Media

June 4, 2011December 11, 2020

Chomsky vs The Asstralian

To keep it short, as I have no time to write with much-deserved contempt on the Australian’s perfidy today – my money is on Chomsky.

Here’s The Asstralian’s outrageous editorial against Chomsky being awarded the Sydney Peace Prize – Greg Sheridan is more perspicacious and peaceful? really? FFS!

Why was Chomskey awarded the prize?

We chose Professor Noam Chomsky for inspiring the convictions of millions about ways to achieve those universal human rights, which bolster peace with justice.

For more than 50 years he has been a world champion of freedom of speech, of the value of transparency in government and the need to challenge secrecy and censorship.

In his study of the political economy of human rights, he exposed state crimes, induced by US foreign policy, across South America, the Middle East and South East Asia.

With unfailing moral courage he has challenged abusive uses of power and the false claims made about democracy.

He has offended almost every establishment figure and institution: Chomsky is anathema to the Israeli government, was the only scientist or philosopher on the Nixon White House enemies list and the Soviet Union imposed a total ban on his works.

In his analyses of democracy and power he identifies the “manufacture of consent” by governments, corporations and the media.

Professor Chomsky has always argued that forces for change should be non violent.

Boycott the Murdercracy’s lies which support your exploitation by the ruling class – to obtain decent, reliable news, subscribe to Crikey online! Also recommended and freely available is Green Left Weekly, New Matilda and the ABC’s The Drum.

And here’s what the Asstralian whitewashes, the Israeli fascism which is rampant on the streets of Jerusalem:

Palestine ./ Israel Links

Israel army chief outlines new, more brutal doctrine against nonviolent protests
Ours is not to reason why – zionism’s addiction to bleats about security
Salah: 1 million Turks registered for Gaza flotilla
Jewish settlers assault Palestinian teacher

The witnesses said that the settlers kicked the woman, who was only saved by a group of Palestinian passersby, adding that the settlers tried to ignite a bigger scuffle.

Israel accused after Palestinian boys burned by mystery canister

The army does not deny leaving the devices, but would not identify them and suggested they were left over after training exercises. But the area where they were found does not feature on an army map of designated training areas and the canisters appeared new and unweathered.

A Shameless Secretary General versus Freedom Flotilla 2 Richard Falk takes well-deserved aim at imperial puppet, Ban Ki Moon:

‘In light of these surrounding circumstances, including the failure of Israel to live up to its announced promise after the attack in 2010 to lift the blockade, it shocks our moral and legal sensibilities that the UN Secretary General should be using the authority of his office to urge member governments to prevent ships from joining Freedom Flotilla 2.’

Israeli Soldiers Attack West Bank Anti-Wall Protests, Injuring Six Civilians
Israel’s Affirmative Action bill is reminiscent of Hungary’s anti-Jewish laws

But like in Hungary of 1920, so too in Israel of 2011, the spirit of the law is more important than the language, and everyone is clear on its purpose: to get rid of the Haredim and the Arabs. The state is the one that exempted them from mandatory military service and now wants to punish them for alleged “evasion.”

Manifest destiny and the ‘Wild West Bank’

Americans see in Israel their own preferred reflection of themselves. They see a lone, devout and free people on the edge of a vast continent full of dusky, hostile natives. Like the European colonists who settled North America, the destiny of this free people is to build a “city on a hill” on virgin land, a beacon of freedom and civilisation in a tragic world.

IDF gearing for next wave of Palestinian protests Israel is to shoot non-violent protesters who attempt to cross its non-existent borders: ‘While Israel will strive to avoid casualties, security forces will be able to open fire on anyone illegally crossing the border.”
Palestine supporters target Seacret

Phil Monsour addressed protesters gathered outside in the mall: “We will not be silent over the continuing oppression of Palestine. We have a message to politicians, to condemn Israel over its aggression against the Palestinians.

Get rid of Zionism

The “Land of Israel” is a phantasm. Withdrawing from “parts of it” is presented as a “concession” even by supporters of the move. But the only concession we needed to make, even back in 1967, was giving up the messianic claim that this is our land, from the Bible, and therefore we have a right to it. In comparison with this claim, the Serbs, with their preoccupation over the Battle of Kosovo in 1389, are rational, secular people.

Life is in no need of “ancestral rights.” Most of us were born here. That has no connection with the Bible, which for the most part is a very nice book. It has no connection with the prayers of the religious. We don’t need religion, either as a menu in a restaurant or as a strategic analysis.

