A.Loewenstein Online Newsletter

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• Wikileaks Gitmofiles show broad US criminality towards suspects

• Australia set to undermine East Timor (once occupied and now “free”)

• On Australia’s front-line against privatised detention centres

• American attempts to understand post 9/11 world muddled and criminal

• Wikileaks reveal how Hicks and Habib were abused in our name

• This is what the Palestinian Authority is good at; flying first class

• Occupation stories from deep inside normal Palestinian lives

• How America really feels about those chained in Guantanamo Bay

Wikileaks Gitmofiles show broad US criminality towards suspects Posted: 25 Apr 2011 08:21 AM PDT

Australia set to undermine East Timor (once occupied and now “free”) Posted: 25 Apr 2011 07:52 AM PDT Is there truly anybody who still believes Wikileaks is not releasing essential information to better understand our world? The revelations just keep on coming and indicate a government in Canberra that is more than willing to play the post-colonial game. From simply fighting with the big boys in Afghanistan to creating trouble themselves closer to home: Leaked diplomatic cables sent from the US embassy in Lisbon, Portugal in June 2006 have revealed that a leading Portuguese intelligence official told American diplomatic officials that the Australian government had repeatedly “fomented unrest” in East Timor, in order to advance its “geopolitical and commercial interests.” The extraordinary exchange occurred two weeks after Canberra had dispatched a military intervention force to the oil and gas rich state, as part of its “regime change” campaign against Timorese Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri. The Australian government, then led by John Howard, targeted Alkatiri because of his perceived alignment with rival powers, especially Portugal, Timor’s former colonial ruler, and China. The Fretilin party leader was also despised by Canberra for his extraction of unwelcome concessions during negotiations over the division of the Timor Sea’s energy resources. In February and March 2006, about 600 Timorese soldiers, known as the “petitioners”, mutinied. President Xanana Gusmao then issued a provocative speech on March 23 in which he denounced the Alkatiri government as corrupt and dictatorial. In April, various criminal and ex-Indonesian militia elements joined the petitioners and staged a series of violent attacks on soldiers and security forces who remained loyal to the state. The Australian government seized on the unrest to demand Alkatiri’s removal. An Australian occupation force, comprising 1,300 troops and police backed by armoured vehicles and attack helicopters, was ordered into Timor on May 24. At the same time, the Australian media went into a frenzy, demanding Alkatiri’s resignation. The ABC’s “Four Corners” broadcast a lurid report featuring bogus accusations that the prime minister had formed a “hit squad” to assassinate Fretilin’s opponents. On June 26, Alkatiri capitulated, handing power to Canberra’s favoured candidate, Jose Ramos-Horta. Concurrently with these developments, the World Socialist Web Site characterised what had happened as an Australian-inspired political coup. The WSWS concluded that there was no doubt that Australian military and intelligence operatives in Dili had advance knowledge of, and likely encouraged, the petitioners’ mutiny and violent protests. (See: “How Australia orchestrated ‘regime change’ in East Timor”) The WikiLeaks-released diplomatic cables from the US embassy in Lisbon, published in the Portuguese weekly newspaper Expresso, have provided important new evidence confirming this analysis. The key cable was sent by the US ambassador to Portugal, Al Hoffman, on June 12, 2006, i.e. 19 days after Australian troops were sent into Timor and 14 days before Alkatiri resigned. Headed, “Portugal: An Intel View of East Timor”, the cable reports on a discussion between a US embassy official (identified only as “Pol/Econ DepCouns”) and Jorge Carvalho, chief of staff of Portugal’s Intelligence Services (SIRP). The cable—which noted that Carvalho is Portugal’s equivalent to the US Director of National Intelligence—was marked “priority” and was widely circulated. Copies were sent to the US embassies in East Timor, Australia, New Zealand, and Malaysia; in Washington, to the Secretary of State, Defence Secretary, National Security Council, and Central Intelligence Agency; and to the US military’s Pacific Command and Joint Intelligence Centre in Hawaii. The cable read: “Carvalho commented that Australia had not played a productive role in East Timor, underscoring that Australia’s motives were driven by geopolitical and commercial (e.g. oil) interests while Portugal’s main interest was to maintain stability.” The analysis presented by the Portuguese intelligence chief was clearly self-serving—Lisbon was and is just as preoccupied as Canberra with geostrategic and commercial concerns in East Timor. Carvalho’s remarks underscore the long-standing and bitter rivalry between Australia and Portugal over who would play the dominant role in so-called “independent” East Timor. However, his frank exchange with the US embassy official also demonstrates that the real motivations of Australia’s military intervention in 2006 were clearly understood by those in power internationally. The Howard government’s claims of a “humanitarian” operation aimed at providing security for the Timorese people were purely for domestic consumption in Australia.

