The Stalled Voyage of St. Mariam Rannie Amiri, CounterPunch 8/27/2010 Why is Israel Terrified of a Ship Full of Women? “We will not even bring cooking knives.” – Samar al-Hajj, coordinator of the all-women Lebanese aid vessel Mariam The bloody wake left by the Mavi Marmara after the May 31 Israeli commando raid has not deterred 50 female activists from trying to break the four-year-old siege of Gaza. To hear Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak speak of their planned relief effort, one would think the very existence of Israel was at stake. The women plan to set sail aboard the Saint Mariam, a Bolivian-flagged cargo ship named in honor of the Virgin Mary, a figure sacred to both Christians and Muslims. Although they intend to depart from Tripoli, Lebanon, the crew is not only composed of multi-faith Lebanese but foreign nationals as well, including a group of nuns from the United States. So as not to give Israel pretext to attack, Hezbollah deliberately did not sponsor the mission nor were any members allowed to participate. Its cargo? Books, toys, medical instruments and supplies, and most importantly, anticancer medication. The ship cannot sail directly from Tripoli to Gaza since Lebanon and Israel remain technically at war (and Israel controls Gaza’s territorial waters) and thus must pass through a third country first. The Mariam was scheduled to leave for Cyprus last Sunday but authorities in Nicosia, capitulating to Israeli pressure, prohibited use of its ports for vessels departing to Gaza. Without the green light from Cyprus, Lebanon’s Transport and Public Works Minister Ghazi Aridi was forced to cancel the voyage until another country with whom Lebanon enjoys maritime relations could be found. Negotiations with Greece are now under way.more..e-mail
The State and Local Bases of Zionist Power in America James Petras Ph.D, Information Clearing House 9/1/2010 Any serious effort to understand the extraordinary influence of the Zionist power configuration over US foreign policy must examine the presence of key operatives in strategic positions in the government and the activities of local Zionist organizations affiliated with mainstream Jewish organizations and religious orders. There are at least 52 major American Jewish organizations actively engaged in promoting Israel’s foreign policy, economic and technological agenda in the US (see the appendix). The grassroots membership ranges from several hundred thousand militants in the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) to one hundred thousand wealthy contributors, activists and power brokers in the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). In addition scores of propaganda mills, dubbed think tanks, have been established by million dollar grants from billionaire Zionists including the Brookings Institute (Haim Saban) and the Hudson Institute among others. Scores of Zionist funded political action committees (PAC) have intervened in all national and regional elections, controlling nominations and influencing election outcomes. Publishing houses, including university presses have been literally taken over by Zionist zealots, the most egregious example being Yale University, which publishes the most unbalanced tracts parroting Zionist parodies of Jewish history (Financial Times book review section August 28/29 2010). New heavily funded Zionist projects designed to capture young Jews and turn them into instruments of Israeli foreign policy includes “Taglit-Birthright” which has spent over $250 million dollars over the past decade sending over a quarter-million Jews (between 18-26) to Israel for 10 days of intense brainwashing (Boston Globe August 26, 2010). Jewish billionaires and the Israeli state foot the bill. The students are subject to a heavy dose of Israeli style militarism as they are accompanied by Israeli soldiers as part of their indoctrination; at no point do they visit the West Bank, Gaza or East Jerusalem (Boston Globe August 26, 2010). They are urged to become dual citizens and even encouraged to serve in the Israeli armed forces. In summary the 52 member organizations of the Presidents of the Major American Jewish Organizations which we discuss are only the tip of the iceberg of the Zionist Power Configuration....more..e-mail
Israel Threatens War with Lebanon Stephen Lendman, Dissident Voice 8/31/2010 Palestine is belligerently occupied. Threats continue against Iran and Syria as well as Lebanon, specifically Hezbollah, elected partner in the nation’s unity government, bogusly designated a US State Department Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), what Israel also calls it, repeating veiled and overt warnings, suggesting violence or an impending attack. Why not, after so many earlier in 1978, 1982, 1993, 1996, and 2006. Also numerous incidents besides: – refusing to comply with UN Security Council Resolution 425 by occupying South Lebanon belligerently and illegally for 18 years until mostly, but not entirely, withdrawing in May 2000 – still holding Sheba Farms, the 14-square mile water-rich land near Syria’s Golan, also illegally occupied since 1967; in addition, Ghajar, the Lebanese village bordering Golan; – during its occupation, using a proxy Christian South Lebanon Army as enforcer, UNIFIL Blue Helmets giving them and the IDF free reign instead of maintaining peace, how UN forces always operate, as paramilitaries against people they’re supposed to protect; and – for over 40 years, repeatedly violating Lebanon’s territory, often daily, including 12 Israeli jet overflights on August 19. Hezbollah: Israel’s Pretext for Incursions, Violence and War Hezbollah was born out of Israel’s 1982 Lebanon invasion, its horrific war slaughtering around 18,000 people, mostly civilians, including in the Sabra and Shatila camps, what journalist Robert Fisk called “one of the most shocking war crimes of the 20th century.”more..e-mail
Why Israel imprisoned my best friend Electronic Intifada: 2 Sep 2010 - And just as Israel has gradually increased restrictions of where we can go, the boundaries of what is permissible to do as a Palestinian have narrowed markedly. We have reached a point where peaceful protest is unacceptable to the Israeli state and military legislation has been constructed to criminalize and throw in jail anyone who dares to publicly voice dissent. Mohammed Khatib comments....more
