Saturday, January 19, 2008

Al Qaeda and the "War on Terrorism"


by Michel Chossudovsky

Global Research, January 20, 2008

"One of the main objectives of war propaganda is to "fabricate an enemy". The "outside enemy" personified by Osama bin Laden is "threatening America".

Pre-emptive war directed against "Islamic terrorists" is required to defend the Homeland. Realities are turned upside down. America is under attack.

In the wake of 9/11, the creation of this "outside enemy" has served to obfuscate the real economic and strategic objectives behind the war in the Middle East and Central Asia. Waged on the grounds of self-defense, the pre-emptive war is upheld as a "just war" with a humanitarian mandate.

As anti-war sentiment grows and the political legitimacy the Bush Administration falters, doubts regarding the existence of this illusive "outside enemy" must be dispelled.

Counter-terrorism and war propaganda are intertwined. The propaganda apparatus feeds disinformation into the news chain. The terror warnings must appear to be "genuine". The objective is to present the terror groups as "enemies of America."

Ironically, Al Qaeda --the "outside enemy of America" as well as the alleged architect of the 9/11 attacks-- is a creation of the CIA......

Historical Background......

Pakistan’s ISI Used as a "Go-Between"......

The CIA sponsored Narcotics Trade.....

From the Soviet-Afghan War to the "War on Terrorism"......

The War in Chechnya......

Dismantling Secular Institutions in the former Soviet Union.....

Promoting Secessionist Movements in India......

U.S.-Sponsored Insurgencies in China.....

Yugoslavia.....

"From the Horse's Mouth".....

Complicity of the Clinton Administration.....

From Bosnia to Kosovo.....

Congressional Testimonies on KLA-Al Qaeda links.....

Madeleine Albright Covets the KLA....

The Senate and the House tacitly endorse State Terrorism....

"The Islamic Militant Network" and NATO join hands in Macedonia.....

Washington’s Hidden Agenda.....

Erasing the History of Al Qaeda.....

The Post 9/11 "War on Terrorism"......

War Propaganda......

"Massive Casualty Producing Events"....

Operation Northwoods.....

Terror Warnings and Terror Events.....

"Justification and Opportunity to Retaliate against some known targets"....

Concluding Remarks


The threat of an Al Qaeda "Attack on America" is being used profusely by the Bush administration and its indefectible British ally to galvanize public opinion in support of a global military agenda.

Known and documented, the "Islamic terror network" is a creation of the US intelligence apparatus. There is firm evidence that several of the terrorist "mass casualty events" which have resulted in civilian casualties were triggered by the military and/or intelligence services. Similarly, corroborated by evidence, several of the terror alerts were based on fake intelligence as revealed in the London 2006 foiled "liquid bomb attack", where the alleged hijackers had not purchased airline tickets and several did not have passports to board the aircraft.

The "war on terrorism" is bogus. The 911 narrative as conveyed by the 911 Commission report is fabricated. The Bush administration is involved in acts of cover-up and complicity at the highest levels of government.

Revealing the lies behind 911 would serve to undermine the legitimacy of the "war on terrorism".

Revealing the lies behind 911 should be part of a consistent antiwar movement.

Without 911, the war criminals in high office do not have a leg to stand on. The entire national security construct collapses like a deck of cards."

UN rights official slams 'cowardly Israeli war crime' in Gaza


"GENEVA (AFP) - Israel's targeting of a Hamas government office which caused serious casualties at a nearby wedding party was a "war crime" and those responsible should be punished, a United Nations official said Saturday.

John Dugard, UN special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Palestinian territories, also slammed the killing of Palestinians in other attacks and the closing of border crossings.


"The killing of some 40 Palestinians in Gaza in the past week, the targeting of a Government office near a wedding party venue with what must have been foreseen loss of life and injury to many civilians, and the closure of all crossings into Gaza raise very serious questions about Israel's respect for international law and its commitment to the peace process," Dugard said in a statement.

"Recent action violates the strict prohibition on collective punishment contained in the Fourth Geneva Convention," Dugard charged in the statement put out by the UN human rights commission.

"It also violates one of the basic principles of international humanitarian law that military action must distinguish between military targets and civilian targets."......"

Stu Littlewood debunks allegations of 'Voice of Israel'


"The three main political parties in the UK each have a 'Friends of Israel' lobby group that ensures pro-Israel members are embedded at all key levels in Parliament and government. The Foreign Office minister responsible for the Middle East is a former chairman of Labour Friends of Israel. His opposition 'shadow' is a member of Conservative Friends of Israel. You get the picture......

So after visiting Gaza in November I wrote to the chairmen of the Conservative and Labour Friends of Israel enclosing a desperate appeal received from the Ministry of Health in Gaza and an article describing the horrendous suffering of innocent civilians under the cruel siege imposed by Israel. "You and your family will, I hope, enjoy Christmas. But starving Gazans will not... What steps will you personally take, I wonder, to help end the humanitarian crisis?"

The Labour chairman didn't reply. Now, after more than 6 weeks, I have
received an answer from the Conservative, James Arbuthnot. This is what he
says......

How should I reply? Where to begin? Ummmm.........

The question I put to you simply asked what you personally propose doing to help end the humanitarian crisis in Gaza where 1.4 million civilians are suffering under Israeli blockade, which shows no sign of being lifted and only bites deeper. It's called collective punishment, one of the nastiest crimes in the book. You don't answer.....

In short, Mr Arbuthnot, what do you really know about the situation in the Holy Land and Israel's conduct? Ever get the feeling you're being used? That's a cruel thing to say, but maybe all MPs caught up in Friends of Israel ought to ask themselves the question, or at least consider what kind of impression they create in the minds of a public who are increasingly learning the truth.

Stu Littlewood
Friend of PCAS in UK
freegaza.ps@gmail.com"

The Slow Agony of Palestinian Detainees


An Israeli prison for Palestinian prisoners

Israeli Terror Tactics

Highly Recommended Reading

by Yesh Din - Volunteers for Human Rights, Friends of Humanity International
17 January 2008

"By the means of intense and constant psychological pressure, bad treatment and mock trials, the Israeli military occupation authorities try to break the will of Palestinian detainees and discourage the resistance movement as a whole. Although the “War on Terror” considerably extended its range, until recently very little documentation existed on this “slow death” machine operating outside the realm of international human rights law. Two NGOs, Friends of Humanity International and Yesh Din, start to fill the gap.

PART 1
Friends of Humanity International (Human Rights Organization
)

Report Entitled:

Isolation of Prisoners / Systematic Tactic of Slow Death
Report prepared by a team of law experts Under the supervision of Mr. Fuad Al Khoffash

Vienna, 06 January 2008 Doc. Nr.: P/ME/112/08/E

Preface

Israel sees itself as a state above law and a well established and distinguished school that seeks to disseminate its peculiar expertise all over the world. We have documented testimonies given by some prisoners released from the well known prison of Guantanamo and other American jails in Iraq. The testimonies gathered confirm the presence of Israeli interrogators in these jails. The prisoners could recognize them from the tattoos made on their skins that represent some Israeli patterns. Inside these prisons the Israeli interrogators employ their distinctive expertise gained over long years through the interrogations with and torturing of the Palestinian prisoners in the Israeli jails and detention facilities.

It is not unusual that the Israeli occupational forces and the security systems exercise the most repulsive torture tactics against the Palestinian and Arab prisoners detained in the Israeli jails in violation of the principles of the international humanitarian law and the many ethics and values that are part of human life. It is certain that the Israeli occupation derives its power from force rather than law and from injustice rather equity. It persists in its brutality by applying many methods and tactics that aim at undermining the will of the Palestinian individual with the hope to succeed, by isolating the Palestinian prisoner, to transform him to a sick, depressed and withdrawn person who is sentenced to slow death......"

Giving in to Zionist Blackmail: Canada takes US, Israel off torture watch list


"Canada's foreign ministry, responding to pressure from close allies, said on Saturday it would remove the United States and Israel from a watch list of countries where prisoners risk being tortured.

Both nations expressed unhappiness after it emerged that they had been listed in a document that formed part of a training course manual on torture awareness given to Canadian diplomats.

Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier said he regretted the embarrassment caused by the public disclosure of the manual, which also classified some US interrogation techniques as torture.

"It contains a list that wrongly includes some of our closest allies. I have directed that the manual be reviewed and rewritten," Bernier said in a statement.

"The manual is neither a policy document nor a statement of policy. As such, it does not convey the government's views or positions."......"

***

In a word: Spineless!

The Lying ambassador


Comment by Khalid Amayreh in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem

"The new Israeli ambassador to Britain, Ron Prosor, is devoting much of his time these days to trying to enhance his country’s image as the British public continues to be disillusioned with Israel’s colonialist polices in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

In recent months, Israel killed hundreds of Palestinians, including numerous innocent civilians in the occupied territories. Moreover, the harsh Israeli blockade of the estimated 1.5 million Gazans goes on unabated, reducing the impoverished coastal territory to a modern-day version of Ghetto Warsaw.

Prosor thinks that aggressive and proactive PR can eventually morph critics of Israeli occupation and racism into loyal lovers.

Speaking to reporters in London recently, Prosor described the British public opinion as “more extreme than the political establishment in its criticisms of Israel.”

“If there is one thing I want you to take home with you it is this: Israel is a democracy under attack that it is dealing with difficulties that no other country is facing.”

Prosor is lying on both accounts because Israel is neither a true democracy nor is under attack.

In truth, Israel is a terrorist state, a murderer, thief and liar
......"

كلمة الامين العام في اليوم العاشر من محرم الحرام 1429


Audio of Sayyed Nasrallah's Speech on January 19, 2008.

