Articles

Prelude to more wars for IsraHell–’Outraged’ EU to beef up Syria sanctions
June 22, 2011
Syria
NOVANEWS   LUXEMBOURG: ‘Outraged’ European ministers on Monday agreed to beef up sanctions on President Bashar al-Assad as they cast ...Read more
Prelude to more wars for IsraHell–”Experts say Syrian president is ‘delusional, helpless”
June 22, 2011
Syria
NOVANEWS   jpost.com   With his country embroiled in its fourth month of protests and bloodshed – leading to at ...Read more
Ousted Tunisian Dictator Says He Was Tricked Into Exile
June 22, 2011
Africa
NOVANEWS Ben Ali Ben Shlomo Sentenced to 35 Years in Prison in Absentia antiwar.com Former Tunisian dictator Zine el-Abidine Ben ...Read more
US Marines Training for Libyan Ground Invasion?
June 22, 2011
Libya
NOVANEWS CNN   Washington (CNN) — It’s mid-June, a perfect time to visit the beach to watch porpoises play in ...Read more
NATO Abandons Denial, Admits to Libya Attack That Killed 15
June 22, 2011
Libya
NOVANEWS   NATO Warplanes Attacked Sorman After All antiwar.com On Sunday, NATO copped to killing at least nine civilians in a ...Read more
Pro-Zionist warmongers press GOP to back “America’s fifth war of Muslim liberation”
June 22, 2011
ZIO-NAZI
NOVANEWS Kristol, Abrams, Kagan letter presses House GOP to back Libya mission By Ben Smith, Politico.com Three prominent conservative foreign ...Read more
Dorothy Online Newsletter
June 22, 2011
Middle East
NOVANEWS Dear friends, I really intended to make tonight’s list of items short—not more than 4, say, well, maybe 5.  But ...Read more
Jewish women cannot drive in New York
June 21, 2011
ZIO-NAZI
NOVANEWS   Rehmat’s World   Muslims in the West have long been under attack for the ban in Saudi Arabia ...Read more
Activists in IsraHell Reject German Party’s Equation of Anti-Semitism with Support for BDS, One State
June 21, 2011
Campaigns
NOVANEWS Multiple signatories The German left-wing party Die Linke issued a shocking statement on 7 June 2011, stating that “We ...Read more
9/11 and the Orwellian Redefinition of "Conspiracy Theory"
June 21, 2011
USA
NOVANEWS By Paul Craig Roberts Global Research While we were not watching, conspiracy theory has undergone Orwellian redefinition. A “conspiracy ...Read more
NATO Incorporates Libyan Experience For Global War Template
June 21, 2011
Libya
NOVANEWS By Rick Rozoff Global Research As the West’s war against Libya has entered its fourth month and the North ...Read more
The Destabilization of Syria and the Broader Middle East War
June 21, 2011
Syria
NOVANEWS By Michel Chossudovsky Global Research What is unfolding in Syria is an armed insurrection supported covertly by foreign powers ...Read more

Prelude to more wars for IsraHell–’Outraged’ EU to beef up Syria sanctions

NOVANEWS


 

LUXEMBOURG: ‘Outraged’ European ministers on Monday agreed to beef up sanctions on President Bashar al-Assad as they cast doubt on his latest offers of change, some demanding he ‘reform or step aside’.

Amid continuing bloodshed in Syria’s crackdown on protesters, European Union foreign ministers also angrily demanded action at the United Nations and slammed Russia’s resistance to any such move.

The bloc’s 27 ministers stepped into one-day talks to review global hotspots expressing hopes that Assad’s third speech in three months of protests would offer an end to violence that rights groups say has cost over 1,300 lives. But Assad’s offer to dialogue once the “chaos” was over, failed to convince.

The Syrian leader had reached “a point of no return,” said France’s foreign minister Alain Juppe. “Some believe there’s still time for him to change his ways and commit to a (reform) process,” he said. “For my part, I doubt it. I think that the point of no return has been reached.”

British Foreign Secretary William Hague dubbed the speech “unconvincing”, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton was “disappointed”, and Germany’s Guido Westerwelle labelled him “incorrigible”. “He seems not to have understand the signs of the times,” Westerwelle added.

The Syrian leader said dialogue could lead to a new constitution and even the end of his Baath party’s monopoly on power, but stated that he refused to reform Syria under “chaos.”

His remarks immediately drew condemnation from pro-democracy activists who vowed that the “revolution” — now in its fourth month — must go on.

As the talks kicked off, Britain’s Hague said he hoped Turkey would use its influence on Damascus to tell the regime that “they are losing legitimacy, that Assad should reform or step aside”. He added that he hoped Turkey “will be very clear and very bold about that”.

Reacting to Assad’s speech later, Hague said on twitter: “Little new on how reforms will be implemented & when, or how he will end violence.”

The ministers later agreed a resolution that the EU was “actively” preparing to “expand its restrictive measures by additional designations with a view to achieving a fundamental change of policy by the Syrian leadership without delay.”

It also stated that Assad’s “credibility and leadership depend on the implementation of the reforms he himself announced”.

The EU was looking at adding more than a dozen people and businesses to a blacklist of 23 people targeted by an asset freeze and travel ban which already includes Assad and key allies.

But Sweden’s outspoken foreign affairs chief Carl Bildt said European sanctions were a second-best choice to a global condemnation that must come from the United Nations.

And Germany’s Westerwelle, whose government had split with its EU partners by refusing to vote with them at the UN on Libya, said there could be no comparison between the two situations. (AFP)

Prelude to more wars for IsraHell–”Experts say Syrian president is ‘delusional, helpless”

NOVANEWS

 


jpost.com
 

With his country embroiled in its fourth month of protests and bloodshed – leading to at least 1,200 citizens killed across Syria, and more than 10,000 refugees fleeing the country for Turkey – President Bashar Assad took to the podium in Damascus on Monday for his first national address in two months.

Over an hour later, it was clear, experts say, that little has changed in Assad’s methods, and that international pressure and a growing body count aren’t persuading a man who is fighting for his life.

Andrew J. Tabler of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy said the speech showed that while Assad is clearly worried about the situation in Syria, he is choosing to stick to the same platitudes he has relied on for years.

“He’s trying to give us a bunch of words to placate those who are abroad and to placate the protestors, but there are no real specifics on what he’ll do,” Tabler said.

“Clearly, the length of the speech and what he [Assad] talked about indicate that he’s worried – but at the same time, he’s saying the protests are being driven by criminals and conspirators, or that it isn’t that big a deal or that big in numbers.

So it’s a weird combination, and I think that he is seemingly trying to bury the issue.

It’s very hard for him to admit that he has this problem, which would be admitting internal weakness,” he added.

Tabler, the co-founder and former editor-in-chief of Syria Today, the first private-sector English language magazine in the country, said that Assad’s contention that foreign “conspirators” and “saboteurs” were bringing chaos to Syria “is an old thing for Assad; not just during this crisis, but throughout his presidency.”

Tabler said that Assad will “continue to do the same thing he’s been doing: more security solutions, he’ll form some committees [for reform], and just hope that people go home and that the international community gets off his back.”

He added that “the difference between the protestors’ demands and what the state is offering are so vast that it’s not conducive to settling the plan.”

According to Tabler, the time has passed for reforms, and the anti-government demonstrators have every reason to push on until the end, however long it takes.

“It seems like the protestors are doing a pretty good job so far,” he said. “They know that if they leave the squares they’ll lose their leverage on Assad and then they’ll only be able to go home and wait for the security forces to knock on their doors.

So they have a pretty strong reason to stay out.”

For Yoni Ben-Menahem, Israel Radio director and chief editor, Assad’s speech showed that the situation for his regime could not be clearer.

“He’s trying to contain the situation, but it’s helpless,” Ben-Menahem said. “No one [in Syria] believes him anymore.

He’s slaughtering his people, more than 10,000 refugees – and the massacres are continuing.”

When asked what Assad’s remaining options are – assuming that promises of reforms won’t placate demonstrators – he said: “his option is to fight to the end. He cannot leave – if he steps down the Alawites will be slaughtered. Like [Libyan leader Muammar] Gaddafi, he will continue to the end.”

Assad’s lengthy speech Monday gave indications of a man out of touch with reality, according to Professor Eyal Zisser, director of the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, and the head of the Department of Middle Eastern and African History at Tel Aviv University.

“It was bizarre. After three months that the country is burning, this is what he has to say. He won’t let the facts fool him; he’ll keep saying the same things.”

Zisser said that Assad’s nonspecific promises of reform miss the point, which is that the problem for the demonstrators on the street is the regime itself, not particular laws or regulations.

“The problem isn’t a stipulation in the Syrian laws; the problem is the regime itself. His only option is to continue with the path he’s on,” said Zisser.

He added that the speech showed that efforts by Turkey to force his hand have not reaped any rewards.

“I don’t see that the Turks have had any sort of influence.

