Saturday, May 9, 2009

The Power of the Obama Illusion: US Sanctions on Syria “Routine”; No Political Meanings


Al-Manar

"09/05/2009 Despite US diplomatic activity in Syria and overture to Iran indicating a shift in Washington’s foreign policy, the Obama administration has renewed economic sanctions against Damascus. "The president felt it was necessary," said State Department spokesman Robert Wood, referring to the renewal of the sanctions, which is required each year by Congress.....

It is early to determine how the renewal of sanctions is related to the results of Feltman and Shapiro’s recent visit to Damascus. The Obama administration needs time to assess the outcome of its diplomatic activity in Syria and therefore, a decision to renew sanctions could not have been founded on the most recent US-Syria talks. After all, Washington still needs to determine its road map in the region, particularly vis-à-vis normalizing ties with Damascus, based on the outcome of elections in Lebanon and Iran.

SYRIA SHRUGS OFF US SANCTION RENEWAL AS 'ROUTINE'

Syria on Saturday dismissed a US decision to renew economic sanctions on Damascus for another year as a "routine" measure, even as the two countries are engaged in a dialogue to improve ties.

A Syrian official played down the importance of the sanctions renewal, telling AFP on condition of anonymity that the measure was routine. "The dialogue between Damascus and Washington is not over," the Syrian official added........"

COMMENT by TONY SAYEGH

The power of the Obama myth is amazing! Once the myth of "change" has taken hold, there is nothing to stop the "hoping" and "waiting".

Even when real, concrete actions, clearly indicate that there is no change from the Bush policies, these concrete measures are brushed aside by the Arab regimes as "routine", while they attach more importance to words and images of change.

As usual, the Israelis care only about actions and facts on the ground, while the stupid Arab regimes focus instead on words and images. Take Obama's recent actions: not a word about the Gaza massacres, boycotting Durban II and changing the focus away from Israeli Apartheid and virulent racism, renewal of sanctions on Iran and Syria, maintaining the siege and starvation of Gaza, forcing the UN not to pursue the investigation of Israeli war crimes in Gaza, forcing Ban Ki-moon to water down his report and not to take any actions against Israel, etc, etc.

That is why Obama is even more dangerous than Bush; he is the new sedative and drug of choice of the Arabs.

Israel grabs more land, builds more colonies, kills more Palestinians, etc while the Arabs cheer for a word here and a gesture there from Obama. Is it any wonder that the Arabs are in the hopeless position they find themselves in? Until the Arab people (Palestinians included) decide to take matters in their own hands and to push aside all those USraeli-controlled regimes, matters will get worse and worse while Obama, Rahm Israel Emanuel and AIPAC keep on smiling.

كلُّ مُعوِّلٍ على إسرائيل لا يُعوَّل عليه


عزمي بشارة

".....
أما إذا جاءت مبادرة أميركية أن يغير العرب مبادرتهم، فيعدلوها بشكل "يعززها" و"يسوقها" لكي يصبح فرضها على إسرائيل ممكنا، فسوف تتدفق الأفكار الخلاقة عن تأجيل حق العودة. (أما كيف تُعَزَّز مبادرة بتعديلها لإرضاء الخصم فمتروك لبلاغة كتاب الأعمدة الناطقين باسم.. الذين سيبدؤون قريبا بالترويج). أما قضية القدس فسوف تكون ساحة الإبداع والتبديع والبديع في إيجاد المخارج والمداخل مثل رفع العلم الفلسطيني فيها مثلا دون أن تنسحب إسرائيل منها.. كما يطاول الإبداع التفريق بين حدود 67 وبين المساحة التي احتلت بحيث تسترجع المساحة دون الحدود.. هذا نقاش يطول. وسوف يطول حتى تبدأ إدارة أوباما بالتحضير للانتخابات الجديدة.

كل هذا لا يهم إسرائيل كثيرا. ما يهمها هو استمرار الحصار لإضعاف المقاومة ودفعها للبحث عن اعتراف دولي بها بدلا عن قضيتها، في ظل تعهد بوقف إطلاق الصورايخ. وما يهمها هو استمرار بناء أجهزة أمنية جديدة لم يحارب أفرادها إسرائيل في مرحلة ما من حياتهم، ولا تعرف منظمة التحرير ولا فتح، بل تعرف الولاء لحكومة السلطة في رام الله فقط. وهذا أمر جار تنفيذه بروية ومثابرة بغض النظر عن التقدم في المفاوضات.

ويهمها استمرار البناء في القدس وحولها. وأخيرا وليس آخرا يهمها استمرار التعاون مع ما يسمى بمحور الاعتدال لخلق قواسم مشتركة ضد إيران.. بحيث، نصل (ويا للهول!!) إلى زمن تضغط فيه كل من إسرائيل والأنظمة العربية الحليفة سوية على الولايات المتحدة لكي لا تذهب الأخيرة بعيدا في إرضاء إيران في الحوار، وأن تبقي الخيار العسكري قائما.

لم يتوقع البعض ربما أن يستقبل العرب نتنياهو وحكومة اليمين في الحكم بتعديلات على مبادرة السلام العربية "تسلح الولايات المتحدة بوسائل للضغط عليه". فقد كان المتوقع التمسك العربي بشروط الحل الدائم، بل واتخاذ خطوات متشددة تقابل تحدي العالم العربي بعد حروب أولمرت بإيصال نتنياهو وليبرمان للحكم. فقد أُخِذَ بعضُنا بالتهويل العربي من قدومه ومن خطر اليمين على عملية السلام، وكأن الأخيرة كانت مزدهرة وفي طريقها إلى تطبيق حل دائم. ولكن هذا التهويل العربي لم يتجاوز التأكيد على عملية السلام فهي مهمة جدا للأنظمة.

وموقف حكومة نتنياهو المتشدد من إيران يعتبر عند بعض الأنظمة العربية بادرة مشجعة ولا تفوَّت للتعاون وحتى للضغط المشترك على أميركا، ولكنه لا يشكل قاعدة مشتركة كافية للعمل من أجل استعادة ثقة أميركا بدور هذه الأنظمة، من أجل ذلك لا بد من عودة محرك عملية السلام للعمل.

صرنا نسمع عن أفكار تشجع على ممارسة أشكال من التطبيع مع إسرائيل قد تجد إعجابا لدى رأيها العام وتؤكد جدية العرب في السلام. وسبق أن أكدنا في هذا الموقع رأينا، أن من يتمسك بمبادرة السلام بعقلية المهزوم حين يرفضها الخصم لا بد أن يعود فيعدلها لتجد لديه قبولا."