Rally for Palestine: tear down the apartheid wall :

TEAR DOWN THE WALL!
End the occupation of Palestine!
Equal rights for Palestinians!
Right of return for Palestinian refugees!

RALLY: Sat July 9, 1pm
King George Square, city

Boycott apartheid Israel! Cut all trade ties!

An Unpalatable Truth : The Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism John Pilger: “Jonathan Cook and Charles Charles Clover, together with Umar Cheema, are the winners. It was impossible to choose.”

Who is Ben Nitay? a sleazy liar then, a sleazy liar now. ‘The only things that have changed since the following video was made is his name and his hairline, the message of hate remains the same.’

In a remarkable video from 1978, 28 year old MIT grad Benjamin Netanyahu debates whether there should be a Palestinian state created on the West Bank and Gaza. Netanyahu argues that such a state would have but one goal: to destroy the Jewish state of Israel.

Zionists’ ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Haifa exposed
Exonerating the ethnic cleanser, Ben Gurion

January 8, 2011December 11, 2020

The US Government Digs The Hole Deeper

With its credibility seriously eroded by Wikileaks, the US government is digging its hole deeper with Department of Justice subpoenas of the private DM messages of Wikileaks supporters.

Birgitta Jonsdottir, an MP for the Movement in Iceland, said last night on Twitter that the “USA government wants to know about all my tweets and more since november 1st 2009. Do they realize I am a member of parliament in Iceland?”

She said she was starting a legal fight to stop the US getting hold of her messages, after being told by Twitter that a subpoena had been issued. She wrote: “department of justice are requesting twitter to provide the info – I got 10 days to stop it via legal process before twitter hands it over.”

She said the justice department was “just sending a message and of course they are asking for a lot more than just my tweets.”

Jonsdottir said she was demanding a meeting with the US ambassador to Iceland. “The justice department has gone completely over the top.” She added that the US authorities had requested personal information from Twitter as well as her private messages and that she was now assessing her legal position.

“It’s not just about my information. It’s a warning for anyone who had anything to do with WikiLeaks. It is completely unacceptable for the US justice department to flex its muscles like this. I am lucky, I’m a representative in parliament. But what of other people? It’s my duty to do whatever I can to stop this abuse.”

Twitter would not comment on the case. In a statement, the company said: “We’re not going to comment on specific requests, but, to help users protect their rights, it’s our policy to notify users about law enforcement and governmental requests for their information, unless we are prevented by law from doing so.”

Most of Twitter’s messages are public, but users can also send private messages on the service.

Marc Rotenberg, president of the online watchdog the Electronic Privacy Information Centre (EPIC) in Washington, said it appeared the US justice department was looking at building a case against WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange, over its publication of secret US documents.

EPIC has already requested that the US authorities hand over information about their investigations into people who have donated to WikiLeaks via Mastercard, Visa or PayPal.

“The government has the right to get information, but that has to be done in a lawful way. Is there a lawful prosecution that could be brought against WikiLeaks? It seems unlikely to me. But it’s a huge question here in the US,” said Rotenberg.

To its credit, Twitter has publicised the subpoenas enabling those on the list, now revealed by Glenn Greenwald, to resist them legally.

Greenwald comments:

Suffice to say, this is a serious escalation of the DOJ’s efforts to probe, harass and intimidate anyone having to do with WikiLeaks. Previously, Appelbaum as well as Bradley Manning supporter David House — both American citizens — had their laptops and other electronic equipment seized at the border by Homeland Security agents when attempting to re-enter the U.S.

The US government contortions increasingly remind me of those of Bjelke Petersen’s Queensland police state when faced with the Fitzgerald Inquiry. This inquiry was mentioned by Julian Assange in his “Jerilderie letter” published in The Australian the night before his incarceration. In the absence of a Royal Commission and the unwillingness of the superpower to incorporate and submit to international law however, we have Wikileaks, which in one sense is a form of open jurisdiction.