Israel's Nuclear Missile Threat against Iran

by Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya

Global Research, January 19, 2008

"In the former Yugoslavia, militarily the NATO campaign was a failure in defeating the Yugoslav military. It was because of the harsh targeting of civilian infrastructure and the slaughter of civilians that Yugoslavia decided to surrender.

The Iranians have learned a great deal from watching the indiscriminate bombardment of Belgrade and Baghdad. The Yugoslavs and the Iraqis did not posses air power or strong air defences, but the Iranians have been working precisely on this matter through the development of their domestic missile industry. It is Tehran's missile technology, which distinguishes Iran from Yugoslavia and Iraq.....

it was the Iranian missile arsenal, along with the fact that the Israelis did not penetrate far enough into Lebanese territory, which prevented the Israelis from expanding their July 2006 war on Lebanon into Syria.....

The Israeli-U.S. tests and war games seem to be geared towards consolidating Israeli air defences in relaiton to Iranian missile capabilities, prior to a possible and long anticipated showdown with Iran and Syria.

By the same token, Israel is also preparing for war with Syria, which has been upgrading and advancing its missile arsenal and technology with the help of both Iran and Russia......"

The Ramallah Gang in the Service of Mossad: PA interior ministry foils scheme to assassinate Haneyya

"GAZA, (PIC)-- MP Sa'eed Siyam, the former PA interior minister, has revealed that the security apparatuses in the Gaza Strip had foiled an attempt to assassinate Ismail Haneyya, the premier of the PA caretaker government.

Siyam, addressing a press conference in his house on Saturday, said that the security elements arrested a suicide bomber who was planning to blast himself in the Friday congregation (18/1) attended by Haneyya.

He charged that a man named Ahmed Mansour, currently living in Egypt, and another called Zafer Mahmoud, who is currently living in Ramallah, were the masterminds of the plot.

During the conference a videotape was screened displaying the suicide bomber while reciting his will.

Siyam said that the results of the investigation would be tabled with a number of Arab and Islamic countries, the Palestinian factions and other concerned parties."

Bush's Iran/Argentina Terror Frame-Up

By Gareth Porter

"Although nukes and Iraq have been the main focus of the Bush Administration's pressure campaign against Iran, US officials also seek to tar Iran as the world's leading sponsor of terrorism. And Team Bush's latest tactic is to play up a thirteen-year-old accusation that Iran was responsible for the notorious Buenos Aires bombing that destroyed the city's Jewish Community Center, known as AMIA, killing eighty-six and injuring 300, in 1994. Unnamed senior Administration officials told the Wall Street Journal January 15 that the bombing in Argentina "serves as a model for how Tehran has used its overseas embassies and relationship with foreign militant groups, in particular Hezbollah, to strike at its enemies."

This propaganda campaign depends heavily on a decision last November by the General Assembly of Interpol, which voted to put five former Iranian officials and a Hezbollah leader on the international police organization's "red list" for allegedly having planned the July 1994 bombing. But the Wall Street Journal reports that it was pressure from the Bush Administration, along with Israeli and Argentine diplomats, that secured the Interpol vote. In fact, the Bush Administration's manipulation of the Argentine bombing case is perfectly in line with its long practice of using distorting and manufactured evidence to build a case against its geopolitical enemies......"

Morgantini lashes out at EU silence towards Gaza massacres


"OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Luisa Morgantini, the vice president of the European parliament, has expressed concern over the escalating acts of murder committed by the IOF troops in Gaza and the West Bank.

She expressed surprise, in a statement on Friday, at the fact that the European Union did not condemn those crimes.

Morgantini said that it was absolutely surprising that the EU high representative Javier Solana did not clearly state that such an Israeli policy was wiping out all hopes for achieving peace.

She urged Solana and the world community to work side by side to force the Israeli government to stop this violence and mass punishment against civilians in Gaza and the West Bank in addition to halting the expansion of settlements on Palestinian lands in a bid to reach a just peace.

The European MP accused the Israeli government of pursuing a policy of destruction against the Palestinian people, which would destroy any hope for "peace and security for both peoples".

IOF air raids and incursions over the past four days killed 38 Palestinians and wounded scores others."

West Bank bantustan

Since the only Palestinian 'state' the current peace process can deliver is another Gaza-style enclave, this upsurge of violence is hardly encouraging


(Click on the map to enlarge)

A Very Good Comment
By Ben White
The Guardian

".....The IDF operations and rocket attacks are indeed linked to the so-called peace process, but not in the way that most have suggested. One cannot divorce events in Gaza and Sderot from the Annapolis agenda since, in fact, far from being a threatening interruption to Olmert-Abbas talks, the violence is sadly a natural extension of Roadmap logic.....

....From then prime minister, Ariel Sharon, to veteran statesmen like Shimon Peres and US negotiator Dennis Ross, it was explained that disengagement was about demographics, the term preferred in polite conversation for the reality that Palestinians are considered a strategic threat on account of their race....

Weisglass boasted how disengagement legitimised "our contention that there is no negotiating with the Palestinians", and moreover:

"... in regard to the large settlement blocs, thanks to the disengagement plan, we have in our hands a first-ever American statement that they will be part of Israel ... Sharon can tell the leaders of the settlers that he is evacuating 10,000 settlers and in the future he will be compelled to evacuate another 10,000, but he is strengthening the other 200,000, strengthening their hold in the soil.".....

It is a recipe for the creation of more, post-disengagement "Gazas". Proposals such as those made by former IDF deputy chief of staff and advisor to Barak and Sharon, Uzi Dayan, call for a West Bank "disengagement" to protect Israel's "Jewish-democratic character". It's the same "more land, fewer Arabs" mantra and, as Dayan's map shows, it means unilateral Israeli annexation of huge chunks of the West Bank and the creation of Palestinian bantustans......

....these artifical statelets will be subjected to the same kind of treatment urged by commentators such as Gilad Sharon, writing today in leading Israeli paper Yediot Aharanot:

"Even if ultimately we are forced to embark on a broad Gaza operation, we must not approach it as if it's a surgical operation requiring microscopic levels of accuracy ... We must tell Gaza residents: 'One way or another, quiet will prevail here. You can choose whether this will be done through sitting in the darkness or through turning your backyards into ruins.'"

....The Annapolis peace process, guided by the Quartet, leads us towards a Palestinian "state" that, notwithstanding Bush's adjectival outpourings, will resemble Gaza-esque enclaves declared "unoccupied" and subjected to brutal repression......"

UN urges Israel to end Gaza closure


"The UN has said Israel should not collectively punish the Gaza population while responding to security threats.

The organisation has also criticised Israel's decision to close all border crossings with Gaza, preventing delivery of aid shipments to the 1.5 million people living in the territory...."

Now the words of the Zionist Stooges:

"At the same time, Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, called "for an immediate cessation of Palestinian sniper and rocket attacks into Israel, and for maximum restraint on the part of the Israel defence forces".....

John Homes, the UN undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, said on Friday: "We all understand the security problems and the need to respond to that but collective punishment of the people of Gaza is not, we believe, the appropriate way to do that."

Holmes said the Israeli response was unwarranted.

"This kind of action against the people in Gaza cannot be justified, even by those rocket attacks," he said......"

كتائب الأقصى": تلقينا أوامر من قيادة السلطة في رام الله بعدم المشاركة في المقاومة بغزة


اتهمت مستشاري عباس ودحلان بإفشال كل الجهود للحوار مع "حماس"

"غزة – المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام

كشفت "كتائب شهداء الأقصى"، الذراع العسكري لحركة "فتح"، النقاب عن تلقيها "تعميمات" من (قيادة السلطة) في رام الله بعدم المشاركة في المقاومة وصد الاجتياحات الصهيونية في قطاع غزة"، إلى جانب فصائل المقاومة الأخرى التي تقودها "كتائب الشهيد عز الدين القسام"، الجناح العسكري لحركة "حماس".

لكنها أكدت أنها "ومنذ اليوم لن نقف مكتوفي الأيدي خاصة وبعد اغتيال القائد أحمد سناقرة (أحد قادة الكتائب) في مخيم بلاطة وعشرات الشهداء في غزة وتصفية أبطال المقاومة في الضفة الغربية".

كما كشفت الكتائب في بيان صادر عنها، تلقى "المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام" نسخة منه عن قيام الطيب عبد الرحيم، أمين عام الرئاسة في رام الله، "بالاتصال بعدد من قيادات حركة فتح في قطاع غزة وتهديدهم إذا هم شاركوا الدكتور كمال الشرافي ممثل الرئيس محمود عباس في زيارته لبيت عزاء الشهداء وخاصة بيت عزاء حسام محمود الزهار (القيادي في حماس) وللأسف انصاع بعضهم للتهديد بينما رفض البعض، فدماء شعبنا وشهدائه أكبر من كل الفصائلية"، على حد تعبيرها.

واتهمت "كتائب الأقصى مستشاري رئيس السلطة محمود عباس ومحمد دحلان، الذي يشار إليه باعتباره قائد التيار الانقلابي في الحركة، بممارسة الضغوط على رئيس السلطة لإفشال كل الجهود الرامية لاستئناف الحوار مع "الأخوة" في حركة "حماس".

وقالت الكتائب في بيان صادر عنها، تلقى "المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام" نسخة منه: "قررت قيادة كتائب شهداء الأقصى وبعد صمتها الطويل الكشف عن الجهات التي تضغط على الرئيس محمود عباس حتى لا يشرع بحوار وطني ولكي تبقى الساحة الفلسطينية مفككة والشخصيات المستفيدة من هذا الوضع هي: الطيب عبد الرحيم، نبيل عمرو، ياسر عبد ربه، ومحمد دحلان".

