Tuesday, March 18, 2008
from an email by Lana HabashZionists walked into a well-known center for left activists in Boston this week and managed, with a single complaint, to take away an already agreed-upon meeting space for an April conference on Palestine organized by the New England Committee to Defend Palestine. Around March 9, the local branch of a national group called the Jewish Labor Committee told the director of Encuentro 5 and the landlord of the building that houses Encuentro that the New England Committee to Defend Palestine is a "hate group" and demanded that it not be allowed to hold the conference in Encuentro' threats.
Beneath the facts of the case lie a number of ironies:
* Attacks like this are exactly the subject of the disputed conference. The purpose of the conference, whose title is "Zionism and the Repression of Anti-Colonial Movements," is to expose attacks on activists as they have been carried out historically by zionist forces. Activists scheduled to speak have been involved in the Native American struggle against European genocide on the North American continent, the Black liberation struggle in the US from slavery onward, the struggle against US imperialism in Central America, the movement against apartheid in South Africa, the struggle against US imperialism and genocide in Iraq, and the struggle against US-Israeli genocide in Palestine.
* Encuentro bills itself as "a space for progressive movement building" in Boston (http://www.encuentro5.org/ ).
Massachusetts Global Action -- the organization that runs Encuentro--argued the need for a "tactical retreat" and offered us $400 and help finding another venue if we would consent to leave. We told them that this would undermine the meaning of our conference, their own work, and the movement as a whole. Our suggestion to Encuentro was to take this matter to the activist community -- to the people who use the space -- to tell them what was taking place and invite them to help organize a struggle to defend the integrity of our collective work.
Zionist organizations like the JLC have more material and political power than perhaps at any time in the past. But this power is increasingly hollow, since it must increasingly assert itself by shutting down a discussion about that power--a discussion that is growing and moving into the mainstream. The JLC did not succeed by persuading Encuentro 5, but by threatening them through the building's owners. These are clearly threats that they have the power to carry out--a fact that proves what critics of zionism are saying.
But this also demonstrates that while they have more material power than ever before, they have less ideological support than ever before. The legitimacy of the zionist project--the passive consent given to US support for "Israel"--is collapsing. That collapse must come before the serious fight over material power--a fight that is coming.
We are disappointed that Encuentro 5 and Mass Global Action decided that it was not strategic for them to challenge this abuse of power now. We know that the repercussions might well have been severe, and recognize that this would affect a great deal of effort and work that has gone into building their organization. We offer the following as a challenge--not so much to them, but to the movement as a whole, since finally the question is not about any of our specific, struggling organizations:
Can we build a movement against imperialism, or against social injustice in the United States, if the limits of our discussion can be set by organizations like the JLC--organizations that are committed to ensuring that billions of dollars in US military and economic support are given yearly to one of the most militarized colonial states in the world?
There is widespread discontent with zionist power. This discontent will not turn itself into a meaningful response until it becomes organized around specific battles. This can only take place if at some point people are willing say "it stops here."
* "Progressives" are not progressive. The "progressives" are the Jewish Labor Committee, which calls itself "the Jewish voice in the labor movement." The JLC did not come in from the outside but actually has an office in Encuentro's own space. The Jewish Labor Committee's web site http://www.jewishlabor.org/ shows its president, Stuart Applebaum, standing proudly with war criminal Shimon Peres in February in Jerusalem. The JLC has put out a statement condemning the Palestinian call for boycott, divestment, and sanctions against "Israel." The JLC statement asserts that Israelis, who have brutally occupied Palestine for 60 years, carrying out a program of genocide ever since, should not be seen as "victimizers."
The progressives are UNITE-HERE, the brave union for oppressed garment and hotel workers, which acted in this fiasco as a landlord bully threatening to kick out tenants for political speech.
The progressives are leftists who support resistance in Palestine, but not resistance that uses measures of a kind used by its enemy -- namely, armed struggle. The leadership of the resistance in Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan today is Islamic. Progressives in the US support secular political movements, so they don't support the people who are actually carrying out the resistance in these countries which the US and "Israel" are busy devastating. Support for resistance by oppressed people should be given without qualification.
* The criminal has accused his victim of the crime. The real hate groups are those who support genocide in Palestine. The Boston Jewish Labor Committee's accusation that the conference organizers are a "hate group" comes right out of the manual of the Anti-Defamation League which has gone to great pains to define political speech and action as good or bad in terms favorable to the zionist project. The ADL is a "progressive" organization -- it seems to be for the right thing, except when it comes to criticism of "Israel." Criticism of "Israel" is anti-Semitism -- that's hate speech, that's against the law. The ADL was part of a recent attack on a mosque being built in Boston. It was exposed for lobbying Congress against a bill that condemns the Armenian genocide. During the late '70's and early '80's, it spied on organizations in the U.S. that supported the struggle against white supremacist apartheid in South Africa. This do-good "no place for hate" organization is actually a front group for a racist foreign power.
The limits of political speech on the left are now being defined by the very organizations who say they're working for the good. There is no open debate. The idea is to simply prevent political speech. Why is support for a nasty racist state in occupied Palestine driving so much of US and international politics? And the question goes beyond Palestine, since these same organizations have the power to set limits on the discussion of "social justice" and racism here inside the US. This includes a history of demonizing black nationalists like Malcolm X, Stokely Carmichael, and the Black Panthers as "anti-Semites." In many cases people's careers have been ruined and their reputations smeared by forces who never came out in the open. Joseph Massad, Tony Martin, Ward Churchill, and most recently Catherine Wilkerson, are examples. Ward Churchill will be among the speakers at the conference.
The New England Committee to Defend Palestine assures all those who have been invited to and registered for the April 12 and 13 conference that we have secured another venue and will be announcing it soon. We couldn't have provided a better example of zionist interference in anti-imperialist activism than the one that just happened here. We have great speakers coming from many different movements. We hope that supporters of the struggle in Palestine, and all those who recognize the need to build a truly independent opposition to oppression inside the US, will join us for this event.
New England Committee to Defend Palestine http://www.onepalestine.org
On the 60th Anniversary of the Nakba
the New England Committee to Defend Palestine presents
Struggle for the Land:
Zionism and the Repression of Anti-Colonial Movements
An Education and Strategy Conference
Saturday, April 12 to Sunday, April 13
Location to be announced.
Boston, MA
Suggested Donation: $15
Confirmed speakers include:
Amer Jubran, Palestinian activist and former political detainee
Saja Raoof, Iraqi anti-war activist
Kali Akuno, Executive Director of the People's Hurricane Relief Fund in New Orleans and Malcolm X Grassroots Movement National Organizer
Marta Rodriguez, Puerto Rican independence activist and member of the NECDP
Ward Churchill, American Indian Movement activist and author
Dara Bayer, Palestine solidarity activist
Jihad Abdul-Mumit, former Black Liberation Army political prisoner
Nada Elia, Palestinian activist, and member of the INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence national collective
Jeffrey Blankfort, anti-Zionist journalist and activist, co-plaintiff in a lawsuitagainst the ADL for spying on left organizations
as well as
Photography Exhibition from Gaza
Palestinian political artwork, and art by Brazilian Artist Carlos Latuff
This year commemorates the sixtieth anniversary of the Nakba (Arabic for 'catastrophe') in Palestine. While this past January saw an escalation of the already brutal strangulation of Gaza, as well as continued colonization throughout historic Palestine, Palestinians have continued to resist in all of their historic land. In Gaza, under starvation conditions, Palestinians broke the siege by destroying the wall at Rafah crossing and continue to defend their land through armed resistance against settlers.
In spite of a wider public awareness of the brutal policies of colonial settlement in Palestine, the "United States" continues to provide the main economic, political and military aid to the Zionist settler colony. While every major presidential candidate pledges undying support for "Israel," there is a growing public discussion about the role of Zionism in the "US" political system, and especially of its relationship to the war in Iraq.
Zionism has played a role not only in defining "foreign policy," but also in the suppression of anti-colonial movements here-not least of all, because these movements have recognized the Palestinian struggle as part of a common global struggle against colonialism. In order to suppress the emergence of a serious pro-Palestinian bloc of oppositional power, Zionists have attacked genuine leaders and organizations, while at the same time cultivating less radical alternatives.The combination of "Israeli" political ties to imperialist policies abroad and Zionist opposition to anti-colonial liberation movements here, has led to a repressive collaboration between Zionist political organizations, "Israeli" and "US" police and intelligence forces, mercenaries, and corporations in the private "security" sector.Confronting Zionism is crucial to any movement forward against militarism and internal oppression.Bringing together representatives of several movements, our conference will focus on two themes: Zionist disruption of anti-colonial movements and land as the basis of struggle and solidarity.
For more information and to pre-register, go to www.onepalestine.org Co-sponsored by Jericho Boston http://www.jerichoboston.org
NECDPPO Box 681East Boston, MA 02128
Labels: activism, gatekeeping, Palestine, US, Zionism
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Mazin Qumsiyeh - Non-violence or Non-existence
Here we are on the road again with the very colorful Wheels of Justice bus tour. The prominent slogan on the side of the bus is the most appropriate message for this week of violence. In big letters we have "Nonviolence or Nonexistence" visible for the thousands who saw the bus in the past few days. ... We post some of our public events at http://justicewheels.org and we hope you will join us or organize events for us.We wanted to write more about the tour with a blog of all the great things we did and saw this past week (e.g. the great questions from hundreds of students in WA and OR). However, it is worthwhile to focus on this issue of violence and existence in more detail considering the news from occupied Palestine in this weekly message and add relevant good articles. While we are never shocked by the distorted US media coverage of what is going on, we are sometimes surprised by the audacity of editors and journalists. For example, compare the coverage of the killing of 8 Israelis in occupied Jerusalem with the coverage of the killing of 126 Palestinians in Gaza in the seven days before that; including many children (four playing soccer, babies in mother's arms, etc). BTW, only Israeli papers like Haaretz explained the history of the "school" that the Israelis were killed at (a training school for terrorist Rabbis). It might be worthwhile to put out some quotes on the so-called "cycle of violence" between the occupier/colonizer and the occupied/colonized (and people forget this aspect, the etiology of the disease, when they focus on the symptoms/the violence):
"The curse of Gaza is as powerful as death: if the entire occupation is a tragedy, the occupation of Gaza is its essence: 360 square kilometers, some 1.5 million people, 1 million refugees, and the responsibility is all ours. From the beginning there were those who warned us of the curse, and not only Sapir; even Moshe Dayan used words of caution. It did no good. The euphoria is contagious, the war rolls on, and a wise people is a foolish one. In the Zionist enterprise's march of folly, Gaza stands out as a major milestone, a signpost of weeping. The foundation stone of our tears."
