racism

July 24, 2011August 24, 2022

“The Answer to Violence is Even More Democracy”

How to defeat racism, prejudice and bigotry? Education for respect of all humans, for equal rights for everyone, for the intrinsic worth of each human, while challenging discrimination where it manifests is essential. Racism, prejudice and bigotry are political acts, defined by the relations of the individual to others. They are not religious beliefs conditioned by one’s relationship with the unknowable, to be tolerated lest our own beliefs not be tolerated. Free speech is limited in our own interests when the rights of others are infringed upon, for example with slander and incitement to crime, and in Australia, with racial vilification laws. Disparate beliefs are forged into a newspeak newculture. These syncretised beliefs are decoration and padding, obscuring an underlying drive for power. In a dark soil of forbearance and silent assent composted with racism, violence and hatred builds, fertilising the poisonous flower of fascism.

Racism, prejudice, bigotry, sexism and able-ism are diseases of the point of view, yet cannot be seen in isolation from the cultures in which they grow. To heal them, it is the whole community organism which must be treated.

The white supremacist attacks in Norway show how dangerous nationalist racism is and how racism, prejudice and bigotry are the common enemies of humanity. Breivik’s major hatreds were for multiculturalism, marxism and Islam, irrationalising that the pure culture, including Protestantism which he re-mythologises and syncretises with the Knights Templar myths, of Norway and Europe was being diluted with invading genes and ‘non-European’ culture, facilitated by the newspeak ‘culture marxists’. In fascist ‘blut und boden’ tradition, he formulates a glorious ‘pure’ past, all the better to point to a glorious purified future in an effort to incite populism to fuel his cause. For him, his targets represented the traitors within.

As Robert Lambert says:

‘Instead, by choosing to attack a government building and a Labour Party summer school, Breivik is drawing attention to what many fringe nationalists see as the political failure of mainstream and left-wing politicians to confront the Muslim threat. So-called appeasers of the “Islamification of Europe” have become as hated as Muslim activists and therefore face the same kind of attacks.’

The pervasive global nature of white supremacism is demonstrated monotously – a political ‘cultural conservative’ massacred children from the Norwegian Labour Party and bombed the PM’s office, and the white media STILL doesn’t call it terrorism or neo-fascism, let alone both.

Other symptoms of fascism besides those mentioned above which Breivik’s pseudo-philosophy includes are sexism and machismo, attack of intellectuals, contempt for the weak and parliamentary democracy; violence, militarism (his Knights Templar schemata), censorship of opposing ideas, disagreement is treason, propaganda, social darwinism, expansionism (of his movement throughout Europe), indoctrination, strategic victimhood, a sense of besiegement, scapegoating and promotion of a cult of unity and heroism.

Respect to the people of Norway.

From the Prime Minister of Norway:

We must never cease to stand up for our values.

We have to show that our open society can pass this test, too,

And that the answer to violence is even more democracy,

even more humanity, but never naïveté.

@Dr_Ulrichsen Oslo Mayor Stang asked whether Oslo needs greater security – “I don’t think security can solve problems. We need to teach greater respect” #

Comment on islamophobic rightwing blog Jihadwatch: “OMG plz don’t tell me he’s one of us. This would deal a serious blow to our cause.”

New Related Links

At Songwriter’s Songbook, Davic Rovics ruminates on the significance of the terrorict incident Massacre in Norway
Israelis Debate on the Web: Did Norway Get What It Deserved?
Some EDL vids extolling the Knights Templar – looks like the dragnet will be widening

http://www.youtube.com/wat?ch?v=2ek3IA8ARIw&feature=y?outu.be
http://www.youtube.com/wat?ch?v=GGyyBn3Lmjc&feature=y?outu.be
http://www.youtube.com/wat?ch?v=18PcaGQVtYM&feature=y?outu.be
And from the founder of the EDL in 2007 : Knights Templar – 21st Century Christian Crusaders