وتقدّمت في الوقت ذاته "للقائد المناضل أحمد حلس "أبو ماهر"، ونؤكد على موقفه الداعم لضرورة إعادة واستئناف الحوار ودون شروط مع الأخوة في حماس، وندعو إلى فتح صفحة جديدة من العلاقات الوطنية والشروع بحوار وطني جاد وعاجل ووطني".

ودعت الكتائب إلى "الوقف الفوري والنهائي للتنسيق الأمني من قبل الأجهزة الأمنية بالضفة الغربية مع الأجهزة الصهيونية ومخابراتها واعتبار كل من يشارك فيها خائن لشعبه"، مطالبة عناصر الأجهزة الأمنية "بالتمرد والانتفاضة على كل أمر عسكري من شأنه أن يكون خيانة للوطن وخيانة لدماء الشهيد القائد ياسر عرفات واعتبار كل إسرائيلي هدفاً للرصاص الصهيوني ولنشعل الأرض تحت أقدام بني صهيون ولنشعلها انتفاضة".

كما طالبت بإقالة "حكومة" سلام فياض "الأمريكية ومحاكمة رموزها الأنجاس مثل رياض المالكي ومحمود الهباش وتشكيل حكومة وحدة وطنية". "

Because the Pharaoh Has No Balls....Hamas calls on Egypt to open Rafah crossing to save injured Palestinians


"GAZA, (PIC)-- The Hamas Movement appealed to the Egyptian leadership to open urgently the Rafah border crossing before the wounded Palestinians in order to transfer them to hospitals abroad and it also called on the Arab governments and peoples to act immediately to break the siege on the Gaza Strip.

"We call on Egypt headed by its president Hosni Mubarak to work urgently on opening the Rafah crossing because the matter could not be delayed further and the injured need medical treatment and any hold-up could lead to the death of dozens of them," according to a statement issued by Hamas late Friday.

The statement also called on Arab governments and peoples to take immediate action and to break the siege and provide Gaza with the necessary aid, asking them not to be accomplices in the Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people and not to succumb to external pressures.

The statement called on freedom loving peoples of the world to act before it is too late, to save the Palestinian people from genocide and annihilation and to work hard to lift the siege and stop the "Zionist atrocities".

The statement pointed out that the Gaza hospitals can no longer deal with serious injuries because there are no medicines, confirming that the medical services in hospitals are on the verge of collapse.


For its part, the caretaker government headed by Ismail Haneyya called on Egypt to take a "bold decision" and open the Rafah crossing in order to allow entry of basic supplies necessary for the continuation of life in Gaza and to save the wounded by admitting them in hospitals abroad.

The government called on the Arab countries to shoulder their responsibilities toward the Palestinian people and work to stop the Israeli aggressions and the ugly massacres against them.

A Palestinian woman was killed and more than 46 children and women attending a wedding party were wounded Friday night in Israel's latest air strikes on the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli air raid targeted the former headquarters of the interior ministry and destroyed it completely as well as inflicting considerable damage on 15 nearby houses."

Sayyed Nasrallah: We Have Remains of Israeli Soldiers


Al-Manar

Contributed by Blog reader

"19/01/2008 Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah renewed his warning to Israel that if it launched a war against Lebanon, "then I promise you a war that will change the world and the face of this region." His eminence was speaking to hundreds of thousands of people marking Ashura in Beirut's southern suburb. The Hezbollah chief said that when the Israeli invasion of Lebanon happened in 1982, "we chose the path of Imam Hussein peace be upon him, and told the Zionists who entered Beirut after occupying south Lebanon and Mount Lebanon: You have entered the wrong land, at the wrong time and in the wrong place, because we are going to confront you with our slogan (Disgrace, how remote)." His eminence added that the resistance rose and had within it the notion of Karbala and the will of Jihad and martyrdom. "In Hussein's name we stormed into their posts, with his spirit our martyrs carried out martyrdom operations and with his blood, we prevailed over the most tyrannical power the region had ever known," Sayyed Nasrallah said.
He added that after 18 years of resistance, Israel was driven out of most of occupied territories in the year 2000, but that was not the last of it. "In the 2006 war, the whole world stood behind Israel to crush this resistance. The air force took part and the war of annihilation began. However, we did not let down our arms, we did not run, we did not surrender and we refused humiliation. We fought for 33 days without fear and then Almighty Allah granted us His victory. We had Imam Hussein in our hearts and minds at every stage of the war. Our slogan during that war was also (Disgrace, how remote)."

RESPOND TO BUSH BY DETRMINING REAL ENEMY
Sayyed Nasrallah called on Arab and Islamic leaders and organizations to respond to US President George W. Bush's recent visit to the region by adhering to sanctities. "In face of Bush's visit dictations and Satanic visions which he seeks to impose on the region, Arab and Islamic government, people and organizations are called to respond with adhering to the resistance and supporting it politically, financially, militarily and in every way they can," his eminence said. The Hezbollah chief added that Bush wants to convince Arabs that Iran is their enemy and that Israel is their friend. "We have to underscore the real identity of the enemy and we have to know our friend…Therefore, our Arab governments and people should refuse to be dragged into wars that can only lead to the destruction of our countries and the killing of our people," Sayyed Nasrallah warned.

GAZANS ARE FACING GENOCIDE
The Hezbollah Secretary General said that the Palestinian people, the Gazans in particular, are making ultimate sacrifices, "What do the Arab and Islamic worlds have to say about this," his eminence asked. "During the 2006 Israeli war, I told the Arabs and the Muslims that we don't want anything from you. But today, I demand that all Arab governments and people stand by the Palestinian people and the Gazans who are now facing genocide. Perhaps the simplest thing to do is to lift the siege. Otherwise, the Arabs would be accepting disgrace and abolishing their Arabic identity. The fate of those people should not be left to the tyrants," Sayyed Nasrallah said.


WE CANNOT KEEP SILENT ON ISRAELI VIOLATIONS
The Hezbollah chief warned that Israeli violations, other than air space violations, were close to becoming routine. He was referring to kidnapping Lebanese civilians and taking them into occupied territories. "I ask the Lebanese and the whole world: What would happen if some Lebanese citizens living near the border line kidnapped an Israeli farmer on the other side of the border? The UN Security Council would convene, the whole world would distribute condemnations and Israel would get a green light to launch war against Lebanon. I warn you (Israelis), and I am very serious, we feel that attacking civilians is a humiliation to our country and our people. This has to be faced and it will be faced."
Sayyed Nasrallah said that he does not believe that the Israeli have political and military leaderships as well as an army to launch another war against Lebanon. "But we must not leave anything for surprises. The Islamic Resistance is fully prepared and I would like to reiterate that if Israel launches a new war against Lebanon, we promise them a war that will change the face of our region," he warned.

ISRAELI ARMY LOST CREDIBILITY IN JEWISH STATE
Sayyed Nasrallah stressed his commitment to the issue of the detainees in Israeli jails. He said that the Israelis are procrastinating because they are weak and unable to offer normal humanitarian prices. "Your (Israeli community) army has been lying to you. Your army did leave the body parts of its soldiers behind in our villages and battlefields. I am not speaking about simple body parts. We have heads, hands, feet and even a nearly intact body. What did your army tell the family of these soldiers? The Israeli army denied it had left body parts behind but not for a long time, because they know that we don't lie," Sayyed Nasralah said."

النص الكامل لكلمة سماحة الأمين العام لحزب الله السيد حسن نصرالله في اليوم العاشر من محرم 1429 هـ في 19-1-2008

Friday, January 18, 2008

Listen to this Jackass: Abbas says Hamas trying to 'destroy dream of statehood'


"BETHLEHEM, West Bank - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday accused Gaza's Hamas rulers of trying to destroy the Palestinian dream of statehood, saying the Islamist group's violent takeover of the coastal strip last June "destroyed and tries to destroy our dreams, future and national aspirations".

He reiterated his demand that Hamas relinquish control of Gaza......"

***

Keep cheering for the IOF, Jackass, and keep praying that it will return you to Gaza. What a traitor and a disgrace for all Palestinians; when are the Palestinians going to get rid of him?

Afghanistan war is just beginning: report

THE Taliban has seriously rejoined the fight in Afghanistan, an NGO security group said in a report that concluded the country was at the beginning of a war, not the end of one.

"The Afghanistan NGO Safety Office (ANSO) said the Taliban's "easy departure" in 2001, when a US-led invasion drove them from power, was more of a strategic retreat than an actual military defeat.

"A few years from now, 2007 will likely be looked back upon as the year in which the Taliban seriously rejoined the fight and the hopes of a rapid end to conflict were finally set aside by all but the most optimistic," ANSO said......"

A Palestinian woman killed, 45 injured in a fresh Israeli air strike


"Peace" is Breaking Out All Over; Thank You George!




"Gaza, (PIC)-- One woman was killed and 45 others were wounded Friday afternoon when F-16 fighters bombed the old building of the interior ministry near the Islamic university, according to initial reports from Gaza.

The bombing resulted in the complete destruction of the five-storey building which seems to be empty as all the casualties were from a neighbouring building were a wedding was taking place.

Initial reports indicate that at least one woman was killed as she was hit on the head with flying debris and 45 others, many of them children attending the wedding were wounded.

Spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said that the building which was bombed has not been used by the Interior Ministry for a long time.

The bombing has caused damage to at least 15 neighbouring apartments according to initial reports."