Yossi Sarid
"Many westerners justify Israel's actions because they believe that Israel, as a sovereign country, has the right to defend itself. The truth is, so long as the government of Israel is occupying the Palestinian territories, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip and denying the people their freedom, dignity, and human as well as political rights, international law gives them the right to resist and to defend themselves. "
"Many westerners justify Israel's actions because they believe that Israel, as a sovereign country, has the right to defend itself. The truth is, so long as the government of Israel is occupying the Palestinian territories, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip and denying the people their freedom, dignity, and human as well as political rights, international law gives them the right to resist and to defend themselves. "
Sabeel Ecuminical Liberation Theology Center
The United Nations Human Rights Council today labeled Israel’s response to recent rocket attacks from Gaza a war crime and 'collective punishment against the civilian population'
"As long as there is occupation and the brutality and violence it entails, we will mourn Israeli and Palestinian lives. In this context, media coverage that portrays violence as part of a short-term cycle of attack and retaliation obscures the facts, including the role the US has played, through covert action, in fomenting civil war in Gaza, as recently revealed by a groundbreaking report in Vanity Fair. As long as the United States continues to support Israel's decades-long practice of illegally appropriating land, destroying homes, and using disproportionate force--a policy which has proven to be both morally bankrupt and self-destructive for Israel--neither Palestinians nor Israelis will ever know peace."
The United Nations Human Rights Council today labeled Israel’s response to recent rocket attacks from Gaza a war crime and 'collective punishment against the civilian population'
"As long as there is occupation and the brutality and violence it entails, we will mourn Israeli and Palestinian lives. In this context, media coverage that portrays violence as part of a short-term cycle of attack and retaliation obscures the facts, including the role the US has played, through covert action, in fomenting civil war in Gaza, as recently revealed by a groundbreaking report in Vanity Fair. As long as the United States continues to support Israel's decades-long practice of illegally appropriating land, destroying homes, and using disproportionate force--a policy which has proven to be both morally bankrupt and self-destructive for Israel--neither Palestinians nor Israelis will ever know peace."
Jewish Voice For Peace
"The murderers [Palestinians] are the Amalek of our day, coming to remind us that Amalek has not disappeared, just changed its appearance."
Settler Rabbi Ya'akov Shapira, head of the center that trained the "students" in hate at this extremist "seminar/Yeshiva" that created so many extremist colonial settlers.
(For those who do not know what Amalek is they should read the part of the Old Testament were God gets to give the orders for the genocide of men, women and children of the Amalkites, Canaanite native inhabitants of the land to be conquered).
"Compared with the international silence that surrounded Israel's recent massacres of Palestinian civilians in the Occupied Gaza Strip, condemnation and condolences for the victims of the shooting attack that killed eight students at the Mercaz HaRav Yeshiva in Jerusalem has been swift...The day before the Jerusalem attack, Amira Abu 'Aser was buried in Gaza.
She had lived just 20 days on this earth before being shot in the head by Israeli occupation forces who attacked the house of friends she and her family were visiting. Needless to say, she had not been firing rockets at Sderot when she was killed. One of the house's inhabitants was found the next day, shot dead and his head crushed by an army jeep, an apparent victim of an extrajudicial murder by Israeli forces."
Ali Abunimah in the Electronic Intifada
"We need to find a legal and legitimate way to kick those few Palestinian Arabs in east Jerusalem who make it their choice to aid and take part in terrorism back to Ramallah,"
"We need to find a legal and legitimate way to kick those few Palestinian Arabs in east Jerusalem who make it their choice to aid and take part in terrorism back to Ramallah,"
Israel's "Public Security" Minister Avi Dichter
"We at Tikkun feel equally grieving for the people killed by vicious and immoral terrorists at the Yeshiva Mercaz HaRav (the ultra-nationalist religious center that developed the ideology which inspired religious Zionists to believe that they had a God-given right to settle and hold on to the territories without regard to the consequences for the Palestinian people already living there) as we do for the victims of Israeli terror (which in the past week killed 120 people, many of them children, many of them sitting in their homes when Israeli troops randomly fire-bombed and murdered them, as documented by the same international human rights organizations that today condemned the attack in Jerusalem by terrorists)."
"We at Tikkun feel equally grieving for the people killed by vicious and immoral terrorists at the Yeshiva Mercaz HaRav (the ultra-nationalist religious center that developed the ideology which inspired religious Zionists to believe that they had a God-given right to settle and hold on to the territories without regard to the consequences for the Palestinian people already living there) as we do for the victims of Israeli terror (which in the past week killed 120 people, many of them children, many of them sitting in their homes when Israeli troops randomly fire-bombed and murdered them, as documented by the same international human rights organizations that today condemned the attack in Jerusalem by terrorists)."
Rabbi Michael Lerner of Tikkun
“Condemning the ongoing Palestinian rocket attacks on Israeli civilians by Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist organizations, and for other purposes...”
“Condemning the ongoing Palestinian rocket attacks on Israeli civilians by Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist organizations, and for other purposes...”
US House Resolution 951
Statement on Gaza Bill by Rep. Ron Paul March 5, 2008 (Paul was the only one who voted Nay!):
I rise in opposition to H. Res. 951. As one who is consistently against war and violence, I obviously do not support the firing of rockets indiscriminately into civilian populations. I believe it is appalling that Palestinians are firing rockets that harm innocent Israelis, just as I believe it is appalling that Israel fires missiles into Palestinian areas where children and other non-combatants are killed and injured. Unfortunately, legislation such as this is more likely to perpetuate violence in the Middle East than contribute to its abatement. It is our continued involvement and intervention – particularly when it appears to be one-sided – that reduces the incentive for opposing sides to reach a lasting peace agreement. Additionally, this bill will continue the march toward war with Iran and Syria, as it contains provocative language targeting these countries. The legislation oversimplifies the Israel/Palestine conflict and the larger unrest in the Middle East by simply pointing the finger at Iran and Syria . This is another piece in a steady series of legislation passed in the House that intensifies enmity between the United States and Iran and Syria . My colleagues will recall that we saw a similar steady stream of provocative legislation against Iraq in the years before the US attack on that country. I strongly believe that we must cease making proclamations involving conflicts that have nothing to do with the United States. We incur the wrath of those who feel slighted while doing very little to slow or stop the violence.
(ACTION: Write and/or call to your congressman/women and ask them why they voted in support of Apartheid Israel aggression. Phone numbers for reps here http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/mcapdir.html ).
But perhaps the most poignant comment on violence in Palestine/Israel is these statements from Nurit Peled-Elhanan whose daughter was killed by a Palestinian suicide bomber:http://www.qumsiyeh.org/nuritpeledelhanan/
(Must Read) The Day the Earth and Sky Traded Places: Gazan Holocaust By JENNIFER LOEWENSTEIN http://www.counterpunch.org/loewenstein03042008.html
An Interview with Aharon Shabtaï "Israel's most acclaimed Hebrew poet." He explains need for cultural boycott of Israel: "Israel, 'Guest Of Honour' In Paris And Turin, Does Not Deserve To Be Invited," By Silvia Cattori & Aharon Shabtaï, 26 February, 2008, Countercurrents.org. http://www.countercurrents.org/cattori260208.htm
Racism in Israel on the rise: Association for Civil Rights in Israel publishes annual report; reveals country overwhelmed by racism, restriction of personal freedoms, discrimination, especially towards Israeli-Arabs. Report not surprising, say Arab MKs, By Aviram Zino http://www.ynet.co.il/english/articles/0,7340,L-3480345,00.html
But perhaps the most poignant comment on violence in Palestine/Israel is these statements from Nurit Peled-Elhanan whose daughter was killed by a Palestinian suicide bomber:http://www.qumsiyeh.org/nuritpeledelhanan/
(Must Read) The Day the Earth and Sky Traded Places: Gazan Holocaust By JENNIFER LOEWENSTEIN http://www.counterpunch.org/loewenstein03042008.html
An Interview with Aharon Shabtaï "Israel's most acclaimed Hebrew poet." He explains need for cultural boycott of Israel: "Israel, 'Guest Of Honour' In Paris And Turin, Does Not Deserve To Be Invited," By Silvia Cattori & Aharon Shabtaï, 26 February, 2008, Countercurrents.org. http://www.countercurrents.org/cattori260208.htm
Racism in Israel on the rise: Association for Civil Rights in Israel publishes annual report; reveals country overwhelmed by racism, restriction of personal freedoms, discrimination, especially towards Israeli-Arabs. Report not surprising, say Arab MKs, By Aviram Zino http://www.ynet.co.il/english/articles/0,7340,L-3480345,00.html
Vanity Fair: The Gaza Bombshell
After failing to anticipate Hamas's victory over Fatah in the 2006 Palestinian election, the White House cooked up yet another scandalously covert and self-defeating Middle East debacle: part Iran-contra, part Bay of Pigs. With confidential documents, corroborated by outraged former and current U.S. officials, David Rose reveals how President Bush, Condoleezza Rice, and Deputy National-Security Adviser Elliott Abrams backed an armed force under Fatah strongman Muhammad Dahlan, touching off a bloody civil war in Gaza and leaving Hamas stronger than ever. READ MORE.....http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/04/gaza200804
Analytic Report "REVEALED: THE US PLAN TO START A PALESTINIAN CIVIL WAR, The Electronic Intifada, 4 March 2008 http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9366.shtml
After failing to anticipate Hamas's victory over Fatah in the 2006 Palestinian election, the White House cooked up yet another scandalously covert and self-defeating Middle East debacle: part Iran-contra, part Bay of Pigs. With confidential documents, corroborated by outraged former and current U.S. officials, David Rose reveals how President Bush, Condoleezza Rice, and Deputy National-Security Adviser Elliott Abrams backed an armed force under Fatah strongman Muhammad Dahlan, touching off a bloody civil war in Gaza and leaving Hamas stronger than ever. READ MORE.....http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/04/gaza200804
Analytic Report "REVEALED: THE US PLAN TO START A PALESTINIAN CIVIL WAR, The Electronic Intifada, 4 March 2008 http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9366.shtml
GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES http://www.gp.org
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, cell 202-904-7614, mclarty@greens.org
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene@gp.org
Greens urge economic pressure and cutoff of all military aid to Israel as Gaza situation worsens• Demanding an end to illegal occupation of Palestinian lands, Greens urge widespread grassroots support for the Palestine BDS (Boycott,Divestment, Sanctions) Campaign• Greens blast Clinton, Obama, and McCain for uncritical support of Israel despite mounting crimes.
WASHINGTON, DC -- Calling the Siege of Gaza an international emergency, the Green Party is urging Congress to reject President Bush's FY2009 budget request for $2.55 billion in Foreign Military Financing for Israel, and reiterated the call for a cut-off of all US military aid to Israel."The Siege of Gaza is an ongoing atrocity, with mounting civilian casualties, especially children, killed and maimed by Israeli Defense Forces," said Holly Hart, secretary of the Green Party of the United States and member of People for Justice in Palestine, responding to the mass killing of Palestinians during the past weekend. "Greens are demanding an end to the siege and to the occupation of Palestinian lands, to Israel's collective punishment of Palestinians, and to targeted assassinations, all of which violate international law."
Greens noted that the death toll of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces has doubled since the Annapolis peace talks sponsored by the US in November 2007. In some areas of the West Bank, home invasions by IDF since January 1 have resulted in the kidnapping and detention without charges of nearly 400 civilians, including children.
1.5 million Gazans, mostly refugees from Israel in 1948, live in an open-air prison, unable to exit, and with electricity, fuel, and water under Israeli control.
"Peace talks are a sham as long as Israel refuses to discuss the construction of new housing units for Jewish settlers throughout occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank," said David J. Kalbfleisch, a Green congressional candidate in Illinois' 10thdistrict http://www.electdave.org/.
