Palestinian Pogrom Photo Essay

November 3, 2006

Music Link

Palestinian Pogrom Photo Essay Part 2

We Will Never Submit

Destroying the World in "His Name?"

Jesus (PBUH) did not believer in world domination or murder of anyone!

LiveLeak.com - Leaking Media to the Public

LiveLeak.com - Leaking Media to the Public: "Islamic Army in Iraq sniper video released October 2006 "

I must admit those who were the sniper's did a remarkable job, very good marksmenship.

The following video is a bombing:

Islamic Armry Strikes Marines

The Invasion of Bethlehem a Massacre?

The invasion of Bethlehem (MaanImages)

Israeli army invades Bethlehem, uses 'human shield' to enter building, 80-year old woman in serious condition

November 3, 2006

Ma'an - Israeli troops invaded the Saf area of the West Bank city of Bethlehem early on Friday morning. Over a dozen military jeeps surrounded a building near the girls' school in the area. Armed Palestinians exchanged fire with the Israeli soldiers on and off throughout the morning, resulting in at least six serious Palestinian injuries. A teenage boy was shot dead by the Israeli forces. One of the injured, an 80-year old woman, is currently undergoing surgery.

Around midday, after partly bulldozing the house of Saher Hassan, an active member of Islamic Jihad, whom the Israeli army appear to be targeting, the Israeli soldiers began forcing their way in using a 'human shield'. The Palestinian man, possibly a family member of Saher Hassan, is being forced to enter the building ahead of the Israeli soldiers and carry in their military equipment. Eyewitnesses say that the equipment appears to be a large black box, with a cord stretching back to the Israeli forces outside. This suggests a form of remotely-controlled detonator or gun.

In addition, a second young Palestinian man had been ordered by the Israeli soldiers to carry any furniture - that has not already been totally destroyed - out of the building.

A large bulldozer (a 'bagger') arrived on the scene around 1pm and began knocking down the three-story building. A fire was seen burning in the building around 5pm.

When Palestinians opened fire on the Israeli soldiers earlier on Friday, the Israeli soldiers responded by firing indiscriminately towards the besieged building. An 80-year old female bystander, named Fatima Muhammad Zahran, received multiple gunwounds in the abdomen and legs after the Israeli forces shot her. She is currently undergoing surgery in the hospital and is in a very serious condition.

A boy, Mahmoud, aged 7 or 8, was critically injured by a gunwound to his head. Another man, aged around 30, was shot in the abdomen. Another woman was injured by gunshots. Another woman, Rasmiyeh Khamis Dar'awi, suffered light wounds.

Two other Palestinian teenage boys were seriously injured around 2pm when the Israeli soldiers started firing live ammunition in the area. One of the teenage boys, Abid Khalil Subih, aged 13, died almost instantly after being shot in the head.

The injured Palestinians are being treated in the Hussein hospital in Beit Jala.

According to the website of the Israeli newspaper 'Haaretz', an Israeli Border Police office was "lightly to moderately" injured by shrapnel and has been transferred to Hadassah Ein Karam Hospital in Jerusalem.

A lot of old people, women and children gathered in the street after the Israeli jeeps took up position around the three-story building in As-Saf Street where Saher Hassan is believed to be living. Many of the local residents were forced out of their homes early on Friday and were still unable to return as the operation continued around midday.

Eyewitnesses saw the soldiers throw tear gas grenades into the crowd and also into a house where many people were taking refuge; many of the bystanders were being treated by the Palestinian medical services for the effects of the gas. Several women and children had fainted.

Soldiers were also observed beating some of the Palestinian bystanders and several people were injured, including women and children. A number of ambulances were on standby to treat the injured.

Earlier, eyewitnesses heard three explosions from inside the targeted building. The building remained standing although it sustained much material damage. In one nearby house, all the windows were blown out.

In addition, a 22-year old Palestinian man, called Hassan Ibrahim Hassan, was detained by the Israeli forces after part of his house was blown up.

The operation, which began around 4am was still ongoing at 2pm.

Shots were heard in the area throughout the day.

U.S. soldier arraigned on Iraq murder charges

November 3, 2006

By Hart Matthews

FORT BRAGG, North Carolina (Reuters) - A U.S. Army National Guard soldier was arraigned on Friday on charges of killing two superior officers in Iraq and could face the death penalty after a trial starting in June.

In the first case of a U.S. soldier charged with killing, or "fragging," his commanding officers in the Iraq war, Staff Sgt. Alberto Martinez faces two counts of premeditated murder in the June 2005 deaths of company commander Capt. Phillip Esposito and 1st Lt. Louis Allen at a base near Tikrit, Iraq.

Martinez, a former supply sergeant in the headquarters company of the 42nd Infantry Division, is also being tried on three counts relating to wrongful possession of a privately owned firearm, unexploded ordnance and alcohol, and one count of giving printers and copiers to an Iraqi national.

Martinez declined to enter a plea during his arraignment at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, or to make a choice of what kind of military panel he wanted to face court-martial before.

Defendants in a U.S. military trial have the option to have a panel made up purely of officers decide their verdict or a panel of which at least one third are enlisted personnel.

The presiding judge, Col. Patrick Parrish, set a tentative trial date of June 4, 2007.

The widows of Esposito and Allen attended the 30-minute arraignment with numerous family members. They did not speak to the media.

The army alleges that Martinez detonated a land mine and several grenades outside Allen's office in Tikrit. An earlier hearing heard testimony that Allen had relieved Martinez of his duties as supply sergeant at the headquarters company of the 42nd Infantry Division, a reserve unit drawn from the New York Army National Guard.

Investigators originally blamed a mortar attack for the explosion at Forward Operating Base Danger, located at one of deposed president Saddam Hussein's palaces, 80 miles north of Baghdad.

Martinez was deployed to Iraq in late 2004.

He had previously been deployed to New York City in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and was awarded medals for his service there.

The murders in Tikrit were the first case of a U.S. soldier accused of killing his superiors in the Iraq war.

In an earlier incident, Sgt. Hasan Akbar was convicted of murdering two officers after rolling grenades into their tents in Kuwait on the eve of the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Fierce clashes in northern Gaza

Video

Nov. 1 - Israeli soldiers entered northern Gaza before dawn and fighting quickly erupted around the town of Beit Hanoun, followed by air strikes and tank shelling, witnesses said.

They said the army, with air support, had surrounded the town.

U.N.: Nearly 100,000 Iraqi refugees flee monthly to Syria, Jordan

The Associated Press
Published: November 3, 2006

GENEVA: Nearly 100,000 Iraqis each month are fleeing to Syria and Jordan, forcing the United Nations to drop its goal of helping refugees return home after the U.S.-led invasion, officials said Friday.

Instead, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees has had to hastily draw up plans to deal with a silent exodus of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who are desperate to escape the violence, chief spokesman Ron Redmond said.

