Time to Reopen the Palestine File at the UN? Not Yet!

Omar Barghouti, The Electronic Intifada, 12 August 2006

Palestinians demonstrate against the Israeli raid into Lebanon and Gaza in the West Bank city of Ramallah, 9 August 2006. (Maan Images/Mushir Abdelrahman)

Several Arab officials intimated after the unanimous UN Security Council vote for resolution 1701, intended to stop Israel's unjust war on Lebanon, that it was time to build on this rare Arab "diplomatic triumph" by reopening the file of the root cause of the Arab-Israeli conflict, the question of Palestine. This logic is faulty and imprudent, despite all its luring appearance. Not every old man with a white beard is wise, after all.

Most Arabs, Palestinians included, have vied for years to snatch the Palestine question away from U.S.-Israeli clenching claws and return it to where it formally started: the United Nations. From their perspective, so long as the U.S. is allowed to control "99% of the cards," as the late Egyptian president Anwar Sadat notoriously believed, there is no chance for a just and enduring peace. That much has become obvious to most. However, the UN of yesteryear is not the same organization we have today. The new realities of a unipolar world have abrasively reflected themselves in the US-imposed positions and interventions of the international organization, more than in any other "theater of operations." Increasingly, Arabs along with many in the global South view the UN, especially its all-powerful Security Council, as little more than a tool of American hegemony. This bitter dismissal of the UN, though exaggerated, is amply justified by its record since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Not that the UN in the bipolar phase was ever a sincere representative of the common interests of the world's nations, but at least the cold war between the two dominant blocs allowed weaker nations some room for maneuver, for fighting for their rights and occasionally attaining them. With hindsight, those were the good old days, as gloomy as they seemed at the time. Ironically, a world under the continuous threat of nuclear annihilation from two opposing, more or less equivalent powers, experience tells us, is a far more secure and peaceful place than a world subjugated to the whims of a single, fat, ruthless and criminal empire intent on trampling international law and monopolizing the use of force worldwide to further its dominion and control of world resources. With the U.S. in effect controlling the UN, and in the lamentable absence of any viable, alternative international forum capable of arbitrating and settling conflicts as well as maintaining a reasonable level of world peace and stability, nations of the South are compelled to create new, evolving and effective means of resistance and solidarity that take into consideration contemporary conditions in striving to wrest control of the world's fate from the bloody hands and the demented minds of the new Rome and its no less hubristic partners. The frantic processes that led to the latest UN resolution on Lebanon may give some insight into one, some say unique, way of doing just that.

The first draft of the US-French UNSC resolution looked very much like a "declaration of surrender" of the Arab side, as a discerning Hizbullah official commented. "If this is what they're suggesting after Israel lost the military confrontation, what would they have proposed if Israel had won?" asked the witty speaker of the Lebanese parliament, Nabih Berri, echoing a widely held view among Arab and international observers alike. Only a few days after that draft was first made public the text underwent dramatic changes to the extent that its final version was seen by many, with some embellishment, as a declaration of Hizbullah's victory over Israel. What on earth could have compelled America's most undiplomatic, arrogant and viceroy-ish ambassador to the UN to make such an uncharacteristic U-turn? While Arab officials on the delegation that negotiated the outcome are likely to take credit for their claimed deftness and newly discovered diplomatic skill, the truth is that this relative triumph was created on the ground in South Lebanon, from Bint Jbail to Aita ash-Shaab and Khiyam, where the able Lebanese resistance inflicted upon the Israeli invading forces in less than a week massive losses including tens of destroyed or impaired fortified tanks and other armored vehicles, a badly damaged state-of-the-art military vessel and dozens of dead soldiers, quite a few among them from the army's elite units. The radical shift of the balance on the ground in Hizbullah's favor, the political steadfastness in Beirut and the resulting loss of direction and embarrassing wobbling among Israel's political and military leaders together painted a picture of what can be accurately perceived as the very first Arab military victory over Israel's much feared, "unbeatable" army.

_______________________________________

"Through its breathtaking streak of military successes in preventing Israel from attaining any of the declared objectives of its massive assault and by overwhelmingly winning the hearts and minds of the Arab, Muslim and other publics, Hizbullah managed to turn the tables at the political and diplomatic levels. "

_______________________________________


The collapse of Israel's famed "power of deterrence" on the ground in Lebanon and on the air in Al-Jazeera's scrupulous and unparalleled broadcasts reaching tens of millions of Arabs directly translated into a decline in US resolve at the UN to maintain its defiance of world public opinion -- including a noteworthy minority among Americans -- or to keep up the fight for a foolishly prejudiced resolution that came across as preposterously detached from reality, having been premised on an imaginary Israeli military accomplishment that never materialized. Through its breathtaking streak of military successes in preventing Israel from attaining any of the declared objectives of its massive assault and by overwhelmingly winning the hearts and minds of the Arab, Muslim and other publics, Hizbullah managed to turn the tables at the political and diplomatic levels.