The One Candidate Worth Our Vote: Nader the Best Antidote to American ImperialismBy KATHLEEN and BILL CHRISTISON http://www.counterpunch.org/christison03012008.html
WASHINGTON, DC -- Calling the Siege of Gaza an international emergency, the Green Party is urging Congress to reject President Bush's FY2009 budget request for $2.55 billion in Foreign Military Financing for Israel, and reiterated the call for a cut-off of all US military aid to Israel."The Siege of Gaza is an ongoing atrocity, with mounting civilian casualties, especially children, killed and maimed by Israeli Defense Forces," said Holly Hart, secretary of the Green Party of the United States and member of People for Justice in Palestine, responding to the mass killing of Palestinians during the past weekend. "Greens are demanding an end to the siege and to the occupation of Palestinian lands, to Israel's collective punishment of Palestinians, and to targeted assassinations, all of which violate international law."
Greens noted that the death toll of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces has doubled since the Annapolis peace talks sponsored by the US in November 2007. In some areas of the West Bank, home invasions by IDF since January 1 have resulted in the kidnapping and detention without charges of nearly 400 civilians, including children.
1.5 million Gazans, mostly refugees from Israel in 1948, live in an open-air prison, unable to exit, and with electricity, fuel, and water under Israeli control.
"Peace talks are a sham as long as Israel refuses to discuss the construction of new housing units for Jewish settlers throughout occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank," said David J. Kalbfleisch, a Green congressional candidate in Illinois' 10thdistrict http://www.electdave.org/.
The One Candidate Worth Our Vote: Nader the Best Antidote to American ImperialismBy KATHLEEN and BILL CHRISTISON http://www.counterpunch.org/christison03012008.html
Mazin QumsiyehWheels of Justice Tour: Nonviolent education and action against war and occupation in Iraq and Palestine for justice and universal humanrights http://justicewheels.orghttp://qumsiyeh.org
Labels: activism, boycott, call to action, Gaza, hasbara, human rights violations, Israel, Israeli politicians, journalism, Palestine, US, war
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Bill Fletcher - Palestine Matters
When atrocities befall the Palestinians at the hands of the Israeli occupiers, much of the Western world remains silent. Particularly in the USA, we await an Israeli explanation for the atrocity, often assuring ourselves that we will be offered a rational and acceptable justification for whatever has taken place. Civilians killed, for instance, when the Israelis choose to assassinate a Palestinian leader, and we are generally told that it is tragic collateral damage. The use of cluster bombs in the attack on Lebanon in 2006, and we are treated to stories about the brutality of Hezbollah. The fact is that Israel is the only power in the Middle East with nuclear weapons, and we are entertained with silence. In each case, the response is accepted as understandable, given Israel's fight for existence.Today the people of Gaza are victims of what both Israeli and Palestinian human rights activists correctly call collective punishment. After the Hamas/Fatah mini-civil war in which Hamas took over Gaza, allegedly because they believed that Fatah was preparing to attack them, the Israelis began a blockade (as well as military incursions) with the full support of the Bush administration. This was followed by rocket attacks on Israeli settlements near Gaza by some Palestinian military units. The Israeli blockade never let up nor did Israeli attacks on Gaza or Palestinian rocket attacks against settlements. Despite Hamas' repeated offers for a truce, the Israeli government has turned a deaf ear, finally locking the people of Gaza into a collective hell.
When, a few weeks ago, humanitarian organizations began voicing louder and louder concerns regarding the conditions facing the people of Gaza, the Israeli government and their apologists in the USA shrugged this off. I was stunned, for instance, to read commentaries in the US media where it was suggested that, while conditions may not have been ideal, there was no humanitarian threat. When Hamas blew up the walls blocking off Gaza from Egypt and hundreds of thousands of people entered Egypt in order to get badly needed supplies, some commentators in the USA suggested that the Palestinians were really just interested in obtaining more cheap cigarettes.
As a little reminder, the notion of collective punishment, that is, taking steps against an entire people due to the actions of some, is illegal according to international law. Consider, for instance, if the USA decided to blockade and bomb Sicily due to the activities of the Sicilian Mafia (which has been responsible for the deaths of thousands through the drug trade as well as other illegal activity). What if, in addition, the USA took military action against the Italian government because it had not taken a strong enough stand against the Mafia? Such an approach would be considered absurd, but this is, in effect, what has been unfolding against the Palestinians, not just today, but for the length of the Occupation that began in 1967.
As a little reminder, the notion of collective punishment, that is, taking steps against an entire people due to the actions of some, is illegal according to international law. Consider, for instance, if the USA decided to blockade and bomb Sicily due to the activities of the Sicilian Mafia (which has been responsible for the deaths of thousands through the drug trade as well as other illegal activity). What if, in addition, the USA took military action against the Italian government because it had not taken a strong enough stand against the Mafia? Such an approach would be considered absurd, but this is, in effect, what has been unfolding against the Palestinians, not just today, but for the length of the Occupation that began in 1967.
The suffering in Gaza specifically, and Palestine in general, has not been the subject of any substantive discussion in the 2008 Presidential campaign. There is a code of silence that surrounds this subject and an unspoken assumption that whatever steps Israel needs to take to ensure its survival will receive 100% support from the US political establishment. Additionally, as was in full view in the aftermath of former President Jimmy Carters best-selling book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, those who question the Israeli Occupation and the US complicity in it, are subject to vitriolic attack, and more often than not, accused of being anti-Semitic. Thus, the conditions have been stacked in most so-called mainstream circles against a reasonable discussion of a key foreign policy matter.
The continued consequences of this approach should not need to be reiterated. Despite the photo-op that took place in Annapolis with the Bush-orchestrated Israeli/Palestinian summit in 2007, little progress has been made. Israeli strangulation of the Gaza makes it politically unlikely for the Palestinian National Authority, under President Abbas, to make any significant compromises, not that the Palestinians have much more to give.
The garroting of the Gaza and the destruction of the wall separating it from Egypt actually serves as a metaphor for the larger Palestinian situation. Whether through the "apartheid" Wall created by the Israelis cutting off Palestinian territory and creating, in effect, reservations for the Palestinians; through the imprisonment of some Palestinian leaders; through the assassination of other Palestinian leaders; and through the increase in illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian territory, the Palestinian people are being pushed further and further to the brink.
The garroting of the Gaza and the destruction of the wall separating it from Egypt actually serves as a metaphor for the larger Palestinian situation. Whether through the "apartheid" Wall created by the Israelis cutting off Palestinian territory and creating, in effect, reservations for the Palestinians; through the imprisonment of some Palestinian leaders; through the assassination of other Palestinian leaders; and through the increase in illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian territory, the Palestinian people are being pushed further and further to the brink.
The good news, to the extent to which there is any, is that there has been a noticeable change in the climate on the ground in the USA when it comes to discussing Palestine. The fact that Carter's book was a best seller, not to mention the growing attention in the USA and in Europe to the need for an immediate end to the Israeli Occupation, quite possibly portends an opening toward a just resolution of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.
Yet the US political establishment does not get it. Each time they attempt to silence discussion of Palestine, or pretend that atrocities against Palestinians are simply the figments of someone's imagination, their credibility in the eyes of the world further diminishes. It is the equivalent of attempting to keep a bubble under water.
With each atrocity against the Palestinian people comes another battle cry from one or another part of the planet, not only against Israel, but against their unconditional backers in Washington, DC. And those battle cries should raise our concern.
What about this do our political leaders not understand? When will they get the wax out of their ears and the cotton out of their mouths and recognize that a different road must be taken?
Bill Fletcher, Jr. is Executive Editor of The Black Commentator. He is also a Senior Scholar with the Institute for Policy Studies and the immediate past president of TransAfrica Forum. Click here to contact Mr. Fletcher.
Labels: activism, Gaza, human rights violations, Israel, Italy, journalism, Palestine, Palestinian politicians, US
Sunday, February 3, 2008
"Anti-Semite" and Social Engineering: Forbidden Topics
This is one of the most enlightening pieces I've read in a long time! Please read it and.... free your mind!!by Carolyn Baker
http://thewhiterose.wordpress.com/
A professor looking to stimulate interest in the obligatory compositions prepared by his freshman English students asked me if Iwould come to his morning classes last Friday to answer questions about 9/11 that the students had brought up after a viewing of `Loose Change'. I was grateful for the opportunity and felt confident as we walked toward the lecture hall because I believed that I would be ableto handle their questions. In my mind, the challenges I would face would be based on my knowledge of factual information and my ability to convey it coherently.
I never suspected that I would be ambushed by a furious student who was already shouting at me that I was an `anti-Semite' even before I reached the classroom. That emotional barrage never ended from that moment until the class disbanded. It was dramatic. He was unable to stay in his seat and jumped up and down and moved around the classroom, his hand waving wildly to get his turn to ask questions that were in essence hostile accusations, phoning his `friend' so that his `friend' could hear my comments, intrusively shoving that phone at me.
There was no explanation or fact that I was able to provide that would assuage his rage. It was immaterial to him that there are Jewish people who are prominent in 9/11 studies and activism. Or that there are Jewish members in the Tampa 9/11 Truth group. Although nothing I said could have been interpreted as remotely anti-Semitic, the topic of 9/11 had pushed his `Anti-Semite' button.
When I told the group that I thought that the perpetrators of the 9/11 crimes would have included members of the secret services of Great Britain, Germany, Israel and the US, he could only focus on the mention of Israel. The mere fact that the 9/11 topic was addressed seemed to him an abomination. He brought up Holocaust Deniers.
In spite of the agitated student, the discussion continued and a lot of good questions came up. To the question of whether 9/11 truth was disrespectful to the surviving family members, I said that the family members were the ones who had pushed for the investigation and that their questions had remained unanswered by the 9/11 Commission Report. And that their film Press For Truth is documenting their ongoing quest for the truth.
To the question of how a conspiracy could be kept hidden by so many for so long, I mentioned that the Manhattan Project to develop the atom bomb had involved thousands and also explained about the moles occupying nexus points in an organization (eg Radical Fundamentalist Unit of the FBI) a la Webster Tarpley.
To the question of why there were no whistleblowers, I told them that there have been hundreds and gave them von Bulow, Michael Meacher, Bob Bowman. Patriots/ Pilots/ Architects/ Scholars for 9/11 Truth. We discussed the media blockade made possible by the consolidation of the media and orchestrated by the interlocking directors of the major corporations.
To the question of why they would do such a thing, I talked about the military strategy document, the Project for a New American Century, with its demented world domination scheme, set to be triggered by a catastrophic and catalyzing event – the new Pearl Harbor AKA the 9/11 attacks.
But those are mere facts and the `anti Semite' syndrome, like the 9/11 denial syndrome, is not cured by applying factual information. In a contest of raw power, mind control and propaganda win over facts. Emotions rule and anger and fear are the king and queen.
Creating programmed responses to conversational triggers aids in squelching societal debate. "Conspiracy theorist, whack job, holocaust denier, wing nut, absurd, anti Semite, crazy". Attack the messenger to discount the message. Interrupt him, talk over him, make him lose his train of thought, ridicule him, insult him. No issue is to be addressed; no evidence is to be assessed - ever.
