Who is the evil Dajjal ?

(the "anti-Christ")

by Mohammed Ali Ibn Zubair Ali

Note: Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wassallam) has exhorted the regular recital of Suratul Kahf which will most certainly save one from the Evils of Dajjal.

Hadhrat Imraan bin Husain (R.A.) relates that, "I heard Rasulullah (Salallahu Alayhi Wasallam) saying: "Since the birth of Adam (A.S.) till the advent of Qiyamah there is no fitnah (evil, test) much greater that of Dajjal."

Hadhrat Huzaifah (R.A.) says, Dajjal will be blind in his left eye. He will have very thick hair on his body and he will also have his own type of Jannat (Heaven) and Jahannam (Hell) with him: Although his Jannat will appear as Jannat, in reality it will be Jahannam and likewise though his Jahannam will appear to be Jahannam, in reality it will be Jannat.
(Hadith: Muslim)

Imraan bin Husain (R.A.) says Rasulullah (Salallahu Alayhi Wasallam) said: "Those who hear about Dajjal should stay far from him. By Allah! A person will approach him thinking him to be a Believer, but on seeing his amazing feats he will become his follower."

Ubadah bin Saamit (R.A.) once said, "I have explained Dajjal to you but I fear that you might not have understood. Maseeh Dajjal will be short, and his legs will be crooked. The hair on his head will be extremely twisted. He will have one eye (with which he can see, and this is the protruding eye about which other ahadeeth inform us) while his other eye will be totally flat. It will neither be deep (in its socket) nor protruding.

If you still have any doubt regarding him then remember that your Sustainer (Rabb) is not one-eyed. (Because Dajjal will eventually claim to be Allah). In a lengthy Hadith narrated by Abu Saeed (R.A.), Rasulullah (Salallahu Alayhi Wasallam) is reported to have said: "Dajjal will come but it will be prohibited and impossible for him to enter Madina. He will set up camp in a barren land outside Madina. One person who will be the best of persons will confront him by saying: "I bear witness that you are the very Dajjal about whom Rasulullah (Salallahu Alayhi Wasallam) has informed us."

Dajjal will say to his followers, "If I kill this person and then revive him, you people will still doubt me?"

They will reply, "No."

He will then kill this person, (according to another narration he will split this person in two) and thereafter revive him. This person will say, "I am totally convinced more than ever before that you definitely are Dajjal."

Dajjal will attempt to kill this person again but his efforts will now be in vain.

(According to a hadith, after this incident, Dajjal will not be able to harm anyone.)

Hadhrat Anas (R.A.) says that Rasulullah (Salallahu Alayhi Wasallam) said: "Dajjal will come and finally reach the outskirts of Madina. There will be three tremors. At that time, all the disbelievers and hypocrites will flee (from Madina).

In this way Madina Munawwarah will be purified of all the evil hypocrites.

Hadhrat Asma bint Yazeed (R.A.) narrates that Rasulullah (Salallahu Alayhi Wasallam) once came to my house and there he spoke about Dajjal. He said that before the emergence of Dajjal there will be three spells of drought. In one year the skies will withold one third of its rains, causing the earth to withold one third of its produce. In the second year the skies will withold two thirds of its rains, causing the earth to withold two thirds of its produce. In the third year, the skies will withold all its water and there will be no crops that year. All animals, be they hooved or toothed, will die as a result. The greatest evil of Dajjall will be to approach anyone and ask him: "If I bring your camel back to life, will you then believe that I am your Rabb?"

This person will reply, "Most certainly."

Thereafter Shaytaan (from the many Shayateen who will always accompany Dajjal) will appear before this person in the form of his camel with a fat hump and fully laden udders.

Likewise Dajjal will appear before another person whose father and brother have long passed away and ask him, "If I bring your father and brother back to life will you believe that I am your Rabb?"

This person will reply, "Why not?"

Shaytaan will once again take on the appearance of his brother and father...
(Ahmad)

Hadhrat Mughira ibn Shu'ba (R.A.) says that, "No one asked Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wassallam) about Dajjal as much as myself. Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wassallam) said to me, "How can he possibly harm you?"

I said: "People are saying that he will have with him a mountain of bread (provisions) and a river of water."

Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wassallam) said: "In the sight of Allah he is much more disgraced than that. (i.e. Allah knows full well that in reality Dajjal has nothing with him, and all that which appears to be with him is but deception). (Bukhari and Muslim).

Other Ahadeeth regarding Dajjal inform us that:

He will emerge between Shaam and Iraq, and his emergence will become known when he is in Isfahaan at a place called Yahudea.


The Yahudis (Jews) of Isfahaan will be his main followers.
Apart from having mainly Yahudi followers, he will have a great number of women followers as well.


He will have with him fire and water, but in reality the fire will be cold water while that what appears to be cold water will in reality be a blazing fire.

Those who obey him will enter "his Jannat" while those who disobey him will enter "his Jahannam."


There will be a thick fingernail-like object in his left eye.

The letters "Kaa" "Faa" "Raa" will appear on his forehead and will be deciphered by all Mu'mineen regardless of them being literate or not.

He will have a wheatish complexion.


He will travel at great speeds and his means of conveyance will be a gigantic mule. It is said that he will play beautiful music which will attract the music lovers.
Dajjal will lay claim to prophethood.


He will then lay claim to Divinity.


He will perform unusual feats.


He will travel the entire world. He will send down rains upon those who believe in him, which in turn will cause good crops to grow, trees to bear fruit and cattle to grow fat.

He will cause drought to those who disbelieve in him, resulting in starvation and hardship for them.


During those trying times the Mu'mineen will satiate their hunger through the recitation of Subhanallah and La'ilaha Ilallahu.


The hidden treasures will spill forth at his command. He will stay on this Earth for a period of forty days; the length of the first day will be one year, the second day will be equal to one month, the third day will be equal to a week and the remaining days will be normal.

He will be unable to enter Makkah because the Malaikah will be guarding the Holy City and nor will he be able to enter Madina because there will be Malaikah guarding each of the seven entrances to Madina; From Madina he will proceed towards Shaam where Imaam Mahdi will be stationed.


Finally Isa (A.S.) will descend from the heavens and pursue him and eventually kill him at present day Lydda (Baad Lud).

Story of anti-Christ details of what he looks like, and reflections of the time when he will come.

Bush on Comprehensive Immigration Reform

For Immediate Release

May 12, 2007

Audio

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Next week, the Senate will take up an important priority for our Nation: comprehensive immigration reform.

Over the past few weeks, leaders from both parties have met at the White House and on Capitol Hill to find areas of agreement and iron out our differences. These meetings have been productive. We've been addressing our differences in good faith, and we're building consensus. Both Republicans and Democrats understand that successful immigration reform must be bipartisan.

Democrats and Republicans agree that our current immigration system is in need of reform. We agree that we need a system where our laws are respected. We agree that we need a system that meets the legitimate needs of workers and employers. And we agree that we need a system that treats people with dignity and helps newcomers assimilate into our society.

We must address all elements of this problem together, or none of them will be solved at all. We must not repeat the mistakes that caused previous efforts at immigration reform to fail. So I support a comprehensive immigration reform bill that accomplishes five clear objectives:
First, America must continue our efforts to improve security at our borders.

Second, we must hold employers to account for the workers they hire, by providing better tools for them to verify documents and work eligibility.

Third, we must create a temporary worker program that takes pressure off the border by providing foreign workers a legal and orderly way to enter our country to fill jobs that Americans are not doing.

