US Campaign to End the Occupation - Last week, the Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC) issued an international call for the World Social Forum Free Palestine , scheduled to take place in November 2012 in Porto Alegre, Brazil. In an email message to solidarity groups publicizing the call,...
US Campaign to End the Occupation - When it comes to the so-called Israeli-Palestinian "peace process," the State Department daily press briefings have truly degenerated into a farce in which the mainstream media refuses to believe any longer. Take, for example, yesterday's briefing , during which a succession...
US Campaign to End the Occupation - Posted today by the Institute for Middle East Understanding... This weekend, the first national conference bringing together American supporters of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement takes place at the University of Pennsylvania. We discuss the conference, the controversy...
US Campaign to End the Occupation - Noura Erakat, a former US Campaign National Organizer and Legal Advocate, published today an important policy brief--" Beyond Sterile Negotiations: Looking for a Leadership with a Strategy "--examining alternatives for both rights-based and political program-based strategies for achieving Palestinian human...
US Campaign to End the Occupation - The Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) of Israel has been endorsed by two US delegations recently returned from fact finding missions to occupied Palestine and Israel. US Campaign member group US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural...
Mondoweiss - @import "http://embed.tweetizen.com/embed.css"; Phil, Alex and Annie are in Philadelphia for the Penn BDS conference , and while we wait for their first report we thought we'd bring you up to speed on the story to this point. Here was our reporting...
Mondoweiss - New York Police Chief, Ray Kelly How is it possible that New York police chief Ray Kelly still has a job? Days after news broke that Kelly gamely sat for an interview for The Third Jihad , the anti-Muslim agitprop-cum-police training...
Mondoweiss - As Alan Dershowitz forcefully inserts himself into the BDS debate, it is helpful to recall Dershowtiz’s own insight into who should and should not be accepted as a “serious” thinker on peace in the Middle East. In his 2005 volume...
Mondoweiss - From the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee : Border Police Shoot French Woman in the Neck During Nabi Saleh Demo The woman was hit in the back of her neck with a tear-gas projectile shot directly at her by a group of...
Mondoweiss - Video streaming by Ustream U Stream of BDS proposal at Occupy Oakland, starts at 13:20. (Video: Spencer Mills / OakFoSho ) Last Wednesday at the amphitheatre in front of Oakland’s city hall, occupiers endorsed Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against the state...
Foreign Policy in Focus - The Project for Government Oversight has written a letter to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta reminding him that it's U.S. taxpayers who pay for nuclear weapons in Europe.
FAIR - The conventional understanding you get from the media is that Israel is worried that a nuclear-armed Iran would pose a serious threat to the country's existence. Is that really what's happening, though? Another interpretation is that Iran might want nuclear...
FAIR - If you've read FAIR's latest alert on ABC's Iran propaganda, let ABC know how you feel. And please post your letters/comments in the thread below.
FAIR - New York Times columnist David Brooks , who's been called the "bard of the 1 percent" for his writings in defense of the economic elite, is at it again--telling people not to worry about the concentration of wealth at the very...
FAIR - New York Times reporter Jennifer Steinhauer ( 2/2/12 ) accurately reports how Republicans want to frame the disputed over the Keystone XL pipeline. But she does almost nothing to challenge that framing. Under the headline, "For GOP, Pipeline Is Central to Agenda,"...
Secretary
of State Clinton will give the keynote address at AIPAC's 2010
annual convention.
Declassified files detailing an FBI investigation
targeting the American Israel Public Affairs Committee are now available
on the Internet. AIPAC was investigated after it acquired and circulated
classified government information provided in strict confidence
by US industry and worker groups opposed to AIPAC sponsored economic
legislation. The 50 pages now available as portable document files
(PDF) include:
FBI reports of Israelis circulating classified documents
in the US Congress, "compromising" the authority of the
U.S. President. PDF
US Trade Representative concerns that AIPAC was
tactically "divulging" classified information supplied
by US industries opposed to AIPAC lobbying initiatives. PDF
Reports from the International Trade Commission
that AIPAC and Israeli operatives "usurped" US government
authority and that an Israeli intelligence service operative was
working undercover on AIPAC's staff: PDF
Internal Department of Justice prosecutorial opinions
that "theft of government property" had occurred: PDF
An FBI director order that the Washington
Field office give the AIPAC investigation top priority after Israeli
spy Jonathan Pollard was caught on video surveillance stealing classified
US national defense information: PDF
FBI special agent interviews of Israeli minister
of economics Dan Halpern who claimed diplomatic immunity. Halpern
admitted passing classified US documents to AIPAC but refused to
name his source: PDF
FBI special agent interviews of AIPAC's former director
of legislative affairs detailing how he made copies of the classified
documents for AIPAC's lobbying use after being ordered to return
them to the US government. PDF
FBI interviews of key AIPAC employees involved in
handling the classified US government information (full document
listing): Link
According to research director Grant F. Smith, the
newly released files present startling new insights into AIPAC's
activities in the United States.
more..
The
Israel Lobby
By John Mearsheimer
and Stephen Walt, London Review of Books, March 23, 2006
Secretary
of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld (left), escorts Israeli Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon into the Pentagon at the conclusion of
a full honor arrival ceremony for Sharon at the Pentagon, 19
March 2001. (Photo: Do/R. D. Ward)
For the past several decades, and especially
since the Six-Day War in 1967, the centrepiece of US Middle Eastern
policy has been its relationship with Israel. The combination of
unwavering support for Israel and the related effort to spread ‘democracy’
throughout the region has inflamed Arab and Islamic opinion and
jeopardised not only US security but that of much of the rest of
the world. This situation has no equal in American political history.
Why has the US been willing to set aside its own security and that
of many of its allies in order to advance the interests of another
state? One might assume that the bond between the two countries
was based on shared strategic interests or compelling moral imperatives,
but neither explanation can account for the remarkable level of
material and diplomatic support that the US provides.
Instead, the thrust of US policy in the region
derives almost entirely from domestic politics, and especially the
activities of the ‘Israel Lobby’. Other special-interest
groups have managed to skew foreign policy, but no lobby has managed
to divert it as far from what the national interest would suggest,
while simultaneously convincing Americans that US interests and
those of the other country – in this case, Israel –
are essentially identical.
Bush
Restrains Sharon (Arabia.com)
Since the October War in 1973, Washington has provided
Israel with a level of support dwarfing that given to any other
state. It has been the largest annual recipient of direct economic
and military assistance since 1976, and is the largest recipient
in total since World War Two, to the tune of well over $140 billion
(in 2004 dollars). Israel receives about $3 billion in direct assistance
each year, roughly one-fifth of the foreign aid budget, and worth
about $500 a year for every Israeli. This largesse is especially
striking since Israel is now a wealthy industrial state with a per
capita income roughly equal to that of South Korea or Spain. more..
Report: Panetta thinks Israel may strike Iran this spring 2/3/2012 - WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta believes there is a growing possibility Israel will attack Iran as early as April to stop Tehran from building a nuclear bomb, US media reported on Thursday. The Washington Post first reported that Panetta was concerned about the increased likelihood Israel would launch an attack over the next.... Related: Israel: Quick Iran curbs may obviate need for strike [uruknet.info] Iraq snapshot - February 2, 2012 Uruknet February 2, 2012. Chaos and violence continue, Nouri's war on Iraqiya continues, and the US Congress flaunts ignorance in every way possible in a Subcommittee hearing... Trudy Rubin (Philadelphia Inquirer) who explains the medical doctor Riyadh al-Adhadh is the latest victim in Nouri's power grab and how she met the doctor over eight years ago through... Both sides are wrong in the ‘Israel Firsters’ debate Mondoweiss - Is it antisemitic to accuse someone of being an "Israel firster"? For the past few weeks some of the most prominent American liberal commentators and Jeffrey Goldberg have been shouting at each other about this, after former AIPAC-er Josh Block orchestrated a smear campaign against two... Obama Administration: U.S. Would ‘Come to Israel’s Defense’ If Iran Attacked It Tikun Olam - David Ignatius published an alarming story in today’s Washington Post , in which he quotes Leon Panetta predicting an Israeli attack on Iran in “April, May or June.” Buried deeper within the article is an even more chilling passage: Administration officials caution that Tehran shouldn’t misunderstand: The... Israel Lobby on Campus in Illinois: A Challenge for BDS Palestine Chronicle: 3 Feb 2012 - By David Green I only recently learned of Illinois Governor Pat Quinn's trip to Israel this past summer (2011) for a 'week-long educational mission where he sealed two important agreements and received briefings from high-ranking Israeli officials, academic experts and business leaders on topics ranging from high-tech development (read Motorola), energy, water conservation and environmentalism (sic) to disaster preparedness, Iran, and U.S.-Israel relations.' This is reported on the website of Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago. The reader is expected, of course, to find the high-minded and triumphant tone of this article to be unproblematic. The article states: “The Governor’s educational visit was part of a JUF initiative that, for the past two decades, has brought influential leaders to Israel.” Quinn signed a “formal agreement on academic cooperation between Ben Gurion University of the Negev in Beersheba and the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) to establish a wide-ranging...more Let it snow, let it snow, let it... rain Jerusalem Post 2 Feb 2012 - JPost special feature: A Library of Congress photograph collection that documents pre-state Israel. [uruknet.info] Dempsey Told Israelis U.S. Won't Join Their War on Iran Uruknet February 2, 2012 - Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey told Israeli leaders Jan. 20 that the United States would not participate in a war against Iran begun by Israel without prior agreement from Washington, according to accounts from well-placed senior military officers. Dempsey's warning, conveyed to both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu... [uruknet.info] Iraq snapshot - February 1, 2012 Uruknet February 1, 2012 - Chaos and violence continue, the political crisis continues, Iraq executes 17 people, the VA plays Abbot & Costello while testifying to -- or babbling before -- Congress, and more... In Iraq, the political crisis continues and this crisis was created by the White House when they overruled the will of the Iraqi... White House: Iran sanctions not aimed at oil markets Daily Star 2 Feb 2012 The White House said on Thursday the Iran sanctions proposed by Congress should be enforced in a way that does not hurt the United States' allies or disrupt oil markets. Obama Administration Says U.S. Would ‘Come to Israel’s Defense’ If Iran Attacked It Tikun Olam - David Ignatius published an alarming story in today’s Washington Post , in which he quotes Leon Panetta predicting an Israeli attack on Iran in “April, May or June.” Buried deeper within the article is an even more chilling passage: Administration officials caution that Tehran shouldn’t misunderstand: The... The Iraq war coverup: What did AIPAC do and when did it do it? Mondoweiss - Howard Kohr of AIPAC As I pointed out yesterday, t he Center for American Progress (CAP), a Democratic-Party-linked thinktank in D.C., has met quietly with officials of the Israel lobby group AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) and explicitly sought to squelch suggestions by its own... Dempsey Told Israelis U.S. Won’t Join Their War on Iran Dissident Voice: 2 Feb 2012 - IPS — Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey told Israeli leaders January 20 that the United States would not participate in a war against Iran begun by Israel without prior agreement from Washington, according to accounts from well-placed senior military officers . Dempsey’s warning, conveyed to both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak, represents the strongest move yet by President Barack Obama to deter an Israeli attack and ensure that the United States is not caught up in a regional conflagration with Iran. But the Israeli government remains defiant about maintaining its freedom of action to make war on Iran, and it is counting on the influence of right-wing extremist views in U.S. politics to bring pressure to bear on Obama to fall into line with a possible Israeli attack during the election campaign this fall. Obama still appears reluctant to break publicly and...more Khamenei criticizes US 'interference' in Syria Jerusalem Post 31 Jan 2012 - Iranian supreme leader slams Arab countries for aligning themselves with Washington while supporting reforms in Damascus. Romney’s battle in FL was to show Adelson he is OK on Israel –TNR Mondoweiss - Adelson Your Israel lobby at work. Noam Scheiber reports at the New Republic that Romney's big goal in Florida was to convince Sheldon Adelson to drop Newt (whom he and his wife have given $10 million) and come over to his side. So Sheldon Adelson is... Iran's Khamenei criticizes US 'interference' in Syria Jerusalem Post 31 Jan 2012 - Iranian supreme leader slams Arab countries for aligning themselves with Washington while supporting reforms in Damascus. Washington Watch: Rats deserting the sinking ship Jerusalem Post 31 Jan 2012 - Hamas is pulling up stakes and looking for a new home as Syria becomes engulfed in a bloody uprising. Mossad chief in Washington for Iran talks: media Daily Star 31 Jan 2012 The head of Israel's intelligence service, Tamir Pardo, is in Washington for talks about a possible attack on Iran's nuclear installations, Israeli media reported on Tuesday. U.S. officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran LA Times 31 Jan 2012 - Even as Al Qaeda's ability to attack the United States continues to diminish, Iran is more willing to attack the United States and American interests overseas, the top U.S. intelligence official told Congress on Tuesday. Grandstanding and Betrayal Franklin Lamb, CounterPunch 1/31/2012 From Florida to Beirut Shatila Camp, Lebanon In the US, it would be a difficult task to find even more revolting and groveling intellectual “half-men” to borrow a phrase from Syria’s beleaguered President Bashar Assad than Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich during their recent “debate” in Jacksonville Florida. While a high percentage of Republican Jewish voters will go to the polls in this winner-take-all primary, Mitt and Newt are also pondering their national fundraising networks as they gratuitously misrepresented history and betrayed their claimed religious and moral beliefs. Romney repeated his screed that President Obama “threw Israel under the bus” by following international law, seven UN Security Council Resolutions and world opinion by designating the pre-1967 borders as the starting point for peace talks. He also complained that America’s President “disrespected” Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu when Obama spoke recently at the UN and mentioned in passing illegal Israeli settlement building but did not discuss retaliatory rockets being fired from Gaza into occupied Palestinian territory. Genuflecting just as obsequiously to the Zionist lobby, Gingrich insisted to Florida voters once again that “Palestinians are an ‘invented people who historically were considered Jordanians and Syrians.” No one in the audience was so impolite as to remind the claimed student of history that Jordan did not even exist until created by the pro-Zionist British occupiers of Palestine, well into the 20th Century, while Palestinians have lived in Palestine for more than 3000 years....more..e-mail World: LiveAtState: Foreign Policy Priorities for 2012 Relief Web 29 Jan 2012 - Source: US Department of State Country: World , Afghanistan , Bangladesh , Iraq , occupied Palestinian territory , Pakistan , Serbia , Syrian Arab Republic (the) , United States of America (the) Interview Jake Sullivan Director of Policy Planning Washington, DC January 24, 2012 MS. JENSEN: Hi. Welcome... Our World: Hamas and the Washington establishment Jerusalem Post 30 Jan 2012 - Contrary to popular analysis, the Syrian popular rebellion against Assad has not seriously damaged Hamas. US Embassy houses citizens as Egypt eyes NGOs Jerusalem Post 30 Jan 2012 - Egyptian military delegation expected in Washington for regular talks expected to focus in large part on the impasse over NGOs. [uruknet.info] One State, Two States: Who Is the Subject of Palestinian Liberation? Uruknet January 28, 2012 - One state or two? Boycott of Israeli goods or goods from the settlements? Is the lobby the genesis of American wrongdoing in Palestine or is it imperialism? The questions -- regarding vision, strategy, and analysis -- produce sharp cleavages on the Left. Indeed, generally ones much deeper than they need to be.... Congress Party 'must win' Punjab polls The National 28 Jan 2012 - Punjab election over unemployment, political corruption and a stagnant economy could reshape the balance of power in India's upper house. Washington Wages War of Sanctions against Iran Intifada-Palestine: 27 Jan 2012 - European Union foreign ministers have formally adopted an oil embargo against Iran over its nuclear program By Ismail Salami Intifada-Palestine.com Washington’s double-edged sword of policies towards the Islamic Republic is not only exhausting the patience of the Iranian nation but it... more Dennis Ross: Still present, but not accounted for Mondoweiss - Dennis Ross When Dennis Ross , the controversial peace process negotiator and Iran-war booster, left the Obama administration in November for the AIPAC-affiliated Washington Institute for Near East Policy, it seemed like just another example of the revolving, Israel-Lobby door – a well-oiled door by which Israel... Uncomfortable silence George S. Hishmeh, Arabic Media Internet Network (AMIN) 1/26/2012 It is unbelievable, actually bewildering, that an American newspaperman should suggest that one of three options facing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the conflict with Iran is to assassinate the US president. Although he did not mention Barack Obama by name, all those who read the column felt he was the target. But what is equally appalling is the failure of the American media, by and large, to cover this shocking development that surfaced two weeks ago on a website. It hardly attracted national attention except within the influential American Jewish community and the American Jewish media, since the author of the column was the Jewish publisher and editor of the Atlanta Jewish Times. An Arab-American who runs a think-tank in Washington, but refused to be identified, wondered, in an email sent to me, what the consequences would have been had the author been an Arab-American. Certainly, the uproar would have been sky-high. Meanwhile, the New York Times, much to its credit, exclusively reported that a shady feature film titled The Third Jihad was shown to nearly 1,500 police officers as part of training in the New York Police Department. What the film showed, the Times found out, was “Muslim terrorists shoot Christians in the head, car bombs explode, executed children lie covered by sheets and a doctored photograph shows an Islamic flag flying by the White House. The newspaper continued: “News that police trainers showed this film so extensively comes as the department wrestles with its relationship with the city’s large Muslim community.” It added that the police department offers no apology for “aggressively” spying on Muslim groups although civil rights advocates say the department, “in its zeal, has trampled on civil rights, blurred lines between foreign and domestic spying and sown fear among Muslims”.more..e-mail Washington Wages War of Sanctions against Iran Palestine Chronicle: 27 Jan 2012 - By Ismail Salami – Tehran Washington's double-edged sword of policies towards the Islamic Republic is not only exhausting the patience of the Iranian nation but it is provoking the ire of international conscience as well. Goaded by Washington, EU foreign ministers decided on January 23 to impose a ban on oil imports from Iran under the fickle excuse that the country is pursuing a clandestine nuclear weapons program. In a recent stance, Iran has threatened that it would never let a situation prevail where regional states could sell their oil while Iran couldn't. Ali Akbar Velayati, senior adviser to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, has said, "When there is an absence of Iranian supply, oil prices will soar up dramatically and the western countries are well aware of this fact; However, Iran will never allow itself to land in a situation in which it cannot...more ISIS: Iran won't move toward nuclear weapon in 2012 1/26/2012 - WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Iran is unlikely to move toward building a nuclear weapon this year because it does not yet have the capability to produce enough weapon-grade uranium, a draft report by the Institute for Science and International Security said on Wednesday. The report by the institute founded by nuclear expert David Albright offered a more.... Congress of J'lem issues annual report on Israel's violations in O. Jerusalem PIC - The popular national congress of Jerusalem stated that the Israeli government during 2011 approved plans to build 14, 985 settlement units in occupied Jerusalem. Bringing Egypt to Capitol Hill Arab American Institute 25 Jan 2012 - Next Tuesday, January 31, AAI will be hosting a congressional briefing on Egypt: One Year after the Revolution, featuring Ashraf Khalil and Dr. Jim Zogby. Yemen's Gears of Counter-Revolution Palestine Chronicle: 26 Jan 2012 - By James Gundun – Washington, D.C. The rise of asymmetric warfare has suspended the possibility of entrenched conflicts fought between conventional armies, bringing dreaded 'meat grinders' to a halt. Now entire populations are subjected to the political gears of fourth-generation warfare (4GW), and the fear of uncertainty is drawn equally from their own governments and fellow citizens. Yemenis currently find themselves smashed between enormous grinders: Ali Abdullah Saleh’s regime, the oppositional Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) and foreign powers holding interests in their country. These forces recently collided amid al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s (AQAP) high-profile “capture” of Rada’a, a modest town located 100 miles south of the capital. Like Yemen’s southern governorates and the local capital of Zinjibar (Abyan), Rada’a serves as a microcosm for everything wrong with international policy in Yemen. While headlines blared “AQAP takeover,” JMP officials and democratic activists busied themselves detailing Saleh’s mastery of sacrificing a...more 'Obama set to accelerate pace of US aid to Egypt' Jerusalem Post 25 Jan 2012 - US State Department official says Washington to provide "more immediate benefits" to Egyptians after elections. [uruknet.info] California professor under attack for opposing "study in Israel" scheme Uruknet January 25, 2012 - A mathematics professor at the California State University at Northridge is the target of an attack campaign by various pro-Israel lobby groups and individuals because he maintains a website that supports the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, and for his outspoken criticism of Israeli policies. Recently, Dr. David Klein has come under... Confronting Iran: Warmongering in the Middle East Richard Falk, Al Jazeera.com 1/25/2012 The last time Iran attacked a neighbour was over 200 years ago, so what is the problem with the country going nuclear? Santa Barbara, CA - The public discussion in the West addressing Iran's nuclear programme has mainly relied on threat diplomacy, articulated most clearly by Israeli officials, but enjoying the strong direct and indirect backing of Washington and leading Gulf states. Israel has also been engaging in low intensity warfare against Iran for several years, apparently supported by the United States, that has been inflicting violent deaths on civilians and disrupting political order in Iran. Many members of the UN Security Council, along with the membership of the European Union, support escalating sanctions against Iran, and have not demurred when Tel Aviv and Washington talk menacingly about leaving all options on the table, which is "diplospeak" for their readiness to launch a military attack. At last, some signs of sanity are beginning to emerge to slow the march over the cliff. For instance, the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, commented harshly on this militarist approach: "I have no doubt that it would pour fuel on a fire which is already smoldering, the hidden smoldering fire of Sunni-Shia confrontation, and beyond that [it would cause] a chain reaction. I don't know where it would stop." And a few days ago even the normally hawkish Israeli Minister of Defence, Ehud Barak, evidently fearful of encouraging international panic and perhaps worrying about a preemptive response by Tehran, declared that any decision to launch a military attack by Israel is "very far off", words that can be read in a variety of ways, mostly not reassuring. It is not only an American insistence, despite purporting from time to time to prefer a diplomatic solution, that only threats and force are relevant to resolve this long incubating political dispute with Iran, but more tellingly, it is the underlying stubborn refusal by Washington for more than three decades to normalise relations with Iran....more..e-mail California professor under attack for opposing "study in Israel" scheme Electronic Intifada: 25 Jan 2012 - Nora Barrows-Friedman Berkeley 25 January 2012 The well-funded Israel lobby continues to wage attacks against university faculty, staff and students who engage in Palestine solidarity activism. One professor talks about why he refuses to be silent despite the threats against him, and why he thinks the tide is turning.more [uruknet.info] Iran puts US and Israel on 'collision course' Uruknet January 23, 2012 -- ISRAEL has warned the US's top general that it will give Washington just 12 hours' notice if it decides to launch a strike against Iran's nuclear facilities...Publicly the Americans and Israelis are playing down their differences. But Ron Ben-Yishai, a leading defence commentator, wrote last week on the Ynet website that "Israel... Seeing Rawan Yaghi on Skype Mondoweiss - On Sunday I got up early to do a Skype call to Gaza. Yousef Aljamal was hosting a session of the Center for Political Development Studies . Yousef's students were going to ask me questions about the role of the Israel lobby and the American Jewish community... Washington Moves the World Closer to War Palestine Chronicle: 23 Jan 2012 - By Paul Craig Roberts Washington is moving the world toward a dangerous war. The Obama regime is using its Ministry of Propaganda, a.k.a., the American media, to spread the story that President Obama, Pentagon chief Panetta, and other high US officials are delivering strong warnings to Israel not to attack Iran. For someone as familiar with Washington as I am, I recognize these reports for what they are. They are Br’er Rabbit telling Br’er Fox “please don’t throw me in the briar patch.” If you don’t know the Uncle Remus stories, you have missed a lot. Br’er Rabbit was born and raised in the briar patch. What these “leaked” stories of Washington’s warnings and protests to Israel are all about is to avoid Washington’s responsibility for the war Washington has prepared. If the war gets out of hand, and if Russia and China intervene or nukes start flying, Washington wants...more Iran War: US Eyes Mideast Gendarme Role Palestine Chronicle: 23 Jan 2012 - By Ismail Salami – Tehran The temptation of attacking Iran long entertained by Washington and Israel is gradually crystallizing into a reality of fear and angst and has already become an alarmingly worrisome idea even for those who are wont to see the glass half full. Amidst an escalating crisis following an exchange of threats between Washington and Tehran, US Army Gen. Martin Dempsey has visited Israel to discuss what is claimed to be an effort to stop a possible Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear sites. This is at least what Western media has been reporting with the manifest purpose of depicting the US government as Mr. Nice Guy who wishes to stop an Israeli attack without having any intention of its own to participate in another military expedition in the Middle East. Is this a sudden political volte face? Indeed, Washington has been acting very strangely lately. US President...more U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords resigning to focus on recovery Ha'aretz - 22 Jan 2012 US lawmaker Giffords quitting to focus on recovery Jerusalem Post 22 Jan 2012 - "I have more work to do on my recovery, so to do what is best for Arizona I will step down," congresswoman says year after shooting. [uruknet.info] Yemen Officials: Saleh to Depart for Oman, Then US Uruknet January 21, 2012 - Outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh will leave soon to Oman, en route to medical treatment in the United States, Yemeni officials said on Saturday, part of an American effort to get the embattled strongman out of the country to allow a peaceful transition from his rule. Washington has been trying for weeks... [uruknet.info] Two lessons from the Megaupload seizure Uruknet January 21, 2012 - Two events this week produced some serious cognitive dissonance. First, Congressional leaders sheepishly announced that they were withdrawing (at least for the time being) two bills heavily backed by the entertainment industry - the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate and Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House - in... Adam Kirsch’s Fantasia on the Impact of the “Israel Lobby” The Magnes Zionist 22 Jan 2012 - Adam Kirsch has written a fantastic piece arguing that Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer’s The Israel Lobby, though universally rejected, has nonetheless had a significant impact on political discourse. By “fantastic” I mean that his account of the book’s thesis, its reception, and its impact, appears... Obama’s campaign video is ‘Israel firster’ material Mairav Zonszein, +972 Magazine 1/22/2012 As part of its bid to counter Republican attacks on its “pro-Israel” record, the Obama Administration has publicized its first campaign video directly addressing its treatment of Israel entitled: “America and Israel: An Unbreakable Bond.” The fact that the Obama Administration feels it must recruit the Prime Minister, Defense Minister and Israeli Ambassador — all of whom are responsible for the continued policy of discrimination, occupation, inequality and deceitful rhetoric that directly contradict stated American positions — to vouch for him is nauseating and infuriating. Why do they need this video anyway? After all, most American Jews – even those unsatisfied with Obama’s relation to Israel – vote democrat anyway and the ones who vote republican surely won’t convert because of this video. And besides, Obama has not done anything to challenge Israel’s rightwing agenda and policies so there is no actual reason for anyone to question his support (read: condoning) of Israeli actions. The fact that they do is a result of decades of “pro-Israel” bullying and occupation whitewashing – the hard work of organizations like AIPAC and figures like Josh Block. As my colleague Yossi Gurvitz just wrote following the Atlanta Jewish Times editorial calling for the assassination of Obama , there is no lack of examples of people prioritizing Israel’s rightwing agenda. "The fact that there is a debate on this issue – that such people ["Israel firsters"] exist – is silly to the extreme and assumes we are people with no sense of history. To put it in one word: Pollard. In two: AIPAC espionage. But we seem to be having just such a debate." -- See also: Video - YouTube: America and Israel: An Unbreakable Bondmore..e-mail Newt Gingrich: The most dangerous man in DC Noam Sheizaf, +972 Magazine 1/22/2012 There won’t be a real difference between another Obama term and a possible Romney presidency. But Gingrich – with his ties to the Israeli right, destructive track record from the 1990s and very personal connection to Netanyahu – could turn out to be a real nightmare Watching the American primaries makes for a mix of fun and moments of deep anxiety. Most of the time it’s like a good sports match, but every now and then you are reminded that the identity of the winner might have a real and clear impact on your life. After all, Israel has stopped being a foreign affairs issue in Washington a long time ago. Our very local politics are part of the strange and unpredictable American culture war; and – to quote Dimi Reider – our policies are often shaped by the myths, values and fears of people living far-far away. After signaling Israel as a topic through which they can score easy points against the administration, the Republicans are engaged in an all-out competition over who is more Zionist. Some of the ideas they are promoting would put them in the hard right in Israel, somewhere between the radical settlers and the heirs of Kahane. Often, they simply betray a very misinformed and shallow view of the political reality. For example, even a right-wing Israeli government would hesitate before following Rick Santorum’s advice to annex the West Bank, since it would constitute a formal adoption of apartheid. The two remaining viable candidates, Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney, are more knowledgeable and less prone to statements whose meaning they don’t fully understand. Romney is a careful man. Seeing himself as the “inevitable” candidate, he is careful not to box himself in positions that could make his life as president harder. The former governor hasn’t committed to moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem; he has refrained making degrading remarks like the one Gingrich made about the Palestinians, or from advocating ethnic cleansing like Mike Huckabee.more..e-mail U.S. Congress halts anti-piracy bills after Wikipedia-led online protest Ha'aretz - 21 Jan 2012 Iran War: US Eyes Mideast Gendarme Role Intifada-Palestine: 21 Jan 2012 - Iranians carry the flag-draped coffin of Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, the deputy director of the Natanz uranium enrichment plant. Photo: AP By Dr. Ismail Salami - Intifada-Palestine.com The temptation of attacking Iran long entertained by Washington and Israel is gradually crystallizing into... more Obama's message to Tehran: Direct war on Iran on back burner...for now? Voltaire Network 21 Jan 2012 - President Obama's recent overture to reset relations with Iran may prove to be as illusory as the images in this column. Subjected to Washington's uninterrupted shadow warfare, Tehran remains skeptical. Confined to a piecemeal approach, as Nazemroaya makes clear, Washington's road to Iran hinges on its... Iran calls for Israel to be 'punished' 1/20/2012 - TEHRAN/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -- An ally of Iran's supreme leader called on Friday for Israel to be "punished" for killing a nuclear scientist and the top US general urged his Israeli ally to coordinate with Washington as crisis builds in the Middle East. Alarmed Arab neighbors in the Gulf made a plea to scale.... 