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Prof Shillony on Japan’s Role In Arab-Israel Peace


Posted on January 11, 2012 by Marivel Guzman

Newsletter No. 1594
Editorial-Opinion
May 15, 2010

BEN-AMI SHILLONY ON JAPAN’S ROLE IN ARAB-ISRAELI PEACE

Professor Ben-Ami Shillony (Shingetsu Member No. 74) of Hebrew University in Jerusalem has submitted to the Shingetsu Newsletter an opinion article recently published in the Asahi Shinbun. The following is a slightly revised version of that article.

Japan Can Promote Peace in the Middle East

The recent visit of Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman to Japan came at a time when both countries find themselves on a collision course with their long-time patron, the United States.

In both cases, the confrontation involves construction. The Hatoyama Cabinet is criticized by the Obama administration for its inability to carry out the agreement for the relocation of the Futenma airfield to another part of Okinawa Prefecture. The Netanyahu government is admonished for its inability to stop the construction of Jewish housing on the West Bank and in Jerusalem.

Both Israel and Japan are afraid that their cordial relationship with Washington is undergoing a change. The Israelis are concerned that the Obama administration, despite its pro-Israeli pronouncements, will pursue closer ties with the more populous Arab world. There is a similar concern in Japan that despite its friendly pronouncements, the United States is going to regard China as its most important partner in East Asia. A continued inability of Japan and Israel to solve the Futenma and the settlement cases bodes ill for the future relations of these countries with the United States.

The present visit also sheds light on the state of relations between Japan and Israel. The Japanese have a favorable opinion of the Jews. This already started 106 years ago, when Jacob Schiff, the Jewish president of the Kuhn, Loeb and Co. investment bank in New York (which in 1977 merged with Lehman Brothers) extended substantial loans to Japan to help it win the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905.

Another outstanding Jew who captured the imagination of the Japanese was Albert Einstein, who visited Japan in 1922. Both Schiff and Einstein admired Japan, creating in Japan the image of the rich and clever Jew.

Zionism, the return of the Jews to their ancient homeland in Palestine, had many supporters in prewar Japan. The Christian evangelist Uchimura Kanzo hailed it as the harbinger of the messianic age.

In 1920, when the League of Nations had to determine the future of Palestine after World War I, the delegates of the Big Four Powers (Britain, France, Italy and Japan) met in San Remo, Italy, and decided to allocate the mandate over Palestine to Britain on the basis of the Balfour Declaration. The Balfour Declaration of 1917, which pledged to establish a Jewish national home in Palestine, was thus accorded legal international status.

In 1922, the Shanghai Zionist Association expressed its gratitude to Japan by inscribing the name of the Japanese foreign minister, Viscount Uchida Yasuya, in the Golden Book of the Jewish National Fund in Jerusalem.

During World War II, Japan was an ally of Nazi Germany. But instead of killing Jews, as Hitler did, it saved thousands of them, enabling them to find refuge in Japan and in Japanese-held territories. Japan tried, during the war, to lure the Muslims of Asia and supported Hajj Amin al-Husseini, the anti-British mufti of Jerusalem, who spent the wartime years in Berlin.

Nevertheless, in February and March 1945, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia declared war on Japan.

During the war, Japan was sympathetic to the anti-British Zionist Revisionist movement (the forerunner of the present Likud Party in Israel), allowing its youth movement Beitar to function freely in Manchuria and Shanghai.

In 1952, following the end of the allied occupation, Japan and Israel established diplomatic relations. Israel was the first country in the Middle East to establish diplomatic ties with Japan after World War II. Japan was also the first country in Asia to establish diplomatic ties with Israel.

During the 58 years since then, relations between the two countries have withstood many pressures. Since the mid-1980s, relations have steadily developed.

The Japanese have a high regard for Israeli high-tech and many Israeli companies are doing good business in Japan despite the economic depression. Last month, the company Better Place, of the Israeli innovator and entrepreneur Shai Agassi, in conjunction with Tokyo’s Nihon Kotsu taxi company, started a pilot project of electrically operated taxis.

Japan is admired in Israel for both its traditional arts and its modern achievements. Hundreds of Israeli students study Japanese language and culture at Israeli universities and thousands of Israeli tourists flock to Japan.

Last year, the Japanese writer Murakami Haruki received the Jerusalem Literature Prize.

Japan and Israel can work together to promote peace in the Middle East. Japan is respected by both Arabs and Israelis for being objective and friendly.

Since 1996, a contingent of Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force has been operating in the Golan Heights, as part of the U.N. Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF). The Japanese government is extending economic aid to Palestinian refugees and to various projects of the Palestinian Authority.

A greater economic and diplomatic Japanese presence in the region will be beneficial to the peace process. But there is also a cultural role that Japan can play to promote peace in the Middle East. In 2005, the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs organized a conference on Culture and Peace at the ancient Horyuji temple in Nara. Professor Sari Nusseibeh, president of the Al-Quds University in Jerusalem, was invited to represent the Arab side and I was invited to represent the Israeli side. The organizers were surprised to see that we did not quarrel. On the contrary, we shook hands and proposed jointly that Japan establish a Center of Japanese Culture in Jerusalem that would serve both our universities and our peoples.

By studying and admiring a third culture, Palestinians and Israelis can learn to understand and respect each other. The proposal was welcomed by the agency’s president, professor Hayao Kawai, who promised to do his best to carry it out. But Kawai died two years later, and nothing came out of that plan.

I still believe that promoting Japanese culture in Jerusalem can promote peace in the Middle East.

***************************
The Shingetsu Institute for the Study of Japanese-Islamic Relations
Website: http://www.shingetsuinstitute.com
E-Mail: shingetsu_institute@hotmail.com

Ahmedabad’s Imran went to Pakistan, became ISI agent, returned with a woman spy, arrested


New Delhi, 12 December 2011 Delhi police has arrested two ISI agents including one who is originally from Ahmedabad. Both were arrested from New Delhi railway station by Delhi police’s special branch. According to primary details arriving, one Imran Chhipa(40) of Ahmedabad went to Pakistan in 1988 and settled in commercial capital Karachi. Chhipa started textile business there in 2007-08 but incurred huge financial loses .Chhipa was then approached by Pakistan’s infamous intelligence agency ISI. Chhipa was offered training and money in exchange with a deal that he would escort Pakistan’s trained spy Karachi based 38-year-old Sofia Kanwal to India and would ensure that Sofia is settled well in India to perform tasks assigned to her by the ISI. Imran too was trained for some time by ISI and accordingly Imran and a trained ISI agent Soofia entered into India through Sanouli border of Nepal/Uttar PRadesh. They boarded Gorakhdham express to reach Delhi, but halted briefly in Agra to meet other Pakistani agent working there. However police in India was keeping watch on Imran and Soofia on the basis of inputs, and ultimately they were held by Delhi police at New Delhi railway station. Police has recovered Indian Election Commission card from Chhipa. Police has also recovered pan card and old Indian passport that was issued in Ahmedabad in year 1986. On the passport Imran’s name is mentioned as Imran Yusuf Lafangjiwala. Police has also recovered a driving license issued by RTO in Gujarat from Chhipa’s possession. From Sofia Kanwal, police recovered Pakistani citizenship card and Pakistani passport without India’s visa or stamp. Delhi Police claimed to have foiled an ISI plan to ensure smooth operations by a woman spy in the country. Further investigation is on in this matter.

Those Who Make Peaceful Revolution Impossible, Make Violent Revolution Inevitable


The Elite is a group of shadows that moves in every sphere of power of the world, they have dreams of conquer, their power’s appetite is insatiable, the pain of humanity do not bother them at all, the destruction of the Natural Resources of our Mother Earth don’t concern this group, they thrive on the misery of others, the sweat and blood of the working class, the masses of the world is their labor force.
They seems to be invisible because they hide behind  umbrellas groups, sisters companies, shadowy corporations around the world, affiliate groups and companies that moves behind the Banking Industry, Food Industry, War Complex Machine and Oil Industry.
One group support the other because they are so entwined with each other that one can not live without the other, if one falls the rest will follow like a domino effect. Really simple to understand their pyramid scheme, we have been told of them for years, they have been present since ever, but since economy was invented they got organized in hierarchy levels, and in really the lower levels will never reach the top of the pyramid, Why? because the tip of the pyramid has set up a set of rules, ladders and traps that allow them to always be in the top.
As soon as a family, group, or individual reaches its limit, the one set up by the tip of the pyramid, they will stay there and if they try to surpass their level, they will be promptly eliminated, discredited and its power and fortune will be lost, and if they were not killed or disappeared or whatever is chosen for them, they have two choices; kill themselves in disgrace or desperation because they do not know how to live the lower simple life, or they cross to the other side.
They are the pawns of the king, they are bendable to the circumstances, they are swingers in their ideas, they are mold-able in their behavior, they have strange sense of humanity. If we search history for this types, we can find quite many.
The more recent examples and more notorious will be the ones in the recent economic sector, moguls that amazed huge amounts of fortune enough to buy whole countries, but some how they felt in disgrace to the top, either by greed, lack of loyalty, or exposure. They were killed, prosecuted and put in jail, or their fortune stripped from them. The most famous of the examples will be Kennedy Family, they that broke the mold of the Elite. This family amazed their fortune during the slave trade in the 1800, their fortune as long as they follow the rules set, they raise up in the spheres of power and money, but a little misstep and the family was put in the black list.
The Powers that move the strings, are at the top of the Pyramid and the pawns on the chessboard think they are the players, but they are only the pawns that move in straight line and do not see the king, they defend the king with their life without knowing that they are being played.
“The Elite network in general, can manipulate and deceive most of its own membership because it is structured like a pyramid. If you look at any organisation, from a small business to a multinational corporation, you will see the same pyramid structure. At the top will be a very few people who know everything there is to know about the organisation, its motivation, agenda, and the direction it wishes to go. The further you descend from the peak, you meet more and more people who know less and less about that overall picture. They are only aware of their part in the organisation and not everyone else’s. This is a manipulator’s dream and it is the means through which the Elite can control so many people and organisations across the world.”  David Icke

These men do not make the mistakes, as they themselves are part of the same programs, they are disposable, usable and trash-able when they finish their mission.

We need to be vigilant of any actions that will come in the next few months, as the global awareness movement is taken new levels and so the Globalist Agenda. But as always We The People have the upper hand if we stay united.

There is nothing stronger than a United Family and in these volatile days we the “Human Family” needs to stay more united than ever to win the battle of the classes that has been waged against us.

And I m not talking in any socialist agenda or political agenda of any kind I m talking of the awareness that it is taking place in every block of society.

Because they have no choice or said, US leaders’ backers and Israel leaders’ backers are the same entities, if Israel fails which is inevitable, US will fail which is inevitable.
We must be blind if we do not see what our leaders are doing, they are taking us to the gutters with them in their unwilling “blindly” support for Israel.
There is no hope for us as a super power, we are broke, the revolution have started in here and in Israel and in every country that follow our own system of deceit by the banking establishment, oil industry, and enrichment of the war complex machine on our backs and sweets.
Every society that have reach the level of power that we had, and I mean the western societies is doomed to succumb under the same weight of abuse of power and citizen abused. Really we still have to see in our history, that a Revolution have started in a equal happy society.
It’s too late for the west system to be saved, at least  the system of inequality in place, the people is angry, the people is hungry and only need to be little bit more desperate and a false move from the oppressive forces (Police,Army,Security) a false step and the Violent Revolution will spark. Does not take an intelligent mind to see whats is going on, it takes an empty stomage, a desperate father, or a Dreamer to spark the flame. I think if all the world at once, and I mean the 99 % will wake up at once, we will avoid a global massacre. God help us all, in the mean time, we need to keep doing what we doing, putting our 2 cents in our own cause to save us from a carnage from part of the 1 % paid mercenaries. “Private Contractors” Aka mercenaries, they are hundreds of thousands around the world, being paid and trained by the various Western Countries.
The main event during the period in which Murdoch asserted that the Arabs were trying to “overrun” Israel was the 1967 war. Zionism’s story of it, which the mainstream media still peddles to this day, is that Israel went to war either because the Arabs attacked first or were intending to attack. Both, the either and the or, are Zionist propaganda nonsense. It was a war of Israeli aggression. Opinion-Maker
The power to the people is pushing aside the “legends” of the Media, characters made famous for their unrestricted use of Power to divert, their impunity to bend the truth with catastrophic consequences.
People like Rupert Murdoch involved by power given to him by not other than you, your indifference to play a role in your own affairs. His power is vested on nothing more than propaganda and lies.
Take your power back and Murdoch and his empire of Adds and Money will dissipate with the silver screen, and the Flash News, that the only flash is the light in the face of the actor of the scenery of the theater they mount everyday. Wake Up to reality and take back your rights, exercise your power to decide for your Present and Your Future.
They are very much aware of the situation in the world, at this stage there is no business as usual, his own empire is suffering the Social Networks taking their viewers and readers away from their outlets, even Abraham Foxman with all his ADL power is suffering the downs of the People waking up to the truth, learning the real agenda of his ADL as a front to kill any attacks on the Zionist Agenda, the ADL and the Jewish Lobby worked tirelessly to kill dissent but now we are seeing that their stage is falling down.
ADL was created to keep the antisemitism myth alive, the Paid media tool of propaganda used very diligently, the shadowy groups around the work, burning mosques, synagogues firing up the religious mood, which become one of the best weapons they created in the last 20 years.
“Muslims converts ” fueling the Muslim rage against the Jews. Cartoons enraging the Muslim religious faith.
Holocaust business soaring as a bad omen in the media and in the mind of the newbies, the ignorant of the agenda Hittlerist of the second world.
The “Self Hater Jews” new term and its promoters working wonders in the social networks with their  cheap hasbaras that can be smell miles away.
The invented wars that terrorized, murdered and put the last nail in the coffin of the middle east hard worked stability that devastated the region and inserted military opps all over the middle east.
Their (Puppets) positions on issues are going to change with the Times, because that is what they do good these characters like the lizards will change the color of their skin as the times change and the heat turn on their vulnerable side. Their ancestors did it in the past they changed religion as convenience permitted, now these lizards will change even their views and responses to the times that are changing.. Murdoch is not stupid but he goes where the money is, he goes where the money will be generated.
I see with sadness that my once great United Sates is isolating itself and its been pulled to the abyss by its blindly support of Israel. Both United States and Israel more and more are becoming irrelevant in the international arena, besides Israel is cornered like a wounded animal, that its throwing its last blows, but as its seen lately its throwing blows to the wind, because the whole world it is her enemy, and for United States the luck is not better and being in the worse financial crisis of its time, and with her population raising by the minute against the governmental apparatus, there is not too much hope.
Let’s hope that the leaders use the last common sense and reverse their policies of blindly support for Israel. And I mean this needs to be pronto, as the time we are living are dangerous. The anger is piling up, the aggression of Israel, and United States and few other allies are surpising the level of acceptance or swallowable existence from part of their population.
The West it is  fire, they should not try to kill it with wind, Common Sense is the only exit. Israel does not have many years to live, take the lessons from South Africa Apartheid System. Take the lessons from The Great Rome, From Japan, Germany, Soviet Union and others entities that did not survived the extensive power they grasped in detriment of the masses.
Life is not fair, and has not been less unfair for Palestinians since the Zionist Movement started at the beginning of the century. The situation in Gaza is deplorable worse than in the West Bank, and we know that everything that we people of the world wanted to happen for the good of Peace in the world, will only going to be possible if WE THE PEOPLE take the initiative and the lead in our world affairs.
All the Middle East Conflict Israel/Palestine used as convenience to keep the rage, the energies exhausted, to keep the people taking sides, while they are waging more wars, destroying our Earth, starving the world, wasting our natural resources. They are making us angry, they are steering our last fiber of patience, they are brewing the revolution that will put end to the American empire, they are making impossible the peaceful revolution, where we change the old world order for a new world order, where we all have fair share of our world, where we all enjoy Peace.

Report on Palestine Bid Accepted


Today in the News and Media of the UN Press

SC President H.E. José Filipe Moraes Cabral (Portugal) on the membership of Palestine at the UN – Security Council Media Stakeout

11 November 2011
Jose Filipe Moraes:Good Morning Every One, we held a meeting of the comitte on admissions and the committee approved the report  and forward it the security council the report of the adminsion of Palestine to the United Nations.
Q; What is the Next Step?
JFM: The Council will receive the report and discuss any future initiatives
Informal comments to the media by H.E. Mr José Filipe Moraes Cabral, Permanent Representative of Portugal to the United Nations and President of the Security Council for the month of November following the meeting of the Committee on the admission of new members regarding the application of Palestine.
Q; Is there a date about when it will come out?
JFM: No we have a very busy work load, we will be consulting with the members of the council and will decide in the date and we will meet in order to dicuss this issue
Q; Where there any changes in the report?
JFM; As Compare to what?
Q:One as the 200
JFM; I m not sure, I can not discuss, because is confidential report
Q; Did any body broke the silence?
JFM;No
Q
Q; On your national capacity
JFM
Q;You have not decided what you are going to do
JFM; No we will decide in the right moment, the rights elements here, we will appreciate them fully
Q; When will you
JFM; We have no time line
Q;
JFM; No I won’t say,

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Categories: News

Israel Concerned About New Offices For Hamas In Jordan and Egypt


Posted on November 7, 2011 Akashma Online News

Deconstructed Article taken from International Middle East Media Center

By Omar Karem

Monday October 24, 2011 14:23 by Saed Bannoura

Khaled Mashal head of the Political Bureau of Hamas - Arabs48
Khaled Mashal head of the Political Bureau of Hamas – Arabs48

Senior Israeli security sources said that Tel Aviv is concerned about Egyptian and Jordanian intentions to allow Hamas to open offices in Amman and Cairo, and considered the move as “granting legitimacy to terror”.

Israel is in the hot seat, can not control the PR any more, the lies, rumors, propaganda is now seen so clearly that we can smell it miles away, right before it gets published. Sometimes I wonder if they really believe their own lies, its amazing that after so much slap in the face they still continue with their Paid Rumors aka Propaganda

The sources said that both Washington and Tel Aviv are concerned that the Muslim Brotherhood in the Arab world is gaining more power, and claimed that the Brotherhood challenges the Arab regimes and presents itself as an alternative.

United States, and Israel will always will try to use the Religious Card, sometimes it seems that the US and Israel are really pushing the Muslim Brotherhood to take the lead, that in equal societies, if the people’s will chooses to be represented by a Muslim Organization shouldn’t be our concern, the Iranphobia that they propagate and that seems they are infected with, is more like a disease than a reality.

The Arabs48 news website reported that Israel considers the move to be a negative factor “especially since Cairo and Amman admit to the rising power of Islamist groups in the region, amidst American talks with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.

I m not endorsing, a religious faction party, or secular one, but isn’t Egypt and Jordan Muslim countries?, and why Us and Israel do not worry for Saudi Arabia, after all Saudi Arabia is the most Muslim country that there is, why not call it Islamist Society, do we chose the denomination and the name to be used according to our convenience?

Israeli security and political leaders also stated that, by hosting Hamas, Cairo will be jeopardizing the close relations between the two countries.

Now why the Leaders of any country, will auto-nominate themselves the representatives of All the People?, the last time we check, the Egyptian Society did not want Israel Embassy in their soil, and they showed to Israel, destroying her embassy, to the the world by posting the videos of how much they despise their aggressive neighbors in their soil, they took the Israeli Flag and was burn in front to the whole world. So what close relations Israel is talking about?

The leaders added that Egypt played an important, and undeniable role in the release of corporal Gilad Shalit, “but its decision to host a terrorist group cannot be taken lightly”, and added that Israel will be holding talks about the issue with a number of concerned countries, mainly referring to its strongest ally, the United States.

The role of Egypt was of paramount importance because, Israel is escorting Egypt to open up the doors again post Mubarak era, and help her with the blockade of Gaza, without Egypt Israel can not humiliate Palestinians any longer, without Egypt control and support on the Rafah border, Palestinians will be half free, so, the importance of Gilad Shalit compromise with Egypt was a winning point for Israel not for Egypt. Egypt does not get anything from Israel, beside the enemies that Egypt gets if continue its diplomatic relations with Israel. Now days, the Egyptian Military Government is transitional and does not have much of support from the people, The Millions of Egyptians that took to the streets to take down the dictatorship of Mubarak do not like Israel very much. 

Information Published in the New York Times on May  and Debunked by Hamas Leadership, not once but twice.

Remember The New York Times is Zionist Own Corporation, so most of their News are Paid News in other words, propaganda. Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr.  charman and Editor of the New Yourk time with an outstanding Salary of 1.08 millions dollars and a $6,002,468  2010 compensation, Zionist Corporation that control, his family control The New York Time Co. The Boston Globe,” and 21 other newspapers in six states. It also has a one-half interest in the “International Herald Tribune” ,the Washington Post. The firm owns three magazines (including “Golf Digest”), eight television stations, and two radio stations, and publishes online. Plus serves and license 650 Newspapers around the world. Amazing power his prints have.

Also, a security source in Tel Aviv said that the fact the Turkey hosting a number of former Hamas detainees, who were released under the Shalit swap-deal, “is also a negative indicator showing that Turkey is interested in freezing its relations with Israel and maintaining strong ties with the Muslim Brotherhood, and the Arab regimes”, according to the source.

Another Note to debunk, Turkey was clear when it recalled their ambassador from Israel, Turkey is another country that will be better braking for ever diplomatic relations with Israel. Israel has won the position that she find herself in, has not done anything positive for Palestine, Egypt, Turkey, or any other country in the region, now she is paying for her mistakes.

The leadership of Hamas in exile is hosted by Syria, but after the Syrian revolution started, the movement started talking about the possibility of moving its offices to another country.

Al Hayat, the London-based pan-Arab newspaper, reported Saturday that Hamas’s political wing was decamping to Doha, the capital of Qatar, but Hamas officials in Syria and beyond it denied it. Similar reports circulated on Monday and denials were again issued

Syria also hosts several Palestinians factions, mainly those who split from the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). Hamas was never a PLO member but expressed willingness to join it “should serious reforms be conducted”.

Israel is forgetting that historic reconciliation between the Palestinians factions took place, and if they are not one political party at least they are in the right road to converge with their ideologies, their priorities and the well being of Palestinians in mind, they do not represent themselves but the millions of Palestinians inside Gaza, West Bank and the Exile, and any talks that they conduct are for Palestine.

some of the information was taken and deconstructed from  –  IMEMC & Agencies

Gaza Global Affairs –  Israel abused the leverage she had on the world, and played with the intellect of the people for long time, and she created her own destruction. Israel is dying and swimming in her own mud of deception and lies. She can not control the PR Propaganda any longer, is too late to savage her theater of powerful bully. What it took Israel 63 years to built with Lies and Deceit. The Gaza Strip Illegal and Inhumane siege has to be remember by the Zionist as the spot in the mirror that blur the fake glory of Israel, the 4 years of  widely propagandize siege imposed in Gaza Population showed to the world what a sadistic minds were behind Israel creation and imposition to the world.

Palestinian Killed, Three Wounded, As Army Air Strikes Khan Younis


author Sunday November 06, 2011 01:56

Palestinian medical sources reported that the Israeli Air Force fired, on Saturday evening, missiles into Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, killing one Palestinian and injuring at least three others.

The Body Of Abdullah Mhanna - Image Palestine-Info
The Body Of Abdullah Mhanna – Image Palestine-Info

Local sources reported that the army fired at least two missiles at a group of fighters on the Al Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad, in Al Qarara town, east of Khan Younis. The army then fired rounds of live ammunition into the area.

The slain resident was identified as Abdullah Eid Mhanna, 22, member of the Al Quds briagdes; three residents suffered moderate injuries.

The Al Quds brigades stated that, contrary to Israeli army claims, its fighters did not fire shells into Israel, and did not intend to.

On Saturday morning, one resident was moderately wounded when Israeli soldiers opened fire at farmers in an area near the Nahal Oz crossing, east of Gaza.

The resident was identified as Mohammad Hamad, 23; he was shot in his right thigh; several residents suffered panic attacks.

Eyewitnesses reported that the army was not provoked in any way, and that the farmers were taken by surprise when the soldiers opened fire at them while working in their lands. Fearing for their lives, the farmers left their farmlands and went back home.

Israeli sources claimed that, on Friday at night, a shell was fired from Gaza into Asqalan (Ashkelon) causing no damages or injuries.

by Saed Bannoura – IMEMC & Agencies

Related Post…

Youth Injured by Israel Fire in Gaza – Eyewitnesses reported that Israeli forces randomly opened fire at Palestinian citizens and farmers near “Nahal Oz” zone, wounding one resident identified as Mohammed Ibrahim Hamad, 23 years old; his injury was described as moderate.
“The army was not provoked, soldiers just opened fire at the farmers east of the Gaza Strip, they fled the scene fearing further attacks by the army”, an eyewitness said.
Late Friday, Israeli security sources claimed that a Palestinian home-made projectile was launched into the beach of city of Asqalan.

 

Hamas called on the Arab League – to break the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip in response to Israeli piracy against international solidarity activists who were trying to break the siege by sailing to Gaza.
The movement said in a statement, on Friday following the Israeli navy’s action against the two aid boats, We strongly condemn the Zionist piracy against the international activists acting in solidarity with our besieged people. We consider this Zionist act a crime and a violation of international laws and conventions.”The movement added that the continued siege against the Gaza Strip and the targeting of aid convoys are crimes added to Israel’s long list of crimes against the Palestinian peopleThe movement called on the Arab League to end the siege and called on the UN to shoulder its responsibilities towards the Zionist crimes against the Palestinian people and to immediately end the siege.

NATO’s War on Libya was an Attack on African Development


Posted On October 28, 2011 Akashma Online News

african union logo

To prevent this ‘threat of African development’, the Europeans and the USA have responded in the only way they know how – militarily. Four years ago, the US set up a new “command and control centre” for the military subjugation of the Africa, called AFRICOM. The problem for the US was that no African country wanted to host them; indeed, until very recently, Africa was unique in being the only continent in the world without a US military base. And this fact is in no small part, thanks to the efforts of the Libyan government.

Before Gaddafi’s revolution deposed the British-backed King Idris in 1969, Libya had hosted one of the world’s biggest US airbases, the Wheelus Air Base; but within a year of the revolution, it had been closed down and all foreign military personnel expelled.

More recently, Gaddafi had been actively working to scupper AFRICOM. African governments that were offered money by the US to host a base were typically offered double by Gaddafi to refuse it, and in 2008 this ad-hoc opposition crystallised into a formal rejection of AFRICOM by the African Union.

 

Massive Greek Protest Stops A Yearly Military Parade

October 29, 2011 2 comments

Posted on October 28, 2011 on Akashma Online News

by yalmpanis on 28/10/2011

October 28 is the National Day of Greece. On October 28, 1940 Mussolini asked Greek government to surrender. When the Greeks replied “NO”, Italians invaded the country. Surprisingly, Greek army won the war over the wanna-be Roman Empire of Mussolini. Only after a second German invasion, Greek army collapsed. Every year after the Liberation, on October 28 Greeks celebrate the historic “No” with a huge military parade in Thessaloniki and school parades in all municipalities.

But this year’s October 28 was different. All over the country, parades turned to anti-government and anti-austerity demonstrations. People who lost their jobs, students and pupils, “indignados”, professors and teachers, everyday working people with no political background, expressed their anger for the IMF-EU-Greek government austerity plans. They demanded government officials to leave the parades and in many cases politicians were forced to leave.

In Thessaloniki there was the most massive protest (photo). Thousands of demonstrators were shouting “Bread, Education Freedom. Dictatorship was not over in 1973” and “Government are traitors”. Finally, Carolos Papoulias, the President of the Republic, had to leave for security reasons. For the first time since Liberation, the Armed Forces didn’t parade on October 28. A very angry Papoulias said “I was an antifascist partisan when I was 15. I don’t allow anybody to call me traitor”. People accuse Papoulias for signing all the austerity bills voted by the Parliament.

Today’s events are a considerable blow to Papandreou government. Yesterday Papandreou tried to present as a national triumph EU’s decision for cutting 50% of Greek debt. Nevertheless, it seems that people don’t share Papandreou propaganda. First of all, the agreement dictates that for the next 10 years austerity will be very strict. It is certain there will by thousands of new lay-offs in public sector, a complete sell-off of public property, and new salary cuts. In addition to that, European “surveillance” over Greek government is considered as loss of national sovereignty. There is a wide spread feeling of national humiliation and many say that this “the second German occupation of the country”.

It is highly possible that on November 10 there will be a new general strike. Keep an eye on us; this is a real hot country.

October 20: second day of 48h general strike – Violent protesters attacked peaceful ones with petrol bombs and stones Thursday in Athens, as tens of thousands rallied outside parliament ahead of a vote on despised new austerity measures demanded by creditors to keep the country afloat.

Greece Paralyzed in its second day of Massive Strike– As the second day of a general strike paralyzed the country, more than 50,000 peaceful demonstrators flooded downtown Syntagma Square, the scene of violent protests on Wednesday, the first day of the nationwide strike.

Creditors have demanded the extra austerity measures before they give Greece more funds from a C110 billion ($152 billion) bailout loan from other eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund. Greece says it will run out of money in mid-November without the next C8 billion ($11 billion) installment.

The austerity bill won initial approval from the Greek parliament, and deputies on Thursday were voting on the details, which include putting 30,000 public servants on reduced pay and suspending collective labour contracts.

Thousands in the Streets of Athens – The Arab Revolutions that shook the world is given ammunition to millions around the world to protest against their own governments, in Greece the streets are filled with angry protesters, claiming justice. They have been since 3 years ago suffering the consequences of the lavish life style of their Politicians and Banking moguls. Now they are asked to respond for a debt they did not incurred.

Vittorio Arrigoni, the Italian Gazawi. The interview with the mother Egidia


Posted On October 26, 2011 on Akashma Online News

Originally Posted on 10/04/2011 in News in Infopal

By Angela Lano

The trial of the killers of activist ‘International Solidarity Movement and journalist, freelancer, Vittorio Arrigoni, in Gaza killed on 14 April by a group of “Salafi”, has been postponed until October 20 .

It ‘a process is not easy, because the murder and alleged murderers are still dense fogs. Investigation and trial phases is researching military court in Gaza, as some of the defendants were members of the military training “al-Qassam Brigades.” The September hearing was postponed to October 3 because the defense lawyer had claimed that the confessions were “extracted”, and therefore were not valid.

Investigations and process environments and are used by some Italian media to direct rather serious accusations against the government of Gaza, in some blogs more or less clearly close to Zionism, however, the crime and the trial stage are used to create further confusion and false leads on the identity the instigators and perpetrators.

In recent months, Vittorio Arrigoni and the process of our mainstream newspapers and TV no longer speak. And ‘fell silent. The many friends of Vik-Utopia, his name of “battle”, always non-violent means, but do not forget him. His name and his slogan, which became famous around the world – “We are human” – read it anywhere, websites, facebook, blogs. The Freedom Flotilla 2, this summer, he was entitled: “Stay Human”, in fact.

In recent days, we interviewed the mother of Victor, to take stock of the situation and to tell us his son, a hero-villain of the day.

Mrs. Giles, q hat are your expectations and those of his family to the process being the murderers of his son?

“We expect to know why Victor was killed. Because at that very moment. It seemed that they knew that Victor was about to leave Gaza.

“The day of his abduction, we learned that the group that held him prisoner wanted to do an exchange with one of their leaders in prison, but usually the exchange can afford negotiating reality with a certain power. These, however, seemed unprepared for.

“In any case, I’m interested in who was to kill my son and why. I hope that this truth comes out. I’m not complaining for postponements of the trial, because here in Italy we can not give lessons to anyone: our processes are very long. I did not hurry, do the time it takes, what matters is that justice is done. If those brought to court in recent weeks are innocent, look for other culprits.

Network of newspapers and read many hypotheses about the murder of Victor. What do you think?

“I do not make assumptions, I stick to what I say from Gaza. Why the ‘Jordan’ through the tunnels to go specifically to kill my son?

“I ask myself many questions, since then, but I have no solutions. I really hope that those who led the investigation has gone to the bottom and has not found a culprit in the case.

“Victor has never attended the ‘palaces of power’, he was with the people.”

She never mentioned that he feared for his life? He had the impression that bother anyone?

“I do not know if it bothered anyone. I do not ever talked. Lately I felt tired, but he had health problems.

“I did not think it was scared of Israel: I had not mentioned. After those threats , and after running the risks in its activities to support the Palestinians (boating and fishing alongside Palestinian farmers in the BufferZone Strip Gaza, ed), I seemed to have particular fears of attacks against him. On the other hand, of course, Israel would have killed him when he wanted, in one of these actions when Victor was on the side of the Palestinians. ”

Someone raised the hypothesis that Victor may have been murdered for his efforts with Gybo . The result?

“I do not think it was part of Victor. He will certainly have seen with joy the formation of that new reality, because he shared the anxiety of freedom of those guys who were protesting in the wake of the Arab revolution in progress. But from here to say that this was the reason he moved the hands of his murderers, there goes … Anyway, he had never spoken to me.

“There is a total fog about her murder. I have confidence in the court that is conducting the investigation.

“I do not point the finger at anyone. Of course if true the news that one of the assassins approached Victor, he attended the gymnasium where he was going to kill him, it would be really terrible. This is a hypothesis that has saddened me a lot: knowing how Victor kept the friendship, thinking that someone has betrayed him makes me very badly. ”

Ms. Beretta, tell us as it was Vik …

“It’s hard for me to tell my son. … I could tell you many things Victor was Victor. We had a relationship of empathy and intense. We shared the same ideas and ideals. I said so often, I still have a text message sent on June 8 2009, for my re-election as mayor of Bulciago: ‘Mom, I am here and you there, but we share the same things away. We are following the same path.’ He told me that he was proud of me, and I had him.

“From a young age, Victor was involved in labor camps and solidarity had begun with Peru, to 20 years. He was in Africa, Eastern Europe, Lebanon, West Bank and Jerusalem, then in Gaza. I in Palestine said that he had met the ‘sum of all the injustices’.

“They sailed to the Gaza Strip in late July of 2008, the small fleet of boats Free Gaza and Liberty. I still remember – it was a Saturday – the explosion of joy, on the phone when he saw the coast of Gaza. From that moment began its life gazawi. But it was Lebanon, in 2007, and the story of an old Palestinian refugee, to convince him that his place was alongside the Palestinians. ”

He feared for his life?

“They asked me if I regret the choices that Victor had done, if I go back in time and avoid everything … Victor is nourished by what he heard in the family, of what we did, and then chose, of his putting.

“No, I do not regret anything. I suffer a lot, sure, but I can only say well done to Vittorio follow your road.

“My son has helped to positively influence many people to wake up. His life was extraordinary. I do not know if he’d like to know who is considered a model, a hero, he was humble. It certainly has shaken the conscience.

“I do not know what to call my son, if not as a man who understood that he could not help but do what he did.”

And ‘Today the news reported by Victor’s sister, Alexandra Arrigoni: “The Premio Paolo Borsellino for the social and civil engagement will be for the future from this year and named in memory of Vittorio Arrigoni, for his constant commitment to of justice, and delivered Saturday, October 29 Pineto (TE) to Egidio Beretta, Vittorio’s mother. ”

Source: Infopal Agenzia Stampa Informaziones

News

Gaza 26/10/2011 After 5 years, takes over the distribution of the Egyptian press in Gaza
26/10/2011 Nablus West Bank campaign of mass arrests of Israel
26/10/2011 Tell er-Rabi ‘(Tel Aviv) Israeli Supreme Court reversed the orders of deportation from Jerusalem
25/10/2011 Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Israel attacked the house of the deputy ‘Atoun. Arrested seven family
25/10/2011 Nablus PNA in the West Bank arrest campaign. Hamas condemns these persecutions
New York 25/10/2011 UN to Israel: ‘Concluded in part exchange agreement, remove the siege on Gaza’
Ramallah 25.10.2011 To Lieberman: ‘Abbas to be eliminated because the first obstacle to peace’. The Palestinian reactions
West Bank 25/10/2011 Israel arrests 20 Palestinians in West Bank
Cairo 25.10.2011 The Palestinian delegation to UNESCO is ready to vote
Gaza 25/10/2011 Israeli artillery bombards Gaza Airport
25/10/2011 An-Nasira (Nazareth) Israel confirms: ‘exchange agreement reached with Egypt’
25/10/2011 Al-Quds (Jerusalem) A new Israeli settlement located south of Jerusalem approved the first phase
24/10/2011 Convoy ‘Spring of Freedom’: appeal for support
Gaza 24/10/2011 Israel thinks of the new security measures at the border with Gaza
Gaza 24/10/2011 Wafa ‘Easter,’ reappropriation of life with the release ‘
Gaza 24/10/2011 Egyptian security destroys three tunnels for the introduction of building materials
24/10/2011 Jenin Israeli army attack funeral procession. Four injured palestinsi
West Bank 24/10/2011 At least 10 Palestinians arrested by Israel today
24/10/2011 David Miliband: Gaza represents the ultimate failure of the policy
Gaza 24/10/2011 The Islamic University of Gaza is committed to accept the Palestinians freed
24/10/2011 Ankara Turkey ends the relationship with Israel for the maintenance of drones
24/10/2011 Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Israeli settler stabbed. Closing, searches and arrests in Beit Iksa
Gaza 10/22/2011 The promise of al-Ja’bari: ‘You will release all until the last prisoner’
Ramallah 10.22.2011 Tear gas and bullets of the Israeli army against peaceful demonstration in Bil’in
Gaza 10/22/2011 Palestinian resistance: ‘Israel has attempted to assassinate our leader’

Palestinians Coming Home Received As Heroes

October 18, 2011 1 comment

Posted on October 18, 2011 by Marivel Guzman

Priceless

Gaza TV News Parents of prisoners released in a feast of joy now in Gaza.

Since early in the morning on this day October 18, 2011 thousands of people started gathering in different parts of Palestine to welcome The Heroes coming home.

The Red Cross was preparing  the buses that have to be used to transport hundreds of Palestinians to 3 different spots in Palestine, Rafah Gaza Border to be officialy received by Haniyeh, Twenty-two female and 96 male prisoners are to pass through Beituniya on their way to Ramallah, where they will meet Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Rafah Egypt, Khaled Meshaal the leader of Hamas in Damascus will be arriving  in Cairo where 40 Palestinians will be welcome by him, as the first step to find their next home, there are 3 countries already confirmed to take some of them into exile; Turkey was confirmed yesterday, Qatar and Syria the other two countries.

The names still non known, as there still diplomatic conversations deciding the luck of these Palestinians.

The World Eyes are in Gaza Rafah Border, where a historic Deal is being taking place, hundreds of Palestinians were pardoned on an exchange Deal. I m so anxious to see families reuniting with their Loves ones. God help the other families to cope with their pain now, but I m sure that all Palestinians as resistant fighters that they are they all are happy because 477 brothers are being release today
Historic deal taking place in these moments, thousands of Palestinians families await for their love ones to come home.
The high court of Israel stayed out of the Deal. Israel President pardoned officially 477 Palestinians Resistant fighters, and Political prisoners.

“I’m so excited I have tears in my eyes, I just can’t wait to hug him,” said Halia Bazain, brother of Ala Adin Bazain, a resident of the Old City, who was in jail for 25 years.

“I feel so happy. It’s really good but I think that straight away there will be two or three more Schalits,” said Muhammed Isawiyeh, a distant relative of Ahaled Ahmed Muahatsi, from Issawiya.  “There are still 5,000 Palestinian prisoners in jail.”

Expectation, and anxiety around the world, as we all were ready to receive the first Photos and videos that would make history,  Palestinians that have spent their whole lives in Israel Jails are coming home to find a completely different landscape and politics, like Ala Adin Bazain, 25 years, Ahmad Abd-Al-Rahman Husein Abu-Hasira, 35 years, Mustafa Ayyad Ahmad Abu Hasana 30 years, Tayir Mahmud Jamil Kared 30 years, Jamal Amar Muhammad Arqiq 30 years with 3 months, as you can see this Deal is considered historic because have save the lives of 1027 Palestinians from the hands of Israel, before few weeks ago their life were being waste, languished in Israel  prisons know for their inhumane treatment to Palestinians prisoners.

“This deal will bring relief to Gilad Shalit and his family after an ordeal that has lasted more than five years. Many Palestinian families will feel a similar sense of relief today when they are reunited with their relatives, many of whom have spent decades under harsh conditions in Israeli detention,” said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Director.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, IDF Soldier Gilad Shalit and his father, Noam Shalit, after landing at Tel Nof Air Base,

In a surprise interview Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier who was has been released as part of a swap deal with Hamas, has said he would be “very happy” if all Palestinian prisoners still held by Israel could be freed and return home.

Speaking to Egypt’s Nile TV, Shalit, who had been held in captivity for five years, said “I hope this deal will help the conclusion of a peace deal between the Israelis and Palestinians.”

Thousands of Activists around the world were joining in the celebration, and sharing the first photos taken from the Hamas run channel Al-Aqsa TV live, Al jazeera and Elahmad.com that have been intermittently transmitting the events from Jerusalem, West Bank, Rafah Gaza, Egypt and Israel.
Today is Celebration day for Palestine and around the world, it is a victory for Hamas, for the Prisoners that have been released, for the families, for we do not forget the other more than 6,000 still in Israel Jails, we don’t forget Marwa Barghouti, Ahnmad Asa’aad and other key political leaders still waiting to be release.
Ammesty Internal and other Human Rights Groups around the world still working to guarantee release of the other Palestinians Prisoners that are considered conscience prisoners and not criminals, as they were only exercising their right and duty to defend their land, their person, belongings and families.

 

 

Not All Heroes Fly; Some Sit in Jail For long Time Part 2


Marwan Barghouti

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Marwan barghouti1Marwan Barghouti (Marwan Hasib Husayn al-Barghuthi): member of the Fatah Central Committee, former Secretary-General of the Fatah Higher Committee in the West Bank, and member of the Palestinian Legislative Council. Probably the most popular Palestinian politician in the Occupied Territories, and widely regarded as a probable future Palestinian leader. An early and active supporter of the Oslo process, who became increasingly skeptical through the 1990’s that negotiations alone would end the Israeli Occupation. He was an outspoken supporter of armed resistance when the Oslo process collapsed in 2000, and became the personification of the al-Aqsa intifada to Palestinians and Israelis alike. Currently serving five consecutive life sentences plus forty years in Nafha Prison in the Negev, for alleged complicity in five murders carried out by the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades.

Born 6 June 1959 in Kafr Kubr, nr Ramallah, into a large and politically-active West Bank family (Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, co-founder of the Palestinian National Initiative, is a distant cousin). One of seven children; father was a migrant worker in Lebanon. His younger brother, Muqbel, describes him as “a naughty and rebellious boy”, who was a mediocre student at Amir Hassan Junior School.

Joined Fatah at age 15, and was a co-founder of the Fatah Youth Movement (Shabiba) on the West Bank. Arrested in 1978 and imprisoned for more than four years for “membership of a banned organisation”. Completed his secondary education and received high school diploma while in jail, and became fluent in Hebrew.

