Reflections on the Abbas Speech to the UN General Assembly | Print | E-mail Thursday, 29 September 2011 16:01 By Richard Falk Share Link: Share Link: Bookmark Google Yahoo MyWeb Del.icio.us Digg Facebook Myspace Reddit Ma.gnolia Technorati Stumble Upon Newsvine Abbas Speech to the UN General AssemblyThere is a natural disposition for supporters of the Palestinian struggle for self-determination to suppose that the Palestinian statehood bid must be a positive initiative because it has generated such a frantic Israel effort to have it rejected. Despite the high costs to American diplomacy in the Middle East at this time of regional tumult and uncertainty, the United States has committed itself to exercise its veto on Israel’s behalf if that turns out to be necessary. To avoid the humiliation of disregarding the overwhelming majority opinion of most governments in the world, the United States has rallied the former European colonial powers to stand by its side, while leaning on Bosnia and Colombia to abstain, thereby hoping to deny Palestine the nine votes it needs for a Security Council decision without technically casting a veto. On the side of Palestinian statehood one finds China, Russia, India, South Africa, Brazil, Lebanon, Nigeria, and Gabon, the leading countries of the South, the main peoples previously victimized by colonial rule. Is not a comparison of these geopolitical alignments sufficient by itself to resolve the issue of taking sides on such a litmus test of political identity? The old West versus the new South! Add to this the drama, eloquence, and forthrightness of Mahmoud Abbas’s historic speech of 23 September to the General Assembly that received standing ovations from many of the assembled delegates. Such a favorable reception was reinforced by its contrast with the ranting polemic delivered by the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who insulted the UN by calling it ‘the theater of the absurd’ while offering nothing of substance that might make even mildly credible his strident rhetoric claim to support ‘peace,’ ‘direct negotiations.’ and ‘a Palestinian state.’ The deviousness of Netanyahu was made manifest when a few days later the Israeli Government announced that it had approved 1,100 additional housing units in the major East Jerusalem settlement of Gilo. This was a bridge too far even Hilary Clinton who called the move ‘counter-productive’ and Europeans regarded as deeply disappointing and confidence-destroying, so much so that Netanyahu was openly asked to reverse the decision. There are a variety of other indications that additional settlement expansion and ethnic cleansing initiatives will be forthcoming in the weeks ahead. Are not such expressions of Israeli defiance that embarrasses even their most ardent governmental supporter enough reason by itself to justify a Security Council recommendation of Palestine statehood at this time? Would it not be worthwhile at this crucial moment to demonstrate the wide chasm separating increasing global support for the pursuit of justice on behalf of the Palestinian people from this domestically driven American reliance on its ultimate right of veto to block Palestinain aspirations? Would it not be well to remind Americans across the country, including even its captive Congress, that its own Declaration of Independence wisely counseled ‘a decent respect for the opinions of mankind’? If ever the use of the veto seems ill-advised and deeply illegitimate, it is in this instance, which the Obama Administration seems to acknowledge, or otherwise why would it use its leverage to induce allies and dependent states to go along with its opposition to Palestinian membership in the UN? Turning to the speech itself, the language of recognition may be more notable than the substance. Never before in an international forum had the voice of the Palestinian Authority spoke of Israel’s occupation policies so unabashedly–as ‘colonial,’ as involving ‘ethnic cleansing,’ as imposing an unlawful ‘annexation wall,’ as creating a new form of ‘apartheid.’ With admirable directness, Israel was accused of carrying out the occupation in a manner that violated fundamental rules of international humanitarian law, and cumulatively amounted to the commission of crimes against humanity. In the course of his speech Abbas tried hard to reassure the Palestinian diaspora on two matters of deep concern: that the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) will continue to represent the Palestinian people, who are the ultimate beneficiaries of the most fundamental of Palestinian rights at stake, the right of self-determination. The issue here is lost on almost all observers of the conflict, that the Palestinian Authority (PA) of which Abbas is president is a subsidiary body that was created by the PLO with a temporary mandate to administer Palestinian territory under occupation, and thus it was important to allay suspicions that the PLO was an intended casualty of the statehood bid so as to territorialize the conflict and give the Abbas and PA leadership complete representational control over the Palestinian role at the UN. The deep concern here relates to the adequacy of representation relating to the Palestinians living in refugee camps in neighboring Arab countries or in exile around the world. In the Palestinian National Council, 483 of its 669 members are drawn from Palestinians not living under occupation. President Abbas used the clearest possible language to reaffirm the position of the PLO just prior to enumerating the five conditions guiding his leadership role: “I confirm, on behalf of the PLO, the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, which will remain so until the end of the conflict in all its aspects and until the resolution of the final status issues.” In the background of this representation issue is an anxiety that Palestinian refugee rights will be forgotten or marginalized in the course of striking a deal that is build around a ‘land for peace’ formula. Again Abbas inserted some reassuring language in his speech to the effect that peace will depend on “a just and agreed upon solution to the Palestine refugee issue in accordance with resolution 194,” which unconditionally affirmed a Palestinian right of return. Relevantly, Netanyahu in his speech alluded to the “fantasy of flooding Israel with millions of Palestinians,” which is his way of both dismissing the rights of Palestinian refugees, especially as derived from the massive dispossession of Palestinian in 1948, and insisting on the Palestinian recognition of Israel as ‘a Jewish state.’ This insistence combines demographics with democracy, contending that ever since the promise of Lord Balfour on behalf of the British Government to a leader of the Zionist movement in 1917 there were continual acknowledgements that Israel was a Jewish state. Netanyahu made short shrift of the claims to dignity and equality of the 1.5 million Palestinians existing under an array of discriminatory burdens by saying merely that Israel treats its minorities in a manner that respects their human rights. It should be recalled that the Balfour Declaration, a notoriously colonial disposition, did not promise the Jewish people a state, but rather ‘a national home,’ and that it was to be established in a manner that did not interfere with the ‘civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine.’ Human rights and democracy have become significantly universalized during the last several decades. This development implies that the governing structures of society embodied in the state must renounce any claim of ethnic or religious particularity. Political legitimacy in the 21st century should not be accorded to any state that claims to be a Jewish state, an Islamic state, or a Christian state. Such statist neutrality should be set forth as an element of legitimate statehood by formal action at the United Nations. Such a declaration would impose a limit on the right of self-determination by denying to peoples the right to establish ethnic or religious states. In a globalizing world ethnic and religious diversity are present in every major state, and needs to be respected by unfurling a banner of equality that grants religious freedom to all faiths and allows collective identities to be expressed without prejudice. For some widely respected Palestinian activists and NGOs, these assurances were not enough. With the formidable intellectual support of Oxford professor, Guy Goodwin-Gill, the very idea of Palestinian statehood compromises the representational rights of diaspora Palestinians within UN arenas of decision, and potentially deforms future negotiations by according predominance to territorial priorities. Guy-Goodwin’s analysis was built around the general view that a state could never adequately represent people outside its borders. Given existing realities this would mean disenfranchising the Palestine refugee and exile population that comprises a majority of ‘the Palestinian people’ who are as a collectivity the holder of the overarching entitlement embodied in the right of self-determination. Such a view may be technically correct, and operationally prudent, but it overstates the clarity of the legal implications of Palestinian statehood and UN membership, while understating the degree to which what is being questioned are the psycho-political priorities of the current PA/PLO leadership. To further strengthen and promote the unity of the Palestinian global solidarity movement it is crucial to continue to seek accommodation between territorial and non-territorial dimensions of the Palestinian struggle, and thus to minimize intra-Palestinian divergencies, including the ongoing rift with Hamas. Here again Abbas had some reassuring words to say about the future implementation of the reconciliation agreement reached between the PLO and Hamas in June, but the failure of Hamas to endorse the statehood/membership bid at this time raises doubts about whether cooperation between these two political tendencies of Palestinians living under occupation will be forthcoming in the future. There are, against this background, some further grounds for concern that result from gaps or disappointing formulations in the Abbas speech. One glaring gap was the failure to address the accountability issues associated with the non-implemented recommendations of the Goldstone Report arising out of war crimes allegations associated with massive attacks (Israeli code named ‘Operation Cast Lead”) on Gaza between 27 December 2008 and 18 January 2009. In an important statement issued by the Palestinian Centre of Human Rights, jointly with several respected human rights NGOs, the PLO was given responsibility for doing their best to see that these recommendations for referral to the International Criminal Court be carried out. In the words of the statement, “should the PLO choose not to pursue the accountability process initiated by the Report of the UN Fact-Finding Mission – at the expense of the Statehood initiative – this will amount to the prioritization of political processes over victims’ fundamental rights; indicating acceptance of the pervasive impunity that characterizes the situation in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory.” Although implicit in the Abbas speech, the systematic refusal of Israel to comply with international law, was not accorded the emphasis in deserves. Given this reality, it was comic irony for Netanyahu to invoke international law in relation to the captivity of a single Israel soldier, Gilad Shalit; of course, international law should be observed in relation to every person, but when Israel subjects the whole of Gaza to a punitive blockade that has lasted for more than four years, imprisons thousands of Palestinians in conditions below international legal standards, and refuses to implement the near unanimous Advisory Opinion of the World Court on the unlawfulness of its annexation wall, it has lost all credibility to rely on international law on those few occasions when it works to its advantage. Even more disturbing, because so relevant to the present posture of the conflict, was the rather bland expression of willingness on the part of the PLO to resume direct negotiations provided that Israel imposes “a complete cessation of settlement activities.” As there is no chance that this condition will be met, it may not be so important for Abbas to question the value of direct negotiations given their repeated failure to move the parties any closer to peace during the past 18 years. In fact, Israel has cloaked settlement expansion, ethnic cleansing, and a variety of encroachments on what might have at one time become a viable Palestinian state, with the charade of periodic peace talks held under the non-neutral auspices of the United States. What Abbas could have done more effectively, given the unlikelihood of an affirmative Security Council recommendation on UN membership, is to couple the statehood/membership bid with the demand of a new framework for future negotiations that includes both Israeli commitments to abandon settlement expansion in East Jerusalem as well as the West Bank, and more importantly, selects a state or regional organization to provide non-partisan auspices for the talks. Such a demand would have made clear that the PLO/PA was no longer willing to play along with the Oslo game that has more than doubled the settler population and allowed Israel to invest in an expensive settler only infrastructure that is unlikely to be ever voluntarily dismantled. It is past time to declare the Oslo framework of direct negotiations as terminally ill, futile, and illegitimate, and incapable of drafting a roadmap that leads anywhere worth going! For the UN to be one of the four Quartet members, especially given the American hegemonic control over the diplomacy on the conflict, also warranted a harsh comment by Abbas. What the future holds is more uncertain than ever. The mainstream media has tended to criticize both Israel and the PA/PLO as if their respective behavior was equivalent. For instance, the Palestinian statehood/membership initiative is treated as equally provocative as the Israeli announced intention to expand the unlawful Gilo settlement. Such an attitude does belong in the theater of the absurd, equating a completely legal, arguably overdue plea to be given an upgraded status at the UN with a criminal encroachment on basic Palestinian rights associated with territory under occupation, as recognized by Article 49(6) of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Whether Israel will follow through on its threats to ‘punish’ the PA for undertaking this completely legal initiative remains to be seen. Already there is troublesome indications of widespread settler violence in the West Bank that is either unopposed or backed by Israeli military and security units. As has been observed by the Israeli president, Shimon Peres, Israel will never have a more moderate partner for peace than the Ramallah leadership, and if it undermines its viability it will be demonstrating once again that it has lost its capacity to promote its national interests. It has showed this aspect of decline most dramatically by picking a fight with a resurgent Turkey, and then missing one opportunity after another to repair the damage, which is what Ankara hoped would happen. As regional developments move toward greater support for the Palestinian struggle, Israel is allowing what might have been a historic opportunity for a sustainable peace to slip away. An acute problem with extremism, whether of the Likud or Tea Party variety, is that it subordinates interests and rationality to the dictates of an obsessive and emotive vision that is incapable of calculating the balance of gains and losses in conflict situations, being preoccupied with all or nothing outcomes, which is the antithesis of diplomacy. This is a path that inevitably produces acute human suffering and often leads to disaster. It is time for Palestinians to abandon such a path!

JUDAH IN BIBLE PROPHECY.

The story of Judah,the southern kingdom,is some what different though equally tragic.Both kingdom quickly
abandoned the true God and sank into moral and spiritual depravity.While the northern kingdom never once had a righteous king,Judah at least handful who turn to God  and institued  religious  reforms aimed at turning  the people to proper worship of God.
These righteous kings were somewhat successful, at least for a while.As a result, the kingdom of Judah outlasted its northern neighbor by more than a century .Yet eventually those in Judah,too would pay a heavy price for rejecting their Creator.They should have learn a lesson from the captivity of the 10 northern tribes,especially since some of the same Assyrian invasions devastated  much of Judah.In Hezekiah day virtually all of Judah except for its capital,Jerusalem,was conquered by the Assyrian and Jerusalem, too, would have fallen had God
not supernaturally delivered the city. The Prophet Isaiah,speaking to Hezekiah,was the first to reveal the specific
enemy that would subjugate Judah if they, too,refused to change:"Behold the days are coming when all that in your house,and what your fathers have accumulated until this day,shall be carried to Babylon;nothing shall be left,'says the Lord."And they shall take away some of your sons who will descend from you, whom you will be beget;and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.God sent many other prophets including Micah,Zephaniah,Habakkuk and Jeremiah to warn Judah,but to no avail.As the Assyrians vanquished  the Israelis in several wave of invasions and deportations,so the Babylonians took away the Jews in several deportations before and after the fall of Jerusalem  in 586 B.C .Many details of the biblical accounts of the downfalls of Israel and Judah are confirmed by Assyrian and Babylonian records from the time,demonstrating again the accuracy of the biblical record.
JUDAH EXILE AND RETURN;
The outcome of Judah exile, however was far different from that of northern kingdom.Israel was deported to the far reaches of the Assyrian Empire and its people lost their national and ethnic identity but God gave Judah an encouraging promised through this prophecy from Jeremiah: "For thus says the Lord: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform my good word toward you and cause you to return to this place,For I know the thought that I think toward you,said the Lord,thought of peace not of evil to give you a future an hope.Then you call upon me and go and pray to me,and I will listen to you.And you will seek me and find me,when you search for me with all your heart.I will be found by you.,said the Lord and I will bring you back from your captivity.Here, too, we find a remarkable prophecy that was fulfilled to the later.70 years period appears to have begun with the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of Solomon temple the center of Jewish worship in 586 B.C.And to have concluded  with the completion of a new Jerusalem temple in 516B.C.The biblical  books of Ezra and Nehemiah record the return of many of Jewish exiles from Babylon.   

Ahmadinejad and Obama at the UN | Print | E-mail Wednesday, 28 September 2011 09:24 By Franklin Lamb Share Link: Share Link: Bookmark Google Yahoo MyWeb Del.icio.us Digg Facebook Myspace Reddit Ma.gnolia Technorati Stumble Upon Newsvine Ahmadinejad and ObamaOf statesmanship and political pandering…. For westerners, and particularly Americans who have watched Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad up fairly close as he delivers speeches in the US and elsewhere including during last year’s visit to Lebanon, his charisma and populist connection with the public are evident and often powerful. And President Barack Obama is normally no slough either on the stump when he woes voters and inspires them to support his point of view. But last week’s UN appearance by the two leaders left a Matthew 13:24-30 type image of the wheat being separated from the chaff. Both countries are juxtaposed menacingly in the Middle East, one pressuring the region in an all-out sustained NATO utilized effort to maintain its hegemony and the other actively trying to lead the region in a very different direction. Consequently the public was presented with an interesting contrast in styles and substance. The two appearances could be handicapped along the lines that Obama’s tough job was to try to shore up Israel whose days as a dominate force in the Levant rapidly grow fewer as history corrects the nearly incalculable injustice that resulted from the West’s implantation of the racist state and as history inexorably deconstructs the world’s last 19th Century colonial enterprise. From the UN podium, Ahmadinejad knew in advance that approximately 15 minutes into his speech began AIPAC would signal the launch of its churlish and infantile 30 country walkout and most of the delegations in the audience knew that the White House had given its ok. The Iranian President also knew that there would be the pro-Zionist tabloid media blitz against him complete with the now expected degrading and offensive cartoons and the Persian visitor being labeled in the US media, what else, but an “anti-Semite”, “a clown”, “weirdo”, “crackpot”. “the new Hitler” and the usual moronic libels. It is hard to imagine that the New York Times editors actually read his speech since they not only failed it analyze it but simply dismissed it as a “tirade” the same description they applied last year. But this year, the AIPAC/White House walk-out backfired and it was roundly condemned not only among the American public but among the publics of each of the countries that agreed to rudely interrupt the proceedings. The Zionist controlled US government failed to realize that the international public, like most Americans, by and large retain respect for the values of open dialogue, common hospitality and respect for leaders from other countries. Moreover, they understand that the raison d’etre of the United Nations is to provide its members with an open forum. This includes Iran and each of the 192 other UN Member States. When Obama spoke the Iranian delegation listened respectfully. Obama the complete politician? President Obama, embarrassingly for the American public proved once more his habit of assuming the role of the groveling US politician for the pariah Israeli UN Member. This latest speech was no exception and once more Obama made plain that he will support Israel’s continuing occupation of Palestine as a quid pro quo for the Israeli lobby funding and supporting his 2012 Presidential re-election bid. Birzeit University Professor Hanan Ashrawi spoke for many in the audience and across America after Obama finished: “I did not believe what I heard. It sounded as if the Palestinians were occupying Israel. There was no empathy for the Palestinians; he only spoke of the Israeli problems. He told us that it isn’t easy to achieve peace, thanks, we know this. He spoke about universal rights, Good; those same rights apply to Palestinians. The White House is applying enormous pressure on everybody at the UN and they are using threats and coercion. I wish they would invest the same energy in an attempt to promote peace, not threats.” Has Iran have produced a Statesman or a sycophant? Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is at his best when he is engaged in dialogue and debate according to people in Lebanon and Iran who know him well. But he gets to the point quickly and it sometimes catches his interlocutors’ off-guard if they aren’t prepared. Devoutly religious, Iran’s President is unerringly polite and respectful, and never fails to mention the positive and the necessity of dialogue and seeking common ground. But he speaks frankly and also noted that President Obama never made good on a pledge to try to improve US-Iranian relations and to open a dialogue with Iran, and said he still hopes for a face-to-face meeting. “I don’t believe that this is a chance that has been completely lost,” Ahmadinejad said. He told Iran’s fellow UN Members “You all know that the nuclear issue has been turned and manipulated into a political issue,” and he added that Iran remains ready to negotiate over its disputed nuclear program, and repeated the country’s position that the program is for the peaceful production of energy Following the 2009 disputed Iranian elections, he stated “We were very much in support of change. I sent a personal message to President Obama, but we never received a response. His UN speech theme was that most nations of the world are unhappy with the current international circumstances. “And despite the general longing and aspiration to promote peace, progress, and fraternity, wars, mass-murder, widespread poverty, and socioeconomic and political crises continue to infringe upon the rights and sovereignty of nations, leaving behind irreparable damage worldwide.” He continued, “Approximately, three billion people of the world live on less than 2.5 dollars a day, and over a billion people live without having even one sufficient meal on a daily basis. Forty-percent of the poorest world populations only share five percent of the global income, while twenty percent of the richest people share seventy-five percent of the total global income. More than twenty thousand innocent and destitute children die every day in the world because of poverty.” He challenged the United Nations to reform itself and he urged honest debate on the vital issues confronting the world community. He asked the UN to bear in mind who imposed colonialism for over four centuries, who occupied lands and massively plundered resources of other nations, destroyed talents, and alienated languages, cultures and identities of nations? He asked the UN members to join in solutions to the World’s problems but asked that we not hide the facts of: Who triggered the first and second world wars, that left seventy millions killed and hundreds of millions injured or homeless. Who created the wars in Korean peninsula and in Vietnam? Who imposed through Zionism and over sixty years of war, homelessness, terror and mass murder on the Palestinian people and on countries of the region? Who imposed and supported for decades military dictatorship and totalitarian regimes on Asian, African, and Latin American nations? Who used nuclear bomb against defenseless people, and stockpiled thousands of warheads in their arsenals? Whose economies rely on waging wars and selling arms? Who provoked and encouraged Saddam Hussein to invade and impose an eight-year war on Iran, and who assisted and equipped him to deploy chemical weapons against our cities and our people? Who used the mysterious September 11 incident as a pretext to attack Afghanistan and Iraq, killing, injuring, and displacing millions in two countries with the ultimate goal of bringing into its domination the Middle East and its oil resources? Who nullified the Breton Woods system by printing trillions of dollars without the backing of gold reserves or equivalent currency? A move that triggered inflation worldwide and was intended to prey on the economic gains of other nations? Which country's military spending exceeds annually a thousand billion dollars, more than the military budgets of all countries of the world combined? Who dominates the policy-making establishments of the world economy? Who are responsible for the world economic recession, and are imposing the consequences on America, Europe and the world in general? Who are the ones dominating the Security Council which is ostensibly responsible for safeguarding the international security? This month’s Iran-U.S Presidential addresses at the United Nations have given its members a clear choice for the challenges quickly engulfing the Middle East. Ultimately, as the popular awakenings in this region teach us, it is the citizens of each country who have the power to decide how to deal with these crises. Iran’s President demonstrated at Turtle Bay this month that he understands the problems, offers rational solutions and is ready for constructive dialogue. The next move is up to President Obama to extricate him and his country from the jaws of Zionism and to join with Iran and the community of nations with constructive proposals to help alleviate the challenges Iran’s President enumerated. Subscribe via RSS or Email:

Gaddafi May Be Near the Algerian Border…Or Perhaps Not by Kristina C. September 28, 2011 11:00 pm 6 comments Gaddafi May Be Near the Algerian Border…Or Perhaps Not Facebook Reddit StumbleUpon Digg E-Mail Text Size: A | A | A | A Libya’s National Transitional Council (NTC) says that deposed leader Muammar el-Gaddafi’s whereabouts have been found: He is reportedly in Ghadames, 350 miles southwest of Tripoli and on the borders of Algeria and Tunisia; the city is a UNESCO heritage site with a walled old town and a large Berber population. Tuareg tribesman, nomads who live in the Sahara in Libya, Algeria and Mali, are said to be sheltering Gaddafi for pay. They have supported him since he backed their rebellions in Nigeria and Mali in the 1970s and allowed them to settle in Libya. The last time Gaddafi was sighted was in Tripoli on August 20. He was reportedly seen by witnesses on an army base with his daughter Aisha, who entered Algeria the next day along with her brothers Hannibal and Mohammed, their mother, Safia, and other relatives. Another son, Saadi, has fled to Niger where he is said to be under house arrest. The Algerian government has warned Aisha to cease making statements to a Damascus-based TV channel, al-Rai, which has also broadcast statements from Gaddafi. Hisham Buhagiar, coordinator of the hunt for Gaddafi, said to Reuters that “We are negotiating. The Gaddafi search is taking a different course.” However, Colonel Ahmed Bani, military spokesman for the NTC, said that Gaddafi’s whereabouts could not be accurately confirmed. The Guardian also quotes a Tripoli analyst who points out that Gaddafi “…spent 42 years fooling people and he’s doing the same now.” Indeed, the actual whereabouts of his family and officials of his regime are not so easy to pin down: Tunisia said last week it had detained Gaddafi’s last prime minister after he entered the country illegally and sentenced him to six months in prison. But it emerged on Tuesday that Al-Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmoudi has been freed – despite demands that he be handed over to the authorities in Tripoli. It was reported from Belarus, meanwhile, that a military plane from Libya landed in Minsk on Monday with 15 people on board. It was immediately moved into a hangar. The Belorusski Partizan said it was met by diplomats and intelligence officials, fuelling rumours that Gaddafi and his family were on the aircraft. The NTC also says that, with help from NATO aistrikes, it has captured the airport in Surt, the birthplace of Gaddafi and said to be where his son Mutasim, his national security adviser, has been located after the NTC intercepted a phone conversation between him and Saif al-Islam, Gaddafi’s second son. Saif al-Islam is reportedly in Bani Walid; both it and Surt have staged fierce resistance for the past two weeks. Intense fire from snipers and artillery has kept NTC fighters from taking and holding territory inside Surt. Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/gaddafi-may-be-near-the-algerian-border-or-perhaps-not.html#ixzz1ZKuzbL8m

Zubeda Shah After September, Hamas and Fatah to talk more in Cairo Fatah, Hamas officials to meet in Cairo Ma’an News 27.09.11 RAMALLAH — Fatah and Hamas officials are scheduled to meet in Cairo by the beginning of October for further dialogue over reconciliation talks and political issues, Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmad said Monday. Al-Ahmad, who heads Fatah’s national dialogue team, said President Mahmoud Abbas wanted to move forward reconciliation efforts on his return from New York, where he submitted Palestine’s application for full UN membership on Friday. A ban by Hamas on rallies in Gaza to support the UN bid had no influence on reconciliation efforts, al-Ahmad added. Dozens of women defied the ban and demonstrated in support of the UN bid. Hamas had previously said that it would not back a UN membership bid, and warned that no Palestinian leader had a mandate to sacrifice fundamental Palestinian rights. But Prime Minister in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh stressed that Hamas would “not place obstacles in the way of the establishment of a Palestinian state with full sovereignty.” Hamas and Fatah signed a reconciliation deal in Cairo on May 4 and agreed to form a transitional government of technocrats to end the animosity which has split the Palestinians into two camps since 2007. The deal stalled over a leadership row, as Hamas rejected Fatah’s nomination of Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad to head the interim government. Print Friendly Share and Enjoy: Digg Sphinn del.icio.us Facebook Mixx Google Bookmarks September 28th, 2011 | Tags: Abbas, Cairo, Fatah/Hamas, Palestinian unity | Category: News | Comments are closed. Ukraine oligarchs fund 24-hour TV channel for news through Jewish eyes and pro-Israeli voice »

Ukraine oligarchs fund 24-hour TV channel for news through Jewish eyes and pro-Israeli voice ‘JN1 won’t become a propaganda station’ The TV news channel dubbed ‘the Jewish al-Jazeera’ hopes to attract a global audience with its independent stance By Luke Browne, Media Guardian 27.09.11 The world’s first Jewish 24-hour TV news channel has launched with the aim of offering not just “news for Jews” but attracting viewers interested in world events from a Jewish perspective as an alternative to leading networks such as the BBC, CNN, Sky News and al-Jazeera. “Since the beginning of the world, everything with the word ‘Jewish’ in it has been news,” said Alexander Zanzer, Brussels bureau chief of Jewish News 1 (JN1). “So we thought it was about time someone created a 24-hour rolling TV news channel that looks at global events through Jewish glasses.” Broadcasting in Europe began via satellite last Wednesday. The channel will be rolled out across North America and the Middle East in cable and satellite packages over the coming weeks, and an internet live stream will be up and running within a month. “We don’t look at our channel as just being ‘news for Jews’,” said JN1′s editor-in-chief Peter Dickinson, based in Kiev. “It’s a much wider enterprise than that and I’m confident we’ll get a lot of non-Jewish viewers coming by for the variety of our voice. “If you look at the news market over the last 20 years, the real development has been diversification. A lot of channels have gotten a lot of kudos by being different and we hope to do the same by offering our own unique perspective on global affairs”. JN1 has already opened bureaux in Brussels, Tel Aviv and Kiev, and further studios are planned for Washington, Paris, London, Berlin and Moscow, with both Jewish and non-Jewish correspondents being signed up. The channel – a not-for-profit venture – currently broadcasts in English, but plans to expand and provide current affairs coverage in Russian, French, Spanish, Hebrew, Italian and German, said Zanzer. Its owners are Ukrainian oligarchs Igor Kolomoisky and Vadim Rabinovich, president and vice-president respectively of the European Jewish Union (EJU), a Brussels-based umbrella body of Jewish communities and organisations in Europe. Both are prominent philanthropists in the international Jewish community, financing civil society events in Israel and Ukraine. The pair have reportedly invested $5m in the channel because, said Zanzer, “they now want to do something that resonates on an international level”. The Palestinian statehood bid at the United Nations dominated the channel’s output in the last week, but it also broadcast other Jewish-themed international news items, such as a call for fans of the football team AFC Ajax to bring Israeli flags to their next home match in protest against calls from antisemitism campaigners to ban the club’s supporters from singing pro-Jewish chants. Eytan Gilboa, a communications professor at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University, said that JN1 was part of a growing trend of independent global news channels set up by governments and non-state organisations dissatisfied with coverage offered by leading international TV news networks of their countries and interests. “France has France 24, Russia has Russia Today, China has CCTV news,” he said. “Israel should have had a channel like this long ago, though I’m glad JN1 is a private venture because government channels have no credibility.” Coverage of Israel by existing news networks like BBC World and CNN International – as well as al-Jazeera – was biased against the Jewish state, said Gilboa. The point was echoed by Zanzer, who said JN1 would “give more voice to Israel”. “Journalists want good guys and bad guys when they write a story, and when they write about Israel they’ve already made up their minds,” he added. But Zanzer was keen to point out that the channel was independent from the state of Israel and “will not necessarily be pro- or anti-Israel; we’ll let the public hear the Israeli perspective and it’ll be up to the viewers to decide whether they’re right”. The channel’s Israeli bureau chief, CNN and ABC News veteran Jordana Miller, was also adamant that JN1 will not become a “propaganda station”, saying “there’s nothing about this network that will exclude, diminish or cut off the Palestinian narrative when it comes to the conflict here”. Gilboa claimed it was too soon to say whether channels such as JN1 could be successful but pointed out that success was relative and dependeent on the goals and expectations of the people backing them. “None of these channels are profitable, they lose money,” he said. “It’s like foreigners buying football teams in Britain – they don’t buy them to make a profit.” Print Friendly Share and Enjoy: Digg Sphinn del.icio.us Facebook Mixx Google Bookmarks September 28th, 2011 | Tags: JN1 | Category: News | Comments are closed. « After September, Hamas and Fatah to talk more in Cairo Israel announces 1100 new homes on annexed land in East Jerusalem »

http://www.sadaka.ie/Articles/Briefings/BRIEFING-Agreement_on_Movement_and_Access.pdf

WHY IRELAND SHOULD SUPPORT UN MEMBERSHIP FOR THE PALESTINIAN STATE

                             Why Ireland should support
                  UN membership for a Palestinian state

In November 1988, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) declared the establishment of a
Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, that is, in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and
Gaza – the Palestinian territories Israel has occupied by force since 1967 [1].

With this declaration, Palestinians accepted the objective of a state on just 22% of their historic
homeland, with Israel continuing to exist in the other 78%.             Since then, the way has been open
for a “two-state solution”.     But, it has been impossible to achieve because Israel has refused to
withdraw from the territory meant for a Palestinian state.

In   response   to   this   declaration   in   1988,   close   to   a   hundred   states   in   the   world   recognised   a
Palestinian state and granted it full diplomatic relations.        Other states, including Ireland, while not
going   as   far   as   recognition,   established   some   form  of   diplomatic   relations   with   it. In   January
2011, Ireland upgraded Palestinian representation in Dublin to that of a Mission.

Palestinians are now seeking the ultimate form of international recognition for their state, that is,
UN membership.         Writing in the New York Times on 17 May 2011, PLO Chairman, Mahmoud
Abbas, made the following appeal:

   “We call on all friendly, peace-loving nations to join us in realizing our national aspirations by
   recognizing the State of Palestine on the 1967 border and by supporting its admission to the
   United Nations.” [2]

An application for UN membership must first be recommended by the Security Council, where it
may   be   subject   to   a   US   veto,   and   then   approved   by   the   General   Assembly   by   a   two-thirds
majority of members present and voting (see Article 4 of the UN Charter [3]).

If the US vetoes UN membership in the Security Council, Palestinians are expected to apply for
observer   rights   at   the   UN   as   a   “non-member   state”,   which   requires   a   simple   majority   in   the
General Assembly and cannot be blocked by the US.

As far back as 1974, the General Assembly recognised the PLO as “the representative of the
Palestinian   people”   and   granted   it   observer   rights   at   the   UN. At   present,   Palestine   has   a
permanent mission at the UN with observer rights, but as a liberation movement, not as a state
with internationally recognised territory.

We in Sadaka believe that Ireland should support UN membership for a Palestinian state on the
 1967 borders.

In the UN General Assembly this autumn, Ireland should vote for UN membership for Palestine,
if the opportunity arises, or alternatively for observer rights for Palestine at the UN as a “non-
member state”.

www.sadaka.ie                                                                                                     1

http://www.sadaka.ie/Articles/Briefings/BRIEFING-Steps_to_UN_membership_for_Palestine.pdf ARGUMENT 1. The Palestinian people have an internationally recognized right to self-determination and sovereignty. A. The international community first confirmed the right of the Palestinian people to self- determination and sovereignty almost nine decades ago under the Covenant of the League of Nations. As early as 1922, the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and sovereignty was confirmed by the League of Nations with respect to the entire land area encompassing present day Israel and the 1967 occupied Palestinian territory (“oPt”). According to the League of Nations, historic Palestine, along with certain other communities comprising the Turkish Empire, was deemed developed enough to warrant provisional recognition as an independent nation. However, it was

NEGOTIATION AFFAIRS DEPATMENT

 Palestine Liberation Organization                                                   ـ  ا ـا ـ 

    Negotiations Affairs Department                                                        توا نو ةاد 

       Negotiation Support Project                                                         توا د عو 
                                                                
 

     LEGAL BRIEF IN SUPPORT OF RECOGNITION OF THE STATE OF PALESTINE 

 

INTRODUCTION 

The right of the Palestinian people to self-determination in a sovereign state of their own on the 
1967 borders has been universally recognized by the international community. For two decades, the 
PLO,  the  legitimate  representative  of  the  Palestinian  people,  has  undertaken  to  achieve  these 
national  aspirations  peacefully  through  negotiation  with  Israel.    However,  Israel’s  refusal  to  halt 
illegal settlement activity is endangering the very viability of the two-state solution.  This compels us 
to take the path Israel took more than 60 years ago by seeking international recognition of the State 
of Palestine. 

Palestine meets the legal criteria for statehood.  The fact that it has yet to establish effective control 
over all of its territory is a result of the continuation of Israel’s military occupation of the West Bank, 
including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, in violation of international law and the right of the 
Palestinian people to self determination.  This fact should not impede international recognition of 
Palestine.  Rather,  it  provides  the  very  reason  why  the  international  community  must  uphold 
international law and facilitate Palestinians’ exercise of self-determination by recognizing Palestine 
and admitting it as a state into the United Nations and other international organizations.  

The  State  of  Palestine  remains  committed  to  negotiating  a  peaceful  resolution  to  the  conflict 
between it and Israel.  It will also continue to cooperate with Israel in security and civil matters as it 
has done throughout the almost two decades of negotiations with Israel.  It will do so on the basis 
of sovereign equality. 

On 8 November, the Guardian published a remarkable comment article by Jonathan Steele entitled Nato is a threat to Europe and must be disbanded. It is very unusual to hear such sentiments expressed in Britain even by enthusiasts for the European Union. Steele wrote: “An alliance which should have wound up when the Soviet Union collapsed now serves almost entirely as a device for giving the US an unfair and unreciprocated droit de regard over European foreign policy. … “Nato gives the US a significant instrument for moral and political pressure. Europe is automatically expected to tag along in going to war, or in the post-conflict phase, as in Afghanistan or Iraq. Who knows whether Iran and Syria will come next? … ”Nato, in short, has become a threat to Europe. Its existence also acts as a continual drag on Europe's efforts to build its own security institutions. …” As Steele says, Nato has become an instrument for US/UK to pressurise European states, particularly, former states of the Soviet bloc, into doing their bidding, most recently to send troops to Afghanistan and Iraq. The contribution of the East Europeans, apart from Poland, to this exercise has been trivial (and Poland has thought better of it and will have its troops out early next year, as will Hungary and Holland). But if they hadn’t been bound to the US/UK via Nato they wouldn’t have made any contribution. The irony is that Nato will never fight a war as an alliance again. It has only ever fought one war as an alliance – against Yugoslavia in 1999. The US provided the vast bulk of the resources for that war, but it was constrained from applying them as it wanted, in particular, from bombing non-military targets from the outset of the war – because the war was run under the Nato umbrella by a 19-member committee. Now there is 26-member committee. The US is not going to let that happen again: in future, the US is going to be in full political and military control. The US will decide what has to be done, and will put together a coalition of states willing to help do it under US direction. The role of other Nato members, whether full or associate, will be to assist the US to do what it wants to do, in the way it wants to do it. And their being bound to the US via Nato will make it easier for the US to pressurise them into doing so, whether by providing troops or bases, or merely allowing overflights. EU constitution Steele also quotes Paul Quiles, a French socialist former defence minister, who pointed out that “Britain forced a change in the [EU] constitution's text so that Europe's common security policy, even as it tries to gather strength, is required to give primacy to Nato”. Quiles argues that “without control over its own defence … greater European integration makes little sense” and this is a good reason for voting against the constitution as it stands. This echoes, in part, the arguments made to the French Socialist Party, by its deputy leader, Laurent Fabius, in his unsuccessful attempt to persuade it to vote to oppose the constitution, (see a very interesting article on Fabius’ campaign in the The Independent on 29 November 2004). There is no doubt that Nato is given primacy in the constitution Article I-41 deals with the EU “common security and defence policy”. Paragraph 2 of Article I-41 begins: “The common security and defence policy shall include the progressive framing of a common Union defence policy. This will lead to a common defence, when the European Council, acting unanimously, so decides. It shall in that case recommend to the Member States the adoption of such a decision in accordance with their respective constitutional requirements.” But this is qualified by: “The policy of the Union in accordance with this Article shall not prejudice the specific character of the security and defence policy of certain Member States, it shall respect the obligations of certain Member States, which see their common defence realised in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, under the North Atlantic Treaty, and be compatible with the common security and defence policy established within that framework.” As if this wasn’t enough, the qualification is repeated in paragraph 7. The concept of the EU having a constitution was proposed by proponents of the “ever closer union” enshrined in the Treaty of Rome, in order to further that objective, but the opponents of “ever closer union”, notably Britain, have made sure that the constitution as drawn up is a bloc to such a development. There is no point in the EU having a constitution while the EU doesn’t know whether is going beyond being a free trade area, which is where Britain wants to keep it, while pretending otherwise. If the EU were moving towards a political union, and its members were all agreed on that course, then there would be a case for devising a constitution to reflect that sense of purpose. But it is not and, until there is, drawing up a constitution is a pointless exercise. Labour & Trade Union Review January 2005

Syarif Hidayat Facts speak for themselves correctly and objectively that ZIONISM is racist. Being a fundamentalist Zionist political movement, ZIONISM is not categorically different from Nazism. It is worse than Nazism. Only when we understand ZIONISM in its racist context will we begin to comprehend the depth of its atrocities!! "The Zionists have attacked the center point of Judaism." - Rabbi V. Soloveichik “If you do read something that tries to convince you that "the Jews" are to blame, understand that you're reading the work of a Zionist shill, and NOT a patriot.” -- Jolly Roger WHY IS ANYONE OPPOSED TO ZIONISM? A homeland for the Jews sounds like a nice idea, and who would deny anyone a homeland? The problem is that although the Zionist movement appears sane and peaceful on its surface, its leaders have always used and still use unspeakably nefarious means to advance their agenda (ie. 9-11). Ben Freedman (present at the signing of the Balfour declaration) was a Zionist who defected from their ranks and then spent his entire fortune trying to warn Americans of the Zionist agenda. Ex-Zionist Benjamin Freedman speaks at the Willard Hotel, Washington D.C., in 1961. He left the Zionist movement, changed his name from the Jewish spelling (Friedman), and exposed some of the diabolical plots that helped set the stage for the wars in Europe and the Mideast. He does not give the complete story, but when we make the same accusations, we are referred to as "anti-Semites", so let people hear it from a Jew, and then they will be more receptive to what we say. The general public needs to be made aware of this so they might avoid the horrors that visited upon 40 million Russians who were killed after the Bolshevik revolution, and other mass murders that have often accompanied a Zionist-contrived change in government. America is being set up for destruction right now, but it's not visible to most because what passes for a history lesson in America has less to do with the truth than most fairy tales. For instance; The Bolshevik revolution was not an uprising of the oppressed Russian people, but in reality it was a Zionist coup, after which the Zionists slaughtered millions of Russians. After the revolution, the "communist party" took over, which party was comprised of about 270 Zionist Jews from the lower east side of NYC. Trotsky wasn't even Russian. He was a Jew from the Bronx. The entire operation was funded by Jacob Schiff, who was an agent of the Rothschilds. Was this a "communist" revolution, or was it a Zionist revolution camoflauged by a new political ideology? It gets uglier when we discover that the exact same Zionist families are responsible for Nazism too. Zionism needs anti-Semitism to scare Jews into supporting it. This is why every time they catch someone spray-painting a swastika on a wall, they turn out to be Jewish, and this is why the famous Skokie, Illinois Nazis, who marched through Jewish neighborhoods dressed in Nazi uniforms, were also revealed to be Jews. Now it gets even crazier. The Zionists who claim a right to their biblical "homeland" in Israel are Askenazi Jews, and have no ancestrial tie to Israel whatsoever, and the Sephardic Jews who actually descended from the twelve tribes of Israel insist that the Torah forbids them from returning until they're led back by their messiah. So the Jews who were actually cast out of Israel refuse to return without divine guidance, and the descendants of Asian warloards who converted to Judaism in 740 A.D. insist that God entered into some type of real estate deal with them. Go figure. The famous 1961 speech by this New York businessman exposes "Zionist control of the US Government," including the plot to push the US into WWI in order to annex Palestine, thereby sowing seeds of Nazism and Communism. (yes, both Nazism and Communism were Zionist creations, despite the lies you were taught in school). "The Torah forbids us to strive for the reunion or possession of the land by any but spiritual means." - Rabbi S. R. Hirsch "Not via our desire did we leave the land of Israel, and not via our power will we come back to the land of Israel." - Rabbi S.D. Schneerson "Zionists want a state in order to make Jews into heretics." - Rabbi C. Soloveichik "The Zionists have attacked the center point of Judaism." - Rabbi V. Soloveichik What will happen next? “If you do read something that tries to convince you that "the Jews" are to blame, understand that you're reading the work of a Zionist shill, and NOT a patriot.” -- Jolly Roger The motto of the Mossad is "By Way Of Deception Thou Shalt Do War," so you're going to have to think like a spy, and expect deception of some sort or another. If some type of catastrophic event should transpire, ignore whomever is blamed for it by the newspapers, and ask yourself "who benefits from this event?" Based on their history during WWII, what's most likely to happen is that the Zionist propaganda machine will try to create anti-Semitic feelings in less intelligent Americans in order to convince Jews that they're only safe in Israel, where they'll probably be used as cannon fodder in the continuing wars there. The Zionists who own the Federal Reserve have already begun to collapse American economy, and after a few days of hunger, a second American revolution will probably be led by Zionists posing as patriots. The revolution will be successful after many of the rebels are killed, because just like every other conflict of the last century, Zionists will be behind both sides of this one too, but of course none of them will do any of the dying for either side. Soon afterward Zionists with a new political philosophy (probably the wonders of "One World Government") will emerge, take full control, and any dissenters who haven't starved to death will be slaughtered. Trivia Quiz: What do all the leaders involved in WWII have in common? Answer: Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin and Hitler were all Zionist puppets, and all of their nations (all sides of the war) were funded by the Rothschilds, or their agents. Instigating wars to reap the billions in profits generated by war-time loans is a pretty neat trick, but since the same trick has been used for a century, it's really time that we stopped falling for it. Please understand that there are many Jews in America who support the Zionist movement and who are also completely innocent and ignorant of the Zionist crimes I've described. It's only the leaders of this movement who are responsible, and they have a right to a fair trial. Just as we wouldn't blame "the Italians" for the crimes of John Gotti, no one, not even Mel Gibson should be blaming "the Jews." — with Aqbal Yunus Khan, Kn Kalian, David Mitchell, Razman Hakimi Abdullah, Tayseer Khaled, Cinzia Baldessari, Miryana María, Hamza Falisteen, Dr.Monir Siam, Mohammad Louwth Gilman, Amer Al-bayya, Sandra Nichols, Viva Palestina, Jim Henry, Robert Hand, Lina Mahmood, Paul Alexander, Yasmin Khan, Zubeda Shah, Zeitgeist Explorateur, Michael Hall and Sylvia Posadas. Like · · Share · 5 hours ago Miryana María, Osama SheikhAmin, Zeitgeist Explorateur and 3 others like this. View all 19 shares Sandra Nichols Cani share this on my blog akhi.....?? 28 minutes ago · Like Zubeda Shah Why not akhi,yes you can. A few seconds ago · Like Write a comment... On your profile · Remove Album:News Photos · 39 of 40 Shared with: Custom Tag this PhotoDownloadMake this my Profile pictureReport this Photo Facebook © 2011 · English (UK) About · Advertising · Create a Page · Developers · Careers · Privacy · Terms · Help

“Obama’s performance was pathetic,” But How Does President Perry Sound To You? by James M. Wall on September 26, 2011 Spread it! 1 | Share 0 inShare 1digg print Let us be perfectly clear about this. It is true, as Robert Fisk wrote, "Obama's performance was pathetic". It was that, and much more. Rick Perry Rick Perry President Obama's speech to the United Nations this week was also embarrassing, and grossly insensitive to the reality of the Palestinians who have since 1967, suffered the pain, death and humiliation of Occupation. President Obama focused his speech on Israeli security, which has served as the excuse for Israel to continue its ever-expanding control over what is now called the West Bank and Gaza. One reason the Obama speech was pathetic was that he studiously avoided uttering the word "occupation". Instead, the President carefully parroted the ultra right wing Israeli narrative with even more vigor than he has used in previous talks to those annual AIPAC Israel-worshipping conferences. The blame for this speech rests squarely on Obama. He chose his Zionist consigliere, Dennis Ross, as his in-house White House advisor. Ross has been protecting the Israeli narrative as the only Truth permitted in the White House, since he first emerged on the Washington scene as a Middle East "expert" for the first President Bush. Ross does not hide his proclivities, retreating to pro-Israel think tanks between stints in the White House. Successive presidents from Bush One to Clinton to Obama, have allowed Ross and his Israel Lobby pals to corrode the ability of US political leaders to actually see or feel the suffering of millions of Palestinians who are incarcerated in ever-shrinking plots of their ancestral land. The alternative? Before you totally abandon Obama, ponder this, how does a President Rick Perry sound to you? This Texas "good ole boy" has already demonstrated that he is an ultra Zionist. Unlike the former Texas governor who was president for eight years, Perry is prepared to preside over what those biblical End Times believers long for, an Israeli-owned Temple Mount to provide Yahweh with a platform on which to set off the final days. O, Molly Ivins, why did you have to leave us so soon. Meanwhile, while Obama follows Ross down the Zionist primrose path, those keepers of the nation's conscience, mainline religious leaders, paddle along in their interfaith fairy pond, desperately afraid of being called anti-semitic; right wing religious leaders criticize Obama for his lukewarm Zionism; main stream media peddles the Zionist narrative; and over on main street USA, an ignorant American public struggles to survive in a disastrous economy, oblivious to what right wing Zionists have done to our economic health. Imagine if all that changed. Imagine, for example, if the major Protestant denominations told the truth about the Occupation, and started preaching, instead, about justice, love and fairness. Imagine if those same denominations discovered they are called to be prophetic and decided forthwith to embrace BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) the Palestinian-inspired strategy that right wing Zionists detest because it has such a powerful non-violent bite. Support for Palestinian statehood ought to be a slam-dunk. The Palestinian Authority has met, and far exceeded, all requirements for statehood. At the UN Friday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had his moment to formally request what is without question, a status for Palestinians that is long overdue. Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu followed Abbas to the podium and repeated his praise for President Obama's earlier speech. He also seemed to enjoy telling the UN members that few in that room liked him. His speech, of course, was filled with what may only charitably be called "untruths", as this analysis demonstrates. In its report on the speech, the Palestiian news agency, Ma'an, included this sobering reminder of the game the "great powers" will be playing to block Abbas' request: The Security Council could delay action on Abbas' request, giving the mediating "Quartet" - the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations - more time to craft a declaration that could coax the two sides back to the table. This delaying tactic was orchestrated by the US to avoid an immediate Obama veto which would play badly at the UN. What the US wants is for enough of the 15 members of the Security Council to join the US in voting against the Palestinian statehood request, giving Obama the cover of a Security Council 9 to 6 negative vote. Israel has few, if any, supporters in the UN, as Netanyahu has acknowledged, so for the Security Council to provide Obama with his flimsy cover, some high-powered US pressure would need to be applied. Will pressure work this time? I don't think so. And here is why: The Security Council has five permanent members: China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States, and ten non-permanent members, which serve two year terms. Currently the non permanent members, with the year their terms conclude are Bosnia and Herzegovina (2011), Brazil (2011), Columbia (2012), Gabon (2011), Germany (2012), India (2012), Lebanon (2011), Nigeria (2011), Portugal (2012), and South Africa (2012). To reject the Palestinian request for statehood and eliminate the need for a veto by the US, 9 members, including the US, would have to vote against Palestinian membership. Do you see eight nations joining the US in that list who would reject the Palestinians? I do not. Meanwhile, as we await the Security Council vote, which may come next week, or next month, no one knows for sure, the big speeches are out of the way, which means the Palestinian story will once again be relegated to the back pages. This allows the American media to focus even more on the circus that has emerged from the Republican race for the presidential nomination, a race currently led by above-mentioned Texas Governor Rick Perry. You probably did not read about it in your local paper, but Perry held a press conference in a New York hotel on the day Obama spoke to the UN, timed, Max Blumenthal reports, "to pre-empt Obama's speech at the UN in which the President would reject Palestinian demands for statehood." At the press event, Perry trotted out a cast of characters that looks suspiciously like members of the "brain trust" Perry could elevate to White House power. New York Democratic Assemblyman Dov Hikind, stood next to Perry at the Press event. Hikind is the former leader of the Jewish Defense League (JDL). The FBI has designated JDL as a "terrorist" organization, which was, according to Blumenthal, "responsible for bombing attacks on numerous Arab-American targets and a conspiracy to murder Republican Rep. Darrell Issa". At the press event, Blumenthal reported that Perry issued numerous stentorian condemnations of terror. He then handed the microphone to Hikind, who exclaimed, "I heard the Governor's speeches and I said to myself, 'He sounds like me!'" The two men then engaged in a sustained hug much to the delight of the assembled media. This is the second time in recent months that Dov Hikind has surfaced in New York politics. Writing in both the Mondoweiss and the Beirut-based al-Akhbar web sites, Blumenthal looks back at Hikind's involvement in the special election in New York's 9th congressional district, won by a Republican, Bob Turner. The NY Ninth CD was an overwhelmingly Democratic district until Democrat Anthony Weiner resigned over an internet fiasco. Turner, who had no previous political experience, received the endorsement of former Democratic New York Mayor Ed Koch, a widely publicized shift in party loyalty. Turner also was endorsed by Democratic Assemblyman Dov Hikind, the same Democratic Assemblyman Hikind who is now strongly supporting Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry. Neither Perry nor Turner has publically expressed any misgivings over Hikind's previous relationship with the Israeli settler leader Meir Kahane. According to Blumenthal: Under Kahane's direction, Hikind operated a front group with the JDL cadre [of] Victor Vancier (aka Chaim Ben Pesach), who served 10 years in prison for carrying out numerous firebomb attacks on innocent people, and openly contemplated killing the renowned Palestinian professor Edward Said. Ads Shrinking Map of Palestine shirt Buy Shrinking Map of Palestine T-Shirt from Sabbah Store Browse more Palestine T-Shirts It is interesting to note, and a commentary not only on American Jewish-influenced politics, but also mainstream media coverage, that Hikind's terrorist-related links were never mentioned in the election campaign by Turner's Democratic opponent, David Weprin. Instead, Weprin and Turner both focused on who would be the best congressman for Israel. Joining Hikind at Perry's press event was Dr. Solomon "Joe" Frager, who was listed on official Perry press material, as the organizer of the press conference. Blumenthal provides Frager's background: Frager is the Chairman of the Jerusalem Reclamation Project, a front group for the Ateret Cohanim organization that steals Palestinian property in East Jerusalem and hands it over to fanatically religious Jewish families. They are the spearhead of Israel's slow motion ethnic cleansing of Silwan and the Old City. What then shall we do with this promising young president, who has humiliated himself, and the nation he leads, on the large UN world stage? Ralph Nader believes Obama should be challenged in the Democratic primaries. Fortunately, for Obama backers, no one pays much attention to Nader these days, except the right wing Washington Times which eagerly offered Nader space to do his part in bringing in blocking a second Obama term. Criticism of Obama's continued capitulation to the Zionist right, gets scant attention in the Mainstream Media, which is why voices like Robert Fisk must be heard and heeded. Fisk's report in The Independent was harshly critical of Obama's speech: For the American President who called for an end to the Israeli occupation of Arab lands, an end to the theft of Arab land in the West Bank - Israeli "settlements" is what he used to call it - and a Palestinian state by 2011, Obama's performance was pathetic. As usual, Hanan Ashrawi, the only eloquent Palestinian voice in New York this week, got it right. "I couldn't believe what I heard," she toldHa'aretz, that finest of Israeli newspapers. "It sounded as though the Palestinians were the ones occupying Israel. There wasn't one word of empathy for the Palestinians. He spoke only of the Israelis' troubles..." Too true. And as usual, the sanest Israeli journalists, in their outspoken condemnation of Obama, proved that the princes of American journalists were cowards. Fisk offers an encouraging (and youthful) example of informed commentary from a member of the younger Israeli generation, Israeli scholar Yael Sternhell (at right), who has written: The limp, unimaginative speech that US President Barack Obama delivered at the United Nations....reflects how helpless the American President is in the face of Middle East realities. Obama needs to hear criticism like this from Israel and from alternative US media. As Franklin D. Roosevelt once told a political leader who wanted him to take a progressive action, "Make me do it". We are called to make Obama move beyond his UN speech. He will need all the "making" we can give, to help him escape from Zionist control. Neither the Progressive cable pundits and most certainly not the Main Street Media, will be of any help in this effort. That includes pundits like Chris Matthews, who anchors the MSNBC evening lineup. After Friday's dueling UN speeches by President Abbas and Prime Minister Netanyahu, there was ole Chris acting like the high school Senior Class president who was proud to have as his guest to "discuss" the Middle East, the ever-charming, slick Israeli ambassador to the US, Michael Oren, who proceeded to overwhelm Matthews with his usual list of Israeli promises ( prevarications) that should bring the wayward Palestinians to another round of "negotiations". Matthews is the TV dean of the PEPs (Progressives Except for Palestine). Fortunately, following him in the MSNBC lineup we have the ever-reliable Rachel Maddow, who a week before the dueling UN speeches, interviewed former President Jimmy Carter. Not surprisingly for her, Maddow asked Carter about the Palestinian bid for statehood, knowing full well what he would say. Carter was precise: It is time for Palestinian statehood. Obama has a rough 13 plus months ahead of him before the 2012 election. He is not likely to confront the media PEPs, nor any other part of the Zionist hasbara that has enveloped this country like a giant octopus. This leaves us with the option of trusting that in a second term, Barack Obama will return to that 2008 promise, when, as Ron Suskind writes in his latest book, Confidence Men, we experienced that moment of "dizzying ebullience when Barack Obama and his beautiful family stepped onto the stage in Chicago's Grant Park as America's First Family": It was a sensation of such intensity as to startle many across the country and around the world into believing in the promise of America, the original and long-burning beacon of the democratic ideal. Al Jazeera posted a 25-minute news program, "Inside Story", Friday. Included are comments by US, Israeli and Palestinian observers. Video link: http://youtu.be/cUqFHqXEsVc * James M. Wall is currently a Contributing Editor of The Christian Century magazine, based in Chicago, Illinois. From 1972 through 1999, he was editor and publisher of the Christian Century magazine. Jim launched personal blog April 24, 2008. Last 5 posts by James M. Wall Erdogan: Israel is the West's Spoiled Child - September 18th, 2011 The Day The Bush War on Terror Began - September 13th, 2011 Israel Makes Mahmoud Abu Samra A 'Shaheed' - August 29th, 2011 Avnery Reveals: The Return of the Generals - August 22nd, 2011 81 House Members Enjoy Hiatus In Israel - August 16th, 2011 Get Free Updates From Sabbah Report Insider Updates Sign up to receive our daily newsletter. subscribe via RSS You can also subscribe to our RSS feed or follow us on Twitter to get the latest updates. Share | | More Previous post: Obama’s UN speech is unjust, immoral and unprincipled Next post: Embarrassing Obama in free-fall as gangster morals kill peace process Sabbah Report - Because Silence Is Complicity! Subscribe & Join ads Car Insurance HTC Thunderbolt Accessories zaagtech Astrill VPN HideMyAss.com LinkShare_125x125ButtonV1 Get Chitika Premium Recent Posts Embarrassing Obama in free-fall as gangster morals kill peace process “Obama’s performance was pathetic,” But How Does President Perry Sound To You? Obama’s UN speech is unjust, immoral and unprincipled Obama Secretly Sold Israel Bunker-Buster Bombs (Bush Refused) Countering slurs Other posts by the author Last 5 posts by James M. Wall Erdogan: Israel is the West's Spoiled Child - September 18th, 2011 The Day The Bush War on Terror Began - September 13th, 2011 Israel Makes Mahmoud Abu Samra A 'Shaheed' - August 29th, 2011 Avnery Reveals: The Return of the Generals - August 22nd, 2011 81 House Members Enjoy Hiatus In Israel - August 16th, 2011 Other Contributors & Authors

Embarrassing Obama in free-fall as gangster morals kill peace process by Stuart Littlewood on September 26, 2011 Spread it! 1 | 3Share 0 inShare 0digg print No-one connected with the old discredited peace "circus" should be allowed anywhere near the new quest for justice in the Holy Land. Too many are strangers to fair play and appear to share the mentality of gangsters and others of loose morals. Obama UNThe only surprise about the Palestinians' bid for freedom at the United Nations was the panicky response of US president and the speed with which he jettisoned all pretence of integrity and political respectability. Obama's brazen hypocrisy Obama's speech to the UN overflowed with Tel Aviv disinformation and was a brazen advertisement for his enslavement by Israel. After enthusing how "more and more people were demanding their universal right to live in freedom and dignity", he required the Palestinians to go cap-in-hand to their tormentor, Israel, and once again haggle for their freedom and dignity and the return of their stolen property. Shrugging off the international community's responsibilities, he tried to put the onus for sorting out the criminal mess on the Palestinians' shoulders: "Ultimately, it is Israelis and Palestinians - not us - who must reach agreement on the issues that divide them: on borders and security; on refugees and Jerusalem." What ignorance. What an embarrassment. Does anyone out there still look on him as leader of the Western world? And how's this for unadulterated humbug? The United States will continue to support those nations that transition to democracy - with greater trade and investment, so that freedom is followed by opportunity. We will pursue a deeper engagement with governments, but also civil society - students and entrepreneurs; political parties and the press. We have banned those who abuse human rights from travelling to our country, and sanctioned those who trample on human rights abroad. And we will always serve as a voice for those who have been silenced. Cannot Obama see the excruciating irony of what he says? The man now cuts a pathetic figure, from golden boy to crap-merchant in less than three years, a freak who prematurely accepted the top peace prize but still lacks the moral fibre to earn it. And he’s going for a second term? It’s time to take that noble trophy off the mantlepiece, Mr Obama, and hand it back. His speech, so heavily larded with lies, was only surpassed by the rantings of his buddy, Israel's prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, a dangerous imbecile whose finger hovers over the only nuclear button in the Middle East. Both were desperately trying to paint the the armed-to-the-teeth bully-boy as the victim. "The truth is that Israel wants peace, the truth is that I want peace," Netanyahu said, when all the evidence points the other way. He added that "we cannot achieve peace through UN resolutions". He means, of course, that Israel cannot achieve its greedy ambitions through UN resolutions. On the other hand, the UN route is the only way Palestinians are ever likely to obtain justice. Mahmoud Abbas - wrong man for the task The bid for statehood had to be made, I believe. But was Mahmoud Abbas the right man to present the case? He lacks legitimacy. His presidential term expired long ago and he cannot claim to speak for a unified people. Abbas's speech was good in parts but sadly inept in key respects. Did he rise to the occasion? No, not really. Not in the way a better man might have done - with a brighter team of scriptwriters. "The PLO [Palestine Liberation Organization] and the Palestinian people adhere to the renouncement of violence," he said, but demanded no reciprocity. Since non-violence has got them nowhere, why throw away the option, especially when Israel uses extreme violence every day? "We adhere to the option of negotiating a lasting solution to the conflict in accordance with resolutions of international legitimacy... The Palestine Liberation Organization is ready to return immediately to the negotiating table on the basis of the adopted terms of reference based on international legitimacy and a complete cessation of settlement activities." Adopted terms of reference based on international legitimacy? What on earth does he mean? It needs spelling out. And is he happy to negotiate while still under illegal occupation and blockade? Shouldn’t the occupation end before anything else begins? Justice first! Abbas said he wants to "build cooperative relations based on parity and equity between two neighbouring states" but didn't link this to the necessary requirement for parity to be established first, together with a level playing field, and for Israel to remove its jackboot from Palestine's neck. Many would say Abbas should not contemplate or even mention negotiations while the occupation, blockade and land-grabs continue. Negotiations, in this case, mean pressuring the Palestinians to forego their rights under international law and settle for far less than they are entitled to, just to avoid a kerfuffle in the UN and save the US’s face. Abbas should insist on securing those rights first and, otherwise, asking bluntly if the United Nations has now abandoned its raft of resolutions and is letting the gangsters rewrite international law and the UN Charter in their own stinking urine to suit Israel's ambitions. Eyebrows must have shot up when he claimed that after being mired is disunity "we succeeded months ago in achieving national reconciliation..." How much unity was behind the statehood bid? He mentioned the continuing blockade on the Gaza Strip only in passing. The vicious strangulation and wrecking of Gaza is a monstrous war crime perpetrated by Israel and an ugly blot on the escutcheon of the international community, yet Abbas made nothing of it, reopening the old question: "whose side is this guy really on?" Gaza’s cruel suffering has unlocked huge sympathy worldwide and done more than anything else to focus international attention on the Palestinian cause. But in preparing the bid Abbas’s team, worse than useless in the past, seems to have sidelined the 1.5 million innocent people in the beleaguered coastal enclave. Who can blame Gaza’s Hamas government for wishing to distance themselves from the whole adventure? Were they properly consulted? Were they permitted to participate? Were they allowed to preview the script? I now read that Abbas is to have deep discussions with Hamas. Better late than never, I suppose, but what incompetence (or chicanery, take your pick). Ads Free Palestine shirt Buy Free Palestine T-Shirt from Sabbah Store Browse more Palestine T-Shirts Abbas's speech made a good job of describing the Palestinian people's plight but a bad job of setting out the action required of the UN to deliver a solution. Since lopsided negotiations so obviously failed the Palestinians before and only served to buy the Israelis more time to establish irreversible facts on the ground, wasn’t it rather silly of Abbas to offer to play into their hands again? He harked back to the "22/78 debacle" of 1993, when negotiators agreed to establish a state of Palestine on only 22 per cent of the territory of historical Palestine. "We, by taking that historic step, which was welcomed by the states of the world, made a major concession in order to achieve a historic compromise that would allow peace," Abbas reminded everyone. That huge concession - a compromise too far for many Palestinians - has been repeatedly flung back in the Palestinians’ face. As the 22/78 offer isn’t acceptable to Israel, the default position, surely, is the 1947 Partition’s 43/56 per cent formula, with Jerusalem a corpus separatum under UN protection. That was the basis on which the Israeli state was recognized, although it was declared with no fixed boundaries. Nobody, as far as I know, actually agreed to fluid, ever-expanding borders. The outcome of Palestine’s "day at the UN" is that the Security Council has kicked the bid into the long grass while it deliberates. Meanwhile, the Quartet, another tainted and discredited body of peace brokers that should be terminated, has issued a statement urging both sides to resume talks and setting a timetable, but not calling explicitly for a halt to construction of illegal Israeli settlements, the very thing that brought previous talks to an end. More gangster, then. As the bid wasn’t addressed to the Quartet, they and their mouthpiece, the odious Mr Blair, should at least do us the courtesy of keeping quiet until the Security Council makes its response. No sense of fair play The situation is not complicated. You don't need a degree in politics or diplomacy to understand. There can be no peace under occupation. To force "negotiations" when one party has a gun to the other's head is stupid and immoral. And to force negotiations when one party continues to steal the other's lands, continues to commit war crimes and breaches every code of conduct in the book, is not only doubly stupid and immoral - it’s disgusting! And continuing this relentless brow-beating - that’s how gangsters behave in their low-life world. For the rules of fair play, you can do no better than look up the Laws of Cricket (as I’ve said in my musings before). All players were expected to be civilized enough to know what fair play meant, and for 250 years the Spirit of the game was unwritten. As the game spread worldwide some players were so warped they took diabolical "liberties"; so finally, in 2000, it was set down in writing. The game "should be played not only within its Laws but also within the Spirit of the Game. Any action which is seen to abuse this spirit causes injury to the game itself." Respect is a vitally important ingredient. For cricket, read "peace-making". The United Nations has laws and conventions in abundance but not the will to implement them despite the high-minded words of its Charter. A large injection of Spirit is needed urgently. As the Great Umpire in world affairs the UN should not allow itself to be pushed around or deflected from fair play by pain-in-the-ass gangsters and other low-life. * Stuart Littlewood is author of the book Radio Free Palestine, which tells the plight of the Palestinians under occupation. Read other articles by Stuart. Last 5 posts by Stuart Littlewood Israel's panic-stricken UK fans urge more lopsided negotiations - September 21st, 2011 Palestine's future - its students - must be set free - September 13th, 2011 A thousand-and-one reasons why Palestine must get independence - September 8th, 2011 Warped Flotilla "inquiry" invites mega-mischief - September 5th, 2011 Will 'Nipper' Cameron obey Tel Aviv's trumpet or vote for Palestinian freedom? - August 29th, 2011 Get Free Updates From Sabbah Report Insider Updates Sign up to receive our daily newsletter. subscribe via RSS You can also subscribe to our RSS feed or follow us on Twitter to get the latest updates. Share | | More Previous post: “Obama’s performance was pathetic,” But How Does President Perry Sound To You? Sabbah Report - Because Silence Is Complicity! Subscribe & Join ads Car Insurance HTC Thunderbolt Accessories zaagtech In association with Zazzle.com Astrill VPN HideMyAss.com LinkShare_125x125ButtonV1 Get Chitika Premium Recent Posts Embarrassing Obama in free-fall as gangster morals kill peace process “Obama’s performance was pathetic,” But How Does President Perry Sound To You? Obama’s UN speech is unjust, immoral and unprincipled Obama Secretly Sold Israel Bunker-Buster Bombs (Bush Refused) Countering slurs Other posts by the author Last 5 posts by Stuart Littlewood Israel's panic-stricken UK fans urge more lopsided negotiations - September 21st, 2011 Palestine's future - its students - must be set free - September 13th, 2011 A thousand-and-one reasons why Palestine must get independence - September 8th, 2011 Warped Flotilla "inquiry" invites mega-mischief - September 5th, 2011 Will 'Nipper' Cameron obey Tel Aviv's trumpet or vote for Palestinian freedom? - August 29th, 2011 Other Contributors & Authors

The political significance of Israel’s assassination policy By the Editorial Board 7 September 2001 It is time to call things by their right name and expose what is taking place on the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Israel, with the support of the United States, is carrying out a policy of assassinations that has as its aim the destruction of the political infrastructure of the Palestinian national movement. The claim that Palestinian leaders are being stalked and killed to preempt terrorist acts is little more than a cover for a policy with far broader aims. The Israeli state is employing the most sophisticated military and technological means to decapitate the leadership and terrorize the entire Palestinian population. The basic objective is to prevent at all costs the emergence of an independent Palestinian state. The Bush administration knows full well that Israel’s claim to be using targeted killings only as a defensive tactic against imminent terrorist attacks is a lie. The US government, the American media and the bulk of the liberal establishment are complicit in a policy of state murder. Events of the past two weeks have illuminated the real motives behind the series of assassinations carried out by Israel over the past year. On August 27 Israeli helicopters fired two laser-guided missiles into the West Bank office of Abu Ali Mustafa, the leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Mustafa, one of the top five officials of the Palestine Liberation Organization, was the highest-ranking Palestinian to be eliminated in the recent wave of Israeli assassinations. Four days later Israeli forces attempted to murder the head of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Khayis Abu Leila. Anti-tank missiles smashed into the home of the DFLP leader in the West Bank town of Ramallah, but Leila was not at home at the time. The Israeli bourgeoisie is the consummate practitioner of Realpolitik in its most extreme and brutal form. No other state in the world so openly defends assassination and mass repression as legitimate instruments of rule. Israel uses the most advanced technological means—satellite-based communications, intelligence gathering and targeting; smart missiles; state-of-the-art attack helicopters—to track down and kill its leading political opponents among the Palestinians. Never before has advanced technology been used in so open and concentrated a manner to eliminate an entire political class. By such means Israel seeks to render impossible any organized and politically directed struggle against its occupation of Palestinian lands. Palestinian leaders are compelled to move daily from safe house to safe house to avoid being exterminated. They are unable to hold meetings. Their communications—via telephone, email, fax—are monitored and disrupted. They are forced into a semi-underground existence under conditions in which the enemy enjoys a massive preponderance of military and economic power. In this manner Israel seeks to disperse and ultimately wipe out the leaders of all anti-Zionist organizations in the occupied territories and throughout the Arab world. The message from the Israeli authorities is clear: no one will survive who does not secure the approval of the Israeli state. The recourse to state murder is, in the first instance, the response of the Israeli establishment to the eruption of mass resistance in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. The second intifada began last September following the collapse of the Camp David Israeli-Palestinian summit and subsequent Israeli provocations. The present policy follows a definite pattern. In April 1988, some four months after the outbreak of the first intifada in the occupied territories, an Israeli death squad broke into the home of Abu Jihad in the Tunisian capital of Tunis and gunned down the Palestinian military and political leader. Abu Jihad, born Khalil Al-Wazir, was a founder of Al Fatah and Yasser Arafat’s closest political associate. Abu Jihad played a central role in organizing and directing the intifada from the PLO’s headquarters-in-exile in Tunis. His assassination at the hands of the Israeli military and Mossad secret police was aimed at the head of the popular uprising. In 1997 the Israeli newspaper Maariv revealed that then-deputy military chief Ehud Barak ran the assassination operation from a command center on a navy missile ship off the shore of Tunis. Barak became prime minister in May 1999 after running as the Labor Party candidate and defeating Likud Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a landslide vote. He was voted out of office and replaced by Likud hard-liner Ariel Sharon last February. Barak’s role in the assassination of Abu Jihad makes it clear that all wings of the Israeli Zionist establishment, the so-called doves as well as the open supporters of Israeli expansionism, are tied to the policies of state murder and mass terror. It substantiates the fact that the present recourse to political assassinations is part of a strategy to destroy the Palestinian national movement that has the support of the Labor Party leadership as well as Likhud. A constant feature of this policy is the attempt to isolate PLO Chairman Arafat by eliminating all of his colleagues. Barak’s own record of infiltration and assassination goes back to his earliest years in the Israeli military. In 1973, disguised as a woman and carrying a purse packed with explosives, he led an assassination unit that killed three leading PLO officials. Political killings, including the 1995 murder in Malta of Islamic Jihad leader Fathi Shakaki, have long been a staple of Israeli policy. Such methods are part and parcel of counterinsurgency operations conducted over many decades by imperialist powers, including the United States in Southeast Asia and elsewhere. They fall within the range of tactics—infiltration, provocation, assassination, terror—that constitute the modus operandi of what experts in the field call “low intensity warfare.” What is unprecedented is the way in which these methods are being openly defended by Israel and its American backers. Since the collapse of the Camp David negotiations 13 months ago, the Israeli state has pursued a course of military aggression and provocation calculated to arouse Palestinian retaliation, which is then used as the pretext for assassinations and further attacks on the Palestinian Authority. Barak essentially gave his backing to this policy when he defended Sharon’s instigative visit to the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem in late September of 2000. When Sharon, accompanied by a retinue of police and troops, was met with spontaneous protest demonstrations, Israeli police responded by storming the Al Aqsa mosque and opening fire on stone-throwing worshippers, killing six. This bloody provocation set off a further wave of mass protests, against which Israel employed live ammunition, tanks and attack helicopters. Within the first week of the intifada Israel had killed at least 60 Palestinians and wounded 1,500 more. Sharon is one of the world’s leading exponents of the policy of creating “new facts.” This was the purpose of the settlement policy, which he championed. The goal was to create a major Israeli presence in occupied territories that had long been considered Palestinian. Now he is seeking to create a new set of facts—the absence of an independent Palestinian leadership. In defense of their campaign to wipe out the Palestinian leadership, the Israeli authorities employ a combination of cynicism and deceit. One tactic is a variant of the “big lie”: namely, to accuse your enemy of the crimes for which you are responsible. Thus Israel, secure in the knowledge that its claims will be parroted by the American press, charges the Palestinians with initiating the violence and brands all critics of its methods as anti-Semites. Israeli leaders have gone so far in recent days as to accuse the Palestinians of “ethnic cleansing.” The Israeli justification for the policy of political assassination is the ultimate “Catch 22” argument. They claim they only kill those who are preparing acts of terrorism. What is the proof that the targeted individuals are guilty as charged? The fact that the Israeli state has decided to kill them. No independently verifiable evidence is ever presented to substantiate the charges against those marked for assassination. The Israeli authorities do not seek to arrest the accused, put them on trial and present the factual case for their elimination. Instead, Israeli hit squads and the Mossad act as judge, jury and executioner. Israel could not pursue such a bloodthirsty course without the logistical support of the US military and intelligence apparatus, and the political support of the American political and media establishment. The response of large sections of the US media has been to leap to Israel’s defense, employing frenzied anti-Palestinian rhetoric and calling for all-out war to destroy the Palestinian resistance. In mid-August there was a veritable eruption of propaganda in the US press defending Israel’s assassination policy. On three successive days the Washington Post ran op-ed pieces labeling the Palestinians as inveterate terrorists and urging Israel to annihilate the Palestinian Authority and build a Berlin-type wall to keep the Arab population in a state of permanent subjugation. Michael Kelly wrote in a column published August 15: “[Israel] can win only by fighting the war on its terms, unleashing an overwhelming force (gosh, just what is called for in the Powell Doctrine) to destroy, kill, capture and expel the armed Palestinian forces that have declared war on Israel.” The following day Charles Krauthammer called for “A lightning and massive Israeli attack on every element of Arafat’s police state infrastructure—the headquarters and commanders of his eight (!) security services, his police stations, weapons depots, training camps, communications and propaganda facilities (radio, TV, government-controlled newspapers)—with a simultaneous attack on the headquarters and leadership of Arafat’s Hamas and Islamic Jihad allies.” Krauthammer made an explicit call for ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian population, summed up in his slogan: “Strike and expel.” George Will followed on August 16 with a similar diatribe that included the following prescription: “Israel needs a short war and a high wall.” These and numerous other commentators in the press and on CNN and Fox TV have declared that “we” in the US would be doing the same thing as the Israelis if faced with a similar situation. Among the public defenders of Israeli assassinations is Henry Kissinger, the chief architect of American imperialist policy in Vietnam under President Nixon. One can only imagine the international outcry, orchestrated by the US media, were Palestinian leaders to announce that they intended to reply in kind, i.e., to identify and target those Israelis involved in planning and carrying out assassinations and other terrorist acts. The US government has responded to the Israeli campaign of assassinations with perfunctory public criticisms, delivered by mid-level State Department officials, combined with private assurances of American support from the highest levels of the Bush administration. The US posture, dripping with hypocrisy, signals the revival by Washington of its own practice of using murder as a tool of foreign policy. If it is acceptable for Israel to “take out” its political opponents, then the same applies to the US. Washington’s support for Sharon’s murder incorporated signals a reversion to the methods that resulted in such atrocities as the CIA assassination of Congo independence leader Patrice Lamumba in 1961, the repeated attempts to murder Fidel Castro, and the 1986 bombing of Libyan leader Muammar Gadhaffi’s residence. Political assassinations were formally outlawed in laws passed in the 1970s following Congressional hearings headed by Idaho Senator Frank Church into the activities of the CIA. Today, even more crassly than under the Reagan administration, the US government flouts its own laws in order to support its main client regime in the Middle East and suppress the struggle of the Palestinian masses against foreign occupation, repression and poverty. 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A bad romance: Pakistan and US | Print | E-mail Monday, 26 September 2011 09:12 By MWC News Share Link: Share Link: Bookmark Google Yahoo MyWeb Del.icio.us Digg Facebook Myspace Reddit Ma.gnolia Technorati Stumble Upon Newsvine Mike Mullen, the chairman of the US joint chiefs of staffBy Imran Khan Like all great lovers' tiffs, this one started with frustration. Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, decided to make his feelings public. In a nutshell, he accused Pakistan of state sponsored terrorism, alleging that its Inter-Services Intelligence backs the Haqqani network. The Haqqanis are a fearsome bunch of fighters whose lineage goes back to Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Back then, their leader, Jalaludin Haqqani, was seen as a hero, even sitting in the White House with the then President Ronald Reagan. But it wasn't just the US. The Pakistanis nurtured and encouraged him to go fight in Afghanistan, supplying him with weapons and safe havens. That was 20 years ago and, like all bad marriages, things left unresolved often explode. And so Pakistan's affair with the Haqqani network has created a split in the US-Pakistani marriage. The Pakistanis are furious and are on the offensive, at times saying the US is not helping; at other times saying the US is simply blaming Pakistan for its own failings in Afghanistan. As ever, finding the truth is tricky business. Perhaps more difficult for both parties is figuring out what the real issue is. Assumptions That the US needs Pakistan, and vice-versa, is not in dispute. What is, is how you fix this broken relationship. Let us, for example, make certain assumptions that the US holds true: Firstly, the Pakistani are indeed sponsoring the Haqqani network. Should the Pakistanis stop? On the surface at least it would go a long way to fixing things. However, Pakistan cannot just publicly say it has stopped supporting the Haqqani network, because then it would have to admit it supported them in the first place. Secondly, Pakistan needs the Haqqani network. Once the US pulls out of Afghanistan, and it will sooner rather than later, Afghanistan, history has repeatedly shown us, is a cauldron of competing interests and bloodthirsty rivalry. Pakistan needs a dog in that fight. That's what ultimately drives Pakistani support for the Haqqani network. But with the Haqqani network involved in a bitter and bloody fight with American forces in Afghanistan, the Americans simply want them gone. So let's take a look at the Pakistani position. Officially it denies any support for the Haqqani network and therefore cannot stop supporting it. It also says the Americans are getting defeated by the group and are looking for someone to blame. The world's most powerful army is effectively being routed by bearded men with light weapons and an unshakeable faith in God. That simply does not play well in the 'good ole US of A', so there must be someone to blame - the Pakistanis in this case. Stalemate Then the Pakistani army steps in. It says by playing up Pakistan's connection with Haqqani, the US is stomping all over the sacrifice Pakistani soldiers have made in the so called war on terror. Thousands of Pakistanis have died and terror attacks are an almost daily occurrence. In short the Pakistanis say they are the victims here, not the aggressor. So things are at a stalemate. A solution is needed. Pakistan and the US are at loggerheads and at stake is billions of dollars worth of aid for Pakistan, and a decisive victory in Afghanistan for America. Seasoned diplomats and observers of the US-Pakistan relationship are divided on the subject. A few point to the fact this stalemate may well be the only solution and instead of fighting it, you should embrace it. One diplomat on the Pakistani side spoke to me candidly but refused to be identified. He said: "Privately a deal should be offered by the US to back away from the Haqqani network, offer us a bigger role in post-occupation Afghanistan to temper the Indian influence. Limit India's role in our neighbour and we won't need any networks, Haqqani or other wise." But angering India is not on the US agenda. It has a close working relationship with the country and sees its support for the US as key in the wider, global scheme of things. So that option is off the table. Increasing drone strikes and firepower to go after the Haqqani network is another option. General Petraeus, the new head of the CIA, understands this. That's why many say he is in that job. A military general in charge of an intelligence-gathering organisation can only mean one thing: the CIA is now effectively a military wing in its own right, and one with drone strike capability. All bets off But a decade of war and death from the skies has not weakened any of the parties in Afghanistan. So, is there a diplomatic solution? Bring the Taliban and therefore the Haqqanis to the table for talks. It's been mooted and back channels are open, but many Afghans don't want the Taliban anywhere near power so those talks remain tentative and slow moving, shall we say. Finally, then Pakistan and the US are living in the same house, but not sharing the same bed. What will ultimately split them up is not what happens in Afghanistan. The two countries' fate and that of Afghanistan are far too closely tied to each other. What about a terror attack on US soil that can be tied back to Pakistan? To a group some in the US say Pakistan sponsors? Then all bets are off. That's the nightmare scenario. So Pakistan-US relations need to be strengthened and forged in steel to stop these two uneasy allies from having to face each other in that scenario. Publicly it's a war of words right now, but one would hope a backstage deal is being done that will put a stop to this escalation of words. However, as a long-time reporter in the region and of the politics I can tell you the US and Pakistan only have a narrow self interest at heart. Both sides should be careful for what they wish for, and once again Afghanistan could well be another graveyard of empire. Subscribe via RSS or Email: Add New Search Comments (0) Write comment Your Contact Details: Name: Email: Website: Comment: Title: UBBCode: [b] [i] [u] [url] [quote] [code] [img] Message: Security Security Image Please input the anti-spam code that you can read in the image. 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Ahmadinejad in Sudan to boost ties | Print | E-mail Monday, 26 September 2011 08:39 By Agencies Share Link: Share Link: Bookmark Google Yahoo MyWeb Del.icio.us Digg Facebook Myspace Reddit Ma.gnolia Technorati Stumble Upon Newsvine Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, has met his Sudanese counterpart in Khartoum after arriving on a two-day visit. Ahmadinejad's visit is aimed at boosting political and economic ties between the two allies, Sudanese officials said. Ahmadinejad received a warm welcome from Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir at Khartoum airport. Iran, along with China, is one of the biggest supporters of al-Bashir, who faces indictment from the International Criminal Court (ICC) over alleged war crimes in the long-running Darfur conflict. Shunned by the West, Sudan, which is facing an economic crisis after losing much of its oil wealth to newly-independent South Sudan, is keen to expand trade ties with Iran. Most Western firms avoid Sudan due to a tough US trade embargo. Sudan and Iran have also strong military ties after signing a co-operation agreement in 2008. Al-Bashir has supported the Iranian nuclear programme which Washington says is to build nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran denies.