"Much of our work in the three years since the fall of the previous regime was based on the assumption that the domestic situation would stabilize and hundreds of thousands of previously displaced Iraqis would be able to go home," Redmond said. "Now, however, we're seeing more and more displacement linked to the continuing violence."

It has been impossible to obtain accurate totals on the numbers of refugees because few Iraqis are registering with UNHCR, and most are being cared for by host families or charitable organizations, he said.

The U.N. agency has been counting those entering Syria in recent months, however, and has found an average of 2,000 a day leaving Iraq by that route.

"This is not a situation where everyone has left en masse at once, nor are they going to refugee camps," Redmond said. "This has been largely a silent or invisible exodus."

The Jordanian government says another 1,000 a day are entering Jordan, he said.

Redmond said almost all of the refugees are believed to be staying in Syria and Jordan, but that a few are returning to Iraq and still others are going to other countries. He noted that Iraqis were the leading nationality seeking asylum in Europe during the first half of this year, with 8,100 applying — a 50 percent increase over the same period a year earlier.

Figures are unavailable for arrivals in other neighboring countries, but the agency says an additional 50,000 Iraqis a month are fleeing their homes but remaining within Iraq, which classifies them as "internally displaced" rather than as refugees who have crossed an international border.

"We've got a displacement crisis under way here, and the international community needs to do more to chip in to support the humanitarian needs of these people," Redmond said.

The presence of the refugees is having a major impact on the Syrian and Jordanian economies because the influx has been driving up prices for housing, food and other commodities, Redmond said.

So far it has been impossible to get a more precise idea of the post-invasion flight than the estimate UNHCR gave last month that 914,000 Iraqis had fled their homes since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, Redmond told The Associated Press.

UNHCR estimates that 425,000 Iraqis have been displaced within the country this year alone, largely due to sectarian violence sparked by the bombing of an important Shiite shrine in the city of Samarra in February,

Redmond recalled that, before the March 2003 invasion, UNHCR had made contingency plans for 600,000 refugees and displaced people, and had a budget of US$154 million. But there was no mass exodus in the beginning, and UNHCR has long since scaled back to US$29 million (€23 million).

UNHCR now estimates that 1.8 million Iraqis are living in neighboring countries and 1.6 million are displaced internally, but those numbers include many who fled during the 1990s, long before the invasion, Redmond said.

The agency told donor countries in Geneva on Thursday "that it was increasingly alarmed over the incessant violence in Iraq and distressed over the lack of an international humanitarian response to deal with the massive numbers of people being displaced," Redmond told reporters.

"This displacement amid the ongoing violence in Iraq is presenting an enormous humanitarian challenge and extreme hardship for both the displaced and the Iraqi families trying to help them in host communities," he said.

Many governments were receptive to the idea that they would need to give more, but until more funds are forthcoming UNHCR has had to suspend some of its activities, Redmond said. "Some of our staff in the region are volunteering to forgo their salaries for the next two months just to keep some of these projects going."

"The enormous scale of the needs, the ongoing violence and the difficulties in reaching the displaced make it a problem that is practically beyond the capacity of humanitarian agencies, including UNHCR," Redmond said.

The outflow of refugees caught the agency by surprise because it was hard to detect.

"If people flee to camps, it's quite visible," Redmond said. "This is a steady stream of people now who are leaving."

The agency now estimates there are up to 700,000 Iraqis in Jordan; at least 600,000 in Syria; at least 100,000 in Egypt; 20,000-40,000 in Lebanon; and 54,000 in Iran.

"We fear hundreds of thousands more Iraqis who have waited to see an improvement in the situation are now teetering on the brink of displacement. Many urban professionals have already fled," Redmond said.

Christian Evangelical Pastor Resigns on Cloud of Homosexuality

Video

NAE pres. Haggard resigns amid accusations

Nov 2, 2006
By Staff
Baptist Press

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (BP)--Ted Haggard, pastor of a prominent Colorado church and president of the National Association of Evangelicals, has resigned his duties amid allegations of a homosexual affair just days before voters in Colorado decide on an amendment he supported to protect natural, traditional marriage.

According to a news release on his church website, Haggard said Nov. 2 that he could “not continue to minister under the cloud created by the accusations made on Denver talk radio this morning.”

“I am voluntarily stepping aside from leadership so that the overseer process can be allowed to proceed with integrity,” Haggard, pastor of the 14,000-member New Life Church in Colorado Springs, said. “I hope to be able to discuss this matter in more detail at a later date. In the interim, I will seek both spiritual advice and guidance.”

The accusations involve comments from a homosexual man who claims Haggard paid him for sex about once a month for three years and that Haggard used methamphetamine during some of the encounters.

Ross Parsley, New Life Church’s associate senior pastor who is now serving as interim pastor, told KKTV television in Colorado Springs Nov. 2 that Haggard had admitted to some of the allegations.

“I don't have any accurate information about the precise details, I just know that there has been some admission of indiscretion, not admission to all of the material that's been discussed, but there is an admission of some guilt,” Parsley said.

Similar words appeared in an e-mail Parsley sent to church members late Thursday night.

“It is important for you to know that he confessed to the overseers that some of the accusations against him are true,” Parsley said in the e-mail, according to Denver’s ABC affiliate, KMGH-TV.

The previous night, Haggard told a Denver television station that he had never used drugs or had sex with a man, and he said he has been faithful to his wife.

Conservatives in Colorado say the timing of the story is suspicious given that it was released with inadequate time for Haggard to clear himself before votes are cast regarding Amendment 43, which would protect the traditional definition of marriage in the state.

James Dobson of Focus on the Family denounced the media for publicizing “a rumor like this based on nothing but one man’s accusation.”

“Ted Haggard is a friend of mine, and it appears someone is trying to damage his reputation as a way of influencing the outcome of Tuesday’s election,” Dobson said in a release.

Bryant Adams, a spokesman for Colorado’s Republican Party, echoed Dobson’s sentiment.

“It’s amazing that this guy would wait until six days before an election, when there’s a marriage amendment on the ballot. Surprise, surprise,” Adams said.

In a statement, officials for Coloradans for Marriage, the main group supporting Amendment 43, said they will press on despite the disruption.

“This is a difficult situation for Pastor Haggard and his family,” the group said, according to the Rocky Mountain News. “However, we will not let this distract us with our efforts to pass the Colorado Marriage Amendment to define marriage as a union between one man and one woman.”

Mike Jones, the 49-year-old Denver resident who brought the claims against Haggard, told the Associated Press he is not working for any political group.

“I just want people to step back and take a look and say, ‘Look, we're all sinners, we all have faults, but if two people want to get married, just let them, and let them have a happy life,’” Jones said.

In a Colorado Springs Gazette story circulated by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services, Jones said he realized Haggard’s nationwide importance as an evangelical leader about two years ago when he saw a History Channel program featuring an interview of Haggard. Jones later decided to expose what he called Haggard’s hypocrisy, the report said.