'US preparing to shut down embassy in Syria' Jerusalem Post 20 Jan 2012 - 'Washington Post' quotes senior officials as saying US has "no choice" but to close embassy, evacuate personnel unless Assad provides enhanced protection; Arab League leans toward extending observer mission. Why did Netanyahu choose AIPAC over Africa? Ha'aretz - 19 Jan 2012 [uruknet.info] The "anti-Semitism" smear campaign against CAP and Media Matters rolls on Uruknet January 19, 2012 - Last month, my Salon colleague Justin Elliott revealed that AIPAC's former spokesman, Josh Block, had been encouraging neoconservative journalists and pundits on a private email list to attack as "anti-Semites" various Middle East commentators employed by two of the most influential Democratic-Party-aligned organizations: the Center for American Progress (CAP) and Media Matters (... 'Sanctions not only option against Iran' YNet News, 19 Jan 2012 - US ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro says Washington has alternatives ready should sanctions on Islamic Republic fail .... Following weeks of smears, Zaid Jilani resigns from Center for American Progress to take new job Mondoweiss - Zaid Jilani Last month Israel lobbyist Josh Block smeared several writers who work for two Democratic Party-linked organizations-- Center for American Progress (CAP) and Media Matters-- as anti-semites. Since then, CAP has done little to stand up for its writers' comments, and today a writer targeted... NY labor leader says Netanyahu’s bad-faith negotiating tactics foster Arab ‘contempt’ for Israel (and Israeli official talks w/ his feet) Mondoweiss - Stuart Appelbaum A few weeks ago US ambassador to Belgium Howard Gutman upset the lobby when he said that Israel's actions were fostering anti-Semitism in Europe. Well NY labor leader Stuart Appelbaum has adopted a similar argument, blaming the crisis of the two-state solution on Israel.... New Pro-Israel Hasbara Meme: Blackwashing Tikun Olam - African American political leaders and students on Aipac Israel junket You’ve heard of pinkwashing , greenwashing –now “ blackwashing ” joins the cast of pro-Israel hasbara communities exploited in order to combat the major criticisms of Israeli policy toward the Palestinians. Pinkwashing is the effort to promote... Israel says 'very far' from decision to attack Iran 1/18/2012 - JERUSALEM (Reuters) -- Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Wednesday any decision about an attack on Iran was "very far off". Barak was speaking on Israel's Army Radio before a planned visit on Thursday by US armed forces chief General Martin Dempsey that has triggered speculation Washington will press Israel to delay any.... Related: Not-so-covert Iran war buys West time but raises tension Obama thanks Jordan for hosting talks 1/18/2012 - WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- US President Barack Obama said on Thursday he was looking to increase international pressure on Syria as the Arab League prepares to assess its effort to end 10 months of bloodshed. Speaking after he met Jordan's King Abdullah, Obama also warmly thanked Jordan for hosting three rounds of Israeli-Palestinian talks. The.... 'US 'aggressively' implementing Iran sanctions' Jerusalem Post 18 Jan 2012 - Senior US official pushes back against charges Obama isn't acting fast enough on sanctions but says Washington is open to "serious" negotiations with Iran on nuclear program. [uruknet.info] Wikipedia shuts down to protest censorship bills Uruknet January 18, 2012 - Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia, is shutting down for 24 hours today to protest internet censorship bills currently being considered by the US Congress. The Wikipedia Foundation announced its plan to make the English-language Wikipedia "go dark" in a press release posted on its site Monday. The move will coincide with similar... US: International pressure affecting Iran YNet News, 18 Jan 2012 - Senior Obama Administration official tells Israeli reporters Washington has set clear policy, timetable for tackling Iranian nuclear program .... Cantor–who promised Netanyahu Congress has your back– is named 3rd most powerful man in D.C. by GQ Mondoweiss - Eric Cantor GQ has published a list of the 50 most powerful people in Washington, excluding Obama and Biden, and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor is at the top of it. Cantor's pledge from November 2010: Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu... US Congress stomps on Palestinian ‘Sesame Street’ but funds Israeli version Mondoweiss - Daoud Kuttab exec producer of Palestinian version of Sesame Street, photo by Nasser Shiyoukhi, AP A piece by Daniel Estrin on National Public Radio last night. You rock, NPR! The U.S. lawmaker who ordered the hold on funding, Ros-Lehtinen, says that the U.S. should not support... Sudan: Ambassador Rice At U.N. On Nation, Syria and Russia allAfrica.com 18 Jan 2012 - State Department (Washington, DC)-Remarks by Ambassador Susan E. Rice, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, at the Security Council Stakeout on Sudan, January 17, 2012 Reinventing the Middle East lexicon Eric Walberg, Al-Ahram Weekly 1/12/2012 As US presidential elections approach, words are twisted to court voters, with the Republicans outdoing themselves. The language used by the Israel lobby has little to do with reality. The lexicon of Israel and its Western lobbyists constantly needs parsing to know just what is meant. Most glaringly is the term "settlers", which suggests peaceful pioneers wishing to integrate with the locals. In Israel, the word "settlers" is a loaded term, for they are "aggressive squatters, half a million of them in over 100 illegal colonies -- ugly blots on an otherwise lovely landscape... who terrorise local villagers, vandalise their crops, pollute their land and harass their children," as described by Stuart Littlewood. The Fourth Geneva Convention forbids that an occupying power transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies. Most recently we saw casual reference to native Christian and Muslim Palestinians as an "invented people". US Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich revived this insult, repeating Gold Meir's quip in 1969 to The Sunday Times. At the time, Israel was basking in its devastating victory in the 1967 war, occupying all of Palestine and Sinai. The eternal Sinai Bedouin are fortunate that Meir didn't have enough time -- or gall -- to claim that they too are a mere figment of some anti-Jewish schemer's imagination. Their cousins in the Negev desert are now being expelled to make way for 10 Jewish settlements "to attract a new population to the Negev". Meir was extrapolating on her more famous phrase, also recorded in the same Sunday Times interview, that Palestine was "a land without a people for a people without a land". Not only is this a cruel lie, one intended to justify theft of a people's land, but it is a case of plagiarism, as it was Lord Shaftsbury, an early enthusiast of using a Jewish state in the Middle East as an imperial beachhead, who first used the phrase in 1839.more..e-mail [uruknet.info] Libya: TNC releases anti-democratic draft electoral laws Uruknet January 17, 2012 - Libya's self-appointed Transitional National Council (TNC) last week released draft laws governing elections scheduled later this year for a "General National Congress." The Congress is supposed to elect a new government to replace the TNC, and draft a new constitution to be put to a referendum. The deeply anti-democratic draft electoral laws... Wikipedia to be blacked out over anti-piracy bill Daily Star 17 Jan 2012 Wikipedia will black out the English language version of its website Wednesday to protest anti-piracy legislation under consideration in Congress Chris Matthews pitches Israel lobby. Ted Koppel keeps bat on shoulder Mondoweiss - Ted Koppel Last night on Hardball, Chris Matthews went to commercial after teasing his next segment-- Ted Koppel on Super PACs . I turned to my wife and said, "Matthews wants to talk about Sheldon Adelson's attachment to Israel, and why he gave $5 million to Newt... Killings, explosions and Qatar's hysteria Voltaire Network 17 Jan 2012 - Arab Affairs Editorial: Killings, explosions and Qatar's hysteria When Washington takes a step backward while remaining along the course of escalation, hostility and intervention under the headline of guaranteeing the implementation of the Arab initiative and when Turkey carries out a similar retreat under the headline... Obama Delays U.S.-Israeli War Exercise Gareth Porter And Jim Lobe, CounterPunch 1/17/2012 Signal to Israel and Iran Washington D.C. - The postponement of a massive joint U.S.-Israeli military exercise appears to be the culmination of a series of events that has impelled the Barack Obama administration to put more distance between the United States and aggressive Israeli policies toward Iran. The exercise, called “Austere Challenge ’12? and originally scheduled for April, was to have been a simulation of a joint U.S.-Israeli effort to identify, track and intercept incoming missiles by integrating U.S. radar systems with the Israeli Arrow, Patriot and Iron Dome anti-missile defense systems. U.S. participation in such an exercise, obviously geared to a scenario involving an Iranian retaliation against an Israeli attack on its nuclear facilities, would have made the United States out to be a partner of Israel in any war that would follow an Israeli attack on Iran. Obama and U.S. military leaders apparently decided that the United States could not participate in such an exercise so long as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to give the administration any assurance that he will not attack Iran without prior approval from Washington. The official explanation from both Israeli and U.S. officials about the delay was that both sides agreed on it. Both Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Mark Regev, spokesman for Netanyahu, suggested that it was delayed to avoid further exacerbation of tensions in the Gulf.more..e-mail Truth Tiptoeing through Antisemitism Minefield Palestine Chronicle: 17 Jan 2012 - By Vacy Vlazna That an Australian Senate Complaints Committee will be holding a hearing in February on a complaint about the broadcaster SBS promoting antisemitism for its screening of Kosminsky's The Promise is testimony to the egregious influence of the Zionist lobby in Australia. The Promise dramatises the political upheaval in Palestine in the final period of the British Mandate and the Palestinian Nakba through the perspective of a British soldier and also the contemporary ongoing violence of the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine through the perspective of his grand-daughter. Peter Wertheim, the executive director of The Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) wrote an epic 31 page complaint to the SBS Ombudsman maintaining it "promotes, endorses and reinforces demeaning stereotypes about Jews as a group." He makes a hackneyed comparison to the Nazi film 'Jud Suss' and takes a clichéd jump to a fantastic conclusion - "The ancient libel...more Washington’s crimes against Iran WSWS - Despite Washington’s denials, last week’s assassination of an Iranian scientist bears all the hallmarks of an Israeli operation, carried out in league with the US. Is AIPAC Persuading Americans to Break the Law? Palestine Chronicle: 16 Jan 2012 - By Clive Hambidge Habituation writes James Austin M.D 'means that repeated stimuli yield a decreasing response.' Conversely and importantly he goes on, 'Sensitization implies that responses increase when stronger stimuli are repeated.' For in this understanding, 'we are addressing the basis of the freshness of vision of the artist or poet; focusing on the possible ways to relieve the depressed person held in the grip of a dreary grey world', or indeed a Nation, Palestine, gripped by the dreary politics “free of law” of an increasingly violent Israel. Moreover, “some people habituate consistently; others do not.” (Austin). It is crucial then that we, the right minded, faced with propaganda “habitually” spewed forth by the State, organs of the State and influencers of the State like American Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) to become “Enmeshed in a propaganda system of awesome effectiveness.” (Chomsky), in “locutions” pernicious and with a distinct narrative of...more Israel 'disappointed' with Obama on Iran 1/15/2012 - JERUSALEM (Reuters) -- A senior Israeli official voiced disappointment in the Obama administration on Sunday, saying "election-year considerations" lay behind its caution over tough Iran sanctions sought by US legislators. While Washington has been talking tougher about Iran's nuclear work and threat to block oil export routes out of the Gulf if hit with.... [uruknet.info] 'Israel and U.S. postpone massive defense drill in fear of escalation with Iran' Uruknet January 15, 2012 - Israel and the United States have postponed a massive joint defense exercise, which was expected to be carried out in the coming weeks, in order to avoid an escalation with Iran, Channel 2 reported on Sunday. According to an Israeli defense official, Washington wants to avoid causing further tensions in the region,... Liberia opposition recognises president after disputed poll Daily Star 15 Jan 2012 Liberia's main opposition party, the Congress for Democratic Change, has recognised Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as president after disputed polls, its leader announced Sunday. On Exceptionalism and Deviance Palestine Chronicle: 15 Jan 2012 - By Deepak Tripathi The Wall Street Journal recently carried a speculative article by Ian Tally suggesting a link between the International Monetary Fund's bailout loans to the European Union’s worst hit economies and sanctions against Iran. In essence, the article said that the Obama administration would likely support bailout loans to Greece, Italy and Spain in exchange for the EU agreeing to an embargo on Iran’s oil. The source of the WSJ article was Jacob Kirkegaard of the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington. Kirkegaard speculated that the timing of the European Union’s “newly-proposed ban on Iranian oil imports” was too fortuitous to be purely coincidental. Greece, Spain and Italy are all heavily dependent on Iranian oil and therefore most resistant to an embargo. According to the WSJ, they are no longer resisting a ban. Italy says that it would support the measure “in principle” while Greece and Spain...more Voters Choice: Ron Paul or Bibi Netanyahu Palestine Chronicle: 15 Jan 2012 - By William A. Cook A curious glance at the current crop of presidential candidates makes it clear that Ron Paul stands alone when it comes to the issue of US engagement in foreign wars. He stands with George Washington against foreign entanglements while the rest of the candidates stand with Teddy Roosevelt and the attempted creation of America’s first empire one hundred and twelve years ago. Mark Twain responded to that effort by creating the Anti-imperialist society while he caustically satirized the effort in his depiction of the massacre of the Moros in the Philippines. Now we have more massacres, using drones instead of canons, on equally hapless civilians who are caught unawares or hiding from the wrath of America’s righteousness as we drive to bring virtue to a primitive world. Today America has an estimated 700 military installations in about 140 nations around the world; its bases surround Iran...more US is Bleeding out Its Credibility in Yemen Palestine Chronicle: 15 Jan 2012 - By James Gundun – Washington, D.C. Although instrumental in drafting the Gulf Cooperation Council's (GCC) power-sharing agreement in Yemen, including an immunity clause for Ali Abdullah Saleh's extensive family, the Obama administration has advanced the unpopular deal in determined silence. Offering limited information since mobilizing the GCC in April, the White House and State Department eventually guided a ratification process over objections from the UN's Human Rights Council and through the Security Council. October’s unanimous Resolution 2014 would reaffirm the GCC’s initiative in full, while adding “that all those responsible for violence, human rights violations and abuses should be held accountable.” The distance between “will be” and “should be” equals Saleh’s immunity. That the U.S., European powers and Gulf states support the continuation of Saleh’s regime over Yemen’s revolutionaries is well documented. Never, though, had the Obama administration explicitly articulated America’s support for the GCC’s immunity clause until Monday, when...more Indian temptress found dead; two politicians behind bars The National 14 Jan 2012 - Officials say they have found the body of Bhanwari Devi, a 36-year-old nurse who went missing after trying to blackmail two senior members of the ruling Congress party. Travel Picks: World's top 10 film festivals Daily Star 14 Jan 2012 With the Sundance Film Festival starting next Thursday.
Ban: No need to amend STL protocol Daily Star 14 Jan 2012 United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon said Saturday there was no need to amend the protocol concerning the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) and said the international court had succeeded so far in discouraging political assassinations. Amr Moussa arrives in Beirut Daily Star 14 Jan 2012 Former Arab League head Amr Moussa arrived in Beirut Saturday from Cairo.
U.S. concerned over Israeli strike on Iran: report Daily Star 14 Jan 2012 Washington is increasingly concerned that Israel is preparing to attack Iran, and the U.S. is making in plans in case there is such a conflict in the region, reported the Wall Street Journal Saturday. U.S. concerned over Israeli strike on Iran: report Daily Star 14 Jan 2012 Washington is increasingly concerned that Israel is preparing to attack Iran, and the U.S. is making in plans in case there is such a conflict in the region, reported the Wall Street Journal Saturday.
Lebanese men and women march against rape Daily Star 14 Jan 2012 Women and men from across Lebanon marched together Saturday to call for changing the law governing rape crimes and support for victims of such acts. America’s Last Chance Dissident Voice: 14 Jan 2012 - America has one last chance, and it is a very slim one. Americans can elect Ron Paul President, or they can descend into tyranny. Why is Ron Paul America’s last chance? Because he is the only candidate who is not owned lock, stock, and barrel by the military-security complex, Wall Street, and the Israel Lobby. All of the others, including President Obama, are owned by exactly the same interest groups. There are no differences between them. Every candidate except Ron Paul stands for war and a police state, and all have demonstrated their complete and total subservience to Israel. The fact that there is no difference between them is made perfectly clear by the absence of substantive issues in the campaigns of the Republican candidates. Only Ron Paul deals with real issues, so he is excluded from “debates” in which the other Republican candidates throw mud at one another: “Gingrich...more PLO envoys to US say settler build increase 'alarming' 1/13/2012 - WASHINGTON (Ma'an) -- The PLO delegation to the US said on Thursday that Israel's increase in settlement construction during 2011 is "alarming", and urged the US administration to hold Israel to its international commitments. Last week, a report by Israeli group Peace Now showed construction of illegal settler homes grew 20 percent.... AIPAC’s “War With Iran” Intifada-Palestine: 13 Jan 2012 - It is time for more diplomacy not less — even if that means offending a powerful lobby that is hell-bent for war. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and Ranking Member Howard Berman (D-CA) spearheaded a number of important... more Why aren’t the best and the brightest in our MSM? Mondoweiss - US President Barack Obama (R) meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, 20 May 2011. (Photo: AFP - Jim Watson) Yesterday I spotted Sullivan's Newt's Sugar Daddy ... ... just happens to be Netanyahu's chief propagandist in... Ron Paul, "What if the Chinese had military bases in America?" Voltaire Network 13 Jan 2012 - Among Republicans running for president, Ron Paul stands out as the anti-militarist candidate. The 76-year-old congressman from Texas is the only candidate who is skeptical of the United States' interventionist foreign policy and against the prospect of future wars of choice, particularly in the Middle East.... Area C - The next battle ground for Palestinians Daoud Kuttab, Ma’an News Agency 1/12/2012 A few months ago, a group of six Palestinian residents of Ramallah decided to take a bus ride to Jerusalem. This was no ordinary ride. The Israeli government-funded bus they boarded links West Bank Jewish settlements to Jerusalem and Israel. The trip on this settler-only bus that travels on Palestinian roads did not last long. At the entrance of Jerusalem near the Palestinian village of Hizma, the Palestinian riders were forcibly taken off the bus and detained. The Palestinian passengers, who made no effort to hide their identity or nationality, called themselves "freedom riders". They told the press covering their trip that their nonviolent actions were inspired by civil rights activists in the United States who use the same name, and that they aimed to expose discriminatory Israeli rules in Palestinian areas. The original Freedom Riders were civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated southern United States to test the supreme court decisions of Boynton vs. Virginia (1960) and Morgan vs. Virginia. The first Freedom Ride left Washington, DC, on May 4, 1961, and was scheduled to arrive in New Orleans on May 17. They never made it to their destination. Palestinians took their nonviolent protest one step further this week. On January 9, Palestinians using their cars attempted to travel on the same Israeli-only Palestinian roads and again ended up facing Israeli soldiers who arrested five. Unlike the freedom riders, the car protesters got little press coverage, although they were well covered on social media using the hashtag #carprotest.more..e-mail Obama, Netanyahu talk diplomacy 1/12/2012 - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - US President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday discussed a recent round of Israeli-Palestinian talks and the international community's response to Iran, the White House said." They reviewed the recent meetings between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators in Amman and the president reaffirmed his commitment to the goal.... Officer: Marine unit suspected in video identified 1/12/2012 - WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The US Marines have identified the unit whose forces are suspected of being behind a video appearing to show them urinating on the bodies of dead Talibanin Afghanistan, a Marine officer told Reuters on Thursday. The officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Marines in question were believed to be from the.... [uruknet.info] One Third of the Military's Aircraft Are Now Drones Uruknet January 11, 2012 - Remember when the military actually put human beings in the cockpits of its planes? They still do, but in far fewer numbers. According to a new congressional report acquired by Danger Room, drones now account for 31 percent of all military aircraft. To be fair, lots of those drones are tiny flying... WINEP official says U.S. strategy is aimed at provoking ‘Pearl Harbor’ that justifies war with Iran Mondoweiss - Patrick Clawson Earlier today, we did a post on neocons inciting war with Iran that featured quotes from Patrick Clawson of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, formerly a branch of the Israel lobby group AIPAC. Well Clawson had better put a sock in it,... The Next War on Washington's Agenda Palestine Chronicle: 12 Jan 2012 - By Paul Craig Roberts Only the blind do not see that the US government is preparing to attack Iran. According to Professor Michel Chossudovsky, 'Active war preparations directed against Iran (with the involvement of Israel and NATO) were initiated in May 2003.' Washington has deployed missiles directed at Iran in its oil emirate puppet states, Oman and the UAE, and little doubt in the other US puppet states in the Middle East. Washington has beefed up Saudi Arabia’s jet fighter force. Most recently, Washington has deployed 9,000 US troops to Israel to participate in “war games” designed to test the US/Israeli air defense system. As Iran represents no threat unless attacked, Washington’s war preparations signal Washington’s intention to attack Iran. Another signal that Washington has a new war on its agenda is the raised level of Washington’s rhetoric and demonization of Iran. Judging by polls Washington’s propaganda that Iran is...more How can you tell when politicians are lying? Jerusalem Post 11 Jan 2012 - Washington Watch: I was struck by how careless most of the candidates have been with the facts. Washington Post Reports Iran Sanctions Goal is Regime Change, Then It Doesn’t Tikun Olam - In a story that might best be described as–first we were for regime change, until we weren’t–the Washington Post reported that a senior U.S. intelligence official said that the ultimate goal of U.S. sanctions against Iran is to induce enough hatred of the regime to cause... Reinventing the Middle East Lexicon Palestine Chronicle: 11 Jan 2012 - By Eric Walberg – Cairo 'When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, 'it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.' 'The question is,' said Alice, 'whether you can make words mean so many different things.' 'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master — that's all.' -- Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass (1871) The lexicon of Israel and its Western lobbyists constantly needs parsing to know just what is meant. Most glaringly is the term “settlers”, which suggests peaceful pioneers wishing to integrate with the locals. In Israel, the word “settlers” is a loaded term, for they are “aggressive squatters, half a million of them in over 100 illegal colonies — ugly blots on an otherwise lovely landscape ... who terrorise local villagers, vandalise their crops, pollute their land and harass their children,” as described...more Lapid hires strategists to sustain support Jerusalem Post 9 Jan 2012 - Yair Lapid’s team will include Uri Shani, former prime minister Ariel Sharon’s bureau chief and Washington-based Democratic strategist Mark Mellman. Washington is playing with Brotherhood fire Jerusalem Post 9 Jan 2012 - Wishful thinking on the part of the Obama administration is creating some dangerous illusions about the "new" Egypt. Adelson gives $5m. to Super PAC backing Gingrich Jerusalem Post 9 Jan 2012 - Jewish billionaire made donation to keep republican candidate competitive in S. Carolina primary, 'Washington Post' reports. 29 Lives, Deaths and Standing Ovations that Threaten World Peace Intifada-Palestine: 9 Jan 2012 - Tim King Salem-News.com Cave of the Patriarchs massacre, U.S. Congress and redefined rocket science … Courtesy Salem-News.com (SALEM) – In a violent world where a genocide can claim as many as six million human lives in a single ‘program’, it seems... more Trying to save two-state consensus, ‘Washington Post’ invokes ‘demographic’ threat Mondoweiss - Santorum After Rick Santorum's surge had the result of publicizing his view that no Palestinians live in the West Bank--that's Israel, too--Glenn Kessler at the Washington Post did an emphatic "fact-check" of the statement, showing how deluded Santorum is. What I find interesting about the piece... The Marriage from Hell: Jane Harman and the Woodrow Wilson Center Dissident Voice: 9 Jan 2012 - “Woodrow Wilson, the 28th American president, is looking down in horror at what the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (WWC) is doing in his name.” I wrote that last year in two exposés: “ The Selling of the WWC ” and “ The WWC Desecrates its Namesake’s Legacy .” They revealed that the Washington, DC-based Wilson Center is violating its Congressional mandate and is up to its neck in tainted corporate cash. A leading Congressman, a Wilson family descendant, citizens’ groups, and many others agreed. One prominent journalist called the WWC “ a global joke .” Several months ago, this Congressionally created, multi-million dollar think tank , funded partly by taxpayers, made another colossal blunder. It hired former eight-term Congresswoman Jane Harman (D–CA) to be its president, replacing Lee Hamilton , also a former Congressman. Harman, like Hamilton, is not only part of the good-old-boy (and girl) network of which the...more Jewish Ideas Daily: The whole damn deal Jerusalem Post 8 Jan 2012 - Strauss was the funniest man in Washington, and he knew it. He loved the press, which loved him back. [uruknet.info] U.S. reaches out to Egypt's Brotherhood; Islamists see further parliament gains Uruknet January 8, 2012 - The United States is reaching out to the Muslim Brotherhood as the group gains political momentum in the parliamentary elections. "It's clear that they (the Brotherhood) are now the only game in town," and U.S. officials must talk to them, Marina Ottaway, who heads the Middle East program in Washington for the... [uruknet.info] Photographs of The "Invented" People of Palestine Uruknet January 7, 2011 - This post is not meant to be a political/geographical response to the AIPAC fondling Newt Gingrich, as I believe there are a plethora of articles floating around which do their part in discrediting the blatant defamation that Palestinians are an "invented people"; instead this will be a photo-entry. I wish for others... CNN’s “Technical Difficulty” or Censorship? [VIDEO] Intifada-Palestine: 8 Jan 2012 - Action Alert Washington Report on Middle East Affairs As Iowans were casting their ballots in the state’s Jan. 3 caucuses, CNN congressional correspondent Dana Bash interviewed an American soldier who had just cast his vote for Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX). Army... more Gingrich got $5 million for saying Palestinians are invented people (lord, why am I so cynical?) Mondoweiss - Adelson Why do so many people have a conspiratorial view of the Israel lobby? One reason is that our media are largely silent on what we all know to be a real force in our politics, and so feverish minds are left to speculate. The latest... The US-Iran economic war Pepe Escobar, Asia Times 1/7/2012 NEW YORK - Here's a crash course on how to further wreck the global economy. A key amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act signed by United States President Barack Obama on the last day of 2011 - when no one was paying attention - imposes sanctions on any countries or companies that buy Iranian oil and pay for it through Iran's central bank. Starting this summer, anybody who does it is prevented from doing business with the US. This amendment - for all practical purposes a declaration of economic war - was brought to you by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), on direct orders of the Israeli government under Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu. Torrents of spin have tried to rationalize it as the Obama administration's plan B as opposed to letting the Israeli dogs of war conduct an unilateral attack on Iran over its supposed nuclear weapons program. Yet the original Israeli strategy was in fact even more hysterical - as in effectively preventing any country or company from paying for imported Iranian oil, with the possible exceptions of China and India. On top of it, American Israel-firsters were trying to convince anyone this would not result in relentless oil price hikes. Once again displaying a matchless capacity to shoot themselves in their Ferragamo-clad feet, governments in the European Union (EU) are debating whether or not to buy oil from Iran anymore. The existential doubt is should we start now or wait for a few months. Inevitably, like death and taxes, the result has been - what else - oil prices soaring. Brent crude is now hovering around $114, and the only way is up.more..e-mail Palestinian Sesame Street falls victim to US Congress The Guardian 7 Jan 2012 - Shara'a Simsim hit by Congress decision to suspend £130m of aid funding to punish Palestinians for UN membership bid With its colourful band of Muppets preaching tolerance and neighbourly love, the Palestinian version of the children's... Dumb as rocks (‘Washington Post’ says giving Palestinians access to quarries will ‘advance the peace process’) Mondoweiss - I used to tell myself, being devil's advocate, that longtime US envoy and Israel advocate Dennis Ross must be some genius and that behind the opaque curtains of the Obama administration he had a vision that could save the two-state solution. George Mitchell didn't get it.... Is War with Iran a Serious Option? Patrick Seale, Agence Global 1/3/2012 “The greatest threat that Israel faces, and frankly the greatest threat the world faces, is a nuclear Iran.” The author of this inanity is none other than Mitt Romney, the man the Republicans are likely to choose to challenge Barack Obama in this year’s presidential elections. Can Romney really believe what he says? Is he reckless enough to push the United States into war with Iran? Or is he merely vying for Jewish votes -- and Jewish campaign funds -- by parroting the over-heated arguments of Israel’s lobbyists at AIPAC and the Washington Institute, and in much of the rightwing U.S. media? What is Iran’s crime in the eyes of these hard-liners? It is that it has refused to submit to American military hegemony in the Gulf and, together with its allies -- Syria, H|izballah and Hamas -- has made a small dent in Israel’s military supremacy in the eastern Mediterranean. Does this make it a world-wide menace? Are the United States and Israel really prepared to go to war over these issues? It does not appear so. All the indications are that war is not being seriously contemplated by the United States or by Israel -- or for that matter by Iran either. In all three countries, the warmongers may already have lost the argument. Washington sources report that Obama has long since ruled out a resort to force against Iran, which he considers far too risky. Having brought America’s calamitous war in Iraq to a close, he is now hoping to wind up the Afghan conflict by means of a negotiated settlement. The opening of a Taliban office in Qatar -- as is now being proposed -- would facilitate such contacts. It is self-evident that Obama will spare no effort to save the United States from being drawn into yet another costly, open-ended military adventure in the greater Middle East.more..e-mail [uruknet.info] Palestinians fulfill Quartet's request. Israelis don't. Guess who Washington Post' blames? Uruknet January 5, 2012 - I was wondering how our media would spin the Israeli-Palestinian-Quartet talks in Amman on Tuesday, and then the Editorial Board at the Washington Post delivered. They opened with a very loud bang, "SOMETHING SURPRISING happened Tuesday in a Middle East diplomatic landscape"--and then proceeded to digress: Mr. Abbas dispatched his negotiator to... AIPAC: The Voice of America — Part 2 The Treasonous Dollar Drain Intifada-Palestine: 6 Jan 2012 - by Anthony Lawson A closer look at how the members of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee exercise a grotesquely disproportionate amount of power over the foreign policy of the United States. My thanks to YouTube7hevo1d for the Dollar Drain animation... more Major Maariv Profile of Tikun Olam Tikun Olam - Maariv headline: 'The Man Who Knows Too Much' Israeli reporter, Tal Schneider, who once served as the Washington D.C. correspondent for Maariv, has written a major profile (Hebrew) of me and Tikun Olam in that paper’s Friday edition. It’s called, ominously and humorously enough, The Man... US: Israeli, Palestinian envoys to meet Monday 1/5/2012 - WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Israeli and Palestinian peace negotiators will hold their second round of face-to-face talks within a week on Monday in Amman, a US State Department spokeswoman said on Thursday." We are encouraged that they are both coming to the table, they are talking directly," spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters in her daily briefing. The.... Obama Seeks to Distance U.S. from Israeli Attack Gareth Porter, Intifada-Palestine 1/4/2012 WASHINGTON, Jan 3 (IPS) – President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are engaged in intense maneuvering over Netanyahu’s aim of entangling the United States in an Israeli war against Iran. Netanyahu is exploiting the extraordinary influence his right-wing Likud Party exercises over the Republican Party and the U.S. Congress on matters related to Israel in order to maximise the likelihood that the United States would participate in an attack on Iran. Obama, meanwhile, appears to be hoping that he can avoid being caught up