On Australia’s front-line against privatised detention centres Posted: 25 Apr 2011 07:20 AM PDT Good on those brave souls raising the issue of privatised asylum seekers. In a real democracy, we would be able to visit people technically under our care: Protesters have knocked over a fence at the Curtin Detention Centre near Derby [in Western Australia], with as many as 40 defying police orders to stay away from the site. The protesters began a hasty retreat after police called in reinforcements and threatened to arrest anyone who remained at the site. The busload of protesters arrived at the site about 4.30pm and found the gate barricaded with a 2.5m fence. They were also met by a “significant” police force at the gate, 7km down a driveway from the North West Highway. Chanting “free the refugees”, “Serco and DIAC, blood on your hands” and waving placards, the group stormed the fence, knocking it over. Refugees Rights Network spokesman Gerry Georgatos spoke to The West Australian during the clash, saying Serco guards appeared flustered by the arrivals and did not move against them. However, more State Security officers and WA Police turned up within minutes of the group’s arrival. A car load of Department of Immigration and Citizenship officials arrived at the site during the melee but turned around and took off again when they saw the situation escalating. Other vehicles approached the scene from within the detention centre. Mr Georgatos earlier told The West Australian the group was undeterred by 17 arrests at the site yesterday. He claimed detainees had emailed today begging the visitors for help, saying at least 25 people had collapsed from exhaustion or dehydration since the hunger strike began three days ago. He claimed several had been treated inside the detention centre’s own medical facilities, though this has not been verified by the Department of Immigration. “There’s 18 computers in there – obviously, they haven’t shut them down and anyone who is getting on the computers is pummelling us out information,” Mr Georgatos said. “We don’t have the figures exactly but they’re not what DIAC and Serco are claiming … I’ve actually called them liars today.” He said an attempt to visit the site earlier today was not allowed after Serco was warned the group was on its way. He said Derby Police and State Security officers had watched the visitors like hawks since they arrived. “We have been followed … they have been following us around town all day,” he said. “They’re everywhere.”

American attempts to understand post 9/11 world muddled and criminal Posted: 25 Apr 2011 02:28 AM PDT The evidence, via Wikileaks, just keeps on coming: The documents also show that in the earliest years of the prison camps operation, the Pentagon permitted Chinese and Russian interrogators into the camps — information from those sessions are included in some captives’ assessments — something American defense lawyers working free-of-charge for the foreign prisoners have alleged and protested for years. There’s not a whiff in the documents that any of the work is leading the U.S. closer to capturing Bin Laden. In fact, the documents suggest a sort of mission creep beyond the post-9/11 goal of hunting down the al Qaida inner circle and sleeper cells. The file of one captive, now living in Ireland, shows he was sent to Guantanamo so that U.S. military intelligence could gather information on the secret service of Uzbekistan. A man from Bahrain is shipped to Guantanamo in June 2002, in part, for interrogation on “personalities in the Bahraini court.” … The documents make clear that intelligence agents elsewhere showed photos of Guantanamo prisoners to prized war-on-terror catches held at secret so-called CIA black-sites, out of reach of the International Red Cross. Notably the reports reflect that at times some captives faces were familiar to Abu Zubayda — whom the CIA waterboarded scores of times. At times the efforts seem comedic. Guards plucked off ships at sea to walk the cellblocks note who has hoarded food as contraband, who makes noise during the Star Spangled Banner, who sings creepy songs like “La, La, La, La Taliban” and who is re-enacting the 9/11 attacks with origami art.

Wikileaks reveal how Hicks and Habib were abused in our name Posted: 25 Apr 2011 02:19 AM PDT The cases of two former Australian Guantanamo Bay prisoners, Mamdouh Habib and David Hicks, have received fresh oxygen after the release of their files by Wikileaks today. I’ve extensively covered them both over the years (Habib and Hicks) and one thing stands out; the sheer dishonesty of Western defenders of the policy and the callous brutality of American interrogators (physical or mental). Some details: Former Guantanamo Bay detainee Mamdouh Habib told Egyptian interrogators under “extreme duress” he planned to hijack a Qantas plane and had prior knowledge of the September 11 attacks on the United States, according to newly-released WikiLeaks files. The documents also allege fellow Australian Guantanamo detainee David Hicks was approached to become a martyr by al-Qa’ida’s number three in charge of military operations, but refused the invitation. Mr Habib’s Guantanamo prisoner file appears to confirm he was tortured by Egyptian authorities in 2001, making a raft of “admissions” which he later recanted. In its latest high-profile information release, WikiLeaks has begun releasing 779 secret files from the United States’ notorious Guantanamo Bay prison camp. The 2004 files classified both Mr Habib and Mr Hicks as “high risk” detainees, with Mr Habib’s file alleging “violent behaviour” by him towards US guards. Mr Hicks’ file describes him as a “compliant” but “deceptive”. He was held in “high regard” by other detainees, including senior al-Qa’ida operatives. “The detainee is highly-trained, experienced and combat-hardened, which makes him a valued member and possible leader for any extremist organisation,” it says of Mr Hicks, who was returned to Australia in 2007 after being convicted by a US military commission of providing material support for terrorism. In an analysts’ note on Mr Hicks’ file, it says: “Mohammed Atef, al-Qa’ida’s No. 3 in charge of military operations, approached detainee regarding his willingness to be a martyr, which the detainee declined.” In his book, Guantanamo: My Journey, Mr Hicks tells how he left Australia in November 1999 and signed up with the Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Toiba, to join “the freedom struggle in Kashmir”. After he had completed a beginner’s training course, LET sent him to Afghanistan for further training. He said he reluctantly did a beginners’ course and denied doing any terrorism-related training. The September 11 attacks occurred a month after Hicks’s final course, when he was in Pakistan. He went back to Afghanistan after leaving his passport behind, he said, and joined up to fight with the Taliban to defend himself as the US attacked the country. Mr Habib, who plans to sue the Egyptian government over his detention and alleged torture, told interrogators in Cairo he was en route to hijack a Qantas plane when he was detained, and had information on his home computer on poisoning US rivers. He also claimed to have trained six of the 9/11 hijackers in martial arts and how to use a knife disguised as a cigarette lighter. Once at Guantanamo Bay, Mr Habib retracted the confessions, saying he lied to Egyptian interrogators. Mr Habib was released without charge from Guantanamo Bay in 2005 and returned to Australia. His file says he had “direct and personal access” to a senior al-Qa’ida official but his US interrogators said his real value to the hardline Islamist terror group was as an Australian organiser and operative. It contains a note by the Joint Task Force Guantanamo that Mr Habib was regarded as a detainee of “high intelligence value”. It says he refused to take a polygraph test. US intelligence officials regarded Mr Habib as a high value asset for his knowledge of al-Qa’ida financing, safe houses, and its training and tactics. They questioned whether he was a “money courier and terrorist operations facilitator”, given his extensive international travel. “Among the questions that remain unanswered: how did he afford to travel as extensively as he did while being unemployed and having lost a great deal of money in the matter of his Australian government contract? “What were the actual number of times he went to Afghanistan, Egypt and the US (records indicate that he entered the US prior to 1993).” After being arrested in Pakistan, Mr Habib was “rendered” by the CIA to Egypt. He has described being tortured there by beatings, cigarette burns, electrocution, fingernail removal and near-drowning. Mr Habib has alleged that Australian officials were involved in his rendition and torture. After being transferred from Egypt, Mr Habib spent four years in Guantanamo Bay before being released in January 2005. Mr Habib was last year refused a new passport on the grounds that ASIO still considered him a threat. His lawyers said the decision was ridiculous, and based on unproven claims. Mr Habib’s case against Egypt’s new vice-president, Omar Sulaiman, is seen as a human rights test case of the post-Mubarak era in Egypt. An Australian-led campaign to support David Hicks and clear his name today released the following statement in response to the