The sinking of the Dignity


Friday, 08 May 2009 23:17
Written by Greta Berlin

The Free Gaza Movement

"For many of us who loved this yacht, traveled on her, fussed over her, felt that she was something special, we have been devastated by her loss. The Dignity was not just a yacht. She was a hope that internationals and Palestinians could come to Gaza. She provided an illusion that, someday, if others followed, the port of Gaza would be open to commerce just like any other port on the Mediterranean......."

Hezbollah Condemns Larsen's Assault on Resistance


Al-Manar

"09/05/2009 Hezbollah condemned on Saturday UN special envoy to implement UNSCR 1559 Terej Roed Larsen's latest report, saying that the latter insists on showing his ugly picture from time to time through assailing Hezbollah and the Resistance at one side and pretending to care for Lebanese interests at the other. In a statement it released, Hezbollah found strange Larsen's alleged care, recalling how the UN official adopts the Zionist stance in Lebanon and Palestine. "Through his statements, Larsen constitutes a cover that supports the criminal acts committed by the Israeli occupation in both countries," the statement read out. While saying that it understands very well the role assigned to Larsen and company, Hezbollah called on the United Nations to safeguard what remains of its skinny reputation "because of its biased policies". The Resistance bloc also criticized the performance of some UN employees who are related to some suspicious circles that transformed the international organization into a tool. "

Obama Readies Troops as Afghans Pile Up Body Parts


As rage spreads in Afghanistan after US bombing that killed up to 130 people, unnamed Pentagon officials are spinning another cover-up. Defiant Obama moves ahead with troop increase.

by Jeremy Scahill, May 09, 2009

" As President Barack Obama prepares to send some 21,000 more US troops into Afghanistan, anger is rising in the western province of Farah, the scene of a US bombing massacre that may have killed as many as 130 Afghans, including 13 members of one family. At least six houses were bombed and among the dead and wounded are women and children. As of this writing reports indicate some people remain buried in rubble. The US airstrikes happened on Monday and Tuesday. Just hours after Obama met with US-backed president Hamid Karzai Wednesday, hundreds of Afghans — perhaps as many as 2,000 — poured into the streets of the provincial capital, chanting “Death to America.” The protesters demanded a US withdrawal from Afghanistan......."

The Pope must have a message for the Middle East


Benedict XVI's visit to the Middle East may be a 'pilgrimage', but it is also a political opportunity

Tariq Ramadan
The Guardian, Saturday 9 May 2009

".......Let us hope the pope will remind Israeli prime minister Netanyahu (whose party does not recognise the Palestinian state) and his foreign minister Lieberman that there will be no peace without justice and that the Palestinians' blood has the same value as the Israelis'. Silence on this issue would be to implicitly support Israel: in a time of repression, to avoid politics is politics. Will the pope have the political courage to be a true contemporary religious voice reminding us of the ethical responsibility of the powerful and the equal dignity and legitimate resistance of the oppressed? This was Jesus' message and it should remain so, in Israel and everywhere around the world."

Peace in our time?

There is growing speculation about a revamped peace plan for the Middle East. But what will it contain – or achieve?

Ben White
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 9 May 2009

"Recently, and in the last week in particular, there has been a flurry of speculation in the Arab and western media about changes afoot in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, and in particular, how the US intends to engage with the conflict and the region as a whole. If the reports and analysis are to be believed, something is shifting, and the various players are staking out their positions in the changing landscape.

One of the main questions being asked is whether the US and Israeli administrations are heading for a conflict. Many answer in the affirmative, including the Guardian's Simon Tisdall, who yesterday wrote that Israel is "under siege" as PM Netanyahu heads for "showdown talks" with Obama on 18 May. Other commentators have also perceived a "widening rift between the U.S. and Israeli governments"......

This week, however, it was rumoured that the US was considering returning to the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, having requested some changes in the content. According to a report in al-Quds al-Arabi, a redrafting of the plan was discussed during a meeting between Obama and Jordan's King Abdullah, and discussions were being held on the matter between the Jordanians, Egyptians, Palestinians, Saudis, and even Syrians.

This has been subsequently denied as alleged changes include dropping the Palestinians' right of return and the normalisation of relations between Israel and the Arab states. Since the story surfaced, Jordan's foreign minister stressed that the initiative would continue "without change", while Arab League secretary-general Amr Moussa also said there was "no amendment" [COMMENT: as John Pilger would say, "don't believe a rumor until it has been officially denied!"].......

Unfortunately, it is likely that the enormous disparity between the peace process and the facts on the ground in the occupied territories will live on in any new initiative. The Palestinian people continue to seek basic political and human rights, rather than gestures and Jericho casinos. The two-state solution may be the only game in town, but there is no evidence that Obama can – or wants to –MIddle prevent it being a slogan masking apartheid."

Current Al-Jazeera (Arabic) Online Poll


This poll deals with the visit of the Pope; it asks:

Do you believe that the Pope should apologize to Muslims, for his earlier statements against Islam, after expressing his deep respect for Muslims?

With about 2,000 responding so far, 87% said yes.

Israel Says Lieberman Invited to Egypt


Al-Manar

"09/05/2009 Israel's ultra-nationalist Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has been invited to visit Egypt though a date has not yet been agreed on, a senior ministry official said Saturday.

"Mr. Lieberman was invited to visit Egypt as minister of foreign affairs, but the date of this visit has not yet been fixed," Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon told Israeli public radio. "Israel and Egypt have common interests, but Mr. Lieberman has a lot of invitations on his agenda, including from Moscow, London, Washington, Latin America, and Africa," he said........"

Mustapha Barghouti: We are Heading For A Third Intifada


Al-Manar

"......He participated at the VII International Conference of the Palestinians in Europe for the Right of Return, held in Milan, at the sidelines of which Arabmonitor met with him to get his opinion on crucial issues......

....In case the Gaza Strip remains isolated for a longer time to come, do you see any risk of a renewed upsurge in violence ?

What I see on the horizon is the outbreak of a new Intifada in all of the Occupied Territories of Palestine and that is going to be pretty tumultuous”.

Within short ?

“I wouldn't be able to predict a timeline, but the suffering is enormous”."

Friday, May 8, 2009


The Arab Peace Initiative (or What is Left of it).....
By Emad Hajjaj

The Pakistan Conundrum

Resisting U.S. Priorities

By Gareth Porter
CounterPunch

"The advances of the Taliban insurgents beyond the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) in recent weeks and the failure of the Pakistani military to counter them have brought a rare moment of truth for top national security officials of the Barack Obama administration.

Accustomed to making whatever assumptions are necessary to support ambitious administration policies in the Middle East, those officials have now been forced to face the reality that the Pakistani military leadership simply does not share the U.S. view that the radical Islamist threat should be its top national security priority and that the divergence is not going to change anytime soon.....

