Your Next Target, Dear Americans

[michelle]

A MUST READ IF YOU WANT TO BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND THE ONGOING BLOODBATH IN PALESTINE
"Ehud Olmert and Ariel Sharon are brothers in arms and followers of Ze'ev Jabotinsky, founder of the most radical, racist, and militant form of Zionism. The Zionist controlled media continues to ignore the crimes of these men and their direct links to the mass murder committed on 9/11." photo caption

THE BLOODY REIGN OF EHUD OLMERT AND HIS TIES TO 9/11

Published: June 18, 2006
Author: Christopher Bollyn

The first two months of Ehud Olmert's term as Israel's prime minister have been described as "the bloodiest, deadliest and the most criminal period of the 58-year-old state of Israel." Although the controlled press overlooks the new Israeli leader's crimes, Olmert's ties to the convicted Israeli criminal who controlled airport security at Boston airport on 9/11 cannot be ignored.

Although Zionism is probably the most potent force influencing U.S. politics, it is safe to say that it remains a political philosophy woefully misunderstood by the majority of the U.S. population. Although President George W. Bush and his war cabinet are clearly Zionists advancing the Zionist agenda, an agenda which is promoted and supported by nearly every member of Congress, Zionism and its bloody history are subjects which most Americans know virtually nothing about.

While American universities offer courses and degrees in practically every subject imaginable, a college curriculum offering a critical examination of Zionism and its history is not to be found.

This public's general ignorance of Zionism, its goals and history, is compounded by the controlled media, which grossly distorts and misinterprets Zionism to make this most un-American philosophy appear to be something familiar and benevolent to Americans. The well-documented bloody history of Zionist terror and ethnic cleansing, something which is well known to all Israelis and Palestinians, is strange and unknown terra incognita to most Americans, primarily due to academic and media censorship.

After the terror attacks of 9/11, which a large body of evidence indicates involved Israeli intelligence agents, and with more than 150,000 Americans engaged in costly and disastrous wars in the Middle East, it is simply no longer sustainable for Americans to remain blissfully ignorant of political Zionism.

ZIONISM AND COMMUNISM

Zionism, as a political movement, developed with Communism in the late 1800s among the Jewish communities in the western regions of the Russian Empire. In Lithuania, Poland, Byelorussia, and Ukraine, particularly in areas with large Jewish populations, Zionism became a new national religion. From the beginning, the Communist and Zionist movements were closely intertwined.

In the late 1800s, the religious-political ideology of Zionism led Jews in search of a national identity to shun the local language and begin speaking and writing Hebrew, a language which had not been spoken for thousands of years. In the Soviet Union, Jews were considered a national group and Jewish nationality was marked as such in Soviet passports. A Jewish Autonomous Region was even established in the Soviet Union in the area of Birobidjan in 1934 with Yiddish as the official language.

Although the Russian and Eastern European Jews known as the Ashkenazi are not even Semites, but Slavic and Asiatic converts to Judaism, Zionist zeal led them to misidentify themselves as "Hebrew," when for example, they entered the United States at Ellis Island.

As Zionists had "reconstituted" the "Hebrew" language, the primary political objective of political Zionism has always been the formation of a purely Jewish state in Palestine, something which has never actually existed in history. The fact that 20th Century Palestine was already inhabited by Palestinians, many of whom are real Semites, descended from the original Jews, Arabs, Greeks, and other races of the Holy Land, was something the Zionists intended to use military force to correct.

The armed conquest and ethnic cleansing of Palestine was vigorously promoted in the 1930s by Ze'ev (Vladimir) Jabotinsky, one of the most militant of Zionists. Jabotinsky, born in Odessa in 1880, became commander of the Zionist militia known as the Irgun in 1937. Jabotinsky headed the New Zionist Organization (N.Z.O), the Betar youth movement, and the Irgun militia, three extensions of the same extremist movement.

The Jabotinsky ideology maintains that the Jewish people have exclusive rights to all the Land of Israel, which it claims extends from the Nile of Egypt to the Euphrates River in Iraq.

OLMERT AND JABOTINSKY

Ehud Olmert, like his Russian-born parents who emigrated first to China and then to Palestine, is an ideological child of Jabotinsky. Olmert's father, Mordechai, was a devoted follower who joined the right-wing Herut movement and the Irgun militia then led by the notorious Zionist terrorist Menachem Begin.

Olmert's intensely right-wing family lived on a cooperative farm called Nahalat Jabotinsky. As a child, Olmert was a member of Betar, the militaristic youth movement. Begin, the hard-line Israeli prime minister who held the credo "In blood and fire Judea fell; in blood and fire Judea shall rise," would later refer to Olmert as "Ehud, my son."

Olmert, a member of parliament since 1973, later became mayor of Jerusalem, the occupied capital city of Palestine, and oversaw Israel's territorial expansion of the city limits. The area that Israelis now call Jerusalem extends from Bethlehem in the south, to Ramallah in the north, and Jericho is the east.

In the thinking of Jabotinsky Zionists like Olmert, there is simply no place for the Palestinians in the Land of Israel: "There is no choice: the Arabs must make room for the Jews of Eretz Israel," Jabotinsky wrote. "If it was possible to transfer the Baltic peoples, it is also possible to move the Palestinian Arabs."

The barrier wall that has been built across the West Bank is an idea straight from the writings of Jabotinsky: "Zionist colonization, even the most restricted, must either be terminated or carried out in defiance of the will of the native population. This colonization can, therefore, continue and develop only under the protection of a force independent of the local population – an iron wall which the native population cannot break through," Jabotinsky wrote in his 1923 book, The Iron Wall: We and the Arabs.

"Talking peace and drumming up support for his realignment plan of settlement, Ehud Olmert's 8 weeks in power proved to be the bloodiest, deadliest and the most criminal period of the 58-year-old state of Israel," Duraid Al Baik, foreign editor of Gulf News wrote in a recent article, "Olmert: The criminal who peddles peace."

"Since he was sworn in as the 12th prime minister of Israel on April 14, the Israelis have killed more than 50 Palestinians and injured around 200 almost at a rate of 1 killed and 4 injured per day," Al Baik wrote. "The new prime minister has set a record, surpassing the one established by his predecessor Ariel Sharon during the bloodiest days of the Palestinian uprising or intifada."

Seeking to foment a civil conflict among Palestinians, Olmert is now providing weapons to support the "private army" of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who is seen by many as a Palestinian quisling working against the elected Hamas-led government.

The most egregious terrorist act, among the many recently committed by Israeli forces, was the shelling of the beach in Gaza in which 8 members of one family were killed. This blatant act of Israeli terror was followed by the official denial of responsibility although the Israelis had been shelling the Gaza Strip at the time the family on the beach was hit.

Mark Garlasco, a military expert working for the US-based Human Rights Watch group, was the first independent investigator to reach the scene of the crime and found shrapnel from a 155 mm artillery shell. "My assessment [is] that it's likely that this was incoming artillery fire that landed on the beach and was fired by the Israelis from the north of Gaza," Garlasco said.

OLMERT AND ATZMON

Olmert, who has long been tarnished by allegations of financial crimes, was implicated in a financial scandal involving forged receipts for donations to the 1988 Likud campaign, of which he was co-treasurer. This affair culminated in the March 1996 conviction of three other Likudniks, including Menahem Atzmon, the Likud treasurer. Olmert was also later indicted in the Likud affair, but was acquitted.

During the 1970s Olmert had worked in the law firm owned by another Atzmon, Uzi Atzmon.

Menahem Atzmon, convicted in Israel, went on to become the founder and head of International Consultants on Targeted Security (ICTS), the parent company of Huntleigh USA, the airport security firm that ran passenger screening operations at the airports of Boston and Newark on 9/11.

Huntleigh USA is a wholly owned subsidiary of an Israeli company called International Consultants on Targeted Security (ICTS) International N.V., a Netherlands-based aviation and transportation security firm headed by “former [Israeli] military commanding officers and veterans of government intelligence and security agencies.”

Menachem Atzmon, convicted in Israel in 1996 for campaign finance fraud, and his business partner Ezra Harel, took over management of security at the Boston and Newark airports when their company ICTS bought Huntleigh USA in 1999. UAL Flight 175 and AA 11, which allegedly struck the twin towers, both originated in Boston, while UAL 93, which purportedly crashed in Pennsylvania, departed from the Newark airport. The convicted Israeli criminal Atzmon also controls and operates the German port of Rostock on the Baltic Sea.

Some 9/11 victims’ families brought lawsuits against Huntleigh claiming the security firm had been grossly negligent on 9-11. While these relatives have a right to discovery and to know what Huntleigh did or did not do to protect their loved ones on 9-11, Huntleigh, along with the other security companies, was granted complete congressional protection in 2002 and will not be called to account for its actions on 9-11 in any U.S. court.

Atzmon, a convicted criminal, political ally and co-defendant of Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert, was directly responsible for passenger and airline security at Boston's Logan Airport, whence the two airliners which struck the World Trade Center originated.

Olmert's relationship with Atzmon and the failed airport security of 9/11 is obviously more than coincidental yet the controlled press in the United States has failed to investigate this Israeli link to the terror attacks as it has with so many other links.

Source:
tinyurl.com/y7u6cs
For Education and Discussion Only. Not for Commercial Use.

[michelle]

FYI. Total support for Israel from the Democratic Party no matter what they do to the Palestinian People....Michelle

Pelosi and Hoyer Statement on Seizure of Israeli Soldiers

7/12/2006 5:37:00 PM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To: National Desk

Contact: Brendan Daly or Jennifer Crider, (Pelosi), 202-226-7616; Stacy Farnen Bernards, (Hoyer), 202-225-3130

WASHINGTON, July 12 /U.S. Newswire/ -- House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer released the following statement today condemning Hezbollah for seizing two Israeli soldiers:

"The House Democratic leadership strongly condemns the seizure of Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah terrorists operating from Lebanon. This action, following so closely the seizure of an Israeli soldier by Hamas terrorists operating from Gaza, further dims the prospects for peace in the Middle East. Countries with influence over Hezbollah, particularly Syria and Iran, must move quickly to bring about the return of the soldiers and the end of rocket attacks on Israeli civilians from Hezbollah positions in Lebanon. The Palestinian Authority, and countries with influence over Hamas, must take similar action in Gaza.

"Those who finance, direct, or otherwise support acts like these need to understand that they have produced an extremely dangerous situation and that they are responsible for the consequences. Israel has an inherent right to defend itself, and the United States supports our ally. The sooner the soldiers are returned and those who seized them brought under control, the better for everyone concerned about the future of the Middle East."

Source:
releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=69132

[michelle]

Refugees Speak of Catastrophic Bombing
Dahr Jamail

LEBANON-SYRIA BORDER, Jul 14 (IPS) - Refugees fleeing Beirut in the face of Israeli air attacks are speaking of "haphazard bombings" and a crisis situation developing in the city.

Israeli warplanes bombed the suburbs of Beirut overnight, killing three people and wounding 55, according to Lebanese police. Residents reported at least four Israeli missile strikes early Friday morning. The Lebanese military responded with anti-aircraft fire.

According to reports from Beirut, a bridge in the area was hit, along with the main highway to the airport. Lebanese police report that a fuel storage tank at a power station on the coast was destroyed in the air strikes, while Hezbollah targets near Hermel close to the Syrian border were targeted.

Israeli military officials reported that Hezbollah fighters fired more than 100 rockets into northern Israel Thursday, killing two people and wounding 92. Some rockets struck Haifa, Israel's third largest city.

"The government has authorised the army to press on with its operation in Lebanon and hit more targets," an Israeli government official said. That was after Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ordered his army to continue its operations in Lebanon.

No immediate end to the fighting appeared in sight.

About 15,000 people are said to have crossed the Lebanese border into Syria, seeking refuge from widespread bombings carried out by F-16 warplanes.

As in the days of the Lebanese civil war, the border between Syria and Lebanon was a scene of chaos. Streams of buses and cars with luggage tied to the roof queued to cross into Syria. Many people came walking, carrying their luggage or pulling wheeled suitcases.

"I was in an area south of Beirut which was bombed heavily by the Israelis," 55-year-old electrician Ali Suleiman told IPS. "There were so many refugees in shelters near us, which was near an old hospital which the Israelis bombed last night. It was terrifying at night when they attacked our area."

Suleiman said he saw Israeli warplanes bomb a bridge, and that two of the main bridges which lead to southern Lebanon were destroyed.

"Both Syrian and Lebanese people are leaving now," he said. "There is no more food, not even bread. There was no electricity or water in our area. If this situation continues, it will be a giant catastrophe."

Nebham Razaq Hamed, a 22-year-old Lebanese student, said the situation in southern Beirut was horrific.

"The bombing at night was continuous and has continued today, they are using warplanes and sometimes artillery," he told IPS at the border. "Everybody is in panic because of the haphazard bombing which is killing so many civilians now. The Israelis are terrorising the people intentionally by not discriminating between fighters and civilians."

"This is an act of terrorism," said Rashid Khalaf, a 27-year-old carpenter carrying his belongings in a large sack. "The Israelis are bombing everywhere in the south, including much of Beirut now. I saw the killing and destruction by the Israelis, they are bombing everywhere they think the Hezbollah may be."

Fifty-five-year-old Sheiboub Azem from Saudi Arabia who was in the mountains above Beirut on vacation with his family told IPS "there was bombing and fire everywhere in Beirut before we left."

Azem said: "We watched from the balcony as they started bombing heavily at 3.45 am last night, and we lost our electricity and water. The Israelis must be bombing the water and electricity outlets."

A 50-year-old Kuwaiti man had driven with his family to the border Friday morning from Beirut. "It's very bad there, as the Israelis are attacking civilians, bombing police and petrol stations, and even the fuel storage depots," he told IPS. "In fact, they have even bombed the airport once again. I saw F-16s bombing and there is smoke everywhere. This is a big disaster for the Lebanese."

Abdulla Zalqana, a 28-year-old Lebanese baker in the city of Baalbek in the Bekaa Valley of central Lebanon told IPS that Israeli warplanes were bombing Baalbek and much of the southern area of the Bekaa Valley.

"They bombed the two roads which connect the Bekaa to Beirut," he said. "This is a big catastrophe."