Quartet Anti-Palestinian Statehood Proposal | Print | E-mail Monday, 26 September 2011 09:31 By Stephen Lendman Share Link: Share Link: Bookmark Google Yahoo MyWeb Del.icio.us Digg Facebook Myspace Reddit Ma.gnolia Technorati Stumble Upon Newsvine QuartetQuartet representatives UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, UN Middle East envoy Tony Blair, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy High Representative Catherine Aston explained its elements. On September 21, an initial statement "expressed its strong support for the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, which can resolve all final status issues within one year." "The Quartet reaffirmed its full commitment to its previous statements, which provide that negotiations should lead to an agreement that ends the occupation that began in 1967 and results in the emergence of an independent, democratic, contiguous, and viable Palestinian state living side-by-side in peace and security with Israel and its other neighbors." "In the spirit of the Arab Peace Initiative, the Quartet called on Arab states to support Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and progress on the other tracks by taking bolder steps to foster positive relations throughout the region and to combat violence and extremism." "Recalling that change on the ground is integral to peace, the Quartet reaffirmed its support for the Palestinian Authority's August 2009 plan for building the institutions of a Palestinian state within two years." Quartet members established a timeline for "realistic and serious" negotiations to begin in a month. They hope for comprehensive proposals within three months, substantial progress in six, and a firm deal by end of 2012. An international conference in Moscow was also proposed once "substantial progress" has been made on "comprehensive proposals." In addition, a Donors Conference will convene to support "state-building actions developed by Prime Minister Fayyad under the leadership of President Abbas." "The Quartet agreed to meet regularly" to monitor events and propose recommendations. A follow-up September 23 statement: Notably, the proposal excludes key issues, including settlements, 1967 borders, East Jerusalem as Palestine's capital, Gaza's siege, diaspora Palestinians right of return, and their legitimate elected Hamas government, among others. As a result, it's offensive and demeaning, treating Palestinians like children ordered to obey or be spanked. It's little more than old wine in new bottles to deny statehood and keep Palestine oppressively occupied in perpetuity. Ma'an News said Egypt's interim Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr said the Quartet's proposal represents "another failure." Addressing the General Assembly on September 24, he said: Egypt "was, and will remain, committed to the goal of achieving just and comprehensive (Middle East) peace." However, the Quartet failed to make progress. Friday, "(w)e have witnessed....another failure....to come up with a balanced vision to achieve the goal that we all know and approve of yet differ on how to realize it." On September 23, Abbas petitioned the Security Council for statehood and full UN membership. If implemented, the Quartet proposal will consign it to memory hole oblivion. Rhetoric aside, Israel, Washington, key EU allies, and Ban Ki-moon aim to bury it this way. In other words - delay, delay until going, going gone and forgotten. Early Reactions On September 24, Haaretz writers Natasha Mozgovaya, Barak Ravid and Avi Issacharoff headlined, "Palestinian FM rejects Quartet proposal for not addressing settlements, Israeli withdrawal," saying: On Saturday, PA Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki "rejected (the) Quartet's proposal to renew peace negotiations...." On an unnamed Palestinian radio station, he said it doesn't "call for a settlement freeze and an Israeli withdrawal to the 1967 lines, and therefore isn't sufficient." An unnamed US official called the proposal "realistic and serious," saying it provides: "a credible, serious alternative path and we believe that both sides, if they're true to their words, will find a way to respond favorably to this." No matter that decades of "peace talks" failed, including: Camp David I; Madrid; Oslo; Oslo II; a 1994 Protocol on Economic Relations; a Cairo Agreement on Gaza and the Jericho Area the same year; the 1994 Washington Declaration and Agreement on Preparatory Transfer of Powers and Responsibilities between the two parties; the 1995 Protocol on Further Transfer of Powers and Responsibilities; it included an agreement to resume "permanent status" talks and discuss other elements of a peace plan relating to Israeli troops redeployments, land transfers, safe passage between Gaza and the West Bank, a Gaza seaport, prisoner releases, and various issues related to security, normal civilian activities, international donor aid, and a timetable for final status talks; the Sharm el-Sheikh Memorandum; Camp David II; the "Road Map;" Anapolis; and the stalled September 2010 grand illusion fudged to look real like all previous failures. In fact, on and off for decades, negotiations were stillborn from inception because Israel and Washington won't tolerate peace. They demand unconditional surrender and permanent occupation. Only Israeli demands matter. Palestinians always got take it or leave it deals. As a result, they never had a legitimate peace partner and don't now, dealing with Israel's most extremist ever government under Netanyahu. He deplores peace. He once called negotiations "a waste of time," and never does it in good faith. Moreover, Washington agrees to whatever Israel wants, making a mockery of serious talks. Longtime Israeli analyst Gideon Levy agrees. On September 25, his Haaretz article headlined, "Netanyahu proved Israel doesn't want peace," saying: His General Assembly address showed "Palestinians (and the world) can no longer expect anything from Israel. Nothing." "Netanyahu, peddler of emotions, did not shrink from or forget anything (in reviewing) thousands of years of history to obscure reality...." Those with him in New York "said it all, (a) cheerleading squad, (including) two kippa-wearers, two generals, two former Russians, three current beard-wearers - a depressing and threatening group portrait of Israel's extreme right, class of 2011." Israel's true face leaves Palestinians on their own with no legitimate peace partner. In fact, Israel won't tolerate peace, Palestinian statehood, or ending its 44 year occupation. On Saturday, nonetheless, Abbas again said he'll consider all "solution(s) that can last and end the conflict." "We realize that the parties who suggest initiatives either seek to reach a solution quickly or to prevent any solution....We will see what the days bring, but expect good things....We are talking about weeks, not months." Aboard his plane back home, he told reporters: "When settlement expansion continues, and when Israel considers that an accomplished fact, we will not accept it because it will be a real threat to the presence of the Palestinian Authority. That is what I said, and here I say it again." A Final Comment On return to Ramallah, Haaretz said Abbas called Netanyahu Israel's most inflexible leader, saying: "Benjamin Netanyahu's ideological positions do not allow him to advance forward," stopping short of saying negotiating with him is impossible. It's also true of Foreign MInister and Deputy Prime Minister Avigdor Lieberman, a longtime ultranationalist extremist. On September 25, he told Israeli Army Radio that there will be unspecified "tough repercussions" if Palestine's statehood application is approved. Specifically referring to possible General Assembly passage, he said: "If the Palestinians will indeed pass a one-sided resolution if not in the Security Council then the General Assembly, that would bring us to an altogether new situation and this would have repercussions, tough repercussions. Any unilateral step will without a doubt bring an Israeli reaction." At the same time, he and Netanyahu welcome the Quartet's proposal. They know it promises failure, again shattering Palestinian hopes. In fact, smart money bets on it because neither side is serious about what Palestinians want and deserve but won't get. Maybe next time, not now. It's for Palestinians on their own to prove them wrong.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gWd5dqPwdY&feature=related

