Articles

Syria: June 21 Demonstrations Set By Assad
June 25, 2011
Syria
NOVANEWS Syrian President Bashar al-Assad Syrians throughout the country took to the streets on Tuesday, 21 June 2011. They turned ...Read more
A Berlin A-Bomb on Sunday 6/26/2011?
June 25, 2011
Politics
NOVANEWS   By Captain Eric H. May, Iconoclast Intelligence WEDNESDAY, 6/22/11 — German Attorney Torsten van Geest has submitted a ...Read more
McCain/Kerry Support Imperial War on Libya
June 25, 2011
Libya
NOVANEWS By: Stephen Lendman   On November 6, 1971, a remorseful John Kerry told Washington, DC’s WRC-TV that “I gave ...Read more
US-Led Terror Bombings Target Civilians
June 25, 2011
USA
NOVANEWS by Stephen Lendman     US air and ground operations strategically target civilians, Pentagon (and NATO) denials notwithstanding. They lie ...Read more
Dorothy Online Newsletter
June 25, 2011
Middle East
NOVANEWS Dear Friends, 8 items tonight—too many, I know.  But I omitted as many as I have included.  Sorry. But there are ...Read more
A. Loewenstein Online Newsletter
June 25, 2011
Middle East
NOVANEWS Bin Laden wanted to re-brand his little firm  Posted: 24 Jun 2011   Fascinating, if true: As Osama bin Laden ...Read more
Schivone: A Moment Before Boarding the Next Flotilla
June 25, 2011
Gaza
NOVANEWS   I’d rather use my influence and power, in concert with other members of American civil society, to actively ...Read more
Demonizing Islam, Cui Bono ?
June 25, 2011
Campaigns
NOVANEWS   By Nahida-Exiled Palestinian Why are the zionists and their NWO allies fervently waging war against Muslims and Islam? ...Read more
Zio-Nazi Court: Mosque to be used as Islamic Museum
June 25, 2011
Campaigns
NOVANEWS   Court rules that the mosque won’t be able to be used for prayer, but rejects Be’er Sheva municipality ...Read more
Zio-Nazi regime won’t apologize for flotilla murder's
June 25, 2011
Gaza
NOVANEWS   Zio-Nazi Minister Ya’alon met Turkish foreign ministry officials last week as part of attempts to solve crisis with ...Read more
Under Bush, US was ready to support Zio-Nazi slaughter
June 25, 2011
USA
NOVANEWS The failure of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to retaliate in the Gaza Strip for rocket fire after disengagement – ...Read more
Syrian security seize smuggled weapons
June 25, 2011
Syria
NOVANEWS   Syrian authorities have seized a large shipment of weapons, in the coastal city of Lattakia, which were thought ...Read more

Syria: June 21 Demonstrations Set By Assad

NOVANEWS

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad

Syrians throughout the country took to the streets on Tuesday, 21 June 2011.

They turned out to express their support for the reform measures announced by President Bashar Al-Assad the previous day in the speech he delivered at the University of Damascus.

Source: Voltairenet.org

Several million Syrians throughout the country took to the streets on Tuesday, 21 June 2011. The crowds were particularly dense and impressive in Damascus Alep, Tartous and Homs.

They turned out to express their support for the reform measures announced by President Bashar Al-Assad the previous day in the speech he delivered at the University of Damascus.

The scale of the demonstrations, unprecedented in the history of Syria, are a token of the huge popular support enjoyed by the «regime», so widely demonized by Western media and political leaders.

For the sake of comparison, at the peak of the anti-government rallies of the past three months, the overall number of protesters in the entire country amounted was between 150 000 and 200 000.

The Syrians living in the country and whose children are serving in the army don’t swallow the disinformation dished out by satellite channels that portray them as being under the yoke of a dictatorship, where the police is torturing children and the army is bombarding villages. Instead, what they do know is that their country is prey to a destabilization plot at the hands of armed groups piloted from abroad, a prelude to a possible NATO aggression.

In your opinion, who is telling the truth: the Syrian people or the Western media?


Damascus

Daraa

A Berlin A-Bomb on Sunday 6/26/2011?

NOVANEWS

 
http://www.soccercappers.com/images/olympia_stadion_berlin.jpg

By Captain Eric H. May, Iconoclast Intelligence

WEDNESDAY, 6/22/11 — German Attorney Torsten van Geest has submitted a provisional order to force the German government into action in light of what he claims are multiple indicators of an impending nuclear terror attack at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium on June 26, 2011, during the opening ceremony of the Women’s World Soccer Championship.

U.S. officials knew about similar indicators before the September 11, 2001 attacks, but did nothing to prevent them, he says, adding that this time such indicators should be publicized to help prevent an attack.

The 400-page provisional order states that many nations have conducted so-called “false-flag” terror attacks, blaming them on unpopular ethnic groups or countries to create conflict and justify wars. They are advancing a world domination agenda, it argues, to concentrate power in the hands of a shadowy power elite who control governments and organizations.

For more refer to: WARNING: Nuclear Terror Attack on June 26, 2011, Berlin Olympia Stadium, FIFA Women`s Soccer World Cup 2011.

McCain/Kerry Support Imperial War on Libya

NOVANEWS


By: Stephen Lendman
 

On November 6, 1971, a remorseful John Kerry told Washington, DC’s WRC-TV that “I gave back, I can’t remember, six, seven, eight, nine medals,” protesting against America’s Vietnam War involvement.

On April 22, 1971, Kerry testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as a member of Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW), saying in part:

He came to discuss an investigation involving “over 150 honorably discharged and many very highly decorated veterans,” who admitted committing Southeast Asian war crimes, explaining:

“stories at times they had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, bl(ew) up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages (like) Genghis Khan, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam in addition to the normal ravages of war, and the normal and very particular ravaging which is done by the applied bombing power of this country.”

Calling it a “Winter Soldier Investigation,” he said “there is nothing in South Vietnam, nothing which could happen that realistically threatens the United States of America.” Linking America’s involvement “to the preservation of freedom….is to us the height of criminal hypocrisy….”

“We saw firsthand how money from American taxes was used for a corrupt dictatorial regime….We rationalized destroying villages….to save them. We saw America lose her sense of morality as she accepted very cooly a My Lai,” and many others like it. “We learned the meaning of free fire zones, shooting anything that moves, and we watched while America placed a cheapness on the lives of orientals.”

“We have come here….because we believe this body can be responsive to the will of the people (saying) we should be out of Vietnam now….”

Adding much more, he condemned America’s illegal, immoral war, wanting no further part in it. That was then. This is now. Since 1985, Kerry represented Massachusetts in America’s Senate, chairing the Foreign Relations Committee he testified before in 1971.

In fact, one of many congressional millionaires, he’s the Senate’s richest approaching $300 million in net worth as heir, through his wife, to the HJ Heinz fortune.

Now hawkish, he and five other senators co-sponsored John McCain’s May 23 “S. 194: A Resolution expressing the sense of the Senate of the United States military operations in Libya,” saying:

It “(s)upports the aspirations of the Libyan people for political reform based on democratic and human rights. Commends the service of the men and women of the US Armed Forces and our coalition partners who are engaged in military operations to protect the Libyan people….to achieve the departure from power of (Gaddafi) and his family so that a peaceful transition can begin to a government that ensures freedom, opportunity, and justice for the people of Libya.”

In fact, America abhors these rights and freedoms, pursuing imperial wars of conquest, plunder and exploitation for wealth, power, and unchallenged dominance.

In 2001 and 2003, Kerry supported wars against Afghanistan and Iraq for those purposes, not liberation, human rights or democratic values. He now backs terror bombing Libya for the same reasons, spurning Libyans who want no part of America’s involvement.

In fact, Western media ignored a June 20 one million strong pro-Gaddafi Tripoli rally, raging against NATO terror bombings, killing civilians, targeting schools, hospitals, residential areas, and other non-military sites, what few in the West know about or understand.

On Press TV, independent journalist Lizzie Phelan said “from my sources, I have information that 90% of the tribes in Libya are supportive of the government, including the largest.”

In fact, Libyans are known for being “non-confrontational people (who’ll) go to the ends of the earth to resolve in a non-confrontational way.”

Washington’s led NATO war changed that, pursuing America’s undefined “national security policy interests,” that include mass slaughter, pillaging, colonization, destruction, and exploitation, common themes of Pentagon terror wars.

On June 22, AP reported that Kerry and John McCain with other Senate Democrats and Republicans introduced a resolution giving “Obama limited authority” in Libya retroactively from March 19 when terror bombing began.

Majority Leader Harry Reid calls it a “clear statement to our allies, to the world, to the Libyan people and to Gaddafi that we support the administration’s actions,” no matter how lawless, immoral, and defiant of democratic values.

Kerry said ending funding will be a “moment of infamy.” Supportive media reports concur, including a June 16 New York Times editorial headlined, “Libya and the War Powers Act,” saying:

“It would be hugely cost – for (America’s) credibility, for the future of NATO and for the people of Libya – if Congress were to force (Obama) to abandon military operations over Libya….(It) needs to authorize continued American support for NATO’s air campaign,” no matter how ignoble the cause, mass slaughter, destruction, and human misery inflicted, issues ignored by Times editors, endorsing the rape and plunder of another US imperial target.

The Republican controlled House will likely accede, despite duplicitous posturing for maximum advantage, perhaps concessions for other hard right legislation, harming working Americans most.

As a result, Speaker John Boehner responded to the Senate measure, saying:

“They’re pushing for an authorization in Libya and I don’t think that is where the House is. The fact is the president has not made his case to the members of Congress. He’s not made his case to the American people. We’ve been in this conflict for 90 days and the president hasn’t talked to the American people for four or five weeks about why we’re there, what our national interest is and why we should continue.”

Omitted from his comments were international and constitutional law references, standards all US wars violate, including against Libya, considerations never raised in either House.

House Republicans may vote this week on one of two resolutions – either to continue Libyan operations for one year, bar US ground forces, require Obama to report regularly to Congress, or end involvement entirely. AP says a Thursday vote is likely.

Supportive congressional members from both parties use duplicitous rhetoric for it, including Reid saying it’s “to stop mass murder and chaos” that didn’t begin until America and NATO intervened, and that Gaddafi’s “repressive dictatorship is a threat to the region and to the United States national security,” when, in fact, he threatens no one, especially America, the very notion laughable on its face.

Nonetheless, terror bombing Libya will continue, perhaps ending after turning targeted areas to rubble and inflicting mass casualties in the process, what America means by liberation.

US-Led Terror Bombings Target Civilians

NOVANEWS

by Stephen Lendman

 

 

US air and ground operations strategically target civilians, Pentagon (and NATO) denials notwithstanding. They lie despite clear evidence refuting them. Their latest crime claimed 19 Libyans, all civilians, including women and eight children, apologies not forthcoming and deceitful when they do.

NATO (code for the Pentagon) duplicitously called it a “precision strike on a legitimate military target – a command-and-control node which was directly involved in coordinating systematic attacks on the Libyan people.”

False! It targeted Gaddafi ally Khweildy al-Hamidy’s private estate, murdering civilians inside beneath the rubble, government spokesman Moussa ibrahim saying:

“This is very twisted logic. So you kill children. You kill mothers. You kill fathers, aunts and uncles, and then you try to explain it by twisted political military logic.”

Since NATO terror bombings began March 19, an average of nearly nine daily civilian deaths followed, besides unknown hundreds killed by rebel cutthroats in their controlled areas, murdering any suspected pro-Gaddafi supporters – what Western media reports and governments won’t explain.

Numerous reports confirm it, including TeleSUR on June 3 saying:

“British activists have verified the consequences of NATO attacks against civilians in Libya. A spokesman for British Civilians for Peace (BCP)” there with French, German, Italian and regional activists confirmed noncombatant deaths. They also “found no evidence of the Libyan army shelling civilians,” but observed NATO terror bombing atrocities firsthand.