Loony rightwing interpretation : Whether He Knows It Or Not, Breivik Is A Member of al-Qaida
Loony rightwing racist commentator on the WSJ of all places which should be ashamed of itself giving oxygen to this drivel Inside the Mind of the Oslo Murderer
The Oslo massacre and violent video games: The Facts
I hope they throw the book at The Sun. Idiots.
left flank: Australia’s Islamophobes & right-wing ideologues praised in Breivik’s manifesto
Sick Zionists find way to damn Muslims and racial diversity in wake of Norwegian tragedy
Norway gunman claims a London connection and links to the EDL
Hitchens misses the point about Breivik’s fascist syncretisation of Freemasonry and the Knights Templar, and fails to note the fascist and anti-semitic nature of political zionism which he supports. Fascist doctrine chooses myths often from disparate sources, melds them into a new mythology, nostalgic for a glorious past & hoping through purification, for a glorious future. Political zionism, for example, uses Judaeic myth & pseudo-history, to promote its fallacious ‘historic’ entitlement to ‘all the Land of Israel’. This mechanism supports the racism inherent in political zionism and its fascistic drive for power and expansionism.
Don’t blame us! – Foust attempts to ‘normalise’ rightwing #racism, populism, ultranationalism and xenophobia
Nationalists pose bigger threat than al-Qaeda : Contrary to popular belief, most terrorist attacks in Europe are the work of extremist nationalists.
The rightwing ultra-nationalists are rabidly trying to cover up:

‘When you preach bigotry and fear on a daily basis, don’t be surprised when one of your followers takes the next logical step. But Robert Spencer has a reason to feign surprise and indignation over what his hatred has incited, as the link between his hate-writing and this act of terrorism becomes clear: Richard Silverstein notes that the right-wing terrorist Anders Behring Breivik cited Robert Spencer 46 times in his manifesto.’

Norway gunman claims a London connection and links to the EDL
Faces of hatred: Norway mass killer’s life laid bare
Terrorism is not a Religion…it is not Islam
Norwegians Petition Media To Blackout Court Appearance Of Gunman Anders Breivik

Norway Attacks: Anders Behring Breivik Reported as Suspect

Police believe the 32-year-old, six-foot-plus Norwegian acted alone in the bombing of government offices in Oslo and an assault with firearms on a island youth camp less than a hour from the capital.
…
Norwegian television said that Breivik belongs to right-wing circles in Oslo, and a Swedish newspaper has reported the Breivik has posted on right-wing forums in Norway.

Norwegian media has linked Breivik to a Facebook account in which the poster described himself as a Christian conservative.

Anders Breivik, Norwegian Terror Suspect, Admirer of Israel, Avigdor Lieberman

Not long after the blast, the shooting rampage began on Utoya.

Media reports said the gunman, wearing a police uniform, beckoned bystanders over to him, on the pretense that he wanted to speak to them about security measures in the wake of the bombing in Oslo. He then opened fire.

Emilie Bersaas, 19, told Sky News that she heard shooting, saw people running and screaming, then ran herself to a building to take cover. She and a friend piled clothes and a mattress onto a desk and hid under it.

Oslo attacks suspect profiled

On his Facebook page, which appears to only have been started July 17, Breivik mostly posted music videos and said his interests include hunting and bodybuilding.

Under education, Breivik wrote he studied independently, noting he has “approximately 14,500 hours of study” equivalent to a bachelor of business administration and masters in history, as well as “3,000 hours of study in micro and macro finance, religion .”

His profile also says he’s a director at a company called Breivik Geofarm.

He lists himself as single and has five profile photos – four of which are headshots, and one of him at a wedding with two women, one of which is the bride.

A Twitter account is also being linked to Breivik, although there is just one tweet on July 17.

“One person with a belief is equal to the force of 100,000 who have only interests,” he wrote.

The television station TV 2 in Norway reported Breivik had right-wing extremist tendancies and had two guns registered under his name.

Anders Behring Breivik – Europe 4 Europeans

“The alleged offender is a member of the John lodge St. Olaus TD Three pillars of the Norwegian Masonic Order. He has 3 degree status, where the peak is ten degrees. – We have no way to express an opinion on individuals or incidents related to any members, said spokesman of the Norwegian Freemasons order Helge Qvigstad told Dagbladet.

Another stereotype by the media : ‘Breivik appears to evade the stereotype of being influenced by metal music.’
Perhaps today the neo-Nazis in Europe count Muslims among the problems that drive their madness. But to a large degree, these right wing extremist views shaped 20th century Europe. It’s time for a European reckoning of its own history of violence that has bled into the present in such painful ways.

How’s that again? Are the only terrorists in the world Muslim?

