- 14 juni 2012
US is addicted to war: Analyst
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiGK0WRTi9U
US President Barack Obama has awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Israeli President Shimon Peres, the man who has overseen the killing of Palestinian women and children by Israeli forces in the occupied territories for decades.
Obama awarded the 88-year-old Israeli president the highest civilian honor in the United States during a dinner ceremony in the White House on Wednesday. He called Peres “the essence of Israel and the symbol of a decades-long alliance between Tel Aviv and Washington”.
In an interview with Press TV, Kamel Wazni, a Beirut-based political analyst, shares his thoughts regarding the issue. Below is an approximate transcript of the interview.
Press TV: First of all, I would like your impression of the story.
Wazni: Obviously, this is a disgrace for justice; it is injustice by itself. Shimon Peres is a criminal; he committed crime against humanity. In particular, in 1996, 102 Lebanese women and children residing at the UN compound were attacked by Israeli airplane at the order of Shimon Peres who is receiving the honor from another president who is also committing crimes against humanity by initiating what is known as target assassination drones and bombs against civilian that is taking place in the world.
So, basically, one criminal is honoring another criminal and this is injustice by itself. I think the American president should be ashamed of himself for what he has done and what he is doing by honoring somebody whose hand is full of blood with the Lebanese, Palestinians and Arabs throughout his history.
This is the case of April 18, 1996, the massacre of Qana [a village in Southern Lebanon]; everybody will remember the massacre of Qana. There are a lot of pictures, children, women; they were hiding at the UN compound, a United Nations facility where there was nobody but the UN and those civilians.
Shimon Peres ordered the massacre, the slaughter of these civilians. It is absurd to have a president who is running for election, dying for votes to come and embrace a criminal. This is the American at best: disgrace, disgrace, disgrace.
Press TV: What political repercussions will this have for Washington in the face of the international community with Washington claiming it being the supporter of human rights?
Wazni: Obviously, if you [put] the record and footage of what America is doing throughout the world, all these wars, America is addicted to war, been in war since the establishment of the United States.
Among themselves, 500 thousand people were killed in civil war. From that history, they took California; they took Texas from Mexico; they fought their neighbors. They have been fighting with the world and particularly with the Obama doctrine that is known as target assassination where they go with the drone attack, those drone planes; they go from a place in the United States with a computer and they assassinate people throughout Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen and throughout the world, in Iraq, sometimes in other parts of the world that we do not know.
But everyday there is a civilian being killed by this target assassination and the fact that Obama picked the targets as was released by the New York Times through the analysis of how he used the drone bombs for target killings. So we have to talk about this issue.
There was a report done by the United Nations in 2010, accusing the United States of committing crimes against humanity and this was actually done by Ban Ki-moon and it is actually a thorough document.
So you can say what the Americans are doing and their record on human rights and their record on democracy and their records on what they call freedom. It is a massive killing that we have seen throughout the history of the United States whether it is in their war in Vietnam, in Cambodia, what they do in their fighting in the Persian Gulf. When they fought Iraq, one million Iraqis were killed and all their cyber attacks against Iran.
America is always committing crimes, over and over and over [again]. So there is no record whatsoever in democracy. America thinks about their own interests, about their own economic interests and their dominant power all over the world. This is a ‘missed justice’ when they talk about democracy. Democracy is a tool to launch, to further their interests and their domination and to control the wealth of the world.
Press TV: Some say that Obama’s move to give the medal was to gain the support of AIPAC in a year of election. Just how much influence does the Israeli lobby have in US politics and the US economy as well?
Wazni: Obviously, they have a very strong control of the election and they have very strong influence when it comes to the media, the money contribution to the campaign. But it does not matter whatever Obama does, I do not think the Jews [will] fight in his camp.
I think they still dislike him despite whatever he did to Israel. He actually gave more money, more weapons and more supplies to the Israelis. But I think there is love-hate [relationship] between him and Netanyahu and I do not think the Jewish vote will help him in this election.
I think Obama’s chance of being reelected is very slim and he probably will not see it. Just a couple of days ago, I was reading [about] the Jewish vote in the United States. They are pretty much against him because they always wanted more from him and from other presidents.
I think America is hostage to the Jewish vote and this is what is really needed: a new democracy in the United States to get off the Jewish taking America hostage for a very long [time].
It is time for America to be liberated from the Jewish influence, from the Jewish vote and I think Obama is trying very hard. But I think the situation in the United States is going to be voted on the merit of the economy and we know the economy in the United States is in the worst condition ever seen in the history of that continent.
Just a couple of days ago, they said America lost about 40 percent of their wealth. This is according to the Federal Reserve Bank. This is the situation kissing up to the Israelis, to the Jewish voters. It is not going to help. They are not going to like Obama and they probably will not elect him and he will not be elected for that reason and other reasons.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/246234.html
Washington funded Houla-style massacres: Analyst
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trL9F0oWn8Q
The US and NATO have launched a war on Syria by funding and training the terrorists who commit Houla-style massacres in the Arab country, an analyst tells Press TV.
“This is a war of aggression. It is not necessarily using the instruments of conventional theater wars, which is to come in with artillery and air force and so on, but allied Special Forces on the ground,” said Michel Chossudovsky, a professor at the Center for Research of Globalization, Montreal.
He added that the US-backed coalition is staging a “massive casualty-producing event” in Syria, namely the killing of civilians and blaming it on the enemy.
The historical origins of the “massive casualty-producing event” go back to “Operation Northwoods,” an infamous 1962 Pentagon Plan, consisting of killing civilians in the Miami Cuban community, with a view to justifying a war on Cuba.
“The plans were developed as ways to trick the American public and the international community into supporting a war to oust Cuba's then new leader, communist Fidel Castro,” abcnews.com reported on May 1, 2001.
On May 25, 108 people were killed in a massacre in the town of Houla, in the volatile central province of Homs in Syria.
Less than two weeks later, a second massacre took place in the central village of al-Qubeir in the Hama Province.
Chossudovsky added that it is not coincidental that the US is threatening China in the South China Sea and is also threatening Russia on its European borders.
“These threats are there in a sense to convince the Russians and the Chinese that they should toe the line; it's a blackmailing process,” he said.
“But I should emphasize that if any kind of broader military action were to take place against Syria this could lead to escalation and become a regional war, which would extend from the Eastern Mediterranean right through to Central Asia and the Western Frontier,” Chossudovsky concluded.
http://fwd4.me/139r
Obama honors Israeli criminal with Medal of Freedom
US President Barack Obama has awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Israeli President Shimon Peres, the man who has overseen the killing of Palestinian women and children by Israeli forces in the occupied territories for decades.
Obama awarded the 88-year-old Israeli president the highest civilian honor in the United States during a dinner ceremony in the White House on Wednesday.
“No individual has done so much over so many years to build our alliance… as the leader we honor tonight -- our friend, Shimon Peres,” Obama said during the event, which also hosted former US President Bill Clinton.
Obama also stated that the “bonds” between the United States and Israel are “unbreakable” and “non-negotiable.”
The Israeli president has been honored by Obama a few months ahead of the US presidential election of November 2012.
“You have pledged a lasting friendship for Israel,” Peres told Obama.
The Washington ceremony in honor of a major Israeli figure comes two weeks after Israeli aircraft carried out an attack on southern Gaza Strip, injuring three Palestinians.
Israel conducts airstrikes and ground attacks against the occupied Palestinian territories on an almost regular basis.
The Tel Aviv regime also denies about 1.7 million people in Gaza their basic rights, including the freedom of movement and the right to decent living, work, health and education.
In a Wednesday interview with Press TV, renowned American philosopher and linguist Noam Chomsky lashed out at the US for violating the international law with “total impunity” and argued that Israel along with other US “allies and clients” has inherited that privilege from Washington.
“That’s what power is,” Chomsky noted, “so for example the United States itself cannot be brought before any international tribunal. The one attempt to do so, the International Court of Justice- US simply dismissed it.”
The celebrated academician slammed the US for manipulating the concept of “international community” for the achievement of its hegemonic objectives and argued that in the Western discourse the term “refers to the United States and anyone who happens to be going along with it.”
http://fwd4.me/139s
Peres receives Medal of Freedom from Obama at White House ceremony
(7:52) Israeli President Shimon Peres receives President's Medal of Freedom
At 88, after 65 years in politics, it seems that the veteran statesman Shimon Peres won't be excited about yet another award bestowed upon him - but Wednesday night at the East room of the White House the Israeli President had a shy smile on his face, looking at the faces of the U.S. and Israeli officials that gathered around the tables decorated with tall white candles, to honor him - as if hardly believing Senya Persky from Wiszniewo shtetl, really got there.
There were Vice President Joe Biden sitting next to the Nobel Prize laureate Elie Wiesel, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who entered with her husband, the former President Bill Clinton, a bit late - sitting next to the Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren. There were Peres' three children: Zvia, Chemi and Jonathan - who came with Dalia Rabin-Pelossof, daughter of late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro came. So did former Middle East envoy George Mitchell and Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fisher. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright gently applauded.
Later on, she sat at the same table with Peres, President Obama and his wife, and Haim Saban with his wife Cheryl.
There is a big age difference between the two Presidents - but the relationship between them seems easy - before President Peres' remarks, President Obama fixed his microphone. Probably well aware of Peres' ups and downs in Israeli politics, President Obama tagged him as "the ultimate comeback."
Obama said Peres ran for president and won when he was 83, adding that he "asked for all his tips."