in a regional war started by Israel if he distances the United States from any Israeli attack. New evidence surfaced in 2011 that Netanyahu has been serious about dealing a military blow to the Iranian nuclear programme. Former Mossad chief Meir Dagan, who left his job in September 2010, revealed in his first public appearance after Mossad Jun. 2 that he, Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) chief Gabi Ashkenazi and Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin had been able to “block any dangerous adventure” by Netanyahu and Defence Minister Ehud Barak. Obama’s remark seemed to indicate a desire to distance his administration from an Israeli attack on Iran. But it also made it clear that he was not going to tell Netanyahu that he would not countenance such an attack. Trita Parsi, executive director of the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), who has analysed the history of the triangular relationship involving the United States, Israel and Iran in his book “Treacherous Alliance”, says knowledgeable sources tell him Obama believes he can credibly distance himself from an Israeli attack.more..e-mail Israel/Palestine as a 21st Century "Lawfare" Laboratory US Campaign to End the Occupation 5 Jan 2012 - Below, hear Lisa Hajjar, Professor of Sociology at UCSB, speak in Washington, DC, about her new paper that brings together the two concepts of "lawfare" -- Israel's litigation of warmaking practices -- and targeted killing, which Israel interprets as supported within its international legal rights and... Will Beit Shemesh lead to erosion on Capitol Hill? Jerusalem Post 4 Jan 2012 - Washington Watch: The assault on civil liberties could lead decreased support from American Jews. This smear against Israeli human rights activists is all too familiar | Ben White The Guardian 4 Jan 2012 - Adalah defends Palestinian rights. The European Jewish Congress attack on it reflects a wider pattern of bullying Last week, the president of the European Jewish Congress (EJC) launched an extraordinary attack on an Israeli human rights... [uruknet.info] On Guantánamo's 10th Anniversary, British Ex-Prisoners Talk About Their Lives, and Call for the Release of Shaker Aamer Uruknet January 4, 2012 - As I have been explaining since the 9th anniversary of the opening of Guantánamo a year ago, it is now appropriate to regard most of, if not all of the remaining 171 prisoners as political prisoners, given that the Obama administration, Congress and the judiciary have all made sure that Guantánamo may... Michele Bachmann quits US presidential race YNet News, 4 Jan 2012 - Minnesota congresswoman says she decided to 'stand aside' after finishing sixth in Iowa caucuses; urges Republicans to 'Obamacare' .... Obama Seeks to Distance U.S. from Israeli Attack Intifada-Palestine: 4 Jan 2012 - Analysis by Gareth Porter * WASHINGTON, Jan 3 (IPS) – President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are engaged in intense maneuvering over Netanyahu’s aim of entangling the United States in an Israeli war against Iran. Netanyahu is exploiting the... more A mistaken case for Syrian regime change Aisling Byrne, Asia Times 1/5/2012 "War with Iran is already here," wrote a leading Israeli commentator recently, describing "the combination of covert warfare and international pressure" being applied to Iran. Although not mentioned, the "strategic prize" of the first stage of this war on Iran is Syria; the first campaign in a much wider sectarian power-bid. "Other than the collapse of the Islamic Republic itself," Saudi King Abdullah was reported to have said last summer, "nothing would weaken Iran more than losing Syria." [1] By December, senior United States officials were explicit about their regime change agenda for Syria: Tom Donilon, the US National Security Adviser, explained that the "end of the [President Bashar al-]Assad regime would constitute Iran's greatest setback in the region yet - a strategic blow that will further shift the balance of power in the region against Iran." Shortly before, a key official in terms of operationalizing this policy, Under Secretary of State for the Near East Jeffrey Feltman, had stated at a congressional hearing that the US would "relentlessly pursue our two-track strategy of supporting the opposition and diplomatically and financially strangling the [Syrian] regime until that outcome is achieved". [2] What we are seeing in Syria is a deliberate and calculated campaign to bring down the Assad government so as to replace it with a regime "more compatible" with US interests in the region. The blueprint for this project is essentially a report produced by the neo-conservative Brookings Institute for regime change in Iran in 2009. The report - "Which Path to Persia?" [3] - continues to be the generic strategic approach for US-led regime change in the region.more..e-mail Obama: Drones and Change Palestine Chronicle: 4 Jan 2012 - By Sean Fenley '[Obama] didn't just embrace the Bush policies he kissed them on the lips and ran with them.' – Ret. United States Air Force Colonel, Morris Davis 'The buck stops here!' – Harry S. Truman The Washington Post looks like it decided to do a bit of actual journalism recently. Penning an extensive and informative article, on the Obama infatuation with the mass-killing aerial drone. This former constitutional scholar does not seem to feel impeded — by either the Constitution or the Bill of Rights — in his love affair with; and indeed, his use and misuse of this harbinger (and indeed harvester) of death. Obama is at present, in fact, leading the way in the history of United States presidents, in his extensive reliance on the secret killing of individuals; ostensibly in the interest of securing national security goals. Attorney Morris Davis, former chief prosecutor of the...more Syria ruling party to hold 11th congress Daily Star 3 Jan 2012 Syria's ruling Baath party said that it will hold its 11th party congress next month. Opposition paper shut down again in Sudan Daily Star 2 Jan 2012 Sudanese authorities on Monday shut down the newspaper of the opposition Popular Congress Party -- just months after it started publishing again following an earlier raid. The US-Iranian cold war in the Middle East and the threat of broader war Voltaire Network 1 Jan 2012 - A cold war has been ongoing between Tehran and Washington. U.S. spies, drones, assassinations, and accusations against Tehran have all been a part of this package. Washington and its minions have been using every means possible, including international organizations, like the United Nations, as a battleground... Analysis: Palestine’s economic hallucination Sam Bahour, Ma’an News Agency 12/31/2011 It's the end of the year and time to turn the page after a bit of reflecting. What better way to reflect than to contrast image and reality, and even more so when the topic is Palestine's economy? For starters, I ask, do we have an economy, real or imagined? For a long time, many would just sweep this question under the rug of the Israeli military occupation and say: No. How could we when every aspect of our livelihood is ultimately micromanaged by the Israeli government? But such a knee-jerk answer does not make sense after the Oslo Agreement and the advent of the Palestinian Authority. From that point on, the economic reality under occupation was spiced up with heavy doses of self-made artificial images. The starting image, if my memory serves me well, was that we would "build a Singapore." May God rest that dreamer’s soul. I hope the real Singapore never asks Palestinians to compensate them for the damage done to its good name. These now infamous Palestinian negotiators who signed the agreement in Paris back on April 29, 1994, termed the Protocol on Economic Relations between Israel and the PLO (better known as the Paris Protocol), agreed what our economy could and couldn't do. The Paris Protocol was, with only minor modifications, incorporated as Annex V in the Interim Agreement - the equally infamous Oslo Agreement - signed in Washington on September 28, 1995. So with the Oslo Agreement, which descended like a parachute from above, emerged the agreement's spectacular brainchild: the Palestinian Authority. The Palestinian Authority, which is its accurate name in the Oslo Agreement, wasted no time in producing all the trappings of a real economy....more..e-mail US Saudi fighter jet sale to help offset Iran 12/30/2011 - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has signed a $29. 4 billion deal to sell 84 new F-15 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia in a long-expected move that the Obama administration said on Thursday would boost Gulf security amid mounting tension with Iran. The deal is the single priciest US arms sale to a foreign.... 10 Reasons Why Labor Unions Are Going to Win Dissident Voice: 30 Dec 2011 - Yes, congressional Democrats and President Obama have been major disappointments, and yes, the forces arrayed against organized labor have done considerable damage. But despite the damage, despite the hype generated by Fox News, and the self-serving propaganda disseminated by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the anti-labor crowd has run out of steam. They’ve lost their momentum. Here are 10 reasons why organized labor will prevail. 1. Ideology . The dynamic that exists between management and labor hasn’t changed since the Industrial Revolution. Despite those catchy slogans about “synergy” and “team-building,” people who earn a wage and people who pay a wage don’t necessarily want the same thing. They want different things, divergent things. One wants a larger slice of the pie for themselves and their families, the other wants to keep the whole pie. Hence, workers collectives. 2. Numbers . Despite the hand-wringing over declining union rolls, there are still (...more Republican Ron Paul fights 'anti-Israel' allegations 12/29/2011 - LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -- Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul defended his record on Israel Wednesday after a former aide said the congressman favored abolishing the nation." Dr. Paul is the most pro-Israel candidate in this race," campaign spokesman Gary Howard said in an emailed statement." He is the only leader who will stop sending tens of.... Washington Asks Israel to Release Marwan Barghouthi for Palestinian Elections in May PNN - PNNAccording to Israeli army radio, the American government has expressed its desire to see Israel release the Fatah Central Committee member Marwan Barghouthi, sentenced to life imprisonment, to lead Fatah against Hamas... America Threatens to Punish PA, If It were Accepted at UN PNN - PNN M a’aref Israeli newspaper said that the American Congress agreed on Wednesday, on transferring 40 million dollars from the money of the economic and humanitarian aid to the Palestinian Authority at... [uruknet.info] Congress, Obama Codify Indefinite Detention Uruknet December 28, 2011 - In yet another reversal of his professed commitment to the rule of law, President Obama says he will sign the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which formalizes his authority to imprison terrorism suspects indefinitely without charge or trial. Where is the "progressive" outrage? George W. Bush and Obama both claimed that the... American Congress Releases $40 million of Financial Aid to PA WAFA - 11:26-WASHINGTON, December 29, 2011 (WAFA) – The American Congress approved on Wednesday the release of US$40 million of American financial aid to the Palestinian Authority, said a statement by the US Depar... AIPAC-championed amendment pushes Obama into a corner on Iran Mondoweiss - The red arrow points to the Straits of Hormuz, a focal point in US-Iran tensions today. (Map via Wikipedia) President Obama is set to sign legislation attached to a military spending bill that would impose harsh sanctions on Iran over its nuclear energy program. The AIPAC-championed... White House Still Playing Saleh's Game Palestine Chronicle: 29 Dec 2011 - By James Gundun – Washington, D.C. In accordance with the demands of America's presidential office, Barack Obama has been flooded with a river of updates throughout his Hawaiian vacation. From economic hardball with the GOP to terror attacks in Iraq, Syria and Nigeria, his administration encountered one interruption after another - including a visa request from one of the Arab world’s “friendly” dictators. Christmas weekend in Yemen produced a chaotic microcosm of Washington’s response to 11 months of revolution. First the White House allowed Ali Abdullah Saleh’s theoretical December 23rd deadline to expire without clarification, leaving executive power firmly in his hands (instead of Vice President Abd Rabbuh Mansur al-Hadi). Over two months had passed since the UN Security Council approved a power-sharing initiative by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), stipulating that Saleh transfer executive power to his vice president within 30 days. He would eventually sign in Riyadh on...more Yemen rivals fight over Saleh deal 12/28/2011 - SANAA (Reuters) -- Foes and backers of a plan to ease Yemen's president out of power fought each other with stones and clubs on Tuesday, deepening the country's chaos as Washington considered a request from the leader to fly to the United States. Youth activists, who have led months of protests against.... The year that was– the best and the worst Jerusalem Post 28 Dec 2011 - Washington Watch: It was a good year for the Arab street; it was a bad year for dictators. Congress frees $40 million in aid to Palestinians YNet News, 28 Dec 2011 - .... Report: Israel, US mull Iran strike triggers YNet News, 28 Dec 2011 - Daily Beast website says that after Israel filed official complaint over Panetta's remark that attack on Iran could 'consume Mideast,' Washington assured Jerusalem it would attack if Tehran's nuke program crosses certain 'red lines' .... Iran Threatens U.S. With Closure of Vital Strait If It Invokes New Oil Sanctions Tikun Olam - What do Howard Berman, Brad Sherman, Jane Harman, Gary Ackerman and all the other Congressional water-carriers for Aipac care about the impact of their vote for closing Iran’s oil spigot, even if it might force Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation and start... [uruknet.info] Dr. Ali Tarhouni and "the True Voice of the Masses" Uruknet December 26, 2011 - Dr.Ali Tarhouni was an exile during all but a few months of Gaddafi's "Arab Socialist" Jamahiriya system, studying free market economics in the United States, and teaching it at the University of Washington, Seattle. In February, he returned to Libya to join the new NTC (NATO Terrorist Collaborator) government as its oil... Rashid Khalidi: A reset for US policy? Not now, but watch the base Victor Kattan, Al-Shabaka, Israeli Occupation Archive 12/26/2011 Al-Shabaka Policy Advisor Rashid Khalidi assesses the position of the United States towards Palestine-Israel in the wake of the Palestinian bid for membership of the United Nations. Khalidi, Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University and director of the Middle East Institute of Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs, is also the Editor of the Journal of Palestine Studies. In this wide-ranging interview with Al-Shabaka Program Director Victor Kattan, Khalidi has some harsh words for President Barack Obama, describing his UN speech in September as the worst ever by an American president. Khalidi also reviews the way in which U.S. policy toward the conflict was transformed over decades, including through the efforts of Dennis Ross, and discusses why AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee) is far more effective today than it was in the 1970s and 1980s. Although he sees no hope at present for a just U.S. policy, this could change if public opinion – which is much more enlightened than that of U.S. policy makers – is expressed through the media and at the political level. Victor Kattan: What did you think about the Palestinian strategy to become a member state of the United Nations? Some Palestinians think that it was a mistake to have gone straight to the Security Council. Rashid Khalidi: I would argue that it depends on what objective you are trying to achieve. If your objective is a narrow diplomatic one to obtain maximum benefits at minimum costs, which is a perfectly rational approach, it might have been advisable to have avoided the Security Council and to have gone directly to the General Assembly. If, however, this was part of what I would call a declaration of independence from the United States, and the idea was to illustrate the fact that the United States is an obstacle to a just resolution of the conflict, then I don’t see why a defeat in the Security Council, by a U.S. veto or a lack of necessary votes, doesn’t serve that purpose and then that could be followed by going to the General Assembly and achieving the same objective.... -- See also: Sourcemore..e-mail BDS Success! Rachel Corrie Foundation 26 Dec 2011 - Cindy Corrie speaks at protest outside the National Building Museum in Washington DC. Photo courtesy of Jewish Voice for Peace The Rachel Corrie Foundation proudly supports the growing Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. BDS seeks to hold Israeli companies, institutions, and their international collaborators accountable... [uruknet.info] Medicare Privatization Plans Uruknet December 23, 2011 - The idea's been around for years. More recently, bipartisan support's been growing. Various plans have circulated. A 2006 Congressional Budget Office (CBO) study assessed "Designing a Premium Support System (PSS) for Medicare." It discussed pros, cons, other choices and implications in terms of costs and recipient benefits. In 1995, Henry Aaron and... Right-wing attack group caught fabricating quotes in effort to smear critics of Israel Mondoweiss - Smearing critics of Israel as anti-Semitic may have cost Josh Block a perch at a Washington think tank , but right-wing groups continue to use the slur to attack those in solidarity with Palestinians. This time, though, the right-wing Zionist group Stand With Us (SWU) was... Pentagon asks for extra $100 million to Israel for Iran defense (and Congress doubles the tip) Mondoweiss - Iron Dome. (Photo: Shaul Golan/Yedioth Ahronoth) Congress approved an additional $235 million in U.S. military aid to Israel , Ynet reports. The U.S. allocates to Israel approximately $2.5 billion in aid, per year. The request, which boosts the total amount allocated for 2012 to $25 million more... Glasnost: Prog thinktank sacks Block, saying ‘Your actions cause many to fear’ criticizing Israel Mondoweiss - josh block The continuing drama of Democratic Party institutions making room for criticism of Israel.... Greg Sargent of the Washington Post reported last week that the Progressive Policy Institute would likely bounce former AIPAC aide Josh Block for smearing critics of Israel at the Dem-Party-aligned Center... US earmarks $235 million for Israel's defense systems YNet News, 22 Dec 2011 - Washington to allocate unprecedented sum for development of anti-missile safeguards, including David's Sling, Arrow systems .... If Lanny Davis is such a good Democrat, why is Obama-attack-dog Omri Ceren his VP? Mondoweiss - Lanny Davis The ongoing drama at the heart of the controversy over former AIPAC staffer Josh Block's attack on the Center for American Progress (CAP) for harboring critics of Israel is that Block's own business partner, Lanny Davis, has twice distanced himself from Block-- apparently so... Washington Post’s Israel Correspondent Sees ‘New Hamas Pragmatism’ in Light of Arab Spring Tikun Olam - I just read a story by the Washington Post’s Israel correspondent , Joel Greenberg which makes me retain some hope that this media outlet isn’t a hopeless slave to the pro-Israel hasbara line advocated in the Op-Ed section by Fred Hiatt. Though I don’t follow the Post... Republicans on Israel-Palestine Azmi Ashour, Al-Ahram Weekly 12/15/2011 The party political game was always going to favour the Islamists over the revolutionaries, which puts a question mark above the legitimacy of the elections. On 7 December 2012, six Republican candidates for president (Ron Paul was not invited) appeared before the Republican Jewish Coalition (NRC) to campaign for Christian votes. There are Jewish Republicans, to be sure, but not enough to make a difference in this primary contest. No, the real prize that drew the candidates to the NRC event were the 40 per cent of Republican primary voters who are declared "born-again" Christians who fervently believe that Israel can do no wrong and that it is their religious duty to support any and all Israeli policies as a prerequisite to hasten the "Day of Judgement". The speeches were mostly filled with hysterical criticism of President Obama's "appeasement" of Israel's enemies and hyperbolic praise for Israel (with the exception of John Huntsman who, after a few pandering platitudes, spoke mostly about the economy-- and was greeted with "stony silence"). Because their remarks included such irresponsible charges and promises, I have included significant excerpts below in order to give a flavor of how out of touch today's Republican Party is from current Middle East realities: NEWT GINGRICH: "As president, on my first day in office, I will issue an executive order directing the US Embassy in Israel to be moved to Jerusalem as provided for in the legislation I introduced in Congress in 1995. The United States should explicitly reject the concept of a right of return for Palestinian refugees. The so-called right of return is a historically impossible demand that would be a demographic disaster and mean the end of the Jewish state of Israel. We are for a right to prosperity, a right to freedom, a right to the rule of law, a right to private property, but we must be totally opposed to a right of return. [And] the United Nations camps system must be replaced by a system of earned income and property rights to restore dignity and hope to every Palestinian."more..e-mail (en) France, Quarterly Journal from the Libertarian Forum Anarchist Revolutionary #3 December 2011 (fr) A-infos 20 Dec 2011 - Summary -- DO NOT PAY THEIR CRISIS CGA - TESTIMONY OF A MILITANT OF TUNISIA UDC (reported by piero) ---- The scam PUBLIC DEBT (kuhing) ---- POSTCARD FROM GREECE (kuhing) -- SECOND CONGRESS UCL Quebec ---- SUPPLEMENTARY Stalinist cops - PRESS CGA ---- CAMPAIGN FOR LIBERTARIAN... [uruknet.info] Targeting Mutlak and Hashemi: Towards Full Political Disintegration in Iraq? Uruknet December 18, 2011 - Only days after Maliki's Washington photo-op and with the US withdrawal formally sealed, Iraqi politics is alive again - but for all the wrong reasons. Yesterday saw unprecedented statements by people close to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki that a move is afoot to withdraw confidence in Deputy Premier Salih al-Mutlak of Iraqiyya (... US foreign aid escapes slashing cuts in fiscal 2012 Daily Star 19 Dec 2011 The U.S. State Department and foreign aid budget escaped devastating cuts in a fiscal 2012 spending plan that Congress has approved. Obama defends Israel policy to US Jews 12/17/2011 - WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- US President Barack Obama assured Jewish voters on Friday he remains committed to Israel's security and a two-state solution as he defended himself against attacks on his policy from Republican presidential challengers. Obama, who has been criticized by Republicans and some in the American Jewish community for being too tough on.... Obama and Iran Jerusalem Post 17 Dec 2011 - Whatever misgivings exist in Washington, they need to be discussed with Israel in private and not aired in a manner that engenders glee in Tehran. [uruknet.info] Obama, Congress back legalization of a police state Uruknet December 16, 2011 - The Senate's 86-to-13 vote in favor of the legislation followed its approval in the House of Representatives Wednesday. It also came after the announcement by the White House that President Barack Obama would not exercise his power to veto the measure, which is included in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a $... Obama signs government spending bill into law Daily Star 18 Dec 2011 President Barack Obama has signed into law a spending bill that Congress approved to keep the government running. Conditional U.S. Aid To P.A To Continue Next Year IMEMC - The U.S. Congress proposed to continue the American financial support to the Palestinian Authority (P.A) next year as long as it refrains from filing any other membership applications to United Nations agencies. ... US proposal links PA aid to halting UN push 12/16/2011 - WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The US Congress would allow American economic aid to the Palestinian Authority to continue next year so long as Palestine is not admitted as a state to any more United Nations organizations, under a proposal released on Thursday. The measure pending before lawmakers would appear to give Palestinians a pass on the UN.... Barak: Israel won't accept Palestinian state that perpetuates Mideast conflict Ha'aretz - At Union for Reform Judaism conference near Washington, Defense Minister says supports formation of viable, democratic Palestinian state through direct peace talks with Israel. The Numbers Crunch: Gingrich on the rise Jerusalem Post 16 Dec 2011 - JPost readers want Gingrich for president, Washington-Tehran relations take 3% of the US newshole, and Egyptians keep tweeting about elections. [uruknet.info] Congressional Tyranny, White House Surrender Uruknet December 15, 2011 - Paraphrasing Shakespeare, something is rotten in the state of Capitol Hill. A majority of Congress is just about to put the finishing touches on an amendment to the military budget authorization legislation that will finish off some critical American rights under our Constitution. Here is how two retired 4 star marine generals,... Furor as US hands over last Iraqi prisoner Daily Star 16 Dec 2011 The United States on Friday handed its last prisoner in Iraq, a Hezbollah operative accused of plotting the killing of five US soldiers, to Iraqi authorities, sparking a political furor in Washington. US congressman criticized for Nazi comparison YNet News, 16 Dec 2011 - Rep. Allen West, a freshman Republican, made the Nazi reference Thursday when asked about Congress' approval ratings and the blame the public has focused on ... .... Obama says nothing about Palestinians– because Indyk says Netanyahu has Congress in his ‘back pocket’ Mondoweiss - White House lawn, Wednesday (photo by White House fotog Chuck Kennedy Shocking headline in the New York Times' story by Helene Cooper on Obama's speech to the Reform Jews yesterday: "In Obama Speech on Israel, No Mention of Palestinians" In a speech Friday to the convention... Syria opposition stages congress BBC 16 Dec 2011 - The Syrian National Council, a coalition of groups opposed to President Assad, opens its first congress in Tunisia, as violence in Syria continues. Congressional Tyranny, White House Surrender Palestine Chronicle: 15 Dec 2011 - By Ralph Nader Paraphrasing Shakespeare, something is rotten in the state of Capitol Hill. A majority of Congress is just about to put the finishing touches on an amendment to the military budget authorization legislation that will finish off some critical American rights under our Constitution. Here is how two retired 4 star marine generals, Charles C. Krulak and Joseph P. Hoar, described in the New York Times the stripmining of your freedom to resist tyranny in urging a veto by President Obama: "One provision would authorize the military to indefinitely detain without charge people suspected of involvement with terrorism, including United States citizens apprehended on American soil. Due process would be a thing of the past.... "A second provision would mandate military custody for most terrorism suspects. It would force on the military responsibilities it hasn't sought"..."for domestic law enforcement...." "A third provision would further extend a ban on...more U.S. Jewish conservatives target Obama for treating Israel 'like a punching bag' Ha'aretz - Full-page ad in major newspapers by Emergency Committee for Israel criticizes U.S. President for Israel policies, as senior New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman says Congress 'bought' by Israel lobby. Gingrich versus the Palestinian Authority Jerusalem Post 15 Dec 2011 - "The American congressional candidates were correct in criticizing the PA for promoting terror." US proposal links Palestinian aid to halting UN push YNet News, 15 Dec 2011 - The US Congress would allow American economic aid to the Palestinians to continue next year so long as Palestine is not admitted as a state to any more United Nations ... .... Obama administration is likely to fold on AIPAC-backed legislation it opposed targeting Iran Mondoweiss - The Senate just passed the Defense Authorization Act , which in addition to allowing indefinite detention of alleged terrorists, contains an Iran sanctions measure that I wrote about last week. That amendment passed the Senate 100-0, even though the White House vigorously opposed it, saying it would... Clinton: Gingrich Palestinian comment not helpful 12/14/2011 - WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Newt Gingrich's comment that the Palestinians are an "invented people" was unhelpful, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday, saying the Republican presidential candidate had realized this. Gingrich, a former speaker of the US House of Representatives, stirred controversy on Friday when told the Jewish Channel cable television broadcaster he.... Ex-Aipac PR Flack, Block May Be Dropped by Washington Think Tanks Tikun Olam - Is Josh Block still flacking for Aipac? The Washington Post reports that two Beltway think tanks with which Josh Block is associated may cut ties with him after he singlehandedly initiated a witch hunt against a group of progressive foreign policy bloggers associated with Media Matters... Coordinated American-Israeli effort working to smear critical voices Joseph Dana, +972 Magazine 12/13/2011 Last Friday evening, B’Tselem employees were busy sending out press releases and compiling media kits detailing the use of tear gas by the Israeli military in the West Bank. For the past ten years, B’Tselem has been one of the only Israeli organizations documenting routine violations of military and civilian law by Israeli soldiers. On Friday, an unidentified Israeli soldier shot and killed an unarmed Palestinian protester, with an American-made tear gas canister, who was throwing stones at armoured military jeeps in the village of Nabi Saleh. The military claims this was an ‘exceptional’ incident but the facts show that it is not. Due to the great fear of factual discourse regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, there is an unprecedented attack taking place on the free flow of information underway in Israel and the United States. In Israel, organizations like B’Tselem have been targeted with anti-democratic legislation in the Knesset. Even former Israeli combat soldiers brave enough to openly talk about their experience in the West Bank and Gaza are labelled terrorists and marginalized in society. Israel’s democratic safeguards, for the Jewish citizens of the country, are eroding at an astonishingly fast rate. Some might argue that this was bound to happen in a country which deprived the democratic rights of 1.7 million citizens since its inception. The seamlessness of the occupation, its entrenchment and maintenance, is taking place on both sides of the Atlantic. Presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich’s recent comments regarding the “invention” of the Palestinian people confirm that those who wish to defend or at least ignore Israel’s occupation are increasingly interested in the elimination of the Palestinian people from American minds. Surprisingly, or maybe not, this corrosive thinking is now a component of the US presidential election. Supporters of Israel’s current polices have renewed efforts to smear journalists and policy pundits who engage in factual discourse on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Josh Block, former hit man of AIPAC, was exposed last week as leading a campaign of conservative journalists to smear journalists as “anti-Israel” and “borderline anti-Semitic”....more..e-mail Iran: Obama should apologize for downed drone Jerusalem Post 13 Dec 2011 - Tehran rejects Washington's request that it return the plane, wants an apology for violation of its air space. Congress panel agrees on new Iran sanctions YNet News, 13 Dec 2011 - Democrats, Republicans say they agree to legislation compromise imposing new.... The Republicans and the Palestinians Robert Fantina, CounterPunch 12/13/2011 Racism, Genocide and Business as Usual As each election approaches, few candidates miss making a trek to worship at the altar of the American Israel Political Affairs Committee (AIPAC). There they pay homage, hoping to be anointed with the generous largess that that organization dispenses, mainly through its many fallen angels. The most recent pilgrim to this unholy site is Republican presidential candidate wannabe Newt Gingrich, serial adulterer, egomaniac and blowhard extraordinaire. There, bowing before one of the gods of the almighty dollar, he verbalized what his fellow worshippers have vaguely hinted at, but always practiced. Said the adoring Mr. Gingrich: “Remember there was no Palestine as a state. It was part of the Ottoman empire.” He further expounded: “I think that we’ve had an invented Palestinian people.” Mr. Gingrich chooses to ignore that this ‘non-state’ is referenced in the Old Testament. One might well imagine a Native American leader saying: “Remember, there was no United States country. It was part of the British Empire. I think we have an invented United States citizenry.” The following day, Mr. Gingrich defended his words. “Somebody ought to have the courage to tell the truth. These people are terrorists.” Mr. Gingrich is not known for his thoughtful considerations of the issues facing society today. Nor is he noted for his honesty and integrity....more..e-mail Secret trade report obtained by AIPAC and Israel compromised sensitive US industry secrets Sabbah report 13 Dec 2011 - A declassified FBI investigation uncovered AIPAC's receipt of the report from Israel's Economics Minister, who refused to divulge how he obtained it. IRmep's Center for Policy and Law Enforcement filed a petition demanding $6.64 billion in compensation for exporters that suffered confidential business information loss to... Newt Unleashes His Tetrodotoxin at the Palestinians Palestine Chronicle: 13 Dec 2011 - By William A. Cook 'Remember there was no Palestine as a state. It was part of the Ottoman Empire. And I think that we've had an invented Palestinian people, who are in fact Arabs, and were historically part of the Arab community…' -- (Newt Gingrich, Fox News. December 10, 2011) Many “Newts” produce toxins, the rough skinned Taricha, for example, produces enough to kill an adult human, and while all “Newts” go through a metamorphosis from tadpole to lizard, few expected that metamorphosis to reach human form in the person of the front running Republican candidate for President, Newt Gingrich. This Newt avoided the Vietnam War draft while studying for his degrees, then accepted a position as an historian and geographer at West Georgia College, a position he lost when his colleagues denied him tenure. A resourceful man, Newt ran for a congressional seat numerous times before capturing the 6th...more Tunisian assembly elect Moncef Marzouki as interim president The National 12 Dec 2011 - Leader of the Congress for the Republic Party became interim president with 153 out of 217 votes in the assembly. ‘WaPo’ says Block could be casualty of ‘anti-Semites’ accusation Mondoweiss - Josh Block The Washington Post is reporting that two "top" thinktanks in Washington (whatever top means!) may cut ties with former AIPAC spokesperson Josh Block following Justin Elliott's story showing that Block had tried to bring down critics of Israel at the Center for American Progress... Why the US & Israel May Agree to Bombing Iran Franklin C. Spinney, CounterPunch 12/12/2011 Shaping the Popular Psyche in America's Post-Information Era The arguments for attacking Iran are crazy, like those for attacking Iraq in response to 9-11. But that does not mean such an attack by the American and/or the Israelis will not occur. Indeed, I think the political pressure for such an attack is increasing. My reasons for saying this are as follows: On 11 October, Patrick Seale wrote a very important essay, Will Israel Bomb Iran. Seale described secret internal deliberations in the Israeli government over the twin questions of (1) how short a time window existed for Israel to launch a sneak attack on Iran and (2) how to suck in the United States into supporting such an attack, even if an Israeli attack was launched without US approval or if the US was kept in ignorance