If so, what do we call a right-wing nationalist capable of planting major bombs and mowing down scores of people for the sake of the greater glory of his cause? If even a liberal newspaper like the Times can’t call this guy a terrorist, what does that say about the mindset of the western world?

The Fjordman Files
The Political Thinking of Anders Behring Breivik
How a clueless “terrorism expert” set media suspicion on Muslims after Oslo horror
Christian Jihad? Why We Should Worry About Right-Wing Terror Attacks Like Norway’s in the US
The Norway Attacks – Great cartoon
Fjordman Speaks Out on far right Gates of Vienna
Why did so many “experts” declare the Oslo attacks to be the work of Islamic terrorists?
Faces of hatred: Norway mass killer’s life laid bare

Palestine / Israel Links

America’s attempted Quartet sophistry
Everything in this land is about real estate: Understanding the tent protests
Foreign Ministry says Norwegian authorities funding anti-Israel film, exhibition, and play. Norway: We support freedom of expression
Coop Sweden stops all purchases of Soda Stream carbonation devices
Twilight Zone / Blood on the tracks
Desmond Tutu, Israel and U.S. pensions
The Anti-Boycott Act on Cynical Arab

Australia Links

Phone tapping in Australia the highest in the world – ‘The number of phone-tappings is out of control in Australia’, but Israel might be higher
The Questions Harto Won’t Answer
Trust in Australian media has dropped in all the types of media
Framing The Narrative: Murdoch v. Assange
Police unions demand inquiry covers tapping by agencies

Other Links

Who Owns America? Hint: It’s not China America owes foreigners about $4.5 trillion in debt. But America owes America $9.8 trillion.
Rupert Murdoch shirking responsibility over phone hacking, says police chief

July 21, 2011December 11, 2020

No Normalisation of Apartheid in Marrickville, Thanks

Say NO to normalisation of apartheid through visits by Israeli/Palestinian AFL teams under the guise of ‘peace’. Eleanor Kilroy writes at Mondoweiss:

A ‘Peace Team’, co-sponsored by the Peres Center and Al Quds Association for Democracy and Dialogue, will take part in the Australian Football League (AFL) Cup this August. In preparation, a delegation from the Australian Football League visited Israel this month to meet with the Peace Team, accompanied by Australian media, (which might explain why one of the Team’s sponsors is Sydney’s Israel Travel Centre). The Team will also participate in a welcome function at Marrickville Town Hall on 18 August. This is in spite of the fact that Marrickville Council voted to “in principle” support a Green Party-led boycott of cultural and sporting exchanges with Israeli institutions. Archbishop Desmond Tutu sent a letter praising the Council for taking a stand, noting that ‘Ten Marrickville councillors – five Greens, four Labor and one independent – voted to support the boycott campaign against Israel last December, provoking condemnation from federal and state politicians, Jewish groups and media commentators. The motion was overturned in April, when all the Labor and two Green councillors withdrew their support.’ Ziyaad Lunat, a member of the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) National Committee (BNC), told me “Al-Quds Association are part of a program that includes a stop-over at Marrickville, Australia, participating in anti-BDS propaganda set up by pro-occupation groups.” As ‘Merc’ says in the post Foul Play, ‘all it took was a little email from a Zionist, and the Victorian Greens (‘we’), without any discernible thought or research, threw caution to the winds and embraced a cheap little Zionist BDS-busting PR stunt.’ I asked Australians for Palestine’s Public Advocate, Samah Sabawi, to comment and she said, “What can be more appealing for those of us in Australia who are passionate about peace in Israel/Palestine than to welcome the AFL Peace Team? The answer: the idea that when members of this team return to their homes, the Palestinian players would not have to go through dehumanising checkpoints, around high barbed wire walls and into Bantustans surrounded and suffocated by a matrix of Jewish-only roads, settlements and security zones.”

The Al Quds Association for Democracy and Dialogue “AFDD” has a facebook page – let them know what you think about their efforts to obscure Israeli apartheid.

Omar Barghouti – BDS (Boycott Divestment Sanctions) – The Global Struggle for Palestinian Rights
Filmed at Socialism 2011 in Chicago
http://haymarketbooks.org

“It is not a Jewish It is an Israeli, colonial apartheid issue and it should stay within those parameters.”

“Any one who says ‘all Jews are …’, anything that comes after ‘are…’, is an antisemite. … Zionism treat Jews as super-human, Nazis treat Jews as sub-human. But both dehumanise Jews.”