Source: www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=33976

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Bush Faces Major Choice Amid Escalation
Analysis by Jim Lobe

WASHINGTON, Jul 12 (IPS) - The sudden opening Wednesday by Lebanon's Hezbollah militia of a second front in Israel's ongoing campaign against Hamas militants in Gaza presents the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush with an escalating crisis that, until now, it has preferred to ignore.

The immediate question it faces is whether to maintain its strong backing for military action by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert or to engage in active diplomacy to prevent any further escalation and end the violence.

That the stakes are extraordinarily high was made clear not only by Olmert's decision to send the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) into Lebanon for the first time since Israel's withdrawal in 2000, but also by a White House statement issued Wednesday afternoon that promised to hold Syria and Iran "responsible for (the Hezbollah) attack and the ensuing violence."

"This is potentially very dangerous," Bassel Saloukh, a political scientist at the Lebanese American University in Beirut, told IPS in a telephone interview. "If the Americans take this to legitimate a strike against Iran or Syria, then I think it will escalate with devastating consequences."

For the past two weeks, Washington has mostly stood on the sidelines as Israeli forces have carried out military operations in Gaza, including the destruction of a U.S.-financed power plant and several other infrastructure targets, in what has so far been a futile quest to press Hamas to release an IDF corporal seized by militants during a raid on an Israeli border post in late June.

Those operations, which have so far resulted in the deaths of more than 50 Palestinians, as well as one Israeli soldier, have worsened what was already a deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza in what Arab governments and some human rights groups have called a disproportionate act of "collective punishment" against the civilian population.

While the Bush administration has urged restraint on all sides, its repeated backing for Israel's demand the soldier's release and its rejection of Hamas appeals for a ceasefire or negotiations for a prisoner sweep have been seen in the region as giving Olmert virtual carte blanche to pursue his offensive.

"The combination of our own diplomatic disengagement, our blaming Syria and Iran, and our giving the Israelis a green light (for its military campaign) has inflamed the entire region," according to Clay Swisher, a former State Department Middle East expert and author of the "Truth about Camp David", who just returned from Lebanon last week.

It was in this context that Hezbollah shelled Israeli civilian and military targets and attacked an IDF border patrol Wednesday, reportedly killing seven soldiers and abducting two others, effectively creating a second front along Israel's northern border.

Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah told a press conference a short time later that his group was prepared to hand over the two captives and the soldier held by Hamas in exchange for the release of dozens of Lebanese detainees, as well as hundreds of Palestinian prisoners as previously demanded by Hamas, held by Israel. "If the Israeli enemy wants escalation," he warned, "we are ready for the confrontation."

Meanwhile, however, Olmert, declaring the attacks "an act of war", launched an air, sea and ground assault in southern Lebanon designed, as in Gaza, to press Hezbollah -- and the Lebanese government of which it is a part -- to return the Israeli captives unconditionally. In the early fighting, Israeli warplanes reportedly destroyed three bridges, while the IDF chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, threatened to "turn back the clock in Lebanon by 20 years," if his soldiers were not returned.

According to Michael Hudson, a Levant expert at Georgetown University, Hezbollah's intervention was well-timed to take advantage of the growing anger in the region over Israel's campaign in Gaza and Washington's support for it, not to mention the deteriorating situation in U.S.-occupied Iraq.

"Hezbollah has inserted itself once again at a very opportune moment in the Israeli-Palestinian struggle," he said. "The attack is a very dramatic and substantial escalation of the whole regional situation and undoubtedly lifts Hezbollah's stock throughout the Arab-Islamic world."

Washington, which was clearly caught off guard by Hezbollah's move, responded twice in the course of the day. In a statement released in Paris, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice charged that Hezbollah's action "undermines regional stability" and called on all parties to "act with restraint to resolve this incident peacefully and to protect innocent life and civilian infrastructures."

"Syria," she said, in an apparent reference to Damascus' historic backing for Hezbollah, "has a special responsibility to use its influence to support a positive outcome."

In a more ominous statement several hours later, however, a White House spokesman issued the statement warning that Syria and Iran, which has also been a major sponsor of Hezbollah, will be held "responsible" for the attack and its consequences.

The two statements appeared to highlight the choice now faced by the administration -- whether to treat the current crisis as something that can be resolved through quiet diplomacy and mediation involving primarily local actors, including Israel, the Palestinians, and Hezbollah, with help from Damascus, or as part of a larger regional confrontation between the U.S. and Israel, on the one hand, and Syria, Iran, and various non-state actors on the other, in which case a wider regional conflict was more likely. Hudson, who stressed that Syria's and Iran's role, if any, in encouraging Hezbollah to attack was "entirely speculative," said Damascus and Tehran "may have calculated that, with the Israelis now engaged in a two-front war, and with the Americans bogged down in Iraq, neither is prepared for any major military adventures."

He also suggested that Tehran, if it did give Hezbollah a green light for such an attack, may be trying to demonstrate its "strategic reach" -- how much difficulty for Israel and the U.S. it can create -- at a moment when Washington is trying to rally Europe, Russia and China behind the U.N. Security Council if it fails to accept a U.S.-backed plan that would freeze its nuclear programme.

"If Washington wants to go down that path, then it will use this as a pretext to hit Iran in order to contain it and nip its regional ambitions in the bud," said Saloukh. If, on the other hand, Washington "interprets this as an instrumental strategy by Hezbollah to free Lebanese and Arab prisoners in Israeli jails, then there's room for negotiation."

As hinted by the difference between the statements by Rice and the White House, the choice may provoke a major fight within the administration, particularly between State Department officials, who have long argued in favour of a more active and even-handed U.S. role, particularly in trying to revive an Israeli-Palestinian peace process, and Elliot Abrams, Bush's senior Mideast advisor on the National Security Council staff, who, according to Chris Toensing, director of the Middle East Research and Information Project, "has been inclined to give Israel fairly free rein."

Until now, Rice has generally deferred to Abrams on Israel-Palestinian issues, but, with the conflict threatening "to become a regional conflagration, the administration may be forced to consider a different approach," he said.

Americans for Peace Now, a predominantly Jewish group that supports negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, also appealed Wednesday for the administration "to resume active U.S. diplomacy to help bring this spreading violence under control."

"It should be clear to the White House at this time that the Palestinian situation is not unfolding in a regional vacuum," said APN's president, Debra DeLee.

Source: www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=33952

[michelle]

Attention Deficit Americans Are Being Misled to War
July 15, 2006
by Paul Craig Roberts

A terrible thing is happening, and not enough Americans are aware to be able to do anything about it. Zionists in Israel and in the Bush administration are leading America into war with Iran, Syria, Hizbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Palestine. The consequences for America, Israel and the Middle East will be disastrous, but as long as Washington is in thrall to Zionist paranoia, nothing can be done about it. Bush made this clear on July 14 when he rejected the plea from Lebanon’s prime minister to pressure Israel to stop its attack on Lebanon.

The war began when Bush’s neoconservative government invaded Afghanistan and Iraq under the pretense of "fighting terrorism." Neither front has gone well for America. The Israelis, seeing the growing domestic opposition to Bush’s wars of choice, concluded that they are in danger of losing America’s military intervention in behalf of their Middle East interests. Israel decided to force the issue.

Israel did this by bombing and invading Gaza, from which they had just withdrawn as part of a "Palestinian settlement." Israel’s pretext was the capture of one Israeli soldier in Gaza in retribution for Israel’s genocidal policies toward Palestine. Few Americans know that Israel has forced Palestinians into ghettos and walled them off from their farm lands, schools, and medical treatment.

By slaughtering scores of civilians and destroying the infrastructure of the fragile land in response to the capture of one Israeli soldier, Israel has made it clear that its policy is fire and sword.

Under international law – the identical law that was used to try Nazi war criminals after World War II – Israel’s invasion of Gaza is a monstrous war crime. The United Nations top humanitarian official, Jan Egeland, said that Israel’s attacks on civilians and infrastructure violated international law.

On July 13, the UN Security Council tried to condemn Israel for its criminal invasion of Gaza, but US Ambassador John Bolton, a rabid pro-Israeli zealot, vetoed the Security Council resolution that would have required Israel to halt its illegal and criminal actions in Gaza. Bolton is the UN ambassador who could not get confirmed even in a Republican Senate and was given a recess appointment by Bush in defiance of Congress.

On July 12, Israel invaded Lebanon. The pretext was the capture of two Israeli soldiers in Israeli-occupied Lebanese territory by Hizbollah. In two days Israel has slaughtered scores of Lebanese civilians, destroyed bridges and power plants, attacked the Beruit International Airport and blocked Lebanese ports.

Israel’s over-reactions are calculated to start a wider war. Israel has asserted that the two soldiers captured by Hizbollah are being held in Iran. Israel blames Syria for Hizbollah’s acts. Both Israel and its neoconsevative allies in the Bush government blame Iran and Syria for "attacks on Israel" by Hamas and Hizbollah. No one, least of all Bush, blames Israel’s Palestinian policy.

Israel’s American agents, the neoconservatives, have made it clear for years that their goal is to eliminate every Middle Eastern government that is not ruled by an American puppet friendly to Israel. The people who hold the important positions in Bush’s government have frankly stated this position over and over. For example, a decade ago in 1996 a group of American neoconservatives who have comprised much of the sub-cabinet in the Bush administration wrote that Israel could gain American sympathy by blaming aggression on Hizbollah, Syria, and Iran and then seizing the strategic initiative by "engaging Hizbollah, Syria, and Iran as the principal agents of aggression in Lebanon."

First, however, Iraq would have to be taken out. The first focus, said the neocons, should be "on removing Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq – an important Israeli strategic objective in its own right."

Gentle reader, does it not strike you as strange that US citizens, most of whom have held presidential appointments in the Bush administration, are so concerned to plan how Israel can draw upon US blood and treasure to achieve Israel’s objectives in the Middle East?

We certainly have to hand it to Israel and its American neoconsevative agents. They have succeeded on entirely false pretenses in launching two wars in the Middle East and now they have prepared the ground for a general conflagration.

Who is to stop them? The Condi Rice State Department? Be serious.

The Democratic Party? What a laugh!

The power mad Republicans who have sold their souls?

The Christian Evangelicals who believe the destruction of huge numbers of people in the Middle East is the lead up to "the Rapture" in which they will be wafted up to Heaven?

The UN Security Council, where the US never fails to veto any resolution or sanction against Israel? [note from Michelle: see today's post at the united nations org.]

The US and Israel haven’t the troops needed to defeat and occupy Syria, Hizbollah and Iran with conventional forces. Pentagon documents have described two ways in which the Middle East can be secured for Israel. One is the use of nuclear weapons. The other is the destruction of all infrastructure – power plants, water and sewage systems, hospitals, schools, roads, bridges, ports, and a reduction of much housing to rubble by powerful conventional bombs. In other words, an air war that never ends.

Most Americans are incapable of identifying their own US Representative and Senators. Everything they "know" about the Middle East comes from Israeli propaganda: Israel is the innocent victim, and all Arabs are terrorists with suicide bombs.

America is being led by a handful of traitors into participating in "regime change" that might succeed or might dethrone our bought and paid for puppets in Egypt, Pakistan, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. If Pakistan were to fall to Islamist forces, Muslims would have a nuclear capability as a counterpart to Israel’s and America’s.

Muslims have many reasons to hate us for generations of oppression and interference in their internal affairs. As Iraq has proven, it is not easy to break their spirit. Out-gunned and out-manned, they still resist, motivated by anger and pride.

Many Americans may think that "ragheads" mean nothing to them. But when $200 oil means Americans cannot commute to their jobs in their gas-guzzlers from their far-flung suburbs, or Russia and China intervene because American-Israeli interests conflict with their own, the world becomes a different place for inattentive, uninvolved, complicit Americans.

Source: www.antiwar.com/roberts/?articleid=9311

[michelle]

FYI. From Truthout Forum. And more showing U.S. support for Israel.....Michelle

Israel has Crossed a Moral Boundary
Rabbi Michael Lerner

In 2003 I was prevented from speaking at a large demonstration protesting the impending war in Iraq because I was deemed too pro-Zionist by one of the sponsoring organizations. My sin then, as now, is that I believe that both sides have acted with insensitivity and have been oblivious to the needs of the other, and both sides need to repent.

I still believe that now, and as late as last week was calling on the tens of thousands of readers of www.tikkun.org to insist to the Palestinians that they would be far more effective if they were to adopt the non-violent strategies of Gandhi, King, and Mandela rather than to imagine themselves capable of militarily defeating Israel. And just as I've critiqued the state terrorism against civilians that the IDF brings to the West Bank occupation, so I've always critiqued the terrorism of some sectors of the Palestinian population.

But this week it's impossible as a Jew and as an American to not notice that a new human rights violation by Israel has taken place which manages to surpass many of its previous violations in cruelty and in the outrage it has generated.

Anyone has ever faced the crippling heat of the desert-like conditions of southern Israel or the Gaza strip knows the desperation for water that comes each summer. So when Israel bombed and destroyed the electricity system for 1.2 million Gazans and thereby made all electric pumps inoperable, they inflicted a collective punishment on the entire Gazan population.

The alleged justification was a desire to punish Palestinians for electing a Hamas government, and more immediately to retrieve a soldier who had been "kidnapped" (the quotes because this was not a civilian but a soldier in uniform, so if Israel sees itself as at war with Hamas, then the only possible description is that their soldier was captured by the other side). The Hamas government, however, has publicly urged the "kidnappers" whom it does not control to free the captured soldier.

Moreover, the outrage in Israel about this "kidnap" reflects a huge level of systematic denial going on in the consciousness of Israelis and many who support its policies, because virtually every human rights group including the various Israeli human rights organizations has chronicled tens of thousands of acts of "kidnap" of this sort by the IDF against Palestinian civilians, who are then kept in detention for as long as six months without a trial, often facing brutal torture, and then released without ever having been charged with any crime.

Of course, and I thank God for this because I care for the well being of the people of Israel , and as a Jew I am deeply tied to the success and safety of this particular Jewish society, the Palestinians have never been able to punish hundreds of thousands or millions of Israelis collectively for these systematic violations of human rights. To the extent that they do so through acts of terror, I condemn those acts.