Fourth, we must resolve the status of millions of illegal immigrants who are here already, without amnesty and without animosity.

Finally, we must honor the great American tradition of the melting pot. Americans are bound together by our shared ideals, an appreciation of our history, and an ability to speak and write the English language. And the success of our country depends upon helping newcomers assimilate into our society and embrace our common identity as Americans.

Coming together on a good bill that includes all five elements, we will make America more secure. We will make our economy more competitive. And we will show the world that America can be a lawful society and a welcoming society at the same time.

Reforming our immigration system is an important opportunity to show that elected officials in Washington can work together to find practical solutions to the problems that matter most. I thank the Senators who have been working hard on this issue. I am optimistic we can pass a comprehensive immigration bill and get this problem solved for the American people this year.

Thank you for listening.

END

Bushra's final exam

Bushra's blood-stained grammar workbook now serves as a kind of memorial. (Miki Ktratsman)

May 11, 2007

By Gideon Levy

Blood on the hands: Two crimson handprints stain the white wall. The tile floor shines in shades of brown, the walls are painted in white and soft pastels, their new house, after the two previous ones were destroyed by the Israel Defense Forces. The bloody handprints stand as silent testimony on the wall of the staircase that goes up to the second floor. This is where Ruqiya stood, the blood of her dead daughter all over her hands, as she pounded them on the wall in a panic, desperately calling to the neighbors for help. She pounded and pounded, her palms staining the wall, when outside stood a line of terrifying jeeps, on the roof of the building down the street stood the snipers and in the other room Bushra lay dead in a spreading pool of blood, a bullet hole in the center of her forehead.

The blood also spilled on her grammar workbook, staining it. Her green pen was also covered with blood; it's still there, amid the bloody pages. The grammar book of Bushra Bargis (Al-Wahsh), the study material of a girl who was preparing for the Magen pre-matriculation exam, her last exam. Among the pages of the workbook, which has become a kind of memorial book, the family has inserted the death picture: a twisted smile, eyes half-closed and a small hole in the forehead.

Bushra, 17, was killed by a sniper's bullet aimed at the middle of her forehead as she paced her room, grammar book in hand, memorizing the material for the exam the next day. A direct hit. The lights were on in the room, the shooter must have seen the person at whom he was firing, whose life he was taking with such dreadful ease.

A sniper's amusement? One bullet in a teenager's forehead and two bullets in the door of the refrigerator, which is in the new kitchen off of Bushra's room, a place where the females of the house hid: Ruqiya, her daughter Suqeina, 23, and Suqeina's three-year-old daughter, Dareen. Two women, a teenaged girl and a toddler in the house where the soldiers thought Abd al-Rahman Al-Wahsh, a wanted man and Bushra's brother, was hiding.

In stark contrast to the IDF's version of events, all the eyewitnesses say the occupants were called to leave the house only after the sniper had killed Bushra in cold blood. Logic says it happened that way, too: No teenager would keep studying if soldiers were calling from below to evacuate the house. Three sniper's bullets, from a distance of about 150 meters, abruptly halted Bushra's preparations for her last exam.

The Jenin checkpoint. Two IDF soldiers, military policemen, speaking Arabic to each other, wander about here and there with nothing much to do. A rental car approaches the checkpoint and an elderly British tourist gets out. "Do I need to wait here?," he asks in surprise, believing he has come to a tollbooth. "Where you going?," Staff-Sergeant Hikmat asks in broken English. "To Jerusalem," replies the tourist, proffering his rental agency road map as proof and confidently pointing out the shortest route to the capital - through Jenin - of course. The Green Line is dead in the new maps of the rental agencies, and the Briton is beside himself.

True to form, one week the IDF allows us to enter Jenin in our protected vehicle, while the next week it does not, despite all the prior coordination and assurances. No entry this week. A yellow taxi from Jenin quickly takes us into the refugee camp, its driver stunned by the identity of his Jewish passengers. The only hospital in town is still closed because of a strike by workers who have not been paid, and the new road in the rebuilt camp is already strewn with obstacles and potholes.

The IDF enters the camp every night now, sowing fear in the heart of the residents, especially the children. At first there was no resistance and the soldiers would bring out dozens of men, half-clothed, into the night chill. In recent weeks, the armed young men of the camp have decided to greet the jeeps with makeshift bombs - cooking gas canisters that they place by the side of the road, in the heart of the camp. Boom after boom, sounds of explosions and gunfire, every night is a nightmare now, a night without sleep, with children wetting their beds and their anxious, helpless parents.

Saturday night two weeks ago was just such a night. In the afternoon, IDF troops had killed three armed men in the city and the mood was agitated. In her room on the second floor of the renovated house near the camp mosque, Bushra was preparing for her Magen grammar exam. Her father died eight years ago. One brother, Abdullah, was sentenced about five years ago to 23 years in prison. Another brother, Abd al-Aziz, had just been released from two years in administrative detention, held without trial. Soldiers who had come in search of the third brother, Islamic Jihad activist Abd al-Rahman, who has been wanted for the past two years, arrested him instead.

For years, Bushra was the only family member permitted to visit Abdullah in prison. In the past five years his mother has been allowed to visit only six times. Since Bushra was killed, Israel has not allowed Abdullah to even speak on the telephone with his grieving mother. He is in the Ashkelon Prison, where he must have heard about his sister's killing, and cannot call his mother to comfort her. Abdullah was arrested the same day the IDF killed UNRWA worker Ian Hook, from Britain, in the camp, in November 2002. Four months ago his sister visited him for the last time.

On Saturday morning Bushra took the Magen exam in history. Afterward she went to her old girls' elementary school for an open house, with performances and refreshments. A few days before Bushra received a prize for her academic achievement: a colorful clock shaped like a castle, with a turret and with flowers in front. The clock has stopped.

In the afternoon she returned home, had something to eat and began studying for Sunday's grammar exam.

The previous Saturday Bushra and some of her classmates took a little excursion. Here is the photo, which turned out to be the last photograph of Bushra: Four teenaged girls in their striped uniforms and headscarves, gently leaning against one another, hesitantly smiling at the camera, against the backdrop of one of the tourist sites in Wadi al-Badin, on the way to Nablus. The sun's rays shine through the trees and none of the girls knows that, within a week, this photo will become a memorial picture. Bushra wanted to be a lawyer, in a household where no provider was left.

In the afternoon, Bushra asked her brother to buy her some pens, to make sure she was all set for the test the next day. Abd al-Aziz bought her five cheap pens. One is still stuck inside the bloodstained schoolbook. Later, Bushra and her mother recited the evening prayers and the night prayers, and in between Bushra studied. She had a habit of pacing as she studied, walking back and forth in her room as she memorized material. At about 9 P.M. there was a noise from the street. Ruqiya rushed to the window to locate the source: A long line of jeeps, headlights off, approached the house, which was at the edge of the camp. Bushra quickly picked up her niece, Dareen, who was sleeping on a mattress under the window. She took her into the kitchen, in the interior of the house, to move her away from the eye of the approaching storm. She then returned to her room and resumed her studies, in front of the open window. Everyone else went into the kitchen. The soldiers did not shout at them to evacuate, and the women were certain that they were there because of the disturbances in the city on that deadly day.

Ruqiya and Suqeina, crowded into the kitchen, Dareen asleep on the floor, they suddenly heard a strange sound. To their astonishment, they found two bullets stuck in the refrigerator door. Let's repeat: The kitchen is deep inside the apartment, on the second floor, and gunfire toward it could only have come from the house down the street, about 150 meters as the crow flies. Soldiers and snipers had hidden in the house down the street before.