“Saying BDS is antisemitic is antisemitic.”

Palestine / Israel Links

Barghouti urges Palestinian march to back UN bid
Turkey building hospital in Gaza despite difficulties

Randa Abdel-fattah in The Age:

‘Time and again, I met Israelis who exhibited an unashamed sense of entitlement that seemed justified by a deeply held belief that Palestinians deserve their situation because they refuse to recognise Israel’s right to be a state that legally discriminates against them, granting differential legal rights and privileges to its own Jewish citizens and to Jews anywhere in the world. This model of racial division is entrenched.’

Peter Wertheim executive director, Executive Council of Australian Jewry’s drivelly, prevaricative reply
MELBOURNE Jewish Radio (MJR), which ran defunct community station Lion FM, breached several aspects of its licence conditions, according to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).
Samah Sabawi’s interview along with David Shoebridge on SBS Arabic news on Sylvia Hale and Vivienne Porzsolt’s victory in Israel

Bad news for Murdoch can only be good news for Palestinians

“As far as the Palestinians are concerned, bad news for Murdoch can only be good news for them. Murdoch’s deeply held sympathy for Israel and his enmity towards the Palestinians is clear for all to see. His tabloid press have a track record of Islamophobia and of stirring up hatred against Palestinians.”

When the Marrickville BDS resolution was up against the wall, Marduk’s The Australian gave virtually no coverage to Palestinian voices, or BDS voices at all. Instead Marduk published a procession of zionists, spinning crap.

July 19, 2011December 11, 2020

Aboriginals Are 13 Times More Likely To Be Incarcerated

Prison rates down, but not enough

Australia’s prison population is decreasing. But it’s a little too early to break out the champagne. The huge regional differences reveal that imprisonment is not based on the crime you commit, but the preferences of your local politicians.

The latest statistics from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that 4% fewer people are locked up now than last year.

At first sight, this finally looks like some good news, as the general trend since the mid-eighties has been one of relentlessly rising imprisonment rates. But we need to take stock of the mad ride we have been on over this period in which the number of people behind bars increased exponentially from 86 per 100,000 adult population in 1984 to 165 in 2011.

A costly and unequal policy

And it’s an expensive business: according to the Productivity Commission, the real net operating expenditure per prisoner per day was $207 in 2009-10. There seems to have been no brake on the enthusiasm for imprisonment and it has sometimes been argued that rich western countries like Australia simply imprison as much as they do because they can.

And there seems to be no substantial sign of good news on one of the most important and intractable problems in regard to imprisonment in Australia. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners remain grossly over-represented making up a quarter (26%) of all prisoners while they only constitute 2% of the total Australian population.

Australia is not alone in this dangerous imprisonment spending spree – we are part of a global wave spreading across most of the developed world with only a few exceptions.

Around the world

The US is the unconquerable winner of this race: the rate of imprisonment in the US has increased seven fold since 1973 and stands at present at 743 per 100,000 of the total population. From here on we will use this more standard measure of imprisonment rates which uses total population as the denominator (and not just adult population).

Increases have also been substantial in other Anglo-Saxon countries such as England and Wales (152), and New Zealand (199). The Australian rate when measured per 100,000 population is 128.

Although there have also been increases in imprisonment in several mainland European jurisdictions, their imprisonment rates fluctuate around 100 and remain relatively stable (France: 102, Belgium 97), or are even decreasing (Germany 85). The Netherlands are a particularly interesting case as they witnessed a rapid increase of their imprisonment rates over the last decades – from a rate of 49 in 1992 up to 123 in 2004 – but recently experienced a significant fall of their prison numbers (decline to 94). This resulted in overcapacity in their prisons, which they have rented out to accommodate Belgian prisoners; haven’t they always been smart traders, these Dutch men?

Further, the Scandinavian countries remain the poster child in this field managing to keep their prison populations consistently low (Finland 59, Sweden 78) even in our current era characterised by punitive populism.

These differences clearly demonstrate that imprisonment rates are not just a fait accompli, but that they result out of choices, made at several levels of the criminal justice process.

What is the point of prison?

So it is time to ask ourselves – and our governments – what do we have to show for it? Or how effective is our imprisonment policy? Although crime rates are also going down, can this drop in volume crime be attributed to the enthusiasm to put people behind bars?

