A.LOEWENSTEIN ONLINE NEWSLETTER

• Destroy Iran and be called a moderate US politician
• How dare critics challenge the “glorious heritage” of Zionism?
• Abusing detainees and bike hiring; in a day’s work for Serco
• Rajapakse gets a taste of his caged future
• Assange loves and loathes the MSM

Destroy Iran and be called a moderate US politician   07 Nov 2010 A leading American politician on utterly destroying the Islamic Republic. Just imagine if an Iranian leader spoke about bombing and killing US troops: A leading US senator on defense issues said Saturday any military strike on Iran to stop its nuclear program must also strive to take out Iran’s military capability.  Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican who sits on the Armed Services Committee and the Homeland Security Committee, said the US shouldn’t just consider a surgical strike on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. “My view of military force would be not to just neutralize their nuclear program, which are probably dispersed and hardened, but to sink their navy, destroy their air force and deliver a decisive blow to the Revolutionary Guard. “In other words, neuter that regime,” added Graham, who spoke at the Halifax International Security Forum. Graham said he hoped that would help Iranians have a chance to take back their government. He said he still believes there is time for economic sanctions to work, but said sanctions currently in place are not “crippling.”

How dare critics challenge the “glorious heritage” of Zionism?  06 Nov 2010 Zionist democracy exists only to serve groups and individuals who back the glorious Jewish state. A real democracy both allows and supports robust dissent; Israel is not that country: A number of MKs are objecting to the ongoing artists’ boycott of the soon-to-open Ariel culture center, and on Saturday MK Yariv Levin (Likud) suggested the government withdraw funding from theaters supporting the protest. “We must put an end to the fact that taxpayers’ money is going straight into the pockets of fringe groups, who use these funds in order to promote an anti-Zionist and anti-Jewish narrative and boycott the very public which supports them,” Levin said. Dozens of theater figures backing the boycott sent a letter on Friday to Be’er Sheva Theater actors, urging them to join the fight. Of this, Levin said he would call an urgent hearing of the Knesset Education Committee and demand the government alter the criteria for the funding of theaters and cultural institutions “in order to prevent the transfer of state funds to those who boycott some of its citizens”. “The vast majority of the Israeli public is sick and tired of lunatic fringe groups taking control of Israeli theater and cinema. We must halt the fiscal support in the field of culture and set new guidelines that stress the encouragement of works of art that express the culture of our forefathers and our glorious heritage,” he said. MK Otniel Schneller (Kadima) joined Levin and inveighed against “expressions of hatred under the guise of culture, which push away any chance at peace”. “The artists’ apartheid letter, which boycotts Israeli citizens, not only does not promote national willingness to achieve peace, but also pushes it away. Ariel, as a settlement bloc, will be included in any peace agreement within the borders of the state. Every big party leader must stress to artists who receive the Israel Prize where the peaceful borders of the State of Israel are to pass,” he said. MK Michael Ben Ari also voiced anger over the letter. “Whoever participates in the boycott of Ariel should take into consideration that we will clip his budget wings and withhold funds. We will not allow parasitic artists who milk the national budget to enjoy both worlds. Those who boycott can go to Salam Fayyad for money, not the Knesset,” he said.

Abusing detainees and bike hiring; in a day’s work for Serco  06 Nov 2010 Serco is finding its way into every part of our lives, a multinational with the right connections and a big wallet: British services giant Serco has secured a 140 million pound contract to set up a bicycle hire scheme in central London that aims to tackle overcrowding on the capital’s commuter networks. The contract with local travel authority Transport for London (TfL) to install and operate the London Cycle Hire Scheme will run for six years with a possible two-year extension, the company said on Wednesday. The scheme will allow users to pick up a bike from one of 400 docking stations in London’s 44 square kilometre (16 sq mile) central travel zone, and dock it at another station instead of having to return it to source. The initiative, which was announced by Mayor and well known cycling enthusiast Boris Johnson in April, is due to be launched next summer and is expected to generate an additional 40,000 bicycle journeys per day in the city. “We believe that, through our detailed planning and careful design, we have a leading edge scheme which is capable of being rolled out in other cities which are facing many of the same transport challenges,” said Serco’s Chief Executive Officer Christopher Hyman.

Rajapakse gets a taste of his caged future 06 Nov 2010 It’s not just Israeli war criminals who have to watch where they travel; justice will follow you everywhere: The president of Sri Lanka has called off a visit to Britain after exiled Tamil groups announced that they would attempt to have him arrested over alleged war crimes. The trip by Mahinda Rajapakse, which would have included an address to the Oxford Union, was aborted at short notice after Tamil activists said they would seek a warrant under the principle of universal jurisdiction which allows prosecution in this country for alleged human rights abuses committed abroad. The Sri Lankan government maintained there had been a change of plan due to Mr Rajapakse’s busy schedule and the Foreign Office in London said in a statement it “had no indication” that fears over being detained was the reason behind the cancellation. The foreign ministry in Colombo insisted that the visit has been “postponed” to a later date. This, in effect, would avert the embarrassment of an attempted arrest, as the British government is in the process of amending the universal jurisdiction law which had led to a number of foreign governments expressing concern. The Israeli government announced, on the eve of a visit by British foreign secretary William Hague, that it was breaking off “strategic dialogue” with London after Israeli deputy prime minister Dan Meridor became the latest senior figure from the country to scrap plans to come to England because of concerns of legal action.  In the most high-profile case of universal jurisdiction, the former Chilean dictator, Augusto Pinochet, was arrested by Scotland Yard during a visit to the UK in 1998 over tortures and murder committed by his military junta when he was in power.

Assange loves and loathes the MSM  06 Nov 2010   Julian Assange of Wikileaks tells Al-Jazeera about his group’s relationship with the mainstream media. Intelligent discussion on a serious news network: