Al-Aqsa Intifada ... 7 years of Steadfastness and Sacrifice

29 September 2007

On September 28th 2000, Ariel Sharon violated Al-Aqsa Mosque in a visit aiming to undermine the Islamic nature of the Mosque. Thousands of Palestinians demonstrated against this aggressive visit.

Most observers estimated that the demonstrations would continue for a few days or weeks. Ariel Sharon confirmed that he will finish this Intifada within 40 days However, seven years have passed; and Palestinians still persist in the resistance against the occupation with the grace of Allah. The people have shown extraordinary steadfastness, determination, and sacrifice in the face of the most brutal occupation machine and the crime perpetrated against innocents.

The Palestinian people have disappointed the capitulatory elements that kept on championing realism slogans, declaring that our people’s struggle was over and that we had nothing else left to accept except what the Zionists offer at the begging tables which they falsely call “negotiations”!

Our people have displayed and still are displaying astonishing steadfastness and unprecedented determination to regain their right to their national soil and rejection of undermining that right under any pretext. The Zionist terrorist campaigns employed all means to enforce surrender on our people and factions including live bullets, internationally-banned explosive bullets, artillery and tank shells and American-made planes such the Apaches and the F-16s and others. Consequently all conspiracies to abort the Intifada were foiled due to that people’s solid determination and their dependence on Allah first and foremost then on backing of the Arab and Islamic masses.

Huda Ghalia cries beside the body of her father, who was killed in an explosion on a Gaza beach on June 9. (Photograph: AFP/Getty Images)

Zionist occupation forces persist in these crimes with total impunity from the international community. The screams of Huda Ghalia and other children whose families were brutally murdered have gone unanswered. Over the past year hundred of Palestinian casualties fell at the hands of occupation forces, and thousands were kidnapped and imprisoned.

Arab and Islamic countries should shoulder their duty in backing the Palestinian people’s steadfastness to stick to their excellent stand in rejecting attempts to label Palestinian resistance as terrorism. Our people’s resistance should never be put alongside terrorism. For resistance is our legitimate right to get rid of the illegitimate Zionist occupation to our beloved land.

Back to the Days of Bonnie and Clyde, Dillinger and All the Rest

Hooverville that was near Portland, Oregon

Back to the days of Bonnie and Clyde
Dillinger and all the rest.
Their was a Great Depression,
And people where sure depressed.

29 September 2007

by HRH Deborah

If the Bush Government, decides to raise taxes at the rate that is being proposed, the already million’s of Americans that are unemployed and those that are below the poverty level will suffer greater. Instead, of the Great Depression, with “Hooverville‘s;” you will have an increase in “Bushville’s.”

There is millions of Americans that can not meet their basic needs now and many are yet on the borderline of poverty, especially the elderly trying to live off social security; will be hampered in epidemic proportions.

While those who may think they are fairly well off, will feel and overwhelming set back towards meeting their daily needs, also.

Let’s not forget, those who where devastated in the "Crash of 1929," when they where committing suicide by such things as jumping from buildings, to bridges.

What the Bush government will very well do, is deprive most Americans of housing, food, clothing and health care. The death rate of such an idea is mind boggling.

The main people that prospered from these types of catastrophic Depression’s, where those who committed illegal ways to make money; such as during "Prohibition" and bootlegging, with Al Capone and Joseph Kennedy .

While there is already becoming and increase in armed robbery, you find as people get more desperate, such people like “Bonnie and Clyde” and "John Dillinger;' will reappear and some of the masses will even glorify these criminal's in their desperation.

Finally, Bush has not only created a large amount of global devastation, but very well complete domestic also.

Poverty in America: A Nation's Shame

Washington DC

In August 1996, President Bill Clinton signed a landmark law that fulfilled his promise to "end welfare as we know it." The law killed the 60-year-old Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program. Instead, Congress gave the states money to run their own programs and required them to move many welfare recipients into the workforce. Supporters declared it a new day, the beginning of self-sufficiency for poor families. Others warned the action would push women and children into the streets, perhaps by the millions.

California is the homeless capital of America

Dinner Time

Two older boys sleep in the car.

Thirty-seven million Americans live below the official poverty line. Millions more struggle each month to pay for basic necessities, or run out of savings when they lose their jobs or face health emergencies. - April 2007

Emergency Legislation to Fund the Federal Government as All American Citizens See High Tax Increase?

For Immediate Release
September 29, 2007

Audio

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning.

Today I am signing emergency legislation to fund the Federal government for the next seven weeks. This legislation was necessary because Congress failed in its most basic responsibility: to pass the spending bills that fund the day-to-day operations of the government. There are 12 of these bills this year, and Congress did not complete a single one of them, so Congress had to send me a stop-gap measure before the fiscal year ends this Sunday at midnight.

Congress's failure to pass these 12 spending bills is disappointing, but I do thank the Congress for passing this temporary measure, and for passing it without any new spending, new policies or new projects. It would have been wrong to deny essential government services to the American people while Congress works through its annual spending bills.

I also appreciate the way this bill handles our disagreements over the State Children's Health Insurance Program. Congressional leaders have put forward an irresponsible plan that would dramatically expand this program beyond its original intent. And they know I will veto it. But it is good that they kept the program running while they try to work out a more responsible approach.
Congress now has more time to complete its work on its annual spending bills. Earlier this year congressional leaders promised to show that they could be responsible with the people's money. Unfortunately they seem to have chosen the path of higher spending. They have proposed spending increases that would add an extra $205 billion on top of my Administration's budget request over the next five years. There's only one way to pay for such a large spending increase, and that is to raise taxes on the American people. So it is no surprise that the same Members of Congress who are planning this big increase in Federal spending are also planning the biggest tax increase in American history.

If these members get their way, the tax relief my Administration delivered could be taken away from you. Let me explain what this would mean for an average taxpayer. If you have children, your taxes would rise by $500 for each child. If you're a family of four making $60,000 a year, your taxes would be more than $1,800 higher. If you're a single mother with two children, working to make ends meet, your taxes would go up by more than a $1,000. If you're a small business owner working to meet a payroll, your taxes would increase by almost $4,000. And if Congress allows our tax relief to expire, more than 5 million low-income Americans who currently pay no income taxes would once again have to pay taxes.

These are not the only taxes Congress wants to raise. They're proposing higher taxes on dividends and capital gains. They're proposing higher taxes on cigars and cigarettes. They're proposing to raise taxes on domestic oil and natural gas production. They're proposing new taxes on stock and bond transactions. And they refuse to make the Internet tax moratorium permanent. If this tax ban expires, it would open the doors for State and local officials to impose new taxes on your access to the Internet.

At a time when many American families are dealing with rising mortgage rates, college costs, and health care expenses, it is wrong to take even more money out of your paychecks. Washington's elected leaders can do better. By working together, we can keep taxes low, help keep the economy growing, balance the Federal budget, and build on our record of fiscal discipline and greater economic opportunity for all Americans.