Revealed: Tony Blair’s intriguing friendship with one of the richest divorcees in Israel... and how Cherie was warned of ‘a sexy conspiracy’ By David Rose and Simon Walters Last updated at 1:28 AM on 25th September 2011 Comments (177) Add to My Stories Share Wealthy: Controversial Israeli businesswoman Ofra Strauss has met regularly with Tony Blair Wealthy: Controversial Israeli businesswoman Ofra Strauss has met regularly with Tony Blair Tony Blair has developed a close personal friendship with one of the richest – and most controversial – women in Israel. Ofra Strauss, 51, who divorced her second husband last year, is the head of a £1.3billion food company whose high prices triggered the biggest social protests in Israel’s history. She has been seen so often in Mr Blair’s company that the Israeli press has even speculated openly that they are having an affair. It is an allegation Ms Strauss’s spokesman yesterday angrily denied, while Mr Blair too is adamant there is ‘nothing improper’ in the pair’s relationship. The former Prime Minister is a frequent visitor to Israel through his role as the international Middle East peace envoy representing the so-called ‘Quartet’ – the United Nations, United States, European Union and Russia. The apparent closeness between Ms Strauss and Mr Blair is such that earlier this year a columnist for Maariv, a highly respected daily Hebrew newspaper, went so far as to write an ‘open letter’ to Mr Blair’s wife Cherie, suggesting she might like to clarify the nature of the relationship. ‘For the information of Mrs Blair,’ the article began. ‘Very, very quietly this weekend, the official car allocated to Tony Blair by the Quartet glided through the gates of Ofra’s house, which is protected by tight security measures… all kinds of bad people have called me trying to suggest this visit had the character of a sexy conspiracy, so I’m handing the matter over to you to handle personally.’ The paper also reminded Mrs Blair that the house where her husband visited Ms Strauss had been the subject of a furious row between the divorcee and the local council, because she had built an open-air Jacuzzi in the garden without planning permission. Last night Ms Strauss’s spokesman, Rani Rahav, said it was ‘ridiculous’ for anyone to suggest there was any romantic element to her dealings with Mr Blair. ‘There was never any skin between them, never. I have never been asked such an ugly question before.’ He said Ms Strauss was a close friend of both Tony and Cherie Blair. ‘She is a very close friend of both of them, but she doesn’t want to talk about them,’ Mr Rahav said. When The Mail on Sunday arrived yesterday at Ms Strauss’s smart marble villa, surrounded by well-groomed gardens, and tried to ask her for an interview, Mr Rahav was on the phone within minutes, threatening to call the police. ‘You are making a big mistake,’ he said. ‘This is Israel, not England, and we are the law here.’ Whispers: Cherie Blair (right) has been publicly warned by Israeli newspapers about Ofra Strauss's reputation Close relationship: The international Middle East peace envoy has been a frequent visitor to Ms Strauss's home Whispers: Cherie Blair (centre) has been warned by the Israeli press to keep an eye on her husband's relationship with the controversial Ms Strauss (left) He said Ms Strauss had just returned from New York – where Mr Blair was also present in his official role, attending the debates on the future of Palestine at the UN General Assembly. Mr Blair’s friends also say Ms Strauss is a friend to both the former premier and his wife, with whom she has worked on women’s issues. The open letter to Mrs Blair was not the only speculation to appear in Maariv. Another article stated: ‘Ofra Strauss is grooming her friendship with Tony Blair, the former British Prime Minister and Quartet representative. Ofra’s neighbours tell me that she wants to know whenever there’s some special event in Tony’s honour – and that happens a lot.’ In the wake of such pieces, others have written of Mr Blair’s sex appeal to Israelis. An Israeli news website wrote earlier this month that while David Cameron was cleaning up London after the riots, Mr Blair had ‘reasons to smile’, noting that he was a ‘milky, throbbing alpha male with unexplained sex appeal’, and that on his visits to Tel Aviv he ‘awakens hidden desires’. Dining in Tel Aviv, it added, Mr Blair seemed to enjoy his food with gusto, making sure he always ‘cleaned his plate’. It is certainly evident that Ms Strauss and Mr Blair enjoy each other’s company. Inquiries by The Mail on Sunday have established they have dined together among a group of friends in one of Tel Aviv’s finest restaurants, Montefiore Yavne, which is owned by Ms Strauss’s brother and sister. The meal lasted more than two hours. Powerful friends: Mr Blair allegedly also tried to persuade Shari Arison, a billionaire heiress who owns an Israeli bank, to invest in the Palestinian territories Powerful friends: Mr Blair allegedly also tried to persuade Shari Arison, a billionaire heiress who owns an Israeli bank, to invest in the Palestinian territories Staff said the group sat in the balcony section, a secluded area with discreet lighting. Having checked the place before their arrival, Mr Blair’s security remained outside. Mr Blair and Ms Strauss have also dined together at another high-end establishment across the street, the Montefiore Hotel. A senior staff member there declined to say whether there were others in their party but sources close to Mr Blair insisted last night that the pair have never dined alone as a couple. Ms Strauss’s first husband, Dan Lahat, to whom she was married for 18 years, was a son of a former mayor of Tel Aviv. Her second, Adi Keizman, is a property developer ten years her junior and known for his taste in expensive tailoring and sports cars. Before he married Ms Strauss, Mr Keizman had dated an Israeli former Miss Universe. He is now engaged to model Esti Ginzburg. In Israel, being friends with Ms Strauss is seen as politically controversial. She is the chairman and former chief executive of the Strauss Group, a food conglomerate she inherited from her father, Michael, which makes dairy products, snacks and confectionery. Because it has so little competition, the firm is officially designated a monopoly under Israeli law, meaning its prices are supposed to be regulated by the government. In July, however, the prices charged by Strauss Group for yoghurt and cottage cheese reached such a level that tens of thousands of protesters began living in a ‘tent city’ in central Tel Aviv, and for three months mounted weekly demonstrations that attracted up to half a million people at a time. Other monopoly firms were also the targets of the protest, dubbed the Israeli Arab Spring. One group of protesters set up an encampment on the grass verge opposite Ms Strauss’s house in the affluent suburb of Tzahala. Powerful: Ms Strauss chairs the Strauss Group, Israel's second largest food company Powerful: Ms Strauss chairs the Strauss Group, Israel's second largest food company The camp’s leader, Itzhak Elrov, said they were there because ‘tycoons’ like Ms Strauss were ‘milking huge profits at the expense of the common people’. Yesterday her neighbours said they were not surprised by the protests, given the widening gap between rich and poor in Israel. ‘She’s one of the richest in a place where a tiny minority own 80 per cent of the wealth,’ said Chaim Goldman, who lives opposite. Chaim Asa, a strategic security adviser to successive Israeli prime ministers and the founder of a new internet-based political movement which has sprung up in the wake of the protests said Israeli politics had become ‘corrupted’ by the close relationship between politicians and tycoons such as Ms Strauss. Did he find it strange that a former Labour Prime Minister should cultivate such friendships? ‘I don’t think he’s a socialist any more: he wants to be a tycoon himself,’ he said. ‘Maybe one of the reasons he likes Ms Strauss so much is that she has so much money.’ More... Ex-PM met Gaddafi aide a month before Lockerbie bomber’s release Ms Strauss is by no means the only multi-millionaire Mr Blair has cultivated since leaving Downing St in 2007. He has been widely criticised for blurring his official duties as a diplomat with lucrative business opportunities for his private consulting firm, Tony Blair Associates, whose clients include the rulers of Kuwait and Abu Dhabi. If he worked for any of the Quartet’s individual components, such as the UN, EU or UK Government, he could not act in such a fashion and would have to make a full declaration of his financial interests. As Quartet representative, however, he does neither, and estimates of the wealth he has amassed since leaving office range from £25m to £60m. As well as his ‘consulting’, and working for the US bank JP Morgan, which pays him £2m a year, Mr Blair is available for one-off engagements – at a very high price. The Mail on Sunday has learnt that, last year, the renowned Interdisciplinary Centre in the Israeli town of Herzliya asked Mr Blair to take part in a prestigious ‘war game’ involving top military personnel, politicians and academics, to examine what might happen if Israel went to war with Iran. Mr Blair replied that he would be delighted to participate, but only for a fee of £100,000. ‘That was out of the question,’ a centre official said. Ms Strauss is not the only wealthy Israeli woman Mr Blair has tried to cultivate. According to Press reports in the country, he also tried to persuade Shari Arison, a billionaire heiress who owns Israel’s Bank Hap-oalim, to invest in the Palestinian territories. Ms Arison – who is also author of a book of ‘new age’ philosophy – declined, saying she was not sure whether her money would be safe. Her spokesman declined to say whether she and Mr Blair had stayed in touch. Explore more: People: Cherie Blair, Tony Blair, David Cameron Places: London, New York, Israel, Islamic Republic of Iran, Kuwait, United Kingdom, Palestine, Russia, Middle East Print this article Print this article Read later Read later Email to a friend Email to a friend Share this article: Facebook Twitter Digg it Newsvine Delicious MySpace Nowpublic Reddit Ads by Google: Expat Living In Malaysia?Do You Have £70K to £1.8m In UK Pensions? Free QROPS Guide!QROPSpensiondesigner.com/DailyMail Best Expat Interest RatesIndependent Report Gets You The Best Interest Rates On Your Savingswww.OffshoreInvestmentDesigner.com Add your comments Comments (177) Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below, or debate this issue live on our message boards. The comments below have not been moderated. Newest Oldest Best rated Worst rated View all Do you " cultivate " people or ... friendships? - Francaise au pays de la pluie, Ipswich, 26/9/2011 07:32 Click to rate Rating (0) Report abuse - Marxist/Communist/NWO, It's all the same, UK, 25/9/2011 23:57 I agree with you. It is the same under communist Cuba. Castro took everything from everyone. Their houses, their businesses, their bank accounts, their lives. When my parents and I left, we could only leave with the clothes you wore. Couldn't even take my doll. Only upper echelon communists live well in Cuba. Comunism and marxism is a utopia that will never work. - abc, miami, florida, 26/9/2011 01:28 Click to rate Rating 3 Report abuse I have to laugh when I hear people still talking about Marxists as 'caring about people'. Did you ever go to the USSR and see how the upper echelons of the Communist party pampered themselves rotten? They had their own well-stocked shops when most of the country had nothing, their own exclusive property portfolio dotted around the country when 'dissidents' were either being sent off to the gulags or simply 'done away with', luxury apartments, chauffeur-driven cars, only Communist Party-approved teachers in schools, immunity from all laws, grandiose monuments to the great 'Soviet experiment' ... sounds very much like Blair's EU/New World Order to me!!! You only have to think of Lord and Lady Kinnock (he never even made it as PM here!) living in the lap of the EU Gods and in unimaginable and very secret luxury - surely doing their bit to ensure that their EU Gold Pensions are not threatened by the British people's much-desired exit from this parasitical elitist secret 'club'. - Marxist/Communist/NWO, It's all the same, UK, 25/9/2011 23:57 Click to rate Rating 11 Report abuse Why is this 'man' Blair (and I use the word 'man' advisedly) still involved in World Politics ? Who appoints him to these positions, what influence do they have over him, what do they want from him in return ? He is a shabby, self interested man, his only REAL interest is how much money he can put in his pocket. - TerryM, Newport Pagnell, 25/9/2011 23:50 Click to rate Rating 11 Report abuse no doubt he'll lie about this as he has done with everything else. The man is an embarrassment to humanity - Michael the un PC, Kent ENGLAND , England, 25/9/2011 22:29 Click to rate Rating 43 Report abuse So thats why he wasn't supporting the palestinians. Typical hypocrisy from western leaders, ex or otherwise - ARAMIS, Leeds, 25/9/2011 22:16 Click to rate Rating 19 Report abuse The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. Add your comment Name: Town & Country: Your name and location will appear next to your comment. You have 1000 characters left. We welcome your opinions. This is a public forum. 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Turkey voices readiness for Israel war Thu Sep 22, 2011 4:9PM Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has voiced his country's readiness to engage in a conflict with Israel, in the case it becomes 'necessary.' In an interview with Charlie Rose, when Erdogan was asked if he saw the Israeli attack on a Gaza-bound flotilla that killed nine Turkish nationals as “a cause of war,” -- as the premier had earlier said -- Erdogan said “we will do that too if it becomes necessary,” Turkey's Vatan newspaper reported on Thursday. “As you know, Israel attacked three ships, one of which carried over 400 people from 33 countries, in international waters from sea and air. Such an attack in international waters is against international law,” Erdogan noted. The Turkish premier reiterated that Israel should apologize to Turkey for the attack and pay compensation to the families of the victims. Asked about earlier remark that “Israel is a spoiled child,” Erdogan said, “Israel is West's spoiled child. I still say the same thing.” MGH/MGH [Delicious] [Reddit] [Newsvine] [Mixx] [StumbleUpon] [LinkedIn] [Digg] [Twitter] [Facebook] Share this article: Send to friendPrint this article Related Stories: Turkey blocks Israel's NATO request Turkey rejects US mediation Turks: Israeli footballers unwelcome Turkey vows to control Israel at sea Turkey: Israel, West's spoiled child Comments (86) Add Comment Click Here Note: The views expressed and the links provided on our comment pages are the personal views of individual contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Press TV. mohammad 9/25/2011 9:41:39 PM Turkey is making none sense . This is not about turkey . this is about Islam & mankind . there is no way between , whit muslims or whit their enemy . The US is the supreme devil . he knows well how to destroy his enemies . people the way of god is straight forward & the way turkey is going is directly to darkness ... Like 0 | Dislike 0 | Reply Marwan Zibiddeen 9/24/2011 5:21:50 AM If Turkey is serious about it hatred for israel, the poblem of the Middle East is solved. The only country in the area that can truly wipe out the jews, is Turkey with its hand tide behind its back! I only pray that the jews don't apologize and escalate matters. Turkey will make the entire world very very HAPPY! Like 6 | Dislike 7 | Reply suterin reply to Marwan Zibiddeen 9/25/2011 10:48:32 AM do you belive so?? do you belive that turkey or iran will wipe israel from the world map? honest u belive so? boy there will be a big blow in ur country before u wiped israel out the map think about hiroshima but that time it will be biger Like 2 | Dislike 1 politics 9/23/2011 9:29:14 PM owwww !!! erdogan has did some suspicious actions lately ! I don't wan't to say something against erdogan , but he is not the same as when he started ministery ! I am telling you that erdogan must soonly choose his path : Israel & US or Nations & islam ... Like 6 | Dislike 4 | Reply Daltonin reply to politics 9/24/2011 2:17:28 AM Why are the only two choices either israel and the west or radical islam?Why can't he follow his own path and choose neither? I hope turkey stays as secular as possible and doesn't turn against the west or the Us.But then again,israel shouldn't be allowed to just do whatever the hell they want.I don't think it's a black and white choice between two extremes Like 1 | Dislike 3 CD 9/23/2011 4:02:08 PM May War will be the only solution to liberate the M.E. and the world from ZIONIST OCCUPATION! But it would be suitable to form and consolide Regional MILITARY-ALLIANCES between powerfull regional Nations and that's include not only our great Islamic Republic of Iran, but also Russia, China etc.! I do agree, that OUR FREE WORLD has to be liberated from western hegemonie, in view to establish a more just, equitable and more respectful NEW WORLD ORDER towards NATIONS and PEOPLE! Like 15 | Dislike 13 | Reply andre michel 9/23/2011 3:13:22 PM viva turkey, you are becoming the leading nation in the ME , hope see you never again side with israhell and come closer to other Islamic nations to form a strong alliance against the arrogant western superpowers to form a new islamic and free persian gulf region. Like 15 | Dislike 17 | Reply The Watch[_]Man! 9/23/2011 2:56:04 PM THE TRUTH WILL SURELY PREVAIL US-WEST NWO ZIONIST EVILS IN THE WORLD. THE TRUE JEWS PEOPLE, THE SONS OF JACOB ARE INNOCENT. Like 10 | Dislike 5 | Reply anemari 9/23/2011 12:45:10 PM Surely most of world population would support Turkey.Israelis will lose 0. Israelis and us-americans can attack defenceless people. Like 20 | Dislike 13 | Reply tedD 9/23/2011 12:33:54 PM The destruction of Israel has always been the best solution.It's not hard to accomplish. Like 18 | Dislike 19 | Reply CDin reply to tedD 9/23/2011 5:11:46 PM Dear Ted, I am sure that our global pressTV.ir community and myself are totaly agreeing with your comment! Like 14 | Dislike 6 mat 9/23/2011 12:15:19 PM Seeing is believing........ Like 4 | Dislike 8 | Reply Truejoh 9/23/2011 10:37:41 AM Long live Erdogan, long live AKP party, long live Palestine. Like 30 | Dislike 13 | Reply Maryam 9/23/2011 10:18:13 AM Turks have always proved to be a bunch of backstabbing untrustworthy chickens. Like 31 | Dislike 30 | Reply REALIST 9/23/2011 7:32:45 AM Americans will never install a NATO missile system in Turkey, if they know that Turkey may turn against the Zionist Regime of israHell!! All this CHICKEN dressed as Turkey is doing is making sweet talks to please the crowd, and in reality behind the scenes the business with the murderous thieving Zionists goes on as usual!! Like 42 | Dislike 7 | Reply Anonymous 9/23/2011 4:40:34 AM Mr Prime minister no doubt you mean well. Yet, I am lost and not sure what to believe; On one hand you allow operation of zionist regime supporters' radars on your territory while at the same time you voice readiness for war with the outlawed zionist terror regime. Please avoid such contradictory policies as they will errodes others trust in you and your policies in due time. Thank you Mr prime minister. Like 39 | Dislike 3 | Reply Whatcherin reply to Anonymous 9/23/2011 3:17:59 PM Turkey is part of NOTO. israhell is not and if they are attacked after that NATO MUST follow through with the defense of turkey or split and be no more. ISREHELL Is not part of NATO. America would have to join in against isrhell or It's over. no more nato And as Muslims say Allah Akbar Like 6 | Dislike 2 Mujjammil 9/23/2011 4:15:06 AM I appreciate Mr. Erodgan's courage if this is not just an empty rhetoric. However, to be successful against a formidable enemy we must follow the Quran and Sunnah. A hadith tells us that Muslims will make an alliance with Rum (Today’s Russia) in the last age. Mr. Erdogan should know that Turkish military is an NATO ally. So I feel it will a strategic mistake to push for a War with Israel with NATO presence in Iraq, Libya and Mediterranean Sea. Like 18 | Dislike 4 | Reply Mujjammilin reply to Mujjammil 9/23/2011 5:09:56 PM @Assassin: There is a Surah in Quran entitled Ar-Rum and it points to then Byzantine Empire. However, it was not the only superpower at that time. Persian Empire was too a superpower. How do we identify Rum today? The state religion of Byzantine Empire was ‘Eastern Orthodox church’. Where is Eastern Orthodox Church today? Answer: Its headquarters is in Russia! Like 0 | Dislike 0 Mujjammilin reply to Mujjammil 9/23/2011 3:04:50 PM @Assassin: There is a Surah in Quran entitled Ar-Rum and it points to then Byzantine Empire. However, it was not the only superpower at that time. Persian Empire was too a superpower. How do we identify Rum today? The state religion of Byzantine Empire was ‘Eastern Orthodox church’. Where is Eastern Orthodox Church today? Answer: Its headquarters is in Russia! Like 1 | Dislike 0 Assassinin reply to Mujjammil 9/23/2011 9:12:10 AM wouldn't todays 'Room' be the US. back then 'Room' was the superpower. Or has it already happend? In the cold war Russia,Iran and Egypt made an alliance with each other. Like 5 | Dislike 0 Anonymous 9/23/2011 4:10:39 AM Correction needed; "Zionist aparthide terror regime" is an "illegitimate" child of western "colonial regimes" Like 23 | Dislike 4 | Reply Mofar 9/23/2011 3:40:00 AM The Turks are great negotiators. They remained neutral during WW2 even after a visit from Hitler. Turkey will play both sides where it is in their best interest. But a full naval blockade of Israel - a naval showdown - should boost Erdogan at home ( and Muslim world) without pissing off the west completely. ? Like 17 | Dislike 4 | Reply Westyin reply to Mofar 9/23/2011 8:42:06 AM People in Western countries are very happy to see the leader of a country put Israel in its place, we know our governments will not do - so three cheers for Turkey. Even our governments would be quietly happy with Turkey's comments. Like 13 | Dislike 3 JAY 9/23/2011 3:30:57 AM TURKEY COVERTLY WORKS WITH THE US & ISRAEL. IF THERE WERE TRULY MUSLIM AND JUST LEADERS IN THE M.E THE PALESTINANS WOULD HAVE GOT BACK THIER LANDS AND NO ARABS OR MUSLIMS WOULD HAVE BEEN OPPRESSED. THE MAJORITY OF GOVERNEMENTS IN M.E ARE ZIONIST PUPPETS! Like 29 | Dislike 8 | Reply HOT AIR TURKS 9/23/2011 3:27:05 AM TURKS ARE ALL TALK AN NO ACTION! IF THEY WERE SERIOUS THEY WOULD BREAK RELATIONS WITH ISRAEL, NATO AN THE INFIDEL WEST...BUT THEY RUN TO HOST THE NATO RADAR SITE AGAINST MUSLIMS...ERDOGAN...GO BACK TO POLISHING NETANYAHUS CAR AN CUTTIN HIS LAWN... Like 30 | Dislike 9 | Reply holohoaxin reply to HOT AIR TURKS 9/23/2011 4:40:39 AM Let Erdogan say whatever he wants, he's a drama queen. Yes, all of these is just a big drama. Like 16 | Dislike 6 Islam for Ever 9/23/2011 2:59:58 AM LONG LIVE OUR TURKISH BROTHERS AND SISTERS AND LONG LIVE MR. ERDOGAN... MANY JEWS WRITE COMMENTS AGAINST YOU AND TURKEY BUT WE KNOW THEM ALL...TRUE MUSLIMS ARE BACKING YOU AND NATION 100[[]%]. Like 25 | Dislike 19 | Reply microscopic viewin reply to Islam for Ever 9/23/2011 9:07:54 AM you must be living in some sort of occupied land,and thinking that Muslims are pests ! Like 0 | Dislike 3 American Girl 9/23/2011 2:33:04 AM Erdogan needs to put his money where his mouth is. I'll believe him when he stops talking and starts taking action. I believe most of the people of Turkey are anti-Zionist. Why wouldn't they be after Israel committed cold blooded murder of Turkish people on international waters? Like 34 | Dislike 6 | Reply Sarastro33in reply to American Girl 9/23/2011 3:34:55 PM And yet, when a US citizen is murdered with point-blank shots to the head by the Israeli terrorists in international waters, Obama says it is "regrettable" and moves on. Like 7 | Dislike 0 Right ON!in reply to American Girl 9/23/2011 8:00:25 AM I totally agree. Erdogan's rhetoric is meaningless, especially considering some of his recent remarks and actions against Syria and Iran, serving Israeli interests more than anyone else. I am now very suspicious of this Turkish prime minister. Like 14 | Dislike 2 IRAN IRAN 9/23/2011 1:32:32 AM TURKEY SHOULDN'T FEAR IRAN STATUS IN THE REGION.IRAN ALWAYS HELP TURKEY IF TURKEY ACT LIKE A TRUE ISLAMIC COUNTRY AND RESPECT WHAT IRAN IS DOING IN THE REGION TO BENEFIT ALL REGIONAL COUNTRIES.I SUGGEST TURKEY, DON'T GET TO AMBITIOUS GET BEHINED IRAN, YOU WILL SEE A GREAT FUTURE . Like 26 | Dislike 4 | Reply Alkhair 9/23/2011 1:25:41 AM USA and Europe threatened Turkey when Greek Syprits were killing Turks there. They delibarately slaughtered children. Turks had to keep their little bodies in baths because they could not leave homes to bury them. But Turkey took no notice and their action was so swift that USA begain renner out of Med. Well this is bound to happen soon as the Zinos are now Terrorising inside Thurkey in conjunction with atheist Kurds. Like 17 | Dislike 0 | Reply truth seeker 9/23/2011 1:24:26 AM Israel is the 'West's spoilled child'. Agreed. What's Turkey of West? Why do they are the member of a western military alliance- NATO- and acting like a Muslim country? Like 18 | Dislike 3 | Reply ERDOGAN CAN GO TO HELL 9/23/2011 1:15:32 AM ALL THE KILLING OF INNOCENT PEOPLE BY THE ISRAELI REGIME YET STILL UR RELATIONS WITH THE ZIONIST IS GROWING BY THE DAY BUT WHEN IT COMES TO OUR BELOVED SYRIA WHO ARE HAVING INTERNAL PROBLEMS WITH SOME ARMED GANGS,YOU RUSH TO SENCTION THEM. Like 30 | Dislike 11 | Reply Wow! 9/23/2011 12:57:07 AM They must really think people are stupid. If this was genuine, the US and Nato would have cut off relations, place sanctions, or even threatened it. They don't fool me. Like 29 | Dislike 6 | Reply Brazilian Will 9/23/2011 12:08:32 AM I am beginning to LOVE YOU TURKS ! As soon as you win, I´m ready to visit you and spend my hard-earned money via Turkish Airlines to istambul, then Teheran, bless you 2 countries. Like 32 | Dislike 2 | Reply hp 9/23/2011 12:06:50 AM Are there ever any TV interviews in which the interviewer is not a Jew? Like 27 | Dislike 4 | Reply IRAN IRAN 9/22/2011 11:44:02 PM TURKEY IS TRYING SO HARD TO BE ACCEPTED IN THE REGION LATELY,ONLY TIME CAN TELL HOW TRUTHFUL HE IS. Like 33 | Dislike 5 | Reply M.SALEEM 9/22/2011 11:41:50 PM WELL PRIME MINISTER ERDOGAN IS IT JUST WORDS OR WILL ACTION FOLLOW, LETS SEE SHALL WE. IRAN PLEASE GET READY TO HELP TURKEY,PAKISTAN IS WITH YOU. SAUDI IF YOU STILL HAVE ANY HALAL BLOOD INSIDE YOU, MAKE SURE YOU ARE THERE OTHERWISE KING SAUD ITS ALL ON YOU. YOU ARE A LEADER LEAD ACCORDINGLY. OTHERWISE WE ARE COMING FOR YOU. Like 22 | Dislike 3 | Reply Charlie 9/22/2011 11:36:52 PM The problem for the entire world is the US support for Israel. When will Americans rain in AIPAC and put a stop to the foot hold that these jewish fanatics have over your country. How much more money will the US give to these barbaric people? Like 40 | Dislike 4 | Reply johnin reply to Charlie 9/23/2011 5:20:33 AM There are some of us in America that would like to do what you suggest, but we are called "conspiracy theorists" and "anti-semites". The media does not pay any attention to us and we have no funds to support our cause. Like 14 | Dislike 1 LOOK 9/22/2011 11:36:29 PM ISRAEL VARY CLEVERLY HAS NOT SAID WHAT IS THEIR TERM FOR PEACE IF WE ASKE ANY 1 MOST PEOPEL KNOW WHAT PALESTANIAN WANT & IT HAS REJACTED BUT NO 1 KNOW ABOUT ISRAEL.THINK WHY NEVER WAS PART OF TALKE .THE PSYHCOLIGY THEY USED TO GET TO NO WHERE SO ISRAEL TO GAIN LAND.WE NEED TO PUT A TRAP JUST LEAD TO ASKE ISRAELWHAT IT TAKE TO ACCEPT TO PEACE Like 10 | Dislike 2 | Reply Darin Barrows 9/22/2011 10:54:52 PM Bravo Turkey and Prime Minister Erdogan for speaking the absolute truth about the murderous Israeli regime! Now is the time for the rest of the world to voice the same and isolate the Middle East's worst regime, Israel! Like 55 | Dislike 5 | Reply in your face 9/22/2011 9:44:06 PM Big Mama and the spoiled child have a sick and unhealthy relationship because the child is not Big Mama's anyway. Now the child is actually engaging in foster parent abuse. Disgusting! Like 20 | Dislike 3 | Reply Aga 9/22/2011 9:38:15 PM If you believe that, I've got a bridge to sell you. Like 21 | Dislike 9 | Reply MK Ultra 9/22/2011 9:23:20 PM Give 'em hell, Turkey! They deserve it. They've earned it. destroy Israel! Like 42 | Dislike 7 | Reply connect2raza 9/22/2011 9:19:10 PM LONGGGGGGGGGGGG LIVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE ERDOGANNNNNNNNN LONG LIVEEEEEEEEEEEE AHMEDINEJADDDDDDDD LONG LIVEEEEEEEE IRAN TURKEYYYYYYYY BROTHERHOOD. Like 51 | Dislike 8 | Reply habib 9/22/2011 8:41:09 PM the noble ottomans ruled most the muslim world with islam,it was'nt the secularism. Like 29 | Dislike 9 | Reply NESSUNO 9/22/2011 8:31:04 PM GO...GO....GO...GO....GO....I STOP MY WORK E COME WITH YOU Like 22 | Dislike 5 | Reply freedom 9/22/2011 8:30:29 PM hmm what a comment just after meeting with obama what else did he tell you to say to fool the muslims around the world? i guess if you really didnt want israel you would cut off all ites? including economic! then maybe you will start to win over muslims. what else did you talk about with obama. Was Syria apart of your discussion. on one hand you trail army genrals in turkey for organizing a coup against you and on the other you are supporting terroist is syria! Like 22 | Dislike 10 | Reply manouchehr 9/22/2011 8:17:42 PM now its Turkey's turn to play "double standards" games like america. they cooperate with nato in its soil while they claim they are ready to go to war with terrorist israhell. this just doesnt make sense. there is not double role here. take a firm decision. either be with middle eastern countries or be with terrorist americans. Like 34 | Dislike 9 | Reply SYR 9/22/2011 8:01:27 PM IT IS SAID IN SYRIA"A DONKEY PRODUCED FIRE" Like 14 | Dislike 4 | Reply TurcoBoshnak 9/22/2011 8:00:45 PM I know many of you are having a hard time figuring out Turkey. This is because Turkey is complex country with many ethnic groups mixed together, from Central asia to Balkan people, from Kavkaz to Middle East. Turkey is both a part of Western and Eastern civilization, trying its best to synthesize best of both. Like 13 | Dislike 10 | Reply Observer 9/22/2011 7:47:11 PM Turkey is selling us words only, and exploiting our emotions. The West want Turkey to fill the vacuum resulted from Arab uprisings in the Middle East.Turkey is an enemy, not a friend. They allowed a NATO radar system against Iran, and they are enforcing Western agenda in Syria. Like 26 | Dislike 10 | Reply Whatcherin reply to Observer 9/23/2011 3:33:49 PM I don't think you have a full view. Turkey is not helping destroy Syria, the subject again is they are a part of NATO. if they come under attack From Israhell and NATO does not respond NATO is over. they know that( NATO). Having the radar in their county can go very badly for the west if they shut it down at the moment it's needed. Like 0 | Dislike 0 zlyin reply to Observer 9/23/2011 4:58:31 AM And they are even in NATO Like 2 | Dislike 0 Go turkey! 9/22/2011 7:44:48 PM giants of the middle east once again wide awake! time for destruction to enemies with honor! game over, re-unite the Muslim world and attack with a force which will be unstoppable! Like 20 | Dislike 14 | Reply Kamal 9/22/2011 7:43:07 PM Now I am very confused!Isn't he the same guy who is taking Saudi's money to train and send terrorists inside Syria to overthrow Asad(an enemy of Israel)? Like 33 | Dislike 3 | Reply LOOKin reply to Kamal 9/22/2011 11:15:31 PM THAT IS NOT TRUE THE MONEY COMING FROM LEBENON(HARRI) PLUS THE KURD IN IRAQ & SYRIA.GET IT FROM US BAIS WEAPENS,M0NEY. Like 0 | Dislike 10 Persiangulf 9/22/2011 7:12:16 PM that kind of game in persian is called SIA- BAZI. kind of theater to fool people. shame on you for been silence on Bahrain and hosting nato radar pointed at Iran. if NATO sees Turkey as a member why they did nothing to protect your citizen from been slautered by IsraHELL?Good People should bycot Turkey. Like 77 | Dislike 15 | Reply Ashrafin reply to Persiangulf 9/22/2011 8:03:37 PM West is trying very hard to push Turkey style of government as a model..... as to subliminally brain wash the mass to avoid becoming like Iranian government and anti Zionists.... WHAT THEY DO NOT REALIZE THAT THEIR OWN GOVERNMENT might at end become like Iran very much anti Zionists.......As the people of the world R seeking Justice and equality and Iran is the frontier for this fight ...So Turkey is another welcome addition......POWER OF THE PEOPLE! Like 18 | Dislike 2 AB 9/22/2011 6:45:30 PM NATO&Israel are nothing without US. Today Israel is the biggest liability for US and is the best asset for new Meddle East in order to introduce US hypocrisy for entire Islamic wakening. As long as there is opportunity for gaining more power why should anyone take any risk. Time isn't on the Israel and US side. In near future US will be more Economically and Military bankrupt and Israel will be more rotten. Now it is time to get red off the Zionist puppets in Middle East. Like 69 | Dislike 5 | Reply athos 9/22/2011 6:44:19 PM Erdogan/Trojan horse of israel. Like 60 | Dislike 13 | Reply mehdiin reply to athos 9/22/2011 9:00:54 PM I think Iran is the one who voted for Israel in 1948 @ UN. dont blame Turky for being succesfull in economy, democracy and diplomacy. like or not turky is becoming a regional power under the curent leadership Like 15 | Dislike 9 to all turkhaters 9/22/2011 6:32:14 PM fight 1000 year for islam and then come and hate me ,you arabs couldnt fight for jerusalem 6 days we turks defended it 600 years and will do it again Like 54 | Dislike 24 | Reply conectorin reply to to all turkhaters 9/23/2011 1:29:01 PM you obviously have misunderstood the meanings behind comments in hear. i don't think people hate "Turks" , what is said is only about a bunch of individuals who are acting as if they are not with you and in the same time they talk as if they are friends ! Like 0 | Dislike 0 Anonymousin reply to to all turkhaters 9/22/2011 8:11:12 PM TURKS ARE TRAITORS AN ZIONISTS...ERDOGAN POLISHES NETAYAHUS CAR WITH HIS SHIRT... Like 11 | Dislike 23 taha 9/22/2011 6:10:35 PM why dont they take out there soldiers from afganistan and stop killing the kurds and sunnah of iraq if they care so much about islam and isreal Like 41 | Dislike 10 | Reply In My Opinion 9/22/2011 5:56:48 PM In my opinion, what the Turkish government is trying to do is win the "hearts & minds" of the Arab Spring countries with it's hypocritical anti-Israeli rhetoric, so that the Turkish government can influence "secular" states to form, instead of Islamic Republics. Turkish government should stop it's theatrics, and let the will of the people of the Arab Spring decide what kind of government they want. Like 86 | Dislike 15 | Reply Santa 9/22/2011 4:55:04 PM Be very careful. Spoilt child has a big mama .She will come looking for you . Like 36 | Dislike 109 | Reply Dinoin reply to Santa 9/22/2011 10:11:14 PM Big mama is being worn down by the Taliban and every war it it started has turned out badly. On top of that things are about to turn nasty in the US , folks are realising the reason they're broke is all the billions spent on endless wars. The only thing big mama will go looking for is a loan. Like 22 | Dislike 2 Trujohin reply to Santa 9/22/2011 6:58:54 PM Big mama is no more young, she is growing old, she soon will left with no milk to feed spoiled illegal child. Like 84 | Dislike 5 Arabs like big mamasin reply to Santa 9/22/2011 6:56:57 PM Arabs like big mamas Like 31 | Dislike 11 djin reply to Santa 9/22/2011 6:53:30 PM Big Mama is all washed up. Financially ruined, and morally bankrupt.She’s loosing the wars she’s fighting now, and can’t afford to fight anymore. Big Mama has got nothing left to give, your Big Mama doesn’t call the shots anymore, her spoilt child does and he or she is wreaking it for you. Like 63 | Dislike 3 Hajj Hossein 9/22/2011 4:47:06 PM This is the best historic opportunity to go into War with the illegal and illegitimate terrorist criminal and inhuman barbaric Zionist regime of Israel in order finish the life of this cancerous cell in the body of Islam. I as Ex-Marine Officer put my name in order go into war with the criminal regime of Zionist Israel under any flag, the best Muslim Flag. I contribute my all efforts in this way to save the innocent Palestinian nation and make way possible they regain their home Land Like 137 | Dislike 27 | Reply Hajj Hosseinin reply to Hajj Hossein 9/22/2011 8:41:07 PM To Omar. I guess you are a Zionist. You used Muslim name as psychological war game which is mentality of the criminal Zionist occupiers of the Land of Palestine. The Glory Youm Allah EnshahAllah coming to see the world without Israel on the world Map. I served my beloved IRAN eight years during imposed war on Iran and have served in the most severe dangerous situations. The fruits of Islamic Revolution EnshahAllah will blossom from the Glory heavenly Garden of the Glory Mohammad (PUH&HF). Like 27 | Dislike 2 Omarin reply to Hajj Hossein 9/22/2011 6:50:23 PM You're an idiot! Like 13 | Dislike 67 Mohammed 9/22/2011 4:39:29 PM Israel seems to be subconsciously creating hatred for itself, as if they are willing a new holocaust into existence. Their arrogance may actually be symptoms of madness. I believe that because the Jews have been so hated throughout history and so persecuated they actually expect this to happen again and when it does then they will wail and cry and make movies and tell everyone how persecuted they are. Like 103 | Dislike 11 | Reply dragon slayerin reply to Mohammed 9/23/2011 12:58:54 AM why not you or your country try those Israelis. The deaf child does not need to be told that war has started.... Like 1 | Dislike 0 MK Ultrain reply to Mohammed 9/22/2011 9:27:36 PM "Israel seems to be subconsciously creating hatred for itself"Mohammed, there's a term for that, it's called "a self-fulfilling prophecy" meaning that they foretell something (a prophecy) and do everything in their power to make it come true. That describes Israel to a tee. Like 11 | Dislike 0 Akbar 9/22/2011 4:36:46 PM Bla...bla...bla... Turkey is the other West's spoiled child. Like 66 | Dislike 75 | Reply Whatcherin reply to Akbar 9/22/2011 8:30:20 PM Give it a chance they are part of the NATO alliance israel is not. if they go to war against israel NATO does or falls apart. This is going to be a focal point in the comeing freedom of Palistine. Turky is blindsiding nato who is no longer able to go for a real war no that they lost the other two Like 9 | Dislike 1 Truejohin reply to Akbar 9/22/2011 7:03:49 PM Akbar is Ahlom Yakov, the Zionist. Like 34 | Dislike 7 HOT AIR TURKSin reply to Akbar 9/22/2011 5:57:16 PM turks talk a mean game an do nuttin...why dont they break relations with israel, nato an the west? no...but they run to host the nato radar on their land... 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Email this articleView commentsComment on this article Review :: Middle East 51 Documents: Zionist Collaboration With The Nazis, Edited by Lenni Brenner, Fort Lee, NJ (Barricade Books, 2002), 342 pages. Author William Hughes Date Created 11 Oct 2003 More details... A Review by William Hughes of Lenni Brenner's book, "51 Documents: Zionist Collaboration with the Nazis" by William Hughes History can be deceptive. It’s fair to say that some of the sensational never-published-before documents, in this book, will shock those who have accepted Zionism and its supposed history, at face value, as a political movement that was the hope of the Jews. Lenni Brenner, the intrepid author of “Zionism in the Age of Dictators,” reveals disturbing new evidence in his latest effort, that suggest just the opposite. In fact, he makes a compelling case that the Zionist record was “dishonorable.” You can consider this excellent tome as a worthy sequel to his first expose’ on the myopic Zionist zealots of that bygone era. For openers, Brenner showed how the Zionists had a long history of shameless cooperation with the Nazis, especially after the dictator Adolph Hitler had came to power in 1933. The Zionists were also in bed, to some extent, with the other members of what later became known as WWII’s “Axis of Evil,” that included Benito Mussolini’s Italy, and Tojo Hideki’s Japan. For example, on March 29,1936, Zionists praised Il Duce, and his regime, at the opening of a maritime school, funded by the Fascist government, at Civitavecchia. This is where a Zionist youth group, the “Betar,” trained its sailors for the future Revisionist state. The speakers ignored the fact that on Oct. 3, 1935, Italian troops had invaded Abyssinia. On another front, the “Third Congress of the Jewish Community of the Far East,” was held in Jan., 1940, in Harbin, Manchuria, then reeling under a brutal military occupation by the Japanese imperial forces. At that time, too, Tokyo was already aligned with Hitler and Italy’s Mussolini, in the notorious Anti-Comintern Pact. Also, keep in mind, that the Japanese’s murderous “Rape of Nanking,” had occurred in Dec., 1937, and the “Crystal Night” incident on Nov. 9, 1938. Nevertheless, the Zionist confab went out of its way to legitimize the Japanese occupation by certifying it as a guarantor of the “equality of all citizens,” in that beleaguered land. The Zionist also had a trade plan with the Berlin government by which German Jews could redeem their property in Nazi goods exported to then British-occupied Palestine. And to top it all off, the infamous SS-Hptscharf. Adolf Eichmann, had visited Palestine, in October, 1937, as the guest of the Zionists. He also met, in Egypt, with Feivel Polkes, a Zionist operative, whom Eichmann described as a “leading Haganah functionary.” The chain-smoking Polkes was also on the Nazis’ payroll “as an informer.” Brenner isn’t the first writer to address the mostly taboo subject of how the Zionist leadership cooperated with the Nazis. Rolf Hilberg’s seminal “The Destruction of European Jews”; Hannah Arendt’s “Eichmann in Jerusalem”; Ben Hecht’s “Perfidy”; Edwin Black’s “The Transfer Agreement”; Francis R. Nicosia’s “The Third Reich and the Palestine Question”; Rudolf Vrba and Alan Bestic’s “I Cannot Forgive”; and Rafael Medoff’s “The Deadening Silence: American Jews and the Holocaust,” also dared, with varying public success. After the Holocaust began in 1942, Eichmann dealt regularly with Dr. Rudolf Kastner, a Hungarian Jew, whom he considered a “fanatical Zionist.” Kastner was later assassinated in Israel as a Nazi collaborator. At issue then, however, was the bargaining over the eventual fate of Hungary’s Jews, who were slated for liquidation in the Nazi-run death camps. Eichmann said this about Kastner, the Zionist representative, “I believe that [he] would have sacrificed a thousand or a hundred thousand of his blood to achieve his political goal. He was not interested in old Jews or those who had become assimilated into Hungarian society. ‘You can have the others,’ he would say, ‘but let me have this group here.’ And because Kastner rendered us a great service by helping keep the deportation camps peaceful. I would let his groups escape.” Readers, too, will be surprised to learn, that after the Nuremberg Anti-Jewish Race Laws were enacted in Sept., 1935, that there were only two flags that were permitted to be displayed in all of Nazi Germany. One was Hitler’s favorite, the Swastika. The other was the blue and white banner of Zionism. The Zionists were also allowed to publish their own newspaper. The reasons for this Reich-sponsored favoritism was, according to the author: The Zionists and the Nazis had a common interest, making German Jews emigrate to Palestine. As early as June 21, 1933, the German Zionist Federation was sending a secret memorandum to the Nazis, which said, in part: “It is our opinion that an answer to the Jewish question truly satisfying to the national state [German Reich] can be brought about only with the collaboration of the Jewish movement that aims as a social, cultural and moral renewal of Jewry- -indeed, that such a national renewal must first create the decisive social and spiritual premises for all solutions...” Incredibly, Avraham Stern, the leader of the notorious “Stern Gang,” late in 1940, made a written proposal to Hitler, by which the Jewish militias in Palestine, would fight on “Germany’s side,” in the war against England, in exchange for the Nazis help in resolving the “Jewish Question” in Europe, and their assistance in creating an “historic Jewish state.” By this date, German troops had already marched into Prague, invaded Poland, and had built the first concentration camp at Auschwitz. The deranged Stern had further bragged about how the Zionist organizations were “closely related to the totalitarian movements of Europe in [their] ideology and structure.” Stern’s obscene proposal was found in the German embassy, in Turkey, after WWII. Finally, I think Brenner was right, when he wrote, “This book presents 51 historic documents to indict Zionism for repeated attempts to collaborate with Adolf Hitler. The evidence, not I, will convince you of the truth of this issue...Exposing the Zionist role in the [Nazi] era is part of the scrutiny of the past, required of historians.” All of the above becomes even more important today in light of the critical fact that it helps to subject Zionist Israel to the examination called for by its crimes, past and present. © William Hughes 2003 William Hughes is the author of “Saying ‘No’ to the War Party” (Iuniverse, Inc.). Related http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1569802351/qid=1065912085/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/104-0839386-5685543 http://authorwilliamhughes.com/ This content is now locked, and no comments may be added. Comments Re: 51 Documents: Zionist Collaboration With The Nazis, Edited by Lenni Brenner, Fort Lee, NJ (Barricade Books, 2002), 342 pages. 11 Oct 2003 by Andy Reply to this comment I have known for quite sometime that there was collaboration between nazis and zionists (Prof. Makow). These 51 documents will make the zionists go on the defensive. Zionists go ballistic when I confront them with their duplicity in betraying European jews in internet chat rooms/forums. Re: 51 Documents: Zionist Collaboration With The Nazis, Edited by Lenni Brenner, Fort Lee, NJ (Barricade Books, 2002), 342 pages. 12 Oct 2003 by eban Reply to this comment Hitler supported Jewish emigration and the establishment of settlements in Palestine because it was historically part of the Roman Empire and to become part of his 3rd Reich. Hilter invaded Austria in part to destroy vital records of his fathers illegitamate birth. Is there more evidence of his lineage to the Jewish Rothshields? Re: 51 Documents: Zionist Collaboration With The Nazis, Edited by Lenni Brenner, Fort Lee, NJ (Barricade Books, 2002), 342 pages. 19 Oct 2003 by Shark Reply to this comment The knowledge of the Nazi-Zionist collaboration to help Jews emigrate from Germany to create a Jewish Palestine has not been a secret, but I am glad you have brought it main stream with irrefutable documentation. Truth is the issue. Re: 51 Documents: Zionist Collaboration With The Nazis, Edited by Lenni Brenner, Fort Lee, NJ (Barricade Books, 2002), 342 pages. 21 Oct 2003 by Ysan Reply to this comment This is a vary good comment on the book. Re: 51 Documents: Zionist Collaboration With The Nazis, Edited by Lenni Brenner, Fort Lee, NJ (Barricade Books, 2002), 342 pages. 06 Nov 2003 by Ron Reply to this comment Hey Ralphie. Do you even grasp the irony of your comment? Re: 51 Documents: Zionist Collaboration With The Nazis, Edited by Lenni Brenner, Fort Lee, NJ (Barricade Books, 2002), 342 pages. 03 Mar 2004 by Josh Blumberg Reply to this comment In reference to Hellenian's comment that Adolph Hitler was a Zionist and they forced Germany into WW II to genocide its population, ravage it and produce todays "holocaust industry". I am deeply ashamed that I ever help baltimore.indymedia if it has becomes a sight that supports such blatant lies and hate! I feel sorry for you all... too sorry to be angry even if I know how dangerous you anti-semitic hate mongers are. Sorry Stefan but you have lost my support of baltimore.indymedia.org! - Josh Blumberg Threats 02 Jul 2005 by Eric Reply to this comment Josh, I did not find any "Hellenian's comment", in the Indymedia. It seems kind of obvious -to me at least- that you fail to understand (or do understand but for some reason not admit it) regarding the differences between Zionists and Jews (or between Jews and Hebrews for that matter). Threatening the website (because that is what it comes down to) is not right (as a supposed indepedent media) tells a few things to us, the rest of the viewers regarding the pluralism of the views expressed. Think of Russia for example. Over 13 million people died there during WW2. There were many genocides in the 20th century (and there were deep reasons behind them). Your request for your people to be the only recognized ones to have suffered is not ethical, not right and ignites questions. Questions lead to research (and eventually the death of some researchers). If your case is so strong, then it wouldn't mind any opposition. If, on the other hand, a response is about threats, this means that the case is flawed in its foundation. This is the simple method of mathematical thought process. Since there is no such comment as you stated, it seems that it got deleted, and the "Indepedent" Media Center regained your support (whatever that means)! Tell The Children the Truth 02 Jul 2005 by Nazis Then and Nazis Now Reply to this comment www.tellthechildrenthetruth.com The Arabist movement and Indymedia must be exposed for what they really are. For more on Nazi/Zionist collaboration 03 Jul 2005 by pointer Reply to this comment see: sf.indymedia.org/news/2002/04/120352_comment.php sf.indymedia.org/news/2002/05/127448_comment.php www.indybay.org/news/hidden.php Re: Re: International Law and Israeli Sovereignty 11 Jan 2006 by Emmanuel Reply to this comment Joseph's casuistry is utter baloney. Security Council resolution 242 of Novermber 22, 1967: "Affirms that the fulfillment of Charter principles requires the establishment of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East which should include the application of both the following principles: "Withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict; "Termination of all claims or states of belligerency and respect for and acknowledgement of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every State in the area and their right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force; "Affirms further the necessity "For guaranteeing freedom of navigation through international waterways in the area; "For achieving a just settlement of the refugee problem; "For guaranteeing the territorial inviolability and political independence of every State in the area, through measures including the establishment of demilitarized zones;" Besides even the original General Assembly admitting Israel to the UN was conditional upon its compliance with resolutions. For example, resolution 194 (III): "11. Resolves that the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or in equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible;" The right of return of Palestinian refugees has been re-stated annually ever since. All things considered, Israel's very own existence is illegal under international law since it exists outside the Law! Re: Re: International Law and Israeli Sovereignty 12 Jan 2006 by TheTroll Reply to this comment Who started world war 2? Was it England and france for declairing war on Germany? Or was it Germany when they invaded Poland? Zionists invadors of palestinian lands started that conflict and the Palestinian's Arabic speeking neighbors tried and failed to liberate palestine from the Zionist crusaders more than once. England also tried and failed to liberate Poland more than once. France declaired war on germany. Who says that Nazi occupation of France was defensive??? Anyone other than international law??? The west bank was occupied by Jordan. Jordan tried and failed to drive Zionist crusaderSS out of Palestinian lands. Zionists occupied the west bank. Wow, the international law says that is ok. International law, like fiat currency, only has value if you mentaly give it value. If someone overseas doesn't want to accept international law or your currency, then that is thier business. And you have no business forcing them to accept the value you place on either. ZIonists steal palestinian lands in the west bank like Nazis stole Polish lands and gave it to Nazi oportunists like Oscar Schindler. Because the Nazi flag flew over Poland, Nazi Generals took bribes from the Schindler type oportunists and gave them pieces of paper saying they owned the Polish lands and factories. Because the ZIonist's flag flew over the west bank, ZIonist generals gave pieces of paper to Zionist oportunists saying that they owned the land. The pieces of paper Zionist generals give to ZIonist crusaders are every bit as valid as the pieces of paper Nazi Generals gave to Schindler and other Nazi oportunists. Re: Re: 51 Documents: Zionist Collaboration With The Nazis, Edited by Lenni Brenner, Fort Lee, NJ (Barricade Books, 2002), 342 pages. 06 Jul 2005 by Jim Reply to this comment Fatah operatives in Nablus continue to dispatch teenagers to terrorist missions, including suicide bombing attacks. June 19, 2005 www.intelligence.org.il/eng/sib/6_05/teenagers_b.htm Re: Re: 51 Documents: Zionist Collaboration With The Nazis, Edited by Lenni Brenner, Fort Lee, NJ (Barricade Books, 2002), 342 pages. 06 Jul 2005 by Casey Reply to this comment UNRWA is often redirected to finance highly political NGOs, such as Ard el Atfal and Ard Al Insan Israeli Committee Against House Demolition www.ngo-monitor.org/issues/eu.htm Re: Re: 51 Documents: Zionist Collaboration With The Nazis, Edited by Lenni Brenner, Fort Lee, NJ (Barricade Books, 2002), 342 pages. 06 Jul 2005 by Scott Reply to this comment Jul. 6, 2005 18:36 | Updated Jul. 6, 2005 22:28 Palestinian teen caught carrying two bombs www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite Zionist Collaboration With The Nazis, Edited by Lenni Brenner, Fort Lee, NJ (Barricade Books, 2002), 342 pages. 19 May 2006 by This is a smokescreen Reply to this comment The reality is that the Grand Mufti Al -Husseni met with Adolf Hitler and planned with him how to achieve the Final Solution of Jews in hte Middle east. When the mufti raised three divisions of Islamic Waffen SS to undertake cruel operations in Bosnia, among the 30,000 killers were some volunteer contingents from Iran. Iranian Nazis, along with the other Muslim Waffen SS, operated under the direct supervision of Heinrich Himmler and were responsible for barbarous actions against Jews and others in Bosnia. Recruitment for the murderous “Handschar Divisions” was done openly in Iran. The unit, however, was basically Yugoslavian. According to one site quoting sources: According to the Encyclopedia of the Holocaust (Edition 1990, Volume 2, Pages 706 and 707), Mufti Hajj Amin al-Husseini, the Mufti of Jerusalem, made a major contribution to the Nazi war effort by organizing “in record time” Muslim SS units in Croatia. These units were involved in some of the worst atrocities of World War II. An estimated 20,000 Muslims fought in the Hanjar (Sword) SS Division. Most of their activities were directed against the Yugoslav partisans, led by Josip Broz Tito, and the local Jewish and Romany populations. They also conducted police and security activities in Fascist Hungary. The Nazis recruited two SS divisions from Yugoslavia’s Muslim population: the Bosnian 13th Waffen Hanjar (or Handschar) SS division, and the Albanian Skanderbeg 21st Waffen SS division. According to the Encyclopedia of the Holocaust: They participated in the massacre of civilians in Bosnia and volunteered to join in the hunt for Jews in Croatia … The Germans made a point of publicizing the fact that Husseini had flown from Berlin to Sarajevo for the sole purpose of giving his blessing to the Muslim army and inspecting its arms and training exercises.From the Encyclopedia of Holocaust, Edition 1990, Vol. 2, page 704. The caption reads: Hajj Amin al-Husseini, Mufti of Jerusalem, inspecting troops in Bosnia (1943). According to the National Review: The Mufti also recruited Bosnian Muslims for an all-Muslim unit of the SS called the “Handschar” division, which committed so many atrocities that 38 of its officers were later tried as war criminals. In July 1945, Husseini himself was indicted for war crimes by the Yugoslavian government. [emphasis added] As a side note, The BBC News had an article in July 2001 entitled, Nazis planned Palestine subversion: British secret intelligence files have been released in London about a German wartime plan for subversion in Palestine, when the territory was administered by Britain. The plot involved parachute landings, thousands of gold coins and the Arab Muslim leader, Mohammed Amin el-Hussaini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, who was then living in exile in Berlin. It also had the approval of Hitler’s security chief, Heinrich Himmler. …Palestine in 1944 was in a state of ferment, with the British Mandate authorities struggling to keep the lid on violent hostility between Arab and Jewish communities.The Germans, on the other hand, wanted to make things a great deal worse and planned - with the support of the Grand Mufti - to arm Palestinian villagers and incite them to rise up against the Jews. A small commando team of two German officers and three Arabs was formed in Berlin in early 1944. Their leader, Colonel Kurt Wieland, an Arabic speaker who knew Palestine, had several meetings with the Mufti and they agreed a plan: drop by parachute, establish a base, gather intelligence and radio it back to Berlin; and recruit and arm Palestinian supporters with Nazi gold. The plan failed. One last note-the change in name from Persia to Iran may itself have been influenced by Nazi Germany. According to The Circle of Ancient Iranian Studies: The suggestion for the change is said to have come from the Iranian ambassador to Germany, who came under the influence of the Nazis. At the time Germany was in the grip of racial fever and cultivated good relations with nations of “Aryan” blood. It is said that some German friends of the ambassador persuaded him that, as with the advent of Reza Shah, Persia had turned a new leaf in its history and had freed itself from the pernicious influences of Britain and Russia, whose interventions in Persian affairs had practically crippled the country under the Qajars, it was only fitting that the country be called by its own name, “Iran.” This would not only signal a new beginning and bring home to the world the new era in Iranian history, but would also signify the Aryan race of its population, as “Iran” is a cognate of “Aryan” and derived from it. More on Collaboration With The Nazis 19 May 2006 by starring thre Grand Mufti Reply to this comment Hajj Amin al Husseini was given bureaucratic authority and a large budget by the British when they made him Mufti of Jerusalem in 1920, after Hajj Amin demonstrated that he could organize large-scale terrorist attacks against innocent Jews in British Mandate ‘Palestine.’ He used this power to organize another terrorist riot in 1921 (after which the British expanded his budget and bureaucratic authority), and then a much larger attack in 1929, followed by an even bigger attack in 1936-37 (this last one was called the ‘Arab Revolt’ and was organized with weapons provided by the Nazis). Each time, Hajj Amin’s attacks were against civilians, and they included, for example, such things as torturing Jewish children to death. In 1941 Hajj Amin met Hitler in Berlin. Hitler promised to conquer the Middle East and exterminate all the Jews living there, after which Hajj Amin would be installed as the local leader. Hajj Amin, for his part, immediately became one of the supreme leaders of the Final Solution in Europe, organizing large SS divisions in Bosnia composed of tens of thousands of Bosnian Muslim volunteers who carried out large-scale exterminations of Serbs, Jews, and Roma (gypsies) in Yugoslavia. He also played an important role in getting hundreds of thousands of Hungarian Jews sent to Auschwitz, and in speeding up the operation of the death camps. Yasser Arafat proudly explained to his Arab audiences that Hajj Amin was his mentor and hero. Nazism today 06 Jun 2005 by SC Reply to this comment On August 17, 2004, the Islamist daily Anadolu'da Vakit, popularly known as Vakit, published a column by Abdurrahim Karakoc that lauded Hitler for his "foresight" and for "purging the bloodthirsty, swindling Jews" and also praised Osama bin Laden. In February 2005, the publication of the daily in Germany was banned by the German government because of its antisemitic incitement and Holocaust denial. The Turkish press reacted with attacks on and smears against the German government, particularly German Interior Minister Otto Schily. Re: 51 Documents: Zionist Collaboration With The Nazis, Edited by Lenni Brenner, Fort Lee, NJ (Barricade Books, 2002), 342 pages. 25 Sep 2006 by mpg Reply to this comment This collaboration further undermines the claim that Hitler was out to exterminate all the world's Jews. That claim's complete bull. Are we to believe that Nazi Germany was intending to invade and occupy all of North and South America? Clearly, Hitler was allied allied with many of Europe's leading Jews. All he wanted was to send them off so they wouldn't parasitize Germany and so much of Europe. Re: Re: 51 Documents: Zionist Collaboration With The Nazis, Edited by Lenni Brenner, Fort Lee, NJ (Barricade Books, 2002), 342 pages. 26 Sep 2006 by just looking Reply to this comment the common undercurrent in all these systems is that they're rascist political systems where birth is definer Re: 51 Documents: Zionist Collaboration With The Nazis, Edited by Lenni Brenner, Fort Lee, NJ (Barricade Books, 2002), 342 pages. 26 Sep 2006 by cls Reply to this comment The National Socialist movement in Germany was an indiginous liberation movement that sought to throw of its Jewish overlords and their lackeys. Poland was gifted traditional German lands after WWI and then began to oppress (torturing, murdering and raping) the indigenous German people of those lands, and the LofNations ignored all German calls to rectify the situation. That simple. Germans dealing with the Jewish Zionists is a no different situation that Ghandi dealing with the British Imperialists. Neo-cons, Zionists and Nazis 26 Sep 2006 by Reader11722 Reply to this comment Zionists are the other end of Nazism. Wheras, Nazis thought Germanic people to be superior, zionists believe Jews to be superior. However, it seems that the 'new' nazis are the neo-cons (Jewish Zionism plus Christian fanaticism). The neo-cons clamp down on our rights by detaining peaceful protestors, banning books like "America Deceived" from Amazon, conducting warrant-less wire-taps and starting illegal wars based on lies and a false-flag operation known as 9/11. Neo-cons are the new nazis. Final link (before neo-cons force Google Books to drop the title): www.iuniverse.com/bookstore/book_detail.asp Re: 51 Documents: Zionist Collaboration With The Nazis, Edited by Lenni Brenner, Fort Lee, NJ (Barricade Books, 2002), 342 pages. 26 Sep 2006 by William R. Schultz Reply to this comment Please reffer to the following blog www.asylumgoons.blogspot.com to get the current picture of their role in today's events. Re: 51 Documents: Zionist Collaboration With The Nazis, Edited by Lenni Brenner, Fort Lee, NJ (Barricade Books, 2002), 342 pages. 27 Sep 2006 by Adolf Ahmadinejad Reply to this comment Some mistaken views of history posted here; Opinion: Hitler thought Germans were superior. Reality: Hitler said white people - not Germans alone - were the superior race that created western civilization and all its wonders. is that a fact? who put men on the moon? white people are.. if not superior in intellect, certainly different than other races genetically. Opinion: zionists/nazis are/were the same and zionists collaborated with nazis due to similar ideology. Reality: the nazis of the Third Reich first wanted the jewish slavemasters of German economy and jewish communism overthrown and nearly all jews out of Germany and Europe. I say "nearly all" because exceptions were made by Hitler and others. The leaders of the Third Reich DID NOT want the jews in Palestine at all. They knew the jews who had invented communism would be the aggressors in the Middle East. This is shown by accurate translations of Hitler's Mein Kampf as well as Third Reich government statements and the attempt at setting up a colony in Madagascar. Opinion: Zionists and neo-nazis are same. Reality: All so-called neo-nazi -- actually pro-White groups -- in the US (e.g. National Vanguard, National Alliance, White Revolution, National Socialist Movement, Vanguard News Network, et al) are/were AGAINST the invasion of Iraq from day one and continue to side with the Palestinians. They also support Ahmadinejad and are against any war on Iran. So where are all the "haters of ragheads" among the REAL neo-nazi groups? They are Americans -- of all races -- who believe in anti-Islam, anti-Arab lies from our government and media. They are not real neo-nazis. Anyone who equates Jorge W. Bush with Hitler or neo-nazis is fooling themselves. Bush is the biggest anti-Nazi of all. Opinion: Neo-nazis and Zionists are dangerous and hateful to other races because of their ideology. Reality: The neo-nazis say that all races are different, and yes, whites are better in some ways, but that racial jews - ashkenazis/khazars -- are the real danger to the world as they have in fact proven with 125 million dead thanks to jewish communism last century, and by their behavior in Palestine and their ongoing hatred and warmongering against the arabs as well as the genocidal destruction of whites who are only 10% of world's population. Opinion: Hitler started WW2 by invading Poland. England and France came to the rescue of Poland. Reality: Hitler invaded because Germans in Danzig were being persecuted and killed and the Polish government refused to stop it. The Soviets invaded Poland a week later -- not to fight Germany -- but to grab Polish territory. Why didn't England and France declare war on the most tyrannical and murderous government in history that was created by jewish bolsheviks : the soviet union? Answer... because the jews had already declared war on Hitler back in 1934 and influenced those countries with anti-Hitler and anti-German propaganda just as they continue to influence the US/UK via AIPAC, the ADL and other ways. www.youtube.com/watch www.youtube.com/watch www.youtube.com/watch Re: 51 Documents: Zionist Collaboration With The Nazis, Edited by Lenni Brenner, Fort Lee, NJ (Barricade Books, 2002), 342 pages. 22 Dec 2006 by AntiBS Reply to this comment "Hitler invaded because Germans in Danzig were being persecuted and killed and the Polish government refused to stop it." This is utter BS. Where did you learn your history from? Men's room walls? Go and learn who Prescott Bush() was and about his funding Hitler and building Auschwitz as a SLAVE LABOR CAMP (they made gazillions on it. There actually were three Auschwitzes: 1,2 and 3 all based on Polish patriots', Russian POWs' and others' toil. all built in the close vicinity of Silesia, where they took steel and coal from, for the German-American 'war effort'). Go and read Ambassador count Potocki's (years: 1938, 1939)letters and then dig deeper. Perhaps you can find enlightenment. Then you might discover what reality is. Re: 51 Documents: Zionist Collaboration With The Nazis, Edited by Lenni Brenner, Fort Lee, NJ (Barricade Books, 2002), 342 pages. 11 Jun 2007 by S Honaker Reply to this comment Please see website as to How the Bush administration, family and leaders are committing holocaust and isolating people with lies after terrorist attacks do not work. Still terrorizing my son and I through neural crimes and radiation. journals.aol.com/suehon5 Deaths to present (I will be adding the links to all scams where in each case, they arrested and killed only Jewish people while killing other Jewish across the globe, and using attorneys to protect people in crime like OJ Simpson, and millions of other fraud taking place during this holocaust on the Jews). King Herods grave is being dug up as this new Pope and worshippers glorify the millions of Jewish deaths in this sarcastic renewal of King Herods deaths of Jews and takeover of Israel and this disgusting, Sarcastic, recreation of King Herod killing the Jews. While they've killed millions of Jews again, we only hear of the 'last' holocaust, and they created, with the media such intense action against Israel and all Jewish groups, arguing, in an attempt to make them miss the events of most deaths and how it is really being done. They even go so far as to claim they are getting the 'haters' while creating millions more, creating more attacks on Jews for the very fact that they were intelligent enough to see this, have killed millions, and have over 1 million websites denying the holocaust, claiming all Jews killed Jesus and are the 'satanists' while the Vatican is taking all their land, money, and lives. "Construction in Ukraine stopped following complaints from Hassidic Jews" By: Israel Insider staff and partners Published: February 22, 2007 Breslev hassidim and United Torah Judaism Knesset Member Meir Porush recently warned Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni of construction works carried out some 150 meters (about 490 feet) from Rabbi Nahman's grave in Uman, Ukraine. They further claimed that 30,000 murdered Jews were buried in a mass grave at the site. Foreign Ministry Director General Aharon Abramovitch asked the Israeli embassy in Kiev to work toward ending the construction, and the Ukrainian ambassador in Israel was made aware of the issue's sensitivity. The Ukrainian authorities obliged and the construction was halted last Tuesday, adding that they were still awaiting proof of the mass grave's existence. Israel officials fear Breslev hassidim may riot at the site should the construction eventually resume." (The Israeli officials are set up to block Jewish deaths until later, when a whole line of incitement and accusations will be coming about after the rest of the deaths and torture in Israel). Unitl then they will make claims it is the 'Jews' who are dong this and that while killing them, having attacks on them, and will blame 'the state' only while killing them. While new fake psychiatrists have been set up by those who controlled the last World War and Holocaust, they are murdering millions of Jews under pseudo-psychiatric conditions with fake 'Eugenics' have killed hundreds of Rabbis, Jewish women and children, and tortured another who spoke out in Israel. They set up millions more to run drugs, commit murder, create 'hate crimes' under "NSA surveillance" through the Vatican controls while killing millions of Jews, all while claiming 'Harmony' and 'Peace' and setting up thousands of new 'peace officers' and turning prisons into 'corrections and rehabilitation' with 'new' guards who saw nothing of what just took place and are apathetic to the top crime. 2006 G-8 discusses with Russia the 'Church' purges and new churches are set up, but now, they have the media report 'increased crime' in Russia, as many Jeiwsh they took were killed, and they are setting up more KKK, and opposing groups; more attacks including in the U.S. Canada is set up to 'accuse' Israel of the child abuses, and abuse on Jews, but deaths in Israel still take place in all forms; including torture of Rabbis who speak out about the same things. Those in Israel who could not be arrested or killed for being mind controlled into fighting with the fake 'peace' deals against Palestinians and Islam's oil cartel, Gangsters weapons to be used against Israel, are killed for 'not fighting' Those who opposed the Messianic settlements were arrested. Those for the Messianic settlements were arrested. Those who did nothing were put through trauma and given 'psych' evals by Clinton/Bush Israeli officials covering up the deaths, at the same time in the UK, and U.S., and elsewhere. All of our civil rights leaders, during the whole time Jews in Israel are being attacked to the present, and all over the world, there is no civil rights; we are set up with fakes, pedophiles who are being bribed in every single 'rights' group, and child group until they are killed or arrested (see Johnny Gosh kidnapping being used in Whitehouse for bribing officials which is how thisis going to be done until they have killed 2/3 of the worlds people and set up new crime deals), those protecting the rights of pseudo-concerns that they know people will scoff at while the real deaths are even overlooked. And even as there were no real rights throughout the whole century or now, and the debate is ALWAYS on abortion or petty lawsuits, or DEFENSE OF MURDERERS ONLY. You will see that any Jewish person who spoke out and even those just living their lives were attacked and killed, attacked verbally, attacked using neural monitoring each day in Israel, having people come up against them regardless of what they say or do, by relaying their discussions, with NSA mind controls, and those they knew who had too much professional experience were immediately murdered. "LEESBURG, Va. - A civil rights leader who worked closely with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. has been charged with incest. ADVERTISEMENT The Rev. James L. Bevel, 70, was arrested late last month in Alabama, where he has been living, after being indicted on one count of unlawfully committing fornication" 2003 Only one out of thousands of messages of 'Harmony' and Peace campaign was in Baltimore, by this time, killing thousands more Jews in mind controls, murders, staged creations, mind control attacks on schools, from Russia, to Israel to the U.S., killing Jewish business owners, the administrations in Russia, Bush, and the G-8 still gathering up hate groupsfor attacks and attacking anyone who stands up for real rights: "Weinstein says BLEWS has partnered with schools, including Pikesville High School and Baltimore City College, to bring teens together for daylong workshops led by professional facilitators who encourage participants to share experiences and information about racism and anti-Semitism. The workshops also establish common ground among the teens through music, poetry, and art projects." Those making the money and taking it to Swiss Accounts, the Whore, claims to be peace maker and know it all while denying anyone who is intelligent their rights by attacking them: "People grew up with mythologies about each other that weren't well-founded," says another BLEWS founding member, Kenneth Montague, now state secretary of Juvenile Services. "Experiencing the lives of other groups enables all of us to participate with one and other." The mind control here is that while this person(s) in some 'time and place' are purposely set up by those at the top of this war, they attack anyone who is really peaceful and who sees what is really taking place, and if attacked, tortured, as the Rabbi who was just tortured recently in Israel. In addition, those Jewish in Baltimore and other areas did not just move, but contiued being attacked, forced into liberal theologies, pseudophilosophies, forced into intermarriages and interreligious affairs, of which they also were killed over by 1999; all the very things Rome would have them secretly slandered and killed for by 1999, or just killed to get them out of the way of frauds. While Israel gets the most serious mind controls in all the years of attacks, they will turn around and become the accused. Doctors are taken out who have speciality in 'emergencies' and bomb attacks: "Over the years as an emergency room doctor, David Applebaum treated the victims of dozens of suicide bomb attacks in and around Jerusalem and revolutionized emergency medical care in Israel. But on September 9, 2003, as Dr. Applebaum and his 20-year-old daughter Nava sat talking in a Jerusalem cafe on the evening before her wedding, they were killed in a suicide bomb attack. David Applebaum was born in Detroit, raised in Cleveland, and graduated from Roosevelt University in Chicago. He was ordained a rabbi at Chicago's Brisk Rabbinical College in 1974 and that year entered the Medical College of Ohio. After graduation, Dr. Applebaum went on to complete a residency in internal medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Cleveland. After his residency, he emigrated to Israel where he began working with the Israeli ambulance rescue service. Dr. Applebaum was credited with transforming Israeli emergency medicine, which became an official medical specialty only last year inthat country. He accomplished a great deal by finding pragmatic and sometimes simple solutions to the difficulties facing emergency departments." One after the other, those programmed in child sexual abuses within agencies will be falling to cover up the money going to Swiss banks from deaths and fraud. 2002 The media gives the people the idea that 'if' there were biological weapons, they have not been used, and the workers will be 'protected' Source: Associated Press, September 18, 2002. www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/Bioter/israelinoculatessmallpox.html Israel Inoculates Emergency Workers By LAURIE COPANS, Associated Press Writer JERUSALEM (AP) - A hospital has begun inoculating emergency workers against smallpox in preparation for a possible attack by Iraq, officials said Wednesday, amid reports that sales of air filters, tranquilizers and bottled water are up across Israel. By the time they REPORT the innoculation of emergency workers, they have killed many Jewish doctors, one found in the trunk of a car, many from the U.S., and thousands of other Jewish professionals, and have killed many with viruses, induced deaths, accidents, etc. and they have fired or rearranged thousands of positions. JUST AS THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION WILL NOT STOP NEURAL MONITORING, HAS COMMITTED MASS CRIMES ON MYSELF AND MY SON, FIRST MY SPOUSE FOR YEARS, AND CONTINUES USING HIM IN APATHY EVEN TO HIS OWN CRIMES HELPING THEM; THEY USED NEURAL MONITORING TO KILL MILLIONS OF JEWS, ISOLATE THEM BY LIES IF THEY CAN'T KILL THEM, FABRICATE 'MENTAL ILLNESS' LIES, AND ISOLATE THEM UNTIL THEY CAN TORTURE THEM. THE RABBI IN ISRAEL WHO WAS JUST TORTURED REPRESENTS ALL WHO THINK AND ALL OF JEWRY AS THEY ARE UNDER ATTACK. WHILE THEY SET UP THE 'ORANGE REVOLUTION' AND KKK, AND OTHER HATE GROUPS FOR MORE WARS IN RUSSIA, THEY HAVE ALREADY KILLED MILLIONS OF JEWS AND ARE KILLING MORE IN ISRAEL. NOT ONE JEWISH PERSON, WHETHER A FORMER REVOLUTIONARY, SOCIALIST, ZIONIST, DOCTOR, ATTORNYEY, REAL ESTATE, HAS NOT COME UNDER ATTACK AND DEATH TO COVER UP THE CRIMES. 2001 Rockefeller writes the 'Human Condition' and it only gets worse as thousands of Jewish are fired from the CIA, other areas, the Smithsonian Institute, urged into transactions and events, and to go to Israel where they will be attacked. FBI Agents argue along with Art Bell over child ritual killings, and kidnappings, and FBI agents become fired, turned over, arrested Freeh, 2001, Director FBI, knew about all the radiation and monitoring, using Chinese scientists, the last chinese student (just to be sure to cover up deaths) was used on another holocaust survivor. "Various statutes give the FBI authority to investigate terrorist crimes committed overseas. Chief among these are the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984, which created a new section in the U.S. Criminal Code for Hostage Taking, and the Omnibus Diplomatic Security and Anti-terrorism Act of 1986, which established a new statute pertaining to terrorist acts conducted abroad against U.S. nationals and/or its interests (Extraterritorial Terrorism Statute). FBI Counterterrorism Strategy The strategic goal of the FBI's Counterterrorism Program is to identify, prevent, deter, and respond to acts of terrorism. In the area of responding to terrorist incidents after they occur, the FBI, with the support of the Congress and the Administration, has greatly improved its crisis response capabilities since the World Trade Center bombing in 1993 and the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. One can look to such investigative successes, as the indictment of 22 individuals in connection with the bombings of the U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 to understand the FBI's far reaching capability to respond to terrorist incidents abroad as well as at home. Even though the FBI has realized successes in responding to acts of terrorism, the FBI recognizes that the underlying political/religious/social movements which produced recent acts of terrorism are beyond its control- therefore, the FBI will never be able to prevent all acts of terrorism. International terrorists have demonstrated their willingness and ability to strike against citizens and facilities of the United States not only in foreign lands, but also here at home." Priest's family is killed and he disappears, IBM brings lawsuit for the 'last holocaust' Priest declares to that the Vatican has computers and satellites directed at all schools, homes, and through the NSA's on persons using IBM "Predictably, the press conference never happened, and soon Bell received letters from someone claiming to be a Vatican priest who'd discovered a "heavily encrypted subsystem" in the Vatican computer network revealing the truth about Hale-Bopp, and soon the priest's family had been killed. ... As the tale unfolded on the air and in cyberspace, traditional media outlets picked up the story and spread it even further." A 'cult' under mind control supposedly 'commits suicide' in California, when they find out that the Vatican has pipelines with 'UFO's' and satellites connected to underground bases for the wars. Radio show host, Art Bell gets into fights with a former FBI agent involved in kidnapping, mind control, and ritual, sexual crimes on children. Thousands of Jewish 'survivors' of child sexual cult ritual and abuse exist, not to mention those killed. Rabbi goes to Israel, but then comes back to U.S. and he is blacklisted, one child run over after his kids are mollested by the R.C. Churches programmed people who go on to be arrested or killed or both They set up the 'suprise' of 9-11, and prepare for more attacks on Israel. Israel will be the 'scapegoat' for all wars, as in each Jewish death, they are accused of the opposite until their death by the top Gangsters (as I myself have been attacked for 31 years by the Bush family); whatever they say, or do they are attacked with opposers until their death. "EWTN 7/28/00 "…… Organizers of the Millennium World Peace Summit hope to make history during four days of meetings at UN headquarters starting August 28. Dozens of leaders from religions large and small will convene in order to draft a statement of peace and to establish an International Advisory Council of Religious and Spiritual Leaders. …….. * Bawa Jain, Secretary General of the World Peace Summit, invited religious leaders in early June. ……* The long-term plan for the International Advisory Council of Religious and Spiritual Leaders is that it will be a permanent advisory group for the UN Secretary General and the General Assembly. Advisory Council members would also be available to help in crisis situations around the world. ………..* The idea for the World Peace Summit has its roots in the World Parliament of Religions, but got its final push from US media billionaire Ted Turner who met last fall with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. Ted Turner is known for having frequently insulted Christians and has made jokes about John Paul II. …….* Leaders have been invited from Hinduism, Sikhism, Shintoism, Judaism, Taoism, Chritianity, Islam, Jainism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Confucianism, and indigenous religions. The logo for the World Peace Summit is the symbol of each of these religions forming a circle around the symbol for the UN. It is almost identical to the symbol for the "New Age" United Religions Initiative [reported in last week's Friday Fax]. * Controversy already surrounds this first meeting. The Dalai Lama has not been invited to participate. Some believe this is indeference to the Chinese government. ……." We know they have no real intention of peace and use millions of terrorists, scientists, doctors, agents, and killer police with all sorts of programmed ideas to help the subjects through the line of death, assassinations, lies, fake psych wards, hospitals of death, and attacks. Now, they already had plans for killing Jews in Israel and abroad, and had killed many to begin with, and keep apathetic dummies in all areas; in addition, they use the U.N. for 'peacekeeping' after the G-8 and other countries accuse opposite countries of 'war crimes' while the Vatican makes out with the money along with a few others. The 'people' and the 'people of Israel' like in other countries are the one's to be killed. 1999 "Congressman Brad Sherman has introduced House Congressional Resolution 128 condemning the arrest last March of at least 13 leaders of the Jewish community of Shiraz, Iran. They have been accused of spying for the U.S. and Israel, with both countries adamantly denying these charges. It is feared that they may be at risk of an unfair trial and execution. Join in protests and letter-writing campaigns against these arrests of rabbis, religious teachers, and community activists simply because they are Jews." "President Clinton is believed ready to exercise the waiver of the Jerusalem Embassy Relocation Act of 1995 which permits delay in the moving of the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem." Attacks on Chabad are still ongoing while having other groups put extreme trauma and pressure on those in Israel who will not see peace or their land anyway. Bush continues airplane attacks and terrorism using Islamic groups and other 'trained' terrorists. Freedman writes, "We have marked the 17th anniversary of the capture of ZVI FELDMAN, ZACHARY BAUMEL, YEHUDA KATZ, AND RON ARAD, linked to PA, Syrian, and Iranian backed forces. Despite many pleas and promises, there is no information about the MIAs. The U.S. Senate and the House have introduced legislation mandating the U.S. State Department to raise "on an urgent basis" the issue of the Israeli MIAs." (Katz is involved in Eugenics as well) The MIA's all all over, including burried Mossad during their deals up to killing the Sephardic banker, and in south America for many years, in Iraq, which the Bush nepotism is not going to leak out. There are actually thousands upon thousands of missing Jews and Israelis but by only a year or two, the apathetic individuals who pay attention to nothing when the crimes are on all, simply dismiss the lowest number of deaths as given. (Later, after setting up the new Iraqi government, a meeting will still keep the amount of Jews killed in Iraq under Bush, Sr. as CIA director, kept hush); not to mention elsewhere. Buenos A. Argentina, plane crash, 1999 "http://www.chabad.org/library/article.asp?AID=1052 A Night Of Fear And Sorrow With The Families Of Crashed Argentine Airliner A peek into the diary of Chabad-Lubavitch Emissary to Cordoba, Argentina, "Rabbi Yossi Turk, following last week's crash. Friday, 11:00 AM. The first funeral, with hundreds of people in attendance. Nineteen-year old Gabriel was choking back his tears while saying Kaddish for his father. His mother, sister, grandmother and other relatives and friends looked on in stunned silence. (Just a few years ago -- with his father's insistence and in time for his Bar-Mitzvah -- I had taught Gabi the Hebrew Alphabet and basic reading. Who could have imagined...) I spoke of Eduardo Yurevich's thirst for knowledge of Torah and Kabalah and pleasure in doing good deeds and suggested that every person learn some Torah and do a Mitzvah in his honor." Hillary is declared best of Vaticans helpers of "Messianic/Satanism" as 'Zionism' while millions of Jewish are still being killed. 1997 The Avalon Project promotes the last holocaust, the Nuremberg Trials as a crime against Catholics and Rosenbergs who then died and became subject of discussion by 2003, as 'real' spies, not innocent. The Avalon Project at Yale Law School Nuremberg Trial Proceedings Volume 4; twenty-ninth day, January 8, 1946 The 'last holocaust' is distorted throughout information and always leaves out the former medical testing, and real events on Jews, having it appear as if they were all killed after 1942, when in fact, like now, they were tested on even with biological weapons and diseases, microwave weapons, for many years. They use neural monitoring and nothing but lies to kill off other Jews in Iran, Egypt, and other countries as well before ever coming out with propaganda of Iran having "Nukes" and other lies. In fact, now that they hve moved people around, they are still using neural monitoring on Jews in Israel from other countries. Clinton/Bush/Rockefeller bring in Chinese scientists to be used for killing Jews and/or setting up their illnesses to be put on 'eugenics' and fake 'mental illness' lists. It is not until 1997, that they arrest a Chinese scientist from Los Alamos Labs, and set up a 'new' study group there. They steal the files to destroy them before setting up the new study group. An arrest is made around 2001 for Chinese 'spies' used in the Nepotistic FBI at the top controlled by Bush. During this time, they are killing Jews through NEURAL MONITORING WITH MASS WEAPONS IN RUSSIA, U.S., ISRAEL. They arrest a long line of FEMA operatives, and Homeland Security people to cover up the passports given to the Chinese operatives. One Chinese killer is then assassinated in the U.S. in 2006. Another Chinese scientist at Virginia Tech is taken out along with another holocaust survivor just to be sure they got all who may know. During this time, they killed thousands of Jewish people. In Russia, they were taking children, moving Jews out of the country, and killing those who left the U.S. for Israel and who left Russia. They used a gangster to cover all media outlets and stations, which they are now using to block the rest of those being killed in Israel. They will only mention that 'Israel' is a 'terrorist' state like they are doing to have foreigners commit crimes on other countries. They will only mention the 'Palestinian' wars even though they killed millions of Jews long before the Palestinian or Iraq wars, and killed Jews in Iran, Iraq, and Egypt where they are still doing so. Written by suehon5 Permalink | Blog about this entry | Add to del.icio.us | digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own 3:01:47 PM EDT Edit Entry Delete Entry 1990's (I will add the scams and deaths later) 1990's The Clinton/Bush families, also in conjunction with Yeltsin, Arafat, Putin, Blair, are controlling with their family members, those in NIH (which was cut off from reporting any of the mass 'human studies in radiation' by 2001. They have their family members in charge of 'Neural monitoring' in case their terrorist attacks on the individual does not work. Their family members and friends, like under Clinton with Freeh, in charge at FBI, who knew about all of these things. Each Jewish person has been killed by direct neural monitoring. The U.N. is set up with 'new' 'Population controls' by 1999, when in fact, even worse destruction on the planet, dumping of chemicals and destruction of the minds through the wars, the setting up of more criminals while killing anyone who speaks any truth, is not population control and the Gangster criminality of all this is PROVEN. They purge, fire, and kill U.N. workers by 2003 to be sure every last person in line of the Jewish deaths, including Mossad in Iran and Israel are shut up. 1997 They had already incited the death of thousands of Jews by neural monitoring and thousands of created and paid attacks; through neural monitoring, they even attacked Jews immediately in their homes while eating or gathering each day. They attacked whole families and children to shut up the Jewish voice. At the same time, attacks were going on worldwide and using remote weaponry for mass heart attacks and illnesses on Jewish only in their 40's to 60's, highest rates of such illnesses ever. They also set up destruction of the Jewish families and deaths of elderly in homes. and bring up one after the other to be their accuser after the Bush/Rockefeller family takes off with their money. They then begin to round up Jews based on 'End times" and "Christ' which was an international mind control on all societies, to go to Israel. And each day through neural monitoring, they kill them off. The people in Israel must believe the 'peace' deals and that their leaders, who will be killed later as the revolutionaries and groups are set up to bring about more accusations of 'corruption,' as some already have been. There is no real peace but fraud. The U.N. was purged in 2001, to have Bush South American and gangster drug cartel involved in blocking Jewish voice, along with the gangster control of the media. 1990 The death or destruction of Jewish doctors and other professionals becomes greater so as to keep putting in the 'newly trained' who will have no idea of former professional issues, or tracks, and to cover up lines of other deaths by radiation crimes. Scientists deaths to cover up past usage of microwave and radiation on Jewish personalities and rabbis who will be arrested/killed Jewish deaths in public areas becomes much higher at even young ages The Vatican and Bush families have no intentions for peace nor any end to corruption, death by drug dealers and gangsters, and pseudo-sciences, destruction of the planet by mass dumping of chemicals. KGB is well underway in the 'new' U.S. war operating under the U.N., (agents who will be killed later, many by 2003) with NSA's (neural monitoring)and the same purges as took place in Russia and other countries since WWII. If you aren't killed by the terrorist attacks, they continue trying other things, including terrorizing (such was the case with thousands of Jewish in Israel), they keep using those closer to the Bush family controls for fabricating lies and radiating directly, covering up their crimes from other people; i.e., thousands of Jewish (see neural monitoring) were 'suicided' without anyone knowing what really took place, after other attempts did not kill them. 1980's By the end of the 1980's there are all 'new' names for races of people who have been moved around forever and intermarried which was the case even in ancient Israel. We hear of new names given to those of ancient days and even to those who were Jewish ancestors throughout Europe during the time of the Roman Conquests. Those profitting hope to keep people going around killing the 'older societies' dismissing who is and isn't Jewish by the fact that they have moved people to and from Israel for so long, and killed so many Jews or through forced conversions. In the last World War, we saw the same scenario, where the UN and others claimed it was for 'population control' and there was weather manipulation at that time, killing scientists in physics, those who worked in 'sun spots' as it was written about in books regarding those events under Stalin. Again, there are a million lies under'why' there is world war with a few profitting. In fact, after killing off European Jewry and still continuing to kill Russian and other Jews, and many in Israel, having purges in Russia for over 80 years, there now is 'high crime.' The purges in Russia on Jewry continue all throughout the whole century and up to now, along with the deaths in Israel. 1989 Arafat, Bush family, Yeltsin, Blair, Putin, are set up with big benefits and their family members to cause blacklisting of Jews in Russia, Israel, U.S. and elswhere. They purge people increasingly with major purges two times from 1990 to 2000. Many Jews are still locked up in Stalinist and Yeltsins wars, in prisons and fake mental facilities and many will go on to die. Throughout the 1980's they continued attacks on Jewish in Israel and those who left Russia previous to the Vaticans staged exit to Israel in 1999, where they would go on with more attacks and deaths. An explosion occurs at a military facitly in the Marshal Islands Continued deaths of Jewish in Russia and the United States, Israel, by radiation illness, scams, induced deaths, car accidents, and setting them up in traps that run gangster money back to Swiss Banks The wars in Africa are set up to completely overhaul oil and set up South American drug lords in Africa and the U.N. Kofi Annan is aware of the attacks on Israel as pseudo wars while these scams are taking place in Africa By 2007, the G8 will feign 'charity' in the billions toAfrica while they sabotaged Israeli Mossad agents, killed Rabbis in Africa, and then sent Abranhoff to U.S. (another apathetic whore for Vatican) The KGB is assigned to the U.S under NSA's worldwide, but are purged themselves except for those cooperating between Bush, Yeltsin, Putin, Arafat, Egyptian leader, and others for weapons and neural monitoring, microwave induced deaths and wars. All during this time, the Israeli Mossad is 'told' or 'given' leads, and those leads are simply to cut off the ends of Bush family/Vatican crimes rather than protecting Jewish and Israel. The Israeli Mossad saw many deaths and sabotage (created attacks on themselves) in South America. Most of the time, it is not heard of by the time all are removed from jobs and turned over. The Vatican/Bush crowd has set up those totally programmed in every area to block any kind of real activity, usually distorting about 99% of it, and this takes up a large proportion of the holocaust as it did in WWII: "On the other hand, where but the Internet could you access www.artbell.com's cache of Hale-Bopp poetry? Or learn that, in a vote on what to call the comet's alien companion, "Hale Mary" captured 35 percent of the vote over visitor No. 814,913's personal favorite, "Steve," which earned a measly 8 percent. "Strange Universe" described Bell's Pahrump home as "isolated times two," with snakes, scorpions and lizards for neighbors, which might come as a surprise to his neighbors, who, judging from their homes, are actual humans. He moved out here years ago after living in Las Vegas, working for what is now Prime Cable and KDWN 720-AM. He likes the solitude, the quiet, the fact that his place is almost paid off. He's been married to Ramona -- perhaps the only Filipino-Hawaiian-Chinese-French Indian woman in Pahrump -- for six years, and if he's the star behind the mike, she's the power behind that. She books guests, handles mail... NEURAL MONITORING AND THE CONTINUATION OF DESTRUCTION OF JEWRY, ANYONE WHO STUDIES TORAH AND THOSE THINGS OF A HIGHER NATURE, AND FAMILY (WHILE THE GANGSTERS TAKE OVER BRAINS AND CLAIM TO HAVE FOUND EVERYTHING THROUGH NEURAL MONITORING FROM GOD TO CONSCIOUSNESSES, THEY DENY ANY PERSON INDIVIDUAL THROUGHT OR RIGHT TO LIFE WHO CANNOT BE CONTROLLED FOR THEIR MASS TRILLION DOLLARS A YEAR FRAUDS) Written by suehon5 Permalink | Blog about this entry | Add to del.icio.us | digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own 2:29:33 PM EDT Edit Entry Delete Entry By the 1990's they have emassed, using Chinese agents, and other foreign agents, cancers, mind controls, destruction of much Jewry, at which time (in 97) Clinton has stolen from Los Alamos Labs any other information and they set up 'new study groups' in all areas; killing many scientists, Rabbis, and everyone else involved to cover up ongoing deaths, and the arrests continue to present. By the 1980's they would be increasing attacks on Israel and those sent to Israel, using every opposite group for arguments and accusers after crimes committed by the 'leaders' in this Nepotistic group with Bush family. However, after the deaths and arrests, of scientists, doctors, coroners, and even the Israeli Mossad agents, while using millions of others, all money goes back to Swiss bank accounts, and all of Jewry is attacked but Clinton/Bush family; controlling FBI and attacks on synagogues, people, controlling NIH, Radiation on the public, Energy in conjunction with radiation used with neural monitoring and radiation crimes as on myself, and for attacks as they have done, firing thousands of agents used, until only Bush buddies are set up for the persons isolation and death. "For example, Sandyk (1992) and Jacobson (1994) have found that complex magnetic fields with variable interstimulus pulse durations could evoke unprecedented changes in melatonin levels even with intensities within the nanoT range." "In the tradition of Johannes Mueller, we have assumed that the normal transduction of stimuli by sensors into afferent, graded potentials and the subsequent translation into digital patterns of action potentials (which are more likely to behave functionally as a composite of pixels within a neural field) can be circumvented by _direct_ introduction of this information within the brain. Induction of complex information would require simulation of the resonance patterns which would normally be transiently created by sensory afferents. The basic premise is that synthetic duplication of the neuroelectrical correlates generated by sensors to an actual stimulus should produce identical experiences without the presence of that stimulus." These brain controls were actually used by 1920 and everyone put into rotating cults and mind controls for their continued wars and death to Torah believers, the final blow to Israel. 1970's They continue using scientists worldwide with microwave weapons, millions of studies, to be able to induce any mind controls, any illness on Jewish populations, gearing up for this Vatican/Rockefeller wars. They continue attacks on Israel and beatings of Jews, killings, bombings for the takeover in 2000. The Church' hearings on microwave and radiation weapons are only the first to many, but the crimes increase on Jewish preparing for the takeover of Israel. Over 50 years of weapons usage and radiation for Gangsters around the Vatican and Swiss banks are well planned, but the Jews just 'happen' to be in 'sudden wars' each day for their deaths and they are killed worldwide by the use of Vatican whores. Bush family behind drug cartel for Vatican/German Crimes of the Holocaust and continues killing Jews, moving them around, creating changes through brainwashing in 'religion' and 'race' and 'eugenics' The Vatican continues getting millions programmed in 'Satanism' Scientists with Russia only admit to the signals through the CIA and science labs by microwave acoustic and scaring people into pseudo-Messianism in 2006. The Vatican and those connected to it, use one after the other, programmed in subliminal messages to kill based on background thought, suggestions given them, not what is said to anyone; based on their programming in babylonian whoredom and cults. They manipulate who is going to be next in the line of death and money going through after the probes and indictments. 1950's Satellites and signals had already been used, but the public still gets an 'older' version of what has been done through the holocaust. The holocaust continues as if it were for Israel when it does not amount to that and millions of Jews continue being killed just to kill them and replace them with the next new person in the purges. Millions of Jews would die by 2006 because of the increase in microwave and other frequency weapons given to millions of scientists (still going on) and dishing out more and more subliminal and other weapons to every agency, and one after the other themselves being killed, while top profiteers receive the money and are glad to take advantage of the crime system. With this 'Act' for 'Peace' no one has ever seen peace at all. It might be possible that such human arguments and activity, from one end of the spectrum to the other, and with such ongoing radioactive waste, that they could continue in such activity, such time perceptions and arguments, until final extinction. If the total destruction of the ecosystem and atmospheric conditions were for Israel it would not take this long, and we would not see such increase only for continuous wars, money making pulling the direction of all humankind into this area of neverending arguments and mind controls for the money making scams. The Bush family being behind the Nepotism, the death of Jews at the time of Hitler and related, continue killing Jews by bringing up one group after the other to incite violence against Jews, as we see today. By this time, they have those gangsters they continue using and controls through subliminals all the way around to the next group and accusers of anyone who does what is right. This is not Torah but Roman Catholicism. It combines every heresy and ideology that is used against the next. 1946 "President Harry S. Truman signed the Atomic Energy Act (see McMahon Act) on August 1, 1946, transferring the control of atomic energy from military to civilian hands. This action reflected America's postwar optimism, with Congress declaring that atomic energy should be employed not only in the form of nuclear weapons for the nation's defense, but also to promote world peace, improve the public welfare and strengthen free competition in private enterprise." Atomic Energy Act en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Atomic_Energy_Commission "Incredibly, Avraham Stern, the leader of the notorious “Stern Gang,” late in 1940, made a written proposal to Hitler, by which the Jewish militias in Palestine, would fight on “Germany’s side,” in the war against England, in exchange for the Nazis help in resolving the “Jewish Question” in Europe, and their assistance in creating an “historic Jewish state.” By this date, German troops had already marched into Prague, invaded Poland, and had built the first concentration camp at Auschwitz. The deranged Stern had further bragged about how the Zionist organizations were “closely related to the totalitarian movements of Europe in [their] ideology and structure.” Stern’s obscene proposal was found in the German embassy, in Turkey, after WWII." --William Hughes, 2003" (also See Bush and Heinrich, Hitler, families) We still have nothing but gangs at the top of these drug wars and controlling all agencies; such was the case in Russian Jewish deaths for the last 80 years. Scientists and people continue compromising and creating heresies with the Roman Catholic Church's/Rockefeller plan, through mind controls, and the media, movies, to create total untruth in every area and false prophets for wars. William Casey had remarked that all would 'know no truth,' while Mengele and Cameron, Hitler were already involved in this mind control in satanism by the Roman Catholic Church's 'satanists' and pedophiles (a cover for all crimes); turning everyone into opposing groups that can be controlled, one against the other, dividing Jewry, turning them against Torah, base studies in truth, and separating their minds to oppose each other group. They would end up taking the brains, taking all truth, but having people look outwardly to false groups to 'find themselves' and in this, they would cause arguments and use each group to accuse the others after they are used. From 1930's to 2007, millions are given remote weaponry, one after the other fired from scientists, to agents, men in black, area 51, doctors, fake psychiatrists, CIA, NSA, KGB, Mossad, all turned over quickly so as to keep people in the dark when deaths and arrests arise. Clinton later admits to 'no files' being kept, and Bush has over 50 people a day from the KGB destroy files in the CIA, fires all agents again. The Vatican continues committing SEXUAL CRIMES THROUGH MICROWAVE ACCOUSTICS AND BY THOSE THEY WILL ARREST FROM 1990 TO PRESENT on Jews, leaving millions arrested, killed, and sets up Canada as the accuser by 2003 of Rabbis they committed the sexual radiation crimes on. They had spent years transferring Torah and Jewish beliefs into this great big Vatican heresy of cults to be used for wars against Israel. The Vatican creates an arc of cults and 'satanists' but will later have white guards and 'eguenics' persons to beat Jews believing they are all 'satanists' who kill 'Christ' Written by suehon5 Permalink | Blog about this entry | Add to del.icio.us | digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own 2:17:26 PM EDT Edit Entry Delete Entry The Messianic Whore of Peace while Creating Holocaust The Messianic Whore of the Holocaust Comes as peace but has already killed millions of innocent Jewry, again, worldwide, while trillions of dollars in fraud are still taking place and the set up of more terrorism. They are cutting off any voice in Israel, as they torture more people there, and will be again in Russia, and the U.S., and are still disseminating millions of lies in the media to cover it up. Rome comes as the one who has every voice under control all the way around for the accusing while they take every dime. They control a few from Israel, and so-called zionism which has a million arguments that can be manipulated from left to right, and they will control the death of Jews and the new churches, conversions. We can see that right now as people blieve they are the only ones of a 'race' to own Israel while older Jewish races are killed and they also claim to be 'saving' some. We can see how Rome controlled brainwashing for the last 100 years into many occults and transverses these occults to make people believe it was ancient Jewry. Why do you think Rome called Jesus the "King of the Jews" and at the same time, they make every other claim. They killed Jews at that time with corrupt priests, not regular cohanim, as they have continued doing, and blame it on the 'Jews.' It comes as the 'accuser' of those it abused. It comes as a pseudo-peace, sending people to their land while killing them under an 'illegal' state. It comes as the 'judge' of 'nazi guards' while setting up millions in the same way,ignorant, mindless, criminals again under the disguise as 'peace officers' while hiding drug cartel behind the U.N. While millions are killed and anyone who stands up for what is right, we see in the media and those helping with the crimes, apathy, ridicule, lies. The 'Whore' sets up each group opposing the other, so that there is no peace, uses each of those groups to continue the wars, kills millions and is still setting up new communities with drug dealers, hate groups, and crime. The Whore of Babylon killed millions of Jews under 'NSA spying' by Vatican satellites, arrested and killed millions of people in Israel, the U.S., russia, worldwide, but set up millions more in crime. ANyone who speaks out and even those in the line of trillion dollar frauds have been killed; all of which fraud goes back to Swiss Banks, and like in 2000, no one but those committing the holocaust will sue until 50 years later. The Whore of Babylon plays on 'time perceptions' So, while everyone has some idea of what is going on or may have no idea, this and their lack of total conception of all events is played upon. Each day, we find a 'new' group clueless of the holocaust or real events who will accuse other Jewish people. By the time the Nuremberg Trials came around, very little was even discussed as to real events, but only some questions as to very minor events. The truth is that they are going to get rid of anyone they can to make money and set up new deals after, replacing with younger people and spreading their drug deals and corruption to every area. They will play, from those who desire to go to Israel, to killing them off with those who oppose it, to taking the money out of each country, and continue attacks on Israel until every last Jewish but those they are transporting to elsewhere and only a few who hve been transported are left, while some are set up in new states. In the end, the rest of those who are used by their belief systems will be accused. You're either Torah believer or for the Whore of Babylon and the Roman Catholic Church. And if you support the Church, you support the death of Jews, because they are going to use those from one end of the heresy to the other for the deaths. Also, we hear nothing but the usage of 'key' words that connotate and conjure up many different meanings for those used during the holocaust. In any case, while they killed off millions of Jews, they had everyone in a different time warp and mind state from the totally apathetic and oblivious, to the staunch killers of Jews over Israel, to those oblivious in the media believing in some euphoric transfers to Israel and democracy, to those condeming 'Israel' as a people, and every other type which is what we are seeing now. Today, the Roman Catholic Church uses more vices and opposition groups within Jewry and almost more manipulation than the Christian Church. Just follow the next 'suggestion' and movement, and the 'who' gets them going against each other while they are being killed. What we have seen over the last 80 years is Christian/Satanic Gangsters in Rome with the Bush family who is linked to Hitler. Now, the Bush family has no inheritance by the 1700's when given money and neither do the other few who keep killing Jewry. What we see for the last 80 years is nothing but increased human trafficking and drug trafficking with the now daily creation of groups, one after the other, to bring incement against anyone who does anything right, and those used in the groups are killed as well; in the last WWII, they killed Jews in every group used and have continued; whether 'zionist,' doctors, scientists, Rabbis, or other. And while they just killed millions more Jews, and anyone who stands up for anything right, they have rewarded millions more criminals, including OJ Simpson. Anyone the Gangsters can use in crime. They set up in all states those who will block any Jewish voice, including in Israel, so that after killing millions of Jews, they can simply blame 'Israel' as a 'state.' While Rome/Bush/Rockefeller is behind all of the groups from pedophilia, to fake psychiatry, to satanic and 'Christian' sciences, using millions in mind controls, to revolutionary groups, and millions of other groups they set up for 'brining' about arguments and 'probes' they continue attacking those with right beliefs and then kill those Jews they used. They take young Jewish groups around the world getting them up into 'revolutions' while they have already killed millions of other Jewish people, and by the time these new groups come around, they have another 2 million Jews on 'eguenics' lists, ill-health death hospitals and have arrested, killed, or tortured Jewish people, including hundreds of Rabbis. And this is the reason for their crime and trafficking, only rewarding those who will work for thier gangster crimes. After killing everyone who should be in Israel, and millions of other Jews in the U.S. and descendants from Poland, Russia, Europe, we only see those working for Bush pointing the finger at Israel as the bad guy, because they know very well that there is only a few families in this gangster crime and that the Bush family, also being behind the CIA has killed millions of Jews, whereas millions are set up with microwave weapons and are only going to do 'as told' and most not being Jewish but working for those gangsters at the top. While the Bush/Clinton/Rockefeller families use neural monitoring for wars and nothing but hate groups still out there to deny Jewish deaths; it is because they have people with mind thoughts from one end of the spectrum to the other to accuse and assault Jewish groups and persons who are blamed in each instance, including secretly by their killers, for what is really the Vatican/Bush crimes and controls. Written by suehon5 Permalink | Blog about this entry | Add to del.icio.us | digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own 1:02:58 PM EDT Edit Entry Delete Entry Black Out of the Jewish Voice and Killings In 1997, the Jewish women in Green, in Israel discussed how Clinton was causing wars on Israel and fake peace deals, and now in her letter she discusses how the media will be cut off from Israel. We have already seen attacks on every Jewish person from the U.S., to Russia, to Israel, Iran, and they are getting ready to black out all voice, making people believe "Israel" as a 'State' is to be accused while killing the last of the Jewish people over there. The courts in Israel are only discussing the Palestinian wars when they were killing Jews long before this Palestinian war to get rid of them. The Bush administration has set up millions more in crime, in KKK groups, and in 'revolution' groups, hate groups, while they kill these people and continue killings in the U.S. Because the Clinton/Bush administrations used over 10 million (at least) in very fast deals and deaths, firings, mass firings of agents, it would take up a ten foot high pile of papers to list all events in order. However, I will be listing many deaths and how they used mind controls and each day bring up another 'investigative' group to accuse the others, fire them, while killing millions of Jews. Many were Jewish business owners all across the country only in teir 40's. They killed thousands of Jeiwsh children and took off with many into gang rings. 1997 Women For Israels Tomorrow Letter regarding Clinton who with Freeh continued attacks on Jews worldwide, with their other family member and friends as leaders, and mass deaths, induced deaths by weapons, 'accidents,' and even SARS, AIDS, and every other kind of attack on Jews while having millions incite hatred and take out all of the crime on 'the Jews' except for Clinton/Bush families. They continued killing Jews in Israel from Yeshivas, to Rabbis, and even the Mossad in Iran to sabotage their trail at each moment. www.womeningreen.org/saymar97.htm Letter on current blackout of the last Jewish voice by gangsters as they did in Russia while they kill the rest: 10 Jun 2007 05:06:16 pm EVIL INTENTION OR JUST PLAIN STUPIDITY? Letter from Ruth Matar (Women in Green) Jerusalem Thursday, June 7, 2007 Dear Friends, The above is a purely rhetorical question on my part. I believe the Olmert Government may well harbor evil intent. It is EXTREMELY important that you carefully read the following article by Greer Fay Cashman, and the Editorial, published in the Jerusalem Post on Wednesday, June 6th. IBA cuts may force English TV, radio news off the air By Greer Fay Cashman Although English is the most universal language in the world, it may very well disappear from Israel’s air waves – at least on a temporary basis. The Israel Broadcasting Authority’s Management Committee is due to vote next Monday on a cost-cutting emergency plan that would close down most Channel 1 and Israel Radio programs, including the IBA News in English and the English radio news. Steve Leibowitz, editor of Channel 1’s English IBA News, was informed by senior management on Tuesday that all programming with the exception of Hebrew language news will be suspended for an indefinite period of time to save on costs. Employees on collective wage agreements and personal contracts will continue to be paid their basic salaries, but will have to take leave. Freelancers would be the most hard-hit by the plan. The absence of staff at the IBA premises will have an immediate cost-saving effect on regular expenses such as maintenance, electricity and telephone as well as the extras involved in program production costs. IBA spokesperson Linda Bar confirmed that at its meeting last Monday, the IBA Management Committee decided to postpone its vote on the administration’s drastic proposal until heads of all IBA departments had been consulted. “It’s a dire situation,” she said. “The IBA has never faced a crisis of such proportions.” Bar told The Jerusalem Post that in the event the proposal is accepted, the only remaining programs on Channel One would be Mabat, Seeing the World and Politika. Radio stations Reshet Bet, Reshet Gimmel and Radio 88FM would remain operational because they bring in revenue, Bar said, but foreign language and culture programs are likely to disappear. Leibowitz, who has mounted an intensive lobby within the IBA and beyond, said that while he understood that the IBA was facing a crisis, there were at least two important reasons for not axing the IBA News. One is that outside sources have contracted to broadcast the programs abroad, which means the news broadcasts bring in income, and the other is that IBA News provides the world with a window on Israel and is an important hasbara (advocacy) resource. On IBA News, Israeli spokespeople can rebut charges made by people who misunderstand or are opposed to Israel’s policies. To close down IBA News, however temporarily, “is like shooting yourself in the foot,” Leibowitz said. A radio broadcaster suggested that closing down broadcasts was not only outrageous, but possibly illegal, as the IBA Law mandates broadcasts for immigrants. Furthermore, broadcasts in a language they speak are essential for foreign diplomats and other international representatives in Israel. IBA staff who could be seriously affected by the implementation of a partial blackout on public broadcasting have very little recourse. Since the resignation of former MK Eitan Cabel (Labor), the IBA has been left without a caretaker. Cabel’s portfolio has reverted to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert – a conflict of interest, as Olmert is also acting finance minister. Nonetheless, Leibowitz and news anchor Leah Zinder have lobbied the Prime Minister’s Office, the Foreign Ministry and the office of Acting President and Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik. As a member of the IBA Management Committee 17 years ago, Itzik was instrumental in pushing through the creation of an English-language news department at Israel Television. Olmert’s spokeswoman Miri Eisin told The Jerusalem Post that she was still familiarizing herself with the matter and would bring it to Olmert’s attention. A senior staffer at the Foreign Ministry told the Post that he was gravely concerned over the possibility that English radio and television broadcasts would be taken off the air waves. “Israelis like to complain about hasbara. They say not enough is being done,” he said. “But when something is being done, they don’t follow through.” Meanwhile, Leibowitz and his colleagues are getting the message out and are meeting many outraged responses from native English speakers. The Association of Americans and Canadians in Israel, the British Olim Society and Telfed, the Association of South African Immigrants, have a mounted an e-mail protest campaign. Leibowitz said he had no doubt that other English-speaking groups would follow suit. Leibowitz was a founding member of the IBA News team along with the late Steve Edwards, who died exactly two years ago. On Friday, a memorial service will be held for Edwards at Kibbutz Ma’aleh Hahamisha, in which friends and colleagues will not only eulogize him, but – fearing the worst – will begin advance eulogies for English-language news programs or, on a broader scale, for public radio and television. womeningreen.org Here are links to Russias ongoing wars and using Bush/Clinton gangsters for media blackouts and to kill any Jewish voice. One gangster in particular was used in Russia while killing Jewish, still attacks ongoing, and then sent elsewhere. owever, they usually use the KKK and other hate groups to disguise the mass Jewish deaths, as if it were only against non-Jews. The Bush/Clinton family is doing this with millions of hate groups while still killing Jews, just as they continued doing since 1948 to kill anyone not of the Rockefeller/Clinton/Bush families who are having wars worldwide on Jewry. search.yahoo.com/search Written by suehon5 Permalink | Blog about this entry | Add to del.icio.us | digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own 12:16:28 PM EDT Edit Entry Delete Entry Continued Wars on Jewish People The Bush family was given land in the early 1700's. This family, and the other families killing millions of Jews have no more inheritance than those they keep killing, using in their wars, and setting up more 'youth groups' by massive trafficking, drug trafficking. They are using every foreigner and Jewish groups from other countries who do not recollect Jewish heritage of others who also are linked to the first presidential families and Jews from England or Poland originally before WWII, etc. In any case, they have killed millions of Jews using Opus Dai and other cults, foreigners, before firing Hannson in the FBI and still are doing so. My family also was of the Davis line as millions they killed, regardless of the lies Bush uses to kill Jews, by brining one group against the other, and using severe mind controls on my family, and then turning them into 'church goers' after they set up their 'new' 9-11 wars, years of mind controls to have other people attack Jewry. And one after the other, they have set up trillion dollar crime deals, and then have Jewry accuse the other Jews involved until their death. They have moved Jewish people around so much just the last century so as to confuse people as who 'is' and who 'isn't' Jewish, and they are killing all but their families and those they can use before killing them; trillions of dollars a year in fraud has only served their own bank accounts because they killed each person they used, including 'zionist' doctors, Hasids from New York and hundreds of Rabbis; the current torture of the Rabbi in Israel representing the millions of Jews they just killed who had a voice, and they now are using the same gangster, Nepotistic control to black out the media in Israel as they did in Russia to kill the rest of Jewry for themselves. While they killed millions of Jews from Russia, to Iran, the U.S., and in Israel through NEURAL MONITORING, MIND CONTROLS, AND MASS WEAPONS DEALS, USING FOREIGN AGENTS ON THEM AS WELL AS HERE, they are about to kill their last 'hope' as it was written in the news recently. These Jewish persecutions are after trillions of dollars in fraud using Chinese scientists with neural monitoring in the U.S., and against Jews before the recent 'FBI probe' into Chinese black market of butterflies also 'tipped off' by Bush/Clinton crime apparatus. They incited one Jewish group on top of the other while attacking them with their weapons deals daily. While the 'leaders' speak of Putin attacking Europe with 'Nukes' and Iran attacking Israel with 'Nukes' the inside 'joke' is that they have been using each countries agents on the other country using neural monitoring under the NIH's and Energy departments, to kill them, with real-time monitoring and causing conflicts, then killing the agents, the news reporters, and even the Mossad members at the end, replacing each person used up and down the line, while the money goes to Swiss Banks and Bush oil deals. More Rabbis being tortured who represent anyone who will speak up, regarding neural monitoring wars, drug wars, and increasing crime for their drug wars, while killing all innocent people, and taking children and women into trafficking, and through 'social services' controlled by Bush/Clinton/Rockefeller families; while making millions of Jews appear to suddenly have 'dimentia' killing them in elderly homes and then arresting/killing the agents used, and millions of other fraud taking place while monitoring any voice. www.youtube.com/results (Now, Rabbi Eshulam is also being tortured with his son, as thousands in the U.S., Russian, and Israel were already killed by inciting one person to attack the one before them) After arresting and killing hundreds of Rabbis, and millions of Jews since the 1980's, they still keep attacking with neural monitoring and 'staged terrorism' on them to keep eveyrone arguing. www.youtube.com/results While they set up college-age Jewish students in the 'Orange Revolution' and other groups, they are setting up the KKK, and opposition groups again in Russia, claiming there is now 'more crime' after already killing millions of Jews there and here; one must remember that not only did the Bush administration just incite death to millions of Jews that were doctors, Rabbis, and students, children, through neural monitoring and by lies that they were 'old liberals,' socialists, used Chinese agents with such ideas that Jews in the U.S. are 'rich americans who trashed the earth' while it is the Bush family doing so. They incited death to Jews for every single reason which they used them for and took off with the money to their accounts and Swiss Banks. They have used a million lies to criminal agents and then hide these lies by killing the agents, covering up what took place; while the Bush family is controlling worldwide, the media under one top gangster from Russia, to Iran, to Israel and the U.S, killing all journalists and media personnel one after the other, is controlling the FBI, the CIA (having fired thousands of Jews from govenrement and other offices and sent them to their death), Bush family is in charge of NIH/Radiation 'studies'/Neural Controls/Social Services/Mental Health, and when the terrorist attacks and every other crime to kill the person does not work, they try to isolate the individuals as they have with thousands upon thousands of jewish already, and then get them to be guarded, put away like the Rabbi in Israel, and torture them to death with Bush/Clinton/Rockefeller buddies. This is what they are still doing to me daily, and having my spouse, now, after years of being helpfult to him, they terrorized me daily, and fabricate all the lies to keep torturing myself. They fired up and down the line of those involved in bringing in Chinese to America under the idea that it is Americans who are too wealthy, and who are destroying the planet, while the Bush/Clinton families make out big time from fake psych and elderly death hopsitals to the destruction of the planet through viruses, SARS (radiation effects), and these very deaths witnessed here. Re: 51 Documents: Zionist Collaboration With The Nazis, Edited by Lenni Brenner, Fort Lee, NJ (Barricade Books, 2002), 342 pages. 24 Jun 2007 by Anonymous Poster Reply to this comment newswire/display Re: Re: 51 Documents: Zionist Collaboration With The Nazis, Edited by Lenni Brenner, Fort Lee, NJ (Barricade Books, 2002), 342 pages. 27 Jun 2007 by Anonymous Poster Reply to this comment To begin with in this 'War on Terror' it is an extension of ALL previous wars; whether they be called holocaust (not a word until the 1960's or there after); or world war II, or the wars of Alexander the Great, or any other war. It is a war against anyone who does good or really believes in Torah, or who studies, or brings real benefit to the world. Because only illness, disease, hatred, crime, fraud, and dumb-minded agents, heresy, slander, pseudo-religions, cults, obesity, radiation weapons, microwave weapons,lies, makes money from Rome--totally opposite of Torah; and everyone but those making the money after the deaths in all areas, end up being accused. Therefore, Jews are a higher target. This is why there is so many lies against Jews, milions are being tortured, kept in prisons by the use of mind controls and microwave weapons, induced with deaths, supposed car accidents and plane accidents by the hundreds just within the last few years. The time of Noah, and the time of Abraham, and Joshua tell us that Babylon/Rome was worldwide, and so was crime, and the "Jews" or the "Israelites" were intermarried, as Noah is from Northern Africa (as we see today certain individuals manipulating what they believe is the only African 'Jews.' Abraham was from Iraq as well. Noah's line went through Iraq or Ur. And the Jews and intermarried throughout the world. The Jewish religion of the One God, is destroyed by Rome. This is from the as like today, they torture Torah believers and kill them, or force them into prisons, or poverty, and other deaths, while using 'Satanists' in Rome and in killings for the wars. After intermarrying, Rome forces the majority into 'Christianity' or satanism, or the occults, or other heresy, and then has using Christians who hate Jews by being given slander as seen in this document. In this way, Rome has billions of Jews who have been intermarried to be used for their continuous wars. See below where it states that the Jews will never recieve the land of Israel because of Rome. We see this now, whereas all in Israel were attacked for years, while the money goes to Rome and counterparts working for Rome, and then they begin new construction on synagogues they blew up, and enter the Temple with 'new' people after deaths and indictments in Israel of all Jewish groups. In other words, they use mostly secular, satanic, and cults, not even Jewish, to kill off Jews and those who were intermarried at least a century before in each country and who were converted to "Christianity" or other cults. And, they use Jews that were broughtin as immigrants (who are also killed like Senator Wellstone and Chabad members in airplane crashes) to help go along with the deaths of Jews who are former decendants of Jews from before the last wars. "Christians" are still taught such hatred of "Jews" when it is Rome behind all heresy, deaths, money schemes, taking of the Temple, idols, which Christianity and all other religions of Babylon are. (See forced conversions, homeless Jews and shelters forcing them into 'Christ,' deaths and torture of Rabbis). There were "Jews" in every country before Queen Elizabeth II. Those who are from older Jewish marriages are run over in the next fifty years with Romes new minions in secular and occultism along with every 'nice' (this is what was stated by the satanists in every obituar of millions of Jews sicne 1990) Jewish person who studies Torah and is a scholar. In fact, most of those who are from Jews who practiced Torah who can be swayed into other cults, heresy, and religions, by Rome, are also killed at higher rates than non-Jews; or those who never believed in Torah or higher study of the Eternal God. Below is the article from the Ancient Source Book. You will notice that Babylon always has some of the Israelites and those in forced conversions by forcing them into poverty or some other near-death situation. They also have no claims of the 'Jews' who are worldwide at the time of Jesus but that they have 'circumcision' and 'Laws' The attack on the 'laws' as we see in corruption today is done by Rome and Babylonian gods they force on society. The Laws come not before god, as the 'Church' states but after many years of study. It is also Babylonian Rome that continues using the 'gods' to kill everyone off, and forces people to not be able to follo any laws by reason of the fact that they create a criminal society with millions in cults against everyone else. And then, their only other claim against. The 'Jews' are everyone by the 1960's because of the worldwide wars and intermarriage twenty times over since even before 'Christ.' So, the Jews are anyone who follows law and the Eternal God, as the Israelites continued trying to do while Babylon had every other cult at that time in Israel and in Egypt, and from Persia attack the "Jews," the Israelites who worshipped the One God. So, Rome has one more accusation, though most is simply slander (as we see today even more of). This is that 'they killed Christ.' No one has killed Israelites since that time and now but Romes Babylonian religions and groups they can get to keep doing it the same way. Just as the earliest 'Jews' in India at the time of the Hebrews leaving Egypt (who were in exile everywhere) would not be recognized as such or would be targets for war in later society (as theya re today when only some 'Jews' in India are recognized as such); so it is with many so-called 'whites' who are really Jewish descent from the Caucasus, Russia, Scottland, Ireland, England, Europe at the time of the first Babylonian killings in Israel and King Herod's acquaintence with some 'Jews.' The last 100 years attests to this truth, but even those of modern Jewry have been killed just for money purposes and to destroy real scholarly work other than that controlled for the wars, weapons, and profits; controlling even the schools of thought. So, today, we see the same exact manipulation and groups (though with different names) to be used for wars (the wars also given many names) while they kill off Jewry. But, no matter where you look, you only see people who either speak of the past as some remote and distant thing not having anything to do with the present, or those who are going to operate for the war in some way (under 'new' names for the tactics); Most speak of things they believe are 'new' like the weapons of radiation, or a "New World Order" when it is the same world order of Rome tactics (Over 7 million websites calling this a 'War on Terror' and 'End Times' and 'New World Order' And this, below, from Daniel was actually speaking of King Herod along with those King Herod Used (other Kings) to kill the Jews at the time of Jesus, which they turn around in their favor. None of those in the Bible were just speaking of the 'last days' but each time Rome kills Jews and takes over the Temple, they are told it is the 'End times' as people now are. "And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors have reached their fullness, a king shall arise, having fierce features, who understands sinister schemes. His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; he shall destroy fearfully, and shall prosper and thrive; he shall destroy the mighty, and also the holy people.” (Daniel 8:23, 24)" (See Rabbis tortured in israel) "Mock human sacrifices are done every year in the Bohemian Grove in California by our political and corporate elite. A forty foot tall idol of Moloch is used to sacrifice an effigy of a human while dozens of men wear black robes and hold torches performing a ceremony. In Leviticus 18:21 God denounces such behavior." Bohemia grove is actually mocking Rabbis who are killed and tortured. But, Rome will always pretend to be the Jews 'savior' while killing them, the court, while denying any law, the judge, the accuser of crime while committing the crimes on the Jews (see Jewish deaths, repression, poverty, killing of Rabbi scholars, every single day from before 1948, Rome denying their deaths through the media), and even throughout the whole wars, they really only save the satanists they created, and the Christians; after each group used and 'scandal probe' the Jews get blamed or simply killed. “So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him? He was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies” (Revelation 13:4, 5) --The 'blasphemies' and 'Dragon' mentioned here, was supposed to be, and can be seen in the document below of the 'Church' speaking blasphemies against 'Gods people' and when anyone even mentions Jewish deaths they get attacked with blasphemies by Christians and those brainwashed by Rome today. All of these cults are and were created by Rome before the killing of 'Jesus' (see torture of Rabbis today on Youtube.com; that is those they haven't killed already) at which time they also had many others brainwashed to help kill Jews, an dspit in the face of anyone who would save them (also like today) who believe in the One Eternal God-- only 'Jesus' is mentioned because Rome had to quickly get conrol of these pseudo-religions again by the distortion of 'who' was killed and 'why' by creating such hellacious blasphemies and lies against the Jews. And you will see in the Ancient texts below that it states the Jews will never get their Temple. "Members of the Skull & Bones secret society at Yale are 'born again’ into the Order by lying in a coffin, then kneeling before a figure dressed as Satan after (hopefully pretending) to slit a nude woman’s throat. George W. Bush and John Kerry are lifetime members. The documents on pseudo-sciences, pseudo-psychiatry (John Dewey being one who wrote about how to destroy families and true religion, the Jews by drugs, lies, heresy, and the very microwave mind controls, pedophilia and sex crimes, using those who hate Jews, also to get them involved, and religions the same as in the days of 'Jesus.'), pseudo-evolution, pseudo-science in DNA (or the way it is or isn't really used), mass medical fraud by and ancient (really Roman) control, are all done by Romes earliest 'builders' and Babylonians for the "church." The Freemason documents show the calculated hate just as the Church does, against Jews. Documents shown before 1940's. By the present moment (also at the time of 'Jesus' and Rabbi killings) they would get more "Jews" into 'satanism,' but most are not; not to mention the other groups they use to kill Jews who are Jewish, believing, in a blind manner, that they are 'using force to get Jews to do something' (such as in Israel while being attacked). Then, they lock the Jews up for being 'terrorists' or kill them so that no information can leak out as to the real events around the situation. "Freemasonry is a religion, it is a secret society, and high level members knowingly deceive lower level members and non-members. At the highest levels Freemasonry is satanism. Mormonism is a cult and the founder, Joseph Smith, was a Freemason. Mormons believe Jesus and Lucifer are brothers, and believe that they can become Gods, just like Satan said in the Garden of Eden. 10 Satanic Commandments in 8 languages stand as an enormous granite monument in Elberton Georgia. Created anonymously in 1980. There is a Satanic pentagram clearly designed in the street layout of Washington D.C." Results search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=A0geu84lqoFGSE0Az55XNyoA %22&fr=yfp-t-501 'whether it be for 'disinformation,' heresy, socialism, revolution groups, communism, partisans, Labor, and the list goes on; however, none of the groups are set up until the thousands of other Jews are killed so as to keep the war on the Jews going until each group themselves become targets; with Rome keeping their newly converted areas protected. Each Jewish person, whether in law, or politics, or as immigrant, gets killed, accused, destroyed. All of those in the groups used (every single one has become victim) from the CIA's years of radiation crimes, microwave 'mind conrol' crimes, the creation of 'terrorists' by CIA's (worldwide) crimes and mind control, to the Israeli Mossad, to the KGB, to the NSA's worldwide, to the FBI's worldwide (one set up in Israel while millions of Jews continued being killed); all have separated brains (also done by the KGB under Romes orders) so that they see very little as to the whole manipulation of all other groups, and how this is exactly like it was under Egypt, Babylon, and in Israel the first times. They all believe they are doing some 'modern covert crime' (even under Stalin and Hitler, they fired so many pros and began hiring prisoners and criminals off the street for these agencies which has taken place under Bush, with the exception of their 'satanists'). The Satanists and Christians are taught, as I stated above, that it is the "Jews" who do everything wrong, and many Jews are with Rome to make sure the deaths occur; although they too may be totally blind or put into a Rome position long after many deaths. No one could have missed the millions of deaths of Jews from Israel, to Russia, to the United States and millions forced into poverty, near death now. Below is the excerpt for educational purposes only and in conformance with copuright laws. Here is the address of the ancient texts web www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/chrysostom-jews6.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Medieval Sourcebook: Saint John Chrysostom (c.347-407) : Eight Homilies Against the Jews ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- Notes on reaction to the posting of this text Homily 1 Homily 2 Homily 3 Homily 4 Homily 5 Homily 6 Homily 7 [e-text added May 2002] Homily 8 [e-text added May 2002] Introduction John Chrysostom is considered a "doctor of the Church", and among the greatest of the Greek Fathers. He was bishop of Antioch at the time of these sermons, although he became archbishop of Constantinople in 398. He was admired for his eloquence and gifts in preaching. As an introduction to these sermon, here is the discussion by James Parkes. Bibliographical Hints To find out more about this subject see: John Chrysostom, Discourses against Judaizing Christians, translated by Paul W. Harkins. The Fathers of the Church ; v. 68 (Washington : Catholic University of America Press, 1979) This is apparently the most up to date translation, and should be used by anyone wanting to comment on these texts in written work. Grissom, Fred Allen, Chrysostom and the Jews : studies in Jewish-Christian relations in fourth-century Antioch, Thesis (Ph. D.)--Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1979. Meeks, Wayne A. and Robert L. Wilken, Jews and Christians in Antioch in the first four centuries of the common era, Scholars Press for the Society of Biblical Literature, c1978. Wilken, Robert Louis, John Chrysostom and the Jews : rhetoric and reality in the late fourth century (Berkeley : University of California Press, 1983) CHRYSOSTOM AND THE JEWS OF ANTIOCH, pp. 163-166 from James Parkes: The Conflict of the Church and the Synagogue: A Study in the Origins of Antisemitism, (New York: JPS, 1934) While in their writings Hilary and Eusebius introduced the pagan world to this strange version of Jewish history, Chrysostom expressed similar theories with much greater violence from his pulpit at Antioch. In eight sermons which he delivered in 387 he speaks with a bitterness and lack of restraint unusual even in that place and century {PG Vol 97). If it were not for the exegetical background which has already been shown, it would be impossible to explain, let alone excuse, his tone. Christianity was no longer in any danger. He himself had not, like Athanasius, ever known any persecution from the Jews, and the period of trial under Julian had been very short. Even had they been a menace in old times, the rich and powerful Jewish community of Antioch was now hemmed in, like every other, by numerous imperial edicts issued under Christian inspiration. Moreover, Chrysostom was a man whose character excited the admiration of his contemporaries. If he was hated by politicians for his unswerving firmness, he was loved by the multitudes, and his commentaries on the gospels are still read and studied in the Orthodox Church because of their deep spiritual beauty. Such was the man who in eight sermons covering more than a hundred pages of closely printed text, has left us the most complete monument of the public expression of the Christian attitude to the Jews in the century of the victory of the Church. In these discourses there is no sneer too mean, no gibe too bitter for him to fling at the Jewish people. No text is too remote to be able to be twisted to their confusion, no argument is too casuistical, no blasphemy too startling for him to employ; and, most astonishing of all, at the end he turns to the Christians, and in words full of sympathy and toleration he urges them not to be too hard on those who have erred in following Jewish practices or in visiting Jewish synagogues. Dealing with the Christians, no text which urges forgiveness is forgotten: dealing with the Jews only one verse of the New Testament is omitted: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do'. The only explanation of his bitterness contained in the sermons themselves is the too close fellowship between Jews and Christians in Antioch. There is no single suggestion that the Jews were immoral or vicious; no suggestion that Christians were actually corrupted by the contact, either in their morals or their orthodoxy. Only one contemporary event is referred to at all, apart from general denunciations of the visiting of the synagogue at times of Jewish feast or fast. This was the case of a Christian woman who was taken into a Jewish house to take an oath in a business affair, because the Christian with whom she had to deal believed that an oath taken in the Jewish manner was more binding than any other. What the actual affair was we are not told. To Chrysostom's eyes the crime was that a Christian woman had been taken into a Jewish house, not that she had been seduced or taught heretical doctrine or anything else. It was enough that she had been made to enter the house [Sermon I:3]. There is no material in these sermons for a study of contemporary Jewish life. Events and beliefs of centuries earlier are quoted as though still accepted. On the strength of Psalm xcvi, 37, he states that they ' sacrificed their sons and daughters to devils: they outraged nature; and overthrew from their foundations the laws of relationship. They are become worse than the wild beasts, and for no reason at all, with their own hands they murder their own offspring, to worship the avenging devils who are the foes of our life" [Sermon I:6]. It seems almost as if his hearers in Antioch objected to so monstrous a statement, for in his sixth sermon he returns to the charge, and says that even if they no longer murder their own children, they have murdered the Christ, which is worse [Sermon VI:2, 3]. The synagogues of the Jews are the homes of idolatry and devils, even though they have no images in them [Sermon I:3; based on Jer. vii:11]. They are worse even than heathen circuses [Sermon I:3. The very idea of going from a church to a synagogue is blasphemous [Sermon II:3]; and to attend the Jewish Passover is to insult Christ. To be with the Jews on the very day they murdered Jesus is to ensure that on the Day of Judgment He will say ' Depart from Me: for you have had intercourse with my murderers' [Sermon III:5 and VI:8] . Some say that the synagogue is hallowed by the fact that the Holy Books of the Law are to be found in it. One might just as well say that the temple of Dagon was hallowed by the Ark being in it, even though the Ark destroyed the idol to prove the opposite [Sermon I:5, ref to I Sam V]. It is truer to say that the fact that these Books are to be found in the synagogues makes them more detestable, for the Jews have simply introduced these Books, ' not to honour them, but to insult them, and to dishonour them' [Sermon I:5 and VI:6]. The Jews do not worship God but devils [Sermon I:3, based on John 8:19], so that all their feasts are unclean [Sermon I:6]. God hates them, and indeed has always hated them. But since their murder of Jesus He allows them no time for repentance [Sermon VI:1]. It was of set purpose that He concentrated all their worship in Jerusalem that He might more easily destroy it [Sermon IV:6]. The Jewish pretence that their misfortunes are due to Rome are not worthy of attention. ' It was not by their own power that the Caesars did what they did to you: it was done by the wrath of God, and His absolute rejection of you' [Sermon VI:3]. It is childish in the face of this absolute rejection to imagine that God will ever allow the Jews to rebuild their Temple or to return to Jerusalem. Their experience under Julian should convince them of that [SermonV, passim. The whole sermon is an insulting sneer at their misfortunes and exile, and a gloating over the certainty of their damnation. Cf. the sermon ' That Christ is God: addressed to Jews and Pagans ' in the same volume]. When it is clear that God hates them, it is the duty of Christians to hate them too; and he begins his sixth sermon with a revolting analogy of a beast in the arena, who has tasted blood, and longs for it again. So he, Chrysostom, having once begun to denounce the Jews, cannot leave off [Sermon VI:1] for he who has no limits in his love of Christ must have no limits in his battle with those who hate Him [Sermon VII:1]. ' I hate the Jews ' he exclaims roundly, for they have the Law and they insult it'. But when in the last sermon he comes to address those miserable sinners who had been frequenting Jewish celebrations his tone is unrecognizable. He insists that they must be dealt with gently, for the true attitude to a sinner is 'whenever we hear any good of him, to tell it to all; but when we hear any evil or wicked thing, to keep it to ourselves, and do all in our power to change It [Sermon VIII:3]. It is evident that Chrysostom's Jew was a theological necessity rather than a living person. If he looked different from the actual Jews living in Antioch it was part of the malice of the Jew, one of the snares of the devil, set to catch the unwary Christian. The comment of a Catholic theologian on these sermons is worth quoting [Murawski]: ' Das Gebot der Nächstensliebe wird man in diesen Reden nicht wiederfinden, und ebensowenig werden solche Reden fähig gewesen sein die Juden mit Sympathie für das Christentum zu erfüllen '. [ English: "One will not find the requirement to love one's neighbour in these speeches, nor will such speeches have been able to fill the Jews with any sympathy for Christianity".] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- John Chrysostom: Adversus Judaeos HOMILY I TODAY I HAD INTENDED to complete my discussion on the topic on which I spoke to you a few days ago; I wished to present you with even clearer proof that God's nature is more than our minds can grasp. Last Sunday I spoke on this at great length and I brought forward as my witnesses Isaiah, David, and Paul. For it was Isaiah who exclaimed: "Who shall declare his generation?" David knew God was beyond his comprehension and so he gave thanks to him and said: "I will praise you for you are fearfully magnified: wonderful are your works". And again it was David who said: "The knowledge of you is to wonderful for me, a height to which my mind cannot attain". Paul did not search and pry into God's very essence, but only into his providence; I should say rather that he looked only on the small portion of divine providence which God had made manifest when he called the gentiles. And Paul saw this small part as a vast and incomprehensible sea when he exclaimed: "O the depth of the riches and of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are his judgments, and how unsearchable his ways!" (2) These three witnesses gave us proof enough, but I was not satisfied with prophets nor did I settle for apostles. I mounted to the heavens and gave you as proof the chorus of angels as they sang: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will among men". Again, you heard the Seraphim as they shuddered and cried out in astonishment: "Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God of hosts, all the earth is filled with his glory". And I gave you also the cherubim who exclaimed: "Blessed be his glory in his dwelling". (3) So there were three witnesses on earth and three in Heaven who made it clear that God's glory cannot be approached. For the rest, the proof was beyond dispute; there was great applause, the audience warmed with enthusiasm, you assembly came aflame. I did rejoice at this, yet my joy was not because praise was coming to me but because glory was coming to my Master. For that applause and praise showed the love you have for God in your souls. If a servant loves his master and hears someone speak in praise of that master, his heart comes aflame with a love for him who speaks. This is because the servant loves his master. You acted just that way when I spoke: by the abundance of your applause you showed clearly your abundant love for the Master. (4) And so I wanted again today to engage in that contest. For if the enemies of the truth never have enough of blaspheming our Benefactor, we must be all the more tireless in praising the God of all. But what am I to do? Another very serious illness calls for any cure my words can bring, an illness which has become implanted in the body of the Church. We must first root this ailment out and then take thought for matters outside; we must first cure our own and then be concerned for others who are strangers. (5) What is this disease? The festivals of the pitiful and miserable Jews are soon to march upon us one after the other and in quick succession: the feast of Trumpets, the feast of Tabernacles, the fasts. There are many in our ranks who say they think as we do. Yet some of these are going to watch the festivals and others will join the Jews in keeping their feasts and observing their fasts. I wish to drive this perverse custom from the Church right now. My homilies against the Anomians can be put off to another time, and the postponement would cause no harm. But now that the Jewish festivals are close by and at the very door, if I should fail to cure those who are sick with the Judaizing disease. I am afraid that, because of their ill-suited association and deep ignorance, some Christians may partake in the Jews' transgressions; once they have done so, I fear my homilies on these transgressions will be in vain. For if they hear no word from me today, they will then join the Jews in their fasts; once they have committed this sin it will be useless for me to apply the remedy. (6) And so it is that I hasten to anticipate this danger and prevent it. This is what physicians do. They first check the diseases which are most urgent and acute. But the danger from this sickness is very closely related to the danger from the other; since the Anomians impiety is akin to that of the Jews, my present conflict is akin to my former one. And there is a kingship because the Jews and the Anomians make the same accusation. And what charges do the Jews make? That He called God His own Father and so made Himself equal to God. The Anomians also make this charge-I should not say they make this a charge; they even blot out the phrase "equal to God" and what it connotes, by their resolve to reject it even if they do not physically erase it. II But do not be surprised that I called the Jews pitiable. They really are pitiable and miserable. When so many blessings from heaven came into their hands, they thrust them aside and were at great pains to reject them. The morning Sun of Justice arose for them, but they thrust aside its rays and still sit in darkness. We, who were nurtured by darkness, drew the light to ourselves and were freed from the gloom of their error. They were the branches of that holy root, but those branches were broken. We had no share in the root, but we did reap the fruit of godliness. From their childhood they read the prophets, but they crucified him whom the prophets had foretold. We did not hear the divine prophecies but we did worship him of whom they prophesied. And so they are pitiful because they rejected the blessings which were sent to them, while others seized hold of these blessing and drew them to themselves. Although those Jews had been called to the adoption of sons, they fell to kinship with dogs; we who were dogs received the strength, through God's grace, to put aside the irrational nature which was ours and to rise to the honor of sons. How do I prove this? Christ said: "It is no fair to take the children's bread and to cast it to the dogs". Christ was speaking to the Canaanite woman when He called the Jews children and the Gentiles dogs. (2) But see how thereafter the order was changed about: they became dogs, and we became the children. Paul said of the Jews: "Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the mutilation. For we are the circumcision". Do you see how those who at first were children became dogs? Do you wish to find out how we, who at first were dogs, became children? "But to as many as received him, he gave the power of becoming sons of God". (3) Nothing is more miserable than those people who never failed to attack their own salvation. When there was need to observe the Law, they trampled it under foot. Now that the Law has ceased to bind, they obstinately strive to observe it. What could be more pitiable that those who provoke God not only by transgressing the Law but also by keeping it? On this account Stephen said: "You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart, you always resist the Holy Spirit", not only by transgressing the Law but also by wishing to observe it at the wrong time. (4) Stephen was right in calling them stiff-necked. For they failed to take up the yoke of Christ, although it was sweet and had nothing about it which was either burdensome or oppressive. For he said: "Learn from me for I am meek and humble of heart", and "Take my yoke upon you, for my yoke is sweet and my burden light". Nonetheless they failed to take up the yoke because of the stiffness of their necks. Not only did they fail to take it up but they broke it and destroyed it. For Jeremiah said: "Long ago you broke your yoke and burst your bonds". It was not Paul who said this but the voice of the prophet speaking loud and clear. When he spoke of the yoke and the bonds, he meant the symbols of rule, because the Jews rejected the rule of Christ when they said: "We have no king but Caesar". You Jews broke the yoke, you burst the bonds, you cast yourselves out of the kingdom of heaven, and you made yourselves subject to the rule of men. Please consider with me how accurately the prophet hinted that their hearts were uncontrolled. He did not say: "You set aside the yoke", but "You broke the yoke" and this is the crime of untamed beasts, who are uncontrolled and reject rule. (5) But what is the source of this hardness? It come from gluttony and drunkenness. Who say so? Moses himself. "Israel ate and was filled and the darling grew fat and frisky". When brute animals feed from a full manger, they grow plump and become more obstinate and hard to hold in check; they endure neither the yoke, the reins, nor the hand of the charioteer. Just so the Jewish people were driven by their drunkenness and plumpness to the ultimate evil; they kicked about, they failed to accept the yoke of Christ, nor did they pull the plow of his teaching. Another prophet hinted at this when he said: "Israel is as obstinate as a stubborn heifer". And still another called the Jews "an untamed calf". (6) Although such beasts are unfit for work, they are fit for killing. And this is what happened to the Jews: while they were making themselves unfit for work, they grew fit for slaughter. This is why Christ said: "But as for these my enemies, who did not want me to be king over them, bring them here and slay them". You Jews should have fasted then, when drunkenness was doing those terrible things to you, when your gluttony was giving birth to your ungodliness-not now. Now your fasting is untimely and an abomination. Who said so? Isaiah himself when he called out in a loud voice: "I did not choose this fast, say the Lord". Why? "You quarrel and squabble when you fast and strike those subject to you with your fists". But if you fasting was an abomination when you were striking your fellow slaves, does it become acceptable now that you have slain your Master? How could that be right? (7) The man who fast should be properly restrained, contrite, humbled-not drunk with anger. But do you strike your fellow slaves? In Isaiah's day they quarreled and squabbled when they fasted; now when fast, they go in for excesses and the ultimate licentiousness, dancing with bare feet in the marketplace. The pretext is that they are fasting, but they act like men who are drunk. Hear how the prophet bit them to fast. "Sanctify a fast", he said. He did not say: "Make a parade of your fasting", but "call an assembly; gather together the ancients". But these Jews are gathering choruses of effeminates and a great rubbish heap of harlots; they drag into the synagogue the whole theater, actors and all. For there is no difference between the theater and the synagogue. I know that some suspect me of rashness because I said there is no difference between the theater and the synagogue; but I suspect them of rashness if they do not think that this is so. If my declaration that the two are the same rests on my own authority, then charge me with rashness. But if the words I speak are the words of the prophet, then accept his decision. III Many, I know, respect the Jews and think that their present way of life is a venerable one. This is why I hasten to uproot and tear out this deadly opinion. I said that the synagogue is no better than a theater and I bring forward a prophet as my witness. Surely the Jews are not more deserving of belief than their prophets. "You had a harlot's brow; you became shameless before all". Where a harlot has set herself up, that place is a brothel. But the synagogue is not only a brothel and a theater; it also is a den of robbers and a lodging for wild beasts. Jeremiah said: "Your house has become for me the den of a hyena". He does not simply say "of wild beast", but "of a filthy wild beast", and again: "I have abandoned my house, I have cast off my inheritance". But when God forsakes a people, what hope of salvation is left? When God forsakes a place, that place becomes the dwelling of demons. (2) But at any rate the Jews say that they, too, adore God. God forbid that I say that. No Jew adores God! Who say so? The Son of God say so. For he said: "If you were to know my Father, you would also know me. But you neither know me nor do you know my Father". Could I produce a witness more trustworthy than the Son of God? (3) If, then, the Jews fail to know the Father, if they crucified the Son, if they thrust off the help of the Spirit, who should not make bold to declare plainly that the synagogue is a dwelling of demons? God is not worshipped there. Heaven forbid! From now on it remains a place of idolatry. But still some people pay it honor as a holy place. (4) Let me tell you this, not from guesswork but from my own experience. Three days ago-believe me, I am not lying-I saw a free woman of good bearing, modest, and a believer. A brutal, unfeeling man, reputed to be a Christian (for I would not call a person who would dare to do such a thing a sincere Christian) was forcing her to enter the shrine of the Hebrews and to swear there an oath about some matters under dispute with him. She came up to me and asked for help; she begged me to prevent this lawless violence-for it was forbidden to her, who had shared in the divine mysteries, to enter that place. I was fired with indignation, I became angry, I rose up, I refused to let her be dragged into that transgression, I snatched her from the hands of her abductor. I asked him if were a Christian, and he said he was. Then I set upon him vigorously, charging him with lack of feeling and the worst stupidity; I told him he was no better off than a mule if he, who professed to worship Christ, would drag someone off to the dens of the Jews who had crucified him. I talked to him a long time, drawing my lesson from the Holy Gospels; I told him first that it was altogether forbidden to swear and that it was wrong to impose the necessity of swearing on anyone. I then told him that he most not subject a baptize believer to this necessity. In fact, he must not force even an unbaptized person to swear an oath. (5) After I talked with him at great length and had driven the folly of his error from his soul, I asked him why he rejected the Church and dragged the woman to the place where the Hebrews assembled. He answered that many people had told him that oaths sworn there were more to be feared. His words made me groan, then I grew angry, and finally I began to smile. When I saw the devil's wickedness, I groaned because he had the power to seduce men; I grew angry when I considered how careless were those who were deceived; when I saw the extent and depth of the folly of those who were deceived, I smiled. (6) I told you this story because you are savage and ruthless in your attitude toward those who do such things and undergo these experiences. If you see one of your brothers falling into such transgressions, you consider that it is someone else's misfortune, not your own; you think you have defended yourselves against your accusers when you say: "What concern of mine is it? What do I have in common with that man"? When you say that, your words manifest the utmost hatred for mankind and a cruelty which benefits the devil. What are you saying? You are a man and share the same nature. Why speak of a common nature when you have but a single head, Christ? Do you dare to say you have nothing in common with your own members? In what sense do you admit that Christ is the head of the Church? For certainly it is the function of the head to join all the limbs together, to order them carefully to each other, and to bind them into one nature. But if you have nothing in common with your members, then you have nothing in common with your brother, nor do you have Christ as your head. (7) The Jews frighten you as if you were little children, and you do not see it. Many wicked slaves show frightening and ridiculous masks to youngsters-the masks are not frightening by their nature, but they seem so to the children's simple minds-and in this way they stir up many a laugh. This is the way the Jews frighten the simpler-minded Christians with the bugbears and hobgoblins of their shrines. Yet how could their ridiculous and disgraceful synagogues frighten you? Are they not the shrines of men who have been rejected, dishonored, and condemned? IV Our churches are not like that; they are truly frightening and filled with fear. God's presence makes a place frightening because he has power over life and death. In our churches we hear countless homilies on eternal punishments, on rivers of fire, on the venomous worm, on bonds that cannot be burst, or exterior darkness. But the Jews neither know nor dream of these things. They live for their bellies, they gape for the things of this world, their condition is not better than that of pigs or goats because of their wanton ways and excessive gluttony. They know but one thing: to fill their bellies and be drunk, to get all cut and bruised, to be hurt and wounded while fighting for their favorite charioteers. (2) Tell me, then, are their shrines awful and frightening? Who would say so? what reasons do we have for thinking that they are frightening unless someone should tell us that dishonored slaves, who have no right to speak and who have been driven from their Master's home, should frighten us, who have been given honor and the freedom to speak? Certainly this is not the case. Inns are not more august then royal palaces. Indeed the synagogue is less deserving of honor than any inn. It is not merely a lodging place for robbers and cheats but also for demons. This is true not only of the synagogues but also of the souls of the Jews, as I shall try to prove at the end of my homily. (3) I urge you to keep my words in your minds in a special way. For I am not now speaking for show or applause but to cure your souls. And what else is left for me to say when some of you are still sick although there are so many physicians to effect a cure? (4) There were twelve apostles and they drew the whole world to themselves. The greater portion of the city is Christian, yet some are still sick with the Judaizing disease. And what could we, who are healthy, say in our own defense? Surely those who are sick deserve to be accused. But we are not free from blame, because we have neglected them in their hour of illness; if we had shown great concern for them and they had the benefit of this care, they could not possibly still be sick. (5) Let me get the start on you by saying this now, so that each of you may win over his brother. Even if you must impose restraint, even if you must use force, even if you must treat him ill and obstinately, do everything to save him from the devil's snare and to free him from fellowship with those who slew Christ. (6) Tell me this. Suppose you were to see a man who had been justly condemned being led to execution through the marketplace. Suppose it were in your power to save him from the hands of the public executioner. Would you not do all you could to keep him from being dragged off? But now you see your own brother being dragged off unjustly to the depth of destruction. And it is not the executioner who drags him of, but the devil. Would you be so bold as not to do your part toward rescuing him from his transgression? If you don't help him, what excuse would you find? But your brother is stronger and more powerful than you. Show him to me. If he will stand fast in his obstinate resolve, I shall choose to risk my life rather than let him enter the doors of the synagogue. (7) I shall say to him: What fellowship do you have with the free Jerusalem, with the Jerusalem above? You chose the one below; be a slave with that earthly Jerusalem which, according to the word of the Apostle, is a slave together with her children. Do you fast with the Jews? Then take off your shoes with the Jews, and walk barefoot in the marketplace, and share with them in their indecency and laughter. But you would not chose to do this because you are ashamed and apt to blush. Are you ashamed to share with them in outward appearance but unashamed to share in their impiety? What excuse will you have, you who are only half a Christian? (8) Believe me, I shall risk my life before I would neglect any one who is sick with this disease-if I see him. If I fail to see him, surely God will grant me pardon. And let each one of you consider this matter; let him not think it is something of secondary importance. Do you take no notice of what the deacon continuously calls out in the mysteries? "Recognize one another", he says. Do you not see how he entrusts to you the careful examination of your brothers? Do this in the case of Judaizers, too. When you observe someone Judaizing, take hold of him, show him what he is doing, so that you may not yourself be an accessory to the risk he runs. (9) If any Roman soldier serving overseas is caught favoring the barbarians and the Persians, not only is he in danger but so also is everyone who was aware of how this felt and failed to make this fact known to the general. Since you are the army of Christ, be overly careful in searching to see if anyone favoring an alien faith has mingled among you, and make his presence know-not so that we may put him to death as those generals did, nor that we may punish him or take our vengeance upon him, but that we may free him from his error and ungodliness and make him entirely our own. (10) If you are unwilling to do this, if you know of such a person but conceal him, be sure that both you and he will be subject to the same penalty. For Paul subjects to chastisement and punishment not only those who commit acts of wickedness but also those who approve what they have done. The prophet, too, brings to the same judgment not only thieves but also who run with the thieves. And this is quite reasonable. For if a man is aware of a criminal's actions but covers them up and conceals them, he is providing a stronger basis for the criminal to be careless of the law and making him less afraid in his career of crime. V But I must get back again to those who are sick. Consider, then, with whom they are sharing their fasts. It is with those who shouted: "Crucify him, Crucify him", with those who said: "His blood be upon us and upon our children". If some men had been caught in rebellion against their ruler and were condemned, would you have dared to go up to them and to speak with them? I think not. Is it not foolish, then, to show such readiness to flee from those who have sinned against a man, but to enter into fellowship with those who have committed outrages against God himself? Is it not strange that those who worship the Crucified keep common festival with those who crucified him? Is it not a sign of folly and the worst madness? (2) Since there are some who think of the synagogue as a holy place, I must say a few words to them. Why do you reverence that place? Must you not despise it, hold it in abomination, run away from it? They answer that the Law and the books of the prophets are kept there. What is this? Will any place where these books are be a holy place? By no means! This is the reason above all others why I hate the synagogue and abhor it. They have the prophets but not believe them; they read the sacred writings but reject their witness-and this is a mark of men guilty of the greatest outrage. (3) Tell me this. If you were to see a venerable man, illustrious and renowned, dragged off into a tavern or den of robbers; if you were to see him outraged, beaten, and subjected there to the worst violence, would you have held that tavern or den in high esteem because that great and esteemed man had been inside it while undergoing that violent treatment? I think not. Rather, for this very reason you would have hated and abhorred the place. (4) Let that be your judgment about the synagogue, too. For they brought the books of Moses and the prophets along with them into the synagogue, not to honor them but to outrage them with dishonor. When they say that Moses and the prophets knew not Christ and said nothing about his coming, what greater outrage could they do to those holy men than to accuse them of failing to recognize their Master, than to say that those saintly prophets are partners of their impiety? And so it is that we must hate both them and their synagogue all the more because of their offensive treatment of those holy men. (5) Why do I speak about the books and the synagogues? In time of persecution, the public executioners lay hold of the bodies of the martyrs, they scourge them, and tear them to pieces. Does it make the executioners' hands holy because they lay hold of the body of holy men? Heaven forbid! The hands which grasped and held the bodies of the holy ones still stay unholy. Why? Because those executioners did a wicked thing when they laid their hands upon the holy. And will those who handle and outrage the writings of the holy ones be any more venerable for this than those who executed the martyrs? Would that not be the ultimate foolishness? If the maltreated bodies of the martyrs do not sanctify those who maltreated them but even add to their blood-guilt, much less could the Scriptures, if read without belief, ever help those who read without believing. The very act of deliberately choosing to maltreat the Scriptures convicts them of greater godlessness. (6) If they did not have the prophets, they would not deserve such punishment; if they had not read the sacred books, they would not be so unclean and so unholy. But, as it is, they have been stripped of all excuse. They do have the heralds of the truth but, with hostile heart, they set themselves against the prophets and the truth they speak. So it is for this reason that they would be all the more profane and blood-guilty: they have the prophets, but they treat them with hostile hearts. (7) So it is that I exhort you to flee and shun their gatherings. The harm they bring to our weaker brothers is not slight; they offer no slight excuse to sustain to the folly of the Jews. For when they see that you, who worship the Christ whom they crucified, are reverently following their rituals, how can they fail to think that the rites they have performed are the best and that our ceremonies are worthless? For after you worship and adore at our mysteries, you run to the very men who destroy our rites. Paul said: "If a man sees you that have knowledge sit at meat in the idol's temple, shall not his conscience, being weak, be emboldened to eat those things which are sacrificed to idols"? And let me say: If a man sees you that have knowledge come into the synagogue and participate in the festival of the Trumpets, shall not his conscience, being weak, be emboldened to admire what the Jews do? He who falls not only pays the penalty for his own fall, but he is also punished because he trips others as well. But the man who has stood firm is rewarded not only because of his own virtue but people admire him for leading others to desire the same things. (8) Therefore, flee the gatherings and holy places of the Jews. Let no man venerate the synagogue because of the holy books; let him hate and avoid it because the Jews outrage and maltreat the holy ones, because they refuse to believe their words, because they accuse them of the ultimate impiety. VI That you may know that the sacred books do not make a place holy but that the purpose of those who frequent a place does make it profane, I shall tell an old story. Ptolemy Philadelphus had collected books from all over the world. When he learned that the Jews had writings which treated of God and the ideal state, he sent for men from Judea and had them translate those books, which he then had deposited in the temple of Serapis, for he was a pagan. Up to the present day the translated books remain there in the temple. But will the temple of Serapis be holy because of the holy books? Heaven forbid! Although the books have their own holiness, they do not give a share of it to the place because those who frequent the place are defiled. (2) You must apply the same argument to the synagogue. Even if there is no idol there, still demons do inhabit the place. And I say this not only about the synagogue here in town but about the one in Daphne as well; for at Daphne you have a more wicked place of perdition which they call Matrona's. I have heard that many of the faithful go up there and sleep beside the place. (3) But heaven forbid that I call these people faithful. For to me the shrine of Matrona and the temple of Apollo are equally profane. If anyone charges me with boldness, I will in turn charge him with the utmost madness. For, tell me, is not the dwelling place of demons a place of impiety even if no god's statue stands there? Here the slayers of Christ gather together, here the cross is driven out, here God is blasphemed, here the Father is ignored, here the Son is outraged, here the grace of the Spirit is rejected. Does not greater harm come from this place since the Jews themselves are demons? In the pagan temple the impiety is naked and obvious; it would not be ease to deceive a man of sound and prudent mind or entice him to go there. But in the synagogue there are men who say they worship God and abhor idols, men who say they have prophets and pay them honor. But by their words they make ready an abundance of bait to catch in their nets the simpler souls who are so foolish as to be caught of guard. (4) So the godlessness of the Jews and the pagans is on a par. But the Jews practice a deceit which is more dangerous. In their synagogue stands an invisible altar of deceit on which they sacrifice not sheep and calves but the souls of men. (5) Finally, if the ceremonies of the Jews move you to admiration, what do you have in common with us? If the Jewish ceremonies are venerable and great, our are lies. But if ours are true, as they are true, theirs are filled with deceit. I am not speaking of the Scriptures. Heaven forbid! It was the Scriptures which took me by the hand and led me to Christ. But I am talking about the ungodliness and present madness of the Jews. (6) Certainly it is the time for me to show that demons dwell in the synagogue, not only in the place itself but also in the souls of the Jews. As Christ said: "When an unclean spirit is gone out, he walks through dry places seeking rest. If he does not find it he says: I shall return to my house. And coming he finds it empty, swept, and garnished. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself and they enter into him and the last state of that man is made worse than the first. So shall it be also to this generations". (7) Do you see that demons dwell in their souls and that these demons are more dangerous than the ones of old? And this is very reasonable. In the old days the Jews acted impiously toward the prophets; now they outrage the Master of the prophets. Tell me this. Do you not shudder to come into the same place with men possessed, who have so many unclean spirits, who have been reared amid slaughter and bloodshed? Must you share a greeting with them and exchange a bare word? Must you not turn away from them since they are the common disgrace and infection of the whole world? Have they not come to every form of wickedness? Have not all the prophets spent themselves making many and long speeches of accusation against them? What tragedy, what manner of lawlessness have they not eclipsed by their blood-guiltiness? They sacrificed their own sons and daughters to demons. They refused to recognize nature, they forgot the pangs, of birth, they trod underfoot the rearing of their children, they overturned from their foundations the laws of kingship, they became more savage than any wild beast. (8) Wild beasts oftentimes lay down their lives and scorn their own safety to protect their young. No necessity forced the Jews when they slew their own children with their own hands to pay honor to the avenging demons, the foes of our life. What deed of theirs should strike us with greater astonishment? Their ungodliness or their cruelty or their inhumanity? That they sacrificed their children or that they sacrificed them to demons? Because of their licentiousness, did they not show a lust beyond that of irrational animals? Hear what the prophet says of their excesses. "They are become as amorous stallions. Every one neighed after his neighbor's wife". He did not say: "Everyone lusted after his neighbor's wife", but he expressed the madness which came from their licentiousness with the greatest clarity by speaking of it as the neighing of brute beasts. VII What else do you wish me to tell you? Shall I tell you of their plundering, their covetousness, their abandonment of the poor, their thefts, their cheating in trade? the whole day long will not be enough to give you an account of these things. But do their festivals have something solemn and great about them? They have shown that these, too, are impure. Listen to the prophets; rather, listen to God and with how strong a statement he turns his back on them: "I have found your festivals hateful, I have thrust them away from myself". (2) Does God hate their festivals and do you share in them? He did not say this or that festival, but all of them together. Do you wish to see that God hates the worship paid with kettledrums, with lyres, with harps, and other instruments? God said: "Take away from me the sound of your songs and I will not hear the canticle of you harps". If God said: "Take them away from me", do you run to listen to the trumpets? Are these sacrifices and offerings not an abomination? "If you bring me the finest wheaten flour, it is in vain: incense is an abomination to me". The incense is an abomination. Is not the place also an abomination? Before they committed the crime of crimes, before they killed their Master, before the cross, before the slaying of Christ, it was an abomination. Is it not now all the more an abomination? And yet what is more fragrant than incense? But God looks not to the nature of the gifts but to the intention of those who bring them; it is this intention that he judges their offerings. (3) He paid heed to Abel and then to his gifts. He looked at Cain and then turned away from his offering. For Scripture says: "For Cain and his offerings he had no regard". Noah offered to God sacrifices of sheep and calves and birds. The Scripture say: "And the Lord smelled a sweet odor", that is, he accepted the offerings. For God has no nostrils but is a bodiless spirit. Yet what is carried up from the altar is the odor and smoke from burning bodies, and nothing is more malodorous than such a savor. But that you may learn that God attends to the intention of the one offering the sacrifice and then accepts or rejects it, Scripture calls the odor and the smoke a sweet savor; but it calls the incense an abomination because the intention of those offering it reeked with a great stench. (4) Do you wish to learn that, together with the sacrifices and the musical instruments and the festivals and the incense, God also rejects the temple because of those who enter it? He showed this mostly by his deeds, when he gave it over to barbarian hands, and later when he utterly destroyed it. But even before its destruction, through his prophet he shouted aloud and said: "Put not your trust in deceitful words for it will not help you when you say: "This is the temple of the Lord! The temple of the Lord"! What the prophet says is that the temple does not make holy those who gather there, but those who gather there make the temple holy. If the temple did not help at a time when the Cherubim and the Ark were there, much less will it help now that all those things are gone, now that God's rejection is complete, now that there is greater ground for enmity. How great an act of madness and derangement would it be to take as your partners in the festivals those who have been dishonored, those whom God has forsaken, those who angered the Master? (5) Tell me this. If a man were to have slain your son, would you endure to look upon him, or accept his greeting? Would you not shun him as a wicked demon, as the devil himself? They slew the Son of your Lord; do you have the boldness to enter with them under the same roof? After he was slain he heaped such honor upon you that he made you his brother and coheir. But you dishonor him so much that you pay honor to those who slew him on the cross, that you observe with them the fellowship of the festivals, that you go to their profane places, enter their unclean doors, and share in the tables of demons. For I am persuaded to call the fasting of the Jews a table of demons because they slew God. If the Jews are acting against God, must they not be serving the demons? Are you looking for demons to cure you? When Christ allowed the demons to enter into the swine, straightway they plunged into the sea. Will these demons spare the bodies of men? I wish they would not kill men's bodies, that they would not plot against them. But they will. The demons cast men from Paradise and deprived them the honor from above. Will they cure their bodies? That is ridiculous, mere stories. The demons know how to plot and do harm, not to cure. They do not spare souls. Tell me, then, will they spare bodies? They try to drive men from the Kingdom. Will they choose to free them from disease? (6) Did you not hear what the prophet said? Rather, did you hear what God said through the prophet? He said that the demons can do neither good nor evil. Even if they could cure and wanted to do so-which is impossible-you must not take an indestructible and unending punishment in exchange for a slight benefit which can soon be destroyed. Will you cure your body and destroy your soul? You are making a poor exchange. Are you angering God who made your body, and are you calling to your aid the demon who plots against you? (7) If any demon-fearing pagan has medical knowledge, will he also find it easy to win you over to worship the pagan gods? Those pagans, too, have their skill. They, too, have often cured many diseases and brought the sick back to health. Are we going to share in their godlessness on this account? Heaven forbid! Hear what Moses said to the Jews. "If there arise in the midst of you a prophet or one that says he has dreamed a dream and he foretell a sign and a wonder, and that sign or wonder which he spoke come to pass, and he say to you: "Let us go and serve strange gods whom our fathers did not know, you shall not hear the words of that prophet or dreamer". (8) What Moses means is this. If some prophet rises up, he says, and performs a sign, by either raising a dead man or cleansing a leper, or curing a maimed man, and after working the wonder calls you to impiety, do not heed him just because his sign comes to pass. Why? "The Lord your God is trying you to see whether you love him with all your heart and all your soul". From this it is clear that demons do not cure. If ever God should permit demons to cure, as he might permit a man to do, his permission is given to test you-not because God does not know what you are, but that he may teach you to reject even the demons who do cure. (9) And why do I speak of bodily cures? If any man threatens you with Gehenna unless you deny Christ, do not heed his words. If someone should promise you a kingdom to revolt from the only-begotten Son of God, turn away from him and hate him. Be a disciple of Paul and emulate those words which his blessed and noble soul exclaimed when he said: "I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, no height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ our Lord". (10) No angels, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor any other creature separated Paul from the love of Christ. Do you revolt to cur Re: Re: 51 Documents: Zionist Collaboration With The Nazis, Edited by Lenni Brenner, Fort Lee, NJ (Barricade Books, 2002), 342 pages. 27 Jun 2007 by Anonymous Poster Reply to this comment This notes what Pil Schneider (tortured when refereing to the underground bases connected to Rome and the 'aliens' or Chimeras (create life) to scare the public for years with CIA 'mind controls' all of which are the same activity in ancient Israel but with different tactics; plagues, etc. and it also notes the bigger aspect to the wars since 1929, not being for Israel or Jews; but the wars in Israel with each person of a religious/military/public figure being replaced/killed by 2006 also shows this. The Builder Magazine November 1929 - Volume XV - Number 11 Ernst and Falk From the German of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing Translated by BRO. B.A. EISENLOHR, Ohio THERE appeared in THE BUILDER, vol. I, page 20, an article entitled: "Ernst and Falk." " Translated from the German of G. E. Isessing (1778) by Louis Block, P.G.M. of Masons in Iowa." In a precatory note the editor states that it was during the author's "last years that he wrote 'Ernst and Falk: Five Conversations for Freemasons'-a gem of purest ray and a treasure forever to the Order which he loved." The translator calls them not " conversations " but " discourses. " They are to be called "dialogs" here, if for no better reason than that this term is suggestive of the Soeratic dialog whose manner was well matched by Lessing's in "Ernst and Falk." In how far these dialogs constitute "a gem of purest ray," especially in the light of the fourth and fifth dialog, here presented, each reader will have to judge for himself. There probably will be differences of opinion. The article on Masonry in the Catholic Encyclopedia, as reprinted in THE BUILDER, vol. V, p. 250, does not seem to miss the truth so very far in what it says about Lessing's opinion of Masonry, and the same would be true of other intellectuals in Germany at the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth century. That they did not hold such a very high opinion of the Order is not at all surprising in view of the great number of different "systems" prevailing then, or their experiences with the Johnsons, Cagliostros, and like adventurers, or the evident frauds that everywhere were being practiced under a pretended Masonic cloak. Lessing's connection with Masonry, and His Masonic works: Nathan the Wise and The Education of the Human Race, as well as Ernst and Falk are the fruits of the author's pure humanity. They are not only Masonic Classics, they have been cataloged in the classic literature of the world. Perhaps in some later articles in THE BUILDER some competent brother will attempt to discuss the author and his Masonic writings. It is a field ripe for the reaper. Here, the translation of only the fourth and fifth dialogs is attempted. Why Brother Block did not continue the translations the writer does not know. The prefatory note about there being "five conversations" is quite correct. In THE BUILDER, vol. II, p. 201, appears the third of the five. From the note accompanying it we quote: "Herewith we present the Third Discourse, to appreciate which the reader must needs turn baek to the first two," and in the present instance, this should be amended to read "turn back to the first three," the first two appearing in vol. I, and the third in vol. II. In very brief summary, the first three dialogs say that Masonry has its foundation in those things that are part and parcel of human society. Each man is to live with all his fellowmen so that the one shall perfect the other. Individuals are hindered in this by such things as the diversity of races, of political constitutions, differences in occupation, in social rank, and differences in creed. Freemasonry is to do away with all these differences and their infamous influence by establishing humanity as the bond that unites all human beings. Freemasonry is not instituted, primarity, to lend assistanee in extreme need, or to bestow benefactions upon others, or for purposes of amusement and entertainment. Its purpose is to exercise the individual in improving himself constantly and to assist others in the attainment of perfection. This is "the spark" that "had kindled." Ernst went and became a Free-Mason. What he found there forms the Subject of a fourth and fifth discourse with which the road divides. (1) The business or translating is often a treacherous thing. Even the best translator may happen to have before him all edition of the original which is faulty, through careless editing or other reasons, and the peculiarities of the original idiom are ever with him, as will be manifest in the translation herewith presented. Occasionally the idiom defies translation. Almost at the end of the third dialog Falk says, in substance, that the Masons have never made a secret of a certain fundamental principle of Masonry. According to this principle they accept every worthy man of proper disposition without regard to his nationality, his religion, his station in the social order. Then he continues: Naturally this fundamental principle takes for granted the existence of men who have risen above such divisions, rather than those who intend to create them. This translation seems justified according to two of four immediately available editions, each by a different publisher. According to the other two, Falk says something like this: Indeed, this fact [that Masons accept worthy men regardless of their nationality, religion, etc.] seems to presuppose the existence, even now, of fundamental laws that were established by such men as have risen above these divisions, rather than that the purpose of this fait should be the establishment of such laws. The passage as quoted above from THE BUILDER is clearer than this. But is it as authoritative? The original German is not so very clear in either of the available versions. The difference between them is merely one letter. The following translation of the fourth and fifth dialogs is based upon Gotthold Ephraim Lessing's samtliche Schriften. Herausgegeben von Karl Lachman, Dritte, auf's neue durchgesehene und vermehrte Auflaye, besoryt durch Frank Muncker. Vol. XIII. Leipzig: G. J. Goschen, 1897. This is the most scholarly, painstaking, comprehensive, and most authoritative edition of Lessing's Works that has appeared up to the present time. Inasmuch as the author uses some English words and phrases in these dialogs, their translation into English is an impossibility. Because of that fact and others, the "flavor" of the original is lost somewhat in translation. Lessing was librarian of the Ducal Library at Wolfenbuttel, Brunswick. The first three dialogs were accompanied by a few lines of dedication to the Duke of Brunswick, Ferdinand, who was himself a Mason. They were preceded also by a "Preface by a Third Party." Not all editions contain these. Since they did not appear in THE BUILDER, vol. I, they are given here. The first three dialogs were published in 1778, the last two in 1780, though it is pretty well established now that the fourth and fifth were written, at least in outline, before the others were, and even before Lessing was made a Mason. DEDICATION OF "ERNST AND FALK" Dialogs 1, 2 and 3 To His Most Serene Highness, Duke Ferdinand. Most Serene Duke: Even I was at the fount of Truth and drew from its waters. Only he can judge of how deeply I have drawn, from whom I expect permission to draw even more deeply. The people are languishing for water and are perishing. Your highness' Most Humble Servant. Preface by a Third Party IF the following pages do not contain the true ontology of Freemasonry I would be eager to learn in which of the innumerable writings that have been the cause of them, a more definite idea of its substance may be found. But if all Freemasons, regardless of what stamp they may be, will be glad to admit that the viewpoint here indicated is the only one from which sound eyes see a real form, and not one from which a mere phantom shows itself to the dim visioned eye, then the question still might be asked, why no one has come out in such plain language long ago? There is much that could be replied to this question. But one will hardly be able to find another question that resembles it more than does this one: Why did the elementary books of instruction in Christianity come into existence so late? Why have there been so many and good Christians who were neither able nor willing to give an intelligible statement of their faith? But this, after all, would have occurred too early, in Christendom, inasmuch as faith would have gained but little, had it occurred. If only the thought had not come to the Christians to give a statement of it in a very absurd manner. Let every individual make his own application. FOURTH DIALOG Preface by a Third Party AS is known, the author of the first three dialogs had this continuation in manuscript, ready for printing, when he received a pleading hint, from higher up, not to publish it. Previous to that, however, he had communicated the fourth and fifth dialogs to some friends. Presumably without his permission, these friends had made copies of them. By a peculiar accident one of these copies came into the hands of the present publisher. He regretted that so many magnificent truths were to be suppressed and, not having received any hint, he resolved to have the manuscript printed. If this liberty is not abundantly excused by the desire to see light east over such important subjects, then nothing more can be said in defense of having taken this liberty, than that the publisher is not an initiated Mason. Nevertheless, it will be found, by the way, that for reasons of caution and respect for a certain branch of this society he has not, in the publication, mentioned several names which were spelled out in full. FALK. Welcome, Ernst! Back again at last. I have long since finished my mineral spring treatment. ERNST. And because of that you feel quite well? I'm glad of that. FALK. What does that mean? Never has a "I'm glad of that" (2) been uttered more irritably. ERNST. I am irritated, and it would lack but little for me to say that you are the cause of my irritation. FALK. I ? ERNST. YOU induced me to take a foolish step. Give attention! Give me your hand! What have you to say? You shrug your shoulders ? That caps the climax. FALK. I induce you ? ERNST. It may be, without intending to do so. FALK. And yet the blame is mine. ERNST. The man of God speaks to the people about a country which flows with milk and honey, and the people should not be longing for it? And are the people not to grumble over this man of God when, instead of leading them into this promised land, he leads them into arid deserts ? FALK. Well! Well! The damage can't be so very great. Besides, I see that you have been working at the graves of our forefathers. ERNST. They were not encompassed with flames, however, but with smoke. FALK. Then wait until the smoke is dispersed, and the flame will shed light and warmth. ERNST. The smoke will suffocate me before the flame gives me any light. And I will see that others, who are better able to stand the smoke, will warm themselves at the flame. FALK. You surely are not speaking of people who like to endure the pungent smoke, if it but be the smoke of another's bountiful kitchen? ERNST. So you know them, after all ? FALK. I've heard about them. ERNST. All the more, what is it that could induce you to trick me this way? To make a false showing to me of things whose groundlessness you knew all too well ? FALK. Your vexation causes you to be very unjust. You claim that I spoke to you of Freemasonry without having given you to understand, in more ways than one, how useless it is that every honest man should become a Freemason? How useless only? Indeed, how harmful. ERNST. Well, that may be. FALK. You claim that I did not tell you, that one may fulfill the highest obligations of Masonry without being called a Freemason ? ERNST. Rather, I remember that. However, you well know that, when my fancy has once spread its pinions, has made one flap with them- can I restrain them? I reproach you with nothing except that you held before them such a bait. FALK. And you soon wearied of the effort to reach it. Why didn't you say a word to me about your intention? ERNST. Would you have dissuaded me ? FALK. Most certainly. - Who, in the case of an active boy, wound talk him into getting back into the gocart again because he still falls now and then? I'm making you no compliments. You had already gone too far to make a new start from there. No exception could be made in your case. All must set foot upon that road. ERNST. Nor should I rue having set foot upon it, if I could promise myself better things of the remainder of the road. But, promises, excuses for delays, and nothing but promises ! FALK. Well, it's something if they are already making promises. And what is it they are giving promises about ? ERNST. Oh pshaw, you know. It is the Scottish Masonry, the Scottish knight. FALK. Oh yes, quite right - But based upon what promise is the Scottish knight hoping for ? ERNST. Would that somebody knew ! FALK. And those like you, the other novices in the Order, don't they know anything either ? ERNST. Ah they, they know so much, they expect so much! The one wants to make gold, the other wants to conjure up spirits, the third wants to re-establish the * * * (3). You're smiling, and smiling only? FALK. What else can I do ? ERNST. Show indignation at such nonsensical fellows! FALK. If it were not for one thing that reconciles me with them again. ERNST. And what's that? FALK. That in all these dreamings I recognize a striving after reality, that from all these mistaken paths one can nevertheless see whither the true path leads. ERNST. And from the making of gold, too ? FALK. From the making of gold, too. Whether gold really can be made or not made is a matter of indifference to me. But I am very certain that sensible human beings will be wishing to be able to make it only with regard to Freemasonry. Also, anyone who comes into possession of the Philosophers' Stone, becomes a Freemason that very same moment. And it really is odd, that all reports about actual or supposed goldmakers that are current in the world, actually confirm this. ERNST. And those who would conjure up spirits? FALK. About the same is true of them. It is impossible that spirits can give ear to the voice of any human being other than that of a Freemason. ERNST. How seriously you can say such things ! FALK. By all that's sacred! Not more seriously than they are. ERNST. Oh pshaw! But finally these new * * *, so it please God? FALK. O well, they ! ERNST. Do you see? You know nothing to say about them. For surely, * * * existed once upon a time, but goldmakers and spirit conjurers possibly never existed. And, of course, it is easier to say what is the attitude of the Freemasons to such creatures of the imagination, than what it is to real and actual ones. FALK. Indeed, in this case I can only express myself in a dilemma: Either, or ERNST. That's good, too. If one at least but knows that, of two statements, one of them is true. Well then: Either of these "would be (4) " * * *- FALK. Ernst ! Stop before you finish your mockery. On my conscience! There It is just they who either are surely on the right road, or they are so far from it that there remains to them not even the hope of ever getting on it. ERNST. Well, I can't help but listen to all of that. For, to ask you for a more detailed explanation FALK. Why not ? It has been long enough now that they have been using secrecies from which to make the secret. ERNST. What do you mean by that? FALK. As I have already told you, the secret of Freemasonry is that which the Freemason cannot reveal even were it possible that he wanted to reveal it. But secrecies are things which, while they indeed can be revealed, were concealed at certain times and in certain countries partly because of envy, were choked back partly because of fear, were kept secret partly as a matter of prudence. ERNST. For instance ? FALK. For instance, in the first place, this relationship between * * * and Freemasons. It may be, indeed, that once upon a time it was necessary and well not to let anything of this be noticed by others. But now, now on the contrary it may become very harmful if they continue to make a secret of this relationship. Rather ought it to be loudly acknowledged, and all that ought to be necessary is, to determine the exact period in which the * * * were the Freemasons of their time. ERNST. May I know it, this period? FALK. Read the history of the * * * thoughtfully. You must hit upon it. you surely will hit upon it, and that is the very reason why you should not have become a Freemason. ERNST. O, that I were sitting among my books this very minute. And if I hit upon it, will I get your admission that I have done so ? FALK. At the same time you will find, that you do not need my admission. But, to get back to my dilemma again. It is this period alone which furnishes the data for its determination. If all Freemasons who are now pregnant with the * * * see and feel this real period, well for them ! Well for the world! Blessings upon everything that they undertake! Blessings upon everything which they forbear from undertaking! But if they do not see and feel it, this period; if a mere consonance has misled them; if it was only the Freemason working in the * * * (5) who made them think of the * * *; if they merely fell in love with * * * on the * * * (6); if they merely would like to bestow on themselves and their friends nice * * * fat prebends; well, then, may Heaven grant us very much compassion so that we may refrain from laughing. ERNST. Behold ! You still are able to get warmed up and bitter. FALK. Sorry, yes ! I thank you for your remark, and I'm cold as ice again. ERNST. And what do you think, which one on the two cases is the one of these gentlemen ? FALK. I fear it is the latter. Would that I might be mistaken! For if it should be the former, how could they entertain such a peculiar project ? To re-establish the * * * ! That great period at which the * * * were Freemasons no longer occurs. Europe, at least, has long since passed it and, in matters pertaining to it, no longer has need of any extraordinary assistance. What is it then that they're after? Do they, too, want to become a saturated sponge that the higher ups will sometime squeeze dry? But to whom am I directing this question, and against whom ? Did you ever tell me, could you tell me that other than novices burden themselves with these vagaries about goldmakers, spirit conjurers, * * *? Other than children, than people who have no scruples about abusing children? But children become men. Just leave them undisturbed! Enough, as said, that even in the toy I behold the weapons which at some time the men will wield with a sure hand. ERNST. After all, my friend, it is not these childish things that put me out of humor. Without presuming that anything serious might be back of them, I ignored them. A cask, I thought, thrown overboard for the young whales ! But what vexes me is this: Everywhere I see nothing, everywhere I hear nothing but these childish things; that no one pretends to know anything about that concerning which you aroused expectations within me. I may strike this tone as often as I will and towards whom I will. Nobody cares to join in; always and everywhere the deepest silence. FALK. You mean ERNST. That equality which you indicated to me as being the fundamental law of the Order; that equality which filled all my soul with such unexpected hope: at last to be able to breathe it in fellowship with men who understand how to do their thinking in a sphere that is above all civil modifications, without sinning against any one of these equalities to the detriment of a third party. FALSE Well ? ERNST. It still exists? If ever it did exist! Let an enlightened Jew come along and put in his application. "O" they say, "a Jew? Of course, a Freemason must at least be a Christian. It is quite a slatter of indifference as to what kind of a Christian. Without distinction as to religion, means, only, without distinction as to the three publicly tolerated religions in The Holy Roman Empire. " Don't you think so, too? FALK. No, not exactly. ERNST. Let an honest shoemaker who, at his last, has had leisure for many a good thought (even though it were a Jacob Bohme and Hans Sachs (8)), let him come and put in his application! "O" they say, "a shoemaker! Why, of course, a shoemaker." Let a faithful, experienced, tried servant come and put in his application. "O" they say, "of course, people of that kind, who can't themselves select the color of their own coats - we enjoy such good company among ourselves." FALK. And how good is their company ? ERNST. Oh, well ! I have nothing in particular to criticize in regard to that, except that it is exclusively good company, of which one gets so tired in the world - princes, counts, gentlemen of the nobility, officers, councilors of all sorts, merchants, artists - all of these, without distinction as to their social class, have their topsy turvy fancies in the lodge, it is true. But as a matter of fact all are of one and the same class and, alas, this is - (9) FALK. In my time things were not exactly like that. And yet!. I don't know, I can but guess. I have been outside of all connection with lodges too long a time, whatever their form may be. Not to be able to be admitted for a while into the lodge now and, to be debarred from freemasonry, these, surely, are two different things. ERNST. How so ? FALK. Because the relationship between the lodge and Freemasonry is like that between the church and belief. From the outward prosperity of the church we can draw no conclusions as to the faith of its members, none whatever. There is rather a certain outward prosperity of it concerning which it would be a miracle if it could exist along with the true faith. And furthermore, both have never yet gotten on with each other. On the contrary, the one has always destroyed the other, as history teaches. And thus, I fear, I fear ERNST. What ? FALK. In short, this lodge business, as I hear it is carried on at the present time, it will not down with me. Having a treasury; to acquire capital; invest this capital; try to use it to make the best bargain; buy lands; have kings and princes bestow privileges; to use the prestige and power of them for the suppression of the brothers who belong to an observance different from the one which they would so much like to establish as being the essence of the thing - If this does well in the long run ! How gladly would I be willing to have prophesied falsely ! ERNST. O well ! What is it than can happen ? The State does not carry on so any longer now. And besides, among the persons that make its laws, or administer them, are probably, even now, already too many Freemasons. FALK. Very well ! Then even though they have nothing to fear from the State, what kind of an influence, do you think, will such a form of government have on them themselves? Will they not, evidently, get back to that, from which they wanted to tear themselves away ? Will they not cease being what they claim to be? I don 't know whether you quite understand me ERNST. Just continue ! FALK. To be sure ! Yes indeed nothing endures forever. Possibly this is the very means selected by Providence to put an end to the whole schema of Freemasonry. ERNST. Schema of Freemasonry? What is it you call by that term? Schema? FALK. Well! Schema, husk, dress. ERNST. I still don t know FALK. You surely don't think that Freemasonry always played the part of Freemasonry? ERNST. Now what does that mean? That freemasonry did not always play the part of Freemasonry? FALK. In other words, do you really think that that which is Freemasonry was always called Freemasonry? - But see ! It's already past noon ! And there my guests are already coming. You're surely going to stay? ERNST. I didn't want to, but now I shall probably have to. For a twofold satiation now awaits me. FALK. Only, at table, please, not a word. NOTES (1) THE BUILDER, vol. ii, p. 202. (2) These italics. and all which follow, appear in the original. (3) The asterisks here, and wherever they appear subsequently, represent the Order of the Knights Templar. Not of course, the American Masonic Order, but in most places the original one, and in others the pretended revived Templar Order that was making claims to the leadership of German Masonry at the time Lessing wrote. (4) Lessing here used the English words as marked by the inverted commas. (5) Gosche's edition of Lessing's works, Berlin, 1875, p. 26, says: "An attentive reader will easily be able to fill out the two * * * and some .' (6) In the (second) edition of Ernst and Falk, 1781, the year of Lessing's death, this passage reads: "the red cross on the white mantle." (7) The punctuation of the original is here preserved. The sense is not very clear. Two imprints of the 1780 edition have an exclamation point instead of the question mark, The Gosche edition has however a comma instead but by what authority? However the comma makes for clearer sense, viz., "It (this equality) would still exist if ever it did exist! With the question mark as it is given the meaning would be: "You say it still exists." (8) The noted mystic and a well known poet of the Reformation period, both of whom were shoemakers by trade. (9) Here the edition of 1781 has: "one and the same class, that class namely, on which time hangs heavily and whom the need to be occupied joins into one and the same class." ----o---- If Pythagoras Returned By BRO. CYRUS FIELD WILLARD, California (Concluded from October) WE have spoken above of certain modifications which may be produced in the egg and we ought to go further; proceeding from the idea that life is produced by physico-chemical phenomena - which is, of course, metaphysical for the experimental sciences show only a certain simultaneousness - certain scientists leave tried to reproduce artificially, or at least to imitate living tissue by beginning with the mysterious "protoplasm" which is their constituent element. Already the study of the "Brownian movements" have shown microscopic particles in a state of incessant agitation, which appear inherent to them, and may be perhaps the first stammering of life. But they have also wished to go farther and surprise the secret of the construction and the genesis of the cell. Von Schron, Benedikt and other scientists have tried to seize the process of the formation of crystals, but always by proceeding from a "germ crystal," as in the egg all proceeds from an organic germ. The celebrated experiments of Leduc have shown crystalline formations imitating vegetation by letting fall a drop of a solution of sugared sulphate of copper into a mixture of gelatine, ferrocyanide of potassium and marine salt. These similitudes of plants possess some of the properties peculiar to living beings, but they are not alive. If they are a daring manifestation of the power of the human, they have not given us true living beings. Only they prove that when man reproduces the putting to work of certain processes of nature, he happens by the same effort to produce coherent forms, and not merely a vague chaotic magma - is it not still "geometry" which reappears, here artificially, there natural? I would say as much of the experiments of Benard, or of those of Butschli of Heidelberg, with linseed oil, alkaline carbonates and water, or with the yellow of an egg, etc.: Mere one imitates the substances called "colloidal" which are at the base of organisms, and even in certain cases they have been able to form little film envelopes, microscopic cells, containing a jelly analogous to that of organic tissues. This is not the famous "homunculus" dreamed of by certain alchemists, but it is an interesting demonstration of the steps which nature follows "spontaneously" in its constructions:- architecture. In another order of ideas, it is fitting to observe that the examination of the spectra of different flames permits us to note, by the lines that appear there, the chemical composition of the luminous focus thus analyzed. Behold then, light indicating by its shafts that which are finally seen as geometrical outlines and are the elements of the body in Combustion. And the number of the lines (arithmetic) happens to corroborate their position (geometry). In the phenomena of acoustics the Mason will find still another reason for meditation and study of the letter G. We wish to make allusion to the experiments which have become classic because they are so old, although they have been multiplied and perfected in our day. This is not only the problem of the proportions of the strings or sonorous pipes, of which it would be commonplace to speak; it is not only the direct graphs of the sonorous vibrations of the tuning-fork, which give such curious designs by the combination of the two movements, parallel or rectangular; it is the action of the vibration of a sonorous environment on flames, with the old experiments of Helmholtz. There are also the curious designs formed by the stroke of a violin bow on plates sprinkled over with sand, according to the place where they produce a contact, which is combined with that of the violin bow. At the same time we cannot help thinking of the other designs which are luminous and which the phenomena of interference produce; the effects of the polarization of light and the colored rings which appear in bi-refractory crystals. Let us remark besides, that all these designs can be expressed in numerical language: sound form and number. The Mason in passing will salute the calculations of thermodynamics which unite by figures the calorific vibration and the mechanical effect. But he would not know that experimental psychology records sensation with figures, and that the scientist Charles Henry has noted in this manner, in equations, even the phenomena of life and of thought. Then he would take cognizance of the results of stereochemistry, or the relations of the atoms in their grouping in the molecule and the conceptions which it inspires in the observer. Behold several composite bodies which are formed of the same constituent chemical elements. Analysis reveals no difference. What is it then which permits us to establish their identity and to distinguish one from the other, to explain why they do not cause light to deviate in the same way when it is caused to traverse their crystals. This idea is that, in their chemical identity, that which distinguishes them one from the other, is the molecular arrangement of their elements in space, that is to say a geometrical rule. It is scarcely fifty years ago that Van t'Hoff and de Bel, relying on the work of the great Pasteur, have brought to light this new branch of science, which since has made considerable progress. It has not only cleared the minds but it has permitted the synthesis of a certain number of organic products. It is therefore no more a reverie than all the other Scientific hypotheses, from which they have drawn the laws and the results of it remain positively valid. It is likewise remarkable that chemistry has had to have recourse to symbolic notations, and to formulas which are a veritable algebra, permitting the noting of the composition of bodies, the results of their combinations and of their modifications by notations which one may compare to real equations. The atomic notation employed by modern chemistry based on the admission of the atom, a notion conceived by Grecian antiquity, is moreover conformable to those which are current, although under another aspect, in the Oriental philosophy. But again we must insist that the systems and their expression are only points of view and the main point alone is of consequence for Masonic esotericism, the equivalents and the definite proportions of the combination of bodies brings to light that which we might readily call the arithmetic of chemistry, by the side of its geometry. Ampere had already admitted experimentally that the atoms are maintained "separated from each other by repulsive forces," necessitating by this the corollary of attractive forces, like the love and the hate of the atoms, of which the old Greek philosophy speaks. Wurtz has again taken up the same conception which is now classic, but it is an entirely different question than that of the constitution of the atom, or what Leibnitz would have called the monad, for the ancient atomist admitted the impenetrability and the indivisibility of the atoms and saw in force only a manifestation of movement, the point of view followed by the materialists of our times. But the present scientific knowledge has left very far behind it the atoms of Democritus, and we are going to see, by the following, how they are considered today. The multiple and Protean-formed manifestations of the atoms, according to contemporary physicists, no longer put us in the presence of a ponderable and irreducible element but they make us meet, face to face, a new geometry of which the constitutive factors will have to be determined and which will lead us to new examinations. We shall see if they take us away from or bring us closer to our point of departure. The works of the experimentalists, our contemporaries, have demonstrated by remarkable experiments that the theory of the atom, fundamental material unity, has gone out of date and they have built a new theory of the atom, which makes of it a multiplicity, of which the units have no longer the character of matter in the sense that current language attaches to this word, nor even in any acceptation. The scientist M. Langevin has written this: The conception of the atom of electricity, from which the material atoms are formed, furnishes the necessary tie between matter and the Ether environment, with which it is surrounded. The atom is a complex whole formed of a centre positively electrified, called the nucleus, around which gravitate the negative corpuscles or electrons. Ether, meta-ether, energy; what matters it what they are called? It is a kind of planetary system; it seems that the genial Pascal may have prophesied it when he wrote in his "Pensees," that he saw in his abridgment of the atom, "an infinity of universes of which each one has its firmament. its planets its earth." The atom of each body forms thus a distinct little world. The study of the radio-active power of bodies, causing the discovery among other things of the Alpha particles, has permitted us to examine these microscopic universes. The atom of aluminum contains around its nucleus a group of 13 electrons at varying distances. The atom of gold contains 79 electrons gravitating in six orbits around its nucleus. The nuclei themselves are of an astonishing complexity; that of aluminum contains 14 electrons and 27 protons; that of gold, 118 electrons and 197 protons and that of mercury 200 protons and 120 electrons. What would Pythagoras say today of this arithmetic, and of this geometry, proceeding from nothing in order to construct everything? Into what admiration would he be plunged in the examination of the work of Curie, of Becquerel and of Perrin? What would he think of the algebraic calculations scrutinizing the frame of universal life and filling up the gaps in it, classifying a new chemical body in the Mendeleieff's tables, or making the discovery of an invisible planet in the sidereal spaces of the universe? Spiritualist on materialist, the Mason can thus see his system surpassed and restored to unity with the contrary system, by the sciences which the symbol of the letter G conceals, and which seem everywhere present, in order to realize a synthesis conformable to that of the esoteric tradition. Do we deserve to be taxed with being reactionary in spirit because we approve of our illustrious predecessors for having placed in the foreground geometry as the interpretation? While much of the foregoing is "done over" into English in the words and expressions of the translator, there are many things not covered. In Langmuir's postulates we find a geometrical formation of the atom and in the laboratory of the General Electric Co. at Schenectady there are young ladies who have built up models of the different atoms in accordance with the theories of Dr. Isangmuir showing the various geometrical shapes assumed. There is an emphasis of the Letter G which is all the more effective because silent. In many lodgerooms today in America, we see even when the lodge is not in session the letter G in the East back of the Master's chair, and at the same time, when the lodge is in session and the Master assumes his jewel, there is a duplication and emphasis as he places his jewel in its proper position. Pythagoras was a Greek born on the island of Samos in the Egean Sea, who settled in the southern part of Italy, called Magna Grecia. He required from those who wished to join his brotherhood at Krotona, that they should possess a knowledge of geometry. In fact Plato, one of his later followers, said "God geometrizes" and today we know how true this is. The Greeks called the earth, "Gea," and its measurement was "metron" hence "geometry" was used to measure the earth, the other planets and for other purposes. The letter G in Greek was called "gamma" and it was made exactly in the form of the square, the jewel of the Master, and one of the Great Lights. The Compasses, another of the great lights, was used to circumscribe the circle, or to give the spherical form of the earth, "Gea," and this circle with a horizontal diameter and an upright line crossing in the center, the Mundane Cross, formed a square, the fourth part of a circle, the Gamma or letter G. The sphere drawn by the compasses represented the atom, as well as the earth or the universe, following the old Hermetic maxim engraved on the Emerald Tablet, " As above, so below." Four gammas (Tetragammaton) or four squares with their ends joined at the center of a circle, make the Swastika, the oldest symbol of the world according to the Smithsonian Institution. When you next see the letter G in the East think of this and "our ancient brother Pythagoras," who no doubt was the Master of building fraternities in Greece, who built the surviving temple of Paestum not far from Krotona, as well all the other temples that were "the glory that was Greece." Then remember that our latest scientific knowledge is taking us back to the knowledge of the ancients and the philosophy of Pythagoras who said, " God is Universal Mind." When we realize the unit of matter, the atom, is composed of electricity and has the three phases of energy, substance and consciousness, and this consciousness is universal, we begin to get an awe-inspiring conception of that Grand Architect of the Universe, who is always geometrizing, based on the latest developments of modern science. We also see why, as stated in Anderson's Constitutions, A Mason * * * if he rightly understands the art, will never be a stupid atheist nor an irreligious libertine. That art is symbolised by the letter G. ----o---- The Almonte Stone Communicated by BRO. N.W.J. HAYDON, Associate Editor THIRTY-SEVEN years ago an alleged discovery was made of an inscription, apparently of Masonic significance, near Almonte, a town about forty miles southwest of Ottawa. It is necessary to make the statement guardedly, because, as has so often happened in like cases, no adequate steps were taken at the time to authenticate the find. In spite of having followed up every line of inquiry that seemed likely to promise further information on the subject, one must confess that the results have been very meagre and very unsatisfying. The first, and most obvious approach was to the local lodge, Mississippi No. 147. The secretary wrote me saying that he had no information on the subject, but would pass my letter on to the- Master of the lodge, W. Bro. R.A. Jamieson, who as it happened was also Town Clerk, and very much interested in the history of the locality. Not hearing anything further, after an interval of some months I wrote to him direct. He replied that it was the first he had heard of my inquiry. He said that he had heard vague rumors of the discovery of the inscription, but had no definite information on the subject whatever. He added that he had no means of prosecuting an inquiry along the most natural lines, as the files of the local newspaper had been removed. The following July I met him at the meeting of the Grand Lodge of Canada (for Ontario), and obtained some further information. The files of the local newspaper, the Almonte Gazette, were in the hands of the Hon. Andrew Haydon (no relative of mine, by the way, so far as I know) and through him I obtained the first real light on the subject. He was preparing a history of Lanark County, in which Pakenham Township is situated, and very kindly looked up the original account that appeared in the Almonte Gazette. I might add that I had previously written to the Department of National Archives at Ottawa, in the hope that they might have a file of the Gazette there, but was informed that if there had ever been one it had been destroyed with many other documents in the destruction of the Parliament Buildings by fire some years ago. As soon as the date of the discovery was fixed I made a search through the files of the Canadian Freemason and the Canadian Craftsman, but found no more than a single paragraph in the former journal. This quoted a dispatch from London, Ontario, which without giving any details, scoffed at the "discovery" as a hoax. Since then I have had some further correspondence with Bro. Jamieson, whose inquiries have resulted in very little further information. He, however, did elicit from a son of Bro. Forsythe, the first Mason to examine the stone, that he remembered a man coming to the farm when he was a boy, to cut out the portion bearing the inscription. All those who were mentioned as having examined the stone in the account in the gazette, are now dead with the exception of R. Wor. Bro. Dr. McIntosh. To this brother I also wrote and was informed by him that, so far as he knew, the proposal to cut out the inscribed portion of the stone was carried out, though he had no knowledge of what became of it. Bro. Jamieson wrote to me more recently to say that he was going to have the minutes of the lodge searched in order to see if any mention was made of the discovery, or of the proposal to cut out the inscription, and if this was one, how the relic was disposed of. However, nothing rather has come to hand, and though I have written Bro. Jamieson twice since, no further word from him has reached me. The date of the issue of the Almonte Gazette containing original report was May 27, 1892. This account is here reproduced, with the heading and sub-heading under which appeared, and a reproduction of the cut which accompanied it. A MASONIC MYSTERY An alleged relic of 1604 discovered in Pakenham Township - How it was found - What it looks like - Speculation as to its author Considerable interest has been created in Masonic circles in this district by the discovery of a peculiar inscription on a rock situated on a mound in an out-of-the-way place on Mrs. Joseph Dickson's farm in Upper Pakenham. The discovery was accidentally made by Mrs. Dickson's son over a year ago. He told Mr. John Forsythe, his neighbor, of what he had seen. The latter thought there was nothing of importance in the affair, and paid little attention to it until a few weeks ago, when, during a search for his cattle, his attention was drawn to a polished rock with Masonic emblems carved on its surface. Mr. Forsythe, being an enthusiastic member of the Craft, made a careful examination of the stone, and, finding it to possess unusual interest for members of the fraternity, he communicated the result of his investigations to his brethren in Almonte and Pakenham and invited them out to inspect it for themselves. The invitation was accepted, and a short time ago Messrs. R. Pollock, J. M. Munro, A. J. McAdam and W. P. McEwen, of Almonte, and Dr. McIntosh, Major O'Neil and R. Moore, of Pakenham, enjoyed the hospitality of Mr. and Mrs. Forsythe, and during the afternoon paid a visit to the spot containing the mysterious inscription. They found a rock with a polished surface six or seven feet in length, and a couple of feet in depth, bearing an inscription that, judged by its appearance, had been placed there by an unknown hand at a very early period, as the action of the elements in the intervening period, clearly demonstrated. The writer, believing that Gazette readers would be interested, took an impression of the inscription, of which the following is a copy, but greatly reduced in size: How such an inscription came to be carved in such a place is a mystery. If it was cut in the stone in the year 1604 - nearly three centuries ago - as the figures would seem to indicate, it looks as if some follower of Champlain (who passed through this section about the year 1603) had done the work; but of course is mere speculation. We understand that Mr. Forsythe intends sawing out the interesting relic, and it will form the nucleus of a museum in connection with his lodge - Mississippi No. 147, A. F. and A. M., G.R.C., Almonte. Some Almonte craftsmen have submitted specimens of the polished stone to a prominent geologist, with the object of gaining information as to the effects of the elements on it through the lapse of time, and every effort will be made to unravel the mystery surrounding the affair. The description leaves much to be desired. The writer says he "took an impression of the inscription," by which is probably to be understood a rubbing. The description of the stone as "polished" is very vague, and while the dimensions given probably refer to the stone itself, grammatically they refer to the polished surface. It remains doubtful whether this surface was natural, or artificial. This makes a good deal or difference, for inscriptions cut on natural surfaces, unless very deep and on a very large scale, very rapidly become indistinct. The photograph of the Nova Scotia Stone reproduced in THE BUILDER, vol. x, p. 295, shows such indistinctness very conclusively. The crux of the inscription is naturally the date. The square and compass, in unusual position it is true, the hand, the trowel and perhaps even the eye, may probably be accepted as having been quite clear. The design below the trowel looks as if intended to represent a wall of rubble Masonry, either in course of erection, or else an unfinished part of the "inscription." Perhaps both. But the date is naturally very difficult to accept; and if the cutting was done on a natural surface, it is well within possibility that the second figure was 8, of which part had been less deeply cut owing to irregularity of the surface, and had thus been obliterated by weathering. The date 1804 might not be too early for a pioneer settlement in the vicinity; the ostensible date, however, seems to present such grave difficulties as to be incredible. The whole history of this "discovery" is a striking instance of the ignorance and carelessness with which possible evidences of Masonic antiquity are treated. The project of cutting out the stone was unfortunate to say the least. Better to have left it to the weather than to have removed and lost it. On the other hand those who condemned it off hand as a hoax or imposition were equally to blame; for that was only to be decided by examination. If only such things could be carefully described and impartially judged at the time of discovery, so that if genuine they might be preserved, and if not that the fact might be authentically established! Unfortunately most of the Craft "care for none of these things," and it is much easier to come to a snap decision without information than it is to investigate. So some will believe and some will reject, according to their individual disposition, while the student can only regret that opportunities for examination were so carelessly neglected and ignored. NOTE Other difficulties to be solved lie in the fact that the first known white man to travel the Mississippi River, which is joined by the Indian River quite near the Dickson farm, was Etienne Brule in 1610, not 1603 as stated above. There is, too, the opinion of the Department of Archives at Ottawa, who wrote me after receiving a copy of the photostat of the Inscription, that the form of the figures and letters is different from that in use at the date they present. As to the suggestion that the figure 6 was really an 8, I find on examining Robertson's "History of Freemasonry in Canada", that there was no record of any lodge in the vicinity of Almonte during the era of our Provincial Grand Lodges of Upper Canada. He gives, however, details of a lodge that met at Richmond, in Carleton County, under a warrant dated 1821, which place was a village on the Goodwood River, some twenty miles southwest of Ottawa. in the Rideau Military Settlement ----o---- Freemasonry in South Africa By BRO. WILLIAM MOISTER Transvaal Bro. Moister, to whom we are indebted for this most interesting account of the Craft in South Africa, is the Editor of the South African Masonic World. He is also, if we have it correctly, Grand Organist of the District Grand lodge of the Transvaal. The situation in South Africa will seem very strange to American Masons, and will be very instructive. It is a striking proof that the doctrine of exclusive territorial jurisdiction is not a Landmark, as so many believe it to be, nor is it even a necessary regulation for the good government of the Fraternity and the preservation of peace and harmony among the Craft THIS brief survey of freemasonry in South Africa makes no pretense whatever to be a History of the Craft in this sub-continent, but is written, primarily, with the view to correcting some erroneous impressions which prevail in other countries, and also in the hope that the information may be of use to such American brethren as may visit these shores, and who would like to enjoy fraternal intercourse with their South African brethren. I have had the pleasure of meeting a number of brethren from different American jurisdictions, and most of them have been under the impression that there is a Grand Lodge of South Africa. Let me say at once that we have no Grand jurisdiction at all in South Africa. The nearest approach to it is the case of the Grand East of the Netherlands, which body has a Deputy Grand Master for South Africa in the person of Right Wor. Bro. C. C. Silberbauer, 33d, to whom the two Provincial grand Masters are subject, he being the direct representative of the Grand Lodge at the Hague. Just a word as to the order in which the four Constitutions were founded in South Africa. The Netherlands started with Lodge de Goede Hoop (Anglice - Good Hope) in 1772 and this Constitution was also the pioneer of Freemasonry in the Transvaal. The English, after some military Lodges which functioned in the latter part of the eighteenth and early in the 19th century, founded the British Lodge No. 334 in 1811. Scotland followed (also at Capetown) in 1860 with the Southern Cross Lodge 398, but it was not until 1895 that the Irish Grand Lodge Chartered a Lodge in South Africa, this being Abercorn, No. 159. There are now about three hundred and fifty Lodges under all four Constitutions, English, Irish, Scottish and Netherlandic, in the Union of South Africa and Rhodesia. At present Rhodesia has no local government in the shape of District or Provincial Grand Lodges, although there is a movement to establish a District Grand Lodge under the Scottish Constitution. All Lodges in these regions work directly under their respective Grand Lodges. This was the case with many Scottish Lodges in the Union of South Africa until a few years ago, when the District Grand Lodge of the Eastern Province was established. The same remark applies to the Irish lodges at the Cape (Peninsular) which did not come under the regime of the Provincial Grand Lodge of South Africa. But a couple of years ago the Provincial Grand Lodge of South Africa, Southern, was established at Capetown, with the Rev. Dr. Watters as Prov. Grand Master. The territorial divisions in South Africa, would, I imagine, appear somewhat chaotic to the American brother who is used to clearly defined geographical distinctions with supreme jurisdiction in each state. Constitutionally, the boundaries overlap to a confusing extent, and as each Constitution has its own ruling with regard to "higher" degrees, the Royal Arch, Mark Masonry, and so on, it requires some study to grasp the position. Let me say one thing here; in English, Irish, Scottish or Netherlandic Lodges any brother visiting Lodges in South Africa from America will be sure of the same brotherly welcome and hospitality. All work together for the common cause and with the utmost harmony, and in many districts, have joint Funds of Benevolence, and Education, and the like, no constitutional distinction being made either with regard to maintenance or benefits. THE ENGLISH CONSTITUTION. There are five District Grand Lodges District Grand Lodge of South Africa, Western Division, D.G.L. of S.A. Eastern Division, D.G.L. of S.A., Central Division, D.G.L. of Natal and D.G.L. of Transvaal, under Right Wor. Bros. Thos. N. Cranstoun-Day, J.C. Duff, Joseph Van Praagh, Daniel Saunders and G.S. Burt Andrews respectively. The first District Grand Lodges covers the western portion of Cape Province (formerly Cape Colony), the second has a very wide range, extending to Matatiele in East Griqualand in the East, and as far as Heilbron in the Orange Free State. Formerly the Lodge at De Aar came under this District but has recently been transferred to the Central Division. The Headquarters of the Western Division are at Capetown, of the Eastern at Port Elizabeth and the Central at Kimberley. The D.G. Lodge of Natal has its seat at Pietermaritzburg, while that of the Transvaal is at Freemasons' Hall, Johannesburg. This last, by the way, is the only District Grand Lodge which owns its own building, in which most of the English Lodges in Johannesburg also hold their meetings. The Central Division takes in one Lodge in the Western Free State (at Koffiefontein) while several Lodges in the Eastern portion of this Province are subject to the D. G. Lodge of Natal. I must here remark that the term " Province " used Masonically does not necessarily bear any relation to the word in a geographical sense. The Central Division is the smallest of the District Grand Lodges and governs Lodges in the Diamond Fields area and North as far as Mafeking. THE IRISH CONSTITUTION. As I have already remarked, the Lodges in the Cape Peninsular come within the scope of the Prov. Grand Lodge of South Africa, Southern, while all the rest of South Africa, including Rhodesia, is under the charge of Rt. Wor. Bro. Dr. J. G. Croghan who resides at Johannesburg. Although starting many years later than its Sister Constitutions, the Irish body is making splendid headway. The enthusiasm displayed by the Irish Craft is wonderful and at the Annual Stated Communication brethren travel many days' journey from the uttermost parts of South Africa to attend. THE SCOTTISH CONSTITUTION. There are four District Grand Lodges, Western Province, Eastern Province, Natal and Transvaal. The Transvaal D.G. Lodge includes the Orange Free State and one Lodge in foreign Territory, Friendship Lodge at Lourenco Marques, Portuguese East Africa. These are governed by Rt. Wor. Bros. James Murray Wilson (Capetown), Dr. F. A. Saunders (Eastern Province), Robert R. Peattie (Natal) and James Thompson (Transvaal). As remarked earlier, there is a movement afoot to establish a District Grand Lodge in Rhodesia. THE NETHERLANDIC CONSTITUTION. The affairs of this Grand Lodge are controlled from Capetown by Rt. Wor. Bro. C. C. Silberbauer. The Provincial Grand Master at Capetown is Rt. Wor. Bro. Mossir Alexander, K. C., who has the whole of South Africa under his charge, including Rhodesia, while the Prov. Grand Master of the Transvaal is Rt. Wor. Bro. William B. M. Vogts. This, the oldest Constitution in South Africa, is making good headway, although it is small, numerically, compared with the English and Scottish Craft. Some old Lodges under this banner are dormant, but a few have been revived of late years while new Lodges are being formed in various parts of the country. As I said above, the fact that we have these four Constitutions working together, with some diversity of territorial jurisdiction, will seem confusing to brethren who reside in a country where the geographical boundaries are clearly defined, and where only one Grand body holds sway in each. The confusion is, however, intensified when we come to the "Higher," allied or side degrees, for each Constitution has its own peculiarities in this respect. For instance: In the English system the Royal Arch Degree, while worked in a separate Chapter bearing the number of the Lodge with which it is identified (although not always the same name) is regarded as part of "Pure and Antient" Freemasonry, and a complementary degree to that of Master Mason. The brother who holds the rank of District Grand Master is, as a rule, the Grand Superintendent of the Royal Arch, though this is not an invariable rule. At Capetown the District Grand Master is Rt. Wor. Bro. Cranstoun-Day, while the Office of Grand Superintendent is held by the Deputy District Grand Master, M. E. Comp. W. J. Gibbons. In all the other Districts the Grand Supt. is the District Grand Master. In the Mark Degree the Office of District Grand Master is usually held by another distinguished brother. This degree, although it has the Duke of Connaught as Grand Master, is not actually recognized as part of Craft Freemasonry, under the English Constitution, but with the Scottish it is different. Any Craft Lodge may work the Mark degree, and some do; but in the Transvaal the degree is usually worked in a R. A. Chapter. In the English one may take the R. A. without the Mark, but not in the Scottish or Irish. And a Master Mason may proceed to the Rose Croix without any intermediate degree under the English rule, but not with the Scottish. In the last named Constitution there is a degree, "Excellent Master," which comes before the Royal Arch, and an English Companion has to retire while this is being worked, though an Irish Companion is only required to take a short obligation, as it is considered that the Irish R. A. approximates to the Scottish sufficiently to permit the Companion to remain in the Chapter while it is being worked. There are other degrees associated with the Royal Arch in the Scottish working, the R. A. Mariner, Knights of the Sword, Knights of the East and Knights of the East and West, and the Installed Degrees pertaining thereto, as well as the Cryptic degrees. The R.A. does not appear to be worked by the Netherlandic Constitution, although there are a few Rose Croix Chapters operating in South Africa. They have, I believe, some other degrees of which I cannot say anything, excepting that they are associated with the Rose Croix system. THE HIGHER DEGREES. The Ancient and Accepted Rite, and the A. and A. Scottish Rite have several Chapters Rose Crois (18d). In the case of the English, there are under the control of two Sovereign Grand Inspectors General, Ill. Bro. G. S. Burt Andrews, for Northern South Africa, and Ill. Bro. J. C. Duff for the Southern portion, while Ill. Bro. James Thompson is the Sov. Grand Inspector General of the Transvaal for the Scottish body. As a rule the members of the Rose Croix are all brethren who have served the Craft with distinction, and the degree may be considered an exclusive one. After passing the Chair of Most Wise Sovereign in a Rose Croix Chapter a brother is usually recommended by the Chapter for the 30d, which is as high as most brethren ever get. There are very few (probably not more than a score) of 31d and 32d Masons in South Africa, while it is not until a brother is appointed to the charge of a territory as Sov. Grand Inspector General that he has the honour of the 33d conferred on him. There are other orders such as the Knights Templar and the Order of the Secret Monitor working here, but their numbers are limited, and few of the rank and file of the Craft enter them. I have noticed that the "Higher degrees" seem to command a large support in America, and this is, probably, because where very large Lodges exist, the brethren naturally seek for other channels of advancement. With us the Lodge is a small unit, many Lodges containing perhaps twenty to thirty active members. We consider a Lodge of a hundred a large one. Our opportunities for advancement in the Craft proper, therefore, are greater than seems to be the case in the United States, five to ten years being long enough in the ordinary way for a brother to attain the Chair of King Solomon, while there are the further prospects of advancement in District or Provincial Grand Lodge rank. MASONIC BENEVOLENCE The four Constitutions unite in supporting Masonic Charities in most Districts and Provinces. We have only one District which can boast of "Bricks and Mortar" in this respect, namely the Transvaal, which has a fine Masonic Hostel for boys at Boksburg, a few miles from Johannesburg. There is every prospect of a similar institution for girls being established in the near future, while another scheme which has been mooted from time to time is the foundation of a Hostel for aged brethren and widows. The Boys' Home is under the auspices of the Transvaal Masonic Educational Institution, while the relief of aged and indigent brethren and their widows and dependents is undertaken by the Transvaal Masonic Benevolent Fund. In addition to this, most District and Prov. Grand Lodges have their own Benevolent Fund, as has every Private Lodge. MEETING PLACES. The only District Grand Lodge which owns a building is that under the English Constitution for the Transvaal. Freemasons' Hall in Johannesburg was acquired some years ago, and the Offices of District Grand Lodge are in this fine building. Most of the English Lodges in the city meet there. In some other cases a building is owned jointly by two or three Lodges Re: Re: 51 Documents: Zionist Collaboration With The Nazis, Edited by Lenni Brenner, Fort Lee, NJ (Barricade Books, 2002), 342 pages. 27 Jun 2007 by Anonymous Poster Reply to this comment By 1950, the world has succum to heresies of demonic nature from media, and gangster-type programming, to total control through education for dumbing down. Before and after 1950, they use Chinese Scientists (many still being killed now or arrested a spies, one arrested in regard to Los Alamos by 2003) along with Islamists, and 'satanists' who are only arrested later or killed. (See Clinton/KGB and Chinese) They used microwave weapons to create ADHD, SARS (radiation effect), cancers, by signals to the brain to pick up body and brain signals to send back and through satellite; illnesses, attacks through tracking, etc. Search: Chinese + Scientist + 1975 + brain signals (althouh the scientists killed from 1990 to present in all countries were also used) China is where the stock money is being invested from crime now. Trillions of dollars a year in fraud, like the more recent Airport arrests, and the Chinese black-market butterfly sales reported on CNN are paying for Jewish deaths). The death money from elderly homes, to the banks, after the bankers deaths (over 20 in Russia and the Intl Sephardic Jewish banker in 2005), all other deaths and indictments takes the money to Swiss Accounts. And all anyone sees is the 'Pauls' (those who watch the death of rabbis in Israel and go along with the Satanic Church) or 'do gooders' used as 'informants' in doctors, radiology, and every palce else if anyone mentions the crimes. Re: Re: 51 Documents: Zionist Collaboration With The Nazis, Edited by Lenni Brenner, Fort Lee, NJ (Barricade Books, 2002), 342 pages. 27 Jun 2007 by Anonymous Poster Reply to this comment The Destruction of Russian, Israel, UK, United States Jewry; and forced conversion to heresy through radiation, job loss, millions of deaths; Same as Ancient Days; those who turn into the "Pauls" who go along with the Satanic Church and watch "Jesus" (the current torture of Rabbis who believe in one god and speak up for the worldwide kidnapping of children and creation of orphans)--those are very clearly seen. 'Zionism' is only another term for the "Jubilee" each century of the Church using Satanists/Builders/Reich to force conversions and then kill Jewish, setting up new churches (as was currently the case in Russia after millions of Jewish deaths); and millions taken out of Russia, not given work, then displaced, forced into shelters, poverty, killed by 'do gooders' who do not see how they got there. The documenation is always the case throughout every century for Rome to have mass killings, plagues, and deaths under "Terror Wars" and call it a "New World Order." The brainwashing, accusations, deaths, to get to the 'Jubilee' as in Jubilee 2000, when millions of Jews had already been killed. "Now, before the 14th century, the Jews of Europe had already begun to be persecuted in parts of Europe.." Rome will keep playing both sides, the Satanic Reaper and Jewish killer and their 'savior' accepting them into another country for the next wars. You wil notice the setting up of new construction, new areas, areas that are 'not affected' as much by the wars, and many other purposely controlled things for creating 'prosperity' in other areas, another money maker in -reconstruction at the same time. "It is important to realize that most of these changes occurred in western and central Europe - not eastern Europe. Eastern Europe did not suffer from the plague to the same extent. "Poland had hardly any cases of plague at all." "The doctors, radiologists, nurses, police, KGB, Mossad, CIA's, FBI's, are all killed at some time to bring abuot this massive 'Satanic Jubilee' we see today, along with the plagues, the populationists used, pseudo-eugenics to continue killing and then set up new churches in all countries with a "new" Pope. So, the deaths of Jews who do right or who follow the Holy Torah continued from 1929 for this moment where we see massive ritual killings, hired terrorists, the use of foreign scientists and armies, and agents, in each opposite country, race' and 'religious' wars, while the 'races' and 'religions' are the same as ancient days." Jewish doctors have continued being killed Other Jewish doctors and nurses killed at he end of the 'holocaust' in WWII for this ongoing 'Old World Order' Henrietta Szold In early 1948, just before the State of Israel was declared, Arab troops ambushed and murdered seventy-seven Jewish doctors and nurses from ...www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Szold.html In 2004, a woman is fired from a government facility/NSA for opening her mouth about tapping water. Of course from 1929 to today, the 'plagues' have gotten worse, along with the 'diseases' made by Romes Chinese, and other scientists, who were then killed before 9-11 or are still being used under the world leaders. "Rumours that Jews had started the plague: In 1348, the rumor spread that the black death was due to an international conspiracy of Jews to poison Christendom. It was reported that one of the chief rabbi in Savoy had dispatched his poisoners to France, Switzerland, and Italy. (remember Jews were often merchants - and the infected rats were carried by merchants - so there may have been coincidental evidence to support these accusations) The Count of Savoy authorized the inquisition of Jews under torture to affirm or deny these rumours. Some Jews confessed - under torture mind you - to spreading the plague. A Jewish merchant (Agimet) who had been buying silks in Venice - confessed that he had poisoned the wells of Venice with a special powder." And like the case above, since 1929, all Jews who observe Torah or who were least innocent, who got the tail end of the crimes, was killed, shot, indicted, and will be at a later time. The facts show it over and over again. 1) Europes 'Black Deaths' and wars www.luc.edu/faculty/ldossey/bubonicanov6.htm By 2006, millions of Jews are killed (Chabad, politicians, Jewish children in plane 'crashes,' car crashes, SARS (radiation), and every other type of crime against them, or put on 'mental' lists in Chicago's "Eugenics inhertiance" lists, emmigrants from Russia above age 40 reduced to poverty, death, cancer from radiation, or put into elderly housing on WIC, or into shelters, where they are forced to 'come to Christ.' Crisis Management for Community's Most Vulnerable January 11, 2007 Jan L. Apple Jewish Federation Feature An initiative entitled Community Connections Enhanced Case Management is making a dramatic difference by stabilizing the lives of some of the most vulnerable Jews in the Philadelphia region. Administered by Jewish Family and Children's Service (JFCS), Community Connections, in place since April 2005, provides ongoing, in-depth case management services to needy Jews under age 65 and their families, living at or near poverty. During its first year, 156 clients were served. That number is expected to increase. Also Search: killed + holocaust survivor (0ver 10,000+ have been targets) Obituary + holocaust survivor Plane crashes Synagogues set on fire around the world Jewish + harassed + Canada (or Russia) Russia just now setting up more hate groups again after massive purges "Our focus is on people with chronic needs," explained Joanne Lippert, LSW, assistant director of JFCS' Case Management Department. "Most of these clients have chronic mental health issues, illnesses or physical disabilities. Some are homeless. People are often shocked to discover that there are Jewish homeless in our community." Here, where they forced Jews into shelters, and 'mental health' clinics, the 'do gooders' will later be killed or accused of helping with the deaths or destruction, or killed which has been the case. And the doctors, radiologists, and others being used as 'informants' too, have continued being targets of murder (along with the 2000 discussion with Art Bell on the deaths of coroners). In many instances, they forced Jews (in the U.S. in shelters and wordlwide) to 'declare Christ' after their near-death and job loss, after years of radiation (they have also continued to isolate myself through these radiation crimes and use totally ignorant people to yell at me and say, "I don't need to know anything, you need Christ!"). They are doing this to millions. The ACLU is receiving millions of calls as they stated on their phone line. But, no one is getting any real help until their death. They will keep up with the illegal actions, fabricating something in the end, and then getting rid of those involved. Who are with the Pauls today; those who will spit in the face of a tortured Rabbi, ready to slander the next killed, or arrested, and even the innocent, and then stand by when people are tortured, and deny any truth while they see it each day in front of them; or those who speak up about it; those who are most closely related to the 'Trinity' and other areas for profits, who cave in under others being hanged, even over a job? And in every single case, those in NSA, CIA, FBI, courts, and all other areas will go along with it; as they are fired if they don't, and you can be sure that they too will become victims; and with each victim, not one, did the 'state' and Nepotism use anyone who likes them to kill them. Under surveillance for over 60 years, Jews were not attacked and induced with death by someone set up who agrees with them but who is opposed to their beliefs just as when Noah knew all had become corrupted and there was none who listened. And the enemy attacks the individual today with each opposer they can, while killing each person who will not be an opposer already having them all staked out, i.e., an attack right in a Rabbis own home or in their car and then attacks on the police who went to the scene, then attacks from one person after the other. The goal is not to really get rid of heresy but increase it. The goal is not here to really let those who beleive in Torah have the land, but to have worldwide leaders keep helping with money to Swiss Banks and reduce the power of Torah believers, those who have studied truths for years, and do not succumb to heresy so that those fighting for power in other areas can keep control of Israel and keep up the wars, the attacks on them. "In the summer of 1929, the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn (1880-1950), visited the Land of Israel. The Rebbe departed the Holy Land on Thursday, August 22, two days before the Arab Riots of 1929 in which scores of Jews were massacred in Hebron and Jerusalem. Among the dead and wounded were several of the Rebbe's family relations and disciples." A Sephardic Perspective on Hevron Part II - Opinion - Arutz Sheva ... murderers killed Hakham Hanokh Hasson, the chief Sephardic rabbi, and his entire family. ... Sephardic rabbi in Hevron subsequent to the 1929 pogroms was ...www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/5974 - 1929 Hebron massacre - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia In Safed, 18 Jews were killed and 80 injured. See also: 1929 Safed massacre ... [6] Rabbi Slonim refused to turn over the students and was killed on the ...en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1929_Hebron_massacre Messianic Movements and killings now become accepted by taking old deities and changing the names, adding dictionary terms and suggestive heresies heard long enough, after many years of it, and many years of indoctrination and acceptance of the suggestions given through large secular areas to cults, where money and weapons and the stock markets in death has increased the pull of power along with oil. 1929 News ... Frank MARLOW, racketeer, was found shot and killed near the Flushing Cemetery. ... Rabbi LEVINTHAL has been elected a delegate for the Zionist congress at ...www.bklyn-genealogy-info.com/Newspaper/BSU/1929.News.July.html The mob operates out of U.S. and Chicago even paying Klaus Barbie and those associated with Scientology in Germany; the same as present, and with the KGB. Chicago Jewish News - Jewish Chicago's Hometown Newspaper ... Epstein tells it, in 1929 Goldman was serving as rabbi of the Cleveland Jewish Center. ... family, including his wife, were killed, he somehow got hold of ...www.chicagojewishnews.com/lists_chirabbis.htm Few said anything until much later, and those who were murdered by doctors, killed, political assassinations, were denied because all were so consumed with 'cover ups,' minds too small to see the big picture, total denial of truth by brainwashing, and only 'trained to do' or totally self-induldged in their own god while milions are taking part in the killings, the whole society taking part, half lying and the other half working for the corruption under the Nepotism the truth sayers. Well over 10 million Jews have been killed and through many actions, certain families continued to be attacked and kept from multiplying until the present. Also by the constant wars, movements, 'intermarriage,' conversions to Judaism, killings, many are continually forced into secularism and other religions, not recognized as 'Jews.' But, those who believe in real Torah will sure to be attacked. "This is the regime of Auschwitz, to which the transports began yesterday—12,000 Jews, men, women, children, and the elderly, ill and healthy, each and every day, to be suffocated, incinerated, and used as fertilizer in the fields. In view of them, why are you, fellow Jews and government ministers in all the free countries, being silent about this slaughter, in which some six million Jews have been murdered thus far, and in which tens of thousands are now being murdered every day?" --Rabbi Weissmandel from www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/hungary1.html Rabbi Yekele one of the Famous Turkl's Hasidim Rabbi Mordechai Zeev Wolf Turkel 1845-1929. was a prominent Rabbi, descendant of ... with his family to Belzitz in September 1942 and was killed two months later. ...www.geocities.com/turkel.geo/FAMOUS/Yekel.htm Rabbi Meir Kahane would be set up for attacks before 9-11, while millions of other Jews were still being killed, although I don't believe he was as scholarly as many Rabis of the past and still those being attacked; people have been killed moreso based on 'thought' and real intelligence, those in living reality, especially for the last 80 years for this Rome Occupation. Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane ... why did the Arabs - the Palestinians - massacre 67 Jews in one day in 1929? ... Arabs cried and went to war and killed 6,000 Jews - was that upset stomach ...www.kahane.org/meir/dear_world.htm We still see this term 'goy' even with those in cults and converts today; with no understanding of what it would have meantif it were used in ancient days; Just like the other words which are turned around under Roman standards and gods. It was a term for those in heretical movements and wars; which again most have succumb to today with zoarastrianism. There was a King of Goy during raids in Israel and constant attacks while the new group with Moses tried to protect families from all the worldwide religions and set up the Tabernacle, but at each moment, 'history' is controlled more verbally until all conform to distorted texts to be controlled for these constant wars. "Goy" is any distortion outside of rela Torah truths. We see people with no training but in distorted heresy today use this term. Of course, they are usually not up on the constant moving and removing of Jewish societies, most who were forced into Christianity because of Paul, Rome, Egypt, Iran, and the same today. millions of references are out there on the 'hate' and 'goy,' in some instances with imaginations of racial ideas without any real concept of how people have been constantly intermarried for years, overlapping religions, Persian and other powers doing it, as millions of other simple minded references while not living in reality of the moment: Rabbinic Literature as a historical source for the study of the Gospels ... (PDF) that a ʻgoyʼ who studies the Torah must be killed (Sanh 59a). R. Yohanan ... The following is told about Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa, a Gali ...christusrex.org/www1/ofm/sbf/Books/LA52/LA52217Manns_RabbinicLit.pdf Rabbinic Literature as a historical source for the study of the Gospels ... (PDF) that a ʻgoyʼ who studies the Torah must be killed (Sanh 59a). R. Yohanan ... The following is told about Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa, a Gali ...christusrex.org/www1/ofm/sbf/Books/LA52/LA52217Manns_RabbinicLit.pdf The statements below are always the case. You do not hear about anything except anti-Israel while millions of Jewish are still being killed to destroy that power, because the 'leaders' are in Nepotism spots for many years while the money goes to only a couple; the leaders are getting big benefits by deaths, investments in oil, war, all being 'told what to say and do' based on opposite teachings, and geared towards those making money off the many gods and heresies who oppose Israel. Yasir Arafat's Timeline of Terror www.camera.org/index.asp Members of the media are focusing much attention on Yasir Arafat's legacy. Many of the historical briefs and timelines being published whitewash his decades-long involvement in terrorism. While they note that Arafat led Fatah and the PLO, the terrorist acts committed by these groups are often ignored. For example, a Nov. 4 AP timeline, reproduced in the publications and Web sites of many different media outlets, lists only one failed act of sabotage in 1965, 3 suicide bombings in December of 2001 and one in 2002. In fact, groups under Arafat's direct or indirect command – including Fatah, Black September, Tanzim and Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade – were responsible for hundreds of bombings, hijackings, assassinations and other attacks, including the 1972 murder of 11 of Israel's Olympic athletes in Munich, the 1973 murder of the American ambassador to Sudan, Cleo Noel, and the 1985 hijacking of the Achille Lauro cruiseship (resulting in the murder of wheelchair-bound Leon Klinghoffer). The AP timeline instead highlights Israel's anti-PLO actions without providing the reason – decades of terrorist attacks against innocent civilians. Not only is the PLO's history of international hijackings, kidnappings and child murders ignored, the terrorist organization and Arafat's leadership of it are actually praised: Feb. 4, 1969: Arafat takes over PLO chairmanship, transforms it into a dynamic force that makes Palestinian cause known worldwide. Anielewicz, Mordecai Leader of the Jewish resistance in the Warsaw ghetto killed in 1943. Anschluss From a German word for political union, Hitler's annexation of part of Austria. antisemitism Hostility, prejudice, or discrimination against Jewish people or Judaism. The term "Semitic" refers to the descendents of Shem, a common ancestor of Middle Eastern peoples, but is now used specifically to refer to Jews. Today, we have seen this from 1990 to present, cleaning out whole communities, bringing in immigrants, forcing Jewish on drugs by microwave weapons, deaths, into poverty, forced conversions to Messianism, moved to Israel and forced into poverty there or killed, and turned gay by the Roman Catholic Church or pedophiles, arrested, until there are isolated Jeiwsh communties with Islam moving in in New York. "Ghetto and Shtetl To make their spiritual lives richer, Jews had usually chosen to live in Jewish communities, close by a synagogue. Nevertheless, these were voluntary settlements, and there were always some Jews who lived outside of them for one reason or another. During the fourteenth century in Spain and Portugal, however, Jews were compelled for the first time to live apart from non-Jews. Then in 1516, in Venice, Italy, the Catholic Church ordered that walls be built around the Jewish quarter. Venice gave this walled-in compound the name ghetto, which may come from borghetto ("little borough") or from the Italian word for a nearby iron foundry, gettare ("to cast in metal"). At night the ghetto gates were sealed and guards were posted to make sure that the Jews would not come out until daybreak. In part, the Catholic Church created the ghetto to protect the Jews from attack. Ignorant peasants believed not only that the Jews were guilty of having killed Jesus, but also that the Jews brought bad luck or practiced evil magic. So when things went wrong, or life became difficult, they blamed the Jews, and often did them bodily harm. But in part the Church built the ghetto in order to separate Jews from Christians, and this isolation only served to make matters worse, for it heightened the superstitions of the peasants. In a short time--and for like reasons--ghettos appeared throughout Europe. Jews were sometimes forced to wear badges on their clothing to show they were Jewish (this was another idea that the Nazis would later borrow). By generally accepted practice, often written into Church law, Jews were not allowed to own land and were forbidden to participate in many professions. In eastern Europe, particularly in Poland and Lithuania, there were fewer ghettos. Instead, Jews lived in small private towns called shtetls. The government often protected shtetls, and the government would sometimes use taxes collected from the Jews living in these small communities to support the local rabbi or even a town council. But the shtetl had much the same effect as the ghetto: it singled out the Jews and separated them from the non-Jewish world." ---www.rossel.net/Holocaust05.htm www.jewishrefugees.blogspot.com/ "In just 50 years, almost a million Jews, whose communities stretch back up to 3,000 years, have been 'ethnically cleansed' from Arab countries. These refugees outnumber the Palestinian refugees two to one, but their narrative has all but been ignored. Unlike Palestinian refugees, they fled not war, but systematic persecution. Seen in this light, Israel, which absorbed most of these Jewish refugees, is the legitimate expression of the self-determination of an oppressed indigenous, Middle Eastern people. This website is dedicated to preserving the memory of the near-extinct Jewish communities. It will attempt to pass on the stories of the Jewish refugees and their current struggle for recognition and restitution. Awareness of the injustice done to these Jews can only advance the cause of peace and reconciliation. (Iran: once an ally of Israel, Iran is now an implacable enemy and numbers of Iranian Jews have fallen drastically from 80,000 to 20,000 since the 1979 Islamic revolution. Their plight - and that of all other communities threatened by Islamism - does therefore fall within the scope of this blog.)" "Palestinians have not been the Middle East's only victims of tumultuous forces beyond their control. Another group that got swept up in history's unforgiving currents was the Arab world's once-thriving Jewish minority: the Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews. NOTE: That from Biblical days, there could not be less than 500 million Jews today, even by wars, as other peoples accumulate. And we hear of 'population control' 'Eugenics' which is another term for this constant Roman Empire turmoil of fifty million groups at a time killing others or allowing it to happen. And those used by the Roman Catholic CHurch are mostly gangsters and criminal types, not any pure race or Aryan or any other the other lies. It is simply for them to make money and set up newer cities. Usually the city where big investments are going, was previously used for the killing of Jews; as China and Germany were under unethical studies. "There were some three-quarters of a million Jews living in Arab countries prior to the creation of Israel in 1948. The Maghreb (Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia) had a Jewish population of up to half a million; Iraq, up to 140,000; Egypt had up to 100,000; and Yemen, around 50,000. Today, the Jewish populations of most Arab countries number a few hundred or fewer, with the exception of Morocco which still has a few thousand Jews. "Although most Middle Eastern Jews saw Zionism as a remote and alien European dream, about half the Jews who left or were expelled from Arab countries ended up in Israel. The rest went to Europe and the Americas, the largest single group settling in France. "Rather like "Jew", "Arab"' is a very loose tag applied to a diverse range of peoples and cultures. It covers the real McAhmed Arab societies of Arabia, as well as the "Arabised" societies of the rest of the Middle East. The only things Arabs share in common are language - and that is not always the case, given the great difficult those from the western reaches of the Arab world have in communicating with those in the east - and to a lesser extent religion, ie most but by no means all are Muslim. "Each major Jewish population in the Arab world had its own distinct identity and history. The Iraqi Jewish population is believed to have been the most established, having lived in Mesopotamia since at least the Babylonian exile. In fact, according to Biblical mythology, Abraham was an "Iraqi" who moved to Canaan (modern-day Syria, Lebanon and Israel-Palestine) and, procreative genius that he was, gave birth to three nations: the Israelites, the Arabs and the Edomites. Bizarrely, "God" also promised old Abe land that was already inhabited for his offspring, without satisfactorily explaining how this would come about or what was to be done with the locals. "Palestinians have not been the Middle East's only victims of tumultuous forces beyond their control. Another group that got swept up in history's unforgiving currents was the Arab world's once-thriving Jewish minority: the Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews. "There were some three-quarters of a million Jews living in Arab countries prior to the creation of Israel in 1948. The Maghreb (Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia) had a Jewish population of up to half a million; Iraq, up to 140,000; Egypt had up to 100,000; and Yemen, around 50,000. Today, the Jewish populations of most Arab countries number a few hundred or fewer, with the exception of Morocco which still has a few thousand Jews. "Although most Middle Eastern Jews saw Zionism as a remote and alien European dream, about half the Jews who left or were expelled from Arab countries ended up in Israel. The rest went to Europe and the Americas, the largest single group settling in France. NEWS FOR MEMBERS OF THE TRIBE: holocaust ... be named for an Israeli Holocaust survivor killed in Monday's shooting rampage. ... year-old Romanian-Jewish immigrant and Holocaust survivor named Liviu Librescu ...motnews.blogspot.com/search/label/holocaust Israeli Holocaust official likens Jewish Settlers To Nazis -- Signs of ... Lapid, a Holocaust survivor who lost his father to the Nazi genocide, said in a ... Noam Arnon, said 37 Jews had been killed in the Hebron area in the past ...signs-of-the-times.org/articles/show/126040-Israeli+...+To+Nazis Those in Russia, Israel, and the United States who will not succumb to satanic/Builders/Baal/pedophile Heresy have been victims in the millions. Re: 51 Documents: Zionist Collaboration With The Nazis, Edited by Lenni Brenner, Fort Lee, NJ (Barricade Books, 2002), 342 pages. 10 Jul 2007 by Anonymous Poster Reply to this comment We will be coming back to the Genesis, with full Baal, Empire, and a lost history; beginning again, when Noah says that all people came from the same line, and the men became very evil, and the fallen angels married (Baal and Rome) into the 'people of God.' And everyones memory of real history is replaced with terms and new philosophies until it happends, a pre-memory loss; terms such as 'holocaust' and 'revolutions' and millions of other ideas that didn't exist. Just as "Christianity" and Satanic Rome did not exist as Christianity nor "Jewish" (CIA memory dissolution). In the beginning, there are those who refuse to follow the Baal religions and those who try to set up the 'One Eternal' religion, but they are continuously at war until today. See Noah, and the Biblical 'Chronicles' on all countries families and how Baal Worhsippers constantly usurp those of the 'One God' and then enter Israel. The Biblical accounts of times, countries, places, shows the rhetoric 'cycle' of Rome taking control of all the armies in the world and then accusing the 'Jews.' Each year, history is rewritten by Roman Armies, as they gether up everyone to be used under them against the "One God." They have been preparing for the final Rome control of Israel again and wiping off the planet to start over. The reality is that older Jewish tribes are gone, killed, through all the wars, and Baal/Rome reinvents religion, the dates, times, and names of countries, groups of people, having 'Jews' attack older Jewish descendants, each year and century. Read it. And, it has been backwards from real "Jewish law" each time, so it has an adverse effect, actually, throgh rhetoric, bringing about total Baal and Satanic control rather than a Torah; with Jews who follow 'satanism' then killed for heresy. See This 'Revelations' which have continued to be used in this circle of Baal on the tail of the real Jews. You see they fit right back into the 'revelations' and this cycle. www.meguiar.addr.com/ And after sending Jewish to Israel they again were put through wars on all sides, money going to Baals bank account, the bankers killed, and an international Sephardic banker prior. Over 10 million Jewish killed since 1990, just between Russia and U.S. Re: 51 Documents: Zionist Collaboration With The Nazis, Edited by Lenni Brenner, Fort Lee, NJ (Barricade Books, 2002), 342 pages. 05 Sep 2007 by Anonymous Poster Reply to this comment Rome operates on a 400 year rotation of 'reform' from Moses law (to stay away from idol worshipping because of these plagues and wars); slowly using new Pronouns and terms, wording for the changes in religion from Torah (the law); following the Biblical accounts exactly until the 'End times' and 'revelation' and having everyone believe that those around the scale of religions and crime are Jewish and then blaming the Jews while finally taking over Israel. Although there are constant covert wars and crimes, and each century the Milenial 'Jubilee' against the Jews. After years of controlling rleigion and public opinion and education, while killing real law, they have an arc of Vatican Stanists, Knights, many cults, many Kaballists, around the the Christian groups and by constant and movement and conversions, manipulation of 'races' throughout the wars, make people believe that everyone is Jewish from Nazi doctors, to psychiatrists, and absolutely everything in the final world war for 'End Times' (as in the Biblical accounts of world destruction) is blamed on the 'Jews' while they are killing off real Davidic Lines/Israelite lines still, very few left, and each day converting thousands into "Judaism." (This whole process brought to fruition of world war is called zionism). Re: 51 Documents: Zionist Collaboration With The Nazis, Edited by Lenni Brenner, Fort Lee, NJ (Barricade Books, 2002), 342 pages. 22 Nov 2007 by Anonymous Poster Reply to this comment GOOD! Re: Re: 51 Documents: Zionist Collaboration With The Nazis, Edited by Lenni Brenner, Fort Lee, NJ (Barricade Books, 2002), 342 pages. 24 Nov 2007 by Brad Sellars Reply to this comment Tuesday, November 20, 2007 : There are more than 10,000 Palestinian prisoners currently being held in Israeli jails. Amongst them are 750 administrative detainees who have never been charged or tried for any crime, as well as 350 children and 182 women in Israeli prisons. Israel was the only country in the world where torture was still lawful before it was made illegal by the Israeli high court in 1999. But since the start of the second intifada in 2000, it has been reported that torture is regularly practiced in Israeli detention centers. Crossing the Line host Christopher Brown speaks with advocate, author and law professor Lisa Hajjar about the issue of political prisoners. Listen Online electronicintifada.net/v2/article91... Its just a matter of time 09 Dec 2007 by Jay C. Reply to this comment "Islam isn't in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant. The Koran, the Muslim book of scripture, should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on Earth." Omar M. Ahmad, founder of Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Re: Re: 51 Documents: Zionist Collaboration With The Nazis, Edited by Lenni Brenner, Fort Lee, NJ (Barricade Books, 2002), 342 pages. 02 Dec 2007 by S Cameron Reply to this comment Backgrond to torture and Empire which is neglected for simple 'peace' lies. Clinton, Opus Dai, Vatican, and the doctors collabaroate in ancient-modern version Roman Eugenics right now(not one person, doctor, attorney, military agent, CIA, NSA, FBI, all areas using informants without indictments at this time and murders already taken place, but it continues) This is the same as Israels 'leaders' all become investigated or resigned as well for corruptiopn covering up what is only going to be more crime. The Israelites throughout the European Empire are intermarried by the other tribes of lower Israel, from ancient days, but finally kicked out of Wales, to Spain, Scotland, and married into each other but then killed off each time the Greek, satanic, Syrian families marry closer to it taking their names and belongings. At the same time, groups such as Masonic, are increased, and anyone with Jewish links in it also killed up to present. "Zionism" created under Stalin in Russia as they killed another 40 million Jewish lines, taking the goods and claiming to be Jews. (See Book of Daniel) the Image is set up by the 2000 mark and the Empire money moving to China, Asia while being taken down and final wars on Israel, those in top drug cartel, war weapons, aerospace, making the wars against each other worldwide under NSA's. Not one person has not been victim and is not vicitim. They neglect on purpose to mention that many sent to Palestine were Jewish descent but also are being killed. Marriages into the Davidic, Israelite and then Judah families, continued. After marrying Greeks into the Cameron line, they continued cutting off certain families. In my own case, as well as millions of others, because the line was being used for more promient Presidents to be squeezed into the line, to be aligned finally for Bush-Baal and Satanic lines in line with the Anti-pope, and seting up Persians, Islamic, against the final war on Israel. The Davids, Davis lines, many forced into America, for what would be the new Western Empire, 1600 to 2000, continued as well to be taken over through marriage, a planned and organized population marriage into the Greek orders finally, whether through many marriages or only a few. In the case of aligning presidents into Baal, Satanic, anti-pope orders, millions of Davids, Davis, and other Israelite lines were murdered. After my Grandfather, Cameron, was married by Greek Woman, my grandmother, Davis, going through her house burnt down by mob, and other harassments she went through, property assessments at other homes, stealing of property and pipelines on her property, and so forth. This was at a time, when many Israelite family lines were cut off. Cameron who operated with Mengele and Hitler, were already married Greeks into the line, with first Cameron-Davis marriages which were from Israelite lines. All geneology recrods show it in all Israelite family lines. The agencies, the so-called psychiatrists, which continued, like Cameron to head all psychiatric agencies while torturing the rest of the Israelite lines. Examples of Israelites, their lines cut off, including real rabbis are noted to present. In the U.S. each family line is still being cut off, Miller, being one who is heading most of the satanic controls. Canada sets up fake 'satanic' help organizations so as to ignore, along with other supposed "Jewish" help groups, real Israelites and Jews. Right now, every Israelite, Jewish decendants is surrounded by the Babylonian priests, satnists, Germans which married into Jewish lines after the DNA changes and kilings of Jews in England by 1930's whereas the Princess of Wales then married into the Prince of Greece to align all DNA with the Anti-Pope. In each state, there is set up this satanic judiciary, and all Israelite family lines are being killed. But, this continued from by the time of Hitler, throughout Alaska, Croatia, Europe, the U.S., Russia, whereas all Israelite family lines conitnued being married into from 1930's and 40's and the camps continued for Jewish lines. Every single Israelite family line married into and then murdered, names and goods taken while moving further into Israel with gangsters, and pseudo-religions and continued cutting them off until this final war on the Jews. By 2000, the final marriages to align with anti-pope, and the final wars on Israel, those in Babylonian Priesthood, satanism, and Christians occupying Israel. By 2000, the satanic-Persian Islam links to Bush, Rockefeller, and others, parts are used for killing off jewry and have been from 1940's. From 1920, they continue having deals of forcing Jewry into Christianity and killing them, forcing them into death, while setting up this image of 'Harry Potter' Jews. If they were, then you wouldn't see over 60 million Israelite and Jewish deaths and continuing. For many years, they continue using satanic scientists under Rockefeller, to continue killing Israelites and Jews, morphing the family lines into Christian/Greek/satanism (documents). The agencies, such as the CIA are not static, but also continue to be infiltrated with Greek, Syrian, Islamists, over 15 now, in hovercraft linked to satanic underground, alien fronts, and more and more security aparatus while more Jewish and Israelites, including Mossad are knocked off. 1950's camps for Jewish and Israelite family lines continued heavily throughout Russia, Gulags, and in South America (listings). They continue having "Jewish" help groups claim to be Jewish while taking goods from this top, and claiming it is the "Jews." Finally, after settting up this Islamic-satanic-Pesian death blow to the rest of Israelites and Jewry, the rest of Jewry is being 'helped' out the door into death by emergencies, emergency units which are satanic, Persian, and controlled by doctors who are not Jewish and Israelite in all areas. The FBI head by Mueller, the same as under Hitler, then forms Interpol, the Mueller family also in charge of all national association of unions. The unions are used with the CIA for stalking, terrorizing, and killing. Mueller, from Miller, and Miller families in satanism, or linked to the Persian, anti-pope line (as other Millers, including one I knew of also went through torturous mind control) cut off. Other FBI are indicted, murdered, cut off while they use gangsters to do it. Jewish links increasingly cut off from 1920's. The 'judges' all aligend with satanism and the rhetorical form for this final war. Those who are Jewish lines, whether Masonic, or Hassid formed in Germany being the next to be killed, and finally when they get around to it, those in higher 'orders' in Israel will be next on the list as the wars move backwards, counterclockwise, using the next group for advancements and monetary advancement of power and then cutting them off. We continued to see even worse Christian gangsters, and satanic, Babylonian dumb mindedness that all must succumb to, millions of Jewish children murdered. And what this is supposed to come to I have no idea, as it is worse than ancient days. The Babylonian lines now set up in Israel, continued with deaths only reporting a couple thousand, in fact, using Zionism wihch is the gangster Christians, programmed Christians and babylonian priests, satanists, to cover up the murders of Jewish children, women, young men, which is in the millions just from 1990. Each time they make reports, the numbers are different. In fact, from Russian Chrenobyl on Jewish children and familiies, separations, deaths, it is well above 20 million from 1990, over 40 million from 1950. I, like many have been going through this stupid microwave weapons wars fro 31 years. There is more and more 'reasons' given while it is only increasing crime. They move me illegally, through continued torture, denial of rights, high radiation, shock to the brain, friends eliminated, injured, moved, threats daily to life, as many have suffered for years as well, to Dover, surrounded by those they are using to commit the crimes and use weapons, along with the Roman Catholic, satanic underground. ANd they continue with the radiation and denial of rights. Since many real Israelite families were cut off even from 1600 as the other 'forms' from Masonry, to finally Chabad (German under Hitler formed), the Torah and real Rabbinate by 1920 cut off, murdered, round up, then many forget they are Isralite lines or Jewish after many years of programming. Rome, then in 1992, rounds up the real Jews for death, kills Jewish (as in Croatia) who did convert to Christianity, by the Genome lists, and DNA, databases set up in Washington. Rome works thorugh the wars, and cuts the Jewish ends off backwards as the moneytary deals advance over Israel. It does not appear that by such increasing human activity in only regression, that, for again while this anti-pope and world dominion play out, that the rest can catch up, the minds today, even worse, unable to analyze the most basic concepts. They set up more Christian gangsters (which was the rights reports in South America for the last 50 years as part of crime). The crime, drugs, torture facilities, gangs, gangsters making money letting out thousands of hardened criminals and drug users, killers, each year, while still having millions of Jewish children on 'eugenics' lists, and now getting ready to get rid of millions of Jewish women and children who are homeless, far outweigh what can be made into any democracy or ecosystem at this point for real life as it spreads to all nations and increasing. From 1990, they began increases of deaths in Russia, Israel, U.S. on Israelite-Jewish lines (Davidic or Judah), i.e, they keep scraping them away each time they set up groups, and each time indictments come, and each time there are peace deals or other propaganda. Some of those are ancient Jewish lines in South America, as from the time Klaus Barbie was set up under Hitler, there continued deaths in South America as well of Jewry while Croatia, using Mueller, was completely wiped out of Israelites. While Rome or those racketeering behind it claim the 'nations' are Israel and the Davis, David, Cameron line, and other family lines, they are controlling it with satanists and anti-pope families in all nations, and no longer the direct line. They continue with sales in youth, trafficking, and conversions, reform, and so on. The regression and crime is only going to eat out more true study, science, religion, family life as it is spreading, the microwave weaponry keeping people in apathy and oblivious states or programmed in cult ideologies that hold no reality and daily 'studies' on the populations by the thousands that is not even used for any good, increases. They are readying Israel for more crime, drugs, through planned 'failures' of 'peace' deals, all around every peace deal there being murders as well. Doctors and Israelis were murdered even at the Oslo Peace accords. We will see an increase in the very destruction of top money makers resources and eaten out at the center, their workers, family, and now the corporations being destroyed by gross lawsuits, indictments, destruction of the fabric of family life. Each agency, security aparatus being used more and more for just crime and racketeering. In ancient days, much of this was seen, but on a much slower time frame, and you did not see such dumb-minded gangster types constantly put back into politics, and actions taking place as quick as they are now with instant crime through total satellite. You did not see massive lawsuits as you see today, massive attorneys in law, quickly being killed, judges, crime timelines incresaing each day, people becoming murdered left and right just to advance the next media war and lies, heresies, which does not equal population control or even coming to some new world, but in fact, the regression at this point is very bad. Those in U.S. with real Israelite descent are being murdered. Re: Re: 51 Documents: Zionist Collaboration With The Nazis, Edited by Lenni Brenner, Fort Lee, NJ (Barricade Books, 2002), 342 pages. 02 Dec 2007 by Anonymous Poster Reply to this comment Everyone is of Biblcal descent but not of Israelite or Jewish descent as there were many cults added to Israel after the Torah for Israelites was set up. The Church, Babylonian regains world power over resourves and oil, reconstruction, total devastation Romans acting as "Jews" World War, Racketeering and crime,murders increase in fact incessantly as we now have over 1,500 different criminal and gang organizations and drug running using them The Torah was burned again by 1920, and then "Zionism" was creatd under Stalin, othe cults as in ancient days set up in order of infiltration and occupation from Moses to Daniel (setting up the image of satan for the Temple) and occupation as now. In which order? The "Wonderful" Pope will be set up Yeshua finally speaks of the diserpsal of the Israelites and wars on Israel from all sides while blaming the Jews Extreme Polarization of Satanic/Islamic/Vatican High Satanic Priests Block the Temple worship for Israelites (Scalar Wars taking place now with underground satanists) (Daniels Image' is set up of 'satanic' Jews but the real Jewish children, women, and young men are still being killed) Prince of Greece Marries Princess of England and Satanic Leaders set up (by 1950) Continued marriage and taking of Israelite goods and names Gulags and continued holocaust are more quiet but happening and increase by 1990 on Israelis New Masonry Groups Masonry (basic ancient groups of Babylonian Builders) Persian/Islamic wars on Israel while blaming the "Jews" and everyone believes they are of 'Jewish' descent Corrupt judges, priests, rapists and pedophiles (Book of Ruth) brought in by racketeering Real Jewish lines cut off totally from 1600 to present from true Jewish religion, many killed, some forced into Christianity and killed (even at present, see example of Jews killed in Croatia from 1920, under Labor, Mueller/Hitler) Many other organizations to continue wars on Israel for final occupation Temple of Set Celtic groups which were in Israel Hassidism created in Germany again 1800's Chabad set up in germany under Hitler Hillel Torah is taken, right law is broken At the final top, other groups also being killed, such as deaths within Hillel, there is set up in Canada supposed 'help' groups ignore real Jewish, but not those following the order of the wars until their own death. Re: Re: 51 Documents: Zionist Collaboration With The Nazis, Edited by Lenni Brenner, Fort Lee, NJ (Barricade Books, 2002), 342 pages. 02 Dec 2007 by Anonymous Poster Reply to this comment The 'survivors' are either 1) married into Israelite lines and the nazis/Vatican or racketeering group, made sure they knew little, and were without siblings and parents or lost their parents or 2) Germans/Persian married into the family line and their parents cut off or 3) they would be cut off later and taken goods by the Persian/Vatican, anti-pope lines maniuplated by Enguenics, radiation, DNA and gene changes by signal and weapons using satanists from 1920. Therefore, like those found with holocaust money and in Swiss banks, they had taken the names and rights and because they are 'linked' to ancient days, or those Israelite, jewish marriages, claim they are "Jews" The Greeks and Germans, after the new line of Princess, having cut off the Davidic line from England, the Davids round up in 1920. Many real Gemanic Jews are already murdered (some came to U.S. in 1800's), as they too have had DNA and marriage by the new Greek/Persian (one German friend from Hitler camps also injured and her mother from camps who married into Masonic-German lnes, he died as well). Miller-Mueller has satanic/Persian marriages into the family as well and plays a large roll in U.S. satanic torture under Cameron, Mengele, and Hitler, the American Psychiatric Institutes, mind control. The wars in Croatia against Jewry lines continued as well as in Russia, Alaska, U.S., South America and even now with Jewish going to Israel all under satellite and using the most criminal minded people, over 10 million Israeli Scientists and Israeli lines killed again from 1990, while they indicted people from every single area of employment, security, fianncial fraud and set up more. Reinhard Mueller's hate-crime trial - Stormfront "Reinhard Mueller says he's not a bigot and doesn't hate Jewish people. .... América Latina, España, Stormfront Croatia, Stormfront Britain, UK Newslinks ... www.stormfront.org/forum/showthread.php - 96k - Similar pages www.stormfront.org/forum/showthread.php IUC Journal of Social Work Theory and Practice Research report on "What German Jewish Survivors of the Shoa Tell us About Problems of ... Dada M. Maglajlic, Croatia/USA and Regina Mueller, Swiss/Nepal ... www.bemidjistate.edu/academics/publications/soci... - 38k - Similar pages www.bemidjistate.edu/academics/publications/social_work_journal/news/2002/schedule2002.html The Wansee Conference Protocol By order of the Reich Marshal, a Reich Central Office for Jewish Emigration was set up in .... In Slovakia and Croatia the matter is no longer so difficult, ... www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/Holocaust/wansee... - 26k - Similar pages www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/Holocaust/wansee-transcript.html Jewish Law Student Association: The Trial of Adolf Eichmann When the conference was over, Heydrich, Mueller and the Accused remained ...... deals with 400 Jews in Croatia for whom the Jewish Agency made efforts to ... wings.buffalo.edu/law/jlsa/resources/eichmann.ht... - 864k More Crime Increasing As Planned Failed Pace Deals Come 02 Dec 2007 by S Cameron Reply to this comment U.S. Code Section 18, all Jeiwsh lines, whether orgiginal lines or later, or married into groups are being tracked, cut off one after the other. In South America, Egypt (most Israelis already killed in Egypt), other places by gangs under NSA's, CIA's that are not really for Israel or Jews, but cults, ordered one after the other on most Jewish people. All over the country, real Israel lines are being hit by even street thugs usng microwave weapons, oe after the other ordered. ORGANIZED TERRORISTS.txt Photo #1 The attitude can be found a dime a dozen another 10 million criminal minded just indicted, yet they still find another How many times do we see these all-so willing torturers for the satellite crimes and spying crimes. One Rabbi was finally murdered in 2006, after being tracked, tortured from 1940's. We have already seen over 1 million arrests in the U.S. in Energy, Coops, agencies, political offices, almost all U.S. governor areas, judges, corporations all over the U.S., Food and Drug Admin, all linked to "Population Control" while they let out one drug user and rapist after the other and have on 'eugenics' lists, with a 'new' Bush law of getting rid of those who are homeless or on 'health risk' lists, the Jewish people ilegally put there to begin with (over 10 million Jewish descent just forced by financial crimes into homelessness while they brought in Chavez's, Bush, Iranian friends to U.S.). They are using criminals to carry out real Jewish deaths. We have another 1.5 million gangs set up from 2003, drug gangs, street thugs for crime on citizens while they do this. 1992-1999 many arrests, indictments and murders of real Jewish dsecent continued, along with bombings under reported deaths All over the U.S., Israelite Scientists, college Profesors, Journalists, are murdered (though an exact order of murders with television propaganda and racketeering) 1999 the 'Image' is set up and final war on Israel while blaming the 'Jews' The Israelites get the worst killings, even one tortured in England and cut up with so much as the slightest reports Jewish are sent with Persian-linked Rabbis and "Christian zionism" to Israel and millions have been killed While the drug cartel make money icreasingy using radiation on us each day, spraying, particle weaponry, kidnappings, indictments, there is only going to be more drugs brought to Israel and all over the world, through South America, Africa, to Israel We see nothing but more mindless 'helpers' in crime The Bush administration is using on a smaller scale, NSA spying in alternate crimes, and even using over 15 different black ops agencies, with CIA, and FBI as 'parts' some using weapons, some killers in there to torture Americans and kill them. In my own case, the microwave tracking, microwave crimes and criminal agents over and over and increasing each time it didn't work. Millions of other victims right now. Over 10 million from 1995 alone. Views Account Login Username Password Forgot your password? Information disclaimer friends of indymedia how to use this site mission statement contact info editorial policy meetings More... Search Advanced Search Media Centers &[topics] &[regions] &[projects] &[process] &west asia &united states &south asia &oceania &latin america &europe &east asia &canada &africa (i) www.indymedia.org This site made manifest by dadaIMC