Gates and other administration officials are certain to continue suggesting that the Pakistani government and military really do share the U.S. urgency now about the threat of Islamic radicalism. But for the first time they are questioning the basic premise of the whole "AfPak" strategy, which is that the United States can somehow induce Pakistan to fundamentally change its view of its strategic interests."

EXCLUSIVE…Pentagon Pundits: New York Times Reporter David Barstow Wins Pulitzer Prize for Exposing Military’s Pro-War Propaganda Media Campaign

Democracy Now!
With Amy Goodman

"We begin our show today with New York Times reporter David Barstow. He recently won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting for exposing how dozens of retired generals, working as radio and television analysts, had been co-opted by the Pentagon to make its case for the war in Iraq, and how many of them also had undisclosed ties to military contractors that benefited from policies they defended.

Barstow uncovered Pentagon documents that repeatedly refer to the military analysts as “message force multipliers” or “surrogates” who could be counted on to deliver administration themes and messages to millions of Americans in the form of their own opinions.

The so-called analysts were given hundreds of classified Pentagon briefings, provided with Pentagon-approved talking points and given free trips to Iraq and other sites paid for by the Pentagon.....

David Barstow joins us in the Firehouse studio...."

Black Skin White Mask

[Comment: Obama apologists logic: Obama sincerely apologized for killing the Afghans, but Bush was never sincere in his apologies]
Analysis: US regrets, discord on Afghan airstrike

WASHINGTON – The slaughter of dozens of Afghan civilians — either from a U.S. airstrike or from Taliban grenades, or both — sentPresident Barack Obama and his aides grasping for the right words at a delicate stage in their efforts to win Afghan support for an expanded war.

U.S. success in Afghanistan depends on the trust and good will of ordinary Afghans to defeat a resourceful Taliban insurgency, and every time civilians die it becomes easier to distrust the Americans.

Obama, along with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, have offered condolences about the deaths. At the same time, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David McKiernan, suggested theU.S. military may have been framed.

Al-Jazeera Video: Panic grips Pakistan's Buner as fighting intensifies - 07 May 09



"Until a few weeks ago no one outside Pakistan had heard of Buner in the North West Frontier Province but that's all changed now. More than 300,000 people have fled the area as troops battle Taliban fighters.

For all of this time, Al Jazeera has had a cameraman behind the frontlines, documenting the developments. Al Jazeera's Kamal Hyder reports from Peshawar, the main city of NWFP. "

Palestine Think Tank: celebrating our first year!


By Gilad Atzmon
(Cartoon by Carlos Latuff)

"Back in January, at the peak of the Israeli sinister campaign in Gaza, I spoke to Mary on the phone. The situation was rather grave. We were both pretty depressed. Though it was rather obvious that Israel wouldn’t win that genocidal war, it was also evidently clear that Israel was not going to stop in its tracks. It had managed to detach itself from any recognisable notion of humanism. It wasn't concerned at all with its image around the world. As the Israelis were pouring WMDs on Gazans and the numbers of Palestinian casualties were mounting, we learned that 94% of Israeli Jews supported the genocidal tactics. As if this was not enough, we also learned that all over the world Jews were rallying in support of their criminal nation state. In Palestine Think Tank, like in many other solidarity sites and blogs, we were working around the clock disseminating the information and analysis. That morning when talking to Mary I complained to her that we were publishing papers everyday: news reports from Gaza, some illuminating critical reading of the situation, enlightening, refreshing political analysis, our posts were receiving thousands of entries and yet, I expressed my concern, we failed to make it to the main press. Mary was quick to correct me. “Gilad, you may fail to see it, we do not want to assimilate into the so-called media, we do not need them. From now on we are the media.”....."

Happy Birthday PTT and Many Happy Returns From The Palestinian Pundit.

The Eunuchs' "Tough" Response and Dramatic "Action Plan"? Arab Foreign Ministers decide to file a lawsuit against occupation



"CAIRO, (PIC)-- Arab Foreign Ministers meeting in Cairo on Thursday decided to file a lawsuit with the International Court of Justice against the Israeli occupation for its drive to Judaize Jerusalem.

A diplomatic source at the Arab League said that the ministers had three issues on their agenda; dangers engulfing Jerusalem, discussion of the report by the committee commissioned to investigate Israeli war crimes during the war on Gaza and to reach a common Arab stand towards the latest developments in the Arab-Israeli conflict......"

REBRANDING THE LONG WAR, Part 2


Balochistan is the ultimate prize

PART 1: Obama does his Bush impression

By Pepe Escobar
Asia Times

"It's a classic case of calm before the storm. The AfPak chapter of Obama's
brand new OCO ("Overseas Contingency Operations"), formerly GWOT ("global war on terror") does not imply only a surge in the Pashtun Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). A surge in Balochistan as well may be virtually inevitable.......

Strategically, the Pakistani province of Balochistan is mouth-watering: east of Iran, south of Afghanistan, and boasting three Arabian sea ports, including Gwadar - a harbor built by China - which is the absolute key. The only acceptable scenario for the Pentagon is to take over Gwadar, gaining a prime confluence of Pipelineistan and the US empire of bases. The die has been cast......."

Larsen: Hezbollah Must be Disarmed

Al-Manar

".....Larsen who presented his latest report to the Security Council in New York said that Israel was breaching resolution 1559 by carrying out overflights in Lebanese airspace. He pointed that there was no progress on the issue of disarming Hezbollah which possesses large quantities of weapons to a terrifying degree. “There are alarming reports of large number of arms reaching those groups while Hezbollah leaders continued to assert that they have acquired more sophisticated military technology." Larsen added that Hezbollah was the only party that possesses weapons and that it should be disarmed.”......."

No Context: Fatah, Hamas and Flawed Language

'Mahmoud Abbas controls the West Bank? Is Barzak serious?

By Ramzy Baroud
Palestine Chronicle

"....Therefore, it’s typical to read such deceptive news reports as that of Ibrahim Barzak of the Associated Press: “Hundreds of Palestinian patients have been trapped in the Gaza Strip, unable to travel abroad for crucial treatment for cancer and other diseases, because of political infighting between Gaza's militant Hamas rulers and their Palestinian rivals.”......

Barzak makes no mention of the Israeli factor in the decried Palestinian rivalries, and the only reference to the US in his report was that of the “U.S.-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, which controls the West Bank.”.....

If you control the language, you control the debate,” it’s often said. But when the perception of an entire nation depends on how terms are coined and sentences are constructed, then language takes on other meanings, deceptive, demonizing and immoral."