“The United States is fortunate to have many allies and partners around the world. Of course, one of our strongest allies, and one of our closest friends, is the State of Israel," Obama said in his speech before he presented Peres with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civic award in the U.S.. :"And no individual has done so much over so many years to build our alliance and bring our two nations closer as the leader we honor tonight—our friend, Shimon Peres.”
“In him we see the essence of Israel itself," Obama said of Peres. "an indomitable spirit that will not be denied.”
"To receive it is an honor. And to receive it from you, Mr. President, is a privilege that I shall cherish forever," Peres said after receiving the medal. "It is a testament to the historic friendship between our two nations. I receive this honor today on behalf of the People of Israel. They are the true recipients of this honor. With this moving gesture, you are paying tribute to generations upon generations of Jews who dreamed of, and fought for, a State of their own.
A state that would give them shelter. A state that they could defend. Mr. President, you are honoring the pioneers who built homes on barren mountains, on shifting sands.
Fighters who sacrificed their lives for their country. On their behalf, I thank America for days of concern, for sleepless nights, caring for our safety, for our future."
"Palestinian-Israeli agreement is more urgent than ever before. It is necessary. It is crucial. It is possible. A delay may worsen its chances. Israel and the Palestinians are ripe today to restart. A firm basis already exists. A solution of two national states: A Jewish state – Israel. An Arab state – Palestine," Peres said.
"My greatest hope is that a dawn will rise where every man and woman, Israeli or Palestinian, Syrian or Lebanese, young people, wherever they are, will wake up and be able to say to themselves: 'I am free to be free,'" Peres exclaimed.
Obama made some cracks at Peres' advanced age. He commented "he’s still going -- on Facebook, on You Tube -- connecting with young people; looking to new technologies, always 'facing tomorrow.'
Recently, he was asked, 'What do you want your legacy to be?"' And Shimon replied, 'Well, it’s too early for me to think about it.'"
Peres was accompanied to the ceremony by his three children – Tzvia, Yonatan and Chemi, along with their families, as well as Supreme Court Justice Salim Joubran, author Tzroya Shalev, Maj. Gen. Doron Almog and his wife, Professor Manuel Trajtenberg and Dalia Rabin, among others.
After the dinner, the Israelis continued their festivities at the Blair House.
http://fwd4.me/138H
US and Israel violate international law with total impunity: Chomsky
(0:57) 'US, Israel defy Int. law with impunity' - Press TV News 1 x viewed
A renowned American political analyst says Israel gets away with numerous violations of international law as the Jewish entity is a client of the US and therefore enjoys “total impunity,” Press TV reports.
“…it (Israel) is a client state of the United States; the United States has total impunity and that is inherited by its allies and clients,” American philosopher and linguist Noam Chomsky told Press TV in an exclusive interview on Wednesday.
The comments come as US President Barack Obama on June 5 once again voiced unwavering support for Tel Aviv, reiterating that Washington is “decidedly more attentive” to Israel than it is to the Palestinians.
Obama, who made the remarks at a meeting between White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew and a visiting delegation of the US Orthodox Jewish community, also called on the audience not to cast doubts on his loyalty to his Israeli allies.
“That’s what power is,” Chomsky noted, “so for example the United States itself cannot be brought before any international tribunal. The one attempt to do so, the International Court of Justice- US simply dismissed it.”
The celebrated academic went on to say that what the US means when it refers to the international community is different from what is generally understood by the term.
“Where the term (international community) is used in the West, the international community refers to the United States and anyone who happens to be going along with it. If the world happens to be, most of the world is opposed, they’re just not part of the international community,” Chomsky said.
http://fwd4.me/1375 15 jun 2012, 14:15 , Respect -
Maria 15 juni 2012
US Honors Israeli Criminal - "One criminal honors an other criminal"
(14:24) US Honors Israeli Criminal - "One criminal honors an other criminal" - News Analysis 1/2 1 x viewed (12:36) US Honors Israeli Criminal - "One criminal honors an other criminal" - News Analysis 2/2 1 x viewed
‘Obama speaking of Israeli peace and freedom, joke’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gwDt72eCT8
US President Barack Obama’s use of the expression “peace and freedom” in relation to Israeli President Shimon Peres is a “sick joke,” as the entity is incompatible with such concepts, says an analyst.
The comment comes as US President Barack Obama has awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Israeli President Shimon Peres, the man who has overseen the killing of Palestinian women and children by Israeli forces in the occupied territories for decades.
Obama awarded the 88-year-old Israeli president the highest civilian honor in the United States during a dinner ceremony in the White House on Wednesday.
“No individual has done so much over so many years to build our alliance… as the leader we honor tonight -- our friend, Shimon Peres,” Obama said during the event, which also hosted former US President Bill Clinton.
Obama also stated that the “bonds” between the United States and Israel are “unbreakable” and “non-negotiable.”
The Israeli president has been honored by Obama a few months ahead of the US presidential election of November 2012.
The Washington ceremony in honor of a major Israeli figure comes two weeks after Israeli aircraft carried out an attack on the southern Gaza Strip, injuring three Palestinians.
Israel conducts airstrikes and ground attacks on the occupied Palestinian territories on an almost regular basis.
Press TV has conducted an interview with freelance journalist and blogger, Michael Santomauro, to further discuss the issue.
The video also offers the opinions of two additional guests: Paul Larudee of the Free Palestine Movement and co-President of the Palestinian and Jewish Unity, Bruce Katz. The following is a rough transcript of the interview.
Press TV: Peres said he has “a vision of Israel living in full, genuine peace, with Jerusalem becoming the capital of peace.” Now peace seems a virtue untouched by the Israelis looking at the wars and aggressions that it has been involved inside the region, and most of all the annexation of Jerusalem al-Quds is not recognized by the international community, illegal settlement building continues, not to forget the segregation wall. These elements don’t constitute a capital of peace. How do you perceive that?
Santomauro: I agree it’s not when Obama expressed himself using peace and freedom concerning Peres in the same sentence, it’s a sick joke. Obama and Peres are both war criminals in expensive clothing, it’s ironic that they both won the noble peace prize and if you want to do a gradation Peres is more of a war criminal than Obama, extensively more so.
There is a reason why Peres got the award during the election year here in the United States because more than half of the funding that Obama is going to be receiving and he has to rely on is from the Jewish pact money that dominates the political arena here in the United States. The Jewish American affluence is the political elite and the financial elite in the United States in Washington politics, both national and local politics.
But concerning national politics you have to filter everything through Jewish pact money. There is a heavy, heavy reliance on Jewish pact money here in the United States, 35 percent of the money for the Republican Party comes from Jewish pact and 60 percent of the funding for the Democratic Party comes from Jewish pacts.
Press TV: What do you think about Peres receiving the medal for freedom. Let’s look at his report card in 1996 during his brief stint as prime minister for the Israeli regime following the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin and interestingly just two years after he received the Noble peace prize, he ordered the Israeli army to bomb the UNIFIL headquarters at the village of Qana in Southern Lebanon. In that attack a 106 people were killed and at least 110 were seriously injured.
Santomauro: Well, it could have been stopped if the United States at the time, president Clinton or any president since 1967 has stood up to the Israel lobby, none of these atrocities or war crimes would have been committed, you know, in many ways when it comes to the Middle East and maybe even most of the foreign policy worldwide it’s really being dictated in Israel not in Washington but getting back to your specific question about 1996, could Clinton have picked up the phone and stopped it?
Yeah, but that was also the year for Israel election he had to rely on the funding that’s provided here in the United States by Jewish pacts. You know, Jews only represent about 2 percent of the population of the United States but you have to realize there are over 200 major ethnic groups in the United States, the top 30 ethnic groups in the United States represent about 90 percent of the population.
Jewish Americans are somewhere in the middle, like 15, 16- yet they represent the bulk either in majority or in plurality for the funding on presidential elections. 40 percent of the billionaires in the United States are Jewish Americans. Jews in the United States are the most affluent ethnic group of that top 30 that I was referring to.
And if you’re getting 60 percent of your funding for the Democratic Party coming from Jewish pacts and 35 percent of the funding for the Republican Party from Jewish pacts and this is according to Richard Cohen who is a Jewish American and he wrote this in his column sometime in 2005 in The Washington Post.
He was just updating something that was researched by J.J. Goldberg in his book called Jewish Power that was published in the early 1990s, but getting back again to president Clinton in 1996 he could not have picked up the phone and stopped Peres from doing that atrocity because he was running for reelection.
Santomauro: [In response to another guest: Paul Larudee] I strongly disagree.
Press TV: Mr. Santomauro, if you have anything to add, please do so.
Santomauro: Well, he is referring to American interests, I think the parallel he was trying to make is not correct. Israel is not a foreign policy issue, it’s a domestic issue. It has to do with pact money and funding for the Democratic Party, in majority money and the Republican Party in plurality money. You can’t compete with that, it’s a very cohesive ethnic group here in the United States, they will dictate the terms just based on financial elite power that they have.
Larudee But where is the money coming from. Where are they getting their money? Their money is coming from a contract that Israeli consumers or the Israeli government has with US companies that are paid through US aid to those companies and therefore that money gets recycled back to the US and those who receive US money are investing some of that money in the influence of the Israel lobby in Washington. It’s a circular process there and they donate money to create groups like the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Santomauro: First of all, there is no obligation on the part of...
Press TV: Mr. Santomauro, is Israel an asset or a liability to the United States and why?