Thank you for listening.

END

On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory

20 - 26 September 2007

Israeli Occupation Forces continue to demolish houses.



Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Continue Systematic Attacks on Palestinian Civilians and Property in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT)



13 Palestinians, including a child, were killed by IOF in the Gaza Strip.

5 of the victims were extra-judicially executed by IOF.

47 Palestinians, including 12 children and a journalist, were wounded by IOF.

30 of these Palestinians, including 6 children, were wounded by IOF in Beit Hanoun.

IOF shelled space areas and agricultural lands in the Gaza Strip.

IOF conducted 33 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and 4 ones into the Gaza Strip.

IOF arrested 85 Palestinian civilians in the West Bank and 4 ones in the Gaza Strip.

IOF razed 258 donums[1] of agricultural land and demolished 23 houses in the Gaza Strip.

IOF destroyed 2 apartment buildings in Nablus and the neighboring ‘Ein Beit al-Maa’ refugee camp.

IOF used a Palestinian civilian as a human shield in ‘‘Ein Beit al-Maa’ refugee camp.

IOF transformed 3 houses in the West Bank into military sites.

IOF have closed the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron during the holy Ramadan Month for 3 sporadic days.

IOF have continued to impose a total siege on the OPT.

IOF have isolated the Gaza Strip from the outside world and a humanitarian crisis has emerged.

Palestinian civilians from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip have been denied access to the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

IOF troops arrested 5 Palestinian civilians at checkpoints in the West Bank.

IOF have continued settlement activities in the West Bank and Israeli settlers have continued to attacks Palestinian civilians and property.

Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian child in Hebron and 2 paramedics in Bethlehem.

An Israeli settler stabbed a Palestinian civilian in Jerusalem.

Summary

The Road to Pieces

29 September, 2007
(Not Necessarily the views of the Blog Administrator.)

by Dan Lieberman

Failure to understand the driving forces in the Middle East violence will lead to disaster.

Henry Siegman, in an article, titled: “The Great Middle East Peace Process Scam,” (London Review of Books, August 16, 2007), describes how Israel, which has the power to enable the creation of a viable Palestinian state, has consistently prevented its occurrence and used ’stalled’ peace processes to increase its expansion. Add to Siegman’s revelations the not well publicized facts that, since 1948, all Israeli governments have promoted polices of gaining more territory, subduing antagonists and suppressing

Palestinian aspirations. Michael Bar-Zohar, in his biography of Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion (Ben-Gurion: A Biography, Adama Books, 1986), claims that before the start of the 1956 Sinai war, Ben Gurion solicited French and British approval for Israel to incorporate all of the Sinai, the straits of Tiran and Lebanon to the Litani river into little

Israel’s territory. It’s no coincidence that Arab/Israel wars enabled Israel to fulfill all of these objectives. However, earlier United States administrations and later Hezbollah tactics forced the nullification of the conquests. With a policy of expansion, will any Israeli leader want to be perceived by history as interrupting Israel’s self-chosen destiny?

Leaders might pay lip service to an independent Palestinian state but will they allow a viable Palestinian state they fear will harbor militants or will grow sufficiently strong to challenge Israel’s expansion plans? The past history and present declarations of Israel’s leaders indicate that, despite the olive branch rhetoric, the only peace that Israeli leaders will embrace is one that trades desolate Israeli territory for legal incorporation of the West Bank settlements into Israel, legalizes all Israel’s gains and opens a dialogue for the transfer of Israeli Palestinians into either a non-viable Palestinian state or a home in Jordan. They impolitely ignore the fate of the Palestinian refugees. Doubts that Israel will allow a viable Palestinian state guide the behavior of many Palestinian leaders. They perceive grave injustices have been committed against them and don’t expect those, who, in their perspective, have committed and continue to commit the injustices, will subscribe to admitting the crimes and compensate the victims. Israel might offer some compromises in the present, but these compromises can be compromised in the future; Israel could attack Palestinian life, which will provoke Palestinians to retaliate. Israel’s propaganda machine will then accuse the Palestinians of perfidy and find excuses to disregard agreements. These Palestinian leaders suspect that Israel will eventually want all of the West Bank and its aquifers. They consider they have no choice but to battle until events force Israel into inviolable compromises.

So, where does this recalcitrance from both antagonists leave the international community in its pursuit of a peaceful settlement of an endless conflict? It reinforces the necessity for the ‘makers’ and ’shakers’ to approach the dispute in a logical manner; to determine the real causes of the conflict, what is and who are perpetuating the conflict, and what are the consequences of a non-solution?

The Palestinians have had their lands appropriated from them, have been turned into a substantial refugee population and are suffering deprivations. The West Bank remains occupied despite several UN resolutions contradicting the occupation. Israelis are not having their lands appropriated or their lives severely disrupted by Palestinians. Israelis are living comfortably on land that belonged to their adversaries. Aren’t the injustices against the Palestinians the real cause of the conflict and don’t these injustices demand a just solution? The erratic terrorist actions against Israel, including relatively ineffective rocket shelling of Israeli border towns, seem to be the result of punishing actions against the Palestinians and are minimal in intensity when compared to the almost daily killings and mayhem committed against the Palestinian community. Two of almost daily reports, which point to a slow genocide of the Palestinian people, demonstrate who is perpetrating the violence that the world carelessly ignores.

Haaretz, August 15, 2007, IDF kills 6 in Gaza, including at least 4 militants.
At least six Palestinians, including three Hamas militants and the 70-year-old mother of one of them, were killed and at least 20 were hurt in an IDF operation in the Khan Yunis area of central Gaza yesterday, Palestinian sources said.

Haaretz, 19:02 25/08/2007, IDF kills Israeli boy in West Bank raid,
An 11-year-old Israeli boy from Rahat who was visiting his mother’s family near Tul Karm was killed Friday during a Border Police arrest raid. A wanted Islamic Jihad militant was killed in the same arrest raid in Kafr Saida, northeast of Tul Karm, and a second was seriously wounded.

Fantasies, fictions and irrelevant propositions peppered with emotional concepts of Jews returning to their homeland, Israel born from the Holocaust, and Israel the Jewish nation have deterred rational thinking on the conflict. A worldwide army of Israel supporters circulate reports that counter charges against Israel and provide a verbal smokescreen for Israel’s aggressive actions. Public relations for the Israeli state is a worldwide industry, generating repetitive slogans such as: “special relationship, “only democracy in the Middle East,” and “America’s best and true friend.”