The resulting emotions of humiliation, embarrassment, shame, or guilt usually cause the targeted person to desist. How many topics are out of bounds due to `political correctness'? Limiting the parameters of the national conversation is integrated and prearranged. Forbidden topic number one is why we are fighting proxy wars for Israel and where our congress' allegiances should lie when deciding matters of war.
I confess I have not read Mearsheimer and Walt's article or their new book. But I will, now. That boy woke me up and I thank him for that. I have never been called an anti Semite and the sting is still fresh on my cheek.
If someone criticizes Israel in any way, they are called an anti Semite. If I observe that the Mafia is Italian, am I `anti Italian'? If I say an American committed a crime, am I `anti American'? No one is allowed to criticize Israel or they are called an `anti Semite'.
Even without mentioning Israel, by choosing to talk about 9/11, an effort is made to label that anti Semitic. The creation of taboo subjects is a form of mind control. Think about it – if you can!
The very word `anti Semite' itself goes off like a hand grenade and destroys intelligent discourse in a wide perimeter. This artificial construct is maintained by the victim complex created due to WWII and the constant repetition of the Holocaust history. It is not permitted to note that the Palestinians are suffering as much -or more- today under the Israelis as the Jews did in the ghettos of Eastern Europe.
The victim of genocide is now the perpetrator of genocide but that observation is strictly prohibited in all polite conversation.
That young man is not a natural product of a balanced world. He is the product of the `social scientists' who take innocent babes and inoculate them with poisonous ideas and belligerent tactics. He is under the tutelage of those who are creating our `matrix' and he has been a malleable child, emotionally susceptible and easily manipulated into serving as a hound for the masters. I am sure that they are proud of their little Frankenstein, they can send him out today to disrupt classroom discussion and tomorrow he will be a willing servant infiltrator in our business and political arenas. Another `dual citizen' like Henry Kissinger, Michael Chertoff, Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, Doulas Feith, Dov Zakheim, Ari Fleischer, Elliot Abrams, Scooter Libby, or William Kristol.
The sum total of what you and I believe about the world is as distorted as that young man's idea. The political map and the evolution of the fortunes of the peoples of the world have been engineered. The Middle East map is relatively new and the present national borders are artifices, contrivances to set in motion the conflicts we see today by which the region is controlled. Why does Israel exist? Was it set up to be a continual thorn in the side, a gaping wound through which conflict could be plunged, keeping the region in conflict to feed the war machine, engineer regional depopulation and eventually control the Middle East and withdraw her vast energy resources?
With all the talk in the US and Israel about the importance of religion, where are the major religions in all of this? Where is the love? The forbearance? The forgiveness? The charity? What a monumental lie, to ignite this area of the world under the guise of religious differences.
Meanwhile we jump – or are jumped - from one irrelevantent ertainment/infotainment topic to the next while the puppetmasters set the stage for the next act where America as we know it ceases to exist as the globalists bring her to her knees and whip her into submission by means of the engineered economic collapse. While we dance to the tempo set by their orchestra playing on their instruments in their scale of their choosing.
There is a war on for your mind and stepping outside the matrix is harder than you may realize. Literally, the background chatter is set by them. Every quip, every commonly held assumption, every knee jerk assertion has been programmed into us. Examine your thoughts and free your mind.
*****
http://carolynbaker.net/
Welcome to Speaking Truth To Power—a website owned and managed by Carolyn Baker. Carolyn is an adjunct professor of history, a former psychotherapist, an author, and a student of mythology and ritual. This website offers up-to-the-moment alternative reporting of U.S. and international news, articles containing information and opinion, and a venue of support and connection for awake individuals who want not only to be informed, but to organize their lives and communities in ways that most effectively assist them in navigating what current events are manifesting.
Carolyn’s Mission: “The Chinese proverb and curse says, ‘May you live in interesting times’.” In the first decade of the twenty-first century, we live in profound uncertainty, faced with issues unprecedented in the history of the human race. Truth To Power seeks to provide readers with a ‘fixed point in a changing universe’ that both informs and supports humanity’s efforts to remake the world—both our personal worlds and our planet. My intention is to offer a beacon of light in the smothering darkness with which we seem to be engulfed, making available information and specific ideas and strategies which we all might utilize as we experience the life/death/rebirth process inherent in the inner and outer realms of our current reality.”
CAROLYN BAKER, Ph.D., not only manages this website but is a professor of history and author of her latest book, Coming Out From Christian Fundamentalism: Affirming Sensuality, Social Justice, and The Sacred. This book and her previous two books, U.S. History Uncensored: What Your High School Textbook Didn't Tell You and The Journey of Forgiveness, may be purchased at this site. She is available for speaking engagements and author events and can be contacted at carolyn@carolynbaker.net
Labels: 9-11, anti-Semitism, hasbara, Israel, journalism, US
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Adib S Kawar - Open Letter to Barak Obama
Open Letter to Senator/Presidential Candidate Barak ObamaDear Senator Obama,
We Palestinians, whether in Palestine that was occupied in 1948, or Palestine that was occupied in 1967 and in our diaspora/Ashatat counting now over ten million uprooted people, were shocked and saddened to read your letter addressed to Mr. Khalilzad, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. We were shocked and astonished that you, especially as a U.S. citizen of African roots, would not have remembered the stance of the Zionist state of Israel during the uprising/Intifadah of the non-white people in South Africa. Those men and women, who are a part of the indigenous population of the continent where your roots are still deep in its soil, were not supported in their struggle by Israel. In fact, this rogue state was one of the very few countries in the world to ally itself and supply the apartheid colonizing establishment in South Africa with all its requirements of arms and weapons to maintain its apartheid regime, so that it could fight and subjugate the revolting citizens of the colony, who only sought to obtain equal rights in the place of their birth.
We Palestinians, whether in Palestine that was occupied in 1948, or Palestine that was occupied in 1967 and in our diaspora/Ashatat counting now over ten million uprooted people, were shocked and saddened to read your letter addressed to Mr. Khalilzad, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. We were shocked and astonished that you, especially as a U.S. citizen of African roots, would not have remembered the stance of the Zionist state of Israel during the uprising/Intifadah of the non-white people in South Africa. Those men and women, who are a part of the indigenous population of the continent where your roots are still deep in its soil, were not supported in their struggle by Israel. In fact, this rogue state was one of the very few countries in the world to ally itself and supply the apartheid colonizing establishment in South Africa with all its requirements of arms and weapons to maintain its apartheid regime, so that it could fight and subjugate the revolting citizens of the colony, who only sought to obtain equal rights in the place of their birth.
We were astonished to read that you support the apartheid state by saying "Israel has the right to respond".
Has it not occurred to you, Mr. Senator, why the indigenous population of Palestine have been uprising for so many decades, and suffering the death of thousands and thousands of their men and women of all ages including the very young and very old, who are living in refugee camps away from their own homes and land that they had been developing with sweat and blood for thousands of years? We are saddened that a man of your caliber who promotes the rights of the subjugated masses in your great nation, the United States, and everywhere in the world, who condemns the Bush regime because of the wars it is waging around the world resulting in thousands of deaths, with its maimed men and women serving in your nation's armed forces away from their homes and beloved ones expresses such opinions regarding our people. You are aware of the millions of deaths, the men, women and children who have become disabled, and the other millions of individuals who have been uprooted and are living in the status of poor refugees in and out of their homelands as a result of these criminal wars?
Mr. Senator Obama, how is it possible that a personality of your status, caliber and intelligence has missed to read, see and hear the news of how Palestinians in occupied Palestine are treated like slaves if not animals, which is by far worse than the way enslaved Africans were treated for centuries by the American colonizers? Did you read, hear or see how those Palestinians are tortured and dehumanized on the over 750 checkpoints and crossings all over the occupied West Bank of Palestine? Did you hear, read or see how barbaric Zionist colonizers are still stealing more and more Palestinian land to build more Zionist colonies over what remained unoccupied and un-stolen of Palestinian Arab land, and how these wild racist colonialists are cutting down millions of centuries’ old olive trees, razing thousands of acres of farmland, demolishing thousands of residential, office and industrial buildings and leaving thousands of people living in the open air or tents in the heat of the summer or the freezing cold of the winter? We doubt that you don't have the courage to admit that you have heard, seen or read about the apartheid wall that Zionists unashamedly call "security wall" while the main reason is to steal more land in the 22% left of Palestine unoccupied in 1948, and let's not forget the stealing of fresh water resources to be used by Zionist colonialists to be pumped back out of their sewage system as filth and flooded over the fields of the poor Palestinians who have not been colonized yet?! And you turned your face away pretending not to have seen, heard or read about all that and many and many other war crimes the Zionist state of Israel that had been denying Palestinian Arabs to exercise their Right of Return to their stolen homes and land!!!!
It would be a shame if a man of your caliber and status does deny seeing, hearing and reading all about these atrocities against a people that belongs to the human race in the twentieth century, only because he might gain the blessings of the Zionist Israeli lobby, to be elected as president of the United States, while knowing well that those who control the possibilities and means shall put all the barriers and checkpoints in your way to deprive you of this pleasure.
Mr. Senator Obama, how is it possible that a personality of your status, caliber and intelligence has missed to read, see and hear the news of how Palestinians in occupied Palestine are treated like slaves if not animals, which is by far worse than the way enslaved Africans were treated for centuries by the American colonizers? Did you read, hear or see how those Palestinians are tortured and dehumanized on the over 750 checkpoints and crossings all over the occupied West Bank of Palestine? Did you hear, read or see how barbaric Zionist colonizers are still stealing more and more Palestinian land to build more Zionist colonies over what remained unoccupied and un-stolen of Palestinian Arab land, and how these wild racist colonialists are cutting down millions of centuries’ old olive trees, razing thousands of acres of farmland, demolishing thousands of residential, office and industrial buildings and leaving thousands of people living in the open air or tents in the heat of the summer or the freezing cold of the winter? We doubt that you don't have the courage to admit that you have heard, seen or read about the apartheid wall that Zionists unashamedly call "security wall" while the main reason is to steal more land in the 22% left of Palestine unoccupied in 1948, and let's not forget the stealing of fresh water resources to be used by Zionist colonialists to be pumped back out of their sewage system as filth and flooded over the fields of the poor Palestinians who have not been colonized yet?! And you turned your face away pretending not to have seen, heard or read about all that and many and many other war crimes the Zionist state of Israel that had been denying Palestinian Arabs to exercise their Right of Return to their stolen homes and land!!!!
It would be a shame if a man of your caliber and status does deny seeing, hearing and reading all about these atrocities against a people that belongs to the human race in the twentieth century, only because he might gain the blessings of the Zionist Israeli lobby, to be elected as president of the United States, while knowing well that those who control the possibilities and means shall put all the barriers and checkpoints in your way to deprive you of this pleasure.
Mr. Obama, have the courage to include among the causes you fight for to admit that Palestinian Arab resistance are the people who are fighting in self defense and not the other way round.
Palestinian resistance, by international legal rules, is accorded every right to use any means to regain all their rights in their land and as human beings, and live in a democratic, free and sovereign state.
Palestinian resistance, by international legal rules, is accorded every right to use any means to regain all their rights in their land and as human beings, and live in a democratic, free and sovereign state.