Santomauro: It’s an extreme liability. It’s caused a lot of headaches and problems for America. 9/11 would not have happened had we not had a lopsided foreign policy in the Middle East and I just want to touch on the other guest about the money, some of the money does get funneled back to the United States, the billions and billions that we give to Israel every year but there is no strings attached and there is no obligation how Israel spends that money as opposed to Egypt where there are strings attached.
http://fwd4.me/13Du
Obama's award for Israeli criminal, affront to US public: Analyst
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHksHD2oQL4
US President Barack Obama has honored the Israeli President Shimon Peres with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Obama awarded 88-year-old Peres the highest civilian honor in the United States during a dinner ceremony in the White House on Wednesday.
Peres receives the medal at a time when he has overseen the killing of Palestinian women and children by Israeli forces in the occupied territories for decades.
Press TV has conducted an interview with Franklin Lamb, an international lawyer in Beirut, to further talk over the issue. Below is an approximate transcript of the interview.
Press TV: First of all, I would like to have you impression on the story.
Lamb: Of course, it is grotesque. It is an offence to every American except those who put Israel first.
It is an offence to every person of good will that this indictable war criminal, serial war criminal, would be so honored but of course we know that the main reason is the election that is coming up for president Obama and I view this as a down payment on the Jewish vote which, according to Haaretz, has dropped 22 percent in New York stayed alone because of the mistrust or distrust they have of Obama.
So now we are seeing the period where they are demanding that he gravel, that he genuflect to the lobby and this is part of that and it is frankly revolting and it is disgraceful.
Press TV: What impact will this have politically on the image of America worldwide?
Lamb: Cash for Obama from the Jewish community but for the international community, obviously it sends the continuing message that Zionists and Israel first above Americans; do not ask about the details of the USS Liberty which this month occurred 45 years ago and killed 30 Americans and wounded more than 70; do not talk about Muslims or Arabs or Spanish or anybody else because this groups is number one ahead of America and Obama is sending that message to the world.
And it is an affront to the American people because that is not what is in the Americans’ heart and that is not what is in the main street of America and he is selling his office for campaign cash and I hope the world can forgive him because a lot of Americans, I think, will find it very difficult.
Press TV: Speaking about the elections, how do you see this move taking into consideration the upcoming election year in the US?
Lamb: I think it is overwhelmingly election0driven. There are some other motives but sure it is that he needs that cash; he is getting a competition for Mitt Romney on fundraising and he is being criticized, as you know, by Israeli leaders.
They know he is weak on this position. So now we will see a series of these kinds of events where the Zionists demand obedience from Obama and even humiliation to assure the voters that he is going to be alright and the only question that matters to certain Americans and that is the welfare of Israel: Israel first, America second.
Press TV: Considering Obama being a Democrat, how well do both parties in the US --Republicans and Democrats-- resonate with the Israeli lobby?
Lamb: Sure, typically any president usually gets about 74 percent of the Jewish vote. That is why he is concerned this time because the polls are unclear. The Zionists have organized a campaign to reduce their support or to appear.
They are flooding the media with articles showing that people do not trust Obama; Jewish voters in America do not trust him; they are trying to present the straw man to frighten him and to get him to say virtually anything they want.
Also I think it is related to the Iran issue. I personally do not think Israel is going to attack Iran but raising that red herring again allows the Israeli lobby to get more out of the American government and from the pockets of the American tax payers by raising this so-called existential fear from Iran which is of course nonsense and they know it.
But it is wanting to dominate this election and make sure not just that the president but that the Congress elects people who will vote Israel first, second and last.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/246297.html
US-Israel relations-A Simple Question
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRMZ_AZGf5Q
The US and Israel are engaged in extensive strategic, political and military cooperation. This cooperation is broad and includes American aid, intelligence sharing, and joint military exercises. American military aid to Israel comes in different forms, including grants, special project allocations and loans.
According to ifamericansknew.org, Israel receives about $3 billion from the U.S. in direct foreign assistance each year, which is roughly one-fifth of America's foreign aid budget. According to the U.S. General Accounting Office, Israel "conducts the most aggressive espionage operations against the U.S. of any ally." Antiwar.com.
According to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)'s "Greenbook," which reports "overseas loans and grants," Israel has received $140,142,800 (in constant 2003 dollars) from the United States through 2003.
17 jun 2012, 08:53 , Respect -
Maria 17 juni 2012
Romney says he'll do opposite of Obama on Israel
Republican presidential hopeful says president more concerned about Israel attacking Iran than Iran obtaining nuclear weapons. Addressing evangelical Christians, he claims Obama has been 'disrespectful' towards PM Netanyahu.
WASHINGTON - Mitt Romney told evangelical Christians that he'll do "the opposite" of what President Obama has done in dealing with Israel.
Romney on Saturday told the Faith and Freedom Coalition he believes the president is more concerned about Israel attacking Iran than he is about Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon.
"He's almost sounded like he's more frightened that Israel might take military action than he's concerned that Iran might become nuclear," Romney said.
His hawkish speech was the first time he's discussed policy toward Israel at length since becoming the likely Republican presidential nominee.
"It is unacceptable for Iran to become a nuclear nation and that we're prepared to take any and all action necessary to keep that from happening."
Asked about the president's attitude towards Israel, the Republican presidential hopeful said: "Well, I think by in large you could just look at the things the president's done and do the opposite. You consider his first address to the United Nations he castigated Israel for building settlements."
Romney described the 1967 borders as "indefensible" and noted that Obama has been "disrespectful of Prime Minister Netanyahu."
'No more distance'
He stressed that if elected, his administration would "forge a strong working relationship with the leadership in Israel."
"I would not want to show a dime's worth of distance between ourselves and our allies like Israel. If we have disagreements, we can talk about them, you know, behind closed doors. But to the world, you show that we're locked arm in arm.
Romney also criticized the White House for its handling of the crackdown in Syria. "Instead of watching what's happening in Syria from a dispassionate distance, I would be leading in Syria by encouraging our friends there like the Turks and the Saudis to prove weapons to the insurgents in Syria," he said.
Obama's campaign accused Romney of distorting the president's record on Israel. Spokesman Ben LaBolt says Obama has given Israel more security assistance than any other administration and has stood with Israel at the United Nations.
Romney addressed the group via video uplink from outside his campaign bus as he campaigned in Pennsylvania.
http://fwd4.me/13LQ 26 jun 2012, 21:04 , Respect -
Maria 26 juni 2012
Zionists behind US financial collapse: financial analyst
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=li09DHRerYM
Millions of American families lost their homes to foreclosure over the past five years.
According some reports, close to 9 million homes entered the foreclosure process between January 2007 and last month. Out of those, 4-point-3 million properties ended up foreclosed-upon.
Now, activists are calling for a moratorium on foreclosure and proper action against the banks that they hold responsible for creating the crisis in the first place.
29 jun 2012, 12:41 , Respect -
Maria 29 juni 2012
Netanyahu to Obama on election: When we say jump, you say how high?
Presidential candidate Barack Obama is being targeted by the US Israel lobby from A to Z, (Ackerman, Gary & Aipac to Zuckerman, Mort & the Zionist Organization of America) as no American president seeking re-election has been in the country’s 236 year history.
Israel’s duel loyalty agents, as well as more fair-minded American Jewish voters have historically intimidated and influenced US presidents seeking reelection, especially those in a tight race, with various financial and political threats and rewards. That’s part of the American political game and obviously plenty of other lobbies do it also.
And it pays off. From Truman’s recognition of Israel’s declaration of statehood during his tough reelection fight in 1948 when Chaim Weizmann and other Jewish leaders swarmed the Oval Office to Carter’s Camp David sell-out of American humanitarian values during his Democratic party splitting 1980 re-election challenge from Ted Kennedy. For more than 60 years the Zionist lobby has used cash, real & fake polls, and tactics ranging from threats of exposing sex-capers and corruption to withholding or delivering Jewish votes in key states like Florida, New york, New Jersey and Pennsylvania to achieve maximum obeisance to Israel’s goals. One might agree that all these tactics are part big leagues American politics.
According to long time Israeli diplomat, Abba Eban, President Truman would not have supported a Jewish state were it not for “a crucial $25,000 gift made by Jews to Truman's vice presidential aspirations in 1944 and that in 1948 American Jews helped Truman again, this time to finance his campaign at a "desperate time”. According to Eban,"No historian would question the judgment that without the support of, and political pressure from, American Jewry, Israel's emergence could not have been conceived." Eban concluded that the Zionist’s lobby’s “extraordinary solidarity and tactics” enlarged Israel's power beyond the limited dimensions of its space and size."
Concerned that Truman was too pro-Arab, Zionists enlisted Eddy Jacobson, a friend of Truman’s to sway the President to see Ezer Weizmann once again, despite Truman’s earlier ban on Zionists due to their “harassments.” Truman at first refused. He wrote on February 27, 1948, to Jacobson, just as the Nakba was ethnically cleansing nearly 800,00 Palestinians from their homes and lands, that he would not learn anything new from Weizmann, and added, "The Jews are so emotional, and the Arabs are so difficult to talk with that it is almost impossible to get anything done.” Nonetheless, after considerable persuasion which Jabonson claimed involved large amounts of campaign donations, Truman wrote Jacobson, "You win, you baldheaded SOB. I will see him."
Concerning Camp David, Jimmy Carter explained a couple of years ago during a question and answer period following a lecture at the American University of Beirut that “the Jewish lobby was relentless with pressure tactics of various sorts and Begin lied to me about Israel’s willingness to make peace with the Palestinians. I regret to have to admit to you that we caved to their political pressure.”