BCP spokesman Dale Roberts said in two Libyan visits:

“I have seen and witnessed the effects of bombing on civilians. This has included schools, hospitals, infrastructure and civilian areas,” unrelated to military sites.

Roberts added that UK and Western media suppress truths because:

“European public opinion is against a war that was not debated in Parliament, even in my country, Great Britain,” adding:

“One of the main reasons why” UN Resolution 1973 passed was because “Libya was being blamed and made responsible for attacks on unarmed civilians. They are false. We visited the areas in Tripoli (the UN Resolution) cited….and it is clear that these areas were not attacked.”

Like all US-led wars, lies facilitate terror bombing Libya. They include baseless allegations, claiming despots massacre civilians or threaten neighboring states with WMDs to stoke fear and enlist popular support.

In his book “War is a Lie,” David Swanson explains “common themes in the war lying business, lies that keep coming back like zombies that just won’t die.” And no matter how often they’re later exposed, they’re used again effectively because major media managed news repeat them, knowing they’re spurious but do it anyway complicit with state crimes.

Except in self-defense, wars aren’t ever justified, legitimate or legal, especially America’s, the only global superpower facing no external threats, so manufactured ones assure more conflict for imperial expansion and unchallenged dominance, no matter the body count to achieve it.

As a result, the same pattern repeats, segueing from one aggression to another or multiple ones simultaneously, illegally, and disastrously, heading America for tyranny, ruin, and eventual bankruptcy. Morally it’s had that status for generations, notably since WW II.

“In a world with so many uncertainties and unpredictable actors,” says Immanuel Wallerstein, “the most dangerous ‘loose gun’ is….the United States.”

For example, so-called Pentagon “Kill Teams” murder with impunity. Some collect body parts as souvenirs or trophies the way US military personnel did in WW II, mutilating dead Japanese, as well as later in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan, exhibiting depravity inculcated in young recruits during training.

US death squads have also been used in US wars since WW II. During the Korean War, tens of thousands were murdered, and in Vietnam, Counterspy magazine called Operation Phoenix “the most indiscriminate and massive program of political murder since the Nazi death camps,” perhaps exceeded post-9/11 in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, and numerous proxy wars, taking a horrendous human toll from combat operations alone.

Moreover, since WW II, US terror bombings killed millions of noncombatants to cow enemies into submission, what’s now commonplace in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Libya, as well as earlier in Iraq and could be resumed if ordered.

Sociologist Emile Durkheim once said, “The immorality of war depends entirely on the leaders who willed it.” In America, of course, it’s top administration and Pentagon officials. In his opening Nuremberg address, Justice Robert Jackson denounced the:

“men who possess themselves of great power and make deliberative and concerted use of it to set in motion evils which leave no home in the world untouched.”

He called them “men of station and rank (who don’t) soil (their) hands with blood,” but use “lesser folk” to do it, committing crimes of war and against humanity to enhance their status and privilege.

As a result, in Iraq and Afghanistan, US forces still order troops to kill every military-aged man on sight. Moreover, during training, enemies are dehumanized to make it easy, programming recruits to feel guiltless about horrific crimes.

Yet international and US laws are clear and unequivocal, including US Army Field Manual (FM) 27-10 standards that incorporate Nuremberg Principles, Judgment and the Charter and The Law of Land Warfare (1956):

  • – FM’s paragraph 498 states that any person, military or civilian, who commits a crime under international law is responsible for it and may be punished;

  • – paragraph 499 defines a war crime;

  • – paragraph 500 refers to a conspiracy, attempts to commit it and complicity with respect to international crimes;

  • – paragraph 509 denies the defense of superior orders in the commission of a crime; and

  • – paragraph 510 denies the defense of an “act of state” to absolve them.

Two points are key:

– these provisions apply to all US military and civilian personnel, including top commanders, the Secretary of Defense, his subordinates, and the President and Vice President of the United States; and

– under the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause (Article VI, paragraph 2), all international laws and treaties are the “supreme Law of the Land.”

Nonetheless, US forces commit regular atrocities, in Afghanistan for nearly a decade, Pentagon commanders dismissively saying operations will continue to achieve goals that include killing civilians, no matter how many alienated Afghans become willing Taliban recruits against a hated occupier.

Why not when terror bombings kill entire families, including young children. When thuggish troops conduct middle-of-the-night home intrusions, intimidating, arresting, and at times killing gratuitously. When remote control droning kills like sport. When people are homeless, hungry, unemployed and deprived because America came, occupied and doesn’t give a damn about human need.

After terrorizing Iraqis, in June 2009, Stanley McChrystal took charge of US/NATO Afghanistan forces to do it there. Earlier, he headed the Pentagon’s infamous Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), de facto death squad operations to kill with impunity.

After his sacking a year later, David Petraeus (CIA director designate) doubled NATO air strikes and increased Special Forces terror raids to inflict more death and destruction against people who won’t stop resisting until America’s occupation ends.

Of course, mostly civilians suffer, what major media reports won’t explain, regurgitating Pentagon lies about successful militant strikes, suppressing truths to let imperial wars rage, bogusly called liberating ones.

In fact, when Washington wants war, nothing deters officials from waging it or several simultaneously, inventing reasons to justify what only naive masses and co-conspirators believe.

So when Obama says “we” have moral authority to liberate Iraqis, Afghans, Pakistanis, Libyans or other nations he attacks, Nobel laureate Harold Pinter once reflected in January 2000 on then lawless 1999 Serbia/Kosovo operations, saying:

“When they said ‘(w)e had to do something,’ I said: Who is this ‘we’ exactly that you’re talking about?….Under what heading do ‘we’ act, under what law? And also, the notion that this ‘we’ has the right to act,’ I said, presupposes a moral authority of which this ‘we’ possesses not a jot! It doesn’t exist!”

In fact, it’s as immoral, unethical and illegal as for serial killers, motivated by whatever drives them, including a passion for violence, real or delusional rewards.

When they’re nations, not sociopaths, Orwellian doublespeak disguises real motives deceptively. For example, Obama calls Libyan attacks a “time-limited, scope-limited military action,” not war, no matter how much death and destruction is inflicted.

So claiming constitutional Article 2, Section 2 authority as armed forces commander in chief, in fact, violates Article 51 of the UN Charter, prohibiting attacks against other nations except in self-defense, and only until the Security Council acts.

Moreover, the Constitution’s Article 1, Section 8 is violated, granting Congress sole power to declare war, never the executive unilaterally, for any reason or with doublespeak mumbo jumbo disguising it.

War is war. It’s also hell on the receiving end, harmful to combatants, and detrimental domestically when popular needs go unmet.

As chief executive, Obama is responsible for mass murder and destruction. If rule of law standards mattered, he’d be impeached, convicted and jailed for high crimes – in fact, the supreme international one against peace and others related to it.

Instead, he’ll finish his current term, likely be reelected, and leave office rewarded with multi-million dollar book deals and six-figure lecture offers to extol a record demanding condemnation in a court of law, holding him fully accountable for high crimes, demanding harsh punishment. In fact, only victims face that fate.

Dorothy Online Newsletter

NOVANEWS

Dear Friends,

8 items tonight—too many, I know.  But I omitted as many as I have included.  Sorry. But there are times as these, and we do our best—I by trying to furnish the more important information of the day, and you by trying to absorb as much of it as possible.

The first 3 items all deal with the upcoming flotilla, which plans to sail notwithstanding opposition from the US government, Ban ki-Moon, and others.  The initial item is a letter from members of the Audacity of Hope, the American boat, to the State Department reminding it that it has the duty to protect its citizens against Israeli violence.  The 2nd item shows the positive side of the flotilla—that the very threat of a flotilla makes Israel improve the conditions for Gaza, and reminds us of the flotilla’s to Gaza true function—namely to break the blockade.  The 3 item is a young Jewish college student explaining why he is joining the flotilla.  His narrative also includes remarks on the thinking of young Jewish Americans towards Israel.

Item 4 is on an entirely different note: it informs us that demolition of Palestinian homes has picked up speed at an enormous rate.

Item 5 argues that it is Netanyahu who is “delegitimising Israel.”  I would add, that it is he and the rest of his motley government.

Item 6 shows like father like son.  It is about Yair Netanyahu’s racism.  It’s not a terribly important item, except that it shows the type of home that Yair was brought up in.  The data on Yair Netanyahu was called to my attention by my beloved spouse, but in the Hebrew edition of Haaretz.  Was unable to find it in the English on-line edition.  Never mind. The piece that I found is equally revealing.

Item 7 is from the US Friends of Sabeel, and addresses comments made by the Archbishop of Canterbury that Sabeel feels need correcting, and does a magnificent job.

Item 8 closes tonight’s message with a personal depiction of the daily unloveliness of occupation in ‘Collective apathy about collective punishment.”

Good night, all.  May tomorrow bring more positive news.

Dorothy

===============================

1.

State Department Officials Have an Obligation to Speak Out Against Israeli Threats to Attack U.S. Boat to Gaza

Athens, June 24, 2011 – U.S. peace activists preparing to set sail on the U.S. Boat to Gaza, The Audacity of Hope, expressed profound disappointment over a statement issued by the U.S. State Department on Wednesday, June 22, 2011. Instead of calling on the Israeli government to let a flotilla of unarmed civilians sail to Gaza, the United States government is pressuring its own citizens to refrain from legal acts.

On Wednesday, the State Department sent out a “travel advisory” urging Americans not to participate in the Gaza Freedom Flotilla. According to the statement, U.S. citizens are advised against traveling to Gaza by any means, including via sea, noting that previous attempts to enter Gaza by sea “have been stopped by Israeli naval vessels and resulted in the injury, death, arrest, and deportation of U.S. citizens.”

“Apparently, the State Department subscribes to the view that Israel’s anticipated violence against unarmed protesters is an immutable act of nature,” said Hagit Borer, a professor of Linguistics at the University of Southern California and a passenger on the U.S. boat. “This is a remarkable attitude, coming from a government that provides the Israeli government with billions of dollars in military aid and routinely uses its veto to protect the Israeli government from censure of its occupation policies by the UN Security Council.”

Passengers on the boat noted that the U.S. State Department has a legal obligation to act to protect U.S. citizens when they are traveling abroad. “So far, U.S. government officials have failed to use their influence to discourage Israeli authorities from ordering a physical assault on us,” said Just Foreign Policy policy director Robert Naiman, another passenger on the U.S. boat. “Of course, State Department officials have an obligation to speak out against threats to attack us. It is deeply disappointing that they have so far failed to do so.”

Below is a copy of a letter the passengers of The Audacity of Hope sent of June 14, 2011 to President Obama, Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and other high-ranking government officials. There has yet to be a response to the letter.

###

14 June 2011

The President
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. Obama:

We are writing to inform you that 50 unarmed Americans will soon be sailing in a U.S. flagged ship called The Audacity of Hope as part of an international flotilla to Gaza.

Our peaceful demonstration will challenge Israel’s blockade of Gaza, which has effectively imprisoned 1.6 million civilians, almost half of whom are under the age of 16. The blockade has impoverished the people of Gaza, deprived them of needed materials and supplies to rebuild their lives after the Israeli attack of late 2008 – early 2009, impeded those who are ill or infirm from seeking outside medical aid, and prevented students from seeking education outside of Gaza. 45% of the working age population is unemployed.

In addition to 36 passengers, 4 crew, and 10 members of the press, our boat will carry thousands of letters of support and friendship from people throughout the U.S. to the women, children and men of Gaza. There will be no weapons of any sort on board. We will carry no goods of any kind for delivery in Gaza. Our mission is from American civil society to the civil society of Gaza. We do not serve the agenda of any political leadership, government or group. We are engaged solely in non-violent action in support of the Palestinian people and their human rights.

In our country’s great tradition of citizen activists taking nonviolent action to stand up to injustice, we sail in the hope that our voyage will show the people in Gaza that they are not alone, and that it will call attention to the morally and legally indefensible collective punishment of a population of civilians.