Wikileaks revelations: Media Release Wikileaks file on David Hicks- The U.S.S. Pettiloo says it all. The file released on the Wikileaks website only confirms the inaccuracy of information that has been released by the former U.S. administration to the public in relation to David Hicks. The incompetence of the interrogators to obtain reliable and factual information is clear- they failed get Mr Hicks’ name correct, where he was captured, or the name of their own Navy ship- even when utilising interrogation techniques tantamount to torture. Much of the inaccuracies in the file have been addressed in Mr Hicks’ book, however, following is a list for your convenience. Ø  David Hicks’ middle name is Matthew, not Michael Ø  Jama’at Al Tablighi is a peaceful Islamic organisation- this has long been confirmed Ø  Mr Hicks has at no time flown to East Timor- to engage in hostilities, or otherwise Ø  LeT was not listed as a terrorist organisation until 2002, long after Mr Hicks had been detained. The report confirms that no member of LeT had engaged in a terrorist act- they allege an intention, which there is no evidence of. As Mr Hicks explains in his book, LeT dissolved after 2001. The group that calls themselves LeT now is not the same group as it was over a decade ago as it is made up of different people. Ø  Allegations of meeting senior al-Qaeda leadership- Mr Hicks explains in his book that did not hear the word al-Qaeda until he reached Guantanamo Bay- and this was from the mouth of an interrogator. Mr Hicks has not met any people by the names of Abu-Hufs or Mohammed Atef, and the U.S. has not provided any evidence of this. Ø  Mr Hicks did not go to Bagram at all- Mr Hicks was captured by the Northern Alliance at a Taxi stand in Baglan on his way back to Australia. He was then sold to the U.S. for approximately US$5000. Ø  There is no such ship as the Pettiloo- Mr Hicks was transferred to two U.S. Navy ships, the U.S.S. Bataan and the U.S.S Peleliu- what they failed to mention in this report was the 10 hour beatings inflicted on Mr Hicks and the other detainees, and the photos depicting Hicks naked with a bleeding wound on his head due to having his head rammed into the tarmac several times. Ø  As for the report stating that Mr Hicks ‘admitted’ to being a member of al-Qaeda- Any and all statements were obtained under torture, this is why he was not taken through a regularly constituted court. In the final Military Commissions hearing, David’s legal team submitted what is called the Alford Plea. This is a US based plea in which an accused person can agree to plead guilty whilst maintaining innocence. David has always maintained his innocence and strongly denies that he was involved with any terrorist organisations- he did what he had to do to come home. Ø  The report alleges that Mr Hicks led in prayer and was held in high regard by other Guantanamo detainees- Mr Hicks cannot speak Arabic, and his knowledge of the religion would not qualify him to lead prayer. Some detainees thought that Mr Hicks was a spy, so any allegation that he was a leader is simply outrageous. Ø  Any allegation that Mr Hicks was unruly or created disturbances is simply untrue. Former Guantanamo bay guard, Brandon Neely who was on the ground with Mr Hicks has confirmed this recently (link below). Ø  As documents have revealed, detainees were forced to take medication and David was injected in the spine (see link below) Ø  All charges that they quote in the document and the Military Commissions process were ruled as unconstitutional and illegal by the U.S. Supreme Court. Even the final Military Commissions Act of 2006 has been replaced by President Obama due to the unfairness of the system, and the fact that it did not establish a legitimate legal framework. Ø  The report alleges that if Mr Hicks is released, he would be a threat to the U.S. and its allies- Mr Hicks has been a free member of society for over three years, and has proven this to be completely false. Mr Hicks has never been accused of hurting anyone, participating in, supporting, preparing for or knowing of a terrorist act. The final charge in the Military Commissions hearing was one count under the material support for terrorism charge- which was foreign to Australian and international law- that did not accuse him of personally supporting terrorism, rather, it was alleged that he supported an organisation that supported terrorism. Of note is the fact that it has never been proven that the camps he attended were in fact al-Qaeda. Mr Hicks has never gone through a fair trial process. This document shows that even back in 2004, Mr Hicks was not suspected and/or accused of hurting any person, or involved in any terrorist acts. The Australian government has always maintained that Mr Hicks has not broken any Australian Law. “…I objected strongly to the Military Commissions Act that was drafted by the Bush Administration and passed by Congress because it failed to establish a legitimate legal framework…” President Obama comments on the 2006 Military Commissions Act Further information: Evidence of forced medication For a copy of David’s interview about torture and interrogations