He made it clear that he thinks that he must continue as he is. He doesn’t understand what has changed. He’s a dictator, this is how a dictator sees things.”

Ousted Tunisian Dictator Says He Was Tricked Into Exile

NOVANEWS

Ben Ali Ben Shlomo Sentenced to 35 Years in Prison in Absentia

antiwar.com

Former Tunisian dictator Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali was the first Arab dictator forced from office in the wake of massive public protest. But according to the now exiled ruler, he was “tricked” into leaving the country.
Ben Ali claims he agreed to take a plane to Saudi Arabia to prepare a place for his family to flee to safety, but intended to return immediately. This attempt was foiled when the crew flew back to Tunisia without him.
The aging Ben Ali, who is still in Saudi Arabia, was sentenced to 35 years in prison and $66 million in fines today by a Tunisian court for his role in embezzlement of public funds. His wife, accused to leaving the country with much of the nation’s gold, was also sentenced.
The Saudi government has refused to extridite Ben Ali or his family already, so the sentence in absentia is unlikely to have any real effect. It is symbolic, however, of the Tunisian peoples’ eagerness to move beyond the dictatorship of the past and toward free elections.

US Marines Training for Libyan Ground Invasion?

NOVANEWS


CNN
 

Washington (CNN) — It’s mid-June, a perfect time to visit the beach to watch porpoises play in the surf or seagulls strut the sand — or you could watch a formation of Marine Corps warplanes darting over the shore at hundreds of miles per hour.

But don’t worry — the United States hasn’t declared war on your family’s beach house. It’s just part of a major Marine Corps exercise called Exercise Mailed Fist (translation: armored fist).

The exercise is designed to test the capability of every type of Marine Corps aircraft, including MV-22 Ospreys and F/A 18 Hornets, as well as some Navy ships and Air Force planes.

The drill will stretch from Quantico Marine Base in northern Virginia to the Navy’s Pinecastle Bombing Range in Florida.

With thousands of Marines and other service members involved, it’s the biggest such drill ever on the U.S. East Coast.

“Exercise Mailed Fist is the first exercise of its specific kind and the largest 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing exercise conducted in recent history,” said Staff Sgt. Roman J. Yurek, Marine Corps spokesman. “In the past, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing units had to deploy to the West Coast to conduct this type of training.”

Mailed Fist was not originally supposed to be one big exercise. But the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing’s commander, Maj. Gen. Jon Davis, decided to combine several smaller drills into one big exercise. Not only do the Marines train closer to home, the Pentagon saves money.

Most of the exercises will take place in the skies above or near Marine bases along the North and South Carolina coast.

From Monday until Friday, vacationers “who are located near the bases … will see an increase in air and ground traffic at various times throughout the week, but there should be minimal impact on activity near beaches other than occasional fly-overs at relatively high altitudes,” the spokesman said.

NATO Abandons Denial, Admits to Libya Attack That Killed 15

NOVANEWS

 

NATO Warplanes Attacked Sorman After All

antiwar.com

On Sunday, NATO copped to killing at least nine civilians in a strike in Central Tripoli, blaming a “weapons system failure,” but when a second incident in the suburb of Sorman came out the very next morning,they angrily denied involvement, saying warplanes weren’t even operating near the area.
But they were. NATO has now abandoned that denial and admits that they did attack the compound in Sorman, claiming it was a military “command and control” center. Media were taken to the site yesterday and shown the bodies of slain civilians, including children.
The Sorman attack killed at least 15 people according to officials, including three children. NATO said it was “aware” of the claim but had no way of verifying if it was true. Unlike Sunday’s killings, however, they offered no apology, and Canadian Gen. Bouchard, the commander of the war, vowed to continue to launch such attacks.
Which isn’t sitting well with Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, who warned the killings of civilians was putting the alliance’s credibility at risk. NATO is nominally in Libya to “protect civilians” under a UN resolution authorizing a no-fly zone.

Pro-Zionist warmongers press GOP to back “America’s fifth war of Muslim liberation”

NOVANEWS

Kristol, Abrams, Kagan letter presses House GOP to back Libya mission

By Ben Smith, Politico.com

Three prominent conservative foreign policy hands are circulating a letter to House Republicans today urging them not to cut off funding for the conflict in Libya.

The draft letter, being circulated by Weekly Standard Editor Bill Kristol, former Bush aide Elliott Abrams, and Brookings’s Robert Kagan, warns that cutting off funding would be “an abdication of our responsibilities as an ally and as the leader of the Western alliance.

The authors say they share Congressional concerns about the evasion of the War Powers Act, as well as Obama’s conduct of the war; but they say their main complaint is that Obama hasn’t used American power aggressively enough.

“We should be doing more to help the Libyan opposition, which deserves our support. We should not be allowing ourselves to be held hostage to U.N. Security Council resolutions and irresolute allies,” they write. “What would be even worse, however, would be for the United States to become one of those irresolute allies. The United States must see this effort in Libya through to its conclusion. Success is profoundly in our interests and in keeping with our principles as a nation. The success of NATO’s operations will influence how other Middle Eastern regimes respond to the demands of their people for more political rights and freedoms. For the United States and NATO to be defeated by Muammar al-Qaddafi would suggest that American leadership and resolution were now gravely in doubt—a conclusion that would undermine American influence and embolden our nation’s enemies.”

Full letter after the jump.

An Open Letter to House Republicans

We thank you for your leadership as Congress exercises its Constitutional responsibilities on the issue of America’s military actions in Libya. We are gravely concerned, however, by news reports that Congress may consider reducing or cutting funding for U.S. involvement in the NATO-led military operations against the oppressive regime of Libyan dictator Muammar al-Qaddafi. Such a decision would be an abdication of our responsibilities as an ally and as the leader of the Western alliance. It would result in the perpetuation in power of a ruthless dictator who has ordered terrorist attacks on the United States in the past, has pursued nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, and who can be expected to return to these activities should he survive. To cut off funding for current efforts would, in short, be profoundly contrary to American interests.

We share the concerns of many in Congress about the way in which the Obama administration has conducted this operation. The problem is not that he has done too much, however, but that he has done too little to achieve the goal of removing Qaddafi from power. The United States should be leading in this effort, not trailing behind our allies. We should be doing more to help the Libyan opposition, which deserves our support. We should not be allowing ourselves to be held hostage to U.N. Security Council resolutions and irresolute allies.

What would be even worse, however, would be for the United States to become one of those irresolute allies. The United States must see this effort in Libya through to its conclusion. Success is profoundly in our interests and in keeping with our principles as a nation. The success of NATO’s operations will influence how other Middle Eastern regimes respond to the demands of their people for more political rights and freedoms. For the United States and NATO to be defeated by Muammar al-Qaddafi would suggest that American leadership and resolution were now gravely in doubt — a conclusion that would undermine American influence and embolden our nation’s enemies.

In Speaker Boehner’s June 14, 2011, letter to President Obama, he wrote that he believes “in the moral leadership our country can and should exhibit, especially during such a transformational time in the Middle East.” We share that belief, and feel that now is the time for Congress to exhibit that moral leadership despite political pressures to do otherwise.

Dorothy Online Newsletter

NOVANEWS

Dear friends,

I really intended to make tonight’s list of items short—not more than 4, say, well, maybe 5.  But unfortunately, there is news.  I only now added item 8—‘Today in Palestine.’ I only now read it, and saw that the initial items in it, plus many others are must reads.  In it you will learn that special Israeli assassination forces took photos of their Palestinian victims and kept them, took pride in their ‘work’ and more.  I did not see the TV program on which this was aired, but it must have been gruesome.  A few of the items in 8 were sent yesterday, but if you read nothing more than the summaries of those that were not sent, you will learn much more than you can imagine.  Tomorrow I won’t be emailing you, so you can split the reading into 2 days.  Will be back Wednesday.

Item 1 reports that Israeli police broke a Palestinian youth’s arm when arresting him.  Israeli police and IOF brutality is nothing new.  But of course if one considers Palestinians as a whole to be one’s enemy or lesser beings, then brutality comes quite naturally.  I wonder if those who perform these acts would do the same to animals, to their pets, if they have any?

Item 2 is disgusting but typical.  Israel has been for all its history trying to wipe out any history of Palestinian Muslims and Christians.  But in this case, to claim that Deir Yassin was abandoned, when in point of fact a large portion of its residents were massacred by Jewish terrorists, causing others to flee, is going way too far.  Even Benny Morris, who is a confirmed Zionist and no liberal, says repeatedly in ‘The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem’ that what happened in Deir Yassin was a massacre.

In item 3 Amira Hass reports that the Palestinian so-called economic boom is unsustainable without foreign aid.

Item 4 reports that France ‘slams’ Israel for its plan to construct more housing for Jews in East Jerusalem.  Nice that France reacts. Would that more governments would.  But reacting is hardly enough!  Where are the sanctions?  Where are the boycotts?  When will western governments begin to treat Israel as they should—as a pariah?