Media office in Gaza: Israeli army evacuates a military base in Khan Younis


"A media office in Khan Younis stated on Friday that the Israeli evacuation of one of its military bases took place in Khaza'a town, east of Khan Younis.

According to the media office, the army evacuated the base as a result of the extensive attacks of the Al Qassam brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, who shelled the area with explosive devices and home-made shells.

The evacuated military base had been used as a military observation center and the army used a balloon to watch the area and to register civilian movements using advanced cameras.

Civilians expressed their happiness at the army withdrawal by going out to the streets and praising resistance fighters who the army used to attack, and who had opened fire against a farmer who lived near the military base.

Hamad al Raqap, the spokesperson of Hamas in Khan Younis considered the withdrawal to be a victory for the resistance fighters while the Israelis escalated their offensive attacks against Gaza during this week. "

Mr. Olmert, at the end of my trip I have only one comment: I envy you for the kind of "enemies" you have.

Canadian FM puts Israel, U.S. on torture watch list


"Canada's foreign ministry has put the United States and Israel on a watch list of countries where prisoners risk being tortured and also classifies some U.S. interrogation techniques as torture, according to a document obtained by Reuters on Thursday.

The revelation is likely to embarrass the minority Conservative government, which is a staunch ally of both the United States and Israel. Both nations denied they allowed torture in their jails.

The document - part of a training course on torture awareness given to diplomats - mistakenly provided the document to Amnesty International Canada as part of a court case the rights organization has launched against Ottawa over the treatment of detainees in Afghanistan.

Amnesty Secretary-General Alex Neve told Reuters his group had very clear evidence of abuse in U.S. and Israeli jails.

"It's therefore reassuring and refreshing to see that ... both of those countries have been listed and that foreign policy considerations didn't trump the human rights concern and keep them off the list," he said......"

Israeli air strike kills mother and her two sons in Gaza


"GAZA, PIC-- The Israeli Apache choppers and reconnaissance planes hovering over Gaza Strip committed new crime against the Palestinian civilians as they killed a mother and her two sons in Beit Lahia city, north of Gaza Strip, Thursday night.

Palestinian doctors in the city's Kamal Odwan hospital identified the victims as Maryam Saleh Al-Rahel and her two sons Mansour and Saleh Al-Rahel, adding that two other Palestinian citizens were moderately wounded in the raid.

Palestinian eyewitnesses affirmed that the mother and her two sons were riding on a horse-driven cart in one of the city's streets when an Israeli drone targeted them with an air-to surface missile, mutilating their bodies to the extent that it took doctors sometimes before they could identify them.

Few hours later, three Palestinian fighters from the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, were martyred and three others were seriously wounded when Israeli warplanes targeted a QB advanced outpost south of Gaza city with three rockets.

The martyrs were identified as Ashraf Al-Ashi, 25, Mahmoud Al-Banna, 22, and Shadi Kutaifan, 23, thus raising to nine the number of Palestinian citizens killed with Israeli weapons on Thursday only.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, the IOF troops killed 23 Palestinian citizens and wounded more than 50 others, many of them in critical conditions.

The Israeli military escalation came only three days after US president George W. Bush visited the Middle East and conferred with Israeli premier Ehud Olmert and discussed with him security matters in the region.

Despite, the bloody Israeli crimes against the Palestinian civilians, no stern condemnation from the international community was made to stop the bloodbath in Gaza.

Apparently finding itself pushed to the wall, Hamas Movement threatened to carryout tit-for-tat retaliatory armed operations in the Israeli depth if the IOF troops' aggressions on Gaza Strip and the West Bank didn’t come to a halt immediately.

"If Palestinian blood in Gaza Strip and the West Bank continued to be shed, then a similar blood shed will take place in the Israeli depth", declared Hammad Al-Rokob, the spokesman of Hamas Movement in Khan Younis city.

In a press statement he issued, and a copy of which was obtained by the PIC, Rokob explained that the IOF bloody crimes in Gaza Strip in addition to the wing-clipping economic siege imposed by Israel on the tiny Strip will push the Palestinian resistance to resume military operations in the Israeli depth.

He also accused the Israeli occupation government of not seriously searching for peace in the region, and that it only exploits time to shed more Palestinian blood, and to expedite settlement projects in the occupied city of Jerusalem with the aim to Judaize it.

"Our Zionist enemy, perhaps, didn't comprehend yet that no force on this globe could break the determination of the Palestinian people and Hamas Movement", Rokob said adding that Hamas was strong despite the pain."

Canada Report 2007 – Part II – Canada’s Policy on Israel and Palestine


If Canada is against terror, it needs to be equally against Israeli and American terror, the latter being the greatest originator of terror in the world.

By Jim Miles

"Previously I had looked at several factors that tend to indicate that Canada’s actions with foreign policy and with domestic policy are increasingly following American policies. One of the areas that receives very little local media attention is the official policy towards the Israeli/Palestine question – seldom do the issues on Israel/Palestine surface in any of the media, and what little does generally follows the lines of Palestinian terrorists, the undemocratic Hamas takeover of Gaza, and the hardships of the Israeli population. The official Canadian policy found on the Federal Government website presents an interesting read that struggles to sound neutral and non-judgmental but taken in consideration with government actions, or more importantly, government inaction, a definite bias can be seen. What at first tries to be balanced and neutral becomes simply more rhetoric and dissimulation while maintaining the status quo of Israeli occupation and dominance......"

On Walls, Castles and Embassies

The cultural rift between the U.S. and the Arab World has widened with each successive administration since the days of Eisenhower years of the early 50s.

By Jamil I. Toubbeh, PhD
Special to PalestineChronicle.com

"......Something there is that doesn’t love any wall nor its cleansing euphemisms—separation wall, great wall, electronic fence, green zone, green line, a castle or an embassy. Their architectures and configurations are a measure of the gap between those who erect them and those who live in their shadows......

The Crusaders were not known for building walls in the Middle East; they built castles that formed defense perimeters and spheres of influence. These castles dotted the eastern shores of the Mediterranean from the northern borders of Egypt to the southern borders of Anatolia (modern Turkey). Their sites, particularly in Palestine and Syria (including modern Lebanon), define their geo-political and economic significance. While the majority of these castle builders and settlers vanished from the scene, a few remained to live peacefully with the societies they had once occupied......

The Ottoman Turks, who ruled much of the Middle East for several centuries, built castles of sorts, walled cities to be more accurate.....Although Turkish was the lingua franca of the time, the Ottoman society adopted Islam and much of the Muslim and Byzantine cultures. In retrospect, these wall-and-castle builders and occupiers of Arab land may have been far more tolerant of ethnic and religious differences than their latter-day Western crusaders.....

British and French walls and castles in the Middle East were horses of a different color: fractionalization of the Arab society, almost too tribal levels. The new crusaders created political, ethnic and religious boundaries; stretched barbed-wire fences across miles of Arab land; controlled movement of population by means of identity cards, permanent and on-the-fly checkpoints, and by brute military force, i.e., house searches and house demolitions, curfews, summary executions, banishment, fines and taxes, etc. The walls and castles of these latter-day crusaders were pervasive and, as history would later reveal, more insidious and sinister than those of the Crusaders......

Nowhere else in the world today does America have more firepower than in the culturally alienated Middle East: armadas in the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, Indian Ocean and the Gulf (of…). America owns the skies over the Middle East and North Africa; its aircraft have access to bases in Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia and in any of the UA Emirates, in particular Kuwait. America’s wall around the Arab World is nearly impenetrable; its castles within this wall are far more numerous than the Crusaders’, and surely far more sinister, especially when one considers that the U.S. is a most religious country and one whose political machine is greased by 80 million Evangelicals, Dispensationalists, etc.

Welcome to America’s Ottoman-style castle…and castles.


The largest U.S. embassy in the world in a country that has been driven back “to the Stone Age”; it is as incongruous a concept in political science as it is in human relations......"

The Hormuz Hoax

Who almost started World War III?

by Justin Raimondo

"......Notice how quickly the official story is changing. First the transmission was a threat coming from the Iranians: now they're "unsure." This is contrary to the President's characterization of what occurred, and the Pentagon's video presentation of a threat emanating from the speedboats: the allegedly "aggressive" actions of the Iranians are underscored by an audio overlay in which a voice interpolates "I am coming to you, you will explode in a few minutes."

The Iranians are calling the US video a fabrication, and it sure does look like that. Yet the Navy Times has another explanation.......

Gee, I wonder if they hired an actor to do the voiceover.

No one is saying that the US government, or some subterranean branch of it – perhaps a "rogue" faction, as in Iran-Contra – is responsible for what happened in the Strait of Hormuz, where a "misunderstanding" almost sparked World War III. However, it's just possible – given our government's dismal record in this regard – that we'll be talking about the Hormuz Hoax, years from now, when the history of this decade of deception is written. "

Ahmadinejad: 'Bush Sent Message of Confrontation'


Al-Manar

"18/01/2008 Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Thursday that United States President George W. Bush sent a "message of confrontation" during his recent Mideast trip.
Bush spent much of his visit to the region, which he wrapped up on Wednesday, rallying support among Arab allies for a strong stance against Iran, Hezbollah and resistance movements in the region.
"The visit will retaliate and will cause further violence in the region. This is the most likely repercussion. It will encourage the Zionist entity to perpetrate further crimes and aggression against the Palestinian people," Ahmadinejad said during an interview with Al-Jazeera television. "They wish to sow the seeds of rift and division among the peoples of the region, in Lebanon, in Palestine, in Afghanistan and in Iraq," he added. Ahmadinejad also lashed out at Israel, saying the country was "rapidly doomed to collapse"."

