NOVANEWS

Strauss-Kahn case raises issue of diplomat abuse in U.S.

(Reuters) – The case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn is an extreme example of alleged sexual assault by an elite member of the international community. But the charges against him also shine a light on how diplomats and international officials have been accused of abusing maids or nannies in the United States, and have largely escaped prosecution.

Foreign diplomats have been the subject of at least 11 civil lawsuits and one criminal prosecution related to abuse of domestic workers in the last five years, according to a Reuters review of U.S. federal court records. The allegations range from slave-like work conditions to rape, and the vast majority of the diplomats in these cases avoided prison terms and financial penalties.

Strauss-Kahn, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, was charged on Sunday with sexually assaulting a hotel maid. He does not have full diplomatic immunity, but IMF rules grant him immunity limited to acts performed in his “official capacity.” He was denied bail Monday and sent to jail in New York. He did not enter a plea, and his lawyer said he intends to plead not guilty.

A common theme in many of the incidents involving alleged abuse of maids and nannies is the elevated legal status of the foreign officials, which some experts say can lead to an improper sense of superiority and make them believe they are unaccountable. Also, most of the alleged victims come from countries where women have few rights, making them easy prey. “In short, diplomatic immunity means diplomatic impunity,” says Mark Lagon, former head of the U.S. State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.

Even when judges in the United States have ruled against diplomats, the officials have recourse to another option most other defendants do not: They can simply leave the country.

And in many cases, despite pleas from the State Department for action, government officials in the diplomats’ home countries do not pursue sanctions. “There’s no accountability,” said Janie Chuang, an assistant professor at the Washington College of Law at American University in Washington. “You can totally get away with it.”

The IMF said its immunity provisions are not applicable in Strauss-Kahn’s case because he was visiting New York on personal business. Had he been able to leave the United States and fly to his native France, his fate likely would have turned on a different issue — extradition. The two countries do not have an extradition treaty, and there is some troubled recent history between the United States and France.

“Two words: Roman Polanski,” said Martina Vandenberg, a partner with law firm Jenner & Block in Washington and an expert in abuse cases involving foreign diplomats. She was referring to Polish-French film director Roman Polanski, who has avoided prosecution in the United States for more than 20 years on charges of having sex with a minor.

FORESHADOWING STRAUSS-KAHN

In July, 2008, a lawsuit was filed against an attache in the Embassy of Kuwait, Brig. Gen. Ahmed Al Naser, and his family, parts of which foreshadowed the allegations against Strauss-Kahn. Their former maid, Regina Leo, an Indian immigrant, alleged that she was forced to work as much as 18 hours per day and was sexually abused. According to court documents, on one occasion in 2005, Leo said that Al Naser “forcibly embraced and pinned (Leo), twisting her arm to control her, and then began kissing and fondling her … Despite (Leo’s) resistance, (Al Naser) forced himself upon her and raped her.”

Al Naser did not respond to the lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, and is believed to have left the United States. He could not be reached, and a spokesman for the Embassy of Kuwait declined to comment, citing the ongoing litigation.

Another case, filed in April 2007 by a Tanzanian maid against Alan Mzengi, a minister-counselor at the Tanzanian Embassy, and his wife, Stella, helped spark an inquiry into alleged abuse by foreign diplomats in the United States. A July, 2008, study by the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that 42 employees of foreign diplomats alleged they had been abused. The actual number was probably higher, the GAO found, because domestic workers are often fearful of reporting abuse.

The maid in the Tanzanian case, Zipora Mazengo, alleged that the Mzengis held her as “a virtual prisoner in their residence, stripping her of her passport, refusing to permit her to leave the house unaccompanied.” According to the suit, which was filed in federal court in Washington, they paid her nothing for four years and forced her to work in their catering business. She claimed she escaped after making a desperate plea for help to a customer of the catering business, who provided cab fare.

A U.S. magistrate judge awarded Mazengo more than $1 million in back pay and attorneys’ fees. Alan Mzengi moved to cancel the award, arguing “it was not necessary to respond because he was a diplomat” with immunity under the Vienna Convention. In April 2008, a federal judge denied the motion in part, finding that the Mzengis’ catering business was exempt from diplomatic immunity. But instead of paying the award, the Mzengis left the country.

A December 2009 State Department cable made available by Wiki Leaks, and provided to Reuters by a third party, shows the U.S. government has asked the Tanzanian government to investigate the case. “While payment of the lost wages to Ms. Mazengo is our first priority, we also hope that any diplomat who has treated his domestic staff in such an abusive manner would face appropriate sanction upon his return home,” the cable said. In an e-mail, a State Department official said discussions with the Tanzanian government are ongoing. The Tanzanian Embassy did not respond to a request for comment.

The State Department has said it plans to get tough on alleged abuse of domestic workers by foreign diplomats. “Whether they’re diplomats or national emissaries of whatever kind, we all must be accountable for the treatment of the people that we employ,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a speech on February 1 to the Interagency Taskforce to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.

EXEMPTION FROM IMMUNITY

The Vienna Convention, ratified by the United States in 1972, contains an exemption from immunity for “action relating to any professional or commercial activity exercised by the diplomatic agent in the receiving State outside his official functions.” But that exemption did not protect Araceli Montuya, a former maid in the household of Lebanese Ambassador Antoine Chedid. On April 26, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg in Washington threw out a case in which Montuya alleged that Chedid and his wife underpaid and verbally abused her. The judge’s decision relied, in part, on a State Department filing in a separate case, which found that when diplomats hire domestic workers, “they are not engaging in ‘commercial activity’ as that term is used in the Diplomatic Relations Convention.”

In a rare criminal case that began as an FBI investigation into alleged domestic worker abuse, a World Bank economist from Tanzania — who, like Strauss-Kahn, qualifies for only limited immunity related to official duties — pleaded guilty in March, 2010, to two counts of making false statements. The economist, Anne Margreth Bakilana, hired a Tanzanian woman, Sophia Kiwanuka, to work in her home in Falls Church, Virginia, and improperly withheld Kiwanuka’s wages and threatened to send her back to Tanzania, according to court records. Unaware that she had been taped by Kiwanuka at the request of the FBI, Bakilana then lied to federal investigators about her statements. She was sentenced to two years probation and fined $9,400. A civil case is ongoing in federal court in Washington. Jonathan Simms, an attorney for Bakilana, said he believed she was not longer in the United States. A World Bank spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

Domestic workers continue to allege abuse by foreign diplomats. On March 25, four former cooks and housekeepers for Essa Mohammed Al Manai, a senior Qatari diplomat, filed a civil lawsuit alleging they were paid less than 70 cents per hour and “forced to work around the clock” at Al Manai’s six-bedroom home in Bethesda, Maryland. The suit also claimed that Al Manai sexually assaulted one of the women.