One could perhaps feel for Obama and his campaign staff given what they are reportedly experiencing today, especially since America’s most powerful lobby has become even stronger since the 1980’s. Their tactics are many and aimed at sapping Obama’s will to do what American national interests require. One is Bill Clinton’s reported deal, being talked about on Capitol Hill, with Israeli officials to assure that if Obama is defeated Hillary will make his/her move and lock up the 2016 Democratic primaries and the general election with plenty of attendant joy for Tel Aviv.
The power to make credible demands on Obama involve much more that Jewish votes since they make up a bit less than 2% of the American electorate. Yet, even the smallest group can make an electoral dent if they move in unison and that may happen regarding Obama among those Jewish voters and Christian Zionists who put Israel first. Obama's fate, though, is more closely tied to the Jewish vote in states Florida and Pennsylvania where they made up 4% of the 2008 electorate in both of these states.
Statistics being used by the Zionist lobby to pressure the increasingly jittery Obama campaign include recent polls. The Republican Jewish Coalition claims that 30% of Jewish voters who support Romney, represents the “highest level of Jewish support for a Republican presidential candidate in 24 years.” RJC Executive Director Matt Brooks recently stated that if the Jewish vote poll numbers hold in November, they will spell "a disaster" for Obama.
In the 2008 election, Jews supported Obama by a 57 percentage point margin 2008 1.1 points (57 x 0.02) of his popular vote margin. A recent Gallup poll has Jewish voters still in Obama's camp, but only by barely 35 percentage points . That is the lowest percentage for a Democratic presidential candidate among the Jewish electorate since 1988. A recent Gallup polls reveals a 10-point drop in Jewish voter support (22% in New York) or five points worse than Obama’s shrinkage among all registered voters compared with 2008.
The Israel lobby knows, and they know that Obama’s campaign staff knows, that any diminution in his support from Jewish voters will have a major impact in a very tight election. They both realize that Obama needs to retain his 2008 Jewish vote levels and campaign cash - or risk defeat. In a close election, one point either way could make the difference as it did in Florida's 2000 election.
So what price is being demanded of the Obama campaign for Zionist lobby support between now and November 6th?
They include, but are not limited to the following:
-Obama must freeze Israeli-Palestinian “peace talks” and block European Union pressures on Israel over the settlement and human rights issues;
-Israel wants Obama to pressure the government of Turkey to cancel the 5/28/12 indictment of four senior Israeli military commanders, who have been charged in a Turkish court in connection with the killing of nine Turkish citizens in 2010 on broad the Mari Marmara, one of the ships of the Freedom Flotilla. Warrants have been issued for the arrest of former Israeli military chief of staff, Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi, the former head of military intelligence, Major General Amos Yadlin, head of the navy, Vice Admiral Eliezer Marom, and head of the air force, Brigadier General Avishai Lev. Israel wants them withdrawn.
According to an aid of Senator John Kerrey, the Bureau of International Organization Affairs (IO) of the US State Department has advised the US Senate Foreign Relations committee that the Israeli attack on the Mari Marmara constituted an international crime which involved lethal and excessive force and resulted in the killing of nine civilians and the wounding of at least 50 others. The State Department further advised Congress that while Israel carried out an inquiry into the attack, that inquiry failed to meet the requirements of international law. Israel has not prosecuted anyone who killed those on board the Mari Marmara;
-A green light to attack Iran in case the Zionist leadership decides to do it;
-An unequivocal White House commitment that the 2012 Democratic Convention Party Platform will back the 5/17/12 passed resolution (H. Res. 568 adopted by vote of 401-11) affirming that it is US policy to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapons capability and opposing any reliance on a policy seeking to contain a nuclear-capable Iran;
-That the White House force US Senator John Kerrey, Chairman of the Foreign Relation Committee to expedite a vote on a similar resolution in the Senate (S. J. Res. 41) which remains on hold in Kerrey’s committee.
- That the White House publicly endorse the 5/23/12 Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Human Rights Act (S. 2101), which would dramatically escalate the level of sanctions against Iran and sharply tighten the enforcement of existing sanctions law.
-A public pledge by Obama that the US will attack Iran and Hezbollah if either retaliates against Israel for its bombing of the Islamic republic.
-More money for fourteen new Research & Development projects for the Israeli military;
- Free convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard.
-More visible White House support for various congressional resolutions supported by Israel, ranging from those targeting Iran, Muslims, Arabs and Palestinians.
-Regime change in Syria,
-Instruct Egypt that the price for continued US military and economic aid is to embrace the Camp ‘David accords and all its provisions requiring Egypt to “cooperate with Israel.”
-Arrange for Israeli Embassy space in Cairo given that to date no one is willing to rent it any, and damp down Muslim Brotherhood calls for the recovery of Palestine;
- Support for the United States-Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act of 2012 (H.R. 4133 and S. 2165), which recommends several ways to strengthen U.S.-Israel strategic cooperation in such fields as missile defense, homeland security, energy, intelligence and cyber-security. The House bill, which passed on May 8 by a vote of 411-2, led by Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) and Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD).
-That the 2012 Democratic Platform and candidate Obama emphasize over the next five months the need for America to guarantee Israel’s Qualitative Military Edge over any and all combinations of adversaries on the battlefield.
Obama election year groveling to Israel was perhaps symbolized by the June, 13 2012 White House spectacle of bestowal on Israel’s President Shimon Peres of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States. The PMF recognizes those individuals who have made "an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.”
Peres, father of Israel’s colonial settlements, has committed myriad international crimes against the Lebanese people and Palestinian refugees, including the April 18, 1996 Qana Massacre that killed 106 Lebanese and Palestinians and wounded approximately 120 including four Fijian UNIFIL soldiers who were among the 800 civilians who had taken refuge in the compound.
Peres sanctioned countless other attacks on civilians killing more than 14,000 civil and wounding more than 25,000 as part of various Israel aggression during his time as Prime Minister, meaning that he belongs on trial at the International Criminal Court at The Hague not at a White House dinner even in an election year. Despite knowing this, Obama caved to AIPAC and Congressional campaign pressure and sullied the PMF, his office and claimed American valves.
In an email from one Congressional staffer, she explained that the lobby wanted Peres to receive this honor which disgusted many on Capitol Hill and internationally, hoping to deflect some of the increasing condemnations the Apartheid regime has been receiving including the recent British government's Foreign Office in its report, Children in Military Custody has accused Israel of illegal mistreatment of Palestinian children after a report by a delegation of senior British lawyers revealed unconscionable practices, such as hooding, solitary confinement and the use of leg irons. found that "undisputed facts" pointed to at least six violations of the UN convention on the rights of the child, to which Israel is a signatory.
The report claims that youngsters are dragged from their beds in the middle of the night, have their wrists bound behind their backs, and are blindfolded and made to kneel or lie face down in military vehicles. The children are held in conditions that amount to torture, such as solitary confinement and no access to their parents.
In a damning conclusion, the report points out repeated breaches of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which prohibits cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.
In addition, Israel is a party to the Geneva Conventions, and bound by its obligations, yet Articles 76 and 65 of the 4th Geneva Convention were also found to have been breached, according to the report.
Article 76 prohibits detainees from being transported to the country of the authority which has detained them. In this case, Palestinian children were found to have been transported from the West Bank into Israel.
Article 65 states that any penal laws applied to prisoners in an occupied land must be translated into their own language. The lawyers said the Israeli authorities failed to translate Military Order 1676 from Hebrew into Arabic.
To the extent Obama convinces the Israel lobby between now and Tuesday November 6th may determine whether he is a one term President or returns for a second term with its uncertainties regarding traditional US Presidential support for Israel given that during his second term, as he has stated publicly thanks to a live media mike, he will have much more flexibility.
It is too early to know what boast Obama’s campaign might receive from the US Supreme Court’s 6/29/12 decision upholding his truly historic achievement of reforming the American health system which will provide quality health care for more than 30 million uninsured Americans. Widespread public approval of Obamacare may significantly weaken Zionist lobby plans to control the White House as it has the Congress and how high President Obama needs to jump.
Franklin Lamb
Franklin Lamb, former Assistant Counsel, US House Judiciary Committee and Professor of International Law at Northwestern College of Law in Oregon, earned his Law Degree at Boston University and his LLM, M.Phil., and PhD degrees at the London School of Economics.
Following three years at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Lamb was visiting fellow at the Harvard Law School’s East Asian Legal Studies Center. Lamb is the author of Israel’s 1982 War in Lebanon, International Legal Responsibility for the Sabra-Shatila Massacre, The Price We Pay.
His latest book, The Case for Palestinian Civil Rights in Lebanon, is due out shortly. Currently based in Lebanon, he volunteers with the Palestine Civil Rights Campaign and the Sabra-Shatila Foundation. More articles by Franklin Lamb
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/248534.html 30 jun 2012, 06:44 , Respect -
Maria 30 juni 2012
US acts as client state to Israel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smVhcc7EAs8
The Defense Policy Advisory Group has met in Tel Aviv this week to discuss US support for an Israeli multi-layered missile system, UPI reports.
US Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, James Miller and top Israeli Defense Ministry officials including Director General Udi Shani and Head of the Diplomatic-Security Bureau, Amos Gilad, attended the meeting.
Israel, which is the top recipient of US military aid, wants to ensure that the US regularly budgets for the missile systems that the Israeli regime plans to purchase during the next years.
Press TV has interviewed Mark Glenn, Crescent and Cross Solidarity Movement, Idaho about the implications of the US gifting their Iron Dome Missile system to Israel while the US economy is in a depressive state and in the geo-political context of it as a heightened threat to the region and beyond. What follows is an approximate transcript of the interview.