Sincerely,
Adib S. Kawar
An uprooted Palestinian Arab still living as a refugee for the last 60 years
Beirut –Lebanon
ZOG Report: Obama: Israel was forced to close Gaza
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/rosnerBlog.jhtml?itemNo=865078
1.23.2008
Adib S. Kawar
An uprooted Palestinian Arab still living as a refugee for the last 60 years
Beirut –Lebanon
ZOG Report: Obama: Israel was forced to close Gaza
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/rosnerBlog.jhtml?itemNo=865078
1.23.2008
Obama: Israel was forced to close Gaza
The letter from the Senator to the Ambassador speaks for itself:
Dear Ambassador Khalilzad,
I understand that today the UN Security Council met regarding the situation in Gaza, and that a resolution or statement could be forthcoming from the Council in short order.
I urge you to ensure that the Security Council issue no statement and pass no resolution on this matter that does not fully condemn the rocket assault Hamas has been conducting on civilians in southern Israel...
All of us are concerned about the impact of closed border crossings on Palestinian families.
However, we have to understand why Israel is forced to do this... Israel has the right to respond while seeking to minimize any impact on civilians.
The Security Council should clearly and unequivocally condemn the rocket attacks... If it cannot bring itself to make these common sense points, I urge you to ensure that it does not speak at all.
Sincerely,
Barack Obama
United States Senator
Labels: activism, Gaza, hasbara, Israel, Palestine, US, Zionism
Friday, December 28, 2007
Christians United For Israel Summit ...(and some say there ain't no lobby?)
Click over the image to enlarge it. Well worth the effort!What follows is a very strange document. It is page 22 of the October edition of the glossy booklet by Christians United for Israel, a lobby that claims it has 50 million members and 5 million Jewish sympathisers. Now, there are many who say, "Lobby? NO WAY!" I ask them to read this document which is the (claimed) testimonial of a young Jewish university student who attended their DC Summit. I have a few doubts that it's bona fide, because the grammatical errors you see - such as a comma before 'and' in a three part clause - are carried through in the rest of the booklet, which has as its publisher John and Diana Hagee and its writers people like David Brog (executive director of CUFI, executive at AOL, proud Jew and author of the article about Randy Travis and Joe Lieberman, "Separated at Birth" and Gary Bauer.) The young man has a secret identity, or else he's not in the habit of signing his name when making a testimonial, highly irregular! But, there are some very interesting elements in this letter, fake or not.
1) The student does not say he is an Israeli citizen, but a Jew, and he wanted to go with a Kippah just to show his "gratitude for all the support these people were giving us". Us. Hmm...
2) He says the place turned into a Mega-Church. I wonder if he's ever been in one. First of all, generally Jewish people do not enter into Christian churches, and if they do, wouldn't they expect there to be prayer and not political rallies? Instead we have this:
3) American and Israeli flags, the name of Jesus not mentioned even once the entire night. Although he contradicts himself later!! (They need a professional "proofreader and fact checker", methinks).
4) It is a lobby. This is stated very clearly, and every Congressman and Senator will get a visit from these people. "lobbying in support of Israel and the Jewish people". It is explicitly stated.
5) There is an evident racism in all of this. People treat him like he is a carnival freak, and he's glad to play the part. They hug him "because I'm Jewish... asking me to pray for them, telling me I was blessed by God".
6) The voice of the Jewish people in America (yes, Jewish) is the Church of Jesus Christ. What church is that? I'd like to know. Sounds like a strange Church if it's got American and Israeli flags and no crosses or turns the teachings of Jesus (oops, Yehoshua) on its head. Jesus would never have said, "let us pray for the destruction of our enemies". Quite the opposite. It's in their Bibles, if they know how to read.
7) The usage of the term GOYIM (all caps in the original, in fact, no changes were made to the original, as anyone can see from the image), and the other derogatory self-reference of the Christians.
8) The comparison of Iran to Germany and Ahmedinejad to Hitler needs no further comment. Just note it there and see how it is used in propaganda of all the lobbies, as well as being the foreign policy of Israel based on its usage of these images.
If that ain't a lobby, I will eat my hat, scarf and gloves.
mary
ONE MORE INTERESTING ELEMENT! Thanks to the attentive readers of Peacepalestine, more strange things jump out. James Bowen, the dedicated webmaster of Palestine Information with Provenance clicked on the image and was more careful and attentive than I was in transcribing. He wrote:
Mary
There is an interesting little detail on the picture you mentioned in your blog. Look at the signature given for the piece:
--Shalom - Student at Yeshira University
Note -- YeshiRa, not YeshiVa.
There is no such place as Yeshira University, although there is a Yeshiva University in New York.
Whoever compiles the stuff for the CUFI newsletter seems to be quite ignorant.
Christians United for Israel
Washington, D.C. Israel Summit
Testimonial
Last night was one of the most amazing nights of my life… I wish every Jewish person could have witnessed what I did… it was unreal.
On a whim, I grabbed two friends and attended “A Night to Honor Israel” hosted by “Christians United for Israel” at the Washington Convention Center. My main goal was simply to show up wearing a kipah and show my gratitude for all of the support these people were giving us. The room was filled with over 3,000 people. There were priests, rabbis, songs, prayers, awards, and speeches (Bibi Netanyahu, Newt Gingrich, Dore Gold, Sallai Meridor and many more). The room essentially turned into a Mega-Church, with thousands of Christians shouting and praising God, praying for the protection, safety, and prosperity of Israel and the Jewish people, and for the destruction of the enemies of America and Israel, while waving American and Israeli flags and listening to the sound of shofars being blasted. And yet the name “Jesus” was not mentioned once the entire night. (Yehoshua of Nazareth was said ONCE at the very end of the event)
As I write this there are thousands descending on the Hill, in the offices of every Congressman and Senator, thousands of Christians lobbying in support of Israel and the Jewish people – and you thought AIPAC was strong, the numbers of Christians United for Israel around America is quoted at being over 50 MILLION people!
By the end of the night, I had met so many people who just were hugging me because I was Jewish, giving me their names and asking me to pray for them, telling me I was blessed by God. I also met the Executive Director of CUFI, who said he would love to come and speak at Yeshiva University. What is contained in this email is just a small drop in a very large sea of awe and emotion from one of the most incredible events I have ever been to in my life. Here are just a few quotes:
“The sleeping giant has awakened and the Jewish people have a new voice in America – the Church of Jesus Christ… 50 million Bible Believing Christians and 5 million American Jews are a match made in heaven.”
“The Bible Belt is Israel’s Safety Belt!”
“We former pagans, former idol-worshipping heathen GOYIM now stand united with the Jewish people. Hashem has done great things, is doing great things, and will do great things for Israel! Baruch Hashem!”
“We are currently in 1936, Iran is Germany and Ahmadinejad is Hitler. The silence of the Christian Church during WWII was inexcusable. Today, gather with me and say, ‘Never again, not on our watch!’ This time the Church will not be silent!”
“Jimmy Carter has accused us of having a ‘hidden agenda.’ We have operated for years under the eyes of the Jewish community and I am proud to say that there are Jews here tonight! How much money from terrorists goes to your Fund For Peace Mr. Carter? If anyone has a hidden agenda, it is you!”
Never before have I seen such a sanctification of God’s name, a kiddush hashem, and I was so proud to be a part of something so warm, wonderful, and amazing. It was worth coming to DC just for this event – it was life altering.
--Shalom – Student at Yeshiva University
Labels: hasbara, holocaust, Iran, Israel, journalism, lobbying, propaganda, US, Zionism
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
And Blair’s Plan Comes to Palestine
Michele Giorgio reporting from Jerusalem (from il manifesto, 18/12/07)Blair played the role of protagonist also in Paris. The Quartet’s envoy for the Middle East and former British Premier takes seriously the duty of “developing the Palestinian economy”, as he has been entrusted by the American President George W. Bush, his companion in many military adventures. He takes his task so seriously that he’s churning out plans one after another. As many as four are the proposals the Quartet’s envoy has recently put forward for the “Rebirth of the Palestinian economy”, amongst which one with a striking name: “Corridor for Peace and Prosperity”.
It’s been ready for some time now, because it was already conceived by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA). It foresees the development of a large agro-industrial area in the Jordan Valley, the most fertile zone in the Palestinian Territories occupied by Israel 40 years ago. Behind the good-intention rhetoric, the project reveals not only the aim to make the dependence of the Palestinian economy on the Israeli one official, but also the intention of indirectly legalising the Israeli settlements in that portion of Palestinian territory.
Also included in the “Corridor for Peace and Prosperity” are plans for waste management about which some criticism has already come from the people of Jericho. As a matter of fact, the dumping grounds are expected to be built only in the tiny A-area, the one which, according to the outdated Oslo Accords, is controlled (at least formally) by the PNA.
Actually, the plan doesn’t take into consideration building dumping areas in the C-Area, which includes most of the occupied West Bank and is under the full authority of the Israeli army. Evidently, the Japanese and Blair seem to take for granted that, in the future, the C-Area will remain under Israel’s control. Jamal Jumaa, a leading representative of the Palestinian civil society and activist for the “Stop the Wall” campaign, suspects that the plan includes “also managing waste from the Israeli settlements built in that area, for instance the massive Ma’ale Adumim, which by international law, are illegal.”
In contrast with the socio-economical pattern of the Jericho area, comprised of farmers who work their small plot of land, the development plan which has been conceived by the Japanese and approved by Blair, foresees the set up of big agro-industrial enterprises with a remarkable workforce. If one takes into account the indigence in which most of the inhabitants of the Jordan Valley live, it won’t be too hard to guess that it will be the Israelis and the same old Palestinian elite who will dominate the entrepreneurial scene whilst the peasants will be employed as unskilled workers.
In the JICA plan, at pages 8 and 9, reference is made to the primary role for the development of the agro-industrial area that is expected to be carried out by “Israeli migrant firms”, an expression behind which are concealed those Israeli firms operating in the Palestinian Occupied Territories that maintain business relations with the Jewish settlements of the Jordan Valley. “The Corridor for Peace and Prosperity,” Jamal Jumaa warns, “goads the Palestinians, through economic cooperation, into recognising the presence of the Israeli settlements. What’s more, with such starting points, the benefits for the Palestinians will be minimal to say the least, since our farmers will never have the necessary tools to be at the top of the managerial pyramid and therefore they will have to make do with the crumbs that drop off the table.”
Even the building of “Morajat Road” seems to confirm Jumaa’s warnings. Officially, this road, as conceived in the plan, has the task of making the movements of the local goods and farmers along the Jordan Valley easier. Actually, it allows Israel to bar Palestinian traffic from state roads connecting Jerusalem to the Jericho area, thus it has a share in the development of the twofold traffic system—one for the Palestinians and one for the Israelis—which the UN spokesman for human rights himself, John Dugard, has described as being “semi-apartheid”. It is worthwhile to remember that the “Morajat Road” starts and ends with Israeli checkpoints.
Being allowed to criticise the “peace” and “development” patterns that were formulated at the Annapolis conference of the past month, as well as those ones emerging from Blair’s plans, is becoming an increasingly harder feat. Yet, some Arab regimes that maintain close relationships with the Bush administration are starting to have some doubts. Yesterday, while in Paris it was decided to provide Abu Mazen’s PNA with hefty financial aid, more than a few people wondered whether the Arab States will fulfil the obligations they undertook towards the Palestinian President the past month in Annapolis. Egypt and Saudi Arabia, in fact, seem to be reluctant to unreservedly take the side of Abu Mazen and to keep Hamas at a distance, which has controlled Gaza since last June.