“After sitting back and contemplating this issue, the biggest reason is, being a gay man all my life, I have experienced with my friends some sadness,” Jones said. “I had two friends that were together 50 years, when one of them would get in a hospital for an accident or something, their partner could not get in to see them. I saw a lot of sadness. I felt it was my responsibility to my fellow brothers and sisters that I had to take a stand.”

As evidence to support his claims of encounters with Haggard, Jones has released two voice mail messages and a letter from Haggard to Denver’s KUSA-TV. The television station hired Richard Sanders, a voice identification expert from the University of Colorado at Denver, to compare the voice mail messages with samples of Haggard’s voice, The Gazette said. KUSA reported that nine of 12 words were “perfect matches.”

The governing structure of New Life Church gives a board of overseers authority to conduct an inquiry, discipline the senior pastor, remove him from his position or restore him to ministry, according to a statement by the church. The board consists of four senior pastors of other congregations. Parsley said they have already started meeting with Haggard.

In addition to voluntarily putting himself on administrative leave at New Life Church, Haggard resigned as president of the 30 million-member National Association of Evangelicals. The Southern Baptist Convention is not affiliated with the NAE.

As president of the NAE, Haggard in the past has participated in Christian leaders’ conference calls with White House staff members and was vocal in the appointment process of a new Supreme Court justice last year.

Compiled by Erin Roach with reporting by Art Toalston.


Haggard, who is often credited with rallying conservative Christians behind President George W Bush for his 2004 re-election, talks to Bush or his advisors every Monday, Harper's Magazine reported last year.

Link:

Evangelical America hit by gay sex scandal

update:

Evangelical leader says he bought drugs

Haggard sounds like Clinton:

"I want you to listen to me. I'm going to say this again. I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky."

President Clinton
(from televised remarks at a White House briefing on child care, 1-26-98)

Israel's Sharon taken to intensive care

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon speaking during the weekly cabinet meeting at his Jerusalem office, Sunday, July 17, 2005.

November 3, 2006

By ARON HELLER, Associated Press Writer

TEL AVIV, Israel - Former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was taken Friday to an intensive care unit after his overall condition and heart function deteriorated, a spokesman for the hospital said.

Sharon, who has been in a coma since he suffered a major stroke in January, contracted a new infection that affected his heart, said David Weinberg, a spokesman for the Sheba Medical Center outside Tel Aviv.

"At this point, his condition is stable," Weinberg said.

Experts have speculated that because of the severity of his stroke, Sharon, Israel's prime minister from 2001 to 2006, is unlikely to recover.

The former prime minister, 78, has undergone several extensive brain operations to stop cerebral hemorrhaging, in addition to more minor procedures.

Sharon had an initial minor stroke in December and was put on blood thinners before experiencing a severe brain hemorrhage on Jan. 4. After spending months in the Jerusalem hospital where he was initially treated, Sharon was transferred to the long-term care facility at Sheba hospital in May.

He was rushed into intensive care in July for dialysis after his kidneys began failing, but was transferred back to Sheba's respiratory rehabilitation department after his condition improved.

Sharon lapsed into a coma just months after he ended Israel's 38-year occupation of the Gaza Strip, and shook up Israel's political map by bolting his hard-line Likud Party to form the centrist Kadima faction, now headed by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

When IDF Forces Entered the Gaza Strip

This will give you and idea of what the IDF looked like when they entered Gaza about two months ago.

IDF Tank Corp Gaza

They are a sorry bunch, they also look like they need a clothing drive; must be short of Uniforms these days?

Guess they do not have the U.S. welfare check for clothing yet?

They will tell you it is hot in these American made tanks, but their is no excuse to be half-naked.

I would think their Mother’s raised them better!

Israel kills women at mosque siege

Video

03 November 2006

Two Palestinian women have been killed during a stand-off near a Gaza mosque while they were trying to rescue about 60 Palestinian men besieged inside.

The dramatic events came on the third day of an Israeli assault on the Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, the largest operation Israel has conducted in the Gaza Strip in months.

Around 200 Palestinian women marched towards the mosque

On Friday, about 200 Palestinian women marched towards the al-Nasir mosque in the town of Beit Hanoun, which Israeli forces surrounded on Thursday, in a attempt to rescue the men.

Israeli forces opened fire towards the women and two of them were killed. Six others were wounded.

Um Muhammad, a woman in her 40s, said after the rescue attempt: "We risked our lives to free our sons."

With Friday's shootings, at least 22 Palestinians have been killed since Israeli troops entered Beit Hanoun on Wednesday.

Escape

The Israeli army later confirmed that the Palestinian men had escaped from the mosque. Shortly after they fled, the roof of the building, one of the oldest in Gaza according to locals, collapsed, witnesses and the Israeli army said.

The Palestinian prime minister said the raids were terrorism

The minaret was left standing, but most of the building was reduced to rubble. The Israeli military, which earlier demolished a wall of the mosque compound and fired stun grenades and tear gas inside, said the collapse was the result of gunfire and damage done during the 12-hour siege.

Residents of the town of 30,000 people said Beit Hanoun was now effectively under an Israeli army curfew after infantry units backed by tanks stormed into the town on Wednesday.

At a Hamas rally after nightfall on Thursday in Gaza City, Ismail Haniya, the Palestinian prime minister, called the Israeli offensive "terrorism".

Deaths continue

Israel's offensive, called Operation Autumn Clouds, began on Wednesday and is aimed partly at halting the barrage of rockets into Israeli territory.

Despite the Israeli assault, Palestinian fighters still managed to fire six homemade missiles at the Israeli border town of Sderot on Thursday, wounding at least two people, medical officials said.

Overnight on Wednesday, eight Palestinians were killed in the Israeli raids, including at least five fighters, four of whom were from Hamas' armed wing, witnesses said.

An Israeli soldier was also killed during the Beit Hanoun operation. Hamas' armed wing said it had killed the Israeli soldier and wounded several others.

More than 280 Palestinians have been killed in the four-month-old offensive, about half of them civilians, while three Israeli soldiers have died.

Source

_________

IDF soldiers instructed to avoid hurting civilian population in the Gaza Strip


Golani Battalion Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Yarom, assembled the soldiers for a last briefing before they enterred Gaza. "If we don't take care of the Hamas organization in the Gaza Strip as soon as possible, our situation will become a lot more difficult and severe," said Lieutenant Colonel Yarom to his soldiers, while stressing that their goal is to target terrorist, and to refrain from injuring civilians. "This is an ethical and moral issue."

"The warriors were instructed to keep from hurting civilians. If civilians are hurt due to regretful circumstances, they will be evacuated to a hospital in Israel to receive medical treatment," said Lieutenant Alfasi.

The IDF went against their own orders?