Enrolled at Birzeit University in 1983, though arrest and exile meant that he did not graduate B.A. (History and Political Science) until 1994. Received his M.A. (International Relations) also from Birzeit in 1998. As an undergradate, he was active in student politics on behalf of Fatah, and headed the BZU Student Council. On 21 October 1984, he married a fellow student, Fadwa Ibrahim. (Fadwa took Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in law and was a prominent advocate in her own right on behalf of Palestinian prisoners, even before becoming the leading campaigner for Marwan’s release from his current jail term). They have a daughter, Ruba (b. 1987), and three sons, Qassam (1986; also here), Sharaf (1989) and Arab (1991).

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Marwan barghouti2 Marwan barghouti3

Family photos via al-Watan Voice, 24 Feb 2005; (expired link). View the rest of al-Watan’s Barghouti photos.

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Barghouti was arrested in September 1985, and held without trial for 6 months under administrative detention. On the eve of the first intifada (in May 1997), he was expelled to Jordan for “incitement”, by then-Commander of the IDF Central Command, Gen. Ehud Barak. Served as a low-level liaison officer between the PLO in exile and Fatah in the Occupied Territories through the first intifada, which erupted shortly after his expulsion. Based first in Amman and subsequently at PLO headquarters in Tunis, where he was a protégé of Khalil Wazir (Abu Jihad). He was elected to the Fatah Revolutionary Council in August 1989, becoming its youngest ever member, and to the PLO Central Council, as an independent delegate.

He was allowed to return to the West Bank in April 1994, a result of the signing of the Oslo Accords. Barghouti was a strong advocate of a two-state solution, and strongly supported the peace process with Israel, believing that Oslo would eventually lead to a complete Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Palestinian territories of 1967 and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

On returning to Ramallah in 1994, he established the West Bank Fatah Higher Committee, to develop civil society in the Occupied Territories and to develop Fatah into a modern political party. This brought him into conflict with Arafat and his many supporters, who maintained that Fatah was still a revolutionary movement struggling for independence on behalf of Palestinians both in the Territories and in the Diaspora, and the transformation to a civil, political party should wait till after an independent Palestinian state had been achieved.

Barghouti was an outspoken critic of the centralisation of power around the person of Arafat, and became the leading representative of the reformist stream within Fatah. He called repeatedly (and continues to call) for the aging Fatah Central Committee to organize the long-delayed 6th Fatah Convention that would allow for the holding of the movement’s first internal elections since 1989, which would bring into power younger activists with grassroots support (the Young Guard) at the expense of the established leadership (the Old Guard/the Tunisians) who were in exile for a generation. He maintained that “in the past Fatah earned its right to lead the Palestinian national movement by virtue of the armed struggle of its fighters and the blood of its martyrs, now we have a Palestinian National Authority on Palestinian soil we must earn our legitimacy from the democratic choice of its people.” (Arafat attempted to remove him from leading the West Bank Fatah in 2000 by in favour of Husayn al-Shaykh, but Barghouti refused to be replaced and remained the recognised leader among the movement’s membership).

Within Fatah, Barghouti was most closely aligned with two former long-time prisoners in Israeli jails: Jibril Rajoub, head of the PA’s West Bank Preventative Security Service (and a former cell-mate of Barghouti’s at Beer Sheva jail), and Qadoura Faris, PLC member for Ramallah in the first PA parliament and later one of the leading Palestinian negotiators and signatories to the Geneva Accord. He also established good working relationships with the major Palestinian factions outside Fatah, including the Islamist movements.

Arafat was reluctant to empower Fatah leaders who had their own strong base of popular support, and excluded Barghouti from the Fatah slate for the first elections to the Palestinian Legislative Council in 1996. Barghouti nevertheless ran as an Independent candidate, and won a seat representing the Ramallah district. In Parliament he was a prominent campaigner on social and economic issues, and for women’s rights, but he particularly struck a chord with Palestinian public opinion when he expressed the widely-felt dissatisfaction with the performance of the PA leadership. He launched a campaign against human rights abuses by Arafat’s own security services and corruption among some of his officials, which included tabling a motion of no-confidence in the executive at the PLC in May 1997 over the issue of budgetary misuse. Abdel Bari Atwan, editor of the influential pan-Arabic newspaper al-Quds, noted that: “Marwan Barghouti has always identified with the grass-roots rather than the leadership… His star really came into its ascendancy after he spoke out against the Palestinian Authority leadership.”

Barghouti also closely reflected Palestinian grassroots sentiment in his changing attitude to the Oslo peace process. He was initially an outspoken advocate of Oslo, and as a Parliamentarian worked closely with Israeli politicians across the political spectrum. “He had the telephone numbers of about half the Israeli Knesset,” one Israeli interlocutor later recalled.

I remember him from other times. A delegation to Europe that included Israeli Knesset members and members of the Palestinian Legislative Council. Barghouti made friends with everyone – Haim Ramon of Labor, Golan Heights settler Yehuda Harel, Yitzhak Vaknin and David Tal of Shas and Maxim Levy and Yehuda Lancry of the Likud. The only friction that arose was between him and Dedi Zucker: Zucker, a Maccabi Haifa fan, couldn’t tolerate Barghouti’s rooting for Hapoel Tel Aviv. On the last evening, Barghouti preferred the company of the Israelis to that of the wealthy Palestinians in Valencia, Spain, who had invited him over. Unbelievably, this was less than five years ago. Not even five years ago… (Gideon Levy)

Although his support for a negotiated two state solution on the basis of the 1967 borders remained consistent, by 1998 he publicly doubted whether Oslo was the vehicle to bring this about, and questioned whether Israel had entered the peace process with the intention of ending the occupation at all. The issue that soured Barghouti on Oslo, and which he regarded as the touchstone of Israel’s good faith in negotiating with the Palestinians, was the ongoing settlement project in the Occupied Territories.

Barghouti noted that while ostensibly talking peace, Israel during the Oslo years was planting just as many settlers on the Palestinian lands that were supposed to be the subject of the negotiations as they had done before the peace process existed. He viewed accelerated settlement in the OPT as a clear indicator of Israel’s bad faith in its alleged pursuit of peace, and concluded that the Oslo process was a fraud that on the Israeli side was never intended to lead to Palestinian independence. He felt particularly betrayed by the failure of the Israeli left to resist the growth of the settlements, which accelerated under both Likud and Labour governments.

We have no motivation to go out for new Intifada… We already paid the price for the former one. There is only one matter that can take us again out to the streets – the continuation of constructing settlements. We can accept the current situation for 100 years, even without another further redeployment, but will not accept new settlements. (Marwan Barghouti, 4 Feb 1998)

[I]t has been our experience that we cannot trust the Israelis. Since the Madrid conference till now – almost 10 years – we were going to the negotiating table, thousands of meetings, not hundreds believe me but thousands of meetings on a lot of issues like political, economics, security, etc. And what happened while we’re negotiating? The Israelis used the time…used the umbrella of the negotiations to build new settlements. Israel since the 1967 war to 1993 built roughly 25,000 housing units during the 26 years of Israeli occupation. Since 1993 until the eve of the Intifada – in a period of seven years – they built 23,400 new housing units. So I think the Israelis laugh at the Palestinians and use the negotiations to advance their own goals. (31 July 2002)

Barghouti called for the PA leadership to end to all negotiations with Israel until the Israeli government would freeze settlement activities and publicly commit itself to ending the occupation of 1967.

You must understand, once and for all, that you must end the occupation. You must announce that the occupation is over and that Israel is leaving the territories. Present a timetable of a month, six months, a year. The important thing is that you present a timetable for withdrawal from all of the territories and the dismantling of the settlements, and announce that you recognize an independent Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem…. The moment you announce the end of the occupation and recognize a sovereign, genuine Palestinian state, not a vassal state, at that very moment everything will change. (Maariv)

Israelis must abandon the myth that it is possible to have peace and occupation at the same time, that peaceful coexistence is possible between slave and master. The lack of Israeli security is born of the lack of Palestinian freedom. Israel will have security only after the end of occupation, not before. Once Israel and the rest of the world understand this fundamental truth, the way forward becomes clear: End the occupation, allow the Palestinians to live in freedom and let the independent and equal neighbors of Israel and Palestine negotiate a peaceful future with close economic and cultural ties. (WaPo)

He became increasingly outspoken against the Oslo process, and led massive demonstrations calling for the leadership to refocus national attention on the basic objective of ending the occupation, rather than on the empty vehicle of peace talks with an occupier that did not intend to leave. Barghouti’s scepticism over the Oslo Accords and over the sincerity of Israel’s commitment to a negotiated settlement resonated strongly with a Palestinian public that was already associating the peace process on the ground not with greater freedom and independence, but with more restrictions on movement and more intrusive Israeli occupation than had ever been the case in the pre-Oslo period.

Barghouti’s disenchantment with Oslo was matched by his growing disillusionment with the role of the U.S. in the conflict. He was convinced that the U.S. was too close to Israel to ever be an “honest broker”, and concluded that a permanent solution to the Middle East conflict can be found only if the mediator is changed (in favor of the U.N., Europeans, or Russians).

[W]e have no faith in the United States, the provider of billions of dollars in annual aid to fund Israel’s expansion of illegal colonies, the “fighter of terrorism” that supplies Israel with the F-16s and helicopter gunships used against a defenseless civilian population, the “defender of freedom and the oppressed” that coddles Sharon even as he faces war crimes charges for his responsibility in the 1982 massacre of Palestinian refugees. The role of the world’s only superpower has been reduced to that of a mere spectator with nothing to offer other than a tired refrain of “Stop the violence” while doing nothing to address the root causes of that violence: denial of Palestinian freedom.

Watch as the hapless Gen. Anthony Zinni focuses his efforts on “violence” while Jewish settlers violate international law and even American policy by moving into a new illegal colony in occupied East Jerusalem. We Palestinians are not impressed. (WaPo)

I think our problem is not with the Israelis, but our biggest problem is with the Americans—with you, unfortunately. Do you realize that the Palestinians have more support in the Israeli Knesset than we do in the US Congress?

…The Palestinians are asking themselves—including me—why do the Americans treat us so badly? Why do they always support the Israelis more than even the Israelis themselves? Why are they always accusing the Palestinians of being violent terrorists while ignoring Israel’s brutal occupation? The occupation is the greatest terror of all and the greatest violence in this part of the world. Why are they so aggressive in their policies toward the Palestinians? …I think the Americans should look for their long-term interests in the region and realize that they have many interests greater than Israel. They cannot continue to ignore the Arab nation of more than 300 million people as well as a billion Muslims all over the world for the sake of these 4 million Jews in Israel. Its time for the Americans to start being fair in their policies toward the Palestinians. (Media Monitors)

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Marwan barghouti4 As the Oslo period dissolved into violence, Barghouti was an early advocate of a more militant approach to Israel. “We tried seven years of intifada without negotiations, then seven years of negotiations without intifada. Perhaps it is time to try both simultaneously,” he said in November 2000. As the second intifada erupted, the Palestinian factions (both nationalist and Islamist) established two steering committees, one for Gaza and one for the West Bank, which met weekly to set the times and locations of demonstrations for the next day. Barghouti headed the West Bank steering committee, and personally became a highly-visible figure at demonstrations, funerals and in the media, rallying support for Fatah and calling on Palestinians to escalate the unrest in order to demonstrate that Israel would not enjoy security while it maintained its occupation.

Oslo died with Rabin. How would you feel if on every hill in territory that belongs to you a new settlement would spring up? If your best friends, with whom you fought shoulder to shoulder, continue to rot in jail? I reached a simple conclusion. You don’t want to end the occupation and you don’t want to stop the settlements, so the only way to convince you is by force. This is the Intifada of peace. I’m serious. This Intifada will lead to peace in the end. We need to escalate the conflict. It will be hard. Many of us will be killed, but there is no choice. Every one of us is willing to sacrifice himself. We have decided that Sharon will not bring you security, and we have succeeded. It’s been 274 days since he was elected, and what has happened? Is there security? No. Nothing will help. Only a just agreement, the 1967 borders, a sovereign state, Jerusalem and a solution to the refugee problem. This is the formula and there is no other, and no one has the right to give up on it. (Maariv)

On the escalation of the intifada, as in decentralisation of political power and disillusionment with Oslo, Barghouti was more in line with Palestinian popular opinion than more established members of the Palestinian leadership who argued for de-escalation and a return to negotiations. He told al-Jazeera on 17 October 2000: “This intifada has laid down a new rule: Let those who want to negotiate do so, but the Palestinian people will continue their struggle… We will no longer be captives of the negotiating table.” The following November, he vehemently rejected (French & Israeli TV) as naïve the position of those PA leaders – naming specifically Mahmoud Abbas [Abu Mazen] and Saeb Erekat – who argued that Israeli occupation would be ended by negotiation alone.

As the most prominent member of the PA to public endorse the Palestinians’ right of violent resistance as long as occupation, Barghouti became to some extent the personification of the second intifada in public perception on both sides of the Green Line. As the first year of the intifada progessed the Israeli authorities gradually came to accuse him of being one of the chief instigators of attacks on Israelis, and claimed that he was the founder of the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, a Fatah-affiliated militant organisation that carried out attacks on Israeli soldiers and settlers in the West Bank and Gaza, and (from 14 Jan 2002) suicide attacks on civilians inside Israel, and was apparently founded as a means of reasserting Fatah’s claim to lead the resistance, which was becoming undermined by the Islamist movements that pioneered the use of suicide bombings.

Barghouti denied founding the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, and insisted he was a political leader, not involved in military activities. He criticised the use of suicide bombings as “not correct”, but expressed his support for “any action against the Israeli occupation”, specifying that by “the Israeli occupation” he meant soldiers and settlers in the Gaza Strip, West Bank and East Jerusalem. He could also be ambiguous on the legitimacy of attacks inside Israel proper, which he did not necessarily condone, but said he “understood”, e.g. telling Gideon Levy in Nov 2001:

I would really like all the organizations to concentrate on the territories. But I understand why they carry out actions inside Israel. Why should you feel secure in Tel Aviv when we don’t feel secure in Ramallah or Bethlehem? More than 80 percent of those killed were killed in Area A. For me, Ramallah and Tel Aviv are now Area A. The same. If you want security in Tel Aviv, give security to Ramallah… Why should the Israelis have the right to fire shells and send in 15 tanks, while if a Palestinian goes into Israel, it’s a big deal?

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Marwan barghouti5 Barghouti narrowly survived an Israeli missile strike on a convoy in which he was travelling through Ramallah on 4 August 2001. The IDF maintained that the attack was aimed at Muhanad Abu Halaweh, a member of Arafat’s Presidential guard, who was riding in a different car, and was not an attempt on Barghouti’s life; although Israel’s Deputy Minister for Internal Security Gideon Erza made clear his government’s view of Barghouti, stating that: “He amply deserves to die … , for he is very much to blame for the attacks against Israel”.

Following the attack on his convoy, Barghouti went underground. A warrant for his arrest was issued on 23 September 2001 accusing him of membership in a “banned organisation” and of organizing attacks and conspiracy to murder. He was arrested (left) seven months later on 15 April 2002, at the house of Fatah official Ziad Abu Ain in northern Ramallah. The Israeli government announced on 11 July that he would be tried in a civilian court, on charges of financing or instigating 37 attacks which had killed 26 people. Upon arrest, and through his subsequent trial, Barghouti’s ratings in opinion polls soared, putting him in second place only to Arafat in terms of popularity among Palestinians in the Occupied Territories.

Barghouti contended that the Israeli authorities had no legal authority to arrest him (citing the Oslo II agreement of September 1995 which gave PLC members Parliamentary immunity from arrest by Israel), and no legal right to try him in Israel (citing the 49th Article of the 4th Geneva Convention which prohibits the transfer of a protected individual or individuals from occupied territory to the territory of the Occupying Power). He insisted from the outset that his was a show trial whose result was a foregone conclusion, held at the behest of Israeli political leaders who wanted to criminalize and blame the Palestinians (and ultimately PA President Arafat) for “terrorism”, while ignoring their own 36-year-old policies of occupation and illegal settlement that underlay the violence in the first place.

My show trial says more about the sorry state of Israeli morality than it does about me. I pity the state of Israel – the Middle East’s “only democracy” stooping to fabricating charges in a show trial aimed not at truth and justice but rather to appease the Israeli masses who refuse to see any connection between their own brutal policies and the cycle of violence Israelis and Palestinians are now experiencing. Like President Arafat, I have become a scapegoat – my trial simply a public relations event by a morally bankrupt and vision-less Israeli leadership desperate to cover up its own inadequacies. And I pity the Israeli people, lied to and misled by a Prime Minister promising peace and security and who has failed miserably in delivering either.

I categorically reject the authority of this criminal court of occupation and I will not dignify the ludicrous claims against me by responding to them. If my trial were truly a search for truth and justice, it would be Sharon and the Israeli army behind bars – it would be the criminals of occupation who have perpetrated war crimes against the men, women and children of Palestine over decades, who continue to violate UN Resolutions and the 4th Geneva Convention with impunity.

–  It is not I who is on trial in Israel; 3 Oct 2002.

We have been suffering under your sinister military occupation for over 36 years during which you killed us, tortured us, destroyed our homes and usurped our land. You made our life an enduring hell. We have an inherent moral and legal right to resist your occupation of our country. If you were in our shoes, you most certainly would do the same as we are doing. You would resist.

–  Denouncing a show trial; Al-Ahram Weekly, 2-8 Oct, 2003.

So from the beginning of his trial on 5 September 2002, Barghouti refused to recognise the authority of the court to try him, dismissed his defence counsel, and declined to plead on or contest the charges against him. Instead he issued his own 54-count indictment, charging the the state of Israel with gross human rights violations on behalf of the Palestinian people, including violations of numerous UN resolutions, and took every opportunity to turn his trial into a trial of Israel and its occupation of the Palestinian territories.

Ultimately, Barghouti was convicted on 22 May 2004 of the murder of five civilians in three shooting attacks (at Givat Ze’ev in January 2002, at Ma’aleh Adumim in June 2002, and at the Sea Food Market restaurant in Tel Aviv in March 2002). He was also convicted on one count of attempted murder for a failed car bombing at a Jerusalem mall and on a separate count of belonging to a ”banned organisation”, i.e. the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades. He was acquitted on the remaining 33 charges against him, including 21 counts of murder. Ha’aretz legal analyst Moshe Gorali concluded: “In its ruling, the court sent a message to the authorities — next time, bring us the murderers or their dispatchers, not their leader”.

The panel of three judges that convicted Barghouti ruled that although he did not have full control over the local leaders of the Brigades and often did not know of attacks beforehand, he did have “significant influence” over the Brigades. It also reported that “the defendant most of the time did not have direct contact with the field operatives who carried out the attacks”, but that he disbursed funds to close associates who themselves supplied funding and arms to the field units. Most importantly, the panel claimed that it was within Barghouti’s power to instruct the local Brigades to stop or restart attacks, and that his orders to restart attacks were sometimes “based on instructions” from President Arafat, who “would never give explicit instructions for attacks but he let it be known when the timing was right”.

Barghouti was sentenced on 6 June 2004 to five consecutive life terms for the murders of Yula Hen, Georgios Tsibouktzakis, Yosef Havi, Elyahu Dahan and Selim Barichat, plus twenty years for the failed car bombing of the Malcha Mall and twenty years for membership of a banned organisation. In keeping with his refusal to recognise the court, Barghouti declined to appeal his conviction and sentence, and declared that the time he would serve would not anyway be decided by the judicial system but by the political exigencies of the Israeli government.

As Barghouti’s trial drew to a close, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (the international organization of Parliaments of sovereign States) published a legal assessment of the proceedings, based on – among other things – a review of the case notes, and interviews with the members of the prosecution and defence teams, and with the representatives of international NGOs who served as observers at the trial. The IPU reported that:

According to the case papers, from Mr. Barghouti’s arrest on 15 April 2002 to the trial itself, the Israeli authorities and the prosecution had tried to turn it into a media event, a symbol, putting on trial one of the men who epitomise the Intifada, and presenting him as a terrorist.

It found that “from the beginning of the investigations until the final day of the trial, the prosecution put almost as much effort into staging a media event as it did into working on the legal aspects”, and that the demands of staging the media event had taken precedence over Barghouti’s legal rights as a defendant. The report concluded that:

The Israeli authorities are right to point out that their country is up against blind terrorism posing serious security problems that they have to address. This report is not the right place to discuss the origins of this terrorism, or ways of putting an end to it, but it does illustrate that the methods chosen to deal with it have been inconsistent with the rule of law, and sight has been lost of such equally essential principles as the absolute priority that must under all circumstances be given to respect for the physical integrity of prisoners.

The numerous breaches of international law recalled in this report make it impossible to conclude that Mr. Barghouti was given a fair trial.

Most of the persons contacted are convinced that Mr. Barghouti will receive a severe sentence, but all are equally convinced that the verdict will have no legitimacy because it will have been dictated far more by intense media pressure and political interests than by any rigorous application of procedures respecting the integrity of the defendant and his right of defence.

The Barghouti case has very clearly demonstrated that, far from bringing security, the breaches of international law have, above all, undermined the authority of Israeli justice by casting discredit on its conduct of investigations and the procedures used.

The trial of Mr. Marwan Barghouti; Simon Foreman for the IPU, Apr 2004.

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Barghouti’s influence on PA politics has if anything increased with his arrest and imprisonment. In the winter of 2003, his support for Mahmoud Abbas and Muhammad Dahlan was crucial in persuading Arafat to relinquish some of the authority of the PA Presidency to an empowered Prime Minister, a post which Abbas himself filled when it was formally created in Feb 2004. (Abbas succeeded after intensive wrangling with Arafat in installing Dahlan in the key security role of Interior Minister in his new Cabinet). Barghouti was also instrumental in bringing about the comprehensive hudna (ceasefire) of July 2004 which was a top priority of the Abbas/Dahlan government, persuading the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad leadership-in-exile to bring their movements into the ceasefire, which Abbas himself had been unable to do.

Barghouti also played a major role in drafting – and was the Fatah signatory to – the Prisoners Document of 11 May 2006, which set out a common platform for all the major Palestinian factions, and which was widely viewed as a possible basis for conciliation between Hamas and Fatah as they struggled in the aftermath of the Jan 2006 PLC elections to establish a unity government capable of overcoming the U.S.-led blockade of the Hamas government. (It also, as Barghouthi has emphasized, represented the first time that all major Palestinian factions – including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad – had approved a document calling for a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders). He criticized Hamas’ seizure of Fatah-dominated PA security assets in the Gaza Strip in June 2007 as a “stab in the back” that undermined the Palestinian cause, but also blamed Fatah’s entrenched leadership for the fragile state of the party in Gaza, and opposed any attempt to forcibly resolve the situation by to blockading or trying to disarm Hamas. He envisages conciliation between the Palestinian nationalist and Islamist movements coming about through the admission of Hamas and Islamic Jihad to membership in a reformed and reinvigorated PLO:

[T]he Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) remains the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people and the highest political reference. The fact that the PLO now finds itself beleaguered with stagnation and erosion, and needs radical and comprehensive reform, does not invalidate this legitimacy. I hope that both Hamas and Islamic Jihad will join the organization, for they have an important role to play in the Palestinian arena. I am hoping mechanisms can be found for a prompt rebuilding and restructuring of the PLO institutions, and I am looking forward to the convening of the Palestinian National Council (PNC) with its new frameworks, in order to preserve the national unity within the organization. I believe that according to the interim constitution, the PA powers are distributed between the elected president and the elected government, and Hamas has to take these facts very seriously into consideration…

The fact is that Fateh was able to reconcile between the political, the diplomatic, the negotiations, and the control of the PA, on the one hand, and resistance and the intifada, on the other, bolstered by international legitimacy as well as laws and resolutions pertaining to Palestine. Will Hamas be capable of doing the same? The immediate future will tell. In my view, Hamas must hold on to the resistance option and reject free concessions, although it is going to find great difficulty combining between the PA and resistance. (Source)

Barghouti’s arrest and trial turned him into a well-known and popular figure throughout the Occupied Territories, second only in popularity to President Arafat, and increasingly seen as his heir apparent. Upon Arafat’s death on 11 November 2004, Barghouti called upon Fatah to select its candidate for the PA Presidential election through a process of democratic party primaries. When the traditionally conservative Fatah Central Committee (the organisation’s most senior body) instead nominated Mahmoud Abbas as the Fatah candidate, there was some dissent in the West Bank Higher Committee (which Barghouti heads) about this manner of selecting a candidate, and Barghouti announced on 25 November 2004 that he would run against Abbas for the Presidency, as an independent.

Marwan barghouti6 Barghouti’s decision to run against the Fatah candidate was widely criticized within the movement: the Fatah Revolutionary Council overwhelmingly endorsed the nomination of Mahmoud Abbas, and party chairman Faruq al-Qaddumi warned that Barghouti would be expelled from Fatah if he did not withdraw his candidacy. Even members of the reformist current, whom Barghouti could normally have counted among his supporters, were critical that Barghouti’s move would split the party at a time when unity to ensure a smooth transition of power was of paramount importance. His PLC colleague Hatem Abdel Qader suggested that it would be more appropriate for Barghouti to build majority support in the higher elected bodies within Fatah, rather than leap-frogging direct to the Presidency, and West Bank al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades leaders Mohammed Dandan and Zakariya Zubeidi expressed the dominant view among Fatah militants that this was the wrong time for a challenge to the party leadership:

“We are against the candidacy of Marwan because it is contrary to the decision of the central committee of Fatah, which unanimously chose [Mahmoud Abbas],” said Zakariya Zubeidi, Jenin leader of the al-Aksa Brigades. “We will not let anybody, no matter who, create any division or split in the Fatah movement.” (Source).

Facing overwhelming support for Mahmoud Abbas’ candidacy within Fatah, Barghouti withdrew from the Presidential race on 12 December 2004, and urged all party members to support Abbas (who would win the Presidency on 9 Jan 2005, with 62% of the vote).

(It is possible that Barghouti had never intended to follow through on his 2005 Presidential run, and that his threatened candidacy served a different purpose altogether. Barghouti himself said that the reason for his running in the first place was “to maintain the path of the intifada and the resistance and to defend it and protect it from being labelled as terrorism”. As Mahmoud Abbas was widely believed to be against armed intifada and in favour of a return to an approach of negotiations alone, Barghouti probably chose that platform specifically as a warning to Abbas not to try to renounce – in the event of his winning the Presidency – the option for armed resistance that Barghouti and many of his younger supporters in Fatah advocated. Additionally, one of the incentives to withdraw that Barghouthi seems to have received from Abbas and the Fatah party leadership was an assurance that the long-overdue Fatah Convention would be held in August 2005, when elections would be held for an expanded Central Committee and Revolutionary Council, which would finally bring the under-represented local Fatah activists into senior positions in the movement. Having warned Mahmoud Abbas that he should not base his Presidency on ending the intifada, and that the younger generation of Fatah activists would not continue to be ignored in the highest ranks of the party, Barghouti may have felt that his candidacy had served its purpose, and therefore withdrawn. Though in the event the Fatah 6th Convention planned for 4 August 2005 did not take place).

Barghouti threatened again to split Fatah over the issue of inertia within the party’s senior institutions, during the run-up to the Palestinian PLC elections of 25 January 2006. Mahmoud Abbas had agreed to hold primary elections for the Fatah list of parliamentary candidates and, in the regions where primary voting was completed before the process was halted due to factional violence (i.e. Jericho, Ramallah, Nablus, Bethlehem, Jenin and Tubas) Barghouti and local activists like him swept the board at the expense of the “Tunisians”. (Barghouti himself received some 34,000 votes out of the 40,000 eligible Fatah voters in his Ramallah District). When the Central Committee nevertheless drew up a Fatah party list favoring members of the Old Guard over the primary winners, Barghouti announced on 14 December 2005 that he would not run on the Fatah list, but would instead represent a new party, al-Mustaqbal (The Future), whose candidate list was made up of younger generation Fatah activists (including Dahlan, Rajoub and Fares) but excluded all the members of the Central Committee. A formal split was averted when Abbas prepared a compromise list of Fatah candidates, headed by Barghouti, who agreed to rejoin a unified list on 28 December 2005; but the incident publically illustrated Fatah’s deep divisions and internal disunity less than a month before polling day.

(N.B. Although Barghouti’s revolt was aimed at the Fatah Old Guard, of which Mahmoud Abbas is the senior member, it was not directly aimed at Abbas himself. Abbas was an ally of the Young Guard in opposing the centralisation of power in the hands of President Arafat, and maintains a close relationship with them. He is believed to favor their elevation within Fatah, but to lack the clout to overcome opposition in the Central Committee).

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Barghouthi’s ability to ever translate his popularity into political leadership of the Palestinian Authority probably depends on his early release from his consecutive life sentences, presumably as part of one of Israel’s periodic prisoner exchanges with its Arab neighbours (though Barghouti stated emphatically in Oct 2007 that he will run for the PA Presidency – and win – as soon as Abu Mazen steps down, even if he has to run, and govern,  from prison). Israel was reported to have considered his release in return for information about missing IAF navigator Ron Arad in the 2003 prisoner exchange with Hizbullah, and ever since Barghouthi’s conviction there has been periodic speculation about his release in exchange for Israeli spies Azzam Azzam (imprisoned in Egypt) or Jonathan Pollard (in the U.S.).  An Israeli newspaper, Maariv, reported in September 2007 that a majority in Olmert’s cabinet favored releasing Barghouti in a deal for the release of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit (in Gaza).

Officially, Israeli President Katsav insisted that Barghouthi’s imprisonment is a judicial affair, and that there is no possibility of his release for political reasons. In practice, however, it is apparent that Israel is not closing the door on the possibility of his release at a suitable moment, and is in some ways grooming him as a possible future leader by enabling him to exert and enhance his political influence from his prison cell. Without the facilitation of the Israeli authorities, it is not likely that Barghouthi would have been able for example to mediate the hudna of 2003 (which involved his personal contact with the Palestinian Islamist leadership in Damascus), or to liaise with other imprisoned faction leaders to negotiate the terms of the Prisoners’ Document, nor would he have had the direct access to the Palestinian TV audience that he received in the days leading up to the 2006 PLC elections, when the faltering Fatah vote was in need of a boost.

The Israeli authorities might have presented Barghouthi at his trial as the personification of Palestinian terrorism but, as a nationalist who unequivocally accepts the two-state solution and unambiguously recognises Israel within its 1967 borders, Israelis of both Right and Left might well find his leadership of the Palestinians preferable to the strengthening Islamist alternative. As the current Israeli Justice Minister, Meir Sheetrit, remarked: when it comes to the question of pardoning Barghouti, one can “never say never”.

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Other biographical information available online:

Interviews available online:

  •  “You’ll Miss Me Yet”: Interview with Ben Caspit; Ma’ariv, 9 Nov 2001.
  • Death Isn’t A Big Deal Anymore: Interview with Gideon Levy; Ha’aretz, 12 Nov 2001.
  • Israel’s Enemy Number One; Al-Ahram Weekly,18-24 April 2002.
  • Interview With Marwan Barghouti; Media Monitors, 31 July 2002.
  • “Abbas, hai dodici mesi per cacciare i corrotti” (“Abbas has twelve months to get rid of the corrupt”); Corriere della Sera, 29 April 2005. (And in English translation).
  • Barghouti’s plan for ’67 borders; Ynet summary of an interview with Corriere della Sera; 24 May 2006.
  • The Prisoners’ Document: A Palestinian View; Bitterlemons, 19 June 2006.
  • Talking with Marwan Barghouthi; Palestine-Israel Journal, Autumn 2006.
  • An Interview with Marwan Barghouti; Yedioth Ahronoth, via IMEU, 5 Oct 2007.

Writings: 

  • Want Security? End the Occupation; Marwan Barghouti op-ed, Washington Post (16 January 2002).
  • It is not I who is on trial in Israel; Marwan Barghouti statement, 3 October 2002.
  • Partners in the field, partners in the Parliament; Message to the first session of the 2006 Palestinian Legislative Council, 18 February 2006.

Commentary on Barghouti’s trial: 

  • Trial By Fury; (Interview with Barghouti’s lawyer, Jawad Boulus); Ha’aretz, 18 April 2002.
  • Palestine’s partisans; by Paul Foot, The Guardian, 21 August 2002.
  • Barghouti’s lawyer says Tanzim chief will not enter plea in court; Daniel Sobelman and Zvi Harel, Ha’aretz, 5 September 2002.
  • Uproar in courtroom as Barghouti’s trial opens; by Assaf Bergerfreund, Ha’aretz, 6 September 2002.
  • Barghouti indicts Israel at trial; Associated Press, 3 October 2002.
  • A trying trial for the state; by Moshe Goraldi, Ha’aretz, 4 October 2002.
  • Political show trial for Marwan Barghouti; by William Hughes, Counterpunch, 4 October 2002.
  • What a Show!; by Uri Avnery, Ha’aretz, 5 October 2002.
  • Jailed colleagues refuse to testify against Barghouti; by Chris McGreal, The Guardian, 7 April 2003.
  • Resolution of the Governing Council of the IPU on the trial of Marwan Barghouti; The Inter-Parliamentary Union, Geneva, 3 Oct 2003.
  • Barghouti found guilty of five murders; by Assaf Bergerfreund, Ha’aretz, 23 May 2004.
  • Barghouti convicted in deaths of five people; by Roni Singer, Ha’aretz, 23 May 2004.
  • A Mandela in the making?; by Jonathan Cook, al-Ahram Weekly, 27 May-2 June 2004.
  • Arafat’s likely successor gets five life terms, by Chris McGreal; The Guardian, 7 June 2004.

Not All Heroes Fly; Some Sit in Jail For long Time Part 1

October 15, 2011 1 comment

Posted On October 15, 2011 by Marivel Guzman

AHMAD SA’ADAT BIOGRAPHICAL TIMELINE:

1953 – Born in al-Bira, to 1948 refugees from the destroyed village of Dayr Tarif (nr al-Ramleh).

1967 – Became a student activist following the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, in the PFLP-led Palestine Student Union.

1969 – Formally joined the PFLP, attracted by its combination of Marxism-Leninism (which he felt most suitable for the son of a refugee peasant family) with traditional pan-Arab nationalism.

Feb 1969 – First arrested by Israel for PFLP activities; 3 months detention. Arrested again in 1970 (28 months), 1973 (10 months), 1975 (45 days). Credits his early years in prison with giving him the opportunity to advance his understanding of Marxist theory and consolidating his commitment to the PFLP.

1975 – Graduated from the UNRWA Teachers Training College in Ramallah, specializing in Mathematics.
1976 – Rearrested by the Israelis (detained for four years).

Apr 1981 – Elected to the Central Committee of the PFLP.

1989 – Arrested and held in administrative detention for 9 months.

1992 – Arrested and held in administrative detention for 13 months.

Mar 1993 – Elected to the Politburo of the PFLP while still in administrative detention, reportedly in recogition of his education and organizing activities with other detainees.

1993 – Released from administrative detention, but declared a “wanted person” liable to re-arrest, shortly after release.

1994 – Elected leader of the PFLP in the West Bank.

1995 – Arrested by the PA and briefly detained in a sweep of PFLP members, under Israeli pressure.

Mar 1996 – Briefly detained without charge again by the PA in a sweep of known activists.

Dec 1996Arrested by the PA in a roundup of PFLP members on the West Bank, following a PFLP attack on Israeli settlers in Beit-El/Surda on 11 December. Released without charge on 27 February 1997 after conducting a hunger strike, the PA fearing the consequences if he should die in jail. (Collapsed hours after release, and spent several days comatose and on a respirator in Ramallah Hospital).

2000 – George Habash steps down as General Secretary of the PFLP, at the party’s Sixth National Conference. Replaced by Mustafa Zibri (Abu Ali Mustafa), a member of the ‘old guard’ of exiled leaders based in Damascus, and regarded as a pragmatist in relations with Arafat and with Israel.

27 Aug 2001 Abu Ali Mustafa assassinated when an Israeli helicopter fired rockets at his office in the West Bank town of Ramallah. Two rockets fired from a helicopter yesterday morning blew apart the Palestinian leader, Abu Ali Mustafa, as he sat at his desk in Ramallah, just feet away from Yasser Arafat’s own offices. At a stroke, Israel had eliminated one of its most dogged foes. Abu Ali Mustafa (nom du guerre of Mustafa Zibri), who was 63, was head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). He was the most senior PLO casualty of the 11-month old Al Aqsa intifada.

3 Oct 2001 – Ahmad Sa’adat elected Secretary-General of the PFLP, regarded as a shift away from the pragmatism of Abu Ali Mustafa and in line with the more hardline principles of George Habash. Sa’adat declares at his inaugural press conference that the goals of the Palestinian people are “our right of return, and our independence, with Jerusalem as the capital” He also vows to avenge the assassination of Abu Ali Mustafa.

17 Oct 2001 – Four members of the PFLP assassinate the far-right Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi. (Zeevi is known as a supporter of the forced expulsion of the Palestinians from the Occupied Territories, and as a proponent of “targetted assassinations”. His assassination is a popular move among militants, and reinvigorates support for the PFLP in the Occupied Territories). Israel accuses Sa’adat of having ordered the assassination.

22 Oct 2001 – The PA condemns the killing of Zeevi as contrary to wider Palestinian interests as it gives Israel an excuse to take military action in the Occupied Territories. Jibril Rajoub, head of the West Bank Preventative Security Service, outlaws the military wing of the PFLP – the Martyr Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades – and issues an ultimatum to Ahmad Sa’adat to turn himself in or face arrest.

24 Oct 2001 – IDF attacks the West Bank village of Beit Rima, apparently in an unsuccessful attempt to capture Sa’adat, shooting dead nine Palestinians including 5 local policemen sleeping in an olive grove.

15 Jan 2002 – Sa’adat is arrested by Palestinian special forces after being lured to a meeting in a Ramallah hotel with PA Intelligence chief Tawfiq Tirawi. The PFLP condemns the PA for caving to U.S. and Israeli pressure, and putting its own survival ahead of the national consensus by arresting the head of a PLO faction. Its military wing warns that it will kill Arafat aides if Sa’adat is not released. PFLP supporters protest the arrest in the streets of Ramallah, Gaza City and Bethlehem.

2 Feb 2002 – The PFLP’s politburo announces that the movement will suspend its participation in the PLO Executive Committee until Sa’adat is released.

21 Feb 2002 – The PA’s General Intelligence Services capture in Nablus the cell of the Martyr Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades believed responsible for the assassination of Zeevi. They are held with Sa’adat at Arafat’s Ramallah compound.

Mar-Apr 2002 – Sa’adat besieged with Arafat in the Muqata by the IDF, beginning 29 Mar.

29 Apr 2002 – Under heavy U.S. pressure, Arafat accepts a deal to end the siege of his compound. The terms of the deal are not made public but it is apparent that Israel has agreed to lift the siege on Arafat in return for the PA agreeing to imprison under international supervision Ahmad Sa’adat, the four PFLP members accused of killing Zeevi (Basel al-Asmar, ‘Ahed Abu Ghalma, Majdi al-Rimawi and Hamdi Qar’an), and Fuad Shubaki – the PA official accused of organising the Karine A weapons shipment. The four PFLP members are cursorily tried by a military tribunal inside the Muqata, and sentenced to terms up to 18 years’ imprisonment for killing Zeevi. Arafat rules that Sa’adat is a political leader, not a military leader, and so his case must be decided by the Palestinian judiciary.

1 May 2002 – All six are transferred to Jericho Prison on the evening of 1 May, where they are nominally under the control of the P.A. but actually guarded by U.S. and British monitors. Arafat is widely criticised in the Occupied Territories for winning his own freedom at the expense of Sa’adat’s.

2 May 2002 – IDF withdraws from the Muqata.

3 Jun 2002 – The Palestinian High Court of Justice in Gaza rules that there is no evidence linking Sa’adat to the assassination of Zeevi, and no legal grounds for his continuing detention. It orders his immediate release from jail. Ra’anan Gissin, an Israeli government spokesperson, implies that if the PA releases Sa’adat, he will be assassinated (“if he is not brought to justice, we will bring justice to him”…)

4 Jun 2002 – The Palestinian Cabinet declines to implement the High Court ruling, ostensibly because it fears that Sa’adat will be assassinated if released. (More realistically, it is probably because releasing Sa’adat will contravene the terms of the 29 Apr agreement that removed the Israelis from the Muqata).

13 Jun 2002Amnesty International calls for the PA to respect the finding of the High Court and release Sa’adat immediately, and for Israel to guarantee it will not take extrajudicial measures against him. Palestinian NGO’s call upon Arafat to uphold the rule of law. Sa’adat remains in jail.

20 Aug 2002 – Israeli Special Forces troops assassinate Sa’adat’s younger brother, Mohammed, a low-ranking member of the PFLP, at his home near Ramallah.

Muhammed Sa’adat (22) was assassinated in his house

in Al-Bireh by an Israeli special unit yesterday….

(al-Quds al-Arabi, 21 August 2002).

26 Aug 2002 – Sa’adat begins a 72-hour hunger strike to protest his continued detention.

14 Jan 2003 – In a letter from prison, Sa’adat expresses his opposition to the Road Map, on the grounds that it is designed solely to provide security for Israel’s occupation and criminalize opposition to it as terrorism.

23 Jan 2003 – Sa’adat’s wife, Abla, is arrested by Israeli troops at the Allenby Bridge border crossing, and prevented from addressing the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil, where she was a scheduled speaker.

15 Mar 2005 – PA President Mahmoud Abbas suggests that Sa’adat will be released when the PA resumes security control of Jericho later that month. Other PA officials deny they have any such intention, and Sa’adat himself doubts whether the PA even has the power to release him.

23 Nov 2005 – The PFLP announces that Sa’adat will run in the PLC elections of Jan 2006, in the hope that this will raise awareness of his imprisonment and bring pressure to bear for his release.

14 Mar 2006 – Ahmad Sa’adat was arressted by the Israeli Occupation Forces from the Jericho Prison with hundreds of other political prisoners after the prison was attacked by the IOF.

25 Dec 2008 – Ahmad Sa’adat was sentenced to thirty years in prison by the illegitimate Zionist military court.

Ahmad Sa’adat was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment by the illegitimate occupation military court on December 25, 2008 at Ofer Military Base in Ramallah, Palestine. Throughout the court’s meetings, which Sa’adat refused to recognize, the trial was delayed on multiple occasions, despite Sa’adat’s having been held in custody, of the Palestinian Authority under U.S. and British Guard, and then by the Israeli military after their attack on Jericho Prison on March 14, 2006. He was never tried during his four years in PA detention.

He was charged with a laundry list of “security offenses,” political in nature: for example, membership in a forbidden organization, holding a post in a forbidden organization, and “incitement,” for a speech condemning the Israeli military’s murder of the man who held his post before him, Abu Ali Mustafa. Sa’adat refused to cooperate with the court, pointing out that it is an illegitimate court enforcing an illegal military occupation, and acting as a weapon of the occupation, to persecute Palestinian leaders and political activists and to undermine the Palestinian people’s political activity. The thirty-year sentence imposed upon Sa’adat is the longest in the history of the occupation for such political charges.