Mr. President, you have noted the unsustainability of the Gaza blockade. And your administration has spoken boldly in support of peaceful demonstrations throughout this “Arab Spring.”

As U.S. citizens we expect our country and its leaders to help ensure the Flotilla’s safe passage to Gaza – as our country should support our humanitarian demand that the Gaza blockade be lifted. This should begin by notifying the Israeli government in clear and certain terms that it may not physically interfere with the upcoming Flotilla of which the U.S. boat-The Audacity of Hope — is part. We-authors, builders, firefighters, lawyers, social workers, retirees, Holocaust survivors, former government employees and more-expect no less from our President and your administration.

Our boat will sail from the eastern Mediterranean in the last week of June. We shall be grateful to you for acting promptly and decisively to uphold the rights of civilians to safe passage on the seas.

Sincerely,
The passengers of The Audacity of Hope

Nic Abramson, Johnny Barber, Medea Benjamin, Greta Berlin, Hagit Borer, Regina Carey, Gale Courey Toensing, Erin DeRamus, Linda Durham, Debra Ellis, Hedy Epstein, Steve Fake, Ridgely Fuller, Megan Horan,Kathy Kelly, Kit Kittredge, Libor Koznar, Melissa Lane, G. Kaleo Larson, Richard Levy, Richard Lopez, Ken Mayers, Ray McGovern, Gail Miller, Carol Murry, Robert Naiman, Henry Norr, Ann Petter, Gabe Schivone, Kathy Sheetz, Max Suchan, Brad Taylor, Len Tsou, Alice Walker, Paki Wieland, Ann Wright

cc:

The Honorable Ban Ki-moon, U.N. Secretary General
The Honorable Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State
The Honorable Jeffrey Feltman, Assistant Secretary of State
The Honorable Susan E. Rice, Permanent U.S. Representative to the United Nations
The Honorable James B. Cunningham, U.S. Ambassador to Israel
The Honorable John F. Kerry, Chairman U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee
The Honorable Richard G. Lugar, Ranking Member U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee
The Honorable Robert P. Casey, Chairman Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs
The Honorable James E. Rish, Ranking Member Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs
The Honorable Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Chairman U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs
The Honorable Howard L. Berman, Ranking Member U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs
The Honorable Steve Chabot, Chairman Subcommittee on Middle East and South Asia
The Honorable Gary L. Ackerman, Ranking Member Subcommittee on Middle East and South Asia

—

For regular updates follow the US Boat to Gaza on Twitter: http://twitter.com/usboattogaza and visit the US Boat to Gaza website.

 

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2.  For Immediate Release

June 24, 2011
Israel Proves that Flotillas Work
Israel’s announcement of authorization for construction materials for 1,200 homes and 18 schools in Gaza is the latest achievement by the Freedom Flotilla, scheduled to sail next week.
In the weeks leading up to the flotilla, Israel has taken a number of steps to try to address the concerns raised in the public eye by the Freedom Flotilla 2 – Stay Human initiative. However organizers say that these steps are symbolic at best, fall far short of Israel’s obligations under international law, are insufficient to meet the needs of Palestinians in Gaza, and are fundamentally designed to maintain the occupation and system of control that Israel exerts over Palestinian lives.  Ultimately, these measures fall short of the greatest test – that of freedom for Palestinians.
In addition to the authorization of a limited amount of construction materials, Israel has also recently permitted 19 trucks of medicine to be delivered by Palestinian sources from the West Bank to Gaza.  This was in response to an emergency announcement from health authorities in Gaza that crucial medicines had run out due to Israel’s illegal blockade.  Prior to that, Israel increased the number of aid trucks entering Gaza to between 210 and 220 per day.  However, this still falls 35% short of what is required by Gaza Strip residents.
The pattern developing shows that as the sailing date of the Flotilla nears, Israel is increasing efforts to allow humanitarian goods into Gaza, including previously banned reconstruction materials.  This proves three important things: (1) the Flotilla is effective in generating changes, even if they are insufficient, on the ground; (2) the ‘normal channels’ for delivering aid exist, but are useless without pressure on Israel to allow them to function; and (3) Israel’s standard excuse for preventing reconstruction material into Gaza is rendered baseless, given the approval to allow 1,200 homes and 18 schools to be constructed.
Even as the Freedom Flotilla welcomes this latest achievement and proof of the necessity and effectiveness of the Flotilla tactic, we also reiterate that our effort is not simply about delivering humanitarian aid.  The goal of the Flotilla is not aid; it is freedom for Palestinians in Gaza and the rest of the occupied Palestinian territories.  As such, there are no ‘established channels’ for freedom – there is only one – an end to the Israeli occupation.
Flotilla preparations continue apace, buoyed by the support of people around the world.  Next week Freedom Flotilla 2: Stay Human sails for Gaza; our destination is freedom.
###
Our message of peace is a call to action, for other ordinary people like ourselves, not to hand over your lives to whatever puppeteer is in charge this time round, but to take responsibility for the revolution. First, the inner revolution — to give love, to give empathy; It is this that will change the world. — Vittorio Arrigoni
The real heart deep down doesn’t only stand up for what’s right but also helps others to learn to stand up for what’s right. — Mary Alfar (age 11)

================================

3.  Haaretz,

June 24, 2011


A moment before boarding the next flotilla

I’d rather use my influence and power, in concert with other members of American civil society, to actively and nonviolently resist policies I consider abominable.

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/a-moment-before-boarding-the-next-flotilla-1.369336

By Gabriel Matthew Schivone

You might wonder what would motivate a Jewish American college student to participate in what may be the most celebrated – and controversial – sea voyage of the 21st century, one that aims to nonviolently challenge U.S.-supported Israeli military power in the occupied territories. I simply cannot sit idle while my country aids and abets Israel’s siege, occupation and repression of the Palestinians. I would rather use my personal influence and power, in concert with other members of American civil society, to actively and nonviolently resist policies that I consider abominable. So, next week, I and more than 30 other American civilians will be sailing on the U.S. ship the Audacity of Hope, to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza.

I am one of a growing number of young American Jews who are determined to shake off an assumed – and largely imposed – association with Israel. Prominent advocacy organizations, such as the American Jewish Committee, which proudly proclaim their unconditional support of Israel, for several years have been declaring their “serious concern” over the increasing “distancing” of young American Jews from the state.

But what Israel apologists like the AJC view as a crisis, I see as a positive development for American Jews, who, like other parts of U.S. society, are shifting from blind support for Israel to a more critical position that reflects opposition to our country’s backing for Israel’s policies.

If Israel’s apologists in the U.S. are alarmed by a falling off in unconditional support for Israel, they should be even more concerned that such a diverse range of youth – especially young Jews – are joining up with constituencies that actively organize against America’s role in the occupation. Today, the so-called crisis has expanded from the coasts to such places as Arizona. It probably was just a matter of time before a Jewish anti-occupation group emerged in my home state, given that a fairly substantial portion of the Students for Justice in Palestine chapter on the University of Arizona campus (in Tucson ) were Jewish. For our part, we Jews launched an initial chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace at the UA campus in spring 2010 – one of nearly 30 JVP chapters throughout the country, which has a mailing list of 100,000 – and thereafter branches in the general Tucson and Northern Arizona communities, and at Arizona State University, in Phoenix.

Through JVP, I discovered there were a great many others like me, who were experiencing profound internal conflicts regarding Israel. They included people who had been intimidated from expressing public criticism of Israel, and others who were afraid to speak out in defense of Palestinian rights for fear of being labeled anti-Semitic.

It was clear that a campus JVP opened up a powerful, organic outlet through which Jewish students could safely exchange and process – without fear, intimidation or a need for self-censorship – their critiques, concerns, ideas, knowledge, questions, discoveries and plans to promote achievement of a genuinely mutual peace in Palestine/Israel. Before JVP came along, it wasn’t possible to have an open discussion, or feel that we as Jews had an alternative to either unquestioning support of Israel (the status quo ) or staying silent and thus supporting it by default. I myself was silent and timid for much too long.

We are committed to acting out of Jewish ethical traditions, while holding Israel to the same standard as any other state in the international system – no more, no less. Before JVP, there was nothing on my campus that was critical of Israel from an American Jewish perspective. Zero. The group’s success demonstrated that young Jews – moved by their cultural or religious values, which include a belief in universal human rights – have been on campus all the while, ready and willing to join a human rights-based cause for justice in Palestine/Israel. All it took to gain support on campus and elsewhere in the state was a potent sprinkling of opportunity, initiative and political will.

In Athens, as I write, waiting to board the Audacity of Hope, I am wearing a Star of David amulet around my neck, which was given to me the night before I left Arizona by a dear friend and fellow JVP organizer. She got it from a silversmith in Haifa while on a “Birthright” trip as an adolescent. For her, it had always been the reminder of the crude brainwashing she felt she had encountered on that trip. But when she came across the star recently, she decided it might be put to good use if I were to wear it on my journey. And so that’s what I’m doing.

I wear it as a symbol of the basic values of Judaism that I feel are not emphasized sufficiently today: the imperative to welcome the stranger as you would want to be welcomed; and of helping to free the slave from a bondage that you would not wish to suffer.

As a consequence of various nonviolent actions undertaken all over the world, led crucially by Palestinians on the ground, the Israeli occupation will one day end. Those of us who face up to the unavoidable choice of either tolerating or resisting these crimes will determine how long the death and suffering of mainly Palestinian noncombatants continues, and how long a lasting peace in Palestine/Israel remains out of reach.

Gabriel Matthew Schivone is a Chicano-Jewish American from Tucson, and coordinator of Jewish Voice for Peace at the University of Arizona.

==========================

4.  Independent.co.uk,

23 June 2011

Razing of Palestinian homes picking up speed

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/razing-of-palestinian-homes-picking-up-speed-2301367.html

By Catrina Stewart in Jerusalem

Israel has stepped up demolitions of Palestinian homes in the Jordan Valley, the eastern part of the occupied West Bank, leaving more than 700 homeless since the beginning of the year, a rights body said yesterday.

Israeli bulldozers have razed 103 homes so far this year, said B’Tselem, a respected Israeli human rights organisation, marking a sharp increase from the 83 homes it said were demolished last year. The policy has drawn sharp condemnation from NGOs, which accuse Israel of deliberately displacing thousands of Palestinian rural communities in a strategic border area that the Jewish state considers critical to its security.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians, many of them nomadic Bedouin, live in the parched area that runs alongside the border with Jordan. A much smaller number of Jewish settlers also live in the valley illegally, under international law.

Israel has defended its demolitions policy on the grounds that homes were erected without building permits or within military firing zones, a reasoning derided by rights bodies, who say it is almost impossible for Palestinians to obtain permits in Area C, the Israeli-controlled parts of the West Bank that include the Jordan Valley.

“Israeli policy is intended as… a de facto annexation of the Jordan Valley,” said Sarit Michaeli, B’Tselem’s spokeswoman. “The Jordan Valley is an occupied area… [that is] perceived by the government and the vast majority of Israelis as part of Israel.”

The Civil Administration in the West Bank called B’Tselem’s figures “completely wrong”. A spokesman said the government was drawing up zoning plans for Palestinian communities in the Jordan Valley that would ameliorate the situation. Many of the Bedouin lack land-ownership deeds.

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5.  Al Jazeera,

June 24, 2011

It’s Netanyahu who is delegitimising Israel

Israel’s way of “changing the subject” from its illegal occupation of Palestine is to label any criticism as an attack.

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/06/201162481149481660.html

MJ Rosenberg

Israel’s reaction to any protest against the occupation is often violent and overly defensive [GALLO/GETTY]

The “pro-Israel” lobby’s latest hobbyhorse is “delegitimisation”. Those who criticise Israeli policies are accused of trying to “delegitimise” Israel, which supposedly means denying Israel’s right to exist.

Even President Obama has gotten into the act, stating in his May 19 speech that “for the Palestinians, efforts to delegitimise Israel will end in failure”.