Al Manai could not be reached for comment, and the Embassy of Qatar did not respond to a request for comment.

(Reporting by Brian Grow; Editing by Amy Stevens and Eddie Evans)

NOVANEWS

• ‘Third Intifada’ flares up across the Middle East and on a Chicago campus

• AIPAC issues annual

• US hails Bahrain as model of reform!

• U.S. already affirmed ’67 borders–only to have Obama backtrack

• The ’48 discussion is replacing the ’67 discussion

• Desmond Travers on Geo Mitchell: Irish-American Diaspora wanted an end to the troubles, Jewish-American Diaspora hasn’t opened its eyes

• Facebook counterrevolution: Jews and Arabs can’t live together

• Bush/Obama: New State Dep’t spokesperson has goldplated neocon pedigree

• ‘NYT’ won’t say Nakba, just ‘anniversary of Israel’s creation’

• Another country, another time

‘Third Intifada’ flares up across the Middle East and on a Chicago campus

May 18, 2011

Shirien D.

Palestinians commemorated Nakba Day on Sunday, protesting as part of the official start of the “Third Intifada.” Massive nonviolent protests took place in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt, West Bank, Gaza and even inside Israel. Indeed, these protests were unprecedented and undoubtedly influenced by the Arab brethren of the Palestinians who have recently risen up in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Libya, Bahrain and Syria.

But this isn’t the first time Palestinians have used nonviolence. Palestinians, long before the Arab Spring, have been practicing nonviolent resistance and civil disobedience. It made up the core of the First Intifada, before it was violently suppressed by Israel. The Second Intifada, on the other hand, was characterized by violent resistance. But once again, it was met with brutal violence. So for the past few years, Palestinians have reinvigorated the nonviolent struggle, more powerful than ever before.

Peaceful demonstrations, hunger strikes and sit-ins have been taking place weekly across Palestinian towns and villages like Bi’lin, Silwan, Shiekh Jarrah, Budrus and Beit Omar in recent years.

The Third Intifada is indeed similar to the First, encompassing nonviolent resistance once again. But this time around, it’s not just the Palestinians. International activists are standing up for Palestinian rights, both abroad and within the occupied territories.

If you go to West Bank or Gaza, you’ll find tons of people from all over the world. People just like Rachel Corrie and Vittorio Arrigoni. They work and volunteer in Palestine to organize and help build up Palestinian society while participating in creative nonviolent resistance against Israeli policies. Many Israelis even risk arrest by crossing borders and coming to stand in solidarity with Palestinians. Moreover, hundreds of internationals have risked their lives to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza through the Viva Palestina convoy and the Freedom Flotilla.  It has become clear that this is no longer just a Palestinian issue; it is fundamentally a human issue.

It can be argued that the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement has been the catalyst in changing the Palestinian struggle into a struggle that people can engage in globally. In 2005, Palestinian civil society initiated a call for BDS from Israeli institutions, companies and academia. Today, the call has become an international movement, reigniting activism worldwide, especially on college campuses. Many campuses have divested from companies that support Israel, Hampshire being the first.

BDS campaigns come in many different forms. This week, there has been media buzz about Students for Justice in Palestine’s (SJP) campaign to replace Sabra hummus at DePaul University in Chicago, which I helped to launch. A campaign against hummus may seem harmless, but it was dubbed as one of the most “serious” cases of BDS in the US.

Why target Sabra? Sabra is co-owned by the Strauss Group, which sends financial support and supplies to two units of the Israeli military, the Givati and Golani brigades. Although the Israeli military itself has a history of violating international law, the Golani and Givati Brigades are notorious for their severe human rights violations against Palestinian civilians for over sixty-three years. The brigades most recently attracted attention for their actions in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead. In one instance, members of the Golani brigade endangered Palestinian children by reportedly forcing them to serve as human shields. In another instance, a Givati brigade soldier shot and killed a Palestinian mother and daughter both carrying white flags. In yet another instance, a Givati brigade commander authorized the use ofwhite phosphorus chemical weapons to attack a UN compound in Gaza that sheltered approximately 700 displaced civilians.

Last week, at the request of SJP, DePaul’s Student Government Association agreed to place a referendum on the election ballot asking students if they would be in favor of replacing Sabra with an alternative brand of hummus. This was the first referendum approved on the ballot in over ten years. Students have until 9:00am on Friday, May 20 to vote on the online ballot. If 1,500 students vote, and the majority votes in favor of the historic referendum, it will pass.

SJP and other students supportive of the referendum have been grassroots campaigning to educate the campus on Israel’s human rights abuses and motivate people to take action against it. There are now deep conversations and intense debates on campus about Israel and Palestine that I have not seen since Finkelstein was on campus.

Next week, SJP is also hosting an event called The Global Struggle for Palestinian Rights: The Boycott Movement against Israeli Occupation featuring renowned journalist Ali Abunimah and spoken word artist, Remi Kanazi. This event, as well as the boycott Sabra movement at DePaul will certainly help raise awareness and spark conversation and action, not only at the University but across the nation.

The Third Intifada is not just contained in the Middle East; it’s happening all over the world. While Palestinians are protesting for their human rights, civil rights and equality on the front lines, activists everywhere are doing important work in raising awareness and campaigning our institutions to stop doing business with Israeli companies until Israel changes its policies.

Together, people around the world are taking part in the Third Intifada by working in solidarity to pressure Israel to comply with international law and end its occupation, discrimination and human rights violations of the Palestinian people.

Shirien D. is a Palestinian activist and blogger for Yansoon. She recently received her MA in Sociology at DePaul University, where she is peer advisor for Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). Shirien is also co-founder of the Chicago chapter of the American Association for Palestinian Equal Rights (AAPER) and currently works as an Apprentice for the American Friends Service Committee’s (AFSC) Middle East program.

AIPAC issues annual

May 18, 2011

Philip Weiss

“Don’t boo Obama” warning.

US hails Bahrain as model of reform!