beforehand? Seale, who is extremely well connected and very knowledgeable on the Middle Eastern affairs, also reported the Americans knew of the Israeli discussions, and the idea of Israeli decision makers thinking their window of opportunity was closing was causing alarm in Washington. Seale did not address the speculative question of whether or not Israel, motivated by the opportunities implicit in the US election cycle, was running a ‘perception shaping’ operation on the Obama Administration and/or Obama’s opponents in the Republican party. Also on 11 October, the US Attorney General Eric Holder held a spectacular press conference announcing the FBI had uncovered an Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States on US soil and to attack embassies of unnamed third countries. But the story was full of holes, and as I argued here, it smacked of a botched sting operation or, even worse, a false flag operation, perhaps by the Israelis or the Saudis. The story quickly lost its traction and vanished, but the impression was planted in a sound-byte-addicted popular psyche.more..e-mail Washington's Alliance with 'Moderate Islam' Palestine Chronicle: 12 Dec 2011 - By James Petras The dynamic of democratic, nationalist and class struggles throughout the Muslim world has set in motion a new constellation of alliances between the imperial West (US and European Union) and Islamist parties, leaders and regimes, dubbed “moderate” by US officials, propagandists and academics. This essay analyzes the changing contemporary context of imperial domination, especially the demise of longstanding client regimes. It then examines the previous significant ties between western imperial powers and Islamist movements and regimes and the basis of ‘historical collaboration’. The third part of the paper will outline the political circumstances in which the imperial powers embrace “moderate” Islamists in government and utilize “armed fundamentalists” in opposition to secular regimes. We will critically analyze how “moderate” Islam is defined by the Western imperialist powers. Is this a tactical or strategic alliance? What are the political “trade-offs”? What do imperialism’s neo-liberal clients and their new ‘moderate’...more Silent liberal pundits and Democrats are part of effort to stifle conversation on failed peace process, AIPAC’s power, and push for war on Iran Mondoweiss - Judah Benjamin On Friday Pat Lang's national security site published an essay that a lot of folks are passing around. I don't know who wrote it--the byline was the pseudonym Judah Benjamin (at left). All I know is that he or she can write. The chronology... AIPAC Economic Warfare Also Targets US Grant Smith, Antiwar.com 12/10/2011 From Stolen US Trade Secrets to Iran's Central Bank The American Israel Public Affairs Committee is trumpeting tough new sanctions against Iran’s Central Bank. This financial blockade will likely drive up global energy prices as Iran struggles to sell petroleum to wholesalers fearful of secondary boycotts. That the sources of this latest step toward US military action against Iran are mainly Israel lobbying groups or beneficiaries of their campaign finance network has been well-established. The lobby justifies the campaign based on unsubstantiated allegations that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons although no evidence from credible sources has emerged. Less well known is that Israel and its lobby frequently deploy tactics from same menu of economic warfare — such as capturing assets — against the United States. Newly declassified documents extracted from a very reluctant US Trade Representative are a case in point. In 1984 the captured assets in question were also of the intangible variety — trade secrets, strategies, and classified industry data. The victims were more than seventy US corporations and business organizations that responded to US International Trade Commission solicitations in 1984 to participate in negotiations that would open the US market to Israeli exports. After delivering up their confidential business data in opposition to the preferences, participants were appalled that the Israeli government pilfered all the USTR’s classified report and passed it to AIPAC to lobby against US industries. But what made this captured US intellectual asset so valuable and timely? After a multi-year battle that began in 2009, the US Trade Representative was finally forced to publicly release (PDFs) the majority of the secret report surreptitiously obtained by AIPAC decades ago. The secret document reveals all.more..e-mail Gingrich calls Palestinians an 'invented' people 12/10/2011 - WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- US Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich thrust himself into controversy on Friday by declaring that the Palestinians are an "invented" people who want to destroy Israel. The former speaker of the US House of Representatives predictably sided with Israel in its decades-old dispute with the Palestinians but took it a step further in.... Related: Gingrich remarks 'demeaning and ridiculous' and Fatah, Hamas condemn Gingrich remarks The lobby blinks! Democratic insiders throw Josh Block under the bus Mondoweiss - Josh Block In the last 24 hours, a giant battle has taken place at the gates of Washington, and the Israel lobby has lost. Former AIPAC operative Josh Block's attempt to crush critics of Israel inside the Democratic Party has failed miserably. Block has issued an... Ron Paul: U.S. money won't help Israel Ha'aretz - A wrap-up of this week in Washington: angry rabbi supports ambassador despite 'anti-Semitic' remarks; U.S. ambassador returns to Syria; Obama set to address Reform movement biennial. U.S. envoy: Washington closely coordinating with Israel on Iran Ha'aretz - Ambassador Dan Shapiro rebuffs previous claims by U.S. officials that Israel would not alert Washington ahead of a strike on Iran. [uruknet.info] Soldiers' Families Demand Revenge Against U.S. Uruknet December 9, 2011 - As Islamabad and Washington wrangle over responsibility for the Nov. 26 cross-border airstrike that killed 24 Pakistani troops, families of the dead soldiers are demanding revenge on the United States. "The naked assault has shown that America is our real enemy. A tit-for-tat response could lessen our grief," Asfandyar Khan, father of... [uruknet.info] Militarizing the Borders Drones Are Coming to a Theater Near You Uruknet December 8, 2011 - "The UAVs, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, are coming." So says Candice Miller, the Republican congresswoman from northern Michigan borderlands. She should know. Miller chairs the Border and Maritime Security of the House Committee on Homeland Security, which oversees the Department of Homeland Security's rush to deploy drones to keep the homeland secure. In... [uruknet.info] Defense Authorization Act Will Destroy Bill Of Rights Uruknet December 8, 2011 - The grim face of totalitarianism is emerging in the National Defense Authorization Act(NDAA) now before Congress. This bill is the last mile post on America's sad, well-traveled road to the butcher shop of dictatorship. We have been headed that way for some time and, with a little help from Congress, we'll arrive... Report: Israeli jeweler murdered in Connecticut YNet News, 9 Dec 2011 - WASHINGTON - An Israeli man was shot dead Thursday night at his jewelry store in Westport, Connecticut, the local television channel News 8 reported. According to the ... .... How about an Israeli Destruction Freeze? Intifada-Palestine: 9 Dec 2011 - Obama should demand an immediate halt to all Israeli destruction of Palestinian property in the West Bank. by Yousef Munayyer Washington, DC – Much was made of what many in the media described as a “confrontation” between Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin... more To War, To War, Aipac Goes to War Tikun Olam - Josh Block, United Jewish Community's Bill Daroff and Haaretz's Natasha Mozgovaya I don’t know how many of you caught the echo of the Marx Brothers’ Duck Soup (“To war, to war, Fredonia goes to war!”) in my post title. But apparently, as Aipac joins in eager... J Street Comes to a Well-Guarded Syracuse Ira Glunts, CounterPunch 12/9/2011 I recently heard Jeremy Ben-Ami, president and founder of JStreet, tell a group of Jewish Syracuse New Yorkers that it is in the interest of Israel, the United States and American Jews to have a ”two-state solution” to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Ben-Ami was in town to help launch a local chapter of his self-proclaimed “pro-Israel, pro-peace organization.” He described his peace vision as one led by the Likud princess and Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni, and the U.S. installed Palestinian “Prime Minister” Salam Fayyad. Based on the audience questions and comments, JStreet Jeremy had at least as many opponents as sympathizers at the Jewish Community Center (JCC) that evening. Strangely, my main impressions of the evening were not based on Mr. Ben-Ami’s remarks, about which I plan to write in the near future, but rather on the unexpected presence of two burly city policemen who were stationed in the lobby near the entrance to the JCC building. It seems relevant to inform you that I am Jewish, live an hour’s drive from Syracuse and know close to nothing about its Jewish community. As a matter of fact, I know very little about any Jewish community except the one that existed around Pelham Parkway in the Bronx a half century ago. Most of the information I have learned recently about American Jews comes from websites, newspapers, magazines, television, even blogs. (Full disclosure: my main source of my knowledge is Mondoweiss!) When I saw that the Jewish Community Center was tightly secured by Syracuse’s finest, I first surmised that the police were present to protect Jeremy from some irate meshugenah alter cocker (wild old fart, inYiddish) who had overdosed on prune juice and was high on tribalism and pro-Israel fanaticism. Although I initially dismissed this assumption as unlikely, I later learned that it actually contained an element of truth.more..e-mail Jeff Feltman Delivers his Annual Yuletide Gifts to Lebanon Franklin Lamb, South Beirut, CounterPunch 12/9/2011 Stuck in the Chimney Over the past few years, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman has sledded into Lebanon bearing gifts during the Yuletide season more regularly than Santa Claus. No sooner had I arrived back in Lebanon than I heard the news that he was on his way—again to deliver holiday tidings to Lebanese officials. I began thinking that one useful gift he could deliver to me personally would be to sign off on plans for this year’s US Embassy Christmas Party and invite moi. The US Embassy Christmas Party is a festive event from which Feltman barred this observer during part of his 2004-8 tenure as US Ambassador. Telling his then vice-consul in 2007, “Lamb can celebrate Christmas with those elements he associates with, plus he can’t carry a tune and he messes up my favorite carol,” (Oh Little Town of Bethlehem, which happens to be mine too.) So now each year I must sing along with Bing Crosby via a real spotty Internet connection. Lebanon ranks 183rd out of 203 countries, just behind Afghanistan, in the worlds ranking of slowest internet. Someone who knows Feltman fairly well, reports that ever since the former Saad Hariri March 14th government, still commonly referred to as “Feltmans Government,” in some Lebanese neighborhoods including mine, was forced into opposition last year, Feltman has been in a bit of a snit regarding Lebanon. His mood was not helped much this year when, as his bad luck would have it, the day before he arrived from Jordan, his arch nemesis, Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah shocked Washington and Tel Aviv while thrilling Resistance supporters in Lebanon and around the region, by appearing in person at this year’s Rayah Field Ashoura gathering, commemorating the 7th Century martyrdom at Karbala of Ibn Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).more..e-mail IAF strikes Hamas base in Gaza, Palestinians report civilian casualties Ha'aretz - Medical officials say the target was a Hamas training base, but that shrapnel flew into nearby houses, killing a civilian and wounding 13 others., Grad missile lands near southern city of Be'er Sheva, Qassam lands in open field in western Negev; Palestinians report first IDF airstrike of Gaza City since 2009., King Abdullah II is trying to get Israel and the Palestinians to resume peace talks that Abbas abandoned in September 2010., UN says more than 4,000 people were killed in the 9 month crackdown, but Assad says only a 'crazy' leader kills his own people and that most of those killed were government supporters., Palestinian medics report two killed, several hurt in Israeli strike on car in central Gaza City., Ambassador Dan Shapiro rebuffs previous claims by U.S. officials that Israel would not alert Washington ahead of a strike on Iran., Mughrabi Bridge in Jerusalem's Old City in danger of collapse, says engineer; Netanyahu had in the past ordered delay of bridge's demolition due to warnings from Egypt and Jordan., Senior Palestinian source accuses Hamas of trying to torpedo election since Israel expected to object to May presidential, parliamentary elections in East Jerusalem., French President explains events leading up to his 'Netanyahu is a liar' remark, says he was frustrated by Israel's refusal to use French helicopter to transport Shalit from Egypt to Israel., Foreign Minister meets with Putin in Moscow, discusses Mideast security matters and urges him not to support unilateral steps by Palestinians at UN., Mayor of Burkina village says flaming tires thrown into mosque's entrance, with assailants scrawling the words 'Hero of Ariel' on its walls., Senators John McCain and Carl Levin say uncertainty stokes concern in Washington, where preferred course for now is sanctions and diplomatic pressure., IDF pledges to 'continue to take action against those who use terror against the state of Israel.', In meeting with State Comptroller, Maj. Gen. (res.) responds to claims that the Defense Minister backed his candidacy over his views on a possible military actions against Iran's nuclear facilities., Anyone who has a clue about our relationship with Israel understands that a robust, wide-ranging foreign aid program benefits U.S. interests in the region., Detention of 3 soldiers come 2 days after 7 female Jewish settlers were arrested on suspicion of vandalizing army property and damaging Palestinian-owned trees. Washington Watch: Turkey: Friend or foe? Jerusalem Post 7 Dec 2011 - Ankara’s hostility to Israel could spill over to the rest of the West. Safadi tells U.S. strengthening Army shrinks Hezbollah’s role Daily Star 8 Dec 2011 Finance Minister Mohammad Safadi told U.S. Congress that Hezbollah's role as an armed resistance in defending Lebanon would become moot if the country’s army was fully equipped and capable. Safadi to U.S.: arming military decreases Hezbollah's role Daily Star 8 Dec 2011 Finance minister tells U.S. congress Hezbollah's role as an armed resistance to defend Lebanon would become moot if the country’s army was fully equipped and capable. Gingrich 'likely' to support Pollard pardon YNet News, 8 Dec 2011 - WASHINGTON – Former Speaker-of-the-House and Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich said Thursday that he was 'leaning towards clemency' for convicted Israeli spy ... .... Lobbyist privately calls on journalists to hector Schumer & Pelosi about ‘anti-Semites’ at Democratic thinktank Mondoweiss - Justin Elliott has an important story up at Salon on an email list of rightwing journalists called "The Freedom Community" to which former AIPAC staffer Josh Block sent a call-to-arms yesterday. Block was telling the list to flog Ben Smith's important piece in Politico on a... AIPAC posterizes Obama in Senate, 100-0 Mondoweiss - The Israeli consulate in San Francisco celebrates the Senate vote on Twitter. If you want to understand the pressure that Obama is under from the Israel lobby, consider this greasy story: Last week three high Obama officials urged Senators not to pass an amendment to the... How about an Israeli destruction freeze? Yousef Munayyer, Al Jazeera.com 12/8/2011 Obama should demand an immediate halt to all Israeli destruction of Palestinian property in the West Bank. Washington, DC - Much was made of what many in the media described as a "confrontation" between Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama over the building of illegal Israeli settlements (or colonies) in Occupied Palestinian Territory. From the very beginning of the Obama administration, the pursuit of a freeze on Israeli settlement activity was a stated goal - one that was never really accomplished and never adequately pursued. The idea of a settlement freeze, which was wrongly attributed to the now-resigned special envoy George Mitchell, was actually stipulated in the Bush administration's Road Map and accepted by the parties in 2003. A freeze on all settlement activity was a first-phase Israeli obligation - not to mention an obligation under international law. It should go without saying that the Israelis failed to fulfill this obligation, and instead the Israeli government, then led by Ariel Sharon, presided over the single largest and most aggressive period of settlement activity in the West Bank since the Menachem Begin government in 1977-83. Still, Israeli settlement construction is not the only belligerent behaviour conducted by the occupation regime in Palestinian Territory. To paraphrase the now-former US Congressman Brian Baird, if the law is "thou shall not build on territory which does not belong to you", an equally important corollary of this law is "thou shall not destroy what belongs to others in territory which does not belong to you". Of course, apart from the regular construction of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, there is also the regular destruction of Palestinian buildings and infrastructure in the same territory. Both the construction of illegal settlements and the destruction of the homes and property of the native Palestinians stem from the same origin: Israel's unbridled assertion of power over the native Palestinians in the context of total impunity.more..e-mail Yemen's Imperialist Transition Palestine Chronicle: 8 Dec 2011 - By James Gundun – Washington, D.C. An ongoing international crime spree is being committed in Yemen, where casualties mount into the thousands, and millions of pro-democracy protesters have no one to turn to other than themselves. Rather than isolate Ali Abdullah Saleh’s 33-year regime, international actors have pursued cooperation in order to maintain regional influence across the Arabian Peninsula and Horn of Africa. Beyond its patronage of various tribal figures, Saudi Arabia operates an intelligence apparatus in conjunction with the CIA’s expanding grid. Washington seeks to duplicate Pakistan’s quasi-unilateral network inside Yemen. Whom does one report to when national and international law has been corrupted? On Yemen’s political front, the Arab League never checked in as the Saudi-bankrolled Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) dipped into a non-member. Saleh’s foreign allies - all five veto-wielding members in the United Nations - then ordered the Security Council to legitimize a “unity government” through...more Wary US uncertain of Israel's Iran plans 12/7/2011 - WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The Obama administration does not know Israel's intentions regarding potential military action against Iran, and the uncertainty is stoking concern in Washington, where the preferred course for now is sanctions and diplomatic pressure. Although Israel remains one of the United States' closest allies and the two countries' officials are.... US candidates back Israel, threaten Iran 12/7/2011 - WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Republican presidential candidates rattled sabers against Iran and skewered President Barack Obama for being soft in his support for Israel on Wednesday as they vied for the backing of Jewish Republicans. One by one, the major contenders for the Republican nomination to face the Democratic president in 2012 told the Republican Jewish Coalition.... Syria's Assad denies orders to kill demonstrators 12/7/2011 - WASHINGTON (AFP) -- Syrian President Bashar Assad denied ordering the killing of thousands of protesters and said "only a crazy person" would target his own people, in a rare US interview released Wednesday. Speaking to ABC News, Assad brushed off widening international sanctions and questioned the UN death toll of more than 4,000 since the eruption.... Obama administration in the dark on Israel's Iran plans, U.S. officials say Ha'aretz - Senators John McCain and Carl Levin say uncertainty stokes concern in Washington, where preferred course for now is sanctions and diplomatic pressure. Republicans talk tough on Iran, vie for Jewish vote Jerusalem Post 7 Dec 2011 - US presidential candidates meet Republican Jewish Coalition in Washington; Gingrich: I would move US embassy to J'lem. [uruknet.info] Nasrallah slams Syrian opposition, stands by Assad Uruknet December 6, 2011 - Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Tuesday vowed to stand by his embattled ally President Bashar al-Assad to the end, lashing out at Syria's opposition for cosying up with Washington and Israel. "From the very beginning, we have made it clear that we stand by the (Syrian) regime, a regime of resistance"... ‘Politico’: battle has begun for the soul of the Democratic Party over love affair with Likud Mondoweiss - Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama addressing AIPAC in 2008 (above). Is the Democratic Party consensus on Israel splintering? A very important piece at Politico : Ben Smith acknowledges the tremendous significance of critics of Israel inside two Democratic Party establishment-linked orgs. Two of the... A tin ear during a shifting political landscape leaves Israel in fearful isolation The National 6 Dec 2011 - Analysis: The US defence secretary’s stern words to Israel were not only extraordinary given their timing but indicate how Washington now views its obdurate ally as a hindrance to the role of the Obama administration in the region. 'White House pushes to weaken Iran sanction' YNet News, 6 Dec 2011 - The Obama administration is pressuring Congress to ease the potential impact of crippling sanctions on Iran's Central Bank, arguing that the restrictions will drive up ... .... [uruknet.info] CELAC: A Washington-Controlled OAS Alternative Uruknet December 4, 2011 - On February 23, 2010, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States was established at the Rio Group-Caribbean Community Unity Summit in Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico. CELAC comprises 33 regional countries. America and Canada are excluded. In July 2010, Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Chile's Sebastian Pinera were chosen co-chairs to... Panetta: Israel & Palestine must ‘Get to the Damn Bed’ Intifada-Palestine: 4 Dec 2011 - Dr Ashraf Ezzat (ALEXANDRIA, Egypt) – In remarks made at the Brookings Institution in Washington on Friday, Panetta said: “The problem right now is we can’t get them [Israel's leaders] to the damn table to at least sit down and begin... more Jewish establishment gives White House cover to criticize Israel–just not on Palestine Mondoweiss - Mild criticisms of Israeli policy towards Palestinians, like the comments made by Howard Gutman (above), have provoked the ire of the Israel lobby ( Photo: U.S. Embassy in Belgium ) The most salient lesson from the ruckus Jeffrey Goldberg and other Jewish groups created over the ridiculous ads... More haste, less speed Mr Abbas Middle East Monitor (MEMO) 12/2/2011 Britain wrote the dubious Balfour Declaration, France gave Israel nuclear military capability and Germany has paid billions in reparations for the Nazi Holocaust. If there is anything that the Palestinian Authority is good at, it's proving to Israel how "flexible" and "generous" it is. This week, the Ramallah Authority did just that when it submitted, well ahead of the 26 January 2012 deadline, its proposals on borders and security issues which it feels should be the basis for renewed negotiations with Israel. Although the PA has agreed to Israel's demands for a land exchange and a demilitarised Palestinian state, Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing government rejected the offer outright; Israel, apparently, prefers direct and confidential negotiations. Needless to say, Israel has given no indication that it will respect the Middle East Quartet's timeline for submitting its own proposal. What prompted the PA to submit its proposals now? Clearly, finance is a factor. Just one week after Mahmoud Abbas made his foray at the UN seeking membership of the world body, the US Congress decided to block a transfer of $200 million to the Ramallah Authority. Israel complemented this collective punishment by Washington when it, in turn, froze the transfer of tax revenues valued at well over $100 million, leaving the PA in a serious economic mess. Politically-speaking, the timing of the PA move is extraordinary, and that's an understatement; it coincided with the conclusion of the UN General Assembly's annual debate on the Question of Palestine, during which the world gathering expressed overwhelming support for the Palestinian leadership's application for full UN membership. The General Assembly stressed the detrimental impact on the peace process of Israel's settlement policies in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. In six recorded votes, the Assembly adopted resolutions covering Palestine and the wider Middle East; the texts referred to the illegal Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem as well as the Golan Heights....more..e-mail O Captain My Captain: America’s Aid for Israel’s Political ‘Continuum’ Sabbah report 5 Dec 2011 - The question for the Obama administration, Congress, is if, the American public, who should be asked first, were informed of the extent, nature and illegality of U.S Aid to Israel, would the American public then sanction any military aid to Israel at all? US: Israel must start talks, end isolation 12/3/2011 - WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta urged Israel on Friday to get back to the "damn" negotiating table with Palestinians and take steps to address what he described as the country's growing isolation in the Middle East. Panetta, addressing a forum in Washington, also made one of his most extensive arguments to.... Related: Israel blames Palestinians for peace stalemate ‘Commentary’ suggests Ron Paul’s heresy on Israel support is anti-Semitic Mondoweiss - Ron Paul on CNN's Situation Room yesterday Wow. Wolf Blitzer had Ron Paul on for nearly 10 minutes yesterday and abstemiously juridically idiotically avoided the foreign policy issue/Israel/Iran. Meantime, Jonathan Tobin lays down the law at Commentar y. The law of the lobby. Notice the emotional... Poll: Israeli Jews want no nuclear weapons 12/2/2011 - WASHINGTON (AFP) -- A strong majority of Israeli Jews support a Middle East where neither Iran nor Israel nor any other country has nuclear weapons, according to a poll published on Thursday." By a ratio of two to one, Israelis support an agreement that would make the Middle East a nuclear weapon free zone, including Iran.... [uruknet.info] ICC: Good Riddance Luis Moreno Ocampo Uruknet December 2, 2011 - ...Ocampo saved his most abysmal conduct for last; Libya. In Libya, Washington, London and Paris sought regime-change. The West was determined to get rid of Muammar al-Quathafi once and for all. So UN Resolution 1973 was obtained, through duplicity and coercion, purportedly for the purpose of "saving" innocent Libyan civilians. The Resolution... [uruknet.info] Obama reaffirms support to Israel, most "important" US ally Uruknet December 1, 2011 - Obama-the-candidate is back, and so, too, is the Israel lovefest. Speaking to "Jewish donors" in Manhattan on Wednesday amid a house call at the home of Jack Rosen, the president of the American Jewish Congress, President Obama reassured wary Jewish Americans that he's the best friend Israel's got. "....[T]his administration has done... [uruknet.info] Iraq snapshot - December 1, 2011 Uruknet December 1, 2011 - Chaos and violence continue, the US military calls what's taking place in Iraq "reposturing," Biden tries to put a happy face on the war (despite today's violence), Jalal Talabani leads a cry that politics should take place out of the sight of the Iraqi people, a US Congress member admits publicly they... US cautions Israel against solo military op in Iran YNet News, 3 Dec 2011 - WASHINGTON – As tensions between Tehran and the West rise US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Friday that he has cautioned Israel not to take unilateral military ... .... PM nixes anti-assimilation campaign YNet News, 2 Dec 2011 - WASHINGTON - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the Absorption Ministry on Friday to abort a new campaign that urges Israelis who live abroad to return to the ... .... Israeli gov’t cancels oafish ad campaign targeting Christmas, US marriage Mondoweiss - Is this the week that Israel, the longest running Jewish American TV show, "jumped the shark?" I wonder. Ruth Marcus getting vexed in the Washington Post that restrictions on women in Israel are a "national security" threat because they will alienate American Jews, on whom the... [uruknet.info] British MPs Write to Congress to Complain About Guantánamo and to Demand the Release of Shaker Aamer Uruknet December 1, 2011 - In Truthout today, four British MPs - Jeremy Corbyn, John Leech, Caroline Lucas and Michael Meacher - wrote an open letter to Congress seeking the return to the UK of Shaker Aamer, the last British resident in the prison. Mr. Aamer's story is familiar to those of us who have long campaigned... [uruknet.info] Senate Amendment Calls for a Return to Bush-Era Torture Uruknet November 30, 2011 - An amendment by Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-New Hampshire) to the current Defense Authorization Bill (SA 1068) now before Congress would roll back the 2009 Obama executive order against torture by re-establishing a secret "classified" set of interrogation techniques and then attaching them to the current "Army Field Manual" on human intelligence collection.... Time for outrage against academic support for Israel David Cronin, Middle East Monitor (MEMO) 12/1/2011 Persistent campaigning by the Palestine solidarity movement has turned Veolia into something of a toxic brand. From Manchester to Melbourne, local authorities have been quizzed about their dealings with the French corporate giant because of its role in constructing a light rail system for illegal Israeli settlements in Jerusalem. The controversy has affected Veolia's bottom line, resulting in the loss of contracts worth €10 billion (£8.6 billion) over the past six years. So it recently turned to the Brussels bureaucracy for moral - or, perhaps more accurately, immoral - support. On 31 October, Antonio Tajani, vice-president of the European Commission, opened the "Go4 Europe" business conference in Tel Aviv. On promotional material that Tajani and his aides almost certainly read, Veolia was listed as one of the event's four "platinum sponsors". As Tajani used the occasion to laud Israel's "business-friendly environment" (his words), he gave his tacit blessing to companies such as Veolia that have seized the opportunities presented by an apartheid state. Tajani cannot profess ignorance of how the gathering served a propaganda function. The founder of the annual conference, Edouard Cukierman, is a self-declared "economic Zionist", according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. As well as being active in the technology industry, Cukierman works in the media division of the Israeli military, a force that has a tenuous relationship with the truth (to put it mildly). He is the son of Roger Cukierman, a former head of CRIF (the representative council for Jewish institutions in France), one of the most influential groups in this continent's Israel lobby. Nominated to the EU executive by Italy's then prime minister Silvio Berlusconi in 2008, Tajani is a key ally for Israel in Brussels. For the 14 years before that appointment, he was a standard-bearer of Berlusconi's Forza Italia party in the European Parliament....more..e-mail Political Islam and its supposed dangers Abdul Bari Atwan, Middle East Monitor (MEMO) 12/1/2011 In gaining the majority of votes in the Moroccan election, the Justice and Development Party has put the West on alert, as well as some of the more conservative Arab countries. Long-held fears have been revived by the sweeping success of political Islam across the Middle East-North Africa (MENA) region. However, such fears are misplaced because most of the Islamic parties which have seen electoral success are most definitely moderate; they believe in pluralism and coexistence with other ideologies, secularism included. Al-Nahda in Tunisia has already formed an alliance with two secular parties: the Congress led by Dr Muncif al Marzouki, which is a leftist nationalist party, and the Assembly led by Mustafa bin Jaafar. More importantly, Al-Nahda leader Shaikh Rashid Ghannouchi has made it clear that he will not meddle in the personal domain of Tunisians; nor will he prohibit bikinis and mixed-bathing beaches. Moreover, he will encourage foreign investment and European tourism which is one of the mainstays of the Tunisian economy. It is significant that the Justice and Development Party (JDP), which follows what it calls the Turkish model of government, as led by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is committed to preserve the character of Moroccan society and respect personal freedoms. JDP Secretary General Abdullah bin Kiran confirmed that justice and dignity are his top priorities; there are core issues to deal with, which are much more important than dress codes and prohibiting alcohol. Kiran said that his party will not be drawn into battles on the sidelines with alcoholics and those who dress scantily because no government can transgress upon the public freedoms of Moroccans. What the West does not understand about the phenomenal success of political Islam in the democratic elections, claims Abdullah bin Kiran, is that Arab voters are Muslim and moderate by nature....more..e-mail Chairman of Joint Chiefs: Israel Disagrees Sanctions Can Be Effective, May Strike Iran Without Warning Tikun Olam - Pro-Israel uber-hawks in Congress like to say there isn’t an ounce of daylight between the positions of the U.S. and Israel whenever an Israeli PM comes to Washington. But that’s apparently not the case regarding our respective views of Iran. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of... Why Moscow doesn't believe Washington on Missile Defense… or on just almost nuthin'… Voltaire Network 1 Dec 2011 - Most in the civilized world are blissfully unaware that we are marching ineluctably towards an increasingly likely pre-emptive nuclear war. No, it's not at all about Iran and Israel. It's about the decision of Washington and the Pentagon to push Moscow up against the wall with... Washington Watch: Weakening Abbas only strengthens Hamas Jerusalem Post 30 Nov 2011 - The biggest danger facing Netanyahu and Abbas is that they may get carried away with their own rhetoric and step off the proverbial cliff. [uruknet.info] Amos Schocken: Israel Apartheid Regime,' Jewish Lobby Addicted' to Settlement Ideology Uruknet November 29, 2011 - Amos Schocken published an eye-opening, remarkably candid op-ed (and Hebrew) in Haaretz about the extent of the catastrophe that Israel currently faces, which includes a raft of repressive bills and laws threatening everything from freedom of speech to freedom of the press to academic freedom to minority Arab rights. We're used to... [uruknet.info] As Judges Kill Off Habeas Corpus for the Guantánamo Prisoners, Will the Supreme Court Act? Uruknet November 29, 2011 - When it comes to Guantánamo, the prisoners held in the Bush administration's experimental prison have mostly been abandoned by those who should have acted on their behalf in all three branches of government - the executive branch, Congress and the judiciary. In June 2004, for a brief moment, George W. Bush's excesses... [uruknet.info] Indefinite Domestic Military Detentions Uruknet November 28, 2011 - Congress is now considering legislative language to mandate indefinite military detentions of US citizens suspected of present or past associations with alleged terrorist groups, with or without evidence to prove it. More on that below. The 2006 Military Commissions Act authorized torture and sweeping unconstitutional powers to detain, interrogate, and prosecute alleged... Israel's UN envoy slams Arabs over refugees YNet News, 29 Nov 2011 - WASHINGTON - Speaking at the United Nations on the occasion of the Partition Plan's 64th anniversary, Israel's UN Ambassador Ron Prosor said: "The difference between the ... .... Ann Lewis and Bill Kristol do ‘playful banter’ at AIPAC summit Mondoweiss - Ann Lewis Erika Schupak Neuberg reports in a Phoenix Jewish publication on an AIPAC summit in Scottsdale, AZ (h/t Max Blumenthal ): Proud. Energized. Alarmed. Exhilarated. These are just a few of the words that describe my experience at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's Summit - our... Key Occupy Wall Street organizers include activists with roots in Israel/Palestine Mondoweiss - Amin Husain recently appeared on C-SPAN's Washington Journal to discuss the movement. Lost in the debate over whether Palestine is a pertinent issue to the Occupy movement is this interesting fact: two of the core organizers behind Occupy Wall Street in New York have close ties... Military Industrial Complex: Full Fruition Dissident Voice: 29 Nov 2011 - This week Congress is expected to vote on a bill advanced by John McCain and Carl Levin, a Republican and Democrat who united to bring us the foundation needed to propel us fully into a militarized nightmare state similar to what we have been exporting these last few years. It is the Enemy Belligerent, Interrogation, Detention and Prosecution Act. In case you haven’t heard the details (which is likely if you have spent much time watching traditional news), the bill essentially labels every spot on this earth as a battlefield, including the United States. It’s a telling moment when they concede, or, in fact, advance a never ending war, and its present under each rock, according to these lawmakers. It’s certainly the stuff of 1984 (we’ve always been at war with Eastasia). From this notion springs the advancement of military tribunals dealing with all citizens of the globe (once again,...more Iran 'will avenge past Israeli massacres if attacked' 11/28/2011 - BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Iran will take revenge for past Israeli massacres if Tel Aviv attacks the Islamic republic, Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said Sunday, Iranian media reported. Addressing a parade of 50,000 army volunteers, Vahidi said Iran would teach the US "how to fight" if Washington attacked the Islamic republic, the Mehr news site.... [uruknet.info] Attempts to break Gaza blockade won't stop, vows Freedom Waves activist Uruknet November 28, 2011 - Anti-Semite. Holocaust-denier. Terrorist-supporter. The government of Israel as well as its lobbyists and supporters commonly use these labels to describe Palestine solidarity activists and to discourage criticism of illegal Israeli practices. In this polarizing context, the United States, the European Union and Australia have escalated efforts to discourage activism in support of... [uruknet.info] Congress to Vote Next Week on EXPLICITLY Creating a Police State Uruknet November 26, 2011 - The police brutality against peaceful protesters in Berkeley, Davis, Oakland and elsewhere is bad enough. But next week, Congress will vote on explicitly creating a police state. The ACLU's Washington legislative office explains: The Senate is gearing up for a vote on Monday or Tuesday that goes to the very heart of... [uruknet.info] Bipartisan Deal to Slash Medicare and Medicaid Uruknet November 26, 2011 - It's been planned for years. Republicans want them eliminated. Democrats agreed to incremental cuts to make ending core social contract programs look normal. Slashing Social Security comes later. On November 24, New York Times writer Robert Pear headlined, "Support Builds for a Plan to Rein in Medicare Costs," saying: Congressional Supercommittee members "... Israel is top destination for Congress, including 12 Texans, 26 times Mondoweiss - Gene Green, Democratic congressman from Houston, has been to Israel 5 times in 18 years Great reporting by Michael Duke at the Jewish Herald-Voice, a Texas publication . Now before you blame Christian Zionists for all these trips-- and I agree, Christian Zionists are blameworthy as a... [uruknet.info] Coming: Big Austerity Cuts Uruknet November 25, 2011 - The congressional August Budget Control Act of 2011 established the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction - aka Supercommittee. Doing so was extralegal. The Constitution's Article 1, Section 8 explains congressional powers. None of them include supercommittee authority to resolve America's debt crisis. 1, Section 8, Sub-section 18 lets Congress "make all... NBC and the Israel lobby Mondoweiss - David L. Cohen, exec. vp of Comcast Yesterday I did a shocked post about the fact that Ed Rendell, the telegenic former governor of Pennsylvania, a favorite of Chris Matthews and MSNBC, did a fundraiser for the Israeli army in Philadelphia, at which he said it... Is Britain Plotting With Israel to Attack Iran? Jonathan Cook, CounterPunch 11/25/2011 Ex-Ambassador Exposes Government Cover-Up Last February Britain’s then defense minister Liam Fox attended a dinner in Tel Aviv with a group described as senior Israelis. Alongside him sat Adam Werritty, a lobbyist whose “improper relations” with the minister would lead eight months later to Fox’s hurried resignation. According to several reports in the British media the Israelis in attendance at the dinner were representatives of the Mossad, Israel’s spy agency, while Fox and Werritty were accompanied by Matthew Gould, Britain’s ambassador to Israel. A former British diplomat has now claimed that the topic of discussion that evening was a secret plot to attack Iran. The official inquiry castigating the UK’s former defence secretary for what has come to be known as a “cash-for-access” scandal appears to have only scratched the surface of what Fox and accomplice Adam Werritty may have been up to when they met for dinner in Tel Aviv. Little was made of the dinner in the 10-page inquiry report published last month by Gus O’Donnell, the cabinet’s top civil servant. Instead O’Donnell concentrated on other aspects of Werritty’s behaviour: the 33-year-old friend of Fox’s had presented himself as the minister’s official adviser and jetted around the world with him arranging meetings with businessmen. The former minister’s allies, seeking to dismiss the gravity of the case against him, have described Werritty as a harmless dreamer. Following his resignation, Fox himself claimed O’Donnell’s report had exonerated him of putting national security at risk.more..e-mail Amos Schocken: Israel ‘Apartheid Regime,’ ‘Jewish Lobby Addicted’ to Settlement Ideology Tikun Olam - Haaretz publisher, Amos Schocken Amos Schocken published an eye-opening, remarkably candid op-ed (and Hebrew ) in Haaretz about the extent of the catastrophe that Israel currently faces, which includes a raft of repressive bills and laws threatening everything from freedom of speech to freedom of the... The right context Hassan Jabareen, Haaretz, Israeli Occupation Archive 11/26/2011 The disingenuity of the Israeli government’s international comparisons is evident when one compares politicians’ rhetoric for audiences within Israel with the diplomatic discourse abroad The government frequently tries to justify its anti-democratic bills by comparing them to laws in democratic states. For example, it contends that the newly proposed bills regarding the nomination procedures for Supreme Court justices reflect the process used in the United States. When the coalition passes anti-Arab legislation like the “Nakba law,” which lets the finance minister cut the budgets of publicly funded institutions that commemorate the Nakba, it argues that we have to defend Israel’s values as a “Jewish and democratic” state, by citing the German legal principle of “militant democracy.” The government also has made similar comparisons to justify bills that would severely limit foreign funding to local human rights organizations. It is important for governments to compare themselves with other nations. Given the current state of affairs, it is perhaps even a good sign that the Netanyahu coalition still believes it needs international legitimacy to justify these bills. However, when a comparison does not consider the other nations’ social, political and historical circumstances, it can be inaccurate and misleading. It is true that some of the worst crimes against humanity have been committed by “Western” democracies: the Holocaust, slavery, apartheid and segregation. But today, regimes such as those in Germany, South Africa and the U.S., whatever their defects, are based on fundamental civil rights and respect for separation of powers. The U.S. Supreme Court has a long and distinguished history of constitutional review; it has intervened in numerous laws passed by Congress and in executive political decisions. A decade ago, in Bush v. Gore, it even decided who would be president, based on a majority vote of just one justice. No political leader called for limiting the court’s power in response to this decision, which was fully implemented. -- See also: Sourcemore..e-mail The Palestinian Struggle for Water in the Jordan Valley Dissident Voice: 26 Nov 2011 - Speaking to the American Congress in May, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remarked that Israel would maintain a long-term presence in the West Bank’s Jordan Valley. In the months that followed, the Israeli army stepped up its attacks on the water wells of the Palestinians who live there. On November 14th, two water wells were demolished in Baqa’a, east of Tammun, robbing hundreds of families of the ability to irrigate their land. On October 13, farmers received demolition orders on several water wells in Kufr al-Deek, a village in the town of Salfit near Nablus. In September, Israeli military forces demolished 6 water wells belonging to Palestinian Bedouin communities in the Jordan Valley, and have threatened to demolish six more. In all these cases, the unilateral IOF actions are explicitly illegal because these wells were built with full permission from the Palestinian Authority, in areas of the Valley supposedly under...more Analysis: Why Palestinians may reject US funds 11/26/2011 - Daoud Kuttab - Few in Washington may realize that the issue of US funding for Palestine is the talk of the town in Ramallah and other Palestinian cities. And the talk is not pleasant. President Mahmoud Abbas has been telling aides that he plans to reject some $150 million in federal money earmarked for Palestinian security.... Related: Haniyeh urges Abbas to ignore US demands US Treasury to brief UAE, Israel on Iran pressure Jerusalem Post 25 Nov 2011 - Washington will explain declaration of Tehran as "money laundering concern," discuss possible steps on central bank. Column One: Calling things by their names Jerusalem Post 24 Nov 2011 - The US will withdraw in defeat from Iraq, and pro- American forces in the region and the US itself will reap the whirlwind of Washington’s irresponsibility. Yemeni president signs deal to step down WSWS - The GCC agreement is a cynical arrangement patched together by the government and the opposition parties under Washington’s tutelage in a bid to end protests demanding an end to the pro-US regime. Israeli newspaper owner says Obama can’t stop settlers’ ‘apartheid regime’ because of ‘Jewish lobby’ Mondoweiss - Amos Schocken in Haaretz's offices. (Photo: Michal Chelbin/ The New Yorker ) Amos Schocken, owner of Haaretz, writes in Israel (not here, no way) that the settler movement Gush Emunim is building an "apartheid regime" in Israel and Palestine and that it is supported by the "Jewish lobby"... Israel plans forced transfer of 27,000 Bedouins in West Bank and Jerusalem Mondoweiss - link to palsolidarity.org link to www.jordanvalleysolidarity.org link to www.maannews.net link to english.wafa.ps link to english.wafa.ps link to occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com link to www.washingtonpost.com link to realisticbird.wordpress.com link to www.maannews.net link to palsolidarity.org link to www.maannews.net link to www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk link to www.maannews.net link to english.wafa.ps link to www.youtube.com link... Why Palestinians may reject US funds Daoud Kuttab, Ma’an News Agency 11/26/2011 Few in Washington may realize that the issue of US funding for Palestine is the talk of the town in Ramallah and other Palestinian cities. And the talk is not pleasant. President Mahmoud Abbas has been telling aides that he plans to reject some $150 million in federal money earmarked for Palestinian security. Abbas' opposition is principled. The funds are part of an $800 million grant from the US Agency for International Development that Congress appropriated in June 2009. Shortly before the funds were disbursed this summer, however, the larger grant was held up by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. A Republican from Florida, Ros-Lehtinen, now chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee, placed an informational hold on this budgetary line item in August. It is her prerogative to do so as a member of Congress. But rather than delay the funds to investigate a concern, the hold was meant as punishment -- a warning to the Palestinian Authority not to seek recognition as an independent state at the United Nations General Assembly meeting the following month. Abbas, of course, made the Palestinians’ application for statehood in September. And Palestinians note that when President Obama addressed the UN General Assembly in September 2010, he said he hoped that "when we come back here next year, we can have an agreement that will lead to a new member of the United Nations -- an independent, sovereign state of Palestine, living in peace with Israel."more..e-mail Is Britain Plotting with Israel to Attack Iran? Palestine Chronicle: 25 Nov 2011 - By Jonathan Cook - Nazareth Last February Britain's then defense minister Liam Fox attended a dinner in Tel Aviv with a group described as senior Israelis. Alongside him sat Adam Werritty, a lobbyist whose 'improper relations' with the minister would lead eight months later to Fox's hurried resignation. According to several reports in the British media the Israelis in attendance at the dinner were representatives of the Mossad, Israel’s spy agency, while Fox and Werritty were accompanied by Matthew Gould, Britain’s ambassador to Israel. A former British diplomat has now claimed that the topic of discussion that evening was a secret plot to attack Iran. The official inquiry castigating the UK’s former defence secretary for what has come to be known as a “cash-for-access” scandal appears to have only scratched the surface of what Fox and accomplice Adam Werritty may have been up to when they met for dinner in...more Iran says arrests 12 CIA agents amid reports of compromised U.S. ring Ha'aretz - Comment by top Iranian official comes as Intelligence Online says U.S. Congressman Mike Rogers arrives in Beirut to probe reported exposure of U.S. intel squad in Lebanon. Right-wing NGO exposes extent of Israel's support of West Bank settlements Ha'aretz - In bi-annual survey, Mattot Arim ranks Knesset members, ministers, according to number of bills, lobbying they advanced to better lives of West Bank residents. Congressmen ask for probe into PA use of US funds Jerusalem Post 24 Nov 2011 - Move comes after Israel Beiteinu MK Matalon sends letters to US House and Senate, detailing PA President's policy to pay convicted terrorists released from Israeli prisons $5,000 and build them new homes. The incomplete legacy of Dennis Ross Robert Grenier, Al Jazeera.com 11/23/2011 A top Obama Middle East adviser significantly damaged the Israel/Palestine peace process. Washington DC - For anyone hopeful of Arab-Israeli peace, the news from East Jerusalem in the early spring of 1994 was alarming. Notwithstanding the euphoria surrounding the signing of the Oslo Accords just a few months before, a dark underlying reality was beginning to reassert itself in ex-Mandatory Palestine, as extremists on both sides were stepping up efforts to disrupt the negotiating process. More disturbing yet were fundamental indications of bad faith on the part of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Following a brief pause, construction on occupied land was again increasing, particularly in the arc of Israeli settlements ringing East Jerusalem, which had just been given "preferential development status". New facts on the ground were underscored by aggressive public statements, particularly from Minister of Housing and Construction Binyamin Ben-Eliezer and Deputy Defence Minister Mordechai Gur, indicating that, far from attenuating settlement activity, the Oslo process was motivating the Israelis to redouble efforts to seal off East Jerusalem from the Palestinian hinterland through a cordon sanitaire of roads and housing blocs, to ensure the holy city's ultimate status as the "eternal and indivisible capital" of Israel. It didn't require much genius to anticipate the effect this might have on what was supposed to be a reenergised peace process. And yet, unsurprisingly, the reaction within the US government to these developments was distinctly muted. Then as now, even implied criticism of Israel was not the road to career advancement, whether for the most senior politician in the land, or the most lowly bureaucrat. One such lowly bureaucrat, an unknown intelligence officer serving as Middle East adviser to the US Undersecretary of State, apparently hadn't got the word. In an act of characteristic political cluelessness of the sort seemingly sure to condemn him to perpetual obscurity....more..e-mail Obama welcomes transfer of power by Yemen's Saleh 11/23/2011 - WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- President Barack Obama said Wednesday the United States welcomed the signing by Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh of an accord under which he immediately transferred power to the country's vice president." This represents an important step forward for the Yemeni people, who deserve the opportunity to determine their own future," Obama.... Related: Yemen's Saleh signs power transfer deal Palestinian reconciliation ‘next to impossible’ Jerusalem Post 23 Nov 2011 - Washington and Jerusalem shouldn’t overreact to talk about Fatah-Hamas unity negotiations. It is one thing to reach an agreement and another to implement it. [uruknet.info] Supercommittee Strikes Out Uruknet November 22, 2011 - On November 20, New York Times writer Eric Lipton headlined, "Lawmakers Trade Blame as Deficit Talks Crumble," saying: Hours away from their self-imposed deadlined, "Congressional leaders conceded Sunday that talks on a sweeping deficit agreement were near failure and braced for recriminations over their inability to reach a deal." Republican aides said... Quixotic candidate challenges oligarch rule of Jewish group Jerusalem Post 22 Nov 2011 - Retired physicist from Beersheba claims Euro-Asian Jewish Congress won't consider him as a leadership candidate because he doesn't have enough money. Shulman to lead Euro-Asian Jewish Congress Jerusalem Post 20 Nov 2011 - Vadim Shulman is the sole candidate for president of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress. [uruknet.info] Members of US Congress take pro-settlement tour Uruknet November 20, 2011 - Five members of US Congress come to the Occupied Palestinian Territories for an in-depth, one-sided tour of the illegal Jewish settlements in "Judea and Samaria"; Ariel Mayor Ron Nahman calls the structural violence that makes Palestinian workers dependent on settlements for employment "real coexistence." Five US Congressional Representatives recently conducted a "precedent-setting... Huckabee and Allen West to speak at Hebron Fund settlers gala in Queens Mondoweiss - It's the annual Hebron Fund, this year in Flushing, with Mike Huckabee and Allan West, the zingo Florida congressman. (jingoism+Zionism=zingo). Here's the invite: Why the US recognised Israel Irene Gendzier, Israeli Occupation Archive 11/9/2011 To judge by official pronouncements in Washington and Tel Aviv in the summer of 2011, nothing is more important than forestalling the appearance of the Palestinian Authority before the UN General Assembly lest it succeed in obtaining support for its unilateral declaration of Palestinian independence. Underlying this position on the part of the US and Israel is the unstated comparison between Israel, the allegedly law-abiding state that is a member of the ‘international community,’ and the political outlaw making illegitimate demands of that same community. What such images fail to convey is revealed in an examination of US policy in Palestine in 1948. At that time, Washington regarded the prospect of an Israeli declaration of independence as a threat to its interests in the region. In 1948 the State Department, the Defense Department and the CIA regarded such an outcome with open concern. Opposing this view was President Truman’s special legal counsel, Clark Clifford and his small entourage of supporters, who strongly endorsed US recognition of Israel’s independence as in line with US interests. It was Clifford, moreover, who shepherded the proposal for independence through the White House insisting that the Jewish state already existed and that it remained only to recognize it before the Soviet Union did. Several points are worth making in this connection. The first is a reminder of conditions in Palestine in the winter of 1948 that led US officials and the US President to come close to abandoning support for the UN Partition Resolution. The second is the US assessment of the status of Arab regimes on the eve of Britain’s departure from Palestine, and the continuing misgivings expressed by US officials as to risks that Jewish statehood entailed for US interests....more..e-mail Ruthlessly Pursuing Middle East Grand Strategy Palestine Chronicle: 21 Nov 2011 - By Deepak Tripathi Popular uprisings that began with peaceful protests in Tunisia and Egypt nearly a year ago, and spread across the Arab world, have created a new reality, not only in countries to experience political awakening, but far beyond. More worryingly for Washington, the Arab Spring created fresh uncertainties and pressures for United States policy. With the first anniversary of those momentous events approaching, there is growing resentment among many Arabs who feel that their revolutions have been hijacked by forces not originally anticipated. Demonstrations in Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain and Kuwait in the last few days are acute symptoms of the prevailing mood in the region. Two opposing trends are at work. The pressure from below succeeded in overthrowing the regimes in Egypt and Tunisia – in Egypt President Hosni Mubarak was overthrown though not the ruling military order, in Egypt. But the pressure from above has been decisive...more Members of US Congress take pro-settlement tour Alternative Information Center - Five members of US Congress come to the Occupied Palestinian Territories for an in-depth, one-sided tour of the illegal Jewish settlements in "Judea and Samaria"; Ariel Mayor Ron Nahman calls the structural violence that makes Palestinian... [uruknet.info] It Costs $72 Million A Year to Hold Cleared Prisoners at Guantánamo Uruknet November 19, 2011 - Last week, the exorbitant expense of maintaining the Bush administration's "war on terror" prison at Guantánamo was revealed in the Miami Herald, where Carol Rosenberg explained that Congress provided $139 million to operate the prison last year, which, with 171 prisoners still held, works out at $812,865 per prisoner, nearly 30 times... Activists and lawyers: House bill to investigate ‘terrorist’ ties of flotilla is ‘tool of intimidation’ Mondoweiss - (Photo: US Boat to Gaza ) Palestine solidarity activists and human rights lawyers are decrying a Congressional bill that would investigate whether organizations involved in last summer's thwarted flotilla to Gaza should be designated as "terrorist" groups. Critics of the House of Representatives bill see it as... Bachmann comes to Manhattan for Zionist org’s Brandeis dinner Mondoweiss - Michele Bachmann Zionist politics makes for such strange bedfellows. Michele Bachmann, the rightwing Minnesota congresswoman and presidential candidate, will be addressing the Zionist Organization of America in New York tonight, alongside Glenn Beck and Benjamin Netanyahu. It's that all-important NY primary... And the new rightwing coalition... Israel says time running out to stop a nuclear Iran 11/19/2011 - WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Iran is less than a year away from being unstoppable in its goal of producing a nuclear weapon, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said in an interview with CNN released on Saturday. In an advance transcript of an interview to air on CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" program on Sunday, Barak said.... Related: UN atomic watchdog passes compromise Iran resolution UN vote demands Iran cooperate with Saudi envoy plot probe 11/19/2011 - UNITED NATIONS (AFP) -- The UN General Assembly on Friday demanded that Iran cooperate with an investigation into an alleged plot to assassinate the Saudi envoy to Washington, widening the diplomatic divide between Tehran and its Western rivals. The Iranian and US ambassadors to the United Nations linked a resolution overwhelmingly passed by the 193-member.... 'Iran facing unprecedented degree of isolation' YNet News, 19 Nov 2011 - Washington official says Russia, China and United States share similar goal to.... 'US plans sanctions on Iran's petrochemical sector' Jerusalem Post 18 Nov 2011 - Washington wants to send a strong signal after IAEA report, European capitals may follow suit, US source says; US is hesitant to sanction Iran's central bank. Kissinger in '72: Jews 'self-serving bastards' YNet News, 18 Nov 2011 - WASHINGTON – Confidential files released for publication in the United States on Friday reveal a new side to the Jewish-American politician Henry Kissinger, which might ... .... War clouds amassing over Iran Voltaire Network 18 Nov 2011 - Washington is heading to open confrontation with Iran at the behest of Israel, indicates Wayne Madsen, who also explores how the Israeli lobby through its tentacular penetration of key power centers is attempting to stop any opposition to the strike. The silver lining is that threatened... Message from Cape Town: Israel applies apartheid to Palestinians Frank Barat and Victor Kattan, Ma’an News Agency 11/18/2011 The Russell Tribunal on Palestine, an international citizen-based tribunal of conscience, has found that "Israel subjects the Palestinian people to an institutionalized regime of domination amounting to apartheid as defined under international law." The Tribunal met in November at the District Six Museum in Cape Town, which commemorates the destruction and forced relocation of Cape Town’s multi-cultural District Six community by the apartheid government. The convening of the tribunal in a country where apartheid was established and dismantled is significant. There is already a feeling in South Africa that Israel’s discrimination against the Palestinian people amounts to apartheid. As Nelson Mandela once said: "We cannot feel free until the Palestinians are free." The jury included concentration camp survivor Stephane Hessel, and member of the African National Congress Ronnie Kasrils, as well as a Nobel Peace Prize winner, former US Congresswoman and Pulitzer prize-winning author. They called 25 expert witnesses to present testimony, including people who experienced apartheid in South Africa, and others who live in Israel and Palestine. Many had traveled to South Africa from all over the world, including Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, although Israel prevented some Palestinian witnesses from traveling. The Israeli government was invited to present its case before the tribunal but it chose not to exercise this right and provided no answer to correspondence from the tribunal.more..e-mail Exiled Mexican Labor Leader Honored by AFL-CIO Dissident Voice: 18 Nov 2011 - On November 16, Napolean Gomez Urrutia, General Secretary of the Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores Mineros, Metalurgicos y Similares de las Republica Mexicana (National Union of Mine, Metal, Steel and Allied Workers of the Mexican Republic), commonly known as “Los Mineros,” received the AFL-CIO’s 2011 “George Meany-Lane Kirkland Human Rights Award.” The ceremony was held at the AFL-CIO’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. The annual Meany-Kirkland award (named after the AFL-CIO’s first two presidents) was established in 1980. Previous winners include Zimbabwe union activist Wellington Chibebe, Ela Bhatt, founder of India’s Self-Employed Women’s Association, and the Independent Labor Movement of Egypt. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka was joined by Leo Gerard, President of the United Steel Workers (USW) in making the presentation, and U.S. Congress members Linda Sanchez (D-CA) and Mike Machaud (D-ME) also gave brief remarks. Since 2006, Gomez Urrutia has lived in exile in Vancouver, Canada, forced to seek asylum after...more Ashrawi: US influence depends on ending deferral to Israel 11/17/2011 - BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- PLO Executive Committee member Hanan Ashrawi told US diplomats on Wednesday that Washington should stop submitting to Israeli policies if it wants to regain influence amongst Palestinian people and leaders. Ashrawi told the political chief of the US consulate to Jerusalem Rick Waters that the Palestinian leadership was "keeping all its.... Campesina Congress Alternative Information Center - The recent conference "Farmers, rural workers and fishermen: Building Via Campesina in Palestine " brought Palestinians and South Americans together around the global class struggle. Occupy AIPAC? Andrew Levine, CounterPunch 11/17/2011 Zionism is Weaker Than It Was Back in 2004, George W. Bush, full of “political capital” and hell bent on besting his predecessors in beating back the twentieth century, discovered that Social Security was still a “third rail” in American politics. But that was before Democratic victories in 2006 and 2008, and before Barack Obama. Social Security along with other so-called entitlements are now on the chopping block again, and it remains to be seen whether they can survive the up-coming “bipartisan” assault. Meanwhile, another third rail seems more robust: the blank check the American government gives Israel – in the form of subsidies, military cooperation, and unstinting diplomatic support. Fortunately, in our politics, as in Newton’s laws of motion, for every action, there is ultimately an equal and opposite reaction. And so it is that ruling class (not just Republican) overreach has finally awakened the vast majority of the 99% or more of the American people for who have suffered through decades of unremitting neoliberal rule. Although the Occupy Wall Street movement expressly rejects vanguardist political styles, it is fair to say that the people who have been living in tents, and who now bear the brunt of police repression (called in mainly by Democratic mayors!), are the vanguard of this rising discontent. Who knows what will come of their efforts as the movement evolves and as the repression intensifies. What is clear for now is just that a whole lot of what used to be called consciousness raising has taken place. As recently as this summer, there was little reason not to despair for the Land of the Free. No longer....more..e-mail Washington Watch: Is the Mideast peace mission impossible? Jerusalem Post 16 Nov 2011 - If Abbas wanted peace, he should Netanyahu’s bluff. Settlements weren’t a hindrance to talks in the past when Palestinians, including Abbas himself, wanted to talk. [uruknet.info] Iraq snapshot - November 15, 2011 Uruknet Chaos and violence continue, the US military announces another death, Panetta tells Congress negotiaions continue with Iraq, NPR reports on a man accused of killing 5 US soldiers -- but forgets to name the 5 US soldiers -- and more...AP reported this morning that the US military has announced another death in Iraq, this one taking place yesterday "... Take Action: Keep Your Representatives Off UNESCO Letter Arab American Institute 15 Nov 2011 - Last week, you sent over 1,500 letters to your representatives urging them to repeal the law that forces Congress to defund UNESCO simply for admitting Palestine as a member. Apparently, Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) didn�t get the message. Between Life and Death: Struggle in the Jordan Valley Palestine Chronicle: 16 Nov 2011 - By Ben Lorber - ISM, The West Bank Speaking to the American Congress in May, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remarked that Israel would maintain a long-term presence in the West Bank’s Jordan Valley. In the months that followed, the Israeli army stepped up its attacks on the water wells of the Palestinians who live there. On November 14th, two water wells were demolished in Baqa’a, east of Tammun, robbing hundreds of families of the ability to irrigate their land. On October 13, farmers received demolition orders on several water wells in Kufr al-Deek, a village in the town of Salfit near Nablus. In September, Israeli military forces demolished 6 water wells belonging to Palestinian Bedouin communities in the Jordan Valley, and have threatened to demolish six more. In all these cases, the unilateral IOF actions are explicitly illegal because these wells were built with full permission from the Palestinian...more Israeli army steps up attacks on Palestinian water Alternative Information Center - Speaking to the American Congress in May, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remarked that Israel would maintain a long-term presence in the West Bank's Jordan Valley. In the months that followed, the Israeli army stepped up... [uruknet.info] Egyptian Arrest of Author of Eilat Terror Attack in Sinai Proves Israel Lied in Blaming Gazans Uruknet November 14, 2011 - Despite reams of nonsense published by the likes of Eli Lake and Avi Issacharoff in the Washington Times and Haaretz respectively, regurgitating IDF talking points that the Eilat terror attacks were planned and orchestrated by the Popular Resistance Committees in Gaza-Idan Landau, Alex Fishman and I knew otherwise. We said the attacks were carried... Israeli army steps up attacks on Palestinian water Ben Lorber, Alternative Information Center 11/15/2011 Speaking to the American Congress in May, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remarked that Israel would maintain a long-term presence in the West Bank's Jordan Valley. In the months that followed, the Israeli army stepped up its attacks on the water wells of the Palestinians who live there. The last two months have seen a steady stream of Israeli army attacks on Palestinian Bedouin water wells in the West Bank and the Jordan Valley. On October 13, farmers received demolition orders on several water wells in Kufr al-Deek, a village in the town of Salfit near Nablus. On the 8th of September, 50 military jeeps, trucks and bulldozers sealed off Al Nasarayah as a closed military zone, and proceeded to illegally destroy 3 water wells and confiscate the attached water systems, the pumps of which cost $40,000 each to install. Five days later, the IOF returned to Al Nasarayah to demolish 2 more wells, stopping along the way to destroy another well east of Tamoun. The next day, IDF soldiers entered the village of Al- Fa’ara, near Nablus, to photograph and record the GPS coordinates of 6 more wells intended for demolition. These water wells had permits from the Palestinian Authority, and were operating in the 5% of the Jordan Valley designated after the 1993 Oslo Accords Area A, under full Palestinian civil and military control. Since the beginning of Israel’s colonization of the Jordan Valley in 1967, local Bedouin have seen the steady drying-up of the once-flowing springs around which they built their villages. They are unable to dig sufficient wells of their own because of crippling Israeli regulations, and have become dependent on the Israelis for access to a basic human right.more..e-mail The Irony of Netanyahu’s 'Success Story' Alon Ben-Meir, Arabic Media Internet Network (AMIN) 11/14/2011 These policies send a clear message to the Palestinians and to the Arab world at large: diplomacy does not work. It is ironic how those loyal to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have created a narrative of a success story of Netanyahu's achievements where failure is clearly rampant. They point to the solidity of the governing coalition, the halting of the Gaza flotillas, the failure of the Palestinian UN gambit, the release of Gilad Shalit, the expansion of settlements and the standing ovation from Congress, all while defiantly opposing any of the peacemaking moves proposed by President Obama. For Netanyahu's supporters this is success when in fact the precise opposite is true. Israel is more isolated in the international community than ever