Link:

Palestinian women shot dead in Gaza mosque siege

Israeli forces open fire on women helping Palestinian fighters escape besieged mosque; one woman killed, 16 injured


View of the Massacre

Just another Day as the Emperor Juggernaut

Another murder, another occupation, another person tortured…just a day at the office…


Hand in hand politics…the glass is always half full with Israel when it comes to Middle East Diplomacy…


Not doing well in the rating’s game, but still got the troops…



Only way this kind of politics’ usually goes...?

If Only it Were True

Is this a Bloopers Wish?

One for Jay Leno!

"I got it!" "No, I got it!" Israel Just Runs Away?

The Daily Basis of Being a Palestinian Child

The brutality of Israeli occupation Zionist soldiers is not limited to adults Palestinians, as this photo shows. On daily basis, Israeli Zionist occupation soldiers kill, injure and arrest Palestinian children. (IPC, 11/2/04).

A life of striving for freedom

This is just one example, of what can happen being Palestinian in the world of occupation.

Ismail Abd El-Hadi El-Masalma

Name: Ismail Abd El-Hadi Abd Rabboh El-Masalma
Nickname: Abu Firas
Birth date: 1960
Hometown: Beit Awwa (Al-Khalil)
Imprisonment date: December 13th 1999
Sentence: 27 years
Charges: Membership in Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades, weapons possession and training, sheltering “wanted” activists.

Background:
Ismail was born in 1960 in the town of Beit Awwa, close to the 1949 armistice line west of Al-Khalil. He finished his basic education in the town’s schools, and enrolled in Bethlehem University. However his numerous responsibilities, including his work in Beit Awwa prevented him from completing his studies in Bethlehem University and Al-Quds Open University, where he enrolled after Bethlehem. He was married in 1985, and has 4 sons and one daughter.

Ismail is a quiet person who is liked and respected by his acquaintances and relatives. The poor people in the village know him for his kindness and benevolence towards them. Furthermore, Ismail hates injustice and occupation, and is known for striving for freedom. And one of his most important traits is his eagerness to attain Allah’s acceptance, and his love of mosques.

Early Struggle:
Abu Firas participated in the struggle for freedom, and subsequently was detained, at an early age. He was arrested by occupation forces in 1979 on suspicion of participating in resisting occupation forces and manufacturing combat tools. And in 1989 he was detained on the charge of participating in the activities of the first Intifada.

In 1993, Abu Firas was arrested and charged with resisting occupation forces. The interrogation centered on his relationship with Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades “wanted” activists and sheltering them. After a harsh, torture-filled interrogation for more than a month, he was sentenced to 9 months. And in 1997, he was sentenced to two consecutive 6-month administrative detention periods, without charges.

Last Detention:
On December 13th, 1999 occupation forces surrounded Ismail’s house in the evening. And without warning, they started firing at the house from all sides, while the whole family including children was inside. The sustained shelling continued for 50 minute; then it became sporadic. After that, occupation forces ordered the family to come out of the house.

Martyr Eyad El-Battat and one of Ismail’s relatives were in the house. When they tried to come out of the house, as indicated by occupation forces, the soldiers fired at them. Both were killed, and Ismail was injured in his hand and eye.

Children under Fire:
The most difficult part of the shelling was the effect on the mother and children, the oldest of them 14 years old. Under constant shelling and not knowing if they will live or not, the mother tried to calm her children by talking to them about martyrdom and the reward for martyrs from Allah. The shelling resulted in temporary loss of hearing. And she looked at her children, waiting to see who will be the first to die. However, Allah’s protection preserved their lives.

After a few hours of constant and sporadic shelling, occupation forces ordered them to come out of the house. She took her children and got out. And when she tried to help her injured husband, the soldier prevented her. They forced her to take off her hijab and strip her children. She was subjected to humiliation and interrogation throughout the night.

Injured and Imprisoned:
Although injured, Abu Firas was taken by soldiers to a nearby room and subjected to a field interrogation throughout the night. He was not given medical treatment during interrogation. Then he was transferred to Soroka Hospital in Beir El-Saba’. From there, he was taken to the Maskoobe’ya interrogation center (Russian Compound) in Al-Quds. He was subjected to torture and interrogation for 90 days there. Then he was transferred to Nafha desert detention center.

After three years of procedures at an occupation military tribunal, Ismail was sentenced to 27 years in prison for the following charges: sheltering wanted activists, membership in Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades, weapons possession, and weapon training.

Aftermath:
Since his imprisonment nearly 6 years ago, Ismail received two family visits only. Furthermore, Ismail’s oldest son, Firas, has been detained by occupation forces for over a year. But he has not been sentenced yet. And his second son, Sajed, was detained for 4 months despite that fact that he is not 16 years old yet.

The mother feels the great responsibility upon her shoulders. However, she is facing them with patience, courage and determination. She is eager for the reward from Allah for all her hardships. In addition, she participates in activities held to support Palestinian prisoners in order to keep their issue alive.

One Zionist soldier killed and 11 Palestinians were martyred during the new attack on Beit Hanon

24 Yassin missiles and 16 Qassam rockets

A new crime was conducted by the occupation forces in the Palestinian land when the occupation forces attacked Beit Hanon in the northern Gaza Strip.

The Occupation forces killed six Palestinians and wounded 45 people in a series of air strikes and gun battles in the northern Gaza Stip on Wednesday, Palestinian security sources and witnesses said.

Infantry units backed by tanks stormed into Beit Hanun overnight, surrounding and blocking access to the hospital and establishing control over the town, witnesses said.

The raid was one of the biggest since Israel launched an offensive in Gaza claiming that this large scale is to release a soldier war prisoner by Palestinian gunmen on June 25 in a cross-border attack and to halt militant rocket fire into the Zionist settlements.

This operation was the most extensive in recent months, both in time and scale. According to the Zionist soldiers, soldiers are facing stiff resistance, including explosive devices, antitank missile fire and gunfire.

Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades mujahideen fired 16 Qassam rockets at the Zionist settlements. They fired 24 Yassin missiles at the Zionist vehicles which attacked the area of Beit Hanon in the northern Gaza Strip. The most notable bombardment was against the settlement of Sderot, injuring 5 settlers. In addition , many mortar shells were fired at the Zionist vehicles and four " Shiwath" bombs were fired, too.

Four mujahideen and 7 civilians were martyred over the past 48 hours by the random fire of the occupation forces.

This time , the playground of the battle is not the same as before , one soldier was killed and five Zionist settlers were wounded in the first moments of the battle between the Palestinian resistance factions and the occupation forces.

Two Year Old Girl Released From Israeli Prison

Yes you heard right, a two year old girl was just released from an Israeli Prison!

This poor baby. She knows nothing in life but the walls of her mother's prison cell. She only knows her father from visits, when they were possible. She has never seen a road, a city, grass, trees, a real bed, her own bedroom, a park, a real meal, friends, real toys, etc, etc.


The attached are from our local Al-Quds newspaper on Nov 1, 2006. They are from a story about a 2-yr old girl who was released from an Israeli prison near Ramallah. Her name is Aiysha, which in Arabic means “life.”