At the sight of the two bullets stuck in the refrigerator, Ruqiya called to her daughter, in the next room, and when Bushra did not respond the mother hurried in. Bushra was lying on her back on the floor, in a puddle of blood that was pooling under her head, with a hole in her forehead and the workbook in her hand. She was lying far from the window, in the center of the room. You don't have to be a ballistics expert to see that there is no way the shots could have come from the jeeps parked outside the house.

Ruqiya knew: Her daughter was dead. She began screaming for help and pounding on the wall of the staircase, and then went up on the roof and yelled for help from there, too. According to the women of the house as well G.Z., a very credible witness who was at the neighbors', it was only after Ruqiya's shouts were heard that the soldiers called on the women, through a megaphone, to leave the house. This is a key point. The next day, the IDF would claim that the soldiers told the women to come out and that only Bushra remained inside despite the order.

They went out to the street, at the soldiers' orders. None of the soldiers left their jeeps that were parked near the house. Bushra was left, bleeding in her room, apparently already dead. "You killed my daughter!," Ruqiya screamed at the soldiers, pounding on the sides of the armored vehicles, but no one came out to help. She told the soldiers the house was unlocked and they could go enter to search for the wanted man or to see the body of his dead sister, but no one went in.

"Why didn't they enter the house? Why didn't they tell us to come out right away? Had they called us before, we would have come right out," Ruqiya says. The soldiers asked to see Ruqiya's identity card but she says she refused. She just pleaded for her and her daughter to be allowed back into the house, to see Bushra, but she says the soldiers wouldn't let her.

About a half hour later, a Palestinian ambulance arrived. The medics went inside and brought Bushra down to the door on a mattress. Her mother, sister and niece stood there, shaking. This scene lasted for about an hour, maybe more, they say. The body lying on a mattress at the entrance to the house, the women standing barefoot and upset in the street, the frightened Dareen in her mother's arms and Ruqiya's hands still stained with her daughter's blood, while the soldiers remained in their jeeps. Suddenly, the soldiers threw smoke grenades and left the way th ey had come, leaving the women of the family with the body.

IDF Spokesman's response: "In the course of operations of an IDF force that traveled near the Jenin refugee camp, a number of explosive devices were thrown and targeted gunfire was directed against the force a number of times. The force returned fire in the direction of the shooting. An investigation of the incident showed that the force definitively confirmed that shots were fired a number of times from the window of the building. At a nearby window a figure was seen holding a weapon and it was fired upon. After the operation the Coordination and Liaison headquarters received a report of the killing of a Palestinian girl."

The blood-soaked carpet has been rolled up andtaken up to the roof and laid alongside the satellite dish. The house from which the sniper apparently shot and killed Bushra is visible across the way. A picture of Abdullah, the prisoner, hangs on the wall of the room in which his sister was killed. Her picture will be placed next to his. For now, a very large photo of Bushra, the girl who never made it to her exam on Sunday, rests in its frame.

Islam growing fast in America

In the US, where Muslims number over six million, the Islamic faith has in many estimates surpassed Judaism and is believed to be the second largest religion in America. Anayat Durrani profiles some new US converts to Islam

March 10, 2000

Islam, a religion that was for centuries believed to have been ‘spread by the sword’ is currently the fastest growing religion in the United States and in the world. Adherents to the Islamic faith number 1.2 billion worldwide. And growing… In the United States, where Muslims number over six million, the Islamic faith has in many estimates surpassed Judaism and is believed to be the second largest religion in America after Christianity. While part of the rise in the population of Muslims in the United States is due to immigration, the phenomenal growth of Islam in the past 10 years has come from an increasing number of Americans converting to Islam from other religions.

Muslim leaders estimate that half the number of American converts to Islam come from the African-American community. Twenty-two-year-old Leslie Jordan is a recent convert to Islam. "I decided that I wanted to convert to a religion whose beliefs were like mine and whose practices would compliment the life I wanted to lead and help to exemplify my beliefs." Jordan, who changed her name to Thanaa ("thankfulness"), studied Islam for seven months, often cross-referencing with the Talmud and Bible. She was convinced that Islam was the truth. "Conversion for me has not been too difficult as I have truth in the verses of the Holy Qur'an and in the Hadith."

Islam continues to draw followers at an estimated rate of 135,000 converts per year. During the Gulf War alone, it was reported that approximately 3,000 Americans converted to Islam.

American women make up the second largest group of converts to Islam. Dani Black converted to Islam in March of 1997. Originally a Catholic, Black studied one religion after another, from Buddhist to Pentecostal. She remained unsatisfied until her search led her on the path to Islam. "Finally, Allah (SWT) made a way for me to find the truth." Black, who now goes by the name of Khadijah, said her husband converted to Islam shortly after she did. "We both are very happy."

At the rate that Islam is spreading, demographers predict that by the year 2025 one out of four people in the world will be Muslim.

Forty-eight-year-old Everett Ferguson, now Luqman Abdullah-Wajid, was introduced to Islam at the age of 20. In his youth, Abdullah-Wajid did not follow any religion nor did he believe in God. "As I studied Islamic beliefs, I was struck by how they were in harmony with reason," he says. "Islam’s clarity, logic, and authenticity leave me feeling very grateful."

The increase in the number of American Muslims may be a result of the presence of more mosques and Islamic centers that are sprouting up in several cities across the United States. There are approximately 2,000 mosques, Islamic centers and schools in the country. Non-Muslims are often invited to mosques and Islamic centers where they are provided with information about Islam.

James was raised a Baptist and during his childhood attended Baptist, Lutheran and Methodist churches. While in law school, he accompanied a classmate and attended Catholic church. It wasn’t until his 30s that James says he began to study religion seriously. "I studied briefly with the Original Hebrew Israelites, before getting a copy of the Holy Qur’an," he says. "After reading it, I was touched in my soul and many of the questions that I had throughout my life were answered. I knew that I had to make a decision." At the age of 33, a Muslim co-worker took James for a visit to a local mosque. "I was so moved that I took my shahada right then and there."

Converting to a new faith is not always a smooth transition. The difficulties new Muslims face after conversion often arise from family and friends. For Thanaa, her conversion was not easily accepted. "The most difficult part for me has been trying to explain my choice to change to family and friends who are not familiar with what Islam is really about." Thanaa says that only her mother, sister and boyfriend have accepted her conversion. James also experienced similar difficulties when he became a Muslim. He says that his wife is the only one in his family with misgivings about his decision. "My wife, who is still Christian, still does not understand why I converted, and was upset. Inshallah, Allah will soften her heart."

Islam’s increasing numbers in recent years could be a sign that attempts at educating the American public about Islam by several American-based Muslim organizations have been working. For many years, Islam was not as well represented in the Judeo-Christian society of the United States. However, in recent years several organizations such as the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), and the American Muslim Council (AMC), among several others, have been successful in reaching the media and educating Americans about the real Islam.

The continued growth in the number of converts to Islam should finally put to rest the myth that Islam was ever ‘spread by the sword’. The great number of adherents to the Islamic faith is evidence enough of Islam’s powerful message.

"Becoming a Muslim is the best thing that has happened in my life," James says.

Anayat Durrani is a freelance journalist based in Los Angeles, Calif.

Source

A number of people accept Islam on stage at the 2006 Global Peace & Unity Event.

Shown in the video is five ladies and their was many other's, including a little boy at this event.