However, this is a defining moment in our relationship with Israel for all Americans of whatever faith. Just as we need to make clear to our own government that its human rights violations in Guantanamo and Iraq are unacceptable, so we need to communicate to the Israeli people that the mass punishment of a million people for the acts of a few is as unacceptable when it comes from a democratic society as when it comes from the willful oppression of entrenched authoritarian dictators.

Even if, God forbid, the captured soldier is murdered by the lunatics who captured him, it is only they and their conscious sponsors who should be punished, not random Palestinians, unless you think it equally appropriate to some day punish the entire American public for the three million Vietnamese killed by American action in Vietnam or for the horrendous acts which continue in Guantanamo and Iraq even today.

Unfortunately, we can't count on our U.S. government to convey this sentiment without qualifying its concerns in ways that essentially communicate that Israel can do whatever it wants and we won't interfere.

So the onus is upon us as ordinary citizens to act and act decisively. We need to communicate our concerns to legislators and media. We need to organize demonstrations in front of the offices of our elected officials, and also outside Israeli consulates and those Jewish institutions which continue to use their influence to support Israeli policy even at this moment (there are a few which have spoken out in critique, but very very few).

And we need to write to those in power in Israel, starting with Prime Minister Olmert, telling them that even those of us who love Israel and will never let it be destroyed find this particular action unconscionable, demand that Israel immediately rebuild the electricity system, and that Israel stop trying to impose its will with military might but instead sit down with the Palestinians and negotiate a lasting peace.

Rabbi Michael Lerner is editor of Tikkun magazine, the largest circulation liberal/progressive Jewish magazine in the world.

Please circulate this widely, post it on websites, and spread the word.
If you wish to help us, JOIN The TIKKUN COMMUNITY at www.Tikkun.org.

Greta
by Greta on Mon Jul 10th, 2006 at 11:31:42 PM EDT
[ Parent ]

Source: forum.truthout.org/blog/comments/2006/7/8/235540/4171/61
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Pelosi: House Resolution Reaffirms Our Unwavering Support for Israel and Condemns Attacks by Hezbollah

7/19/2006 3:38:00 PM
To: National Desk

Contact: Brendan Daly or Jennifer Crider, 202-226-7616, both of the Office of Nancy Pelosi

WASHINGTON, July 19 /U.S. Newswire/ -- House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement this afternoon in support of H.Res. 921, which condemns the recent attacks against Israel, holds terrorists and their state-sponsors accountable for such attacks, and supports Israel's right to defend itself:

"I will support this resolution and urge my colleagues to do so as well. At a difficult time for the state of Israel, this resolution reaffirms our unwavering support and commitment to Israel and condemns the attacks by Hezbollah. The seizure of Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah terrorists was an unprovoked attack and Israel has a right and an obligation to respond.

"As the fighting rages, it is imperative that the combatants take whatever steps they can to lessen risk to innocent civilians. The world knows too well the horrors of war. But there are ways to offer some degree of protection to civilians, and it is right to insist that those ways be chosen. Using civilians as shields by concealing weapons in civilian areas, as done by Hezbollah, is inconsistent with affording them protection, and this resolution properly condemns that action. Protecting civilians also means getting our citizens out of harm's way as quickly as possible. I urge the Bush Administration to expedite its efforts to bring to safety those Americans who want to leave Lebanon.

"This attack would likely not have been possible without the explicit authorization of Hezbollah's main supporters, namely Iran and Syria. Hamas and Hezbollah are committed to the destruction of Israel, and Iran and Syria aid and abet efforts to achieve that goal. We must ensure that Iran and Syria understand the depth of the commitment of the United States to the state of Israel by using every diplomatic tool at our disposal.

"Syria has repeatedly demonstrated it is a rogue state, which is why we passed the Syria Accountability Act more than two years ago. However, we must now fully implement all the sanctions spelled out in the legislation. In order to address the Iranian support of terrorists, I urge the passage of the Iran Freedom Support Act."
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BULLSHIT ALERT!!!

US plans $A280m jet fuel sale to Israel
(15 July 2006)

The Pentagon notified Congress of plans to sell Israel jet fuel valued at up to $US210 million ($A280 million) "to keep peace and security in the region".
"The proposed sale of the JP-8 aviation fuel will enable Israel to maintain the operational capability of its aircraft inventory," the Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in notice required by law. (...) "The jet fuel will be consumed while (Israel's) aircraft (are) in use to keep peace and security in the region," the notice to Congress said. It said the sale - which Congress may block if both houses were to enact resolutions rejecting it within 30 days - would not affect the basic military balance in the region.

Read: It all:
www.theage.com.au/news/World/US-plans-A280m-jet-fuel-sale-to-Israel/2006/07/15/1152637904368.html
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DIGGING DEERPER INTO ISRAEL'S CONTROL OF U.S. GOVERNMENT:

The AMERICAN-ISRAELI COOPERATIVE ENTERPRISE (AICE) was established in 1993 as a nonprofit 501(c)(3), nonpartisan organization to strengthen the U.S.-Israel relationship by emphasizing the fundamentals of the alliance — the values our nations share. Tangibly, this means developing social and educational programs in the U.S. based on innovative, successful Israeli models that address similar domestic problems, and bringing novel U.S. programs to Israel. These cooperative activities, which stem from our common values, are called Shared Value Initiatives.

The Boards of Directors and contributors to AICE believe Israel has many valuable projects and ideas to offer the United States. Our book, Partners for Change: How U.S.-Israel Cooperation Can Benefit America, describes Shared Value Initiatives in virtually every area of concern to Americans, including science and technology, the environment, social services, education and health.

Board of Directors:

Howard Rosenbloom President / Treasurer
Dr. Arthur Bard Vice President / Secretary
Mitchell G. Bard Executive Director

ADVISORY BOARD

Dorothy Bard
Bernice Manocherian
Newton Becker
J. George Mitnick
Martin Block
Oscar Morvai
Renee Comet
Sy Opper
Edith Everett
Terry M. Rubenstein
Henry Everett
Charles Schusterman z"l
Howard Friedman
Lynn Schusterman
Jerry Gottesman
Irving Shuman
Paula Gottesman
Alan Slifka
Eugene M. Grant
Mark Vogel
Andy Lappin
Arnold Wagner
Stephen J. Lovell
Jane Weitzman

HONORARY COMMITTEE: U.S. Senators and Representatives

Rep. Gary Ackerman
Rep. Tom Lantos
Rep. Howard Berman
Rep. John Linder
Marshall Breger
Rep. Nita Lowey
Rep. Ben Cardin
Rep. Michael McNulty
Sen. Richard Durbin
Rep. Carrie Meek
Sen. Dianne Feinstein
Sen. Barbara Mikulski
Douglas Feith Rep.
Constance Morella
Rep. Robert Filner
Rep. Michael Pappas
Sen. Charles Grassley
Rep. Ed Pastor
Rep. Ralph Hall
Dr. Daniel Pipes
Rep. Alcee Hastings
Rep. John Porter
Richard A. Hellman Esq.
Sen. Rick Santorum
Rep. Sue Kelly Rep.
Jim Saxton
Rep. Peter King
Sen. Charles Schumer
Hon. Paul Simon

Source:
www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/boards.html

[michelle]

2004 Top Ten Career Recipients of Pro-Israel PAC Funds
Compiled by Hugh Galford

TOTAL for 2003-2004 Election Cycle: $1,910,197

TOTAL 1978-2004 Funds to Congressional Candidates: $39,532,465 [/color]

TOTAL No. of Recipient Candidates, 1978-2004: 1,897

Go here for list of individual government officials and monies received [including career totals received]: www.wrmea.com/archives/July_Aug_2004/0407027.html

[michelle]

Israel lets aid in as Lebanese flee north
By AHMAD MANTASH and LEE KEATH, Associated Press Writers
Sat Jul 22, 6:24 PM ET

SIDON, Lebanon - Zeinab Haidar fled her bombed-out home in the back of a pickup truck without a single possession, weaving along mountain roads until she finally reached a pocket of safety Saturday. Tens of thousands had beaten her there, and the city was teetering under the weight of refugees.

More than 35,000 people streaming north from the heart of the war zone had swamped the southern port city of Sidon. Fuel, food and some medicines were already tight for Sidon's own population of 100,000 and nearly impossible to replenish.

"There are no supplies reaching us, not from other nations, nor from the Lebanese government," said Mayor Abdul-Rahman al-Bizri, whose city was so packed that Palestinian refugees were taking in Lebanese refugees.

At the same time, the exodus of foreigners continued, with tens of thousands — including roughly 10,000 Americans, according to the U.S. State Department Saturday — having fled the country. Most of the Americans were transported by ship, though a very small number were taken out by helicopter.

Sidon was only one face of the mounting humanitarian crisis across Lebanon. An 11-day-old Israeli blockade has prevented new supplies from coming in, and bombardment has made roads unusable or too dangerous to distribute supplies to the south, where Israel is battling Hezbollah guerrillas.

On Saturday, the Israeli military announced it would loosen its blockade to allow humanitarian ships into Beirut's port and defined the coastal road heading north to Tripoli as a land corridor for aid. It also said it would allow aid flights into Beirut, though the airport is too damaged by missiles for planes to land.

But Israel did not define a safe passage route to the south — where the bombardment is heaviest, the roads most dangerous and the need most extreme.

Aid supplies on Friday and Saturday piggybacked on ships that Israel was letting in to pick up Europeans fleeing the country. Two Greek warships picking up evacuees arrived in Beirut carrying 36 tons of tents, food, blankets and medical supplies. An Italian ship expected Sunday was carrying more.

The U.N.'s top humanitarian official, Jan Egeland, was heading to Lebanon on Sunday, then to Israel on Tuesday for further coordination on opening aid corridors. He told reporters in Cyprus he would issue an appeal on Monday "urging, begging" the world to send help.

As the ranks of the refugees swell, so too does the need for aid. The number of displaced people has grown to 600,000, according to the World Health Organization, which a day earlier put the number at 400,000. The United Nations has generally been using the estimate of half a million. The Lebanese health minister put the number at 700,000.

Egeland told reporters that it would take $100 million to help the hundreds of thousands of Lebanese who have been hurt or displaced since the bombings began over a week ago.

"It's already a very major crisis" he said. "It has to stop. This is no natural disaster. This is a man-made crisis."

Hundreds of Israeli troops moved into southern Lebanon on Saturday, taking control of Maroun al-Ras, which like many of the villages closest to the border is nearly empty. But as they advance, the Israelis will hit towns and villages where tens of thousands are believed still trapped in their homes.

The Lebanese government has medicine stocks to last for three months and flour supplies for two months, but it can't take them to the south because Israeli warplanes have been targeting trucks on the roads, believing they are carrying supplies for Hezbollah, said Mona Hammam, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Lebanon.

Hospitals in the worst hit areas are unusable because airstrikes prevent supplies from reaching them. Three main hospitals in Beirut's heavily bombed southern suburbs were unable to function and patients were moved to other facilities, the World Health Organization said Saturday.

"People are dying because they don't have access to chronic drugs or they can't be evacuated," said Hammam. "There is a government that could very well supply everybody if they could deliver it, if they could import supplies."

In Sidon, electricity goes off for hours because of fuel rationing. Vegetable markets were open Saturday only for several hours before their supplies ran out. Hospitals warned they were running short of medicines for chronic diseases. To ensure uninterrupted electrical service, they rely on generators.

Haidar, 40, fled her home in Tair Dibba near the border with seven family members, waving sheets from the back of the pickup truck — a makeshift white flag. At Sidon's municipal building, she waited for more than an hour along with thousands of others as volunteers tried to find a place for them to spend the night.

"We held out for 10 days under the bombardment without electricity. But after the food ran out and some of the nearby houses got hit, we had to go," she said.

Outside, cars packed Sidon's streets, carrying refugees on a search for lodging or for other destinations further north.

"Where can we go? There is no place. If you know of something, please tell us," said Fatima Amir, sitting on the curb with a group of refugee women. "God protect Hezbollah, and let them be victorious over these cruel Israelis."

Families fleeing the fighting have been filling schools in Sidon for days — and by Saturday they were full. So, the southern Lebanese were placed in Ain Hilweh, home to 65,000 Palestinians who suddenly went from refugees to playing host to the same people who hosted them after they had been forced to flee their own homes.

Far more refugees have gone to the mountains of the north or Beirut, where they are sleeping in parks and schools. More than 150,000 have left for Syria.

The opening of Beirut port to aid ships could help those in those areas. The International Red Cross was stocking a warehouse in Cyprus with supplies to take by ferry to the capital.

But getting it to the south will be more difficult, since Israel has not opened a road there or said it will allow ships directly into Sidon or Tyre.

Some aid convoys have reached the south, but with all the main highways unusable, trucks had to take twisting side roads through the mountains.

The first Red Cross relief convoy to Tyre arrived Friday after a six-hour journey over damaged roads from Beirut — normally a 90 minute trip. Tyre has dwindled from some 175,000 people to only 5,000.

Lee Keath reported from Beirut. AP correspondent Zeina Karam contributed to this report.
Source:
tinyurl.com/yjqo4a

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Humanitarian toll hits southern Lebanon as violence continues
By Liz Sly - Tribune foreign correspondent
July 20, 2006

BEIRUT -- Fears mounted Thursday that a humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding in southern Lebanon as Israel sustained its intense bombardment of the area and U.S. Marines landed on the beaches near Beirut to help speed the evacuation of Americans from the war-zone.

Thousands of Lebanese were trying to flee the south after Israeli warplanes dropped leaflets warning people to leave, stirring fears that an Israeli ground invasion was imminent. But hundreds of thousands more remain stranded in villages and towns across the south, unable to leave their homes because of the intensity of the sustained Israeli bombing campaign.

United Nations and Lebanese officials warned of an impending humanitarian disaster unless food and medical supplies are allowed to reach the stricken area and called on Israel to establish a "humanitarian corridor" to allow aid to get through.

More than 300 people now have been killed and more than 1,000 wounded, most of them in the south, since Israel began its assault in response to the abduction of two Israeli soldiers abducted by Hezbollah guerrillas.