Let’s examine the record: Israeli archaeologists at Tel Aviv university, as well as other archaeologists and historians, have refuted biblical stories of the kingdoms of David and Solomon. The scarcity of pottery shards and artifacts from the tenth century before the Common Era demonstrate the area was sparsely inhabited during the periods of the supposed monarchies. No chronicles from the tenth century mention the Israel monarchs. No recorded pre-Bible history confirms the David or Solomon Biblical narratives. There is nil publicity to the magnificent exploits of the great and relevant Persian kings, Cyrus and Darius, but a plethora of publicity given to the irrelevant and mythical kings, David and Solomon.

Although enormous evidence of Canaanite, Crusader, Greek, Roman and Arab cities and monuments in the Levant have been uncovered, verifiable evidence of extensive Biblical Israel constructions, administration and monuments in the Middle East, even in Jerusalem, are lacking. History does not describe a Biblical Israel civilization of art, literature (other than the Bible), engineering, agriculture, military, commerce, construction, transportation or architecture. History reports a Middle Eastern area that contained a significant number of Hebrews, mixed with other ethnicities, but not with a population greater than other Jewish concentrations throughout the Greek and Roman empires

There might have been a great Temple, as noted by historian Flavius Josephus, but no stone of that Temple has been uncovered in Jerusalem’s Temple Mount/Al-Haram al-Sharif. The Western Wall, often mistakenly called the ‘wailing wall,’ which is a nineteenth century term and is not used in Israel today, is considered to be a bearing wall for Herod’s platform and not a wall of the Temple. According to historian Karen Armstrong, Jews did not pray at the Western Wall until the Mamluks in the 15th century allowed them to move their congregations from a dangerous Mount of Olives and pray daily at the Wall. At that time she estimates that there may have been no more than 70 Jewish families in Jerusalem. These historical pronouncements create doubts of the Western Wall being the most revered monument in Jewish life and instead shifts it to the category of revered by default — there is no other in Jerusalem — and ignores many others disbursed throughout the Jewish world. Although historians have attributed David’s Tower and Solomon’s Pools to Greek and Roman times, the designations lead persons to believe these constructions are related to the Biblical Israeli monarchs.

Archaeology and history deny the proposition that people today, who are indirectly related to people who wandered a land three thousand years ago, are owed the land. How can unproven religious myths replace legal rights; who actually owns the land, who inhabited the land for past generations, who succored the land during modern history? These persons were Palestinians and certainly not refugees from the Holocaust.

Does the creation of Israel have any direct relation with the Holocaust? After all, the thrust to create a state occurred decades before the WWII Holocaust. In 1951, the number of Israelis who could be directly identified with the Holocaust was not a major portion of the Israel population. It has not been publicized that many of these persons used Israel as a temporary station and eventually left for the United States and other countries. After 1950, Israel’s population growth came primarily from North African, Ethiopian, Yemen, Middle Eastern and Russian (Jews and non-Jews) immigration.

In the Israel of today the balance of power has shifted from the visionary immigrants to the pragmatic immigrants. The most significant voices are the highly educated and professional Russians, who realized economic opportunities they never envisioned and are reluctant to relinquish any of their gains. A continually increasing group of Messianic Jews maintain literal interpretations of the Bible and desire all of the Palestinian land.

Their children are guided by an Israeli education system that internalizes the concepts that God awarded them the land and the United Nations ratified the award. The United States role in the continuing violence is confusing. The United States supports Israel almost unconditionally and without gaining any apparent social or economic advantage. Political cowardice, in which some elected officials refrain from antagonizing the Religious Right supporters of Israel and barter for pro-Israel campaign funds and pro-Israel media support, drives U.S. policy towards Israel. No matter the injustice, no matter the deaths, no matter the violence, no matter the resulting terrorism, U.S. officials place enhancement of their election chances before all.

The troubling fiction that has characterized the Israeli/Palestinian struggle has also characterized all of the negotiations. And that will probably not change — expect calculated ambiguity. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ present proposals and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s responses to them have been unofficially reported by correspondent Shimon Schiffer in the August 16 issue of the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth and by Akiva Eldar in the August 22 Haaretz journal.

Mahmoud Abbas wants Israel to return to the 1967 borders. This will allow a Palestinian state to be established in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Olmert proposes an Israeli withdrawal from what he defines as “more than 90 percent of the West Bank,” but maintains the settlement blocs under Israeli sovereignty. Israel will give the Palestinians territory in the Negev, adjacent to the Gaza Strip. Mahmoud Abbas wants Israel to recognize the right of the refugees to return to their homes, in accord with the resolution of the Security Council. Implementation of the right of return will be by agreement between the sides. Olmert offers the Palestinian refugees a return only to the territory of the Palestinian state that will be established in the future, and not within the borders of the State of Israel. Mahmoud Abbas wants a safe passage, entirely under Palestinian control, between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Olmert has the West Bank joined to the Gaza Strip by bridges or tunnels. The ground will remain in Israeli sovereignty. Mahmoud Abbas wants East Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestinian state.

The Temple Mount/Al-Haram al-Sharif will be under full Palestinian control. Olmert concedes neighborhoods on the edge of East Jerusalem to Palestinian sovereignty. He recommends joint control of the Temple Mount/Al-Haram al-Sharif with international participation.

Can the aggrieved Palestinians ask for less? Don’t justice and reason support their negotiated positions? Will the prosperous Israelis, who are satisfied with the status quo and have the power to acquire more, be willing to concede anything? If the Israel military can kill Palestinians with impunity and without protest, why would its government take any negotiations seriously? Negotiations will continue endlessly until the world’s peoples recognize the cataclysm that awaits them and take action.

We have already witnessed severe destruction in several Middle East wars and the consequences to the Israeli, Palestinian, Lebanese and other Middle East peoples. The violence has reinforced world terrorism. Now, we have the destruction of Iraq, a nation that was no proven threat to the United States, but was considered to be Israel’s most serious antagonist. U.S. government neoconservatives, many of whom have shown excessive loyalty to Israel, were instrumental in promoting the U.S. invasion of Iraq. In effect, the U.S. fought, and is still fighting, Israel’s battle.

Extrapolating from these atrocities, what is a predictable scenario in the near future? We have, as one outcome of the Iraq occupation, the accusations that Iran and Syria, two other serious antagonists to Israel, are threats to world peace — similar to Hussein’s Iraq — and both of them, without any firm evidence and much evidence to the contrary, are accused of busily assisting Iraqi insurgents. Iran, the latest number one antagonist, is viewed as the next nation to be liberated and decimated. With that done, what will be the fate of those allied with Hezbollah and Hamas? Annihilation? Will the battles end then? There will still be Syria, Sudan and other nations viewed as too antagonist to Israel. Millions killed, horrific terrorism, economic catastrophes, tens of millions of refugees and possible uncontrollable worldwide epidemics. And for each death, new grievances, new converts to battle, and new antagonists to one another. Present day Iraq is witness to that story. If the battle does not end soon, it will be a battle for eternity.