May 18, 2011

Seham

and other news from the Arab uprisings:

Bahrain

US hails Bahrain as model of reform!
“Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa and Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa met at the Foreign Ministry today US Deputy secretary of State James Steinberg, US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman and the accompanying delegation. Both sides reviewed bilateral friendly relations of cooperation and ways of boosting them at all levels. They also discussed regional and international issues of mutual concern. Mr. Steinberg underlined the US keenness on Bahrain’s security and stability pointing out the importance of further promoting bilateral partnership. He also hailed the royal reform project which put Bahrain on the path of progress and prosperity.”
http://friday-lunch-club.blogspot.com/2011/05/us-hails-bahrain-as-model-of-reform.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+friday-lunch-club+%28%22friday-lunch-club%22%29
Bahraini activist said threatened with rape: report (Reuters)
Reuters – A prominent Bahraini human rights activist said he had been threatened with rape while in custody after he refused to apologize to the king over his role in anti-government protests.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110517/wl_nm/us_bahrain_rights
Bahrain rights activist’s wife details torture, unfair trial
Bahrain’s crackdown on the pro-democracy uprising has shifted from the streets to courtrooms, workplaces, and schools. One prisoner’s wife describes sexual assault and psychological abuse.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/rH0vyQVBOtw/Bahrain-rights-activist-s-wife-details-torture-unfair-trial
Bahrain ex-editors plead not guilty in press trial (AP)
AP – Three former top editors of Bahrain’s main opposition newspaper pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges of unethical coverage of Shiite-led opposition protests against the kingdom’s Sunni rulers.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110518/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_bahrain
Top U.S. diplomat presses Bahrain on rights (Reuters)
Reuters – A senior U.S. diplomat urged Bahrain’s rulers on Tuesday to pursue political dialogue with the opposition and stressed “the importance of full respect for universal human rights,” the State Department said.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110517/pl_nm/us_bahrain_usa
Witness: Expelled from Bahrain, a nation now in fear (Reuters)
Reuters – When I got the usual call to visit Bahrain’s Information Ministry, I braced myself for complaints about my coverage of the crackdown on Bahraini Shi’ites protesting against the kingdom’s Sunni-led government.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110517/wl_nm/us_witness_bahrain
Bahrain parliament accepts Shiite MP resignations (AP)
AP – Bahrain’s parliament accepted the resignations Tuesday of the last seven lawmakers of the Shiite opposition in a move that could exacerbate sectarian tensions in the strategic Gulf island kingdom.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110517/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_bahrain
WITNESS-Expelled correspondent reflects on Bahrain changes
Reuters correspondent Frederik Richter left Bahrain on Tuesday, a week after the government announced it was expelling him from the Gulf kingdom for his coverage of a crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators. In a WITNESS piece [ID:nLDE74A0E1], he describes how the small island nation has been transformed by violence and fear from the bustling business hub which he had come to know well in nearly three years living and working in the capital Manama. Richter, an Arabic speaker, joined the agency in his native Germany in 2007. Reuters still maintains editorial and business operations in Bahrain and has been told by the authorities that they will accredit a new correspondent to replace Richter.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/witness-expelled-correspondent-reflects-on-bahrain-changes
Iran orders Bahrain bound boats to return: Press TV (AFP)
AFP – Iran on Monday ordered the return home of two boats carrying Iranian “activists” to Bahrain to express solidarity with Shiite-led protests there, the English-language Press TV said.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110516/wl_mideast_afp/iranbahrainunrest
Iranian aid ships set sail to Bahrain
Two ships carrying Iranian activists return to docks after facing “threats” from warships en route to Bahrain.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/05/2011516212347351820.html
Al-Qaida Backers Use Unrest To Gain Foothold in Bahrain
http://defensenews.va.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/frame/check
Egypt
Hosni Mubarak to apologize
Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak is to apologize to the nation and plead for amnesty, three months after he was overthrown by a popular uprising, according to a report in the independent daily al-Shorouk.
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/05/17/149369.html
Egypt military says no pardon for Mubarak
CAIRO (AFP) – Egypt’s ruling military council dismissed on Wednesday a report that it might pardon ousted leader Hosni Mubarak or his family, saying it does not intervene in judicial affairs.
http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=25213
Mubarak’s wife released from detention
Suzanne Mubarak still faces investigation regarding wealth she amassed during time spent as Egypt’s first lady.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/05/201151718219682587.html
Mubarak’s wife returns millions to state
Suzanne Mubarak, ex-Egyptian first lady, returns assets to the state after authorities order detention for corruption.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/05/201151623363534378.html
Pharaohs do not apology , they do not return back what they stole !! “Updated”, Zeinoba
So Suzanne Mubarak gave up her LE 24 million assets to the state yesterday and today the public prosecutor orders her release on a bail !!Updated : The public prosecutor denied the news and stated that it did not interrogate her. It turns out that the Illicit gains authority is the one involved in our case here. It turns out the  because she did not have officially anything except those LE 20 million !!
Is this a joke !? Suzanne Mubarak has got only LE 20 million only !? And she pays a bail to be released !?  LE 20 million my ***  !! What about Alexandria library bank account !? What about her jewels !? Already can some tell me from she got these LE 20 million , last time I check first wives do not get that money from being chairwomen of charities in 3rd world countries. Is this the bone she throwing to us !? Take the LE 20 million and leave alone !? Is not the TV Drama she starring in Sharm El Sheikh hospital enough ?  If Fatimah , the daughter of Prophet Mohamed “PBUH” steals , her hand will be cut Dr. Abdel Magid Mahmoud , Suzanne Mubarak is not greater than Fatimah Ben Mohamed “PBUH”. I understand that this is the first time in Egypt and the Middle East “some say the world” we have such situation but this is too much. Is not it enough the provoking news that Mubarak himself is going to address us in a new recorded audio message asking us for forgiveness and amnesty !!?   By the way why did Al Arabiya air yesterday a documentary about Mubarak the war hero yesterday !? Since when Pharaohs ask for forgiveness or return what they have taken illegally !!? This push us to May 27th , it pushes us all back to Tahrir square !!
http://egyptianchronicles.blogspot.com/2011/05/pharaohs-do-not-apology-do-not-return.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EgyptianChronicles+%28Egyptian+chronicles%29
Egypt court says releases Mubarak aid on bail
CAIRO, May 17 (Reuters) – An Egyptian court on Tuesday released the former chief of staff of toppled President Hosni Mubarak from custody on a 200,000 Egyptian pound ($33,640) bail pending further investigation, the court said. Zakaria Azmi, one of Mubarak’s closest aides, was detained for 15 days on April 7 as part of an investigation into allegations of illegal gains. He has been remanded twice since, each time for 15 days, court officials said. The court said the decision to release Azmi came after deliberations at the appeals court in Nasr City, a Cairo suburb.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/egypt-court-says-releases-mubarak-aid-on-bail
Former Mubarak minister to face Egypt corruption trial
Ibrahim Soliman, who was minister between 1993 and 2005, is the second housing minister to face trial over several controversial real estate deals.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/mideast-in-turmoil/former-mubarak-minister-to-face-egypt-corruption-trial-1.362554?localLinksEnabled=false
Tel Aviv dismayed over El Arabi’s appointment as Arab League Secretary General
In the first Israeli reaction to the appointment of Egypt’s Foreign Minister, Dr Nabil El Arabi, as a replacement for Amr Mussa as the new Secretary General of the Arab League, Israeli media organisations, including certain state outlets, have reported that he had become the leader of 22 Arab States to work against Israel and its interests in the region. Israeli media sources including Ha’aretz, Jerusalem Post, Yediot Ahronot and Israel Radio confirmed that the fears of the government in Tel Aviv over El Arabi’s appointment have become greater than ever due to his history of criticism of the Zionist state. During his tenure at the United Nations, El Arabi accused Israel of causing bloodshed in the region and carrying out genocide against the Palestinian people.
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/05/17/149369.html
Fatah, Hamas say Cairo unity talks ‘positive’ (AFP)
AFP – Rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas on Monday described as “positive” talks in Cairo aimed at hammering out a unity government as agreed under a reconciliation deal, the MENA news agency said.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110516/wl_mideast_afp/palestinianspoliticsfatahhamasegypt
Egyptian Women and Palestinian Men Can Now Confer Egyptian Citizenship on Their Children
The new Egyptian Interior Minister, Major-General Mansour al-Issawi, announced last week that Egyptian women who have a child with a Palestinian man can confer their Egyptian citizenship to their child. This is a significant shift in Egyptian citizenship law with implications from both a gender and a Palestinian perspective.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/katherine-franke/egyptian-women-can-confer-citizenship_b_862979.html