NATO hears 'noise before defeat'


US Defense Secretary Robert Gates' extraordinary attack on North Atlantic Treaty Organization efforts in Afghanistan - "they need to do a better job" - highlights Washington's frustration at what is no longer a winnable war against the Taliban

By M K Bhadrakumar
Asia Times

"When the blame-game begins in an indeterminate war, it is time to sit up and take note. US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates' interview with the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday rings alarm bells.

There has been no effort to claim he was misquoted. In fact, Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell confirmed the chief was "not backing off his fundamental criticism that NATO [North Atlantic Treaty Organization] needs to do a better job in training for counter-insurgency"......

Britain is now called on to salvage the Afghan war. NATO at best will be a sleeping partner. The Hindu Kush is all set to be Lord Ashdown's theater. He represents the UN; the White House reposes confidence in him; he takes counseling and directions from London, which coordinates with Riyadh and Islamabad - and then, gingerly, he sets out, searching for the Taliban. Incidentally, among his many attributes, Lord Ashdown is a gifted polyglot who speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese and other languages. Maybe he already speaks Pashto. "

Thursday, January 17, 2008

شراء الحقوق الفلسطينية


عبد الستار قاسم

".....
سياسة شراء الحقوق
بعد نجاح سياسة الإحباط والحوافز انتقلت أميركا وإسرائيل إلى تقييد الفلسطينيين بالمزيد، وذلك عبر سياسة مالية تضع لقمة خبز الفلسطينيين بيديهما أو بأيدي الدول الغربية عموما.

كان الهدف وما زال وضع الفلسطينيين في أسر الرغيف، مما يحول بينهم وبين المقاومة أو التركيز على الحقوق، وشغلهم بما يمكن أن يأكل اليوم وليس بكيفية العمل على إعادة اللاجئين أو تحرير القدس.

اشتدت وتيرة هذه السياسة بعد اتفاق أوسلو وقيام السلطة الفلسطينية، وهي تقوم الآن على ثلاثة عناصر رئيسة
......
العادة وفق الشعار
إذا قدم زائر إلى الضفة الغربية الآن فسيسمع الكثير عن غلاء المعيشة وصعوبة تدبير النفقات اليومية وارتفاع الأسعار، لكنه سيسمع القليل عن سياسات إسرائيل في الاستيطان ومصادرة الأراضي والاعتقال والاغتيال.

ليس من السهل اتهام الناس، لكن سياسات إسرائيل وأميركا التي لاقت صدى لدى قيادات فلسطينية سياسية واقتصادية وأكاديمية وثقافية، أوصلت الشعب الفلسطيني إلى الاهتمام المتزايد بتكاليف المعيشة على حساب الحقوق الوطنية.

إذا زاد الضغط الاقتصادي على الشعب الفلسطيني، وتعمق ربط حياة الشعب الفلسطيني اليومية في الضفة الغربية بالمال الغربي، فإن التحول عن الوطني إلى الذاتي لن يبقى مجرد أمر طارئ أو مؤقت، وإنما سيصبح عادة تسيطر على الاهتمامات، وبدل التمسك بحق عودة اللاجئين تصبح الأولوية للتمسك بالراتب.

المعنى أن الهدف في النهاية هو شراء الحقوق الفلسطينية بثمن معين يحدده القائمون على السياسة ووفق تقديرهم الخاص بتطور النفسية الفلسطينية.

وعليه فإن الحديث الآن عن حلول سلمية وحقوق فلسطينية ليس إلا استهلاكا للوقت لحين تذويب القضية الفلسطينية في الراتب الشهري.

هل ستنجح هذه السياسة في النهاية؟ لا شك أنها تحقق نجاحا الآن، وهي تتقدم في نجاحها، لكن ليس كل الشعب يقبض راتبا، وليس كل الشعب على استعداد للتخلي عن الحقوق من أجل الراتب."

عرب في عرب عطكم جرب

صالح السنوسي

"في إحدى معارك الجبل الأخضر الكبيرة فوجئ عمر المختار بأن الصفوف الأولى في القوات الإيطالية هي من المجندين الليبيين الذين يطلقون عليهم تسمية "الشناوير" و"الباندة" نسبة إلى "الشنوارة" باللهجة المحلية الليبية أي الحلية التي تتدلى من قبعاتهم الحمراء تمييزا لهم عن الجنود الإيطاليين، فوجد عمر المختار نفسه مترددا في إعطاء الأمر بالهجوم أمام هذا الوضع الشاذ.

غير أن أركان قيادته لم يكونوا من رأيه، لأنه لا سبيل إلى الوصول إلى جنود روما الذين تدفقت بوارجهم عبر البحر الأبيض إلى رمال الشواطئ البيضاء وسهول الحنطة في الجبل الأخضر، ما لم يتم ضرب واختراق الخطوط الأولى.

أمام هذا الخيار الصعب وإصرار رجاله على رأيهم أعطى عمر المختار على مضض أمره بخوض المعركة التي انتهت حسب المصادر التاريخية بنصر مؤزر للمجاهدين، غير أن عمر المختار أمام هذا المشهد المأساوي كان على صهوة جواده يردد طوال المعركة عبارة أضحت شهيرة في تاريخ الجهاد الليبي "عرب في عرب عطكم جرب".

كان ذلك في بدايات القرن العشرين في خضم الموجة الاستعمارية الأوروبية الثانية، التي انطلقت في بدايات القرن التاسع عشر، وكان آخر ضحاياها إمبراطورية بني عثمان، حيث تم تقسيم بلاد العرب بالتراضي إلى أنصبة بين قوى الاستعمار الغربي العريقة منها والناهضة.

لم يكن المشهد الذي وجده عمر المختار أمامه شاذا بالنسبة لتاريخ الغزاة والشعوب المغزوة، فأي قوة محتلة لا بد أن تجد بين أبناء البلد المحتل من يتعاون معها، غير أن تحكم قانون الغالب والمغلوب منذ خمسة قرون في العلاقة بين العرب والغرب أدي إلى تكرار هذه الظاهرة في مشرق بلاد العرب وغربها، بحيث بدا وكأن العرب هم أكثر شعوب العالم تعاونا مع محتليهم.

فبعد مضي أربعة عقود على هذا الموقف الذي واجهه عمر المختار ورفاقه، وجدت الثورة الجزائرية نفسها في موقف مماثل، فقد جند الاستعمار الفرنسي آلافا مؤلفة من المحليين الجزائريين وأطلق عليهم اسم "الحركيين" وهم جنود ومقاتلون أشداء وأكثر تهورا من الجنود الفرنسيين أنفسهم في مواجهة المجاهدين الجزائريين، وأشد قسوة وعدوانية في مواجهة أبناء جلدتهم من المدنيين في المدن والقرى.
.....
وضاق بهم مقاتلو جيش التحرير مثل ما ضاق قبلهم عمر المختار ورجاله بالشناوير والباندة، فكان على رجال المقاومة الجزائرية أيضا أن يضربوا الحركيين ويتغلبوا عليهم أولا قبل أن يتمكنوا من الوصول إلى الغزاة الفرنسيين
.....
ولعل مثل هذه الوقائع وهذا المنطق كان خلف ظهور قبائل الصحوة في العراق، الذين حملوا السلاح بحجة العنف المنفلت والعبثي، إلى جانب المحتل الأميركي وتجاهلوا أن السبب الحقيقي وراء ذلك ليس دخول القاعدة أو المقاتلين العرب، بل الغزاة الذين اجتازوا حدود العراق عنوة بقوة السلاح وأصبحوا حلفاء لهم في شوارع ومدن العراق.

فقوات الصحوة أثناء أداء مهماتها الموكولة إليها من القوات الأميركية تقوم بإطلاق النار والاشتباك مع كل من يحمل سلاحا في مناطقها، باستثناء قوات المارينز والمتعاونين معهم من العراقيين.

لقد جرى في ظل الواقع الذي أوجده الاحتلال تبرير الوجود العسكري الأميركي على أساس أنه الضمانة الوحيدة ضد الحرب الأهلية وتمزق العراق، في الوقت الذي يتم فيه تسويغ محاربة المقاومة تحت مظلة الحرب ضد القاعدة.

ولهذا تنطلق قوات الصحوة لتقتل أي مسلح يظهر في طريقها باعتباره من القاعدة، بينما يقتل الجيش الأميركي كل من يحمل السلاح ضده سواء من القاعدة أو من المقاومة، لأن النصر لابد أن يكون أميركيا خالصا.

لعل ظاهرة الصحوة ما هي إلا فكرة عربية، أو على الأقل ابنة النصائح والاستشارات التي دأبت أطراف عربية على تقديمها للإدارة الأميركية قبل وبعد غزو العراق.

وكيف ما كان الأمر فإنها هي أحد الأسباب الحقيقية وراء ما يدعيه العسكريون الأميركيون من تحسن في وضعهم العسكري في العراق، ومن تدن في خسائرهم، مما جعل الكونغرس يوافق بعد مماطلة طويلة على ميزانية الحرب التي أصرت عليها إدارة الرئيس بوش، دون ربطها بجدول انسحاب.

فقد بدا أنه بالإمكان مرابطة قوات أميركية في قواعد آمنة وقادرة على التدخل للحفاظ على استمرار المصالح الأميركية في العراق، في حين يقوم العراقيون من مجالس الصحوة وغيرها بالمهام الباهظة الثمن بشريا في شوارع المدن والقرى، نيابة عن تلك القوات المتحصنة في مواقع يصعب الاحتكاك بها والاشتباك معها بالنسبة للمقاومة.