The previously complicit French leadership immediately had to distance itself from the resolution it had "co-authored" with its senior American partner. The main US "allies" in the Arab world were consumed by panic, "concerned about the grave consequences" of continuing this "futile" Israeli war on Lebanon. The Arab League which was hastily summoned at the ministerial level to take some belated action, met in Beirut and unanimously endorsed the cleverly drafted Lebanese 7-point plan to end the aggression -- adopted after full coordination with Hizbullah's leadership. The Russians suddenly expressed their frustration with the dubiously slow pace of the Franco-American "negotiations," accused by some as giving war a chance, and offered their own plan for a humanitarian truce, largely seen as exerting significant pressure on the Americans and the French. The British government suddenly fell in love with a ceasefire after spending 4 deadly weeks passionately arguing with the US and Israel against one. Even the pathetically compliant UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, found deep in him some leftover courage to mourn the lost credibility of the UN as a result of the Security Council's inability to stop the bloodshed in Lebanon. Hence John Bolton had to blink, for a change. And Israel's abrasive UN ambassador, Dan Gillerman, was left with no choice but to grudgingly accept the deal after his bosses in Tel Aviv swung from initially rejecting it out of hand to "welcoming" it, in a not-so-subtle reversal by Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert designed to save face.

_______________________________________

"Palestine is not and has never been Lebanon. Far from demonstrating common strategies of resisting Israel's aggression, the parallel wars on Gaza and Lebanon exposed just how different the two situations are."

_______________________________________

For Palestinians struggling against Israeli occupation, colonization, denial of refugee rights and system of racial discrimination the above scenario may be inspiring in many ways but not quite relevant as a model to be replicated or literally emulated. Palestine is not and has never been Lebanon. Far from demonstrating common strategies of resisting Israel's aggression, the parallel wars on Gaza and Lebanon exposed just how different the two situations are. Intentions, desires and rare successes aside, armed resistance in the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT) for almost four decades has been largely ineffective in raising the cost of the illegal Israeli occupation and colonization enough to push them back or even to deter Israel from pursuing its ultimate goal of ethnically cleansing the OPT through a rolling, piecemeal massacre against innocent Palestinian civilians; massive campaigns of home demolition; a monstrous, land-grabbing wall; abduction and incarceration of thousands of political prisoners and other activists; and wanton destruction of social, educational and health institutions. Palestinians under occupation have to wrestle with a hermetic Israeli siege that severs them completely from their natural Arab environment, leaving control over their trade, communications and travel in the hands of the Israeli occupation authorities. Under these circumstances, it is nearly impossible for any resistance movement to launch a sustainable guerilla war with any likelihood of success.

In addition, as the ongoing barbaric Israeli attack on Gaza has shown, Israel's response to the slightest armed "provocation" in the West Bank and Gaza strictly follows the established and time-honored Israeli doctrine of brutally savaging the targeted Palestinian civilians in order to "sear into their consciousness" the utter futility of fighting the occupation forces. This, given the US-provided political, economic and military shield enabling Israel's colonial oppression and protecting it from effective world pressures or even condemnation, has helped make Israel's occupation army virtually invincible in the OPT. With no supply routes from the outside world, almost no place to hide, and no possibility of turning the cost-benefit equation to their interest, Palestinian armed resistance factions are doomed to playing at best a marginal role in bringing about an end to the occupation, not to mention the more strategic Palestinian objective of realizing the return of the Nakba refugees, ethnically cleansed by Zionists in the process of establishing the state of Israel in 1948.

Even at an organizational level, despite evident differences between the two, neither Fatah nor Hamas has come close to the sophistication, incorruptibility, talent or resourcefulness of the Lebanese resistance, least of all in leadership qualities.

Given all the deficiencies mentioned above, no degree of diplomatic or political suaveness or wizardry can turn such a bleak reality into a political victory. Taking the Palestine question back to the UN at this stage will only be a pointless exercise in political posturing or an abortive attempt to build on the Lebanese accomplishments, which do not readily lend themselves to the Palestinian experience. The fundamental lesson Palestinians learned from Lebanon -- twice -- is that Israel's almost mythical might is anchored in its occupation of our minds far more than its control of our land and resources. Overcoming self-inhibitions to resisting Israel's oppression is key to waging an effective, cumulative and well-planned struggle against that oppression. Lebanon has shown us that Goliath can indeed be knocked over, but not how. If the Lebanese resistance can inspire us to beat the "cop in our heads," as the phenomenal Brazilian playwright Augusto Boal would say, perhaps the South African civil struggle against apartheid can more relevantly and practically teach us how to get there from here. Pragmatic considerations aside, Palestinian non-violent resistance offers a morally sound strategy that can potentially mobilize most of civil society, giving society at large more say in shaping the future resolution of the colonial conflict with Israel.

Only then will it make sense to revisit the UN, emboldened, self-confident, with massive world support and, therefore, with true prospects of achieving our inalienable right to self-determination, emancipation, justice and unmitigated equality.

Omar Barghouti is an independent Palestinian political analyst.

What's the Difference?