Gaza 2009: The Moment of Truth


'Israel's fascist foreign minister is of the opinion that Gaza should've been nuked.'

By Dr. Haidar Eid - Gaza

(Dr. Haidar Eid is Associate Professor in the Department of English Literature, Al-Aqsa University, Gaza Strip, Palestine. Dr. Eid is a founding member of the One Democratic State Group (ODSG) and a member of Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI).)

Palestine Chronicle

"Gaza has returned to its pre-massacre state of siege, confronted with the usual, conspiratorial, "international" indifference after 22 long days and dark nights, during which its brave people were left alone to face one of the strongest armies in the world -- an army that has hundreds of nuclear warheads, thousands of trigger-happy soldiers armed with Merkava tanks, F-16s, Apache helicopters, naval gunships and phosphorous bombs. Gaza now does not make news. It's people die slowly, its children malnourished, its water contaminated, its nights dark, and yet it is deprived even of a word of sympathy from the likes of Ban Ki Moon and the president of "Change; Yes We Can."

Israel could not have carried out its genocidal war, preceded and followed by a medieval, hermetic siege, without a green light from the international community. During the massacre, one Israeli soldier commented: "That's what is so nice, supposedly, about Gaza: You see a person on a road, walking along a path. He doesn't have to be with a weapon, you don't have to identify him with anything and you can just shoot him."......"

Bethlehem is silently strangled


The Israeli military occupation of the town just outside the bubble that is West Jerusalem is a microcosm of life across the territories

Seth Freedman
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 7 May 2009

"As reported in today's Guardian, the military chokehold on Bethlehem is depriving the city of oxygen, restricting its ability to grow either physically or economically. With every passing year, the occupation's continuation wreaks more destruction on every facet of Palestinian society, and Bethlehem's plight is merely a microcosm of the larger malaise that afflicts those trapped in the West Bank and Gaza.

At the same time, Israel's insistence on hermetically sealing off Bethlehem from Israel's land (and, more importantly, its citizens), means that in the collective Israeli psyche, Bethlehem is simply another no-go zone, left to fester out of sight and out of mind. What was once an important crossroads between Israeli and Palestinian trade has, thanks to the concrete slabs of the separation wall, been relegated to the status of a leper, cast outside the camp with no end in sight to the ostracism........"

Netanyahu's three-step solution


The US expects Israel to participate fully with its Middle East gameplan – but Bibi's counter-offensive is already taking shape

Simon Tisdall
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 7 May 2009

"......Netanyahu is working up a three-pronged counter-strategy. His cribsheet reads something like this.

One: raise the spectre of Iran, then raise it again, and again. "Something significant is happening today in the Middle East," Netanyahu told the Aipac conference by video-link. "For the first time in my lifetime, I believe for the first time in a century, Arabs and Jews see a common danger."......

Two: talk nice, be reasonable and confound the "hawk" stereotype. "We are prepared to resume peace negotiations without any delay and without any preconditions," Netanyahu said this week......

Three: uphold national security and integrity. In Netanyahu's view, talk of implementing a two-state solution is premature while unwithdrawn threats remain. "For a final peace settlement to be achieved, the Palestinians must recognise Israel as the Jewish state ... as the nation-state of the Jewish people."......."

Thursday, May 7, 2009


This is How You Do the American-Syrian Tango.....
Jeffrey Feltman (hated former US ambassador to Lebanon and arch Zionist) and Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Going at it today......

The Pace of the Dance is Set to Quicken Soon.....

Criminalizing Criticism of Israel

The End of Free Speech?

An Important Article

By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS
CounterPunch

"......Rahm Israel Emanuel hasn’t been mopping floors at the White House.
As soon as he gets the Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 passed, it will become a crime for any American to tell the truth about Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and theft of their lands.

It will be a crime for Christians to acknowledge the New Testament’s account of Jews demanding the crucifixion of Jesus.

It will be a crime to report the extraordinary influence of the Israel Lobby on the White House and Congress, such as the AIPAC-written resolutions praising Israel for its war crimes against the Palestinians in Gaza that were endorsed by 100 per cent of the US Senate and 99 per cent of the House of Representatives, while the rest of the world condemned Israel for its barbarity......

In other words, it means the end of free speech, free inquiry, and the First Amendment to the Constitution. Any facts or truths that cast aspersion upon Israel will simply be banned.

Given the hubris of the US government, which leads Washington to apply US law to every country and organization, what will happen to the International Red Cross, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, and the various human rights organizations that have demanded investigations of Israel’s military assault on Gaza’s civilian population? Will they all be arrested for the hate crime of “excessive” criticism of Israel?

This is a serious question.......

A massive push is underway to criminalize criticism of Israel. American university professors have fallen victim to the well organized attempt to eliminate all criticism of Israel. Norman Finkelstein was denied tenure at a Catholic university because of the power of the Israel Lobby. Now the Israel Lobby is after University of California (at Santa Barbara,) professor Wiliam Robinson. Robinson’s crime: his course on global affairs included some reading assignments critical of Israel’s invasion of Gaza........"

Al-Jazeera Video: Israel's indiscriminate use of tear gas - 06 May 09



"Tear gas canisters are supposed to be non-lethal weapons.

But human rights groups are becoming increasingly concerned that Israel is using tear gas canisters, intended to be used to disperse demonstrators, illegally, causing injuries and sometimes even death.
Nour Odeh has the story of one family in the West Bank town of Nilin."

AIPAC strives for political indoctrination for college and grade school students

By Wayne Madsen
Online Journal Contributing Writer

".....AIPAC insists that it is a private lobbying organization funded through private donations. From the license plates pulling into the convention center and hotels it appears that much of AIPAC’s support comes from New York. However, given the presence of Israel’s top government, military, diplomatic, parastatal, and intelligence leadership at the AIPAC policy conference, it appears that AIPAC is running afoul of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) of 1938, which requires lobbying organizations that represent foreign governments to register with the Justice Department.

FARA was originally enacted to combat Nazi German propaganda in the United States. Given AIPAC’s indoctrination of college students, and summer camp-age children in their political dogma, it would appear that the Israelis and their American supporters are taking a page right out of the Nazi playbook that resulted in the passage of FARA. But AIPAC claims FARA does not apply to it. However, FARA was enacted when it became apparent that Berlin was funding the German American Bund and two camps for the indoctrination of young people, Camp Nordland in New Jersey and Camp Siegfried in New York. It all sounds very familiar. "

Obama does his Bush impression


REBRANDING THE LONG WAR, Part 1

By Pepe Escobar
Asia Times

"This week's summit between United States President Barack Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai and President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan was less about saving lives than it was about rhetorically re-inventing - and physically relocating - the past administration's "global war on terror". The question is: how far will the three leaders go to wipe out al-Qaeda in Afghanistan or halt the Predator drone war?......