Obama seemed to be referring to the Palestinians’ plan to seek recognition of their state at the United Nations this autumn, although it’s hard to imagine just how that would delegitimise Israel.

After all, the Palestinians are not seeking statehood in Israeli territory, but in territory that the whole world (including Israel) recognises as having been occupied by Israel only after the 1967 war. Rather than seeking Israel’s elimination, the Palestinians who intend to go to the United Nations are seeking establishment of a state alongside Israel. That state would encompass 22 per cent of Mandate Palestine, with Israel possessing 78 per cent.

The whole concept of “delegitimisation” seems archaic.

Israel achieved its “legitimacy” when the United Nations recognised it 63 years ago. It has one of the strongest economies in the world. Its military is the most powerful in the region. It has a nuclear arsenal of some 200 bombs, with the ability to launch them from land, sea, and air.

In that context, the whole idea of “delegitimising” Israel sounds silly. Israel can’t be delegitimised.

So what is the lobby talking about?

The answer is simple: It is talking about the intensifying opposition to the occupation of the West Bank and the blockade of Gaza which, by almost any standard, is illegitimate. It is talking about opposition to the settlements, which are not only illegitimate but illegal under international law. It is talking about calls for Israel to grant Palestinians equal rights.

The lobby’s determination to change the subject from the existence of the occupation to the existence of Israel makes sense strategically. Israel has no case when it comes to the occupation, which the entire world (except Israel) agrees must end. But Israel certainly has the upper hand in any argument over its right to exist and to defend itself.

That is why Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu routinely invokes Israel’s “right to self-defence” every time he tries to explain away some Israeli attack on Palestinians, no matter whether they are armed fighters or innocent civilians.

If the whole Israeli-Palestinian discussion is about Israel’s right to defend itself, Israel wins the argument. But if it is about the occupation – which is, in fact, what the conflict has been about since 1993 when the PLO recognised Israel – it loses.

It wasn’t that long ago that neither the Israeli government nor the lobby worried about the “forces of delegitimisation.”

On the contrary, in 1993, following Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s recognition of the Palestinians’ right to a state in the West Bank and Gaza, nine non-Arab Muslim states and 32 of the 43 sub-Saharan African states established relations with Israel. India and China, the two largest markets in the world, opened trade relations. Jordan signed a peace treaty and several of the Arab emirates began quiet dealings with Israel.

The Arab boycott of Israel ended. Foreign investment soared. No one discussed “delegitimisation” while much of the world, including the Muslim world, was knocking on Israel’s door to establish or deepen ties.

That trend continued so long as the Israeli government seemed to be genuinely engaged in the peace process.

The most graphic demonstration of Israel’s high international standing back then occurred at Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s funeral in 1995, which rivalled President Kennedy’s in terms of international representation.

Leaders from virtually every nation on Earth came to pay homage to Rabin: President Clinton, Prince Charles, the leaders of Egypt and Jordan, every European president or prime minister, top officials from most of Africa and Asia (including India and China), Latin America, Turkey, Morocco, Mauritania, Oman, Qatar, and Tunisia. Yasser Arafat himself went to Mrs Rabin’s Tel Aviv apartment to express his grief.

The world mourned Rabin because under him, Israel had embraced the cause of peace with the Palestinians. The homage to Rabin was a clear demonstration – as was the opening of trade and diplomatic relations with formerly hostile states – that Israel was not being isolated because it was a Jewish state, and hence illegitimate, but because of how it treated the Palestinians.

And that is the case today. It’s not the Palestinians who are delegitimising Israel, but the Israeli government which maintains the occupation. And the leading delegitimiser is Binyamin Netanyahu, whose contemptuous rejection of peace is turning Israel into an international pariah.

Sure, Netanyahu received an embarrassing number of standing ovations when he spoke before the United States Congress. But that demonstrates nothing except the power of Israel’s lobbyists.

It is doubtful that Netanyahu would get even one standing ovation in any other parliament in the world – and that includes Israel’s. The only thing we learned (yet again) from Netanyahu’s reception by Congress is that money talks. What else is new?

So let’s ignore the talk about “delegitimisation,” even though Madison Avenue message-makers certainly deserve credit for coming up with that clever distraction. Israel’s problem is the occupation, the Israeli government that defends it, and the lobby that enforces support for it in Congress and the White House.

Once again, Israel’s “best friends” are among its worst enemies.

MJ Rosenberg is a Senior Foreign Policy Fellow at Media Matters Action Network.

A version of this article previously appeared on Foreign Policy Matters, a part of the Media Matters Action network.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent Al Jazeera’s editorial policy.

=============================

6.  JTA  Friday,

June 24, 2011

Netanyahu’s son posted anti-Arab Facebook comments

http://www.jta.org/news/article/2011/06/24/3088289/report-netanyahus-son-posted-anti-arab-facebook-comments

(JTA) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s teenage son has made remarks hostile to Arabs and Islam on Facebook, an Israeli newspaper reported.

According to the report in Haaretz, Netanyahu’s son, Yair, called for a boycott of Arab businesses following s 2008 outbreak of violence riots between Arabs and Jews on Yom Kippur in the northern Israeli city of Akko.

And after five members of a family in a West Bank settlement were stabbed to death in their home by Palestinians, he wrote that “terror has a religion and it is Islam.”

Yair Netanyahu, who is now 19, also expressed hope that there would “never be” a Palestinian state.

Some of the comments were posted on the Facebook page of Ashton Kutcher, the Hollywood actor. John Galliano, a designer, had just been fired by Dior after an anti-Semitic rant. Kutcher had asked his followers: “Do you think Galliano would have been fired if he had demeaned Muslims?”

Netanyahu, writing under a profile named “Jessie Netan,” said that he was “disappointed” at such a pronouncement a day or so after terrorists killed five members of a family in an Israeli settlement.

Other commenters engaged Netanyahu. He responded “Terror has a religion and it is Islam. Not all Muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslim.”

“Jessie Netan’s” comments have been removed from Kutcher’s page, although responses to him from other commenters remain.

An attorney for the Netanyahu family accused Haaretz of the “cynical use of the words of a teenager, said in anger, when he could not imagine that someone would someday make use of them.”

The remarks were “taken out of context in an attempt to defame the prime minister and his family,” the attorney, David Shimron, said in a statement provided to the Associated Press. “Prime Minister Netanyahu and his wife believe in moderation and tolerance, and they respect all people without regard for their religion, origin or nationality and that is how they raise their children,” the statement said.

The comments in question were removed after it made inquiries to the prime minister about them, according to Haaretz.

Haaretz also reported that Yair Netanyahu administered a Facebook group with 23 members that called for a boycott of Arab businesses.

Yair Netanyahu currently serves in the Israeli army’s media liaison unit.

The military noted that some of the comments in question were made before his military service. But a military spokesman said that commanders had spoken with him “to clarify to the soldier the military commands, outlining his mistakes, as would be done with any soldier in a similar situation,” according to the A.P.

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7. Friends of Sabeel–North America

Voice of the Palestinian Christians

PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY!

http://www.fosna.org/content/naim-ateek-letter-archbishop-rowan-williams

Following are responses to erroneous statements made by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, citing anti-Christian Muslim extremism as the primary cause of the Palestinian Christian exodus from the Holy Land.  The first response is from Sabeel founder/director Naim Ateek in Jerusalem.  Below his letter is a link to a letter from Kairos Palestine coordinator, Rifat Odeh Kassis. Also linked below is the BBC News page with part of the interview with Archbishop Williams, including an audio file.

His Grace Rowan Williams

Archbishop of Canterbury

Lambeth Palace

London

23 June 2011

Dear Archbishop Williams,

Greetings from Jerusalem!

Last week at Sabeel, we had the privilege of having the Anglican Consultative Council delegation headed by Archbishop Michael Jackson. We seized the opportunity to convey to them our response to your interview on the BBC regarding your concern about the dwindling presence of Arab Christians of the Middle East. The concern is genuine and sincere, unfortunately, your words were negatively received by our people; and we have been asked by our friends – locally and internationally – to make a public response.

1. As Palestinian Christians, we perceive ourselves as an integral part of the Palestinian people. We might be a very small religious community nowadays but due to our long rootedness in our land, we do not refer to ourselves as a minority. Moreover, as Palestinians, whether Christian or Muslim, we equally live under the oppression of the illegal Israeli occupation of our country. As Palestinians – Christians and Muslims – we share the same hopes and aspirations and we struggle for freedom and human dignity together.

2. Although as Palestinian Christians, we appreciate the fact that you raised the issue of the vulnerability of the Christian presence in the Middle East — a subject that is dear to our hearts and of great concern to us – you singled out the extremist Islamists as a threat to Christian presence, but neglected to mention two other extremists groups, namely, Jewish extremists represented by the religious and racist settlers on the West Bank that are encouraged directly by the present extreme rightwing Israeli government, and Christian extremists represented by the Western Christian Zionists that support Israel blindly and unconditionally. With candor the last two groups of extremists, i.e. Jewish and Western Christian Zionists are a greater threat to us than the extremist Islamists. In fact, these extremists have more military power and clout to uproot all Palestinian presence both Christian and Muslim from our homeland.

3. In 2006, Sabeel conducted a survey of the Christians in Israel and Palestine with the help of Bethlehem University. The survey clearly indicated that the primary causes for the emigration of Christians from the West Bank are both political and economic conditions. “Those who are leaving…because of the bad economic and political situation represent 87.3% of the total respondents” (p.34). Only 8% of the respondents attributed emigration to religious extremism.

4. As you are well aware, if Muslims are leaving Hebron, it is largely due to the violence of the Jewish religious settlers that has made the life of Palestinian Hebronites miserable and intolerable.

5. The area of Bethlehem, Beit Jala, and Beit Sahour has sufficient space for Palestinians to live in; but most of their land (largely Christian) has been confiscated by Israeli settlement expansion including the settlements of Gilo and Har Homa.

6. The separation Wall has broken up families and closed businesses. It has devoured land and torn communities apart. And with the checkpoints and permit system it has greatly restricted people’s movement especially to Jerusalem their Holy City. The Wall is a big “push factor” for Palestinians out of Palestine.

We are saddened that a great opportunity was missed by not revealing the oppressive consequences of the Israeli occupation on the Palestinian people, both Muslim, and Christian.

If the church – local and international – does not raise the prophetic voice, who will stand for justice and truth?