In a November 2003 European Union poll, 59 percent of Europeans selected Israel as the greatest threat to world peace, in the top position, ahead of Iran and North Korea. So, what’s the problem? Can’t the United Nations force Israel to recognize the rights of the Palestinians and satisfy Mahmoud Abbas’ negotiation proposals? Apparently not, because there is another problem: the forces which manipulate the information concerning the situation, guide the discussions of the situation, control the decisions to ameliorate the situation and have the military muscle to counter any attack on their roles in the situation are the forces that prevent a logical approach or a just solution to the conflict. A logical approach and just solution to a deadly conflict don’t favor the policies of Israel and the United States. Their road to peace leads to a world shattered into pieces.

Dan Lieberman is Editor of Alternative Insight, a monthly web based newsletter. He is a writer of many published articles on the Middle East.

Iraqi PM Rejects US Federal Plan

The plan offers Sunnis a share of oil revenues [AFP]

28 September 2007

Nuri al-Maliki, Iraq's prime minister, has rejected a US senate resolution calling for the creation of separate Sunni, Shia and Kurdish federal regions.

Al-Maliki said: "They should stand by Iraq to solidify its unity and its sovereignty. They shouldn't be proposing its division. That could be a disaster not just for Iraq but for the region."

Al-Maliki also called on the Iraqi parliament to meet and respond formally to the non-binding resolution, which was passed on Wednesday.

Many Sunnis and Shias oppose greater federalism which they see as a step towards dividing Iraq.

'Iraqi affair'

Speaking on a return flight to Baghdad after appearing at the UN General Assembly in New York, al-Maliki said: "It is an Iraqi affair dealing with Iraqis. Iraqis are eager for Iraq's unity... Dividing Iraq is a problem and a decision like that would be a catastrophe."

During Friday prayers in Karbala, a spokesman for Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the Shia spiritual leader, dismissed the proposal.

Sheik Abdul Mahdi al Karbalaei said: "The division plan is against Iraqi's interests and against peaceful living in one united Iraq. Any neighbouring country supporting this project will pay the price of instability in the region."

On Thursday, Liwa Semeism, a spokesman for Muqtada al-Sadr, the Shia cleric, said: "We demand the Iraqi government to stand against such project and to condemn it officially.

"Such a decision does not represent the aspirations of all Iraqi people and it is considered an interference in Iraq's internal affairs."

Oil revenues

The resolution proposes separating Iraq into Kurdish, Shia and Sunni entities, with a federal government in Baghdad in charge of border security and oil revenues.

The plan, which was inspired by the settlement that ended the Bosnian conflict in the 1990's, offers Sunnis a share of oil revenues, boosts reconstruction aid and debt relief.

Critics, however, said Iraqis should shape their future and that partitioning Iraq could encourage sectarian killings.

The plan's advocates say it offers a solution to the crisis in Iraq that could allow US troops to leave without leaving chaos behind.

The resolution urged George Bush to seek international support for such a political settlement and convene a conference with Iraqis to help them reach it.

Al-Maliki said: "We reject this decision."

Strong reservations

Turkey, a US ally, would oppose such an initiative, fearful of unrest among its Kurdish population. Ankara feels that a partitioned Iraq would lead outside powers like Iran and Saudi Arabia to boost rival ethnic armed groups.

The Iraq Study Group, a US bi-partisan body, which delivered its recommendations in December, warned that dividing Iraq could trigger mass population movements and the collapse of Iraq's fragile security forces.

"I think what we have seen in Bosnia is a lessening of tensions when there is a capability for the security forces, the educational and the religious sects to have their own ability to govern within themselves," she said.

Source

Abbas: Peace settlement with Israel possible 'within six months'

Abbas attends a meeting with Indian ForeignMinister Pranab Mukherjee in New York[Ma'anImages]

28 September 2007

Bethlehem – Ma'an – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says the peace summit to be held in the United States in November will lay the groundwork for the formation of a peace treaty with Israel within six months.

Speaking to Agence France-Presse on Friday Abbas said, "The meeting in November should define the principles settling the questions over the final status [of the Palestinian territories]."

"Then we will begin negotiations on the details under a timeframe, which ought not to exceed six months, to reach a peace treaty," he continued.

Abbas said the opening date of the US-sponsored conference will be November 15. The Associated Press reported Friday that the location of the summit will be Annapolis, Maryland, home to the US Naval Academy.

In choosing Annapolis, US officials hoped to avoid both the "high expectations and bad memories" of previous peace negotiations, such as those held at the Camp David presidential retreat, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported. The collapse of the Camp David talks contributed to the causes of the second Intifada.

Abbas now appears determined to go ahead with the conference after expressing frustration at American and Israeli equivocation about the nature and goals of the conference.

"We want to prepare a framework agreement defining clear principles and without equivocation that will serve as a basis for the settlement. Immediately after the meeting we will hold negotiations on the basis of this document," Abbas said.

The guest list for the summit remains to be set, and key regional players such as US allies Saudi Arabia and Egypt have threatened to boycott the conference if the agenda does not include the "final status issues": the status of Jerusalem, the borders of a future Palestinian state, and the fate of Palestinian refugees.

In contrast to Abbas' demand for final status negotiations Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has called for talks resulting in a nonbinding "joint declaration." With his announcement Friday, Abbas' seems to be looking to use a potential declaration as leverage to call for more substantive negotiations.

Hamas has called on the Arab states to boycott the conference on the grounds that a peace settlement in the current situation would be illegitimate for it's exclusion of the Hamas-governed Gaza Strip.

Teacher Under Fire for Asking Pupils to Colour Israel Flag

28 September 2007

By Habib Toumi

Manama: A Bahrain-based teacher has come under fire for asking her students to colour the Israeli flag as part of an assignment to identify the flags of countries in the Middle East.

"We urge the ministry of education to take stringent action against the teacher for flouting the rules and regulations governing school curricula and seeking to affect the minds of young students," Fareed Abdul Wahid, a preacher, said during the Friday sermon.

"Teachers and schools should appreciate that we do not have ties with the Zionist entity and that they should not impose assignments that are contrary to the beliefs of the students and their families," said Fareed at Al Adliya Mosque, a large mosque located in a posh area in Manama.

The school assignment was first reported by the mother of a student in a private school who complained in a statement to the press about the teacher's action. "I was bewildered to hear my daughter who is in the second grade asking me about the colours of the flag of Israel so that she could continue her homework. She then told me that her teacher had asked them to colour the flags of some countries in the Middle East, and that included the Israeli flag," the mother said.

Ebrahim Al Hadi, an Islamist deputy representing Al Menbar, the offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, said that the teacher had irritated parents and the community.

"The issue is not about colouring a flag, but rather about engaging in an activity that would make students respect a country that persistently refuses to respect our nation," said the deputy member of the Palestine Committee at the parliament's lower house.