Item 5, “The Day After,” refers to September and the day after the Palestinians approach the UN and request its recognition of their state on the 1967 lines.  The report reveals the violence that the military is preparing to use, and also reveals what Israelis are exposed to.  The whole thing would be totally unnecessary had Israel agreed to recognize Palestine on the 1967 lines instead of insisting on continuing its colonization for the Greater Israel.  Israel, by this method, will ultimately lose.  Unfortunately, it will likely be in violence.

Item 6 is a brief report telling us that Israel’s ambassador to the UN is telling American Jewish leaders what to do regarding the Palestinian endeavor to receive UN recognition.  This is Chutzpa with a capitol C!  I mean this is real Audacity!  This is, in short, Israel mixing into American policy.  Are these leaders addressed Americans first or Israeli-lovers first?  They had better decide.

Item 7 is beautiful except for the last line.  But then, in a militaristic society, that statement is to be expected.  I won’t reveal it.  The item itself is about ‘Strangers no More,’ the documentary about refugee children in an Israeli school,  a film that won an Oscar.  But although these kids all feel Israeli in every respect, and although they act like Israelis, Israel is so afraid of the demographic status of Israel that its Minister of the Interior wants all these kids deported to their ‘home’ countries. Many of them know no other home but Israel.  The minister’s dictum is what comes of living in a tribal society!  Fear of the ‘other.’  Shame!

Item 8, as I said, is the latest compilation of ‘Today in Palestine.’

Wish that I could send you more pleasant reading.  Maybe some day.

All the best,

Dorothy

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

1.  Haaretz,

June 20, 2011


Silwan youth claims cops broke his arm during arrest

The teenager was arrested by policemen dressed in civilian clothes at his uncle’s grocery store, a short while after a group of youths threw stones at police deployed nearby.

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/silwan-youth-claims-cops-broke-his-arm-during-arrest-1.368614

By Nir Hasson

The arm of a 14-year-old youth from Silwan was apparently broken during his arrest by police on suspicion of throwing stones on Friday.

The teenager was arrested by four policemen dressed in civilian clothes at midday, at his uncle’s grocery store, a short while after a group of youths threw stones at police deployed nearby.

The boy’s father says that the officers used violence both during the teen’s arrest and thereafter.

“The policemen said they had identified him by his shirt,” the boy’s father said, “even though he was in the store at the time the stones were thrown.”

“One of the policemen pulled him roughly and took him into the vehicle. In the car they handcuffed his hands behind his back. He asked the policeman to handcuff him with his hands in the front, but the policeman refused and all the way [to the station], he pulled his head down and beat him,” the father claims.

The teen was questioned in the presence of his father, at the station, and was later released by a judge to house arrest.

Following his release, he was checked at Hadassah University Hospital, Mount Scopus, where he was diagnosed with a possible fracture in his arm and bruises in the neck.

Police said in response that during the incident last Friday, “the youth was arrested after having thrown stones at the policemen, he was brought to the station and his parents were called in. The judge remanded him in custody for questioning. The investigation was carried out in the presence of the father, and then the youth was released to house arrest. At no time, neither before the judge, nor during the questioning, did the youth claim he had pain in his arm or anywhere else.”

This is not the first time that the youth in question has been arrested. About a year and a half ago, he was arrested early one morning at his home for throwing a single stone, which apparently hit no one.

Last week, prior to the more recent arrest, attorney Shlomo Lecker filed a claim for damages against the police for that first incident. Lecker argues there that the youth suffered serious psychological harm as a result of the violent arrest he was subjected to in the middle of the night.

Based on the medical documents presented by Lecker in the lawsuit, the youth was diagnosed with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, suffers from nightmares, wets his bed and has received psychiatric medication.

Following that first arrest, a complaint was filed with the Israel Police’s internal investigations department, due to the violence used by the arresting officers, but the case was closed. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel submitted an appeal against the decision to close the case in November 2010, but to date no response has been forthcoming from the investigations department.

Lecker says the police decided to bring charges against his client a day before the statute of limitations related to such minor offenses was due to expire.

“It is very unusual to press charges for one stone that did not hit anyone, against a 12-and-a-half year-old,” Lecker said.

During the past year there has been unrest in the East Jerusalem neighborhood, with youths throwing stones at police and settlers’ cars. To curtail what is being called “the children’s intifada” by the locals, the police has been arresting minors. In 2010, some 1,200 children were questioned on suspicion of throwing stones, 759 were arrested, and in 226 cases charges were pressed.

Some of the arrests and interrogations appear to be illegal, even though the police maintains it acts in accordance with the law.

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

2,  Haaretz,

June 20, 2011


Invite describes Deir Yassin as ‘abandoned Arab village’

Jewish paramilitary organizations’ massacre of about 100 villagers is glossed over in case of selective memory.

http://www.haaretz.com/invite-describes-deir-yassin-as-abandoned-arab-village-1.368686

By Akiva Eldar

In the invitation to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Kfar Shaul psychiatric hospital, set up on the remains of the village of Deir Yassin, the Arab village is described as such: “In the outskirts of Jerusalem, hidden from sight, the abandoned Arab village of Deir Yassin stands in isolation; a veritable treasure for the health and welfare services seeking housing for the hundreds who require physical and mental healing.”

Deir Yassin was the site where members of the Irgun and Lehi paramilitary organizations massacred about 100 villagers.

Under the photograph of one of the “abandoned” stone houses used by the hospital, a caption notes that “a protected ‘work village,’ was quickly set up, meant for temporary residence, professional training and physical and mental care.”

The person signed on the invitation to the event, “Kfar Shaul: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow” – scheduled to take place later this month at the Begin Heritage Center – is Dr. Alexander Teitelbaum, who chairs the Jerusalem branch of the Psychiatric Association in Israel and heads a department at the Kfar Shaul hospital.

Among those scheduled to speak at the event are Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, MK Rachel Adatto (Kadima ), and Dr. Gad Lubin, who heads the mental health division at the Health Ministry.

Not all found the invitation in good taste. In a letter to Teitelbaum, Dr. Yehuda Abramovitch, a department head at the Be’er Yaakov-Nes Tziona Mental Health Center, wrote that he was disturbed that the Deir Yassin massacre was not mentioned. In response, representatives of the hospital administration said that “the hospital decided, upon serious consideration, to be ‘smart’ and not ‘just’ in this matter, when it is clear to us all that there will be those who argue against being ‘smart’ and being ‘just.'”

The hospital added that the intention was to celebrate an anniversary for medical education, research and treatment, and this did not require “digging” up old wounds.

Abramovitch told Haaretz that he will not be attending the event because he had plans to be abroad on that day, but even if he were in Israel, he would not take part.

In his letter, Abramovitch wrote that “as mental health experts we seek to broaden awareness among the populations we treat, countering denials, encouraging those seeking our counsel to be brave and take responsibility for their situation. Is it not appropriate, then, on the 60th anniversary of the Kfar Shaul Hospital, to remember the past and pain of the other, and honestly look into our shared past?”

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

3,  Haaretz,

June 20, 2011


Palestinian economic boom unsustainable without overseas donations

If the Palestinian economy is growing, then why are unemployment figures up?

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/palestinian-economic-boom-unsustainable-without-overseas-donations-1.368629

By Amira Hass

How nice it would be if statistics and events on the ground would line up in a logical, orderly manner, without any inconsistencies. How easy it would be to report then.

The following event was reported on Saturday by the Palestinian news agency Ma’an: Homeless residents of the southern Gaza Strip blocked access to UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East ) summer camps to protest the fact that the organization has not yet rebuilt their homes, which Israel destroyed during the second intifada. According to the demonstrators, 40,000 refugee families have lost their homes since 2000, but UNRWA has preferred to give priority to rebuilding homes destroyed by Israel in Operation Cast Lead.

Even if the figures are not precise, it underscores the distress and insult felt by those who inhabited those houses destroyed in 2001, then in 2003 and in 2004 in the refugee camps of Khan Yunis and Rafah. In order to protect the fortified and spacious settlements surrounded by greenery that were just 20 meters away, Israeli army bulldozers razed those crowded rows of gray houses, with asbestos roofs surrounded by sand. Guided by the logic of generals and Caterpillar commanders, the houses were taken down one by one.

Following delays that cost many lives, the settlements were eventually evacuated. Their residents were generously compensated. But the residents of the camps, refugees from Yibne and Burayr, Isdud and Beit Tima, continue to wander from one temporary apartment to another. They are waiting for UNRWA to compensate them for the homes that Israel destroyed. They are demonstrating against UNRWA, even though the real address for their complaints should the Knesset in Jerusalem and the Defense Ministry compound in Tel Aviv. But of course, they cannot obtain entry permits into Israel.