In Israel, 29 people have been killed, 12 of them soldiers, in Hezbollah rocket attacks on northern Israel and in fighting between Hezbollah guerrillas and the Israeli army in the border region.

Hospitals in the south are overflowing with injured people, and ambulances are unable to reach victims in remote villages, leaving many to die unattended, said Lebanon's social affairs minister, Nayla Muawad.

"We are living a humanitarian disaster. People are in a desperate situation. They have no milk and medicines," she said. "Supplies are unable to reach the people."

Israel continued to pound southern Lebanon with artillery and air strikes and there were reports of fierce fighting late Thursday inside Lebanon between Hezbollah guerrillas and Israeli soldiers. Israel reported two soldiers were killed in the fighting.

Also, two of Israel's Apache attack helicopters crashed in northern Israel near the border with Lebanon, injuring four soldiers, the Israeli military told The Associated Press.

In the once teeming southern Beirut neighborhood of Haret Hreik, where Hezbollah had headquarters and where Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah lived, the massive scale of Israel's nine-day-old bombing campaign was chillingly evident.

Entire apartment buildings have been crushed, their contents spilled onto cratered, debris-strewn streets. The blackened stump of one pulverized building—struck the night before—still smouldered. The stench of cordite, an explosive, hung over the eerily empty remains of what was once a bustling, densely populated community.

In front of the wreckage of Nasrallah's apartment building, stray sheets of Hezbollah notepaper were entangled in the detritus of ordinary people's lives — torn photographs of family holidays, somebody's shattered CD collection, scraps of clothing and, incongruously, half a sofa.

Leading journalists on a tour of the destruction, Hezbollah spokesman Hussein Nabulsi pointed at the apartments as evidence that Israel's campaign is targeting civilians, not military infrastructure.

"It's just apartments belonging to civilians," he said. "This is where we live. It's just ordinary people living here."

Hezbollah does not deny that its offices were scattered among the apartments in the neighborhood, which was well known to journalists. The apartment building housing Hezbollah's press office, where officials received journalists, was among those demolished by the air strikes.

But Hezbollah remained defiant in the face of the Israeli onslaught. Nasrallah gave an interview to Al Jazeera television Thursday to challenge Israeli claims that 23 tons of explosives dropped on a site in the southern Beirut suburb of Borj al-Barajneh had destroyed a Hezbollah bunker in which he had been hiding.

"I can confirm without exaggerating or using psychological warfare, that we have not been harmed," he said. Hezbollah's Al Manar television had said the strike demolished a half-finished mosque.

Israel's claims to have demolished half of Hezbollah's arsenal of rockets were "baseless," he said. "Hezbollah has so far stood fast, absorbed the strike and has retaken the initiative and made the surprises that it had promised," he said. "And there are more surprises."

Nasrallah has gone into hiding since the attack, making sporadic media appearances to prove he is still alive.

Most of Haret Hreik's residents, aware that the presence of Hezbollah's offices made the neighborhood a target, also fled to safer parts of the city as soon as the first Israeli warplanes flew overhead more than a week ago.

But those living in southern Lebanon could not get out so easily because the main roads, bridges and highways linking the south to the north were an immediate target of the Israeli warplanes.

The U.S.-based aid agency Catholic Relief Services said it had received numerous reports of civilian vehicles being targeted as they attempted to flee the south.

"People are trying to get out of all of the south because the attacks are increasing, but if you leave your house you may be attacked," Ali al-Benni, CRS's representative in the southern town of Sidon, said in a telephone interview. "The situation is really, really bad the deeper into the south you go."

At least 100,000 people have sought refuge in centers established for displaced people, the Lebanese government said, and altogether, 500,000 Lebanese - an eighth of the population - have been forced to flee their homes, according to the UN.

"Israel's disproportionate use of force and collective punishment must stop," said the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in New York.

With no sign that either party to the conflict is preparing to back down, the exodus of foreign nationals from Lebanon accelerated. Another 1,200 Americans were ferried to safety in Cyprus, escorted by U.S. Marines who landed on a Beirut beach to help with the two-day-old effort to evacuate Americans stranded in Lebanon.

Thursday's evacuations brought to more than 2,500 the number of Americans taken out of the country since the fighting erupted. Thousands of other foreign nationals also are being evacuated by their governments.
SOURCE:
www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-060720mideast,1,5929211.story?coll=chi-news-hed
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Israel pounds Lebanon
July 18, 2006

Israeli warplanes battered Lebanon today, killing at least 32 people, and more Hezbollah rockets hit the Israeli city of Haifa, with no sign that diplomacy would halt the week-old conflict any time soon.

Nine family members, including children, were killed and four wounded in an air strike on their house in the village of Aitaroun. Four people were killed in other strikes in the south.

A truck carrying medical supplies donated by the United Arab Emirates was hit and its driver killed on the Beirut-Damascus highway, the Health Ministry said.

An air raid on a Lebanese army barracks in the Jamhour area east of Beirut killed 11 Lebanese soldiers, including four officers, and wounded 30.

Hezbollah, a Shiite Muslim group backed by Syria and Iran, said one of its fighters had been killed, but gave no details.

Up to six rockets slammed into Haifa, Israel's third-largest city and now a favoured target for Hezbollah. No casualties were reported. A rocket salvo killed eight people in Haifa on Sunday.

Israel's army refused to rule out a ground invasion only six years after it ended a 22-year occupation of south Lebanon.

"At this stage we do not think we have to activate massive ground forces into Lebanon but if we have to do this, we will," Moshe Kaplinsky, Israel's deputy army chief, told Israel Radio.

He said the offensive, launched after Hezbollah fighters seized two Israeli soldiers and killed eight in a cross-border raid on July 12, would end within weeks. Israel needed more time to complete "very clear goals", Kaplinsky added.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan called for a bigger, better armed and more robust international force to stabilise southern Lebanon and buy time for the Lebanese Government to disarm Hezbollah guerillas.

Shrugging off US and Israeli reluctance, Annan said he expected European troops to join the proposed force in a bid to end the fighting and prevent a wider Middle East conflagration.

Annan and British Prime Minister Tony Blair have urged the UN Security Council to deploy a security force in Lebanon but Israel says it is too early to discuss it and Washington has questioned how it could stop Hezbollah from attacking Israel.

"It is urgent that the international community acts to make a difference on the ground," Annan said in Brussels, suggesting a force that would operate differently from toothless UN peacekeepers who have patrolled south Lebanon since 1978.

"The force will be larger, the way I see it, much larger than the 2000-man force we have there," Annan said.

He was speaking after talks with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, who said some European Union member states were willing to contribute troops.

A poll in the mass-circulation Yedioth Ahronoth daily showed a vast majority of Israelis backed the Lebanon offensive. Many favoured assassinating Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

It showed 86 per cent of Israelis believed the army's attacks on Lebanon were justified.

Thousands of foreigners fled Lebanon, some by road to Syria, others seeking places on US and European ships after Beirut's international airport was closed by Israeli bombardment. About 100,000 Lebanese have fled their homes to escape the violence.

Israel's campaign has killed 230 people, all but 26 of them civilians, and inflicted the heaviest damage on Lebanon since the 1982 Israeli invasion to expel Palestinian guerillas.

Hezbollah has responded by attacking an Israeli naval vessel off Beirut, killing four sailors, and firing hundreds of rockets across the border, killing 12 Israelis.

Israel is also pursuing an offensive in the Gaza Strip after Palestinian militants captured another soldier on June 25.

Lebanon has repeatedly called for an immediate ceasefire, but world powers said any solution to the crisis must include the release of the two soldiers. Israel also wants Hezbollah to disarm in line with UN Security Council resolutions.

The Beirut Government is too weak and divided to force Hezbollah to yield to such demands.

The Shiite group wants to swap the soldiers for Lebanese and Arab prisoners in Israeli jails. Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Hezbollah must free its two captives unconditionally.

She was speaking just hours after Public Security Minister Avi Dichter said Israel might at some stage have to negotiate over Lebanese prisoners held in Israel to end the crisis.

Israel pounded: Peres

Hezbollah has fired 1500 missiles and rockets into Israel from southern Lebanon since it triggered the conflict last week, Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres said on British television on Tuesday.

"We should stop the shooting of missiles over our heads, over our villages and towns. They fired until now 1500 missiles and rockets," he told Sky News.

"We are trying to control the roads ... of Lebanon because all the 12,000 missiles and rockets that they have collected came from Iran and Syria," he said.

The veteran politician also said that Israel did not intend to send ground troops into Lebanon, as it has done several times in the last three decades.

He insisted that the Iranian- and Syrian-backed Hezbollah is an enemy of the Lebanese people acting independently from their national interests, and that Israel, by contrast, wanted good relations with the Lebanese.

"The only enemy they have is an army within an army called Hezbollah. Lebanon is not our enemy. We have nothing to ask from Lebanon, we have much to hope from Lebanon. We hope to live as good neighbours," he said.

"We didn't attack Lebanon, and we are not going to organise Lebanon, we are not going to play a role in their politics," he said.

Quoting Israeli intelligence sources, the London specialist magazine Jane's Defence Weekly said Hezbollah probably had a total of 10,000 to 15,000 rockets provided by Syria and Iran.

The estimates square with claims made by the militia's leader, Hassan Nasrallah on May 23, when he said Hezbollah held 12,000 rockets.

War just begun: Iran

Elsewhere, the Iranian Parliament Speaker said on Tuesday the war against Israel had only just begun and there was nowhere in Israel safe from Hezbollah attacks.

"The day has come when everybody returns home, the day when Palestinians return home, return to the land of their origins and its is also the day when the Israelis have to return to the countries where they originally came from," Gholam-Ali Hadad-Adel said at a anti-Israeli gathering in the Palestine Square in central Tehran.

Hadad-Adel, who is head of the Abadgaran (Development) party which currently dominates parliament and of which President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a leading member, once again declared Iran's full solidarity with Lebanon and Hezbollah.

"There will be no help which we would not render to Lebanon and the resistance [Hezbollah]," the speaker said.

He compared Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah with the late leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and said that "the Ayatollah's blood was running in Nasrallah's veins."

SOURCE:
www.smh.com.au/news/world/israel-bombarded-peres/2006/07/18/1153166347409.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

[michelle]

“Imagine there’s no countries...Nothing to live or die for...Imagine all the people living life in peace.” - John Lennon


Gaza Doctors: "We will run out of medical supplies soon if offensive continues"

Ghassan H Bannoura - IMEMC - Thursday, 20 July 2006, 18:11

Dr. Jom'a Al Saka, the spokesperson of Al Shifa hospital in Gaza, said in an interview with the IMEMC that if the Israeli "Summer Rain" military operation continues, Gaza will run out of medical supplies soon.

He said, "We depend on medical supplies coming from outside, through the terminals surrounding Gaza. Since the military offensive started, those crossings are closed, so the stock of medical supplies we had will run out soon."

The Israeli army have closed all border crossings, both foot-passenger and commercial, and stopped food, fuel and medical supplies from coming into Gaza since the start of the army offensive over three weeks ago.

A human rights centre in Gaza said that 26 people had been killed, and more than 200 injured during this week alone. Among the casualties, women and children. The continued army attacks on the towns and cities of the Gaza Strip have raised fears among doctors that there will soon be no medical supplies left in the Gaza hospitals.

"Soon we will be unable to send ambulances to get patients" Dr Jom'a Al Saka added.

Meanwhile, the General Manager of Ambulances and Emergencies for the Ministry of Health, Dr. Muawiya Hassanein, said in a report published by Ma'an news agency on Thursday, "Ten Palestinians were killed and more than 108 injured, 14 of them seriously, during the last two days in which the Israeli forces penetrated Al Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip,

Hassanain added, "The Israeli forces are using internationally prohibited missiles that contain chemical materials and burning metals and in addition, have shrapnel in the shape of nails". He pointed out that the injuries received in the hospitals as a result of these missiles are very dangerous because the human tissues and muscles are torn and in addition, the injured suffer from severe bleeding, loss of limbs and broken bones.

IMEMC gained interviews with several doctors working in different hospitals in the Gaza strip, and all confirmed the use of non-conventional weapons. One of the doctors we spoke to, Dr. Saeed Jodah, told us, "When the Shrapnel hits the body; it causes very strong burns that destroy the tissues around the bones. When this shrapnel enters the body, it burns and destroys internal organs, like the liver, kidneys, the spleen and other organs, and makes saving the wounded almost impossible. As a surgeon, I have seen thousands of wounds during the Intifada, but nothing was like this weapon."

The latest case that matched these symptoms was Muhammad Muhra, 17, from Al Bureij refugee camp. He was killed on Thursday. His body arrived at the hospital in an almost unrecognizable condition.
SOURCE:
www.imemc.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20207&Itemid=1
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"What is going on in the occupied territories is manslaughter, killing just for the sake of killing, as Israeli forces storm refugee populations on a daily basis. All for the sake of one person, one soldier, captured in what would be considered, in any other time and place, a legitimate military operation, in an ambush on a tank in southern Gaza on June 25th"

- Rami Almeghari (21 July 2006) -- Taken from Killing For the Sake of Killing


"Israel must now deal a blow of such magnitude to those who would destroy it as to leave no doubt that its earlier policy of acquiescence is over. This means precise military action against Hezbollah and its infrastructure in Lebanon and Syria, for as long as it takes and without regard to mindless diplomatic blather about proportionality."

- Richard Perle, neoconservative chieftain, in an op-ed piece published on July 23 in the New York Times


'"Lebanon carpenters are running out of wood for coffins. Bodies are stacked 3 or 4 feet high at the hospital morgue. The stench is spreading in the rubble. The morbid reality of Israel’s bombing campaign is reaching almost every corner of the city… On Thursday, the wild dogs gnawed at the charred remains of a family bombed as they were trying to escape the village."