June 2009 – Ahmad Sa’adat goes on nine day hunger strike in protest of isolation and solitary confinement.

October 22, 2009 – Ahmad Sa’adat sentenced to an additional six months of isolation by Zionist military

courts, after over 206 days of isolation.

October 16, 2011 – Palestinian Minister of Detainees, Issa Qaraqe’, stated that detained secretary-general of the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Ahmad Saadat, was moved to the Al Ramla Prison hospital due to health complications following 20 days of hunger strike.

Barghouti, Sa’adat Not to be Released in Exchange Deal, says Israel -The Israeli government Tuesday night said the imprisoned Fatah leader, Marwan Barghouti, and the Secretary General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Ahmad Sa’adat, are not included in the prisoners exchange deal that would free more than 1000 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. “Marwan Barghouti and Ahmad Sa’adat will not be released,” said head of the Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet), Yoram Cohen. Israel and Hamas had reached a prisoner exchange deal last night that will release the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, held by Hamas since 2006, in exchange for releasing 1027 Palestinian prisoners.

Third Week of Hunger Strike – Action Grows as Sa’adat’s Health in Jeopardy– Palestinian prisoners have entered their third week of hunger strike. After two weeks of hunger strike, physical symptoms become increasingly severe and prisoners’ lives and health are increasingly at risk. As prisoners have put their lives and bodies on the line to defend the rights of themselves and their people, international support and solidarity is continually escalating and much-needed. The health of Ahmad Sa’adat, General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Palestinian national leader who has been in isolation for two and one-half years and the center of the demand for an end to isolation, is increasingly at risk. Two lawyers visited Sa’adat on October 7 and October 9, and reported that he was fainting and vomiting – a direct consequence of the Israeli Prison Service’s confiscation of salt from prisoners. He has already lost over 7 kilos on the hunger strike. Nevertheless, no independent doctors or medical professionals have been permitted to examine Sa’adat.

Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat-Your support is critical for this campaign. In order to place meaningful pressure on the Israeli state to cease its persecution of Ahmad Sa’adat and all Palestinian prisoners, it is crucial that this issue take on a high level of international mobilization and support.

Heroes Coming Home

October 14, 2011 1 comment

Posted On October 14, 2011 by Marivel Guzman

It is more valuable one ONE FREE Men than A THOUSANDS SLAVES

Ahlam Ahmed Ared Tamimi, a Palestinian Fighter, arrested in 2001, according to Israel Judges she should spend 1584 years in Israeli Jail. A Zionist soldier was provoking her every day day that she is going to to die in prison, but she was keeping the hope alive, knowing that one day she will be free because there were heroes behind her.

She is now one of the prisoners included in the deal between Hamas and Israel, she will be free Next Tuesday October 18, 2011, but she is one of the person that will be exiled to other countries.

From the list of 27 Female, Ahlam Ahmed Ared Tamimi, she will be the only one to be sent to the exile. We wonder what are her feelings at this moments,  the Odds have changed in so short time since a harsh sentence of 1584 years was handed to her, she never lost the hope to be released. A dreamer is a winner Vik used to say and now for Ahlam she is a winner, let’s hope that in the next few weeks and months that the UN sort the legal issues with the Palestine UN Bid for Statehood more good things keep coming for Palestine.

This is a triumph for many in Palestine because the crimes of these Palestinians was to fight for their home land, for the protection of their families, their livelihood, their honor, their respect as a human beings. In this unequal “war’ that Palestinians have been fighting, “freedom” from Jail is a prize they can not refuse, if that give them the hopes to fight for a bigger prize that is to Liberate Palestine and Gaza from the bigger Jail that have been placed.

Both Israelis and Palestinians have been celebrating a deal between Israel and Hamas that will see 1,000 Palestinian prisoners set free in return for the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who has been held for five years.

In Jerusalem, young people took to the streets to sing and dance, and in Gaza City, crowds attended a Hamas rally.

Is more valuable ONE Free Man than a Thousands Slaved – 1027 Palestinians will be release from Israel Jails, but from the first 450 that will be freed next October 18, 2011 more than half will be exiled, or deported. There is celebration in the streets of West Bank and Gaza, but also there is anger that these resistant fighters will not be allowed to return to their families and lands, some are calling part of the ethnic cleansing Israel has been doing since its creation.

Gaza Families Wait for the Release of their Love ones -Electronic Intifada-Mothers and wives of Palestinian prisoners rapidly gathered outside the office of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) this week, after they heard news about a swap deal between Israel and Hamas. These women have not seen their loved ones for five years.

For the past five years, the families of 950 Palestinian prisoners from Gaza have been protesting weekly outside the ICRC’s headquarters, demanding their right to visit their sons, husbands and relatives inside the Israeli jails, a right denied to them by Israel.

Palestinians Prisoners Since Before Oslo – Male family members of Palestinian prisoners who were between 16 and 40 years of age and any family members with security records generally were barred from visiting relatives in facilities in Israel. Following the outbreak of violence in 2000, the Government banned all family visits for Palestinian prisoners in jails.

United Nation General Assembly- October 2007 Identical letters dated 23 October 2007 from the Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council

More than 11,000 Palestinian civilians, including more than 400 children and more than 100 women, are being held in the prisons and detention centres of Israel, the occupying Power. The majority of Palestinians being illegally imprisoned or arbitrarily detained by Israel are subject to extremely harsh living conditions and constant physical and mental ill-treatment, including coercive interrogations and humiliation, and many of them are subject to torture. The inhumane treatment of Palestinian prisoners at the hands of the occupying Power has been the cause of widespread suffering and trauma among the prisoners and has led to the death of at least 190 Palestinian prisoners over the many years of this prolonged and bitter foreign occupation of the Palestinian land and people.

More than 750,000 Palestinians have been detained by Israel since 1967 The Bureau of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People expresses its grave concern at the situation of thousands of Palestinian political prisoners held by Israel, who have joined an open-ended hunger strike since 27 September 2011 in protest against the latest deterioration of their conditions of detention and the systematic violation of their fundamental human rights by the occupying Power, including the imposition of solitary confinements and restrictions on family visits. The Israeli prison authorities have regrettably responded with additional punitive measures against the hunger strikers.

The Bureau recalls that, since the beginning of the Israeli occupation in 1967, at least 750,000 Palestinian civilians have been arrested, detained and imprisoned by Israel. Currently, thousands of Palestinians are held in political detention by Israel, including children, women and elected officials. The Bureau is alarmed by credible well-documented reports of the systematic abuse; mistreatment; medical neglect; denial of due process, legal assistance and visits; arbitrary detention; humiliation; and torture to which Palestinian prisoners are subjected on a daily basis at the hands of the Israeli occupying forces, in blatant contravention of international humanitarian and human rights instruments, including the Geneva Conventions.

Preliminary List of Palestinians to be Released

October 14, 2011 1 comment

Posted on October 14, 2011 by Akashma News
PRC armed wing releases list of Palestinian prisoners
Published yesterday (updated) 14/10/2011 11:56
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Palestinians light candles as they take part in a rally in solidarity with prisoners
held in Israeli jails, in Gaza City October 13, 2011. (Reuters/Mohammed Salem)
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — A list of prisoners Israel is expected to free as part of an initial exchange deal for a captured soldier, provided by a member of the PRC’s armed wing.Several lists are floating around, including one which appeared on Hamas’ Al-Aqsa TV. The ministry of prisoners affairs in the Gaza Strip says none of them are entirely accurate.That includes this list, which has not been verified by Israel or Hamas. It details each prisoner’s name, place of origin, year of arrest, and the terms of his or her release. Twenty-seven women are among those expected to be freed.1. Ahmad Ayed Deryeh – Beit Fajjar – 2002 – exiled
2. Yahia Ibrahim Daamsa – Ertas – 2002 – exiled
3. Akram Mahmoud al-Namura – Dura – 2001 – exiled
4. Amir Saber Sawalma – Balata camp – 2003 – exiled
5. Amun Yousef al-Tallul – Dhahiriya – 1999 – exiled
6. Majed Hasan Abu Qateesh – Jerusalem – 1993 – exiled abroad
7. Jihad Muhammad Yaghmur – Jerusalem – 1994 – exiled abroad
8. Zaid Arsan Al-Kilany – Umm al-Rihan – 2001 – exiled
9. Salama Aziz Marei – Qarawat Bani Zeid – 1993 – exiled abroad
10. Salman Ahmad Abu Eid – Biddu – 2003 – released with conditions
11. Abdul Raouf Amin Al-Shalabi – Jenin camp – 1995 – exiled
12. Abdullah Ahmad Abu Sef – Hebron – 2003 – exiled
13. Ala Muhammad Qafesha – Hebron – 2004 – exiled
14. Muammar Murshed Ghawadra – Bir al-Basha – 2003 – released
15. Feras Fawzi Feddi – Beit Wazan – 2002 – exiled
16. Farah Ahmad Hamed – Silwad – 2003 – exiled
17. Lutfi Muhammad Darabe – Khirbet Mresh – 1993 – released with conditions
18. Muhammad Mussa – Beit Fajjar – 1993 – exiled
19. Mahmud Abdullah Seryeh – Jenin camp – 1996 – exiled
20. Nael Saadi Sakhel – Nablus – 2003 – exiled
21. Nidal Jawad Sarkaji – Nablus – 2002 – exiled abroad
22. Nimer Sadki Muhammad – Beit Furik – 2006 – exiled
23. Ayman Muhammad Abu Khalil – Jerusalem – 1994 – exiled abroad
24. Yaser Hasan Hammad – Silwad – 2003 – exiled
25. Anis Mahmud al-Namura – Dura – 2001 – exiled
26. Iyad Diyab Khezaran – Al-Faraa refugee camp – 1991 – exiled
27. Jamil Khamis Tarkhan – Izbat Beit Hanoun – 1993 – released
28. Hussam Yousef Barari – Zababda – 2003 – released
29. Hassan Yousef Zeid – Nazlet Zeid – 2003 – exiled for 3 years
30. Rebhi Suleiman Bisharat – Tammun – 2002 – exiled abroad
31. Shadi Yasin Yasin – Tulkarem – 2002 – exiled
32. Tareq Ibrahim Izz Ad-Din – Araba – 2002 – exiled
33. Tareq Muhammad Abu Maryam – Qalqiliya – 2002 – exiled
34. Taleb Ismail Abu Mustafa – Khan Younis camp – 1993 – released
35. Mazen Muhammad Jarad – Beit Hanoun – 1993 – released
36. Maher Hussein Abu Karsh – Shati camp – 1993 – released
37. Muhammad Abdul Rahman Zeid – Tubas – 2003 – exiled
38. Muhammad Afif Al-Far – Ash-Sheikh Radwan – 1993 – released
39. Muhammad Odeh Sakran – Al-Breij – 1993 – released
40. Muhammad Najeh Jarar – Wadi Baraqin – 2002 – exiled abroad
41. Nasser Yousef Fadi – Khan Younis camp – 1993 – released
42. Nidal Subhi Abdul Haq – Nablus – 2003 – released
43. Wael Kamel Jalbush – Marka – 2002 – released
44. Ahmad Taleb Hamad – Jordan valley – 2002 – released
45. Ayman Ismail al-Sharawna – Dura – 2002 – released with conditions
46. Baraka Rajeh Taha – Hebron – 2004 – released with conditions
47. Hamudeh Said Salah – Beit Wazen – 2000 – exiled for 3 years
48. Safwan uhammad Eweiwi – Hebron – 2002 – released
49. Daher Rebhi Kabha – Bartaa – 1994 – exiled
50. Muhammad Taleb Edris – Jerusalem – 1998 – exiled
51. Muayed Abdul Rahim Abdul Samad – Aneta – 1987 – released
52. Muhammad Ahmad Saleh – Qabatiya – 1994 – released with conditions
53. Salem Rajab al-Sarsur – Hebron – 1998 – exiled abroad
54. Muhammad Abdul Latif Ballut – Rantis – 2003 – exiled
55. Murad Awad al-Rujub – Dura – 2002 – exiled
56. Muath Said Abu Ramuz – Hebron – 2004 – released with conditions
57. Nasri Yousef al-Zer – Harmala – 2002 – exiled
58. Yasser Muhammad Salah – Ramallah – 2005 – released with conditions
59. Ibrahim Abdul Aziz Shalsh – Ramallah – 1995 – released with conditions
60. Ibrahim Fadel Jaber – Hebron – 1982 – released
61. Ibrahim Muhammad al-Hindi – Khan Younis – 2006 – released
62. Ibrahim Yousef Masri – Shuqba – 1995 – released with conditions
63. Ehsan Ali Madena – Jammain – 2001 – released
64. Ahmad Ibrahim Faleet – Deir al-Balah – 1992 – released
65. Hmad Abu Al-Suud Hanani – Nablus – 1987 – exiled abroad
66. Ahmad Khalil Awawda – Idhna – 1999 – released with conditions
67. Ahmad Salem Shaer – Rafah – 2001 – released
68. Ahmad Suleiman Fajem – Bani Suheila – 2002 – released
69. Ahmad Abdul Rahman Abu Hasira – Rimal – 1986 – released
70. Ahmad Abdul Karim Abu Taha – Jerusalem – 2002 – released
71. Ahmad Atta Hattu – Gaza City – 1993 – released
72. Ahmad Hussein Shukri – Ramallah – 1989 – released with conditions
73. Idrees Ahmad al-Rajabi – Hebron – 2003 – exiled
74. Ismail Abdul Hadi al-Masalma – Hebron – 1999 – released
75. Ismail Mussa al-Bakhit – Khan Younis camp – 1993 – released
76. Ashraf Hasan Baaluji – Tuffah – 1991 – release
77. Ashraf Ghazi al-Wawi – Tulkarem – 1993 – released
78. Ashraf Muhammad Awadat – Gaza City – 2003 – released
79. Akram Salama Said – Al-Maghazi – 2002 – released
80. Akram Abdul Rahman Salama – Khan Younis camp – 1996 – released
81. Akram Abdul Aziz Mansur – Qalqiliya – 1979 – released
82. Akram Abdullah Qassem – Ramallah – 2002 – released
83. Anwar Ahmad Hamad – Yabna camp – 2001 – released
84. Anwar Musallam Akhras – Rabwat – 1993 – released
85. Iyad Ahmad Abu Hasna – Canada camp – 1989 – released
86. Iyad Jamil Abu Taqyeh – Jabaliya camp – 1989 – released
87. Iyad Salem al-Areer – Turkman – 1993 – released
88. Iyad Muhammad Bisharat – Hebron – 2002 – exiled
89. Ayman Asad al-Shawwa – Al-Dorj – 1993 – released
90. Ayman Abdul Majid Amer – Hebron – exiled for 3 years
91. Ayman Mustafa al-Far – Sheikh Radwan – 1991 – released
92. Ayman Yousef Abu Daud – Hebron – 2004 – released with conditions
93. Nizar Samir al-Tamimi – Ramallah – 1993 – released
94. Basim Muhammad Al-Kurd – Beit Lahiya – 1993 – released
95. Bilal Ibrahim Abu Amr – Qalqiliya – 2002 – exiled for 3 years
96. Bilal Ismail Zara – Kafr Niama – 2004 – exiled
97. Baha al-Din Khatib – Rafah – 2001 – released
98. Tawfiq Abdullah Abu Naim – Al-Nuseirat camp – 1989 – released
99. Tayseer Salem al-Bardini – Rafah – 1993 – released
100. Thaer Mahmud Kurd – Jabaliya camp – 1988 – released
101. Jalal Kamel al-Loh – Beit Lahiya – 1988 – 1994 – released
102. Jalal Lutfi Saqer – Al-Nuseirat camp – 1992 – released
103. Jamal Amr Raqiq – Gaza City – 1989 – released
104. Jamil Ismail Baz – Al-Nuseirat camp – 1991 – released
105. Jihad Jamil Abu Ghobon – Jabaliya camp – 1988 – released
106. Jihad Muhammad Bani Juma – Jordan Valley – 1991 – released
107. Hatem Ibrahim Ismail – Nablus – 1995 – released
108. Hazem Ali al-Aedi – Al-Maghazi – 1991 – released
109. Hafez Mahmud Dabel – Al-Breij – 1990 – released
110. Hathefa Rashid Ghanem – Ramallah – 2004 – exiled
111. Hussam Suleiman Abu al-Jadyan – Ramallah – 2004 – released
112. Hasan Ahmad Maqadma – Al-Bureij – 1989 – released
113. Hasan Ismail Fayyad – Beit Hanoun – 2003 – released
114. Hassan Abdul Karim Judeh – Zawata – 2002 – released with conditions
115. Hassan Ali Salma – Beituniya – 1982 – released
116. Hasan Mahmud Novel – Jabaliya camp – 1988 – released
117. Ahmad Mustafa al-Najjar – United States – 2003 – exiled
118. Hasan Yousef Jafri – Ramallah – 1990 – released with conditions
119. Hamdi Amin Zweidi – Beit Hanun – 1993 – released
120. Hamza Nayef Zayed – Jenin – 1986 – exiled
121. Khaled Rajeh Taha – Hebron – 2004 – exiled for 3 years
122. Khaled Saleh Maghyeer – Yabna camp – 1992 – released
123. Khaled Muhammad Gheithan – Ramallah – 1995 – released with conditions
124. Khaled Matou Jeidi – Rafah – 1986 – released
125. Khaled Yousef Saleh – Qalqiliya – 1992 – exiled for 3 years
126. Khalil Muhammad Abu Alba – Sheikh Radwan – 2001 – released
127. Raed Ahmad Hallaq – Rimal – 1993 – released
128. Raed Amr Abu Lubda – Tal al-Sultan – 2001 – released
129. Rateb Abdullah al-Ajrab – Ramallah – 1991 – exiled
130. Rafat Ali Aruqi – Shati refugee camp – 1993 – released
131. Rasmi Saleh Mahariq – Samou – 1994 – released with conditions
132. Rohi Jamal Mushtaha – Shujaya, Gaza City – 1988 – released
133. Zakaria Muhammad al-Jasrawi – Samou – 1996 – released with conditions
134. Zuheir Salah Shashnyeh – Al-Breij – 1990 – released
135. Salem Ali Thweb – Bethlehem – 2002 – exiled
136. Yaser Tayseer Daoud – Jerusalem – 1991 – released
137. Samer Isam Mahrum – Jenin – 1986 – released
138. Yousef Mussa Hales – Jerusalem – 1991 – exiled
139. Sami Khaled al-Qashtan – Wadi Gaza – 2003 – released
140. Said Muhammad Sakik – Al-Durj – 1993 – released
141. Salim Ali Kayyal – Gaza City – 1983 – released
142. Suleiman Nayef Abu Tyour – Ramallah – 1991 – released with conditions
143. Shaaban Salim Hassuneh – Gaza City – 1990 – released
144. Saleh Muhammad Khariz – Ramallah – 1986 – released
145. Salah al-Din al-Awawda – Hebron – 1993 – exiled
146. Tareq Zeyad al-Rajabi – Hebron – 2003 – exiled abroad
147. Talal Ibrahim Shreim – Qalqiliya – 2002 – exiled abroad
148. Taha Adel Shakhshir – Nablus – 1992 – released with conditions
149. Ated Suleiman Masri – Al-Durj – 1993 – released
150. Amer Ahmad al-Qawasmeh – Hebron – 1988 – released
151. Amer Rabbah al-Rajabo – Hebron – 2004 – released with conditions
152. Ayed Mahmud Khalil – Tulkarem – 1989 – released with conditions
153. Muhammad Hasan Sharaha – Gaza City – 1989 – released
154. Abdul Raouf Mahmud Injas – Khirbet Bani Hareth – 2003 – exiled for 3 years
155. Abdul Rahman Rabie Shehab – Jabaliya – 1989 – released
156. Abdul Rahman Amr Abu Assaf – Qabatya – 1992 – released
157. Abdul Rahman Fadel al-Qiq – Rafah – 1986 – released
158. Abdul Aziz Muhammad Masri – Khan Younis – 1993 – released
159. Obeid al-Latif Ismail Shqer – Tulkarem – 1986 – released
160. Abdullah Judeh Abu Shalbak – Ramallah – 1991 – released with conditions
161. Abdullah Muhammad Az-Zeitawi – Nablus – 2001 – exiled
162. Abdul Mineim Othman Taama – Tulkarem – 1989 – released with conditions
163. Othman Ali Musleh – Qalqiliya – 1982 – released
164. Arafat Salem An-Natsheh – Hebron – 1994 – exiled
165. Ata Mahmud Falna – Safa – 1992 – exiled
166. Attyeh Hasan Abu Asab – Hebron – 1994 – released
167. Ala Hamdi al-Rajabi – Hebron – 2004 – exiled
168. Alyan Abdul Karim al-Zer – Al-Qarara – 2003 – released
169. Imad Ad-Din Ata Zuurob – Khan Younis – 1993 – released
170. Imad Abdul Rahman Ali – Qalqiliya – 1992 – released
171. Imad Ali Abu Rayyan – Beit Lahiya – 1991 – released
172. Amr Muhammad Shariji – Gaza City – 2003 – released
173. Amr Mahmud Al-Ghul – Gaza City – 1987 – released
174. Aweida Muhammad Qawlab – Sheikh Radwan – 1988 – released
175. Eid Abdullah Musleh – Al-Maghazi – 1992 – released
176. Fuad Muhammad Amareen – Al-Nuseirat camp – 1992 – released
177. Fiker Asfour Barghouthi – Ramallah – 1978 – released
178. Farhan Mahmud Khalida – Tulkarem – 2003 – exiled
179. Fahed Subhi Zaqzuqi – Jabaliya camp – 1992 – released
180. Fahim Ramadan Ibrahim – Tulkarem – 1989 – released
181. Kamal Sami Shabalu – Nablus – 2003 – exiled
182. Kamal Abdullah Abu Naim – Gaza City – 1992 – released
183. Kamal Muhammad Shalabi – Tulkarem – 2003 – exiled abroad
184. Muayed Saadeh Jallad – Tulkarem – 1994 – released with conditions
185. Mazen Muhammad al-Nahal – Rafah – 1992 – released
186. Maamoun Ismail Sattyn – Tulkarem – 2003 – exiled
187. Maher Khamis Zaqqut – Jabaliya camp – 1993 – released
188. Majdi Ahmad Hamad – Jabaliya camp – 1991 – released
189. Majdi Attyeh Ajjouli – Tulkarem – 1989 – released with conditions
190. Muhammad Ibrahim Derawi – Al-Zawabda – 2001 – released
191. Muhammad Ejmaan Abu Ayesh – Nasr City – 1992 – released
192. Muhammad Salama Abu Khusa – Lod – 1976 – released
193. Muhammad Salman Abu Jamus – Gaza City – 2001 – released
194. Muhammad Aref Basharat – Nablus – 1992 – released with conditions
195. Muhammad Abdul Rahman Zaqut – Jabaliya camp – 1989 – released
196. Muhammad Abdul Fattah Dahan – Al-Nuseirat camp – 1989 – released
197. Muhammad Abdul Karim Abu Ataya – Nasr City – 1992 – released
198. Muhammad Abed Husni – Shati camp – 1986 – released
199. Muhammad Ali Haraz – Al-Dorj – 1992 – released
200. Muhammad Muhammad Abu Hasera – Gaza City – 1993 – released
201. Muhammad Muhammad Hassan – Gaza City – 1987 – released
202. Muhammad Mustafa Othman – Jabaliya camp – 1996 – released
203. Muhammad Nayef Barakat – Tulkarem – 2000 – released
204. Muhammad Said Jaradat – Jenin – 1989 – released
205. Mahmoud Ali Qawasmeh – Hebron – 2004 – exiled for 3 years
206. Mahmoud Mustafa Mardawi – Qalqiliya – 1992 – exiled for 3 years
207. Marwan Muhammad Zurd – Al-Durj – 1993 – released
208. Mustafa Ali Ramadan – Al-Amal – 1992 – released
209. Mustafa Ghazi Ananeh – al-Nuseirat camp – 2001 – released
210. Muntaser Rebhi Abu Mutawe – Nablus – 2003 – exiled
211. Munther Shaaban Dahshan – Gaza City – 1994 – released
212. Mansur Yousef Shamasna – Qatna – 1996 – released with conditions
213. Mansur Atef Rayyan – Nablus – 1994 – exiled
214. Mahdi Amr Shawer – Hebron – 2002 – exiled for 3 years
215. Mussa Muhammad Dodin – Hebron – 1992 – exiled abroad
216. Mussa Nather al-Badawi – Sheikh Radwan – 2002 – released
217. Nael Saleh al-Barghouthi – Ramallah – 1978 – released with conditions
218. Naser Ghazi Edweidar – Al-Nuseirat camp – 1992 – released
219. Nafeth Ahmad Haraz – Gaza City – 1985 – released
220. Nayef Hussein al-Shawamra – Hebron – 1995 – released
221. Nabil Maderes Okel – Jabaliya camp – 2000 – released
222. Harrun Mansour Nasser al-Din – Hebron – 1992 – exiled abroad
223. Wael Makin Abu Fanuneh – Gaza City – 1989 released
224. Walid Ibrahim Abu Nassar – Bethlehem – 1993 – exiled
225. Waheeb Abdullah Abu al-Rab – Jenin – 1994 – released with conditions
226. Yasser Abdul Qader Hejaz – Ramallah – 1990 – released with conditions
227. Yasser Mahmud Khawaja – Rafah – 1988 – released
228. Yahia Ibrahim Sinwar – Khan Younis camp – 1988 – released
229. Yasser Ibrahim al-Julani – Hebron – 2003 – released with conditions
230. Mahmud Muhammad Attun – Jerusalem – 1993 – exiled abroad
231. Walid Abdul Hadi Aqel – Gaza City – 1992 – exiled abroad
232. Abdul Hadi Salman Rafe – Al-Nuseirat camp – 1989 – released
233. Muhammad Mustafa Abu Jalaleh – Jabaliya camp – 1991 – released
234. Ali Ahmad Amudo – Gaza City – 1994 – released
235. Ali Said Bilal – Nablus – 2002 – exiled
236. Mihwash Nueimat – Rafah – 2007 – released
237. Marwan Muhammad Abu Rumeileh – Jerusalem – 1993 – exiled abroad
238. Tayseer Hamdan Suleiman – Jerusalem – 1993 – exiled abroad
239. Fahed Sabri Shalludi – Jerusalem – 1993 – exiled abroad
240. Issam Talaat Qadmani – Jerusalem – 1994 – exiled abroad
241. Mutasem Sabri Moqdi – Qalqiliya – 1994 – exiled abroad
242. Mussa Muhammad Aqari – Jerusalem – 1993 – exiled abroad
243. Muhammad Ayman Razem – Jerusalem – 1996 – exiled abroad
244. Basel Hashem al-Haymuni – Hebron – 2004 – exiled
245. Bassam Ibrahim Abu Sneineh – Jerusalem – 2000 – exiled
246. Bassam Naim al-Natsheh – Hebron – 1999 – released with conditions
247. Hani Badawi Jaber – Jerusalem – 1985 – exiled abroad
248. Mueen Abdul Malek Ahmad – Jabaliya – 2004 – released
249. Musaab Ismail Hashlamon – Hebron – 2004 – exiled
250. Khaled Mussa Makhamra – Yatta – 2006 – released
251. Ismail Abdullah Hejazi – Jerusalem – 2007 – released
252. Muayed Suleiman Qawasma – Hebron – 2006 – exiled
253. Nidal Akram Abu Shakhedam – Hebron – 2008 – exiled
254. Muhammad Ahmad Abu Awad – Nablus – 2003 – exiled
255. Abbas Abdullah Shabaneh – Hebron – 1992 – released with conditions
256. Zaher Wajeeh Khatatbeh – Beit Furik – 1994 – released with conditions
257. Kefah Jamil Arda – Jenin – 1999 – exiled
258. Farid Muhammad Qaysi – Khan Younis – 1994 – released
259. Zeyad Hassan Awad – Edna – 2000 – released with conditions
260. Hussein Elias Rabie – Beit Anan – 2001 – exiled
261. Mahmud Muhammad al-Sweiti – Beit Awwa – 2000 – released with conditions
262. Zuheir Kheiri Eskafi – Hebron – 2000 – released with conditions
263. Rabie Salama Zughel – Beit Hanina – 1998 – exiled abroad
264. Rajab Muhammad Tahhan – Jerusalem – 1998 – released with conditions
265. Daoud Khalil Shawish – Jerusalem – 2000 – released
266. Ramzi Ibrahim al-Ouq – Aida camp – 2003 – exiled
267. Murid Salim al-Akhras – Rafah – 2001 – released
268. Reyad Zakarya Asela – Jerusalem – 2000 – exiled
269. Nahed Abdul Raof al-Fakhouri – Hebron – 2002 – exiled
270. Muhammad Bassam Mallah – Tulkarem – 2002 – exiled abroad
271. Samer Ibrahim Abu Ser – Jerusalem – 1988 – exiled
272. Muhammad Muhamma Karsou – Gaza City – 2002 – released
273. Ashraf Abdul Qader Abu Markhyeh – Hebron – 2002 – exiled
274. Abdul Aziz Amr – Jerusalem – 2004 – exiled
275. Amjad Ahmad Arqub – Dura – 2002 – exiled
276. Shadi Zayed Odeh – Qalqiliya – 2002 – released
277. Shueib Saleh Abu Suneneh – Jerusalem – 1998 – exiled
278. Mahmud Ibrahim Dahbur – Nablus – 2002 – exiled
279. Tareq Daud Halisi – Jerusalem – 1986 – exiled
280. Samir Fesal Sawafta – Al-Jafaltak – 2003 – exiled
281. Mahmud Shaker al-Rayes – Gaza City – 2003 – released
282. Murad Abdullah Abu Rukab – Gaza City – 2003 – released
283. Ashraf Khalil Abu al-Rub – Jenin – 2002 – released
284. Akram Zaki al-Saedi – Al-Nuseirat camp – 2003 – released
285. Abdul Naser Daud Halisi – Jerusalem – 1986 – exiled
286. Zakaria Lutfi Najib – Jerusalem – 1994 – exiled for 3 years
287. Iyad Ata Abu Fnoun – Bethlehem – 2003 – released
288. Muhammad Salim Qassem – Gaza City – 2004 – released
289. Ibrahim Muhammad Mussa – Beit Luqya – 2004 – exiled
290. Rabie Samir Shalabi – Cober – 2005 – released
291. Hawem Muhammad Asaliya – Jerusalem – 1986 – exiled abroad
292. Nasser Humeidan Shqerat – Jerusalem – 1993 – exiled
293. Ali Bader Maslamani – Jerusalem – 1986 – released
294. Raed Muhammad Riziq – Jabaliya – 2002 – released
295. Imad Yasser Mussa – Marka – 1998 – released with conditions
296. Nader Radwan Abu Turkey – Hebron – 2002 – exiled
297. Suleiman Salem Abu Yousef – Al-Samua – 1994 – released with conditions
298. Ahmad Yousef al-Tamimi – Nabi Saleh – 1993 – released
299. Feras Walid Abu Shkheidam – Hebron – 2001- released with conditions
300. Fuad Qasem Razem – Jerusalem – 1981 – exiled
301. (BLANK; SEE BELOW)
302. Asad Fahmi Abu Salah – Beit Hanoun – 2008 – released
303. Amed Hamed al-Masri – Jenin – 1991 – exiled
304. Luay Muhammad Odeh – Jerusalem – 2002 – exiled
305. Munes Ahmad Aqqad – Khan Younis – 2002 – released
306. Hussam Atef Badran – Nablus – 1992 – exiled abroad
307. Muhammad Ibrahim Hamada – Jerusalem – 1997 – exiled
308. Salem Hasan Shab – Bani Suheila – 1993 – released
309. (BLANK; SEE BELOW)
310. (BLANK; SEE BELOW)
311. (BLANK; SEE BELOW)
312. Abdul Halim Mahmoud Abdulla – Shati camp – 1990 – released
313. (BLANK; SEE BELOW)
314. Imad Mustafa Khamis al-Loh – Deir Al-Balah – 2003 – released
315. (BLANK; SEE BELOW)
316. Ghazi Jumaa Nims – Gaza City – 1985 – released
317. Telal Yousef al-Kabsh – Al-Samua – 1986 – exiled
318. Muhammad Abdul Latif Salha – Jabaliya – 2008 – released
319. Naser Amr Namla – Gaza City – 1990 released
320. Hani Muhammad Abu Setta – Khan Younis – 1994 – released
321. Ibrahim Asad Daud – Qalqiliya – 2003 – released
322. Ibrahim Hussein Elayan – Jerusalem – 1987 – exiled
323. Ibrahim Abdul Razzaq Mashal – Jerusalem – 1990 – released
324. Ibrahim Abdul Qader Abu Hajla – Qalqiliya – 2002 – released
325. Khaled Ahmad Muhsein – Jerusalem – 1986 – released
326. Khaled Muhammad Taha – Jerusalem – 1988 – exiled
327. Samer Tareq Muhammad – Jerusalem – 2002 – released
328. Aref Khaled Fawakhra – Jaba – 2002 – released
329. Amer Abdul Rahman Muqbel – Tulkarem – 2003 – released with conditions
330. Issa Saleh Jandal – Jerusalem – 1986 – released with conditions
331. Luay Ahmad Novel – Deir Sharaf – 2001 – released with conditions
332. Luay Younis Kurnoz – Ramallah – 2004 – exiled
333. Mazen Mustafa Alawi – Jerusalem – 1991 – exiled
334. Muhammad Salama Sofi – Rafah – 2007 – released
335. Mustafa Kamel Badarneh – Ramallah – 2003 released
336. Hilal Muhammad Jaradat – Al-Yamun – 1987 – exiled
337. Ahmad Abed Jawad – Barouqin – 2002 – exiled for 3 years
338. Nasser Mussa Abed Rabbo – Jerusalem – 1988 – released with conditions
339. Ashraf Khaled Hanini – Beit Furik – 2006 – exiled
340. Bilal Khalil Bisharat – Tammun – 2002 – exiled for 3 years
341. Hamdullah Fayeq Ali – Jamaeen – 2002 – exiled for 3 years
342. Nahed Issam Abu Kashak – Tulkarem – 2001 – exiled
343. Khader Suleiman Radi – Aida camp – 2003 – released with conditions
344. Salem Rashid Tabanja – Nablus – 2003 – exiled for 3 years
345. Saher Nabil Shtayya – Salem – 2001 – exiled for 3 years
346. Safwat Jebril al-Jabur – Yatta – 2002 – released
347. Talat Mustafa Maaruf – Beit Lahiya – 2008 – released
348. Amer Ahmad Mabruk – Tulkarem – 2003 – exiled for 3 years
349. Abdul Rahum Abdul Latif Abdil Rahim – Badya – 2004 – released with conditions
350. Ibrahim Salim Shamasna – Qatna – 1993 – exiled abroad
351. Kamal Abdul Rahman Awad – Jordan Valley – 2001 – exiled
352. Ibrahim Abdul Rahman Jundyeh – Aida camp – 2003 – exiled
353. Ahmad Jebrin Takrurt – Jericho – 1988 – exiled
354. Ahmad Hasan Hassan – Nablus – 1992 – released
355. Luay Nafeth Qufesha – Hebron – 2002 – exiled
356. Iyad Mussa Ubayyat – Bethlehem – 2003 – exiled
357. Ayman Hatem Shakhshir – Nablus – 2002 – exiled
358. Ayman Muhammad Qafeesha – Hebron – 1997 – exiled
359. Ihab Hashem Qannan – Khan Younis camp – 2002 – released
360. Ahmad Rabbah Amira – Jerusalem – 1988 – released with conditions
361. Muhammad Salim Ramadan – Jamaeen – 2002 – exiled for 3 years
362. Tawfiq Ibrahim Abdullah – Qalqiliya – 1986 – released
363. Jaser Ismail al-Barghouthi – Cober – 2003 – exiled
364. Jebril Ismail Jebril – Qalqiliya – 2002 – exiled
365. Jamal Hamad Abu Saleh – Silwan – 1990 – released with conditions
366. Jawad Tayseer As-Sabaana – Jenin – 2002 – exiled
367. Hamza Hassan Abu Arqub – Jamaeen – 2002 – exiled
368. Khaled Abdul Maez Amr – Silwad – 2003 – exiled
369. Khamis Zaki Akel – An-Nuseirat camp – 1992 – released
370. Muhammad Issa Awad – Yatta – 2002 – released
371. Rami Zaki Masri – Beit Hanun – 2006 – released
372. Rabie Khader Hamida – Ramallah – 2003 – exiled
373. Rajai Saadi al-Karaki – Hebron – 2000 – exiled
374. Zaher Ali Jibrin – Salfit – 1993 – exiled abroad
375. Mahdi Shukri Asi – Balata camp – 2002 – released
376. Zeyad Salim Salmi – Gaza City – 1993 – released
377. Said Ibrahim Shalaldah – Sair – 2005 – exiled
378. Said Muhammad Bisharat – Nablus- 2002 – exiled
379. Nizar Khader Dehliz – Rafah – 2002 – released
380. Shadi Talat Balawna – Tulkarem camp – 2003 – exiled
381. Sharif Hussein Zyadeh – Al-Breij camp – 2005 – released
382. Shakib Baher al-Eweiwi – Hebron – 2006 – exiled
383. Derar Muhammad al-Hroub – Duheisheh camp – 2002 – exiled
384. Tareq Ahmad Hasayen – Qalqiliya – 2003 – exiled
385. Zaher Salman Ayayda – Rafah – 1990 – released
386. Nimir Ibrahim Daruzeh – Nablus – 2003 – exiled abroad
387. Abdul Hakim Aziz Abed – Beit Dajan – 1993 – exiled abroad
388. Abdul Rahmad Ahmad Ali – Alar – 2001 – exiled
389. Abdul Rahman Hasan Salah – Kufur Dan – 2002 – released with conditions
390. Abdul Aziz Yousef Salha – Deir Jarir – 2001 – exiled
391. Abdul Nasser Arar – Qarawat Bani Zeid – 2006 – exiled
392. Abdul Rahman Ismail Ghneimat – Surif – 1997 – exiled
393. Adnan Muhammad Maraja – Silwan – 1990 – released
394. Issam Muhammad Jarar – Jenin – 2002 – exiled abroad
395. Ismat Abdul Aziz Matawe – Hebron – 2002 – exiled
396. Ala Ad-Din Reda al-Bazyan – Jerusalem – 1986 – released with conditions
397. Ala Khaled Badawi – Bethlehem – 2003 – exiled
398. Wayel Suleiman Arafa – Tulkarem – 2002 – exiled
399. Ali Muhammad Qadi – Al-Bira – 2005 – exiled
400. Ali Muhammad Asafra – Beit Kahel – 2002 – exiled
401. Yaser Talal Yousef – Bethlehem – 2006 released
402. Basem Muhammad Nazzal – Qabatiya – 1992 – exiled
403. Amer Ahmad Assida – Jordan Valley – 2002 – exiled
404. Awad Zeyad Awad Salaymeh – Hebron – 1993 – exiled
405. Fadi Muhammad Al-Jabaa – Hebron – 2003 – exiled
406. Fadi Muhammad Dweik – Hebron – 2002 – exiled
407. Zeidan Muhammad Zeidan – Jenin – 2002 – exiled
408. Fahed Fawwaz Al-Qasrawo – Hebron – 2003 – released
409. Fawwaz Muhammad Nasser – Beir Qeddis – 2003 – exiled
410. Christian Adel Isaac Bandak – Bethlehem – 2003 – exiled
411. Majed Muhammad Jabaa – Hebron – 1995 – exiled
412. Mazen Muahammad Faqha – Tubas – 2002 – exiled
413. Majdi Muhammad Amr – Dura – 2003 – exiled abroad
414. Majdi Muhammad Naasan – Ramallah – 2003 – exiled
415. Muhammad Issac al-Julani – Beit Kahel – 2006 – exiled
416. Amr Hamdan Abu Sneineh – Hebron – 2002 – exiled
417. Muhammad Badawi Masalmeh – Beit Awwa – 2002 – exiled
418. Muhammad Salem Awad – Edna – 2005 – exiled
419. Nidal Abdul Rahman Hamed – Silwad – 2004 – exiled
420. Muhammad Taher al-Karam – Jalqamus – 2001 – exiled
421. Mahmud Awad Damra – Ein Um al-Sharayet – 2006 – released
422. Muhammad Wayel Doughlas – Jordan Valley – 2001 – exiled abroad
423. Mahmud Ibrahim Hajabi – Tulkarem – 2002 – exiled
424. Mahmud Ghassub Saad – Ramallah – 2003 – exiled
425. Khuweiled Ismael al-Jalil – Jordan Valley – 1998 – exiled
426. Mustafa Mahmud Maslamani – Tubas – 2001 – exiled
427. Mustafa Mahmud Qaroush – Tulkarem – 1986 – released
428. Muath Wael Talab Abu Sharkh – Hebron – 2003 – exiled
429. Muammar Rashad al-Jabari – Hebron – 2003 – released with conditions
430. Kifah Ahmad Nawahda – Jenin – 2006 – exiled
431. Mussa Ibrahim Wazwaz – Hebron – 2006 – exiled
432. Nasser Abdul Fattah Nazzal – Qalqiliya – 2002 – exiled
433. Said Muhammad Badarna – Yaabud – 1994 – exiled abroad
434. Nayef Yousef Radwan – Qabya – 1995 – released with conditions
435. Amer Saoud Abu Sarhan – Bethlehem – 1990 – exiled
436. Naser Sami Yataymeh – Tulkarem – 2002 – exiled abroad
437. Allam Ahmad Kaabi – Nablus – 2003 – exiled
438. Nidal Abdul Razzaq Zallum – Al-Bira – 1989 – released with conditions
439. Nimir Raqi Hamida – Ramallah – 2003 – exiled
440. Hani Rasmi Jaber – Hebron – 1993 – released
441. Hisham Abdul Qader Hejaz – Ramallah – 2003 – exiled abroad
442. Haitham Seif Radwan – Ramallah – 2003 – exiled
443. Wael Kamel al-Jaabari – Hebron – 2000 – exiled
444. Ali Yousef Mughrabi – Bethlehem – 2002 – released
445. Walid Abdul Aziz Injas – Khirbet Bani Hareth – 2002 – exiled abroad
446. Yassin Yassin Suleiman Rabie – Al-Mazraa Al-Qabaliya – 2003 – exiled
447. Nizar Muhammad Ramadan – Jordan Valley – 1998 – exiled abroad
448. Yaacoub Adnan Zeid – Yaabod – 2000 – released with conditions
449. Yousef Deib Abu Adi – Kufur Neimeh – 2005 – exiled
450. Yousef Taher Al-Karam – Jalqamus – 2001 – exiled

Six names are on a separate list which does not specify the conditions of their release. They seem to have been removed from the six blank spots on the original.