before, its relations with allies have been frayed, it faces unprecedented threats from Iran and its proxies, and an uncertain regional security environment has emerged in full force. Meanwhile inequality and soaring costs of living throughout the country have brought masses to the streets. To be sure, for the safety and security of Israel and its future as a democratic State, Netanyahu's record is disastrous. His achievements are nothing short of utter defeat for Israel as a country and the Israelis as a people, making the nation appears increasingly like a pariah state. I did not support the Palestinian's UN bid for recognition of statehood precisely because of the expected reactionary policies of Netanyahu and his supporters. We have begun to see Netanyahu's efforts to punish the Palestinians for their UN gambit emerge. These policies will only further undermine Israeli-Palestinian relations and make it even harder to get to the negotiating table and safeguard regional security. Netanyahu has withheld tax transfers to the Palestinians and sat idly by as his coalition partner, Foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman, seeks to "Arafatize" Mahmoud Abbas as the chief obstacle to peace. Most disturbingly, Netanyahu has shamelessly introduced expedited settlement construction in response to Palestinian actions as a form of punishment....more..e-mail Five Republican congressmen take Christian Zionist solidarity tour of settlements Mondoweiss - Left to right, Avi Zimmeman - Ariel, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX-1st), Tony Perkins - President - Family Research Council, Rep. John Fleming (R-LA-4th), Rep. J. Randy Forbes (R -VA-4th), Rabbi Eliezer Melamed - Har Bracha, David Ha'ivri -Shomron Liaison, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH-4th) (Photo: Heather Meyers )... Experts weigh in: What Dennis Ross’s departure means for Iran and the ‘peace process’ Mondoweiss - Screenshot form United Against Nuclear Iran promo video It's been three days since Dennis Ross, the Israel lobby stalwart in the White House, announced his resignation , and what his departure means remains unclear. What, if any, are the implications of Ross' departure on the moribund "peace... Egyptian Arrest of Author of Eilat Terror Attack in Sinai Proves Israel Lied in Blaming Gazans Tikun Olam - Despite reams of nonsense published by the likes of Eli Lake and Avi Issacharoff in the Washington Times and Haaretz respectively, regurgitating IDF talking points that the Eilat terror attacks were planned and orchestrated by the Popular Resistance Committees in Gaza– Idan Landau , Alex Fishman and... Detoxing Yemen's UN Resolution 2014 Palestine Chronicle: 14 Nov 2011 - By James Gundun – Washington, D.C. Over three weeks have elapsed since the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) unanimously passed resolution 2014. Addressing Yemen's 10-month revolution, the resolution calls for Ali Abdullah Saleh to sign a power-sharing agreement drafted by the Saudi-bankrolled Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The White House quickly heralded the UNSC’s “unambiguous signal to President Saleh that he must respond to the aspirations of the Yemeni people by transferring power immediately.” Except resolution 2014 is opposed by Saleh and protesters alike. Not every part of the resolution is rejected by Yemen’s mass of revolutionaries; many clauses outside of the GCC are welcomed, but several key terms remain cloaked in ambiguity. The notion of an immediate transfer of power conceals the GCC’s extended time-frame, which encourages Saleh to remain in office seven months after its introduction. The initiative stipulates a 30-day grace period after transferring executive authority to his...more No War on Iran? Think Again Palestine Chronicle: 14 Nov 2011 - By Richard Lightbown Uri Avnery in a considered assessment of the chances of an Israeli attack on Iran (Palestine Chronicle, November 03) stated categorically that it will not happen. I hope he is right, but I think there is a major flaw in his reasoning. The U.S. cannot be relied upon to keep Israel under control. Put simply, the current American president does not have the audacity of former incumbent Dwight D Eisenhower. In 1956 when Ike faced down Britain, France and Israel he was the undisputable top dog in the western world. The Israeli lobby in Washington did not at that time have a stranglehold on decision makers in Washington, and Eisenhower had just been re-elected US president in a second landslide victory. Nobody was going to tell this former supreme commander of NATO what to do. Eisenhower’s message to Prime Minister Ben-Gurion was simple and unequivocal: Israeli forces...more Freedom Waves: Another Challenge to the Israeli Naval Blockade of Gaza and the U.S. Congress Dissident Voice: 14 Nov 2011 - Why I wanted to Challenge the Israeli Naval Blockade of Gaza In the overland five trips I have made to Gaza since March, 2009, I have seen the disastrous effect of the brutal Israeli land and sea blockade has had on the Palestinian people. I have seen the terrible level of destruction that the 2008-2009 Israeli attack wrecked on Gaza, in which 1,400 Palestinians were killed in the 22 day attack, 5,000 were wounded and 50,000 were made homeless. I was on the Gaza Freedom March in 2009 and I was a passenger on the US Boat to Gaza , the “Audacity of Hope” that was forbidden from sailing June, 2011 by the Greek government on behalf of the Israeli government. As one of two American citizens on the Gaza “Freedom Waves,” I represented hundreds of thousands of Americans who are challenging Israeli and US policies concerning Palestine. We are using...more [uruknet.info] Big Lies Launch Wars Uruknet November 12, 2011 - In "The Art of War," Sun Tzu said "All war is based on deception." What worked in ancient times more than ever applies now, given instant ways of communicating globally and super-weapons Washington and Israel threaten to use like hand grenades. In "Doctor Faustus", Christopher Marlowe mentioned "the face that launched a thousand ships."... Introduction to the Israel Lobby Intifada-Palestine: 13 Nov 2011 - The American 'Foreign Policy' Household Book “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you mad” Aldous Huxley The Council for The National Interest The Israel Lobby is one of the most powerful and pervasive special interest groups in... more Why the Washington Post won’t fire Jennifer Rubin Glenn Greenwald, 11/11/2011 The paper's ombudsman admits Jennifer Rubin would be fired if she promoted anti-Israeli rather than anti-Arab bile. Several weeks ago, I wrote about a truly twisted, deranged rant by neocon royal family member Rachel Abrams. Abrams — wife of Iran-contra convict and Bush 43 official Eliot Abrams, step-daughter of Norm Podhoretz, half-sister of John Podhoretz, and a Board Member of Bill Kristol’s Emergency Committee for Israel (ECI) — unleashed a torrent of anti-Palestinian hatred upon the release of Gilad Shalit that could be produced only by the most rotted of souls: "Then round up [Gilad Shalit's] captors, the slaughtering, death-worshiping, innocent-butchering, child-sacrificing savages who dip their hands in blood and use women—those who aren’t strapping bombs to their own devils’ spawn and sending them out to meet their seventy-two virgins by taking the lives of the school-bus-riding, heart-drawing, Transformer-doodling, homework-losing children of Others—and their offspring—those who haven’t already been pimped out by their mothers to the murder god—as shields, hiding behind their burkas and cradles like the unmanned animals they are, and throw them not into your prisons, where they can bide until they’re traded by the thousands for another child of Israel, but into the sea, to float there, food for sharks, stargazers, and whatever other oceanic carnivores God has put there for the purpose." While Abrams’ post sparked widespread revulsion, it found one noted admirer: The Washington Post‘s Israel-obsessed blogger Jennifer Rubin, who re-tweeted Abrams’ promotion of her post with obvious (and admitted) agreement. In the ensuing controversy, ECI claimed that Abrams’ murderous desires were directed only toward Palestinian “terrorists,” not Palestinians generally — a self-evidently false excuse that quickly fell apart after Abrams wrote that, in essence, all Palestinians are Terrorists....more..e-mail The Middle East was never more dangerous Saleh Al-Naami, Al-Ahram Weekly 11/3/2011 Set off-balance by the democratic Arab Spring, Israel is edging closer to attacking Iran, to re-establish control over the region via military deterrence, regardless of the risks. Those who know Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu well say that he dreams of following in the footsteps of former British prime minister Winston Churchill and go down in history as a leader who was able to completely wipe out the danger threatening the existence of the Hebrew state, just as Churchill was able to eliminate the Nazis who had threatened the world until the outbreak of World War II. Amnon Abramovich, a prominent Israeli commentator, said that Netanyahu believes that Iran's nuclear programme is a danger that threatens Israel's existence and that his "pet project" is to wipe out the Iranian nuclear programme. Noam Brening, a senior commentator at Yediot Aharonot newspaper, argues that Netanyahu and Defence Minister Ehud Barak are strongly lobbying for a decision to attack Iran's nuclear facilities. Brening wrote that although army and military intelligence leaders are leery of any decision to target Iranian nuclear facilities, Netanyahu and Barak believe they can convince these senior officers of the attack. Until recently, leaders of security agencies who retired months ago, such as former Army Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi and former Mossad boss Meir Dagan and former Shin Bet director Yuval Diskin, were successful in thwarting the plot by Netanyahu and Barak. While it is true that the political leadership in Israel can take any decision and the military is obligated to carry it out, the political leadership knows that Israeli public opinion is cognizant that professional cadres, such as the leaders of security agencies, should support the decisions they take. But the military has made it very clear to Netanyahu and Barak that any operation to attack Iran would yield very negative outcomes for Israel and undermine its strategic standing.more..e-mail Hezbollah chief blasts US over Iran, UNESCO 11/12/2011 - BEIRUT (AFP) -- Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah accused the United States on Friday of ramping up pressure on Iran and Syria as a way to deflect attention from what he called Washington's "searing defeat" in Iraq." The United States needs to put up a smoke screen. . . and has launched a campaign of intimidation that.... Washington cafe identified in Saudi assassination plot The National 11 Nov 2011 - Cafe Milano in Washington, DC was identified as the likely place where an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the US was to have unfolded. [uruknet.info] Bill in Congress seeks to investigate US Boat to Gaza for "terrorist" ties Uruknet November 11, 2011 - A bill introduced in the United States Congress last month would require the State Department to investigate "The sources of any logistical, technical, or financial support for the Gaza flotilla ships, including the Audacity of Hope, that were set to set sail from Greece on July 1, 2011." The Audacity of Hope is the... War Clouds Form over Iran Intifada-Palestine: 12 Nov 2011 - by Wayne Madsen Israel’s all-powerful lobby in Washington, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), an organization composed of Israeli collaborators, infiltrators, and outright traitors to the United States, is steamrolling through the House of Representatives H.R. 1905, which would prohibit... more ‘Post’ ombudsman secretly admits that a writer who attacked Israelis as Rubin attacked Palestinians would lose her job Mondoweiss - Glenn Greenwald asks a lot of the right questions about the staying power of neoconservative blogger Jennifer Rubin (right) in "Why the Washington Post won't fire Jennifer Rubin." Is there any doubt whatsoever that had Rubin promoted a rant spewing these sorts of ugly caricatures about... [uruknet.info] "Israel's Advocate" to Leave White House for Pro-Israel Think Tank Uruknet November 10, 2011 - Dennis Ross, President Barack Obama's top Middle East aide who has attracted criticism for his allegedly strong pro-Israel sympathies, will leave his post at the end of this month, the White House announced here Thursday. He will rejoin the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP), an Israel-centred think tank that was spun off... ’Freedom Waves’ will continue Ramzy Baroud, Ma’an News Agency 11/11/2011 Another mission accomplished, or so it seems. Israeli navy ships have managed to thwart yet another civil society "provocation" (as described by a spokesman for the Israel Embassy in Dublin). Thus the 27 activists from nine countries aboard two boats were rounded up and hauled, along with their 'provocative' medical supplies, to the Israeli port of Ashdod. It was a successful operation conducted by a well-equipped navy, one that is credited for sinking numerous Gaza fishing boats, while forcing fishermen to swim naked back to shore. Of course, one can hardly address such valor without mention of the May 2010 attack on the Mavi Marmara, which killed nine Turkish activists and wounded many more. But unlike the disordered attack on the Mavi Marmara in international water, the interception and boarding of the two boats -- one Canadian and the other Irish -- was swift, well-organized and supplemented with all the necessary soundbites to indict unarmed humanitarian activists and absolve an 'elite' navy force. The boats were stopped between 60 and 90 kilometers from the Gaza coast. The Electronic Intifada had provided a live map, which followed their course shortly after they departed the Turkish port of Fethiye on Nov. 2. The map showed the boats were still in international waters when the Israeli army made contact on Nov. 4. The Israeli military also admitted that the interception happened in international waters. But all that matters little. The Israeli government is not a strong believer in boundaries. It is an occupation power, with military and espionage operations that reach far and wide, crossing Gaza to Damascus, Washington to Dubai.more..e-mail White House tries to limit Netanyahu 'liar' damage 11/10/2011 - WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The White House sought on Wednesday to limit damage to US-Israel relations following revelations that French President Nicolas Sarkozy called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel "a liar" in a private conversation with President Barack Obama." Our record speaks very clearly about the president's commitment to Israel and he has maintained.... Analysis: Palestinian strategies post-UN vote 11/10/2011 - If the UN bid for Palestinian statehood has shown anything, it has shown the Palestinians, again, who their friends are. It was clear, despite US President Barack Obama’s earlier rhetoric, that the US would not move in any direction that would upset the Israelis. But it was not only Washington and the British (Tony Blair.... [uruknet.info] NATO, AFRICOM and the New White Man's Burden Uruknet November 9, 2011 - With the era of formal colonialism only recently ended, and only 125 years after the Europeans and the United States formally divided Africa among themselves, NATO has begun the military reimposition of Euro-American rule of the Continent. The conquest of sovereign Libya has encouraged Washington, London and Paris to escalate their armed incursions under "... Khamenei warns US, Israel against strike YNet News, 10 Nov 2011 - Iran's supreme leader warns Washington and Jerusalem against attack on Tehran's.... Netanyahu is a Liar… but so are the Leaders of America and the West Intifada-Palestine: 10 Nov 2011 - “We don’t know if both Houses of the US Congress, whose members gave Netanyahu over sixty standing ovations during a speech filled with lies earlier this year, share Sarkozy’s opinion.” A media frenzy followed the publication of French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s... more Wexler on the warpath: Opening volleys of major push for Iran war by liberal Zionists and hawks? Mondoweiss - Robert Wexler, former Florida congressman and a key Obama ally on Israel/Palestine issues, was one of the speakers at a Churches for Middle East Peace dinner last night. Wexler is a liberal Zionist, who (correctly) sees Israel's long term interest in a two state solution, and... Michael Scheuer: "Washington's enemy is one that doesn't exist" Voltaire Network 10 Nov 2011 - In an interview with Gayane Chichakyan and aired on RT news channel on 9 November 2011, former chief of the CIA's Bin Laden unit Michael Scheuer said that the enemy of the United States - radical Islam opposed to democracy and gender equality - does not... Palestinian strategies post-UN vote Daoud Kuttab, Ma’an News Agency 11/10/2011 If the UN bid for Palestinian statehood has shown anything, it has shown the Palestinians, again, who their friends are. It was clear, despite US President Barack Obama’s earlier rhetoric, that the US would not move in any direction that would upset the Israelis. But it was not only Washington and the British (Tony Blair and David Cameron); it was also the French who are nowhere close to being the true friends of Palestine. Sure, French President Nicolas Sarkozy wants to keep French business ties with the Arab world, so he looks for photo opportunities with President Mahmoud Abbas. But when it came to the true test of the French-Palestinian friendship, at the Security Council the resident of the Elysee abstained cowardly. While the UN bid exposed the hypocrisy of the West, it marked the end of two important phases. Going to the UN marked the total failure of the negotiating process that began two decades ago in Madrid and witnessed the Oslo Accords. And the failure at the Security Council exposes the impotence of the international community. Abbas asked his top advisers to come up with a post-UN strategy. To the disappointment of some, the new strategy will not contain the option of dissolving the Palestinian Authority. The idea has been debated a lot but never got much traction. Repeated as recently as a few weeks ago by senior PLO official Saeb Erekat, the idea calls for dissolving the PA and throwing the keys to the Israelis. Proponents of the idea feel it will change the paradigm by forcing the Israelis to pay (literally and figuratively) for continuing the occupation. While in theory it sounds good, such an idea will have disastrous effects on the Palestinians. It will reverse the institutional state-building gains made in the past two decades. The Ramallah officials agree on at least this part.more..e-mail Israeli Lobby: US Political and Media Twisters Sabbah report 10 Nov 2011 - Those who twist the truth or distort facts--politicians, propagandists, snake-oil salesmen and major media outlets - are expert twisters. Distorters have a cause to serve. Media has their owners and readers or viewers to satisfy. Rupert Murdoch outlets, like Fox News and News Corp pander to... UN nuclear agency puts Iran on the spot 11/9/2011 - VIENNA (AFP) -- Iran was under fresh scrutiny Wednesday after the UN atomic watchdog released reams of what it called "credible" intelligence suggesting Tehran had worked on developing nuclear weapons. With Washington threatening to increase international pressure on Iran and Israel's president stoking speculation of a pre-emptive strike, the International Atomic Energy Agency report.... Sarkozy: Israel has no better security partner than France Jerusalem Post 9 Nov 2011 - French president responds positively to request by World Jewish Congress official to push for unprecedented sanctions against Iran. Washington Watch: Brinkmanship could spark Middle East war Jerusalem Post 9 Nov 2011 - Opposition to an Israeli strike is strongest where support is needed most: in Washington, DC. Palestinians braced for fresh setback in UN statehood bid The Guardian 9 Nov 2011 - European nations set to back US opposition to move, meaning Washington does not have to exercise its security council veto The Palestinian attempt to claim a moral victory in its bid for UN security council recognition... White House on Obama-Sarkozy exchange: President committed to Israel YNet News, 9 Nov 2011 - WASHINGTON – US President Barack Obama has a "very close working relationship with Prime Minister Netanyahu. They speak very regularly," Deputy National Security Advisor ... .... ‘Attack Iran’ and AIPAC’s Infamous Chutzpah Intifada-Palestine: 9 Nov 2011 - Lobbying for a US war with Iran, AIPAC is pushing a bill that would prohibit diplomacy between the two nations. By MJ Rosenberg Wasting no time after its success in getting the administration to oppose Palestinian statehood at the United Nations,... more Does AIPAC�s National Council Include an �Arab Palestinian�? Arab American Institute 9 Nov 2011 - Since surely no AIPAC National Council Member would ever be so foolish as to falsely impersonate an �Arab Palestinian� in an effort to afford undue credibility to her condescending lecturing of Arabs, Pinkus must really be an Arab Palestinian! US unblocks aid to Palestinian Authority 11/8/2011 - WASHINGTON (AFP) -- US lawmakers have lifted a hold on nearly $200 million in aid to the Palestinians that had been suspended in response to the Palestinian bid for full UN membership, officials said Monday. The US funds had been held back by Congress since Aug. 18, according to the office of the Republican chairwoman of.... US says to meet Israelis, Palestinians on Nov. 14 11/8/2011 - WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Envoys of the "Quartet" of Middle East peace mediators will meet separately with Israeli and Palestinian officials on Nov. 14 in Jerusalem, their latest effort to jump-start the stalled peace process, the US State Department said Tuesday." We expect these will again be Quartet envoy meetings with the parties separately," State Department spokeswoman.... Israel passport case sparks debate in top US court 11/8/2011 - WASHINGTON (AFP) -- It may seem like a case on dull passport rules, but lawyers told the US Supreme Court Monday the question of whether Israel is listed on a passport of a person born in Jerusalem raises key issues on foreign policy and separation of powers. The top US court heard impassioned arguments on the.... White House: Iran nuclear report will echo US concerns 11/8/2011 - By David Alexander and Tabassum ZakariaWASHINGTON (Reuters) -- A UN agency report this week is expected to "echo and reinforce" US concerns about Iran's nuclear program and Washington will work to increase pressure on Tehran to abandon any atomic weapons ambitions, the White House said on Monday. White House spokesman Jay Carney downplayed questions.... Related: US to weigh new sanctions on Iran after IAEA report and Russia rails against release of IAEA Iran report US to weigh new sanctions on Iran after IAEA report 11/8/2011 - WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The United States will look to put more pressure on Iran, including with fresh sanctions, if it fails to answer questions raised by a new report from the UN nuclear watchdog agency about its atomic program, a senior US official said Tuesday." It is certainly the case that we will be looking to.... Related: Russia rails against release of IAEA Iran report Iran/Israel: Warmongers eager for more blood-letting Sabbah report 8 Nov 2011 - Are we expected to believe that Israel's leaders, given their lawless and belligerent track record, are saner than Iran's Ahmadinejad? Washington and London may believe such tosh but I doubt if anyone in the Middle East would. Or anyone else in Europe for that matter. A... Ahmadinejad: Iran can compete with Israel and West 11/7/2011 - CAIRO (Reuters) -- The United States fears Iran's growing military power because it is now able to compete with Israel and the West, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in comments carried by an Egyptian newspaper on Monday. Responding to a toughening stance from the United States and Israel against Tehran, Ahmadinejad accused Washington of.... [uruknet.info] Internet Freedom Threatened - Uruknet November 6, 2011 - Candidate Obama promised to "(s)upport the principle of network neutrality to preserve the benefits of open competition on the Internet." As president, his FCC and congressional extremists threaten it. On May 12, Senator Amy Klobuchar (D. MN) introduced "S. 978: A bill to amend the criminal penalty provision for criminal infringement of a copyright,... US unfreezes $200M in security aid to PA YNet News, 7 Nov 2011 - WASHINGTON – The Palestinians are slated to receive some $200 million in US security assistance after a top House Republican ended her hold on the money. Rep. Ileana ... .... ’Attack Iran’ and AIPAC’s infamous chutzpah MJ Rosenberg, Al Jazeera 11/5/2011 Lobbying for a US war with Iran, AIPAC is pushing a bill that would prohibit diplomacy between the two nations. Wasting no time after its success in getting the administration to oppose Palestinian statehood at the United Nations, and still celebrating the UNESCO funding cutoff, AIPAC has returned to its number one priority: Pushing for war with Iran. The Israelis have, of course, played their own part in the big show. In the past few weeks, Israel has been sending out signals that it is getting ready to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities (and embroil the United States in its most calamitous Middle East war yet). But most observers do not believe an Israeli attack is imminent. (If it were, would Israel telegraph it in advance?) The point of the Israeli threats is to get the United States and the world community to increase pressure on Iran with the justification that unless it does, Israel will attack. Naturally, the United States Congress, which gets its marching orders on Middle East policy from the lobby - which, in turn, gets its marching orders from Binyamin Netanyahu - is rushing to do what it is told. If only Congress addressed joblessness at home with the same alacrity. The House Foreign Affairs Committee hurriedly convened this week to consider a new "crippling sanctions" bill that seems less designed to deter an Iranian nuclear weapon than to lay the groundwork for war. The clearest evidence that war is the intention of the bill's supporters comes in Section 601: (c) RESTRICTION ON CONTACT - No person employed with the United States Government may contact in an official or unofficial capacity....more..e-mail U.S. presidential hopeful Ron Paul: 'Friendship' is best way to deal with Iran Ha'aretz - The libertarian Texas congressman says Iran's nuclear weapons program has been 'blown out of proportion' and that tougher sanctions are a mistake. Voice in wilderness, Ron Paul calls for friendship with Iran Mondoweiss - On television today Ron Paul said that friendship with Iran is the answer. The Texas congressman says fears about Iran's nuclear program have been "blown out of proportion." He says tough penalties are a mistake because, as he says was the case in Iraq, they only... Washington nonplussed about its own withdrawal from UNESCO Voltaire Network 5 Nov 2011 - Washington responded to the admission of the Palestinian Authority to UNESCO by pulling out of the organization, but without leaving it formally. This is what the Reagan administration had done in 1984 for similar reasons. But this reflex response poses unexpected problems to the State Department.... The Guardian of Israel Gilad Atzmon, Redress 11/6/2011 Israeli hasbara insists that an attack on Iran is compatible with both Western interests and NATO strategy. For example, this week Israel released information about an Israeli air force exercise in NATO’s bases in Italy. The statement was made to create the impression that any future Israeli aggression against Iran would enjoy Western backing. NATO, however, was quick to disassociate itself from any such attack. NATO Secterary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen confirmed at a news conference that the alliance has no intention whatsoever of intervening in Iran. To date, we’ve not seen any British official statement suggesting that Britain is ready to back either the US or Israel in any possible strike on Iran. Yet, it seems as if the Guardian, once a respected British newspaper, has already become fully integrated in the Israeli psychological war machine. On 2 November it joined the hasbara chorus and informed us that the UK military has, “amid fresh nuclear fears”, stepped up plans for an attack on Iran. The Guardian didn’t even try to substantiate its claim. Instead, it produced a gossipy news story that didn’t adhere to the most minimal journalistic standards. The Guardian reported that “British officials say that if Washington presses ahead it will seek, and receive, UK military help for any mission, despite some deep reservations within the coalition government”. This is a somewhat bizarre statement considering the complete silence of the government and the British Ministry of Defence [MoD] on the matter....more..e-mail Iran says US plot suspect is anti-Tehran militant 11/5/2011 - TEHRAN (Reuters) -- Iran has complained to the United Nations about a US accusation it tried to assassinate a Saudi diplomat, saying one of the alleged plotters Washington calls an Iranian military official is really a member of an anti-Tehran rebel group. Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said on Saturday the plot was part of a.... [uruknet.info] Israel, U.S. to embark on largest joint exercise in allies' history Uruknet November 5, 2011 - Israel and the U.S. will embark on the "largest" and "most significant" joint exercise in the allies' history, said Andrew Shapiro, U.S. assistant secretary for political-military affairs, on Saturday. Speaking to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Shapiro said the exercise will involve more than 5,000 U.S. and Israeli forces, and will simulate... Iran says U.S. plot suspect is anti-Tehran militant Daily Star 5 Nov 2011 Iran has complained to the United Nations about a U.S. accusation it tried to assassinate a Saudi diplomat, saying one of the alleged plotters Washington calls an Iranian military official is really a member of an... 'US concerned Israel will act alone in Iran' YNet News, 5 Nov 2011 - American military official claims Washington won't necessarily get a heads up.... ‘Powerful lobby is hellbent’ for US to go to war w Iran Mondoweiss - Great piece by MJ Rosenberg at Huffpo on who is pushing for war against Iran-- the lobby. Rosenberg says Israel's sabre-rattling is just that. But it's intended to jack up U.S. foreign policy yet again and send us to war. Imagine if we had had this... The UN and the future of Palestine David Finkel, Solidarity, Israeli Occupation Archive 11/3/2011 “You can’t make this stuff up,” the Prime Minister of Israel lectured the UN General Assembly. Binyamin Netanyahu was referring to the history of Libya under Qaddafi, and Iraq under Saddam Hussein, chairing UN Commissions on Human Rights and Disarmament respectively. Something else you can’t make up: A visiting foreign head of government receives a rare invitation to address a joint session of the U.S. Congress, where he proceeds to mock U.S. policy as stated by the President of the United States. In response, virtually the entire Congress explodes in rapturous applause, jumping up and down — members of the president’s party and the opposing one alike, with perhaps fewer than a dozen exceptions — like 525 trained chimpanzees in front of the television cameras. Has this ever happened before in the U.S. Congress? Has anything like it been seen in the history of any parliamentary system on the face of the planet? That is what happened when Netanyahu came to Washington on May 24. At that moment, it was clear that president Obama’s frequent appeals for halting Israeli settlements to restart the “peace process” were a dead letter. Netanyahu returned prior to the September 23 session of the United Nations General Assembly, where Palestinian Authority (PA) and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) chairman Mahmoud Abbas would present the appeal for UN recognition of Palestinian statehood. When asked to respond to Republican candidate Rick Perry’s description of president Obama’s “naïve, arrogant, misguided and dangerous” policy toward Israel, Netanyahu pointedly declined to comment. -- See also: Sourcemore..e-mail Siniora slams Washington, urges Arabs to pay U.S. UNESCO share Daily Star 4 Nov 2011 Former prime minister criticizes the U.S. for cutting off contributions to UNESCO after the Palestinians won membership and urges Arabs instead to pay Washington’s allotted share. UNESCO Withdrawal Hurts U.S. Economy Arab American Institute 3 Nov 2011 - By withdrawing from UNESCO simply because Palestine was admitted as a member, Congress has seriously jeopardized American economic interests when we can hardly afford to lose more jobs. At a time of record deficits and economic stagnation, how can Congress willingly hurt American businesses, to simply... UNESCO Withdrawal Needlessly Impoverishes Millions Arab American Institute 3 Nov 2011 - Despite the incredible damage our funding withdrawal will do to millions around the world who depend on UNESCO to protect their livelihoods, Congress appears to be willing to ignore the consequences of this law while maintaining a counterproductive stand with Israel.Urge your representative to repeal the... Goldstone walks alone on a bridge to nowhere Richard Falk, Al Jazeera 11/3/2011 The former judge who wrote the Gaza War report recently - and wrongly - wrote that Israel does not practice apartheid. Surely the New York Times would not dare turn down a piece from the new Richard Goldstone. He had already recast himself as the self-appointed guardian of Israel’s world reputation. This, despite the fact that he had earlier been anointed as the distinguished jurist who admirably put aside his ethnic identity and personal affiliations when it came to carrying out his professional work as a specialist in international criminal law. Goldstone was even seemingly willing to confront the Zionist furies of Israel when criticised by one of their own adherents in chairing the UN panel appointed to consider allegations of Israeli war crimes during the Gaza War of 2008-09. A few months ago Goldstone took the unseemly step of unilaterally retracting a central conclusion of the "Goldstone Report" during those attacks on Gaza. The former judge wrote in a column in the Washington Post that the Goldstone Report would have been different if he had known then what he came to know now, an arrogant assertion considering that he was but one of four panel members designated by the UN Human Rights Council, and considering that the other three publicly reaffirmed their confidence in the original conclusion as presented in the report, which was written and released months earlier. This failure to consult with other members of the team before rushing his seemingly opportunistic change of heart into print with should have discredited this earlier Goldstone effort to restore his tarnished Zionist credentials....more..e-mail Territory of Lies: Israeli-Occupied Hearing on 'Iranian Plot' Palestine Chronicle: 4 Nov 2011 - By Maidhc Ó Cathail In the wake of the much-heralded FBI sting that supposedly foiled a dastardly plot by Iran's Revolutionary Guard elite Qods Force – involving a bumbling, failed used-car salesman's botched attempt to hire a reportedly Mossad-trained Mexican drug cartel – to blow up the Saudi ambassador in a crowded but fictitious Washington D.C. restaurant, a duly alarmed U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security convened an urgent hearing on “Iranian Terror Operations on American Soil.” As evidence of Tehran’s supposed threat to the Homeland, the Committee heard testimony from “expert witnesses” who could best be described as propagandists for Israel. Commenting on the partisan line-up, an expert on U.S.-Israeli relations remarked, “If it wasn’t so serious, it would be satire.” Among the five witnesses, two were from “conservative” think tanks closely aligned with the Israel lobby, while a third represented a supposedly more “progressive” pro-Israeli position....more Territory of Lies Dissident Voice: 4 Nov 2011 - In the wake of the much-heralded FBI sting that supposedly foiled a dastardly plot by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard elite Qods Force – involving a bumbling , failed used-car salesman’s botched attempt to hire a reportedly Mossad-trained Mexican drug cartel – to blow up the Saudi ambassador in a crowded but fictitious Washington D.C. restaurant, a duly alarmed U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security convened an urgent hearing on “Iranian Terror Operations on American Soil.” As evidence of Tehran’s supposed threat to the Homeland, the Committee heard testimony from “expert witnesses” who could best be described as propagandists for Israel. Commenting on the partisan line-up, an expert on U.S.