- Hassan Fattah, New York Times
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What If Israel Had Never Been Created?
William Hughes
July 11, 2006

Thanks mostly to U.S. President Harry S. Truman and his “susceptibility to Zionist influence,” Israel came into existence in 1948. (1) Humanity, and in particular, the Palestinians, have paid dearly for his decision. The land on which the Palestinians had been living for centuries, in peace, with a minority Jewish population, has been gradually transformed into an Apartheid state by the machinations of the Zionist Movement. That Apartheid state, in turn, is today dominated by Israel’s Death-Mayhem-and- Occupation Machine. (2)

One wonders: What would the world look like today, if the state of Israel had not been created in 1948? Its improvident formation seems to have set in motion a chain of events, mostly negative, in the affairs of Mankind. In the movie, “Click,” the lead character finds a “universal remote” that allows him to rewind to different parts of his life and to change what had happened. If I possessed such a “universal remote” and could stop President Truman from aiding and abetting the establishment of an Israeli state, then, it is my speculation, (a theory), that the following 25 propositions would probably be our present day reality. They are:

1. The U.S. would not have any enemies in the Islamic World.

2. There would be no Al-Qaeda Terrorist Network.

3. Gasoline would be selling for less than $1 a gallon.

4. There would have been no 9/11.

5. There would be no USA Patriot Law.

6. There would be no Homeland Security Agency.

7. The Israeli Lobby’s “unmatched power” over the U.S.’ foreign policy, for over four decades, would not had existed. (Its support for the Iraqi War was deemed by the experts to be “critical.”) (3)

8. There would also not have been any Neocon ideologues; like Paul Wolfowitz, William Kristol, Richard Perle, et al, to help, (along with other “Special Interests”), to push the U.S. into an illegal war with Iraq. (4)

9. Iran would not be the next target for U.S. aggression. (No Israel. No “A Clean Break” document. No Israeli Lobby. No Neocons. No need for the U.S. to attack Iran.) (5)

10. The Zionist fink, Jonathan Pollard, wouldn’t be in prison for stealing U.S. military secrets and hawking them to Israel.

11. The three million-plus Palestinians, who were forcefully dispersed from their homeland, since 1948, by the Israeli Occupation Forces, (IOF), would, instead, be living happily there today, in a free and independent state of Palestine. There would be no Apartheid Wall, or as a corollary, a Hamas organization. (6)

12. Jerusalem would have a vibrant Christian population. (7)

13. Rachel Corrie of Olympia, WA, would be alive and well. (8)

14. The 2,544 Americans who have died in Iraq would be alive; and the 18,777, who have been seriously wounded there, would be fully participating in our Republic. U.S. taxpayers would have an additional $295 billion, (the cost of the war), in the treasury to use to serve the social needs of the people. Universal Health Care would be a real possibility and Social Security would not be in jeopardy. Iraq would be at peace. There would be no Gitmo Bay detention center, or an Abu Ghraib Prison, or a reason for the Bush-Cheney Gang to gut Habeas Corpus. No need for it to also employ torturers, or chemical weapons, or hold detainees without charges or trial. The Geneva Convention would be respected. The tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis, who have died as a result of the war, would instead be alive today. (At the following footnote, see horrific photos of some of the Iraqi dead.) (9)

15. The battle to save our planet, its fragile ecosystem, its fast vanishing animal life and plants and to combat global warming, would be issue “No. 1.” (10) Instead, we are perpetually bombarded with propaganda about defending “Israel’s security.”

16. If there was no Israel, then the “five dancing Israelis” on 9/11 wouldn’t have been arrested. They were nailed after “celebrating” in NJ, while watching the Twin Towers collapsed. (11)

17. U.S. taxpayers would be $140 billion richer! This is the staggering amount they have shelled out over the last 58 years to support the ultra-greedy interests of the Zionist Cartel. (3)

18. The 34 Americans onboard the USS Liberty, who were slaughtered by the IOF, on June 8, 1967, would be alive today; and the 174 others who had suffered injuries that day would not have had to endure their horrific experiences. The shame the U.S. carries for not having quickly defended the men of the Liberty, and retaliated against the Israelis for their deliberate attack on the vessel, would have been avoided. (12)

19. On June 13, 2006, the IOF killed ten Palestinians, including three medical workers and two children, in the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, labeled the missile attack an example of “state terrorism.” Only God knows how many Palestinians the Israelis have actually wasted since 1948; or exactly how many refugees it has created, or how many homes, a la Oliver Cromwell, the IOF have demolished. None of this would have been possible without the dubious “state of Israel.” (13)

20. Paul Bremer, a coat holder for Henry “Iago” Kissinger, would have never been appointed Viceroy for an Occupied Iraq. No Israel. No Iraqi War. No Zionist Bremer as Viceroy of Iraq. (14)

21. One of the reasons the Warren Commission failed to properly investigate the murder of JFK was because of Arlen Specter (R-PA), a card carrying Zionist. He was then a “Special Counsel” to the Commission. He concocted the preposterous “Magic Bullet” theory, which shut down any real conspiracy-type probe. It is also interesting to note, that Jacob Rubenstein, aka, “Jack Ruby,” Lee Harvey Oswald’s murderer, had close ties to Meyer Lansky’s National Crime Syndicate. I believe the answer to who really plotted JFK’s killing, died with Oswald. In any event after JFK’s death, Israel’s nuclear weapons program, which he had opposed went ahead. U.S. aid to Israel also increased dramatically. (15)

22. There would have been no reason for a French Ambassador to refer to Israel as “that shitty little country.” (16) In fact, the Jews of the world would have been liberated to fulfill their deepest spiritual quest, as embodied in their religion - Judaism. According to the highly respected Orthodox Rabbi, Dovid Yisroel Weiss, “Zionism has hijacked Judaism.” The courageous Rabbi insists that, “Zionism creates anti-Semitism...And we know...Zionism is the root cause for the pain, suffering and bloodshed of the Jewish people...and, they, (the Zionists), are the greatest factory of anti-Semitism worldwide...Judaism and Zionism is not one and the same. They are diametrically opposite...We should not be mistaken one for the other. And, we shouldn’t be responsible for the actions of what the Zionists do...Now, another of the problems that emanate actually from the Zionist Movement is the fact that they are encroaching upon the rights of the Palestinian people, the indigenous people, who are living there. And, this is terribly wrong. It is against every concept of the Torah...So, whatever they are doing is totally wrong!” (17)

23. Thousands of Israelis have died attempting to build a nation in a land, Palestine, which belonged to another people, the Palestinians. Their deaths would have been avoided. (18)

24. The widespread spying on Americans, without a court order, by operatives of the Bush-Cheney Gang, would have never happened. (No Israel. No 9/11. No spying on U.S. citizens.)

25. On April 4, 2003, a European Union (EU) poll named Israel as the “greatest threat to world peace.” (19) On June 27, 2006, the IOF proved the EU right by reoccupying Gaza, savagely terrorizing the civilian population, blowing up their electric/water generating facilities, conducting a mass arrest of their elected officials, and also, without just cause, provoking the Syrians. In response to the repeated shelling by the IOF of Gaza, Israel’s Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, wisecracked, “Nobody dies from being uncomfortable!” When he addressed a Joint Session of the U.S. Congress, on May 24, 2006, Olmert received 38 breaks of applause and 18 standing ovations from that entity of mostly lapdogs. This is also the same Israeli leader, who, paraphrasing George Orwell's “Animal Farm,” said that he had a “deep regret” about the effects of some IOF’s operations which had killed 14 innocent Palestinians in just nine days, but that the lives of Israeli citizens were “even more important.”(20) Finally, if there wasn’t a Zionist-created Israel, there also wouldn’t be any need for a commentary like this one!

Notes:

1. www.counterpunch.org/clark06032006.html

2. www.marxists.de/middleast/schoenman/index.htm

3. ksgnotes1.harvard.edu/Research/wpaper.nsf/rwp/RWP06-011/%24File/rwp_06_011_walt.pdf ; and, www.counterpunch.org/christison06162006.html

4. batr.net/neoconwatch/archives/2004_12_01_neoconswatch_archive.html ; and www.whatreallyhappened.com/offtowar.html

5. Chalmer Johnson’s “Sorrows of Empire.”

6.

7. hcef.org/hcef/ ; Scott McConnell’s “Divided & Conquered,” TAC, 07/03/06; woodstock.georgetown.edu/publications/column_Feb2001.htm and www.icahduk.org/documents/SupportSabeel.htm

8. www.rachelcorrie.org/

9. www.afterdowningstreet.org/uncensored

10. www.globalpublicmedia.com/lectures/448

11. www.whatreallyhappened.com/fiveisraelis.html

12. www.ussliberty.org/

13. www.pchrgaza.org/

14. www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1522983,00.html

15. Peter Dale Scott’s “Deep Politics and the Death of JFK” and Stephen Green’s “Taking Sides: America’s Secret Relationship with a Militant Israel.”

16. www.themodernreligion.com/jihad/french-ambassador.html

17. www.nkusa.org/index.cfm and usa.mediamonitors.net/headlines/rabbi_weiss_rips_ariel_sharon_zionism and baltimore.indymedia.org/newswire/display/5200/index.php

18. wrmea.org/

19. www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,1022127,00.html

20. Ravi Nessman’s “Israel Steps Up Offensive,” AP, 07/03/06; Boston Globe’s “Agony of Gaza,” 07/07/06; and news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article1095841.ece

William Hughes is a Baltimore author, attorney, educator and professional actor. He has been writing political commentaries for over 40 years. His latest book, "Saying 'No' to the War Party," is a collection of his essays and photographs that targeted the "Special Interests," like the Neocons, Big Oil and the Military-Industrial Complex, that dragged the U.S. into the Iraqi war. The book was the author's way of challenging the outrageous conduct of the Bush-Cheney Gang.
SOURCE:
www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=11391

[michelle]

MESSAGE FROM INTERNATIONAL JEWS AGAINST ZIONISM

Note From Michelle, the following quote is from « Reply #22 on Jul 25, 2006, 7:54pm above, "What If Israel Had Never Been Created?" :

'In fact, the Jews of the world would have been liberated to fulfill their deepest spiritual quest, as embodied in their religion - Judaism. According to the highly respected Orthodox Rabbi, Dovid Yisroel Weiss, “Zionism has hijacked Judaism.” The courageous Rabbi insists that, “Zionism creates anti-Semitism...And we know...Zionism is the root cause for the pain, suffering and bloodshed of the Jewish people...and, they, (the Zionists), are the greatest factory of anti-Semitism worldwide...Judaism and Zionism is not one and the same. They are diametrically opposite...We should not be mistaken one for the other. And, we shouldn’t be responsible for the actions of what the Zionists do...Now, another of the problems that emanate actually from the Zionist Movement is the fact that they are encroaching upon the rights of the Palestinian people, the indigenous people, who are living there. And, this is terribly wrong. It is against every concept of the Torah...So, whatever they are doing is totally wrong!” '

Orthodox Jews Demand End to Zionist Atrocities in the Middle East
July 18 – New York

The brutal and indiscriminate attack upon the people and infrastructure of Lebanon by the Zionist State "Israel" is a crime against all basic standards of decency and humanity.

The excuse given for this murderous invasion was the attack by Hezbollah on the IDF. What this might have to do with the hundreds of thousands of Lebanese innocent men, women and children, who are subjected to an ongoing living hell, is beyond comprehension.

Indeed, this current aggression is only the second chapter of the recent viciousness; the first being the furious reinvasion of Gaza and the onslaught on its civilians and the ruination of its basic human services.

Of course, voices may be heard that the IDF are simply responding. This, of course, ignores the question of the evil, implicit in punishing blameless people for the deeds of others. And it totally ignores the root of the problem, the dispossession and subjugation of the Palestinian people which began in 1948, was expanded in 1967 and continues unabated to this day. The crux of the matter is that beyond the immorality of the Zionist treatment of the Palestinians is the ultimate fact -- the ideology of Zionism and ensuing establishment of the Zionist state conflicts with the basic teachings of Judaism.

Zionism is the transformation from Judaism, a G-dliness and spirituality, into a G-dlessness, materialism with nationalistic aspirations. Theodor Herzl and his cohorts, the fathers of this relatively new ideology of Zionism (approximately 100 years), have taken the Almighty out of the equation.

The ultimate establishment of the Zionist State, the fulfilment of the Zionist ideology, takes this blasphemy a step further. The Jewish people were sent into exile by Divine decree. They where then expressly commanded by the Almighty, not to attempt to leave their exilic existence through any human intervention. They were expressly forbidden to create their own state, such as the Zionist state of "Israel". (Talmud, Tractate Kesuboth, p.111).

The Jewish people are forbidden to oppress another people. The creation of the State of "Israel" came about through, the theft from, subjugation and oppression of, the Palestinian people.

Torah Jewry, therefore, condemns the horrifying suffering inflicted upon both the Palestinian and Lebanese people. Because of all of the above, all attempts to achieve peace and stability for "Israel" are destined to fail. The Creator cannot be defied with impunity.

The Rabbis stated, that the State of "Israel" will result in unending pain, suffering and bloodshed. May the Almighty protect His creations.

The State of "Israel" does not speak in the name of Jews, they have stolen the name "Israel" from the Jewish people. Jews are commanded to be loyal citizens in every country in which they reside.

Zionism and the State of "Israel", is the main cause of the exacerbation of anti Semitism universally.

The government of the illegitimate State of "Israel", continually attempts to uproot the Torah and its statutes. They persistently oppress the Torah true Jews who reside in its borders.

We pray that all misery in the Holy Land and Lebanon, shall come to an end and that Zionism, the root of the suffering, continue to fade from Jewish consciousness, to be replaced by the faith of Torah. We shall all witness soon the peaceful dismantlement of the Zionist State "Israel". May we merit seeing the day when all humanity will serve the Almighty in harmony and peace. Amen

SOURCE:
www.nkusa.org/activities/Statements/2006July18.cfm

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Reference Maps by the Palestine Red Crescent Society www.palestinercs.org/reference_maps.htm

Maps of how little land Israel actually plans to leave the Palestinians to live on. It's a little like someone kicking you out of your house and telling you it's okay live in the garbage can in the alley as long as you live under their oppressive laws. Take a couple minutes to explore the various maps, especially the one on the infamous separation wall... You'll be outraged by such a rapacious and illegal land grab...
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GREED (A story of Men or Nations)

There were two men who had a dispute over a boundary line.One said, "This land belongs to me!" The other said, "It is mine!" So they fought and fought like two wild beasts and oh, the blood that was shed. Till one of the men was crippled for life and the other man was dead! Then the cripple lived in misery, and he cried in his despair, "What fools we were so greedy to be! There was plenty for both to share!"