1. Sami Khaled Younes – Israel – 1983
2. Ali Abdullah Amriya – Ibten – 1988
3. Muhammad Ahmad Jabbarin – Um al-Fahem – 1988
4. Muhammad Mansour Zeyada – Israel – 1987
5. Mukhles Ahmad Burghal – Israel – 1987
6. We’am Mahmud Amasha – Israel – 1999

Attached with the originals is a list of 27 Palestinian female detainees who are also expected to be freed in the first round, possibly as early as Tuesday.

1. Randa Muhammad Yusuf Shahatit – Hebron – 2009 – released
2. Abir Isa Amru – Hebron – 2001 – released
3. Iman Muhammad Gazzawi – Nablus – 2001 – released
4. Amal Fayiz Jumaa Mahmoud – Nablus – 2004 – released
5. Miryam Salim Tarabin – Jericho – 2005 – released
6. Abir Mahmoud Hasan Awda – Tulkarem – 2009 – released
7. Fatin al-Saadi – Jenin – 2008 – released
8. Wafa Samir al-Bass – Gaza City – 2008 – released
9. Abu Golmi Youssef Lanan – Nablus – 2010 – released
10. Sanabil Nabigh Yusuf Barik – Nablus – 2008 – released
11. Fayina Mustafa Khalil Abu Ayyash – Nablus – 2006 – released
12. Aisha Muhammad Abiyat – Bethlehem – 2009 – released
13. Hanan Ahmed Ali – Bethlehem – 2010 – released
14. Nasrin Abu Zina – Tulkarem – 2009 – released
15. Shalbi Hana – Jenin – 2009 – released
16. Kraja Samud – Ramallah – 2009 – released
17. Pollshchuk Irina – Ukraine – 2002 – released
18. Issawi Abd Faiz Ibtisam – Jerusalem – 2001 – released
19. Shadeh Muhammad Hussein Sanaa – Israel – 2002 – released
20. Al-Saadi Said Ali Qahara – Ramallah – 2002 – released
21. Jiwasi Ziyad Dawaa – Tulkarem – 2002 – released
22. Daragmeh Rawad Hussein Ruma – Jenin – 2004 – released
23. Latifa Muhammad Abu Daraa – Nablus – 2003 – released
24. Tamimi Ared Ahmad Ahlam – Jordan – 2001 – released to Jordan
25. Muna Jawad Ali Amna – Israel – 2001 – exiled
26. Aliaa Muhammad Yhya Jaadallah Jaabri – Hebron – 2011 – released
27. Ramyah Ratab Hassan Abu Samra – Hebron – 2010 – released

Palestinians Prisoners Since Before Oslo – Male family members of Palestinian prisoners who were between 16 and 40 years of age and any family members with security records generally were barred from visiting relatives in facilities in Israel. Following the outbreak of violence in 2000, the Government banned all family visits for Palestinian prisoners in jails.

Israeli Artillery Shells Gaza Strip; Again

October 10, 2011 4 comments

Posted on October 9, 2011 by Marivel Guzman

It has become a normal practice for Israel to attack the North Part of Gaza so often that is not considered important News any more, the local news agencies of Palestine and the neighbors countries treat Israel violation of International Law as an every day event, thanks to the divine providence there are no injured reported this time. On Sunday Israel Shelled the Northern Gaza Strip;

“Eyewitnesses reported that Israeli artillery shelled, on Sunday evening, agricultural land east of the northern Gaza Strip.

The witnesses to our correspondent that about the 4 shells landed near the martyrs’ cemetery east of Jabalia, without causing any personal injuries, but a state of panic and fear hit the population”   Jabaliya – Agency Jerusalem Net News

Braking News 12:20 Am 10/11/2011 Via: Hani Siliman Salamah

Credit Hani Siliman

BREAKING NEWS : ISRAELI TANKS OPENING THEIR HEAVY ARTILLERY TOWARDS PALESTINIAN HOUSES EAST OF KHAN YOUNIS CITY, SOUTH OF GAZA STRIP …NO ONE HURT UNTIL NOW .PARTIALLY DAMAGE IN THE HOUSES THERE, AND PEOPLE CALLING RED CROSS AND RED CRESCENT FOR HELP .

BREAKING NEWS : BIG EXPLOSION RIGHT NOW SHAKES CENTRAL OF GAZA CITY .DRONES IN THE SKY AT LOW LEVELS ,, NOW WE CAN HEAR MACHINE GUNS EAST GAZA CITY . 10/10/2011 11:00 pm Palestine Time

Update:Hani Siliman Salamah 10/10/2011 4:00 PM Palestine Time

BREAKING NEWS : DRONES ARE FLYING IN ALL THE AREAS FROM SOUTH TO NORTH OF GAZA STRIP , AND THEY ARE FLYING AT VERY LOW ALTITUDE .
About 10:30 PM 10/10/2011 Palestine Time
BREAKING NEWS : HEAVY GUN FIRE COMES FROM ISRAELI TANKS WEST OF JABALIAH CITY, NORTH OF GAZA STRIP, AND ABOUT 15 BULLDOZERS GET READY TO CROSS THE GREEN LINE FOR DEMOLISHING SOME HOUSES NEAR THE BORDER , GAZA UNDER HEAVY DRONES IN THE SKY .

Update:Khawlah UmmHajar 10/10/2011 9:45 AM Palestine Time

Israeli fighter jets bombard several areas in north Gazahttp://bit.ly/nYPiF3Like · · Share · 21 minutes ago via TweetDeck

Two Hours Ago another report from Northern Gaza: Via: Hani Siliman from Gaza: BEAKING NEWS : 2 ISRSELI TANKS CROSSING AREZ CHECK POINT TOWARDS BEIT HANON CITY NORTH GAZA STRIP UNDER ROAMING OF HELICOPTERS IN THE SKY .

3 injured in Israeli airstrike on northern Gaza – Israeli forces launched an airstrike on northern Gaza on Saturday evening seriously injuring one man and wounding two others, medical officials said.
Gaza emergency services spokesman Adham Abu Salmiya said three men were hospitalized, adding that one man sustained serious injuries in the attack.

ISRAEL ATTACKED GAZA TODAY – When Palestinians were ready to march for reconciliation inside Gaza and West Bank, Israel attacked Gaza Strip 3 times in one day

What Do We Do, If Israel Bombard Gaza Again? – Free Gaza Today- How to react and help others in Gaza if Israel bombard this tiny peace of land in the Mediterranean?
Gaza more than an occupied nation under siege look more like a big open prison, where close to two millions residents live under the military boot of Israel.
With the daily military excursions invading our land and air space, disrupting every bit of life in Gaza.
When the Israel planes come in the middle of the night blasting their sonar bombs, braking windows, and dreams, what we suppose to do?.
When the tanks cross inside Gaza destroying farm land, and the bulldozers come to destroy the houses and business of Palestinians, how we suppose to react?.
When the F16 show up sending missiles to an unarmed population, inflicting terror, destruction and death, what we do?

Gaza Global Affairs – The world look in awe and disbelief finally realizing how the gangs got together to enforce an illegal blockade even by United Nations standards. And we are taking in consideration the double standards of the body of Shame that the world have suffered since 1945 when its charter was officially signed, but the real world mess started back in 1916 when a few globalists decided to formed what was known as the League of NATIONS. Which is the same clown with different make up.

This is a timeline for 12 hours of terror on August 11, 2011, I don’t think we heard about it in the Main News.

Gaza, (Pal Telegraph) – Now: Israeli army in full competency on Gaza borders. Israeli air force is in active position. Gaza is being attacked all across.

The Next 12 hours time line, are the times the hearts stopped in the Palestinians Mothers, thinking if their sons will come back from school, the women  praying that their husbands will be back safe from work.
The 12 hours time line to give you an idea what it is to live inside a war zone, because Gaza it is a One Side war zone.
Every one of these events are the times that Israel attacked Gaza. The Shelling did not stop for 12 hours, the fear in the faces of the children, when the Sonar Bombs Spread its loud, deafening terrorizing sound. The Fear to not know if their houses will be destroy by the next bomb, maybe you can not even imagine. Put yourself in their position, when you see a simple plane or helicopter hovering on your neighborhood, imagine that one of those will drop death to you, or your love ones. I want you to think of Gaza Population as a defenseless, unarmed population that have no where to run for shelter or cover, strong enough to protect themselves from  bombs raining like water in a stormy 12 hours day. Think about it, and Share this information. Do something about, become peace activist, become involved in the affairs of your government, for Gaza children, for your Children that they will never have to live this 12 hours of horror.

5 minutes ago

Breaking News: The attack on Zayton area targeted a civilian car.

7 minutes ago

Breaking News: Israeli Air Force launched coordinated terrorist attacks against civilians, northern, southern, western and eastern Gaza now.

11 minutes ago

Breaking News: An air raid hits a target in Zaytoun neighborhood south east Gaza City.

13 minutes ago

Breaking News: Israeli Warplanes hit a house central Gaza, Nusairat Refugee Camp.

16 minutes ago

Breaking News: 7 Palestinians wounded in the latest Israeli attacks over northern Gaza Strip.

23 minutes ago

Israel launched 239 raids on Gaza. People spent their weekend in terror and Fear. Israel continues its terrorist attacks.

27 minutes ago

Breaking News: Israeli air force launch 3 raids on Khan Yonis city, south of Gaza.

36 minutes ago

A Terrorist Attack launched by Israel against Gaza: Five People injured in the attack.

39 minutes ago

A Terrorist Attack launched by Israel in Gaza: further news to be announced soon.

40 minutes ago

Breaking News: A huge Bombing takes place in Northern Western Gaza, Shiekh Ridwan town a home of over 140.000 civilians.

43 minutes ago

Breaking News: Mega Bombing takes place in Gaza north of Gaza.

45 minutes ago

Palestinian Right of Return Is Inevitable nblo.gs/lWyG3

1 hour ago

Israeli aircraft bombs northern Gaza, injures child nblo.gs/lWtmu

1 hour ago

Breaking News:Many of the Israeli media outlets and Politicians threaten of a terrorist war against civilians in Gaza…

1 hour ago

Breaking News: Leaks through Israeli Gov., we are considering Cast lead 2

1 hour ago

Breaking News: Israeli settlers “Maniacs” attack Nablus with protection of Israeli army, uproot 100 trees.

1 hour ago

Settlers uproot 80 olive saplings near Nablus nblo.gs/lWp44

2 hours ago

Breaking News: Terrorist Israeli attacks in northern Gaza leave a 12-year-old boy seriously injured. The child is in ICU unit now.

2 hours ago

Breaking News: Israeli air force in active position over Gaza’s air space. Gazan civilians expect predict Terrorist Israeli attacks.

3 hours ago

Breaking News: Israeli army rock the northern towns of Gaza Strip, one child wounded many hit with Trauma.

3 hours ago

2 Palestinians wounded by Israeli gunfire in Bethlehem nblo.gs/lWgum

5 hours ago

Israeli army invades Hebron, arrests 50 Palestinians nblo.gs/lWf7a

6 hours ago

Israeli army invades Hebron, arrests 50 Palestinians nblo.gs/lWf79

6 hours ago

Palestinian child assaulted by settlers in Ramallah nblo.gs/lW6HP

9 hours ago

Breaking News: Three Bombings took place in Gaza, targets were in the very eastern part of the city.

10 hours ago

Israeli Army breaks into cities of Hebron, Nablus, Bethlehem and arrest dozens of Palestinians.

10 hours ago

Israel arrests Palestinians, foreign activists in Beit Ummer nblo.gs/lW4wG

10 hours ago

Breaking News: Israeli army is breaking into civilians houses, dozens arrested. Fear spread across the city of Hebron.

10 hours ago

Breaking News: Israeli army is breaking into civilians houses, dozens arrested. Fear spread across the city.

11 hours ago

Palestinians with no bunkers from Israeli rockets.

11 hours ago

Breaking News: Israeli Naval Gunboats open heavy fire at the northern shores of Gaza.

Now: Israeli air-crafts raid on Al Zawayda area southern Gaza Strip.

12 hours ago

Breaking News: Israeli army storm Hebron city in West Bank, dozens arrested.

Support of European Parliament proposal

October 4, 2011 1 comment

Posted on October 4, 2011 by Marivel Guzman

This letter is to be send to the email address below the letter
To the United Nations
The European Parliament
The Iraqi Government
From the Residents of the Refugee Camp of Ashraf

Ashraf Refugee Camp Residents Plight to Stop the Massacres from the Iraqi Forces

To The World That is Awakening Now

To the US Government and Its Allies that Invaded Iraq

Support of European Parliament proposal

‏‫Peaceful  and permanent solution for political refugees in Camp Ashraf‏ ‫ Pursuant to a long and inhuman siege on Camp Ashraf and in an effort fully coordinated with the terrorist Quds Force, on the 8 April 2011 the Iraqi government embarked on a vicious attack against Ashraf with 2500 armed forces and various types of armored vehicles and lethal weapons. This attack resulted in the death of 35 residents along with 350 others severely wounded

This killing spree is not the first of its kind. Despite the fact the Iraqi government had made commitments to the US government regarding the protection and respect of the residents as political refugees under the full framework of the Fourth Geneva Conventions, another massacre had taken place back in 2009.

The current situation remains critical, with prospects of an even bloodier attack looming on the horizon. In hope of preventing yet another massacre and protecting the lives of Ashraf residents and their material and spiritual rights, we welcome the solution proposed by the European Parliament, and especially the proposal of a peaceful and long-term solution for Camp Ashraf residents in Iraq under the supervision of the EU, US and UN for relocation of all Ashraf residents to EU countries. We also back the stance taken by EU Foreign Policy Chief Lady Catherine Ashton who is providing positive and supporting efforts in this regard.

We also emphasize on the need for the siege imposed on Ashraf residents to be lifted, their protection be guaranteed, Ashraf’s patients and wounded residents to be transferred to special hospitals and the rights of the residents be respected as outlined by the 4th Geneva convention. While stressing on the implementation of this proposal, we demand the evacuation of all Iraqi forces stationed in and around the camp. We also urge all judicial restrictions imposed on the residents be annulled, and their confiscated property be returned to its rightful owners. In addition, reporters and human rights activists must be allowed to visit the camp, and a comprehensive investigation on the events of April 8th must be carried out.

‫Finally, we urge the US, EU, UN, the Iraqi government and parliament., and the Arab League to support this logical solution

‫Parties Involved

‏General Secretary of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon………… ‫

sg@un.org

‫ecu@un.org ‫gillet@un.org

‏‏Mr James Jeffrey Ambassador of the US in Iraq.. ‫Baghdadpressoffice@state.gov

‏His Excellency Dr Nabil General Secretary of the League of Arab States…   cofs@las.int

‏Department of the People of Ashraf…….ag.satar@idoa-sw.com

CC for the People of Ashraf Iraq

CC to all The Social Networks

CC To All Humanity

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Events Occurred on April 8, 2011 Considered Crimes Against Humanity

Camp Ashraf or Ashraf City is situated northeast of the Iraqi town of Khalis, about 120 kilometers west of the Iranian border and 60 kilometers north of Baghdad, and is the seat of the People’s Mujahedin of Iran in Iraq. The city of Ashraf was named in commemoration of Ashraf Rajavi, a famous political prisoner at the time of the Shah. Camp Ashraf is currently an Iranian refugee camp in Iraq. On January 1, 2009 its control was formally transferred from the U.S. military to the Iraqi government. The Camp has been attacked several times the last being on April 8, 2011 when Iraqi security forces stormed the camp and killed as many as 31 and wounded 320 residents and also on 17 October 2010 on the eve of Maliki’s visit to Tehran.

UN Secretary General in his quarterly report to the Security Council of 14 May 2010 pursuant to Resolution 1883, Ban Ki-moon, stressed the rights of residents of Camp Ashraf, Iraq, for protection against arbitrary displacement in Iraq or forced extradition to Iran. On April 8, 2011, Iraqi security forces in bulldozers and Humvees stormed Camp Ashraf. 34 residents were killed and scores wounded in what RFERL called “circumstances that are not clear. MKO says camp residents were killed by Iraqi forces. The Iraqi government, however, says it believes about 30 people were shot dead by guards at the camp.” However according to Amnesty International video clips of the April 8 clashes uploaded to YouTube by the MKO “appear to show Iraqi soldiers indiscriminately firing into the crowds and using vehicles to try and run others down.

Photo Credit to ASHRAFIRAN/PHOTOBUCKET

The Iraqi Forces attacks in the Ashraf Refugee Camp in Iraq, events occurred on April 8, this is considered crimes against humanity. A general call to stop the massacres, the suppression, restriction of movements on the residents of Ashraf Refugee Camp, and the return of the stolen property.
A call to international community, specially the US and the Allies that helped to Invaded and Ransacked Iraq, to return all the money stolen from Iraqi Society, Retributions on the loss of the infrastructure, the monetary compensation from homes and livelihood destroyed during and after Iraqi Invasion direct result of Military Occupation from US and its Allies.
Ashraf is just one tiny example of the suffering in Iraq, the whole country is under the wraps of destruction.
Iraq was a wealthy nation, her Vast Oils Fields been dried Up  by the greed of the invasion forces.
Democracy is only a word in the Stages of Propaganda, Death and destruction is the Reality in Iraq.

It is a  Moral Obligation of the US, EU, Arab League and any Other African County that lend their  military support, air space, ground bases, and territorial waters to the Invading Forces to help now to alleviate the suffering of the Iraqi Population. The same way that they support the invasion to make their responsibility to help on the reconstruction of the Infrastructure of Iraq, her Educational Buildings, The Reconstructions of her Antique Monuments, and the recoup of all the stolen antiques from Iraqi Museum. All the Foreign Oil Companies that helped to extract Oil from the Iraqi Soil, they have the same responsibility to help in the reconstruction of Iraq. All the revenues that were generated from the oil fields is money that belongs to every Iraqi Civilian.

We can not just, pick our bags and leave the country in disarray. We have the Moral Obligation to help them to bring their Country Back from the Ashes that we left. The Iraqi Society is one of the most antique civilizations human history can account off, Iraqi Society was an advance society Educationally and Technologically, and economically self sufficient.

The US is a new Nation with less than 300 years of history, new to this world to try to teach lessons to a well established political, social and economically structured Nation such Iraq. Now we have destroyed her society, her buildings, her wells, we usurped their culture trying to give values that were not well received, values than are only good for us in the west, being a new society this values don’t even have roots to be strong enough, we have borrowed tehm from Europe, from Africa, From the American and with all the mix, we don’t make a good strong society to try to bridge gaps or to export them to another Nation that has a long history, thousands of years old culture, antique civilization that we can not even imagine, we can try and pretend to know because we have read about it, we have PH’s doctors studying Iraq history but all that we learn from books is only a fraction of what really is the Great Nation of Iraq.
The Iraqi People Needs our help, the help of the the International community to speak up for them.   THANKS TO ALL . STAY HUMAN

Please Watch this video, it is grotesque yes, but it is happening to our brothers in Iraq, they are humans, fathers, mothers, sister, brothers they are not crazy people running, they are people running for their life, the Iraqi soldiers are using live ammunition, this is happening in Iraq in every town of Iraq, we the US and the Allies brought the civil unrest, but not because they have a Religious Differences or because they do not want the army, they did in a desperate attempt to safeguard their integrity as a society, as a human nucleus in Iraq. They were and are trying to defend themselves, what it left of their towns, of their homes, of their families.

Ashraf Petition to Support Ashraf Refugee Status and protection from the UN, and ultimately the US and its allies

Where is the World? When we are killed, harassed. Where is the International Community to protect our rights?….Here we have a lots of people talking, giving their opinions, pretending some of them that they care, they are speaking in this international forums, Well! Do something you have the stage, you have the word. Where is Bush and Company? Where is Obama that inherited this inhumane and illegal war. Where is the Club of 5 that have the power with a NO or Veto Voice to Stop this carnage. Show your faces and show your humanity.

More Posts on Iraq…

Support Ashraf – Ashraf residents are protected persons who signed an agreement with the US government according to which the US assumed their protection.
However, the agreement was violated by transferring this responsibility to the Iraqi government. This initiated a humanitarian catastrophe against the residents.

What media does’t inform you– Ashraf Refugee Camp – In late July 2009 conflict erupted when Iraqi forces attempted to enter the camp to establish a police station without the consent of the MEK. Accounts of the conflict differed. Residents claimed that Iraqi forces used violence, including gunfire, water cannons and batons, killing eleven people and injuring about 400. Videos taken by Ashraf residents show these scenes. Iraqi authorities denied using violent methods, but said unarmed residents used stones, knives and sharp tools to protect themselves and to fight security forces that tried to enter the camp. Journalists were excluded from the area.

Dale Farms


Dale Farm battle highlights funding black hole for new Traveller sites

Equality and Human Rights Commission says because Gypsy sites grant is not ring-fenced, money has been channelled away

Alexandra Topping and Hugh Muir · 28/09/2011 · guardian.co.uk

You’re the first person to read this; we’re updating now

The Dale Farm attempted eviction has drawn attention to millions of pounds being channelled away from future site funding. Photograph: Andrew Winning/REUTERSThe Dale Farm attempted eviction has drawn attention to millions of pounds being channelled away from future site funding. Photograph: Andrew Winning/REUTERS

Millions of pounds intended for new Gypsy and Traveller sites have been diverted to other projects, a move described as shocking by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

The Gypsy and Traveller Sites Grant, launched in 2008, had £97m available to “reduce the number of unauthorised sites” and “reduce the need for costly enforcement action”. But only £16.9m has been spent. A lack of ring-fencing has meant millions being channelled into affordable homes not intended for Gypsies.

The diversion of the public money emerged as an eviction at the Dale Farm Travellers’ site in Essex, estimated to cost Basildon council up to £18m, became stuck in a legal quagmire with a further high-court hearing on its fate due on Thursday.

“Given that the lack of Traveller sites is central to the Dale Farm problem, it is shocking that millions have been taken away that should have been used for site provision and other projects,” said Simon Woolley, a commissioner with responsibility for Travellers, at the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

The Homes and Communities Agency told the Guardian that £15m from the grant was allotted to “unfunded commitments in other programmes” within the National Affordable Homes Programme.

Ken O'keefe Photos from UK

Lord Eric Avebury, chair of the all-party parliamentary group for Gypsy, Roma and Travellers, said the effect of grandiose promises made to Travellers had been “pretty measly”. He added: “The government’s policy on Gypsies and Travellers is a shambles – if you are going to put a four-year programme in place then local authorities have to be aware of it and ready to use it. It is indicative of the total lack of willingness of successive governments to address the needs of Gypsies and Travellers.”

The grant programme, which had a stated aim of creating new, permanent, sites, to “tackle the inequalities experienced by Travellers … one of the most disadvantaged [groups] in the country” has led to building of just four new sites, with a total of 37 pitches; 62 new pitches were created on existing sites and 178 pitches were refurbished.

A lack of political will is responsible for the failure to provide the required 3,000 sites, according to the government’s annual caravan count, said the MP Andrew Slaughter, a member of the Gypsy, Roma and Travellers parliamentary group.

Slaughter said: “Local authorities are unwilling to take the grant often because of pressure from electors who say they do not want a site near them even it will solve local problems and cost nothing.”

The situation will be worsened by the localism bill, which scraps the requirement for local authorities to use a common method for assessing the needs of Gypsies and Travellers, and removes councils’ obligation to allocate sites, he added.

The coalition scrapped the Gypsy and Traveller sites grant in 2010-11, but reinstated a sum of £60m for 2011-15. That amount is about half of the yearly total previously available.

The Department for Communities and Local Government said the cut was made as part of its “contribution to reducing the national deficit”, and that targets had been abolished because “they did not work, alienated communities and did not always accurately reflect the need on the ground”.

Councils were being given more powers to address local housing and planning issues with “incentives” to provide appropriate sites, including a “duty to cooperate”, ensuring local authorities worked together. There was also the new homes bonus, whereby the government matches additional council tax raised by new homes.

But that bonus was rated by Slaughter as “a perverse incentive” since councils would draw significantly more council tax from luxury developments than Traveller sites.

The situation was likely to create more Dale Farms, the MP said: “The government has given in to pressure from backbenchers to give local authorities a device to veto construction of new sites. That will mean few if any new sites built even if money’s available, more expensive evictions, more conflict and the continuation of appalling life-indicators for Gypsies and Travellers.”

Candy Sheridan, who is a member of the Gypsy Council and a campaigner at Dale Farm, told the Guardian’s Focus podcast that the Gypsy community was being let down and ignored. “It’s appalling. We have not been catered for and we continue to be vilified,” she said. “There are councils everywhere who don’t want to deliver for us – they say we have enough Gypsy sites. Where do we fit in?”

Additional reporting by Peter Sale

“It was an honour to be with the residents and activists who repelled the eviction of over 80 families from Dale Farm. The planned eviction of the Dale Farm residents is a human rights issue that everyone who cares about justice should be aware of.

Come to Dale Farm and increase the power of the people to compel justice.”  Ken O’keefe

 

Read More in Dale Farms…..

Truth & Lies – Why Dale Farm Matters –  The Irish traveler community of Dale Farm in England are facing a forced eviction, they are also facing a racist system that falsely claims that the residents of Dale Farm are flouting the law

Dale Farm Solidarity -Dale Farm resident, Mary McCarthy, said “I can’t believe that Basildon Council are placing the rights of newts over the rights of our community to a home. The council is finding any excuse to drive us out of Basildon.”

Dale Farm supporter, Ali Saunders, added “Tony Ball’s leadership is becoming untenable. It has been shown in court that there are alternatives to a confrontational eviction strategy at huge human and financial cost. Tony Ball needs to resign or return to the negotiating table.”

The Men of the Hour – Zbigniew Brzezinski

September 26, 2011 12 comments

Posted on September 24, 2011 by Marivel Guzman

Zbigniew Brzezinski; How much of  truth is in his words.

November 21, 1978- Secret Memo Send from Zbigniew Brzezinski to Carter, "There is still one outstanding issue that needs to be resolved--The commitment by the parties to negotiate on the West Bank and Gaza.Follow the Link to the Original Memo

November 21, 1978- Secret Memo Send from Zbigniew Brzezinski to Carter, “There is still one outstanding issue that needs to be resolved–The commitment by the parties to negotiate on the West Bank and Gaza”. Jimmy Carter Library Secret Memo Declassified, Remember The David Accords were a set of secret meetings, between Egyptian President, Israel Prime Minister and US. Palestine was not invited to the meetings, even thought they were  discussing the future of Palestine.

Israel is an Unstable Island, it is isolated;Morning Joe: Dr. Brzezinski: New era of populism in the Middle East, Former National Security Advisor Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski joins Morning Joe to discuss a recent speech on the Middle East he gave at the plenary session of the Global Policy Forum. Dr. Brzezinski also discusses Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the recent Census Bureau report on poverty in the U.S .

While I agree in every word this man says in his MSNBC interview aired on September 15, 2011 in the Show Morning Joe with her daughter and journalist Mika Brzenski  and  Joe Scarborough, I also have to say that I can not trust his words, or at least his motives to say those words, or anything that comes from him or from any member or guest of the trilateral commission, (1972 Co-Founded with Rockefeller), Member of Speaker in the Forums of The Council of Foreign Relations or frequent invitee of the Bilderberg annual meetings globalist group.

This man is the Democrat side of the coin, being Kissinger the Republican side. Zbigniew Brzezinski is the one that gave rise to the shadow of The Invisible Men, this man that with great eloquence and subtle lies and  empty promises won the hearts of the black Americans and the good heart people. The invisible men like the book subject planted the seeds of dissidence in the minds of the masses, as if following a script taken directly from the book of Ralph Ellison. Obama is his creation. “The Men Chosen to Destroy America”. “For the Greater Good!”.

Ralph Ellison gives in his master piece The Invisible Men the lesson; “As long as there is Racial Division Mentality in our Society, we must be aware of the motives behind the self proclaimed superior race, we must be aware of what is behind their mentality that has been shaped by centuries of indulgence. Ralph Ellison walks us throughout a black and white society, boiling with injustices, the whites  uses cunning language and social traps,  to make the blacks believes that they are moving to a change; Change that wants the destruction of the black men power, destroying every dissident black voice for the Greater Good ”

Do you ever wonder or perhaps you did;  How is that America Become Tolerant over night? How is that America stopped being racist over night. Before Barack Obama was kindly presented to the masses with great fanfare, when the eyes of the world were in that stage of The Annual Democratic Convention, before Barack Husein Obama, white America would  never have thought in electing a non white president, before Obama America was still fighting racial conflicts in the streets, in the courts, in the jobs, in jails, Why? because before Obama we America were a Racist Country. And Zbigniew Brzezinski The Poland men with all the Aryan literature Fresh in his mind comes to the front arena and present the world the Soon to be Non White President. And in a surprising Media Propaganda The Elite Puppet Masters sold us the Invisible Men.

With all my heart I wish that Mr President Obama will turn around on his masters and come with us the people of the world. I know that he is very smart men, he is brilliant and should stand tall against the banksters, the warmongers that want us in a continuous war to sell their gadget and weaponry, against the corporate greed  of few giants that are destroying our Planet Mother Earth. Mr Obama should stand tall, proud of being the first Non White America Men to take the seat of the United State of North America. To stand with us the We The People, the Real Power Engine that Move our World.

The Rise of Obama to Power;

President Barack Obama

Zbigniew Brzezinski visits a man thought now to be Osama bin Ladin (aka Tim Osman) in at the Afghanistan border in the late 1980’s. The same tactic of funding one foe, via offshore accounts, to defeat another remains in place, only this time the Taliban are not being used against the Soviets, but marring the name of Islam to justify the War on Terror. (Photos: Sygma Corbis Agency, Paris)

Zbigniew Brzezinski is no better than Kissinger, Paul Wolfowitz, Bush’s, Richard Perle and any puppet in the theater of the Zionist Elitist Globalist Agenda of the NWO group.

These men; do not make the mistake, as they themselves are part of the same programs, they are disposable, usable and trash-able when they finish their mission.

We need to be vigilant of any actions that will come in the next few months, as the global awareness movement is taken new levels so the Globalist Agenda. But as always We The People have the upper hand if we stay united.

There is nothing stronger than a United Family and in these volatile days we the “Human Family” needs to stay more united than ever to win the battle of the classes that has been waged against us.

And I m not talking in any socialist agenda or political agenda of any kind I m talking of the awareness that it is taking place in every block of society.

We can not be confused or convinced by Zbigniew Brzezinski words, he is not a men of the people he is a figure the moves in the highest spheres of Power and Money how can we even consider believing what he says without putting in perspective his record, and doubting the purpose of this interview, beside to obviously being to advertise another of this propaganda books.

In 1998, Brzezinski admitted in an interview with Le Nouvel Observa teur that the Taliban was being funded by the Carter administration not because they were freedom fighters, but to invoke support against a more formidable enemy, Russia.

But what the News or Main Street writers fail to mention is that the CIA started to fund the Taliban long before Russia Invaded Afghanistan, the makers of war has no limit on their practices and they do not stop to official restrains, like congress approval of funds for their operations, they use a sinister mechanism to achieve their goal, in this case they use laundered money to head start their wars.

Read the Files of Joseph Trento Investigative journalist, and if you like to trail the names, please do watch 911 of Michael Moore and make notes of the names he mention in this documentary, and make your own investigation.

Every time that the masses seems to be awaking up, the controllers changed gears, sometimes, Republican gear, or Democrat if it fits, but they are the same people behind the curtain, Bankster, Fraudsters, Mafia type group all link to the same string. Greed and Control.

Agha Hasan Abedi. [Source: Terry Kirk / Financial Times]Investigative journalist Joseph Trento will later report that in 1976, the Safari Club, a newly formed secret cabal of intelligence agencies (see September 1, 1976-Early 1980s), decides it needs a network of banks to help finance its intelligence operations. Saudi Intelligence Minister Kamal Adham is given the task. “With the official blessing of George H. W. Bush as the head of the CIA, Adham transformed a small Pakistani merchant bank, the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI), into a world-wide money-laundering machine, buying banks around the world to create the biggest clandestine money network in history.” BCCI was founded in 1972 by a Pakistani named Agha Hasan Abedi, who was an associate of Adham’s. Bush himself has an account at BCCI established while still director of the CIA.…….Read more

All happening under Zbigniew Brzezinski watch and control, while he was President Jimmy Carter’s National Security Adviser. All these men like Zbigniew Brzesinski,

Henry Kissinger, Paul Wolfowitz are salesmen for the War Complex Machine, does not matter if they are Republican or Democrat,  if they have the backing of the Bank Industry and the Media Complex they are just puppets of the same theater. Please wonder little bit, why is that man like Zbigniew Brzezinski being democrat or representing the interest of the banking industry, war complex machine or any other giant monster, they never lose their political power, they are always assets to who ever political power is in the white house.

They will use any means of division be religious intolerance, racial conflict, class unrest, gay rights, abortion issues name it and all is marketable for the Elite, everything cook and distributed from the headquarters of the CIA, MOSSAD, or any clandestine agency that works for the better paid master.

The evidence found in the case of BCCI linked international bankers to efforts to fund al Qaeda operatives, and hence bolster the eventual support for the coming War on Terror. Al Qaeda, the Taliban and other pittance lackeys were spawned, funded and trained by the Illuminati to lend credence to the War on Terror, which is carrying on the mission of wholesale genocide of innocent Muslims in Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan with a serious eye on the main target, Pakistan. The Islamic Post

A lot of what happen to the world is linked to the Saudi Family, the Bushes, The CIA, The Banksters, The Oil Industry. And all the conflicts from South America to the last corner of Africa and Middle East was founded with Drug Money, why do you think the US has a “War in Drugs”, because they want to be the only master of that Trade and they have their personal poppy fields in Afghanistan and in the High Sierras of Mexico and South America.

Since 911 came to be the division line of history for the US, more and more religious conflicts are  being used for their agenda, do not buy into their trap. We all the are free to believe or not believe in a superior power. We all have the capacity to understand the mighty power of God. We can be politically incorrect on social, economic and political issues, but we can not be wrong on what we believe, do not allow the men behind the curtain to tell you who is your God.

Our history is full of events that were structured to happen to keep us divided. It is time to throw their books of propaganda away, to pay no attention in their programs of control We are in control now. We The People have the Upper Hand if we want it.

I bring you some of the staged events of the 21 century where this men of the hour Brzezinski took active part. Nothing that is written is truth unless you believe it, and everything is subject to doubt.

Le Nouvel Observateur, Paris, 15-21 January 1998
Posted at globalresearch.ca 15 October 2001

Question: The former director of the CIA, Robert Gates, stated in his memoirs [“From the Shadows”], that American intelligence services began to aid the Mujahadeen in Afghanistan 6 months before the Soviet intervention. In this period you were the national security adviser to President Carter. You therefore played a role in this affair. Is that correct?

Brzezinski: Yes. According to the official version of history, CIA aid to the Mujahadeen began during 1980, that is to say, after the Soviet army invaded Afghanistan, 24 Dec 1979. But the reality, secretly guarded until now, is completely otherwise Indeed, it was July 3, 1979 that President Carter signed the first directive for secret aid to the opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul. And that very day, I wrote a note to the president in which I explained to him that in my opinion this aid was going to induce a Soviet military intervention.

Remember the Elite find themselves in a difficult situation now. They did not planed the Jasmine and the Egyptian revolution, No these Revolutions born from  years of oppression, The Revolutions were right from the desperation of the people, the oppression that it needed to be broken, and those two countries were like an explosion of fireworks that gave us the light, the direction that we must follow in our own liberation, and there is not a straight line to do it or magic recipe. And not all the oppressed and subjugated nations needs the Revolutions or bloodshed to brake the cycle. All we need is to be active in our own affairs, to be politically motivated to work in our own future as a race on Earth, as a family.

When the Media label the Revolutions “The Arab Spring” they try to confine it to a regions, they try  to give it a racial flavor to the movement. The two successful revolutions were not planed by them and that’s why they are worry now. They see the dispersion of the ideas like dust in the wind unable to contain, and off course they are looking for a control tactics to bring the masses back to their seats as spectator of our drama, again back to the driver seat of the silver screen, as it was for many years, but they are forgetting something, we are moving to a higher level of consciousnesses  now we are being the Opinion Makers, is like we are awakening to a long dream.

The Truth is the News and can not be cover by beautiful and crafty words. The Truth is destined to survive the most entertaining fictional story of the editor of Fox or CNN, these networks are struggling to keep us hooked to their lies

There is no way that we can go back to be the passive spectators that for years, warmed the sofas in front to the TV’s. Now we are part of the making of the news, we are part of the story, we are making the story and the Opinion Makers of the Truth.

Zbigniew Brzezinski is advertising his book!? and he has no shame to write and try sell to the masses what he and the gang that he works for has helped to created. He is part of that Corporate world that he speaks of, his knowledge of the issues should tell you the truth behind everything that he says. He knows what he is talking about, he knows every plan conceived, every regional conflict, every war, he knows it all, and he try now to make benign, positive and making us believe that is thinking for the good of society, but this is to prepare for their next part of the plan, but their plan back fire on them and he knows it, and the Globalist know it, and he is put in the front of the stage to make us believe that we are ready for the change, but do not forget his back ground, his motives, his goal. The Superior Race think on the “Greater Good”, no matter how many fall, billions if that would be necessary.

Mr Barack Obama was selected to Rise and Fall and taking with him the great America. They know that Barack Obama has a dark past, starting with his birth place that until now is being use, as a confusing issue, as a mystery card ready to come out of the sleeve when the time is right for them. Then  we have Obama and Emanuel: members of same gay bath house club in Chicago. His School years and Professional Relations with a self confessed domestic terrorist; William Ayers, it all could be just part of the great scheme to be used against Mr President when times come, but that’s for you to decide, you are the opinion maker.

Brzezinski: “Its easier to kill a million people…than it is to control them”

Follow the trail of Names, he praises Icons of the Bank and Fraud Industry, take for example in this speech that he deliver for British Elite.

He mentions with passion John Cunningham Whitehead , American Bankster, currently a board member of the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation (WTC Memorial Foundation), and former chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, does it ring any bells?  911 Perhaps!.That is for you to investigate, there is no secrets in this wealth of global library that we possess, The Internet.

Please listen all his speech, tight lose ends, names, conflicts and our present reality. This speech is not for the masses but directed to a select group.

I m skeptical mind, and doubt everything, and do not trust any one that is a product of the Globalist Elitist groups, of Banksters, War Complex Machine, Energy Industry Icons, Monsanto Corporation, Pharmaceutical Industry, Global Churches or Fundamental Religious Groups, or any other group or individual that make everything possible to divide us, to kills us, ignore us, numb us, or sicken us. I ask you to investigate, to Share any truth that you discover or uncover, any information that is good for us, the human family on earth. And the same way I wish with all my heart that Mr President Barack Obama, will come with us, to be part of our awakening family, to Rise to the Occasion. STAY HUMAN

Zbigniew Brzezinski Internview in MSNB

The Role of the General Assembly of the United Nations Vs Security Council Arbitrary Practices


Posted on September 22, 2011 by Marivel Guzman

The Security Council Role in the world it is not of maker of war as stands since its creation, there are 5 Permanent Members with “Right” to Veto any Resolution, but we should analyze in deep why they would “Veto” any measure that will avert war, or bring stability to a region on Earth, because their Job is to Guarantee Peace and Security, not to create conflicts and wars.

If the permanent members of the Security Council will be doing their job, we would not have a single war or conflict on Earth. There is no reason to wage a war on a neighbor is the Human Rights Status are implemented for every human being, if we respect the land of others, and respect the natural resources of Earth as a vast resource to feed us and not to accumulate riches in few hands.

This is my take on all the information thrown to roll in the internet, overall it is very pessimist on the UN Bid..and I think is misleading on the roles, of the General Assembly and Security Council…Because the case for Palestine Member status fall under the direction of the General Assembly even thought that the Security Council will want to make a recommendation on the issue, does not fall in their capacity.

Security Council role is in security and peace issues, like War and Peace, or Military Interventions or Economical Sanctions, and this Issue of Palestine Seat it is a Diplomatic move and has nothing to do with resolution of a conflict in itself but granting the membership to an entity that comply with the requirement to achieve this goal, as it is Palestine full capable of self determination.
Even thought the US and the 5 permanent members want to tell the world their twisting version, they are wrong in their own roles..

If the charters are respected as were intended, this issue should go directly to the General Assembly and not at all to the Security Council,  And  to make the things better; any member with voting status can make a recommendation on a issue to be discussed and vote by the 193 member of the General Assembly  and Today Bahrain and Kuwait made the recommendation to the General assembly  to recognize Palestine as an independent state.. so, we going to keep fighting and pressing our own, legislators to get the rule straight  and stop playing political games, and do their job which it is make Peace Not War, Resolve Conflict to perpetrate them, and in no way they should favor an Entity that should not be a Member because does not comply with the requirement of delimited borders Israel move the borders at will and that it is in contravention of the Rule of the own UN…

At General Assembly, Kuwait and Bahrain demand creation of Palestinian State
The leaders of Kuwait and Bahrain today at the General Assembly called for an end to Israeli occupation of Arab territories and the creation of a Palestinian State, a move they said would resolve conflict in the Middle East.

22 September 2011 – The leaders of Kuwait and Bahrain today at the General Assembly called for an end to Israeli occupation of Arab territories and the creation of a Palestinian State, a move they said would resolve conflict in the Middle East

Security Council

The Security Council has primary responsibility, under the UN Charter, for the maintenance of international peace and security.  A reform of the Security Council, including its membership is under consideration.

Security Council Subsidiary Bodies

Trusteeship Council

The Trusteeship Council was established in 1945 by the UN Charter to provide international supervision for 11 Trust Territories placed under the administration of 7 Member States, and ensure that adequate steps were taken to prepare the Territories for self-government and independence. By 1994, all Trust Territories had attained self-government or independence. Its work completed, the Council has amended its rules of procedure to meet as and where occasion may require.

Secretariat

The Secretariat carries out the day-to-day work of the Organization.  It services the other principal organs and carries out tasks as varied as the issues dealt with by the UN: administering peacekeeping operations, surveying economic and social trends, preparing studies on human rights, among others.

Repertory of Practice of United Nations Organs

The Repertory of Practice of United Nations Organs is a legal publication containing analytical studies of the decisions of the principal organs of the United Nations.  It is a comprehensive summary of the decisions of United Nations Organs and serves to throw light on questions of application and interpretation of the UN Charter in practice.

General Assembly

The General Assembly is the main deliberative organ of the UN and is composed of representatives of all Member States. The work of the United Nations year-round derives largely from the mandates given by the General Assembly.  A revitalization of the Assembly is under way to enhance its role, authority, effectiveness and efficiency.

General Assembly Subsidiary Bodies

Economic and Social Council

The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), established by the UN Charter, is the principal organ to coordinate the economic, social and related work of the United Nations and the specialized agencies and institutions.  Voting in the Council is by simple majority; each member has one vote.