Press TV: The US is undergoing its own financial crisis and allocating millions of dollars for the Israeli Iron dome project as well as other missile defense systems, is that something the US can even afford right now?
Glenn: Well, of course not, but that’s immaterial. When it comes to Israel all that matters is Israel and I think that we can all just dispense with the illusion that the United States is an independent sovereign country that is able to make decisions that are in her own best interest. Clearly the relationship that we have with Israel is proof to the contrary of that.
And just this one item alone is dealing with our economy in the fact that we cannot afford to dispense with another billion dollars for a country that is posting continuous quarters of economic growth and I’m talking about Israel here… that alone is proof of the notion that the US isn’t looking out for her own best interests, but rather that the US is just a client state of Israel and it’s basically here to do Israel’s bidding for her.
Press TV: 275 million dollars for the Iron Dome project. How much of this has to do with appeasing the Zionist lobby in America because it is an election and Obama needs to please the right people now, doesn’t he?
Glenn: Well, of course that plays into it, but we also have to look at the other aspect of this, which is that you have many very powerful members of the House and the Senate as well as numbers of US armed services who are stockholders in these various companies who are going to be profiting off of all the research and development, even the giving of this Iron Dome system to Israel.
So, there are vested interests here besides appeasing the Zionist lobby, but as the Iraq war, as the Afghanistan war, as the destruction of Libya and as we are seeing today with the destruction of Syria… when Israel makes demands, the US follows suit accordingly and so we have to view this latest development regarding yet even more expenditures leaving the US in favor of Israel as being one more manifestation of that situation.
Press TV: Though many officials both from the US and Israeli sides argue that the missile systems are of a defensive nature. Experts argue otherwise saying that they do have offensive capabilities specifically in light of keeping a technological edge for Israel within the region.
But isn’t pouring in millions or billions of dollars, as you’ve just mentioned, into Israel’s missile systems creating a more dangerous atmosphere for an already volatile region?
Glenn: Well, not just for the region, but for the entire world. What we have here is the proverbial marriage made in hell. You have the US with all of its military and economic largesse and then you have Israel, which is the only country in the history of the world that has threatened to kill every human being on the planet if it looks like her precious experiment in Jewish self-rule in the Middle East is going to fail.
"So, it’s not just the region that is in danger because of this very dangerous marriage that exists between the US and Israel, it’s the entire world. At this point you have the US engaging in very dangerous operations in Syria knowing that Syria is very close to a nuclear armed country, Russia."
And so this has implications that go far beyond simply the Middle East; it could literally attract every human being on the planet and to be honest it will be a miracle if doesn’t.
http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/248697.html
SYRIA: UN ACTION GROUP: NEW PEACE PLAN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0K0uc7dZdUk
UNTV: United Nations: Geneva, Switzerland -
The United Nations-backed Action Group on Syria today forged an agreement outlining the steps for a peaceful transition in the Middle Eastern country, while strongly condemning the continued and escalating violence that has taken place there over the past 16 months.
"Today the international community has taken its cooperation to a stronger level, by being clearer and more specific," said Joint Special Envoy for the UN and the League of Arab States on Syria, Kofi Annan, in his remarks to the Group in Geneva. "They have laid out a path that we hope the Syrian people can embrace and work with."
In a statement, the Group called for all parties to immediately re-commit to a sustained cessation of armed violence, to fully cooperate with UN monitors, and to implement the six-point plan put forward by Mr. Annan without waiting for the actions of others.
The six-point peace plan calls for an end to violence, access for humanitarian agencies to provide relief to those in need, the release of detainees, the start of inclusive political dialogue, and unrestricted access to the country for the international media.
The Group also agreed on a set of principles and guidelines for a Syrian-led transition that meets the aspirations of the Syrian people, which includes the establishment of a transitional governing body that would exercise full executive powers and that would be made up by members of the present Government and the opposition and other groups.
"We are determined to work urgently and intensively to bring about an end to the violence and human rights abuses and the launch of a Syrian-led political process leading to a transition that meets the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people and enables them independently and democratically to determine their own future," Mr. Annan stressed, adding that for the transition to be successful "there must be a commitment to accountability and national reconciliation."
Mr. Annan emphasized that the conflict must be resolved through peaceful dialogue and negotiation alone, noting that Action Group members are "opposed to any further militarization of the conflict."
The Group, also agreed on actions that they would take to implement the steps and measures outlined in the statement, and to support Mr. Annan's work in bringing the relevant parties together.
"The Action Group members will engage as appropriate, and apply joint and sustained pressure on, the parties in Syria to implement what we have discussed," Mr. Annan said. "The hard work starts now. We must work together to implement what has been agreed. We cannot do this alone. I hope all in Syria will embrace what has been laid out here and work with us to stop the killing and build a better future," he added.
The UN estimates that more than 10,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Syria and tens of thousands displaced since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began 16 months ago.
Action Group members include Secretaries-General of the United Nations and the League of Arab States, Ban Ki-moon and Nabil Elaraby, respectively, the Foreign Ministers of the five permanent members of the Security Council -- China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States of America -- as well as the Turkish Foreign Minister, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the Foreign Ministers of Iraq, as Chair of the Summit of the League of Arab States; Kuwait, as Chair of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the League of Arab States and Qatar, as Chair of the Follow-up Committee on Syria of the League of Arab States.
Israel, US hold talks on developing Israeli missile systems
Israel’s Iron Dome missile system
Washington and Tel-Aviv have discussed the development of the Israeli missile systems.
Officials from the Defense Policy Advisory Group met in Tel Aviv this week to discuss the US support for an Israeli multi-layered missile system as well as other regional developments, UPI reported on Friday.
US Undersecretary of Defense for Policy James Miller and top Israeli Defense Ministry officials, including director-general Udi Shani and the head of the Diplomatic-Security Bureau, Amos Gilad, attended the meeting.
Israel wants to ensure that the US regularly budgets for the missile systems that the Israeli regime plans to purchase during the next years.
In recent months, the Obama administration has granted Israel financial aid to help it purchase more batteries for the Iron Dome missile system.
The US Congress also approved an aid package of about $1 billion to improve the Israeli missile systems.
This comes as the US government has been forced to make major cuts in its own military spending on account of its dire financial situation.
The contribution to the Israeli missile system, sourced from US taxpayer money, is in addition to the approximately $3 billion, which Washington grants Tel Aviv annually.
Israel is the top recipient of US military aid.
http://fwd4.me/14S0 2 jul 2012, 10:20 , Respect -
Maria 1 juli 2012
'Major powers absent from Geneva talks'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tfCYkBNT3o
UN-Arab League envoy to Syria Kofi Annan says diplomats meeting in Geneva have reached an agreement on a Syrian-led transitional governing body that could include the members of the current Syrian government and the opposition.
The foreign ministers of Russia, China, Britain, France, Turkey, Qatar, Kuwait, and Iraq, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Arab League Secretary General Nabil El-Araby, and the secretary of state of the United States attended a meeting on the situation in Syria at the United Nations office in Geneva on Saturday.
The participants of the Geneva meeting agreed that the transitional governing body in Syria “could include members of the present government and the opposition and other groups, and shall be formed on the basis of mutual consent,” Annan said at a press conference after the meeting.
However, Moscow and Beijing opposed the wording of the proposal that called for an interim government that excludes those “whose continued presence and participation would undermine the credibility of the transition and jeopardize stability and reconciliation.”
Press TV has conducted an interview with Kamel Wazni, political commentator, to hear his opinion on this issue. The following is a rough transcription of the interview.
Press TV: I’d like to get your opinion on this idea of an all inclusive transitional government in Syria?
Wazni: Well obviously the major powers, the real major powers were not the participants in this conference and we have to mention that the Syrians and the government of Bashar al-Assad was not there and the Iranians were not there and those two countries play very vital roles in the stability of the region.
This conference was headed by the United States. We heard dictatorships of the world speaking out [about] how the world should be formed and to what extent should the American control of the Middle East be implemented by Mrs. Clinton and Obama doctrine.
I think any meaningful dialogue or conference should include the parties on the ground and should not actually circumvent the will of the people of Syria. The Syrian people just few months ago went into an election and elected a parliament and the parliament with the help of the president elected a new government and this government suppose invited all dissidents to participate in the formation of Syria.
But on the other hand you got the United States and Persian Gulf countries continue to supply weapons and propaganda and providing these conferences which does not add to the stability of Syria. Actually these conferences if anything being detrimental to the will of the Syrian people and causing the fighting and the violence to continue in Syria. We have to account that the Americans and their role has been devastating in the whole process.
It is time for the Americans to get off the Syrian issue and go and take care of their own business, they have a lot of problems inside and [should] let the Syrian try to find and reach to all their own constituents to find an exit for this violence.
When the Americans and the Arab Persian Gulf countries stop interfering in Syria the violence will stop in Syria and Syria will be in the pass to find a political transition that is suitable without this heavy push by the United States.
Press TV: Mr. Wazni you rightly pointed out that many major powers were not involved in these discussions. So then do you have any faith that in the future or in the coming days, the world powers such as the United States will realize that they need to sit down with the likes of the Syrian government itself?
Wazni: I think the Americans, they like this chaos that is taking place, they like destroying countries. They are doing it on a daily basis by this new war that is called ‘the drone war’ that America is attacking countries throughout the Middle East and in Asia. We see it on a daily basis.