The Guardian on Facebook View this story on the Guardian | Why am I seeing this version of the page? World news | Palestinian territories Palestinians: we are already recognised as a state by two-thirds of the globe UN delegation claims member countries comprising 75% of the world's population are in favour of its bid for full statehood Interactive: which countries already recognise Palestinian? James Ball · 20/09/2011 · guardian.co.uk Read by 6 people including:Remove from timeline Almost two-thirds of the UN's member states – representing more than 75% of the world's population – already formally recognise the Palestinian state in some form, according to analysis by the Guardian. The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, is pressing forward with plans to formally request UN membership this Friday, despite attempts at a diplomatic compromise by many western states and a US pledge to veto the membership bid. Raising Palestine to full statehood would need to pass the UN security council – where it is subject to veto – and then a vote at the general assembly, comprising all 193 UN member states. However, the general assembly can raise Palestine's status from "permanent observer" to "non-member observer state", a largely symbolic vote, without security council approval. The Guardian analysis corroborates reports that such a vote would be extremely likely to be passed. Statements on government websites, from the Arab League, Palestinian administrations and elsewhere suggest that in some form, often with caveats, 126 UN member states already grant formal diplomatic recognition of a Palestinian state. The majority of these countries, 105, also formally recognise the state of Israel. The countries that recognise Palestine comprise around 5.5bn of the world's population of 7bn – more than 75% – but based on World Bank GDP figures make up less than 10% of the world's economy, highlighting the global rift on what remains a highly contentious topic. Countries which do not yet formally recognise Palestine are overwhelmingly concentrated in western Europe and North America. No western European democracy currently recognises Palestine as a state, but some newer EU members have previously recognised statehood. The UN is unlikely to vote on Abbas's proposals for a period of several months even if the resolution is tabled as planned. Envoys from the Middle Eastern Quartet – the US, UN, EU and Russia – are meeting through the week to work on compromise plans to place before Abbas and the Israeli government. The US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, urged Abbas not to put proposals for statehood before the UN, warning such a course of action was "not the best way forward". • Methodology: The graphic is based on countries that are recognised as full UN members who have independently formally acknowledged Palestine as a nation state. The countries who have given this formal recognition do not necessarily agree on borders or other factors in statehood, and may have recognised Palestine at any point between 1988 and 2011. • Figures for population estimates and GDP are taken from the World Bank datastore, using the most recent year for which data was available (typically 2010). Popular right now Family Black and white twins James and Daniel are twins. What sets them apart is that one is white and one is black – and the differences don't end there, as Joanna Moorhead discovers Saturday 24 September 2011 07:06 Malay Peninsula Standard Time Read by 2937 people Particle physics Professor Einstein, you can relax. E still equals mc2. Probably … Renowned physicist Frank Close urges caution before we abandon the theory of relativity and prepare for time travel Sunday 25 September 2011 06:23 Malay Peninsula Standard Time Read by 1814 people Brazil

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No Peace or Justice in Our Time with Netanyahu | Print | E-mail Saturday, 24 September 2011 10:15 By Stephen Lendman Share Link: Share Link: Bookmark Google Yahoo MyWeb Del.icio.us Digg Facebook Myspace Reddit Ma.gnolia Technorati Stumble Upon Newsvine Netanyahu [left] ObamaLike his Washington paymaster/partner, Netanyahu deplores peace. Initiating talks never worked before and won't now. Speaking privately at the Clinton Global Initiative conference in New York, Bill Clinton said Netanyahu lost interest because Palestine has a president he controls, and normalizing relations with the Arab world is within reach. "The Israelis always wanted two things that once it turned out they had," he said, it didn't seem so appealing to Mr. Netanuahu." Israel believes it has a reliable "Palestinian government, and there's no question - and the Netanyahu government has said - that this is the finest Palestinian government they've ever had in the West Bank." In fact, President Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad are longtime Israeli collaborationists, serving as Israeli enforcers against their own people. Of course Netanyahu approves. He controls them both. Clinton added that "cynics" think his "government's continued call for negotiations over borders and such means that he's just not going to give up the West Bank." Of course he's not nor any other Israeli leader. For decades, they've stolen most valued parts dunam by dunam. They'll keep doing it until Palestinians have only worthless scrub land for a bantustan state Israel will agree to as long as it remains occupied or at least firmly controlled. Clinton also believes Abbas would accept the deal Arafat rejected in 2000, adding: "For reasons that even after all these years I still don't know for sure, Arafat turned down the deal I put together that (Ehud) Barak accepted. (And) they also had an Israeli government that was willing to give them East Jerusalem as the capital of the new state of Palestine." Fact check In 1947, UN Resolution 181 internationalized Jerusalem as a separate body (a corpus separatum), administered by a UN Trustee Council. Israel spurned a policy still binding. In July 1980, Israel's Basic Law declared "Jerusalem, complete and united, is the capital of Israel." Yet on June 30, 1980, the Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 476. America abstained. It stipulated that "all legislative and administrative measures and actions taken by Israel, the occupying Power, which purport to alter the character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem have no legal validity and constitute a flagrant (Fourth Geneva) violation." Following Israel's non-compliance, the Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 478, America again abstaining. It "censur(ed Israel) in the strongest terms" for enacting the Jerusalem Basic Law, calling it a violation of international law. It also said the Council doesn't recognize it, and told member states to withdraw their diplomatic missions from the city. At the time, the Security Council and General Assembly reaffirmed that East Jerusalem is occupied territory, that expropriating its land is illegal, and that all Israeli legislative and administrative measures altering the city's character and status are null and void and must be rescinded forthwith. Israel never complied. Moreover, it continued land seizures, home demolitions, and dispossessions, flagrantly flouting its obligations under international law. Camp David - July 2000 Bill Clinton hosted Arafat and then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. Clinton and America's major media called Israel's proposal "generous" and unprecedented," accusing Arafat of spurning peace for conflict by rejecting it. Barak insisted Arafat sign a "final agreement," declare an "end of conflict," and give up any legal basis for additional Occupied Territory land. No written offer was made nor were documents or maps presented. In fact, only a May 2000 West Bank map was used, dividing the area into four isolated cantons under Palestinian administration surrounded by expanding Israeli settlements and other Israeli-controlled land. The cantons consisted of: Jericho, a southern canton to Abu Dis, a northern one including Nablus, Jenin and Tulkarm, and a central one including Ramallah. Gaza was left in limbo as a fifth canton to be resolved when Israel disengaged in August and September 2005, but kept effectively occupied to reenter or attack any time. Barak's deal, if accepted, would have doomed real peace. It also offered no resolution of final status issues, including statehood, fixed borders, diaspora Palestinians right of return, East Jerusalem as Palestine's capital, and others. Arafat understood and rejected it. Yet he was unfairly blamed. Clinton was party to a deal calling for unconditional surrender, not peace or a viable Palestinian state. Eleven years later he wondered why Arafat turned it down. He might have been run out of town back home or worse if he accepted it. That's why. Support for Palestinian Statehood Despite his own cross to bear, Turkish Prime Minister Recept Tayyip Erdogan understands enough to support Palestinian statehood. Addressing the General Assembly on September 22, he sharply criticized Israel for obstructing Middle East peace and refusing to apologize for murdering nine Turkish nationals aboard the Mavi Marmara humanitarian ship to Gaza, then added: "What is more painful is that the UN has been incapable of taking the necessary steps to end the humanitarian tragedy that Palestinians have gone and are going through." He also urged UN member states to recognize Palestinian sovereignty, saying, it was established but never formally implemented. Ahead of his September 23 General Assembly address, Abbas said pressure won't deter him from submitting a Security Council bid, knowing it'll go nowhere because Washington will obstruct it. Nonetheless, he formerly petitioned the UN, handing Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon an official application for membership. PA delegation member Husam Zomlot called it a "historic moment." He and others may rethink that view when Palestinians get nothing substantive, leaving them at square one. Former Clinton administration official David Rothkopf said Obama stated "a clear US position and put himself squarely as a champion of the status quo," leaving Palestinian statehood unresolved in limbo. Whether or not he meant it, Abbas added: Peace "negotiations with Israel achieved nothing at all. All parties are demanding that we return to negotiations, but we say that if Netanyahu does not announce his recognition of the Palestinian state on the 1967 borders and the halt of settlement (construction), we will not return to negotiations." On September 17, Hugo Chavez wrote UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, saying: "I address these words to the United Nations General Assembly, to this great forum that represents all the people, to ratify, on this day and in this setting, Venezuela's full support of the recognition of the Palestinian state: of Palestine's right to become a free, sovereign and independent state." "This represents an act of historic justice toward a people who carry with them, from time immemorial, all the pain and suffering of the world....Palestine will live and overcome! Long live free, sovereign and independent Palestine!" The New York Times' Jihad Against Palestinian Statehood On September 22, its latest editorial broadside headlined, "The Palestinians' Bid," saying: In addressing the General Assembly, "Obama had no choice but to stand by Israel, this country's historic ally. And we agree that a negotiated deal is the only way to ensure the creation of a viable Palestinian state, guarantee Israel's security and build a lasting peace." Fact check Times correspondents, opinion writers, and editorials support wrong over right, especially on issues affecting Israel. Obama indeed has choices but made the wrong one. Negotiations never produced peace or statehood and won't now. Israel hasn't faced security issues for almost 40 years, and doesn't today as the region's nuclear armed superpower. Palestinians are denied justice and statehood because Israel and Washington won't tolerate either. Peace won't come until world leaders go around them for resolution enforced with teeth. "There is no mystery to what a final deal would look like, just a lack of political courage to push it to the end. (It would) creat(e) a Palestinian state on territory equivalent to the pre-1967 West Bank Bank and Gaza Strip, with mutually agreed land swaps." Fact check In 1948, Israel stole 78% of historic Palestine. In 1967, it took the rest. Palestinians will settle for 22% returned. Land swaps won't work because Israel will demand all valued areas, leaving Palestinians isolated in cantons. Moreover, what about East Jerusalem as Palestine's legitimate capital. The Times thought it unimportant to mention, let alone demand. Yet it called for a "bold and fair" proposal, as well as "help to sell it to the Israeli and Palestinian people - not just politicians." Otherwise a "diplomatic train wreck" may result. In fact, Palestinians never got "bold and fair" proposals and won't now. Instead they've endured 63 "train wreck(ed)" years begging to be ended. As a result, now's the time to go around Washington, Israel, their obstructionist allies, and collaborationist Abbas leadership for what they won't achieve otherwise. It may not be now or never, but if left up to Washington, Israel, and its fifth column leaders, statehood and full UN membership won't ever come. A Final Comment On September 20, Gaza-based journalist and university lecturer Rami Almeghari headlined his Electronic Intifada article, "PA goes to UN without Palestinian consensus behind it," saying: It's "clear that many Palestinians remain at best doubtful that the promised confrontation in New York will do anything to advance their rights and aspirations." True enough, but he's wrong suggesting why bother given that likely outcome. Victories come incrementally, not all at once against long odds. Most important, they come by trying, knowing long sought goals are never achieved easily or quickly. Moreover, committed leadership for what's right is key. Palestinians sorely lack it, assuring failure under a man who'll accept it, his rhetoric notwithstanding. On September 20, London Independent writer Robert Fisk headlined, "Why the Middle East will never be the same again," saying: "The Palestinians won't achieve statehood, but they will consign the 'peace process' to history." Of course, it was stillborn from inception, and indeed Washington and Israeli obstructionism prevents any possibility of statehood now or in the foreseeable future. The Mossad-connected DEBKAfile agreed, saying expect no "diplomatic showdown....when the Palestinian bid for statehood is filed Friday, Sept. 23....Neither the Security Council or General Assembly will (make) any immediate decisions....(In fact, the) process (can drag on for) weeks if not months," and may end up dying from inaction. "The game is lost," said Fisk. "America's political power in the Middle East will this week be neutered on behalf of Israel. Quite a sacrifice" for pyrrhic victories. All the more reason why Palestinians should never quit trying for what one day's within reach by persisting. It's how all great struggles are won. Subscribe via RSS or Email: Add New Search Comments (0) Write comment Your Contact Details: Name: Email: Website: Comment: Title: UBBCode: [b] [i] [u] [url] [quote] [code] [img] Message:

Armed French citizens 'tanning under the sun' in a West Bank settlement [Photo: Jewish Defence League] Two weeks ago, an announcement appeared on a French website, calling for "militants with military experience" to participate in a solidarity trip to Israel between September 19 and 25. "The aim of this expedition is to lend a hand to our brothers facing aggression from the Palestinian occupiers, and to enhance the security of Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria," it explained. The dates of the trip coincide with the Palestinian statehood bid at the United Nations. As of yesterday, in response to this call, there were 55 French citizens, both men and women, with military experience, stationed inside the illegal Israeli settlements up and down the West Bank. Organised into five separate groups of 11, their mandate is to "defend the settlements against any attack from Palestinians", and to "aid" in areas where they feel there is a lack of Israeli army personnel or police forces. The website belongs to the French chapter of the Jewish Defence League (JDL), a far-right Jewish group founded by Rabbi Meir Kahane in the United States in 1968. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has refered to the JDL as a "violent extremist organisation". JDL in France "In France, it is a movement made up of French citizens who defend the Jewish community when faced with aggression, and also defends Israel in a more general manner," said Amnon Cohen, a spokesperson for the group. “In terms of ideology, we are Zionists, pro-Israeli, and we share similar ideologies to that of the Ichud Leumi ["National Union"] party in Israel." The National Union advocates the settlement of Jewish people in the entirety of the occupied West Bank, which it calls by its biblical name of Judea and Samaria. “People say we are extreme because we believe in Judea and Samaria, and that this belongs to the Israelis, the Jews, but I don't consider this to be extreme," he told Al Jazeera. Cohen was quick to point out that the JDL, contrary to recent media reports, is not banned in Israel or the US, but in fact, has active chapters across the world, including the US, Canada, the UK and France. “We are active, the authorities are aware of us, and we maintain good relations with them," he said. Numerous examples of targeted attacks on pro-Palestinian entities, movements, and demonstrations across France by individuals associating with the JDL validate Cohen's statements. Nicolas Shahshahani, manager of La Librarie Resistances, a bookstore located in a quiet neighbourhood of Paris, has been the victim of such aggression. The first attack occurred in December 2006 soon after the store's opening, when Shahshahani asked two Jewish authors, the late Tanya Reinhart and Aharon Shabtai to speak, both critics of Israeli policy in the occupied territories. Midway through the event, the bookstore was suddenly filled with tear gas, as a group of six masked people wearing helmets, and armed with iron bars entered and raided the store, shouting obscenities at the attendees. "They broke the windows, and I had to go to the hospital to get treatment for the teargas," Shahshahani told Al Jazeera. "We launched a complaint against the police, but of course there was no investigation." In July 2009 the bookstore was targeted once again. Five people, who identified themselves as members of the JDL, poured litres of cooking oil all over the store and its books. "This is just as efficient as fire, if not more, if you want to damage a bookshop," explained Shahshahani. That time, however, the perpetrators were taken to court, where they admitted guilt, and were given suspended prison terms plus made to pay civil damages. Courts and convictions In another case, about 20 JDL members assaulted four students from Nanterre University. The attack, in which one student had his facial bones broken, took place within the compounds of the Administrative Court of Paris. Only Anthony Attal, reputed to be head of the group at the time, was charged. The spokesperson for the Nanterre student association, AGEN, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal attacks, was present when the beating took place. Forced to do their own investigation into the matter, the students presented the police with their evidence. "We had video footage that identified Attal as the perpetrator," he said, adding that as an association, AGEN - a Palestinian solidarity organisation - was regularly targeted by the JDL. "When you spend many years attending these demonstrations, you start to recognise the faces of those who turn up and commit acts of aggression and intimidation, and then you see the same faces in court. It's not difficult to point out who belongs to the JDL," he said. The court process to convict Attal was unusual, according to Dominique Cochain, the lawyer representing one of the victims. "The aggressor wasn't present in the court, neither was his lawyer, and the judge therefore took it upon himself to interrogate the victim for two hours, trying to make the victim say it was a fight rather than an act of aggression," essentially playing the role of the defence lawyer, she told Al Jazeera. Since his conviction, Attal has been captured on video at several pro-Palestinian demonstrations, as recently as this summer. "It gives the signal to others that there is a possibility to continue with this type of aggression, because it is not dealt with harshly," said Cochain. "In my opinion, there is a certain level of tolerance between the French authorities and this group." Cochain, who has been defending victims of these aggressions since 2004, has also been a victim of intimidation. "I've been verbally abused and menaced because of the cases I do," she said. "They've called me the 'devil lawyer' and taken my photo," adding that she can identify them by the JDL logos they flash at her. 'Protecting the community' Cohen, however, says any association between the attacks and the JDL are false. "These people say whatever they want against us, but it doesn't mean it's us doing it," he said. Trying to connect members officially to the group is difficult to prove, due to the way organisations are structured in France. Registration would force the group to put out a manifesto and officially name members of its board. However, as registration is not obligatory, the JDL can exist without being registered, whereby membership is neither official nor public. Cohen admitted the group was not registered under the name of the JDL, adding that it was registered under different names, "which are not important to know". Some people claim that the police purposefully ignore unlawful acts of aggression purportedly carried out by the JDL. While Cohen denies this, he admits to having good relations with the authorities. "Our adversaries say we work hand in hand with them, but we don't," he said. "We just divide the work. For example, if there is a protest we are involved in, the police secure the streets, and we secure the entrances." "The police know that we are there to protect the community," he added. French authorities referred Al Jazeera to the Ministry of Interior, who did not respond to an interview request. 'Violent youths' The JDL encourages its members to undertake training in Krav Maga [Hebrew: "hand to hand combat"], a form of martial art used by the Israeli forces for close combat in urban warfare. "We give this training to our members, so they are capable of defending themselves," Cohen explained. Military training is also encouraged for its members. "I tell the members that they should do military service, and we encourage this," said Cohen, adding that some JDL members have been enrolled in the French army. But AGEN says each of its demonstrations have been targeted by the JDL. "They hear about pro-Palestinian demonstrations, such as the Gaza flotilla solidarity events we had this summer, and they show up and start abusing people. It's not self-defence when they actively search for the demonstration," he said. "They hide in the streets when demonstrations happen, and attack the tail-end of the protests." "We've asked for the dissolution of the JDL through a petition signed by 30 different associations, as they are an armed militia, which is forbidden in France," he said, but the petition has yet to gain traction with French authorities. Ironically, prominent Jewish lobbies in France dissociate with the JDL, claiming they are groups of violent youth who do not represent the Jewish community. Richard Prasquier, president of the Conseil Representatif des Institutions juives de France (CRIF), France's main Jewish lobby group, told Al Jazeera: "There are no relations between CRIF and the JDL, and I don't want anything to do with them." Others remain unconvinced. "For years there have been calls for the government to dissolve the JDL, but they have done nothing because of CRIF," said Shahshahani. "On the street, when CRIF holds a public event, it's the JDL that provides the security in coordination with the French police." Cohen confirmed what Shahshahani had said, adding: "Officially CRIF says they are separate from us, but there is the official position, and then there is reality. When there is something going on, they call us." Sammy Ghozlan, a former police officer and president of the Bureau Nationnal de Vigilance Contre le Anti-semitisme (BNVCA), told Al Jazeera that they too "have no particular relationship with the JDL", although he was more understanding to the motives behind such actions. "While the JDL are an extremist group, and not very well tolerated, their actions are a result of the discontent that exists, and this is continuing to grow," said Ghozlan. "Furthermore, the violence from the pro-Palestinian side is increasing, and the Jewish people are in despair." 'Very serious show of solidarity' Referring to the current "mission" to Israel and the West Bank, the call for solidarity is being taken very seriously by the JDL. Cohen refused to give any personal details of his comrades in the settlements, as "it is not a show, but a serious gesture of solidarity. This is a serious trip; we've sent over people who are slightly older, with more experience, between the ages of 24 and 35", including three women. "We know the IDF doesn't need us, but we"re going to show our solidarity. We're going over to make sure all areas are covered, and to defend the settlements," he said. Pro-Palestinian activists such as Shahshahani say the call should be taken seriously. "They are publicly recruiting people with military experience, French citizens with military experience, to serve a foreign country with guns, what is this called?" he said. "We all know of people who were sent to Guantanamo, including French citizens, because of actions like these. What about the ones who aid the Israeli army?" Follow Nour Samaha on Twitter: @Samahanour Source: Al Jazeera Email Article Email Print Article Print Share article Share Send Feedback Send Feedback Topics in this article People Amnon Cohen Nicolas Shahshahani Anthony Attal Dominique Cochain Richard Prasquier Sammy Ghozlan Tanya Reinhart Aharon Shabtai Country France Israel United States Canada United Kingdom City Jews Gaza Nablus Paris Organisation Jewish Defense League Pro-Palestinian AGEN Administrative Court of Paris National Union Israeli army Nanterre University Ministry of Interior French police United Nations IDF Kahane Chai Federal Bureau of Investigation French army Featured on Al Jazeera The men who crashed the world The first of a four-part investigation into a world of greed and recklessness that led to financial collapse. China buys gold, challenges US dollar WikiLeaks cables allege that China is buying gold to weaken the US dollar's supremacy as the world's reserve currency. The humiliation of Barack Obama As he prepares to singularly veto Palestine's statehood bid, he must be thinking to himself: 'This isn't right'. Sick Gulf residents continue to blame BP Many people living near the site of the BP oil spill have reported a long list of similar health problems. Content on this website is for general information purposes only. Your comments are provided by your own free will and you take sole responsibility for any direct or indirect liability. You hereby provide us with an irrevocable, unlimited, and global license for no consideration to use, reuse, delete or publish comments, in accordance with Community Rules & Guidelines and Terms and Conditions. Like Dislike 9 people liked this. Add New Comment Required: Please login below to comment. Image Showing 1-20 of 72 comments Sort by Subscribe by email Subscribe by RSS Real-time updating is enabled. (Pause) Matthew Royer 9 hours ago It's the Jewish Mujahadeen; the West Bank is their "Afghanistan", the Arab "squatters", their "great satan" I cant say I respect it though; the Muslim "holy warriors" actually fought superpowers. Who are these men going to war with? Rock throwing teenagers? Joe Boyum and 81 more liked this 2011Arda 4 hours ago in reply to Matthew Royer well said.. Meditheraces and 7 more liked this SmokeyWest 9 hours ago Why would they want French mercenaries; do they need someone to show them how to surrender? KarlBarks and 61 more liked this omouse 10 minutes ago in reply to SmokeyWest No, they need people experienced in colonial rule to show them how it's done. Fadi Samir Safieddine 9 hours ago I think Abbas taking the Palestine statehood to the UN the best political maneuver any Palestinian politician has done. The US and Israel finally taking him and the Palestinian issue seriously. There is also hidden messages that hardly anyone is talking about "the collapse of the state" is a very powerful message. If he declares after the vote that the state has collapsed then he may call for joining Israel as one state - something Arafat suggested once for Gaza and made Israelis panic: One person one vote...Palestinians in Gaza and West bank, together with Arabs in Israel can hold the Israeli Knesset and even succeed in electing a Muslim prime minister - they want the land they will have to have the people living on it!!! Amir Abdul Reda and 45 more liked this 2011Arda 3 hours ago in reply to Fadi Samir Safieddine The Arab spring and the Turkish PM Erdogan have revitalized and re-energized Abbas. noliesnow and 9 more liked this Andrew Haque 8 hours ago Zionist terrorists. If these foreign fighters were Muslims defending Palestinians, then wouldn't they be considered so? Wouldn't they also be considered as 'non-combatants' and be thrown into Guantanamo as a result? Al Davis and 44 more liked this 2011Arda 3 hours ago in reply to Andrew Haque nothing new.. look up Lehi, Irgun, Stern Gang, Baruch Goldstein, haganah noliesnow and 7 more liked this Israeli 7 hours ago I have very little sympathy to those people. Here in Israel we are busy only the daily basis with the basic economic survival. The salaries here are relatively low and the prices are probably the highest in the world. The middle class people here work extremely hard but still, according to the western standards, live in a misery. Unlike us, those guys live in a rich country. They have everything, including the time for their extremist political ideas. Their parents speculate here with the real estate, inflating prices, so many Israelis ask: “Why me, living in a room with parents and having no chance to earn a place of my own, should serve in army and guard the luxury summer apartment of Colden and Morris from Paris”? So I would say to Morris – come here, work like me and pay taxes like me, and then let us see if you will still have energy for the political activity. Theodore Bonaparte and 20 more liked this hino17 1 hour ago in reply to Israeli why dont you leave Palestine and go live in a place like Switzerland where the median income is 65 Grand? Give us back Palestine and I PROMISE I won't complain that I have to live with my parents. alchemy1 and 1 more liked this OCTheo 7 hours ago It is very disheartening to see this kind of aggression and stupidity occurring among the human family. While Palestinians and Jews speak different languages, RELIGION is the only reason why this inhumane acts occur. The bible has wrought havoc on the world, and the koran has done the same. I have read both books and they are good books. However their claims and their interpretations by self-serving organizations are plain atrocities. It is clear by this report that the French government, just like the American government has been hijacked by Jewish interests. The authorities in these countries no longer serve the interest of the general populations. Jews because of their financial monopoly have become above the law. And the folklore of the Christian bible has established the Jews as special people, making it impossible for the believers to condemn injustice as it should be. RELIGION, is the root of all evils. Until humanity can rid itself of every religion, of all forms, suffering and war will continue to make this world a dangerous place to exist. Religion more than anything will destroy our world. nv and 20 more liked this Triple Beam 6 hours ago "Palestinian occupiers" Wow. Are they really this delusional or are they simply pushing their propaganda? I really want to believe they are just trying to spread propaganda. If they actually believe that then the whole world is in trouble. Meditheraces and 16 more liked this miqdad 5 hours ago If there are genuine supporters, so they masked their face ? May be they fear a kind of retaliation back at home....hm. Meditheraces and 10 more liked this Harrison Leventhal 4 hours ago in reply to miqdad I doubt it, The french along with the British are becoming much more far right, france even more is flooded with Muslims that is upsetting the secular nature of the country, people there might not like jews, but they like muslims even less. Heklp and 1 more liked this Meditheraces 4 hours ago in reply to Harrison Leventhal We are living the same era as our grand-parents: Europe Nazism Zionism, Antisemitic this time toward the Arabs, Semitic People! 3 people liked this. haphaestus 9 hours ago This comment was flagged for review. Fadi Samir Safieddine 9 hours ago in reply to haphaestus when I said there are 'idiots' on both sides...Haphaestus shows up to vindicate me!! susan0120000 and 12 more liked this haphaestus 9 hours ago in reply to Fadi Samir Safieddine come on im just having a little bit of fun with it, dont take a couple dozens french wanabees, in town for a week, so seriously Theodore Bonaparte and 6 more liked this Travellerrr 7 hours ago in reply to haphaestus haphaestus, Alright eventhough I disagreed with you sharply earlier over this same very serious & sad issue/tragedy of Palestine, I do admit your post here cracked me up. Got to give credit where credit is due; right?! If only you would keep an open mind like that when it comes to the actual the truth about the issue. Do me a favour do watch those videos I sent you & read my response to wildjew on the same topic of "The Irvine 11: Islamophobia is alive & alive and well". I promise it's going to be a real eye opener! Meditheraces and 5 more liked this Amir Abdul Reda 7 hours ago in reply to haphaestus lol, that's a good one nv and 3 more liked this 1 2 … 4 Next → Reactions hugomejia2 30 minutes ago From twitter combatientes extranjeros en asentamientos de Israel http://t.co/hcwG4JpZ 1967gs 32 minutes ago From twitter Foreign fighters support Israel's settlements - Features - Al Jazeera English: http://t.co/pEnAEwzk via @AddThis DanF81 56 minutes ago From twitter Foreign fighters support Israel's settlements - Al Jazeera English: http://t.co/bvv0yQF2 #France #Vigilante #Tourism to help the #Occupation mayasdreams 1 hour ago From twitter RT @earthtonadine: The Jewish Defence League has dispatched French "militants" for a "show of solidarity" in illegal West Bank settlements http://t.co/LFhCkxqK 完 白安 1 hour ago From twitter Foreign fighters support Israel's settlements - Features - Al Jazeera English http://t.co/Vss9P19x via @ajenglish Debra V. Wilson 1 hour ago From twitter Foreign fighters support Israel's settlements - Features - Al Jazeera English http://t.co/Zq0rBNjV via @ajenglish Tallha Abdulrazaq 1 hour ago From twitter Can some decent people in #France take the #Jewish Defence League to court over sending militants to #Palestine? http://t.co/To8aOwdy ST McNeil 1 hour ago From twitter Vigilante tourism - French militants tour settlements locked and loaded http://t.co/O79UBMXI via @ajenglish B. 1 hour ago From twitter RT @NaimarhHassan: Some sort of joke, right? This is getting out of hand now - http://t.co/gaEFMhcy ~ shittt. fck. damn. snail-eating cunts Elle est Naimarh 1 hour ago From twitter Some sort of joke, right? This is getting out of hand now - http://t.co/OkxyPuHM Related When the settlers go marching in Israeli settlers continuously provoke their Palestinian neighbours and the Israeli army makes little effort to stop them ( 22-Sep-2011 ) Palestinians under pressure to drop UN bid Obama: America's 'first Jewish president'? 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New sound of acclaim for Abbas, NY to Ramallah and Jerusalem There are 5 articles in this posting, on the reception for Abbas’ speech in NY Times, Al Jazeera, AFP, New Middle East News and a manifesto for a Palestine state signed by Israeli military and intellectual leaders Palestinians Request U.N. Status; Powers Press for Talks By Neil MacFarquhar and Steven Lee Myers, NY Times 23.09.11 UNITED NATIONS — President Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader, formally requested full United Nations membership for his as yet undefined country on Friday. But before the thunderous applause greeting his announcement in the General Assembly had faded, international powers laid out a new plan to resume direct Israeli-Palestinian peace talks that was designed to delay a contentious vote on the Palestinian request as long as possible. In a day full of diplomatic theater, Mr. Abbas and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel each laid out the tangled history of their bloody conflict in passionate, lengthy speeches less than an hour apart, while the United States, Russia and European powers haggled in a back room for a formula to bring the parties back to the negotiating table and prevent the Palestinian bid for membership from becoming a spur for violence. Continents away, thousands of Palestinians celebrated around the West Bank, with cheers erupting from the rapt crowds watching live when Mr. Abbas held aloft the four pages of the United Nations application letter — a symbolic step toward international recognition of statehood that many Palestinians also saw as a form of peaceful defiance against Israel. The submission of the bid for membership to the Security Council was the culmination of a months-long tangle involving Mr. Abbas, Israel and the United States. But the flurry of diplomatic activity on Friday underscored the reality that the request is just the beginning of an even more complicated diplomatic process at the United Nations. Whether the possibility of a vote at the Council will prompt a new round of peace talks after a long stalemate, whether the Palestinians have enough support to force a Council vote on their bid for membership and whether the United States ultimately will be forced to use its threatened veto of that bid, were all open questions, likely to be addressed over the next several weeks of jockeying and horse-trading. But for the Palestinians, it was a day of reckoning clearly relished by Mr. Abbas, who had long been considered to be a low-profile leader who has sought to avoid confrontation with Israel and the United States. “It is a moment of truth, and my people are waiting to hear the answer of the world,” Mr. Abbas said in his speech. “Will it allow Israel to continue its occupation, the only occupation in the world?” Mr. Netanyahu dismissed the Palestinian application as premature. “The Palestinians want a state without peace, and the truth is you should not let that happen,” he said, challenging a comment by Mr. Abbas that the Palestinians were armed “only with their hopes and dreams.” “Hopes, dreams — and 10,000 missiles and Grad rockets supplied by Iran,” Mr. Netanyahu said. He repeatedly stressed Israel’s small size, saying it could not return to its 1967 borders because it needed strategic depth to defend itself, particularly from the threat of militant Islam. Much is riding on how international powers handle the Palestinian request, with expectations soaring in the West Bank and the Arab world that the step Mr. Abbas took will result in genuine change. “The status quo is completely unacceptable,” the French foreign minister, Alain Juppé, said in an interview. “If there is a veto or a ‘no’ vote in the Security Council, what will happen on the ground? What will happen in the Arab street, in the Palestinian street? “There is a very high risk of violence and demonstrations,” he said. “I think that Israel will be completely isolated in the region. The situation has changed to the extreme around Israel — in Egypt, in Syria, with Turkey and so on. It’s unreasonable to say, ‘We don’t move; we wait.’ ” Senior officials involved in hammering out the statement on negotiations said they hoped it would inspire the two sides to return to the bargaining table within a month, but left open the question of how they would be prodded into their seats. Both leaders said in their General Assembly speeches that they wanted peace talks, but there was no immediate reaction from either after the statement came out from the quartet — the grouping of the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations formed in 2002 to raise international involvement in the peace process. The quartet’s statement was heavily diluted, avoiding any of the difficult issues that have divided the Israelis and Palestinians. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and diplomats from all sides had spent weeks trying to work out compromises, but failed to achieve a consensus within the quartet itself, let alone between the Palestinians and Israelis. The statement did reaffirm “strong support for the vision of Israeli-Palestinian peace” outlined by President Obama in May. That included two states separated by the borders that existed in 1967 with “land swaps” to account for Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. It called on the Israelis and Palestinians to meet and agree on an agenda and schedule for resuming direct negotiations within a month and to come forward with “comprehensive proposals” on territory and security within three months. The two sides should make “substantial progress” within six months and complete a final agreement before the end of 2012. “We urge both parties to take advantage of this opportunity to get back to talks,” Mrs. Clinton said at the United Nations. The administration is caught between not wanting to inflame Arab public opinion by exercising yet another veto in support of Israel and the domestic political perils of pressuring Israel, which can alienate some Jewish voters and campaign donors. The proposal does not preclude Security Council action on the Palestinian bid. But administration officials hope it will keep a majority of the Council’s 15 members from forcing an immediate vote by shifting the focus to the talks rather than the membership bid. It remains unclear what happens if negotiations do not resume within a month. Analysts dismissed the quartet’s statement as lacking the teeth needed to push the two sides back to bargaining James Zogby, an American pollster long involved in the peace negotiations, noted that virtually every attempt to forge a treaty since 1993 had included a deadline that expired without progress. “What we have done now for the last 20 plus years is engage people in an endless process,” he said. “As long as they were riding the bicycle it didn’t matter if it wasn’t going anywhere as long as it didn’t fall down.” At the annual United Nations gathering of world leaders, Mr. Abbas was greeted Friday with numerous standing ovations. “I do not believe anyone with a shred of conscience can reject our application for full admission in the United Nations,” Mr. Abbas said, calling eventual statehood “the realization of the inalienable national rights of the Palestinian people.” The most sustained applause, punctuated with cheers, came as he held up a copy of the letter requesting membership. Connecting his statehood request with the Arab uprisings, he said, “The time has come also for the Palestinian spring, the time for independence.” Both leaders spoke for about 40 minutes, adopting professorial tones as they explained the conflict. Mr. Netanyahu scolded the United Nations, describing it as a “theater of the absurd” for what he called its unfair fixation on condemning Israel. The Security Council is expected to form a committee next week with one representative from each of the 15 members to study the proposal, which can take several weeks. It is unclear whether the Palestinians have the nine Council votes needed to move it to the General Assembly for final approval, with the United States actively courting “no” votes to avoid having to use its veto. J. David Goodman contributed reporting from New York. Palestinians submit statehood request to UN Al Jazeera 23.09.11 President Mahmoud Abbas says time has come to end the suffering and the plight of millions of Palestinians Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has handed over a historic request to UN chief Ban Ki-moon, asking the United Nations to admit the state of Palestine as a full member. The Palestinian leader won huge applause and a standing ovation on Friday as he entered the hall just after submitting the membership request. “I call upon the distinguished members of the Security Council to vote in favour of our full membership,” Abbas told the UN General Assembly. “I do not believe that anyone with a shred of conscience can reject our application for a full membership in the United Nations and our admission as an independent state,” Abbas said. In his address, Abbas said he was ready to return to negotiations based on the 1967 borders, saying he did not want to isolate or delegitimise Israel. “Here I declare that the Palestine Liberation Organisation is ready to return immediately to the negotiating table on the basis of the adopted terms of reference … and a complete cessation of settlement activities,” he told the UN General Assembly. But he maintained previous peace talks were “smashed against the rocks of the positions of the Israeli government, which quickly dashed the hopes raised by the launch of negotiations last September”. Palestinians celebrate Palestinians across the West Bank celebrated the formal submission of their bid to become a United Nations member state, despite opposition from the United States and Israel. In city centres, giant television screens were set up so residents could watch Abbas deliver a historic address to the 193 member states of the UN General Assembly. In Ramallah, the political capital of the West Bank, many cars were flying the Palestinian flag. Posters of Abbas and his predecessor, the late Yasser Arafat, festooned in the streets, as the crowd swelled to the largest seen in Ramallah since Arafat’s funeral in 2004. “I’ve heard a chant tonight that I’ve never heard before,” Al Jazeera’s Cal Perry, reporting from Ramallah, said. “People are chanting for Mahmoud Abbas. His speech was really playing to the next generation.” “Tonight we have seen spontaneous shows of support for Abbas, who has sometimes seen cascading public support.” Near the Muqataa, Abbas’s presidential headquarters, flags of the more than 125 nations that have recognised a Palestinian state flew in a circle around a Palestinian flag. Friday gatherings In a sign of mounting tension earlier on Friday, one Palestinian man died after being shot by Israeli troops who intervened in a clash between villagers and Jewish settlers south of the West Bank city of Nablus. In the southern city of Hebron, the municipality building was draped with a three-metre poster of Abbas and “Palestine 194″, and similar decorations were hung in the northern cities of Nablus and Jenin. At the Qalandia checkpoint between Ramallah and Jerusalem, the Israeli army fired tear gas into the crowds, with a military spokeswoman saying “around 100 rioters” were throwing stones at the troops. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that clashes also broke out in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Ras Al-Amud. In Nabi Saleh village, protesters chanted support for the UN bid, but activists also burnt a picture of Barack Obama, the US president, who has vowed to veto the membership bid at the UN Security Council. Full membership bid Full UN membership can only be bestowed by the Security Council where Abbas’ request will almost certainly be derailed, either by a failure to win the needed nine votes in the 15-member body or, if the necessary majority is obtained, by a veto. The Palestinians say they are seeking full UN membership to underscore their right to statehood, but have left open the option of a lesser alternative – a non-member observer state. Such status would be granted by the General Assembly, where the Palestinians maintain broad support. Siding with Israel, Obama has said a Palestinian state can only be established as a result of negotiations, and that there is no short-cut to Palestinian independence. “I extend my hand to the Palestinian people,” Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said during his own address to the General Assembly, shortly after Abbas’ speech. “The truth is that Israel wants peace. The truth is that I want peace,” he said. Abbas has said negotiations remain his preference, but that he will not resume talks – frozen since 2008 – unless Israel agrees to the pre-1967 frontier as a baseline and freezes all settlement construction on occupied land. “The American administration did everything in its power to disrupt our project, but we are going through with it despite the obstacles and the pressure because we are asking for our rights,” Abbas said late on Thursday. “There are small countries in the world that have gained their freedom and independence, but we still haven’t got ours,” he told the Palestinian community in New York. Palestinian state television has carried wall-to-wall coverage of the diplomatic drama playing out in New York, interviewing local officials and politicians and running a series of advertisements backing the UN membership push. One featured a jigsaw puzzle of the globe as depicted in the UN logo, but with a missing piece. From the side of the screen, a piece in the colours of the Palestinian flag flies across and slots into place, completing the puzzle. ‘Palestine freedom’ The three main Palestinian newspapers also dedicated their front pages to the bid, and the inside pages were dotted with paid advertisements from individuals and businesses expressing their support for Abbas and the UN move. “The president delivers his speech to the General Assembly and presents a request for recognition of the state of Palestine,” read the headline in Al-Quds newspaper, emblazoned over pictures of pro-bid demonstrations. Another cartoon in the paper used the famous image of US soldiers raising their flag during the battle of Iwo Jima, replacing the US flag with the Palestinian one and the soldiers with Palestinians, some in traditional garb. Al-Ayyam’s headline read: “The president presents a request for full membership for Palestine in front of the world”, while on the back, a cartoon showed Abbas at the UN podium shouting into a loudspeaker: “Freedom for Palestine”. In the Gaza Strip, however, life was continuing as normal with no sign of any activity to mark the UN bid, which has not been backed by the territory’s Hamas rulers. Al Jazeera’s Nicole Johnston said Hamas security officials cracked down on people watching the Abbas address in Gaza City cafes. Our correspondent also said police confiscated Palestinian flags that crowds were waving in the streets. Speaking hours before the Abbas address, senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said the UN bid would not bring independence. “Our Palestinian people do not beg for a state … States are not built upon UN resolutions. States liberate their land and establish their entities,” he said. Thousands cheer Abbas as Palestinians hail Statehood bid Vanguard ngr/AFP 23.09.11 RAMALLAH – Tens of thousands of Palestinians erupted into cheers of victory across the West Bank on Friday as their president handed over a request for full United Nations membership. In central Ramallah, Arafat Square roared its approval with whistles and raucous cheering when Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, whose speech was broadcast on giant television screens, announced the bid had been submitted. “Abbas, we are your people and you truly make us raise our heads high,” they shouted. “With our souls and our blood, we will defend Palestine!” Similar sights played out across the rest of the West Bank, where tens of thousands of people turned out to watch Abbas’s speech. “There are tens of thousands of people who are now in the centre of the main cities like Ramallah, Hebron and Nablus,” security services spokesman Adnan Damiri told AFP. In Hebron, crowds cheered as a huge balloon decorated with a Palestinian flag and a picture of Abbas was released above them into the night. Waving their national flag, the exuberant crowd chanted “Palestine 194″ in reference to their bid to become the 194th member state of the United Nations. Ahead of Abbas’s speech, the mood was festive, with dancing and singing and plenty of noisy celebration. But as he approached the UN podium to address the General Assembly, crowds in cities across the West Bank fell silent. They listened, waiting for the moment he would officially announce he had handed over the request for the UN to accept Palestine as a full member state — and then they went wild. Men and women jumped up and down, arm-in-arm, waving flags and chanting “God is great, God is great!” “It’s just wonderful, it’s very emotional,” said Mona Matar, a professor of computer science at Bethlehem University. “I’m so lucky to live to see this day, us having the courage to say no to everybody. To see that Abbas does not care what Obama wants, but what his people want.” At the end of the speech, the crowd again began to cheer, parents boosting their children onto their shoulders, and posing for pictures by giant posters featuring Abbas and his predecessor Yasser Arafat. The ghost of Arafat, the iconic Palestinian leader, loomed large over the proceedings, with the crowd frequently chanting his name and cheering at Abbas’s mention of the former president. “We really miss Arafat at this historical moment,” Matar said. “He was something special.” In Nablus, massive crowds were entertained by the Al-Ashaqeen folk band, which played patriotic songs to the delight of the crowd. Majed Hussein, a government employee, welcomed Abbas’s speech. “Today we got back our dignity. Obama and America can go to hell. We don’t need their money, we need our dignity,” he said. “The president’s (Abbas’s) speech was touching,” added Mohammed Kayed, a farmer. “But I wanted to hear him tell Obama that his speech was unjust to the Palestinians and using the veto would be the biggest injustice.” In his address to the UN General Assembly, the US president angered many Palestinians by failing to mention their suffering or Israel’s continued construction of settlements in the occupied West Bank. He has also renewed his threat to use the US veto in the Security Council to block the Palestinian bid for membership as a state. The festive moods at rallies supporting the speech was in sharp contrast to earlier clashes at flashpoints across the West Bank, including in east Jerusalem. In Qusra village south of Nablus, a Palestinian man was shot dead by Israeli troops in clashes that erupted after settlers attacked the village, Palestinian hospital sources told AFP. Issam Badran, 37, died after being hit in the neck by a live bullet, they said, while another three Palestinians were lightly wounded by rubber bullets. Elsewhere, clashes were reported between Israeli soldiers and stone throwers at the Qalandia checkpoint between Ramallah and Jerusalem, as well as at a weekly protest in Nabi Saleh, some 15 kilometres (nine miles) further north. ‘We’ve been waiting 60 years for these words’ New Middle East News 24.09.11 A crowd of more than 100 people of all ages gathered outside of Damascus Gate in east Jerusalem on Friday evening to watch Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s speech to the United Nations, as emotions and excitement ran high. “We’ve been waiting for what he’ll say tonight for more than 60 years, we’ve been waiting for these words, this is what Palestinians inside and outside of Palestine are waiting to hear, and it will definitely bring a big effect on the situation,” said Ibrahim, an east Jerusalem resident, ahead of the speech. East Jerusalemites had originally planned to show the speech on a giant screen set up at Damascus Gate, but it was canceled after police said that a showing of the speech would block traffic. At the last minute it was moved to a community center in the A Tur neighborhood, but some people still gathered at a small store across from Damascus Gate which had rigged up a large projection screen. “Everybody, the whole world is listening to Mahmoud Abbas’s speech,” said an ecstatic Fadu Ahwad, also from Jerusalem, immediately after the speech’s conclusion, as firecrackers were shot off from the top of a nearby restaurant and cars passed, honking, with young people hanging out of the windows flashing the victory sign. “Even if we get the American veto, we will [bring it to vote] again and again even tens of times we will bring it, so there will be no more settlements, no more apartheid wall, and we will live in peace together!” After the speech, the crowd, joined at the end by Mufti of Jerusalem Muhammed Ahmad Hussein, trooped over to the amphitheater surrounding Damascus Gate and sang traditional songs while chanting “Liberation for Palestine!” “This is not the end of the road for us, this is one battle in the war,” said Ghada Zughayar, the executive director of the Coalition for Accountability and Integrity in Palestine, an NGO that monitors corruption in the Palestinian Authority. “We will continue our struggle, we will not give up, because we are fully aware of our legitimate right… we are only asking for our right to exercise our right as a people, as Abbas said, we are the last nation in the whole world that is still under occupation. “This is the moment the whole world [is watching], and 2/3 of the world is supporting our right… we are not asking for anything that is against international legitimacy. This is the time for us to do fair and justice to the Palestinians,” she said. Others were less enthusiastic about the speech. Osuma Azorba, a 19-year-old photography student, said he was very worried about the issue of refugees and the right of return, since his parents are refugees from the village of Lifta, at the entrance to Jerusalem. “I am pessimistic because of everything that’s happened before, they are still neglecting the Palestinians, and the strongest countries are against [the statehood bid] so nothing can change,” he said. His concern about the right of return was echoed by Rali Bakir, a 71-year-old refugee from the Jewish Quarter of the Old City. “If I don’t have my old house then I have nothing, if I don’t have my house they can forget their speech,” he said on Friday night. Still, the speech infused the crowd with excitement and hope for the future. “It was amazing for us to hear him speaking about the refugees and ending the occupation,” said Amad Zorba, who works in Al Quds University. “We have one red line, Jerusalem is our capital… I hope to see my flags in Jerusalem as soon as possible, because that’s my right,” he said. No one stayed for Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s speech to the United Nations. ‘Recognition of the Palestinian State, and then negotiations, rather than another Masada’ Xarxanet.org 23.09.11 “Today, Thursday, September 22, at 5.00 pm – a historical timing, on the eve of the UN debate – a special event will be held at 16 Rothschild Boulevard, opposite the building where the independence of Israel was proclaimed in 1948. On that spot there will be held a rally expressing support of Israeli and international recognition of the Palestinian state, and stating that the alternative to such recognition is going towards a new Masada. Among participants and speakers at the events will be Yael Dayan, Alon Li’el, Amos Oz, Yoran Kanyuk, David Tartakover, Yehuda Bauer and others. Participants will be invited to sign publicly the following manifesto:” “In front of our very eyes, an insane drama is being acted out. The Prime Minister of Israel is leading his citizens to Masada. Human morality, Jewish history and the interests of Israel – all clearly show the way to being the first state in the world to recognize, in the United Nations, our neighbor state and them to enter into negations, based on equality, regarding territorial exchanges and security arrangements. After all, the Palestinian State recognizes the State of Israel in the “67 borders. The Jewish People arose in the Land of Israel, there they developed their identity. The Palestinian People arose in Palestine, there they developed their identity. Therefore, we sincerely welcome the expected declaration of independence by the Palestinian State, Israel’s neighbor, and within the borders at the time of our independence which were determined at the end of the War of Independence in 1949; the borders more commonly known as the ’67 borders. This is the natural right of both the Jewish and the Palestinian people – as written in Israel’s Declaration of Independence “to be masters of their own fate, like all other nations, in their own sovereign State”. The independence of both peoples strengthens one and the other, it is both a moral and basic necessity at one and, the same time, it is the foundation upon which good, neighborly relations are built. We, the undersigned, call on all persons seeking peace and freedom, and upon all nations to join us in welcoming the Palestinian Declaration of Independence, to support it and to work and act together in order to encourage the citizens of both countries to live together in peace, based on the ’67 borders and mutual agreement. A final and complete end to the occupation is a basic condition for the freedom of both peoples, for the realization of Israel’s Declaration of Independence and a future of peaceful coexistence.” Initial list of signatories: Larry Abramson, Artist and Prof. of the arts Maj Gen (Ret.) Avraham Adan (“Bren”), former Commander of the Armored Corps Prof. Chaim Adler, Israel Prize laureate Prof. Joseph Agassi, Philosopher Gila Almagor-Agmon, Israel Prize laureate Shulamit Aloni, Israel Prize laureate Prof. Eva Illouz Oriella Ben-Zvi Prof. Elie Barnavi, former Ambassador to France Ilan Baruch, former Ambassador to South Africa Prof. Yehuda Bauer, Israel Prize laureate Prof. Haim Ben Shahar, former President of Tel Aviv University Prof. Miriam Ben-Peretz, Israel Prize laureate Daniel Blatman, Head of the Department for Contemporary Judaism Prof. Menachem Brinker, Israel Prize laureate Dr. Rafael Braun Prof. Judith Buber Agassi Maj Gen (Ret) Nehemiah Dagan, former Chief Education Officer Dr. Yossi Dahan Yael Dayan, former Member of Knesset Brig Gen (Ret.) Prof. Eran Dolev, Commander of Health Services Prof. Yehuda Elkana, former President of the Central European University Brig Gen (Ret.) Yitzchak Elron, former Military Attaché in South America Prof. Yaron Ezrahi, winner of the Political Science Society Award Prof. Menachem Fish Yona Fischer, Israel Prize laureate Ari Folman, Golden Globe laureate Prof. Haim Gans Maj Gen (Ret.) Shlomo Gazit, former Head of Military ntelligence, Chairman of the Jewish Agency and President of Ben Gurion University Yair Garbuz, Emet Prize laureate Moshe Gershuni, Israel Prize laureate Prof. Galia Golan Prof. Amiram Goldblum Prof. Naomi Graetz Tal Gutfeld Prof. Hanoch Gutfreund, former President of the Hebrew University Tal Harris, CEO One Voice Prof. Galit Hasan-Rokem

Michael Jansen: Right to recognition September 25, 2011 Print Send to Friend Exclusive to The Gulf Today In the current confrontation between the unborn Palestinian state and global heavyweight US/Israel, Palestine has won the first round. The US has demonstrated its reckless adherence to the line dictated by the right-wing Israeli regime while it has, once again, exposed its rejection of the two-state solution the international community has not only endorsed but also wants to see implemented. It remains to be seen how the Palestinians handle rounds two and three in the ongoing campaign for the “internationalisation” of the Palestinian drive for statehood. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has adopted a two-stage strategy which may or may not work. On Friday, before delivering his address to the UN General Assembly, he handed a letter to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon calling for Security Council recognition of Palestine as a state with borders defined by the ceasefire line of June 4, 1967 and admission to the UN as a full member. Regulations dictate that the Council has 25 days to consider this letter before voting and ten days to pass its recommendations to the General Assembly. Abbas has said he is prepared to wait, without specifying how long. If the US-dominated Council fails to act or the US blocks the Palestinian bid either with a veto or by subverting countries pledged to support the application, Abbas could go to the Assembly where the Palestinians have the support of at least 130 of the 193 members. The Assembly can upgrade Palestine to the status of “non-member observer state.” This would be a major breakthrough for the Palestinians because the borders of this state would be defined as encompassing East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza. The definition of the border between Palestine and Israel would settle one of the most contentious issues under negotiation over the past 20 years and not to Israel’s liking since it has planted half a million illegal colonists in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Having failed to prevent Abbas from going to the UN, the US now seeks to block Council action and to pre-empt Palestinian action in the Assembly by trying to restart negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis. The US is unlikely to succeed because Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is not willing to meet Palestinian conditions for resumption: halt the expansion of its colonies in occupied Palestinian territory and negotiate on the basis of the 1967 line. Netanyahu is unlikely to change his mind at Washington’s behest because he has defeated and repeatedly humiliated the Obama administration whenever it has tried to break the impasse between the sides. As a result, an Israel-compliant President Barack Obama blew it in his address to this year’s opening session of the General Assembly. A year ago he pledged that Palestine would take its place as a full member state by the 2011 session. Thanks to Israeli intransigence and US pusillanimity, this did not happen. Last Wednesday, he gave no date for Palestinian entry and simply said there was no route for Palestinian statehood except through direct negotiations with Israel. Obama did not mention a halt to Israeli settlements, refer to the border of the Palestinian state on the line of 1967, or give a timetable for results in the negotiations he wants to resume. He spoke of Israel’s need to live at peace with its neighbours who, he said, untruthfully, had repeatedly waged war on Israel. He did not admit it was Israel that constantly mounted military campaigns against countries in the region. He did not note that the Arabs have only initiated conflict with Israel once, in 1973. Israel was the aggressor in 1948, 1956, 1967, 1978, 1982, 1996, 2002, 2006, and 2008-09 and numerous skirmishes in between. Writing in The Irish Times on the morning after Obama delivered his dud address, Lara Marlowe exposed Obama as a hollow man. “It was Israel and the US alone against the world yesterday.” She cited last year’s enthusiastic welcome of Obama’s pledge to recommit to multilateralism and to the emergence of Palestine. At that time, he “was greeted with thunderous applause.” But this year the Assembly chamber was silent, even shocked by his attitude. “A chasm had opened up with Europe...” she observed, pointing out that French President Nicolas Sarkozy put forward “a peace plan with deadlines and an interim status for the Palestinians” — as citizens in a “non-member state,” the operative word here being “state.” The Israeli liberal daily Haaretz reported that Obama’s speech received “a kosher seal of approval” from none other than Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman for delivering what the paper called “the warmest pro-Israel speech ever given at an annual General Assembly meeting by any US president, bar none.” Israeli commentators have quipped that Obama is the “first Jewish president” of the US. This is, of course, unfair since many US Jews do not support the hardline adopted by Netanyahu and his right-wing expansionist government. Obama’s strategy seems to be to show a great deal of empathy for Israel at a time it is under more pressure than ever. Obama seems to believe this could tempt Netanyahu to restart negotiations. Talks with the Palestinians are the last thing he wants, particularly if asked to commit to a reference to the 1967 border, demanded by the Palestinians, and a definite timetable, demanded by Sarkozy. A Palestinian attending the Ramallah celebrations marking Abbas’ UN bid reported that Michelle Obama, the president’s wife, observed that her husband’s great fault is that “he never finishes anything.” If indeed she made such a remark and if it is correct, it is a tragic and dangerous fault. It is tragic and dangerous because he is president just at the time the US must press Netanyahu to reach a deal acceptable to the Palestinians and the Arabs. Failure to do so will mean another century of conflict and instability in a strategic region already unsettled due to the Arab Spring. If the Palestinians are denied independence in a viable state, Israel will never have peace and security. Obama understood this when he gave historic speeches in Cairo in 2009 and at the UN in 2010. But his influence and popularity have been eroded by the US economic crisis, the determination of the Republican right to drive him from office, and his failure to assert leadership. Obama is now a president desperately running for a second term. He will do whatever it takes to get re-elected, even damn the Palestinians to eternal Israeli occupation. THE AUTHOR A WELL-RESPECTED OBSERVER OF MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS, HAS THREE BOOKS ON THE ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT. Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites Share | Comments Post a comment Name: Country: City: Email:

Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas has submitted full membership bid to UN, despite opposition from US and Israel. Press TV has interviewed with Haidar Eid, Professor at Al-Aqsa University, to share his opinion on this issue. Press TV: First of all, the Palestinian statehood bid has been handed over to the UN chief and Mahmoud Abbass has called on all nations to recognize the Palestine state. This initiative is being well accepted in the West Bank but just how much does it resonate with the Gaza Strip and Hamas? Eid: Well this is a very important question. I think because yes, it comes one day after the very famous speech given yesterday by President Abbass and I think it was unpredictably very defiant, especially when you look at it as a speech that came after the speech of the President of the United States of America which was very pro-Israel and which was very Zionist. But at the same time I think, you know, most Palestinians who live in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank are refugees. Two third of the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip are refugees who were ethnically cleansed back in 1948 from villages and towns that they used to live in 1948 when Israel was established. One of the major problems that most Palestinians have with this speech and with the bid, the United Nations and the declaration of independence is that it reduces the Palestinian question only to one third of the Palestinian people. It never addresses the question of the right of return which is guaranteed by international law, which is guaranteed by United Nation resolution 194, neither does it address the question of cultural and national rights of more than 1.2 million Palestinians living as third class citizens in the state of Israel. Press TV: I like to have your opinion on the initiative itself. How well structured is this initiative? Eid: Well I think that it is not structured very well because it does not deal with the roots of the Palestinians question .One of the major problems as I said is that it takes back the Palestinian question only to 1967 when Israel occupied the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. That is to say one third of historic Palestine, 22 percent in fact of historic Palestine, whereas the roots of the problem go back to 1948 with the establishment of Israel at the expense of more than two third of Palestinian people who were ethnically cleansed in 1948 but it also failed to address the very apartheid nature of the state of Israel. Israel is based actually on ethnic cleansing and genocide as we witnessed in 2009 when Israel actually invaded the Gaza Strip, killed more than one thousand four hundred people, the overwhelming majority of whom were civilians and I think that one of the other things that this initiative fails to address is that Israel is an apartheid state that needs to be isolated the same way apartheids of Africa was isolated in the 70's and 80's and instead of that the President Abbass actually insists that we Palestinians should go back to the negotiating table with the Israelis. Press TV: Ok, correct me from wrong. So what you are trying to say is this initiative is still yet another compromise, should I say or not? Eid: I strongly believe that it is a compromise because as I said look in 2005 the overwhelming majority of Palestinians civil society organizations, nationalists and Islamist organizations came up with the call, the famous BDS call, calling on the international community to boycott apartheid Israel, impose sanctions against it and divest from it until it complies with international law. In other words our call should be right based rather than calling for the establishment of a Bantustan on parts of the historic land of Palestine. Press TV: I mean suppose the bid goes through without a veto of the United States. How much will it have an impact on relations between Hamas and Fattah? We know that Hamas is calling for unity talks. Eid: Well you know one of the problems is that Hamas lacks a political vision. In fact, Hamas accepts the establishment of what they call a sovereign independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders and at the same time it does not support the PA bid to the United Nations and this is in itself contradictory. But Hamas also and other political organizations have been calling for a resumption of the unity talks and I think that if Mr. Abbass comes back within the next week to Ramallah, I think the first think he should do to try to resume negotiations with Hamas and other political organizations and stop seriously considering the dismantling of the Palestinian Authority and take the Palestinian question to its roots, a question of national liberation rather than a question of the establishment of a Bantustan and calling it an independent state. AHK/JR [Delicious] [Reddit] [Newsvine] [Mixx] [StumbleUpon] [LinkedIn] [Digg] [Twitter] [Facebook] Share this article: Send to friendPrint this article Related Stories: Abbas makes statehood bid at UN Comments Add Comment Click Here

Sep 24, 2011, 21:32 GMT New York - Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr on Saturday urged countries to support the Palestinian statehood bid and blasted Israel's violence and its blockade of the Gaza Strip, which he described as violations of international legitimacy. Addressing the UN General Assembly, Amr pledged his country's commitment to the goal of achieving a 'just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East. 'It has become totally absurd to carry on talking about a peace process while Israeli continues, with total comfort and complete disregard to the objections of the world, constructing settlements on the Palestinian territories,' said Amr, who was also representing the Non-Aligned movement. He called for 'comprehensive and substantial reform' in the United Nations that would lead to a 'more representative and more transparent Security Council,' and also focused on the January 25 revolution in Egypt. Read more about Egypt

Palestinians greet Mahmoud Abbas UN speech with joy, fear - and disbelief Palestinians massed in subdued celebration across the West Bank, marking their historic bid for statehood with a mixture of pride, fatalism and not a little fear. Masked Palestinian youths clash with Israeli forces at the Qalandia checkpoint between Jerusalem and Ramallah Masked Palestinian youths clash with Israeli forces at the Qalandia checkpoint between Jerusalem and Ramallah Photo: Alessio Romenzi/AFP/Getty Images Adrian Blomfield By Adrian Blomfield, Ramallah 6:28PM BST 23 Sep 2011 Comments51 Comments Crowding around television sets on Friday, they watched intently as Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader, made an impassioned appeal for his people to be given the right to be called citizens of their own state. It may have been one of the most anticipated addresses ever delivered before the UN General Assembly in decades, but Mr Abbas's speech was greeted with a distinct sense of ambivalence in the territories that would make up the would-be Palestinian state. The streets of Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority, were bedecked with the national flag and banners proclaiming the birth of the 194th member of the United Nations. But there was a sense of artificiality about the officially organised festivities in the city's central square, one born from the fact that - for all the optimism of the banners - few genuinely believe that Palestine stands on the cusp of statehood. Loudspeakers blared the Palestinian national anthem and there was dancing and celebration in the city's Yasser Arafat Square, where a large crowd gathered to listen to Mr Abbas's speech, which was greeted with raucous enthusiasm. Related Articles Clashes in Ramallah as Palestine seeks statehood 23 Sep 2011 UN statehood bid: Palestinian killed in clashes 23 Sep 2011 Palestine: Abbas is haunted by Arafat's ghost 23 Sep 2011 Observer entities, observer states and full membership at the UN 23 Sep 2011 Timeline of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict 23 Sep 2011 Palestinian Authority to lodge statehood bid at UN 23 Sep 2011 Giving the impression of cacophonous jubilation, it seemed as though convoys of flag-waving, hooting cars were driving through Ramallah for much of the day - but closer scrutiny revealed that it was in fact a solitary convoy repeatedly driving the same loop. Outside Yasser Arafat Square, life continued as normal and the muted atmosphere stood in stark contrast to the outpourings of joy witnessed in South Sudan when the world's newest state took its seat as the 193rd member of the UN earlier this year. And, although thousands gathered to mark the moment, the numbers paled in comparison with the vast crowds that took to the streets when the Oslo Accords of 1993 were signed, perhaps the last moment of genuine optimism on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Any sense of festivity was further soured after a Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli security forces in the West Bank village of Qusra that had come under attack by radical Jewish settlers. The victim was identified as Issam Badran, a labourer, who had joined a group of Palestinians that formed to repulse the settlers, who had smashed windows in several houses and uprooted trees. The Israeli army said its soldiers had opened fire after the Palestinians threw stones at them. The incident, which comes after a spate of settler attacks on Palestinian villages in recent days, increased tension in the West Bank at a time of heightened volatility because of the statehood application. Observers have warned that violence by radical fringe groups on either side could lead to a rapid deterioration in the stability of the West Bank after years of relative if uneasy calm. Although there were sporadic incidents of violence elsewhere, most of the West Bank was calm. If the mood was hardly one of jubilation, it was not one of despondency either. A threatened US veto may mean that the statehood bid is destined to die at the UN Security Council. But the submission of the Palestinian application was still a symbolic moment for many, one in which Mr Abbas was seen as laying down a important historical marker allowing his people to take control of their destiny for the first time in two decades of discredited negotiations with Israel. By challenging US leadership of the peace process in turning to the United Nations, supporters of Mr Abbas said he had re-written the rules of negotiation with Israel to ensure that future talks would be conducted on a fairer basis. "It is important and historic in the sense that we are ridding ourselves of American hegemony over the Palestinian position," said Yusuf Abu Farah, a resident of Ramallah. "It has also freed other countries from US hegemony in terms of their attitudes to the Palestinian position." Many Palestinians are hoping that European states will now take a more dominant position than they have in the past. By setting himself on a collision course with the world's most powerful country and standing up to the United States, Mr Abbas, in the eyes of some watching, also emerged from the shadow of Yasser Arafat, his charismatic predecessor, for the first time. "I have often thought of him as a coward, but for the first time I was proud to call him our leader," said Motassim Karajeh, a shopkeeper. Not everyone agreed, however. In East Jerusalem, seen by Palestinians as their future capital, some predicted that Mr Abbas would eventually capitulate, especially if the United States carries out its threat to cut off aid to his government. "He is not brave enough to stand up to America for a long period," said Mansour Nidal, a student. "He is not a revolutionary and he is not a visionary. After a while, he will back down and then we will be back where we started." Share: inShare1 Palestinian Authority News » World News » Middle East » Israel » Adrian Blomfield » In Palestinian Authority Abbas stakes Palestinian claim to state Palestinian men throw stones at Israeli soldiers during riots at the Qalandia checkpoint near Ramallah Protests over Palestinian statehood bid Muslims around the world celebrate the start of the fasting month of Ramadan Ramadan around the world Police clash with protesters in the Arab-Israeli city of Uhm el-Fahm Clashes in Israel A rights group on Monday published new photos of Israeli soldiers posing with a detainee and vandalising a Palestinian home, in images apparently taken during the 2008-2009 Gaza war. Israeli troops shown posing with Palestinians Share: inShare1 Ads by Google Expat Living In Malaysia? Do You Have £70K to £1.8m In UK Pensions? Free QROPS Guide! QROPSpensiondesigner.com/Telegraph Best Expat Interest Rates Independent Report Gets You The Best Interest Rates On Your Savings www.OffshoreInvestmentDesigner.com How to buy property in UK Most pay too much. Learn how to invest smarter in the UK. www.ypc-group.sg/freeseminar 52 comments Add a comment Comment with a Telegraph account Login | Register with the Telegraph Alternatively... Comment with one of your accounts Showing 24 of 52 comments Order by Real-time updating is enabled. Follow with email Follow with RSS blue_streak 21 minutes ago Abbas refuses to state clearly that his government accepts Israel's right to exist. He knows that if he did, this would jeopardize his relations with Iran, Syria and his other backers in the Muslim world, as well as destroy his credibility amongst his own people. Palestinians and their backers in the Muslim world do not want peace with Israel - they want a Palestinian state so that they can form military alliances, receive military aid, and improve their strategic position vis-à-vis Israel. The goal remains, as always, the destruction of Israel, or as their slogan goes, the liberation of Palestine "from the river to the sea". Report Recommend flamingo 30 minutes ago Good luck to the Palestinians. Trouble is the Americans and much to my shame the UK do not want to allow the Palestinians have whatwas rightfully agreed back in 1967. The only nation in the world currently under occupation by another and we condone it!! We should be ashamed of ourselves. Maybe we should ban the Jewish faith. Report Recommend blue_streak 10 minutes ago When you start a war which you lose, you can expect to be occupied. It happens all the time. And as long as you remain belligerent and murderous, and have no intention of making peace with the peaceful neighbour you attacked, you can expect to remain occupied. Report Recommend hospitaller Today 06:39 AM Recommended by 4 people Fine, you have your own state. Maybe now you will stop trying to destroy your neighbour, or is that too much too ask? Report Recommend DannyBlack Today 03:31 AM Recommended by 3 people And as usual, Abbas lied. He claimed Israel is ethnically cleansing Jerusalem when in absolute and in relative terms there are more Arabs now than in 1967. Report Recommend Frazwell Today 12:35 AM Recommended by 11 people Strange that a Nation that was Stolen from its indigenous native Indians should have a Veto against Statehood of an Nation that was established before Christ ??!! Report Recommend DannyBlack Today 03:32 AM Recommended by 1 person When did the US veto Israel's statehood? Report Recommend garvagh Yesterday 11:56 PM Recommended by 9 people I continue to see the vigorous Israeli opposition to Palestinian statehood, as a convincing case for Palestine to be granted full membership in the UN. Report Recommend hospitaller Today 06:40 AM Recommended by 4 people If the Palestinians ever start shooting at you I imagine your attitude will change with remarkable speed. Report Recommend cm87 Yesterday 11:22 PM Recommended by 2 people Sad business Report Recommend arif Yesterday 08:56 PM Recommended by 27 people Netanyahu proved to be a crafty orator indeed. He tried to link 9/11, 7/7, Madrid, Mumbai and all the other atrocities to Iran and Iran to Hamas. A diversionary tactic if ever there was one. Whilst he has valid concerns over Israel's security, any fool can see that security is best achieved when you are at peace with your neighbours, and peace will only be achieved when they accept a sovereign, independent Palestine. He was being disingenuous by saying the withdrawal from Gaza brought war - he omitted the fact that after they withdrew, they blockaded Gaza (with the help of the American quisling Mubarak), and destroyed its seaport and aiport, Gaza's sewage works, as well as other infrastructure (incidently most of it paid for by us). If the Israeli's really wanted peace they really would stop building settlements and sit down to negotiate. Report Recommend hospitaller Today 06:43 AM Negotiating with the Palestinians! Why hasn't anybody in Israel thought of that? Report Recommend DannyBlack Today 03:34 AM Recommended by 3 people Only problem with that argument is that Israel pulled out in 2005 and the "blockade" in put in place after Hamas took over in 2007. Have a quick guess when the rockets started happening ( hint it was not 2007 ). Report Recommend garvagh Yesterday 11:57 PM Recommended by 7 people arif - - Yes, and after getting out of Gaza, Israel continued to grow the illegal colonies of Jews in the West Bank. Report Recommend hospitaller Today 06:41 AM Recommended by 2 people If they were illegal colonies of non Jews, would you be so upset? I doubt it Report Recommend deltasierra70 Yesterday 10:35 PM Recommended by 2 people AMEN Report Recommend couchtripper Yesterday 09:06 PM Recommended by 14 people well said - I was shouting at the tv when he invoked 911... Report Recommend hospitaller Today 06:42 AM Shouting at the TV- you are mad as well as angry. Report Recommend mike88 Yesterday 08:46 PM Recommended by 10 people All Abbas needs to say is "I acknowledge Israel's existence, and will negotiate on that basis." Report Recommend hospitaller Today 06:44 AM Recommended by 2 people If he was going to say that, he would have done so by now. What is he waiting for, the Second Coming? Or maybe he will never say it. Report Recommend rjbh Yesterday 09:02 PM Recommended by 12 people Within 1967 borders. And Israel can do likewise for Palestine Report Recommend humphrey_n Yesterday 08:48 PM Recommended by 24 people The PLO already did so in 1993. An inconvenient truth. Report Recommend Guest Yesterday 08:31 PM Recommended by 6 people Comment removed. Report Recommend parkimedes Yesterday 08:56 PM Recommended by 6 people He reminds me a lot of George Bush, except he speaks better english. Report Recommend sd2933 Yesterday 07:58 PM Recommended by 22 people Milikovsky's speech, a condescending, arrogant, swaggering proclamation of zionist supremacy, confident that the US in the pocket of Israel. BTW, having a first name of Benjamin does not mean that your ancestors lived in Palestine 3,000 years ago - unless their second name happened to be Milikovsky. Report Recommend Previous Page 1 2 3 Next Social Media Reactions 花音 Today 03:57 AM From twitter RT @TelegraphNews: Palestinians greet Mahmoud Abbas UN speech with joy, fear - and disbelief http://t.co/DG5gjtTQ peijinc Yesterday 11:41 PM From twitter RT @TelegraphWorld: Palestinians greet Mahmoud Abbas UN speech with joy, fear - and disbelief http://t.co/gYc1CExn VOMIT Yesterday 10:56 PM From twitter Palestinian statehood: Abbas UN speech meets joy, fear - and disbelief - Telegraph http://t.co/4WZGqStz via @Telegraph medicare 2 gaza Yesterday 10:15 PM From twitter Palestinians greet Mahmoud Abbas UN speech with joy, fear - and disbelief http://t.co/Wo1hD11A betivanski jan Yesterday 08:39 PM From twitter Palestinians greet Mahmoud Abbas UN speech with joy, fear - and disbelief: Palestinians massed in subdued celebr... http://t.co/7QwgDsh4 Danielle Stouck Yesterday 08:24 PM From twitter "few genuinely believe that Palestine stands on the cusp of statehood. " #Palestinianstatehood http://t.co/qffdAJim via @Telegraph Michele Waldorf Yesterday 07:47 PM From twitter RT @FarrukhSiddiqui: Palestinian statehood: Abbas UN speech meets joy, fear - and disbelief - http://t.co/lKXFm9px via @Telegraph" PAKMAN Yesterday 07:40 PM From twitter Palestinian statehood: Abbas UN speech meets joy, fear - and disbelief - http://t.co/gEquPREU via @Telegraph Trackback URL blog comments powered by Disqus Click here to find out more! Middle East news » Israel news Iran news Iraq news Dubai news Egypt news Follow The Telegraph on Social Media » Foreign correspondents on Twitter » MalcolmMoore profile MalcolmMoore Only just seen this, but it's great! Tricycle water calligraphy by @jonah_kessel for @danwei http://t.co/FV2gsTqJ 2 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite tobyharnden profile tobyharnden "It was like watching Donny Osmond dominate John Wayne." @jamestaranto on Romney/Perry on.wsj.com/o4Tvir 4 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite alexspillius profile alexspillius Quartet talks plan following Sarkozy timetable, trying to avoid a train wreck at #UN Security Council 12 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite alexspillius profile alexspillius Quartet has released statement calling for peace agreement on #Palestine by the end of 2012. Good luck with that 12 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite tobyharnden profile tobyharnden So wld be a help or a hindrance to be called "Walter Cronkite" at CBS News? http://t.co/fEPA0XDN 13 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite tobyharnden profile tobyharnden Would you buy "sugar free mints" from an octogenarian called Olga Mae? http://t.co/inn8Tm5V 13 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite alexspillius profile alexspillius Drama is over at the #UN. Abbas is on a plane tonight and it's raining heavily. A pause follows and then who knows what comes next 13 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite alexspillius profile alexspillius Responding to Abbas, #Netanyahu calls the United Nations the "theatre of the absurd" 15 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite alexspillius profile alexspillius Abbas says Israel's settlement construction 'will destroy the possibility of achieving a two-state solution' in #Palestinian territories 16 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite davidmunk profile davidmunk Can I try you on Facebook in about 90 mins? Or is that no good? 16 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite tobyharnden profile tobyharnden Has anyone seen any commentary saying Perry won the debate? I've never seen such unanimity as there is on this one... 16 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite tobyharnden profile tobyharnden "Rick Perry is blowing his chances to exploit Romney’s weaknesses" - @philipaklein http://t.co/UrGoBPnS 16 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite alexspillius profile alexspillius A standing ovation for Mahmoud Abbas as he enters the UN generalAssembly hall 16 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite tobyharnden profile tobyharnden Media bias on display as NBC grills Suskind, by @ByronYork http://t.co/u2NqjZRE 16 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite A_Osborn profile A_Osborn Bolshoi Theatre appoints first Western full-time dancer: http://t.co/DxVMFZQM #russia #bolshoi 16 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite Join the conversation News Most Viewed TODAY PAST WEEK PAST MONTH Joanna Lumley: If you receive undeserved praise, you have to expect undeserved blame 'Slippery' Noel Edmonds failed to pay building bills, court hears Irish pensioner 'died of spontaneous human combustion' Palestinian UN statehood bid: as it happened On the desert trail of Tony Blair's millions EDITOR'S CHOICE » On the desert trail of Tony Blair's millions A bit rich: Mr Blair has said that he is worth 'considerably less' than £20 million - On the desert trail of Tony Blair's millions Peter Oborne reveals the apparent conflict of interests that allows the Middle East peace envoy to earn millions. 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Leading article: Will Britain fail the Palestinians for the second time in a century? Saturday, 24 September 2011 Share Print Email Text Size Normal Large Extra Large Sponsored Links Ads by Google IME Centric Software Referral Tracking/Scheduling /Billing for IME Companies www.imesoftwaresolutions.com Sanctions Against Iran Is Your Business at Risk? World-Check has the Solution www.world-check.info Amazing Deals in Malaysia Save up to 90%! Sign up today for Free Dealmates.com.my/Massage IranDate - Mossad in Iran The Mossad efforts to prevent the Iranian "Day After" - eBook Vr. www.amazon.com/irandate Earlier this week, in his inaugural speech to the UN General Assembly, David Cameron enthused about the change of power in Libya and made a plea for the United Nations to be united not just in condemnation of repressive regimes, but in action. By yesterday, however, what had been hailed by some as a claim to leadership that was almost Blairite – for better and worse – in its ambition seemed like ancient history. Mr Cameron was on his way home, and British diplomacy was meeting its first challenge of the new UN year in a position that might, to borrow a phrase used to describe the US stance on Libya, be termed leading from behind. The Government was mired in a quandary it had hoped against hope would never arise. Related articles Robert Fisk: Prayers, taunts and weary resignation in Jerusalem Abbas tells the world: it is time for Palestinian people to gain their freedom 'If you don't see the other side, how are you going to bring about peace?' 'This is the first thing Abbas has done right' Search the news archive for more stories In his keenly awaited speech to the General Assembly, the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, announced that he had just made a formal application to the Security Council for Palestine to be admitted to the UN as a full member. He was followed at the General Assembly podium by Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who lost no time in rejecting the claim for UN recognition out of hand. This was precisely the stand-off that Britain, the United States and others had done their utmost to avoid. The US had invested much time and effort in trying to dissuade Mr Abbas from submitting his application. That it failed was hardly surprising, given that the only arguments advanced, in public at least, were that no UN resolution could substitute for agreement with Israel, and that a pre-emptive bid for recognition risked scuppering Middle East talks. With Mr Neta-nyahu's fragile coalition in no mood to negotiate and all talks long moribund, this hardly left the Palestinians a great deal to lose. As much as the international coalition that helped to protect the uprising in Libya can be deemed a success – with the important caveat that Muammar Gaddafi has not been apprehended – the Western diplomacy that tried to forestall yesterday's Palestinian application for UN recognition is an abject failure. It is a failure in practice, both because the US may now have to resort to its veto to fend off recognition – the very option it had wanted to avoid – and because Britain has been forced to choose yet again between Europe and the US, and looks set, awkwardly, to abstain. It reportedly rejected a French compromise plan that would have seen Palestine granted the same non-member status as the Vatican. But the failure is also moral – on the part of Britain, as much, if not more than, any other power. As the Mandate power in Palestine for 25 years, Britain had an obligation to create and foster self-governing institutions. It left without doing so. More than half a century later, supporting the Palestinians' aspiration to statehood at the UN is the very least Britain should do. Venting his frustration, the late Israeli statesman Abba Eban once said of Palestinian leaders that they never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity. The same cannot be said of Mahmoud Abbas, who seized the moment yesterday and threw down a gauntlet to world leaders in New York. In not supporting UN membership for Palestine, if that is what the British Government decides, it is we – to our shame – who will be reproached for missing this historic opportunity now.Leading article: Will Britain fail the Palestinians for the second time in a century? Saturday, 24 September 2011 Share Print Email Text Size Normal Large Extra Large Sponsored Links Ads by Google IME Centric Software Referral Tracking/Scheduling /Billing for IME Companies www.imesoftwaresolutions.com Sanctions Against Iran Is Your Business at Risk? World-Check has the Solution www.world-check.info Amazing Deals in Malaysia Save up to 90%! Sign up today for Free Dealmates.com.my/Massage IranDate - Mossad in Iran The Mossad efforts to prevent the Iranian "Day After" - eBook Vr. www.amazon.com/irandate Earlier this week, in his inaugural speech to the UN General Assembly, David Cameron enthused about the change of power in Libya and made a plea for the United Nations to be united not just in condemnation of repressive regimes, but in action. By yesterday, however, what had been hailed by some as a claim to leadership that was almost Blairite – for better and worse – in its ambition seemed like ancient history. Mr Cameron was on his way home, and British diplomacy was meeting its first challenge of the new UN year in a position that might, to borrow a phrase used to describe the US stance on Libya, be termed leading from behind. The Government was mired in a quandary it had hoped against hope would never arise. Related articles Robert Fisk: Prayers, taunts and weary resignation in Jerusalem Abbas tells the world: it is time for Palestinian people to gain their freedom 'If you don't see the other side, how are you going to bring about peace?' 'This is the first thing Abbas has done right' Search the news archive for more stories In his keenly awaited speech to the General Assembly, the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, announced that he had just made a formal application to the Security Council for Palestine to be admitted to the UN as a full member. He was followed at the General Assembly podium by Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who lost no time in rejecting the claim for UN recognition out of hand. This was precisely the stand-off that Britain, the United States and others had done their utmost to avoid. The US had invested much time and effort in trying to dissuade Mr Abbas from submitting his application. That it failed was hardly surprising, given that the only arguments advanced, in public at least, were that no UN resolution could substitute for agreement with Israel, and that a pre-emptive bid for recognition risked scuppering Middle East talks. With Mr Neta-nyahu's fragile coalition in no mood to negotiate and all talks long moribund, this hardly left the Palestinians a great deal to lose. As much as the international coalition that helped to protect the uprising in Libya can be deemed a success – with the important caveat that Muammar Gaddafi has not been apprehended – the Western diplomacy that tried to forestall yesterday's Palestinian application for UN recognition is an abject failure. It is a failure in practice, both because the US may now have to resort to its veto to fend off recognition – the very option it had wanted to avoid – and because Britain has been forced to choose yet again between Europe and the US, and looks set, awkwardly, to abstain. It reportedly rejected a French compromise plan that would have seen Palestine granted the same non-member status as the Vatican. But the failure is also moral – on the part of Britain, as much, if not more than, any other power. As the Mandate power in Palestine for 25 years, Britain had an obligation to create and foster self-governing institutions. It left without doing so. More than half a century later, supporting the Palestinians' aspiration to statehood at the UN is the very least Britain should do. Venting his frustration, the late Israeli statesman Abba Eban once said of Palestinian leaders that they never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity. The same cannot be said of Mahmoud Abbas, who seized the moment yesterday and threw down a gauntlet to world leaders in New York. In not supporting UN membership for Palestine, if that is what the British Government decides, it is we – to our shame – who will be reproached for missing this historic opportunity now.

Palestinians Request U.N. Status; Powers Press for Talks Oliver Weiken/European Pressphoto Agency Palestinians followed President Mahmoud Abbas’s speech to the United Nations in Ramallah, the West Bank, on Friday. By NEIL MacFARQUHAR and STEVEN LEE MYERS Published: September 23, 2011 Recommend Twitter Linkedin comments (349) Sign In to E-Mail Print Single Page Reprints Share UNITED NATIONS — President Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader, formally requested full United Nations membership for his as yet undefined country on Friday. But before the thunderous applause greeting his announcement in the General Assembly had faded, international powers laid out a new plan to resume direct Israeli-Palestinian peace talks that was designed to delay a contentious vote on the Palestinian request as long as possible. Multimedia Interactive Feature Two Peoples, One Capital? Interactive Feature Steps in the Palestinian Bid for U.N. Membership Abbas’s United Nations Address Netanyahu’s United Nations Address Related in Opinion Ehud Olmert: Peace Now, or Never (September 22, 2011) Op-Ed Contributor: Support the Palestinian Bid for Statehood (September 22, 2011) Interactive Map: Mapping Mideast Peace Room For Debate: Can Israel Survive Without a Palestinian State? Enlarge This Image Bernat Armangue/Associated Press A Palestinian woman in the West Bank city of Ramallah cried during the speech of President Mahmoud Abbas at the General Assembly of the United Nations on Friday. Readers’ Comments Share your thoughts. Post a Comment » Read All Comments (349) » In a day full of diplomatic theater, Mr. Abbas and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel each laid out the tangled history of their bloody conflict in passionate, lengthy speeches less than an hour apart, while the United States, Russia and European powers haggled in a back room for a formula to bring the parties back to the negotiating table and prevent the Palestinian bid for membership from becoming a spur for violence. Continents away, thousands of Palestinians celebrated around the West Bank, with cheers erupting from the rapt crowds watching live when Mr. Abbas held aloft the four pages of the United Nations application letter — a symbolic step toward international recognition of statehood that many Palestinians also saw as a form of peaceful defiance against Israel. The submission of the bid for membership to the Security Council was the culmination of a months-long tangle involving Mr. Abbas, Israel and the United States. But the flurry of diplomatic activity on Friday underscored the reality that the request is just the beginning of an even more complicated diplomatic process at the United Nations. Whether the possibility of a vote at the Council will prompt a new round of peace talks after a long stalemate, whether the Palestinians have enough support to force a Council vote on their bid for membership and whether the United States ultimately will be forced to use its threatened veto of that bid, were all open questions, likely to be addressed over the next several weeks of jockeying and horse-trading. But for the Palestinians, it was a day of reckoning clearly relished by Mr. Abbas, who had long been considered to be a low-profile leader who has sought to avoid confrontation with Israel and the United States. “It is a moment of truth, and my people are waiting to hear the answer of the world,” Mr. Abbas said in his speech. “Will it allow Israel to continue its occupation, the only occupation in the world?” Mr. Netanyahu dismissed the Palestinian application as premature. “The Palestinians want a state without peace, and the truth is you should not let that happen,” he said, challenging a comment by Mr. Abbas that the Palestinians were armed “only with their hopes and dreams.” “Hopes, dreams — and 10,000 missiles and Grad rockets supplied by Iran,” Mr. Netanyahu said. He repeatedly stressed Israel’s small size, saying it could not return to its 1967 borders because it needed strategic depth to defend itself, particularly from the threat of militant Islam. Much is riding on how international powers handle the Palestinian request, with expectations soaring in the West Bank and the Arab world that the step Mr. Abbas took will result in genuine change. “The status quo is completely unacceptable,” the French foreign minister, Alain Juppé, said in an interview. “If there is a veto or a ‘no’ vote in the Security Council, what will happen on the ground? What will happen in the Arab street, in the Palestinian street? “There is a very high risk of violence and demonstrations,” he said. “I think that Israel will be completely isolated in the region. The situation has changed to the extreme around Israel — in Egypt, in Syria, with Turkey and so on. It’s unreasonable to say, ‘We don’t move; we wait.’ ” Senior officials involved in hammering out the statement on negotiations said they hoped it would inspire the two sides to return to the bargaining table within a month, but left open the question of how they would be prodded into their seats. 1 2 Next Page » J. David Goodman contributed reporting from New York. A version of this article appeared in print on September 24, 2011, on page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: As Palestinians Seek U.N. Entry, A PUSH FOR TALKS. comments (349) Sign In to E-Mail Print Single Page Reprints Looking for global advertising opportunities? Visit all new media kit for The New York Times Global More Headlines From Around the Web Sponsored Links Prevention.com10 Little Things Connected Couples Do CSOIPhone Thief Accidentally IDs Himself Via Photobucket Away.comTop Ten Scenic Drives in the United States GOODCan You Pass Harvard's 1869 Entrance Exam? 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Published 18:44 23.09.11 Latest update 18:44 23.09.11 Abbas at UN: Palestinians ready to return to talks based on 1967 borders Palestinian President speaks to world leaders in New York after he officially submits the Palestinian application for full UN membership. By Natasha Mozgovaya, Barak Ravid and News Agencies Tags: Mahmoud Abbas Palestinian state UN Security Council Palestinians Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told the UN General Assembly Friday that he is ready to return to peace talks with Israel based on 1967 borders. Speaking moments after he submitted a formal request for the United Nations to recognize Palestinian statehood, Abbas urged Israelis to "come to peace." Abbas at UN. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addresses UN General Assembly, September 23, 2011. Photo by: AP "We extend our hands to the Israeli government and the Israeli people for peacemaking," Abbas said in a speech setting out his case to the UN General Assembly, which greeted him with a standing ovation. "Our people will continue their popular, peaceful resistance," Abbas declared. "This (Israeli settlement) policy will destroy the chances of achieving a two-state solution and ... threatens to undermine the structure of the Palestinian National Authority and even end its existence." It was the first time Abbas has spoken so starkly of the prospect of the PA's demise, highlighting the predicament faced by a body set up as a state-in-waiting but now seen by its critics as a big municipality, managing the civilian affairs of the main Palestinian cities under Israeli occupation. Israel has rejected the Palestinian bid, saying that peace can only be achieved through negotiations, not a unilateral declaration of statehood. U.S. President Barack Obama, echoed these sentiments in a meeting with Abbas in a meeting on Wednesday, saying that UN action would not achieve a Palestinian state and the United States would veto any Security Council move to recognize Palestinian statehood, the White House said. "We would have to oppose any action at the UN Security Council including, if necessary, vetoing," Ben Rhodes, the White House national security council spokesman, told reporters after Obama met Abbas in New York. PLO diplomatic envoy to the U.S. Maen Rashid Erekat told Haaretz that the U.S. President "reiterated the commitment of the U.S. to the establishment of the Palestinian state, as part of the two-state solution, and stressed the position of the US that the UN is not the right venue to reach this goal." "President Abbas explained the Palestinian position - basically it's what we've done in the past few months, each side explained his position," he added. Abbas was scheduled to meet UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon prior to his UN address to hand over an application for UN membership. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Obama in a brief statement at the UN on Thursday, for “standing with Israel and supporting peace through direct negotiations”. The Israeli prime minister stressed that both sides agree that this is the only way to achieve peace. “We both agree that Palestinians and the Israelis should sit down together and negotiate an agreement of mutual recognition and security. I think this is the only way to get to a stable and durable peace,” he said. Netanyahu implored other leaders to adopt a similar stance and reject the Palestinian bid for recognition. More on this topic Full transcript of Abbas speech at UN General Assembly Palestinians rejoice as Abbas submits UN application for statehood Print Page Send to a friend Comments Share Text Size +|- Follow us on Twitter Become a Haaretz.com Facebook friend This story is by: Natasha Mozgovaya Natasha Mozgovaya Barak Ravid Barak Ravid People who read this article also read: Netanyahu at UN: Palestinians can get state only after peace with Israel Netanyahu at UN: Palestinians can get state only after peace with Israel (Haaretz - News) Hamas: Abbas relinquishing Palestinian rights with UN bid Hamas: Abbas relinquishing Palestinian rights with UN bid (Haaretz - News) Israel Navy ship accidentally enters waters of neighboring Arab nation

Published 09:50 23.09.11 Latest update 09:50 23.09.11 Bill Clinton: Netanyahu isn't interested in Mideast peace deal Former U.S. President says a cynical perspective of Prime Minister's calls for negotiations 'means that he's just not going to give up the West Bank'. By Haaretz Tags: Middle East peace Palestinian state West Bank Benjamin Netanyahu Mahmoud Abbas Barack Obama UN Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is responsible for the inability to reach a peace deal that would end the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, former U.S. President Bill Clinton said on Thursday. Speaking on the sidelines of the Clinton Global Initiative conference in New York, the former U.S. president was quoted by Foreign Policy magazine as claiming that Netanyahu lost interest in the peace process as soon as two basic Israelis demands seemed to come into reach: a viable Palestinian leadership and the possibility of normalizing ties with the Arab world. Bill Clinton - Reuters - 22.9.2011 Former U.S. President Bill Clinton speaking during the 2011 Clinton Global Citizen Award ceremony at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York September 22, 2011. Photo by: Reuters "The Israelis always wanted two things that once it turned out they had, it didn't seem so appealing to Mr. Netanyahu," Clinton said, adding that Israel wanted "to believe they had a partner for peace in a Palestinian government, and there's no question -- and the Netanyahu government has said -- that this is the finest Palestinian government they've ever had in the West Bank." Furthermore, the former U.S. president is quoted by Foreign Policy as saying that Israel was also on the verge of being recognized by Arab nations adding that the "king of Saudi Arabia started lining up all the Arab countries to say to the Israelis, ‘if you work it out with the Palestinians ... we will give you immediately not only recognition but a political, economic, and security partnership." "This is huge.... It's a heck of a deal," Clinton said, adding: "That's what happened. Every American needs to know this. That's how we got to where we are." "The real cynics believe that the Netanyahu's government's continued call for negotiations over borders and such means that he's just not going to give up the West Bank," he added. Clinton also said he felt the Palestinians would accept the deal rejected by former PA President Yasser Arafat in 2000 negotiations with then Prime Minister Ehud Barak, saying that Palestinian leaders "have explicitly said on more than one occasion that if [Netanyahu] put up the deal that was offered to them before -- my deal -- that they would take it." "For reasons that even after all these years I still don't know for sure, Arafat turned down the deal I put together that Barak accepted," he was quoted by Foreign Policy as saying. "But they also had an Israeli government that was willing to give them East Jerusalem as the capital of the new state of Palestine." Clinton also added, as to the chances of Mideast peace being achievable in the foreseeable future, in light of past failures, saying that the "two great tragedies in modern Middle Eastern politics, which make you wonder if God wants Middle East peace or not, were [Yitzhak] Rabin's assassination and [Ariel] Sharon's stroke." Clinton's comments come as a Palestinian delegation headed by Abbas is planned to officially submit its statehood bid to the United Nations later Friday, with both Palestinian President Abbas and Prime Minister Netanyahu scheduled to address the General Assembly. Despite heavy pressure from the West, Abbas remained determined to formally apply for UN recognition of a Palestinian state Friday. U.S. President Barack Obama met with Abbas Thursday night in an effort to convince him not to seek Security Council recognition, warning that the U.S. would use its veto power to block it. Lower-level American officials also met with Abbas several times, but to no avail. Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, reiterated on Thursdays that Abbas' statehood bid will not contribute to the peace process and will merely delay the start of negotiations - which, she added, are the only way the Palestinians can actually achieve independence. American officials also continued their effort to mobilize enough Security Council votes to defeat the statehood bid without a U.S. veto. Germany has already announced it won't vote yes, and Rice said she is convinced other countries will do the same. America, she said, is not the only country to realize that the UN gambit is unproductive. More on this topic Abbas to seek full UN recognition despite Western pressure IDF braces for mass West Bank protests ahead of Palestinian statehood bid at UN Israeli intellectuals back Palestinian statehood in Tel Aviv rally Print Page Send to a friend Comments Share Text Size +|- Follow us on Twitter Become a Haaretz.com Facebook friend This story is by: Haaretz People who read this article also read: Livni: Israels diplomatic stupidity is pushing the U.S. into a corner Livni: Israel's diplomatic stupidity is pushing the U.S. into a corner (Haaretz - News) Hamas: We may back Palestinian state that does not recognize Israels existence Hamas: We may back Palestinian state that does not recognize Israel's existence (Haaretz - News) Report: London Philharmonic suspends musicians for anti-Israel remarks Report: London Philharmonic suspends musicians for anti-Israel remarks (Haaretz

Ahmadinejad drives UN delegates out of assembly permalink email story to a friend print version Published: 22 September, 2011, 22:50 Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addresses the 66th UN General Assembly at the United Nations headquarters in New York, September 22, 2011 (AFP Photo / Getty Images) (41.7Mb) embed video TAGS: Conflict, Meeting, UN, EU, Ahmadinejad, USA, Matt Trezza, Marina Portnaya Delegations from the US, UK, France and other nations walked out of the UN General Assembly during a fierce speech by Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in which he accused certain countries of attempting to dominate the world. ­While delivering his speech, President Ahmadinejad again questioned the 9/11 tragedy, which ten years ago claimed almost 3,000 lives in the US. Dubbing the terror attacks on the Twin Towers and Pentagon “mysterious,” Ahmadinejad reminded delegates that his calls for a proper investigation into the tragedy resulted in his country being threatened with sanctions. Ahmadinejad also wondered why the main suspected perpetrator, Osama Bin Laden, was never delivered to the US to give evidence. “Instead of assigning a fact-finding team they killed Osama Bin Laden and threw his body into the sea. Would not it have been more reasonable to bring him to justice?” the Iranian leader told the gathering. Ahmadinejad attacked the US for causing two world wars and imposing totalitarian regimes on Asian, African and Latin American nations. More diplomats left the hall as President Ahmadinejad switched to the global economic crisis. He said that while the global recession was provoked by a handful of nations, most countries actually suffering from the crisis are kept away from the decision-making. The UN can boast of no different picture, according to the Iranian leader, where the majority of the 193 members is dominated by the same small group of powers. Ahmadinejad urged the organization to work along more democratic lines. NATO’s mission in Afghanistan also came under the fire from Ahmadinejad. “Despite NATO’s presence in Afghanistan, there has been a dramatic increase in the production of illicit drugs in this country,” said President Ahmadinejad. The Israeli delegation did not attend to the speech at all. This did not prevent Ahmadinejad from mentioning the Holocaust. "European countries still use the Holocaust after six decades as the excuse to pay ransom or fines to Zionists," he said, causing diplomats to flee the meeting in droves. Watch RT’s exclusive interview with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad +22 (24 votes) Back to top Share160 0digg 3

Home > Akashma, Awareness, News, Palestine > The Role of the General Assembly of the United Nations Vs Security Council Arbitrary Practices The Role of the General Assembly of the United Nations Vs Security Council Arbitrary Practices September 23, 2011 Akashma Web Blogs Leave a comment Go to comments 1 Votes Posted on September 22, 2011 by Marivel Guzman The Security Council Role in the world it is not of maker of war as stands since its creation, there are 5 Permanent Members with “Right” to Veto any Resolution, but we should analyze in deep why they would “Veto” any measure that will avert war, or bring stability to a region on Earth, because their Job is to Guarantee Peace and Security, not to create conflicts and wars. If the permanent members of the Security Council will be doing their job, we would not have a single war or conflict on Earth. There is no reason to wage a war on a neighbor is the Human Rights Status are implemented for every human being, if we respect the land of others, and respect the natural resources of Earth as a vast resource to feed us and not to accumulate riches in few hands. This is my take on all the information thrown to roll in the internet, overall it is very pessimist on the UN Bid..and I think is misleading on the roles, of the General Assembly and Security Council…Because the case for Palestine Member status fall under the direction of the General Assembly even thought that the Security Council will want to make a recommendation on the issue, does not fall in their capacity. Security Council role is in security and peace issues, like War and Peace, or Military Interventions or Economical Sanctions, and this Issue of Palestine Seat it is a Diplomatic move and has nothing to do with resolution of a conflict in itself but granting the membership to an entity that comply with the requirement to achieve this goal, as it is Palestine full capable of self determination. Even thought the US and the 5 permanent members want to tell the world their twisting version, they are wrong in their own roles.. If the charters are respected as were intended, this issue should go directly to the General Assembly and not at all to the Security Council, And to make the things better; any member with voting status can make a recommendation on a issue to be discussed and vote by the 193 member of the General Assembly and Today Bahrain and Kuwait made the recommendation to the General assembly to recognize Palestine as an independent state.. so, we going to keep fighting and pressing our own, legislators to get the rule straight and stop playing political games, and do their job which it is make Peace Not War, Resolve Conflict to perpetrate them, and in no way they should favor an Entity that should not be a Member because does not comply with the requirement of delimited borders Israel move the borders at will and that it is in contravention of the Rule of the own UN… At General Assembly, Kuwait and Bahrain demand creation of Palestinian State The leaders of Kuwait and Bahrain today at the General Assembly called for an end to Israeli occupation of Arab territories and the creation of a Palestinian State, a move they said would resolve conflict in the Middle East. 22 September 2011 – The leaders of Kuwait and Bahrain today at the General Assembly called for an end to Israeli occupation of Arab territories and the creation of a Palestinian State, a move they said would resolve conflict in the Middle East Security Council The Security Council has primary responsibility, under the UN Charter, for the maintenance of international peace and security. A reform of the Security Council, including its membership is under consideration. Security Council Subsidiary Bodies Trusteeship Council The Trusteeship Council was established in 1945 by the UN Charter to provide international supervision for 11 Trust Territories placed under the administration of 7 Member States, and ensure that adequate steps were taken to prepare the Territories for self-government and independence. By 1994, all Trust Territories had attained self-government or independence. Its work completed, the Council has amended its rules of procedure to meet as and where occasion may require. Secretariat The Secretariat carries out the day-to-day work of the Organization. It services the other principal organs and carries out tasks as varied as the issues dealt with by the UN: administering peacekeeping operations, surveying economic and social trends, preparing studies on human rights, among others. Repertory of Practice of United Nations Organs The Repertory of Practice of United Nations Organs is a legal publication containing analytical studies of the decisions of the principal organs of the United Nations. It is a comprehensive summary of the decisions of United Nations Organs and serves to throw light on questions of application and interpretation of the UN Charter in practice. General Assembly The General Assembly is the main deliberative organ of the UN and is composed of representatives of all Member States. The work of the United Nations year-round derives largely from the mandates given by the General Assembly. A revitalization of the Assembly is under way to enhance its role, authority, effectiveness and efficiency. General Assembly Subsidiary Bodies Economic and Social Council The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), established by the UN Charter, is the principal organ to coordinate the economic, social and related work of the United Nations and the specialized agencies and institutions. Voting in the Council is by simple majority; each member has one vote. ECOSOC Subsidiary Bodies International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice, located at the Hague in the Netherlands, is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. It settles legal disputes between states and gives advisory opinions to the UN and its specialized agencies. Its Statute is an integral part of the United Nations Charter. At General Assembly, Kuwait and Bahrain demand creation of Palestinian State Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al Mohammad Al Ahmad Al Sabah of Kuwait 22 September 2011 – The leaders of Kuwait and Bahrain today at the General Assembly called for an end to Israeli occupation of Arab territories and the creation of a Palestinian State, a move they said would resolve conflict in the Middle East.“Six decades have passed, and the United Nations still stands incapable of finding a solution to the Palestinian Question and putting an end to the Israeli occupation of Arab territories,” said Sheikh Nasser Al Mohammad Al Ahmad Al Sabah, the Prime Minister of Kuwait, in his speech to the Assembly’s general debate in New York. “What really evokes concern is that the international community stands as a spectator of all those Israeli practices and policies, without opposing or deterring them, despite their clear contravention and violation of the most simple rules of international law and the resolution of international legitimacy,” he said. The Kuwaiti leader urged the international community to put pressure on Israel to withdrawal from Palestinian and other Arab territories so that Palestinians can achieve their right to self-determination and establish a State with Jerusalem as its capital. “We wish to renew our full commitment and support to the bid of the Palestinian Authority and its endeavours to obtain membership of the United Nations as an independent and full Member State.” The King of Bahrain, Hamad bin Issa Al Khalifa, for his part told the Assembly that the creation of a Palestinian State would “end an era of bitter Arab-Israeli conflict, subject to Israeli withdrawal from all occupied Arab territories.” The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, in his address to the general debate yesterday, hailed calls for political reform in the Middle East and North Africa, saying the regions “abounded in great expectations.” He said that Qatar has always had a clear policy on the rules governing Arab, regional and international relations, which he said was based on reconciliation and harmony among peoples and nations. “On the other hand, we, as well as others, have been unable to turn a deaf ear or blind eye to the calls of the wounded seeking help from near and far, against an entrenched oppression,” he said. The Sheikh also had a tête-à-tête with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, during which they exchanged views on a number of regional issues, including Libya, Iraq, the Middle East and Darfur peace processes. Mr. Ban paid tribute to the role played by Qatar in supporting the UN’s work, stressing the country’s role in the Darfur peace process and its efforts to settle other regional issues. Follow this link to listen to the speech of Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al Mohammad Al Ahmad Al Sabah of Kuwait

The Murder of Troy Davis Sep 22, 2011 12:40 AM EDT Troy Davis was executed Wednesday night in Georgia after the Supreme Court denied a last-minute plea for a stay, but serious concerns about his guilt remain, says Mansfield Frazier. Print Email Comments 22 Never mind the fact that during the 17th century, when the public hanging of pickpockets drew throngs to cities in England, pockets in the crowd were being picked as the trap door was being sprung … thus disproving the canard that the death penalty prevents crime; never mind the fact that the region of this country with the highest execution rate—the South—also has the highest murder rate; and never mind the fact that the Death Penalty Center’s website states that blacks who kill whites are 16.4 times as likely to be executed as whites who kill blacks … state-sanctioned murder in this country is obviously as American as apple pie. The controversial execution of Troy Anthony Davis took place late Wednesday night after the U.S. Supreme Court considered and then denied a last-minute delay of execution filed by Davis’s attorneys as they pleaded for time to prepare another appeal. His execution had been stayed three previous times. After again maintaining his innocence, Davis uttered his last words to his executioners: “For those who are about to take my life, may God have mercy on your souls … may God bless your souls.” He was pronounced dead at 11:08 p.m. The TV screen has been filled with live images of hundreds of anxious, emotional Davis supporters massed across the street from the prison, which had been cordoned off by a line of law enforcement officers clad in full riot gear. Thousands of other supporters gathered in cities around the world. If there were pro-death penalty advocates present at the prison, they were not shown by the TV cameras. In 1991, Davis was convicted of the 1989 killing of Savannah, Ga., police officer Mark MacPhail. There was no conclusive forensic evidence to tie him to the crime, and of the nine witnesses who said they saw Davis pull the trigger, seven have since recanted. A number of them now say police coerced them into giving false testimony on the witness stand, and of the two who have not recanted, one is a man other witnesses have identified as the real killer. Related Stories David A. Graham: Troy Davis Executed Lee Siegel: Our Sick Passion for Execution Troy Davis Georgia Execution Demonstrators hold a vigil for death-row inmate Troy Davis in front of the White House in Washington, Sept. 21, 2011, Charles Dharapak / AP Photo Davis’s supporters have steadfastly maintained that the recanting of sworn testimony, coupled with the lack of physical evidence in the case, raised serious doubts as to his guilt, and death-penalty opponents will undoubtedly seize on the fact that an irreparable mistake might have been made when the state took his life. More than 1 million individuals from around the world signed petitions in support of the condemned man, and organizations such as Amnesty International and the NAACP had taken up his cause over the years. Additionally, a host of prominent civic, religious, and political leaders, including former President Jimmy Carter, Pope Benedict XVI, the Rev. Al Sharpton, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and former FBI director and judge William S. Sessions, all called upon the court to grant Davis a new trial, or at the very least an evidentiary hearing—to no avail. More than any other execution in recent memory—perhaps with the exception of Mumia Abu Jamal, who sits on death row in a Pennsylvania prison—the Davis case effectively held a mirror up to the American psyche and revealed a nation deeply divided over the death penalty. Remarkably, the issue of race had not reared its ugly head in the case, since seven of the original jury members were African-Americans. But three of them said they would not have voted to convict Davis if they knew back then what they know today. The fact that MacPhail was a police officer could have played a role in the state’s steely determination to put Davis to death, but death-penalty opponents maintain that the process is inherently flawed in all cases, if for no other reason than that few poor or middle-income people can afford the hundreds of thousands of dollars required to put on an adequate death-penalty defense. The state, they maintain, has unlimited resources that tip the scales of justice in prosecutors’ favor. Both sides in the Davis case laid claim to the same mantra: justice. The family of the slain officer sent a message out of the death chamber before the execution that after 22 years they deserved justice, while Davis’s supporters said they wanted his life spared for the same reason: justice. But both sides could not have been right. NEXT 1 2 View As Single Page Print Email Comments 22 Tags: death penalty, Georgia,United States, U.S. News Related Stories 11 Celebrities With Crohns Disease Paid Distribution 11 Celebrities With Crohn's Disease (Health.com) Bill OReilly Would Like To Teach America A History Lesson Bill O'Reilly Would Like To Teach America A History Lesson Police Charged For Tossing Football With 7-Year Old Paid Distribution Police Charged For Tossing Football With 7-Year Old (AOL Jobs) Rick Perry’s Lethal Overconfidence Rick Perry’s Lethal Overconfidence Rick Perry’s Lethal Overconfidence Police Charged For Tossing Football With 7-Year Old Bill OReilly Would Like To Teach America A History Lesson 11 Celebrities With Crohns Disease Comments Login or signup You must be logged in to comment angst7 2 Minutes Ago By moving on I hope this means reinstate the death penalty in all states. To do otherwise is, criminal. charlieultrasheenlikes this. Reply billharris 21 Minutes Ago The particularities of the case are beside the point. Either you conform to Western Enlightenment values in opposing all capital punishment or you remain white trash/barbarian. You're free to choose. BH Greenmeanlikes this. Reply charlieultrasheen 1 Minute Ago Racist asshole. kscr14 24 Minutes Ago If there was even a hint of doubt, how can we in a free society, kill this man? We should all care deeply. Barbaric and tragic..... and just wrong. grannieannielikes this. Reply ed66 1 Hour Ago Fifty-nine percent of Americans now believe that an innocent man has been executed in the last five years. There is more credible evidence that space aliens have walked among us than that an innocent person has been executed in this country in the past 60 years, much less the past five years. Reply dbtexas 31 Minutes Ago You are absolutely correct, if you believe in the infallibility of humans. 1 more (expand) hope lives 9 Minutes Ago Ed- you clearly are extremely ill-informed. Besides the Willingham case, look at the number of people that have been on death row awaiting execution that have been vindicated through DNA evidence. Your barbaric hubris is remarkable -- but it should not be surprising due to the fact that the truth never has been an impediment to the right. 21st Century Quaker 2 Hours Ago Here's another issue where opinions fall along partisan lines, and again we are divided as a people and only the parties benefit. The Death Penalty is clearly morally wrong and the "left" fights to have it abolished. The right sees us as being weak on crime and resists because there are some crimes that should be swiftly and surely dealt with. Why is this so hard to understand? There are indeed crimes that scream out for swift and sure retribution but our justice system is neither swift nor sure. If it were, the public might be content with "life without parole" as an alternative to the death penalty. The system is broken and we keep returning to the one issue that so divides us, rather than pressing for reform of the system itself. grannieannie and pjsoftlike this. Reply F_Grey_Parker 27 Minutes Ago Nonsense. Unless, of course, you are conflating Bob Barr and former FBI director Sessions with the "left." grannieannielikes this. W.MinixIII 5 Hours Ago I just am blown away that the execution of Troy Davis was carried out. There certainly was enough reason to for a stay. It cost tax payers more to execute someone than to lock them up the rest of their lives. The most important thing is that the death penalty is murder pure and simple. With all our technology and medical breakthroughs, the modern times we live in seem like the dark ages with respect to the barbaric killing of our fellow man. The death penalty does not keep killers from killing. If it were you trying to prove your innocence and the time was slipping away hopefully someone would at least give you that. Im a white male and its true blacks get the crap end of the stick for the most part in the courtroom particularly in the sentencing phase. Its a fact 1 out of 4 black males in this country are in prison for non-violent drug offenses. What the fuck!? Doesn't that seem like something very wrong. My heart goes out to the policemans family. My heart is broken for Troy Davis's family as well. With this sentence be carried out who can honestly say they feel justice has been seved? grannieannielikes this. Reply BenoitM 6 Hours Ago The application of law that we wrongfully call justice has taken the life of a man that claimed his innocence for over twenty years. He was murdered by the State, the witnesses and members of the jury. When the truth eventually comes out, I wish those people will be sentenced the death penalty for having killed an innocent man. grannieannielikes this. Reply 21st Century Quaker 2 Hours Ago Mr. Benoit, Good work, sir. You condemn the murder of Davis (I assume on moral grounds) and then seek the deaths of those who sought his execution. You're brilliant. ed66likes this. khalilahsabra 7 Hours Ago Troy Davis never had a chance. He was not Casey Anthony. A black man accused of murder must be a killer, but a young white girl could not possibly murder her daughter. Why two very different standards of justice. When are black people going to be free of being judged by the color of their skin? Why is the color black automatically criminal or something less than good or pure? When is race going to cease to be a reason to compromise justice? Over a million voices went unheard tonight. If justice did not hear a million voices, what about the black man who has no one to speak for him? Khalilah Sabra Muslim American Society (MAS) Immigrant Justice Clinic grannieannielikes this. Reply ed66 1 Hour Ago A muslim giving direction in the USA? GO BACK TO WHERE YOU CAME FROM. your work has not even begun in your own country. You make me sick, and most other americans. 3 more (expand) pjsoft 19 Minutes Ago Ed, in what country were you raised? It could not be America, the country founded on religious freedom. Your perception of what "America" stands for literally sickens me. The founding fathers are rolling over in their graves. khalilahsabra 7 Hours Ago You tell yourself that justice will be served and that a man that has not been proven guilty of a crime, will be executed for it. You tell yourself that this country has learned lessons of a past that executed black men without proof of guilt. You wait for some kind of merciful intervention for a man that has unjustly served more than twenty years for the testimony of witnesses that have recanted. Later you hear that this man has been executed and you realized that justice is a facade for people of color, for the poor and whatever else society deems as expendable. Somebody had to be blamed for the officer's death. Some one pointed out Troy Davis and he became that man. What a gutless society. We owed this man more and look at what he got. grannieannielikes this. Reply ed66 58 Minutes Ago you do not owe him anything. You owe us a view of your ass leaving this country. I enjoy reading your post. The more you act like this, the sooner america will wake up and send you all back the the desert. Then you will have cause to complain. And when you do, you will be killed you idiot. dbtexas 22 Minutes Ago Wow! Ed is getting even more strident! Always interesting that those that claim a higher moral purpose - which is actually just the opposite - tend to call those that disagree with them "idiots!" or worse. ed would much more enjoy a totalitarian state than allowing "different" people to express opinions. Oh, by the way ed, Mr. Khalilahsabra ain't goin' nowhere. The Constitution has his back! pjsoft and grannieannielike this. Change Text Size Author Headshot of Mansfield Frazier Mansfield Frazier Follow the Daily Beast on Twitter Most Popular Troy Davis's Final Words The Horror of the Charlie Sheen Roast Davis's Last Words: 'I Am Innocent' The Murder of Troy Davis Alec Baldwin’s Sweet Life Stories We Like ew.com 'Glee': Why Did Ratings Dip? 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Tunisian press: Convoy waits for Egypt permission to enter Gaza Published today (updated) 22/09/2011 15:14 Font- Font+ GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- The Tunisian aid convoy Karama, or Dignity, is still waiting for permission from Egyptian authorities to enter the Gaza Strip, Tunisian press reported Thursday. The Karama aid convoy was launched in mid-September and its members are in contact with Egyptian authorities and Tunisian embassy officials in order to allow entry to Gaza via Rafah, according to Tunisian newspaper al-Fajer. The convoy is carrying medical supplies which are unavailable in the Gaza Strip. It is the first Tunisian aid convoy to set out for Gaza since the Tunisian revolution, which ousted long-term president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011. European aid convoy "Miles of Smiles" entered the Gaza Strip in August via the Rafah crossing from Egypt, and similar convoys arrived earlier in the month, and in June. Israel imposed a blockade on the coastal strip since June 2006 after militants there captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who is still being held. The blockade was tightened a year later when Hamas seized control of the territory, ousting forces loyal to the Western-backed Palestinian Authority. International aid organizations say 54 percent of Gaza's population are food insecure, and exports from Gaza are around one percent pre-2007 levels. Print Send to friend .:: No Comments ::. Name Country Comment Characters Note: Comments will be reviewed for appropriate content. Click here for more details.