UPDATE

@rixstepnews Send all your secret Twitter stuff to or fax it to +1 703-299-3981 #Assange #subpoena #WikiLeaks #
@rixstepnews Everybody collect their tweets and DMs and email them to . Send at least two copies. #Assange #subpoena #WikiLeaks #
@ioerror It seems quite wrong that I feel safe in Iceland while simultaneously having a sense of apprehension about returning to the USA next week. #
@wikileaks Note that we can assume Google & Facebook also have secret US government subpeonas. They make no comment. Did they fold? #
@ioerror Now’s a good time to note that *the world* needs strong anonymity. Help out: https://www.torproject.org/getinvolved/volunteer.html.en #
@ioerror I wonder if the subpoena is merely a front to legally introduce evidence captured by the confirmed NSA wiretaps two blocks from Twitter HQ? #
@Jinjirrie RT @TheJusticeDept January is National Stalking Awareness Month. http://is.gd/klycZ #irony #wikileaks #
@Colvinius Does this mean you? “@spyblog Subpoena demands usernames & IP addresses of all 634.892 current Followers of the “wikileaks” Twitter account” #

UPDATE 2 (recording my tweets for the stalking DOJ’s convenience since the ‘DOJ does not collect comments or messages through this account.’)

@Jinjirrie Hey @TheJusticeDept if you want to know about me, follow me, you might learn something about justice3 #
@Jinjirrie Instead of harassing & repressing Wikileaks & hr activists, US govt shd end its crimes against humanity & prosecute its torturing criminals #
@Jinjirrie The more the US govt attempts to suppress the truth about its crimes & protects its torturing crims, the less its credibility #
@Jinjirrie The less the US govt’s credibility, the less people will choose to holiday there, invest there, or have anything to do with it. #
@Jinjirrie Tourism is of course, the second biggest US export earner after defence. The US govt’s behaviour is thus inimical to its peoples’ welfare. #
@Jinjirrie The US debt is now $14t – the US needs every export dollar it can manage, the chinese aren’t happy about US printing more money #
@Jinjirrie China and Russia have already moved to trading bilaterally in their own currencies #
@Jinjirrie The devaluation of the USD due to the Fed printing more money devalues Chinese investments in the US – there are consequences, US #
@Jinjirrie What happens when the world tires of carrying the US, which has attained its wealth from global exploitation? #

Today’s Wikileaks Links

DOJ subpoeans Twitter records of numerous WikiLeaks volunteers
Journalism WikiLeaks Style
Julian Assange Defence Fund
Terror, Intelligence and You: Partners at the fear Ballet
Is the U.S. a Fascist Police-State?
DOJ sends order to Twitter for Wikileaks-related account info
Declan McCullagh : U.S. v. Bell subpoena
US DOJ subpoenas my twitter account info
Besieged Assange hires PR team
A Walled Wide Web for Nervous Autocrats
Proof-of-concept hack for encrypted direct messages on Twitter
Bringing the ‘Bush Six’ to justice
WikiLeaks demands Google and Facebook unseal US subpoenas
Icelandic Interior Minister Ögmundur Jónasson Says Wikileaks case is “Odd and Grave”
Icelandic “Wikileaks” MP will fight US Government
Today’s Palestine / Israel Links

Open Letter to Jon Bon Jovi: This one should go out to the Palestinians!*
Israel’s Knesset Targets Leftist Organizations
Border guards bar infant from Jerusalem for medical treatment
‘Mossad behind Iran scientist’s murder’
Ma’ariv Columnist: Investigate David Ben-Gurion & Natan Alterman
Joseph Massad: Sectarianism and its discontents

The irony remains, however, that it is the intolerant Americans, Europeans, and the Israelis and their extremist intolerant, though at times unwitting, local allies, namely the violent minority of sectarians among Islamists, who stand to benefit most from the Alexandria tragedy. Unless intellectuals in Egypt and the Arab world, Muslim and Christian, religious and secular, resist joining this international alliance of the intolerant, they may very well help them achieve their goals.

Occupation Laws in Israel? :

Like it or not, the fact is that the rabbis simply put into clear words the anti-democratic implications of the term “Jewish State”. It is the privileges of Israel’s Jewish citizens and the policy of progressively marginalizing the Arabs that are the source of racism. The rabbis are outspoken about it, the Knesset and government prefer a more subtle approach. In order for Israel to be a Jewish State in the moral sense, that is, do not unto Arabs what is hated by Jews, it must be democratic. Democracy is the institutional manifestation of the Jewish doctrine that we are all created in His image.

Israel: Iran Cannot Produce Nuclear Bomb Before 2015
Palestinian President accepts third-party observers on borders
Chile’s recognition of Palestine useless: Israel

Other Links

America now over $14 trillion in debt
When Science Goes Psychic
Journal’s Paper on ESP Expected to Prompt Outrage
Pirate Party Members Arrested in Tunisian Censorship Revolt
IRAQI OCCUPATION AND HIGHER EDUCATION: THE GHENT CHARTER : Richard Falk

January 6, 2011January 7, 2011

Assange Comments on Aftenposten Wikileaks Access

Last month, Swedish Radio, Medierna, uncovered the fact that Johannes Wahlström, son of Israel Shamir, ‘is the gatekeeper of the cables in Scandinavia, and “has the power to decide” which newspapers are provided access and what leaks they are allowed to see.’