The Zionists have robbed the Palestinians and steal their freedoms in their pockets

October 31, 2006

She and kind Massoud tears, But pride prevented the flow, responding to a question fellow driver on the situation. He said Thank God anyway. The effects of his answer curiosity by his colleague Sarah Answering another question, «If you Zlmh Malik (men). Shaw Sairlk.

An individual is trying to tears almost confined to weaken the pride Kit (paid by compulsion) Hla (now) thousand shekels ($ 200) to the children of the lands. He wondered colleague and his first name, Mahmoud, surprising even Why (why). Shaw Sin who committed to pay this amount to an hour Almusa. This time he Massoud angrily violation of the conduct sir. Sir, I said, Kheroni runs between the trial and one thousand shekels. I took the payment of a thousand shekels allowance and trial, which will eventually pay a thousand shekels, and perhaps fine, with court costs and attorney Do not forget the time Sadeh between counsel and the court means of AH-filled.

He and Massoud, who did not know the rest of his name, on his way back to his car, which was among the very long line of cars (taxi and private) in the waiting to cross the barrier of the so-called barrier Enav.

This is consistent barrier on the road only, which is still open between the town of Tulkarem north of the West Bank and the rest of the cities and towns of the West located to the south of Nablus, Ramallah, Bethlehem, Hebron and others.

Enav, is the name of a settlement on a hill overlooking the road and lies only a few kilometers from the settlement of Avnei another carrying the name Hafich, located to the north of it.

Dar Al-Hadith between Massoud and Mahmoud, I am seated next to the last in our role in the queue waiting to cross the checkpoint on the road to Tulkarm, from Lydda Airport.

The curiosity drove me to know why pay this huge amount of the violation, to a question drivers, inquiring : Is it right that the occupation army against the West drivers?

He said if you are replying strange to the country. Maine claimed the bans. Then the army is not what Bigermana. The police role is that you .

What Shekel entered Israeli police in the West Bank?

Of course, they have the right.

These areas of the region. According to the Oslo Accords are areas under the administrative and security for Israel. Then Sir army palm Nazel everywhere in all regions of (supposed to be the subject of security and administration of the Authority) and b «» (supposed to be subject to the administrative authority). The Maine Labor claimed. Oh good God Khaliha.

He continued to say even know that the policeman who disobey the Arab named Ali, sitting in the police car there, pointing to wear a police car carrying signals were siding with the military checkpoint waiting for the other prey.

His God crime. Oh Zlmh Shawver (driver), we triggers spirit who makes you hate hundred shekels (20 dollars) a day. Asked what offense he committed to pay one thousand shekels?

- Sir answered. This driver is supposed to work on the line Fara (east of the West Bank town in the Jordan Valley) Nablus. no right to work on this line.

What is it to this line, knowing the dangers of this adventure?

Min said Ghebrk on Murr only what it is. Everyone Bedouins Estrzq in such poor economic conditions. You are clearer, The situation is very bad and the minimum fire, and the people do not find to eat. Due to the siege imposed on Nablus closed from all sides, no Alhovirih (drivers) on this line passengers, forcing them to look for other ways to earn a living. The result also Trešnjin (Wright) thousand shekels mean take days.

His driver, my brother, our obligations to pay the premiums car to the petrol. It is to repair taxi license fees that were set with the other about 70 shekels a day. Ok you where want to pay Haltkalev if Ashtglena. One of us have to adventure charged because there is no other alternative. on a normal day live feeder roads (dirt Aljubilih) to avoid barriers Overhead. Of course there are barriers Flyer on those routes. You and Your. But because of weather conditions (West saw a few days ago has not witnessed for many years. And Badben one of us has children Ar (a large number of children) and Hzula (those) needs to be fed. Ok if you where going Ashtgleth fed them. Not only Heck (this is not the case only) As defined, prices are very expensive and God and to the right of you, for one, the only fabric Pzuk events. and I say this as we speak and we thank God better than anybody else, especially the staff of the Authority who have not received their salaries since the advent of the Hamas government.

We are involved in the debate, move column cars belonging to the Tulkarm area at the end of the day, without reason and without accumulation of reason, while still waiting cars as well as pedestrians, destined to Nablus Iraouhon place of power they might take a special trip that there are many more stringent barriers around the city suffering from the embargo in force for years.

We reported talk to the political situation, Mahmoud said the driver says as we approach the Tulkarem, Brother, we are in the valley and officials not to exclude anyone, goes in another.

Moroccan wins Iran Holocaust cartoon contest

Competition in response to Muhammad drawings widely criticized

Iranian students study one of the non-winning entrants in the Holocaust cartoon contests in September.

November 2, 2006

TEHRAN, Iran - Ignoring widespread condemnation, Iran awarded a Moroccan artist Wednesday the top prize in an exhibition of cartoons on the Holocaust.

Meant to be a response to the Danish cartoons of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad that sparked rage among Muslims around the world, the exhibit appears inspired by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s tirades calling for Israel to be destroyed.

Tehran has several times announced plans to host a conference to examine the scientific evidence supporting the Holocaust, dismissing it as exaggerated.

The exhibit as well as Ahmadinejad’s position on the Holocaust have been widely criticized.

During a visit to Iran in September, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan expressed his displeasure, saying “I think the tragedy of the Holocaust is an undeniable historical fact and we should really accept that fact and teach people what happened in World War II and ensure it is never repeated.”

The U.S. State Department has also slammed the exhibit, calling it an outrageous attempt to “denigrate the horror that was the holocaust.” Israel has repeatedly denounced Ahmadinejad’s comments on Israel and stance on the holocaust.

International entries win prizes

Abdollah Derkaoui received $12,000 for his work depicting an Israeli crane piling large cement blocks on Israel’s security wall and gradually obscuring Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. A picture of Nazi Germany’s Auschwitz concentration camp appears on the wall.

The mosque is Islam’s third holiest site.

The display, comprising 204 entries from Iran and abroad, opened in August.

Entries from Brazil, France and Iran also won prizes.

Many Muslims considered the cartoons published by the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten a violation of traditions prohibiting images of their prophet.

Iran launched missiles during military maneuvers

02 November 2006

BBC Arabia

Television reports in Iran that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard fired missiles capable of carrying warheads cluster during a military exercise south of the country began on Thursday and will last ten days.

The commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, General Yahya Rahim Safawi had said on Wednesday that the maneuvers under the name "Great Prophet" and include exercises in the Gulf and the Gulf of Oman would be a "defense force."

And military experts say that the maximum extent of the Iranian Shihab 3 missile is about two thousand kilometers, which makes it capable of striking Israel and American military bases in the Gulf.

No immediate confirmation of the news from the Iranian authorities.

The Iranian maneuvers at the time of study by the Security Council to impose sanctions on Iran because of its refusal to comply with international demands to halt uranium enrichment.

The Western countries fear that Iran is developing nuclear weapons. However, Tehran denies this and says that its nuclear program is for peaceful civilian uses.