وهكذا تجد المقاومة نفسها في مواجهة عناصر مجالس الصحوة الباحثين عن من يعتبرونهم أجانب من السعوديين أو الليبيين والجزائريين وغيرهم، في الوقت الذي يتعاونون فيه مع جنود المارينز القادمين من وراء المحيط الأطلسي على أساس أنهم حماة أمن العراق ووحدته.

إن هذا الاقتتال الذي أضاف بعدا آخر إلى المشهد المأساوي والموت العبثي في العراق، لا يهدف إلا إلى تحقيق نتيجة واحدة فقط وهى إنقاذ المشروع الأميركي المترنح، كما أنه يضع المقاومة العراقية أمام الموقف نفسه الذي واجهه عمر المختار ومن بعده الثوار الجزائريون.

فقانون الغلبة ما يزال يحكم العلاقة بين الغرب والعرب، والظاهرة لا تزال تعيد إنتاج نفسها، ولو عاد عمر المختار وألقى نظرة على المشهد العراقي لما وجد ما يعبر به عما يراه أمامه سوى عبارته التي قالها في بدايات القرن العشرين في أحد أودية الجبل الأخضر "عرب في عرب عطكم جرب"."

Nablus, wounded in the war on history


Toon Lambrechts, The Electronic Intifada, 17 January 2008

"Although it is a small stretch of land, Palestine has many faces, from tiny country villages to bustling cities. Perhaps one of the most impressive places is the city of Nablus.....Situated in the north of the West Bank, Nablus is the largest city in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, inhabited by some 134,000 people. Before the second intifada, at which time Israel sealed off the town, Nablus was key to Palestine's economy.....

But first and foremost, Nablus is home to five millennia of history. The remains of the ancient Shechem a few kilometers outside the current city, with its large dry-stone walls, is a spectacular testimony of the earliest history of this area. Later the Romans came, rebuilt the city and named it Neapolis, from which the name Nablus is derived. The Byzantine period followed, succeeded by the arrival of Islam, crusader invasions and the Ottoman era, all of which left their traces on Nablus.

It may come as little surprise then that Nablus' Old City is a place of astonishing splendor. This labyrinth of cobbled streets leads from one surprising sight to another. The Old City's dense architectural fabric made out of narrow lanes and shady alleyways suggests thousands of stories.....

Nablus has seen a great deal of suffering in recent years. Being a stronghold of resistance, the city has come under severe attack by the Israeli military since the beginning of the second intifada in 2000 until this very moment. "There are still Israeli incursions during the night. Nablus remains under siege, especially the Old City,"......

The destruction of cultural heritage by Israel in Palestine and in Nablus more specifically, has gone far beyond the pretext of military necessity. "There is significant evidence that Palestinian heritage is being targeted specifically as heritage," said Naseer Arafat, a Nablus-based architectural conservationist, in an interview with The Independent (UK) in December 2002......

Some might ask, why bother about old buildings and relics? However, they are not just buildings but places where people live, work and pray. By destroying them, a people's way of life is also destroyed in the process. And attacks against cultural heritage are attempts to erase the collective memory of a people. That is why these examples are not simply collateral damage in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but silent casualties in a war against history."

Do You Believe This Ass? Abbas threatens to resign if Israeli 'escalation' continues


"Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is considering resigning from his post if Israel continues its military operations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, a top PA official said Thursday.

The official said Abbas, in a series of phone conversations with Arab, American and EU leaders and government officials, strongly condemned Israel's attacks as a "severe blow" to the peace process.

"The president has said that he will resign if the military escalation and daily killings continue," the official said. "Israel's actions undermine the Palestinian Authority and drive more Palestinians into the open arms of Hamas and Islamic Jihad."

According to the official, Abbas was particularly enraged that Israel had stepped up its military operations shortly after US President George W. Bush's visit to the region.

"The military escalation is being seen as a direct result of Bush's visit to Ramallah," the official said. "This puts President Abbas in an uncomfortable position and makes him look as if he's part of the aggression."......"

***

The bastard is "a part of the aggression!" Who is he kidding? He is quietly cheering for Israel behind the scenes hoping that the IOF will restore him to Gaza.

Taking down the PLO

Within weeks of Annapolis, Israel is intensifying its colonial settlement strategy, exploding any prospects of peace talks and driving Abbas and Fayyad into a corner

By Nicola Nasser
Al-Ahram Weekly

"Linking the aliyah (Jewish immigration) to what Jewish literature describes as Eretz Israel (Greater Israel) -- Israeli colonial settlement of Palestinian land, which the Hebrew state occupied in 1967, while at the same time negating the Palestinian right of return -- is torpedoing whatever prospect is left for a peaceful solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict, undermining the latest US-sponsored Palestinian-Israeli talks in Annapolis and further splintering the only viable Palestinian partner Israel has in any viable peace process, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO)......

Simultaneously, Israel has embarked on a two- pronged "real war" on two fronts: a military war on Hamas and the Gaza Strip, and a colonial war on the PLO-led West Bank, officially rejecting a proposal from Hamas to trade a truce ceasefire for lifting the siege Israel has imposed on the Strip. "There is no other way to describe what is happening in the Gaza Strip except as a true war... This war will continue," a statement of the Israeli government said Sunday. Since June this "real war" claimed more than 200 Palestinian lives in Gaza, Olmert boasted last week, excluding 22 more killed by the Israeli Occupation Forces during the Islamic Eid Al-Adha, according to the Palestinian Al-Mizan centre for human rights.

At the same time Israel unofficially refuses to make peace with the PLO. Israel's colonial war in the West Bank is much more detrimental to the Annapolis process and prospects of creating a Palestinian state because it focuses on strategically destroying the territorial contiguity of this prospective state and severing it from its capital, Jerusalem. Israel announced an aggressive three-pronged drive to expand its colonial settlements in and around East Jerusalem, including creating the brand new colony of Atarot, with 35,000 Jewish only houses, on the Palestinian land of Qalandia......."

Green light for atrocities

Just weeks after the Annapolis parade, Bush on tour to Israel has given carte blanche to Olmert for whatever level of violence against Palestinians he pleases.

By Saleh Al-Naami
Al-Ahram Weekly

"......As for Ben Kasbit, top commentator for Maariv newspaper, the second most circulated in Israel, he wrote an article on 10 January saying that Bush has caused harm to the entire Middle East and has placed the world in danger. He added, "it's been a long time since the United States has had such a failure of a president as Bush, who has caused such harm to the interests and values of the Western world." He concluded his article by writing, "what is most dangerous about Bush is that until now he has not understood the extent of the stupidity in the steps that he takes.""

Meagre expectations met


In Sharm El-Sheikh, Dina Ezzat watches a sombre finale to the Middle East sojourn of George Bush

Al-Ahram Weekly

"Even as President Hosni Mubarak met with his American counterpart in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, popular protests against Bush's visit in Cairo and other Egyptian cities escalated..."

America's "Divide and Rule" Strategies in the Middle East

A Superb Analysis and Highly Recommended Reading

by Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya
Global Research, January 17, 2008

"The Presidential Tour of George W. Bush to the Middle East: A New Cold War?......

The U.S. President’s tour is part of an exhorted effort to replace Israel with a vilified Iran as a looming threat to the Arab World. This undertaking which is part of America’s Project for a “New Middle East” was initiated after Israel’s war against Lebanon in July of 2006.

Balkanization and the Muslim Divide: Shiite Muslims versus Sunni Muslims......

Aside from fuelling ethnic tensions, such as those between Kurds and Arabs in Iraq, a sectarian divide is being deliberately cultivated within the ranks of the people of the Middle East which consider themselves Muslims. This divide is being fostered between Shiite Muslims and Sunni Muslims.

These divisions have been fuelled by the U.S., British, and Israeli intelligence apparatus. The intelligence agencies of Arab regimes within the Anglo-American orbit have also been involved in the construction of these divisions. This divide is also being cultivated with the help of various groups and leaders in these respective communities......

The interests of many of the corrupt Arab elites, the self-proclaimed cream of the crop within the Arab World, and autocratic Arab authorities have historically convened and adhered to Anglo-American and Franco-German political and socio-economic interests.

The House of Saud, the Hariri clan of Lebanon, and the absolute rulers established throughout the Arab World all share common financial and economic links with the Project for the “New Middle East.” They have a vested interest in the promotion of the economic and political model that the U.S. wishes to entrench in the Middle East.

The “Shia Crescent” and the Phantom Iranian Conquest of the Middle East .....

Arab leaders also have an easier time controlling their populations when they are fighting amongst each other and diluted through divisions. Sectarian and ethnic division also create confusion within the various populations, distracts them from their problems at home, and projects their animosity towards their leaders on others. Fear or anger towards the “Other” or the “Outsider” has always been a form of manipulating large groups and whole segments of societies.

With the peoples of the region divided against each other, their resources can be controlled and they themselves governed and further manipulated with greater ease. This has been part of the objective of British and American foreign policy all along. In this effort, local rulers and foreign forces have been partners.......

The Coalition of the Moderate” in the Mid-East and the manipulation of the Arabs

“We [Israel] must clandestinely cooperate with Saudi Arabia so that it also persuades the U.S. to strike Iran.”

-Brigadier-General Oded Tira, Israeli Military.....

....Revealing the author, these were the words of a man who has been inscribed into the pages of history as a legendary figure and as a hero to the Arabs. In reality he was an agent of British imperialism that misled the Arabs with the help of of corrupt local leaders. His name was Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence or, as most people know him, “Lawrence of Arabia.”

The 27 Articles of T.E. Lawrence (August 20, 1917) is where these words can be found for all to scrutinize. Thus started the road down to the modern entanglement of the Arab masses to colonial masters and handpicked Western vassals......