And here comes the surprising statistic: The June issue of the Ramallah-based Palestinian Economic Bulletin, published by The Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute MAS (with headquarters in Ramallah ), reports that unemployment in the Gaza Strip plummeted from 37.4 percent in the last quarter of 2010 to 30.8 percent in the first quarter of 2011 (with most of the added jobs in agriculture ). In the West Bank, on the other hand, unemployment rose slightly from 16.9 percent in the last quarter of 2010 to 17.4 percent in the first quarter of this year.

It is too early to say whether these quarterly changes indicate a trend that should be cause for concern. But a report by UNRWA, which analyzed developments in the West Bank job market in the second half of 2010, did find that unemployment is on an upward trend. Just to make things more confusing, the UNRWA report also includes in its labor force figures those unemployed who have given up looking for work. That explains why according to its figures,, in the first half of 2010, the unemployment rate on the West Bank was a much higher 25 percent – up from 21.7 percent In the first half of 2010 and 23.6 percent in the second half of 2009. The UNRWA figures seem to signal deceleration of economic growth.

The economic reports published by UNRWA are designed to gauge employment trends among Palestinian refugees so that the agency can adapt its policies and projects accordingly. The latest report, published last week, found that in the second half of 2010, the size of the West Bank refugee labor force declined, as compared with the second half of 2009. The refugee labor force participation rate dropped from 43.7 percent (among total working age refugees ) to 40 percent. The total Palestinian labor force participate rate (refugees and non-refugees ) is higher, comprising 47 percent of the total working age population.

It could be an error in calculation (which becomes likelier the smaller the sampling ), says Dr. Salem Ajluni, the author of the study. And perhaps more refugees of working age are studying or taking care of an elderly parent at home. UNRWA will need to continue to study the matter.

What is clear is that unemployment among Palestinian refugees has increased. After dropping from 26.7 percent at the end of 2009 to 25.5 percent in the first half of 2010, it went up to 27.9 percent in the second half of 2010. Wages in this group are also relatively low. According to the UNRWA figures, at the end of 2009, the real average monthly salary among Palestinian refugees in the West Bank was NIS 1,665, compared with NIS 1,815 among non-refugees. At the end of 2010, the real average monthly salary among refugees was NIS 1,614, compared with NIS 1,795 among non-refugees.

Ajluni, who was born in the United States and is the scion of a Palestinian family from Ramallah, has been studying the economy of the occupied Palestinian territories for the past 20 years. He has worked in various UN agencies and Palestinian Authority ministries. Since 2006, he has been employed by UNRWA. “I went to look for the flourishing West Bank economy, which everyone is talking about,” he said yesterday. He does not have to look far: The MAS economic bulletin reported a 9.3 percent increase in Palestinian GDP in 2010, and a per capita increase of 6.1 percent.

But Ajluni also sees what is happening in the job market. “True, there are investments, but most of them are in construction,” he says. “These are not investments that create long-term jobs. Although I’ve seen an increase in jobs, there is a greater increase in the number of unemployed. The absolute number of people who have found work is about a quarter of those who looked for work. It’s true that there is commercial activity and about 90,000 jobs in commerce and in the public sector on the West Bank and a similar number in the Gaza Strip whose salaries create buying power.”

Still, whenever donations from abroad are delayed, he notes, so are salary payments. “Without annual external assistance to the tune of about $1 billion from the donor countries, this is not a sustainable situation. I’m not the only one saying this. So is the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and [Palestinian Prime Minister] Salam Fayyad.”

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

4.  Jerusalem Post,

June 20, 2011

Photo by: Ariel Jerozolimski/The Jerusalem Post)

‘France slams plan for e. J’lem housing expansion’

http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=225816

By JPOST.COM STAFF

French Foreign Minister: East Jerusalem building “is illegal in eyes of int’l law”; calls for peace talks based on French proposal, AFP says.

France on Monday criticized the Jerusalem Local Planning and Building Council of Jerusalem’s decision on Sunday to expand some 2,000 homes in the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood of the city, which is over the Green Line.

“Our position is constant: settlement building is illegal in the eyes of international law, in the West Bank as well as in east Jerusalem,” French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said, AFP reported.

The spokesman also called on Israel and the Palestinians to “resume negotiations based on principles contained in the French initiative presented by [French Foreign Minister] Alain Juppe to Mr. [Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu and Mr. [Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud] Abbas during his recent visit to the Middle East, and to refrain from unilateral gestures which undermine the trust necessary for this resumption,” according to the report.

France, earlier this month said it was considering a French proposal for an international peace conference in Paris later this summer. The idea of the conference was suggested in Jerusalem by visiting French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé.

Speaking after Netanyahu met with Juppé Thursday, a government sources said that “the French proposed different ideas, and we are looking at them.”

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, however, almost immediately expressed displeasure with the French proposal. Clinton said that “there is no agreement that the parties will resume negotiations. And I think the idea of any gathering, a conference or a meeting, has to be linked to a willingness by the parties to resume negotiating.”

Herb Keinon contributed to this report

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

5.  Ynet,

June 20, 2011


The Day After

IDF soldiers prepare for every eventuality Photo: Reuters

IDF prepares for September declaration

Will officers need visa to arrest terror suspects in West Bank? Additional resources, training exercises, deployment – all part of army’s plan ahead of possible declaration of Palestinian state at UN. Senior military officials agree: Future remains unclear

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4084712,00.html

Hanan Greenberg

The Israel Defense Forces is finding it hard to predict what will happen after the possible declaration of a Palestinian state at the United Nations in September, but in the meantime it is holding training exercises, maps are being updated and even the state of mind on Facebook is being looked into.

The IDF is also preparing engineering resources, purchasing and expanding existing crowd dispersion equipment and mainly, preparing for every eventuality – from the mainstream to the extreme. Ynet is taking a first look at the “Migdal Oz” plan which details how the IDF is planning on maintaining order in the West Bank on the “day after”.

Deliberations held over the last few weeks among senior GOC Central Command officials have raised one major question – the status of IDF officers and troops after the planned Palestinian declaration of statehood: Will an officer seeking to arrest a terror suspect in Nablus or Ramallah be required to present a visa or passport? And how is he supposed to act in such a situation?

Preparing for Worst

None of those present at the deliberations could supply an answer, which indicates that the Defense Establishment is heading for a period of uncertainty in the West Bank. The defense and civil coordination outlook remains hazy: What kinds of protests should they expect? Which side will the Palestinian Authority take?

And yet the defense establishment’s calendars don’t have any special mentions or substantial alterations ahead of events in September. Military officials believe it will take some time for the Palestinian citizens to examine their new status against the actual changes.

A different theory sees the Palestinians quickly reaching a state of frustration and disillusionment which could lead them to “let off steam”. Among the extreme scenarios: riots, and confrontations on settlements and IDF bases.

‘Naksa Day’ protests (Photo: EPA)

A third theory states that the IDF’s chief mission is to prepare for war and expected riots cannot become the troops’ main pursuit. “I don’t intend to halt training at any price. We need to remember that this is not a large tactical event,” the commander of one of the divisions noted.

Central Command Chief Major-General Avi Mizrahi who has been keeping a close eye on the deployment has passed on his recommendations to the Chief of Staff Major General Benny Gantz. They include expanding the ring of troops set to deal with riots in other sectors.

A large part of the “Migdal Oz” plan deals with the acquisition and expansion of crowd dispersal methods. GOC Central Command recently acquired more than double of their usual annual crowd dispersal resources order.

‘Like Syrian infiltrators’

In addition to the usual resources they have also purchased the “Scream” acoustical system which basically makes noise at an increased volume that assists in dispersing crowds. The IDF has also purchased appropriate protection methods for riot areas. The equipment is all set to be in IDF hands by August.

The IDF has also been carrying out infrastructural adjustments, for example, elevating military outposts. They have also prepared concrete barricades which will be put in place if the need arises during massive protests.

Crowd dispersal methods in action (Photo: Reuters)

Nevertheless the IDF has made it clear that while it hopes to stop protestors in a way that would keep the number of casualties at a minimum, if there is no other option they will open fire.

Military sources said that from the army’s perspective, if the Palestinians were to infiltrate the fence surrounding Beit El or Yitzhar, this would be dealt with in the same manner as the infiltrators from Syria. “We will fire at the lower extremities,” said one military official.

Within the framework of all these preparations the IDF is taking two main scenarios into consideration: Popular protests without the Palestinian Authority’s direct support, maybe even with prevention efforts from the Palestinian security apparatus. The second scenario is an all out Intifada organized by the Palestinian Authority.

The first option is obviously easier to deal with from the IDF’s standpoint. And yet, the IDF would be able to strike at the new state’s infrastructure, including security installations thus sending a very assertive message. A “bank” of possible targets is being collected under the radar. No one wishes to make use of it but the option is firmly on the table.

Critical influence

The Palestinians will not be in a hurry to endanger their infrastructure so it is hard to estimate whether the protests will be organized by the newly formed state. If security coordination continues then it can be hoped that the incidents will be confined.