The Jury Duty Identity Scam

Introduction

By Housewife4Palestine

The following is towards a growing problem in the United States, called Identity Theft.

There is several types of this problem and makes it worse these criminal’s are very imaginative.

The latest information was sent to me, while it was intended to make the global community see, it is catered to the Unites States audience because they are the ones most effected about this growing problem in their country.

While this is just one type of Identity Theft, there is a carload still out there.

The Message:

Most of us take a summons for jury duty seriously, but enough people skip out on their civic duty that a new & ominous kind of scam has surfaced. Fall for it & your identity could be stolen, reports CBS. In this con, someone calls pretending to be a court official who threateningly says a warrant has been issued for your arrest because you didn't show up for jury duty.

The caller claims to be a jury coordinator. If you protest that you never received a summons for jury duty, the scammer asks you for your Social Security number & date of birth so he or she can verify the information & cancel the arrest warrant. Give out any of this information & bingo! Your identity just got stolen.

The scam has been reported so far in 10 states, including Michigan , Ohio , Texas, Arizona , Illinois , Pennsylvania , Minnesota , Oregon , Washington , & Colorado .

This (scam) is particularly insidious because they use intimidation over the phone to try to bully people into giving information by pretending they're with the court system. The FBI & the federal court system have issued nationwide alerts on their web sites, warning consumers about the fraud.

Check it out here:

Jury Rigged

TELEPHONE FRAUD INVOLVING JURY DUTY

THE VERDICT: HANG UP
Don't Fall for Jury Duty Scam

Israeli-Jordanian-Palestinian summit to be held in Petra next week

Mahmoud Abbas (L) meets King Abdullah II (R)at the World Economic Forum in Davos[Ma'anArchive]

May 12, 2007

Bethlehem – Ma'an – The Jordanian-based Ad-Dostour newspaper has revealed that a trilateral Israeli-Jordanian-Palestinian summit is to be held in the ancient city of Petra this week.

The Israeli daily, Ha'aretz, also reported that Israeli Prime Minister Olmert is due to attend the conference of Nobel Laureates on Wednesday in Petra, and will meet with King Abdullah II of Jordan.

King Abdullah is due to visit Palestinian President Abbas on Sunday, in Ramallah, for brief talks before next week's summit.

Talks in Jordan are expected to focus on the Arab Peace Initiative, and Israel's concerns over the security of Israeli towns near the Gazan border.

The Arab Peace Initiative, first written in 2002, had been completely rejected by Israeli authorities until last Thursday's meeting between Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. At the meeting, it was agreed that a delegation from the Arab League would visit Israel to initiate discussions on the issue.

In an opinion-editorial published by the New York Times on Friday, Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora called on Israel to accept the Arab Peace Initiative, which calls for normalized diplomatic and trade relations between Arab countries and Israel, in exchange for a complete withdrawal of Palestinian lands occupied in the 1967 war.

Revisiting Iraq Disaster

Editorial

12 May 2007

US Vice President Dick Cheney, the real architect of the Bush administration’s Iraq debacle, has been in Baghdad to see the disaster for himself. But even now, in the face of all evidence to the contrary, with hundreds of Iraqis being murdered every month and US troops dying at the rate of three a day, Cheney insists that his is the right strategy to defeat terror.

The extent to which this archneocon hawk has lost the plot was never so clear as when Cheney fielded a journalist’s question about the just-published memoirs of former CIA chief George Tenet. In them, Tenet said that the invasion of Iraq was a foregone conclusion very soon after the 9/11 attacks. No, replied Cheney. This was not true. “The fact of the matter is that this decision was weighed as heavily and given as careful consideration as any I’ve been involved in, and I’ve worked for four presidents”. So there we have it. After all that careful thinking and planning, we have a country tearing itself apart and the most powerful state on earth being humiliated daily by the terrorists the invasion was supposed to have destroyed.

If everything that the Bush administration has accomplished in the ruin of Iraq was the result of deep deliberations in the White House, then the world is a far more dangerous place than anyone feared. Every single error, from the almost total lack of postinvasion planning, the disbandment of Saddam’s army and police, the subsequent unchecked lawlessness and plundering, and the attempted payola for US firms with rebuilding contracts, smacks of ignorance and stupidity. To claim all this resulted from the most careful consideration is to admit that this is one of the most intellectually bankrupt presidencies ever.

Even worse is the fact that Cheney still tries to claim that the “plan” is working, albeit more slowly than expected. This is evidence of moral bankruptcy as well. Washington has brought chaos where there was order, insecurity where there was safety and despair where there was hope. The only achievements have been the constitutional and general election votes. But these were victories for the Iraqi people who defied the terrorists to cast their ballots. The democracy dividend promised by Washington has yet to materialize. The freedom Bush and Cheney have brought to Iraq is the freedom to live in fear and die in bomb blasts and at the hands of sectarian death squads.

If Cheney has an ounce of scruple left he will have seen during his Iraq visit that the US has nothing left to do in Iraq save leave. The hopefully short-term chaos after the Coalition pull out will be no worse than the continuing mayhem, as Bush tries his doomed military surge. What is patently clear is that the bigots of Al-Qaeda actually draw strength from the US occupation. Once the occupation is over there will be no further excuse for the terrorists’ presence and the Iraqis themselves can drive them out.

For Bush to hang on simply in the hope his luck might change is obscene.

US admits Afghan civilian deaths

Villagers put the death toll at about 40 people

May 11, 2007

Al Jazeera has shown exclusive pictures of the damage caused in an area of southern Afghanistan where the US military has admitted civilians were killed.

Witnesses to Tuesday night's deaths in the province of Helmand said they were caused by an air raid and that no Taliban fighters were present. Villagers put the toll at about 40.

The US-led coalition admitted on Friday that there were civilian casualties, but said they occurred during fighting with the Taliban.

The coalition said in a statement: "There are confirmed reports of civilian casualties; however, it is unknown at this time how many..."

Taliban area

The statement said the coalition had treated up to 20 villagers wounded during a 16-hour battle that also involved Afghan army troops in Sangin district of Helmand province on Tuesday.

One boy died of his wounds after being evacuated by coalition troops, it said.

Grieving relatives were filmed by Al Jazeera

Women near one house that Al Jazeera visited said that a family was killed there, a mother, a father and eight children.

Afghan and coalition forces estimate a significant number of Taliban fighters, including a high-ranking commander, were killed in the battle.

The area is largely under Taliban control and Al Jazeera's cameraman was allowed to film there only after gaining permission from a senior Taliban commander.

At the funerals for some of the victims, one mullah vowed that he would keep fighting till his "last drop of blood" and to keep killing Americans.

Assadullah Wafa, the provincial governor, said he had no reports of Taliban casualties.

Western forces have been waging a widespread operation against Taliban fighters in Sangin in recent weeks.

Prior to the latest casualties, scores of civilians have been killed by Western forces in the past two weeks.

Discontent

With anger already rising among Afghans over the toll, Sangin's residents have called on Hamid Karzai, the president, to come to see for himself how they have suffered.

Karzai has repeatedly urged foreign troops to avoid civilian casualties, to stop searching people's houses, and to co-ordinate attacks with his government.

Last week, Karzai said the patience of Afghans was running out.

On Tuesday, a US military commander apologised for the deaths of 19 civilians, killed by US troops in eastern Afghanistan in March.

Source

Is There Mickey Mouse in the House?