History once again does repeat itself as farce: in fact the only sticking point between the Taliban and Washington is still the same as in August 2001 - pipeline transit fees. Washington wouldn't give a damn about sharia law as long as the US could control pipelines crossing Afghanistan and Balochistan.

Yes, Pipelineistan rules. What's a few ragged Pashtun or Balochis in Washington's way when the New Great Game in Eurasia can offer so many opportunities? "

Hamdan calls for withdrawing the Arab initiative


"BEIRUT, (PIC)-- Osama Hamdan, the representative of the Hamas Movement in Lebanon, has asked the Arab countries to drop the Arab peace initiative rather than drop the Palestinian refugees' right of return as demanded by Israel and the American administration.

He told Al-Quds TV satellite channel on Thursday that the Arab countries should rather support resistance that could lead to changing the Israeli occupation authority's' stands.

Hamdan said that Hamas absolutely rejects any tampering with the right of return, which, he said, is a matter involving millions of Palestinians within and outside Palestine.

He expressed surprise at the Arab insistence on the peace initiative despite the Israeli rejection of it, noting that the new Israeli coalition government is based on refusing negotiations on Jerusalem and continuation of the settlement and building of the separation wall.
If the Arabs agreed to drop the right of return Israel would ask for dropping more Palestinian rights and find legal formulas to market them, the Hamas leader underlined........"

Ban Ki-moon's moral failure


Hasan Abu Nimah, The Electronic Intifada, 6 May 2009

(Left) UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at a press conference in Gaza City outside the UN headquarters, still smoldering from the Israeli bombardment of the facility, 20 January 2009.

".....The brief news item stated that the UN report contained secret information supplied by Israel about an incident in which more than 40 Palestinian civilians were massacred when Israeli shells fell "outside" a UN school where many Palestinians were taking shelter. The secretary-general is reportedly considering how much of the information he can release without revealing the information supplied by Israel, the news item said, adding that the UN report concluded that Hamas fighters were not inside UN buildings but close to them.

Commenting on the report, the BBC said that it was informed by a diplomatic source, that the United States has informed Ban's office that the report should not be published in full due to the damage that that could cause to the Middle East peace talks; in other words (mine, in fact) to Israel......

For Ban, then, Israeli bombing is good -- although he would like perhaps to see a little bit less. But, in tune with his political masters, he considers Palestinians to have no right to any form of self-defense against the Israeli occupation, constant aggression and the Israeli, internationally-supported, deadly siege, with whatever means they have at their disposal......

In Sderot, Ban also urged Israel to end its crippling blockade on Gaza, but not because the blockade is a flagrant violation of international law, the Geneva conventions, inhuman and wrong. He worried only that the blockade would strengthen Hamas; otherwise, like a measured dose of bombing, it would be perfectly fine.....

....But Israel has repeatedly attacked UN facilities, schools, peacekeeping forces and personnel in Palestine and Lebanon knowing full well that it, not the UN, enjoys immunity for its actions. The next time Israel attacks a UN facility, part of the responsibility will lie with those who failed to act correctly this time around."

Villages call on Norway to divest from Africa-Israel


Press release, Adalah-NY, 6 May 2009
The Electronic Intifada

"The West Bank Palestinian villages of Bilin and Jayyous and 11 national and international networks from Europe, Palestine, Israel and the US have sent letters calling on Norway to comply with its ethical guidelines and divest from its pension fund holdings in the company Africa-Israel, owned by the controversial diamond magnate Lev Leviev. The villages of Bilin and Jayyous cited the devastating impacts of the construction of Israeli settlements by Africa-Israel and another Leviev-owned company, Leader Management and Development, on their villages' agricultural land......."

Back to the Future? Palestinians Rebuild With Mud


By Eva Bartlett

"RAFAH, May 7 (IPS) - Jihad el-Shaar is pleased with his mud-brick house in the Moraj district of Gaza. The 80-square metre home is a basic one-storey, two-bedroom design, with a small kitchen, bathroom and sitting room, made mostly with mud and straw.

"My wife and our four daughters and I were living with family, but it was overcrowded, impossible. We knew we had to build a home of our own," Shaar said. "We waited over two years for cement but because of the siege there is none available. What could we do, wait forever?"

So he decided to do it with mud.....

During its three-week assault Israel destroyed some 5,000 homes and 20,000 buildings.

"Since I've made my house, I've got many calls from people, especially in Rafah, who want to rebuild their houses using this technique," says Shaar. "There are entire families living in tents. Why not build a home like this? Because of the siege, we've found other ways of living." "

The Two-State Solution: the Pacifier Slogan


By Hasan Afif El-Hasan
Palestine Chronicle

"....Obama is following Bush administration’s policy of dividing the Palestinians into moderates and extremists and talking only to those Bush called moderates. President Obama caved to the pro-Israel lobby in Washington by withdrawing the nomination of his choice as head of the NSC, Charles Freeman, because he does not support the Israeli right wing extremists’ agenda. The US under Obama continues to use the “two-state” solution phrase only as a pacifier slogan for the Palestinians and their supporters.

The irony is that, despite the fact that it was Israel that destroyed the Palestinian society, colonized and confiscated their land then refused to consider the Palestinians and Arab peace overtures, the Israeli governments and their supporters in the US succeeded over the years in presenting the Arabs and the Palestinians as intractable enemies, warmongers, hell-bent on Israel’s destruction."

Civilians pay price of war from above

By Robert Fisk

".....And of course, the reason is quite simple. We live, they die. We don't risk our brave lads on the ground – not for civilians. Not for anything. Fire phosphorus shells into Fallujah. Fire tank shells into Najaf. We know we kill the innocent. Israel does exactly the same. It said the same after its allies massacred 1,700 at the refugee camps of Sabra and Chatila in 1982 and in the deaths of more than a thousand civilians in Lebanon in 2006 and after the death of more than a thousand Palestinians in Gaza this year.

And if we kill some gunmen at the same time – "terrorists", of course – then it is the same old "human shield" tactic and ultimately the "terrorists" are to blame. Our military tactics are now fully aligned with Israel.......

.....Let's have that inquiry. And "human shields". And terror, terror, terror. Something else I notice. Innocent or "terrorists", civilians or Taliban, always it is the Muslims who are to blame."

Israel Setting the Pace for a Two-State Solution


By Steve Bell, The Guardian.

Current Al-Jazeera (Arabic) Online Poll


The poll asks:

Do you believe that an American-Iranian rapprochement will benefit the region (Middle East)?