In the absence of the prophetic, and as the rightwing Israeli government continues to spurn all international efforts for a just peace, we implore you to champion the cause of the oppressed Palestinians. The desperate situation needs the courage and clarity of an Amos, “Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”

Respectfully yours,

Naim Ateek

Director, Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center

Jerusalem

CC. Anne Clayton

Coordinator, Friends of Sabeel – UK

=================================

 

Occupation magazine – Siege, Wall, Checkpoints

Home page back Print Send To friend
Collective Apathy About Collective Punishment

Meg Walsh
MIFTAH
June 22, 2011
It feels like my surroundings are rapidly closing in on me. The metal bars in which I am enclosed are ugly and the ground is littered with trash. Desperate children are trying to sell me gum and candy. Candy is the last thing I want right now; I want to escape. Bodies are pressing up against me as people struggle to make it through the revolving gate that only lets a few through at a time. If I am not aggressive, I will never get through. A teenage boy is getting yelled at by a soldier for some unknown reason, and a father is denied although his wife and children are granted passage. An old man in the car lane is taking out his groceries one by one from his trunk as a young soldier stands inspecting, finger on the trigger. Cars are backed up and people are getting impatient. I am angry.
I must pass through the checkpoint every time I wish to enter Jerusalem from Ramallah, even though east Jerusalem is Palestinian territory. I have to answer the familiar questions such as “What were you doing in the West Bank?” or “Do you have any Palestinian friends?” I hate being forced to lie. Having Palestinian friends should not be looked at as criminal. And I hate that they almost – almost make me feel that I am truly doing something wrong. Most of all, I hate the way the Palestinians are treated, and although I am uncomfortable, chances are I will get through without much problem. Their reality is much different. Any random checkpoint encounter could mean harassment, detainment, or worse. It seems to mostly depend on the mood of the soldier.
I had underestimated the anger and anxiety that I would feel in these scenarios. Some people around me appear visibly upset while others just look bored. Because of the freedom that I have enjoyed my entire life, I refuse to accept this dehumanizing process. As I stand there, I vow to never adjust, to never become desensitized to this. For me, that would signal complicity in the face of the injustice that is occurring: a complete domination of one group of people over another—a betrayal of humanity. Threat levels are determined by the color of your ID card and the language that you speak. I will not thank the soldiers when they return my passport. I will not grant legitimacy to their role by acting like they are doing me a favor. I will not be forced to equate human rights with privilege.
When they ask, I tell the interrogators that I have been in the city of Nablus, visiting Jacob’s Well, which is the biblical site where Jesus is believed to have had encountered a Samaritan woman. This falls in line with my Christian tourism story that most visitors have to use if they are planning on having any contact with Palestinians. Although with suspicious looks, I am allowed to pass through the gates with the others like herded animals.
When you witness the policies that are in place and the apartheid system that is occurring, it is hard to stay outside the cycle of hatred. It is hard to see the ‘other’, the one who is enforcing the rules, as human—they become robots, trapped inside a system that teaches you to follow orders, not to ask questions. It denies all natural laws of humanity, so the challenge then becomes to stay human in an inhuman situation. People are not meant to be kept in cages, both figuratively and literally, and race and religion should not be prioritized. The ironies are many in this ‘Holy Land’.
But how do I communicate to others what I have seen and felt when most people choose the comfort of ignorance over awareness in our unjust world? If words could accurately describe this oppression, I do not believe it would be allowed to continue unchecked. The gap between words and lived experience is vast, and those who may actually have the power to change things may never understand the reality—the reality of the nightmare that is occupation. It was only through my experience in this region that I was ultimately changed. It was from looking it in the eye, from feeling powerless, from experiencing a fear that the unexpected could happen at any given moment.
In Palestine, where most days I feel useless rather than useful, I still somehow feel that I have to be here no matter how outside of my comfort zone it lies. I cannot continue to be complicit or neutral, because I have seen what that means in this conflict and how collective apathy has embarrassingly allowed the occupation of Palestine to continue for 44 years. I am standing on a bridge between two worlds—one in which the powerful are silent, and the other in which the powerless are screaming, yet ignored. It is through this paradox that I am seeking answers. And some degree of hope.
Meg Walsh is a Writer for the Media and Information Department at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at mid@miftah.org.
rh

A. Loewenstein Online Newsletter

NOVANEWS
Bin Laden wanted to re-brand his little firm 

Posted: 24 Jun 2011

 
Fascinating, if true:

As Osama bin Laden watched his terrorist organization get picked apart, he lamented in his final writings that al-Qaida was suffering from a marketing problem. His group was killing too many Muslims and that was bad for business. The West was winning the public relations fight. All his old comrades were dead and he barely knew their replacements.
Faced with these challenges, bin Laden, who hated the United States and decried capitalism, considered a most American of business strategies. Like Blackwater, ValuJet and Philip Morris, perhaps what al-Qaida really needed was a fresh start under a new name.
The problem with the name al-Qaida, bin Laden wrote in a letter recovered from his compound in Pakistan, was that it lacked a religious element, something to convince Muslims worldwide that they are in a holy war with America.
Maybe something like Taifat al-Tawhed Wal-Jihad, meaning Monotheism and Jihad Group, would do the trick, he wrote. Or Jama’at I’Adat al-Khilafat al-Rashida, meaning Restoration of the Caliphate Group.
As bin Laden saw it, the problem was that the group’s full name, al-Qaida al-Jihad, for The Base of Holy War, had become short-handed as simply al-Qaida. Lopping off the word “jihad,” bin Laden wrote, allowed the West to “claim deceptively that they are not at war with Islam.” Maybe it was time for al-Qaida to bring back its original name.
The letter, which was undated, was discovered among bin Laden’s recent writings. Navy SEALs stormed his compound and killed him before any name change could be made. The letter was described by senior administration, national security and other U.S. officials only on condition of anonymity because the materials are sensitive. The documents portray bin Laden as a terrorist chief executive, struggling to sell holy war for a company in crisis.

The threat of internal critics over war and conflict

Posted: 23 Jun 2011

Now we know the Bush administration wanted personal information on leading Iraq war critic Juan Cole (who knew that writing a popular blog was such a threat to the US government?) 
The former CIA agent who revealed this information, Glenn Carle, tells Democracy Now! why he was deeply concerned by the White House request and the obvious question remains; how many other dissidents of the “war on terror” have been followed, harassed or violated (in the US and also here in Australia)?

AMY GOODMAN: Why Professor Juan Cole? There were so many and are so many critics of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Why were they singling out him? Or, should I say, were they singling out him? Were you requested to do this on a regular basis?
GLENN CARLE: Yeah, well, that’s—it’s a question that comes to mind, of course, and people have asked me before. I only know what I know. And I don’t mean to quote Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, or paraphrase him. I know the facts concerning Professor Cole, and the instances that have been reported, they are accurate. That’s what I experienced. I don’t know of any other specific person.
I do know the context of tension and hostility between the Bush administration and the intelligence community, and more broadly, any critic of their policies. And the context at the time was intensely—well, it was extremely tense and quite partisan. The politics, we try to stay out of; in the intelligence community, of course, we cannot. And this was happening at a time when there was the whole Valerie Plame incident, Joe Wilson. One of my colleagues on the National Intelligence Council totally, without any intention or desire on his part, became embroiled in the presidential reelection campaign, when an offhand—not offhand, an off-the-record innocuous remark he made was seized by the administration as proof that the intelligence community was trying to undermine its policies.
Nothing was further from the truth. He had been asked simply, “Didn’t the intelligence community know that there would be or assess there would be ethnic sectarian strife in Iraq in the event of an invasion?” And essentially, his answer was, “Well, yes.” But that was viewed as treasonous. So that was the larger context.

Schivone: A Moment Before Boarding the Next Flotilla

NOVANEWS

 

I’d rather use my influence and power, in concert with other members of American civil society, to actively and nonviolently resist policies I consider abominable.

By Gabriel Matthew Schivone

 

You might wonder what would motivate a Jewish American college student to participate in what may be the most celebrated – and controversial – sea voyage of the 21st century, one that aims to nonviolently challenge U.S.-supported Israeli military power in the occupied territories. I simply cannot sit idle while my country aids and abets Israel’s siege, occupation and repression of the Palestinians. I would rather use my personal influence and power, in concert with other members of American civil society, to actively and nonviolently resist policies that I consider abominable. So, next week, I and more than 30 other American civilians will be sailing on the U.S. ship the Audacity of Hope, to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza.

I am one of a growing number of young American Jews who are determined to shake off an assumed – and largely imposed – association with Israel. Prominent advocacy organizations, such as the American Jewish Committee, which proudly proclaim their unconditional support of Israel, for several years have been declaring their “serious concern” over the increasing “distancing” of young American Jews from the state.

But what Israel apologists like the AJC view as a crisis, I see as a positive development for American Jews, who, like other parts of U.S. society, are shifting from blind support for Israel to a more critical position that reflects opposition to our country’s backing for Israel’s policies.

If Israel’s apologists in the U.S. are alarmed by a falling off in unconditional support for Israel, they should be even more concerned that such a diverse range of youth – especially young Jews – are joining up with constituencies that actively organize against America’s role in the occupation. Today, the so-called crisis has expanded from the coasts to such places as Arizona.

It probably was just a matter of time before a Jewish anti-occupation group emerged in my home state, given that a fairly substantial portion of the Students for Justice in Palestine chapter on the University of Arizona campus (in Tucson ) were Jewish. For our part, we Jews launched an initial chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace at the UA campus in spring 2010 – one of nearly 30 JVP chapters throughout the country, which has a mailing list of 100,000 – and thereafter branches in the general Tucson and Northern Arizona communities, and at Arizona State University, in Phoenix.

Through JVP, I discovered there were a great many others like me, who were experiencing profound internal conflicts regarding Israel. They included people who had been intimidated from expressing public criticism of Israel, and others who were afraid to speak out in defense of Palestinian rights for fear of being labeled anti-Semitic.

It was clear that a campus JVP opened up a powerful, organic outlet through which Jewish students could safely exchange and process – without fear, intimidation or a need for self-censorship – their critiques, concerns, ideas, knowledge, questions, discoveries and plans to promote achievement of a genuinely mutual peace in Palestine/Israel. Before JVP came along, it wasn’t possible to have an open discussion, or feel that we as Jews had an alternative to either unquestioning support of Israel (the status quo ) or staying silent and thus supporting it by default. I myself was silent and timid for much too long.

We are committed to acting out of Jewish ethical traditions, while holding Israel to the same standard as any other state in the international system – no more, no less. Before JVP, there was nothing on my campus that was critical of Israel from an American Jewish perspective. Zero. The group’s success demonstrated that young Jews – moved by their cultural or religious values, which include a belief in universal human rights – have been on campus all the while, ready and willing to join a human rights-based cause for justice in Palestine/Israel. All it took to gain support on campus and elsewhere in the state was a potent sprinkling of opportunity, initiative and political will.

In Athens, as I write, waiting to board the Audacity of Hope, I am wearing a Star of David amulet around my neck, which was given to me the night before I left Arizona by a dear friend and fellow JVP organizer. She got it from a silversmith in Haifa while on a “Birthright” trip as an adolescent. For her, it had always been the reminder of the crude brainwashing she felt she had encountered on that trip. But when she came across the star recently, she decided it might be put to good use if I were to wear it on my journey. And so that’s what I’m doing.

I wear it as a symbol of the basic values of Judaism that I feel are not emphasized sufficiently today: the imperative to welcome the stranger as you would want to be welcomed; and of helping to free the slave from a bondage that you would not wish to suffer.

As a consequence of various nonviolent actions undertaken all over the world, led crucially by Palestinians on the ground, the Israeli occupation will one day end. Those of us who face up to the unavoidable choice of either tolerating or resisting these crimes will determine how long the death and suffering of mainly Palestinian noncombatants continues, and how long a lasting peace in Palestine/Israel remains out of reach.

Demonizing Islam, Cui Bono ?

NOVANEWS
 

By Nahida-Exiled Palestinian

Why are the zionists and their NWO allies fervently waging war against Muslims and Islam?

Why are they spending so much time, money and energy to disfigure this belief system and to dehumanize its followers? Why do they loath the Qur’an and spread abhorrent lies about it?

Is it simply because the Muslim world has some rich resources which they deem theirs and they are hell bent to control and exploit?

Or is it because the Muslims constitute a large section of humanity (almost ¼) which they want to reduce and cut down in their mad genocidal plans for the future?

Though the above reasons contain some truth and carry some weight in them, but that they are not the only reasons.

The “elitists” ambition is to deface and vandalize the ideology contained within Islam, because they know that this system could potentially threaten their objectives and jeopardize their plans of total control of world economy, politics and power.