ECOSOC Subsidiary Bodies

International Court of Justice

The International Court of Justice, located at the Hague in the Netherlands, is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations.  It settles legal disputes between states and gives advisory opinions to the UN and its specialized agencies.  Its Statute is an integral part of the United Nations Charter.

At General Assembly, Kuwait and Bahrain demand creation of Palestinian State

Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al Mohammad Al Ahmad Al Sabah of Kuwait

22 September 2011 – The leaders of Kuwait and Bahrain today at the General Assembly called for an end to Israeli occupation of Arab territories and the creation of a Palestinian State, a move they said would resolve conflict in the Middle East.“Six decades have passed, and the United Nations still stands incapable of finding a solution to the Palestinian Question and putting an end to the Israeli occupation of Arab territories,” said Sheikh Nasser Al Mohammad Al Ahmad Al Sabah, the Prime Minister of Kuwait, in his speech to the Assembly’s general debate in New York.

“What really evokes concern is that the international community stands as a spectator of all those Israeli practices and policies, without opposing or deterring them, despite their clear contravention and violation of the most simple rules of international law and the resolution of international legitimacy,” he said.

The Kuwaiti leader urged the international community to put pressure on Israel to withdrawal from Palestinian and other Arab territories so that Palestinians can achieve their right to self-determination and establish a State with Jerusalem as its capital.

“We wish to renew our full commitment and support to the bid of the Palestinian Authority and its endeavours to obtain membership of the United Nations as an independent and full Member State.”

The King of Bahrain, Hamad bin Issa Al Khalifa, for his part told the Assembly that the creation of a Palestinian State would “end an era of bitter Arab-Israeli conflict, subject to Israeli withdrawal from all occupied Arab territories.”

The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, in his address to the general debate yesterday, hailed calls for political reform in the Middle East and North Africa, saying the regions “abounded in great expectations.”

He said that Qatar has always had a clear policy on the rules governing Arab, regional and international relations, which he said was based on reconciliation and harmony among peoples and nations.

“On the other hand, we, as well as others, have been unable to turn a deaf ear or blind eye to the calls of the wounded seeking help from near and far, against an entrenched oppression,” he said.

The Sheikh also had a tête-à-tête with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, during which they exchanged views on a number of regional issues, including Libya, Iraq, the Middle East and Darfur peace processes.

Mr. Ban paid tribute to the role played by Qatar in supporting the UN’s work, stressing the country’s role in the Darfur peace process and its efforts to settle other regional issues.

Follow this link to listen to the speech of Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al Mohammad Al Ahmad Al Sabah of Kuwait

The Importance to being Anti-Israel – The feeling of aversion to the Israeli regime and sympathy for Palestine has even reached the United States. On September 16, hundreds of Americans and Palestinians rallied in New York City in front of the United Nation Building in Manhattan and voiced their support for Palestine’s statehood bid. Among the protesters were students and even pro-Palestinian Israelis who held Palestinian flags and chanted pro-Palestinian songs.

The Arrogant voice of Imperialism – President Obama delivered an empty and arrogant sermon to the United Nations Wednesday, laced with platitudes about “peace” that were designed to mask Washington’s predatory policies. The American president received a tepid response from the assembled heads of state, foreign ministers and UN delegates. Not a single line in his speech evoked applause.

Forsight with Insight

We the People Stand for Justice and Peace; Palestine UN State 2011

September 21, 2011 4 comments

Posted on September 20, 2011 by Marivel Guzman

It is up to All of us in the free world, to speak, to protest, to boycott, to question against the US or any other country that do not agree with the Independence of  Palestine.
There is no more time for mockery “Peace Talks”, they were never intended to solve the conflict but to continue the occupation which some how in the road of 65 years has become “Legal”, go figure how the “Elite” understand democracy and freedom for others. All we know is that UN (Club of 5) were never partners for peace, not for the Palestinians or for no one. Now the best they can do is to stay on the sidelines and let the people to choose their destiny.

The Arabs Spring, this is how the Media have baptized the will of the people, the people revolutions have shown to the world, to the leaders that we still have the power to move, and those revolutions will keep growing even if the Elite thinks they can stop them.
Now is the time for us to yell loud and clear that we are not spectators no more, we want peace for Palestinians, we want their rights, their seat in the UN. We the People Choose not to let few leaders to Choose for all of us.

Remember; The leaders are few, WE THE PEOPLE are Many, we are billions of people that can rise to the occasion. Injustice is one of the reasons the revolutions started not only in these past few months, but throughout history. We are to the brink of starvation, because injustice is to the order of the day. The Leaders can not afford a global boycott, a global march, a global Protest, a global REVOLUTION, because WWIII will be imminent, and why will they want to use nuclear weapons. Why for the benefit of few. NO, Nonsense.

Palestine has been an ongoing conflict that needs to be solved now, and this is a great opportunity for Israel to move forward and stop their aggressive tactics and finally get it, that enough is enough.

The disinformation going around is a real knock out of Israel against Palestine, there is no Indefinite Veto Power, the Security Council will make a recommendation on the Request from Palestine Authority to Be accepted as a Full Member of the UN being the 194 state. But the real power is in the General Assembly of the UN, that needs 3/4 of of the countries to pass a resolution.  And nothing is written in stone, any compromise reach on this historic resolution should be implemented and could be change for the good of the parties involved. Especially for Palestinians that have always get the worse part in any accords in the past. And by the way, those accords should be obsolete, they were never implemented from Israel part, but were forced on the Palestinians.

In the past, all the veto resolutions done by US or any other country never seek the General Assembly because they were weak requests in the eyes of the General Assembly, but this time is different, the world is tired of Israel mockery of International Law, tired of Israel violating every convention and International Human Rights Statutes . The world is tired to see the full support that Israel gets from the Club of 5 (UN Security Council/illegal in my view)on every crime she commits. I think now we finally are seeing ourselves as awaken from a long dream.

Before we will hear Obama, or Bush or Blair or any Leaders excusing Israel for killing Palestinians with the well known statement; “Israel has the right to defend itself”, com’on defend itself from who, from patients in hospitals being bombed from F16, or drones, defend itself from 10 years old being killed and called collateral damaged, when Israel bomb their homes.  Defend from the Olive trees, being uprooted for the buffer zone or to plant settlement inside Palestine?

We seen it all with Israel the latest slap to all of us, was the massacre of the Mavi Marmara where the Palmer Report got to the conclusion that the Block of Gaza is Legal, and the murder of 9 unarmed peace activists were in an act of self defense. Really! it is ludicrous, ridiculous how, time and time again we see Israel being exonerated with a pad in the back for her crimes. The way we seen lately the disproportionate use of force against International Peace Activists and the Non Violent movement,  is how the world attention has finally paid attention to the Palestinian Cause. It’s like we went back time, and found ourselves inside South Africa Apartheid, but in Palestine, in the Occupied Territories, and we using this term Occupied Territories as we were in the medieval times, when the law of the jungle ruled. We are in the 21 century and we still have some Military States oppressing entire populations and our leaders and news treat the phenomenon as it is normal.

Israel is not the only Military Dictatorship that it is committing crimes against humanity, India also is in flagrant abuse of power in the region of Kashmir, but the eyes of the world are now in Palestine and it is time to start cutting heads, Israel is a new beginning because it is from this spot on earth that the globalist agenda is planned.

Our history is full of Mass Murderers not only the revered Kings of the history books have killed thousands of people and usurped the rights of those same people, but Popes and revered religious figures in our past have ordered the mass murdered of thousands of people, even The God of the Old Testament had ordered the killings of thousands of people and we were ok with those stories. Now in this modern era we see the savagery that took place in the past, and we start realizing that we never really stand together as a race, in no other time in history we did were together, we always been divided by Religion, Cultural Values, Political ideas and other divisive tools. In the last 40 years I can say, since the hippie movement is that the world started their awakening, and now we are more and more standing with my brother, speaking for his rights, and suffering his pains. Palestine is the great example, but does not stop there, we are moving to a new era, this is it..Natayahu is only one of many which heads will fall. With your help, my help and that of 6.7 billions more people that are awakening…

The Beginning of new era for Palestine start in that theater, that was the same that created Israel. With the difference that Israel is losing support, and Palestine support is growing day by day. And I know that it seems that if we accept the idea of two states solutions we will be given legitimacy to Israel, I see it from the positive side and the realistic fact, that the population of Palestine is growing exponentially, and Israel population is diminishing, in two ways; lots of Israelis are abandoning the boat and leaving the Land, and also, they do not reproduce as fast as Palestinians do, so I see it, as the power of the people will take over, and with the help of the International Community of Peace and Social activists and conscience objectors, Israel will eventually disappear from the Map with the same pen that was created. The UN.

And it is exactly in this spot on earth, the Holy Land where history said conflicts started, when so it is a good place to start with the cleaning of our Planet. Welcome to Humanity 1.01, the program is fresh upgrade yours it is free.  ……….STAY HUMAN

My favorite Radio Host Michael Rivero and his very own and truthful views of our world

The instant the US government Vetos the Palestinian measure in the security council the whole world is going to know that the US government is full of crap. When it comes to middle east peace when it comes to a Palestinian state, everybody is going to see the US government grovel for Israel before the eyes of the entire world. The US governments credibility is going to be destroyed, not that there is very much left anyways. So everybody in Washington DC might as well get your tee-shirts that say “proud to be Israels bitch” and you might as well put them on right now… because after Friday that is what everyone on planet earth is going to be thinking about you. Everybody who’s in congress and washington DC if you want to support Israel GO THERE! But as long as you stand on the soverign territory of the USA and as long as your salary is paid by the American tax payer and you work in the buildings that belong to the people of the USA you better darn well be taking care of this country, because we have HAD IT.

More Posts………..

Palestinians will go to the UN on September 23...Do not believe in rumors

A Strategy for Israel in the 1980′s…Read this article in entirely and see how the agenda is been followed to the last step. So do not get discourage, we keep fighting, we moving to a new era

People we do not know.…….We interact few times in the walls, in the channels, the spaces and we call ourselves, friends, brothers, comrades. We go to extreme lengths to fight for your rights, to fight for your country, to fight for your causes. We stand strong for a reason we do not completely understand, other than doing social justice to peace and friendship. What really Happen to all of us?, that suddenly we raise our voices for your flag, for the protection of your individual liberties, your civil rights

Would UN General Assembly Vote for an Independent Palestine?…..Since the Fall of the Berlin Wall ,there are enough existential and serious problems for regimes and states in the Arab and Muslim world ,from Morocco to Saudi Arabia, and beyond , greedy , ruthless White Christian Crusaders pursuing mostly illegal policy of destruction and loot of  sovereign states like Libya ,Iraq etc .There is relentless pressure on Assad regime in Syria, but the next hot item on the Middle East agenda is going to be the vote on Palestine Independence in United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in September, 2011.

Photographers Under Siege


Posted on September 15, 201 by Marivel Guzman

By Omar Karem

Gaza Strip, Palestine/Pictures talk more than a thousands words, and in Gaza it could be the only evidence to mark history with the struggles of its people. For more than 65 years Israel has managed to control the media, what is written about the conflict is always been filtered of any bad image that could potentially be used against Israel in the event of International Crimes being filled against her.

Lately for Gaza its been like a roller coaster with  the attacks from part of Israel all it could have not been possible to record if it wasn’t for the brave photographer that armed with their cameras wander the streets of Gaza to snap that image that will cross the world for all of us to see.

A group of 30 young photographers has taken to the task to form a compact team to organize trips around Gaza and form a life Virtual Album with the everyday images of Gaza Life.
Gaza is a vibrant community of close to 2 millions people, and life is not always about bombs and conflict, Palestinians in Gaza have a busy life, like any other people in the world. Most of these young photographers have divided their time between photography and their morning jobs, or their studies.

The dynamics of Gaza for their unique circumstances make the profession very attractive for them, the continuous coming of the convoys is an entertaining and interesting pass time for many of these young guys. Photography is almost part of the life in Gaza, freelance photographers and photojournalists have multiplied in the last 4 years. Many reason for this, the most important is the lack of jobs in Gaza, and the necessity to share with the world their struggles. Most of the photographers in this group, are also very active peace activists and for them is double the task.

It is not easy for them as the photographic equipment is hard to come by, the siege has made almost impossible the acquisition of photographic equipment, having to pay high prices due to scarily of the equipment, but never the less they manage to make their profession and hobby as nicer as possible.

These group of freelance photographers have taken the task to form a strong group to work as a team and through out their photography share with the world, their culture, their art, their monuments, everything that encompasses their life under siege. Life in the making will be their work.
Remember the Port in Gaza is one of the oldest spots on earth, it has not been easy for Gaza to survive time, but they have and these group of brave young people will enlighten us with their findings.
Today was their first trip together, where they used to greet each other, to meet and to capture the first images taken as a team. I introduce to you

Photographers Under Siege.

A Dreamer is a winner; Stay Human

Life is continuous come and goes, the reflection of our reality is in our acts, our deeds, our karma. Life goes

on. But the lenses of the camera captures that special moment that will live for ever. Stay Human!

In our existence we go, looking always for big things, sometimes forgetting that little things

matter more. It is in the detail that we find the most amazing things in life.

Discussing the events in Gaza is matter of life and Death. But for these Gasawans Photographers another

day of struggles is another day of life, tomorrow is expected   Inshallah !

A Strategy for Israel in the 1980’s – Zionist Present State

September 14, 2011 4 comments

Posted on September 13, 2011 by Marivel Guzman

The World Affairs After Zionist Planing

We are in September 2011 and seems as the “We the world” find ourselves in a crossroads point, for the great majority of the people of the world  has been busy: Surviving structured wars. Iraq War, Afghanistan Assault and invasion, just to name the most recent bloody wars that killed close to 1 millions innocents.

Regional conflicts, with religiously steered mob type confrontations.

Just merely surviving the inclemency of the weather (HAARP) comes to mind when you see the irregularities that have taken place on Earth since Tesla technology was made its public appearance WITH HAARP antennas in the North Pole.

Or we have to see the inefficacy of Mother Earth to Produce (MONSANTO), this monster monopoly that have changed the genetic material of most of the seeds of the planet.

And so many racial and ethnic genocides; PALESTINE,BOSNIA,CHECHNYA,ARMENIA, and the almost extinction of the American Native Tribes.

I can name every conflict or difficulty of the 21 century and without mistaking the conclusion, I can say that everything point out to the same Globalist, Elitists, Banksters/Monsters Groups of Families.

Some how linked to the Royals Family and descendents, and off course related without a doubt to the Zionist enterprise of criminals that  made its public apparition in our society dress up as protectors of a religious group that got its fame back in biblical times for its deceptive practices, and disobedience to the rules, rulers and the designs of their own God,  all gotten to the point in time where we have to start thinking in the consequences of our inability to act in our behalf.

We can debate for another 2000 years the veracity of their claim, claim taken out of their religious books. We can even debate their right to call themselves Hebrews or Jews, or Tribes of Israel, or debate their ascendency from Kings or Gods, but we will never get to a consensus simply because not every body believes in their God, Not everybody believes in One God,  or simply we do not believe in the intentions of their God that went about promising a Land that was already occupied even in those years, and was worshiping other Gods.  The situation gets more complicated because their own books give us the evidence that the land was taken, and I can Quote from the Hebrew Bible this short versus just to make my point:

Deuteronomy “Hear, O Israel: You are to cross over the Jordan today, and go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourself, cities great and fortified up to heaven, a people great and tall, the descendants of the Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you heard it said, “Who can stand before the descendants of Anak?”, Therefore understand today that the Lord your God is He who goes over before you as a consuming fire. He will destroy them and bring them down before you; so you shall drive them out and destroy them quickly, as the Lord has said to you.”

The Negligence of the world at large-and I m counting all of us- to protect our world peace.

For years we left the ‘leaders’ to decide on very important issues on their own, we all responsible for the situation we are living in, we can not just point fingers to the elected leaders, because they did what they did, because we allowed them to do it.  For years we  evaded our responsibility as a citizens of this Earth.

We always thought that what happened in Uganda, Congo, Cuba, Chile, Palestine, Bosnia or other places did not have direct impact in our every day living, we all responsible for the world chaos we have now.

The Palestine-Israel Conflict it is an issue that have been the division point in the every dinner table of many families for years.

Families that were comfortable in believing what the TV was telling them about the Palestinians, everything they heard from the media was thought to be right.

The struggles of the Jews throughout history was never reconsidered, or revised.

We never even give it a second thought, that an eight year old child was killed by a soldier for the simple reason of throwing a stone to a tank.

We heard the news as it is something normal for a family in Palestine to mourn the death of another child, as if it did not matter.

For years we all left the Palestinians to suffer their own destiny, their own pains without even thinking that down the road, that conflict was going to be the cause of the unrest in the world, the misery of many countries, and the reason to be so close to annihilate ourselves in a senseless WWIII.

What we were thinking?

Thinking that killing a child in Palestine,  Was not a big deal?.

We thought that it did not have anything to do with us in the other part of the world.

What a negligence from our part, not seeing the whole context of the conflict.

A Palestinian child killed in Palestine  was a Palestine issue, not an American issue, was the simple mind sicked from lies and propaganda.

Let them, teach them a lesson!.

I m sure lots of people have has said just that. Thinking that a Palestine child deserved what he got.

The old propaganda machine has done the job in the  mentality of the people, the Palestinians are terrorist!, that’s what  the evening news will Flash. Not only the ignorance of the ordinary citizen got in the way of understanding the humanity of Palestinians, but the oily propaganda that have engrained the wheels of deception for many years.

It have played in the psychic of even the most intelligent minds of the 21 century, and we can throw some blame to them,  in great part for their analysis of the conflict, their books, their scripts in the movies, they gave legitimacy to Israel, portraying victim hood, and blaming Palestinians  for what happened to Palestine that in the last 65 years was robed of their culture heritage, their land and their humanity.

The next article published for first time in February 1982 by Oded Yinon, Please Read every point outlined in this article because you will understand the policy of destruction, division, diversion, implementation of policies that will plant sectarian sentiments between whole countries. The use of propaganda to advance Israel agenda has been the best weapon she has used over the years to advance her agenda and colonize Palestine.

I have to give credit for this finding  Linda S. Heard
Online Journal Contributing Writer
Originally posted: Nov 30, 2005
Reposted: February 3, 2011

A Strategy for Israel in the Nineteen Eighties

by Oded Yinon (with a foreword by, and translated by Israel Shahak)

Foreword

The following essay represents, in my opinion, the accurate and detailed plan of the present Zionist regime (of Sharon and Eitan) for the Middle East which is based on the division of the whole area into small states, and the dissolution of all the existing Arab states. I will comment on the military aspect of this plan in a concluding note. Here I want to draw the attention of the readers to several important points:

1. The idea that all the Arab states should be broken down, by Israel, into small units, occurs again and again in Israeli strategic thinking. For example, Ze’ev Schiff, the military correspondent of Ha’aretz (and probably the most knowledgeable in Israel, on this topic) writes about the “best” that can happen for Israeli interests in Iraq: “The dissolution of Iraq into a Shi’ite state, a Sunni state and the separation of the Kurdish part” (Ha’aretz 6/2/1982). Actually, this aspect of the plan is very old.

2. The strong connection with Neo-Conservative thought in the USA is very prominent, especially in the author’s notes. But, while lip service is paid to the idea of the “defense of the West” from Soviet power, the real aim of the author, and of the present Israeli establishment is clear: To make an Imperial Israel into a world power. In other words, the aim of Sharon is to deceive the Americans after he has deceived all the rest.

3. It is obvious that much of the relevant data, both in the notes and in the text, is garbled or omitted, such as the financial help of the U.S. to Israel. Much of it is pure fantasy. But, the plan is not to be regarded as not influential, or as not capable of realization for a short time. The plan follows faithfully the geopolitical ideas current in Germany of 1890-1933, which were swallowed whole by Hitler and the Nazi movement, and determined their aims for East Europe. Those aims, especially the division of the existing states, were carried out in 1939-1941, and only an alliance on the global scale prevented their consolidation for a period of time.

The notes by the author follow the text. To avoid confusion, I did not add any notes of my own, but have put the substance of them into this foreward and the conclusion at the end. I have, however, emphasized some portions of the text.

Israel Shahak
June 13, 1982

A Strategy for Israel in the Nineteen Eighties

by Oded Yinon

This essay originally appeared in Hebrew in KIVUNIM (Directions), A Journal for Judaism and Zionism; Issue No, 14–Winter, 5742, February 1982, Editor: Yoram Beck. Editorial Committee: Eli Eyal, Yoram Beck, Amnon Hadari, Yohanan Manor, Elieser Schweid. Published by the Department of Publicity/The World Zionist Organization, Jerusalem.

At the outset of the nineteen eighties the State of Israel is in need of a new perspective as to its place, its aims and national targets, at home and abroad. This need has become even more vital due to a number of central processes which the country, the region and the world are undergoing. We are living today in the early stages of a new epoch in human history which is not at all similar to its predecessor, and its characteristics are totally different from what we have hitherto known. That is why we need an understanding of the central processes which typify this historical epoch on the one hand, and on the other hand we need a world outlook and an operational strategy in accordance with the new conditions. The existence, prosperity and steadfastness of the Jewish state will depend upon its ability to adopt a new framework for its domestic and foreign affairs.

This epoch is characterized by several traits which we can already diagnose, and which symbolize a genuine revolution in our present lifestyle. The dominant process is the breakdown of the rationalist, humanist outlook as the major cornerstone supporting the life and achievements of Western civilization since the Renaissance. The political, social and economic views which have emanated from this foundation have been based on several “truths” which are presently disappearing–for example, the view that man as an individual is the center of the universe and everything exists in order to fulfill his basic material needs. This position is being invalidated in the present when it has become clear that the amount of resources in the cosmos does not meet Man’s requirements, his economic needs or his demographic constraints. In a world in which there are four billion human beings and economic and energy resources which do not grow proportionally to meet the needs of mankind, it is unrealistic to expect to fulfill the main requirement of Western Society,1 i.e., the wish and aspiration for boundless consumption. The view that ethics plays no part in determining the direction Man takes, but rather his material needs do–that view is becoming prevalent today as we see a world in which nearly all values are disappearing. We are losing the ability to assess the simplest things, especially when they concern the simple question of what is Good and what is Evil.

The vision of man’s limitless aspirations and abilities shrinks in the face of the sad facts of life, when we witness the break-up of world order around us. The view which promises liberty and freedom to mankind seems absurd in light of the sad fact that three fourths of the human race lives under totalitarian regimes. The views concerning equality and social justice have been transformed by socialism and especially by Communism into a laughing stock. There is no argument as to the truth of these two ideas, but it is clear that they have not been put into practice properly and the majority of mankind has lost the liberty, the freedom and the opportunity for equality and justice. In this nuclear world in which we are (still) living in relative peace for thirty years, the concept of peace and coexistence among nations has no meaning when a superpower like the USSR holds a military and political doctrine of the sort it has: that not only is a nuclear war possible and necessary in order to achieve the ends of Marxism, but that it is possible to survive after it, not to speak of the fact that one can be victorious in it.2

The essential concepts of human society, especially those of the West, are undergoing a change due to political, military and economic transformations. Thus, the nuclear and conventional might of the USSR has transformed the epoch that has just ended into the last respite before the great saga that will demolish a large part of our world in a multi-dimensional global war, in comparison with which the past world wars will have been mere child’s play. The power of nuclear as well as of conventional weapons, their quantity, their precision and quality will turn most of our world upside down within a few years, and we must align ourselves so as to face that in Israel. That is, then, the main threat to our existence and that of the Western world.3 The war over resources in the world, the Arab monopoly on oil, and the need of the West to import most of its raw materials from the Third World, are transforming the world we know, given that one of the major aims of the USSR is to defeat the West by gaining control over the gigantic resources in the Persian Gulf and in the southern part of Africa, in which the majority of world minerals are located. We can imagine the dimensions of the global confrontation which will face us in the future.

The Gorshkov doctrine calls for Soviet control of the oceans and mineral rich areas of the Third World. That together with the present Soviet nuclear doctrine which holds that it is possible to manage, win and survive a nuclear war, in the course of which the West’s military might well be destroyed and its inhabitants made slaves in the service of Marxism-Leninism, is the main danger to world peace and to our own existence. Since 1967, the Soviets have transformed Clausewitz’ dictum into “War is the continuation of policy in nuclear means,” and made it the motto which guides all their policies. Already today they are busy carrying out their aims in our region and throughout the world, and the need to face them becomes the major element in our country’s security policy and of course that of the rest of the Free World. That is our major foreign challenge.4

The Arab Moslem world, therefore, is not the major strategic problem which we shall face in the Eighties, despite the fact that it carries the main threat against Israel, due to its growing military might. This world, with its ethnic minorities, its factions and internal crises, which is astonishingly self-destructive, as we can see in Lebanon, in non-Arab Iran and now also in Syria, is unable to deal successfully with its fundamental problems and does not therefore constitute a real threat against the State of Israel in the long run, but only in the short run where its immediate military power has great import. In the long run, this world will be unable to exist within its present framework in the areas around us without having to go through genuine revolutionary changes. The Moslem Arab World is built like a temporary house of cards put together by foreigners (France and Britain in the Nineteen Twenties), without the wishes and desires of the inhabitants having been taken into account. It was arbitrarily divided into 19 states, all made of combinations of minorites and ethnic groups which are hostile to one another, so that every Arab Moslem state nowadays faces ethnic social destruction from within, and in some a civil war is already raging.5 Most of the Arabs, 118 million out of 170 million, live in Africa, mostly in Egypt (45 million today).

Apart from Egypt, all the Maghreb states are made up of a mixture of Arabs and non-Arab Berbers. In Algeria there is already a civil war raging in the Kabile mountains between the two nations in the country. Morocco and Algeria are at war with each other over Spanish Sahara, in addition to the internal struggle in each of them. Militant Islam endangers the integrity of Tunisia and Qaddafi organizes wars which are destructive from the Arab point of view, from a country which is sparsely populated and which cannot become a powerful nation. That is why he has been attempting unifications in the past with states that are more genuine, like Egypt and Syria. Sudan, the most torn apart state in the Arab Moslem world today is built upon four groups hostile to each other, an Arab Moslem Sunni minority which rules over a majority of non-Arab Africans, Pagans, and Christians. In Egypt there is a Sunni Moslem majority facing a large minority of Christians which is dominant in upper Egypt: some 7 million of them, so that even Sadat, in his speech on May 8, expressed the fear that they will want a state of their own, something like a “second” Christian Lebanon in Egypt.

All the Arab States east of Israel are torn apart, broken up and riddled with inner conflict even more than those of the Maghreb. Syria is fundamentally no different from Lebanon except in the strong military regime which rules it. But the real civil war taking place nowadays between the Sunni majority and the Shi’ite Alawi ruling minority (a mere 12% of the population) testifies to the severity of the domestic trouble.

Iraq is, once again, no different in essence from its neighbors, although its majority is Shi’ite and the ruling minority Sunni. Sixty-five percent of the population has no say in politics, in which an elite of 20 percent holds the power. In addition there is a large Kurdish minority in the north, and if it weren’t for the strength of the ruling regime, the army and the oil revenues, Iraq’s future state would be no different than that of Lebanon in the past or of Syria today. The seeds of inner conflict and civil war are apparent today already, especially after the rise of Khomeini to power in Iran, a leader whom the Shi’ites in Iraq view as their natural leader.

All the Gulf principalities and Saudi Arabia are built upon a delicate house of sand in which there is only oil. In Kuwait, the Kuwaitis constitute only a quarter of the population. In Bahrain, the Shi’ites are the majority but are deprived of power. In the UAE, Shi’ites are once again the majority but the Sunnis are in power. The same is true of Oman and North Yemen. Even in the Marxist South Yemen there is a sizable Shi’ite minority. In Saudi Arabia half the population is foreign, Egyptian and Yemenite, but a Saudi minority holds power.

Jordan is in reality Palestinian, ruled by a Trans-Jordanian Bedouin minority, but most of the army and certainly the bureaucracy is now Palestinian. As a matter of fact Amman is as Palestinian as Nablus. All of these countries have powerful armies, relatively speaking. But there is a problem there too. The Syrian army today is mostly Sunni with an Alawi officer corps, the Iraqi army Shi’ite with Sunni commanders. This has great significance in the long run, and that is why it will not be possible to retain the loyalty of the army for a long time except where it comes to the only common denominator: The hostility towards Israel, and today even that is insufficient.

Alongside the Arabs, split as they are, the other Moslem states share a similar predicament. Half of Iran’s population is comprised of a Persian speaking group and the other half of an ethnically Turkish group. Turkey’s population comprises a Turkish Sunni Moslem majority, some 50%, and two large minorities, 12 million Shi’ite Alawis and 6 million Sunni Kurds. In Afghanistan there are 5 million Shi’ites who constitute one third of the population. In Sunni Pakistan there are 15 million Shi’ites who endanger the existence of that state.13

This national ethnic minority picture extending from Morocco to India and from Somalia to Turkey points to the absence of stability and a rapid degeneration in the entire region. When this picture is added to the economic one, we see how the entire region is built like a house of cards, unable to withstand its severe problems.

In this giant and fractured world there are a few wealthy groups and a huge mass of poor people. Most of the Arabs have an average yearly income of 300 dollars. That is the situation in Egypt, in most of the Maghreb countries except for Libya, and in Iraq. Lebanon is torn apart and its economy is falling to pieces. It is a state in which there is no centralized power, but only 5 de facto sovereign authorities (Christian in the north, supported by the Syrians and under the rule of the Franjieh clan, in the East an area of direct Syrian conquest, in the center a Phalangist controlled Christian enclave, in the south and up to the Litani river a mostly Palestinian region controlled by the PLO and Major Haddad’s state of Christians and half a million Shi’ites). Syria is in an even graver situation and even the assistance she will obtain in the future after the unification with Libya will not be sufficient for dealing with the basic problems of existence and the maintenance of a large army. Egypt is in the worst situation: Millions are on the verge of hunger, half the labor force is unemployed, and housing is scarce in this most densely populated area of the world. Except for the army, there is not a single department operating efficiently and the state is in a permanent state of bankruptcy and depends entirely on American foreign assistance granted since the peace.6

In the Gulf states, Saudi Arabia, Libya and Egypt there is the largest accumulation of money and oil in the world, but those enjoying it are tiny elites who lack a wide base of support and self-confidence, something that no army can guarantee.7 The Saudi army with all its equipment cannot defend the regime from real dangers at home or abroad, and what took place in Mecca in 1980 is only an example. A sad and very stormy situation surrounds Israel and creates challenges for it, problems, risks but also far-reaching opportunities for the first time since 1967. Chances are that opportunities missed at that time will become achievable in the Eighties to an extent and along dimensions which we cannot even imagine today.

The “peace” policy and the return of territories, through a dependence upon the US, precludes the realization of the new option created for us. Since 1967, all the governments of Israel have tied our national aims down to narrow political needs, on the one hand, and on the other to destructive opinions at home which neutralized our capacities both at home and abroad. Failing to take steps towards the Arab population in the new territories, acquired in the course of a war forced upon us, is the major strategic error committed by Israel on the morning after the Six Day War. We could have saved ourselves all the bitter and dangerous conflict since then if we had given Jordan to the Palestinians who live west of the Jordan river. By doing that we would have neutralized the Palestinian problem which we nowadays face, and to which we have found solutions that are really no solutions at all, such as territorial compromise or autonomy which amount, in fact, to the same thing.8 Today, we suddenly face immense opportunities for transforming the situation thoroughly and this we must do in the coming decade, otherwise we shall not survive as a state.

In the course of the Nineteen Eighties, the State of Israel will have to go through far-reaching changes in its political and economic regime domestically, along with radical changes in its foreign policy, in order to stand up to the global and regional challenges of this new epoch. The loss of the Suez Canal oil fields, of the immense potential of the oil, gas and other natural resources in the Sinai peninsula which is geomorphologically identical to the rich oil-producing countries in the region, will result in an energy drain in the near future and will destroy our domestic economy: one quarter of our present GNP as well as one third of the budget is used for the purchase of oil.9 The search for raw materials in the Negev and on the coast will not, in the near future, serve to alter that state of affairs.

(Regaining) the Sinai peninsula with its present and potential resources is therefore a political priority which is obstructed by the Camp David and the peace agreements. The fault for that lies of course with the present Israeli government and the governments which paved the road to the policy of territorial compromise, the Alignment governments since 1967. The Egyptians will not need to keep the peace treaty after the return of the Sinai, and they will do all they can to return to the fold of the Arab world and to the USSR in order to gain support and military assistance. American aid is guaranteed only for a short while, for the terms of the peace and the weakening of the U.S. both at home and abroad will bring about a reduction in aid. Without oil and the income from it, with the present enormous expenditure, we will not be able to get through 1982 under the present conditions and we will have to act in order to return the situation to the status quo which existed in Sinai prior to Sadat’s visit and the mistaken peace agreement signed with him in March 1979.10

Israel has two major routes through which to realize this purpose, one direct and the other indirect. The direct option is the less realistic one because of the nature of the regime and government in Israel as well as the wisdom of Sadat who obtained our withdrawal from Sinai, which was, next to the war of 1973, his major achievement since he took power. Israel will not unilaterally break the treaty, neither today, nor in 1982, unless it is very hard pressed economically and politically and Egypt provides Israel with the excuse to take the Sinai back into our hands for the fourth time in our short history. What is left therefore, is the indirect option. The economic situation in Egypt, the nature of the regime and its pan-Arab policy, will bring about a situation after April 1982 in which Israel will be forced to act directly or indirectly in order to regain control over Sinai as a strategic, economic and energy reserve for the long run. Egypt does not constitute a military strategic problem due to its internal conflicts and it could be driven back to the post 1967 war situation in no more than one day.11

The myth of Egypt as the strong leader of the Arab World was demolished back in 1956 and definitely did not survive 1967, but our policy, as in the return of the Sinai, served to turn the myth into “fact.” In reality, however, Egypt’s power in proportion both to Israel alone and to the rest of the Arab World has gone down about 50 percent since 1967. Egypt is no longer the leading political power in the Arab World and is economically on the verge of a crisis. Without foreign assistance the crisis will come tomorrow.12 In the short run, due to the return of the Sinai, Egypt will gain several advantages at our expense, but only in the short run until 1982, and that will not change the balance of power to its benefit, and will possibly bring about its downfall. Egypt, in its present domestic political picture, is already a corpse, all the more so if we take into account the growing Moslem-Christian rift. Breaking Egypt down territorially into distinct geographical regions is the political aim of Israel in the Nineteen Eighties on its Western front.

Egypt is divided and torn apart into many foci of authority. If Egypt falls apart, countries like Libya, Sudan or even the more distant states will not continue to exist in their present form and will join the downfall and dissolution of Egypt. The vision of a Christian Coptic State in Upper Egypt alongside a number of weak states with very localized power and without a centralized government as to date, is the key to a historical development which was only set back by the peace agreement but which seems inevitable in the long run.13

The Western front, which on the surface appears more problematic, is in fact less complicated than the Eastern front, in which most of the events that make the headlines have been taking place recently. Lebanon’s total dissolution into five provinces serves as a precendent for the entire Arab world including Egypt, Syria, Iraq and the Arabian peninsula and is already following that track. The dissolution of Syria and Iraq later on into ethnically or religiously unqiue areas such as in Lebanon, is Israel’s primary target on the Eastern front in the long run, while the dissolution of the military power of those states serves as the primary short term target. Syria will fall apart, in accordance with its ethnic and religious structure, into several states such as in present day Lebanon, so that there will be a Shi’ite Alawi state along its coast, a Sunni state in the Aleppo area, another Sunni state in Damascus hostile to its northern neighbor, and the Druzes who will set up a state, maybe even in our Golan, and certainly in the Hauran and in northern Jordan. This state of affairs will be the guarantee for peace and security in the area in the long run, and that aim is already within our reach today.14

Iraq, rich in oil on the one hand and internally torn on the other, is guaranteed as a candidate for Israel’s targets. Its dissolution is even more important for us than that of Syria. Iraq is stronger than Syria. In the short run it is Iraqi power which constitutes the greatest threat to Israel. An Iraqi-Iranian war will tear Iraq apart and cause its downfall at home even before it is able to organize a struggle on a wide front against us. Every kind of inter-Arab confrontation will assist us in the short run and will shorten the way to the more important aim of breaking up Iraq into denominations as in Syria and in Lebanon. In Iraq, a division into provinces along ethnic/religious lines as in Syria during Ottoman times is possible. So, three (or more) states will exist around the three major cities: Basra, Baghdad and Mosul, and Shi’ite areas in the south will separate from the Sunni and Kurdish north. It is possible that the present Iranian-Iraqi confrontation will deepen this polarization.15

The entire Arabian peninsula is a natural candidate for dissolution due to internal and external pressures, and the matter is inevitable especially in Saudi Arabia. Regardless of whether its economic might based on oil remains intact or whether it is diminished in the long run, the internal rifts and breakdowns are a clear and natural development in light of the present political structure.16

Jordan constitutes an immediate strategic target in the short run but not in the long run, for it does not constitute a real threat in the long run after its dissolution, the termination of the lengthy rule of King Hussein and the transfer of power to the Palestinians in the short run.

There is no chance that Jordan will continue to exist in its present structure for a long time, and Israel’s policy, both in war and in peace, ought to be directed at the liquidation of Jordan under the present regime and the transfer of power to the Palestinian majority. Changing the regime east of the river will also cause the termination of the problem of the territories densely populated with Arabs west of the Jordan. Whether in war or under conditions of peace, emigrationfrom the territories and economic demographic freeze in them, are the guarantees for the coming change on both banks of the river, and we ought to be active in order to accelerate this process in the nearest future. The autonomy plan ought also to be rejected, as well as any compromise or division of the territories for, given the plans of the PLO and those of the Israeli Arabs themselves, the Shefa’amr plan of September 1980, it is not possible to go on living in this country in the present situation without separating the two nations, the Arabs to Jordan and the Jews to the areas west of the river. Genuine coexistence and peace will reign over the land only when the Arabs understand that without Jewish rule between the Jordan and the sea they will have neither existence nor security. A nation of their own and security will be theirs only in Jordan.17

Within Israel the distinction between the areas of ’67 and the territories beyond them, those of ’48, has always been meaningless for Arabs and nowadays no longer has any significance for us. The problem should be seen in its entirety without any divisions as of ’67. It should be clear, under any future political situation or mifitary constellation, that the solution of the problem of the indigenous Arabs will come only when they recognize the existence of Israel in secure borders up to the Jordan river and beyond it, as our existential need in this difficult epoch, the nuclear epoch which we shall soon enter. It is no longer possible to live with three fourths of the Jewish population on the dense shoreline which is so dangerous in a nuclear epoch.

Dispersal of the population is therefore a domestic strategic aim of the highest order; otherwise, we shall cease to exist within any borders. Judea, Samaria and the Galilee are our sole guarantee for national existence, and if we do not become the majority in the mountain areas, we shall not rule in the country and we shall be like the Crusaders, who lost this country which was not theirs anyhow, and in which they were foreigners to begin with. Rebalancing the country demographically, strategically and economically is the highest and most central aim today. Taking hold of the mountain watershed from Beersheba to the Upper Galilee is the national aim generated by the major strategic consideration which is settling the mountainous part of the country that is empty of Jews today.l8

Realizing our aims on the Eastern front depends first on the realization of this internal strategic objective. The transformation of the political and economic structure, so as to enable the realization of these strategic aims, is the key to achieving the entire change. We need to change from a centralized economy in which the government is extensively involved, to an open and free market as well as to switch from depending upon the U.S. taxpayer to developing, with our own hands, of a genuine productive economic infrastructure. If we are not able to make this change freely and voluntarily, we shall be forced into it by world developments, especially in the areas of economics, energy, and politics, and by our own growing isolation.l9

From a military and strategic point of view, the West led by the U.S. is unable to withstand the global pressures of the USSR throughout the world, and Israel must therefore stand alone in the Eighties, without any foreign assistance, military or economic, and this is within our capacities today, with no compromises.20 Rapid changes in the world will also bring about a change in the condition of world Jewry to which Israel will become not only a last resort but the only existential option. We cannot assume that U.S. Jews, and the communities of Europe and Latin America will continue to exist in the present form in the future.21

Our existence in this country itself is certain, and there is no force that could remove us from here either forcefully or by treachery (Sadat’s method). Despite the difficulties of the mistaken “peace” policy and the problem of the Israeli Arabs and those of the territories, we can effectively deal with these problems in the foreseeable future.

Conclusion

Three important points have to be clarified in order to be able to understand the significant possibilities of realization of this Zionist plan for the Middle East, and also why it had to be published.

The Military Background of The Plan

The military conditions of this plan have not been mentioned above, but on the many occasions where something very like it is being “explained” in closed meetings to members of the Israeli Establishment, this point is clarified. It is assumed that the Israeli military forces, in all their branches, are insufficient for the actual work of occupation of such wide territories as discussed above. In fact, even in times of intense Palestinian “unrest” on the West Bank, the forces of the Israeli Army are stretched out too much. The answer to that is the method of ruling by means of “Haddad forces” or of “Village Associations” (also known as “Village Leagues”): local forces under “leaders” completely dissociated from the population, not having even any feudal or party structure (such as the Phalangists have, for example). The “states” proposed by Yinon are “Haddadland” and “Village Associations,” and their armed forces will be, no doubt, quite similar. In addition, Israeli military superiority in such a situation will be much greater than it is even now, so that any movement of revolt will be “punished” either by mass humiliation as in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, or by bombardment and obliteration of cities, as in Lebanon now (June 1982), or by both. In order to ensure this, the plan, as explained orally, calls for the establishment of Israeli garrisons in focal places between the mini states, equipped with the necessary mobile destructive forces. In fact, we have seen something like this in Haddadland and we will almost certainly soon see the first example of this system functioning either in South Lebanon or in all Lebanon.

It is obvious that the above military assumptions, and the whole plan too, depend also on the Arabs continuing to be even more divided than they are now, and on the lack of any truly progressive mass movement among them. It may be that those two conditions will be removed only when the plan will be well advanced, with consequences which can not be foreseen.

Why it is necessary to publish this in Israel?

The reason for publication is the dual nature of the Israeli-Jewish society: A very great measure of freedom and democracy, specially for Jews, combined with expansionism and racist discrimination. In such a situation the Israeli-Jewish elite (for the masses follow the TV and Begin’s speeches) has to be persuaded. The first steps in the process of persuasion are oral, as indicated above, but a time comes in which it becomes inconvenient. Written material must be produced for the benefit of the more stupid “persuaders” and “explainers” (for example medium-rank officers, who are, usually, remarkably stupid). They then “learn it,” more or less, and preach to others. It should be remarked that Israel, and even the Yishuv from the Twenties, has always functioned in this way. I myself well remember how (before I was “in opposition”) the necessity of war with was explained to me and others a year before the 1956 war, and the necessity of conquering “the rest of Western Palestine when we will have the opportunity” was explained in the years 1965-67.

