the election. Galloway said that he doesn’t support Hamas, but only the Palestinian people are entitled to choose their leadership.

The siege of Gaza isn’t only an Israeli siege, it is an Arab siege also. Israeli Consular propaganda in NYC said that the recent Viva Palestina convoy was treated badly by Egypt because they didn’t follow the Egyptian orders properly. But, he said, the other 2 Viva Palestina convoys were treated badly too. On the 1 year anniversary of the assault on Gaza Egyptian police were clubbing and pulling the hair of freedom marchers in Cairo. “Mubarak’s is as stupid a regime as there is anywhere in the world”. At a time the world should have been focused on what happened in Israel a year ago the world’s negative attention was on Egypt. The Arab media was asking why Egypt was stopping humanitarian aid from reaching Gaza.

Many people in the convoy were from Turkey. Galloway said that Turkey gave the convoy enormous support, both material and diplomatic. The convoy couldn’t have taken place without them.

55 convoy members entered Gaza still bandaged and bleeding from being assaulted by Egyptian police in the Egyptian port city of Al Arish. The people of Gaza kissed their bandages and some got marriage proposals.

“Gaza is the only prison in the world where people are fighting to get in”. The convoy was thanked by the people of Gaza “But”, he said,”it is we who should be thanking you for the example of resistance that you have displayed to the whole world”.

“Gaza is the only part of Palestine which is free and liberated and dignified and Arab”.

While in Gaza Egypt sent word to Galloway that he would be arrested when he left Gaza. Rather than risk the convoy members fighting such an action and possibly being fired upon by the Egyptian police or military, Galloway turned himself over to the Egyptian security in the dead of night before the scheduled departure. He was violently forced into an unmarked van and taken to the Cairo airport where he was put on a plane, declared persona non grata, and told that he cannot return to Egypt again. Galloway told the crowd that he will return to Egypt to celebrate in the streets of Cairo with the Egyptian people when Mubarak and his torturers are gone.

The Egyptian government said that land convoys to Gaza will not be allowed through Egypt ever again. What then are our options, Galloway asked. The next convoy was going to be led by Hugo Chavez this spring. A non-option is allowing the people of Gaza to face their suffering alone. Answering his own question he said, “The sea is open for those who have the coverage to take to it. We do and we will”.

Negotiations are now going on with Turkey. A convoy of ships from all over the world, South Africa, Malaysia, Venezuela, and, hopefully, the US, will sail from Turkey with the blessing of the Turkish government. “We will sail under Turkish flags from wherever we came”.

There will be a huge flotilla filled with aid, including a cargo ship filled with building supplies that Israel has not allowed into Gaza. There will be cement, tools, nails, and glass for the 48,000 broken windows in Gaza. Israel will try to stop it. But if we have enough ships, enough publicity, and enough V.I.P.s on board we can’t all be rammed or turned back. We’ll get there. If the Israeli navy doesn’t let us into Gaza then we’ll remain at sea. Let the whole world see what Israel is doing. We’re sailing to Gaza! And if you can’t go there with us then you have to help us raise money.

At that point a collection was made and pledge cards were distributed. The night before American Muslims for Palestine raised $130,000. People in the hall were giving checks and pledging thousands and thousands of dollars. It was clear that the contributions coming from the US would fill more than one ship with aid for the besieged men, women, and children of Gaza.

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Uprooted Palestinian

Israel slaps six-month travel ban on Palestinian map expert

The Electronic Intifada,

Marian Houk, The Electronic Intifada, 5 February 2010

Citing "security reasons" -- the ubiquitous and unanswerable catch-all phrase against which it is almost impossible to mount any defense -- Israel's Ministry of the Interior has just issued a six-month travel ban on map expert Khalil Tafakji.

Tafakji, like almost all other Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem, is a "permanent resident," but not a citizen of Israel.