Precisely from the Palestinian President’s entourage, it has been rumoured that Saudi Arabia is reconsidering the promise of covering half of the PNA’s yearly deficit (this year: 1.4 billion dollars). What’s more, only 80 out of 421 billion dollars that the Arab States granted to Abu Mazen in 2007 have been delivered.
On one hand, Saudi Arabia sides with Abu Mazen while on the other, it heistates in breaking off relations with Hamas, which represents an important portion of the Palestinian population.
Some day ago, the Hamas leader in exile, Khaled Meshaal, was warmly welcomed in Riyad by the Saudi establishment and therefore it is not surprising that the meeting was harshly criticised by the Palestinian President’s staff.
Translated by Diego Traversa and revised by Mary Rizzo, members of www.tlaxcala.es, network of translators for linguistic diversity.
Italian source:http://www.ilmanifesto.it/Quotidiano-archivio/18-Dicembre-2007/art48.html
Labels: Arab countries, EU, Israel, occupation, Palestine, Palestinian politicians, UK, US
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Israel in Darfur and Arab National Security
By Ahmad Hussein As-shimiTranslated by Adib S. Kawar and revised by Mary Rizzo
"Israel's Success in developing its relations with western African states – especially these falling south of the Great Sahara region bordering Arab African states – shall achieve very important strategic gains for it, which shall overcome areas of its strategic weakness due to the tight band of Arab States surrounding it, to reach to the open Arab back in a place Arabs do not expect"….these are the of words ex Israeli chief of staff, General Hayem Laskoff, describing his country's policy in relation to the African continent, that policy in which the Israel role becomes more apparent whenever conflicts comes to the open in its different arenas, especially after the discovery of natural resources such as oil and uranium in the continent.
Sudan could be a one of the cornerstones of this strategy, due to the consistent trail of Israel's successive governments since the early fifties of the 20th century, to obtain for itself a foothold in that region, whether it is in Sudan proper or the Sudanese province of Darfur.
Tremendous Fortunes
The Darfur province is of vital importance for the co-Israeli/American agenda and their planning for it. Darfur is geographically in a position that is adjacent to a great lake of oil reserves extending from the Sudanese province of Bahr Al-Ghazal through Chad, Niger, Mauritania, Mali, and Cameroon, thus taking control of it is considered a safety valve for them due, to the easiness of drilling and pumping oil produced in this region, and as being one of the biggest oil rich regions in the world, which has not yet been exploited, because of conflicts and wars that have been taking place in Sudan during the last twenty years.
U.S. interest in the province goes far beyond human concern, as the U.S. is well aware that Africa is one of the fastest growing regions in the world in oil production, and by 2012 the U.S. could be in a position to import quantities from Africa equal to those it is presently importing from the Middle East, as per the research prepared by the American Center of Foreign relations in Washington. The province also contains large mineral deposits, the most important of which is Uranium.
Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir noted that Darfur has the richest uranium deposits in the world, and western sources have statistics and documents about mineral fortunes that are dormant in its land.
In addition to oil and uranium, the Darfur province has 40 million fadans of fertile land that only one third of it has been up till now exploited. It has 24 million fadans of forestry and natural pastures that contain huge quantities of gum Arabica trees estimated at 16% of the international production, in addition to big quantities of copper, lead, granite, chrome, rare types of rocks, alluvium and construction stones, which forms 45% of Sudan's exports besides oil.
Surrounding Arab States
The strategic importance of Darfur is not only of great interest to the U.S., it is vital to Israel too, Israel's interference hides behind humanitarian help to execute its secret plans. Israel gave financial and medical help to those harmed in the province or in Chad and other states surrounding Sudan. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs budgeted 20 million shekels in assistance to refugees from Sudan, it also announced that it opened a campaign to collect contributions by all societies and NGOs for the same purpose, and also announced its plan to buy pharmaceuticals and water softening and distilling equipment for a value of US$ 800 000 — From Israeli companies to be transported to refugee camps in the Republic of Central Africa, also constructing field clinics and hospitals, and shall man them by Israeli doctors, and shall establish branches in Kenya to help refugees.
Agents of Israel’s intelligence organization, Mossad, are spread in a vast number of States surrounding Arab countries to encircle them from the south, Israeli policy also aims at using these in case future war breaks out; so as Darfur and most the south Sahara States are a great arena for settling conflicts and disputes between Arabs and Israel. Israeli policy aims at obtaining military facilities in the Nile source Plateau states. Please read the article entitled "The African Lake Plateau is an Israeli Playground", WHICH WILL APPEAR HERE TOMORROW, and using its air and naval bases, in addition to five Israeli bases in Hanish and Halak in Ethiopia, used for espionage on Arab States, as well as marketing its production of military equipment and weapons, and building African military cadres loyal to it.
These donations shall make of Israel one of the ten largest donors to needy refugees in 2007, which is a big step over the past years. Israeli Maariv daily wrote that it budgeted two million U.S. dollars, the U.S. gave 380 million dollars since the beginning of the year. The Sudanese Government openly accused Israel of escalating the conflict in Darfur, as former Sudanese minister of foreign affairs, Mustapha Othman Ismael said. Information available to us confirms what news media wrote that there is Israeli support to insurgents, and the coming days shall uncover Israeli connection with them.
Aid and Politics
On the other hand, Israeli minister of foreign affairs, Tzipi Livni, announced during a meeting with African ambassadors in Tel Aviv, that great numbers of Darfur refugees entered Israel through the Egyptian/Israeli common borderline. Sudanese sources accused Tel Aviv of facilitating infiltrators to sneak into Israel, to utilize the problem in defaming Sudan's reputation. Tel Aviv said that three thousand refugees entered occupied Palestine, among which 40% came from the south, 35% from Darfur and 25% from the Nuba mountains.
Israel aims at achieving two goals, that it is giving humanitarian help for peoples suffering from tragedies, which as per Israel's point of view – shall allow it to build good relations with the inhabitants of the neighboring countries, and gives it the opportunities to have a foothold and future relations that go beyond good human relations. They seek to reduce international pressure on themselves, namely by distracting international attention from the drastic human conditions Palestinians are living in the occupied territories, and guiding the attention of the international community to Darfur.
Colonialist Plans
Israeli/American interest and plans interlink in Darfur, to establish an independent State in western Sudan, under the leadership of the Az-Ghawi tribe that leads the insurgency in the province, besides establishing a technologically advanced military base under common American-British-Israeli observance, the purpose of which is to control security status, and political interactions in Egypt, Sudan, Libya, African states and the Red Sea. It also aims at protecting the oil pipeline that the U.S. is conducting negotiations to build, which shall be extending from Iraq, the Gulf States, to the Red Sea then to the Darfur province through Libya and Morocco to the Atlantic Ocean.
This plan comes as per the strategic report approved by the Congress in the year 2000 on Sudan as a base for the American strategy in the Black Continent, and to fulfill it there, complete with coordination between U.S. intelligence and Israeli Mossad, Darfur insurgents aim at destabilizing the province and creating chaos and terror within its ranks.
It also aims at obtaining international sympathy for deploying international forces in the province, to become a jumping point to get full control over the Horn of Africa, which tallies with its strategy and control on the new oil basin there.
There is no doubt if the Sudanese government approve on deploying international forces in the province it would have opened the door wide for more violence, then the Mossad shall find itself free to create more violence and instability and thus do whatever it desires, to repeat the present scenario presently prevailing in Iraq. Following the same trend the U.S. shall put further pressure on the Sudanese Government to accept the deployment of international forces in the province, through imposing economic sanctions, and accusing Khartoum of committing genocide in Darfur by arming the Arab Janjaweed militias to confront the insurgents, and its trial to abort any Arab initiative to contain the crisis, and create doubt in the ability of African forces in achieving stability in the province.
And lastly, it is clear that what is taking place on the ground uncovers Israeli/American intentions that support first separating the province from Sudan, and later fragmenting Sudan and other African States, to give an overall deadly blow to the Arab national security, thus it would be necessary for Arab States to refuse the deployment of international forces in Darfur, and the continuity the of the presence of African Unity Forces, supporting them with more forces to fill the shortage in power to increase its ability to take control of the situation there, and to abort any Israeli/American plans to enter another Arab State, and so as not repeat the tragic situation prevailing in Palestine.
Original: http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=ArticleA_C&cid=1195032353186&pagename=Zone-Arabic-News/NWALayout
Translated by Adib S Kawar and revised by Mary Rizzo, members of Tlaxcala.
"Israel's Success in developing its relations with western African states – especially these falling south of the Great Sahara region bordering Arab African states – shall achieve very important strategic gains for it, which shall overcome areas of its strategic weakness due to the tight band of Arab States surrounding it, to reach to the open Arab back in a place Arabs do not expect"….these are the of words ex Israeli chief of staff, General Hayem Laskoff, describing his country's policy in relation to the African continent, that policy in which the Israel role becomes more apparent whenever conflicts comes to the open in its different arenas, especially after the discovery of natural resources such as oil and uranium in the continent.
Sudan could be a one of the cornerstones of this strategy, due to the consistent trail of Israel's successive governments since the early fifties of the 20th century, to obtain for itself a foothold in that region, whether it is in Sudan proper or the Sudanese province of Darfur.
Tremendous Fortunes
The Darfur province is of vital importance for the co-Israeli/American agenda and their planning for it. Darfur is geographically in a position that is adjacent to a great lake of oil reserves extending from the Sudanese province of Bahr Al-Ghazal through Chad, Niger, Mauritania, Mali, and Cameroon, thus taking control of it is considered a safety valve for them due, to the easiness of drilling and pumping oil produced in this region, and as being one of the biggest oil rich regions in the world, which has not yet been exploited, because of conflicts and wars that have been taking place in Sudan during the last twenty years.
U.S. interest in the province goes far beyond human concern, as the U.S. is well aware that Africa is one of the fastest growing regions in the world in oil production, and by 2012 the U.S. could be in a position to import quantities from Africa equal to those it is presently importing from the Middle East, as per the research prepared by the American Center of Foreign relations in Washington. The province also contains large mineral deposits, the most important of which is Uranium.
Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir noted that Darfur has the richest uranium deposits in the world, and western sources have statistics and documents about mineral fortunes that are dormant in its land.
In addition to oil and uranium, the Darfur province has 40 million fadans of fertile land that only one third of it has been up till now exploited. It has 24 million fadans of forestry and natural pastures that contain huge quantities of gum Arabica trees estimated at 16% of the international production, in addition to big quantities of copper, lead, granite, chrome, rare types of rocks, alluvium and construction stones, which forms 45% of Sudan's exports besides oil.
Surrounding Arab States
The strategic importance of Darfur is not only of great interest to the U.S., it is vital to Israel too, Israel's interference hides behind humanitarian help to execute its secret plans. Israel gave financial and medical help to those harmed in the province or in Chad and other states surrounding Sudan. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs budgeted 20 million shekels in assistance to refugees from Sudan, it also announced that it opened a campaign to collect contributions by all societies and NGOs for the same purpose, and also announced its plan to buy pharmaceuticals and water softening and distilling equipment for a value of US$ 800 000 — From Israeli companies to be transported to refugee camps in the Republic of Central Africa, also constructing field clinics and hospitals, and shall man them by Israeli doctors, and shall establish branches in Kenya to help refugees.