Death toll rises to four Palestinians in Beit Hanoun

A number of Palestinians killed in Israeli attack

02 November 2006

BBC Arabic

The number of Palestinian dead who were killed during the Israeli military operation in the area of Beit Hanoun in the Gaza Strip to four while the Israeli forces in the operation which started Thursday morning.

It was at least eight Palestinians and one Israeli soldier were killed yesterday, Wednesday, in violent clashes broke out between Israeli forces and armed Palestinian groups during the incursion a people by the Israeli army in the region.

It was reported that the Israeli army ordered all men over the age of 16 in Beit Hanoun in progress for questioning.

The Israeli spokesman said that this measure is aimed at reducing the shootings.

The army says the operation, which was carried out by a broader Gaza since the Israeli withdrawal from the sector aims to prevent the launching of missiles at Israeli territory and to prevent clashes on the border between Gaza and Israel.

In the largest military operation launched by Israel against Gaza over the past few months the Israeli army three air raids and imposed a siege on the town of Beit Hanoun.

The 40 injured in the military operation carried out by the Israeli army tanks and helicopters backing.

The spokesman said Abu Ubayda media on behalf of the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas Movement, they remain in the firing of the rockets as long as Israel's invasion of Palestinian territories.


The Palestinian leaders strongly condemned the Israeli attack, which he described President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniya massacre.

Abbas demanded in a statement that "the occupation government to stop immediately its military operations against our people.

Heavy fighting

The director of a hospital in Beit Hanoun, told Associated Press reported that all stocks of blood at the hospital had been fully depreciated.

The Israeli army confirmed the death of one of its soldiers during a military operation in Gaza a few hours after the announcement that Palestinian armed groups killed Israelis.

The Israeli tanks backed by helicopters have raided Beit Hanoun in the early hours of Wednesday morning amid heavy exchange of fire.

While The French news agency that 60 tanks participated in the attack.

It added that Israeli soldiers took their rooftops during the exchange of fire.

The Israeli bulldozers demolished three houses in Beit Hanoun injured while dozens of houses with tank shells, according to the Agency.

At the same time, reports said that the latest fighting broke out in the Jabalia refugee camp, Palestinians in Beit Lahiya.


Israeli soldier killed in the attack on Beit Hanoun

The Israeli forces had killed two armed members of the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip during clashes occurred near Khan Younis.

It is noteworthy that the Israeli forces launched a military campaign in the sector since last June, when Hamas gunmen carried out an attack on a military base inside Israel, which killed two soldiers and captured a third.

That One's Not a Fan

Issaquah school bus driver fired after obscene gesture at President Bush

Published November 02, 2006

GENE JOHNSON, The Associated Press

SEATTLE - A middle-school bus driver fired after she reportedly made an obscene gesture at President Bush has filed a union grievance in an attempt to get her job back.

The 43-year-old driver, whose name has not been released by the Issaquah School District, was shepherding a busload of middle-school children back from the Seattle zoo on June 16 when the president and Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Wash., drove slowly by in a motorcade along Interstate 5. From the bus, stopped on an onramp, the children waved; with the windows down in their car, Bush and Reichert waved back.

That's when the driver extended the old one-finger salute, according to Reichert and Issaquah Superintendent Janet Barry.

"The congressman hadn't seen it, but the president turned to him and said, 'That one's not a fan,'" said Reichert spokeswoman Kimberly Cadena. "There were many comments and gestures made that day that many people would consider to be offensive. This individual did so around children."

Reichert later called Barry to tell her about the incident, but by the time he got her on the phone, the bus driver had already been fired. District officials had already learned about it because the driver bragged to her colleagues about what she had done, Cadena said.

District spokeswoman Sara Niegowski said the firing was not politically motivated.

"The bus driver was not terminated for making an obscene gesture at the president. The bus driver was terminated for making an obscene gesture in view of the students," Niegowski said. "That's not the role modeling we need for our students."

Niegowski said the driver, who had been reprimanded before, has filed a wrongful termination grievance through the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The union did not return calls seeking comment.

Cadena said the gesture was in poor taste.

"You respect the office, even if you can't respect the man," she said.

Maybe the bus driver learned it from the Taco Vender himself?

The Ministry of Information Condemns invaded Beit Hanoun and calls for an urgent international intervention to stop the aggression

Condemning the Ministry of Information storming of the new Israeli town of Beit Hanoun, , which led to the killing of six martyrs and more than sixty wounded in the ranks of Palestinian civilians, wounded by shrapnel from rockets Alasrai

Calls to the ministry an urgent international intervention to stop the continued Israeli aggression against our unarmed people. provide the necessary international protection, working to lift the unjust embargo him, which has led to the deterioration of the humanitarian situation is now threatening a humanitarian catastrophe.

Also condemning the Ministry of Information repeated incursions in the southern sector and extensive campaign of arrests launched by the Israeli occupation forces in the West Bank, It calls on the international community to reject and condemn such repressive practices of the Israeli aggression.

The ministry stresses the need to deepen and strengthen the spirit of the Palestinian national unity, as the Rock, which crashed by all conspiracies aimed at destroying the will of our people and the national cause.

It also calls on national and Islamic factions, the hard work and hard for the formation of a government of national unity, participation by all the forces on the basis of the common denominators that have been reached in the National Accord document.

The Ministry of Information that the government of national unity. the recipe is correct, the exit of the Palestinian quandary is going, To avoid the risk of falling into the quagmire of civil war planned by the enemies of our people.

Israeli Against Occupation!

"What do we despise about the German Nazis? Their racism? Our racism is no less widespread and poisonous. The Russian language newspaper Direct Speech published in Jerusalem asked hundreds of Russian Jews about their feelings towards the Palestinians. Typical answers were: 'I would kill all Arabs', 'All Arabs must be eliminated,' 'Arabs must be expelled', 'An Arab is an Arab. They have to be eliminated.'"

ISRAEL SHAMIR
(The Truth Seeker)

Haniyeh applauds the agreement between Fatah and Hamas

October 30, 2006

Gaza - Ma'an - Palestinian Prime Minister Isma'il Haniyeh stated on Monday that the Palestinians are endeavouring to embody national unity and to work out solutions for the blockade that has been imposed on the Palestinian territories.

Haniyeh also expressed his consent over the agreement which has now been reached between Fatah and Hamas, which the Palestinian government perceives as solid ground for enhancing the national unity dialogue, as a substitute for the street confrontations.

In regard to a potential prisoners' exchange, Haniyeh stated that the Egyptian authorities are making effective efforts between the Palestinian factions and the Israeli authorities "to end the suffering of the Palestinian prisoners in the Israeli jail."

Military faction warns Israel: If you re-occupy Gaza, we will turn the surrounding "Israeli settlements into hell"

October 31, 2006

Gaza - Ma'an - The Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), has warned the Israeli occupation against reoccupying the Gaza Strip.