He is frequently interviewed as an expert on Al-Jazeera satellite channel, as well as on Palestinian television and other media. He said in a phone interview on 4 February that he had just returned 20 days previously from a tour of a number of countries, from Tunisia to Turkey to India, during which he spoke about the problems facing Palestinians because of Israeli policies in East Jerusalem. "You know I am not a political man," Tafakji said today. But, this is a place where even ordinary, everyday life becomes political.

However, Tafakji has been called the Palestinian Authority's chief geographer and said he did not know of any other person who has been handed such a travel ban.

Tafakji, surprised at the development, said that "Yesterday they [Israeli authorities] called me and said come to Moskobiyya [the "Russian Compound" security complex in West Jerusalem] -- Room 4. They said 'This is an order, sign it, you have 14 days to make an objection. It is forbidden for you to travel from today for six months.'"

When asked if he will contest the travel ban, Tafakji said that he has been in constant consultation with lawyers, who have all said that since the explanation he was given was only the generic -- but all-encompassing -- "security reasons," it is almost hopeless to contest.

Tafakji was not given any other restriction, he said.

"We are trying, through relations with Jordan and Egypt, America, Britain and France, to see if we can do anything" to remove the restriction, Tafakji said. He told the privately-owned and operated Maan News Agency in Bethlehem that "I am a peace man," and noted that he worked as a cartographic expert with Palestinian delegations to peace talks since they began in the early 1990s.

He also worked with the late PLO leader in Jerusalem, Faisal Husseini, who had set up the Arab Studies Society in 1983 and established an important center for services in the Orient House, the Palestinian headquarters in East Jerusalem forcibly closed by Israel in 2001. Tafakji heads the Arab Studies Society's Mapping and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Department, which has relocated to Dahiet al-Bariid, just beside Israel's wall, but with full access to Jerusalem.
Marian Houk is a journalist currently working in Jerusalem with experience at the United Nations and in the region. Her blog is www.un-truth.com.
River to Sea
 Uprooted Palestinian

al-Mabhouh Killers Are Taking The Piss

From I4P

Really angry here. Israel tries to blame Ireland for murder. I’m just after reading the rubbish about the murdering scumbags who killed Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai. The Zionist Supporting killers used Irish Passports to avoid suspicion and no doubt as some sort of insult to the Irish, who are staunch supporters of Palestine and have been for many years. No Irishmen would have been involved in such a disgraceful act. Additionally the Irish have good standing with Muslim people in the Middle East because we respect them. . People in those countries like the Irish, and to “some other people” this can be useful for nefarious reasons.More after this:
The assassins of senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, who was found dead January 20 in Dubai, traveled to the Gulf country using Irish passports.

Up to seven people were said to have been involved in Mabhouh's killing, four of whom used Irish passports to enter Dubai and who later fled to a "European country" after the killing, police sources in Dubai told the newspaper.
Very curious indeed. Many British who have ancestral links to Ireland obtain Irish passports to travel with because Ireland is a neutral country, we don’t go round invading countries or murdering others who are oppressed or have been oppressed like us.

Britain does not have this respect in the world because their armies are occupying the lands of Iraq and Afghanistan right now, and should the US venture into another war for Israel with Iran, the British will be right there as well. The tactic of using Irish passports to gain acceptance is well known. But here’s an example that happened months ago and I never wrote about it then because I was busy at the time, but it made me mad at the time and was very strange indeed. And note the curious nature of this report as well. Firstly, why such a huge operation for one journalist, secondly, note that 4 innocent people died in the operation to get one British “journalist” freed. The British journalist in question was using an Irish passport, not his British passport. See here:
LINK New York Times reporter Stephen Farrell was freed unhurt. His Afghan colleague Sultan Munadi was killed along with a UK soldier and two Afghan civilians.

Mr Farrell, who holds British and Irish nationality, was "extracted" by "a lot of soldiers", the New York Times said.

The reporter told his newspaper he ran outside with Mr Munadi, reportedly a 34-year-old father-of-two who worked as an interpreter with Mr Farrell.

He said Mr Munadi had shouted "Journalist! Journalist!" before he fell to the ground in a hail of bullets.

Mr Farrell said he did not know whether the shots had been fired by their rescuers or the militants.