This is what the Palestinian Authority is good at; flying first class Posted: 25 Apr 2011 01:46 AM PDT This Newsweek profile/interview with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas simply shows an elite Palestinian elite utterly out of touch with Palestinians on the ground in the West Bank and Gaza. The focus isn’t on ending the occupation or stopping daily Zionist incursions into Palestinian territory. This Palestinian leadership has become drunk on Israeli and American largesse; its main goal is to destroy opposition to its rule and crush Hamas. This is colonialism of the 21st century.

Occupation stories from deep inside normal Palestinian lives Posted: 24 Apr 2011 06:55 PM PDT Life in Palestine is often transmitted to the West by people who don’t live there, merely passing through. Father Peter Bray, the Vice Chancellor of Bethlehem University, has regularly written missives about the reality under occupation. Here’s his latest: Easter Sunday 24th April 2011 Again I send special greetings on Easter Sunday from here in Jerusalem. I hope it is a time of great blessing for you as we celebrate the new life God has given us in Jesus. Each year I have been here I have had the good fortune to celebrate the Easter ceremonies in Jerusalem where the events we remember happened. I have stayed in the brothers’ community in the Old City near New Gate and been able to wander the city and reflect on the fact that this was where Jesus spoke to people, listened to them, challenged them, received their applause, suffered their rejection, where he was handed over, abused, crucified and killed. It was, also, the place where God raised him from the dead to bring new life to people. Sometimes I find it hard to believe that I have this opportunity to be here and share in these ceremonies! Again I feel sorry for some of the Palestinian Christians in the West Bank who applied to the Israeli authorites for permission to come into Jerusalem to celebrate the ceremonies here. Many did not receive permission. It was unfortunate that in many cases only some members of a family received permission so that it was impossible for a family to come in and be involved in the ceremonies. There is no obvious logic to the decisions. I met one young man in Jerusalem who is in his third year at Bethlehem University. He was the only member in his family who received permission to come into Jerusalem. In another family the father, a son who is a student at Bethlehem University and a daughter received permission, but the mother and the other daughter did not. Knowing the pain this is to these people certainly makes the reflection on Jesus suffering something that is real for people living here today. This is now my third year in Palestine and I have become aware of how the oppression and restrictions have increased in that time. Aliled to this is the unpredictability of what will happen. Recently over the course of two weeks I came through the checkpoint into Jerusalem about four times. The soldiers barely looked at my passport and simply waved me through. However, last week I spent almost twenty minutes at the checkpoint as they examined my passport very carefully and questioned me about the visa and what I did. They then searched through the things I had in the car.  Because I don’t know what is going to happen at the checkpoint I have to allow at least an hour to travel the seven kilometers into Jerusalem. While I have been carefully questioned at the checkpoint, I have not experienced abuse and humiliation as is often the case for the Palestinians. It is in this context that Bethlehem University exists and thrives! About a third of our students come from East Jerusalem and so come through the wall twice a day to get to Bethlehem University. What I find inspiring is their resilience in not letting the way they are treated in coming through the Wall prevent them from being positive about being at Bethlehem University. The current academic year concludes towards the end of May and we are planning for graduation on 9 and 10 June. So far it has been a very smooth year and I am hoping that continues through to the end! During this year there have been a number of really important things happen which will be beneficial to the Palestinian people whom Bethlehem University serves. The new Faculty of Education building is moving along smoothly and will be ready before the end of this calendar year. It is going to make such a difference to the campus and the way it will be used. It will also provide facilities for the €3.5 million project funded by the Spanish Government to work with teachers in primary and secondary schools in a large area of this part of Palestine. This is something I am excited about because it is improving what happens in primary and secondary school that significant change can be brought about here. From a selfish point of view, if we can work with those teachers to improve the quality of what they are doing in the primary and secondary schools then the quality of the students coming on to Bethlehem University is going to improve which means we will be able to do more with those students. It is an exciting venture and I am very pleased with the progress we have been making in working with these teachers. With the new facilities completed it will mean further possibilities will become available. One other thing that has been going on quietly over the past few years has been the opportunity Bethlehem University has provided for our nursing programme to be available to students in a small village near Ramallah. I visited the teachers and students there again some three weeks ago and was inspired by what is happening there. In the village of Qubeibeh there is a nursing home organised by the Salvadorian Sisters. Sister Hildegard, from Austria, is in charge of this nursing home and was the inspiration behind getting the nursing programme available there. Qubeibeh is a Muslim village which is very isolated because of the way the Wall cuts it off from access to Jerusalem and other villages. As a result it is very difficult for the people to move around and for us to visit there. However, Sister Hildegard was