There is an additional variable that must be taken into account – the Hamas who, in light of the unity agreement with Fatah is more prominent in the West Bank and so could be a fermenting factor.

“We are heading for a murky period that hides many dangers,” summarized one senior officer. “As an army we need to be prepared for every possible scenario. It is possible that we will have to face a complicated situation that will change all that we have become familiar with in the West Bank over the last few years. That is what we are preparing for.”

The Israeli policy which will be decided on in Jerusalem will have a critical influence on the future. As he prepared to end his term in office, the outgoing Shin Bet Chief Yuval Diskin said that Israel, without recognizing the newly formed state would face opposition from the international community which could hurt its own status.

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

6.  Haaretz,

June 20, 2011

Israel’s UN ambassador tells U.S. Jews: Prepare for September vote on Palestinian state

Ron Prosor urges leaders at closed session of the Conference of Presidents of major Jewish American Organizations to use connections to stop upcoming UN vote.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-s-un-ambassador-tells-u-s-jews-prepare-for-september-vote-on-palestinian-state-1.368773

By Shlomo Shamir

Tags: US Jewish World Middle East peace

Israel’s new ambassador to the United Nations Ron Prosor urged Jewish American leaders on Monday to form a clear and operational plan ahead of the United Nations vote in September regarding unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state.

During a closed meeting of the Conference of Presidents of major Jewish American Organizations in New York, Prosor said that talk was not enough at such a crucial time, and that the U.S. Jewish community must prepare a clear operational plan.

In an unconventional appeal for unity, the new ambassador, who started serving as Israel’s UN envoy less than a week ago, urged the Jewish leaders to work together despite their differences ahead of the September vote.

Prosor stressed before the Jewish leaders that they must take advantage of the Jewish community’s connections with decision makers in order to get results.

Prosor also said that regardless of the outcome of the UN vote, a Palestinian state will not be created and added that the UN is not authorized to dictate borders between countries. He stressed that a unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state will bring about another cycle of violence that will only lead to a dead end.

Least week Prosor said that the September vote was at the center of the Israeli delegation’s life.

“The mission regarding the unilateral declaration is one heck of a challenge, but I believe the chances of the declaration to succeed are actually very small. It will only bring things back and take nothing forward; I say that as the director general of the Foreign Ministry during the disengagement from Gaza. Unilateral moves are not constructive,” Prosor said after his first day on the job, emphasizing that there was still time to act before the vote.

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

7.  The Guardian

20 June 2011

Strangers No More celebrates Oscar win at Israel’s melting pot schoolAcademy award-winning documentary hands round its statuettes at Tel Aviv school, despite many pupils facing deportation

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/jun/20/strangers-no-more-oscar-israel-school

Conal Urquhart in Tel Aviv

Esther Aikpehae, who was featured in the Academy Award-winning Strangers No More gets her hands on an Oscar statuette. Photograph: Ariel Schalit/AP

There’s not much that is usual about the Bialik Rogozin School in Tel Aviv – so the pupils took it in their stride when the end of term was celebrated with two Oscar statuettes being handed around.

This year’s Academy award for best documentary was won by Strangers No More, which tells the story of students from the school, 70% of whom are immigrants, many from the world’s most dangerous countries.

On Monday, the film’s directors, Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon, brought their Oscars to share with the schoolchildren and to allow them to bask in a little reflected glory.

With 832 pupils from 48 countries, including Muslims, Christians and Jews, the children might not share that much in common, but one thing was for sure – they all wanted to get their hands on the Oscar.

“This is a tribute to the miracle that is Bialik Rogozin. The moment we came here, we found love and we are still in love with this school and everyone who has found a home here,” said Goodman as the school celebrated with readings and awards while some of the girls nervously carried out dance routines, interrupted by the occasional misstep and technical glitch.

“If we received an Oscar, it’s because these kids opened their hearts to us. All we did was capture it,” said Goodman’s co-director Simon.

Many of the students face deportation and the government is due to make its decision on their futures.

“They might postpone it but it still leaves the kids living in fear,” said Simon.

In recent years, Israel has received 35,000 asylum seekers and refugees from across Africa. It also has tens of thousands of foreign workers who have overstayed their visas, some of whom have children born in Israel.

Non-Jewish migration has created confusion in Israel. The ministry of the interior, headed by a minister from the ultra-orthodox Shas party, is keen to cut the numbers but others are proud that Israel has become a refuge.

The film documents a year in the life of the school, focusing on three students: Esther Aikpehae, who fled South Africa after her mother was murdered; Johannes Mulugeta from Eritrea, who had not previously attended school; and Mohammed Adam, who walked to Israel from Darfur in Sudan after seeing his grandmother and father murdered in front of him. All three have temporary residence permits.

The school is due to receive Israel’s national education prize from the president, Shimon Peres, but headteacher Karen Tal pointed out it was not easy running a school where so many pupils were worried about their future.

“We have a deal with the pupils: we keep the routine and aim for educational achievement which will give them confidence at a time when they have no roots. The other side is that we are very active in agitating on behalf of the students. I speak to prominent people all the time and we have set up an action committee and hosted guests from all over the world,” she said.

Goodman believes the school is an example to others all over the world that struggle to provide good education in multicultural environments.

“How can you take kids from 48 countries and and educate them? The answer is, give them the right opportunity and the right atmosphere and they will come together and learn. Here, being different is the norm,” she said.

Tal’s vision for the school and the country is of a society based on shared responsibility. “In our vision, all students who come to Israel, whether they are Jewish, Muslim or Christian, have made a statement that they want to be part of that society and all that means. If that means military service or civil service, then that is part of our duty.”

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

8. Today in Palestine

http://www.theheadlines.org/11/19-06-11.shtml

Jewish women cannot drive in New York

NOVANEWS

 


Rehmat’s World

 

Muslims in the West have long been under attack for the ban in Saudi Arabia (ruled by a western puppet Ultra-Orthodox Wahhabi minority) for women to drive in public. However, these western bigots are at loss to face the fact that Jewish women are neither allowed to drive or walk on the same side of the street as men – right in New Square, an Orthodox Jewish enclave north of Time Square.

“The whole community was built for one purpose, to live within the very strict confines, traditions, attitudes and customs of Judaism. And part of that is you’re part and parcel of a very strict communal structure,” say Ezra Friedlander, PR consultant to numerous Orthodox Jewish communities.

The New Square Jewish community (7000 members) is strictly controlled by Grand Rabbi David Twersky, 70. He inherited the ‘Twersky dynasty’ from his father Yaakov Yosef Twersky, who built this mini Jewish state in 1954 for his fellow ‘Holocaust survivors’ who refused to make Aliya to Zionist Israel.

In 2005, US under-secretary of state Karen Hughes, during her visit to Riyadh had told the Suadi ‘royals’ that Dubya Bush wants to see Saudi women obtain more rights including the ‘right to drive’. Commenting on Karen’s statement, Steven Weiss, wrote in Jewish daily Forward (October 14, 2005): “Even as the White House presses Saudi Arabia to permit women to drive, an Ultra-Orthodox community in New York has launched a campaign to reassert its ban on female motorists“.

During last few days, the Israel Hasbara (propaganda) organs (Washington Post, New York Times, Telegraph, etc.) which have never voiced their support for Palestinian human rights – have published articles, Op-Eds and columns in support of Saudi Women Driving campaign currently carried out in Saudi Arabia.

On Friday, June 17, 2011 – several Saudi women boldly got behind the wheel, including one who made a 45-minute trip through Kingdom’s capital Riyadh, seeking to ignite a road rebellion against ban on female motorists – had more on their minds than just having fun while sitting at driver’s seat. They were demanding for their rights given to them by their Islamic faith 1400 years ago.

Activists in IsraHell Reject German Party’s Equation of Anti-Semitism with Support for BDS, One State

NOVANEWS

Multiple signatories

The German left-wing party Die Linke issued a shocking statement on 7 June 2011, stating that “We will not participate in initiatives on the Middle East conflict which call for a one-state solution for Palestine and Israel, or for boycotts against Israeli products, or even in this year’s Gaza Flotilla trip.”
die_linke
This position is particularly offensive as it is noted within a party statement concerning anti-Semitism, thus making a clear and totally erroneous connection between anti-Semitism and support for BDS and various political solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  Die Linke, a supposedly progressive political party, is thus adopting the most right-wing and reactionary positions of the Israeli government on this issue.
 