The head of the Afghan Independent Journalists' Association, Rahimullah Samandar, told the BBC that the raid showed international forces did not care about Afghan reporters.

Mr Samandar said it was not the first time a kidnapped Afghan journalist had been killed while a Western colleague was freed.
I remember at the time there was quite a lot of backlash in England over this operation because a Brit soldier died along with the other three. Even British people were asking why this "reporter" was so important that he warranted such an operation to free him. Also, he was told not to go into that area, he went anyway. And this is not the first time he was "kidnapped."

One thing I know regarding this Dubai murder, is either those Irish passports were fake or people from a "European country" who have ancestral ties with Ireland used this to obtain Irish passports to commit murder for Israel and sully the name of the Irish. MORE HERE

Posted by Irish4Palestine at 9:40 PM


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 Uprooted Palestinian

Ma'roof: I was tortured in Egyptian jails

PIC

[ 05/02/2010 - 08:59 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- A Palestinian police officer from Gaza, who was recently released from an Egyptian jail, said that he was tortured during his week-long detention in Egypt, including being stripped from his clothes and electrocuted.

In a statement on Friday published by the Palestine Today website, Ibrahim Ma'roof said that he was striped of his clothes an tied to force him to give information about Qassam leaders and the whereabouts of Israeli occupation soldier Gilaad Shalit who is being held by the Palestinian resistance.

Ma'roof said that he left the Gaza Strip on 5 January to Egypt with his father who needed an open heart surgery.

After the treatment Ma'roof and his father travelled back to the Gaza Strip on 27 January. At the Rafah crossing, everyone was allowed in except Ma'roof, his father and the medical team accompanying his father.

Ma'roof said that after the Egyptian officers checked his passport, they told him that they will allow his father into the Strip, while they needed a couple of words with him because of some confusion around the name.

He was then taken to the Egyptian security checkpoint in Rafah were he was kept for 5 hours without being asked anything, after that he was blindfolded and taken to al-Areesh where he was left the rest of the night without questioning.

At 10 on the 23 Jan he was blindfolded by a group of soldiers who took him to an interrogation centre where he was questioned and accused of being a member of Hamas, a member of the Qassam Brigades and of forming an armed group that entered Egypt to assassinate Fatah cadres. He denied all accusations.

Asked if he was tortured Ma'roof said that he was striped of his clothes apart from his brief. He was force to lie down on the floor on his stomach. His hands and feet were tied tighter and metal benches were placed on his back. Two electrodes were tied to his two small toes on both feet. Then they started beating and kicking him.

He added that they poured kerosene on his feet before turning on the electric current.

After refusing to admit to any of their allegations, he was taken to a staircase used by the officers where he was tied so that officers using the stairs could hurl abuse at him. He was kept like this until 2:00 in the morning.

Ma'roof added that he saw some Palestinian officers affiliated with the defunct PA preventive security helping Egyptian intelligence.

Ma'roof stressed that the questioning concentrated on asking about the leaders of the Qassam Brigades, the Qassam fighters and their positions, and the whereabouts of Gilad Shalit.

An Egyptian officer that goes by the name Mahmoud Beih Abdel Halim told Ma'roof "If I bring 15 Egyptian soldiers, we will annihilate you, we will annihilate Hamas, we will annihilate the Qassam."

Finally he said that he met many Palestinian prisoners, some of them detained because of working in the tunnels to smuggle food for the besieged people of the Strip and prisoners from al-Areesh whose crime was providing help and food for the besieged Gazans.

River to Sea
 Uprooted Palestinian

Sending a Flotilla in the Spring to Break the Siege of Gaza

Link

 Date Published: 28 January 2010
 Source: Free Gaza Movement
Contact:

• IHH, Ahmet Emin +90 530 341 19 34
• Free Gaza Movement, Eliza Ernshire +44 754 011 22 94

[Istanbul, Turkey] Today the Free Gaza Movement and the Turkish Relief Foundation (IHH), announce a joint venture, sending 10 boats in the spring of 2010 to the besieged Gaza strip. Organizations from Greece, Ireland and Sweden have also promised to send boats to join the flotilla with the Free Gaza movement and Turkey.