able to persuade the Israeli Military that we should be allowed to come through the Wall at a special checkpoint and so instead of having to make a very circuitous route, we were able to get to Qubeibeh in a little over an hour. What I found when we arrived were enthusiastic students who wanted to share their experience. There are 68 students following the nursing programme and I was very impressed with the first group of students who will graduate from there in June. Sister Hildegard told me when this group of students first began they were very reserved and quiet, almost timid. What I found were confident, empowered and very hopeful young people who were coming to the end of their four year involvement with Bethlehem University. In a very conservative Muslim village where the fathers have such dominance over their daughters, it was inspiring to see young women who were educating their parents into a different way of thinking about the role women could have. One young women had convinced her father that she was not going to get married until after she has a Masters degree. The father of another one had engaged her to be married at the end of her second year in the programme and was going to withdraw her. The young woman talked to her father, enlisted Sister Hildegard’s help, and eventually the father cancelled the engagement and the young woman will graduate this year. In addition to helping such young people to be empowered, the presence of Bethlehem University in Qubeibeh is gradually bringing about a change in the village and particularly in the way women are being treated there. I find this a wonderful expression of Bethlehem University preaching the Good News through action rather than words. I am reminded of Jesus’ words: “I have come that they may have life and have it to the full!” What Bethlehem University is doing in Qubeibeh is bringing a fuller life to these people and a freedom they had never imagined before. The other amazing thing is that all the students who will graduate in June already have jobs to go to. In the midst of restrictions, oppression and difficulties it is inspiring to see students blossoming in spite of it all! Earlier in the year Bethlehem University was able to obtain a grant from USAID for over US$600,000 to establish an Excellence in Teaching Centre. This centre will work with the people employed by Bethlehem University to improve the quality of what we are doing in the teaching we do. It is crucial to continually work to improve the opportunities for students to learn. I keep asking the question “Is there a better way?” which I apply to anything that is happening at Bethlehem University. The Centre is answering that question with regard to teaching but I am also working towards a Quality Assurance system which will apply across all the things that happen at Bethlehem University. I have had two people visit Bethlehem University to help us with this, one from Ireland and one from England. I hope in the course of the next semester to move this along and get a system in place. We have had many visitors come to campus. Some five weeks ago we had the President of East Timor spend some time with us and gave a lecture to a representative group from Bethlehem University. I am also delighted to have had a number of people from New Zealand and Australia visit. We had a delegation of Trade Union people from Australia spend some time with our students over a meal and then just last week a group of Australian federal politicians spent several hours on campus engaging with students and getting some idea of what life is like for them. As well, there have been many individuals from New Zealand who have called and had the opportunity to engage with our students and faculty to come away with a better idea of what life is like for students here. These people are most welcome because it confirms for the students that they are not forgotten, but there are people outside of the West Bank who are concerned about them. I have been fortunate to engage with Tom Kennedy at the New Zealand Embassy in Turkey and he has been able to facilitate the funding the digitization of some of our resources in the Bethlehem University library. This has been warmly welcomed and acknowledged. One other New Zealand feature is a new set of Icons about the Trinity, Bethlehem and De La Salle. This took more than two years to complete but is now installed in the top corridor of the main building and is becoming recognised as a masterpiece. It was funded by the combined efforts of the three New Zealand groups: the De La Salle Brothers, the Brigidine Sisters and the Assumptions Fathers. We are certainly grateful for their support. I am very grateful for the ongoing support for the work of Bethlehem University coming from people from around the world, including New Zealand and Australia. I mentioned in my last e-mail that we had launched a capital campaign to raise US$25 million over four years. We are well on the way to that target at this stage of the campaign. I have attached an announcement some of you may not have received of the largest gift from an individual for Bethlehem University. I had been engaging Mr Dabdoub over the course of some time before he came forward with this gift which will make a significant difference to the Faculty of Business. So life at Bethlehem University continues to be full and busy, but very inspiring in spite of the challenges we face. It is so obvious that what we are doing is worthwhile and so knowing that enables us to keep going. One of the real challenges in Palestine is to keep hope alive. The people have been promised and promised and promised and they are still occupied and oppressed! The presence of Bethlehem University as a beacon of hope to our students is a vital element in supporting the Palestinian people. From this holy place I send you best wishes and pray the blessings of the Risen Lord will be yours. I would ask that you keep Bethlehem University in your prayers as we work to provide the best education we can for the students entrusted to us. May God’s peace and joy be part of your experience as you celebrate this Easter. Best wishes Brother Peter Bray