Over the last decade, and in reaction to David Garlands’ publication of the “Culture of Control” (2001), in which he analyses crime control and criminal justice system in the UK/US over the last 30 years, various wise people have looked into this question.

There seems to be a consensus that imprisonment rates vary independently from crime rates, and that in many countries the increases in the prison population have started during a period of sustained decrease in crime rates, or when crime rates remained stable.

So, if this is the case, what can explain this extraordinary expenditure of public funds on a somewhat medieval remedy to the many and varied forms of crime in modern society?

According to many scholars focusing on this issue over the past decade, higher imprisonment rates can be linked to a combination of the following variables: the lack of a strong welfare model; a bi-partisan political model; a common law system; fear of crime; lack of trust in the government and; the presence of minorities who are considered as being problematic.

Regional differences

While one could state that some of these characteristics apply to Australia, why then are there such differences between the states? How is it that, according to the most recent figures, the Northern Territory ends up with an imprisonment rate of 719, Western Australia with 262, New South Wales with 179, while this is only 105 in Victoria?

The states in Australia appear to reflect in microcosm the variety of imprisonment rates observed across the rest of the developed world bearing no particular relation to underlying crime rates but rather policy preferences.

The way ahead

So where do we go from here? Interesting in that respect is the recent popularity of Justice Reinvestment initiatives, originating in the US, and using the funds that are normally spent on imprisoning people, to improve local services addressing the underlying causes of crime.

This might be worth considering and has clearly caught the imagination of many who are pushing for meaningful improvements in this area.

At the very least we should be asking whether we are getting value for money out of imprisonment when it comes to preventing crime, presumably its primary justification.

We need to perhaps review the “open cheque book” approach and look at what we get as a return on our investment.

However outrage over crime means that there will never be any shortage of demand for imprisonment. It then becomes a question of restraint.

But selling the benefits of that in today’s heady emotive media-dominated political environment, provides the proverbial challenge of selling refrigerators to Eskimos.

Hilde Tubex, Future Fellow, Crime Research Centre at University of Western Australia and David Indermaur, Associate Professor, Crime Research Centre at University of Western Australia

This article was originally published at The Conversation.
Read the original article.

July 5, 2011December 11, 2020

Canadian Boat Update

12.35 pm Wednesday, 6th July, 2011.

Cheers! our friends have been freed!!!

From Australians for Palestine

Editor’s Note: As the French boat makes its way to Gaza alone, the rest of
the flotilla is still trying to find ways of leaving Greece. The captain of
the US boat has been released from prison and the charges have been dropped..
The passengers of the Canadian boat the “Tahrir” Michael Coleman and Soha
Kneen have also been released from custody and will appear in court in the
morning and will receive suspended sentences. Although Sandra Ruch has been
released, she faces the charge of allowing the boat to leave port without
proper authorisation. (Sandra, a Jewish-Canadian on the “Tahrir” is
refusing to surrender the boat’s registration papers.) Spanish activists
have taken over the Spanish embassy in Athens

Thank you to everyone who wrote or telephoned the Greek embassy and
consulates. Some managed to get through while others found that some of the
emails bounced back. The emails and phone numbers were correct, but
embassies/consulates are known for changing their contact details.

The Israel Navy is prepared to stop a French vessel that set sail from near Greece on Tuesday and that is believed to be heading to the Gaza Strip in an effort to break an Israel-imposed sea blockade, said government officials.

On Tuesday afternoon, organizers announced that the small French yacht named Dignity had left waters near Greece with eight passengers on board en-route to Gaza.
…

Meanwhile Tuesday, John Klusmire, the captain of the US-flagged ship Audacity of Hope who was arrested last week for trying to sail to Gaza, was released from custody.
…
About 20 Spanish activists, from the ship Guernica, occupied their nation’s embassy in Athens on Tuesday to protest against the ban and demand their government’s support.

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

7.35 pm Tuesday, 5th July, 2011.

In the harbour office in detainment on charges are Australian Michael Coleman, with 1 charge, Canadian Soha Kneen on 1 charge, and Sandra Ruch who is faced with 3 charges. Please use the information here to pressure the relevant Greek embassies and consulates, your local and Federal MPs and let’s help our good friends out of this situation and back on their mission.