The Arab elites are being marshaled into formation yet again to do the dirty work of foreign powers. Once again, Arab leaders are also accessories to the agenda of foreigners in the Middle East against their own people. This has repeatedly been warned by uninhibited Arab analysts......

Israel is the socio-political model for the Middle East, whereas Dubai is the socio-economic model for the Middle East. Both models also bare staggering social ramifications.

The Israeli model, which is being moved forward is not based on any democratic values, quite the opposite. It is predicated on ethnocentrism and discrimination. The Middle East is being reconfigured in Israel’s image as a region with homogenous states and this is evident in Iraq and a reason for the tensions being fanned by foreign influence in the multi-confessional Lebanese Republic. Just as Israel is considered the “Jewish State” the Project for the “New Middle East” wants to establish a whole series of single-identity states in the ancient region.

The socio-economic model of Dubai and the GCC is based on a vertical mosaic.....

Israel, NATO, and the Arab Regimes: A Nexus against Resistance

The House of Saud and Saudi Arabia have emerged as the main force in configuring a public embracement between Israel and the Arab World under the auspices of the 2002 Arab Initiative. [4] This Saudi-proposed initiative is deeply tied to the Project for a “New Middle East” and allows Israel to integrate its economy with that of the Arab World and allows for the creation of an alliance between Israel and the Arab regimes against any forces in the Middle East resisting America, its allies, and more importantly their political and socio-economic model.....

Israel has always considered the leaders of Jordan as important assets and allies to pacify the Arabs. On April 18, 2007 King Abdullah II of Jordan reconfirmed this publicly known Israeli secret. King Abdullah II told a visiting Israeli delegation that Jordan and Israel were allies, emphasizing that he not only spoke for the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan but for Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the Arab Sheikdoms of the Persian Gulf......

Turning the Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf into NATO Lakes

NATO is expanding, but not only in Europe and the former Soviet Union. There have been longstanding plans to turn the Mediterranean into a permanent “NATO lake” and an arena closely linked to the European Union. The Russian naval build-up in the Eastern Mediterranean and off the Syrian coast is a move to challenge this process....

The expansion of a mandate for NATO in the Persian Gulf has been in motion for years and has followed behind NATO’s objectives in the Mediterranean Sea. NATO influence in the Persian Gulf effectively allows the area to fall under the joint management of Franco-German and Anglo-American interests. It is no coincidence that Nicholas Sarkozy started his presidential tour of the Middle East in the same window of time as the U.S. President nor is it a twist of fate that France and the U.A.E. signed an agreement on January 15, 2008 allowing France to establish a permanent military base in U.A.E. territory on the shores of the Persian Gulf.

The Real Divisions in the Middle East: Indigenous Forces versus Foreign Clients

In Palestine, during past demonstrations in 2006, the press reported that small groups of Fatah supporters chanted “Shia, Shia, Shia” in mockery of Hamas because of its political links to Tehran, because Iran is a predominately Shiite Muslim country.[10] This was a dismal sign of the growing animosity that has been inseminated in the Middle East. Yet, it also reflects that the divisions in the Middle East, such as the Shiite-Sunni divide, are manufactured and artificially engineered......

In reality, the regional differences in the Middle East are between the independent and indigenous forces, regardless of religion, politics, and/or ethnicity, in the region and the client forces and governments in the region that serve Anglo-American and Franco-German foreign policy and economic interests......

It is clear that there is an agenda to redraw the borders of the Middle East in order to institute lasting economic policies that benefit Anglo-American and Franco-German interests, along with their Israeli bulldog in the Middle East.

The Syrians and the Iranians are well aware of the plans to divide their home region and to play the peoples of the Middle East against one another. Tehran and Damascus too have been guilty of playing the same game for their own interests, but what America and its allies envision is a far broader partition and reconfiguration of the Middle East, which also places Syria and Iran in the sights of this historic struggle.

The question here is: are these efforts to divide the Middle East (into “moderates” and “radicals”) part of a policy of containment, a war strategy, or something far more sinister?

The intentions of people-based resistance movements like those of the Iraqi Resistance are simple and mostly clear, but state-based resistance — if it can really be called that — is often ambivalent in its intent.

Are Iran and Syria genuinely resisting the “New Middle East” which in the end serves the Washington Consensus? The ongoing economic reforms including the privatization programs in both Iran and Syria suggest that these countries are not totally opposed to the dominant neo-liberal agenda, which characterises Washington’s expansionary policies. [16]

It is no sin to question motives, especially when circumstances call for it, but it is a sin and a crime to mislead the masses. As developments in the Middle East unfold, the political stance of Iran and Syria will become clearer."

The Corpse on the Gurney: The ‘Success’ Mantra in Iraq


by Tom Engelhardt

"......Dancing on a Corpse

So, here’s a simple reality check: The whole discussion of, and argument about, “success” in Iraq is, in fact, obscene. Given what has already happened to that country — and will continue to happen as long as the U.S. remains an occupying power there — the very category of “success” is an obscenity. If violence actually does stay down there, that may be a modest godsend for Iraqis, but it can hardly be considered a sign of American “success.”

Every now and then, history comes in handy. In a previous moment, when the neocons and their allied pundits were feeling particularly triumphant, they began touting Bush’s America as the planet’s new Rome (only more so). That talk evaporated once Iraq went into full-scale insurgency mode (and Afghanistan followed). But perhaps Rome does remain a touchstone of a sort for administration Iraqi policies.

What comes to mind is the Roman historian Tacitus’ description of the Roman way of war. He put his version of it into the mouth of Calgacus, a British chieftain who opposed the Romans, and it went, in part, like this:

They have plundered the world, stripping naked the land in their hunger, they loot even the ocean: they are driven by greed, if their enemy be rich; by ambition, if poor; neither the wealth of the east nor the west can satisfy them: they are the only people who behold wealth and indigence with equal passion to dominate. They ravage, they slaughter, they seize by false pretenses, and all of this they hail as the construction of empire. And when in their wake nothing remains but a desert, they call that peace.”

Folks, it’s obscene. We’re doing victory laps around, and dancing upon, a corpse."

Bush’s Middle East Trip: Still No Peace

by Stephen Zunes

A Good Analysis

"......The United States still rejects the application of international law in settling the conflict, opting instead to use as its starting point the status quo based on Israel’s 40-year occupation. This underscores the longstanding and inherent contradiction between the United States simultaneously playing the role of chief mediator in the conflict and being the chief military, financial and diplomatic supporter of the more powerful of the two parties. As a result, Israel, the occupying power, has little incentive to compromise and the relatively powerless Palestinians under occupation have little leverage to advance their struggle for an independent viable state.

Harry Siegman, who headed the American Jewish Congress from 1978 to 1994 and subsequently served as a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, has faulted the Bush administration for failing to acknowledge “the consensus reached long ago by Israel’s decision-making élites that Israel will never allow the emergence of a Palestinian state which denies it effective military and economic control of the West Bank.” Observing what most independent observers of the peace process have noted since the election of a right-wing coalition government in Israel in early 2001, Siegman writes that “Israel’s interest in a peace process - other than for the purpose of obtaining Palestinian and international acceptance of the status quo - has been a fiction that has served primarily to provide cover for its systematic confiscation of Palestinian land….”.....

The resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian impasse comes down to four major unresolved issues: Israeli settlements, Israeli withdrawal, the status of Jerusalem, and Palestinian refugees. Each of these issues is summarized below. In each category, the Palestinian position is far closer to the international legal consensus while the U.S. position is much closer to that of the Israel’s rightist government, underscoring the reasons for the failure of the much-vaunted Roadmap for Peace and the peace process in general......."

عزل الخليج عن العمق العربي


عزل الخليج عن العمق العربي

Please see Fatima's comment after the editorial.