May 11, 2007

Editorial

by Housewife4Palestine

I find it kind of ridicules, if anyone in the media got carried away over the recent Mickey Mouse look-like named "Farfour," that was portrayed on Palestinian television. Then apparently when it was found by Information Minister as not television material, it was discarded for being nothing better then trash.

It is kind of like making a mountain out of a mole hill, the way the global media ran with it as a big deal, when they should be looking at the growing pornography, vulgar language, racism, propaganda and out right slander being more portrayed in every facet of their media.

Less we forget, the Danish cartoon’s that slandered the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), last year.

Myself and I am sure I am not alone, thought the instance of Mickey Mouse being portrayed as a Militant was more of a joke and nothing less; then to have a good laugh and let it go it’s way like most things of this caliber.

If anyone truly wishes to make a big deal about a small thing, they really need to get out and experience what the world is really about or better yet go have a good cup a coffee towards seeing life for it’s beauty and not always it’s grim view.


Lastly, the Zionist and their buddies’ that had a field day with this, it figure’s; any little discarded scrape will do.

Update:

The program about “Fanfour,” was retooled and is back on the air.

Like anyone doing a program, can make an error of judgment and once it is corrected; everyone should be breathing a sigh of relief; instead of waiting with a new way to attack the Palestinian people.

What I found most interesting in this whole thing, was the tail, tail sign’s of the enemy of the Palestinian people once again coming forward in the attack mode, instead of finding this situation for what it was, a simple error.

A Life Can Be Like a Boat Gone Adrift Aimlessly...

But eventually, if you land on the right shore; you will find paradise filled with calm and happiness!

Excessive force in Bil’in leaves Palestinian in hospital with two operations

by Martinez, 11 May 2007


Photo by Jonas

Israeli occupation forces used excessive violence today in Bil’in to quell the regular Friday demonstration against Israel’s Apartheid Wall, arresting 10 and injuring seven.

Palestinians were joined by international and Israeli solidarity activists after Friday prayers. Abdallah, a resident of Bil’in and member of the popular committee, explained the theme of the demo for today. He stated, “This demonstration today is dedicated to Azmi Bishara. Azmi Bishara was a Palestinian member of the Israeli parliament. Israel is accusing him of working with Hizbollah during Israel’s lost war with Lebanon last summer. Azmi is now living in Qatar because, if he returns, Israel will put him in jail for 25 years. But it is Olmert and Peretz who should be in jail.”


Azmi Bishara, Photo from Electronic Intifada

“From Bil’in, we are sending out support and solidarity for Azmi Bishara,” rang a chant as the demonstration started.

The demonstration left the mosque and marched towards the gate in the Apartheid Wall. Israeli soldiers and border police from the M’gav unit were already waiting for the non-violent demonstration at the destination.


Photo by Jonas

Demonstrators reached a wall of barbed wire which the occupation forces had constructed on the path. Chants of “End the Occupation” and “Tear down the wall” could be heard. One Israeli border policeman suddenly took aim and shot a Palestinian demonstrator with two rubber-coated steel bullets.

Martinez, and American activist, described the event: “I was just a few feet from Adeeb Abu Rahma when the border policeman shot him. The officer was just about 6 feet away. He took aim for Addeb’s legs and hit him twice on the inner side of his thighs. Immediately, Adeeb fell to the ground screaming. Activists immediately came to his assistance. When they lowered Adeeb’s pants to assess the injuries, I could see two fairly large holes, bleeding.”


Photo by Jonas

Adeeb was taken away by medics with the Red Crescent and driven to the hospital, where he sits at this moment. The rubber-coated steel bullets, because they were shot from such a close range, entered Adeeb’s body. He just finished two operations in a Ramallah hospital where he must remain for at least two days under physician supervision. Rubber bullets are considered deadly by the Israeli army if they are shot at a distance from under 40 meters.

At this point, Israeli activists confronted the Israeli commanders to demand an explanation.

Jonathan Pollock explained, “when we tried to get details from the commander, details which he is mandated to give, the commander instead arrested us. There has been a rapid increase in violence in the last few weeks on the part of Israeli forces. This reflects a desperate attempt to break the non-violent resistance by using unwarranted military force and violence.”

Israeli activist being arrested, Photo by Jonas

In all, 6 Palestinians (Iyad, Abid, Aid, Naser, Issa, Yosef) and 4 Israelis (Jonathan, Sarah, Nir, Gur) were arrested and later released.


Israeli forces invade the village, firing tear gas, Photo by Jonas

Six other demonstrators were wounded by rubber bullets or tear gas when the border police left the site of the wall and entered the village. Police were shooting projectile tear gas cannisters and firing rubber bullets as they progressed further into the village of Bil’in. Border police were pushing people out of the way with their rifle and throwing activists around.

Israeli forces assaulting Palestinian activist

The border police effectively chased the majority of the demonstrators back into the village by using brute force.

Ehud Barak advocates "two states for two people" and a divided Jerusalem

May 11, 2007

Ehud Barak (MaanImages Archive)

Jerusalem - Ma'an - Israeli Knesset member and leading member of Israel's Labor party, Ehud Barak, advocated on Friday a two-state solution – "two states for two people" – with the division of Jerusalem.

Barak's statement came during a conference for Labor party activists in Kiryat Taf'on, in which he clarified his political program and his plan for a peaceful agreement with the Palestinians. "Within the peace agreements, Jerusalem will stay without the Arab districts in it, and there will be no harm to the religious places," he said.

He added, "There will be no agreements with enemies unless they understand that it is not possible to exhaust Israel with terror or weaken it militarily".

The Israeli Labor Party is due to hold party elections on 28 May and many expect Barak to win. He may then push for new Israeli parliamentary elections. "If on May 28, I am elected leader of the Labor Party, and the prime minister [Ehud Olmert] has not yet reached personal conclusions, I will push for new Knesset elections," he told a press conference last week, according to the Israeli media.

Israeli soldiers attack Palestinian prisoners in Ofer prison with dogs and tear gas, Minister Barghouthi reveals

May 11, 2007

Palestinian boy re-enacts imprisonment during a protest (MaanImages)

Ramallah - Ma'an - Palestinian information minister and official spokesman for the Palestinian government, Dr. Mustafa Al-Barghouthi, has condemned what he described as "torture" at the hands of the Israeli forces, against the Palestinian prisoners held in 'Ofer prison, on Friday morning.

Barghouthi said that the Israeli soldiers had attacked the Palestinian prisoners in 'Ofer jail on Friday morning with dogs and tear gas. The detained minors were terrified, Barghouthi said. He added that the prisoners were forced to stand outside in the rain and many of the prisoners had their personal belongings destroyed by the soldiers.

The minister demanded that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and other international institutions send an investigation committee immediately to 'Ofer prison in order to disclose the Israeli occupation's practices.

He added that this torture of prisoners is still ongoing.

The organisation "Asrana" ('Our Prisoners') in Jerusalem also condemned the attack on the 'Ofer prisoners.

The director of Asrana's media office, Munqeth Abu Rumi, appealed to the ICRC, human rights institutions and members of the Arab church to intervene immediately to protect the prisoners in 'Ofer prison.

Bush would veto new Iraq funding bill

Gates says such a measure very disruptive and would have 'huge impact'

May 9, 2007

WHITE HOUSE - President Bush would veto any bill drafted by House Democratic leaders that would fund the Iraq war only into summer, his spokesman said Wednesday, even as the Pentagon held out hope that troops could begin withdrawing if the Iraqi government makes progress by fall.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates told a Senate committee that if violence in Iraq declines enough to allow the government to move forward, including steps toward political reconciliation, the U.S. could begin pulling troops out.