Why is it assumed that there is no special risk from the outside in the publication of such plans?

Such risks can come from two sources, so long as the principled opposition inside Israel is very weak (a situation which may change as a consequence of the war on Lebanon) : The Arab World, including the Palestinians, and the United States. The Arab World has shown itself so far quite incapable of a detailed and rational analysis of Israeli-Jewish society, and the Palestinians have been, on the average, no better than the rest. In such a situation, even those who are shouting about the dangers of Israeli expansionism (which are real enough) are doing this not because of factual and detailed knowledge, but because of belief in myth. A good example is the very persistent belief in the non-existent writing on the wall of the Knesset of the Biblical verse about the Nile and the Euphrates. Another example is the persistent, and completely false declarations, which were made by some of the most important Arab leaders, that the two blue stripes of the Israeli flag symbolize the Nile and the Euphrates, while in fact they are taken from the stripes of the Jewish praying shawl (Talit). The Israeli specialists assume that, on the whole, the Arabs will pay no attention to their serious discussions of the future, and the Lebanon war has proved them right. So why should they not continue with their old methods of persuading other Israelis?

In the United States a very similar situation exists, at least until now. The more or less serious commentators take their information about Israel, and much of their opinions about it, from two sources. The first is from articles in the “liberal” American press, written almost totally by Jewish admirers of Israel who, even if they are critical of some aspects of the Israeli state, practice loyally what Stalin used to call “the constructive criticism.” (In fact those among them who claim also to be “Anti-Stalinist” are in reality more Stalinist than Stalin, with Israel being their god which has not yet failed). In the framework of such critical worship it must be assumed that Israel has always “good intentions” and only “makes mistakes,” and therefore such a plan would not be a matter for discussion–exactly as the Biblical genocides committed by Jews are not mentioned. The other source of information, The Jerusalem Post, has similar policies. So long, therefore, as the situation exists in which Israel is really a “closed society” to the rest of the world, because the world wants to close its eyes, the publication and even the beginning of the realization of such a plan is realistic and feasible.

Israel Shahak
June 17, 1982
Jerusalem
About the Translator

Israel Shahak is a professor of organic chemistly at Hebrew University in Jerusalem and the chairman of the Israeli League for Human and Civil Rights. He published The Shahak Papers, collections of key articles from the Hebrew press, and is the author of numerous articles and books, among them Non-Jew in the Jewish State. His latest book is Israel’s Global Role: Weapons for Repression, published by the AAUG in 1982. Israel Shahak: (1933-2001)

Notes

1. American Universities Field Staff. Report No.33, 1979. According to this research, the population of the world will be 6 billion in the year 2000. Today’s world population can be broken down as follows: China, 958 million; India, 635 million; USSR, 261 million; U.S., 218 million Indonesia, 140 million; Brazil and Japan, 110 million each. According to the figures of the U.N. Population Fund for 1980, there will be, in 2000, 50 cities with a population of over 5 million each. The population ofthp;Third World will then be 80% of the world population. According to Justin Blackwelder, U.S. Census Office chief, the world population will not reach 6 billion because of hunger.

2. Soviet nuclear policy has been well summarized by two American Sovietologists: Joseph D. Douglas and Amoretta M. Hoeber, Soviet Strategy for Nuclear War, (Stanford, Ca., Hoover Inst. Press, 1979). In the Soviet Union tens and hundreds of articles and books are published each year which detail the Soviet doctrine for nuclear war and there is a great deal of documentation translated into English and published by the U.S. Air Force,including USAF: Marxism-Leninism on War and the Army: The Soviet View, Moscow, 1972; USAF: The Armed Forces of the Soviet State. Moscow, 1975, by Marshal A. Grechko. The basic Soviet approach to the matter is presented in the book by Marshal Sokolovski published in 1962 in Moscow: Marshal V. D. Sokolovski, Military Strategy, Soviet Doctrine and Concepts(New York, Praeger, 1963).

3. A picture of Soviet intentions in various areas of the world can be drawn from the book by Douglas and Hoeber, ibid. For additional material see: Michael Morgan, “USSR’s Minerals as Strategic Weapon in the Future,” Defense and Foreign Affairs, Washington, D.C., Dec. 1979.

4. Admiral of the Fleet Sergei Gorshkov, Sea Power and the State, London, 1979. Morgan, loc. cit. General George S. Brown (USAF) C-JCS, Statement to the Congress on the Defense Posture of the United States For Fiscal Year 1979, p. 103; National Security Council, Review of Non-Fuel Mineral Policy, (Washington, D.C. 1979,); Drew Middleton, The New York Times, (9/15/79); Time, 9/21/80.

5. Elie Kedourie, “The End of the Ottoman Empire,” Journal of Contemporary History, Vol. 3, No.4, 1968.

6. Al-Thawra, Syria 12/20/79, Al-Ahram,12/30/79, Al Ba’ath, Syria, 5/6/79. 55% of the Arabs are 20 years old and younger, 70% of the Arabs live in Africa, 55% of the Arabs under 15 are unemployed, 33% live in urban areas, Oded Yinon, “Egypt’s Population Problem,” The Jerusalem Quarterly, No. 15, Spring 1980.

7. E. Kanovsky, “Arab Haves and Have Nots,” The Jerusalem Quarterly, No.1, Fall 1976, Al Ba’ath, Syria, 5/6/79.

8. In his book, former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin said that the Israeli government is in fact responsible for the design of American policy in the Middle East, after June ’67, because of its own indecisiveness as to the future of the territories and the inconsistency in its positions since it established the background for Resolution 242 and certainly twelve years later for the Camp David agreements and the peace treaty with Egypt. According to Rabin, on June 19, 1967, President Johnson sent a letter to Prime Minister Eshkol in which he did not mention anything about withdrawal from the new territories but exactly on the same day the government resolved to return territories in exchange for peace. After the Arab resolutions in Khartoum (9/1/67) the government altered its position but contrary to its decision of June 19, did not notify the U.S. of the alteration and the U.S. continued to support 242 in the Security Council on the basis of its earlier understanding that Israel is prepared to return territories. At that point it was already too late to change the U.S. position and Israel’s policy. From here the way was opened to peace agreements on the basis of 242 as was later agreed upon in Camp David. See Yitzhak Rabin. Pinkas Sherut, (Ma’ariv 1979) pp. 226-227.

9. Foreign and Defense Committee Chairman Prof. Moshe Arens argued in an interview (Ma ‘ariv,10/3/80) that the Israeli government failed to prepare an economic plan before the Camp David agreements and was itself surprised by the cost of the agreements, although already during the negotiations it was possible to calculate the heavy price and the serious error involved in not having prepared the economic grounds for peace.

The former Minister of Treasury, Mr. Yigal Holwitz, stated that if it were not for the withdrawal from the oil fields, Israel would have a positive balance of payments (9/17/80). That same person said two years earlier that the government of Israel (from which he withdrew) had placed a noose around his neck. He was referring to the Camp David agreements (Ha’aretz, 11/3/78). In the course of the whole peace negotiations neither an expert nor an economics advisor was consulted, and the Prime Minister himself, who lacks knowledge and expertise in economics, in a mistaken initiative, asked the U.S. to give us a loan rather than a grant, due to his wish to maintain our respect and the respect of the U.S. towards us. See Ha’aretz1/5/79. Jerusalem Post, 9/7/79. Prof Asaf Razin, formerly a senior consultant in the Treasury, strongly criticized the conduct of the negotiations; Ha’aretz, 5/5/79. Ma’ariv, 9/7/79. As to matters concerning the oil fields and Israel’s energy crisis, see the interview with Mr. Eitan Eisenberg, a government advisor on these matters, Ma’arive Weekly, 12/12/78. The Energy Minister, who personally signed the Camp David agreements and the evacuation of Sdeh Alma, has since emphasized the seriousness of our condition from the point of view of oil supplies more than once…see Yediot Ahronot, 7/20/79. Energy Minister Modai even admitted that the government did not consult him at all on the subject of oil during the Camp David and Blair House negotiations. Ha’aretz, 8/22/79.

10. Many sources report on the growth of the armaments budget in Egypt and on intentions to give the army preference in a peace epoch budget over domestic needs for which a peace was allegedly obtained. See former Prime Minister Mamduh Salam in an interview 12/18/77, Treasury Minister Abd El Sayeh in an interview 7/25/78, and the paper Al Akhbar, 12/2/78 which clearly stressed that the military budget will receive first priority, despite the peace. This is what former Prime Minister Mustafa Khalil has stated in his cabinet’s programmatic document which was presented to Parliament, 11/25/78. See English translation, ICA, FBIS, Nov. 27. 1978, pp. D 1-10. According to these sources, Egypt’s military budget increased by 10% between fiscal 1977 and 1978, and the process still goes on. A Saudi source divulged that the Egyptians plan to increase their militmy budget by 100% in the next two years; Ha’aretz, 2/12/79 and Jerusalem Post, 1/14/79.

11. Most of the economic estimates threw doubt on Egypt’s ability to reconstruct its economy by 1982. See Economic Intelligence Unit, 1978 Supplement, “The Arab Republic of Egypt”; E. Kanovsky, “Recent Economic Developments in the Middle East,” Occasional Papers, The Shiloah Institution, June 1977; Kanovsky, “The Egyptian Economy Since the Mid-Sixties, The Micro Sectors,” Occasional Papers, June 1978; Robert McNamara, President of World Bank, as reported in Times, London, 1/24/78.

12. See the comparison made by the researeh of the Institute for Strategic Studies in London, and research camed out in the Center for Strategic Studies of Tel Aviv University, as well as the research by the British scientist, Denis Champlin, Military Review, Nov. 1979, ISS: The Military Balance 1979-1980, CSS; Security Arrangements in Sinai…by Brig. Gen. (Res.) A Shalev, No. 3.0 CSS; The Military Balance and the Military Options after the Peace Treaty with Egypt, by Brig. Gen. (Res.) Y. Raviv, No.4, Dec. 1978, as well as many press reports including El Hawadeth, London, 3/7/80; El Watan El Arabi, Paris, 12/14/79.

13. As for religious ferment in Egypt and the relations between Copts and Moslems see the series of articles published in the Kuwaiti paper, El Qabas, 9/15/80. The English author Irene Beeson reports on the rift between Moslems and Copts, see: Irene Beeson, Guardian, London, 6/24/80, and Desmond Stewart, Middle East Internmational, London 6/6/80. For other reports see Pamela Ann Smith, Guardian, London, 12/24/79; The Christian Science Monitor 12/27/79 as well as Al Dustour, London, 10/15/79; El Kefah El Arabi, 10/15/79.

14. Arab Press Service, Beirut, 8/6-13/80. The New Republic, 8/16/80, Der Spiegel as cited by Ha’aretz, 3/21/80, and 4/30-5/5/80; The Economist, 3/22/80; Robert Fisk, Times, London, 3/26/80; Ellsworth Jones, Sunday Times, 3/30/80.

15. J.P. Peroncell Hugoz, Le Monde, Paris 4/28/80; Dr. Abbas Kelidar, Middle East Review, Summer 1979; Conflict Studies, ISS, July 1975; Andreas Kolschitter, Der Zeit, (Ha’aretz, 9/21/79) Economist Foreign Report, 10/10/79, Afro-Asian Affairs, London, July 1979.

16. Arnold Hottinger, “The Rich Arab States in Trouble,” The New York Review of Books, 5/15/80; Arab Press Service, Beirut, 6/25-7/2/80; U.S. News and World Report, 11/5/79 as well as El Ahram, 11/9/79; El Nahar El Arabi Wal Duwali, Paris 9/7/79; El Hawadeth, 11/9/79; David Hakham, Monthly Review, IDF, Jan.-Feb. 79.

17. As for Jordan’s policies and problems see El Nahar El Arabi Wal Duwali, 4/30/79, 7/2/79; Prof. Elie Kedouri, Ma’ariv 6/8/79; Prof. Tanter, Davar 7/12/79; A. Safdi, Jerusalem Post, 5/31/79; El Watan El Arabi 11/28/79; El Qabas, 11/19/79. As for PLO positions see: The resolutions of the Fatah Fourth Congress, Damascus, August 1980. The Shefa’amr program of the Israeli Arabs was published in Ha’aretz, 9/24/80, and by Arab Press Report 6/18/80. For facts and figures on immigration of Arabs to Jordan, see Amos Ben Vered, Ha’aretz, 2/16/77; Yossef Zuriel, Ma’ariv 1/12/80. As to the PLO’s position towards Israel see Shlomo Gazit, Monthly Review; July 1980; Hani El Hasan in an interview, Al Rai Al’Am, Kuwait 4/15/80; Avi Plaskov, “The Palestinian Problem,” Survival, ISS, London Jan. Feb. 78; David Gutrnann, “The Palestinian Myth,” Commentary, Oct. 75; Bernard Lewis, “The Palestinians and the PLO,” Commentary Jan. 75; Monday Morning, Beirut, 8/18-21/80; Journal of Palestine Studies, Winter 1980.

18. Prof. Yuval Neeman, “Samaria–The Basis for Israel’s Security,” Ma’arakhot 272-273, May/June 1980; Ya’akov Hasdai, “Peace, the Way and the Right to Know,” Dvar Hashavua, 2/23/80. Aharon Yariv, “Strategic Depth–An Israeli Perspective,” Ma’arakhot 270-271, October 1979; Yitzhak Rabin, “Israel’s Defense Problems in the Eighties,” Ma’arakhot October 1979.

19. Ezra Zohar, In the Regime’s Pliers (Shikmona, 1974); Motti Heinrich, Do We have a Chance Israel, Truth Versus Legend (Reshafim, 1981).

20. Henry Kissinger, “The Lessons of the Past,” The Washington Review Vol 1, Jan. 1978; Arthur Ross, “OPEC’s Challenge to the West,” The Washington Quarterly, Winter, 1980; Walter Levy, “Oil and the Decline of the West,” Foreign Affairs, Summer 1980; Special Report–“Our Armed Forees-Ready or Not?” U.S. News and World Report 10/10/77; Stanley Hoffman, “Reflections on the Present Danger,” The New York Review of Books 3/6/80; Time 4/3/80; Leopold Lavedez “The illusions of SALT” Commentary Sept. 79; Norman Podhoretz, “The Present Danger,” Commentary March 1980; Robert Tucker, “Oil and American Power Six Years Later,” Commentary Sept. 1979; Norman Podhoretz, “The Abandonment of Israel,” Commentary July 1976; Elie Kedourie, “Misreading the Middle East,” Commentary July 1979.

21. According to figures published by Ya’akov Karoz, Yediot Ahronot, 10/17/80, the sum total of anti-Semitic incidents recorded in the world in 1979 was double the amount recorded in 1978. In Germany, France, and Britain the number of anti-Semitic incidents was many times greater in that year. In the U.S. as well there has been a sharp increase in anti-Semitic incidents which were reported in that article. For the new anti-Semitism, see L. Talmon, “The New Anti-Semitism,” The New Republic, 9/18/1976; Barbara Tuchman, “They poisoned the Wells,” Newsweek 2/3/75.

Palestinians Will Go to UN on September 23


Posted on September 14, 2011 by Marivel Guzman

Do not Believe Rumors circulating around. The PA is not backing up, those rumors are spread by Israel, US and the Israel Lobby around the world, they want you to believe that Abbas is going to down grade his request at the UN for that of observer, that position is not of the interest of Palestine and will not be of use. Ashton the EU representative is trying to convince Abbas not to bid for State Hood, the same with US and Israel. They are running around like a fox following by dog-hounds, trying to instill fear to Abbas using all kind of threads, but the PA is resolute to seek full recognition.

Fatah official: Palestinians will go to UN by September 23

Comments were made by Dr. Mohammad Shtayyeh, a senior member of Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party and a member of the special PLO committee that prepared the UN bid.

By Amira Hass

The Palestinians plan to submit a formal request for full United Nations membership to the Security Council by September 23, despite the United States’ opposition and Europe’s reservations, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will refer to this request in his speech to the General Assembly on that date, Dr. Mohammad Shtayyeh said yesterday.

Shtayyeh, a senior member of Abbas’ Fatah party, was a member of the special PLO committee that prepared the UN bid.

Speaking at a press conference in Ramallah, he sought to dispel rumors that the PA has decided against applying to the Security Council and will instead apply only to the General Assembly. The latter cannot grant full UN membership, but can recognize an applicant as a nonmember state with observer status.

“We are going to the United Nations, we are going to the Security Council,” he said. “We are going to seek full membership based on [the] 1967 borders.”

Meetings with European and American officials have not yielded any written proposal for resuming Israeli-Palestinian negotiations that the Palestinians view as serious, he said. But even if the West did draft such a proposal, he added, it would be meaningless without Israeli consent, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will never accept the Palestinians’ two key demands: the 1967 borders and a cessation of settlement construction.

He said that Hamas leader Khaled Meshal had expressed support for the UN bid.

Going to the UN is part of a strategy for transferring the Palestinian struggle for independence from the bilateral to the multinational arena, since the bilateral arena has proven a failure, Shtayyeh said. But he insisted this in no way contradicts a resumption of negotiations. The UN bid is aimed not at delegitimizing Israel, but at delegitimizing the occupation and legitimizing the State of Palestine, he said.

Palestinians, he added, have no intention of accompanying their UN bid with violence, and will not “fall into the trap set” by what he referred to as daily attacks by settlers against Palestinians.

He also said Palestinians understand that the reality of life in the West Bank will be no different the day after the UN vote than it was before – unless settlers escalate their assaults, in which case the situation will deteriorate, he warned.

Once their membership application is submitted, he noted, Palestinians have no control over the timetable of subsequent events, such as when a special Security Council panel starts discussing the application or when it submit its recommendations to the full council. But based on past experience, he said, the process could take days, weeks or even months. Nor is a rejection necessarily final, Shtayyeh added: Jordan’s application was rejected three times before being accepted.

Israel, he predicted, won’t carry out its threat to freeze tax transfers to the PA if it goes through with the UN bid, because it’s not in Israel’s interest for the PA to collapse. But if Israel does freeze the transfers, Abbas has already asked Arab states to compensate for “every penny,” he said.

UN headquarters AP October 12, 2010 United Nations General Assembly Hall on Oct. 12, 2010.
Photo by: AP

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Arabs States Reitared -Arab states reiterate support for Palestinian statehood-Sep 13, 2011, 17:06 GMT

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‘We are waiting for the Palestinian leadership’s decision whether they will address the General Assembly or the (UN) Security Council,’ Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi said, following a ministerial meeting of the 22-member organization.

Shtayyeh Decries Israeli Unilateralism as West Bank Raided


Posted on September 14, 2011 by Marivel Guzman

14.09.11
Palestine News NetworkAfter a night of Israeli raids and settler attacks in the West Bank, senior Palestinian official Mohammed Shtayyeh released a statement condemning Israeli unilateralism on the 18th anniversary of the Oslo Accords.

Image

(PNN Archive)

“Today we commemorate 18 years since the launch of a process that was supposed to lead us to freedom and independence,” he said. “It was meant to last only for a transitional period of five years.  Unfortunately, almost two decades later, the Israeli occupation of Palestine is entrenched and Israel’s occupation has turned into de facto annexation.”

Early on Wednesday morning, Israeli forces raided the village of Masliya, south of Jenin in the northern West Bank. Secure local sources told official Palestinian news wire Wafa that the troops used flash grenades as they invaded the home of Abdurraziq Abu al-Rab. No one was arrested in the raid, but al-Rab told Wafa his three children were terrified.

Other villages in the Jenin area, such as al-Arq, al-Hashimiya, and Kafr Qadum, were also raided. In the central West Bank, the village of Deir Istiya reported a nighttime Israeli raid and the mayor, Nazmi Salman, said that troops blocked off access to the village from the West.

“Together with the colonization of Palestinian land, other unilateral Israeli policies, including home demolitions, evictions, ID revocations, killings, the illegal exploitation of natural resources, and closure of Palestinian institutions in occupied East Jerusalem have threatened the prospect of a two-state solution,” Shtayyeh continued.

Settlers from Itamar burned a car near the northern West Bank city of Nablu and injured three Palestinians on Wednesday morning.

The car was transporting 50-year-old Jihad Thuwabiteh, 30-year-old Mu’atiz Yusef Dayriya, and 21-year-old Mohammed Khaled Taqataqeh from Nablus to their village of Beit Fajjar, near Bethlehem in the southern West Bank.  All three ended up with bruises and other injuries and their car was burned, though it was unclear how. The three Palestinians were taken to a Nablus hospital.

After noting Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s self-proclaimed desire to “kill the Oslo Accords,” Shtayyeh reiterated his support for the Palestinian statehood bid to be presented to the UN in one week.

“We are approaching the moment of truth. After years of Israeli unilateralism and illegal policies aimed at sabotaging a bilateral peace agreement, Palestinians will take their struggle back to where it all began—to the assembly hall of the United Nations.”

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Saudi Arabia Warns US not to Veto Palestine StateHood

September 14, 2011 1 comment

Posted on September 14, 2011 by Marivel Guzman

Former Saudi Intelligence Chief Warns U.S. Of Veto Consequences

author Tuesday September 13, 2011 21:43author by Saed Bannoura – IMEMC & Agencies

Saudi Prince, former Saudi Intelligence Agency chief, Turki Al Faisal, warned the United States that its strategic relations with its Arab allies, mainly Riyadh, will be significantly harmed, should Washington opt to veto the establishment of a Palestinian State.

Turky Al Faisal - sonara.net
Turky Al Faisal – sonara.net

The New York Times reported that Al Faisal warned that a U.S. veto against full Palestinian membership at the United Nations “will destroy the special relations between Riyadh and Washington, and will harm the U.S. in the Arab world”.

Al Faisal further stated that the United States must support the Palestinian decision to establish an independent state, and must vote for the decision this month, otherwise, “Washington will lose its already declining credibility in the Arab world”.

The Saudi Prince said that Washington must realize that losing its credibility directly impacts the security of Israel, and will lead to a stronger Iranian domination in the region, an issue that increases the possibilities of a new war.

Al Faisal said that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia “will not be willing to continue its current cooperation with Washington”, especially amidst the revolutions in the Arab world, as these revolutions demand democracy, and demand justice to the Palestinian people.

He also stated that, due to the changes in the region, the leadership in Saudi Arabia will be obliged to adopt more independent foreign policies, and will be forced to adopt policies that are not coherent with the United States.

“The Palestinians want their right to statehood, all nations will support them”, Al Faisal added, “Israel should not regard the Palestinian demand as a threat; it should look at t as an opportunity for peace, security and equality”.

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Would UN General Assembly Vote for an Independent Palestine?

September 7, 2011 3 comments

Posted on September 06, 2011 by Marivel Guzman

Article by K.Gajendra Singh

The Life and Times of Arafat- Mission Incomplete

Since the Fall of the Berlin Wall ,there are enough existential and serious problems for regimes and states in the Arab and Muslim world ,from Morocco to Saudi Arabia, and beyond , greedy , ruthless White Christian Crusaders pursuing mostly illegal policy of destruction and loot of  sovereign states like Libya ,Iraq etc .There is relentless pressure on Assad regime in Syria, but the next hot item on the Middle East agenda is going to be the vote on Palestine Independence in United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in September, 2011.

According to Israel’s Haaretz the UNGA is expected to okay an independent Palestinian state by a huge majority. “The wording of the draft, crafted in recent days by the Fatah leadership, is designed to enable even “problematic” countries such as Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic to climb on board, or at least abstain. This version will make it difficult for the United States and the Marshall Islands, and even for Israel, to explain their votes against the proposal. Instead of recognizing Palestine within the 1967 borders, it will state that the permanent borders will be determined in negotiations with Israel based on the borders of June 4, 1967. This approach made it possible to enlist the support of leading moderates in Hamas, who claim that recognition of the 1967 borders before the signing of a final-status deal means waiving the claim to the right of return.”

Given the Israeli government’s intransigence, the Palestinian leadership and its advisers feel that the option of settling the conflict via bilateral negotiations − the path pursued by the Palestinian leadership for 20 years − is no longer viable. Most of them “ support the option of an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, with Jerusalem as its capital and a fair arrangement that will fulfill the right of return and the compensation of the Palestinian refugees. -It rejects the possibility of continuing the status quo, maintaining that the endless negotiations provide cover for expanding the settlements and consolidating the occupation. It will also erase from the agenda the option of a Palestinian state with temporary borders and limited sovereignty, under effective Israeli control.”

The Palestinian Authority leadership also examined other options like nonviolent resistance as in Egypt and Tunisia – or dismantling itself and restoring responsibility for the West Bank’s inhabitants to Israel or towards a model of a bi-national state or democratic state without distinction between Israel and Palestinian citizens. Even the possibility is a confederation between Jordan and the Palestinian state was examined. The last attempt was made by late Yasser Arafat after the failure of the Camp David talks in 2000. Arafat travelled to many capitals, to seek support for such a declaration. But most countries advised Arafat to continue with the peace negotiations rather than pursue a unilateral path.

This time the situation is different. There is little hope for real negotiations. The Arab revolts against pro-US leaders have created a favorable environment. Cairo , which was under US influence followed a pro-Israel policy .Now the transition government in Egypt has already called upon the United States to support Palestinian independence. Popular uprisings elsewhere will influence the governments in the Arab world to be more sensitive on the Palestinian issue. There is little doubt of deep the support in the Arab and Muslim Street for the Palestinians .

As regards Turkey, Ankara’s relations with Israel have plummeted to very low depth with nine Turks killed by Israeli commandos on Mavi Marmara carrying aid for embattled Gaza citizens . Ankara recently withdrew its ambassador from Tel Aviv and asked Israel to apologies .Since many years Ankara has regularly criticized Israel and its policies .When Israel  was reported to be interfering in north Iraq with the aim of creating problems in Turkey’s Kurdish South East , Turkish PM Tayep Erdogan had accused Israel of state terrorism in Gaza. Many other countries have made declarations of support but the critical issue is what the EU countries and the U.S. will do. Catherine Ashton, EU’s senior official told the media that the Palestinian Authority had made significant progress . Its institutions now compared favorably with those in the West. There have been several other positive reports by international institutions like the International Monetary Fund and the U.N. that have studied the police force, municipal services and schools that indicate that the Palestinians are almost ready to run their own state.

But do not rule out Israel’s obduracy and its deep influence in US policy making apparatus and corridors of power.

Before proceeding further let us first have a look at the tortured history of region in general and Palestine in particular.

Almost all the states in the region were once part of the Ottoman Empire and ruled by Caliph Sultan in Istanbul, which apart from Muslim countries in the regions also included Eastern Europe and Balkans right up to the gates of Vienna. As the West European powers from the end of 17 century rolled back the Ottoman arms from the Gates of Vienna ,they annexed and began exploiting the former Ottoman territories beginning with Arab Muslim peoples of north Africa .The  French, the English and the Italians being the primary beneficiaries .But colonial settlements and genocide of natives took place by Europeans in Americas, rest of Africa and far off Australia , New Zealand too, along with Portuguese ,Belgian ,Dutch, Spanish and Germans also joining in .The whole of Africa was divided along arbitrary borders , for brutal exploitation, specially by the Belgians and the Dutch.

Most of West Asia fell into European lap after the defeat of the Ottomans which had sided with Germans in WWI .

Background and seeds of Arab-Israeli disputes

Strategically and religiously speaking the Arab-Israeli disputes with its core problem of Palestine is as old as time, beginning from the days of the Trojan wars, the first struggle between the West and the East. Or the expulsion and dispersal of Jews from Palestine ( if true) ,or from the differences between Prophet Mohammed and the Jews in Medina following the Hijra. Or the Christian Crusades to recover the religious sites in the Holy Land, except that the Crusaders had treated Jews then as brutally as the Muslims. And even the Orthodox Christians at Constantinople. And now, to control the strategic space and exploit energy reserves under Arab lands.

The Tigris and Euphrates region has a turbulent history. Following the exhaustion of the Persian and Roman/Byzantine empires the armies of Islam emerging from the arid sands of the Arabia carved an empire from the Atlantic to China in the 7th Century. But after the Ottoman Sultan annexed the caliphate and guardianship of Mecca and Medina in 16 century, the peninsula became peaceful back water .

In the wake of the rollback of Ottoman Turks from the gates of Vienna, European powers started moving into Islamic lands in North Africa and from 18th century onward progressively colonized them. The British took over Cyprus and Egypt but World War I provided an opportunity for further colonial acquisitions when Turkey sided with Germany. To protect its Indian colonial possession and its lifeline, the Suez Canal, the British encouraged Arabs under Hashemite ruler Sharif Hussein of Hijaj to revolt against the Ottoman sultan caliph in Istanbul and deputed spy T E Lawrence to help out with promises of independence.

But the war’s end did not bring freedom as promised; because by secret Sykes-Picot agreement, London and Paris arbitrarily divided the sultan’s Arab domains and their warring populations of Shias, Sunnis, Alawite Muslims, Druses, and Christians. The French took most of greater Syria, dividing it into Syria and Christian-dominated Lebanon. The British kept Palestine, Iraq and the rest of Arabia.

When Sharif Hussein’s son Emir Feisel arrived in Damascus to claim Syria as promised , the French chased him out. So the British installed him on the Iraqi throne. Feisel’s brother Emir Abdullah was granted a new Emirate of Trans-Jordan, east of the River Jordan, created out of wastelands vaguely claimed by Syrians, Saudis and Iraqis.

By the 1917 Balfour Declaration, Britain had also promised a homeland for Jews in Palestine. Under the Versailles conference in 1920, Britain was made the mandatory power for Palestine, which appointed Samuel Butler, a liberal Jew, as the first high commissioner to facilitate Jewish immigration and their settlement. So the European Jews began migrating to Palestine, and the trickle became a flood with the rise of anti-Semitic policies in Nazi Germany and elsewhere in Europe. From then on started fights, pogroms and battles between Palestinian Arabs and Jewish immigrants. After World War II, the State of Israel was carved out of British Palestine by the United Nations in 1948, but it was not recognized by the Arabs. The United States recognized Israel but not Palestine. In the ensuing first 1948 Arab-Israeli war, which the Arabs lost, Israel expanded its area, while Jordan in collusion with Israel annexed the West Bank and Egypt took over Gaza.

As if the Palestinians were then just another Arab people up for grabs.

After the rise of Arab nationalism in the early 1950s led by Colonel Gamal Nasser of Egypt, socialists and nationalists, mostly military officers, took over the decaying medieval kingdoms of Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Libya , much to the consternation of Western oil companies. The Anglo-French attempt in collusion with Israel to cut Nasser down to size in the 1956 Suez war, opposed by the US and USSR, was an abject failure. Also a sign that the time of London and Paris was passed .

But in the six-day preemptive war of 1967, Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan and Gaza from Egypt and occupied Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula and Syria’s Golan Heights. Thus were laid the foundations for Arab-Israeli problems of the region. The core UN Resolution 242 requires that Israel vacate lands it occupied after the June 1967 war.

From its very inception, almost all its neighbors coveted Jordan. But astute King Hussein (who ruled from 1953-99) not only survived a dozen assassination attempts, he also fended off conspiracies against his land. When Hussein died in 1999 of cancer, the kingdom had become a keystone of equilibrium in the region and a modern flourishing state, despite lacking oil or other resources.

Palestinians make up 60 percent of Jordan’s population (some Israeli leaders say that in Jordan Palestinians already have their own state). Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) militants and Palestinian army officers conspired against King Hussein (King Abdullah, his grandfather, was assassinated by a Palestinian in 1951), so, he expelled Arafat-led PLO to Beirut in early 1971. The Hashemite Kings rely on tribal Jordanians for security and armed forces and have Chechens as their praetorian guards.

Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Shamir, who became prime ministers of Israel later had fought savage guerrilla battles against the British and the Arab Palestinians to create the State of Israel, were no different from leaders of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and others. The British were unable to handle the turbulent situation and handed over the hot potato to the (UNO), which in 1947 put forward a plan to partition Palestine into Arab and Jewish states.

Since then there have been three regional wars between Israel and the Arabs (1948, 1967 and 1973) and two Palestinian uprisings (intifadas) against Israeli occupation. It was either an Arab wish to control if not destroys the State of Israel or an Israeli attempt to extend its boundaries ( to biblical frontiers ) further into Arab lands. But after every war and uprising more Palestinians came under Israeli control or left their homeland and the refugees now number into millions. After each war Israel gained more territory. In 1948 it extended the Jewish areas under the partition plan to its present internationally recognized borders (but the Arabs of Israel do not have full and equal rights as citizens).

From these areas a large number of Palestinian refugees fled or were forced to flee the Jewish state in 1948. After the wars in 1948 and 1967, Israel began an illegal program of building new settlements in the Occupied Territories, which has continued all along and never really ceased.

The 1973 Yom Kippur war initiated by Egypt made Israel feel vulnerable and not that invincible ( For the first time Israel threatened to nuke Cairo unless– .Since then Israel’s nukes run into many hundreds ,the only nuclear armed power in the region.) Only a US military hardware air bridge and other help turned the tide for the Israelis. But Egypt gained little while oil-rich Gulf States became obscenely wealthy with fourfold increase in crude prices, with neo-rich Gulfis lording over in Cairo .
Egyptian President Anwar Sadat made a peace deal with Israel in 1978 at Camp David after his startling 1977 visit and address to the Israeli Knesset (Parliament ). Sadat was later assassinated for this act of treason by his own Islamist group of soldiers. But Egypt got its territory back from Israel, including oil wells in Sinai.

In 1982, when Sharon was defense minister, Israel invaded Lebanon and expelled Arafat and his guerrillas from there. It was then that massacres took place at the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Chatilla, for which Sharon was blamed after an inquiry. Arafat and his PLO headquarters were shifted  to Tunis.

Jordan made peace with Israel after the Oslo Accords. In 1988 it gave up all its claims on the West Bank. But the Israeli conflict with other Arab states such as Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and others persists.

It is said that there can be no war against Israel without Egypt and no peace without Syria (with its armed forces in Lebanon till a few years ago and its support to Hezbollah). With Egypt neutralized, fears of a regional or wider conflagration receded but it stirred up Islamist terrorism, and hatred towards Israel’s Western backers, primarily the United States and its poodle UK .France joins up when Syria and Lebanon come up .The hate in the Muslim and Arab world reached very high levels after the illegal US-UK-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and its brutal occupation since then. However all agree that great injustice has been done to the Palestinians, now under Israel control or as refugees spread elsewhere, with millions still living in refugee camps. When former US president Jimmy Carter compared the situation of the Palestinians to apartheid South Africa , he faced the wrath of Jewish community and neo-cons in US and elsewhere.

First Intifada

After its agreement with Egypt , Israel felt that it had resolved the problem of Palestinians under its occupation, which also provided cheap labor. It was then that Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, refusing to be enslaved, revolted. This erupted as Intifada in 1987 in the Gaza Strip and then spread to the West Bank. Later other organizations took over and claimed credit for this spontaneous outburst of anger against repression and thirst for freedom. Except for stone-throwing by children, it was generally free from violence from the side of the Palestinians. These pictures on TV screens around the world brought home the injustice being perpetrated on the Palestinians in their own land and angered the Muslim world in particular.

The 1987 Intifada was somewhat like Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violent movement against the British but in a Middle East setting. The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan used to screen on its TV channel Richard Attenborough’s film Gandhi on the anniversary of Intifada in November, which was easily received in the Occupied Territories, Israel, Syria and the neighborhood. Its implicit message was to keep the revolution (Intifada) non-violent and not let Israel divide the Palestinian people in their struggle. The horrendous results of use of violence with killings of Israelis by suicide bombers countered by carnage and destruction by Israeli military planes, helicopter gunships and missiles in the second Intifada from September 2000 was there for all to see.

Palestine and Gulf war, 1990-91

The US maneuvered Saddam Hussein into the 1991 war but without any strategic pre-planning. The West had supported Iraq’s long war against Khomeini’s Iran. US had granted loans to Baghdad worth billions of dollars. Amid high tension between Kuwait and Baghdad over common oil wells, two islands, and the return of a $10 billion loan, Iraq threatened Kuwait with war. A few days before the Iraqi invasion on August 2, 1990, US Ambassador April Glaspie told Saddam Hussein that his dispute with Kuwait was a bilateral Arab affair. This was never clearly refuted by the US and Ambassador Glaspie disappeared from view. Meanwhile, all attempts to find a peaceful solution to the Iraq-Kuwait row by Arab nations, led by King Hussein of Jordan and later joined by King Hassan of Morocco, were rebuffed by the US, as was Kuwait’s offer of indirect negotiations. Feelers for negotiations by the Saudis were drowned in Western cacophony. Saddam’s reported offer to the UN secretary general to withdraw from Kuwait, made just before the US led war, was brushed aside. Efforts by Mikhail Gorbachev, who had just unraveled the USSR, were treated with disdain.

Bush had attacked Iraq in 1991 without informing the UN secretary general, undermining the world body (the 2003 invasion was against UN will and its Charter.) For the countries of the region, the war resolved nothing. Instead, the US made Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and other allies pay through the nose, an estimated $100-$150 billion. Iraq was bombed into the Middle Ages. US and Iraq’s enemy Iran, was the major gainer. Before the war ,to guard his back, Saddam agreed to the old boundary with Iran in the Shatt-al Arab waterway, disagreement over which had led to the Iran-Iraq War.

US promises turned sour in the aftermath of the Gulf War. George Bush Sr., also encouraged Iraqis, especially Kurds in the north and Shias in the south, to revolt. Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, most of which had large Shia populations, were horrified, as a Shia state in south Iraq would strengthen Iran. The prospect of independence for Iraqi Kurds worried Turkey, whose own Kurds were fighting for freedom. The hapless Iraqi Kurds, and the Shi’as paid a terrible price.

Turkish President Turgut Ozal, seduced by US hints of winning “lost” Kurdish areas of north Iraq, became an energetic supporter of the Bush coalition and almost opened another front in the war against Iraq, but was prevented by stiff opposition from his powerful military. But instead of getting oil-rich Mosul and Kirkuk, the economic sanctions against Iraq and closure of the Iraqi pipeline via Turkey cost Ankara $50 billion in lost trade. Unemployment rose as the sanctions halted the 5,000 trucks that used to roar to and from Iraq daily, aggravating the economic and social problems in Turkey’s Kurdish heartland of rebellion.

A Turkish deputy prime minister once ruefully told this writer, “Mr. Ambassador, you cannot trust the Americans, not even their written promises.” A sobering thought for those who support the US blindly.

Saudi Arabia was misled in 1991 by doctored evidence of Saddam’s intentions. The stationing of US troops on sacred Arabian soil after the war was resented by Arabs and Muslims all over the world. They also oppose oppressive pro-US Arab regimes and their siphoning off of oil wealth. After September 11, most Muslims saw the Arab-Israel conflict and US illegal invasion of Iraq as part of Crusade versus Jihad (In fact this is the word George Bush used after 11/9.)

But Palestinians and their cause suffered the most both after 1991 war on Iraq and the 2003 invasion .Saddam Hussein was a staunch supporter of PLO . Even when financially squeezed he sent money to families of Palestinian suicide bombers. After the liberation of Kuwait in 1991 ,many Palestinians lost jobs in Kuwait and other Gulf states. But their education , language and ethnic similarity almost makes them indispensable in the Gulf region.

Israel and Palestine

It is amazing that those who suffered so much in the Holocaust, an acme of western material civilization i.e. use of the last Jewish bone and for centuries earlier because of blind prejudice in Europe and elsewhere  are so capable of inflicting the same unspeakable horrors on the lives of others. What the Israelis are doing is indeed the action of “terrorists” who accuse Palestinians of “terror”. When a person has to turn himself or herself into a human bomb in order to fight for a cause, when children throw stones at tanks, these are acts of desperation from an oppressed people.

Israel is a powerful country, backed by the mighty power of the United States, both in money and in arms. Jews in US and neo-cons support Israel with Jewish AIPAC blackmailing US leaders and lawmakers by threatening to defeat them at polls by their financial and media clout .The world recognizes the plight of the Palestinians, and understands it, but is unable do much about such incredibly inhumane deeds and events.

Israeli solutions!

Since the occupation of Palestinian territories after the 1967 war, the major policy debate in Israeli military and political elites has been about how to keep maximum land (and water and other resources) with minimum Palestinian population. Annexation of heavily populated Palestinian land, with high birthrates, would create a “demographic problem” and reduced Jewish majority. So two solutions were considered. Massive emigration from Russia was encouraged and organized in the early 1990s. The Labor Party’s Alon plan consisted of annexation of 35-40 percent of the Occupied Territories, and either Jordanian rule or some form of autonomy for the remaining land to which the Palestinian population would be consigned.

It was a compromise since it was inconceivable to repeat the “solution” of the 1948 independence war, when much of the land was obtained “Arab-free”, after mass expulsion of the Palestinians (nearly 700,000 were forced to flee). But in keeping with late Sharon’s character, the second solution became the mission i.e. how to get more land by finding a more acceptable and sophisticated “1948-style” solution, i.e. squeeze out as many Palestinians as possible. “Jordan is Palestine” was the phrase Sharon and other leaders had repeated in the 1980s.

The 1993 Oslo Accords were along the lines of the Alon plan to which Arafat had agreed. In the past, the Palestinians had always opposed such plans, which would take away too much of their land. Arafat had agreed only because he was getting old and losing his grip on the Palestinian society. There was opposition to his dictatorial one-man rule and open corruption in his organization. Funds meant for the PLO were distributed among close associates (some of them look too well fed and content) , which was talked about openly. This is a problem with all revolutionary organizations when they acquire levers of power.

Only an apparent “smashing victory” could have kept Arafat in power. So behind the back of the Palestinian negotiating team headed by Haider Abd al-Shafi, Arafat accepted an agreement that left all Israeli settlements intact, even in the Gaza Strip, where Israeli settlers occupied one-third of the land, while a million Palestinians are crowded in the rest. But as time went by, Israel extended the “Arab-free” areas by new settlements and connecting roads etc in the Occupied Territories to about 50 percent of their land. Labor circles began to talk about the “Alon Plus” plan, namely even more land to Israel. That would have still allowed some kind of self-rule in the remaining 50 percent of land under Palestinians, but like Bantustans in South Africa. Palestinians would be left with less than 20 percent of 1945 Palestine under the British mandate. This is what Sharon dreamt to break the unity of Palestine nationalism.

At the time of Oslo Accords, the majority of Israelis were tired of war. They thought fights over land and water resources were over. Haunted by the memory of the Holocaust, most Israelis believed that the 1948 War of Independence, with its horrible consequences for the Palestinians, was necessary to establish a state for the Jews. But now both sides with their states could live normally and peace-fully. Most people on both the sides believed that what they were witnessing were just “interim agreements” and that eventually the occupation would somehow end, and the settlements would be dismantled. Two-thirds of Jewish Israelis supported the Oslo agreements in the polls. It was obvious there was no stomach for any new wars over land and water.