With over 4,000 responding, 61% said no.

إخوان مصر والنظام


ياسر الزعاترة

"من يتابع أيا من المنتديات التي تنشر بعض تجليات الجدل الداخلي في جماعة الإخوان المسلمين المصريين، سيدرك ما انطوت عليه تصريحات النائب الأول لمرشد الجماعة (محمد سيد حبيب) من رسائل وردود.

ردود على الكثير من الأسئلة التي يطرحها شباب الإخوان قبل سواهم من المريدين أو الناقدين، أكانوا من المحبين أم من الحساد أم حتى من المعادين، وبالضرورة من أروقة النظام ذاته. نتحدث بالطبع عن التصريحات التي قال فيها الرجل إن الجماعة لن تدخل في صدام بمفردها مع النظام
.....
تراخي القبضة الأميركية على العالم وتقدم جبهة المقاومة والممانعة في المنطقة، قد يوفر فرصة أكبر لقوى المعارضة المصرية وعلى رأسها جماعة الإخوان لكي تجهر بصوتها أكثر فأكثر، لكن هذا البعد لا يبدو حاضرا بما فيه الكفاية في وعي القيادة الإخوانية
.....
إن عجز الإخوان المصريين عن إحداث تغيير جذري في بنية النظام سيطرح أسئلة حقيقية حول مسيرة الإسلام السياسي برمته، والذي يحوّل الحفاظ على الحزب أو الجماعة ومؤسساتها وهياكلها إلى هدف يتقدم في بعض الأحيان على هدف التغيير الذي تتبناه الغالبية الساحقة
......"

عرب 'الاعتدال' و'التعديل'


عرب 'الاعتدال' و'التعديل'

عبد الباري عطوان

"ان تطالب الادارة الامريكية الجديدة 'عرب الاعتدال' بتعديل مبادرتهم للسلام، بحيث تستجيب لكل التحفظات الاسرائيلية والامريكية، وقبل ان تفكك اسرائيل مستوطنة أو حاجزاً امنياً واحداً، أو حتى تقبل بحل الدولتين الاسطوري، فهذا امر متوقع، كما ان التجاوب معه عربياًَ امر شبه مؤكد ايضاً، بحكم التجارب السابقة.
فالمبادرة العربية التي تعفنت من شدة الاهمال، والاحتقارين الامريكي والاسرائيلي لها، جاءت انعكاساً لمطالب هؤلاء، وتجسيداً لضعف عربي رسمي، فليس غريباً ان يطالب اصحابها الاصليون بإدخال تعديلات عليها تتلاءم مع التطورات الاسرائيلية الاخيرة، بما في ذلك الحكومة اليمينية الجديدة تحت مسميات 'التوضيح' و'التعزيز'.
المعادلة واضحة لا تحتاج الى تفسير أو شرح .. اسرائيل تتشدد وعلى العرب ان يتنازلوا ويعتدلوا ويعدلوا في المقابل، والعكس غير صحيح، بل من سابع المستحيلات، فالتشدد لم يعد وارداً في قاموس الانظمة العربية الحديث.
نشرح أكثر ونقول إنه كلما اوغل النظام العربي في الاعتدال كلما ازدادت اسرائيل تغولاً وتطرفاً، وإملاء شروط تعجيزية، تجد من الادارة الامريكية التأييد المطلق، سواء بشكل علني او مبطن، وآخرها الاعتراف بـ 'يهودية' الدولة العبرية، اي ان تكون حكراً على اليهود فقط، اما غيرهم فليس لهم غير الإبعاد.
.....
هناك عدة امور نجد لزاماً علينا التذكير بها في ظل هذه التطورات المتسارعة، وقبل ان يوقعنا بعض زعمائنا في كارثة جديدة:
اولا: لا يحق لاي حكومة، او نظام عربي، او قيادة فلسطينية التنازل عن حق العودة، او الموافقة على توطين اللاجئين الفلسطينيين في البلدان المقيمين فيها، او تفسير هذا الحق بما يخالف الثوابت الفلسطينية وقرارات الشرعية الدولية، مثل القول بانه 'غير عملي' او ان هذه العودة لاراضي السلطة فقط. حق العودة لا يقل قداسة عن استعادة القدس.
ثانيا: مبدأ التبادل للاراضي الذي قبلت به القيادة الفلسطينية في مفاوضات انابوليس وبعدها، على درجة كبيرة من الخطورة، لانه مجحف في حق الفلسطينيين اولاً، ويصب في خدمة افيغدور ليبرمان والاحزاب العنصرية التي تطالب بطرد العرب من الاراضي المحتلة عام 1948. فمبادلة اراضي القدس بأخرى في النقب مهينة، مثل مبادلة حاضرة الفاتيكان بأرض في صحراء اريزونا الامريكية.
ثالثا: حكومة الرئيس اوباما اضعف من ان تضغط على اسرائيل، والقضية الفلسطينية تحتل ذيل سلم اولوياتها بعد الانهيار الاقتصادي والحربين الفاشلتين في العراق وافغانستان.
رابعا: اسرائيل لا تخشى العرب، ولا تتطلع للتطبيع مع انظمتهم،
......
الزعماء العرب حلفاء امريكا جربوا الخيار السلمي، وسايروا امريكا واسرائيل في كل املاءاتهما تقريباً، فلم يحصدوا غير المزيد من الاهانات والاذلال والتهميش، اما آن الأوان لكي يتخلوا عن سياسات الاستجداء هذه، والبحث عن اخرى ربما تكون اكثر نجاعة؟ .....
لا نريد، بل لا نجرؤ، على مطالبة الزعماء العرب بتبني الحرب بديلاً، لاننا نعرف ان تهماً كثيرة جاهزة في انتظارنا مثل التطرف، وعدم الواقعية، والعيش في لندن، وعدم فهم موازين القوى بشكل متقن، ولذلك نحصر مطالبتنا فقط بالتخلي عن خيار السلام دون تبني اي خيار آخر. فقط التحلي بالصمت المطبق والوقوف في موقف المتفرج
....
نطالب الانظمة العربية بسحب مبادرتها فوراً احتراماً لنفسها، بعد ان استنفدت اغراضها بالكامل، وان تكف شرّها عن حركات المقاومة العربية في العراق وفلسطين ولبنان، وتوقف تنازلاتها لاسرائيل، والمشاركة في الحصارات المفروضة على اهلنا في قطاع غزة.
.....
التغيير قادم الى المنطقة لا محالة، وسيلعب هذا التغول الاسرائيلي، والاحتقار الامريكي، والهوان الرسمي العربي ادواراً رئيسية في التسريع بحدوثه
....."