Mr. Bulent Yildirim, chairman of the IHH said, “We sail in the spring to Gaza, and our last port is freedom; freedom for the 1.5 million Palestinians denied the right to rebuild their society. We will never stop sailing until Israel’s siege is lifted.”

Two cargo ships will be part of the flotilla, one donated by the Malaysia-based Perdana Foundation and one from IHH. Both will be laden with building supplies, generators and educational materials that Israel prohibits from entering Gaza since their brutal attack on the civilian population a year ago.

The many passenger boats accompanying the cargo ships will carry members of Parliament from countries around the world as well as high-profile journalists and human rights workers.

According to the chair of the Free Gaza Movement, Huwaida Arraf, “The illegal blockade on Gaza and Israel’s continued intransigence make a mockery of international law. If our governments will not take a stance to stop Israel’s abuse of the Palestinian people, global civil society is showing that we will.”

This entry was posted on 05/02/2010 at 6:33 PM and is filed under Activism, Everyday life in Gaza, Gaza, Gaza reconstruction, Palestine, Siege . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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 Uprooted Palestinian

BREAKING NEWS: US tells Israel easing siege would help counter Goldstone charges of war crimes

Via Australians For Palestine

 February 6, 2010

 The United States has suggested to Israel that easing the Gaza blockade would help counter the fallout from the Goldstone report on alleged war crimes during Operation Cast Lead a year ago.

Judge Richard Goldstone

Friday, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is expected to present a report to the General Assembly on the implementation of the report’s recommendations by Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

The U.S. message on the blockade was relayed last week when a Foreign Ministry delegation met in Washington with senior officials from the State Department and the White House. Much of the meeting dealt with steps that Israel could take to help the United States and others block the Goldstone report and prevent it from reaching the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Heading the Israeli delegation was the Foreign Ministry’s deputy director for international organizations, Eviatar Manor. The delegation met with officials including the U.S. assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor, Michael Posner, and President Barack Obama’s adviser on human rights, Samantha Power.

The Americans were interested to hear whether Israel had decided on whether to set up a committee to investigate Operation Cast Lead. Power asked about Israeli public opinion on this issue.

Power did not hide her criticism of Israel’s handling of the Goldstone report; she asked whether Israel’s thinking on the issue was “strategic or tactical.”

“Is the correct strategy fighting Goldstone on all fronts?” she asked.

A main message of the U.S. officials was that the humanitarian situation in Gaza was directly linked to the ability of Israel’s critics to push the Goldstone report forward and the ability to block the report’s consequences.

Posner, who had held talks on the Goldstone report in Jerusalem a month ago, stressed that the document has two angles: “one humanitarian the other multilateral. Improving the humanitarian situation in Gaza may be an important component of the change in the attitude of the international community toward Israel and will be very helpful against the Goldstone report.”

The Americans said they do not believe in the policy of preventing goods from reaching the Gaza population because of the political situation there. “We do not accept the current situation at the Gaza crossings,” one of them said.

by Barak Ravid  -  Haaretz -  4 February 2010

The Israeli government has still not decided whether to form a committee that will evaluate the events of Operation Cast Lead.

A decision is expected to be made before deliberations on the matter at the UN.
Sources at the Prime Minister’s Bureau said yesterday that the plan is first to see how the deliberations at the UN proceed, and to gauge the reactions to the secretary general’s report.

The forum of seven senior cabinet ministers met Tuesday night to discuss the Goldstone report and are expected to hold another meeting today.
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 Uprooted Palestinian

Israeli Media: We're Too Weak to Overthrow Regime in Syria!

Almanar

05/02/2010 "Syrian President Bachar Assad must realize that if he provokes Israel his regime will collapse," Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, thrilled by the "art" of threats to the region, warned on Friday.

But only hours after his "fascinating" threats, Lieberman and those surrounding him perceived that he has made a huge "mistake."