But the ideology of war over land never died out in the army, or in the circles of politically influential generals, whose careers moved from the military to the government. From the start of the Oslo process, the maximalists objected to giving even that much land and rights to the Palestinians. This was most visible in military circles, whose most vocal spokesman was then chief of staff Ehud Barak, who objected to the Oslo agreements from the start. Another beacon of opposition was, of course, late Ariel Sharon. In 1999, the army got back to power through the politicized generals – first Barak, and then Sharon.

So the maximalist generals-turned-rulers decided to correct what they view as the grave mistakes of Oslo. In their eyes, Sharon’s alternative of fighting the Palestinians to the bitter end and imposing new regional order may have failed in Lebanon in 1982 because of the weakness of the soft Israeli society, but given the new war philosophy established through US military operations in Iraq, Kosovo, and, later, Afghanistan, the political generals believed that with Israel’s massive air superiority, it might still be possible to execute that vision. However, in order to get there, it was first necessary to convince the Israeli society that, in fact, the Palestinians were not willing to live in peace, and was still threatening Israel’s very existence. Sharon alone could not have possibly achieved that, but Barak did succeed with his generous offer- fraud. There was no real offer on the table. It was a media-assisted creation like the belief created in the US population that Iraqis were responsible for September 11.

”The Israeli press is as obedient as elsewhere, and it recycles faithfully the military and governmental messages. But part of the reason it is more revealing is its lack of inhibition. Things that would look outrageous in the world are considered natural daily routine.” Tanya Reinhart

Earlier the world was made to believe that Israel was willing to withdraw even from the occupied Syrian Golan Heights. In the polls, 60 percent of the Israelis, hoping for peace, had enthusiastically supported dismantling all settlements in the Golan Heights. But the end of this round of peace negotiations ended in the same way as with Palestinians. It was made out that Syrian leader Hafiz al-Assad did not comprehend and had let the opportunity slip. Israelis then became convinced that it was the rejectionist Assad who was unwilling to get his territories back and make peace with Israel. Assad was a cool and wise statesman and was not fooled. Those close to the military now say that Hezbollah, Syria and Iran tried to trap Israel in a “strategic ambush” and that Israel had to evade that ambush by setting one of its own, i.e. another war like the 1967 preemptive war. And they are encouraging hawks in the US administration in that direction. The US and UK have shown the way in Iraq by their war on Iraqis to disarm Saddam Hussein of weapons of mass destruction.

Why did Barak permit Sharon a provocative visit to Temple Mount/Haram to ignite the boiling frustrations accumulated in the Palestinian society? The massive security forces used rubber bullets against unarmed demonstrators. When the visit triggered more demonstrations the next day, Barak escalated the shootings and ordered Israeli forces and tanks into densely populated Palestinian areas. By all indications, the escalation of Palestinian protest into armed clashes could have been prevented had the Israeli response been more restrained. Even in the face of armed resistance, Israel’s reaction had been grossly out of proportion, as stated by the General Assembly of the UN, which condemned Israel’s “excessive use of force” on October 26, 2000.

The first Palestinian terrorist attack on Israeli civilians inside Israel took place on November 2, 2000, a month after Israel used its full military machine against Palestinians including helicopters, tanks and missiles. So it was not defense against terrorism as claimed by Israel. It would appear that another plan to destroy the Palestinian infrastructure and to discredit Arafat, i.e. that he had never given up the “option of violence”, was ready in October 2000 and are contained in a manuscript known as the “White Book”.

Late Professor Tanya Reinhart suggests in her book Israel/Palestine that despite the horrors of the past two years, there was still another alternative. “Israel should withdraw immediately from the territories occupied in 1967. The bulk of Israeli settlers (150,000 of them) are concentrated in the big settlement blocks in the center of the West Bank. These areas cannot be evacuated overnight. But the rest of the land (about 90-96 percent of the West Bank and the whole of the Gaza Strip) can be evacuated immediately. Many of the residents of the isolated Israeli settlements that are scattered in these areas are speaking openly in the Israeli media about their wish to leave. It is only necessary to offer them reasonable compensation for their property. The rest … are a negligible minority that will have to accept the will of the majority.”

That would leave only six to 10 percent of territories under occupation with large settlement blocks. This, along with the issues of Jerusalem and the right of return, could be left for negotiations, after the Palestinian society begins to recover, settle on the land that the Israelis evacuate, construct political institutions and develop its economy. According to a Dahaf poll of May 6 solicited by Peace Now, 59 percent supported a unilateral withdrawal of the Israeli army from most of the Occupied Territories, and dismantling most of the settlements. Only this can renew the peace process.

Unfortunately, in the evolutionary ladder of governance, societies have moved up from the tribal model when the warrior chief, sometimes the head priest too, was the ruler. Security of the tribe and wars was their major preoccupation. Israel is the first Jewish state in history after two millennia. It is barely 50 years old. Based on its history of persecution leading to the Holocaust, inputs of messianic religious fervor, labor (kibbutz) ideals and other ideas brought by its ruling elite, mostly from the European states, the warrior-king construct dominates Israel’s state philosophy and the political system, situated as it is among almost implacably hostile Arabs (tribes). “The hundreds of ex-generals who man most of the key posts in [the Israeli] government and society are not only a group of veterans sharing common memories. The partnership goes much deeper. Dozens of years of service in the regular army form a certain outlook on life, a political world view, ways of thinking and even language.”

Unfortunately, policies and plans of Israel’s political generals have now become intertwined into the views of US neo-conservatives. In the name of the fight against terrorism, more terror is being rained by Israel, where stability, security and peace remain elusive.

Gaza Strip: A Veritable Concentration Camp

The Gaza Strip or Gaza is one of the territorial units of Occupied territories .It is 41 km long and 6 to 12 Km wide , with a total area of 360 sq kms , borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. Its population of about 1.6 million , mostly Sunni Muslims are descendants of or refugees form exodus to Gaza in 1948 following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War .Its boundaries were confirmed by the Israel-Egypt Armistice Agreement of   24 February 1949. The Gaza Strip remained under Egypt and administered through the Palestine Government and then directly from 1959 until 1967, when Israel occupied it following the Six day war  .Following the Oslo Accords  between Israel and the PLO in 1993, the Palestine Authority was set up as an interim administrative body but with Israel maintaining control of Gaza ‘s airspace .In 2005 Israel unilaterally disengaged from Gaza. Since July 2007, following the first ever freest elections ( which US led West had insisted on and won by Hamas and a after a battle with PA , Hamas is the effective government in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli occupation (1967–2005)After the June 1967 Six day war, Israel occupied the Gaza Strip and created in all  21 settlements covering 20% of area .Gaza also served its security concerns. The March 1979 Israel -Egypt Peace Treaty provided for the withdrawal by Israel of its armed forces and civilians from the Sinai Peninsula with the Egyptians agreeing to keep the Sinai Peninsula demilitarized. Cairo renounced all territorial claims on it . Until 1994 the Israeli military was responsible for the maintenance of civil facilities and services. After the Oslo Accords in May 1994, a phased transfer of governmental authority to the Palestinians took place except for the settlements blocs and military areas. The Palestinian Authority, led by Arafat chose Gaza City as its first provincial headquarters. After the second peace agreement in September 1995, the Palestinian Authority took over most of West Bank towns  .It also established an elected 88-member Palestinian National Council (PNC) . .

The Palestinian Authority rule under Arafat suffered from serious mismanagement and corruption scandals.

The 2nd Intifada of September 2000 provoked by Israeli over reaction and provocation led to waves of protests, civil unrest and bombings against Israeli military and civilians, many by suicide bombers, and the beginning of rockets and bombings of Israeli border areas by Palestinian guerrillas from Gaza Strip, especially from Hamas and Islamic Jihad volunteers. Tel Aviv began a unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip from 15 August 2005, which was completed on 12 September 2005. Under the plan, all Israeli Settlements in the Gaza Strip (and four in the West Bank) and the joint Industrial Zone were dismantled .In all 9,000 Israeli settlers left Gaza and military bases and Philadelphi route separating Gaza with Egypt were evacuated . On 12 September 2005 Israel formally declared an end to Israeli military occupation of the Gaza Strip.

While Egypt patrolled its side of the border, Israel maintained its control over the crossings in and out of Gaza. The Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza was monitored by the Israeli army through special surveillance cameras. Official documents such as passports, I.D. cards, export and import papers etc had to be approved by the Israeli army.

The UN, Human Rights Watch and many other international bodies and NGOs  consider Israel to be the occupying power of the Gaza Strip since Tel Aviv still controls Gaza’s airspace and territorial waters, and does not allow the movement of goods in or out of Gaza by air or sea (only by land). Egypt has alternately restricted or allowed goods and people to cross that terrestrial border. Israel lies that Gaza is no longer occupied

After Israel withdrawal in 2005, PA Chairman Mahmud Abbas stated, “the legal status of the areas slated for evacuation has not changed.” Its attorney Gregory Khalil said “Israel still controls every person, every good, and literally every drop of water to enter or leave the Gaza Strip. Its troops may not be there… but it still restricts the ability for the Palestinian authority to exercise control.” Richard Falk, UN Special Rapporteur said that the international humanitarian law applied to Israel “in regard to the obligations of an Occupying Power and in the requirements of the laws of war.” In 2009 Christopher Gunness, spokesperson for the UNRWA described Israel an occupying power.

Palestinian Authority control (1994–2007) In accordance with the Oslo Accords PA took over the administrative authority of the Gaza Strip (other than the settlement blocs and military areas) in 1994. After the Israeli withdrawal of settlers and military from the Gaza Strip on 12 September 2005, the Palestinian Authority had complete administrative authority in the Gaza Strip.

In the Palestinian parliamentary elections held on January 25, 2006, Hamas won 42.9 % of the total vote and 74 out of 132 total seats (56%). When Hamas assumed power the next month, the Israeli government and its supporters and the EU refused to recognize its right to govern as PA. Direct aid to the Palestinian government there was cut off, the resulting political disorder and economic stagnation led to many Palestinians emigrating from the Gaza Strip.

In January 2007, fighting erupted between Hamas and Fatah. By end of January 2007, a truce was negotiated between Fatah and Hamas. But clashes continued with both factions attacking vehicles and facilities of the other side. In response to constant attacks by rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, Israel launched an air strike which destroyed a building used by Hamas. In the 2006-2007 fighting more than 600 Palestinians were killed in factional fighting between Hamas and Fatah. In the aftermath of the fighting violent acts killed 54 Palestinians, while hundreds were tortured.

K Gajendra Singh, Indian ambassador (retired), served as ambassador to Turkey and Azerbaijan from August 1992 to April 1996. Prior to that, he served terms as ambassador to Jordan, Romania and Senegal. He is currently chairman of the Foundation for Indo-Turkic Studies.

Read More Posts…..

Take Action: Tell U.S. Not to Veto Palestine’s Membership in UN Security Council

 

Hamas: They Are Not Bad, They’re Just Drawn That Way

Palestinians Right of Return is not Debatable: UN Resolution 194 In Force and Enforceable

Palestine: Arduous odyssey of statehood

Education and Behavior In Israel and Palestine

Last-minute push to avert PA UN bid


Posted on September 06, 2011 by Marivel Guzman

US envoys arrive in Israel for meetings with Israeli prime minister, while Tony Blair travels to Ramallah to meet Abbas.

Abbas said the UN bid was a last resort after the PA had “exhausted all other options” [EPA]

Gaza City — With one week to go before the United Nations General Assembly convenes, there is a flurry of diplomatic activity in Jerusalem and Ramallah, much of it aimed at the Palestinian Authority’s plan to seek enhanced membership at the UN.

A delegation from the United States, led by White House advisers Dennis Ross and David Hale, arrived in Jerusalem on Tuesday to meet with Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

Hale is scheduled to meet on Wednesday with Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas. In Ramallah, meanwhile, Abbas met with former British prime minister Tony Blair, the envoy from the so-called “Quartet,” composed of the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and Russia.

The US meetings, according to the State Department, were aimed at “finding a formula” to restart long-stalled negotiations between Israel and the PA. Talks broke down last September over Israel’s refusal to halt construction in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank. Abbas has said he will only return to the table if Israel freezes new construction, and agrees to use 1967 borders as a basis for negotiation.

A spokesperson for the US embassy in Tel Aviv would not comment about Ross and Hale’s trip, and the embassy has not released any statement on the meeting with Netanyahu.

The meeting comes at a slightly awkward time for US-Israel relations: Journalist Jeffrey Goldberg reported on Tuesday that Robert Gates, the recently-departed US secretary of defence, described Netanyahu as an “ungrateful” ally. ‘There will not be a retreat’ Blair said this week that he was “optimistic” about bringing both sides back to negotiations.

Abbas’ office has not released any details of their meeting in Ramallah. Saeb Erekat, the PA’s chief negotiator, said in Amman on Tuesday that the UN bid will go forward regardless of Israel’s actions. “The Palestinian decision is to head to the UN Security Council,” Erekat said. “And there will not be a retreat even if Israel proposed any initiatives.”

Erekat also complained about American threats, saying that the US has pushed the PA to drop its bid without offering any concessions in return. US officials and members of Congress have repeatedly threatened to slash aid to the PA if it goes to the United Nations. Meanwhile, the diplomatic frenzy does not register much here in Gaza, where few people have expressed much interest in the bid. “It’s just politics,” said Abu Omar, gesturing around his small shop, which was temporarily darkened by one of Gaza’s regular power cuts. “I need electricity.” Hamas has said little about the planned vote, which is purely a Fatah initiative.

A Hamas official told Al Jazeera that the movement has not decided whether or not to call for demonstrations in Gaza. “There’s still plenty of time before we decide what we will do,” Ahmed Yousef, the Hamas deputy foreign minister, said in an interview. “Somebody from Fatah approached me recently about what we might do… we could decide in the near future.”

Abbas plans to submit the PA’s bid for statehood around September 20. But Palestine cannot be admitted as a state without the Security Council’s approval, and the Obama administration has already said it would veto such a move. The US veto leaves Palestinian officials with the option to pursue “non-member observer status,” a step below full recognition which requires only a two-thirds vote in the General Assembly. Only one other state, the Vatican, currently holds such a status at the UN   Source: Al Jazeera

More on Palestine UN Bid for State Hood…..

Palestinians Right of Return is not Debatable: UN Resolution 194 In Force and Enforceable

Palestine Bid for State Hood Does Not Affect Israel Economy, Peace Talks, or Refugee Return Rights

Palestinian Bid for UN Statehood Recognition should not be questioned, Israel existence should be

European Union Supports Palestestine Bid for State Hood, slight division not a problem

September 6, 2011 2 comments

Posted on September 01, 2011 by Marivel Guzman

Original Post Published by the Huffington Post

BRUSSELS — The European Union remains undecided whether to support the Palestinian push for recognition at the United Nations later this month, a top official said Thursday. EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said the question hasn’t been discussed by EU member states, because no such resolution has been tabled yet for the upcoming U.N. General Assembly.

The Palestinian statehood bid comes amid stalled peace negotiations with Israel. Israel and the United States oppose it, saying a state must be established through negotiations.

Ashton said the EU’s 28 members were united “over the most critical issue, which is to try to get the talks moving,” and reiterated the bloc’s position that Israeli settlement-building in the occupied territories is illegal under international law. “We need to find a way to create a two-state solution, a secure, stable Israel living side by side with a secure, stable Palestinian state,” she said after meeting Filippo Grandi, head of the U.N. agency aiding 4.7 million Palestinian refugees.

The changes brought about by the Arab Spring make the need to reach agreement more important than ever, she said.

Israel has been lobbying European capitals not to endorse the Palestinian move.

Diplomats expect a split among EU members akin to that over Kosovo’s independence, which five members of the 28-nation bloc refused to recognize. The rift has prevented the EU from officially recognizing Kosovo’s government, although the bloc has deployed a massive police and justice mission to assist Europe’s newest nation. A diplomat said Belgium, Cyprus, Greece, Ireland, Malta, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden are likely to back the resolution. Other nations may join if there is no progress in restarting peace talks over the next 2-3 weeks, said the official who was not authorized to speak publicly to the media.

Although the Palestinian bid may gain approval in the General Assembly, U.N. recognition would require approval by the powerful Security Council, where the U.S. has indicated it would veto any Palestinian move in the absence of a negotiated peace deal.

In the past, the United States has used its veto power to block membership in the world body. Throughout the 1950s and 60s, Washington regularly vetoed General Assembly resolutions calling for China to take over the U.N. seat which Taiwan held under the name Republic of China.

Israel faces tougher line from EU after former heads call for Palestinian state – Twenty-six European grandees, have urged the EU to adopt a tougher stance towards Israel including taking “concrete measures” and exacting “consequences” over continued settlement building on occupied land, which they say is illegal under international law.

September 15 Real Democracy, No Hypocrisy

September 6, 2011 1 comment

Posted on September 05, 2011 by Marivel Guzman

Article by Feriha

The United Nations, which declared September 15 the International Day of Democracy, defines democracy as “A universal value based on the freely expressed will of people to determine their own political, economic, social, and cultural systems and their full participation in all aspects of their lives.”

We can’t think of a better day to ask: why doesn’t the United States support democracy for everyone in the Middle East? Why does the US use tax dollars to support a military occupation that threatens democracy?

While it is commonly reported that Israel receives $3 billion in annual U.S. foreign aid, and according to ifamericansknew.org , the U.S. taxpayer has provided Israel funds far beyond this number.  For example in 1997 the complete total of U.S. grants and loan to Israel  was $5,525,800,000.

Unquestionably, Israel is the largest cumulative recipient of U.S. aid since World War II.

The september15 community  is convinced that this money can not, under any circumstances, continue to be invested into an illegal occupation, the  occupation of Palestine.

Israel is an obstacle to Palestinian self-determination and human rights. We call for an end to this destructive financial aid and an end to the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory.

Israel has to understand, that it is not above international law, and we ask for Americans to support the struggle for social justice in Palestine the way that so many Americans stood against South African apartheid not so long ago.

It is time to take action.  Join us on September15 to make a stand!

September15 community is a grassroots project a group of young adults, and students from around the world.

To find out more please visit our website. Peace!

http://www.september15.org

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Categories: News

Camp David Meeting on the Middle East

August 31, 2011 1 comment

Palestine Bid for State Hood Does Not Affect Israel Economy, Peace Talks, or Refugee Return Rights


Posted on August 31, 2011 by Marivel Guzman

I have been reading lose stories here and there that have been spreading the notion that Palestine Bin for State Hood will cause Israel to lose foot in the International economy. Take as an example this “Analisys” posted yesterday by Attila Somfalvi on ynetnews.com. This is how they are misleading the world on the issue.

Palestinian UN bid – a blow to Israeli economy?

While economists warn of widespread boycott of Israel in wake of Palestinian declaration of state, senior ministers more concerned about allocating billions for defense against third intifada

Economists, pundits and politicians warn that a unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state could put Israel in a corner by isolating the Jewish state both politically and financially.

The concern is that an increasing number of international companies and western nations will choose to boycott Israel – just like they did with South Africa under Apartheid – due to its continued control of the West Bank and its unwillingness to stop settlement construction. President Shimon Peres has warned of such developments, especially after a number of port authorities in Europe announced that they would not unload Israeli cargo.

Lets not forget that the wave of the BDS  (Boycott Desinvestment and Sanctions) around the world against Israel Products and Companies has nothing to do with Palestine Bid for statehood. The international communities of Peace activists, conscience writers and other socially engaged people around the world, has been following Israel trail of murders, injustices against the native Palestinians, home demolitions, tree uprooting, illegal construction of settlement inside West Bank and East Jerusalem I mean countless issues that have become the back bone of the Palestine-Israel conflict. And by no means the boycotting started because of Palestine seeking state hood, NO! not at all, the campaign started as a result of Israel unwillingness to abide by UN resolutions, and the abuse of Palestinians in all the spectrum of their life; physically, mentally, and the destruction of their live hood, and habitat. Do not even buy into this propaganda.

The ruthless state of Israel that called Itself the Only Democracy in the Middle East is being deceiving people and using her Lobby around the world to get money and political support using the lies that propagate in the News to get away with almost everything.

Another story being spread that it is taking force because it is even repeated by Israel supporters and Palestinians supporters alike is the Refugee Issue. There is nothing written on stone and the gossip sometimes is the best weapon Israel use for her advantage. They are old rumor that spread like dynamite and they are still being used now to discredit Palestine. “The Rapes and killings rumor spread in the Palestinians Villages” to rid them out of their Homes and Lands” and later was said that the land was without an owner.

The rumor spread all around Palestine. “leave now with Nothing, the Arab armies will come to help you”, so Palestinians left to refugees camps and Israel army came and claim the land was empty.

Acceptance of PA’s UN bid will push back talks for years’

By HERB KEINON
09/01/2011 00:46

Senior official warns that General Assembly resolution recognizing PA as a member state would create “unbridgeable gaps.”

That is BS in the best way understandable, the only problem the world has, is the aggression of Israel against Palestinians inside the 1967 borders and outside of it. The illegal expansion of Israel on the excuse of buffer zone, the construction of illegal settlements inside West Bank and West Jerusalem and the racists policies that Israel is implementing inside Israel which making Palestinians every day life inside Israel unbearable, The Illegal Wall even to Israel Court Ruling, the Check Points, the Nighty raids inside Palestinians homes; just to mention few of the issues that matter to solve the conflict. The Talks can be push back a century and won’t make a difference for Palestinians.
The talks don’t help, the Action is what makes the difference. So, Please do not even give ears to this non sense.

A UN General Assembly resolution recognizing the Palestinian Authority as a member, state would create “unbridgeable gaps” and push back negotiations for years, a senior Israeli official warned Wednesday.The official said that once such a resolution was passed, the Palestinians would never be willing to negotiate on the basis of anything less, and no Israeli leader would ever be able to agree to what the Palestinians would likely get from the UN.
And another gossip propagated, Palestine is not seeking Non-Member status, Palestine is seeking full recognition in the UN Body, with rights to vote in her own, and not spectator as it sits now, or Non-member status as the Vatican.
First lets analyze what Israel means with “Peace Talks”: When ever Israel decides to make a meeting with a Palestinian leader, it has to be at Israel convenience, at her terms, in the place she decides and always will be something she is requesting from PA, US or UN, and just as the two previous accords were not beneficial for Palestine but detrimental to its cause, it has only brought more restrictions for the grow of Palestine as independent nation, it has put its leaders as guardian of Israel interest instead of Palestinians interests  and had tied Palestinians leaders to move forward.
When ever there is any conflict regarding illegal settlement activity inside West Bank or Jerusalem Israel uses as excuse to crack down in Palestinians activists, to incarcerate its leaders and to tied more the grip she has in Palestine society, like the check points, the extension of the illegal Apartheid Wall and the demolition of Palestinians homes.
So does not matter the acceptance of Palestine as a member in the UN body, the peace talks will never  go back to levels they were never in not for Palestine anyway.
Every time that there were any “Peace Talks”, for one reason or another Israel would cry wolf and they will stop, sometimes even right before they would start, so now to complain that the Bid for state hood will throw the Talks years back, it is really a lame excuse.

image

The future of Palestine was being decided secretly by Israel,  Egypt and the United States of North America and now, Israel claiming that Palestine is seeking “unilaterally ” the UN Bid for State hood. What a ludicrous claim

U.S.: We will stop aid to Palestinians if UN bid proceeds

Monday, August 29, 2011

From time to time, the Palestine Center distributes articles it believes will enhance understanding of the Palestinian political reality. The following article was published by Haaretz on 26 August 2011.  “U.S.: We will stop aid to Palestinians if UN bid proceeds”The United States will stop all financial aid to the Palestinian Authority if they proceed with plans to ask the United Nations for recognition of an independent state in September, a U.S. official warned Friday.U.S. Consul General in Jerusalem, Daniel Rubinstein, told chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat in the name of the Obama administration, that the U.S. would veto a UN Security Council resolution calling for recognition of an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip within the June 4, 1967 borders and for UN membership. U.S.: We will stop aid to Palestinians if UN bid proceeds

No to worry for Palestine, the Aid that the US is been giving Palestine is minimum and that is not going to be miss, actually has been crumbs what the US is being giving Palestine compare to what is given to Israel.

“Over the last 20 years, the U.S. has been slowly phasing out economic aid to Israel and gradually replacing it with increased military aid. Beginning in 2007, the U.S. has increased military aid by $150 million each year. By FY2012, we will be sending Israel $3.09 billion a year (or an average of $8.5 million a day) and will continue to provide military aid at that level through 2018. U.S. tax dollars are subsidizing one of the most powerful foreign militaries. According to the CRS report, “[current U.S. military aid] grants to Israel represent 18.2% of the overall Israeli defense budget.” Read More…

That the declaration of the state will result in dropping the right of return for Palestinian refugees. Many scholars have made assertions on this issue. 

I m really sorry but I do not agree with the findings. The Position of Palestine as its stands now, is invisible almost, with no power no vote, with no rights to stand in a political arena other of being spectator of her own demise, and be recipient of international welfare.
The Rights of Return of Palestinians was already granted:
“the UN passed General Assembly Resolution (UNGA) 194, which mandated compensation for the Palestinian refugees and assured their right to return home. The UN made Israel’s own membership in the world body contingent on Israeli acceptance of 194 and the rights it granted to the Palestinians. UN Resolution 273 of 11 May 1949, welcoming Israel into the UN, established that the new state’s entry was based on Israel’s representations regarding its ability and willingness to implement 194.”. The implementation of their rights is by no means severed by the acceptance of Palestine as a State.
We can argue the two state solution or one state solution all our life, but the facts are here and now, and Palestine needs to start some how to be participant of her own affairs and not be treated as an Orphan Nation receiving crumbs from the International community. The creation of Palestine State is the beginning to a more fair treatment of Palestinians in the world, being able to be called citizens of Palestine. There is a great ordeal Palestinians suffer in the exile. There are thousands of them languishing in Immigration detention centers around the world, the lack of paper work to travel, they are stateless and have no rights. Example in the US, most of the Palestinians can not ask for asylum because Palestine is not in the Political Map. Gaza Palestine does not have a code in the United State Postal Service, or UPS I mean there are many privileges that are deny to Palestinians because is not a state. 

Please Watch this Video in its entirely, we as American Citizens needs to take our country back, and I m sure other countries also give financial and military aid to Israel.

This fall, will Palestine become the newest member of the United Nations? As the opening of the UN General Assembly draws near, this question looms above the rest.

The answer may depend on the position of The US. If the United States uses its veto in the Security Council as promised, then Palestine’s full membership in the UN will be difficult,  to achieve. In that case, the General Assembly may admit Palestine as a “non-member state,” a status held by the Vatican.

Palestine’s bid for UN membership has engendered many opposing reactions, with some believing that it could advance the cause of Palestinian human rights, while others think it could set it back.  Get a variety of political perspectives from our website.

Whether you support or oppose this initiative, or are neutral toward it (the US Campaign takes no position–read more in our FAQ), there are a few things that we can all agree to:

Palestinians are entitled to all of their individual and national rights, including self-determination, freedom, justice and equality.

The biggest obstacle to Palestinians attaining these rights is U.S. diplomatic and military support for Israeli occupation and apartheid policies toward Palestinians (whether living under military occupation, as Israeli citizens, or as refugees denied their right of return to their homes).

The United States should not use its veto at the UN to shield Israel from accountability for its illegal policies and actions, nor should the United States sanction Palestinians for pursuing their long-denied rights.

Last month US Campaign to End the Israel Occupation delivered to the State Department an open letter signed by more than 125 groups, including 30 national organizations, and petitions signed by more than 25,000 people urging the Obama Administration not to veto Palestine UN membership if the issue arises in the Security Council. National organizations CODEPINK, Grassroots International, Jewish Voice for Peace, and Just Foreign Policy contributed petition signatures to the overall count. You can still sign the petition here.

Yet the State Department refused to discuss its position with us, ignoring our concerns. (Learn more about the Obama Administration’s position in this essay by our National Advocacy Director Josh Ruebner.) That’s why we must organize to exert more pressure and to make our voices heard more loudly.

Take to the street this month like many of our member organizations and individual activists are doing to protest U.S. diplomatic and military support of Israel.

On September 10, the North Texas Boycott, Divest, and Sanction of Israel Campaign will rally in Fort Worth to protest the potential U.S. veto in the Security Council.

On September 15, a coalition of dozens of New York-based organizations, many of which are members of the US Campaign, will hold a rally and march at the UN in support of Palestinian self-determination.

Also on that day, which coincides with the International Day of Democracy, activists around the country are planning demonstrations opposing U.S military aid to Israel and U.S. interference with the UN membership bid. So far, events are planned for Phoenix, AZ, San Francisco, CA, Washington, DC, Urbana, IL, Omaha, NE, Pittsburgh, PA, and Austin, TX.

On September 16, several organizations are planning a demonstration at the federal building in Los Angeles to protest the threatened U.S. veto.

The point of no return, a collection of information that needs to be disseminated wide, the following videos explain why we need to stop Israel, the bankers, the Zionist Movement, the elitist, the globalist, the Illuminati, the NWO.

Libya; Iraq, Afganistan, The Balkans is repeated again


Posted on August 29, 2011 by Marivel Guzman

NATO clears Sirte to the ground

August 29, 2011, 10:34 [“Argumenty.ru,” Alexander Grigoriev ]

NATO clears Sirte to the ground

“The third day in a row, NATO aircraft causing massive missile and bomb strikes on the city of Sirte home Gaddafi. All the perimeter of the City is surrounded by rebels checkpoints, behind which there are special units of the UK, France, Qatar and United Arab Emirates. They Left the city completely blocked. No one is allowed to flee for refugee, no women or children.
Men who were detained while trying to flee with his family, were detain killed. Families were sent back under the bombs. There is no time to Remove and bury the corpses “, – The source stated in a letter that was received ” by Argumenty.ru this morning from one of those close to Colonel Gaddafi.

A former officer in the Soviet Union, then Russian special forces colonel, retired Ilya , which we called “source” and which is now close to Gaddafi, has allowed in this open letter to his name.

“Living in the city of the enemy force until you came. Several small units of rebels tried tonight to reconnaissance, but were destroyed. At the same time in the air at that time was a remote-controlled reconnaissance aircraft (UAV), which exposed the city’s defense. After an hour on these points were plotted air attacks. However, defenders of the city have already left their positions, “- writes a lieutenant colonel.

According to him, “the situation resembles the Terrible Winter 95, when the bombing everything that moves. No avianavodchikov without accurate coordinates. Only when the Russian aviation goryuchku was a bit – the intensity of attacks was much lower. Now, NATO aircraft in the air almost around the clock. ”

 

 

NATO Special Forces Illegally Clear Paths For Rebel Forces Attack

August 27, 2011 – NATO Special Forces Illegally Clear Paths For Rebel Forces Attack On Sirte Sirte, Gadafy’s birthplace, lies 130km away. British special forces have been on the ground in Libya for several weeks, along with special forces

Sky News: Rebels look to Gaddafi’s hometown

August 28, 211 – Libyan rebels are prepared to sweep into Sirte, the hometown of the ‘Once NATO clears the way, the revolutionaries will advance on Sirte,’ he added. capital could be where Gaddafi and his family have gone to ground.

5.9 Earthwake Shakes Obama Golf Game; while Gaza Bombs Has Not Shaken his Support for Israel


Posted by Marivel Guzman

UPDATED May 29, 2012

The world seems busy doing something else, while the bombs fall in Gaza; for 10 straight days Israel have been pounding the Mediterranean coast of Palestine but the news are silence. 15 people death, more than 50 injured including children, women and elderly and what you see in the News? Nothing but as long as Israel create her little theater, the News are ready to spread the lies

I just heard the Flash Braking News that a 5.9 Magnitude earthquake rocked Washington DC, and Martha Vineyard the resort where all American Presidents spend their summer vacations, playing golf. “The ground shakes President Obama feet when he was about to start his round of Golf”, what a tragedy he probably have to stop his golf game.

In North America we feel ashamed that our President is vacationing, while the world is in endless war, that have killed more than 1 millions people, and while he plays golf there is hundred of injured in the various parts of the world where the US has Troops.

But also he should be ashamed to be playing golf, while the US is drowning in debt. The workers are striking with their unions, trying to grab crumbs out of the dead economy, the banks are still pillaging the Homes of the American that that took sweet years to save and “Buy” a HOUSE.

The Occupy Movement is not an isolated phenomenon of US, the Occupy Movement have evolved from the Wall Street Protest to a Global Protest against the Status Quo. The Elite “Managing” the lives of the billions of people have become a cold sore that grew from a spot of few hundreds aware/awake people to millions in every country, by now the Occupy Movement is in every spot of the world, but is not a cold sore anymore but the medicine that it curing the disease caused by the Selfish Elite of the Corporate World.

The welfare office lines get longer every day around the country, the unemployment grow as a cancer in the US, the “stronger country of the world”, “the richest country of the world”, REALLY! says WHO? ….

The only strong is the War Complex Machine, the only Rich is the Bankerst and Co, and OIL Crooks CEOs.
Last year I had a conversation with friend, and I was arguing that we are in Depression, and my friend will argue that we are in recession. It’s funny the way she was defining resession and it was painful the way I was feeling the economic depression. We lost our business, we were fighting with Bank of America to keep the house that we almost paid off. I was unemployed as some other millions around the country. But the numbers don’t match the reality.

There are more homeless in my city that never ever seen before, they line up to sleep in front of the City building, which by the way become a crime last year. It happen to be that in front of Santa Ana Civil Center, there is a nice park with a big gazebo, which it was used by the homeless to shelter themselves from the night, but the Servants of Crimes can not bear to see dirty people in front of their offices, so they made a city mandate illegal to sleep in the city property, which by official understanding belongs to those homeless, because if you live in CA for 12 months you are official resident, well I guess you are resident when they need your vote because believe or not, those officials come in election day to ask the homeless for their support.

There are several considerations one must have when

selecting a bridge to live under.

One that has

a large level

area under it

is very appealing.

Having a laundry area to hang your clothes is convenient.  Piping is a nice place to make a bed.

Putting some boards across the joists can be a nice place to put a mattress.

If you are a

restless sleeper,

you may not

want to pick one

with a steep

slope.

Next I give you a web page to check in case you become homeless, it is very useful. The most tragic is that great majority of the homeless of America are Veterans of War.

The Homeless Page and don’t laugh, don’t think that it can not happen to you, every citizen of America at least the majority is 2 checks away from being homeless.

In CA we are waiting the big earthquake every day, the one is told will submerge California, but until that day, we surprise with the earthquake in other places of the globe, this time was The Capital of the Empire that have the taste of the fear of the rumble of Earth.

5.9 magnitude earthquake that is something to worry about, not the homeless off course if they will die under the bridge of the 5 freeway where they were push to sleep, God will do them a favor, but for the residents of Washington, New York, Massachusetts and other spots was a day to be afraid, specially the residents on the areas of the Nuclear Plant. The images of Japan Tsunami still fresh int heir mind.

And Gaza Palestine still lives under Israel Bombs.

Omar Karem report from Gaza on the latest news.

Gaza is Under Attack Again; UN Vote has Israel in the Hot Seat

August 21, 2011 1 comment

Posted on August 19, 2011 by Marivel Guzman in collaboration with Omar Karem

Once again Gaza Strip, that enclave in the Mediterranean Sea is being Shell by Israel Air Artillery, the excuses are lame as always, but the eyes of the world are in Israel impunity to kill without being call terrorist, without being stopped by the outcry of world leaders when she engage in murderous activities, where is the International Community and the UN publicly denouncing Israel for her killing of civilians and destruction of homes, and public structures? Where is the outcry of world, where is the Main Stream Media reporting the crimes? Fox, CNN, BBC, where are your photojournalists? why you are not in Gaza? Innocent population is once again being victim of aerial raids, home destruction, panic in the streets, fears in the children hearts, impotency from the parents which can not protect their children, the shelters are not available to help them. UNRWA was instructed by Israel not to use their vehicles at night; at night when most of the bombs are dropped. The ambulances will not be able to move at night to seek for injured as Israel will shoot to any moving “Target”.
The latest excuse for the attacks came from the south of the border of Israel with Egypt, more than 188 kilometer far from Gaza. According to first reports from a spokesman from Israel said that the attacks came from the Egyptian Side of the Sinai region, which is under Israel control but it is demilitarize after the Camp Davis agreement. But there are many conflicting versions that contradict the firsts reports, after Israeli soldier killed 3 Egyptian soldiers inside Egypt, making with this invalid the Camp David accords. The situation is very tense in Israel as her biggest border which is Egypt will be lost very soon out of her total control. As soon as Palestine be Official all the accords of the past are history for the books, even if Israel never respect them, they won’t be the excuse for her crimes, and the Leaders won’t have face to say any more; “Israel has the right to defend herself”.

“Israel and any other (country) must understand that the day our sons get killed without a strong and an appropriate response, is gone and will not come back,” wrote Amr Moussa, former Arab League chief and now a presidential hopeful. He tweeted his statement along with, “the blood of our martyrs which was spilled while carrying out their duties, will not be shed in vain.”

All the factions inside Palestine and the Government of Gaza deny any involvement in the attacks that killed 8 Israelis. The world know well that when any attack is carry out by any Palestinian factions they will immediately will claim responsibility, the latest “attacks” are seen as a excuses for Israel to bring conflict to the zone of Sinai that is loosing Egyptian control after the fall of Mubarak, and also to created diversion on the world for the September UN acceptance of Palestine as a State and become the 193 Member of the UN.
The Independent Media, social forums and bloggers have been reporting in the social circles of facebook, youtube, twiter and other services to the world, but as usual the great majority of the leaders refused to condemn Israel, giving her the green light with their silence and excusing her last attacks in the innocent population of Gaza, Israel officials had reported to the press that the attacks came from the Egypt side of Sinai, the attacks to the buses going to The resort of Eilat, really too far of the reach of any Gaza groups.

Palestinian Mercenaries trained by EU with the blessing of Israel: “The new Palestinian unit will be tasked with securing European Union facilities in the eastern part of the capital and maintaining order in the area. The 80 Palestinians to be selected for the highly coveted job will be trained and guided by British company Saladin Security.”

If Israel gets away with shaking the Oslo accord only to her convenience and with security forces paid by the EU, who say that these security forces has not expanded and were “trained” to work against her own people, which is probably some how the case, even thought I really believe they never intended to be “Palestinians”.
When I first heard of the highly secretive security force working in Jerusalem acting as Palestinians,(Mukhabrat) taking part in protests against Israel, and leading the Palestinians to more violent type of protest, then turning around and taking their guns out and arresting the protesters, then we know that Israel have not change a bit since Biblical times, stories circulating of the deceitful behavior of Israelis since more than 2,000 years ago. Any way then was and now is the same tactics, terrorizing the neighbors and then blaming the other neighbors for her crimes.


I cropped these three faces from a video widely published during the Jerusalem Protests in 2010, these look like Palestinians were mixed with the crowd, some others right after they will try to make the arrest they will put on a mask on their faces before they will turn against the Palestinians and make the arrest, I tried to make as clear as possible these faces so they not be confused again with a Palestinian brother. (Mukhabrat)
This people not to be confused with the Ameel, which are real Palestinians that take money from Israel to serve as spies inside the territories.

These Look Like Palestinians are highly trained personal:

A security firm that employs the veterans of elite British units will provide instruction to 80 Palestinian security guards to be deployed in east Jerusalem.
The new Palestinian unit will be tasked with securing European Union facilities in the eastern part of the capital and maintaining order in the area. The 80 Palestinians to be selected for the highly coveted job will be trained and guided by British company Saladin Security.

The project has been arranged by the EU, which intends to train the Palestinians to serve as a highly skilled police force to maintain the order in Arab areas in Jerusalem, and later on across the Palestinian Authority.
Saladin Security, which was established in 1978, provides training and security services in dozens of countries and was set up by veterans of the elite SAS unit.

Saladin, or in its previous name, KMS, has already been entrusted with some controversial operations in the past. Among other things, its members trained the Islamic rebels fighting the Soviet occupation in Afghanistan. The Muslim fighters trained by the company eventually managed to take over the country.

They suppose to be Palestinians, but we well know that Israel will never grant permission to carry arms to a Palestinian inside Jerusalem, these look like Palestinians are kind of secret service elite, that behave like Palestinians, dress like Palestinians, live among Palestinians, they even get as far to marry Palestinians, but when the day come they turn their backs to Palestine and come to the counter bank for their check pay.

Not to be confused with Ameel, which are Palestinians that for financial reasons or others sometimes are forced by Israel using their families as bate, the ones incarcerated under threats to keep them in jail longer, or to torture them,  they take money from Israel wanted or not, usually if these Palestinians are found, they are called collaborators and without a trial or without finding the real motive they are killed by Palestinians.

“Another Israeli False Flag? – by Stephen Lendman

Mossad and Shin Bet (Israel’s Security Agency) have long, odious histories of committing them.

At issue now is whether the August 18 bus and other attacks inside Israel were committed by external elements or Israel, and if so, why?

Also at issue always is cui bono? In fact, Hamas and various Palestinian resistance groups have nothing to gain. Clearly Israel benefits greatly at least two ways:

(1) The upcoming September UN General Assembly vote on Palestinian self-determination Israel very much wants to derail.

(2) Weeks of nationwide internal social justice protests Netanyahu also wants to diffuse and end.

Both are compelling reasons for employing tried and true tactics – change the subject by diverting public attention.
This article enlighten the minds regarding Israel long history of flag operations. There is no News that before Israel creation a series of event came to shape the panorama in the then Mandate of Palestine. The Zionist elite crafted every event that lead to the creation of Palestine…..MORE ON THIS ARTICLE …

Trainees take part in a shooting drill of the International Security Academy-Israel in a combat training center at Nir Am kibbutz near the Gaza strip, on May 26, 2011.  (Xinhua/Yin Dongxun)

On May 26, 2011 an article was in the News.cn a News Outlet from China, with photos on a group of International “Trainees” in the Negev Desert very close to Gaza. These “Students” come from 17 countries and they are trained to deal in Arabs Affairs. The garments to wear logically are part of the training, they must be dress to blend in. The following pictures show a group of them dressing as Arabs, some of them using the Palestinians Scarf and others the traditional beduine head cover. You can see that these students are being trained to deceit.
There is no news that Israel during her 65 years of existence has been known for her Self Perpetrated Attacks; “False Flag Operations” to divert the attention and to win support thru the media where these operations are Propagated.

The versions on the August 18, attack lead many experts to believe that the death of the 8 tourists in the bus in South Israel is just another operation to escalate the attacks in Gaza and with this, send the message to Abbas the Palestinians President to withdraw his bid for Statehood, and at the same time to create chaos and confusion on the goals of Palestinians, portraying them as “terrorists”.

We must not fall in her campaign by now we know her tactics. Israel is in the Hot Seat.

44 Weeks of Pro-Palestinian Protest in Adelaide and not a Word in Print


Posted on August 10, 2011 by Marivel Guzman

by Margaret Cassar on August 4, 2011

Adelaide is the capital of South Australia. It’s a sprawling city; Adelaide’s metropolitan region is more than twice the size of Gaza but with a smaller population. Gaza has 1.7 million people compared with Adelaide’s 1.2 million. However there are much more significant differences. Here we move freely in and out of our city and country, trade with everyone, have ready access to water, food, medicines, hospitals, medical care and education. No-one has ever imprisoned our whole population and then bombed us. Yet in spite of our differences and the vast 13,000 km distance between our cities a growing number of people in Adelaide are developing a sense of solidarity with the people of Palestine.