Egyptian rage at Israel
Yesterday, after a brief unannounced visit by an official of the Israeli occupation military ministry, the Egyptian regime of the Military Council, cracked down on Egyptian protesters and arrested some 180 protesters.  Can you imagine the uproar if those who were arrested were liberal advocates of American and Israeli occupations?  Not a word about that in the Western press.   The Arabic press reported widely on the matter.  Among the slogans chanted outside the embassy were:  “Burn in the Israeli flag.  Those are the ones who killed me and slit my throat.”  And “The People want the downfall of Israel.”  And “The first demand of the masses…Closure of the embassy and expulsion of the ambassador.”  And “Toward the Aqsa we are going…Millions victorious.”  And “Egypt and Palestine. One Hand.”  (Typical of Egyptian slogans, all of them rhyme in Arabic except the last one).
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/05/egyptian-rage-at-israel.html
The Lede: Egypt Holds 136 for Israeli Protest
The Egyptian military could bring charges against 136 people arrested during a protest outside the Israeli Embassy in Cairo on Sunday, including two prominent bloggers.
http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=73c475e00e8b76668eebf35540a9ee36
Over 350 hurt in Israel embassy protest in Cairo (Reuters)
Reuters – More than 350 people were injured in a protest outside Israel’s embassy in Cairo to mark the displacement of Palestinians at the 1948 creation of the Jewish state, the Egyptian state news agency said on Monday.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110516/wl_nm/us_egypt_israel_embassy
Egypt marks al-Nakba
Egyptian police have fired rubber bullets and tear gas at protesters outside the Israeli embassy in Cairo, after a group of demonstrators reportedly attempted to storm the building. Thousands of protesters had massed outside of the embassy in the capital on Sunday to commemorate the 63rd anniversary of the “Nakba” or “catastrophe” – the day […]
http://pulsemedia.org/2011/05/16/egypt-marks-al-nakba/
Nakba night in Giza, Zeinobia
It was very sad to see some Israeli official praising on BBC Arabic how the Egyptian government cracked and how it saved the Israeli embassy , it was sad and disgusting actually because that Israeli official knows that the Israeli police can’t crack an Israeli protest against the Egyptian embassy in this way or even half this way. According to the official numbers not less than 353 were injured , most of them left hospital except 10 including some in critical condition.186 protesters were arrested including my dear online friend Tarek Shalaby and tweep Mosab El-Shamy. The Israeli flag is still there. Yes Tarek Shalaby , our revolutionary leftist activist and geek was detained while he was filming the protests. He was taken along other protesters to the Haiksteb camp. His sister Nora Shalaby has already taken a permission from the military prosecution office to visit him and insh Allah is going to meet him. I have not met Shalaby in person but he is truly nice guy and he helps everybody. I feel sad , worried and angry. Tarek recorded his own arrest moment , you will not be able to see anything but you are going to listen to a language you do not want to hear.
http://egyptianchronicles.blogspot.com/2011/05/nakba-night-in-giza.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EgyptianChronicles+%28Egyptian+chronicles%29
Egypt’s Second Grassroots Resurgence
The Egyptian people must still yet overturn an overbearing force that has marginalized them for generations: top-down government control of budgets and local development.  Egypt’s central government administration consumes the far majority of public resources, allocating just 15 percent for local administration spending, which is less than half of the average percent spent by developed countries.  Three quarters of Egypt’s local spending goes toward wages and salaries, leaving just 6 percent of the remaining for local capital expenditures over which local officials have minimal discretion.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/articles/middle-east/2361-egypts-second-grassroots-resurgence
Muhammad Hasanayn Haykal
A sign of the new Egypt is the fact that Muhammad Hasanayn Haykal has returned to the pages of Al-Ahram.  For the first time in decades, the paper sold more than a million copies. It featured a long interview with this anti-Israeli Nasserist journalist.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/05/muhammad-hasanayn-haykal.html
Libya
Arabs: 90% say Qaddafi illegitimate, 75% Want him Forcibly Removed
I received this press release from the Doha Debates (a member of the Qatar Foundation) by email. The results vis-a-vis Libya are not surprising, since Qaddafi is widely hated in the Arab world and everyone watched in horror as he had tank salvos and cluster bombs fired at non-combatants. But that last bit about being willing to consider a NATO intervention in Syria is astonishing. The poll is based on 1,000 respondents from 16 Arab states; it is not scientific because respondents replied to a call to fill out the form, which means that the sample is skewed to those who felt strongly enough to do volunteer to do so.
http://www.juancole.com/2011/05/arabs-90-say-qaddafi-illegitimate-75-want-him-forcibly-removed.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+juancole%2Fymbn+%28Informed+Comment%29
Tunisia demands Libya stop cross-border shelling
TUNIS/TRIPOLI, May 18 (Reuters) – Tunisia threatened to report Libya to the U.N. Security Council if it fired into Tunisian border areas again, and a hospital doctor in rebel-held Misrata said seven people died in fighting there on Tuesday. Libyan rebels and a Tunisian security source said the head of Libya’s National Oil Corporation had defected and fled to Tunisia, an act that if confirmed would be a major blow to Muammar Gaddafi’s efforts to cling to power. Libyan state television said its forces had hit a NATO warship that was shelling targets in western Misrata, but a NATO official denied the report as “a totally fabricated allegation”.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/tunisia-demands-libya-stop-cross-border-shelling
Ministries ablaze after Tripoli strikes
Security services building and anti-corruption agency hit in overnight strikes as NATO bombing campaign continues. Julia Mills reports.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AYZMj8af64&feature=youtube_gdata
Libyan opposition fighters control border
Opposition fighters have controlled the Libya-Tunisia border for almost three weeks. Al Jazeera’s Hoda Abdel-Hamid reports from the border.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsyOdIG-BMw&feature=youtube_gdata
Libyan oil minister Shokri Ghanem ‘defects’
Sources say minister is on his way to Tunisian capital as NATO warplanes continue to hit targets in Tripoli.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/05/20115171257877670.html
Gaddafi envoys due in Moscow on Tuesday
MOSCOW, May 16 (Reuters) – Representatives of Muammar Gaddafi’s government were expected in Moscow on Tuesday and Russia also hopes to host Libyan rebel envoys soon, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday. “We agreed on meetings in Moscow with representatives of both Tripoli and Benghazi. Official envoys from Tripoli will be here tomorrow. Envoys from Benghazi were supposed to be here on Wednesday, but as they informed us, they were forced to ask us to postpone this visit for technical reasons,” Lavrov said.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/gaddafi-envoys-due-in-moscow-on-tuesday
The Lede: Libyan Woman Describes Rape by Qaddafi Forces
Eman al-Obeidy, a Libyan woman who burst into a Tripoli hotel packed with foreign journalists in March to say that she had been raped by government forces, described her ordeal in an interview broadcast on Monday.
http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=ffcaf1940cf5871a29ccc7f04c85e1c1
How ICC warrants could change NATO strikes in Libya
NATO airstrikes today hit two government buildings in Tripoli, including the Interior Ministry.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/zhRrEF0ODOs/How-ICC-warrants-could-change-NATO-strikes-in-Libya
Libya’s Gaddafi continues to hold on
It is three months to the day that pro-democracy protestors first clashed with security forces in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi. But the protester’s main aim, removing Gaddafi from power, has still to be realised. Al Jazeera’s Mike Hanna reports from Benghazi.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2vAHgfFDb8&feature=youtube_gdata
Libya: The general’s reality check
It’s not hard to fathom why the defence chief has shifted position on regime change in Libya. When David Cameron, egged on by an enthusiastic Nicolas Sarkozy, placed Britain in the vanguard of military action against Muammar Gaddafi‘s forces, defence chiefs were less than thrilled. It is a mistake to believe that military commanders are always gung-ho to go to war, especially when there is no clear exit strategy.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/may/16/libya-uk-generals-regime-change
Syria
Syrian crosses border, hitchhikes to Tel Aviv (AP)
AP – A Syrian man who crossed into Israel in a large crowd that breached a border fence hitchhiked across the country, even sitting beside Israeli soldiers on a public bus, to find the home he said his family lost during Israel’s 1948 establishment.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110517/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_illegal_entry
Russia ‘to oppose use of force against Syria’
President Medvedev comes out against any UN move to authorise use of force, saying Syria must settle own affairs.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2011/05/201151812340492298.html
‘Dozens killed’ in Syrian border town
Security forces killed at least 27 civilians in three-day attack on Tel Kelakh, a rights lawyer told Al Jazeera.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/05/201151722757252901.html
Syria denies ‘mass grave’ claims
Villagers say they have found 13 bodies buried on farmland near Deraa – but government says claim is “totally false”.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/middleeast/2011/05/201151761533287251.html