In his first reaction, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed Cabinet Secretary Tzvi Hauser to call all government ministers and order them to refrain from making any Syria-related remarks.

But the issue is not limited to the official "mum" imposed by Netanyahu on Lieberman as well as his "colleagues" in the Israeli cabinet. Lieberman has in fact turned himself to the "scapegoat" as Zionist analysts believe that Israel is too weak to overthrow the regime in Syria given that Damascus has benefitted from the experience of the July war in Lebanon, something that should push Israel to reconsider its position in any new confrontation.

Liberman was, in this context, accused of seeking to provoke Israel into a war it doesn't want at this moment. "We, in the security institution in Israel, believe that settlement with Syria is a strategic goal and therefore, we should sit down and discuss the issue instead of exchanging verbal threats," Israel Defense Minister Ehud Barak said in response.

Experts in the Middle East affairs said in turn that Lieberman's threats and speeches were harmful to the Israeli deterrence, given that such threat cannot be taken as serious by the Syrian people. They emphasized that to think rationally, Israel wouldn't be able to overthrow the Syrian regime. They recalled how Israel failed in toppling Hezbollah in Lebanon in 2006, pointing out that any war with Syria wouldn't be easy given the increase of the Syrian military force.

For its part, Israeli daily Yedihot Ahronot said that the Syrians have discovered a weakness in the Israeli stance and therefore were not scare anymore.

Netanyahu Tells Ministers to Keep Mum on Syria; US Urges to Show Restraint


05/02/2010 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed Cabinet Secretary Tzvi Hauser to call all government ministers Thursday and order them to refrain from making any Syria-related remarks.

The move followed heightened tensions vis-à-vis Damascus in recent days.

Earlier Thursday, the Israeli prime minister spoke with Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman in the wake of the latest threats directed by Lieberman at the Syrian regime.

Netanyahu and Lieberman later issued a joint statement, saying "Israel is seeking peace and wants to engage in political negotiations with Syria, without pre-conditions. Nevertheless, Israel will continue to fiercely and firmly respond to any potential threat."

Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak also attempted Thursday to allay the growing tensions.

US URGES SYRIA, ISRAEL TO SHOW RESTRAINT

As tension continues to rise between Damascus and Tel Aviv, the United States is urging Syria and Israel to show restraint and return to the negotiations table.

Al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper on Friday quoted sources in Washington who addressed the tension, and called for Syria to "show restraint and not take any measures that would hinder launching negotiations."

According to the report, the source added that "Washington is working seriously towards renewing peace talks swiftly, and on all channels," including between Israel and Syria.

In addition, the source stated that "there are issues that are still pending, and are a cause for concern for Syria," which they said would be handled by the designated American ambassador to Damascus, Robert Ford, as soon as his appointment is approved by the Senate.

Meanwhile, the paper also quoted Syrian officials who responded to remarks made by Lieberman, who threatened to bring down Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime in the event of a war with Israel.

According to the report, the Syrian officials believe "the reason for these remarks may be messages that Lieberman meant to convey within Israel" or what they called "a cover for the current Israeli government's lack of ability to live up to commitments that call for a just and inclusive peace process."
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 Uprooted Palestinian

"Will Netanyahu and Lieberman's political escalation translate to military escalation?"

Via Friday-Lunch-club

 

LATimes' Babylon & Beyond/ here

"... As-Safir and Al Akhbar, two Lebanese newspapers considered sympathetic to Hezbollah, ran editorials Friday questioning Israel's motives and military preparedness.

Samir Karam, writing in As-Safir (in Arabic), criticized Israeli military strategy for failing to evolve with the conflict, citing a report by the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs on Israel's qualitative military edge.

"[The study's authors] want to make a fuss about ending the doctrine of qualitative military edge, while emphasizing that Israel still has this qualitative edge, despite developments that would destroy [this advantage]," Karam wrote. "What can Israel do to restore this qualitative edge, which [was damaged by] the resistance, not armies?"