Islamic heritage, values and morality that constitute a threat to world power:


Let us see what the Qur’an has to say that makes them shiver:

  • Justice is the core of Islam

Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him:

“O ye who believe! be steadfast firmly for God, as witnesses to fair dealing, Let NOT a group’s hostility to you cause you to deviate from JUSTICE. Be JUST, for it is closer to piety. Be God conscious; for God is Well Aware of what you do.” (Qur’an; 5-8 ) 
“We thus made you an impartial community, that you may serve as witnesses among the people, and the messenger serves as a witness among you” (2:143)
“No soul shall be made to bear the liability of another.” (35:18 )
“God commands justice, the doing of good, and kindness to kith and kin, and He forbids all shameful deeds, and injustice and antagonism: He advices you, that ye may be reminded.” (16-90)
“God doth command you to render back your Trusts to those to whom they are due; and when ye judge between people that ye judge with justice: verily how excellent is the teaching which He giveth you! for God is the One who heareth and seeth all things” (4:58)
“The recompense for an injury is an injury equal thereto (in degree): but if a person forgives and makes reconciliation, his reward is due from God; for (God) loveth not those who are wrong-doers”. (42:40)
“O you who believe, equivalence is the law decreed for you when dealing with murder … If one is pardoned by the victim’s kin, an appreciative response is in order, and an equitable compensation shall be paid. This is alleviation from your Lord and mercy. Anyone who transgresses beyond this incurs a painful retribution.” (2:178)
“And if you punish, you shall inflict an equivalent punishment. But if you resort to patience (instead of retribution), it would be better for the patient ones”. (16:126)
“You shall hand over to the orphans their rightful properties. Do not substitute the bad for the good, and do not consume their properties by combining them with yours. This would be a gross injustice.” (4:2)
“You shall test the orphans when they reach puberty. As soon as you find them mature enough, give them their property. Do not consume it extravagantly in a hurry, before they grow up” (4:6)
“O you who believe, do not consume each others’ properties illicitly. Only mutually acceptable transactions are permitted. You shall not kill yourselves. God is Merciful towards you.” (4:29)

  • Islam calls for equality and brotherhood of mankind: No racism… No superiority… No tribalism but kindness and respect to the other;
“Ye who believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to God, even as against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, and whether it be (against) rich or poor: for God can best protect both. Follow not the desires (of your hearts) (4:135) 
“O mankind! We created you from a single soul, male and female, and made you into nations and tribes, so that you may come to recognize one another. Truly, the most honoured of you in God’s sight is the greatest of you in righteousness. God is All-Knowing, All-Aware”. (49.13)
“And among His Signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the variations in your languages and your colours: verily in that are Signs for those who know”.(30-22)
“Had God willed, He could have made you one nation/congregation. But He thus puts you to the test through the revelations He has given each of you. You shall compete in righteousness. To God is your final destiny – all of you – then He will inform you of everything you had disputed” (5:48)
“An Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over a black, nor a black has any superiority over a white” saying of Muhammed

  • Islam forbids aggression:

Muslims do NOT believe in “wars of aggression”, and NO war is “holy” according to Islamic tradition, but the Qur’an permits self defence, when you are occupied, attacked, oppressed, unable to negotiate constructively and effectively, when your rights are violated and when you are prevented from living your life in a dignified and free manner, then and ONLY then you have the PERMISSION to fight back

‘You may fight in the cause of God against those who fight you, but DO NOT INITIATE AGGRESSION. God does not love transgressors.’ (Quran; 2.190) 
“ And when he turns away, he roams the earth corruptingly, destroying properties and lives. God does not love corruption” (2:205)
“And O my people! Give just measure and weight, do not withhold from the people the things that are their due: commit not evil in the land with intent to do mischief” (11:85)
“Pharaoh turned into a tyrant on earth, and discriminated against some people. He persecuted a helpless group of them, slaughtering their sons, while sparing their daughters. He was indeed wicked.”  (28:4)

  • Islam gives the permission to fighting BACK and resisting all oppressive and tyrannical regimes in defence of the oppressed

“And what is wrong with you that you fight not in the Cause of God, and on behalf of those who are weak, ill treated and oppressed among men, women, and children, whose cry is: “Our Lord! Rescue us from this town (to freedom) whose people are oppressors; and raise for us, out of Thy Grace, a protector, and raise for us, out of Thy Grace, one who will bring us victory.” (4:75)
“To those against whom war is made, PERMISSION is given (to fight back), because they are wronged; and verily, God is most powerful for their aid; (They are) those who have been expelled from their homes in defiance of right,-(for no cause) except that they say, our Lord is God”. (22:39-40)
“ You shall not kill any person – for God has made life sacred – except in the course of justice. If one is killed unjustly, then we give his heir authority to enforce justice. Thus, he shall not exceed the limits in avenging the murder, he will be helped.” (17:33)
“ You may fight back those who wage war against you, and you may evict them whence they evicted you. Oppression is worse than murder” (2:191)
“Show forgiveness, speak for justice and avoid the ignorant.” (7:199)
“But show them forgiveness, and say “Peace!” and soon shall they know!” (43; 89)
‘If they seek peace, then seek you peace. And trust in God for He is the One that heareth and knoweth all things.’ (8.61)
“But God does call to the Home of Peace” (10-25)

  • Islam calls for democracy, religious tolerance, calls for freedom of thought and protection of the individual’s right to choose his/her ideology
“No compulsion in religion or ideology” (2:256) 
“Say: O you that reject Faith! I worship not that which you worship, and you do not worship that which I worship… To you be your Way, and to me mine”. (109:1-6)
The verse “no compulsion in religion”  (2:256)  and the verse “To you your religion, to me my religion” (109:6) have been interpreted in the Islamic legal and theological traditions to mean that the “followers of other religions should not be forced to adopt Islam”. Also they have been used as a “proof-text for pluralism and coexistence” and they served to implement tolerance of other religions under Muslim rule.
لَآ إِكۡرَاهَ فِى ٱلدِّينِ‌ۖ قَد تَّبَيَّنَ ٱلرُّشۡدُ مِنَ ٱلۡغَىِّ‌ۚ فَمَن يَكۡفُرۡ بِٱلطَّـٰغُوتِ وَيُؤۡمِنۢ بِٱللَّهِ فَقَدِ ٱسۡتَمۡسَكَ بِٱلۡعُرۡوَةِ ٱلۡوُثۡقَىٰ لَا ٱنفِصَامَ لَهَا‌ۗ وَٱللَّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ (٢٥٦)
“Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error: whoever rejects evil and believes in God hath grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold that never breaks. And God heareth and knoweth all things” (2.256)
قُلۡ يَـٰٓأَيُّہَا ٱلۡڪَـٰفِرُونَ (١) لَآ أَعۡبُدُ مَا تَعۡبُدُونَ (٢) وَلَآ أَنتُمۡ عَـٰبِدُونَ مَآ أَعۡبُدُ (٣) وَلَآ أَنَا۟ عَابِدٌ۬ مَّا عَبَدتُّمۡ (٤) وَلَآ أَنتُمۡ عَـٰبِدُونَ مَآ أَعۡبُدُ (٥) لَكُمۡ دِينُكُمۡ وَلِىَ دِينِ (٦)
“Say : O ye that reject Faith!
I worship not that which ye worship,
Nor will ye worship that which I worship.
And I will not worship that which ye have been wont to worship,
Nor will ye worship that which I worship
To you be your religion and to me mine.”
(109:1-6)
“Had God willed, He could have made you one nation/ congregation. But He thus puts you to the test through the revelations He has given each of you. You shall compete in righteousness. To God is your final destiny – all of you – then He will inform you of everything you had disputed” (5:48)
“We showed him the Way: whether he be grateful or ungrateful (rests on his will)”. (76:3)
“Let there arise out of you a band of people inviting to all that is good, enjoining what is right, and forbidding what is wrong: They are the ones to attain felicity”. (3:104)
“And their affairs are (conducted) through consultation among themselves.” (42:38 )
“If any one does a righteous deed, it ensures to the benefit of his own soul; if he does evil, it works against (his own soul). In the end will you (all) be brought back to your Lord”. (45; 15)
“Proclaim: “This is the truth from your Lord,” then whoever wills let him believe, and whoever wills let him disbelieve” (18:29)
“Each of you chooses the direction to follow; you shall race towards righteousness. Wherever you may be, God will summon you all. God is Omnipotent.” (2:148)
“They respond to their Lord by observing the Contact Prayers. Their affairs are decided after due consultation among themselves, and from our provisions to them they give (to charity)” (42:38)
“They are the ones who examine all words, then follow the best. These are the ones whom God has guided; these are the ones who possess intelligence.” (39:18)

  • Islam calls for respect of people of other ideologies and religions: Every one will be judged fairly, salvation is for ALL good-doers, not just Muslims:
” Anyone who does an atom weight of good shall see it, and and anyone who does an atom weight of evil shall see it” (99:7-8) 
“Those who believe, and those who follow the Jewish (scriptures), and the Christians and the Sabians,- any who believe in God and the Last Day, and work righteousness, shall have their reward with their Lord; on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.” (2.062)
“Anyone seeking dignity should know that to God belongs all dignity. To Him ascends the good words, and He exalts the righteous works. As for those who scheme evil works, they incur severe retribution; the scheming of such people is destined to fail”  (35:10)
“Say: “O people of the Book! come to common terms as between us and you: that we worship none but God; that we associate no partners with Him; that we erect not from among ourselves Lords and patrons other than God.” If then they turn back, say: ye! “Bear witness that we (at least) are Muslims (bowing to God’s will).” (3:64)
“Whoever wrongs one with whom a treaty has been made ( dhimmi) and lays on him a burden beyond his strength, I will be his accuser” Hadith (saying of Muhammed)
“One who kills a man under covenant (peace treaty) will not even smell the fragrance of Paradise” Hadith (saying of Muhammed)

  • Islam FORBIDS USURY and rejects financial systems which are built upon interest, debt and the exploitation of the poor, and promotes kindness and charity as the foundation of caring society:
“O ye who believe! Devour not usury, doubled and multiplied; but be God-conscious. That ye may (really) prosper” (3:130) 
“Woe to those that deal in fraud, Those who, when they have to receive by measure from men, exact full measure, But when they have to give by measure or weight to men, give less than due. Do they not think that they will be called to account?” (83:1-4)
“If the debtor is in a difficulty, grant him time till it is easy for him to repay. But if ye remit it by way of charity, that is best for you if ye only knew”. (2:280)
“God will deprive usury of all blessing, but will give increase for deeds of charity: For He loveth not creatures ungrateful and wicked. Those who believe, and do deeds of righteousness, and establish regular prayers and regular charity, will have their reward with their Lord: on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve. O ye who believe! Be God-conscious, and give up what remains of your demand for usury, if ye are indeed believers.If ye do it not, take notice of war from God  and His Messenger: but if ye repent ye shall have your capital sums;  deal not unjustly and ye shall not be dealt with unjustly” (2: 276-279 )
“Those who devour usury will not stand except as stands one whom the Evil One by his touch hath driven to madness. That is because they say: “Trade is like usury, but God hath permitted trade and forbidden usury. Those who after receiving direction from their Lord, desist, shall be pardoned for the past; their case is for God (to judge); but those who repeat (the offence) are companions of the Fire: they will abide therein” (2:275)

  • Islam goes beyond social justice to compassion and generosity:

So he who gives (in charity) and is God-conscious, and (in all sincerity) confirms the good, We will pave his way to bliss. But he who is a greedy, stingy and thinks himself self-sufficient, and denies the good, We will indeed pave his way to Misery. His wealth will not be of any help to him when he falls headlong (into the Pit)” (92:1-11)

“Do you know who really rejects the faith? That is the one who mistreats the orphans. And does not advocate the feeding of the poor. And woe to those who observe the contact prayers – who are totally heedless of their prayers. They only show off. And they forbid charity.” (107:1-7) 
“They ask you about giving: say, “The charity you give shall go to the parents, the relatives, the orphans, the poor, and the travelling foreigner.” Any good you do, God is fully aware thereof.”  (2:215)
“Part of their money is set aside. For the poor and the needy.” (70:24-25)
“By no means shall ye attain righteousness unless ye give (freely) of that which ye love; and whatever ye give, God knoweth it well” (3:92)
“Those who (in charity) spend  of their goods by night and by day, in secret, and in public, have  their reward with their Lord: on them shall be no fear, nor shall they  grieve” (2:274)
“ (You shall give) to the needy who immigrated. They were evicted from their homes and deprived of their properties, because they sought God’s grace and pleasure” (59:8)