International Day of Peace | Print | E-mail Wednesday, 21 September 2011 10:52 By MWC News Share Link: Share Link: Bookmark Google Yahoo MyWeb Del.icio.us Digg Facebook Myspace Reddit Ma.gnolia Technorati Stumble Upon Newsvine International Day of Peaceby Mazin Qumsiyeh In his first speech at the UN, President Obama stated that he prohibited torture and ordered Guantanamo prison closed. He also said he will work to cut the nuclear arsenal of the US and Russia and move towards a world without nuclear weapons. He said that peace must be pursued by actions of all nations working together and that the era of unilateralism is finished. He said he will work aggressively to advance peace based on two states: Israel and Palestine. He said, "America does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements". All were big fat LIES. And now comes Obama with new lies in front of the UN and at this International day of peace. Here he shows Palestinian leaders did not give him any briefing on history. I hope any Palestinian leaders should object strongly and with facts and figures to these misstatements [my brief comments in brackets]: "Let's be honest: Israel is surrounded by neighbors that have waged repeated wars against it. [false] Israel's citizens have been killed by rockets fired at their houses and suicide bombs on their buses. [correct but this should be balanced by explaining that 10 times more Palestinians were butchered] Israel's children come of age knowing that throughout the region, other children are taught to hate them. [Israelis teach hate 100 more times than the other way around and hate of the colonizer to the colonized is not the same as the reverse]. Israel, a small country of less than eight million people, looks out at a world where leaders of much larger nations threaten to wipe it off of the map. [That is nonsense; Israel wiped Palestine including 530 villages and towns and now is the fourth strongest country plus having you Obama and Congress as its lackeys]. The Jewish people carry the burden of centuries of exile, persecution, and the fresh memory of knowing that six million people were killed simply because of who they were. [Irrelevant and highly emotional: just study the history of Nazi-Zionist collaboration to see how absurd to link Apartheid Israel with "The Jewish People", itself a mistaken term no more valid than concepts of "The Christian People" or "The Muslim People"]. These facts cannot be denied [they are regurgitation of Zionist myths, irrelevant facts, and half truths]. The Jewish people have forged a successful state in their historic homeland [a racist apartheid state based on land theft and ethnic cleansing; is that your definition of success?]. Israel deserves recognition [no it does not, Israel deserves to be faced with the truth and pressured to transform just like Apartheid South Africa]... All who meet with him to go back and read his first speech in the UN should level with Mr. Obama. Perhaps they should give him a gift: a copy of Prof. Naseer Aruri's excellent book titled "Dishonest Broker" about the destructive role of the US. Perhaps what might awaken some sense of shame in Obama is for him to be given his own words uttered less than 2 years ago: "The choice is ours. We can be remembered as a generation that chose to drag the arguments of the 20th century into the 21st; that put off hard choices, refused to look ahead, and failed to keep pace because we defined ourselves by what we were against instead of what we were for. Or, we can be a generation that chooses to see the shoreline beyond the rough waters ahead; that comes together to serve the common interests of human beings, and finally gives meaning to the promise embedded in the name given to this institution: the United Nations." Hypocrisy and double standards are standing naked and exposed more than ever thanks to the Arab spring and the corruption of political leaders from Netanyahu to Obama to the Arab leaders that do not follow their conscience. In Palestine and the rest of the Arab world, the forces of status quo fight the forces of change tooth and nail. Human rights and democracy cannot be used as tools in some countries and violated in others. The US administration for example says the leadership in Syria lost its legitimacy and must step aside. In Yemen and Bahrain the same politicians merely mumble useless words like "different parties should resolve their differences". The reason is obvious: the Israel lobby. The Arab people hate what the Zionists had done and continue to do to fellow Arabs (7 million of us Palestinians are now refugees or displaced people). Arabs are prevented by their own dictatorial governments from providing direct help to liberate Palestine. The US thus acts not in its own interests or in defense of any liberal or democratic ideals but largely in defense of apartheid and racism that is distilled in this state called Israel. Hypocrisy will be more evident at the United Nations these coming few days. It is already evident in the use of bullying by the US administration to other countries to force them to not vote for a Palestinian state. This bullying will remind us of how they bullied in 1947 to get the unjust resolution recommending partition of Palestine against the wishes of its people (contrary to UN Charter and the right of self-determination). Hypocrisy will also be evident in Netanyahu's speech in the UN that will say to the world: Israel wants peace and "why are we at the UN when Israel and the Palestinians can negotiate directly." After decades of direct negotiations between slaves and heavily armed masters, excuse the world for not believing you. Mr. Abbas (whose term as president of the "Palestinian authority" long expired) will give a speech where he will again reiterate that Palestinians renounced violence and want their own state on the borders of 1967 under the US government parameters (which recognize demographic changes including that 500,000 colonial settlers sit on the best parts of the West Bank). Here in Palestine, the people want him to 1) consult with them and rebuild the PLO with direct elections to the PNC, 2) that if and when he then goes to the UN as a real representative to the Palestinian people that he tells them about our concerns and the historic and current injustice that we are subjected to. I am afraid neither will happen. In fact he explicitly stated that he does not want to "delegitimize Israel"; this means he accepts the racist Zionist project as legitimate. Netanyahu will present a false/concocted history that mixes a religion with nationality and claims rights while delegitimizing Arabs and Palestinians at every turn. Abbas's speech will likely validate that narrative. Netanyahu will talk about security (for the colonial occupiers) while Abbas may not even touch on security for the native people but will again emphasize we are "peaceful in protesting/gatherings." Indeed today there were hundreds of gatherings throughout the West Bank cities that organizers said would show support for Abbas. Who will address the fact that the Palestinian people were subjected to the largest armed robbery in the last 100 years accompanied by massacres and ethnic cleansing? Who will mention that the value of hard assets alone stolen by the Zionist project exceed $30 trillion? Who will speak of the over 60,000 Palestinian civilians massacred or the hundreds of thousands who were injured or jailed? Who will explain to those gathered in New York that International law recognizes the right of such native people to resist including by armed means? Who will explain to world leaders that 99.99% of the people resisted by methods of popular unarmed resistance (see my book "Popular Resistance in Palestine: A history of hope and empowerment", Pluto Press)? Before 1991, Israel was largely ostracized around the world for committing these injustices against the native Palestinians. But unfortunately, acceptance of Israel mushroomed when Mr. Yasser Arafat listened to people like Mahmoud Abbas and went down the path of the disastrous Oslo accords. Dozens of countries then established diplomatic, business, scientific and even military cooperation with the apartheid state. Israel just also joined CERN, the European nuclear organization. Is it possible to abandon the trap of Oslo that legitimizes colonialism? Is it possible to stop begging for a statelet in parts of the West Bank and Gaza by going to the UN to marginally improve bargaining positions between a jailer and a jailed people? Is it possible to build-up boycotts, divestment, and sanctions and real popular resistance (not mere gatherings in Al-Manara square) to apply pressure that insists on the right of return for all refugees first and foremost? Politicians worry that admitting mistakes and changing course would bring them down or they lose privileged positions. But let me ask you how a position of a key Palestinian leader like Abbes would be if he gave a speech with total honesty telling his people something along these lines: "We went into Oslo with good intentions, it was supposed to last for five years and give us a state in all of the West Bank and Gaza. For the past nearly 20 years it did not work, our refugees are still refugees and Israel doubled its settlement activities and killed the two-state solution. Now I recognize that we lapsed in our judgments not only about our colonizers but also about the US and some other Western Countries who have strong Zionist lobbies. Because of this, I am stepping down soon. My fate will be up to the Palestinian people and I will work hard to obey their just demands for change. In the coming few weeks we in Fatah will work together with all political factions to create a transition body to prepare and run elections for the Palestinian National Council to represent all Palestinians around the world (in diaspora and on both sides of the Green line). This PNC council will be bound by the original charter of the PLO that calls for a democratic pluralistic state in all of Palestine among other things unless the new representative PNC decides to change elements of such a charter. By going back top the people, we join the era of the Arab spring…" Or imagine if Obama got the courage to go to the American people and say that he has demanded a settlement freeze and rollback based on International law to achieve real and just peace but that a strong lobby in Washington ensures that US foreign policy is held hostage to Israel. What will happen to the statute of such politicians? What happened when President Nasser admitted mistakes and took responsibility for the Naksa of 1967? What happened to president Johnoson when he asked Israel to get out of Gaza and the Sinai in 1956 (and Israel complied)? While we are not the same it is also good to reflect on our own history. What happened between 1929 and 1939 to the 30+ Palestinian factions then in operation (some of them had tried and failed in their accommodationist/moderate stances with the British)? Decency can be done by political parties and by politicians but it seems to be absent at the UN this week. But history shows that peace is achieved in spite and not because of politicians. We will have to again rely on ourselves (the people) to change history. Starting a new chapter on this International day of peace may not be such a bad idea.

Obama Re-Electio​n Chances Fading. So What? | Print | E-mail Wednesday, 21 September 2011 11:07 By Sherwood Ross Share Link: Share Link: Bookmark Google Yahoo MyWeb Del.icio.us Digg Facebook Myspace Reddit Ma.gnolia Technorati Stumble Upon Newsvine Obama Re-Electio​nUnless President Obama breathes life into a massive New Deal-type jobs and reconstruction effort, now, and not in some vague Tomorrow, his chances for re-election, will shrivel. (Not that I care: I plan to vote Green.) That’s because this presidential campaign early on gives every appearance of one that will be fought out largely on domestic issues as the candidates appeal to voter self-interest. In all the Republican debates and Democratic oratory until now, it’s been rare to catch a word about USA’s engulfing the Middle East and Africa in wars to steal their energy resources. Thus, the campaign talk is all-about rebuilding American infrastructure---not about restoring Iraq’s infrastructure that we destroyed in an illegal war. The talk is about finding jobs for long-term unemployed Americans----not about the Depression-level unemployment we created in Iraq. Americans seem indifferent to the fate of those we are destroying overseas with our brilliant killing machines. And maybe that’s not surprising as the six wars we are waging get so little media play. We think we can commit crimes against humanity and walk away from them---and so we do. Last night’s commentators on MSNBC television waxed eloquent about Mr. Obama’s “tough talk” on creating jobs. It is as though they forgot this is the same man who talked like a liberal during his initial run for the White House but largely acted like any reactionary once elected. His pledge to get out of Iraq is visibly undercut by U.S. construction of a gigantic embassy-fortress in Baghdad. The U.S. has subjugated Iraq and intends to rule it until the last drop of oil has been squeezed from its soil. It must be remembered that President Obama is a creature of the Central Intelligence Agency, the foremost international criminal organization in the world today; that his college loans were paid for by the CIA and that he got his first job after college from the CIA. And the CIA has long aligned itself closely with grasping oil firms out solely to plunder and profit---and who are reaping sensational war-time profits at this hour---the world’s motorists and homeowners be damned. It needs to be understood those 900 bases the Pentagon has built are not for defense, but for offense, to control every region of the planet, as the latest deals with Colombia and Australia reveal. So Mr. Obama is hardly a president deserving of re-election. Consumer advocate Ralph Nader is right when he urges Democrats to challenge Obama in the upcoming primaries. Since Obama’s foreign policy is identical to that of his Republican critics and his domestic policies have flopped, there is no better time to consider Green Party or libertarian alternatives. Under Mr. Obama’s tyrranical stewardship, the U.S. empire is expanding abroad as its policies are pauperizing Americans at home. Only yesterday, the New York Times reported more than one in three young families with children, 37 percent, are living in poverty. True unemployment is closer to 20 percent than 10 percent and there are four or five job-seekers for each available opening while more than 40 million people are living in poverty and like numbers are living on food stamps and nearly 100 million have housing problems. With a Congress made up primarily of the well-to-do, if not the millionaire class, and who are willing handmaidens of the corporate elite, USA is no longer a government of, by and for the people. The people wrote in 100 to one against a bailout and Congress ignored them. In his Inaugural Address of 1937, President Franklin Roosevelt said, “I see one-third of a nation ill-housed,” a condition that seems likely to repeat itself. “I see millions denied education, recreation, and the opportunity to better their lot and the lot of their children,” FDR added, and those words resonate again as school teachers are laid off by the tens of thousands, as libraries are shut down for lack of funds, as State and municipal services are abandoned in favor of feeding the Pentagon’s military machine. And so ends the American dream---not with a whimper but with a bang.

Barack Obama Palestinians prepared to delay statehood bid by 'several months' Palestinian officials on Wednesday signalled its willingness to delay a United Nations Security Council vote on their bid for statehood by "several months", as Barack Obama publicly rejected their plans to seek nation status. Palestinians prepared to delay statehood bid by 'several months' Nabil Shaath, a senior Palestinian official, denied that a delayed vote was part of the plan Photo: AP Adrian Blomfield By Adrian Blomfield, Ramallah and Alex Spillius in New York 12:33AM BST 22 Sep 2011 Comments13 Comments As President Obama took to the podium of the UN general assembly, officials indicated they were prepared to avert a major diplomatic confrontation and delay their bid, on condition peace talks were resumed in the meantime, raising hopes that a showdown in New York could be avoided. Under a deal still being thrashed out on Wednesday night, Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, would still launch his bid for full UN membership when he addresses world leaders on Friday. He would therefore save face with voters at home, lay down a historical marker and ensure that the bid cannot be quietly forgotten. In return, Mr Abbas would not seek to expedite a debate at the Security Council, where the US has threatened to wield its veto, giving mediators the chance to try to revive Middle East peace talks. The Palestinians decided to pursue their options at the UN after negotiations to establish a state collapsed last year and showed no signs of revival. Related Articles US 'would veto Palestinian UN statehood bid' 22 Sep 2011 Palestinians show support for statehood bid 21 Sep 2011 Palestinians willing to delay UN Security Council vote 21 Sep 2011 Barack Obama: Palestinians deserve a state 21 Sep 2011 Obama to meet Palestinian and Israeli leaders over UN bid 21 Sep 2011 "The important thing for us is to submit our application as planned," a senior Palestinian official told the Daily Telegraph. "After that, we are prepared to be reasonable. We understand that things can take time. If the process is going to take some months, we are happy to let things take their course." "Just because he sends a letter to the council doesn't mean there has to be a vote," said a European official . "The message we get from the Palestinians is that they definitely want to find a diplomatic solution." Nabil Shaath, a senior Palestinian official, denied that a delayed vote was part of the plan. “There will be no intended political manouevre to delay, we don’t want to give the impression we are not serious, because we are serious,” he said. However, he added that the Security Council would be given “some time” to consider the full membership request and placed no deadline for the council to hold a vote. If the application was blocked, he indicated that the option of seeking enhanced observer status at the UN general assembly, where no country holds a veto, would probably be pursued. Mr Sarkozy became the first major leader to publicly back such a plan. Mr Obama conspicuously avoided using the word veto in his speech, which would be an unpopular move given the liberated mood of the Arab spring which his administration has so vocally supported. But he made clear that the US could not back the Palestinian proposal. "I am convinced that there is no short cut to the end of a conflict that has endured for decades," he said. "Peace will not come through statements and resolutions at the United Nations – if it were that easy, it would have been accomplished by now." Adding that America's commitment to Israel's security was "unshakeable", he continued: "Ultimately, it is the Israelis and the Palestinians who must live side by side. Ultimately, it is the Israelis and the Palestinians – not us – who must reach agreement on the issues that divide them." Receiving only lukewarm applause, he pointed out, at the annual UN jamboree 12 months ago Tunisia, Egypt and Libya were all represented by undemocratic leaders now rejected by their peoples. He also praised the world institution for resisting Laurent Gbagbo's attempts to subvert elections in the Ivory Coast, and for pushing through a referendum that created South Sudan. Grappling with low poll numbers and economic woes at home, Mr Obama was wading into Middle East diplomacy at a critical juncture for his presidency and America's global credibility. After his speech he embarked on a frantic day's diplomacy, meeting Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu, Mr Abbas, David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy, president of France. While signs of a breakthrough were encouraging, there was no guarantee that the deal would hold, or that it would prevent violence flaring in Palestinian territories. It also remains unclear whether Israel would be happy with the formula under discussion. Some on the right of the Israeli government have called for sanctions against the Palestinian Authority as soon as they have submitted their application, arguing that even if a debate is significantly delayed a vote would still be inevitable in the future. "Once they've submitted their bid, the Palestinians have no incentive to negotiate," said an Israeli official. Palestinian officials said they were unlikely to raise objections to a compromise offer being advanced by the Middle East Quartet, comprising the US, EU, UN and Russia, that would postpone the debate on the initiative at the UN but grant the Palestinian Authority enhanced observer status. Share: inShare1 Barack Obama News » World News » Middle East » Israel » Palestinian Authority » In Barack Obama Ceremonies marking the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, in New York 9/11: Tribute in Light A New York Fire Department firefighter salutes during the singing of the Star Spangled Banner 9/11: memorial service in New York 9/11 anniversary: mourners at the Pentagon, Shanksville and across America 9/11: America remembers 9/11 anniversary: memorial services and protests in London and around the world 9/11 remembered around the world US President Barack Obama in 50 pictures Obama in 50 pictures Share: inShare1 Ads by Google Expat Living In Malaysia? Do You Have £70K to £1.8m In UK Pensions? Free QROPS Guide! QROPSpensiondesigner.com/Telegraph Expatriate Savings Advice £25k-£1m In Savings? Free Report To Get You The Best Interest Rates! www.OffshoreInvestmentDesigner.com Islamic Finance Industry leaders share insights on Islamic finance opportunities www.mifc.com/viewpoints 13 comments Add a comment Comment with a Telegraph account Login | Register with the Telegraph Alternatively... Comment with one of your accounts Showing 13 comments Order by Real-time updating is enabled. Follow with email Follow with RSS mac78 Today 07:25 AM Recommended by 6 people What state,where is this Palestinian state,when did it ever exist,this is cloud cuckoo land.Palestine was thought up in 1988 by a bunch of terrorists....terrorists who want to destroy Israel....give into them and the Muslim extremists have won. Arabs threw rocks Wednesday at an Israeli car between Migdalim and Tapuach Junction in Samaria. A 20 month old girl was injured in the face. The baby girl received treatment from Samaria Regional Authority medics and evacuated to a hospital. The Authority Head Gershon Mesika said: "The 'men of peace' of the Palestinian murder authority provide yet more proof, to those who still need it, as to just whom we are facing. We face low life terrorists who try to murder babies." "They hold an olive twig in their mouths and murder weapons in their hands. To these barbarian terrorists they want to give a state. Report Recommend Never_Too_Late Today 07:51 AM Recommended by 1 person Why should the world recognize an israeli state? more trouble than its worth... Israeli terrorists who spy on the USA and Britain. Report Recommend JehudahBenIsrael Today 08:07 AM Recommended by 3 people The world has already recognized Israel and has accepted it as the nation-state of the Jewish people, by right! The people who haven't are the same people who have been, for decades, attempting to wipe Israel off the face of earth, be it in full scale wars, in a war-of-attrition-through-terror, or in stages. It is high time, for peace's sake, these very people accept Israel's right to be, to exist as the independent nation-state of the Jewish people. And, while at it, agree that a peace treaty will be considered the end of the conflict and the end of all future demands. Can the PLO do so...?? P.S. Will the PLO be able to act contrary to its own Charter...??!! Report Recommend Never_Too_Late Today 08:24 AM Recommended by 1 person The Israelis are commiting war crimes daily... The International Court of Justice and the international community say the settlements built on seized lands are illegal...but the Israelis keep on building! The use of white phosphorus!!! You can't trust the Israelis... Report Recommend JehudahBenIsrael Today 05:24 AM Recommended by 7 people Now, after Obama's speech and meeting with Mahmoud Abbas, all that the PLO needs to do is to finally accept Israel's right to be, to exist as the independent nation-state of the Jewish people; and, agree to accept a peace treaty as the end of the conflict and the end of all future demands. Are they ready and able to so...??!! Report Recommend humphrey_n Today 08:33 AM Recommended by 1 person As usual you have inverted the core issues - that of Israel's acceptance of a Palestinian state and withdrawal from illegal settlements. Report Recommend JehudahBenIsrael 49 minutes ago Recommended by 1 person Really?? Report Recommend kicks Today 01:53 AM Recommended by 6 people The reason Israel does not want the UN to recognize a Palestinian state is because as a state the UN will draw Palestine's borders and the Israeli occupiers will have to get out of town, This is a game changing event, The US/UK look really bad in all this connivance double dealing and dishonesty It is so hard to be objective when your arse pocket is stuffed with Israeli Geld, Isn't it David.? Report Recommend JehudahBenIsrael Today 05:27 AM Recommended by 4 people The move to the UN simply contradicts the UN Security Council Resolution, 242; and, violates grossly the Oslo Accords between Israel and the PLO on which the sides actually signed and on the basis of which the Palestinian Authority was permitted to be set up. Now, that the PLO achieved a lot by what appears to have been a long move of deception, its leaders, based on tradition..., "spits" at the other side. Well, the other side simply will not permit that to happen...!! Report Recommend degency Today 07:42 AM Recommended by 2 people Perhaps you could explain why the illegal settlements on occupied land do not contradict any of the accords you mention? The use of the word "permitted" is perhaps indicative - if the steps taken by the Palestinians are based on (in your words) deception, it's simply because Israeli politicians of the current ilk have no real interest in progress here, largely because the settlers (as represented in the coalition govt) don't allow them to. Israel's first President (Chaim Weizmann) said it all when he stated that Israel's credentials would be revealed by the way it dealt with the Palestinians; he was right, if not perhaps in the way he intended. There needs to be an imaginative and ground-breaking step by Israel to move this issue to its liking, but, given its poor reputation with former staunch friends like Turkey (an episode which took real skill...) Israel is being run by the politics of fear. This is corrosive, but reflective of the current state of political calibre in Israel. Report Recommend JehudahBenIsrael Today 08:03 AM Recommended by 2 people The territories in question are indeed occupied, a perfectly legal state that needs to be resolved. And, since these territories are in dispute, I would expect all to cease constructing their homes there and not only Jews. Expecting only Jews to refrain from residing there or in any other place on earth only because they are Jewish is a form of racism, anti-Jewish racism. Thus, perhaps, if the poster wishes to appear a non-racist, she/he should demand of Arabs and Jews alike to refrain form living in certain villages, towns and even city neighborhoods and not only Jew. Report Recommend SpottyMulldoon Today 01:01 AM Recommended by 4 people Oh dear, You have to learn better Brinkmanship Palies timing not quite on here Had em by the balls and then........... Waited for this showdown for years now . we are all fed up with it Part of the deal is the let the US taxpayers off funding the State of Israel p-l-e-a-s-e.............. We cant afford them anymore Report Recommend musttryharder Today 07:42 AM Recommended by 7 people Pretty sure you can't afford Palestinian aid in that case then either. Report Recommend Social Media Reactions The Osarseph Report 20 minutes ago From twitter #PLO will submit #UNSC #UNbid, but allow "time for debate" (weeks-months) http://t.co/qBLPffyX Monica García Prieto 58 minutes ago From twitter Resposab palestinos se preparan para aplazar el voto ante la ONU "varios meses". Mira que si es todo un bluff. http://t.co/m91P6Wov maya Today 08:14 AM From twitter RT @occpal: Palestinians prepared to delay statehood bid by 'several months': http://t.co/VcJJKDdQ #Palestine Falasteen'♥ Today 08:02 AM From twitter Palestinians prepared to delay statehood bid by 'several months': http://t.co/xsZ5ZMuq #Palestine via @occpal iqbal jassat Today 07:34 AM From twitter I TOLD U - ABBAS WILL SUCCUMB: "@occpal: Palestinians prepared to delay statehood bid by 'several months': http://t.co/oaaXmLgQ #Palestine" occupiedpalestine Today 06:55 AM From twitter Palestinians prepared to delay statehood bid by 'several months': http://t.co/VcJJKDdQ #Palestine medicare 2 gaza Today 05:08 AM From twitter Palestinians prepared to delay statehood bid by 'several months' http://t.co/tGvplczH tartqueen Today 03:54 AM From twitter RT @PressMiddleEast: UK Telegraph: Palestinians prepared to delay statehood bid by 'several months': Palestinian officials on Wednesd... http://t.co/wd20uNSS A_ThinkingGirl Today 03:12 AM From twitter RT @AlterPolitics: Palestinians prepared to delay statehood bid by 'several months' - Telegraph http://t.co/naoNnllq via @Telegraph Trackback URL blog comments powered by Disqus Follow The Telegraph on social media Latest Obama approval ratings Job Approval Approve Disapprove Spread Obama 43.6 50.7 -7.1 Congress 13.5 83.3 -69.8 More RealClearPolitics Polls Latest News and Analysis on RCP Romney Leads Perry in Arizona Poll Release of Prop. 8 Tapes Shows Judicial Hubris A Century of Palestinian Rejectionism More on RCP Foreign correspondents on Twitter » robcrilly profile robcrilly been waitng for this RT @noodlepie: Right. Fun time. Those receipts aren't gonna scan themselves. 42 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite Simmoa profile Simmoa Great cartoon in SA's Business Day about gov's dilemma over Dalai Lama's visa application http://t.co/cppaDngt 50 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite robcrilly profile robcrilly where are 20 seized kids now? RT @RuthieGledhill: Gilbert Deya, 'miracle' baby fraudster, to be extradited at last http://t.co/fhwjj4dE about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite Simmoa profile Simmoa Why the AU finally decided to recognise the NTC, by the Daily Maverick's @khadijapatel http://t.co/Y7yxlcga about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite robcrilly profile robcrilly It's a long time since I read any Everett True (£) http://t.co/Vd6B7SEh about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite A_Osborn profile A_Osborn Russian family alleges 'suicide' conscript tortured to death: http://t.co/llZyENTK #russia about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite A_Osborn profile A_Osborn Vladimir Putin calls Alexander Lebedev attack on Sergei Polonsky 'hooliganism': http://t.co/8Ai3V6lB #russia @lebedevalex @polonium_194 about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite robcrilly profile robcrilly Why are the makers of Dr Who obsessed with WWII? Do they only have one set? http://t.co/aWkkBVcc 2 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite robcrilly profile robcrilly one of the lines that sort of sums up life, if you ask me. via @shakirhusain 2 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite robcrilly profile robcrilly "an expert pointed out that this was quite a complicated process and that a month might be a bit unrealistic." http://t.co/CAExv31C 2 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite robcrilly profile robcrilly Ukraine pensioner wins first prize in dumpling-eating contest, then dies http://t.co/5GmskNyx Only 10? 2 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite robcrilly profile robcrilly that should do it RT @jenniematthew: New #Afghanistan Silk Road fantasy. Excuse for meetings in luxury boltholes http://t.co/zeRxxEfo 2 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite robcrilly profile robcrilly RT @MatthewGreenFT: FT: Ally's killing shatters Karzai's Taliban strategy - http://t.co/QCTK9uUH 2 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite DelhiDean profile DelhiDean The omertà on Sonia Gandhi's illness: Top piece on India's deference by wonderful Nirupama Subramanian in the Hindu. http://t.co/6XwCPHm2 3 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite DelhiDean profile DelhiDean Zabiullah 2 azadi radio on Talib 'claim of resp' 4 #Rabbani killing. "we don’t know abt this incident + didn't talk to any one about this." 3 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite tobyharnden profile tobyharnden Disgraceful MT @AlecBaldwin Wonder if McPhail family will seek death penalty for US leaders who killed 000s of US soldiers, countless Iraqis 4 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite Join the conversation News Most Viewed TODAY PAST WEEK PAST MONTH Boy, 14, found dead over gay bullying Al Gore`s five loaves and two fishes Troy Davis executed in Georgia after last-minute plea fails Barack Obama: Palestinians deserve a state but must achieve it with Israel Vicky Pryce bites back over Chris Huhne affair comments Classified Advertising World Travel Property Shopping Telegraph Free Travel Brochure Service Telegraph Free Travel Brochure Service Select from a vast range of the best World Travel brochures The Seychelles: Paradise Found The Seychelles: Paradise Found Discover a tropical paradise of beaches and lagoons

Libya rebeals Gaddafi's guns are ending up in Gaza by Anthony Tucker-Jones 21 September 2011 Email Print Tweet Post to Facebook Digg Share to LinkedIn Reddit StumbleUpon Delicious Israel is warning Europe that Libyan weapons are now fuelling violence in Gaza, reports Anthony Tucker-Jones Following the fall of Tripoli to the National Transitional Council, Israeli officials have been repeatedly warning European leaders that weapons seized from Gaddafi's forces are being smuggled into Gaza. Two weeks ago, Israel's attempts to stop militants crossing the Egyptian border led to the deaths of six Egyptian border guards and the storming of the Israeli embassy in Cairo. Alarm bells first began to ring when the weapons depots at the Khamis Brigade's Salahuddin military barracks, in the southern suburbs of Tripoli, were stripped bare. Initially, during the Libyan conflict, when the rebels captured weapons stocks - the assumption was that they would be employed against Gaddafi's loyalists. Now, the increasing concern is that they are finding their way onto the international arms black market. Latest reports indicate that batches of SA-24 and its predecessors, the SA-16/9, and seven man-portable surface-to-air missile have gone missing in Libya - along with a vast array of other weaponry. Around 12,000 land mines and 500 SAMs are reportedly unaccounted for. Bearing in mind, Libya is believed to have stocks of some 20,000 missiles; these losses may only be the tip of the iceberg. According to Israeli intelligence, Libyan guns are being shipped across Sinai and into Gaza - through the tunnels under the border at Rafah. The NTC has struggled to guard the huge arms caches formerly held by Gaddafi's forces and many munitions have been taken by fighters, souvenir hunters and black marketers. The quantities involves are much larger than those that were looted in Afghanistan and Iraq. Those weapons that have not been looted remain a danger to the public with children being regularly killed or maimed after playing with live munitions taken from unsecured depots. Following the coalition intervention, in Afghanistan, some 5,600 shoulder-fired SAMs were captured. Many, though, ended up on the black market. Saddam Hussein had around 5,000 shoulder-fired missiles and fewer than a third were ever recovered. Washington ran a bounty system for weapons, particularly SAMs that were handed in. The Egypt-Gaza border presents the Egyptian and Palestinian security forces with a continual headache. While 150,000 people live in Rafah, there are another 40,000 on the Egyptian side. Officially, Egypt has become increasingly exasperated at the diplomatic nuisance caused by the tunnels. With American funding, Cairo attempted to build an underground wall in an effort the thwart those tunneling. For many years, Israel was able to control the border between Gaza and Egypt via the Philadelphia Route - established under the 1979 Israeli-Egyptian peace accord. Israel retained this 10km long, hundred-metre wide corridor under the 1995 Oslo Accords - to prevent the movement of weapons into Gaza. But, in 2005, control of the corridor was granted to the Palestinian National Authority as part of Israel's unilateral disengagement plan for Gaza. Two years later, Hamas took control in Gaza and escalated weapon shipments with which to attack the Israelis. After Egypt closed the border, the Palestinians simply tunnelled under it; hundreds of tunnels cover a 9km stretch and vary in depth and size. The NTC is waiting for the United Nations mine action service to take a lead in getting to grips with the mine and unexploded bomb problem in Libya. In the meantime, Israel remains vexed over the actions of Egypt and Libya; while, in Cairo, the Egyptians have been clamouring for Israeli blood. Anthony Tucker-Jones is the author of The Rise of Militant Islam: An Insider's View of the Failure to Curb Global Jihad and the terrorism and security correspondent for Intersec

Folly Palestinian state is Israel's interest, too. Photo: Panet website

Palestine an Israeli interest Op-ed: Recognition of Palestinian state as important to Israel as to the Palestinians Frances Raday Published:  09.22.11, 00:40 / Israel Opinion share The Israeli government has brought us to absurdity, using all its powers of diplomatic persuasion to preempt UN recognition of a Palestinian state, when it is in Israel’s strategic interest that Palestine should be recognized as a state. A march of folly has brought us to this point: the settlement policy of this and previous governments and Netanyahu’s failure to promote genuine negotiations with the moderate leadership of Abbas and Fayyad, to make concessions, which are in any case foregone conclusions, or to freeze building in occupied areas. Statehood Bid End the Palestinian charade / Yigal Walt Op-ed: Palestinian statehood bid embarrassing, ultimate proof of UN’s moral decay Full story The recognition of a Palestinian state is as important to Israel as to the Palestinians. For Israel to continue to function as a democratic and Jewish state, it must bring about a symmetrical right of self-determination for the Palestinians. This has been acknowledged by all our prime ministers since the Oslo Declaration of Principles. Continuing governance of the Arab population of the West Bank will result in their de facto incorporation in the Israeli body politic and undermines the necessary critical mass of a Jewish majority. From an international relations perspective, UN recognition of a Palestinian state would complement, clarify and confirm the right of the Jewish people to self-determination in Israel and would do much to put an end to growing claims of illegitimacy, not only from hostile Muslim countries but also from neutral and sometimes friendly actors. Although Israel’s statehood was settled on her admission to membership of the UN in 1949, Israel’s character as a state for self-determination of the Jewish people was only expressed in the General Assembly partition plan, whose intention was to create a Jewish state alongside an Arab state. Against this historic background and in view of global and regional developments and the string of agreements and resolutions since, the stand of the international community is clear: an end to the conflict is possible only with creation of two states and territorial division. An additional strategic advantage for Israel is that, once recognized as a state, Palestine’s jurisdiction will extend only to those who are living in Palestine. This is at present a contested concept: the Palestinian Authority is regarded as the exclusive representative of the Palestinian people and it is claimed that the current process of General Assembly recognition does not fully reflect their role in the resolution of the conflict. Bypassing Hamas Charter General Assembly recognition would obviate the need to reach a solution with the worldwide Palestinian Diaspora. Here too symmetry could facilitate rational negotiation regarding the solutions for overseas Palestinians, on a basis of immigration or compensation. It would also necessitate reformulation of UNRWA, which at present classifies Palestinians and generations of their offspring as refugees, even where they would not otherwise qualify for refugee status, and allow restriction of UNWRA welfare to existing refugees, predicating an imperative of assimilation for future generations. Israel has a justified interest in preventing UN recognition of Hamas but it is questionable whether outright opposition to recognition of a Palestinian state would be the best way to achieve this. One of the conditions for membership of the UN is submission of an application stating adherence to the UN Charter - the Hamas Charter, which calls for elimination of Israel and the killing of Jews cannot conform to this requirement. Hence, the signing Palestinian entity would have to bypass the Hamas Charter and undertake to regard the Palestinian Constitution, drafted by Abbas and Fayyad, as the determining document for Palestinian statehood. Reliance on the Palestinian Constitution appears to conform with the spirit of the Memorandum of Understanding between Fatah and Hamas. In this matter, Israel has international support, as evidenced most recently by the Palmer Committee, set up by the Secretary General to report on the flotilla to Gaza, which determined that Israel is facing a real threat to its security from Gaza. Hopefully, we can interpret the decision of Netanyahu to go himself to the General Assembly, instead of sending the president to make a merely diplomatic declaration, as signifying his willingness to open intensive negotiations. Optimism could lead us to hope that the purpose of negotiations would be the submission of a joint Israeli-Palestinian request for General Assembly recognition of the Palestinian state. An initiative of this kind would, while securing Israel’s strategic interests, also influence those members of the international community, who are genuinely concerned about the status of Palestine and strongly condemn the continuing occupation, but who at the same time support and want to guarantee the secure existence of Israel. Prof. Frances Raday serves as Chair, Concord Research Center for Integration of International Law in Israel -The Haim Striks School of Law, COLMAN Follow Ynetnews on Facebook talkback    Print    Send to friend     Bookmark to del.icio.us

'UN bid lacks some Palestinian demands' Mon Sep 19, 2011 3:28PM GMT Reddit Iran's Majlis (parliament) Speaker Ali Larijani Iran's Majlis (parliament) Speaker Ali Larijani says that the Palestinian Authority's statehood bid does not fully meet the Palestinian demands. “The Palestinian statehood bid as propagated by the media and policymakers do not incorporate all of the rights and demands of the Palestinian people,” IRIB News quoted Larijani as saying in Monday. The remarks come in the wake of the announcement by the Acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas that he would appeal to the UN Security Council for full UN membership of a Palestinian state. Larijani further outlined Iran's stance regarding the proposal saying that Iran supports any move which leads to the realization of the rights of the Palestinian nation. He, however, pointed out “some complexities” in this proposal, such as the US threatening to veto this proposal. The Iranian Majlis speaker also said that the manner in which the proposal is set to advance in the UN and its capacity to defend the rights of the Palestinian nation are “open to debate.” The US has made it clear to Abbas that it will outright veto any request presented to the UN Security Council for making the Palestinian state a new member. However, Washington cannot block the UN General Assembly's vote for changing Palestine's status in the world body from entity to state. The senior Iranian lawmaker also announced plans to host the fifth international conference in support of Palestine on October 1-2, 2011. Larijani said that the aim of the conference was to protect the rights of the Palestinian people. HMV/HGH [Delicious] [Reddit] [Newsvine] [Mixx] [StumbleUpon] [LinkedIn] [Digg] [Twitter] [Facebook] Share this article: Send to friendPrint this article Related Stories: Hamas says UN statehood move is risky Erdogan strongly backs Palestinian bid 'Palestinians entitled to have state' 'UN must recognize Palestine in whole' Comments Add Comment Click Here

General Politics More World News Kuwait News More Read the whole Newscast Pictures (during the week) Information Archive News Archive Picture Archive Other News Services Today in Kuwait's History FTP Service KUNA training center KUNA Reader Arab News Agencies International News Agencies More Home Page Demo in Brussels calls on EU to recognize... Convert To Send to a friend Print Preview Demo in Brussels calls on EU to recognize Palestine Politics 9/22/2011 12:03:00 AM (With photos) BRUSSELS, Sept 21 (KUNA) -- Hundreds of Arab, Belgian and Palestinian peace and human rights activists held a demonstration in the centre of Brussels Wednesday evening calling on the European Union to recognise the independence of the Palestinian state. "No to Israeli occupation, yes to a Palestinian state," shouted the demonstrators and unfurled a huge Palestinian flag. They called for an end to the Israeli siege of Gaza and dismantling of the illegal Jewish settlements on occupied Palestinian territories. It is widely expected that the Palestinian Authority may submit an application to the United Nations on Friday for recognition of official statehood. (end) nk.gb KUNA 220003 Sep 11NNNN

Zionist Power In Bush Administration The Zev and Ari Show: Time for Full Disclosure By William Hughes Perspective - Media Monitors.net 2-23-3 Professor Edward Said, a champion of the Palestinian cause, was roundly condemned by Zev Chafets, a columnist for the NY Daily News (02/19/03). Thank goodness, Said isn't living in the West Bank or Gaza. If he were in occupied Palestine, Ariel Sharon's goon squad would have probably bulldozed his home into a pile of rumble (and his relatives' homes, too, just for good measure). What got Chafets riled up was Said's brilliant commentary, entitled, "A Monument to Hypocrisy." It was published first in an Egyptian newspaper, the Al Ahram Weekly (02/14/03). It can now be found on the Net. It is a marvelous essay that deals with the pro-Israeli influence over the Bush-Cheney administration. It tells how wrongdoings similar to those of Saddam Hussein have actually been the "stock in trade of every Israeli government since 1948." Ironically, since Chafets' complained about the article so boorishly, more folks will now want to read it for themselves. Said also wrote, "President Bush and his advisers are slaves of power perfectly embodied in the repetitive monotone of their collective spokesman Ari Fleischer (who I believe is also an Israeli citizen)." Well, Chafets thought that last line belonged in the conspiracy camp of the "Neo-Nazi" and 'White Aryan Resistance' movements." For him, it was bad enough that Said had raised questions about "the Perles and Wolfowitzs of this country, leading America into a war." But, by suggesting Fleischer was "a citizen" of Sharonland, was just too much for him. The record, however, shows the Washington Post (02/09/02) covered a lot of the same ground Said did, in an article by Robert G. Kaiser, entitled, "Bush Moves U.S. Closer to Sharon on Mideast Policy." It revealed how Israeli Firsters in the government, (the author labeled them "Likudniks," "hard-liners," and "hawks"), like Richard Perle, Elliott Abrams, David Wurmser and Dough J. Feith, have urged the abandonment of the "Oslo Accords" and for the U.S. to "focus on removing Saddam Hussein from power." For some reason, President Bush's "Dr. Strangelove," Paul Wolfowitz, Deputy Secretary of Defense, wasn't mentioned in that piece. Kaiser also said that Mideast experts regularly refer to this pro-Israel clique, "as a cabal." So, why the touchy reaction to Said's commentary from Chafets? Well, Chafets was born in Michigan, but lived for 33 years in his beloved fatherland, Zionist Israel. He served in the Israeli military and was also the chief Press Officer for the late Israeli Prime Minister, the old terrorist himself, Menachem Begin. Did Said strike a raw nerve with his "Hypocrisy" article with Chafets? I'd say so! Chafets is a classic dual citizen of the U.S. and Israel. He's also, more importantly, a Zionist. Since Chafets is a journalist, I think that required disclosure to his readers on his off-the-wall Said rant. Chafets insisted, wrongly I think, that Said should have cited an authority for his belief that Fleischer might have been "an Israel citizen." Within the context of that essay, it was only a throw-a-way, speculative line. And anyway, did Chafets cite any authority for his theological-sounding proposition that a pundit must "ask to be forgiven" for not using a footnote? As for Fleischer, it doesn't bother me if he is a citizen of Israel. He could have been born on Mars for all I care. Here's what I want to know: "Is Fleischer a Zionist?" This is the crux of the matter. The American people are entitled to also know for the sake of our Republic, if Perle, Wolfowitz, Wurmser, Feith and Abrams are Zionists. They all hold sensitive positions in the federal government that require national security clearance. If they are Zionists, then, the next question is: "Do they have a conflict of interest or even an appearance of a conflict of interest in carrying out the responsibilities of their office?" Answers to these questions are imperative. Zionism is a political, alien-based ideology, global in scope, racially restricted, and with its spiritual headquarters in Tel Aviv, and not Washington, D.C. Zionists aspire to a land-grabbing "Greater Israel." On Aug. 23, 2002, I demanded that Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-CT), come clean with U.S. Senate about all his Zionist connections. For all the reasons that I gave in that article, and in this one too, Fleischer, and the cited "Likudniks" should come clean with the American people. Full disclosure of any and all Zionist links by them are long overdue. As for Chafets, thanks for blowing your top, pal! Now, see what you've done? You're forcing your fellow Zionists out into the light of day, where the lovers of our Republic, like the "Sons of Liberty" of old, can confront them about their warmongering agendas. William Hughes is a Baltimore attorney and the author of "Andrew Jackson vs. New World Order" (Authors Choice Press), which is available online. Comment Steve Silverman 2-23-3 Hi Jeff, Among the downpour of Zionists at the highest level ofour government, I found this note which may be of interest... Richard Perle - One of Bush's Foreign Policy Advisors and chairman of the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board. He had worked as Bush's Jewish national security campaign advisor. A very likely Israeli agent, Perle was expelled from Senator Henry Jackson's office in the 1970's after the National Security Agency (NSA) caught him passing Highly-Classified (National Security) documents to the Israeli Embassy. He later worked for the Israeli weapons firm, Soltam. 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Nazi Support of Zionism Theodor Herzl (1860-1904), the founder of modern Zionism, recognized that anti-Semitism would further his cause, the creation of a separate state for Jews. To solve the Jewish Question, he maintained "we must, above all, make it an international political issue."[1]Herzl wrote that Zionism offered the world a welcome "final solution of the Jewish question."[2]In his "Diaries", page 19, Herzl stated "Anti-Semites will become our surest friends, anti-Semitic countries our allies." 51 Documents: Zionist Collaboration with the Nazis Zionism was supported by the German SS and Gestapo.[3] [4] [5] [6] Hitler himself personally supported Zionism.[7] [8] During the 1930's, in cooperation with the German authorities, Zionist groups organized a network of some 40 camps throughout Germany where prospective settlers were trained for their new lives in Palestine. As late as 1942 Zionists operated at least one of these officially authorized "Kibbutz" training camps[9] over which flew the blue and white banner which would one day be adopted as the national flag of "Israel".[10] The Transfer Agreement (which promoted the emigration of German Jews to Palestine) implemented in 1933 and abandoned at the beginning of WWII is an important example of the cooperation between Hitler's Germany and international Zionism. [11] Through this agreement, Hitler's Third Reich did more than any other government during the 1930's to support Jewish development in Palestine and further the Zionist goals. Hitler and the Zionists had a common goal: to create a world Jewish Ghetto as a solution to the Jewish Question. The Transfer Agreement The Zionist so-called "World Jewish Congress" declared war on the country of Germany,[12] [13] knowing that it would affect their Jewish brothers residing in that country who would be left without protection. When others tried to help them escape to other countries, the Zionist movement took actions which caused those countries to lock their doors to Jewish immigration (read more in the books, "Perfidy" and "Min Hametzer"). As a result of the Zionist influence five ships of Jewish refugees from Germany arriving in the United States were turned back to the gas chambers. The fundamental aim of the Zionist movement has been not to save Jewish lives but to create a "Jewish state" in Palestine. On December 7, 1938, Ben Gurion, the first head of the Zionist ‘state of Israel' declared "If I knew it was possible to save all the children in Germany by taking them to England, and only half of the children by taking them to Eretz Israel, I would choose the second solution. For we must take into account not only the lives of these children but also the history of the people of Israel."[14] On August 31, 1949, Ben Gurion stated: "Although we have realized our dream of creating a Jewish State, we are only at the beginning. There are still only 900,000 Jews in Israel, whereas the majority of the Jewish people still remains abroad. Our future task is to bring all the Jews to Israel." Of the two and a half million Jews seeking refuge from the Nazis between 1935 and 1943, less than 9% went to settle in Palestine. The vast majority, 75%, went to the Soviet Union. In the mid-70's, more people emigrated out of ‘Israel' than came in. The only surges of immigration to the Zionist state have occurred during anti-Semitic threats and persecution in foreign countries.[15] It follows that for the Zionist state to achieve its goal of a Jewish world ghetto anti-Semitism must be promoted and encouraged, and as we have seen, by acts of violence if necessary.  "To attain its practical objectives, Zionism hopes it will be able to collaborate with a government that is fundamentally hostile to the Jews".[16] The use of anti-Semitism as a tool to coerce immigration to the Zionist state continues to the present day: Prime Minister Sharon has stated that anti-Semitism is on the rise and that the only hope for the safety of Jews is to move to Israel under the protection of the Zionist state. "The best solution to anti-Semitism is immigration to Israel. It is the only place on Earth where Jews can live as Jews," he said.[17] Those who continue to call the so-called "state of Israel" the "Jewish State" are not only promoting Zionism which is contrary to the beliefs of true Judaism, but also endorsing the promotion of worldwide anti-Semitism. In doing so they are endangering the lives of traditional Jews and denying their civil liberties and human rights. When the British foreign secretary, Arthur Balfour (sponsor of the 1905 Aliens Act to restrict Jewish immigration to the UK), wanted the British government to commit itself to a Jewish homeland in Palestine, his declaration was delayed - not by anti-Semites but by leading figures in the British Jewish community. They included a Jewish member of the cabinet who called Balfour's pro-Zionism "anti-Semitic in result".  In contrast, a great statesman like Secretary of State Colin Powell, a supporter of traditional Judaism, has the courage to separate Judaism from Zionism and to acknowledge that speaking out against the actions of the Zionist state is not "anti-Semitism". We call upon our leaders in Washington to disassociate the actions of the Zionist state from traditional Judaism by no longer referring to "Israel" as the "Jewish State" but as "the Zionist State" and to speak out against the Zionist actions which promote anti-Semitism. Bibliography: Hitlers Zweites Buch – ein Dokument aus dem Jahr 1928, Stuttgart, 1961. English translation: Hitler's Secret Book, New York, 1961, pp 212-215. Berlin Encyclopaedia Judaica (New York and Jerusalem: 1971), Vol. 5, p.648. See also, J.-C. Horak, "Zionist Film Propaganda in Nazi Germany," Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol. 4, No. 1, 1984, pp 49-58. Perfidy, Author: Ben Hecht, Milah Press, Incorporated; April 1, 1997 Min Hameitzer, Author:Rabbi Weissmandl; The book Unheeded Cry by Abraham Fuchs, is a partial translation. Holocaust Encyclopedia, "Escape from German Occupied Europe", http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/index.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005470 "Immigration Policies", Jewish Virtual Library, http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/grobim.html "The Tragedy of the S.S. St. Louis", Jewish Virtual Library, http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/stlouis.html [1] Quoted in: Ingrid Wecker, Feuerzeichen: Die "Reichskristallnacht" (Tubingen: Grabert, 1981), p. 212. See also: Th. Herzl, The Jewish State (New York: Herzl Press, 1970), pp 33, 35, 36, and Edwin Black, The Transfer Agreement (New York: Macmillan, 1984), p.73 [2] Th. Herzl, "Der Kongress, " Welt, June 4, 1897. Reprinted in: Theodore Herzls zionistische Schriften (Leon Kellner, ed.), ester Teil, Berlin: Judischer Verlag, 1920, p. 190 (and p.139) [3] Francis R. Nicosia, The Third Reich and the Palestine Question (1985), pp. 54-55.; Karl A. Schleunes, The Twisted Road to Auschwitz (Urbana: Univ. of Illinois, 1970, 1990) pp. 178-181 [4] Jacob Boas, "A Nazi Travels to Palestine," History Today (London), January, 1980, pp. 33-38. [5] Facsimile reprint of front page of Das Schwarze Korp, May 15, 1935, in: Janusz Piekalkiewicz, Israels Langer Arm (Frankfurt: Goverts, 1975), pp. 66-67. [6] Das Schwarze Korps, Sept. 26, 1935. Quoted in: F. Nicosia, The Third Reich and the Palestine Question (1985), pp. 56-57 [7] F. Nicosia, Third Reich (1985), pp. 141-144; On Hitler's critical view of Zionism in Mein Kapf, see. Esp. Vol. 1, Chap. 11. Quoted in: Robert Wistrich, Hitler's Apocalypse (London: 1985), p. 155.; [8] W. Feilchenfeld, et al., Haavra-Transfer (1972). Entire text in: David Yisraeli, The Palestine Problem in German Politics 1889-1945 (Israel: 1974), pp. 132-136. [9] Y. Arad, et al., eds., Documents On the Holocaust (1981), p. 155. (The training kibbutz was at Neuendorf, and may have functioned even after March 1942.) [10] Lucy Dawidowicz, The War Against the Jews, 1933-1945 (New York: Bantam, pb., 1976), pp 253-254; Max Nussbaum, "Zionism Under Hitler," Congress Weekly (New York: American Jewish Congress), Sept. 11, 1942.; F. Nicosia, The Third Reich (1985), pp 58-60, 217.; Edwin Black, The Transfer Agreement (1984), p. 175. [11] E. Black, The Transfer Agreement (1984), pp. 328, 337. [12] "Judea Declares War on Germany!" – London Daily Express headline, March 24th, 1933 [13] "The worldwide boycott against Germany in 1933 and the later all-out declaration of war against Germany initiated by the Zionist leaders and the World Jewish Congress enraged Hitler so that he threatened to destroy the Jews…" (Rabbi Schwartz, New York Times, Sept. 30, 1997) [14] Yvon Gelbner, "Zionist policy and the fate of European Jewry", in Yad Vashem studies (Jerusalem, vol. XII, p. 199). [15] Institute for Jewish Affairs of New York, quoted by Christopher Sykes in "Crossroads to Isarl", London 1965, and by Nathan Weinstock, "Le sionisme contre Israel," p. 146. [16] Lucy Dawidovitch, "A Holocaust Reader", p. 155. [17] "Sharon Urges Jews to go to Israel", BBC News, 17 Nov. 2003, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3275979.stm Home | About Us | Zionism | Anti-Semitism | Scriptures | Rabbis & Sages | Resources | News | Threat Level | Site Map ©2002 - 2011 True Torah Jews, 183 Wilson St.,

Published 01:58 23.08.10 Latest update 01:58 23.08.10 Those noisy barbarians Dov Lior, the chief rabbi of Hebron, doesn't want Jews to take on boogie-woogie from the jungle. By Noam Tags: Israel news Dov Lior, the chief rabbi of Kiryat Arba and Hebron, head of the rabbinical committee in the territories and a power broker in the halls of government, is this country's real prime minister, writer Sefi Rachlevsky said in an op-ed in Haaretz's Hebrew edition last week. Dov Lior, the chief rabbi of Kiryat Arba and Hebron. Dov Lior, the chief rabbi of Kiryat Arba and Hebron. Photo by: Tess Scheflan Some of Lior's doctrines, which made headlines in the wake of his refusal to be interrogated by police in an incitement case, were revealed in Rachlevsky's piece: permission to spill Arab blood, praise for the murderer Baruch Goldstein and spiritual support for extreme right-wing Jewish terrorists. In addition, Lior is suspected of involvement in the rabbinical condemnation of Yitzhak Rabin before the prime minister was assassinated in 1995. A check of the Hebrew website Arutz Meir (www.meirtv.co.il ), which offers some 11,000 recorded lectures on Jewish topics, reveals that, somewhat surprisingly, the fundamentalist rabbi also has firm opinions on something else: music. A year ago, Lior was the guest of an educational institution whose name is not stated on the recording, but which appears to have been a music school, to judge by the excited questions of the musicians who teach at the school: How should one view music composed by non-Jews? Is it permissible to set biblical verses to the melodies of non-Jewish songs? If the questioners had turned to up-to-date studies in musicology, they would have been introduced to exactly these questions, at the core of which lies a dialogue from ancient times that relates to the very nature of music. Is music abstract, and can therefore express nothing but itself, as 19th-century thinkers would have it? Or, as the movement of new musicology sees it, does it demonstrate extra-musical content, even in works as seemingly neutral as a symphony by Brahms or Beethoven? As Dov Lior asked: Do we go by the approach that music should be taken at face value, or do we look into who created it, who composed it? Does that matter? Pop as paganism In Jewish law, as in Islamic law, music can pose problems. The Hasidim, for example, place a high value on their melodies, when sung in the proper circumstances, but not on all music. Jewish men are prohibited from hearing women sing, according to halakha. On the other hand, the Levites in the Temple, and King David himself, used music for higher purposes. In one of the recordings, Lior encourages those present to learn how to play all the instruments, saying the Levites will need to know how when the Temple is rebuilt. "We need to nurture, train, raise God-fearing people who specialize in this field," he says. The rabbi sometimes seems open to non-Jewish music and willing to have Jews engage with it, but at other times talks about banning it. "Until 400 years ago there were composers among non-Jews, but they all focused on church music and pagan music," is his simplistic approach. "But since a rebellion occurred, they started creating humane music that expresses positive sentiments. There are some honorable people among the goyim. A few, but they exist. I think that even in Hebron there are a few who are human beings - which doesn't mean I'm saying they shouldn't all be sent to Saudi Arabia. They should all be sent to Saudi Arabia!" According to the rabbi, this good period among non-Jews has ended: "There has been a downfall since World War II. ... I call this boogie-woogie and they call it pop. It expresses people's animalistic and lower urges. This noisy, fast rhythm is unlike that of the Hasidim, who sang with devotion and could do so for hours. Its very basis is improper: urges without any elevating principle. It must absolutely be avoided. ... That kind of thing is in the jungle." Lior says that music reflects the nature of a people, and gives the Arabs as an example. "Whoever is more barbaric is noisier," he says. "Have you noticed, for example, when [Arabs] have weddings, the [Israeli] left has taught them to shoot these fireworks in the air, and they blend in real gunshots, and sometimes shoot each other. It is part of the amusement at their weddings. They cannot live without noise. And pop as a whole... there are those who worship this kind of god. Clearly this does not belong at all to Judaism, and not to composers who know how to express good and tender feelings and aspire to values for all humanity." May one take non-Jewish music and sing prayers to those tunes? Lior: "Music can get contaminated. Experts will investigate and see if the tune is 'kosher,' if it expresses an aspiration to goodness, or if it is taken from the jungle and stimulates negative emotions. With pop, you can see clearly that it's negative. Something that belongs to the rhythms of kushim [a derogatory term for black people] isn't part of our world. In America, Rabbi [Shlomo] Carlebach matched melodies to prayers, and what he made into something Jewish is all right. But not everyone can just take from this sewer of pop, from the world of lies." Humanity and individualism The hundreds of lessons that may be found on Arutz Meir include one by Orthodox composer Andre Hajdu, who was born in Hungary in 1932. "The concepts of 'ours' and 'not ours' are foreign to me, and limiting," Hajdu says at the beginning of his lecture, in which he attempts to explain his views on Jewish music and Judaism itself. "I was raised in the European tradition and I brought it with me; I live in two worlds, in the world of music and in Judaism. I have never seen this as a contradiction, and never thought that if I am in one place, I must leave the other. I'm not saying that this is a good thing or the way one has to be, but I am describing reality. Jewish music does not belong to only one population: there are Hasidic melodies, the bakashot ["entreaties"] prayers, piyutim [liturgical poems] and Ladino, and I teach openness, the understanding that all of this is Jewish. It is difficult, because everyone thinks that the musical experience he was raised on is the authentic one. Most people love the music from their childhood and don't try to turn in a different direction. My job is to go against this and it is Sisyphean, the desire to change society." "Many times I have heard profound discussions of music and high-flown ideas about music, but we don't hear the music itself," Hajdu continues. "For example, when talking about the Vilna Gaon and his deliberations on music. But which music? Did he mean Lithuanian Jewish music, or Mozart, because he played the violin? Music is discriminated against; the idea and symbol may be voiced but not the music itself, and so I sought to hear it too. "I know the religious population in particular is not used to listening to music, because it is taught only to sing, alone or in public. It is true that singing with others strengthens the individual, but there is always the aspect of power. The meaning of listening is to create a space and time to concentrate, not offhandedly while reading the newspaper, but like meditation - emptying the self of everything else and allowing the music to fill one. Not everyone is used to this. When I lecture, people listen, but the moment I put on a recording and play music, they begin to talk to one another. It is hard to change habits." Orthodox composer Andre Hajdu performing in 2008 Orthodox composer Andre Hajdu performing in 2008. In this lesson, Hajdu played "King's Fanfare," which he composed in 1974, using elements of traditional Jewish music and dissonant modernism. He asks the audience to listen, hoping they will understand. "It is true that music expresses human spontaneity, but it also provokes thought, and it is well-known that the public does not think; only an individual can think," he tells those present. "For this reason I suggest a kind of alienation, and not unity. Not in order to distance the listener, but to arouse self-awareness, and a listening to the other, to that which is not me, and which I do not understand yet. It is not enough to be present, but to open the mind. Although there is something in music that does not stem from logic, people cannot stop thinking, so why not use one's mind when listening to music? And the opposite too: the Gemara says that when studying religious texts, doing so without a melody is meaningless." Hajdu's musical equivalent of a Jewish text is played in a live performance by a member of the young music ensemble he established among his students, who are familiar with all musical styles, including contemporary ones. He tells about their performances at Hama'abada theater in Jerusalem, also known as The Lab: "Some with kippot and some without, average age 25-30, and the concept of 'ours' does not exist. A group sits on stage, divided - not uniform, but all at the height of enthusiasm. It is my attempt to go against habit and custom, to see the depth in Judaism, but not with the regular tools." Hajdu also notes that "Judaism owes its music to the non-Jewish environment around it; there is a whole literature about this." "And this is the meaning of life on several levels," he says. "Simplistic answers will not suffice. Music from a foreign source may be even more Jewish. The bakashot musical tradition comes from Arab and Andalusian music, and it is no less Jewish because of this. You must move from place to place and look into the distance, and not think that the truth always resides with us when it comes to music. Today the religious population is much more open from many angles, but when it comes to music, there is still a long way to go." Print Page Send to a friend Share Text Size +|- Follow us on Twitter Become a Haaretz.com Facebook friend People who read this article also read: A magical world of art on an ordinary Tel Aviv rooftop A magical world of art on an ordinary Tel Aviv rooftop (Haaretz - Culture) Traveling to the castle of high words Traveling to the castle of high words (Haaretz - Culture) Israeli creates movie from 500 people in 100 seconds Israeli creates movie from '500 people in 100 seconds' (Haaretz - Culture) Top Ten Active Baby-Boomer Vacations Pai

Arafat Aide: Abbas Making a Mistake Sep 21, 2011 7:40 AM EDT As world leaders scramble to delay a UN showdown over Palestinian statehood, a top staffer to Yasir Arafat comes out against the move—saying it will cause suffering and setbacks. By Dan Ephron. Print Email Comments 6 A former peace negotiator with Israel who served for years as a top aide to Yasir Arafat says President Mahmoud Abbas’s bid for membership with the United Nations is a mistake that will result in Palestinian suffering. Click here to find out more! Mohammed Rachid, who left his position with the Palestinian Authority months after Arafat died and rarely gives interviews, told The Daily Beast that, much like the second intifada 11 years ago, the campaign could cost Palestinians their relationship with key allies and their international legitimacy. He also accused Abbas and others of nurturing false hopes among Palestinian refugees and their descendants through the years over their “right of return” to historic Palestine (now Israel), knowing it was incompatible with any potential peace agreement. Rachid’s remarks marked the first serious criticism of the U.N. initiative from the inner circle of the Palestinian leadership, past or present – though some current officials are also thought to have reservations. They coincided with the start of the U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York, where Abbas will make his case this Friday for an independent Palestine. A vote at the GA or at the Security Council could take weeks. “It will not deliver anything practical for the Palestinian people,” Rachid said at a hotel lounge in London, where he has a home. “I see it risking a lot: Risking the lives of the Palestinians, risking the Palestinian economy, risking even the legal structure of the Palestinian Authority,” he said. Israel and the U.S. have both described the membership bid as a dangerous bypass of the Middle East peace process, while Congress has threatened to cut off aid to the Palestinians. Analysts warn that a drop in aid or in revenues Israel regularly transfers to the Palestinian Authority could cause its collapse. “We are repeating the problems that occurred in the year 2000…when we lost the very good relations we had with the Americans, when we lost European support,” Rachid said. “We had 300,000 workers in Israel. But because we flexed our muscles to show we can do an intifada (uprising), 300,000 [Palestinians] lost their income.” Mahmud Abbas Mohammed Rachid (inset, from 2002), Yasser Arafat's former adviser, thinks Abbas's campaign for a statehood vote at the UN "will not deliver anything practical for the Palestinian people," he told the Daily Beast., Abbas Momani / AFP-Getty Images Rachid, 56, is a shadowy figure for most Palestinians. While working for Arafat, he operated mainly in the background, both in his interactions with Israelis and his financial dealings on behalf of the Palestinian Authority. While he attended all the major peace parlays between the two sides, including the one at Camp David in 2000 that precipitated the second intifada, he played a more critical role as Arafat’s emissary to many of the back-channel talks with Israelis. Former President Bill Clinton wrote in his biography My Life that Rachid was among the most “forward-leaning” negotiators on the Palestinian side. “I see it risking a lot: Risking the lives of the Palestinians, risking the Palestinian economy, risking even the legal structure of the Palestinian Authority,” Rachid said. After Arafat’s death in late 2004, Rachid moved from Gaza to Cairo and has since worked in business, including in Libya. An anti-corruption committee Abbas formed last year has summoned him for questioning about his role in the possible theft of Palestinian Authority funds, which Rachid denies. Palestinian spokesmen did not immediately respond to queries about his criticism. One official who did not want to be named said Rachid was lashing out at Abbas in response to the graft investigation. But Rachid said his criticism was entirely substantive. He agreed to be interviewed after much prodding. Referring to years of peace talks with Israelis, Rachid said Palestinian leaders had deceived their people by publicly insisting on the right of millions of Palestinians classified as refugees around the region to return to present-day Israel -- while acknowledging at the negotiating table that a broad repatriation was unrealistic. The “right of return” is one of the most sensitive issues in the Palestinian public discourse, regarded by many as near sacred. Records of negotiations over the years indicate that Palestinian leaders have pressed Israel to accept only a small fraction of the total refugee population, while negotiating compensation or resettlement packages for the rest. Israeli leaders have rejected any repatriation except in humanitarian cases and in very limited numbers. “We think we are cheating our people. We are cheating ourselves…. I was there on that team, in that room, in those meetings, so many times. I’m sorry, I have to tell the Palestinian people: We never demanded that you refugees will come to your homes or to your historical country [en masse], never. Anyone who tells you that…will be lying to you,” Rachid said. “They [Palestinian leaders] are not prepared to hold themselves historically responsible for crossing some red lines on the Palestinian side, which at the top of the list is the right of return.” Like The Daily Beast on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for updates all day long. Dan Ephron has been Newsweek's Jerusalem bureau chief since January 2010. Previously, he served as a national-security correspondent and deputy bureau chief for the magazine in Washington. His stories have also appeared in The Boston Globe, The New Republic, and Esquire. For inquiries, please contact The Daily Beast at editorial@thedailybeast.com. Print Email Comments 6 Tags: Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, World News, Yasir Arafat Related Stories No Apologies: Israel Isn’t to Blame for Its Growing Isolation Paid Distribution No Apologies: Israel Isn’t to Blame for Its Growing Isolation (The New Republic) Bill OReilly Would Like To Teach America A History Lesson Bill O'Reilly Would Like To Teach America A History Lesson Top Ten Things Airlines Dont Tell You Paid Distribution Top Ten Things Airlines Don't Tell You (Away.com) 10 Great Opinion Reads on Palestine’s Statehood Bid 10 Great Opinion Reads on Palestine’s Statehood Bid 10 Great Opinion Reads on Palestine’s Statehood Bid Top Ten Things Airlines Dont Tell You Bill OReilly Would Like To Teach America A History Lesson No Apologies: Israel Isn’t to Blame for Its Growing Isolation Comments Login or signup You must be logged in to comment colindale 6 Minutes Ago Israel’s threatened Anschluss of the West Bank The Anschluss was the occupation and annexation of Austria into the German Third Reich on 12th March 1938, eight months before Kristallnacht, the terrible pogrom that prefaced the Holocaust and the start of WW2 a year later in which tens of millions, including thousands of American soldiers, died in Europe and around the world. Now the Israeli government is threatening to annex the West Bank of the Jordan in which live 3.5 million Palestinians, as retribution if they apply this week to the United Nations for membership. Such an act of armed, political savagery by the Israeli government of Binyamin Netanyahu could well bring about the start of WW3. In WW2 there were no nuclear weapons, with the exception of the two atomic bombs dropped on the Japanese cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima in 1945, that finally ended that war. Now, in 2011, Israel has a secret nuclear weapons arsenal that is estimated to hold up to 400 nuclear warheads – weapons of mass destruction that have never been declared to, or inspected by, the IAEA. The U N Security Council ignores this appalling reality at its peril. Reply Paul Singer 15 Minutes Ago If Netanyahu does a "Rabin" and gives in to the Palestinians. It would be a delightful trick! How would Hamas manage a peacetime non existant economy?? Reply IvaBigbottom 24 Minutes Ago just what the palies need...advice from one of arafat's most trusted aides. EdeMaslikes this. Reply snafina 45 Minutes Ago And now you know why peace is so unattainable. The Palestinian "leadership" is promising their people things that simply cannot and will not happen. As such, they cannot deliver anything but anger and disappointment, which they will naturally aim elsewhere...and we all know where that will be. Meanwhile, their people suffer, not because of Israeli policy but because of their own. There is nothing more dangerous than bad leadership. Reply llessu 47 Seconds Ago ...their people suffer, not because of Israeli policy... As rationalisations go this one's embarassing! Tim Green 55 Minutes Ago Abbas is smart, the author's incorrect - my proof? Just look how this move got Israel's attention - something that's hard to do without using bombs. snafinalikes this. 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The humiliation of Barack Obama As he prepares to singularly veto Palestine’s statehood bid, he must be thinking to himself: ‘This isn’t right’. Robert Grenier, Al Jazeera 20.09.11 Sooner or later, it’s going to happen. Most likely, the moment will come just before his first head-of-state meeting in New York. Or perhaps it will happen just before his first side-bar meeting with Binyamin Netanyahu. Or then again, it may come as the cumulative reaction to a series of embarrassing encounters with fellow world leaders. But the moment will come. At some point this coming week, during his visit to the this year’s opening of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, US President Barack Obama is going to have a nearly irresistible urge. He is going to want to stand up to his hovering political handlers and the smothering bureaucracy which tries to dictate his every move, summon his personal dignity, and say “Enough”. In April of 1995, President Clinton played host to then-Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan. US-Pakistan relations were in sharp decline. A few years before, the US had begun to implement sanctions mandated by the so-called Pressler Amendment, under which Pakistan was to be punished with a complete cutoff of aid and of military sales if it were found to be pursuing a nuclear-weapons capability. The first President Bush had made such a finding, and now the ties between the two countries were being progressively cut. At the heart of the growing ill-feeling between the two nations was the US cancellation of a previously-agreed sale of 28 F-16 fighter aircraft. The Pakistanis had realised when they signed the purchase deal that it might be cancelled if the Pressler Amendment were invoked. Now, given the law and the previous assertion of Pakistani culpability from President Bush, there was no longer any question of delivering the aircraft. But there was another wrinkle. The Pakistanis had paid enormous sums of money which they could ill afford, in advance, for the airplanes. And now, according to the US, not only could the Pakistanis not have the warplanes, but they couldn’t have their money back, either. You see, the money wasn’t there anymore; it had been spent by the contractor. The planes had been built. There was no provision under US law to provide appropriated funds to compensate the Pakistanis. Yes, the F-16s could perhaps be sold to another country and the proceeds given to Pakistan, but that, too, might require approval from a hostile US congress, and would most likely not be forthcoming. In short, there was nothing to be done. And as if to add insult to injury, the Pakistanis were also being charged a hefty annual storage fee for each plane – each plane that they could not have. Defending the indefensible When the entire US foreign policy/national security apparatus begins to move in one direction, it is an impressive sight. A vast bureaucracy churns out elaborate rationales for its decided policy, and these are mind-numbingly repeated in dozens of different ways for use in dozens of different fora. This was a classic case in point. I saw it myself from inside the State Department bureaucracy, where I was serving at the time. Justifications for the patently unjustifiable were delivered to the Pakistanis at all levels. They were mouthed by State Department and White House spokesmen, repeated in Congressional testimony, delivered to the press in many different settings, elaborated in written responses to inquiries from congressmen and the public, to say nothing of internal communications in the Executive Branch. All of this bureaucratic momentum hurtled forward towards the climactic moment when President Clinton would deliver the same message, in person, to Prime Minister Bhutto. The preparations for such encounters are, again, highly impressive. Huge briefing books requiring hundreds of man-hours are drawn up. They contain scene-setters, and backgrounders, and elaborate policy justifications, backed up with legal briefs organised under alphabeticised tabs, followed by detailed talking points designed to turn the president into a virtual ventriloquist’s dummy. And then the whole lot is coordinated and cleared up through the system, through the secretary of state, and the National Security Council, to the president himself. And so it was here. But in this case, at the very end, having carefully studied all this codified nonsense, this monument to bureaucratic inertia, and just before walking in to meet with Bhutto, when he would have to look the Pakistani prime minister in the eye and defend the patently indefensible, Clinton did something no one – but no one – in the bureaucracy would ever have anticipated. With simple, clear-eyed common sense and the innate sense of justice with which God has endowed most five-year-old children, he said, simply, “but this is not fair”. And then, wonder of wonders, he walked in and said just that to Bhutto. Here are Clinton’s words recorded moments later, when the two leaders emerged to speak before the press: “I have already made it clear to you, and I don’t think any American president has ever said this before, I don’t think it’s right for us to keep the money and the equipment. That is not right. And I am going to try to find a resolution to it.” If you have not served in America’s foreign policy bureaucracy, if you have not seen this from the inside, you cannot imagine the effect which these words would have had – to have a fully elaborated policy position publicly repudiated by the president, completely and unexpectedly, at the last possible moment, and on a world stage. It must have been wonderful. Alas, having seen all the preparation, I was not there for the denouement, having moved on to another job. I would have given anything to see it. Could it happen again? But this was a comparatively minor issue, followed by few people outside South Asian policy circles. So just imagine, if you can, something analogous happening at the UN this week, when President Obama has to justify current US policy regarding the Palestinian bid for international recognition as a state. We all know what the Americans have been saying: That what President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) is doing is counter-productive, that it is a repudiation of the Oslo Accords, that it is an attempt to avoid the necessity of reaching a negotiated solution with the Israelis. We have seen the US policy juggernaut gearing up, as the same arguments are repeated by US envoys to the Palestinians and to the Quartet, elaborated publicly by the secretary of state and by the White House spokesman, and delivered in dozens of other fora, both great and small. However, repeating the same thing, loudly and insistently, does not make it so. President Obama knows this very well. He understands the Israeli-Palestinian issue backwards and forwards. He knows the peace process is at a dead end. Early in his administration, he tried to revive negotiations by mandating a complete West Bank settlement freeze, only to be forced embarrassingly by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to back down. When this past May he had the temerity to publicly tell the Israelis that their current policy towards the Palestinians is untenable and unsustainable, and to modestly suggest a negotiating formula to break the impasse, he was publicly chastised by Netanyahu and had to submit to the humiliation of seeing the Congressional leaders of his own party repudiate him in favour of the Israeli prime minister. In response, though he cannot admit it, Obama has washed his hands of the Palestinian issue. He knows he can do nothing more. And yet, the issue will not go away. Now, once again, he is being forced to publicly support an Israeli policy position fundamentally opposed to his own. He knows fully well that Netanyahu has no intention of permitting formation of a viable Palestinian state, and that the Palestinians have little choice but to pursue their current course at the UN. He likewise understands that the US’ lonely support for Israel and the inevitable US veto of the Palestinians’ bid for full UN membership will undermine, perhaps terminally, the US position in a democratising Middle East, and will expose the US’ nominal support for popular Arab rights as a fraud. The human dimension All of this is well understood. We can all see it coming. And yet what is often forgotten is the human dimension. For the leader of a great nation, at certain points the public becomes personal, as it did for Bill Clinton one day in April, 1995. I do not know President Obama personally, but my sense is that this is a proud man. He does not see himself as an ordinary politician, but as a transformative leader. He has attempted self-consciously to carve out such a role for himself in the context of US relations with the Muslim world, but he has been repeatedly stymied, publicly and disgracefully. It is one thing to have to sacrifice principle in the face of political reality. All politicians are forced to do so at various points. But it is another to do so in a highly public manner, to have to mouth patent falsehoods in one-on-one meetings with fellow world leaders, who know better and who will think less of you as a result. This is what lies in store for President Obama in New York, and he knows it. For one as busy as a US president, there are many distractions, many ways to avoid confronting the unpleasant. But at some point, when the president is alone with his briefing book in New York, it is going to strike him. He will feel a tightening in his chest, and he will have an urge to pick up this plastic-bound tome to craven political expediency and hurl it at someone, and then to walk out and say what he really thinks. We all know that the president will do no such thing. He will suppress this urge, for to do otherwise would spell political suicide. No, the president will swallow his anger, and do what he must do. But it is worth giving some consideration, as the US again undermines its security and its global position, pointlessly and gratuitously, in blind allegiance to an ungrateful and self-destructive ally, that we will also be watching something else, something far more personal: The public mortification of Barack Hussein Obama. Robert Grenier is a retired, 27-year veteran of the CIA’s Clandestine Service. He was Director of the CIA’s Counter-Terrorism Center from 2004 to 2006. Analysis: Palestine’s state of mind By Daoud Kuttab, Ma’an News 20.09.11 The idea of Palestine becoming a permanent member of the United Nations originated, say Palestinians, with none other than US President Barack Obama. Speaking at the UN General Assembly on September 23, 2010, Obama said that 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.” Palestinians decided to take Obama at his word. Obama’s efforts to rekindle the Middle East peace process began with Israel’s refusal to carry out a temporary settlement freeze. The United States was even willing to offer a $3 billion arms deal to Israel in return for the suspension of building Jewish-only settlements in areas earmarked for the Palestinian state. But Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, rejected the offer. Nine months later, Obama made another effort to kick-start the talks. “The borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, so that secure and recognized borders are established for both states,” he said in May. Once again, Palestinians accepted Obama’s formula, while Netanyahu publicly rejected it, leaving Palestinians with no other nonviolent alternative but to go to the UN to seek a state based on the 1967 borders. In 1967, it should be recalled, Israel occupied the remainder of historic Palestine and other Arab territories following the June War. Shortly after the war, the UN Security Council declared in the preamble to Resolution 242 that “it is inadmissible to occupy land by force.” This is not the first time that the UN has been called upon to arbitrate the intractable Middle East conflict; nor have only Palestinians approached. Back in 1947, when the UN General Assembly voted to partition the British Mandate of Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state, Jews of the British Mandatory state of Palestine danced in the streets of Tel Aviv. Today, Israelis are rejecting recognition of Palestinian statehood on a much smaller territory than that assigned to Arabs by the original partition. In more recent history, since 1991′s Madrid Conference, direct talks between Israelis and Palestinians have taken place in various formats. Palestinians made one compromise after another, hoping that partial agreements would lead to statehood. The 1993 Oslo accords set in motion a peace process that was supposed to last five years, with the end goal being an independent Palestinian state and a safe, secure and recognized Israel. But the peace process exposed a permanent inability to agree on anything of real substance. Worse, direct talks have not only failed to produce the desired results: their continuation has also helped to mask widespread construction of Israeli colonies on Palestinian territory. Palestinian lands continue to be confiscated, Jewish-only settlements continue to be built, and Israel’s so-called “security wall” has strangled the Palestinians socially and economically. The International Court of Justice at The Hague has ruled that the wall built inside Palestinian territory is illegal under international law, yet nothing has been done to enforce that ruling. Mahmoud Abbas, the chairman of the PLO and president of the Palestinian Authority, who has vowed not to run for re-election, has chosen to take the path of UN recognition rather than continue with the charade of useless — indeed, harmful — direct talks. And, clearly, that change in tactics has hit a raw nerve with Israelis and frustrated the US. Few Palestinians see anything wrong with the move, although many are not certain that it will produce much in the way of immediate and tangible results. Nonetheless, the Palestinian public is pleased for now with a leadership that has found the backbone to stand up to pressure from Israel and the US. This will certainly help Abbas in the short term. But if the UN move does not bear fruit within a reasonable time-frame, the public might turn against its political leaders — as well as against the Israeli occupiers. So what, exactly, is Abbas hoping to achieve? The UN General Assembly, unlike the Security Council, cannot declare a state and the US has vowed to veto any Security Council resolution that recognizes Palestine’s independence. But, if two-thirds of its members agree, the General Assembly can recognize Palestine as a state with observer status, similar to the Vatican. At that point, the international community would be obliged to begin acting against any party that was denying Palestine the right to behave as a fully functional and sovereign state. Moreover, as a state (even with observer status), Palestine could seek legal relief from the International Court of Justice. It might also try, within the General Assembly, to invoke the rarely used United for Peace resolution. The last time it was invoked was against South Africa’s apartheid regime. The Palestinian desire to obtain a UN vote on statehood, in whatever form, does not mean that they cannot have direct negotiations with Israel. Palestinian officials, including Abbas, have said that they see no reason why representatives of the newly recognized state cannot negotiate with representatives of Israel. If the UN vote succeeds, however, it will not be a people talking with their occupiers, but two states negotiating about how to manage their relations in peace and harmony. Daoud Kuttab, a former professor at Princeton University, is General Manager of the Community Media Network in Amman.

How Israel pays its British friends to influence people Israel pays for junket by British MPs David Cronin blog, electronic intifada 20.09.11 Could the Israeli government be buying favours from British members of parliament (MPs)? I spent some time today wading through the register of financial interests for MPs from the Conservatives, the party of prime minister David Cameron. These showed that a number of them took part in a trip to the Middle East in early summer that was funded by Israel’s foreign ministry. Declarations made by Chloe Smith, Aidan Burley, James Morris and Neil Parish cite estimates that the cost of their visit from 29 May to 3 June amounted to £1,548 ($2,429) each. They report that £574 of that sum came from the Israeli foreign ministry and the remaining £974 from an internal party group called Conservative Friends of Israel. It is striking that the trip occurred at a time when Britain was in the process of changing its law on universal jurisdiction (the principle that a country may prosecute grave human rights abuses irrespective of where they occur) at the behest of Israel. In 2009, Tzipi Livni, Israel’s ex-foreign minister, chickened out of a trip to London because some political activists had sought a warrant for her arrest over Operation Cast Lead, Israel’s murderous assault on Gaza. Under a revised law that entered into force last week, new bureaucratic obstacles have been placed in the way of apprehending war criminals on British soil. The Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI), which organized the MPs’ trip, has been working diligently to have the universal jurisdiction law watered down to the liking of Israel’s politicians. And it is hard to believe that the fate of the new bill wasn’t discussed during the visit. While the CFI likes to gloat of how it can attract 150 parliamentarians, 500 businesspeople and Cameron himself to its annual lunch, it is less transparent about the sources of its money. According to the CFI’s website, both the summer trip and a previous one that it organized for MPs in February featured tours of production facilities run by the arms company Elbit. So I called the CFI to ask if Elbit is one of the group’s donors. “I don’t have to give you those details,” a spokeswoman told me. I pressed a bit further and enquired why her group does not publish accounts. “According to the law, we don’t have to do that,” the spokeswoman replied, before calling a halt to our conversation. I have also contacted Elbit, requesting if it provides support to CFI. I am still awaiting the firm’s response. Elbit, let us never forget, is the maker of the Hermes drones that were used to attack civilians during Operation Cast Lead. The tacit support for that attack from both of Britain’s largest parties, Labor and the Conservatives, can partly be explained by how a consortium involving Elbit has provided the British army with a Hermes 450 drone for use in Afghanistan. Amnesty International has reported that engines used in Elbit’s drones have been fitted by a plant belonging to the company near England’s second largest city, Birmingham. With economic and neo-imperial interests at stake, it is little wonder that the well-heeled Conservatives are not bothered by the plight of Gaza’s “little people.” Bi-Comms Disaster Guido Fawkes blog 16.09.11 After his story earlier in the week about pro-Israel lobby group BICOM, Guido was tipped that their CEO Lorna Fitzsimons, the former Labour MP, was in some serious trouble. He was tracking down an email that was accidentally sent out on Monday to some of BICOM’s media list instead of the intended recipients – the donors. Annoyingly Ephraim Hardcastle beat him to it this morning and reveals how Lorna blurted to the world that she has been: “…liaising with BBC and Sky to ensure ‘the most objectively favourable line was taken…I briefed Jonathan Ford, the Financial Times leader writer for his upcoming leading article… BICOM had regular contact with the Editor at Large of Prospect magazine, David Goodhart, helping to inform him about the forthcoming UN vote on Palestinian statehood…” We have put the whole email online here. It’s standard lobbyist boasting, but Guido imagines the FT editors will take a dim view of any sign of them being influenced by a PR operation. A BICOM source tried to play down the story as “mildly embarrassing”, but it was the comment given to the Mail that really tickled Guido: “A BICOM spokesman denies that Ms Fitzsimons is to lose her job.” If you have to say it… It is clear that all is not well at BICOM. The cock-up has apparently gone down rather badly, with some wondering how long Fitzsimmons can cling on. Two respected spinners have recently moved on after very short stays at the organisation – the LibDem Ed Fordham lasted just a month as their public affairs chief, and soon to be Head of Press at the Department of Education, Gabriel Milland, just six weeks. What can you spot in such a short space of time to make you run for the hills like that? Print Friendly September 20th, 2011 | Tags: BICOM, CFI, junket, universal jurisdiction | Category: News | Comments are closed.