The Pentagon, said Gates, is "looking for the direction of events - we don't have to have it all locked in place and everything complete ... If (we) see some very positive progress and it looks like things are heading in the right direction, then that's the point at which I think we can begin to consider reducing some of those forces."

He added that "getting the level of violence in Iraq to point where the political process can go forward and seeing some progress in reconciliation sets the stage for us to begin withdrawing our units ... and allowing those security responsibilities to be assumed by the Iraqis."

September Iraq assessment

Senators pressed Gates on reports that commanders in Iraq may want to wait until next April to make an assessment of the buildup. But Gates insisted that the evaluation will be in September, although he added that he didn't know what the result would be.

"What are the prospects for having some light at the end of the tunnel, to see some encouragement which would enable the Congress to have the fortitude to support the president and go beyond September and the full funding of the $500 billion?" asked Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa.

Gates replied, "I think that the honest answer is, Senator, that I don't know."

Gates also told the panel that proposals for a short-term funding bill would be very disruptive and "have a huge impact" on contracts to repair and replace equipment. The Defense Department, he said, just doesn't "have the agility to manage a two month appropriation."

"I essentially have 10,000 faucets all running money," Gates said. "Turning them on and off with precision and on a day-to-day basis, or even a month-to-month basis, gets very difficult." And, he said that if Congress votes again in July, but rejects the funding bill, "I would have to shut down significant elements of the Department of Defense in August and September because I wouldn't have the money to pay salaries."

Iraq funding negotiations continue

The Democrats' proposal would pay for the war through July, then give Congress the option of cutting off money after that if conditions do not improve. Bush requested more than $90 billion to fund the war through September.

"There are restrictions on funding and there are also some of the spending items that were mentioned in the first veto message that are still in the bill," White House press secretary Tony Snow said on Air Force One traveling with Bush.

Asked directly if Bush would veto the House bill in its current form, Snow said, "Yes."

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said White House chief of staff Josh Bolten had "another good meeting" with Senate leaders on the matter.

"We remain hopeful we can achieve a deal, and the president's chief of staff remains open to meeting with anyone, anytime, anywhere to bring closure to this process," she said.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., emerged from the closed-door meeting to say no deal was struck.

Bolten's meeting Wednesday with Reid and Republican leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., lasted about an hour, and revealed a slightly different tone and approach in the Senate than in the House, said a senior administration official who was in the session and spoke on condition of anonymity to speak more freely about private discussions.

The talk was mostly about the process of getting a bill through both chambers and to the president, but there also were some substantive discussions about content that the official would not detail. The White House's view is that Democrats in the Senate and House need to better coordinate where they want to go with a bill, but this is not preventing Bolten from talking about specifics in the meantime, the official said.

Senate-House agreement unlikely

Bush vetoed an earlier bill because it set deadlines for U.S. troop withdrawals from Iraq.

The short-term funding bill is backed by House Democrats, but is unlikely to survive the Senate, where Democrats hold a slimmer majority and several of them do not support funding the war in brief installments.

Snow talked with reporters on Air Force One as Bush flew to Kansas to see the devastation from last week's tornado.

In other comments Wednesday, Gates said that the Iraqis are assuming more security responsibilities day by day, but the U.S. cannot abandon the country prematurely. Doing so, he said, would allow al-Qaida terrorists to use Iraq's western Anbar province as a base to plan operations against the United States.

Israel Plans 3 New Jewish Settlements

Mohammed Mar’i, Arab News

RAMALLAH, 11 May 2007 — East Jerusalem Planning and Construction Committee has approved a plan to build three new Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported yesterday.

The plan to build more than 20,000 apartments outraged Palestinians, who claim all of east Jerusalem as the capital of a future state.

According to the committee’s chairman, Deputy Mayor Yehoshua Pollak, the plan is intended to create continuity between Jerusalem and the Etzion settlement bloc south of the city, and between Jerusalem and the Beit-El area settlements east of West Bank city of Ramallah.

The committee approved the plan roughly 10 days ago. The decision states that due to the National Planning and Construction Committee’s decision to reject the Safdie Plan for expanding Jerusalem westward, “the committee sees fit to announce its intention to change the district outline plan in order to allow construction in additional areas of the city: Walaja, Givat Alona, the Atarot airport area, and more.”

The planning committee’s decision would need approval from other planning authorities.

Haaretz said the authorization process would be long, in part because the plan must receive approval to build in areas not currently designated for construction.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the plan “undermines all the efforts being exerted to revive the peace process.” “Settlements and peace don’t go together,” Erekat said.

" I pissed on one Iraqi's head"

Marine says urinated on dead Iraqi at Haditha

Protesters burn effigies of U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney during a rally in Kerbala, 110 km (70 miles) south of Baghdad, May 9, 2007. Hundreds of supporters of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr attended the demonstration denouncing Cheney's visit to Iraq. The Arabic inscriptions on the banner reads: "We demand the Iraqi government not to welcome the messenger of terror Dick Cheney".

By Marty Graham

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif., May 9 (Reuters) - Angered that a beloved member of his squad had been killed in an explosion, a U.S. Marine urinated on one of the 24 dead Iraqi civilians killed by his unit in Haditha, the Marine testified on Wednesday.

Sgt. Sanick Dela Cruz, who has immunity from prosecution after murder charges against him were dismissed, also said he watched his squad leader shoot down five Iraqi civilians who were trying to surrender.

In dramatic testimony in a pretrial hearing for one of the seven Marines charged in the Nov. 2005 Haditha killings and alleged cover-up, Dela Cruz described his bitterness after a roadside bomb ripped Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas, known as T.J., into two bloody pieces.

"I know it was a bad thing what I've done, but I done it because I was angry T.J. was dead and I pissed on one Iraqi's head," said an unemotional Dela Cruz in a military courtroom in Camp Pendleton, north of San Diego, California.

Dela Cruz also said he watched squad leader Sgt. Frank Wuterich shoot five men whose hands were tied up near a car. Dela Cruz said he also shot the five men as they laid on the ground.

Wuterich "walked to me and told me that if anybody asked, they were running away and the Iraqi Army shot them," Dela Cruz testified.

Three Marines have been charged with murder, and four officers have been charged with dereliction of duty and obstructing the investigation.

Prosecutors contend the killings were revenge for Terrazas' death, while the Marines charged say it was a clearing operation, conducted under lawful orders, that had disastrous results.

Squad leader Wuterich's lawyer later called Dela Cruz's testimony false.

"It's about the fourth or fifth version of events we've heard from Sgt. Dela Cruz. It's false, of course," Neal Puckett said in an e-mail. "It's just so sad that he is being required to testify against his fellow Marine NCO in order to guarantee his freedom. He's a victim, too."

ASKED TO LIE

The Marine Corps initially reported the deaths as a result of the bombing and a firefight with insurgents. Reporting by Time magazine in January 2006 later prompted the Marine Corps to investigate the killings.

Dela Cruz said he was asked four times to lie about what happened in Haditha, although no one asked him about the killings for a time.

A Chicago native, Dela Cruz saw intense action in his first Iraq tour of duty in 2004. A Marine Corps News article once featured him as one of the unsung heroes of the Iraq war.

Wednesday's hearing focused on Capt. Randy Stone, who served as the legal advisor for the Kilo Company. Stone, 34, is charged with violating an order and two counts of dereliction of duty in connection with the killings.