In the light of this, it is peculiar that Aftenposten editor, Hilde Haugsgjerd, won’t own up as to where her paper obtained the documents. It would be welcome if Wikileaks could clarify, particularly since Hilde is claiming that Assange is “angry” about Aftenposten’s access.

The editor of Oslo-based newspaper Aftenposten was fending off reaction Tuesday to a commentary she wrote on her paper’s access to all of the more than 250,000 diplomatic cables initially leaked to the non-profit organization WikiLeaks. She had called it a “paradox” that WikiLeaks’ founder Julian Assange reportedly is angry that Aftenposten now can report freely from the leaked cables.

Aftenposten’s editor-in-chief, Hilde Haugsgjerd, elaborated on her media company’s access to the WikiLeaks documents.

“Paradoxically enough, the chief of one of our times’ biggest leaks is angry because there was a leak from his own leak,” editor-in-chief Hilde Haugsgjerd wrote in her commentary in Monday’s edition of Aftenposten. She wrote that Aftenposten’s own access to the cables, with no strings attached, “destroyed Assange’s own strategy for when and how documents about international conficts and themes should be made public.”

WikiLeaks, Haugsgjerd claimed, had a media plan to “secure themselves the best possible coverage and contribute to the most international debate possible around the leak’s content.” Aftenposten, she noted is not adhering to WikiLeaks’ plan, which she referred to as a “news monopoly” that involved a consortium of international media outlets.

“We have not signed the confidentiality clause that hinders (the media outlets) from publishing stories without an explicit agreement with WikiLeaks,” Haugsgjerd wrote.

That sparked a reaction from journalists at The Guardian in the UK, which has been among the media outlets that secured access to the cables from WikiLeaks. Nick Davies of The Guardian’s editorial staff told the web site for Norway’s journalists’ union, Journalisten, that Assange has had “zero influence” on The Guardian’s editorial decisions regarding its use of the WikiLeaks cables.

The Guardian also scotched Aftenposten’s boast about having exclusive access to all the documents.

Davies claimed that the agreement signed between The Guardian and WikiLeaks determined, in fact, that Assange would not have any influence, and he has not.

David Leigh, another editor at The Guardian, told Journalisten on Tuesday that his paper has all the cables as do the other newspapers in the original agreement with WikiLeaks. Leigh told Journalisten that the papers themselves have decided what they will publish, and when. After writing their stories, he said, edited copies of the relevant cables are sent to WikiLeaks (with some identities deleted, for example, for security reasons) so that WikiLeaks can publish the documents at the same time.

I’m equally curious about Karl Rove’s relationship with the Swedish government and attempts to extradite Julian Assange to the US.

Amongst other striking releases, Aftenposten has published cables relating to German commercial spy satellite development.

12.2.2009: GERMANY SEEKS U.S. PARTNER TO DEVELOP OPTICAL SPACE IMAGERY CAPABILITIES – “Eckardt said that DLR explored various scenarios for international partnerships, but in the end came to the conclusion that a U.S. partnership (DG) made the most “business sense.” “Should DLRs partnership with DG materialize, DLR indicated that the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) would be the “prime customer identified”, with DG serving as the U.S. market entry point.”
15.2.2009: GERMANY EXPANDING OVERHEAD RECONNAISSANCE PROGRAMS AND EYE CLOSER USG PARTNERSHIP –
“(S//NF) On 8 April 2009, US National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) officers met with German Intelligence Service (BND) officials to discuss Germanys plans for expanded nationally operated overhead reconnaissance resources.”

This cable above is weird because the contents refers to a meeting in April, 09 whereas the cable is dated 15th Feb 09. The date for removal of embargo is 05/14/2034 … so the cable may really be dated 05/14/09.