 

Israel Asks US to ‘Quickly’ Send More Cluster Bombs

Barbara Ferguson, Arab News

WASHINGTON, 12 August 2006 — Israel has asked the Bush administration to speed up its delivery of short-range anti-personnel rockets armed with cluster munitions, despite reports by the Human Rights Watch that Israel is using cluster bombs “in populated areas of Lebanon,” which it said “may violate the prohibition on indiscriminate attacks contained in international humanitarian law.”

Critics say cluster bombs leave behind a large number of unexploded bomblets, which often kill long after they are fired.

“Our research in Iraq and Kosovo shows that cluster munitions cannot be used in populated areas without huge loss of civilian life,” said Kenneth Roth, executive director of the New York-based HRW.

Last Sunday, Israel ambassador Daniel Ayalon denied the charges, telling reporters: “No, we are not [using cluster bombs]. We are not using anything which is not approved by the UN Conventions and Charters.”

But, according to the New York Times, Israeli officials have admitted to using cluster bombs during the current conflict.

On July 24, HRW reported that Israel “has used artillery-fired cluster munitions in populated areas of Lebanon.

Researchers on the ground in Lebanon confirmed that a cluster munitions attack on the village of Blida on July 19 killed one and wounded at least 12 civilians, including seven children. HRW researchers also photographed cluster munitions in the arsenal of Israeli artillery teams on the Israel-Lebanon border.”

The group identified the munitions as “M483A1 Dual Purpose Improved Conventional Munitions, which are US-produced and supplied, artillery-delivered cluster munitions.” “What makes those munitions particularly lethal is that they consist of a container that breaks open in mid-air and disperses smaller sub-munitions. Those weapons aredesigned to explode on impact, right before and immediately after impact, saturating an area with flying shards of steel. These sub-munitions generally have a higher explosive charge than anti-personnel land mines,” Cesar Chelala — an international public health consultant based in Washington, recently told reporters.

This is not the first time that Israel has been involved in a cluster bomb controversy. After evidence was presented that Israel had used cluster bombs against civilian areas during the 1982 Israel invasion in Lebanon, the Reagan Administration suspended delivery of the weapons to Israel.

According to yesterday’s New York Times: “Israel was found to have violated a 1976 agreement with the United States in which it had agreed only to use cluster munitions against Arab armies and against clearly defined military targets. The moratorium of selling Israel cluster weapons was later lifted by the Reagan Administration.”

Yesterday’s NYT’s quoted unnamed sources at the US State Department who said some officials there were now seeking to delay approval of the “short-range anti-personnel rockets armed with cluster munitions” due to the “likelihood” that it would cause civilian casualties.

The US had previously approved the sale of the M-26’s rockets, but the weapons had not yet been delivered when the war on Lebanon began.

The officials told NYT they believed Israel would be given the weapons, but would be told to “be careful.”

Despite the extensive media coverage of the current conflict in the Middle East, almost no US media outlets were reporting on HRW’s findings.

In a July 27 article, The Los Angeles Times concluded that the “Israeli army said it was checking into the group’s allegations, but added that the weapons were legal under international standards.”

On July 27, the New York Times reported that an Israeli general “acknowledged that Israel had used cluster munitions in the conflict.” The Times described the alleged use of such weapons as “another matter that has drawn criticism.”

Much of the media’s focus has been on the affect of Hezbollah’s weapons: On July 19, for example, the Times reported that US and Israeli officials said Hezbollah had altered some of their rockets by “attaching cluster bombs as warheads, or filling an explosive shell with ball bearings that have devastating effect.”

Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer recently contrasted the ball-bearing packed Katyushas that “are meant to kill and maim” with Israel’s “precision-guided munitions” as evidence that “Hezbollah is deliberately trying to create civilian casualties on both sides while Israel is deliberately trying to minimize civilian casualties, also on both sides.”

Weapons loaded with ball bearings would seem designed to be anti-personnel weapons, and their use has been condemned by human rights organizations because of their wide and imprecise blast range said HRW. But cluster bombs, which likewise have a wide and imprecise blast range, pose an even deadlier threat to civilians, as they can spread hundreds of “bomblets” that become “de facto antipersonnel landmines.” Amnesty International called the use of cluster bombs by the US in civilian areas of Iraq “a grave violation of international humanitarian law.”

American Welcome to Iraq

Freedom through War and Massacre!!! 

Zionist Wish Peace with the Palestinians?

Next year in Jerusalem!

The Dangerous Diplomacy: "Bias and Blunder are bane to the world peace"

August 7, 2006

By Zoe Rastegar

For decades American citizens have been brain washed and misguided with the word, “terrorists” when they should have been educated and informed not only about the Middle East, its culture and traditions, but also about United States foreign policy in the region.

No doubt, the word terrorist is scary, their actions are uncivilized and it brings fear and horror to our minds. But repeating the word terrorist is also a convenient short cut used to deceive a nation by ignoring the facts of history, denying the blunders of our leaders and simply labeling people when they stand up to defend their rights.

One wonders if our policies are not the catalysts breeding terrorist as we are witnessing in the case of Iraq and now in Lebanon. We know that no one is born terrorist or criminal. It is when one’s cry for justice is ignored that one’s actions take turn for disaster and even self- destruction.