These wars that the Americans take [care] of in other countries they have no regard whatsoever for the sovereignty of a nation like Syria, like other countries. If they do not launch the war by proxy, they are doing it by sanctions. All these activities are the action of war against sovereign countries and it is going throughout the Middle East, sanctions like proxy war, like interference directly from the sky against sovereignty of a country.
I think the world have to say to the United States, enough is enough and it is time to get off the back of the people of the Middle East. You robbed enough of our resources, of our oil, of our money, you destroyed our country and it is enough for the Persian Gulf countries to be puppet in the hand of the United States catering to the interest of the United States and destroying their own region.
The only way we can unify this region to get off the American government of our back and time to talk to each other to see what is our fears, what are our differences and how can we heal it and that is the beginning of the process, a conference that has meaning for actually reconciliation throughout the Middle East.
http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/248875.html
'Removing Assad will add to Syria chaos'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex1k0zvFv5w
Russia and China want the Syrian people to resolve the Syrian issue while the US and its allies who are causing the bloodshed is firm about dictating terms.
Press TV has interviewed James Fetzer, professor and philosopher, Madison about the strength of the Syrian position on its own and in partnership with Russia, China and Iran. What follows is an approximate transcription of the interview.
Press TV: We have US Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton literally saying that Assad must go. How likely will there be regime change in Syria?
Fetzer: Extremely unlikely. Syria has of course a fascinating geo-political location bordering Israel, Iraq, Lebanon and Turkey. It has a strong defensive alliance with Iran, which was affirmed in 2005 and again in 2009 and I’m sure it is as strong today as ever before.
It also is a strong trading partner with Russia, which not only has acquired very sophisticated military equipment including anti-missile and anti-aircraft batteries that are capable of shooting down cruise missiles and ICBM’s with NATO forces finding they would be losing planes on the right and on the left; but also hosts Moscow’s only Mediterranean naval base - actually it’s only military base outside the former Soviet Union in Tardis on Syria’s southern coast.
This is not going to happen.
Press TV: How do you assess Syria’s neighbor’s role in exacerbating the situation in Syria?
Fetzer: I think the entire agenda has been motivated by Israeli leaders - by the Israeli master plan, to break all the strong sophisticated Arab States into little state-lets especially over conflicting sectarian lines as occurred in Iraq.
But when Vladimir Putin made his first visit to Benjamin Netanyahu it was undoubtedly to tell him that Russia would not tolerate an Israeli attack on Iran. And while Netanyahu tried to put a smile on the visit and suggest that they both agreed that there was a major issue here, I have no doubt that in fact it was actually a feat for Netanyahu’s aggressive policies against Iran.
If Syria has this sophisticated military equipment imagine what Iran will have because it also has the sophisticated anti-ship missiles in the world that could sink every ship in the [Persian]Gulf or in the Mediterranean. I mean it would be a stupid thing to do, not that world leaders have not made blunders before, but this would be a travesty; it would be something that could be irredeemable and it might even precipitate World War III.
Press TV: How effective has the United Nations been in this scenario?
Fetzer: Typically the United Nations has been compromised because of action that requires support from all the members of the Security Council and neither Russia nor China is going to authorize a UN strike against Syria where I have no doubt that Barack Obama would not take any military step against Syria without United Nations Security Council approval.
Therefore I believe we are at a stalemate and frankly it’s for the better of the Middle East because removing Assad would increase chaos in the country; it would elevate Islamic extremism. Assad like Saddam Hussein was a secularist and they were both good for the Middle East as was in fact Muammar Gaddafi good for Africa.
But the same kind of stupidity that led to the attack on Libya I am very confident is not going to happen here. NATO and the US and Israel know they have met their match.
http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/248847.html 2 jul 2012, 10:26 , Respect -
Maria 2 juli 2012
US has sinister plan for world: Analyst
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4X62DbxNCzw
Russia and China say any decision on a transition of power in Syria should only be made by the Syrian people.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi announced the stances of their countries after a meeting on the situation in Syria at the United Nations office in Geneva on Saturday.
Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March 2011. Many people, including security forces, have been killed in the turmoil.
Press TV has conducted an interview with Dr. Webster Griffith Tarpley, an author and historian from Washington, to further discuss the issue. The following is a rough transcription of the interview.
Press TV: Looking at the rights record of the participants of the meeting in Geneva, particularly that of the United States, it’s somehow hard to believe that their only concern is of human rights. Can you tell us how a regime change in Syria may benefit every participant in that conference?
Tarpley: The current US policy under the Obama administration with Hillary Clinton in the State Department aims at the destruction of all sovereign states on this planet. It’s really rolling the world situation back to the time before the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648 which established the regime of modern independent sovereign states.
The desperation of the US and the British comes from their financial bankruptcy, and what they’ve got to do is increase the rate of exploitation and looting and sacking of the entire world economy. In the course of this, they find that any national government is an intolerable obstacle. It gets in their way.
It can say no, like Mubarak said no to them on numerous occasions and Gaddafi said no most of the time, so they decided to smash up these countries. But notice their goal is not just regime change: it’s now microstates; “ministates”, to use the terms of Zbigniew Brzezinski; “partition”, the favorite term of George Soros; balkanization, failed states, rump states, warlords - warlords of the type that we see for example in Libya.
This is the goal, to have a situation where the International Monetary Fund and NATO rule the world from above but then on the ground you’ve got a kind of crazy court of petty, squabbling, impotent little entities that could never resist Exxon Mobile or JP Morgan Chase or Halliburton or anything of the kind, something, again, like Libya today.
That’s where they’re headed to this. It would be for them to break up Syria, to detach the Kurdish part, to detach parts that would be claimed by Turkey, to perhaps start the Lebanese civil war again, perhaps there would be a continuous civil war in Syria, perhaps Israel will start helping itself to various tracts of territory, and so on down the line. So that’s where this is going. It’s very sinister.
Press TV: Taking a look at the situation on the ground, for how long do you think Assad and the Assad administration in general will be able to absorb such huge pressure and stay in power?
Tarpley: I think indefinitely. I think for a very long time. Assad’s holding power may turn out to be greater than the holding power of the coalition that is against them. This of course depends on Russia and China maintaining their current blocking position in the Security Council.
Hillary Clinton, after that tirade, that outburst that we just heard, her hysterical plan is to go back to the Security Council and to try once again to get a Chapter 7 resolution through the Security Council, and that would include draconian economic sanctions and it will eventually lead them to an armed attack, a no-fly zone - meaning bombing, humanitarian corridors, buffers zones and so forth. That will be a massive attack on Syria.
There is no indication that Russia will go along. Lavrov, leading the proceedings today, said the important thing is that nothing has been imposed. When we look at this empty formula that they’ve come up with, it’s a kind of face-saving piece of rhetoric or boilerplate for all of them.
On the one side, Assad and his government have said we will not accept a solution dictated by foreigners; that’s sound policy.
Then we have the Syrian National Council, always helpful in this way, they say they will never negotiate with Assad because Assad has blood on his hands.
We’re finding out right now thanks to the Frankfurter Allgemeine in Germany, the big conservative paper in Frankfurt, that it was the Free Syrian Army that carried out the Houla massacre not Assad, not the Syrian army, but rather these bloody NATO death squads that have been brought in which Hillary Clinton is supporting - and Hague and Fabius and the rest of these people. Indeed, Kofi Annan, the hypocrite, is nothing but a front man for essentially these death squads.
Press TV: There is talk of a coalition government, and you pointed to it briefly, but how likely will this coalition government be formed and just how much will Assad agree to it?
Tarpley: There have been elections. That’s another one of these sort of Orwellian features in these proceedings. There have just been elections in Syria in which more than 50 percent, I’m not sure exactly how many but by all indications more than half of the people who were registered to vote have voted, and there were opposition figures.
Not everyone elected in those elections was from the Ba’ath Party. Of course, the Syrian National Council, the group of adventurers who like to live in expensive hotels and make pronunciations to the four points of the compass, they always say they won’t negotiate. Why would they? They’ve been living high on the hog the way it is.
There have been elections where you didn’t have to be a member of the Ba’ath Party. Full elections have been held but Kofi Annan said ‘those are not good enough, that’s not what we mean.’
Well, what do you mean then given the fact that the Syrian Free Army, the Syrian National Council said they won’t participate in elections? They are the ones who are intractable and the guilt of the crisis goes to them. I think Assad can hold out for quite a while.
http://fwd4.me/14Xm 7 jul 2012, 10:59 , Respect -
Maria 5 juli 2012
Benjamin Netanyahu involved in smuggling nuclear triggers: Report
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was involved in smuggling nuclear triggers out of the United States carried out by a network of front companies, a report says.
According to a Wednesday article posted on antiwar.com, the FBI partially declassified and released additional pages from a 1985-2002 investigation into how a network of front companies connected to the Israeli Ministry for Military Affairs illegally smuggled triggers used for nuclear weapons (krytrons) out of the United States.
The FBI investigation reveals that Netanyahu worked at Heli Trading Company, the Israeli node of the network during the smuggling operations.
The Israeli premier was in contact with Richard Kelly Smyth, who at the time was president of the MILCO International Inc., a front company for the Israel-based Heli Trading Company, then owned by Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan.
In April 2002, Smyth was sentenced to 40 months in prison and fined 20,000 dollars for trafficking krytrons, tiny electronic devices that are used in high-speed photography, strobe lighting and photocopying machines, but can also be used in nuclear triggers.
Smyth was also indicted for selling about 800 krytrons to Heli Trading Company (also known as Milchan Limited).