You can gain up to date information by following @CanadaBoatGaza and @GFFAusGroup on twitter, and their Facebook groups CANADIAN Boat to Gaza and Gaza Freedom Flotilla Australia

The French Freedom Flotilla boat is underway, having eluded the Greek Coastguard! to be off Gaza in a day or so.

Edelstein: Israel Ready for Any Scenario in Pro-Arab Fly-In – but is he ready for the French!

=====================================================================================================
Circa 1pm Tuesday, 5th July, 2011.

From Australians for Palestine

Editor’s Note: Australian participant on the Freedom Flotilla to Gaza
Michael Coleman has been arrested by Greek Police for attempting to block
their pursuit of the Canadian boat the “Tahrir” as it left port. Michael
and Soha, another Canadian Flotilla team member, were in two kayaks beside
the “Tahrir”. As soon as the boat’s motors started, Michael and Soha
paddled to the immediate prow of the coastguard and managed to stay there
for at least 5 minutes which prevented the coastguard from stopping the
Tahrir from leaving. Eddie O’Loughlin, who has provided this latest update,
says that a Canadian Flotilla team member has assured him that a legal team
is working on freeing Michael. They are still not sure as to what the
specific charges against Michael will be.

Please telephone or write to the Greek embassy in Australia and also the
consulates asking them to pressure Greek authorities to release Michael
Coleman and to allow the Freedom Flotilla to continue its mission to
Gaza. Also letters and calls to our own government representatives are
important asking them to pressure the Greek government to release Michael
Coleman and the Tahrir.

Greek Embassy in Australia
Tel: +61-2-6273-3011
Email:

Greek Consulate (Sydney)
Tel: +61-2-92212388
Tel: +61-2-92211453
Email:

Greek Consulate (Melbourne)
Tel: +61-3-98664524
Tel: +61-3-98664525
Email:

Greek Consulate (Adelaide)
Tel: +61-8-82118066
Email:

Greek Consulate (Brisbane)
Tel: +61-7-32927421
Tel: +61-7-32927422
Email:

Australian Embassy in Greece
Tel: +30 210 870 4000
Email:

Also contact your own member of parliament (you can find their details
here http://www.aph.gov.au/house/members/mi-elctr.asp)
and/or
The Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd
Tel: (02) 6277 7500
Email:

We need to keep the pressure up on the Greek Government and our own.

Sonja Karkar
Editor
Australians for Palestine
http://australiansforpalestine.com

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

TWITTER UPDATES

Three @CanadaBoatGaza humanitarians charged: Soha Kneen (1 charge), Michael Coleman (1 charge), Sandra Ruch (3 charges) #flotilla2

RT @CanadaBoatGaza: We can confirm that Sandra Ruch is facing 3 charges. We are working to confirm details of these charges. #flotilla2 #Canada4Gaza

RT @CanadaBoatGaza: We can confirm that Soha Kneen of Canada and Michael Coleman of Australia are facing one charge each. #Canada4Gaza #Flotilla2

RT @GFFAusGroup: DFAT chasing Aussie arrest report in Greece #Flotilla2 http://j.mp/lin4Ct

RT @SoulFya: Canadian ConsulateThessaloniki: 2310-256350 E: Demand release of Michael & Soha(Canadian citizen)

RT @CanadaBoatGaza: @INTLRevolver We can confirm @SmithSofia (Soha Kneen) is facing one charge, working to get details. #flotilla2 #

RT @Mivasair: @CanadaBoatGaza Met today w Consul General of Greece in Vancouver. Greece will play hardball. Needs $$ from Israel. Very clear abt this. #

RT @GFFAusGroup: A union has organised lawyers for us.Michael and Soha have been detained but not charged #flotilla2

Hurrahh! RT @GFFAusGroup: We’ve been told the local municipal authorities are calling on the harbor master to release our boat. #flotilla2

RT @GFFAusGroup: Journalists are reluctant to leave the boat without assurances their photos won’t be confiscated. #flotilla2

RT @GFFAusGroup: They are also refusing to sign any documents, should they be asked to do so #flotilla2

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

Statement of the Greek Government on their site

Foreign Ministry Announcement regarding Greece’s intention to undertake the task of transporting humanitarian aid

Despite the request of the Secretary General of the United Nations, the recommendations of the EU reflected in the conclusions of the European Council, yesterday’s relevant appeal of the Quartet and the Greek Foreign Ministry’s urging not to participate in the flotilla attempting to break the Gaza blockade, certain groups of Greek and foreign citizens, without having received the necessary permission required according to the rules of safety, insisted to go through with the enterprise.