"Attempts at normalisation often start with seemingly innocent activities and simple procedures targeting impressionable minds," said the deputy whose bloc has six of the house's 40 seats.

تحذير

في اسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

وهو يدير الموقع بواسطة amaar ، اذا كنت قيمة حسابك نسمة ، الرجاء الابتعاد عن هذا الموقع. وهم يدعون ان اصدقاء للجميع الاديان ، لان اي amaar ، تعلمون الامر ليس كذلك.

هذا amaar دقيقة جدا.

وهم في امريكا.

تحديث :

ذا الشخص ليس كما قلت amaar يعتقد اصلا ، وانما هو sabaar وتواريخ قبل محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم) ؛ خلال اوقات المعبود من العابد لل. سيقوله سيئة جدا السب ضد الله وليس الالزام نحو القتل.

Abbas: Don’t cross the red-lines

27 September 2007

by Khalid Amayreh

Like most Palestinians, I don’t count much on Mahmoud Abbas to put up a meaningful resistance to Israel’s persistent attempts to obtain a formal Palestinian recognition of it as “a state of and for the Jews.”

This is why it is extremely important that the Palestinian masses tell this man that he is already going too far in sacrificing vital Palestinian national interests in order to appease the explicitly fascist government of Israel.

A few days ago, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told reporters that he had already received a commitment from Abbas to recognize Israel as “a state of the Jews.”

If true, this means that Abbas has committed an unforgivable strategic blunder affecting millions of Palestinians in the Diaspora and in Israel proper. To be honest, it is even more than a mere blunder, it is a grand treachery of immense historical proportions.

Does Abbas understand what it means to recognize Israel as a Jewish state? Does he understand the implications, the ramifications and direct and indirect repercussions of such an irresponsible feat?

In case he doesn't, he must read the following: Recognizing Israel as a “Jewish state,” let alone “a state of and for the Jews,” implies that the estimated 1.5 million Palestinians citizens of Israel have only a “temporary” or “transient” but not “permanent” right to live in their homes and towns, and that sooner or latter, these “goyim” would have to either emigrate, willy-nilly, or be brutally expelled because they are not Jews.

A third “choice” for the unwanted non-Jewish citizens of Israel would be to accept the status of “wood hewers” and “water carriers” in the service of the master race, the Jews. (This outrage is already advocated by hundreds of fascist-minded but influential rabbis in Israel and north America.)

Indeed, it is amply clear from studies conducted by Zionist research centers and think-tanks that the task of neutralizing Arab demographic growth and preventing it from reaching the 30% threshold, is already one of the most strategic preoccupation boggling Israel’s collective thinking.

Of course, the inherently deceitful Zionist leaders would always seek to cajole naïve Palestinian leaders, such as Abbas, into believing that Israel is a “Jewish and democratic” state and that it would never entertain the idea of expelling its non-Jewish citizens.

But experience teaches us that such assurances have no credibility whatsoever, and that they ought to be treated as rubbish and nothing but rubbish because Zionism is based on the concept of Jewish supremacy just as Nazism was based Aryan supremacy.

After all, Zionism and Nazism came from the same East European fascistic traditions that emphasized bellicosity, racial supremacy, expansionism, megalomania, militarism and hegomonism.

Needless to say, a Palestinian recognition of Israel as “a state of and for all Jews” would effectively imply that Israel, at one point in the future, would have the right to expel large numbers of its Palestinian citizens to an prospective Palestinian entity in the West Bank on the ground that “this land belongs to the Jews and you are not Jewish.”

Then Israel would likely issue an ultimatum to the Palestinians: Either you convert to Judaism and accept Shulhan Aruch as the Law of the Land (in other words accept an inherently inferior slave status) or move to the “Palestinian state!!.”

And in case of protests by the Palestinian leaders of that time, Israel would confront them with a golden document showing that the President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas had actually recognized Israel as an exclusively Jewish state.

More to the point, in an ensuing crisis, the international community or much of it, would side with Israel, citing Abba’s or probably Fayad’s “recognition of the Jewish nature of Israel.”
Then, like stupid and ignorant kids, the future Palestinian leaders would seek to remind Israel that “the peace treaty also states that Israel will be Jewish and democratic.”

But Israel would swiftly refute this “wild interpretation,” by asserting that “Jewish” always comes before and overrides “democratic” and that in case there is any incompatibility between “Jewish” and “Democratic,” there should be no illusion as to which comes first.

So, does the great Rais now understand the serious implications of recognizing Israel as a “Jewish state”?

Does he understand now that “recognizing Israel’s Jewish identity” amounts to recognizing that Israel has the right to effect ethnic cleansing of its Palestinian citizens? That it has the right to be racist and discriminatory against non-Jews in general and Palestinian who are Israeli citizens in particular?

Furthermore, the reported promise by Abbas to recognize Israel as “a country of and for the Jews” (all Jews in the world) carries with it another serious implication, namely that Israel, in order to retain its Jewish identity, has an inalienable right to permanently deny repatriation for millions of Palestinian refugees uprooted from their homes following waves of genocidal ethnic cleansing in 1948-49.

In other words, the purported recognition by Abbas of Israel as a Jewish state effectively means decapitation and burial of the right of return for Palestinians exiled in the Diaspora.
This right, for those who still don’t know, is the heart of the Palestinian issue and ignoring it would simply make any possible resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict fragile and lacking in credibility and durability.

This right (the right of return) is fundamental, authentic, and inalienable and nobody under the sun, including Mahmoud Abbas and his aides and hangers-on, has the right to compromise or belittle let alone sacrifice under the rubric of reaching peace with Israel.

Of course, Israel and its numerous mouthpieces around the world will accuse the Palestinians of using the “right of return” as an excuse to reject peace.

But the truth is that Israel’s rejection of the legitimate right of these tormented refugees to return to their homes, seized (effectively stolen) by Jewish squatters from around the world, underscores Israel’s rejection of genuine peace with the Palestinians.

We all know, or should know in case we don’t, that for peace to be real, it must be based justice, human rights and international law. And a peace that is imposed through coercion, blockades, starvation and state terror wouldn’t last long. It would be a fragile truce at best.

Hence, for the sake of real peace which we, the Palestinian people, really need and want as badly as one can imagine, must be based on real justice. And real justice can’t be done without the implementation of the right of return for these miserable refugees who have been waiting to return home for nearly sixty years now.

After all, right comes before might. Otherwise, the world would morph into a huge jungle.

Agha: Palestinian generations won't forgive those besieging, starving them

28 September 2007

GAZA, (PIC)-- Dr. Mohammed Ramadan Al-Agha, the agriculture minister in the PA caretaker government of the legitimate PA premier Ismael Haneyya, has affirmed Thursday that the escalated IOF troops' aggressions on the Palestinian people were part of the Israeli policy attempting to subjugate the Palestinian people.