-Israeli relations remarked, “If it wasn’t so serious, it would be satire.” Among the five witnesses, two were from “conservative” think tanks closely aligned with the Israel lobby, while a third represented a supposedly more “ progressive ” pro-Israeli position. The first think-tanker...more US warns on new Gaza-bound activist flotilla 11/3/2011 - WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The United States warned on Thursday that a new effort to send a flotilla to challenge Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip was dangerous and urged US citizens not to take part. Activists set sail from Turkey on Wednesday aboard two yachts carrying medical supplies. The Israeli military said it would.... Related: Initial reactions from Gaza on the new Freedom Flotilla and Protesters rally for Gaza flotilla Five comments on Palestine joining UNESCO Palestine Note 3 Nov 2011 - So the UNESCO's general conference has voted to admit Palestine as a member. The U.S. government has made good on its Congressionally-mandated commitment to withhold its dues payments to UNESCO. Israel has come up with a cute PR line (UNESCO... US warns flotilla activists not to challenge Gaza blockade Jerusalem Post 3 Nov 2011 - Washington says US citizens who take part in efforts to deliver material support or other resources to Hamas could face civil, criminal penalties; IDF not expecting violence, but prepared for any scenario. [uruknet.info] The Zionist lobby's First Lady in US Congress Uruknet November 2, 2011 - After UNESCO voted to give the Palestinians full membership, the words of State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland contained a hint that the Obama administration at the highest levels is quite seriously concerned about the possible consequences for America of cutting off funds to the UN agency as required by Zionist lobby driven law enacted... Take Action: UNESCO Withdrawal Hurts U.S. Economy Arab American Institute 3 Nov 2011 - By withdrawing from UNESCO simply because Palestine was admitted as a member, Congress has seriously jeopardized American economic interests when we can hardly afford to lose more jobs. At a time of record deficits and economic stagnation, how can Congress willingly hurt American businesses, to simply... Take Action: UNESCO Withdrawal Needlessly Impoverishes Millions Arab American Institute 3 Nov 2011 - Despite the incredible damage our funding withdrawal will do to millions around the world who depend on UNESCO to protect their livelihoods, Congress appears to be willing to ignore the consequences of this law while maintaining a counterproductive stand with Israel.Urge your representative to repeal the... US, EU condemn Israeli settlement moves 11/2/2011 - WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The United States is expected to voice deep disappointment at Israel's speeding up of settlement building following UNESCO's decision to grant full membership to the Palestinians, a US official said on Wednesday." (We are) deeply disappointed by the announcement," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, referring.... UNESCO urges US to find way to continue funding 11/2/2011 - PARIS (AFP) -- UNESCO's Director General Irina Bokova called Wednesday for the US to find a way to continue financing the UN cultural agency after Washington withdrew its funding for admitting the Palestinians." I call on the US administration, Congress and the American people to find a way forward and continue support for UNESCO.... Israel is a strategic asset for U.S. national interests, according to new report Ha'aretz - Report issued by Washington Institute for Near East Policy describes how the benefit of the U.S.-Israel relationship far exceeds the cost. US, EU criticize Israeli plans to speed W. Bank building Jerusalem Post 2 Nov 2011 - Washington 'deeply disappointed' by Israeli response to Palestinian's acceptance to UNESCO; Ashton: We call on Israel to reverse decision. [uruknet.info] Out-of-Control Israeli State Terror Uruknet November 1, 2011 - Having friends in high places in Washington lets Israel get away with murder. On October 31, Ma'an News said continued Israeli air strikes so far killed 12 Gazans. Others were wounded, some severely. Overnight Sunday, the IDF confirmed additional air strikes. Another ceasefire took effect at 10:00PM. Nonetheless, early Monday attacks continued, targeting Khan... Tehran levels its own terror plot claims against Washington Daily Star 2 Nov 2011 Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Wednesday he had 100 "undeniable documents" proving the United States has been behind "terrorist acts" in the Islamic state and elsewhere in the Middle East. 'Israel is a strategic asset for the US' YNet News, 2 Nov 2011 - Former top DC officials present Washington Institute for Near East Policy report.... Rice: Prospects for Mideast peace have worsened under Obama YNet News, 2 Nov 2011 - Former US secretary of state says Washington's tough line against Israeli.... UNESCO vote shows the US and Israel represent the 1% against the 99% of world opinion Mondoweiss - Phyllis Bennis writing in Salon about the UNESCO Palestine vote: Apparently the U.S. made the judgment that stiffing the organization, risking the likelihood of being kicked out on its unilateralist behind, is a price worth paying – to make the unsurprising political point that Washington is... It is now Palestine’s time Michel Rocard, Al Jazeera 10/31/2011 The US has lost their right to lead in resolving the Israel-Palestine conflict, and it is time for the EU to step in. This September, Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, took the bold step of directly asking the United Nations to grant official recognition to the state of Palestine. The UN's 193 member states look geared to vote on that request within the next few months. The world's focus is now on Palestine. It is almost two decades since the "quartet" - the UN, the United States, the European Union, and Russia - agreed that the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli government should establish peace by coexisting as two separate states. And yet, while US President Barack Obama has referred to the quartet's decision as his guiding principle for diplomatic action on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the situation remains as dire as ever, because the devil remains in the details. The Palestinians want an independent state, but on the condition that they secure Jerusalem as its capital, and that Israel ceases to expand settlements on territory that it has occupied since the 1967 Six-Day War. Israel, however, has never considered ceding Jerusalem to Palestine. Many hope that, under pressure to reform municipal boundaries, Israel will consider this solution. But the question of the settlements is even more difficult to resolve. Even under pressure from the international community and, most powerfully, from the US, Israel has consistently refused to slow expansion of its settlements in the West Bank. Tragically, strong resistance from Israel and the Jewish diaspora has led Obama to acknowledge openly his powerlessness in the conflict, and thus to abandon US political pressure on Israel. As a result, a small group of pro-Israeli congressmen has been free to threaten and pressure those countries likely to vote for the recognition of the Palestinian state.more..e-mail The congressional couple that’s odd for getting along Jerusalem Post 1 Nov 2011 - Republican Granger, Democrat Lowey known for focusing on bipartisan agreement, working to convince PA to change statehood course. UNESCO funding cut over Palestine vote may harm US economy Electronic Intifada: 1 Nov 2011 - Jim Lobe The Electronic Intifada Washington, DC The administration of US President Barack Obama announced Monday that it would immediately cut US funding for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, just hours after UNESCO ’s governing board voted overwhelmingly to grant Palestine full membership.more US cuts off UNESCO funding after vote to admit Palestine 10/31/2011 - WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The United States said on Monday it had stopped funding UNESCO, the UN cultural agency, following its vote to grant Palestine full membership. US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters the United States had no choice but to halt funding because of US laws passed in the 1990s, saying Washington would not.... Related: UNESCO votes to admit Palestine as full member Israel warns West: Window of opportunity to thwart Iran nuclear program is closing Ha'aretz - Envoys renew diplomatic push to counter Tehran's nuclear ambitions, in Foreign Ministry lobbying campaign that began in mid-September. [uruknet.info] US cuts off UNESCO funding after vote to admit Palestine Uruknet October 31, 2011 -- The United States said on Monday it had stopped funding UNESCO, the UN cultural agency, following its vote to grant Palestine full membership. US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters the United States had no choice but to halt funding because of US laws passed in the 1990s, saying Washington would not make... [uruknet.info] Yediot's Alex Fishman: U.S. Very Afraid' of Israeli Attack on Iran Uruknet October 30, 2011 - Alex Fishman, following up on his powerful reporting on the potential for an Israeli attack on Iran, traveled to Washington to continue his reporting on the subject. The title of his story, which is headlined on the newspaper's front page is: The Israeli Threat. This is an ironic play on the usual Israel media... Iran FM says U.S. buildup near Iraq lacks 'prudence' Daily Star 31 Oct 2011 Iran's top diplomat bitingly questions reported U.S. plans to build up American military forces across Mideast countries after withdrawing from Iraq, calling on Washington to be "more prudent and wise" or risk more unrest in the... US cuts off $60M UNESCO funding over Palestinian vote YNet News, 31 Oct 2011 - WASHINGTON – The United States said on Monday that it had stopped its funding of UNESCO, the UN cultural agency, following its vote to grant the Palestinians full ... .... US fears unilateral Israeli strike on Iran YNet News, 31 Oct 2011 - Washington concerned Israel will mount military operation against Islamic.... America or Israel? Palestine Chronicle: 31 Oct 2011 - By Issa Khalaf President Obama’s descent to Israel-groveling was fast and furious, considering it’s been a short time from his June 2009 Cairo speech to his September 2011 UN speech. MJ Rosenberg dubbed Obama as the most Israel-subservient president ever: “Obama isn’t lying about his ‘pro-Israel’ record… This administration has been the most one-sided supporter of everything Israel asks for since 1948. There is no competition. Not even George W Bush comes close.” Maybe, but it’s clear this president, as every president before him, will do anything to get re-elected. What humiliation: the American president, elected by wide mandate, rendered supine by a pair of fanatics like Benjamin Netanyahu and his gloating neo-fascist cohort Avigdor Lieberman. The road to Washington runs through Tel Aviv. There has never (yes, “never”) been, since at least the 1940s but unquestionably since 1967, “honest” brokerage from Washington or at least, if insistence on honesty...more Success at UNESCO: One up to the Palestinians Palestine Chronicle: 31 Oct 2011 - By Stuart Littlewood It makes a nice change for Palestinians to be able to chalk up a success. And admission as a full member to UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) is good news for them and bad news for their Israeli tormentors. Palestine becomes the organisation's 195th member as soon as it has ratified UNESCO's constitution. China said yes, Russia said yes, the US and bosom-buddy Israel, Canada and Germany voted no and pretty well isolated themselves. Although 52 member states were incapable of showing a spark of common decency and abstained, the vote was nevertheless a runaway 107 to 14 victory... collapse of stout party. Expect big sulks, hysterics and toys being thrown out of the Clinton, Obama and Netanyahu prams. Among the abstainers was not-so-Great Britain, still too gutless to shake off the chains of subservience to the pro-Israel lobby and end its betrayal...more Congress Sacrifices American Interests…Again Arab American Institute 31 Oct 2011 - We�ve written countless times in the past about Washington�s blind support for Israel, but this might really take the cake. Despite fully recognizing the widespread damage that withdrawal from UNESCO will cause, Congress appears to consider it a bygone conclusion that we must support a hardline... Report: US lawmakers ask for detainees to join terror list 10/29/2011 - TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma'an) -- A group of US Congressmen are calling for all released Palestinian prisoners to be put on the US terrorist watch list, Israeli media reported Saturday. A letter signed by 36 Democrat and Republican Representatives asked US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and FBI director Robert Mueller not to allow.... US Congressmen want freed Palestinians on terror list Jerusalem Post 29 Oct 2011 - 33 lawmakers submit petition to Clinton; move comes after US State Department tells Israel some freed security prisoners pose a threat. Hamas slams US congress moves to add freed detainees to terrorism list PIC - Hamas Movement denounced some US congressmen for their call to include Palestinian ex-detainees, who were released as part of the recent swap deal with Israel, in the white house's list of terrorism. US Congress for Black Ops Against Iran Intifada-Palestine: 29 Oct 2011 - By Dr. Ismail Salami The US secret agenda for tightening its vice-like grip on the Islamic Republic of Iran has taken on an apparently new form after the anti-Iran alleged assassination plot against the Saudi ambassador to the United States, Adel... more 2 reports say Israel may be preparing Iran attack Mondoweiss - An Israeli attack on Iran is suddenly back on the front burner. Threats responding to threats, escalating. You might want nukes too if you heard your neighbor beating these drums. (Thanks to Voskamp.) Washington Times ' Abraham Rabinovich says the realists in the Israeli cabinet are losing... U.S. considers helicopter deal to Turkey Daily Star 28 Oct 2011 The Obama adminstration is consulting Congress on an unusual proposal to transfer U.S. Marine Corps attack helicopters to Turkey, U.S. officials said Thursday, as Ankara tries to exact revenge for a major attack by Kurdish separatists. Israel demands UN censure of Gaza rocket fire YNet News, 28 Oct 2011 - WASHINGTON – Israel's Ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday, demanding the United Nations denounce Wednesday's Grad ... .... US Congress for Black Ops against Iran Palestine Chronicle: 28 Oct 2011 - By Ismail Salami – Tehran The US secret agenda for tightening its vice-like grip on the Islamic Republic of Iran has taken on an apparently new form after the anti-Iran alleged assassination plot against the Saudi ambassador to the United States, Adel al-Jubeir, raised many eyebrows among experts and analysts around the world. With a strong penchant for pushing for tougher action on Iran, the Obama administration has already imposed a series of sanctions against the Islamic Republic. However, a Republican-controlled congressional committee has recently heard testimony demanding an extensive range of covert operations against the country. The operations, which range from cyber attacks to political assassinations, are speculated to be conducted under the feeble excuse that Iran was the alleged architect of an assassination plot against the Saudi envoy to the United States. By political assassination, the US congressmen unconsciously mean the liquidation of the Iranian nuclear scientists, an...more Jordan king: We are Israel's last ally in region 10/27/2011 - WASHINGTON (Ma'an) -- Jordan's King Abdullah on Tuesday said his kingdom was Israel's last ally in the region and warned that Egypt may dissolve its peace treaty with Tel Aviv." We are actually the last man standing with our relationship with Israel," the king told The Washington Post, pointing to.... Jordan's Abdullah: Egypt could break its peace treaty with Israel Ha'aretz - In interview with Washington Post, King says Jordan is effectively 'the last man standing' with Israel ties in Mideast, saying the Arab Spring is a 'disaster' for Israel. Jordan's king: Israel-Egypt peace treaty in danger YNet News, 27 Oct 2011 - King Abdullah tells Washington Post there is a 'very strong possibility' new.... The pro-Israel lobby courts influential African-Americans Mondoweiss - Hasbara is the Hebrew word for a particular type of pernicious propaganda first employed by early Zionists leaders to explain the unexplainable actions of the Jewish administration in Palestine. In recent years, hasbara has been disseminated by certain Christian fundamentalists who believe supporting Israel brings... The lobby rescues its old warhorse from glue factory: Israel is a strategic asset Mondoweiss - Writes a very smart friend: The book being drumrolled below by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (spun out by AIPAC as a thinktank) will become important. Ever since the fall of the Soviet Union , AIPAC has basically had no good answer to realists, like... Putting a price tag on Israeli aid MJ Rosenberg, Al Jazeera 10/26/2011 Aid to Israel should be conditional upon the government fulfilling its obligations from negotiations with Palestine. In my last piece, I highlighted a Washington Post column in which Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Walter Pincus urged that the $3bn aid package to Israel be re-examined. Israel, with a population of seven million, receives $3bn a year from the United States while the entire continent of Africa, with a population over a billion, receives $8bn. Israel is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, while many countries in Africa languish in poverty and disease, especially HIV/AIDS. Obviously, these relative aid levels are ridiculous. Nonetheless, I am now having second thoughts about the issue as a result of a call from a friend who works to increase aid levels for Africa. She agrees that the foreign aid levels disproportionately favour Israel. But she points out that without aid to Israel, there probably would be no foreign aid at all because the Israel aid package is the locomotive that drives the aid legislation forward. Simply put, the foreign aid bill passes due to AIPAC's pressured lobbying for it (because it contains the Israel aid package). Needy countries in Africa would probably receive little aid from the United States at all if not for Israel's inflated aid package and AIPAC's fevered determination to enact it. Any doubt on that score would be eliminated by reviewing what the Republican candidates have said about foreign aid in their various debates and by what Republican and conservative Democratic members of Congress say about it.more..e-mail In memoir, Rice says 'historic peace' nearly reached 10/26/2011 - WASHINGTON (Ma'an) -- In Condoleezza Rice's new memoir, No Higher Honor, the former US secretary of state claims a "historic peace deal" between Israel and the Palestinians was once close at hand in 2007. In the memoir, Rice says Israel's then-prime minister, Ehud Olmert, was ready to make "an extraordinary.... [uruknet.info] Washington Post's Jennifer Rubin promotes call for Palestinian genocide Uruknet October 25, 2011 - In a blog post cheering the release of the captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, neoconservative activist Rachel Decter Abrams descended into a twisted call for genocide, calling for Israel to throw released Palestinian prisoners whom she described as "child sacrificing savages" and "unmanned animals" -- along with "their offspring" -- "into the sea, to... US, Egypt discuss ways to expand trade 10/25/2011 - WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The United States is eager to expand trade with Egyptto help the world's most populous Arab country complete its transition to democracy, a top US trade official said Monday." The United States greatly values its economic relationship with Egypt, which is a key strategic partner," Deputy US trade representative Miriam Sapiro.... U.S. unveils Arlington memorial for Jewish military chaplains Ha'aretz - Memorial in national cemetery near Washington D.C. commemorates 14 Rabbis who died in the line of duty; DNC chairperson: Next generations will learn story of Jewish chaplains. Jewish groups: Don't slam Obama over Israel YNet News, 25 Oct 2011 - WASHINGTON – The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the American Jewish Committee (AJC), two of the most prominent Jewish-American organizations in the United States, on ... .... The Prisoners Deal: A Rare Diplomatic Opportunity Rami G. Khouri, Agence Global 10/24/2011 PORTLAND, Oregon -- The prisoners exchange that Hamas and Israel concluded this week could be a potential historic turning point in an otherwise moribund “peace process” where no noteworthy breakthrough has occurred in the past nearly 20 years of American-mediated, and therefore mostly Israeli-defined, talks. The prisoners exchange is significant for showing that the most implacable and violent enemies are able to negotiate and reach agreement, when both sides obtain gains that are sufficiently important for them to be able then to make concessions on issues of equal importance to the other side. This deal builds on previous Hamas-Israel cease fire agreements. It shows that leaders on both sides can actually lead their people, go against skeptical public opinion, and consummate a deal. Finally, it shows that both leaderships win serious new public acclaim and political strength from their agreement, which only strengthens their legitimacy, paving the way -- potentially -- for other agreements that can achieve meaningful gains for both sides. After the exchange, mass celebrations took place in Gaza and the West Bank, and 79 percent of Israelis approved the agreement (according to Yedioth Ahronot). Israeli and Palestinian politicians who savor this moment should seriously consider ways to build on their breakthrough for further mutually meaningful gains. They should do so because of the enormous contrast between this breakthrough and the genuine popular acclaim, even jubilation, it generated on both sides, and the hopeless approach of the American-Israeli-directed Quartet’s attempt to resume direct negotiations between Benjamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas. Even the Palestinian Prime Minister, Salam Fayyad, said in Washington this week that the Quartet attempts to push for parallel talks with both sides is “meaningless,” given the newly announced Jerusalem settlement of Givat Hamatos and the helplessness of the Palestinians to freeze such colonization. If Israel is able to negotiate indirectly with Hamas and reach a deal that pleases both sides, why does the Quartet continue to succumb to the American refusal to engage Hamas diplomatically?....more..e-mail Syria recalls its envoy to US YNet News, 24 Oct 2011 - Tensions between Damascus and Washington are on the rise: Syria's ambassador to the United States has been recalled to Damascus, a spokesman for the Syrian embassy said ... .... ‘J Street’ urges Israel lobby group to sever ties with Elliott Abrams’s wife Rachel for ‘unhinged hate speech’ against Palestinians Mondoweiss - That hateful Rachel Abrams rant against Palestinians continues to resonate, in large part because she's the wife of Elliott Abrams. You know that the neocons are on the run because J Street, which usually avoids hot topics, has issued a sharp condemnation of the remarks, saying... Pro-Israel Lobby Courts African Americans Palestine Chronicle: 24 Oct 2011 - By Ira Glunts Hasbara is the Hebrew word for a particular type of pernicious propaganda first employed by early Zionists leaders to explain the unexplainable actions of the Jewish administration in Palestine. In recent years, hasbara has been disseminated by certain Christian fundamentalists who believe supporting Israel brings them closer to God, and also by many members of the United States Congress who have been co-opted by the powerful pro-Israel lobby. Now the lobby has its sights set on a new group of potential collaborators: African Americans. A group of 18 African American local and state politicians, including the presidents of the City Councils of Atlanta and Detroit, recently enjoyed a tour of Israel courtesy of the American-Israel Educational Foundation (AIEF). AIEF was also the sponsor of the infamous 2011 US Congressional summer trip to Israel, during which 81 American lawmakers diverted their attention from the budget debate and the...more Evading Ali Saleh's Next Trap Palestine Chronicle: 20 Oct 2011 - By James Gundun – Washington, D.C. Who is Ali Abdullah Saleh? U.S. ally? Sworn enemy of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)? Defender of universal rights and free expression? Helpless victim? Yemen’s strongman claims that he’s all of the above. A fork-tongued rhetorician who revels in duplicity, Saleh is sweating from a 10-month revolution against his 33-year misrule. After ordering his officials to court UN envoy Jamal Benomar and veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council, Saleh is currently resisting a resolution that he intermittently embraces. Now he accuses protesters of influencing the UNSC’s looming decision - the hunter accusing his prey of setting a trap. Saleh would naturally denounce Yemen’s civil protesters and political opposition for swaying the UN ahead of its vote. Not only does he divert attention from his own actions, he may not believe that a revolution is occurring in Yemen. Saleh has attempted to contain...more PLO plans 'other options' if UN bid fails 10/20/2011 - RAMALLAH (Reuters) -- The PLO wants the Security Council to decide on its bid for full UN membership soon so it can pursue "other options", the UN envoy said, repeating charges that Washington is procrastinating to avoid a vote. Riyad Mansour, in comments to a Palestinian newspaper, did not say what he would do once their.... Fayyad: Time not ripe for peace talks 10/20/2011 - WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The time is not right for meaningful peace talks with Israel, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said on Wednesday, saying they are only likely to produce a blame game rather than a settlement. The so-called Quartet of Middle East peace mediators has failed to meet its own goal of bringing the two.... Palestinian PM Fayyad: Time is not right for serious peace talks Ha'aretz - Salam Fayyad tells lobby group American Task Force on Palestine it aims for a two-state solution, but that if that doesn't occur, Palestinians will likely demand the right to vote in Israeli elections. US accusations turn up heat in simmering Gulf Jerusalem Post 20 Oct 2011 - Saudi Arabia appeals to UN after Iran charged with plotting to kill Saudi ambassador in Washington; long-standing rivalry grows. Shalit’s Release Came After Family’s 5-Year Campaign New York Times 19 Oct 2011 - The family of Gilad Shalit spearheaded a five-year campaign to lobby for their son’s release, helping to build overwhelming support in Israel for a deal with Hamas. Pro-Israel donors are at the heart of Defence Ministry scandal in Britain Mondoweiss - I keep saying that the Israel lobby is a central factor in the making of our foreign policy, and some day journalists are going to have to cover the story-- and the Liam Fox scandal in Britain ups the ante. Liam Fox was once a rising... US troubled by Israeli release of some prisoners 10/19/2011 - WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The United States has concerns about some of the 477 Palestinians Israel freed on Tuesday in exchange for an abducted Israeli soldier because they killed or injured US citizens, a US official said. The US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Obama administration had conveyed its concerns to the Israeli.... U.S. Muslim congressman praises interfaith efforts for Shalit's release Ha'aretz - Rep. Keith Ellison says efforts were representative of a new cooperative spirit between Muslim and Jewish communities in the U.S. US Republicans: No swaps with terrorists YNet News, 19 Oct 2011 - WASHINGTON – Top Republican figures participating in a debate Tuesday rejected the possibility of emulating Israel's example of freeing terrorists from Guantanamo in ... .... Greater Israel—or Peace? 10/19/2011 Pathbreaking scholars Norman Finkelstein and John Mearsheimer speak out about the precarious future of the Jewish state. Shortly before Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas arrived in New York to seek United Nations recognition of a Palestinian state, TAC’s Scott McConnell sat down with Norman Finkelstein and John Mearsheimer to discuss the deeper currents shaping the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Since then, President Obama has given a speech shocking in its deference to Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel’s right-wing coalition, and there is no immediate prospect for renewed Israeli-Palestinian negotiations—the “peace process” begun with discussions in Oslo, Norway in 1991. Israel has announced fresh plans to move settlers into Palestinian areas of Jerusalem it conquered in 1967. As daunting as the prospects for peace may be, Israel no longer enjoys immunity from criticism within the American media and academy—thanks in large part to the work of scholars like Mearsheimer and Finkelstein, who have forced a debate among foreign-policy thinkers and the American left over the price Americans, Israelis, and Palestinians all pay for Tel Aviv’s policies. One of America’s most important dissident scholars, Norman Finkelstein has written six books touching on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In 2007, after he had been recommended by DePaul University’s political science department and described by the university as an “outstanding teacher,” he was denied tenure thanks to an unprecedented lobbying campaign waged by Alan Dershowitz, who had long sparred with Finkelstein over Israel. Finkelstein is the child of European Jews who survived Auschwitz and Majdanek, which gave added force to his book The Holocaust Industry, critical of ways Israel has exploited the Holocaust for financial and political gain. His most recent work, This Time We Went Too Far, is an analysis of Israel’s 2008-09 war against the Palestinians in Gaza. more..e-mail Cooler Heads Fail to Prevail on Iran Arab American Institute 19 Oct 2011 - Statements and questions from committee members reveal that Congress is growing increasingly hawkish on Iran, especially in response to accusations of a recent Iranian attempt to assassinate the Saudi Ambassador on U.S. soil. The Alleged Saudi Envoy Assassination Plot: Mossad at Work Palestine Chronicle: 19 Oct 2011 - By Ismail Salami Despite its evidently make-believe facade, the cooked-up story of the Saudi envoy assassination plot does not seem to be something which can be easily banished from the minds of the American powers that be. The heat over Iran in the US government is growing rapidly. Some Republican congressmen have expressed their interest in waging an all-out war against Iran, a threat they keep refreshing every time they have an excuse. They have clearly stated that Washington should not dismiss the idea of resorting to military force against Iran, an idea which is being strengthened in Congress. “I don't think you should take it off the table,” Michigan Representative Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, has said. It is quite natural that he was vehemently supported by the former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Senator John McCain, who have always maintained an antagonistic...more Five notes on the Schalit deal Jerusalem Post 18 Oct 2011 - Why did Noam and Aviva Schalit not turn to the Red Cross, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Brussels, Washington, London to help free their son? Lawyer for alleged Syria spy rejects charges Daily Star 18 Oct 2011 The lawyer for a man accused of acting as a Syrian spy said Monday that his client’s recent travel to that country was part of a fact-finding mission led by a U.S. congressman, not part of... Israel and Libya: Preparing Africa for the 'Clash of Civilizations' Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya, Introduction by Cynthia McKinney, Centre for Research on Globalization - Middle East 10/11/2011 Third of Four Installments on Libya: Israel and Libya McKinney: 'In fact, my own personal experiences with the pro-Israel Lobby inside the United States demonstrate Israel's intense interest in Africa.' Once again, Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya peels away the veneer of legitimacy and deception enveloping the U.S./NATO genocide currently taking place in Libya. In his first article, Nazemroaya exposed the mechanism by which the world came to "know" of the need for a humanitarian intervention in the Libyan Arab Jamahirya and U.S./NATO admissions of targeted assassination attempts against the Leader of the 1969 Libyan Revolution, Muammar Qaddafi. In his first of these four installments since his return from Libya, Nazemraoya makes it clear that there never was any evidence given to the United Nations or the International Criminal Court to warrant or justify United Nations Resolutions 1970 and 1973 or current U.S./NATO operations inside Libya. In his second article detailing this very sad story, Nazemroaya exposes the relationships between the major Libyan protagonists/NATO collaborators and the U.S. Congress-funded National Endowment for Democracy. Incredibly, when leading Members of Congress publicly proclaimed repeatedly that they did not know who the Libyan "rebel" NATO collaborators were, select so-called rebel leaders were political intimates with stakeholders at the National Endowment for Democracy. The leaders of the National Transitional Council, contrived to appear highly influential to publics in former colonial capitals, have very little influence or support inside Libya, and can be likened to a Hamid Karzai type of morally bankrupt neo-colonial authority that presides over and gives a fig-leaf of "legitmacy".... -- See also: Part 1: America's Conquest of Africa: The Roles of France and Israel and Part 2: Libya and the Big Lie: Using Human Rights Organizations to Launch Warsmore..e-mail Quartet to meet Israelis, Palestinians separately 10/17/2011 - WASHINGTON (AFP) -- Envoys of the Middle East Quartet will meet separately with Israeli and Palestinian representatives in Jerusalem on Oct. 26 as they seek a way forward on peace talks, the State Department said Monday." Quartet envoys will be meeting with the parties in Jerusalem on October 26 with the aim to begin preparations and.... Iran suffers under sanctions, faces threat of more 10/17/2011 - TEHRAN (AFP) -- Iran, OPEC's second-biggest oil producer, is threatened with new economic sanctions by US President Barack Obama, who has vowed to make it "pay a price" for an alleged assassination plot in Washington. Western and UN sanctions in force over Iran's controversial nuclear program already weigh heavily on the country.... Iran says ready to examine U.S. plot accusations Daily Star 17 Oct 2011 Iran is "ready to examine" information the United States says supports accusations Tehran plotted to kill the Saudi ambassador to Washington, Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said Monday. Obama vs. Jobs Dissident Voice: 17 Oct 2011 - Last week, President Obama racked up several more broken campaign promises as he pushed through Congress three new job-killing corporate trade agreements. The Senate Finance Committee was quite open about the fact that these agreements will kill off more jobs and eager to mitigate the damage with band aids attached to the treaties. Some of us who were in the hearing room felt an obligation to speak up and ask why in the world the senators — with perfect bipartisan harmony — insisted on causing the damage in the first place. And for that we were thrown in jail. Imagine the denunciations of human rights abuses in Colombia if the plan for that country this week were war rather than corporate exploitation to produce impoverishment to produce drug crops to produce war. Imagine the denunciations of human rights abuses in Iran having continued as usual if U.S. cops weren’t cracking...more Onward Through the Storms at Occupy Austin Dissident Voice: 17 Oct 2011 - For Bernice King the timing of things must be spiritual. There must have been a reason she says for Hurricane Irene to move in on the August schedule and force a delay to October so that when the monument to her father was officially unveiled Sunday, it would be