In a statement issued following the threats made by a number of Israeli officials, the Brigades said that they will turn "the Israeli settlements surrounding the Strip into hell".

The Brigades called on all the factions to create a joint operation room and to establish a united front to confront the Israeli forces. The Brigades also urged the international community to live up to their responsibilities.

The statement called on the human rights societies and organizations to provide protection to the Palestinian people and to "stop the Israeli aggression".

Shalit's captors fear Israeli deception on the prisoners' deal

Nablus - Ma'an - The prisoners' deal is still not finalised. The reason, according to sources close to Hamas, is that the captors are concerned about last-minute Israeli deception.

The sources told Ma'an that the Palestinians trust the Egyptian side but they have no trust in the Israelis. The Palestinian side is insisting that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is involved in the deal but, so far, the Israelis are refusing this idea.

Ma'an has learned that the talks between the Israeli and Palestinian side, through Egyptian mediation, has succeeded in clarifying the form of the deal and assigning dozens of names of Palestinian prisoners to be released.

The sources say that especially prisoners who have spent long periods inside Israeli jails will be included. There will be four prisoners who have spent more than 25 years in Israeli prison and thirteen prisoners who have spent between 20 and 25 years behind Israeli bars.

The sources also said that intensive efforts were made by the Egyptians in the last 48 hours in an attempt to make the deal succeed. The sources added that the focus of the attention is now in regards to how to hand the captured soldier over to the Egyptian side.

The sources added that Israel should vow not to re-arrest the released prisoners after just a few days of their release.

Link:

Prisoners' exchange: Palestinian side demands 1,000 prisoners plus all women and child prisoners be released

Israeli warplanes fly low over Lebanon

Tuesday's overflights lasted for about 45 minutes (file)

31 October 2006

Israeli warplanes have carried out intensive mock air raids at low altitude over south Lebanon and the capital, Beirut, despite growing pressure to respect an August ceasefire.

Both the United Nations and France, which commands the UN peacekeeping force overseeing the UN-brokered truce, have called on Israel to halt the overflights, which they say violate the ceasefire.

The overflights began early on Tuesday morning, concentrated over the capital's impoverished Shia southern suburbs left devastated by Israel's summer war with the resistance group Hezbollah, and lasted around 45 minutes.

In the south, where the peacekeeping force is policing UN Resolution 1701, the ceasefire resolution that came into force on August 14, the warplanes also carried out low-altitude mock raids, local security forces said.

A number of aircraft also made sonic booms over the southern port city of Tyre, witnesses reported.

An Israeli military spokesman in Tel Aviv declined to comment on the overflights.

"We do not elaborate on operational activity," he said.

'Serious concern'

A statement released in the name of Geir Pedersen, the UN special envoy, condemned the persistent violations of Lebanese air space.

"Pedersen expresses his serious concern at the continuing overflights by Israel which constitute a breach of Lebanese sovereignty and specifically of Security Council Resolution 1701," it said.

"The UN interim force in Lebanon has reported some eight air violations over the past two days which they have observed over their area of operation."

France also condemned the overflights.

"We consider them contrary to the spirit and the letter of Resolution 1701," a foreign ministry spokesman said.

Amir Peretz, the Israeli defence minister, has insisted that the overflights will continue until Hezbollah fighters halt what he says is arms smuggling in defiance of the UN resolution.

"We have found that conflict resolution is..."

Zoughbi Zoughbi's philosophy

GOP House of Horrors

by Ward Sutton
October 31st, 2006

'Get Stuck in Iraq,' Kerry Tells Students

Bush on Kerry remark: troops are ‘plenty smart’ President Bush will join GOP Lawmakers Tuesday in blasting Sen. John Kerry for telling students they could either work hard in school or 'get stuck in Iraq.’

White House Spokesman Slams Kerry Remark
White House Spokesman Lashes Out at Kerry's Remark on Education and Iraq

By JENNIFER LOVEN

WASHINGTON Oct 31, 2006 (AP)— The White House accused Sen. John Kerry on Tuesday of troop-bashing, seizing on a comment the Democrat made to California students that those unable to navigate the country's education system "get stuck in Iraq."

"Senator Kerry not only owes an apology to those who are serving, but also to the families of those who've given their lives in this," White House press secretary Tony Snow said. "This is an absolute insult."

Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran and President Bush's 2004 rival, fired back.

He said he had been criticizing Bush, not the "heroes serving in Iraq," and said the president and his administration are the ones who owe U.S. troops an apology because they "misled America into war and have given us a Katrina foreign policy that has betrayed our ideals, killed and maimed our soldiers, and widened the terrorist threat instead of defeating it."

"This is the classic GOP playbook," Kerry said in a harshly worded statement. "I'm sick and tired of these despicable Republican attacks that always seem to come from those who never can be found to serve in war, but love to attack those who did. I'm not going to be lectured by a stuffed suit White House mouthpiece standing behind a podium."

One week before the midterm elections, the two parties are searching for any edge amid indications Democrats could take back the House and possibly win control of the Senate.

Snow was asked about the comment which Kerry made during a campaign rally Monday for California Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides. The White House spokesman was clearly ready, consulting his notes to read a fuller account of Kerry's statement and unleashing a sharp attack.

Separately, the White House issued President Bush's Veterans' Day proclamation praising those who have served in the armed forces a week and a half before the holiday.


"You know education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well, and if you don’t you get stuck in Iraq.”

Sen. John Kerry

(Tony Snow Reads Kerry Quote Into the Official Record)

Update:

Kerry has since apologized for the remark, saying it was actually aimed at Bush not those serving in Iraq.

A group of soldiers from the Minnesota National Guard stationed in Iraq, hold up a sign mocking recent comments by Sen. John Kerry about people who didn't study in school being 'stuck in Iraq.' (AP Photo/WTMJ-AM)

Halloween Without End

The Permanent Costume Ball of War, Politics and Economic Manipulation

by Zbignew Zingh
www.dissidentvoice.org
October 31, 2006

Halloween is a backwards holiday. Once a year, we dress up as monsters and ghouls in parody of what America actually is all the rest of the year.

Halloween is a kiddy protection racket, an extortion threat reduced to the level of a child's game. The original plea for a “treat” carries an implicit threat of retaliation if no sweets are put in the bag. “Trick or treat!” cry the kids who want candy in return for not toilet-papering your car or egging your house. “Trick or Treat!” shout the President, the Congress, the Pentagon and Wall Street as they hold out their bags to extort the world's wealth, its resources, its labor, its children, their futures and our lives. “Trick or Treat!” say the plutocrats, the neocons and neoliberals; “Trick or Treat, or our soldiers will blow up your houses, bomb you back to the Stone Ages; we'll throw you in prison, we'll beat you, torture you, rape you, shove 'democracy' down your throats.” “Trick or Treat!” scream ambassadors, generals, businessmen and god-mongers; “Trick or Treat! Trick or Treat! Trick or Treat!”