  • Islam liberates, dignifies and restores the rights of women:
“The Believers, men and women, are protectors one of another: they enjoin what is just, and forbid what is evil: they observe regular prayers, practise regular charity, and obey God and His Messenger. On them will God pour His mercy: for God is Exalted in power, Wise”. (9:71) 
“If any do deeds of righteousness, be they male or female – and have faith, they will enter Heaven, and not the least injustice will be done to them”. (3-124)
“It is He who created you from a single soul, and made its mate of like nature, in order that he might dwell with her (in love)”. (7:189)
“And among His Signs is this: He created for you mates from among yourselves that ye may dwell in tranquillity with them, and He plants love and mercy between your (hearts): verily in that are Signs for those who reflect. (30-21)
“For Muslim men and women, for believing men and women, for devout men and women, for truthful men and women, for men and women who are patient and constant, for men and women who humble themselves, for men and women who give in Charity, for men and women who fast (and deny themselves), for men and women who guard their chastity, and for men and women who engage much in God’s praise; for them has God prepared forgiveness and great reward”. (33:35)
“The divorcees also shall be provided for, equitably. This is a duty upon the righteous.” (2:241)
“If a couple fears separation, you shall appoint an mediator from his family and an mediator from her family; if they decide to reconcile, God will help them get together” (4:35)

  • Islam calls for equality of mankind; no man is a slave for another:
“Did we not show him the two paths? He should choose the difficult path. Which one is the difficult path? The freeing of slaves, and feeding, during the time of hardship. (90:10-14) 
“Righteousness is not turning your faces towards the east or the west. Righteous are those who believe in God, the Last Day, the angels, the scripture, and the prophets; and they give the money, cheerfully, to the relatives, the orphans, the needy, the travelling foreigners, the beggars, and to free the slaves” (2:177)
“Charities shall go to the poor, the needy, the workers who collect them, the new converts, to free the slaves, to those burdened by sudden expenses, in the cause of God, and to the travelling foreigners. Such is God’s commandment. God is Omniscient, Most Wise” (9:60)

  • Islam calls for equality before the law, no man is infallible:

All are equal before the law and are entitled to equal protection without any discrimination.

“God knows best about your belief, and you are equal to one another, as far as belief is concerned” (4:25) 
“He (Muhammad) frowned and turned away. When the blind man came to him. How do you know? He may purify himself. Or he may take heed, and benefit from the message. As for the rich man. You gave him your attention. Even though you could not guarantee his salvation. The one who came to you eagerly. And is really reverent. You ignored him. Indeed, this is a reminder.”  (80:1-11)

  • Islam calls for open-mindedness and using one’s intellect:

“Let the human reflect on his creation.” (86:5)
“We made the Qur’an easy to learn. Does any of you wish to learn?” (54:17)
“You shall not accept any information, unless you verify it for yourself. I have given you the hearing, the eyesight, and the brain, and you are responsible for using them.” (17:36)
“Behold! in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the alternation of Night and Day,― there are indeed Signs for men of understanding. Men who celebrate the praises of God standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides, and contemplate the (wonders of) creation in the heavens and the earth, (with the thought): “Our Lord! not for naught hast Thou created (all) this! Glory to Thee! Give us salvation from the penalty of the Fire” (3: 190-191)
“They are the ones who examine all words, then follow the best. These are the ones whom God has guided; these are the ones who possess intelligence.” (39:18)

  • Islam calls for honest dealing, protection of human dignity and the right to privacy:

“Woe to every backbiter, slanderer.” (104:1)
“O you who believe, you shall avoid any suspicion, for even a little bit of suspicion is sinful. You shall not spy on one another, nor shall you backbite one another; this is as abominable as eating the flesh of your dead brother. You certainly abhor this. You shall observe God. God is Redeemer, Most Merciful.” (49:12)
“It was mercy from God that you became compassionate towards them. Had you been harsh and mean-hearted, they would have abandoned you. Therefore, you shall pardon them and ask forgiveness for them, and consult them” (3:159)
“And do not eat up your property among yourselves for vanities, nor use it as bait for the judges, with intent that ye may eat up wrongfully and knowingly a little of (other) people’s property” (2:188)
“Kind words and the covering of faults are better than charity followed by injury. God is free of all wants, and He is Most Forbearing” (2:263)
“O ye who believe! Cancel not your charity by reminders of your generosity or by injury― like those who spend their substance to be seen of men” (2:264)
“O ye who believe! Give of the good things which ye have (honourably) earned, and of the fruits of the earth which We have produced for you, and do not even aim at getting anything which is bad in order, that out of it ye may give away something, when ye yourselves would not receive it except with closed eyes. And know that God is Free of all wants and Worthy of all praise” (2:267)
“You shall give full weight and full measure when you trade, equitably” (6:152)
“O my people, you shall give full measure and full weight, equitably. Do not cheat the people out of their rights, and do not roam the earth corruptingly” (11:85)

  • Islam hold parents in the highest esteem:
“And We have enjoined on the human being in (regard to) his two parents – his mother bore him in weakness upon weakness, and his weaning was two years – Give thanks to Me and to your parents. To Me is the goal. But if they strive with you to associate with Me (gods) you do not know about, then do not obey them. But keep company with them both in the world in an honourable manner, and follow the path of who repents to Me. Then I will tell you what you have worked.” (31:14-15) 
“And We have enjoined on the human being in (regard to) his two parents the most beautiful conduct. But if they strive with you to associate with Me (gods) you do not know about, then do not obey them. You all will return to Me and I will tell you what you have worked” (29: 8)
“And We have enjoined on the human being in (regard to) his two parents the most beautiful conduct. His mother bore him under duress and brought him forth under duress. And his bearing and his weaning was thirty months. At length, when he reaches the age of forty, he says, “My Lord and Sustainer, grant to me that I am thankful for the graciousness that You have bestowed upon me and upon my parents, and that I may work righteousness pleasing to You, and make my offspring righteous. Surely I turn to You and surely I am of those who submit (to You).” (46:15)
“Your Lord has commanded that you shall not worship (anyone) but Him and to be good to the parents. If either or both of them reach old age with you, say not to them (so much as) ‘Ugh’ nor chide them, and speak to them a generous word. And lower for them ‘the wings of humility’ out of mercy; and pray; ‘O my Lord! Have mercy on them as they brought me up (when I was) little.’” (17:23-24)
“O Prophet) say, “Come, I will read out to you the sacred rules your Lord and Sustainer has given you: That you do not associate anything as a partner with Him. That you give beautiful conduct to the two parents. That you do not kill your children fearing flat poverty – We will provide for you and for them. That you do not even go near lewdness, neither the obvious nor the hidden. That you do not kill the life that God has made sacred, except in the truth (when justified). That is what He has enjoined upon you in order that you become intelligent.” (6:151)
“O humankind! Be in awe of your Lord and Sustainer, He who created you all from a single soul, and created from it its mate, and from the two of them brought forth many men and women. Be in awe of God and of the wombs (that bore you). Surely God is watching over you.”(4: 1)

  • Islam calls for perfecting human values and elevating the standard of morality:

Prophet Muhammad, Peace be upon him, declared “Verily I was sent to this World to define (and live by) the Generous Temperament.”

According to him, the codes of Generous Temperament (makarem elakhlaq) are seven: 
“Pardoning those who have oppressed you
Giving to those who have deprived you
Connecting with those who have shunned you
Benefiting those who have abused you
Counselling those who have deceived you
Forgiving those who have maligned you
Forbearing with those who have angered you.”
Prophet Muhammad also said:
“God, said: O My servants, I have forbidden oppression for Myself and have made it forbidden amongst you, so do not oppress one another.”
“You will never enter Paradise until you become believers, and you will not become believers until you love each other.”
“None of you truly believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself”
“God has no mercy on one who has no mercy for others.”
“The most excellent Jihad is that for the conquest of self”
“Do not belittle any act of kindness, even that of greeting your brother with a cheerful countenance.”
“Your smile in the face of your brother is an act of charity”
“God does not judge you according to your appearance and your wealth, but He looks at your hearts and looks into your deeds”
” Who is the most favoured of God? He, from whom the greatest good comes to His creatures”
“It is difficult for a man laden with riches to climb the steep path, that leads to bliss”
“Who are the learned? Those who practice what they know.”
“Kindness is a mark of faith, and whoever is not kind has no faith.”
“Whoever is kind, God will be kind to him; therefore be kind to people on the earth. He Who is in heaven will show mercy on you”
” God has revealed to me, that you must be humble. No one should boast over one another, and no one should oppress another”
“Say what is true, although it may be bitter and displeasing to people”
“The most perfect in faith amongst believers is he who is best in manner and kindest to his wife.”
“Practice humility until no one oppresses or belittles another”
“A believer is not the one who eats his fill while his next door neighbour goes hungry.”
“A good word is charity”

From the above, it is not difficult to understand why does Islam constitute a threat to the “elitists”, the NWO orchestrates with their dark agenda of creating a Talmudic New World Order, with “new world religion”, that stems from the Chabadist Masonic Kabala and the Talmudic Noahide teaching which they have been paving the ground for, and shoving down the throats of spiritually parched people in the West, which on the surface looks appealing as it calls for unity of all religions, peace, and love, but upon closer inspection its dark core would be exposed 
They start with the concept of “we humans have the divine within us” and end up with: “you are god in the making” and of course they the “masters” are gods already, hence a hierarchical system of superior beings and slaves would be established
The “New Age” concept of “gods in the making” leads to an immensely blown up ego and selfish individuals. it is the root of the kabalastic philosophy of precedence of individualism in opposition to the philosophy of primacy of the community and the whole.
They start with beautiful concepts such as “peace and love” and end up criminalising any voice of resistance, hence turning the masses into brainwashed and artificially smiling zombies
They start with observable norms of “duality” and end up with “there is no good or evil, both are the same and equally needed and valued”
That’s what they are cultivating the earth for, and that’s why Islam is a REAL THREAT

  • Islam also gave severe warning to those who have hijacked religions, distorted the authentic messages of God, and falsified the teaching of prophets:

“O people of the scripture, do not transgress the limits of your religion, and do not say about God except the truth” (4:171)
“Say, “O people of the scripture, do not transgress the limits of your religion beyond the truth, and do not follow the opinions of people who have gone astray, and have misled multitudes of people; they are far astray from the right path.” (5:77)
“Therefore, woe to those who distort the scripture with their own hands, then say, “This is what God has revealed,” seeking a cheap material gain. Woe to them for such distortion, and woe to them for their illicit gains.” (2:79)
Shall we have a look at some of the distortion and falsification that the Qur’an refers to?