— Peace Pilgrim I

[michelle]

THE POWERFUL POLITICAL ARM OF THE JEWISH LOBBY AT WORK IN WASHINGTON.
Note: Below the article is a link from the American Friends Service Committee to tell Congress the U.S. needs to stop supporting conflict in the Middle East with an immediate and unconditional cease-fire in Lebanon and Israel, stop U.S. arms flow to Israel and the region, and request a Presidential report on Israel's misuse of U.S.-supplied weapons to kill civilians....Michelle

AIPAC's Hold
Ari Berman
posted August 4, 2006 (web only)

In early March, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) held its forty-seventh annual conference in Washington. AIPAC's executive director spent twenty-seven minutes reading the "roll call" of dignitaries present at the gala dinner, which included a majority of the Senate and a quarter of the House, along with dozens of Administration officials.

As this event illustrates, it's impossible to talk about Congress's relationship to Israel without highlighting AIPAC, the American Jewish community's most important voice on the Hill. The Congressional reaction to Hezbollah's attack on Israel and Israel's retaliatory bombing of Lebanon provide the latest example of why.

On July 18, the Senate unanimously approved a nonbinding resolution "condemning Hamas and Hezbollah and their state sponsors and supporting Israel's exercise of its right to self-defense." After House majority leader John Boehner removed language from the bill urging "all sides to protect innocent civilian life and infrastructure," the House version passed by a landslide, 410 to 8.

AIPAC not only lobbied for the resolution; it had written it. "They [Congress] were given a resolution by AIPAC," said former Carter Administration National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski, who addressed the House Democratic Caucus on July 19. "They didn't prepare one."

AIPAC is the leading player in what is sometimes referred to as "The Israel Lobby"--a coalition that includes major Jewish groups, neoconservative intellectuals and Christian Zionists. With its impressive contacts among Hill staffers, influential grassroots supporters and deep connections to wealthy donors, AIPAC is the lobby's key emissary to Congress. But in many ways, AIPAC has become greater than just another lobby; its work has made unconditional support for Israel an accepted cost of doing business inside the halls of Congress. AIPAC's interest, Israel's interest and America's interest are today perceived by most elected leaders to be one and the same. Christian conservatives increasingly aligned with AIPAC demand unwavering support for Israel from their Republican leaders. (In mid-July, 3,000-plus evangelicals came to town for the first annual "Christian United for Israel" summit.) And Democrats are equally concerned about alienating Jewish voters and Jewish donors--long a cornerstone of their party. Some in Congress are deeply uncomfortable with AIPAC's militant worldview and heavyhanded tactics, but most dare not say so publicly.

"The Bush Administration is bad enough in tolerating measures they would not accept anywhere else but Israel," says Henry Siegman, the former head of the American Jewish Congress and a Middle East expert at the Council on Foreign Relations. "But the Congress, if anything, is urging the Administration on and criticizing them even at their most accommodating. When it comes to the Israeli-Arab conflict, the terms of debate are so influenced by organized Jewish groups, like AIPAC, that to be critical of Israel is to deny oneself the ability to succeed in American politics."

There are a few internationalist Republicans in the Senate and progressive Democrats in the House who occasionally dissent. Representative Dennis Kucinich and twenty-three co-sponsors have offered a resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire and a return to multiparty diplomacy between the United States and regional powers, with no preconditions. But even the resolution's supporters admit it isn't likely to go anywhere. Another bill introduced by several Arab-American lawmakers that stressed the need to minimize civilian casualties on both sides was "politically swept under the rug," according to Representative Nick Rahall, a Lebanese-American Democrat from West Virginia who voted against the House resolution. Dovish American-Israeli groups, such as Americans for Peace Now, have largely stayed out of the fight.

The latest hawkish Congressional activity is primarily intended to show voters and potential donors that elected officials are unwavering friends of Israel and enemies of terrorism. "It's just for home consumption," said Representative Charlie Rangel, a powerful New York Democrat who signed on to Kucinich's resolution. "We don't have the support of countries that support us! What the hell are we going to do, bomb Iran? Bomb Syria?" His colleagues, said Rahall, "were trying to out-AIPAC AIPAC."

Discussion in Congress quickly widened beyond Israel to include a broader policy of confrontation toward the entire Middle East. Congressmen sent a flurry of "dear colleague" letters to one another, hoping to pressure the Administration into tightening sanctions on Syria and Iran, Hezbollah's two main state sponsors. Former Middle East envoy Dennis Ross addressed a packed AIPAC-sponsored luncheon on the Hill, where, according to one aide present, Ross told the room: "This is all about Syria and Iran...we shouldn't be condemning Israel now." Said Representative Robert Andrews, a Democrat from New Jersey and co-chair of the Iran Working Group, which this week hosted an official from the Israeli embassy: "I concur completely with that approach."

Democrats, as they did during the Dubai ports scandal, used the crisis to score a few cheap, easy political points against the Bush Administration. The new prime minister of Iraq, Nouri al-Maliki, found himself engulfed in a Congressional firestorm after he denounced Israel's attacks on Lebanon as an act of "aggression." Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chair Rahm Emanuel, who volunteered in Israel during the first Gulf War, called on Maliki to cancel his planned address before Congress. Asked Senator Chuck Schumer, who skipped Maliki's July 26 speech: "Which side is he on when it comes to the war on terror?" Howard Dean one upped his colleagues, labeling Maliki an "anti-Semite" during a speech in Palm Beach, Florida.

Ironically, during the 2004 campaign Dean called on the United States to be an "evenhanded" broker in the Middle East. That position enraged party leaders such as House minority leader Nancy Pelosi, who signed a letter attacking his remarks. "It was designed to send a message: No one ever does this again," says M.J. Rosenberg of the center-left Israel Policy Forum. "And no one has. The only safe thing to say is: I support Israel." In April a representative from AIPAC called Congresswoman Betty McCollum's vote against a draconian bill severely curtailing aid to the Palestinian Authority "support for terrorists."

Not surprisingly, most in Congress see far more harm than reward in getting in the Israeli lobby's way. "There remains a perception of power and fear that AIPAC can undo you," says James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute. He points to the defeats of Representative Paul Findley and Senator Charles Percy in the 1980s and Representatives Cynthia McKinney and Earl Hilliard in 2002, when AIPAC steered large donors to their opponents. Even if AIPAC's make-you-or-break-you reputation is largely a myth, in an election year that perception is potent. Thirty-six pro-Israel PACs gave $3.14 million to candidates in the 2004 election cycle. Rahall said his opponent for re-election issued his first press release of the campaign after Rahall voted against the House resolution. "Everybody knew what would happen if they didn't vote yes," he says.

AIPAC continues to enjoy deep bipartisan backing inside Congress even after two top AIPAC officials were indicted a year ago for allegedly accepting and passing on confidential national security secrets from a Defense Department analyst. "The US and Israel share a lot of basic common values. The vast majority of the American people not only support Israel's actions against Hezbollah but also the fundamental US-Israel relationship, and the bipartisan support in Congress reflects that," says AIPAC spokesman Josh Block. Rosenberg, himself a former AIPAC staffer, puts it another way: "This is the one issue on which liberals are permitted, even expected, by donors to be mindless hawks."

By blindly following AIPAC, Congress reinforces a hard-line consensus: Criticizing Israeli actions, even in the best of faith, is anti-Israel and possibly anti-Semitic; enthusiastically backing whatever military action Israel undertakes is the only acceptable stance.

Recent Gallup polls show that half of Americans support Israel's military campaign, yet 65 percent believe the United States should not take sides in the conflict. But it's hard to imagine any Congress, or subsequent Administration, returning to the role of honest broker. What the region needs now, according to Brzezinski, is an American leader brave enough to say: "Either I make policy on the Middle East or AIPAC makes policy on the Middle East." One can always dream.
SOURCE: www.thenation.com/doc/20060814/aipacs_hold

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ACTION: Call for a Cease-Fire in the Middle East
Talking Points

1. An immediate and unconditional cease-fire

In the first three weeks of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon at least 828 Lebanese have been killed, the vast majority of them have been civilians, and more than 900,000 Lebanese have been made homeless. In addition, 52 Israelis, 19 of them civilians, have also died in the conflict that appears to be deepening.

The Bush Administration has resisted calls for an immediate and unconditional cease-fire, while fighting has accelerated. Negotiations based in human rights and international law will only be possible once a cease-fire is put in place.

2. An immediate end to U.S. weapon shipments to Israel for use in their current invasion of Lebanon

The AFSC calls for an end to arms sales and transfers to the Middle East. The New York Times has reported that during the current conflict the U.S. has rushed a delivery of precision-bombs to Israel for use in their air campaign against Hezbollah.

Israeli bombing has killed hundreds of Lebanese civilians and destroyed Lebanon's infrastructure. U.S. support for the Israeli bombing campaign will only further civilian death and destruction in Lebanon.

3. Presidential report to Congress on Israel's misuse of U.S.-supplied weapons to kill civilians and destroy civilian infrastructure in violation of the US Arms Export Control Act

On July 30, an Israeli air raid on the Lebanese village of Qana killed at least 30 civilians, the majority children. According to the Washington Post, a bomb fragment found at the Qana bombing site read “For use on MK-84, Guided Bomb BSU-37/B”.

MK-84’s are free-fall unguided bombs. Boeing-produced Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM’s) are attached to MK-84’s to convert them into GPS-guided “smart” bombs. Between 2002-2004, the Pentagon notified Congress of impending sales to Israel through its Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program of 6,000 JDAM’s and 2,590 MK-84’s valued at $346 million. It is likely that these weapons, provided to Israel with US-taxpayer dollars, killed the villagers of Qana.

By using US weapons to kill civilians and destroy civilian infrastructure, Israel is violating the Arms Export Control Act (AECA), which limits the use of US weapons to internal policing and legitimate self-defense. Ask your Members of Congress to demand a Presidential report on Israel’s violations of the AECA.

GO TO: secure2.convio.net/afsc/site/Advocacy?alertId=146&pg=makeACall&JServSessionIdr005=gbvjbs3sc1.app2b
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Statement
An Appeal for Those Who Suffer in the Crossfire
July 21, 2006

We view the unfolding tragedy in the Middle East with moral and spiritual repugnance. The destruction of precious human lives must end immediately.

We mourn the loss of life in Lebanon, Gaza, and Israel and we affirm the courage of those who daily face the devastation of war. We stand with the people who will live to endure war’s physical and psychological damage. We affirm the right of all people in the region to live in peace and security.

Military action only encourages future violence as hearts are hardened and voices of conciliation are shouted down. The violence must end immediately and unconditionally.

We call upon the United States Government to act at the highest level to bring about an immediate ceasefire and to create an appropriate environment for negotiations.

We encourage the international community, especially the European Union, the United Nations, and the Arab League, to use their good offices to secure a ceasefire, start a negotiation process, and put in place a mechanism that can help preserve peace along the Israeli-Lebanese border, in the Gaza Strip, and in the West Bank.

We renew our call that all countries, including the United States, stop sales and transfers of arms to the region.

We support the State of Lebanon in gaining control of its own territory and sovereignty.

We ask the leaders of Hezbollah and Hamas to end their missile bombardments of Israeli civilians.

We ask the Government of Israel to cease immediately its attacks on Lebanon and to pull its forces out of Gaza. We further call on the Government of Israel to re-open points of entry to the Gaza Strip and to allow the free flow of desperately needed food, medicines, and other humanitarian supplies.

Israel's sustained air and threatened ground attacks against civilian populations and infrastructure have caused the deaths of hundreds of civilians and the displacement of hundreds of thousands. Neither Israel's sustained attacks against civilian populations in Gaza and Lebanon, nor Hezbollah's rocket attacks against civilian targets in Israel, can be justified on the grounds of self-defense.

As a Quaker organization working to promote peace and allay suffering in the region since 1948, AFSC knows that peace does not come from war. A real and enduring peace for all people of the region will come only from a rejection of violence and a framework for regional and shared security.

This statement was approved by the AFSC Board on July 21, 2006.
# # #
The American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker organization that includes people of various faiths who are committed to social justice, peace and humanitarian service. Its work is based on the belief in the worth of every person and faith in the power of love to overcome violence and injustice.
SOURCE: www.afsc.org/news/2006/appeal-for-those-who-suffer.htm

[michelle]

Voice of the White House August 27, 2006

TBR News.org – August 27, 2006

“The posting of an intercepted conversation between an official of the Israeli Embassy and a party at AIPAC has drawn an enormous amount of attention. Nearly all of this is positive, I am told, but a number of parties have wondered how it could be authenticated. If they could advise me as to how they feel this conversation, and the many others I am now in the process of working up , can be authenticated, I will be happy to address the issue.

Perhaps a signed, notarized statement from the Israeli official involved might suffice but one has the distinct feeling that such a statement would never issue.

The initial conversation between an official of the Israeli Embassy in Washington and someone from the AIPAC, also in Washington, has had a tremendous reception, having been looked at over 100,000 times on our website alone, and has subsequently been reprinted on other websites around the world.

To date, we have had no comment from the Israeli Embassy proclaiming it to be false and there is a great deal of internal evidence that lends credence to its authenticity.

In the final analysis, it is the opinion of the reader that matters....to the reader.

This latest posting is important enough but the reader must know that neither of the parties are identified, although their telephone numbers are. One, the A party, is calling from a telephone located inside Washington’s plush Hay-Adams hotel while the second, the B party, is using the main telephone number of the United States Attorney’s office in New York City. It should be fairly obvious that one of the parties, the one in Washington, has some connection with the staff of the Vice President. The call was recorded on August 18, 2006 and I am only showing a portion of it. The rest of what was a 20 minute call is filled with trivia.

A @ 202 638-6600 (Washington, D.C.)

B @ 212 637-2200 (New York City, N.Y.)
……
A: Of course you never know what is serious, what can happen, what will happen and what is only wishful thinking. But there is enough there….

B: How much have you actually seen…or heard? I mean factually, not just latrine rumors.

A: Plenty. In a twisted way, it makes sense. I suppose it does. Anyway, I have nothing to do with it and just knowing about something in advance is not a crime, unless someone can find a paper or remember a conversation that is.

B: Before the fact.