20.5.2009: GERMAN COMPANY MARKETING SATELLITE IMAGERY TO US DESPITE FRENCH OPPOSITION – “Without going into details, Walati claimed that a German/US cooperative agreement on HiROS would fend off the French opposition.”
3.9.2009: GERMANY TO FRANCE: STAY OUT OF OUR COMMERCIAL SATELLITE AFFAIRS
10.9.2009:GERMAN INTELLIGENCE VIEWS ON OPTICAL RECONNAISSANCE CAPABILITIES – “The BND has come to the conclusion that having complementary optical imagery along side Germanys SAR-Lupe data is essential and is actively promoting HiROS. BND advocates a HiROS partnership with the US as a way to share costs/risk and well as provide some political cover from the French.”
11.9.2009: GERMAN OPTICAL SATELLITE REMOTE SENSING: THE PATH FORWARD Satellite sensors can ‘see’ potentially down to 25 – 40 cm. There goes the neighbourhood.
30.9.2009: GERMAN SPACE AGENCY SEEKING USG SUPPORT ON OPTICAL SATELLITE COOPERATION – “DLRs two primary objectives for this meeting were to float the idea of combining the military aspects of the GPS and Galileo Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT) systems under the framework of NATO (reporting SEPTEL) and to solicit USG support for cooperation on HiROS. ”

UPDATE 7/1/11

Shoeless Assange claims Aftenposten is a Wikileaks media partner, Aftenposten disagrees. What the hell is going on?

Neither Wikileaks commander or his spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson have so far wanted to comment on his relationship to Aftenposten. The newspaper claims to have gotten all the so-called “Cable Street” – over 250,000 diplomatic documents – without having to enter into any agreement with Wikileaks. . It has, however, the site’s so-called media partners – reject as El País, The Guardian and Le Monde – concluded.

COLD FEET? Even though the temperature was around freezing, went Assange in the base stone. DN is not aware whether it was a conscious choice or a consequence of bad times.

– Aftenposten is currently a media partner of Wikileaks, says Julian Assange to DN before reporting to the police.

– However, Aftenposten said that it is not it?

– Events are treated as other media partners.

– It’s amazing to hear him say it. We are not a media partner of Wikileaks, says chief editor of Aftenposten Hilde Haugsgjerd.

“Lite content”

December, it is not known whether the leak of Wikileaks documents to Aftenposten has happened alerts directly from the site, from one of its media partners or others with access to the material.

Commenting on Monday wrote Hilde Haugsgjerd that Wikileaks “after what we know, to say the least [is] unhappy with the newspaper Aftenposten also has received the so-called” Cable Street “with 251 287 U.S. diplomatic documents from a source” . Haugsgjerd stressed that “the Aftenposten is not included in the Assange refers to as the consortium, the few international editors who from the start was invited to participate in the publication of all documents,” and that the newspaper is free to publish cases from the documents without having to deal with Wikileaks.

– I can not comment. I have not read the comment, “said Assange.

Assange would not say anything more about the relationship to Aftenposten – a relationship which, however, has become more and more inflamed in the past two weeks. The reason for Haugsgjerd comment will be telephone calls between journalists in Aftenposten and Wikileaks few days before Christmas. In the calls attempted and Julian Assange spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson to conduct negotiations to bring Aftenposten publication of documents in controlled circumstances.

Would negotiate

– I know Assange have had contact with a few reporters with us. I do not know the details of these conversations, except that he has expressed a desire that we should be included as one of Wikileaks’ media partners. He has also expressed a desire to talk to me, but I have not heard from him, “said Hilde Haugsgjerd.

She denied that anyone in Aftenposten has entered into any agreement with Assange, and stressing that the newspaper is free to use the Wikileaks material.

– Since he has not spoken with either me or the other of the Aftenposten editors, it goes without saying that the newspaper has not entered into any agreement with him.

– Assange claims the now, however, that you are a media partner. What do you think about it?

– It seems as if Assange wish and believe that we will be media partners. Men at han ønsker og mener det, betyr jo ikke at vi er en mediepartner. But he wants and believes it, does not mean that we are a media partner.

– So what are you then?

– We have not had access to this material from Wikileaks. And I know that we have gained access to the material without having entered into any agreement on use. We are now keen to use the material in a responsible manner, “said Haugsgjerd.

Newspapers gossip

The agreements between Wikileaks and media partners have never been made public, and the details in them are not known.. But Julian Assange said himself to The Guardian, 3 December that part of the agreement is that the media partners will review and contribute to sladding of the documents that the papers reviews before they are published on the Wikileaks website. . In this way, Wikileaks escaped much of it is very time consuming skidding work. It has been known that the agreement also contained a release date for when the first cases could be released.

After the DN understand the Evening Post’s journalists have refused to acquiesce to the demands of Assange. They showed that the Event has been given access to the documents without any prior agreement.