In Al Akhbar (in Arabic), Saadallah Mazraani accused Israeli politicians of using political and military provocation to shift focus from reaching a two-state solution.

"Will Netanyahu and Lieberman's political escalation translate to military escalation?" he asked, and if so, will it be in Gaza, Lebanon, Iran or Syria?

"But there is a risk: despite the natural tendency of Israeli leaders toward war and aggression, despite the presence of an extremist group in a position of unprecedented power in Israel, despite the fact that this group is supported by influential powers in the American administration. ... Despite all this, despite the lure of official Arab complicity and Palestinian division ... the facts on the ground do not make the Israeli adventure easy. ... The war will not be limited, and the resistance will be wider and more effective."

Posted by G, Z, or B at 12:24 PM

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Talmud At Work

Soldiers attack Palestinian Shepherds and Torture Musab Raba'i

Soldiers attack Palestinian Shepherds and Torture Musab Raba'i

On the morning of Thursday 7 January 2010, Israeli soldiers attacked and injured Palestinian shepherds from the Musa Rabai family, as they grazed their sheep in Humra valley, near the village of At-Tuwani in the South Hebron Hills. Five members of the family were hospitalized. Before leaving the area, the soldiers arrested one of the shepherds, Musab Musa Rabai. Raba'i was interrogated and tortured for four hours.

For more information, see press release: http://snipr.com/u9i3y and http://snipr.com/u1apw



Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog

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When “Israel” joins NATO

Via Silver Lining

Posted on February 5, 2010 by realistic bird

{Israeli Yo Yo} by Jalal Al Rifa'i

If Israel succeeds in joining NATO, its regional belligerency would be backed by the collective strength of the entire alliance. Before that happens, will the Arabs react, asks Galal Nassar, source.

February 4, 2010

Israel wants to be a member of NATO. It no longer looks down its nose at military alliances. It no longer wants to stay away from Western military arrangements. It wants in.

A majority of Israelis believe NATO membership would boost Israel’s security as well as NATO’s strategic power. Interestingly enough, there has been no Arab reaction to Israel’s desire to join NATO, no Arab attempt to block the move, and no preparations to deal with its consequences.

Israel and NATO have grown closer over the past decade or so. In 2000, NATO expanded its Mediterranean Dialogue through talks with seven countries from the Middle East and North Africa; namely, Egypt, Israel, Algeria, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia and Mauritania. In 2004, NATO- Mediterranean talks were held under the name “Partnership for Peace”. Six new countries were included in the new dialogue: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Israel, in particular, was eager to use every opportunity the Partnership for Peace had to offer.

On 24 February 2005, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer became NATO’s first secretary-general to visit Israel. In the following month, NATO and Israel held their first joint military drills in the Red Sea. Within weeks, a flotilla of six NATO ships called on the Israeli port of Eilat. Israel (and Jordan) also took part for the first time in joint military drills held within the Partnership for Peace programme in Macedonia in the former Yugoslavia in February 2005.

According to the UK-based Jane’s military magazine, Israel’s “geopolitical position” provided NATO with a foreign base to defend the West, while NATO’s military and economic might enhanced the security and economic potential of the “host country”.
In June 2005, Israel participated in submarine ma
noeuvres off the coast of Taranto, Italy. At the time, US sources said that Israel was seeking to widen the “scope of its strategic alliance” with NATO in preparation for full membership in NATO. Israeli ground forces also took part in NATO drills lasting two weeks and a half in Ukraine. In 2006, Israel told NATO that it wanted to participate in “active operational efforts” conducted by NATO in the Mediterranean as part of the campaign to “confront terrorism”.

Soon after, Israel hosted and took part in three military drills with NATO and attended a conference for NATO air force commanders. The Wall Street Journal reported closer links between NATO and Israel. It cited Uzi Arad, founder of the Atlantic Forum of Israel, as saying that Israel would benefit from NATO’s membership. The Washington Post, meanwhile, argued that many countries in Europe supported Israel’s membership but were waiting for Washington to suggest such a move.