Perhaps it is time to ask our leaders: How long we can continue this dangerous diplomacy of biases and blunders combined with arrogance and ignorance toward underdog nations and how many more Americans and others have to be sacrificed for us to learn that this lopsided policy in the Middle East is like waiting for a time bomb to explode.

For decades Israel has enjoyed her marriage with the United States, their alliance and allegiances are proudly announced by most American presidents and very recently by President Bush. Any criticism against Israel is a sin. One must apologize or to be labeled Anti-Semitic. Unfortunately, the product of this marriage has been decades of animosity and bloodshed in the region. Israel has been supported and funded unconditionally by the United States with no wisdom as what will happen next.

On the other hand, One by one the other Middle East countries are destroyed, manipulated to become the United States puppets, or they have been degraded and isolated in the name of terrorists regardless of its ramifications on the citizens of such countries either here or abroad.

Isn’t this rather curious that president Bush and his cronies advocates democracy in the Middle East while the three most prominent Arab States are either absolute monarchy or a fake democracy? Perhaps we mean selective democracy as it suits the United States and the Israel’s interest...

The September 11th events happened with the participation of fifteen Saudi citizens out of the nineteen participants. But, Saudi families were the first to go home when no plane was permitted to fly out of United States. But shortly after, Iran was added to the “The Axis of Evil” list. The same evil manifested by the United States and United Kingdom, changing the Iran’s destiny for a long time to come.

The Israel’s only response to the recent killing in Lebanon, the massacre in Qana and other atrocities is, “Sorry, it was a mistake, we will investigate.” They have the green light and the dream to be the power in the Middle east and why not?

This kind of behavior by Israel is only approved by the United States and it has not only outraged the world’s community but has damaged the America’s image even further.

How much and how long Americans have to sacrifice for this marriage?

We must choose our position in the world diplomacy. Either we should follow the ideology of isolationism and mind our own business which we have plenty to attend to. Or if we claim to be the leader of the free world we must treat the world fairly and prevent more conflict and bloodshed. Unfortunately we have done neither especially with the recent administration.

Since the inception of Israel, we have spoiled one child at the expense of all other siblings for our political purposes. It is just natural that all other siblings are resenting the brat.

The billion of dollars that goes to build Israel’s arsenal every year can be used wisely and evenly to bring peace and prosperity to the region.

This is the way that we can bring democracy to the region if our intentions are honest and democratic.

It is not that Middle East is incapable of having a democracy, but when one doesn’t have home, food, shelter and security, one does not think democratic, one feels angry, rebellious and destructive. This is how we turn good people to suicide bombers and so called terrorists.

Any act of aggression by any radical faction or group is not condoned by a civilized society, but aren’t these behaviors really reactions to decades of despair and depravations?

United States, as the leader and the super power could have used her position more effectively resolving the Middle East problem long ago. All it was needed was a wise and fair diplomacy. Regretfully, we have just done the opposite and for too long.

Those of us who speak up are devoted to real peace and we are not anti-Semitic. Rather we are vying for an evenhanded, unbiased diplomacy and a lasting peace. And those who are hiding behind the politically correct attitude are the number one enemies of this country and the world peace.

For decades we have enjoyed economic prosperity and flow of oil at the expense of Middle East people. Nations often richer in culture, resources and intellect than us and yet we have the audacity to call them the Third World, the fanatics, and the terrorists.

We plant puppets and depose them as we desire for our own economic and National Security interests and then when things go wrong we just forget about the people of those countries and simply isolate them with the label of terrorists.

We preempt war upon Iraq disregarding the world’s opinion, destroy their infrastructures, create insurgency and civil war and then we have the audacity to say, it is their country, they should rebuild it! What business we had to destroy it in the first place and why Americans should die and be the target to fulfill the dreams of the bullies.

It is insult to American’s intellect that all these blunders are for our National Security or for bringing Democracy to the Middle East. Have we really given up thinking?

Americans deserve better and they must claim their great image in the world as once they enjoyed.

The world and its citizens are not that different from a family structure. As a family need wise and fair parents to teach, to guide and to discipline so does the world.

The world is in a very precarious state and all we need are leaders who are wise and capable, genuinely desiring peace and justice in the world by practicing a wise and workable diplomacy.

Fog of War

Lebanon Shocking Documentary

Best Lebanon War Documentary. Lebanese Doctors and Civilians Speak Out against the Terrorism they are facing from Israel. Chemical Weapons, Cluster Bombs, Massacres Shocking Documentary about the War in Lebanon and the tragedy in Qana. Lebanese testimonials to the war there, please share this video! Doctors Speak Out Against War Crimes.


Warning

This video contains images depicting the reality and horror of war and should only be viewed by a mature audience.

Is America in Trouble?

(Click on above picture.)

Bush the Worst President?

(Click on Bush.)


Click on Picture above for, "Hail to the Chief."

Hizbullah's attacks stem from Israeli incursions into Lebanon

Commentary

August 01, 2006

By Anders Strindberg

NEW YORK – As pundits and policymakers scramble to explain events in Lebanon, their conclusions are virtually unanimous: Hizbullah created this crisis. Israel is defending itself. The underlying problem is Arab extremism.