How America really feels about those chained in Guantanamo Bay Posted: 24 Apr 2011 06:23 PM PDT A place of torture, deprivation, lack of judicial oversight, a gulag and utterly deplorable. Welcome to the US empire: Al-Qaeda terrorists have threatened to unleash a “nuclear hellstorm” on the West if Osama Bin Laden is caught or assassinated, according to documents to be released by the WikiLeaks website, which contain details the interrogations of more than 700 Guantanamo detainees. However, the shocking human cost of obtaining this intelligence is also exposed with dozens of innocent people sent to Guantanamo – and hundreds of low-level foot-soldiers being held for years and probably tortured before being assessed as of little significance. The Daily Telegraph, along with other newspapers including The Washington Post, today exposes America’s own analysis of almost ten years of controversial interrogations on the world’s most dangerous terrorists. This newspaper has been shown thousands of pages of top-secret files obtained by the WikiLeaks website. The disclosures are set to spark intense debate around the world about the establishment of Guantanamo Bay in the months after 9/11 – which has enabled the US to collect vital intelligence from senior Al Qaeda commanders but sparked fury in the middle east and Europe over the treatment of detainees. The files detail the background to the capture of each of the 780 people who have passed through the Guantanamo facility in Cuba, their medical condition and the information they have provided during interrogations. Only about 220 of the people detained are assessed by the Americans to be dangerous international terrorists. A further 380 people are lower-level foot-soldiers, either members of the Taliban or extremists who travelled to Afghanistan whose presence at the military facility is questionable. At least a further 150 people are innocent Afghans or Pakistanis, including farmers, chefs and drivers who were rounded up or even sold to US forces and transferred across the world. In the top-secret documents, senior US commanders conclude that in dozens of cases there is “no reason recorded for transfer”. However, the documents do not detail the controversial techniques used to obtain information from detainees, such as water-boarding, stress positions and sleep deprivation, which are now widely regarded as tantamount to torture. The Guantanamo files confirm that the Americans have seized more than 100 Al-Qaeda terrorists, including about 15 kingpins from the most senior echelons of the organisation. The most senior detainee at the facility is Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the operational commander of Al-Qaeda and the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, who will face a military tribunal later this year after plans for a full-scale trial in New York were abandoned. His 15-page-file discloses that he was plotting Al-Qaeda attacks around the world in Asia, Africa, America and Britain. It concludes: “Detainee had numerous plots and plans for operations targeting the US, its allies, and its interests world-wide.” It adds: “Detainee stated that as an enemy of the US, he thought about the US policies with which he disagreed and how he could change them. Detainee’s plan was to make US citizens suffer, especially economically, which would put pressure on the US government to change its policies. Targeting priorities were determined by initially assessing those that would have the greatest economic impact, and secondly which would awaken people politically.” It can also today be disclosed that: *A senior Al-Qaeda commander claimed that the terrorist group has hidden a nuclear bomb in Europe which will be detonated if Bin-Laden is ever caught or assassinated. The US authorities uncovered numerous attempts by Al-Qaeda to obtain nuclear materials and fear that terrorists have already bought uranium. Sheikh Mohammed