Agents of Israel’s intelligence organization, Mossad, are spread in a vast number of States surrounding Arab countries to encircle them from the south, Israeli policy also aims at using these in case future war breaks out; so as Darfur and most the south Sahara States are a great arena for settling conflicts and disputes between Arabs and Israel. Israeli policy aims at obtaining military facilities in the Nile source Plateau states. Please read the article entitled "The African Lake Plateau is an Israeli Playground", WHICH WILL APPEAR HERE TOMORROW, and using its air and naval bases, in addition to five Israeli bases in Hanish and Halak in Ethiopia, used for espionage on Arab States, as well as marketing its production of military equipment and weapons, and building African military cadres loyal to it.
These donations shall make of Israel one of the ten largest donors to needy refugees in 2007, which is a big step over the past years. Israeli Maariv daily wrote that it budgeted two million U.S. dollars, the U.S. gave 380 million dollars since the beginning of the year. The Sudanese Government openly accused Israel of escalating the conflict in Darfur, as former Sudanese minister of foreign affairs, Mustapha Othman Ismael said. Information available to us confirms what news media wrote that there is Israeli support to insurgents, and the coming days shall uncover Israeli connection with them.
Aid and Politics
On the other hand, Israeli minister of foreign affairs, Tzipi Livni, announced during a meeting with African ambassadors in Tel Aviv, that great numbers of Darfur refugees entered Israel through the Egyptian/Israeli common borderline. Sudanese sources accused Tel Aviv of facilitating infiltrators to sneak into Israel, to utilize the problem in defaming Sudan's reputation. Tel Aviv said that three thousand refugees entered occupied Palestine, among which 40% came from the south, 35% from Darfur and 25% from the Nuba mountains.
Israel aims at achieving two goals, that it is giving humanitarian help for peoples suffering from tragedies, which as per Israel's point of view – shall allow it to build good relations with the inhabitants of the neighboring countries, and gives it the opportunities to have a foothold and future relations that go beyond good human relations. They seek to reduce international pressure on themselves, namely by distracting international attention from the drastic human conditions Palestinians are living in the occupied territories, and guiding the attention of the international community to Darfur.
Colonialist Plans
Israeli/American interest and plans interlink in Darfur, to establish an independent State in western Sudan, under the leadership of the Az-Ghawi tribe that leads the insurgency in the province, besides establishing a technologically advanced military base under common American-British-Israeli observance, the purpose of which is to control security status, and political interactions in Egypt, Sudan, Libya, African states and the Red Sea. It also aims at protecting the oil pipeline that the U.S. is conducting negotiations to build, which shall be extending from Iraq, the Gulf States, to the Red Sea then to the Darfur province through Libya and Morocco to the Atlantic Ocean.
This plan comes as per the strategic report approved by the Congress in the year 2000 on Sudan as a base for the American strategy in the Black Continent, and to fulfill it there, complete with coordination between U.S. intelligence and Israeli Mossad, Darfur insurgents aim at destabilizing the province and creating chaos and terror within its ranks.
It also aims at obtaining international sympathy for deploying international forces in the province, to become a jumping point to get full control over the Horn of Africa, which tallies with its strategy and control on the new oil basin there.
There is no doubt if the Sudanese government approve on deploying international forces in the province it would have opened the door wide for more violence, then the Mossad shall find itself free to create more violence and instability and thus do whatever it desires, to repeat the present scenario presently prevailing in Iraq. Following the same trend the U.S. shall put further pressure on the Sudanese Government to accept the deployment of international forces in the province, through imposing economic sanctions, and accusing Khartoum of committing genocide in Darfur by arming the Arab Janjaweed militias to confront the insurgents, and its trial to abort any Arab initiative to contain the crisis, and create doubt in the ability of African forces in achieving stability in the province.
And lastly, it is clear that what is taking place on the ground uncovers Israeli/American intentions that support first separating the province from Sudan, and later fragmenting Sudan and other African States, to give an overall deadly blow to the Arab national security, thus it would be necessary for Arab States to refuse the deployment of international forces in Darfur, and the continuity the of the presence of African Unity Forces, supporting them with more forces to fill the shortage in power to increase its ability to take control of the situation there, and to abort any Israeli/American plans to enter another Arab State, and so as not repeat the tragic situation prevailing in Palestine.
Original: http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=ArticleA_C&cid=1195032353186&pagename=Zone-Arabic-News/NWALayout
Translated by Adib S Kawar and revised by Mary Rizzo, members of Tlaxcala.
Labels: Africa, Arab countries, Israel, military, US, war
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Soldier Lozano is Saved - Calipari's Murderer will not face trial
by Claudio Fava (25 October 2007)The American soldier has been acquitted by the third Higher Court of Rome by entering a non suit. Hence, not only will he never be put on trial, no judgment will be expressed on his involvement in the murder of Nicola Calipari.
How should we consider the decision of the third Higher Court of Rome which strips Italy of any jurisdiction about Nicola Calipari’s death by letting a murder and its perpetrator go unpunished? Should we see it as a legal whim? As the extreme obedience to a literal interpretation of legal codes? As a mere jurisdictional flaw? And above all, who, according to our court, should now see to demanding justice and truth over the death of our officer? Maybe a US military court? The Iraqi justice system? Or our good Lord?
Let’s stick to the facts. The American soldier Mario Lozano has been acquitted with the decision of entering a nonsuit. Hence, he will never be put on trial nor judged for that murder. Therefore, the first meaningful fact is this: Nicola Calipari’s death is a crime that will go unpunished. No one is held accountable, there is no responsibility, no punishment, no judiciary memory. Period.
Second fact. The verdict by the Roman judges aligns itself with other very questionable decisions of political and institutional importance, that we have been collecting for the last twelve months as regards our relationship with the US Administration. Italian Minister of Justice Clemente Mastella decided to not demanding the extradition of the 27 CIA agents who have been accused by Milan’s court of abduction. The government raised a competence conflict with Milan’s Prosecutor’s office by demanding that trial to be called off. Prime Minister Prodi, emulating his predecessor Berlusconi, has renewed the State Secrecy that is in vigour around the whole issue of Abu Omar’s abduction by removing it from the democratic control of the Parliament and from the magistracy’s verifications. Sismi’s (note: Italian military secret services) Director Nicolò Pollari, defendant at Milan’s trial who is blatantly guilty of “intelligence” collusion with the secret services of a foreign country in violation of Italian sovereignty, was kept in office until the expiration of his mandate and at last he was rewarded with a consultancy job in the government’s employ. Let’s stop here, for our nation’s mercy.
If we place all these episodes together, from today’s verdict to yesterday’s State Secrets, all these facts, which are different between each other in form but all clearly questionable in the substance, we get the feeling that our government has a guilty conscience towards the Bush Administration. As if we should ask their forgiveness, in one way or another, for the malice of having withdrawn our troops from Iraq. Let’s be honest: when such an intertwined and articulated combination of functions and responsibilities, from Rome’s Higher Courts to the Minister of Justice and the Premier, takes place, we are far beyond a vague impression. Actually, it makes more sense to speak of a cultural and political submission that is unfolding in these nervous weeks by denying truth and granting impunity. Impunity for Marine Lozano, impunity for the CIA’s chiefs, who are convinced that Italy is nothing more than their own backyard, the home itself of the American secret services.
That’s why this verdict, beyond the pale of alleged law, bewilders and worries us. Because it shows the effects of a terrible atmosphere filled with conspiracy of silence. And also because it unveils a renewed tolerance towards crimes and criminals from an allied country in the name of an alleged raison d’état. The sense of which escapes us common citizens once again.
http://www.aprileonline.info/4741/salvato-il-soldato-lozano
Translated from Italian by Diego Traversa and revised by Mary Rizzo, members of Tlaxcala, network of translators for linguistic diversity.
Labels: absolute madness, Iraq, Italy, military, US, war
Monday, October 15, 2007
Haniyeh interview: "Abbas, the conference is a trap"
HANIYEH TO ABBAS: “THE CONFERENCE IS A TRAP. DON’T GO”
by Umberto De Giovannangeli (l’Unità, 12/10/07)
“We want to say to President Abbas: don’t endorse the deceitful conference that President Bush wants to hold in order to try to whitewash his failure in the Middle East. That conference is a trap the Palestinians must not fall into.”
These are the words of the leader of Hamas Ismail Haniyeh, who Abbas forced into stepping down. In this interview with l’Unità, Haniyeh shows an opening to dialogue with Fatah: “There’s no way left for us but to set up a national unity government. We’re ready as of this moment to join a negotiation with President Abbas and Fatah, but it must be clear that what was carried out by Hamas in Gaza was nothing but a reaction to a putsch attempt from gangs working on behalf of people who were aiming only at strengthening their own power”. He is referring to Fatah’s former strong man in Gaza, Mohammed Dahlan.
Abu Mazen and the Israeli Premier Olmert are engaged in defining a Joint Declaration in view of the international US-sponsored international conference. What’s your position?
“The conferenced hatched by Bush is only a deceitful one. It’s a trap we Palestinians must not fall into. We are talking about an American attempt at whitewashing their failed Middle East policies. I want to tell Abbas: don’t let yourself be taken in by this trickery.”
Olmert has committed himself to implementing a peace founded on two States.
“It’s a deception. Olmert continuously speaks about peace but those are only words. Facts show us another story: confiscated property, villages divided by the wall in the West Bank, a population, in Gaza, that has been living under siege for more than a year. Is this the peace Israel wants? Olmert speaks about a State, so does Bush, and meanwhile the West Bank is being shattered into thousands of fragments pieces that they dare shamelessly call a ‘State’.”
Israel argues that Hamas doesn’t aim at setting up a Palestinian State but only at destroying the Jewish one.
“Hamas won at the elections, free elections, presenting a clear programme, which we didn’t fail to observe: to strive for a State of Palestine over the territories occupied in 1967, a State with Jerusalem as its capital. This is our government programme.”
If this is the case, why did Hamas carry out the military coup d’état in Gaza?
“We’re willing to accept an investigating commission by the Arab League that may shed light on what really happened in Gaza.”
And what is thought to have “really” happened?
“An attempt at overthrowing what the elections had sanctioned. I ask you: whenever has it happened that a movement which has obtained its mandate through an election victory then carried out a coup d’état? The truth is that in Gaza there was someone who wanted to come to an armed showdown in order to overturn the outcome of the elections.”
Concerning your relation with Fatah, is the only dialogue an armed one?
“No, it must not be. There’s no other alternative but a national reconciliation government, and even Egypt is aware about this, as they have offered themselves as the mediator. As far as I’m concerned, if it’s of any use, I’m willing to take a step backward. Our administration in Gaza is only temporary.”
Is Hamas willing to have talks with Israel? And if so, what will be the basis of such talks?
“We’ve stated for a while that we’re willing to negotiate a lasting truce, at least 10-15 years. On the condition, however, that Israel puts an end to the siege of Gaza, to the building of the Wall in the West Bank, that it releases the Palestinian prisoners locked up in its prisons, that it brings to an end the assassinations of the militants and leaders of the Intifada. Israel knows well that Hamas is able to enforce and to fulfil the accords it makes. Armed resistance isn’t the goal of Hamas but it remains one of the necessary means to obtain the liberation of Palestine. But it must be clear: Hamas isn’t against peace but only against capitulation.”