Syria ‘tightens security grip’ in border area
At least 15 tanks enter rural area near northern Lebanese border, human rights activists report.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/05/201151613739330881.html

Syrians flee city after siege takes lives
Carrying mattresses and bags of clothing, Syrians fleeing their homeland described a “catastrophic” scene yesterday in a besieged border town that has been largely sealed off as the army tries to crush a two-month uprising.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/syrians-flee-city-after-siege-takes-lives-2285018.html
Syria’s Muslim Brotherhood: ‘Our time has come!’
… said it was trying to take a larger role in organizing the disparate opposition as Syria’s street protests appear to wane….(and) as opposition activists fail to coalesce into a solid front… The Brotherhood poses a particular problem for some of the antiregime activists trying to forge secular coalitions more in line with the street movement… On Sunday, two days after Syria’s government said it would start a “national dialogue”—and on a day of protests in which at least six people were killed— the Brotherhood slammed the initiative and said it would “deploy our full energy to back and support” protesters. Mr. Salim said on Monday the group wasn’t taking a stronger line, and will not call people onto the streets.”We have caution, understandably and justifiably so, not to call on the street to protest—we have just announced our cohesion with a movement that has its own momentum,” he said… Last summer, Muhammad Riad al-Shakfa succeeded Ali Bayanouni as the Syrian Brotherhood’s leader, raising concerns that gains made under Mr. Bayanouni to shift the movement to the center would be reversed. The party under Mr. Shakfa, seen as taking a harder line, found itself “sitting on the sidelines of history” as the Arab Spring swept into Syria, one opposition member described…. Failed alliances, including abandoning in 2009 a coalition with former vice president Abdul Halim Khaddam after he turned against the regime and brief overtures to the regime itself cast doubt over the Brotherhood’s ability to command leadership of even the anti-regime movement abroad. “Those 30 years destroyed their organization, and they lost their legitimacy because they changed positions so much without explanation over the past five years,” said Burhan Ghalioun, an opposition member who is a scholar of contemporary oriental studies at the Sorbonne in Paris….”People on the street are getting tired, they’re running out of resources, and they don’t have that much experience,” said one protest coordinator outside Syria. “They recognize, and we have to recognize, that the Brothers are better organized and better funded.”
http://friday-lunch-club.blogspot.com/2011/05/syrias-muslim-brotherhood-our-time-has.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+friday-lunch-club+%28%22friday-lunch-club%22%29
Other Mideast/Op-ed
US, Obama’s image sour in Muslim nations: poll (AFP)
AFP – The image of the United States has soured in Muslim nations in the past year, says a poll released two days before President Barack Obama is due to deliver a speech on the pro-democracy revolts sweeping the Arab world.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110517/pl_afp/mideastconflictusobamaislam
WikiLeaks cables show that it was all about the oil
The communication, part of the cache of State Department cables that WikiLeaks passed to McClatchy and other news organizations, is just one indication of how the U.S. government over the years has maneuvered to influence the world’s oil and natural gas markets.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/05/16/114269/wikileaks-cables-show-oil-a-major.html