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Hamas feels the heat from Syria


A Very Important Article

By a Special Correspondent
(For personal security reasons, the writer of this article cannot be named)
Asia Times

"As relations between Syria and leading Western countries continue to coalesce, Damascus is set to take a major step in casting off its tag as a sponsor of terrorism.
News has emerged that Hamas' political leadership, based in Damascus, is to be asked to cease public statements and, over time, leave Syria. A source in the Syrian capital said this week that Damascus is keen to be seen as complying with demands from Washington and European capitals, while reiterating that Hamas and Fatah must work to unite to strengthen the position of the common Palestinian cause.

"Damascus is beginning to view itself as a genuine power-broker in the region," said the source, who also mentioned the possibility of Khartoum, Sudan, being proposed as a new base for the Hamas leader. "It sees moving out Hamas as a legitimate move in that it can push the Arab-Israeli peace process forward by putting pressure on Hamas to mend ties with Fatah by presenting a united front against Israel ahead of any possible negotiations."

The source, who cannot be named for security reasons, said a serious precedent was to be expected. "Hamas has been asked to tone down its public statements from Damascus [something Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal and others had been doing, particularly during and after Israel's recent military offensive on Gaza] and eventually move out."

"But this is not going to happen within the coming weeks; it could take a year or more.".......

Progress is steadily moving forward with the announcement that Jeffrey Feltman and Dan Shapiro, two of Obama's top Middle East hands, are expected to visit Damascus for a second time since March in the coming weeks. The Wall Street Journal quoted US State Department officials as saying “the first round of negotiations ... developed common ideas between Damascus and Washington, and now they are hoping to put these strategies into operation.".......

Even if the Syrian government is not quite sure where it is going - how much it wants better relations with the West and at what cost to its existing relationships with Hamas and Iran - it seems Assad is finally beginning to show his cards....."

Who Will Stop the AIPAC Jews Before it is Too Late?


by Medea Benjamin

(Left) A CODEINK activist interrupts the conference. Her sign says "Free Gaza."

"While I was being tackled by security guards at Washington's Convention Center during the AIPAC conference for unfurling a banner that asked "What about Gaza?," my heart was aching. I wasn't bothered so much by the burly guards who were yanking my arms behind by back and dragging me-along with 5 other CODEPINK members-out of the hall. They were doing their job.

What made my heart ache was the hatred I felt from the AIPAC staff who tore up the banner and slammed their hands across my mouth as I tried to yell out: "What about Gaza? What about the children?"

"Shut the f--- up. Shut the f--- up." one staffer yelled, red-faced and sweating as he ran beside me. "This is not the place to be saying that shit. Get the f--- out of here."

What makes my heart ache is thinking about the traumatized children I met on my recent trip to Gaza, and how their suffering is denied by the 6,000 AIPAC conventioneers who are living in a bubble-a bubble where Israel is the victim and all critics are anti-Semitic, terrorist lovers or, as in my case, self-hating Jews......"

Al-Jazeera Cartoon


Up to 150 Afghan Civilians Killed in US Attack on Western Province

Democracy Now!
With Amy Goodman

"Dozens of Afghan civilians have been killed in what may be one of the deadliest US bombings of Afghanistan to date. We go to Kabul to speak with Jessica Barry of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Kabul....."

You can also read this from Reuters:

Red Cross Confirms Dozens Dead in Afghan Air Strikes

An Afghan boy looks on as French soldiers search a house in Kapisa province, Afghanistan in February 2009. Dozens of people including women and children were killed in US-led coalition air strikes in western Afghanistan, the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Wednesday.

“The Crusade for a Christian Military”: Are US Forces Trying to Convert Afghans to Christianity?

Democracy Now!
With Amy Goodman

"The military is denying it allows its soldiers to proselytize to Afghans, following the release of footage showing US soldiers in Afghanistan discussing how to distribute Bibles translated into Pashto and Dari. We speak to Air Force veteran and former Reagan administration counsel Mikey Weinstein, founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, and journalist Jeff Sharlet, author of a Harper’s Magazine article on “The Crusade for a Christian Military.”......"

Afghans to Obama: Get Out, Take Karzai With You


"They Can't Even Protect Themselves, So What Can They Do For Me?"

By PATRICK COCKBURN
CounterPunch

".....Karzai is also to deliver a speech at the Brookings Institution think tank on “effective ways of fighting terrorism.”

The title of his lecture shows a certain cheek. Karzai’s seven years in power since the overthrow of the Taliban in 2001 have been notable for his failure to prevent their resurgence. Suppose the president’s motorcade this week had taken a different route and headed, not for the airport, but for the southern outskirts of Kabul, he would soon have experienced the limits of his government’s authority. It ends at a beleaguered police post within a few minutes’ drive of the capital. Drivers heading for the southern provincial capitals of Ghazni, Qalat and Kandahar nervously check their pockets to make sure that they are carrying no documents linking them to the government......
.....It was Karzai’s dysfunctional state of warlords and criminals which opened the door for the Taliban’s return."

Al-Jazeera Video: Ban Ki-moon's Gaza reaction 'disappointing' 05 May 09



"Richard Falk, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian territories, tells Al Jazeera he is disappointed with the UN secretary general's decision not to order another report on Israel's Gaza assault."

Video: Swine Flu Pandemic: Where Did It Come From?

What are the origins of the pandemic?
- by Michel Chossudovsky - 2009-05-04
Global Research

Putting words of support into boycott action


Adri Nieuwhof and Omar Barghouti, The Electronic Intifada, 5 May 2009
The Electronic Intifada

"The Derail Veolia and Alstom Campaign, operating in full coordination with the leadership of the Palestinian Boycott Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC), is in full swing. After Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad criticized Israel in Geneva, the BNC called on Iran to cut its business ties with Veolia Environment and Alstom. The French transportation giants are involved in the Israeli light rail project in occupied Jerusalem, linking the city with the illegal settlements on Palestinian land. Veolia and Alstom are playing a key role in Israel's attempt to make its annexation of Palestinian East Jerusalem irreversible......

The BNC is the major voice of Palestinian civil society, unifying a broad spectrum of more than 170 Palestinian non-governmental organizations, political parties and trade unions that have endorsed the July 2005 Call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS). Iran could give substance to its criticism of Israel's practices towards Palestinians by acting upon the call of the Palestinian BNC to "take the necessary steps to ban Veolia and Alstom and their subsidiaries from any contracts and operations in the country." According to the Tehran Times, the Tehran Municipality and Veolia agreed to collaborate on the implementation of some projects concerning the environment and the development of the urban transport system. Alstom has a headquarters in Tehran and received a number of large contracts, including a 192 million euro contract with Iran's state railways in 1999 and a larger 375 million euro contract to supply 50 turbo compressors to Iran in 20........"

