Tag: justice

Palestine / Israel Links

Louis Theroux’s “Ultra-Zionists”: A chance to see what we’re up against

Bottom line – it’s a great watch, maybe even important. Particularly for viewers abroad. Because these nutters, who are a handful of extremists, are calling the shots in the West Bank today. And they can do whatever they want because government after government in Israel allows them to. And guess who allows those Israeli governments to do that? American president after American president.

This whole thing is worth watching, if only to get to the last minute of it. It’s when Louis interviews for the final time Daniel Luria, of the right wing movement Ateret Cohanim, which settles Jews in East Jerusalem. “There’s Jewish life in united Jerusalem”, he says to Louis as he looks him in the eye, “and there’s nothing – nothing – that you or the world can do about it. Nothing”.

That’s it in a nutshell. But if I may slightly correct Luria’s observation: the world has never tried to do anything about it to begin with. They’re enablers.

Hopefully, some viewers abroad will finally take responsibility and try to change that.

Israel Bombs Medical Supply Building — Ken O’Keefe in Gaza, Feb. 8, 2011
‘Rawabi developer says he will uproot JNF donated trees’
Rejoinder to Open Letter to JNF Leadership
Jewish Voice for Peace chief threatened over pro-Palestinian campaign
Rawabi: A national project that defeats its purpose
11 Palestinians wounded by Israeli attacks on Gaza Strip

Gaza, Feb. 9 (BNA) Eleven Palestinians were wounded in Israeli fighter jets attacks, the F 16 attacked several targets in Gaza Strip earlier today.
According to the Palestinian News Agency (WAFA) nine citizens including two women and four children were taken to Kamal Adwan Hospital after the missile attack on a workshop in north-east of Gaza. The bombing caused severe damage on a carpentry store leading it to burst into fire, as well as a pharmaceutical storehouse that belonged to the Health Ministry. The fighter jets targeted several other locations of Gaza, including a farming land east of Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, fishermen and west of Khan Younis. MYZ/E M.

Friends of Israel should thank Ronald Reagan
U.K. urges Israel to tone down ‘belligerent’ rhetoric amid Mideast uprisings – Hague refers to the fake peace process? what a joke.
BDS promises a just peace, unlike current US strategy
West Bank Streets Quiet as Palestinian Authority Suppresses Protests
Palestinian negotiator backtracks on CIA charge
Red Cross tents demolished in village
Partner of gay shooting victim to be deported

Egypt Links

Why Egypt will never be an Islamic state
Lazarus the Computer Riseth (with photos)!
Omar Suleiman, “Egypt’s Torturer-in-Chief,” Tied to False Iraq WMD Tortured “Intel”
Hasty’ reforms will lead to chaos: Egypt
Mubarak’s Fate in Military Hands
Egyptians remain stalwart in defiance
Allies Press U.S. to Go Slow on Egypt
Egypt VP: Protests must end soon
Obama’s man in Cairo
Why Egypt will never be an Islamic state
U.S. lawmakers now back Egypt aid

Influential U.S. lawmakers have eased their threats to cut aid to Egypt, reflecting a growing consensus in Washington for preserving U.S. leverage with Egypt’s powerful military amid the country’s civil upheaval.

The shift comes as Obama administration officials, the Pentagon and powerful pro-Israel groups in Washington urge continued aid to Egypt, about $1.5 billion a year, mostly in military assistance.

Although protesters in Cairo are demanding that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak resign immediately, the Obama administration is urging a more gradual reform process, headed by Vice President Omar Suleiman, that would allow Mubarak to remain in office for now.

U.S. officials believe the military should play a crucial role in that process and deserves continued support. Pro-Israel groups fear that a loss of aid could jeopardize Israel’s security.

Just last week, a chorus of lawmakers backed protesters’ demands for Mubarak’s resignation, and some called for an aid freeze to force changes.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) had earlier said “all options are on the table,” including aid cuts. But in an interview Tuesday, he said that now “is just not the right time to threaten that.”

McCain said he was concerned that a reduction in aid might affect Egypt’s willingness to cooperate with Israel.

Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the Senate subcommittee that oversees foreign aid, declared last week that he would not vote for aid to Egypt, adding that he knew no lawmaker who would.

This week, however, Leahy appeared to soften his position, saying through a spokesman that he would oppose any new aid “until the situation is resolved.”

White House officials said earlier in the crisis that they would review the aid if the Mubarak government didn’t move promptly toward political reform. But within a few days, officials clarified that they weren’t considering cuts to aid.

Administration officials are trying to preserve their relationship with the military, which they see as vital for carrying out political reforms.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates praised the Egyptian military Tuesday for its restraint and emphasized the need for the Egyptian government to move at a “steady pace” to enact promised reforms.

The Arab Nationalist Reawakening in Egypt and Beyond
Live blog Feb 9 – Egypt protests

Omar Suleiman, Egypt’s vice president, tells ABC news that Egypt currently lacks the necessary “culture of democracy” for the changes demanded by protesters.

The White House press secretary Robert Gibbs has called his comments “particularly unhelpful”.

Suleiman also blamed the protests for paralysing the Egyptian economy. “The big presence in Tahrir Square and some of the satellite stations which insult Egypt … make citizens hesitant to go to work,” he said.

Suleiman added: “We cannot bear this situation for a long time and we must end this crisis as soon as possible”.

The western companies propping up Mubarak’s Egypt regime
The Egyptian revolution establishes a new social contract and values by Nawal El Saadawi –

“This is such a gala for all of us, for all of us, the festival of freedom, dignity, justice, creativity and rebellion.” “A young man named Ahmed Galal said, “We are a popular revolt that establishes a new social contract, not just demands, and our slogan of this revolution is ‘equality of freedom of social justice.’ The people who made this revolution are the ones who should put the rules for the new governance, choose the transitional government, select a National Committee to change the constitution, the committee of wise men of the revolution, so as not to allow opportunists (the owners of wealth and power) to impose on us committees of wise men who did not participate with us in this revolt.”

Robert Fisk: Week 3, day 16, and with every passing hour, the regime digs in deeper
Activist’s tears may be game changer in Egypt
Egypt: Kareem Amer latest to go missing
Wael Ghonim – a new face of Egypt’s revolution
The Muslim Brotherhood uncovered
Anzalone: The Muslim Brotherhood Myth
Egypt: New accreditation rules; military obstructs media
The Egyptian Army: also known as the surrenderers
WikiLeaks: Israel’s secret hotline to the man tipped to replace Mubarak

Mr Suleiman, who is widely tipped to take over from Hosni Mubarak as president, was named as Israel’s preferred candidate for the job after discussions with American officials in 2008.

As a key figure working for Middle East peace, he once suggested that Israeli troops would be “welcome” to invade Egypt to stop weapons being smuggled to Hamas terrorists in neighbouring Gaza.

What will become of Israel if Mubarak falls? – Israeli hasbara
Israel and the Palestine Papers: An Exercise in Etymology –

The Palestine papers are groundbreaking documents in more than one way. They show that Palestinian negotiators approached the negotiations with a set of serious propositions. But they not only demonstrate that Israel in fact has a partner for peace talks—they also present Israel with a choice. Indeed, Israel can either reclaim its democratic values and drop the transfer plan, or it can drop the pretenses and assert its position as the regional peace refuser.

A Friendship of Values, Not Convenience – hasbara drivel

Wikileaks Links

US air force backtracks over WikiLeaks ban

Other Links

“What Does the Future Hold for Syria?” By George Saghir
AP IMPACT: At CIA, grave mistakes, then promotions – As the empire exculpates its crooks at the top, so does it protect (and promote!) its flunkeys.
Tunisian regime seeks emergency powers against mass protests
Gillard delivers indigenous report card
US House defeats anti-terrorism powers extension
Phone hacking victim tells her story – how Murdoch ruined the life of an ordinary Australian
Statement on Aboriginal rights by leading Australians
Australian PM tells Aboriginals to help themselves
Commemorating the indigenous resistance to invasion – Tunnerminnerwait and Mauboyheenner