A.LOEWENSTEIN ONLINE NEWSLETTER

• There is a Zionist lobby in Australia and let’s look inside some more
• Chomsky on the invisible Iranian nuclear ghost
• Is there a connection between Dubai and Gilad Shalit?
• We’re dying in Afghanistan and you want to hug a general?
• Walid Shoebat should not be heard in Pakistan
• The battle between Wikileaks and Miley Cyrus
• What is wrong with this picture?
• Don’t speak to terrorists because we must keep Israel strong
• The people of Gaza are too fat and healthy

There is a Zionist lobby in Australia and let’s look inside some more  29 Jun 2010 Following the story in yesterday’s Fairfax media about Prime Minister Julia Gillard and her love for Israel and its cuddly lobby here in Australia, the following letters appear in the Age today: Peace throughout the Middle East cannot be achieved until Western nations such Australia show we are as concerned about justice for Palestinians as we are about security for Israelis. The Israeli lobby in Australia has been very effective in gaining the support of governments over the past 60 years. Evidence that our new Prime Minister (The Age, 29/6) is following this pattern does not give cause for optimism that Australia will bring new initiatives to this conflict. Until our government shows respect and effective concern for the situation of the Palestinians, our costly commitments to bringing peace in Afghanistan and Iraq will be ineffective. Wal Jenkyn, Manifold Heights We may have Israeli lobbyists in Australia but we also have Palestinian lobbyists who work just as hard. In the past two weeks, two pro-Palestinian Labor MPs gave speeches in Parliament. Also, senators from both sides of Parliament and Arab ambassadors recently attended a dinner organised by Australians for Palestine. Visiting Palestinian activist Dianna Buttu was the guest speaker. It was one of many events organised by Palestinian lobbyists and was just as legitimate as Israeli lobbyists doing their job. Lobbyists from all countries cover political and non-political issues. I am sure Australia has its own in Washington, Britain and China. Michael Burd, Toorak

Chomsky on the invisible Iranian nuclear ghost  29 Jun 2010 Noam Chomsky on a nation that threatens something other than Israel: Such harrowing pronouncements aside, what exactly is the Iranian threat? An authoritative answer is provided in the April 2010 study of the International Institute of Strategic Studies, Military Balance 2010. The brutal clerical regime is doubtless a threat to its own people, though it does not rank particularly high in that respect in comparison to US allies in the region. But that is not what concerns the Institute. Rather, it is concerned with the threat Iran poses to the region and the world. The study makes it clear that the Iranian threat is not military. Iran’s military spending is “relatively low compared to the rest of the region,” and less than 2% that of the US. Iranian military doctrine is strictly “defensive,… designed to slow an invasion and force a diplomatic solution to hostilities.” Iran has only “a limited capability to project force beyond its borders.” With regard to the nuclear option, “Iran’s nuclear program and its willingness to keep open the possibility of developing nuclear weapons is a central part of its deterrent strategy.” Though the Iranian threat is not military, that does not mean that it might be tolerable to Washington. Iranian deterrent capacity is an illegitimate exercise of sovereignty that interferes with US global designs. Specifically, it threatens US control of Middle East energy resources, a high priority of planners since World War II, which yields “substantial control of the world,” one influential figure advised (A. A. Berle).

Is there a connection between Dubai and Gilad Shalit? 29 Jun 2010 Remember Israel’s hit on a Hamas operative in Dubai? The story is still running though is largely ignored by the mainstream press these days. Newsweek publishes an intriguing piece that adds more spice to the yarn: European investigators believe that a man arrested by Polish authorities earlier this month may be a key fixer in Europe for Israel’s Mossad spy agency. The man, who a European official said was arrested at Warsaw airport when trying to enter Poland on June 4, was using an Israeli passport in the name of Uri Brodsky. A second European official familiar with the inquiry said investigators believe Brodsky is not the suspect’s real name and that his true identity remains a mystery. Official and unofficial spy aficionados are still puzzled over why Israel would ruin its previously friendly relationship with authorities in a key Gulf emirate, and blow the identities of so many undercover operatives, just to eliminate an obscure Hamas operative. One theory gaining support among intelligence experts is that Mossad’s intent was to drug and kidnap Mabhouh, and then try to use him in a trade for Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier held hostage in Gaza by Hamas. But the Israelis, according to this theory, may have overdosed their target on knockout drops.