"Solidarity with the entire Palestinian people" Electronic Intifada: 2 Sep 2010 - The BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights recently published Rights in Principle -- Rights in Practice , which examines a rights-based approach to crafting durable solutions for Palestinian refugees. The Electronic Intifada contributor Adri Nieuwhof interviews BADIL director Ingrid Jaradat Gassner on the organization's work and the new book....more
"Bureaucratic weapons worse than bombs" Electronic Intifada: 1 Sep 2010 - Firas al-Maraghi from the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan in occupied East Jerusalem has been on hunger strike outside the Israeli embassy in Berlin since 26 July. Al-Maraghi is striking in protest of the Israeli Ministry of Interior's refusal to include his German-born daughter and wife on his Jerusalem residency permit. Bridget Chappell interviews al-Maraghi for The Electronic Intifada....more
Bedouin's legal fight threatens Jewish state Electronic Intifada: 1 Sep 2010 - Nuri al-Uqbi's small cinderblock home in a ramshackle neighborhood of Hura, a Bedouin town in Israel's Negev desert, hardly looks like the epicenter of a legal struggle that some observers say threatens Israel's Jewish character....more
Lifta's legacy under threat Electronic Intifada: 1 Sep 2010 - There are few villages in historic Palestine which invoke the memories of the Nakba (the 1948 dispossession of the Palestinian people) as does Lifta. However, Lifta's architectural legacy is under threat as Israel moves to Judaize the formerly pluralistic Palestinian village....more
Palestinians protest the PA cabinet's announcement of an "indefinite" delay in municipal elections Palestine Monitor: 2 Sep 2010 - What happened in Hebron proved our point; we need a unified Palestinian position," Palestinian National Initiative leader Mustafa Barghouthi said following a mass rally in Ramallah on Wednesday. The protest, planned immediately after PA forces quashed a news conference on 25 August, was coordinated by leftist Palestinian factions, independent parties and several prominent philanthropists and business people involved with recent attempts to restore unity. The parties demonstrated against the return to peace talks under the conditions set out by Israel. "There were no conditions set out for the success of these talks," Barghouthi said. "There were no terms of reference and Israel has been given a veto." Barghouthi explained that in going forward with direct talks without guarantees, like a promised halt to settlement construction in the West Bank, the Palestinian government was going in without the confidence of the Palestinian people and without their support. "These talks will fail,......more
Mitchell's Quick-fix Fake Peace Palestine Chronicle: 1 Sep 2010 - By Stuart Littlewood –London On the eve of the silliest peace talks in history, the big question is this. What makes Obama's envoy George Mitchell, a negotiator of high repute, say there is 'no role' for Hamas? The talks are silly because they seek to overturn what the United Nations has already decided for resolving the Israel-Palestine conflict and drive a bulldozer through the building blocks of justice. It might be music to Zionist ears, but to people of good will it’s a cruel, futile and immensely damaging ploy. The talks are also silly because they bring together two people who by no stretch of the imagination could qualify as partners for peace. And they sit down under the auspices of a third party with an appalling track record in the Middle East and whom no-one trusts to act fairly. So Mitchell has been dealt a terrible hand. The former......more
Claim for Native Title Threatens Jewish State Palestine Chronicle: 1 Sep 2010 - By Jonathan Cook - Hura, the Negev Nuri al Uqbi's small cinderblock home in a ramshackle neighbourhood of Hura, a Bedouin town in Israel’s Negev desert, hardly looks like the epicentre of a legal struggle that some observers say threatens Israel's Jewish character. Inside, the 68-year-old Bedouin activist has stacks of bulging folders of tattered and browning documents, many older than the state of Israel itself, that he hopes will overturn decades of harsh government policy towards the Negev’s 180,000 Bedouin. For the past few months, Mr al Uqbi has been in court pursuing a case that has pitted his own expert witnesses against those of the state. Mr al Uqbi claims the right to return to a patch of 82 hectares in the Negev, close to the regional capital, Beersheva, that he says has belonged to his family for generations. But as both the government and the judge in......more
The Real 'Crisis': Yale's Pro-Israeli Conference Palestine Chronicle: 31 Aug 2010 - By Stephen Lendman On August 25, Yale University ended a three day global anti-Semitism 'crisis' conference promoting the notion that Israeli criticism is "anti-Semitic," no matter how justified. Boola boola, for shame, mighty Yale displaying the same type anti-Islamic hatred virulent throughout America, raging daily in headlines over the proposed New York City Islamic cultural center, falsely called a mosque, but does it matter? What matters is racism, hate-mongering, and persecuting Muslims for political advantage - on display at Yale for a three day propaganda hate fest. Imagine what's taught in its classrooms. The Yale Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Antisemitism (YIISA) Calling itself "dedicated to the scholarly research of the origins and manifestations associated with antisemitism globally, as well as other forms of prejudice, including racisms, as it relates to policy," YIISA presented its "Global Antisemitism: A Crisis of Modernity conference, at a time the supposed "crisis" is......more
Defence of Apartheid Israel Unjustifiable Palestine Chronicle: 31 Aug 2010 - By Iqbal Jassat – Pretoria I wonder whether pro-Israeli apologists ever sense the sheer hopelessness of their desperate attempts to shield the apartheid regime from legitimate and necessary criticism. Having had the misfortune of reading the misguided views of Benjamin Pogrund [Sunday Independent, August 29], I am convinced that his angry attempt to admonish South Africans vis-à-vis their negative stance against Israel, reflects poor judgment. By calling into question the actions of striking people within the public sector, he then demands that due to the unacceptable behavior accompanying the strikes, South Africa has no right to stand in judgment of poor little Israel. Apart from the total lack of logic in his futile attempt to exploit the legitimate grievances of strikers, Pogrund displayed his unashamed loyalty to a pariah state that has been stripped of all morality due to its aggressive policies of oppression, occupation, racism and unending wars of......more
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