But he affirmed that regardless of the Israeli pressures on them, the Palestinian people will remain steadfast and adherents to their national constants and legal rights in their homeland.

"The Palestinian generations will never forgive those participating in besieging and starving them as history will record that there were Palestinian parties that participated in the US-Israeli economic blockade against their own people", Agha affirmed in a press statement he made Thursday.

He also lashed out at those "receiving enemies and killers of the Palestinian people at their homes and coordinating with them in security matters against their own people", in clear allusion to PA chief Mahmoud Abbas and head of his illegitimate government Salam Fayyadh.

Furthermore, the PA official deplored what he called"unexplained silence" on the part of the Arab and international communities towards the Israeli atrocities against the Palestinian civilians, explaining that such "unjustifiable" silence had encouraged Israel to pursue, unabated, its slaughter of innocent Palestinian civilians.

"It is indeed regrettable that the international community and the Arab world are watching the suffering and the starving of our children without taking a step forward to stop that humanistic tragedy", said Agha.

Agha was apparently reacting to the latest IOF troops' military onslaught on Beit Hanon city, northeast of Gaza Strip, where he confirmed that hundreds of dunums (1 dunum = 1,000 sq. meter) of Palestinian agricultural lands in the city were bulldozed by the Israelis.

"The IOF troops aren’t awaiting excuses to attack Gaza Strip as they indeed storm it on daily basis with and without reasons and deliberately bulldoze fruitful trees and destroy hundreds of greenhouses leaving behind big destruction every time they unleash an incursion", he pointed out.

In this regard, Agha asserted that the PA government of premier Haneyya was in continuous contacts with Arab and foreign parties so as to acquaint them with the Israeli crimes against the Palestinian man and land.

He also called on Palestinian factions to consolidate ranks in confronting the Israeli hostilities against the Palestinian people, underlining that the Israeli occupation government was targeting all Palestinian factions without discrimination.

Since March of last year, the USA, Israel, and their local, regional, and international allies had led an international economic embargo against the Palestinian people after they elected Hamas Movement to rule them in unprecedented clean and honest democratic elections in the region.

Hundreds of Palestinian children and elderly people had died so far due to that crushing sanctions; yet the Palestinian people appeared to be determined to cling to their legal rights and national constants despite the harsh blockade.

Palestinian Captives Revolt Against IOA Humiliating Policies in Jails

28 September 2007

TULKAREM, (PIC)-- Tension ran high in the Israeli prisons as thousands of Palestinian captives revolted against the Israeli prison authority's (IPA) repressive policies, sources close to the captives affirmed.

In the Nitsan prison in the 1948-occupied Palestinian city of Ramle, a Palestinian captive assaulted and stabbed an Israeli jail guard in the face after the jail administration maltreated him, the sources added, affirming that the incident could spark an all-out revolt in those jails if the IPA inhuman practices against the captives persisted.

More than 11,000 Palestinian prisoners are living in extremely difficult condition in Israeli jails, including denying them family visits and depriving them proper medical attention among other repressive practices.

A number of Palestinian captives affiliated with Hamas Movement were quoted as affirming that the Palestinian detainees in the said jail were worried about the health condition of their comrade Hassan Salamah of Hamas Movement who had received the highest jail sentence of 46 life-imprisonment-terms from Israeli courts so far.

Salamah is currently confined in the isolation ward at the Israeli Eshiel prison in the 1948-occupied Palestinian city of Bir Sheba.

Few days ago, Salamah was severely manhandled by five of Israeli jail guards while escorting him to the prison's physician for medical check up with one or them reportedly saying " We have been waiting for this time to get and beat you up".

"The physical assault on Salamah at the hands of the jail guards was an unforgivable and heinous Israeli crime against the captive", the captives affirmed.

In a related matter, lawyer of the Nafha society that caters for Palestinian captives and ex-prisoners' affairs quoted Palestinian captives in the Israeli Ashkilon prison as affirming that the jail's administration was denying Palestinian captives from Gaza Strip their right of family visits.

"Jail conditions of the Palestinian captives from Gaza Strip are indeed tragic and unfortunate as they are denied family visits even for receiving new dresses for their families", the lawyer affirmed after meeting with a number of Palestinian in the said jail.

The lawyer also quoted the captives as complaining of "quality and quantity" of the food offered to them in the jail, affirming that most of the time the prisoners refrain from getting their food being rotten and inedible.

More than 210 Palestinian captives, including secretary of the PA legislature and Hamas's legislator Dr. Mahmoud Al-Ramahi among other captives, were locked in the said jail.

Search Operations Using Dogs at Checkpoints not Routine, says Israeli Internal Security Minister

28 September 2007

Jerusalem – Ma'an – The Israeli Internal Security Minister, Avi Dichter, has denied that searches using dogs are part of the routine methods used at the Qalandia checkpoint in the central West Bank.

He said that dogs were not used very often in search operations and were only used in special cases when searching for explosives.

Dichter was replying to a letter from the head of the Islamic movement in Israel, Ibrahim Sarsour, who is also a Member of the Israeli Knesset, concerning the use of dogs for searching Palestinians at checkpoints, especially the Qalandia checkpoint which connects Jerusalem and Ramallah.

He said there was currently no other option other than using dogs, adding that the Israeli security apparatus was looking into other technologies that may be available.

Dichter promised that he would give his instructions to the police and private security firms that run the checkpoints to understand Palestinian citizen's feelings about the use of dogs and to minimize the use of this search method.

In the letter, Dichter strongly denied that the use of dogs was a harsh and inhumane measure that had been introduced by the Israelis as part of the search system at the Qalandia crossing.

Americans Ignorant of Islam: Poll

There are between six to seven million Muslims in the United States

26 September 2007

CAIRO — Despite its growing visibility in society in recent years, the majority of Americans know very little about the practices of Islam and don not see any common grounds between the Muslim faith and their own Christian beliefs, a new US survey has revealed.

"Fifty-eight percent say they know little or nothing about Islam’s practices," concludes the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press and the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.

It noted that the number of people who say they know little or nothing about Islam has changed very little since 2001.

The survey found that most of the 3002 people interviewed nationwide saw little in common between Islam and their faith.

"Fully 70% of non-Muslims say that the Muslim religion is very different from their own religion."

It noted that the proportion who say that Islam has little or nothing in common with their own religion has increased substantially since 2005.

There are between six to seven million Muslims in the United States, making up less than three percent of the country's 300 million population.

Tarnished

Despite the public lack on knowledge, the poll saw that attitudes toward Muslims and Islam "have grown more negative in recent years."

About 35 percent of respondents expressed an unfavorable view of the Muslim faith.

"Forty-five percent of those polled said Islam was more likely than other religions to encourage violence among its believers."