عبد الباري عطوان

"لعلها الصدفة التي تجسد حال الانهيار القيمي والاخلاقي، تلك التي تمثلت في اقدام القوات الاسرائيلية علي ارتكاب مجزرة في قطاع غزة في الوقت الذي كان يستقبل فيه الرئيس جورج دبليو بوش استقبال الابطال، يرقص العرضة التقليدية، ويتلقي السيوف المذهبة، وانواط الشجاعة، ويتذوق المأكولات العربية الشهية.
فايهود اولمرت رئيس الوزراء الاسرائيلي، والصديق الحميم للرئيس بوش، باعترافه في كلمته الترحيبية التي القاها لحظة الاستقبال في مطار بن غوريون، ما كان يقدم علي هذه المجزرة، لو كان يعتقد انها يمكن ان تشكل احراجا له او لمضيفيه في ارض الحرمين الشريفين. الامر الذي يؤكد انها جاءت نتيجة اتفاق مسبق، وفي اطار استراتيجية اعلان الحرب علي دول محور الشر والمنظمات المرتبطة بها، والفلسطينية منها علي وجه الخصوص.
الرئيس الامريكي لم يأت الي المنطقة من اجل تحقيق السلام، واقامة الدولة الفلسطينية، وانما من اجل تثبيت دعائم اسرائيل كدولة يهودية عنصرية، وبناء التحالف الجديد الذي سيضمها مع دول خليجية اخري لمواجهة النفوذ الايراني المتصاعد، علي حد وصفه، فالرجل لم يستطع ازالة حاجز واحد من ستمئة حاجز في الضفة الغربية، او مستوطنة واحدة غير شرعية، فكيف سيقيم دولة، ويتعامل مع قضايا الوضع النهائي؟.
فعندما يسقط الرئيس الامريكي مصر الدولة العربية الاكبر، ووسيط السلام المعتمد من جولته الحالية، ويتوقف فيها لبضع ساعات من اجل رفع العتب، ويطالبها بتبني دور جديد وهو قيادة المد الديمقراطي، وليس السلام في المنطقة، فان هذا يعني ان الثقل الاساسي في الاستراتيجية الامريكية، والغربية بشكل عام، انتقل الي منطقة الخليج.
فسورية محاصرة، ومصر مهمشة كليا، والعراق خاضع للاحتلال، والمغرب العربي معزول، وليبيا تتخبط، والسودان غارق في ازمات دارفور والجنوب، واليمن يواجه خطر الانفصال والتفتيت، ولبنان يعيش فراغا دستوريا ويقف علي حافة هاوية الحرب الاهلية واللااستقرار الامني والسياسي. وهكذا لم تبق غير منطقة الخليج متماسكة لكي تنفرد بها واشنطن والدول الاوروبية الاخري وامتصاص عوائدها النفطية الهائلة في صفقات اسلحة ضخمة.
ہپہپہ
جولة الرئيس بوش الحالية تركزت بالدرجة الاولي علي اسرائيل ومنطقة الخليج، اي العالم العربي الجديد ، واسقطت العالم العربي القديم كليا، لان النفط واسرائيل هما القرنان اللذان تدور عليهما رحي السياسة الخارجية الامريكية حاليا.
وكان لافتا ان منطقة الخليج شهدت جولتين علي درجة كبيرة من الاهمية، الاولي للرئيس بوش والثانية لنيكولا ساركوزي حليفه الجديد في العداء لمحور الشر العربي ـ الايراني، فالاول اتفق علي صفقات اسلحة للمملكة العربية السعودية باكثر من ثلاثين مليار دولار، والثاني بعشرين مليارا اخري، ووقع اتفاقا باقامة قاعدة عسكرية فرنسية في ابوظبي عاصمة دولة الامارات العربية المتحدة.
الاقتصاد الغربي يقف حاليا علي حافة حالة من الركود، بدأت تنعكس بشكل واضـح علي تراجع متسارع في اسهم الشركات العالمية، فبورصة لندن خسرت سبعة الاف نقطة في اقل من شهر، ووصلت الاسهم الاوروبية الاخري الي ادني معدلاتها في عامين تقريبا، والشيء نفسه يقال عن نظيرتها الامريكية، وليس هناك غير النفط العربي لكي يكون وعوائده عجلة الانقاذ الأوحد في هذا الصدد. فلم يكن مفاجئا ان يطلب الرئيس بوش من مضيفيه السعوديين، وسط انشغاله بالرقص بالسيوف، تخفيض اسعار النفط، من خلال زيادة الانتاج باكثر من مليون برميل يوميا.
عزل منطقة الخليج، عن قضايا المنطقة الاساسية في فلسطين والعراق، وربطها بالكامل مع الخطط الامريكية، والتفرد بها بالشكل الذي رأيناه اثناء جولتي بوش وساركوزي سينعكس خطرا علي جميع دول المنطقة، لان الامن القومي العربي مترابط، ووحدة متكاملة، وأي محاولة لتفتيته ستترتب عليها نتائج خطيرة جدا.
مضافا الي ذلك ان هناك قوي عظمي صاعدة مثل الصين والهند اقرب اليها من واشنطن جغرافيا علي الاقل.
صحيح ان دول العالم العربي القديم مثل مصر وسورية علي وجه الخصوص تخلتا عن دوريهما في قيادة المنطقة بسبب قصر نظر بعض قياداتهما، والانجرار خلف الاملاءات الامريكية في العراق علي وجه الخصوص مثلما هو حال مصر، ولكن هذا الانسحاب ربما يكون مؤقتا، فالدولتان اذا ما قررتا التمرد ، منفردتين او مجتمعتين، تستطيعان خلط الاوراق وقلب الامور رأسا علي عقب في المنطقة.
ہپہپہ
الخطأ الاكبر في التوجهات الامريكية الجديدة لا يتمثل فقط في عزل سورية ومصر عن امن الخليج، وهما اللتان كانتا العمود الفقري فيه، ولولاهما لما تحررت الكويت، وانما ايضا عن القضية العربية المركزية الاولي فلسطين، واستبدالها باسرائيل بعد ان تحولت الي صديق في مواجهة العدو الاكبر الجديد للعرب وهو ايران.
اننا نري بوادر صحوة، ومؤشرات تمرد، ان لم يكن علي مستوي القيادة في مصر، فعلي الشعب ومؤسسات المجتمع المدني علي وجه الخصوص، بعد ان طفح كيل الطرفين من شدة الاهانات التي لحقت ببلدهما علي ايدي اسرائيل وامريكا وعمليات الابتزاز المستمرة من نظام هرم فاقد الرؤية والبوصلة الوطنية منها والاقليمية.
الادارات الامريكية المتعاقبة حاولت اكثر من مرة فصل الخليج عن المستودع البشري والراديكالي في مصر وسورية والمغرب العربي بتهميش القضية الفلسطينية بجعلها ثانوية لحساب قضايا اخري طارئة في حينها مثل الحرب العراقية ـ الايرانية، ثم بعد ذلك حرب احتلال الكويت، وتأسيس منظمة اعلان دمشق، واخيرا شيطنة ايران وجعلها الخطر والعدو الاكبر للعرب. ومثلما فشلت المحاولات الاولي في اعطاء أكلها، ستفشل المحاولة الحالية التي يتزعمها الرئيس بوش وبعض القيادات الخليجية الجديدة ذات الميول الامريكية.
ہپہپہ
فلسطين كانت دائما القضية المحورية، وستظل كذلك، وما يجري حاليا في قطاع غزة من مجازر وسط صمت عربي، وتواطؤ عالمي، ربما يكون عنصر التفجير الذي يقلب كل المعادلات. فالمقاومة لن تهزم، ومشروع بوش لن يعطي ثماره.
اسرائيل تشن حاليا حرب ابادة بالتقسيط ضد الشعب الفلسطيني، وسيسقط شهداء كثيرون في الايام المقبلة، مثلما سقطوا علي مدي ستين عاما ماضية، فالشعوب لا تختار اقدارها، وبعضها لا يهرب من المواجهة، والشعب الفلسطيني عنوان رئيسي في هذا الاطار.
الحرب الاسرائيلية هذه دموية بكل المقاييس، ولكن قد يأتي الخير من باطن شرها، فالسلطة الفلسطينية في رام الله في النزع الاخير، والمفاوضات الفلسطينية ـ الاسرائيلية التي اطلقها بوش في انابوليس باتت قنبلة موقوتة ستنسف الطرف الفلسطيني الغارق فيها، وربما يخسر الرئيس عباس بعد ان خسر الضفة.
المجزرة الاسرائيلية الاخيرة، طهرت حركة حماس من كل اخطائها، وهي كثيرة، واعادت التفاف الشعب الفلسطيني حولها وفصائل المقاومة الاسلامية الاخري، واضعفت موقف فريق الرئيس عباس، وافقدته ما تبقي له من مصداقية في اوساط القلة الفلسطينية. فهكذا تكافيء امريكا واسرائيل حلفاءها.
الغارات والتوغلات الاسرائيلية ستستمر في غزة ونابلس وجنين وعدد الضحايا سيرتفع يوما بعد يوم، ولكن ما لا تدركه القيادتان الاسرائيلية والامريكية انهما لا تقضيان علي المعتدلين الفلسطينيين فقط، وانما علي الاجنحة المرنة في صفوف حماس نفسها، فمحود الذزهار بات الاكثر شعبية بعد فقدانه نجله الثاني شهيدا الي جانب شقيقه الاكبر، لانه اثبت ان قيادات حماس تضحي بابنائها وليس بابناء الاخرين، وان هؤلاء الابناء هم مقاتلون وليسوا منخرطين في البزنس والصفقات التجارية.
السياسة الخارجية الامريكية تدخل حاليا حقل الغام جديد، شديد الانفجار، ولعله يكون الخطأ الاخير الذي يمهد لصعود الصحوة العربية والاسلامية المنتظرة."


***

A COMMENT ABOUT THIS EDITORIAL

fatima from Algeria -

"I have given up on the Arabs they can go to hell with America
The Palstinians are being slaughtered while the Idiots dance with swords with a war criminal who should be behind bars . they could have been polite to Bush without treating him like a trusted dear friend . But no one is hearing the SOS and cries of Gaza . Unfortunately My brothers and sisters in Palestine you are on your own , dont count on the cowards , count on yourself and the help of ALLAH inshallah. I have given up on the Arabs a long time ago . they are a useless bunch of idiots and cowards with no personality no conscience and no principles
."

Neturei Karta: IDF conducting ethnic cleansing in Gaza


Anti-Zionist Orthodox faction denounces military operations in Strip as 'ferocious, bloodthirsty acts of ethnic cleansing', say they fail to understand why world powers 'allow Zionists to commit such crimes against Palestinians'


"......"We are appalled by the terrorist massacre performed by the Zionists in Gaza. This ferocious act is just one in a long line of oppressive acts of ethnic cleansing performed against the Palestinian people since 1948 by the evil Zionist movement," said their statement.

The statement was issued on Wednesday, following the IDF operation in Gaza, in which 20 Palestinians were killed......"

***

I salute them; they have shown by far more courage and integrity than most of the Arab regimes and most of the Arab "masses."

Current Al-Jazeera (Arabic) Online Poll


The question is:

Do you believe that the Palestinian president will end negotiations if Israeli escalation increases?

With over 1,100 responding, 93% said no.