“Smyth and [Netanyahu] would meet in restaurants in Tel Aviv and in [Netanyahu’s] home and/or business. It was not uncommon for [Netanyahu] to ask Smyth for unclassified material,” the FBI report said.
In March, the co-authors of the book Confidential: The Life of Secret Agent Turned Hollywood Tycoon Arnon Milchan issued a statement saying, “Hollywood mega-producer and former secret agent Arnon Milchan has been asked directly by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres to avoid any public discussion of the book Confidential, asserting that the matter is too sensitive at this time.”
http://fwd4.me/14np 7 jul 2012, 10:59 , Respect -
Maria 8 juli 2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbNlH25ZyMM Press TV has conducted an interview with Kevin Barrett, author and Islamic studies expert, Madison about US double standards in supporting a pledge to hunt down global terrorism, but actually supporting terrorist gangs and working with them to topple independent or sovereign governments. The following is an approximate transcription of the interview.
US slave of extremist Likud Zionism in Mideast: American author
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DmensGDgbg
An American author and Islamic studies expert says the United States is the slave of the cause of the extremist Likud Zionism that seeks to destabilize the entire Middle East, Press TV reports.
Kevin Barrett said in an interview with Press TV on Saturday that Washington and its allies have “all rallied to the cause of extremist Likud Zionism trying to destabilize the entire region.”
“I think the Likudniks want to plunge the Middle East into a big war, which would allow them to finish the ethnic cleansing in Palestine and to escape prosecution for 9/11 and the wars it triggered,” Barrett said, referring to the Israeli Likud party led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“I think it is actually Likud interests that are being served. Not even Israeli interests, but the extremist right wing Likud interests are being served by destabilizing the region.”
The American expert also stated that the current turmoil in Syria is “an orchestrated attempt to destabilize a country by the US and its Israeli partner, although partner is not really the word.”
“I think master and slave is more the relationship (between Tel Aviv and Washington) these days.”
Barrett’s comments come at a time when the anti-Syria Western governments have been calling for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down.
On June 3, President Assad said Syria is “facing a war from abroad,” and that attempts are being made to “weaken Syria, [and] breach its sovereignty.”
http://fwd4.me/14zy
7 juli 2012
Report: Netanyahu linked to US nuclear tech case
Israeli media reported Friday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was once employed by a front company used to smuggle nuclear technology out of the US.
Maariv, a Hebrew-language Israeli daily, said recently released FBI files showed Netanyahu was employed at the Heli Trading Company during the time of the smuggling operation.
The documents, first revealed by the website Antiwar.com, were from an investigation that began in 1985 into a network of front companies connected to Israel's defense ministry.
They say an American named Richard Kelly Smyth, who was later convicted of involvement in one of the front companies, met with Netanyahu during the events, the website reported.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=501781 17 jul 2012, 14:56 , Respect -
Maria 17 juli 2012
9/11 with General Wesley Clark, Richard Clarke, Max Cleland, LIBYA, EGYPT, SYRIA, IRAN
Richard Clarke is still selling the old idea that the government just so happened to brake on 9/11 and thus NOT an inside job by Generals, high skilled contractors and Zionist which then was covered up by everyone, even some if not all of the so called "9/11 Truth Movement" who does just enough to look real but the photos of drones are right there in the first NIST realeases which ZERO 9/11 Truthers just so happens NOT to find and that is the second tier of the scam.
9/11 Synthetic Terror: Made in USA, Fourth Edition Webster Griffin Tarpley
The New Pearl Harbor Revisited: 9/11, the Cover-Up, and the Exposé
Memory Remains: 9/11 Artifacts at Hangar 17
Planes without Passengers: the Faked Hijackings of 9/11
Inside 9-11: What Really Happened
Debunking 9/11 Debunking: An Answer to Popular Mechanics and Other Defenders of the Official Conspiracy Theory
9/11 The Ultimate Truth
Towers of Deception: The Media Cover-up of 9/11
(On September 4th CIA tells the FBI about the terrorists or a terrorist.) FULL Interview
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-9OkCN9mFo
Dear Won-Young Kim Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory,
Do you stand by the theory that air planes and not nukes are the cause of the September 11th seismographs readings?
While Dr. Sykes said the twin tower collapses were slightly larger in destructive energy then then the January earthquake which was a of magnitude 2.4?
While Russian Intel Nuclear Special Ops Dimitri Khalezov detected Nuclear events also on that day. Also Thomas Cahill while working for the DOE detected what only could have been an Nuclear event on 9/11.
Also R.J. Lee Group inc.
"Considering the high temperatures reached during the destruction of the WTC ... Iron-rich spheres ... would be expected to be present in the Dust". R.J. Lee Group,
The high temperatures R.J. Lee Group, Inc. is referred too could only be a Nuclear event.
Do you support a true investigation of 9/11?
Thanks Dan
Major General Smedley Butler & The Fascist Takeover Of The USA - A Warning From History
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMEI8bnbw1o
General Wesley Clark tells Democracy Now the truth about the U.S. Government!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTX-46e-96E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9QBTFKi90o
4 STAR GENERAL CALLS FOR 911 TRUTH!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9QBTFKi90o
9/11 Interview Richard Clark, Kurt Sonnenfeld October 30th 2011 Interview Richard Clark, FEMA Kurt Sonnenfeld, Senator Max Cleland Asch Experiment Group Pressure 9/11 Conspiracy Road Trip fire investigation HTA fire Fire/Arson Investigations "High Temperature Accelerant fire," "Charlie Veitch" Charlotte thermate th3 grenade (super thermite)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pc1IqCHsef8
Obama is being targeted by the US Israel lobby
Following Turkish ship "Mavi Marmara" events Presidential candidate Barack Obama is being targeted by the US Israel lobby to guarantee its support next election.
AIPAC, The US Pro-Israel Lobby, called on president Obama to pressure the government of Turkey to cancel the 28 May 2012 indictment of four senior Israeli military commanders as a condition to support his next re-election campaign.
According to Turkish press, the Jewish organization stipulated on US president Obama in exchange for his support in the presidential election to exercise pressure on Ankara to withdraw prosecution charges against four senior Israeli military commanders, who have been charged in a Turkish court in connection with the killing of nine Turkish citizens in 2010 on broad the Mavi Marmara, one of the ships of the Freedom Flotilla.
Warrants have been issued for the arrest of former Israeli military chief of staff, Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi, the former head of military intelligence, Major General Amos Yadlin, head of the navy, Vice Admiral Eliezer Marom, and head of the air force, Brigadier General Avishai Lev.
The Turkish judicial authorities have formally pressed charges against four senior Israeli military commanders according to the testimony of 600 people, including relatives of the victims and over 490 activists on the six boats.
The UN Palmer report has found that Israeli had used “excessive and unreasonable” force to stop the Turkish ship, however it considered the Israeli siege imposed on Gaza as legitimate. The report has created a serious diplomatic crisis between Ankara and Tel Aviv.
It is noted that Israel has not prosecuted anyone who killed those on board the Mavi Marmara.
http://fwd4.me/15eN 13 aug 2012, 11:45 , Respect -
Maria 11 aug 2012
US Congressman says Islam is a real threat
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDTfFWu8zsc
WASHINGTON, (WAFA) – Anti-Islam statements by a United States Congressman provoked strong condemnation from Arab American organizations.
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) said in a statement issued Thursday that it was “appalled and shocked at the irresponsible and bigoted statement made by Republican U.S. Representative Joe Walsh on Wednesday at a townhall meeting in Elk Grove Village, Illinois.”
Responding to a question from the audience, Walsh asserted that Muslims are “trying to kill Americans every week,” according to the ADC statement.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgiZVKvC3FE
He said Islam is a threat in America, “It’s a real threat...and it’s a threat that is much more at home now than it was right after 9/11.”
Walsh continued his tirade by letting the audience know, “It’s here,” referring to “radical Islam” in the suburbs of Chicago. “It’s in Elk Grove, it’s in Addison, it’s in Elgin. It’s here,” asserted ADC, the largest grassroots Arab-American civil rights and civil liberties organization in the United States.
“Walsh is yet another example of a Congressional member who has made a mockery out of the House of Representatives,” said ADC, adding that “Walsh, and other politicians who engage in such rhetoric, are directly responsible for the culture of hate and violence that leads to violent and tragic.”
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=20443 14 aug 2012, 11:20 , Respect -
Maria 13 aug 2012
Report: Israelis seeking asylum in US
Some 116 Israelis granted asylum by United States over past seven years after proving they face mortal danger by remaining in Israel.
A new report by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services revealed that over the past seven years 405 Israelis have petitioned for asylum in the US, and 116 such requests were granted.
According to a Monday report in Yedioth Ahronoth, the petitioners claimed that they were persecuted by the authorities on religious, political, racial or national grounds; or that their lives were in mortal danger in Israel.
Over the past three years alone 40 petitions have been granted. According to the report, there was a 46% drop in petitions in 2011 compared to 2010 – 26 petitions were filed and 13 were approved.
Foreign nationals can petition for asylum only once they are on US soil. Should the US courts find merit to the petition it is approved and authorities grant the petitioner refugee status.
Official USCIS records make no differentiation of asylum seekers' ethnicity or their reasons for seeking asylum.
Immigration Law specialist Attorney Perry Novotny, however, said that it is likely that most petitioners in these cases are Israeli Arabs, former USSR immigrants and radical haredim, who claim persecution.