And most of us, scared witless, cowed, terrified, pay the extortion, the price of the protection racket, to keep our jobs, to preserve our shrinking health care, to preserve the illusion of retirement benefits, to fill our cars with gas.

Masks and fear mongering have been part of civilization since humankind learned how to talk and throw a stone. Perhaps the ability to mask one's true intentions and to threaten another person is precisely what permits civilization to arise. We are told that we now live in the most civilized of times; and, therefore, these are also the most deceptive, the most masked, the most threatening of times. It’s all a kabuki theater of threats and counter-threats, of tricks and treats and extortion and retaliation.

Close on the heels of Halloween comes Election Day: the true day of harlequins and masquerades. For whom can I vote? I think to myself as I look at the voter pamphlets: the Vampires who urged us on to War or the Werewolves of the “opposition” who also voted for it? Is it a “choice” to have to choose between a Monster whose lies killed more than 650,000 and a Ghoul who criticizes the Monster's “incompetence” in carrying out the killing? Why are there only two Costumed Parties I can go to in America when in other countries they have three and four and five and six?

In Washington State, the television media excluded the peace candidate for U.S. Senate, Aaron Dixon, from publicly debating the Republican and Democratic candidates because Mr. Dixon, representing the Green Party, has not raised the million dollar campaign pot deemed necessary by the media to appear on the same platform with the “mainstream” candidates. When Mr. Dixon showed up at the televised “debate” asking to be allowed to participate, he was arrested. Bruce Guthrie, the Libertarian anti-war candidate for the Senate, had to pony-up a million dollar loan to his own campaign just to “buy” a seat at the debating table. And this masquerade passes for “free elections,” American style.

In Pennsylvania, Republican Representative Curt Weldon's daughter has been “treated” to a pre-election FBI raid and seizure of her business records. Why would a Republican administered FBI publicly humiliate the daughter of a Republican congressman running for reelection? It could be because Curt Weldon is the congressman who has criticized the Zelikow Commission for failing to report on the undercover American spy program, Able Danger, which apparently had lots of advance knowledge about the 9-11 attacks on New York and the Pentagon. Was Curt Weldon's family politically attacked like Ambassador Joseph Wilson's CIA wife, Valerie Plame, because Weldon, too, had gotten “out of line.” “Trick or treat” Mr. Weldon! Belonging to the priesthood of the Dominant Party will still not protect you for violating the Government's mafia code of Omerta, the absolute Secrecy and Loyalty among gangsters that trumps everything, including party affiliation.

Tom Foley has become the Capitol's outcast du jour due to the outing of his virtual sexual advances toward young men, thereby stripping the mask from the Republican morality play. However, as soon as the elections are over, both parties will stop kicking at Foley's dead political body. The pages who came to Washington came to learn what power is all about. Now they know. Where there is power, there is abuse of power, and many are the politicians on both sides of the aisle who indulge their unbridled passions. It is the reward for being good legislative lackeys, and it creates welcome file material by which today's J. Edgar Hoovers can blackmail and control those who might think to place public interests ahead of private ones.

On the surface of America, there is the mask of obedience to the law. Beneath the mask is the flagrant and repeated violation of law. The Congress, both halves of the dominant political party participating, passed legislation that permits torture and perpetual imprisonment without charge, that vitiates the civil and constitutional rights of foreigners and citizens alike; and the Zombie-in-Chief, masquerading as a champion of Freedom and Life and Peace, applauds the Republic's suicide.

The press is fascinated by Hewlett-Packard's misdeeds in snooping on private communications by the company's Board of Directors. But while the press expresses outrage at the use of “pretexting” to spy on America's boardroom elite, where is the outrage at the telecom giants, the NSA and the Internet backbone companies for eavesdropping on your communications and mine? The masked message is that there are two standards of privacy in America: the lives and communications of the feudal class are private; the lives and communications of everyone else are subject to surveillance.

Meanwhile, the owners of the media have enthusiastically joined the Administration's costume campaign to portray the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea as a rogue nuclear threat to world peace. The State Department and its conjoined state television do their Friday the 13th buzz jobs, pulling every racist, xenophobic trick out of the bag. Never mind that the DPRK has never invaded any foreign country, as the United States has repeatedly done. Never mind that North Korea has had a more stable government over time than many of the dictatorships that the United States props up. Never mind that Korea, the historical victim of American and Japanese aggression, has only wanted to be left alone. Never mind that, as proved by the case of Iraq, the only way that a small nation can ensure that it will be left alone is if it is armed with weapons of mass destruction, and prepared to retaliate in kind. Never mind that other countries that have not subscribed to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty have also developed nuclear weapons -- but Israel, Pakistan and India are not international pariahs, but sweet little angels, because they are our nuclear states that do our bidding.

Wearing the Halloween mask of concern, the American government expresses its solicitude for an Iraq descending into sectarian civil war. Beneath the mask, however, America secretly foments the violence. It is James Baker's Plan B: if we cannot own Iraq's oil reserves outright by installing our puppet regime, then we will Balkanize it, tear it to pieces, render it like we rendered Yugoslavia, into a patchwork of tiny, dependent states whose resources can be sucked out by western corporate vampires while their people, doing the will of the West, immolate themselves in an Islamic auto-da-fé.

But while America makes war on Iraq, and soon on Iran, on Syria, on Cuba and on Venezuela, at home, just in time for Halloween and the Elections, the Economy is suddenly looking downright perky! Right on schedule, the oil oligarchs -- the friends and facilitators of the current administration -- suddenly lowered gasoline prices. Meanwhile, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve that released fuel to dampen the gasoline price run-ups after Hurricane Katrina quietly stated that it will refrain from buying any replacement stocks of oil -- low prices notwithstanding -- until well after the November elections. This lowers the cost (just temporarily, of course) of filling up Joe Voter's SUV and is supposed to stimulate inventory-clearing sales of Detroit's gas hogs. Everyone is happy and, in theory, they vote for the status quo, for their economic self-interest and for their pocket books.

For its part, the Federal Reserve Bank has unleashed a torrent of easy money into the banking system, thereby creating a massive build-up in the now totally invisible M3 (the total amount of money in circulation in the economy). This influx of cheap money, in turn, compensates for the reality check in the plummeting housing market, and has been used to inflate yet one more gigantic stock market bubble. The Dow Industrial Index, a measure of only about twenty of the biggest companies (swapped in and out over time to ensure the index's artificial exuberance), shows all the signs of Botoxed youth and good health. However, the hourly Dow Industrial charts show many mysterious mid-afternoon infusions of money whenever the graph line begins to plummet downward, thus creating the illusion of a stock market that defies gravity.
Students of Halloween and American elections call this anti-gravity phenomena by a simpler name: a masquerade party.

By the calendar, it is Halloween. By the measure of history, however, it is a permanent costume ball of war, politics and economic manipulation.

Happy Halloween, America. Trick or treat!