Sadly, this is pure analytical nonsense. Hizbullah's capture of two Israeli soldiers on July 12 was a direct result of Israel's silent but unrelenting aggression against Lebanon, which in turn is part of a six-decades long Arab-Israeli conflict.

Since its withdrawal of occupation forces from southern Lebanon in May 2000, Israel has violated the United Nations-monitored "blue line" on an almost daily basis, according to UN reports. Hizbullah's military doctrine, articulated in the early 1990s, states that it will fire Katyusha rockets into Israel only in response to Israeli attacks on Lebanese civilians or Hizbullah's leadership; this indeed has been the pattern.

In the process of its violations, Israel has terrorized the general population, destroyed private property, and killed numerous civilians. This past February, for instance, 15-year-old shepherd Yusuf Rahil was killed by unprovoked Israeli cross-border fire as he tended his flock in southern Lebanon. Israel has assassinated its enemies in the streets of Lebanese cities and continues to occupy Lebanon's Shebaa Farms area, while refusing to hand over the maps of mine fields that continue to kill and cripple civilians in southern Lebanon more than six years after the war supposedly ended. What peace did Hizbullah shatter?

Hizbullah's capture of the soldiers took place in the context of this ongoing conflict, which in turn is fundamentally shaped by realities in the Palestinian territories. To the vexation of Israel and its allies, Hizbullah - easily the most popular political movement in the Middle East - unflinchingly stands with the Palestinians.

Since June 25, when Palestinian fighters captured one Israeli soldier and demanded a prisoner exchange, Israel has killed more than 140 Palestinians. Like the Lebanese situation, that flare-up was detached from its wider context and was said to be "manufactured" by the enemies of Israel; more nonsense proffered in order to distract from the apparently unthinkable reality that it is the manner in which Israel was created, and the ideological premises that have sustained it for almost 60 years, that are the core of the entire Arab-Israeli conflict.

Once the Arabs had rejected the UN's right to give away their land and to force them to pay the price for European pogroms and the Holocaust, the creation of Israel in 1948 was made possible only by ethnic cleansing and annexation. This is historical fact and has been documented by Israeli historians, such as Benny Morris. Yet Israel continues to contend that it had nothing to do with the Palestinian exodus, and consequently has no moral duty to offer redress.

For six decades the Palestinian refugees have been refused their right to return home because they are of the wrong race. "Israel must remain a Jewish state," is an almost sacral mantra across the Western political spectrum. It means, in practice, that Israel is accorded the right to be an ethnocracy at the expense of the refugees and their descendants, now close to 5 million.

Is it not understandable that Israel's ethnic preoccupation profoundly offends not only Palestinians, but many of their Arab brethren? Yet rather than demanding that Israel acknowledge its foundational wrongs as a first step toward equality and coexistence, the Western world blithely insists that each and all must recognize Israel's right to exist at the Palestinians' expense.

Western discourse seems unable to accommodate a serious, as opposed to cosmetic concern for Palestinians' rights and liberties: The Palestinians are the Indians who refuse to live on the reservation; the Negroes who refuse to sit in the back of the bus.

By what moral right does anyone tell them to be realistic and get over themselves? That it is too much of a hassle to right the wrongs committed against them? That the front of the bus must remain ethnically pure? When they refuse to recognize their occupier and embrace their racial inferiority, when desperation and frustration causes them to turn to violence, and when neighbors and allies come to their aid - some for reasons of power politics, others out of idealism - we are astonished that they are all such fanatics and extremists.

The fundamental obstacle to understanding the Arab-Israeli conflict is that we have given up on asking what is right and wrong, instead asking what is "practical" and "realistic." Yet reality is that Israel is a profoundly racist state, the existence of which is buttressed by a seemingly endless succession of punitive measures, assassinations, and wars against its victims and their allies.

A realistic understanding of the conflict, therefore, is one that recognizes that the crux is not in this or that incident or policy, but in Israel's foundational and per- sistent refusal to recognize the humanity of its Palestinian victims. Neither Hizbullah nor Hamas are driven by a desire to "wipe out Jews," as is so often claimed, but by a fundamental sense of injustice that they will not allow to be forgotten.

These groups will continue to enjoy popular legitimacy because they fulfill the need for someone - anyone - to stand up for Arab rights. Israel cannot destroy this need by bombing power grids or rocket ramps. If Israel, like its former political ally South Africa, has the capacity to come to terms with principles of democracy and human rights and accept egalitarian multiracial coexistence within a single state for Jews and Arabs, then the foundation for resentment and resistance will have been removed. If Israel cannot bring itself to do so, then it will continue to be the vortex of regional violence.

Anders Strindberg, formerly a visiting professor at Damascus University, Syria, is a consultant on Middle East politics working with European government and law-enforcement agencies. He has also covered Syria, Lebanon, and the Palestinian territories as a journalist since the late 1990s, primarily for European publications.

Real Charity

Author Unknown

This is a true story that happened in a small town near Bandung, Java, Indonesia.