PLO Bids for Statehood Israeli Arabs worry about PLO's statehood bid Politicians support the plan, but members of Israel's Arab community wonder how it will affect their future. Gregg Carlstrom Last Modified: 20 Sep 2011 13:44 inShare Email Article Email Print Article Print Share article Share Send Feedback Feedback Zahalka said he supports the bid but has 'many questions' about the PLO's diplomatic strategy [EPA] Umm al-Fahm, Israel - The Palestine Liberation Organisation's bid for full membership at the United Nations has strong support from Arab political parties in Israel, but many in Israel's Arab community worry about how the PLO's plan will affect their future. Members of the United Arab List met earlier this month with representatives of African countries and urged them to support the bid. Ahmad Tibi, a member of Knesset from Ta'al, is in New York this week to deliver a speech endorsing the plan. Jamal Zahalka, a Knesset member and a leader of the Balad party, cautioned that the bid must be part of a "new diplomatic strategy." But he described the upcoming vote as a "positive step" for Palestinians. "I think it's important because it will stop the charade of negotiations," Zahalka said in an interview. "Israel has used the excuse of negotiations to build settlements, to build the wall." But in this town of 45,000 people - an hour's drive from Tel Aviv, and one of the largest Arab communities in Israel - it is hard to find much popular support for the PLO's bid. "Abu Mazen … he thinks this is a big initiative," said Abdullah Yahya, the owner of a sweetshop. "The people, they don't. In reality, the people here, they do not support the sulta [the (Palestinian) Authority]". 'Israel won't allow it' No official polls of Israel's Arab community about the PLO's statehood bid have been made public, so it is difficult to make any broad conclusions about public opinion. And of course not everyone has an opinion: Quite a few people waved off questions about the bid, describing themselves as apolitical, or saying the UN vote would not matter. But in roughly two dozen interviews - in predominantly Arab towns and villages in northern Israel, and in Arab neighbourhoods of Jerusalem - most people were ambivalent about the PLO's plan, if not outright opposed. "It's not going to create a Palestinian state. Israel won't allow it," said Mohammed Muhajja, a cashier in Umm al-Fahm. "My family has been here since before 1948. We don't want a Palestinian state that is only a tiny bit of this land." Arabs make up roughly 20 per cent of Israel's population, and the PLO's bid highlights the conflicted reality in which many of them live. In theory, they are equal citizens who enjoy the same rights as other Israelis. In reality, they face widespread discrimination when applying for jobs; they receive harsher prison sentences than Israeli Jews; and their villages and towns generally receive lower levels of government funding than Jewish areas. Yet few would trade the Israeli government, however prejudiced, for the Palestinian Authority. "Here, there is discrimination, but at least we can complain," said Mansour Abbas, a taxi driver from Jerusalem's Shuafat neighborhood. "Here, there is corruption, but at least you can take the prime minister to court! In Ramallah you could not even speak about it." 'We don't want two states' So most Israeli Arabs seem to reject a "two-state solution," which they fear would either leave them facing discrimination in Israel or unwillingly "transferred" to Palestine. Polls consistently show a strong majority supports a one-state outcome to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Even some Arab members of the Knesset, like Hanan Zoabi, have described a two-state solution as "impossible". And many in Israel's Arab community worry that the PLO's bid for recognition makes that outcome less likely. "The Americans, the British, the Israelis, they've been working for 50 years to create two states," said Riad Arda, drawing a line on a napkin for emphasis. "But we, the Arabs here, we don't want two states, we want one state called Palestine." Arda would understand the implications better than most: He lives in Baqa al-Gharbiyya, an Arab village near the Green Line which is split in two by Israel's separation barrier. The western half is in Israel, while the eastern side, called Baqa al-Sharqiyya, is controlled by the Palestinian Authority. For residents of this and other divided villages, the creation of a Palestinian state would mean one of two outcomes. Israel has proposed annexing some of these villages to a potential "Palestine", perhaps "in return" for Jewish settlements in the West Bank. The idea has long been popular with right-wing Israeli politicians; The Palestine Papers revealed that former foreign minister Tzipi Livni has also endorsed the idea. The other option is to remain part of Israel, in which case an international border would permanently separate what were once cohesive communities. "This is bad, it's a bad situation," Arda said. "And it will only get worse after the United Nations." Not everyone in Israel's Arab population opposes the bid, of course. Most of those who support it said that UN recognition of a Palestinian state would make it harder for Israel to commit human rights abuses in the occupied territories. "Maybe it will help. We want a country of Palestine that is free of killing, Israeli tanks, Israeli rockets," said Mutassim Mohammed, the owner of a small restaurant in Umm al-Fahm. And Zahalka, the Balad party leader, said there was little reason to worry about how the PLO's bid would affect the chances of a one-state outcome. "What we think might not matter. What's going on now is that Israel is killing the two-state solution," Zahalka said. "It's only a matter of time, maybe a year or two, before that question will be irrelevant." Follow Gregg Carlstrom on Twitter: @glcarlstrom Source: Al Jazeera Email Article Email Print Article Print Share article Share Send Feedback Send Feedback Topics in this article People Jamal Zahalka Riad Arda Ahmad Tibi Mutassim Mohammed Hanan Zoabi Mansour Abbas Abdullah Yahya Mohammed Muhajja Tzipi Livni Country Israel Palestine Palestinian Authority City Umm al-Fahm Jerusalem Baqa al-Gharbiyya Ramallah Tel Aviv New York Organisation Palestine Liberation Organization United Nations Knesset Balad party Palestine Liberation Organisation Israeli government United Arab List Environmental Protection Agency Featured on Al Jazeera Fear incorporated We examine the phenomenon of Islamophobia in the US media and the people behind it. Sick Gulf residents continue to blame BP Many people living near the site of the BP oil spill have reported a long list of similar health problems. State of recognition Whether the UN grants the PA status as a state or refuses to do so, either outcome will be in Israel's interest. China buys gold, challenges US dollar WikiLeaks cables allege that China is buying gold to weaken the US dollar's supremacy as the world's reserve currency. Content on this website is for general information purposes only. Your comments are provided by your own free will and you take sole responsibility for any direct or indirect liability. You hereby provide us with an irrevocable, unlimited, and global license for no consideration to use, reuse, delete or publish comments, in accordance with Community Rules & Guidelines and Terms and Conditions. Like Dislike Add New Comment Required: Please login below to comment. Image Showing 5 comments Sort by Subscribe by email Subscribe by RSS Real-time updating is enabled. (Pause) 1 new comment was just posted. Show Lawerence Freedman 8 hours ago Well, whats "Fair is Fair"...Since the PM of the so-called Palestinian State, will not allow Jews to live in it, what is known as "Judenfrie", as the Dictonary defines: Judenfrie ("Free of Jews") was a Nazi term to designate an area free of Jewish presence during the Holocaust. I suggest that ALL Muslim Israeli's are free to move to their new Nation.... Matter of fact, we will help them..... 7 people liked this. eylonp 9 hours ago "Here, there is discrimination, but at least we can complain," said Mansour Abbas, a taxi driver from Jerusalem's Shuafat neighborhood. "Here, there is corruption, but at least you can take the prime minister to court! In Ramallah you could not even speak about it." The discrimination: "In theory, they are equal citizens who enjoy the same rights as other Israelis. In reality, they face widespread discrimination when applying for jobs" - Israelis afraid to recruit Arabs - they don't want to die or get robbed. Arabs who have business do not recruit Jewish population. "their villages and towns generally receive lower levels of government funding than Jewish areas" - the funding of each village in Israel is from taxes of its residents plus government taxes which divided equally. The Arab population do not pay taxes, and build their homes without permit from authorities. 6 people liked this. Tubig Gannon 9 hours ago "Politicians support the plan, but members of Israel's Arab community wonder how it will affect their future", as they should, because it has not been clear how their leaders have looked after their collective interests in the past. The US shares the concerns of the Israeli Arabs, as well as the rest of the Palestinians. DEZ and 2 more liked this DEZ 11 minutes ago Don't lose sight of the fact HAMAS do not support this move - Ozito 1 hour ago "Yet few would trade the Israeli government, however prejudiced, for the Palestinian Authority." How true. And even fewer would want to live under Hamas in Gaza. The Abbas UNGA bid is pure grandstanding, without any palestinian arab leader having thought about the consequences of a unilateral move. The palestinian street does not trust its leadership. And why should it? It has never shown the slightest regard for consensus and nation building in the past 60 years........ 1 new comment was just posted. Show Reactions Samar Dahmash Jarrah 3 minutes ago From twitter Israeli Arabs worry about PLO's statehood bid - PLO Bids for Statehood - Al Jazeera English http://t.co/4bKukV2Z via @ajenglish Eva Bue Bitsch 28 minutes ago From twitter RT @glcarlstrom: Posted earlier: My piece on Israeli Arab concerns about the PLO's "statehood" bid. http://j.mp/oimmO5 Moonbootica 3 hours ago From twitter Israeli Arabs worry about PLO's statehood bid - PLO Bids for Statehood - Al Jazeera English http://t.co/KgjNCjQG via @ajenglish r7y6 3 hours ago From twitter Polls consistently show a strong majority supports a one-state outcome to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. http://t.co/uATIuJGg arenaofspeculation 3 hours ago From twitter RT @benabyad: Israeli Arabs worry about PLO's statehood bid - Al Jazeera English http://t.co/45FG4wGK via @ajenglish <<< by @glcarlstrom Arie Amaya-Akkermans 3 hours ago From twitter "But we, the Arabs here, we don't want two states, we want one state called Palestine." -Riad Arda http://t.co/QaiUJ2kt Not happening. A ḥummuṣ-sexual 4 hours ago From twitter Israeli Arabs worry about PLO's statehood bid - PLO Bids for Statehood - Al Jazeera English http://t.co/sqdJcpC9 via @ajenglish gershonbaskin 4 hours ago From twitter RT @PalestineNote: Israeli Arab politicians support #stateofpalestine plan, but voice concerns on how it might affect their future http://ow.ly/6zEKp #israel mayasdreams 5 hours ago From twitter RT @shunradan: Otherwise a good article about the skepticism of the 48 Palestinians. Few #fakestatehood cheerleaders there. http://t.co/VYCftanT Daniel Shunra 5 hours ago From twitter Otherwise a good article about the skepticism of the 48 Palestinians. Few #fakestatehood cheerleaders there. http://t.co/VYCftanT Related Palestinians insist on terms for Israel talks Foregin minister says Israel must accept terms of reference before negotiations can resume, as suggested by Netanyahu. ( 20-Sep-2011 ) The one-sided US veto Abbas: 'All hell let loose' over UN state bid What are the PLO's options at the UN? Top News Former Afghan president killed in Kabul 'Ceasefire' halts third day of Sanaa violence Obama leads rousing UN welcome for Libyan NTC Dozens of Shia pilgrims shot in Pakistan Arab League parliament urges Syria suspension PLO Bids for Statehood Palestinians insist on terms for Israel talks Netanyahu calls for talks with Palestinians Palestinian protesters back UN membership bid Abbas: Palestinians seek full UN membership UN chief: Palestine bid 'understandable' What's Hot Viewed Emailed 7 Days o The humiliation of Barack Obama o Obama's perfect storm o Al Jazeera director general steps down o Former Afghan president killed in Kabul o America's 13 deficits: Part 1 o The one-sided US veto o Obama leads rousing UN welcome for Libyan NTC o Statehood versus 'facts on the ground' o Fear incorporated o Q&A: Top NTC commander Abdel Hakim Belhadj Now News Next [ In 02 mins ] Inside Story Today's Schedule More Opinion Two Latvias: Between the West and Russia Janis Domburs Can the US repay its public debt? 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FATEH Constitution Eli E. Hertz Commentary - The FATEH Constitution FATEH – the main faction of the PLO to which Arafat belonged and was its founding member – displays its constitution on its website. It calls under Article 12 for the: “Complete liberation of Palestine , and eradication of Zionist economic, political, military and cultural existence.” The next FATEH Article calls for: “Establishing an independent democratic state with complete sovereignty on all Palestinian lands, and Jerusalem as its capital city, and protecting the citizens' legal and equal rights without any racial or religious discrimination.” As for how it will achieve its goals, FATEH's constitution, Article 19, minces no words: “Armed struggle is a strategy and not a tactic, and the Palestinian Arab People's armed revolution is a decisive factor in the liberation fight and in uprooting the Zionist existence, and this struggle will not cease unless the Zionist state is demolished and Palestine is completely liberated.” FATEH Constitution http://www.fateh.net/e_public/constitution.htm. As of July 19 2005 Chapter One Principles… Goals…. Methods The Movement's Essential Principles Article (1) Palestine is part of the Arab World, and the Palestinian people are part of the Arab Nation, and their struggle is part of its struggle. Article (2) The Palestinian people have an independent identity. They are the sole authority that decides their own destiny, and they have complete sovereignty on all their lands. Article (3) The Palestinian Revolution plays a leading role in liberating Palestine . Article (4) The Palestinian struggle is part and parcel of the world-wide struggle against Zionism, colonialism and international imperialism. Article (5) Liberating Palestine is a national obligation which necessities the materialistic and human support of the Arab Nation. Article (6) UN projects, accords and reso, or those of any individual cowhich undermine the Palestinian people's right in their homeland are illegal and rejected. Article (7) The Zionist Movement is racial, colonial and aggressive in ideology, goals, organisation and method. Article (8) The Israeli existence in Palestine is a Zionist invasion with a colonial expansive base, and it is a natural ally to colonialism and international imperialism. Article (9) Liberating Palestine and protecting its holy places is an Arab, religious and human obligation. Article (10) Palestinian National Liberation Movement, “FATEH”, is an independent national revolutionary movement representing the revolutionary vanguard of the Palestinian people. Article (11) The crowds which participate in the revolution and liberation are the proprietors of the Palestinian land. Goals Article (12) Complete liberation of Palestine , and eradication of Zionist economic, political, military and cultural existence. Article (13) Establishing an independent democratic state with complete sovereignty on all Palestinian lands, and Jerusalem is its capital city, and protecting the citizens' legal and equal rights without any racial or religious discrimination. Article (14) Setting up a progressive society that warrants people's rights and their public freedom. Article (15) Active participation in achieving the Arab Nation's goals in liberation and building an independent, progressive and united Arab society. Article (16) Backing up all oppressed people in their struggle for liberation and self determination in order to build a just, international peace. Method Article (17) Armed public revolution is the inevitable method to liberating Palestine . Article (18) Entire dependence on the Palestinian people which is the pedestal forefront and on the Arab Nation as a partner in the fight, and realising actual interaction between the Arab Nation and the Palestinian people by involving the Arab people in the fight through a united Arab front. Article (19) Armed struggle is a strategy and not a tactic, and the Palestinian Arab People's armed revolution is a decisive factor in the liberation fight and in uprooting the Zionist existence, and this struggle will not cease unless the Zionist state is demolished and Palestine is completely liberated. Article (20) Achieving mutual understanding with all the national forces participating in the armed struggle to attain the national unity. Article (21) Revealing the revolutionary nature of the Palestinian identity at the international level, and this does not contradict the everlasting unity between the Arab Nation and the Palestinian people. Article (22) Opposing any political solution offered as an alternative to demolishing the Zionist occupation in Palestine, as well as any project intended to liquidate the Palestinian case or impose any international mandate on its people. Article (23) Maintaining relations with Arab countries with the objective of developing the positive aspects in their attitudes with the proviso that the armed struggle is not negatively affected. Article (24) Maintaining relations with all liberal forces supporting our just struggle in order to resist together Zionism and imperialism. Article (25) Convincing concerned countries in the world to prevent Jewish immigration to Palestine as a method of solving the problem. Article (26) Avoiding attempts to exploit the Palestinian case in any Arab or international problems and considering the case above all contentions. Article (27) “FATEH” does not interfere with local Arab affairs and hence, does not tolerate such interference or obstructing its struggle by any party. PLO Charter Eli E. Hertz Commentary - The PLO Charter With great fanfare, the Palestine National Council (PNC) met in Gaza in the spring of 1994 to consider amending the PLO Charter, as Yasser Arafat had promised following the signing of the Oslo Accords on the White House lawn in the fall of 1993. The promised changes would have represented a sea change and the beginning of a new era between Israel and the Palestine Authority. But despite all promises, the Charter was never amended as promised. It still calls for the destruction of Israel , even though Palestinian leaders will say that the Charter has been amended. It is a lie. The PNC did in fact convene in Gaza to vote on amending the Charter. But what they did instead was adopt a resolution calling on its legal committee to redraft the Charter and present it before the Central Council. That was 1994. It has yet to be done. In 1997, after Israeli and Palestinian leaders signed an agreement in Hebron , the PA acknowledged that it had yet to make the changes it had long before promised. It included in a note at that time saying, it would “complete the process” of revising the Charter. A look at the Charter will show that this promise too was never carried forward. No articles have been changed, including those which call for an ongoing war against the Jewish state. If the PLO's National Charter was ratified and changed as promised, then the amendments would be obvious to even the casual reader. It would be posted on the Web and be accessible to all. But that too is not the case. Why? Perhaps because if the amendments were adopted, anyone, including Palestinians, would see that the changes, once agreed to by Arafat, recognize Israel as a legitimate state. That might be too much for the PA to risk. Palestinian National Authority http://www.pna.gov.ps/Government/gov/plo_Charter.asp As of July 19 2005 Also known as “the Palestinian National Charter” or “the Palestinian Covenant”. Adopted by the Palestine National Council, July 1-17, 1968: Article 1: Palestine is the homeland of the Arab Palestinian people; it is an indivisible part of the Arab homeland, and the Palestinian people are an integral part of the Arab nation. Article 2: Palestine , with the boundaries it had during the British Mandate, is an indivisible territorial unit. Article 3: The Palestinian Arab people possess the legal right to their homeland and have the right to determine their destiny after achieving the liberation of their country in accordance with their wishes and entirely of their own accord and will. Article 4: The Palestinian identity is a genuine, essential, and inherent characteristic; it is transmitted from parents to children. The Zionist occupation and the dispersal of the Palestinian Arab people, through the disasters which befell them, do not make them lose their Palestinian identity and their membership in the Palestinian community, nor do they negate them. Article 5: The Palestinians are those Arab nationals who, until 1947, normally resided in Palestine regardless of whether they were evicted from it or have stayed there. Anyone born, after that date, of a Palestinian father – whether inside Palestine or outside it - is also a Palestinian. Article 6: The Jews who had normally resided in Palestine until the beginning of the Zionist invasion will be considered Palestinians. Article 7: That there is a Palestinian community and that it has material, spiritual, and historical connection with Palestine are indisputable facts. It is a national duty to bring up individual Palestinians in an Arab revolutionary manner. All means of information and education must be adopted in order to acquaint the Palestinian with his country in the most profound manner, both spiritual and material, that is possible. He must be prepared for the armed struggle and ready to sacrifice his wealth and his life in order to win back his homeland and bring about its liberation. Article 8: The phase in their history, through which the Palestinian people are now living, is that of national (watani) struggle for the liberation of Palestine . Thus the conflicts among the Palestinian national forces are secondary, and should be ended for the sake of the basic conflict that exists between the forces of Zionism and of imperialism on the one hand, and the Palestinian Arab people on the other. On this basis the Palestinian masses, regardless of whether they are residing in the national homeland or in diaspora (mahajir) constitute – both their organizations and the individuals – one national front working for the retrieval of Palestine and its liberation through armed struggle. Article 9: Armed struggle is the only way to liberate Palestine . Thus it is the overall strategy, not merely a tactical phase. The Palestinian Arab people assert their absolute determination and firm resolution to continue their armed struggle and to work for an armed popular revolution for the liberation of their country and their return to it. They also assert their right to normal life in Palestine and to exercise their right to self-determination and sovereignty over it. Article 10: Commando action constitutes the nucleus of the Palestinian popular liberation war. This requires its escalation, comprehensiveness, and the mobilization of all the Palestinian popular and educational efforts and their organization and involvement in the armed Palestinian revolution. It also requires the achieving of unity for the national (watani) struggle among the different groupings of the Palestinian people, and between the Palestinian people and the Arab masses, so as to secure the continuation of the revolution, its escalation, and victory. Article 11: The Palestinians will have three mottoes: national (wataniyya) unity, national (qawmiyya) mobilization, and liberation. Article 12: The Palestinian people believe in Arab unity. In order to contribute their share toward the attainment of that objective, however, they must, at the present stage of their struggle, safeguard their Palestinian identity and develop their consciousness of that identity, and oppose any plan that may dissolve or impair it. Article 13: Arab unity and the liberation of Palestine are two complementary objectives, the attainment of either of which facilitates the attainment of the other. Thus, Arab unity leads to the liberation of Palestine , the liberation of Palestine leads to Arab unity; and work toward the realization of one objective proceeds side by side with work toward the realization of the other. Article 14: The destiny of the Arab nation, and indeed Arab existence itself, depend upon the destiny of the Palestine cause. From this interdependence springs the Arab nation's pursuit of, and striving for, the liberation of Palestine . The people of Palestine play the role of the vanguard in the realization of this sacred (qawmi) goal. Article 15: The liberation of Palestine , from an Arab viewpoint, is a national (qawmi) duty and it attempts to repel the Zionist and imperialist aggression against the Arab homeland, and aims at the elimination of Zionism in Palestine . Absolute responsibility for this falls upon the Arab nation – peoples and governments – with the Arab people of Palestine in the vanguard. Accordingly, the Arab nation must mobilize all its military, human, moral, and spiritual capabilities to participate Actively with the Palestinian people in the liberation of Palestine . It must, particularly in the phase of the armed Palestinian revolution, offer and furnish the Palestinian people with all possible help, and material and human support, and make available to them the means and opportunities that will enable them to continue to carry out their leading role in the armed revolution, until they liberate their homeland. Article 16: The liberation of Palestine , from a spiritual point of view, will provide the Holy Land with an atmosphere of safety and tranquility, which in turn will safeguard the country's religious sanctuaries and guarantee freedom of worship and of visit to all, without discrimination of race, color, language, or religion. Accordingly, the people of Palestine look to all spiritual forces in the world for support. Article 17: The liberation of Palestine , from a human point of view, will restore to the Palestinian individual his dignity, pride, and freedom. Accordingly the Palestinian Arab people look forward to the support of all those who believe in the dignity of man and his freedom in the world. Article 18: The liberation of Palestine , from an international point of view, is a defensive action necessitated by the demands of self-defense. Accordingly the Palestinian people, desirous as they are of the friendship of all people, look to freedom-loving, and peace-loving states for support in order to restore their legitimate rights in Palestine , to re-establish peace and security in the country, and to enable its people to exercise national sovereignty and freedom. Article 19: The partition of Palestine in 1947 and the establishment of the state of Israel are entirely illegal, regardless of the passage of time, because they were contrary to the will of the Palestinian people and to their natural right in their homeland, and inconsistent with the principles embodied in the Charter of the United Nations, particularly the right to self-determination. Article 20: The Balfour Declaration, the Mandate for Palestine , and everything that has been based upon them, are deemed null and void. Claims of historical or religious ties of Jews with Palestine are incompatible with the facts of history and the true conception of what constitutes statehood. Judaism, being a religion, is not an independent nationality. Nor do Jews constitute a single nation with an identity of its own; they are citizens of the states to which they belong. Article 21: The Arab Palestinian people, expressing themselves by the armed Palestinian revolution, reject all solutions which are substitutes for the total liberation of Palestine and reject all proposals aiming at the liquidation of the Palestinian problem, or its internationalization. Article 22: Zionism is a political movement organically associated with international imperialism and antagonistic to all action for liberation and to progressive movements in the world. It is racist and fanatic in its nature, aggressive, expansionist, and colonial in its aims, and fascist in its methods. Israel is the instrument of the Zionist movement, and geographical base for world imperialism placed strategically in the midst of the Arab homeland to combat the hopes of the Arab nation for liberation, unity, and progress. Israel is a constant source of threat vis-a-vis peace in the Middle East and the whole world. Since the liberation of Palestine will destroy the Zionist and imperialist presence and will contribute to the establishment of peace in the Middle East, the Palestinian people look for the support of all the progressive and peaceful forces and urge them all, irrespective of their affiliations and beliefs, to offer the Palestinian people all aid and support in their just struggle for the liberation of their homeland. Article 23: The demand of security and peace, as well as the demand of right and justice, require all states to consider Zionism an illegitimate movement, to outlaw its existence, and to ban its operations, in order that friendly relations among peoples may be preserved, and the loyalty of citizens to their respective homelands safeguarded. Article 24: The Palestinian people believe in the principles of justice, freedom, sovereignty, self determination, human dignity, and in the right of all peoples to exercise them. Article 25: For the realization of the goals of this Charter and its principles, the Palestine Liberation Organization will perform its role in the liberation of Palestine in accordance with the Constitution of this Organization. Article 26: The Palestine Liberation Organization, representative of the Palestinian revolutionary forces, is responsible for the Palestinian Arab people's movement in its struggle – to retrieve its homeland, liberate and return to it and exercise the right to self-determination in it – in all military, political, and financial fields and also for whatever may be required by the Palestine case on the inter-Arab and international levels. Article 27: The Palestine Liberation Organization shall cooperate with all Arab states, each according to its potentialities; and will adopt a neutral policy among them in the light of the requirements of the war of liberation; and on this basis it shall not interfere in the internal affairs of any Arab state. Article 28: The Palestinian Arab people assert the genuineness and independence of their national (wataniyya) revolution and reject all forms of intervention, trusteeship, and subordination. Article 29: The Palestinian people possess the fundamental and genuine legal right to liberate and retrieve their homeland. The Palestinian people determine their attitude toward all states and forces on the basis of the stands they adopt vis-a-vis to the Palestinian revolution to fulfill the aims of the Palestinian people. Article 30: Fighters and carriers of arms in the war of liberation are the nucleus of the popular army which will be the protective force for the gains of the Palestinian Arab people. Article 31: The Organization shall have a flag, an oath of allegiance, and an anthem. All this shall be decided upon in accordance with a special regulation. Article 32: Regulations, which shall be known as the Constitution of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, shall be annexed to this Charter. It will lay down the manner in which the Organization, and its organs and institutions, shall be constituted; the respective competence of each; and the requirements of its obligation under the Charter. Article 33: This Charter shall not be amended save by [vote of ] a majority of two-thirds of the total membership of the National Congress of the Palestine Liberation Organization [taken] at a special session convened for that purpose. Hamas Charter Eli E. Hertz Commentary - The Hamas Charter Hamas, a Palestinian Islamist organization, was founded in Gaza in1987 by Shaikh Ahmed Yassin. The organization is best known for its suicide bombings and other attacks mainly directed at Israeli civilians. Hamas' charter calls for the destruction of the State of Israel and its replacement with a Palestinian Islamic state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean See. Hamas intentions of destruction of the State of Israel can be found in its own publications and videos. To see more on this subject go to: http://www.pmw.org.il/tv-hamas.htm Introduction THE CHARTER OF THE HAMAS: Ideological Starting-Points: In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate "Ye are the best nation that hath been raised up unto mankind: ye command that which is just, and ye forbid that which is unjust, and ye believe in Allah. And if they who have received the scriptures had believed, it had surely been the better for them. Some of them are believers; but most of them are evil-doers. They shall not hurt you, unless with a slight hurt; and if they fight against you, they shall turn their backs to you, and they shall not be helped. Ignominy shall be their portion wheresoever they are found save [where they grasp] a rope from Allah and a rope from man. They have incurred anger from their Lord, and wretchedness is laid upon them. That is because they used to disbelieve the revelations of Allah, and slew the Prophets wrongfully. That is because they were rebellious and used to transgress."(Surat Al-Imran (III), verses 109-111) " Israel will rise and will remain erect until Islam eliminates it as it had eliminated its predecessors." (The Martyr, Imam Hassan al-Banna, May Allah Pity his Soul). "The Islamic world is on fire. It is incumbent upon each one of us to pour some water, no matter how little, to extinguish whatever one can without waiting for the others." (Sheikh Amjad al-Zahawi, of blessed memory). In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate Grace to Allah, whose help we seek, whose forgiveness we beseech, whose guidance we implore and on whom we rely. We pray and bid peace upon the Messenger of Allah, his family, his companions, his followers and those who his tradition; and to those who carried out his message and adopted his laws - everlasting prayers and salvation as long as the earth and heaven will last. Hereafter: O, people! In the midst of misadventure, from the depth of suffering, from the believing hearts and purified arms; aware of our duty and in response to the decree of Allah, we direct our call, we rally together and join each other. We educate in the path of Allah and we make our firm determination prevail so as to take its proper role in life, to overcome all difficulties and to cross all hurdles. Hence our permanent state of preparedness and our readiness to sacrifice our souls and dearest [possessions] in the path of Allah. Thus it was that the nucleus (of the movement) was formed and started to pave its way through the tempestuous sea of hopes and expectations, of wishes and yearnings, of troubles and obstacles, of pain and challenges, both inside and outside When the thought matured, the seed grew and the plant took root in the land of reality, detached from temporary emotion and unwelcome haste, the Islamic Resistance Movement erupted in order to play its role in the path of its Lord. In so doing, it joined its hands with those of all Jihad_fighters for the purpose of liberating Palestine . The souls of its Jihad fighters will encounter those of all Jihad-fighters who have sacrificed their lives in the land of Palestine since it was conquered by the Companion of the Prophet, be Allah's prayer and peace upon him, and until this very day. This is the Charter of the Islamic Resistance (Hamas) which will reveal its face, unveil its identity, state its position, clarify its purpose, discuss its hopes, call for support to its cause and reinforcement, and for joining its ranks. For our struggle against the Jews is extremely wide-ranging and grave, so much so that it will need all the loyal efforts we can wield, to be followed by further steps and reinforced by successive battalions from the multifarious Arab and Islamic world, until the enemies are defeated and Allah's victory prevails. Thus we shall perceive them approaching in the horizon, and this will be known before long: "Allah hath written, Verily I will prevail, and my apostles: for Allah is strong and mighty." (Sura 58 - Al-Mujadilah - verse 21). "Say: This is my way: I call on Allah with sure knowledge, I and whosoever follows me. Glory be to Allah! and I am not of the idolaters." (Sura 12 - Yussuf - verse 17) (108 in Pickthall) . Definition of the Movement The Islamic Resistance Movement: The Islamic Resistance Movement draws its guidelines from Islam; its ideas, ways of thinking and understanding of the universe, life and man. It resorts to it for judgment in all its conduct, and it is inspired by it in whatever step it takes. The Islamic Resistance Movement's Relation With the Muslim Brotherhood Group: The Islamic Resistance Movement is one of the wings of Muslim Brotherhood in Palestine . Muslim Brotherhood Movement is a universal organization which constitutes the largest Islamic movement in modern times. It is characterized by its deep understanding, accurate comprehension and its complete embrace of all Islamic concepts of all aspects of life, culture, creed, politics, economics, education, society, justice and judgment, the spreading of Islam, education, art, information, science of the occult and conversion to Islam, and all the other domains of life. Structure and Formation: The basic structure of the Islamic Resistance Movement consists of Muslims who have given their allegiance to Allah and are devoted to Allah and worship Him verily [as it is written]:whom - "I have created the jinn and humans only for the purpose of worshipping" [of Allah]. who know their duty towards duty towards themselves, their families and country. In all that, they fear Allah and raise the banner of Jihad in the in the face of the oppressors, so that they would rid the land and the people of their uncleanliness, vileness and evils. "Dost thou not see how Allah putteth forth a parable; representing a good word, as a good tree, whose root is firmly fixed in the earth, and whose branches reach into heaven; Which giving its fruit every season, by the will of its Lord? Allah propoundeth parables unto men, that they may be instructed." (Sura 14 - Abraham - verses 24-25). Characteristics and Independence: The Islamic Resistance Movement is a distinguished Palestinian movement, whose allegiance is to Allah, and whose way of life derives from Islam. It strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine , for under the wing of Islam, followers of all religions can coexist in security and safety where their lives, possessions and rights are concerned. In the absence of Islam, strife will be rife, oppression spreads, evil prevails and schisms, conflict arises, corruption is rampant and wars will break out. Allah had inspired the Muslim poet, Mohamed Ikbal, when he wrote: "If faith is lost, there is no security and there is no life for him who does not adhere to religion. He who accepts life without religion, has taken annihilation as his companion for life." The Universality of the Islamic Resistance Movement: As a result of the fact that those Muslims who adhere to the ways of the Islamic Resistance Movement spread all over the world, rally support for it and its stands, strive towards enhancing its struggle, for the encouragement of its Jihad, and strive for its victory, the Movement is a universal one. It is well-equipped for that because of the clarity of its ideology and thinking, the nobility of its aim and the loftiness of its objectives. On this basis, the Movement should be viewed and evaluated, and its role be recognised. He whoever denigrates its worth, or avoids supporting it, and turns a blind eye to facts and is challenging Fate itself, whether intentionally or unintentionally, would awaken to see that events have overtaken him and will find no excuses to justify his position. One should certainly learn from past examples. The injustice of those who are closest to you, is harder to bear than the smite of an Indian sword. "We have also sent down unto thee the book of the Quran with truth, confirming that scripture which was revealed before it, and a watcher over it, and preserving the same safe from corruption. So judge between them by that which Allah hath revealed, and follow not their desires away from the truth which has come unto thee. For each we have appointed a divine law and a traced-out way. Had Allah willed, He could have made you one community. But that He may try you by that which he has given you [He has made you as you are]. So vie with one another in good works. Unto Allah, you will all return. He will then inform you of that wherein you differ." (Sura V - The Table - verse 48). Hamas is one of the links in the Chain of Jihad in the confrontation with the Zionist invasion. It links up with the setting out of the Martyr Izz a-din al-Qassam and his brothers in the Muslim Brotherhood who fought the Holy War in 1936; it further relates to another link of the Palestinian Jihad and the Jihad and efforts of the Muslim Brothers during the 1948 War, and to the Jihad operations of the Muslim Brothers in 1968 and thereafter. But even if the links have become distant from each other, and even if the obstacles erected by those who revolve in the Zionist orbit, aiming at obstructing the road before the Jihad fighters, have rendered the pursuance of Jihad impossible; nevertheless, the Islamic Resistance Movement aspires to the realisation of Allah's promise, no matter how long that should take. The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, has said: "The time will not come until Muslims will fight the Jews (and kill them); until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, which will cry: 0 Muslim! there is a Jew hiding behind me, come on and kill him! This will not apply to the Gharqad, which is a Jewish tree." (cited by al-Bukhari and Muslim). The Slogan of the Islamic Resistance Movement: Allah is its goal, the Prophet its model, the Quran its Constitution, Jihad its path and death for the sake of Allah is the loftiest of its wishes. Objectives Incentives and Objectives: The Islamic Resistance Movement found itself at a time when Islam has disappeared from life. Thus rules shook, concepts were upset, values changed and evil people took control, oppression and darkness prevailed, cowards became like tigers: homelands were usurped, people were scattered and were caused to wander all over the world, the state of justice disappeared and the state of falsehood replaced it. Nothing remained in its right place. Thus, when Islam is absent from the arena, everything changes. From this state of affairs the incentives are drawn. As to the objectives: discarding the evil, crushing it and defeating it and vanquishing it so that so that truth may prevail, homelands revert [to their owners], calls for prayer be heard from their mosques, announcing the reinstitution of the Muslim state. Thus, people and things will revert to their true place and Allah is our helper. "...And if Allah had not repelled some men by others the earth would have been corrupted. But Allah is the Lord of kindness to [His] creatures."(Sura 2 - The Cow - verse 251). As the Islamic Resistance Movement paves its way, it will back the oppressed and support the wronged with all its might, a defense to all the oppressed. It will spare no effort to implement the truth and abolish evil, in word and deed, in this place and any other location it can reach out and exert influence therein. Strategies and Methods Strategies of the Islamic Resistance Movement: Palestine Is Islamic Waqf: The Islamic Resistance Movement believes that the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf consecrated for future Muslim generations until Judgement Day. It, or any part of it, should not be squandered: it, or any part of it, should not be given up. Neither a single Arab country nor all Arab countries, neither any king or president, nor all the kings and presidents, neither any organization nor all of them, be they Palestinian or Arab, possess the right to do that. Palestine is an Islamic Waqf land consecrated for Muslim generations until Judgement Day. This being so, who can presume to speak for all Islamic generations to the Day of Resurrection? This is the status [of the land] in Islamic Sharia (law), and the same goes for all lands conquered by Muslims by force, during the times of (Islamic) conquests, and made thereby Waqf lands upon their conquest, for all generations of Muslims until the Day of Resurrection. It happened like this: When the leaders of the Islamic armies conquered Syria and Iraq, they sent to the Caliph of the Muslims, Umar bin-el-Khatab, asking for his advice concerning the conquered land - whether they should divide it among the soldiers, or leave it for its owners, or what? After consultations and discussions between the Caliph of the Muslims, Omar bin-el-Khatab and companions of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, it was decided that the land should be left with its owners who could benefit by its fruit, but the control of the land and the land itself ought to be endowed as a Waqf [in perpetuity] for all generations of Muslims until the Day of Resurrection. The ownership of the land by its owners is only one of usufruct, and this Waqf will endure as long as Heaven and earth last. Any demarche in violation of this law of Islam, with regard to Palestine , is baseless and reflects on its perpetrators. " Verily, this is a certain truth. Wherefore praise the name of thy Lord, the great Allah." (The Inevitable - verse 95). Homeland and Nationalism from the Point of View of the Islamic Resistance Movement in Palestine: Hamas regards Nationalism (Wataniyya) as part and parcel of the religious faith. Nothing is loftier or deeper in Nationalism than waging Jihad against the enemy and confronting him when he sets foot on the land of the Muslims. And this becomes an individual duty binding on every Muslim man and woman; a woman may fight the enemy even without her husband's authorization, and a slave without his masters' permission. This [principle] does not exist under any other regime, and it is a truth not to be questioned. While other nationalisms consist of material, human and territorial considerations, the nationality of Hamas also carries, in addition to all those, the all important divine factors which lend to it its spirit and life; so much so that it connects with the origin of the spirit and the source of life and raises in the skies of the Homeland the Banner of the Lord, thus inexorably connecting earth with Heaven. When Moses came and threw his baton, sorcery and sorcerers became futile. "Now is the right direction manifestly distinguished from deceit: And he who rejects false deities and believes in Allah has grasped a firm handhold which will never break. Allah is Hearer, Knower." (Sura II - The Cow - verse 256) Peaceful Solutions, Initiatives and International Conferences: [Peace] initiatives, the so-called peaceful solutions, and the international conferences to resolve the Palestinian problem, are all contrary to the beliefs of the Islamic Resistance Movement. For renouncing any part of Palestine means renouncing part of the religion; the nationalism of the Islamic Resistance Movement is part of its faith, the movement educates its members to adhere to its principles and to raise the banner of Allah over their homeland as they fight their Jihad: "Allah is the all-powerful, but most people are not aware." From time to time a clamoring is voiced, to hold an International Conference in search for a solution to the problem. Some accept the idea, others reject it, for one reason or another, demanding the implementation of this or that conditions, as a prerequisite for agreeing to convene the Conference or for participating in it. But the Islamic Resistance Movement, which is aware of the [prospective] parties to this conference, and of their past and present positions towards the problems of the Muslims, does not believe that those conferences are capable of responding to demands, or of restoring rights or doing justice to the oppressed. Those conferences are no more than a means to appoint the nonbelievers as arbitrators in the lands of Islam. Since when did the Unbelievers do justice to the Believers? "But the Jews will not be pleased with thee, neither the Christians, until thou follow their religion; say, The direction of Allah is the true direction. And verily if thou follow their desires, after the knowledge which hath been given thee, thou shalt find no protector or helper from Allah." (Sura 2 - The Cow - verse 120). There is no solution to the Palestinian problem except by Jihad. The initiatives, proposals and International Conferences are but a waste of time, an exercise in futility. The Palestinian people know better than to consent to having their future, rights and fate toyed with. As in said in the honorable Hadith: "The people of Syria are Allah's lash in His land. He wreaks His vengeance through them against whomsoever He wishes among His worshippers. It is unthinkable that those who are double-faced among them should prosper over the faithful. They will certainly die out of grief and desperation." (Told by Tabarani, who is traceable in ascending order of traditionaries to Muhammed, and by Ahmed whose chain of transmission is incomplete. But it is bound to be a true hadith, for both story tellers are reliable. Allah knows best). The Three Circles: The question of the liberation of Palestine is bound to three circles: the Palestinian, the Arab and the Islamic. Each one of these circles has a role to play in the struggle against Zionism and it has duties to fulfill. It would be an enormous mistake and an abysmal act of ignorance to disregard anyone of these circles. For Palestine is an Islamic land where the First Qibla and the third holiest site are located. That is also the place whence the Prophet, be Allah's prayer and peace upon him, ascended to Heavens. "Praise be unto him who transported his servant by night, from the sacred temple of Mecca to the farther temple of Jerusalem, the circuit of which we have blessed, that we might show him some of our tokens; for Allah is he who heareth, and seeth."(Sura XVII - The Night-Journey - verse 1). In consequence of this state of affairs, the liberation of that land is an individual duty binding on all Muslims everywhere. This is the base on which all Muslims have to regard the problem; this has to be understood by all Muslims. When the problem is dealt with on this basis, where the full potential of the three circles is mobilized, then the current circumstances will change and the day of liberation will come closer. "Verily ye are stronger than they, by reason of the terror cast into their breasts from Allah. That is because they are a folk who understand not." (Sura LIX - Al-Hashr, the Exile - verse 13 ). The Jihad for the Liberation of Palestine is an Individual Duty: When our enemies usurp some Islamic lands, Jihad becomes a duty binding on all Muslims. In order to face the usurpation of Palestine by the Jews, we have no escape from raising the banner of Jihad. This would require the propagation of Islamic consciousness among the masses on all local, Arab and Islamic levels. We must spread the spirit of Jihad among the [Islamic] Umma, clash with the enemies and join the ranks of the Jihad fighters. It is necessary that scientists, educators and teachers, information and media people, as well as the educated masses, especially the youth and sheikhs of the Islamic movements, should take part in the operation of awakening (the masses). It is important that basic changes be made in the school curriculum, to cleanse it of the traces of ideological invasion that affected it as a result of the orientalists and missionaries who infiltrated the region following the defeat of the Crusaders at the hands of Salah el-Din (Saladin). The Crusaders realised that it was impossible to defeat the Muslims without first having ideological invasion pave the way by upsetting their thoughts, disfiguring their heritage and violating their ideals. Only then could they invade with soldiers. This, in its turn, paved the way for the imperialistic invasion that made Allenby declare on entering Jerusalem : "Only now have the Crusades ended." General Guru stood at Salah el-Din's grave and said: "We have returned, O Salah el-Din." Imperialism has helped towards the strengthening of ideological invasion, deepening, and still does, its roots. All this has paved the way towards the loss of Palestine . It is necessary to instill in the minds of the Muslim generations that the Palestinian problem is a religious problem, and should be dealt with on this basis. Palestine contains Islamic holy sites. In it there is al- Aqsa Mosque which is bound to the great Mosque in Mecca in an inseparable bond as long as heaven and earth speak of Isra` (Mohammed's midnight journey to the seven heavens) and Mi'raj (Mohammed's ascension to the seven heavens from Jerusalem). "The bond of one day for the sake of Allah is better than the world and whatever there is on it. The place of one's whip in Paradise is far better than the world and whatever there is on it. A worshipper's going and coming in the service of Allah is better than the world and whatever there is on it." (As related by al-Bukhari, Muslim, al-Tarmdhi and Ibn Maja). "I swear by the holder of Mohammed's soul that I would like to invade and be killed for the sake of Allah, then invade and be killed, and then invade again and be killed." (As related by al-Bukhari and Muslim ). The Education of the Generations: We must accord the Islamic [young] generations in our area, an Islamic education based on the implementation of religious precepts, on the conscientious study of the Book of Allah; on the Study of the Prophetic Tradition, on the study of Islamic history and heritage from its reliable sources, under the guidance of experts and scientists; and on singling out the paths which constitute for the Muslims sound concepts of thinking and faith. It is also necessary to study conscientiously the enemy and its material and human potential; to detect its weak and strong spots, and to recognize the powers that support it and stand by it. At the same time, we must be aware of current events, follow the news and study the analyses and commentaries on it, together with drawing plans for the present and the future and examining every phenomenon, so that every Muslim, fighting Jihad, could live out his era aware of his objective, his goals, his way and the things happening round him. "O my son, verily every matter, whether good or bad, though it be the weight of a grain of mustard-seed, and be hidden in a rock, or in the heavens, or in the earth, Allah will bring the same to light; for Allah is clear-sighted and knowing. O my son, be constant at prayer, and command that which is just, and forbid that which is evil: and be patient under the afflictions which shall befall thee; for this is a duty absolutely incumbent on all men. Distort not thy face out of contempt to men, neither walk in the earth with insolence; for Allah loveth no arrogant, vain-glorious person."(Sura I - Lokman - verses 16-18). The Role of the Muslim Woman: The Muslim women have a no lesser role than that of men in the war of liberation; they manufacture men and play a great role in guiding and educating the [new] generation. The enemies have understood that role, therefore they realize that if they can guide and educate [the Muslim women] in a way that would distance them from Islam, they would have won that war. Therefore, you can see them making consistent efforts [in that direction] by way of publicity and movies, curriculi of education and culture, using as their intermediaries their craftsmen who are part of the various Zionist Organizations which take on all sorts of names and shapes such as: the Free Masons, Rotary Clubs, gangs of spies and the like. All of them are nests of saboteurs and sabotage. Those Zionist organizations control vast material resources, which enable them to fulfill their mission amidst societies, with a view of implementing Zionist goals and sowing the concepts that can be of use to the enemy. Those organizations operate [in a situation] where Islam is absent from the arena and alienated from its people. Thus, the Muslims must fulfill their duty in confronting the schemes of those saboteurs. When Islam will retake possession of [the means to] guide the life [of the Muslims], it will wipe out those organizations which are the enemy of humanity and Islam. The women in the house and the family of Jihad fighters, whether they are mothers or sisters, carry out the most important duty of caring for the home and raising the children upon the moral concepts and values which derive from Islam; and of educating their sons to observe the religious injunctions in preparation for the duty of Jihad awaiting them. Therefore, we must pay attention to the schools and curriculi upon which Muslim girls are educated, so as to make them righteous mothers, who are conscious of their duties in the war of liberation. They must be fully capable of being aware and of grasping the ways to manage their households. Economy and avoiding waste in household expenditures are prerequisites to our ability to pursue our cause in the difficult circumstances surrounding us. Therefore let them remember at all times that money saved is equivalent to blood, which must be made to run in the veins in order to ensure the continuity of life of our young and old. "Verily, men who surrender unto Allah, and women who surrender and men who believe and women who believe, and men who obey and women who obey, and men who speak the truth and women who speak the truth and men who persevere (in righteousness) and women who persevere and men who are humble and women who are humble, and men who give alms and women who give alms, and men who fast and women who fast, and men who guard their modesty and women who guard [their modesty], and men who remember Allah much and women who remember Allah; for them hath Allah has prepared for them forgiveness and a vast reward." (Sura 33 - Al-Ahzab, the Clans - verse 35). The Role of Islamic Art in the Battle of Liberation: Art has regulations and measures by which it can be determined whether it is Islamic or pre-Islamic (Jahiliya) art. The issues of Islamic liberation are in need of Islamic art that would take the spirit high, without raising one side of human nature above the other, but rather raise all of them harmoniously an in equilibrium. Man is a strange and miraculous being, made out of a handful of clay and a breath of soul; Islamic art is to address man on this basis, while Jahili art addresses the body giving preference to the clay component in it. So, books, articles, publications, religious exhortations, epistles, songs, poems, hymns, plays, and the like, if they possess the characteristics of Islamic art, have the requisites of ideological mobilization, renewed food for the journey and recreation for the soul. The road is long and suffering is plenty. The soul will be bored, but Islamic art renews the energies, resurrects the movement, arousing in them lofty meanings and proper conduct. "Nothing can improve the self if it is in retreat except shifting from one mood to another." All this is a serious matter, no jesting. For the umma fighting its Jihad knows no jesting. Social Solidarity: What a wonderful tribe were the Ash'aris! When they were overtaxed, either in their location or during their journeys, they would collect all their possessions and then would divide them equally among themselves. The Islamic spirit is what should prevail in every Muslim society. The society that confronts a vicious enemy which acts in a way similar to Nazism, making no differentiation between man and woman, between children and old people - such a society is entitled to this Islamic spirit. Our enemy relies on the methods of collective punishment. He has deprived people of their homeland and properties, pursued them in their places of exile and gathering, breaking bones, shooting at women, children and old people, with or without a reason. The enemy has opened detention camps where thousands and thousands of people are thrown and kept under sub-human conditions. Added to this, are the demolition of houses, rendering children orphans, meting cruel sentences against thousands of young people, and causing them to spend the best years of their lives in the dungeons of prisons. In their Nazi treatment, the Jews made no exception for women or children. Their policy of striking fear in the heart is meant for all. They attack people where their breadwinning is concerned, extorting their money and threatening their honour. They deal with people as if they were the worst war criminals. Exiling people from their country is another way of killing them. To counter these deeds, it is necessary that social mutual responsibility should prevail among the people. The enemy should be faced by the people as a single body which if one member of it should complain, the rest of the body would respond by feeling the same pains. Mutual social responsibility means extending assistance, financial or moral, to all those who are in need and joining in the execution of some of the work. Members of the Islamic Resistance Movement should consider the interests of the masses as their own personal interests. They must spare no effort in achieving and preserving them. They must prevent any foul play with the future of the upcoming generations and anything that could cause loss to society. The masses are part of them and they are part of the masses. Their strength is theirs, and their future is theirs. Members of the Islamic Resistance Movement should share the people's joy and grief, adopt the demands of the public and whatever means by which they could be realised. The day that such a spirit prevails, brotherliness would deepen, cooperation, sympathy and unity will be enhanced and the ranks will be solidified to confront the enemies. The Powers which Support the Enemy: For a long time, the enemies have been planning, skillfully and with precision, for the achievement of what they have attained. They took into consideration the causes affecting the current of events. They strived to amass great and substantive material wealth which they devoted to the realisation of their dream. With their money, they took control of the world media, news agencies, the press, publishing houses, broadcasting stations, and others. With their money they stirred revolutions in various parts of the world with the purpose of achieving their interests and reaping the fruit therein. They were behind the French Revolution, the Communist revolution and most of the revolutions we heard and hear about, here and there. With their money they formed secret societies, such as Freemasons, Rotary Clubs, the Lions and others in different parts of the world for the purpose of sabotaging societies and achieving Zionist interests. With their money they were able to control imperialistic countries and instigate them to colonize many countries in order to enable them to exploit their resources and spread corruption there. As regards local and world wars, it has come to pass and no one objects, they were behind World War I, when they were able to destroy the Islamic Caliphate, making financial gains and controlling resources. They obtained the Balfour Declaration, formed the League of Nations through which they could rule the world. They were behind World War II, through which they made huge financial gains by trading in armaments, and paved the way for the establishment of their state. It was they who instigated the replacement of the League of Nations with the United Nations and the Security Council to enable them to rule the world through them. There is no war going on anywhere, without having their finger in it. "...As often as they light a fire for war, Allah extinguishes it. Their efforts is for corruption in the land and Allah loves not corrupters." (Sura V - Al-Ma'ida - the Tablespread - verse 64) The forces of Imperialism in both the Capitalist West and the Communist East support the enemy with all their might, in material and human terms, taking turns between themselves. When Islam appears, all the forces of Unbelief unite to confront it, because the Community of Unbelief is one. "O true believers, contract not an intimate friendship with any besides yourselves: they will not fail to corrupt you. They wish for that which may cause you to perish: their hatred hath already appeared from out of their mouths; but what their breasts conceal is yet more inveterate. We have already shown you signs of their ill will towards you, if ye understand." (Sura III - The Family of Imran - verse 118). It is not in vain that the verse ends with Allah's saying: 'If ye understand." Our Attitudes Towards Islamic Movements: The Islamic Resistance Movement views other Islamic movements with respect and appreciation. If it were at variance with them on one point or opinion, it is in agreement with them on other points and understandings. It reads those movements as included in the framework of striving [for the sake of Allah], as long as they hold sound intentions and abide by their devotion to Allah, and as long as their conduct remains within the perimeter of the Islamic circle. All the fighters of Jihad have their reward. The Islamic Resistance Movement views other Islamic movements with respect and appreciation. If it were at variance with them on one point or opinion, it is in agreement with them on other points and understandings. It reads those movements as included in the framework of striving [for the sake of Allah], as long as they hold sound intentions and abide by their devotion to Allah, and as long as their conduct remains within the perimeter of the Islamic circle. All the fighters of Jihad have their reward. "And hold fast, all of you together, to the cable of Allah, and do not separate. And remember Allah's favor unto you how ye were enemies and He made friendship between your hearts so that ye became as brothers by His grace; and (how) ye were upon the brink of an abyss of fire, and He did save you from it. Thus Allah makes clear His revelations unto you, that happily ye may be guided." (Sura III - Al-Imran - verse 102) The Islamic Resistance Movement does not allow slandering or speaking ill of individuals or groups, for the believer does not indulge in such malpractices. It is necessary to differentiate between this behaviour and the stands taken by certain individuals and groups. Whenever those stands are erroneous, the Islamic Resistance Movement preserves the right to expound the error and to warn against it. It will strive to show the right path and to judge the case in question with objectivity. Wisdom is roaming around, and the Believer ought to grasp it wherever he can find it. "Allah loves not the utterance of harsh speech save by one who has been wronged. Allah is ever Hearer, Knower. If you do good openly or keep it secret, or give evil, verily Allah is forgiving and powerful." (Sura IV - Women - verses 147-148). Nationalist Movements in the Palestinian Arena: [Hamas] reciprocates its respect to them, appreciates their condition and the factors surrounding them and influencing them, and supports them firmly as long as they do not owe their loyalty to the Communist East or to the Crusader West. We reiterate to every one who is part of them or sympathizes with them that the Hamas is a movement of Jihad, or morality and consciousness in its concept of life. It moves forward with the others, detests opportunism, and only wishes well to individuals and groups. It does not aspire to material gains, or to personal fame, nor does it solicit remuneration from the people. It sets out relying on its own material resources, and what is available to it, [as it is said] 'afford them the power you can avail yourself of." [All that] in order to carry out its duty, to gain Allah's favor; it has no ambition other than that. All the nationalist streams, operating in the Palestinian arena for the sake of the liberation of Palestine, may rest assured that they will definitely and resolutely get support and assistance, in speech and in action, at the present and in the future, [because Hamas aspires] to unite, not to divide; to safeguard, not to squander; to bring together, not to fragment. It values every kind word, every devoted effort and every commendable endeavor. It closes the door before marginal quarrels, it does not heed rumours and biased statements, and it is aware of the right of self-defense. Anything that runs counter or contradicts this orientation is trumped up by the enemies or by those who run in their orbit in order to create confusion, to divide our ranks or to divert to marginal things. "O true believers, if a wicked man come unto you with a tale, inquire strictly into the truth thereof; lest ye hurt people through ignorance, and afterwards repent of what ye have done." (Sura XLIX - al Hujurat, the Private Apartments - verse 6). The Hamas, while it views positively the Palestinian National Movements which do not owe their loyalty to the East or to the West, does not refrain from debating unfolding events regarding the Palestinian problem, on the local and international scenes. These debates are realistic and expose the extent to which [these developments] go along with, or contradict, national interests as viewed from the Islamic vantage point. The Palestinian Liberation Organization: The PLO is among the closest to the Hamas, for its constitutes a father, a brother, a relative, a friend. Can a Muslim turn away from his father, his brother, his relative or his friend? Our homeland is one, our calamity is one, our destiny is one and our enemy is common to both of us. Under the influence of the circumstances which surrounded the founding of the PLO, and the ideological confusion which prevails in the Arab world as a result of the ideological invasion which has swept the Arab world since the rout of the Crusades, and which has been reinforced by Orientalism and the Christian Mission, the PLO has adopted the idea of a Secular State, and that it how we view it. Secularism completely contradicts religious ideology. Attitudes, conduct and decisions stem from ideologies. That is why, with all our appreciation for The Palestinian Liberation Organization - and what it can develop into - and without belittling its role in the Arab-Israeli conflict, we are unable to exchange the present or future Islamic Palestine with the secular idea. For the Islamic nature of Palestine is part of our religion, and anyone who neglects his religion is bound to lose. "And who forsakes the religion of Abraham, save him who befools himself.?" (Sura II - Al-Baqra - the Co - verse 130). When the PLO adopts Islam as the guideline for life, then we shall become its soldiers, the fuel of its fire which will bum the enemies. And until that happens, and we pray to Allah that it will happen soon, the position of the Hamas towards the PLO is one of a son towards his father, a brother towards his brother, and a relative towards his relative who suffers the other's pain when a thorn hits him, who supports the other in the Confrontation with the enemies and who wishes him divine guidance and integrity of conduct. "Stand by your brother, for he who is brotherless is like the fighter who goes to battle without arms. One's cousin is the wing one flies with - could the bird fly without wings?" Arab and Islamic States and Governments: The Zionist invasion is a vicious invasion. It does not refrain from resorting to all methods, using all evil and despicable and repulsive ways to achieve its desires. It relies greatly in its infiltration and espionage operations on the secret organizations it gave rise to, such as the Freemasons, The Rotary and Lions clubs, and other sabotage groups. All these organizations, whether secret or open, work in the interest of Zionism and according to its instructions. They aim at undermining societies, destroying values, corrupting consciences, deteriorating character and annihilating Islam. It is behind the drug trade and alcoholism in all its kinds so as to facilitate its control and expansion. The Arab states surrounding the Zionist entity are required to open their borders to the Jihad fighters, the sons of the Arab and Islamic peoples, to enable them to play their role and to join their efforts to those of their brothers among the Muslim Brothers in Palestine . The other Arab and Islamic states are required, at the very least, to facilitate the movement of the Jihad fighters from and to them. We cannot fail to remind every Muslim that when the Jews occupied Holy Jerusalem in 1967 and stood at the doorstep of the Blessed Aqsa Mosque, they shouted with joy: "Muhammed is dead, he left daughters behind." Zionisme, Judaism and Jews, defies Islam and the Muslim people. Nationalist and Religious Groupings, Institutions, Intellectuals, The Arab and Islamic World: Hamas hopes that those Associations will stand by it on all levels, will support it, adopt its positions, boost its activities and moves and encourage support for it, so as to render the Islamic peoples its backers and helpers, and its strategic depth in all human and material domains as well as in information, in time and place. Among other things, they hold solidarity meetings, issue explanatory publications, supportive articles and tendentious leaflets to make the masses aware of the Palestinian issue, the problems it faces and of the plans to resolve them; and they should mobilize the Islamic nations, ideologically, educationally and culturally, so that these peoples would be equipped to perform their role in the decisive battle of liberation, just as they did when they vanquished the Crusaders and the Tatars and saved human civilization. How all that is dear to Allah! "Allah hath written, Verily I will prevail, and my messengers: for Allah is strong and mighty." (The Dispute - verse 21). Men of letters, members of the intelligentsia, media people, preachers, teachers and educators and all different sectors in the Arab and Islamic world, are all called upon to play their role and to carry out their duty in view of the wickedness of Zionist invasion, of its penetration into many countries, and its control over material means and the media, with all the ramifications thereof in most countries of the world. Jihad means not only carrying arms and denigrating the enemies. Uttering positive words, writing good articles and useful books, support and solidarity and assistance, all that too is Jihad in the path of Allah, as long as intentions are sincere to make Allah's banner supreme. "Those who prepare for a raid in the path of Allah are considered as if they participated themselves in the raid. Those who successfully rear a raider in their home, are considered as if they participated themselves in the raid" (Told by Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud and Tirmidhi). "Whosoever mobilises a fighter for the sake of Allah is himself a fighter. Whosoever supports the relatives of a fighter, he himself is a fighter." (related by al-Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud and Tirmidhi). Followers of Other Religions: The Islamic Resistance Movement Is A Humane Movement: Hamas is a humane movement, which cares for human rights and is committed to the tolerance inherent in Islam as regards attitudes towards other religions. It is only hostile to those who are hostile towards it, or stand in its way in order to disturb its moves or to frustrate its efforts. Under the shadow of Islam it is possible for the members of the three religions: Islam, Christianity and Judaism to coexist in safety and security. Safety and security can only prevail under the shadow of Islam, and recent and ancient history is the best witness to that effect. The members of other religions must desist from struggling against Islam over sovereignty in this region. For if they were to gain the upper hand, fighting, torture and uprooting would follow; they would be fed up with each other, to say nothing of members of other religions. The past and the present are full of evidence to that effect. "They will not fight against you in a body, except in fortified towns, or from behind walls. Their strength in war among themselves is great: thou thinkest them to be united; but their hearts are divided. This, because they are people who do not understand." (Sura 59 - al-Hashr, the Exile - verse 14). Islam confers upon everyone his legitimate rights. Islam prevents the incursion on other people's rights. The Nazi Zionist practices against our people will not last the lifetime of their invasion, for "States built upon oppression last only one hour, states based upon justice will last until the hour of Resurrection." "Allah forbids you not those who warred not against you on account of religion and drove you not out from your houses, that you should show them kindness and deal justly with them. for Allah loveth those who act justly." (Sura 60 - Al-Mumtahana - verse 8). The Attempt to Isolate the Palestinian People: World Zionism and Imperialist forces have been attempting, with smart moves and considered planning, to push the Arab countries, one after another, out of the circle of conflict with Zionism, in order, ultimately, to isolate the Palestinian People. Egypt has already been cast out of the conflict, to a very great extent through the treacherous Camp David Accords, and she has been trying to drag other countries into similar agreements in order to push them out of the circle of conflict. Hamas is calling upon the Arab and Islamic nations to act seriously and tirelessly in order to frustrate that dreadful scheme and to make the masses aware of the danger of coping out of the circle of struggle with Zionism. Today it is Palestine and tomorrow it may be another country or other countries. For Zionist scheming has no end, and after Palestine they will covet expansion from the Nile to the Euphrates . Only when they have completed digesting the area on which they will have laid their hand, they will look forward to more expansion, etc. Their scheme has been laid out in the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and their present [conduct] is the best proof of what is said there. Leaving the circle of conflict with the Zionists is a major act of treason and it will bring curse on its perpetrators. "Who so on that day turns his back to them, unless manoeuvering for battle or intent to join a company, he truly has incurred wrath from Allah, and his habitation will be hell, a hapless journey's end." Sura 8 (Al-Anfal - spoils of war), verse 16 . There is no way out except pooling together all the forces and energies to face this despicable Nazi-Tatar invasion. Otherwise we shall witness the loss of [our] countries, the uprooting of their inhabitants, the spreading of corruption on earth and the destruction of all religious values. Let every realize that he is accountable to Allah. For "the doer of the slightest good deed is rewarded in like, and the does of the slightest evil deed is also rewarded in like." Within the circle of the conflict with world Zionism, the Hamas regards itself the spearhead and the avant-garde. It joins its efforts to all those who are active on the Palestinian scene, but more steps need to be taken by the Arab and Islamic peoples and Islamic associations throughout the Arab and Islamic world in order to make possible the next round with the warmongering Jews, the merchants of war. "..and we have put enmity and hatred between them, until the day of resurrection. So often as they shall kindle a fire of war, Allah shall extinguish it; and they shall set their minds to act corruptly in the earth, but Allah loveth not the corrupt doers."(Sura V - Al-Ma'idah - the Table spread - verse 64). The Hamas sets out from these general concepts which are consistent and in accordance with the rules of the universe, and gushes forth in the river of Fate in its confrontation and Jihad waging against the enemies, in defense of the Muslim human being, of Islamic Civilization and of the Islamic Holy Places, primarily the Blessed Aqsa Mosque. This, for the purpose of calling upon the Arab and Islamic peoples as well as their governments, popular and official associations, to fear Allah in their attitude towards and dealings with Hamas, and to be, in accordance with Allah's will, its supporters and partisans who extend assistance to it and provide it with reinforcement after reinforcement, until the Decree of Allah is fulfilled, the ranks are over-swollen, Jihad fighters join other Jihad fighters, and all this accumulation sets out from everywhere in the Islamic world, obeying the call of duty, while loudly proclaiming: Hail to Jihad.." This call will tear apart the clouds in the skies and it will continue to ring until liberation is completed, the invaders are vanquished and Allah's victory sets in. "And Allah will certainly assist him who shall be on his side: for Allah is strong and mighty." (Sura XXII - Pilgrimage - verse 40). The Testimony of History Confronting Aggressors Throughout History: Palestine is the navel of the globe and the crossroad of the continents. Since the dawn of history, it has been the target of expansionists. The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, had himself pointed to this fact in the noble Hadith in which he called on his honourable companion, Ma'adh ben-Jabal, saying: "O Ma'adh, Allah is going to grant you victory over Syria after me, from Al-Arish to the Euphrates, while its men, women, and female slaves will be dwelling there until the Day of Resurrection. Those of you who chose [to dwell] in one of the plains of Syria or Palestine will be in a state of Jihad to the Day of Resurrection." The greedy have coveted Palestine more than once and they raided it with armies in order to fulfill their covetousness. Multitudes of Crusades descended on it, carrying their faith with them and waving their Cross. They were able to defeat the-Muslims for a long time, and the Muslims were not able to redeem it until their sought the protection of their religious banner; then, they unified their forces, sang the praise of their God and set out for Jihad under the Command of Saladin al-Ayyubi, for the duration of nearly two decades, and then the obvious conquest took place when the Crusaders were defeated and Palestine was liberated. "Say (O Muhammed) unto those who disbelieve: ye shall be overcome and gathered unto Hell, an evil resting place." (Sura 3 - Al-Imran - verse 12). This is the only way to liberation, there is no doubt in the testimony of history. That is one of the rules of the universe and one of the laws of existence. Only iron can blunt iron, only the true faith of Islam can vanquish their false and falsified faith. Faith can only be fought by faith. Ultimately victory is reserved to the truth, and truth is victorious. "And verily Our word went forth of old unto Our bordmen sent [to warn]. That they verily would be helped against the infidels. And that Our armies, they verily would be the victors." (Sura 38 - Al-saffat - verses 17l-3). Hamas takes a serious look at the defeat of the Crusades at the hand of Saladin the Ayyubid and the rescue of Palestine from their hands; at the defeat of the Tatars at Ein Jalut (65) where their spine was broken by Qutuz(66) and Al-Dhahir Baibars(67), and the Arab world was rescued from the sweep of the Tatars which which aimed at the destruction of all aspects of human civilization. Hamas draws lessons and examples from all this, that the current Zionist invasion had been preceded by a Crusader invasion from the West; and another one, the Tatars, from the East. And exactly as the Muslims had faced those invasions and planned their removal and defeat, they are able to face the Zionist invasion and defeat it. This is indeed no problem for the Almighty Allah, provided that the intentions are pure, and our determination is sincere; if the Muslims draw useful lessons from the experiences of the past, and rid themselves of the effects of [western] ideological invasion and followed the customs of their ancestors; and if they follow the traditions of Islam. The Islamic Resistance Movement is Composed of Soldiers: While paving its way, the Islamic Resistance Movement, emphasizes time and again to all the sons of our people, to the Arab and Islamic nations, that it does not seek personal fame, material gain, or social prominence. It does not aim to compete against any one from among our people, or take his place. Nothing of the sort at all. It will not act against any of the sons of M u sl i ms or those who are peaceful towards it from among non-M u sl i ms, be they here or anywhere else. It will only serve as a support for all groupings and organizations operating against the Zionist enemy and its lackeys. The Islamic Resistance Movement adopts Islam as its way of life. Islam is its creed and religion. Whoever takes Islam as his way of life, be it an organization, a grouping, a country or any other body, the Islamic Resistance Movement considers itself as their soldiers and nothing more. We ask Allah to show us the right course, to make us an example to others and to judge between us and our people with truth. "O Lord, do thou judge between us and our nation with truth; for thou art the best of those who make decision." (Sura VII - Al Araf - Verse 89). Islamic Resistance Movement - HamasOnline.com - Harakat al-Muqawamah al-Islamiyya September 20, 111 | Table of Contents View All Related Documents FATEH Constitution PLO Charter Hamas Charter Top ↑ Copyright © 2005 - 2011 Myths and Facts, Inc. and Eli E. Hertz

Abbas’s Challenge to Obama

Sep 19, 2011 4:38 PM EDT

The Security Council vote could be a chance to make up for decades of foreign-policy missteps in the Middle East. John Barry on the showdown.

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Henry Kissinger was angry. He had spent months of shuttle diplomacy trying to persuade Israel’s then–prime minister, Yitzhak Rabin, to pull back from the Golan Heights territory the Jewish state had won from Syria in an epic tank battle two years earlier, during the 1973 war. But in the end, Rabin told Kissinger that although he saw the logic, he could not agree so soon to a move that everyone in Israel would see as a risk to their security. The most Rabin said he could accept was an interim deal postponing the hard questions. And so, after delivering the bad news in person to Anwar Sadat at the Egyptian president’s summer residence in Alexandria, Kissinger retreated for an hour to let off steam.

In the privacy of a shaded veranda on that blistering August afternoon, at a chalet on Alexandria’s poshest beach, the American secretary of state expressed himself bluntly. “Israel is a nation so traumatized by war that its leaders have lost the capacity to make sound judgments about their country’s long-term strategic interests,” he told the beach house’s owner, Mohamed Heikal, as the three of us shared an elegant and off-the-record meal. (The food was catered by Heikal’s personal chef at the veteran Egyptian journalist’s Alexandria apartment and chauffeured to the chalet.) Kissinger’s memoirs, written years after the fact, would offer a more emollient assessment of why the Golan Heights effort failed, but the memory of his exasperation comes back vividly as the U.S. and Israel brace themselves for the imminent U.N. showdown on Palestinian statehood.

For the past 60 years, the West has been operating on borrowed time in its dealings with the Arab world. With the arrival of the Arab Spring, that era may now be ending. As always the pressing issue is how Israel coexists with its neighbors. The Palestinians’ decision to request full U.N. membership from the Security Council might look like a doomed gamble—after all, President Obama has warned that the United States will use its veto power to block any such bid. But Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his advisers are not fools. Abbas is seeking a Security Council vote precisely because he wants to force the U.S. to confront a broader question: as the Arab world tries to reinvent itself, where does America stand—will it cling to past policies, or will it dare to foster that still fragile hope of reform and freedom? The repercussions of the Security Council vote will extend far beyond the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on Sept. 16. Abbas will address the United Nations next week and ask the world to recognize a Palestinian state., Tara Todras-Whitehill / AP Photo

We’ve been here before. Sixty years ago an earlier Arab Spring just might have flowered, but the British and Americans played an inglorious role in its withering. After the defeat of the Arab onslaught against infant Israel in 1947–48, rotten old regimes throughout the region began toppling. In Egypt an able colonel, Gamal Abdel Nasser, was persuaded by the Egyptian Army’s humiliations in the Negev to assemble a group of plotters known as the Free Officers, who overthrew King Farouk’s corrupt monarchy in 1952.

Egypt seemed to be on the verge of great changes. The country had a vibrant parliamentary system, an educated urban middle class, and a lively press that all but defied censorship. Egypt could have become a democracy and a Western partner. Instead, the country became a military dictatorship—and, for close to 20 years, a client state of the Soviet Union.

The Arab world sees Palestine as the test: the U.S. vote in the Security Council will be taken as proof of where America really stands.

Those were Nasser’s choices, but abysmally short-sighted U.S. and British policies helped propel him into that tragic dead end. Then as now, it was a conflict between new hopes and old interests. The dominant Western powers viewed Nasser through the prisms of colonialism and the Cold War. Britain was aghast at the loss of its near-viceregal sway in Egypt. At the same time, the Eisenhower administration feared that Nasser’s opposition to the Baghdad Pact—an organization of primarily Muslim nations cobbled together ostensibly as a regional equivalent of NATO—posed a threat to Western defenses in the Cold War. (Nasser, a convert to the Non-Aligned Movement, saw no Arab stake in the Cold War. “Why should I worry about a man with a tommy gun 2,000 miles away?” he asked.)

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Why no once again? 50 reasons to say yes 50 Reasons to Say Yes to a Palestinian State The Israeli Peace NGO Forum is launching a campaign in support of Palestinian statehood leading up to the Palestinian Authority’s request for recognition in the UN General Assembly, planned for September 20th 2011. 15.09.11 The fifty reasons 1. To assure the identity of Israel as a Jewish, Zionist and democratic state in the spirit of its Declaration of Independence. 2. The establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel will fulfill the historic resolution from 1947 of two states for two people. 3. We will be available to nurture social solidarity and rehabilitate Israeli society. 4. Otherwise Israel’s relations with Egypt, Turkey, USA and in fact all the world will continue to deteriorate. 5. The establishment of a Palestinian state will open the door for all of Arab world to recognize Israel and implement the decision of 22 Arab League member states to normalize relations with Israel. 6. Because Social justice does not stop at the Green Line. 7. It will allow serious and equal negotiations between two states, rather than a state and an authority. 8. Jerusalem will be recognized internationally as the capital of Israel and the foreign embassies will return to it. 9. The establishment of a Palestinian state will end the occupation that corrupts us and harms Israel’s strength. 10. We should realize that we no longer live in a world that can tolerate injustice, and that all people have a right freedom and self determination. 11. The Palestinian state will allow a dramatic improvement in relations between Jews and Arabs inside Israel, allowing us to engage in processes that will bring equality between Jews and Arabs in Israel. 12. There is interdependency between Israel’s security and that of the State of Palestine. 13. It will create clear principles for the border’s physical features which will allow for effective negotiations. 14. Establishing an agreed upon Palestinian state will silence those who are using the Palestinians as a reason for war and boycotts against us. 15. So Israel can determine its borders like any normal state. 16. If we don’t agree to a Palestinian state we will be left with a bi-national state and lose the Zionist dream. 17. A Palestinian nation state will resolve the refugee problem within itself. 18. It will bring an end to the fantasy of one country for two nations between the Mediterranean Sea and Jordan River. 19. In Tel Aviv, Ramallah, Cairo and Damascus a young, secular, technological generation is growing, that believes in its own power to affect change and despises governments’ falsely injected fears. 20. So Israel will not have to re-occupy Area A and consequently be responsible and finance four million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. 21. Only a Palestinian state can prevent us from becoming the next apartheid state. 22. This is the only practical option for Israelis to live in peace in the Middle East. 23. Otherwise we will have to deal with security without cooperation with Palestinian security forces which assist us today in preventing terrorism. 24. Otherwise Israel will have to grant Israeli civil rights to Palestinians in the territories and, ultimately, also the right to vote for the Knesset. 25. The cost for not resolving the conflict is much higher than the price of an agreement today. 26. Establishing a Palestinian state is an act of justice. Palestinians are a people and deserve a state. 27. So that Israel will not be the last country to recognize Palestine. 28. This is the way to prevent Jewish and Palestinian extremists from worsening the situation. 29. A Palestinian state alongside Israel will serve its citizens and allowing Palestinians self determination and national pride. 30. He who cares about our children’s quality of life, has an interest to stop our neighbors suffering and allow them to take responsibility for their fate 31. The two state solution is supported by both Israelis and Palestinians in all surveys in recent years. 32. It will create great economic opportunities for Israelis and the entire Middle East that do not exist today because of the conflict. 33. The groundwater pollution in the West Bank harms the health of Israelis and Palestinians. An independent Palestinian state will tackle this issue thoroughly because it will be in their interest. 34. Only a Palestinian state will allow for a historic reconciliation process between the peoples. 35. This will remove the threat of war and bereavement from our families, who pay the price for the ongoing war. 36. A two state solution will denounce the Palestinian vision of one state 37. The establishment of a Palestinians state will bring an end to the conflict and to all claims against Israel. 38. A Palestinian independent state will cooperate with Israel on proper management of the Mountain Aquifer, the joint source of water for the two countries. 39. Israel is the only thing standing between the Palestinians and independence. 40. If South Sudan can have a state, why not Palestine? 41. It will return our Palestinian neighbors their dignity 42. Because you can not demand rights for Israelis and not recognize Palestinians’ right to a state. 43. This is the way to prove that there is no truth to the saying that there is no partner for peace on the other side. 44. The alternative – a type of Jewish-Palestinian Yugoslavia – is scarier and means the destruction of a Zionist Israel, economically and morally. 45. The future as we see it is only in our hands. 46. We will finally live in a democratic moral country which respects its minorities with equal rights. 47. If the media would tell you the truth about the conflict in a full and balanced way, you would say yes. 48. Because a situation of military occupation and the ‘settlers’ state can not continue forever, it endangers us, and does not correlate with universal humanistic Jewish values. 49. It is now or never, and all other alternatives are far worse. 50. Because it is the only viable solution, and you know it. Israel does not want a Palestinian state. Period. On Wednesday, a coalition of Israeli peace organizations published a list of 50 reasons for Israel to support a Palestinian state. Assuming that you only accept five of them, isn’t that enough? What exactly is the alternative, now that the heavens are closing in around us? By Gideon Levy, Haaretz 15.09.11 What will we tell the world next week, at the UN? What could we say? Whether in the General Assembly or the Security Council, we will be exposed in all our nakedness: Israel does not want a Palestinian state. Period. And it doesn’t have a single persuasive argument against the establishment and the international recognition of such a state. So what will we say, that we’re opposed? Four prime ministers, Benjamin Netanyahu among them, have said that they’re in favor, that it must be accomplished through negotiations, so why haven’t we done it yet? Is our argument that we object to it’s being a unilateral measure? What’s more unilateral than the settlements that we insist on continuing to build? Or perhaps we will say that the route to a Palestinian state runs through Ramallah and Jerusalem, not New York, a la the U.S. secretary of state. The State of Israel itself was created, in part, in the United Nations. Next week will be Israel’s moment of truth, or more precisely the moment in which its deception will be revealed. Be it the president, the prime minister or the ambassador to the UN, even the greatest of public speakers will be incapable of standing before the representatives of the nations of the world and explaining Israeli logic; none of the three will be able to convince them that there is any merit to Israel’s position. Thirty-two years ago, Israel signed a peace agreement with Egypt in which it undertook “to recognize the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people” and to establish an autonomous authority in the West Bank and Gaza Strip within five years. Nothing happened. Eighteen years ago the prime minister of Israel signed the Oslo Accords, in which Israel undertook to conduct talks in order to achieve a final-status agreement with the Palestinians, including the core issues, within five years. That, too, did not occur. Most of the provisions of the agreement have foundered since then – in the majority of cases because of Israel. What will Israel’s advocate at the UN say about this? For years, Israel claimed that Yasser Arafat was the sole obstacle to peace with the Palestinians. Arafat died – and once again nothing happened. Israel claimed that if only the terror were to stop, a solution would appear. The terror stopped – and nothing. Israel’s excuses became increasingly empty and the naked truth was increasingly exposed. Israel does not want to reach a peace arrangement that would involve the establishment of a Palestinian state. This can no longer be covered up in the UN. And what did Netanyahu’s Israel expect the Palestinians to do in this case – another round of photo ops, like the ones with Ehud Barak, Ehud Olmert and Tzipi Livni that led nowhere? The truth is that the Palestinians have just three options, not four: to surrender unconditionally and go on living under Israeli occupation for another 42 years at least; to launch a third intifada; or to mobilize the world on their behalf. They picked the third option, the lesser of all evils even from Israel’s perspective. What could Israel say about this – that it’s a unilateral step, as it and the United States have said? But it didn’t agree to stop construction in the settlements, the mother of all unilateral steps. What did the Palestinians have left? The international arena. And if that won’t save them, then another popular uprising in the territories. The Palestinians in the West Bank, 3.5 million today, will not live without civil rights for another 42 years. We might as well get used to the fact that the world won’t stand for it. Can Netanyahu or Shimon Peres explain why the Palestinians do not deserve their own state? Do they have even the slightest of arguments? Nothing. And why not now? We have already seen, especially of late, that time only reduces the possible alternatives in the region. So even that weak excuse is dead. Yesterday, a coalition of Israeli peace organizations published a list of 50 reasons for Israel to support a Palestinian state. Assuming that you only accept five of them, isn’t that enough? What exactly is the alternative, now that the heavens are closing in around us? Can anyone, can Peres or Netanyahu, seriously contend that the regional hostility toward us would not have lessened had the occupation already ended and a Palestinian state been established? The truths are so basic, so banal, that it hurts even to repeat them. But, unfortunately, they’re the only ones we have. And so, a simple question to whoever will be representing us at the UN next week: Why not, for heaven’s sake? Why “no” once again? And to what will we say “yes”? Print Friendly September 19th, 2011 | Tags: 50 reasons, Israeli Peace NGO Forum, Palestinian statehood | Category: Analysis, News | Comments are closed. « BBC denies bias in coverage of attacks from Israel and Gaza A gamble to take one step forward, or the PA’s call to get its authority entrenched? »

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Friend -- This morning, the President proposed the "Buffett Rule," which would require those earning more than $1 million a year to pay the same share of their income in taxes as middle-class families do. This proposal makes sure millionaires and billionaires share the responsibility for reducing the deficit. It would correct, for example, the fact that Warren Buffett's secretary currently pays taxes at a higher rate than he does. The other side is already saying it's "class warfare" -- that's their rhetorical smokescreen for providing millionaires and billionaires special treatment. As the President said this morning, "This is not class warfare -- it's math." The wealthiest Americans don't need further tax cuts and in many cases aren't even asking for them. Requiring that they pay their fair share is the only practical way forward. The Republican alternative is to drastically slash education, gut Medicare, let roads and bridges crumble, and privatize Social Security. That's not the America we believe in -- but many in the Republican leadership actually prefer those policies, which explains their refusal to act. That's why they'll say "tax increase" over and over again, trying to muddy the waters and trick ordinary Americans into thinking the Buffett Rule will hurt them. And if we don't speak out right now, they just might get away with it. If you stand with President Obama in this fight and want to see the Buffett Rule passed -- say you'll get his back now. Of course, the Buffett Rule won't really touch most Americans -- only 0.3% of households will even be affected. And without it, the only way to reduce our debt is to savage the programs that seniors and middle-class families rely on. That's exactly what the President refuses to do -- in fact, he's said he'll veto any bill that changes benefits for folks who rely on Medicare but doesn't raise serious revenue by asking the wealthiest Americans or biggest corporations to pay their fair share. This isn't just a commonsense approach to cutting the deficit -- it's the only way to make sure we can provide security to people who work hard and play by the rules. So right now, I'm asking you to say you'll stand with the President on something that won't be easy. Get the President's back today: http://my.barackobama.com/Buffett-Rule Thanks, Messina Jim Messina Campaign Manager Obama for America ----------- This campaign isn't funded by Washington lobbyists or corporate interests. It relies on donations from people like you. Please make a donation today.

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Associated Press Diplomats scramble ahead of Palestinian UN bid By BRADLEY KLAPPER, Associated Press Monday, September 19, 2011 (page 1 of 2) Single pageSingle Page Print E-mail Share Comments (4) Font | Size: 9 Majdi Mohammed / AP Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas gestures and the end of his speech in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Friday, Sept. 16, 2011. Abbas said Friday he would ask the Security Council next week to accept the Palestinians as full members at the United Nations. Images Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas gestures and the end ...Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gestures during...In this photo taken Friday, Sept. 16, 2011, President Bar... View All Images (13) More News Asian American SF political clout grows 09.19.11 Grace Crunican, BART chief, would meet protesters 09.19.11 Caldecott Tunnel workers dig toward tomorrow 09.19.11 (09-19) 01:02 PDT NEW YORK, (AP) -- With the future of the Middle East in the balance, the United States and Europe are scrambling for a way to avoid a jarring showdown over whether to admit an independent Palestine as a new United Nations member. Instead, they are trying to guide Israel and the Palestinians back into the tough bargaining on a long-sought peace agreement. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton met Sunday in New York and discussed the current trajectory, in which the Palestinian plan to gain statehood and membership at the U.N. would run headfirst into an American veto in the Security Council, and possible Israeli recriminations. Yet there was no apparent and immediate solution to the many problems that have hindered Mideast peace efforts for months. Diplomats were working feverishly as part of an increasingly desperate effort to guide the two parties back into direct negotiations, but were tight-lipped on whether the slim chances for a breakthrough were improving. "We are meeting to talk about the way forward," Clinton said as she shook hands with Ashton in a New York hotel. She declined to say if mediators were making progress. The Palestinians are frustrated by their inability to win from Israel concessions such as a freeze on settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. And with violence out of the question and bilateral talks with Israel failing, they see the U.N. route as the only viable route for progress in the short term. To address the Palestinian concerns, Western officials were discussing the possibility of including some timeframes, however vague, in any statement put out by the Mideast peace mediators — the U.S., EU, U.N. and Russia — known as the Quartet, officials said. These would focus on the restart of Israeli-Palestinian talks and signs of tangible progress. Envoys from all four gathered Sunday in New York and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon met with Quartet envoy Tony Blair. A further meeting of Quartet officials was planned for Monday, officials said, with Ashton possibly presenting some ideas to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on the same day. The timeframes wouldn't be deadlines, as such, but would seem to address the Palestinian desire to see quick action. The offer would come with an unchanged message that Washington would veto a Palestinian bid at the Security Council for U.N. recognition and membership, but at the very least it would represent a dignity-saving compromise for Abbas' U.S.-backed government. The alternative concern is that an embarrassment for his government would embolden Hamas, which the U.S. and Israel consider a terrorist organization and which would be far less eager to negotiate a two-state settlement with the Jewish nation. The irony is that only 12 months ago, President Barack Obama said he wanted the U.N. to be welcoming Palestine as its newest member this year. But talks broke down long ago, and the U.S. is in the unenviable position of leading the opposition to something it actually supports, fearful a Palestinian victory might cause a debilitating rift with Israel and set the talks back further. American officials were working to secure additional opposition to recognition, officials said. Without nine affirmative votes in the 15-member Council, the Palestinian resolution would fail and Washington wouldn't have to act alone. U.S. officials believe six other members may vote against or abstain, meaning the Palestinians would fall short. That tally could not be immediately confirmed. Heading off or watering down the Palestinian resolution had been the goal of international diplomats. If they can accomplish that, they hope to parlay it into a meeting between the Israeli and Palestinian leaders where the two sides would re-launch negotiations. But the Palestinians have refused to back down and give up the little leverage they hope to win. 1 | 2 | Next Page » Print E-mail Share 9 We Recommend Remains found may be missing nurse Boys, 16, plead not guilty to San Diego park rapes Toddler run over and killed by mom's SUV Obama to offer his own debt reduction package Palestinians say they won't back down on U.N. vote 'Happy Gilmore' actress Frances Bay dies at 95 From Around the Web News of the World Emails Show Paper ‘Bought’… (CSO) Iran Bans Foreign Cooking Shows (The Daily Meal) The World's Most Dangerous Countries (Travel + Leisure) 10 Most Depressing Careers (Health.com) Waitress scams bad tippers (BankRate.com) [What's this?] Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/09/18/national/w020241D85.DTL#ixzz1YP8YCqL3

EU can’t find common voice on Palestine at UN E.U. Divided by ‘Palestine’ Bid at U.N. By Judy Dempsey, Letter from Europe, NY Times 12.09.11 BERLIN — It is a rare moment of truth. After years of advocating a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Europeans will have to decide whether to support the Palestinian bid to become a member of the United Nations. Over the coming days, the Palestinian Authority will finalize the text of the resolution it will present this month to the United Nations. The Palestinians want their status upgraded from “observer” to full membership but might have to settle in the end for “nonmember state,” similar to the Vatican. Full membership as an independent state would require the support of the U.N. Security Council. But the United States has said it would veto such a Palestinian resolution. But the Palestinian Authority seems determined to go to the U.N. General Assembly to garner a maximum of votes in acceptance, even if it falls short of full membership. In this showdown, Europe is becoming a diplomatic battlefield, with the Americans, Israelis and Palestinians trying to sway opinion among the 27 member states over the resolution. The Europeans are bitterly divided. Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and the Czech Republic, among others, are prepared to abstain or vote against the resolution. France, Spain and even Britain might vote in favor. Analysts say that if the Europeans fail to speak with one voice in voting for the Palestinian request and recognizing Israeli concerns at the same time, their credibility across the Middle East will be tainted. “European governments, including Berlin, that currently oppose recognition of a Palestinian state should instead work to pursue the European line of consistently supporting a two-state settlement, recognizing the Palestinian state and supporting its full membership in the United Nations,” said Muriel Asseburg, Middle East specialist at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs in Berlin. Ever since its Venice Declaration of 1980, the Union has supported a two-state settlement. Especially in the wake of the Arab Spring, more and more Europeans see the recognition of the Palestinian state as a reflection of the their own commitment to the values of self-determination and freedom. In practical terms, the Union is the biggest political and financial supporter of the Palestinians, providing up to €1 billion, or $1.36 billion, a year, thus giving it considerable leverage. And over the past two years, the institutions in the West Bank have been greatly strengthened as a result of a more rigorous approach by the Union, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Indeed, the international donor group in support of the Palestinians concluded last April that the Palestinian Authority’s delivery of public services and implementation of changes compared favorably with those of many middle-income countries. Missing, said donors, was a political settlement to complement the state building efforts. Some analysts also say it is in Europe’s interests not to bow to U.S. or Israeli pressure over the U.N. issue. “It is time that the Europeans recognized their interests in the Middle East,” said Rashid Khalidi, a professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University in New York. “They include energy and immigration. The Middle East is too important to be left to the United States.” Yet despite what is at stake, neither those European countries that support nor those that oppose the Palestinian resolution have a Plan B for the “day after” the resolution. Angela Merkel, the German chancellor who is a staunch defender of Israel, said last week that she was concerned about the “day after,” asking what might happen on the ground if the Palestinians unilaterally went to the U.N. General Assembly. “The big question is the day after,” said Yaacov Bar-Siman-Tov, an international relations specialist at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. “The settlements will still be there. The Israeli Army will still be there.” The situation might quickly deteriorate if the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, stops, as he has threatened, the transfer of customs revenues owed to the Palestinians. The Obama administration, too, might cut aid to the Palestinians and even downgrade its ties. There is a danger, too, that riots among the Palestinians could ignite the anger of Israel’s other Arab neighbors. All of this, analysts say, would make it imperative for the Europeans to think hard about how they could help the situation on the “day after.” Such a Plan B would require at least three elements: It would have to give hope to the Palestinians that renewing the negotiations with Israel could lead to a speedy settlement. It would also need to spell out how Israeli security might be safeguarded, and it would have to point to a way to get the United States back on board. Daniel Levy and Nick Witney, Middle East specialists at the European Council on Foreign Relations, a research organization in London, say they believe the Europeans could develop a strategy. “The Europeans could help draft a U.N. resolution that could include in the text Israel’s concerns about its security and an acknowledgment of its right to exist,” they said. Even then, the Netanyahu government could accuse the Europeans of being anti-Israeli. But analysts believe a united European response would be welcomed by large sections of the Israeli public and the security establishment. But the truth is that the Europeans have no Plan B. “It’s because we have not seen the text of the resolution,” said an E.U. diplomat. But when they do, chances are it will be too late. Ashton: No unified EU stance on UN recognition of Palestinian state Comment by EU Foreign Minister comes as PA says Germany was against the planned UN General Assembly vote; top Russian official: Moscow will back Palestinian independence. By DPA and The Associated Press 12..09.11 There is no definitive European position regarding the Palestinian bid to gain recognition of statehood and membership from the United Nations General Assembly, the European Union’s foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said Monday, as Palestinian officials claimed Germany’s stance on the Palestinian statehood bid was “not positive.” “There is no resolution on the table yet, so there is no position,” Ashton said in a statement during a two-day visit to Cairo. “What is clear from the European Union is that the way forward is negotiations,” which aim to bring “a just and fair settlement” to both Palestinians and Israelis, she added. Her remarks came after a meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Amr to discuss the Palestinian bid. Foreign Ministry spokesman Amr Rushdi said that the Palestinian leadership had been left with no other choice after the peace process had come to a “standstill.” “Negotiations should not be an end in itself,” added Rushdi but rather “a means to establishing a state and recognizing the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.” During her Cairo visit, Ashton is scheduled to meet Secretary General of the Arab League Nabil al-Arabi and hold bilateral meetings with foreign ministers of the organization’s member states as well as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Earlier Monday, Russia’s envoy to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin said in a televised interview that Moscow would back the Palestinian bid to secure statehood at the UN, adding that Russia has supported Palestine’s bid for statehood since 1988. Meanwhile, the foreign ministers gathering in Brussels seemed less united in their positions. Meanwhile, a senior Palestinian official said earlier Monday that he felt Germany’s position the Palestinians’ statehood bid in the UN is “not positive.” German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle had told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that Berlin did not support the Palestinian UN bid, said Foreign Minister Riyad Malki. “Germany’s position, like a number of other European Union countries, is not positive,” Malki told Voice of Berlin hoped the European Union would come up with a “unified stand” on the Palestinian plan to go to the United Nations. He later told Jordanian King Abdullah II that Berlin “encouraged the reactivation of the deadlocked peace process through the resumption of direct negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis.” Following the meeting with Westerwelle, the Jordanian Royal Court issued a statement, stressing Europe’s role in resolving the Middle East crisis. “Germany and Europe have an important role to play in backing efforts that seek to re-establish comprehensive peace in the region in the run-up for the creation of an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders in accordance with the two-state vision,” the statement said. Malki told Voice of Palestine that Abbas will hear the final European Union position later Monday when he meets EU foreign policy chief Ashton in Cairo, where the Arab League’s follow-up committee on the peace process will hold its final meeting before the Palestinians apply for UN membership. He said Ashton will try to persuade Abbas “to find a way to prevent confrontation at the UN.” Westerwelle and Abbas met late Sunday in the Jordanian capital, Amman. The German foreign minister is in the region on a three-day tour. In his meeting with Judeh on Monday, Westerwelle said Berlin backed the creation of a “viable” Palestinian state through negotiations. “Germany wants Israel to be within secure borders, but at the same time supports the creation of a viable and independent Palestinian state which can only be achieved through negotiations rather than confrontation,” a Jordanian Foreign Ministry statement quoted him as saying. According to Palestinian diplomatic sources, Westerwelle tried to thwart the Palestinian drive in bringing the issue to the UN forum and instead urged a resumption of direct peace talks. The Peace Initiative Committee of the Arab League is expected to meet Monday night in Cairo to shape Arab action plans for the forthcoming meeting at the United Nations, according to Palestinian positions and demands. The Arab Peace Initiative is a comprehensive peace plan endorsed in the Saudi capital Riyadh in 2007 and which attempts to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Arab foreign ministers will also meet at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo on Tuesday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Abbas, who arrived in Cairo Monday, will also attend Tuesday’s meeting at the Arab League. Unlike Security Council resolutions, General Assembly resolutions are non-binding and the United States has been clear that it will use its veto power if necessary.