A: Right. That’s why I say you and your family should leave your nice Big Apple place about the ninth of October and go visit your relatives in Arizona. Then you can watch it on CNN.

B: How long a vacation?

A: Why not a week either way?

B: And you? Any vacation for you? But you don’t have any kids or plants to take care of.

A: True but Georgetown is pretty safe. New York won’t be. God knows what kind of chemicals will be in the air and a good wind coming from Jersey could bring some nasty surprises. Isn’t it better to be safe than sorry?

B: Sure. But packing up means stories to everyone and I would have to be cool and collected about it. The kids would miss Halloween parties if I stay long enough and there is school to consider. I suppose I ought to call home and get them to invite me. I can’t just drop in on them.

A: No but try not to sound concerned. How long since you’ve seen them out there?

B: About a year, give or take. I’ll start on this right away. Will you be involved?

A: Shit no. I told you I want to know nothing about all of this and…

B: No, no, no….I mean will you have to go down there?

A: No. I’m not important enough. He might not even go. He will probably put Bush up to going to show the flag as he could say, while he does what he’s been doing for six years now and that’s running the country. No, he’ll stay right here and make sure he can keep his eyes and his hands on everything. I know he’s been writing speeches and policy statements on this because I’ve seen several when I have been filing.

B: Does he know you look at things?

A: Christ, I hope not. I just smile and look admiring and once in a while, I get a brief smile or a nod. He wants so much to be the real President but it will never happen. Too many people hate him. He’s not all that bad privately but officially, he’s a real Beria, if you know what I mean. Competent, very much so, and cold as ice. Jesus, he really does not like Bush at all. I have heard him say things about him…he thinks he’s a basket case. You know, it’s funny because when he put himself on the ticket, he had no idea Bush would be such an intransigent nut. But he’s been waiting for real power for years and now that he has it, he’s not going to blow it. I don’t know why he just doesn’t cash in his stock options when the term is over and retire and write books. He’s got a really bum ticker and he could go at any time.

B: Quadruple bypass, right?

A: Oh yes, and he takes more pills than a hippie.

B: Then why does he care?

A: His precious party might lose everything he has worked towards for so many years, that’s why. If they lose in November, don’t forget, there could be investigations and I can tell you what with the stock business and the hidden bank accounts, he’d spend his last years in a Federal jail somewhere.

B: They think they’ll never get caught…

A: Or die. Anyway, you know enough not to tell your wife or anyone else about this heads up, don’t you. Two ways to get secret information out. Telephone and tell a woman.

B: My wife isn’t that way at all but I take your drift. I say nothing. But won’t one of the perps get sloshed and tell some cunt about it? Or his priest?

A: Don’t worry about priests. They’re using Jews for this one, like the last time. I think it’s rabbis, not priests.

B: They were involved in 2001…

A: Yes and they passed it on, knowing nothing would be done. And no one is going to nail them on this one because they can snitch about the last one. Hell, they’ve been using that one for leverage for five years now. They’re smart assholes, I’ll give them that.

B: Why that target and not something like the Liberty Bell? Or they could blow up a plane with a lot of top Democrats on board, right?

A: If the refinery goes, you can see and hear it in your apartment. No damage to New York but plenty of dramatic fireworks. Keep the media busy for months. At least it will be better than the Aruba adventure. You have to keep the number of in-the-know people down to about three. The hebe guy running this operation is from DC originally and Interpol is after him for his operation down under. Linden is right on the water and it’s easy in and easy out…if they’re lucky. Oh, and here’s a nice touch. They want to leave a dead raghead behind, like some guard shot him. I mean someone they have in jail, over there, not here, with a long record of militant activity and I mean well-documented. And one of my man’s people will accidentally discover him nice and dead with all kinds of fake evidence in his pockets, for certain putting the blame on bin Laden. And that’s a joke because bin Laden has been dead since ’03.

B: Did we ice him somewhere?

A: No. Kidney failure in a paki hospital. He makes a good boogeyman. You know the drill: If you don’t vote for us, the rotten, weak faggot Democrats will take over and bin Laden will rejoice and kill all of you.

B: It has worked before as I remember. Red Alerts and duct tape.

A: And then we can have real Red Alert days, just before elections.

B: As usual. Not to change the subject but how do you think the immigration votes will go? My people live in Tucson and they are worried sick about all of the beaners shooting each other over drugs. What will happen?

A: What do you think? They supply our friendly agribusiness tycoons with slave labor so we make a lot of noise and do nothing.

B: McCain…

A: He’s a nut. I guess being locked up in a zipperhead jail in solitary for five years snapped him.
…………

Editor’s note: Bayway Refinery is a refining facility used by ConocoPhillips, located in Linden, New Jersey. This is the northernmost refinery on the East Coast of the United States. The oil refinery converts crude oil (supplied by tanker) into gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, and heating oil. As of 2006, the facility processes approximately 238,000 barrels per day (BPD) of crude oil, producing 145,000 BPD of gasoline and 110,000 BPD of distillates. Its products are delivered to East Coast customers via pipeline transport, barges, railcars and tank trucks.

The facility also houses a petrochemical plant which produces lubricants and additives, a polypropylene plant which produces 775 million pounds per year, and has its own railway container terminal and heliport.

Linden is a City in Union County, New Jersey. Located southwest of Elizabeth, a few miles from New York Harbor. Together with Elizabeth, Linden is home to the Bayway Refinery, a ConocoPhillips refining facility that helps supply petroleum-based products to the New York/New Jersey area.

Source:
www.tbrnews.org/Archives/a2488.htm

[Anwaar]

A must watch video depicting Israeli killings of Palestinians.

Here;

tinyurl.com/nnzm5

[michelle]

Confronting the War Pushers.
By mike_davis
Oct 15, 2006 -- 12:24:58 AM EST

Progressives know that in our society war is really the preferred option among many in the elite. It is simply naive to believe “no one wants war” while before our eyes we see the swarm of lobbyists who represent arms dealers, for whom war is an integral part of the business plan, descend on Congress. How can one expect them to urge diplomacy and fairness when only confrontation will produce profits and serve their client’s interests? Another of the most active lobby groups supporting militarism, that actually draws a significant grassroots following, is AIPAC. This lobby supports extremist policies it says are good for Israel, though there are many here in the US and in Israel that will dispute that. It celebrates military confrontation over diplomacy, over the implementation of international law. It must be confronted like any other lobby that stands directly opposite those who care about a peaceful future in the Middle East.

Case in Point. U.S. support of the Israeli destruction of the Lebanese infrastructure, its homes (tens of thousands), its factories, its roads and bridges was led by the AIPAC lobby. The Bush administration led the call against a premature ceasefire while the rest of the world (except Bush’s poodle Blair) urged Israel on with its carnage. This was all backed by AIPAC. Most significantly its influence was felt in Congress, where nary a word was said to even suggest a ceasefire, with some notable exceptions. Instead AIPAC wrote, and got congresspeople to support, a resolution supporting “Israel’s right to self-defense” while saying nothing about the people of Lebanon’s right to self-defense, or right to live (Congresswoman Pelosi, usually a big supporter of any and all AIPAC initiatives, suggested adding language about safeguarding the lives of civilians on all sides, she was immediately attacked by AIPAC) See the roll call here

The U.S. also rushed weapons to Israel , so that the carnage could be continued unabated. This was a move supported by the Bush administration (we have no illusions that Bush and gang need outside influence to take the most extremist militaristic stand) but Congress again, with but a handful of exceptions, said nothing, if not supporting this move. It was Dennis Kucinich, along with a small number of his colleagues that took a stand for peace and sanity in this terrible conflict.

AIPAC celebrates its work to support the Lebanon War

It is illuminating to read what AIPAC said about its ability to persuade congress to oppose any cease-fire, to get nearly every politician to support or at least say nothing as homes were being brought down with U.S. bombs. In a July 30th letter to AIPAC members, Howard Friedman, President of AIPAC, said “Look what you’ve done!”.

John Walsh describes the letter and its meaning well:

"My fellow American," Howard Friedman, President of AIPAC, begins his letter of July 30 to friends and supporters of AIPAC, "Look what you've done"! After warning that "Israel is fighting a pivotal war for its life," by which he means Israel's wanton slaughter and all-out destruction in Lebanon, Friedman condemns "the expected chorus of international condemnation of Israel's actions" and Europe's call for "a cease-fire immediately." Then he exults: "only ONE nation in the world came out and flatly declared: Let Israel finish the job. . That nation is the United States of America--and the reason it had such a clear, unambiguous view of the situation is YOU and the rest of America Jewry." (All emphases in the original here and below.) Here I must take issue with President Friedman since I bet that most Jewish Americans, in contrast to the AIPAC crowd, were horrified by the slaughter in Lebanon. In fact if anyone other than President Friedman wrote this, he would be accused of fabricating a Jewish plot and labeled a nutty conspiracy theorist and scurrilous anti-Semite.) (Much more here.)

Our Response

We must not be silent. Not only for the sake of Lebanese children or the ill-effects on such extreme policies have on U.S. standing in the world, but also for everyone in the Middle East, and their right to a peaceful future. The extremists will accuse us of all kind of vile things, but is that really any different than what was done in the past? It is part of an historic trend to oppose dissent, for the elite to defeat any challenge to the status quo. Those who spoke against the continuation of the Vietnam war were accused of supporting Stalin’s crimes. Enviromentalists are accused of opposing Labor. Today Bush declares that we are either for his policies or support terror. This tactic is used over and over. To oppose AIPAC people will be accused of anti-Semitism, despite that these AIPAC policies are a threat to everyone in the Middle East. The threats must not deter us. Peace takes courage.

We Must Stop AIPAC

This coming December there will be protests at AIPAC events in the San Francisco Bay Area, highlighting the concerns of many in the community who see the need to support a very different foreign policy than the one served up by AIPAC. We demand a foreign policy based on international law and fairness toward all as the best way to ensure the security and peace of the United States and all in the Middle East. For folks who live locally we encourage your participation. For those who live outside the area, we encourage your support and we hope to make this a trend. Please stay tuned.

mike_davis's blog:americaabroad.tpmcafe.com/blog/mike_davis/2006/oct/14/confronting_the_war_pushers
Oct 15, 2006 -- 12:24:58 AM EST

[michelle]

Truth at Last, While Breaking a US Taboo of Criticizing Israel

It is a great thing that this article was permitted to appear in the mainstream daily newspaper, The Philadelphia Inquirer. Hat's off to the Inquirer!.....Michelle

January 2, 2007
by George Bisharat
Philadelphia Inquirer

Americans owe a debt to former President Jimmy Carter for speaking long hidden but vital truths. His book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid breaks the taboo barring criticism in the United States of Israel's discriminatory treatment of Palestinians. Our government's tacit acceptance of Israel's unfair policies causes global hostility against us.

Israel's friends have attacked Carter, a Nobel laureate who has worked tirelessly for Middle East peace, even raising the specter of anti-Semitism. Genuine anti-Semitism is abhorrent. But exploiting the term to quash legitimate criticism of another system of racial oppression, and to tarnish a principled man, is indefensible. Criticizing Israeli government policies - a staple in Israeli newspapers - is no more anti-Semitic than criticizing the Bush administration is anti-American.

The word apartheid typically evokes images of former South Africa, but it also refers to any institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over another. Carter applies the term only to Israel's rule of the occupied Palestinian territories, where it has established more than 200 Jewish-only settlements and a network of roads and other services to support them. These settlements violate international law and the rights of Palestinian property owners. Carter maintains that "greed for land," not racism, fuels Israel's settlement drive. He is only partially right.

Israel is seizing land and water from Palestinians for Jews. Resources are being transferred, under the guns of Israel's military occupation, from one disempowered group - Palestinian Christians and Muslims - to another, preferred group - Jews. That is racism, pure and simple.

Moreover, there is abundant evidence that Israel discriminates against Palestinians elsewhere. The "Israeli Arabs" - about 1.4 million Palestinian Christian and Muslim citizens who live in Israel - vote in elections. But they are a subordinated and marginalized minority. The Star of David on Israel's flag symbolically tells Palestinian citizens: "You do not belong." Israel's Law of Return grants rights of automatic citizenship to Jews anywhere in the world, while those rights are denied to 750,000 Palestinian refugees who were forced or fled in fear from their homes in what became Israel in 1948.

Israel's Basic Law of Human Dignity and Liberty establishes the state as a "Jewish democracy" although 24 percent of the population is non-Jewish. Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, counted 20 laws that explicitly privilege Jews over non-Jews.

The government favors Jews over Palestinians in the allocation of resources. Palestinian children in Israel attend "separate and unequal" schools that receive a fraction of the funding awarded to Jewish schools, according to Human Rights Watch. Many Palestinian villages, some predating the establishment of Israel, are unrecognized by the government, do not appear on maps, and thus receive no running water, electricity, or access roads. Since 1948, scores of new communities have been founded for Jews, but none for Palestinians, causing them severe residential overcrowding.

Anti-Arab bigotry is rarely condemned in Israeli public discourse, in which Palestinians are routinely construed as a "demographic threat." Palestinians in Israel's soccer league have played to chants of "Death to Arabs!" Israeli academic Daniel Bar-Tal studied 124 Israeli school texts, finding that they commonly depicted Arabs as inferior, backward, violent, and immoral. A 2006 survey revealed that two-thirds of Israeli Jews would refuse to live in a building with an Arab, nearly half would not allow a Palestinian in their home, and 40 percent want the government to encourage emigration by Palestinian citizens. Last March, Israeli voters awarded 11 parliamentary seats to the Israel Beitenu Party, which advocates drawing Israel's borders to exclude 500,000 of its current Palestinian citizens.

Some say that Palestinian citizens in Israel enjoy better circumstances than those in surrounding Arab countries. Ironically, white South Africans made identical claims to defend their version of apartheid, as is made clear in books such as Antjie Krog's Country of My Skull.

Americans are awakening to the costs of our unconditional support of Israel. We urgently need frank debate to chart policies that honor our values, advance our interests, and promote a just and lasting peace in the Middle East. It is telling that it took a former president, immune from electoral pressures, to show the way.