In this country, where poverty is very common, many children made their living by selling cigarettes, candies, cookies, etc., in a small box at the intersections where vehicles stop for red lights. They made a living from one to two dollars profit every day.

One day, a boy for some reason was attacked by his friends, and his box and all its contents were smashed and scattered on the road. Blood came over his nose and wet his face.

This boy, about 13 years old, cried beside the road. Although many people surrounded him, nobody really cared for and helped him.

A BMW stopped by, and a beautiful girl with a white dress came out of the car. She asked what happened and took the boy inside her car. She took him to the nearest hospital and paid for the medical treatment. She gave the boy enough money for him to start a new business again before she continued her trip.

She left, and nobody knew who she was. Someone said that she was an angel!

The World of American Politics?

American Politics now, like the Mad Tea Party from “Alice in wonderland?” America wishes the biggest part of the global pie?


Happy Unbirthday to You!


Seems like somebody has left the Nut door open and needs a bit of good advice, hmmm; wonder where it is going to come from?

Become Republican

River of Death Divides America and Iraq

Hail the Spirit of Liberty

Zionist Peace

Peace for Everyone

U.S. Aid for the Middle East

Stand by the manipulation of U.S. Aid!

Hezbollah fighters sink a further Israeli warship

August 11, 2006

Bethlehem – Ma'an - Hezbollah fighters have targeted an Israeli naval warship opposite to shores of Tyre.

Pictures of that warship have been broadcast; appearing to confirm that at least one rocket has directly hit it, causing it to sink with 12 crew members on board.

The pictures were transmitted on Al-Jazeera satellite news channel.

Press Value Towards the Middle East

STATUE OF LIBERTY

Bush's Take on Fascism?

Bush says that a threat to US security still remains

Bush: US at war with Islamic fascists

10 August 2006

US president George Bush has said the alleged plot to blow up transatlantic flights is a "stark reminder" the US is "at war with Islamic fascists".


Bush said that although the US was safer than before the September 11 attacks, it would be a mistake to believe there was no longer a threat.

Speaking on a visit to Green Bay in Wisconsin on Thursday, Bush said the foiled plane plot was "..a stark reminder that this nation is at war with Islamic fascists who will use any means to destroy those of us who love freedom, to hurt our nation".

"The American people need to know we live in a dangerous world, but our government will do everything we can to protect our people from those dangers," he said.

The US government heightened security on commercial flights and forbid passengers from taking liquids on board with their hand luggage.

American officials said the aim was to blow up up to 10 planes in flight.

Two officials said there were no signs the attacks were directed at any one city, but they might have taken place on flights heading to major US cities.

Pakistan "helped UK

"US Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the plot "had a lot of members, and it was international in scope."

He said the operation was to involve "multiple explosions in multiple aircraft."

Meanwhile a Pakistani official said his country's intelligence service helped British security agencies foil the alleged plot.

"Pakistan actively cooperated to make this happen," the official said. "There was very close cooperation between the intelligence agencies of the two countries."

The official said action was being taken in Pakistan, but would not confirm whether any arrests had been made in the country.

Earlier the French interior minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, said the suspected perpetrators appeared to be of Pakistani origin.

_____________________


How hot is the Pot, Mr. Bush?

(Internet Picture)

By Housewife4Palestine

It is kind of ironic that Mr. Bush would bring up about Fascism, since much of the world citizens as well as some in the United States considers him a Fascist president pertaining to his past and current political agenda especially the United States continuous ties with Israel.

But some with leaky ears, seems to blame the suspected attacks on the 10 airplanes was on Al Qaida; once again.

I may not be the first but I am one that will say that Al Qaida doesn’t represent the Islamic community as a whole; actually just the opposite is true. The full agenda of this organization may never be fully known other then in some of their video’s their animosity over the United States ties with Israel.

Many has said that Osama bin Laden has ties with the CIA in the United States and I for one would have to be proved such information before I would fully believe it.

But what is more interesting at time’s of severe unrest, the name of this organization seems to come in the forefront of some so called terrorist act; at a time when certain political power’s try to keep a simmering pot hot.

Just leaves the mind to wonder, if this is just a cry of "Wolf?"


Link:

Pakistan arrests seven in UK bomb plot

UK “terror” plot: Another absurd publicity stunt?

There Are Limits to Intelligence but Not to Stupidity

_______________________________

Muslim scholar slams Bush for fascism remark

August 11, 2006

Manama: A Muslim scholar on Friday blasted US President George W. Bush for associating fascism with Islam in his remarks about the alleged plot to detonate liquid explosives onboard US-bound flights.

Bush on Thursday said that the plot revealed by London was "a stark reminder that this nation is at war with Islamic fascists who will use any means to destroy those of us who love freedom to hurt our nation".

But the imam of Al Adliya Mosque, a posh area in Manama, the capital, said that the term was yet another proof that the US administration was considering Islam and Muslims as its top enemy. "We see that the Bush administration is getting bolder and bolder in its characterisation of Islam as the enemy.

"Earlier, it used to refer to terrorism and extremism within Islam to explain its anti-Islamic attitude. Now, they are talking about fascism. Tomorrow, the administration, inexorably unable to rein in its anti-Islam drive, will clearly spell out its intentions against the religion," the imam told worshippers at the Sunni mosque.