Jewish and Palestinian left-wing activists from Israel have issued a response letter to Die Linke, which is reproduced below:
 
Dear parliament members of Die Linke,
We, Jewish and Palestinian left-wing activists from Israel, strongly oppose the recent statement made by your party with regard to anti-Semitism. This statement deals with two very different domains as if they were one, between which it is vital to make a distinction in order to be able to fight anti-Semitism in Germany and worldwide. Moreoever, the statement in question implies an outrageous accusation against civil society in Israel, Palestine and the international solidarity movements from around the world, which support a just peace in our region.
We are aware that anti-Semitism, just like Islamophobia and other forms of racism, sexism and homophobia, also exist within the European left. As members of the leading left party in Germany, it is vital that you take a firm stance on this issue and we support you in that respect in your unequivocal condemnation of racist anti-Jewish activities, ideologies and discourses.
We do not necessarily share the same view on the issues and forms of struggle regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including those mentioned in your statement: A one-state versus two-state settlement; the campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS); and the various international solidarity activities, including the flotillas breaking the siege of Gaza. Nevertheless, we are unanimous in our conviction that none of these stances or acts have anything to do with anti-Semitism in and of themselves. To imply, as your statement does, that simply discussing these topics is anti-Semitic, is an affront against a global anti-racist movement of which we are proud members – a movement which is fighting the illegal and brutal policies of the State of Israel against the Palestinians within its internationally recognized borders, those in the occupied Palestinian territory and those in the diaspora.
We believe that solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for independence and justice is not only a moral imperative, but also in the best interest of Israeli citizens and Jews worldwide. The Israeli establishment tries to present itself as the legitimate representative of the entire Jewish people, a proclamation that is all too often accepted without any criticism in Germany and throughout Europe. In recent years, the Israeli government is increasingly utilizing the false equivalence between anti-Semitism and criticism of its policies in an attempt to quash debate over the Palestinian issue.
We insist that Die Linke continues to express its clear opposition to anti-Semitism, its solidarity with the Palestinian cause, and its commitment to continuing an open discussion about the different forms of struggle, activism and solidarity, as well as the possible resolutions to the conflict. Far from being conflicting, these objectives in fact complement each other into what we believe would be the most effective progressive position on the issues.
We will continue to express our opposition to all forms of racism and oppression and hope that you will reconsider your decision on this issue so that we may struggle alongside one another for a just peace in the Middle East.
In solidarity

9/11 and the Orwellian Redefinition of "Conspiracy Theory"

NOVANEWS

By Paul Craig Roberts

Global Research

While we were not watching, conspiracy theory has undergone Orwellian redefinition.

A “conspiracy theory” no longer means an event explained by a conspiracy.  Instead, it now means any explanation, or even a fact, that is out of step with the government’s explanation and that of its media pimps.

For example, online news broadcasts of RT have been equated with conspiracy theories by the New York Times simply because RT reports news and opinions that the New York Times does not report and the US government does not endorse.

In other words, as truth becomes uncomfortable for government and its Ministry of Propaganda, truth is redefined as conspiracy theory, by which is meant an absurd and laughable explanation that we should ignore.

When piles of carefully researched books, released government documents, and testimony of eye witnesses made it clear that Oswald was not President John F. Kennedy’s assassin, the voluminous research, government documents, and verified testimony was dismissed as “conspiracy theory.”

In other words, the truth of the event was unacceptable to the authorities and to the Ministry of Propaganda that represents the interests of authorities.

The purest example of how Americans are shielded from truth is the media’s (including many Internet sites’) response to the large number of professionals who find the official explanation of September 11, 2001, inconsistent with everything they, as experts, know about physics, chemistry, structural engineering, architecture, fires, structural damage, the piloting of airplanes, the security procedures of the United States, NORAD’s capabilities, air traffic control, airport security, and other matters.  These experts, numbering in the thousands, have been shouted down by know-nothings in the media  who brand the experts as “conspiracy theorists.”

This despite the fact that the official explanation endorsed by the official media is the most extravagant conspiracy theory in human history.

Let’s take a minute to re-acquaint ourselves with the official explanation, which is not regarded as a conspiracy theory despite the fact that it comprises an amazing conspiracy.  The official truth is that a handful of young Muslim Arabs who could not fly airplanes, mainly Saudi Arabians who came neither from Iraq nor from Afghanistan, outwitted not only the CIA and the FBI, but also all 16  US intelligence agencies and all intelligence agencies of US allies including Israel’s Mossad, which is believed to have penetrated every terrorist organization and which carries out assassinations of those whom Mossad marks as terrorists.

In addition to outwitting every intelligence agency of the United States and its allies, the handful of young Saudi Arabians outwitted the National Security Council, the State Department, NORAD, airport security four times in the same hour on the same morning,  air traffic control, caused the US Air Force to be unable to launch interceptor aircraft,  and caused three well-built steel-structured buildings, including one not hit by an airplane, to fail suddenly in a few seconds as a result of limited structural damage and small, short-lived, low-temperature fires that burned on a few floors.

The Saudi terrorists were even able to confound the laws of physics and cause WTC building seven to collapse at free fall speed for several seconds, a physical impossibility in the absence of explosives used in controlled demolition.

The story that the government and the media have told us amounts to a gigantic conspiracy, really a script for a James Bond film. Yet, anyone who doubts this improbable conspiracy theory is defined into irrelevance by the obedient media.

Anyone who believes an architect, structural engineer, or demolition expert who says that the videos show that the buildings are blowing up, not falling down, anyone who believes a Ph.D. physicist who says that the official explanation is inconsistent with known laws of physics, anyone who believes expert pilots who testify that non-pilots or poorly-qualified pilots cannot fly airplanes in such maneuvers, anyone who believes the 100 or more first responders who testify that they not only heard explosions in the towers but personally experienced explosions, anyone who believes University of Copenhagen nano-chemist Niels Harrit who reports finding unreacted nano-thermite in dust samples from the WTC towers, anyone who is convinced by experts instead of by propaganda is dismissed as a kook.

In America today, and increasingly throughout the Western world, actual facts and true explanations have been relegated to the realm of kookiness.  Only people who believe lies are socially approved and accepted as patriotic citizens.

Indeed, a writer or newscaster is not even permitted to report the findings of 9/11 skeptics.  In other words, simply to report Professor Harrit’s findings now means that you endorse them or agree with them.  Everyone in the US print and TV media knows that he/she will be instantly fired if they report Harrit’s findings, even with a laugh. Thus, although Harrit has reported his findings on European television and has lectured widely on his findings in Canadian universities, the fact that he and the international scientific research team that he led found unreacted nano-thermite in the WTC dust and have offered samples to other scientists to examine has to my knowledge never been reported in the American media.

Even Internet sites on which I am among the readers’ favorites will not allow me to report on Harrit’s findings.

As I reported earlier, I myself had experience with a Huffington Post reporter who was keen to interview a Reagan presidential appointee who was in disagreement with the Republican wars in the Middle East.  After he published the interview that I provided at his request, he was terrified to learn that I had reported findings of 9/11 investigators.  To protect his career, he quickly inserted on the online interview that my views on the Iraq and Afghanistan invasions could be dismissed as I had reported unacceptable findings about 9/11.

The unwillingness or inability to entertain any view of 9/11 different from the official view dooms to impotence many Internet sites that are opposed to the wars and to the rise of the domestic US police state.  These sites, for whatever the reasons, accept the government’s explanation of 9/11; yet, they try to oppose the  “war on terror” and the police state which are the consequences of accepting the government’s explanation. Trying to oppose the consequences of an event whose explanation you accept is an impossible task.

If you believe that America was attacked by Muslim terrorists and is susceptible to future attacks, then a “war on terror” and a domestic police state to root out terrorists become necessary to make Americans safe. The idea that a domestic police state and open-ended war might be more dangerous threats to Americans than terrorists is an impermissible thought.

A country whose population has been trained to accept the government’s word and to shun those who question it is a country without liberty in its future.