Norman Finkelstein: Arab dignity will bring peace to the Middle East
In a lecture that linked Egypt’s revolution to the balance of power in the region, the renowned American academic Norman Finkelstein painted the clear fear change will induce in Israel
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/12312/World/Region/Norman-Finkelstein-Arab-dignity-will-bring-peace-t.aspx
This is a reliable report on the protest at the Lebanese-Palestinian border
“The small elevated Lebanese village just overlooking the border with Israel became a massive parking lot as buses carrying Palestinian refugees and Lebanese from across Lebanon converged for a protest commemorating what Israeli historian Ilan Pappé calls the “ethnic cleansing” by Zionist militias of more than 700,000 Palestinians from their lands and homes in 1948 – what Palestinians refer to as the “Nakba”, or catastrophe. Large buses had difficulties reaching the top of the mountain, and rather than wait, protesters chose to make the half-mile climb by foot.   Men and women, young and old, secular and religious, were all present. This was the first time in 63 years that Palestinian refugees would go to the border in their tens of thousands and call for their right to return home. For most, it was their first time even seeing the land that they’ve grown up hearing described in precise detail through the popular stories of elders old enough to remember life in what is today considered Israel.  The Israeli regime not only keeps under occupation more than 4 million people in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and limits the rights of more than a million Palestinian citizens of Israel, it also denies more than 5 million refugees the fundamental right of return to the place they were forced to flee.”
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/05/this-is-reliable-report-on-protest-at.html
SAUDI ARABIA GIVES UP ON WASHINGTON; VOWS TO LEAD THE “ARAB WORLD” AGAINST IRANIAN “AGGRESSION”
Last month, we were among the first to analyze critically Saudi Arabia’s emerging strategy for “counter-revolution” in the Middle East and that strategy’s anti-Iranian focus.  Today, in the Washington Post, we received powerful confirmation for our analysis, in the form of an op-ed Nawaf Obaid, a well-connected Saudi national security analyst and adviser.
http://www.raceforiran.com/saudi-arabia-gives-up-on-washington-vows-to-lead-the-%e2%80%9carab-world%e2%80%9d-against-iranian-%e2%80%9caggression%e2%80%9d
Shiaphobia Hits Kuwait
If you ever talk to Kuwaiti Shias over 40 years old about discrimination against the Shia in their country, they might mention how they have been mistreated, on different levels, during the Iran-Iraq War. Then they would quickly tell you how the Shia proved their detractors wrong when they became part and parcel of the Kuwaiti resistance during the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. That the Al Sabah government was deeply betrayed by Saddam Hussein, whom they had supported in his war with Iran only a few years back and because of which they had oppressed their own Shia citizens, only strengthens the case of Kuwaiti Shia loyalty to their country.
http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/1603/shiaphobia-hits-kuwait-
Awakening, Cataclysm, or Just a Series of Events? Reflections on the Current Wave of Protest in the Arab World
Perhaps the best starting point for understanding the current remarkable wave of protest spreading across the Arab world, would be to examine the nomenclature used to describe or frame it.   To some observers it is seen as a ‘cataclysm.’ Others speak of the ‘contagion effect’. Still others might see it as simply a series of (fortunate or unfortunate) events not significantly related to each other. The terminology we use influences the conclusions we draw. We can see this if we juxtapose this Western branding which invokes undesirable images with the terms used by many commentators in the Arab world such as a ‘blossoming’ or ‘renaissance.’   What are these movements: a ‘disease’ or a ‘cure’? Are they monolithic or locally distinct? Is the outbreak of one protest related to, or caused by another? Finally, are the various Arab countries (and must they be only Arab?[1]) equally ‘susceptible’ to the contagion?
http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/1601/awakening-cataclysm-or-just-a-series-of-events-ref

U.S. already affirmed ’67 borders–only to have Obama backtrack

May 18, 2011

Alex Kane

President Barack Obama is set to deliver a hotly anticipated speech tomorrow to “argue that the political upheaval [in the Arab world] raises the prospect for progress on all fronts, and will offer ‘some specific new ideas about U.S. policy toward the region,'” the New York Timesreports.  And according to a report in the Israeli daily Yediot Ahronoth, Obama will “call upon Israel to withdraw to the 1967 lines, with border alterations that will be agreed upon with the Palestinian Authority”–a move that would “disturb” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

But perhaps Netanyahu has little to worry about.  The Obama administration has already backtracked on the 1967 borders in private meetings with Palestinian officials, according to documents released by Al Jazeera as part of the “Palestine Papers.” The backtracking on the 1967 lines came despite an an affirmation in the Bush administration-backed “Road Map” on Middle East peace that the ’67 borders would be the border for Israel and a Palestinian state.

Analysis by Ali Abunimah for Al Jazeera indicates how little a commitment to the 1967 borders by Obama in his speech Thursday could mean:

In apparently contentious meetings between Mitchell and Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat and their respective teams in September and October 2009 — whose detailed contents have been revealed for the first time — Mitchell claimed the Bush administration position was nonbinding. He pressed the Palestinians to accept terms of reference that acquiesced to Israel’s refusal to recognize the 1967 line which separates Israel as it was established in 1948 from the West Bank and Gaza Strip where Palestinians hoped to have their state…

At a critical 21 October 2009 meeting, [George] Mitchell read out proposed language for terms of reference:

“The US believes that through good faith negotiations the parties can mutually agree on an outcome that achieves both the Palestinian goal of an independent and viable state encompassing all the territory occupied in 1967 or its equivalent in value, and the Israeli goal of secure and recognized borders that reflect subsequent developments and meets Israeli security requirements.”

Erekat’s response was blunt: “So no Road Map?” The implication of the words “or equivalent in value” is that the US would only commit to Palestinians receiving a specific amount of territory — 6258 square kilometers, or the equivalent area of the West Bank and Gaza Strip — but not to any specific borders.

Alex Kane, a freelance journalist based in New York City, blogs on Israel/Palestine and Islamophobia at alexbkane.wordpress.com, where this post originally appeared.  Follow him on Twitter @alexbkane.