Washington’s view on the matter became clear in March 2006 when James Jones, then chief NATO commander in Europe, said that the deployment of NATO AWACS aircraft in Israel was a “clear signal to Iran”. In May 2006, eight NATO navy pieces arrived in Haifa to demonstrate “the growing cooperation” between Israel and NATO.

In late June 2006, the House of Representative’s Committee on Foreign Affairs unanimously passed a decision calling for closer Israeli-NATO ties. Consequently, Israel and NATO agreed on a long-term plan to cooperate in 27 spots around the world. Israel thus became the first non- European country and the first Middle Eastern country to cooperate with NATO on that a crucial level.

Two months after the end of the 2006 war in Lebanon, a seminar on NATO-Israel relations was held in Herzliya. Attending the seminar was then Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni who said that Israel would have preferred NATO to “do the job that Israel did in Lebanon”. She added that Israel wished to take part in NATO’s regional and local initiatives. NATO Deputy Secretary-General Alessandro Risso responded by noting that the stationing of an Israeli liaison officer at the NATO headquarters in Naples was a sign of the “vital cooperation” between NATO and Israel.

By the end of 2006, Israel was granted a “partnership agreement” with NATO that had more substance than any agreement NATO had held so far with a non- European country. Still, many in Israel and the West kept calling for full Israeli membership in NATO. One Russian political analyst, Eduard Sorokin, warned that Washington was using Israel’s potential membership of NATO as a way of keeping Arab countries on their toes. According to the NATO Charter, any attack on a NATO member is considered as an attack on all members. Thus any future conflict between Israel and its neighbours may trigger a broader regional conflict and potentially a world war, Sorokin concluded.

The Jerusalem Post said that Israel’s closer links with NATO were crucial in the case of “future confrontation with Iran” (1 April 2008). In fact, Netanyahu wanted Israel to join NATO even before coming into office for a second time as prime minister. He has since made Israel’s membership of NATO a central piece in his policy.

On 13 January 2009, the Jerusalem Post reported that Israel was launching a “diplomatic initiative” aimed to influence former US secretary of state Madeleine Albright’s review of NATO’s policy. In January 2009, Israeli officials met with Albright in Oslo to discuss NATO’s new strategy. During the meeting, the Israelis expressed a desire for closer links with NATO and asked for a place at top-level NATO meetings.
In Washington, some have said that once Israel is accepted as a full NATO member, NATO should take over security missions in the West Bank and Gaza. This view is not so far fetched considering the fact that President Mahmoud Abbas once said that it wouldn’t be a bad idea if the Americans were to negotiate with Israel on behalf of the Palestinians.

James Jones, the US national security adviser who had been NATO commander in Europe from 2003 to 2005, is said to be busy putting together a plan for controlling the occupied Palestinian territories on behalf of Israel. The plan is said to involve actual policing of Palestinian areas.

Before Operation Cast Lead was launched in Gaza, NATO was already exchanging intelligence with Israel, sharing security expertise, and organising military drills. Israel and NATO also cooperated in non-proliferation programmes. Former NATO chief Scheffer visited Israel in the midst of Israel’s offensive on Gaza. And NATO officials were at the time of the opinion that cooperation with Israel was essential for their organisation.

We know everything we need to know about NATO-Israel cooperation. What we don’t know is what Arab leaders intend to do about it.

Filed under: Politics

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Lethal Nato bombing details leaked: video

Via Silver Lining

Posted on February 5, 2010 by realistic bird

Nato investigators have been hearing new details of an airstrike in Kunduz, Afghanistan last year, which killed up to 142 people, mainly civilians.
US forces launched the strike on fuel tankers hijacked by the Taliban, following advice from German ground forces. Now a Nato report says the Germans witheld vital information from the pilots of the US jets before they dropped their bombs.
Al Jazeera went back to the scene of the attack to find villagers still traumatised, as David Chater reports.

Filed under: Politics, Videos | Tagged: Afghanistan, bombing, Germany, killing civilians, news, Politics, US, Videos | Leave a Comment »

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