NATO Incorporates Libyan Experience For Global War Template

NOVANEWS

By Rick Rozoff

Global Research

As the West’s war against Libya has entered its fourth month and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has flown more than 11,000 missions, including 4,300 strike sorties, over the small nation, the world’s only military bloc is already integrating lessons learned from the conflict into its international model of military intervention based on earlier wars in the Balkans, Afghanistan and Iraq.
What NATO refers to as Operation Unified Protector has provided the Alliance the framework in which to continue recruiting Partnership for Peace adjuncts like Sweden and Malta, Istanbul Cooperation Initiative affiliates Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates and Mediterranean Dialogue partnership members Jordan and Morocco into the bloc’s worldwide warfighting network. Sweden, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates also have military personnel assigned to NATO’s International Security Assistance Force in the nearly ten-year-long war in Afghanistan. In the first case, troops from the Scandinavian nation has been engaged in their first combat role, killing and being killed, in two centuries in Afghanistan and has provided eight warplanes for the attack on Libya, with marine forces to soon follow.
The military conflicts waged and other interventions conducted by the United States and its NATO allies over the past twelve years – in and against Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Macedonia, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, Pakistan and Libya – have contributed to the American military budget more than doubling in the past decade and U.S. arms exports almost quintupling in the same period.
The Pentagon and NATO are currently concluding the Sea Breeze 2011 naval exercise in the Black Sea off the coast of Ukraine, near the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet based in Sebastopol. Participants include the U.S., Britain, Azerbaijan, Algeria, Belgium, Denmark, Georgia, Germany, Macedonia, Moldova, Sweden, Turkey and host nation Ukraine. All but Algeria and Moldova are Troop Contributing Nations for NATO’s Afghan war. The once-annual maneuvers resumed again last year after the Ukrainian parliament banned them in 2009. This year’s exercise was arranged on the initiative of chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen. Last year’s Sea Breeze drills, the largest in the Black Sea, included 20 naval vessels, 13 aircraft and more than 1,600 military personnel from the U.S., Azerbaijan, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Moldova, Sweden, Turkey and Ukraine.
This year the guided missile cruiser USS Monterey joined the exercise. The warship is the first deployed to the Mediterranean, and now the Black, Sea for the Pentagon’s Phased Adaptive Approach interceptor missile program, one which in upcoming years will include at least 40 Standard Missile-3 interceptors in Poland and Romania and on Aegis class destroyers and cruisers in the Mediterranean, Black and Baltic Seas. Upgraded versions of the missile, the Block IB, Block IIA and Block IIB, are seen by Russian political analysts and military commanders as threats to Russia’s long-range missiles and as such to the nation’s strategic potential.
As former Indian diplomat M K Bhadrakumar wrote in a recent column:
“Without doubt, the US is stepping up pressure on Russia’s Black Sea fleet. The US’s provocation is taking place against the backdrop of the turmoil in Syria. Russia is stubbornly blocking US attempts to drum up a case for Libya-style intervention in Syria. Moscow understands that a major reason for the US to push for regime change in Syria is to get the Russian naval base in that country wound up.
“The Syrian base is the only toehold Russia has in the Mediterranean region. The Black Sea Fleet counts on the Syrian base for sustaining any effective Mediterranean presence by the Russian navy. With the establishment of US military bases in Romania and the appearance of the US warship in the Black Sea region, the arc of encirclement is tightening.”
USS Monterey, whose presence in the Black Sea has been criticized as a violation of the 1936 Montreux Convention, will return to the Mediterranean where the U.S.’s newest nuclear supercarrier, USS George H.W. Bush, and its carrier strike group with 9,000 service members and an air wing of 70 aircraft is also present, having recently visited U.S. Naval Forces Europe/Africa and Sixth Fleet headquarters in Naples, Italy, due north of Libya.
Last week the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan engaged in a certification exercise with its French counterpart FS Tonnerre in the Mediterranean. The U.S. Navy website stated that the certification “will provide Tonnerre with additional flexibility during their support to NATO-led Operation Unified Protector,” the codename for the Alliance’s war against Libya. The USS Bataan Amphibious Ready Group includes an estimated 2,000 Marines from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit and dozens of warplanes and attack and other helicopters, and is poised for action in Libya and, if the pattern holds, Syria.
The U.S. and NATO allies and partners – Albania, Algeria, Croatia, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Malta, Mauritania, Morocco, Spain, Tunisia and Turkey – conducted the Phoenix Express 2011 maritime exercise in the Eastern and Central Mediterranean from June 1-15, which included maneuvers in support of the U.S.’s global Proliferation Security Initiative.
Also earlier this month NATO held this year’s Northern Viking air and naval exercise, the latest in a series of biennial drills under that name, in Iceland with 450 NATO military members from the U.S., Denmark, Iceland, Italy and Norway. The United States European Command website cited the Norwegian detachment commander saying, “exercises like [Northern Viking 2011] allowed the pilots to prepare for real-world scenarios, like Operation Odyssey Dawn,” the name for the Western military campaign in Libya from March 19-30.
This week NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen visited Britain and Spain, meeting with Prime Minister David Cameron and Foreign Secretary William Hague in the first country and Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero, Foreign Minister Trinidad Jimenez and Defence Minister Carme Chacon in the second.
While in London Rasmussen focused on the wars in Libyan and Afghanistan, both under NATO command, and promoted the implementation of the European wing of the U.S. international interceptor missile system.
Perhaps in part responding to the dressing down NATO member states had recently received by the person Rasmussen truly, if unofficially, has to account to – U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates – he boasted:
“NATO is more needed and wanted than ever, from Afghanistan to Kosovo, from the coast of Somalia to Libya. We are busier than ever before.”
In Spain he addressed the nation’s upper house of parliament in a speech titled “NATO and the Mediterranean: the changes ahead” and, according to the bloc’s website, emphasized “NATO’s changing role in the Mediterranean, particularly focusing on Operation Unified Protector and NATO’s future role in the region.” He also pledged that “we can help the Arab Spring well and truly blossom.” Libya and Syria, tomorrow Algeria and Lebanon, come to mind as the objects of NATO’s false solicitude, and Egypt and Tunisia too, as Rasmussen has already mentioned, in regard to NATO training their militaries and rebuilding their command structures in accordance with Alliance standards, as is being done in Iraq.
The war against Libya, NATO’s first armed conflict in the Mediterranean and on the African continent, is solidifying control of the Mediterranean already established by the ongoing Operation Active Endeavor surveillance and interdiction mission launched in 2001 under NATO’s Article 5 collective military assistance provision.
While Rasmussen was in Britain, Russian ambassador to NATO Dmitri Rogozin said that the Atlantic Alliance “is being drawn into a ground operation,” and asserted “The war in Libya means…the beginning of its expansion south.”
Two days before, the U.S. and NATO completed Baltic Operations (BALTOPS) 2011, which included 20 ships from eleven European nations and the flagship of the Mediterranean-based U.S. Sixth Fleet, USS Mount Whitney, other American warships and Commander, Carrier Strike Group 8.
Concurrently in the Baltic Sea, the 11-day Amber Hope 2011 exercise was launched in Lithuania on June 13 with the participation of 2,000 military personnel from NATO members the U.S., Canada, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Poland and Partnership for Peace members Georgia and Finland. Former Soviet republics and Partnership for Peace affiliates Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Moldova and Ukraine are attending as observers.
The second phase of the exercise will begin on June 19 and, according to the Lithuanian Defense Ministry, “troops will follow an established scenario based on lessons learnt by Lithuanian and foreign states in Afghanistan, Iraq and off the Somali coast,” in the last case an allusion to NATO’s ongoing Operation Ocean Shield. The bloc has also airlifted thousands of Ugandan and Burundian troops into Somalia for fighting in the capital of Mogadishu.
Earlier this week NATO also held a conference with the defense chiefs of 60 member and partner states in Belgrade, Serbia, which was bombed repeatedly by NATO warplanes 12 years ago, also focusing on the bloc’s current three-month-long war in Libya.
The Strategic Military Partner Conference was addressed by, inter alia, French General Stephane Abrial, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander for Transformation based in Norfolk, Virginia, who said, “I’m convinced that the operation in Libya will be successful,” though conceding that the hostilities may be prolonged well into the future in his opening statement.
The Black Sea Rotational Force, a Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force, followed military training exercises in Romania with a two-week exercise in Bulgaria on June 13 with troops from the host nation and, for the first time, Serbia on one of the four air and infantry bases in the country the Pentagon has moved into since 2006. The earlier training in Romania was at one of another four bases acquired in that nation.
The local press reported that most of the U.S. Marines involved arrived at the Novo Selo Range “straight from Afghanistan” on Hercules-C-130 transport aircraft.
Lieutenant Colonel Nelson Cardella of the U.S. Marine Corps said of the drills, “Our troops will be trained to improve the interoperability of our staffs” for the Afghan and future wars.
Bulgaria’s Standart News announced that “next year the Black Sea Rotational Force exercise will take place in Serbia.”
The mission of the Black Sea Rotational Force, formed last year, is to integrate the armed forces of twelve nations in the Balkans, Black Sea region and Caucasus – Albania, Azerbaijan, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Georgia, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Ukraine – through NATO for deployment to Afghanistan and other war zones and post-conflict situations.
Each of the wars the U.S. and its NATO allies have waged since 1999 has gained the Pentagon and the Alliance new military bases and expeditionary contingents in subjugated and adjoining nations in Southeastern Europe, the Eastern Mediterranean and Persian Gulf, and South and Central Asia.
Just as the Yugoslav, Afghan and Iraqi wars contributed to developing a U.S.-led NATO international military intervention capability for use against Libya today, so the Libyan experience is being employed for future conflicts.

The Destabilization of Syria and the Broader Middle East War

NOVANEWS

By Michel Chossudovsky

Global Research

What is unfolding in Syria is an armed insurrection supported covertly by foreign powers including the US, Turkey and Israel.
Armed insurgents belonging to Islamist organizations have crossed the border from Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. The US State Department has confirmed that it is supporting the insurgency.