In September 2001, five days after the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, Bush exacerbated tensions in Middle East and alienated many Muslims when he characterised America's upcoming struggle against terrorism as a "Crusade." The ill-chosen word fed into the fears of the Islamic world that the Christian West was once again seeking to vanquish and slay Muslims.

Although Bush quickly backed away from the "Crusade" remark, and US officials admitted doubts about the choice of the term, Arabs repeatedly said that the US was preparing for a war to pit Western Christian nations against Muslim countries.

Liberal columnist Saeed Al Hamad yesterday said that the "fascism" term was an overpoliticisation of events that would cause furore in the Middle East streets teeming with anti-US feelings because of the war in Lebanon.

"I am afraid that the ill-advised term would inflame a highly volatile situation and would help extremists to capitalise on it in their relentless drive to depict the West as seeking to mock and subdue Muslims," Al Hamad said.

_____________________

ISNA STATEMENT ON ALLEGED AIRLINE TERROR PLOT

August 10, 2006

Plainfield, IN 08/10/06 - The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) reiterates its consistent position of condemning any act of terror committed by or against any individual, group or state.

ISNA appreciates the efforts of all those Muslims and law enforcement agencies who helped prevent this potential tragedy. It also appreciates the initiatives of various government agencies who expressed their readiness to ensure the safety and civil rights of American Muslims and their institutions in the wake of these later unfortunate developments.

ISNA also expresses its grave concern about the President’s use of the term “Islamic fascists”, which, like similar terms as “Islamic terrorism” gives the false impression that there might be any connection between such aberrations and Islam.

-END-

Contact Resource:

Ahmed ElHattab

Acting Secretary General, ISNA

(317) 839-1826

Email: aelhattab@isna.net

Israeli commando raid in Lebanon

August 10, 2006

Video

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On August 1, Israeli commandos moved deep inside Lebanon and raided a Hezbollah run hospital in the city of Baalbeck.

The Israeli military said that its forces entered the city where they killed 10 Hezbollah fighters, captured 5 more and brought them back to Israel. They also said all Israeli soldiers returned to their base without suffering casualties.

Hezbollah confirmed that people had been seized at the hospital and were taken away by helicopter, but denied they were members of the group.

Four More Bodies Found in Beirut

August 10, 2006

Video

******************

Rescue workers found four more bodies from a building that was hit by Israeli aircraft in a southern suburb of Beirut.

Threat Level Raised for Aviation Sector

A Transportation Security Administration agent throws out items that were collected at a security point at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, August 10, 2006. (Stephen J. Carrera/Reuters

August 10, 2006 – Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced a targeted raise in the threat level in light of today’s arrests in the United Kingdom:

• 
  Threat Level Raised to Code Red or Severe for flights originating in the United Kingdom bound for the United States.
• 
  Threat Level Raised to Code Orange or High for all commercial aviation operating in or destined for the United States.

The adjustment to Red or Severe reflects the Critical, or highest, alert level that has been implemented in the United Kingdom. “Further, as a precaution against any loose ends in the plot, and against any would-be copy-cats who may be inspired to conduct similar attacks, we will also raise the threat level to High, or Orange, for all domestic commercial aviation and for flights arriving in the United States from overseas.” The rest of the country remains at Code Yellow or Elevated.

“We believe that the arrests in Britain have significantly disrupted this threat. While there is currently no indication of any plotting within the United States, the federal government is taking immediate steps to increase security measures in the aviation sector. These measures will continue to assure that our aviation system remains safe and secure. Travelers should go about their plans confidently, while maintaining vigilance in their surroundings and exercising patience with screening and security officials."

Straight from Homeland Security

Liquids and Gels Prohibited in Carry-On Baggage

Link:

U.S. posts code-red alert; bans liquids

Update:

Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative Proposed Rule Outlines New Document Requirements For Air And Sea Travel

11 suspected in air plot appear in court

The Liquid Bomb Hoax: The Larger Implications

Israeli Checklist for Lebanon

 

Free Palestine & Lebanon

Azzam Tamimi speech over footage from antiwar demonstrations. Something to wind up the warmongers and Islamophobes.

George Galloway Speaks

Biography

Galloway on Lebanon

George Galloway - Ceasefire Now

George Galloway's speech to assembled crowds at Demo calling for immediate ceasefire in the middle east. London August 5th 2006.

Video's brought to my attention courtesy of Amar Razali.


'Hands off Lebanon' Demonstration
July 7, 2006




Editorial:

Utopianism Not Communism

By Housewife4Palestine

George Galloway brings up in his second video about Fidel Castro, while I only have little information in regards to Mr. Castro; I do know he considers his country the dictates of Communism.

In thinking of Communism that was in Russia at one time, I have never seen Communism in my opinion to be a good working Political structure in its present form. I will admit I have read Carl Marx’s book for understanding where Communism may have came from and in its present form it was to be an ideology of a type of Utopian society that frankly to me is not a Utopian society in its practical form.