The ’48 discussion is replacing the ’67 discussion

May 18, 2011

Philip Weiss

Yesterday Jeffrey Goldberg went off on Mahmoud Abbas’s statement that his family was expelled from Israel during the Nakba; Goldberg said angrily this was the fault of the Arab armies. So suddenly Goldberg’s energies are not really concerned with the settlements and the ’67 lines any more– no even Tom Friedman is conceding that Israel has blocked a peace deal — he is concerned with the ’48 lines.

This is the political achievement of the Palestinian solidarity movement and the Israeli rejectionists in the last year or so: serious people are not disputing the ’67 question, it would be like arguing over when people are going to Jetson up to Mars. They are fighting over the ’48 lines, the Nakba, the refugees. On All Things Considered last night, a Hamas spokesman talked about the inequity of Palestinian refugees not being able to return to their homes– even as Israel exercises a law of return that allows any Jew to move to the West Bank, a gross inequity of 7 decades, indeed… On NPR this morning, a panicked Israeli spoke of the refugees’ scary demands and his fears of democracy in Syria and Jordan. We need Assad, we need Hezbollah, he said, not democracy!

The ’48 discussion is replacing the ’67 discussion. And ’48 is an existential discussion. The prediction by Ehud Olmert and John Mearsheimer that Israel was pursuing a policy of national suicide by turning up its nose at the Arab Peace Initiative’s ’67 offer is coming true, in the Arab spring. The conversation is ceasing to be about the borders of the Jewish state, which the Israelis could never agree on, and more and more about What is this thing called a Jewish state? What did Partition create?

I’m not against Partition– I wonder how brutalized these two peoples are on religious and racial lines, I think revolution would be very bloody; I saw the Stars of David painted on the trashbins in besieged Gaza– but Partition hasn’t worked, and by stages I imagine it will come to an end in a postracial age.

This new conversation, which reflects the reality that the two-state solution is a dead letter, is a sign of the next stage. Serious people around the world are questioning the establishment of a Jewish state in ’48 when the promised Arab state never emerged and the refugees were not allowed to come back to their homes, serious people are questioning that fundamental inequity and revisiting a Partition resolution that granted no self-determination to Arabs– even as Pakistanis, Indians, Turkmenistanis, Kosovars, East Timorese, Slovakians have had self-determination.

This is the conversation pro-Israel forces in this country fear more than anything else, yet they have brought it on themselves– through an original sin, of denying the right under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that Kennedy and Eisenhower and Johnson and Nixon all wanted to honor, of the refugees being allowed to return to their homes; of erasing their villages; and of pursuing a greater and grabbier Israel during four decades of occupation. And in the months to come we will see more nakedly than ever the power upon which these forces depend: the Israel lobby, the U.S. government. The only pillar, as a democracy movement sweeps the Middle East, and Israel calls out for us to support dictatorships.

Desmond Travers on Geo Mitchell: Irish-American Diaspora wanted an end to the troubles, Jewish-American Diaspora hasn’t opened its eyes

May 18, 2011

Philip Weiss

On Thursday night Col. Desmond Travers, the Irish member of the Goldstone mission, will be speaking in New York. (Click here or the image above if you want to get a ticket.) Yesterday I phoned him at his home in the Republic of Ireland to ask about why George Mitchell was successful in the Irish troubles but failed in the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Here’s what Travers said:

“I am not at all the least surprised by George Mitchell’s resignation. For I understand the structural impediments to his work in Israel and Palestine.

“To quote Mitchell himself, he had 700 days of failure and one day of success in northern Ireland. He showed a phenomenal comprehension of the steps that could be achieved incrementally with two communities that were implacably opposed to the idea of settlement and of the compromises that an approach to settlement would entail. And he has a genius for timing. He knew precisely when to throw an additional possibility that might just be attainable into the works.

“And the net result? We haven’t had violence since the northern Ireland accords were signed in 1998. Today you see the representatives of extreme loyalism and extreme Republicanism sitting side by side hammering out the business of statehood, and they were reelected only a week ago. The best and worst that can be said about the accords are that we are better off now than when people were blowing one another up and shooting each other. And it is quite amazing to see these sides horsetrading in democratic fora and doing it quite well. No one would have predicted that.”

So why didn’t this approach work in Israel and Palestine? Travers, the grandson of an Irish revolutionary in the years 1917-1921, points to the Irish and Jewish Diasporas in the United States.

“Diaspora Irish-Americans wanted a peace. The troubles reflected negatively on them, and they wanted them ended. In the multicultural world of the United States, nobody outside the Irish experience could comprehend anything other than Irish as troublesome, violent, aggressive terrorists, and people outside the Irish milieu were not in a position to make distinctions about cause and effect. And so when an emissary with an enormous amount of clout arrived in Ireland he didn’t have to look over his shoulder at the Diaspora Irish who were saying, we don’t want this to happen.”

By contrast, Mitchell spent a lot of his time in Israel and Palestine worrying about Diaspora Jewry, who questioned his efforts.

Also crucial was the end of Diaspora support for Irish terrorism. In the United States and in England, funding Irish republican causes became illegal. “I’m quite certain that American Jews subscribe to Israeli fundraising without being quite aware that some of that funding may not be appropriate, in the very way that Diaspora Irish were funding violence.”

“You have to convince the wider Diaspora community that a resolution is in the Jewish people’s and in Israel’s best interest. I don’t think you can convince Israel of that.” Why not? Travers lived in Israel for several years in the 80s as a military adviser to peacekeeping missions. He says the country is too caught up in a security mindset, convinced that it is surrounded by enemies, and the entire military-industrial culture of the country is built on that understanding, which also generates social “cohesion and camaraderie.”

Can Travers extract optimism for Israel/Palestine from the ending of the Irish troubles?

“I had no optimism whatsoever for George Mitchell’s venture into Northern Ireland.” And yet today the ancient divisions are softening. “For over 300 years we have had institutionalized multigenerational prejudices accumulated in our hearts. The two communities are still entrenched, but they are not shooting each other.”

But there is Partition between the largely-Catholic Republic of Ireland and majority-Protestant Northern Ireland.

“Partition in Ireland was determined by an exiting empire that [in 1921] made compromises to serve the residual majority that was pro-empire, to give them a foothold in Ireland.”

And yet Partition will not last more than a century, he says. Because of the larger forces that are driving the sides together throughout Europe. Ireland and England now need each other economically. And “the two governments are absolutely marching in step.” These processes, he said, will melt multigenerational enmities created by Reformation and Counter-Reformation, and European empire and colony, conflicts that played out in Ireland longer than anywhere else in Europe. “We are steeped in the past, when others had moved on.”

Shouldn’t there be Partition between Israel and Palestine?