On Nov. 19, a convoy of Marines from the Kilo Company was traveling through the town of Haditha when a roadside bomb detonated, killing Terrazas and injuring two others. Surviving Marines stopped a car and shot its five occupants, then swept through two houses, killing the people inside.

According to testimony, the five men in the vehicle were the first of the 24 victims. Dela Cruz said that after he helped Wuterich shoot the men, he went in one direction with Iraqi soldiers while Wuterich went in another direction.

Another Marine, Sgt. Albert Espinosa, testified on Wednesday that he pressed for an investigation of the killings almost immediately after it occurred in November 2005.

He testified Wednesday that he was frustrated by the apparent indifference of his commanding officers. "We deserve an answer to what happened and wasn't happy with the answers I was getting," 1st Sgt. Albert Espinosa testified.

Pair jailed over Bush memo leak

May 10, 2007

David Keogh and Leo O'Connor denied the charges

Two political staff have been jailed for leaking a secret memo about talks between George Bush and Tony Blair.

Civil servant David Keogh, 50, from Northampton, was found guilty of two offences under the Official Secrets Act and jailed for six months.

The memo recorded Oval Office talks between Mr Bush and Mr Blair about Iraq in 2004, the court was told.

MP's researcher Leo O'Connor was jailed for three months after being found guilty of one Official Secrets offence.

The judge ordered Keogh to pay £5,000 of the £35,000 prosecution costs.

Police called

Judge Mr Justice Aikens said Keogh's "reckless and irresponsible" actions could have cost British lives.

Few details of the "highly sensitive" memo, which is known to have included discussions about military tactics, have been made public.

The trial heard that Keogh, a communications officer at the Cabinet Office, gave the memo to 44-year-old political researcher O'Connor, also from Northampton, at a dining club in the town.

It was passed to Northampton South MP Anthony Clarke, who called the police.

The judge told Keogh: "You decided that you did not like what you saw.

"Without consulting anyone, you decided on your own that it was in the best interest of the UK that this letter should be disclosed.

Researcher 'unlucky'

"This disclosure was a gross breach of trust of your position as a Crown servant."

Earlier, O'Connor told the court he had never been "so worried and so fearful" as when he was passed the document.

O'Connor, who worked for anti-war Labour MP Mr Clarke, said he had been approached by Keogh and told about "some quite embarrassing, outlandish statements" in the four-page document.

The meeting took place in April 2004

But he told the jury that he took the claims with a "pinch of salt" and never intended to send copies of the document to newspapers or MPs.

Rex Tedd QC, for Keogh, told the judge that Keogh had not acted for a political motive but had been following his conscience.

He said: "He acted out of conscience. No doubt, he did so misguidedly and he did so in a way which was likely to cause damage."

John Farmer, defending O'Connor, said the war in Iraq was "the most controversial foreign affairs involvement of this country since Suez 50 years ago".

Mr Farmer told the judge that the researcher has simply been unlucky to be in the position of working for anti-war MP Mr Clarke.

A spokesman for the Stop the War Coalition, who condemned the prison sentences, said: "While not a single government minister has been held to account for the disastrous policy of war in Iraq, two men are imprisoned for trying simply to shed some light on Tony Blair's relationship with George Bush."

Source

U.S., Europeans plan Kosovo resolution

Visiting Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku, right, and host Albanian counterpart Sali Berisha hold a news conference in Tirana Wednesday, May 9, 2007 saying that Kosovo's independence would serve peace and stability in the region. (AP Photo/Hektor Pustina)

May 10, 2007

By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer

United Nations- The United States and key European nations will introduce a U.N. resolution Friday endorsing internationally supervised independence for Kosovo, the U.S. ambassador said Thursday.

Zalmay Khalilzad said the resolution has enough support to win Security Council approval unless Russia casts a veto.

He said the Americans and Europeans decided to put forward the resolution because Kosovo's future status needs to be resolved. If it isn't, there is a likelihood that Kosovo's majority ethnic Albanians will declare independence "which will cause significant difficulty."

Kosovo is a province of Serbia but it has been under U.N. and NATO administration since a 78-day NATO-led air war in 1999 that halted a Serb crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists.

Last month, U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari recommended that Kosovo be granted internationally supervised independence. The proposal was welcomed by Kosovo's Albanian majority but vehemently rejected by its Serb minority as well as Serbia and Russia, which has strong cultural and religious ties to the Serbs.

Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin has circulated elements for a rival Security Council resolution calling for additional talks between officials in Serbia and Kosovo and stepped-up efforts to meet U.N.-endorsed standards including protecting minorities and ensuring that Serbs who were forced to flee their homes can return to Kosovo.

He told reporters Thursday that there were several points in the two proposals "which I don't think can be reconciled."

Churkin sidestepped a question on whether Russia would consider vetoing a resolution that supported eventual independence for Kosovo, noting instead that there has never been a proposal for part of a country to be given independence.

"This is certainly a threshold situation in terms of international law and international affairs, so it does require very serious consideration and it does require the need to use all options available in case strong views need to be protected," he said.

"We have a difficult problems before us," Churkin said. "We believe that this problem requires further negotiations."

The Security Council held an open meeting Thursday to hear a report on the mission it sent to Kosovo and Serbia late last month for a firsthand assessment before tackling the divisive status issue.

Afterward, most council members spoke, and Khalilzad said he believes the resolution endorsing Ahtisaari's proposal for internationally supervised independence would get 10 or 11 "yes" votes in the 15-member council — more than the minimum nine needed for adoption.

But he said the big question is whether Russia will veto the resolution or abstain.

Khalilzad said the five permanent veto-wielding council members — the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France — would meet late Thursday to discuss the proposed U.S.-European draft resolution. He said it would be introduced to the full council on Friday.

China's deputy U.N. ambassador, Liu Zhenmin, called the Kosovo issue "a major challenge" for the council and said Beijing is prepared to work constructively to find a compromise solution.

"There is a need for all sides to reflect on the ways and means to promote reconciliation..., maintain the lasting peace and security in the Balkan region, and maintain integrity and authority of international law," he said. "On this major issue, adequate patience, flexibility and caution are necessary and worthwhile."

Panama's U.N. Ambassador Ricardo Arias proposed the council adopt the Ahtisaari proposal but delay its implementation for six months "to resume negotiations to ensure that both Serbia and Kosovo can come to an agreement."

Russia's Churkin said the Panamanian proposal "does go in the direction of understanding the Russian position that further negotiations need to continue, but of course we do not impose any time limit on the continuation of the negotiations."

Help Karama Within Deheishe Refugee Camp

Dear friends,

Karama (www.karama.org) is a very young, active and independent NGO within the Deheishe refugee camp close to Betlehem ( Palestine ) supported mainly through private donations from Europe . The main objective of these activities is education, geared to youths between 10 and 16 years of age and women.

Karama is currently raising funds to organise in August 2007 a joint summer camp with Bustrup School Centre (www.bustrup. dk) in Bustrup Hovedgård ( Denmark ). This school’s main activity is the running of a private school for children and teenagers with social and learning difficulties.

The purpose of the summer camp is not only to give both the Palestinian and Danish youths a break from their less-than-perfect environments, but also to enable a constructive cultural exchange between the Palestinian and Danish young people and spread information about Palestine and its current situation.

By making this summer camp possible, we would be not only helping a group of troubled youths with different backgrounds to have a good time, but also educating them in tolerance and understanding of different cultures.