In many cases of Israeli Arabs, the reason may be the threat of "honor killings" or blood feuds.
http://fwd4.me/17fA
15 aug 2012, 08:43 , Respect -
Maria 14 aug 2012
Prisons for the Innocent: Undocumented Immigrants in the U.S. and Palestinians Under Occupation
The struggle of the undocumented immigrants under the U.S. regime and of the Palestinians under the Israeli regime converge to reveal a harsh and clear reality: the empire is leading an offensive against the marginalized peoples, using the judicial tactic of criminalization and incarceration, and even slavery, to sustain the corporate industry and to maintain the hegemony of the Anglo-capitalist regime.
Each year, more than 300,000 men, women and children are detained by immigration authorities in the United States. They can last from weeks to several years in prison without trial. The number of immigrants detained and deported more than quadrupled since 1996. The Obama administration is guilty of deporting more than a million immigrants in only a few years. Here, then, is where inhumane capitalism jumps in since the federal prisons are no longer sufficient to incarcerate human beings -the majority blacks and Latinos-, opening a vast field for private corporations.
The Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) manages more than 60 facilities with a capacity for 90,000 beds. As if it were not enough to incarcerate thousands of innocents for profit, the CCA also exploits them: 90% of CCA employees are detained immigrants that work for $1 dollar a day. The contradictions of the system are unbelievable: these immigrants can work as slaves inside the prisons while in the outside, their work, which provides for their families, becomes a criminal act.
And so the American society is witnessing a prisons and prisoners 'boom', a malevolent cycle in which the law itself supplies the 'clients' and the cheap labor for corporations.
In Palestine/Israel, even though Israeli prisons are not private, they are an important branch of an occupation that is financed and sustained by the private sector. Today, more than 4,400 prisoners are isolated in Israeli prisons. 167 are between the ages of 16 and 18, according to Prisoner´s Society. Many of them are unjustly imprisoned, the majority for the mere fact of being Palestinians and not having the right paper to work in their own land; others, for having been part of the resistance movements during the intifadas and are considered a threat to Israel; and hundreds more are deprived the right to a fair court process and denied the right to have a lawyer if they are under 'administrative detention', method that the United States also uses in its war against terrorism.
Something similar happens with the immigrants detainees in the United States as those who have a criminal record are placed under 'mandatory detention' which denies them the opportunity for a judge to challenge deportation orders. The big majority, nevertheless, are innocent people without criminal backgrounds, many of them having lived in the United States since childhood, but are incarcerated for not having the right papers. Little matters here if they are children, youth, or mothers or fathers.
Solidarity in the struggle- hunger strikes
As there are convergences in the lived realities under the imperial hegemonic system, there are convergences of resistance, struggle, and collective wisdom with strategies and concrete acts that transform their condition of victims to one of peacemakers and spokesmen and spokeswomen for justice. In these contexts of imprisonment, hunger strikes emerge as a powerful weapon to unmask the cannibalistic nature of the capitalist empire, and with its face naked, to challenge the gross actions it commits against a suffering people.
Palestinian prisoners are prophets in this unjust world. More than 2,000 prisoners united for a massive hunger strike in April and May of this year, a strike considered a victory as the number of people in administrative detention decreased from 350 to 250. Several prisoners have achieved their freedom using this method, and others have been able to have more fair processes in the court. More importantly, the cause has been made visible to the entire world.
Those detained in the United States are beginning to employ this method to expose the injustice, as is the struggle of Claudio Rojas, an Argentinean father who has been on hunger strike for more than 70 days. The U.S. anti-immigrant regime separated him from his family 6 months ago, and he is now facing a deportation order. Nevertheless, Claudio refuses to be deported and is sacrificing his life to demand his right to reunite with his family in the United States. In solidarity with Claudio, around 600 immigrant detainees at the Broward Detention Center in Florida joined the hunger strike.
The struggle for the rights of immigrant detainees is been led by the undocumented youth in the United States who-- empowered by the current law of 'deferred action' which, though not a path to citizenship, protects the youth who have been in the country for more than 5 years and who have no criminal record from being detained or deported--, engage in voluntary detention in order to infiltrate the correctional facilities and to find those youth who are eligible to be protected under this new law but who still remain in detention. This tactic is used to publicly expose that, contrary to Obama's promises, there are innocent youth who do not pose any risk to the American state and are growing old inside the prisons.
These realities and struggles of the immigrants in the United States and of the Palestinians open up a path to create cross-cultural coalitions of solidarity. Activists, leaders, and civil society throughout the regions violated by the capitalist system world wide can exchange their ideas, strategies, their experiences and hopes so that the peoples unite for the construction of peace and to unmask the crimes committed by the so-called "lawful" states of this world.
http://fwd4.me/17e3
Jeff Blankfort Speaking of Zionists in Disguise
Mark Richie
Speaking of disguises, Mark Richie has been operating behind one for the 30 years I have known him.
In practice, while pretending to be a friend of the Palestinians, he has functioned as an agent provocateur whose sole goal is to cause divisions in the solidarity movement and was banned years ago from every Palestinian email list (before there were blogs).
He does this cleverly, as shown here, making legitimate criticisms of JVP, IJAN and ANSWER while hiding his real target, MECA, the Middle East Children's Alliance, which is not Zionist, does not support the state of Israel and supports the Palestinian right of return and is one of the most effective organizations working on behalf of the Palestinians which is why Richie aka Richey aka PONeill aka Mark Hiver is continuously attacking it. In other words, he is working for Israel.
One of his other pastimes, illustrated here, is defending Noam Chomsky, who is an admitted Zionist, who supports Israel as a Jewish state, opposes the Palestinian right of return (but approves it for Jews!) and who opposes BDS against Israel. How does Richie reconcile that with his own stated views? He doesn't try, hoping readers won't see his ridiculous coupling of Chomsky with Gilad Atzmon who does support the right of return and doesn't believe in a Jewish state.
I have publicly accused him of being an agent for the Anti-Defamation League and I have material in my files backing that up. A lawyer who, strangely, has never practiced, Richie threatened to sue me years ago if I continued to call him that and I have challenged him to do so since there are a number of questions I'd have my lawyer pose to him.
Anyone wishing more info on this creature should contact me at [email protected]
http://fwd4.me/17ay
Zionists in Disguise
Jeff Blankfort
Over my years of activism on Palestine, I've heard many protestations about how 'anti-zionist' various individuals who are members of zionists fronts 'really are.'
The zionists in the US include in their leadership many 'red diaper babies'--children and grandchildren of Jewish people active in the Stalinist movement--globally or in the US--people who for decades justified Stalin's crimes and purges with pseudo-Marxist rhetoric.
These people were for the most part NOT zionists, as their children and grandchildren ARE, for the most part, due to the creation of Israel in the interim.
Thus, we have a lot of 'leaders' of formations like MECA, ANSWER, JVP, IJAN, etc. etc. who try to cover their zionist tracks with 'left' rhetoric.
Recently I had a conversation wiht a USQ member who explained to me that a leader of a JVP chapter, an unnamed person, was totally in support of the right of return, was in no way a zionist, and so forth. JVP of course is an openly admitted zionist organization, for Jews only.
This is somewhat difficult to understand since the JVP makes NO attempt, as IJAN for example does, to DISGUISE the fact that it is a zionist organization. Their charter states quite clearly they are a zionist organization, albeit critical of certain aspects of the settlement policies, echoing the 'official' position of the US government.
The liberal zionist activists ALWAYS talk with forked tongues. For example, when talking to Palestinian, they will say they support the right of return, BUT..and there is always a but...they won't question Israel as a Jewish state..
This line is of course a contradiction, since the occupation is REQUIRED in order to preserve Israel as a Jewish state!
We all know how this contradiction is always resolved in practice..
The liberal zionist activists know they have to present a 'progressive' face to Palestinians in order to continue to monitor and interfere in every initiative that might threaten their beloved Jewish supremacist state, of course.
Isn't it clear that the organizations above exist PRIMARILY to serve two purposes: first, to collect as much information as possible about any initiatives touching on Palestine; and second, to use their media presence, which is dominant among 'pro-Palestiian' media in most of the English-speaking 'progressive' milieu, to isolate and discredit people who don't have a 'liberal' zionist agenda?
For example, Noam Chomsky and Gilad Atzmon, most recently. who have been targeted by 'disavowal' campaigns spread by these organizations?
And that the occasional verbal affirmations of opposition to zionism are often designed simply to give them legitimacy? So that they can secure permission to set up literature tables at every conference or event, where they can effectively continue their monitoring and plan these 'disavowal' campaigns?
Mark Richie, [email protected]
http://fwd4.me/17az 17 aug 2012, 00:07 , Respect -
Maria 16 aug 2012
Mahathir scoffs at US presidential runners for racing to gain Israel's support
KUALA LUMPUR, (PIC)-- Former Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamed scorned the US presidential candidates for visiting Israel to earn the support of the Jews, describing the relations between Israel and the US as "a case of the tail wagging the dog."
In a satirical article posted on his blog, Mahathir rhetorically asked if the world's peoples are aware of the fact that Israel controls the world by proxy and that the US presidential candidates must obtain its approval.
"The republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has just finished his rites of pilgrimage to Tel Aviv and there he pledged publically that he would be tougher against the Palestinians and Iran than the current US president Barack Obama," the former premier said.
He predicted that Obama would pay a visit soon to Israel to give more satisfying promises to safeguard its security than his rival.
"It seems that all presidential candidates have to pledge allegiance to Israel or else they will face the risk of losing the election," he highlighted.
http://fwd4.me/17lF