It might work, Travers said, if there were a division in keeping with the 67 lines, making two viable states. But he has grave doubts.

“I am not entirely convinced that a single religious entity in the entirety of a state is in the best interests of the society that aspires to that. There is inherent prejudice in it, for starters, inherent racism in it, a propensity to draconian laws that exclude rather than include. And there is a historical propensity toward corruption, in cronyism.”

I said, You are a Roman Catholic, though, in a largely-Catholic state. Travers said the RC on his identity disc now stands for Re Considering (especially in light of the child abuse scandals in the church).

“I can say that my grandfather’s dream of a single Roman Catholic republic with an anti-British stance has outlived its purpose.

“And I would say that the great dynamism and innovation of the Jewish community may be stultified and hindered in a single religious state apparatus. The magnificent Jewish creations of the west have arisen in a multicultural environment. We’ve seen that over the last 500 years. That is the Jewish forte.”

I asked one more question about George Mitchell’s failure, but Travers objected.

“I would hate to describe George Mitchell as having failed– as I would not say that Richard Goldstone recanted. It is not for an Irishman to say that Geore Mitchell has failed– a man who did what he did over 700 days here.

“As we are speaking the Queen of England is coming to Ireland. Imagine that. This is not something that has happened in 100 years. And so the strongest statement I would make is that George Mitchell did not achieve success in Israel and Palestine.”

Facebook counterrevolution: Jews and Arabs can’t live together

May 18, 2011

Ahmed Moor

Most of the time when Zionists discuss democracy, it’s from under a dark cloud’s pall. The words they issue are strained and a compressed desperation suffuses their arguments. Invariably, they become aggressive. Masada is rebuilt in their own heads and they wait for it to fall. They prepare.

A friend forwarded a conversation he had with a troupe of Zionists on Facebook. He made all the reasonable arguments that Americans understand: We are all equal irrespective of race; international law is inviolable; apartheid is a crime against humanity; and so on.

His arguments were met by two responses mainly: The Jews insist on their right to self-determination and will never give up control of the country (the Palestinians and democracy be damned); and, one state means war.

My friend was arguing exclusively with American Jewish Zionists, which always makes the first argument he encountered seem stupid – for lack of a better word. Perhaps American Jewish Zionists ought to argue that “The Jews insist on their right to an ironclad insurance policy.”

This site is partly dedicated to challenging the idea that Jews are exceptional in American life or that America will produce the next Hitler. So it’s worth talking about the second argument.

In combating my friend’s insistence that Palestinians and Israelis can share a single state, one American Zionist (who I had the pleasure of meeting in Beirut) openly stated that Arabs and Jews cannot live together. Presumably, that’s for the same reason that Germans and Jews cannot live together.

My friend then asked what that meant for the twenty percent of Israelis who are Palestinians. The American Zionist responded that second-class citizenship is an unavoidable reality. It springs from the reality of a Jewish state (like radiation from uranium).

I’m avoiding quotations for the sake of privacy (although Facebook is very, very public), but this young American argued that the “Arabs” had no choice but to accept the 3/5ths rule. The Jews must have their state, but over time, maybe, conditions would get better for Palestinian-Israelis (As an aside, what does this say about the quality of civics education in American schools?).
Also, they’re better off in Israel than they would be if they lived on the surface of Jupiter. But if Palestinians and Palestinian-Israelis demand full civil rights, it’s going to get very bloody.

The main argument that Zionists and their friends make for the maintenance of the status-quo (read: apartheid) is that the Jewish Israelis would never permit a democratic state to arise in Palestine/Israel. Allusions are made to catastrophic violence. Really, Zionists and their friends are threatening us with catastrophic violence. More and more, I’m convinced that it’s a threat they’re willing to follow through on.

On Nakba Day, members of the Israeli army murdered eleven unarmed refugees. They killed them, of course, because their existence threatens the existence of the Jewish state. This is precisely the kind of violence that we’re continuously warned about. Do we really want to incur the wrath of armed Zionists by threatening their illusions of racial supremacy and their real racial privilege in Palestine/Israel?

The question rests on a normal person’s conscience like an oil slick. Bashar Al Assad, the greatest mass murderer in the history of ophthalmology, is relying on the same calculus to maintain his despotic control in Syria. The question for those who oppose equal rights in Palestine/Israel because they portend violence is whether they’re prepared to reward racists for the havoc they threaten to wreak.

The one-state solution is a foregone conclusion; the end of the Jewish state is a foregone conclusion. Palestinians will not be cowed because of the threat of violence – we saw that on Nakba Day. So how far will the Zionists go? How long will their American friends insist that the Jewish state “has a right to exist?” How many more Palestinians will be exterminated in the fight for equal rights?

As Juan Cole already pointed out, the Israelis are perpetrating a slow genocide in Palestine/Israel. But the slowness of it is excruciating.

Bush/Obama: New State Dep’t spokesperson has goldplated neocon pedigree

May 18, 2011

Philip Weiss

PJ Crowley is gone as the spokesman at State, for his unconsidered remarks about the persecution of Bradley Manning, and who is replacing him, reportedly a longtime State staffer named Victoria Nuland, a former Cheney aide who happens to be married to neocon Rob’t Kagan.

“Toria is very skilled and talented and will do very well here,” one denizen of the State Department’s “executive level” seventh floor said, noting that given Nuland’s ties to GOP circles – her husband is Brookings foreign policy scholar and Washington Post columnist Robert Kagan, and she previously served as an adviser to Cheney — “who better…to aggressively defend the Administration’s foreign policy?”

Greenwald, some time back:

No rational person would believe a word Robert Kagan says about anything. He has been spewing out one falsehood after the next for the last four years in order to blind Americans about the real state of affairs concerning the invasion which he and his comrade and writing partner, Bill Kristol, did as much as anyone else to sell to the American public.

‘NYT’ won’t say Nakba, just ‘anniversary of Israel’s creation’

May 18, 2011

Philip Weiss

Today’s Times has an editorial about trying to revive the peace process that begins with an account of the skirmishes on Nakba Day. But they don’t say Nakba Day:

On Sunday, the anniversary of Israel’s creation, thousands marching from Syria, Gaza, Lebanon and the West Bank breached Israel’s borders and confronted Israeli troops. More than a dozen people were killed; scores were injured.

Well they didn’t breach the borders, did they? They breached the Golan occupation. And more than a dozen were killed. Who killed them?

Another country, another time

May 18, 2011

Philip Weiss

PBS is promoting a long documentary on the Freedom Riders in the south. I know, good; but why do we study history?