Please, do check our website and decide whether Karama is worth your attention. We would also greatly appreciate, if those of you who own a webpage would link to us.

Kind regards,

Karama
Deheishe Refugge Camp
Bethlehem
Phone: +972-522-403465

For regular information, subscribe the Karama newsletter by sending an e-mail to:
karamanewsletter-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

A Big Back Eye

The Growing View of Democracy

Why Democracy failing?

At about the time our original 13 states adopted their new constitution in 1787, a Scottish history professor by the name of Professor Alexander Tyler had this to say about "The Fall of the Athenian Republic" over 2,000 years ago...

"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse (generous gifts) from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, (which is) always followed by a dictatorship.

"The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been two hundred years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy to dependence; from dependence back into bondage."

Foundation

Democracy first flourished in the Greek city-state, reaching its fullest expression in ancient Athens. There the citizens, as members of the assembly, participated directly in the making of their laws. A democracy of this sort was possible only in a small state where the people were politically educated, and it was limited since the majority of inhabitants were slaves or noncitizens. Athenian democracy fell before imperial rule, as did other ancient democracies in the early Italian cities and the early church. In this period and in the Middle Ages, ideas such as representation crucial to modern Western democracy were developed.

Doctrines of natural law evolved into the idea of natural rights, i.e., that all people have certain rights, such as self-preservation, that cannot be taken from them. The idea of contract followed, that rulers and people were bound to each other by reciprocal obligations. If the sovereign failed in his duties or transgressed on natural rights, the people could take back their sovereignty. This idea, as postulated by John Locke, strongly influenced the development of British parliamentary democracy and, as defined in the social contract theory of Jean Jacques Rousseau, helped form the philosophical justification for the American and French Revolutions. The idea that equality of opportunity can be maintained through political democracy alone has long been challenged by socialists and others, who insist that economic democracy through economic equality and public ownership of the major means of production is the only foundation upon which a true political democracy can be erected.

Anarchy

Now with the current situation with the numerous invasion by the United States and their allies, not only imposing occupation and oppression on numerous countries. But the collapsing political, economic system and oppression of the American citizens.

Let’s forgo calling it a Police State, to it’s political implosion; for the time being.

Enough!

More Information

Blair Saying a Welcoming Good-bye?

Now, A Message From The Stop The War Coalition:

Thursday 10 May Downing Street3.30 to 5.00 pm: Symbolic protest when Tony Blair resigns(Please note time change)
Tony Blair is resigning early and in disgrace due to his support for the Bush wars. He will announce his resignation on Thursday 10 May. We are asking for as many people as possible to come to Downing Street from 3.30 to 5.00 pm for a symbolic protest in memory of the thousands who have died as a result of his war policies. Please bring old shoes to lay at Downing Street. Local Stop the War groups are asked to bring their banners.

Blair will stand down on 27 June

10 May 2007

Tony Blair has announced he will stand down as prime minister on 27 June.

He made the announcement in a speech to party activists in his Sedgefield constituency, after earlier briefing the Cabinet on his plans.

He acknowledged his government had not always lived up to high expectations but said he had been very lucky to lead "the greatest nation on earth".

He will stay on in Downing Street until the Labour Party elects a new leader - widely expected to be Gordon Brown.

In an emotional speech, Mr Blair said he had been prime minister for 10 years which was "long enough" for the country and himself.

He thanked the British people for their support and apologised for when "I have fallen short".

Terror threat

He said expectations had probably been "too high" in 1997, but he insisted living standards had improved under Labour.

"There is only one government since 1945 that can say all of the following: more jobs, fewer unemployed, better health and education results, lower crime and economic growth in every quarter. Only one government, this one."

On foreign policy, Mr Blair acknowledged the terrorist "blow back" from the "bitterly controversial" invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan and he urged Britain to stay the course in the fight against terror.

"I decided we should stand shoulder to shoulder with our oldest ally, and I did so out of belief," he said of his decision to support America's invasion of Iraq.

It was for others to judge whether he had made mistakes, he added, but said he had always done what he thought was "right".

'Blessed'

"I may have been wrong. That's your call.

"But believe one thing if nothing else, I did what I thought was right for our country. And I came into office with high hopes for Britain's future, and, you know, I leave it with even higher hopes for Britain's future."

In conclusion, he said: "Actually I've been lucky and very blessed. And this country is a blessed nation.

"The British are special - the world knows it, in our innermost thoughts we know it. This is the greatest nation on earth."

Mr Blair was given a standing ovation by around 250 Labour activists and members who had crammed into the tiny bar of Trimdon Labour Club to see him off.

Brown tribute

Waving hand-written placards reading "Sedgefield Loves Tony", "10 Great Years", "Thank You" and "Britain is Better", the crowd cheered as Mr Blair embraced his election agent John Burton and wife Cherie, before setting off for the return journey to London.

Mr Burton has said he expects Mr Blair to continue as Sedgefield's MP until the next general election, unless he was offered a major international job.

The Labour Party will later announce a special party conference on 24 June to unveil its next leader, the BBC has learned.

Earlier, Gordon Brown paid tribute to Mr Blair's leadership, praising "his unique achievement over 10 years and the unique leadership he has given to the party, Britain and the world".

His comments were greeted by "much thumping of tables" by Cabinet colleagues, the prime minister's official spokesman told reporters.

Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain said it had been a "cordial, comradely" Cabinet meeting with "quite a lot of laughter" and "leg-pulling".

Mr Hain, who is a candidate for Labour's deputy leadership, said Mr Brown would now "take up Tony Blair's mantle in the next period of our government".

'Good years'

Alastair Campbell, Mr Blair's former communications chief, said Mr Blair had been an "exceptional leader" who deserved credit for addressing some of the issues that had "divided" the country in his resignation speech.


Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague, for the Conservatives, said Mr Blair had been a "disappointment" whose obsession with "spin" had damaged politics.

But he added: "He was really the most dangerous opponent the Conservative Party has ever had partly because of his ability to persuade people that he is really, secretly a Conservative even though he is leader of the Labour Party."

Giving his reaction to Mr Blair's speech, Lib Dem leader Sir Menzies Campbell said: "I thought he was in part defensive, defiant, and even chauvinist at the end talking about Great Britain as being the best country in the world.

"I thought it was a rather odd note to strike. I mean I think one has to be careful about chauvinism in this context. Particularly in the light of some of his foreign policy decisions."

Mr Blair's official spokesman insists he will remain "focused" on being prime minister until Labour has chosen his successor - a process expected to last seven weeks.

But with a new prime minister expected to be in place by the beginning of July, attention at Westminster has already shifted to his succession.

Mr Brown is unlikely to face a Cabinet-level challenge for the leadership as all of the likely contenders have ruled themselves out.

'Paralysis'

But he could still face a challenge from one of two left wing backbenchers - John McDonnell and Michael Meacher. The pair are meeting later to see if one of them can muster enough support to get on to the ballot paper.

Candidates need the signatures of 45 Labour MPs to enter a contest.

Shortly after Mr Blair's announcement, the deputy prime minister and deputy Labour leader John Prescott also announced his intention to stand down.

are already battling for nominations to enter the race to replace Mr Prescott.

Conservative leader David Cameron has said the country faces seven weeks of "paralysis" until Labour chooses a new leader, accusing Mr Blair of running a government of the "living dead".

The Liberal Democrats have, meanwhile, tabled a Parliamentary motion urging the Queen to dissolve parliament and call a general election.

Further Reading:

President Bush Praises Outgoing Tony Blair