When asked for the single word that best describes their impression of Islam, far more Americans mention negative words than positive ones, said the survey.

The most frequently used negative word to describe Islam is "fanatic," with "radical" and "terror" often mentioned as well.

US Muslim leaders say the survey results are something to expect amid the current environment that has tarnished a peaceful faith.

"We're not surprised," Safaa Ibrahim, of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), told the Los Angeles Times.

"It's difficult to remove the tarnish of twisted interpretations of terrorists from what Islam means."

In its annual report, the leading US Muslim advocacy group said discrimination jumped 25 percent last year with Islamophobia being much evident in federal and government agencies.

The 40-page report showed that hate crime complaints including physical attacks against individuals and mosques rose 9.2 percent.

Six years after the terrorist 9/11 attacks, many American Muslims complain that they continue to face discrimination and stereotyping because of their Islamic attires or identities.

Media

The Pew Research Center found that the view of Islam in the society is largely affected by the media.

"The biggest influence on the public's impressions of Muslims, particularly among those who express an unfavorable opinion of Muslims, is what people hear and read in the media."

About a third of those polled, including half of those who offer a negative opinion of Muslims, said what they have seen or read in the media had the biggest influence on their views.

The head of the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), America's largest Jewish movement, has accused US media and politicians of demonizing Islam and portraying Muslims as "satanic figures."

Famed US academic Stephen Schwartz had criticized the Western media for failing to meet the challenge of reporting on Islam and Arab issues after the 9/11 attacks.

A recent British study accused the media and film industry of perpetuating Islamophobia and prejudice by demonizing Muslims and Arabs as violent, dangerous and threatening people.

The Pew found that knowing a Muslim is usually associated with more positive views of the religion.

"Among those who know a Muslim, 56 percent have a favorable overall impression of Muslims, compared with just 32 percent of those who are not acquainted with a Muslim."

Click here to read the survey findings in full.

Ahmadinejad: US to Benefit from Change of Policy on Iran

27 September 2007

Tehran-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Thursday that Tehran welcomes any positive change in US policies on Iran and believe that such a move would benefit the US itself.

He made the remark in an interview with Aljazeera English channel on Thursday on the sidelines of the 62nd UN General Assembly session in New York.

He expressed the hope that the US would change its war mongering policies on Iran.

To a question that the US president did not point to Iran's nuclear program during his speech and whether this indicated a the positive attitude of the White House on Iran, he said "We hope so. Of course this will be to their own benefit because it will prepare grounds for their cooperation with us."

The president termed the UNSC resolutions on Iran's nuclear dossier as politically-motivated and said such resolutions are worthless because they have been ratified illegally.

UNSC resolutions have been approved under US pressures, therefore they are illegal, he said.

The US has misused its veto power in this connection, he pointed out.

Referring to the recent report by IAEA in which it confirmed Iran has not deviated from its peaceful nuclear program, he said "We believe that no other UNSC resolution will be passed against us." Asked whether he was concerned about military action against Iran, the president said why should such an option be on the table?, war is a mishap and there is no reason for its occurrence . "I do not think that any wise individual will take such a decision." On impolite statements made by the president of Columbia University, he said "I think those who claim to be advocates of freedom of speech and democracy should promote the culture of tolerating others particularly in universities that are scenes of raising various ideas and thoughts."

Media circus for Ahmadinejad in US

People demonstrate againt Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad outside Columbia University in New York where he was invited to speak. [AFP]

28 September 2007

This week on the Listening Post, Richard Gizbert analyses the media circus surrounding Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to the US and also takes a look at how the news media analyses Osama Bin Laden's videos. We also review the latest viral video making waves on the net. One is the shocking footage of an American university student being Tasered and the other is a clip of one of pop star Britney Spears' most vocal fans.

Top of the show this week, we take a critical look at the news media's handling of Mahmoud Ahmedinejad's visit to the United States. The Iranian President was reluctantly cleared to enter America to participate in the United Nations annual General Assembly, but the simple fact of his presence on US soil created bigger media waves than his actual UN address did. It was a clash of media agenda's – Ahmedinejad's agenda and the agenda of US news organizations.

Top of the show this week, we look at the news media's handling of President Ahmadinejad's visit to the United States. The Iranian President gained entry to the US to participate in the United Nations annual General Assembly. His presence on US soil created an outcry in the press. "The Evil has landed", "Go to Hell" and "Access of Evil" screamed the headlines.

One of Osama bin Laden's videos

Ahmadinejad's Q&A session at Columbia University generated more column inches and airtime than his UN address. An antagonistic introduction from the University's President was broadcast around the world and this time round the holocaust denying president caused a stir by claiming homosexuality did not exist in Iran.

Our other big story is on Osama Bin Laden's surprising foray into the world of blogging. As well as posting his own video messages, it seems that Bin Laden is also a keen reader of blogs. We caught up with one blogger who was referenced in Bin Laden's latest video clip.

A parent who's child died trying to escape to the Canary Islands in Spain.

In Newsbytes, we update you on the other big media stories. The Spanish government has launched a $1.4m television advertising campaign to dissuade West Africans from migrating to Spain.

The advert shows disturbing images of people who have died attempting the 12 day crossing from Senegal to the Canary Islands. In the US, Hillary Clinton made an impressive appearance on five Sunday morning talk shows reeling off identical facts and soundbites. Less impressive is the footage of a university student being Tasered by campus security for becoming too vocal in his questioning of John Kerry. The video is the latest of many clips of students being attacked by trigger-happy US university police.

Chris Crocker on youtube with his sobbing plea to people to 'Leave Britney Alone'.

We also take a quick look at state run television. This week's offering is from the Ukraine, where army recruits are lured by images of adoring female fans.

And finally, our video of the week features Chris Crocker youtube's latest shining star. He made it big with his sobbing plea to people to 'Leave Britney Alone'. Are those crocodile tears? Decide for yourself.

Part 1

Part 2

Spend, Spend, and Spend

The last figure is George W. Bush’s debts is he owes, the World Bank about 9 trillion dollars and China about 1 trillion dollars.

Along with nearly two billion dollars to the United Nations Foundation.

Some economist estimates that the National Debt has continued to increase an average of $1.35 billion per day since September 29, 2006.

As the United States ideology seems to still be, spend, spend, and spend!

Countering Reports

Palestinians inspect the rubble of a destroyed building following an Israeli army operation September 27, 2007 in Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza Strip. The Operations are part of continued Israeli activity in the area which has led to a death toll of 11. (Photo by Abid Katib/Getty Images)

28 September 2007

by HRH Deborah

As the United States becomes more strapped for funds, it is being filtered down to Abbas’s people and Israel itself. Israel as their economy plummet’s still insists carrying on intensified maneuvers within Gaza and the West Bank.