EU can’t find common voice on Palestine at UN E.U. Divided by ‘Palestine’ Bid at U.N. By Judy Dempsey, Letter from Europe, NY Times 12.09.11 BERLIN — It is a rare moment of truth. After years of advocating a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Europeans will have to decide whether to support the Palestinian bid to become a member of the United Nations. Over the coming days, the Palestinian Authority will finalize the text of the resolution it will present this month to the United Nations. The Palestinians want their status upgraded from “observer” to full membership but might have to settle in the end for “nonmember state,” similar to the Vatican. Full membership as an independent state would require the support of the U.N. Security Council. But the United States has said it would veto such a Palestinian resolution. But the Palestinian Authority seems determined to go to the U.N. General Assembly to garner a maximum of votes in acceptance, even if it falls short of full membership. In this showdown, Europe is becoming a diplomatic battlefield, with the Americans, Israelis and Palestinians trying to sway opinion among the 27 member states over the resolution. The Europeans are bitterly divided. Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and the Czech Republic, among others, are prepared to abstain or vote against the resolution. France, Spain and even Britain might vote in favor. Analysts say that if the Europeans fail to speak with one voice in voting for the Palestinian request and recognizing Israeli concerns at the same time, their credibility across the Middle East will be tainted. “European governments, including Berlin, that currently oppose recognition of a Palestinian state should instead work to pursue the European line of consistently supporting a two-state settlement, recognizing the Palestinian state and supporting its full membership in the United Nations,” said Muriel Asseburg, Middle East specialist at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs in Berlin. Ever since its Venice Declaration of 1980, the Union has supported a two-state settlement. Especially in the wake of the Arab Spring, more and more Europeans see the recognition of the Palestinian state as a reflection of the their own commitment to the values of self-determination and freedom. In practical terms, the Union is the biggest political and financial supporter of the Palestinians, providing up to €1 billion, or $1.36 billion, a year, thus giving it considerable leverage. And over the past two years, the institutions in the West Bank have been greatly strengthened as a result of a more rigorous approach by the Union, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Indeed, the international donor group in support of the Palestinians concluded last April that the Palestinian Authority’s delivery of public services and implementation of changes compared favorably with those of many middle-income countries. Missing, said donors, was a political settlement to complement the state building efforts. Some analysts also say it is in Europe’s interests not to bow to U.S. or Israeli pressure over the U.N. issue. “It is time that the Europeans recognized their interests in the Middle East,” said Rashid Khalidi, a professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University in New York. “They include energy and immigration. The Middle East is too important to be left to the United States.” Yet despite what is at stake, neither those European countries that support nor those that oppose the Palestinian resolution have a Plan B for the “day after” the resolution. Angela Merkel, the German chancellor who is a staunch defender of Israel, said last week that she was concerned about the “day after,” asking what might happen on the ground if the Palestinians unilaterally went to the U.N. General Assembly. “The big question is the day after,” said Yaacov Bar-Siman-Tov, an international relations specialist at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. “The settlements will still be there. The Israeli Army will still be there.” The situation might quickly deteriorate if the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, stops, as he has threatened, the transfer of customs revenues owed to the Palestinians. The Obama administration, too, might cut aid to the Palestinians and even downgrade its ties. There is a danger, too, that riots among the Palestinians could ignite the anger of Israel’s other Arab neighbors. All of this, analysts say, would make it imperative for the Europeans to think hard about how they could help the situation on the “day after.” Such a Plan B would require at least three elements: It would have to give hope to the Palestinians that renewing the negotiations with Israel could lead to a speedy settlement. It would also need to spell out how Israeli security might be safeguarded, and it would have to point to a way to get the United States back on board. Daniel Levy and Nick Witney, Middle East specialists at the European Council on Foreign Relations, a research organization in London, say they believe the Europeans could develop a strategy. “The Europeans could help draft a U.N. resolution that could include in the text Israel’s concerns about its security and an acknowledgment of its right to exist,” they said. Even then, the Netanyahu government could accuse the Europeans of being anti-Israeli. But analysts believe a united European response would be welcomed by large sections of the Israeli public and the security establishment. But the truth is that the Europeans have no Plan B. “It’s because we have not seen the text of the resolution,” said an E.U. diplomat. But when they do, chances are it will be too late. Ashton: No unified EU stance on UN recognition of Palestinian state Comment by EU Foreign Minister comes as PA says Germany was against the planned UN General Assembly vote; top Russian official: Moscow will back Palestinian independence. By DPA and The Associated Press 12..09.11 There is no definitive European position regarding the Palestinian bid to gain recognition of statehood and membership from the United Nations General Assembly, the European Union’s foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said Monday, as Palestinian officials claimed Germany’s stance on the Palestinian statehood bid was “not positive.” “There is no resolution on the table yet, so there is no position,” Ashton said in a statement during a two-day visit to Cairo. “What is clear from the European Union is that the way forward is negotiations,” which aim to bring “a just and fair settlement” to both Palestinians and Israelis, she added. Her remarks came after a meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Amr to discuss the Palestinian bid. Foreign Ministry spokesman Amr Rushdi said that the Palestinian leadership had been left with no other choice after the peace process had come to a “standstill.” “Negotiations should not be an end in itself,” added Rushdi but rather “a means to establishing a state and recognizing the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.” During her Cairo visit, Ashton is scheduled to meet Secretary General of the Arab League Nabil al-Arabi and hold bilateral meetings with foreign ministers of the organization’s member states as well as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Earlier Monday, Russia’s envoy to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin said in a televised interview that Moscow would back the Palestinian bid to secure statehood at the UN, adding that Russia has supported Palestine’s bid for statehood since 1988. Meanwhile, the foreign ministers gathering in Brussels seemed less united in their positions. Meanwhile, a senior Palestinian official said earlier Monday that he felt Germany’s position the Palestinians’ statehood bid in the UN is “not positive.” German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle had told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that Berlin did not support the Palestinian UN bid, said Foreign Minister Riyad Malki. “Germany’s position, like a number of other European Union countries, is not positive,” Malki told Voice of Berlin hoped the European Union would come up with a “unified stand” on the Palestinian plan to go to the United Nations. He later told Jordanian King Abdullah II that Berlin “encouraged the reactivation of the deadlocked peace process through the resumption of direct negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis.” Following the meeting with Westerwelle, the Jordanian Royal Court issued a statement, stressing Europe’s role in resolving the Middle East crisis. “Germany and Europe have an important role to play in backing efforts that seek to re-establish comprehensive peace in the region in the run-up for the creation of an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders in accordance with the two-state vision,” the statement said. Malki told Voice of Palestine that Abbas will hear the final European Union position later Monday when he meets EU foreign policy chief Ashton in Cairo, where the Arab League’s follow-up committee on the peace process will hold its final meeting before the Palestinians apply for UN membership. He said Ashton will try to persuade Abbas “to find a way to prevent confrontation at the UN.” Westerwelle and Abbas met late Sunday in the Jordanian capital, Amman. The German foreign minister is in the region on a three-day tour. In his meeting with Judeh on Monday, Westerwelle said Berlin backed the creation of a “viable” Palestinian state through negotiations. “Germany wants Israel to be within secure borders, but at the same time supports the creation of a viable and independent Palestinian state which can only be achieved through negotiations rather than confrontation,” a Jordanian Foreign Ministry statement quoted him as saying. According to Palestinian diplomatic sources, Westerwelle tried to thwart the Palestinian drive in bringing the issue to the UN forum and instead urged a resumption of direct peace talks. The Peace Initiative Committee of the Arab League is expected to meet Monday night in Cairo to shape Arab action plans for the forthcoming meeting at the United Nations, according to Palestinian positions and demands. The Arab Peace Initiative is a comprehensive peace plan endorsed in the Saudi capital Riyadh in 2007 and which attempts to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Arab foreign ministers will also meet at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo on Tuesday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Abbas, who arrived in Cairo Monday, will also attend Tuesday’s meeting at the Arab League. Unlike Security Council resolutions, General Assembly resolutions are non-binding and the United States has been clear that it will use its veto power if necessary.

EU can’t find common voice on Palestine at UN E.U. Divided by ‘Palestine’ Bid at U.N. By Judy Dempsey, Letter from Europe, NY Times 12.09.11 BERLIN — It is a rare moment of truth. After years of advocating a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Europeans will have to decide whether to support the Palestinian bid to become a member of the United Nations. Over the coming days, the Palestinian Authority will finalize the text of the resolution it will present this month to the United Nations. The Palestinians want their status upgraded from “observer” to full membership but might have to settle in the end for “nonmember state,” similar to the Vatican. Full membership as an independent state would require the support of the U.N. Security Council. But the United States has said it would veto such a Palestinian resolution. But the Palestinian Authority seems determined to go to the U.N. General Assembly to garner a maximum of votes in acceptance, even if it falls short of full membership. In this showdown, Europe is becoming a diplomatic battlefield, with the Americans, Israelis and Palestinians trying to sway opinion among the 27 member states over the resolution. The Europeans are bitterly divided. Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and the Czech Republic, among others, are prepared to abstain or vote against the resolution. France, Spain and even Britain might vote in favor. Analysts say that if the Europeans fail to speak with one voice in voting for the Palestinian request and recognizing Israeli concerns at the same time, their credibility across the Middle East will be tainted. “European governments, including Berlin, that currently oppose recognition of a Palestinian state should instead work to pursue the European line of consistently supporting a two-state settlement, recognizing the Palestinian state and supporting its full membership in the United Nations,” said Muriel Asseburg, Middle East specialist at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs in Berlin. Ever since its Venice Declaration of 1980, the Union has supported a two-state settlement. Especially in the wake of the Arab Spring, more and more Europeans see the recognition of the Palestinian state as a reflection of the their own commitment to the values of self-determination and freedom. In practical terms, the Union is the biggest political and financial supporter of the Palestinians, providing up to €1 billion, or $1.36 billion, a year, thus giving it considerable leverage. And over the past two years, the institutions in the West Bank have been greatly strengthened as a result of a more rigorous approach by the Union, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Indeed, the international donor group in support of the Palestinians concluded last April that the Palestinian Authority’s delivery of public services and implementation of changes compared favorably with those of many middle-income countries. Missing, said donors, was a political settlement to complement the state building efforts. Some analysts also say it is in Europe’s interests not to bow to U.S. or Israeli pressure over the U.N. issue. “It is time that the Europeans recognized their interests in the Middle East,” said Rashid Khalidi, a professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University in New York. “They include energy and immigration. The Middle East is too important to be left to the United States.” Yet despite what is at stake, neither those European countries that support nor those that oppose the Palestinian resolution have a Plan B for the “day after” the resolution. Angela Merkel, the German chancellor who is a staunch defender of Israel, said last week that she was concerned about the “day after,” asking what might happen on the ground if the Palestinians unilaterally went to the U.N. General Assembly. “The big question is the day after,” said Yaacov Bar-Siman-Tov, an international relations specialist at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. “The settlements will still be there. The Israeli Army will still be there.” The situation might quickly deteriorate if the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, stops, as he has threatened, the transfer of customs revenues owed to the Palestinians. The Obama administration, too, might cut aid to the Palestinians and even downgrade its ties. There is a danger, too, that riots among the Palestinians could ignite the anger of Israel’s other Arab neighbors. All of this, analysts say, would make it imperative for the Europeans to think hard about how they could help the situation on the “day after.” Such a Plan B would require at least three elements: It would have to give hope to the Palestinians that renewing the negotiations with Israel could lead to a speedy settlement. It would also need to spell out how Israeli security might be safeguarded, and it would have to point to a way to get the United States back on board. Daniel Levy and Nick Witney, Middle East specialists at the European Council on Foreign Relations, a research organization in London, say they believe the Europeans could develop a strategy. “The Europeans could help draft a U.N. resolution that could include in the text Israel’s concerns about its security and an acknowledgment of its right to exist,” they said. Even then, the Netanyahu government could accuse the Europeans of being anti-Israeli. But analysts believe a united European response would be welcomed by large sections of the Israeli public and the security establishment. But the truth is that the Europeans have no Plan B. “It’s because we have not seen the text of the resolution,” said an E.U. diplomat. But when they do, chances are it will be too late. Ashton: No unified EU stance on UN recognition of Palestinian state Comment by EU Foreign Minister comes as PA says Germany was against the planned UN General Assembly vote; top Russian official: Moscow will back Palestinian independence. By DPA and The Associated Press 12..09.11 There is no definitive European position regarding the Palestinian bid to gain recognition of statehood and membership from the United Nations General Assembly, the European Union’s foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said Monday, as Palestinian officials claimed Germany’s stance on the Palestinian statehood bid was “not positive.” “There is no resolution on the table yet, so there is no position,” Ashton said in a statement during a two-day visit to Cairo. “What is clear from the European Union is that the way forward is negotiations,” which aim to bring “a just and fair settlement” to both Palestinians and Israelis, she added. Her remarks came after a meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Amr to discuss the Palestinian bid. Foreign Ministry spokesman Amr Rushdi said that the Palestinian leadership had been left with no other choice after the peace process had come to a “standstill.” “Negotiations should not be an end in itself,” added Rushdi but rather “a means to establishing a state and recognizing the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.” During her Cairo visit, Ashton is scheduled to meet Secretary General of the Arab League Nabil al-Arabi and hold bilateral meetings with foreign ministers of the organization’s member states as well as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Earlier Monday, Russia’s envoy to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin said in a televised interview that Moscow would back the Palestinian bid to secure statehood at the UN, adding that Russia has supported Palestine’s bid for statehood since 1988. Meanwhile, the foreign ministers gathering in Brussels seemed less united in their positions. Meanwhile, a senior Palestinian official said earlier Monday that he felt Germany’s position the Palestinians’ statehood bid in the UN is “not positive.” German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle had told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that Berlin did not support the Palestinian UN bid, said Foreign Minister Riyad Malki. “Germany’s position, like a number of other European Union countries, is not positive,” Malki told Voice of Berlin hoped the European Union would come up with a “unified stand” on the Palestinian plan to go to the United Nations. He later told Jordanian King Abdullah II that Berlin “encouraged the reactivation of the deadlocked peace process through the resumption of direct negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis.” Following the meeting with Westerwelle, the Jordanian Royal Court issued a statement, stressing Europe’s role in resolving the Middle East crisis. “Germany and Europe have an important role to play in backing efforts that seek to re-establish comprehensive peace in the region in the run-up for the creation of an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders in accordance with the two-state vision,” the statement said. Malki told Voice of Palestine that Abbas will hear the final European Union position later Monday when he meets EU foreign policy chief Ashton in Cairo, where the Arab League’s follow-up committee on the peace process will hold its final meeting before the Palestinians apply for UN membership. He said Ashton will try to persuade Abbas “to find a way to prevent confrontation at the UN.” Westerwelle and Abbas met late Sunday in the Jordanian capital, Amman. The German foreign minister is in the region on a three-day tour. In his meeting with Judeh on Monday, Westerwelle said Berlin backed the creation of a “viable” Palestinian state through negotiations. “Germany wants Israel to be within secure borders, but at the same time supports the creation of a viable and independent Palestinian state which can only be achieved through negotiations rather than confrontation,” a Jordanian Foreign Ministry statement quoted him as saying. According to Palestinian diplomatic sources, Westerwelle tried to thwart the Palestinian drive in bringing the issue to the UN forum and instead urged a resumption of direct peace talks. The Peace Initiative Committee of the Arab League is expected to meet Monday night in Cairo to shape Arab action plans for the forthcoming meeting at the United Nations, according to Palestinian positions and demands. The Arab Peace Initiative is a comprehensive peace plan endorsed in the Saudi capital Riyadh in 2007 and which attempts to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Arab foreign ministers will also meet at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo on Tuesday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Abbas, who arrived in Cairo Monday, will also attend Tuesday’s meeting at the Arab League. Unlike Security Council resolutions, General Assembly resolutions are non-binding and the United States has been clear that it will use its veto power if necessary.

The thriving vineyards of the settlements, the wasteland of Palestinian homes Summer of demolitions By Itay Epshtain, ICAHD 07.09.11 (First published in Palestine News, Autumn 2011) Hours after his modest home was demolished by Israeli bulldozers, Khaled Abdallah Ali Ghazal stands astride the wreckage in the scorching desert heat and vows to hold on. “We have nowhere else to go, we will rebuild,” he says. For hundreds like him in the Jordan Valley, this is the reality of what the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions calls “the summer of demolitions.” The Jordan Valley has always captured the imagination of travellers and pilgrims who alluded to its biblical representation as lush, fertile land. And indeed, the area enjoys abundant water as a third of the West Bank underground aquifer lies beneath it. However, the unholy reality of the Jordan Valley is one of segregation and land-and-water resource apartheid. While illegal Jewish settlements dot the landscape with thriving date plantations and vineyards, Palestinian communities are struggling for shelter, drinking water and rudimentary healthcare and education. In Israel’s policy of colonization, the summer of 2011 has set an all-time high in the expansion of settlements at the expense of Palestinian communities. Running the length of the West Bank, the Jordan Valley covers almost 30% of the land with a total area of 2,400 square kilometers. Prior to the 1967 occupation, some 250,000 Palestinians lived there but, according to a recent survey by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, fewer than 65,000 remain today. The Jordan Valley falls under total Israeli control, in accordance with the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement of 1995, known as the Oslo II Accord, classifying it as Area C. Under the Oslo Accords, powers and responsibilities related to zoning and planning in Area C should have been transferred to Palestinian control but that has not happened and Israel has made it clear that it intends illegally to annex the region and rid it of its Palestinian inhabitants. In the last eight months, house demolitions and forced evictions have increased fivefold, in comparison with last year. A total of 184 structures, predominantly family homes, have been demolished, displacing hundreds and dispersing communities. This escalation comes after a spate of settler aggression in attempts to seize lands from Palestinian communities. One such community is Fasayil al-Wusta where a large-scale demolition took place earlier this summer when 21 structures – 18 homes and three animal pens – were demolished by the Israeli Civil Administration, leaving homeless and exposed to the harsh desert environment 103 people, including 64 children. During the demolition, accompanied by the brutality of a 50-strong Border Guard force, community elder Ali Salim Abiat was injured. No provision for relocation or compensation was made to the victims of the demolitions. Fasayil al-Wusta is home to a Palestinian-Bedouin community whose members originate from the area of Bethlehem. It is wedged between the settlements of Tomer, Yaift and Patzael, whose residents covet land cultivated by Palestinians for the expansion of their plantations. After the demolitions, the Palestinian community was dispersed, allowing the settlers to get their way. North of Fasayil al-Wusta, lies the al-Hamra checkpoint, isolating the Jordan Valley from the rest of the West Bank. In 2006, Israel imposed a ban on Palestinians not residing at the time in the Jordan Valley from freely travelling to the area. The restrictions on access are enforced through 18 barriers, six trenches and earth mounds running a total of 50 kilometres, plus four agricultural gates, supposedly designed to allow Palestinian communities disconnected from the water grid to transport water to their fields and homes. The measures employed by Israel, in stark contrast to international human rights law, have resulted in thousands of dunams being rendered inaccessible to Palestinian communities who now live destitute in a once opulent area. Abu Saker, of al-Jiftlik village, describes what it takes to supply drinking water to his family: “To buy water, I drive my tractor three hours in each direction, while our well is for Jews only.” The agricultural gate, officially open three days a week for just 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes in the afternoon, is in practice rarely open at all while Palestinians have to queue for hours to access water, health care or education. Such punishing policies are being applied to yet another community at the Jerusalem periphery, Khan al Ahmar, home to a Palestinian-Bedouin community of 1948 refugees. They face imminent displacement if the Israeli authorities go ahead with plans to demolish their homes and school in the coming weeks. Khan al Ahmar is one of 20 Bedouin communities in the area which have become victims of ethnic cleansing as Israel attempts to forge contiguity between Judaized East Jerusalem, the 40,000 strong settlement of Ma’ale Adumin in the centre of the West Bank and the settlements in the Jordan Valley. The Israeli authorities view the Bedouin communities like Khan al Ahmar, which together comprise more than 2,300 people, as “interfering” with the planned expansion of Ma’ale Adumim, Kfar Adumim and other settlements, and to the construction of the West Bank barrier. The Khan al Ahmar Jahalin school, established by the community, is the only school to provide primary education to children of the Arab al-Jahalin Bedouin tribe. Built in 2009, the eco-friendly school is made of used tyres and mud bricks and provides education for over 70 students. The Israeli Supreme Court recently rejected a request by settlers of Kfar Adumim to close the school; however the case has set the clock ticking for its demolition. For a viable Palestinian state to be established, the Jordan Valley represents an essential land reserve, agricultural hinterland and strategic economic infrastructure. Not only that, the area provides the potential state’s sole land entrance. However, since its 1967 occupation, Israel has coveted the Jordan Valley both for its economical potential and for its strategic importance in forestalling a viable Palestinian state. It justifies its presence in the area as necessary for security – in his May speech to the US Congress, Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu asserted that in any final status agreement which may be reached with Palestinians, Israel would retain control over the Jordan Valley. So in the last decades, and more so in the six years since its withdrawal from Gaza, Israel has colonized the area by establishing what it considers irreversible “facts on the ground” through settlements and military bases. Some 25,000 of the remaining 65,000 Palestinians in the area live in Jericho, in what is essentially an open-air prison, hemmed in by checkpoints and barriers on all sides. The rest live in rural communities where their once abundant agricultural cornucopia has been desertified as nearly all water sources are reserved exclusively for the settlements. Israel now controls over 90 percent of the Jordan valley through 36 settlements housing more than 9,000 settlers, as well as through closed military zones and declared nature reserves. Meanwhile house demolitions, forced evictions and property confiscations, exacerbated by settler violence and the economic effects of movement restrictions, have left Palestinian communities struggling to make a living. The summer of demolitions now sees the Palestinians of the Jordan Valley living in constant fear of displacement and dispersion, while Israel secures its supremacy and control of that troubled land. Itay Epshtain is Co-Director of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD). Print Friendly September 14th, 2011 | Tags: house demolitions, Jordan valley, settlements, water | Category: Analysis, News | Comments are closed. « Palestinians hoped for so much from Obama but get only silence New build in settlements double that in Israel »

Published 11:59 18.09.11 Latest update 11:59 18.09.11 Netanyahu: Palestinian statehood bid at UN bound to fail Prime Minister says Palestinians bound to 'come to their senses' and return to the negotiation table. By Barak Ravid Tags: UN General Assembly Palestinian state Benjamin Netanyahu Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a cabinet meeting Sunday that "the Palestinians' wish to become a permanent UN member… is bound to fail because they have to go through the Security Council." He said that even though the Palestinians can opt to turn to the general assembly, "it does not have the same significance of the Security Council, and that is not the Palestinians' stated goal." Netanyahu decided last week to address the UN General Assembly next Friday, the day the Palestinians will submit their statehood bid. Benjamin Netanyahu - Emil Salman - 05092011 Benjamin Netanyahu, right, at the cabinet meeting Sunday. Photo by: Emil Salman According to Netanyahu, the purpose of his visit to the UN is to make sure that the Palestinian "move to circumvent negotiations does not succeed, and… to present our truth, which is that we are not foreigners and we have rights going back 4,000 years." Netanyahu added that "we are ready to enter negotiations if the Palestinians want to. At the end of the day I believe that after the smoke clears the Palestinians will come to their senses and sit down for negotiations that will bring peace for us and our neighbors." “Peace can only be achieved through direct negotiations with Israel, a statement released by the prime minister’s office said on Friday, accusing the Palestinian Authority of consistently avoiding talks with Israel. It concluded saying “when the Palestinian Authority will abandon its futile measures, firstly its unilateral decision to approach the UN, it will find Israel as a partner for negotiations and peace.” Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said on Friday that the Palestinians plan to approach the United Nations Security Council for full recognition, clarifying that they are seeking to delegitimize the occupation, not Israel, by taking the UN route for Palestinian statehood. He stressed that Israel is a legitimate state, but that by continuing to build in the settlements and rejecting the internationally recognized borders of a future Palestinian state, they are engaging in illegitimate activity.

Published 11:59 18.09.11 Latest update 11:59 18.09.11 Netanyahu: Palestinian statehood bid at UN bound to fail Prime Minister says Palestinians bound to 'come to their senses' and return to the negotiation table. By Barak Ravid Tags: UN General Assembly Palestinian state Benjamin Netanyahu Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a cabinet meeting Sunday that "the Palestinians' wish to become a permanent UN member… is bound to fail because they have to go through the Security Council." He said that even though the Palestinians can opt to turn to the general assembly, "it does not have the same significance of the Security Council, and that is not the Palestinians' stated goal." Netanyahu decided last week to address the UN General Assembly next Friday, the day the Palestinians will submit their statehood bid. Benjamin Netanyahu - Emil Salman - 05092011 Benjamin Netanyahu, right, at the cabinet meeting Sunday. Photo by: Emil Salman According to Netanyahu, the purpose of his visit to the UN is to make sure that the Palestinian "move to circumvent negotiations does not succeed, and… to present our truth, which is that we are not foreigners and we have rights going back 4,000 years." Netanyahu added that "we are ready to enter negotiations if the Palestinians want to. At the end of the day I believe that after the smoke clears the Palestinians will come to their senses and sit down for negotiations that will bring peace for us and our neighbors." “Peace can only be achieved through direct negotiations with Israel, a statement released by the prime minister’s office said on Friday, accusing the Palestinian Authority of consistently avoiding talks with Israel. It concluded saying “when the Palestinian Authority will abandon its futile measures, firstly its unilateral decision to approach the UN, it will find Israel as a partner for negotiations and peace.” Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said on Friday that the Palestinians plan to approach the United Nations Security Council for full recognition, clarifying that they are seeking to delegitimize the occupation, not Israel, by taking the UN route for Palestinian statehood. He stressed that Israel is a legitimate state, but that by continuing to build in the settlements and rejecting the internationally recognized borders of a future Palestinian state, they are engaging in illegitimate activity.

Checkpoint Washington – Netanyahu: ‘America is a thing you can move very easily’ April 30, 2011 by occupiedpalestine 0 Comments The United States and Israel have made a huge effort this month to patch up the sometimes difficult relationship between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. But a newly released video of Netanyahu, speaking in an unvarnished manner in 2001 about relations with the United States and the peace process, may cause some heartburn at the White House. “I know what America is,” Netanyahu told a group of terror victims, apparently not knowing his words were being recorded. “America is a thing you can move very easily, move it in the right direction. They won’t get in their way.” Netanyahu also bragged how he undercut the peace process when he was prime minister during the Clinton administration. “They asked me before the election if I’d honor [the Oslo accords],” he said. “I said I would, but … I’m going to interpret the accords in such a way that would allow me to put an end to this galloping forward to the ’67 borders. How did we do it? Nobody said what defined military zones were. Defined military zones are security zones; as far as I’m concerned, the entire Jordan Valley is a defined military zone. Go argue.” Gideon Levy, a left-leaning columnist for Haaretz newspaper, declared: “This video should have been banned for broadcast to minors. This video should have been shown in every home in Israel, then sent to Washington and Ramallah. Banned for viewing by children so as not to corrupt them, and distributed around the country and the world so that everyone will know who leads the government of Israel.” Of course, the video is from nearly ten years ago. Opinions change, based on circumstances and experience. But who knows what leaders are really saying when they think the cameras aren’t filming? By Glenn Kessler | July 16, 2010; 2:06 PM ET Source Spread it ! Like this: Like One blogger likes this post. nashnouch

The dilemma of Palestine and the United Nations Where do Britain, Israel, the United States stand on Palestine's bid for statehood? In a televised speech in Ramallah, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas confirms that he will ask the United Nations to formally recognise the state of Palestine when he visits the General Assembly next week. In a televised speech in Ramallah, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas confirms that he will ask the United Nations to formally recognise the state of Palestine when he visits the General Assembly next week. Photo: REUTERS By Tim Montgomerie 7:55PM BST 17 Sep 2011 Comments99 Comments What are the Palestinians trying to achieve at the UN this week? In the next few days Palestinian leaders are set to apply for full membership of the United Nations. Just two nights ago, Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, used a televised address to supporters to describe full UN statehood as “our right”. Hillary Clinton and the US diplomatic service have been working overtime to discourage the application. Although America has the power to veto full membership, it doesn’t possess enough allies to stop Palestine achieving observer status. Why does America object? Washington fears that granting statehood will endanger the already slim prospects for a resumption of face-to-face talks with Israel. Related Articles Palestinians defy Barack Obama and push ahead for their own state 16 Sep 2011 Israel reinforces West Bank ahead of Palestinian UN bid 16 Sep 2011 The Palestinian vote at the UN - how it would work 16 Sep 2011 Last-ditch US bid to prevent Palestinians from statehood bid 15 Sep 2011 The folly of the Palestinian statehood bid 15 Sep 2011 Israel warns of 'harsh' consequences of Palestinian UN bid 14 Sep 2011 Israel has a justifiable suspicion of the United Nations. The UN’s human rights body was, until recently, chaired by Gadaffi-run Libya and has repeatedly censured Israel while remaining silent on the crimes of regimes such as Syria. Hillary Clinton fears that a Palestinian delegation will harness the UN’s anti-Israel sentiment to pursue relentless acts of “lawfare”. Even observer status could give Palestine the right to attempt multiple, vexatious prosecutions of Israel through the International Criminal Court. What’s Britain’s position? Although British Conservatives have traditionally been closer to the American world view, there is something of a shift taking place as Anglo-French relations become warmer and deeper. In Benghazi, Libya, on Thursday this shift was evident as David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy stood before an ecstatic, mainly Muslim crowd, championing the most exciting manifestation of the Arab Spring so far. Foreign Office advisers have warned William Hague that Britain’s improved status in the Middle East could be compromised if Britain takes Israel’s side at the UN. Consequently, the UK has been leaning towards a compromise position drafted by Paris that would give Palestine observer status. The thinking behind this position was summed up by Alistair Burt, the foreign office minister. “It would be a disaster,” he said, if after the UN process “one side proclaimed triumph and the other reacted to a disaster”. Will Israel accept a compromise? No. Israel is feeling even more vulnerable than usual at the moment. Last week’s attacks on its embassy in Cairo were bad enough. Worse was the new Egyptian regime’s failure to even answer Israel’s increasingly desperate calls when the rioting was at its worst. Relations with Turkey have become very hostile and the international community seems unable to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons – weapons that Tehran has promised to aim at Tel Aviv. Israel points out that the Palestinian authority has recently brokered a deal with the terrorist-sponsoring Hamas. It notes that Abbas has said that he’ll exclude every Jew from any Palestinian state. Israel believes that it would be wrong for the international community to reward this kind of extremism. What’s the view of Tory and Liberal Democrat MPs? At the top of the Government, Iain Duncan Smith, Liam Fox, Michael Gove and George Osborne are steadfast supporters of Israel and they are joined by many Conservative backbenchers. There are, however, a handful of increasingly vocal Tory critics of Israel. Their hand has been strengthened by the sometimes bellicose rhetoric of Israel’s prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu and also by the yellow half of the Coalition. Nearly all Liberal Democrat MPs support full statehood for Palestine. Chris Huhne has said he is “entirely sympathetic” with Abbas’s objective, and Ming Campbell has described Alistair Burt’s middle-of-the-road position as profoundly disappointing. Nick Clegg himself is thought to be under pressure from his wife, who has previously advised the Palestinian Authority. What does Cameron do? The Prime Minister probably won’t veto Palestinian statehood for fear of causing a dangerous rift with the Liberal Democrats. He’ll also have noted threats from Saudi Arabia to reduce co-operation with the West if Palestinian hopes are dashed. On the deep blue sea side of his devilish dilemma, he knows he risks his government’s relationship with Israel. Cameron has been skating on thin ice for some time with friends of the region’s pre-eminent democracy. Neither he nor William Hague are seen as reliable allies. The Prime Minister caused upset last year when he likened Gaza to a “prison camp”. More recently he caused offence when he resigned as a patron of the Jewish National Fund. With all key parties gathering in New York this week, the PM’s hope is that a showdown vote can somehow be avoided. He hopes that the whole drama will force all sides back to the negotiating table. That seems unlikely without some major concession from Israel on, for example, the building of settlements. And without major concessions, Abbas is unlikely to spare Cameron or Barack Obama from having to make some very awkward choices. Share: inShare1 Tim Montgomerie World News » Middle East » Palestinian Authority » Comment » Columnists » Share: inShare1 Ads by Google HSBC Offshore Living Abroad Can Be Challenging - Find Out How HSBC Can Assist You. Offshore.HSBC.com/Expat-Experts Best Expat Interest Rates Independent Report Gets You The Best Interest Rates On Your Savings www.OffshoreInvestmentDesigner.com Expat? £100k+ UK Pension? UK Pensions, Savings & Investments. Free Report. Expats Download Now! QROPSpensiondesigner.com/Telegraph 99 comments Add a comment Comment with a Telegraph account Login | Register with the Telegraph Alternatively... Comment with one of your accounts Showing 25 of 99 comments Order by Real-time updating is enabled. Follow with email Follow with RSS timothy hardacre 6 seconds ago why the repetitive nonsense about Iranian nuclears pointed at Israel.There has been no evidence of this. Report Recommend apearman 59 minutes ago Recommended by 3 people If (but not in my lifetime) America removes support from Israel then integrity and morality instead of fear will point the way for the rest of the world to vote in the way they should at the UN Report Recommend oncebitten 49 minutes ago Recommended by 3 people You're having us on - surely!? What have integrity & morality got to do with the UN. But thanks - it was a good try. Perhaps (but not in my lifetime) a world body which has replaced the UN will be able to match the standards sought - but increasingly never attained - by the founders of the UN Report Recommend victoriaw Today 07:42 AM Recommended by 6 people The Israeli position is to do all it can to avoid returning to the negotiating table - look, for example, at their rejection of even the first step: to cease settlement building in the occupied territories.What are the Palestinians supposed to do? They have the choice of watching the West preach the gospel for freedom and democracy to the rest of the Middle East and accepting that somehow they are different, or taking action. The former means another 20 years of humiliation and persecution, the latter offers them hope and sthe real prospect of getting their issues dealt with outside the realm of the US and Israel. Of course they must pursue statehood through the UN, and the UK should give them our vote. Report Recommend Dr_Drug 13 minutes ago OK , I had a look at their rejection of even the first step: to cease settlement building in the occupied territories. When I look, I see Israel DID in fact freeze settlement building for 10 months, in a bid to re-start the moribund negotiations with the Palestinians. Guess what? The Palestinians refused to return to the negotiating table. Report Recommend thepurleyking 13 minutes ago Balderdash! The West Bank is NOT an "occupied", but a "disputed" territory! Every time Israel has made a concession (like handing Gaza over and FORCIBLY removing Israelis to do it); they've not got a SINGLE concession in return. (Just over 10,000 rockets fired into Israel). The true LEGAL position appears below. (Not that you'll read it, as it contains FACTS!) Below that you will (sorry - COULD if you weren't so bigoted!) read about the machinations of the Criminal United Nations. They don't vote because of the rights/wrongs of a situation; merely to try to destroy Israel and harm the USA (the biggest contributor to aid programmes in the world!) 1) The legal basis for the establishment of the State of Israel was the resolution unanimously adopted by the League of Nations in 1922, affirming the establishment of a national home for the Jewish People in the historical area of the Land of Israel. This included the areas of Judea and Samaria and Jerusalem, and close Jewish settlement throughout. This was subsequently affirmed by both houses of the U.S. Congress. (2) Article 80 of the UN Charter determines the continued validity of the rights granted to all states or peoples, or already existing international instruments (including those adopted by the League of Nations). Accordingly, the above-noted League resolution remains valid, and the 650,000 Jews presently resident in the areas of Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem reside there legitimately. (3) "The 1967 borders" do not exist, and have never existed. The 1949 Armistice Agreements entered into by Israel and its Arab neighbors, establishing the Armistice Demarcation Lines, clearly stated that these lines "are without prejudice to future territorial settlements or boundary lines or to claims of either Party relating thereto." Accordingly, they cannot be accepted or declared to be the international boundaries of a Palestinian state. http://www.aish.com/jw/me/Unde... But don't worry; Christians are next for destruction! http://www.americanthinker.com... Report Recommend stevemakler Today 07:37 AM Recommended by 3 people How well did appeasing the barbarians work in 1938? Report Recommend imnokuffar Today 05:51 AM Recommended by 5 people The Palestinians do not want peace and in common with the rest of the Arab world want war with Israel. If they succeed in this aim then the consequences for all of us will be catastrophic because if push really comes to shove Israel will not go down on its own. After all what has it to lose whens its land and people are both threatened with extinction. They do not want a two state solution they want a one state solution and a "Final Solution" to the Jewish "problem". This from the Hamas Charter. "Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it." (The Martyr, Imam Hassan al-Banna, of blessed memory)."The Islamic Resistance Movement believes that the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf consecrated for future Muslim generations until Judgement Day. It, or any part of it, should not be squandered: it, or any part of it, should not be given up. ""There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors." They are led by a bunch of Islamofascist terrorists, murderers and subscribe to a medieval cult that hates not just Jews but all non-Muslims. The fact that the Palestinian people voted these vile pieces of filth into office should give any sensible or informed person cause for concern. The Palestinians and the Muslim Brotherhood see the Arab spring as a springboard from which to further prosecute their ongoing Jihad against Israel and the west. The Islamofascists and their liberal/Marxist allies in the west do not want "Jaw Jaw" they want "War War". Report Recommend oncebitten 44 minutes ago Recommended by 1 person Could I just add that the Arabs don't necessarily want war with Israel - rather, they lust for the elimination of Israel. So they're quite happy to use the instruments provided by the West & democracy - e.g. the Human Rights Act - to utilise what they can get. This is also a general tenet of Islam - the Islamisation of Europe proceeds afoot without war as we knew it. Then of course, there are the "useful idiots" in the West promoting their cause 'cos it enables them to vent their antisemitism whilst hiding under a cloak Report Recommend thepurleyking 9 minutes ago Correct, and the Islamisation of Europe will be complete in 40-50 years. The "useful idiots" will then have the choice of converting (and being painfully circumcised) or dying! http://britainfirst.org/muslim... Report Recommend cecile10 Today 08:21 AM Recommended by 1 person Even supposing that Palestinians want what you say they want - the elimination of Israel - how do you suppose they would achieve this? They're hardly going to march into Israel like the Germans marched into Czechoslovakia given that they have no army or arms to speak of and Israel has one of the most powerful armies in the world. Whilst the world empathises with Palestinians in their stateless and occupied plight Israel will get little sympathy and only grudging support from even its staunchest allies. With a Palestinian state alongside such attitudes would change to Israel's advantage. Report Recommend thepurleyking 2 minutes ago They don't want "alongside"! Don't you understand, they want "instead of"! What right do you all have to denigrate Israel, under attack and threat for 60+ years? It's one of the finest countries in the world and a true democracy; not like the pretend ones in Europe where, after being elected, your governments rob the people and do what the heck they want! Read these - if you're not TOO bigoted! http://www.telegraph.co.uk/tec... http://www.unitedwithisrael.co... Report Recommend glenda14 Today 04:47 AM Recommended by 4 people So the Liberal Democrats do support the Palestinians! Thank God I did vote for them in the last Election. Report Recommend humphrey_n Today 05:26 AM Recommended by 2 people That's because there is no LDFI unlike CFI.. (good for them). As troublesome as it is for politicians to possess moral consciousness I think the tide is turning.. Report Recommend thepurleyking Today 06:59 AM Recommended by 1 person Yes. And when the Muslims have eliminated the Jews; who do you think will be next in line for their attentions? http://www.americanthinker.com... Report Recommend cecile10 Today 08:26 AM Recommended by 2 people Exactly how will the Muslims eliminate the Jews? Report Recommend thepurleyking 1 minute ago Attrition! Report Recommend tl669 Today 04:44 AM Recommended by 3 people US (UK and the like) are the most unprincipled of all. They are the most devious, most deceitful that you can find anywhere. They’re simply spineless, belligerent and untrustworthy that we all should be careful when dealing with them. The US (UK and the like) also illegally invaded Iraq (while invading Iraq illegally, they also abused the captured Iraqis to inhuman and degrading insults) which simply shows that they’re criminal and they’ll do anything illegal to suit themselves, to achieve their unholy aims. Now, can we trust criminals like US? The answer is obvious. Each time you trust US (UK and the like), each time you will be cheated and slaughtered. The US (UK and the like) arrogantly and steadfastly believe they’ve the right of “an-eye-for-an-eye” belligerence to attack others as they see fit. Well, no one should be surprised that the terrorists/extremists also believe they’ve the same right (not to mention that terrorists/extremists always are the victims and sufferers of all the injustice from the West which make them feel even more determined to stand up to defend themselves against all these US (UK and the like) attacks). The US (UK and the like) strongly believe that they’ve sovereignty. Well, no one should be surprised that the Afghans (or Iran or any other countries) also strongly believe that they’ve sovereignty and they’re undoubtedly prepared to die to defend their sovereignty against foreign invaders (like US, UK and the like). It is pernicious nonsense that US (UK and the like) have the right to do whatever they like while other nations are not even allowed to think they have the same right. Let us take a good look how US behave and act: The US will not hesitate to use nuclear weapons to attack another country (bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki)….The US is happy to massacre unarmed and innocent civilians (The My Lai Massacre was the mass murder conducted by a unit of the U.S. Army on March 16, 1968 of 347 to 504 unarmed citizens in South Vietnam, all of whom were civilians and a majority of whom were women, children (including babies) and elderly people. Many of the victims were sexually abused, beaten, tortured, and some of the bodies were found mutilated)….The US is happy to use chemical weapons to attack others: the use of Agent Orange during Operation Ranch Hand during the Vietnam War was a violation of laws regarding the use of chemical weapons in the 1907 Hague Convention, the 1927 Geneva Convention, and the 1949 Geneva Convention.The US is happy to detain people without charges (like Guantánamo Bay detention centre where most prisoners are held without charges in a super-maximum security prison, even though the U.S. government has acknowledged that many have been cleared for release) for as long as the US sees fit…. The US (UK and the like) are also happy to illegally invade Iraq (while invading Iraq illegally, they also abused the captured Iraqis to torture and degrading insults). For such illegal invasion (and killing, abusing many people), the leaders of the US (UK and the like) should be brought to justice and prosecuted as war criminals (as they’re war criminals no better than Nazi war criminals, they’re just as worst war criminals as Adolf Hitler.Human rights violations in the form of physical, psychological, and sexual abuse, including torture, rape, sodomy and homicide of prisoners held in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq: These acts were committed by personnel of the United States Army together with additional US governmental agencies.Amnesty International condemned the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, which they confirm killed 400 civilians (some sources place this figure at over 1,000) in what it claims were violations of international law and war crimes, due to deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure and indiscriminate attacks, with lack of precautionary measures taken to prevent civilian casualties.No Gun Ri Massacre during the Korean War in which an undetermined number of South Korean civilians were killed by soldiers of the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment.Dr. Garth Nicolson, uncovers evidence that the biological agents used during the Gulf War had been manufactured in Houston, Boca Raton and tested on prisoners in the Texas Department of Corrections.More than 1500 six-month old black and hispanic babies in Los Angeles are given an "experimental" measles vaccine that had never been licensed for use in the United States. CDC later admits that parents were never informed that the vaccine being injected to their children was experimental.Department of Defense admits that, despite a treaty banning research and development of biological agents, it continues to operate research facilities at 127 facilities and universities around the nation. The Tuskegee Syphilis Study: 200 black men diagnosed with syphilis are never told of their illness, are denied treatment, and instead are used as human guinea pigs in order to follow the progression and symptoms of the disease. They all subsequently die from syphilis, their families never told that they could have been treated.The noble principle of nuclear non-proliferation and the steadfast moral conviction are also bluntly violated when the US signed nuclear co-operation treaty with India when India (the only known country with nuclear weapons) openly refuses to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty….….the list goes on and on…. Leopards don’t change their spots: US (UK and the like) are murderers: they’re emperors without clothes and simply they’ve no moral authorities at all to lecture/dictate others how to behave/act. The US (UK and the like) believe in the strong bullying and killing the weak (in fact this is their core believe). It is time to send a clear and unambiguous message that the world community will not allow them to intimidate/bully the weak. Iran, North Korea are poor and weak but they’ve strong will to stand up and fight this US (UK and the like) belligerence and bullying. The US has the largest number of deadly nuclear weapons (and no hesitation to use them to attack others) yet the US is demanding others not to have any nuclear weapons. Every country has the right to defend itself. If the US (the most powerful country in the world) needs nuclear weapons to defend itself, then surely a weak country (such as Iran, North Korea) even more cogently needs nuclear weapons to defend itself against the belligerent powerful countries like US. If the United States can never accept a nuclear-armed Iran or North Korea, then likewise, a sovereign Iran or North Korea can never accept US bullying and give up its sovereign right to develop nuclear technology. This kind of powerful countries bullying the weak countries is so contemptible and it is simply not acceptable. The bottom-line is simple: Despite all the rhetoric and beautiful arguments, The US (UK and the like) are belligerent and untrustworthy. They will carry knives behind their backs and when you’re not careful, they’ll simply slaughter you without mercy. Mr Obama, if you have any ounce of honesty and conscience, if you believe in a world free of nuclear weapons, if you’re hellbent to stop others to develop nuclear weapons, it is time to get rid of all the US nuclear weapons which will set a good example for others to follow. Being unprincipled, being morally bankrupt, being a hypocrite, being a murderer, US has lost its credibility and legitimacy to lecture/dictate others. But worse than that, having lost its credibility and legitimacy, the US continues its belligerence to bully Iran, North Korea. Not contending to bully Iran, North Korea alone, the US wants other countries (UK, Japan, etc.) to gang up to bully Iran, North Korea together, impose sanctions, etc. (typical US behaviour) Iran, North Korea (small, weak, poor and backward nations) should be applauded to stand up resolutely against the US (a big, strong, powerful, rich and advanced country) bullying and belligerence. So, the US is a hero or a thug? The answer is obvious. The murder of the unarmed Osama is never going to solve the terrorist problem that the world is facing. This “an-eye-for-an-eye” belligerence simply reflects the US (UK and the like) are as much terrorists/extremists as Al-Qaida are being accused as terrorists/extremists. The US hands are full of Osama’s blood. The martyrdom will be the rallying cry in the Muslim world to stand up and fight. We can all see the ulterior motives of US (UK and the like). Instead of using US military might to engage in an-eye-for-an-eye belligerent attacks, the US will be better served to use soft power to engage in sustainable and profitable economic developments (broadly and widely) in these countries that will benefit these countries and the investors (win-win situation). The jobs, the prosperity and the opportunities (created by broad and wide economic developments) will lead to people busy making money, terrorists and extremists will simply dwindle to insignificance. Of course, all these economic developments must be based on a basic principle: “The common interests of a society are best served by the pursuit of individual interests on a level playing field (which must be open and transparent) under the framework of the rule of law (which must be efficient and non-corrupt) with a certain degree of social responsibility and social justice”. Also, you must have good, clean and efficient government. You must have stability. With stability and good policies, it will encourage investments, economic developments, creating jobs for the people. With economic growth and full employment, the people and the country will create more wealth. With more wealth and resources, the people and the country can afford to invest more in education, health care, infra-structure etc….leading to higher productivity and more economic growth and wealth creation. This will lead to a virtuous circle of higher productivity, higher efficiency, more growth, more wealth, more stable society. But the US (UK and the like) are adamant to put the cart before the horse and violently pursue an-eye-for-an-eye attacks with vengeance. As more and more people becoming wealthier, enjoying higher standard of living, we increase the chances of people resolving their conflicts peacefully without resorting to violence. This is the virtuous circle that we should have, not the vicious circle of an-eye-for-an-eye endless hatred, endless attacks and endless counter-attacks. When US (UK and the like) talk, you can see they lie through their teeth with rhetoric and articulation of beautiful (but hollow) words with ulterior motives. You cannot trust US (UK and the like), pure and simple. US belligerent “an eye for an eye” revenge is sowing the seeds of endless hatred, endless attacks and endless counter-attacks. Mahatma Gandhi is right: An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. The US (UK and the like) are happy to see the whole world blind. Report Recommend cecile10 Today 08:27 AM .....zzzzzzzzzzz Report Recommend tl669 Today 04:40 AM Recommended by 4 people Again, the US shows its true colors. The US now threatens to use veto power to deny Palestinians’ lawful right to be represented in the UN. What kind of US is this? As the US threatens to use veto power to deny Palestinians’ lawful right to be represented in the UN, it is even more cogent for the Palestinians (and Middle East people) to stand firm and united to fight this belligerent US intimidation and threat to quash the Palestinians’ aspirations. It also simply shows that the US is prepared to proudly abuse its veto power (now we wonder if the US deserves to be given this veto power?) Leopards don’t change their spots: US (UK and the like) are murderers: they’re emperors without clothes. The US (UK and the like) believe in the strongs bullying and killing the weaks (in fact this is their core believe). They are prepared to sell their grandmothers to achieve their aims with no remorse and no conscience. When US (UK and the like) talk, you can see they lie through their teeth with rhetoric and articulation of beautiful (but hollow) words with ulterior motives. They are experts in lying. You cannot trust US (UK and the like), pure and simple. They want the rest of the world remain weak and vulnerable, living in abject poverty and diseases so that they can continue to dominate, ridicule and control the rest with disdain. The Palestinians have suffered enough. The more the US threatens, the more determined the Palestinians must be to fight the abusive US for their lawful right to be represented in the UN. And always remember: Each time you trust US (UK and the like), each time you will be cheated and slaughtered. So be very careful when you’re dealing with US (UK and the like). The Palestinians simply cannot afford to lose their homeland and to be denied their lawful right to be represented in the UN. It simply shows how insincere US (UK and the like) are. Report Recommend Dr_Drug 3 minutes ago The Palestinian's lawful right to be represented at the UN? What law is that? The one that denies Kurdish representation. Or Tibetan? Ironic seeing that Turkey and China support this nonsense (not the statehood per se, just the way the Palestinians intend to achieve it by abandoning negotiations). Report Recommend JehudahBenIsrael Today 04:39 AM Recommended by 5 people The Quartet (UN, US, EU, Russia) is likely to propose a basis for negotiations: A Palestinian state based on the 1949 armistice lines (dubbed wrongly '1967 borders') with the nation-state of the Jewish people, Israel. In all likelyhood, such a proposal will be accepted by Israel. And in all likelyhood such a proposal will be rejected, again, by the PLO. If so, the question is, why? For a simple reason: The PLO refuses categorically to ever accept Israel's right to be, to exist as the independent nation-state of the Jewish people. Also, the PLO refuses, categorically, to accept any peace treaty as the end of the conflict and the end of all future demands. Thus, one must ask: Why forego peace? And, is peace and an independent state in the now disputed territories the true goal of the PLO? The answer is found in the PLO's Charter that reflects the thrust of this movement!!!!! Report Recommend cecile10 Today 08:33 AM Recommended by 1 person //in all likelihood such a proposal will be rejected, again, by the PLO// No reason not to offer, though. I'd give it a whirl. Whatever the result - we'll have made progress or learned something. Clearly, though, any proposal to be acceptable would have to be for a totally independent sovereign state. Report Recommend JehudahBenIsrael 1 minute ago Their tactics have been, for decades: receive an offer, reject it, talk more and expect the offer to begin with the previous one rejected and so on. Thus, the demand: Any offer must expect that the end game, a peace treaty, will include accepting Israel's right to be, to exist as the independent nation-state of the Jewish people, and accepting a peace treaty as the end of the conflict and the end of all future demands. The PLO object to these points categorically, which tells us a thing or two about their long term intent...!! Report Recommend JehudahBenIsrael Today 04:59 AM Recommended by 4 people P.S. Please note, such a proposal regarding the 1949 armistice lines will be of course contrary to UN Security Council Resolution, 242, without any consideration to the "secure and recognized boundaries" of the future Israel's border called for by 242!! Report Recommend Previous Page 1 2 Next Social Media Reactions Jewel جوهرة תכשיט 54 minutes ago From twitter The dilemma of Palestine and the United Nations - Telegraph http://t.co/W9zJN2Ri via @Telegraph Juana Jaafar Today 02:53 AM From twitter Where do Britain, Israel, the United States stand on Palestine's bid for statehood? - Telegraph http://t.co/xGV8npLg #BDS #Palestine Middle East Coups Today 12:51 AM From twitter #MiddelEast News UK: The dilemma of Palestine and the United Nations: Where do Britain, Israel, the United State... http://t.co/BbMbqo5F Umm Amina Yesterday 10:09 PM From twitter The dilemma of Palestine and the United Nations - Telegraph http://t.co/YNSr53Z2 via @Telegraph simonpetar Yesterday 09:03 PM From twitter RT @TimMontgomerie: USA and Israel say no to Palestine getting UN membership. The LDs say yes. My SunTel column looks at Cameron's dilemma http://t.co/ELwKtNnI carlymaisel Yesterday 08:56 PM From twitter Great article to explain Palestinian UDI @TimMontgomerie: USA and Israel say no to Palestine getting UN membership. http://t.co/V2uuW7VU" I_S_Palestine Yesterday 08:43 PM From twitter The dilemma of Palestine and the United Nations - Telegraph http://t.co/USnBIfn0 JodyField Yesterday 08:35 PM From twitter The dilemma of Palestine and the United Nations http://t.co/BYxq67nJ & http://dld.bz/ZaGN PaulaKeaveney Yesterday 08:33 PM From twitter RT @martinbright: Excellent summary: RT @TimMontgomerie: USA/Israel say no to Palestine UN membership. The LDs say yes. Cameron's dilemma http://t.co/lxG1allD Trackback URL blog comments powered by Disqus Click here to find out more! sponsored features Win your dream South African holiday Win your dream South African holiday What's your ideal South African holiday? Tell us your dream itinerary for the chance to win it. 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AFP WASHINGTON (AFP) – The United States said Thursday it would block a Palestinian drive for recognition in the United Nations Security Council because it was the only way to help Palestinians frame a genuine state. In a move that has infuriated Washington and Israel, Palestinian leaders have said they will lodge an application for full membership of the UN or go to the General Assembly for enhanced observer membership this month. But Washington has threatened to veto the application if it is made in the Security Council, saying it would harm prospects for peace talks and that a Palestinian state can only result from negotiations with Israel. “We have taken the position we’ve taken because we do not believe it is ultimately in the interests of Middle East peace, of the process,” said White House spokesman Jay Carney. “It doesn’t bring the two sides closer together. It would not bring the Palestinians any closer to statehood, and we believe that it would be counterproductive to that goal.” “Our approach is one that we think is in the interests of helping the Palestinians reach their ultimate goal, and the only way they’re going to reach that goal is through direct negotiations with the Israelis.” Envoys from the United States and the European Union are holding talks with Palestinian and Israeli leaders in an effort to get them back into direct peace talks that stalled a year ago. Washington is believed to fear that vetoing the Palestinian statehood move could undercut its calls for reform in other parts of the Arab world as people rise up against autocratic leaders. But President Barack Obama is under heavy domestic pressure from Israel and domestically to prevent the statehood drive at the United Nations.

Those Terrorists We See in the Mirror… They Are Us | Print | E-mail Saturday, 17 September 2011 10:05 By Ben Tanosborn Share Link: Share Link: Bookmark Google Yahoo MyWeb Del.icio.us Digg Facebook Myspace Reddit Ma.gnolia Technorati Stumble Upon Newsvine santorum-paulSome of us were brought into political adulthood reading Walt Kelly’s masterful creation, Pogo, the lovable character living in the Okefenokee Swamp of Georgia. From dialogue used in that comic strip, many were the quotes that attained temporary or even permanent fame, but one topped them all: “We have met the enemy and he is us.” And Kelly’s reference point was not only the environment but his belief that we are… all of us, responsible for our myriad pollution: public, private and political. A quote that couldn’t be more apropos to our times, and our resistance to accept that one fact which is just as important today as it was in a cartoon a half century ago. That resistance was experienced last Tuesday, September 13, during a quasi-debate among Republican contenders for the party’s nomination to the presidential elections next year. Among the eight candidates on stage was (R) Rep. Ron Paul, a long time legislator and the baton carrier for the Libertarian wing of the Republican Party. Ron Paul is definitely not a politician in contention to represent his party given his criticism of the existing bipartisan foreign policy and his anti-war stance. And he knows it! In answering one of the questions, and given an opportunity to expound on his criticism of US foreign policy which makes America the policeman of the world – according to him, the congressman brought to light in a very articulate and unemotional manner the reasons why the people in the Middle East are so upset with us; to many in the audience, giving in to the rationale used by Osama Bin Laden in creating al Qaeda. How would Americans feel, he gave as an example, if they were under occupation by China and hundreds of thousands of Americans had died in the process – referring to the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who died as a consequence of the US invasion. Booing from the audience didn’t allow the congressman to finish his sentences. Ron Paul, who is a physician by training, was being honest and stating his convictions. And more than moralizing, his argument was one of true fiscal conservatism, giving an account of the waste in wars and the military, including the example of building an American embassy in Iraq at a cost of one billion dollars, a cost greater than that of the entire Vatican, he claimed – one assumes he meant just the buildings without any works of art or manuscripts. The congressman made a point of differentiating between budgeting for defense and budgeting for the military; the military being the [imperial] forces scattered in 900 bases throughout the world. It was the first time that I had experienced seeing an American politician of that stature, Republican or Democrat, venture into that never-never land of criticism of the land of exceptionalism. It just isn’t done! Of course, Ron Paul’s was rebuked by his fellow aspirants to the presidency, the hatchet given to an ultra-right dunce (Santorum) who brought in America’s always virtuous behavior dealing with the [infidel] world. Ron Paul’s statements of wisdom, particularly since coming from the Right, well the Fiscal Right, was certainly worth the price of the time investment I made; and it made up, as far as I am concerned, for the corrosive situation of CNN joining the Tea Party to conduct the event. Politics, the media, wealth and power… they are all enmeshed in this nation that we proclaim to be free and democratic. Two weeks before, the results of a “comprehensive” poll by the Pew Research Center had made some analysts conclude that few Muslims feel US alienation. Actually, the resulting figures can be interpreted quite differently and in the opposite direction, almost half experiencing some form of harassment in the past year or being singled out for government surveillance. It was not a pretty picture, and it may actually be worse if the survey was not conducted under the proper statistical and operations research disciplines. [Comprehensive in that the survey had 1,033 respondents, the highest number in a Pew survey on that subject – although we are not told how the sampling was made… whether from the random Muslim population across the US, or if there was sampling concentration in ethnic-ghetto communities, biasing the results.] To add more fuel to the fire, Danger Room [www.wired.com] just published FBI training material which teaches agents that mainstream Muslims, not just extremists, are violent and radical… and that America and Islam are necessarily in conflict. Just as Pogo determined that we are our own enemy, we could also see ourselves as being our own terrorists. That is, if we dare look in the mirror. The Tea Party audience on September 13 was not quite ready to do just that. © 2011 Ben Tanosborn

Palestinians See U.N. Bid as Their Most Viable Option By ETHAN BRONNER and ISABEL KERSHNER Published: September 17, 2011 Recommend Twitter Linkedin comments (206) Sign In to E-Mail Print Reprints Share RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Palestinian decision to apply for full United Nations membership at the Security Council, announced Friday by President Mahmoud Abbas, was the most viable of the only options possible: surrender, return to violence or appeal to the international community, a senior Palestinian official said Saturday. Enlarge This Image Adem Altan/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Nabil Shaath, a Palestinian official, this month. He spoke to journalists on Saturday before leaving for the United Nations. Multimedia Interactive Feature The Battle of the Barrier Related News Analysis: Tumult of Arab Spring Prompts Worries in Washington (September 18, 2011) News Analysis: Israel and Turkey, Foes and Much Alike (September 18, 2011) Palestinians Set Bid for U.N. Seat, Clashing With U.S. (September 17, 2011) Palestinians Resist Appeals to Halt U.N. Statehood Bid (September 16, 2011) U.S. Scrambles to Avert Palestinian Vote at U.N. (September 14, 2011) Times Topic: Palestinians Related in Opinion Thomas L. Friedman: Israel: Adrift at Sea Alone (September 18, 2011) Room For Debate: Can Israel Survive Without a Palestinian State? Interactive Map: Mapping Mideast Peace Readers’ Comments Share your thoughts. Post a Comment » Read All Comments (206) » The official, Nabil Shaath, spoke to journalists before leaving for New York as part of the Palestinian delegation heading to the United Nations. He said that the appeal would change the ground rules of the conflict, and that although the Obama administration had vowed to veto the request and Israel had threatened punitive countermeasures, the Arab uprisings should make them reconsider. “If I were President Obama or Israel, I would ask myself what is happening in the region,” he said, adding of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel: “Mr. Netanyahu is a pragmatist. If the odds change, he may change his calculations.” Going to the Security Council instead of to the General Assembly, where there is no veto and where a pro-Palestinian majority is virtually guaranteed, has been considered a riskier and more confrontational approach because it invites an American veto. But American, European and Israeli officials are now quietly arguing that the Security Council may prove easier for diplomats seeking a formula to get the Israelis and Palestinians back to negotiations. The application through the Security Council will take longer because it will involve letters, committee formation and most likely requests for more time to study the situation. Mr. Netanyahu’s office seemed eager to sound open to renewing talks even after Mr. Abbas presents his membership request letter to the United Nations. It labeled the application useless rather than terminal and added, “When the Palestinian Authority abandons these futile and unilateral measures at the U.N., it will find Israel to be a genuine partner for direct peace negotiations.” Mr. Shaath himself said that while Mr. Abbas’s speech on Friday was aimed at “reassuring our people and the world that we are not hesitating,” Mr. Abbas “left a door open at the end.” American and European officials are still hoping to produce a statement to be issued by the so-called Quartet — the diplomatic group focused on the Middle East that is made up of the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia — to accompany any United Nations debate and serve as a point to restart negotiations. But Mr. Shaath was blunt in his dismissal of the elements of a statement presented to Mr. Abbas on Thursday by Dennis B. Ross and David M. Hale, two senior American officials. Tony Blair, the former British prime minister and Quartet representative, has been the central player in drafting the statement. Quartet envoys were due to meet in New York on Sunday. Mr. Shaath said the statement “violated six parameters of the peace process,” including accepting Israeli settlement growth, calling Israel a “Jewish state,” pre-empting discussion of a right of return for Palestinian refugees to Israel, and rejecting efforts to unify rival Palestinian factions: Fatah, which dominates the Palestinian Authority, and Hamas, which rules in Gaza. “I think that was the final blow, the final straw,” he said of the statement presented at the meeting with Mr. Ross and Mr. Hale. “After that, President Abbas decided to go to the Security Council.” Mr. Shaath said that when he himself saw the Quartet statement proposal: “I gulped. This was the statement that was supposed to persuade President Abbas not to go? Mr. Blair doesn’t sound like a neutral interlocutor. He sounds like an Israeli diplomat sometimes.” Mr. Shaath distributed a 35-page booklet he and his colleagues plan to give to every United Nations delegation. Titled “Recognizing Palestine: An Investment in Peace,” it lists four reasons the Palestinians have taken this course: acts by Israel that undermine peace, international responsibility toward the Palestinians, the growth of Jewish settlements and intensifying Israeli designs on East Jerusalem. In discussing these issues on Saturday, Mr. Shaath was particularly cutting about settlements. He said the new Quartet statement never mentioned them except as “demographic changes since 1967” and “new facts on the ground.” “Mr. Netanyahu doesn’t want to pay any price,” he said. “He wants no swaps. He wants everything for free.” Israeli leaders make the same accusation of the Palestinians — they are unwilling to give up any of their longstanding demands and to recognize that after more than four decades, circumstances have changed. Each side accuses the other of violating the Oslo Accords, the 1993 framework that rules their relationship, although neither is willing to declare Oslo dead, only moribund. Mr. Shaath said that the United Nations move would bring new legitimacy to the Palestinian leadership which, under Mr. Abbas, had “succeeded in bringing in a new culture of nonviolence,” adding, “We are not going back to violence.” He said Palestinian security forces would make sure that street demonstrations in coming days would be contained and peaceful. In an example, hundreds of Palestinian and Israeli women and supporters demonstrated on Saturday for an independent Palestine on both sides of the Kalandia checkpoint between Ramallah and Jerusalem. The usually traffic-clogged crossing, a point of friction where young Palestinians often clash with Israeli soldiers, was closed to cars by the Israeli military. Despite the throngs of demonstrators, the atmosphere remained calm, with little of the usual stone-throwing by rioters or firing of tear gas by the military. Some Palestinian youths made V-signs and posed for photographs next to Israeli soldiers. A version of this article appeared in print on September 18, 2011, on page A12 of the New York edition with the headline: Palestinians See U.N. Appeal as Most Viable Option. comments (206) Sign In to E-Mail Print Reprints Connect with The New York Times on Facebook. More Headlines From Around the Web Sponsored Links Caring.comCaring for Someone with Alzheimer's? 18 Activities to Bring Back a Smile Tablet MagazineAnglo Caring.comI'm Done! 5 Biggest Issues That Sabotage Family Caregivers ELLE.comThe Queen’s Not Thrilled With Kate Middleton’s Exhibition Get Free E-mail Alerts on These Topics Palestinians Security Council (UN) Shaath, Nabil Israel Ads by Google what's this? Accpac too expensive? Convert to Adagio overnight. Unlimited users. 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Israeli deputy foreign minister: 50-70 countries won’t support Palestinian U.N. bid 2 Comments and 41 Reactions|ShareTweet|Email|Print| By Ben Birnbaum - The Washington Times Friday, September 16, 2011 **FILE** Israeli deputy foreign minister Daniel Ayalon (The Washington Times)**FILE** Israeli deputy foreign minister Daniel Ayalon (The Washington Times) Text Size: +- Click-2-Listen Story Topics War_Conflict Politics Danny Ayalon Israel United Nations Follow Us On facebookFacebook Question of the Day Will Congress pass Obama's jobs package? Yes No Undecided Other Login to Vote View results Israel’s deputy foreign minister is predicting that “between 50 and 70” countries will not vote for a U.N. resolution recognizing Palestinian statehood. “We believe — I believe — that we could look into a group of 50 countries which will not support [the Palestinian resolution],” Danny Ayalon said in an interview late Thursday. “It’ll be at least 50. Between 50 and 70.” The resolution, which Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will submit to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon next Friday, has become the focal point of a high-stakes game of diplomatic poker. The U.S. has vowed to veto the resolution in the Security Council, saying that a Palestinian state can only be created through negotiations with Israel. But the Palestinians are expected to receive an overwhelming majority in the General Assembly, where they enjoy the automatic support of the 120-member Non-Aligned Movement. With no hope of actually defeating the resolution, Israel has sought to obtain a “moral majority” of primarily Western democracies that will either vote against the resolution, abstain or not participate in the vote. “This is the group that counts,” Mr. Ayalon said. “Western democracies count because of their special weight on the international scene — not just political weight and moral weight, which is very important, but also financial weight. “The Palestinians get most of their money, not from the Muslim and Arab countries, but from Europe and the United States, so there is a leverage here that should be used in a responsible way.” Mr. Ayalon said Israel is targeting countries in Africa, Latin America and even the Carribean, acknowleding that the primary battleground — and the greatest prize — is the European Union. “A lot will be dependent on the Europeans,” he said. “Many countries are waiting to see how Europe will vote.” The 27-member European bloc has struggled to forge a unified position on the Palestinian resolution, the exact text of which has yet to be finalized. If the bloc spinters, Israeli officials expect Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and most former Soviet bloc countries to oppose the resolution, and most of the Scandanavian countries and other historically pro-Palestinian countries like Ireland and Belgium to favor it. Britain and France are seen as bellwethers, though the French are leaning toward supporting the Palestinians. Israeli officials believe that the final vote will resemble the 2009 vote endorsing the “Goldstone Report,” a U.N. document that accused Israel of systematic war crimes in its 2008-09 war against Hamas in the Gaza strip: 114 countries voted for that resolution, 18 voted against, 44 abstained and 16 were absent. Mr. Ayalon said that if Western democracies announce a unified position in the coming days, “the Palestinians will think long and hard about whether to go forward because — it could be really embarrassing for them to get their resolution [passed] only on the numbers of Islamic and Non-Aligned [Movement] votes.” “I believe it is time to tell the Palestinians that they cannot just act as spoiled brats and avoid negotiations on the one hand and try to impose on the international community an agenda which is very very negative because this unilateral approach of the Palestinians is slamming the door shut on negotiations and on the agreements [we have] with them so far, and it’s choosing conflict and confrontation over negotiations and reconciliation,” he said. “And this is why we believe responsible partners and players in the international community should not support it.” © Copyright 2011 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission. Comments Disqus Like Dislike Login Add New Comment Image Real-time updating is paused. (Resume) Showing 2 comments collardgreens1 And what do the Palestinians say--or does that matter? And what will happen if Obama exercises the veto in the Security Council, and thereby makes permanent enemies out of the Saudis and other Arab nations as the result? Can we really afford that? This constant kneejerk-reflex support of Israel right or wrong is really costing the US. And it's particularly ironic in light of the fact that Netanyahu would spit in Obama's face and stiff him every time Obama tried to get Israel to participate in the peace process with the Palestinians. Like Reply Yesterday 08:54 PM 1 Like Deathvader This is a true test of the Jewish race - Will they be greedy or magnanimous Daniel Ayalon said “I believe it is time to tell the Palestinians that they cannot just act as spoiled brats and avoid negotiations on the one hand and try to impose on the international community an agenda which is very very negative because this unilateral approach of the Palestinians..." Its bit rich to call Palestinians spoiled brats when the Jews have always demanded billions of dollars in US aid via the US Jewish lobby whose greed is legendary. Year in year out they go with a begging bowl to Capitol Hill for more dollars Like Reply Yesterday 06:12 PM M Subscribe by email S RSS Reactions olive2tun via twitter RT @glcarlstrom: Israel's deputy foreign minister predicts 50-70 countries will vote against PA's "statehood" bid at UN: http://j.mp/prdN4o Today 01:43 AM 2 more retweets from Sara . neil lambert earldean71 via twitter Israeli deputy foreign minister: 50-70 countries won't support Palestinian U.N. bid - Washington Times: http://t.co/71fOqF3j via @washtimes Yesterday 11:01 PM Ben Birnbaum via twitter RT @WashTimesWorld: Israeli deputy foreign minister: 50-70 countries won't support Palestinian U.N. bid http://t.co/WY7Kml2G Yesterday 04:26 PM alyaa via twitter RT @ASLANmedia: #ISRAEL Deputy FM said at least 50 states will opposed #Palestinian statehood in the #UN, and the vote depends on the #EU http://ow.ly/6wE6A Yesterday 03:45 PM 3 more retweets from Ben_Birnbaum altoidamadeus nolesfan2011 Aslan Media via twitter #ISRAEL Deputy FM said at least 50 states will opposed #Palestinian statehood in the #UN, and the vote depends on the #EU http://ow.ly/6wE6A Yesterday 03:15 PM Trackback URL blog comments powered by Disqus About the Author Ben Birnbaum Ben Birnbaum is a reporter covering foreign affairs for The Washington Times. Prior to joining The Times, Birnbaum worked as a reporter-researcher at The New Republic. A Boston-area native, he graduated magna cum laude from Cornell University with a degree in government and psychology. He won multiple collegiate journalism awards for his articles and columns in The Cornell Daily Sun. 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Opinion/Editorial How civil society pushed Turkey to ditch Israel’s war industry Jamal Juma' and Maren Mantovani The Electronic Intifada 16 September 2011 Last week’s takeover of the Israeli embassy in Cairo marked a new reality in the Middle East. ( Amr Abdallah Dalsh / MaanImages ) The world’s eyes are still fixed on the Middle East, and the first half of September has delivered two profound events in Egypt and Turkey that have sent shockwaves through the Israeli establishment. On 2 September, the Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced the decision to downgrade diplomatic relations with Israel to second secretary level and cut all military relations between the two countries. Then, after weeks of protests, the Egyptian people finally stormed the Israeli embassy in Cairo on 9 September and staged a “citizen’s expulsion” of the Israeli embassy staff (“Egyptian protesters send Israel ambassador and his staff out of country,” AhramOnline, 10 September 2011). At the cost of three lives and more than a thousand injuries, protesters literally shut down the Israeli embassy and required the Israeli ambassador to be flown directly back to Tel Aviv. These two events are indicative of a three-fold shift in power relations: the core strength of the people’s movements, which have contributed to the changing governmental power balance in the Middle East, which in turn have begun to assert aspirations within global diplomacy. These slow yet steady shifts have a direct, net-positive effect on the Palestinian struggle for liberation and justice and an overall negative impact on Israeli apartheid. People power In Egypt and Tunisia, inspiring victories that have come out of determined struggles have brought to power governments that, if popular mobilization continues, will be obliged to respond, at least in part, to the persistent demands and undying aspirations of the people. Some governments are still brutally combating uprisings, such as Syria and Bahrain. And still other leaders have been keenly reminded that people count and can take control of their destinies. Unquestionably, Palestine is and always has been on the agendas of the Arab popular uprisings. This has been particularly clear over the last few months in Egypt. In order to appease at least some popular demands, the interim government tried to steer away from Hosni Mubarak’s pro-Israel policies. Egypt has begun renegotiating the gas contracts, which sold natural gas at below market price to Israel (“Israeli delegation in Egypt to negotiate fixed gas rates,” Al Masry Al Youm, 13 May 2011). The official Egyptian airline EgyptAir closed down direct Cairo-Tel Aviv flights (“Egypt Air deletes Israel from its destination list,” Middle East Monitor, 23 March 2011). However, the weak diplomatic response on the part of the post-Mubarak government to Israel’s murder of five Egyptian soldiers in August triggered dramatic popular action. Mohammed el Baradei and Amr Moussa, the two leading presidential candidates, both immediately called for a stronger reaction to Israel (“Egypt-Israel ties strained after border incidents, says analyst,” The Daily News Egypt, 19 August 2011). The “citizen’s expulsion” of the Israeli embassy staff was a response to the first killing of Egyptian martyrs after the revolutionary weeks in Tahrir Square during the spring. Likewise, Turkey’s diplomatic boldness can indeed only be viewed as a victory of activists, movements, and organizations that have consistently shown the Ankara government the line of actions to take in order to display its solidarity with Palestine. Turkey ditches Israeli war industry Here, the popular mood is similar to Egypt’s. For a long time, the Turkish government has been aware of the unpopularity of its support of the Israeli war industry and the occupation of Palestine. The people in Turkey have consistently shown overwhelming solidarity with Palestine, most notably with their mobilization for the 2010 Gaza Freedom Flotilla, which ended in a brutal attack by the Israeli navy. Israel commandos killed eight Turkish citizens and one US citizen of Turkish origin on the Mavi Marmara. Now, we see the Turkish government taking leads from its citizens, mobilizations in the region, and the Palestinian people. Only two months ago, the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions National Committee (BNC) launched its call for a military embargo on Israel (“Impose a mandatory and comprehensive military embargo on Israel,” BDS Movement, 8 July 2011). This call was supported by organizations and unions representing dozens of millions of people all over the globe. For civil society in the entire region, beyond just Egyptians and Turks, there can be no question about the power of citizens to affect social and political changes that can undermine Israeli apartheid and neo-colonial policies pursued by neighboring governments. Meltdown of power structures Power relations and alliances are changing in the Middle East. The strength of the people’s movements is a driving force in this phenomenon, as well as a result of it. A short overview of the region reveals the slow meltdown of the power structures on which the US and the EU had cast a stronghold on the region. The wars and occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan have proven to be military and political failures. As NATO attempts to control oil reserves in Libya, the West is proving itself to be militarily overstretched, economically depleted, and politically discredited. The failures of its governments’ diplomatic initiatives for peace in the region are due to Israel and its arrogance, its impunity becoming a liability for Western powers. Pillars of colonial power such as the Mubarak regime have fallen, leaving a political void. At least until Egypt’s November elections, Turkey will be the only resource-rich and populous country with an uncontested leadership between the Mediterranean and Iran. The Turkish realignment is also a reflection of this scenario. Turkey was Israel’s second biggest importer of Israeli weapons and had guaranteed to Israel airspace rights for military training flights. Turkey imported more than double the amount of arms from Israel than any other country in 2009 (“Palestinian civil society welcomes Turkey’s decision to suspend all military ties with Israel and lower diplomatic relations,” BDS Movement, 7 September 2011). Turkey and Israel also conducted intensive joint military training exercises (“Military cooperation was at the hear of Turkey-Israel ties,” Defence Talk, 1 June 2010). The freezing of military ties is a dramatic show of force but is part of a long-term shift of policy. In the last few years Turkey’s prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has rebuilt relations with the Turkmen neighboring states, Iran, and others in the Global South and decisively shifted Turkey’s areas of interest towards the east and the south. Since the Israeli attack on the Mavi Marmara, Turkey has not signed any new military contracts with Israel. And just days ahead of the 2 September statement, Turkey reached an agreement with NATO to ensure that Israel would not have access to data collected by a new NATO anti-missile early warning system (“Turks to install NATO radar,” Hurriyet, 2 September 2011). It’s notable also that the US seems to have conceded to the direction of Turkey’s new policies. Taking advantage of the governmental power void and political support for Palestine at popular level, Turkey has forcefully put itself on the public and diplomatic map by letting Israel know it is not anymore dominating the region. That is an astute move that has allowed Turkey to assert regional hegemonic aspirations and, contemporaneously, to gain widespread sympathy across the Middle East for challenging Israel. Immediately afterwards, Erdogan extended his hand to Egypt by planning the first presidential visit to Cairo in 15 years. Being aware that Egypt and Turkey together make up more than half of the population of the Middle East and half of the eastern Mediterranean seashore, Erdogan will sign strategic economic and military agreements that could be the basis for a new Middle Eastern alliance (“Egypt, Turkey look to forge stronger ties as Erdogan readies to visit Cairo,” Today’s Zaman, 9 September 2011). However, regardless of future Egyptian government and Egyptian-Turkish cooperation, one thing is clear: since 2 September, the new Middle East in formation has a leading figure nobody will be able to avoid. Sham UN investigation The latest Turkish announcements took on the United Nations as well. The Turkish move was ultimately triggered by what began as a stand-off on the Palmer report, a UN investigation into Israel’s attack on the Mavi Marmara. The formation of the Palmer Commission was a shield for Israel from condemnation of its violations of international law, to avoid a repeat of the detailed proof in the UN investigative report on the Israeli attack on Gaza in late 2008 and early 2009. After the UN Human Rights Council had already mandated an expert committee to investigate the issue, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon formed an almost parallel committee. Ban appointed none other than Alvaro Uribe, the ex-president of Colombia, as vice-chairman of the Freedom Flotilla investigation. Only a few months earlier, the UN Human Rights Commissioner had published a scathing report on violations of human rights and repression of human rights defenders committed in Colombia under Uribe (“Report of the United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation of human rights in Colombia,” 4 March 2010). Moreover, Colombia became one of the world’s biggest importers of Israeli weapons during his presidency and the Colombian military continues to hire Israeli military “consultants” to learn from their methods of repression. Unsurprisingly, the outcome of the UN report was taken as an insult to Turkey as well as to international law (“Disappointment at the United Nations: the Palmer report on the flotilla incident of 31 May 2010,” Middle East Monitor, 9 September 2011). Against the consensus of international law experts, the report argued that the siege on Gaza was legal and recommended that little more than an apology from the Israeli government would be an apt remedy for the killing of nine Turks. Turkey’s response was sharp and functioned on two levels: it stated its intention to refer the of Gaza to the International Court of Justice and promised that it will ensure freedom of navigation in the eastern Mediterranean by the force of its own navy. These recent announcements by Turkey are therefore a message to the United Nations that it must not guarantee Israel impunity for its crimes. Where the UN fails, other avenues will succeed in holding Israel accountable. US vetoes in the Security Council can shield Israel only insofar as the West willingly permits this fig leaf to obscure its own unwillingness to act. Turkey’s message is nothing new. Civil society around the world has long promoted a call for accountability through boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS), including the call for a military embargo on Israel. Civil society has already gained impressive victories over the last five years through BDS and a call for BDS may soon be heeded by institutions and governments. It is crucial that activists in Turkey and around the world continue to escalate their mobilization in support of the Palestinian call for BDS and a complete military embargo on Israel in order to ensure that the Turkish government does not resume relations with Israel until Israel complies with international law and human rights and other governments follow suit. Activists will further have to develop and refine methods of monitoring the implementation of BDS pledges by governments, institutions and enterprises. The people’s movements strengthen Middle Eastern governments against sustained apartheid in Israel. There is hope that the time is coming close when the nations finally unite in effective action against Israeli apartheid, colonialism and occupation. Jamal Juma’ is coordinator of the Stop the Wall Campaign. Maren Mantovani is international outreach coordinator of the Stop the Wall Campaign. Tags: Turkey-Israel relations Egypt Civil society Stop the Wall activism United Nations Palmer report UN Human Rights Council Mavi Marmara gaza Recep Tayyip Erdogan BDS Israeli embassy in Cairo Add new comment Your name E-mail The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly. Homepage Subject Comment policy Comment * Characters left: 2000 More information about text formats No HTML tags allowed. Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically. Lines and paragraphs break automatically. Notify me when new comments are posted By submitting this form, you accept the Mollom privacy policy. 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Palestinian Options at U.N. Lead to Legal Threat to Israel's Military Article Comments more in Middle East » Email Print Save ↓ More smaller Larger By JOE LAURIA UNITED NATIONS—If the Palestinian Authority succeeds in winning even an incremental upgrade of its status at the U.N, it could subject Israel's military to international courts for actions in Palestinian territory—as well as allow Palestinian control of its Israeli-patrolled air space and national waters off Gaza. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Friday he would seek full U.N. membership through the Security Council. If the U.S. vetoes that effort, as it has vowed to do, the Palestinians have a second option for membership: go to the General Assembly. Francis Boyle, a legal adviser to Mr. Abbas, told The Wall Street Journal that he has advised the Palestinian president to take this step, which is made possible through a resolution, known as Uniting for Peace, that was introduced by the U.S. in 1950 to circumvent repeated Soviet vetoes of Security Council measures to help South Korea battle the North. To succeed, the Palestinians would have to convince two-thirds of the voting Assembly that Palestinian membership would be a response to an existing "threat to peace, breach of the peace or an act of aggression" from Israel. The U.S. and Israel say a U.N. vote would itself threaten peace. More U.N. Assembly Looming, U.S. Fails to Sway Palestinians The Palestinians have a third option: Seek an upgrade from permanent-observer mission to a nonmember, permanent observer state in the Assembly. That route has fewer roadblocks, since no country holds a veto in the Assembly, and diplomats say the Palestinians have more than the required 97-vote simple majority. Such an upgrade could be more than symbolic, potentially altering the political equation between the Palestinians and Israel. As an observer state, Palestine could participate in Assembly debates, but couldn't vote, sponsor resolutions or field candidates for Assembly committees. But it could accede to treaties and join specialized U.N. agencies, such as the International Civil Aviation Organization, the Law of the Sea Treaty, and the International Criminal Court, officials said. Switzerland joined the ICAO in 1947 when it was still an observer state before becoming a U.N. member in 2002. Denis Changnon, an ICAO spokesman, said the treaty gives members full sovereign rights over air space, a contentious issue with Israel, which currently controls the air space above the West Bank and Gaza. The Palestinians could bring claims of violation of its air space to the International Court of Justice. If the Palestinians accede to the Law of the Sea Treaty, they would gain legal control of national waters off Gaza—where they are currently under an Israeli naval blockade. Under the treaty, the Palestinians could challenge the blockade at the International Court of Justice. They could also claim rights to an offshore natural-gas field now claimed by Israel. Even more troubling for Israel and the U.S. would be Palestinian membership in the International Criminal Court. Ambassador Christian Wenaweser, president of the ICC Assembly of State Parties, said in an interview that a Palestinian observer state could join the ICC and ask the court to investigate any alleged war crimes and other charges against Israel committed on Palestinian territory after July 2002. including Israel's 2008-09 assault on the Gaza Strip. —Joe Lauria Write to Joe Lauria at newseditor@wsj.com Join the discussion Be the first to comment More In Middle East » inShare Email Print Order Reprints Journal Community Add a Comment We welcome your thoughtful comments. Please comply with our Community rules. All comments will display your real name. Want to participate in the discussion? Register for Free Or log in or become a subscriber now for complete Journal access. Track replies to my comment Go to Comments tab Clear Post Login with Facebook Share articles and post your comments on Facebook What's this? 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RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - President Mahmoud Abbas said on Friday he would demand full membership of the United Nations for a Palestinian state when he goes to the U.N. General Assembly next week, setting up a diplomatic clash with Israel and the United States.

"We are going to the United Nations to request our legitimate right, obtaining full membership for Palestine in this organization," Abbas said in a televised speech.

"We are going to the Security Council," he added, to rapturous applause from his audience of Palestinian leaders in Ramallah, signaling his determination to press ahead despite efforts by U.S. and European officials to dissuade him.

Both Israel and its main ally, the United States, firmly oppose the initiative, arguing that a Palestinian state can only be created through direct negotiations.

The Palestinians say almost 20 years of on-off direct talks on statehood envisaged by interim peace accords have hit a dead end for reasons including Israel's refusal to stop expanding settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, lands it took in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and which Palestinians want, along with the Gaza Strip, for an independent state.

The last round of the U.S.-backed talks between Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu collapsed nearly a year ago when the Jewish state declined to extend a partial moratorium on West Bank settlement building.

A full halt to such construction on territory the Palestinians say they need for a viable state is one condition they have set for a resumption of negotiations. Israel withdrew settlers from tiny, coastal Gaza in 2005.
Abbas said the U.N. step would not "end the occupation," but would strengthen the Palestinians' hand.
Washington has already said it will veto any statehood resolution in the Security Council and some U.S. politicians have said they will try to cut American aid to the Palestinians, totaling some $500 million a year, if they refuse to back down.
A statement from Netanyahu's office issued after the speech said the Palestinians were "systematically" avoiding direct talks with Israel.
Abbas said recognition as a state would allow a return to peace talks, but on a stronger footing. "Negotiations, no matter how difficult, will be between one state and another."

A flurry of diplomacy led predominantly by the European Union has sought to avert the U.N. showdown by seeking a deal that would bring about a return to talks within weeks, diplomats say. However, the mediation is struggling in the face of long-standing disagreements over the terms of reference.

HAMAS SAYS ANY RESULT "COSMETIC"
Failing that, the EU has also been trying to avoid a Security Council confrontation by persuading the Palestinians to accept a diluted upgrade to their status at the United Nations, where they are currently recognized as an "entity."
If Washington does veto the resolution, as expected, the Palestinians could then go to the full U.N. General Assembly. It does not have the power to grant them full membership, but could recognize Palestine as a non-member state.
Such a move would give the Palestinians possible access to other international bodies, including the International Criminal Court, from where it could seek to sue Israel over its longtime occupation of the West Bank.
Abbas said there was no decision on alternative options the Palestinians could pursue in the event of failure.
"If we succeed, and this is what we are working toward, then we must know that the day following the recognition of the state, the occupation will not end," Abbas said.
"But we will have obtained the world's recognition that our state is occupied and that our land is occupied and not disputed territory, as the Israeli government claims," he said.
Abbas' Islamist rivals in the Hamas movement, which governs Gaza, dismissed the plan. A spokesman said any result would be "cosmetic, especially when Mahmoud Abbas said his aim is to return to the negotiations with the occupation after all."
The Arab League on Tuesday threw its support behind Abbas's initiative. Arab foreign ministers, who began efforts in July to organize backing for the Palestinian bid, decided to set up a team comprising the League head and six League members to further pursue the controversial statehood application.
Long criticized at home for appearing weak in the face foreign pressure, Abbas signaled no retreat from his plan.
"You certainly don't believe me," he joked during the speech, adding that he would present the application after delivering his speech to the General Assembly on September 23 -- when Netanyahu is also addressing the gathering
He also stressed that any popular protests in support of his initiative should be peaceful. Israel fears that the U.N. showdown could spark violence across the West Bank and is putting its forces on high alert in the area.
A French government official warned of a race against time.

"What (Europeans) would like is the relaunch of peace talks. Our feeling is that time is running out for peace and even more so with the Arab Spring," he said, alluding to popular revolutions in several Arab countries this year.

"These states will be democratic countries that will have to consider public opinion even more ... Today we still have a window of opportunity for peace but the feeling is that if these renewed peace talks don't happen then the Palestinian territories, which are fairly calm (now), could explode."

(Additional reporting by Ali Sawafta in the West Bank, Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza and John Irish in Paris; editing by Crispian Balmer and Mark Heinrich)

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  0Thumbs UpThumbs Down0

  WHERE IS MY MONEY 15 seconds ago Report Abuse

  So which of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse are we up to now? ;]

  Reply
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  0Thumbs UpThumbs Down0

  Joseph M 15 seconds ago Report Abuse

  Goody-goody gumdrops... next.

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  0Thumbs UpThumbs Down1

  Why 31 seconds ago Report Abuse

  Let us face it, Israel is a locust, they are negotiating at one foot of land a year but they are stealing one mile of Palestinian land an hour. And America is that outrageous scheme. support

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  DennisC 34 seconds ago Report Abuse

  Get ready to fight muslims where ever you are. They will not stop until the rest of us say we are muslim ,or dead. Now is the time to make a statement of which we want to be.

  Reply
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  the wise one 48 seconds ago Report Abuse

  I, as an American, hate to see billions of each and every $ of us going to the terrorist welfare regime of israel.
  Enough of supporting these born-terrorist bus tards!

  Reply
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  0Thumbs UpThumbs Down0

  ... 52 seconds ago Report Abuse

  and again the US will play Israel's obedient performing flea

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  obozo's nightmare about a minute ago Report Abuse

  if you give all of the land to the palestinians, they will have it ugly and jacked up like east l.a. and all within months. allah akhbar

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  Anthony about a minute ago Report Abuse

  "Every time we do something you tell me America will do this and will do that . . . I want to tell you something very clear: Don't worry about American pressure on Israel. We, the Jewish people, control America, and the Americans know it." - Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon.

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  0Thumbs UpThumbs Down1

  Jefferson Davis about a minute ago Report Abuse

  President Obama will VETO any U.N. attempt to recognize Palestine ! Ask HAMAS for the reason why?

  Reply
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  1Thumbs UpThumbs Down0

  إسماعيل ياسين about a minute ago Report Abuse

  Israel is just kicking the can down the road, as it has always done. Without a state of unending conflict, Israel cannot survive. It's a militaristic state, the economy is shattered (witness the huge demonstrations all over Israel), and real transformation is blocked by settlers on the one hand,... More

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  1Thumbs UpThumbs Down1

  Dick breath about a minute ago Report Abuse

  Good for Palestine not to be intimidated by the Jew controlled US congress and Israel

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  0Thumbs UpThumbs Down0

  dr about a minute ago Report Abuse

  Hamas are pure terrorists, if it was the US not Isreal, we would invade and wipe them off the face of the earth. Instead we give them 1/2 a billion dollars a year. go figure.

  Reply
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  2Thumbs UpThumbs Down1

  Myron 2 minutes ago Report Abuse

  Go on my pally brothers, you can do it. Like we say here in the states; freedom isn't cheap.

  Reply
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  0Thumbs UpThumbs Down1

  Vern 2 minutes ago Report Abuse

  Everyone in America should have to watch the tape where Palistinians were celebrating while the Twin Towers burned.

  1 Reply
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  1Thumbs UpThumbs Down1

  Chuck G- - F*c*u*k Hamas 2 minutes ago Report Abuse

  Real Coward ... Was Nidal Hasan from Fort Hood, your commanding officer ?

  Reply
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  1Thumbs UpThumbs Down1

  Curmudgeon 2 minutes ago Report Abuse

  Do not allow a scorpion inside your shirt.

  Reply
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  2Thumbs UpThumbs Down1

  Resist 3 minutes ago Report Abuse

  the problem is if israel cant live with the people that hate them then TOOOO bad they should have considered this BEFORE movin in,no pity whatsoever they new in 1948 what was gonna happen they didnt care.the time for whinning is long past,everyone with half a brain knows that when the nukes fly its... More

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  Tom S 3 minutes ago Report Abuse

  Let's assemble a group of Palestinian women and see what they think ! Oh wait.......they would be killed for speaking in public without their husband/rapist telling them exactly what to say. Silly me.

  Reply
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  0Thumbs UpThumbs Down2

  Anthony 4 minutes ago Report Abuse

  "We Jews regard our race as superior to all humanity, and look forward, not to its ultimate union with other races, but to its triumph over them." Goldwin Smith, Jewish Professor of Modern History at Oxford University.

  Reply
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  3Thumbs UpThumbs Down1

  critic 4 minutes ago Report Abuse

  Here is the problem and the solution is very simple. Israel and arabs can divide the land in half. The Jews can live on the top of the land and arabs can live under the ground. 50/50 and everyone gets what they wanted.

  1 Reply

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