The debate should now be extended. Are Israel's founding ideals truly consistent with democracy? Can a state established in a multiethnic milieu be simultaneously "Jewish" and "democratic"? Isn't strife the predictable yield of preserving the dominance of Jews in Israel over a native Palestinian population? Does our unconditional aid merely enable Israel to continue abusing Palestinian rights with impunity, deepening regional hostilities and distancing peace? Isn't it time that Israel lived by rules observed in any democracy - including equal rights for all?

George Bisharat ([e-mail]) is a professor of law at University of California Hastings College of the Law. He writes frequently on law and politics in the Middle East.

Note: You can read more on President Carter's book here at FH Forum:
Banned Books Week
Reply #20 on Dec 27, 2006, 6:33am
Robert Fisk on Jimmy Carter's new book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid....M
Banality and barefaced lies
tinyurl.com/kukct
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Mossad in the CIA
January 3, 2007
by Nicole Bagley

It might be of public interest to know that a significant number of Israeli Mossad agents are now working in the United States as employees of the Central Intelligence Agency. These agents, some of whom are listed below, are initially paid by the Israeli Embassy in Washington but Israel then bills the U.S. Government for the salaries and is reimbursed in full on a monthly basis.

Here is a partial listing of identified Mossad agents (as of 1 January, 2007) along with their dates of birth and salaries. They do not have American Social Security numbers and do not pay American taxes.

Gadi Regev 12/17/1975 $63,000 per annum
Betzalel Yanay 9/4/1978 $75,000 “
Eyal Artzel 5/27/1977 $ 87,000 “
Sharon Rotem 8/12/1977 $75,000 “
David Susi 1/9/1975 $90,000 “
Dana Sasson 8/10/1980 $70,000 “
Morin Biton 7/14/1980 $63,000 “
Gilad Lifschitz 9/17/1978 $87,000 “
Maya Maimon 12/26/1978 $65,000 “
Marco Fernandez 4/13/1977 $54,000 “
Keren Touyz 8/20/1978 $75,000 “
Nofar Bahidi 21/2/79 $53,000 “
Michal Gal 8/10/1979 $92,000 “
Ophir Baer 11/11/1956 $102,000 “
Dilka Borenstein 3/15/1979 $67,000 “
Michael Calmanovic 9/6/75 $102,000 “

Most of these U.S.-subsidized spies live in Potomac, McLean, Georgetown and Arlington. I have their addresses and these will be published in a follow-up article.

These are Israeli citizens but many of the middle level CIA officials are American-born Jews and not included in this list but we do know who they are. All of them, without exception, work for Israel and Israeli interests, not American interests and more than a few are known to be friendly with a number of the so-called Neocons, a significant number of whom are also Israeli citizens.

Source for both articles:
tbrnews.org/Archives/a2608.htm#005

[michelle]

The Tightening Noose
Gaza under Hamas, Gaza under Siege
Part 1 of 2

This article offers a rare opportunity to peek inside the Gaza Strip. A filmmaker and human rights activist, Jen Marlowe, recently was permitted entry. She brings us news of the situation and what the population are missing in terms of supplies. However, what I find most interesting about this article is how the Palestinians perceive the Hamas government compared to the ousted secular, nationalist Fatah Party. The international isolation of Gaza is causing terrific distress, yes, but the internal crisis even more so. Religious conservatism is raising its head since the Hamas takeover. One can look here and see the oppressed becoming the oppressor, or in terms of psychology, 'identification with the aggressor.' The average people are also beginning to show cracks in their psyche; violence in the society as a whole, including domestic violence, is on the rise. New victims continue to be created. We see this happening all over our world, this creation of new victims, and it will stop only when we as a people, worldwide, quit looking to militant, religious or governmental groups and institutions as our saviors.....Michelle

The Tightening Noose
Gaza under Hamas, Gaza under Siege
Part 1 of 2
posted 2008-02-24 17:43:07

Tomgram: Jen Marlowe, Gaza Struggling under Siege
From Chiapas, Mexico and Vietnam's Mekong Delta to West Africa (where a war against women is now underway), Tomdispatch has lately been traveling to some of the more scarred places on the planet. Today, Jen Marlowe, a documentary filmmaker and human rights activist (as well as the author of Darfur Diaries: Stories of Survival) offers an account of her journey into the desperate human tragedy of the besieged Gaza Strip.

Marlowe has been visiting the Gaza Strip periodically since 2002, when she was living in Jerusalem while working on an Israeli/Palestinian peace-building program. She has participated in nonviolent demonstrations with Palestinian, Israeli, and international activists resisting the Israeli separation barrier being built, in part, through Palestinian lands and the growing system of Israeli-only roads on the West Bank. The deepening degradation of Gazans living under a merciless siege, visibly a living hell, is something she vividly captures at a personal level. Tom

The Tightening Noose
Gaza under Hamas, Gaza under Siege
By Jen Marlowe

Images from Rafah flicker on my computer screen. Gazans blowing up chunks of the wall that stood between them and Egypt, punching holes in the largest open-air prison in the world and streaming across the border. An incredible refusal to submit.

I learn via email that my friend Khaled Nasrallah rented a truck in order to drive food and medicine from Egypt into the Gaza Strip. He was acting for no humanitarian organization. He's just a resident of Rafah, a Palestinian town which borders Egypt, with a deep need to help and an opportunity to seize.

Rarely does our media offer images so laden with the palpable despair that has become daily life in the Gaza Strip. The situation has bordered on desperate since the outbreak of the Second Intifada in October 2000, when Gazans could no longer work inside Israel and the attacks and incursions of Israel's military, the IDF, became a regular occurrence. Closures on the Strip progressively intensified.

On January 25, 2006, Hamas, an acronym for "the Islamic Resistance Movement," won the Palestinian Authority parliamentary elections, defeating the reigning secular, nationalist Fatah Party. Israel, the United States, and the European Union all refused to recognize the new Hamas government and many elements within Fatah also went to great lengths to ensure that it failed.

Tension and violence mounted between the Palestinian factions, culminating in June 2007 in Hamas' takeover of the Gaza Strip. Israel responded by sealing the Strip. On September 19, following the repeated firing of crude Qassam rockets from the Beit Hanoun neighborhood in the northern Gaza Strip into the Israeli town of Sderot, the Israeli government unanimously labeled all of Gaza a "hostile entity." Since then, restrictions by the IDF on who and what is permitted to enter Gaza have grown harsher still. There are not many witnesses to testify to the plight of Gazans these days. I was lucky: In early January, in order to visit the participants of a peace-building program I once worked for, I got in.

It was a brief visit, so I didn't stroll down largely empty supermarket aisles or visit hospitals to check on which supplies were unavailable. Instead, I used the time to talk to Gazans involved in responding to the international siege and the internal crisis that had led to it.

There were even rare moments when the dual crises faded into the background, such as the afternoon when I drank coffee in Rafah with Khaled Nasrallah, his brother Dr. Samir Nasrallah, and their wives and children. Rachel Corrie, a 23 year-old peace-and-justice activist from Olympia, Washington, had been killed on March 16, 2003 while standing in front of their home trying to prevent its demolition by an Israeli military bulldozer. Between October 2000 and October 2004, the IDF destroyed 2,500 homes in the Gaza Strip. Nearly two-thirds of them, like the Nasrallah's, had been the homes of refugees in Rafah.

Now double refugees, like so many residents of Rafah, they ushered me into the living room of the apartment they have occupied since their home was destroyed in 2004. It was sparsely furnished, but the family's spirit more than compensated. When, for instance, thin, quiet Dr. Samir saw an opportunity to make his young daughters or nieces smile, his own face lit up. He clowned around as pictures were taken, encouraging the girls to find ever sillier poses.

Only as I was leaving did the siege make its presence felt. I pulled a few chocolate bars and a carton of Lucky Strikes from my backpack, saying, "I understand these are hard to find these days."

Dr. Samir accepted the gifts with an odd solemnity. He then unwrapped a single bar of chocolate, carefully broke it into small pieces and distributed a section to each of the little girls. With an equal sense of gravity, they sat on the thin, foam mats that lined the room, slowly biting off tiny pieces, letting the chocolate melt in their mouths. They were still sucking on the final bits as I said goodbye.

Entering Gaza

When I first found out that I had permission to enter Gaza, I wondered what I should bring with me. How much could I carry? What did a people under siege need most? I imagined filling my backpack with bags of rice, coffee, sugar, beans – until I called my friend Ra'ed in Beit Hanoun.

"Hey, Ra'ed. I'm coming to Gaza on Wednesday. What can I bring you?"

There was a short pause. "Can you bring cigarettes? Lucky Strikes?"

Requests from other friends started coming in. Could I bring a carton of Marlboros? Viceroy Lights? Rania requested chocolate. Ahmad asked for shampoo.

There was something tragic and yet comic in these requests. Were they a sign that the situation wasn't as desperate as I feared? Or maybe, given the sustained stress Gazans have been enduring, the need for psychological relief took priority even over the staples of survival?

Ra'ed called back with an additional request. "Can you bring one of those rechargeable florescent lights? The power's being cut off now for eight hours at a time and my kids have exams. They can't study without light."

Erez border is the only crossing point for internationals entering the Gaza Strip. The border between Rafah and Egypt had been sealed since the Hamas takeover. I arrived at Erez, struggling with my three brimming bags and two rechargeable lights. The terminal had been completely rebuilt since my last visit a year ago. The modest building housing a few soldiers and computers was gone and in its place was a slick, spotlessly clean, all-glass complex. It felt as if I were entering the headquarters atrium of a multi-million dollar corporation.

My passport was stamped and I continued along a maze of one-way revolving gates. Crossing through the final gate, I found myself in Gaza, the sleek glass building and its sanitized version of the Israeli occupation suddenly no more than a surreal memory. I was on a cracked cement pathway, covered by dilapidated plastic roofing, in the middle of an abandoned field filled with nothing but stones and rubble. Realities, even small ones, change so quickly, so grimly here.

The Siege

Soon, I was in Ra'ed's car heading south to Rafah with Rania Kharma, a coordinator for the Palestinian-International Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza. I handed her the chocolate bars she had requested. "Thanks, habibti [my dear]" she said. "You know how important chocolate can be for a woman." Normally remarkably passionate, Rania now spoke and moved with the air of someone smothered by wet blankets.

We passed carts piled with bananas and oranges. "So there's fruit here. What exactly is getting in?" I asked.

Before the siege, she explained, there used to be 9,000 different items allowed into Gaza. Now, the Israelis had reduced what could enter the Strip to 20 items or, in some cases, types of items. Twenty items to meet the needs of nearly 1.5 million people. It felt like some kind of TV fantasy exercise in survival: You're going to a deserted island and you can only bring 20 things with you. What would you bring?

Medicine was on the list, Rania told me, but only pre-approved drugs registered with the Israeli Ministry of Health. Frozen meat was permitted, but fresh meat wasn't (and there was a shortage of livestock in Gaza). Fruit and vegetables were allowed in, but -- Ra'ed quickly inserted -- less than what the population needed and of an inferior quality. It was, he felt, as if Israel were dumping produce not fit for their citizens or for international export into Gaza.

"I cut open an avocado last week and found the inside completely rotten," he added.

Diapers and toilet paper were allowed entry, as were sugar, salt, flour, milk, and eggs. Soap yes, but not laundry detergent, shampoo, or other cleaning products.

"I'm not sure about baby formula," Rania said. "Sometimes you can find it, sometimes you can't."

Tunnels under the Egyptian border, once used mainly to smuggle weapons into the Strip, were now responsible for a brisk black market trade. Hamas, which controlled the tunnels, reportedly earning a hefty profit from the $10 it now cost Gazans to buy a single pack of cigarettes. Chocolate couldn't be found, not even on the black market. A bag of cement that once cost about $10 reached $75, and, by the time of my visit, couldn't be found at all. All construction and most repair jobs had ground to a halt.

The Ramadan fast is traditionally broken with a dried date. A special request for dates was made to the Israelis and granted -- but only as a substitute for salt. To get their Ramadan dates, Gazans had to sacrifice something else.

"Israel says they're not going to starve us," Rania remarked with a wry grin as we neared Rafah. "They're just putting us on a really tight diet."

I was traveling to Rafah in order to purchase handmade embroidery from the Women's Union Association, a women's fair-trade collective. I was planning to bring the embroidery back to the U.S. for the Olympia-Rafah Sister City Project, initiated after the death of Rachel Corrie and working to realize her vision of connecting the two communities.

Rafah's economy used to be based on agriculture and on the resale of goods from Egypt, according to Samira, the energetic program director of the association. Over the last seven years, however, most of the orchards and greenhouses in the town had been uprooted by Israeli military bulldozers. Then, once the siege began for real, Rafah's merchants could no longer obtain goods from Egypt. By the time I arrived, only about 15% of the population was working, most employed in government ministries.

Samira brought out a large plastic bag brimming with embroidered work. I fingered beautiful shawls and wall hangings as she eagerly described an exhibition of the women's hand embroidery held in Cairo last May. Every piece had sold out. The women had then stitched new pillowcases, bags, and vests at a frenetic pace for an exhibition in Vienna scheduled for September 2007. The Gaza Strip, however, was sealed in June. Neither the women, nor their embroidery could leave. That plastic bag contained what should have gone to Vienna. The project had already come to a standstill as the necessary raw materials, chiefly colored thread, were now unavailable. Once these pieces were sold, nothing would be left.

Samira encouraged Rania to try on a stunning, exquisitely stitched jacket, its joyous blaze of color strangely out of place in that bare office. It had taken a year to complete, she said proudly. I hesitated to buy it. It felt wrong, somehow, to remove that splash of color from decimated Rafah. But who else would be arriving in Rafah soon to buy from the collective? I asked Samira to prioritize which items she wanted me to purchase. She packed up the jacket, and as many other pieces as I could afford in that same plastic bag, and handed them over to me.

While Ra'ed and Rania argued energetically in Arabic on the drive back to Gaza City, I stared out the window, noting the green Hamas flags and banners that decorated nearly every street corner and intersection. As we neared our destination, I asked Rania if she wanted to join me that evening.

"I'd love to, habibti, but I have to get back to my apartment before 6:30. The electricity will be cut after that and then -- no elevator. I live on the ninth floor and, since my knee injury a few years ago, it's really painful to walk up all those stairs."

Continued, next post....