But, if you are in favour of peace, why don’t you agree to recognize Israel?
“Because an oppressed people must not be forced to recognise its own oppressor. Israel’s recognition cannot be a pre-condition for a negotiation, if anything, it’s one of the issues to be discussed.”
Why doesn’t Hamas accept new elections?
“It’s certainly not us who fear the elections. But, in order for the elections to be free, first of all the siege against Gaza must be lifted and then everyone has to recognise the only body that really represents the people’s will: the Palestinian Legislative Council. (The parliament of the Occupied Territories where Hamas has the absolute majority, editor’s note.) We are willing to open a confrontation with Fatah even over this issue, without any blackmailing.”
In an interview with l’Unità, Italian Foreign Minister D’Alema repeated that it’s possible, under certain conditions, to open a dialogue with Hamas. What is your reply?
“I’ve appreciated Italy’s stance and the endeavour it’s made in order to stand up against the Americans’ ostracism. Hamas is a friend to Italy and it is willing to discuss the demands put forward. Italy might undertake an exploratory mission: Prodi and D’Alema are welcome in Gaza. Yet, to discuss is one thing, to submit to a diktat is another kettle of fish.”
There are some who claim that Hamas intends upon having a state of “its own” in Gaza.
“This is false. I must repeat: our aim was and is that of setting up an independent state over all the territories occupied by Israel in 1967. We won’t be the ones who fail to keep this commitment.”
(Osama Hamdan collaborated in the interview).
There is no l’Unità link; the article can be read at: http://www.informazionecorretta.com/main.php?mediaId=13&sez=110&id=22229
Translation from Italian by Diego Traversa, revised by Mary Rizzo, members of Tlaxcala
by Umberto De Giovannangeli (l’Unità, 12/10/07)
“We want to say to President Abbas: don’t endorse the deceitful conference that President Bush wants to hold in order to try to whitewash his failure in the Middle East. That conference is a trap the Palestinians must not fall into.”
These are the words of the leader of Hamas Ismail Haniyeh, who Abbas forced into stepping down. In this interview with l’Unità, Haniyeh shows an opening to dialogue with Fatah: “There’s no way left for us but to set up a national unity government. We’re ready as of this moment to join a negotiation with President Abbas and Fatah, but it must be clear that what was carried out by Hamas in Gaza was nothing but a reaction to a putsch attempt from gangs working on behalf of people who were aiming only at strengthening their own power”. He is referring to Fatah’s former strong man in Gaza, Mohammed Dahlan.
Abu Mazen and the Israeli Premier Olmert are engaged in defining a Joint Declaration in view of the international US-sponsored international conference. What’s your position?
“The conferenced hatched by Bush is only a deceitful one. It’s a trap we Palestinians must not fall into. We are talking about an American attempt at whitewashing their failed Middle East policies. I want to tell Abbas: don’t let yourself be taken in by this trickery.”
Olmert has committed himself to implementing a peace founded on two States.
“It’s a deception. Olmert continuously speaks about peace but those are only words. Facts show us another story: confiscated property, villages divided by the wall in the West Bank, a population, in Gaza, that has been living under siege for more than a year. Is this the peace Israel wants? Olmert speaks about a State, so does Bush, and meanwhile the West Bank is being shattered into thousands of fragments pieces that they dare shamelessly call a ‘State’.”
Israel argues that Hamas doesn’t aim at setting up a Palestinian State but only at destroying the Jewish one.
“Hamas won at the elections, free elections, presenting a clear programme, which we didn’t fail to observe: to strive for a State of Palestine over the territories occupied in 1967, a State with Jerusalem as its capital. This is our government programme.”
If this is the case, why did Hamas carry out the military coup d’état in Gaza?
“We’re willing to accept an investigating commission by the Arab League that may shed light on what really happened in Gaza.”
And what is thought to have “really” happened?
“An attempt at overthrowing what the elections had sanctioned. I ask you: whenever has it happened that a movement which has obtained its mandate through an election victory then carried out a coup d’état? The truth is that in Gaza there was someone who wanted to come to an armed showdown in order to overturn the outcome of the elections.”
Concerning your relation with Fatah, is the only dialogue an armed one?
“No, it must not be. There’s no other alternative but a national reconciliation government, and even Egypt is aware about this, as they have offered themselves as the mediator. As far as I’m concerned, if it’s of any use, I’m willing to take a step backward. Our administration in Gaza is only temporary.”
Is Hamas willing to have talks with Israel? And if so, what will be the basis of such talks?
“We’ve stated for a while that we’re willing to negotiate a lasting truce, at least 10-15 years. On the condition, however, that Israel puts an end to the siege of Gaza, to the building of the Wall in the West Bank, that it releases the Palestinian prisoners locked up in its prisons, that it brings to an end the assassinations of the militants and leaders of the Intifada. Israel knows well that Hamas is able to enforce and to fulfil the accords it makes. Armed resistance isn’t the goal of Hamas but it remains one of the necessary means to obtain the liberation of Palestine. But it must be clear: Hamas isn’t against peace but only against capitulation.”
But, if you are in favour of peace, why don’t you agree to recognize Israel?
“Because an oppressed people must not be forced to recognise its own oppressor. Israel’s recognition cannot be a pre-condition for a negotiation, if anything, it’s one of the issues to be discussed.”
Why doesn’t Hamas accept new elections?
“It’s certainly not us who fear the elections. But, in order for the elections to be free, first of all the siege against Gaza must be lifted and then everyone has to recognise the only body that really represents the people’s will: the Palestinian Legislative Council. (The parliament of the Occupied Territories where Hamas has the absolute majority, editor’s note.) We are willing to open a confrontation with Fatah even over this issue, without any blackmailing.”
In an interview with l’Unità, Italian Foreign Minister D’Alema repeated that it’s possible, under certain conditions, to open a dialogue with Hamas. What is your reply?
“I’ve appreciated Italy’s stance and the endeavour it’s made in order to stand up against the Americans’ ostracism. Hamas is a friend to Italy and it is willing to discuss the demands put forward. Italy might undertake an exploratory mission: Prodi and D’Alema are welcome in Gaza. Yet, to discuss is one thing, to submit to a diktat is another kettle of fish.”
There are some who claim that Hamas intends upon having a state of “its own” in Gaza.
“This is false. I must repeat: our aim was and is that of setting up an independent state over all the territories occupied by Israel in 1967. We won’t be the ones who fail to keep this commitment.”
(Osama Hamdan collaborated in the interview).
There is no l’Unità link; the article can be read at: http://www.informazionecorretta.com/main.php?mediaId=13&sez=110&id=22229
Translation from Italian by Diego Traversa, revised by Mary Rizzo, members of Tlaxcala
Labels: Gaza, Israel, Italy, occupation, Palestine, Palestinian politicians, US
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Saban, The Power Ranger and the Israel Lobby
Major Campaign fund contributor to the US presidential elections, Haim Saban expresses his deep paranoia and deep far right leanings in this (old) interview that I've just seen now. More good reasons to boycott the Saban Galaxy of Products from this self-made man with a High School Diploma. I think we can live without Digimon, DragonBall, Power Rangers, Sweet Valley High, Candy Candy and other such "charming" entertainment products and their offshoots in marketing. Ha'aretz
Ari Shavit
Sept. 12, 2006
In recent years, the ability of the colorful Israeli-American billionaire to bring together Ariel Sharon and Bill Clinton, Shimon Peres and Henry Kissinger, Tzipi Livni and Condoleezza Rice has become one of the achievements of which he is proud. During the two years in which his personal fortune grew from $2.2 billion to $2.8 billion (according to Forbes), Saban succeeded in adding to the list of power centers he controls this prestigious annual gathering of senior Israeli and American figures for a joint dialogue....
Haim Saban was born in Alexandria in 1944 and immigrated to Israel in 1956. He moved to Paris in 1975, after almost going bankrupt. He arrived in Los Angeles in 1983 and achieved his first billion in 1995. Within a very short time - slightly more than a decade - he became a media tycoon, the major funder of the Democratic Party and a close friend of the President of the United States. A kind of Great Gatsby. Our Great Gatsby.
Haim Saban, after the second Lebanon War many Israelis are worried about their country's future. Do you share that concern?
"Israel does not worry me. Israel's neighbors worry me. I used to be a real leftist. I remember Arik Sharon coming here, to my house, a few months before Camp David, when he was still leader of the opposition. He told me there would be no deal because Arafat would not sign. I told myself that there was nothing to be done - these right-wingers were simply insane. I had no doubt that there would be a deal and the problems would be resolved. History proved that Sharon was right and I was wrong. In matters relating to security, that moved me to the right. Very far to the right."...
You meet frequently and quite intimately with Israeli and American decision-makers. What do you tell than about the situation regarding Iran?
"The Iranians are serious. They mean business. Ahmadinejad is not a madman. And every Jew who feels himself to be a Jew lives under the shadow of the Holocaust. That is something that does not leave us. The Holocaust never leaves us. So we are treating Ahmadinejad's declarations like those of Hitler in the 1930s."
You too?
"Yes, of course. When I see Ahmadinejad, I see Hitler. They speak the same language..."
The problem has an answer. I don't know. We had a tiny problem of Katyushas, and that paralyzed half a country. But maybe we have an answer for the big problems and not the small ones. Maybe we will succeed with the nuclear issue where we failed with the Katyushas. But if there is an answer, then I say yes, certainly. I would try other things first, but if they don't work - then attack."
Even if the risk is high? Even if the price will be very high?
"Is there a higher price than two nuclear bombs on Israel? So they will fire missiles, all right then. Iran is not Lebanon, where you pinpoint specific targets: this bridge here, that building, half of that courtyard over there. In Iran you go in and wipe out their infrastructure completely. Plunge them into darkness. Cut off their water...." ...
You said once that you are a one-note person, and that note is Israel. Why?
"You can't explain love."
It's really love?
"More than love. Passion. A love that is passion."
Please explain.
"When we approach Israel I always ask the pilots of my plane to let me sit in the chair between them. We don't play 'Heveinu Shalom Aleichem,' but when I see the coast coming up my heart starts to go boom, boom, boom....."
You are reputed to have a soft spot for combat soldiers.
"I can't handle combat soldiers: whenever I have any interaction with them, I cry. Really. I swear. I was in the north two months ago and Gal Hirsch [division commander during the war in the north who resigned shortly afterward] did a tour with us. In my estimation what was done to him was absolutely unjust. I don't know if he made a mistake, but even if he did you don't take a person like that and throw him in the garbage. He has been in uniform since he was 14, the kid. He gave his whole life to our army. He's top-notch. Believe me, he's top-notch.
"So when he spoke to us and explained what happened in the abduction [of two soldiers by Hezbollah] and what happened in the war, I looked at him and cried. I, as an Israeli, would not exist if not for people like that. I strut around like a peacock in America and say I am an Israeli-American. What you hear: an Israeli-American. If not for people like Gal Hirsch I would be in a different situation altogether. I am telling you this in a totally egoistic way. Pulling no punches."
Labels: boycott, hasbara, Israel, lobbying, US, Zionism