In light of these developments and concerned primarily with the protection and safety of human life, the Greek Government decided to ban the departure from Greek ports of vessels with Greek or foreign flags bound for Gaza.

Greece’s stance regarding the need to lift the Gaza blockade and to improve the humanitarian conditions in the area is known and remains unchanged. Greece’s positions of principle for the need to respect international law and not to resort to the use of force are also well known. Greece, as it is widely known, actively supports the resumption of peace talks, which constitute the only road to a comprehensive and viable resolution of the Palestinian issue, with the creation of a Palestinian state that will coexist peacefully with the state of Israel. These positions have been made clear to all concerned parties.

In this context, Greece reiterates its willingness and proposes to undertake the task of transporting the humanitarian aid, with Greek vessels or other appropriate means, through the existing channels as requested by the Secretary General of the United Nations.

To this avail, Greece will come into immediate and direct contact with the UN and all the concerned parties, in order to render the mission feasible on behalf of our country.

In this critical conjuncture, we should all demonstrate a sense of responsibility or assume entirely and exclusively the responsibility for our actions. The Government will act as it must in an orderly fashion and according to the laws of the State.

MEMRI is a source for journalists that do not understand Arabic,

but because they do not understand Arabic, they cannot validate the source. When you consider that the source is the brainchild of a former Israeli intelligence officer and has been caught selectively translating Arabic broadcasts that would reflect negatively on the Muslim world, the problem increases ten-fold.

Listening Post’s Meenakshi Ravi looks at an organisation that is out to influence how the Middle East is seen in the rest of the world’s media.

Palestine / Israel Links

September Surprise: Israeli Attack on Iran?

June 30, 2011December 11, 2020

What’s Next for Roberta?

JDL Australia

Roberta Moore has left the extreme right EDL (Jewish Division) complaining about Nazis.

‘Ms Moore had attempted to co-ordinate her efforts with those of the far-right American Jewish Task Force, whose leader Victor Vancier has been imprisoned for terrorism offences. The move, in February, was heavily criticised by the EDL leadership.

In a statement which she posted on Facebook, the Brazilian-born Ms Moore said she had been offered work on “an international level” elsewhere and so had decided to step down from the Jewish Division.’

Ms Moore came into conflict with the EDL recently – the leadership of the English Defence League “has distanced itself from the group’s Jewish Division, because of its partnership with the far-right American group Jewish Task Force”.

In an Australian JDL Facebook group now secret or defunct and assisted by Meir Weinstein from the Canadian JDL (which collaborates with the Canadian EDL), Ms Moore offers Australian JDLers assistance lining up Australian Defence League honcho Martin Brennan with the Australian Jewish Defence League, which is supporting a demonstration against an Islamic Conference early in July. Only 17 people have said they are attending.

The Australian Jewish Defence League has a very spotty history. JDL groups arose from and maintain an association with the Jewish extremist Kahane movement.

FREEDOM FLOTILLA UPDATE

UPDATE: Terrorist saboteurs of the Irish Boat to Gaza did cut the propeller shaft
Irish Gaza aid ship damaged in dock

Dr Fintan Lane, co-ordinator of Irish Ship to Gaza, said the damage to the propeller shaft was a potentially murderous act.

If pressure had been put on the shaft, which was weakened by a piece gouged out, it could have snapped, damaged the engine room and flooded the boat at sea, he said.

“This wasn’t designed to stop the ship from leaving its berth. Instead it was intended that the fatal damage to the ship would occur while she was at sea and would have resulted in the deaths of several of those on board,” he said. “This was a potentially murderous act.”The damage is said to be identical to damage suffered by the Greek/Swedish ship, the Juliano, in recent days.

Dr Lane demanded that the Irish and European governments condemn the attacks despite Taoiseach Enda Kenny warning the Irish human rights activists against trying to break the blockade.

“Israel has no right to interdict the flotilla and even less right to carry out attacks against vessels in Greek and Turkish ports,” he said.

Israel has not commented on the allegations.