“And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: slay utterly, old and YOUNG, both maids, and little children, and woman: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.” (Ezekiel 9:5-6) 
“Joshua said to the people of Israel, “The Lord has given you the city of the all silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the Lord: They shall come into the treasury of the Lord. The people utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox and sheep and ass with the edge of the sword”. (Joshua 6:21,23)
“And he should go and worship other God and bow down to them or to the sun or the moon or all the army of the heavens, …..and you must stone one with stones and such one must die.” Deuteronomy (17:3-5)
“Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man intimately. But all the girls who have not known man intimately, spare them for yourselves.” (Numbers 31:17-18)

“And the LORD our God delivered him before us; and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people” (Deuteronomy 2:33)
“And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little ones, of every city, we left none to remain”.(Deuteronomy 2:34

“Only the cattle we took for a prey unto ourselves, and the spoil of the cities which we took” (Deuteronomy 2:35) 
“Now therefore go, and smite Amalec, and utterly destroy all that he hath; spare him not, nor covet any thing that is his; but slay both man and woman, child and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.” (Samuel 15:3)


“If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them” (Deuteronomy 21:18)
“Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place” (Deuteronomy 21:19)
“ And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard” (Deuteronomy 21:20)
“And all the men of his city shall stone  him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among  you; and all Israel shall hear and fear” (Deuteronomy 21:21)
“As you approach a town to attack it, first offer its people terms of peace. If they accept your terms  and open the gates to you, then all the people inside will serve you in force labor. But if they refuse to make peace and prepare to fight, you must attack the town. When the Lord your God hands it over to you, kill every man in the town. But you must keep for yourselves all the women, children, livestocks, and other plunder. You may enjoy the spoil of your enemies that the Lord God has given you.” (Deuteronomy 20:10-14) 
“When you draw near to a city to fight against it, offer terms of peace to it. And if its answer to you is peace and it opens to you, then all the peopled who are found in it shall do forced labeor for you and shall serve you. But if it makes no peace with you, but makes war against you your hand shall put all its males to the sword, but the women and the little ones, the cattle, and everything else in the city, all its spoil you shall take as booty for yourselves…..you shall save alive nothing that breathes, but you shall utterly destroy them…” (Deuteronomy 6:10 -12)

“If there is found among you, in one of your towns that the the Lord your God is giving you, a man or woman who does what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, and transgesses his covenant by going to serve other gods and worshipping them-whether the sun or the moon or any of the host of heaven, which I have forbidden-and if it is reported to you or you hear of it, and you make a thorough inquiry, and the charge is proved true that such an abhorent thing has occurred in Israel, then you shall bring out to your gates that man or woman who has committed this crime and you shall stone the man or woman to death.” (Deuteromy 17:17)
The Book of Isaiah, Chapter 60:16 
“Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breast of kings: and thou shalt know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob”
Chapter 6, Halacha 1
“If the enemy accepts the offer of peace and commits itself to the fulfillment of the seven mitzvot that were commanded to Noah’s descendents, none of them should be killed. Rather, they should be subjugated as ibid.:11 states:{slaves} ‘They shall be your subjects and serve you.’
“If they agree to tribute, but do not accept subjugation or if they accept subjugation, but do not agree to tribute, their offer should not be heeded. They must accept both.”
“The subjugation they must accept consists of being on a lower level, scorned and humble. They must never raise their heads against Israel, but must remain subjugated under their rule. They may never be appointed over a Jew in any matter whatsoever.”
The Book of Isaiah, 60:12
“For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted.”
The Book of Isaiah, 60:14
“The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee; The city of the LORD, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.”

“Soul of the nations contains no good whatsoever”
“The souls of the nations of the world, however, emanate from the other, unclean kelipot which contain no good whatever”
“When a Jew has a Gentile in his clutches, another Jew may go to the same Gentile(=non-Jew), lend him money and in turn deceive him, so that the Gentile shall be ruined. For the property of a Gentile, according to our law, belongs to no one, and the first Jew that passes has full right to seize it “
–Schulchan Aruch, Choszen Hamiszpat 156
“That all property of other nations belongs to the Jewish nation, which consequently is entitled to seize upon it without any scruples. An orthodox Jew is not bound to observe principles of morality towards people of other tribes. He may act contrary to morality, if profitable to himself or to Jews in general. A Jew may rob a Goy(=non-Jew), he may cheat him over a bill, which should not be perceived by him, otherwise the name of God would become dishonoured
–Schulchan Aruch, Choszen Hamiszpat, 348

What shall we call the above: genocide? ethnic cleansing? extermination? or what?
Can such cruelty, racism, malice and sadism be from God? NO… of course not.
A final message to those Christian Zionists who are infatuated with what they call “Judea-Christian values”, and condemn Islam for giving permission to its followers to resist slavery, racism, occupation and oppression and to fight back when they are attacked; I would ask: What kind of Judea-Christian values are they talking about?
My advice to them is to read again:
“ And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye?”

Zio-Nazi Court: Mosque to be used as Islamic Museum

NOVANEWS

 

Court rules that the mosque won’t be able to be used for prayer, but rejects Be’er Sheva municipality request to turn it into a museum.

The Zionist High Court of Justice ?? ruled on Thursday that a large mosque in occupied Be’er Sheva would be used for an Islamic museum, rejecting the city’s request that it be turned into a general museum.

A petition on the issue was submitted to the court by the Adalah Legal Center for Palestinian Minority Rights in IsraHell in 2002. The petition requests that the mosque be once again used as a house of worship, which it was until the Zio-Nazi illegal occupation 1948.

The court said that the petitioners have the right to turn to a state planning committee and request that the mosque, which is currently being used as a museum, be designated as a place of worship. If the committee rejects this request, they can take the decision to court.

Judges Salim Joubran and Esther Hayot ruled against the request to turn the mosque into a general museum, ruling instead that it should be turned into a museum for the Muslim population in the area.

Joubran criticized the Zionist Be’er Sheva municipality’s position, which said that using the mosque for prayer would create violence and disturb the public order.

The struggle to have the mosque used for prayer has been going on since the 70′s, but the municipality has continuously refused the request – announcing instead of their intention to turn it into a museum.

Muslim residents of Be’er Sheva as well as Bedouin living nearby have been prevented from praying in the mosque, despite repeated requests to do so

Zio-Nazi regime won’t apologize for flotilla murder's

NOVANEWS

 


Zio-Nazi Minister Ya’alon met Turkish foreign ministry officials last week as part of attempts to solve crisis with Ankara; stressed Zio-Nazi regime won’t apologize for actions but will compensate victims’ families

Zio-Nazi Minister Moshe Ya’alon met with Turkish foreign ministry senior officials last week, Channel 2 reported Thursday.

The meeting, which was held in Europe, was meant to resolve the crisis brought on by May 2010′s deadly flotilla raid. State officials told Ynet this was a recent development and confirmed there were several meetings with Turkish representatives held last week.

IsraHell has stressed it will not apologize for its Nazi army actions, but Zio-Nazi Ya’alon expressed willingness to pay compensation for the families of the victims. “Israel is willing to regret the loss of lives but will not apologize,” a source familiar with the issue said. “We cannot guarantee Israel and Turkey will reach an understanding,” he noted.

State officials told Ynet that IsraHell wants to calm the atmosphere and convene a meeting with high ranking Turkish officials, referring to the president, defense minister and prime minister. It remains unclear whether such a meeting will in fact take place.

“The Turks were on the Iran-Syria axis and this axis is not looking good these days,” a state official added. “Moreover, Turkey still fears the Palmer Committee report (the UN-appointed committee investigating the flotilla) and therefore it is expected Erdogan will try to calm relations with Israel.”

Zio-Nazi Prime Minister Benjamin Naziyahu sent a letter to his Turkish counterpart this week expressing hope that relations between the two nations will improve. He added that IsraHell government will be happy to work with the new Turkish cabinet.

Secretary of State Zionist Hillary Rodham Clinton on Thursday criticized activists planning to challenge IsraHell illegal sea blockade of the Gaza Strip, saying their efforts are neither “necessary or useful” in helping the Palestinian people of Gaza.

“We do not believe the flotilla is a necessary or useful effort to try to assist the people of Gaza,” Clinton told reporters at a news conference with the visiting foreign minister of the Philippines.

“We think that it’s not helpful for there to be flotillas that try to provoke action by entering into Israeli waters and creating a situation in which the Israelis have the right to defend themselves.”

On Wednesday, the State Department specifically discouraged US citizens from taking part in the flotilla, which is planned for later this month.

Under Bush, US was ready to support Zio-Nazi slaughter

NOVANEWS

The failure of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to retaliate in the Gaza Strip for rocket fire after disengagement – as he promised – was one of the major mistakes made after the 2005 pullout, Dan Kurtzer, who was the US envoy to Israel at the time, suggested Thursday.

Kurtzer, in an interview with The Jerusalem Post, said that immediately after Israel left the Gaza Strip he told Washington “to expect a very serious Israeli response to the first act of violence coming out of Gaza.”

Kurtzer, attending the Israeli Presidential Conference in Jerusalem, said he “was persuaded” by what Sharon said: “That once the pretext for fighting Israel has been removed, there would be no argument for [continued violence], and in effect, the Palestinians would have to learn a lesson for continuing violence.”

Kurtzer said his message to the Bush Administration was to be ready for a sharp Israeli military response to rocket fire, “and be ready to support it.”

“The success of disengagement rested on the aftermath of its implementation, so I was very surprised there was no reaction to the first rocket, second rocket and 15th rocket,” Kurtzer said.

Kurtzer, today a professor in Middle East policy at Princeton, said that Sharon argued that the rockets were landing in fields, “not really that bad,” or were being fired by dissident elements, and not the Gaza leadership.

“But all of a sudden people got acclimated to the idea that there can be rocket fire,” he said. “From there it was just a matter of degree: from one rocket a week, to one a day; from one a day, to one and hour – so it escalated. By the time Israel did respond, the provocations were very very significant, and the fabric of trust in post-disengagement had already been eroded.”

Asked whether he thought the Bush administration would have accepted his recommendations to support military action, he said, “My guess is the administration would have said that they don’t see any justification for the attacks, that Israel has the right to defend itself, and that the Palestinians have responsibility to stop the rocket fire.”

Another lesson to be learned from the 2005 disengagement, Kurtzer said, was that any future unilateral move needed to be “constructed differently.”

“There was never really any buy-in from the Palestinian side,” he said. “So even though there were some discussions about handing over certain assets and coordinating certain moves, it literally turned into locking the fence and throwing the key back over.”

Kurtzer said that if there ever was another unilateral move, “there has to be some way to coordinate it better than it was.”

However, he said, another lesson from disengagement is that “it may not work.”

“In fact,” he said, “if you look at the four times Israel gave up territory – two through agreements, Egypt and Jordan, and two unilaterally, Lebanon and Gaza – the two through agreements worked out, and the two done unilaterally have not worked out at all.”

Turning to the present situation, Kurtzer said that at this time it was incumbent upon Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to present his own plan on how he wanted to move forward.

“American administrations going back 40 years much prefer to work on the basis of an Israeli initiative,” Kurtzer said, adding that he thought US President Barack Obama was frustrated that Netanyahu “had not come up with something.”

“He [Obama] tried this idea of starting negotiations on the basis of borders and security, and Netanyahu clearly doesn’t like it,” Kurtzer said of the president’s proposal to start negotiation on the basis of the 1967 lines, with mutual agreed swaps.

“I think Obama’s answer now is, ‘OK I’m not going to be angry, but tell me what you want to do. I know what you don’t want to do, now tell we what you want to do. And its not going to be sufficient to articulate more conditions.”

Kurtzer said that the problem with Netanyahu’s two major policy addresses – the Bar Ilan speech in 2009, and the address in the Knesset last month – was that he listed a number of conditions, “but there is no strategy or process.”

“Don’t tell me what the Palestinian have to do, because that is a precondition,” he said. “Tell me what you want to do – otherwise there is a vacuum. That is what I mean by an initiative.”

Just as Israel needed to initiate something, so did the Palestinians, Kurtzer said. He downplayed the significance of the PA’s UN bid, saying that calling it a “train wreck,” as it has been characterized, was “silly.”

“If they want to go to the UN, let them do it. It is going to fail in practical terms – they are not going to produce anything,” he said. “This is a nothingness, because it doesn’t accomplish anything.”

Kurtzer said he failed to understand why the UN gambit was triggering such concern in Israel, saying that it would be a diplomatic triumph, but nothing else.

“Now they will have embassies, rather than missions; ambassadors, rather than emissaries. They will have status, marching bands, but it doesn’t mean anything.”

Syrian security seize smuggled weapons

NOVANEWS

 

Syrian authorities have seized a large shipment of weapons, in the coastal city of Lattakia, which were thought to have been meant for the armed groups in the north.

Security forces arrested the smugglers and confiscated the weapons before their delivery, Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported.

The smugglers had planned to transport the shipment to the northwestern city of Jisr al-Shughour.

Syrian state television later aired images of the seized weapons and ammunition.

Earlier this month, armed gangs killed some 120 Syrian security forces in Jisr al-Shughour. In response to the killings, the Syrian military moved in to the city in order to bring stability and arrest the rebels.

Since the beginning of the Syrian unrest in mid-March, hundreds of civilians as well as security forces have been killed.

The shadowy opposition accuses security forces of being behind the killings but, the government blames armed gangs for the deadly violence, stressing that the unrest is being orchestrated from abroad.