Aid convoy in the Mediterranean to Gaza


Wednesday, 06 May 2009 00:52

Written by Sameh A. Habeeb
The Free Gaza Movement

"Italy, May 5, 2009-The climax to the Seventh Palestinians in Europe conference was the launch of the long anticipated ‘Hope for Gaza convoy' The convoy moved to Genoa and is now in the Mediterranean carried by a shipping boat.

The convoy is destined for the Gaza Strip and carries provisions for the education and medical sectors, specifically for Palestinians with special needs - those who were handicapped by the major Israeli attacks of December and January.

Through a chorus of cheers and tears the convoy of a dozen well-equipped ambulances and some 30 trucks loaded with medical and humanitarian supplies set sail on a cargo ship from Genoa along with human rights volunteers, European parliamentarians, and journalists....."

Madsen: Cheney Had Death Squad, Killed Hariri & Hobeika


Al-Manar

An Important Story

"06/05/2009 Dick Cheney, the name that always pops up whenever there is talk about a serious crime someplace in the world.
Well, Cheney had his own death squad CIA unit which he ran from the white house. By Cheney’s orders, the assassinations unit killed former Lebanese minister and Lebanese Forces chief Elie Hobeika on the 24th of January 2002 and former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on the 14th of March 2005, prominent investigative journalist Wayne Madsen said.

Madsen who is known for his close ties with active circles in the CIA, was speaking to the Russia Today television when he revealed that the same squad that had assassinated Hobeika in coordination with former Israeli PM Ariel Sharon’s office, had also assassinated Hariri......."

U.N. Inquiry Critical of Israeli Attacks in Gaza


By Thalif Deen

"UNITED NATIONS, May 5 (IPS) - A detailed 184-page report critical of Israeli attacks on U.N. personnel and buildings during the Gaza conflict last December-January has been meticulously stripped down to a 27-page document [You can read it here] - mostly due to political sensitivities and on security grounds.

Responding to charges he had released only a "watered down" version of the report by a four-member U.N. Board of Inquiry (BoI), Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon vehemently denied the accusation......"

The New Discourse on anti-Semitism


By Shafiq Morton - Cape Town
Palestine Chronicle

"Those who criticize Israel or those who interrogate Zionism (the ism that gave birth to Israel) are often labeled “anti-Semitic” by the Zionist lobby. This lobby, a world-wide movement, is seen to be most influential in the United States where it vigorously defends the interests of Israel.

To view Israel unsympathetically means vilification by this group: it avows political critique is something that threatens the existence of all Jews. Yet, ironically, some of the most ardent critics of Israel have been Jews – academics and political liberals who have not denigrated their Jewishness in any way because of their conscience......"

Jon Stewart: Wimp, Wuss, Moral Coward

Can a Democrat commit war crimes? Of course not!

by Justin Raimondo, May 06, 2009

" I was a bit surprised, albeit pleasantly, to see Jon Stewart nail Harry Truman as a war criminal......

Yet, a few days later, Stewart was back to the same subject, minus the rabid ferret, this time reversing his stance – and apologizing for calling the little haberdasher a war criminal. My, that was quick.....

Rule number one in this game is that everybody must play their assigned role. You’ve always got to be "in character." If you’re on the Left, you can take on George W. Bush, murderer of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis – but not Harry Truman, killer of even larger numbers of innocent Japanese civilians. Rightists regularly excoriate the crimes of Stalin, yet they are expected to remain silent when it comes to war crimes committed by the U.S., such as the "Phoenix program" during the Vietnam conflict – and they rarely disappoint......."

Egypt's emos, the latest hate figures

The backlash against angsty teenagers in skinny jeans reflects a country looking for scapegoats to ease the dire political malaise

Jack Shenker
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 6 May 2009

".....Confronted with this mysterious artistic phenomenon, the authorities did what any sensible, level-headed authority would do – they panicked, called in state security agents, and began rounding up suspects.......

The exposure of the graffiti's true creators did nothing to curb the collective panic now seizing the opinion columns and chat shows of the Arab world's largest country. In fact if anything, it intensified......

Two forces have a vested interest in hyping up the threat of what amounts to little more than a few well-off, bored teenagers hanging around in shopping malls. One is the government. As a recent column in independent daily El-Dostour argued, President Mubarak's regime has lost all legitimacy amongst Egyptians both politically and culturally, a state of affairs it seeks to reverse by inventing both internal and external enemies of the state and portraying itself as the last hope for the soon-to-be-besieged Egyptian populace. Mubarak's stance on Gaza won him no friends at home; consequently the official papers are suddenly full of details about a Hezbollah terror unit operating clandestinely in the Sinai, with its sights levelled on Cairo. Culturally the government likes to style itself as a last bastion of Islamic values, the irony of which is obvious to anyone witness to the daily security clampdowns on the Muslim Brotherhood. So now emos are the latest hate-figures; their strange looks and vague connections to undefined, sordid western values makes them the perfect foil for a dictatorship on the back foot.

The most depressing aspect of it all is that far from taking the demonisation of emos for the shallow hypocrisy that it is, some conservative Islamist groups – vested interest number two – are singing to the government's tune....."

UN accuses Israel of Gaza 'negligence or recklessness


'Inquiry finds Israel responsible for deaths, injuries and damage to UN buildings

Rory McCarthy in Jerusalem and Ed Pilkington New York
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 5 May 2009

"A United Nations inquiry today accused the Israeli military of "negligence or recklessness" in its conduct of the January war in Gaza and said the organisation should press claims for reparations for deaths and damage.

The first investigation into the three-week war by anyone other than human rights researchers and journalists held the Israeli government responsible in seven separate cases in which UN property was damaged and UN staff and other civilians were hurt or killed......"

Click Here to Read Full Summary of the UN Report (pdf)

Surprise, Surprise! UN chief rejects further inquiry in Gaza

Julian Borger, diplomatic editor
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 5 May 2009

"One of the more striking features of today's UN inquiry into the Gaza war is the secretary general's prompt rejection of one of its key findings.

In its 11th and final recommendation, the board of inquiry said the killings and injuries that happened beyond its narrow remit, outside the walls of the UN compound in Gaza, "should be investigated as part of an impartial inquiry mandated, and adequately resourced, to investigate allegations of violations of international humanitarian law". In his covering letter, however, Ban Ki-moon, said he did not "plan any further inquiry", opting not to use the secretary general's prerogative to order his own inquiries into allegations of serious human rights abuses......."