We’re dying in Afghanistan and you want to hug a general?  29 Jun 2010 While here’s yet another mainstream journalist upset that Michael Hastings actually embarrassed military men in Afghanistan – it truly seems that many corporate reporters and commentators would rather general worship towards men and women in uniform – the real cost of two devastating wars is brought home. When was the last an injured service person was given air-time in our mainstream media as opposed to soft-ball interviews with war officials in Kabul? A blogger and writer claims American military casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan now exceed 500,000. That’s if you count certain injuries and diseases including mental illness that he alleges the Department of Defense doesn’t include in its official combat-related casualty toll in an effort to soften U.S. military losses in the wars and win funding for them from the Congress. For example, cases of traumatic brain injury and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, as a result of serving in Iraq and Afghanistan are excluded from the official list of casualties. “Under this scheme, chronic injuries and many acute internal injuries such as hearing impairment, back injuries, mild traumatic brain injuries, mental health problems and a host of diseases suffered by personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan are usually not counted as being war-related regardless of how debilitating they are,” writes Matthew Nasuti in an article published on the Afghan news site and media organization Kabul Press. “They are either generally lumped into the category of ‘non-hostile wounded’ or simply not counted at all.”

Walid Shoebat should not be heard in Pakistan  29 Jun 2010 This is weird. Pakistan is reportedly planning to massively increase its online censorship regime. Just another US-backed dictatorship wanting to shut down debate. Not much new here except one site has supposedly already been blocked, of Mr Walid Shoebat, former Palestinian militant and now rabid Zionist and anti-Islam activist. Is Pakistan seriously banning this man because of his views on Islam?

The battle between Wikileaks and Miley Cyrus  29 Jun 2010 According to this Canadian writer, Wikileaks has been largely ineffective in truly bringing change because of our incredibly short attention spans: The “collateral murder” video has been viewed almost 7m times on YouTube – that’s 128 times fewer than the video for Miley Cyrus’s Party in the USA. That comparison might seem silly, but it hints at a bigger problem. That is, the “collateral murder” video, as it became a part of the usual TV structure of message-advertisement-message, was reduced to an equivalent of all other parts of the usual pattern of disarticulation and abstraction of signs. In essence, “collateral murder” was overshadowed by a Miley Cyrus video because, in the end, it became part of a structure inherently designed to nullify its message by promoting the status quo of the culture industry. So, as much as WikiLeaks thrives in its online setting, its information still falls prey to the sameness of modern media. Even if someone were to see the video on YouTube, the same mechanisms prevail, with all information – including web advertisements and other videos – being presented as equal. Effectively, the only way one can view a WikiLeaks video without that influence is on the site itself, where it lives within certain confines, and with less influence.

What is wrong with this picture?  29 Jun 2010 Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman says this week that an independent Palestinian state is at least two years away. Jerusalem’s mayor continues to expand Jewish control in the city, pushing out Palestinian families. The International Trade Union Confederation votes to maintain the status-quo, oppose boycott, divestment and sanctions and speak like it’s still 1993. But there is trouble in paradise. Zionists and their supporters who simply hope and pray for a change in Israel are deluding themselves. Action is being taken: The leaders of European Friends of Israel (EFI), the European lobby for Israel and its economy, warned yesterday of a deterioration in the political climate in Europe against Israel, and an increase in the phenomenon of boycotts of Israeli products and businesspeople throughout Europe.  They noted that there was a growing phenomenon of European investment funds that were divesting from Israeli companies, for reasons defined as “business ethics.”

Don’t speak to terrorists because we must keep Israel strong  29 Jun 2010 This is how Fox News deals with the Middle East. The Obama administration may be speaking to Hamas. Treason!

The people of Gaza are too fat and healthy  28 Jun 2010 Zionist lobbyists, get a grip: A pro-Israeli advocacy organization is throwing a cocktail party in New York Monday night to discuss a phenomenon it says is a crisis in Gaza: Palestinians are too fat. “[T]he only humanitarian crisis in Gaza is OBESITY,” the group Fuel For Truth said in an email inviting young Jewish professionals to a promotional event at a lower Manhattan bar. The subject line of the email was “Media Launch Party: Drinks and Fat Gazans.” The group also included a video apparently mocking the situation Gaza. The video did not mention that the United Nations and all international aid groups agree that there is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza resulting from Israel’s blockade of the territory, a measure which the Red Cross says is illegal under international law. In its video the group said Palestinians are receiving too much aid, despite the fact that, as the UN noted in a report last week, the number of truckloads of goods entering Gaza is still at only one-fifth of the level before the blockade was imposed in June 2007. On its website Fuel For Truth (FFT) says it ”equips young Americans with the basic facts and skills necessary to advocate to young adults, to increase support for Israel and America through education of radical Islamic terror.” The group also holds a regular “boot camp” for pro-Israeli activists and says Israel lobbyists should “arm themselves,” with information, presumably.