presented to a nation properly prepared. For Martin the Third, time also seemed to flow spiritually from the season of his father’s death right into the economic justice movements that are springing into view across the globe inspired by Occupy Wall Street. It was an economic justice movement that occupied Martin Luther King, Jr. the day he took his last fall. Occupying the only memorial on the National Mall not dedicated to a President nor a war, the stone-hewn image of our beloved American prophet transfixes our national conscience upon renewed possibilities. Tourists banned from the Washington monument due to earthquake...more Media: Saudi Arabia takes Iran to UN over alleged plot 10/16/2011 - DUBAI (Reuters) -- Saudi Arabia has taken a first step to have Iran reported to the United Nations Security Council, a move that could lead to new sanctions, over an alleged plot to assassinate its ambassador in Washington, Saudi-owned newspapers reported on Sunday." Saudi Arabia's permanent mission to the United Nations. . . formally requested the.... Oren rationalizes Israel’s isolation (then rants about Abbas denying 4000 years of Jewish homeland) Mondoweiss - This is a landmark piece in the Washington Post, in which Israeli ambassador Michael Oren argues that If Israel stands alone, well, it ain't so bad to be standing alone. It is a landmark because it reflects the news conventional wisdom even in the American mainstream... Disgraced former UK Defence Secretary Liam Fox knowingly served Israel Gilad Atzmon, Redress 10/17/2011 Gilad Atzmon argues that recently-resigned UK Defence Secretary Liam Fox and his friend, the spiv Adam Werrity, are not Israel’s useful idiots but “knew exactly what they were doing and who were their donors ... fully understood their role and willingly did what was required” of them by Israel, and that Prime Minister Cameron and his Cabinet are fully complicit. A rather odious Israeli espionage mole has just been exposed in Britain. On 14 October, Liam Fox resigned as defence secretary following revelations about his dubious relationship with Adam Werritty. Some 17 years younger than Fox, Werrity has been involved with Fox both in business and in the conservative Atlanticist think-tank, “The Atlantic Bridge”. While Fox was defence secratary, Werrity visited Fox at the ministry on many occasions, accompanied Fox on numerous official trips, attended some of his meetings with foreign dignitaries and used official-looking business cards which announced him as an “adviser” to Fox – and all despite having no official government post whatsoever. However, it has now also been revealed that Fox and Werritty were heavily financed by the Israeli lobby and “beyond”. Writing in the the Daily Mail, Craig Murray wondered whether Mossad was using both Fox and Werritty as “useful idiots”. ”Not only was Werritty being paid to act as an unofficial part of the defence secretary’s entourage, the money was coming from people who may have been ready to promote the interests of certain foreign governments, particularly the United States, Israel and Sri Lanka,” writes Murray. “While the United States is a very close ally, its commercial and other interests are not always identical to UK interests. Israel is not a military ally of the UK. There are often tensions between its interests in the Middle East and the UK’s interests, as in the attack on the Gaza aid convoy which resulted in the death of Turkish citizens. Turkey is an ally of the UK, being a vital member of NATO.more..e-mail 10 Reasons Not to Honor Israel Palestine Chronicle: 16 Oct 2011 - By Mahmoud El-Yousseph and Tammy Obeidallah This list was compiled in order to dispel the hate propaganda and blatant lies Christians United for Israel (CUFI) is being allowed to spew at Van Buren High School near Findlay, Ohio on October 27, 2011 where they will hold "A Night to Honor Israel." This is being repeated at other schools across our country. If CUFI was simply having a convention of their apocalyptic ignoramuses and blind bigots at a church or synagogue, we would not waste our time trying to educate those determined to remain fools. If CUFI were holding a meeting with our congressmen/women or senators, we would not bother to counter, as our representatives are already deep within the pockets of Israeli-interest lobbies. However, CUFI has crossed a red line when invading our public school system to poison the minds of our innocent youth. While this event is being held...more Israel lobby empowers Palestinian solidarity Kristen Szremski, Al Jazeera 10/15/2011 The ADL report targets pro-Palestinian student groups and warns college presidents they could lose funding for protests. The Anti-Defamation League is at it again. On Wednesday, October 13, the ADL issued its latest report on student activism, trying this time to reframe all work in support of Palestinian human rights as being "anti-Israel". The report, "Emerging Anti-Israel Trends and Tactics on Campus", targets Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and the American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), a national, grassroots nonprofit based near Chicago. Released a few days before the first national SJP conference at Columbia University in New York was set to take place, it accuses SJP chapters of fomenting "anti-Israel" programming on their respective campuses, while charging AMP facilitates the growth and development of these students' groups. All of this combines to create an atmosphere in which Jewish students feel "insecure and unsafe", the ADL claims. It is important to note that SJPs are autonomous units and completely independent of AMP. Though our chairman, Berkeley professor Dr Hatem Bazian co-founded the first chapter in 1992, the student groups are not part of AMP. We offer SJPs the same help we offer others planning events about Palestine: Free materials, speakers and training. The ADL's 12-page report and subsequent 57-page book "Fighting Back: A Handbook for Responding to Anti-Israel Campaigns on College and University Campuses" equates working for Palestinian rights with "delegitimising Israel".more..e-mail Iran denies direct contact with US over alleged plot 10/14/2011 - TEHRAN (AFP) -- Iran denied any direct contact with its arch-foe, the United States, over the alleged plot to kill the Saudi ambassador in Washington, a day after Washington unveiled existence of such contacts, media reported on Friday. The Iranian mission to the United Nations denied "direct contact" between Iranian and American officials adding: "No such.... Report: Saudi officials warned of Iran plot to attack Israel embassy in Argentina Ha'aretz - Saudi officials advised Argentina four months ago of alleged Iran-backed plot to kill Saudi ambassador to Washington, possibly attack Israel, Argentine source say. Another Tack: Yesteryear’s peculiar predictions Jerusalem Post 14 Oct 2011 - Israelis will give their lives to hold onto Jerusalem, just as the British would for London, the Russians for Moscow and the Americans for Washington. [uruknet.info] Iraq snapshot - October 13, 2011 Uruknet October 13, 2011 - Chaos and violence continue, negotiations continue to keep US troops in Iraq, how many troops Gen Lloyd Austin wanted is "classified," will Dennis Kucinich be the only Democratic member of Congress to seriously address the Iraq War, the US military announces another death, three US soldiers are wounded, Sadr City is bombed, and more...For... U.S. Playing the Saudi Envoy Game Intifada-Palestine: 14 Oct 2011 - Dr. Ismail Salami In a ‘united against Iran campaign,’ the US government has accused Tehran of orchestrating an assassination plot against the Saudi envoy in Washington, a move which is to be seen as part of a US stratagem to carry... more The CIA and the Iran Caper Ray Mcgovern, CounterPunch 10/14/2011 "Which other government in the Middle East would like nothing better than to see relations between Iran and the United States take a big step toward military confrontation?" Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, in his accustomed role as unofficial surrogate CIA spokesman, has thrown light on how the CIA under its new director, David Petraeus, helped craft the screenplay for this week’s White House spy feature: the Iranian-American-used-car-salesman-Mexican-drug-cartel plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the U.S. In Thursday’s column, Ignatius notes that, initially, White House and Justice Department officials found the story “implausible.” It was. But the Petraeus team soon leapt to the rescue, reflecting the four-star-general-turned-intelligence-chief’s deep-seated animus toward Iran. Before Ignatius’s article, I had seen no one allude to the fact that much about this crime-stopper tale had come from the CIA. In public, the FBI had taken the lead role, presumably because the key informant inside a Mexican drug cartel worked for U.S. law enforcement via the Drug Enforcement Administration. However, according to Ignatius, “One big reason [top U.S. officials became convinced the plot was real] is that CIA and other intelligence agencies gathered information corroborating the informant’s juicy allegations and showing that the plot had support from the top leadership of the elite Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, the covert action arm of the Iranian government.” ....But it IS as implausible as it sounds, says every professional intelligence officer I have talked with since the “plot” was somberly announced on Tuesday.more..e-mail Washington Criticises Netanyahu’s Plans For Legalising Settlement Outposts IMEMC - Thursday October 13, 2011 - 13:11, The U.S. State Department chided the Israeli Government over its announcement two days ago concerning creation of a task force to focus on legalising settlement outposts within the West Bank and annexed East Jerusalem. Erekat denies plans to meet Israelis in Jordan 10/13/2011 - RAMALLAH (Reuters) -- PLO official Saeb Erekat denied on Thursday that Palestinian and Israeli delegates would soon meet in Jordan to discuss restarting peace talks, reiterating demands that Israel stop building settlements before negotiations can resume. Washington and its allies are scrambling to resurrect Israeli-Palestinian peace talks to defuse a diplomatic crisis after President Mahmoud Abbas.... US demands Iran be punished for Saudi envoy plot 10/13/2011 - WASHINGTON (AFP) -- The United States has urged the world to take concerted action against Iran for an alleged [fabricated - ed. ] plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador on American soil, calling it a "dangerous escalation." Tehran has accused the United States of fabricating the charges to distract from domestic economic woes amid growing anti-Wall.... Related: US plot charges face skepticism in Middle East and Iran urges Saudi Arabia to avoid US 'trap' Syrian charged in US with spying on protesters 10/13/2011 - WASHINGTON (AFP) -- A Syrian-born US citizen has been charged with spying on anti-Assad protesters and handing recordings to Syrian intelligence in a bid to silence the opposition, US officials said Wednesday. A federal grand jury charged Mohamad Anas Haitham Soueid, 47, on Oct. 5 with six counts for spying on activists in the United States.... Iran urges Saudi Arabia to avoid US 'trap' 10/13/2011 - TEHRAN (AFP) -- Iran on Thursday urged Saudi Arabia "not to fall into the trap" of believing US claims it was behind an alleged plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington, which it said served only the United States and Israel." I am asking Saudi Arabia not to fall into the trap, because any disturbance.... Palestinian official: No plans to meet Israeli leaders for restart of peace talks Ha'aretz - Washington and its allies are scrambling to resurrect Israeli-Palestinian peace talks to defuse a diplomatic crisis after President Mahmoud Abbas submitted a request last month for Palestine to be recognized as a UN member state. Obama: Alleged Iran plot will worsen isolation Daily Star 13 Oct 2011 An alleged Iranian plot to kill the Saudi ambassador to the United States will prompt Washington to apply the toughest possible sanctions to further isolate Iran, U.S. President Barack Obama said Thursday. Analysis: US Congress ruining decade of work in Palestine Daoud Kuttab, Ma’an News Agency 10/13/2011 Haroon Abu Araa has come a long way. In the 15 years I have known him, I have seen the transformation and maturity, from a radical university student activist to his present day position as director of Al Quds Educational Television in Ramallah. He took me this week on a tour of the media lab at Al-Quds University that was funded last year by USAID. He proudly explained how 450 media students at the university would benefit from this high-tech lab and made sure to tell the visitors that local companies helped by supplying furniture for the media lab. But Abu Araa’s excitement was mixed with pessimism, because this important development is now being interrupted by a decision of the US Congress to halt funding for Palestinians. Supporting the media lab is part of a three-year plan designed with Internews Network, which included training of faculty, developing media curriculum and helping Palestinians build a vibrant and independent audiovisual media industry. The unexpected temporary halt of approved and planned programs by USAID is seen as punishment of the Palestinian people for their leadership’s decision to seek statehood recognition at the UN. The hold US Congress members placed on funding for Palestinians covers many other areas that are critical to the nation-building process that the entire world (including the US and Israel) is in favor of. It includes, for example, support for educational programs, like model schools and preschool education. In a young society such as the Palestinians', where the majority of the population is under 25, what is invested in children yields dividends in the future.more..e-mail Targeting Iran: US Playing the Saudi Envoy Game Palestine Chronicle: 13 Oct 2011 - By Ismail Salami In a 'united against Iran campaign,' the US government has accused Tehran of orchestrating an assassination plot against the Saudi envoy in Washington, a move which is to be seen as part of a US stratagem to carry on with its plan of demonizing and isolating the Islamic Republic of Iran. US Vice President Joe Biden said on "The Early Show" on Wednesday that "It's critically important that we unite the world in the isolation of and dealing with the Iranians. That's the surest way to be able to get results." Obviously, the US officials will use the fabricated occasion to press for new international sanctions as they say that Iranian agents have sought to hire a purported member of a Mexican drug cartel to assassinate the Saudi envoy on American soil. Regardless of the impertinence and hollowness of the claim, one should not disregard the influence...more Netanyahu tore up the rule book to deliver release of soldier Middle East Monitor 13 Oct 2011 - He may be the only foreign leader to humiliate a serving American president publicly and still receive standing ovations in Congress; he may continue to defy international calls for an end to Israel's settlement expansion in the occupied Palestinian territories; and he may be leading the... Iranian Plot More Fantastical Than Real Palestine Chronicle: 13 Oct 2011 - By Ali Younes - Washington, D.C. The alleged Iranian assassination plot against the Saudi ambassador to the United States, Adil Al Jubiar can be described as the dumbest covert operation in the history of intelligence. The plot outline as reported by the American media included shooting inside a popular American restaurant that Mr. Al Jubair normally frequents while filled with innocent diners in the heart of the capital of the United States. While the Washington post, NY Times and other US outlets reported that American intelligence officials investigating the case, met the reported plot with skepticism giving how obvious and crude the plot appears to be. There is no doubt that Iran holds a grudge against Saudi Arabia and the United States and had been linked in the past to several terrorist operations inside Saudi Arabia as in the case of the Khobar towers in 1996, or outside it as...more White House pleased by Israeli soldier's release 10/12/2011 - WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The White House said Wednesday the US was pleased that Israel and Hamas have reached a prisoner exchange deal for the release of an Israeli soldier held since 2006. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said the swap, of more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in return for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, was long.... US busts 'Iran plot' to murder Saudi ambassador 10/12/2011 - DEA agent conveniently posing as Mexican druglord entraps Iranian-American? ! - WASHINGTON (AFP) -- Tensions ran high on Wednesday after the United States said it had foiled a high-level Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi envoy to Washington and warned it would hold Tehran accountable. In an explosive twist to the bitter showdown with the Islamic Republic, the.... Mideast Quartet seeks October 23 talks: US Relief Web 11 Oct 2011 - Source: Agence France-Presse Country: occupied Palestinian territory , Israel WASHINGTON — The Mideast Quartet seeking a peace settlement in the Middle East has called for Israel and the Palestinians to resume their talks on October 23 in Jordan, a US official... Clinton: Alleged Iran plot a 'dangerous escalation' Jerusalem Post 12 Oct 2011 - US secretary of state says plot to kill Saudi ambassador in Washington marks "flagrant violation of international, US law." [uruknet.info] US aid freeze designed to further punish Palestinians Uruknet October 11, 2011 - Amid the drama of the Palestinian statehood bid, the United States Congress has voted to freeze up to $200 million in aid that USAID, the State Department's international development agency, would normally use to support programs designed to improve the Palestinian private sector as well as the domestic investment environment. A program dedicated to... [uruknet.info] US says Iran backed plot to kill Saudi envoy Uruknet October 11, 2011 - The United States accused Iran on Tuesday of backing a plot to kill the Saudi ambassador to Washington, escalating tensions with Tehran and stirring up more tension between Saudi Arabia and Iran. US authorities said they had broken up a plot by two men linked to Iran's security agencies to assassinate Saudi Ambassador Adel... No problem– Obama’s State Dep’t spokesperson is married to Romney’s neocon foreign policy adviser Mondoweiss - Here is a crazy story no one is talking about that is evidence of the Israel lobby's role in our politics. Last week, Mitt Romney announced a foreign policy team that includes Robert Kagan, a neocon who pushed for the Iraq war. But Kagan is married... Israel Lobby Hypes a New Cold War with Russia Maidhc Ó Cathail, Intifada-Palestine 10/11/2011 IP Editors Note: The following is a commentary by investigative journalist Maidhc Ó Cathail on an article by Ken Silverstein “Neoconservatives hype a New Cold War” (see article below) Ken Silverstein has a very interesting piece in Salon magazine on the lobbyists for Georgia who “wine and dine eager Washington journalists in a campaign to undo Obama’s ‘reset’ on Russia.” Silverstein, a contributing editor for Harper’s magazine, explains how Randy Scheunemann’s Orion Strategies creates a media echo chamber on Georgia and Russia: Essentially it works like this: Tbilisi’s lobbyists generate contacts and information that they feed to sympathetic journalists. Orion frequently arranges interviews with Georgian officials and, not infrequently, stories centering on their charges magically appear soon afterward. Orion has wined and dined some reporters on its tab or picked up their travel expenses. There’s certainly nothing illegal about that but it’s worth noting that lobbyists are barred from maintaining these sorts of relationships with members of Congress because it so clearly presents, as we say in Washington, at least the appearance of impropriety. Orion is friendly to and works with government officials and politicians who its reporter friends regularly cite (especially [John] McCain). Orion also works very closely with experts and organizations cited by these reporters, like the Foreign Policy Initiative, whose board of directors includes William Kristol, Robert Kagan and other neocons from the PNAC and the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq. The journalists pick up on and spread each other’s work and [Orion's Michael] Goldfarb, naturally, hawks their stories at his Twitter feed. Just last week, he called a new [Eli] Lake story a “must read.” The piece at the Newsweek/Daily Beast, featured an exclusive interview with Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili, who alleged that the bombing at the U.S. Embassy was “ordered at the most senior levels of the Russian government.”.... -- See also: Salon: Neoconservatives hype a new Cold Warmore..e-mail US: Mideast Quartet seeks October 23 talks 10/11/2011 - WASHINGTON (AFP) -- The Mideast Quartet seeking a peace settlement in the Middle East has called for Israel and the PLO to resume their talks on October 23 in Jordan, a US official said Tuesday. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said envoys for the United States, Russia, the United Nations and the European Union met on.... Israel seeks to legalise settler homes on Palestinian land The National 11 Oct 2011 - Netanyahu tries to delay demolitions of illegal settlements after heavy pressure from the settler lobby and right-wing activists. Iranians charged over assassination plot YNet News, 11 Oct 2011 - US authorities broke up an alleged plot to bomb the Israeli and Saudi Arabian embassies in Washington and assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States, court ... .... Israel Lobby Hypes a New Cold War with Russia Intifada-Palestine: 11 Oct 2011 - Editors Note: The following is a commentary by investigative journalist Maidhc Ó Cathail on an article by Ken Silverstein “Neoconservatives hype a New Cold War” (see article below) by Maidhc Ó Cathail Maidhc Ó Cathail Ken Silverstein has a very interesting... more The 'Generous' Offer Eve Spangler, CounterPunch 10/11/2011 Krauthammer's Fable Given recent Palestinian initiatives at the U.N., it was only a matter of time until the usual Israeli apologetics appeared. Charles Krauthammer’s recent Washington Post op. ed. perfectly exemplifies the product. He repeats, yet again, the story of the “generous offers” of statehood made by Israelis and rebuffed by Palestinians. His arguments are specious on many levels. He is wrong about important things – none of the proposed scenarios require the dismantling of the major settlement blocks. He is deceptive and incomplete about others: yes, land swaps have been proposed, but usually these involve giving Palestinians desert in return for their aquifers; yes, a Palestinian East Jerusalem was, briefly, put on the table, but only as the ring of settlements severing it from the West Bank nears completion. Krauthammer remains silent on the most significant problem of the allegedly generous offers: they are based solely on Israeli desires instead of international law. For example, he has nothing to say about the likely loss of citizenship by Palestinian citizens of Israel in the event of land swaps. He continues to mime faux bewilderment – why are Palestinians so recalcitrant in refusing further diminution of their homeland? On the other side, the Palestinians also have a story about a “generous offer,” although they do not get prime space in the Washington Post for their narrative. If the Israelis really want to live in peace, why have they rejected the Saudi (later Arab) Peace Initiative out of hand? Ever since 2002, first Saudi Arabia and then all 22 Arab states have offered Israel full normalization of relations, provided that they comply with the basic two state deal: the 1967 borders, a Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem, the right of return for refugees – provisions consistent with multiple UN Resolutions.more..e-mail US aid freeze designed to further punish Palestinians Electronic Intifada: 11 Oct 2011 - Michelle Gyeney The Electronic Intifada The US Congress has voted to freeze aid to the Palestinian Authority worth $200 million. The common theme of the freeze is the disruption of activities that might reinforce the Palestinian Authority’s ( PA ) drive for statehood.more Occupy Wall Street: Rumble from the People Palestine Chronicle: 11 Oct 2011 - By Ralph Nader Inside the barricading bubbles surrounding the Wall Street plutocrats and the Washington oligarchs who service them, there must be worry. After three years of disclosed 'lying, cheating and stealing' as one prosecutor put it, with nary a visible stir from the masses, suddenly the barricades are beginning to quiver. Could this “Occupy Wall Street” challenge in New York City that is spreading to hundreds of communities from Prescott, Arizona to Hartford, Connecticut, be the real thing they have dreaded? Could this be the revolt of the multitudes, the “reserve army of the unemployed?” It is remarkable what a little more than 100,000 Americans, showing up and staying awhile have done in three weeks. They’re rattling the corporate supremacists. They have become a mass media story with columnists, editorials and cartoonists grinding out the ever increasing commentary. There is fascination and curiosity about people who call themselves “The...more Can Obama be trusted on Israel? Jerusalem Post 10 Oct 2011 - Yes, the president stood firmly with Israel at the UN. But is this change of heart sincere or the product of a devastating Democratic loss in New York’s ninth congressional district? Power and Confusion in the United States and Palestine Rami G. Khouri, Agence Global 10/10/2011 WASHINGTON, D.C. -- To spend time speaking and listening to a wide range of people in Washington, D.C. on Middle Eastern issues, as I did last week, is to wander into a world of deep perplexity, for two main reasons: Every pillar of the United States’ Middle East policies is changing rapidly, and much of the change sees Middle Eastern actors taking charge of their own destinies, leaving the United States in a strangely weakened and often marginalized position. The principal manifestations of this situation are the behavior of the Palestinians, Saudis, Egyptians, Israelis, Turks, and Iranians, and the Russians and Chinese from outside the region. The two most telling arenas where American perplexity rises to the surface are the Palestinian bid for UN recognition and the Arab citizen rolling revolts across the region. The most dramatic window into America’s confusion, contradictions, and degraded credibility is its inability to stop the forward motion of the Palestinian bid for United Nations recognition of statehood in the pre-1967 borders. This has dramatically exposed Washington’s sharp isolation in the region, because its strong commitment to Israel apparently overrides any other issue there, including applying the international rule of law on problems like Israeli settlements expansion. The Palestinians not only dismissed strong American objections about the move at the UN, but have now followed this up with a request for recognition at UNESCO, which has received preliminary approval from the body’s executive board. The United States has threatened to cut off its funding for UNESCO, which accounts for 22 percent of the body’s budget. In the new world we are entering, the Palestinians are acting, and Washington is reacting. This is just one example of how the strongest power in the world also may be the weakest power in the Middle East, despite its armed forces fighting two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The isolation of the American-Israeli delegations at the UN reflects a wider reality. Across the region, most people and governments see American policies as being contrary or even hostile to their wellbeing. This will continue to be highlighted by the Palestinian move at the UN in the months ahead.more..e-mail Grapel stays Doaa El-Bey, Al-Ahram Weekly 10/6/2011 US attempts to release an alleged American-Israeli spy have yet to succeed. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) has turned down calls by US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to release Ilan Grapel, an Israeli-American accused of being a Mossad spy. Meanwhile, in a meeting with journalists at the US Embassy in Cairo, Panetta denied his involvement in any direct negotiations over the release of Grapel, adding that he had heard some news reports suggesting his imminent release. Panetta concluded a visit to Cairo on Tuesday during which he held talks with the head of the ruling military council Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi and Prime Minister Essam Sharaf. The release of Grapel was one of the issues discussed during the meeting which also focussed on the situation in Egypt. Panetta reaffirmed the US commitment of a strong, long-term military relationship with Egypt. He also expressed his country's willingness to help in the democratic transition in Egypt and underlined the importance of lifting emergency laws. Grapel is a dual US-Israeli citizen detained in Cairo in June on suspicion of being a spy for Israel. He allegedly sought to inflame the passions of demonstrators, encouraging them to clash with military forces during the 25 January Revolution. Before Panetta's visit, several news reports suggested a deal was in the works to release Grapel in return for freeing dozens of Egyptians detained in Israeli prisons. Various Israeli newspapers and Israeli TV reported that the deal was almost complete. It was also said Grapel would return to Washington with Panetta at the end of the defense secretary's trip. Although the deal was not made yet, observers believe that it might just be delayed.more..e-mail Dancing on Our Occupation Permit Dissident Voice: 10 Oct 2011 - Sunday night, our permit expired for occupying Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C. So we threw a dance party, and when we could dance no more, we went to sleep in Freedom Plaza. We have until 2 p.m. today to remove our possessions. We do not intend to do so. We suspect that if the police want to remove us by force they will wait until evening. So we’re throwing a dinner party, and 99% of the country is invited. Our permit is now the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. There is no way for the vast majority of people in this enormous country...more Minister: Tourism won't be affected by US aid cuts 10/9/2011 - BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Minister of tourism in the West Bank Kholoud Deibes said Sunday that tourism to Palestine will not be affected by aid cuts recently announced by the United States Congress. Tourism projects are largely developed through the private sector, Deibes told Ma'an, and thus the decision by Congress to freeze.... [uruknet.info] Israeli Rightists Threaten Arab Civilians Uruknet October 8, 2011 - Israel's right-wing leaders feel they can count on U.S. politicians to rubber-stamp pretty much whatever Israel does to the Palestinians, with some extremist rabbis even glorifying the racist mass murderer Baruch Goldstein. Which leaves Lawrence Davidson wondering what it will take to change behavior in Washington and Tel Aviv... Protest encampments take root in Washington D.C. Mondoweiss - American Autumn has arrived; the encampment in NY that began on September 17th has spread to dozens of cities across the United States. In the nation's capital, two occupations of public squares have started five blocks apart; Occupy DC and Stop the Machine . For now the... Police clash with mourners in Bahrain AlJazeera 8 Oct 2011 - Concerned about the kingdom's response to a popular uprising, members of Congress aim to bloc a $53m sale. Israel and those 'real democratic rights' Lawrence Davidson, Redress 10/9/2011 Lawrence Davidson debunks the myth that Israel’s Arab citizens enjoy any kind of meaningful democratic rights – “the only reason they are allowed to vote is because their votes cannot change the system that discriminates against them” – and argues that only “a force of catastrophic intensity” can change the deep-rooted racism in Israeli society underlying this discrimination. What "real democratic rights"? In his speech to Congress on 24 May 2011 Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu boasted that "Of the 300 million Arabs in the Middle East and North Africa, only Israel’s Arab citizens enjoy real democratic rights". This is, of course, a variation on the oft-cited claim that Israel is "the only democracy in the Middle East". Leaving aside places like Lebanon and now potentially Tunisia and Egypt, one can ask just how "real" are these democratic rights Netanyahu claims for Israel’s Arabs? Here is some recent evidence that speaks to this question. 1. At the end of September 2011 the Israeli government announced "a plan to displace 30,000 native Bedouin Arabs [all of whom are Israeli citizens] ... from their homes [in the Negev]". This would constitute "the biggest dispossession plan of Palestinians issued by Israel since 1948. It would forcibly relocate about half of the Bedouin population from their existing villages, which are older than the State of Israel itself..." Why should Israel do this to the Bedouin? Is it to facilitate their enjoyment of their "real democratic rights"? Well, not quite. According to the head of the Regional Council of Ramat Ha-Negev, a Zionist settlement in the region, the reason goes like this....more..e-mail Minister: All USAID projects halted 10/7/2011 - RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- All projects by the US international assistance agency in the Palestinian territories funded under its 2011 budget have been halted, the minister of economy in the West Bank said Friday. Hasan Abu Libdeh said funding for USAID projects stopped after the US Congress blocked transfer of some $200 million in funds.... U.S. Congress Blocks Humanitarian, Security Aid to Palestinians IPS Eager to demonstrate their fidelity to Israel and make good on threats to punish Palestinians for seeking statehood status from the United Nations, U.S. lawmakers are blocking the disbursement of tens of millions of dollars in humanitarian and security assistance for the occupied territories. Musical Chairs: Iranian diplomat sits in Israel's IAEA seat YNet News, 7 Oct 2011 - WASHINGTON – The Islamic Republic of Iran does not recognize Israel in any way, referring to it at best as "that Zionist entity," but sometimes, even Iranian diplomats ... .... Aid blackmail in Palestine Rachel Shabi, Al Jazeera 10/6/2011 Throughout the 'peace process', when Palestine tries to make any real progress on independence, aid is cut as a warning. Once again, Palestinians are being punished for daring to exercise a choice. It happened before in 2006, when they took part in what was deemed to be the wrong kind of democracy and picked the wrong (Hamas) government. That mistaken execution of free will caused the international community to close its funding tap - cutting Palestinian aid and salaries. Now, there are penalties for taking another 'wrong' turn, despite repeated threats and warnings: US congress is blocking US $200 million intended for the Palestinian Authority (PA), which persisted with its UN statehood bid in the face of US disapproval. Few things typify international complicity in stalling Palestinian aspirations like this on/off money switch. The current cut in cash will affect health and social projects - but not, it is said, the PA's security commitments (coordinated with Israel). In other words, the pinch is designed to cause Palestinian suffering - but is calibrated so as not to upset Israeli concerns, or totally derail the stagnating status quo. It's a fine calculation and one over which Palestinians are losing patience - on more than one occasion, PA officials have threatened to pull the plug on their limited governance....more..e-mail The Great and the Poor America Palestine Chronicle: 7 Oct 2011 - By Eyad Sarraj – Gaza A few days ago, Three American scientists have won the noble peace prize for discovering that the universe is expanding. Many American scientists are prize winners and laureates. There is no doubt that the US is the most advanced on almost all sciences. American universities are the top on all others. The intellectual life in campus is so rich and vibrant. America is a vast continent with huge natural resources from gold to oil. America is a beautiful country with such diversities of people of various backgrounds and origins. People are generally kind and merry. America is great. But such greatness of America is not matched in its choice of leaders. There is dearth of political leadership and a steady deterioration from Eisenhower and Kennedy to reach the low level of Obama's. Poor America. The Congress is controlled by lobbies and the administration is infiltrated...