We Demand an Independent Investigation into the Sabotage of the MV Saoirse
Irish Ship to Gaza SABOTAGED by Israeli agents: Protest & sit in today
Irish ship will not sail to Gaza after ‘sabotage’

“This was the type of sabotage that endangered human life,” Mr Lane said last night. “They put divers under the boat who cut a piece out of the propeller shaft. That means that the damage would have happened gradually and what would have happened eventually is that the propeller would have come up through the bottom of the boat, caused a flood in the engine room and would have caused the boat to sink.”

Mr Lane said that, due to the extent of the damage, the MV Saoirse would not be in a position to sail, adding that just six of the 20-plus crew who had been due to set sail would be able to take part in the flotilla by joining an Italian-based vessel today.

Those passengers who intend to board the Italian vessel include Mr Lane, former Munster and Ireland rugby player Trevor Hogan, Socialist Party MEP Paul Murphy, Libyan-born Irish citizen Hussein Hamed, Derry-based Sinn Féin councillor Gerry MacLochlainn, and Zoe Lawlor, who teaches at the University of Limerick and is a member of the national committee of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

Hasbaroids are out in droves – here’s a partial list of propaganda sources and outputs:

Jerusalem Center – looks like they are attempting to cast the Freedom Flotilla 2 as engineered by Khhhhhammmmasssss and IISSSSSMMMM
Stand With Us launches website against new flotilla
Peace Now, which shills for ziolites

Max Blumenthal debunks the IDF ‘sulphur’ propaganda:

Then, watch Ali Abunimah defumigates the hasbara in a lively debate with UNRWA’s Chris Gunness and Jerusalem Post’s Yaacov Katz.

One quarter of the Freedom Flotilla 2 humanitarians are Jewish. By threatening attack of the Flotilla 2 , zionists and their white supremacist allies demonstrate their intrinsic anti-semitism.

Hysteria, ‘hasbara’ and the flotilla

Lacking in credibility? You don’t say! I’m still waiting for the IDF to release all the videos confiscated from the Mavi Marmara – not just those that show the people aboard beating the commandos sliding down the ropes, but the stuff that happened before and after, too, especially the footage of the commandos killing those nine people.

Why won’t the IDF let us see that? Why do “senior officials in Jerusalem” make up scare stories about the flotilla? Why does Benny Gantz try to portray Gaza as a horn of plenty? Why does Israel twist and distort and cherrypick its way through the truth about Freedom Flotilla 1, Freedom Flotilla 2, Operation Cast Lead and everything else that has to do with its treatment of Palestinians?

Palestine/ Israel Links

Israel passes draft law requiring Palestinians to pay for their own home demolitions
Jello Biafra cancels his Tel Aviv gig
The State of the Struggle: Revolution and Counter-revolution in the Arab World – on how Middle Eastern and North African civil society movements have initiated, expanded, and given peoples across the region the motivation to rise up to join this “Arab Spring.”
Basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar cancels Israel appearance in a slam-dunk for BDS
IOF troops fire at citizens homes south of Gaza
Made before his death, this film follows human rights activist Vittorio Arrigoni as he tries to help the people of Gaza.
An Israeli trap for Britain : In arresting Sheikh Raed Salah, the UK authorities support the persecution of Arab citizens of Israel
From UK prison, Palestinian leader Sheikh Raed Salah says he will fight deportation
Australian surgeons operate in Gaza
‘Listen, I can’t play in Israel when the Palestinians have no access to the same fundamental benefits that the Israelis do.’ I think the best approach is to boycott a government that seems hell-bent on very destructive policies.

Despicable racism: Israel seeking to dump its ‘surplus non-human’ African refugees on Australia.

The new plan was developed by a committee headed by MK Danny Danon (Likud), head of the Absorption Committee, who presented the plan to Australian parliamentarians who were visiting the Knesset. The leading parliamentarian who is leading the efforts from the Australian side is MP Michael Danby, who heads one of the relevant committees there and is considered very close to Israel.

The Australian representatives agreed to push the initiative and are scheduled to return to Australia this weekend to discuss the Israeli proposal. “The place for refugees from Africa is not in Israel,” said MK Danon. “If we don’t deal with this problem, we will find ourselves in a few years with a large Muslim refugeecommunity living among us. The proposal we’ve made would give a humanitarian answer [to the problem] without harming Israel’s fabric of life

Blog Wars: Pamela Geller vs. Gates of Vienna and the EDL?

Other Links

Leaks, sources and passing the salt