As part of our contribution to the international BDS movement, over 10 months ago the Australian Friends of Palestine Association held the first Adelaide Seacret (Israeli cosmetic company) protest. Each week an ever increasing number of pro-Palestinian protesters have demonstrated in front of the Myer Center shopping complex which hosts the Seacret kiosk. Our latest You Tube shows that despite strong opposition and varying intimidating tactics from Zionist sympathizers, we are determined to continue to educate the people of Adelaide about Palestine and encourage them to boycott Israeli products.

Our first action was held on October 8th 2010 and we were fortunate to have Tariq Ali present. The next few weeks saw numbers drop but our persistence paid off as people shopping in the Mall started to ask if they could join the protesters. The word spread. From the initial dozen protesters there are now consistently approximately three dozen protesters in the Mall every week with the average numbers for every month increasing. The following You Tube shows a not uncommon scenario where a group of young teenage boys just passing by were inspired to join in.

Our aim with these protests was to educate Adelaide shoppers about the human rights violations inflicted every day upon the Palestinian and to inform them about the current boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement plus show shoppers in the Mall how they could boycott Israeli goods. Every week we see more and more evidence that a city like Adelaide not only needs to hear the truth about Palestine but in general wants to hear factual information about the conflict in the Middle East.

Hundreds of people have stopped to talk to us about the situation in Palestine. Most are genuinely interested, some want to argue the point and some want to abuse us. However it is obvious that, particularly since “Operation Cast Lead”, there are many people in Adelaide who feel compassion for the people of Palestine. These Seacret protests are tapping into a growing disquiet among Australians about the human rights abuses in Palestine and the complicity of our government in supporting a military occupation that causes so much suffering. An interesting aspect to these 44 weeks of protesting in the Mall has been the amount of intimidating behaviour from all manner of groups. Probably the easiest to deal with has been our apparent interest to photographers as most weeks we are filmed both openly and covertly by at least 5 people. Occasionally we are told the photographs would be used in a court case against us. A common comment was that we were being photographed so that photos could be sent back to “friends in Israel”.

Abusive behaviour towards the protesters from seemingly random people passing by is becoming more threatening and plumbing new depths in sexist and racist remarks. I use the words “seemingly random” because most weeks there seems to be a common theme behind the abuse, eg just recently all commentary mentioned that we were Australians and not interested in other people’s problems. It all starts to look a bit scripted and rehearsed. Initially words like “misguided” were yelled at us now it’s more likely to include an expletive and the attractive female protesters have been subject to objectionable comments ranging from the patronizing (“Go home to your husband”) to the sleazy (“You can lick my Zionist balls”). None of this reflects well on our detractors.

Most worrying has been the revelation that Christian Zionists play a powerful role on the ground in countries like Australia in stifling debate on the Israel-Palestine conflict. Our Christian Zionist counter-protesters have used an arsenal of techniques to scare us away from the Mall. They turn up in groups and loudly proclaim a most un-Christian hatred and condemnation of the protesters and many other sections of the Australian community. This particular group usually arrives with Israeli flags, soap boxes, a full size cross on wheels and loud speakers to stridently broadcast their repugnant views to hapless shoppers in the Mall. Some verbally abuse the protesters and all promote a similar message, “You are doing the devil’s work and you need to repent or you will end up in hell.” Protesters have been called murderers and we have witnessed certain protesters being targeted in an attempt to provoke violent reactions.

Residents of Adelaide are not surprised by this but it would appear that peaceful pro-Palestinian protests have zero interest for our media. As you saw in the earlier You Tube of our actions for Weeks 41 and 42 the Seacret protest group is highly visible as the protesters wear bright green T-shirts, hold large placards, banners and Palestinian flags. Though we have attracted the attention of tens of thousands of passers-by, engaged hundreds of people in discussion about Palestine and given out over 20,000 leaflets, we are apparently invisible to local mainstream media. In 10 months not one word has been printed in our only local daily newspaper, News Limited’s The Advertiser. Apple growers from the Adelaide Hills rightly received considerable space for one of their protests. Ditto for teachers and truck drivers. For me the interesting story is why nearly a year of peaceful protests is not worth one word of print. It would seem pro-Palestinian activists may only be seen in the media if they can be portrayed as violent and in conflict with the police.

It has also been interesting to see that while Adelaide’s mainstream media has deliberately ignored the protests other elements of society have paid us lots of attention. For example when the protests first started there would be approximately 15 management and security personnel watching a dozen protesters hold placards and hand out leaflets. Members of SAPOL (South Australian Police) quickly realized we were law-abiding and at all times the police have treated protesters with courtesy.

Australian politicians in the main are stridently pro-Israel and as we saw in the recent Marrickville council elections it is a brave politician indeed who dares endorse the BDS movement. However if they attended one of our protests they may be surprised to see that the issue of Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians does resonate with Australian voters and that they could safely take a more principled stand on this issue.

Margaret Cassar is Executive Member, Australian Friends of Palestine Association.

Gaza Fisherman Refuse Return of Confiscated Ships Stripped of Motors and Equiptment


Posted On August 10, 2011 by Marivel Guzman

Gaza TV News

Gaza fishermen refuse return of confiscated ships stripped of motors, equipment

After extensive correspondence between Palestinian human rights groups and the Israeli authorities, Israel agreed to return several fishing vessels confiscated off the coast of Gaza.

On 2 August, Israel brought the stolen ships to the Karem Abu Salem crossing with Gaza to return the ships to their owners. However, the boats had been stripped of their motors and fishing equipment; in some cases the missing equipment was worth thousands of dollars.

Israel also attempted to charge the boat owners for transportation fees to the Karem Abu Salem crossing — therefore the Palestinian fishermen refused the Israeli receipts for their vessels and returned to Gaza without their ships.

The Palestinian rights groups Adalah and Al Mezan released a statement on 4 August explaining that the returned boats had been confiscated from eight fishermen over the course of 18 months. The full statement by the rights groups is below.

The Electronic Intifada has continuously covered Israel’s repeated attacks on Gaza fishermen and the fishing industry. Israel has arrested fishermen, shot them dead and more recently attacked a small ship carrying human rights observers monitoring Israel’s harassment of fishermen.

In addition to physically attacking Gaza fishermen, Israel has prevented them from rightfully accessing deep sea waters — decimating the fishing industry, robbing Palestinians in Gaza of self-sufficiency and depriving Palestinians in Gaza from an affordable source of protein.

Israel’s attacks on the Gaza fishing industry takes place in the wider context of its systematic decimation of Gaza’s economy, through denying exports from the besieged territory, and through the bombardment of agricultural areas.

The full statement by Adalah and Al Mezan follows:

4 August 2011

Israeli Navy Releases Boats Confiscated from Gaza Fishermen without Equipment and Large Motors; Fishermen Refuse to take Boats

Adalah and Al Mezan continue to work intensively to secure the return of the boats and equipment belonging to fishermen from the Gaza Strip following its undue confiscation by the Israeli navy. The two human rights organizations are following the cases of eight fishermen whose boats were confiscated over the past 18 months

On 1 August 2011, after extensive correspondence, Adalah received a written response from the Israeli military prosecutor for the Israeli navy informing it that dozens of fishermen from Gaza would be permitted to go to the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing to collect small fishing boats (hasakat) that were confiscated from them by the Israeli navy over the course of the past 18 months. However, the military prosecutor also informed Adalah that any outboard motors over 25 horsepower on the boats had been dismantled and would not be returned to their owners, on the pretext that there was a legal prohibition against the export of such engines to Gaza.

When the fishermen arrived at the crossing to collect their boats on 2 August 2011, they were further shocked to discover that all they were given were the empty hulls of the fishing boats: in addition to larger motors, all of the fishing equipment and supplies that were onboard had been removed, in some cases worth tens of thousands of shekels. For example, on 26 April 2010, the Israeli navy raided the fishing boat of fisherman Mr. Fayyad Murtaji along the Gaza coast, arrested him and other people who were present on the boat, and impounded his vessel. The navy released the men soon afterwards but kept the fishing boat and equipment, which included fishing nets worth more than NIS 13,000 shekels, an outboard motor worth NIS 21,500, diving suits, fishing tackle, and search lighting, together worth thousands of shekels.

Furthermore, the fishermen were then required to pay the transportation fees for moving the boats from Israel to the Karem Abu Salem crossing, at a cost of between NIS 3,500 and 5,000 each. In addition, the fishermen are expected to pay for the transportation of the boats from the landlocked crossing to seaports. All the fishermen refused to take receipt of their boats and returned home without them.

The military prosecutor’s response follows extensive legal correspondence between Adalah – on behalf of the fishermen and Al Mezan Center for Human Rights – and the Office of the Navy Prosecutor over the past 10 months. In the correspondence, Adalah Attorney Fatmeh El-‘Ajou rejected the navy’s claims that the confiscation of the boats came in response to violations of security restrictions and for sailing in a closed military zone, arguing that the boats were impounded within the maritime areas of the Gaza Strip in permitted fishing zones.

As Adalah emphasized in a letter dated 20 July 2011, the refusal to permit the import of 25- horsepower outboard motors to Gaza on the basis of the Defense Export Control Law – 2007, which prevents the export of security equipment from Israel into the Gaza Strip – was illegal in these cases, which entail the return of illegally-seized goods from the Gaza Strip and not exported goods.

The military prosecutor for the Israeli navy conditioned the return of the fishing boats on written commitments from the fishermen that they would observe “the security restrictions in the maritime zone off the coast of Gaza and the orders of the Israeli army not to violate the security restrictions,” and “forfeit their right to compensation as a result of the lengthy duration of the impounding of the fishing boats.”

Adalah further argued, in a letter dated 8 September 2010, that the impounding of the fishing boats and the conditions imposed by the Israeli navy constituted a grave violation of the rights of Gaza residents to occupation and property under both Israeli domestic law and international law.

Attorney Mervat An Nahhal of Al Mezan stated that the confiscation of the fishing boats from Gaza comes within the broader context of the Israeli maritime blockade on the Strip, which is imposed by force of arms by the Israeli navy. Fishermen are exposed to serious rights violations that tread on their dignity and undermine their ability to work, even while fishing in permitted areas. Dozens of fishermen have been killed, injured and detained, their property has been illegally seized, and many of them have been driven into poverty and unemployment. Attorney An Nahhal argued that these practices constitute grave violations of international law, and form part of the collective punishment that is imposed on Gaza. They further violate the prohibition on targeting civilians and their livelihoods in the context of Occupation and armed conflict. She further stated that Adalah and Al Mezan would continue to work together on these cases to gain justice for the fishermen.

 

Other Links

Public Notice: Notice to Catherine Myles to return the Trade Not Aid 18 ton Truck – reg # V97 DBA


Posted on August 10, 2011 by Marivel Guzman

Notice to Catherine Myles to return the Trade Not Aid 18 ton Truck – reg # V97 DBA
by Ken O’Keefe on Tuesday, August 9, 2011 at 4:00pm

To: Catherine Sarah Myles

From: Ken O’Keefe

Subject: Demand for return of property

Date: August 9, 2011

Let is be known that the pictured 18-ton truck has been fraudulently registered in the name of Catherine Sarah Myles and taken to a destination unknown and against my expressed will. The registration of the vehicle in Catherine Myles name has been verified by the Metropolitan and Swansea Police Departments. Upon legal advice and the advice of the Police I am hereby making a public demand to have the truck in question, reg # V97 DBA, handed over to me with the log book so it can be returned the mission it was intended for. This vehicle shall be registered as an asset of Aloha Palestine CIC, a trading company to which I am the Managing Director and which was set up to conduct trade with Palestine. It is also demanded that all cargo on that truck, cargo that includes trade items and aid, including medical aid, be protected and returned as it was when the vehicle was taken away from my charge. The property value of the cargo has been valued at £20,000+.

Stolen property of Trade Not Aid mission

Let it be know that there is a paper trail that includes a bank transfer, emails and a third party witness that will all verify that the funds used to purchase this vehicle were raised by myself, Ken O’Keefe, and that these funds were held by someone other than Catherine Myles until I directed this person to transfer said funds to Catherine Myles. This witness verifies the fact that this vehicle was never to be registered in the name of Catherine Myles, instead it was to be registered for the Trade Not Aid mission, of which Aloha Palestine is a partner.

Let this also be known, Catherine Sarah Myles has absolutely no legal claim to this vehicle, the registration of the vehicle in her name is fraudulent as it was always to be used as an asset of the mission that I created and which was endorsed by the Samouni Family in Gaza. The formation of a “committee” that rubber-stamped a hijacking of the Trade Not Aid mission, along with the subsequent slander campaign by Catherine Myles is the only basis of her holding the property of the Trade Not Aid mission. Never did Catherine Myles have any ownership rights to this vehicle and taking this vehicle with the cargo was done in direct opposition to my direction as the leader of the mission.

Having reported this matter to the Police, having consulted with legal counsel, it has been verified to me that should this go to court, with the facts as they are, especially upon public notice being served in an attempt to recover said vehicle, that Catherine Myles will be subject not just to civil liability and financial compensation, but criminal charges for fraud and theft.

The only way for this matter not to result in a legal process in which I will pursue criminal charges is for the vehicle, the cargo, and the monies raised on the Trade Not Aid UK Tour (approximately £4000) to be returned to me within three days (by Friday August 12, 2011). If this demand is fulfilled I am willing to consider not pursuing libel charges in response to the charges made by Catherine Myles and the “committee” she heads. In these spurious charges Catherine Myles and her partners state that I am a thief, a Nazi and that I attempted to lure young women into my apartment in Gaza. The latter charge has subsequently put peoples live in Gaza in danger and all three of these claims, among many others made, are completely false and according to UK law constitute libel and defamation of character.

To date, the Trade Not Aid mission has lost two fund raisers in August due to the hijacking of the mission. Property worth considerable money that would have seriously enhanced this mission has been withdrawn until this matter is remedied. These are provable damages that are intended to harm me, but they also harm Palestine and the Samouni family.

The longer this hijacking continues, the less chance there is of me not pursuing criminal charges to the fullest extent of the law. The libel charges are absolute and the theft charges are likewise should this public notice be ignored. A hard copy of this notice is also being served to Catherine Sarah Myles legal address so as to satisfy the requirements of the law in attempting to recover stolen property should this notice be ignored.

I request that friends of Catherine Myles post this on her wall and also spread this notice far and wide.

I shall repeat one last time, in the interest of the mission, I will consider not pursuing libel and criminal charges, charges that can be proven beyond any doubt, if all demands are met within three days. Let it be known as well that I have continued contact with the Samouni family in Gaza and they are now fully aware of this hijacking and the attempt by Catherine Myles to steal property used for the benefit of the family. The Samouni family have also retained legal counsel and I am acting in cooperation with their solicitors.

TJP,

Ken O’Keefe

Stolen Property From Trade Not Aid Mission, and fraudulent register in Catherine Sarah Myles

Categories: News

Somalia! SOmalia! SOMalia SOMAlia SOMALia SOMALIa SOMALIA IN THE NEWS!


Posted on August 06, 2011 by Marivel Guzman
Remember BLACK HAWK DOWN-They even made a movie out of the event to cover up the military operation under humanitarian wraps and in the way maligning the “ungrateful Somali Population”.
The U.N.’s expensive campaign resulted in more violence, as the Somali tribes fought to preserve their traditional systems and their right to self-defense.
On June 5, 1993, U.N. troops attempted to shut down Aideed’s radio station because it was broadcasting “propaganda” (that is, anti-U.N. messages). In a victory for freedom of speech, Somali militiamen repelled the attack in the process of killing 23 U.N. troops.
Original article posted by the LA Times on January 18, 1993
FOUR AMERICAN PETROLEUM GIANTS HAD AGREEMENTS WITH THE AFRICAN NATION BEFORE ITS CIVIL WAR BEGAN
THEY COULD REAP BIG REWARDS IF PEACE IS RESTORED
By MARK FINEMAN

DATELINE: MOGADISHU, Somalia
Far beneath the surface of the tragic drama of Somalia, four major U.S. oil companies are quietly sitting on a prospective fortune in exclusive concessions to explore and exploit tens of millions of acres of the Somali countryside.
That land, in the opinion of geologists and industry sources, could yield significant amounts of oil and natural gas if the U.S.-led military mission can restore peace to the impoverished East African nation.
According to documents obtained by The Times, nearly two-thirds of Somalia was allocated to the American oil giants Conoco, Amoco, Chevron, and Phillips in the final years before Somalia’s pro-U.S. President Mohamed Siad Barre was overthrown, and the nation plunged into chaos in January 1991. Industry sources said the companies holding the rights to the most promising concessions are hoping that the Bush Administration’s decision to send U.S. troops to safeguard aid shipments to Somalia will also help protect their multimillion-dollar investments there.
Officially, the Administration and the State Department insist that the U.S. military mission in Somalia is strictly humanitarian. Oil industry spokesmen dismissed as “absurd” and “nonsense” allegations by aid experts, veteran East Africa analysts and several prominent Somalis that President Bush, a former Texas oilman, was moved to act in Somalia, at least in part, by the U.S. corporate oil stake.
But corporate and scientific documents disclosed that the American companies are well positioned to pursue Somalia’s most promising potential oil reserves the moment the nation is pacified. And the State Department and U.S. military officials acknowledge that one of those oil companies has done more than simply sit back and hope for peace.
Conoco Inc., the only major multinational corporation to maintain a functioning office in Mogadishu throughout the past two years of nationwide anarchy, has been directly involved in the U.S. government’s role in the U.N.-sponsored humanitarian military effort.
Conoco, whose tireless exploration efforts in north-central Somalia reportedly had yielded the most encouraging prospects just before Siad Barre’s fall, permitted its Mogadishu corporate compound to be transformed into a de facto American embassy a few days before the U.S. Marines landed in the capital, with Bush’s special envoy using it as his temporary headquarters. In addition, the president of the company’s subsidiary in Somalia won high official praise for serving as the government’s volunteer “facilitator” during the months before and during the U.S. intervention.
Describing the arrangement as “a business relationship,” an official spokesman for the Houston-based parent corporation of Conoco Somalia Ltd. said the U.S. government was paying rental for its use of the compound, and he insisted that Conoco was proud of resident general manager Raymond Marchand’s contribution to the U.S.-led humanitarian effort.
John Geybauer, spokesman for Conoco Oil in Houston, said the company was acting as “a good corporate citizen and neighbor” in granting the U.S. government’s request to be allowed to rent the compound. The U.S. Embassy and most other buildings and residential compounds here in the capital were rendered unusable by vandalism and fierce artillery duels during the clan wars that have consumed Somalia and starved its people.
In its in-house magazine last month, Conoco reprinted excerpts from a letter of commendation for Marchand written by U.S. Marine Brig. Gen. Frank Libutti, who has been acting as military aide to U.S. envoy Robert B. Oakley. In the letter, Libutti praised the oil official for his role in the initial operation to land Marines on Mogadishu’s beaches in December, and the general concluded, “Without Raymond’s courageous contributions and selfless service, the operation would have failed.”
But the close relationship between Conoco and the U.S. intervention force has left many Somalis and foreign development experts deeply troubled by the blurry line between the U.S. government and the large oil company, leading many to liken the Somalia operation to a miniature version of Operation Desert Storm, the U.S.-led military effort in January, 1991, to drive Iraq from Kuwait and, more broadly, safeguard the world’s largest oil reserves.
“They sent all the wrong signals when Oakley moved into the Conoco compound,” said one expert on Somalia who worked with one of the four major companies as they intensified their exploration efforts in the country in the late 1980s.
“It’s left everyone thinking the big question here isn’t famine relief but oil – whether the oil concessions granted under Siad Barre will be transferred if and when peace is restored,” the expert said. “It’s potentially worth billions of dollars, and believe me, that’s what the whole game is starting to look like.”
Although most oil experts outside Somalia laugh at the suggestion that the nation ever could rank among the world’s major oil producers — and most maintain that the international aid mission is intended simply to feed Somalia’s starving masses — no one doubts that there is oil in Somalia. The only question: How much?
“It’s there. There’s no doubt there’s oil there,” said Thomas E. O’Connor, the principal petroleum engineer for the World Bank, who headed an in-depth, three-year study of oil prospects in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia’s northern coast.
“You don’t know until you study a lot further just how much is there,” O’Connor said. “But it has commercial potential. It’s got high potential … once the Somalis get their act together.”
O’Connor, a professional geologist, based his conclusion on the findings of some of the world’s top petroleum geologists. In a 1991 World Bank-coordinated study, intended to encourage private investment in the petroleum potential of eight African nations, the geologists put Somalia and Sudan at the top of the list of prospective commercial oil producers.
Presenting their results during a three-day conference in London in September, 1991, two of those geologists, an American and an Egyptian, reported that an analysis of nine exploratory wells drilled in Somalia indicated that the region is “situated within the oil window, and thus (is) highly prospective for gas and oil.” A report by a third geologist, Z. R. Beydoun said offshore sites possess “the geological parameters conducive to the generation, expulsion and trapping of significant amounts of oil and gas.”
Beydoun, who now works for Marathon Oil in London, cautioned in a recent interview that on the basis of his findings alone, “you cannot say there definitely is oil,” but he added: “The different ingredients for generation of oil are there. The question is whether the oil generated there has been trapped or whether it 7 or evaporated.”
Beginni 1986, Conoco, along with Amoco, Chevron, Phillips, and, briefly, Shell all sought and obtained exploration licenses for northern Somalia from Siad Barre’s government. Somalia was soon carved up into concessional blocs, with Conoco, Amoco, and Chevron winning the right to explore and exploit the most promising ones.
The companies’ interest in Somalia clearly predated the World Bank study. It was grounded in the findings of another highly successful exploration effort by the Texas-based Hunt Oil Corp. across the Gulf of Aden in the Arabian Peninsula nation of Yemen, where geologists disclosed in the mid-1980s that the estimated 1 billion barrels of Yemeni oil reserves were part of a great underground rift, or valley, that arced into and across northern Somalia.
Hunt’s Yemeni operation, which is now yielding nearly 200,000 barrels of oil a day, and its implications for the entire region were not lost on then-Vice President George Bush.
In fact, Bush witnessed it firsthand in April 1986, when he officially dedicated Hunt’s new $18-million refinery near the ancient Yemeni town of Marib. In remarks during the event, Bush emphasized the critical value of supporting the U.S. corporate efforts to develop and safeguard potential oil reserves in the region.
In his speech, Bush stressed “the growing strategic importance to the West of developing crude oil sources in the region away from the Strait of Hormuz,” according to a report three weeks later in the authoritative Middle East Economic Survey.
Bush’s reference was to the geographical choke point that controls access to the Persian Gulf and its vast oil reserves. It came at the end of a 10-day Middle East tour in which the vice president drew fire for appearing to advocate higher oil and gasoline prices.
“Throughout the course of his 17,000-mile trip, Bush suggested continued low (oil) prices would jeopardize a domestic oil industry ‘vital to the national security interests of the United States,’ which was interpreted at home and abroad as a sign the onetime oil driller from Texas was coming to the aid of his former associates,” United Press International reported from Washington the day after Bush dedicated Hunt’s Yemen refinery.
No such criticism accompanied Bush’s decision late last year to send more than 20,000 U.S. troops to Somalia, widely applauded as a bold and costly step to save an estimated 2 million Somalis from starvation by opening up relief supply lines and pacifying the famine-struck nation
But since the U.S. intervention began, neither the Bush Administration nor any of the oil companies that had been active in Somalia up until the civil war broke out in early 1991 have commented publicly on Somalia’s potential for oil and natural gas production. Even in private, veteran oil company exploration experts played down any possible connection between the Administration’s move into Somalia and the corporate concessions at stake.
“In the oil world, Somalia is a fringe exploration area,” said one Conoco executive who asked not to be named. “They’ve overexaggerated it,” he said of the geologists’ optimism about the prospective oil reserves there. As for Washington’s motives in Somalia, he brushed aside criticisms that have been voiced quietly in Mogadishu, saying, “With America, there is a genuine humanitarian streak in us … that many other countries and cultures can not understand.”
But the same source added that Conoco’s decision to maintain its headquarters in the Somali capital even after it pulled out the last of its major equipment in the spring of 1992 was certainly not a humanitarian one. And he confirmed that the company, which has explored Somalia in three major phases beginning in 1952, had achieved “very good oil shows” — industry terminology for an exploration phase that often precedes a major discovery — just before the war broke out.
“We had these very good shows,” he said. “We were pleased. That’s why Conoco stayed on… . The people in Houston are convinced there’s oil there.”
Indeed, the same Conoco World article that praised Conoco’s general manager in Somalia for his role in the humanitarian effort quoted Marchand as saying, “We stayed because of Somalia’s potential for the company and to protect our assets.”
Marchand, a French citizen who came to Somalia from Chad after the civil war, forced Conoco to suspend operations there, and explained the role played by his firm in helping set up the U.S.-led pacification mission in Mogadishu.
“When the State Department asked Conoco management for assistance, I was glad to use the company’s influence in Somalia for the success of this mission,” he said in the magazine article. “I just treated it like a company operation — like moving a rig. I did it for this operation because the (U.S.) officials weren’t familiar with the environment.”
Marchand and his company were clearly familiar with the anarchy into which Somalia has descended over the past two years — a nation with no functioning government, no utilities and few roads, a place ruled loosely by regional warlords.
Of the four U.S. companies holding the Siad Barre-era oil concessions, Conoco is believed to be the only one that negotiated what spokesman Geybauer called “a standstill agreement” with an interim government set up by one of Mogadishu’s two principal warlords, Ali Mahdi Mohamed. Industry sources said the other U.S. companies with contracts in Somalia cited “force majeure” (superior power), a legal term asserting that they were forced by the war to abandon their exploration efforts and would return as soon as peace is restored.
“It’s going to be very interesting to see whether these agreements are still good,” said Mohamed Jirdeh, a prominent Somali businessman in Mogadishu who is familiar with the oil-concession agreements. “Whatever Siad did, all those records and contracts all disappeared after he fled. This period has brought with it a deep change in our society.
“Our country is now very weak, and, of course, the American oil companies are very strong. This has to be handled very diplomatically, and I think the American government must move out of the oil business, or at least make clear that there is a definite line separating the two, if they want to maintain a long-term relationship here.”
Fineman, Times Bureau Chief in Nicosia, Cyprus, was recently in Somalia.
Copyright 1993 The Los Angeles Times -Published January 18, 1993

Palestinian Bid for UN Statehood Recognition should not be questioned, Israel existence should be


Posted on August 02, 2011 by Marivel Guzman

Parts of this articles taken from To the Point Analyses Deconstructing The News By Laurence Davidson And Again I deconstruct the News and the opinion, but at the end you the readers are the opinion makers.

Lawrence Davidson argues that, while UN recognition of Palestinian statehood could be potentially of psychological value to the Palestinian cause, “boycott, divestment and sanctions within the context of increasing worldwide awareness of Israel’s essential racist nature shows real promise of results in the long term. In my opinion there is actually a good chance that a worldwide BDS movement, growing steadily for say the next quarter century, can actually achieve the de-Zionization of Israel.”
If he Serious, another 25 years of Israel occupation, Really? Professor? are you kidding? Israel only in the last 8 years have annexed over47 % of Palestine land since they started building the apartheid wall, without counting the other already stolen land in 1948 and 1967.

And there is another threat to already death peace process, “Ideas about annexing parts of the West Bank that until recently were considered extreme have been gaining traction in the Knesset in recent weeks as the Palestinian Authority continues threatening to declare a state unilaterally in September. … “We’ll have to protect ourselves,” [National Infrastructures Minister Uzi Landau] said. “If [the Palestinians declare a state], I’m going to suggest to my government to extend our sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and over the highly populated blocs we have in Judea and Samaria, just to start with.” Jerusalem Post

Going to the UN for recognition.

While Lawrence Davidson is right on his assessment of the great psychological value for Palestinians to boots their moral, if Palestine is recognized, I completely disagree to his second statement regarding BDS to be long term solution, and sending a subtle message to Palestine not to Bid for UN Statehood Recognition, I wonder how long term he is referring to.  Even if he is neutral on the conflict and he speaks only as expert, he is sending the wrong message.

When he include in his article the wording of : Ali Abunimah but only on the surface he explore the words of Ali Abunimah, he makes no analysis of the situation only copying pasting the analysis of this great journalist, that on his own words gave us the looming future of a Palestine recognized by the UN in paper but not in essence, not in substance knowing that Israel has laugh and ignored every single resolution ever drafted against her illegalities and crimes.

Journalist Ali Abunimah is one of the most important sources of information and analysis of the Israeli war on Palestine and the ongoing struggle for justice. He is cofounder of the invaluable Electronic Intifada website and author of One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse. He talked to Eric Ruder about the latest developments in the region–and what lies ahead for Palestinians.

Right now the International Activist Community, Bloggers, writers, and thousands of old and newly formed Pro-Palestinians Organizations have been spreading the message on the reality on the ground in Occupied Palestine and the serious threat to regional peace with the Existence of Israel as it stands now, playing the bully not just in Palestine, killing indiscriminately but also in the neighbors countries like Syria, and Lebanon and creating an atmosphere of unrest, brewing conflict in a way only Israel is expert on doing, using flag operations and dirty propaganda.

It is hard to accept sometimes that we may be just playing in a chess game that have to end, but we have to rely also on the hopes and ideals that, that we as a spectators have in this conflict we all want peace, so we all are being part of this movement of peace. We can not take away the importance of the Arab revolutions, the threat that the whole of the people raising have in the regime of the region of the Arab world. I don’t think is insulated from the main middle east conflict, all the Arabs want peace, only their leaders keep playing this game of mouse and cat with Israel and the UN.

We know that the official propaganda from Israel and the Paid Media is spreading notion that if Palestine “Unilaterally”  bid for statehood in the UN, the Oslo Accord will be buried. As a thread to insult the intelligent of Palestinians and the world that know that Israel never has comply with the accords. The famous Oslo Accords signed in a ceremony in Washington DC by Yasef Arafat RIP and Yitzhak Rabin RIP, which actual documents were signed by Mahmoud Abbas for the PLO, Shimon Peres for Israel, Warren Christopher for the United States and Andre Kozyev for Russia.

ESSAY ONE: 

The Palestinian Bid for UN Statehood Recognition – An Analysis (1 August 2011)

Robert Serry

Mr. Robert H. Serry of the Netherlands was appointed by the Secretary-General as the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and his Personal Representative to the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority in November 2007. In this capacity, Mr. Serry will be the Envoy of the Secretary-General to the Quartet.

PRESS RELEASE

UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process warns Security Council
of “Dramatic” Deadlock in Peace Process, Calls for “Credible Political Path
Forward” and Bold Actions on the Ground

26 July 2011

In a briefing to the Security Council today in which he described the “profound and persistent deadlock” between Israelis and Palestinians, United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robert Serry described as “dramatic” the failure of the parties to meet their
agreed timeline for a permanent status agreement by September this year.
The Special Coordinator underscored what is at stake given the current deadlock. He noted that “the Palestinian Authority has, in key areas, reached a level of institutional performance sufficient for a functioning state” and made real security and economic gains in the recent
period. As a result, Mr. Serry said that “the Palestinian Authority is ready to assume the responsibilities of statehood at any point in the near future.”
However, continued Mr. Serry, “without a credible political path forward, accompanied by more far-reaching steps on the ground, the viability of the Palestinian Authority and its statebuilding agenda – and, I fear, of the two State solution itself – cannot be taken for granted,” Mr Serry warned. He called on the international community to unite and “shape a legitimate and balanced way forward that helps the parties overcome their differences and ultimately return to negotiations. We will continue to work with Quartet partners to seek urgent action in this regard. We also note the prerogatives of the Security Council and the General Assembly.”
Mr. Serry noted that Israeli steps of enablement on the ground had been made in the past, “bold measures have been lacking in recent times”, while worrying developments were taking place in the Israeli-controlled Area C of the West Bank, including a surge in demolitions with 700
Palestinians displaced this year, and continued settlement activity, including the recent confiscation of 19 hectares of private Palestinian land. “Settlements are illegal under international law and prejudge final status discussions, and settlement activity must cease”,
he said. “I urge Israel to do more to empower its moderate, committed and peaceful Palestinian partner”, Mr. Serry said. He also called on donors to ensure that the Palestinian Authority’s fiscal position is stabilized, so that it can continue to pay salaries and meet its other
financial obligations.
Mr. Serry expressed concern that a calm between Israel and Gaza that was restored in early April was “challenged by the firing of some 18 rockets into Israel since 23 June”. He also reported that Israel conducted three incursions and 16 air strikes, killing two Palestinian militants and injuring
eight, but also killing one Palestinian civilian and injuring fourteen. “Militants’ firing of indiscriminate rockets towards civilian areas is unacceptable and must cease. Israel must also show restraint. Tensions have subsided in recent days. My office remains active in
promoting a full restoration of calm, which remains a cornerstone for any broader achievements.”
Mr. Serry said the Gaza economy was growing, but from a very low base. He noted approval of $265 million of UN projects for Gaza as a “significant start” to address Gaza’s vast basic needs including education, housing, and sanitation. However, he urged Israel to allow aggregate, iron
bar and cement for use by Gaza’s private sector, to facilitate exports, and to enable freer movement of people in an out of the Strip, stressing that “We continue to seek the full reopening of all legitimate crossings.” He noted the importance of continuing to combat weapons smuggling.
Noting the closure of a Gaza youth NGO and efforts to intrusively audit international NGOs, Mr.
Serry called on Hamas to fully respect “the free and independent exercise of the functions of these Organizations”. He also urge “full respect for the work of UN agencies”, noting that some of their activities in support of Palestinian beneficiaries had been misrepresented recently.

ENDS ..Read all the other UN Resolution on Palestine Matter

Well Politicians knows how to built a case, they know how to structure the wording to make them sound accommodating to their ultimate goals take for instance this three statements:

“shape a legitimate and balanced way forward that helps the parties overcome their differences and ultimately return to negotiations.

With this is de legitimizing the right Palestinians aspirations to self determination, even in her bid for the UN, he is taking away her right to conduct herself as a state,  and taking the task to the hands of the “Quartet” and telling straight forward to Palestine that there is no UN Vote, that they have to keep “negotiating” and that is the problem, more time passes there is no land to negotiate, all the rights will be taken away, the only thing to be negotiated will be their right to stay Muslims in a Jew State, that what will boil down to the end, if Palestine do not move forward with the UN Vote in her favor.

“the Palestinian Authority is ready to assume the responsibilities of statehood at any point in the near future.” 

He knows that he carries official weight for the Palestinian Bid in SEPTEMBER, so he is sure to leave dates out, the Oslo Accords signed back in 1993 did have a date of “No later than 1996” a resolution should have been meet on the Israel-Palestine conflict. Off course in 1993 Oslo Accords, the most important issues were purposely left out.
Refugee Return, Jerusalem, Settlements expansion, security and BORDERS.

“without a credible political path forward, accompanied by more far-reaching steps on the ground, the viability of the Palestinian Authority and its state building agenda – and, I fear, of the two State solution itself – cannot be taken for granted,”

What is he saying with these classic  political demagogy , pure rhetoric with no clear meaning. Both of the above statements “credible political path forward” what is that? absolute nothing, Ah! the the second very clearly is sending the political message; “The viability of the Palestinian Authority and its State Building Agenda-AND , I FEAR THE TWO STATE SOLUTION ITSELF- CAN NOT BE TAKEN FOR GRANTED. ” he gave his verdict to the case, he is denying Palestine her right to be a viable State, and not because Palestine is not capable, but because UN the club make sure Palestine stay subservient of Israel and in a NEAR FUTURE, taking more land until there is no more to claim for a State. which will bring to memory Bush Speech  in Public Television US official approval  to Israel keep the Settlements Expansion, and really is not that Israel need US permission but with this gimmicks and political charged statements the congress get away to granting money to Israel.

Part I – The Palestinians Go to the UN

On 26 July 2011 Robert Serry, the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East peace process, appeared before the UN Security Council. Mr Serry is a career Dutch diplomat and had led the Middle Eastern Affairs Division of the Dutch Foreign Ministry. There is every reason to believe that he knows what he is talking about.

He told the Security Council that the “peace process”, that is the political process allegedly seeking a negotiated settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, had reached a stage of “profound and persistent deadlock”. Attempts to resume negotiations are “extremely difficult”, he said. And, “in the absence of a framework for meaningful talks, and with Israeli settlement activity continuing, the Palestinians are actively exploring approaching the UN”. That is actively considering asking for UN recognition of Palestine as a sovereign state within pre-1967 borders.

Mr Serry’s description of the negotiations seems pretty straightforward. The two sides are at a dead end. And, as Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat noted, this dead end follows negotiations that have stretched out over at least 20 years.

“The reason decades of negotiation have settled nothing is because they were meant to settle nothing. The Israelis from the word go used the ‘peace process’ as a cover to steal Palestinian property.”

Indeed, we know that in the most recent phase of these marathon negotiations the Palestinian team had dropped just about all of their original demands. Erekat told US Middle East envoy George Mitchell that the Palestinian negotiators had done everything but “convert to Zionism”.

Yet, the Israelis scorned the Palestinians offered compromises. As Mr Serry indicated, Israel’s settlement of Palestinian land continues. In fact, throughout this entire 20 year process colonization has gone on unabated. And, of course, all of it is illegal under the Geneva Conventions. One of the reasons that restarting any negotiations is so “extremely difficult” is that the Palestinian side has insisted that, as a prerequisite for any new talks, Israel must begin to abide by international law. Israel has refused.

So, it might come as something of a surprise to the uninitiated observer that Israel and the United States are pointing fingers at the Palestinians in this affair.

For instance, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, Ron Prosor, stated in the Security Council on 26 July that “now is the time for the international community to tell the Palestinian leadership what it refuses to tell its own people – there are no shortcuts to statehood. You cannot bypass the only path to peace.”

For the initiated this statement makes no sense at all. If 20 years of negotiating gets you nothing but more violence and more theft, to describe that process as the “only path to peace” is to contradict yourself. Something that has proven incapable of achieving X, cannot be the “only path” to X. Just so, to say that there can be no shortcuts to X and therefore one must persist along a road that has historically proven not lead to X is, well, a non-sequitur.

Israel’s staunch ally, the United States, also opposes, with equal illogic, the Palestinian move toward UN recognition. Rosemary DiCarlo, the US deputy ambassador to the UN, announced that the US will oppose any “unilateral action”on the part of the Palestinians at the UN. She interpreted the Palestinian move as an effort to “isolate Israel at the United Nations”. She insisted that the Palestinians resume negotiations.

In response to DiCarlo, Riyad Mansour, Palestine’s UN observer, pointed out that “120 countries already recognize an independent Palestinian state” and so coming to the UN is hardly a “unilateral” action on the part of the Palestinians. He went on to explain that UN recognition of a Palestinian state at this time would be “the consecration of the of the two-state solution” and help make that solution more inevitable.

Unfortunately for Mansour, his words belie the fact that Israel has no intention of allowing a meaningful two-state solution. In fact, all this Palestinian National Authority (PNA) talk and manoeuvring goes on against the background of a stark reality: Israel is inexorably eating up Palestine. The reason decades of negotiation have settled nothing is because they were meant to settle nothing. The Israelis from the word go used the “peace process” as a cover to steal Palestinian property. They are close now to being able to present the world with a fait accompli, those ugly “facts on the ground” and they don’t want any complications.

What sort of complications? Actually, these are more psychological than concrete. As Ali Abunimah has pointed out, the United Nations has never done anything to stop Israeli theft and this “symbolic” gesture of UN recognition will not impact it either. So why should the Israelis care?

Well, here are a couple of possibilities: a) such a move toward recognition on the part of the UN General Assembly would actually replicate the process by which Israel itself became recognized as a state and b) this move would also echo the original intention of the UN to have Palestine divided between Jews and Arabs. Psychologically, the entire process must resonate deeply within Israeli/Zionist consciousness. It is giving them a sort of national anxiety attack.
Alternatives

Leaving aside Israel’s psychological angst and the PNA’s fantasy that their manoeuvres will make a viable solution “inevitable,” we come back to the question of what is really most likely to work in the long term? I think that we have to confront some hard truths at this point.

1. Israel will continue to illegally swallow Palestine. For the Zionists this is a zero sum, one-state game.

2. The United States will continue be an accomplice to the crime by protecting the criminal.

3. The PNA is helpless to stop this.

4. Sadly, the peace process is a fraud. A cover for the on-going crime.

So what is the path of resistance that has the greatest chance of changing the facts on the ground?

1. Well there is Hamas. Hamas is in fact the real government in Palestine if we are to take seriously the notion of democracy. That was confirmed by its victory in free and fair elections in January 2006. That makes Hamas a lot more legitimate than the present PNA and in fact as legitimate as the Israeli government. True, Hamas refuses to recognize Israel and would destroy the Zionist state if it could. But then Israel refuses to recognize Hamas and is in fact trying to destroy it. Both governments have used terrorist methods, though Israel has used them more consistently. In the end the real issue is, once more, one of power. Hamas cannot destroy Israel. Ultimately Israel can destroy Hamas. As an option for long-term success, for changing the facts on the ground, Hamas does not look like the answer.

2. That brings us back to BDS: boycott, divestment and sanctions. The Israeli historian and advocate of Palestinian rights, Ilan Pappe, has pointed out that BDS, as part and parcel of an overall “civil society struggle in support of Palestinian rights, has been successful in key European countries”.

There can be little doubt that public opinion is shifting away from Israel even in the heartland of Zionist influence, the United States. The aim of this movement is to replicate with Israel the process that brought apartheid South Africa to its knees. And, through this process, to actually realize a one-state solution for Palestine. Not, of course, the one-state solution the Israelis seek, but rather a new state of Palestine/Israel that offers “equality and prosperity for all the people who live there now or were expelled from it by force in the last 63 years.”

In my opinion there is actually a good chance that a worldwide BDS movement, growing steadily for say the next quarter century, can actually achieve the de-Zionization of Israel. On the other hand, creating “equality” and “prosperity” in the new state that results will have its own problems, but that is a different struggle for a different time.

Right now, Ali Abunimah is right, UN recognition of Palestine as a pseudo state on the West Bank and Gaza Strip will solve nothing and may well cause more problems for the Palestinians on the ground. Alternatively, boycott, divestment and sanctions within the context of increasing worldwide awareness of Israel’s essential racist nature shows real promise of results in the long term.

We should go with what works.

Reade More …………………

European Union Support Palestine Bid for State Hood

Palestinians Rights of Return is Not Debateable: UN Resolution 194 in Force and Enforceable

Palestine Bid for State Hood Does Not Affect Israel Economy, Peace Talks, or Refugee Return Rights