told interrogators that Al-Qaeda would unleash a “nuclear hellstorm”. *The 20th 9/11 hijacker, who did not ultimately travel to America and take part in the atrocity, has revealed that Al-Qaeda was seeking to recruit ground-staff at Heathrow amid several plots targeting the world’s busiest airport. Terrorists also plotted major chemical and biological attacks against this country. *A plot to put cyanide in the air-conditioning units of public buildings across America was exposed along with several schemes to target infrastructure including utility networks and petrol stations. Terrorists were also going to rent apartments in large blocks and set off gas explosions. *About 20 juveniles, including a 14-year old boy have been held at Guantanamo. Several pensioners, including an 89 year old with serious health problems were incarcerated. *People wearing a certain model of Casio watch from the 1980s were seized by American forces in Afghanistan on suspicion of being terrorists, because the watches were used as timers by Al-Qaeda. However, the vast majority of those captured for this reason have since been quietly released amid a lack of evidence. *Bin Laden fled his hideout in the Tora Bora mountain range in Afghanistan just days before coalition troops arrived. The last reported sighting of the Al-Qaeda leader was in spring 2003 when several detainees recorded he had met other terrorist commanders in Pakistan. Guantanamo Bay was opened by the American Government in January 2002 at a military base in Cuba. The establishment of the controversial facility required a special presidential order as “enemy combatants” were held without trial. A series of controversial torture-style techniques were also approved to be used on prisoners and many foreign Governments, including the British, pressed for their citizens to be released. However, the files disclose that British intelligence services apparently co-operated with Guantanamo interrogators. The New York Times also leads with the yarn: The dossiers also show the seat-of-the-pants intelligence gathering in war zones that led to the incarcerations of innocent men for years in cases of mistaken identity or simple misfortune. In May 2003, for example, Afghan forces captured Prisoner 1051, an Afghan named Sharbat, near the scene of a roadside bomb explosion, the documents show. He denied any involvement, saying he was a shepherd. Guantánamo debriefers and analysts agreed, citing his consistent story, his knowledge of herding animals and his ignorance of “simple military and political concepts,” according to his assessment. Yet a military tribunal declared him an “enemy combatant” anyway, and he was not sent home until 2006. … The 20th hijacker: The best-documented case of an abusive interrogation at Guantánamo was the coercive questioning, in late 2002 and early 2003, of Mohammed Qahtani. A Saudi believed to have been an intended participant in the Sept. 11 attacks, Mr. Qahtani was leashed like a dog, sexually humiliated and forced to urinate on himself. His file says, “Although publicly released records allege detainee was subject to harsh interrogation techniques in the early stages of detention,” his confessions “appear to be true and are corroborated in reporting from other sources.” But claims that he is said to have made about at least 16 other prisoners — mostly in April and May 2003 — are cited in their files without any caveat. The hypocrisy at the heart of Washington’s behaviour is the constant message sent by officials that the US is a country of laws. Witness Barack Obama recently accusing alleged Wikileaks leaker Bradley Manning of breaking the law, before he’s even faced any trial. Or the US backing countless Arab police states in the name of regional “stability”. America makes it very clear to its various proxies who is the super-power and who is the client state. This has nothing to do with democracy, as Guantanamo Bay shows.