The United States is to expand contacts with Syrians who are counting on a regime change in the country.
This was stated by U.S. State Department official Victoria Nuland. “We started to expand contacts with the Syrians, those who are calling for change, both inside and outside the country,” she said.
Nuland also repeated that Barack Obama had previously called on Syrian President Bashar Assad to initiate reforms or to step down from power.” (Voice of Russia, June 17, 2011)

The destabilization of Syria and Lebanon as sovereign countries has been on the drawing board of the US-NATO-Israel military alliance for at least ten years.
Action against Syria is part of a “military roadmap”, a sequencing of military operations. According to former NATO Commander General Wesley Clark–the Pentagon  had clearly identified Iraq, Libya, Syria and Lebanon as target countries of a US-NATO intervention:

“[The] Five-year campaign plan [included]… a total of seven countries, beginning with Iraq, then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Iran, Somalia and Sudan” (Pentagon official quoted by General Wesley Clark)

In “Winning Modern Wars” (page 130) General Wesley Clark states the following:

“As I went back through the Pentagon in November 2001, one of the senior military staff officers had time for a chat. Yes, we were still on track for going against Iraq, he said. But there was more. This was being discussed as part of a five-year campaign plan, he said, and there were a total of seven countries, beginning with Iraq, then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Iran, Somalia and Sudan.
…He said it with reproach–with disbelief, almost–at the breadth of the vision. I moved the conversation away, for this was not something I wanted to hear. And it was not something I wanted to see moving forward, either. …I left the Pentagon that afternoon deeply concerned.”

The objective is to destabilize the Syrian State and implement “regime change” through the covert support of an armed insurgency, integrated by Islamist militia.
Media Disinformation
Tacitly acknowledged , the significance of an armed insurrection is casually dismissed by the Western media. If it were to be recognized and analysed, our understanding of unfolding events would be entirely different.
What is mentioned profusely is that the armed forces and the police are involved in the indiscriminate killing of civilian protesters. Press reports confirm, however, from the outset of the protest movement an exchange of gunfire between armed insurgents and the police, with casualties reported on both sides.
The insurrection started in mid March in the border city of Daraa, which is 10 km from the Jordanian border.

The Daraa “protest movement” on March 18 had all the appearances of a staged event involving, in all likelihood, covert support to Islamic terrorists by Mossad and/or Western intelligence. Government sources point to the role of radical Salafist groups (supported by Israel)
Other reports have pointed to the role of Saudi Arabia in financing the protest movement.
What has unfolded in Daraa in the weeks following the initial violent clashes on 17-18 March, is the confrontation between the police and the armed forces on the one hand and armed units of terrorists and snipers on the other which have infiltrated the protest movement.
….
What is clear from these initial reports is that many of the demonstrators were not demonstrators but terrorists involved in premeditated acts of killing and arson. The title of the Israeli news report summarizes what happened:  Syria: Seven Police Killed, Buildings Torched in Protests.
(See Michel Chossudovsky, SYRIA: Who is Behind The Protest Movement? Fabricating a Pretext for a US-NATO “Humanitarian Intervention”, http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=24591 Global Research,  May 3, 2011)

The Role of Turkey
The center of the insurrection has now shifted to the small border town of Jisr al-Shughour, 10 km from the Turkish border.
Jisr al-Shughour has a population of 44,000 inhabitants. Armed insurgents have crossed the border from Turkey.
Members of the Muslim Brotherhood are reported to have taken up arms in northwest Syria.
There are indications that Turkish military and intelligence are supporting these incursions.
There was no mass civilian protest movement in Jisr al-Shughour. The local population was caught in the crossfire. The fighting between armed rebels and government forces has contributed to triggering a refugee crisis, which is the center of media attention.
MB Rebels at Jisr al Choughour
Muslim Brotherhood Rebels at Jisr al Shughour Photos AFP June 16, 2011
In contrast, in the nation’s capital Damascus, where the mainstay of social movements is located, there have been mass rallies in support rather than in opposition to the government.
President Bashir al Assad is casually compared to presidents Ben Ali of Tunisia and Hosni Mubarak of Egypt. What the mainstream media has failed to mention is that despite the authoritarian nature of the regime, president Al Assad is a popular figure who has widespread support of the Syrian population.
The large rally in Damascus on March 29, “with tens of thousands of supporters” (Reuters) of President Al Assad was barely mentioned. Yet in an unusual twist, the images and video footage of several pro-government events were used by the Western media to convince international public opinion that the President was being confronted by mass anti-government rallies.

 

Syrians display a giant national flag with a picture of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad during a
pro-government rally at the central bank square in Damascus March 29, 2011. (Reuters Photo)
On June 15, thousands of people rallied over several kilometers on Damascus’ main highway in a march holding up a 2.3 km Syrian flag. The rally was acknowledged by the media and casually dismissed as irrelevant.
Thousands of supporters of Syrian President Bashar Assad carry a 2,300-metre-long Syrian flag in a demonstration in Damascus on Wednesday. The Syrian government is working to stop the spectacle of Syrians fleeing in terror from government troops trying to quell the three-month rebellion. Muzaffar Salman/Associated Press
 
AP. Thousands of supporters of Syrian President Bashar Assad carry a 2,300-metre-long Syrian flag in a demonstration in Damascus on Wednesday.
While the Syrian regime is by no means democratic, the objective of the US-NATO Israel military alliance is not to promote democracy. Quite the opposite. Washington’s intent is to eventually install a puppet regime.
The objective through media disinformation is to demonize president Al Assad and more broadly to destabilize Syria as a secular state. The latter objective is implemented through covert support of  various Islamist organizations:

Syria is run by an authoritarian oligarchy which has used brute force in dealing with its citizens. The riots in Syria, however, are complex. They cannot be viewed as a straightforward quest for liberty and democracy. There has been an attempt by the U.S. and the E.U. to use the riots in Syria to pressure and intimidate the Syrian leadership. Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, and the March 14 Alliance have all played a role in supporting an armed insurrection.
The violence in Syria has been supported from the outside with a view of taking advantage of the internal tensions… Aside from the violent reaction of the Syrian Army, media lies have been used and bogus footage has been aired. Money and weapons have also been funnelled to elements of the Syrian opposition by the U.S., the E.U….Funding has also been provided to ominous and unpopular foreign-based Syrian opposition figures, while weapons caches were smuggled from Jordan and Lebanon into Syria. (Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya, America’s Next War Theater: Syria and Lebanon?http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=25000, Global Research, June 10, 2011)

The joint Israel-Turkey military and intelligence agreement
The geopolitics of this process of destabilization are far-reaching. Turkey is involved in supporting the rebels.
The Turkish government has sanctioned Syrian opposition groups in exile which support an armed insurgency. Turkey is also pressuring Damascus to conform to Washington’s demands for regime change.
Turkey is a member of NATO with a powerful military force. Moreover, Israel and Turkey have a longstanding joint military-intelligence agreement, which is explicitly directed against Syria.

…A 1993 Memorandum of Understanding led to the creation of (Israeli-Turkish) “joint committees” to handle so-called regional threats. Under the terms of the Memorandum, Turkey and Israel agreed “to cooperate in gathering intelligence on Syria, Iran, and Iraq and to meet regularly to share assessments pertaining to terrorism and these countries’ military capabilities.”
Turkey agreed to allow IDF and Israeli security forces to gather electronic intelligence on Syria and Iran from Turkey. In exchange, Israel assisted in the equipping and training of Turkish forces in anti-terror warfare along the Syrian, Iraqi, and Iranian borders.”
…
Already during the Clinton Administration, a triangular military alliance between the US, Israel and Turkey had unfolded. This “triple alliance”, which is dominated by the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, integrates and coordinates military command decisions between the three countries pertaining to the broader Middle East. It is based on the close military ties respectively of Israel and Turkey with the US, coupled with a strong bilateral military relationship between Tel Aviv and Ankara. ….
The triple alliance is also coupled with a 2005 NATO-Israeli military cooperation agreement which includes “many areas of common interest, such as the fight against terrorism and joint military exercises. These military cooperation ties with NATO are viewed by the Israeli military as a means to “enhance Israel’s deterrence capability regarding potential enemies threatening it, mainly Iran and Syria.” (See Michel Chossudovsky,“Triple Alliance”: The US, Turkey, Israel and the War on Lebanon, August 6, 2006)

Covert  support to armed insurgents out of Turkey or Jordan would no doubt be coordinated under the joint Israel-Turkey military and intelligence agreement.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan with (former) Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (2004)
Dangerous Crossroads: The Broader Middle East War
Israel and NATO signed a far-reaching military cooperation agreement in 2005. Under this agreement, Israel is considered a de facto member of NATO.
If a military operation were to be launched against Syria, Israel would in all likelihood be involved in military undertakings alongside NATO forces (under the NATO-Israel bilateral agreement).  Turkey would also play an active military role.
A military intervention in Syria on fake humanitarian grounds would lead to an escalation of the US-NATO led war over a large area extending from North Africa and the Middle East to Central Asia, from the Eastern Mediterranean to China’s Western frontier with Afghanistan and Pakistan.
It would also contribute to a process of political destabilization in Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine. It would also set the stage for a conflict with Iran.