Aftenposten has the last three weeks published cases each day from the disputed documents, but Wikileaks has little posted the documents referred to Aftenposten, the site makes such alerts when the other media partners publish cases based on diplomatic documents

Israel / Palestine Links

Tell Combined Systems Inc. to Stop Providing Tear Gas that Israel
Uses to Kill and Maim Protesters
The Israelis arrest three Beit Rema municipality officials
Open letter to Combined Systems Inc, Maker of Israeli Tear Gas by Joseph Dana
On the morning following the putsch : Knesset NGO persecution law : ‘Israeli equivalent of the burning of the Reichstag’
Ivory Coast, Palestine, democracy, and the rule of law
Israel asks U.S. to ban Turkish charity behind Gaza flotilla
Is Israel on its way to becoming like Saudi Arabia or Iran?
A New Year’s song of hope for Gaza
A “support rally” for the controversial English Defence League is scheduled to take place at the Toronto Zionist Centre on Tuesday night. The event is being organized by the Jewish Defence League of Canada.
Netanyahu woos top Labor minister in bid to save coalition – ‘On Tuesday, Netanyahu asked Ben-Eliezer to join him on his trip to Cairo today and invited him for the first time to join the debate at the prestigious Forum of Seven. In addition, Netanyahu agreed to Ben Eliezer’s request to allow more than 5,000 Palestinian farming and construction laborers to work in Israel. Ben-Eliezer had made the request months ago, but until now it had been rejected by the prime minister and his close associates’.
Israel embraces fascism and where is the Zionist Diaspora?
Israeli Leftists Show Alliance in Wake of Palestinian’s Death
Palestinian medical teams remove bodies after clashes in Jabaliya

Other Links

Turkey’s bid for global actorhood: Davuto?lu’s new foreign policy lexicon
The U.S. Invasion of Panama: ‘Greatest Genocide in Our History’
ATO Troops Kill Three Civilians in Afghan Night Raid – Ghazni Province Raid Sparks Angry Protests Among Locals
NT Intervention Housing Travesty
First for child sex abuse reporting laws
Monbiot takes on critics and shows transparency
Chicago Teachers Union House of Delegates Resolution- January 5, 2011 : FBI Raids on Trade Union, Anti-War and Solidarity Activists
U.S. teenager tortured in Kuwait and barred re-entry into the U.S.

December 6, 2010December 11, 2020

Planet-Cartoon

Presenting the work of India-based friend, Pranav Waghmare @pranav_waghmare, Freelance Cartoonist. Pranav believes in freedom of expression – he is not an actor or soldier, but a proud thinker. Enjoy!

September 27, 2009August 24, 2022

Hamas positions under-reported in the media

For the record.

In Haaretz (22/9/09):

The head of the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip has told United Nations Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon that the group supports any steps leading to the creation of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders, according to the Palestinian news agency Ramattan.

The letter – written by Ismail Haniyeh on Tuesday to coincide with a UN conference currently underway in New York – stated that, “We would never thwart efforts to create an independent Palestinian state with borders [from] June 4, 1967, with Jerusalem as its capital.”

The missive also comes as Barack Obama prepared to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for his first Mideast summit as United States president.

Haniyeh’s message was only covered by Xinhua and was identical to the Haaretz story.

Not very convincing coverage compared to Erekat’s centre stage at ABC News.

There was a glaring lack of coverage elsewhere of Al Jazeera’s reportage of Hamas’s willingness to cooperate with Goldstone’s recommendations:

“AJ: .. to carry out their own independent investigations into their conduct during the war … a request Hamas told us they’d be happy to carry out if it means the international community will then take seriously claims in the report that Israeli soldiers committed warcrimes.

Ahmed Youssef (Deputy Foreign Minister, Hamas): Regarding Hamas firing rockets on the civilian areas, this is something easy to do the investigation by looking where these rockets hit and where is the target of these rockets if these rockets really intended to be targetting civilian areas or military bases in the neighbourhood.”

The closest approximation to Youssef’s position was in the NYTimes, where crucial parts of his statement presented on Al Jazeera were omitted. Youssef was reported substantially in the third person, unlike the plethora of howling Israeli apologists contained therein:

Ahmed Yousef, a senior adviser to the Hamas government in Gaza, said the local authorities would investigate the relevant cases in the report. But he reiterated his government’s position that Israeli civilians killed by rockets were victims of the fact that the Palestinians had only “primitive weapons, and with such weapons, mistakes are to be expected.” The rockets, he added, were fired in self-defense.”

Jpost cites third hand the NY Times account.