As the Palestinian casualty list keeps being shown, what is not being shown and is being understood; Israel’s causality list is becoming staggering.

As there is reports that keeps blasting the news, that Gaza is in an economic downfall, except for an attempted economic blockade by Israel; Gaza is fairing much better then Abbas’s camp.

Even as Mahmoud Abbas, is desperately trying to get Palestinian’s to rally around his collaboration of a make shift peace deal with the West and Israel, the majority of Palestinian’s are not buying into this deception.

Instead they wish and are trying counter measures not only to truly free there country from the clutches of occupation, but taking counter measure’s against the current horrendous onslaught of Israel’s murderous rage within the territories‘.

Whether the Israeli’s ever wish to accept the fact or not, they are an occupation entity and nothing will change this fact, except the complete freedom of Palestine; the return of peace without invasion’s or threats within the whole Middle East region. Even to go so far as manipulations, within other parts of the globe.

As it always has been an always will be, truth along with freedom; always wins over tyranny.

US Federal Iraq Plan Approved

27 September 2007

Critics say the plan could lead to more sectarian violence in Iraq [AFP]

The US senate has approved a plan to limit the power of Iraq's central government and give more power to its ethnically divided regions.

The non-binding resolution proposes separating Iraq into Kurdish, Shia and Sunni entities, with a federal government in Baghdad in charge of border security and oil revenues.

The plan, which was inspired by the settlement that ended the Bosnian conflict in the 1990's, offers Sunnis a share of oil revenues, boosts reconstruction aid and debt relief.

Critics, however, said Iraqis should shape their future and that partitioning Iraq could encourage sectarian killings.

The plan's advocates say it offers a solution to the crisis in Iraq that could allow US troops to leave without leaving chaos behind.

The plan was agreed by 75 votes to 23 and Republicans only agreed to back it after it was amended to say that George Bush, the US president, should press for a federal system only if Iraqis want it.

Strong reservations

Turkey, a US ally, would oppose such an initiative, fearful of unrest among its Kurdish population. Ankara feels that a partitioned Iraq would lead outside powers like Iran and Saudi Arabia to boost rival ethnic armed groups.

The Iraq Study Group, a US bi-partisan body, which delivered its recommendations in December, warned that dividing Iraq could trigger mass population movements and the collapse of Iraq's fragile security forces.

Harry Reid, the leader of the Democratic majority in the US senate, said on Wednesday the vote "reflects the important recognition by the US senate that political reconciliation must remain Iraqis' primary goal".

The plan was backed by Joe Biden, the head of the senate foreign relations committee [AFP]

Implementing the political solution envisioned in this legislation will help redeploy American troops from the Iraqi civil war, more effectively fight terrorism and make America more secure," Reid said.

While Republican politicians have mostly backed Bush's "surge" of additional troops in Iraq, many remain frustrated by the political stalemate among the country's rival factions.

"We have a flawed political design that we are pushing currently in Baghdad," Sam Brownback, a Republican presidential candidate and senator and one of 11 co-sponsors of the bill, said before the vote.

Kay Bailey Hutchison, a Republican senator, referred to the Dayton Peace Accords in former Yugoslavia which led to the creation of a semi-autonomous Muslim-Croat federation and a Bosnian Serb republic.

"I think what we have seen in Bosnia is a lessening of tensions when there is a capability for the security forces, the educational and the religious sects to have their own ability to govern within themselves," she said.

Source

DEPLETED URANIUM

THE RADIOACTIVITY PERSISTS FOR OVER
4,500,000,000 YEARS KILLING MILLIONS OF EVERY
AGE FOR CENTURIES TO COME .THIS IS A CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY WHICH MAY RANK
WITH THE WORST ATROCITIES OF
ALL TIME .


What the governments of America and Britain have done
to the people of Iraq they have also done to their own
people and they have done it knowingly.

Dr Chris Busby, the British radiatio

Dr Chris Busby, the British radiation expert,
Fellow of the University of Liverpool in the Faculty of Medicine
and UK representative on the European Committee on Radiation Risk,
The people out there – the Iraqis, the media and the troops – risk the most appalling ill health. And the radiation from depleted uranium can travel literally anywhere.

It’s going to destroy the lives of thousands of children, all over the world.

We all know how far radiation can travel. Radiation from Chernobyl reached Wales and in Britain you sometimes get red dust from the Sahara on your car.’

This is a story in which the facts have been concealed from those who needed them most. It is also a story we need to know if the people of Iraq are to get the medical care they desperately need, and if our troops, returning from Iraq, are not to suffer as terribly as the veterans of other conflicts in which depleted uranium was used
. ‘Depleted’ uranium is in many ways a misnomer.

‘Depleted’ sounds weak. The only weak thing about depleted uranium is its price.

It is dirt cheap, toxic, waste.

On hearing that DU had been used in the Gulf in 1991
the UK Atomic Energy Authority sent the
Ministry of Defence a special report on the potential
damage to health and the environment.
It said that it could cause half a million
additional cancer deaths in Iraq over 10 years.
In that war the authorities only admitted
to using 320 tons of DU – although the Dutch charity
LAKA estimates the true figure is closer to 800 tons.
Many times that may have been spread across
Iraq by this war. The devastating damage all this DU
will do to the health and fertility of the people of Iraq now,
and for generations to come,
IS BEYOND IMAGINING

The radioactivity persists for over 4,500,000,000 years killing millions
of every age for centuries to come.
This is a crime against humanity
which may rank with the worst atrocities of all time.

Since DU darkened the land Iraq has seen
birth defects which would break a heart of stone:
babies with terribly foreshortened limbs,
with their intestines outside their bodies,
with huge bulging tumours
where their eyes should be,
or with a single eye
– like Cyclops, or without eyes,
or without limbs, and even without heads.

A U.S. Department of Veterans study of 251 Gulf war veteran's
families found that 67% had children with severe
illnesses or birth defects.


Depleted uranium, also known as the radioactive isotope U-238,
doesn't just dissolve or go away.

The genocidal US and UK military has
permanently poisoned Kuwait, southern Iraq,
Bosnia, the Kosovo highlands of Yugoslavia
and much of the Yugoslavian
Danube River basin=wherever DU fire was
concentrated.

In Iraq, cancer rates have
quadrupled in areas of southern Iraq
bombed by the American and British
state terrorists. Cases of leukemia
are starting to show up
among people who served as NATO
occupation forces in Bosnia and Kosovo.

Pentagon officials have been forced to admit that thousands of U.S. soldiers were "unnecessarily exposed" to depleted uranium radiation
in the Gulf War. But of course they claim those exposures were "not medically significant."
Since Nature does not take orders from
the Pentagon, however, the
Gulf War Syndrome
affects one out of seven Gulf War veterans.
By some estimates, more than 120,000
Gulf War veterans are chronically ill

This presentation is the courtesy of a friend.