A Utopian society has equality for all mankind without repression of people under its political structure nor does it have people standing in lines like what was going on in Russia for commodities. Nor would anyone being visiting a camp in Siberia, for example.

A true Utopian society, people want for nothing everyone has equal shares of everything and as for a dictator government there’d be none because it would be a true political structure by and for the people.

In history there are two society groups that did have what is deemed to be a Utopian society:

1) The Cherokee Nation before European Conquest.
2) The Ummah of Islam.

What I find ironic though is some authoritarians on Utopian societies consider this form of society to be too optimistic and idealistic for practical application.

And as I mentioned with the two examples above the concept did work but as many know with history; outside influence destroyed or caused radical change of these societies, usually invasions with created wars.

I have to admit I do not follow Communism in its present form, but I do believe in Utopianism because I do believe in equality for the masses, because no one should ever go hungry nor not be without a roof over their head’s and suffer unhappiness.

One major thing that I do find so heart breaking today is some government’s causing fear within their countries due to the mistakes the government has made. Then you have people suffering high prices on good’s that shouldn’t be happening especially for common necessities deemed for common survival.

The world is getting like a big boiling pot that you put in one color after another to try to make the right element or color come about and what are you ending up with, the color black.

To sum up if I am a Communist, the answer is no.

___________

More Galloway

More Galloway after his sky performance.

If you didn't know, he has a radio slot Sat and Sun 8pm-10pm. Like him or loath him, agree or disagree, or still making your mind up, he does have a way with words.

Details of his show at the end of the clip.

George Galloways web site

The refugees' fury will be felt for generations to come

Lebanon 1982: Bullet and bomb-damaged buildings visible symbols of lives again torn apart by war. Heavy fighting in the vicinity of Beirut during the invasion prompted many people to flee for safety.
Lebanon 2006: A general view of damaged buildings after Israeli warplanes targeted residential areas in Beirut on July 21, 2006. (Haitham Moussawi/IRIN)

Story

The Arrogance of Zionists in Planning a ‘New Middle East’

Muhammad Salahuddin, Arab News

August 10, 2006

Some features and characteristics of the “new Middle East” which US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice promised — what she earlier called “the creative mess” — are gradually appearing and becoming clearly visible. For many years, the plan has been unclear and known only through rumors being spread here and there by the American Zionist government, intelligence bodies or certain research centers.

In spite of the massive destruction, the massacres and the genocide happening where the American war is using the most violent weapons in its arsenal, including those that are internationally forbidden, Lebanon is considered the first practical model of the “new Middle East.” It is something that Rice chose to draw our attention to as a lesson and as something to be taken on board lest we consider opposing or resisting.

The opening night of the second practical model was held in Britain a few days ago. A British report revealed the plans for settling 50,000 Palestinian refugees in Egypt’s western desert and the Sudan.

It was a plan that called for settling Palestinian refugees in a number of Arab countries. The British newspaper, The Guardian, noted that the CIA was in charge of carrying out the project and that it would soon present a tender for bids to construct model villages in Egypt and Sudan to house a number of residents.

The buildings themselves will be located in a special area of fertile land with good quality water and a very small population. The Guardian also stated that the CIA named the project “Village 2010” with 2010 referring to the year of completing the project and noting that American President Bush had suggested the name.

The American Zionist interest in Sudan — in other words the keeping the Sudanese population away from the area for years and the international forces to be sent to Darfur are not there to save innocent children and women victims and not to prevent the genocide happening there.

It’s all being carried out by the Israeli forces in Lebanon for the benefit of the United States of America. So what has been planned for Sudan is to get rid of a part of the five million Palestinian refugees who disturb the American president, his secretary of state and of course, Israel. The region in Sudan is rich in resources and most importantly, oil and uranium.

Iraq is undoubtedly another example of the “new Middle East.” The American war brought the country bloody massacres, destructive rebellions and resentful racism that are destroying the country’s unity. Yet, it is obvious and assured that the Zionists in Washington planned for all the Arab countries in the “new Middle East” what is sadly similar to what’s happening in Iraq and Lebanon. The theory is turning into reality and it is more than just another frightening nightmare.

Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal was asked last week whether he approved of the term “the New Middle East.” And I wish that he had drifted a little bit away from his usual good manners and sophisticated diplomacy in expressing his opinion.

I truly believe that the arrogant Condoleezza Rice has reached an unaccepted and illogical level of humiliation, addressing the “new Middle East” as if Arabs were herd of sheep and she the butcher who decides their fate.

Prince Saud said, “We want to go back to our old Middle East. We can only see more problems and catastrophes in the new one. The Middle East is not a territory without human beings and therefore, our fates must be decided by our nations. If people deserve to live, then they will become united and create a situation that will save our interests. I do believe that our fate is in our hands and not someone else’s; no matter how strong the confronting forces are, there are always capabilities and powers to help us protect ourselves.”

His response was both polite and profound and it only makes sense and can be carried out by people who are civilized, have humanitarian goals and respect for others.

The Zionist mind, however, is incapable of comprehending any of these nor does it understands the subtlety of complex diplomatic signals.

Future of Israel

 

What in God's name are we doing?